Hooray!! :)

Well, ok, it may not *exactly* be in the shape some of us imagined, as YB’s Azmin and Tony explained; but this is exactly the configuration I have always thought would be most practical, given the Pakatan context and dynamics.

Naming individuals as shadow ministers is a politically exhausting process. I think this alternative will allow Pakatan MPs to show that they have the calibre of ministers, and that they have better, concrete, alternative policy ideas.

The whole thing is all very interesting, but for now (beyond perhaps saying that I’m not thrilled about Zul Nordin), I’d just like to enjoy and bask in the fact that it merely exists :) This is a first for the country, and truly, a step forward for Malaysia.

For the original, check out the MS Word File :)

Tags: Malaysian Politics // 26 Comments »

The Star:

IPOH: Police maintain there was no foul play behind the death of drug suspect Choong Soy Soy at the Bercham police station lockup on June 27.

Ipoh OCPD Asst Comm Azisman Alias said his investigation officers have recorded statements from the inmates saying that Choong had indeed slipped and fallen in the toilet between 9am and 10am that day.

ACP Azisman said the inmates heard a loud noise and found Choong on the floor.

“The suspect was still conscious and was able to talk when we found him after the accident,” ACP Azisman said on Wednesday.

“He also declined to go to the hospital and said he was alright,” he said.

Choong was sent to the hospital after policemen noticed that he was bleeding from the nose, said ACP Azisman.

Choong fell into a coma two days after being admitted to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital where he died on Tuesday morning, he said.

ACP Azisman said the case was investigated as sudden death and a post-mortem report would be submitted by the hospital to the police soon.

Slipped and fell in the toilet.

Statements taken from other inmates. Who probably witnessed what really happened to Choong.

Slipped and fell………….

>:(

This is getting to be a trend. Let’s see how the government responds.

Kerishamuddin via Lulu:

THE appointment of Fox Com-munications as the Royal Police Force (PDRM) public relations consultant was through ‘open quotation’, said the Home Ministry.

Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, in his written reply to Wee Choo Keong (PKR - Wangsa Maju), said the appointment was for six months with a monthly fee of RM33,250.

On the rationale of acquiring the consultant service, Hisham-muddin said public relations between the force and public had to be developed in a more comprehensive and synergised manner.

“It is very critical to fix the negative perception from the people and baseless criticism from the media against the force,” he said.

Wow. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard in a while. And as you can probably imagine, I hear a lot of stupid things.

So. PRDM.. I’m sorry, PDRM - with all these deaths in detention amongst other things - has an image problem. What do we do?

Hire PR consultants to fix it :| For RM 200,000 :|

The bad image of the police does not arise from PR ignorance or lousy media relations.

It arises from the section of the force that is corrupt, abuse their powers, cause and allow death in custody, fail to provide public safety, make fun of crime victims who show up to report crimes, and so on. Fix that, then - and only then - do you fix the image problem.

To me, this epitomises the BN mindset. When they find shit (please pardon my French) on their hands, they completely ignore the option of cleaning the shit up.

Instead, they throw hundreds of thousands of ringgit at cronies (I think we all know the ex-NSTP connections of Fox Communications) to try and persuade the world that what is on their hands is not in fact shit, but roses.

Shit, my friends, cannot pass for roses.

So, what will we have at the end of this Musa/ng-led PR exercise?

Shit will still be shit, no one will believe it to be roses, the rakyat will be out RM  200,000 and some BN cronies will be RM 200,000  richer.

Ah, business as usual in BN bolehland.

The government should keep that money and get more patrol cars, hire more personnel, and invest in ways to make sure that cops don’t take bribes, or beat up helpless prisoners. *That* will go some way into turning shit into roses, not throwing money at Fox bleeding Communications.

PR consultants indeed. For my money, I think you should get the other PR (Pakatan) to run the show instead :P

Tags: Malaysian Politics // 16 Comments »

(this article isn’t as long as it seems, just skim through the gold bold parts if need be)

Lemme ask you a simple question: Do you believe BN minister Ng Yen Yen?

Malaysiakini:

Raub MP Ng Yen Yen today said that there is no cause for concern for the villagers of Bukit Koman adding that she had already looked into the matter three years ago.

“I met the residents, I met the committee, I brought up the specialist to see them, everything had been done (three years ago),”

She added that she had maintained her silence on the matter because when “people refuse to listen to scientific facts, one cannot talk reason”.

Villagers of Kampung Bukit Koman are facing health and environment problems after a gold mine operator started using cyanide in the extraction method in February.

The villagers reportedly began experiencing headaches, breathing difficulties and skin irritation after the company, Raub Australian Gold Mining Sdn Bhd (RAGM) began using cyanide in their operations.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, T Murugiah, on Thursday had given the green light to RAGM for the usage of cyanide in the mining process.

Ng said that the matter was closed with Murugiah’s statement.

She said despite her consultation with the residents, “they still went on and on and on”.

Scientific facts eh? Funny she didn’t really mention any. Let’s compare YB Ng’s ‘brilliant’ defence of big corporations with excerpts and scientific facts from the Memorandum by Bukit Koman residents:

1. Human health - The life and well-being of at least 3,000 residents of Bukit Koman living within a 2km vicinity to the RAGM mining premises are seriously threatened by the increasingly worsening air quality in the area. At least 300 villagers, including the elderly and children, have complained of suffering from different medical symptoms since the operation started in February 2009;

2. Ecological integrity - The integrity of surface water catchment and groundwater aquifer are seriously compromised. Detoxification of cyanide containing mine tailings and implementation of environmental monitoring plans, if carried out by RAGM, have not been made known to the public. However, the results of laboratory analysis of water samples collected by State Local Government, Environment and Health Committee on 25 May 2009 at the tailing pond detected 0.03mg/L cyanide, which is well above the Recommended Permissible level of below 0.2ppm (Part Per Million) held by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. Presence of cyanide-like odour in the atmosphere was sustained and evident;

The ground breaking ceremony of the CIL plant was held on March 2, 2007. As of February 2009, RAGM commenced operation of its CIL plant and an estimated amount of 1,500 kg of cyanide was used daily. The management of RAGM, when queried repeatedly by BKACAC, has failed on several occasions to produce sufficient proof that the storage, disposal and treatment of cyanide compounds and wastes are in full compliance with established local and international standards.

1. Repeated statement found in the Admission Document submitted to London Stock Exchange by Peninsular Gold Ltd (the parent company of RAGM) dated 17 June 2005, that cyanide detoxification MAY NOT be required for its operation in Malaysia particularly at the Bukit Koman site. To quote directly from the document, section 8.4.3.12 reads,

“…informed by Peninsular that cyanide destruction is not required by either the local authority, or the lender. Provision has been made in the capital cost for a detoxification plant, although its operating cost has not been included as it may not be required”.

(Imprima de Bussy, 2005)

2. Persistent and strong cyanide-like odour detected by the majority of Bukit Koman residents, since the RAUB CIL plant started operation in February 2009. More than 400 cases have been reported. Such odour has never been present in Bukit Koman in prior times. Various medical symptoms suffered by the residents after detecting the presence of such odour includes insomnia, vomiting, dizziness and skin rashes, with total number of reported cases exceeding 200.

3. Laboratory analytical results of water samples collected at May 25, 2009 by State Local Government, Environment and Health Committee and tested for total cyanide concentration. The results was 0.03mg/L which is well above normal background concentration in natural water bodies

4. Furthermore, two internationally reputable environmental scientists, Dr. Mark Chernaik and Dr Glenn Miller, when engaged by BKACAC to provide their expert opinion have concluded that:

“the operation of the proposed gold mine tailings processing facility would impose an unreasonable risk to the health and safety or persons residing in Bukit Koman”,

and due to the lack of information

“residents of Bukit Koman can reasonably apprehend that their groundwater and surface water supplies would be contaminated by the migration of toxic substances from effluent in the standing pond”.

Dr Glenn Miller visited Bukit Koman during June 2008 and both of they sit on the Steering Committee of International Cyanide Management Code which is partly an United Nations initiative to establish guidelines for the mining industry.

Undi.info:

PAHANG: P80 - Raub Voters: 46,454

Party Candidate Votes Majority MCA Datuk Ng Yen Yen 18,078 2,752 DAP Abu Bakar Lebai Sudin 15,326

Racial Breakdown Malay: 49.30%, Chinese: 43.50%, Indian: 6.40%, Others: 0.80%

If I had to hazard a guess, DAP didn’t really field someone they thought could win in this seat. I doubt Yen2 will be so lucky next time.

You are also strongly invited to read the heaps of examples of why cyanide is really bad for you at Zorro, Charles Hector, and The Malaysian Mirror.

Of course, you also want to check out the blog dedicated to this entire Bukit Koman issue: Against License to Kill.

The responsibility also falls on us. Will we keep allowing our friends to vote for BN MP’s, Ministers, state and federal governments who literally put gold above people’s lives?

Or are we gonna work to get people to vote for the kind of government that (although sometimes late in the game) works to defend the little guy?

For good measure, here’s a video from an older article:

Tags: Malaysian Politics // 6 Comments »

Grr.

Well, it’s just questioning, so we remain hopeful that it’s not a huge deal, but I definitely want to keep tabs on this. Sheih has the details:

Blogger Penarik Beca atau Bakaq Haq hari ini menerima panggilan telefon dari Bukit Aman memintanya hadir ke Ibupejabat Polis tersebut. Tiada alasan yang diberikan tetapi beliau diminta hadir bersama,

* Isterinya
* Seorang anaknya
* Nombor Telefon Tuan Rumahnya
* Bil Streamyxnya

That’s pretty odd. But I won’t try to make any prejudgments, we’ll see what happens.

Sheih goes on to speculate that bloggers who wrote extensively against Umno-Pas talks/’unity’ like Pak Bakq and himself may be being targeted.

Sounds a tad out there, but you never know with these crazy guys - so let’s keep vigilant, and Pak Bakaq in our thoughts and prayers.

Tags: Malaysian Politics // Add Comment »

SMS and AIB tell me that Anwar, Kit Siang and Nik Aziz will be talking on matters of unity and other issues Tuesday night (30th), 9pm at the Kelana Jaya stadium. Swing by if you’d like to hear from the horse’s mouth on all sorts of ongoing matters :)

Tags: Malaysian Politics // Add Comment »

Tsk, tsk - Najib isn’t able to come up with a single original idea of his own. Desperate to reclaim even an inch of the miles of non-Malay ground that he has lost, he resorts to adopting Pakatan policies.

Don’t take my word for it, check out PKR’s 2008 Manifesto, especially the section on education. Some quotes:

Furthermore, scholarships for overseas studies must be increased and guaranteed for students who attain a certain standard of achievement in their examinations. This will allow Malaysia’s best and brightest to reach their maximum potential and pave the way for them to bring back cutting edge skills and experience back into the country.

and

KeADILan’s vision for better education will:

1. Ensure universal access to high quality education by making school from kindergarten to university is completely free of charge for all Malaysians.

2. Guarantee government scholarships for students with a minimum of 4 A’s in their STPM and who are admitted into top international universities. Special attention will be given to poor families and students from rural areas.

Copycat.

Worse yet, he isn’t *really* making scholarships merit based, as the spin doctors would have you believe. Observe carefully:

A new category of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships will be introduced next year based purely on merit, regardless of race.

New category?! What the heck is that?

So, the government will award merit-based scholarships to….. five people? I like how there is absolutely no elaboration on this vague ‘new category.’

The likely truth of the matter - and how Najib is gonna sell this quietly to his dwindling Umno faithful - is that the main body of scholarships will be given out in exactly the same manner as all things NEP: on the basis of race, and to selected cronies at the expense of the poor.

Why do we need a ‘new category?’ Does it not merely perpetuate the division of society (one system for sejenis, another system for jenis-jenis yang lain?) - that same root of all barriers to unity in this country?

This of course, is entirely consistent. Look what Muhyiddin had to say on the exact same day to offset any backlash:

Umno will fight to the last drop of blood to protect Malay rights, the status of the Malay Rulers, Bahasa Malaysia and Islam.

I will fight to defend these too, but really, is it a coincidence that Umno chose to use such martial and violent analogies on that day? To the last drop indeed :P

And how merit based will it really be anyway?

Najib: “We will announce it next year and with the plan to limit the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia to 10 subjects, we expect to see a more level playing field,”

“So the best of the best and the creme de la creme will get aid for higher studies.”

Oh really? And how will you determine that?

I agree with YB Lim who said that maybe 20 SPM subjects is too much. But is say, 15 subjects, really too much? Or is this whole subject cap designed so that differentiating between 10A students can be done on a more ’subjective’ (read: discretionary) basis?

Once again, this subject cap gimmick not only prevents people from learning as much as they can and want too, it also is merely to save the government the embarrassment of not funding the real top scorers (and God alone knows why they haven’t, all these years).

So, while Najib plagarises Pakatan’s ideas, he’s obviously secretly evading any true change of heart. Are you gonna let him have his cake and eat it?

I think it’s obvious we would *never* see such changes if not for the electoral gains of 2008. The question now is whether we convert those gains to meaningful change in GE13, or whether we put up with these half-hearted, spin-doctored, con-jobs measures

*

The Star is so funny:

The new merit-based category of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships from next year has received overwhelming support from various quarters.

Various eh? Let’s look at the list of people quoted in the article, who do we see? MCA, MCA again, MIC, MIC again, Umno, Lee Lam Thye.

:|

I also enjoyed Anwar’s comments:

“The PKR policy has been in favour of aid to the deserving and the underprivileged irrespective of race. Now the BN wants to hijack our agenda. When we announced our agenda, I was derided as a Chinese agent, even a Jewish conspirator, among other things,” he chuckled.

“I wonder what they are going to call Najib now that he appears to be taking a leaf of our book,” said Anwar.

Tags: Malaysian Politics // 7 Comments »

I’m really quite shocked that Zambry and gang would have the gall to do the following. And as you can imagine, it’d take quite a bit to shock anyone anymore from those clowns.

But seriously, this reversion amounts to some hardcore political vengeance that really screws the people of Perak over - what gives Zambry? Blinded by rage, shame and uncontrollable fury?

Don’t take it out on the kids man.

The Malaysiakini article kinda says it all:

It looks like the Perak BN government is bent on destroying all people-friendly policies implemented by the previous Pakatan Rakyat administration.

When Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir took his office in February, he was reported as saying that BN would continue the people-friendly policies implemented during Pakatan’s 10-month rule.

However, this turned out to be a broken promise as about nine people-friendly policies have either been scrapped or put on the back-burner.

DAP state secretary Nga Kor Ming is disappointed with BN’s about-turn on the following Pakatan-implemented measures:

* 3,000 applications from residents of new and planned villages to convert their land titles from leasehold to freehold cancelled.

* 817 elected village headmen had their term of office terminated. The village chiefs have since filed a suit in the Ipoh High Court to be reinstated.

* The proposal to change the octagon Yak Tack Seng market along Jalan Osbone into a tourist centre scrapped.

* The uniform one-coupon parking system for vehicles, and at a discounted rate from April, for the whole state did not see daylight.

* The proposed RM38 million new bus terminal at Meru Raya in Jelapang grounded.

* The open-tender policy for approving government contracts, land and logging concessions reverted to the old system of closed tenders.

* The giving state land to religious schools and Chinese independent schools also scrapped.

* The policy of giving RM1,000 to the dependents of senior citizens who die too has been buried.

* The process of legalising the 134 new villages put on hold.

Tags: Malaysian Politics // 15 Comments »