Courts do not have the final say on the Allah issue, says academic

By JENNIFER GOMEZ

Published: 14 July 2014

The courts do not have the final word in the Allah case, this contest will go beyond the Federal Court, a law lecturer from the Australian National University said today.

Speaking in an academic seminar titled "The Name of God on Trial: Narratives of Law, Religion and State in Malaysia", Joshua Neoh said that given this scenario, dissenting judgments were important because it appeals to the people and builds a counter-current of opinion.

"All decisions could be revisited and challenged judicially, the losing side in a judicial battle can always live to fight another day. That is the very nature of Constitutional interpretation," he said in Petaling Jaya today.

Neoh said that Malaysia's Federal Constitution contained an arsenal of weapons for both sides of the ideological divide, be it for proponents of a pro-Islamic state or secular state.

He added there was a silver lining in the Allah case, given that the challenge was happening within the framework of the Constitution.

"The contest is happening in the courts, this ideological battle is a constitutional battle and is an achievement of sorts for constitutionalism in Malaysia," he said.

Neoh, who stressed that he was speaking from a purely academic and legal interpretation, said that in the Court of Appeal judgment, Datuk Seri Mohamad Apandi Ali had switched from legal analysis to theological exposition, when he said that due recognition must be given to the names of respective Gods in respective holy books such as Yahweh, the God of the Holy Bible, Allah the god of of the Holy Quran and Vishnu, the god of the Holy Vedas.

"Justice Apandi deemed it appropriate and within his area of judicial competence to go around categorising and naming gods, including the gods of religions other than of his own," he said.

Neoh added that Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim, another judge on the three-man Court of Appeal bench, went a step further and said that Allah refers to "oneness" and cannot be a concept of Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

"Clearly he has not gone to a good Catholic school, because if he went to a good La Salle school, he would have learnt that the Trinity refers to oneness in as much as Allah refers to oneness," Neoh said.

He further added that there was the recurrent theme of confusion, adding "we already know how Allah can confuse Muslims".

"It is an argument we have heard over and over again but Justice Zawawi Salleh went further and said that if Allah is used by Christians, the confusion was not limited to Muslims, but Christians would also be confused.

"This ‘potential for confusion’ is akin to the following scenario: if I call my father Papa, and you call your father Papa, there is a risk that you will be confused that my Papa is your Papa, and your Papa is my Papa, or that we have the same Papa," Neoh added.

He added that the Islamic theology presented by these three Court of Appeal judges was not classical or even orthodox Islamic theology.

He also said that the ban on the word Allah did not exist anywhere but in Malaysia.

Neoh added that there was also the question on the scope of the judgment, where the Court of Appeal couched its judgment as if there was a blanket ban when the case was about the use of the word in the Bahasa Malaysia section within the Catholic weekly, Herald.

"It is a judicial hybrid of Malaysian constitutional politics and Islam," he said.

He added, however, that even when the judges were rewriting the constitution through reinterpretation, they had at least tried to couch what they were doing in terms of constitutional law.

Neoh pointed out that the Malaysian post-colonial constitutional settlement was precarious – not only because the constitution is an incompletely theorised agreement, but because it presented two conflicting visions on issues of law, religion and state.

The effect of this, he added, was that there were two constitutions embedded in the one constitutional text which engages in double speak.

"This bifurcation in the constitutional text makes the post-colonial constitutional settlement a precarious arrangement because its meaning is internally incoherent and inherently unstable.

"While it may not have the benefit of stability, ironically, it may have the benefit of longevity," he said.

He added that this was the reason that enabled proponents of both sides of the ideological divide to find their voices and visions in the same constitutional context.

"They could both draw on the same document for support and could construct their own narratives and counter-narratives from the available constitutional materials," he added.

Neoh went on to explain that this was the reason why the contestation on the use of the word Allah will continue beyond the Federal Court, adding that it was a symptom of a larger contest about the meaning of the Constitution.

"It is  a contest about the origin of our state and the future of Malaysia. The court does not have the final word, the courts never have the final word in any Constitutional matter," he said. – July 14, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/courts-do-not-have-the-final-say-on-the-allah-issue-says-academic

EC impartiality hinges on judiciary, media and civil society, says political scientist Dr. Sarah Birch

BY ANISAH SHUKRY

Published: 13 July 2014

The Election Commission’s (EC) appointment methods and membership are practically irrelevant when it comes to ensuring free and fair elections, a political scientist said today.

Professor Dr Sarah Birch from the University of Glasgow said what was more important was that the media, the judiciary and the civil society hold the EC to account.

“The qualification and mode of appointment of the EC are less important than the accountability measures. The formal mode (of appointment) doesn’t seem to matter much.

“The EC can even be run by a branch of the government. That’s fine,” said Birch, pointing to Sweden’s EC, which was once run by the tax board.

Birch, who has a Masters and a doctorate in quantitative political science, said that even if some countries ran elaborate measures to ensure the EC members were impartial, the government could always find ways to get the EC to do as they wished.

“So it is up to the judiciary, civil society and the media to hold the EC to account. They are like other civil servants – unlikely to do a good job unless someone is watching. They’ll behave if people monitor them,” said Birch.

Birch was speaking at a public lecture titled “Retaining power through elections: When democracy enables autocracy” at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). The lecture was organised by Prohamm, Bersih 2.0, and the Civil Rights Committee of KLSCAH.

The EC has come under intense criticism from the opposition and electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0, who have accused the commission as well as its chairman of being biased towards the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

But calls for the EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof to resign have been ignored.

The EC similarly dismissed accredited election observers Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) and the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) findings that the 2013 general election was partially free but not fair.

Birch said that the electoral system in any country would usually get worse before it finally improved, and called this phenomenon an “election tango”.

“In the contemporary world, significant electoral reform, leading to a genuine improvement in election quality, tends to come about following popular protests against electoral malpractice.

“When people periodically and episodically get cheated during election, they get angry. They tend to go out on the streets and protest at the time of elections.

“Then there is mass mobilisation so strong that the government is forced to conduct clean and fair elections. This is what happened with the Orange Revolution in Ukraine 2004, and Georgia in 2003,” said Birch.

She said democratic leaders would also feel compelled to hold free and fair elections if they felt they would garner more support in their country and internationally.

“Take Mexico as an example. Every time after elections, the people protested against electoral fraud and malpractice. And then eventually, after one particularly bad election in 1998, there was top-down reform.

“The government decided they were losing too much legitimacy. They thought they would have more popular support if they had fair elections.

“They won the first time after that, then they lost, then they won again. That’s what happens when you have fair elections,” said Birch.

Last year’s general election in Malaysia sparked off a string of mass rallies protesting the election results and the EC’s seemingly biased conduct.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) supporters were unhappy that the opposition pact won the popular vote, but still lost to Putrajaya due to alleged gerrymandering and malapportionment.

The rallies, organised by PR and civil society, attracted thousands of Malaysians, but the assemblies eventually died down once the new lawmakers were sworn into Parliament.

Birch said that the first-past-the-post system practised in Malaysia was the easiest electoral system to manipulate because it allows gerrymandering, malapportionment, and manipulation of the eligible population.

“It’s easier to manipulate because of the winner-take-all system that magnifies the power at the constituency level and often also at the aggregate level,” said Birch.

She also said the system invited boundary manipulation, which could enable a party to retain power for long periods with only minority support.

“You only have to shift a few votes. Electoral manipulation is more efficient in first past the post, because you only have to shift a few votes if you do it properly.

“It also allows the manipulation of the eligible population – giving out citizenship to those who support the government,” said Birch, prompting cynical chuckles from the audience.

The government has long been accused of awarding citizenship to Sabah and Sarawak’s illegal immigrants to allow them to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the elections.

Earlier this week, Sabah opposition lawmakers demanded that Putrajaya make public the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on illegal immigrants in the state that was submitted to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong two months ago.

They said that the restructuring of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom), as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on July 8 was not enough without a solution to the problem of illegal immigrants in the state.

"We want Najib to make known the content of the RCI report to the public. We have been waiting for two months," Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan told The Malaysian Insider.

Kitingan, who is also Sabah Star party chief, said the RCI would be meaningless without action and a solution to the "Project IC" problem.

The Commission which was set up on September 21, 2012, called 211 witnesses in the proceedings which ended on September 20 last year.

Among the notable witnesses were former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former Sabah chief ministers, including Datuk Harris Salleh and Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

Najib announced on June 1, 2012, that Putrajaya had agreed to set up the RCI to investigate problems related to illegal immigrants in Sabah, including the issuance of Malaysian documents to Muslim illegal immigrants under a scheme known as Project IC. – July 13, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/election-commission-impartiality-hinges-on-judiciary-media-and-civil-societ

Yes, Negara-Ku has an Agenda, Ambiga tells Utusan

BY ANISAH SHUKRY

Published: 13 July 2014

Newly formed Negara-Ku’s agenda is to promote unity, peace and harmony, and those who criticise it are trying to deflect Malaysians from issues of racism and extremism, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said today.

“Of course, Negara-Ku has an agenda. It is an agenda for unity, peace and harmony,” Ambiga told The Malaysian Insider in a text message.

“Everyone who loves this country should support this agenda. Those who criticise it are merely trying to deflect from the pressing issues of racism and extremism that threaten the fabric of our nation. What is their agenda, I wonder?”

The former Bersih co-chairperson was responding to Awang Selamat’s column in Utusan Malaysia today slamming the newly formed non-governmental organisation (NGO) as a smokescreen to further Ambiga’s political ambition.

Awang, a pseudonym for Utusan’s collective editors, had demanded that the Registrar of Societies (RoS) reject any formal application from Negara-Ku unless its name was changed to “AgendaKu”.

"Let it remain an illegal body, unless the name is changed to AgendaKu. That is more befitting Ambiga's record and reputation," said Awang today in Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of Utusan Malaysia.

Ambiga said she and national laureate Datuk A Samad Said were only patrons of the movement, and that she had never claimed it was her own personal initiative.

“It is a movement of the people set up by concerned citizens and NGOs and chaired by the respected Zaid Kamaruddin.

“We accepted the honour of being patrons because the cause is timely and most worthy.”

The former Bar Council president said any action taken by RoS must be within the boundaries of the law.

She said checks by Negara-Ku’s members found there was nothing unlawful in adopting such a name.

“We have examined it ourselves and can see no legal impediment to our use of the name Negara-Ku (not Negaraku).

“Nevertheless, we continue to be inspired by our beautiful national anthem that unites all Malaysians.”

She said Negara-Ku was an initiative by concerned citizens unable to remain on the sidelines while leaders did nothing to stop certain quarters from destroying the nation’s harmony.

The new movement was launched on Thursday to heal Malaysia and restore hope, given the recent challenges that continue to threaten the peace and harmony of its multi-ethnic and multi-faith society.

Touted as the "people's movement to reclaim our nation", it is chaired by Zaid, the secretary-general of Ikram, and its patrons are Ambiga and Samad.

Some 68 civil society groups and NGOs have endorsed Negara-Ku, which is aimed at mobilising and empowering people to return to the basics of the Federal Constitution, Malaysia Agreement and Rukunegara.

Ambiga had previously said the movement sought to provide the correct information to meet the challenges facing Malaysian society.

This would be done through videos, social media and forums and talks “to get people to listen, to question and to think," she said recently.

Awang Selamat today said Negara-Ku was a desperate platform to restore the image of the opposition pact, namely PKR and DAP.

It said that after failing many times to garner the support of the rakyat, including through the Bersih rallies, Ambiga was now hiding behind the name Negara-Ku, which was similar to the national anthem.

"The excuse that this NGO supposedly wants to encourage harmony, tackle extremism and racism is just a smokescreen. It is disgusting.

"In Malaysia, anybody can form an NGO but do not use the name Negaraku, especially for political purposes. Do not think you are so honourable, for I worry that this will attract extremism.

"Many know who Ambiga is. The anger of Malaysians, particularly Muslims, over numerous issues has yet to die down," he said in the column titled "Agenda Ambiga?" – July 13, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/yes-negara-ku-has-an-agenda-ambiga-tells-utusan

Why the Migration Business in Malaysia is Booming?

Published: 11 July 2014

By Koon Yew Yin

One of the better media outlets in this country is the Business Radio Station or popularly known as BFM radio. According to its mission statement, BFM is

• Malaysia's only independent radio station, focused on business news and current affairs.
• BFM's purpose is to build a better Malaysia by championing rational, evidence-based discourse as a key element of good policy decisions.
• BFM applies its discourse-based approach to other programming areas such as entrepreneurship, health, fashion, the arts, sports and music, as well as to its executive education initiative.

A short while ago, I was alerted about a BFM programme in which the director of a migration service which has been in business for over ten years appeared to talk about the business of migration.

Since I have written quite a bit about the wastage in talent and human resources in this country and how this constraint can prevent Malaysia from attaining Vision 2020 and reaching our goal of an advanced country, I was naturally interested.  

Fortunately, although BFM can be heard only on frequency 89.9 MHz in Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, and parts of Negeri Sembilan and Melaka so that listeners in the north where I am cannot receive it, the station has a website where podcasts of its daily programmes are posted and can be heard.

Hence I was able to access the programme through the internet. Readers interested can hear the interview for themselves at http://www.bfm.my/breakfast-grille-rayford-migration.html.

I should also point out that I have been the subject of a BFM interview on two separate occasions. One was when I spoke about the importance of an open tender system and why it is unproductive to pursue affirmative action because the results show that such a system does not create competitive individuals (http://www.bfm.my/breakfast-grille-050410-koon-yew-yin.html). The second was when I was interviewed by Melissa Idris on political change and corruption in the country. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdnz6C989Ag)

Why Malaysians Are Migrating

There are several points raised during the programme which it is important for the Prime Minister and other BN leaders to note. One is that the migration business has been growing steadily during the past ten years that the business has been in existence. This means that rather than declining after the uncertainty of the 2013 elections, Malaysians are continuing to lose confidence in the government. The interviewee confidently predicted that his business will grow even more in the coming years as more Malaysians look for a brighter future elsewhere.

The second is that we are losing highly talented human resources to countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. These are people in engineering, IT, management and other key sectors whose skills are sought after worldwide and which we can ill afford to lose.

The third is the expectation that the highly publicised programme to attract talented Malaysians living abroad to return to Malaysia will not be able to produce much positive results.

Though the radio respondent and interviewer were politically correct throughout the interview and avoided any direct mention of politics, it is clear that Malaysians are leaving the country not simply because they are in search of a “better lifestyle” and “work opportunities” but also in response to the low standard of our politics and politicians, and the misgovernance found in the country.  

It is significant that the migration service director noted that there was a big spike in the calls his company receives from interested clients every time one of the government leaders makes stupid or careless comments.  Although no names were mentioned in the interview, it is clear that both interviewer and interviewee had in mind the tweet of Bung Moktar Radin, the Kinabatangan MP, who tweeted:

“Well done...Bravo...Long live Hitler,” all in capital letters, via his Twitter handle @mykinabatangan, following Germany’s shocking 7-1 defeat of Brazil.

As the interview noted, people in the migration business need to send leaders such as Bung Moktar “thank you” cards everytime they open their mouths or their twitter accounts without thinking.

Many Malaysians have written to express their shame and anger over this faux pas. However, instead of apologizing to Malaysians, the people of Germany and all nations and people, especially the Jews who experienced war, suffering and atrocities as a result of a demented and power crazy fascist politician, Bung Moktar is unrepentent.  

Bung Moktar and His Power Base

Bung Moktar, the Deputy Prime Minister of “another May 13” and “I am a Malay first” fame, and  leaders like them who make stupid or inflammatory speeches and comments, are one of the main reasons why Malaysians are giving up on our country and migrating.

But why are Bung Moktar and his type so arrogant and unapologetic? This is because the MP thinks he is no ordinary politician. His ego and powers have been considerably enlarged by the rewards provided by Umno for his 'leadership' qualities. One of these rewards is the Chairmanship of Felcra, one of the largest government-linked companies (GLCs).

And how has Felcra been performing under the leadership of this eminent Umno leader? Recently the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) urged the government to review the relevance of underperforming GLCs. According to Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed there are GLC’s which are no longer relevant to the changing times, not properly managed and no longer fullfilling the objectives of their formation. These GLC’s which receive federal funding should be providing better returns and meeting the objective of their formation”.

Among the prominent GLC's which has come under scrutiny for management issues which have been in conflict with financial procedures and procurement is Felcra. In more forthright language GLC's such as Felcra have weaknesses arising from leakages, corruption and abuse of power. These leakages, corruption and abuse of power throughout our national system – not mentioned in the BFM programme – are also at the heart of why Malaysians are migrating.

My advice

Finally, I should emphasize that when young people ask me for advice on whether they should pursue opportunities abroad, I make it a point to tell them about the great potential that is found in our country and urge them to make their future here rather than in some other country.  I am beginning to see that there are more people like me who are criticizing the BN Government openly for all their wrong doings and at the same time putting their faith in the country.

The result of the last general election shows that the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat won more votes than Barisan National although they did not win the control of the government. Since then more people including BN supporters are beginning to appreciate Pakatan Rakyat’s good management of Selangor and Penang.

We must not migrate because, in my view, Pakatan Rakyat will likely win in the next general election and we need everyone to improve the country. Even if BN wins, that is no reason to leave the country since they will have to change for the better or be thrown out of power eventually. – July 11, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/why-the-migration-business-is-booming-koon-yew-yin

New Movement to "reclaim Malaysia" launched

BY JENNIFER GOMEZ

Published: 10 July 2014

A new people's movement called, "Negara-Ku", was launched today, aimed at healing Malaysia and restoring hope, given recent challenges that continue to threaten the peace and harmony of its multi-ethnic and multi-faith society.

Touted as the "people's movement to reclaim our nation", the coalition is spearheaded by two prominent personalities as patrons – lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said.

"There are political parties and their affiliates that are not focused on nation-building, but on building their respective power bases.

"These parties on both sides of the divide pursue their agenda that are transactional and short-term, not transformational and long-term," Samad said at the launch in Kuala Lumpur today.

The former Bersih 2.0 co-chair added that ethno-centric and race-based politics as well as communally-minded politicians continue to derail the process of inclusive nation-building and the formation of a Bangsa Malaysia national identity.

Samad also said that religion was increasingly being used as a main marker of identity, and as a boundary maintenance mechanism to polarise the people.

"The mobilisation and manipulation of race, ethnicity and religion have resulted in increasing intolerance, bigotry and extremism.

"There is also an emerging sub-culture of political violence, these are symptomatic of  dangerous undercurrents in our society," Samad said.

He added that the state, by "default or design", had failed to address these developments.

"The state has also failed to ‎play the role of an honest broker in managing conflict in our society," he added.

According to Samad, they believed that the majority of the people wanted an end to divisive ethno-religious politics.

"We have to act before our society descends into the abyss of instability," he added.
‎
Negara-Ku is endorsed by 68 civil society groups and NGOs.

Ambiga, meanwhile, said that the movement was about hope and was pro-rakyat.

"After the general election, something strange started happening in this country with incidents of religious extremism and racism getting out of hand," she said.

She added that people started questioning the strange goings-on, which were being stoked by certain segments out to set "a dangerous agenda".

She noted that politicians kept on invoking the spectre of May 13 rather than worked towards uniting the people.

Ambiga said the language in the Federal Constitution was very respectful and meant to unite the people.

"Why can't we go back to that primary document which tells us how to care and share with each other rather than turn it into something ugly?" she asked.

Ambiga also hit out at politicians who appeared to be on "election mode", adding that there was no governance from the country's leadership.

"We want governance and the reason we need this movement is because there is no leadership.

"So we need to take leadership and ownership and restore hope using this movement, we need to tell political leaders that 'if you can't handle it ,we will handle it'," Ambiga said.

She said that there could be a hidden agenda to create instability and to divide and rule, but added that most Malaysians were not interested in that agenda.

"So the next time someone says May 13 to you, you tell them July 10, because this is the day we have decided to take the nation forward," Ambiga added. – July 10, 2014.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/new-movement-to-reclaim-malaysia-launched

After Muhyiddin’s May 13 caution, Penang DCM says ‘Bring it’

BY BOO SU-LYNJuly 7, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy has challenged Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to “bring May 13”  after the deputy prime minister reportedly warned that a repeat of the 1969 race riots could not be ruled out. 

Saying that Malaysians in general did not wish to see a recurrence of the deadly inter-ethnic clashes, the Penang lawmaker criticised “irresponsible” leaders for fomenting the religious and racial tension currently stewing in the country.

“MIC might be scared, Gerakan might be scared, MCA might be scared, but I tell you, if you want to bring May 13, you bring it,” Ramasamy told a press conference here yesterday.

“Don’t talk. All the time talking May 13, May 13. Bring-lah May 13. You start May 13. This will be the first time the government starts May 13. You think what? You think we’re scared ah?” he added.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, reportedly said on Friday that a repeat of the May 13 race riots could occur if the country’s ethnic communities continue to criticise one another.

Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia reported Muhyiddin as saying in Johor that ethnic tensions that were allowed to simmer would lead to unrest when the various communities start to eye each other with suspicion.

“Because of that, there exists all kinds of assumptions when ethnic ties become strained and unhealthy. This can cause that event and I do not want to mention the particular date,” he was quoted as saying.

Muhyiddin did not mention the date specifically but Utusan Malaysia inserted May 13, 1969 to his quote in parentheses.

The Umno deputy president also said he has been receiving text messages from those expressing concern about the welfare of the Malays, the country’s dominant racial group, and Islam.

Muslims and Christians have been pitted against one another due to the government’s decision to prohibit the Catholic Church from using “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, in its weekly newsletter.

Malay concerns over the Bumiputera special privileges have also bubbled to the surface in recent months after Putrajaya’s National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) proposed three draft bills to replace the Sedition Act.

Among others, the laws and the members of the NUCC responsible for drafting them have been accused of being anti-Malay.

Hundreds of Malaysians are believed to have died during the May 13, 1969 clashes between the Malays and the Chinese. Although ostensibly triggered by the results of Election 1969, it was rooted in ethnic tensions between the two communities.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/after-muhyiddins-may-13-caution-penang-dcm-says-bring-it

Indonesia paper accuses Bernama news agency of plagiarism

July 7, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Indonesian newspaper Jakarta Globe is accusing Malaysia’s Bernama of plagiarism, claiming the state-run news agency lifted two articles wholesale and passed them off as their own.

In a report on its website today, Jakarta Globe said it first discovered the alleged plagiarism when it found the contents of its article on the Indonesian presidential election reproduced and credited to Bernama.

The Indonesian paper compared its own piece—“In Closing Debate, Joko Promises Bureaucratic ‘Breakthrough,’ While Prabowo Strives for A Dignified Nation” — to Bernama’s version, “Joko Promises Bureaucratic ‘Breakthrough,’ While Prabowo Strives for ‘A Dignified Nation.’”

It said the two articles were found to near-identical, save for one line crediting a quote to the Jakarta-based daily. The Bernama version was then republished by a third party, and credited to the Malaysian outlet.

“Bernama also removed the names of Globe reporters Josua Gantan and Andrea Wijaya, the original authors of the story, replacing the byline with what is assumed to be the name of a Bernama journalist, Elmi Rizal Alias,” it added.

The discovery prompted Jakarta Globe to scrutinise Bernama’s pieces for further instances of plagiarism, which it said it found in another of its articles, “Hatta Says Indonesia Should Take Advantage of its ‘Demographic Bonus’”, being the source of Elmi Rizal Alias’s “inspiration”.

“The same story was found on Bernama’s website with the slightly altered title ‘Indonesia Should Take Advantage of Its Demographic Bonus —Hatta.’”

Jakarta Globe said Bernama did not respond to its requests for clarification over the weekend.

Indonesian lawmaker Ruhut Sitompul, which the paper listed as a member of the legal affairs commission at the Indonesian House of Representatives, suggested that it sue the Malaysian agency.

“Legal action should be taken against its representative in Indonesia,” he was quoted as saying by the daily.

A member of Indonesia’s Press Council, when contacted by the Jakarta Globe, denounced the alleged plagiarism as “a serious violation of copyright laws” and said the Malaysian writer could be jailed for the offence.

Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, began operations in 1968 after its formation was legislated in Parliament the year before. It is a unit under the Ministry of Multimedia and Communications.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/indonesia-paper-accuses-bernama-news-agency-of-plagiarism

As Iraq runs dry, a plague of snakes is unleashed -- Prophecy of Rev 16:12 to be fulfilled!

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, 

and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 

                                                                                                            ~ Revelation 16:12.

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Posted on 6/26/2014 by Eliyokim Cohen

Swarms of snakes are attacking people and cattle in southern Iraq as the Euphrates and Tigris rivers dry up and the reptiles lose their natural habitat among the reed beds

“People are terrified and are leaving their homes,” says Jabar Mustafa, a medical administrator, who works in ahospital in the southern province of Dhi Qar. “We knew these snakes before, but now they are coming in huge numbers. They are attacking buffalo and cattle as well as people.” Doctors in the area say six people have been killed and 13 poisoned.

In Chabaysh, a town on the Euphrates close to the southern marshland of Hawr al-Hammar, farmers have set up an overnight operations room to prevent the snakes attacking their cattle.

“We have been surprised in recent days by the unprecedented number of snakes that have fled their habitat because of the dryness and heat,” Wissam al-Assadi, one of the town’s vets said. “We saw some on roads, near houses and cowsheds. Farmers have come to us for vaccines, but we don’t have any.”

The plague of snakes is the latest result of an unprecedented fall in the level of the water in the Euphrates and the Tigris, the two great rivers which for thousands of years have made life possible in the sun-baked plains of Mesopotamia, the very name of which means “between the rivers” in Greek. The rivers that made Iraq’s dry soil so fertile are drying up because the supply of water, which once flowed south into Iraq from Turkey, Syria and Iran, is now held back by dams and used for irrigation. On the Euphrates alone, Turkey has five large dams upriver from Iraq, and Syria has two.

The diversion of water from the rivers has already destroyed a large swathe of Iraqi agriculture and the result of Iraq being starved of water may be one of the world’s greatest natural disasters, akin to the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest. Already the advance of the desert has led to frequent dust storms in Baghdad which close the airport. Yet this dramatic climatic change has attracted little attention outside Iraq, overshadowed by the violence following the US-led invasion in 2003 and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.

The collapse in the water levels of the rivers has been swift, the amount of water in the Euphrates falling by three-quarters in less than a decade. In 2000, the flow speed of the water in the river was 950 cubic metres per second, but by this year it had dropped to 230 cubic metres per second.

In the past, Iraq has stored water in lakes behind its own dams, but these reservoirs are now much depleted and can no longer make up the shortfall. The total water reserves behind all Iraqi dams at the beginning of May was only 11 billion cubic metres, compared to over 40 billion three years ago. One of the biggest dams in the country, on the Euphrates at Haditha in western Iraq, close to the Syrian border, held eight billion cubic metres two years ago but now has only two billion.

Iraq has appealed to Turkey to open the sluice gates on its dams. “We need at least 500 cubic metres of water per second from Turkey, or double what we are getting,” says Abdul Latif Rashid, the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources. “They promised an extra 130 cubic metres, but this was only for a couple of days and we need it for months.” His ministry is doing everything it can, he says, but the most important decisions about the supply of water to Iraq are taken outside the country – in Turkey, Syria and Iran. “In addition there has been a drought for the last four years with less than half the normal rainfall falling,” says Mr Rashid.

Large parts of Iraq that were once productive farmland have already turned into arid desert. The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture says that between 40 and 50 per cent of what was agricultural land in the 1970s is now being hit by desertification.

Drought, war, UN sanctions, lack of investment and the cutting down of trees for firewood have all exacerbated the crisis, but at its heart is the lack of water for irrigation in the Tigris and Euphrates. Farmers across Iraq are being driven from the land. Earlier this month, farmers and fishermen demonstrated in Najaf, a city close to the Euphrates, holding up placards demanding that the Iraqi government insist that foreign countries release more water.

“The farmers have stopped planting and now head to the city for work to earn their daily living until the water comes back,” said Ali al-Ghazali, a farmer from the area.

“We pay for our seeds at the time of the harvest, and if we fail to harvest, or the harvest has been ruined, the person who sold us the seeds still wants his money.” Najaf province has banned its farmers from growing rice because the crop needs too much water.

The drop in the quantity of water in the rivers has also reduced its quality. The plains of ancient Mesopotamia once produced abundant crops for the ancient Sumerians. From Nineveh in the north to Ur of the Chaldees in the south, the flat landscape of Iraq is dotted with the mounds marking the remains of their cities. There is little rainfall away from the mountains of Kurdistan and the land immediately below them, so agriculture has always depended on irrigation.

But centuries of irrigating the land without draining it properly has led to a build-up of salt in the soil, making much of it infertile. Lack of water in the rivers has speeded up the salinisation, so land in central and southern Iraq, highly productive 30 years ago, has become barren. Even such rainfall as does fall in northern Iraq has been scant in recent years. In February, the Greater Zaab river, one of the main tributaries of the Tigris, which should have been a torrent, was a placid stream occupying less than a quarter of its river bed. The hills overlooking it, which should be green, were a dusty brown.

Experts summoned by the Water Resources Ministry to a three-day conference on the water crisis held in Sulaimaniyah in April described the situation as “a tragedy”.

Mohammed Ali Sarham, a water specialist from Diwaniyah in southern Iraq, said: “Things are slipping from our hands: swathes of land are being turned into desert. Farmers are leaving the countryside and heading to the city or nearby areas. We are importing almost all our food, though in the 1950s we were one of the few regional cereal-exporting countries.”

The experts recommended that, in addition to Turkey releasing more water, there should be heavy investment to make better use of the waterways such as the Tigris and Euphrates. But this year Mr Rashid says that his budget for this year has been cut in half to $500m (£300m) because of the fall in the price of oil.

The outcome of the agricultural disaster in Iraq is evident in the fruit and vegetable shops in Baghdad. Jassim Mohammed Bahadeel, a grocer in the Karada district, says that once much of what he sold came from farms around the Iraqi capital. “But today, the apples I sell come from America, France and Chile; tomatoes and potatoes from Syria and Jordan; oranges from Egypt and Turkey. Only the dates come from Iraq because they do not need a lot of water.”

Source: http://www.jewsnews.co.il/2014/06/26/as-iraq-runs-dry-a-plague-of-snakes-is-unleashed-2/