Regardless of its terms of reference, the people will have to contend with the independent panel to investigate violence during the Bersih 3.0 rally that has been handpicked by the government. And we may have to wait a little while before judging whether the panel is fair or biased, or simply redundant.

This is in view of the attorney-general’s pre-emptive moves in charging several people under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, as well as having advised the government to sue the Bersih steering committee for damages.

The investigations, or any other action pertaining to Bersih 3.0, should have been put on hold once the government announced the formation of the said independent panel. Similar action was taken during the black eye incident, when I was instructed to put investigations on hold the moment the cabinet announced the setting up of the RCI. Abdul Gani Patail is fully aware of this precedent.

Be as it may, the impartiality of the panel has been a subject of contention since its formation was announced, particularly the appointment of Hanif Omar as the chairperson. The test of their impartiality will be whether the panel is willing to raise the issue on the position of Gani Patail, to whom the panel’s findings will be submitted for a decision.

Where goes the panel report?

Although many will disagree, but if there is need for a panel to investigate Gani, then I suggest that both Hanif and retired Chief Justice of Borneo Steve Shim are the most appropriate persons to be in that panel. I am also of the view that Gani’s antics cannot get past these two distinguished gentlemen.

For the benefit of all, this is Steve Shim’s decision on Gani’s conduct in Zainur Zakaria vs PP [2001] 3 CLJ:

“In the circumstances, was he (referring to Anwar Ibrahim) not justified, on a prima facie basis, in complaining that the AG’s (Gani Patail’s) conduct at the meeting on 2 October 1998 was an attempt to get Nalla to fabricate evidence in order to perfect charges against him (Anwar) for other alleged sexual offences?”

The former CJ is expected to defend his decision on the above and he will certainly be backed by Hanif, who knows the truth of what exactly happened in 1998 and how the facts were manipulated and by whom. Particularly now, since the panel’s report will eventually be scrutinised by none other than Gani himself.

The government of the day, then and now, cannot deny being fully aware of Shim’s decision on Gani. The government must recognise the former CJ’s decision in the same manner Dr Mahathir takes cognisance of another Federal Court decision, as found in his memoir A Doctor in the House (page 695):

“Most Malaysians are ignorant of the contents of the judgment of the Federal Court, which acquitted Anwar on a technicality due to the error relating to the date of the incident. They are not aware that the majority of the Federal Court had held that in their judgment they found ‘…evidence to confirm that the appellants (Anwar and Sukma) were involved in homosexual activities and we are more inclined to believe that the alleged incident at Tivoli Villa did happen’…”

No one saw Anwar sodomise Sukma or anybody else, or having sex with any woman. The Federal Court came to that conclusion merely relying on evidence gathered or manufactured by Musa Hassan and presented before the judges by Gani and his prosecution team.

But where falsification and fabrication of evidence are concerned, several people saw what Gani did. Musa Hassan and Dr Rahman Yusof not only saw it but were parties to it, willingly or otherwise. Another pathologist from Hospital Kuala Lumpur testified in court that Anwar’s blood sample for DNA tests was stolen from the doctor’s custody on Oct 15, 1998.

Over and above that, I not only saw with my own eyes what Gani did, but I went to the extent of warning him of the complications that could be expected in the near future when he (Gani) is discovered, besides telling him of the stern instructions and warning from the prime minister himself, whom I briefed on Oct 8, 1998, that there should not be any cover-up in the investigations involving Anwar Ibrahim. Most importantly the products of the falsifications are available for all to see.

One important question immediately comes to mind: Which of the two Federal Court decisions cited above should be given more weight? It must be noted that Shim’s decision on Gani came first.

Does that mean that if the court decides against Anwar, then the decision is said to be correct or is in the right direction, but when a court decides in favour of Anwar, then the court is wrong or the judge has a political agenda or may be labelled as a communist sympathiser?

If Shim’s decision on Gani is not given its due weight nor respected by the government of the day, then Shim should not be allowed to remain on the panel. Should the government have some decency to accept a legitimate judicial decision of the highest court of the country, then Gani should henceforth be suspended and made to face the due process.

The government of the day must explain how on earth was Gani Patail, despite allegations of having a tainted resume, chosen to be the attorney-general in 2002 and how such conduct could have escaped the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s scrutiny.

Ulterior motives involved?

Either the government had ulterior motives or the government was simply negligent in exercising due care in vetting Gani’s suitability and competency before he was recommended to be appointed as the AG.

Either way ,the Agong was deceived into believing that Gani Patail was the most suitable and not encumbered with any criminal culpability if compared with at least two other candidates. The Agong would not have appointed Gani had he not been so deceived.

Former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was fired just four months after his appointment, for merely allowing two inaccuracies on his qualifications to appear in his biodata that was filed with the securities regulators – one in accounting and the other in computer science.

It was not about qualifications he didn’t have. It was all about honesty. If a CEO can cheat about his qualifications, then he can cheat about everything else pertaining to the affairs of the company.

Similarly, if the EC chairperson and his deputy can deceive the Conference of Rulers and the Agong with no feelings of remorse, then they can cheat on everything and anything concerning the electoral roll.

If our government copied the American model of gerrymandering, then it should also adopt their model of testing the honesty of the EC chairperson, as the Americans did with the former Yahoo CEO.

One must also not forget that Musa Hassan was reported to have committed perjury during a trial in 1998 by claiming to have a qualification that he did not, just like Scott Thomson. The only difference between them is that Thompson was caught once and given the boot, while Musa was caught three times in all and yet cleared of any wrongdoing.

If Gani Patail, who has a damning decision on his head and a preponderance of evidence in several other allegations of wrongdoings, can still be allowed to remain in office and carry on with his illegitimate ways of doing things;

If both the EC chairperson and the deputy are said to have secured their positions through fraud and misrepresentations and by concealing their present or previously held membership in a political party and yet are allowed to remain as custodians of the electoral roll;

If the prime minister himself, who could be proven to have affirmed false affidavits in September 2011 and knowingly filing the same in a High Court to avoid having to give his testimony before the said court and yet nothing was done by the appropriate authorities, then;

Are we not in a state of lawlessness already? No?

MAT ZAIN IBRAHIM is a former Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigations Department chief.

Banyak informasi yang dapat dimanfaatkan belia dipaparkan dalam media massa, tentang kebobrokkan dan kezaliman oleh pemerintah kepada rakyat. Di seluruh dunia, terutama di Mesir, yang menjadi penggerak utama kepada naik dan jatuhnya sesebuah kerajaan. Belia adalah nadi kepada negara, pasak yang mendukung aspirasi negara, malah Imam Syafie pernah menyebutkan, “Jika mahu lihat masa depan sesebuah negara, lihat anak mudanya sekarang”

Selari dengan ayat daripada al-Quran, surah al-Kahfi, menjelaskan (13)

“Kami ceritakan kepada engkau cerita mereka dengan sebenarnya. Sesungguh-nya mereka itu adalah pemuda-pemuda yang beriman kepada Tuhannya, dan Kami beri mereka tambahan pimpinan” disambung dengan ayat berikutnya (14) “Dan Kami teguhkan hati mereka, ketika mereka berdiri dan berkata: Tuhan kami ialah Tuhan langit dan bumi, kami tiada memuja selain daripada-Nya. (Kalau kami sembah selain Allah), tentulah kami mengatakan perkataan yang salah.”

AIC meyakini pencerapan daripada kedua-dua ayat tersebut adalah, anak muda harus menjadi kental, harus keras dan berani untuk tolak kezaliman, tolak rasuah, jangan takut kerana Tuhan pasti bersama orang yang benar. Jiwa anak muda yang taat kepada agama sudah tentu akan menitik beratkan integriti dan nilai yang positif. Tidak harus ada kegoyahan kepada ugutan dan kekerasan yang dilontarkan penzalim.

Pastinya ramai anak muda yang tidak menyedari hakikat tentang hak-hak mereka yang diabaikan kerana terleka dengan ‘keselesaan’ palsu yang dihidangkan kerajaan Barisan Nasional. Adakah itu jenis anak muda yang ingin dihasilkan oleh Malaysia?

Anak muda harus berada di barisan hadapan, menjadi ‘whistle blower’ didalam negara, iaitu menjadi penggera kepada setiap perkara yang memberi impak buruk kepada negara. Hingga satu tahap, selayaknya anak muda bakal dijadikan kayu pengukur kepada kecemerlangan negara.

Selain itu anak muda harus meletakkan idea mereka pada tahap yang boleh dibanggakan, merebut peluang untuk jawatan penting dalam komuniti, kerana sudah menjadi norma masyarakat di Malaysia yang hanya menerima pendapat dan idea daripada individu yang berpengaruh atau berjawatan. Menjadi sia-sia apabila sebuah idea yang bagus menjadi kurang kredibilitinya kerana individu yang melontarkan idea itu tidak berpengaruh atau berjawatan.

Terutama dalam isu jaminan kehidupan, kestabilan dan keselesaan belia, sekalian anak muda telah muak dengan pelan jangka masa pendek yang dihulurkan oleh sang kapitalis yang akhirnya menjerut leher anak muda, sebagai contoh PTPTN. Asalnya sebagai pelan untuk membantu anak muda untuk belajar, namun modus operandinya adalah untuk mengaut keuntungan dan menguntungkan kapitalis. Anak muda yang baru menamatkan pengajian membawa pulang gulungan sijil beserta setimbun hutang yang akhirnya akan melambatkan tingkat hidup anak muda.

Oleh itu, AIC menggesa agar semua anak muda untuk bangkit dan tolak kezaliman demi membebaskan jiwa dan naluri anak muda. Bangkit menentang kezaliman pemerintah. Isu anak muda bukan sahaja berkisar di PTPTN, AUKU yang menyekat pemikiran mereka, menyekat kebebasan anak muda untuk menyuarakan pandangan mereka tetapi juga kesengsaraan sekeliling yang meruntun perasaan . Jiwa anak muda memang fitrah mereka (seperti yang disebutkan dalam surah al-Kahfi) untuk menolak segala bentuk penindasan.

AIC melihat segala bentuk program yang dianjurkan oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional di Himpunan Jutaan Belia 2012 sebagai tidak mencerminkan pembentukkan belia yang kita impikan untuk masa depan negara. Kejahilan dan kematangan akal tidak boleh bergerak seiring, maka penganjuran sesebuah program yang “berniat” baik tidak akan mencapai sasaran dengan pengisian aktiviti yang menjurus ke arah lara dan melalaikan.

Justeru AIC menyeru agar semua belia menjadi ejen perubahan yang akan menganjak pemikiran dan daya anak muda ke satu tahap yang lebih dihormati bukannya menjadi penerus pada sisi gelap yang memperbodohkan minda dan mencengkam perlakuan belia sehingga kehilangan kehebatannya.

Generasi Penggerak Zaman
Ahmad Amir Arshad Ahmad Shariman
Koordinator Pembangunan -Belia
Anwar Ibrahim Club
Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR 25 Mei: KEADILAN telah mengenal pasti samseng Umno yang melempar batu, telur dan botol hingga menyebabkan beberapa penyokong Pakatan Rakyat cedera di ceramah malam tadi.

Menurut Pengarah Operasi Jentera Pilihan Raya KEADILAN Lembah Pantai, Md Zaman Md Tasi, tindakan biadap itu dilakukan oleh Pemuda Umno kawasan berhampiran.

“Saya mengenal pasti mereka adalah Pemuda Umno. Saya merupakan penduduk Lembah Pantai dan mustahil saya tidak mengenali mereka,” katanya pada sidang media di Ibu Pejabat KEADILAN tengahari tadi.

24 Mei 2012 (Khamis)

1)    7.15 mlm – Solat & Tazkirah Maghrib

         Lokasi: Kediaman Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Bukit Segambut

2)    9.00 – 12.00 mlm -  Ceramah Perdana  -

                       Hala Tuju Ekonomi Dan Politik Tanahair

          Lokasi : Perkarangan Flat Pantai Permai, Pantai Dalam

                             (Jln Bukit Angkasa)

3)    Penceramah :

i.                    YB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim

ii.                  YB Nurul Izzah Anwar

iii.                YB Tian Chua

iv.               YBhg Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin 

Oleh Najwan Halimi

Saya dibesarkan dalam persekitaran Melayu yang kuat. Sejak dari kecil, orang-orang tua dalam keluarga sering memomokkan saya akan bahaya yang dibawa oleh bangsa Cina dan India.

Kata mereka, Cina ini kaum pendatang yang suka menipu dan mahu merampas hak orang Melayu. India pula bangsa yang kuat mabuk, suka mencari gaduh dan melakukan jenayah. Untuk mendukung teori celaka ini maka minda Melayu saya disogok dengan satu kisah puaka yang terjadi empat dekad yang lalu.

(i)

Teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – ini terbawa-bawa sehingga ke alam persekolahan rendah menerusi pergaulan saya yang hanya terbatas dalam kelompok anak-anak Melayu sahaja. Saya tidak berkawan dengan murid-murid bukan Melayu dan sering memandang curiga terhadap apa saja yang mereka lakukan.

Sewaktu darjah lima, seorang teman sekelas (budak Melayu yang saya lupa namanya) membuka kisah 13 Mei. Katanya, ini cerita benar yang didengar dari datuk dan bapa saudara yang (didakwanya) terlibat secara langsung dalam peristiwa tersebut. Saya jadi tertarik dan bertanya lanjut.

Maka dikatakan bahawa waktu itu orang-orang Cina bertindak biadap dan kurang ajar kerana menghina dan mencerca orang-orang Melayu. Orang Cina mengutuk hak istimewa Melayu dan merendah-rendahkan bahasa Melayu. Kerana merasakan bahawa maruah bangsa telah dicabar, orang-orang Melayu mengangkat senjata dan mengamuk dengan menyerang dan membunuh orang-orang Cina yang celupar itu.

Orang Cina bertindakbalas dan turut bertindak agresif. Maka saat itu parang, kayu, keris dan segala macam senjata melayang ke udara, cerita teman saya itu. Tambah beliau lagi (entah betul atau tidak), datuknya juga turut ditetak di dada oleh seorang Cina namun langsung tidak cedera kerana memiliki ilmu kebal yang menyebabkan badannya tidak lut senjata. Saya kagum dan teruja dengan cerita teman saya tadi.

Kemelayuan saya semakin jitu dan teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – kini saya yakini sepenuhnya. Melayu itu hebat, pantang dicabar. Kalau dicabar, nahas!

Di rumah, saya bertanyakan bapa tentang 13 Mei. Kata beliau, waktu itu dia masih kecil dan tidak tahu menahu kerana peristiwa itu hanya berlaku di Kuala Lumpur sedangkan beliau menetap di Pahang. Tiba-tiba, bapa saya bercerita tentang Tun Razak, Dasar Ekonomi Baru dan UMNO.

Sekali lagi, teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – bergema dalam minda saya. Ya, saya Melayu. Saya bangga jadi Melayu!

Hidup Melayu!

(ii)

Sewaktu bersekolah menengah, saya sekelas dengan ramai pelajar berbangsa Cina. Kesan daripada puaka 13 Mei ini, saya kekok dan sukar bergaul dengan pelajar-pelajar lain yang bukan berbangsa Melayu. Saya hanya senyap dan menyendiri di dalam kelas sehinggalah saya ditegur oleh seorang anak Cina yang fasih berbahasa Melayu.

Budak Cina ini bernama Tan Chien Liang. Dia anak orang kaya yang dihantar dan dijemput setiap hari oleh pemandu keluarganya. Ya, bapanya ahli perniagaan dan memiliki rumah banglo yang mewah.

Mulanya saya prejudis dan gemuruh dengan budak Tan ini. Puaka 13 Mei dan teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – masih lagi bersarang dalam benak Melayu saya. Namun demikian, lama kelamaan saya mulai senang dengan Tan. Dia baik dan tidak menipu. Setiap kali saya terlupa membawa wang belanja, dia akan meminjamkan wangnya untuk saya beli makanan di kantin. Dia juga tidak akan beri jawapan kepada saya setiap kali saya cuba menirunya waktu peperiksaan. Tidak baik katanya.

Kami bersahabat. Macam belangkas, kata pelajar-pelajar lain. Dan saya semakin terlupa akan teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – yang sering dimomokkan oleh orang-orang tua dalam keluarga saya. Saya senang dengan Tan. Dia fasih bercakap Melayu. Dia suka makanan Melayu. Dan dia juga menaruh cinta pada gadis Melayu!

Suatu hari, Tan bertanyakan saya tentang Islam. Dia mahu saya mengajarkannya perihal Islam. Katanya, dia suka berkawan dengan saya sebab saya baik. Sebab dia nampak orang Islam baik. Saya terpinga. Namun saya bersetuju.

Maka saya pun mula belajar dan pada masa sama mengajar Tan tentang Islam. Saya kaji Al-Quran, saya baca hadith. Oh, rupanya semua manusia ini bersaudara. Semua manusia ini berasal dari Adam. Melayu, Cina dan India rupanya manusia bersaudara. Cuma faktor sejarah, geografi dan budaya yang membezakan mereka. Hakikatnya – menurut pembacaan saya itu – semua manusia bersaudara.

Tiba-tiba teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – cuba menyerang kesedaran yang baru terbina. Ada bisikan puaka yang mengingatkan saya tentang 13 Mei. Tentang kebiadapan Cina terhadap Melayu. Tentang kehebatan Melayu yang tak lut senjata. Tentang keris. Tentang Hang Tuah. Bisikan puaka ini menyuruh saya menafikan kenyataan bahawa manusia itu bersaudara dan sememangnya Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh.

Ah, tak mungkin! Tan baik orangnya. Dia tidak pernah menipu saya. Dia jujur sewaktu jawab peperiksaan dan dia mahu belajar tentang Islam. Dia suka berkawan dengan saya sebab saya juga baik kepadanya.

Dan bisikan puaka 13 Mei serta teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – mendiamkan diri. Barangkali bengang kerana saya tidak melayani.

(iii)

Di universiti, saya belajar kejuruteraan. Sewaktu hari pertama kuliah – waktu sesi memperkenalkan diri – seorang budak India bernama Ganesan dengan bangganya mengatakan beliau seorang ateis.

Selepas kuliah, saya menghampiri Ganesan dan bertanyakannya kenapa dia tidak meyakini Tuhan. Dia hanya tersenyum sambil menyatakan bahawa dia sebenarnya masih dalam pencarian ke arah kebenaran. Saya berjabat tangan dengannya dan kami ke kafé untuk minum. Cukup mengejutkan kerana Ganesan juga fasih bertutur Melayu!

Ganesan, meski tidak percayakan Tuhan merupakan seorang siswa yang pintar. Dia rajin dan tidak lokek berkongsi pengetahuannya dengan saya. Dia juga tanpa silu selalu meminjamkan saya tugasan kuliah untuk ditiru. Kata Ganesan, hidup ini mesti tolong-menolong.

Setiap petang selepas kuliah, saya akan melepak di kafé dan bertukar cerita dengan Ganesan. Kami akan berbual pelbagai isu termasuk agama, politik, budaya dan sukan. Saya terharu tatkala Ganesan menyatakan bahawa dia amat mengagumi adat dan kebudayaan orang Melayu. Kata Ganesan, orang Melayu merupakan bangsa paling budiman dan halus pekertinya. Ganesan juga meminta tolong saya untuk memikat seorang siswi Melayu yang diminatinya.

Pengetahuan dan keprihatinan Ganesan terhadap budaya dan adat Melayu mendorong saya untuk mendalami budaya dan adat masyarakat India pula. Maka saya mengkaji dan menelaah makalah-makalah sejarah tentang ketamadunan India silam.  Agak menarik kerana rupa-rupanya, pembinaan tamadun Melayu banyak dipengaruhi dan berasal dari tamadun Hindu klasik dari India.

Saya teruja sebaik mengetahui bahawa asal moyang orang-orang Melayu dahulunya menganut ajaran Hindu dan bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu yang disaring dari perkataan-perkataan Sanskrit. Parameswara, pengasas kesultanan Melayu Melaka juga asalnya merupakan seorang Hindu sebelum diislamkan oleh saudagar Arab yang berdagang di Melaka.

Keterujaan saya pada ketika itu sekali lagi cuba digugat oleh bisikan puaka 13 Mei dan teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – namun ianya gagal lagi. Ungkapan ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ dan ‘Hidup Melayu’ dipandang sepi oleh jiwa saya yang semakin mengerti hakikat kemanusiaan.

Ganesan dan saya kekal akrab. Meskipun dia ateis dan saya aktivis gerakan mahasiswa Islam, rutin minum petang di kafé selepas kuliah kekal diteruskan sehingga tamat pengajian.

(iv)

Hari ini, puaka 13 Mei sudah tidak mahu mendampingi saya lagi. Ianya telah jauh menghilangkan diri. Teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – juga sudah tidak wujud dalam kematangan intelektual saya.

Selepas 8 Mac 2008, percubaan sesetengah pihak yang masih meyakini teori celaka – Cina penipu dan India suka cari gaduh – untuk menghidupkan semula puaka 13 Mei jelas sekali gagal. Manipulasi media untuk meracuni akal budi rakyat dengan menyemai sentimen kebencian melalui ego perkauman sememangnya keji dan menjengkelkan.

Saya bertuah kerana telah melalui kerencaman pergaulan sejak dari alam persekolahan rendah sehingga ke peringkat universiti dengan mengenali pelbagai bentuk karakter dan individu tanpa mengira latar bangsa dan kepercayaan. Semakin saya cuba untuk menegakkan ego kebangsaan dan keangkuhan ras, semakin terbentang ruang dan kesempatan untuk saya mendekati kepelbagaian dan keindahan multi-budaya.

Puaka 13 Mei dan pendekatan politik yang berlandaskannya harus dibunuh terus oleh kita semua. Teori celaka yang mewujudkan persepsi negatif terhadap ras-ras tertentu juga wajib disingkirkan daripada terus melatari keharmonian dan kelangsungan hidup warga negara ini.

Malaysia ini milik semua. Milik saya, Tan, Ganesan dan anak-anak cucu kami yang bakal mewarisinya nanti.

—

NAJWAN HALIMI adalah Ketua Penerangan AMK Selangor dan juga merupakan Timbalan Ketua Penerangan AMK Pusat.

This sudden but among the many about-turn decisions by the Najib administration not only demonstrates the sheer incompetence of a government lacking a reform legislative agenda but appears more likely to be a calculated move, making a mockery of the rakyat especially in light of the Bersih 3.0 demands and rally.

This hard won victory by the rakyat on the aftermath of Bersih 3.0 is bittersweet as the electoral reforms demanded was never considered. Instead, what was not asked was proposed, passed in Parliament, only to be withdrawn now at the senate.

The acceptance of the ‘decoy’ Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms sans the opposition minority report, the ambivalence of the government on SUHAKAM’s recent report on the handling of the 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally, employing religious fatwas to demean the democratic right to peaceful protest, and the irresponsible attempt to paint the recent over 200,000 strong Bersih 3.0 rally as an attempt to overthrow the government through violent means are distracting and insulting to the Rakyat’s legitimate desire for free and fair elections.

To add insult to injury, Prime Minister Najib now decides to appoint former IGP, Tun Hanif Omar as chairman of the ostensibly Independent Panel to Investigate Bersih 3.0 brutalities; which, undeniably includes the police force whilst sidelining SUHAKAM. Meanwhile, Najib continues to rebuff UN Special Rapporteur Frank Le Rue’s offer to assist – much relying on the bruised and tattered credibility of Genting Director Tun Hanif.

Clearly, if the administration lead by Datuk Seri Najib is even remotely interested in making Malaysia the ‘Greatest Democracy’ and not the ‘Greatest Mockery’ in the world, all he needs to implement are the following:

(a) all 8 demands made by Bersih 2.0

(b) a realignment of the existing malapportionment of both state and federal seats (where the difference between number of voters between seats should not exceed 15% – state seats should not cut across local authorities boundaries – and to recognise that 70% of Malaysians are already living in Urban areas hence the need for rural seats balance is not relevant. Furthermore based on GE12 in 2008, of the 139 smallest seats, BN was able to win 112 seats for a simple majority with just 2.06 million voters  or 18.9% out of 10.9 million voter population (1))

(c) to repeal Section 9A of the Election Act that currently disallows judicial review of the electoral roll

(d) to repeal in its entirety Printing Presses and Publications Act to facilitate free and fair media

(e) to allow international observers for the upcoming 13th General Election

(f) Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Sabah Illegal Immigrants issue

(g) Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Citizenship for Votes scandal

The above should be guaranteed to be implemented BEFORE GE 13 even if a special sitting of the Parliament is required. I believe that the government has the ability and the political will to do so as demonstrated vis the rushed eight pieces of legislation during the last day of Parliament; one of which has since been withdrawn.

Failure of the Najib administration to implement these demands will only result in a General Elections that will be riddled with fraudulent practices, lending credence to the allegation of an illegitimate government, and Malaysia will never achieve the much touted objective of being the ‘Greatest Democracy in the World’.

Nurul Izzah Anwar
Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai and Vice President of KEADILAN

May 8: Marina Mahathir, daughter of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, has launched a stinging attack on UMNO leaders who accused participants of the Bersih 3.0 rally last month of wanting to topple the government through street protests.

“What is this obsession with us not being Egypt anyway? If we’re not, then why worry? Besides, who needs to worry about the Arab Spring unless they identify themselves with Ben Ali, Mubarak, Gadaffi and Assad?” she wrote in a blog posting, referring to the Arab dictators.

UMNO leaders, including her father, had earlier said that Bersih protesters were imitating the people’s uprising in the Middle East, collectively known as the ‘Arab Spring’, and wanted to replace the current government through street protests and foreign interference.

Marina (pic), who also joined the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, defended the right to peaceful assembly and said there was nothing wrong when the Egyptian people assembled at Tahrir Square to press for democratic reforms.

“They want a greater say in the policies of the government. They want an end to corruption. They want proper elections with many candidates to choose from, not just those handpicked by the rulers. They want an end to military interference in politics,” she wrote.

“Aren’t these reasonable? But our government will not acknowledge that these demands are quite normal. Well maybe they’re not in an undemocratic country.”

Marina also took to task those who argued that Malaysians need not protest as their country was “not Egypt.

“If Malaysia is not Egypt and our leaders are not Mubarak, then why are Malaysians who went to Bersih treated like Egyptian protestors?” she asked.

“If anyone had gone down to Dataran on the Sunday after Bersih 3.0, apart from the barbed wire, everything was back to normal… Made our point, now let’s go eat. This is why we are not Egypt. In this we agree with our government. We are NOT Egypt. But then why respond in such Mubarak-like fashion?”

On the recent declaration by the National Fatwa Council that demonstrating against the government was forbidden in Islam, Marina reminded of a similar ruling made by Egypt’s Al-Azhar University Fatwa Committee in the days leading to Mubarak’s resignation on February 11, 2011.

“So getting the NFC ( hmmm…dubious initials…) to issue such a fatwa seems very Mubarak-like, doesn’t it?” she quipped.

By Jarius Bondoc

So debilitating and deadly, dengue is one of the most researched tropical diseases. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito spreads it wide in the northern half of South America, the central belt of Africa, and all of Asia. Resultant high fever and lost blood platelets downed 87,409 Filipinos in 2010 and 63,741 in 2011, with corresponding 586 and 373 fatalities. Four in five patients were aged 1 to 20 years, of both genders, rich and poor.

Having identified most of patients as of school age, state officials combat the menace right in schoolhouses. The Department of Health encourages the installation of chemical-laced window and door screens. Effective for five years, the nets kill the insects and keep them out of classrooms. For good measure, the science and education departments are distributing 81,000 O/L (ovicidal/larvicidal) kits. Costing only P15 apiece, the kit is actually a small black piece of wood treated with a type of pepper and dipped in water in a black tumbler. Black is said to attract egg-laying mosquitos. The simple weapons probably accounted for the significant 27-percent drop in dengue cases from 2010 to 2011.

Only the female dengue-carrying mosquito bites, usually from dawn to mid-morning and mid-afternoon to dusk. Dengue fever has four strains, sero-1 to -4, with 2 and 3 the most prevalent during the rainy season, most conducive for the Aedes Aegypti to multiply. Zamboanga City, however, is registering of late an alarming rise in sero-4 cases. Health assistant secretary for epidemiology Eric Tayag worries that even past victims could get infected because yet un-immune to the rare strain. Researchers are verifying, meanwhile, if the Aedes Aegypti, that lays eggs in clean stagnant water, has adapted to filthy clogged canals. Citing studies at the U.P.-Los Baños, an entomologist group is warning that the night-biting Aedes Albopictus female mosquito too has become a dengue spreader. Whether Aegypti or Albopictus, the female lives about two weeks, and lays hundreds of eggs. Unchecked, that one blood-sucking dengue (and malaria) spreader multiplies exponentially to millions in a year.

Not taking any chances, local officials are trying out other dengue preventions. Some provincial governors and city mayors are trying out a larvicide invented in Texas, the US state with highest dengue incidence, and now mass-produced in Malaysia and the Philippines. Called mousticide to distinguish it from other mosquito larvae killers, it is safe if ingested by larvae eating insects and animals (dragonflies, fish, bats) and humans. The chemical is soaked in palay husk (ipa) that floats on water and kills only mosquito wrigglers at the surface of stagnant ponds or rainwater in roof gutters and flowerpots. A team from U.P.-Manila has conducted studies on lethal efficacy, and Malaysian philanthropist-prince Tunku Naquiyuddin reportedly is arriving in Manila to help finance the anti-dengue drive.

The war against dengue is all-out, health and science bureaucrats declared in late 2010. Another season of rains is coming up, along with the usual dengue epidemic. Whether or not equipped with larvicides in nets, tumblers and ipa, barangay leaders must mobilize their constituents for the war. Residents need to check their dwellings and workplaces to drain dark or bright, big or small spots where water accumulates: fridge pans, old tires, storm drains, garden fonts, indoor vases, everywhere.
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For a while there, things were turning rosy for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. His approval ratings have risen to 69 percent, he learned to deliver coherent political messages, and his 55-year reigning UMNO party was consolidating behind him. He seemed ready to call for overdue national elections, by June perhaps.

But the past has a way of creeping up to politicians and ruining their day. In Najib’s case, it is not only the UMNO’s repressiveness that became hot topic anew, after police tear-gassed a students’ assembly last week. The murder too of a Mongolian socialite in Kuala Lumpur in 2006, linked to then-defense minister Najib’s purchase of two French submarines in 2002, has resurfaced in the news.

The controlled mainstream press has strived to ignore the events. But Malaysians are gobbling up what’s happening from small opposition organs and global Internet news. The French government, which began investigating the defense contracting giant DCNS in 2009, has provided 153 documents to Kuala Lumpur human rights group Suaram. From the papers, it appeared that not only Najib’s close aide and security adviser Abdul Razak Baginda was involved in a $40-million kickback from the $1-billion submarine deal. Boss Najib must have been too, given his signed instructions to the French supplier.

The damning page showed that Najib, as defense chief, demanded payment “for the stay in France” of Perimekar Ltd, Baginda’s wholly owned front company. The instructions were seen to mean Najib wanted kickbacks for Perimekar’s negotiating the submarine supply in behalf of his defense ministry.

After the contract was inked in 2002 Najib, Baginda and Mongolia-born interpreter Altantuya Shaaribuqin toured France in a sports car. In 2006 Altantuya reportedly demanded her share of the released kickback, and picketed Baginda’s house when the latter’s jealous wife forbade payment. Two Najib bodyguards, lent to Baginda, abducted the pregnant woman and burnt her in the forest with military explosives. Confessing to the crime, they were convicted in 2009. Baguinda escaped punishment and migrated to England; Najib by then had become PM.

The revived controversy, coupled with calls for civil liberties and workers benefits, are seen to boost opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s bid for parliament victory.
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I confess. Exposés: Investigative Reporting for Clean Government almost was titled The Futility of Exposés. The compilation of my selected Gotcha columns on the biggest scams in recent years is available at National Bookstore and Powerbooks.