A blogger was charged in a sessions court in Petaling Jaya today with posting a parody on his blog, aimed at Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB).
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) accused Irwan Abdul Rahman, 36, of using the Internet to send false comments, with the intention of hurting the feelings of others.
His defence counsel, Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos, said this is the first time a blogger is being charged under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for posting a parody or satire in his or her site.
If found guilty, Irwan (right), who is executive editor of The Malay Mail’s lifestyle and entertainment section and uses the blog name Hassan Skodeng, can be fined up to RM50,000 or not more than a year in jail or both.
So. What did this guy write? Is he suggesting we abolish the monarch, Malay rights, or nasi lemak?
KUALA LUMPUR — Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s premier energy provider today announced that they were taking legal action against the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) for organising the Earth Hour, a global movement that makes a stand against climate change by turning off all non-essential lights and electrical equipment for an hour every year.
In a Press conference, TNB president and CEO Dato’ Sri Che Khalib Mohd Noh said that the annual worldwide symbolic gesture, which this year would be observed this Saturday at 8.30pm, is nothing more than an ‘arrogant and thoughtless viral movement’ aimed to hurt power companies such as TNB.
CHE KHALIB: These people are inconsiderate
“Obviously these green-minded fellows think they’re really cute, organising such an irresponsible campaign,” said Che Khalib angrily. “They say ‘turn off your lights for an hour’ and people do. I bet that really makes them feel all powerful.
“What these western colonialists fail to grasp is how such drastic action affects the poor companies like us. One hour of unused electricity means an hour of wastage for TNB. Did you know that last year’s Earth Hour costed us millions in unrealised revenue?” asked Che Khalib, seething.
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I read the rest and I couldn’t for the life of me find anything in the least bit worthy of 1 year in jail or the god awful amount of RM 50,000.
Have TNB and the MCMC lost what little is left of their collective minds?
But even he can’t make up fiction stranger than these truths.
Comics like him and Zunar should be put on the government payroll and be made Tan Sri’s for their service to the public – helping us bear the unbearable.
I’m really seething.
I guess our only comfort will be to eventually watch TNB and MCMC make complete asses of themselves if they go through with this process.
It’s shocking how unaware some people can be of how utterly ridiculous they look when they do things like this.
It is like some big bearish oaf who’s too stupid to get the joke, and unable to stomach the possibility people are laughing at him, picks up a club and goes on a smash-everything-in-sight rampage. (sigh, sometimes, that’s like our entire government).
No gentleman of any intelligence would respond so virulently to something so inane.
Haihz. Well, Mr. Hassan, we’ll stand with you through this nonsense. In the meantime, TNB/MCMC/gahmen: Take American chill pill!!
January 2011 – that’s the date the Registrar of the Supreme Court has set for the Court of Appeal to hear Yong Vui Kong’s appeal against the High Court’s decision on his judicial review application.
Vui Kong’s lawyer was today informed that the appeal hearing has been set “for the week commencing 17 January 2011”.
On 26 August, a group of Malaysian lawyers and parliamentarians handed a memorandum to the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur asking for Singapore to show mercy to Vui Kong.
Vui Kong’s family, together with MP for Sabah, Datuk Chua Soon Bui, and supporters, paid a visit to the Istana on 24 August to plead for Vui Kong to be given a second chance. The family members handed over 100,000 signatures collected in both Malaysia and Singapore in support of the plea.
The campaign to save Vui Kong has gathered pace in recent weeks, with many non-governmental organizations, politicians (both from the ruling party and from the opposition), Buddhists associations and youth groups, giving their support to the clemency request.
As has been noted, that means one more New Year and prob Chinese New Year for this young man to continue making his amends – I’m very happy for him :)
I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to the Singapore government and their legal process for this brief reprieve. I think the whole world will look favourably on this decision.
Some may say it’s just a gimmick to delay the decision until after elections rumoured to take place later this year. I however, might not mind giving them the benefit of the doubt for now.
If they do have elections, I hope one of the issues will be how to reduce drug trafficking without disproportionate action on foot soldiers vs action against the real, big time drug kingpins.
In any case, let’s celebrate a few more days of life for Yong with some music, including Alfred Ho’s kind response to my request for Malay numbers :)
The BBC researches many different stories, it is the normal process of news and current affairs throughout the media that not all make it to air for a variety of editorial reasons.
In this case, it became clear in our research that any comprehensive interview with former Malaysia Today Editor Raja Petra Kamarudin would prominently feature issues that are currently the subject of a current court case in Malaysia, which raise issues of defamation.
The suggestion that the item was dropped due to political pressure is untrue. All BBC programmes adhere to the same strict editorial guidelines which ensure complete editorial independence and impartiality.
BBC Global News
Room 433CB, Bush House, PO Box 76,
Strand, London, WC2B 4PH
www.bbc.com/worldservice
www.bbc.com/pressoffice
Firstly, if this is genuine, isn’t the issue one of subjudice, not defamation? This doesn’t seem the kind of ‘mistake’ an institution like the BBC would make.
Well, we all know how long the fingers of the powerful can reach.
I spent a pleasant evening with a young reporter yesterday, who was filled with passion, a drive to do investigative reporting, and hoped to work for CNN one day.
I was reluctant at first to join any of the Merdeka twitter hash tags thing, thinking of Teoh Beng Hock, Kugan, Aminulrasyid, and the rest.
Manesh though reminded me of one of the things I most love about Malaysia – the immense pool of talent and potential we have.
I sometimes feel we have a government that has for too long depended on a repressed Malaysia to ensure its survival.
The PPPA is a perfect example of this. No advanced, progressive civilisation would need such a nonsensical law to suppress freedom of information.
It is the type of law used only by people in power paranoid about the truth coming out.
For some, the truth sets you free; for the proponents of this law, the truth will likely land them in jail :P
While we all get cynical about the short term prospects of our country, I think it’s important for people like us who read the news all the time, to remember that Malaysia will last much longer than 53 years; and somewhere down along that road, people like yesterday’s reporter, you and me, will make this country all it can be.
Bagaikan menahan lukah di pergentingan, UMNO dan para kuncunya tidak habis-habis menerkam apa jua kesempatan dan isu sebagai modal mempertahan survival politik perkauman mereka. Seperti biasanya, bagaikan jerat sudah mengena, UMNO dan para pendokongnya mengambil kesempatan ke atas tindakan beberapa pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat bukan Islam yang telah memasuki masjid dan surau baru-baru ini. Peristiwa Dr. Xavier Jayakumar berucap di dewan utama sebuah masjid di Taman Sri Andalas, Klang pada Ogos 2009 yang lalu, telahpun hampir dilupakan. Kini tindakan YB Teo Nie Ching (Ahli Parlimen DAP Serdang) masuk ke Surau Al-Huda, Kajang dan YB William Leong (Bendahari PKR, Ahli Parlimen PKR Selayang) masuk ke dalam Masjid At-Taqwa, Selayang Baru pula dijadikan isu besar.
Untuk menjelaskan pendirian kami mengenai isu ini, kami ingin membawa perhatian semua pihak kedudukan perkara ini dari perspektif fiqh (hokum Hakam Islam). Sekurang-kurangnya ada empat pandangan mengenai masalah ini. Pertamanya: Mazhab Hanafi yang membenarkan bukan Islam memasuki semua masjid. Keduanya: Mazhab Syafie yang membenarkan masuk kesemua masjid melainkan masjid Haram dan kawasan tanah haram Makkah. Ketiganya: Mazhab Hanbali yang membenarkan untuk memasuki masjidil haram dan lainnya setelah mendapat kebenaran dari umat Islam atas tujuan-tujuan yang munasabah. Akhirnya, Mazhab Maliki yang tidak membenarkan memasuki semua masjid melainkan kerana darurat kerja.
Beberapa peristiwa di zaman Rasulullah juga boleh dijadikan panduan. Baginda pernah membenarkan ramai orang-orang bukan Islam masuk dan tinggal lama di masjid. Rasulullah juga diriwayatkan pernah menerima tetamu Kristian dari Najran di dalam masjid Madinah, malah diizinkan oleh Nabi s.a.w untuk menunaikan sembahyang mereka di dalam masjid dan nabi menyebut kepada sahabat: “Biarkan mereka (untuk melunaskan sembahyang mereka)”
Kepelbagaian pandangan ini menggambarkan keluasan hukum Islam dalam persoalan yang digembar-gemburkan sebagai isu besar ini. Hakikatnya, majoriti ulama silam dan kontemporari jelas mengharuskan bukan Islam memasuki masjid-masjid biasa dengan syarat-syarat tertentu seperti keperluan mendapat keizinan umat Islam atau badan berkuasa Islam, mempunyai sebab yang munasabah dan menjaga adab-adab yang telah ditetapkan.
Oleh yang demikian, kami berpendirian bahawa adalah tidak wajar bagi siapa jua untuk menyempitkan sesuatu yang tidak jelas dari sudut nas-nasnya dan dalil-dalilnya. Apatah lagi jika kita sememangnya berpegang dengan mazhab al-Syafie sebagai mazhab rasmi umat Islam di Negara ini. Lebih jauh lagi, sikap menghalang bukan Islam memasuki masjid ini adalah bertentangan dengan semangat yang diputuskan oleh Muzakarah Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam Malaysia Kali Ke-90 yang bersidang pada 1 Mac 2010 telah memutuskan bahawa pelancong bukan Islam diharuskan memasuki masjid dan ruang solat dengan syarat-syarat yang telah ditentukan.
Amalan menerima bukan Islam memasuki masjid atas tujuan yang murni juga telah diamalkan di beberapa negara lain. Ia terbukti memberi nilai positif kepada keberkesanan pemahaman mereka kepada agama Islam, mengelakkan salah faham dan menjana interaksi yang harmoni dalam perhubungan di antara umat Islam dan bukan Islam.
Sewajarnya, para wakil rakyat PR demikian perlulah diberikan pujian kerana kesungguhannya dalam menjalankan tugasnya dengan baik kepada masyarakat majmuk di negara ini. Apatah lagi ia memang telahpun mendapat kebenaran pihak pengurusan masjid dan dilakukan pula atas tanggungjawab mereka sebagai wakil Kerajaan Negeri Selangor.
Kekecohan yang digembar-gemborkan hakikatnya akan memakan tuan. Inilah gambaran kegagalan UMNO selama ini dalam mendidik rakyat mengenai hakikat Islam. Sikap seperti ini akan menyuburkan pendirian fanatik melulu di kalangan orang Islam yang kurang berilmu. Lebih menghinakan apabila berita mengenainya ditokok tambah dengan pelbagai fitnah baru demi mencapai matlamat politik sempit yang diperjuangkan. Kita sentiasa mengingatkan bahawa umat Islam tidak boleh merelakan diri mereka terus dibelenggu dalam kerangka pemikiran sempit politik perkauman dan agama ala UMNO ini. Ini akan menjadikan kita semakin lesu dan masyarakat bukan Islam pula semakin menjauh dari kita. Yakinlah bahawa, kerja mereka ini akan menjadi sia-sia seperti mencari umbut di dalam batu.
Hakikatnya, tanpa mereka jangka, krisis yang mereka wujudkan ini akan menjadikan orang Melayu dan masyarakat Islam lebih memahami agamanya secara total dan lebih berkeyakinan bahawa Islam dan masyarakat Melayu akan lebih terjamin di bawah Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat pada masa depan. Inilah keyakinan kita kerana Islam itu tinggi dan merupakan agama yang membawa rahmat untuk seluruh alam.
DR MUHD NUR MANUTY
Pengerusi
Biro Pemahaman & Pemantapan Agama
Parti KeADILan Rakyat
28 Ogos 2010
This one time social political blogger has recently made his Youtube debut – I believe due to the great efforts of his wife Rufina :)
I think there are some 3-4 languages in the selection below alone :P Would love some videos of some nice Malay numbers tho, hehe. (I’ll update this more a bit later on :)
Anyway, I figured it’d be something nice to leave you with on the weekend :)
Much work to attend to, but just a quick chronicle of yesterday’s events. First stop was a press conference on the confiscations of Kim Quek’s book.
Along with Body 2 Body, 1FunnyMalaysia, Where is Justice, and hot on the heels of dismissals of TV producers and radio DJ’s, I think we are seeing a systemic clampdown on responsible free speech.
Thereafter, went upstairs for the launch of Say Sorry Day, inspired by the case of Yong Vui Kong.
I think it’s a great initiative with universal appeal – hope everyone will stay tuned!
Went to seen an ex-colleague who filled me in on lots of recent political dynamics, after which had a nice visit to Pasar Ramadan!
Firstly, can I say that Newsweek’s website for this is a total piece of crap. Higher tech is not necessarily better you idiots! Most important is ease of browsing and spreading info!
This post is sadly not as good as it could be, and i blame Newsweek :P
Nonetheless.
So, our friend Najib so proudly tweeted that we came in 37th in some poll on the 100 greatest countries. I thought the poll was worth a closer look.
So basically a whole bunch of ex communist bloc countries, Latin American countries well off the beaten path, and a BANKRUPT nation all polled ahead of us?
Still want to be proud?
A friend of mine, who prompted me to finally ‘forgive’ Newsweek long enough to write this, pointed out more:
* Surprisingly Kazakhstan is ranked #14 in education while Malaysia is #36.
* China and Vietnam have better health care than Malaysia’s #52 ranking
* Even Cuba beat us at “quality of life” coming in at #32 while we are at #48
* Mozambique comes in at #47 while Panama is #35 for “political environment” while we are ranked #54
Funny how ex-Eastern Bloc countries, freed from the “evils of communism” in the 1990′s, seems to be doing better than us who has had 53 years of independence. Duh!
Now, said friend had to go through a very painstaking process to gleam these details, which I can’t say I had the patience to.
What that means is that there must be many more…
.. oh screw it. I’m going to pick out one by one and list out at least notable countries that ranked higher than us in political environment. Suck it, Najib.
El Salvador, Indonesia, Peru, Dominican Republic, India, Mozambique, Mexico, Jamaica, Ghana, Brazil, Argentina, Botswana, Uruguay, Latvia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Romania, Panama, Croatia, UK, Hungary, South Africa, Chile, Greece, Costa Rica, Israel, Lithuania, Japan, Slovakia, Portugal.
Ok, I think that’s enough. So basically it’s like a a good chunk of Africa is better of politically than us?
Great jobla, Najib – you wanna prize?
ps- as Pratamad put it, in other news: Newsweek ranked worst ever ‘interactive inforgraphic’, hahaha :)
A book vendor, who was initially investigated under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), had discovered yesterday that she now faces a sedition charge instead.
Police officers paid Hawee Othman’s bookshop a visit in May and informed her that they were there to inspect a publication that had no permit.
During the search they confiscated four copies of ‘Isu Dalam Kartun’ monthly magazine by cartoonist Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, popularly known as Zunar (left), under the PPPA 1984.
They did not inform her of the particular section that she was charged with nor did the police charge sheet specify it.
Hawee tried to challenge the officers by showing them the publication number but was given another reason that the magazine “might have made reference to someone”.
She was stunned that the charge had been changed to section 4(1) of the Sedition Act 1948 when she was called to give a witness’ statement at the Segamat district police headquarters yesterday.
:| Had trouble getting the usual suspects so decide to take it out on a bookshop owner in.. Segamat?!?
Thank goodness Malaysiakini picked this up.
During a good lunch yesterday, talked about this insidious strategy by the authorities to really give book sellers a hard time, because they don’t want to attract foreign attention and bad press by ‘banning books’ outright.
Well, y’all can suck it ok? We will scream this nonsense from the rooftops.
This is no longer 1984, where you control all the media, and can decide what information is hidden any more.
STOP BULLYING!!
Hawee Othman: we all stand with you, and won’t let this bullshit go unnoticed.
They can call it whatever they want, we know it’s intimidation.
And you know what the worst part is?
Like Amir’s other book, this action is taken like a year after this book hit the shelves.
So what does that mean? If there really was some hardcore porn, or truly seditious material on the shelves, it’ll take a year before the authorities find out? wtf.
On another book:
Meanwhile, Zaitun told Malaysiakini that the ministry is not responsible for any seizure of the book ‘The March to Putrajaya’ by columnist Kim Quek.
“Perhaps the police took those books, but not us,” she said.
??
Once again, I think we are seeing (a very Malaysian) lack of coordination on their part, and maybe different factions with different power struggles of their own.
These book burners should really just relax. Battle ideas with ideas, not brute force!
You know, I think records will show that I didn’t give Dr. Chua a hard time for his err.. ‘hard’ time depicted above (except occasionally on Twitter, when I cannot resist similarly bad puns :)
But this last week this guy has been really getting my goat.
Firstly, I cannot stand this stupid sandiwara where he tries to champion Chinese rights by fighting with Umno about ‘bumiputera rights’ etc.
Come onlah, we all know the real issue is corruption, and MCA has more than done it’s part to let that rot flourish in our nation’s recent decades.
This, once again, shows that BN guys keep going back to old, SUPER BORING ZZZZ tactics – harping on PAS, calling for ISA detentions, etc etc. Omigoat, get over it already.
Where do I even start?
First he berlagak, then at the first sign of trouble, he makes a cowardly about turn. Haiyo.
That one never mind, when something genuine is threatened, like responsible freedom of expression – as in DJ Jamal’s suspension (we may not always agree with what people think, but by God they should be able to express themselves) – this fler hangs the victim out to dry.
98.8 FM = owned by Star = owned by MCA. If you can’t even defend your own DJ’s, and instead attack them by saying things like:
Jamal should be more responsible as a Muslim and should not mislead the people during the holy month of Ramadan.
This fler? Wants to preach moral values to others? Hmm.
And is that why he doesn’t care to defend his employee? Because he’s a Malay and a Muslim, not a Chinese in the Malaysian Chinese Association?
Any politician worth his/her salt should be ready to defend the right of an individual to express their opinion. No nation will ever really get that far in the ways that matter without this fundamental liberty (think of some of our neighbours).
Knowing full well how they feel, I wanted to express solidarity with Kim Quek, Amir Muhammad, Pang Khee Teik, Jerome Kugan, et al. Their two books pictured above have been confiscated from bookstores – years after their publication :P
(I can just imagine our government officials pouring over Body 2 Body: “Eh, maksud ‘and gave it to him’ itu… homoseks ke?” You got more speculation to add? :)
This ridiculous clampdown on fundamental rights of responsible freedom of expression is deplorable, and puts paid any delusions we might have of a reformed BN government.
It’s almost impossible to believe that they’d be so stupid as to think this would make them more popular in the long run. Perhaps they really have written off the urban areas completely.
As a number of students wanted to attend the session but were unable to make the time, we are having a second info session this Saturday.
Please do try to make it, or at least get in touch, if you’re serious about joining the class. It’s a little harder to take students in midway later.
Thanks!
*
This is an information session for all students interested in joining our classes for 2010 applications to top US universities.
The purpose of this session is for students and Nat to get to know one another, see what our classes are all about, and see whether working together towards that application will be a good fit.
Details:
Time: 11.30am, Saturday, 21st August
Venue: 58 Lorong Rahim Kajai 14, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (3rd Floor)
