Why is BSA Tahir still here?

BSA and RPK have a couple of things in common: both were detained under the ISA and both seem to enjoy some kind of protection in their adopted countries.

Unlike RPK, though, BSA Tahir is a wanted man globally but a free man in Malaysia where he holds a PR. Not only is he a free man, BSA Tahir recently made the news in Singapore [which was republished by RPK's Malaysia Today].

I know RPK will not bring any harm to the UK, where he lives happily with wife and family since his great escape from from the law in Malaysia. Will BSA Tahir love Malaysia as he is loved by Malaysia? I don't have any adopted country and I don't wish to have any, so I must hope and I must pray that this BSA Tahir does not one day bring harm to my beloved birthplace.

If you have forgotten, BSA Tahir was the man the US wanted to extradite and face terror-related charges in America. Remember those CIA or FBI agents who came here to interview him while he was under detention? He was released with conditions in June 2008 and soon after (some said on the very last day that Syed Hamid Albar was Home Minister) he became a free man.

Soon after that, according to an article in the Straits Times of Singapore last week, he filed a suit in the High Court of Malaysia against former business partners Abdullah Badawi Jr and Shah Hakim.

I have nothing against this guy (or, rather, his Malaysian wife) taking his ex's to the cleaners but I really hope it wasn't BSA Tahir who is dragging Malaysia's name in the mud across the Causeway and into the columns and inches of the Straits Times of Singapore. Because it it was him, then I'll wonder what else he'd do to get his way.

Read Leslie Lopez's piece in Straits Times here.
Also RPK's The BSA Tahir and PI Bala saga.

Malaysia's Chinese and America's Red Indians

What do they have in common? Beats me, too, but Sin Chew's deputy editor Tay Ting Yan seems to think that the Chinese, a minority group in Malaysia, and the Red Indians in today's the USA are linked by some kind of cruel fate.

"... Orang-orang Melayu sudah pun berkuasa, berkedudukan, berpengalaman dan menjadi bangsa yang bermartabat.

"Apa lagi yang mahu mereka pertahankan sekarang ini?

"Cuba anda fikirkan dan bayangkan jika ada sekumpulan orang-orang Amerika kuiti putih mahu pertahankan kaum kulit putih, dan menolak hak orang-orang Red Indian yang curiga terhadap hak dan kuasa orang-orang kulit putih apa akan terjadi?"

He made the analogy in an angry commentary on published by Sin Chew on March 2 and which is making its viral round in cyberspace. Blogger Hidup Tuah! isn't amused by the tone of Tay's commentary and felt that the journalist made an ass of himself by comparing Malaysian Chinese with Red Indians in trying to defend an untenable point.

5. Untuk berlaku adil dan tepat dari segi fakta, Tay sewajarnya membandingkan komposisi penduduk dan kedudukan ekonomi di Malaysia dengan negara-negara seperti Fiji dan Afrika Selatan, Uganda dan Rhodesia. Ianya sebanding di mana kaum minoriti / pendatang menguasai ekonomi negara-negara berkenaan.

6. Oleh kerana kedudukan ekonomi yang sedemikian terhimpit itu dan ditambah pula oleh hak dan kuasa yang semakin terhakis serta terus diburu dengan pelbagai ancaman maka adalah naïf dan dangkal sekali untuk menyamakan usaha 76 buah NGO tersebut hendak membela serta mempertahankan hak kaum mereka sendiri (satu hakikat yang benar) dengan perbuatan bodoh Don Quixote itu.

I met Tay at a book launch in PJ recently, the first time in many years. We used to cover the same assignments as young reporters in KL in the Eighties. Even back then the Chinese newspapers "enjoyed" greater leeway in reporting "sensitive" issues so Tay's commentary Mengigau dan Berkhayal Beramai-ramai is probably no great shake.

When read by a Chinese reader, Tay's article may even be forgettable. But in this digital era and borderless world, everyone reads what you write. A Melayu reading Tay's rantings is bound to lash back, in an equally racist way.

Timbalan Editor Sin Chew Mempersendakan Melayu (by Jebat Must Die) and Suratkhabar Cina *&%! Persendakan Melayu Pertahan Hak (by Dari Kacamata Melayu) are examples of this racial backlash.

Now go read Hidup Tuah's Sin Chew Jit Poh mempersenda 76 NGO Melayu Mengigau dan Berkhayal Beramai-ramai.

Najib's headache, Tee Keat's heartache

Updated, Sunday 10pm
Dnightcaller has an interesting analysis on the MCA presidential turmoil, here, which pits the Lone Ranger and Brutus.

Original Article:

Circus. Chess. Curse. That the BN chairman and Prime Minister Najib Razak hasn't uttered a word in public about the latest MCA drama suggests that he's tired with or deeply hurt by the antics of the jokers in this political circus. Like many, he'd probably thought that the party's AGM would heal the scars and bring the factions together. For a while, the political headaches and heartaches belonged to the Pakatan Rakyat as Anwar Ibrahim's PKR grappled with defections in recent weeks.

Then, suddenly, just days before the AGM, Chua Soi Lek decided to quit his deputy president post to check-mate the "unity" plan that had brought him and party president Ong Tee Keat together for the last few months.

Tee Keat may have felt like Caeser, betrayed by his own subordinates, but unlike Ceaser he's alive, unfortunately, and he's still the President of the party and, therefore, he has a job to do.

AGM and then fresh elections. Firstly, he needs to fulfill the leadership's earlier commitment to hold the AGM and prepares members for fresh elections (now scheduled for March 28). There are those who do not wish Tee Keat to hold the AGM for fear that it may provide him with a platform to address the delegates but then he is the President. NOT holding the AGM would be a dereliction of duty, and there's nothing worse than that.

In any case, the women's wing of the party has convened their AGM today (against a directive of it's chief Chew Mei Fun, it seems!) and there is no reason why Tee Keat should not hold the AGM as scheduled.
Curse of the PKFZ. Secondly (and more importantly at least for people like me), as Transport Minister and the man who said he would deliver justice in the Port Klang Free Zone fiasco, Tee Keat must remain focused. The turmoil within MCA must not distract or deter him. I know he's been under great pressure since his pledge to expose those responsible for the billions lost in PKFZ.

His days at MCA's helm may be numbered but as I see it Tee Keat may be President of MCA for the another 20 years but it would do him little good if he fails to help bring to book the culprits (including some MCA politicians from what I've heard) behind the PKFZ.

So, as I see it, Tee Keat can fight to stay on as president of the MCA or Liow Teong Lay can take him or Chua Soi Lek or both on 28th March. The important thing is will MCA emerge stronger after that and will Tee Keat be able to finish what he sets out to do at PKFZ?

Another one jumps the ship

Third PKR MP quits

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 12:58:00

BAGAN Serai Member of Parliament Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri has quit PKR, making the 65-year-old the third legislator to quit the party within one week.

He cited internal squabling and PKR’s stance on the ‘allah’ issue for his resignation. Mohsin has opted to become an independent MP.

Are they all bribeable? So, why are the elected representatives from PKR jumping ship? Money? RPK and Co say they are being bought by Umno, led by Jamaluddin Jarjis way out there in Washington, the U.S.A. If that was so - and I don't believe that is so - why were they so buy-able or bribeable? Remember, these aren't the only three who have jumped out of Pakatan Rakyat. The 3 state assemblymen who jumped in Perak, which caused so much problems till recently. What happened to them? Bought also, ah?

BN has also lost some, the biggest fish of them ex-Minister Zaid Ibrahim. Bought also, bribeable and buy-able?

If everyone in politics can be bought with money, what's with the ideals, cause and principles?

Let's be real, let's be frank. There's something seriously wrong over there. RPK and Co ought to do something constructive for once and for a change for their masters - analyze and find out what's wrong and advise them on how to put an end to the jumpers.

Read the rest of the Malay Mail on-line article h e r e.

Naked again, Down Under

Art or Obscene? Bujai's posting Will they strip for Anwar as well?, which features the picture above, reminds me of a long-running trouble I had with the Home Ministry in 2002/2003 for, among other things, publishing a story and picture of an Australian naked art in the Malay Mail.

The pic we published then was nowhere as graphic as this one but the KDN delayed renewing our printing permit for 3 months from Jan to March 2003.

Today, Bujai's digital media won't have to worry about the KDN at all!

Freedom or what?

It's just Nazri so why get so excited, right?

Ordinarily, I wouldn't give a damn what Nazri says. The pro-Umno bloggers think he scores own goals too often and my Barisan Rakyat blogger friends would only support him when he has something nasty to say about Dr Mahathir.

But when I was told that Anwar Ibrahim's top campaigner Raja Petra Kamaruddin himself was in Washington last week to sabotage a forum that Nazri was addressing, I got a wee bit interested.

It turned out that someone else from another pro-Anwar news portal (not Malaysia Today) was there reporting on behalf of RPK. The Malaysia Today editor never left London, his home since he escaped from a series of lawsuits in Malaysia, at all.

So why was it so important for Anwar, RPK & Gang that the forum was stopped or at least disrupted even though it's "only" Nazri Aziz who was talking to the Americans? Why was it important to make believe that RPK was there in Washington to report the forum?

In Cloak and Dagger, 3 Stooges in Washington, blogger Sakmongkol (who made it quite clear that he wasn't in Washington) provides some answers.

What impressed me is that Malaysia's news portals are beginning to send their reporters abroad to cover political assignments like this one. It's not cheap to send reporters to places like Washington DC.

Read also Sak's earlier postings:
On the circus that got to America
The circus that got to America - 2
Malaysian circus in DC - 3

So you wanted a Malay Counter-Movement?

Majlis Perunding NGO Melayu (MPM). Just a fortnight ago, Lim Kit Siang promoted on his widely-read blog a commentary that first appeared in the anti-Najib Malaysian Insider news portal entitled Time for a Malay Counter-Movement?

The writer's idea is to push for the creation of a movement that opposes the so-called Ketuanan Melayu concept (Kit Siang would read it as "a movement that opposes Umno").

The problem with the writer and those who promote this idea is that they fail or simply do not wish to realize that Ketuanan Melayu as they've defined and as they so fear does not exist. Except in their minds.

And they blame Umno for Ketuanan Melayu when Umno, like Kit Siang and Guan Eng's DAP, is just a political party. The difference is Umno champions the Malays and DAP champions the Chinese.

But since these people dream of such a counter-movement, here we are, hot from the politcial oven, brought by YB Ibrahim Ali himself ... a counter-movement of 76 Malay NGOs, including the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services.

Happy now?

General

February 27, 2010 20:44 PM

Malay NGOs Form Consultative Council To Defend Malay Rights, Islam

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Seventy-six Malay non-governmental organisations Saturday joined forces to form a consultative council, Majlis Perundingan NGO Melayu (MPM), to defend Malays rights and Islam in the country. Among them were Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Negara (Perkasa), Majlis Bekas Wakil Rakyat Malaysia (Mubarak), Federation of Malay Students Association of Peninsular Malaysia (GPMS), Malay Professional Thinkers Association of Malaysia and Cuepacs, the umbrella union for civil servants. Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali, who acted as the council's spokesman, said the council's role was to act as a shield against those who tried to question Malay rights and privileges, the position of Islam and the institution of the Malay rulers. "At the same time, we will also be a polite pressure group to the government not to shirk from its responsibility in upholding fundamental matters as enshrined in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution," he told reporters at the launching ceremony of MPM at the Sultan Sulaiman Club here. He said MPM members would hold a roundtable on March 7 to discuss the economic direction of the Malays following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's announcing of the new economic model for the nation. "We also hope to meet the prime minister before the new economic model is announced because we do not want Malay NGOs to be "making noise" to voice their dissatisfaction over it...we want any policy made by the government to get support from all quarters. "However, the government should also be proactive to Malay NGOs...meaning there should be give and take...if the government wants the support of NGOs, the government should also give due consideration to our views and feelings," said the Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas. In MPM's statement circulated to media members present, the council asserted that its members must scrutinise each issue that had a bearing on the interest of the Malays, Islam, the Malay rulers and security and harmony in the country irrespective of who raised or questioned them and that they must also highlight matters that are dear to the Malays. Besides this, MPM said it would also prepare and implement an action plan to counter any provocation on matters that touch on the interests of Malays and Islam if they were construed as efforts by irresponsible parties to spread hatred. -- BERNAMA

Maulidur Rasul

Selawat bagi Rasulullah.

Growing up in Singapore, we'd start the maulidur Rasul celebration with a small morning procession around the Madrasah in Batu 8, West Coast Road. There would be nasyids, the recital of the Quran and prayers. In the evening, we'd eat alfresco, four or five of us sharing a dulang of nasi minyak and condiments under the stars and the moon. The boys, most in their madrasah uniform of white baju Melayu and red samping, would eat from the same dulang as the male adults.

That was when Singapore still had kampungs.

Leaving recession, in Malaysia

Good times, at last? The PM said the economy performed "beyond our expectations" during the last quarter of 2009. The economy contracted by 1.2% for July-Sept 09 and -3.9% for April-May.

Najib is expected to announce the full results of the economic performance tomorrow. Read the Bernama report here.

MACC in Kelantan pro-PAS?

Suara Rakyat, a new socio-political blog, claims to have documents that should have been enough for the anti-corruption agency and cops in the state of Kelantan to nab the Menteri Besar. These documents are published in its latest posting SPRM pro-PAS.

The people who run Suara Rakyat said there will be a police report lodged on this matter (against MACC or against Nik Aziz, I'm not sure).

Road rage Down Under

updates:

"Now he will return home for good .... in a coffin." - Saemin Mongjin, the dad of Malaysian-born Australian Mohd Shah Saemin, 43, (pic) battered with a hammer and knifed to death by two men who chased him along a Sydney street in what the cops said could be a case of road rage.

NST has the story He promised his mom to return for Raya.

Original article:

No, it's not hate crime. But if you have to travel to Australia now, avoid driving when you are there. Read the story here.

Ministers and corrupt officials

Should the Minister pay for the aide's sins? I agree with the IIM president's assertion here that a Minister should be held responsible if his officials are proven to be corrupt and that he had knowledge of their corruption.

But before that can happen, the MACC has to prove that there's corruption in the first place. After that, the MACC has to prove that the political aide is corrupt with the knowledge of his boss the Minister.

Easier said than done.

"Why they should not lodge the police report against The Star"

"I hear that some folks want to make a Police Report over a Press article about this caning of the three women. I will not say which newspaper and who the people are. But my advise is dont take ownership of anything that is confusing and will only cause more confusion. Just leave it to the ‘confusionists’." - Syed Akbar Ali's The Case of Caning Women, 21 Feb 2010

A police report is expected to be lodged against The Star and its managing editor P. Gunasegaran in Kuala Lumpur this morning (Monday 22 Feb 2010) re the article Persuasion, not compulsion which is seen as insulting the way of Islam [read What are you talking, Guna?].

Read H E R E why Syed Akbar Ali has advised against the lodging of the police report.