No caning for Kartika

Posted on August 28, 2009
Filed Under Syariah Law | Leave a Comment

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — After a series of flip-flops, authorities in Malaysia decided this week that a 32-year old Muslim woman caught drinking beer in violation of Islamic law would not be caned after all.

The controversy may have subsided, pending a legal review, but it has left a bitter aftertaste.

The case of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a former model and nurse, drew the attention of international media and rights groups and presented a harsh view of the kind of Islamic justice dispensed in one of the world’s most moderate and stable Muslim-majority countries.

“It is pretty embarrassing,” Marina Mahathir, a leading women’s activist and the daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, told The Associated Press in an interview.

Full story here.

“.. but it has left a bitter aftertaste” … I should hope so!

What an unnecessary publicity for the country!

If the syariah court was really serious about punishing Muslims for violating Islamic laws, why only go after those who consume alcohol?  What about all the other haram things that are done every day and in so many ways?  Where are the stories on those people who have committed what is haram and are being prosecuted in the syariah court?

And it is disgraceful that all the Prime Minister could say was that Kartika should appeal her case.

Well, at least all the negative publicity have resulted in a suspension of her punishment pending a legal review.

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Same old, same old

Posted on July 19, 2009
Filed Under Corruption, MACC | Leave a Comment

Is there not one person, politician or supporter of the BN with integrity?  I mean besides, Chua Jui Meng?

I have scoured the Malaysian news sites looking for denunciation and outrage from a BN politician or supporter over the tragic death of  Teoh Beng Hock.

Instead of outrage from Hishammuddin, all we hear is his fear that the death would be exploited by the opposition parties, and that the investigations regarding the cause of death be wrapped up quickly.

Yeah, duh!

Did he expect the opposition to accept the words of the MACC?  That their conduct during the interrogations were all above board? That we can put our faith in their own internal inquiry?

What a farce!  Does any sane person believe that the police will not take sides as expressed by Hisham?  That no stone will be left unturned during the investigations?

Tell me again.  How many people have died while in police custody or while undergoing interrogations by institutions such at the MACC  in the last few years?

Yeah, there’s a new guy at the helm of the BN-controlled government.  Yeah, but the new guy is from the same old corrupt political elites of the country, running the country the same way it has already always been run.

Sure.

Malaysia Boleh.

Again.

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Wong Ho Leng: Might is right

Posted on May 13, 2009
Filed Under Sarawak Politics | Leave a Comment

Opposition leader Wong Ho Leng (DAP-Bukit Assek) has been suspended from the Sarawak State Assembly for 12 months for a “camouflage” remark he made against a senior minister last November.

Speaker Datuk Mohamad Asfia Awang Nasar made the decision Wednesday after the matter was put to the vote and the majority of assemblymen were in favour of suspending Ho Leng under Section 14(1) of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance.

Ho Leng, who was given 10 minutes to speak by Asfia, protested that his suspension was procedurally wrong as Section 14(1) did not provide for any punishment to be carried forward into the assembly’s next session.

He said that under the Section, action should have been taken against him during last November’s sitting when he used the word “camouflage” in seeking clarification from Second Finance Minister Datuk Wong Soon Koh on the tabling of the Supplementary Supply (2008) Bill.

Furthermore, he said the suspension could not last beyond Dec 31 this year when the current session of the State Assembly ends.

“Under the section, any suspension automatically lapses at the end of the current session,” he said.

Later, at the State Assembly’s entrance, Ho Leng said it was very unfortunate that he had been suspended.

“It’s a very sad day. Unfortunately, in the Dewan Undangan Negeri, might is right,” he said.

Last November, Soon Koh tabled a motion referring Ho Leng to the Committee of Privileges for the “camouflage” remark.

He said Ho Lengs remark had imputed that he had an improper motive to conceal or hide a RM900mil expenditure which he had sought so as to deceive the August House to approve the money.

Ho Leng appeared before the committee on Dec 12 to defend himself.

Source: Report by SHARON LING in The Star

When the opposition party is a tiny minority in the State Assembly, it is not surprising that it can easily be bullied and bulldozed into silence by the ruling party.

Any “wrong” word uttered can be caused for suspension. Why is the word “camouflage” so offensive that it merits a year’s suspension for the opposition leader?

If the opposition is wrong about its perception of the motive of the second finance minister, why not just give the clarification the opposition seeks? But typical of the strong arm tactics of the ruling coalition in the state, or for any Malaysian state under the control of the BN for that matter, it is more expedient to silence the opposition. In this instance, a year’s suspension for something as innocuous as the use of the word “camouflage”.

It is a shame that in Malaysia, in general the people, especially the constituents represented by elected representatives like Wong Ho Leng, have no means to voice their dissatisfaction with the treatment of their elected representative. Is there a hot line number to the Speaker of the Assembly? Is there any newspaper that will report on constituents’ unhappiness at having their elected representative suspended from the Assembly and thus leaving them without a voice at the Assembly?

In the state of Sarawak, the role of the opposition is nothing more than that of a pesky mosquito that needs to be swatted every time it tries to go any where near to questioning the motives/agenda of the BN controlled government. Every elected representative under the BN is just a rubber stamp to whatever the all powerful chief minister wants.

Democracy, Sarawak style.

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BN’s idea of a Ghandi and Mandela

Posted on May 12, 2009
Filed Under Perak crisis | 2 Comments

Have you read anything more ridiculous and more self-aggrandizing than Dr Zambry’s comparison of his “struggle” (that of keeping the post of Menteri Besar by illegitimate means) to that of Nelson Mandela’s and Ghandi’s?!

He is from the powerful ruling party, and he dares to compare his party’s illegitimate takeover of the Perak state governement to the struggles of Mandela’s and Ghandi’s?  Mandela spent years in prison for his political beliefs, and Ghandi fought the all powerful British colonialist for the sake of his country’s sovereignty.

I guess in a politician’s mind, especially those from the BN, fighting to keep his political power no matter how illegitimately gained, is being as courageous as Mandela and Ghandi.

Of all the arrogance and conceit!

*****

The crisis in Perak is democracy in action, or is it?  Are we witnessing sausages being made or are we witnessing the blurring of the powers of the palace, the judiciary and the executive?

The Sultan of Perak can put an end to the current crisis by allowing Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin to dissolve the state assembly and have fresh elections.  The people will speak and whatever government that is formed after the elections will have the clear mandate of the people.

Why prolong this crisis and get the people all worked up over their already heated partisanship as to who should lead the government?

And one more thing, Pakatan Rakyat better be sure to vet those who will stand for elections or there will be a repeat of “katak lompat”, a scenario so predictable in Malaysian politics.

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Joseph Entulu: Drop the term “Dayak”

Posted on May 11, 2009
Filed Under Culture News, Sarawak Politics | Leave a Comment

SIBU: The term “Dayak” coined by the colonial power to describe all 26 non-Muslim communities of Sarawak in the 1820s should no longer be used in present time, said Rural and Regional Development Deputy Minister Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun.He said the term should be dropped because it conveyed negative connotations like being uncivilised, uncouth and “low class“.

“As a matter of fact, some leaders of Sarawak non-Muslim communities had some years ago suggested that the government stop using the term. I believe the suggestion has the tacit support of the leaders and the people concerned.

“So I am again reviving the call for the government to consider dropping the term,” Entulu told reporters after witnessing the installation of the new committee members for the Sarawak Dayak National Union (SDNU) Rajang branch led by chairman Maj (Rtd) Mosses Ripai on Saturday night.

Entulu said the state’s native communities, despite forming more than half of the state’s 2.5 million population, had not been acknowledged according to their respective ethnic groups.

“If we look at official forms or documents, in the column for race, they only state either Malay, Chinese, Indian or others.

“This is despite the fact that the so-called Dayaks are the majority in the state and they are among the country’s leading population groups.

“I believe it will be more tactful and exact if specific terminologies like Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit and so forth, be used,” he said.

Entulu said he had heard of bitter experiences where Dayaks working in the peninsula were turned away when they wanted to invest in the Amanah Saham Nasional or when they applied for low-cost housing because some people there thought they were not bumiputera.

Earlier in his speech Entulu advised social or cultural organisations like the SDNU, Sarawak Dayak Iban Association and others to stay apolitical.

“Leave politics to politicians. Your association will suffer if the leaders started to behave like politicians,” he said. — Bernama

Now here’s an example of an elected official, displaying once again, why we the “unwashed masses” do not have much confidence in the intelligence of our elected officials.

Is it the fault of a particular race that there are small minded bigots who choose to look down on a particular ethnic group or other?

Will dropping the term Dayak change the minds or preconceptions of the aforementioned bigots?

When I was a kid, my grandparents used the term Dayak instead of the term Iban to refer to themselves. They knew who they were, backward hicks or otherwise, and they were proud of who they were. I am a descendant of such proud people and I have no problems if people choose to call my race backward or low class or crass. It speaks more of the people who think such thoughts than they do about me!

As to government forms, why does there have to be a column asking for one’s race? Or one’s religion? Are we not all Malaysians? The only place I see the importance of identifying a person’s race is in his/her birth certificate and that’s about as far as I will allow for that kind of crap.

Rather than call for the dropping of the term “Dayak” the YB should call for the doing away of government forms that ask for a person’s race or religion! There will not be a One Malaysia if such policies of identifying and dividing people by their race and religion continue to be perpetuated.

How about we start doing that by dropping race and religion from the MyKad?

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