Rosmah - The Rousing Rose

Adam Leroy, Malaysian Mirror

Much has been said about our First Lady and our opinions are primarily formed by hearsay. But to be honest, does any one of us know her personally to even begin judging her as such?

Rosmah Mansor was born in 1951 to two teachers. My personal observation is that children of educators are usually very smart. Thats true in Rosmah's case. She has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from University Malaya and an MSc in Sociology and Agriculture from Louisiana State University, USA.

She later worked as an executive with Bank Pertanian and subsequently as a business development manager with Island and Peninsular Bhd, a property developer company.

She married Najib Abdul Razak in 1987 and the couple is blessed with two children - Nooriyana Najwa and Norashman Razak together. Rosmah also has two children from her previous marriage.

Without going into juicy and scandalous details as to why both Rosmah and Najib are divorcees (usually quite taboo among Malaysian politicians), an initial search of the history of her first marriage and former husband drew naught from Google. Hence, any recorded history and persona of Rosmah only existed after marrying Najib.

Well, like most women, Rosmah was an unknown until her fateful union with Najib that now places her as the country's mother figure and the queen of our hearts.

The Mongolian connection
It is interesting how much shared destiny Rosmah and Najib has. To begin with, they both came into power on the wrong foot.

We all know about Najib's baggage - the murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu and the alleged corruption surrounding exorbitant defence purchases.

While Rosmah's reputation took a blow when popular blogger Raja Petra ! Kamarudd in claimed he was reliably informed that Rosmah was involved in Altantuya's murder and to the extent that Rosmah was at the crime scene herself!

rosmah.jpgSensational news has its pulling factor and we all love juicy, sexy stories. But I cannot imagine Rosmah at that secondary forest clearing in the middle of the night ordering special action police officers to shoot Altantuya in the head and blow her up with military grade C4 explosives based on sole consideration.

Why on earth would Rosmah want to get her hands dirty or worse, ruin her heels that would dig into the mud near a water catchment area?

She's an educated lady with some class. Just look her every day in the papers. She looks flawless in every picture. From programme launches to hospital visits, look at her perfectly fluffed hair, smooth complexion and those eyes. Such a cheeky, devilish glare she has!

An outspoken First Lady
Most recently, a series of videos have been making its round about Rosmah and how she has forsaken her family members and her kampung. The video carried interviews with her adopted brother, neighbours and family friends. They said rather unsavoury words about Rosmah from being ungrateful to being downright evil.

Rosmah could dignify all these allegations with a law suit or she can ignore it. She has denied RPKs allegations and did not even lodge a police report. What did I tell you about class?

Perhaps Malaysians aren't ready for an outspoken, sharp shooting First Lady. The ones we previously had kept themselves in the background mostly, never upfront about what they thought about a political issue. That is after all, their husband's duty.

However, like Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said, Najib and Rosmah work as a team. If so, Rosmah's actions, thoughts and words should carry as much weight as her husband's.

This means the social cause of her choice will be given priority by the government. Her forte is on issues affecting children and this includes e! arly chi ldhood education, welfare and safety.

We should be thankful that she gives a damn about our children. Most politicians are too busy thinking about making money that they don't care how screwed up our education system is and even worse, how bad security has become for our children. Her desire to uplift the lives for children across the country is like Najibs quest to resolve our economic woes. What more could we ask for?

rosmah-mansor-with-people.pngImagine this: in her capacity, she can tell Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to focus on providing a better curriculum for our kids. She can even tell the Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan to buck up and ensure our schools are safe and make sure child-murder cases like Nurin Jazlin Jazimins does not ever happen again.

So much potential
Najibs unity call for 1Malaysia surely must begin at home before being extended to the cabinet, the government, the civil service and to Malaysians in general. Therefore, she is not just a First Lady for Malays but a First Lady for all Malaysians regardless of race or creed.

I for one would love to see her embrace the 1Malaysia side of her. She would look absolutely radiant in a cheongsam or a saree when she attends the festive celebrations. She can be the first since I dont recall any of our previous First Ladies ever doing so.

That would be a very bold move. It will capture the imagination of the entire nation to see Rosmah, an Umno member on all accounts, wearing a non-Malay cultural dress. It might not necessary translate to concrete reforms that Umno aspires to do but it is symbolic at least to prove Umno can reach out to non-Malays.

She does not even need to swear on the Quran for anything. In fact, she can thumb her nose at Umno haters and opposition supporters to show that 1Malaysia runs in her very blood. Najib will be so proud. I would be too.

With that said, Rosmah has so much potential and much freedom to make lives and futures of ! Malaysia ns better. All she needs is a little encouragement from the rest of us Malaysians.

Who knows if one day, comparisons are drawn between her and the late Lady Diana Spencer, famous for her grace and generosity? While Diana has been immortalised in song as Englands Rose, Rosmah can be remembered as an ever blooming flower.

There is already an orchid in Singapore named in her honour, after all.

This article was firs published on June 27, 2009. Click here to read more
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

The Razak Boys - Najib, Johari, Nizam, Nazim and Nazir

C S Tan, Star

The five sons of the late Tun Abdul Razak have long been in the public limelight they were growing up when their father was prime minster from 1970 to 1976. The eldest, Datuk Seri Najib Razak was 17 years old when his father became prime minister while the youngest, Datuk Nazir Razak was then just four.

It was, however, a relatively short prime ministerial tenure as Razak passed away after about five years in office.

The family will again be thrust into the spotlight cast from the prime ministers office which Najib will assume in March.

His brothers have long been engaged in their own respective professions.

Datuk Johari Razak, the second eldest, read law, like his father. He is a senior partner at Shearn Delamore & Co, a large law firm in Kuala Lumpur.

Johari is also a non-executive director in several publicly listed companies including, being chairman of Ancom Bhd, deputy chairman of related Nylex (M) Bhd, and directorships in Hong Leong Industries Bhd and Daiman Development Bhd. He is also a director of Deutsche Bank (M) Bhd.
Nazir

The middle brother, Datuk Mohamed Nizam Razak studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University in the UK and was a stockbroker, being CEO of PB Securities Sdn Bhd in the 1990s.

At present, he is also a non-executive director in several publicly listed companies including Hiap Teck Venture Bhd, Mamee Double-Decker (M) Bhd, Delloyd Ventures Bhd and Yeo Hiap Seng (M) Bhd. Like Johari, Nizam is also a director of Deutsche Bank.

The fourth brother Datuk Mohamed Nazim Razak, who also studied in a British university, is an architect. His wedding in 2005 when he married to Norjuma Habib Mohamed, former host of TV3s Nona show, was widely covered in the media.

The youngest brother is the most well-known. Datuk Nazir Razak had studied at Cambridge University wher! e he obt ained a master of philosophy.
Tun Abdul Razaks family portrait. From left: Thirteen-year-old Najib, Toh Puan Rahah holding three-monthold Nazir, Nazim, five, Nizam, eight, and Tun Razak. Johari, who was 12 at the time, is not pictured.

A career banker, he joined CIMB Investment Bank almost 20 years ago, rising through its executive ranks to become its CEO in 1999.

Following the merger of CIMB and Bumiputra-Commerce Bank to become Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd (BCHB), Nazir became CEO of the merged group. This was not an easy charge as Bumiputra-Commerce Bank, during its years as Bank Bumiputra, had a history of falling into financial difficulties and needed to be rescued by the government.

Under his watch, the BCHB group, which is branded as CIMB group, was transformed into a GLC (government-linked company) bank that could compete with its peers in the private sector regionally.

Najib has been careful that there is no incidence of family cronyism, although that has not deterred his political opponents from raising the issue.

His record, however, is a good one. Among his brothers, only Nazir has risen to the top post of a large GLC but he had to climb the corporate ladder.

More importantly, Nazir has proved to be a capable banker, an accolade offered by his peers and fund managers for the results he produced at CIMB group. Furthermore, he advanced at CIMB at a time when Najib held other cabinet posts, not that of finance minister.

In recent years, Najib had held the portfolio of defence minister and throughout his term of service, there were no scandals of defence contracts involving his brothers. The family is proud of the Razak name and do not want to tarnish that.

When Najib was defence minister, any involvement by his brothers in the defence industry would have been politically sensitive or even suspicious.

The dilemma of his brothers now is that when Najib becomes prime minister, any career progression they may have in whatever field! could b e the subject of criticism of Najibs influence.

Yet, the brothers have built their respective careers and have the right, as any other individual, to move up in their careers.

That raises the possibility of a move to public service by some of the brothers. They are well-educated and are known to be well-mannered, rather than arrogant, and have not been known to abuse their family ties.

This article was first published on Dec 6, 2008
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

The FaceBook Effect: A Review

July 14, 2010

The FACEBOOK: Humanitys Database

Review by David Pogue of The Facebook Effect :The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World ( by David Kirkpatrick, Simon & Schuster (July 4, 2010)

According to The Facebook Effect, Facebook is the second-most-visited Web site on earth (after Google). The average member spends almost an hour there each day. It has more than 400 million active users over 20 percent of everyone on the Internet and is growing by 5 percent a month.

But according to David Kirkpatrick, who for many years was a technology editor at Fortune, Facebook is more than big. Its a platform for people to get more out of their lives, a technological powerhouse with unprecedented influence across modern life and an entirely new form of communication.

No wonder he has written what amounts to two books about it: the first and second halves of The Facebook Effect. The first part is a fascinating but flawed corporate history, starring Facebooks reticent creator, the Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg; the second is a thoughtful, evenhanded analysis of the Web sites impact.

Zuckerberg created Thefacebook.com, as it was originally called, in early 2004, as an extracurricular project while he was at Harvard. Students, he knew, spent hours poring over the facebooks kept by each of the Harvard undergraduate houses, as well as the printed campus directory featuring the name and photograph of every freshman. When Harvard lagged in unifying these directories despite pressure from students, Zuckerberg posted his version online and allowed students to add new information of their own.

Thefacebook appealed to college students curiosity, social anxieties and hormones, and it was an instant hit. Over the next couple of years, Zuckerberg expand! ed the s ite to include other Ivy League colleges, then less elite colleges, then high schools and finally ordinary grown-ups.

Facebook became catnip for big tech companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Viacom and the book recounts the feeding frenzy as various executives fell over themselves trying to buy it, despite Zuckerbergs steadfast refusal to sell. (Microsoft, for one, was finally permitted to buy 1.6 percent of Facebook for $240 million in 2007, which at the time put the value of the company, which had yet to make a profit, at $15 billion.) Kirkpatricks is a well-researched, nicely structured account of all the wheeling and dealing. But there are kinks in the storytelling.

Descriptions are repeated multiple times. The details of Zuckerbergs standard wardrobe T-shirt, jeans, fleece jacket, rubber Adidas sandals appear in as many as five places. Were introduced to other Web-based college social networks at least three times. Poking, a friendly Facebook gesture, is described twice. Its bizarre like being at a party where some guy tells the same joke over and over in the same conversation.

Kirkpatricks writing is low-key but also workmanlike, and punctuated by jarring grammatical constructions (Everybody carried their stuff themselves; every Thefacebook user had their own public bulletin board). Ouch.

This isnt the first book about Facebook. One, the sensationalist Accidental Billionaires (subtitle: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal), is already being made into a movie. But The Facebook Effect is the first to enjoy the participation of the blunt, elusive Mark Zuckerberg.

Kirkpatrick makes a reasonable attempt to remain objective about his subject, noting (repeatedly) Zuckerbergs taciturn stare and, of course, his slovenly dressing habits. Even so, theres a good deal of hero worship going on. Zuckerberg is described as a focused and visionary leader with a steely willingness to confront competition who attracts girls with his confidence, his humor and his irreverence. Hi! s handwr iting, we are told in several places, is meticulous, extremely precise and beautiful.

The author shows even less objectivity in reporting on the lawsuits that have troubled Facebooks history. One was filed by three Harvard students the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (whose name is misspelled Winkelvoss throughout) and Divya Narendra who created an early networking site with Zuckerbergs help and then watched, aghast, as he withdrew and started his own. (The Winklevosses were athletic blond ber-WASPs who couldnt be more different from the scrawny, nerdy, brainy Jews who founded Thefacebook, Kirkpatrick observes.) Later, Zuckerberg shut out his handpicked business manager, Eduardo Saverin, who had helped finance the fledgling project and turn it into an actual company.

In a Note on Reporting, Kirkpatrick names 128 people he interviewed for this book. Surprisingly (or maybe not), neither Saverin nor the Winklevossesare on the list. Only the Zuckerberg side is told.

An even bigger problem is that Kirkpatrick cant help inserting himself into the story: distractingly, self-aggrandizingly, almost pathetically. I was sitting with Zuckerberg in a modest French bistro, he might say. Or, I talked to Zuckerberg in his private retreat. Or, I sat alone with Zuckerberg for a long interview. Or, Zuckerberg even emerged from his shell to solicit advance attention from a journalist, me, whom he invited inside the company for an exclusive story. Someone should have toned this stuff down.

Much is forgiven, though, as Kirkpatrick moves beyond the fill-in-the-blanks exercise of relating

David Pogue

Facebooks past and tackles its present and future. When a site becomes this big, this powerful, there are ramifications personal, cultural, economic and political.

First, the privacy issue. Facebooks entire purpose is to display personal inform! ation ab out you, so giving you control over it is absolutely essential. Yet Kirkpatrick clearly explains how Facebook has repeatedly made policy and programming gaffes that have exposed information that members thought was private.

He also skillfully tracks the rise of commercialism on Facebook; shrewd marketers can do incredible business on the site. And he handles Facebooks international expansion adeptly, noting that not all cultures embrace Facebooks American-spirited transparency. When a father in Saudi Arabia caught his daughter interacting with men on Facebook, he writes in one disturbing account, he killed her.

Kirkpatrick is clearly excited about Facebooks potential. It has become, like Twitter, a way for news to spread, for common goals to be shared, for political movements to take root. Barack Obama, after all, is said to owe his electoral victory in part to a shrewd use of Facebook.

Its odd, though, that a book this carefully considered completely misses another possible Facebook effect: in an age in which one click establishes a new friend, young people may be losing the skills to build real friendships and negotiate real social encounters.

Not long from now, Facebook will be a frighteningly centralized database containing the information of about a half-billion people. Its advertisers already use this data (You can show your ad only to married women aged 35 and up who live in northern Ohio, Kirkpatrick notes), but apart from that, nobody can predict what the company will do with our information.

Despite its foibles, The Facebook Effect leaves you with a deep understanding of Facebook, its philosophies and, most startlingly, its power. You come away with a creepy new awareness of how a directory of college students is fast becoming a directory of all humanity one thats in the hands of a somewhat strange 26-year-old wearing a T-shirt and rubber Adidas sandals.

*David Pogue writes the State of the Art column for the Business Day section of The Times. He is ! the auth or of The World According to Twitter.www.thenewyorktimes.com

See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

PM, Rosmah, Baginda, Nazim mentioned in Bala's French probe

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Malaysian private investigator P Balasubramaniam spent three hours huddled with the French police on Monday and during the long question-and-answer session, the names Najib, Rosmah, Baginda, ASP Suresh, Deepak and Dinesh cropped up several times.

There were also some new names that Bala mentioned. I am not sure if he will reveal those when he issues a statement to the press. But because of the huge public interest, most likely his lawyers will issue the statement later tonight or tomorrow, a source close to the investigation told Malaysia Chronicle.

The names mentioned refer to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor, their friend Razak Baginda, ASP Suresh, businessman Deepak Jaikishan and his brother Dinesh.

The Malaysian leader has been accused of taking a kickback worth 114 million euros or RM570 million from French defense giant DCNS over the purchase of two Scorpene submarines he sanctioned when he was defense minister in 2002.

Najib has denied the allegations but he did benefit a company controlled by Baginda with a co-ordination and support services contract worth RM570 million.

ASP Suresh is a police officer whom Bala has known for a long time, while Deepak is a friend of Rosmahs. When he emerged after a year in hiding in late 2009, Bala had said ASP Suresh and Deepak were the ones who introduced him to Najibs brother Nazim Razak.

The meeting took place soon after Bala had made a sensational statutory declaration that incriminated Najib, Rosmah, Baginda in the submarines deal as well as in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was trying to blackmail Baginda for her US$500,000 share of commission.

The French police wanted to know what happened to Bala after he disappeared. They wanted to know why he ran off and who asked to leave Malaysia. They wanted to see documentary proof of the payments he said he received from Deepak, said the source.

Indeed, Bala ha! d reveal ed that Nazim had met him at a Volkswagon salesroom in Kota Damansara, a suburb in Selangor state. Nazims pregnant wife was also present, he had recounted.

According to Bala, Nazim offered him RM5 million to reverse his statutory declaration, leave Malaysia immediately and to keep silent on the case. He also said Rosmah was very pleased that he had agreed to retract the statutory declaration and wanted to have breakfast with him.So far, Bala has received RM750,000 and has kept several bank-in slips showing transfers of around RM50,000 each.

A former Special Branch detective, Bala's life has been turned upside down by the Altantuya murder and Scropenes graft case. Last week, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission swerved at the 11th hour from recording his statement even though they had agreed to do so at a London venue, where Bala had promised to do his best to help in investigations.

Despite the MACC's suspicious behavior, Bala proceeded to Paris, where he was interviewed by the French police at the Direction Centrale de la Police in Nanterre Prefecture. The French authorities are probing possible corruption by DCNS and certain of their own politicians. Naval arms-makerDCNS has a notorious record of bribing its way into huge deals.

Malaysian civils rights group SUARAM gave impetus to the French probe when it lodged a complaint in Paris on behalf of Malaysian taxpayers earlier this year after Najib refused to initiate any probe into the widespread allegations of a kickback having been paid by DCNS. The two submarines have set back national coffers by RM6.7 billion and although Najib insists the RM570 million contract granted to Baginda was not a form of commission, Baginda's firm - Perimekar - has no previous record of any knowledge of submarines technology.

Intertwined into the submarines acquisition is the gruesome murder of the beautiful 28-year old Altantuya, whom French newspaper La Liberation has reported was shot in the head and blown up with C4 explosives to! prevent identification. The paper also said she had told her killers to spare her because she was pregnant.

But it was the latest revelation of the involvement of Nazim, Najib's younger architect brother, that forced the Malaysian authorities into a show of action after having submerging the case following Bala's 'disappearance'.

Challenged in Parliament to take action, the MACC vowed to get to the bottom of the case and sought an interview with Bala. But the commission - which falls under the direct purview of the Prime Minister - startled the nation and other foreign observers by backing off at the last minute.

"It really speaks badly about law and order in Malaysia. If the national anti-graft commission can withdraw from such an important and high-profile case, surely they must have received instructions from the highest authority, and sadly, all the indicators point to Najib himself," Tian told Malayasia Chronicle.
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Najib swings back at Muhyiddin on Perkasa, overtures to PAS

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Prime Minister Najib Razak has swung back but gently, almost imperceptibly - at his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin for comments made while he was out of town over two important issues - the creation of Chinese and Indian versions of Perkasa and an invitation to PAS to discuss Malay unity with Umno.

Back in the saddle after a short working visit to Brunei, Najib told reporters that relevant groups should not resort to drastic action to champion the interest of any ethnicity as this could trigger tensions and also upset his unifying 1Malaysia platform.

Whilst just a day ago, Muhyiddin had raised eyebrows, renewing long-simmering speculation of a rift with his boss, when he said he saw nothing wrong with people forming a Chinese Perkasa or an Indian Perkasa.

"We cannot restrict any group but we do not want quarrels which can trigger racial sentiments to prevail in our country," Bernama reported Najib as saying on Wednesday.

"We must check this. It is for this reason that I have initiated the 1Malaysia concept of People First, Performance Now to serve as our guide."

War declared - Umno style!

Although Najib did not directly chastise Muhyiddin or say that the DPMs comments could jeopardize his unifying 1Malaysia platform, pundits say the message was clear.

Najib may be using soft words but he is sending a clear message that he won't go without a fight," a veteran Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle..

"His words may be wrapped in lamb's wool but they will be carefully dissected by Muhyiddins camp and a reaction can be expected in the days to come. If yesterday was a declaration of war, then today is the confirmation."

Muhyiddin had also surprised the Malay community when he suddenly revived overtures to PAS to officially or unofficially discuss Malay unity with Umno.!

Again, Najib cushioned his words but made it clear that he was the still boss both at Umno and of Malaysia.

"I just want to say that Umno is itself strong, and it is not that we are too weak that we have to forge a new friendship with PAS," said Najib, adding that since Muhyiddin had made a statement on the matter, he would not expand on the topic any further. - Malaysia Chronicle

Related Stories:
Is something brewing in the House of Umno?
Nazri's Perkasa damage-control unconvincing, where is Najib?

See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

Kalau UMNO kuat, Najib patut suruh Muhyiddin tutup mulut nya......

Datuk Seri Najib Razak berkata Umno mempunyai kekuatan tersendiri dan parti itu bukan terlalu lemah sehingga terpaksa bekerjasama dengan PAS. Perdana Menteri dan Presiden Umno itu berkata PAS harus menghormati Umno sebagai parti yang memperjuangkan Islam, yang merupakan satu daripada teras perjuangan mereka selama ini. Beliau berkata tiada sesiapa yang harus meragui perjuangan Umno dalam hal tersebut.

"Saya tidak mahu buat apa-apa kenyataan lagi sebab Timbalan Presiden Umno (Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) telahpun membuat kenyataan. Saya rasa cukuplah dengan kenyataan tersebut.

"Saya cuma nak nyatakan bahawa Umno memang mempunyai kekuatan tersendiri dan bukan kerana kita ini terlalu lemah, kita terpaksa mencari kawan baru dengan PAS," katanya.

Semalam, Muhyiddin menyatakan komitmen serta kesediaan Umno untuk bertemu dan menjalin kerjasama dengan Pas dalam pelbagai bidang termasuk usaha untuk memperkukuhkan Islam serta kedudukan orang Melayu di negara ini.

Sebelum ini, Panel Pemikir Jabatan Hal Ehwal Khas (JASA), Lokman Nor Adam dipetik sebagai berkata bahawa hasrat untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara yang mengamalkan dasar Islam akan menjadi kenyataan sekiranya PAS dan Umno bersatu.

PAS snubs UMNO's offer, read here.

source:bernama

PAS pun tak buloq dengan UMNO!!!!! Tak pasai-pasai Muhyiddin terhegeh-hegeh mai nak usyar PAS semula...gila talak kot?

Lebih baik Pak Jib suruh Muhyiddin tutup mulut celuparnya saja.......

cheers.
See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

Amid media clampdown, S'gor tables Freedom of Information Bill

Malaysia Chronicle

Amid a federal government crackdown on the media and calls from civil rights groups to repeal an archaic Official Secrets Act, the Selangor government tabled a landmark Freedom of Information Bill for first reading at the state assembly.

Every citizen has a right to get information from all state government departments. We don't deny that this is a heavy responsibility for the government and its administration, but this is what having ketuanan rakyat (people first) and reform means, PKR MP for Bukit Lanjan Elizabeth Wong told the state legislature on Monday.

Getting worse
Indeed, Malaysia has one of the worst public images as far as media freedom and right of expression is concerned. Even though Prime Minister Najib Razak promised liberal reforms when he took power in April last year, nothing much has been done.

In fact, the clampdown has steadily worsened as Najib's Umno-BN coalition continued to lose political ground to the Pakatan Rakyat. Last week, a high-level anti-false news-and-lies committee was established comprising Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Minister in the PMs Department Nazri Aziz and Information Minister Rais Yatim.

Opposition newspapers have been banned, confiscated and their distributors and printers frequently raided and harassed. The Home Ministry has now refused to renew the publishing permits of all three Pakatan flagships Suara Keadilan, Harakah and Rocket.

But despite the tough action from the federal government, Selangor Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has given the green light for the FOI Bill, which is already encountering stiff resistance from Selangor Umno assemblymen.

I find it is not proper for this House to table and pass this enactment, which clearly contravenes the Malaysian constitution and its validity can be questioned in court," Umno assemblyman for Permatang Sula! iman Abd ul Razak said during debate of the FOI.

According to him, Article 4 on List 1 of the Federal List clearly states that all civil and criminal laws and acts and administration of justice, including government secrets and corruption, fall under the jurisdiction of Parliament or the federal government.

Opening questionable contracts to scrutiny


His interpretation was immediately challenged by the Pakatan, who have accused Selangor Umno leaders of being afraid their corruption might be exposed by the Bill. The FOI would make public many of the state's documents and questionable contracts that were entered into by the past BN administration would be open to scrutiny.

Through this Bill, the people of Selangor will be restored their rights, which were theirs to begin with, Elizabeth said.

The summary of the Bill itself describes it as a move to enhance disclosure of information for the public interest, to provide every individual an opportunity to access to information made by every department of the state government.

However, public access to state government information will be limited to any relevant written law, such as the Official Secrets Act. This would negate the worries expressed by Permatang's Sulaiman, Selangor leaders said.

Among the public-friendly features of the FOI Bill are provisions to create the post of one information officer for each state department to assist the public in accessing requested documents. The information officer will be required to respond within 30 days or in urgent cases, within seven days.

The Bill is also expected to clear both its first and second readings during the current session of the state assembly. It will then be forwarded to a select committee for public consultation, research and study.

The select committee will consist of Saari Sungib (PAS-Hulu Kelang) as chairman and six other committee members, namely, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR-Seri Setia), Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PAS-Sijangkang), Amiruddin S! hari (PK R-Batu Caves), Hannah Yeoh (DAP-Subang Jaya), Dr Karim Mansor (BN-Tanjung Sepat) and Abdul Shukur Idrus (BN-Kuang).

The third and final reading is expected to take place by April 2011.
See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

Scholarships - Perkasa's demand is unconstitutional

On 12th July 2010, the Malaysian Insider quoted MPM committee member Professor Datuk Dr Kamarudin Kachar as saying that federal scholarships should be allocated in accordance with the country's racial ratio.

As we all know, MPM stands for Majlis Perundingan Melayu or the Malay Consultative Council. It is driven by the ultra-Malay group, Perkasa, led by Ibrahim Ali and finds support by luminaries such as Dr Mahathir.

While Minister Nazri has today insisted that we all should get rid of Perkasa - "because Perkasa is not in line with Datuk Seri Najib (Razaks) 1 Malaysia concept, and we (are) against any form of racism and Perkasa certainly doesnt belong or [is] supported by Umno, - the Deputy Prime Minister and some other Ministers have often said that Perkasa is entitled to voice its opinion on matters affecting Malay rights.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Najib has refused to be associated with Perkasa by refusing to attend its gathering at the PWTC some months ago. However, his tacit approval of Perkasa and what it stands for is well perceived upon his refusal to openly state that Perkasa runs counter to his 1 Malaysia concept.

In fact, the Prime Minister's posturing on his New Economic Model, which saw him broach the subject of transparency and meritocracy in the awards of government contracts only to later announce that he would not betray the interests of the Malays after Perkasa had raised its usual Malay rights rants a couple of decibels upwards, lends credence to the perception that he, at the very least, is conscious of Perkasa's influence among the conservative Malays if not wholly in agreement with it.

In the UMNO Youth Chief, YB Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister Nazri finds an unlikely ally. Khairy has openly criticised Perkasa and its chief, Ibrahim Ali, whom he (Khairy) described as a "jaguh kampung" (village champion).

Ibrahim responded by asking Khairy to resign from his post as the UMNO Youth Chief.

The fact that Minister Nazr! i has sa id that Perkasa should be gotten rid of came as no surprise as the latter's connection with Dr Mahathir is not very well hidden. And Minister Nazri's disdain with anything Mahathir is also quite obvious. In addition, Khairy Jamaluddin is also not exactly in love with Dr Mahathir. The feeling is mutual, I must hasten to add.

As I am writing this article, Ibrahim Ali has responded the Minister Nazri's call by saying that Minister Nazri should instead be gotten rid of.

Elsewhere, the Deputy Prime Minister, had ventured into a really murky territory by saying that all can form their own Perkasa.

Since the inception of Perkasa and the rise of Ibrahim Ali as the leader of this self-styled Malay pressure group, I have found Perkasa - and it's various offshoots, such as Gertak, Pekida, Pewaris and MPM - to be nothing but a political gimmickry entirely lacking in any form of substantive intellect.

And to think that there is someone in MCA who had suggested that the Chinese should have its own Perkasa is nothing short of comedic. What will the Chinese version of Perkasa be named? PerkaChua?

That Perkasa lacks intellectual credibility is obvious from Ibrahim Ali's call for Khairy Jamaluddin to resign and for Minister Nazri to be gotten rid of. Why must KJ resign or Minister Nazri be sacked? Just because they disagree with Ibrahim Ali?

This is endemic among Malaysians who are quite obviously less endowed in the cranium, I must say. When one could not rebut what one's opponent is saying, one attacks the opponent. If no credible attack could be mounted, one calls for his or her resignation. Whatever for? Would the opponent resign just because of that call?

Personally, I do not for a moment believe that the government in general, and UMNO in particular, to be in such a chaotic state over Perkasa. I really do not believe that the various personalities in UMNO are at odd over Perkasa.

To me, it is a balancing act. Someone has to pacify the non Mal! ays and someone else within the same organisation has to pacify the conservative Malay. Hence the seeming inconsistent stands on Perkasa from different personalities within UMNO.

Whatever it is, Perkasa has been allowed to raise a number of issues by the government. It has, for example, raised issues about the meritocracy plan under the New Economic Model. It has even managed to scream over the Bank Negara's refusal to disallow Affin Bank to make an offer to take over EON Bank.

And yesterday, through MPM, it demanded that federal scholarship should be distributed in accordance with the racial ratio. The rationale for that is explained as follows:

The Malay population of this country is 67 per cent. That means 67 per cent of scholarships should be set aside for deserving Malays and Bumiputeras, says MPM committee member Professor Datuk Dr Kamarudin Kachar (as quoted by the Malaysian Insisder).

I do not know whether the Malay population in Malaysia consists of 67% of the whole population of Malaysia. That apart, the simplistic approach taken by the good Professor is alarming, to say the least.

What if, out of the 67%, the family of 25% of the Malays could more than afford to send their children to any university thereby negating any necessity for scholarship?

What if the government decides to impose taxes based on the racial ratio, arguing that since the Malays form 67% of Malaysia' total population, the Malays should pay more taxes as all public utilities ad amenities are obviously used more by the Malays than other races?

The eradication of poverty, emancipation and empowerment of the people of this country, intellectually and politically, is a must, if we are serious in achieving the goal of being a developed nation by 2020 or at all.

I, for one, am not going to deny the necessity for affirmative action, if that is what it takes to raise the economic status of a certain section of our society, be it the Malays or any other race.

! The fact that there are special positions enjoyed by the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak is also undeniable and unquestionable. And I am not questioning them.

But what are those special positions? How are they "protected"? Is the mechanism for this so called "protection" left at our whims and fancies?

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution lays out the answer. But we do not seem to want to analyse it, let alone understand and implement it whole heartedly.

Quite to the contrary, we seem to be hell-bent on twisting its purview and purports, taking away the spirit of the provision from its implementation, thereby making a mockery of all the good intentions of our forefathers, who fought for independence and negotiated the inclusion of the provisions into our supreme law, the Federal Constitution.

This is what it says:

"Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, but subject to the provisions of Article 40 and of this Article, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall exercise his functions under this Constitution and federal law in such manner as may be necessary to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and to ensure the reservation for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of such proportion as he may deem reasonable of positions in the public service (other than the public service of a State) and of scholarships, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges or special facilities given or accorded by the Federal Government and, when any permit or licence for the operation of any trade or business is required by federal law, then, subject to the provisions of that law and this Article, of such permits and licences."

Allow me to break the provision up for better clarity. Broken to its core, article 153 provides as follows:

a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall exercise his functions under this Constitution and federal law in such manner as may be necessar! y to saf eguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak;

b) his Royal Highness shall ensure the reservation for Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak of such proportion as he may deem reasonable of the followings:

- positions in the public service;

- scholarships, exhibitions and other similar educational or training privileges or special facilities given or accorded by the Federal Government;

- any permit or licence for the operation of any trade or business as required by federal law.

The crux of article 153 is not the racial ratio. It is "reasonableness".

The question is therefore not one of numerical superiority. Nor is it racial superiority. Or even "ketuanan".

Article 153 posits the existence of an executive responsibility. That responsibility is to ensure that the provision is implemented as reasonableness demands. It is therefore a highly visionary provision.

I say "visionary" because we cannot discount a time in the future where "reasonableness" dictates that no reservation of the various matters spelt out above should be made for the Malays and/or the natives of Sabah and/or Sarawak.

If we could not discount that possibility, than we would have failed miserably as a nation. To think that the Malays and natives of Sabah and/or Sarawak would need various positions to be reserved for them for eternity, out of social or political necessity, is an admission on our part that we would never be able to alleviate poverty and social as well as economics imbalance among the Malays and the natives forever and ever.

In that instant, are we, as a people and as a nation, not ashamed of ourselves?

The correct question to be asked, in respect of the distribution of the federal scholarship, is then not a numerical one. It is this.

How many federal scholarships (scholarships given by states government do not come within ! the purv iew of article 153) should be reserved for the Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak as would be reasonable?

Surely, the concept of reasonableness would entail a careful and deep analysis of needs and necessity of the Malays and natives for such scholarship as compared to the other races. Surely, it would entail a careful study of the academic achievements of the Malays and natives as compared to the other races. Surely it would entail a certain set of guidelines and criterions for selection of qualified students.

I may be wrong on the above. But what I am dead sure about is this.

I am sure that Article 153 does not provide as follows:

"All federal scholarships, positions in civil service, business licenses and permits shall be reserved, firstly, for the Malays, secondly for the natives of Sabah and Sarawak and the remaining, if any, for the other races."

I am also sure that article 153 does not posit the distribution of federal scholarships in accordance with numerical superiority.

Perkasa's demand, through MPM, for the federal scholarships to be distributed in accordance with racial make up of our country is not only incongruous with the concept of 1 Malaysia, but is also repugnant against the Federal Constitution, both in its letters and spirit.

Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Is something brewing in the House of Umno?

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

In the clearest sign yet of an impending open challenge to Prime Minister Najib Razak, his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin said it was alright to form Chinese or Indian versions of ultra-Malay rights group Perkasa, even though such a development would sound the death knell for his boss's 1Malaysia platform.

On the surface, the DPM’s comments may seem innocuous, but to political pundits, they packed enough power to knock out a cow.

“Perkasa is just a fringe ratbag group but many BN leaders seem to share its ideology including Muhyiddin and this is what has given it the respectability it doesn’t deserve,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.


“Obviously, by being seen to endorse a Chinese or an Indian Perkasa in addition to the Malay Perkasa, Muhyiddin is sending out a very strong political message. Not only is he chopping down Najib’s 1Malaysia, he is intentionally sending reverberations across Umno.”

Drawing battle lines

While Muhyiddin supported Najib for the Umno presidency, and hence the prime ministership, and Najib reciprocated by picking him over Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the rapport between country's top two men has never been strong.

Soon after Najib took over the prime minister’s post from Abdullah Badawi, Muhyiddin could be seen aligning himself with former premier Mahathir Mohamad. He has never strongly supported Najib’s apparently inclusive and liberal 1Malaysia, which aims to equalize opportunities in many key areas amongst the various ethnic groups.

Muhyiddin is now regarded as a hawk in Umno, endorsing right-wing and even extremist racial policies promulgated by Perkasa and Mahathir.

On Tuesday, he told reporters that it was an individual’s right to form whatever association he wished. It was in stark contrast to comments made the same day by Minister in the PM’s Department, Nazri Aziz, who insisted that Perkasa did not speak for Umno and had tarnished Najib’s 1Malaysia.

The DPM’s stance also conflicts with that taken by UmnoYouth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, who only days ago embroiled himself in a public quarrel with Ibrahim Ali over Perkasa's intolerant and exclusive stance.

“We can have Chinese Perkasa and even Indian Perkasa,” Muhyiddin told reporters on Tuesday. “The government does not stop anyone from forming a body.”

Next move will come soon

Pundits have warned of the danger of regression should the Najib administration allow Malaysians to retreat into sharply defined communal groups and racial cocoons.

They say it is impossible for Muhyiddin not to be aware of the implications of his comments and accuse him of trying to maneuver for political position in Umno.

“These are interesting times in Malaysian politics. Something stinks in the house of Umno. Normally the top guns there won’t show their hand so openly," a veteran Umno watcher told Malaysia Chronicle.

"That’s why Muhyiddin’s comments are very significant. After this, he and his supporters will cool down until the next move. But since he has already fired the first salvo, the second will come very soon, mark my words."

Of late, public unhappiness with Najib's lukewarm leadership has grown despite a recent poll showing he had a 72 percent approval rating. There is also growing discomfort that his personal scandals including possible involvement in the Altantuya murder and corruption case may tarnish Malaysia's image.

Many corporate leaders including Umno members have in private expressed uneasiness about the clout Najib allows his wife Rosmah Mansor to wield, especially in the areas of investment and business.

Tukar Tiub wants to see you

MALAM ESOK UNTUK ANAK MUDA YANG COOL !

from Tukar Tiub

JANGAN LUPA MALAM ESOK

nota:
yang cool dan kounter kultur
sila datang - yang skema
jangan buat sibuk pergi main
di lebuh raya plus kah kah kah

AUKU & HAK MAHASISWA

Tarikh: Khamis, 15 Julai 2010

Masa: 8:30 malam

Tempat: Auditorium KLSCAH (KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall), Jalan Maharajalela, KL (berdekatan Stesen Monorel Maharajalela)


Baru-baru ini Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti (AUKU) 1971 sekali lagi menjadi perhatian umum apabila empat mahasiswa jurusan Sains Politik UKM bakal dikenakan tindakan disiplin di bawah akta tersebut kerana didakwa melibatkan diri dalam kempen pilihanraya kecil Hulu Selangor. Mereka telah dituduh melanggar Seksyen 15(5)(a) AUKU yang melarang mahasiswa dari menyatakan sokongan atau simpati terhadap mana-mana parti politik.

Walaupun semakin banyak perhatian diberikan terhadap kes tersebut, pemahaman tentang latar belakang, fungsi, keberkesanan dan impak sebenar AUKU masih menjadi persoalan serta tanda tanya dikalangan mahasiswa dan juga masyarakat umum.

Siri ketiga "AUKU Public Lecture Series" akan melihat kesan serta impak sebenar AUKU terhadap hak dan kebebasan mahasiswa dari sudut pandangan aktivis mahasiswa sendiri.

Pembicara:

1. SHAZNI MUNIR (Mahasiswa UM & Presiden Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia, SMM)
2. YAP HENG LUNG (Siswazah USM & Sekretariat Malaysian Youth and Students Democratic Movement, DEMA)
3. HILMAN IDHAM (Mahasiswa UKM, Presiden Kumpulan Aktivis Mahasiswa Independen, KAMI & salah seorang dari kes UKM4)

Moderator:

FAHMI REZA (Penyelidik sejarah gerakan mahasiswa)

SEMUA DI JEMPUT TERMASUK OLD TAI MASUK PERCUMA!

The Niamah Podcast

Dato Laila Utama

The Niamah Podcast

French cops probed Bala all day and all night

French judicial police and investigators interviewed Bala for more than six hours yesterday, according to Tian Chua.

View Larger Map The interview began at 2.00pm French time (8.00pm Malaysian time) and extended past 5.00pm, well after normal working hours in France, said the parliamentarian, who has been keeping abreast with developments there.

Bala was questioned at the Central Directorate of Judicial Police (DCPJ) along Rue des Trois Fontanots in Nanterre.

The probe is believed to focus on the background to a submarine deal. French interest in the case may be viewed from a larger concern over the state of French politics in recent times. Last Friday, the BBC website carried an analysis ‘How “rotten” is France’s politics?‘

William Bourdon - Photo source: plumedepresse.net Bala and his lawyer Manjeet Singh are expected to call on a renowned human rights lawyer in France, William Bourdon (right), at 10.00am today. Bourdon, a former Secretary General of the International Federation of Human Rights (1995-2000), is known for taking legal action in France against former Serbian and Rwandan leaders implicated in crimes against humanity. He has also represented Franco-Chilean families who suffered under the oppressive former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. More details on the Human Rights Watch website here. The Asia Sentinel recently reported:

French lawyers William Bourdon, Renaud Semerdjian and Joseph Breham put an end to that when they filed it with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of the Malaysian human rights organization Suaram, which supports good-government causes. Judges in the Paris Prosecution Office have been probing a wide range of corruption charges involving similar submarine sales and the possibility of bribery and kickbacks to top officials in France, Pakistan and other countries. The Malaysian piece of the puzzle was added in two filings, on Dec. 4, 2009 and Feb. 23 this year…. “Over the past years, serious cases have been investigated in France by judges involving DCN,” lawyer Renaud Semerdjian told Asia Sentinel in a telephone interview.

“This is not the first case of this kind that is being investigated. There are others in Pakistan and there are some issues about India. To a certain extent, every time weapons of any kind have been provided, suspicion of violation of the law may be very high.”… In the current complaint in Paris, the issue revolves around what, if anything, Razak Baginda’s Perimekar company did to deserve €114 million. Zainal Abidin, the deputy defense minister at the time of the sale, told parliament that Perimekar had received the amount – 11 percent of the sale price of the submarines – for “coordination and support services.” The Paris filing alleges that there were neither support nor services.

NGO laughs off Sabah's grand plan, calls it 'far-fetched'

By Luke Rintod

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun’s pledge to make Sabah “the best place in Asia to reside” is nothing but a joke, said Common Interest Group Malaysia or CigMa. Its deputy president Daniel John Jambun said Masidi was obviously too detached from the reality of life in major towns of Sabah in proposing the idea.

"Masidi should first tell his bosses in Kuala Lumpur to stop the unabated influx of illegal immigrants from southern Philippines and Indonesia before dreaming of such a pledge to make Sabah the best place to reside.

"Look at our crime rate ... the murder cases, snatch thefts, and robberies. In some cases these ungrateful people are even openly intimidating and harassing the locals.

“They are testing our patience to the limit. Masidi, please don't insult our intelligence with your far-fetched goal," Daniel John said tersely.

Masidi told local newspapers this week of plans to make Sabah the best place to reside in this region.

According to Daniel John, the plan was a mere election gimmick.

He said that with the general election around the corner, Umno is now running a campaign to portray that they have done their best for Sabah.

"I hope Sabahans are not easily taken in by Umno's hallucinating observations," he told FMT on Tuesday.

The foolish CIA link

Daniel John also lashed out at Umno supreme council member Mohd Puad Zarkashi's attempt to link Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to the American intelligence agency CIA.

"This is another joke...to link link Anwar to the CIA and the Jewish lobbyists.

"But, Puad what about these illegal foreigners in Sabah being given MyKads and allowed to infiltrate Sabah's electoral rolls?" he asked.

Daniel John claimed that many in Sabah felt that the easy influx of Muslim immigrants from southern Philippines and Indonesian Sulawesi and Java was supported by a covert operation at the centre to dilute the Christian majority in Sabah and Sarawak.

"The local natives are now asking why the federal government is so soft against this group of intruders? However they were so harsh against the non-Muslims from Vietnam and Cambodia in 1970's and 1980's when they were refugees of civil war.

"These groups were rounded up even while at high sea. They were fenced in Bidong Island.

"Why has not the same harsh arrangement been meted out to the illegal immigrants from Mindanao and Sulawesi? Why the double standard..." he lamented.

Tan: Umno 'tak boleh pakai'

By Patrick Lee and Jamilah Kamarudin

FMT EXCLUSIVE PETALING JAYA: The son of Gerakan co-founder Tan Chee Koon , Tan Kee Kwong has spent much of his life as a doctor before joining politics through Gerakan in 1995. He then went on to assume the role of Segambut MP for three terms before it was given to Gerakan member Ma Woei Chyi in the 2008 general election. Segambut now belongs to DAP's Lim Lip Eng.

Once land and cooperatives deputy minister (1999-2004), Tan also sat on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), questioning allegations of government mismanagement during his tenure.

He then quit Gerakan in September 2008 to join PKR, and has since remained an outspoken critic of the Najib administration. Tan currently sits on the party's central leadership council, and has been known to call PKR a “party of the future”.

In the final piece of the two-part interview, Tan talks to FMT about his experience in the Gerakan party and his disillusionment with the ruling government.

FMT: How did you join Gerakan?


Tan: In 1994, I was working quietly as a general practioner and looking after my aged parents. I was also doing some social work at Pusat Bantuan Sentul. I was then headhunted by Alex Lee, Gerakan vice-president (at the time), and joined the party two months before the 1995 general election.


Segambut was a new area in 1995. So I was asked to be a candidate. At that time I was under the mistaken notion that BN was doing okay and Mahathir Mohamad was all right.

In 1995, I won with a majority of 12,500 (votes). In 1999, when Najib (Tun Razak) won in Pekan by 200 votes, I won by 8,500. At that time, the BN got a hammering because of the Sodomy I (case). And then in 2004, I won with a massive majority of 17,000.

Did you join Gerakan because your father was one of the co-founders of the party?

(I joined) because it has a multi-racial approach to politics, which I believe in strongly. And of course, Gerakan started as an opposition party.

Were you in politics before 1995?

No. Never. I never joined any other party before Gerakan. Although politically aware, I was never a card-carrying member of any party.

You were in Gerakan until 2008. Why did you leave Gerakan?

Well, there are two reasons. One, I cannot respect the current leadership of Gerakan. (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department) Koh Tsu Koon is totally ineffective as a leader. Although he is in charge of KPI (Key Performance Indicators), he failed his own KPI in Penang.

You (Koh Tsu Koon) were a Chief Minister for four terms, but you contested and lost by a massive majority of 10,000. So if you failed your KPI, how can you be a minister of KPI? As politicians, our KPI is to win elections, (hence) my own KPI is very good.

And secondly, and more importantly, Umno 'tak boleh pakai'. We (other parties in the Barisan Nasional) try to talk until our saliva drips -- talk outside cannot, so talk inside (proper channels), (but) it's wasting our time! They (Umno) are just not interested. Honestly from the bottom of my heart, they are totally not interested.

They want to use the BN component parties (as) a rubber stamp (for) their cause. And now it is very clear that Umno has got only two 'perjuangan': to 'gasak' and 'sapu' as fast as possible, and play racial and religious politics.

So how can I support an entity like that?

You were in BN for 13 years, so during those years, you tried...

Many, many times. Not just myself. The MCA, MIC, PPP. (They all) tried; but it was no use. Bloody waste of time. And now Chua Soi Lek (asks for) equal voice. Please lah brother, they will never give you equal voice.

One example was (Gerakan's discussions on the) ISA. Many years ago, Gerakan made a lot of noise about the ISA. We debated about this, until the order came from Umno to (former Gerakan president) Lim Keng Yaik to tell him to shut up.

Why be a politician when you cannot say anything? Only Umno can say, (but) you cannot say.

So you're saying Umno 'tak boleh pakai?'

They are irrelevant to today's needs (and) everything. The prime minister himself doesn't even follow the guidelines. He openly tried to bribe the people in the Hulu Selangor and Sibu (by-elections), and he dares to say that he is taking care of the poor and the needy! I don't know how he's got a face to do that!

More like rape the poor and the needy. (Former finance minister) Daim (Zainuddin) said the other day, “Oh, we must have a corruption-free government (and) no hanky-panky.” He should be the last person qualified to talk like that! They think we were born yesterday, that we are only two years old!

(In comparison) yesteryear's leaders (were) different. When my father was in the Opposition, he started a hospital called Sentosa Medical Centre. In 1972, (former prime minister) Tun Abdul Razak came and opened it. This is what politics is about: about changing your thoughts and your mindset. Nothing personal (involved). Nowadays, if they don't stab you in the back, you're lucky already.

Last time, the Seenivasagam brothers used to argue with Tunku (Abdul Rahman) like mad in Parliament, but later, they (were seen) eating and drinking tea together. What is happening now?

And Umno has strayed far, far away from its original struggle.

What do think was its original struggle?

It was to fight for the poor and the needy. They championed the cause of the teachers, the fishermen, paddy planters, and so on. Umno was a very poor party. Now (if) you go and look at its AGM, look at the type of cars they are driving. Now, their struggles are all about finding contracts.

NRD to meet angry natives over Mykad problems

By Queville To

KOTA KINABALU: The National Registration Department (NRD) will meet with Mykad holders who are in a dilemma over changes to their identities, especially regarding their religious status, next week.

Sabah PKR deputy chairperson Christina Liew said that she had been informed of this in a letter from the department.

She said that she received the letter from the NRD headquarters in Putrajaya on Tuesday.

The meeting is aimed at resolving the long-standing issue affecting many natives in the interior of Sabah.

“The deputy director of the NRD will be chairing the dialogue with the affected MyKad holders.

"I call on all those affected MyKad holders to turn up personally on time with relevant documents such as their birth certificates, MyKads, their parents’ birth certificates and MyKads,” she said.

She said the meeting will held at the state NRD office at the Federal Building located along Jalan Sulaiman, on July 23, at 9.30am.

Liew has been pressing for a dialogue between the NRD and Mykad holders following the plight of Adenin Ahmad of Tamparuli whose religious status was wrongly stated as Islam.

Adenin had said that he is not a Muslim nor had he ever converted to Islam. He claimed that the mistake occurred simply because his name happened to resemble a Muslim name, which is quite a common feature among the natives of Sabah although they are not Muslims.

The error has caused Adenin increasing difficulties with the authorities, including the inability to register the birth of one of his daughters as well as to obtain a marriage certificate from the NRD.

Liew, who is acting for Adenin, had petitioned the NRD both in Putrajaya and here, proposing for a dialogue between the department and the affected MyKad holders to resolve the problem.

She claims that there are several MyKad holders in the state facing similar problems and says the figure could be over a thousand.

Also read:

Thousands in a dilemma over Mykad bungle

MyKad number duplicated, mechanic cries foul

Core support among Malays intact: PAS

Harakahdaily

KUALA LUMPUR - Following its three-day retreat to discuss the next general election and the perceived drop in support among Malays, PAS has concluded that its Malay support base was intact.

PAS vice president Mahfuz Omar said according to the analysis done, Malay voters have consistently supported PAS in every general election since 1995.

“In the 1995 election, Malay votes for PAS was around 38 to 40 percent, however in 1999 it hit 55 percent following the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim from the cabinet.

"In 2008, Malay support for PAS ranged from 42 to 46 percent. This proves that PAS did not lose its core support to date,” he explained.

He said the findings refute claims that PAS's support among Malays had waned due to its alliance with DAP and PKR in Pakatan Rakyat.

Mahfuz said rural support for PAS was not high because of a lack of information from PAS and Pakatan Rakyat.

The three-day retreat during last weekend was attended by PAS top leaders, including president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, Syura and Central committee members.

Mahfuz said the party had decided to launch a more constructive effort to protect the rights of Malays enshrined in the constitution without denying the rights of other races as citizens of Malaysia.

"Our policy is to ensure fairness to all deserving section of society," he stressed.

PAS leaders suspicious of DPM's offer to discuss Malay unity

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

PAS leaders snubbed the latest offer from Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to officially or unofficially discuss co-operation with his Umno party for the sake of Malay unity.

Muhyiddin can issue as many invitations as he likes but PAS will not be shaken out of Pakatan Rakyat, MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle.

We dont know what his motives are, whether or not he is trying to stir up another media attack to create an impression that Pakatan is not stable. But it does not really matter, the public should be wiser and as for PAS members, they know by now the partys stand and the direction it is taking.

Tussle for Malay support
Umno leaders have frequently dangled a potential political alliance with PAS, which would necessitate the Islamist partys exit from the Pakatan coalition led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

PAS was a member of BN from 1974 to 1978, but left in a state of upheaval after disagreement with Umno on core issues. So traumatized was the party that its spiritual adviser, Nik Aziz Nik Mat, has vowed never to join the BN or to form any political pact with Umno ever again.

According to Khalid, the latest call from Muhyiddin was probably in response to PASs recent three-day retreat to re-strategize for the next general elections.

At the retreat, our in-house analysis showed that core Malay support for PAS has actually climbed. In 1995, it was 38 to 40 percent, and in 2008, it was 42 to 46 percent. So in spite of the bravado and racial rhetoric from Umno and its vehicles like Perkasa, our analysis shows that more Malays are put off by that sort of rowdy politicking," said Khalid.

"Most importantly for PAS, it is not about unity based on Malays as a race, but unity as Muslims as a brotherhood. So when you are talking about ! Islam, w hy join Umno? There can only be only PAS.

- Malaysia Chronicle
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Timing of elections: EC should tell BN to co-ordinate with Pakatan

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

If the Election Commission is serious about wanting to save taxpayers money and time, it should advise the Barisan Nasional to co-operate with the Pakatan Rakyat on the timing of the next general elections, including state-wide polls.

In most democratic countries, it is normal for all the coalitions to sit down and talk about when to hold polls, but not in Malaysia it seems. BN wants to hold on to the advantage of springing last-minute surprises, but at the same time, they dont want the Pakatan to do the same," Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad told Malaysia Chronicle..

"In the past, it was a one-way street but now it is not just Kelantan but also Selangor, Penang and Kedah that have the option to hold state elections at a time that they think is most suitable for them. They dont have to blindly follow the BN and hold elections at a timing determined by the BN for its own best advantage. Won't that be silly of Pakatan if it did?

Tell the BN

Khalid also lambasted the EC for not giving a full view of the situation, with its chairman Abdul Aziz Yusof recently reported in the media as saying that holding separate elections would be troublesome and a burden for the citizenry.

Khalid said it was another example of favoritism towards the BN, when the EC was supposed to be neutral. He urged the EC to advise the BN to co-operate with Pakatan instead of accusing the Pakatan.

We do not understand why the EC doesnt dare to tell the BN that to save taxpayers time and money, it is high time to co-operate and jointly discuss when to hold elections. Rather than point the finger at Pakatan for wanting to hold polls separately. Pakatan has this right although it has not made any decisions yet, Khalid said.

According to Malaysian law, state governments have the right to decide when to dissolve their! state a ssemblies and call for snap polls. In the past, with the exception of Sarawak, all states held their state-assembly polls simultaneously with elections for the federal government.

It is unbecoming for the EC to try and make a case for the BN and give the impression that Pakatan is always rebelling and trying to create trouble, Khalid said.

The EC would do well to remember Pakatan is not just PAS, PKR and DAP, it is the 50-over percent of the entire Malaysian electorate that voted for Pakatan candidates in 2008.
See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

Purge not whitewash Malaysia's misdeeds

J D Lovrenciear

LETTER The nation holds its breath as the clock ticks by the minute. We have rafted extreme challenges these past years in our battles against the many episodes that have held us back from knowing the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Today, the single most important truth that must surface and be quickly dealt with are the ugly allegations surrounding our present Prime Minister and his spouse. And along with that is the way we went about in the purchase of the two submarines.

All other matters of tainted wheeling and dealing, numerous accounts of misappropriation of public funds, squandering of the nation's wealth, corruption and abuses of power as well as the numerous accounts of human rights abuses and punishment without fair trials - all these allegations can only be effectively dealt with once we can come out of the Altantuya's murder saga clean and free.

The media meanwhile has a CSR role to fulfill. And towards this end, it must have the courage and conviction to set aside its economic obligations and champion social restructuring in these trying times.

Unless and until a society is free from the bondage of wastage and abuses, it does not make good business sense to merely be manipulated by the powers that be. True and fair reporting without losing sight of their social obligation is a categorical imperative during this trying period of the nation.

The time has come for Malaysia to purge itself of all the many allegations and affirmations of scandalous greed and power abuses. It is not the time to merely whitewash and make believe that we are okay.

Meanwhile, citizens must have the courage to seek out the truth. We must demand the truth. We must stand for the truth. Yes the price to pay may never be small as history teaches us. But the rewards for the good of this nation - its king, citizens and all our generations to come, is far too crucial to discount.

We must come together. Not be subjected into diabolic divisions by race, color, creed or political affiliations and ideologies. BN should set the example by collaborating with every citizen - be they leaders, political parties, NGOs and anyone desirous of the truth and nothing but the whole truth.

Truly, it is now or never - to purge and not whitewash. Only then can we continue to build our forgotten legacy of the 'Rising Tiger'.

Pakatan faces uphill climb in Sarawak, survey Shows

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama)- The Sibu by-election held last May raised some doubts as to Barisan Nasional's grip over Sarawak but a recent poll conducted by an independent body has proved otherwise.

According to the survey by the Merdeka Center, the findings of which were released Tuesday, most Sarawakians still support the BN.

"A total of 64.1 percent of the respondents threw their support behind the BN, an increase of 1.1 percent over the popular votes received by the ruling party in the 2006 state election," said Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) lecturer Faisal S. Hazis, who had conducted the survey titled "Between Continuity and Change: An Analysis of Voting Behavior in Sarawak 2010" for Merdeka Center.

Speaking at a media briefing here, Faisal said the survey conducted from January to April involved 518 respondents in Sarawak aimed at assessing their perception towards both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition parties.

"In terms of perception towards BN, between 70 per cent to 80 per cent of those surveyed said they had positive perception of the BN's policies and actions.

However, he said respondents pointed out several shortcomings in the BN, such as internal rivalry and money politics.

"A total of 65.9 percent wanted the BN to take affirmative action (to resolve the problems) while 74 percent of them believed that corruption was a major problem in the country," he said.

Faisal said only 11.2 per cent of the respondents admitted that they were willing to vote for the opposition.

There were also negative impressions towards the opposition by respondents such as lack of unity, lack of ideas on economic development, corruption (11.4 per cent), weakness in administration (7.5 per cent), and weak leadership (4.8 per cent).

Voting behaviour in Sarawak

On factors influencing voting behaviour in Sarawak, Faisal said 36.9 per ce! nt of th e respondents chose contesting parties as the main factor, particularly the ones that could bring about development to the state.

"The other factors were issues related to the voters while choice of candidates remained as the third most important factor," he said.

Faisal also said it remained an uphill task for the opposition to take over the state as they needed to capture a minimum of 36 out of the 71 seats in the state.

"But there are only 12 marginal seats," he added.

At present, the opposition only holds nine state seats in Sarawak, with DAP (6), PKR (1) and Independent (2). - Bernama
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Water not to quench cronies' thirst: Selangor MB

Harakahdaily

SHAH ALAM, July 13: Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has rubbished deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassins claim that the state would be bankrupt if it continued giving out free water to the people.

Online news portal Selangorkini quoted Khalid as saying that the state coffers remained healthy with RM 1.3 billion surplus last year, and in fact, increased to RM 1.5 billion in June this year after deducting the cost of giving out free water.

This shows that the states budget is balanced, unlike the federal government which always works on deficit budget, he said.

Khalid was responding to the accusation by Muhyiddin the state was running into a deficit and predicted that it would not be able to pay its water concessionaires each time water tariffs or costs for processing clean water went up. Muhyiddin had said the situation was critical and a water shortage crisis was looming.

Muhyiddin accused Khalids administration of refusing to work with the Federal government on the Pahang-Selangor water transfer project, claiming that if the project failed to proceed, the state may face water shortages.

But Khalid denied the accusation, saying the state government did not want the project to favour certain parties with vested interests.

Selangor government had never refused to work in the Pahang-Selangor project. What we are hoping for is that the project is not done in a way to enrich certain private contractor companies, he stressed.

I would like to inform that the water charges in Selangor are much lower than Johor, the state once governed by the DPM, which also charges the highest rate for water, said Khalid. Muhyiddin was the once the menteri besar of Johor.

Part of PR's manifesto
In mid-2008, a deal was sealed between state investment arm Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) and water concessionaire SYABAS to comp! ensate t he company RM1.8 million every month so that 1.1 million consumers can get the first 20 cubic metres of water free.

The free water, part of Pakatan Rakyat's manifesto during the 2008 general election, was implemented after the new state government was sworn in following Barisan Nasional's defeat.

During the BN rule in Selangor, the state under Mohamad Khir Toyo signed a deal with SYABAS allowing it to raise water tariffs to 37 per cent in 2008, 25 per cent in 2011, 15 percent in 2014, and 10 per cent for every three years thereafter.

On June 28, the High Court ordered the Federal government to make public the audit report and water concession agreement signed between the BN-ruled state government SYABAS, citing the decision was made in the publics interest as it contained information relevant to the concession agreement on the increase of water tariff.

However, the Federal government appealed against the decision in what many viewed as an attempt to protect tycoons closely associated with UMNO.

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Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Ketuanan Melayu Policy Creates the Pygmalion Effect and "Enslaves" the Malay Community

Quote
"....There is this item in human psychology known as the Pygmalion effect.

Simply stated it means that a person will behave in the manner he is treated by another. An illustration would be a teacher saying to his students that they are stupid and will not pass their exams. The students will somehow become stupid with many failing their exams.

Now the Ketuanan Melayu has been spoon-feeding the Malay, strengthening his crutches, giving accolades to his 'Third World' mentality.

Furthermore, it drums into the Malay mind that he is weak, needs help now and forever and is dependent on the government for his survival. Without this concerted help the Malay will not survive, it says again and again and again.

It is creating the Pygmalion effect.

Because of this the Malay mind will be more deeply embedded in the changeless paradigm box of Confusion, Conformity, Conservatism, Contradiction, Conflict, and always denying his shortcomings.

The Ketuanan Melayu is also denying new ideas from rescuing the Malay from the box of the changeless status quo.

In this situation his leaders are busy involving themselves with the most rotten "C" of all - CORRUPTION.

Now I propose to name the make of the bus that is flattening the Malaysian polity. I wish to call it the 'Ketuanan Melayu Pygmalion'.

My contention is that the mainstream Malay mind has not got sufficient awareness that change is taking place. His natural thinking has not developed to scientific thinking.

The Malay mind is not privy to alternatives so he is never wrong. Malay thinking is unilateral, judgmental,and the tendency for syllogism. It has tendency for hyperbolism, but not privy to alternatives.

Any inherited wisdom is consi! dered th e truth and the whole truth. It can never be wrong. Again take note of the Malay contention that the Malay race is the best, and Islam is the only one religion for mankind. His favourite ideology 'untuk agama, bangsa dan negara' says it all.

The Malay penchant for conformity renders him supporting the status quo, to be conservative. Again his penchant to preserve and protect Malay tradition, language, and culture as an example of this feature.

The Malay polity is controlled by an autocratic body, in the form of a king or a strong personality.This is where Malay polity believes very strongly that his views are right. He uses the central authority 'bestowed' on him to subdue the people.

For religion, control has always been in the hands of a central body namely the priestly or ulama class. The government would almost automatically assume a superior role over the population.

All new knowledge especially those that do not fall within the ambit of Malay perception of truth are criticised and condemned (and eventually rejected). The non-Malay segment of the citizenry are marginalised and termed 'pendatang' (immigrants), prostitutes and beggars. Political opponents are harassed and intimidated.

The individual is coerced to be loyal and show respect his elders, race and religion as a matter of sacred duty.

The Malay mind is not privy to the modern day wisdom that loyalty and respect must be earned.

To the Malay mind, any and all that does not come within its known parameters are suspect. The Ketuanan Melayu will hardly ever voluntarily admit to any short-coming, mistake, misgiving, or mismanagement.

Instead it thinks nothing of cheating, lying, hiding of facts, projecting half-truths, or cover-ups.

When Khairy Jamaludin sarcastically called Ibrahim Ali a 'jaguh kampung! ' or village champion, a deragotary remark, Ibrahim Ali turned it around by claiming it as a huge compliment!

Society is coerced to adhere strictly to religious tenets and principles. The Islamic religion is full of dogmas to ensure this in any case.

The people are compelled to be loyal to the Ketuanan Melayu leadership and government of the day Those who do not conform are intimidated, penalised and punished. This is very easily done with the very long list of laws like the ISA, OSA, PPPA, and the Sedition Act....."
- AB Sulaiman
Read here for more in Malaysiakini

by

AB Sulaiman
(AB Sulaiman holds a Bachelor in Social Sciences (Leicester, UK) and a Diploma in Public Administration, Universiti Malaya.)

A lot of things have developed recently centring on the formulation and implementation of grandiose public policies under the Ketuanan Melayu leadership.

Public opinion and perception however say most of them have proven ill-conceived, poorly implemented or constructed, causing colossal wastage of life, money and other resources, and hardly ever comprehensively and professionally managed.

Many of them are even crooked and sinful in nature. Just look at :

• the Maminco debacle,
  
  
• the forex fiasco in the 80s,
  
  
• the recent PKFZ controversy,
  
  
• faulty submarines,
  
  
• lost air force jet engines,
  
  
• abuse of public institutions,
  
  
• broken public institutions,
  
  
• very recently the falling roof of a stadium in Terengganu and
  
  
• revelations of possible hanky panky with the construction figures of the new Agong's palace and with the Felda accounts.

It's the devil's free for all out there.

When was the last time we got up in the morning, turned on the alternative communication media, read the latest exposure of government indis! cretions and misconduct and not had our hair stand on end?

I am presenting this article hoping to understand the issue so as to enable us, the poor Malaysian citizenry, withstand the effects of failed Ketuanan Melayu policies. If we are to be run down by a bus, at least we should know what make it is.

Welcome to the C-string and the D list of Ketuanan Melayu thinking.

(A) C for Contention

The C stands for 'Contentions' (or assumptions):

The basic assumption is that human thinking is divisible into two - the NATURAL and the RATIONAL .

(1) NATURAL NORM

There are several features of the NATURAL norm:

i) It accepts all wisdom inherited from the elders, and that these are accepted without any criticism, doubt, or scepticism. Just look at the way the Malay accepts his culture and tradition, and even his religion to illustrate this point.

ii) Any inherited wisdom is considered the truth and the whole truth. It can never be wrong. Again take note of the Malay contention that the Malay race is the best, and Islam is the only one religion for mankind. His favourite ideology 'untuk agama, bangsa dan negara' says it all.

iii) It has no facility or avenue to realise its own mistakes. The Malay mind is not privy to alternatives so he is never wrong. So to follow his inherited wisdom as outlined in the illustrations on tradition, culture, and religion above is the right thing to do.

iv) It has no facility to solve its own mistakes on its own volition.

To illustrate the viability and credibility of these assumptions we might just look at this new institution called Perkasa under the leadership of Ibrahim Ali. We try to analyse the thinking underlying this institution's creation.

The objective mind can detect at least some of these assumptions, indicating the high probability that the Malay thinking norm belongs to this category.

(2) RATION! AL NORM< br>
The second is the rational or scientific norm, where all wisdom received from the past are first given evaluation, analysis, scepticism and doubt; where truth is based on observation, experimentation, deduction and induction. Nothing is accepted as the truth until it is proven beyond doubt that this is so.

Stringing the Cs

These four Contentions would produce the ensuing string of Cs:

i) Conformity:

The Malay accords high value to group (or Malay) interest, identity, influence and solidarity. Everything is done not in his name but in the name and interest of the family, and of course of the Malay race, the religion of Islam and (only) lastly, the country. The spirit of the individual in him is not fully developed. He pays scant regard to his individual interest.

ii) Conservatism:

The Malay penchant for conformity renders him supporting the status quo, to be conservative. Again his penchant to preserve and protect Malay tradition, language, and culture as an example of this feature.

iii) Comparison, lack of:

Malay thinking is:

• unilateral ('Malay is the best race'),
  
  
• judgmental ('My ustaz is the best imam around') and
  
  
• the tendency for syllogism ('Najib is our present PM. Our past PMs have been good. Therefore Najib is the best PM we ever had').

It has tendency for hyperbolism, but not privy to alternatives.

iv) Control by a central authority:

The individual is under control of his parents in the family and by his ethnic society.

* The Malay polity is controlled by an autocratic body, in the form of a king or a strong personality.

* For religion, control has always been in the hands of a central body namely the priestly or ulama class.

* In a democracy, authority ought to be in the hands of the people, but this has been hijacked possibly by the elected governing body done by imitat! ing the religious control exercised by the ulama. The government would almost automatically assume a superior role over the population.

Now, there is nothing silly or stupid about all these principles. Any and every culture would have undergone them at some point or other.

The moot point is they reflect the thinking norms of simpler days gone by and still found in simpler societies of today. But the world has become very complex and change comes quickly, so much so that they say you have to run in order to stay still.

Today humankind has a fairly firm understanding of nature and is able to control it. We live in a technical and scientific world buzzing with amazing technology.

This buzzing 'new world' is featured by change which unfortunately the conservative and conformist mind is not privy to.

v) Change:

There are two issues here. Change is an elusive concept and takes place only in the mind.

More importantly it takes place only if you are aware of it taking place. If there is no awareness, there is no change, only evolution.

My contention is that the mainstream Malay mind has not got sufficient awareness that change is taking place. His natural thinking has not developed to scientific thinking.

So here comes the following Cs:

i) Conflict.

When heat meets with cold, when plus meets with minus, when black meets with white then sparks are created. There are very many plusses colliding with minuses in Malay life. The changing demands of an urban life with that of his pastoral past is a immediate example.

ii) Corrosion.

Malay beliefs and values are corroded. For example, the case of culture again. The 'old' Malay wants his traditions to be preserved, but modern life is eroding it at an alarming rate.

iii) Contradiction.

Vast amounts of contradiction are produced.

iv) Consistency, or lack of:

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's leadership has bee! n labell ed by an irate public as flip-flopping, showing wobbly and inconsistent thinking.

Remember when he cancelled an international inter-faith meeting to be held in Kuala Lumpur?

The cancellation was so last minute participants including the Archbishop of Canterbury had to cancel their travel plans.

v) Criticise and condemn:

All new knowledge especially those that do not fall within the ambit of Malay perception of truth are criticised and condemned (and eventually rejected).

The non-Malay segment of the citizenry are marginalised and termed 'pendatang' (immigrants), prostitutes and beggars. Political opponents are harassed and intimidated.

vi) Coercion:

This is where Malay polity believes very strongly that his views are right. He uses the central authority 'bestowed' on him to subdue the people.

These situations arise:

The individual is coerced to be loyal and show respect his elders, race and religion as a matter of sacred duty. The Malay mind is not privy to the modern day wisdom that loyalty and respect must be earned.

Society is coerced to adhere strictly to religious tenets and principles. The Islamic religion is full of dogmas to ensure this in any case.

The people are compelled to be loyal to the Ketuanan Melayu leadership and government of the day.

Those who do not conform are intimidated, penalised and punished. This is very easily done with the very long list of laws like the ISA, OSA, PPPA, and the Sedition Act.

vii) Corruption:

When the people are suitably intimidated, coerced into subservience and submission then the axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely comes to full fruition (no illustration needed here).

We are fairly done with the C-string of the Malay mind. Feel free to add more, for there can be many more not yet touched upon.

D for Denial

Now for the D standing for 'D! eny' or 'Denial'.

To the Malay mind, any and all that does not come within its known parameters are suspect. The Ketuanan Melayu will hardly ever voluntarily admit to any short-coming, mistake, misgiving, or mismanagement.

Instead it thinks nothing of cheating, lying, hiding of facts, projecting half-truths, or cover-ups.

When Khairy Jamaludin sarcastically called Ibrahim Ali (right) a 'jaguh kampung' or village champion, a deragotary remark, Ibrahim Ali turned it around by claiming it as a huge compliment!

This is a clear example that the Ketuanan Melayu institution and leadership is all about, firstly, its political and social survival following the axiom that politics is the art of the impossible; and secondly, not having to say sorry.

The features, purpose and method of denial are many, some of which are:

* Protecting the status quo.

* Not acknowledging the existence of established facts despite obvious evidence, like disputing the happening of the Holocaust.

* Conflict and contradiction are deemed to be the work of the devil or enemies of Islam.

* All myths and perceptions are constantly nurtured by constant repetition via the government controlled mass media.

* By constant indoctrination.

* By discrediting the messenger.

* By making the work of civic societies difficult. This is to deny all and sundry from volunteering information or feedback. Just ask the Sisters in Islam for proof. The notion that no Muslim or non-Muslim may even analyse and criticise any tenets of Islam is another illustration.

Pygmalion effect

My rationale for listing this C-string and the D list is quite simple.

There is this item in human psychology known as the Pygmalion effect. Simply stated it means that a person will behave in the manner he is treated by another.

An illustration would be a teacher saying to his students that they are stupid and will not pass their exams. The students will someh! ow becom e stupid with many failing their exams.

Now the Ketuanan Melayu has been spoon-feeding the Malay, strengthening his crutches, giving accolades to his 'Third World' mentality.

Furthermore, it drums into the Malay mind that he is weak, needs help now and forever and is dependent on the government for his survival. Without this concerted help the Malay will not survive, it says again and again and again. It is creating the Pygmalion effect.

Because of this the Malay mind will be more deeply embedded in the changeless paradigm box of confusion, conformity, conservatism, contradiction, conflict, and always denying his shortcomings.

The Ketuanan Melayu is also denying new ideas from rescuing the Malay from the box of the changeless status quo.

In this situation his leaders are busy involving themselves with the most rotten C of all - corruption.

Now I propose to name the make of the bus that is flattening the Malaysian polity. I wish to call it the 'Ketuanan Melayu Pygmalion'.
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