New ‘senior minister’ post a Taib ‘trick’

Joseph Tawie

Opposition DAP has described Taib Mahmud’s cabinet reshuffle as a ‘shock sendiri’ lineup.

While Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders welcome the appointment of three “senior ministers” in the state cabinet of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, Sarawak DAP not only ridiculed it, but also described it as “shock sendiri” (self-satisfaction).

“It is a ‘shock sendiri’ and so ridiculous and meaningless,” said DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen, when asked to comment on Taib’s cabinet reshuffle.

The reshuffle was announced after the April 16 state election which saw the defeat of one deputy chief minister and a number of assistant ministers.

Prioritise issue of Penan rape

Joseph Tawie

The opposition will be ‘watching’ the progress of minister Fatimah Abdullah who helms the new Sarawak Women’s Ministry.

The opposition whilst welcoming the creation of a new state Women and Family Development Ministry wants the state government to prioritise the Penan issue.

Sarawak DAP has called on Women Minister Fatimah Abdullah to be serious with the issue of rape of Penan women allegedly by timber workers.

Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong said the opposition will be ‘watching’ Fatimah’s performance with ‘keen interest’.

Australia’s Kevin Rudd alerts Attorney General over Taib family activities

bmf@bmf.ch

Dear friends,Ladies and Gentlemen,

We would like to briefly update you on the latest developments on the Bruno Manser Fund’s international Stop Timber Corrupting campaign:

- Australia’s Foreign Minister and former Primer Minister, Kevin Rudd, has replied to a joint letter by the Bruno Manser Fund, Sarawak Report and PKR Sarawak Leader Baru Bian on suspected unlawful activities of the Taib family in Australia. Please find scans of the letter attached.

- Research by the Bruno Manser Fund has identified 25 Australian companies with links to the family of Malaysian potentate Abdul Taib Mahmud. Please find the exclusive list attached.

East Malaysians baffled by hudud squabble

Keruah Usit

East Malaysians do not share peninsular Malaysians’ paranoia regarding religious matters. Sabah and Sarawak both have sizeable non-Muslim populations: 74 percent in Sarawak and perhaps 36 percent in Sabah.

In both states, Islam has prospered over the centuries, with no bloodshed and virtually no animosity.

Sabah and Sarawak have been a little bemused by the hype of political Islam that has pervaded peninsular Malaysian politics for the past three decades.

The increasingly feverish race between Umno and PAS to win Malay votes in peninsular Malaysia by being ‘more Islamic than thou’ finds little resonance among east Malaysians.

Gawai ‘gift’ that never came

Joseph Tawie

Unhappy native partners in Sarawak want the government to give them their land titles.

Angry participants of Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) in Lundu are rueing the day they re-elected Barisan Nasional because the government has failed to keep promises made during its campaign.

Native landowners in Lundu are demanding that Michael Manyin, who is State Infrastructure Development and Communication Ministe, fulfil a promise made to them just before the campaign for the April state election.

They want Manyin to issue the balance of 3,455 land titles which he promised to give them by June 2011.

Pakatan reaches consensus after fiery hudud meeting

Wong Choon Mei

After a marathon meeting where tables were banged and DAP chairman Karpal Singh was even out-shouted by his own party mates eager to come to grips with a problem that has shaken the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, agreement was finally reached and everyone got most of what they had hoped for.

Firstly, PAS Spiritual Adviser Nik Aziz Nik Mat was given the nod to pursue his agenda for hudud law in Kelantan, where in 1993, long before the Pakatan was formed he had passed hudud into law at the state assembly. However, he was stopped from implementing it by ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad.

This is a major concession from DAP and is in recognition of Nik Aziz’s contribution to the country and the opposition coalition. The same recognition was extended to Terengganu, where PAS president Hadi Awang had gazetted hudud into law in 2003 but was also unable to implement it.

Sarawak supports call for second DPM

Joseph Tawie

PKR is of the view that it is important to find a person ‘most suitable for the job to lead’ the nation.

Both the opposition and members of the ruling party in Sarawak are in favour of creating a second deputy prime minister’s post to be filled up by an MP from Sabah and Sarawak.

Sarawak PKR vice-chairman See Chee How said they supported the idea, especially if it really ‘benefits’ the people of the two states.

“BN has a problem, because the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister must be the president and deputy president of Umno respectively.

“As such the appointments must be based on the party itself.

Najib seen in poll gamble as economy weakens

MI

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will likely press ahead with snap polls by early 2012, banking on government handouts and moderating inflation to soothe worries about the economy but a possible global recession could jeopardise his chances.

Europe’s debt crisis and an anaemic US economy have reined in price pressures, the biggest worry among Malaysian voters, but also triggered fears about job security and the general outlook for the trade-reliant economy.

The government’s coffers have been bolstered by a strong run in commodity prices, enabling Najib (picture) to dole out cash payouts to farmers and civil servants and provide affordable housing and healthcare to the poor to tackle the rising cost of living.

Masing is ignorant, slams PKR’s See

Joseph Tawie

Land Development Minister James Masing wants native landowners to continue supporting companies that failed to pay them dividends for the last nine years.

A Sarawak opposition leader has slammed the state Land Development Minister James Masing for his callous call to landowners not to renege on their agreement with Boustead Holding and Land Development Custody Authority or Pelita.

PKR vice chairman See Chee How said Masing lacked understanding of the problems faced by the landowners in Kanowit.

“Masing should go to the ground more to understand the problems faced by the landowners.

The Written Judgement of Gayan Tupai Vs Vita Hill S/B

Today, we received the written judgement handed down by the High Court in Sabah andSarawak,

Another clear proof that the land grab by the present State Government of Native Customary Land (NCL) in Sarawakis on the rise.

1.       The Plaintiffs who are all Iban natives of Sarawak, headed by their longhouse Chief or Tuai Rumah Gayan anak Tupai, and 3 others brought a legal action on their own behalf, as well as on behalf of 15 other residents who claimed to be proprietors, occupiers, and claimants of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land situated at their longhouse known as Rumah Gayan, Dassey, Budu, Krian, Saratok, Sarawak, against 3 Defendants a timber licensee Vita Hill Sdn Bhd and the issuing authority, the Director of Forests, Sarawak and the State Government of Sarawak.

AUSTRALIA CHALLENGED TO INVESTIGATE TA ANN’S INVESTMENT IN TASMANIA

. Sarawak Report

Corruption in Sarawak has become a live issue in Tasmania

The leader of the Australian Green Party, Senator Bob Brown, has invited the Editor of Sarawak Report to Hobart, in order to speak about corruption in Sarawak this week.

The senator is a representative from Tasmania, where the Taib-linked company Ta Ann is involved in controversial logging operations.

At a press conference this morning reporters were given copies of a recent letter sent to the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, asking for Taib family assets to be frozen in Australia and for a money laundering investigation.

UN report praising Sarawak is pure fiction

Jeswan Kaur

 A UN report that states Sarawak has done much to arrest human rights abuse and environmental damage could not be further from the truth.

In a surprising move, the United Nations say it is pleased with Sarawak for overcoming various socio-economic challenges in the past decade. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Abuse of human rights and environmental damage in Sarawak are an ongoing issue. And it is hard to believe that the UN through its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010 report has ways to credit Sarawak for a “job well done”.

The MDGs are eight international development goals that all 193 UN member-states and at least 23 international organisations have agreed to achieve by 2015.

Can Sarawak have an army?

Wong Chin Huat

My view on Kelantan’s hudud law is just the same like mine on the hypothetical Sarawak army.

Sarawakians make great soldiers. The Royal Ranger Regiment even uses Iban warrior Rentap’s famous line “Agi Idup Agi Ngelaban” (fight while you live) as its motto. So, what if some Sarawakian politicians feel like having their own army, say, to defend (Sarawak’s) its wealth from being plundered?

If they hold a referendum, and the motion “Sarawak should have its own army” gets passed with 90 percent support, can they then have an army?

Forget for the moment that our constitution and laws do not provide for referendum and hence whatever outcome from a referendum can only be morally, not legally, binding.

Dr M says fed up with MAS, backs AirAsia swap deal

Debra Chong

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad threw his weight today behind the controversial share swap deal between the national carrier and AirAsia despite strong opposition from the right-wing Malay ground and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) staff against Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’ involvement.

Critics have accused the budget carrier’s ambitious boss of taking advantage of the loss-making national airline to fuel Fernandes’ personal ambitions, the latest being the acquisition of English Premier League club, Queens Park Rangers.

The national carrier will sponsor QPR’s home jersey for the next two seasons, while AirAsia’s logo will be emblazoned on the team’s away and third kits.

‘Sad day if Jabu is CM’

Joseph Tawie

Chaos within Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu is likely the moment Taib Mahmud steps down.

Sarawak opposition’s chief whip Wong Ho Leng believes that Barisan Nasional’s lead ally will split before the next state election.

Wong thinks there was be chaos and a mad scramble within Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) party the moment there is a clear indication that he will step down.

“Such is the political reality in Sarawak.

“With Taib gone, a lacuna will be created, and many in PBB will be fighting for top positions.

“I anticipate a split in PBB before the state election,” Wong said.

Will non-Muslims really be protected from ‘hudud’

Maclean Patrick

Back in the days when Mahathir Mohamad was the prime minister and UMNO and BN was in its prime, Kelantan was the only state under opposition rule and the party in charge there was PAS. An Islamist party, PAS has been consistent through the years that its religion would be its raison detre. It is one of the oldest parties in Malaysia and has long been a thorn in UMNO’s side, a viable threat to the latter’s hold on the Malay vote.

In turn, UMNO has branded PAS a monster of an Islamic party. Often times labelled as extremist and painted as the evil that would turn moderate Malaysia into a haven of Islamic extremism. Yet, since 1998, opinions about PAS have slowly turned. And in today’s world, there are some non-Muslims who would readily join PAS. Why?

Bishop wants ‘iron-clad’ guarantee on hudud

RK Anand

Commenting on the row over hudud, Bishop Paul Tan says ‘let the Kelantanese have it’. But he wants a guarantee that non-Muslims will not be affected.

The opposition bloc of diameterically opposed ideologies is grappling with the controversy surrounding the proposal to implement hudud in Kelantan – an issue, which political observers warned, could sever Pakatan Rakyat’s support, especially among non-Muslims.

Admist the raging debate, a Catholic leader argued that it would be hypocritical to oppose the Islamic-based PAS on this issue but demanded an iron-cast assurance from Pakatan supremo Anwar Ibrahim.

Should hudud be implemented in the PAS-governed state, Bishop Paul Tan said the opposition leader must obtain a guarantee that non-Muslims residing in Kelantan would not be subjected to it.

Unleashing every trick, Najib fights tooth and nail for the Malay vote

Maclean Patrick

Things are heating up and rightly so, for BN to remain in power; it is not the Chinese vote that matters but rather the Malay vote. Why? The Chinese swing away from BN is pretty constant and getting wider, thus it does not make much difference whether the Chinese vote or not for BN. However, BN will require only a 5% swing in Malay vote to regain its two-thirds majority in Parliament and this is Prime Minister Najib Razak’s battle ground for GE13.

Not surprising, with the 13th General Election expected in November, two classice Malay issues have been raked up by Najib and Umno. The first involves Communists and the Bukit Kepong incident where UMNO tried to rally the Malays behind it by accusing PAS of having sold its ‘Malayness’ because it acknowledged the existence of pre-Independence fighters such Mat Indera whom UMNO accused of being pro-Communist.

Fulfil promise to repeal abusive laws: HRW

Aliran

The Malaysian prime minister’s major announcement that the government would abolish the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other repressive laws should be achieved promptly and without passing new legislation in their place, Human Rights Watch has said.

Police move in at a vigil in Petaling Jaya to mark 50 years of the ISA on 1 August 2010 – Photo courtesy of sayaanakbangsamalaysia.net

Prime Minister Najib Razak promised in a 15 September 2011 speech to revoke the ISA – for half a century the target of international condemnation – and three emergency laws. But subsequent government statements indicated that the law would remain in effect for months and that new preventive detention laws would be enacted.

Hiccup at TGA, not end of SNAP

Joseph Tawie

Out-going Sarawak Nasional Party president Edwin Dundang is bent on not letting the party ‘die a second time’.

KUCHING:  Just out from an eight year political turmoil, Sarawak National Party is hit by yet another ‘crisis’ that forced the party’s highest decision-making body, the central executive committee (CEC), to postpone its triennial general assembly (TGA) at the last minute.

The TGA and the party’s presidential polls was scheduled to have been held yesterday morning.

Four days ago SNAP received a letter from peninsular-based  People’s Progressive Party (PPP)  saying that presidential candidate Michael Lias was a member.

SNAP’s constitution does not allow for double memberships.

It’s not the constitution, it’s the AG who’s at fault

Mat Zain Ibrahim

There is nothing wrong with our constitution or the laws concerning this subject matter. They have been functioning well for more than half a century, so there is no need to mend it. We should not blame the constitution. It’s the attorney-general (AG) who has abused the powers conferred upon him several times over. It’s the honesty of the person holding the post that matters.

Even if we were to separate the functions of the AG and the public prosecutor (PP),there are no guarantees that either one or both of them will not abuse their powers. There’s no guarantee that the two appointees are not buddies, or even cousins or even blood brothers. Worse still if the two happened to have this ‘abang-adik’ type of relationship.

Taking the fight to enemy territory

Zainal Epi

BN supremo Najib Tun Razak is leading the charge in the political battle but he is not gettting support from his allies.

Najib Tun Razak is on the offensive – the prime minister has gone down to the grassroots to make his case and at the same hitting out at the opposition.

For the last two years, he has borne the brunt of the opposition onslaught on him – ranging from his personal life to the policies he had mooted and implemented.

Now he is taking the battle to the enemy territory and his intense “campaigning” has sparked strong speculation that the 13th general election is just around the corner.

What will replace the ISA?

Sim Kwang Yang

PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced on the eve of Malaysia Day that the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance would be repealed. These pieces of legislation have been part of Malaysian political life for the last 50 years.

The announcement has caused some confusion among Malaysians. On the one hand, there is almost universal support for the withdrawal of the ISA, but on the other, questions remain on what the new replacement legislation would look like. The mistrust of the Malaysian public regarding the proposed new laws is understandable.

The ISA was legislated in 1960, at a time when Malaysia was very much under the threat of the Communist Insurgency, while being destabilised by great ethnic tension as a result of the May 13 incident.

SNAP should reject merger with DAP

Joseph Tawie

The two parties with their different ideologies should instead sign a memorandum of understanding, says SNAP deputy president Kebing Wan.

Sarawak National Party (SNAP) should reject merger with the DAP because of major differences between the two parties, SNAP deputy president Kebing Wan said.

Addressing the joint opening of the Youth and women triennial general assembly (TGA), Kebing said that he had already informed the party’s central working committee (CEC) that the party should reject the merger which was proposed by DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang.

The proposal was made after the state election in April when Lim saw the encouraging support from the Dayak voters for DAP’s candidates increase in certain constituencies from 10% to more than 30%.

What election goodies are in store and why they won’t work in GE-13

Damian Denis

Election goodies will just remain as what they are; election goodies!

But what happens once the election is over? Back to square one where the plundering of national asstes and resources continues for the next 4-5 years to make up for the goodies given previously?

Pundits may have got it right when they say that the election goodies are a way to sway the fence sitters since they have not made up their minds.

But if the majority of the people have already made up their minds over whom they will vote for the 13th General Election, then whatever goodies are showered on them will not have any effect on the voters.

On the other hand who are the recipients of these goodies? The cronies, the elites and the very well connected? Or the improverished and marginalized people. At the end of the day, it is not the Budget paper per se but what actually trickles down to the masses.

Sex, Sex, Sex, is this all Umno knows

Maria Begum

It looks like the Pakatan Rakyat opposition may be right. Umno is really starting to lose it. Its traditional Malay electorate is beginning to see the party as it is and no longer as it was.

In the past due to its awesome power, Malays flocked to join the party, hoping to tap into its huge gravy train. Spurred by the racial politicking of the top Umno leadership, many ordinary Malays stayed on in the party, even though they knew they were unlikely to make it to the higher ranks. Total membership is said to number 3 million these days, the largest political grouping in the country.

But that may have been the peak for the Malay nationalist party. Not only have Malays become more emancipated by education, many are beginning to feel disgust in place of the trust they once held.

Taib-linked company’s faults ignored

Joseph Tawie

Motorists fear for their safety as contractors of Kuching’s RM50million Jalan Tun Jugah flyover flout the law.

The contractors of a RM50 million flyover project here is flouting the law but the authorities appear reluctant to act, according to Sarawak DAP.

The party is now questioning the manner in which the construction of the Jalan Tun Jugah flyover is being carried out.

The contract was awarded to a company which is allegedly connected to the family of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Deprive and rule theory absurd

R Kengadharan

It will only give rise to factional politics and create greater differences of opinion that could undermine national unity.

Is a peculiar democracy spectacular? Globally, many are still in their infancy and continue to suffer from imperfections and malnourishment. Do they have to simplify their acts?

A regime that dwells on race-based nationalism, safeguarded and protected by an overwhelming security apparatus, and extort legitimate political rights, cannot remain strong and stable for long.

Such a regime cannot defy the consequence of mismanagement, glaring violations and abuses of power. Many of those who live in such regimes are prepared to endure suffering and refuse to neither reject openly or revolt despite acknowledging it is as a trampoline of disaster. Why?

Christian groups: Nothing wrong with hudud as long as non-Muslims protected

Maria Begum

Despite the MCA and Gerakan rushing to condemn PAS for restating its long-standing aspiration to introduce hudud law in Kelantan, Christians leaders say there was nothing with such a plan. In fact, all followers of any religion should be encouraged to strive to strengthen their faith, so long as they did not impinge on the rights of others.

“That is the most important thing, to ensure that the rights of other faiths are fully protected. Then what is wrong with hudud in Kelantan or any other state for that matter?” Ramon Navaratnam, past president of Transparency International and a lay Christian leader, told Malaysia Chronicle.

“We should not politicize everything especially religion. It is perfectly natural for a Muslim and a Christian or a Buddhist and a Hindu to strive to strengthen their faith as much as they can and this should be encouraged. It is only wrong when they lose sight of others and start to become extremists in their conduct and practice. So long as the non-Muslims in Malaysia are completely protected, Christians and all other Malaysians should not be narrow-minded and fear for no proper reason.”

Ambiga conferred France’s top civilian award

Debra Chong

Barety appends the award to Ambiga’s (left) dress during the conferment ceremony at the French Residence in Kuala Lumpur, September 23, 2011.

Resplendent in a black-and-gold sari, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was tonight conferred France’s highest honour, the Chevalier de Legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour).

As he pinned the distinctive five-pointed medal on her sari, France’s ambassador to Malaysia, Marc Barety, said the award was to recognise Ambiga’s dedication to human rights and to boost the rule of law in Malaysia.

Ambiga joins an exclusive club of some 20 to 25 Malaysians conferred the French award. Among them were the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, airline maverick Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Ipoh-born Hollywood actress Datuk Michelle Yeoh, Barety said.

Flip-flopping education policy

Aliran

How many of our ministers and senior bureaucrats in the Ministry of Education actually send their children to national schools and local universities? If they did, we would have one of the best education systems in the world, claims Angry Parents!

Having just sent my child to sit for her UPSR exams, I cannot but feel anxious as to what trauma she will face next year. This year, she does her Science and Maths exams in English; next year she will study these subjects in Bahasa Malaysia. She and other students have become mere pawns in the hands of our politicians. Have our leaders considered the effect of their ever changing policies on these students?

Surely much research and study had been done prior to implementing teaching Maths and Science in English. Was it not to propel us to developed nation status? Taxpayers’ hard-earned money had been spent in training teachers, coming up with computer software, providing teaching manuals and books. Now at the stroke of a pen, without much thought to the concerned students who for years, have studied these subjects in English, the policy is reversed and it has taken us back by a decade or more!

Charge the British, not Mat Sabu

Mariam Mokhtar

The Malaysian government could demand for an immediate release of all relevant documents on Malaya that are held by the British government at its secret archive at Hanslope Park.

If the Barisan Nasional were really interested in righting wrongs, it would pursue the British for alleged miscarriage of justice and murders, which were never properly investigated.

BN appears to treat the rakyat like fools; it vexes us with sodomy trials, sex tapes and the rewriting of history. Then, in an attempt to bolster our flagging spirits, it tell us that the Internal Security Act (ISA) will be abolished and Malaysia made the “best democracy in the world”

Many people fail to realise that in the run-up to the general election, there is a concerted effort by Umno-BN to discredit opposition MPs and hence destabilise them.

If MCA left BN, Soi Lek will be charged for oral sex

Wong Choon Mei

Stop bluffing and confusing the people, PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told his former colleagues in MCA and Umno as the two parties drummed up a crescendo over the hudud law issue.

“If Chua Soi Lek has any guts, he will take the MCA out of the BN now. The fact is he can’t do that because the moment there is any inkling he is going to, Bukit Aman will call him up over his sex video. The mouse may squeak now and then, but make no mistake, the sword is still hanging over his head,” Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.

“As for Muhyiddin and Umno, we challenge them to lay out the time line of when they will implement hudud. Prove to the Malays and the Muslims how sincere you are about Islam by stating a clear and definitive framework for hudud in Malaysia. Otherwise, it is clear as day and night that the two of them, MCA and Umno, are merely playing a coordinated game to split and divide the people again. Muslims and Malays to turn to Umno and the Chinese to the MCA.”

SNAP – friendless and alone

FMT Staff

Political analysts in Sarawak and peninsula have written off Sarawak Nasional Party.

KUCHING: Going into its triennial general assembly (TGA) and presidential polls tomorrow, Sarawak’s oldest party which gave the state its first chief minister in Stephen Kalong Ningkan stands isolated and alone.

Local analysts and political observers here and in the peninsula have written off the 48-year-old Sarawak Nasional Party (SNAP).

SNAP, they say, will “never rise to its former glory”.

The weekend will also see a contest for the president’s post.

What’s Brewing In Snap?

(Bernama) –

What’s brewing in Sarawak’s oldest political party, the Sarawak National Party (SNAP)?

What does the future hold for this party as it prepares for its triennial general assembly scheduled for Sept 24 and 25 in Kuching.

Many political analysts have already written off any future for SNAP in Sarawak’s political landscape as they believe it will never be able to rise again to its former glory.

“The party is basically finished. It’s the end of the road. It has a branding issue with funding as its biggest problem. Previously, it was funded by the top leader who was financially strong. But the current leadership is facing financial constraints,” political analyst James Chin told Bernama.