Choose!

I've heard so many variations of this joke, but this one was especially funny in light of our upcoming elections. Think wisely before you vote, folks.

While walking down the street one day a Malaysia Boleh Minister is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I have made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Yang Berhormat.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules," says St. Peter.

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and dressed in the finest batik there is. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then indulge themselves on nasi briyani, satay, lobsters, caviar and the most expensive food there is.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is a funky break dancer and tells the best dirty jokes! They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St.Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it' s time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the Yang Berhormat joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The Yang Berhormat reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I really am better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting them in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

"I don't understand," stammers the Yang Berhormat. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we had a lovely buffet, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning just like you during an election.... .. Today you voted."

Paper Free Tuesday

It's not just me with a bone to pick.

I have ranted about the mainstream media in Malaysia being mouthpieces of the Barisan Nasional government before, of course.

And I certainly agreed with Haris Ibrahim that the newspapers should be boycotted. Finally, the initiative has been launched.

The press conference to launch ‘Paper Free Tuesday’ and to announce the several civil society initiatives related to the ‘Boycott the Newspapers’ initiative was held at the Blog House.

The Star, The Sun, The Oriental Daily, Malaysiakini, S-Keadilan, Artis Pro Aktif and Centre for Independent Journalism sent representatives to cover the press conference. Other bloggers also showed up for support.

Here's part of the press statement which I would like to highlight:

False reporting by MSM:

In truth, this is not a recent phenomenon but has been going on for some time. However, a reference to recent events of public importance and the less-than-honest coverage of the same by the MSM would be sufficient.

1. On 9 Oct 2007, Malaysiakini reported that the Ipoh Timur parliamentary constituency had seen an increase of 8,463 in the number of registered voters within the space of three months. Of particular concern were the new 3,208 postal voters even though there are no new army camps or new police stations in the constituency. MSM did not carry any report on this.
   
   
2. On 10 Nov 2007, a civil society-driven rally in Kuala Lumpur was attended by some 60,000 people of diverse backgrounds, calling for electoral reforms. Bersih supporters peaceably marched to the palace of the Yang DiPertuan Agong to deliver a people’s memorandum on the electoral reforms sought. Yet a report in The Star of the following day gave the impression that this rally comprised no more than 4,000 people and was effectively dispersed by the authorities.
   
   
3. On 20 Nov 2007, senior political correspondent Lydia Lim of the Singapore Straits Times reported on the 10 ongoing International Court of Justice hearings between Malaysia and Singapore to decide on the dispute between the two nations for sovereignty over the Pedra Branca. Lim’s report said that the Malaysian legal team had resorted to the use of a photograph of dubious authenticity lifted from an anonymous blog to create a photographic illusion and exaggerate the proximity of Pedra Branca to Johor. This scandal was reported in numerous blogs. However none of the MSM published this piece of disturbing news.
   
   
4. On 25 Nov 2007, some 30,000 Malaysians joined the Hindraf march headed for the British High Commission. In the early hours of that same day, several thousand Malaysians were forcefully contained in the compound of the Batu Caves. The Star reported on Nov 26 that the IGP had said no teargas or water cannons had been used at the Batu Caves. Nonetheless, many blogs and alternative news sources on the Internet published photographic evidence to the contrary. To date, The Star has not shown any inclination to pursue this matter with a view to giving its readers the truth. In fact, in the days following, there appeared to be a concerted and contrived effort through the MSM to unabashedly vilify this public rally as an attempt by Indians to stir up racial unrest.
   
   
5. On 19 Dec 2007, Malaysiakini reported a statement issued by Anwar Ibrahim in which the ex-deputy premier implicated former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik and his successor Chan Kong Choy in the RM4.8 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project irregularity. None of the MSM carried this news item. Interestingly, MSM have also not seen it fit to undertake an investigation into this scandal.
   
   
6. On 21 Jan 2008, most, if not all of the MSM reported a crowd of some 21,000 at the MIC-sponsored ‘Meet the PM’ rally at the Badminton Stadium in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur the previous day. Yet our own committee member who attended the event reported that the number of attendees ranged between 6,000 and 8,000 at best.

We're paying good, hard-earned money to receive honest news reporting. We expect to have some degree of professionalism. This, we're certainly NOT getting.

Apart from boycotting the papers, there's something else you can also do. There is a petition can be accessed and signed online at http://www.petitiononline.com/hartal/petition.html

Go and do your part as a responsible Malaysian.

The PROTES At KLCC

To be honest, I had something on at 2pm which I couldn't miss, so I got to KLCC a little later than 3pm. Previous rallies and protests (especially the ones at Sunway Pyramid) have lasted over three hours before the crowd gathered and organised themselves and dispersed.

To my surprise, this one was over in a hurry. There was no doubt there was going to be an event there. Police presence at quite a distance from KLCC already assured me of that fact.

I asked around, and it appeared that police started arresting protestors shortly after some rousing speeches by the Suaram and PAS guys. Over 50 people were thrown into the slammer, apparently.


Looks like the cops are getting smarter at dealing with protestors by just hustling them into vans and driving off.

Heck, there was even a police bus there, though I wouldn't know if it was to transport the cops in or hustle the protestors out.


I hung about for a while, did some walking about and when I came out again at almost 6pm, there were STILL cops walking around, though most looked rather relaxed.


This police van was parked on standby - I have no idea what they were expecting. After all, they'd already sprayed chemical-laced water on the protestors, according to Screenshots. Unfortunately, I might have missed that by minutes.


By the time I arrived, things were quiet and peaceful. I took a few tentative shots, but I couldn't get too near as I didn't want my PDA phone with which I took the photos confiscated.

Even while I was taking these shots at a distance, the coppers were giving me the hairy eyeball.

Shagedelica managed to get some good shots though. The last one with the FRU trying to chase the crowd away is funny. :)

However, there are evidently still many amongst us who cannot appreciate the need for freedom of expression, much less the need for lower fuel prices. This guy, for instance who even goes all the way to look down on those who organised the demonstration.

Granted - Thailand, Vietnam, India, Philippines, Singapore and other countries have much higher fuel prices than we do. But we're comparing ourselves non-petroleum producing countries. Are we on par with Saudi Arabia for instance? Or Kuwait? Or Brunei? Huh?

No?

Sheesh. It's so Malaysian to compare ourselves with those inferior to us. We need better management of our resources and the government hasn't been doing a good job. Hence the need for a protest of some sort.

We should ALL be holding those banners up high.

The Real Slim Lingam, Please Stand Up!

Looks like I wrote this - did I?

By JAIME EE

MY fellow lawyers, citizens and other distinguished friends who may have been caught in an incriminating video or two - greetings. Welcome to our workshop titled: 'Never Say Die Even When Your Face Is Staring At You From The Video - henceforth known as the Lingam Defence.'

Now, this is a very interesting strategy, inspired not by a famous brand of chilli sauce, but by a well-known lawyer of the same name across the Causeway currently caught in a judge-fixing scandal. Upon watching a video allegedly of him talking on the phone and being asked to confirm his identity, he told the court, 'It looks like me, and the voice sounds like me,' but would not say if it was him, or not him, or even possibly him in the video.

Now, any armchair litigator or court kaypoh would pooh-pooh him for trying to pull a fast one. But, my friends, we who live by the mantra 'open to interpretation' have found this to be a ground-breaking defence that, with some modifications, can be used not just in court but in all manner of situations that require deflection of blame.

The focus of this workshop then, is to show you how to use the Lingam Defence in almost any scenario. For example, in the original case, it could subsequently be argued that if one does not look at oneself in the mirror all the time, it is entirely possible to look at a video and think 'that can't be me', especially if one's mental picture of oneself is 20kg lighter and with a more trendy hairstyle. Alternatively, one could also be struggling with philosophical issues, hence he could be referring to himself in the metaphysical sense as in 'Is that really me in the mirror? Or is that just someone else with the same face?'

Similarly, depending on what situation you find yourself in, the same principles can apply. Say, for example, you are presented with a video of yourself having sex with a florist-cum-personal friend. You could delay a public resignation by arguing, 'It looks like me and uh, sounds like me, wait a minute, oh wow, is that really me? Am I that athletic? I didn't know I could do that . . . no no that definitely can't be me. But you know, if it was me, I think I'm pretty hot. But I'm not saying it's me.'

Or, in another scenario where you are caught feeding monkeys in the nature reserve and are being fined $4,000. 'Sir, it may look like me and sound like I was feeding the monkeys, but have you considered the possibility that I was minding my own business when a monkey which did not like the bread someone else gave him, came and shoved it in my hand just before I was filmed? It sounds like I was saying 'here, monkey, have some bread', I was actually saying, 'Eee, monkey, loathsome breed'. Hence, I feel that you should send this tape to an overseas expert for verification and to prove that it was a human who taped it and not another monkey.'

Or, in the case of a chikungunya-carrying mosquito mistaken for a dengue-causing one: 'It looks like me and sounds like me, the resemblance is so uncanny that when I look in the mirror I try to swat myself.'

And there you have it. The Lingam Defence workshop - it looks and sounds like a workshop, but it may or may not have been one. We might offer more, but I can't confirm or deny it.

Thaipusam Turnout Significantly Lower

Looks like the Hindus actually made good on their word when they vowed to boycott Batu Caves this year for Thaipusam.

Heck, instead of the throngs of Indians, much to the chagrin of my photographer friend, "there were more Malays and White tourists to be seen".

He was rather disappointed as he usually makes a tidy sum selling his photographs of Thaipusam.

Perhaps I should have told him they were heading to Ipoh and Penang, but I didn't know if it would happen for sure.

For once I'm proud of the Hindu Malaysians for standing up for their rights and making their voice heard.

The UK Telegraph has a piece on our Thaipusam yesterday:

Hindus in Malaysia mortified their flesh with hooks and spears as they delivered a protest against the government which has imprisoned their popular leaders without charge.

With elections in the multi-racial country expected within weeks, ethnic grievances pose a mounting threat to the party that has governed for all of the 50 years since independence.

The annual festival of Thaipusam is big event for Malaysia's two million ethnic Indians, who make up 7 per cent of the population.

Devotees hang limes and pots of milk from hooks in the flesh of their backs, and pierce their faces with spears, to thank the god Murugan for good fortune or ask him to grant their wishes.

This year the festival was marked by boycotts and hunger strikes.

Indians, who are the poorest of Malaysia's communities, are angry at government policies that give ethnic Malay Muslims - or "sons of the soil" - preferential access to jobs, loans, education and housing.

Malays make up about 60 per cent of the population and there is also a large Chinese community.

A series of temple demolitions in recent years, and a new policy of refusing visas to temple musicians and sculptors from India, has further angered Hindus.

In November a peaceful rally of about 20 000 Indians was dispersed with tear gas and a water cannon.

The five organisers have been held without charge ever since.

The government says the measures were necessary to avoid ethnic conflict. "I think the government are shaken by it," said Dr Jeyakumar, who will stand against Samy Vellu, the only Indian cabinet minister and a key government supporter, in the election.

In an attempt to assuage the anger, the government this week bowed to decades old demands and made Thaipusam a national holiday.

But devotees stayed away from the country's most important temple, accusing its management committee - which is linked to Samy Vellu's party - of helping to crush November's protest.

Normally hundreds of thousands pack the Batu Caves complex on the outskirts of the capital Kuala Lumpur, but this year the crowds were thin.

Television news was forced to resort to footage of last year's event.

"The crowd is the usual crowd. I have come to Thaipusam for 60 years ... I am very, very happy," insisted Mr Vellu.

Don't mind me while I take some time out to laugh my ass off!! :)

I'm really optimistic that his time is finally up.

At the Hindu temple in Ipoh, 120 miles from the capital, opposition leaders launched a hunger strike in solidarity with the five men in jail and made political speeches.

Noisy Tamil music played nearby as devotees in trances, hooks hanging from their backs, staggered towards the shrine.

Such rallies are illegal but a small group of riot police watched from the back and videoed the event without intervening, apparently for fear of inflaming sentiments at a religious occasion.

"This is the year of Indian political awakening," declared Lim Kit Siang, the leader of the tiny parliamentary opposition.

"The Indians will be king makers in the general election."

According to him, Indians —who used to be a reliable vote bank for the government- are over 10pc of the electorate in more than 50 parliamentary seats.

But although Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi says he is braced for losses in the election, his government is almost certain to win.

And Dr Jeyakumar is pessimistic of his own chances of entering parliament.

The opposition, he says, is fractured along ethnic lines and vote buying is rife.

"And we believe the election commission have a mandate to make sure most of the ministers win," he added.

The Telegraph evidently has got our political situation right.

Oh well, even if Barisan Nasional wins, at least we will try to deny them their 2/3 majority.

End Fear-Mongering!

JOINT PRESS STATEMENT BY CONCERNED MALAYSIANS ON 22 JANUARY 2008:

We, the undersigned civil society groups and concerned citizens of diverse ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds, stress that all Malaysians have the right to choose their representatives and the government in a free, fair and clean election. No individual politician or political party should resort to threats or intimidation to influence the voter’s decision.

We lament that Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, MCA MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, as reported in the China Press on January 21 (Monday), has conveyed this fear-mongering message to the public: “If there is insufficient Chinese representation in the Barisan Nasional, it is not a good thing, the Chinese community cannot afford another May 13 incident.”

The May 13 ethnic riot in 1969 was a dark chapter in Malaysia’s political history where political violence and manipulation overshadowed the democratic process as well as the voice of the people. Invoking the bitter memories of this tragic incident for political gain is a huge insult to those who died, the surviving victims and their families. This veiled threat to voters not to support the opposition parties is shameless and unbecoming of a responsible political leader.

If Chew is aware of certain quarters planning to use violence in response to a certain electoral outcome, she who has been speaking tirelessly on public safety should lodge a police report immediately and assist in the police investigation.

If she is merely speculating, we are truly disappointed that she has stooped so low in fishing for support. Politicians should not behave like gangsters. They should not use the threat of violence to solicit vote, as gangsters do to extort money.

By making this statement, Chew has in fact violated Section 9 (1) of the Election Offences Act 1954:

Undue influence
9. (1) Every person who, before, during or after an election, directly or indirectly, by himself or by any other person on his behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence, or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any person in order to induce or compel such person to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of such person having voted or refrained from voting, at any election, or who by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance impedes or prevents the free exercise of the franchise of any elector or voter, or thereby compels, induces, or prevails upon any elector or voter either to give or refrain from giving his vote at any election, or who directly or indirectly interferes or attempts to interfere with the free exercise by any person of any electoral right shall be guilty of the offence of undue influence.

While waiting for the Election Commission to investigate and lodge a police report, we call upon Chew to do the honorable thing. She should retract her statement and apologize unreservedly for her fear-mongering act. She must condemn unreservedly the use of political violence in Malaysia.

Voters must be assured of their right to vote for any candidate or party of their choice in an environment that is free from fear and intimidation.

We also call upon the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi to disassociate his administration and party from Chew’s fear-mongering statement and condemn unreservedly the use of threats and intimidation on voters.

We must not let Malaysia become a failed state where political violence rules, like Pakistan. We must not allow any party to ‘play with fire’. We categorically reject anyone who uses the spectre of May 13 as a bogeyman to threaten Malaysians.

All individuals or civil society organisations in support of democracy may endorse this statement by displaying a copy of this statement on their premises, vehicles or the front page of their blogs or websites, until Chew retract the statement and apologizes.

Civil Society Organisations:
Coalition For Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH)
Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC)
Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
Malaysian Voters Union (MALVU)
Save Ourselves (SOS Penang)

Wa Caya Sama Lu!! :)

I like this guy!!

When you've got a talent for something and put it to good use, you're a man after my own heart!


This guy does long distance events. He decided to use his running to spread messages of deep concerns to his fellow citizens.


Read more about him at Nat's place.

"It Looks And Sounds Like Me!!"

I come from a family that's crawling with lawyers.

I've heard every single method of hedging around the question in desperate attempts not to perjure oneself.

Or so I thought.

This is the first time I've ever heard anyone utter, "By golly, it looks and sounds like me, mate!!" upon seeing himself on tape.

Check out the highly amusing report in the Sun:

The commission also wanted to know the position taken by Lingam after the submission of evidence by two main witnesses - Loh and CyberSecurity Sdn Bhd forensics digital analyst Mohd Zabri Adil Talib - if the person in the video clip was the lawyer himself.

Commission member Datuk Mahadev Shankar asked Lingam’s lawyer, R. Thayalan, if Lingam admitted it was him who appeared in the clip.

"Is it your position that your client is not him in the clip?" asked Mahadev.

"He said it looks and sounds like him in the clip," replied Thayalan.

Mahadev pressed Thayalan further and asked if Lingam admitted the details which appeared in the transcript was uttered by Lingam.

"I have to take instructions from him, but his stand now is that it looks and sounds like him," replied Thayalan.

Commissioner Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kion also pursued the issue and asked Thayalan to explain his reply.

"What do you mean, look like him… can you explain," said Shim.

"The image is not clear ... let me get back to him … that was his stand," said Thayalan.

I'm sure there must be a very good explanation.

Severe amnesia, maybe? Along the lines of selective memory loss?

Poor bloke couldn't remember if it was him, in his own house, saying those words in his voice and accent and bombastic vocabulary ("correct, correct, correct").

Oh yeah, Malaysia boleh indeed.

Press Freedom In Malaysia and Indonesia

What's truly embarrassing is that Indonesia has much more freedom to report as it sees fit than Malaysia ever has.

From Jakarta Post:

Imran Yacob, Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysian information minister's lash out at the Indonesian media's apparent aggressiveness in reporting Malaysia-Indonesia ties were thorny seems to have backfired.

The statement by the minister has in fact further strained an already icy relationship between the so-called big brother and her alleged arrogant neighbor.

This diplomatic boo-boo all but extinguishes the quiet diplomatic efforts by Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak just one week before.

Malaysian mainstream media had splashed news of the exchanges of Malaysian journalist to Indonesian news agencies in an attempt to soften the perceived Malaysia bashing by the Indonesian media.

As if part of a complete package on damage control between the two countries, an UMNO-Golkar meeting had concluded, on the establishment of a joint committee, to this year actively revitalize bilateral relations in the spirit of an Umno-Golkar memorandum of understanding signed earlier. The MoU was ceremoniously witnessed by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

All that effort seems diminished by this latest scurry of attacks on Indonesia's empowered press.

The reverse effect seems to have overtaken events with Malaysians themselves, lamenting on the limited freedom of the press and the emasculation of its news agencies.

The Malaysian information minister's remarks have elicited a heated counterblast from Malaysia's lively blogs.

The bloggers are now in combat mode ahead of imminent elections and were quick to point out to the Minister that his powers over Indonesia were none and Malaysia's media should be allowed to uphold its sacred journalistic duty to expose the truth and provide the check and balances essential to democracy.

The problem in Malaysia is not that you can't say what you want, its just that you have no where to say it.

The mainstream media -- be it broadcast television or radio stations, even the print media -- are all owned by the Government or the major component parties of the ruling Coalition (Barisan Nasional).

Malaysians often read between the lines when trying to make sense of the current political scenario. They turn toward popular news blogs like Malaysia Today to get the real news.

Even local journalists have been cautioned by the minister not to refer to breaking news posted on blogs or carried by the internet.

This should have been enough to draw attention to futile attempts to silence the voices of the Malaysian people.

The Indonesian media's enfranchisement is the envy of Malaysians. No one wants a restricted press here. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, severely circumscribes the professionalism of local journalists and media advocates.

The requirement to annually obtain a license for publication saw, for example, the Malaysian Catholic Newspaper, The Herald put at knife-edge over its controversial use of the word 'Allah' to denote God.

More than a theological debate, this was a challenge by the new media against the old media.

Angry comments by Muslims and non-Muslims alike spurred by bloggers are posted all over the internet and seem to gravitate around the issue of the restraint over the freedom of the press in Malaysia.

It appears Malaysian voters will have their say. Former Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's interview by CK Andy on his talk show K! broadcasted by news agency Metro TV, was as not widely known of here, until the sensational statements made by the Malaysian information minister.

Former prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's views are sought-after here because he dares speak up against the status quo.

While many Malaysians may still do not trust the former deputy premier, his opinions on Malaysian politics and world views on Islam, which is courted by the foreign media, is then mostly reproduced in blogs in the Malaysian blogosphere or hurriedly downloaded on "You Tube".

It is perhaps this very repression of the functions of the local press and the lack of privilege to address the mainstream media in Kuala Lumpur that will eventually lend more popularity to Anwar Ibrahim.

Perhaps the treatment of Malaysia's fallen son is not as shocking as that of former political strongman and architect of modern Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

The feisty veteran politician has hit back at the current administration by calling it a police state.

Mahathir himself has had to bet on the new media which has been thrilled to reproduce his attacks and perspectives on Malaysian and global issues.

Dr. Mahathir and the new media appear to have had quite an impact on the discontented rumblings of the electorate on the ground.

The information minister, now having riled up the Indonesian media and having failed to garner much support from the Rakyat or citizens of Malaysia, must attempt to diffuse the tension.

If the Indonesian press, as he claims, has prophetic influences over the Indonesian people, then perhaps he should consider a more amicable tone when dealing with the press in Jakarta.

An apology could well serve to enhance diplomatic efforts and dispel the stigma of the "Ugly Malaysian".

Ordinary Malaysians have not an iota of disdain for their "Saudara" in Indonesia. The contentious issues that underlie tensions could be more effectively dealt with through greater diplomatic sensibility and friendliness.

The minister's failure to extend a formal apology could cause a bandwagon effect as an upshot from his ill-advised criticism of the media in Indonesia.

As the religious and ethnic commonality that bonds Muslim-Malaysians to their Indonesian kin thin out, the Malaysian minister of information will have to bear greater responsibility for his actions.

Funding A Terrorist Organisation

Barisan Nasional is at it again.

By questioning HINDRAF donors, it is obviously trying to intimidate all those whose sympathies lie with HINDRAF.

Cops go after Hindraf donors

Soon Li Tsin | Jan 9, 08 5:23pm
Malaysiakini

If you have made a donation to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) movement, the police may be knocking on your door soon.The Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) has sent letters to individuals summoning them to give statements at the Bukit Aman police headquarters over a possible offence of funding a terrorist organisation.The letter stated that the police are investigating this offence under Section 130N of the Penal Code - the funding of terrorist activities.If found guilty, the person can be punished with death (if the terrorist act results in death), imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but not exceeding 30 years and a fine.

“The police believe that you can provide a statement about funds given to Hindraf Enterprise,” read the letter signed by investigating officer ASP Rozeni Ismail.

A donor who received the letter and was quizzed by the police recently said references were made to a RHB bank account registered under the name ‘Hindraf Enterprise’.

The donor, who requested anonymity, said the police recorded statement in relation to some other offence - non-terrorism related - committed by the company.

“It is odd that the matter is being dealt by the Commercial Crimes Department because during questioning, they made no reference to the terrorist offences. They said the company could be charged for impropriety in soliciting donations and funds.

“It is also very alarming that the banks can give information about their clients and their transactions to the police without the need for a court order.”

Under the Section 16A of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 1958, banks are permitted to convey any information in relation to any offences to the police or affected financial institutions.

Many being summoned

However, the donor pointed out that the recording of the statement took only 30 minutes and the police were pleasant throughout the period.

“I don’t think I am the only one. When I asked if there were others, the officer said there were many other people being summoned,” the donor added.

Hindraf gained fame when it organised a protest that saw 30,000 people hit the streets of Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 last year.

This was followed by the movement’s leaders and supporters being charged for a slew of offences including sedition, causing mischief and attending an illegal assembly.

On Dec 8, 2007, the Companies Commission of Malaysia revoked the registration of Hindraf Enterprise for using the company for unlawful purposes and purposes prejudicial to national security and public order.

The company at that time had set up a bank account for the public to donate money to the cause and for those incarcerated in need of bail money.

At the height of enforcement action, enigmatic Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar with R Kenghadharan, M Manoharan, V Ganabathirau and T Vasanthakumar were arrested under the Internal Security Act on Dec 13 last year.

They have been detained for two years without trial.

CCID director ACP Mohd Kamarudin Md Din was unavailable to comment on this investigation when contacted.

So you'd think it was confirmed that HINDRAF is a terrorist organisation. Right?

Think again. In NDTV, our prize idiot, the favourite Malaysian minister clarifies govt stand.


To emphasize my point:

NDTV: Do you have any evidence to back your government's charge that the Hindraf has links with terrorists?

D S Vellu: Hindraf said they would fight like the Tigers, the way the Tigers are fighting in Sri Lanka. It was by Vedamurthy. After he talked like that, we did an investigation and it was felt that he may have gone there for training.

NDTV: Do you have evidence of this?

D S Vellu: No. It is our suspicion.

So individuals are being summoned to give statements over the SUSPICION of a possible offence of funding a terrorist organisation??

You mean, like take one of your precious annual leave, drive all the way to Bukit Aman, just to affirm that you have banked in money to a HINDRAF account?? To an account belonging to an enterprise that the government shut down due to SUSPICION of belonging to a terrorist group???

Are these people nuts??

I'm beginning to think they need mental treatment.

Thankfully sanity prevails among some of us. A citizen we Malaysians can be proud of, Cheah Kah Seng has suggested we all donate RM1 to Hindraf as a sign of protest against this bullying by the Barisan Nasional thugs.

He says:

From all I can see, the accusation of terrorism against Hindraf completely lacks credibility and was done in bad faith. Even if we don't agree with some of Hindraf's rhetoric, the Hindraf 5 under ISA detention deserve all the help they can get.

You've said it, man!

Read the whole letter, it's a good one and accessible to those who don't subscribe as well.

Indian Expats Blame Samy Vellu

From: Times Of India
Expats blame Samy Vellu for Malaysia row

NEW DELHI: It was a volcano waiting to erupt and the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas meet, which closed here on Wednesday, came as a godsend for many Indian expatriates in Malaysia to vent their feelings on what had gone "terribly wrong" with them in the south-east Asian nation.

As the Malaysian government went into a denial overdrive, insisting it never even imagined freezing recruitment of workers from India, the expatriates squarely blamed works minister Samy Vellu, part of the government for almost three decades now, for the "serious plight" of Indians, who constitute a substantial minority there. The burst came as several delegates from Malaysia, despite "the fear of being hounded" back home if their "identities became known", went on to detail "what was really happening" there.

The minister, also in Delhi for the convention, met PM Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee. Vellu, the only Indian in the cabinet, had on Tuesday denied reports on recruitment freeze, and Malaysia's home minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad echoed his words on Wednesday.

"In the real sense, recruitment freeze is a non-issue. PIOs in Malaysia, down now to 8% of population, are being systematically persecuted and marginalized in several other ways. Vellu, who uses his Indian origin for cosmetic purposes, has actually supervised this discrimination over the years," a senior second-generation delegate told TOI . The government's main idea, he said, was to give priority to ethnic Malays and Bhumiputras, who constitute 60% of the population with special rights under the constitution, and the Indians were the most to suffer under the practice.

"Our economic rights are under serious threat. There is a clear design to establish the social supremacy of the ethnic majority, and the mismatch between the civil (common) and Shariat laws has come as a tool for the persecution of Indians. Islamisation is another way in which we are being marginalised," he said.

Another delegate said the discrimination began way back in 1969 when the country witnessed "race riots", adding that the "big change" in the recent past was that Indians had become more organised.

"That is why anti-government protests rocked Malaysia in November last year. Vellu has been part of the decision-making process in the government, and to maintain his monopoly, he did not let the strength of Indians in the cabinet rise to even two in the 1990s. The number of Chinese cabinet ministers went up to six from three," he said.

Vellu is the head of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) that supports the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. The delegates said under the present electoral and constitutional system, politicians enjoy absolute powers so much so that even the judiciary was accountable to the executive and free operation of the media was a distant dream.

"Naturally, electoral and political reforms were a big demand during the recent agitation, but activists of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were branded anti-nationals and there was a move to press charges of treason against them. We do not feel secure," the delegate explained.

The Indians' share in the national equity basket was steadily declining. "Malaysia has nearly 1.8 million Indians and only 40% of them constitute the middle or upper-middle classes. The rest is blue-collar labour force. If there is one Indian diaspora experiment that has really failed, it is Malaysia. Unfortunately, the world is being told a different story," another delegate said.

HINDRAF And The Valentine Roses

I gotta hand it to these guys, they're getting creative. :)

HINDRAF
135-3 Jalan Toman 7
Kemayan Square 70200
Seremban N.Sembilan
7th January 2008.

Re: HINDRAF LAUNCHES VALENTINE ROSES CAMPAIGN TO FREE *ISA* *DETAINEES* AND ASSERT RIGHTS OF MINORITY MALAYSIAN INDIANS WHO HAVE BEEN OPPRESSED SUPPRESSED MARGINALISED AND REMAINED PERMANENTLY COLONIZED COMMUNITY.

HINDRAF REQUESTS PRIME MINISTER TO MAKE HIMSELF AVAILABLE TO ACCEPT ROSES FROM AND ON BEHALF OF 70% POOR AND UNDERCLASS INDIANS.

On the 16th February 2008 (Saturday) a minimum of 10,000 Malaysian Indians representing 70% of the poor oppressed suppressed and marginalized community would make themselves available to hand over red and yellow roses to the Honourable Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in conjunction with Valentine's Day.

Red Roses would signify HINDRAF's *Love and Peaceful Struggle* whilst yellow roses would signify the *Demand for Justice* for the 5 HINDRAF leaders held under the draconian laws and for the rights of the minority Indian community who have been neglected for the last 50 years since Independence by the Government.

The minimum of 10,000 Minority Indians would make themselves available as follows:

Date : 16th February 2008 (Saturday)
Time : 11.00 am
Venue : Parliament House Kuala Lumpur

HINDRAF wishes to assert that this is *purely a peaceful gathering* with the view to present our beloved Prime Minister with Roses to enlighten him on the *predicament* and *Cry for Justice* of the Minority Indian community. The *heart *of the Indian community *bleeds* on the incarceration of their leaders under the ISA. It is hoped by accepting the roses the Prime Minister would be compassionate and understand to the needs of the Indian community.

HINDRAF requests the Prime Minister to attend personally to accept the roses or alternatively make his personal representative available to accept the same. We are amenable to change the venue if it is inconvenient with the Honourable Prime Minister.

We trust the Government would perfectly understand the peaceful gesture of Malaysian Indians and allow these poor oppressed and underclass to express their feelings through presentation of the Roses.

HINDRAF wishes the Honourable Prime Minister (an advance) *"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY."*

P.Waytha Moorthy
Chairman
Currently in London

The Pillow Bash

There were no feathers flying, but I'm sure some were ruffled.

A bunch of youth called Young Malaysians Action Secretariat (Sekretariat Bertindak Anak-Anak Muda Malaysia) symbolically handed over a pillow and bolster to the Prime Minister, grossly highlighting his obnoxious tendency to slumber.


I don't know if his daze of sleepiness is to be blamed for the state of affairs in Malaysia, but this I know - the administration needs an overhaul and fast!

Oh, and somnambulance at its best! :)


Related:

One mob flash, one ministerial crash and one pillow bash : What a week! - The People's Parliament

Pillows for a PM - Rocky's Bru

A special gift to the Prime Minister - Black In Korea

Been Awarded!

Oh yeah, I'm thrilled!! :)

And I'm finally over and done with being speechless too!

Now I'm aware that I have a fairly decent number of hits to my page, thanks to services of my good ole sitemeter, but I didn't know folks appreciated my writing, much less understood the disgruntled ramblings.

So it was quite a pleasant surprise when I discovered that I was awarded "Blogger to watch" with the comments A young Malaysian hope. You'r on my blog-roll, IF I had one ...

And to Rox, who has made my day - hell, probably my month - I love ya, baby!!! And thank you so much. :)

Happy reading.

"Holier Than Thou"

Malaysian ministers are highly entertaining, especially those that belong to BN.

You see, most Malaysians have this perceived sense of importance in the world and they think everyone knows about them and their accomplishments.

Unfortunately the reverse is true, and so they have set about trying to create the tallest, longest, biggest, fastest, first. Whatever. Most of the time, our achievements (if you can call it that) are recorded solely by our local media, which usually goes to town with it.

But our ministers and politicians gain international recognition.

Tourism minister Tengku Adnan had various terms of endearment shovelled on him after calling all Malaysian bloggers unemployed women in a lame attempt to scare/intimidate men off blogging. Suffice to say, it did not result in success.

Information minister Zainuddin Maidin showed us the right way to bumble through live interviews with foreign correspondents.

De-facto law minister Nazri Aziz got his star on the idiot walk of fame by telling India to lay-off and mind its own business. Actually he has many more to his credit (or discredit) but to list all may need more volumes than Encyclopedia Britannica.

Foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar got his ass publicly kicked on BBC's Hardtalk before being recognised by Malaysians as one of the most fluent liars on the planet.

But laughter is always the best medicine.

So we have the Health minister Chua Soi Lek to administer some of the dose, albeit in a very unexpected way.


Talk about fame and popularity. Prior to this whole fiasco, I wouldn't have known who the bugger was. But since his face is splashed on almost every daily locally and internationally, I cannot help but have his face imprinted in my memory.

Oh, I'm sure he longs for the days of blissful oblivion.

This guy is something else. Firstly, he is unable to keep his prick in his pants. That is a boo-boo for someone who is affiliated with a party that assumes religious affectations and issues 'pious' statements.

I would SO very much have loved to see their collective sanctimonious faces when this news broke out.

Secondly, (and this is the kicker) he gets sore at the Malaysian public for going to town with this. In the New York Times (and you've got to do something pretty spectacular to make it in there):

He said he regretted that people could not accept his public apology. "Some Malaysians have a holier-than-thou attitude," he said.

Well, Mr Minister, I personally DO have a holier-than-thou attitude. You belong to Barisan Nasional - a bunch of creeps who outdo themselves with religious dos and don'ts.

Discussions of tearing down Christian crosses in mission schools.

Refusing publication rights over the usage of the word 'Allah'.

Stealing bodies of Indian Malaysian heroes and giving them muslim burials.

Tearing down Hindu temples.

Breaking into an American couple's room to check for the possibility of khalwat.

Issuing a summons to a Chinese couple and dragging them to court for holding hands in KLCC, claiming it was indecent.

Refusing to hand over the body of a Chinese woman to her husband unless he acknowledges that she was Muslim.

Refusing to allow a giant Taoist statue to be constructed in Sabah because it is "too near a mosque".

If you have to spout that kind of religious crap, you'd better toe the line when it comes to your actions, because the last time I checked, screwing a woman who is not your wife (even if she was a 'personal friend') is not endorsed by any religion practised in Malaysia.