Go straight to jail, do not pass ‘go’, and do not collect RM200 Posted by admin Tuesday, 03 March 2009 14:55
This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin Section 124 of the Penal Code reads as follows:
"Whoever, with the intention of inducing or compelling or attempting to induce or compel a member of Parliament or of any legislative assembly or of any state executive council to exercise or refrain from exercising in any manner the lawful powers of such member, assaults or wrongfully restrains, or attempts wrongfully to restrain, or overawes by means of criminal force, or the show of criminal force, or attempts so to overawe, such member shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to a fine."
The Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, has breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Technically, therefore, he can be charged for a criminal offence -- and, if found guilty, can be jailed or fined, or both. That is the law and one just can’t avoid punishment if one has broken the law.
But will he be made to face punishment? If the Speaker of the Perak State Assembly -- or any member of the public for that matter -- makes a police report against him, then the police are obligated, by law, to open a case file and investigate the report.
Over the last 11 years, thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made against those who walk in the corridors of power. But almost every single report has ended up in the NFA (No Further Action) tray. Try, however, to make a police report against someone perceived as ‘anti-establishment’. Within 24 hours an investigation will be launched and the police, with guns and Balaclavas, will swoop on the ‘dangerous criminal’.
Remember what happened to Anwar Ibrahim back in September 1998 and then, ten years later, in 2008? Both times the police came as if they were about to arrest Botak Chin, Bentong Kali, the Mamak Gang, or what have you. And, mind you, in both these incidences, Anwar’s lawyers had contacted the police to inform them that their client would voluntarily surrender himself at any police station that they want him to if asked.
Why the need to do a military-style operation as if Anwar was going to fight with guns and bombs till the last man standing? He had already said he would go in to the police station if asked. In fact, in the 2008 Hollywood-style arrest, Anwar was already on the way to the police station to make good his 2.00pm appointment when they arrested him so dramatically just outside his house as he was leaving for the police station.
Thousands upon thousands of police reports have been made over the 11 years which have all come to nought in the end. I have personally made two, one against the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department, Bakri Zinin, and another against JAKIM. The police not only classified them as NFA, they did not even call me in for my statement to be recorded, which is the usual procedure. In short, the police just totally ignored my two police reports.
I remember, back in 2001, when ten of us, all Reformasi activists, were detained under the Internal Security Act. The Special Branch goaded us and asked whether we really think we can take over the government. You can take to the streets, said the police. You can even win the general elections. But we own the guns and we decide who gets to form the government. Saari Sungib, in fact, wrote about this in his series of eight or ten books about his two-year experience in Kamunting and the two-month detention prior to that.
The police support the government-of-the-day, one very senior police officer told me. But we decide who gets to form the government and who becomes the Prime Minister, another officer told Saari. And if the Prime Minister tak betul jalan, they might even find his car dalam gaung the next day.
Strong and confrontational words indeed from the defenders of justice and upholders of public safety and security. Are they employed as guardians of the peace or to decide who gets to form the government and becomes the Prime Minister?
I remember what one Deputy Director of the Special Branch once told me. When the May 13 race riots broke out, Bukit Aman held a briefing for all its officers and the instructions to the officers was: you are Malays first and police officers second. You job is to defend Malay political power and dominance. Understandably, only the Malay officers were invited for that briefing.
Another non-Malay Special Branch officer who was on duty outside Datuk Harun Idris’s house moments before the May 13 riots started had this to relate. He saw the crowd surge forward after a series of rabble-rousing speeches by various UMNO leaders and they started hacking to death all the non-Malays they came across.
I was alone and had just one revolver with six bullets, he told me. What could I do against thousands of parang-wielding rioters bent on drawing blood? I tucked my revolver in my waist and just stood by helplessly and watched as they hacked to death innocent non-Malays who did not know what the hell was going on.
This officer managed to save a couple of people but was himself confronted by some soldiers who raised their rifles and took aim at his head. In desperation he took out his authority card and explained that he was a police officer. The soldiers gave him ten seconds to get out of there before they shoot him dead. Invariably, he resigned from the force in disgust soon after that. Being a Special Branch officer who was on duty at ‘Ground Zero’ when May 13 exploded means he knew more than he could endure.
Another friend whose father was an army camp commander at the time of May 13 told me how his father opted for early retirement not long after that. On retirement he became a recluse and refused to meet any of this old army mates. He totally turned his back on the army and on his old friends from his army days. He knew something that we all don’t but he refused to talk about the army or May 13 till the day he died.
The police revealed their ‘true colours’ again in Perak today. No, Barisan Nasional is not a coalition of 14 political parties. It is a coalition of 16. The other two are the police and the Elections Commission (SPR). The police and SPR are also part of Barisan Nasional and are out to serve the interests of that ruling coalition. Can we trust the police and SPR when their job is to ensure that UMNO stays in power?
This was, in fact, confirmed by SPR in a meeting we had with them back in 2000. When asked why they would not abolish the postal vote system now that the Communist insurgency has ended and the soldiers are no longer in the jungles fighting the CTs (Communist Terrorists), they replied: if we abolish the postal vote system then not a single Minister would be able to retain his or her seat.
We were shocked by that reply and, after a few minutes of deafening silence, we asked them, “Isn’t it the job of the SPR to guarantee fair and free elections?”
They replied, “No, the job of the SPR is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.”
The SPR may be crooks but at least they are honest about it. I suppose that makes them honest crooks just like we have virgin prostitutes. And the police are no less slimy. And if what happened today in Perak can’t convince you of this then nothing in the world will ever convince you.
Perak is supposed to be Najib’s ‘Waterloo’. And I mean, of course, Najib as Napoleon Bonaparte, the man who lost the war, not Najib as the Duke of Wellington, the man who won. Najib’s political fortunes will be determined by whether he gets to retain Perak or he loses it back to Pakatan Rakyat. Currently, it appears like Najib’s coup d’etat has failed and Pakatan Rakyat has managed to launch a successful counter-coup, albeit constitutionally. This makes Najib’s position very dicey indeed.
Najib needs to make sure he does not lose Perak. The forces opposed to him do not really mind if Perak falls back into Pakatan Rakyat’s hands. Okay, so they lose Perak. But then they will also lose Najib as well. It is a sort of ‘package deal’. If Perak goes, then Najib goes as well. Losing Perak is a small price to pay for blocking Najib from becoming Prime Minister.
I realised, when they postponed my sedition and criminal defamation trials to end-April and end-May respectively, that bringing Najib down through the evidence I was supposed to reveal during these trials would not happen as planned after all. Thus far, only the sedition trial has commenced. The criminal defamation trial has not even started yet. Even then, the sedition trial is not even halfway through.
Currently, the prosecution is still presenting its case. At the end of the prosecution’s case the court will decide whether I have a case to answer to and whether my defence needs to be called. If, just like in the Altantuya murder trial, the court feels there is no case, then I will be acquitted without my defence being called, just like what happened to Razak Baginda. This would mean nothing would be revealed, as there will be no trial.
The problem with this would be, all this may happen a year or more down the road, long after Najib takes over as Prime Minister. So there is really no reason to hold my breath until I turn blue. I will be long dead from asphyxiation by the time anything is going to happen, and even then only if it will happen. It will not be in the interest of Najib to allow the trial to go its entire length and breadth, as he knows I am waiting to reveal the evidence once my defence is called. The best would be for the court to acquit me without my defence being called. Even now, when it is still only the prosecution’s case, much of what is surfacing in court is proving very embarrassing for Najib.
Anyway, not knowing whether what I want to say will ever see the light of day, I have decided to change my strategy. Instead of depending on the trial, I have sent all the notes of the court proceedings to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Sure, they have blocked most from surfacing in the trial. Superintendent Gan Tack Guan refuses to reply to all the questions posed by my lawyer, YB Gobind Singh Deo. But what he has told us thus far is damaging enough.
For example, Supt Gan confirmed that no investigation was ever launched to confirm whether Najib was, or was not, involved in Altantuya’s murder. Okay, this is not evidence that he was. But there is also no evidence to prove he was not. And no less than Supt Gan, the Investigating Officer of the Altantuya murder, who said this. And he said this while testifying during my sedition trial.
Most lawyers would argue that just because one was not proven innocent does not mean this is evidence that one is guilty (although this was how they found Anwar guilty and sent him to jail for more than six years). Sure, if seen in isolation this may be so. But it should not be seen in isolation. It must be read together with the Affidavit that Razak Baginda signed when he applied for bail in the early days of his trial.
Now, this Affidavit can’t be ignored because this Affidavit was the basis for the court to rule that Razak is not guilty and subsequently acquitted him of the murder charge. This Affidavit is crucial. This Affidavit bought Razak his freedom. And the court believed what Razak had said in his Affidavit. So, what did this Affidavit say?
Razak said, simply, that he never knew the two police officers on trial for Altantuya’s murder until they were introduced to him by Musa Safri, Najib’s ADC. That was when he first met them. Then Razak goes into detail about what happened thereafter, which I had already written about before and, therefore, do not need to repeat here.
The question that begs answer is: who instructed Musa to assist Razak and who subsequently sent the police officer -- Chief Inspector Azilah -- to go and see him to help him out of his predicament? And did not Razak also say, in the same Affidavit, that he went to Najib’s office to meet Musa and accidentally bumped into (teserempak) Azilah there?
Razak’s conversation with Azilah, about who sent him, etc., also needs to be noted. In short, Najib’s office or someone in Najib’s office set up the whole arrangement. This is what Razak said. And the court believed Razak and freed him from jail.
Was this investigated? According to Supt Gan, no! So they have no way of knowing whether this is true or not. But the court thinks it is true and that is why it freed Razak. So the matter is not about whether Najib was proven guilty. It is about him not being proven innocent. And Najib is not a simple man-in-the-street. He is the man who is going to be the next Prime Minister. And a Prime Minister must be above suspicion, especially when it involves murder.
That was my argument. And I explained this when I sent the official court papers to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with a plea to not appoint Najib as the next Prime Minister. I tried to make it simple. I am not saying that Najib has been proven guilty of murder. I am saying that Supt Gan confirmed that Najib has not been proven innocent. The police did nothing. They never launched any investigation. And Supt Gan confirmed this during my trial.
Okay, maybe I did not win first prize. They made sure I would not with the ‘I can’t reply’, ‘I don’t know how to reply’, ‘How do I reply to that’ answers that Supt Gan gave us. But at least I won second prize, for now. We have thus far failed to prove that Najib is guilty, and that may take us another year of hearings before we can do that -- which might be too late by then. But we have succeeded in proving that the police never cleared him either.
The ball is now at Abdullah Badawi’s feet. Whether he wants to hand over to Najib at the end of this month or not is his call. But the Altantuya murder is not the only issue. Perak is one more nail in Najib’s coffin. Today, it looks like Barisan Nasional has lost Perak, which means Najib lost. Then there is the emergency meeting this afternoon where some UMNO veterans are going to apply for a court injunction to delay the UMNO Assembly scheduled for the end of this month.
More than 1,000 reports have been made alleging corruption by the many contestants in the UMNO party elections. That is more reports than number of candidates. The UMNO veterans want the party to delay the Assembly until after all the cases have been investigated. What happens if someone (or many) wins the party elections and later is found guilty of corruption (money politics)? They would have to resign and this would be embarrassing for UMNO.
Imagine the entire UMNO Supreme Council and its three Vice-Presidents who win at the end of this month are found guilty of corruption. The entire leadership would need to resign or get sacked. UMNO would be put to shame, not to mention the bother of holding the party elections all over again.
I said this before and I will say it again. 24 hours is a long time in politics. Governments can fall in a mere 24 hours. What more 24 days? Najib may yet not become Prime Minister come end of this month. Sure, he may make Deputy President of UMNO. But that does not mean he will also become Prime Minister. How he handles Perak the next 24 hours and what results from the emergency meeting by the UMNO veterans this afternoon and the injunction that may follow it would have a bearing on Najib’s chances of becoming Prime Minister.
And if Abdullah Badawi does what I hope he will do with the court papers I sent him, then Najib’s goose is cooked. And it will no longer matter what they do to me. Najib will be out and Perak will be back under Pakatan Rakyat. My job is done. What happens thereafter is not a big deal.
This is something Najib does not understand. He thought he knew the game. In reality, he does not. The game is actually very simple indeed. It is called ‘Russian Roulette’. We load the chamber with one bullet, spin the chamber, and pull the trigger. I have pulled it and it did not fire. It just ‘clicked’. It is now Najib’s turn to pull the trigger. Will it fire or will it also go ‘click’? I really don’t know. Najib will have to pull the trigger for us to see. If it ‘clicks’, then the gun comes back to me and it is my turn to, again, pull the trigger. And this game of Russian Roulette will continue until one of us gets a bullet in the head.
Yes, I live dangerously. But I do not do so for the sake of living dangerously. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. No pain, no gain. This is all necessary. Perak was Najib’s doing. He created that mess. So we have to mess him up if need be to get back Perak. And it looks like that may have happened today in spite of what Najib and the police tried to do.
To the Perak CPO, Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah, I have only one thing to say: you have breached Section 124 of the Penal Code. Go straight to jail, do not pass ‘go’, and do not collect RM200 on the way to jail. And to Nizar, well done. We were in Perak today and we are very honoured to have witnessed history in the making. This is the first time in history that a legitimate government was forced to conduct its business under a tree. I am going to propose a ceremony to place a bronze plaque under that tree so that generations to come can get to see the spot where the people took back power from the government, minus the bloodshed as well.
This is Peoples’ Power in the true sense of the word. Syabas. I am proud of you, Nizar. By the powers invested in me, I now proclaim you an Honorary Bugis Warrior.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Registration form on Human rights
Training Programme of the
Melaka Bar Committee
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Human Rights & Contemporary Issues
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Saturday, 21st February 2009
REGISTRATION FORM
I/We would like to register for the Talk.
Name : ……………………………………………………………………………………
E-mail : …………………………………………………………………………………….
Name of Organization (If applicable) : …………………………………………………………………….
Address : …………………………………………………………………….
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Tel No : ………………….. Fax No: ………………………………….
Date : ………………….. Signature : ……………………………….
Please complete and e-mail the registration form to legalseminar123@gmail.com to confirm attendance. For registration information, please call Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423 / 06-284 8694.
There are limited places available and registration is free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Completed forms to be forwarded to :-
legalseminar123@gmail.com
Melaka Bar Committee
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Saturday, 21st February 2009
REGISTRATION FORM
I/We would like to register for the Talk.
Name : ……………………………………………………………………………………
E-mail : …………………………………………………………………………………….
Name of Organization (If applicable) : …………………………………………………………………….
Address : …………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………
Tel No : ………………….. Fax No: ………………………………….
Date : ………………….. Signature : ……………………………….
Please complete and e-mail the registration form to legalseminar123@gmail.com to confirm attendance. For registration information, please call Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423 / 06-284 8694.
There are limited places available and registration is free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Completed forms to be forwarded to :-
legalseminar123@gmail.com
Please take a break to come!
JAWATANKUASA PEGUAM NEGERI MELAKA
MALACCA BAR COMMITTEE
No. 9373, Taman Indah, Section 1,
Bukit Sebukor, 75150 Melaka.
Tel : 06-284 5519 / 286 4514 Fax : 06-283 0755 E-mail : mccabar@gmail.com
January 15th, 2009 Via E-mail
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re : Invitation to our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme
With reference to the above, the Malacca Bar Committee has the pleasure of inviting you/your organization to participate in our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme.
Rarely if ever has the subject of migrant workers, “orang asal”, women or child rights and Freedom of Speech in the Media been the fervent topic of legal discourse. Thus in the spirit of fostering an awareness in these issues, the Malacca Bar Committee and Multimedia University (MMU) Malacca have agreed to jointly host a training and educational programme for practitioners, non-governmental organizations and the public with the aim to empower participants on these issues and to translate this awareness into social and legal action.
Our proposed prominent speakers are legal practitioners each renowned in their respective fields include Edmond Bon, National Human Rights Committee Chairman; Amer Hamzah Arshad, proactive refugee counsel and Roger Chan, human rights activist.
The programme details are as follows :-
Date : Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Time : 8.30-1.30pm
Venue : MMU Hall, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, Melaka
Audience : on an invitation basis; expected 200-300 pax
Should there be any queries, feel free to contact Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423/ 06-284 8694.
The registration form is attached herewith in this e-mail. To help us in making arrangements, please confirm that you can attend soonest possible or by February 1st, 2009.
Thank you again for your support. Your presence is deeply appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Chua
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Chairman
Malacca Bar Committee
MALACCA BAR COMMITTEE
No. 9373, Taman Indah, Section 1,
Bukit Sebukor, 75150 Melaka.
Tel : 06-284 5519 / 286 4514 Fax : 06-283 0755 E-mail : mccabar@gmail.com
January 15th, 2009 Via E-mail
Dear Sir/Madam,
Re : Invitation to our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme
With reference to the above, the Malacca Bar Committee has the pleasure of inviting you/your organization to participate in our Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Training Programme.
Rarely if ever has the subject of migrant workers, “orang asal”, women or child rights and Freedom of Speech in the Media been the fervent topic of legal discourse. Thus in the spirit of fostering an awareness in these issues, the Malacca Bar Committee and Multimedia University (MMU) Malacca have agreed to jointly host a training and educational programme for practitioners, non-governmental organizations and the public with the aim to empower participants on these issues and to translate this awareness into social and legal action.
Our proposed prominent speakers are legal practitioners each renowned in their respective fields include Edmond Bon, National Human Rights Committee Chairman; Amer Hamzah Arshad, proactive refugee counsel and Roger Chan, human rights activist.
The programme details are as follows :-
Date : Saturday, February 21st, 2009
Time : 8.30-1.30pm
Venue : MMU Hall, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, Bukit Beruang, Melaka
Audience : on an invitation basis; expected 200-300 pax
Should there be any queries, feel free to contact Mr. Anthony Chua or Ms. Elaine Lau at 06-281 3423/ 06-284 8694.
The registration form is attached herewith in this e-mail. To help us in making arrangements, please confirm that you can attend soonest possible or by February 1st, 2009.
Thank you again for your support. Your presence is deeply appreciated and we look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
Anthony Chua
Human Rights & Contemporary Issues Chairman
Malacca Bar Committee
Friday, February 6, 2009
Now comes the hard part for BN: Winning over the people
by Malaysia Today admin
Friday, 06 February 2009 08:29
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
THE STRAITS TIMES It may have recaptured Perak, but Barisan Nasional now faces the bigger battle for the hearts of Malaysians, especially those who scoff at its backdoor re-entry to power.
But the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has not been spared criticism either. It has been knocked for losing control of its assemblymen.
On blogs, message boards and even networking site Facebook, netizens have unleashed their anger and disappointment, saying their trust in politicians has been shattered.
The volume of unhappy comments, along with the spike in Internet traffic driven by those wanting to read real-time updates of the twists and turns in the Perak saga, caused online news portals, including Malaysiakini, to redirect users to stripped-down versions of their websites, which load more quickly.
Most of the vitriol has been directed at the four politicians who jumped ship on Wednesday: former Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblymen Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, former DAP assemblyman Hee Yit Fong, and assemblyman Nasarudin Hashim, who defected to PKR last week before making an abrupt U-turn back to Umno.
They have been labelled traitors, having either flipped-flopped or reneged on earlier claims that they were not defecting.
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
“Any rep leaving the party after having won is no better than a dishonest salesman who hoodwinks customers into buying products (of which the) quality does not measure up to what was claimed,” wrote another reader.
Many, like business development manager Nicole Fong, 34, who grew up in Perak and has family there, disapprove of a government formed through defections. “Calling for snap polls is the fairer way forward. BN can't just take over the state like this — they don't have the people's consensus,” she told The Straits Times.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that BN has recaptured Perak — which fell to the Opposition in last year's general election — thanks to the four lawmakers who switched sides.
With the defections, BN and PR hold 28 seats each. But with the three pro-BN independent assemblymen, BN can now claim control of the state assembly.
Political observers have, however, warned of a possible backlash from citizens if BN chooses to reclaim power this way — a point that was also emphasised by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Yesterday, veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah joined the chorus of naysayers, cautioning that taking control of Perak without getting the people's mandate would spell disaster for BN in the next general election. Such actions would “cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back”, he said.
But Najib pre-empted such criticism. “We didn't start this,” he said. “Someone wanted to form the government on Sept 16,” he added, referring to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ambitious plan to engineer a massive defection of BN MPs to the opposition last year.
But political analyst James Chin said voters are always going to be more sympathetic towards the opposition.
“The general feeling is that the electoral system is skewed towards the ruling coalition. That's probably why they are less worked up when the opposition woos defectors,” he told The Straits Times.
Nevertheless, there are also fingers pointed at PR for its part in the debacle. “(Pakatan Rakyat), please vet all your candidates before letting them stand for snap polls,” wrote Perak resident Prema Subramaniam on Malaysiakini's website.Those who opted for the opposition last year have resigned themselves to a Catch-22 situation. After voting for BN for half a century, they say, voting for Pakatan has now backfired as well. — MI
Friday, 06 February 2009 08:29
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
THE STRAITS TIMES It may have recaptured Perak, but Barisan Nasional now faces the bigger battle for the hearts of Malaysians, especially those who scoff at its backdoor re-entry to power.
But the opposition Pakatan Rakyat has not been spared criticism either. It has been knocked for losing control of its assemblymen.
On blogs, message boards and even networking site Facebook, netizens have unleashed their anger and disappointment, saying their trust in politicians has been shattered.
The volume of unhappy comments, along with the spike in Internet traffic driven by those wanting to read real-time updates of the twists and turns in the Perak saga, caused online news portals, including Malaysiakini, to redirect users to stripped-down versions of their websites, which load more quickly.
Most of the vitriol has been directed at the four politicians who jumped ship on Wednesday: former Parti Keadilan Rakyat assemblymen Osman Jailu and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, former DAP assemblyman Hee Yit Fong, and assemblyman Nasarudin Hashim, who defected to PKR last week before making an abrupt U-turn back to Umno.
They have been labelled traitors, having either flipped-flopped or reneged on earlier claims that they were not defecting.
“The Perak people should carve the faces of the four assemblymen on their limestone hills just like Mount Rushmore, so that future generations will remember...,” one reader commented on news portal The Malaysian Insider.
“Any rep leaving the party after having won is no better than a dishonest salesman who hoodwinks customers into buying products (of which the) quality does not measure up to what was claimed,” wrote another reader.
Many, like business development manager Nicole Fong, 34, who grew up in Perak and has family there, disapprove of a government formed through defections. “Calling for snap polls is the fairer way forward. BN can't just take over the state like this — they don't have the people's consensus,” she told The Straits Times.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that BN has recaptured Perak — which fell to the Opposition in last year's general election — thanks to the four lawmakers who switched sides.
With the defections, BN and PR hold 28 seats each. But with the three pro-BN independent assemblymen, BN can now claim control of the state assembly.
Political observers have, however, warned of a possible backlash from citizens if BN chooses to reclaim power this way — a point that was also emphasised by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Yesterday, veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah joined the chorus of naysayers, cautioning that taking control of Perak without getting the people's mandate would spell disaster for BN in the next general election. Such actions would “cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back”, he said.
But Najib pre-empted such criticism. “We didn't start this,” he said. “Someone wanted to form the government on Sept 16,” he added, referring to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's ambitious plan to engineer a massive defection of BN MPs to the opposition last year.
But political analyst James Chin said voters are always going to be more sympathetic towards the opposition.
“The general feeling is that the electoral system is skewed towards the ruling coalition. That's probably why they are less worked up when the opposition woos defectors,” he told The Straits Times.
Nevertheless, there are also fingers pointed at PR for its part in the debacle. “(Pakatan Rakyat), please vet all your candidates before letting them stand for snap polls,” wrote Perak resident Prema Subramaniam on Malaysiakini's website.Those who opted for the opposition last year have resigned themselves to a Catch-22 situation. After voting for BN for half a century, they say, voting for Pakatan has now backfired as well. — MI
Law expert: Vote of o confidence should be passed against MB in assembly
By Maria J.Dass
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin's refusal to step down as Mentri Besar (MB) as instructed by the Sultan is legitimate as Article 16 of the Perak Constitution states that the MB has to tender his resignation if he no longer commands the support of the majority of members of the state legislative assembly, Constitutional law expert, Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said.
Asked if this meant that he was still legally the MB until the state legislative assembly convened, he said: "Personally I think the assembly should meet and then pass a vote of no confidence against him."
The MB also has a right to challenge the Sultan's orders for him to step down, he added."Right now there is a grey area as there is no vote of no confidence against the MB," Shad said.
The assembly has up to 60 days to be convened from the last meeting and the MB can wait to do so, he said.
"When the assembly convenes, and a vote of no confidence is passed, then at least the lack of confidence in the MB can be proved," he said.
Describing the current takeover of the state by Barisan Nasional (BN) as a backroom manoeuvre he said: "It is not tasteful."
"Things should be done in accordance with the law, democracy and the constitution," he added."Of course some people may argue and say that you can declare this loss of confidence towards the MB from outside the state assembly."
"So would you consider it valid if you make the declaration say from your yard, the supermarket or the park?" he asked.
Asked about the manner in which the take over was being carried out with the police and Federal Reserve Units (FRU) being called in to get the present executive councilors and their officers to vacate the state secretariat building, Shad described it as "sad and ugly".
"This is something that the law does not cover, the law does not cover everything," he said.
"This is an extraordinary situation," said Shad, stressing that he was in no way taking sides but commenting from a purely legal and personal point of view.
PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin's refusal to step down as Mentri Besar (MB) as instructed by the Sultan is legitimate as Article 16 of the Perak Constitution states that the MB has to tender his resignation if he no longer commands the support of the majority of members of the state legislative assembly, Constitutional law expert, Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi said.
Asked if this meant that he was still legally the MB until the state legislative assembly convened, he said: "Personally I think the assembly should meet and then pass a vote of no confidence against him."
The MB also has a right to challenge the Sultan's orders for him to step down, he added."Right now there is a grey area as there is no vote of no confidence against the MB," Shad said.
The assembly has up to 60 days to be convened from the last meeting and the MB can wait to do so, he said.
"When the assembly convenes, and a vote of no confidence is passed, then at least the lack of confidence in the MB can be proved," he said.
Describing the current takeover of the state by Barisan Nasional (BN) as a backroom manoeuvre he said: "It is not tasteful."
"Things should be done in accordance with the law, democracy and the constitution," he added."Of course some people may argue and say that you can declare this loss of confidence towards the MB from outside the state assembly."
"So would you consider it valid if you make the declaration say from your yard, the supermarket or the park?" he asked.
Asked about the manner in which the take over was being carried out with the police and Federal Reserve Units (FRU) being called in to get the present executive councilors and their officers to vacate the state secretariat building, Shad described it as "sad and ugly".
"This is something that the law does not cover, the law does not cover everything," he said.
"This is an extraordinary situation," said Shad, stressing that he was in no way taking sides but commenting from a purely legal and personal point of view.
Protest and tear gas rock royal city
By Malaysiakini
Feb 6, 09 2:36pm
Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) fires several rounds of tear gas as more than 3,000 Pakatan Rakyat supporters converge for a protest march at the Ubudiah mosque - about 1km from Iskandariah Palace in Kuala Kangsar.
LIVE REPORTS
4.30pm: Police confirm earlier that nine people have been arrested. The majority of the crowd have dispersed.
4.01pm: Zambry is sworn in before Sultan Azlan Shah. About 1,000 people are still gathered near the mosque with the police keeping a close watch.
4.00pm: A man claiming to be a Perak PAS representative addresses some 1,000 protesters using a loud-hailer from a police truck.
He tells them that they have already 'conveyed their message to the world' and calls on them to disperse.
3.58pm: Swearing-in ceremony for new Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir begins.
3.50pm: There are about 1,000 protesters still in Ubudiah mosque. About 10 people have been arrested during the 40-minute fracas between the crowd and riot police.
The remaining crowd is expected to wait for the swearing-in ceremony at the Iskandariah palace (left). According to PAS state assemblyperson Khalilul Rahman Abdul Samad, the protesters may attempt to block the main road again.
Swearing-in ceremony yet to begin at the palace.
3.45pm: No protesters could be seen in front of the Iskandariah palace where the new Perak MB, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is about to be sworn in.
3.33pm: State PAS leaders arrive at the scene and urge Pakatan Rakyat supporters to calm down. Swearing-in ceremony for new MB about to begin.
3.25pm: The situation calms down at the Ubudiah mosque (right). Several people are seen crying and scolding the police for firing tear gas into the mosque compound.
3.20pm: Police have finally cleared the blockade by the crowd and all cars are able to proceed to Iskandariah palace.
3.19pm: A vehicle with a yellow (royal) registration plate is pelted with stones by angry supporters.
3.18pm: Tear gas still being fired into the mosque compound. Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak's car enters the palace.
3.11pm: A group of protesters are lying on the road to block the passing cars.3.10pm: FRU personnel manage to remove the bloackade and cars are passing through to the palace.3.08pm: Tear gas is fired at those blocking the road. The FRU are also arresting those blocking the road.3.06pm: About 300 people are blocking the road leading to the palace, stopping dignitaries and BN politicians from attending the swearing-in ceremony, which is to kick off at 3.30pm.
3.04pm: The crowd is dispersed. Some are trying to block the road leading to the palace.
3.01pm: FRU charges at the crowd. A handful are seen throwing stones at the police.
2.59pm: More tear gas fired into the mosque carpark.
2.58pm: Crowd retreats to the mosque.
2.50pm: Another round of tear gas fired. Crowd refuses to back down with some throwing rocks at the FRU personnel.
2.43pm: Police tells the crowd to disperse. First round of tear gas fired.
2.41pm: The crowd swells to about 3,000 with some carrying banners calling on the sultan to dissolve the state assembly. FRU personnel are moving into position.
Earlier report
Some 500 Pakatan Rakyat supporters broke through a police barricade outside the Ubudiah mosque in Kuala Kangsar - about 1km from the Iskandariah palace - during a protest march this afternoon.At precisely 2.22pm, the supporters, which included a large group of women, had gathered outside the mosque after Friday prayers.They had wanted to march from the mosque to the Iskandariah Palace where the swearing-in of the new Perak menteri besar, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is scheduled to take place at 3.30pm.At 2.26pm, the crowd breaches the police barricade, and at 2.28pm, the police retaliate by firing several rounds of tear gas.This forced the supporters to retreat back into the mosque.The police have deployed some 30 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and 20 uniformed personnel.At 2.40pm, the crowd regroups outside the mosque as police sirens are heard blaring in the background. It is learnt that several truckloads of FRU personnel are being deployed to the scene.
Feb 6, 09 2:36pm
Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) fires several rounds of tear gas as more than 3,000 Pakatan Rakyat supporters converge for a protest march at the Ubudiah mosque - about 1km from Iskandariah Palace in Kuala Kangsar.
LIVE REPORTS
4.30pm: Police confirm earlier that nine people have been arrested. The majority of the crowd have dispersed.
4.01pm: Zambry is sworn in before Sultan Azlan Shah. About 1,000 people are still gathered near the mosque with the police keeping a close watch.
4.00pm: A man claiming to be a Perak PAS representative addresses some 1,000 protesters using a loud-hailer from a police truck.
He tells them that they have already 'conveyed their message to the world' and calls on them to disperse.
3.58pm: Swearing-in ceremony for new Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir begins.
3.50pm: There are about 1,000 protesters still in Ubudiah mosque. About 10 people have been arrested during the 40-minute fracas between the crowd and riot police.
The remaining crowd is expected to wait for the swearing-in ceremony at the Iskandariah palace (left). According to PAS state assemblyperson Khalilul Rahman Abdul Samad, the protesters may attempt to block the main road again.
Swearing-in ceremony yet to begin at the palace.
3.45pm: No protesters could be seen in front of the Iskandariah palace where the new Perak MB, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is about to be sworn in.
3.33pm: State PAS leaders arrive at the scene and urge Pakatan Rakyat supporters to calm down. Swearing-in ceremony for new MB about to begin.
3.25pm: The situation calms down at the Ubudiah mosque (right). Several people are seen crying and scolding the police for firing tear gas into the mosque compound.
3.20pm: Police have finally cleared the blockade by the crowd and all cars are able to proceed to Iskandariah palace.
3.19pm: A vehicle with a yellow (royal) registration plate is pelted with stones by angry supporters.
3.18pm: Tear gas still being fired into the mosque compound. Deputy Premier Najib Abdul Razak's car enters the palace.
3.11pm: A group of protesters are lying on the road to block the passing cars.3.10pm: FRU personnel manage to remove the bloackade and cars are passing through to the palace.3.08pm: Tear gas is fired at those blocking the road. The FRU are also arresting those blocking the road.3.06pm: About 300 people are blocking the road leading to the palace, stopping dignitaries and BN politicians from attending the swearing-in ceremony, which is to kick off at 3.30pm.
3.04pm: The crowd is dispersed. Some are trying to block the road leading to the palace.
3.01pm: FRU charges at the crowd. A handful are seen throwing stones at the police.
2.59pm: More tear gas fired into the mosque carpark.
2.58pm: Crowd retreats to the mosque.
2.50pm: Another round of tear gas fired. Crowd refuses to back down with some throwing rocks at the FRU personnel.
2.43pm: Police tells the crowd to disperse. First round of tear gas fired.
2.41pm: The crowd swells to about 3,000 with some carrying banners calling on the sultan to dissolve the state assembly. FRU personnel are moving into position.
Earlier report
Some 500 Pakatan Rakyat supporters broke through a police barricade outside the Ubudiah mosque in Kuala Kangsar - about 1km from the Iskandariah palace - during a protest march this afternoon.At precisely 2.22pm, the supporters, which included a large group of women, had gathered outside the mosque after Friday prayers.They had wanted to march from the mosque to the Iskandariah Palace where the swearing-in of the new Perak menteri besar, Zambry Abdul Kadir, is scheduled to take place at 3.30pm.At 2.26pm, the crowd breaches the police barricade, and at 2.28pm, the police retaliate by firing several rounds of tear gas.This forced the supporters to retreat back into the mosque.The police have deployed some 30 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and 20 uniformed personnel.At 2.40pm, the crowd regroups outside the mosque as police sirens are heard blaring in the background. It is learnt that several truckloads of FRU personnel are being deployed to the scene.
"犹如吴三桂般引清兵入关"林冠英斥许月凤成历史罪人
刘嘉铭 2月5日 中午12点53分
民主行动党秘书长林冠英表示，
许月凤可以有上千万种理由离开行动党，但不该背弃人民支持民联的意愿，否则将如吴三桂引清兵入关般，成为历史罪人而被后人遗弃。
身兼槟城首席部长的林冠英今早是在首长办公室，召开新闻发布会时表示，他对九洞州议员许月凤的退党感到痛心与失望。
背弃选民支持民联意愿
他要求许月凤三思而后行，就算不重新加入行动党，也不该背弃选民，支持国阵筹组政府。何况，民联在大选中获得54%的得票，除了证明多数选民的选择，所获得的委托地位也不容被质疑。
"如今，许月凤的做法不只关乎一个议席，而是一个州政权的垮台与否。"
"她扛着行动党的旗帜在竞选中以6000多数票胜出，不是代表个人。何况，人民明确表明要新政府上台执政，更百般不愿目睹国阵重新夺权。"
以历史为鉴免没好下场
他认为，退党及对党不忠是一回事，背弃选民却是一项永不被原谅的错误与罪恶。
"我们（行动党）给她这个家，她不要这个家，但可以弃儿不理吗?"
"她可因为任何原因退党及拥有本身的政治立场，背弃选民却是错误的做法。回顾历史，不管是圣经中的例子、勾结纳粹的挪威政客维德孔吉斯林（Vidkun Quisling），或引清兵入关的吴三桂都因变节遭遇不好下场。"
或如吴三桂遭后人遗弃
他更形容许月风的倒戈是在嘲弄人民的裁决，但他仍相信，后者并非想沦为吴三桂，但若坚决不改变立场，则必在历史上留下污名。
"吴三桂在历史上留下了不光彩的一页，有别于一些王族的后人，你不见有人站出来自认是吴三桂的后人。"
质问"变节"背后原故
"人民正在追求改变，你却逆民意转而支持国阵，犹如国难当头不救国之余，却引清兵入关，背弃老百姓。如果说，吴三桂当时是为了一名女人，我们倒可以问许月凤，你是为了什么?"
至于许氏是否因为不满倪氏兄弟而"出走"，林冠英则认为，"那是霹雳州的内部党务，但她不曾表达过不满。就算感到愤愤不平，也不该背弃人民。"
重申支持拟定反跳槽法
无论如何，他表示没有会见许月凤的必要，只希望对方重新考虑及审视其作为人民代议士的责任。
针对国阵领袖不断以民联才是拉拢议员跳槽的始俑者，来为霹雳州变天辩护，林冠英重申，该党由始至终支持拟定反跳槽法，立场前后一致。
刘嘉铭 2月5日 中午12点53分
民主行动党秘书长林冠英表示，
许月凤可以有上千万种理由离开行动党，但不该背弃人民支持民联的意愿，否则将如吴三桂引清兵入关般，成为历史罪人而被后人遗弃。
身兼槟城首席部长的林冠英今早是在首长办公室，召开新闻发布会时表示，他对九洞州议员许月凤的退党感到痛心与失望。
背弃选民支持民联意愿
他要求许月凤三思而后行，就算不重新加入行动党，也不该背弃选民，支持国阵筹组政府。何况，民联在大选中获得54%的得票，除了证明多数选民的选择，所获得的委托地位也不容被质疑。
"如今，许月凤的做法不只关乎一个议席，而是一个州政权的垮台与否。"
"她扛着行动党的旗帜在竞选中以6000多数票胜出，不是代表个人。何况，人民明确表明要新政府上台执政，更百般不愿目睹国阵重新夺权。"
以历史为鉴免没好下场
他认为，退党及对党不忠是一回事，背弃选民却是一项永不被原谅的错误与罪恶。
"我们（行动党）给她这个家，她不要这个家，但可以弃儿不理吗?"
"她可因为任何原因退党及拥有本身的政治立场，背弃选民却是错误的做法。回顾历史，不管是圣经中的例子、勾结纳粹的挪威政客维德孔吉斯林（Vidkun Quisling），或引清兵入关的吴三桂都因变节遭遇不好下场。"
或如吴三桂遭后人遗弃
他更形容许月风的倒戈是在嘲弄人民的裁决，但他仍相信，后者并非想沦为吴三桂，但若坚决不改变立场，则必在历史上留下污名。
"吴三桂在历史上留下了不光彩的一页，有别于一些王族的后人，你不见有人站出来自认是吴三桂的后人。"
质问"变节"背后原故
"人民正在追求改变，你却逆民意转而支持国阵，犹如国难当头不救国之余，却引清兵入关，背弃老百姓。如果说，吴三桂当时是为了一名女人，我们倒可以问许月凤，你是为了什么?"
至于许氏是否因为不满倪氏兄弟而"出走"，林冠英则认为，"那是霹雳州的内部党务，但她不曾表达过不满。就算感到愤愤不平，也不该背弃人民。"
重申支持拟定反跳槽法
无论如何，他表示没有会见许月凤的必要，只希望对方重新考虑及审视其作为人民代议士的责任。
针对国阵领袖不断以民联才是拉拢议员跳槽的始俑者，来为霹雳州变天辩护，林冠英重申，该党由始至终支持拟定反跳槽法，立场前后一致。
Constitutional scandal of two Perak MBs
By Mr. Lim Kit Siang
Abdullah should support dissolution and state elections
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wrong when he said that Pakatan Rakyat must now accept a new government in Perak just as Barisan Nasional had accepted the results of last year’s general election.
The comparison is totally inappropriate. In fact, he should be the last person to make such a statement if he is serious about national integrity and morality in politics and public affairs which is one of his major promises and biggest failures of his premiership.
Abdullah cannot be unaware that there is a world of a difference between last year’s general election result and the current political crisis in Perak engineered by Umno leaders.
Last year’s general election results were the outcome of the exercise of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Perak to elect the government of their choice, while the present attempt to oust the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat government by UMNO and Barisan Nasional is a most unethical and opportunistic power-play frustrating the verdict of the voters in the March 8 general election last year.
If Abdullah is sincere and serious in wanting to eradicate political corruption and introduce ethical and principled politics, which he had repeatedly professed publicly, he should dissociate himself from the coup d’etat orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister and the new Perak Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak through the defection of three and re-defection of one Perak state assembly person.
I call on Abdullah to support the dissolution of Perak State Assembly and the holding of state elections to resolve the political crisis in Perak and not to end his premiership with a constitutional scandal of two Mentri Besars in Perak.
Even if this is the only legacy of Abdullah in his five-year premiership, it will go a long way to strike a mortal blow at the bane of Malaysian politics – dishonest, unethical, immoral and money politics – and give meaning to the National Integrity Plan which he had launched with such fanfare five years ago but with so little results so far.
Although the Sultan of Perak has rejected the application of the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for a dissolution of the State Assembly, Nizar is still the legitimate Mentri Besar until he has been voted out by a “no confidence” motion in the Perak State Assembly.
Until such time, there is no vacancy in the post of Perak Mentri Besar.
Abdullah should advise Najib not to create a constitutional scandal of having two Mentri Besars in Perak and to fully respect the constitutional process and the people’s democratic right and mandate as expressed in last year’s general election – and the most democratic option is to return the mandate to the voters of Perak in a state-wide election to elect a new state government of their choice.
Abdullah should support dissolution and state elections
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is wrong when he said that Pakatan Rakyat must now accept a new government in Perak just as Barisan Nasional had accepted the results of last year’s general election.
The comparison is totally inappropriate. In fact, he should be the last person to make such a statement if he is serious about national integrity and morality in politics and public affairs which is one of his major promises and biggest failures of his premiership.
Abdullah cannot be unaware that there is a world of a difference between last year’s general election result and the current political crisis in Perak engineered by Umno leaders.
Last year’s general election results were the outcome of the exercise of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Perak to elect the government of their choice, while the present attempt to oust the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat government by UMNO and Barisan Nasional is a most unethical and opportunistic power-play frustrating the verdict of the voters in the March 8 general election last year.
If Abdullah is sincere and serious in wanting to eradicate political corruption and introduce ethical and principled politics, which he had repeatedly professed publicly, he should dissociate himself from the coup d’etat orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister and the new Perak Umno leader Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak through the defection of three and re-defection of one Perak state assembly person.
I call on Abdullah to support the dissolution of Perak State Assembly and the holding of state elections to resolve the political crisis in Perak and not to end his premiership with a constitutional scandal of two Mentri Besars in Perak.
Even if this is the only legacy of Abdullah in his five-year premiership, it will go a long way to strike a mortal blow at the bane of Malaysian politics – dishonest, unethical, immoral and money politics – and give meaning to the National Integrity Plan which he had launched with such fanfare five years ago but with so little results so far.
Although the Sultan of Perak has rejected the application of the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin for a dissolution of the State Assembly, Nizar is still the legitimate Mentri Besar until he has been voted out by a “no confidence” motion in the Perak State Assembly.
Until such time, there is no vacancy in the post of Perak Mentri Besar.
Abdullah should advise Najib not to create a constitutional scandal of having two Mentri Besars in Perak and to fully respect the constitutional process and the people’s democratic right and mandate as expressed in last year’s general election – and the most democratic option is to return the mandate to the voters of Perak in a state-wide election to elect a new state government of their choice.
Ku Li: Not right way to take power
By Malaysiakini
Feb 5, 09 2:56pm
Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has warned party leaders that gaining the Perak state government without resorting to elections would result in enmity of the Perak voters come the next general election.
MCPXRazaleigh, who is also Gua Musang MP, said Umno and BN should try and win the hearts of the people and not gain the government by dubious means."If the Ruler decides not to accede to the MB's request for the dissolution of Parliament, and BN is invited to form a state government on the basis of these dubious crossovers, I think it would anger a large section of the Malaysian public," said the Kelantan prince in his blog."Our taking control without resorting to elections would cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back at the next election. Come the next general election, they are likely to reject both our state and parliamentary candidates with greater vehemence, and not just in Perak."Calling the BN celebration as "premature", Razaleigh said the constitution states the role of the Ruler in crisis must be respected.He said the Sultan of Perak is sworn to uphold and protect this constitutional process and the Ruler's powers and those of the legislative assembly act as checks and balances on each other to prevent abuse of power."Defections are not the basis for the formation of a government. Elections are.""Governments are formed after citizens have expressed their choice through free and fair elections. Our constitution specifies a formal process for the formation of a government," said the Gua Musang MP.Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is the newly-appointed Perak BN chief, called on Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to step down.Umno in critical conditionThis follows three assemblypersons, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (PKR-Behrang), Osman Jailu (PKR-Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP-Jelapang), declaring they are independent BN-friendly representatives. Nasaruddin Jamaludin who left Umno last week to join PKR has now rejoined Umno after 10 days.Razaleigh said there is also ethical and political issues which has to be resolved.Describing Umno as in critical condition, he said its biggest challenge both as a party and as the governing party is to tackle corruption at every level."We are under close public scrutinity in addressing this problem. Unless we implement radical reforms and are seen to be doing so, we are finished politically come next election," he said.The Kelantan prince questioned the calibre of the four elected representatives for the switch especially the two former PKR representatives who are charged with corruption."It is precisely this kind of open abuse of the public's trust for the sake of personal gain that causes people to hate Umno.""The circumstances of these defections, complete with mysterious dissapearances, sudden reversals, and weak explanations show ample signs of illegal inducement."Razaleigh said no matter what the truth of the matter is, let us not fool ourselves."People will not believe these crossovers were honest. This mistrust will taint any government formed on the back of these crossovers. Elections are the sole source of the government's authority in a democratic society and in the end we shall have to face elections," he said.
Feb 5, 09 2:56pm
Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has warned party leaders that gaining the Perak state government without resorting to elections would result in enmity of the Perak voters come the next general election.
MCPXRazaleigh, who is also Gua Musang MP, said Umno and BN should try and win the hearts of the people and not gain the government by dubious means."If the Ruler decides not to accede to the MB's request for the dissolution of Parliament, and BN is invited to form a state government on the basis of these dubious crossovers, I think it would anger a large section of the Malaysian public," said the Kelantan prince in his blog."Our taking control without resorting to elections would cement the enmity of the very people we should be trying to win back at the next election. Come the next general election, they are likely to reject both our state and parliamentary candidates with greater vehemence, and not just in Perak."Calling the BN celebration as "premature", Razaleigh said the constitution states the role of the Ruler in crisis must be respected.He said the Sultan of Perak is sworn to uphold and protect this constitutional process and the Ruler's powers and those of the legislative assembly act as checks and balances on each other to prevent abuse of power."Defections are not the basis for the formation of a government. Elections are.""Governments are formed after citizens have expressed their choice through free and fair elections. Our constitution specifies a formal process for the formation of a government," said the Gua Musang MP.Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is the newly-appointed Perak BN chief, called on Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin and the Pakatan Rakyat-led government to step down.Umno in critical conditionThis follows three assemblypersons, Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (PKR-Behrang), Osman Jailu (PKR-Changkat Jering) and Hee Yit Foong (DAP-Jelapang), declaring they are independent BN-friendly representatives. Nasaruddin Jamaludin who left Umno last week to join PKR has now rejoined Umno after 10 days.Razaleigh said there is also ethical and political issues which has to be resolved.Describing Umno as in critical condition, he said its biggest challenge both as a party and as the governing party is to tackle corruption at every level."We are under close public scrutinity in addressing this problem. Unless we implement radical reforms and are seen to be doing so, we are finished politically come next election," he said.The Kelantan prince questioned the calibre of the four elected representatives for the switch especially the two former PKR representatives who are charged with corruption."It is precisely this kind of open abuse of the public's trust for the sake of personal gain that causes people to hate Umno.""The circumstances of these defections, complete with mysterious dissapearances, sudden reversals, and weak explanations show ample signs of illegal inducement."Razaleigh said no matter what the truth of the matter is, let us not fool ourselves."People will not believe these crossovers were honest. This mistrust will taint any government formed on the back of these crossovers. Elections are the sole source of the government's authority in a democratic society and in the end we shall have to face elections," he said.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Hard for PKR Duo to Contest Resignations
post info
By Anwar Ibrahim
From The NutgraphBy Deborah Loh
PETALING JAYA, 2 Feb 2009: It will be hard for the two former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblypersons in Perak to challenge their own pre-signed, undated resignation letters, a constitutional lawyer said today.
Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, the assemblyperson for Behrang, and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu, the assemblyperson for Changkat Jering, can deny having sent the letters all they want, but the law’s view is that they have given prior consent to the terms contained in the letter, senior lawyer Tommy Thomas told The Nut Graph.
“The law begins from the premise that as an adult, once you sign a document, even if it is undated, and you leave it in another person’s care, you have signified your consent. The law assumes you had the right to say no when asked to sign it,” Thomas said in a phone interview today.
“Pre-signed resignation letters are a common practice by political parties all over the world and have been used many times before. Even if the [assemblypersons] now deny quitting, the fact is they signed that letter.
“If they try to challenge it, the law will say, who asked you to sign it in the first place? It will also be difficult for politicians to prove that they signed it under duress,” Thomas said.
Thomas was asked to comment on the legality of the pre-signed resignation letters sent to the Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar yesterday.
Later the same day, Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman denied having sent the letters to Sivakumar, adding that they were not vacating their seats. Both are holding press conferences today to state their position.
Jamaluddin was the state executive councillor for the development, cooperatives, agriculture and trade committee. Mohd Osman was in charge of the tourism, human development and non-governmental organisations committee.
Both men were charged on 25 Aug 2008 for accepting bribes in relation to developing a piece of land in Seri Iskandar.
Their letters were faxed to Sivakumar after they were incommunicado for five days. PKR and state government officials said attempts to contact the duo were futile.
PKR “knew” of defection
PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali confirmed that all party representatives had signed such letters before the March 2008 general election.
“The letters state that they would resign and vacate their seat if they leave the party. But I don’t know who sent the letters to the Perak speaker. Jamaluddin’s and Mohd Osman’s letters are kept with the state party leadership,” Syed Husin said in a phone interview.
He said the PKR leadership “knew” that the two men had left the party because they did not respond to attempts to reach them, and based on statements by the Umno leadership that there were Pakatan Rakyat representatives ready to cross over.
“We did try to get their side of the story. I rang them up personally, so did (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, so did the Perak Menteri Besar and the state party chief, but they didn’t respond. Then, we knew things were going that way (that they were leaving) because of the things Umno was saying.
“If they want to fight it out in court, they can. We are ready to face a by-election,” Syed Husin said.
He also alleged that Umno had “coerced” Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman to leave PKR by promising that their corruption charges would be dropped
By Anwar Ibrahim
From The NutgraphBy Deborah Loh
PETALING JAYA, 2 Feb 2009: It will be hard for the two former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblypersons in Perak to challenge their own pre-signed, undated resignation letters, a constitutional lawyer said today.
Jamaluddin Mat Radzi, the assemblyperson for Behrang, and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu, the assemblyperson for Changkat Jering, can deny having sent the letters all they want, but the law’s view is that they have given prior consent to the terms contained in the letter, senior lawyer Tommy Thomas told The Nut Graph.
“The law begins from the premise that as an adult, once you sign a document, even if it is undated, and you leave it in another person’s care, you have signified your consent. The law assumes you had the right to say no when asked to sign it,” Thomas said in a phone interview today.
“Pre-signed resignation letters are a common practice by political parties all over the world and have been used many times before. Even if the [assemblypersons] now deny quitting, the fact is they signed that letter.
“If they try to challenge it, the law will say, who asked you to sign it in the first place? It will also be difficult for politicians to prove that they signed it under duress,” Thomas said.
Thomas was asked to comment on the legality of the pre-signed resignation letters sent to the Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar yesterday.
Later the same day, Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman denied having sent the letters to Sivakumar, adding that they were not vacating their seats. Both are holding press conferences today to state their position.
Jamaluddin was the state executive councillor for the development, cooperatives, agriculture and trade committee. Mohd Osman was in charge of the tourism, human development and non-governmental organisations committee.
Both men were charged on 25 Aug 2008 for accepting bribes in relation to developing a piece of land in Seri Iskandar.
Their letters were faxed to Sivakumar after they were incommunicado for five days. PKR and state government officials said attempts to contact the duo were futile.
PKR “knew” of defection
PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali confirmed that all party representatives had signed such letters before the March 2008 general election.
“The letters state that they would resign and vacate their seat if they leave the party. But I don’t know who sent the letters to the Perak speaker. Jamaluddin’s and Mohd Osman’s letters are kept with the state party leadership,” Syed Husin said in a phone interview.
He said the PKR leadership “knew” that the two men had left the party because they did not respond to attempts to reach them, and based on statements by the Umno leadership that there were Pakatan Rakyat representatives ready to cross over.
“We did try to get their side of the story. I rang them up personally, so did (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim, so did the Perak Menteri Besar and the state party chief, but they didn’t respond. Then, we knew things were going that way (that they were leaving) because of the things Umno was saying.
“If they want to fight it out in court, they can. We are ready to face a by-election,” Syed Husin said.
He also alleged that Umno had “coerced” Jamaluddin and Mohd Osman to leave PKR by promising that their corruption charges would be dropped
How I Survived Gaza
by Golani Brigade Soldier
Eleven days ago today, Israel terminated an operation after having reached a state of cease-fire with a cowardly and murderous foe. We pulled out of Gaza. I pulled out of Gaza.
We were first called up on a Shabbat, right at the end of ten months of regular training and an extra two months of specialized training with the whole brigade in the Golan Heights. We were told that Israel was preparing for a possible conflict with Gaza. We were allowed to stay in phone contact at the beginning, and we listened for news from our families, always better informed than the army. We heard the bombs falling near the Strip, and readied our gear. And we waited. And waited. Every day another rumor came in.
“We’re going today”
“We’re going today”
We waited a week.
We were sent the following Shabbat.
The first time we came back out, after twenty four hours, our unit was under the impression that all the other units would be coming out as well. A little R & R, and then back in. But only our soldiers arrived at the base. The others were in till the very end.
The next two weeks we were deployed over and over again into neighborhoods whose names are ingrained as if from childhood memory, and we were told to ready ourselves for the final operational steps the army was preparing.
Thank God, for us, those steps never came. After fighting through less densely packed urban neighborhoods and villages, as an army, we never had to enter the tightly packed urban nightmares of the inner cities.
“The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops.”A cease-fire was signed, and we pulled out with hatches open on our vehicles, waving flags and flashing the peace symbol even though no one was there to photograph it. After all, we were one of hundreds of squads returning. There was no way to record every tank and APC that came home. But it was cathartic, and made it official.
I saw many things. I heard things. While I was in Gaza.
I saw soldiers who were virulently anti-religious don tzitit under their bullet-proof armor. As one soldier said, “Why do I put it on now, if I never wore it before? When do you ask your father for help? When you need it.”
I saw heroes. Boys just out of high-school, young men who should have been playing sports or starting families or going to college, loading weapons and placing armor on their fragile frames, securing helmets, and checking gear.
They suppressed the fear that lurked at the edges of their minds, and as a unit swept across the fence and planted unwavering lines of boots in the soil of Gaza. I watched them fight like grown men against evil.
The first night we went in, we were unable to wear bullet-proof armor in my unit, and had to settle for flak vests (we couldn’t wear armor when we first went in because, due to the weight we were carrying, it would have hampered our movements, creating a safety hazard). My young commander, who had an easy load to carry that wouldn’t interfere with his vest, still left without bulletproof armor. “If my men don’t, I don’t”. I told him the next day, I would have followed him through the entire Arab world if need be, my respect for him was so great. I saw my brave wife, Chana, who came down to volunteer, just to be close to me, braving rockets and missiles, and watched her help soldiers by handing out desperately needed winter gear and food. I watched Chabadniks who came to us every day and inspired the soldiers with song and mitzvot. I saw heroes praying for our safety, and feeding us, and caring for us.
I saw pain. Just today, I ran into yet another friend from another unit, who tells me, when asked how he is, “I am fine from the neck down.” Sixteen of his friends were injured in a blast on the first night. He lost many more before the end. He is still sweet, still charming, but his laugh is more weary, and his eyes are sadder. Another friend in a different unit lost two-thirds of his whole platoon when a bomb destroyed their house. He says he walked in, and he saw limbs moving or laying still, and bodies unattached to them, hurting, dead. He still hasn’t pulled back completely. A former commander of mine died, and a friend lost his arm and use of his legs, and is still in a coma.
I saw lies. The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. My feet were on the ground and I saw the truth. I saw that warnings were given, I saw the enemy that fought us. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. I saw that it was with sadness and great anger Israeli troops recognized the need to fire on people who crossed the red line, the danger zone which meant they saw us, and knew where we were. Old people mined with bombs, children armed with detonators, tunnels that opened in the ground to swallow our soldiers. I watched my commanders passing out all of our food to the children who were taken prisoner. I received the commands “closed to fire on the right” if our intelligence had reported civilians in the area. I watched us, more often then not, taking cover when supposed civilian positions fired on us from “the right”. Yet the world thinks it can bend the truth. We werenot allowed to fire on schools. We were told not to loot. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops, so that we could tell the world we were attempting to scare the enemy while limiting civilian losses.
Yet they won’t say that in the press.
You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
I saw cowardice. We listened with concern when Hamas threatened to use snipers and bombs on us, to fight us every step of the way with their fifteen thousand man army, and we watched videos of full brigades parading, waving their weapons and threatening Israel. But as we invaded, they fled.
They would attack in small groups, hit us with missiles and sniper fire, and then flee. The ‘warriors’ of Hamas were brave when their rockets fell unanswered on the schools of children and the homes of elderly, but they did not stand when the enemy called them up to answer for their crimes.
I saw miracles. Rockets that blazed past our houses, bullets that scarred the outside of windows we were watching from. A unit near ours that was walking in to Gaza had RPGs pass straight between their ranks without hitting a single soldier. Mines that didn’t explode, mortar rounds that landed next to friends that didn’t explode. RPGs that blazed into the earthen barrier directly in front of our APC, detonating before penetration.
The night walk through a neighborhood that wasn’t on the map, that was full of snipers and mines according to reports, that we walked through unawares, by accident, without harm or incident. And that was just what we knew.
I felt fear. Every time I entered, every time I squeezed the trigger, every time a missile landed nearby, I was struck with fear. It is a deep fear, hard to explain. Your body shivers as if you are frozen to the core. You find yourself staring at the ground, trying to adjust to the ringing in your ears. You freeze, and unless someone slaps you, or you manage to shake yourself, your eyes stay downcast, and you lay numb on the earth, waiting without realizing. Eventually, your training pulls you out and forces you to stay alert, your gun snaps up, and adrenaline masks the fear and hurt. You roll on seemingly fearless, with adrenaline telling you that you are invincible.
I have felt weakness. I have felt my supposedly mighty muscles shudder, felt my devastatingly powerful weapon shake in my hands, felt my heart hammer against my armor, felt my soul and mind search for some way to avoid pain and the nightmares that were becoming real.
I felt strength. I would have been lost, but for the words of my Rebbe. “Ein od Milvado” There is no one but Him. The mere utterance strengthened limbs, and a surge of faith and hope carried me through the invasion, through the detonations and whistling of ricocheting rounds and falling bombs. For I knew, for once KNEW and understood absolutely that I was in the hands of the greatest general on earth. A veteran of every war and every conflict, the ultimate warrior and defender of His people. I remember the joy that swept through the lines when they said the head commander was entering the field, because of his experience and strategies, everyone felt safer. It reminded me that an even greater Commander had been there all along. I understood the words of Tehilim 147, “Not in the strength of the horse does He desire, and not in the legs of man does He favor. God favors those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness.” My strength had failed me, yet when I begged God to allow me tobe a conduit for His strength, to be His shield and a sword for His people, I was able to stand and fight. Those nights, my body was there, but God fought on that field.
I am not free of sin, and was by no means worthy of the miracles that befell me. That God aided me; that my entire battalion walked out, against all odds, while every other unit suffered losses, without serious casualty or mental scarring, was a miracle beyond any. That I was able to feel His strength replace mine, a gift for which I was undeserving.
My strength lay in the thousands of people who prayed for me, who prayed for the wellbeing of the army, who cried for the return of the fragile and precious Jewish youth who fought like lions where men twice their age would have fled. You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
You, the people who pray and cry and feel you are not the front lines, are truly the army of Hashem. The IDF, as people should see, is merely the physical arm of what your prayers accomplish. You are the ones in the battle. We are the holding action, delaying the physical evil while you battle to clear the path for Moshiach. Never again will I feel a yeshiva student who learns all day is not brave for not being with us on this field.
Because I watched the words and letters that he learned and prayed march ahead of us, thousands deep, and millions strong, absorbing the bullets and metal meant for me. I thank you, humbly, warriors of my heart and faith. You let me come home to my wife.
During this war, we received a tremendous outpouring of love and support; letters, donations, food, and clothing. In specific, because I know them, although without diminishing the greatness of all the people I don’t know, I want to thank my mother and her tireless blogging efforts, my family for their support and letters, my wife for being brave beyond any woman or man I have ever known.
I want to thank Congregation Tiferes Yisroel for remembering an old neighborhood kid, and multiplying that to help all my brothers in uniform. I want to thank all of the community in Baltimore for the davening and love that we felt even in the heart of darkness.
I want to thank the little six-year old who wrote, “Dear IDF, I am proud of you.” I cried over that letter, my tears running through the pain and stress as we recovered from Gaza.
I want to thank the people who donated money for the vests that saved our lives, the people that gave us clothes to warm our bodies, candy to warm our hearts, and letters to warm our souls. You cannot know what one pair of socks, one chocolate bar, or one hastily written sentence can do to save the minds and hearts of your children from despair.
I am not as gifted with words as my mother, nor a hero as great as those who marched beside me or filled the air with prayer around me, but I hope from this letter, from my fumbling thoughts you can draw for yourself the love and hope I am trying to convey.
I have seen this people, my people, at its best and at its worst. I can see why Redemption will come soon. As a nation, we drew together. Disunity, differences in Kippot or sects fell away, and everyone reached out to help as best they could. No one said, “I have no part” or “This isn’t my war”.
May Hashem see the greatness of His holy, beautiful people, and allow me to sing that old song to my child, with absolute truth and great joy: “I promise, my little one, that this is the last war.”
Joshua Eastman made aliyah from Baltimore in 2005. He met his wife, Chana, on a trip back to Baltimore; and the two of them live in Givat Ze’ev. Joshua is currently a full-time soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. When he can get near a computer, he blogs about his life in Israel at “Through Josh-Colored Glasses,”
Eleven days ago today, Israel terminated an operation after having reached a state of cease-fire with a cowardly and murderous foe. We pulled out of Gaza. I pulled out of Gaza.
We were first called up on a Shabbat, right at the end of ten months of regular training and an extra two months of specialized training with the whole brigade in the Golan Heights. We were told that Israel was preparing for a possible conflict with Gaza. We were allowed to stay in phone contact at the beginning, and we listened for news from our families, always better informed than the army. We heard the bombs falling near the Strip, and readied our gear. And we waited. And waited. Every day another rumor came in.
“We’re going today”
“We’re going today”
We waited a week.
We were sent the following Shabbat.
The first time we came back out, after twenty four hours, our unit was under the impression that all the other units would be coming out as well. A little R & R, and then back in. But only our soldiers arrived at the base. The others were in till the very end.
The next two weeks we were deployed over and over again into neighborhoods whose names are ingrained as if from childhood memory, and we were told to ready ourselves for the final operational steps the army was preparing.
Thank God, for us, those steps never came. After fighting through less densely packed urban neighborhoods and villages, as an army, we never had to enter the tightly packed urban nightmares of the inner cities.
“The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops.”A cease-fire was signed, and we pulled out with hatches open on our vehicles, waving flags and flashing the peace symbol even though no one was there to photograph it. After all, we were one of hundreds of squads returning. There was no way to record every tank and APC that came home. But it was cathartic, and made it official.
I saw many things. I heard things. While I was in Gaza.
I saw soldiers who were virulently anti-religious don tzitit under their bullet-proof armor. As one soldier said, “Why do I put it on now, if I never wore it before? When do you ask your father for help? When you need it.”
I saw heroes. Boys just out of high-school, young men who should have been playing sports or starting families or going to college, loading weapons and placing armor on their fragile frames, securing helmets, and checking gear.
They suppressed the fear that lurked at the edges of their minds, and as a unit swept across the fence and planted unwavering lines of boots in the soil of Gaza. I watched them fight like grown men against evil.
The first night we went in, we were unable to wear bullet-proof armor in my unit, and had to settle for flak vests (we couldn’t wear armor when we first went in because, due to the weight we were carrying, it would have hampered our movements, creating a safety hazard). My young commander, who had an easy load to carry that wouldn’t interfere with his vest, still left without bulletproof armor. “If my men don’t, I don’t”. I told him the next day, I would have followed him through the entire Arab world if need be, my respect for him was so great. I saw my brave wife, Chana, who came down to volunteer, just to be close to me, braving rockets and missiles, and watched her help soldiers by handing out desperately needed winter gear and food. I watched Chabadniks who came to us every day and inspired the soldiers with song and mitzvot. I saw heroes praying for our safety, and feeding us, and caring for us.
I saw pain. Just today, I ran into yet another friend from another unit, who tells me, when asked how he is, “I am fine from the neck down.” Sixteen of his friends were injured in a blast on the first night. He lost many more before the end. He is still sweet, still charming, but his laugh is more weary, and his eyes are sadder. Another friend in a different unit lost two-thirds of his whole platoon when a bomb destroyed their house. He says he walked in, and he saw limbs moving or laying still, and bodies unattached to them, hurting, dead. He still hasn’t pulled back completely. A former commander of mine died, and a friend lost his arm and use of his legs, and is still in a coma.
I saw lies. The world is already trying to fault Israel, telling everyone that civilians died, and Israelis murdered. But I was there. My feet were on the ground and I saw the truth. I saw that warnings were given, I saw the enemy that fought us. I saw the twelve year olds with missiles and RPGs strapped to their backs. I saw that it was with sadness and great anger Israeli troops recognized the need to fire on people who crossed the red line, the danger zone which meant they saw us, and knew where we were. Old people mined with bombs, children armed with detonators, tunnels that opened in the ground to swallow our soldiers. I watched my commanders passing out all of our food to the children who were taken prisoner. I received the commands “closed to fire on the right” if our intelligence had reported civilians in the area. I watched us, more often then not, taking cover when supposed civilian positions fired on us from “the right”. Yet the world thinks it can bend the truth. We werenot allowed to fire on schools. We were told not to loot. We watched in anger as our bombs, so as not to fall on large civilian centers, fell on our own troops, so that we could tell the world we were attempting to scare the enemy while limiting civilian losses.
Yet they won’t say that in the press.
You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
I saw cowardice. We listened with concern when Hamas threatened to use snipers and bombs on us, to fight us every step of the way with their fifteen thousand man army, and we watched videos of full brigades parading, waving their weapons and threatening Israel. But as we invaded, they fled.
They would attack in small groups, hit us with missiles and sniper fire, and then flee. The ‘warriors’ of Hamas were brave when their rockets fell unanswered on the schools of children and the homes of elderly, but they did not stand when the enemy called them up to answer for their crimes.
I saw miracles. Rockets that blazed past our houses, bullets that scarred the outside of windows we were watching from. A unit near ours that was walking in to Gaza had RPGs pass straight between their ranks without hitting a single soldier. Mines that didn’t explode, mortar rounds that landed next to friends that didn’t explode. RPGs that blazed into the earthen barrier directly in front of our APC, detonating before penetration.
The night walk through a neighborhood that wasn’t on the map, that was full of snipers and mines according to reports, that we walked through unawares, by accident, without harm or incident. And that was just what we knew.
I felt fear. Every time I entered, every time I squeezed the trigger, every time a missile landed nearby, I was struck with fear. It is a deep fear, hard to explain. Your body shivers as if you are frozen to the core. You find yourself staring at the ground, trying to adjust to the ringing in your ears. You freeze, and unless someone slaps you, or you manage to shake yourself, your eyes stay downcast, and you lay numb on the earth, waiting without realizing. Eventually, your training pulls you out and forces you to stay alert, your gun snaps up, and adrenaline masks the fear and hurt. You roll on seemingly fearless, with adrenaline telling you that you are invincible.
I have felt weakness. I have felt my supposedly mighty muscles shudder, felt my devastatingly powerful weapon shake in my hands, felt my heart hammer against my armor, felt my soul and mind search for some way to avoid pain and the nightmares that were becoming real.
I felt strength. I would have been lost, but for the words of my Rebbe. “Ein od Milvado” There is no one but Him. The mere utterance strengthened limbs, and a surge of faith and hope carried me through the invasion, through the detonations and whistling of ricocheting rounds and falling bombs. For I knew, for once KNEW and understood absolutely that I was in the hands of the greatest general on earth. A veteran of every war and every conflict, the ultimate warrior and defender of His people. I remember the joy that swept through the lines when they said the head commander was entering the field, because of his experience and strategies, everyone felt safer. It reminded me that an even greater Commander had been there all along. I understood the words of Tehilim 147, “Not in the strength of the horse does He desire, and not in the legs of man does He favor. God favors those who fear Him, those who hope for His kindness.” My strength had failed me, yet when I begged God to allow me tobe a conduit for His strength, to be His shield and a sword for His people, I was able to stand and fight. Those nights, my body was there, but God fought on that field.
I am not free of sin, and was by no means worthy of the miracles that befell me. That God aided me; that my entire battalion walked out, against all odds, while every other unit suffered losses, without serious casualty or mental scarring, was a miracle beyond any. That I was able to feel His strength replace mine, a gift for which I was undeserving.
My strength lay in the thousands of people who prayed for me, who prayed for the wellbeing of the army, who cried for the return of the fragile and precious Jewish youth who fought like lions where men twice their age would have fled. You are the reason we returned. You are the reason I am alive.
You, the people who pray and cry and feel you are not the front lines, are truly the army of Hashem. The IDF, as people should see, is merely the physical arm of what your prayers accomplish. You are the ones in the battle. We are the holding action, delaying the physical evil while you battle to clear the path for Moshiach. Never again will I feel a yeshiva student who learns all day is not brave for not being with us on this field.
Because I watched the words and letters that he learned and prayed march ahead of us, thousands deep, and millions strong, absorbing the bullets and metal meant for me. I thank you, humbly, warriors of my heart and faith. You let me come home to my wife.
During this war, we received a tremendous outpouring of love and support; letters, donations, food, and clothing. In specific, because I know them, although without diminishing the greatness of all the people I don’t know, I want to thank my mother and her tireless blogging efforts, my family for their support and letters, my wife for being brave beyond any woman or man I have ever known.
I want to thank Congregation Tiferes Yisroel for remembering an old neighborhood kid, and multiplying that to help all my brothers in uniform. I want to thank all of the community in Baltimore for the davening and love that we felt even in the heart of darkness.
I want to thank the little six-year old who wrote, “Dear IDF, I am proud of you.” I cried over that letter, my tears running through the pain and stress as we recovered from Gaza.
I want to thank the people who donated money for the vests that saved our lives, the people that gave us clothes to warm our bodies, candy to warm our hearts, and letters to warm our souls. You cannot know what one pair of socks, one chocolate bar, or one hastily written sentence can do to save the minds and hearts of your children from despair.
I am not as gifted with words as my mother, nor a hero as great as those who marched beside me or filled the air with prayer around me, but I hope from this letter, from my fumbling thoughts you can draw for yourself the love and hope I am trying to convey.
I have seen this people, my people, at its best and at its worst. I can see why Redemption will come soon. As a nation, we drew together. Disunity, differences in Kippot or sects fell away, and everyone reached out to help as best they could. No one said, “I have no part” or “This isn’t my war”.
May Hashem see the greatness of His holy, beautiful people, and allow me to sing that old song to my child, with absolute truth and great joy: “I promise, my little one, that this is the last war.”
Joshua Eastman made aliyah from Baltimore in 2005. He met his wife, Chana, on a trip back to Baltimore; and the two of them live in Givat Ze’ev. Joshua is currently a full-time soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. When he can get near a computer, he blogs about his life in Israel at “Through Josh-Colored Glasses,”
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Can Najib emulate Obama to embody change?
By Mr. Lim Kit Siang
Can Datuk Seri Najib Razak emulate Barack Obama to embody change and inspire Malaysians with the same hope of a “dream come true” as Obama has been able to evoke from the American people as witnessed in the inauguration of the 44th United States President yesterday?
This is the natural question to ask following Najib’s acknowledgement that Obama won election as the first African American president of the United States because he pushed for and embodied change.
Can Najib’s warning that Umno and Barisan Nasional must change or perish in the next general election be taken seriously, when he had just spearheaded the Barisan Nasional’s Kuala Terengganu “buy-election” campaign where money politics and electoral corruption had reigned supreme?
It is no exaggeration to say that the newly-formed Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC, slated as the cornerstone of the “change” promised by the outgoing Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had been the greatest casualty in the Kuala Terengganu “buy-election”.
Who could believe that the MACC could become a second ICAC (Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption) in its fearless and successful campaign against corruption, without fear or favour, when MACC dared not even send a special team to curb and prosecute corrupt practices in the Kuala Terengganu by-election?
What credibility could MACC have when it was forced to delay charging a former Barisan Nasional state assembly representative in Selangor for corruption so as not to affect the outcome of the Kuala Terengganu by-election, as reported by Malaysiakini three days before the by-election polling?
Immediately after the by-election, MACC sprang into action to convince Malaysians of its prowess, announcing that a senior Perak Umno official and two others would be charged for money politics in UMNO – involving sums of money ranging from RM200 to RM300!
Instead of impressing Malaysians, the MACC will immediately become a laughing-stock if all it could do is to continue to fry ‘ikan bilis’ while the ‘ikan yus” of corrupt practices whether in the Umno party elections or the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election remain scot-free!
It is reported today that the Umno disciplinary board has yet to submit 900 reports of alleged money politics during the recent Umno divisional and branch meetings to the MACC.
All such reports which concern corruption should be referred directly to MACC for action and not be sieved and filtered by the Umno disciplinary board which had never been known for its independence, impartiality or professionalism.
If Najib is to emulate Obama and embody change, then let him stand up and express his shock and outrage at the most disappointing start of the MACC to become an effective and fearless anti-corruption agency like Hong Kong’s ICAC in its first three weeks of operation from January 1 and to declare his full support to the MACC to act against corrupt practices both in the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election and Umno party elections.
Can Datuk Seri Najib Razak emulate Barack Obama to embody change and inspire Malaysians with the same hope of a “dream come true” as Obama has been able to evoke from the American people as witnessed in the inauguration of the 44th United States President yesterday?
This is the natural question to ask following Najib’s acknowledgement that Obama won election as the first African American president of the United States because he pushed for and embodied change.
Can Najib’s warning that Umno and Barisan Nasional must change or perish in the next general election be taken seriously, when he had just spearheaded the Barisan Nasional’s Kuala Terengganu “buy-election” campaign where money politics and electoral corruption had reigned supreme?
It is no exaggeration to say that the newly-formed Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC, slated as the cornerstone of the “change” promised by the outgoing Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had been the greatest casualty in the Kuala Terengganu “buy-election”.
Who could believe that the MACC could become a second ICAC (Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption) in its fearless and successful campaign against corruption, without fear or favour, when MACC dared not even send a special team to curb and prosecute corrupt practices in the Kuala Terengganu by-election?
What credibility could MACC have when it was forced to delay charging a former Barisan Nasional state assembly representative in Selangor for corruption so as not to affect the outcome of the Kuala Terengganu by-election, as reported by Malaysiakini three days before the by-election polling?
Immediately after the by-election, MACC sprang into action to convince Malaysians of its prowess, announcing that a senior Perak Umno official and two others would be charged for money politics in UMNO – involving sums of money ranging from RM200 to RM300!
Instead of impressing Malaysians, the MACC will immediately become a laughing-stock if all it could do is to continue to fry ‘ikan bilis’ while the ‘ikan yus” of corrupt practices whether in the Umno party elections or the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election remain scot-free!
It is reported today that the Umno disciplinary board has yet to submit 900 reports of alleged money politics during the recent Umno divisional and branch meetings to the MACC.
All such reports which concern corruption should be referred directly to MACC for action and not be sieved and filtered by the Umno disciplinary board which had never been known for its independence, impartiality or professionalism.
If Najib is to emulate Obama and embody change, then let him stand up and express his shock and outrage at the most disappointing start of the MACC to become an effective and fearless anti-corruption agency like Hong Kong’s ICAC in its first three weeks of operation from January 1 and to declare his full support to the MACC to act against corrupt practices both in the recent Kuala Terengganu by-election and Umno party elections.
Obama's inaugural speech
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.
Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programmes will end.
And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.
And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.
With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.
Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.
Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.
The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.
Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year.
Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.
We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programmes will end.
And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous.
The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake.
And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.
They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.
With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.
Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Focus on Trengganu
By Dr. Azly Rahman
Focus on Trengganu: Will radical marhaenism replace barisan nasionalism?
Barisan nasionalism -- that hollow rhetoric of power-sharing amongst parties with elusive sense of imagined commnity -- is giving way for Radical Multiculturalism, or to be more accurate Malaysia's Radical Marhaenism, one that focuses on the emerging growing voices of the multicultural poor yearning to break free from Malaysia's five-decade ideological shackle.There is a sense of meaninglessness in the word "Agenda Melayu" these days. There is also a sense of fear of holding on to power for too long when the rakyat has lost its trust in a government that is no longer gentle, let alone clean, efficient or trustworthy. The Internet is helping raise critical awareness of what actually is going on. The blogs have become our last frontier of the spaces of justice we are yet to discover."Thus Sprach Cyberspace" as a philosopher would say.What goes on inside the mind of the present coalition is this: it wants to have a strong check and balance as being a coalition with absolute power can also be a painful experience. More force is needed to stop the growing wave of dissent. How much of the ideological state apparatuses must one abuse? "Dissent is patriotic", as American philosopher statesman Thomas Jefferson once said. More water cannons, laced with chemicals are needed in a toxic democracy such as Malaysia's on the eve of choosing a new regime. To be patriotic, one must dissent.But there is still hope for detoxification. We all want this – ruling party or the opposition, regardless. It is a dictate of the mandate of heaven. We must go for a strong check and balance system.Malaysia has achieved the goals for Agenda Melayu. Time's up – game over? The 2007 report by ASLI spearheaded by eminent scholar Dr. Lim Teck Ghee gave us a glimpse of objectivity in reporting what ought to be reported in regard to the economic pie Malaysians are so obsessed with.We need to spend the next 50 years making Agenda Bangsa Malaysia a reality. We need a political will to go with it. We must be brave to ride the new wave of change – as brave as the astronaut we sent to experience the joys of being in outer space.Agenda Melayu a bad excuseAgenda Melayu has become a leit motif at best and a bad excuse at worst for the few to oligopolise this resource rich nation; a nation whose oil revenues should have best been used to finance the education, welfare and health services of Malaysians of all races instead of building tall structures and "corridors" to showcase the autocracy of our oriental despotism. Instead of building "corridors" all over, one might ask: why not build affordable houses for the poor and build minds that will learn how to live ethical lives and resuscitate this nation? These corridors will ultimately be of benefit only to local elites that will be plundering the nation in concert and in cohort with foreign investors from faraway and nearby lands. Or, why not meet the needs of Indian Malaysians and all those that are still in abject poverty?Agenda Melayu is a base and superstructure of the hegemony of one race that lives and breathes the spirit of neo-cybernetic-feudalistic construction of elusive and heterogeneous power; a modern-day daulat that has lost the magic of "divine rights" that never was there in the first place – the power derived from materials, artifacts and the politics of language that colonises the mind of the silently-reproduced Malay.The rise of Makkal Shakti (People Power) through Hindraf, the emergence of a yellow wave through Bersih, the persistence of rallies, the uncertainty of socio-political stability, and the increase in the use of state apparatuses to crush dissenting viewpoints – all these are the symptoms of mass dissatisfaction against the regime in power that is begging for a fresh mandate.Unembarassingly too, Malaysian education ministries avowed their contradictory stand on political culture by releasing statements the students can cast political votes but cannot be involved politically. Education as an enterprise to create good citizens and through ars liberalis (the arts of the free man/women) has become a huge conveyor belt to create minds filter-funneled with ideologies of an outdated race-based politics surviving on the modus operandi of fear, ferociousness and phantasmagoric proclamations of world-class this or that.The writings are on the wall. The graffiti of our national grouses and grievances are even written on the walls of that Petronas Twin Tower, a Caesar Pelli-an symbol of the Malay Agenda. We want to reach the heights that imitate the advanced industrial nation but our political and civic consciousness can at times be in the pits of neanderthalism. The height of this abysmal consciousness is embalmed in the Royal Commission of Inquiry, epitomised in the ideology of "Lingam-ism". The narratives that we read on the proceedings of inquiry into the conduct of the judiciary is like a freestyle of a most vulgar form of gangsta rap that humiliates the minds of Malaysians yearning for blind justice to prevail.Issues before the general electionThe issues before the Malaysian general election are plenty, namely:As it affects Malaysians of Malay origin, the continuing growth of the abject poor, now sprawling in the urban areas, the continuing exposure of corruption amongst primarily Malay leaders of the ruling regime, the clampdown on dissenting views in public universities and the recent warning by the minister of higher education for students not to be engaged in politics, the unresolved mystery of the Altantunya murder case involving Malay suspects, and the rising prices of basic necessities as a result of the rise of oil price.As it affects Malaysians of Chinese origin, the continuing dissatisfaction of the way the NEP has favoured one race over others in terms of educational funding across the board.As it affects Malaysians of Indian origin, the continuing marginalisation of the community left to fend for themselves in abject poverty, the demolition of Hindu temples, the neglect of their basic education via neglect of Tamil schools, and the continuing detention without trial of the five Hindraf activists as a result of the clampdown on now the internationally-broadcasted rally for their rights.As it affects all Malaysians, the uncertainty of what is to be derived out of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the "Lingam Tape" in which the public is now confused on the matter of how much information is being given to ascertain if indeed the entire workings of the judicial system is based on unethical practices; one allegedly based on rigging of the appointment of judges.As it affects the rights of the indigenous people such as the Orang Asli and the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, the systematic effort of failing to protect their rights in face of hypermodernity the government has embarked upon.The tightly controlled government media has been playing up and down issues before the general election. It has played up Barisan Nasional's "confidence of a winning big" at a time unlike the previous elections in which the Internet was never a tool of counter-hegemony. It is assumed that the ruling party will continue to be given the mandate (more that 2/3 majority) at every election even though the issues mentioned above continue to be unresolved. The nation continues to see parties carrying their baggage and unresolved critical issues into this election.New masks, old spiritsThe ruling party assumes that by announcing that "new faces" will be introduced to replace the old despots, the system will be rejuvenated, somewhat like a political dialysis. This reminds one of the blood transfusions of Keith Richards, the stoned-aged-but-still-alive guitarist of the legendary rock group The Rolling Stones; whose life defies the stories of the dangers of drug addiction. It is assumed that by getting new individuals to run in the elections, a fresh mandate to carry out the Malay agenda will be given.But the issue is not about propping up new individuals – it is about ideology and institutions that support it. It is about a race-based ideology that is no longer in sync with changing times, as if the cognitive capacity of the nation will never progress and surpass the ideology of the Malay Agenda.The overplayed doctrine of "Malay dictatorship/hegemony" (Ketuanan Melayu), an arrogant sounding developmentalist agenda pillared upon arrogant and truncated theories of development which brushes off new findings on the ownership of the NEP, continue to dominate the mind of campaign strategists.The biggest issue before this election is the ideological shift. Because Umno as the dominant party actually does not have an ideology, except sentimentality and authority to deploy the ideological state apparatuses, and because the dissatisfaction of the masses/rakyat is growing in leaps and bounds and is tsunami-ing the streets, we have got a national problem.What will the election bring us? It is you and I who will decide.Did Marx the historian not say that we must become makers of our own history?Or - if we are to become a superstitious nation who believes in numerology, we must also believe in a mandate of heaven, where it rains change predictably.
Focus on Trengganu: Will radical marhaenism replace barisan nasionalism?
Barisan nasionalism -- that hollow rhetoric of power-sharing amongst parties with elusive sense of imagined commnity -- is giving way for Radical Multiculturalism, or to be more accurate Malaysia's Radical Marhaenism, one that focuses on the emerging growing voices of the multicultural poor yearning to break free from Malaysia's five-decade ideological shackle.There is a sense of meaninglessness in the word "Agenda Melayu" these days. There is also a sense of fear of holding on to power for too long when the rakyat has lost its trust in a government that is no longer gentle, let alone clean, efficient or trustworthy. The Internet is helping raise critical awareness of what actually is going on. The blogs have become our last frontier of the spaces of justice we are yet to discover."Thus Sprach Cyberspace" as a philosopher would say.What goes on inside the mind of the present coalition is this: it wants to have a strong check and balance as being a coalition with absolute power can also be a painful experience. More force is needed to stop the growing wave of dissent. How much of the ideological state apparatuses must one abuse? "Dissent is patriotic", as American philosopher statesman Thomas Jefferson once said. More water cannons, laced with chemicals are needed in a toxic democracy such as Malaysia's on the eve of choosing a new regime. To be patriotic, one must dissent.But there is still hope for detoxification. We all want this – ruling party or the opposition, regardless. It is a dictate of the mandate of heaven. We must go for a strong check and balance system.Malaysia has achieved the goals for Agenda Melayu. Time's up – game over? The 2007 report by ASLI spearheaded by eminent scholar Dr. Lim Teck Ghee gave us a glimpse of objectivity in reporting what ought to be reported in regard to the economic pie Malaysians are so obsessed with.We need to spend the next 50 years making Agenda Bangsa Malaysia a reality. We need a political will to go with it. We must be brave to ride the new wave of change – as brave as the astronaut we sent to experience the joys of being in outer space.Agenda Melayu a bad excuseAgenda Melayu has become a leit motif at best and a bad excuse at worst for the few to oligopolise this resource rich nation; a nation whose oil revenues should have best been used to finance the education, welfare and health services of Malaysians of all races instead of building tall structures and "corridors" to showcase the autocracy of our oriental despotism. Instead of building "corridors" all over, one might ask: why not build affordable houses for the poor and build minds that will learn how to live ethical lives and resuscitate this nation? These corridors will ultimately be of benefit only to local elites that will be plundering the nation in concert and in cohort with foreign investors from faraway and nearby lands. Or, why not meet the needs of Indian Malaysians and all those that are still in abject poverty?Agenda Melayu is a base and superstructure of the hegemony of one race that lives and breathes the spirit of neo-cybernetic-feudalistic construction of elusive and heterogeneous power; a modern-day daulat that has lost the magic of "divine rights" that never was there in the first place – the power derived from materials, artifacts and the politics of language that colonises the mind of the silently-reproduced Malay.The rise of Makkal Shakti (People Power) through Hindraf, the emergence of a yellow wave through Bersih, the persistence of rallies, the uncertainty of socio-political stability, and the increase in the use of state apparatuses to crush dissenting viewpoints – all these are the symptoms of mass dissatisfaction against the regime in power that is begging for a fresh mandate.Unembarassingly too, Malaysian education ministries avowed their contradictory stand on political culture by releasing statements the students can cast political votes but cannot be involved politically. Education as an enterprise to create good citizens and through ars liberalis (the arts of the free man/women) has become a huge conveyor belt to create minds filter-funneled with ideologies of an outdated race-based politics surviving on the modus operandi of fear, ferociousness and phantasmagoric proclamations of world-class this or that.The writings are on the wall. The graffiti of our national grouses and grievances are even written on the walls of that Petronas Twin Tower, a Caesar Pelli-an symbol of the Malay Agenda. We want to reach the heights that imitate the advanced industrial nation but our political and civic consciousness can at times be in the pits of neanderthalism. The height of this abysmal consciousness is embalmed in the Royal Commission of Inquiry, epitomised in the ideology of "Lingam-ism". The narratives that we read on the proceedings of inquiry into the conduct of the judiciary is like a freestyle of a most vulgar form of gangsta rap that humiliates the minds of Malaysians yearning for blind justice to prevail.Issues before the general electionThe issues before the Malaysian general election are plenty, namely:As it affects Malaysians of Malay origin, the continuing growth of the abject poor, now sprawling in the urban areas, the continuing exposure of corruption amongst primarily Malay leaders of the ruling regime, the clampdown on dissenting views in public universities and the recent warning by the minister of higher education for students not to be engaged in politics, the unresolved mystery of the Altantunya murder case involving Malay suspects, and the rising prices of basic necessities as a result of the rise of oil price.As it affects Malaysians of Chinese origin, the continuing dissatisfaction of the way the NEP has favoured one race over others in terms of educational funding across the board.As it affects Malaysians of Indian origin, the continuing marginalisation of the community left to fend for themselves in abject poverty, the demolition of Hindu temples, the neglect of their basic education via neglect of Tamil schools, and the continuing detention without trial of the five Hindraf activists as a result of the clampdown on now the internationally-broadcasted rally for their rights.As it affects all Malaysians, the uncertainty of what is to be derived out of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the "Lingam Tape" in which the public is now confused on the matter of how much information is being given to ascertain if indeed the entire workings of the judicial system is based on unethical practices; one allegedly based on rigging of the appointment of judges.As it affects the rights of the indigenous people such as the Orang Asli and the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, the systematic effort of failing to protect their rights in face of hypermodernity the government has embarked upon.The tightly controlled government media has been playing up and down issues before the general election. It has played up Barisan Nasional's "confidence of a winning big" at a time unlike the previous elections in which the Internet was never a tool of counter-hegemony. It is assumed that the ruling party will continue to be given the mandate (more that 2/3 majority) at every election even though the issues mentioned above continue to be unresolved. The nation continues to see parties carrying their baggage and unresolved critical issues into this election.New masks, old spiritsThe ruling party assumes that by announcing that "new faces" will be introduced to replace the old despots, the system will be rejuvenated, somewhat like a political dialysis. This reminds one of the blood transfusions of Keith Richards, the stoned-aged-but-still-alive guitarist of the legendary rock group The Rolling Stones; whose life defies the stories of the dangers of drug addiction. It is assumed that by getting new individuals to run in the elections, a fresh mandate to carry out the Malay agenda will be given.But the issue is not about propping up new individuals – it is about ideology and institutions that support it. It is about a race-based ideology that is no longer in sync with changing times, as if the cognitive capacity of the nation will never progress and surpass the ideology of the Malay Agenda.The overplayed doctrine of "Malay dictatorship/hegemony" (Ketuanan Melayu), an arrogant sounding developmentalist agenda pillared upon arrogant and truncated theories of development which brushes off new findings on the ownership of the NEP, continue to dominate the mind of campaign strategists.The biggest issue before this election is the ideological shift. Because Umno as the dominant party actually does not have an ideology, except sentimentality and authority to deploy the ideological state apparatuses, and because the dissatisfaction of the masses/rakyat is growing in leaps and bounds and is tsunami-ing the streets, we have got a national problem.What will the election bring us? It is you and I who will decide.Did Marx the historian not say that we must become makers of our own history?Or - if we are to become a superstitious nation who believes in numerology, we must also believe in a mandate of heaven, where it rains change predictably.
Kuala Terengganu debate on "Who should apologise?"
By Mr Lim Kit Siang
DAP challenge to MCA – KT debate on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?”
For starters, 5 reasons why MCA owes apology not only to Chinese voters in KT but to all Malaysians
In rejoinder to the demand by the MCA Vice President and Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai that the DAP apologise to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu for misleading them on the hudud issue, DAP had challenged MCA to a debate on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?” in Kuala Terengganu before the by-election on Saturday.
While DAP awaits the MCA response, let me give advance notice to the MCA leadership that there is a long catalogue of things MCA must apologise not only to the Malaysian Chinese in Kuala Terengganu but to all Malaysians, and it is most appropriate that this is done in Kuala Terengganu.
The catalogue of MCA failures and misdeeds range from the dismal performance of the current MCA leadership, the pathetic MCA record in Barisan Nasional, the shameful MCA failure to live up to the ideas and ideals of the MCA founding fathers like Tun Tan Cheng Lock to its shocking betrayal of the cardinal nation-building principles for Malaya and later Malaysia as embodied in the Merdeka “social contract” of 1957.
For a start, let me just cite five reasons why MCA owes not only the Malaysian Chinese but all Malaysians a fulsome apology.
Firstly, the failures of the present batch of MCA leaders in government.
1. RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal. The continued cover-up of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bail-out scandal by the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat, although Ong had promised when he was appointed Transport Minister 10 months ago that he would “inform the rakyat about the true situation” about the PKFZ scandal.
Up till today, Ong is unable to answer the Five Questions about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal which I had posed to him nine months ago after his public pledge to “tell all” about PKFZ, particularly about the history of impropriety in land transactions, illegal issue of Letters of Support, Cabinet bailouts and retrospective ratification of illegal decisions by the two previous Transport Ministers, Tun Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chong Kong Choy although he had all the answers without having to await the outcome of the PricewaterhouseCooper audit report.
Let Ong answer the Five Questions about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal in Kuala Terengganu.
2. Worst dengue epidemic in Malaysia. Another MCA Ministerial failure, this time by the MCA Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, who had shown shocking indifference, unconcern and irresponsibility at the worst dengue epidemic in the nation’s history, recording the highest number of dengue cases and dengue deaths with 112 casualties last year.
3. Malaysians are no more safe in their own country. MCA boasts as the second most important party in the Barisan Nasional coalition. It has also a Deputy Home Minister. MCA must apologise and bear full responsibility for the serious breakdown of law-and-order in Malaysia, where with soaring crime, no one can feel safe any more in the country whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes, and Malaysian citizens, tourists and investors have lost the two fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime.
MCA must also come forward to apologise for
(i) failing to stand up for meaningful police reforms to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service dedicated to the three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights as by implementing the key recommendation of the Royal Police Commission, establishing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC); and
(ii) the abuse of police powers like the recent arbitrary arrests under the Internal Security Act of Sin Chew senior reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng, DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin; the police harassment of Jerit cyclists demanding national reforms and the arrests of peaceful demonstrators against the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and Tamils in Sri Lanka.
4. Deteriorating education standards. Apart from being part of the Barisan Nasional government, MCA has also a Deputy Education Minister, pinning direct responsibility for the increasing educational woes in the country, with deteriorating educational standards as highlighted by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 results (blacked out by the Education Ministry for over a month), continuing “brain drain” of the best and brightest in Malaysia at all levels of education and the continued discrimination against Chinese and Tamil primary schools in terms of fair and equitable government funding and development for all schools.
MCA owes Malaysian Chinese and all Malaysians an apology for the Barisan Nasional government’s failure to fully appreciate that a country’s educational system is a key element in establishing competitive advantage in an increasingly global economy – highlighted by Malaysian universities falling out of the world’s top 200 Universities (Times Higher Education Supplement ranking) and even the world’s best 500 Universities (Shanghai Jiao Tong Univeristy ranking).
5. Corruption As part of Barisan Nasional, MCA cannot disclaim responsibility for the deplorable state of corruption in Malaysia, with Malaysia’s ranking on Transparency International Corruption Perception Index plunging from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 in 2003 and lower to No. 47 in 2008 - with the high risk of Malaysia falling below the 50th ranking in coming years. Is MCA prepared to apologise to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu and all Malaysians for such dismal record in accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance after half a century in power at the national level?
These five instances are just openers for there are many more reasons why MCA owes an abject apology not only to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu but to all Malaysians for its dismal political record in government whether for the present or the past – which would be enumerated if MCA dares to accept the DAP challenge to a public debate in Kuala Terengganu on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?”
DAP challenge to MCA – KT debate on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?”
For starters, 5 reasons why MCA owes apology not only to Chinese voters in KT but to all Malaysians
In rejoinder to the demand by the MCA Vice President and Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai that the DAP apologise to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu for misleading them on the hudud issue, DAP had challenged MCA to a debate on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?” in Kuala Terengganu before the by-election on Saturday.
While DAP awaits the MCA response, let me give advance notice to the MCA leadership that there is a long catalogue of things MCA must apologise not only to the Malaysian Chinese in Kuala Terengganu but to all Malaysians, and it is most appropriate that this is done in Kuala Terengganu.
The catalogue of MCA failures and misdeeds range from the dismal performance of the current MCA leadership, the pathetic MCA record in Barisan Nasional, the shameful MCA failure to live up to the ideas and ideals of the MCA founding fathers like Tun Tan Cheng Lock to its shocking betrayal of the cardinal nation-building principles for Malaya and later Malaysia as embodied in the Merdeka “social contract” of 1957.
For a start, let me just cite five reasons why MCA owes not only the Malaysian Chinese but all Malaysians a fulsome apology.
Firstly, the failures of the present batch of MCA leaders in government.
1. RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal. The continued cover-up of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bail-out scandal by the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat, although Ong had promised when he was appointed Transport Minister 10 months ago that he would “inform the rakyat about the true situation” about the PKFZ scandal.
Up till today, Ong is unable to answer the Five Questions about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal which I had posed to him nine months ago after his public pledge to “tell all” about PKFZ, particularly about the history of impropriety in land transactions, illegal issue of Letters of Support, Cabinet bailouts and retrospective ratification of illegal decisions by the two previous Transport Ministers, Tun Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chong Kong Choy although he had all the answers without having to await the outcome of the PricewaterhouseCooper audit report.
Let Ong answer the Five Questions about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal in Kuala Terengganu.
2. Worst dengue epidemic in Malaysia. Another MCA Ministerial failure, this time by the MCA Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, who had shown shocking indifference, unconcern and irresponsibility at the worst dengue epidemic in the nation’s history, recording the highest number of dengue cases and dengue deaths with 112 casualties last year.
3. Malaysians are no more safe in their own country. MCA boasts as the second most important party in the Barisan Nasional coalition. It has also a Deputy Home Minister. MCA must apologise and bear full responsibility for the serious breakdown of law-and-order in Malaysia, where with soaring crime, no one can feel safe any more in the country whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes, and Malaysian citizens, tourists and investors have lost the two fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime.
MCA must also come forward to apologise for
(i) failing to stand up for meaningful police reforms to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service dedicated to the three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights as by implementing the key recommendation of the Royal Police Commission, establishing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC); and
(ii) the abuse of police powers like the recent arbitrary arrests under the Internal Security Act of Sin Chew senior reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng, DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin; the police harassment of Jerit cyclists demanding national reforms and the arrests of peaceful demonstrators against the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and Tamils in Sri Lanka.
4. Deteriorating education standards. Apart from being part of the Barisan Nasional government, MCA has also a Deputy Education Minister, pinning direct responsibility for the increasing educational woes in the country, with deteriorating educational standards as highlighted by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 results (blacked out by the Education Ministry for over a month), continuing “brain drain” of the best and brightest in Malaysia at all levels of education and the continued discrimination against Chinese and Tamil primary schools in terms of fair and equitable government funding and development for all schools.
MCA owes Malaysian Chinese and all Malaysians an apology for the Barisan Nasional government’s failure to fully appreciate that a country’s educational system is a key element in establishing competitive advantage in an increasingly global economy – highlighted by Malaysian universities falling out of the world’s top 200 Universities (Times Higher Education Supplement ranking) and even the world’s best 500 Universities (Shanghai Jiao Tong Univeristy ranking).
5. Corruption As part of Barisan Nasional, MCA cannot disclaim responsibility for the deplorable state of corruption in Malaysia, with Malaysia’s ranking on Transparency International Corruption Perception Index plunging from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 in 2003 and lower to No. 47 in 2008 - with the high risk of Malaysia falling below the 50th ranking in coming years. Is MCA prepared to apologise to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu and all Malaysians for such dismal record in accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance after half a century in power at the national level?
These five instances are just openers for there are many more reasons why MCA owes an abject apology not only to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu but to all Malaysians for its dismal political record in government whether for the present or the past – which would be enumerated if MCA dares to accept the DAP challenge to a public debate in Kuala Terengganu on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?”
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Tun Salleh Saga - an open reply to Dr Mahathir
Dr Mahathir, I read with considerable interest your blog on the Tun Salleh Saga. To a certain degree, I must confess, I am happy for you haveobviously regained your memory after having a momentary lapse of the same during the proceeding of the Royal Commission on the Lingam tape.
I must confess that I was not moved to post anything about the Tun > >> Salleh issue as everybody and his dog has apparently written about it. However,> >> after having read your latest boot-leg version, I am compelled to write> >> this reply, just to put things on record and in proper perspective.> >>> >> It is quite obvious that you have mastered the fine art of > >> manipulation.. When everything else fails, what better way than to stoke racial > >> sentiment in order to gain support. That was what you were doing in Johore Bahru> >> recently when you quite irresponsibly pointed out that the Malays are > >> the ones who would lose out if the IDR project were to continue. You then> >> quickly followed it up in Japan when you again reminded the Malays to> >> unite and be strong because, according to you, other races are now > >> asking for many things and questioning Malay rights. Samuel Johnson's > >> 'patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel' would normally be a cliche to repeat,> >> but in your case, I would make an exception. Just change the word> >> 'patriotism' to 'racialism' and you would, hopefully, catch my drift.> >>> >> When the issue of an apology to Salleh Abas was started by Zaid Ibrahim, > >> I remember you were quoted as saying that Salleh Abas was sacked by the> >> tribunal and so an apology should be sought from the tribunal.> >>> >> How very convenient of you, Dr M. Of course you had conveniently> >> overlooked the fact that the tribunal was established at your advice as> >> the then Prime Minister. And so now, in your blog, you have revealed the> >> truth. The truth, according to you, is that the King had wanted Salleh> >> Abas removed because His Majesty was angry with Salleh Abas' letter> >> complaining about His Majesty's renovation work. So, are you now blaming> >> the King, may I ask? That is the first question which came across my > >> mind while reading your post.> >>> >> The second question is this. Since when have you become a Royalist so > >> much so that you were almost paralysingly subservient to the King? The King > >> had wanted Salleh Abas, the Lord President, sacked because of a letter over> >> some noises made in a renovation work, and you followed it up with a> >> tribunal established under our primary law, the Federal Constitution? > >> You wanted us to believe that you, the then Prime Minister, the very same> >> Prime Minister who amended the Federal Constitution to curb the powers > >> of the King and the Malay Rulers, had agreed to establish the tribunal at > >> the behest of the King? Since when has Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fearless > >> Prime Minister, who took away the necessity for Royal assents to any bill of > >> law before it could effectively be the law of the country by amending the> >> Federal Constitution, had suddenly become so subservient to the King in> >> relation to the sacking of Salleh Abas?> >>> >> The third question is glaring to people in the know. It is, of course, > >> not there for every supporters of yours to see, as we could well surmise > >> from the majority of the comments made in your blog on the issue. The > >> question is this. Why was it that Salleh Abas was not charged over THAT letter? > >> If what you said was true, why wasn't Salleh Abas charged for writing such > >> a letter to the King and carbon copying it to all the Rulers? WHY?> >> If the King had wanted Salleh Abas sacked for being rude to His Majesty,> >> why is it that Salleh Abas not charged for being rude to our King?> >> W.H.Y.??? Why is it that only now, 20 years later, suddenly, this letter> >> has appeared and becomes an issue? Is it a case of you forgetting about> >> that letter in 1988, just as you have forgotten about some events during> >> the Lingam tape hearing, and suddenly rediscovering your memory last > >> week about the same letter?> >>> >> Coincidently, your former secretary, Matthias Chang, has spoken about > >> this letter in his blog sometime in the past weeks.> >> By the way, during the constitutional crisis caused by your belligerent> >> attitude towards the King and the Malay Rulers, I remember the state > >> mass media, that is the newspapers and RTM, had even belittled the King and > >> the Malays Rulers.. The whole propaganda machine was used to smear the King> >> and the Malay Rulers. Pictures of their palaces and mansions were shown > >> on TV and in the newspapers. Stories about their wrongdoings were splashed > >> in newspapers.> >>> >> Even Sultan of Kedah's house in Penang did not escape your propaganda> >> machine. RTM would proceed to air old Malay movies about how stupid the> >> Malay Rulers in ancient days were. Films like Nujum Pak Belalang, Hang> >> Tuah and Dang Anum were aired just to shape the people's thoughts about> >> how bad the King and the Malay Rulers were or could be.> >> And yet, you now want us to believe that you were just doing what the > >> King had wanted you to do by establishing the tribunal against Salleh Abas?> >> Stretching your argument that Salleh Abas had to go because the King > >> said so, why didn't you sack yourself, your whole cabinet and everybody else> >> who had then partaken in the whole process of smearing the good name and> >> dignity of our King and the Malay Rulers? Why only Salleh Abas?> >> Dr M, sometimes, one's stupidity is most glaring in one's thought that> >> everybody else is stupid! You then mention in your blog that it was your> >> opinion that Salleh Abas had committed wrongdoings and that he was not > >> fit to be a Judge. If that was the case, may I respectfully ask why is it > >> that you had not deemed it fit to establish a tribunal against a certain Lord> >> President who was photographed with a certain lawyer overseas? Wouldn't> >> that constitute a wrongdoing?> >>> >> That fact was, I am sure, known to you as it was widely discussed in the> >> media during your premiership. It was even investigated by the ACA. Or > >> how about the ACA investigation which showed that a certain lawyer had > >> written a certain judgment for a certain Judge? Wouldn't that be a wrongdoing> >> which would, if substantiated, render the Judge unfit to continue be a> >> Judge? Why only Salleh Abas? Why not these Judges? Or is it a case of > >> you having forgotten what they did just as you have forgotten several events> >> during the Linggam tape proceedings, again?> >>> >> You now charge, as you have always charged, that the judiciary, had> >> interfered in the administration of the country. Your disdain for the > >> law, lawyers and judiciary is well documented. Dr M, I remember clearly in > >> one speech, you likened the lawyers to vultures. But of course, you would > >> now say it was all in jest.> >>> >> Your contempt for the law and judiciary, every time the judiciary made a> >> decision against you or your government is almost peerless. You would > >> deem such decision as interference with the administration. Although you know> >> that the administration consists of 3 different, but essential, arms,> >> namely, the legislature, executive and judiciary, you failed miserably > >> to understand their respective functions and duties. The phrase 'check and> >> balance' was missing from your administrative lexicon which was probably> >> reprinted with an express instruction from you to delete the same.> >>> >> Thus, history will show that you were so upset and angry with the> >> judiciary that you had instigated another Constitutional amendment to > >> take away 'judicial powers' from the judiciary! May I point out Dr M, that> >> Malaysia would be the only country in the whole Commonwealth (I say> >> Commonwealth because I am not accustomed to non-Commonwealth systems)> >> whose judiciary does not have judicial powers unless the legislature > >> says so. Coincidentally of course, who controlled the legislature? That was,> >> and I surmise, still is, your idea of a democracy..> >>> >> Remember what I said above about stupidity? Let me repeat it. One's> >> stupidity is most glaring in one's thought that everybody else is > >> stupid! You somewhat deny that the sacking of Salleh Abas had anything to do > >> with the UMNO 11 appeal which was then fixed by Salleh Abas to be heard by a> >> full bench of 9 Judges on 13.6.1988. Events will show, at least on a> >> balance of probability, otherwise.> >>> >> Salleh Abas was served with a letter of suspension on 27.5.1988. Abdul> >> Hamid Omar became the Acting Lord President. I will come back to this> >> character later in this post.> >> On that very day, namely, 27.5.1988, on which Salleh Abas was suspended,> >> Abdul Hamid Omar, as Acting Lord President, acting without any > >> application by any party named in the UMNO 11 appeal, adjourned the appeal to a date> >> to be fixed later. Why? For what reason? Why the haste? Nobody knows. > >> That appeal was later fixed for hearing on 8.8.1988 before only 5 judges> >> comprising of 3 Supreme Court Judges, including Abdul Hamid Omar himself> >> and 2 High Court Judges. Not 9 as originally fixed by Salleh Abas.> >>> >> How could a valid decision by a Lord President, which was made prior to> >> his suspension, be reversed by an Acting Lord President is quite beyond > >> me or my intellect to comprehend, let alone answer. And quite why the > >> appeal was to be heard by a corum of 3 Supreme Court Judges and 2 High Court> >> Judges, instead of all Supreme Court Judges, is also beyond my tiny> >> brain's ability to understand. I am sure you wouldn't remember this fact> >> Dr M. Otherwise, I am sure you would have stated it in your post.> >>> >> If the sacking had nothing to do with the UMNO 11 appeal, why, may I > >> ask, is that the first official act of the Acting Lord President was to> >> postpone the hearing of that particular appeal? Why did he then proceed > >> to overturn a valid act of the Lord President, who was then still a Lord> >> President, albeit the fact that he was suspended? Why?> >>> >> Salleh Abas made a statement to the press after his suspension. In the> >> statement, he alluded to a meeting on 25.5.1998 with you, in the > >> presence of the Chief Secretary, Salehuddin Mohamad, where you allegedly told him> >> (Salleh Abas) that he was to be removed because, among others, of his > >> bias in the UMNO 11 appeal. Salehuddin Mohamad was a witness at the tribunal.> >> He said he was taking notes during the said meeting. While he could> >> remember writing down only 2 matters in the note book during the > >> meeting, namely, Salleh Abas' speech and his letter to the King (about your > >> attack of the judiciary and not about the renovation issue), he only managed to> >> say that he cannot remember that you had mentioned the UMNO case during> >> the meeting when asked by the tribunal members.. If he was so sure that > >> he only took down notes about the aforesaid 2 matters in his notebook, why> >> then he could not EXPRESSLY deny that you had mentioned about the UMNO> >> case during the said meeting? Why can't he remember? And, in a show of> >> embarrassing shallowness on the part of the tribunal, it FAILED to ask> >> Salehuddin to produce the notebook! Why? It would appear that your Chief> >> Secretary was clearly suffering from the same disease as yours namely,> >> partial and momentary lapse of memory.> >> On the balance of probability therefore, your contention that the > >> sacking of Salleh Abas did not have anything to do with the UMNO case under > >> appeal is flawed, to say the least. Why don't you state all these facts in your> >> blog Dr M? And let the people who read it judge the matter after having> >> been fed with all relevant facts. Not with facts which you think are> >> relevant. Not with facts which you choose to remember for your own > >> purpose and objectives.> >>> >> I have reserved my comment about Abdul Hamid Omar. Now is the time for > >> me to say something about him. This was the man who was effectively Salleh> >> Abas' subordinate. He became Acting Lord President when Salleh Abas was> >> suspended. He was also next in line to be the Lord President, in the > >> event Salleh Abas was sacked. History will show that he did replace Salleh > >> Abas after his sacking. How could he then head the tribunal? He was obviously> >> conflicted out from being in the tribunal. Justice must not only be > >> done, but must also be seen to be done. Haven't you heard of that? Or have you> >> forgotten about it? Or is it a case that you did not really care?> >>> >> Salleh Abas was then charged, among others, for writing a letter to the> >> King date 26.3 1988. For the benefit of those readers who don't really> >> know the facts, this was not the letter complaining about the > >> renovation. As I had said it, the renovation letter was never mentioned in any of > >> the charges. The letter dated 26.3.1988 was a letter by Salleh Abas to the> >> King to inform the King that Dr M had been attacking the judiciary. I > >> will not touch on the merit or demerit of this letter. But what Dr M had > >> failed to realise, or rather, what Dr M had ignored was the fact that this > >> letter was written by Salleh Abas after all the Judges had a meeting on> >> 25.3.1988. Even the Chairman of the tribunal, the aforesaid Abdul Hamid> >> Omar, was present during the said meeting. In more ways than one, the > >> said letter was a collective result of the Judges' meeting, including that of> >> Abdul Hamid Omar, the Chairman of the tribunal.> >>> >> Two questions arise here Dr M. Firstly, stretching your contention that> >> Salleh Abas had to be removed because of that letter as well as the> >> renovation letter to its own logical conclusion, why didn't you suspend> >> all the Judges who attended the meeting of 25.3.1988 and institute the> >> same proceeding, with a view of dismissing all of them? That would be > >> its reasonable conclusion as the letter was a collective result. Secondly, > >> how could Abdul Hamid Omar, be a part of the tribunal, let alone its > >> Chairman when he was obviously a potential witness? But then again, the 2nd> >> question is borne out of a legal point, and so I don't expect you to> >> understand it, let alone grasp it.> >>> >> Allow me to also set out the exact facts and events around the same time> >> Salleh Abas was charged. In 1986, you, as Home Minister cancelled the > >> work permit of 2 Asian Wall Street Journal journalists in Malaysia. They> >> brought the matter to the Court and the Supreme Court held that your> >> action was illegal and therefore invalid. You were upset. IN TIME > >> magazine (issue of 24.11.1986), you expressed your displeasure. Contempt> >> proceedings were brought against you by the opposition. You escaped as > >> the proceedings were dismissed by the Court. However, the learned Judge> >> remarked in his judgment that you were confused at the doctrine of> >> separation of powers.> >>> >> Later, in a speech to law students, the same Judge said that the process> >> of appointing senators should be by way of an election. You mistook, as> >> usual, this speech as a challenge and interference in politics when all> >> the learned Judge was doing was expressing his own personal opinion over > >> a matter which was not entirely political but also legal as well. Of > >> course you then had to accuse 'certain Judges' as interfering with politics. > >> You then began a series of unwarranted attacks against the judiciary at a> >> level and intensity as yet unseen in Malaysian history. What would you > >> do if you were Salleh Abas, the Lord President? Take all the attacks lying> >> down while waiting for pension?> >>> >> You failed to appreciate his duty as the Lord President. He was the > >> chief of the judiciary, an essential branch of the country's administration> >> system. As much as you were the head of the executive, so was Salleh > >> Abas the head of the judiciary. He had to defend the very institution which > >> he then headed. He convened a meeting of Judges on 25.3.1988 and > >> collectively they decided to write a letter to the King about all the attacks leveled> >> against the judiciary. What was so wrong with that? Why, you wanted him > >> to lodge a police report over the matter?> >>> >> By the way, in the present climate when every other Malay politician is> >> trying to be more Islam than every other Malay and his pussy cats, you, > >> of course, forgot to mention one of the charges against Salleh Abas in your> >> blog for obvious reason. The charge was that Salleh Abas had advocated > >> the acceptance of the Islamic legal system in Malaysia and had re-stated the> >> law along Islamic legal principles against the multi-racial and> >> multi-religious character of our country. Why didn't you mention this in> >> your blog? You forgot? Or is it simply a case of you being afraid of> >> losing the Malay support among your Malay readers if that was published > >> by you in your blog?> >>> >> Dr M, I am not your supporter. Nor am I Anwar Ibrahim's or Abdullah> >> Badawi's supporter. I am a supporter of truth. In this matter, nobody> >> would know the truth. But if you are persuading people that your version> >> is the truth, I would at least, expect you to lay out the whole story. > >> And let the people, and history, be the judge.> >>> >> Do you know what the beauty of the Common Law (which we practise)? The> >> beauty is that it is a set of laws common to all the people. That means,> >> when a matter is wrong or right, ultimately, the common people would > >> know. The common people. Me, and your readers..
By Tun Salleh
I must confess that I was not moved to post anything about the Tun > >> Salleh issue as everybody and his dog has apparently written about it. However,> >> after having read your latest boot-leg version, I am compelled to write> >> this reply, just to put things on record and in proper perspective.> >>> >> It is quite obvious that you have mastered the fine art of > >> manipulation.. When everything else fails, what better way than to stoke racial > >> sentiment in order to gain support. That was what you were doing in Johore Bahru> >> recently when you quite irresponsibly pointed out that the Malays are > >> the ones who would lose out if the IDR project were to continue. You then> >> quickly followed it up in Japan when you again reminded the Malays to> >> unite and be strong because, according to you, other races are now > >> asking for many things and questioning Malay rights. Samuel Johnson's > >> 'patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel' would normally be a cliche to repeat,> >> but in your case, I would make an exception. Just change the word> >> 'patriotism' to 'racialism' and you would, hopefully, catch my drift.> >>> >> When the issue of an apology to Salleh Abas was started by Zaid Ibrahim, > >> I remember you were quoted as saying that Salleh Abas was sacked by the> >> tribunal and so an apology should be sought from the tribunal.> >>> >> How very convenient of you, Dr M. Of course you had conveniently> >> overlooked the fact that the tribunal was established at your advice as> >> the then Prime Minister. And so now, in your blog, you have revealed the> >> truth. The truth, according to you, is that the King had wanted Salleh> >> Abas removed because His Majesty was angry with Salleh Abas' letter> >> complaining about His Majesty's renovation work. So, are you now blaming> >> the King, may I ask? That is the first question which came across my > >> mind while reading your post.> >>> >> The second question is this. Since when have you become a Royalist so > >> much so that you were almost paralysingly subservient to the King? The King > >> had wanted Salleh Abas, the Lord President, sacked because of a letter over> >> some noises made in a renovation work, and you followed it up with a> >> tribunal established under our primary law, the Federal Constitution? > >> You wanted us to believe that you, the then Prime Minister, the very same> >> Prime Minister who amended the Federal Constitution to curb the powers > >> of the King and the Malay Rulers, had agreed to establish the tribunal at > >> the behest of the King? Since when has Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fearless > >> Prime Minister, who took away the necessity for Royal assents to any bill of > >> law before it could effectively be the law of the country by amending the> >> Federal Constitution, had suddenly become so subservient to the King in> >> relation to the sacking of Salleh Abas?> >>> >> The third question is glaring to people in the know. It is, of course, > >> not there for every supporters of yours to see, as we could well surmise > >> from the majority of the comments made in your blog on the issue. The > >> question is this. Why was it that Salleh Abas was not charged over THAT letter? > >> If what you said was true, why wasn't Salleh Abas charged for writing such > >> a letter to the King and carbon copying it to all the Rulers? WHY?> >> If the King had wanted Salleh Abas sacked for being rude to His Majesty,> >> why is it that Salleh Abas not charged for being rude to our King?> >> W.H.Y.??? Why is it that only now, 20 years later, suddenly, this letter> >> has appeared and becomes an issue? Is it a case of you forgetting about> >> that letter in 1988, just as you have forgotten about some events during> >> the Lingam tape hearing, and suddenly rediscovering your memory last > >> week about the same letter?> >>> >> Coincidently, your former secretary, Matthias Chang, has spoken about > >> this letter in his blog sometime in the past weeks.> >> By the way, during the constitutional crisis caused by your belligerent> >> attitude towards the King and the Malay Rulers, I remember the state > >> mass media, that is the newspapers and RTM, had even belittled the King and > >> the Malays Rulers.. The whole propaganda machine was used to smear the King> >> and the Malay Rulers. Pictures of their palaces and mansions were shown > >> on TV and in the newspapers. Stories about their wrongdoings were splashed > >> in newspapers.> >>> >> Even Sultan of Kedah's house in Penang did not escape your propaganda> >> machine. RTM would proceed to air old Malay movies about how stupid the> >> Malay Rulers in ancient days were. Films like Nujum Pak Belalang, Hang> >> Tuah and Dang Anum were aired just to shape the people's thoughts about> >> how bad the King and the Malay Rulers were or could be.> >> And yet, you now want us to believe that you were just doing what the > >> King had wanted you to do by establishing the tribunal against Salleh Abas?> >> Stretching your argument that Salleh Abas had to go because the King > >> said so, why didn't you sack yourself, your whole cabinet and everybody else> >> who had then partaken in the whole process of smearing the good name and> >> dignity of our King and the Malay Rulers? Why only Salleh Abas?> >> Dr M, sometimes, one's stupidity is most glaring in one's thought that> >> everybody else is stupid! You then mention in your blog that it was your> >> opinion that Salleh Abas had committed wrongdoings and that he was not > >> fit to be a Judge. If that was the case, may I respectfully ask why is it > >> that you had not deemed it fit to establish a tribunal against a certain Lord> >> President who was photographed with a certain lawyer overseas? Wouldn't> >> that constitute a wrongdoing?> >>> >> That fact was, I am sure, known to you as it was widely discussed in the> >> media during your premiership. It was even investigated by the ACA. Or > >> how about the ACA investigation which showed that a certain lawyer had > >> written a certain judgment for a certain Judge? Wouldn't that be a wrongdoing> >> which would, if substantiated, render the Judge unfit to continue be a> >> Judge? Why only Salleh Abas? Why not these Judges? Or is it a case of > >> you having forgotten what they did just as you have forgotten several events> >> during the Linggam tape proceedings, again?> >>> >> You now charge, as you have always charged, that the judiciary, had> >> interfered in the administration of the country. Your disdain for the > >> law, lawyers and judiciary is well documented. Dr M, I remember clearly in > >> one speech, you likened the lawyers to vultures. But of course, you would > >> now say it was all in jest.> >>> >> Your contempt for the law and judiciary, every time the judiciary made a> >> decision against you or your government is almost peerless. You would > >> deem such decision as interference with the administration. Although you know> >> that the administration consists of 3 different, but essential, arms,> >> namely, the legislature, executive and judiciary, you failed miserably > >> to understand their respective functions and duties. The phrase 'check and> >> balance' was missing from your administrative lexicon which was probably> >> reprinted with an express instruction from you to delete the same.> >>> >> Thus, history will show that you were so upset and angry with the> >> judiciary that you had instigated another Constitutional amendment to > >> take away 'judicial powers' from the judiciary! May I point out Dr M, that> >> Malaysia would be the only country in the whole Commonwealth (I say> >> Commonwealth because I am not accustomed to non-Commonwealth systems)> >> whose judiciary does not have judicial powers unless the legislature > >> says so. Coincidentally of course, who controlled the legislature? That was,> >> and I surmise, still is, your idea of a democracy..> >>> >> Remember what I said above about stupidity? Let me repeat it. One's> >> stupidity is most glaring in one's thought that everybody else is > >> stupid! You somewhat deny that the sacking of Salleh Abas had anything to do > >> with the UMNO 11 appeal which was then fixed by Salleh Abas to be heard by a> >> full bench of 9 Judges on 13.6.1988. Events will show, at least on a> >> balance of probability, otherwise.> >>> >> Salleh Abas was served with a letter of suspension on 27.5.1988. Abdul> >> Hamid Omar became the Acting Lord President. I will come back to this> >> character later in this post.> >> On that very day, namely, 27.5.1988, on which Salleh Abas was suspended,> >> Abdul Hamid Omar, as Acting Lord President, acting without any > >> application by any party named in the UMNO 11 appeal, adjourned the appeal to a date> >> to be fixed later. Why? For what reason? Why the haste? Nobody knows. > >> That appeal was later fixed for hearing on 8.8.1988 before only 5 judges> >> comprising of 3 Supreme Court Judges, including Abdul Hamid Omar himself> >> and 2 High Court Judges. Not 9 as originally fixed by Salleh Abas.> >>> >> How could a valid decision by a Lord President, which was made prior to> >> his suspension, be reversed by an Acting Lord President is quite beyond > >> me or my intellect to comprehend, let alone answer. And quite why the > >> appeal was to be heard by a corum of 3 Supreme Court Judges and 2 High Court> >> Judges, instead of all Supreme Court Judges, is also beyond my tiny> >> brain's ability to understand. I am sure you wouldn't remember this fact> >> Dr M. Otherwise, I am sure you would have stated it in your post.> >>> >> If the sacking had nothing to do with the UMNO 11 appeal, why, may I > >> ask, is that the first official act of the Acting Lord President was to> >> postpone the hearing of that particular appeal? Why did he then proceed > >> to overturn a valid act of the Lord President, who was then still a Lord> >> President, albeit the fact that he was suspended? Why?> >>> >> Salleh Abas made a statement to the press after his suspension. In the> >> statement, he alluded to a meeting on 25.5.1998 with you, in the > >> presence of the Chief Secretary, Salehuddin Mohamad, where you allegedly told him> >> (Salleh Abas) that he was to be removed because, among others, of his > >> bias in the UMNO 11 appeal. Salehuddin Mohamad was a witness at the tribunal.> >> He said he was taking notes during the said meeting. While he could> >> remember writing down only 2 matters in the note book during the > >> meeting, namely, Salleh Abas' speech and his letter to the King (about your > >> attack of the judiciary and not about the renovation issue), he only managed to> >> say that he cannot remember that you had mentioned the UMNO case during> >> the meeting when asked by the tribunal members.. If he was so sure that > >> he only took down notes about the aforesaid 2 matters in his notebook, why> >> then he could not EXPRESSLY deny that you had mentioned about the UMNO> >> case during the said meeting? Why can't he remember? And, in a show of> >> embarrassing shallowness on the part of the tribunal, it FAILED to ask> >> Salehuddin to produce the notebook! Why? It would appear that your Chief> >> Secretary was clearly suffering from the same disease as yours namely,> >> partial and momentary lapse of memory.> >> On the balance of probability therefore, your contention that the > >> sacking of Salleh Abas did not have anything to do with the UMNO case under > >> appeal is flawed, to say the least. Why don't you state all these facts in your> >> blog Dr M? And let the people who read it judge the matter after having> >> been fed with all relevant facts. Not with facts which you think are> >> relevant. Not with facts which you choose to remember for your own > >> purpose and objectives.> >>> >> I have reserved my comment about Abdul Hamid Omar. Now is the time for > >> me to say something about him. This was the man who was effectively Salleh> >> Abas' subordinate. He became Acting Lord President when Salleh Abas was> >> suspended. He was also next in line to be the Lord President, in the > >> event Salleh Abas was sacked. History will show that he did replace Salleh > >> Abas after his sacking. How could he then head the tribunal? He was obviously> >> conflicted out from being in the tribunal. Justice must not only be > >> done, but must also be seen to be done. Haven't you heard of that? Or have you> >> forgotten about it? Or is it a case that you did not really care?> >>> >> Salleh Abas was then charged, among others, for writing a letter to the> >> King date 26.3 1988. For the benefit of those readers who don't really> >> know the facts, this was not the letter complaining about the > >> renovation. As I had said it, the renovation letter was never mentioned in any of > >> the charges. The letter dated 26.3.1988 was a letter by Salleh Abas to the> >> King to inform the King that Dr M had been attacking the judiciary. I > >> will not touch on the merit or demerit of this letter. But what Dr M had > >> failed to realise, or rather, what Dr M had ignored was the fact that this > >> letter was written by Salleh Abas after all the Judges had a meeting on> >> 25.3.1988. Even the Chairman of the tribunal, the aforesaid Abdul Hamid> >> Omar, was present during the said meeting. In more ways than one, the > >> said letter was a collective result of the Judges' meeting, including that of> >> Abdul Hamid Omar, the Chairman of the tribunal.> >>> >> Two questions arise here Dr M. Firstly, stretching your contention that> >> Salleh Abas had to be removed because of that letter as well as the> >> renovation letter to its own logical conclusion, why didn't you suspend> >> all the Judges who attended the meeting of 25.3.1988 and institute the> >> same proceeding, with a view of dismissing all of them? That would be > >> its reasonable conclusion as the letter was a collective result. Secondly, > >> how could Abdul Hamid Omar, be a part of the tribunal, let alone its > >> Chairman when he was obviously a potential witness? But then again, the 2nd> >> question is borne out of a legal point, and so I don't expect you to> >> understand it, let alone grasp it.> >>> >> Allow me to also set out the exact facts and events around the same time> >> Salleh Abas was charged. In 1986, you, as Home Minister cancelled the > >> work permit of 2 Asian Wall Street Journal journalists in Malaysia. They> >> brought the matter to the Court and the Supreme Court held that your> >> action was illegal and therefore invalid. You were upset. IN TIME > >> magazine (issue of 24.11.1986), you expressed your displeasure. Contempt> >> proceedings were brought against you by the opposition. You escaped as > >> the proceedings were dismissed by the Court. However, the learned Judge> >> remarked in his judgment that you were confused at the doctrine of> >> separation of powers.> >>> >> Later, in a speech to law students, the same Judge said that the process> >> of appointing senators should be by way of an election. You mistook, as> >> usual, this speech as a challenge and interference in politics when all> >> the learned Judge was doing was expressing his own personal opinion over > >> a matter which was not entirely political but also legal as well. Of > >> course you then had to accuse 'certain Judges' as interfering with politics. > >> You then began a series of unwarranted attacks against the judiciary at a> >> level and intensity as yet unseen in Malaysian history. What would you > >> do if you were Salleh Abas, the Lord President? Take all the attacks lying> >> down while waiting for pension?> >>> >> You failed to appreciate his duty as the Lord President. He was the > >> chief of the judiciary, an essential branch of the country's administration> >> system. As much as you were the head of the executive, so was Salleh > >> Abas the head of the judiciary. He had to defend the very institution which > >> he then headed. He convened a meeting of Judges on 25.3.1988 and > >> collectively they decided to write a letter to the King about all the attacks leveled> >> against the judiciary. What was so wrong with that? Why, you wanted him > >> to lodge a police report over the matter?> >>> >> By the way, in the present climate when every other Malay politician is> >> trying to be more Islam than every other Malay and his pussy cats, you, > >> of course, forgot to mention one of the charges against Salleh Abas in your> >> blog for obvious reason. The charge was that Salleh Abas had advocated > >> the acceptance of the Islamic legal system in Malaysia and had re-stated the> >> law along Islamic legal principles against the multi-racial and> >> multi-religious character of our country. Why didn't you mention this in> >> your blog? You forgot? Or is it simply a case of you being afraid of> >> losing the Malay support among your Malay readers if that was published > >> by you in your blog?> >>> >> Dr M, I am not your supporter. Nor am I Anwar Ibrahim's or Abdullah> >> Badawi's supporter. I am a supporter of truth. In this matter, nobody> >> would know the truth. But if you are persuading people that your version> >> is the truth, I would at least, expect you to lay out the whole story. > >> And let the people, and history, be the judge.> >>> >> Do you know what the beauty of the Common Law (which we practise)? The> >> beauty is that it is a set of laws common to all the people. That means,> >> when a matter is wrong or right, ultimately, the common people would > >> know. The common people. Me, and your readers..
By Tun Salleh
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