Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Federal Court Anwar Sodomy II Trial 联邦法庭安华《鸡奸二》审讯

Today, 29th Oct 2014 is the second day of Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II trial at The Palace of Justice in Putrajaya. The court case is extended one day till 30th, and the verdict could be deferred to a later date. Wesley Nga and I dropped by and hoped to get into the court room but it was full, so we loitered around and took photos. Today there was a supporting crowd of at least 2,000 people, and all of us hopred that justice will prevail. Of course, Christians all over the country were praying for justice in this matter.

今天,2014年10月29日,是安华在布特拉再也联邦法庭的《鸡奸二》的第二天审讯。审讯延长一天至30日,而判决或许会延伸至迟些日子。我和蓝卫斯理到场想进入法庭聆听,但它已经满座。我们只好在外面走走拍拍照。今天,最少有 2 千名支持的群众,我们大家都希望正义获得伸张。当然,全国的基督徒都为此事的正义祷告。

Anwar arrived and was thronged by the crowd as a sign of support
安华到场,被群众涌前推挤表明支持




Allen was pointing at the building where the entire vicinity 
was sealed off by police
亚伦指着整个范围被警察封锁的建筑物


Tuesday, October 28, 2014

總檢察署:捍衛伊斯蘭神聖,依布拉欣沒“煽動傾向”

【更新】總檢察署:捍衛伊斯蘭神聖‧依布拉欣沒“煽動傾向”


  •     
(雪蘭莪‧八打靈再也27日訊)總檢察署指出,土權主席依布拉欣阿里針對日落洞國中事件所發表的言論不在“煽動傾向”的定義範圍內,因為依布拉欣阿里只是為了捍衛伊斯蘭的神聖。
總檢察署今日發表文告解釋,一項言論在被指具有煽動傾向之前,應該與其發表的場合看作是一個整體,而不能從環境上分離。
文告說,依布拉欣阿里是在日落洞國中事件發生的情況下作出有關言論,總檢察署從整體範圍研究此案後認為,該言論不歸類為“煽動傾向”。
指無意引起宗教騷動
“明顯地,依布拉欣阿里無意引起宗教騷動,而只是為了捍衛伊斯蘭教的神聖。”
文告還引述依布拉欣阿里的談話“這並不是在煽情或想引起宗教騷動,而是為了捍衛伊斯蘭的神聖性,這顯然已在法律裡”,這佐證依布拉欣阿里的無意。
文告也說,該言論也不能滿足觸犯刑事法典504條文(故意污辱及破壞公共安寧)的要素,因為依布拉欣阿里無意侮辱和挑釁,使得公共秩序受到威脅。
文告指出,此外,依布拉欣阿里也沒有觸犯刑事法典第298條文(在多元宗教的社群中製造仇恨)和298A條文(危害對團結或和諧的維護),因為前者是為了捍衛伊斯蘭的神聖性。
考慮證據無須帶上庭
“在日落洞國中外公開免費派發聖經的行動可能會破壞那些對宗教缺乏知識的穆斯林學生的信仰,尤其是在有關聖經還包含爪夷文字的時候。”
在考慮這兩宗案件的事實和證據後,總檢察長認為,兩宗案件都不宜被帶上法庭。
非專派馬來學生
無法對付派聖經者
文告指出,去年1月21日,武吉丁雅警察局接獲投報,指依布拉欣阿里發表充公和焚燒含有“阿拉”字眼和一些阿拉伯文和爪夷文字的馬來版聖經的言論。
文告說,這是根據網絡媒體自由今日大馬於1月19日題為“土權主席告訴穆斯林:焚燒阿拉聖經”的文章而舉報。依布拉欣阿里是在檳城瑪拉工藝大學舉辦的土權大會發表上述言論。
在依布拉欣阿里發表談話之前,有人報警指1月17日下午1時,3名華裔男子在學校門前分發口袋型英文版聖經給國中學生,包括穆斯林學生。
在這2次報案後,警方展開調查,並將之歸類為刑事法典298A條文,並呈交報告給總檢察署,以進行後續行動。
有關日落洞案的報告已經於去年9月17日呈交給總檢察署,當局將投報列為“無法展開進一步行動”的案件,因為沒有確鑿的證據顯示,聖經只是發給馬來學生而已。
“當時的情況是,任何人都可以向嫌犯領取聖經,調查也顯示,嫌犯沒有意圖把聖經分發給馬來學生而已。因此不符合刑事法典298A條文以及1996年檳城伊斯蘭刑事條例第5條文的條件。”
12月3日,武吉丁雅警局針對依布拉欣阿里案件的調查呈交給總檢察署後,也被列為“無法展開進一步行動”的案件。
摘錄依布拉欣致詞內容
文告也摘錄依布拉欣阿里致詞時的談話,內容如下:
依布拉欣阿里致詞時說:“就如昨晚所說,我呼吁信奉伊斯蘭的馬來人,充公……充公和焚燒。這不是情緒化或要掀起宗教騷動,而是要依據法律中所闡明的條文,維護伊斯蘭的神聖。
“我們已經勸告,我們已經呼吁,我們已經強迫他們為所採取的行動負責任,但是還是發生,如果繼續發生,我只好希望穆斯林充公和焚燒。只有這個方法了。
“所以我希望昨晚發生的不再發生,以避免不愉快的事情發生。但是如果還是繼續,雖然他分派給非穆斯林學生,但是別派給穆斯林學生。如果國文版聖經出現`阿拉’字眼,有一些爪夷文字如昨天那樣,我們將會充公,我們要求穆斯林充公和焚燒。”
“是的,聖經有爪夷文字會造成混淆,昨晚分派的是新約聖經,我們不是要吵架,是為了維護伊斯蘭。
“我呼吁他們所有負責任的人停止這麼做,他們必須向負責的人展示聖經,也就是製作成國文版的人,瞭解法令後才分發聖經,千萬別碰觸穆斯林感到敏感的事項。”
【本篇內容已在2014-10-28更新。】
(星洲日報)
来源: http://news.sinchew.com.my/node/393417?tid=1

Speaking about context, what about other sedition cases?

Datuk Ibrahim Ali's threat to burn Bibles containing the word 'Allah' last year was deemed to have been made in the context of defending Islam and hence it was acceptable. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 27, 2014. 
Datuk Ibrahim Ali's threat to burn Bibles containing the word 'Allah' last year 
was deemed to have been made in the context of defending Islam and hence 
it was acceptable. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, October 27, 2014

Context, the Attorney-General Chambers said today, was the important ingredient to consider when deciding whether Datuk Ibrahim Ali committed sedition when he threatened to burn bibles that contained the word "Allah" last year.
"As decided by the court, before a statement is said to have seditious tendencies, the statement must be viewed in the context it was made ...
"When studied in its entire context, Datuk Ibrahim's statement is not categorised as having seditious tendencies.
"It was clear Datuk Ibrahim Ali had no intention to create religious tensions, but was only defending the purity of Islam‎," the AGC said, noting the Perkasa chief also said: "This is not a sentiment or (an attempt) to provoke religious tensions, but to defend the purity of Islam which is clearly (stated) in the laws."
"He also did not commit any offence under Section 298 or 298A of the Penal Code as he was clearly defending the purity of Islam."
Right. So the context is this, Ibrahim was not charged because he said he was not attempting to provoke religious tensions but was defending the purity of Islam.
Well, to put it in context, that is a half-baked explanation by the AGC, a comment after the fact.
In any court, this type of mitigation would have been laughed at.
Can the AGC explain what made the legally correct statement by the late Karpal Singh and academics Dr Azmi Shahrom and Dr Aziz Bari seditious? What was their context that made them liable for sedition?
In their statements thus far, none of these three stand-up individuals caused an affront to the dignity of another religion or community. Their words were factual and based on the law of the land.
Yet, one was convicted of sedition and the other two face sedition charges. And many others run the risk of being prosecuted without knowing the context of the offence.
But the one individual who has consistently caused the mercury of race and religion to rise in Malaysia is being defended by the AGC and the federal government.
How's that for context in Malaysia? – October 27, 2014.
Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/speaking-about-context-what-about-other-sedition-cases







Monday, October 27, 2014

美食是华人享誉国际的文化


民以食为天!享用美食是一件乐事。
左起:李志华传道,萧永传牧师,作者,叶益华传道
-----------------------------------------------
此文章也刊登在《星洲日报》“言路版,稍微删掉一些段落:
http://opinions.sinchew.com.my/node/34478?tid=38

作者:陈亚伦

        好几个月前当槟城提出不允许外劳掌厨熟食时,人民纷纷攘攘闹了一段时期,现在已经有决定了。槟城宣布实行这政策,不过给予业者一年的宽限期。

        槟城的街边小摊,传统茶室和食阁的档口美食向来都有口皆碑的。我虽然不是槟城人,但去到槟城必不错过那些美食,不过发觉近年它们的美食却走样了!个中原因乃不难发觉掌厨的不是华裔老板,而是外劳。我支持槟城的决定并不等同歧视外劳。

        马来西亚的确是小食天堂,是马来西亚人的都会怀念这里的食物。不信的话就不妨问问那些我们在海外无论是去旅游还是移了民的国人。他们也多么希望看到在海外有马来西亚人开设马来西亚美食的摊子或餐馆。

        我很喜欢观赏烹饪的电视节目和影片,华人的美食或中餐经常都在烹饪比赛有赫赫的成绩,夺冠无数。华人美食在意色香味俱全,甚至小食也不例外。譬如空荡荡的一盘菜肴,只要厨师放一小撮元西菜或雕刻的红萝卜就点缀得令人胃口大开了!不过禁令不包括餐馆,因为那里通常都有本地人主厨在场的。

        我也很喜欢观赏食家蔡澜介绍各国美食风味的节目。他是新加坡人,移民到香港。以他多年在马新接触食品的经验,每逢回来马新时他会去品尝怀念的美食,包括小食。食物经过他的舌头,他都会告诉你哪些仍然那样好吃或者哪些已经走样了!我在报纸读到他来到马来西亚时讲的话,很有印象。大约是“要保持食物还是那样好吃的秘诀,最重要是业者要固执,传给下代也必须维持材料和做法。”

        槟城,甚至整个大马目前就是这个状况,经营食店是为了挣钱,所以交给外劳掌厨。继承祖业的后代不再固执,更甭想要外劳跟你固执!妥协,使到美食的色香味不再美!有人说,小贩老板准备了汤料交给外劳掌厨,外劳为了趁机赚“外水”,他只要加多几勺子水,就可以卖多几碗啦!

        现在我们已经喝不到香喷喷的海南咖啡了!吃不到好吃的海南鸡饭、福建炒面、及福州面线了!我们还要失传多少种美食?我希望这般保护传统美食措施不要只限于槟城,其他州也必须仿效。我住在雪兰莪,最近在一个有水准的广场吃特许经营的槟城老字号煎蕊,挂着的海报照片显示雪渣整座山那么高,很多大粒红豆,但买到的却是一碗水水的东西,只有一粒大红豆,其他的都是小红豆。5令吉买一碗货不对版的东西,难怪坐在我旁边的黄发西方女郎也不客气地跟工人对峙。老板不在,那几个掌厨的孟加拉外劳是帮老板倒米,我跟家人说那是我最后一次光顾那摊子!

        我再强调并无歧视外劳,只想表达他们的口味跟华人是不一样的。他们也不了解华人准备食物是有特定的讲究的,毕竟华人的文化已经四千多年,美食是我们其一享誉国际的文化必须致力维护。近年来,台湾和香港举办来槟城的美食旅游团,尤其是榴莲季节时,除了品尝榴莲,也品尝他们已久闻的小食。但有不少游客很失望,因为与其看到亲力亲为的华裔老板为他们准备美食,他们却感到好像来错国家,反而像来到联合国!


        此时,我想到吉隆坡的茨厂街,那所谓在外国人眼中的唐人街(有点贬义,不过这里没有打斗),现在已经80%是由外劳掌摊了,游客也惊讶为何来到联合国?估计目前在我国的合法与不合法的外劳有400万人,一个不容忽视的现象是,他们的存在,已经影响了我国的生活起居和文化。政府再不控制的话,恐怕本国人的权益会给他们腐蚀掉!

-----------------------------

陳亞倫‧禁令維護美食文化

2014-10-27 09:25

好幾個月前當檳州政府提出不允許外勞掌廚熟食時,人民紛紛攘攘鬧了一段時期,現在已經有決定了。檳城宣佈實行這政策,不過給予業者一年的寬限期。

檳城的街邊小攤,傳統茶室和食閣的檔口美食向來都有口皆碑的。我雖然不是檳城人,但去到檳城必不錯過那些美食,不過發覺近年它們的美食卻走樣了!箇中原因乃不難發覺掌廚的不是華裔老闆,而是外勞。我支持檳城的決定並不等同歧視外勞。

馬來西亞的確是小食天堂,是馬來西亞人的都會懷念這裡的食物。不信的話就不妨問問那些我們在海外無論是去旅遊還是移了民的國人。他們也多麼希望看到在海外有馬來西亞人開設馬來西亞美食的攤子或餐館。

檳城,甚至整個大馬目前就是這個狀況,經營食店是為了掙錢,所以交給外勞掌廚。繼承祖業的後代不再固執,更甭想要外勞跟你固執!妥協,使到美食的色香味不再美!有人說,小販老闆準備了湯料交給外勞掌廚,外勞為了趁機賺“外水”,他只要加多幾勺子水,就可以賣多幾碗啦!

現在我們已經喝不到香噴噴的海南咖啡了!吃不到好吃的海南雞飯、福建炒麵、及福州麵線了!我們還要失傳多少種美食?我希望這般保護傳統美食措施不要只限於檳城,其他州也必須倣傚。我住在雪蘭莪,最近在一個有水準的廣場吃特許經營的檳城老字號煎蕊,掛著的海報照片顯示雪渣整座山那麼高,很多大粒紅豆,但買到的卻是一碗水水的東西,只有一粒大紅豆,其他的都是小紅豆。5令吉買一碗貨不對版的東西,難怪坐在我旁邊的黃發西方女郎也不客氣地跟工人對峙。老闆不在,那幾個掌廚的孟加拉外勞是幫老闆倒米,我跟家人說那是我最後一次光顧那攤子!

我再強調並無歧視外勞,只想表達他們的口味跟華人是不一樣的。他們也不瞭解華人準備食物是有特定的講究的,畢竟華人的文化已經四千多年,美食是我們其一享譽國際的文化必須致力維護。近年來,台灣和香港舉辦來檳城的美食旅遊團,尤其是榴槤季節時,除了品嚐榴槤,也品嚐他們已久的小食。但有不少遊客很失望,因為與其看到親力親為的華裔老闆為他們準備美食,他們卻感到好像來錯國家,反而像來到聯合國!

此時,我想到吉隆坡的茨廠街,現在已經80%是由外勞掌攤了,遊客也驚訝為何來到聯合國?估計目前在我國的合法與不合法的外勞有400萬人,一個不容忽視的現象是,他們的存在,已經影響了我國的生活起居和文化。政府再不控制的話,恐怕本國人的權益會給他們腐蝕掉!(星洲日報/言路‧作者:陳亞倫‧)


點看全文: http://opinions.sinchew.com.my/node/34478?tid=38#ixzz3HJoVWcwq 
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Thursday, October 23, 2014

越弱势就越早被淘汰?


陈亚伦(左一)全家福:摄于内孙女三个月生日


作者:陈亚伦

        2015年预算案,美其名40万令吉以下的产业,政府每个月补贴两百令吉为期三年,可是这些重惨阶级是否负担得起是另作别论!房产价格最近三年忽然“突飞猛进”,令许多社会新鲜人措手不及。我国每年从大学毕业出来的以10万人数计,毕竟职业岗位是很现实的。即说,市场经济好,许多人就可以觅得工作,但若经济缓慢,真的要望天开饭了!

        根据英文报纸报道,大学毕业社会新鲜人,应徵工作职业被询问薪水的要求时,普遍的要求是2500百令吉。这是指一般没有工作经验的应征者。七年前我的儿子从大学毕业,头一份工作只敢要求1800块。跟父母住,用父母的车,他只勉强够用。基于生活费高涨,新鲜人要求起薪2500令吉并不为过,但他们许多这些应徵者不获得此数目,感叹!

        即使三年前房产没大幅度飙升时,月入五千根本买不起一所20万块钱的房子,跟甭说现在提的40万令吉的房产。政府以此为最高界限,因为现在发展商建造的40万令吉的房产乃等同三年前的那般。夫妇每月总收入一万令吉或许才获得银行有条件贷款一所20万令吉房子!通常银行只贷给你70%以下,甚至是属于DINK族群,即 Double Income No Kids(双薪又没孩子的)。只要有一个孩子,家庭月入约须15千令吉!两个孩子的话,月入两万都不够。因为除了须缴一大笔税外,孩子的教育费即接着来。所以他们不是重惨阶级是什么?

        目前,不出六个月时间政府即实行消费税了!它对民生肯定有冲击,只是程度乃是个未知数。官员经常把我们与邻国新加坡作比较。但殊不知新加坡一些主要条件都比我们优越,譬如它的币值高,人均收入高,及公共交通四通八达等。新加坡人能吃得到S$3.00的一肉两菜的饭,我们能够吃RM3.00同样的东西吗?

        最近,马来西亚国际工商会执行董事长指出,马来西亚的国内生产总值比韩国落后19年,他没提到新加坡,不过基于新加坡比韩国好,我国岂不比新加坡落后更远吗?新加坡人付7%消费税,但其经济持续蓬勃。我们不是反对消费税,乃是在实行的同时,我们有什么策略确保国家经济增长吗?我国的经济命脉是系在中小型企业上,消费税实行,它们的成本增加,而人民若减少消费加上出口优越条件被削弱的情况下,它们是首当其冲的受害者!它们夸,即带来不利的骨牌效应,因此政府必须有策略让它们提升竞争力。

        还剩下这么短时间就实行消费税,人民和商家仍然面对很模糊的概念,各行各业还不晓得它们的货物和服务是否归纳缴税范畴。譬如,到目前为止,政府还没明确的宣布一旦车辆征消费税,向来车辆被征抽的货物税(Excise duty)是否被取消?抑或是双重税?政府没有明确的答案前,我们不要看到一些部长在夸口新车价格将降1-3%


        小型杂货店在疑惑是否被列为征抽领域伙伴的同时,政府已经派人逐家商店分发GST表格,最近我平常光顾的老板收到表格向我诉苦,问我怎办?我很明了她只挣三餐养家。有人告诉我,很多小型杂货店都打算结束营业算了。唉,社会真的很现实,你越弱势,就越早被淘汰!生活越来越难过,我却想到圣经有这样的话作安慰:“求上帝袮不要使我贫穷,不要使我富裕,只需给我需用的食物,免得我吃饱了,就不认袮,说 耶和华是谁?又恐怕我贫穷,就偷窃,污渎了我上帝的名。”我晓得这里的“不贫穷”和“不富裕”的意思是“一无所缺,福杯满溢!”
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此文章也刊登于《星洲日报》的“言路版”:
http://opinions.sinchew.com.my/node/34447?tid=38

陳亞倫‧越弱勢就越早被淘汰?

2015年預算案中,美其名40萬令吉以下的產業,政府每個月補貼200令吉為期三年,可是人們是否負擔得起是另作別論!房產價格最近三年“突飛猛進”,令許多社會新鮮人措手不及。我國每年大學畢業生以10萬人數計,畢竟職業崗位是很現實的,即說市場經濟好,許多人就可以覓得工作,但若經濟緩慢,真的要望天開飯了!

根據英文報報道,大學畢業社會新鮮人,應徵工作被詢問薪水要求時,普遍的要求是2千500令吉。這是指一般沒有工作經驗的應徵者。7年前我的兒子從大學畢業,頭一份工作只敢要求1千800令吉。跟父母住,用父母的車,他只勉強夠用。基於生活費高漲,新鮮人要求起薪2千500令吉並不為過,但他們許多這些應徵者不獲得此數目,感歎!

即使三年前房產沒大幅度飆升時,月入5千根本買不起一所20萬塊錢的房子,更甭說現在提的40萬令吉的房產。政府以此為最高界限,因為現在發展商建造的40萬令吉房產乃等同三年前的那般。夫婦每月總收入一萬令吉或許才獲得銀行有條件貸款一所20萬令吉房子!通常銀行只貸給你70%以下,甚至是屬於DINK族群,即Double Income No Kids(雙薪又沒孩子的)。只要有一個孩子,家庭月入約須1萬500令吉!兩個孩子的話,月入兩萬都不夠。因為除了須繳一大筆稅外,孩子的教育費即接著來。

目前,不出6個月時間政府即實行消費稅了!它對民生肯定有衝擊,只是程度乃是個未知數。官員經常把我們與鄰國新加坡作比較。但殊不知新加坡一些主要條件都比我們優越,譬如它的幣值高,人均收入高,及公共交通四通八達等。

最近,馬來西亞國際工商會執行董事長指出,我國國內生產總值比韓國落後19年,他沒提到新加坡,不過基於新加坡比韓國好,我國豈不比新加坡落後更遠嗎?新加坡人付7%消費稅,但其經濟持續蓬勃。我們不是反對消費稅,乃是在實行的同時,我們有甚麼策略確保國家經濟增長嗎?我國的經濟命脈是繫在中小型企業上,消費稅實行,它們的成本增加,而人民若減少消費加上出口優越條件被削弱的情況下,它們是首當其衝的受害者!因此政府必須有策略讓它們提昇競爭力。

還剩下這麼短時間就實行消費稅,人民和商家仍然面對很模糊的概念,各行各業還不曉得它們的貨物和服務是否歸納繳稅範疇。譬如,到目前為止,政府還沒明確的宣佈一旦車輛征消費稅,向來車輛被征抽的貨物稅(Excise duty)是否被取消?抑或是雙重稅?政府沒有明確的答案前,我們不要看到一些部長在誇口新車價格將降1-3%!

小型雜貨店在疑惑是否被列為征抽領域夥伴的同時,政府已經派人逐家商店分發GST表格,最近我平常光顧的老闆收到表格向我訴苦,問我怎辦?我很明瞭她只掙三餐養家。有人告訴我,很多小型雜貨店都打算結束營業算了。唉,社會真的很現實,你越弱勢,越早被淘汰!生活越來越難過,我卻想到聖經有這樣的話作安慰:“求上帝你不要使我貧窮,不要使我富裕,只需給我需用的食物,免得我吃飽了,就不認你,說`耶和華是誰?’又恐怕我貧窮,就偷竊,污瀆了我上帝的名。”我曉得這裡的“不貧窮”和“不富裕”的意思是一無所缺,福杯滿溢!

(星洲日報/言路‧作者:陳亞倫‧)


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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

One step forward for Indonesia, one step back for Malaysia

Peter Hartcher

Sydney Morning Herald political and international editor



While Indonesia marked another democratic advance on Monday, democracy in neighbouring Malaysia goes backwards.

Indonesia inaugurates the man that most voters chose to be leader, while Malaysia concludes a sham trial to destroy the man that most voters chose to be leader.

Indonesia is conducting the first transfer of power from one directly elected president to another.
<i>Illustration: John Shakespeare</i>
Illustration: John Shakespeare
And Malaysia? It remains under the control of the same party that has ruled continuously since independence in 1957.


"While Indonesia is making huge progress, we are rewinding and the democratic space is going back to the Mahathir era of the 1990s," says Malaysia's opposition treasury spokesman, Rafizi Ramli, during a visit to Australia on Monday. "We have not recovered from last year's election."

There is more than democracy at stake. A professor of political science at Monash University's Malaysian campus, James Chin, says: "In Malaysia, politics is being hijacked by political Islam. It really worries me. They are putting Malay supremacy together with Islamic supremacy."


The foundation stone of the perennially ruling party was always racial discrimination – special favour to native Malays over all other citizens, including the country's sizeable Chinese and Indian minorities.

But now it's pursuing policies of religious discrimination as well, says Mr Chin: "Previously, they tried to regulate the body and behaviour of Muslims; now, they are trying to regulate the body and behaviour of non-Muslims too."

He contrasts this with Indonesia, where a secular state does not impose Islamic standards on other faiths. It's one thing to fine Muslims for drinking alcohol, says Mr Chin, but now there are attempts to penalise non-Mulsims taking part in Oktoberfest in Malaysia.

The authoritarian nature of the Najib government will be on display to the world next week when it renews its courtroom persecution of the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar was the subject of one of the world's most ridiculous political persecutions, an effort by the then prime minister, Mahathir Mohammed, to ruin him by accusing him of sodomy. And now, a ruling on the sequel: Sodomy 2.

He was the deputy prime minister to Mahathir when they had a falling out in 1998. The foolish and farcical pursuit of Anwar failed to ruin him, but it did turn him into a formidable leader of the opposition.


Anwar spent six years in jail before a court overturned his conviction. He emerged to lead an energised campaign at the 2013 election. So the Malaysian people delivered their own verdict on Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat, or People's Pact party.  

The opposition under Anwar won 51 per cent of the vote at the 2013 election, but only 40 per cent of parliamentary seats.
It was a record result for an opposition and it shook the government. Even in a manipulated system, the ruling party, for the first time, had failed to win a majority of votes.

The result scared the government of Najib Razak into reviving its favoured tactic for repressing Anwar:  the charge of sodomy. Sodomy 2 had been running for a while, but after the High Court knocked out the latest sodomy charge against the married father of five, the government took its trumped-up case to Malaysia's Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal overturned the High Court. It gave Anwar a five-year jail sentence. He is free on bail pending appeal. On the weekend he flew home from London to Kuala Lumpur for final appeals. His supporters fear the outcome: "Quite a few of my friends have tried to persuade me to stay away," Anwar told British media just before boarding the plane home.

The prosecution is asking for an even longer jail term.

In an extraordinary illustration of the government's contortions in its manic determination to get Anwar, the prosecution will not be led by the a lawyer from the prosecution system but a private lawyer hired by the state. Experts say there is no precedent in Malaysian jurisprudence.


In fact, the prosecution is to be conducted by the personal lawyer for Mr Najib.

The political crackdown is much wider than Anwar. Human Rights Watch has detailed at least 14 cases this year where the government has brought spurious charges against political opponents and activists under the 1948 Sedition Act. One opposition politician faces the prospect of five years in jail for saying "damn UMNO". UMNO is Najib's political party.
The Najib government has two options, according to the opposition's Rafizi Ramli: "It can reform and allow more democratic space. Or they can go for the crackdown, and risk an even worse backlash from the public."

He has personal experience of the crackdown. Before entering politics he ran a corruption-busting NGO that exposed a Najib government minister misusing a $A90 million taxpayer loan. Instead of setting up a cattle farm, she was using the money to buy luxury apartments.

The expose forced the minister to resign. But now Mr Ramli is the one facing jail. He's facing the risk of three years in jail for breaching banking secrecy laws in disclosing the corruption. Mr Ramli, the man who busted the scam, is the only person charged over it.

Mr Ramli, also the secretary-general of the opposition party, is in Canberra on Tuesday, leading a delegation. He's hoping to convince Australian politicians to help coax Mr Najib  from authoritarianism to democratic openness.
Professor Chin says Mr Ramli has no hope of support from the Australian government: "The Abbott government loves Najib."

Australia favours the Najib government based on a long-standing view that Malaysia is a modern, Western, secular, like-minded power in a region fretting about a backward Indonesia, he says.

But Indonesia is modernising and it is Malaysia that is going backwards. "The romantic view of Malaysia," says Chin, "is based on a country that hasn't existed for the last ten years."'
Peter Hartcher is the international editor.


Source: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/one-step-forward-for-indonesia-one-step-back-for-malaysia-20141020-118vq6.html

The historical truth about ‘pendatang’ in Malaysia

12:56PM Oct 21, 2014

By Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi

I refer to the recent controversy pertaining to the comment made by Tan Lai Soon, a Gerakan delegate, that the Malays too were “pendatang” (immigrants). What may shock the Gerakan leadership, which decided to suspend him in haste due to reasons best known to them, is that there is some historical truth to his assertion. What may also shock many others is the fact that in 1941, there were more Chinese (43 percent) than Malays (41 percent) in Malaya.

Let me state at the outset that, as Malaysians, we should all work together hand in hand with the superordinate goal of creating a truly united and progressive Malaysia to ensure its long-term survival in a highly competitive world for the benefit of our future generations. We must put a stop to attempts made by extremists to sow racial discord and to tear our nation apart.

In this regard, I strongly believe that Tan Lai Soon’s intentions were sincere and that he spoke about the issue at the right forum. He must have been offended by numerous instances in the past of non-Malays being referred to as ‘pendatang’ and asking them to return to China or India if they are unhappy with Malaysia.
    
Allow me to quote an internationally renowned historian (name withheld for obvious reasons) who wrote the following in his or her PhD thesis with a leading American university in 1957 which is most relevant to Tan Lai Soon’s comment:    

“The Malays, to whatever political party they may belong, regard themselves as the ‘sons of the soil’, whose legitimate claims to economic advancement were virtually nullified by the immigrant, enterprising communities. Their answer to the Indian and Chinese immigration is uniform, viz., it must be drastically curtailed before the Malays are submerged.

"Indians and Chinese do not dispute the Malay claim as ‘sons of the soil’ in a general sense. They admit that whereas, theoretically, they have a mother country to fall back upon, the Malays have only one country. They, moreover, concede that prior to British penetration, Malays were the natives of the peninsula and since the Malay Sultans made treaties with the British it is logical that the sovereignty should be returned to them.

"They, however, hasten to add that the Malays, too, are an immigrant race, by and large, for an appreciable element of the Javanese-Sumatrans has flowed into the present Malay population. In 1911, during a boom in the rubber industry, thousands of Sumatrans poured in. Many Javanese were actually imported by estate owners. According to the 1947 census, about 26 percent  of the Malays in the Federation were immigrants from Sumatra...

"The census also furnishes the following data. In Selangor, Malay population grew from 26,000 in 1891 to 185,000 in 1947, evidently as a result of extensive immigration. Less than 40 percent of the population had lived in Johor for 36 years, whereas the immigrants were 35 percent of the Malay population. These figures, the non-Malays claim, modify the validity of the Malay people’s claim as ‘sons of the soil’.

"Moreover, instead of the Chinese and the Indians having robbed the Malays of their wealth, many of the Javanese Malays have entered Malaya ‘attracted by the Anglo-Chinese-created riches of modern Malaya.’ In the extreme heat of impassioned reasoning, many Indians and Chinese are apt to retort, “If there are any true sons of the soil, they are the [Orang Asli].”

To conclude, Tan Lai Soon’s comment about the Malays, too, being “pendatang” has some historical justification. A significant number of those who are considered ‘Malays’ today migrated to Malaya in the early decades of the twentieth century. May the Great Architect of the Universe continue to bless Malaysia and guide its citizens to work together instead of tearing the nation apart.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/278211

Sunday, October 19, 2014

1Malaysia does not need tongkat ali or viagra

4:00PM Oct 18, 2014

By M Kulasegaran

At the 60th MCA annual general assembly held last December, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said MCA has the numbers and potential to champion the Chinese community, but lacks the spirit to succeed.

“We need political viagra. Our spirit on the ground is weak,” Najib told the assembly. His comments made MCA the butt of jokes, especially in the social media.

It is therefore most ironic that yesterday, Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong said the 1Malaysia campaign, which appears to have run out of steam since the last general election, needed a lift similar to the aphrodisiac root tongkat ali, so that the campaign could be "long lasting”.

MCA leaders were laughed at for not being brave enough to rebut the prime minister for his insulting analogy.
 
Will Najib tell Mah (left) off for making him the new butt of jokes?

Najib has talked much about the 1Malaysia concept but there is no doubt that it is merely a political slogan that rings hollow.

An example is the discrepancy in funds allocated to national and vernacular schools.

If the prime minister is committed to his 1Malaysia concept, which must mean fairness for all, he must be prepared to walk the talk and accord fair treatment to all schools.

If he is serious about his 1Malaysia concept, he will not allow racial slurs against the non-Malay communities by extremists to go unpunished.

Neither should he have remained silent till today, after Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that he is Malay first and Malaysian second.

If Najib is committed to his 1Malaysia concept, he must be bold to implement colour-blind polices that will ensure an equal place for all Malaysians under the Malaysian sun.
   
However, after decades of BN rule, the government is still not able to do this. Despite having helmed the nation’s for the last six years, Najib has failed to be the prime minister for all Malaysians.

His slogan, “I am prime minister for all” is just as hollow as his “1Malaysia” slogan.

Let me tell Prime Minister Najib and his Minister Mah Siew Keong that what the 1Malaysia concept needs in order to last long is not tongkat ali or viagra, but sincere commitment from the entire cabinet.
    


M KULASEGARAN is the MP for Ipoh Barat and DAP vice-chairperson.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/277981