Zaid: Malays have too much power

Zaid highlighted Utusan had carried one incendiary front page report under the headline: 'Apa lagi Cina Mahu?'


KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Despite repeated fears by Malay rights groups that Malaysia’s largest race group is losing its dominance in politics and in business, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim believes otherwise.

To the former Umno minister, Malay power has increased over the years and is now at its zenith under the present Barisan Nasional (BN) leadership, insisting the potency has “gone to their heads”.

“I think the Malays have too much power and it’s gone to their heads,” the minister in charge of law during the Abdullah administration said in an email statement to The Malay Mail Online.

“Only people who have too much power will conduct themselves in the way Umno and Utusan have,” he said, referring to the BN’s main party and the Malay broadsheet it controls, adding: “To them, the idea of being sensible and reasonable is unreasonable and weak.”

Zaid also counted Malay rights group Perkasa among the group propagating what he said were “self-created” fears among Malays that their race were losing influence in politics and in the economic area to the country’s minorities, in particular the Chinese.

He recalled Utusan Malaysia and some in Umno had questioned the loyalty of Chinese Malaysians and suggested the latter group emigrate, after the results of the May 5 general election showed a sizeable number had supported the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc.

In his statement, Zaid highlighted Utusan had carried one incendiary front page report under the headline: “Apa lagi Cina Mahu? [What more do the Chinese want?]”

“The problem is that we know the fears are just imaginary,” he continued.

“This is why, besides the rhetoric, none of these ‘champions’ has ever bothered to spell out the accusations or to give hard evidence of what terrible things the Chinese/Christians/Jews/Liberals and so forth are actually doing.”

To back his arguments that Malay power had risen recently, the Kelantan-born latched onto the protracted tussle between Christians and Muslims here to call their respective god “Allah”.

An appellate court had recently overturned a landmark 2009 High Court decision that the Catholic Church could publish the Arabic word to also refer to the Christian god in the Malay section of its weekly, Herald.

Zaid claimed Malaysia to be the only Muslim country in the world where a certain group could stake ownership to the divine being’s name.

The continuing court dispute over the “Allah” word, the Kelantan-born said, was something that could only happen when Muslims have “too much power for their own good”.

“Malay power is actually reaching its zenith under the present Prime Minister. We will have to wait and see what this new power will do to Malays in general,” Zaid said.

“Even for weekend rest days we keep changing them; because no one can questioned [sic] us,” Zaid said, likely referring to the recent order from the Johor sultan for the southern state to formally shift its weekend from Saturday and Sunday back to its 1994 practice of Friday and Saturday, to make it easier for Muslims to attend the obligatory Friday prayers in the mosques.

Another sign Malays had more clout today, Zaid said, were the additional positions created in the Education Ministry to accommodate two ministers, two secretaries-general, two directors-general and over 50 separate departments.

“Only a group with too much power will organise things this way—and it is this same group that sends its children to private international schools or public schools in England but asks the rest of their people to learn Arabic and Bahasa Melayu,” he said.

Bahasa Melayu, or Bahasa Malaysia, is the national language and the medium of instruction in national schools, while the number of Arabic classes have grown as more religious boarding schools sprout nationwide.

The 62-year-old politician, who was once the chief coordinator for the three-party PR secretariat, also weighed in on the resurgence of calls for another get-together between the nation’s two biggest Malay-Muslim political organisations.

Zaid said he was certain if the meeting between PR’s Islamist partner PAS and BN’s Umno were to proceed, the discussion would centre not on improving the economy or the education development for the people but rather on hudud, religion and the threat of liberal Muslims against their faith.

He cast doubt that either side would dare implement the controversial Islamic criminal code.

“That’s what too much power does to you,” Zaid said.

Source: The Malay Mail

What is it with Korean cars that gives them bad reputation in Malaysia?

I scooped these pics from The Green Mechanics blog. They actually look gorgeous, in my honest opinion.


New Cerato 1.6 D-CVVT



Cerato 1.6 starts at RM102,000 and Cerato 2.0 at RM121,000



Dashboard of the Cerato



New Sorento  2.4L DOHC CVVT (RM161,000)



Kia Optima, K5 starts at RM147,000 pitted against the likes of Toyota Camry and Honda Accord


So what is it that give these cars bad reputation in Malaysia? If you read in the online forums, blogs and public comments - most of them point to negative perception. Is it really so? I don't know.


Source: The Green Mechanics

The first Youtube videos to start a war?

CAIRO: They may just be the first YouTube videos to start a war.

The images flooded in only hours after the Aug. 21 chemical attack in Damascus' eastern suburbs. And they soon reached the very highest rungs of the U.S. government: "As a father, I can't get the image out of my head of a man who held up his dead child, wailing while chaos swirled around him," said Secretary of State John Kerry in his impassioned Aug. 26 speech. "[T]he images of entire families dead in their beds without a drop of blood or even a visible wound; bodies contorting in spasms; human suffering that we can never ignore or forget."

Social media also forms a key part of the British intelligence assessment about the attack. As a result of the videos, "there is little serious dispute that chemical attacks causing mass casualties . . . took place" in Damascus, according to an open letter from the chairman of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee to Prime Minister David Cameron.

The local activists who filmed these videos, then, have accomplished what years of hectoring from the official Syrian opposition have been unable to do — bring the world to the brink of military intervention against Bashar Assad's regime. The conflict's steadily mounting death toll — now at over 100,000, and climbing rapidly — failed to spur international action; the images of dead children lined up in neat rows following the attack, however, appeared to have served as a gut punch to the world's conscience. And the sense of outrage may be so great that it will propel the United States into war.

The amateur Syrian videographers' accomplishment, however, came at a high cost.

Activist Razan Zaitouneh, who runs the Violations Documentation Center in Syria, tells FP that her team sped to the Damascus suburb of Zamalka immediately after a chemical weapons attack was reported there on Aug. 21. The media staff of Zamalka's local coordination committee, which is responsible for filming videos in the area and uploading them to the world, also sped to the scene. According to Zaitouneh, all but one of them paid with their lives.

"The chemical attacks, on the first day of the massacre, claimed the lives of many media activists in Zamalka coordination because they inhaled the chemical toxic gases," Murad Abu Bilal, the sole survivor, told Zaitouneh in an interview uploaded to — what else — YouTube. "[T]hey went out to shoot and collect information about the chemical attack, but none of them came back."

The videos quickly removed any doubt for U.S. intelligence analysts that chemical weapons were used in the Aug. 21 attack. They showed children with constricted pupils who were twitching and having trouble breathing — classic signs of exposure to sarin gas. They also showed the remnants of the rockets reportedly used to deliver the gas, which were largely intact. If they had delivered conventional explosive munitions, more of the rocket would have been destroyed on impact.

There are downsides, to be sure, to this type of reporting. Analysts of the Aug. 21 attack on the eastern Damascus suburbs noted that most of the victims shown in the videos were women and children — a likely attempt by those filming the event to provoke greater public sympathy. White argues that the information from the videos must be put in the context of other reporting of the conflict to gain a fuller understanding of events on the ground.

But for better or worse, this type of reporting appears to be here to stay. And if the U.S. military moves aggressively against Assad, part of the reason will be the brave souls who ran toward a chemical weapons attack when everyone else was running away.

_______________________

David Kenner is Middle East editor at Foreign Policy.

Pelajar kurang pintar jadi sasaran kongsi gelap

Pelajar yang bermasalah, samada tidak pintar dalam soal akademik ataupun mempunyai masalah keluarga, selalu menjadi sasaran kongsi gelap untuk dijadikan ahli.

Inilah antara pemerhatian penganalisis jenayah Datuk Akhbar Satar yang mengulas tentang fenomena pelajar sekolah menengah menjadi penjual dadah untuk geng kongsi gelap.

“Saya rasa isu ini sudah lama wujud cuma masa kini baru didedahkan kerana kita dapat tahu masih ada penjualan dadah di sekolah-sekolah,” kata Akhbar.

Ini susulan daripada laporan bahawa Polis Perak sedang menyiasat kegiatan tersebut, yang juga antara usaha polis menangani masalah kongsi gelap di seluruh negara menerusi “Ops Cantas”.

- Astro Awani 

Bajet 2014: fokus kepada kesejahteraan rakyat

Bajet 2014, yang akan dibentang di Parlimen Oktober ini, akan memfokus kepada indeks kesejahteraan rakyat di Bandar dan luar bandar.

Timbalan Menteri Kewangan Datuk Ahmad Maslan berkata antara aspek yang ditekan ialah keselesaan dan keselamatan penduduk di negara ini.

"Durasi masa yang lama diperlukan untuk pekerja pergi ke tempat kerja kerana kesesakan jalan raya selain perasaan gelisah ketika tidur malam kerana keselamatan terganggu, ia melambangkan kita (rakyat) tidak sejahtera

"Untuk itu, Kementerian Kewangan akan meneliti dengan terperinci indeks kesejaheraan rakyat ini, dan diperhalusi agar kualiti hidup rakyat meningkat dan rakyat hidup dalam negara kita ini lebih sejahtera," katanya kepada pemberita pada majlis kongsi raya anjuran Masjid An-Najihin bersama beberapa badan bukan kerajaan di sini semalam. - BERNAMA 

Lebih ramai pakar keselamatan IT diperlukan

KUALA LUMPUR:  Institusi pengajian tinggi tempatan perlu melahirkan lebih ramai pakar profesional keselamatan dalam teknologi maklumat (IT) memandangkan jenayah dan ancaman siber semakin pesat berkembang di peringkat global.

Tenaga pengajar latihan keselamatan IT dari Sans Institute yang berpangkalan di Amerika Syarikat, Chris Farrow berkata sokongan kerajaan amat penting bagi menggalakkan institusi pengajian tinggi tempatan melatih penuntut mereka dalam bidang keselamatan maklumat.

"Kita perlu lebih ramai penuntut dalam latihan dan program utama di universiti, kita memerlukan perkara sedemikian di Malaysia untuk mengembangkan aspek pengetahuan," katanya kepada Bernama pada persidangan antarabangsa mengenai Keselamatan IT dan Pengurusan Risiko di sini Selasa.

Persidangan dua hari itu disertai lebih daripada 300 pemimpin korporat dan profesional pengurusan risiko di seluruh dunia.

Sebelum ini, Pengarah Jabatan Siasatan Jenayah Komersil Bukit Aman Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan dipetik sebagai berkata pesalah jenayah siber menjejak mangsa mereka melalui e-mel atau SMS menggunakan komputer dan telefon bimbit.

Berdasarkan statistik polis, kerugian akibat jenayah siber mencecah RM1.6 bilion tahun lepas berbanding RM1.1 bilion pada 2011.

Pengarah urusan Condition Zebra Wilson Wong berkata 55 peratus organisasi di seluruh dunia tidak menyedari mengenai pencerobohan yang berlaku ke atas mereka dan hanya segelintir yang mengetahui pada tahap mana serangan itu atau siapa sebenarnya di sebalik serangan itu.

"Setiap organisasi berdepan dengan ancaman keselamatan yang sentiasa berkembang disebabkan amalan perniagaan meragukan.

"Risiko itu ada dan sukar diramal, berpeluk tubuh hanya akan meletakkan organisasi itu dalam keadaan bahaya dan membawa kerosakan teruk ke atas aset mereka apabila serangan itu berlaku," katanya.

Oleh itu, untuk kekal kompetitif, beliau mengesyorkan supaya setiap organisasi mewujudkan satu sistem pematuhan berkesan yang menyeluruh dan mempunyai gambaran jelas mengenai kawalan terhadap akses dalam persekitaran perniagaan mereka bagi mengurangkan risiko.

- BERNAMA 

Tee does it again!

I cherish every opportunity I get to discredit, counter, disprove, disagree and slam our great Associate Professor Dr. Ridhuan Tee Abdullah.

And so I am thankful for every time the good doctor produces an article that reflects his thoughts and tickles my fancy, just like his most recent writing in Utusan Malaysia.

His recent column in the newspaper dated 16th August 2013 was actually on something that I would really not have any beef with. It wasn’t really hard-hitting or ground-breaking at all.

The good doctor criticised Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew’s, latest book, One Man’s View of the World.

More specifically, he criticised Lee Kuan Yew’s criticism of Malaysia’s affirmative action for Malays, and that it is driving local talent away from the country.

Although I do have a problem with affirmative action in this country (as I have stated many times in my many writings), I don’t have a problem with the good doctor’s rant about it. It’s his right to say so, anyway.

How does that saying go again? 'I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it', right? I think it was said by someone named Voltaire.

But when the good doctor starts harping on about going to war with another country, now that’s where I have to stop calling him the good doctor anymore.

Of course he has a right to say it. But here I am, with my right to say that he is wrong in saying that if he were the Prime Minister, he would declare war on Singapore.

War is not something that can be played a fool with, I have witnessed war and the ravages of it. Nothing to laugh about at all. Trust me. It's not even fair to suggest it at all.

The not so good doctor may be a lecturer at the National Defence University, but I doubt that he has ever been to war. How could he have if he can so non-chalantly say what he did.

Dangerous words and statements he is playing with. But thank God he is not the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister. Or else Malaysia would be in deeper trouble.

As incompetent, illogical, irrational and insensitive as some of our ministers and politicians are, I'm glad none of them has ever suggested we go to war with any country.

As it is, this writing by the not so good doctor is appearing in one of the Malaysia's most widely read newspaper (for the life of me, I don't understand why). And, like it or not, does wield an enormous amount of influence.

He needs to be mindful that he is responsible for what he writes and the consequences of it. Be careful what you wish for, not so good doctor. It can come back and bite you in the ass.

In this day and age, there is no justification for an educated, civilised and religious individual to ever make a call to the public that we need to resort to violence.

But then again, that is for individuals who are educated, civilised and religious.

Source:
Zan Azlee @Astro Awani
August 22, 201

Kembalikan padang kami, kata penduduk Alor Semadom

ALOR SETAR: Itulah keluhan penduduk Alor Semadom, Alor Setar Kedah yang kebanyakan bernaung di bawah Kelab Bola Sepak Hospital Rangers di Alor Setar yang tidak berpuas hati apabila  padang bola sepak yang diuruskan sejak sekian lama  diambil alih Inspin.

Pengambilan padang bolasepak itu dibuat pada Mei 2012 oleh kerajaan negeri Pakatan Rakyat yang memerintah.

Berikutan itu, penduduk tidak dibenarkan bermain di padang tersebut dan menggunakan padang untuk aktiviti sukan sekaligus menyekat aktiviti penduduk.

Menurut Naib Presiden Kelab, Muhamad Bashah Zainal Abidin pengambilan padang bolasepak tersebut amatlah dikesali kerana sejak tahun 1969 padang itu dibangun dan diuruskan sendiri oleh kelab.

Malah ia telah banyak melahirkan ramai pemain yang berkebolehan dan bermain dipentas kebangsaan dan antarabangsa .

Beliau kesal kerana kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat gagal menyelesaikan isu ini dan tidak mempedulikan suara masyarakat sekitar.

Walaupun padang tersebut dimiliki  oleh kerajaan negeri, namun Menteri Besar sebelum itu, Tan Sri Osman Aroff telah membenarkan padang tersebut digunakan untuk orang awam dan diuruskan ahli kelab terbabit.

Selain itu ia juga dibangunkan pentas untuk  penonoton menonton perlawanan bola sepak yang dianjurkan.

Walaupun, masalah ini telah diajukan beberapa kali  namun tidak diendahkan dan penduduk mahu masalah ini diselesaikan segera oleh kerajaan negeri yang baru ini  demi pembangunan sukan.

Berikutan, Bashah dan ahli kelab mengadakan perhimpunan aman bagi membantah pengambilalihan padang bola sepak berkenaan.

Pada masa sama mereka meminta Menteri Besar baru, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir menyelesaikan isu  yang membelenggu penduduk.

Mereka yakin Mukhriz dapat mengembalikan padang tersebut kepada penduduk semula.

Untuk itu mereka bercadang akan berjumpa Mukhriz untuk berbincang berkenaan isu ini agar aktiviti sukan di kawasan itu tidak terjejas terutama sukan bola sepak.

- Astro Awani 

Cabaran pemandu bas ke Genting Highlands

KUALA LUMPUR:  Pemandu bas memerlukan latihan mencukupi untuk memenuhi keperluan 32 perjalanan sehari bagi perjalanan turun naik ke Genting Highlands.

Astro Awani menemubual beberapa pemandu bas yang berkongis rutin harian mereka serta cara berkerja yang terlibat bagi seorang pemandu bas.

MAS needs to be privatised - Dr M

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today suggested that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) be privatised in an effort to revitalise the government-linked company, and consequently, overcome its losses at present.

The former Prime Minister said privatisation is a good step for MAS to generate big profits as when a company is government-owned, it faces constraints from the point of finance.

"MAS has been in operation for a long time and many initiatives have been undertaken to turn it around, but unsuccessfully.

"I believe privatisation is a good thing, as when the company is government owned, it has also less rights," he told reporters at his Hari Raya open house in Seri Kembangan, near here.

The event was attended by about 20,000 visitors of various races as well as foreigners.

Also present was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was  there with his wife, Puan Sri Noorainee Abd Rahman.

Dr Mahathir, who is also Proton advisor, said based on experience with the national car maker, privatisation will make the owners more sensitive as to the issue of profit and loss, as they are footing all expenditure.

"Through privatisation, when you lose money, the people who own it, have to pay out. But if it's government money, nobody cares. I know this because I have run the government company before," he added.

Source: BERNAMA 

Kalau ini harga yang perlu dibayar, apa salahnya?

Ini adalah ulasan Pengarang Urusan AstroAwani.com, NOOR AZAM SHAIRI, mengenai apa yg Dr Mahathir katakan mengenai harga kebebasan.

BEKAS Perdana Menteri Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad pada Khamis berkata kes pembunuhan dengan tembakan yang kerap berlaku sejak kebelakangan ini adalah harga yang harus kita bayar untuk kebebasan. Kalau itu harga yang harus kita bayar, rasanya kita akan bayar — apa masalahnya?

Ya, apa masalahnya kerana kes tembak yang berlaku hampir setiap hari itu menurut polis bukannya kes rambang sebaliknya adalah perang antara kumpulan samseng merebut kawasan dan pengaruh. Kalau kita anggota kumpulan samseng, masuk akal kalau kita bimbang. Kalau kita buat jenayah besar dengan orang, wajar kita bimbang. Kalau kita warganegara yang baik, kenapa kita hendak bimbang dengan harga yang terpaksa kita bayar itu.

Ini bukanlah bermakna kita bersetuju bahawa mereka yang terbunuh dalam kes-kes tembak itu wajar mati dengan ditembak. Negara ini ada undang-undang. Tidak ada sesiapa yang boleh diambil nyawanya atau dicabut kebebasannya tanpa mengikut lunas undang-undang, dan undang-undang itu terpakai ke atas semua orang.

Tentang kes tembak yang banyak itu, polis dilaporkan sudah mendapat beberapa petunjuk dan sedang menyiasat. Yakinlah bahawa polis sedang melakukan sesuatu — biarpun mereka juga sibuk — atau dipaksa sibuk dan kemudiannya, dilihat sibuk — dengan kes-kes lain yang timbul kerana sesetengah daripada kita terlalu sensitif.

Kalau kita tidak mahu percaya kepada polis, kita mahu percaya kepada siapa lagi?

Apa yang pasti — sangat pasti — adalah sukar untuk kita percaya kepada mana-mana orang yang menolak kebebasan. Kebebasan bukan sesuatu yang kotor dan perlu dipandang jijik. Kebebasan bukan penyakit berjangkit yang harus dibasmi. Kebebasan juga bukan pantang larang yang perlu dielak. Kebebasan adalah fitrah manusia.

Biarlah kita diingatkan oleh kata-kata John F. Kennedy bahawa "kita akan membayar apa saja harga, menanggung apa saja beban, berdepan apa saja kesukaran, mendokong teman-teman dan menentang semua musuh" untuk memastikan kebebasan yang wajar dan bermakna dapat dicapai.

Adalah sangat malang kalau kita terlupa bahawa kebebasan merupakan antara asas pembentukan negara ini seperti yang diikrarkan oleh Tunku Abdul Rahman semasa beliau mengisytiharkan kemerdekaan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu pada 31 Ogos 1957. Ikrarnya ialah mahu menjadikan negara ini "sebuah negara yang merdeka dan berdaulat serta berdasarkan kebebasan dan keadilan dan sentiasa menjaga dan mengutamakan kesejahteraan dan kesentosaan rakyatnya dan mengekalkan keamanan antara segala bangsa."

Kalau itu konsep yang menjadi asas pembinaan negara ini sepertimana yang telah dipersetujui oleh leluhur pendiri negara dan bangsa, bagaimanakah seharusnya sikap kita kepada orang yang menolak konsep asas kenegaraan itu?

Orang selalu ada salah faham — atau sebenarnya faham tetapi sengaja mahu mengelirukan orang lain — bahawa kalau ada kebebasan akan ada kekacauan. Sudah-sudahlah menipu seperti ini. Semua orang tahu bahawa tidak ada kebebasan yang mutlak kerana kebebasan yang mutlak akan membawa kepada kekacauan dan anarki.

Itu sebabnya manusia mengaturkan undang-undang untuk mengawal kebebasan. Kebebasan bukan bererti orang boleh melakukan apa saja. Kebebasan ada hadnya.

Perlembagaan Persekutuan dalam memberikan kebebasan bersuara misalnya turut membenarkan sekatan dikenakan ke atas kebebasan itu. Sekatan itu bagaimanapun bukannya sesuatu yang boleh dikenakan dengan sesuka hati. Ada syarat-syarat tertentu yang membolehkan sekatan dibuat seperti ketenteraman awam dan keselamatan negara.

Bahawa kebebasan merupakan antara asas pembinaan negara ini adalah harga mati yang harus kita pertahankan. Tunku Abdul Rahman dalam ucapannya sehari sebelum merdeka pun ada menyebut bahawa kebebasan yang diperjuangkan dalam merebut kemerdekaan adalah "kebebasan beragama, kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan untuk berkehendak, kebebasan untuk berpersatuan, kebebasan untuk berhimpun dan kebebasan untuk bergerak."

Ini harga mati yang tidak ada tawar-menawarnya lagi.

Sumber: Astro Awani