PRK MERLIMAU: KUPIAH PAS - SEKEJAP ADA, SEKEJAP TAK ADA!!

hamPASSSS!!

nampak sangat PAS sentiasa mengikut telunjuk DAP!

When '1Malaysia NGO' come face to face with DAP.....

A shouting match ensued in Merlimau town yesterday when both DAP and the '1Malaysia NGO' held mega dinners next to each other during the by-election campaign in the Malacca state constituency.

Tensions started to rise when those attending the '1Malaysia NGO' dinner began to file out of the hall towards the fence that separated the two events, so that they could listen to Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng speak at the neighbouring DAP dinner.

Seeing this, the members of the Sungai Long Residents Association, a pressure group that is in town to remind the government of its earlier promise to build a Chinese school in Sungai Long, who were at the DAP dinner started pushing balloons that they had brought with them, to the 1Malaysia side of the fence.

The white balloons bore the Chinese phrase 'BN lies as if to kids' (BN lies unconvincingly) and in Malay, 'BN tipu kanak'. This annoyed the NGO staff, who started to pop the balloons, leading to jeers and shouts from the DAP side.

Unlike the 1Malaysia dinner that was offered free-of-charge, DAP had sold about 1,000 tickets at RM30 per person, days prior to the dinner that was also attended by former Perak menteri besar Nizar Jamaluddin and former PAS vice president Mohamad Sabu. Despite the price tag, the opposition party had to set up an extra 10 tables for 100 people who showed up to buy tickets on the night itself. Another 100 latecomers were left with no tables but had to be content with standing room outside the venue in order to catch the speeches.

Superstar welcome for Lim, Nizar

Both Lim and Nizar were greeted with loud cheers and a standing ovation of about three minutes, with Lim given a superstar red carpet welcome as his supporters stood by the roadside to greet him during his entrance.

Speaking in both Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia, Lim, who began his political career as Kota Melaka parliamentarian in 1986, honed in on the issue of corruption with Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam as his target.

BN takes the riches of Malacca and channels it to Putrajaya, just like what they do in Sabah and Sarawak(Mohd) Ali Rustam is a two-legged crocodile, he said to hoots from the crowd.

Following Lim's lead, Nizar got the crowd going with his calling Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak a pirate of the Carribean for stealing Perak from Pakatan.

The high turnout at DAP's dinner is encouraging for PAS candidate Yuhaizad Abdullah, who is banking on about 80 percent Chinese support to get him across the finish line ahead of BN's Roslan Ahmad.

Chinese voters make up 20.8 percent or 2, 218 of the 10,679 voters who will hit the polls tomorrow.

source:malaysiakini











cheers.

Justifying Malaysian Rush Train

The problem with some people is that whatever the government says or does is considered right. To them, the government can do no wrong. To them the party that rules the government is truly a caring government that does things in a proper manner with the peoples best interest. The opposite is also true when it comes to those who oppose the government.

For the MRT project, first they justified it by saying that our capital city is choked with vehicles. This is very true. It is choked with vehicle that a short 15mins trip to work in the morning can be a 40 minutes nightmare. Then they justify it in terms of economic growth. They called it ETP and says that this investment in the project will create X number of jobs and Y number of income for the nation.

What we have here is a case of government which misled the people. They want to spend RM50 billion (and growing) and find a work backwards to justify it. Unfortunately the pro government people chose to close their hearts and echo that what the government is doing is right. Personally I see it is neither here nor there kind of decision.

For whatever we do, we must aim to get the maximum bang of a buck. If we want to generate economy, we focus on such activity by finding ways to encouraged investment. Many successful nations do it by making it easy for investor to invest. They focus on the right kind of investment they wanted and get foreign and local investors to get involved by various enabler mechanisms.

To spent RM 50bill +++ to built a train service that serves a small segment of the choke capital is unwarranted and unfair. Why not use the money to solve the traffic problem that is affecting of 80% of the people in the capital? To say it cannot be done with that kind of money only points to one thing i.e. incompetency and probably attenuate peoples believe of hidd! en agend as.

The solution lies in creating local public transport system which is linked with a central artery. The local system could be a light rail system and busses (where applicable) and use the BRT and existing rail network as the main artery. The law must come into effect on managing the SOV during peak hours AFTER the transport infra is in place. It is impossible to solve the traffic problems 100% but at least we must find the cheapest solution that solves 80% of the problem.

Anwar's magic, falters Ummni's bragging....

If the rostrum were a playground, then Anwar Ibrahim is king of the game. The PKR de facto chief proved he is still a force to be reckoned with on the political ceramah circuit, with people coming from near and far to listen and see for themselves the iconic leader who championed the reformasi movement in the late 1990s.

The talk of him being allegedly a sodomite and even a munafik, or a hypocrite, simply could not stem the tide of ceramah-goers that were eager to be entertained by his mesmerising oratory skills. And entertained they were. Even if he appeared tired, probably due to the punishing schedule of running back and forth from Kuala Lumpur - where his second sodomy trial is on-going - and the two states, the 64-year-old former deputy premier commands rapt attention from his audience.

With every rise in tone, with every grin that goes with a joke, Anwar has proven that the sheer force of his personality continues to be a kind of magical elixir that reinvigorates a flagging campaign when it counts. The biggest turnout however was in Permatang Pasir in Merlimau, where thousands turned up to listen his pitch, even if they had to park as far as two kilometres away from the venue. With so many people packed at the actual venue, at least 1,000 latecomers had to be content with watching a CCTV broadcast of his ceramah on TV sets placed around the area.

The opposition leader's charismatic personality and charm, works its magic with the smaller crowd of 200 that turned up in Ayer Merbau and is equally potent with the larger ones. Such is his ability that even with a small crowd, he was able evoke an enthusiastic response.




'Revolution is possible'

In both Merlimau and Kerdau, listeners appeared to lap up much of what he dished out during his ceramahs, where he judiciously avoided, for the most part, past and current controversies facing his party and himself. Instead, he focused on the recent revolutions in the Arab world, equating the uprising with the situation in Malaysia. At each whistlestop, he spoke of the events leading to the ouster of Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as well as the current civil uprising facing Lybian president Muammar Gaddafi, drawing parallels between these countries and the alleged countless misdeeds of Umno and BN.

From corruption to racism and religious disharmony, Anwar weaved a tale of a people who would one day rise up to seize their rights from a government that has allegedly pillaged and plundered the riches of the land. And at the end of every tale, he declares that the possibility of a better tomorrow is very real for each and every Malaysian - so long as they reject Umno and BN - finishing his speech by leading them with three cheers of "reformasi".

Still a real threat

His charisma is not lost on his opponents in BN, who have employed some ingenious ways to try and cut off the star politician's inherent pull factor, including inviting onto the stage a host of speakers who were at one time his allies and inner-circle. The most prominent 'counter-agent' brought in must surely be Ummi Hafilda Ali, sister of his long-time aide and now PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. And she is quite capable of keeping a decent crowd going all by herself, with tales of alleged indecency and the dark side to Anwar's character. Indeed, a choc full of stories of sexual intrigue, subterfuge and corruption that would make any working girl blush.

But going head-to-head with the man himself, as she did at Rumpun Makmur in Kerdau, she couldn't help but falter as curious onlookers abandoned her mid-speech and defected to the Pakatan camp that was just across the road. Also hitting the campaign trail to debunk the Anwar factor is former aide, Rahimi Osman, who claimed late last year that he was forced to sign two statutory declarations that linked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor to Anwar's on-going sodomy trial.

Junior leaders in both Merlimau and Kerdau also made a full frontal attack on Anwar at the ceramah circuit, especially after his visits to both constituencies, that made it seem that the man himself was contesting the two seats.


Situation still unreadable

Despite the positive reception to Anwar's presence at the ceramah venues, the big question remains - how effective will he be in swinging the votes in Pakatan's favour? A test case would be in Rumpun Makmur, a Felcra area in Kerdau, where he managed to hold sway among 700 people, squeezed against each other in the small clearing that made their campaign venue.

But if the admission by some who attended the double ceramah is to be taken seriously, then possibly a large number of those present weren't even voters in the by-election and were simply curious onlookers drawn by Anwar's star factor.

Pakatan's fall back on their de facto chief 's personal approach to rally the troops and bo ost their morale, may not be enough to convince the voters to tilt the weighing scale for a newer alternative, especially in rural constituencies where BN still holds ! sway.-Aidila Razak and Joseph Sipalan

source:malaysiakini

No wonder Najib and his goons want Anwar to be in Sungai Buloh by hook or by crook....

Pengundi2 di Merlimau dan Kerdau, jom kita undi PAS.....

cheers.

A tale of 2 Malaysians in Australia.....

The following is part of Hamish McDonald's article 'A tale of two Malaysian aristocrats' .....

Najib Razak and Raja Petra Kamarudin look like peas in a pod: amiable, worldly and articulate members of an aristocratic elite which has long included Australia in its stamping ground, its tuns and tunkus familiar faces at our racecourses and going off the radar in Kings Cross.

On Thursday, Najib, 57, was getting a 19-gun salute outside Federal Parliament and a welcome from Julia Gillard. Scion of Pahang state nobility and son of a previous prime minister, he has been Malaysia's Prime Minister for nearly two years and heads the dominant United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO, in power since independence in 1957.

Petra, 60, has been working smaller, less formal gatherings of expat Malaysians in Sydney and Canberra. He's another Malay aristocrat, from Selangor's royal family, but has been a political exile for two years, fleeing repeated detentions without trial under the draconian Internal Security Act, and running his critical website, Malaysia Today, from London. Of the two, though, I suspect the Prime Minister lies abed more uneasily.

The dutiful but lukewarm welcome in Canberra, reciprocating a two-day visit by Gillard to Kuala Lumpur, reflects the scandals and political question marks that hover around Najib.

When he was defence minister! , signs of huge kickbacks arose from military equipment deals. After the purchase of French submarines, a young Mongolian model involved in the negotiations, Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa, turned up in Kuala Lumpur seeking money and was murdered by two of Najib's bodyguards. She was the lover of a senior Najib aide, who escaped conviction in the case.

Petra says he was told by the "No. 2" in Malaysia's military intelligence that Najib's wife was "at the scene of the crime". He filed a statutory declaration about this to the court, but it was not followed up. Instead, Petra himself was arrested. Hit with sedition and criminal defamation charges, he fled when he could. "I am not accusing him of being involved in the murder," Petra said this week. "I do accuse him of not answering a lot of questions that have been raised."

In Canberra Najib would have also been aware that 60 of our MPs signed a petition urging him to drop what they see as a fabricated sodomy charge against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, brought after his coalition sharply cut the UMNO-led government's majority in 2008.

He would know, too, that Malaysian policies do not impress here. John Lee, at Sydney's Centre for Independent Studies, has just written of the "enduring cancer" of the pro-Malay affirmative action instituted 30 years ago by Najib's father, Abdul Razak, after race riots. While lessening the income gap with Chinese Malaysians (25 per cent of the population) and Indian Malaysians (10 per cent), it has created a rent-seeking Malay elite. Public sector jobs and subsidies for Malays add to persistently large budget deficits, funded from oil and gas reserves that will run out in 15 years.

Australian visitors to Malaysia soon get the sense of a dumbed-down country, with insipid media controlled by UMNO or the government, a pervasive fear of the huge Special Branch, a debased judiciary, and mediocre universities where entry ! is by ra cial quota rather than by merit.

Anwar's challenge to UMNO has renewed fear of unscrupulous politicians stirring racial conflict. Behind the official multiculturalism of "Malaysia, truly Asia" lie suspicions and stereotyping, surveys show "lazy" Malays, "greedy" Chinese, "untrustworthy" Indians. A lot of parliamentary "debate" is just racial abuse, Petra says: "You shutup-lah, you don't belong in this country."

Petra says his ginger group, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement, is prodding Anwar's opposition into spelling out its plans for reform. As well as his court case, he says, Anwar has baggage: as a former UMNO minister, he helped build the existing system; he is suspect in the mostly Christian states of North Borneo for his Islamist outlook. "We don't want to remove one monster and find ourselves with a bigger monster," he said.

Najib is expected to call an early election this year, possibly after the likely verdict on Anwar in August, to obtain his own mandate and entrench his power. Petra thinks it will be the last chance for major change for a very long time: "Either we do it this time or we'll never do it."

'A tale of two Malaysian aristocrats'

source: The Age

cheers.

"UMNO will be toppled"

A tale of two Malaysian aristocrats

Petra says he was told by the "No. 2" in Malaysia's military intelligence that Najib's wife was "at the scene of the crime". He filed a statutory declaration about this to the court, but it was not followed up. Instead, Petra himself was arrested. Hit with sedition and criminal defamation charges, he fled when he could. "I am not accusing him of being involved in the murder," Petra said this week. "I do accuse him of not answering a lot of questions that have been raised."

Hamish McDonald, The Age

This has been a week of Malaysia in foreign policy circles, though you'd hardly know it from the news. We've had both the Malaysian Prime Minister and his most stinging critic here at the same time.

Najib Razak and Raja Petra Kamarudin look like peas in a pod: amiable, worldly and articulate members of an aristocratic elite which has long included Australia in its stamping ground, its tuns and tunkus familiar faces at our racecourses and going off the radar in Kings Cross.

On Thursday, Najib, 57, was getting a 19-gun salute outside Federal Parliament and a welcome from Julia Gillard. Scion of Pahang state nobility and son of a previous prime minister, he has been Malaysia's Prime Minister for nearly two years and heads the dominant United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO, in power since independence in 1957.

Petra, 60, has been working smaller, less formal gatherings of expat Malaysians in Sydney and Canberra. He's another Malay aristocrat, from Selangor's royal family, but has been a political exile for two years, fleeing repeated detentions without trial under the draconian Internal Security Act, and running his critical website, Malaysia Today, from London.

Of the two, though, I suspect the Prime Minister lies abed more uneasily.

The dutiful but lukewarm welcome in Canberra, reciprocating a two-day visit by Gillard to Kuala Lumpur, reflects the scandals and political question marks that hover around Najib.

When he was defence minister, signs of huge kickbacks arose from military equipment deals. After the purchase of French submarines, a young Mongolian model involved in the negotiations, Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa, turned up in Kuala Lumpur seeking money and was murdered by two of Najib's bodyguards. She was the lover of a senior Najib aide, who escaped conviction in the case.

Petra says he was told by the "No. 2" in Malaysia's military intelligence that Najib's wife was "at the scene of the crime". He filed a statutory declaration about this to the court, but it was not followed up. Instead, Petra himself was arrested. Hit with sedition and criminal defamation charges, he fled when he could. "I am not accusing him of being involved in the murder," Petra said this week. "I do accuse him of not answering a lot of questions that have been raised."

In Canberra Najib would have also been aware that 60 of our MPs signed a petition urging him to drop what they see as a fabricated sodomy charge against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, brought after his coalition sharply cut the UMNO-led government's majority in 2008.

He would know, too, that Malaysian policies do not impress here. John Lee, at Sydney's Centre for Independent Studies, has just written of the "enduring cancer" of the pro-Malay affirmative action instituted 30 years ago by Najib's father, Abdul Razak, after race riots. While lessening the income gap with Chinese Malaysians (25 per cent of the population) and Indian Malaysians (10 per cent), it has created a rent-seeking Malay elite. Public sector jobs and subsidies for Malays add to persistently large budget deficits, funded from oil and gas reserves that will run out in 15 years.

Australian visitors to Malaysia soon get the sense of a dumbed-down country, with insipid media controlled by UMNO or the government, a pervasive fear of the huge Special Branch, a debased judiciary, and mediocre universities where entry is by racial quota rather than by merit.

Hal Hill, an economist specialising in South-East Asia at the Australian National University, wrote this week that Malaysia was now struggling to lift its economy out of low-skill activities, with the difficulty worsened by the pro-Malay policies that have created a "culture of entitlement" and pervasive "institutionalised leakages".

Anwar's challenge to UMNO has renewed fear of unscrupulous politicians stirring racial conflict. Behind the official multiculturalism of "Malaysia, truly Asia" lie suspicions and stereotyping, surveys show – "lazy" Malays, "greedy" Chinese, "untrustworthy" Indians. A lot of parliamentary "debate" is just racial abuse, Petra says: "You shutup-lah, you don't belong in this country."

Record numbers of ethnic Chinese and Indians are leaving, along with vast amounts of capital. In one of the WikiLeaks cables, a senior Singapore diplomat, Tommy Koh, worried about race riots causing a flood of Malaysia's minorities into his small island.

Najib is smart enough to know he has to address the rising sense of corruption and privilege that has diverted support from UMNO and its Chinese and Indian-based coalition partners. A year ago he announced his "New Economic Model", emphasising growth instead of redistribution.

But Lee says actual changes have been "piecemeal" and don't yet amount to significant reform. Najib's UMNO colleagues enjoy the "vast and deep network of rent-seeking and patronage" built up over the past 30 years. Malay voters might hate their cronyism, but not affirmative action itself.

Petra says his ginger group, the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement, is prodding Anwar's opposition into spelling out its plans for reform. As well as his court case, he says, Anwar has baggage: as a former UMNO minister, he helped build the existing system; he is suspect in the mostly Christian states of North Borneo for his Islamist outlook. "We don't want to remove one monster and find ourselves with a bigger monster," he said.

In Malaysia a Middle East-style mass uprising isn't needed, Petra says. With only half the 15 million eligible voters actually casting a vote, just 300,000 more opposition votes in the right places could have tipped UMNO out in 2008. With 5000 Facebook friends, 20,000 Twitter followers, and half a million unique visitors to Malaysia Today, Petra is hoping to wake up the middle class – "the satisfied class, the ones who live in bungalows and drive BMWs" – and persuade them Malaysia could be doing a lot, lot better.

Najib is expected to call an early election this year, possibly after the likely verdict on Anwar in August, to obtain his own mandate and entrench his power. Petra thinks it will be the last chance for major change for a very long time: "Either we do it this time or we'll never do it."

The people behind Radio free Sarawak

by: Dr. John Brian Anthony

Anwar-Ummi ceramah face-off a hit among locals

The people who is behind Radio Free Sarawak is coming out in the open to let the public know who there are. Peter John better known as Anak Apai was pioneer DJ in Cats Radio that is own by Taib. In Radio Free Sarawak he is known as Papa Orang Utan. The other person behind Radio Free Sarawak is Clare Rewcastle Brown. Clare is the sister-in-law of former Britian Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Why did Clare and Peter decided to go public?

They are afaid for their life as the chief whistle blower in the United State Ross Boyert was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room with a plastic bag around his head.

Peter John Jaban profile

Petdier John was a former DJ of Cats Radio, a station owned by Taib. Before that Peter John work in Land and Survey Office in Kuching but resigned in 2006. That may be the reason why Sarawak Report has good articles on the BN Government modus operandi on robbing the Dayak of their land.

Peter John was also a former Deputy Chairman of Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and was an active activist for Human Rights in Sarawak.

Today Peter John is a member of Malaysian Civil liberties Movement in London. He will play an important role to high light the suppression and marginalization of Dayak in Sarawak in London.

Muhyiddin: "Ummi Hafilda knows Anwar better than Wan Azizah" ?

Muhyiddin: Anwar should answer Ummi Hafilda’s allegations

(Bernama) - Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday, March 4 Barisan Nasional (BN) had never paid businesswoman Ummi Hafilda Ali, who came to Kerdau to expose "Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's secrets."

Muhyiddin, who is Umno deputy president, said Anwar should answer all the allegations raised by Ummi Hafilda.

"Anwar has not answered the issues raised by her, he only accused her of being paid by the BN. Who is paying her?" he told reporters after attending a get-together with the people at Kampung Badok, here.

Muhyiddin said Ummi Hafilda's presence in Kerdau constituency was to explain what she knew about Anwar and PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and that the BN had never invited her to campaign in the area.

Anwar was in Kerdau on Thursday and delivered a series of ceramah in the constituency, the venues of which were not far from the ceramah by Ummi Hafilda, who is Mohamed Azmin's younger sister.

"He (Anwar) was there and he said that they were all lies; he shouldn't link this to the BN. We have not invited Ummi Hafilda; she came to explain and she has family ties with Azmin so she knows what she is saying," he said.

Ummi Hafilda said on Thursday she wanted to clear her name which she said had been tainted by the Permatang Pauh MP.

"My purpose is to correct the wrong perception created by Anwar and his gang for 13 years. So I need to clear my name," she told a news conference.

On the campaign for the Kerdau by-election, Muhyiddin said the voters would be able to make a wise decision in determining who should represent them.

Asked to comment on the claims by the opposition that the government was out to bribe the people of Kerdau, Muhyiddin said all the development projects implemented by the government were part of its responsibility to the people.

"I know Nik Aziz (PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat) had given money (during election campaign), so don't insult the people's intelligence as though they were unable to decide for themselves," he said.

He said the government implemented development projects at all times and not only when there was a by-election.

"All that the government is doing is for the people and not for individuals. I don't think this can be defined as corruption," he said.

He later announced RM500,000 allocation to build a new mosque in Kampung Badok.

PAS kena whacked left and right

PAS comes under more attacks

MERLIMAU: With one day left before Merlimau goes to the polls on Sunday, more attacks have been launched at the Pakatan Rakyat contingent and its PAS candidate, Yuhaizad Abdullah.

The latest attack came from an unknown person via a text message sent to Yuhaizad. The person claimed to be a member of a gang named Geng Jebat Derhaka.

The message warned that the gang would disrupt Pakatan ceramahs which it said were being used as a platform to split the Malays.

It threatened to smash cars if any ceramah takes place.

Yuhaizad received the text message at 7.20pm yesterday.

The message read, “Geng Jebat Derhaka akan terus mengganas di ceramah-ceramah PR yang menjadi pentas memecah belahkan Melayu. Sekiranya anda mahu kejadian pecah kenderaan di Chin Chin dan Jalan Pahlawan berterusan hadirla ke ceramah2 PR pd mlm ini and seterusnya, awas keselamatan kereta anda tidak dijamin”.

Two nights ago, the windows of a few cars were smashed at venues where PR ceramahs were held.

PAS vice-president, Salahuddin Ayub, told a press conference today that although the identity of the text message sender is unknown, he has reason to believe that it originated from Barisan Nasional (BN).

“We deeply regret that BN has resorted to such tactics,” he said. “We have lodged a police report and we hope that investigations can begin immediately. We’re very concerned that such uncontrolled incidents will affect voting on Sunday.”

Salahuddin also said that stones were allegedly thrown at the car carrying Pakatan leader Anwar Ibrahim when he visited Merlimau on Tuesday night.

“What was worse is that the police who were present merely stood by,” he said.”Nothing like this happened during the Tenang by-election and I call on (Malacca Chief Minister) Mohd Ali Rustam to take responsibility and put a stop to this.”

Racist leaflets

One incident, however, appeared to be a repeat of the one that happened in Tenang. According to PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin, leaflets with racial overtones were making the rounds in a few residential areas.

The leaflet bore the headline “Keling Tak Sedar Diri” and a front-page picture of the Hindraf rally carried by Utusan Malaysia. Keling is a derogatory term for the Indians.

“A voter handed one of these leaflets to the PKR operations centre today,” he said. “We have already lodged a police report.”

When asked who he believed was behind it, Shamsul pointed a finger at Perkasa.

“Perkasa’s name is not on the leaflet,” he said. “But the design is the same as the anti-Chinese leaflets at the Tenang by-election which were also said to be distributed by Perkasa.”

But Perkasa Youth chief, Arman Azha Abu Hanifah, laughed off the accusations, saying PAS is concocting “nonsense” to make up for its lack of ideas.

“Perkasa has never bothered the Chinese or the Indians before,” he told FMT. “Why would we start now? I laughed when we were accused of distributing the leaflets in Tenang and I’m laughing again now.”

“This is purely provocation by PAS to tarnish Perkasa’s image. They are running out of ideas and are making Perkasa the scapegoat. Whatever they are saying is completely false.”

Oppositions are determined to oust Taib The White Mamak

FBI locks out anti-Taib protesters

KUCHING: Embarrassed officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Northwestern headquarters in Seattle refused to meet with protesters of the “Anti-Taib Mahmud” campaign yesterday and instead ordered the building security to lock them out.

The campaigners, who were protesting against the injustices meted out to the indigenous communities in Sarawak and the massive raping of the Borneo rainforest, were demonstrating in front of the FBI field office located in the Abraham Lincoln building.

The FBI premises is owned by Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud through Wallysons Inc, a Washington state corporation.

Wallysons Inc was among 49 companies in Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund’s blacklist of Taib-linked companies in eight countries estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

Wallysons chairman is Taib’s son, Sulaiman Rahman, while Taib’s Canadian son-in-law, Sean Murray, is its president.

According to BMF, security guards at the Abraham Lincoln building locked the door upon seeing the arrival of the protesters.

“It was clear that the FBI does not wish to broach the sensitive issue that the US government is renting the building from the corrupt Malaysian Taib family.

“A security guard explained that the anti-Taib campaigner would not be allowed to enter the building nor take photographs of the high-security premises,” BMF said on its website.

The FBI’s Seattle field office is in charge of combating terrorism in Asia, securing the US-Canadian border and fighting against public corruption and money-laundering.

San Francisco next

BMF said that it had written to the head of the Seattle FBI office, Laura M Laughlin, requesting a formal meeting with the agency.

“Given the FBI’s strong stand against public corruption, we believe it is unacceptable for the FBI to rent its office space from a kleptocratic Malaysian family that is systematically abusing its political power for personal gains”, BMF wrote in its letter to Laughlin.

BMF has described Taib as “one of Southeast Asia’s most corrupt politicians and the chief culprit in the destructive logging of several hundred thousand hectares of Borneo rainforest”.

A second protest is scheduled to be held in San Francisco on March 9.

The San Francisco protest will be held outside the Citibank branch which is ensconed within another Taib-owned building and the “seat” of his US-operation, Sakti International Corporation.

According to BMF, Sakti used to be headed by the late Ross Boyert. After being dismissed by the Taibs, Boyert filed legal action against Sakti at a San Francisco court in early 2007.

In September 2010, Boyert was found dead in a Los Angeles hotel.

Sarawak Report yesterday released a 16-minute video interview held with Boyert before his death.

In the interview, Boyert openly figured Taib as the real owner of the company, saying: “Taib is the owner of this company and all of its assets.“

BMF has also urged the US government to investigate Boyert’s allegations against the Taibs and the circumstances of his death.

“We are therefore asking the FBI and the US government to review its rental contracts with Wallysons Inc, to investigate the Taib family under the US anti-money laundering legislation and to freeze all Taib assets in the US.”

The US protests followed similar campaigns in London and Ottawa (Canada) on Feb 28. More such protests are also expected to be held in other countries hosting Taib-linked companies.

"More Bribery"

Free gifts to woo Indian voters

MERLIMAU: Going into the final lap, both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat are still working hard to woo over the Indian community.

To ensure it locks up the Indian vote bank, BN has established seven command centres to concentrate on the 1,567 Indian voters.

As usual, the BN is using the same, old tactics – throwing dinner parties, holdings concerts, distributing uniforms to students and sarees to women, showing movies and giving out small financial assistance.

And the Merlimau Indians rushed to attend all these events – and they get paid too.

For example, it is alleged that every Indian voter who attended a dinner organised by an anonymous 1Malaysian NGO supporters’ club received RM100, 1Malaysia T-shirts, and food with a lucky draw thrown in.

BN is confident it can net about 75% to 80% of the Indian voters.

Not to be outdone, Pakatan is also working the ground, going from door to door to fish for votes.

In their walkabouts, the Pakatan campaigners never failed to highlight the achievements of the party in the states it controlled, namely, Selangor, Kedah and Penang.

A local PKR Youth leader M Sivakumar said that Pakatan is optmistic that PAS can garner 50% of the Indian votes.

“I have been working on the ground since last month, and from what I see, the Indians are unhappy with BN,” he told FMT.

For example, Malacca Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam said that there are no poor Indian
families in Merlimau. But in reality, 50% to 60% of the Indians are living below the poverty line.

But he admitted that although the Indians are rushing for free gifts, it does not mean they are favouring BN.

“I can say that Merlimau Indians will become a ‘silent killer’ to the BN,” he added.

Anwar has always dream to be a born again UMNOPutra

And yes, we know that.

ANWAR : SAYA TIDAK BERMUSUH DENGAN AHLI UMNO

from GERAKAN ANTI PKR by GAP KEMBALI

2 kali anwar mengulangi kenyataan di atas. malam tadi selepas dibalun umi anwar mengulangi kenyataan yang sama.

adakah ahli umno akan berlembut dengan kenyataan ini ?atauadakah ahli umno mahu ditipu lagi ?

agak misterius tatkala anwar kata dia tak mahu bermusuh dengan ahli umno.

kenapa anwar meletakkan dirinya dalam keadaan pola pemikiran bingung. bukankah dia yang paling galak menyerang umno ?

Malays need to come forward to ban Interlok

FMT LETTER

From Muhyiddin Yasin, p.s. not the bodoh punya Melayu TPM

I maybe the usual suspect Melayu i.e. silver spoon in the mouth and what not, but I’m not, I’m Melayu of my own effort without the typical political or economical patriotism. My patriotism is only as a Malaysian for Malays and the lain-lain who have been part and parcel of my life.

Naturally today as a Melayu, and only in Malaysia, I can swing around the Keris; threaten to run amok; talk about Malay rights and question the loyality and patriotism of the lain-lain. Once beyond the Malaysian waters, I am a Malaysian as it is the lain-lain who will stand with me for I am a Malaysian irrespective of the ancestral origin.

The Malaysian Malays need to understand that their Umno and those who run an agenda based on the political front, meaning also the opposition, is of no use if they fail to see that the lain-lain in Malaysia form an integral part of the society that has been and should be for the future of our nation.

Issues like Interlok and BTN are clear depictions on how Umno runs its agenda to divide and rule, aided by the silence of the opposition, to ensure their vote count is not distrupted to reign over the lain-lain that we have known and engulfed ourselves with for the betterment of the nation.

I maybe one voice of the Malays, but I know the Malay people. They are peaceful and harmonious in their approach without much ado as they are god-fearing. Similarily so are the lain-lain in our country.

The Malaysian Malays need to rise to the occasion in such issue as Interlok, as this is not anything personal against the author but rather a proxy fight between Najib and Muhyiddin (under the tutelage of Dr M) to ensure the supremacy of the elite superficial Malays along with their alliance sidekicks to display their arrogance against the feelings of the Malaysian Indian minority.

As a Malay, I feel ashamed that my race which has an upperhand in everything that we do in Malaysia continue to chain and punish Malaysian Indians’ resentment against Interlok. They are equally ourbrothers and sisters who we have grown together with and accustomed to in Malaysia.

As a Malay, I call upon all Malays in Malaysia to stand up and question why such a disparaging novel of our brethren needs to be made compulsory study? Are we the pawn for Umno’s arrogance and the silence of the opposition when we fail to understand the feeling, pride and dignity of the lain-lain in a so-called multi cultural society that we live in.

I feel ashamed that our Malay Malaysians hide behind the cloak of religion and race when humanity (feeling, pride and dignity) is forsaken for the benefit of politicians.

This Islamic and Muslim culture practiced by artificial and unrealistic agenda of Umno and the opposition is of no relevance, because to be Muslim, you need to be humane first for the needy, the deprived and marginalised. Go take a look at your race and religion.

As a Muslim and a Malay Malaysian, I’d rather support a humanity cause than what is my race, religion and the benefits that I derive as a Muslim in a superficial Malaysia where one fails to acknowledge that without the lain-lain, Malaysia do not exist.

Who is Peter John Jaban of Radio Free Sarawak?

from malaysian media & other matters » Say no to holier-than-thou politics by uppercaise

Listen to Friday’s broadcast

• The mother of all NCR claims: 14 villagers in the Upper Limbang sue four companies and the state for eroding their native rights.
• Presentation of RM600 to longhouse residents and “you help me I help you”.

The voice of Radio Free Sarawak, Peter John Jaban, was a pioneer DJ in a Sarawak radio station, Cats radio, that was owned by chief minister Taib Mahmud, according to a Dayak activist.

Peter John or Petdier John, better known as Anak Apai, goes on air these days on Radio Free Sarawak as “Papa Orang Utan”, interviewing native tribesmen by phone in longhouses all over Sarawak

John Brian Anthony at his web site DayakBaru.com said that before becoming a broadcaster Peter John worked in the Land and Survey Office in Kuching but resigned in 2006. “That may be the reason why Sarawak Report has good articles on the BN Government’s modus operandi in robbing the Dayak of their land,” he said.

He said Peter John was also a former deputy chairman of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and an active campaigner for human rights in Sarawak.

Taib Mahmud’s business activities, extensive properties in the US, Canada and Britain, and his land policies that have resulted in severe deforestation and loss of native rights land, have received extensive exposure and criticism at the Sarawak Report web site and on Radio Free Sarawak.

“Today Peter John is a member of Malaysian Civil liberties Movement in London. He will play an important role to highlight the suppression and marginalization of Dayak in Sarawak,” John Brian said. » from DayakBaru.com

Court's attention drawn to discrepancies

Anwar's lawyers highlight several discrepancies between his original statement and that given to his solicitors.

While the focus in the trial-within-a-trial is whether Anwar Ibrahim's arrest was legal or unlawful, counsel for the Permatang Pauh MP has drawn the court's attention to the discrepancies between the original statement recorded from the opposition leader, and that given to his solicitors.

NONEThe matter was highlighted when Anwar was recalled to the witness stand by the prosecution led by solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden to answer questions on his arrest.

Anwar's statement was recorded under Section 112 of Criminal Procedure Code before investigating officer DSP Jude Blacious Pereira, Anwar and was accompanied by lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah.

Both copies, the original and the copy handed to Anwar's solicitors, were tendered as evidence.

The discrepancies as identified by Anwar included:

* The word sulit (confidential) which is printed on the original copy on every page does not appear in the copy given to the solicitor.

* The name and signature of the recording officer Pereira appeared in the original copy but not on the one given to the solicitor, and

* There appeared as if an insertion had been made on the second page in the original, compared to the copy given to the lawyer.

The opposition leader said that in recording his statement, he had denied the charge, and gave full cooperation.

“I asked Jude (Pereira) if everything was finished. He said it was finished. I sought for this as I wanted to be released!” Anwar said.

Despite this, he said he was not released and instead was held overnight by the police after earlier going to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for a medical examination.

He also said no grounds were given by Pereira for the arrest and only the charge was read out to him.

“There must be reason to arrest a person. The police must state the basis for the arrest,” he said.

Anwar signed document

Earlier, Anwar was asked by Yusof to read through the document and confirm its authenticity.

The solicitor-general II referred to two pages of the statement which state that Anwar disallowed the police to videotape the recording of his statement and over the allegation of sodomy by complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Anwar agreed with Yusof that he signed something but that was in IPK KL (Kuala Lumpur police headquarters).

“Prior to that while in the police vehicle, the police did not state the grounds for my arrest.”

“It was only at the IPK that they read out the charge,” said the Permatang Pauh MP.

"UMNO harassing Radio Host's Family"

Jaban: Stop harassing my family

KUALA LUMPUR: Peter John Jaban, the voice behind Radio Free Sarawak (RFS), said his family is being harassed by people linked to the ruling Sarawak government.

“Attack me if you want, but leave my family alone,” said Jaban, who, with British journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, runs the online radio highly critical of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud.

In a press statement today, Jaban claimed his family-related businesses have been facing a number of problems from the Kuching local council which issues the business licences.

A staff member of the council, claimed Jaban, warned his son that the family’s name has been “blacklisted” and advised him to quit or change the name of all their business operations.

A business associate of his son was also approached by the council and told that his business licence would be terminated if he continued to sub-let the premises to Jaban’s family.

Jaban and Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who runs the anti-Taib website Sarawak Report, started RFS daily broadcasts on Nov 16, last year.

Together, they have been exposing a string of allegations against Taib, including land grabs, and administrative and financial abuse ahead of Sarawak’s most politically defining state election.

Contracts terminated

Jaban said his problems started in January when it became widely known that he was the voice behind the broadcasts.

Landlords of a family-run lodging house and restaurant, who Jaban claimed were BN supporters, have terminated their contracts abruptly with his family without any explanation.

“One of the landlords is a BN supporter and the other is associated with one of Sarawak’s big timber companies closely linked to the chief minister,” he claimed.

The harassments intensified after Jaban’s identity was made public last month. Authorities have since been visiting his family-owned businesses asking the staff of his whereabouts.

Jaban currently resides in London, where RFS is also broadcast. He said he is more concerned with the intimidation of his family than the death threats he had received.

Jaban, however, said it will not deter him from continuing with his work to expose Taib’s corrupt administration and provide an alternative view to rural Sarawak.

“They can go for me, but whatever happens I will never stop barking. If you kill me I will stop, but the other blogs will continue.”

Also read:

Taib has good reason to fear Radio Free Sarawak

Will Pakatan let PAS impose hudud law?

ALOR STAR: A Gerakan Youth leader has warned that the ban on Big Sweep lottery tickets in Kelantan could be emulated in other Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states.

Tan Keng Liang also slammed the Pakatan leadership, especially DAP leaders, for keeping mum on the issue.

“Will Pakatan leaders allow PAS governments to impose hudud laws and its version of Islamic policies on non-Muslims in Kelantan and Kedah?” he asked.

The Kelantan PAS government recently expanded its ban on gambling to Big Sweep lottery tickets, causing a public row.

Local MCA leaders had condemned the ban, pointing out that the Social Welfare (Big Sweep) lottery was governed by federal laws.

Under existing regulations, only non-Muslims are allowed to purchase Big Sweep lottery tickets.

MCA has also challenged other Pakatan governments in Kedah, Penang and Selangor to emulate their counterpart in Kelantan.

The Kota Bahru Municipal Council raided two book stalls this week for selling the banned tickets and issued summonses to the owners of the premises.

Reacting to this, Kelantan Chinese Chamber of Commerce president JP Goh described the raids as an “infringement on non-Muslim rights.”

Meanwhile, Tan said it was becoming clearer by the day that given an opportunity PAS would initiate drastic steps to impose its version of Islamist policies on non-Muslims.

“And, Pakatan would continue to be silent on it,” he added.

He cited an example where the PAS-led government in Kedah split men and women into different sections during the recent New Year eve celebrations.

“PAS was not bothered whether its rules affected non-Muslims or not,” he said.

The Gerakan leader said that until today, PAS had yet to unveil its version of Islamic state that it planned to implement if it assumed federal powers.

He noted that the pressing issue was also not expressly dealt with in Pakatan’s Common Policies Framework (CPF) launched in December 2009.

He said ambiguity in Pakatan’s policies had raised serious concern among Malaysians, especially those who wish to gamble the country’s fate with the opposition coalition.

“Pakatan leadership must clarify whether PAS will be allowed to implement its hudud laws and Islamic policies if the coalition takes over the Putrajaya administration,” he added.

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Hata is editor-in chief of Utusan Rakyat

PUTRAJAYA: Utusan Malaysia journalist and National Union of Journalist president Hata Wahari has been appointed editor-in-chief of the yet-to-be-approved weekly, Utusan Rakyat.

Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is a member of the weekly’s advisory board, said Hata was chosen for the job as he had a good track record.

Nurul was speaking to reporters after submitting her application for a newspaper permit at the home ministry here today

“We are encouraged by his determination and courage,” said Nurul. Hata has been an outspoken critic of his employer, Utusan Malaysia, for fanning racial discord.

For speaking his mind, the controversial Malay daily suspended him in January and its decision was roundly criticised by Bar Council president, Ragunath Kesavan.

Nurul said that once the the weekly gets its permit, Hata will have full cooperation from the newspaper’s advisory board to set the direction for Utusan Rakyat.

The newspaper, she said, will take a neutral stand to air balanced views in regard to the happenings in the nation.

“The mainstream media is perceived as being controlled by the ruling party and its proxies.

“Therefore this newspaper will not serve as a party organ and it will report news without fear or favour,” said Nurul.

She added that the weekly will be initially distributed in Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan and Perak.

Asked why she picked the three states, Nurul said the voters there need more information in order to allow them to pick political leaders of quality.

“For example, in Negri Sembilan, we (Pakatan Rakyat) need only four state seats to control the state government.We want the electorate to choose leaders based on unbiased reports,” she said.

On the advisory board, Nurul said she had sent invitations to various parties to join the team, irrespective of their political affiliation, including Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

“However, we have yet to receive a reply from him. So for now, only Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenivasan and I sit on the board,”she said.

On when the ministry would give its decision on her application, Nurul said she was informed by the minister’s assistant secretary, Shafieza Md Fazil, that it will take two months.

“The application will be evaluated by a board chaired by the ministry’s deputy director of security. After that, it will submit the application to Home Minister (Hishammuddin Hussein) for approval,” said Nurul.

Its no chicken curry Ali Rustam but.....

Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam has a favourite anecdote he likes to share with anyone willing to lend a ear, at all events during the Merlimau by-election campaign.

In this story, Mohd Ali and Malacca MIC chief R Perumal visit the mostly Indian village of Kampung Paya Buloh to check out a family that DAP claims goes to sleep hungry more often than not.

"I opened their pot and found that it was a quarter full with rice. I asked them, 'What lauk (dishes) are you having today?' "Perumal opened the other pot and found chicken curry!

"Three chicken thighs, and here is DAP claiming that they are poor," Mohd Ali said on the issue that came to light following a report Malaysia Nanban published several days prior to nomination day.

In its report, the Tamil daily spoke to a 13-year-old boy from the family of five, who said he was now considering quitting school to work full-time as a cowherd to supplement his family's income as both his parents were sickly.

Once published, the reporter responsible was subjected to harassment from "members of the public" angry with her report. The rear windshield of her car was smashed that night, but nothing inside was taken. The damage cost her about RM400 in repairs.

Malaysiakini's visit to Kampung Paya Buloh supports the Nanban report.

More interestingly, the boy's father, who wanted to only be known as Periamalai (right), said the chicken curry that Mohd Ali claimed was in their pot was in fact biawak (m! onitor l izard) caught by their pet dog.

"We catch biawak several times a week. We don't really eat chicken as we don't have a taste for it," the 47-year-old said.

source:malaysiakini

'Kari biawak disangka ayam'

Anwar-Ummi ceramah face-off a hit among locals

cheers.