17/09: Petition to The Agong

PAGE TWO OF THE PETISYEN RAKYAT (see page one of the Petisyen Rakyat here)

Read the draft of the Peoples’ Petition to The Agong here

Malaysia Today is going to send a Peoples’ Petition (Petisyen Rakyat) to His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong. I really do not need to go into the host of reasons for the dire need of this Peoples’ Petition. Amongst some of the issues which are of concern to the Malaysian people are:

1) The recent shooting of two people in Kuala Terengganu.
2) The reported gang clashes in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johore over the 50th Merdeka celebration holiday that resulted in a few deaths.
3) The Auditor-General’s report that revealed gross and blatant abuses and transgressions in the management of the peoples’ money involving billions of Ringgit.
4) The state of affairs in the Royal Malaysian Police where even the former IGP Tun Hanif Omar admitted that corruption is a serious problem.
5) The state of affairs in the judiciary where senior judges have been bypassed in many promotion exercises in favour of candidates with blemished records.
6) The breakdown of law and order and allegations by serving police officers, who have signed Statutory Declarations or Affidavits, that the organised crime syndicate is running the police force.
7) The dangerous and alarming racial and religious divide.
8) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s implication in the Oil-for Food scandal.
9) The need for electoral reforms as proven by the incidences of gerrymandering and phantom voters in the many general elections before this and which will continue and prevail in the next general election.
10) The manner in how the Altantuya Shaaribuu murder trial is being conducted and the police investigation leading to the murder trial.

Our concern is not confined to just these ten issues above but suffice that these ten demonstrate the urgent need for this petition. The actual text of the petition will be properly worded to meet the protocol requirements of a letter that is addressed to The Agong but the spirit of the petition will encompass the above.

If you support this Peoples’ Petition, please sign it in the blog below. You need not add any comments. In fact, we do not need your comments. Just add your name to it. If you do not support it then no need to do anything.

(Those not registered in Malaysia Today but would like to sign the petition just send an e-mail to mohrin_rhsm@hotmail.com with the message "Signed" and your name.)


Signed.

06/09: Russian mayor bans phrase 'I don't know'

MOSCOW - The mayor of a Siberian oil town has ordered his bureaucrats to stop using expressions such as "I don't know" and "I can't." Or look for another job.

Alexander Kuzmin, the 33-year-old mayor of Megion, has banned these and 25 other phrases as a way to make his administration more efficient, his spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

"It's a suggestion to the staff that they should think before saying something," Oksana Shestakova said by telephone. "To say `I don't know' is the same as admitting your helplessness."

To reinforce the ban, a framed list of the banned expressions has been hanging on the wall next to Kuzmin's office for the past two weeks, Shestakova said.

Some of the other prohibited phrases are "What can we do?" "It's not my job," "It's impossible," "I'm having lunch," "There is no money," and "I was away/sick/on vacation."

Kuzmin, a businessman who was elected mayor 1 1/2 years ago, wants to "shake things up" in Megion, a town of 54,000 in the Khanty-Mansiisk region, the spokeswoman said.

The region, located some 1,500 miles northeast of Moscow, produces more oil than the rest of Russia combined. As world oil prices have risen sharply in recent years, the region has flourished, and in stark contrast to the rest of the country its population has grown at the rapid rate of more than 7 percent annually.

But construction has not kept pace, and the lack of adequate housing is one of the town's most serious problems, Shestakova said.

"Town authorities are there to make town residents' life comfortable and prosperous," Kuzmin, a trained oil engineer who studied business administration in Canada, said in a statement posted on the town Web site. "Town officials must work out mechanisms to solve and remove problems, not to avoid them."

Officials who disobey the ban while in the mayor's office "will near the moment of their departure," the statement said.

Providing the mayor with wrong or incomplete information, or being late in reporting important information will be considered an attempt to undermine his work, it said.

Anna Borovikova, the mayor's chief of staff, said the novel approach has improved discipline.

"Before, it was so easy to say `I don't know.' Now before reporting to the mayor we prepare several proposals on how one or another problem can be solved," Borovikova said.

At first it was hard to remember not to use the banned expressions, she said, and they "slipped in sometimes."

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A Rose by any other name smells just as Sweet

Pray to Allah, Dutch Bishop proposes.

NETHERLANDS: Breda Bishop Tiny Muskens, who once worked as a missionary in Indonesia, has proposed that the Dutch Catholics just as Christians already do in other countries without significant Muslim populations.

Radio Netherlands reports that Bishop Muskens says his country should look to Indonesia, where the Christian churches already pray to Allah. It is also common in the Arab world: Christians and Muslims Arabs use the word Gods and Allah interchangeably.

Speaking on the Dutch TV program Network on August 13, Bishop Muskens says it could take another 100 years but eventually the name Allah will be used by the Dutch churches. And that will promote rapprochement between the two religions.

Muskens doesn’t expect his idea to be greeted with much enthusiasm. The 71-year-old bishop, who will soon be retiring due to ill health, says God doesn’t mind what he is called. God is above such “discussion and bickering”. Human beings invented this discussion themselves, he believes, in order to argue about it.

More than 30 years ago Bishop Muskens worked in Indonesia and, there, God was called Allah, even in Catholic churches. The Dutch should learn to get on spontaneously with different cultures, religions and behavior patterns:

“Someone like me has prayed to Allah yang maha kuasa ( Almighty God ) for eight years in Indonesia and other priests for 20 or 30 years. In the heart of the Eucharist, God is called Allah over there, so why can’t we start doing that together?”

In the Arab world God is called Allah. The long history of Christianity in the Arab world led to the development of a rich Christian-Islamic theological vocabulary, which makes God a normal equivalent to Allah. Both Muslims and Christians use the word in the Middle East.

Apart from Allah, the term ar-Rabb ( the Lord ) is also widely used, although this appears far more often in the Arab version of the Bible than in the Qur’an. In the Islamic context, references to ar-Rabb are normally found in the possessive form, such as Rabbi ( My Lord ). Interestingly the word Allah was already in use by Christians in the preIslamic period. ---- Catholic Resources.

August 26 2007

Comment:

If this will bring about peace among the citizens of the world, so be it - we are after all praying to the very same God.

A rose by any other name smells just as sweet.

God is Allah and Allah is God and we are His children. He loves us all.

anon

Inefficient, Incompetent and …?

On the 10th of August I received a ( red ) letter from LHDN ( Income Tax Department ) stating this:

Pemberitahuan Baki Cukai Tertunggak. It was addressed to me and no one else.

From its contents it said that I have to pay them a certain amount ( stated below ) in BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK.

I went to LHDN in Shah Alam on the 17th of August to get it sorted out. They, the officer printed out another letter ( a white letter ) and gave it to me. This was actually a letter sent to the:

Bendahari
Bhg Pengurusan Belanjawan & Kewangan staff
Pejabat Bendahari
University Malaya
50603 Kuala Lumpur.

s.k.

Ketua Pengarah,

Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia,
Bahagian Pencen
Block C1 dan C2, Parel C,
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Perseketuan,
62502 PUTRA JAYA MALAYSIA


This letter to the Bendahari of the University of Malaya was dated 26 April 2005. This was the year when I retired, in November 2005. It stated the outstanding amount.

To me it is very clear that the University did not comply to the rules of JPA for reasons best known to them ( the University ).

I went to the University ( of Malaya ) to sort this matter. I went to the Bendahari’s office and the woman at the desk ( Pn Yati if I am not mistaken ) spoke and acted like she is the Bendahari and wanted to see my letter. I told her that she had no right to look at it and I wanted to see the Bendahari. I asked her if this is the way she treated pensioners who served the University and the government for more than 20 years. I reminded her of the letter pensioners received to feel free to visit the University anytime we felt like doing so. She kept silent after that. I did have a hard time trying to tell her that it was an urgent matter and that I needed to see the Bendahari. I was told the Bendahari was on leave.

Then someone ( I believe her name is Pn. Zuraini ) who deals with Income Tax in the Bendahari's office came out and I told her about it and she was just as baffled as me because she said … when one retires, all monies due are deducted from one’s gratuity before releasing the gratuity and pension money.

All this happened past 11pm.

Then ( the practice of some government offices and officers ) I was told to go to the Pendaftar’s office.

I went there and found out that the Pendaftar was also on leave. So I spoke to Pn Bahiya bt Sujana who proudly said she is the Penolong Pendaftar. Good. So I thought.

I explained everything yet again. Puan Bahiyah too was puzzled as Pn Zuraini was and as Pn Zuraini Pn Bahiya also said all monies owing ( Pembayaran amaun pencen dan ganjaran adalah tertakluk kepada apa-apa potongan hutang kerajaan – as stated very clearly to the Pendaftar by the JPA ) should be cleared before one is given the gratuity and the pension.

Both, Pn Zuraini and Pn Bahiyah agreed that before I get my gratuity all monies due to the University must be settled and only then will I receive my gratuity and pension.

By the way, I received my gratuity and pension after I retired. But I am being harassed.

Then she made a series of calls. I asked her who she was calling and she said she didn’t know. So when she made another call, I told her to please ask who she is talking to. When she mentioned the name on the phone, I wrote it down. I then asked her who she spoke to, to confirm it. She said she was talking to someone from JPA by the name of Pn Maimun.

By now it was about 12pm.

Puan Zalihah was seated next to Pn Bahiya. I asked for her name as she was listening and wanted her to be witness to what was going on.

Puan Bahiyah also called En Zulkifli from the Bilik Record. Puan Bahiya actually told me to return later. I told her I will wait. Then after a while someone ( En Zulkifli I assume ) brought my file. She flipped through my file but still there was no proper answer as to why I received a red letter from LHDN.

Puan Bahiya asked me for the letter sent from JPA to the Pendaftar, Cc to me. I told her that the Pendaftar should have it as the JPA sent it to them and Cc’d me. She could not find the letter!
An important letter from JPA to the Pendaftar of University of Malaya is missing?

She also told me that I should have gone to see her as soon as I received the letter! How audacious can one get! So if I had gone right after I received that letter she would have solved the matter?

In any case, I should not have gotten the letter. They should have settled everything before releasing my gratuity and pension as stated in the letter to them by JPA.

It is then that I reminded her about YTM Raja Nazrin’s speech about incompetent and inefficient officials.

Now Pn Bahiya also said this: JPA please take note:

JPA is the one who needs to check my file because I retired a long time ago ( two years ago ) – end of November 2005.

She also said that cannot be captured by the computer system by JPA.

I told her that what she said – that JPA is the one who should sort this - is blatantly disobeying the JPA and its clear instructions to them.

They do not have the letter sent to them by the JPA!


Now this is very interesting.

The Letterhead says JABATAN PERKHIDMATAN AWAM MALAYSIA ( in Blue and in big letters )

BAHAGIAN PENCEN
Aras 2-5 , Blok C2 , Parcel C
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Perseketuan
62510 W.P. PUTRAJAYA
MALAYSIA



JPA ( I have copies of the letters ) replied to:

Pendaftar
University of Malaya
Seksyen Perkhid & Saraan, Bhg Sumber Manusia
Aras 1 Bangunan Canseleri
50603 University Malaya

Tuan,

KELULUSAN FAEDAH PERSARAAN ( that is the heading ).

This letter was written by the JPA IN REPLY to the Pendaftar of University of Malaya. The University’s letter was dated 17/06/2005

The reply by JPA to the University was dated 05/09/2005. Almost four months.


The letter that JPA sent to the Pendaftar has all the details of me and how much gratuity and pension I should get when I retire.

Allow me to write the last sentence of the letter to the Pendaftar.

D. KENYATAAN KELULUSAN

BERDASARKAN KEPADA MAKLUMAT YANG DINYATAKAN, FAEDAH-FAEDAH PERSARAAN SEPERTI BERIKUT ADALAH DILULUSKAN :

1. GANJARAN RM ( amount ) SAHAJA.

2. PENCEN RM ( amount ) SEBULAN

* Pembayaran amaun pencen dan ganjaran adalah tertakluk kepada apa-apa potongan potongan hutang kerajaan.


DILULUSKAN OLEH

( signature )

( ROHIMAN BIN RAHIAH )

Jawatan : KPP ( P ) 02

Tarikh : 02/09/ 2005

This is a very clear letter to the Pendaftar. I am sure the Pendaftar has received numerous such letters when any staff who retires.


Let me remind what YTM Raja Nazrin said in his speech in the compounds of the University of Malaya:

He also said the eradication of red tape and bureaucratic procedures will help stave off high economic costs and inhibit opportunity for illicit payments.

YTM Raja Muda of Perak also said:

People without integrity, honesty and morality should be prevented from holding public office.

YTM Raja Nazrin also said ( FIRST MALAYSIAN STUDENT LEADERS SUMMIT ) that:
Only those who are capable, responsible and scrupulously honest should be allowed to serve in positions of leadership. Those who are inefficient, incompetent and, most importantly, corrupt, should be held in absolute contempt.

I absolutely agree with YTM Raja Nazrin. He is a man of admirable wisdom.

So, the all-important question is: Where is the BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK to be paid to the LHDN?

Btw, the BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK is more than RM11, 000, close to RM12, 000.

I have been given my gratuity and am receiving my pension every month. That simply put means I do not owe the government any BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK.

Allow me to reiterate: Pembayaran amaun pencen dan ganjaran adalah tertakluk kepada apa-apa potongan potongan hutang kerajaan.

That in plain Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayu means - only if the University of Malaya has deducted any monies owing to the government can they release my gratuity and my pension.

Now, it’s a mystery. No one seems to know even after looking at my file.

I have 21 days ( from 9th August 2007 ) to pay the BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK to the LHDN. If I do not - Tindakan mahkamah boleh diambil ke atas tuan dan sekatan perjalanan di bawah Sekyen 104 Akta Cukai Pendapatan 1967 dikuatkuasakan sekiranya tuan gagal menjelaskan cukai tertunggak tersebut.

I have to pay for their incompetence? According to the letter sent to the University of Malaya by both LHDN and JPA, they – the University of Malaya and its administrators - have to clarify and pay to the LHDN.

I too would like to know where that amount has gone to since LHDN did not receive it.

LHDN wrote to the Bendahari of the University of Malaya on the 26th of April 2005.

JPA wrote a letter to the Pendaftar of the University of Malaya on the 5th of September 2005.

The University of Malaya has caused me a lot of stress and nothing but problems.

This was when the previous VC was in charge of the University.

p/s It is very strange indeed that this has come about after I wrote an article which was posted in M-T about the case of the blind and my conclusion was … who next – the pensioners? Read Who says our authorities are not carrying out their duties?

Coincidence? Perhaps.

The Penolong Pendaftar informed me that she will contact me when they sort the matter. I have yet to receive a call from her or any of them.

According to LHDN I have five days left to settle the BAKI CUKAI TERTUNGGAK.

Wake up University of Malaya! Do what you are paid to do.

anon

Raja Nazrin: Get public involved

Good governance involves active public participation, and citizens today are more educated and equipped, demanding more from the government but trusting it less, the Raja Muda of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah said today.

"They demand a progressive and representative form of government. They want to be part of decision-making that affects their lives and livelihood," he said in his keynote address at the international conference on "The Challenges of Democratisation and Good Governance in the Malaysian Public Sector" organised by Universiti Malaya.

Raja Nazrin noted that society today was more interested in achieving results than merely obeying rules."

They welcome and appreciate a government that is approachable and consultative; one that guides rather than one that directs," he said.

Therefore, he said it was only logical that the call for good governance should and must go hand-in-hand with the call for greater democratisation, as both were intertwined.

He said democracy provided the various constituencies the avenue to voice their views on the way they wanted to be governed.

"It is government by consent. The democratisation process must also recognise the important role of non-governmental organisations," he said.

"Their participation should be encouraged to the extent that they assist the institutions of power to function better."

Raja Nazrin described good governance as the process by which public goals were achieved in an efficient, effective and ethical manner.

He also said the eradication of red tape and bureaucratic procedures will help stave off high economic costs and inhibit opportunity for illicit payments.

"The amount of regulation, permits and licences must be reduced. By using the Internet, for example, there should be complete transparency for all permits and licences retained. Tendering processes need to be made more competitive and transparent."

He said whistle-blowers should also be protected against retaliation from those complained about.

He also noted that good governance entailed accountability by those in authority.

"While public officials should be accorded sufficient power to deliver good governance, there must be effective restraints on the arbitrary exercise of that power so that the general interest and not special interests are served," he said.

"The importance of judicial independence and the formal separation of powers among different branches of government cannot be over-emphasised."

Raja Nazrin said that although Malaysia has survived and prospered in the last 50 years, largely due to political resolve, pragmatism and effective implementation of policies, it did not mean we have closed in on the type of governance that is needed for the future.

Comment:

YTM Raja Nazrin,

I personally was waiting and hoping against all hopes that someday a wise man will surface and tell the people of Malaysia not to be demoralized.

I believe I speak on behalf of all Malaysians and congratulate you Sir on your wisdom and foresight.

For too long we have been oppressed and are unable to speak and be part of decision making that will indeed affect our lives and livelihood. We are under threat and silenced by the infamous ISA, OSA and the like and we do not have any avenue to voice our grievances.

By the grace of God, finally, we have right thinking people like you and the Rulers who have finally come out and have voiced what we wanted to say too.

We are certainly not waiting for an opening to create anarchy but are merely trying to be heard. If we do try to speak out against inefficiency, incompetence and above all, rampant corruption, we will be labelled as being seditious.

YTM, I am not a Malay Muslim but I personally know of a Malay family in a kampong in Negeri Sembilan who actually believe that the government is helping them and when I try to explain to them, they advice me not to say anything negative about the government. Their sentiments are echoed by others in the kampong too.

All I was trying to do is to tell them the TRUTH. It never crossed my mind to incite or instigate anyone. All they have is the mainstream media to rely on and they absorb the propaganda as the gospel truth.

We Malaysians are proud to have men like you Sir who speak of JUSTICE for all. I can only hope that all what you said will be disseminated to the rural folks without censorship.

Not one word of yours should be 'doctored' and if what you said reaches the rural folks who are basically a simple lot indoctrinated by false propaganda, this will be a wake-up call to them to be a part of our nation building. As poor as they may be, they are human being too Sir.

There was an allocation for the rural areas to be upgraded - small projects, reparing roads, leaking pipes and drains. After many months, I went back to the kampong and found that there was nothing done. Roads were still badly in need of repairs, pipes were leaking. That was about a month ago.

I humbly write this to you YTM Raja Nazrin.

This is an appeal from all Malaysians who I am sure are with you in cleaning up this country of inefficient, incompetent and corrupt officials. The result is disunity and hatred among the races because of inefficent, incompetent and corrupt officials who I believe do not want a UNITED Malaysia for reasons best known to them.

Please save us all YRH. We see a light which is getting brighter by the day with people like you Sir, the Rulers and YM RPK.

God bless.

anon

Who says our authorities are not carrying out their duties?

From left: Salmah Mohd Ali, Michael Lawrence De Silva and his brother Charles. On the right is a customer buying tissue paper from Salmah Mohd Ali.


NST: Saturday August 11 2007 by K. Harinderen and Adeline Lau.

To summarize: Malaysia TRULY Asia.

Four blind persons selling tissue paper were arrested by the police, City Hall and the Immigration Department.

It was of course part of the City Hall's, Immigration Department's and PDRM's effort to rid the city of beggars. ( Beggars? What? In Malaysia? We cannot allow tourists to know that we do have beggars! )

According to one of them, Salmah Mohd Ali, 46, she was seated in front of the 7-Eleven outlet in Bagsar Baru when she was asked by two policemen to follow them to the police station without giving any reason.

The police were acting on a complaint from the Bangsar Baru Resident's Association on the problem of beggars in the area. ( Welcome to Malaysia where everyone is friendly and helpful )

Razak Hashim,55, was arrested by police in front of the McDonald's restaurant in Bangsar Baru.

Both of them have been 'working' in the same area for more than 12 years. ( It took our men in blue to act on this after 12 years )

Salmah who is from Kuala Lipis, is afraid to leave her home now as she fears being arrested again. ( Salmah is not alone in her fear of the police force )

"I sell tissue paper, I do not beg," said Salmah.

Salmah was taken away by a police van that night and in the vehicle, she met two other blind persons, Abu Zarif Maarof and Azhar Omar, whom she knew. They told her that they too were areested for the same offence - selling Tissue paper.

Salmah was detained overnight in a temporary cell at the Travers police station while the others were held at the Brickfields police station. They will be accused of begging. ( Viva la NEP )

1. The big question: Is selling tissue paper by the blind to earn a living an offence under the Destitute Persons Act? No one involved seemed to have an answer.

2. The bigger question: Why on earth would innocent blind people be arrested for selling tissue papers? PDRM could have shown its gentle side as the Act is still being scrutinized as to what it actually means. I do hope they come up with a proper and humane interpretation.

3. Why are the helpless blind people targets of the police force? They are trying to earn a living for God's sake.

Turn your attention to the real criminals.

According to the paper, it said, it's up to the their ( police ) discretion whether to arrest a blind person for selling tissue papers.

"the police will investigate such cases as there are beggars who disguise their activities by selling tissue paper."

4. Strange but from what I know, the NEP is after all, meant for the welfare of the Malays, right?

"The act is not clear on the matter," said Welfare Department elderly and family division director Nik Omar Nik Ab Rahman. ( The act is not clear on the matter or the matter is not clear on the act?" )

He also said that there was some confusion over selling tissues could be considered begging.

However he was uncertain about this. ( and he is the Director )

"Discussions are still going to resolve this matter."


So, no one seems to know about the Act but some were quick to act. I always considered Malaysians a compassionate lot. That includes PDRM.

To arrest innocent blind people for an act that they are not sure about is regrettable. Blatant criminal acts are being committed on the streets and these criminals seem to get away with it.

What next?

Investigate and interrogate the people in the welfare homes?
Or perhaps the next target will be pensioners? Pensioners know quite a bit and might spill the beans. Pensioners from all government sectors. We have to protect our Vision 2020 at all cost.

Que sera sera.

MERDEKA

anon