Malaysia Press Freedom: The Battle Is Not Yet Over

Malaysia Press Freedom: The Battle Is Not Yet Over
Malaysia's press is still under the spell of serious control and the battle to free the local press and the air waves altogether is not over yet despite the promises by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak for a less stringent 'permit' system.
The PM said in general that Malaysia will follow the standards in place in the Western world indicating the annual permit for the printing and publishing of newspapers and periodicals will become a one time affair. However, in the West, there is no real 'permit' for the publication of a news organ while the government control of the 'content' published in newspapers in the West is virtually nil. Which is not the case in Malaysia where the content in the local press is not totally liberated in the sense that the opposition for example does not get a free wheeler in the mainstream papers while the government figures are featured at will.
The PM did not altogether mention that the press and the media's as well as the TV and Radio stations will be liberalized in the same breath. This entails that the government would not want to see a sudden flourish of pro-opposition papers in the country at a time when the nation is going to polls any time soon.
On the other hand, the need to apply for a permit at the Home Ministry in Putrajaya is indicative of the authorities unwillingness to allow total freedom of the press in Malaysia, which entails that the struggle to achieve such a freedom still has a long way to go.
One wonders whether the opposition itself is really pressing hard on the Home Ministry and the Prime Minister to commit to a larger press freedom? We know the position of the opposition on the freedom of the press but at times it appears that this commitment by the opponents to the government has no real interest in getting the entire press freed in Malaysia.
The opposition itself have to show their utter faith in the freedom of the press and push the government further into opening up the space and allow the press to be freed from interference.
This will be one of the tools that will allow Malaysia to grow further.

PRU13: The Writings On The Wall

The writings are on the wall indicating the Pilihan Raya 13 is nearer by the day. Despite the calls by Tun Mahathir that the government should strengthen its base and regroup itself before it go to polls - in 2012 he says - the BN machinery is already at work.
While the roads are being resurfaced in most parts of Malaysia, the ASTRO Tv is already showing clips of PM Najib Tun Razak, claiming he is the father of 'perubahan' in the country with attempts to reach the people by the Internet and the supposed openness with which the PM is said to be running the country.
This has forced the opposition to take heed and to stop squabbling on seats in some states while they are still in jeopardy in other states (Kedah, Johor) for example and Penang where the DAP want to supposedly have a larger control of the state government in the next term.
Overall, there are more signs the government is heading for early polls. The concert 'Suara Kami' is also seen by some observers as a reason why the regime may be calling for polls soon. There is nothing better than the 'festive' mood feel in the country with the 16th September celebration of the Merdeka alongside the Malaysia Day and the 17th September concert as well as the one month long Hari Raya celebrated by Muslims.
The question is: Will Tun Mahathir's advice be discarded much to his chagrin by Najib Tun Razak who is weary that his popularity and the New PM feel is running out and wanning away?
The attempts by the Government to repeal or amend the ISA (Internal Security Act), the holding of a much spoken about 'open house' for raya at Permatang Pauh, Anwar Ibrahim's stronghold for more than 20 years, and tonight's possible declaration of more freedom to assembly and rally in the country by the PM, could be the next steps in the wake of the much publicized snap polls.
Nevertheless, the popularity of Najib has definitely taken a real dip as he is not much appreciated by the masses who are blaming his wife's excesses (this is according to opposition blogs and news sites).
According to an observer who spoke to this blog, Najib will have to hold the elections as soon as possible in order not to face a greater loss of popularity and support as time is not in his favor!
We'll keep you all updated!

11-11-11 Farfetched Day For PRU13?

The Malaysian political scene is abuzz with a possible snap polls in November 2011. Many people are arguing over the date of the next poll but as usual it is the exclusive prerogative of the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Rajak.
However, there are rumors that the 13th General Elections will be held well before 2012 - which is the target date suggested by Tun Mahathir Mohamad the former PM of Malaysia - while some formerly staunch Anwar Ibrahim allies are pushing the Barisan National (BN) to ordain the elections ASAP.
After the BN flop on the Bersih movement on the 9th of July this year, a flop that has boosted the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) image and destroyed the carefully planned 'poster' image of Najib Razak, the focus is now on the Sodomy 2 case. The Sodomy 2, much like Sodomy One, is an attack on Anwar Ibrahim who is accused of having sodomised a Malaysian boy though doctors insist there were no penetration in the anus of the said victim.
It is obvious that the BN is now in a fix with the sodomy case since everybody is saying that Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition, will be jailed unfairly and that will dent the BN's image once again. The question is whether the BN can sustain a double rattling of its already shallow portray in the mind of the masses? Anwar behind bars will surely boost the opposition leader's appeal and will send the BN into troubled waters in a snap poll.
Hence the former staunch ally now turned potential coup leader against Anwar Ibrahim is now urging the PM to quickly organize the snap polls before 2012 in order achieve the unthinkable: Beat the Pakatan Rakyat with its pants down while it is still squabbling over seats allocation among its partners and defeat Anwar Ibrahim before he goes to jail and become the obvious potential PM of the country!
In a laconic take in Malaysia-Today.net, Raja Petra Kamarudin made it clear that he would want the PM to organize the elections before 2012, a date when Anwar is supposed to be going to jail for the 'fake' sodomy.
This could be the peak of the anti-Anwar Ibrahim movement within the Pakatan itself, a movement that started with the Bersih 2.0. The Bersih 2.0 was to be a fist in the face of Anwar by the organizers who would have then told Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan that a fresh leader is rising to lead the PR to power and that Anwar could go and rot in jail.
But the tactic used by the BN in curbing on the 'yellow' T-shirts promoted by the Bersih group (which is a group that claims to be outside the PR and independent altogether thus rejecting Anwar's leadership) resulted in Anwar Ibrahim gaining politically instead.
The beating of Anwar's personal body guard and the fact that Anwar had to be hospitalized during the Bersih demonstrations turned him into the hero of the day on 9th July and this much to the displeasure of the detractors within the PR. It was also clear that the Bersih movement wanted to hijack the Pakatan's popularity index with the 'yellow' T-shirt and that the BN failed to 'read' what was really going on within the Bersih and the Pakatan at that time.
It was not a surprise at all that after the Bersih 'flop' for the BN and the Bersih promoters themselves, Malaysia-Today.net and its satellite websites were buzzing with stories about who would replace Anwar Ibrahim and that Tungku Razaleigh Hamza were approached by the PR to replace Anwar!
Now the anti-Anwar grouping within the Bersih and Pakatan are pushing Najib to organize a snap poll that they believe will 'kill' Anwar Ibrahim for good with a BN unexpected victory.
Perhaps they will once again face another flop if the polls are organized on the 11th of November 2011 (11-11-11) as rumored and Anwar Ibrahim may rise as the new PM of Malaysia...after all, the polls are supposed to be 'clean' in Malaysia and that is what 'Bersih' means, that is 'clean'!

Sex, Datuk's and videos‏

Malaysia's politics has plunged into deeper, darker and dirtier waters. This dirt is due to the regime's attempts at saving itself more than anyone else. While the moto of the new government under Najib Tun Razak is about putting the people first, it appears that this is pure fallacy since the government put its 'people' first and among its people we have a trio of Datuk's who are involved in 'haram' business.

This bring us to the famous video that is on youtube which is apparently portraying Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the man in the sex acts. Watching the video, I could not let myself believe that the man in the video is no other than SK himself. SK is the man who keep claiming he is in the video but he did not really say which man in the video he is! What if - and this is a big if - the man in the video is SK having sex with a prostitute?

Did the authorities explore this angle and if they did why did they not put an end to the rumors spread by the three Datuk stooges?
Now this raise more questions and the biggest question is why is it that the three dirty datuk's are still walking free and there's no case against them for the selling and distributing of the dirty video on the internet? Is it because they are the regime's men and they are carrying out the duty as 'datuk's to represent their government against Anwar Ibrahim?

On the other hand, it is clear that a majority of the people of Malaysia do not really bother about the video and come the time to decide, they will do what is in their power to throw the regime out if they can.
The way the regime is acting on the sex video and the protection given to the datuk stooges so far indicates they are losing the plot and they are also losing support on the ground.

Nevertheless, Malaysia is the country where we have datuk's stooges, sex encounters that they plot and videos that they distribute illegally in order to acheive a certain political agenda.

Dato T's the sex videos paddlers!‏

The 'Islamic' act by the three stooges called Datuk T's is a farce that derides the very fundamental of Islam. In order to take such oaths, the persons involved must be of good character and must not be involved in dirty business. Before they take such oaths, they should ask for forgiveness to their Creator for being agents and distributors of a dirty video that does not really show Anwar Ibrahim as the main actor in a sex act with a prostitute

The very idea of the three stooges staging a 'sumpah' at Mosque in Kuala Lumpur is an act that should have been forbidden by the Selangor Islamic Department as it violates the principles of taking such oaths. The three stooges are paddlers of 'sex' video's and are to be seen as 'munafiqs' and they should have been made to take fresh oaths about their very 'faith' before they are allowed to 'sumpah' on the name of God.

Now, the fact that the video clips are appearing on the Internet and the stooges are saying they did not put these clips on youtube is another reason for the Muslims to consider avoiding the trio. They are not only peddlars of misfortune but also liars! They are the ones who owns the video and if it is on the Internet, it must have been leaked by them, unless they are going to accuse the authorities for doing so!

On the other hand, the act of distributing and of coming out with such a video is also to the detriment of both the ruling politicians and the trio themselves as they put the entire Muslim community of Malaysia on the line of fire. The shame is not that of the man they are targeting but that of an entire Muslim community that has lost its respect with the publishing of such video's on the Internet.

For the sake of Malaysian democracy, PAS should join BN

Ali Cordoba, Riau, Indonesia -

News reports on blogs and portals in Malaysia are stating the possible restart of Pas-Umno talk.
One portal even suggested that a meeting between Nik Aziz Nik Mat with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and that was probably the start of fresh talks between the two parties.
The Islamic Party has been linked to talks with the Umno for sometime now. As a matter of fact, it was Wfol.tv, then known as Worldfutures.info that revealed the existence of talks between the PAS and the Umno on the formation of an 'Islamic Alliance' in order to ensure the Malays would not lose their political clout in the country. Weeks after the article was published on Malaysia-Today, the pro-Umno/PAS members decided a-long with the Umno leaders, to come out with their story of talks in public.
They also revealed that they were talking to Umno to salvage Malay supremacy in the country.
We were not wrong at all and trust me, on the current situation too we will not be wrong!
The PAS has to leave the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and has to take steps to join the Umno in the Barisan National (BN) regime.
The reason why I am saying this is the Islamic party has a moral responsibility to ensure that the democratic system is not violated with their putting one foot in the ruling coalition and the other foot in the Opposition.
This is already a gross violation of the trust that both the ruling coalition and the opposition coalition has put in the PAS leadership.
In a marriage like the one we have in the opposition in Malaysia, the PAS is playing the role of the ungrateful and the cheating 'wife' to the partner.This is not what the populace that has voted for the Pakatan expects from an Islamic formation that has made its mark in local politics for decades.
The people, including people in the ruling coalition, would expect more trustworthyness and frankness from a formation that claims to be Islamic but is not doing an Islamic job with its cheating abilities. On top of that, they are also violating the democratic standards by which the Opposition is sealed together.
In order to avoid a total backlash, the PAS has to make their move and stop rolling the 'gasing' on the floor. In otherwords, go and join the Barisan National now before it is too late both for the 'Ketuanan Melayu' or for the PAS itself.
As for the PR, I believe life will go on certainly with the advent of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) headed by Raja Petra Kamarudin the rebel Prince from Malaysia.The MCLM will provide enough candidates to replace the PAS candidates and even if they have only 30 candidates, that will be sufficient to help the PKR and the DAP (Democratic Action Party) in the upcoming polls.
The PR should not fear the absence of the PAS as for sure the PAS will have to break into two distinguished forces before it joins the Umno.
There is no for the pro-PR members of the PAS to follow the pro-Umno leaders in their quest for fame and glory as Ministers of the Cabinet under the BN.
To be fair to these leaders, they have waited long enough and they have battled hard enough for them to be greeted well by the Umno and the BN and to be given serious roles in the government in Putrajaya. It is their choice and this choice must be respected as they will have to respect the choice of those within the PAS who would want to create PAS-B and stick to the PR. The anti-Umno PAS elements could also simply join the Party Keadilaan Rakyat (PKR) thus consolidating the 'Malay' input of the PKR and giving it an unexpected boost among City Malays and Kampung folks altogether.
There is no gain without pain and the pain will be to lose PAS in the process. Yet if the PKR and DAP are strong and vibrant formations, they should simply work their way within the PAS base with the pure intent to break the PAS into two distinguish groups, the pro-Umno and the pro-PR groups and to secure the support of the MP's and YB's etc who would not want to join the BN. If this is done ala-Francaise by the PKR and DAP - that is bravely - then we can rest assured the state of Selangor will not fall that easily in the hands of the Umno as there will still be a vital majority to keep the state into the hands of the PR.
Penang too will be less affected though the situation may be different in Kedah or Kelantan but this too will depend on how many of the PAS YB's will jump the boat to join the BN, which may not be that crucial afterall if the PR does its 'divide and rule' job well in breaking the PAS in two!

Apa Sudah Jadi ? 'What is happening?

Malaysia is reeling with scandals. Sex scandals that ranges from a Minister raping a maid to an Islamic head now accused of having an affair with a TV starlet. Besides these cases, the country also saw the arrest of an Islamic  court Judge for close proximity with a woman in a hotel room.
It was a hectic end of the year for Malaysian blogger's who revealed the two major sex scandals, some in languages that would make one roll on the floor with laughter but after thinking deeply   on the consequences of such acts committed by the high class in the country, these are serious offenses indeed.
The worst part is that these acts were perpetrated - according to the information in the blogs- by Muslim heads. From the Cultural head to the Islamic head, there seems to be only one difference now: Rape or consensual sex! In the Islamic values, both are condemnable by law and this is about Shariah law. And if we look into the 'civil' laws of the country, both rape and consensual sex between a Muslim man and a non-Muslim woman are altogether condemnable.
Now what is deafening about these two cases involving a Minister and a Royal family chieftain is the absolute silence on the accusations thrown at them by the blogging community. The Minister is even facing the brunt of pro-Government blogs. Rocky Bru's blog was the first to launch the attack on the Minister when it published a report - which it linked to Wikileaks - onthe rape of an Indonesian maid by the honorable Minister. I would call that 'Minus ter' instead. The other damning point in this affair is the fact that     the Minister is not resigning despite the very fact that anyone who have seen the police report from Indonesia could easily decipher the name of the Minister, though the name is barred in black ink. The affair has been around since 2007 as the 'rape' if it was one, is said to have been committed in February 18th of 2007. The recent information  I gleaned on some Indonesian blogs is that the wife of the Minister knew about the rape and would have even watched it unravelling thus becoming - according to blogs - the prime witness in the case.
The other aspect of this affair is that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had wind of the 'rape' for sometime now. Ahiruddin Attan or Rocky Bru wrote in his blog that he has information the opposition would have used the rape case in an upcoming by-election in Johor. This woudl have really tarnished the image of the United Malays National Organization (Umno) but it is not sure whether that would have been sufficient to help the PR win the seat as Johor is a state where the PR is not that strong as it is elsewhere in Malaysia.
ty Keadilaan Rakyat (PRK) -the appointment of a new SUK of the state or Secretary of state. The bloggers hounding the Sultan wrote in plain language that the new SelangorSUK knew about   the 'affair' with the pretty lady and covered it up...Talking of cover-ups, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia is also said to have covered up the 'rape' case of the Cabinet Minister.
Hence, if we understand the blogger Rocky Bru, he published the report about the rape in order to outsmart the opposition and prevent them from using it during the Tenang election. Bad move indeed since now the Umno and the Barisan National (BN) regime has to explain on the rape, the defeaning silence and the fact that the Minister is still in the Cabinet!
While the country was still feeling the heat of the rape case, local bloggers started to attack the Sultan of Selangor for a purported affair with a local TV actress. This was in response to what they call the Sultan's interference in the affairs of the opposition run state of Selangor. The Sultan   is said to have approved without consulting Khalid Ibrahim the Menteri Besar or the Chief Minister of Selangor - who hails from the Pakatan Rakyat - the nomination of the new SUK.
It is also obvious that Tun Mahathir Mohamad, the King Maker after the fall of Abdullah Badawi, would have known of the rape case and why not of the indiscretions of the 'Ruler'? These scandals are sufficient to bring more disdain from the public towards the leaders of the nation and could influence their voting patterns in the next General Elections due in 2013 but which is being rumored to be very soon.