KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - With ingredients such as high cholesterol coconut milk, clarified butter and sugar cane, the traditional Malaysian diet may be among the most unhealthy cuisines in the world.
But chefs in food-mad Malaysia, which touts itself as an Asian gastronomic heaven, are reinventing local cuisine due to a sharp jump in cases of obesity, diabetes and strokes in the Southeast Asian Muslim country.
Fattening coconut milk, an essential ingredient in Malaysia's spicy curries, is being shunted aside for nutritious soy milk. White rice is being replaced by brown rice and greens are playing a more dominant role on the menus of local restaurants.
Malaysian celebrity chef Ismail Ahmad has changed the menu of his restaurant Rebung in an old bungalow in Kuala Lumpur to include more vegetables and less meat.
"People want to look good, they want to look healthy," said the 47-year old who has added braised tofu, ferns and beansprouts in chili paste to his menu.
"Before, 70 percent of my buffet dishes was meat. Now I use more roots and vegetables," added Ismail, who said he cut sugar and rice from his diet after a battle with gout.
From fine dining lobster veloute to rice flour noodles fried in lard from street hawkers, food in Malaysia is often high in cholesterol and fat, with copious amounts of sugar and salt.
In a country where eating is a national pastime, Malaysians routinely drive miles in search of deep-fried dim sum in the northern town of Ipoh or curried offal rice in the island state of Penang.
But healthy eating is catching on.
Diets to lose weight and get healthy are popular, ranging from the classic low-carbohydrates, high-protein diets to fad diets of eating certain foods or adding herbal medicines to dishes.
At Purple Cane, an eatery in the Malaysian capital, tea is an ingredient in all its dishes ranging from fish to prawns.
"Our customers like something that's not oily," said K C Tan, a manager with the restaurant. "Tea is good for health, it brings down cholesterol and fat."
FOOD: A NATIONAL PASTIME
Malaysia has good reason to curb the widespread use of fats and sugars in local food as it has one of the highest rates of diabetes, strokes and heart disease in Southeast Asia.
In 2000, 7.6 percent of Malaysians over the age of 20, or 1.82 million people, were diabetic in a country of nearly 24 million people, according to the World Health Organisation. At around the same time, 6.7 percent of the population of Indonesia and 3.8 percent of the population of Thailand had diabetes.
Experts blame rising affluence, a sedentary lifestyle and a growing trend of working mothers for the rise in health problems.
"Generally people are eating more and eating higher-caloried food," said Tan Yoke Hwa, President of the Malaysian Dieticians' Association.
"We need to have more aggressive education and to impart information to the community, getting them to make the change."
More than two-thirds of Malaysians over 18 do not exercise, government statistics show. The number of overweight Malaysian adults rose to 29.1 per cent last year from 16.6 per cent in 1996, while obesity increased from 4.4 per cent to 14 per cent during the same period.
At the same time, public healthcare costs rose from 1 billion ringgit ($297.4 million) in 1983 to 6.3 billion ringgit in 2003. Health spending is expected to exceed 10 billion ringgit by 2010.
Food is plentiful, cheap and easily available in Malaysia. Night markets and hawkers on bicycles serve fast-food meals, while 24-hour eateries offer Indian chapati bread and ginger tea for anyone feeling peckish at three in the morning.
To deter the consumption of unhealthy foods, the government has banned fast food eateries from advertising during children's television programmes. Fast food chains are also required to detail the cholesterol, fat and sugar content of their items.
Chef Bong Jun Choi has noticed a change in eating patterns, with diners requesting less meat.
"Now people are more concerned about being healthy," said Bong who serves up Cantonese food at a five-star hotel in the Malaysian capital.
But not everyone is ready to give up traditional Malaysian comfort foods.
"Of course not," said S.C. Wong, a 34-year old lawyer, scoffing at the idea of trading oily fried noodles for a salad.
"I love food. I'm going to die anyway so I might as well eat hearty."
(Additional reporting by Tan Ee Lyn, editing by Megan Goldin)
=======================================================
Comment:
Well, this is a typical 'gourmet' tourist who authored this article. I would not jump to any conclusions and arrive at a benighted deus ex machina that Malaysian diet may be the most unhealthy cuisines in the world as this traveler did. This is a traveler's tale.
Malaysia does not tout itself as a gastronomical heaven - the tourists publicize it as so, and rightly so. That is why we have travelers who discard their diet and gorge theselves on the local food when they are here.
Who does not love eating when you have lip-smacking food?
Sure the food in Malaysia is not on the world's top ten most healthy diet spots. Then again can the author provide us with information about food in his/her her country? I have not met a person who does not love food from a place outside his/her country.
I personally love Columbian, Ethiopian, Greek, Italian, English, French and most European food. Heck, even hot dogs and burgers. I also love Asian food.
One must live in a country for a certain amount of time before one passes sweeping statements/generalizations.
You cannot do a 'research' based on a largely ephemeral journey, be it related to food or resorts. This is like a tourist who reads brochures and visits those places then writes about such places in Malaysia without knowing where the pot of gold really is.
The people of Malaysia are very conscious about diet and are consuming more greens and eating less red meat which is, I believe the 'staple' diet in the U.S.
I would like to ask the author what he/she means by "traditional" food? Do not forget that Malaysia is a pluralistic society and each ethnic group has its own cuisine.
Obesity is a global issue. It is not peculiar to one country alone.
Which country does not boast of being a haven for a bon vivant? Minus the 'fattening' ingredients, what do you call that dish?' I guess you call it salad. So you trot around the world and eat only salad?
Good food invariably comes with some caloric value. The problem in Malaysia is that fast food outlets are ubiquitous. To name a few... McDonalds, Burger King, Kenny Rogers, Pizza Hut, San Francisco Steakhouse among others and soon Roy Rogers may make it's way in here. The two big giants, Pepsi and Coke stealthily made their way in Malaysia. They are two of the best sellers in Malaysia - these are certainly not categorized as healthy food.
Vendors selling hot dogs and burgers are having a field day. This kind of food is certainly not 'traditional' to Malaysia but I would venture to say that it is quite a big part...almost part of the American culture...'traditionally' American.
This is what the government should curb. The ubiquitous Western fast food outlets.
However, parents are now discouraging children from binge eating such food - if you could call it that.
When I was in the U.S, I enjoyed BBQ sessions, red meat along with BBQ sauce. In France, I enjoyed the French cuisine. The U.S seems to delight in having BBQs whenever the sun comes up. I don't blame the people who love BBQs, I love it too but I believe like most Americans, I would certainly not make that my staple diet.
Like so, 'Malaysian' food has variety, to cater to everyone's taste buds. All things in moderation.
When on vacation, gorge and guzzle. There should be a certain amount of gluttony when traveling to countries. That is very much a part of anyone's vacation. Return and stick to your salad routine if you like.
Heck, indulge ( not overindulgence ) yourself in 'avariciously' consuming a variety of food, even high cholesterol coconut milk - after all, you are just passing through.
The author is merely whimsical and is heterodox in his/her opinions about cuisine. This is, a mediocre piece of work, lacking sadly in a thorough search of good food in the right places but that's the author's contorted perception of South East Asian cuisine.
If you have to tread on unfamiliar waters, a local well-versed guide would be useful.
Yes, you're right. This is Asia where food is spicy and scrumptious. Perhaps your insatiable appetite got the better of you when you were in Asia. You were dragged in by the aroma of appetizing food. Nothing wrong in whetting your appetite and devouring Malaysian food but remember to exercise moderation, no matter which country you are in.
Then again, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion no matter how vacuous it may be.
anon
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
IRENE FERNANDEZ: Defender of Human Rights wins Right Livelihood Award.
BBCF Home
The elegant and spacious halls of the Swedish House of Parliament are a long way from the jails and detention camps of Kuala Lumpur, but the two realities merged in Stockholm, December 9, 2005, when Irene Fernandez was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for, “"for her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers."
Irene & TW, Stockholm, 2005
The friendly, plump middle-aged woman with an open face, and a quick smile was out on bail, appealing her sentence, one year in prison for her human rights work. When Irene became a school teacher, a safe and respected profession, her parents were proud of her. They were initially dismayed when she left that security to form a highly political and insecure a grassroots organization in 1991 - Tenaganita, committed to establishing 'protective tools' for women. Her parents became understanding and supportive of Irene, as are her husband and children, when her work resulted in improving the lives of the oppressed and endangered. She lives in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur with her family, in a home full of life, talk, ringing phones and music. She is someone who could be a seemingly ordinary neighbour anywhere, but she has stepped outside her comfortable home to risk her life and freedom. Irene has never forgotten her roots.
In her acceptance speech, Irene said, “I am a product of migrant labour. My father was a migrant worker from Kerala, India. He worked in the rubber plantations during the British rule in Malaysia. I know the experience, the pain, anxiety and discrimination that we went through. And it is this part of my history that gives me the passion and the zeal to commit to promote and protect migrant workers and women affected by violence, denied rights, dignity and justice.
We never dreamt that the road we have walked and the journey we have taken together with a domestic worker violently abused, or rescuing and rebuilding the life of a Cambodian female child trafficked into Malaysia, or obtaining redress and compensation to a Bangladeshi or a Nepali worker or empowering the most marginalized communities would bring us today to be with you and gain the global recognition through this award. It is fantastic. It is motivating. And the communities we work with are celebrating. They celebrate because it brings a renewed hope that this global recognition will foster solidarity internationally to move forward the struggle in order to gain their dignity and claim their rights.”
I first met Irene at the 1995 UN Women’s Forum in Beijing; she was a strong and powerful presence at workshops and rallies, speaking knowledgably about workers in homes, construction, sweatshops and agriculture. She returned home to a life of uncertainty, harassment and a long legal struggle because
Tenaganita published her report on the conditions and abuses of migrant labourers in Malaysia from surrounding Asian nations: Abuse, Torture, Dehumanized Treatment and deaths of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres. Rather than investigate the detailed information in the report, the Malaysian government harassed Tenaganita even though it admitted that 46 people had died of beri-beri and other serious conditions in these camps.
In March, 1996 the Malaysian government came to her home and arrested Irene and charged her with “maliciously publishing false news.” In seven years, during Malaysia’s longest trial, she was in court more than 300 times to defend herself and her group, but never neglected the conditions of the workers she defends. She had the courage and passion to continue and to expand her work. She says she gets her strength from her community; she gets frustrated, but never depressed. She says that would be accepting defeat – something she will never do.
On October 17, 2003, the court found Irene guilty and sentenced her to one year in jail. The judge said, “The offence cannot be regarded lightly as it had tarnished the country’s image.” Throughout her long legal struggles, Irene and Tenaganita have never let up on their daily work of education, advocacy and action. On the legislative front, the organization succeeded in establishing reform amendments to rape laws, model contracts for overseas domestic helpers, and a domestic violence act, which opened up complaint procedures for victims.
Malaysia is a paean to modern economic development. Downtown Kuala Lumpur looks sleek and prosperous; the Petronas towers, among the tallest buildings in the world, full of glittering shops and happy shoppers, rise golden over the superhighways, parks and elegant homes. The airport is an architectural triumph and a traveller’s dream of glass, trees and efficient function. Malaysia avoided the Asian economic crisis of the nineties with strong currency controls and nationalistic banking regulation; its prosperity continues.
The hidden cost of this development is the essential, exploitive part of “economic miracles” in today’s world: cheap labour. Malaysia has more than 2 million foreign workers, some legal, some not; all subject to arbitrary mistreatment, confinement and expulsion; even those properly documented may be badly treated and denied basic human rights.
Irene places Tenaganita’s work squarely in the anti-globalization movement. She believes that economic prosperity and affluence for the global elite are based the oppression of many workers; the same struggle is played out everywhere.
“We struggle for equality and people's rights. The struggle in the region in each country is to reaffirm our democratic rights. Workers everywhere must be treated with the dignity and the human rights everyone deserves.” Irene says.
The Malaysian government, like all governments, undoubtedly knows this, hence the severity of the charges; if it admitted its exploitation, it would admit the failure of capitalism and globalization.
At the ceremony, she also said, “I believe that today what happens in Sweden will have repercussions for us in Asia. After all, we belong to one race, the human race and we have only one earth. This solidarity of people must ensure that we put people and the planet before profits. The earth we are given is not just for us but also for those who come after us. They need a tomorrow and that rests on us today. In Asia alone over 40 million people are on the move in search of work or anything to survive. There are over 60 million people, again in Asia, who go hungry each day. And more than half of humanity earns and lives on less than $2 euros/ day.
Migrant workers are forced to leave their loved ones, their homes and sell all they have because they can no longer survive in their countries where poverty, unemployment and hunger is increasing day by day. Confronted with this reality, the poor are becoming vulnerable. Feminization of migration, particularly in Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Sri Lanka is the norm of the day. Governments are more interested in exporting their last resource, the human being, as labour in order to get their remittances. The remittance is a source of foreign exchange to pay the countries' debts to the rich countries via the international financial institutions. In short, the human person has become a commodity to be bought, sold, resold, used and discarded like a piece of tissue. It is the modern day slavery.
It is a slavery that is growing. It is a slavery that is institutionalized and legalized through repressive regulations like the Malaysian Immigration laws and the laws of many developed nations. Gripped with current globalization strategies that are imperialistic and exploitative, people are made to believe that this form of trade and economic growth which embodies centralization of wealth and power is the panacea for hunger, poverty, conflicts and violence. It's a total illusion. It has devastated the lives of millions of people. It has robbed our communities of their resources, of our land and of our production processes. This form of globalization has turned every possible resource into a commodity. Let it be water, health or the human being, it has become a product, a commodity to be exploited for pure profit. The humanity in us is being numbed and killed. And we have to stop it.” (for her complete speech see: www.rightlivelihood.org )
Tenaganita’s work includes immediate and urgent action, long term advocacy and education and providing facilities and a forum for migrants and women workers, those who have and people at risk from HIV/AIDS , domestic workers, general health concerns, regional health networking with other countries, workers who require interventions upon arrest, detention and legal support and victims of trafficking. In 2002, the government banned paraquat after evaluating Tenaganita’s study: Poisoned and Silenced. Powerful corporate forces want the ban overturned.
In 2005 I nominated Irene Fernandez of Malaysia for the award; the prestige and publicity may help free her finally from the sentence hanging over her head. She was already dreaming of spending her prize when I talked to her in Stockholm: founding and funding an international grassroots network of migrant workers groups; setting up a new safe house for women who have been abused and are HIV+, expanding Tenaganita’s programs for agricultural workers and many projects which could use much more than her $100,000 prize. The campaign to free Irene, DEFEND THE DEFENDERS, has wide spread local and international support. See www.tenaganita.net for details.
Canadians who seldom face jail sentences for their work can take heart and direction for the work of social justice here; indeed, that an activist can receive honours and awards can be an inspiration for us all.
The elegant and spacious halls of the Swedish House of Parliament are a long way from the jails and detention camps of Kuala Lumpur, but the two realities merged in Stockholm, December 9, 2005, when Irene Fernandez was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for, “"for her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers."
Irene & TW, Stockholm, 2005The friendly, plump middle-aged woman with an open face, and a quick smile was out on bail, appealing her sentence, one year in prison for her human rights work. When Irene became a school teacher, a safe and respected profession, her parents were proud of her. They were initially dismayed when she left that security to form a highly political and insecure a grassroots organization in 1991 - Tenaganita, committed to establishing 'protective tools' for women. Her parents became understanding and supportive of Irene, as are her husband and children, when her work resulted in improving the lives of the oppressed and endangered. She lives in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur with her family, in a home full of life, talk, ringing phones and music. She is someone who could be a seemingly ordinary neighbour anywhere, but she has stepped outside her comfortable home to risk her life and freedom. Irene has never forgotten her roots.
In her acceptance speech, Irene said, “I am a product of migrant labour. My father was a migrant worker from Kerala, India. He worked in the rubber plantations during the British rule in Malaysia. I know the experience, the pain, anxiety and discrimination that we went through. And it is this part of my history that gives me the passion and the zeal to commit to promote and protect migrant workers and women affected by violence, denied rights, dignity and justice.
We never dreamt that the road we have walked and the journey we have taken together with a domestic worker violently abused, or rescuing and rebuilding the life of a Cambodian female child trafficked into Malaysia, or obtaining redress and compensation to a Bangladeshi or a Nepali worker or empowering the most marginalized communities would bring us today to be with you and gain the global recognition through this award. It is fantastic. It is motivating. And the communities we work with are celebrating. They celebrate because it brings a renewed hope that this global recognition will foster solidarity internationally to move forward the struggle in order to gain their dignity and claim their rights.”
I first met Irene at the 1995 UN Women’s Forum in Beijing; she was a strong and powerful presence at workshops and rallies, speaking knowledgably about workers in homes, construction, sweatshops and agriculture. She returned home to a life of uncertainty, harassment and a long legal struggle because
Tenaganita published her report on the conditions and abuses of migrant labourers in Malaysia from surrounding Asian nations: Abuse, Torture, Dehumanized Treatment and deaths of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres. Rather than investigate the detailed information in the report, the Malaysian government harassed Tenaganita even though it admitted that 46 people had died of beri-beri and other serious conditions in these camps.
In March, 1996 the Malaysian government came to her home and arrested Irene and charged her with “maliciously publishing false news.” In seven years, during Malaysia’s longest trial, she was in court more than 300 times to defend herself and her group, but never neglected the conditions of the workers she defends. She had the courage and passion to continue and to expand her work. She says she gets her strength from her community; she gets frustrated, but never depressed. She says that would be accepting defeat – something she will never do.
On October 17, 2003, the court found Irene guilty and sentenced her to one year in jail. The judge said, “The offence cannot be regarded lightly as it had tarnished the country’s image.” Throughout her long legal struggles, Irene and Tenaganita have never let up on their daily work of education, advocacy and action. On the legislative front, the organization succeeded in establishing reform amendments to rape laws, model contracts for overseas domestic helpers, and a domestic violence act, which opened up complaint procedures for victims.
Malaysia is a paean to modern economic development. Downtown Kuala Lumpur looks sleek and prosperous; the Petronas towers, among the tallest buildings in the world, full of glittering shops and happy shoppers, rise golden over the superhighways, parks and elegant homes. The airport is an architectural triumph and a traveller’s dream of glass, trees and efficient function. Malaysia avoided the Asian economic crisis of the nineties with strong currency controls and nationalistic banking regulation; its prosperity continues.
The hidden cost of this development is the essential, exploitive part of “economic miracles” in today’s world: cheap labour. Malaysia has more than 2 million foreign workers, some legal, some not; all subject to arbitrary mistreatment, confinement and expulsion; even those properly documented may be badly treated and denied basic human rights.
Irene places Tenaganita’s work squarely in the anti-globalization movement. She believes that economic prosperity and affluence for the global elite are based the oppression of many workers; the same struggle is played out everywhere.
“We struggle for equality and people's rights. The struggle in the region in each country is to reaffirm our democratic rights. Workers everywhere must be treated with the dignity and the human rights everyone deserves.” Irene says.
The Malaysian government, like all governments, undoubtedly knows this, hence the severity of the charges; if it admitted its exploitation, it would admit the failure of capitalism and globalization.
At the ceremony, she also said, “I believe that today what happens in Sweden will have repercussions for us in Asia. After all, we belong to one race, the human race and we have only one earth. This solidarity of people must ensure that we put people and the planet before profits. The earth we are given is not just for us but also for those who come after us. They need a tomorrow and that rests on us today. In Asia alone over 40 million people are on the move in search of work or anything to survive. There are over 60 million people, again in Asia, who go hungry each day. And more than half of humanity earns and lives on less than $2 euros/ day.
Migrant workers are forced to leave their loved ones, their homes and sell all they have because they can no longer survive in their countries where poverty, unemployment and hunger is increasing day by day. Confronted with this reality, the poor are becoming vulnerable. Feminization of migration, particularly in Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Sri Lanka is the norm of the day. Governments are more interested in exporting their last resource, the human being, as labour in order to get their remittances. The remittance is a source of foreign exchange to pay the countries' debts to the rich countries via the international financial institutions. In short, the human person has become a commodity to be bought, sold, resold, used and discarded like a piece of tissue. It is the modern day slavery.
It is a slavery that is growing. It is a slavery that is institutionalized and legalized through repressive regulations like the Malaysian Immigration laws and the laws of many developed nations. Gripped with current globalization strategies that are imperialistic and exploitative, people are made to believe that this form of trade and economic growth which embodies centralization of wealth and power is the panacea for hunger, poverty, conflicts and violence. It's a total illusion. It has devastated the lives of millions of people. It has robbed our communities of their resources, of our land and of our production processes. This form of globalization has turned every possible resource into a commodity. Let it be water, health or the human being, it has become a product, a commodity to be exploited for pure profit. The humanity in us is being numbed and killed. And we have to stop it.” (for her complete speech see: www.rightlivelihood.org )
Tenaganita’s work includes immediate and urgent action, long term advocacy and education and providing facilities and a forum for migrants and women workers, those who have and people at risk from HIV/AIDS , domestic workers, general health concerns, regional health networking with other countries, workers who require interventions upon arrest, detention and legal support and victims of trafficking. In 2002, the government banned paraquat after evaluating Tenaganita’s study: Poisoned and Silenced. Powerful corporate forces want the ban overturned.
In 2005 I nominated Irene Fernandez of Malaysia for the award; the prestige and publicity may help free her finally from the sentence hanging over her head. She was already dreaming of spending her prize when I talked to her in Stockholm: founding and funding an international grassroots network of migrant workers groups; setting up a new safe house for women who have been abused and are HIV+, expanding Tenaganita’s programs for agricultural workers and many projects which could use much more than her $100,000 prize. The campaign to free Irene, DEFEND THE DEFENDERS, has wide spread local and international support. See www.tenaganita.net for details.
Canadians who seldom face jail sentences for their work can take heart and direction for the work of social justice here; indeed, that an activist can receive honours and awards can be an inspiration for us all.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Samy Vellu correct about Dr.Mahathir-Indians marginalized
PARTI REFORMASI INSAN MALAYSIA (PRIM)
SUITE 8-10-5 (A) MENARA MUTIARA BANGSAR
JALAN LIKU OFF JALAN RIONG
BANGSAR 59100 KUALA LUMPUR
TEL: 03-22825241 / FAX: 03-22825616
MEDIA STATEMENT
31-5-06
SAMY VELLU IS CORRECT:
DR.MAHATHIR DID NOT DO AS PROMISED FOR THE MALAYSIAN INDIAN COMMUNITY IN HIS 25 YEAR RULE AS PRIME MINISTER.
Since
The recent statement by Cabinet Minister Dato’ Seri S.Samy Vellu that Dr.Mahathir did not do as promised to help the Malaysian Indian Community is true. Samy Vellu and the MIC have allowed themselves to be “used” by Dr.Mahathir and the ruling elite to shortchange the Indians in every Malaysian Development Plan. This is to justify their continued existence in the government and private sectors and being at the expanse of the poor Indians. Samy Vellu and the MIC repeatedly claim to be able to solve Indian problems but achieved almost nothing through government development plans. Even the very basic human necessities have not been addressed even after 50 years of
This is so much so that over the last 25 years the Indian poor in
Dr.Mahathir is primarily responsible for the current pathetic state of affairs befalling the Malaysian Indian poor as follows: -
1. KG.MEDAN GENOCIDE
The genocide against the innocent and unarmed people of Kg Medan in 2001 left 100 over killed and / or seriously injured still remains a mystery. The Malaysian Human Rights Commission refused to hold an inquiry while the State refused to hold a royal commission of inquiry. The courts / Attorney General refused to hold Inquests into the deaths contrary to Article 5 of the Federal Constitution and section 339 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Worst still only USD526.00 to a maximum of USD6, 578 for some victims being permanently maimed and / or loss of life cases was awarded for the said victims though RM136.8 billion was approved for the 2006 budget (The Star Online, Friday, September 30th, 2005)
2. VICTIMISATION BY POLICE /STATE
Studies have revealed that the Indian poor form about 60% of suspects shot dead by the police including an 8-month pregnant Indian lady, 60 % of innocent people dying in police custody, 60% of suspects / detainees in police lockups and other detention centres. Latest update, Malay Mail, October 3rd 2005 at page 4, 4 ethnic Malaysian Indian men (mere suspects) were shot dead by the police in one day and in one incident. There was zero outcry from the “Malaysian civil society” as opposed to the London underground suspected bomber who was shot dead and getting worldwide attention and the Prime Minister of the UK apologizing despite being a country at war (Malay Mail, October 3rd, 2005 at page 3) and “Senior cop to be charged” New Straits Times, October 9th 2005 at page 29.
Gory pictures for Items 1 and 2, click here
http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com/index.php?ucat=13
http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com/index.php?ucat=12
3. NO EFFECTIVE LEGAL AID
Out of the aforesaid 60% suspected ethnic Indian criminals, almost 95% of them plead guilty when they may not necessarily be guilty. Most of the crimes they commit (if any) are poverty related. They cannot afford legal fees and neither is there an effective legal aid system. They spend long prison sentences and come out of prisons to be more hardened criminals and potential terrorists.
4.
5. MEDICAL SEATS
Medical seats in the
6. TAMIL SCHOOLS
80% of the 523 Tamil schools (ethnic minority Malaysian Indian schools) are in dilapidated conditions with almost no sports, recreational, computer, library and other basic facilities accorded to National Schools and is still not made fully aided government schools when primary school education has been made compulsory by law. To the contrary, the prime minister announced a sum of RM1.8 billion for primary and secondary schools in the 2004 budget (NST 13/9/2003 at page 12 (Note: all the above are in breach of Article 8 (equality before the law and Article 12 (rights to education) of the Federal Constitution and the Education Act 1968. About 95% of these Tamil schools do not have kindergartens unlike 99% in national schools which has the same.
7. HINDU TEMPLE DEMOLISHMENT
Malaysia is about the one and only country in the world where one Hindu temple / shrine is unlawfully broken down by the state authorities in every three weeks contravening article 11 (freedom of religion) of the Federal Constitution and the Penal Code. The emergency ordinance (outdated by about 40 years) is often used to legalise their actions. There have been reported cases of policemen torching temples, motolov cocktails thrown into temples by policemen and state authorities or they are simply burnt down or bulldozed down.
8. MAJORITARIAN RULE THROUGH THE CIVIL SERVICE, POLICE AND ARMED FORCES
About 97% of the Civil Servants, police and armed forces personnel are form the majority Malay Muslims. This “force” is used to rule by “majoritarian might” at the expense and violations of fundamental Human Rights and victimization of this ethnic minority Malaysian Indians.
9. TOKEN PARTICIPATION IN THE CIVIL SERVICE
Discrimination in employment in the Civil Service sectors (Indian participation in the civil service reduced from about 40% in 1957 to about 2% in 2003. This remaining 2% of these Indians largely work in the clerical and industrial manual group (IMG) levels. Senior, Middle level and executive level civil service jobs are almost exclusively for the majority Malay Muslims. For promotions etc there is no equal opportunity. This is contrary to article 8 (equality before the law) of the Federal Constitution.
10. DISCRIMINATION IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR
The economy is controlled by the ethnic Chinese minority. The Government has “forced” the Chinese to “accept” average Malay Muslims into the top levels of the business and corporate sectors. Only the cream of the ethnic minority Indians (about 1%) make it in the private sector
11. NO BUSINESS LICENCES / OPPORTUNITIES
Mearge or no business licences / opportunities / small businesses / commercial licenses for Malaysian Indians to run businesses resulting in less than 1% Indian participation in the country’s economic wealth. (and that too believed to be largely held by one state sponsored Indian millionaire).
12. LOWEST PER CAPITA
Studies have revealed that Indians have the lowest per capita income of only about RM 1000.00 per month when the national per capita income is projected at RM17,741 in the 2006 budget (The Star Online September 30th 2005) This is about 98.3% below the national average. At the ground we are aware of many ethnic Indian families earning a mearge RM450.00 (USD 118.00) per month.
13. ABUSE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Everyday even ethnic minority Indian women and children are not spared. As part of interrogation by the police, an Indian lady was told to perform oral sex on another male detainee at the Rawang police station. Her husband was then brought in naked before her and her daughter. She was then told that her 18 year old daughter would be raped later that night.
Another 14 year old ethnic minority Indian boy was arrested from his house and was told to do 150 push ups in police custody. When he stopped at 20 he was kicked with police boots which broke his leg.
14. LABOUR CLASS
Hopelessness, poverty and lack of opportunities leads to high Indian involvement in crime arising out of poverty. 80% of ethnic Malaysian Indians have degenerated into becoming laborers, Industrial Manual Group (IMG) workers, office boys, security guards, public toilet cleaners, general workers, road sweepers, beggars, squatters, criminals, gangsters etc, as a result of the nearly 50 years of direct discrimination by the state / government.
15. ETHNIC MALAYSIAN INDIAN POOR
Indians form sixty percent (60)% of urban squatters and forty-one (41)% of beggars (the economist 22/2/2003). About 80% of this community is in the poor and / or hardcore poor bracket but receives the least attention as they don’t have any political clout locally and / or their plight not properly ventilated by the NGOs, Opposition parties and the Malaysian civil society locally and / or internationally.
16. POVERTY AMONG ESTATE WORKERS / URBAN LABOURERS
Fifty-four (54%) of Malaysian Indians work as plantation or urban underpaid laborers. (Asiaweek 26/1/2002)
17. PATHETIC MONTHLY WAGES
After 46 years of independence the state has capped the monthly salary of plantation workers at RM325.00 (USD85.00) per month and RM 350.00 (USD92.00) per month for rubber tappers.
18. POOR STUDENTS
RM200 million was allocated to assist poor students to continue with their education (NST 13/9/2003 at page 12) but it is doubtful if even 1% of the ethnic minority Indians benefit from this allocation.
19. EMERGENCE OF A NEW ETHNIC MALAYSIAN INDIAN CRIMINAL CLASS
Over the last 25 years a new ethnic Malaysian Indian criminal class has emerged as a result of the aforesaid years of direct discrimination, oppression and suppression. High incidences of crime, violence, slashings and killings largely among themselves take place even over the most mundane issues and / or is poverty related.
20. SQUATTERS
Due to rapid development large plantations have been developed resulting in the plantation workers being displaced and forced to become squatters. Their squatter colonies are in turn demolished to make way for development with no or little alternative housing. Classical case of poverty leading to further poverty.
21. ORPHANS / OLD FOLKS
The majority of orphanages and old folks homes are filled up with members of this ethnic minority Indian community. This is yet another clear indicator of poverty.
22. SKILLS TRAINING
Access to even the lowest level skills training Institutions are deprived for this community resulting in most of them remaining unemployed or unskilled workers. Even at the NTS Arumugam Pillai skills training Institute which was build on funds derived from the dissolution of the South Indian Labour Fund, not even a single ethnic Malaysian Indian student was admitted in the first intake.
23. UNDOCUMENTED ETHINC MINORITY MALAYSIAN INDIANS
Despite 48 years of Independence, there are thousands of ethnic minority Malaysian Indians left being undocumented, without birth certificates, identity cards, marriage certificates etc. This in effect precludes and excludes them from even the formal primary schooling structure what more obtaining licences to run a business or from securing employment. (c/f almost all aboriginal people in the remotest areas
24. HIGHEST SUICIDE RATE
Indians have the highest suicide rate in the country because of primarily poverty or poverty related matters, loss of loved ones for example, divorce, etc. Health Minister Datuk Chua Soi Lek stated ,”For Indians, 21.1 persons for every 100,000 suicides, Chinese 8.6 persons for every 100,000 suicides and for Malays 2.6 persons for every 100,000 suicides (Sadatul Nahir and Rosli, Utusan Malaysia 12/9/2005)
25. NO INDEPENDENT MEDIA
The local print and electronic media gives this community the lowest priority though they suffer the most serious discrimination, victimisation and violations of human rights. The local media too plays to the gallery and almost often highlighting “majoritarian issues”/ issues which carries mileage. The International media prefers
26. UNCARING INDIAN PROFESSIONALS / BUSINESSMEN.
Indian professionals and businessmen do not care and / or shy away and / or out of fear of the government keep away from the real problems befalling on this community. They want to be seen to be “multi-racial” / “non racist” and / or championing “majoritarian” issues arising out of minority complex / inferiority complex syndrome.
27. LEAST ATTENTION BY THE OPPOSITION PARTIES NGOS’ AND CIVIL SOCIETY.
Because this community is politically, economically and internationally insignificant and where there is not much “mileage” to be made, and / or no local and / or international funding, even the opposition parties, NGOS’ and the Malaysian civil society generally give this community the least attention and /or prefer to play to the gallery and / or the “majoritarian issues” and / or rather focus on where there is local or international “mileage” to be made. In short they too are generally “selective” in championing even the worst violated cases / issues and / or Human Rights issues. (Refer Latest Open Letter dated 5/9/2005 by 30 Malaysian NGOs campaigning for all issues concerning merely the majority community / internationally acclaiming issues except the most serious affecting the Malaysian Indians) Click here for the open letter http://www.policewatchmalaysia.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1128570956&archive=&start_from=&ucat=16&
28. THE MALAYSIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AND THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE POLICE REFUSE TO REPORT THE TRUTH
The Malaysian Human Rights Commission and the Royal Commission on the Police have continuously refused to report even the most serious violations of human rights by the state against this community. For example the Kg.Medan genocide, shootings to death of suspects, some deaths in police custody and the gunpoint attack on a human rights lawyer.
29. INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY?
The independence of the judiciary has been put to question in the aforesaid -Kampung Medan genocide for example when the High Court struck out with costs a civil suit by a victim bring a class action against the Malaysian Human Rights Commission for failing to hold an Inquiry without even hearing the merits of the case which the victims believe is because all the victims were ethnic minority Malaysian Indians and the attacks are believed to be state sponsored. Most other such cases against the state authorities are dismissed in a similar fashion or at the end of the trial.
30. INDEPENDENT ATTORNEY GENERAL?
The Attorney General has not been independent in many instances where he has acted partially in prosecuting lawyers / activists for defending the rights of this community and / or for failing to initiate Inquests into custodial deaths / deaths by police shootings of suspects and / or for failing to prosecute police criminals / authorities and / or for failing to act without fear or favour.
31. GOVERNMENT BODIES / INSTITUTIONS NOT INDEPENDENT
Almost all government institutions including hospitals, police, chemistry registration department etc are biased and in favour of the government and have been known or engaged in “covers up” in favour of the authorities and against the people and in particular the ethnic minority Malaysian Indians.
32. NO FUNDING FOR NON PRO-GOVERNMENT NGOS
No funding is granted by the Government for almost all non pro-government NGO’s with which they would be a million times more effective.
33. FEAR FACTOR
This community as a result of the years of oppression and suppression and the factors hereinabove mentioned has turned out to be a fear riddled community. They are fearful to stand up for even the worst form of violations, victimisation, discrimination and human rights abuses against them. The fatal factor is that they even get the least support from even NGOs, Opposition parties and the “Malaysian Civil Society”.
CONCLUSION
We hereby call upon the Prime Minister and the Government of Malaysia to stop the sidelining and marginalising especially the Malaysian Indian poor.
We call upon for the creation of equal opportunities for all Malaysians including and not excluding the Malaysian Indian poor. As an immediate and urgent step forward we call for the extension of all affirmative action plans and programmes for the majority Malay/Muslim community also to be extended to all the Malaysian Indian poor.
We finally hope that Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi does not also “do a Dr.Mahathir” at the end of his tenure as Prime Minister.
Thank you
Yours faithfully
P. Uthayakumar
Secretary General (Pro-Tem)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
20/11: Maya is monsoon cup envoy
Maya KarinThe Star
competitions.
T-Best Events, the organisers, said the Monsoon Cup offers a prize purse of RM1mil, making it the richest sailing event in the world.
Monday, November 19, 2007
19/11: Lingam's brother spills the beans
By Alang Bendahara and David Yeow
New Straits Times
The younger brother of lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam has alleged he was privy to various acts of "corruption" involving judges.
V. Thirunama Karasu lodged a police report in March detailing his brother's alleged relationship with two former chief justices, several judges and a former inspector-general of police in the mid and late 1990s.
Malaysian Democratic Party secretary-general Wee Choo Keong released the police report at a press conference yesterday.
Among other things, Karasu alleged that he used to send his brother to a former chief justice's house just before midnight and pick him up an hour or so later and that he had delivered handphones and briefcases to several judges, adding he had paid the handphone bills of a former inspector-general of police.
Karasu, met at his house, said: "I did not give Wee consent to announce the police report. But the contents of the police report are true."
He said he was willing to testify before the proposed royal commission to investigate the Lingam video clip.
Asked why he decided to make a police report implicating himself and his brother, Karasu claimed it was a mixture of guilt and threats on his family.
Karasu, a former electrician with Tenaga Nasional, claimed he was asked by his brother to join the latter's firm in 1995 to run errands for him but he quit in 1996.
Earlier, Wee said Karasu contacted him 10 days ago by phone, claiming he had evidence in relation to the Lingam video clip which showed the lawyer allegedly discussing judicial appointments with a top judge.
"He asked for my help and explained it over the phone. But as it is an important issue, I persuaded him to meet me personally to discuss the details and that is when he gave me a copy of the police report.
"He is an important witness in the case and I revealed his identity to make sure the soon-to-be-established royal commission uses his statement in its investigation.
"Although this may be risky, the police and attorney-general already know of him and the report."
Wee described the contents of the police report as alarming and asked why the police and attorney-general had not acted as the report had been lodged eight months ago.
He said he would forward a copy of the police report to the Bar Council and the acting chief justice, urging them to take action. He also claimed that he had the unedited version of the Lingam video clip which showed the identity of the person who had made the recording.
He said Karasu was not the one who took the video.
Lingam could not be reached for comment.
Karasu's allegations
THESE are some of the allegations made by V. Thirunama Karasu in his police report dated March 19:
- He witnessed the handing-over of a cheque for RM50,000 to an Industrial Court chairman;
- He helped host a dinner at Lingam's house for a former chief judge of Malaya and his wife and children.
Also present were a former Court of Appeal judge and his wife;
- He was asked to deliver a new leather briefcase containing several documents, a wallet and a lady's leather handbag to the house of a former chief judge of Malaya;
- He had on several occasions sent Lingam to a former chief judge of Malaya's house at 11.30pm, from which Lingam would emerge around 12.30am or 1am;
- He was given cash to purchase a handphone for a former chief judge of Malaya.
The handphone was later delivered to the former chief judge of Malaya by a family friend;
- He delivered a handphone to a former judge in Kuala Lumpur and that the former judge had asked him for extra batteries for the handphone.
The handphone line was registered under the name of the former judge's wife;
- He sent a heavy briefcase to a Court of Appeal judge;
- He and a family friend were told to deliver two handphones to a Court of Appeal judge; and
- He was given cash to settle the handphone bills of a former inspector-general of police.
New Straits Times
The younger brother of lawyer Datuk V.K. Lingam has alleged he was privy to various acts of "corruption" involving judges.
V. Thirunama Karasu lodged a police report in March detailing his brother's alleged relationship with two former chief justices, several judges and a former inspector-general of police in the mid and late 1990s.
Malaysian Democratic Party secretary-general Wee Choo Keong released the police report at a press conference yesterday.
Among other things, Karasu alleged that he used to send his brother to a former chief justice's house just before midnight and pick him up an hour or so later and that he had delivered handphones and briefcases to several judges, adding he had paid the handphone bills of a former inspector-general of police.
Karasu, met at his house, said: "I did not give Wee consent to announce the police report. But the contents of the police report are true."
He said he was willing to testify before the proposed royal commission to investigate the Lingam video clip.
Asked why he decided to make a police report implicating himself and his brother, Karasu claimed it was a mixture of guilt and threats on his family.
Karasu, a former electrician with Tenaga Nasional, claimed he was asked by his brother to join the latter's firm in 1995 to run errands for him but he quit in 1996.
Earlier, Wee said Karasu contacted him 10 days ago by phone, claiming he had evidence in relation to the Lingam video clip which showed the lawyer allegedly discussing judicial appointments with a top judge.
"He asked for my help and explained it over the phone. But as it is an important issue, I persuaded him to meet me personally to discuss the details and that is when he gave me a copy of the police report.
"He is an important witness in the case and I revealed his identity to make sure the soon-to-be-established royal commission uses his statement in its investigation.
"Although this may be risky, the police and attorney-general already know of him and the report."
Wee described the contents of the police report as alarming and asked why the police and attorney-general had not acted as the report had been lodged eight months ago.
He said he would forward a copy of the police report to the Bar Council and the acting chief justice, urging them to take action. He also claimed that he had the unedited version of the Lingam video clip which showed the identity of the person who had made the recording.
He said Karasu was not the one who took the video.
Lingam could not be reached for comment.
Karasu's allegations
THESE are some of the allegations made by V. Thirunama Karasu in his police report dated March 19:
- He witnessed the handing-over of a cheque for RM50,000 to an Industrial Court chairman;
- He helped host a dinner at Lingam's house for a former chief judge of Malaya and his wife and children.
Also present were a former Court of Appeal judge and his wife;
- He was asked to deliver a new leather briefcase containing several documents, a wallet and a lady's leather handbag to the house of a former chief judge of Malaya;
- He had on several occasions sent Lingam to a former chief judge of Malaya's house at 11.30pm, from which Lingam would emerge around 12.30am or 1am;
- He was given cash to purchase a handphone for a former chief judge of Malaya.
The handphone was later delivered to the former chief judge of Malaya by a family friend;
- He delivered a handphone to a former judge in Kuala Lumpur and that the former judge had asked him for extra batteries for the handphone.
The handphone line was registered under the name of the former judge's wife;
- He sent a heavy briefcase to a Court of Appeal judge;
- He and a family friend were told to deliver two handphones to a Court of Appeal judge; and
- He was given cash to settle the handphone bills of a former inspector-general of police.
19/11: Fourth charge - for abuse of power
By LOURDES CHARLES
The Star
Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Director Datuk Ramli Yusoff will be slapped with a fourth charge – for abuse of power – in Sabah today.
Ramli, who was a former Sabah Commissioner of Police, is expected to be produced in a Sessions Court here on charges under Section 15 of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The senior officer was charged in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 1 with not disclosing information about two office units belonging to his sisters and on shares which he allegedly owned.
He is on RM20,000 bail and has been suspended from his post.
Ramli has returned from performing the umrah in Mecca with the Kelantan royalty.
It is learnt that the latest charge against Ramli, 55, is centred on allegations that he had used a Cessna aircraft belonging to the Police Air Wing to inspect his land project in Lahad Datu.
ACA deputy director-general Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed confirmed that Ramli would be charged here.
The senior officer, in his capacity as a public servant, was also charged with being involved in business as a company director.
He claimed trial to all three charges at a Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Ramli, who rose from the ranks to be among the top cops in the country, is the most senior police officer ever to be charged in a corruption case in the country.
The Nov 1 charges against him were:
THAT he failed to reveal information on two office units in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, which belong to his elder sister Rohmah @ Hasmah and younger sister, Roslina.
The two units are worth RM1mil. The two sisters are directors of an investment holding company, Bonus Circle Sdn Bhd.
THAT he failed to disclose information on 154,000 units of shares worth about RM200,000 in a property company, Permaju Industries Bhd, at the same place and time.
THE third was a summons charge where he was accused of unlawfully engaging in business in Kinsajaya Sdn Bhd on April 25 last year.
If convicted, Ramli could be sentenced to 20 years’ jail and fined a maximum of RM100,000 on each of the two charges under Section 32(2) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.
The Star
Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Director Datuk Ramli Yusoff will be slapped with a fourth charge – for abuse of power – in Sabah today.
Ramli, who was a former Sabah Commissioner of Police, is expected to be produced in a Sessions Court here on charges under Section 15 of the Anti-Corruption Act.
The senior officer was charged in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 1 with not disclosing information about two office units belonging to his sisters and on shares which he allegedly owned.
He is on RM20,000 bail and has been suspended from his post.
Ramli has returned from performing the umrah in Mecca with the Kelantan royalty.
It is learnt that the latest charge against Ramli, 55, is centred on allegations that he had used a Cessna aircraft belonging to the Police Air Wing to inspect his land project in Lahad Datu.
ACA deputy director-general Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed confirmed that Ramli would be charged here.
The senior officer, in his capacity as a public servant, was also charged with being involved in business as a company director.
He claimed trial to all three charges at a Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Ramli, who rose from the ranks to be among the top cops in the country, is the most senior police officer ever to be charged in a corruption case in the country.
The Nov 1 charges against him were:
THAT he failed to reveal information on two office units in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, which belong to his elder sister Rohmah @ Hasmah and younger sister, Roslina.
The two units are worth RM1mil. The two sisters are directors of an investment holding company, Bonus Circle Sdn Bhd.
THAT he failed to disclose information on 154,000 units of shares worth about RM200,000 in a property company, Permaju Industries Bhd, at the same place and time.
THE third was a summons charge where he was accused of unlawfully engaging in business in Kinsajaya Sdn Bhd on April 25 last year.
If convicted, Ramli could be sentenced to 20 years’ jail and fined a maximum of RM100,000 on each of the two charges under Section 32(2) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.
19/11: Adieu to the 'Asean Way'
By KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN
Asian Wall Street Journal
Since its founding, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has deftly balanced the interests of its members, anchored regional geopolitical stability, and launched moves toward a free trade area. Much of this success was due to the so-called "Asean way," a policy of noninterference in member states' internal affairs. Decisions were made by consensus, effectively giving every member a veto. Confrontation and, at times, even honesty, were considered serious diplomatic faux pas.
As useful as the "Asean way" was in managing regional ties during past eras of autocratic leadership and the early years of nation-building in member states, it is time for Asean to slaughter its most sacred cow. This week, the group's leadership will meet in Singapore to decide on a new Charter that has been drafted by a group of Asean's former statesmen. The Charter aims to recast Asean as a rules-based organization with enough teeth to enforce its rules on member states, especially those who have repeatedly hidden their bad behavior behind the grouping's international credibility.
At stake is nothing less than Asean's future. The "Asean way" has proved a double-edged sword. It has allowed for a top-level, generalized commonality of purpose in creating a peaceful and prosperous region. Not interfering with your neighbors creates a lot of goodwill. At the same time, the "Asean way" has also excused egregious human-rights abuses and hampered effective action in many key transborder issues, such as economic integration and environmental degradation.
Among other things, the Charter proposes a new decision-making process which will allow members to vote on some issues, thereby breaking the chokehold that consensus has on efficacy. It calls for a human-rights commission, a strengthened secretariat and a biannual "council meeting" of government leaders to speed decision-making beyond Asean's current once-a-year summit. Most significant is a proposal to give Asean the power to suspend members who violate agreements, or act in a manner which breaches the association's objectives.
If these recommendations are adopted, Asean's commitment to reform will immediately be tested by how it will deal with Myanmar's generals. Under the old "Asean way," Myanmar's 1997 admission into the grouping was defended by other members as a form of "constructive engagement" with Yangon. Asean believed inclusion would lead to moral suasion, and eventually, toward democracy and good governance. Trade and investment between Myanmar and fellow Asean countries benefited both sides. For the generals, Asean membership afforded the country an international platform, and took the edge off Myanmar's pariah status, forcing other countries to deal collectively with the grouping, even though they would not deal with Myanmar individually.
But the events of the past few weeks in Myanmar have reminded us in no uncertain terms of what was becoming increasingly obvious: Engagement and appeasement has not worked. Indeed, Asean had little choice but to censure Myanmar in the strongest possible way -- in itself, a very un-Asean thing to do. Myanmar represents the biggest embarrassment for Asean and with graphic images of the violent suppression of monks and activists beamed globally, there was no "Asean way" out this time around. Although Yangon has shown through its cozy relations with China that it is not entirely dependent on Asean, the grouping must demonstrate that it is willing to wield its new powers against those who refuse to play by the rules. The Charter must mean a very real threat of suspension from Asean if Myanmar refuses to restore democracy immediately in a manner acceptable to the majority of the Burmese people.
* * *
Asean's long-term relevance will also be determined by its ability to boost economic growth through greater integration. For decades, the original Asean members benefited from uncontested flows of foreign direct investment which fed an export boom that exponentially raised living standards and built impressive infrastructure. Today, the flows of capital are no longer uncontested. China and India have emerged as the Asian growth stories of this century. Even within Asean, the five founding members -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- can only watch as Vietnam replicates their earlier success.
Although plans for a free trade area have been accelerated, the reality of economic integration is not encouraging. Intraregional trade fell in the initial years of the Asean Free Trade Agreement, inked in 1992. Companies are discouraged from taking advantage of common preferential tariffs because of the red tape involved. Prices for the same goods vary significantly across the region.
Companies want to view Asean as a single production platform where flows of goods, services, workers and capital are open, smooth and predictable. Asean makes a big deal about its combined market size of more than half a billion people. It counters the rise of China with a "China plus one" sales pitch, with Asean being that "plus one." But its attractiveness as an investment destination with a sizable market only works if there is seamless economic integration. Although it may be far too premature to talk about an economic and monetary union in the model of the European Union, the creation of a customs union and later a common market must be a priority if Asean is going to make good on its promise of offering investors a single production platform.
* * *
The Charter's recommendations were, interestingly, put forward by former Asean leaders -- such as former Philippines President Fidel Ramos, former Indonesian Foreign Minster Ali Alatas, and former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam -- many of whom were practitioners of the "Asean way" during their time in office. Having once been part of the system, it is significant that they realize Asean must now change. Although a political union may be many years away, Asean has no choice but to accelerate its economic integration if it is to put up a good fight against the Chinas and Indias of today.
These goals can only be achieved if the institution tasked with looking after the region is strengthened and rules-based, and its members are rooted in common principles of democracy, justice and good governance. For too long, the "Asean way" has allowed one or two members to tarnish the entire grouping's credibility. For too long, the "Asean way" has been synonymous with a weak central institution, unable to enforce rules among its members and constantly lost in a labyrinth of intergovernmental bureaucracy.
The "Asean way" has reached a dead end. The days of the strongman who closed one eye to what was happening in his backyard are gone. The time for peddling Asian values as an excuse for not upholding basic standards of human rights and development has passed. Asean needs a new way to do things, and the time for change must be now.
Mr. Jamaluddin is deputy leader of the United Malays National Organization's youth movement and a director of Iron Cage, a private investment company based in Kuala Lumpur.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
16/11: Rommel's remarks irresponsible and baseless, says Hishammuddin
UMNO Youth Chief aka Malaysian Minister of EDUCATION
New Straits Times
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has described Thierry Rommel's statement that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency as baseless and irresponsible.
Hishammuddin described Rommel's act as meddling into Malaysia's domestic affairs.
He also claimed that the former European Commission envoy to Malaysia had a hidden agenda.
"I want to warn him not to meddle into our affairs. He should do his homework before coming up with such remarks which are uncalled for and will only damage his credibility and that of the EU."
In reality, Hishammuddin said there were no barriers or restrictions imposed on Malaysians.
"The people can judge for themselves whether what he (Rommel) had said is true or not," Hishammuddin, who is also Education Minister, said after presenting a Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian team participating in the World Olympiad Robotic Championship.
Rommel had claimed that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency after police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally on Saturday.
Rommel had also said that the crackdown on demonstrators asking for "clean" elections had proven his point and that a part of the population was feeling their voice was not being heard because of the way the elections were managed.
The former envoy, chastised recently for criticising Malaysia's affirmative action policies to help Malays, also came out with a similar line in an interview with Reuters.
He had said that affirmative action towards the Malays distorted trade ties with others.
Hishammuddin also criticised the Al-Jazeera News for its "one-sided" and unfair coverage of the demonstration.
The demonstrators, he said, did not realise that they were being exploited by certain parties to achieve their agenda.
"They are not happy that our country is progressive and the people from various races, could live side-by-side in peace and harmony. Some Malaysians do not realise that they are being used by these unscrupulous quarters to create havoc, to belittle our country and its leaders."
adolescence, babyhood, boyhood, ( girlhood ), childhood, formative, juvenile, delinquent, kid, laddish, minor, rite of passage, etc etc etc.
New Straits Times
Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has described Thierry Rommel's statement that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency as baseless and irresponsible.
Hishammuddin described Rommel's act as meddling into Malaysia's domestic affairs.
He also claimed that the former European Commission envoy to Malaysia had a hidden agenda.
"I want to warn him not to meddle into our affairs. He should do his homework before coming up with such remarks which are uncalled for and will only damage his credibility and that of the EU."
In reality, Hishammuddin said there were no barriers or restrictions imposed on Malaysians.
"The people can judge for themselves whether what he (Rommel) had said is true or not," Hishammuddin, who is also Education Minister, said after presenting a Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian team participating in the World Olympiad Robotic Championship.
Rommel had claimed that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency after police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally on Saturday.
Rommel had also said that the crackdown on demonstrators asking for "clean" elections had proven his point and that a part of the population was feeling their voice was not being heard because of the way the elections were managed.
The former envoy, chastised recently for criticising Malaysia's affirmative action policies to help Malays, also came out with a similar line in an interview with Reuters.
He had said that affirmative action towards the Malays distorted trade ties with others.
Hishammuddin also criticised the Al-Jazeera News for its "one-sided" and unfair coverage of the demonstration.
The demonstrators, he said, did not realise that they were being exploited by certain parties to achieve their agenda.
"They are not happy that our country is progressive and the people from various races, could live side-by-side in peace and harmony. Some Malaysians do not realise that they are being used by these unscrupulous quarters to create havoc, to belittle our country and its leaders."
Youth: [S or U] the period of your life when you are young, or the state of being young.
Words related to Youth:adolescence, babyhood, boyhood, ( girlhood ), childhood, formative, juvenile, delinquent, kid, laddish, minor, rite of passage, etc etc etc.
16/11: Badruddin says sorry to all women
New Straits Times
DATUK Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) has profusely apologised to women in the country following the furore he had created as a result of his remark at the Umno general assembly.
"I did not mean to be sexist or vulgar. I was, as the Malays say, terlajak (carried away)," he said at the lobby yesterday.
Badruddin said he had never intended to offend the delegates or any woman.
"I have daughters and women are an integral part of my election and service machinery in Jerai. I apologise to women if they feel offended and I am sincere."
Badruddin's apology over his remark at the Umno assembly came a day after Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) had warned that he would make an issue of it.
Karpal, quoting a New Straits Times report on Wed-nesday, said Badruddin had interjected with his sexist remark when delegate Zaleha Hussin spoke about uniforms worn by AirAsia stewardesses.
Zaleha was relating how a friend had boarded the airline and said how uncomfortable it was looking at a seated stewardess with bare legs, thighs and calves.
At this point, Badruddin struck with his sexist remark.
"Yes, we can see a tunnel under her skirt," he was quoted as saying.
Karpal had called on Bad-ruddin to apologise to women within seven days.
"Otherwise we will make this a public issue," he had said.
DATUK Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) has profusely apologised to women in the country following the furore he had created as a result of his remark at the Umno general assembly.
"I did not mean to be sexist or vulgar. I was, as the Malays say, terlajak (carried away)," he said at the lobby yesterday.
Badruddin said he had never intended to offend the delegates or any woman.
"I have daughters and women are an integral part of my election and service machinery in Jerai. I apologise to women if they feel offended and I am sincere."
Badruddin's apology over his remark at the Umno assembly came a day after Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) had warned that he would make an issue of it.
Karpal, quoting a New Straits Times report on Wed-nesday, said Badruddin had interjected with his sexist remark when delegate Zaleha Hussin spoke about uniforms worn by AirAsia stewardesses.
Zaleha was relating how a friend had boarded the airline and said how uncomfortable it was looking at a seated stewardess with bare legs, thighs and calves.
At this point, Badruddin struck with his sexist remark.
"Yes, we can see a tunnel under her skirt," he was quoted as saying.
Karpal had called on Bad-ruddin to apologise to women within seven days.
"Otherwise we will make this a public issue," he had said.
14/11: Rafidah: Foreign investors' confidence not affected by Bersih gatherings
Charles Ramendran and Pauline Puah
The Sun
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today expressed confidence that foreign investments will not be affected by the rally organised by the Opposition on Saturday (Nov 10).
"I must say that when I go overseas, business people do not ask about the Opposition. They understand (the Opposition). They also know the history of our opposition members. They are not interested," she said after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had opened Intrade Malaysia and the Kuala Lumpur International Trade Forum 2007.
Referring to the gathering organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (Bersih), Rafidah said foreign investors are more interested in understanding the government’s new policies and the business environment here.
"I don’t even have one question about the Opposition. I had been going around. I just came back from Europe, not even one (investor) asked about the Opposition," she said.
Rafidah said foreign investors understand that these are politicians who demonstrate in the name of democracy.
"The public should be aware that this is the way of the opposition. It’s not really positive. It’s very negative for them. But for foreigners, they don’t worry. They are not interested. Even in their country, they also have demonstrations," she said.
In Saturday’s gathering, thousands of people marched from various parts of Kuala Lumpur to Istana Negara to submit a memorandum to the King, calling for electoral reforms.
The police, which did not issue a permit for the gathering, had used tear gas and the water cannon on the protesters near Masjid Jamed area when the demonstrators failed to disperse.
On another question whether the government would ask Petronas to increase oil production following the increase in oil prices, Rafidah said the government is studying it.
"Like the prime minister said, we are all looking at the subsidy structure. This is being done at the technical and official level. We are working it out. So bear with us," she added.
15/11: Malaysia lives under state of emergency - EU envoy
By Mark Bendeich
(Reuters) - Malaysia is living under an effective state of emergency, an EU envoy said on Tuesday, after police used tear gas and water cannon at the weekend to break up the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.
"Today, this country still lives under emergency," the European Commission's envoy to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel, told Reuters by telephone on the last day of his mission to Malaysia.
Rommel's remarks, extraordinarily blunt for a diplomat, chime with a chorus of criticism from opposition parties and some non-government groups about the way the government handled the protest, which it called an illegal assembly of troublemakers.
Police had set up road blocks around the capital to prevent protesters converging on Kuala Lumpur for Saturday's rally, but despite these measures and heavy rain, around 10,000 people thronged the city centre to call for electoral reform.
Police later moved in with tear gas and water cannons, which fired jets of water laced with a chemical irritant, to break up the crowd. There were no reports of any serious violence.
Rommel, who has spent four and a half years in Malaysia, said many Malaysians felt that their voices were not being heard and agreed that the electoral system should be reformed.
"It's not a secret that elections are not fair," he said, noting complaints from electoral reform group Bersih, organiser of Saturday's protest, that election campaigns were too short and that the media was biased toward government campaigning.
"There's a significant part of the population that feels their voice is not really heard because of the way elections are managed," he added. "They feel locked out."
The Belgian noted that several emergency-style laws were still in use, such as the Emergency Ordinance, born in 1969 to deal with race riots, and the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA). Both allow detention for years without trial.
None of these powers were used to quell Saturday's protest, and the ISA has not been used against opposition politicians and activists for several years. But the chief minister of central Pahang state, a member of the main ruling party, has said the ISA should be used if necessary to deal with future protests.
"They (emergency laws) all very clearly establish the legal framework for the executive to take measures in cases of unrest -- as the executive defines them," Rommel said.
PAINTING AN UGLY PORTRAIT
Rommel, a career diplomat, is not new to controversy in Malaysia. He created a storm in June when he gave a speech likening Malaysia's affirmative-action policy to a trade barrier.
That remark brought a swift backlash and formal protest from the government. The trade minister even complained publicly that Rommel had an attitude problem, and his name started to disappear from the government's invitation lists.
But Rommel, who spoke to Reuters on condition that his comments be published after his departure later on Tuesday, said he was unrepentant about his criticisms and denied he was trying to superimpose Western values onto Malaysia.
He said Malaysia's "Bumiputra" policy of affirmative action, which favours majority ethnic Malays, distorted trade because it allowed the government to award state contracts to Malay businesses without clear, competitive tender procedures.
It also fostered corruption, he added.
"The extension of Bumiputra-based discrimination and preference in public procurement -- which is massive in the Malaysian economy -- has worked to the disadvantage of foreign players in particular and has become a vehicle for officially acknowledged corruption...," Rommel said.
"It is public knowledge that local Malay vested interests, with powerful political or administration connections, want to see this mechanism maintained."
(Reuters) - Malaysia is living under an effective state of emergency, an EU envoy said on Tuesday, after police used tear gas and water cannon at the weekend to break up the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.
"Today, this country still lives under emergency," the European Commission's envoy to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel, told Reuters by telephone on the last day of his mission to Malaysia.
Rommel's remarks, extraordinarily blunt for a diplomat, chime with a chorus of criticism from opposition parties and some non-government groups about the way the government handled the protest, which it called an illegal assembly of troublemakers.
Police had set up road blocks around the capital to prevent protesters converging on Kuala Lumpur for Saturday's rally, but despite these measures and heavy rain, around 10,000 people thronged the city centre to call for electoral reform.
Police later moved in with tear gas and water cannons, which fired jets of water laced with a chemical irritant, to break up the crowd. There were no reports of any serious violence.
Rommel, who has spent four and a half years in Malaysia, said many Malaysians felt that their voices were not being heard and agreed that the electoral system should be reformed.
"It's not a secret that elections are not fair," he said, noting complaints from electoral reform group Bersih, organiser of Saturday's protest, that election campaigns were too short and that the media was biased toward government campaigning.
"There's a significant part of the population that feels their voice is not really heard because of the way elections are managed," he added. "They feel locked out."
The Belgian noted that several emergency-style laws were still in use, such as the Emergency Ordinance, born in 1969 to deal with race riots, and the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA). Both allow detention for years without trial.
None of these powers were used to quell Saturday's protest, and the ISA has not been used against opposition politicians and activists for several years. But the chief minister of central Pahang state, a member of the main ruling party, has said the ISA should be used if necessary to deal with future protests.
"They (emergency laws) all very clearly establish the legal framework for the executive to take measures in cases of unrest -- as the executive defines them," Rommel said.
PAINTING AN UGLY PORTRAIT
Rommel, a career diplomat, is not new to controversy in Malaysia. He created a storm in June when he gave a speech likening Malaysia's affirmative-action policy to a trade barrier.
That remark brought a swift backlash and formal protest from the government. The trade minister even complained publicly that Rommel had an attitude problem, and his name started to disappear from the government's invitation lists.
But Rommel, who spoke to Reuters on condition that his comments be published after his departure later on Tuesday, said he was unrepentant about his criticisms and denied he was trying to superimpose Western values onto Malaysia.
He said Malaysia's "Bumiputra" policy of affirmative action, which favours majority ethnic Malays, distorted trade because it allowed the government to award state contracts to Malay businesses without clear, competitive tender procedures.
It also fostered corruption, he added.
"The extension of Bumiputra-based discrimination and preference in public procurement -- which is massive in the Malaysian economy -- has worked to the disadvantage of foreign players in particular and has become a vehicle for officially acknowledged corruption...," Rommel said.
"It is public knowledge that local Malay vested interests, with powerful political or administration connections, want to see this mechanism maintained."
14/11: Michael Backman on Malaysia again
Malaysian Indian Congress ( MIC ) President S. Vellu - the Indian "feudal lord".Michael Backman
www.michaelbackman.com
Ethnic rivalry in Malaysia usually is portrayed as rivalry between the majority Malay population and the large Chinese minority. But sandwiched between the two are Malaysia's Indians. They make up about 2 million or 8% of the population but according to some estimates they account for around 2% of the nation's corporate wealth. This disparity is leading to rising tensions from a group that the authorities normally take for granted.
The Indian community is split into Muslims and Hindus. The Muslims, known locally as the 'Mamak', tend to blend more easily with the dominant Malays - both being Muslim means that intermarriage is not uncommon. (Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is the product of such a union.) The Hindus on the other hand are far more marginalised. Politically weak and disorganised, they tend to be largely ignored by the government.
Many are very poor. But despite this, as non-Malays and non-Muslims they do not qualify for Bumiputera status – the status given to Malays which gives the Malays preferred access to university places, government share distributions and other such privileges. Some of the poorest work as rubber tappers.
Several years ago I visited several rubber estates in the northern state of Kedah and the poverty and physical condition of the rubber tappers was unbelievable particularly as Malaysia is not a poor country. The plight of the tappers is akin to that of the aborigines in the more remote parts of Australia except that the Australian government pours billions into the community but with little discernible effect.
Malaysia's Indians are among those to suffer the greatest displacement from the million or more legal and illegal Indonesian migrants now in Malaysia. Sporadic ethnic unrest now beaks out between poor Indians and resident Indonesians but rarely is such unrest reported in the Malaysian media – the government directs the local media either not to report it or not to highlight it.
Growing resentment too derives from the demolition of Hindu temples by the various state governments. Dozens have been destroyed in the last few years. All or most targeted for demolition have been built on land to which the temples have no title. Typically the demolitions proceed with a court order and as such are reasonable. The real issue is why do so many of Malaysia's Indians need to squat on land that isn't theirs in the first place?
But it is the manner in which the demolitions are carried out which unnecessarily raises tensions. The authorities who enforce the demolition orders invariably are Malay and Muslim giving such demolitions unfortunate religious rivalry overtones. Sometimes the idols are smashed before worshippers are given a chance to remove them to a safe place, action which is insensitive at best and a deliberate provocation at worst. The most recent temple to be demolished was at Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur on October 30. Scuffles broke out and people were manhandled.
In another perceived sleight, the most important Indian festival Deepavali this year falls on November 8. The (Malay) ruling UMNO party's annual General Assembly is being staged on 5-9 November without stopping for Deepavali even though Deepavali is one of Malaysia's gazetted public holidays. The Malay politicians of yesteryear would not have been this insensitive.
Many better educated Indians are migrating. Those who remain are becoming more strident politically.
On August 12, around 2,000 Malaysian Indians protested outside the prime minister's office to demand better treatment. The protest might have been bigger but according to organisers the police blocked as many as 15 buses carrying Indians from entering the area on the basis that the bus drivers did not have valid driving licences.
On August 30, a class action was filed in London by a group of activists against the UK government for bringing indentured labourers from India during the colonial era and failing to "protect" them thereafter including during the fifty years since Malaysia's independence. The suit will go nowhere of course but it is a calculated attempt to embarrass the Malaysian government internationally to force it to better look after the welfare of the Indian minority. And on November 25, a petition with what activists claim will have 100,000 signatures will be presented to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur in support of the legal action.
But what of the Indians' political leaders?
Samy Vellu is head of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) party and has been so since 1979. He is also Malaysia' Public Works Minister. Vellu completely dominates the MIC which his critics claim he runs almost along feudal lines.
He was the subject of a major scandal in the early 1990s when the government allocated ten million shares in the country's national telephone company to Maika, an Indian cooperative company set up by the MIC. The company accepted only one million shares. The other nine million were then given to three companies which Vellu described as MIC-linked companies, but which, according to his critics, were actually linked to his relatives. The three companies made tens of millions of dollars in capital gains on the shares. Meanwhile Maika became almost insolvent.
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad when asked why he didn't sack Vellu from his cabinet given this and other scandals replied that he had no control over the MIC's internal processes and that he was obliged to have in the cabinet whomever the MIC chose as its leader. To be fair, Mahathir once told me that Vellu had an appalling job, given how politics is played out in the Indian community with the constant and seemingly trifling demands for gifts and direct assistance. But essentially, Vellu is part of the wider malaise of political leadership from which Malaysia suffers from today.
Watch him in action here: http://www.youtube.com/llanfairVideos
- Click on Playlists
17/11: Mind your own business, Syed Hamid tells foreign Human Rights groups
(Bernama) -- Mind your own business. This is the candid response from Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to foreign human rights groups who have called for a royal commission of inquiry to investigate whether the authorities had breached human rights laws in handling last Saturday's illegal assembly in Kuala Lumpur.
He said although Malaysia was a democratic country, democracy did not equate to lawlessness.
"Let me put it this way... Malaysia will govern the country in its own way.
"You still have to abide by the law, so I don't think any country's human rights body can tell other countries what it should do," he told reporters after hosting lunch for his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sven Alkalaj, at a hotel here today.
Syed Hamid said foreign human rights groups should instead look at correcting the wrongs in their respective countries and improving their own justice system.
"In the past we've seen what they have prescribed for a country, there's always trouble in that countries. They should just look after their own country and see whether there are things that can be improved and then maybe we can learn from them.
He said Malaysia allowed rallies provided they were staged in accordance with the law.
Alkalaj, accompanied by senior government officials and representatives from the country's private sector is in Malaysia on a three-day visit since Tuesday.
Syed Hamid said he and Alkalaj had very fruitful discussions and both Malaysia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can learn a lot from each other, especially in areas of defence and technology.
"As we know Bosnia has a very strong technology industry and I think even in the defence industry they are very strong and modernised because of their past experiences.
"In our case, the defence industry is still in its infancy. So there is interest in developing cooperative efforts between our two countries," he said.
Syed Hamid said Alkalaj had also been looking at development modules in Malaysia suitable for application in Bosnia because the country was similar to Malaysia with its multi-ethnic, cultural and religious society.
He said Alkalaj also visited the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department and addressed a seminar on business and investment opportunities in his country.
He said although Malaysia was a democratic country, democracy did not equate to lawlessness.
"Let me put it this way... Malaysia will govern the country in its own way.
"You still have to abide by the law, so I don't think any country's human rights body can tell other countries what it should do," he told reporters after hosting lunch for his counterpart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sven Alkalaj, at a hotel here today.
Syed Hamid said foreign human rights groups should instead look at correcting the wrongs in their respective countries and improving their own justice system.
"In the past we've seen what they have prescribed for a country, there's always trouble in that countries. They should just look after their own country and see whether there are things that can be improved and then maybe we can learn from them.
He said Malaysia allowed rallies provided they were staged in accordance with the law.
Alkalaj, accompanied by senior government officials and representatives from the country's private sector is in Malaysia on a three-day visit since Tuesday.
Syed Hamid said he and Alkalaj had very fruitful discussions and both Malaysia and Bosnia and Herzegovina can learn a lot from each other, especially in areas of defence and technology.
"As we know Bosnia has a very strong technology industry and I think even in the defence industry they are very strong and modernised because of their past experiences.
"In our case, the defence industry is still in its infancy. So there is interest in developing cooperative efforts between our two countries," he said.
Syed Hamid said Alkalaj had also been looking at development modules in Malaysia suitable for application in Bosnia because the country was similar to Malaysia with its multi-ethnic, cultural and religious society.
He said Alkalaj also visited the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister's Department and addressed a seminar on business and investment opportunities in his country.
17/11: Royal commissions: What are they about?
New Straits Times
A ROYAL Commission is usually formed when a matter of national interest arises that requires immediate action.
In 1993, when rejecting a motion by Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw to set up a royal commission to investigate the Highland Towers collapse, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Juhar Mahirudin said the three requirements necessary for such a commission to be considered was that it had to concern a specific issue, it had to be of importance to the general public and it had to be a matter of urgency.
In that case, the request to set up a commission failed because it did not meet the third requirement.
In Malaysia's history, Royal Commissions have been set up to look into a host of issues, ranging from the operations and management of the police force, to the deadly blaze at the Sungai Buloh Bright Sparklers fireworks factory in 1991, to the collapse of the Butterworth ferry terminal in 1988 and the salaries and conditions in the public service in 1965.
Originating in the United Kingdom, Royal Commissions exist in many Commonwealth countries, including Malaysia, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand.
Royal commissions can consist of any number of commissioners depending on the complexity of the investigation.
For example, the Butterworth ferry terminal commission panel consisted of three members, while the last commission, the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Police Force in 2004, had 16 members from various segments of society.
Royal commission members are usually notable public figures headed by retired senior judges.
Created by the king on the advice of the government, royal commissions have great powers but a limited sphere of operation that extends only to its terms of reference.
However, once a royal commission of enquiry has begun, the government cannot stop it until the date given in the terms of reference expires.
The commission is given whatever facilities, technology or expert assistance it needs, and can compel anybody it wants to appear before it and give evidence under oath if necessary.
It can seize documents and other evidence that is relevant to its investigation.
Once the investigation is completed, the results are usually published in public reports that also contain policy recommendations.
The reports tend to lead to the government turning the recommendations into law.
A ROYAL Commission is usually formed when a matter of national interest arises that requires immediate action.
In 1993, when rejecting a motion by Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw to set up a royal commission to investigate the Highland Towers collapse, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Juhar Mahirudin said the three requirements necessary for such a commission to be considered was that it had to concern a specific issue, it had to be of importance to the general public and it had to be a matter of urgency.
In that case, the request to set up a commission failed because it did not meet the third requirement.
In Malaysia's history, Royal Commissions have been set up to look into a host of issues, ranging from the operations and management of the police force, to the deadly blaze at the Sungai Buloh Bright Sparklers fireworks factory in 1991, to the collapse of the Butterworth ferry terminal in 1988 and the salaries and conditions in the public service in 1965.
Originating in the United Kingdom, Royal Commissions exist in many Commonwealth countries, including Malaysia, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand.
Royal commissions can consist of any number of commissioners depending on the complexity of the investigation.
For example, the Butterworth ferry terminal commission panel consisted of three members, while the last commission, the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Police Force in 2004, had 16 members from various segments of society.
Royal commission members are usually notable public figures headed by retired senior judges.
Created by the king on the advice of the government, royal commissions have great powers but a limited sphere of operation that extends only to its terms of reference.
However, once a royal commission of enquiry has begun, the government cannot stop it until the date given in the terms of reference expires.
The commission is given whatever facilities, technology or expert assistance it needs, and can compel anybody it wants to appear before it and give evidence under oath if necessary.
It can seize documents and other evidence that is relevant to its investigation.
Once the investigation is completed, the results are usually published in public reports that also contain policy recommendations.
The reports tend to lead to the government turning the recommendations into law.
13/11: Hindus angered by Deepavali jeer from Khairy...
Left: Khairy Jamaluddin ( KJ ), UMNO Deputy Youth leader & son-in-law of Prime Minister Badawi of MalaysiaRight: UMNO Youth Chief aka Minister of EDUCATION kissing the keris.
Umno Deputy Youth Leader and the Prime Minister's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin has offended Hindus and the Indian community by attacking Indian newsvendors at the recent Umno General Assembly.
We are outraged when Khairy blamed Indians as the cause why Umno President Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's presidential address at the Umno General Assembly was not published on Thursday which is deepavali day and a press shut down day.
It is foolish to blame newsvendors for your own foolishness to fix the Umno assembly on a deepavalli day.
Why were the Umno officers so slack. Everybody knows that deepavali is a pores shut down day and there will be no newspapers. But Umno and Datuk Seri Abdullah when ahead and now blame the poor vendors.
Khairy said "Today is the first time the Umno president's speech is not being read by the masses because a particular ethnic group controls the distribution line of newspapers and they are on holiday."
Yes, true. Who is too blame, Umno or the poor newsvendors.
The holding of the Umno General Assembly during Deepavali, a gazette public holiday, had also upset many Malaysians, both Hindus and non-Hindus, as it seems to point to a growing pattern of insensitivity by the powers-that-be in the country.
If the MIC, MCA or Gerakan had held their annual party assemblies during Hari Raya holidays, it would have been regarded as highly insensitive, offensive and unacceptable – and undoubtedly pressures would have been brought to bear to move such assemblies to another date.
Why wasn't the same consideration given in the case of this year's Umno General Assembly clashing with Deepavali – as the excuse that Abdullah had a "tight schedule" is simply just unacceptable?
Newsvendors wake up at 3am to start distributing newspapers from 5am. They work very hard and their labour should be admired and respected not belittled.
Khairy should apologies to the Indian community for his uncalled-for and most unwarranted aspersions on the Indian community yesterday.
M. Kulasegaran
18/11: 3 groups lodge reports against blogger
New Straits Times
Three police reports were lodged against blogger Jeff Ooi for allegedly defaming the country, government and police force.
The reports were lodged by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress and Pertubuhan Seni Silat Ikatan Kalam Malaysia against a statement issued by Ooi to an Al Jazeera reporter. The statement was allegedly broadcast on YouTube following an illegal gathering on Nov 10 organised by a coalition of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations calling itself Bersih.
The police reports were lodged at the Sentul police headquarters yesterday about 4.30pm.
The complainants want Ooi to be investigated, alleging that the interview given to Al Jazeera not only tarnished the image of the country but was also seditious and caused racial tension.
Ooi is also alleged to have given inaccurate information to Al Jazeera in stating that the police used unnecessary force in dispersing the demonstrators.
Three police reports were lodged against blogger Jeff Ooi for allegedly defaming the country, government and police force.
The reports were lodged by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress and Pertubuhan Seni Silat Ikatan Kalam Malaysia against a statement issued by Ooi to an Al Jazeera reporter. The statement was allegedly broadcast on YouTube following an illegal gathering on Nov 10 organised by a coalition of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations calling itself Bersih.
The police reports were lodged at the Sentul police headquarters yesterday about 4.30pm.
The complainants want Ooi to be investigated, alleging that the interview given to Al Jazeera not only tarnished the image of the country but was also seditious and caused racial tension.
Ooi is also alleged to have given inaccurate information to Al Jazeera in stating that the police used unnecessary force in dispersing the demonstrators.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
MINORITY RIGHTS by HINDRAF
Hindraf appeal to Gordon Brown to refer Malaysia to World Court (&) and international criminal court
HINDRAF
Hindu Rights Action Force
No. 135-3-A, Jalan Toman 7,
Kemayan Square,
70200 Seremban, Negeri Sembilan
Malaysia. Tel : 06-7672995/6
Fax: 06-7672997 Email waytha@hotmail.com
15.11.2007
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown
Prime Minister of the United Kindom
10 Downing Street, Fax: +442079250918
London, URGENT
SW1A 2AA
Dear Sirs,
RE: 1. COMMONWEALTH ETHNIC INDIAN PEACE LOVING SUBJECTS IN MALAYSIA PERSECUTED BY GOVERNMENT BACKED ISLAMIC EXTREMIST VIOLENT ARMED TERRORIST WHO LAUNCHED A PRE DAWN VIOLENT ARMED ATTACK AND DESTROYED THE KG JAWA MARIAMAN HINDU TEMPLE AT 4.00 A.M THIS MORNING (15.11.2007).
2. APPEAL FOR U.K TO MOVE EMERGENCY U.N RESOLUTION CONDEMNING “ETHNIC CLEANSING” IN MALAYSIA.
3. APPEAL TO REFER MALAYSIA TO THE WORLD COURT AND INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT FOR CRIMES AGAINST IT’S OWN ETHNIC MINORITY INDIANS.
We refer to the above critical matters in Malaysia but which generally gets the least attention locally even by the Opposition parties, Ngo’s, the Malaysian human rights commission and the media for this community is generally regarded as politically insignificant, do not draw local or international funding and are deemed not pressworthy. To the contrary the Malaysian government has successfully projected itself to the world as a modern Islamic thinking country which is not true.
The ethnic minority Indians in Malaysia were brought in to Malaysia by the British some 200 over years ago. Since independence in 1957 the Malaysian Indians have been permanently colonialised by the Islamic fundamentalist and malay chauvinists UMNO led Malaysian government. Among the recent atrocities committed by this government are as follows:-
1. 100 over Indians were slashed and killed by the UMNO controlled Malaysian government in the Kampung Medan mini genocide. Despite numerous appeals, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission has refused to hold a Public Inquiry. The UMNO controlled Malaysian courts struck off a victim’s public interest civil suit for a Public Inquiry to be held without even the said UMNO controlled government having to file in their defence. The UMNO controlled Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police refused to investigate and / or initiate an inquest into the death of at least six Indians in this tragedy despite.
2. Every week one person at average is killed in a shot to kill policy and in every 2 weeks one person is killed in police custody. About 60% of these victims are Indians though they form only 8% of the Malaysian population.
3. In every three weeks one Hindu temple is demolished in Malaysia The latest being the demolishment of the Mariaman temple in Padang Jawa, Shah Alam, Selangor early this morning (15.11.2007) and the next being the (Mutaiya) Hindu temple in Sungai Petani scheduled for the 29.11.2007. A violent armed pre dawn attack at 4.00a.m this morning was launched by the UMNO controlled Malaysian government backed by about 600 police, riot police, Islamic extremist and armed terrorists which completely destroyed this temple. In an attack two weeks ago, uniformed police, riot police and city Council officers hurled rocks and attacked unarmed Hindu devotees with knives, sticks and iron rods (see www.malaysiakini.com for pictures). At least 20 Hindu devotees were seriously injured and 19 arrested including 4 of their United Kingdom trained lawyers in direct violation of Article 5 (Right to life) Article 8 (Equality) Article 11 (Freedom of Religion) Section 295 (defiling a place of worship), Section 296 (disturbing a religious assembly), 298A(causing racial disharmony) and Section 441(criminal trespass) of the Malaysian Penal Code. These authorities are plagued by an above the law mindset and in fact liberally take the law into their own hands. These atrocities however does not happen to almost all Islamic places of worship. Please visit www.policewatcmalaysia.com for further and better particulars.
4. State sponsored direct discrimination against the Indians in Public University intakes, Indian (Tamil) Schools, skills training institutes, civil service and private sector job opportunities, business and licence opportunities and in almost all other aspects of daily life.
Despite our hundreds of letters, appeals and pleas to the Malaysian King and Sultans, the Prime Minister, Attorney General, Inspector General of Police, Ministers, Chief Ministers and the latest being our letters to the Prime Minister dated 29.10.2007 and 30.10.2007 and to the Attorney General dated 1.11.2007 the Malaysian authorities are only proceeding with greater ferocity and with impunity with very little regard for the Federal Constitution and laws of Malaysia. So please help us.
CONCLUSION
We fear that this peace loving Indian community of Tamil origin having been pushed to the corner and the persecution getting worse by the day may be forced to into terrorism in a matter of time as what has happened to the Sri Lankan Tamils. ( Personally, I do not share this view )
APPEAL
On our part we are committed to a peaceful and lawful struggle and pray and appeal that the Government of the United Kingdom:-
1. Moves an emergency United Nations resolution condemning these state sponsored atrocities and persecutions of Malaysian Indians in Malaysia.
2. Refers Malaysia to the World Court and the International Criminal Court for Crimes against it’s own ethnic minority Indians
Thank You,
Yours Faithfully
P.Uthayakumar
Legal Adviser
013-3504711
c.c
Senior Private Secretary to Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II
Buckingham Palace Post / Fax:
London
The Rt Hon David Miliband MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH
Email: firstname.surname@fco.gov.uk
Fax: 020 7008 4467
Your Excellency RT.HON. Mr.Banki Mon,
Secretary General of the United Nations Fax: 0012129634879/4360
UN Headquarters
First Avenue at 46th Street
New York NY 10017
s.k The Honourable
Keeper of the Royal Seal Post/Fax:20704646
Istana Negara, (Malaysian Palace) Malaysia
Jalan Istana
Kuala Lumpur
Private Secretary to HRH the Sultan of Perak Post/Fax:2556166
Pejabat DYMM Sultan Perak
33007, Kuala Kangsar
Secretary to
His Royal Highness, Tuanku Duli Yang Maha Mulia,
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin
Abdul Aziz Shah Al-Haj
The Sultan of Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia,
Istana Klang, Jalan Istana Klang, Selangor Malaysia
Y.A.B. DATO’ SERI ABDULLAH AHMAD BADAWI
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Block Utama,
Bangunan Perdana Putra, Fax: 88883444
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62502 Putrajaya. Email: reduceredtape@pmo.gov.my
Email: abdullah@kdn.gov.my
Y.A.B. Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak
Deputy Prime Minister
Deputy Chairman
National Implementation Action Body Fax:88883983
Aras 4, Blok Barat, Bangunan Perdana Putra,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan 62502 Putrajaya
Y.B D ato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Bin Abdul Aziz
Law Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law)
Chairman
Parliamentary Human Rights Caucas, Fax:88894177
Aras 4 Block Barat, Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan, Persekitaraan 62502
Putrajaya
Y.Bhg.Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail
Attorney General of Malaysia
Aras 1-8, Block C3, Parcel C Fax:88889369
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan Email: ag@atgc.gov.my
62512 Putrajaya
Y.A.B. Dato’ Seri Khir Toyo
Menteri Besar Negeri Selangor,
Tingkat 21, Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Fax: 55190032
40503 Shah Alam, Selangor.
Tan Sri Abu Talib
Chairman
Malaysian Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM)
Malaysian Human Rights Commission
Tingkat 29, Menara Tun Razak
Jalan Raja Laut 50350
Kuala Lumpur
Y.B. Sdr Lim Kit Siang
Opposition Leader,
Parliament Malaysia Fax:603-79575718
Bangunan Parlimen Email: Yoke12@Pc.Jaring.My
Jalan Parlimen 50680 Kuala Lumpur
Y.B. Datuk Seri Utama Dr.Rais Yatim
Minister for Culture Arts and Heritage
Pejabat Menteri
Aras 35, Menara TH Perdana
1001 Jalan Sultan Ismail
50694 Kuala Lumpur E-mail:fizo2811@g.mail.com
Ambiga Sreenivasan
Chairman
Bar Council Malaysia Email: council@malaysianbar.org.my
No.13, 15 & 17, Leboh Pasar Besar
Kuala Lumpur
Your Excellency Mr.Banki Mon,
Secretary General of the United Nations
United Nations New York N.Y. Fax:0012129634879/4360
10017 USA
Paul Hauch Fenger
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Fax:41(0)229179703
UNOG-OHCHR
CH-1211, Geneva 10 Email: phauchfenger@ohchr.org
Petitions Team
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights Fax:+41 22 917 9022
UNOG-OHCHR
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland tb-petitions@ohchr.org
SENAT
Human Rights Committee
15, rue de Vaugirars
75291 PARIS Cedex 06
Standard: +33 (0) 1 42 34 20 00
Telex: 205-773 F SENAT PARIS
Telecopie: + 33 (0) 1 42 34 26 77
Human Rights Council of Australia Inc.
PO B ox 1071 Tel: +61 (0) 2 9957 5200
North Sydney NSW 2059 Fax: +61 (02) 9957 4063
Australia Email: Patrick Earle pearles@optusnet.com.au
Human Rights Commission
135 State Street, Drawer 33
Montpelier, Vermont 05633-6301
Human.rights@state.vt.us
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street
18th Floor New York
NY 10004
Commissioner for Human Rights
Council of Europe Commissioner.humanrights@coe.int
LIBERTY
21 Tabard Street Tel: 0207403 3888
London SE1 4LA Fax: 020 7407 5354
Email: info@liberty-human-rights.org.uk
H.E.William boyd Mccleary
High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Malaysia
No.185, Jalan Ampang Fax: 21702370
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Movement Against Racism and For Friendship
Between Peoples
MRAP, 43 Boulevard Magenta Tel: 01 53 38 99 99
75010 Paris Fax: 01 40 40 90 98
Peace Brigades International France
21 ter, rue Voltaire
75011 Paris
T. Kumar
Advocacy Director
Asia and Pacific
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Tel: 202.544.0200 Ext.224
5th Floor, Washington DC 20003 Fax:202.546.7142
Email: tkumar@aiusa.org
Veena Siddharth
Washington Director
Human Rights Watch Tel: 202-612-4341
1630 Connecticut Ave., N.W. 202-612-4321
Suite 500 Fax: 202-612-4333
Washington, D.C. 20009 Email: siddhav@hrw.org
Matthew Easton
Senior Associate
Human Rights Defenders Program Tel: (212)-845-5287
333 Seventh Avenue, 13th Floor Fax: (212)-845-5299
New York, NY 10001 Email: EastonM@humanrightsfirst.org
www.humanrightsfirst.org
David Geer
Executive Director
Interights Tel: 44 20 7278 3230
Lancaster House 33 Islington Fax: 44 20 7278 4334
High Street London Direct Line:44 20 7843 0485
N1 9LH UK Email: dgeer@intrights.org
Yuval Ginbar
Legal Adviser
International and Legal Organizations Program
Peter Benenson House Tel: 44 020 7413 5739
1 Easton Street Fax: 44 020 7956 1157
London WCIX 0DW Email: yginbar@amnesty.org
UK
Shelina Thawer
Asia & Pacific
Programme Coordinator Tel: 44 020 7422 4215
54 Commercial Street Fax: 44020 7422 4201
London E1 6LT, UK Email: shelina.thwar@mrgmail.org
Iain Byrne
Commonwealth Law Officer
Interights Tel: 44 20 7278 3230
Lancaster House 33 Islington Fax: 44 20 7278 4334
High Street London
N1 9LH UK Email: ibyrne@intrights.org
Ryan Schlief
Amnesty International
Asia-Pacific Programme
1 Easton Street Tel: 44020 7413 5500
London WCIX 0DW Fax: 44 0 7413 5722
United Kingdom Email: rschlief@amnesty.org
Greg Mayne
Programme Manager
Human Rights Institute Tel: 44 0 20 7691 6868
10th Floor, 1 Stephen Street Fax: 44 0 20 7691 6544
London W1T 1AT Email: greg.mayne@int-bar.org
UK
Matthew A. Cenzer
Country Officer for Malaysia
United States Department of State CenzerMA@state.gov
2201 C Street NW, Room 5210
Washington, DC 20520
Telephone: (202) 736-7056
Fax: (202) 736-4559
Karin T. Finkler
Senior Foreign Relations Advisor
Congressman Joseph R. Pitts
16th District, Pennsylvania
221 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2411
(202) 225-2013 fax
Lisa Williams, PH.D.
Chief of Staff
Congressman Eni F.H. Faleomavaega
American Samoa
2422 Rayburn House Office Bldg.
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: (202) 226-4421
Fax: (202) 225-8757 Email: Lisa.Willaims@Mail.House.Gov
Hans-Joachim Hogrefe
Democratic Professional Staff
International Relations Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
Human Rights Issues
Director, Human Rights Caucus
2413 Rayburn Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-3531 hans.hogrefe@mail.house.gov
Charles E. Dujon
Legislative Director
U.S. House of Representatives
Jesse L. Jackson, JR
Member of Congress
Second District, Illinois
2419 Rayburn Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-0773
Fax: (202)-225-0899 E-Mail: Charles.Dujon@Mail.House.Gov
Douglas C. Anderson
Counsel
U.S. House of Representatives
Committee On International Relations
Subcommittee On Asia And The Pacific
B358 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Telephone: (202) 226-7825
Facsimile: (202) 226-7829 doug.anderson@mail.house.gov
Dennis L. Curry
Foreign Affairs Fellow
Subcommittee On Africa
Global Human Rights
And International Operations
Congressman Christopher H. Smith
255 Ford Hob
3rd & D Street SW
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-226-1745
Fax: 202-225-7491 dennis.curry@mail.house.gov
W. Keith Luse
Senior Professional Staff Member
Committee On Foreign Relations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510-6225
Tel: (202)-224-4651
Fax: (202)-228-0403Keith_Luse@foreign.senate.gov
Emilie Kao
Foreign Affairs Officer
Office Of International Religious Freedom
U.S. Department Of State
2201 C Street N.W.
Washington, DC 20520
Phone (202) 647-0352
Fax (202) 647-3209 KaoEL@State.Gov
Scott Flipse, Ph.D.
Senior Policy Analyst
United States Commission On
International Religious Freedom
800 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 790
Washington, DC 20002
202-523-3240 ext. 23
202-523-5020 (fax) sflipse@uscirf.gov
Yuval Ginbar
Legal Adviser
International and Legal Organizations Program
Peter Benenson House
1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7413 5739
Fax: +44 (0)20 7956 1157 E-mail: yginbar@amnesty.org
Shelina Thawer
Minority Rights International
Asia & Pacific
Programme Coordinator
54 Commercial Street
London E1 6LT, UK
+44 (0)20 7422 4215
fax +44 (0)20 7422 4201 shelina.thawer@mrgmail.org
Jolyon Ford
Commonwealth Secretariet
Human Rights Officer
Human Rights Unit
Marlborough House Pall Mall London SW1Y 5HX
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7747 6408 Fax: +44 (0)20 7747 6418 e-mail: j.ford@commonwealth.int
Her Excellency Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
President email: aicc@congress.org.in
Indian National Congress
24, Akbar Road
New Delhi – 110011
India
Your Excellency Mr.Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India Fax: 91-11-23019545/91-11-23016857
Prime Minister’s Office
South Block, Raisina Hill
New Delhi
Dr. Kalaignar M.Karunanidhi Tel: 91-44-25670132
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Fax: 91-44-25671441/25671276
Chief Minister’s Office email: email: cmcell@tn.gov.in
Secretariat,Chennai 600 009
India
The Right Honorable Selvi J Jayalalithaa ( hopefully this is not the one who spent a cool U.S. 45 million on her adopted son's wedding )
Opposition Leader of Tamil Nadu Phone: 044-24670125/044-25672345
“Veda Nilayam”, 81/36 Poes Garden
Chennai – 600 086
Shri. Vayalar Ravi
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Phone: 91-11-24676837/24676839
9th Floor, Akbar Bhawan Fax: 91-11-24197900
Chanakya Puri email:minister@moia.nic.in
New Delhi-110021
India
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