24/11: Shouting match in court

By : Rita Jong
New Straits Times


Federal Reserve Unit personnel keeping a crowd of about 2,000 people under control outside the court.

Three lawyers, said to be key players in the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), were charged yesterday with inciting racial hatred.

Hindraf is the organiser of a planned gathering in front of the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. Police have refused permission for the rally for fear of public disorder.

P. Uthayakumar, 46, his brother P. Waytha Moorthy, 41, and V. Ganabatirau, 34, claimed trial to inciting a crowd through speeches in Tamil at a restaurant in Batang Berjuntai on Nov 16.

The three were brought under heavy police escort to the court at 4.20pm with a large group of supporters in tow.

From the onset of the proceedings, there was controversy as the lawyers representing the three, M. Manoharan, A. Sivanesan and R. Kenghadaran, objected to the charge, claiming it was flawed.

Manoharan said the charge was incomplete as the original copy of the alleged seditious speech, which was in Tamil, was not attached to the translated copy.

Deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff told the judge that the translation had been certified by a police officer, but it had yet to be verified by an independent party.

At this juncture, Manoharan interjected, saying the charge was not clear and that prosecution was not ready to charge the three.

Judge Zunaidah Mohd Idris agreed that the original copy of the speech should have been attached to the translated text and said the prosecution should have also identified the words which were deemed seditious.

Manoharan then urged the court to discharge his clients based on the groundless charge.

He said under the Sedition Act, it was an offence to incite ill-feelings. In this case, he said the three accused were simply pointing out errors by the government.

Zunaidah: I do not want to go into the facts of the case. The charges are not purely groundless, let the prosecution do the necessary to the charge.

Manoharan: The court should not fix another date for the DPP to correct the charge. Grant them a discharge. The prosecution can bring them again on Monday with the proper charge. Why the hurry to charge the lawyers? They are not going to run anywhere.

Zunaidah agreed that the charge was general, adding that it would be difficult for the accused to answer. She then fixed Monday for mention.

When bail was proposed at RM10,000, Manoharan stood up again and said: "It is ridiculous enough that they are bringing an incomplete charge against my clients, now they are asking for RM10,000?

"There is no way they can post bail. Since Monday is fixed for mention, the court should fix then to submit on bail."

Manoharan also alleged that the clients were brought to court late on purpose so that they would not be able to raise bail and thus left in remand over the weekend.

"This was done in bad faith," he said.

It was then that a shouting match broke out.

Ishak stood up and told Manoharan to shut up and stop throwing accusations at the prosecution.

Kenghadaran lunged at Ishak and had to be restrained by the other lawyers.

"We are the ones struggling. How dare you, you shut up," he yelled at Ishak who then told him to stop pointing fingers.

Zunaidah had enough and told everyone to sit down. "We are here to carry out our duty. The prosecution is here following orders to charge your clients. I want this to be a fair trial. Do not put emotions into this."

But the court, she said, could not release the three accused without imposing bail.

"Since it's already 6pm, I will allow the three accused RM800 bail each. The bail is to be settled by cash to the court, who will hold the amount until Monday," she said.

Uthayakumar and Ganabatirau posted bail, but Waytha Moorthy refused as a mark of protest. He was sent to the Sungai Buloh prison where he has threatened to go on hunger strike.

The charge:

P. Waytha Moorthy, P. Uthayakumar and V. Ganabatirau were charged with uttering seditious words in Tamil during a speech at Restaurant Yun He, Lot 293, Sungai Rambai, Jalan Batang Berjuntai in Kuala Selangor between 8.30pm and 11.15pm on Nov 16.

They were charged under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948 (Revised 1969), which states that anyone who utters any seditious words shall be liable to a maximum RM5,000 fine or three years’ jail.

The seditious tendency includes inciting racial hatred and bringing the Government and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong into contempt.

It applies to an act, speech, words, or publication. It includes any phrase, sentence, or combination of words, oral or written.

Timeline:

• 7.30am — Hindraf legal adviser P. Uthayakumar woken up at his home in Bangsar by a chief inspector and six plainclothes policemen with magistrate's court order not to attend the rally.

• 10.30am — Five police officers from Selangor police headquarters arrest Uthayakumar at his Menara Mutiara Bangsar office under the Sedition Act. He is taken to the headquarters in Shah Alam.

• 2.45pm — V. Ganabatirau is arrested when he goes to the Selangor police headquarters to see Uthayakumar.

• 3pm — P. Waytha Moorthy arrested at Shah Alam toll plaza and taken to Selangor police headquarters in Shah Alam.

• 4.45pm — Trio charged at the Klang Sessions court.

• 6pm — Bail of RM800 is objected to by Waytha Moorthy, who says he wants to remain in custody as a sign of protest. He insists on being handcuffed on the way out of court. Request granted.

• 6.30pm — Uthayakumar, Ganabatirau, A. Sivanesan and M. Manoharan left the court. They are carried on the shoulders by supporters. Procession starts at the foothill of court at Jalan Datuk Hamzah and snaked through Klang town. Traffic came to standstill.

• 6.30pm — Waytha Moorthy driven away to Sungai Buloh prison in Proton Waja.

• 6.45pm — Scuffle broke out between supporters and FRU near the junction of Jalan Datuk Hamzah, but order restored peacefully without any arrest.

• 7pm — Procession arrived at Padang Chetty which is behind the Klang district police headquarters, and 750 metres away from the court.

• 7-7.20pm — All four gave speeches and explained what happened in court.

• 7.20pm — A press conference was held outside the Sri Thandayathapani Hindu temple which is adjacent to Padang Chetty.

• 7.30pm — All four entered temple and prayed before leaving.

24/11: PM warns ethnic Indian minority not to join banned rally

By SEAN YOONG
Associated Press

Malaysia's prime minister urged ethnic Indians Saturday to shun a protest aimed at airing their economic grievances, saying its planners were suspected of encouraging people to rebel.

The Hindu Rights Action Force, an influential nongovernment group, wants thousands of people to demonstrate outside the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to highlight how Malaysia's ethnic Indian minority has remained largely poor under both British colonial rule and the present government dominated by Malay Muslims.

Authorities have declared the rally illegal and stepped up security amid concerns of potential violence.

Three ethnic Indian activists were arrested and charged in court with sedition Friday, but Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denied that it was because they were the key organizers of the rally.

"They are deemed to have gone against the Sedition Act and we had to take action," Abdullah told Malaysian reporters in Uganda, where he was attending the Commonwealth summit.

"We are not drumming up charges against them," the national news agency, Bernama, quoted Abdullah as saying. "For some time now, these three people have been getting carried away saying things that are against the law."

Police have obtained an unprecedented court order forbidding the public from rallying outside the British High Commission, and warned that protesters could be arrested on sight.

The rally is meant to support a US$4 trillion (�2.7 trillion) lawsuit filed in London in August, demanding that Britain compensate Malaysian Indians for bringing their ancestors here as "indentured laborers" and exploiting them.

Ethnic Indians, mainly Hindus, form about 8 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people. Activists claim that more than two-thirds of them live in poverty, partly because they are deprived of opportunities due to affirmative action policies that favor the ethnic Malay Muslim majority.

Government authorities have rejected allegations of unfair discrimination.

Abdullah said people should avoid the protest because "street demonstrations are not the way."

"We're not a nation where the people cannot voice their grievances, but it has to be done in the proper way," he said.

Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, the rally's chief organizer, pledged that the protest would proceed.

"This is a poor people's struggle," Waytha Moorthy said late Friday.

The planned rally would be the second protest in Kuala Lumpur this month. Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse activists Nov. 10 at an opposition-backed rally that drew thousands of people demanding electoral reforms.

24/11: Three Hindraf officials charged with sedition

R. Surenthira Kumar
The Sun

Three officials of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were charged in the Sessions Court here this afternoon with sedition, shortly after they were arrested. They pleaded not guilty.

Hindraf adviser P. Uthayakumar, his brother P. Waythamoorthy (who is Hindraf chairman) and V. Ganapathy Rao -- who are all lawyers -- were charged with uttering seditious words at a restaurant in Batang Berjuntai on Nov 16 this year under Section 4 (1) (b) of the Sedition Act 1948.

Attached to the charge sheet was a nine-page translation of a speech delivered by Uthayakumar in Tamil on that day to a crowd.

A crowd of about 400 supporters gathered at the court complex as they were being charged. They chanted some slogans loudly, making it difficult for the proceedings to be heard.

As the prosecution only produced the charge at about 4.45 pm, Sessions Judge Zunaidah Mohd Idris extended the court hours to 6pm.

She had her hands full during the proceedings as a war of words broke out between defence lawyer R. Kanghadaran and the lead deputy public prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff when another defence lawyer M. Manoharan told the judge and accused the prosecution of deliberately bringing a late charge so that the three accused would not be able to post bail.

After the prosecution told the interpreter to read the charges, Manoharan said the charges were unclear as it did spell out the seditious words in Tamil, and as such it was flawed and baseless.

Ishak however countered that the prosecution could make amendments later.

Manoharan however objected, saying the prosecution was not ready and police had not done a complete investigation, and as such, the charges should be dropped.

The judge however allowed the amendment to be made later, as the basic elements of the charge were there.

The defence later introduced Amer Hamzah Arshad, a representative of the Bar Council, asking the court to allow him to hold a watching brief on behalf of the Bar.

The prosecution objected, saying he had no locus standi. However, the judge allowed it.

Another defence lawyer A. Sivanesan argued that under the Criminal Procedure Code, since the charge was not specific, it should be dropped and the three men should be released. He said the prosecution could file fresh charges on Monday.

On bail arrangement, the prosecution offered a sum of RM2,000 each but the defence asked for RM1 only, as they have difficulty raising such a high amount.

The judge then set bail at RM800 each in cash since banking hours were over. She set Monday to re-mention the case.

After initially accepting the bail amount, Waythamoorthy later objected and said he would remain in policy custody as a sign of protest. On the way out, he insisted on being hand-cuffed and the request was granted.

The hat was passed among the supporters to raise bail and a total of RM3,244 was collected.

Earlier, during the case, the police warned the crowd to disperse but the supporters ignored it. There was no untoward incidents and they left quietly after the case was over.

24/11: No support for Hindraf rally from MIC, 25 NGOs

By K. Harinderan
New Straits Times

Twenty-five Indian non-governmental organisations here deny that they will support the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) rally tomorrow.

Federal Territory MIC chairman and national information chief Datuk M. Saravanan said: "Hindraf's claims are baseless and the Indians here will not support the gathering.

"As Malaysians, we have lived in peace and street protests are not a part of our culture.

"I urge the parties to discuss and resolve the matter. History has shown that demonstrations always end in violence."

Saravanan was speaking yesterday at a press conference convened by the MIC and the NGOs, which claim to represent 500,000 Indians in the Klang Valley.

Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry vice-president for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Ramesh Kodammal, said demonstrations would affect the business community and, on a greater scale, the image of the country.

Malaysian Punjabi Chambers of Commerce and Industries president Datuk Daljit Singh Dalliwal said: "Our message is clear, we support the Barisan Nasional government and do not support any element that goes against the peace and economic viability of the country."

The Hindraf rally outside the British High Commission is in support of a class-action suit against the British government for bringing Indians to Malaya as indentured workers, for exploiting them for 150 years, and for failing to protect their rights as a minority in the Federal Constitution when independence was granted.

The group is seeking STG4 trillion (RM27.7 trillion) in damages in a suit filed in Britain on Aug 30. They plan to petition Queen Elizabeth II for a Queen's Counsel to argue their case.

23/11: God is watching us

Raja Petra Kamarudin


Today is Friday. To Muslims, Friday is considered a ‘holy’ day. So today is certainly a good day for me to remind Malaysians of Muslim persuasion that God is watching us.

On Sunday, our fellow Malaysians of Indian origin will be marching to the British High Commission. The predominantly Malay-Muslim police force has been placed on full alert since yesterday, resulting in massive traffic jams in almost the entire Kelang Valley. The head honcho of the police force has warned those who insist on participating in the Sunday rally that they will face severe retribution for their folly.

The police have demonstrated how violent they can be on 10 November 2007 when they smashed the leg and kneecap of one marcher. He lay on the ground, immobilised by the excruciating pain, his pleas for help ignored. He was then ordered to stand up and get into the police truck. But he could not even crawl, let alone stand up, so they picked him up like a sack of potatoes and threw him into the truck.

Islam says, if you eat alone, all you get is the satisfaction of being full. But, if you eat in a group, you get twice the benefits. Other than getting full, you also receive pahala. Islam says, when you travel, do not travel alone. Travel in a group and appoint one from amongst you as the group leader. Islam says, it is better to pray in a group than to pray alone. You can get 27 more pahala when you pray in a group compared to praying alone.

Yes, Islam encourages group activities. Islam rewards you with multiple pahala when you do things in a group. (Okay, orgies may not quite be included in this list of group activities). Islam is all about groups and communities. Islam says you must perform the Haj or pilgrimage in Mekah at least once in your life if you can afford it. What is so significant about the Haj? The Haj allows millions of Muslims to assemble in the same place at the same time. That is the awe of the Haj.

Muslims march to celebrate the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, the larger the crowd the better. Hindus too march and carry the Kavadee. Christians too march. Buddhists also march. Most religions have some form of marching or another to ‘demonstrate’ their piousness. But if the marching or assembly is not in support of the political masters, then all of a sudden it is an illegal act and the powers-that-be can treat you worse than animals and brutalise you.

When you take the oath of office you do so in the name of God. But once you are already in office do you still act in the name of God or do you do things opposed to what God prescribes? Let our political masters and powers-that-be ask themselves this question, this holy Friday, because God is watching us. And I will close this piece with the lyrics from Bette Midler’s song, ‘From a distance’.

22/11: Hindraf playing up sensitive issues: Johari

Posted by: raja petra

Maria J. Dass
The Sun

Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Baharum accused the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) of playing up sensitive issues that are a threat to public harmony, by circulating sensitive and damaging text messages.

Speaking to reporters after meeting newly-appointed Deputy Inspector General of Police Datuk Ismail Omar at the ministry today, he said the police have been asked to trace the persons who sent out these text messages, and firm action will be taken against them.

"This group has been playing up sensitive issues such as [the demolition of] temples, and pertaining to the government, Umno, the police and certain individuals," Johari said.

"Their actions are a threat to public harmony and could cause instability and unrest."

Johari also said the police did not approve a permit for Hindraf to hold a rally on Sunday (Nov 25) and advised the public to stay away from it, as the police will be firm in taking action against those who participate in the illegal assembly.

Hindraf is organising a rally in front of the British High Commission to hand over a memorandum to Queen Elizabeth II of Britain.

On Aug 30, Hindraf filed a class action suit against the British government for bringing inn Indians to Malaysia as indentured labourers and exploiting them for 150 years, and thereafter failed to protect their rights under the Federal Constitution.

The group is seeking 4 trillion pounds (RM27.7 trillion) or about RM1 million for every Indian currently residing in Malaysia after paying for legal proceedings.

Commenting on his meeting with Ismail, Johari said the meeting was to talk about the former’s duties and role in his new position.

Ismail, 54 who was formerly the federal police management director, took over from Tan Sri Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz on Nov 12 following the latter’s retirement.

Asked if the meeting was held to iron out differences between Johari and the police, Johari said: "There is no problem in our relationship. All is ok."

"We discussed the expectations of his role in the force under the current climate, including the planned increase of personnel by 60,000, the upgrade of current equipment, the addition of several new police training centres and crime prevention programmes," he said.

Johari said he had suggested that more police stations be built and upgraded with better facilities as these were meeting points between the police and the public.

He also suggested that General Operation Force personnel be stationed in interior areas and island resorts on a rotation basis, so that the police personnel who have been stationed in these places with their families for years will not be isolated for long periods of time.

21/11: Heat on the street

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Why ‘heat on the street’?” you might ask. Well, simple, ‘heat on the street’ is the song by one of my favourite singers, Phil Collins, and the lyrics of that song go as follows:

You’ve gotta shout if you’ve got something to say
I know it’s getting bad, you read it every day
And you, you can try your best to fight it
But you can’t make it on your own

Someone better tell the people up there
I think they ought to know, the bubble’s just about to bust
Tell them they’d better beware
The word is on the street, get up on your feet, and shout out

The kids out there don’t know how to react
The streets are getting tough and that’s a matter of fact
And I, I can’t take it any longer
But we can’t make it on our own

The people there find it hard to relate
They don’t know how it feels to be standing there on your own
Believe me, it’s never too late
It’s time to make a move, get up on your feet and shout

Stop, look down, everybody, do you see what's going on
Around you, stop.....

Shout out, shout it out, shout loud
Shout out, shout it out, shout loud

There are people who give and there are people who take
But I believe it’s gonna get better
Realise what a difference you make
And don’t turn away, Hey! I'm talking to you!

So there’s only the one solution
Stop and think what’s going on
You can draw your own conclusions
But we won’t make it on our own

Someone better tell the people up there
I think they ought to know
The bubble’s just about to burst
Tell them they'd better beware
The word is on the street
Get up on your feet and shout

Stop, look down, everybody
Do you see what’s going on?
Around you, stop.....

Malays pride themselves on being good Muslims. In fact, they consider themselves better Muslims than even the Arabs themselves. Malays regard Arabs and other Middle Eastern Muslims as deviants. That is what Malays think of themselves when it comes to Islamic practices.

Yes, that is right. I said “Islamic practices”. I did not say “Islamic values”. Malays are very ritualistic in their Islamic beliefs. They do not care much about values. It is practice that counts when it comes to Malays and Islam. Values don’t count. For that matter, the Malays do not even begin to understand what Islamic values are.

If you were to ask a Malay what Islam is all about, they would reply Islam is about accepting Allah as the one and only God and Muhammad as the final Prophet of God, performing the five times a day ritual prayers, fasting for 30 days or so during the month of Ramadhan, paying the zakat and fitrah tithes, and performing the Haj pilgrimage in the Holy Land of Mekah at least once in your life.

Many Malays do more than just fast during the month of Ramadhan. They also perform the optional fasting in the other months and days such as Monday and Thursday, etc. They also go to Mekah more than once in their lives. Sometimes they do it every year with the ‘small’ Haj or umrah thrown in in-between during the off-seasons.

Yes, Malays are good Muslims -- no, they are better Muslims than even the Arabs -- but only as far as the rituals are concerned. Values do not count. Values are not important to the Malays. And Islam is restricted to just those five rukun or rules mentioned above. There is no need to do more than that. It is enough to accept Allah as the one and only God, Muhammad as the last Prophet of God, and then pray fives times a day, fast for 30 days, pay a meagre amount of money as zakat/fitrah, and go to Mekah at least once in your life. And this will guarantee you heaven while all others who do not believe in and practice those few rukun mentioned above will rot in hell for eternity.

Okay, say you raped and murdered 99 underage girls. Will you go to hell? Yes, if you murder the 100th girl and do not repent and die before you can repent. But if you repent after the 99th rape and murder, and never commit the 100th rape and murder, and then die soon after that, then you will go to heaven and stay there for eternity.

It is so easy to go to heaven. All you need to do to go to heaven is to believe in and perform the rituals required and then repent and never commit any more sins until you die. You can be Mother Theresa, but as long as you do not believe in and perform the rituals then you are going to hell. Mother Theresa will go to hell while the man who raped and murdered 99 underage girls and who repented before he dies will go to heaven.

Stop any Malay on the street and ask him or her whether they believe this to be so and he or she will confirm it. This is what the Malays have been taught to believe. And this is what the Islam of the Malays is all about.

But I do not believe this. I believe there is more to Islam than mere rituals. Islam is not just about rituals. Islam is also about values. And one of the values of Islam is amar makruf, nahi mungkar. In English this translates to ‘propagating good and forbidding evil’.

Amar makruf, nahi mungkar is not optional. It is compulsory. Islam makes it mandatory that we oppose evil. We are asked to oppose evil with our hands. If we are powerless or lack the balls to oppose it with our hands, then we are supposed to oppose it with our mouth -- in other words speak out against it. And if we still lack the balls to do that, then we are supposed to just quietly and secretly despise it in our hearts. But, says Islam, those who only dare oppose evil quietly and secretly in their hearts are Muslims who have very weak faith (iman). In other words, those who do not have the balls to openly oppose evil are very weak Muslims.

This is what Islam says.

Why do Malays pray five times a day? Why do Malays fast 30 days during the month of Ramadhan? Why do Muslims pay the zakat and fitrah tithes? Why do Malays go to Mekah to perform the Haj at least once in their life? Is it because these rituals are compulsory? Is it because you would not be a perfect Muslim if you did not perform these rituals?

Hey, these are only rituals. Rituals are not values. Rituals are merely a demonstration that you have values. It is pointless performing rituals if you lack values. Rituals are not important if you lack faith or values. Rituals are the end result of the values you hold. If you did not believe that there is a God would you want to pray? Would it serve any purpose that you prayed if you did not believe that there is a God? If you did not believe that Muhammad was the last Prophet, if you think that he is a fake, is there any purpose in performing the rituals that Muhammad taught mankind?

There are more important things in life than rituals. If you went to the moon would you need to pray five times a day? The ritual prayers are only mandatory if you have your feet on mother earth. Arabs do not even pray during a long flight because they believe that as long as their feet do not touch the ground then there is no need to pray. But values need to be maintained whether you are flying in a plane or walking on the moon.

When I was under Internal Security Act detention I was not allowed to go to the mosque to do my Friday prayers. They say that one must never miss one’s Friday prayers. Is that so? Bullshit. The government prevented me from going for my Friday prayers. This means the government of Malaysia and not God determines whether I need to perform my Friday prayers. So forget about your Friday prayers. We were led to believe that God made it mandatory that we perform our Friday prayers. That is a lie. The government of Malaysia and not God is the final authority. And don’t be afraid that they may arrest you and bring you before a syariah court to be tried as a deviant Muslim if you miss your Friday prayers. Syariah court judges can be bought. For a mere RM1,000 or so you can fix up your trial. Don’t believe me, then read this:

Judge charged for corruption

IPOH (Nov 20, 2007): Perak Syariah High Court Judge Hassan Basri Shafie was charged in the Sessions Court today with five counts of corruption involving RM5,200. Three of the charges pertained to two marriages without following the correct procedure while the other two were for the return of bail money.

Hassan Basri, 53, the first syariah judge to be charged by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) with corruption, pleaded not guilty to:

1) Soliciting a RM3,000 bribe from Mohamad Imran Abdullah as an inducement to return bail money to Yoong Hor Kit with regard to five syariah criminal cases at Restoran Wawa on Aug 15.

2) Accepting the bribe in a car at a carpak in Taman D.R. Seenivasagam on Sept 6.

3) Soliciting a RM1,100 bribe from Mohamad Imran as an inducement to assist Mohamad Asri A Bakar marry Nor Farihan Hassan without going through the correct procedure, at Restoran Wawa on Aug 15.

4) Accepting the bribe from Mohamad Imran in the same car near Hotel Hillcity on Aug 17.

5) Accepting a RM1,100 bribe from Mohamad Imran as an inducement to issue marriage permits to Mohd Jefri Afandi Ahmad and Nur Liza Musa to enable the couple to marry without going through the correct procedure, in the same car at a carpark in Taman D. R. Seenivasagam on Sept 6.

If convicted, Hassan Basri can jailed a maximum of 20 years and a fine of five times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Sessions Court Judge Tan Hooi Leng set two days from March 31 next year for trial. Hassan Basri was allowed bail totalling RM20,000 and ordered to surrender his passport.

Nordin also said that the prosecution would call 20 witnesses to the stand.

And do you want to know what is most ironic? This syariah court judge is now facing trial in a ‘kafir’ court in front of a ‘kafir’ judge. Now that is what I would call poetic justice.

Yes, to hell with Malays who think that they are better Muslims than the Arabs and who think that Islam is only about performing rituals. Islam is about values, Islam is about justice, Islam is about amar makruf, nahi mungkar. That is what I am more concerned with. That is what Malaysia Today is all about. That is more important than rituals.

But they make police reports against me when I fulfil the obligations of amar makruf, nahi mungkar. They want to send me to jail because I perform the obligatory amar makruf, nahi mungkar. Malays are weak Muslims. Malays are deviant Muslims. Malays are ritualistic Muslims. Malays are Muslims with no sense of values.

Your prayers are between you and God. Whether you perform them or not is between you and God. It does not concern anyone else. The same goes for all those other rituals as well. But if you do not stand up for justice and fight against evil, oppression, persecution, etc., then it is no longer between you and God. God can forgive you for not praying. God can forgive you for the beer you drink every night. But God will never forgive you for your sins against society. By not opposing evil you have not sinned against God. You have sinned against 26 million fellow-Malaysians. And you will have to seek forgiveness from 26 million Malaysians. God can’t forgive you. 26 million Malaysians will have to do that.

So I will continue opposing kemungkaran. Malaysia Today will continue voicing out against evil. And Umno can continue making police reports against Malaysia Today and me. Hey, they can even send me to jail. After all, I am already 57 years old. In a few years I will be dead. But I will die opposing kemungkaran. And these Umno Malays who never miss their five times a day prayers and who go to the mosque every Friday will be marching two-by-two into hell (while I truly hope I will be waving at them from the gates of heaven) because the road to heaven is not in your prayers but in how you stand up for justice and fight for the rights and good of the society that you live in and will soon enough die in.

20 years of shellshock

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I have one, just ONE proposal for the Honourable Minister of Education. If you do this I might, I said MIGHT, overlook your crime of sabre-rattling, or rather keris-kissing. (But I honestly don’t think the Chinese will forgive you though -- but that is another subject for another time). And this proposal is that the Ministry of Education should make it compulsory for all students to memorise the entire Federal Constitution of Malaysia. And the Federal Constitution should be a compulsory examination subject, which means if you fail the Constitution test then you fail the whole exam.

I am appalled that even lawyers who have gone to court to argue cases that involve the interpretation of the Federal Constitution do not appear to know the Constitution. I have had to bring to their attention certain clauses or articles in the Constitution and help interpret it for them. Hey, I am no lawyer and I don’t even pretend to be one -- although I trust myself more than lawyers when I ‘argue’ my case during the many police interrogations under Section 112 that I have been subjected to.

As a slight digression, editors of the mainstream newspapers (meaning ruling party-owned of course) should also be made to sit through a crash-course and examination on the Constitution. Although Article 32 (2) says that the Consort of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is called the Raja Permaisuri Agong and Her Majesty shall take precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation, the newspapers still insist on calling the wife of the Prime Minister the ‘First Lady’.

Hey, read my lips, the Raja Permaisuri Agong is the ‘First Lady’. That is what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia says and can we please follow the Malaysian Constitution and not the United States Constitution. We are not yet the 52nd State of the United States, although if we allow Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to continue as Prime Minister that may happen soon enough (that is if we do not become Wilayah Singapura first).

It should be made mandatory for ALL Malaysians to read, memorise and understand the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Just by reading the comments in Malaysia Today’s blogs offer enough evidence to prove that Malaysians in general are ignorant about the Constitution. They make many stupid comments that reveal this ignorance. Take the recent so-called ‘official statement’ by the so-called ‘official spokesman’ of the Istana Negara as one example. “Why does the Agong not sack him?”, “Why does the Agong not make an official announcement rebutting his statement?”, “Why did the Agong not personally accept the Memorandum from the rakyat on 10 November 2007”, and so on, are just some examples of the ignorance of Malaysians on what is proper protocol and how the Agong is supposed to conduct himself according to the Constitution.

Malaysians are also ignorant about how Malaysia’s Westminster system of Parliament is supposed to function. Malaysia is supposed to have four branches of government. We have the Executive, the Judiciary, the Legislature, and the Monarchy, and each is supposed to work independently of each other and in a way parallel to one another.

The Legislature makes the laws, the Judiciary interprets the laws, the Executive implements the laws, and the Monarchy is the protector and trustee of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and ensures that the laws passed do not violate the Constitution. The Judiciary, although its role is to just follow whatever laws are passed by Parliament, can also play a role in looking at the spirit of the law rather than just the letter of the law. It can also make rulings contrary to the letter of the law in the event that the spirit of the law should override the letter of the law.

Let us look at one example, the Internal Security Act (ISA). The ISA, which was tabled in Parliament by Tun Razak in 1960, was passed into law specifically to combat Communist Terrorism. Since the Communist Insurgency has officially ended with the signing of the Peace Treaty between the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and the Malaysian government in Hattyai, Thailand, the ISA, for all intents and purposes, has outlived its usefulness.

Now, some judges have actually ruled that detaining non-Communist Terrorists (CTs) under the ISA goes against the spirit of the law and they have not only ruled that the detention is illegal but in their judgement have suggested that the ISA be reviewed or repealed. These judges have made their ruling not based on the letter of the law but the spirit of the law. These judges have invariably been sidelined and placed in cold storage whereas by now some of them should actually be the Chief Justice if based on their experience and seniority.

What does this tell us? First, judges who rule with their conscience and according to the proper interpretation of the law and in compliance with the Federal Constitution are punished -- so not many judges dare become too ‘independent’. Secondly, the Judiciary is no longer an independent branch of the government but is just another arm of the ruling elite. Therefore, the Judiciary, which is supposed to be one of the four branches of government, is rendered impotent. The Executive is ultimately that in charge and the Judiciary merely does its bidding.

The same goes for the Legislature. Members of Parliament are not allowed to represent the voters who put them in office. Whenever any ruling party Member of Parliament votes with his or her conscience and appears to side with the opposition, disciplinary action is taken against them. Remember the Deputy Minister Datuk S. Sothinathan case? And what about the most controversial Islamic Family Law episode last year where Nazri Aziz reminded ruling party Members of Parliament and government-appointed Senators that it is their obligation to vote the way the ruling party wants them to vote?

The Malay term for Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen is Wakil Rakyat (Peoples’ Representative). In reality they are Wakil Parti, not Wakil Rakyat, while some, such as Members of the Cabinet, in particular the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, are Wakil Pos because they won the elections due to postal votes.

It is evident that the Judiciary and Legislature are no longer valid branches of government. The Executive Branch decides what they do. In that sense, the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary have been merged into one. So that leaves us only the Monarchy. If the Monarchy too comes under the Executive, then Malaysia will be reduced to only one branch of government.

And that is why it is important for Malaysians to understand the role of the Monarchy. While the Judiciary and Legislature have lost their independence, the Monarchy still has certain powers as stipulated under the Federal Constitution. For example, the common belief is that the Chairman or President of the political party that wins the most number of seats in Parliament automatically gets to become Prime Minister. That is not true. The Agong decides who gets to become Prime Minister.

The second common belief is that the Agong can only act on the advice of the Prime Minister. That is also not true. And it is also not true that once the Prime Minister goes before the Agong to request that Parliament be dissolved to make way for fresh general elections, then the Agong has to agree. The Agong can refuse to dissolve Parliament if he has reason for doing so, like for example if His Majesty feels that the election is fraudulent. And the Agong can even decree that a Royal Commission of Inquiry be set up (that is why it is called ROYAL Commission) to audit the entire electoral system and recommend reforms.

Yes, Malaysia no longer has four branches of government. Yes, the Legislature and Judiciary have been reduced to rubber stamps. But the Monarchy is no rubber stamp although it appears like it is also a rubber stamp.

Understandably, the Monarchy appears to be a rubber stamp because of the Constitutional Crisis 20 years ago where the Rulers were told in no uncertain terms that Malaysians in general want the Monarchy abolished and for Malaysia to be turned into a Republic. Only Umno is defending the Monarchy, Umno told the Rulers. Without Umno, the Monarchy will be history like in India and Indonesia. Therefore, if the Monarchy goes against Umno, then the Rulers will all be removed and the Prime Minister would become the President of the Republic of Malaysia.

This shocked the Rulers. And although 20 years has since passed, the Rulers are still in shellshock. And that is why we see much reluctance on the part of the Rulers to ‘interfere’ in the running of this country, as what Umno constantly says in the attempt to silence the Rulers.

But there is no such thing as interfering. The Rulers are not interfering. Malaysians are not asking the Rulers to interfere. The Monarchy is one of the four legitimate and independent branches of government. The other two branches, the Judiciary and the Legislature, are eunuchs. These two have been rendered impotent. We therefore have only one branch remaining, the Monarchy, which can play the role of checks and balances to the Executive.

We are not asking the Monarchy to do more than what the Federal Constitution allows. We are only asking the Monarchy to do what the Federal Constitution empowers it to do. We are asking the Monarchy to do what they are legally bound to do.

I was told the Monarchy costs this nation RM40 million or so a year. Well, if that is true, I have no problems with that. RM40 million in not much if the Monarchy performs the job it is paid to do. We also have 1,000 or so Wakil Rakyat (Members of Parliament, Senators and State Assemblymen) who cost the nation more than RM40 million a year. And we are not even including the ‘under-the-table’ payments which are costing the nation billions of Ringgit. So RM40 million is affordable if the Monarchy does its job. If reforms are introduced, which will in turn reduce or eliminate abuse of power and corruption, just one government contract properly implemented alone can save RM40 million -- which can more than pay for this cost to maintain the Monarchy. Therefore, the Monarchy can pay help for itself just by reforming the manner the nation’s money is spent.

The ten Monarchs have taken an oath of office. They have sworn in the name of God that they will do the job they have been entrusted to do. Their duty is therefore to God and not to Umno. Sure, Umno has threatened to abolish the Monarchy. Umno has told the Rulers that only Umno wants to maintain the Monarchy while the rest of non-Umno Malaysians want the Monarchy abolished and for Malaysia to be turned into a Republic. Hey, this can’t be done. The Federal Constitution of Malaysia does not allow it to be done. And even talking about abolishing the Monarchy is a crime under Malaysia’s Sedition Act. You can get sent to jail for just saying it. And if you try it then you can get charged for treason against the King and be sentenced to death by hanging if found guilty. Remember what happened to the Al Maunah chaps?

The Gelombang Kuning march on 10 November 2007 was actually more than just about electoral reforms. It was also to send a message to the Agong that the people are behind His Majesty. Malaysians do not want Malaysia to be turned into a Republic. This will only mean that the four branches of government will be reduced to three. As it is now, the three have already been reduced to one. The Executive decides what the Judiciary and Legislature do. Why would we want to abolish the Monarchy and give absolute power (kuasa mutlak) to the Executive?

The people ‘spoke’ on 10 November 2007. And the message was that the people want the Agong to perform the role His Majesty is being paid to perform; nothing more, nothing less. The Monarchy has to prove to the people that it is that fourth branch of government. It has to prove to the people that it is still relevant and required. Sure, Umno will throw threats that the people want the Monarchy abolished. It did so 20 years ago and the Monarchy is still in shellshock. But that was 20 years ago. That was when the people thought the government was functioning. But the government is now no longer functioning. The four branches of government no longer exist. Today, Malaysia has been reduced to just two branches, the Executive and the Monarchy.

We do not want the Monarchy to become the Executive. We want to maintain the four branches of government. We just want the Monarchy to restore the four branches of government the way it was intended to be. That will be the role of the Monarchy. The Monarchy is not being asked to run this country. The Monarchy is being asked to restore what is already a failed system.

And we will gladly carry the Monarchy even if it costs RM50 million a year. RM50 million is extremely cheap compared to the billions we are losing because of the failed system. Sure, auditors cost money, as any company director will tell you. But ‘auditors’ are a necessary cost to safeguard this nation’s wealth.

And that is the role of the Monarchy, the fourth branch of this nation’s government.

THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION OF MALAYSIA

Article number: 4

(1) This Constitution is the supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with this Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.

PART IV - THE FEDERATION

Chapter 1 - The Supreme Head

Article number: 32

(1) There shall be a Supreme Head of the Federation, to be called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who shall take precedence over all persons in the Federation and shall not be liable to any proceedings whatsoever in any court.

(2) The Consort of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (to be called the Raja Permaisuri Agong) shall take precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation.

Article number: 40

(1) In the exercise of his functions under this Constitution or federal law the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet or of a Minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet, except as otherwise provided by this Constitution....

(2) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say :-

(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;

(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;

Article number: 43

(2) (a) the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representative who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House.....

PART XI - SPECIAL POWERS AGAINST SUBVERSION, ORGANISED VIOLENCE, AND ACTS AND CRIMES PREJUDICIAL TO THE PUBLIC AND EMERGENCY POWERS

Article number: 15

(2) (A) The power conferred on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by this Article shall include the power to issue different Proclamations on different grounds or in different circumstances, whether or not there is a Proclamation or Proclamations already issued by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong under Clause (1) and such Proclamation or Proclamations are in operation.

(8) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution :-

(a) the satisfaction of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong mentioned in Clause (1) and Clause (2B) shall be final and conclusive and shall not be challenged or called in question in any court on any ground; and

(b) no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain or determine any application, question or proceeding, in whatever form, on any ground.....

Who is Noor Hisham Yusoh?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Police report lodged against Malaysia Today, Raja Petra

(The Star) - A businessman has lodged a police report against web portal Malaysia Today and its owner Raja Petra Kamarudin for an article in the site which he alleged could cause disunity.

Noor Hisham Yusoh, 33, lodged the report at the Brickfields police station at about 7.30pm yesterday accompanied by seven other friends urging the authorities to carry out investigations into the article.

He said the article headlined “What the eye does not see” by Raja Petra had elements of instigation.

“As a Malaysian citizen, I think that his accusations are serious and can convince a lot of people in Malaysia that the country is not peaceful anymore,” he said, adding that the article could make the situation worse.

Noor Hisham from Bukit Subang said he decided to lodge the report after having a discussion with his friends who agreed that the article could cause disunity in the country.

“We are living in a very prosperous country and we do not want such an article to cause any problem,” he said.










1) Otaecorp Sdn. Bhd.



2) Yellow Pages on Oteacorp Sdn. Bhd.



3) Katalog Malaysia

Move to let SPR members stay till 66

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz says the amendment is to allow EC members to serve until 66


V. Vasudevan and Anis Ibrahim

New Straits Times

TAN Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman may be able to continue as Election Commission (EC) chairman if a constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age for commission members to 66 is passed in record time.

Rashid, 65, can continue in his post if the bill becomes law before his retirement on Dec 31.

For this to happen, everything has to move fast.

First, the Dewan Rakyat has to pass the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2007 which was tabled for first reading by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz yesterday.

The Dewan Negara will then have to endorse the bill equally fast before it is presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for consent. Only then can the bill be gazetted and become law.

The bill's second and third reading have been fixed for Dec 11.

However, Nazri said the amendment would be academic in Rashid's case if the prime minister elected to extend his term on contract.

"It is up to the prime minister," he said.

Nazri said the amendment to Article 114 of the Constitution was to streamline the retirement age for EC members.

"Government servants now retire at 56 years while for judges, it has been extended from 65 to 66.

"The amendment is proposed to allow members of the Election Commission to also serve until 66," he added.

With the amendment, the Public Service Commission will be the only agency where the retirement age is set at 65.

Nazri said the new retirement age would apply only to EC members appointed after the law came into force but a serving member could opt to retire at either 65 or 66.

"Existing members, including the chairman, are allowed to choose when they want to retire -- whether at the existing retirement age of 65 or the new one at 66.

"We cannot force them to retire at 66 if they have already made plans for their retirement, so we're giving them the option."

As to why the date for the second reading of the bill had been set in advance unlike other bills, Nazri said it was because it involved an amendment to the Constitution.

"Such an amendment requires a two-third approval from members in the house. We have to give notice to all members to be present. That's why the date has been fixed earlier."

Razak made 19 calls, sent 14 SMSes to Azilah

Altantuya murder trial:



CyberSecurity Malaysia digital forensic head Aswami Fadillah Mohd Ariffin confirmed the phone numbers belonged to the three accused and several other individuals



New Straits Times



Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda made 19 calls and sent 14 SMSes to Chief Insp Azilah Hadri from the night Altantuya Shaaribuu was allegedly murdered on Oct 19 until Oct 30 last year.



Azilah, meanwhile, contacted Razak by phone seven times within the same period.



This information was given in the High Court here by Goh Peng Chew, 38, an engineer from Maxis, in the trial of the murder of the Mongolian woman which entered its 60th day yesterday.



Azilah, 31, and another operative of the police Special Action Unit -- 36-year-old Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar -- are alleged to have murdered Altantuya in a jungle in Bukit Raja between 10pm on Oct 19 last year and 1am the following day.



Razak, 47, is charged with abetting them.



Goh said that on Oct 21, 2006, Razak contacted Azilah more than 10 times and they talked for about four minutes between 1.29am and 1.47am.



During the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Noorin Badaruddin, Goh, who is the 55th prosecution witness, said he did not know whose phone numbers he had printed.



In previous proceedings, however, CyberSecurity Malaysia digital forensic head Aswami Fadillah Mohd Ariffin, 36, had confirmed that the phone numbers belonged to the three accused and several other individuals.



Goh said that on the night Altantuya was allegedly murdered, the record showed that Azilah called Razak and they talked for about two minutes. Razak also sent an SMS to Azilah at 7.01pm, he added.



He said Razak also sent two SMSes to Azilah on Nov 7, 2006, although on that day, according to witnesses' testimonies, Azilah was already under police custody and being taken to the murder scene.



Goh added that on Oct 9 last year, Altantuya sent three SMSes to Razak and from Oct 14, 2006, Azilah and Razak communicated with each other.



According to the record of transactions on Oct 18, 2005, Goh said Azilah contacted Razak repeatedly while Razak sent five SMSes and made 11 phone calls.



Meanwhile, the 54th prosecution witness -- CyberSecurity Malaysia digital forensic analyst Razana Md Salleh -- said the information and data in the SIM card of a handphone was impossible to be changed by any computer system.



The trial before judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on Monday. -- Bernama

Maya is monsoon cup envoy

KUALA LUMPUR: The organisers of the Monsoon Cup 2007 has named actress Maya Karin (pic) as the event’s “maiden”, akin to being an ambassador.



Event adviser Peter Gilmour said Maya would be the spokesman for celebrities taking part in an upcoming concert that would be held in conjunction with the annual sailing competition.



“We chose her because of her popularity in the entertainment arena, especially in TV dramas and movies,” he told reporters at a restaurant here yesterday.



The press conference also announced the upcoming concert, An Evening with Maya Karin and Monsoon Cup 2007.



Among the artistes who would be featured are Deja Moss, Farah Wahida, Zaibo, Badri, Syanie, Raja Azura and Nazri, the former singer of nasyid group Raihan.



Maya, who counts sailing as one of her favourite past times, said: “I will do my best to promote the sport as well as the local culture, especially to the foreign participants.”



This year’s Monsoon Cup is part of the World Match Racing Tour 2006-2007 and the final of 10 international legs. (A match race is a regatta for two sailing boats, racing each other around a course.)



The competition, which is in the calendar of events for Visit Malaysia Year, is the training ground for America Cup qualifiers and will crown the champion of this season’s World Match Racing Tour.



It will be held from Nov 28 to Dec 2 at the Heritage Bay Club Marina and Resort in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu.



Gilmour, a four-time world match champion, said this year’s competition would feature an all-female team in the sailing event.



Apart from sailing, there are also side events that include the arts and fishing 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.

I am greatly offended

Posted by- Raja Petra

Here we go again. Sigh.....I am going to be stuck in front of my computer another 18 hours today. Last night they made another police report against me so I am going to be tied up formatting my hard disk and reinstalling all the drivers and software amongst layaning the many phone calls and SMSess I have been receiving since early morning. I can expect their next move will be, again, to confiscate my computer to use as evidence of my ‘crime’ -- so, like it or not, I have to clean up my computer so that they can take away a ‘virgin’ unit.



As it is, I am already receiving a lot of ‘hate mail’ from readers who are whacking me because I have not responded to their e-mails. One reader who goes by the nick ‘Ineffective Malaysian’ sent me an extremely long article that I have not had time to read and he is very upset because he (or she, maybe) has not seen it published yet and has threatened to send it to another blog with a qualification that he is going to ‘expose’ me. This was the message I received from ‘Ineffective Malaysian’:



As I have not seen my article published in MT or received a response from you, it does appear that you have chosen not to publish my article ‘Strategic Exclusion’ in your forum (even after I have set the expectations, T&Cs, and obligations very clearly in earlier emails).



I had chosen your forum as my chosen venue of citizen-expression, as my impression is that you have some amount of mental fortitude to withstand unconventional views and understandings - but now you have created the need to suspect that ulterior motives and interests are in play for your efforts and forum.



I shall hold back until this for a couple of days to see your response. Thereafter I shall have it published on other blogsites, with an accompanying footnote that you have chosen to not publish my article for your reasons and motivations, and the reader will be left to imagine your underlying interests. Once credibility is lost, it’s very hard to reinstate.



Give me a break ‘Ineffective Malaysian’! Your truncated article is 29 pages long. I dread to think what the length of the un-truncated version is. I am 57 years old and five hours of sleep a night is just not enough for a person my age. If I read every 30- or 40-page article I receive; with editing thrown in; I will need 40 hours in a day to complete my work. God gave us just 24 hours to work, eat, sleep, etc., which is clearly not enough. Anyway, if I can get a volunteer to help with the proof-reading and editing then maybe in future we can consider long pieces such as yours. Till then I will need to prioritise my tasks and at the moment long academic theses are at the bottom of my priority list. And that is why international publications restrict pieces to not more than 850 words. Anything longer, such as yours which is 15,000 words, either gets sent back for editing or gets trashed.



Anyhow, that is not really what I want to talk about today so let’s get back to the police report made against me last night.



I am very offended by this police report. When Malaysia Today was first launched in 2004, the Federal Territory Religious Department made a go for me. Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister jumped on the bandwagon and made a statement on prime-time television that Malaysia has many laws which can be used against me -- and if they can’t find any suitable law then they can always use the Internal Security Act and put me away for a long, long time.



I responded by challenging the Federal Territory Mufti and his retinue of Islamic scholars to a live debate at a venue and date of their choice. I even gave them the issues that we will debate to allow them time to prepare so that they do not blunder like how the Indian-Muslim Minister of Information did recently in his Al-Jazeera interview. The Mufti and the entire Federal Territory Religious Department, however, chickened out in spite of their earlier threat that they will detain me and send me for religious indoctrination and rehabilitation.



Then I naik pangkat when the Negeri Sembilan Palace lodged a police report against me resulting in me being hauled to Bukit Aman. They also confiscated my computer. This was of course not the first time. I had suffered this same fate in March 2001 which resulted in my detention under the Internal Security Act a month later.



Thereafter it was a turun pangkat when they got a mere Umno Information Chief who is famous as a non-English-speaking bumbling country bumpkin to lodge a police report against me. After incurring the wrath of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2001, followed by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Federal Territory Religious Department, and the Negeri Sembilan Palace three years later, facing the man with two Muhammads in his name was an adversary not worth my time of day.



But last night was the pits and this is what has upset me. Last night, this totally unknown Noor Hisham Yusoh made a police report against me. It seems he is a businessman. Hey, he is no businessman. He is an Umno rent-seeker. Sheesh, calling him a businessman is like calling a prostitute a fairy godmother. A prostitute is no fairy godmother as a rent-seeker is no businessman. I suppose this Noor Hisham chap wants to make a name for himself by taking me down. This would be a feather in his cap and would allow him to climb up the political ladder.



I was told that many more police reports are being planned these next few days. It seems many Members of Parliament and Senators have been lined up to flood the various police stations with police reports. They hope that, with dozens of police reports lodged against me, I will be spending all my time in the police station and will not have any time left to work.



Sigh.....this is getting very tiring. If they think I am going to jump when the police phones and rush to the police station to answer stupid questions for hours on end then they have a surprise coming. This time if they want me they will have to come to my house and arrest me. I am not going to drive all the way to the police station to waste my time. I know my refusal to report at the police station constitutes a crime and they can arrest me and charge me for interfering with a police investigation. Well, to hell with them. You want me then come get me. And you can lock me up and throw away the key for all I care. Eventually you will still have to send me home to be buried in the Royal Mausoleum in Shah Alam. I think I will drive over there this evening to reserve my plot.



Before I sign off, have you noticed the contradictory statements coming out from our most illustrious leaders? Nazri Aziz said that the newspaper reports are not true and the government will not be setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Lingam Tapes. Then, even before the spit on Nazri’s lips could dry, Rais Yatim contradicted him and announced that the Royal Commission will be set up after all.



Then, Tan Sri Rashid, the Chairman of the Elections Commission, announced that he knows the date of the next general election but is not telling. He would just reveal that it is very near. The Prime Minister then replied that only he and no one else knows when the next general election is going to be held.



With these very contradicting and opposite statements these last few days, does it not make you wonder whether that so-called ‘official statement’ from the Istana Negara could actually be in the same category as Nazri’s and Tan Sri Rashid’s announcements which have now been rebutted? Yes, so-called ‘official announcements’ by so-called ‘authorised’ people may not exactly be official and they may not exactly be authorised to make them after all. Let us see if another and this time really authorised statement comes out from the Istana Negara to rebut the earlier statement. In the meantime, allow me to leave you while I go clean up my computer before the police come to take it away.

Police report lodged against Malaysia Today, Raja Petra

The Star



A businessman has lodged a police report against web portal Malaysia Today and its owner Raja Petra Kamarudin for an article in the site which he alleged could cause disunity.



Noor Hisham Yusoh, 33, lodged the report at the Brickfields police station at about 7.30pm yesterday accompanied by seven other friends urging the authorities to carry out investigations into the article.



He said the article headlined “What the eye does not see” by Raja Petra had elements of instigation.



“As a Malaysian citizen, I think that his accusations are serious and can convince a lot of people in Malaysia that the country is not peaceful anymore,” he said, adding that the article could make the situation worse.



Noor Hisham from Bukit Subang said he decided to lodge the report after having a discussion with his friends who agreed that the article could cause disunity in the country.



“We are living in a very prosperous country and we do not want such an article to cause any problem,” he said.

Jangan lupa rekod buruk Umno terhadap Raja-raja Melayu

Posted By: Raja Petra



Barangkali para pemimpin Umno masih berpegang kepada salah satu ungkapan keramat bekas Presidennya, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad suatu ketika dahulu, iaitu 'Melayu mudah lupa'.



Walaupun pemimpin yang mengungkapkan kata-kata itu kini tidak lagi sepopular dulu di kalangan orang-orang Umno sendiri, malah ada yang sudah menganggap tindakan dan ucapannya kebelakangan ini lebih banyak menguntungkan pembangkang, sebahagian idea dan perancangan ditinggalkan Tun Mahathir masih menjadi ikutan dan amalan Umno hingga kini.



Salah satu legasi itu ialah pemahaman bahawa orang-orang Melayu mempunyai sifat mudah melupakan sesuatu yang mereka alami atau hadapi.



Berbekalkan 'mindset' itu barangkali, para pemimpin Umno kini begitu ghairah membantai para pemimpin pembangkang yang dituduh kononnya cuba mengheret dan memerangkap institusi raja Melayu ke kancah politik negara.



Para pemimpin Umno mahu meyakinkan rakyat seolah-olah mereka adalah pihak yang sangat prihatin dan bertanggungjawab dalam menjaga kemuliaan raja-raja Melayu.



Dalam melakukan yang demikian, mereka seolah-olah beranggapan bahawa seluruh rakyat Malaysia, terutama orang-orang Melayu telah melupakan beberapa episod lalu, di mana para pemimpin Umno dengan begitu ganas dan biadab menghina dan menjatuhkan martabat raja-raja Melayu secara terbuka.



Media massa arus perdana hingga semalam (18 November) masih galak mengulas dan membicarakan secara begitu negatif mengenai Himpunan 100,000 Rakyat anjuran Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (Bersih) di ibu negara 10 November lalu.



Setelah usaha demi usaha menggagalkannya dilakukan pihak berkuasa akhirnya menemui kegagalan, kini para pemimpin kerajaan cuba pula memutarbelit beberapa fakta mengenainya.



Dikatakan himpunan tersebut gagal menarik penyertaan melebihi 4,000 orang. Sebaliknya ia didakwa telah mencetuskan ketakutan kepada warga bukan Islam. Didakwa juga ia telah menyebabkan kerugian jutaan ringgit kepada para peniaga di sekitar kawasan terbabit.



Ada juga dakwaan kononnya pelancong asing takut untuk datang ke negara ini. Bahkan, di antara pelancong yang telah menempah penginapan di hotel-hotel sekitar ibu negara dikatakan membatalkan tempahan mereka kerana bimbangkan keselamatan mereka.



Paling digembar-gemburkan kini ialah pihak pembangkang telah memerangkap institusi raja ke kancah politik apabila mempersembahkan memorandum rakyat kepada Istana Negara.



Matlamat di atas kesemua gambaran negatif itu ialah agar sebarang kredit tidak diberikan kepada pihak penganjur perhimpunan itu (yang diterajui parti-parti pembangkang).



Di masa sama, para pemimpin kerajaan yang jelas merasa terpukul apabila rakyat tidak mengendahkan larangan dan ugutan yang mereka keluarkan, kini berusaha memulihkan imej dan harga diri mereka yang bagai dihinjak itu.



Setakat ini serangan paling banyak dibuat pihak kerajaan terhadap pihak penganjur himpunan itu ialah dengan memainkan sentimen rakyat di atas kedaulatan raja-raja dan keselamatan negara. Seolah-olah pembangkang menaja keganasan dan huru-hara. Di masa sama, pembangkang juga menodai dan mencemarkan institusi raja-raja Melayu.



Dalam hal ini, ada dua perkara berasingan yang patut diambilkira dalam menilai rasional tindakan Bersih dan dakwaan para pemimpin Umno itu. Pertama, fungsi sebenar Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Raja-raja Melayu dalam pemerintahan negara/negeri. Kedua, rekod Umno dalam isu berkaitan kedaulatan raja-raja Melayu.



Menurut semangat Perlembagaan Malaysia, jawatan Yang Dipertuan Agong tidak diwujudkan semata-mata bagi mempastikan kesinambungan kuasa politik Melayu dari zaman dahulukala ke zaman moden. Tidak juga semata-mata untuk memenuhi kehendak emosi atau psikologi orang Melayu yang memerlukan seorang pelindung atau “payung”.



Perlembagaan Malaysia cuba memastikan kuasa-kuasa yang penting diedarkan antara beberapa pihak dan badan tertentu, dan tidak hanya terkumpul kepada pemimpin politik.







Untuk itu, Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Raja-raja Melayu ada peranan tersendiri dalam sistem kerajaan moden iaitu sebagai tempat yang paling sesuai untuk diletakkan beberapa kuasa bagi mempastikan keadilan dan kewibawaan kerajaan dalam proses politik. Kuasa itu akan memastikan semua pihak, bukan sahaja pemerintah, dilindungi kepentingan mereka.



Oleh yang demikian adalah bertepatan dengan semangat Perlembagaan Negara jika parti-parti pembangkang juga mendekati Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Raja-Raja Melayu supaya baginda boleh diberitahu pendirian, kepentingan dan kebimbangan rakyat mengenai apa jua perkembangan dalam negara.



Dengan itu baginda boleh mengambilkira pandangan dan maklumat yang diberikan, dalam melaksanakan kuasa yang ada pada baginda. Perlu diingat bahawa Raja-raja Melayu tidak bergantung kepada pemimpin politik negara untuk memperolehi jawatannya. Justeru baginda boleh bertindak bebas dan adil.



Di satu pihak lain, rakyat masih belum lupa bagaimana para pemimpin Umno telah berusaha menghakis fungsi dan kuasa yang ada pada raja-raja Melayu. Beberapa episod hitam terhadap institusi raja di negara ini dalam dua dekad kebelakangan ini boleh dijadikan contoh. Antaranya ialah isu pindaan Perlembagaan 1983 (kuasa meluluskan undang-undang), pindaan Perlembagaan 1993 (imuniti raja-raja) dan insiden pertabalan 'sultan baru' di Kelantan.



Dalam isu pindaan Perlembagaan 1983, para pemimpin Umno telah melakukan beberapa tindakan di luar peruntukan Perlembagaan, sekaligus membelakangi raja-raja. Antaranya, BN telah secara rahsia membawa pindaan itu ke kabinet dan kemudiannya ke Parlimen, tanpa terlebih dahulu mendapatkan perkenan Majlis Raja-Raja.



Sedangkan menurut Perkara 38 (4) Perlembagaan Persekutuan: "Tiada apa-apa undang-undang yang menyentuh secara langsung keistimewaan, kedudukan, kemuliaan atau kebesaran Raja-Raja boleh diluluskan dengan tiada persetujuan Majlis Raja-Raja."



Pindaan Perlembagaan itu telah dibawa ke Dewan Rakyat dan Dewan Negara, kemudian diluluskan pada Ogos 1983. Di antara pindaan dibuat ialah berkaitan Fasal 66 (5). Peruntukan asal berbunyi, "Rang Undang-undang akan dikuatkuasakan apabila Yang di-Pertuan Agong menandatanganinya."



Peruntukan tersebut dipinda kepada, "Rang Undang-undang akan dikuatkuasakan sebagai Undang-undang apabila ditandatangani oleh Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Jika di atas apa-apa sebab Rang Undang-undang itu tidak ditandatangani di dalam tempoh 15 hari selepas Rang Undang-undang itu disembahkan kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Baginda dianggap telah menandatangani Rang Undang-undang tersebut dan Rang Undang-undang itu berkuatkuasa sebagai Undang-undang."



Turut dipinda ialah peruntukan pada Fasal 150 (1), di mana kalau Perdana Menteri mendapati darurat patut diisytiharkan di mana-mana juga dalam negara ini, maka Perdana Menteri boleh menasihatkan Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Yang di-Pertuan Agong mesti menerima nasihat tersebut.



Kedua-dua pindaan itu jelas menghakis kuasa Yang di-Pertuan Agong, sekaligus menjadikan PM orang yang paling berkuasa. Cerita mengenai pindaan itu kekal rahsia sehinggalah bekas Setiausaha Agung Umno, Dato' Senu Abdul Rahman memecahkannya di satu sidang akhbar pada 5 Oktober 1983. Ia kemudiannya merebak menjadi krisis Perlembagaan apabila raja-raja Melayu membantah pindaan itu dan tidak bersedia menandatanganinya. Pindaan itu akhirnya dipinda semula.



Pada 1993, Umno sekali lagi mengusik institusi Raja-raja Melayu apabila mencadangkan pindaan Fasal 38 (4) Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang menyentuh soal kekebalan atau imuniti raja-raja. Benar, di dalam Islam pun tidak ada pihak yang sepatutnya dianggap kebal di sisi undang-undang. Bagaimana pun, dalam usaha mencapai hasrat pindaan itu, Umno telah melakukan kesilapan lagi – ia bertindak terlalu biadab dalam menelanjangi dan mengaibkan Raja-raja Melayu.



Media massa milik kerajaan dimanipulasi secukupnya bagi meruntuhkan wibawa raja-raja Melayu secara terbuka dan meluas. Cerita memburuk-burukkan peribadi raja diulangsiar dan dibesar-besarkan. Rakyat diapi-apikan sentimen dan emosi bencikan raja dengan pembongkaran kehidupan istana yang mewah dan membazir.



Beberapa menteri kabinet mendedahkan tentang pemilikan harta oleh raja-raja. Antaranya membabitkan pemberian konsesi balak ribuan hektar kepada raja tertentu. Didedahkan juga bahawa tiap-tiap sultan telah ditawarkan 100,000 unit saham Telekom dan berbagai lagi. Filem-filem Melayu lama yang mengisahkan tentang kezaliman dan kebodohan raja-raja Melayu diulang tayang di kaca tv.



Tidak cukup dengan itu, ada pemimpin Umno yang terlalu dirasuk perasaan bencikan raja sampaikan tergamak mengadakan majlis pertabalan "Sultan Baru" di negerinya. Kejadian itu berlaku di Kelantan, apabila Datuk Seri Annuar Musa "menabalkan" Tengku Ibrahim Petra sebagai "Sultan Kelantan".



Ketiga-tiga episod yang melibatkan penghinaan terhadap martabat raja-raja Melayu itu dicetus dan dimainkan para pemimpin Umno. Dalam ketiga-tiga episod itu, pihak pembangkang memainkan peranan sangat bermakna dalam mempertahankan kemuliaan institusi raja. Rakyat negara ini tidak akan lupa dengan episod-episod itu.



Kini, Umno cuba tampil ke tengah masyarakat sebagai pihak yang kononnya menjaga kedaulatan dan kemuliaan raja-raja. Di masa sama pembangkang pula dituduh sebagai pihak yang cuba mencemar institusi raja.



Para pemimpin Umno jangan ingat imej dan reputasi buruknya terhadap raja-raja Melayu dapat dibaiki semudah itu. Dia perlu ingat, bukan semua Melayu yang mudah lupa!

I am greatly offended

Posted By: Raja Petra

Here we go again. Sigh.....I am going to be stuck in front of my computer another 18 hours today. Last night they made another police report against me so I am going to be tied up formatting my hard disk and reinstalling all the drivers and software amongst layaning the many phone calls and SMSess I have been receiving since early morning. I can expect their next move will be, again, to confiscate my computer to use as evidence of my ‘crime’ -- so, like it or not, I have to clean up my computer so that they can take away a ‘virgin’ unit.



As it is, I am already receiving a lot of ‘hate mail’ from readers who are whacking me because I have not responded to their e-mails. One reader who goes by the nick ‘Ineffective Malaysian’ sent me an extremely long article that I have not had time to read and he is very upset because he (or she, maybe) has not seen it published yet and has threatened to send it to another blog with a qualification that he is going to ‘expose’ me. This was the message I received from ‘Ineffective Malaysian’:



As I have not seen my article published in MT or received a response from you, it does appear that you have chosen not to publish my article ‘Strategic Exclusion’ in your forum (even after I have set the expectations, T&Cs, and obligations very clearly in earlier emails).



I had chosen your forum as my chosen venue of citizen-expression, as my impression is that you have some amount of mental fortitude to withstand unconventional views and understandings - but now you have created the need to suspect that ulterior motives and interests are in play for your efforts and forum.



I shall hold back until this for a couple of days to see your response. Thereafter I shall have it published on other blogsites, with an accompanying footnote that you have chosen to not publish my article for your reasons and motivations, and the reader will be left to imagine your underlying interests. Once credibility is lost, it’s very hard to reinstate.



Give me a break ‘Ineffective Malaysian’! Your truncated article is 29 pages long. I dread to think what the length of the un-truncated version is. I am 57 years old and five hours of sleep a night is just not enough for a person my age. If I read every 30- or 40-page article I receive; with editing thrown in; I will need 40 hours in a day to complete my work. God gave us just 24 hours to work, eat, sleep, etc., which is clearly not enough. Anyway, if I can get a volunteer to help with the proof-reading and editing then maybe in future we can consider long pieces such as yours. Till then I will need to prioritise my tasks and at the moment long academic theses are at the bottom of my priority list. And that is why international publications restrict pieces to not more than 850 words. Anything longer, such as yours which is 15,000 words, either gets sent back for editing or gets trashed.



Anyhow, that is not really what I want to talk about today so let’s get back to the police report made against me last night.



I am very offended by this police report. When Malaysia Today was first launched in 2004, the Federal Territory Religious Department made a go for me. Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister jumped on the bandwagon and made a statement on prime-time television that Malaysia has many laws which can be used against me -- and if they can’t find any suitable law then they can always use the Internal Security Act and put me away for a long, long time.



I responded by challenging the Federal Territory Mufti and his retinue of Islamic scholars to a live debate at a venue and date of their choice. I even gave them the issues that we will debate to allow them time to prepare so that they do not blunder like how the Indian-Muslim Minister of Information did recently in his Al-Jazeera interview. The Mufti and the entire Federal Territory Religious Department, however, chickened out in spite of their earlier threat that they will detain me and send me for religious indoctrination and rehabilitation.



Then I naik pangkat when the Negeri Sembilan Palace lodged a police report against me resulting in me being hauled to Bukit Aman. They also confiscated my computer. This was of course not the first time. I had suffered this same fate in March 2001 which resulted in my detention under the Internal Security Act a month later.



Thereafter it was a turun pangkat when they got a mere Umno Information Chief who is famous as a non-English-speaking bumbling country bumpkin to lodge a police report against me. After incurring the wrath of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2001, followed by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Federal Territory Religious Department, and the Negeri Sembilan Palace three years later, facing the man with two Muhammads in his name was an adversary not worth my time of day.



But last night was the pits and this is what has upset me. Last night, this totally unknown Noor Hisham Yusoh made a police report against me. It seems he is a businessman. Hey, he is no businessman. He is an Umno rent-seeker. Sheesh, calling him a businessman is like calling a prostitute a fairy godmother. A prostitute is no fairy godmother as a rent-seeker is no businessman. I suppose this Noor Hisham chap wants to make a name for himself by taking me down. This would be a feather in his cap and would allow him to climb up the political ladder.



I was told that many more police reports are being planned these next few days. It seems many Members of Parliament and Senators have been lined up to flood the various police stations with police reports. They hope that, with dozens of police reports lodged against me, I will be spending all my time in the police station and will not have any time left to work.



Sigh.....this is getting very tiring. If they think I am going to jump when the police phones and rush to the police station to answer stupid questions for hours on end then they have a surprise coming. This time if they want me they will have to come to my house and arrest me. I am not going to drive all the way to the police station to waste my time. I know my refusal to report at the police station constitutes a crime and they can arrest me and charge me for interfering with a police investigation. Well, to hell with them. You want me then come get me. And you can lock me up and throw away the key for all I care. Eventually you will still have to send me home to be buried in the Royal Mausoleum in Shah Alam. I think I will drive over there this evening to reserve my plot.



Before I sign off, have you noticed the contradictory statements coming out from our most illustrious leaders? Nazri Aziz said that the newspaper reports are not true and the government will not be setting up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Lingam Tapes. Then, even before the spit on Nazri’s lips could dry, Rais Yatim contradicted him and announced that the Royal Commission will be set up after all.



Then, Tan Sri Rashid, the Chairman of the Elections Commission, announced that he knows the date of the next general election but is not telling. He would just reveal that it is very near. The Prime Minister then replied that only he and no one else knows when the next general election is going to be held.



With these very contradicting and opposite statements these last few days, does it not make you wonder whether that so-called ‘official statement’ from the Istana Negara could actually be in the same category as Nazri’s and Tan Sri Rashid’s announcements which have now been rebutted? Yes, so-called ‘official announcements’ by so-called ‘authorised’ people may not exactly be official and they may not exactly be authorised to make them after all. Let us see if another and this time really authorised statement comes out from the Istana Negara to rebut the earlier statement. In the meantime, allow me to leave you while I go clean up my computer before the police come to take it away.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

posted by raga petra

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER



Raja Petra Kamarudin







Now you see it, now you don’t. Yes, people like David Copperfield make a very good living doing silap mata. The English call it magic. Actually it is more a sleight of hand. The hand moves faster than the eye, they always say, so while they make you focus on one hand, the other hand does the ‘magic’ trick. Malays call it silap mata, which translates literally to ‘fault of the eye’. Whatever it may be, and whatever language you are comfortable with, the main gist to the whole thing is: what you see is not what you get -- or in ‘computer language’, WYSINWYG.



And today the Government of Malaysia tried doing a David Copperfield on us.



“Tuanku Mizan Regrets Claims He Supports Illegal Rally,” screamed the Bernama headlines. The Malay version said, “Tuanku Mizan Kesal Dakwaan Baginda Sokong Perhimpunan Haram.” Both versions can be read below.



Wow! To the layman this sounds very serious indeed. A very ‘high-ranking’ Istana Negara official named Datuk Wan Mohd Safiain Wan Hasan and going by the title of Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja has issued a statement of behalf of The Agong. Who is this guy anyway?



Well, this guy holds the position that Jeanne Danker used to hold before she dislodged the Raja Permaisuri Agong to become Malaysia’s so-called ‘First Lady’. Actually, the Prime Minister’s wife is maybe the ‘22nd Lady’ after the Raja Permaisuri Agong, the consorts of the nine State Rulers, the four Undangs, the four Governors, followed by the few ex-Raja Permaisuri Agong still living. But the government-controlled media would like us to believe that the Federal Constitution of Malaysia is wrong in placing 21 other ladies above the Prime Minister’s wife.



This Wan Safiain chappie hails from Terengganu and works for the Prime Minister’s Department. In fact, the entire office of the Istana Negara comes under the Prime Minister’s Department. I remember relating an incident which happened way back in November 1999, a few days before the Tenth General Election.



In November 1999, I was tasked with the job of delivering a letter from Barisan Alternatif to the Istana Negara requesting an audience with The Agong then, my uncle. I delivered the letter at noon on Friday and went off to the mosque for my Friday prayers. When I went back to the office around 2.30pm there was a reply waiting for me in the fax machine turning down our request for an audience, with a suggestion that we try again after the general election. Our letter was addressed to The Agong. The reply came from the Prime Minister’s Department. The Agong never got to see the letter and was not even aware that one had been sent. And that was probably the fastest reply ever from a government department in Malaysia’s entire history.



So now we know how the Istana Negara office works. The office comes under the Prime Minister’s Department and the people in that office are planted there by the Prime Minister’s Department to be the eyes, ears and sometimes mouth of the government as well. And today we saw an example of how it has become the mouth of the government. Today’s announcement by the Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja, not the Keeper of the Royal Seal but the Keeper of the Royal Linen a la Jeanne Danker before she became ‘First Lady’, is a prime example of how these plants from the Prime Minister’s Department are the eyes, ears and mouth of the government.



That is why it was not wise to quietly deliver the BERSIH Memorandum to The Agong. If that had been done, then the Memorandum would have been hijacked and would have been diverted to the Prime Minister’s Department instead -- and The Agong would have never seen it. And that was also why it was necessary for 100,000 citizens to march to the Istana Negara to ‘escort’ the Memorandum -- although only 50,000 eventually got through because they sealed off all the roads into Kuala Lumpur which resulted in one of the worst traffic jams in history.



This Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja chappie is a most unpopular personality in the Palace office. Everyone in the Palace office knows he has been planted there as the eyes and ears of the government. And his job is not only to keep a watch on things and report back to the Prime Minister’s office whatever is happening in the Palace, but he has also been tasked with the job of frustrating every effort of The Agong in interacting with the rakyat (citizens).



Today’s press announcement did not come from The Agong. It did not even come from the Keeper of the Royal Seal whose job it is to make official statements on behalf of The Agong. It came from a glorified chamber maid planted in the Palace as an enemy in the blanket. These are the worst kind of slime-balls and scumbags. They smile and call you friend. Then they stick a dagger in your back.



100,000 rakyat wanted to meet their Monarch that afternoon of Saturday, 10 November 2007. The Agong did not say no. The Agong will never say no to 100,000 rakyat who wish for an audience with His Majesty. The Agong just wanted to know how many people will be representing the 100,000 rakyat and what their names are.



The Agong also realised that the government will certainly try to frustrate the effort of the 100,000 rakyat who wished for an audience with His Majesty. And this did happen. The government said that a police permit would be required and that the organisers should apply for one. So the organisers did, but the application was rejected. And the government warned that if the 100,000 rakyat still insisted on pursuing the march then the government would retaliate with force. And the government did as promised.



When the first volley was fired on the assembled marchers around the Masjid Jamek-Masjid India area, word was passed down the line that the 19th Brigade of the Royal Malay Regiment or Regimen Askar Melayu Di-Raja (RAMD) was on stand-bye, to move in if there are any fatal casualties. Fourteen armoured cars (kereta perisai) had earlier arrived from Sungai Petani and were parked at the Sungai Buloh military camp, ready to roll at a minute’s notice. It would take them ten or fifteen minutes to arrive at the scene of any violence against the rakyat.



Panic buttons were pressed and alarm bells rung. This had happened once on 13 May 1969 in Kampong Baru. The Royal Malay Regiment is not one to mess around with. The Agong is their Commander-in-Chief and soldiers are trained to obey their Commander-in-Chief at no consequence to their own lives.



The police backed off. They were reduced to traffic control where those positioned at junctions stopped cars to allow the marchers to safely cross the road. The RAMD remained on standby and the next morning the fourteen kereta perisai quietly slipped out of Sungai Buloh and went home.



This has worried the government. The Agong did not say he did not wish to meet the representatives of the 100,000 marchers. He in fact asked for their names. And when the government issued threats of violence against the marchers, the 19th Brigade of the RAMD was brought into Kuala Lumpur with fourteen kereta perisai. This was The Agong’s way of saying that if you shoot the marchers, just like you did in Batu Burok in front of The Agong’s palace in Kuala Terengganu, then all hell will break loose.



So the government backed off. They had no choice. The 100,000 rakyat wanted to meet The Agong and His Majesty had said yes. And the 19th Brigade of the RAMD came to town to ensure that yes means yes.



Abdullah Ahmad Badawi issued a decree at the Umno General Assembly the day before the Saturday, 10 November 2007, march. He said he ‘pantang dicabar’. This translates to mean he is allergic to being challenged. And his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, asked the police to arrest all the marchers. Yes, arrest all the marchers. Arrest all 1,000 of them! Arrest all 2,000 of them! Hey, even if it is 5,000, arrest all 5,000 of them. But wow, it is 50,000 with another 50,000 on the way. How to arrest 50,000, or 100,000 if the other 50,000 reach Kuala Lumpur?



Oops, forget about arresting them. 50,000 is too large a number to arrest. There are not enough trucks to ferry 50,000 and not enough jails to house 50,000 people. Instead, close all the roads leading into Kuala Lumpur. Seal off Kuala Lumpur and not allow anyone in. Let it remain 50,000. Don’t allow it to grow to 100,000. Then we will announce we won. We will announce that the march failed and the ‘illegal demonstrators’ were prevented from assembling at Dataran Merdeka.



Shit, now we are told that they never intended to assemble in Dataran Merdeka in the first place. The Dataran Merdeka thing was a decoy, a Red Herring. They wanted the police to assemble in Dataran Merdeka so that they can march unhindered to the Istana Negara. We were tricked. They won. We lost.



Okay, all is not lost. We can still announce that The Agong is not happy with the march. We will announce that The Agong did not agree to the march. We will announce that The Agong did not consent to the march. That will give the perception that we won and the 100,000 marchers lost. And we will get the head of housekeeping to make that announcement. After all, he is our plant in the Palace. He is our man and on our payroll. And, since he carries this very impressive title, no one will know he is just in charge of making the beds and not actually anyone important.



Oh yeah? Well, Malaysia Today knows. And Malaysia Today knows that most in the Istana Negara regard him as a slime-ball and a scumbag. And anything he who makes the beds says does not matter as long as it is not The Agong himself who said it. Try again guys. Maybe you will have better luck next time. And please, don’t ask that slime-ball and scumbag to make any statements if you want us to believe that it is really The Agong who is saying it.





Tuanku Mizan Regrets Claims He Supports Illegal Rally



KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Yang di- Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin has expressed regret over claims that he and the Palace approved and supported Saturday’s illegal rally in the city.



In a statement issued here today by the Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja of Istana Negara, Datuk Wan Mohd Safiain Wan Hasan, the King also regretted the gathering which was organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) and supported by the opposition parties.



Tuanku Mizan stressed that he and Istana Negara had at no time approved or given any support, directly or indirectly, to any quarters that organised or was involved in the illegal assembly or any other activities that contravened the law.



On Saturday, Bersih, which comprises several non-governmental organisations, as well as some opposition parties had gathered their supporters at various spots in the city, including around Masjid Jamek, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and the National Mosque, before marching to Istana Negara to hand over a memorandum to Tuanku Mizan.



The following Monday, PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar said Bersih had decided to submit the memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong after the ruler himself approved of it, and that the presence of Bersih at Istana Negara was to hand over the memorandum to the King's representative.



In the statement, Tuanku Mizan said as the head of state, he was responsible in ensuring that the country's administration based on the constitutional monarchy system, as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, was respected and adhered to by all.



He hoped that the people would act in accordance with the law and not be involved in any illegal action or activity.



“Every Malaysian citizen is responsible for maintaining public order for continued peace and stability in the country,” Tuanku Mizan said.



The King also hoped that the people would together work at preserving unity and harmony to ensure that the country would continue to develop, prosper and be respected.



Meanwhile, Wan Mohd Safiain said that Istana Negara, for the first time, summoned the media to publicise the content of the statement as the King viewed the matter seriously.



“Normally, Istana Negara would issue a statement via facsimile but this time, we had to call the media here to ensure that the King’s message reaches the people,” he added.





Tuanku Mizan Kesal Dakwaan Baginda Sokong Perhimpunan Haram



KUALA LUMPUR, 16 Nov (Bernama) -- Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin melahirkan rasa kesal dengan dakwaan kononnya baginda dan Istana Negara memperkenankan dan menyokong satu perhimpunan haram di sini Sabtu lepas.



Dalam satu kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja Istana Negara Datuk Wan Mohd Safiain Wan Hasan hari ini, Seri Paduka Baginda juga melahirkan rasa kesal dengan perhimpunan itu yang dianjurkan oleh satu kumpulan dikenali Gabungan Pilihan Raya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH) yang disokong parti-parti pembangkang.



Dalam kenyataan itu, Tuanku Mizan menegaskan bahawa baginda dan Istana Negara tidak pernah pada bila-bila masa jua memperkenankan atau memberikan apa-apa sokongan secara langsung atau tidak langsung kepada mana-mana pihak yang menganjurkan atau terlibat dalam perhimpunan haram itu dan apa-apa jua kegiatan lain yang berkaitan yang menyalahi undang-undang negara.



Sabtu lepas, BERSIH yang disertai oleh badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dan parti pembangkang mengumpulkan penyokong-penyokongnya di beberapa tempat di sekitar ibu kota termasuk Jalan Masjid Jamek, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman dan Masjid Negara sebelum berarak ke Istana Negara bagi menghantar memorandum kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong.



Isnin lepas, Setiausaha Agung PAS, Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar, berkata dalam satu kenyataan bahawa BERSIH mengambil keputusan menyerahkan memorandum itu kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong setelah Tuanku sendiri memberikan perkenan Baginda, dan kehadiran BERSIH ke Istana Negara pada hari Sabtu itu, adalah bagi menjunjung perkenan Tuanku untuk menyerahkan memorandum itu kepada wakil Baginda.



Tuanku Mizan bertitah sebagai Ketua Utama Negara, baginda bertanggungjawab untuk memastikan bahawa prinsip sistem pentadbiran negara berlandaskan prinsip Raja Berperlembagaan seperti yang termaktub dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan sentiasa dihormati dan dipatuhi oleh semua.



Baginda berharap agar rakyat Malaysia sentiasa bertindak dengan mematuhi undang-undang negara dan tidak melibatkan diri dalam apa-apa juga kegiatan atau tindakan yang menyalahi atau bertentangan dengan undang-undang negara.



“Setiap rakyat Malaysia bertanggungjawab untuk memelihara ketenteraman awam demi menjamin keamanan dan kesejahteraan negara,” titah baginda.



Seri Paduka Baginda juga berharap agar rakyat dapat bersama-sama mengekalkan semangat persaudaraan dan perpaduan demi membina negara yang lebih makmur, bersatu padu dan dihormati.



Wan Mohd Safiain pula berkata pihak pengurusan Istana Negara buat pertama kalinya memanggil media untuk menghebahkan kenyataan ini kerana Yang di-Pertuan Agong memandang serius perkara itu.



“Kebiasaannya Istana Negara mengeluarkan kenyataan melalui faksimili, tetapi kali ini terpaksa memanggil media untuk memastikan ianya dapat dihebahkan kepada seluruh rakyat,” katanya.



P.S. Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja Istana Negara, Datuk Wan Mohd Safiain Wan Hasan, IC No: 461214035359, is an UMNO member, membership No: 03728983, from Cawangan Taman Desa Minang, Gombak Setia, Gombak.