UMNO – Page 4 – SeaDemon Says

October 13, 2016

Mahathir’s Cuckoo Administration

I was in stitches when I read Mahathir’s latest posting ‘Pentadbiran Kuku Besi‘. He wrote as if he had never oppress the people during his 22 years as the Premier. He is fortunate that the Internet was still in its infancy and was only introduced to the masses in the mid 1990s, and Google only came online using its own domain on the 4th September 1998, two days after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from all government posts as well as from UMNO. Prior to that Google was hosted under stanford.edu. Not many of those below the age of 35 could remember the oppression Malaysians were subjected to.

And what has Mahathir written this time?

1. When receiving the membership form to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, some say that they have been threatened by UMNO dan Najib’s government.

2. Various threats were made including not being able to receive BR1M, expulsion from UMNO, removal from Government and government agencies posts, not being given contracts, scholarships would be withdrawn or not given, banks will demand for earlier payments or not give loans.

3. But they prefer to be oppressed knowing, that with their participation in PPBM and vote for it in GE14, the country would enjoy better benefits.

“Rasa Utara” a restaurant chain serving, in my opinion, less-than-delicious food, now has taken up advertising spaces on Mahathir’s blog

4. They say that despite the pressure they would still join PPBM. And they would attempt to get more Bumiputeras including UMNO members to join PPBM.

5. The struggle to them means the willingness to face hurdles. The struggle is meaningless if it is just a walk in the park.

I am quite perplexed by this statement. Do people who want to join Pribumi actually make prior announcement to UMNO that they would be joining Pribumi? Or would they just fill in the membership form and submit to Pribumi without bothering to inform UMNO?

As far as my memory serves me, not one person has ever announced his or her joining another political party unless it is arranged by the receiving party for publicity. And likewise when the situation is reversed. So, why would there be threats and so on if no one knows of their intention?

Not Being Given BR1M

In my opinion, it is the Pribumis who should not complain about not receiving BR1M. The reason for this is that according to another Pribumi named Mahathir, the rakyat should not rely too much on handouts from the government. Mahathir also said it would be a big mistake for the government to assume that it would get the support of the BR1M recipients just by giving the the handouts. Therefore, the Pribumis should not complain to Mahathir about the possibility of being removed from the BR1M recipients list.

In reality, millions of Opposition supporters continue to form lines just to collect BR1M handouts. Students continue to enjoy their scholarships despite going on the street to demonstrate against the oppressive government that continues to give them monthly scholarship money. And perhaps about 50 percent of civil servants who support the Opposition still continue to go to work and none have lost their job or got demoted for doing so.

And many merit-less Bumiputera contractors still get government contracts despite supporting the Opposition.

Expulsion From UMNO

This is the other reason for me to laugh out loud. If you are already a Pribumi, why bother about being expelled from UMNO? You cannot have the cake and eat it too!

6. Verily Najib is also desperate to break my spirit. Not only have my police escorts been withdrawn but now even my officers and cooks are being transferred. All my associates are being harrassed and threatened by the Inland Revenue Board especially those who have businesses. If all taxes have been paid there will be additional taxes imposed on them.

For those uninformed, the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. This means, the administration, staffing, budget and others come under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Department. In short, the salaries of the staff of the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir come from the Prime Minister’s Department.

Who is the Prime Minister? (CLUE: HE IS NOT A KUTTY)

Antara agensi-agensi di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri — Among the agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department (see No.49)

Isn’t it the prerogative of the Prime Minister’s Department to transfer in or out, any personnel from any of the agencies under its purview, also accord, reduce or withdraw any privileges given using the budget of the Prime Minister’s Department?

There is an old adage: don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Even if there are Mahathir’s associates who are being harrassed by the Inland Revenue Board it could mean that previously they were only paying so much in the form of sales and services tax (SST) when under Mahathir and could no longer under-declare their earnings and have to pay higher taxes under the Goods and Services tax (GST) scheme introduced under Najib. All those who used to cheat the government and the rakyat of their earnings previously are now caught with their pants down!

7. Proton people are not allowed to speak to me, and my business associates are not allowed to approach Proton. It is Najib’s intention that Proton goes bankrupt and can be sold to foreigners for cheap.

8. My name can no longer be associated with Proton. Proton will be sold 100% to foreigners so the nationa car industry would be decimated. Only imported cars will be allowed to be sold in Malaysia. Nothing that I started will be allowed to exist. Let the local industries fail as long as Najib is satisfied.

Proton. A company that was set up in 1983 to start the national automobile industry.

After 33 years and 2.8 jmillion cars sold, Proton is still a non-government-linked company that still needs the assistance of the government even with the protectionist policy that the government had set. For 33 years the government has given Proton RM13.9 billion assistance in the form of grants and forgone taxes just to assist Proton to become independent . Yet, due to porr management decisions, the sale of Proton-made cars dropped from approximately 215,000 in 2011 to 102,175 in 2015 – an average sale of 8,514 units per month. At the end of March 2016 Proton still had about 30,000 units of cars lying idle and unsold!

With that, Proton once again asked for assistance from the government led by Najib Razak so that 12,000 Proton employees and 50,000 employees of the various Proton vendor companies do not lose their job. In your opinion, is it right for the government to use taxpayers’ money (using the favourite Opposition catchphrase) to assist a handicapped company?

Well, in the end Najib Razak’s oppressive government agreed to help Proton for the sake of the 62,000 odd direct and indirect employees by giving a RM1.5 billion soft loan.

And who is the owner amongst owners of this severely handicapped company that has no shame asking for help from Najib Razak’s oppressive government?

Senarai para pemilik Proton Holdings Berhad — List of owners of Proton Holdings Berhad

Which Bangladeshi is that whose name is at the top of the list who said that his name can no longer be associated with Proton but got the RM1.5 billion injection from Najib Razak’s oppressive government? Does it make sense for the government to pump in more money into Proton just to kill it? Why bother spend even a single Sen if you do not want it to work out? And how can he say that Proton people are not allowed to speak to him? Isn’t he one of the owners?

…and businessmen associated with me can no longer do business with Proton…

By this statement, is this a form of admission that Mahathir has been giving his cronies contracts from Proton? Does this have any role in making this company severely handicapped?

9. Verily, many Malaysian are afraid of trouncing by Najib’s government. This is Najib’s democracy.

10. I will not give up and I believe Malaysians have the will to topple Najib’s iron fist government. They are not afraid. The more the pressure the more the hatred they have for Najib and his government. All are ashamed of the P.M. who has been accused and believed by the whole world to have siphoned billions of the rakyat’s money.

11. The rakyat and I are aware of the intention of the new security law. It is not about foreign terrorism because we have adequate laws for that. Its intention is to break the struggle against Najib.

12. This law that was never assented to by the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Malay Rulers accords Najib the power to declare security areas and with that anyone could be held in detention without trial. This is worse than the ISA.

13. If anyone is killed, be it a member of the security forces or the civilian, there will not be any inquest (a magistrate’s examination into the cause of death) held. And family of the deceased will not be able to bring the matter to the courts to seek justice.

14. Actually laws like this cannot be passed without the signature of the SPB Yang diPertuan Agong. But Najib is not one who cares for the law or its regulations. He is the PM and believes that he has immunity from prosecution. His pet the Attorney-General will make sure of that.

15. These are all signs that there is no more democracy in Malaysia. There is only an iron-fisted rule, a dictatorship.

16. The rakyat will protest the destruction of democracy in this beloved nation through a legal process. InsyaAllah the rakyat’s determination will see to the end of Najib’s wrong-doings.

The National Security Council Act that was recently passed was drafted to enable all assets under the various government agencies to be unified under one command that is the National Security Council. It is not just for use in response to terrorist acts but also in times of disasters. We have seen how poor the inter-agencies coordination was during the floods of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu. The main reason for this weakness was the absence of a unified command to coordinate efforts using assets of the various government agencies.

The power to declare security areas is not something new. Under Section 31 of the Police Act, 1967, designated police officers have the power to instruct any person to stay indoors while Section 3(1) Public Order (Preservation) Act, 1958, gives the power to the Minister of Home Affairs to declare whichever area that in the view of the Minister should be declared as a security area. However, Section 18 of the National Security Council Act, 2016 gives this power to the Prime Minister and no longer the Minister of Home Affairs to declare security areas AS ADVISED BY THE COUNCIL. This means that the Prime Minister CANNOT declare any security area unilaterally. Is this not better than ONE person making all the decisions without weighing all the inputs from practitioners who are more well-versed in the matters of national security?

Do not equate the power to declare security areas to the power to declare an emergency which remains the power of the Yang DiPertuan Agong, not the Prime Minister’s, nor is it the power of the National Security Council.

And Mahathir should not pay dumb – he is the person who destroyed democracy; even the powers of the Yang DiPertuan Agong to pass or not a bill of law was removed by him and caused the bills that affect other than the power to declare an emergency, the Institution of the Rulers, the position of the Bumiputera and Bahasa Malaysia, to pass without having been assented by the Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Mahathir should realise, he is living in sunset. Enough of lies.

(This post is a translation of a previous post – Pentadbiran Cuckoo Mahathir)

October 12, 2016October 13, 2016

Pentadbiran Cuckoo Mahathir

Pandai buat lawak juga Mahathir dalam posting beliau terkini bertajuk ‘Pentadbiran Kuku Besi‘. Beliau menulis seolah-olah beliau tidak langsung berlaku kejam semasa mentadbir sebagai Perdana Menteri selama 22 tahun lamanya. Beliau beruntung talian Internet secara komersil hanya mula diperkenalkan kepada umum pada pertengahan tahun 1990an manakala Google yang sebelum itu menumpang domain stanford.edu hanya mula secara besar-besaran pada 4hb September 1998, dua hari selepas Anwar Ibrahim dipecat dari semua jawatan kerajaan dan dari parti UMNO. Tidak ramai yang kini berusia 35 tahun ke bawah ingat akan pemerintahan cara kuku besi yang telah diamalkan oleh Mahathir.

Apa yang telah ditulis Mahathir kali ini?

1. Semasa menerima borang untuk jadi ahli Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, ada yang menyatakan mereka menerima ugutan dari parti UMNO dan Kerajaan Najib.

2. Bermacam jenis ugutan dibuat termasuk tidak akan memberi BR1M, disingkir dari UMNO, atau lucut jawatan dalam Kerajaan dan agensi-agensinya, tidak diberi kontrak, biasiswa tidak akan diberi dan akan ditarik balik dan sebagainya, bank akan tuntut hutang lebih awal dan akan tolak permohonan.

3. Tetapi mereka masih sanggup didera seperti ini kerana kepercayaan bahawa akhirnya, dengan penyertaan mereka dalam PPBM dan mengundi baginya dalam PRU14, nikmat berkali ganda akan diperolehi oleh negara dan diri mereka juga.

“Rasa Utara” Sebuah jaringan restoran yang menghidangkan makanan-makanan Utara yang tidak lagi menimbulkan selera saya untuk makan di situ, kini banyak mempunyai iklan di blog Mahathir

4. Mereka menyatakan bahawa tekanan terhadap mereka tidak akan berjaya menghalang mereka dari menyertai PPBM. Dan mereka berusaha mendapat bumiputra lain termasuk ahli UMNO supaya menyertai PPBM.

5. Perjuangan bagi mereka bermakna kesanggupan mengatasi sebarang rintangan. Perjuangan tidak bermakna jika jalan ke arah matlamat terbuka luas dan ditabur dengan bunga mawar sepanjangnya.

Saya agak hairan dengan kenyataan ini. Adakah mereka-mereka yang menyertai Parti Pribumi untuk menjadi orang Pribumi ini membuat pengumuman kepada UMNO bahawa mereka akan pergi mengambil borang Parti Pribumi? Atau adakah mereka akan terus sahaja mengambil borang, mengisinya dan menyerahkan borang permohonan tersebut tanpa perlu mengisytiharkan keluar parti UMNO?

Seingat saya tidak ada satu orang pun yang pernah keluar UMNO umumkan hasrat untuk keluar UMNO sebelum menyertai lain-lain parti politik melainkan untuk tujuan publisiti yang diuruskan oleh parti pembangkang yang menerima bekas ahli-ahli UMNO tersebut. Begitu juga yang tinggalkan parti pembangkang untuk menyertai mana-mana parti Barisan Nasional. Maka, apakah timbul cerita berlakunya ugutan itu dan ini?

Tidak Akan Diberi BR1M

Saya rasa, orang Pribumilah yang sepatutnya tidak mengadu dipinggirkan dari menerima BR1M. Ini adalah kerana menurut Mahathir yang juga merupakan orang Pribumi, rakyat tidak sepatutnya terlalu bergantung kepada bantuan daripada Kerajaan. Mahathir juga berkata pemberian BR1M adalah satu kesilapan kerana jika diberi BR1M pun, ianya tidak dapat membeli sokongan penerima. Maka, pada pendapat saya tidak perlulah orang yang jadi orang Pribumi ini bersungut mengenai kemunginan tidak mendapat pemberian BR1M.

Hakikatnya, setiap tahun berjuta penyokong serta para ahli parti pembangkang yang menerima BR1M tanpa sebarang sekatan. Ramai penerima biasiswa yang masih menerima biasiswa walaupun turun ke jalan untuk berdemonstrasi menentang Kerajaan zalim yang memberi mereka biasiswa. Mungkin juga lebih 50 peratus kakitangan kerajaan yang menyokong parti-parti pembangkang masih mempunyai pekerjaan dan tidak ada seorang pun yang dibuang kerja.

Dan masih juga ramai kontraktor Bumiputera yang mendapat kontrak walaupun menyokong parti pembangkang.

Disingkir Dari UMNO

Ini satu lagi sebab kenapa saya katakan Mahathir menulis lawak jenaka. Kalau dah nak jadi orang Pribumi, buat apa nak dikisahkan lagi keahlian dalam parti UMNO? Takkanlah rindukan UMNO tetapi nak jadi makhluk Pribumi juga?

6. Sesungguhnya Najib amat terdesak untuk melemahkan semangat saya juga. Bukan sahaja escort motosikal polis ditarik balik tetapi pegawai saya dan tukang masak saya pun hendak ditukar. Semua kenalan saya diganggu dengan menghantar jabatan hasil dalam negeri untuk ugut terutama mereka yang berniaga. Jikalau semua cukai sudah dibayar pun cukai tambahan dikenakan.

Untuk yang tiada pengetahuan, Pejabat Mahathir adalah di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Ini bermakna segala pengurusan, kakitangan, kewangan dan lain-lain adalah di bawah kelolaan Pejabat Perdana Menteri. Pendek kata, para pekerja serta gaji para pekerja di Pejabat Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, adalah di bawah kelolaan Pejabat Perdana Menteri.

Siapa Perdana Menteri? (PETUNJUK: BELIAU BUKAN BERDARAH KUTTY)

Bukankah menjadi hak Jabatan Perdana Menteri untuk membuat pertukaran kakitangan di mana-mana agensi di bawah kelolaannya, juga memberi, mengurangkan atau menarik balik apa jua keistimewaan yang diberikan menggunakan bajet Jabatan Perdana Menteri?

Kata orang tua-tua, tak mengenang budi jika kita maki hamun orang yang memberi kita makan.

Kalau ada pun kenalan Mahathir yang diganggu Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri mungkin juga sebab selama ini mereka menipu cukai kerajaan semasa SST dilaksanakan dan kini tidak boleh lari dari cukai GST.

7. Orang-orang Proton tidak dibenar bercakap dengan saya, dan peniaga kenalan saya tidak dibenar mengadakan business dengan Proton. Tujuan Najib ialah supaya Proton bankrap dan boleh dijual dengan murah.

8. Nama saya tidak boleh dikait dengan Proton. Proton hendaklah dijual kepada orang asing 100% supaya industri kereta nasional dihapuskan. Hanya kereta import sahaja yang boleh dijual di Malaysia. Jangan ada apa-apa yang dimula oleh saya. Biar hancur industri tempatan asalkan Najib puas hati.

Proton. Sebuah syarikat yang telah diwujudkan pada tahun 1983 untuk menjadikan impian sebuah perusahaan automobil nasional berjaya.

Setelah 33 tahun dan 2.8 juta kereta terjual, Proton masih lagi merupakan sebuah syarikat bukan milik kerajaan yang perlu ditongkatkan oleh kerajaan walaupun telah diberi perlindungan perdagangan melalui polisi kerajaan. Sebanyak RM13.9 billion telah diberikan kepada Proton termasuk dalam bentuk geran dan pelupusan cukai telah diberikan oleh kerajaan untuk membantu syarikat tersebut berdikari. Namun, akibat pengurusan yang tidak cekap, jualan kereta buatan Proton telah jatuh dari lebih kurang 215,000 buat kereta pada tahun 2011 kepada 102,175 buah kereta pada tahun 2015 – purata sebanyak 8,514 kereta yang dijual sebulan. Pada penghujung bulan Mac 2016 Proton masih mempunyai 30,000 buah kereta yang tidak terjual!

Dengan itu, Proton sekali lagi memohon bantuan daripada kerajaan yang dipimpin oleh Najib Razak supaya 12,000 para pekerja Proton dan 50,000 orang pekerja syarikat-syarikat pembekal komponen Proton tidak kehilangan mata pencarian. Pada pandangan anda, adakah wajar kerajaan menggunakan wang pembayar cukai (menggunakan istilah yang sering digunakan oleh pembangkang) untuk menyelamatkan sebuah syarikat yang sakit?

Mahu tidak mahu, kerajaan yang zalim itu jugalah yang kesiankan keluarga seramai 62,000 orang yang berkaitan dengan Proton dan beri sebanyak RM1.5 billion lagi pinjaman mudah kepada Proton.

Dan siapakah para pemilik syarikat Proton yang tidak segan-silu memohon bantuan kerajaan (wang rakyat) akibat kelemahan mereka sendiri?

Bangla mana punya nama teratas dalam senarai tu yang kata nama beliau tidak boleh dikaitkan dengan Proton tapi tetap dapat bantuan pinjaman mudah RM1.5 billion dari kerajaan Najib Razak yang zalim itu? Adakah masuk akal kerajaan memberi bantuan pinjaman kepada Proton jika tujuannya adalah untuk menghancurkan Proton? Kalau nak dihancurkan Proton, buat apa nak beri walau satu Sen pun? Macam mana dia boleh kata orang-orang Proton tidak dibenarkan bercakap dengannya? Dia salah seorang pemilik Proton, kan?

…dan peniaga kenalan saya tidak dibenar mengadakan business dengan Proton…

Dengan kenyataan di atas, adakah Mahathir kini membuat pengakuan bahawa beliau memberi kroni-kroni beliau kontrak Proton, dan adakah ini juga menyumbang kepada kerugian yang dialami Proton setelah 33 tahun kewujudannya?

9. Sesungguhnya ramai juga orang Malaysia yang takut didera oleh Kerajaan Najib. Itulah demokrasi Najib.

10. Saya tidak putus asa dan saya percaya rakyat Malaysia akan terus memiliki semangat juang untuk jatuhkan Kerajaan kuku besi Najib. Mereka tidak takut. Lebih kuat tekanan lebih bencilah mereka terhadap Najib dan Kerajaannya. Semua mereka malu dan tidak ingin melihat negara tercinta ini memiliki seorang P.M. yang dituduh dan dipercayai oleh seluruh dunia telah lesap (curi) berbilion duit rakyat.

11. Saya sedar dan rakyat juga sedar akan tujuan undang-undang baru berkenaan sekuriti. Ia bukan untuk pengganas asing kerana undang-undang sedia ada sudah mencukupi. Ia bertujuan mematah semangat dan memberhentikan sebarang protes terhadap Najib.

12. Undang-undang ini yang tidak direstui oleh YDP Agong dan Raja-Raja Melayu memberi kuasa kepada Najib mengisytihar kawasan sekuriti dan dengan itu sesiapa sahaja boleh di masuk dalam tahanan tanpa dibicara. Ini lebih buruk dari ISA.

13. Jika sesiapa terbunuh atau dibunuh, samada anggota keselamatan atau orang awam, tidak ada inquest (pemeriksaan oleh majistret berkenaan sebab-sebab kematian) yang akan diadakan. Dan keluarga simati tidak boleh bawa kes ke mahkamah untuk mendapat keadilan.

14. Sebenarnya undang-undang seperti ini tidak boleh disahkan tanpa tandatangan SPB Yang diPertuan Agong. Tetapi Najib tidak peduli kepada undang-undang atau aturan-peraturan. Ia PM dan ia percaya sebarang pencabulan undang-undang olehnya tidak boleh didakwa di Mahkamah. Pendakwarayanya jinak akan halang.

15. Semua ini menjadi tanda bahawa demokrasi sudah tidak ada lagi di Malaysia. Yang ada hanyalah pemerintahan kuku besi, pemerintahan diktator.

16. Rakyat akan membantah penghapusan demokrasi di negara tercinta ini melalui proses yang halal. InsyaAllah ketegasan rakyat akan akhirnya menamat salah laku Najib.

Akta Majlis Keselamatan Negara yang diluluskan baru-baru ini digubal untuk membolehkan penggembelingan sumber agensi-agensi kerajaan di bawah satu entiti iaitu Majlis Keselamatan Negara. Ia bukan sahaja bertujuan untuk digunakan semasa serangan ataupun untuk menghalang serangan pengganas tetapi juga semasa keadaan kecemasan bencana dan sebagainya. Kita telah lihat betapa lemahnya koordinasi agensi-agensi kerajaan semasa banjir besar di Kelantan, Terengganu dan Pahang pada penghujung tahun 2014. Sebab utama kelemahan tersebut adalah disebabkan tidak ada penyatuan pemerintahan untuk menggerakkan agensi-agensi kerajaan di bawah satu pemerintahan.

Kuasa pengisytiharaan sesuatu kawasan sekuriti (keselamatan) itu bukan suatu perkara baharu. Di bawah Seksyen 31 Akta Polis, 1967 kuasa diberikan kepada pegawai Polis tertentu untuk memerintahkan orang awam untuk berkurung di dalam rumah manakala Seksyen 3(1) Akta Ketenteraman Awam (Pemeliharaan), 1958, memberikan Menteri Dalam Negeri kuasa untuk mengisytiharkan mana-mana kawasan yang difikirkan oleh Menteri tersebut sebagai kawasan sekuriti (keselamatan). Seksyen 18 Akta Majlis Keselamatan Negara 2016 memberi kuasa ini kepada Perdana Menteri dan bukan lagi Menteri Dalam Negeri untuk membuat pengisytiharaan SETELAH DISYORKAN OLEH AHLI-AHLI MAJLIS KESELAMATAN DALAM NEGERI. Ini bermakna Perdana Menteri TIDAK BOLEH mengisytiharkan mana-mana kawasan sebagai kawasan keselamatan sekiranya tidak mendapat syor daripada MKN. Maka ini adalah lebih baik daripada hanya seorang Menteri Dalam Negeri membuat pengisytiharaan tanpa mengambil kira pendapat mana-mana orang yang lain yang lebih arif mengenai keselamatan dalam negeri?

Pengisytiharaan kawasan keselamatan jangan disamakan dengan pengsiytiharaan darurat yang merupakan kuasa yang masih dipunyai oleh Yang DiPertuan Agong, bukan Perdana Menteri, dan bukan juga Majlis Keselamatan Negara.

Dan Mahathir jangan buat-buat lupa – beliaulah bertanggungjawab memusnahkan bukan sahaja demokrasi, malah kuasa Yang DiPertuan Agong untuk tidak meluluskan sesuatu rang undang-undang juga dihapuskan oleh beliau yang menyebabkan rang undang-undang selain rang undang-undang yang melibatkan hal ehwal pengistiharaan darurat, kuasa Raja-Raja, kedudukan Bumiputera dan Bahasa Malaysia, boleh diluluskan walaupun tidak mendapat persetujuan Yang DiPertuan Agong terlebih dahulu.

Sedarlah sikit usia dah lanjut, Mahathir. Cukup-cukuplah membohong.

September 15, 2016September 14, 2016

The Road to Malaysia: Part 3 – The Cobbold Commission

Cameron Fromanteel "Kim" Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold - by Godfrey Argent, 1970 — Cameron Fromanteel “Kim” Cobbold, 1st Baron Cobbold – by Godfrey Argent, 1970

This article is a continuation from The Road to Malaysia: Part 2 – Consultations.

In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia the communists were making advances while the number of American servicemen in Vietnam tripled the number sent in 1950. In Indonesia, the influence of the Partai Komunis Indonesia on President Sukarno was strong. In Singapore, all the political parties except Singapore UMNO accused the PAP of having carried out negotiations to be merged with Malaya without first consulting the people. This gave ammunition to the communists in Singapore and their sympathisers to attack both Lee Kuan Yew and the Tunku.

In British Borneo, the communists and their sympathisers tried to intimidate the natives thinking that it would work as it did in Singapore. Truth be told, it had quite the opposite effect. Lee Kuan Yew observed that as in Singapore, those anti-Malaysia in Sarawak were the Chinese communists, chauvinists and their sympathisers, while in North Borneo, they were Chinese businessmen and Chinese who were under the influence of individual British officials who were opposed to the Malaysia Concept, or ignorant of it. Kuan Yew noted that the direct links between the Chinese in Perlis throughout Malaya and Singapore to the British Borneo are the Chinese newspapers. Hence, Kuan Yew suggested to the Tunku for the Chinese chauvinists be separated from the Chinese communists and the two groups should be separated.

Members of the Cobbold Commission arrived in Kuching in the morning of the 20th February 1962. The members were:

Sir Cameron Fromanteel Cobbold, former Governor of the Bank of England, also Chairman of the Commission of Enquiry,
Sir Anthony Foster Abell, former British Governor of Sarawak and the High Commissioner to Brunei,
Sir David Watherston, the last British Chief Secretary of Malaya,
Wong Pow Nee, the Chief Minister of Penang, and,
Ghazali Shafie, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaya.

They were first brought to the Astana, a house that was built in 1870 by the second White Rajah, Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke as a wedding gift for his wife, Margaret Alice Lili de Windt. It had been occupied by the British Governor since 1946. Ghazali Shafie could not help but notice a Jawi inscription at the entrance of the Astana left by one of the Brookes “BERHARAP LAGI BERNAFAS, (Have Hope While There Is Still Breath)” perhaps an apt motivation for the colonial officials who did not want Sarawak to be part of the Federation of Malaysia.

The Brookes had built the Astana on the northern bank of the Sarawak river because it was where the Malays were. The Brookes depended on the Malays for safety and security, the Chinese for prosperity and trading, while the natives were not entirely trusted. The same compartmentalisation was practised in Sarawak by the colonial officials after taking over the state from the Brookes in 1946.

The first groups of interviewees were interviewed in Kuching on the 21st February 1962. The first group amongst these interviewees was extremely pro-Malaysia. They were led by Abang Mustapha, Datu Bandar of Kuching. The second group was led nby Ong Kee Hui from SUPP. This group was against the special rights to be accorded to the natives of Sarawak unless if it is not stated in the to-be-formulated Constitution. This group had a contempt for the backwardness of the natives and had regarded their leaders as men of no consequences. This stand prompted an Iban by the name of Jonathan Bangau whom the SUPP had nominated as the party’s leader in Sibu to resign.

The next day, another group of Chinese in Kuching were interviewed. Their spokesperson, a Chinese woman, twisted and distorted events in Malaya into something truly hateful. She accused the Malayan Government of policies that turned very young girls into prostitutes and had labour laws that accorded workers not more than Ringgit 1.50 per fourteen-hour working day without holidays! When these allegations were countered by Ghazali and Wong Pow Nee, she informed the Commission that she had read the stories from Chinese newspapers to which Wong Pow Nee murmured that these must have been communist publications.

In Bau and Simanggang (now Sri Aman), banners and placards expressing anti-Malaysia slogans in Chinese characters plastered the town in anticipation of the Commission members interviewing residents there. The scene was different in Kanowit and Kapit. People shook the hands of the Commission members, especially the Malayan ones. One of the Tuai Rumah even held Ghazali Shafie’s hand as they walked through Kapit town. They were all awaiting the arrival of Malaysia!

However, Ghazali learnt that under the colonial administration the Iban had suffered oppression and suppression. This began when Sarawak was under the Brunei Sultanate and continued under the Brookes and subsequently the British. When they faced the Commission, they were all for Malaysia and some even emphasised on the need for a speedy arrival of better education and development for the Iban community.

At Binatang (now Bintangor), the division between the wishes of the natives and the Chinese was most prominent. The natives were all for the speedy arrival of Malaysia while the Chinese were divided into two groups: one favouring a referendum, while the other favouring a Federation of North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak – a line maintained especially by the communists.

In North Borneo, the only negative views were given by the British officials and expatriates as well as the rich local businessmen. At this juncture, Ghazali noted that these British officials knew nothing or chose to disregard Harold MacMillan’s famous “Wind of Change” speech in Cape Town made on the 3rd February 1960.

Cobbold, not having any experience in dealing with the Far East, succumbed to the ideas of these officials that in his draft, he recommended that both the British and Malayan Governments should have executive powers over the British Borneo states for five years. Both Wong Pow Nee and Ghazali believe that the Malayan Government would never agree to perpetuate colonialism in any form. However, the two governments should discuss the matter should they want the British officials to stay on in Borneo in the service of the two territories. Wong Pow Nee quoted the state of Penang where he was once a Chief Minister to demonstrate the point that the British fears were groundless and that the Tunku, the Malayan people as well as the 70 percent who advocate the creation of Malaysia in the North Borneo and Sarawak would not agree to Cobbold’s suggestions as it would still be a form of colonialism. What more that the communists in Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia, China and the Soviet Union had branded the Malaysia Concept as neo-colonialism. Interesting also to note here is that in April 1962, the Philippines House of Representatives had made a formal claim on North Borneo. On the 20th January 1963, Drs Subandrio, and alleged communist and also Sukarno’s Foreign Minister and Second Deputy Prime Minister announces Indonesia’s “confrontation” towards Malaysia.

In the end, on the 31st July 1962, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan told the Malayan delegates that Her Majesty’s Government was just as anxious to see Malaysia succeed. Soon after, an Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) was set up by the Malayan and British Governments that would include the North Borneo and Sarawak Governments. On the 12th September 1962, the North Borneo Legislative Council adopted the following motion:

“Be it resolved that this Council do welcome the decision in principle of the British and Malayan Governments to establish Malaysia by the 31st August, 1963…”

Then on the 26th September 1962, the Council Negri of Sarawak adopted the following motion without dissent:

“This Council welcomes the decision in principle of the British and Malayan Governments to etablish Malaysia by the 31st August, 1963…”

The Federation of Malaysia that would include the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak was to come into operation by the 31st August 1963. All in all, the IGC made recommendations in its report pertaining to the States’ Constitutions, legislative powers, financial provisions, elections, the Judiciary, public service, citizenship, immigration, religion, education, the National Language, status of existing laws, the position of the indigenous races and transitional arrangements prior to the formation of Malaysia.

North Borneo was thoroughly satisfied with the IGC report and the North Borneo Legislative Council unanimously adopted the Report on the 13th March 1963. The Sarawak Government was satisfied and considered that the Report contained “generous terms of safeguards for Sarawak.” Stephen Kalong Ningkan as the Secretary-General of the Sarawak Aliance said that his party “fully endorses the Report.” Leong Ho Yuen, the Vice-Chairman of the SUPP said: “All in all, the Report is quite satisfactory. Though we cannot get all we asked for, at least we have been given a high percentage.” The Sarawak Council Negri voted unanimously to adopt the Report on the 8th March 1963, five days before North Borneo.

Donald Stephens who was the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the North Borneo Alliance said: “The whole of North Borneo will now welcome with joy the creation of Malaysia.”

Tomorrow, on Malaysia Day, we shall look into the self-rule granted to the State of Sarawak and why was Malaysia formed on the 16th September 1963 instead of on the 31st August. We will also look at what was said by those who were involved in parts of the process.

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016

The Road to Malaysia: Part 2 – Consultations

The Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee

This article is a continuation from The Road to Malaysia: Part 1 – The Malaysia Concept.

During the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association of Asia (CPA) meeting in Singapore on the 23rd July 1961, a conference resolution to establish a Malaysia Consultative Committee led by North Borneo’s Donald Stephens and Sarawak United People’s Party’s Yeo Cheng Hoe. Both would become members of the Malaysia Solidarity Consultative Committee and hasten the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.

We see today how some foreign plenipotentiaries act in contravention of Article 41(1) and (2) of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 where the diplomat should not interfere with the internal affairs of the Receiving State and all businesses by the mission of the Sending State must be coordinated with the Foreign Ministry or any other relevant ministries of the Receiving State. However, we see today various anti-government NGOs being courted by these foreign missions, even to the extent of having the number one diplomat attending and participating in the programs executed by these NGOs.

Things were not much different back in 1961 – especially for Singapore, although Singapore was still a Crown Colony with self-rule. George Douglas Hamilton, the 10th Earl of Selkirk (Lord Selkirk) was often observed by Lee Kwan Yew to be making special efforts to court left-wing politicians especially PAP’s left-wing politician Lim Chin Siong, who are opposed to the Malaysia Concept. This relationship grew stronger and especially after the Hong Lim by-election in April 1961 where an Independent thumped PAP’s candidate by a 4,927 majority, and later the Anson by-election in July 1961 where the Worker’s Party’s David Saul Marshall trounced PAP’s Mahmud Awang by a 546 majority. Because of Lim Chin Siong’s ties with the communist-oriented Anti-British League, the PAP leadership began to be openly challenged by the pro-communist members of the PAP and were now prepared to assume leadership. Tunku’s grouse with PAP is not that it is a pro-communist party, but that it is not anti-communist.

For the British, they did not mind if Singapore was governed by a pro-communist government as long as they are allowed to keep their base for use by the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO). To the communist, it was a good rallying point for the British to continue keeping Singapore as a colony and a base in order to attract more anti-colonial supporters to Singapore and the Borneo territories, and intensive anti-merger campaign was undertaken by the communists in Singapore. Lee Kwan Yew believed that the British authority in Singapore had encourage the communists in the PAP to revolt against the non-communist leadership in PAP. Kuan Yew coud not take action by imprisoning the communists for fear that he would be branded a British stooge and that would exacerbate the revolt by the communist against the PAP leadership. Merger with the Federation of Malaya was now central in his struggle against the communists.

The mood for Malaysia in Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) however was very good. When Ghazali Shafie arrived there, Sir William Almond Condrington Goode, the British Governor for North Borneo who was leaving for Sandakan told Ghazali to use his car to get around Jesselton for the Commonwealth Committee meeting. As he got into Goode’s car, Ghazali noticed that the driver had not removed the state pennant from the car and asked the driver to do so, so he (Ghazali) could travel correctly in the car. The driver turned around and replied that because of “Malaysia” he would drive Ghazali with the state pennant flying, and drove off with policemen saluting.

The Committee agreed that its aims and objectives should be to collect and collate views and opinions concerning the creation of Malaysia; to disseminate information on the question of Malaysia; to initiate and encourage discussions on Malaysia; and to foster activities that would promote and expedite the realisation of Malaysia. While Donald Stephens chaired the meeting, North Borneo was represented by Datu Mustapha, Singapore by S Rajaratnam, and Sarawak by Yeo Cheng Hoe. All of them agreed with the grand plan.

William Goode was not happy with Donald Stephens’s statement on Malaysia, in particular the latter’s target date of 1963 for the formation. Lord Selkirk had prior to this expressed that the people in British Borneo were not ready to govern themselves as they were still headhunters twenty years earlier. Therefore, Selkirk opined that it would be better for the people of British Borneo to come under a Federation of North Borneo, Brunei and Sarawak for five to ten years before they could decide whether or not to merge with Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia. Sir Alexander Waddle, H.C White and Sir William Goode, the Governors of Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo respectively made mention on how the idea of Malaysia is being received warmly by the people of the respective states; however they were worried that the Singapore Chinese especially, would swamp them.

On the 26th and 27th August 1961, Ghazali Shafie met with Kadazan leaders as well as leaders from the United Kadazan National Organisation (UKNO) to explain to them the Malaysia Concept, and after hearing about the special position accorded to the Malays in the Federation of Malaya Constitution, they all agreed that Malaysia would be the best solution to protect especially the interests of the Kadazans.

Later at night on the 27th August 1961, the British District Officer had invited Ghazali for drinks with British, European as well as Chinese leaders. Ghazali had suspected that it was more of an exercise to intimidate him. True enough some asked what was the advantage that the Federation of Malaya would get from Malaysia to which Ghazali replied saying that the question of advantage to Malaya would not arise as Malaya would simply cease to exist with the formation of Malaysia. Another pointed his finger at Ghazali and poked him in the chest asking why is Malaya in a hurry to form Malaysia since the people of British Borneo were not yet ready and to let the states of Borneo form their own Federation first? Ghazali pointed his finger back at the person and reminded him that the Tunku had merely made a mention about the Malaysia Concept once in Singapore and one or two more statements after that, and if the person felt that he was being pressured it was not because Malaya had pressured him but that he had been caught in a new political whirlpool within the Borneo territories and he had little knowledge of and was not keen on adjusting himself to the new order.

Back in Kuala Lumpur, Lee Kuan Yew was in absolute hurry for Singapore to be merged with Malaysia. The threat of the communist was real. In a discussion, he agreed with the Tunku that the rights of the Malays in Singapore would take precedence as the Malays in Malaya and Singapore, together with the “sons of the soil” in North Borneo and Sarawak, would form the single largest entity in the new Federation. The Tunku lamented to Kuan Yew that Malaya was very short of effective Chinese leaders. Tan Siew Sin of the MCA was a very sincere and clever man but could not speak any Chinese dialect to be really influential among the Chinese masses. It was no secret then that the Tunku would prefer to have Kuan Yew to assist him in managing the politics among the Chinese in the new Malaysia.

Back in North Borneo, trouble was brewing. The British Government had sent Donald Stephens to the UK to attend the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting, while colonial officials in North Borneo worked on to split the Kadazan by saying that Donald Stephens was not a real Kadazan. As a result, UKNO was split into three factions: one following Donald Stephens, another following Abdul Ghani Gilong, while the other following Orang Kaya-Kaya GS Sundang. Datu Mustapha himself was offered two million Ringgit by a wealthy Chinese to form a political party that would espouse the Malaysia Concept but at its own pace, prefering to hang on to the colonial administration. On hearing this, Ghazali advised Mustapha to form a firm relationship with Donald Stephens in order to bring together the natives of North Borneo. Once a strong base was established, the Chinese would have no choice but to capitulate.

It was not an easy task. Donald Stephens was from the Kadazandusun community. The Kadazans and Dusuns were naturally biased towards the colonial officials and the white rulers who served the North Borneo Company before them. These white rulers’ laws protected them from pirates and coastal marauders who plundered their homes and treated them with no respect – the Suluks. Since Mustapha was a Suluk, the Kadazans and Dusuns treated him with fear and distrust though not without awe and respect. That was how the British applied the divide et impera policy to keep them apart.

On the 27th September 1961, the British High Commissioner to Malaya, Sir Geofroy William Tory, called upon Ghazali Shafie to inform the latter that the Governors of North Borneo and Sarawak reported that the people of North Borneo were thinking along the thoughts of the Governors – that is to form a North Borneo Federation instead. When pressed for further explanation, Tory admitted that the Governors were talking in terms of what the Chinese businessmen said.

On the 9th October 1961, Donald Stephens, Mustapha and with about thirty people in the North Borneo delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur at the invitation of the Tunku who spoke to them both about the need to forget past quarrels and work together for the people of North Borneo. The Tunku also spoke to them about the Chinese community in North Borneo who very much supported the colonial administration there but told them to not be hostile towards the Chinese.

After dinner that night, Mustapha spoke to the attendees about how he and Donald Stephens had decided to form a political movement that would devote itself towards the independence of North Borneo through the Malaysia Concept. He also confessed to have regarded Donald Stephens as a rival for the leadership of the natives, but must now be brothers for the sake of North Borneo and encouraged the other community leaders in the delegation to do the same to one another.

Donald Stephens was more emotional. Tears were rolling down his cheeks when he admitted he had not trusted Mustapha before and asked for the latter’s forgiveness. There was a thunderous applause and both Mustapha and Donald Stephens embraced each other and announced to those present that they were now blood brothers and pledged to work together for the well-being of the people through the Malaysia Concept.

A North Borneo Chinese by the name of Chan also spoke in support of the Malaysia Concept and thought the Chinese should also form a political party. He, Donald Stephens and Mustapha then held hands together with everyone else and shouted Merdeka Malaysia ten times in keeping with the feng shui of the double ten – it was already the 10th October 1961, and this happened inside the Federal Hotel on Jalan Bukit Bintang.

After much deliberation at the second Malaysian Solidarity Consultative Committee meeting in Kuching, as well as some political maneuvering to get the support of Kalong Ningkan and his Sarawak National Party (SNAP) as well as to neutralise the opposition to the PAP within UMNO led by Aziz Ishak, it was decided that an Enquiry Commission, as envisaged by the Tunku and Harold MacMillan, to be appointed to gauge the desirability of the Malaysia Concept among the people of North Borneo and Sarawak.

In Part Three, we shall look into the Cobbold Commission’s work and findings, and reaction by our neighbours.

September 6, 2016

Lighting The Wrong Path

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a moderate. Moderation is what is preached in Islam. Moderation is what seems to be eroding by the day not just in Islam, but in other religions and cuts across the racial board as well. And this applies to every single country there is on the face of this Earth. And to have a group of people advocating moderation is a more-than-welcome effort in this young-but-amnesiac country that seems to have lost all institutional memory of the events that had brought about the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

Reading the The Star’s interview with Tan Sri Alwi Jantan (Torchbearers for founding fathers – Sunday, 4th September 2016) I cannot help but agree to some of his points, but at the same time feel as if there is some form of misguidance, or misinterpretation of the Federal Constitution, and a deliberate misleading on the respected Tan Sri’s part.

I agree that rather than focusing on petty issues such as whether or not the Langkawi statue is haram, the religious councils as well as JAKIM should focus more on the development of correct as well as balanced knowledge on Islamic subjects such as Tauhid, Fardhus Ain and Kifayah. This is important to counter the influence of deviationists especially that of the Da’esh. However, religious as well as racial extremism is not confined to Islam alone. In the name of pluralism as advocated by the G25, there should only be single-stream schools. Children who do not grow up together will grow up apart. We can never talk about unity and understanding if we do not understand each other. Preserving the mother-tongue can be done after formal classes are over and this can be done at the school itself, perhaps after lunch. So could the Islamic religious classes. In the latter category, this would ensure that correct teachings are being imparted to the children rather than by private religious schools whose curriculum are not being monitored effectively by the religious councils. Also that way working parents do not need to worry about the whereabouts of their children and can pick them up at school after work, or a similar arrangement could be made.

In a plural society such as ours, the need for our children to grow up together for the sake of unity is paramount. Sending children to separate schools based on mother tongue rather than a common national language is against the spirit of the Constitution. When the Constitution was being drafted for it to be in operation by Merdeka Day 1957, the Reid Commission adopted the Alliance’s (UMNO, MCA and MIC) proposal to establish Malay as the official language of the Federation. However, there were differences on how to go about with this. Ng Ek Teong, the MCA representative submitted that English should be allowed to be used for official purposes for a minimum of 10 years. MIC was in support of this. Both MCA and MIC also proposed for Mandarin and Tamil be allowed to be used in the legislatures for a minimum period of 10 years. UMNO however proposed that English be allowed to be used for a maximum period of ten years after independence. Ng Ek Tong told the Commission that this would only serve as a temporary measure (Colonial Office CO 889/6, Minutes of Alliance hearing before the Reid Commission, 27 September 1956, pp 290-294). Tunku Abdul Rahman however said:

“At the end of 10 years, the general trend will be that people will still demand for it and the people who propose it now are not sure that they would be there to guarantee it. It is bound to cause a lot of debate later on.” (Ibid.)

Even Lord William Reid himself was not in favour of the proposal by MCA and MIC saying that it would cause practical difficulties (Ibid/Making of the Malayan Constitution, Joseph M Fernando, pp 128-129). It was for this reason that the Tunku promoted the Rumi script for the Malay language at the expense of the Jawi script to enable the non-Malays to learn the national language rapidly (Tunku Abdul Rahman (1984), op. cit., pp. 112-114). This has been enshrined in Article 152 of the Federal Constitution as well as in the National Language Act, 1963/1967.

The reality of it now is that the migrant workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar are more able to grasp the Malay language than many of our own Identity Card-wielding citizens. Mind you, they also stood still at Dataran Merdeka while the NegaraKu was being played. Our own citizens refuse to stand up when the NegaraKu was being played in the cinemas, extinguishing the very torch of our founding fathers.

The Constitution is secular only up to a certain point. The Reid Commission, commissioned by both Her Majesty The Queen of England and the Malay Rulers had initially omitted a proposal by the Malay Rulers to have Islam as the religion of the Federation. Reid saw it fit that matters of religion be handled only by the Ruler of the respective States, and that the special position of the Malays be reviewed after 15 years.

When the report was published, the strongest objections came from the man revered by Malaysians now as the father of multiracialism – Dato Onn Jaafar, who as the leader of Parti Negara said that the Malays had been let down. PAS claimed that the Malay interests had been cast aside (von Vorys (1975), op. cit., p.132). Hence, the Tunku later submitted that Islam be made the religion of the Federation with two provisos added: first that it would not affect the position of the Rulers as head of religion in their respective States; second, the practice and propagation of other religions to the non-Malays in the Federation would be assured under the Constitution (UMNO/SUA 154/56, Minutes of Alliance ad-hoc political sub-committee meeting, 2 April 1957).

Sir Donald Charles MacGillivray personally felt that such a provision would be advantageous because the Yang DiPertuan Agong could at the same time become the head of the faith in the Settlements of Penang and Malacca (CO 1030/524 (10), MacGillivray to Secretary of State, 25 February 1957; See also CO 1030/524 (18), MacGillivray to Secretary of State, 21 March 1957).

Fast forward to the present, Article 3 of the Federal Constitution has clearly mentioned Islam as the religion of the Federation with the Rulers being the Head of religion in their respetive States, while the Yang DiPertuan Agong becomes the Head of religion in the States of Pulau Pinang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak, as well as in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. It is not an official religion but the religion of the Federation. The provisos added to safeguard the practice and propagation of other religions are now enshrined in Article 11 with limits to propagate given in Clause 4 of the said Article, to safeguard and honour the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation.

There is even a separation of jurisdiction when it comes to the position of Islam in the Federal Constitution. The Syariah Law comes under the purview of the respective Rulers, and the Attorney-General of Malaysia, under Article 145(3) does not have the jurisdiction over proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court of a court-martial. This separation of jurisdition is also present as provided by Article 121(1A) where both the High Court of Malaya and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak do not have any jurisdiction over Syariah matters. Therefore, the respected Tan Sri should be aware that, borrowing the words of Sir Stamford Raffles in a 1815 letter to his cousin mentioned how “Religion and laws are so united” in Muslim dominated areas that the introduction of Christian beliefs will bring about “much mischief, much bitterness of heart and contention”. (Seademon, A Case For God, 1 Jan 2013) .

Even Act 355, the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, 1965 (last revised in 1988) states the following:

1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction), 1965.

1. (2) This Act shall apply to all the States of Peninsular Malaysia.

2. The Syariah Courts duly constituted under any law in a State and invested with jurisdiction over persons professing the religion of Islam and in respect of any of the matters enumerated in List II of the State List of the Ninth Schedule to the Federal Constitution are hereby conferred jurisdiction in respect of offences against precepts of the religion of Islam by persons professing that religion which may be prescribed under any written law:

Provided that such jurisdiction shall not be exercised in respect of any offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding three years or with any fine exceeding five thousand ringgit or with whipping exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof.

The Act, clearly says that it first and foremost, applies to all States of the Peninsular Malaysia. It is not applicable to where the Yang DiPertuan Agong is the Head of religion ie. the Federal Territories, Sabah and Sarawak. Second, it applies only to Muslims and any matters in List II of the State List of the Ninth Schedule to the Federal Constitution. Third, it cannot propose any punishment that prescribes any jail term exceeding three years, or with any fine exceeding five thousand ringgit, or with whipping exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof.

Therefore, there is no question of introducing stoning to death, amputation of limbs etc. Anything above those limitations will be referred to the Criminal Courts.

So, Tan Sri, care to explain how are secularism and pluralism being attacked with examples of provisos of the Federal Constitution or any laws made under it?

Finally, let me quote the interview given by the respected Tan Sri to The Star:

G25 has also expanded its scope to include good governance and tackling corruption. As not only the former head of the PSD but also former secretary-general in the Local Government and Federal Territory Ministry, Health Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, Alwi has focused on good governance, which he calls the precondition for a constitutional democracy: “Those in power must be made accountable for their actions and conduct.”

During his time, civil servants were able to do their jobs without fear or favour, he recalls. “The division of responsibilities between the politicians and civil servants was fairly clear cut.”

But over time good governance has been eroded at an alarming rate, he says.

“There are hardly any more checks and balances.”

What either the good Tan Sri or The Star have also failed to mention is the fact that for more than three years, Tan Sri Alwi Jantan was the Deputy Secretary-General for the Prime Minister’s Department under the founder of Parti Pribumi, Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir’s now good friend, Lim Kit Siang, wrote not so long ago, on Thursday, 12 February 2015 at 12.57pm:

“This shows the rot in Malaysia, but it is a rot which was started during Mahathir’s 22-year premiership, and by Mahathir himself!

Today, Mahathir is obsessed with the toppling of Najib as Prime Minister, but this is not because he wanted to stop the rot in Malaysia, to restore the independence and integrity of the judiciary and a just rule of law; to end the subversion of the independence and professionalism of national institutions whether the civil service, the police, the elections commission or anti-corruption agency; eradicate rampant corruption; restore ethics and honesty in public life; re-establish a good education system or restore Malaysia’s economic competitiveness.

Mahathir wants Najib out as the Prime Minister for Malaysia, not to stop the rot which was started by him during his premiership, but for an agenda personal to himself.

This is the rot of Hamlet in Malaysia.”

I’m surprised the good Tan Sri had made no mention whatsoever of this episode. And he was a civil servant by definition, under the tutelage of the Pribumi person himself and remained in public service until 16 April 1990, thirteen years before Mahathir steped down.

So, Tan Sri, it is good that you want to become the torchbearer of the founding fathers of this blessed nation. However, please ensure that you are on the right path first before you decide to light that torch and guide others.

August 15, 2016

Au·thor·i·tar·i·an

JOSEPH PAIRIN KITINGAN / KOTA KINABALU — Pic courtesy of NSTP/Datu Ruslan Sulai

Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan knows very well what Mahathir would do to those he hates. He experienced that first hand in 1990 when Mahathir went all out to try depose him as Chief Minister. Pairin was Chief Minister of Sabah from 1984 to 1995.

Speaking to reporters after receiving a courtesy visit from the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Youth Council yesterday Pairin said that when Mahathir is a ‘political animal’ who, when he does not like a person, would go all out (to get the person out of his way).

Therefore, it comes as no surprise to Pairin when Mahathir would form a new party and work with his enemies just to try force Najib Razak out of office.

In politics, anything goes – wrote Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used for Utusan Malaysia’s editorials. And that includes trying to erase his dark past by working with DAP’s Lim Kit Siang whom he had put behind bars without trial during his tenure. It was Mahathir whom had planted the idea that DAP is nothing less than the enemies of the Malays and what Malaysia stands for, in the mind of the Malay masses. Equally disgusting is Lim Kit Siang whom had spent most of his life in DAP slandering Mahathir as being the most corrupted dictator, now seen being in the same bed with Mahathir.

Another person who would know Mahathir well is Tan Sri Musa Hitam, who was Mahathir’s deputy from 1981 to 1986. While he described Mahathir as “observant, innovative, and meticulous” he also used the words “authoritarian, contemptuous, and belligerent”.

In an article by The Star, Musa said Dr Mahathir could be pleasant and engaging at times, but would often come off as being disinterested in dialogue or debate.

“Discussion and debate were never the order of the day,” he wrote in his book ‘Frankly Speaking’ which was recently launched by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak.

memali-dr-mahathir-dan-musa-hitam — “Discussion and debate were never the order of the day.” – Musa Hitam describing Mahathir

In his book Musa wrote:

“Malaysia today is going through a difficult transition. Trying to establish a mature democracy after more than two decades of authoritarian rule is not easy. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the current, more open political system will continue. Malaysia would, in fact, find itself gripped by reactionary forces that even now are advocating policies and practices that – if adopted – would eventually result in the country becoming a failed state.”

This was echoed by the former Grand Mufti of Jordan, Professor Dr Amin Mohammad Sallam al-Manasyeh in an interview with the portal MalaysiaGazette. “I am of the opinion that if Allah gives him (Najib) time, he will continue to develop and position Malaysia as the best country in the world. That’s what I think about him,” he said in the interview.

I, too, had doubts about Najib Razak’s ability to do well as the leader of this country. Up until April of 2015 at least, I and like-minded friends did not think that he would last in the face of relentless acrid attacks by Mahathir. By May, Mahathir faltered and changed goalposts several times while Najib Razak stood firm, unwilling to budge even a bit. Most of us saw that the light shone by Najib in the tunnel of lies made by his detractors is far brighter than the one shone by Mahathir. And this year, Mahathir received multiple slaps first in the form of the resignation of his son Mukhriz as the Menteri Besar after being told by the Council of Regent of Kedah that he had lost majority support of the State Assembly. This was followed by his own resignation from UMNO. Then came the hattrick wins in Sarawak, Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar elections where, despite Mahathir’s claims, Barisan Nasional still won. And then he was conned by his own people for faking more than half a million signatures of people reportedly in support of his ‘Save Malaysia’ declaration.

mukhriz — Mukhriz, seen here with Tan Sri Tunku Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Chairman of the Council of Regent of Kedah (right), and council member Tan Sri Tunku Abdul Hamid Thani, leaving the Wisma Darul Aman after a meeting with the Council of Regent.

One would think that at 91, Mahathir would take it slow and call it a day. Well, that is not Mahathir. In the end he sets up another political party called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) where Najib’s former deputy Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the pro-tem President, and his son Mukhriz the pro-tem Treasurer. And where is Mahathir in this party? He positions himself as Lim Kit Siang has – the Puppet Master. Despite being a political giant, Muhyiddin has all but lost support in Pagoh and Muar. Many Johoreans still remember him for his sins committed against the Malays. He would now have to find another seat to contest in. Otherwise his political career is as good as over.

Admitted to the National Heart Institute for medical complications the day his party’s registration form was submitted to the Registrar of Societies, Mahathir’s first act upon being ill was to post a blog article attacking Najib, not taking care of his health or coming to a realisation that his days as a mortal are numbered, and that instead of creating more sins, he should repent. No, things like that never seem important to Mahathir. And neither would the parasites who call themselves “his advisers” advise the old man to slow down. Instead, they feed his anger, and he in turn feeds them for making him angry. And Mahathir should remember that whenever he, the authoritarian, gets angry, he loses support. Zuraidah Ibrahim aptly puts it in the South China Morning Post:

Instead of departing on his terms, as he did in 2003, he may now find himself leaving the scene a loser.

For Najib Razak, it is business as usual. As in the old adage wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson:

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

And like a rock does he stand.

May 28, 2016May 28, 2016

A Storm In The Hood Over Hudud

It is Dood Day + 3. And already there is a storm in the BN hood over Hudud.

Yesterday afternoon, a Kedah MCA man quit the party citing the failure of the MCA to stop UMNO from supporting the tabling of the Hudud bill in Parliament by PAS President Hadi Awang, and UMNO for failing to safeguard the Federal Constitution.

Malaysiakini report on the resignation of Mr Leong from the MCA

And today, MCA’s President, Liow Tiong Lai said that the tabling of the Hudud bill transgress the limits and is against the spirit of the Federal Constitution.

“Unconstitutional”

“Spirit of the Federal Constitution”

Big words coming from the two gentlemen who have no inkling whatsoever of the meaning of those terms.

Firstly, the Federal Constitution through Article 3 explicitly states that Islam is the religion of the Federation. Article 11(1) guarantees those other than Muslims the freedom to practice their religion. That still holds true to this day although many non-Malays do unconstitutional acts such as the propagating of other religions to the Muslims (in contravention of Article 11(4).

Let us go back to the year 2014 when PAS was in the heart of all DAP supporters:

“The Moon Represents My Heart” as in the Teresa Teng song. Dulu lain, kini lain, selamanya berlainan

In 2014,UMNO

proposed to table specifically a Hudud bill in Selangor. Now I want you to remember the words in BOLD above.

The above words in the red box says:

“The DAP speaker in Selangor also welcomes the tabling of Hudud in Selangor.”

They must be kidding, right? Karpal Singh would not have allowed this to happen (although his son never objected to this). Let us see what were said by both Anthony “Olok-Olok” Loke and Hannah “The Lamb Chop” Yeoh:

Now what have we here? Two DAP stalwarts support the tabling of the Hudud back in 2014. One even went to town telling people not to be afraid of Hudud, explaining what are involved and why people shouldn’t be afraid. This is what MCA should be doing.

Of course that was then and this is now.

Alas! MCA is NOT in the position to do so. You only see a handful of MCA people actually still fighting the real fight, like Tan Khai Beng, Lee Beng Seng, Ang Chor Keong, while the rest have mostly blended in with the Chinese supporters of the DAP as not to be left out, and the following is why:

MCA could only garner less than 900,000 votes (including votes of the non-Chinese)!

Both Leong Yong Kong and Liow Tiong Lai probably suffer from this:

The bill that is being tabled by Hadi Awang is actually to seek amendment to the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, 1965. Remember nine paragraphs ago I asked you to remember the words in BOLD? The difference here is that this bill proposed by Hadi is NOT a Hudud bill, but one that seeks the enhancement of punishment for only a certain number of offences. This is to allow the Kelantan state government to apply such amendments in Kelantan.

And true to the spirit of the Federal Constitution, the proposals that went beyond the limits of the ones set by the laws made and passed under the Federal Constitution have been shot down even before the tabling of this bill!

And what did Najib say about this yesterday?

Only after most of the proposals have been shot down for going against the limits of the Federal Constitution was Hadi allowes to table the bill:

Even if this bill gets passed in Parliament it still needs the consent of the Rulers Council as well as the respective state religious authority to agree before it can be passed. And none affects the non-Muslims.

Where, oh Liow and Leong, is the transgression of the spirit of the Federal Constitution may I ask?

Next time do seek clarification before you start chewing on your foot, or use the stop-and-start method to prevent similar political premature ejaculation.

March 17, 2016

Muhyiddin’s Admissions

Apparently in September 2015 Muhyiddin acknowledged that there is a conspiracy to topple the Prime Minister.

He also admitted that funds are administrted by the UMNO President himself.

So why has he been jumping around like an irritated monkey?

March 5, 2016March 5, 2016

Ku Klux Kling

It is a well known fact that Mahathir hates his Kutty-blood so much that anything that has to do with the Indian diaspora would be bad for him unless he could subjugate them and they become subservient towards him. Veteran political watchers would understand what I am referring to.

I still remember when the first two Malaysians summitted the Everest in 1997, RTM being the official media carried a live cross from the Everest base camp where jubilant Malaysians who never made it to the top were seen celebrating in the background just as Mahathir, who was the Prime Minister then, was talking to the Chef de Mission. When told of the identities of the two Malaysians, Mahathir asked, “Siapa lagi? Itu aja?” (Whom else? Only those two?)

It was a proud moment for Malaysians but you cannot help but hear the tone of disappointment in Mahathir’s voice. I Googled to find reference to that moment but had found just this:

It was for that reason the subsequent expedition, which I became part of, was a 100 percent Malay expedition. As part of the organising committee and the Deputy Jump Leader, together with another ex Air Force officer, Lt Aziz Ahmad, we were tasked to select freefallers from the Wilayah Skydivers, the Army’s Grup Gerakhas, the Navy’s Pasukan Khas Laut, the Police’s Komando 69, and of course from Aziz’s and my former unit, the Air Force’s Pasukan Khas Udara. TV3 was selected as the official media.

We had a fellow skydiver who was from the Transportation Corps that we would have liked to have on board but he was an Indian and was not allowed to join the team. Likewise, TV3 mustered its best documentary team and sent its best journalist who was also trained by NatGeo, the renowned Karam Singh Walia. Our Chef de Mission, the late Abdul Rahim Dahlan aka Rahim King told TV3 that no Indians were allowed to join us to the North Pole.

The damage to my friendship with the Indian officer was irrepairable. He would make fun of me to others while I had to keep myself calm and not reveal the reason his name was rejected to protect the Prime Minister from being hated by a military officer. And I never did for 18 years – until today.

All of us in that expedition to the North Pole were patriots in the face of the possibility of dying at the North Pole – and Mahathir’s vision of Malaysia Boleh.

For whatever reason, Mahathir is never proud of who he really is. He is neither Indian, nor as he claims to be – a Malay. In Penang, he would be referred to as a Kling. I could name many great Indians right from Ashok to Narendra Modi, but not a Kling one. Mahathir was great to me but only because I thought he is a Malay.

Mahathir was so great to me that when he left UMNO, I left too in 2004. I dumped my AJK Bahagian and Ketua Cawangan posts and left politics, not that I was really a politician. The only difference is I am not the hypocrite Mahathir is, so when he rejoined, I stayed out.

However, I continued to support Mahathir’s stance in almost anything and had great doubts in Najib especially when the latter was all silent at the beginning of the 1MDB hoo-hahs. That was all true until the Kling in Mahathir surfaced. He started blabbing about Altantuya, changed the 1MDB goalposts and figures several times; it was almost as if he was just casting a net to see what could be caught. When he began to sound ridiculous and helped the Opposition attack Tabung Haji, I decided the old man had gone bonkers.

I was always a pro-Mahathir. When he fired Anwar Ibrahim in September 1998, I stood outside Anwar’s official residence with a few other friends from the Kelab Bekas Komando Malaysia among the hundreds that gathered, wondering what has happened. It was the night I made my choice to support my Prime Minister because he was then my Prime Minister.

To see him now holding hands with those he incarcerated and when he was in power just whonare also those who want to undermine the sanctity of Islam in this country, so he could oust the current Prime Minister, is heartbreaking for lack of a better word. You don’t burn your house down or work with outsiders just because you have a quarrel with a sibling. Like it or not, Najib is the elder brother in UMNO and Mahathir has to respect that. He should not have resigned in 2003 if he cannot accept that his successors would have their own style and once gone he is a has-been. Working with the enemies of your party just so you can save the party is just a stupid excuse to cover up one’s insidious personal agenda.

And until Najib is found guilty ina court of law, I will continue to support him as the Prime Minister of this nation.

So who is the only other Kling that I could think of who has made it to the history books? Raja Mudaliar aka Raja Mendeliar – the Kling that helped the downfall of the Melaka Empire.

Life of Annie had every reason to disagree with my calling Mahathir Mendeliar a few months ago. I guess Life of Annie has now seen Mahathir’s colours.
On the bright side, Mahathir’s reverse metamorphosis from a statesman back to the kling he originally was, has brought about some good for the economically oppressed Malaysians whose holidays are mostly spent abroad.

January 23, 2016

Chaotic Kedah

Two years ago when I attended a meeting with an armed forces veterans association in Kedah I was briefed on some of the problems the association was facing and they asked me if there was anyone above the level of the State Secretary that I would know. I said I don’t have a direct access to the Menteri Besar but I know a few people who actually do; to which they replied:

“Tak payahlah jumpa Mukhriz, tuan. Dia bukan buat kerja pun! Asyik dok hantaq pegawai dia ja!” (There’s no point in meeting with Mukhriz, sir. He doesn’t work! He only sends his officers (to do his errands)!

I was taken by surprise. I follow Mukhriz’s Instagram account and in the early days as the Menteri Besar he would wear a jubah and attend prayer sessions in the kampungs. Even when the Prime Minister decided that Mukhriz was to become the Menteri Besar in the days leading up to the last general elections I thought it was the most correct decision although many quarters in Kedah was upset.

That all stopped just before the end of Ramadhan last year. After Aidil Fitri his account was filled with selfies with Siti Nurhaliza, Ramli Sarip, Jamal Abdillah and even Upin et Ipin! Nothing wrong with those but I happen to revisit his Instagram timeline to see if there’s any difference then and now.

Is the current chaos about Najib versus Mahathir? I doubt that very much. But the complaint about Mukhriz not meeting the rakyat, associations or even Ketua Bahagians did not stop with the complaint I received two years ago. Another group of veterans from Kedah whom I met at a reunion of Air Force veterans in Kuantan early last year also revealed the same complaints. Therefore it isn’t just the UMNO politicians who are complaining about him but also the normal Joe on the street!

Now whether or not certain UMNO quarters harbour the ambition of becoming the next Menteri Besar or not is a small matter compared to the grouses the rakyat have against Mukhriz’s administration. The complaints range from the only development Mukhriz has brought about in Kedah is to build a mall ona piece of land donated by the First Mufti of Kedah for a mosque to Mukhriz doesn’t run this state, his two officers do. UMNO Kedah insiders apparently know who these two officers are!

While the supporters of Mukhriz quicky claimed that the anti-Mukhriz movement could not gather the numbers when meeting the UMNO President yesterday, the report I received show otherwise:

To remove Mukhriz it would have to be done in accordance with the Kedah State Constitution and that is through the Sultan or Council of Regents, or through a vote in the state legislative council. While majority of the UMNO ADUNs are against Mukhriz, five were absent from the meeting. Assuming the five are for him, the group opposed to him would need the support of both MCA and PAS. Both PKR and the sole rep from Amanah would definitely have to take the cue from their masters in the DAP.

It is very important for those in UMNO opposed to Mukhriz to get a majority support because this can be quite different to the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis.

On a side note, Mahathir once changed the Kedah Menteri Besar despite getting much opposition from the Kedah UMNO but of course “My Way” was Mahathir’s way, and he believes it still is. A lesson for Mukhriz and others to learn, and Mukhriz has recently agreed with is that you can only remove a leader through legal means, and this will be a lesson he will long remember.

The irony of it all is Muhyiddin’s latest press statement in support of Mukhriz . This coming from a coward who backstabs his boss in order to be on top is surely the joke of the year this far.

This Brutus-wannabe ought to keep his dirty mouth shut and continue reading his two favourite tabloids for facts and continue living in a dream world.