Pakatan Rakyat Buzz & Blog

Gerakan seeks BN censure of Umno MP

KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan is asking the Barisan Nasional leadership to punish an Umno MP over a perceived insult made in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Simpang Renggam MP Liang Teck Meng told reporters today that he had complained to Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin about Kalabakan MP Abdul Ghapur Sallehs remarks regarding Gerakans attempt to have a presence in Sabah.

According to Hansard records, Abdul Ghapur (photo), while speaking on the 2012 Budget, said:

Gerakan has had its roots pulled out of the peninsula. And now it wants to settle in Sabah. The Chinese in Sabah say, If the peninsular rejects Gerakan, then why does BN want to give that stupid Chinese man a chance to put candidates in Sabah?

He was referring to Gerakan President Koh Tsu Koon and the partys poor showing in the 2008 election.

It may be his personal opinion, Liang said, but he has not only damaged Umnos image, but also that of Gerakan, and damaged the relationship within the BN component parties.

Abdul Ghapur also alleged that Gerakan had paid people to attend the inauguration of a party office in Tawau.

Two weeks ago, the Gerakan president went to Tawau, officiated a Gerakan office. And it was full of people who were paid RM300 each, he said.

He complained that some Umno members had to attend the ceremony.

If it was just the Chinese, then thered be nothing wrong, but Umno members from Tawau and Kalabakan were also brought along. Th! is is sh ameful.

Leaving it to the BN whip

None of the MPs from BN stood up yesterday to defend Gerakan or censure Abdul Ghapur.

Liang (photo) told reporters his party was asking Muhyiddin in his capacity as the BN whip to take action against Abdul Ghapur.

However, he declined to say what Gerakan would do if the Kalabakan MP was not punished.

I have already submitted to the DPM, he said. He is the whip. I will leave it to him.

#LoyarEqual: Feminism Is For Everybody

Credits: hufflepuffpanda via Flickr Creative Commons

That is the title of a book by bell hooks, explaining how the politics of feminism serves everyone. It was also a dig at mainstream establishments that purport to be progressive, but really only served a certain section of the population.

Because everybody is different, there are many different approaches in feminism that work towards visions of equality. They do not always agree with each other. Sometimes one silences the others, due to power imbalances. This happens because we are people with our own privileges and prejudices that the status quo has ingrained into us. This is why it is important to be self-aware, and always consider our position amongst the many.

Feminism is for everybody, even the men who for some reason believe themselves uncontrollable (or, other men but themselves), and unrapeable. Feminism forgives and expects men to be better. Feminists love men; that is why we want men to stop hurting womenwhat kind of abusive relationship is it, to hear the men we love constantly degrade us for simply being who we are?

Feminism protects men, too; by acknowledging that sexual violence happens regardless of sex or gender, we move to protect the men who hide and hate themselves in secret shame. We move to protect our sons, so that they grow up learning how to be in the world without violence. We move to protect our daughters who will one day become sons.

Feminism is for everybody, even the class of women reviled or ignored for being a different class or caste. We understand that certain groups of women are more at risk of sexual violence, and the economic exploitation that enables such violence. We are at risk of being raped or harassed by bosses, co-workers, and subordinates who are all too eager to get their jollies off by humiliating us! .

We know that we are simply expected to put up with this abuse, because men experience it too (except men do not have to deal with the same kind of sexualisation when they face insubordination). We must serve us all, even our Filipina or Indonesian maids, even our migrant workers from Bangladesh and Indonesia, even our homeless. We must address the needs of the poor single mother struggling to feed her children, we must address why the world would look down at this as a piteous thing.

Feminism is for everybody, no matter your race, your skin tone, your appearance. We must work towards a world where we dont get harassed for being too dark, where we dont feel pressured to have fair and perfect skin, where we are still taken seriously even if were not dressed nice enough (there is no nice enoughit stops at too nice too easily). I do not have stats, but I would not be surprised to find that there are racial biases in how we deem women beautiful.the more we look a certain, racialized way, the better for us. (I know this happens in the modeling world; Eurasians get more gigs because supposedly they have a greater range. Makes one wonder why any industry needs a racialized character for any visual ad.)

Pro-trans feminism symbol. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Feminism is for single people; why be taken less seriously for not hitting that keystone of adulthood called the marriage institution? Feminism is for married people; why be taken less seriously because our spouse is more of a priority? Feminism is for the childlesswe are not frivolous nor selfish nor pathetic for not having kids. Feminism is for familieswe need that maternity leave and the time off work to tend to our families and excuse us if were not 100% committed to lining company pockets with profit because we have the rest of our lives to live and note that I am using gender neutral-language in here because no ! one ever thinks men and fathers have the same issues.

Feminism is for you, too, but not just you, not just your family, not just your friends, not just your co-workers. Feminism is also for your boss and your maid (if you have one), for your teachers and students, for our leaders and followers, the nasi lemak seller, the roti man who also has a family to feed. There are few movements with so many branches, so many tendrils, so many roots, all reaching out and overlapping each other in so many ways, the same ways that everybodys lives interact and intersect.

By oneself, it is difficult to apprehend and comprehend the vastness of the world of people. The feat is simpler when we acknowledge everybody else in it, too, who are doing the same work, and cross-reference and share knowledge. This is why there are many different kinds of feminisms. This is why feminism is for everybody.

Fitnah Kelantan Tidak Bina Masjid Terjawab

ULASAN: Apa lagi yang ada pada UMNO kecuali fitnah, qazaf dan cerita-cerita seks.

Fitnah Kelantan tidak bina masjid terjawab
M Faqih

KOTA BHARU, 18 Okt: Fitnah dilemparkan pemimpin Umno kononnya kerajaan Kelantan tidak pernah membina masjid sepanjang lebih 21 tahun di bawah teraju PAS, kini menjadi seumpama senjata makan tuan.

Ini kerana banyak masjid dibina kerajaan negeri juga digunakan mereka untuk menunaikan solat. Masjid Jubli Perak Sultan Ismail Petra di Rantau Panjang atau lebih dikenali Masjid Beijing sekarang menjadi tumpuan pelancong.

Keunikan seni bina masjid yang bernilai RM9 juta itu tidak ada di tempat lain. Senibinanya menyerupai tokong Cina.

Begitu juga Masjid Keputeraan Sultan Ismail Petra di Pulai Chondong, diimarakkan pelajar-pelajar Maahad Tahfiz al Quran.

Penyokong Umno yang tinggal berdekatan juga menjadikan masjid tersebut tempat menunaikan solat Jumaat. Begitu juga Masjid Kota Darulnaim berhampiran kompleks Kota Darulnaim.

Manakala Masjid Keputeraan di Paloh 2, Gua Musang sedang dalam pembinaan. Ia dijangka menjadi destinasi persinggahan pengguna jalan raya Gua Musang-Kuala Krai apabila siap sepenuhnya tidak lama lagi.

Menteri Besar, Tuan Guru Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat berkata, kerajaan negeri juga merancang menyiapkan Masjid Keputeraan di Lojing dianggar membabitkan kos RM3.8 juta.

Selain itu perancangan membina Masjid Sultan Muhammad V di Bandar Baru Tunjong. Masjid menyediakan medan kepada masyarakat dari sudut pembinaan akhlak, adab dan sakhsiah, katanya ketika membentang Bajet 2012 pada persidangan Dun hari ini.

Teks ucapan belanjawannya dibaca Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Perancangan Ekonomi, Kewangan dan Kebajikan, Datuk Husam Musa.

Selain itu kata Menteri Besar peruntukan sebanyak RM3 juta disediakan bagi pembaikian masjid-masjid di seluruh Kelantan.

M! enurutny a Masjid Jubli Perak Sultan Ismail Petra di Rantau Panjang berpotensi menjadi produk pelancongan.

Malah kata beliau sektor pelancongan kekal penyumbang utama menjanakan ekonomi negeri dan memberi peluang pekerjaan kepada penduduk tempatan.

Pada 2010 seramai 5.39 juta pelancong bertandang ke Kelantan, berbanding 4.8 juta orang pada 2008 dan 4.94 juta orang (2009).

Pelancong menyumbang sebanyak RM1.8 bilion kepada ekonomi negeri. Sehingga Ogos lalu seramai 3.35 juta pelancong melawat Kelantan termasuk 941,319 pelancong antarabangsa.

Kerajaan akan menjadikan 2012 sebagai Tahun Melawat Kelantan bagi meningkatkan lagi kunjungan pelancong, ujarnya.

Bagi mencapai matlamat tersebut sebanyak RM2.5 juta diperuntukan bagi program galakan kebudayaan, kesenian dan pelancongan.

Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz juga berkata, kerajaan negeri menyediakan peruntukan sebanyak RM1.2 juta bagi pembelaan rakyat miskin dan RM1 juta bantuan bekalan air dan elektrik.

Manakala sebanyak RM5.5 juta bantuan rumah Dhuafat bagi membolehkan rakyat miskin membaiki dan membina rumah. Jumlah itu bertambah sebanyak RM800,000 berbanding sebelumnya.

Program bantuan beras percuma skim Al Itaam diperuntuk sebanyak RM2.5 juta, manakala program Gerbang Azziwaj (bantuan perkahwinan) (RM2 juta).

Program Gerbang Azziwaj diadakan mulai tahun ini ditambah sebanyak RM500,000 lagi berbanding bajet tahun lepas.

Manakala program-program lain iaitu;

. Bantuan armalah - RM2.5 juta

. Bantuan anak yatim - RM2 juta

. Bantuan khas orang miskin - RM1 juta

. Bantuan Am (bulanan) - RM6.38 juta

. Aktiviti belia dan pembangunan sukan - RM5 juta

. Bantuan kepada badan-badan sukarela - RM150,000

. Kebajikan orang bukan Islam dan Orang Asli - RM1.7 juta

. Kebajikan dan pembangunan wanita - RM2.5 juta

. Program latihan belia dan wanita - RM500,000

. Program Perumahan Awam Kos Rendah dan Mampu Milik - RM4 juta