Indonesian Maid Raped: Rais Yatim Name Implicated

Kuching
Friday, 31st December 2010

Today is the last day for year 2010. Just like all Malaysians, I too would like to make a Wish.

Different from last year, this year I have three wishes to make. My first wish is for Pakatan Rakyat to wrest power from non-performing and corrupted Barisan Nasional in Sarawak. For the past 47 years under BN rules (and or Taib Mahmud Rules), Sarawak has became the second most non-developed state in Malaysia ,infront of Sabah another East Malaysia state.

If it is true as alleged, he should be prosecuted in Court. No Cover-up should be allowed. And If the allegation is not true, Rais Yatim should come forward and defend himself

Secondly, I would like to make a wish for Rais Yatim the senior Cabinet Minster and also an UMNO member to be prosecuted in court for allegedly raping his Indonesian maid in 2007. Hopefully with Rais prosecution will mend Malaysia-Indonesia bilateral relationships.

My third wish....I keep it by myself....Its between me and God!

Mupok Aku

Fort Alice Sri Aman In Sorry State: Where Are All the BN's YBs From Simanggang ?

Kuching
Friday, 31st December 2010

Happy Success Holiday and A Happy New Year to All Malaysians. Today I am going to write about Fort Alice one of the historical places, a legacy of James Brooke ruled in Sarawak.

I am from Simanggang ( so can be called Bujang Simanggang) but my opportunity to visit Fort Alice only came last Christmas . Before this, the Fort Alice was something that I only heard and seen but never set foot on it.

What is so important about Fort Alice ? Fort Alice was built in 1864 during the reign of Charles Brooke the second Rajah of Sarawak. It was named after Rani Margaret.

It was built to counter the threats from Iban Skrang. This is a bottleneck at Batang Lupar River and one of the outposts is located directly above this river bottleneck. The Ibans who traveled down with their longboats, were easy pickings for the British cannons, who managed to shoot most of them down from this Fort Alice vantage point.

But now, based on my own observation, the fort is in sorry state. No effort has been made by Sarawak government to restore the delipidated fort Alice.

What are the YBs Been Doing : Franchis Harden, Mong Dagang, Masir Kujat etc ?

There are so many YBs in Sri Aman but none of them doing anything to restore Fort Alice. My guessing and the only reason probably because the amount of perks that they are going to get is not enough to share among them. If not why none of them ever  request the  funds to restore the fort?

For the benefits of visitors to Bukittunggal.com, I would like to share the photo of the delipidated Fort Alice Sri Aman, taken on 25th December 2010.

Please leave a comment if you like this posting

Mupok Aku

Pejabat Perdana Menteri Anti Agama Kristian

Kuching
Khamis, 30 Disember 2010

Saya menyeru agar semua rakyat Malaysia yang beragama Kristian tidak mengundi Pemimpin yang bertindak macam talam dua muka kepada kita!

Sebagai Penganut Agama Kristian Yang Memnghormati lain-lain agama, saya merasa terhina apabila terbaca bahawa Jabatan Perdana Menteri Malaysia mengamalkan Sikap Anti-Kristian yang berlebihan.

Tidak tersiar melalui Utusan Malaysia tetapi disiarkan melalui laman-laman blog, Pejabat Perdana Menteri seperti yang dilaporkan telah memberi arahan supaya pihak penganjur majlis perayaan hari Krismas bersama PM supaya membuang elemen keagamaan seperti lambang salib serta melarang berlakunya upacara sembahyang dan nyanyian lagu-lagu pemujaan di majlis anjuran Persekutuan Kristian Malaysia (CFM.Majlis berkenaan diadakan di kediaman ketua biskop gereja Katolik Kuala Lumpur.

Najib yang merupakan PM Malaysia yang memulakan pentadbirannya dengan Slogan " 1Malaysia : Rakyat Didahulukan Pencapaian Diutamakan" yang mengutamakan tolenransi antara kaum berbilang kaum dan agama rupa-rupanya hanya slogan semata-mata, bak kata pepatah "Indah Khabar dari Rupa". Kalau dahulu pencabulan cara hidup 1Malaysia yang beliau war-warkan berlaku di belakang dan tanpa pengetahuannya tetapi pada 25 Disember 2010 semasa menghadiri perayaan hari Krismas di KL, pencabulan dilakukan di hadapan mata beliau sendiri.

Dengan ini saya menyeru kepada semua penganut Agama Kristian di Malaysia terutamanya penganut Kristian dari Kaum Dayak agar tidak memberikan sokongan kepada PM Najib yang merupakan seorang yang tidak menghormati Agama Kristian.

Parti PAS iaitu merupakan komponen Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pada masa dahulu yang pernah dilabel sebagai penganut Islam yang ektremis dan tidak menghormati agama lain, sekarang ini lebih menghormati agama lain serta lebih teloransi kalau dibandingkan dengan pejabat Perdana Menteri.

Adakah patut sebuah kementerian yang sepatutnya menunjukkan contoh kepada kementerian yang lain agar mengamalkan cara hidup 1Malaysia tetapi  bertindak dengan tidak menghormati agama lain serta mengamalkan ciri-ciri yang bertentangan dengan 1Malaysia?

Kepada bangsaku dayak, kenalilah musuh-musuh kamu dan jangan terperdaya. 1Malaysia hanyalah cogankata sebagai pemanis untuk mendapatkan undi agar Barisan nasional akan meneruskan pemerintahan mereka serta Najib yang anti agama Kristian akan terus menjadi pemimpin kita yang bencikan membenci kita..Ingatlah "BERUBAH SEKARANG!"

Mupok Aku

Najib Declares Friday, 31 December 2010 A Public Holiday : Malaysia Team Won 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup

Kuching
Thursday, 30th December 2010

Primes Minister, Najib Tun Razak has declared that Friday, 31st December 2010 a Public Holiday to celebrate the success by Malaysian football squad in winning the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup on Wednesday Night.

Najib also congratulated the Malaysian football team for beating the Indonesian team in the final by 4-2 agregate, describing its as " The Greatest Night In Malaysian Football "

"The young team had done us proud and we must build this success to propel Malaysian football to greater heights" he said in a statement to BERNAMA

Mupok Aku

Dayak Needs Violet Yong Alike Leaders Not A Group Of Coward Leaders Like Jabu , Masing and The Gang

Kuching
Wednesday, 29th December 2010

Today I am going to share with visitors of Bukittunggal a very daring speech delivered by YB Violet Yong of DAP in Sarawak DUN. Her speech touched on Taib Mahmud and his family members Land Grab Policy which none of the BNs' YB dared to touch. The speech was delivered on 4th November 2010.

Please read her speech especially the dayaks who were badly affected by Taib Mahmud Land Grab policy.

I have to bring to your attention the seriousness of the grabbing of land in Sarawak by you-all-know-who. So many parcels of land have been taken away, land that belonged to the State that is rightfully owned by all the people of Sarawak and should be used for building hospitals, schools, roads or sport facilities. But, NO, in the “Name of Urban Development”, these lands are taken away right under our nose and given to private cronies companies to enrich themselves.Private lands are now being grabbed by the BN State Government without fair compensation parcel by parcel. One stark example is the Bako lands where 3,000 acres of land that has been and still is until today subject to Section 47.(At this junction she was interrupted as they want to know who she was referring to. She told them, “ you be patient. I will let you know who later. keep your ears clear and clean”) since 38 donkey years ago are now going to be taken away by the BN state government without fair, reasonable and adequate compensation paid to landowners

Tuan Speaker,

Most of the lands are purchased through people hard-earned money and some from savings of their old parents. Many landowners bought the lands with high expectation of developing the lands or cultivating the lands for fruits gardens, or otherwise dealing with the lands when eventually the blanket Section 47 imposition is lifted. (at this junction, she was interrupted again and she said: I will let you know later on.) But now, the BN leaders in the state have stolen their dreams and hopes they had harboured. There is no transparency in the whole process of the acquisition exercise of Bako lands. (Interrupted again and she said that she will let them know later on, will name all the names. You just be patient. Keep it as a surprise, she said). The true intention of acquisition is not made clear to the landowners until today. Is there something to hide? The State Government never makes known to the people of its detailed development plan in acquiring 3000 acres of Bako lands. The people want to know why the State Government takes away 3000 acres of lands at one go? If indeed there is a development project, why don’t the government reveal it? The state government should also inform the public when will the project start? Who are the developers developing these lands? How do the people benefits from the development scheme? Or like always the case, will these lands going to be another parcel of land like in Batu Lintang and BDC which are alienated to CM's son, daughters and cousin? If the BN state government continues with such high handed manner when it comes to land acquisition, who dares to come to Sarawak to invest? Hantu also takut. (Again interruption. she said, "I am telling the facts here. Don’t try to cover up the facts for the Chief Minister). The practice of this unfair policy will frighten foreign investors away.How can the people feel safe when the landed properties own by private individual or sectors are worthless when their lands can overnightended in the hands of the cronies and friends of the BN leaders? ( More interruption from others but she ignored them and read on)

Tuan Speaker,

The offers of compensation of RM40,500.00 to RM80,900.00 per acre by the Sarawak state government which are not based on current market value of lands is an insult to anyone’s intelligent. It is unfair and unreasonable for the state government to offer compensation based on value in 1973 ( Interuption again from a few when s.47 was imposed. It is the talk of the town now that the State Government only knows how to makan the rakyat lands and give them to their relatives and cronies. The people cried foul that it is “Daylight robbery” and I would say it is clear case of exploitation of the people of Sarawak. Is this the caring and responsible government you all professed to be? Are you not ashamed of taking away again and again from your own Sarawakians, your very own subjects? Do you just take a map of Sarawak and drew a ‘red line’ and said “Oh, I want this, my brothers want this and yes, my sisters need this piece and that A,B,C company or Naim wants that, then you mark it under Section 47, or 48 or whatever it is to make it YOURs. Is this how the government is being run? Exploiting the subjects who had worked for the State all these years.The present Land code has not benefit the land owners (More interruption and she told them that she will move on to another subject but she continues reading her text) in any way except for the top BN leaders and cronies. It is sad to see that the BN state government has abused the law to enrich themselves. Over the years, we DAP and the people had through their votes told and reminded the Sarawak State government to amend all the unfair provisions in the Land Code including the Section 47 and yet the calls have all fallen to deaf ears. And now, the self claimed caring and responsible BN government tells the landowners that nothing much can be done because the law provides so. Everything we do we have to follow the law. It is obvious that the present Land Code has been subject to abuse by the BN leaders. The arrogant government officer even challenges the people to take the matter to court if the landowners are not happy with the decision of the government. Do you think that you are the government and you can simply do whatever you want and even held the landowners to ransom? Do not think that the people are stupid and would believe and accept what the BN leaders said. DAP had thought the people smart and the people are not so easily get cheated by the sweet talks and lies of the BN leaders.

Tuan Speaker,

The Bako land owners wants the compensation paid based on current market value instead of that of 1973. At the same time, they have also put forward a suggestion that if the State government is really interested to develop their lands, they want a share in it. The land owners who met up with me recently said if truly there is a development plan for Bako area, they are ready to be involved in the development of their lands. I would say it is extremely unfair to exclude them from the development scheme since they are the rightful owners to the lands for all these years. The development of Sarawak should not be allowed to concentrate in the hands of few of the cronies companies of the BN leaders. Why don’t the state government invite all interested landowners to take part in the so called “Urban Development Scheme” and have a share on the economic pie?

Tuan Speaker,

If not because of the imposition of the blanket Section 47 on Bako lands by the state government since 1973, I verily believe that the area would have fully developed by the landowners themselves over these years. The state government is to be blamed for all opportunity loss as well as monetary loss suffered by the landowners of their investment in Bako lands. May I also suggest to the State Government that another possible way to solve the  compensation issue for lands in Bako that are subject to Section 47 notification is that the state government could uplift the Section 47 notification first and then impose Section 48 notification so that compensation can be based on current market value and not market value in 1973. I sincerely urge the BN leaders to listen to the voice of the people and adopt this suggestion. For once, do leave a legacy behind for the people of Sarawak.

Alienation of 269 Acres of Lands in BDC to CM's children

Tuan Speaker,

 Still on the land issue. Do you know the discovery on three parcels of state lands with a total area of 269 acres known as Lot Nos. 9192, 9193 and 9194 Block 11 all of Muara Tebas Land District in BDC area have been alienated to a dormant company called Monarda Sdn. Bhd. at an obscene low price? These three parcels of land of 269 acres are in prime area in BDC area. A land, every developer would love to own. It would be a ‘gold mine’ for mixed development. Any developer would love to get it at RM78, 647,112.00 million and earn hundreds and hundreds of millions from it. The said sum of RM78 million is not paid by cash but in kind.  While the Bako land owners are crying for their lands lost due to unfair Land law and policies of the Sarawak Government, Monarda Sdn. Bhd. a dormant company is laughing all the way to the bank as the RM78 million land is actually worth more than RM500 million. In other words, if we do a simple calculation, the lands in BDC can easily fetch between RM2 to RM2.5 million have been alienated to Monarda at only RM291,000 per acre. This is really “lelong” land. 

Tuan Speaker,

Easy money? This can happened anywhere around the globe as long as they are given the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of the place they dwell............ Devil in disguise!!

Mupok Aku

Truly What Benefits Will 1Malaysia Have For the Dayaks

Kuching

Tuesday, 28th December 2010

To all my dayak brothers, please dont just say 1Malaysia because 

It just a rethoric!

Not less than 12 times daily, Barisan Nasional Propaganda tools in the form of RTM1, RTM2, TV3 and TV7 are playing the 1Malaysia advertisement to fool Malaysians especially the dayaks.

Being the dayak myself, today I am going to write about what the 1Malaysia Concept really means for the dayaks.

Before going further let's me publish here the excerpt on the meaning of 1Malaysia as propagate by PM Najib and Barisan Nasional leaders (inclusive the dayak politicians who support 1Malaysia).

1Malaysia’s goal is to preserve and enhance this unity in diversity which has always been our strength and remains our best hope for the future. I hope this website will initiate an open and vital dialogue exploring our Malaysian identity, our purpose, and direction. I encourage each of you to join me in defining our Malaysia and the role we must play in its future. Each of us – despite our differences – shares a desire for a better tomorrow. Each of us wants opportunity, respect, friendship, and understanding - PM Najib Tun Razak

What are the Benefits Of 1Malaysia to the Dayaks

Religion

Majority of the dayaks are Christian. All this while government has been seen as not treated them fairly as compare to the muslims. No assistance were given by government to build or maintainance of their churches or house of worships. Classic example  was how St Luke church destroyed by fire for more than 10 years no government assistance was provided to rebuild the church.

Other than the above example, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia, a government agency, had on 

on Dec 15 2010 had issued a press statement saying , firstly, Islam rejects religious pluralism which claims that all religions are equally true and equally good, and secondly , only one religion possesses the perfect and complete revelation, that is, Islam (see the Qur’an, Al-Maidah, 5:3).

With the above , how can 1Malaysia unites  Malaysians of different religions. This I am very sure that the Dayaks that live in the interior are not awared about.

Development

To those from Semenanjung , the development in Sarawak today (year 2010) is equivalent to the development in their country about 50 years back. A house without electricity and clean water, and the kampongs without tar sealed road is something in the past.

But for the dayaks that live in the long house, life without electricity and tar sealed road is something normal. For them development means NCR lands being developed under  JV with Pelita and Peninsular based company and paid with RM 0.50 per  hectare/day divident, and their Wakil Rakyat gave them with RM5000 every  5 years MRP (Minor Rural Project).

Education

 Another important element where the dayaks are still left behind is on education. If one look at the number of students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UNIMAS) and University Teknologi Mara (UiTM) we will see that less than 5% of the students   are dayaks.

Business

One of the objective of the New Economic Policy (NEP) is for the Malay equity ownership to reach 30% . But what about the dayaks? So far what is the equity held by the dayaks?

The above points are the stumble block for 1Malaysia. With no effort has been made by Najib or Barisan Nasional or Idris Jala and Koh Tsu Koon to overcome the above stumble blocks will make 1Malaysia remain rethoric and  tool for najib and Barisan nasional to gain back its 2/3 majority in Parliament.

To the dayaks, be they are the Bidayuh, Iban, Kayan, Kenyah or Punan, 47 years ago we were cheated by  the leaders from Peninsular to form-up  Malaysia, this time we should learned the lesson and not one again to be cheated by the leaders from Peninsular Malaysia in the form of Najib Razak  into  saying  their slogan "1Malaysia".

Berubahlah With Pakatan Rakyat, 

PAKATAN RAKYAT’S FIRST 100 DAYS PROGRAMME

Pakatan Rakyat will implement holistic and necessary reforms in the national administration of the economy, education and others. These will be based on principles that have been outlined in the Common Policy Platform.

As a start to this reform programme, we commit to implement the following within the first 100 days of receiving the rakyat’s mandate to rule:

1. Reform the main national institutions of government, such as the Election Commission, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Malaysian Royal Police Force to introduce transparency and restore accountability of government.

2. Abolish the Internal Security Act.

3. Direct Khazanah Berhad, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and all other government bodies that own highway concessions to complete the transference of such highway assets to the government with the purpose of abolishing tolls.

4. Change the structure of national subsidies by reducing corporate sector subsidies (such as the gas subsidies of RM19 billion to independent power producers) and transferring these savings toward subsidies for the rakyat.

5. Recognise the roles and contributions of public servants by re-evaluating the salary structures; starting with an increase in teachers’ allowances by RM500 per teacher per month as a recognition of the importance of their role as educators in nation building.

6. Restoring all private water concessions to the government, making water a public asset of the rakyat.

7. Deploy free Wi-Fi internet services to all Malaysians in the urban and semi-urban areas.

8. Dissolve Felda Plantations to redistribute its estate lands to the second and third generation of Felda settlers.

9. Increase oil royalties to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan to 20%.

10. Set up a Royal Commission to comprehensively resolve the problems of illegal immigration and citizenship in Sabah.

Beaten and robbed by cops over expired road tax

Kuching
Monday, 27th December 2010

The government MUST put to the Police Brutality. The are supposed to PROTECT and not to HARM the People.

For being frank with the police, 34-year-old Chia Buang Hing was detained for five days and beaten up until he vomited blood.

The businessman, who is frame-maker, narrated the "horrific" incident today, saying that the police bashed him up, threatened and robbed him of RM13,000 in cash he was carrying - all for the expired road tax of his wife's car that he was driving.

Chia's (left) nightmare began about 11pm on Dec 18, as he was driving from his house in Tropicana to Kota Damansara, where traffic police had set up roadblocks.

Having spotted the expired road tax, one of the police officers asked for his driver's licence and identification card.

It was then, he said, that the officer spotted stacks of RM50 notes, totalling RM7,000, sticking out of his pocket and demanded that he hand them over.

Chia said he refused and insisted he be issued with a summons but as the officer kept asking for the money, Chia warned that he would lodge a report. Then the assaults began.

"I tried to take his picture with my mobile phone, but I was repeatedly punched by him and two other officers.

"One of them then handcuffed me and I screamed for help (but) I was shoved inside a police car and beaten again," he said, adding that there were several witnesses to this, including a security guard and a friend of his who was in another car.

Chia said he was carrying a total of RM18,000 that he had collected from his three frame-making shops that night, with RM10,000 in his pockets and RM8,000 in the car.

'My money was thrown into the toilet'

The father of two said he was then taken to the police station in Kota Damansara and again assaulted.

"I was outside a toilet at the station and seven officers kicked and stepped on me until I vomited blood and sustained injuries on my face.

"Then, one police officer took the RM7,000 from my front pocket and RM3,000 from my back pocket and they threw it on the floor."

"He (the officer) became angry when I demanded the money be returned and he threw the remainder he was holding into the toilet and hit me again."

Chia said the police then ordered him to write a report that his sustained the injuries in a traffic accident and when he refused, they threatened to plant a blood-stained machete and drugs in his car and get him locked up for a long time.

At about 3am the following morning, he said, he was threatened by an officer that drugs would be injected into his bloodstream. He was later assaulted again, by as many as five officers, at the police station and at another place he could not identify.

One thing he managed to do, Chia said, was to leave his bloodied fingerprints in many parts of the police station that he had been dragged to.

"Only when they saw that I was barely surviving - as I had vomited blood and white foams were trickling out of my mouth - they took me to the hospital. By the time we got there, it was already 7 in the morning.

Magistrate ignored his complaints

Chia was taken to the Sungai Buloh Hospital and after that to the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court, about 10am, for a remand order against him.

He said he informed the magistrate of his ordeal but he was ignored. The magistrate ordered Chia to be remanded by police until Dec 22 on suspicion of possession of drugs and weapons.

During that period, he said, he was taken to a officer at narcotics department in the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters.

"He told me there was no case against me and called up the men who had abused me. He advised me to lodge a report and allowed me to contact my family," Chia added.

He said that he was then released on police bail and RM5,000 was returned to him.

Segambut DAP MP Lim Lip Eng (left) assisted Chia in lodging his report at the Mutiara Damansara police station yesterday.

Lim said the investigating officer accompanied them to the Kota Damansara police station where most of the Chia's bloodstains been removed, but there were some under a table, behind a mirror and under a cupboard, which were photographed by police.

'Nobody is above the law'

It was later informed that the Selangor police contingent headquarters has officially taken ver the matter.

A task force has been set up to investigate the complaint in detail. There will be no cover-up in the investigation, police said in a text message.

"Nobody is above the law. If there is evidence, the persons responsible will be charged in court," added the contingent's officer in-charge of criminal investigations, Mohd Adnan Abdullah.

Sri Aman Voters : Wake Up And Vote These Non-Performing BN's Politicians OUT

Kuching
Monday, 27th December 2010

If the voters in Sri Aman Choose Not to Change the Ineffective BN's Representatives, we will see this scenerio whereby the people of Sri Aman Queing-Up For Water..LET'S CHANGE, CHANGE WE MUST!

This year just like the years before since year 1995, my family and I went back to Sri Aman to celebrate Christmas.

Since year 1995, despite so much development had been brought to Mukah and Betong by Taib Mahmud and Jabu respectively but to this Bujang Senang town, not much development one can see especially the hospital, colleges or to the town itself.

Another problem that has not been rectified after more than 15 years was its water supply. Sri Aman lies on wet area with plenty of rains. But I still do not understand why are the four BN politicians that represent the voters here still cannot find way to rectify this small problem.

These four BN representatives, YB Masir Kujat for P202-Sri Aman, YB Snowdan Lawan for N25-Balai Ringin, YB Mong Dagang for N26-Bukit Bengunan and Datuk Franchis Harden Hollis for N27-Simanggang.

Another problem that still not been solved by these four BN representatives is the reconstruction of the St Lukes Church. After many years, these 4 BN representatives have not been able to secure government funds to build the new church.

With the above, I would like to urge the voters in the above constituencies to vote for PAKATAN RAKYAT in the coming state election.

Mupok Aku

Malaysia Defeated Indonesia By 3-0 in First-Leg AFF Cup Final In KL

Kuching
Sunday, 26th December 2010

Malaysian Mohd Safee Mohd Sali beats Zulkifli Syukur of Indonesia to the ball during his team's 3-0 win in the first leg final match of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 between Malaysia and Indonesia at Bukit Jalil Stadium near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. EPA Photo

Indonesia came crashing back to earth in the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup, losing 3-0 to Malaysia in the first leg final in Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday evening.

Mohd Safee’s goals in the 61st and 73rd minutes and another one by Mohamad Ashari in the 68th gave the home side a comfortable cushion heading into Wednesday’s return match in Jakarta.
Indonesia entered the match at Bukit Jalil Stadium having given up only two goals in five matches.
The Merah Putih had also enjoyed some psychological edge with a 5-1 thrashing of Malaysia in the group stage.

But the Malaysians proved they were far from the team that got clobbered the first time, pressuring the Indonesians to make long passes on Sunday and forcing them to resort to counterattacks.

Referee Toma Masaaki stopped the match in the 53rd minute, after Indonesia complained that the lights were being aimed at players while they tried to defend Malaysia’s free kick.
The game resumed after eight minutes.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's game is in some doubt after fans rioted over problems getting tickets turfed up chunks of the Gelora Bung Karno pitch on Sunday morning.

Mupok Aku

The Undemocratic Democracy In Malaysia Parliament

Kuching
Wednesday, 22nd December 2010

Malaysian parliament: The Undemocratic Democracy

Malaysian Parliament suffered a fatal blow when the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) illegally and fraudulently suspended top law-makers from the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in a chaotic sitting of the House on Dec 16.

The opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and three other senior leaders of the alliance were suspended for six months through two separation resolutions in a process fraught with misinterpretation, misrepresentation and deceit. Coming at a time when the national election is expected to be just around the corner, this parliamentary debacle has undoubtedly charged up the political tension by several notches.

The origin of this tragedy sprang from a sitting in the House on March 17, 2010 when Anwar linked Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan to the One Israel campaign under former Israeli premier Ehud Barak via international consultant Apco Worldwide which has served both governments. This was clearly a counter offensive by Anwar to neutralize Umno’s strategy to demonise Anwar as an Israeli stooge all these years. It was meant to unmask Umno’s hypocrisy and certainly does not contain any anti-Jew element, as Anwar repeatedly stressed.

However, Umno did not take this insinuation kindly, and moved on April 22 to refer Anwar to the Committee of Rights and Privileges for disciplinary action for “misleading” the House, despite Anwar having given abundance of supporting evidence in the House on March 30, and despite Najib having failed to respond to Anwar’s challenge to categorically deny Apco’s involvement in the 1Malaysia concept.

Committee denies justice to Anwar

In meetings of the BN-dominated privileges committee, Anwar was not only denied legal representation and calling of witnesses, but he himself was denied the chance to submit his defence.

The committee’s decision to punish Anwar was virtually made by ambush, as the two PR members in the seven-member committee was not informed of the agenda in a short three-day notice of its fourth meeting on Dec 3, which later turned out to be the final. In that fateful meeting, the two PR MPs – Karpal Singh and R. Sivarasa - walked off in protest upon the committee deciding to make its final decision based solely on a letter from Apco and answers in the House from ministers – while emphatically rejecting the request to allow Anwar to make his defence or any witness to be called. This shocking move was a complete reversal of the earlier pledge that all relevant witnesses and all relevant documents would be examined – as pledged by the speaker during the sitting in the House on April 22 and later re-affirmed in the committee’s first meeting on May 17.

Such desperate move of the committee that defies all norms of justice and law was obviously prompted by fear that incontrovertible evidence from Anwar would be put on official record that will do grave damage to Umno. Besides, the calling of Apco CEO Brad Staples who penned the Apco letter – which denied involvement in either 1Malaysia or One Israel – would have allowed the falsehood in the letter be exposed and nailed.

The committee then decided to suspend Anwar for six months and admonish Karpal Singh, chairman of DAP, for unacceptable conduct during the committee meetings. These recommendations would be tabled in a resolution to Parliament on its last day of sitting for this session on Dec 16.

Then, out of the blue, another resolution was presented to parliament on the Dec 15, this time calling for punishing three other top PR leaders. This second motion called for suspension for six months senior PR members of parliament: Azmin Ali (deputy president of PKR), R. Sivarasa (former vice president of PKR) and Karpal, who one day before was recommended for only “admonishment”.

Why this sudden twist of events? Sivarasa explained that this was attributed to the presentation of a minority report on the Anwar probe – co-authored by Karpal and Sivarasa – to the speaker in the evening of Sept 14. This report, which contained details embarrassing to BN that were otherwise omitted in the main report, was meant to be distributed to all members of parliament for debate alongside the main report. Hence, the decision to also axe Karpal and Sivarasah was made in reflex so that the misconduct of the privileges committee would not be formally exposed and recorded in Parliament. The speaker promptly refused to admit this minority report on flimsy ground. (This minority report is available at Sivarasa’s blog.

The sitting on Dec 16 is undoubtedly the most shameful episode in our parliamentary history. Leading MPs from the opposition were summarily punished without being allowed to defend themselves or accorded the customary notice of motion. The speaker, who was outrageously partisan, bulldozed through the motions without debate, which is the minimum decorum in any parliament. He was caught repeatedly lying to ward off the angry queries from the opposition. To cap it all, the motion to suspend the trio was defective and fraudulent in the first place, having misinterpreted the relevant standing order and having lied on the alleged offence. Let me start with the speaker.

Speaker lied and bulldozed

The BN Speakers For BN!

Pandikar Amin Mulia, who enjoys the dubious distinction of having rejected almost every motion from the opposition, is without doubt the most crudely partisan and spineless speaker we ever have. In the melee on Dec 16, he was observed to have ordered a vote on the Anwar motion without debate only after having received a written note from Nazri Aziz, de facto law minister looking after parliamentary affairs, who proposed the two motions.

When Anwar demanded his right to answer the charges, Pandikar Amin replied that Anwar had already been given one week to respond, which instantly sparked off angry protests to this false claim.

When asked by Karpal to recuse himself from presiding the current sitting due to a conflict of interest as Pandikar also chaired the committee meetings, the latter said that he only chaired the committee meetings but did not take part in the deliberation. This was found to be false, as Anwar pointed out that notes of meeting revealed that it was Pandikar who justified the decision not to call Anwar by quoting precedents.

Pandikar said that his justification for calling a vote without debate was the opposition’s reluctance to take part in it, but the truth is while Pandikar was making this claim in the House, Anwar was actually standing up, armed with a stack of documents and pestering to be allowed to defend himself.

Motion defective and fraudulent

As for Minister Nazri’s motion which accuses the trio of breaching Standing Order 85 for having ‘mentioned’ to outsiders evidence presented to the Committee, this is clearly a misinterpretation of the Standing Order. The latter only prohibits the ‘publication’, not mentioning of evidences presented in the committee meeting.

When Karpal and Sivarasa gave a press conference on the day they walked out from the committee meeting on Dec 3, they only mentioned the Apco letter to explain why they had to walk out in protest. They have never published the Apco letter.

The allegation against Azmin (left) cited in the motion was even more bizarre. When Azmin proposed an urgent motion to debate the Anwar issue on Dec 6, his letter to the speaker only states, I quote, “to debate the proceedings of the Rights and Privileges Committee on Dec 3, which had made the decision to deny the rights of the Permatang Pauh representative (Anwar) ... to defend himself in the investigation.” But the motion to censure Azmin read out by Nazri stated that the former had “published the content of the letter presented in the Rights and Privileges Committee in his letter to the speaker on Dec 6”. So, Nazri’s allegation is a complete lie, as Azmin did not even mention the Apco letter.

Another BN leader who joined the lying squad is Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin, who claimed that “Anwar had been given a fair process to defend himself. We in the BN had been prepared to debate the motion on his suspension.”

The brazenness with which these BN leaders are spewing lies is staggering.

PR leaders are of course right when they vowed to seek legal redress over such illegal suspensions precipitated by the unprecedented display of contempt for the nation’s supreme institution.

And it would certainly be appropriate if PR also moves to censure both speaker Pandikar and Minister Nazri in the next session of parliament by referring them to the privileges committee for disciplinary action. It is these culprits who truly deserve punishment which has wrongly been served on the four suspended PR MPs.

Such moves would at least give some consolation to infuriated Malaysians who have been gnawing their teeth to see BN punished for the unforgivable destruction of the fundamental tenet of our system of government, even though none expects any justice from our failed institutions.