PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT

Ku Li says Sodomy II challenges confidence in government

2010-02-04T06:31:00.000-08:00

Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (picture) said parts of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ongoing sodomy trial is posing a serious challenge to public confidence in the government as it was being held in a politicised environment with unbalanced pre-trial publicity.

In a statement today, the Kelantan prince noted that “public confidence is essential to the basic functioning of government” amid speculation that Anwar is facing the sodomy charge due to his coalition pact’s historic sweep of four states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

He noted that the trial was being conducted in an overwhelmingly politicised environment, adding “part of its context is the earlier trial of Anwar on the same charge, a trial which was perceived worldwide as politically motivated”.

“We do not longer live in an insulated world,” said the veteran Umno leader popularly known as Ku Li.

He also said pre-trial publicity by the local mainstream media has been “so blatantly unbalanced as to convey the impression that the media are pursuing a political agenda”.

“Since the local mainstream media is either government owned or tightly controlled, this translates into the impression that the government itself has an interest in its outcome.

“Many Malaysians believe that sections of the executive and political establishment have an interest in this trial. There does not seem to have been any attempt to remove this suspicion,” Razaleigh said.

“In such circumstances the principle that justice must not only be done but seen to be done is breached,” the former trade minister added.

He also cited that as in the case of the constitutional crisis in Perak and in the openly illegal denial of oil royalty payments to Terengganu and now to Kelantan, “we as Malaysians suffer when our Government loses credibility domestically and internationally”.

PDRM Shows Efficiency?

2010-01-24T18:57:00.000-08:00

Law Enforcement Agency,Police The Raja Malaysia halts Dato'Sri Anwar Ibrahim's speech but arrested the microphones.Wonder if the microphones will be haul up to court?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA4ih1Fqnws

Kit Siang speaks his mind.

2010-01-22T04:36:00.000-08:00

AG Gani Patail should initiate contempt proceedings against Nazri while MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/ Sarawak BN and other Umno Ministers should repudiate Nazri’s stand in Cabinet tomorrow that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy

I was completely astounded and outraged by de factor Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz’ statement yesterday that it is too late for dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy, which had sparked a spate of arson and vandalism against churches, surau and a Sikh temple since the beginning of the year.

Nazri reiterated that it was not the fault of the government but that of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam who had brought the matter to court.

If anybody is to be blamed for the Herald litigation, it is the government which had allowed the Home Ministry to violate two decades of religious equilibrium on the issue with its ban in 2007 on the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic weekly, forcing on the Roman Catholic church the final remedy and recourse of the courts.

But it is what Nazri said about the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan and her judgment which completely floored rational and reasonable Malaysians, as no Law Minister or a de facto one had done more than Nazri to attack the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of a judge when his first task should be to start the very difficult and arduous process to restore national and international confidence in the Malaysian judiciary after suffering more than two decades of usurpation, emasculation and rape by the Executive.

Nazri launched a most improper, unwarranted and unprecedented attack on Lau, not only saying that her Dec. 31 decision was wrong, but also maligning and besmirching her judicial competence and role by declaring that she is not a Muslim and had improperly ruled over a matter that concerned the “akidah” (faith) of the Muslim community.

This is the first time that I know of a judge being attacked on the ground of her religious credentials rather than her judicial competence and temper – and coming from the de facto Law Minister, it must be regarded most seriously as a totally unacceptable attack on the independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism of the judiciary.

Nazri said: “You must study the psyche of the Malays. The Chinese can be Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, no problem, but the Malays, the race itself is defined in the Constitution.

“Who is a Malay? In the Constitution, a Malay is one: a Muslim; two: speaks Malay and three: practises Malay culture. In the Constitution, there can’t be a Malay who is not a Muslim. Anything at all, any suspicion will confuse the ordinary Malays. They become so protective because Malay and Islam cannot be separate.”

What is Nazri trying to say? Is he laying down a new law that in multi-religious and multi-racial Malaysia where the Constitution recognizes Islam as the official religion but guarantees freedom of religion for all other faiths, non-Muslim and non-Malay judges must be excluded from adjudicating certain cases like the Herald “Allah” case allegedly because it concerns (i) the “akidah” of the Muslim community; and (ii)the Malay psyche?

Fifty-two years after Merdeka and 46 years after the formation of Malaysia, is the country going backwards with a further dichotomy of the judicial system where there is new division of cases which is to be adjudicated solely by judges who fulfill the two conditions of being Muslim and Malay because they fall into the category of (i) akidah of the Muslim community; and (ii) the Malay psyche?

Will the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court – should be the appeal on the Herald’s “Allah” case reach that level – be constituted solely with Muslim and Malay judges to take into account Nazri’s extraordinary objections?

These are dangerous perversion and subversion of the Constitution.

Nazri has clearly committed grave contempt of court on more than one ground. Is the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail prepared to act in the public and national interest to institute immediate committal proceedings to cite Nazri for contempt?

The time has also come for MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak and the other Umno Ministers to declare their stand on Nazri’s constitutional perversion.

MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional and other Umno Ministers should endorse Nazri or get the Cabinet tomorrow to repudiate Nazri’s stand that it is too late for inter-religious dialogue to resolve the “Allah” controversy.

Let them at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow either endorse or repudiate Nazri’s position that:

Reject inter-religious dialogue as the route to resolve the “Allah” controversy on the ground that it is “now too late”;
Dismiss Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s Dec. 31 decision and judgment on the ground that she is not a Muslim, had improperly decided over a matter that concerned the “akidah” of the Muslim community as well as disregarded the Malay psyche.
Implication that there must be a new dichotomy in the judiciary with a new category of cases concerning (i) the Muslim “akidah” and (ii) the Malay psyche which must be adjudicated solely by Muslim and Malay judges.

On the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility, no Minister can now keep quiet on this issue with its many far-reaching socio-economic and nation-building repercussions.

What is the use of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and other Ministers talking about inter-religious dialogue and council if the Herald controversy is to be completely excluded from any proposed religious dialogue on the ground that “it is too late”, when it should the first priority item of the agenda of any inter-religious dialogue or council to demonstrate that the government is serious and sincere to want to make them work and succeed?

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Najib’s 1Malaysia is now hanging in the balance, facing its most critical test – whether it could withstand the severe test of the “Allah” controversy and salvage its credibility in the first 12 months of the Najib premiership.

If the first year of the Najib premiership is to see Malaysia riven by even more new divisions at any time in the nation’s history, whether a land divided by the use of the word “Allah”, allowed to be used by Christians in East Malaysia but not in West Malaysia or a judiciary where there is a new category of cases concerning (i) the akidah of Muslims and (ii) the Malay psyche which could only be adjudicated by Muslim and Malay judges, then it is time for Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan to be given a decent burial before the completion of Najib’s first anniversary as the country’s sixth Prime Minister in April this year.

Are there any Cabinet Ministers who are prepared to resign and quit the Cabinet and Najib government on a matter of principle if the Cabinet refusesd to repudiate and dissociate itself from Nazri’s stand?

Government flinches on Anwar trial

2010-01-21T01:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the Federal Court postponed its decision on the Anwar Ibrahim appeal for additional discovery by nine days to January 29th. This forces a one-week delay in the start of the sodomy trial to February 2.

The Federal Court’s decision came as a surprise given its Monday morning rejection of a defense request to postpone today’s hearing.

It has also led some observers to the conclusion that the Federal government, seen to be the unseen hand behind the prosecution of Anwar, has flinched.

Since early December the Court has been seen to be on a fast track to start the trial on January 25th. Due process in the final appeal for discovery was almost cast aside in the interests of expediency and the scheduling today’s hearing was also regarded as fast tracking an appeals process which has favoured the prosecution at every stage.

Some are asking why reject the defense’s request for postponement on Monday and then postpone the case two days later?

Behind the scenes there is still little consensus on whether or not this trial will end badly for BN. Some in the ruling coalition believe a repeat of the 1998 Reformasi demonstrations is unlikely and a swift and clean conviction would elicit minimal public outrage. Others are not so sure, and are fearful that Anwar Ibrahim’s ability to mobilize huge mass demonstrations from behind bars is even greater today.

Given the negative publicity that nation has endured since Najib’s premiership began, the country can hardly afford another major international fiasco.

First was the blitzkrieg on Najib and his alleged ties to the Altantuya murder and submarine scandal. Subsequently there have been a number of embarrassing headlines including the women sentenced to caning for alcohol consumption, the cow head incident, and most recently the attacks on Churches and the quarrelling over the prohibition of non-Muslims using the world Allah.

The United States issued a travel advisory to citizens traveling in Sabah, following the Church attacks. Its criticism of some Malaysian policies has been harsh in the recent past.

Splayed across the headlines of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Financial Times, these images are wholly inconsistent with PM Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and offer bad publicity for a nation whose economic livelihood depends on the continuous flow of foreign direct investment.

With Anwar’s trial looming, it is accepted that there will be a heavy price to pay in the international community given Anwar Ibrahim’s impeccable networking with world leaders and the international media, the legacy of his botched 1998 trials and the dark cloud still hanging over Malaysia’s troubled judiciary since the Lingam tape controversy demonstrated pervasive corruption in the Malaysian courts.

It is also believed that Prime Minister Najib has come under intense international pressure during his current road trip to end what is perceived as the ongoing judicial persecution of Anwar Ibrahim. Efforts by Malaysian ambassadors to justify the case have been largely rebuffed and some world leaders have made personal calls on the Prime Minister to urge him to change course.

The postponement can therefore be seen in the broader context of the UMNO’s inability to commit fully to the political risk of Sodomy II.

Kenyataan Media Dari YB Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

2010-01-11T02:08:00.000-08:00

Kami mengecam serangan ke atas saudara kami penganut agama Kristian dan ke atas beberapa gereja di Malaysia. Serangan terbaru ke atas All Saints Church di Taiping juga merupakan satu serangan terhadap salah satu warisan negara.

Sebagai sebuah negara kita masih bergelut untuk menjunjung semangat perpaduan yang dicita-citakan oleh pejuang kemerdekaan negara ini. Saya menyeru agar kita semua akur dengan Perkara 11 Perlembagaan Persekutuan yang menjamin kebebasan beragama dan hak penganut agama-agama itu untuk menjaga hal ehwal agama mereka masing-masing. Ketika ini semangat musyawarah dan dialog mestilah mengatasi suara-suara mereka yang mahu memecah belahkan kerukunan rakyat serta meniup api permusuhan di negara ini.

Rakyat Malaysia mestilah bersatu menentang mereka yang mahu memperalatkan sentimen perkauman sempit dan agama untuk menyemarakkan kebencian demi laba politik puak-puak tertentu. Kita mestilah memperkukuh tekad mempertahan kebebasan beragama.

Kejadian ini merupakan satu ujian terhadap keazaman semua agama dan kepercayaan yang mahukan keamanan dan rasa saling hormat menghormati. Kita seharusnya sedar Tuhan yang kita sembah merupakan, Tuhan yang sama, Allah SWT, Tuhan yang memelihara dan mentadbirkan sekalian alam.

Sejarah menunjukkan kepada kita selama 14 abad ini, Muslim yang bertutur dalam bahasa Arab, penganut Kristian dan bangsa Yahudi, masing-masing menyembah Tuhan yang dikenal sebagai Allah. Sementara diakui keresahan umat Islam di Malaysia terhadap penggunaan kalimah Allah di kalangan penganut agama lainnya, tindakan seumpama menyerang gereja dan mengadakan protes hanya membantut usaha mencari penyelesaian. Jalan terbaik adalah melalui rundingan dan dialog antara agama.

Saya mengajak umat Islam untuk kembali kepada ayat al Quran yang menyeru kita untuk hidup dalam kerukunan dan saling mengenali di antara agama.

“Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): "Wahai Ahli Kitab, marilah kepada satu Kalimah yang bersamaan antara kami dengan kamu, iaitu kita semua tidak menyembah melainkan Allah " (Ali-Imran, 3:64)

Dan sepertimana yang termaktub di dalam surah al- Ankabut:

Dan janganlah kamu berbahas dengan Ahli Kitab melainkan dengan cara yang lebih baik, kecuali orang-orang yang berlaku zalim di antara mereka; dan katakanlah (kepada mereka): "Kami beriman kepada (Al-Quran) yang diturunkan kepada kami dan kepada (Taurat dan Injil) yang diturunkan kepada kamu; dan Tuhan kami, juga Tuhan kamu, adalah Satu; dan kepadaNyalah, kami patuh dengan berserah diri (al-Ankabut, 29:46)

Nabi Isa al Masih merupakan antara Rasul Ulul Azmi yang begitu dikasihi umat Islam. Saidina Umar r.a yang melawati Gereja Holy Sepulcher pada tahun 638 masehi, menggesa umat Islam untuk menghormati tempat peribadatan dan suci penganut agama Kristian. Oleh itu adalah tidak munasabah apabila pihak Polis teragak-agak untuk memberi jaminan keselamatan kepada gereja-gereja di seluruh negara.

Api kebencian ini bolehlah ditudingkan kepada kegagalan Barisan Nasional yang diketuai Umno. Propaganda Umno yang berteraskan perkauman sempit terutamanya apabila berhadapan dengan isu penggunaan kalimah Allah serta retorika media yang dikongkong kerajaan, seperti Utusan Malaysia, yang meniupkan api kebencian, sewajarnya dipersalahkan berikutan dari serangan tersebut. Provokasi mereka bukan sahaja salah dari sudut undang-undang malah menzahirkan kempen 1Malaysia yang tidak tuntas serta bermuka-muka.

Walaubagaimanapun saya terharu dan gembira kerana serangan tersebut dikecam keras oleh organisasi Islam dan pimpinan umat. Saya juga menyambut baik saranan wakil-wakil penganut Kristian yang menyeru agar sentiasa bertenang dan menolak sebarang tindakan pembalasan serta keganasan.

Kejadian mutakhir ini menuntut kita agar segera memberi perhatian terhadap keperluan dialog antara agama. Semangat persaudaraan yang disarankan agama kita serta Perlembagaan Persekutuan perlu disemarakkan. Pakatan Rakyat akan berusaha memastikan dialog dan rundingan diadakan di semua peringkat seluruh negara. Saudara kita yang beragama Kristian perlu merasa selamat dan aman serta sedar bahawa kebebasan mereka untuk beragama adalah dijamin di negara ini.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ketua Pembangkang

Pakatan Rakyat mengutuk serangan ke atas gereja

2010-01-09T08:26:00.001-08:00

Kami mengutuk tindakan pihak tertentu yang menyerang 3 gereja di sekitar Lembah Klang awal pagi tadi. Serangan tersebut adalah satu perbuatan yang dikecam semua agama dan peradaban.

Perbuatan seperti itu tiada tempat dalam mana-mana negara pun di atas dunia ini. Kami percaya ianya berpunca dari politik amarah yang sempit, ditambah dengan unsur provokasi jahat yang semakin menular dan runtuhnya rasa saling hormat menghormati dalam negara kita yang tercinta ini.

Setiap rakyat dalam negara ini, tanpa mengira agama, kaum, keturunan dan etnik seharusnya dapat menikmati keamanan spiritual dan fizikal mereka. Seharusnya sebarang perbezaan pendapat dan pandangan tidak terus dilebarkan. Kami yakin sebarang perselisihan dapat diselesaikan dengan menumpukan usaha untuk membawa semua pihak ke meja rundingan.

Oleh yang demikian, seluruh kepimpinan Pakatan Rakyat dengan tegas meminta supaya individu atau mana-mana kumpulan yang menyebarkan api kebencian dan kekerasan sebegini agar dihukum dengan setimpalnya.

YB DATO SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM

Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen Malaysia

Ketua Umum PKR

YAB LIM GUAN ENG

Setiausaha Agung DAP

YB DATO' SERI TUAN GURU HAJI ABDUL HADI AWANG

Presiden PAS

PENJELASAN MENGENAI ISU KALIMAH “ALLAH"

2010-01-05T22:06:00.000-08:00

Merujuk kepada kenyataan kami pada 22 November 2009 mengenai perkara di atas, maka BIPPA PKR sekali lagi ingin menjelaskan pendirian kami mengenai hal ini.

Kami berpendirian bahawa, keinginan masyarakat bukan Islam menggunakan kalimah “Allah” sebagai Tuhan adalah suatu perkembangan yang positif dan perlu diterima secara terbuka dan tidak perlu pihak-pihak tertentu mengambil kesempatan untuk menjadikan isu ini sebagai agenda politik untuk menampakkan bahawa merekalah jaguh dalam mempertahankan Islam di negara ini.

Sesungguhnya, kami melihat fenomena ini adalah manifestasi dari fitrah insani bahawa manusia memperakui penciptaan dunia oleh Allah SWT sebagaimana firmannya yang bermaksud:

"Dan jika kamu tanya mereka (orang kafir) siapakah yang mencipta langit dan bumi? Mereka akan berkata Allah..." (Al Quran, Az-Zumar (39):38).

Adalah jelas bahawa penggunaan kalimah Allah untuk mengiktiraf dan membesarkan Allah sebagai Tuhan, adalah hak asasi setiap insan. Ini adalah serasi dengan peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan Perkara 3 (1) yang menjamin kedudukan Islam sebagai agama rasmi Persekutuan dan lain-lain agama boleh diamalkan dengan aman dan damai. Sesungguhnya, ini juga bersesuaian dengan muafakat Pakatan Rakyat yang diputuskan baru-baru ini.

Selanjutnya, kami berpandangan perjuangan untuk menegak makruf dan mencegah mungkar akan menjadi lebih mudah dan selesa berasaskan firman Allah:

"Katakan wahai Ahli Kitab, mari tegakkan kalimah yang sama antara kami dan kamu iaitu bahawa kita tidak akan menyembah selain Allah dan tidak mensyirikkan (associate) Allah dengan satu apapun serta janganlah ada antara kita yang mengambil tuhan-tuhan selain Allah. Dan jika mereka berpaling maka katakanlah bahawasanya kami adalah orang Islam (menyerah diri pada Allah)" (Surah Ali `Imran(3):64).

Sehubungan itu, demi menjaga keharmonian dan kesejahteraan negara semua pihak perlulah menyelesaikan konflik ini dengan menyuburkan budaya dialog antara agama secara matang dan bijaksana (hikmah) sebagaimana saranan Allah mengenainya (Al Nahl: 125 dan Al Ankabut:46).

Dr. Muhd Nur Manuty

Pengerusi Biro Pemahaman dan Pemantapan Agama (BIPPA)

05 Januari 2010

USE OF WORD “ALLAH”

We refer to our previous statement dated 22 November 2009 pertaining to the above matter. Biro Pemahaman dan Pemantapan Agama (BIPPA), Parti KeADILan Rakyat once again would like to affirm our view on the issue.

It is our view that the wish of the non-Muslims to call their God as “Allah” is a positive turn of events and should respectably be recognized. There is no necessity for any factions in the society to take advantage of the current circumstances and turn the dispute into a narrow political propaganda to show off as if they are really the champion and guardian of Islam in this country.

Certainly, we view this phenomenon as a manifestation of the inherent human nature to reckon that this universe is undoubtedly the creation of Allah.

If indeed thou ask them who it is that created the heavens and the earth, they would be sure to say: "Allah." … (Az Zumar 39:38)

It is without doubt that to worship and glorify Allah as the God is a fundamental right of every person. This is parallel to the provision of the Federal Constitution, Article 3(1) which guarantee the status of Islam as the Official Religion of the Federation while at the same time concede that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony. Unmistakably, it is also consistent with the recently affirmed Declaration of Understanding of the Pakatan Rakyat.

Additionally, we are of the opinion that the strive to advocate virtues and prevent misdeed (amar makruf nahi mungkar) will be eased. Allah says:

Say: "O people of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say: ye! "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's will)." (Ali Imran 3:64)

Therefore, to maintain harmony and peace it is crucial for all parties to resolve the conflict by encouraging the culture of interfaith discourse with the highest level of maturity and wisdom. Allah commands:

Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth, best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance. (An Nahl 16:125)

And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation) unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say "We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)." (Al Ankaboot 29:46)

PROF DR MUHD NUR MANUTY
Chairman of Biro Pemahaman & Pemantapan Agama
05 January 2010

SABAH PKR CONVENTION 2009 : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-12-24T09:29:00.001-08:00

By Nobleman

“Ini adalah konvensyen terbaik yang pernah diadakan di Sabah”said Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his closing address on Sunday at Atlantis Restaurant to the cheering crowd of more than 1500 party leaders.

The State PKR Chairman Saudara Ahmad Thamrin Jaini and Datuk Kong Hong Ming the chairman of the Organizing Committee were beaming. Christina Liew wept uncontrollably but only God knows why, as she has a very poor command of the National Language. So it can’t be the speech delivered by Anwar. Newcomer Datuk John Ghani who was seated next to her looked confused. He must be wondering why...!!Keningau Divisional Chief, Gapari @ Jeffrey who was still on sabbatical leave sat impassively without betraying his emotion.

Among the crowd were John Jinus Sibin, Jeffrey Yap, Hj Awang Bakar, Peter Linuk, Adris Taripin, Amirbeck bin Laja and their fellow AJKs from Keningau, Kota Kinabalu, Tenom and Batu Sapi Divisions. The party owes them unspeakable gratitude for holding the forts when the going got tough-all the fanfare of ultimitums. These were the good guys.

“ Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan telah membuat keputusan untuk berbuat demikian,saya menghormati keputusan dia,tetapi bukan bererti saya bersetuju dengan tindakan dia. Hak dan kebebasan untuk membuat keputusan adalah di tangan kita sendiri dan perlu di hormati. Keputusan yang saya buat ini adalah atas dasar prinsip moral dan maruah. Sebab itu saya meneruskan perjuangan saya didalam PKR dibawah pimpinan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim,John Jinus Sibin Setiausaha Bahagian”. That was his sms to Hj Ansari Abdullah on the 5th. November, 2009 at 1.59pm.

On the first day of Ramadhan, while Muslims elsewhere were celebrating Hari Raya to commemorate their victory over human weaknesses and desires, a memorandum was crafted to humiliate Pakatan Rakyat Whip and Party Vice President YB Azmin Ali, the Sabah State PKR Chief. PKR Sabah was tested to the brink as the oncoming drama unfurled. It had to wither it's most bitter and painful storm since it's inception in Sabah in late 1999.

On the day of the convention, PKR Sabah had survived the onslaught by its own so-called leaders because there were those in the Division level who had the guts to stand up and defend the struggles of the Party. To these Borneo warriors, the Party and its objectives are more important than individuals, whoever there are.

John Jinus Sibin and his colleagues in JKC Keningau had prevented the party from being dissolved. “Once Keningau is dissolved, Kota Kinabalu will also be dissolved” so say Christina Liew in Malaysiakini. Earlier she had resigned as a member of the Party’s Central Committee on the ground that her mother were ashamed that she was not reappointed as Deputy Chairman of Sabah PKR.

However, when she tabled the motion to the committee members of Kota Kinabalu Division for it to be dissolved, Jeffrey Yap and the other committee members opposed the motion. No other member of the Divisional Committee supported her. For all these transgressions against the Party, she was rewarded with the appointment of Deputy Chairman PKR Sabah. Her partner in crime, Gapari @Jeffrey Kitingan was reinstated as nominated Vice President. Christina’s Mother will be celebrating like Santa Claus this Christmas.

Gosibin the acting Chief of Tenom with his “Kadoh Agundung” hairstyle and Datuk Nahalan Damsal were nowhere to be seen. Sylvester was busy carrying his computer, chair and table from the Papar division office as he and Evelyn Gobili had just taken their “sabbatical leave.” Daniel John and Moses Iking must be occupied with Parti Cinta Sabah. They were “the bad” guys.

There are other good guys, like members of the Organising Committees for the dialogue, convention and dinner including Dr Roland Chia, Ronnie Klassen, Jonathan Yassin and Datuk Chau Chin Tang the moderators. The eloquent speeches of YB Zuraidah Kamaruddin the Wanita Chief, YB Tian Chua the Director of Strategy and Hj Ansari Abdullah at the Convention and YB Tian Chua and Dato Chua Jui Meng at the Dinner made the Convention a memorable curtain closer for a stormy 2009 for Sabah PKR. The highlight was of course from the ever charistmatic leader of Pakatan Rakyat, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

I leave it to you to decide who are “the ugly” but while doing so, please do not forget “the good” guys like John Jinus Sibin and the rest.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Ku Li: BN has destroyed Malaysia’s future

2009-12-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (pic) today painted a bleak future for Malaysia under the Barisan Nasional government, saying it had squandered the nation’s oil wealth to the tune of “billions and billions” of ringgit.

The former Finance Minister said Petronas’s oil profits had been used “to bail out failing companies, buy arms, build grandiose cities amidst cleared palm oil estates.”
“Instead of helping eradicate poverty in the poorest states, our oil wealth came to be channeled into our political and politically-linked class,” the first Petronas chief and former Umno Vice President said in a speech at a one-day summit for Young Corporate Malaysians today.

He said the Petronas money had been used as a slush fund to prop up authoritarian rule, to corrupt the entire political and business elite and to erode constitutional democracy.
The Gua Musang MP, who agreed to head the Parliamentary Caucus to look into the oil royalty issue proposed by Pakatan Rakyat leader Anwar Ibrahim earlier this month, told the summit that Petronas has contributed 40 percent of the national budget over the years.

But such a great reliance on oil income is getting untenable. “The oil that was meant to spur our transition to a more humane, educated society has instead become a narcotic that provides economic quick fixes and hollow symbols such as the Petronas Towers,” he said.
He said the future for Malaysians looks bleak with the government seeking to broaden the tax base by introducing a goods and services tax (GST) where Malaysians are required to pay an additional tax on top of income tax.

Malaysia is now caught in a middle-income trap, stuck in the pattern of easy growth from low-value-added manufacturing and component assembly and unable to make the leap to a knowledge-intensive economy, Tengku Razaleigh added.

The text of Tengku Razaleigh’s speech reads:

‘In a speech I made in April this year, I spoke of where we stand in our developmental path and what I felt we must do to move forward.I need to revisit that argument in order to develop it further.We are stagnating. The signs of a low-growth economy are all around us. Wages are stagnant and the cost of living is rising.

We have not made much progress in becoming a knowledge and services based economy.
According to the World Bank, Malaysia’s share of GDP contributed by services was 46.2 percent in 1987. Ten years later, that share had grown by a mere 0.2 percent.

Between 1994 and 2007, real wages grew by 2.6 percent in the domestic sector and by 2.8 percent in the export sector, which is to say, they were flat over that 13-year period.
Meanwhile, our talent scenario is an example of perverse selection at its most ruinous. We are failing to retain our own young talent, people like yourselves, let alone attract international talent to relocate here, while we have had a massive influx of unskilled foreign labour. They now make up 30 to 40 percent of our workforce.

Alone in East Asia, the number of expatriate professionals here has decreased. Alone in East Asia, private sector wage increases follow government sector increases, instead of the other way around. We are losing doctors and scientists and have become Southeast Asia’s haven for low-cost labour.

I said that we are in a middle-income trap, stuck in the pattern of easy growth from low-value-added manufacturing and component assembly and unable to make the leap to a knowledge-intensive economy.
Regional competitors with larger, cheaper – and dare I say – hungrier labour forces have emerged. China and India have risen as both lower cost and higher technology producers, and with giant domestic markets.

The manufacturing sector which propelled the growth we enjoyed in the 90s is being hollowed out. There is no going back, there is no staying where we are, and we do not have a map for the way forward.
I am glad that the characterisation of Malaysia as being in a ‘middle-income-trap’ has been taken up by the government, and that the need for an economic story, or strategy, for Malaysia is now recognised.
We stand in particular need of such a model because we are a smallish economy. We cannot be good at everything, and we don’t have to be.

We need only make some reasonable bets in identifying and developing a focused set of growth drivers. It is not difficult to see what the elements of such a growth strategy might be. Whatever we come up with should build on our natural strengths, and our strengths include the following:
+ We are located at the crossroads of Asia, geographically and culturally, sitting alongside the most important oil route in the world.

+ We have large Muslim, Chinese and Indian populations that connect us to the three fastest growing places in the world today.

+ We have some of the largest and oldest rain forests in the world, a treasure house of bio-diversity when the greatest threat facing mankind as a whole now is ecological destruction, and the greatest technological advances are likely to come from bio science.

+ We have the English language, a common law system, parliamentary democracy,good schools,an independent civil service and good infrastructure.

PKR may take SESB and Felda to court

2009-12-04T06:45:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah is thinking of going to the courts to stop the construction of the proposed coal-fired power plant in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu.

It is considering initiating legal action, firstly against Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), in support of the green non-governmental organisations' effort to stop the building of the plant.

Its Supreme Council member, Haji Ansari Abdullah, said the party's Sabah legal bureau which is chaired by Datuk Chau Chin Tang and of which he is also member, will hold a meeting to discuss this sometime next week.

"The meeting is for us to consider bringing up a suit against the SESB as well as the State and Federal governments, Felda particularly," he told a press conference at his office here Thursday.

Ansari said the party cannot sue but would identify people who are prepared to come forward.

"We are going to consider this step, as part of our contribution to the effort to stop Sabah turning from 'green to black' because of the plan (coal-fired power plant) É at the moment our first intention would be on the SESB and Felda, and followed by others later," he said.

Ansari said one of the things they would highlight is the agreement between the State Government and Felda sealed on Dec 4, 1979, He claimed what is happening now is "against the letter and spirit of this agreement."

Showing a copy of the agreement signed by then Chief Minister Datuk Harris Salleh, he said if they followed what had been agreed to the State government about 13,000 Sabahan families would have been saved from poverty now.

"But it did not happen as agreed and because today is the 30th anniversary of this agreement, we will treat this suit matter as a 'birthday gift' to Felda," he said.

Ansari explained that on that said date of the agreement some 200,000 hectares were given to Felda for them to develop a settlers scheme for the benefit of at least 13,000 Sabahan families (assuming each family receives 15 acres).

"But now after 30 years Felda turned it into a commercial plantation É and further than that they now also want to build a power plant there, which is actually not the reason the land was given to them," he said.

"So we have a moral duty (to do something about this) É as a political party we are morally obliged to ensure that the State that we hand over to our children will be something similar to what we inherited from our forefathers É nobody has the right to destroy what we have been blessed with in Sabah," he added, claiming Felda Sahabat is now like another state within a state guarded by its very own policemen.

Should the plant be built, he said, it would destroy the image of Sabah as a green and beautiful state which is already well known worldwide apart from its many potentials.

Meanwhile, Ansari said he has filed a writ against Sohon Singh, Joe Fernandez and Steven Gan, who is editor-in-chief of news portal Malaysiakini over a news article published in the Malaysiakini news website on him titled "Sabah PKR Division Chief Runs to China from Debt".

"This because there was no apology forthcoming from them," he said. The writ was filed at the High Court here Thursday.

Another BN "Fixed Deposit"

2009-11-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

New Straight Times – 25 Nov 2009 – carried an article: Salman Majid was declared a Malaysian citizen by the High Court in KL on 24 Nov 2009.

The Court ruled that the Immigration Department Director-General failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Salman had obtained his Malaysian identity card fraudulently. Salman’s counsel were Karpal Singh and Ramkarpal Singh, and his witness was former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Harris Mohd Salleh.

Salman Majid, 47 years old, was detained for 199 days by Immigration authority in KLIA in March 2005. His Malaysian IC and passport were confiscated and Malaysian citizenship revoked. The reason for the revocation was that he was born in Pakistan but he falsified his Statutory Declaration (Sijil Akuan) in the 80’s when applying for his Sabah Blue IC by stating that he was born in 1962 in Ranau, Sabah.

He was released from detention after a senior politician sent a letter to the Home Ministry confirming that he had been a “loyal voter”.

After released he filed suit against the Government for wrongful revocation and detention and sought a Court declaration that he was a Malaysian citizen in possession of Malaysian identity card and passport.

Salman said to reporters outside the court room: “I have always regarded myself a Malaysian since I’ve been living here for the past 24 years and have voted in three general elections. Three of my six children were born here.”

Court trial is about submitting evidence to prove one’s argument.

One wonders why couldn’t the Malaysian Immigration Department and Malaysian Government provide the necessary evidence?

Salman was allegedly born in 1962 in Ranau.

Did he have birth certificate?

If not, was a “late birth- certificate” applied for?

Was the Sijil Akuan signed by an authorised Native Chief?

If so, is the Native Chief still alive now?

Who were Salman’s parents? What were his parents doing in Ranau then?

Where did Salman attend schools?

But Salman said that he was in Malaysia only for the past 24 years. Where was he in the other 23 years? So did he attend school in Sabah? If not, why not?

Only three of his six children were born in Malaysia. Where were the other three born?

What was the citizenship of his children? If Malaysian, what were their respective IC numbers?

What is his wife’s citizenship? Where did they get married?

One would think that the Immigration Department should be in the position to ask all above at least and more. But they failed. One wonders if the Immigration Department was under directive not to provide the necessary evidence. From my investigations the Project ICs issued to foreigners fraudulently had their numbers as follows: H0288001 to H0384000 and H0480001 to H0576000; and many more not detected yet by me.

Salman Majid was a carpet importer and labour supplier. He had an IC with the number H0352141 – and his new IC number is 620202-12-5053, coded 12 which indicates Sabah-born Malaysian.

“Loyal voter” – is this referred as the BN “fixed deposit” that BN could not afford to lose them? In Sabah there are evidence to show that at least 70,000 Project IC holders are registered in Sabah electoral rolls.

Dr. Chong Eng Leong

“Minister-in-the-dark” caught in the limelight

2009-11-26T02:07:00.000-08:00

OUR learned-and-honorable Plantation and Commodities Minister, Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok was in the limelight recently, again for the wrong reason. This time he was accused of lying about the minimum wage of plantation workers, by Sungai Siput MP, Dr D Jeyakumar. (read the attached full story below)

While I’m not a fan of Dompok, I would humbly appeal to Dr Jeyakumar to give our innocent-looking Dompok a break, if not forgive him. This is because like what he recently claimed on the controversial proposed Kaiduan Dam project in his Penampang constituency, Dompok was probably also “in the dark” over the real situation and plight of plantation workers.

The other reason could be because Dompok could have mistaken that he was talking about plantation workers in Sabah, a majority (believe to be more than 90%) who are foreigners, illegal immigrants included.

But having said that, I somehow wondered whether Dompok was really always “in-the-dark”, or just that he wished the people would think so and forgive him for his slow response to their plight, just like in the case of the Kaiduan Dam issue.

Hence, my question to Dompok is – when are you going to come out from the dark and start shedding some light?

Jeyakumar: The minister did lie

Sungai Siput parlimanetarian Dr D Jeyakumar did not budge from his stand that Plantation and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok lied about the minimum wage of plantation workers.

Jeyakumar, the MP from Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), said the minister mislead and misrepresented facts when he told Parliament on Oct 19 that the net income of an oil palm harvester was about RM1,700 and a rubber tapper's around RM870 a month.

Dompok, in a written reply to Mas Gading BN parliamentarian Dr Tiki Lafe, said that the earnings per worker was well above the poverty line which is at RM720 per month.

"How about single mothers working as weeders in the rubber estates or oil palm plantations?" asked Jeyakumar (right).

"What makes us angry is that he is hiding the facts? The majority of workers in estates are women and earn an income of about RM500 a month but that was not reflected," he said.

"Dompok's answer referred to harvesters and tappers and not the weeders, who form the majority workers in the estates now," said Jeyakumar.

"How many locals are working in the estates now? And you talk about just two categories and avoid the major one where Malaysians work," said Jeyakumar, referring to those employed as weeders.

"His answer is misleading and is bad for people in the estates. Those wanting to help them are getting the wrong information. The ministry is doing them a disservice, and we are very unhappy," he stressed.

Improbable figures

Jerit coordinator Y Kohila too, said the answer in Parliament was misleading. The question was how many Malaysians are dependent on the plantation industry and how much they were earning?

"The Minister's answer was about 600,000, where a tapper earned around RM870 and a harvester around RM1,700. This is definitely misleading as rubber estates have dwindled.

"And a rubber tapper definitely does not earn RM870 a month. Secondly, harvesters earning up to RM1,700 are mainly subcontractors," she said.

"Workers earn around RM13.70 a day including other allowances. Taken into consideration are market prices and the height of trees. They earn only around RM500 to RM600 a month," added Kohila (left).

She added that there are few locals who are employed as harvesters and usually the job is contracted out with higher payment to subcontractors and foreign workers who are able put in 12 hours a day.

"The deputy minister says that if 78 tonnes are harvested a month, a salary of RM1,700 is achievable. This may be true but it means working more than 12 hours a day from 6am to 7 to 8pm daily for a month and harvesting about 200 fruits.

"Not only that, workers are supposed to pick up the dropped fruits, clear the dried branches and leaves. Doing all this and harvesting 3 tonnes a day is not possible under normal circumstances," said Kohila.

KEENGGANAN POLIS (PDRM) MENYIASAT DAN BERTINDAK PUNCA PENGGUNAAN SIJIL ANAK NEGERI PALSU (SAN) BERLELUASA DISABAH

2009-11-20T04:20:00.000-08:00

Isu penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri telah menambah hangatkan senario politik Negeri Sabah bilamana pada 17hb Novembr 2009 Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Sekong, Datuk Samsudin Yahya (kiri), membangkitkannya di Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah.

Sabah negeri dibawah bayu yang belum lagi reda dengan isu penggunaan kad pengenalan dikeluarkan kepada kaum pendatang daripada Filipina dan Indonesa kini telah di kejutkan lagi dengan isu sijil anak negeri yang kesahihannya diragui.

Pihak Polis bersama beberapa agensi lain termasuk Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah (SPRM) digesa supaya menyiasat Adun Sri Tanjung, Jimmy Wong Sze Phin(kanan) yang didakwah oleh Ahli Dewan Undangan negeri Kawasan Sekong sebagai penipu kerana memiliki Sijil Anak Negeri yang kesahihannya meragukan demikian kenyataan, dibuat oleh YB Datuk Samsudin Yahya, disiar di muka depan Akhbar New Sabah Times, memberi gambaran peri pentingnya isu tersebut yang telah lama menghantui rakyat sabah.

Penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri dimiliki oleh gulongan yang tidak berhak memiliki nya bukan masalah baru kepada rakyat Sabah. Pengeluarannya telah dibekukan diera Kerajaan Parti Berjaya memerintah disebabkan adanya penyalahgunaankuasa dalam proses pengeluarannya.

“Sebagai formula memelihara hak kaum anak negeri daripada terjejas akibat pengeluarannya yang didalangi segelintir Ketua Daerah dan Ketua Anak Negeri tidak bertanggungjawab Kerajaan Parti Berjaya telah membekukan pengeluarannya sejak tahun 1983” demikian kenyataan yang pernah dibuat bekas Ketua Daerah Sandakan OKK Hassnar Hj Ebrahim (kiri).

Ramai daripada kalangan pemimpin masyarakat Sabah pernah menyoal penggunaan sijil anak negeri palsu tetapi setiap kali isu tersebut dimatikan begitu saja menyebabkan sebilangan besar rakyat Sabah daripada keturunan anak negeri menerima nasib ibarat sudah jatuh ditimpa tangga”. Padah kesan penggunaannya ramai kaum anak negeri telah hilang tanah milik mereka yang dikeluarkan geran taraf Native Title kerana geran mereka diambil oleh gulungan tauke tauke yang ada hubungan dengan kakitang diJabatan Tanah dan Ukur.

Walaupun ianya merupakan satu jenayah dan seorang Menteri BN pernah memberi jaminan kepada rakyat bahawa mereka yang menggunakan sijil anaka negeri palsu akan diserah kepada Polis tetapi sehingga kini tidak ada satupun dari kalangan mereka yang memiliki dan menggunakan sijil anak negeri yang kessahihannya diragui telah diheret dan diddakwa diMahkamah untuk diadili.

“keengganan anggota PDRM (kanan) menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan keatas aduan kaum anak negeri terhadap gulungan yang memiliki sijil anak negeri yang kesahihannya diragui adalah punca penggunaan sijil anak negeri palsu berleluasa diSabah” ujar En Zainuddin Hasssan ketua Penerangan AMK negeri Sabah.

“AMK menyeru Kerajaan BN jika mereka tulus hendak memperjuangkan hak kaum anak negeri yang kini tertindas akibat penggunaan Sijil Anak Negeri yang dikeluarkan kepada mereka yang tidak berhak - jangan hanya tumpu kepada pemilikan sijil sedemikian oleh pemimpin pembangkang sahaja. Banyak Tauke - tauke proksi BN dan UMNO telah merampas ribuan ekar Tanah orang kampong dengan mengunakan Sijil Anak Negeri serupa! Apakah mereka diberi kekebalan dan imuniti daripada kerajaan dan tidak boleh diambil tindakan Undang Undang?” Tambah En Zainuddin hassan

Sabahkini.net telahpun menyiarkan tindakan seorang wanita berbangsa Sungai daripada daerah Kinabatangan, Puan Rosmina Binti Nazry, melaporkan kepada Polis akan perbuataan seorang wanita berbangsa Cina tetapi memiliki serta menggunakan satu sijil Anak Negeri yang tidak ada rekod diMahkamah Anak Negeri Kota Kinabalu. Malangnya aduan Puan Rosminah Bte Nasry kepada Polis tidak hendak disiasat oleh Polis walaupun telah diadu secara resmi di Balai Polis daerah Sandakan.

Ketua Penerangan AMK PKR Sabah, Zainuddin Hassan (kanan) mencabar Kerajaan BN dan Polis, SPRM agar jangan berat sebelah hanya kerana terdapat sijil yang dimiliki oleh seorang ahli pembangkang sahaja. Terdapat ramai gulongan tauke- tauke dari Sabah yang menyokong Barisan Nasional juga memiliki sijil yang kesahihannya diragui tetapi enggan diambil tindakan oleh kakitangan Kerajaan BN Sabah walaupun aduan demi aduan telah dibuat.

“Siasat semua laporan yang pernah dibuat oleh kaum anak negeri Sabah kalau memang PDRM jujur hendak menangani perkara ini dan bukan meneguk diair keruh untuk mencari untung peribadi. “ Tambah En. Zainudin Hassan

Reconciling with Jeffrey may doom PKR in Sabah

2009-11-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

By Wong Choon Mei

As top PKR leaders in Kuala Lumpur mull the fate of their Sabah ‘strongman’ Jeffrey Kitingan (left), a storm of protest is building up in his home state, where many of the party rank-and-file are demanding that he and several division leaders linked to him be shown the door and quickly too!

These protesters – believed to represent the majority in Sabah PKR - fear that KL may recapitulate and reject Jeffrey’s recent resignation as vice-president and supreme council member. Such a decision will only bode disaster for the party and prolong a power tussle amongst the state division leaders, they claim.

Indeed chances are high that KL will opt for what it perceives to be political expediency, although party insiders reassure it will retain Jeffrey without bowing to the demands of his camp, which include rescinding the appointment of Thamrin Jaini (left) as the new state chief.

“Actually, what Jeffrey wanted was to be the state PKR chief and later on the Sabah chief minister. His supporters orchestrated the move that got Azmin Ali replaced but KL appointed another Sabahan, Thamrin, instead of him. So Jeffrey resigned as veep in a bid to force KL’s hand but although KL may reject his resignation, it will still stick with Thamrin,” an insider said.

The younger brother of current Sabah deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin, Jeffrey gave up his PKR posts along with Kota Kinabalu division chief Christina Liew (right) last month. The two accused the national leadership of racial favoritism and being insensitive to the wishes of the Sabah people. Both however remained as party members.

Dooming the PKR

Simmering infighting between division leaders in Sabah PKR finally broke out openly last month, dragging the entire party down in the esteem of voters both in East Malaysia and the peninsula.

Counter-accusations were leveled at Jeffrey and his camp for putting his political ambitions above party interests including spreading a spate of negative and false news that painted several leaders such as Azmin Ali (left) and former state chief Ansari Abdullah (right) in a bad light. According to the state information bureau, Ansari has now threatened to sue a journalist and the editor-in-chief of news portal Malaysiakini for defamation and RM10 million in damages if they did not apologize over several articles published recently.

But short of a bold and clear-cut decision from the national leadership in KL, the infighting will continue in Sabah, a state in which PKR can ill afford to allow instability to foment and fester.

Indeed, its 25 parliamentary seats will be vital in deciding who wins the federal government at the next general election – the Pakatan Rakyat or the Umno-Barisan Nasional.

“For PKR to win Sabah, the reform agenda must be renewed, rejuvenated and rebuilt. And this can only happen if there is the will to revamp thoroughly and quickly,” said state Director Of Communications Ronnie Klassen.

While many would like to see Christina retained, they are convinced that Jeffrey’s shelf life as a leader is past and long expired. They see in him a troublemaker and a spoiler, who can only doom the party’s chances.

“KL has to take a firmer stance and kick Jeffrey out once and for all. The moment he confirms he will stay on, PKR and Pakatan will have lost Sabah and Malaysia once again,” said Hassanar Ebrahim, a veteran political watcher.

An unusual quiet

But since holding peace talks with national strategy director Tian Chua (left) two weeks ago, Jeffrey has been toeing the line and keeping an unusually low profile, sparking speculation that a face-saving reconciliation was being worked out for the Sabah leader.

According to the party grapevine, Tian is believed to have told Jeffrey that he would not be offered the post that he covets above all else – the chief ministership of Sabah.

“Even if PKR wins, Jeffrey has been told in no uncertain terms that he won’t get the chief minister’s job although he may be made a minister in the federal cabinet. The job that he wants most will go to another Sabahan, not him,” a party source said.

Why then would Jeffrey - who has warned that he may form his own party - agree to stay on in PKR? Already, his supporters have threatened to resign en-masse if Thamrin is not dropped.

Could Jeffrey have finally realized that his political star is waning and it might best to give up his party-hopping ways and soldier on in the PKR after all? Or are there other reasons, ulterior motives even?

“His camp gave KL two weeks to accede to their requests and it is now three weeks. Why isn’t he keeping his word and leaving to form his own party as he has threatened to. It is actually the best thing he can do for Sabah PKR. Leave and let the party rebuild itself before it becomes too late," said Hassanar.

A new political reality

Indeed, the flamboyant and wealthy Jeffrey has failed to impress as a party administrator, achieving little success despite his decades in the political arena.

Instead he has attracted unflattering speculation including controversial rumors that he was a Trojan horse planted by the BN to wreak destruction and infighting in the PKR – much like PAS’s Hassan Ali in Selangor.

Although, in the eyes of KL, PKR may still need Jeffrey for his Kadazan-Dusun-Murut links, many Sabah leaders insist his departure will not be missed at all. They believe he has the support of only eight out of the state’s 25 divisions.

Some are even willing to bet that if he leaves, more Sabahans will join the PKR, especially the Muslims whom they say have kept their distance because of his fiery communal rhetoric. Jeffrey had in the past centred his political platform around a tooth-and-nail fight for KDM rights, stepping on the toes of other ethnic groups in the process.

But a new political reality has dawned and taken hold since. Bitten repeatedly by bad experiences, Sabahans have become more sophisticated and demanding of whom they want to lead their state out of poverty, suppression and blatant abuse of power.

Also, due to re-bordering by the BN, they now have 60 seats in their state assembly compared to 48 previously. Of the 60, 35 are Muslim-majority constituencies, eight are Chinese and 17 are KDM. This compares against the eight Chinese, 20 Muslim and 20 KDM before.

“The mood of the people has changed vastly. PKR itself espouses priority on a needs-based methodology and not on a race-based one,” said Hassanar (right).

“The situation in the peninsula has opened up the minds of Sabahans. If one Jeffrey supporter leaves today, 10 others including many from the KDM community will join PKR tomorrow. There is no need for KL to worry about letting Jeffrey go. In fact, by letting him stay, it may be barking up the wrong tree.”

(Wong Choon Mei is the former chief editor of Suara Keadilan)

Sabah saved BN: Mahathir

2009-11-16T22:47:00.000-08:00

Yes, BN was saved by Sabah (referring to March 2008 general election), saved by Project Mahathir (Project IC), BN fixed deposit.

Big majority of these ICs were issued during his time as PM. There is even a book (IC Projek Agenda Tersembunyi Mahathir?) by M. D. Mutalib published in 2005.

Sabahans know now that these Project ICs was about issuance of Malaysian ICs meant for Malaysian citizens to foreigners in Sabah who were mostly illegal immigrants. All this was done against the Laws and Constitution of Malaysia.

Of course BN Central Government has never acknowledged this, let alone wanting to solve it.

Police Reports after Reports had been lodged about foreigners in possession of Project ICs including the book mentioned above. But I was given the understanding that Police were instructed to accept the Reports lodged but not to investigate any.

This directive was confirmed when Parliament Select Committee on National Integrity was told of this Project Mahathir in June 2006, and when the Committee tried to dig deep into the Project, the National Registration Dept was directed by the powers that be to stop answering the Committee's inquiry.

PM Najib is saying now that Sabah illegal immigrants problems were the results of local Sabahans. To some extent this is true. But Najib personally stated 10 years ago that such problems were serious in Sabah but nothing seemed to have been done by the Central Gov't. Then he only referred to those without documents. He has never, in fact, no PM ever, mentioned on seriousness of Project ICs issued to illegal immigrants.

Announcing Sept 16 as a national holiday by Najib two months ago was just to please Sabahans as BN wants Sabah votes. Just to remind us all: last year Sept Najib said that there should be only one National day for the country..........that is 31st August..........this is our stand..... Where is the sincerity? If really sincere, please amend the Constitution, Article 160, on the Interpretation of National Day or Merdeka Day.

That should be what he wants if he really means it – 1Malaysia. But here again, there is no sincerity on his part because if really 1Malaysia, why hydroelectricity from Bakun Dam in Sarawak is not for Sabah when it is to be channeled to Peninsula and Kalimantan Indonesia? 1Malaysia people first – Kalimantan Indonesia first before Sabah! Wake up Sabahans!

He knows that Sabah needs electricity that he is pushing hard to have coal-generated electricity plant built in Sabah. Where is the logic and sincerity? Sabah has natural gases but channeled to Sarawak. Three to four Billion Ringgit were needed to build the coal-generated plant and an unknown cost of coal needed to run the plant. When coal from foreign countries run out or too costly the Maliau Basin would then be mined for its coal? Not only cost us money but also our beautiful heritage if the coal-generated plant is to go on.

Wake up Sabahans. We have been taken for a very rude ride all these decades!

This article is written by Dr. Chong En Leong , Senior PKR Activist.

Malaysiakini's Gan And Fernandez Served With Legal Notice Of Demand.

2009-11-16T05:48:00.000-08:00

Popular online news portal,Malaysiakini, Editor in Chief Steven Gan (left) and it's Sabah Correspondent Joe Fernandez(a West Malaysian Indian),were today served with a Legal Notice of Demand for Defamatory Postings in the Malaysiakini Website. The notice were served on both Gan and Fernandez via email and registered post by the legal firm of Rahim Abdullah & Co.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat(PKR) Sabah of late has been in the limelight in the Malaysiakini news portal.The public at large were bemoaned as to the manner their stories were structured.In a random survey,the people were shock that journalistic ethics were not at all adhered to by Joe Fernandez (right) in his manner of addressing,writing and describing the actual facts.His "distorted facts" which were subsequently published in Malaysiakini,were all obtain by mere sms's and emails.Ironically,Joe Fernandez is not known as a hands on journalist.

When ask why were you never present in press conferences organized by PKR, Joe Fernandez had this to say,"I have to attend lectures and it doesn't fit my time,I'm a very "busy man" moreover I prefer a one-to-one interview".When informed that such an arrangement could be organized,he said "not necessary I can get it from the other reporters,press conferences is a waste of time,just answer my sms will do".

While we maybe in an era of Cyberspace,good old fashion hands on journalism still prevails,mainstream media reporters will surely agree that facts can only be authenticated by their actual presences.That's why our Sabah reporters are journalistic professionals,unlike armchair critics or spin doctors disguising themselves as Journalist.

A copy of the Legal Notice of Demand which was served is here for your viewing.

RAHIM ABDULLAH & CO.

Peguambela & Peguamcara ● (Advocates & Solicitors)

Kota Kinabalu Office Sandakan Office

Yusri Bin Pungut Hj. Abd Rahim Hj. Abdullah

LLB (Hons) ( Malaya ) MBA (UiTM) B.A (Hons) Law (U.K)

Rizwandean Bukhary Bin M.Borhan Majnah Binti Abdillah

LLB (Hons) (UKM) LLB (Hons) Malaya

Adanan Judin

LLB (Hons) Malaya

Lot 16, 2^nd Floor Block B, Asia City Phase I 2^ndFloor, Lot 9, Block I

Lebuh Raya Pantai Baru, 88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Bandar Indah Sandakan

Tel : (088) 212557 / 213557 Fax : (088) 215557 Tel : (089) 222768/222868

e-mail : rykkco@yahoo.com.my Fax : (089) 222568

Your Ref :

Our Ref : RY09/LIT/HAA/105/RB

Date : 16th November 2009

1. Mr. Steven Gan,

Editor-in-Chief,

http://malaysiakini.com,

48, Jalan Kemuja,

Bangsar Utama,

59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Email: steven@malaysiakini.com

2. Mr. Joe Fernandez,

Lot C337, Grace Court,

Sembulan,

Kota Kinabalu.

Email: jfernandez14@yahoo.co.uk

Via e-mail and registered post

Dear Sirs,

Re: Defamatory Postings in “Malaysiakini” Website

We act for Hj Ansari Abdullah J.P. on the above matter.

2. Our client’s attention has been drawn to several statements contained in several articles published by you and or your agents/servants acting on your instructions in “Malaysiakini” website in November, 2009.

3. The first article entitled “PKR Peace Team Head for Kota Kinabalu” dated 5^th November, 2009 had falsely stated that our client organized the launching of the book “Anwar on Trial” when he was only a panelist on a discussion on the said book. The article also wrongly stated that only twenty odd people turned up for the function and only two books were sold. It was intended to portray Hj Ansari Abdullah as a poor organizer and a leader without any followers.

4. Another article stated that our client was removed as the head of PKR Sabah as a result of a rebellion when in fact he had voluntarily tendered his resignation in June, 2008. This fact was confirmed by YB Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim during his visit to Sabah in 2008 when he told the local media that Hj Ansari had tendered his resignation but had been asked to stay on until the end of his term. This fact was widely reported in Sabah but you had falsely stated otherwise.

5. Finally, an article entitled “Sabah PKR division chief runs to China from Debt” dated 13^th November, 2009 referred to Hj Ansari Abdullah since he was the only Sabah PKR Division chief who is a lawyer, who had performed the Hajj in 2004 and was in China from 6^th to 12^th November, 2009. The said article stated, inter alia, that our client:-

(a) had fled to China last Saturday to avoid paying a debt to one Sohon Singh;

(b) had made use of Chief Inspector Abang Faisal to persuade the said complainant to withdraw two police reports against him;

(c) had misled the said complainant to come to our client’s house on the very day that he left for his pilgrimage in Mecca;

(d) had asked his brother to hire thugs to beat up the complainant;

(e) had bribed certain people so that his client could wrongfully obtained the land title from the Land and Surveys Department;

(f) had been paid the sum of RM 144,000.00 as “reimbursement” to Sohon Singh; and

(g) Had committed a breach of trust.

6. These statements are defamatory against our client as to which a grave libel had been perpetuated by you against our client. Consequently, our client’s reputation especially as a Muslim, an advocate of the High Courts of Borneo and a Politician have been seriously damaged and or tarnished. Our client has thereby suffered considerable distress and embarrassment by being put into public ridicule, odium and contempt as a result of the said defamatory statements.

7. We have been instructed to write to you to ask whether:-

(a) You are prepared to retract and withdraw the statements and to publish a suitable apology upon terms to be approved by our client;

(b) You are prepared to give our client your assurance and undertaking that you will not repeat and will refrain from circulating or publishing the statements;

(c) You are prepared to indemnify our client in respect of the costs to which he has been put as a result of the said statements; and

(d) You are prepared to offer a suitable sum agreeable to our client as compensation to our client’s reputation which you have injured.

8. Our client demands that you give us a reply within forty-eight (48) hours from the time you received this notice via email. In the event that you fail to do so, or choose to ignore our client’s demands herein, our client shall exercise his right to legal redress by claiming the sum of Ten Million Ringgit (RM 10,000,000.00) in damages including aggravated and exemplary damages against you.

9. In the meantime, our client reserve all his legal rights and remedies against you concerning the libels mentioned hereinabove.

Yours faithfully,

RAHIM ABDULLAH & CO.

Cc Client

FITNAH BERTERUSAN DALAM LAMAN WEB MALAYSIAKINI OLEH JOE FERNANDEZ

2009-11-15T02:54:00.000-08:00

Kenyataan Sohon Singh yang mendakwa seorang Ketua Bahagian PKR Sabah lari ke Cina kerana hutang adalah satu fitnah dan tidak berasas sama sekali. Walaupun nama saya tidak disebut, umum mengetahui ianya merujuk kepada saya kerana cuma saya seorang ketua bahagian yang juga seorang peguam yang telah menunaikan fardu haji.

2. Sebelum ini pelbagai tomahan dan fitnah telah di lemparkan oleh Joe Fernandez (kanan) dalam tulisanya di Malaysiakini dan Sabahkini tetapi saya hanya berdiam diri. Bagaimanapun, apabila keimanan saya telah cuba dicemari dengan fitnah saya telah membohongi seorang pada hari saya berlepas ke Mekkah, ianya telah melampaui batas etika kewartawanan dan peradaban manusia.

3. Sohon Singh bukanlah anakguam saya dan saya tidak pernah menerima atau pun berhutang kepadanya satu sen pun. Ini adalah kali ketiga dia digunakan untuk menyerang peribadi saya. Pertama pada tahun 2007 apabila dia dijemput untuk berucap menyerang peribadi saya di hadapan ketua-ketua bahagian dan ahli-ahli KDM Task Force di Sokid Villa.

4. Kedua apabila orang-orang tertentu yang telah dicam oleh penyokong-penyokong saya, telah mengedarkan surat layang serta salinan laporan polis semasa pilihanraya pada bulan Mac, 2008.

5. Kini Sohon Singh telah digunakan untuk mengaibkan saya sebagai seorang Muslim dan peguam. Ianya bukan saja bermotifkan politik tetapi juga untuk menjejaskan reputasi saya di dalam profession yang telah saya ceburi selama 30 tahun dan menjatuhkan pandangan orang-orang Muslim terhadap saya. Ini sangat kotor dan jijik.

6. Saya tahu pengecut-pengecut yang menjadi dalang di sebalik serangan-serangan ini. Mereka mengangap saya adalah batu penghalang dalam usaha mereka untuk menguasai PKR Sabah secara langsung atau melalui proksi mereka.

7. Saya amat kesal satu laman web yang di hormati boleh di jadikan kuda tunggangan untuk mendewa-dewakan pemimpin tertentu dan memburukan yang lain. Joe Fernandez sebagai seorang wartawan veteran sepatutnya mengasingkan perasaanya sebagai ahli Borneo Heritage Foundation agar penulisannya tidak berat sebelah. Ada juga kawan-kawan yang memaklumkan kepada saya tentang anak-anaknya yang berkerja dengan syarikat-syarikat milik seorang peminpin Barisan Nasional.

8. Saya menafikan segala tuduhan dan “insinuations” yang terkandung dalam rencana bertajuk “Sabah PKR Divisional Chief ran to China from Debt” yang di siarkan pada 13hb November. 2009. Saya telah memberikan kenyataan saya kepada Polis dan akan berkerjasama dengan mana-mana ajensi termasuk MACC agar kebenaran dapat di tegakan. Saya juga telah mengarahkan peguam saya untuk mengambil tindakan undang-undang keatas Sohon Singh, Joe Fernandez dan Malaysiakini.

Hj Ansari Abdullah

15hb Nobember, 2009.

PI Bala claims offered RM5m to retract statement

2009-11-12T22:52:00.000-08:00

UPDATED (courtesy of The Malaysian Insider)

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Missing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam has claimed in a video clip that he was offered RM5 million to retract his statutory declaration that linked Datuk Seri Najib Razak to murdered Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu, reigniting allegations that the prime minister has vehemently denied.

Balasubramaniam's claims were aired in an undated 88-second video clip today hosted by the Malaysia-Today.net website whose main contributor is the fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin. The first statutory declaration (SD) was also put up with the video clip.

"Deepak actually came to see me because he want me to retract my first SD... After that he offered me RM5 million for me to retract the SD," Balasubramaniam said in the video clip, referring to a person whom Raja Petra says is linked to Najib's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Balasubramaniam, a former police officer, disappeared with his family on July 4, 2008 after making a second SD that overturned the first declaration. His location remains unknown until now.

The Malaysia-Today.net website said there will be more video clips featuring the Balasubramaniam interview. In the first part, the private investigator also claimed he was asked to go to Putrajaya to meet certain individuals over his SD.

"He was asking me to go to Putrajaya with him but he never mentioned whom he wanted me to meet in Putrajaya," Balasubramaniam said, referring to the country's administrative capital.

Balasubramaniam's two SDs had rocked the murder trial of Altantuya, who was killed on Oct 19, 2006. Three people, including political and defence strategist Abdul Razak Baginda, were arrested for plotting her death.

Abdul Razak, who admitted to an affair with the Mongolian model who also acted as an interpreter, claimed he did not order her death but wanted the policemen to stop her from harassing or blackmailing him over their affair.

He was acquitted without his defence being called while the two policemen charged, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were sentenced to the gallows for killing her.

Balasubramaniam was initially hired by Abdul Razak to keep watch over Altantuya's movements when she was in Kuala Lumpur to allegedly blackmail the political strategist, who is a known close associate of then Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib.

His first SD was announced in a press conference with opposition leaders on July 2, 2008 but a day later, he stunned the country when a different lawyer brandished a second SD that overturned the contents of the first declaration.

Balasubramaniam then went missing, according to his nephew who claims his uncle is now in an undisclosed location.

Anwar: Leave or stay loyal

2009-11-09T02:33:00.000-08:00

(Malaysian Mirror) - PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim has given party leaders and members two choices -- stay loyal or leave if they do not want to adhere to party policies.

He said he could accept criticisms against the party, but would not compromise with leaders and members who could not follow the stipulated party policies.

"All party members must support the transformation agenda, work for the Pakatan Rakyat or be sacked from the party," he said when opening the Penang PKR Convention here Sunday night.

Anwar said the stance was taken as there were many PKR leaders who wanted stern action taken against errant members.

"Give your commitment to the party or leave the party and join Umno," he said.

Voices of discontent

In recent months, there have been growing voices of discontent and disillusionment from members aired publicly. Some were blatant criticisms hurled at the party leadership.

Notably among the affected states were Selangor, Sarawak and Sabah. One PKR state assemblyman in Selangor has resigned from the party to become an independent BN-friendly member.

In the two East Malaysians, grouses are still being heard against the PKR leadership in Kuala Lumpur.

Last week, PKR president Dr Wan Azizah went on damage control, telling members that she was aware of the problems at hand and was making efforts to put things on the right track.

Courtesy of Malaysian Mirror

PKR tidak akan tunduk kepada syarat Jeffery : Ahmad Thamrin,Ketua Perhubungan PKR Sabah.

2009-11-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

Parti Keadilan Rakyat(PKR) tidak akan tunduk kepada syarat-syarat yang diletakan Datuk Dr.Jeffery Kitingan untuk terus kekal di dalam parti,kata Ketua Perhubungan PKR Sabah Ahmad Thamrin Zaini.

Thamrin yang kesal dengan tindakan mantan Naib Presiden PKR itu menyifatkan ia adalah tidak wajar sedangkan parti itu mempunyai salurannya sendiri yang memberikan ruang kepada ahlinya menggemukan sebarang cadangan.

"Semua perlu faham PKR adalah sebuah parti nasional yang beroperasi secara demokrasi,tidak ada orang yang lebih penting daripada parti itu sendiri....tindakan Jeffery membuat syrat seumpama itu hanya merumitkan keadaan sedangkan PKR membuka ruang yang luas untuk ahli bersuara dan membuat cadangan ,ada saluran dan peruntukan dalam parti,kita ada forum,majlis pimpinan pusat dan negeri kenapa baru disuarakan sekarang", kata Thamrin yang dalam lawatan sulungnya ke Sandakan selepas menyandang jawatan Ketua Perhubungan PKR Sabah.

Tambahnya,kapasiti Jeffery yang menduduki saf utama dalam barisan PKR sepatutnya memberikan kelebihan untuknya bersuara dan membuat sebarang cadangan.

"Empat perkara itu boleh di lakukan dan disuarakan kerana sebelum ini beliau sendiri merupakan Naib Presiden PKR dan Biro Politik PKR Pusat yang merupakan jawatankuasa tertinggi dalam parti yang mempunyai hak menentukan keputusan," tambahnya.

Beliau berkata demikian kepada pemberita ketika diminta mengulas kenyataan Dr.Jeffery yang meletakkan empat syarat kepada parti itu untuk dia kekal bersama parti berkenaan.

Empat syarat tersebut ialah,ibu pejabat parti perlu membuat pembaharuan dan memastikan perlantikan dibuat berdasarkan pemilihan;Ia perlu menghormati aspirasi rakyat; autonomi politik bagi operasi PKR di Sabah; dan parti itu perlu menubuhkan jawatankuasa bagi meneliti terma jawatankuasa antara-kerajaan berhubung penubuhan Malaysia dan kelemahannya.

Dalam pada itu,ketika diminta mengulas dakwaan sesetengah pihak yang mengatakan PKR sedang berhadapan dengan krisis dalaman,Thamrin berkata ianya merupakan satu proses biasa di dalam mana-mana parti.

"Keadaan seumpama ini ada baiknya ianya merupakan satu anjakan dalam memperbaiki dan memperkukuhkan parti itu sendiri,ini memperjelaskan kepada semua siapa yang sebenarnya akan berjuang atau dasar perjuangan parti", katanya.

RESOLUSI ANGKATAN MUDA PKR BERHUBUNG TAMRIN

2009-11-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

ANGKATAN Muda PKR Sabah dalam mesyuarat khas baru-baru ini, telah mengambil tiga ketetapan bagi meredakan situasi yang agak tegang dan membawa kepada bibit persengketaan politik antara dua puak yang bertelagah di dalam parti.

Berikutan adalah ketetapan yang diambil;-

a) Angkatan muda PKR Sabah menyokong keputusan Pimpinan Tertinggi PKR pusat dimana telah melantik Ahmad Tamrin Hj.Jaini sebagai Ketua Perhubungan PKR Negeri Sabah yang baru.

b) Angkatan Muda PKR Sabah juga amat menghormati keputusan yang diambil oleh Dr.Jeffry Kitingan (Naib Presiden PKR) bersama Puan Christina Liew (MPT) meletak jawatan dalam Parti Keadilan Rakyat Pusat.

c) Angkatan Muda PKR Sabah juga menyarankan kepada pucuk pimpinan tertinggi Parti agar menyiasat dan mengambil tindakan tegas terhadap ahli parti yang memasukkan dalam media ke atas konflik dalaman serta perkara-perkara yang boleh mencemarkan nama parti dan menyebabkan timbulnya salah faham masyarakat ke atas Parti.

Pergolakan terbaru ini bagi pandangan AMK telah mencorak Landskap Politik PKR Negeri Sabah yang mana salah faham terhadap apa yang sebenarnya berlaku yang menyebabkan pandangan negatif terhadap parti.

Party Solidarity Is Paramount

2009-10-31T04:23:00.001-07:00

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) newly appointed Sabah State Chief Ahmad Thamrin Hj Jaini expressed his sincere gratitude to the support given to him as Chairman of PKR State Liaison Committee by 17 Divisional Chiefs during the official State Liaison Committee meeting today. There are a total of 25 PKR Divisions in Sabah. Divisional Chiefs support the decision of the appointment made by the Party President.

He also express his appreciation for the trust and confidence of the Party President and central leadership in appointing him to the post after having considered the decision of the State Liaison Committee meeting held on 22nd of October 2009.

Thamrin said” I acknowledge the heavy responsibility that is placed upon me and the State leadership. Only with the undivided support and full commitment from my colleagues in the State leadership and that of the central leadership, I am confident that we will discharge our duty effectively.

“My immediate task is to look into the existing and new line-up for the State Liaison Committee. I shall make an announcement soon after having consultation with the State leaders. I am mindful of the different groupings within PKR, which is normal in any political party. PKR leaders will always remind ourselves that our loyalty is to the Party’s struggle. We accept and practice inclusive approach to ensure that no one or group is marginalized in order to stay relevant in this reform movement.

“I declare that it is the commitment of this new State leadership to encourage and attract new members and leaders especially amongst the young and new faces to emerge in its struggle for reform, social justice, democracy, good governance and equality for all, ultimately for ‘people supremacy’ (Ketuanan Rakyat).

“Therefore, it is the priority of the present leadership to ensure and safeguard Sabah’s special State rights within the Federation of Malaysia are restored maintained and enhanced in the true spirit which our founding fathers of this nation had intended.

“Let’s move on and focus our energy on the more pressing and important issue of our primary interest, especially to Sabah. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is now in the process of drafting a common agenda known as Common Policy Framework (CPF) outlining the policies and working of the coalition formed by PKR, DAP and PAS.

“We declare that the immediate task of Sabah State Liaison Committee is to map out and prepare a memorandum outlining the economic and development agenda reflecting the special position and needs of Sabah as our collective input to the All Malaysians’ Common Policy Framework.

“It is therefore my sincere hope that we now unite our energies onto promoting our Party’s struggle and end all divisive remarks or accusations.” Thamrin said.

MEDIA STATEMENT: Dato' Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Presiden KEADILAN

2009-10-28T23:22:00.000-07:00

Recent changes to the leadership in Keadilan have caused confusion and consternation among some. I recognize that not everyone will be pleased with decisions made by the party’s leadership and not everyone will appreciate the difficulty we face in seeking to accommodate all views, including those of the divisions and branches which make up the backbone of the party, while striving to guide our party towards achieving its goals.

As our party grows in number and transforms into a national organization we have struggled at times to identify right strategy and mix of leadership that will carry us to the next level. Along the way we have encountered great challenges and have also uncovered promising new talent. Our task remains a work in progress and the announcements made this week are based on consensus and consultation within the party to work towards a better future.

Keadilan was established with a mission to be a unifying force for Malaysians of all races and religions and restore the integrity of the principles enshrined in the Federal Constitution. This mission carries unprecedented import and its pursuit confronts us with unparalleled challenges.

Over the years many have poured scorn on our aspirations for a brighter future and have derided our belief in an end to racial politics and rampant corruption. And yet we, with our partners in the Pakatan Rakyat, made historic progress towards restoring democracy, freedom and the Rule of Law. We have done so despite a hostile media and the relentless attacks on us by the institutions of the government and the unlimited resources of the UMNO-led BN coalition.

I acknowledge the setbacks that we have faced since the March elections. Political parties are complex organisms and political coalitions are neither crystallized overnight nor even in a fortnight. The frustrations which have been expressed by some colleagues within the party and by some supporters are valid and I remain open to engaging all parties on the principle of mutual respect, understanding and an unrelenting commitment to the principles of justice and fairness.

The future of the nation does not lie in the hands of any one individual nor does our party nor does this coalition. I continue to ask the ongoing faith and patience of the people in supporting the mission of Keadilan and of Pakatan Rakyat.

WAN AZIZAH WAN ISMAIL
President
Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Clarifications on alleged discord in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Sabah, Azmin Ali and Zaid Ibrahim

2009-10-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE

19 OCTOBER 2009

Clarifications on alleged discord in Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), Sabah, Azmin Ali and Zaid Ibrahim

In light of the exaggerated, slanted and half truth reporting in both the mainstream and new media on alleged serious discord in PKR on Sabah, Azmin Ali and Zaid Ibrahim arising from last Tuesday’s political bureau meeting, PKR wishes to clarify on some of the issues raised although these meetings are usually confidential.

Whilst it is true that there are some disagreements within the party on several issues including on the restructuring of PKR leadership in Sabah, it cannot be overemphasized that these are the usual disagreements within the party (as is normal in any worthy political party) and not anything so fundamental and serious to warrant the sort of press that it had undeservedly generated.

The purported heated political bureau meeting was actually quite uneventful. Both Azmin Ali and Mustafa Kamil were asked to report on the situation in Sabah and Sarawak where they have respectively been appointed to lead the Majlis Perhubungan Negeri (State Liaison Council) in order to assist in the states’ leadership restructuring and in representing the Majlis Pimpinan Pusat (MPP).

During the meeting, PKR Sabah did not hand over any memorandum of protest, Azmin did not throw any tantrum, nor was there any power tussle between Zaid and Azmin as reported. It is sufficient to state at this point that the PKR Sabah leadership is being restructured and is an ongoing process that will of course attract differences of opinions.

The only highlight of the meeting was about Gabriel Adit, Adun of Ngameh, Sarawak and his impending resignation from PKR and plan to form another party.

The political bureau meeting is a regular meeting held weekly among the top leaders to discuss many agenda including regular matters like situation reports on Sabah and Sarawak and urgent matters like Gabriel Adit.

As for Zaid taking leave from the political bureau and the MPP, this as explained by Zaid was merely to enable him to concentrate fully on drafting Pakatan Rakyat’s all important Common Policy Framework that will take the opposition coalition to the next level in challenging the BN as the Government of the Day.

Zaid it must be emphasized has not left PKR and is still a PKR leader, a valuable asset and committed to the various party activities as can be seen in his upcoming schedules.

Released by:
Latheefa Koya
Information Chief of PKR

PENDUDUK BUMI SABAH BERSUARA LANTANG…..”Kami akan mempertahankan tanah pusaka dan hak kami dengan nyawa”

2009-10-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Slogan 1 Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Sekarang ; yang dijulang tinggi dan dimegah-megahkan oleh Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Najib, kini hanya menjadi wap panas dan slogan yang hanya membabi buta sahaja. Rakyat tempatan Sabah yang tinggal di pendalaman daerah Penampang, merasa sedih perit dengan ancaman projek RM 2.8 Billion Empangan Koiduan yang telah diluluskan oleh Kerajaan Negeri Sabah. Project Empangan tersebut diluluskan tanpa membuat laporan Kesan kepada Alam Sekitar (EIA) dan Laporan Kesan kepada Sosial melalui perbentangan di Kabinet Negeri Sabah dan meluluskan permohonan daripada WCT Berhad: Syarikat yang sama dengan Kontraktor yang ditawarkan untuk Project Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kota Kinabalu.

Empangan tersebut akan merangkumi 12 Km Persegi, kawasan hutan dan tanah pertanian. Apa yang lebih kesal adalah, kawasan tersebut akan menenggelamkan lebih 9 buah kampong penduduk tempatan yang telah bertapak di kawasan tersebut berkurun lamanya. Ini jelas menunjukkan suatu pencerobohan dan salah laku kepada hak asasi penduduk tempatan di Penampang yang mana petikan “Persetujuan yang jelas dan menyeluruh haruslah diterima” seperti yang tercatat di dalam Pengistiharan Negara Persekutu (UN) kepada hak asasi Rakyat Asli, dimana Malaysia adalah salah satu daripada Negara dunia yang menandatangani pengistiharan tersebut.

Kampung-kampung yang terlibat adalah Buayan, Terian, Babagon Laut, Timpayasa, Tiku, Longkogungan, Kalanggaan, Pongobonon dan Kionop. Sementara 5 lagi kampung yang termasuk di dalam daerah Papar dan merupakan tanah pertanian termasuk, Bolotikon, Koiduan, Bisuang, Kogopon dan Limbahau akan turut ditenggelamkan; tempat-tempat yang bersejarah yang penting kepada Negeri Sabah di persekitaran Sungai Papar, kawasan hutan tropika, Flora dan Fauna yang unik dengan eko-sistem biologika di Banjaran Kroker akan turut menjadi mangsa kepada projek empangan ini. Taburan penduduk di semua kawasan yang terlibat adalah lebih kurang 2500 dan semua mereka adalah penduduk rakyat asli negeri Sabah.

Semasa lawatan Penulis ke kampung yang bakal ditenggelamkan ini, beliau telah berbual dengan Encik Nousi Giun, Pengerusi kepada Kommitti Gerakan Bersama, yang dibentuk khas untuk menghalang projek Empangan tersebut. Mereka akan menentang habis-habisan dan sanggup mengadai nyawa mereka demi menyelamatkan tanah pusaka mereka. Menurut beliau mereka tidak berminat sama sekali kepada apa jenis pampasan, program pendudukan semula atau apa jua kompromi dan janji-janji manis kerajaan BN. Kini semua penduduk kampung di sekitar kawasan yang terlibat mengadakan sembayang beramai-ramai; berdoa kepada Tuhan yang Esa untuk menyelamatkan mereka dan meyelamatkan tanah Pusaka mereka yang kita dibajak dan ditanam untuk memenuhi keperluan harian mereka.

Infrastuktur asas seperti jalanraya masih lagi dalam keadaan yang sungguh memilukan dan luarbiasa sekali kerana Malaysia sudah Merdeka selama 46 tahun tetapi kawasan kampung ini masih lagi dalam keadaan 46 tahun kebelakangan. Slogan yang berkumandang dijulang tinggi dan dimegah-megahkan, 1 Malaysia, Rakyat didahulukan, Pencapaian Sekarang, hanya menjadi lagu hiburan sahaja kerana di kawasan Penampang ini masih lagi kekal dengan keadaan yang sangat dahagakan kepada pembangunan infrastuktur yang dijanji-janjikan.

Apa yang lebih mengejutkan adalah kenyataan laporan kesesuaian tapak yang dibuat oleh Syarikat WCT Berhad yang melaporkan bahawa kawasan tersebut tidak berpenduduk? Encik Nousi mengeluh tiada seorang pun yang datang dan memberi tahu kepada kami akan projek ini, apatah lagi mendapat kelulusan daripada orang kampung? Rakyat Asli Sabah ini juga menerima sokongan padu daripada NGOs seperti PACOS, JICA, JOAS dan lain-lain. Organisasi-organisasi ini telah lama berkerjasama dengan mereka dan keperihatinan mereka, memberi sumbangan tenaga membantu mempertingkatkan tahap kehidupan penduduk kampung.

Meninjau dari segi politiknya, kawasan Penampang adalah dibawa kuasa UPKO, komponen parti UMNO/Barisan National. Menteri Persekutuannya adalah Tan Seri Bernard Dompok yang pernah ditolak oleh penduduk tempatan Penampang sendiri. Adalah difahamkan bahawa beliau menutup mulut kerana projek tersebut adalah projek yang didalangi oleh UMNO. Tetapi apa yang lebih memeranjatkan ialah, sementara penduduk tempatan Penampang bertungkus lumus, berdoa siang dan malam, dan sanggup mengadaikan nyawa mereka menentang projek empangan tersebut, beliau dengan diam, sibuk dengan usaha membuka cawangan UPKO di Semenanjung Malaysia dan menawarkan kepada Orang Asli dari Semenanjung sebagai ahli.

Sementara itu, penulis mendapat peluang untuk berhubung dengan Datuk Masidi Manjun, Menteri Pelancungan dan Alam Sekitar Sabah melalui Facebook. Beliau berkata; tidak tahu sama sekali mengenai RM2.8 Billion projek Empangan ini dan begitu juga dengan Tan Seri Bernard Dompok? Jadi persoalannya siapa yang memberi kata putus mengenai dengan hal ini? Adakah Kerajaan Negeri Sabah ditadbir oleh Kabinet Dapur? Jika Menteri Persekutuan Penampang sendiri tidak diberi tahu, dan Menteri Penuh Negeri Sabah, Menteri Pelancungan dan Alam Sekitar sendiri berkata beliau tidak tahu tentang projek tersebut, siapa sebenarnya yang memberi kata putus? Adakah ini merupakan kerajaan “Remote Control”?

Projek Empangan Koiduan dilaporkan 3 kali lebih besar daripada Empangan Babagon, iaitu empangan yang besar dan juga terletak di Daerah Penampang. Kawasan Empangan Koiduan yang kaya dengan kayu-kayannya telah mula diterokai dan kayu-kayannya dari hutan rimba semulajadi ini telah dirompak. Jelas menunjukkan pihak kerajaan bertangungjawab dengan perkara ini dan rakus mengondoli kawasan projek yang kaya ini.

Persoalannya “Adakah projek ini bertujuan untuk pembangunan atau permusnahan? Jika ya! Pembangunan ini adalah untuk siapa dan atas perbelanjaan siapa?

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN BEGINS?

2009-10-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

Today, I have lodged a report with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong. The report urges ICAC to review and widen investigations against Michael Chia Tien Foh, a Malaysian from Sandakan, arrested for money laundering in August 2008.

I provided ICAC with evidence that Michael Chia is in fact a nominee for Musa Aman, the Chief Minister of Sabah. I also named four (4) other persons believed to have connection with corrupt practices and shady transactions involving funds belonging to the State Government of Sabah and its subsidiaries, including Innoprise Corporation Sdn. Bhd., Rakyat Berjaya Sdn. Bhd. and Yayasan Sabah Group.

The public funds were “illegally obtained” and were siphoned out from Malaysia and deposited into various accounts in Hong Kong at UBS AG, Bank of East Asia Limited, HSBC, Credit Suisse and Citibank. Being illegally obtained, the persons involved have committed an offence under the Money Laundering Act.

There is sufficient evidence that the five persons are acting on behalf of Musa Aman and the money held on trust for the Chief Minister. The corrupt money belongs to Musa Aman.

Therefore I urged authorities in Hong Kong to freeze the accounts involved. I hereby urge authorities of other countries where accounts might be kept in connection with this case to do likewise. The money should be returned to the people of Malaysia, particularly Sabahans.

I urge the ICAC to conduct thorough investigations because Malaysians have lost confidence in the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (SPRM) due to various scandals involving the commission.

This case highlights the level of corruption plaguing the top leadership of UMNO-Barisan Nasional. Thus I call upon all Malaysians to fight corruption at every level. Reports on corruption in Malaysia, particularly the 2009 report by Transparency International, are not only humiliating but a cause for foreign investors to avoid Malaysia.

In order to make Malaysia a truly great nation, we must be free from corruption. We must enjoy a reputation as a clean country where everybody can do business and expect fairness and protection from injustice.

Shamsul Iskandar Mohd. Akin
Ketua Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK)
Malaysia

History Must Not Be Distorted

2009-09-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Better late then never,as the saying goes.Sabah's Parti Keadilan Rakyat(PKR) Woman's Wing despite the ignorance of the Barisan Nasional Government in undermining the actual date on the formation of Malaysia,will be organizing a Malaysia Day Luncheon cum Forum on the 27th.September.2009.Historically Malaysia was formed on the 16th.September.1963,together with the Federation of Malaya,Sabah and Sarawak.

Disclosing this was the Organizing Chairperson cum Deputy State PKR Wanita Chief of the event,Evelyn Gobile.Some 50 ladies comprising the various cabang chiefs from the wanita movement all over the state are expected to attend this inaugural event,which will be held at the Party's Headquarters in Budusan commencing at 10am.In addition,the Women movement are also taking this opportunity to celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri with all it's members and invited guest.

The guest of honour and maiden speaker for this event is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) National Vice President,Datuk Dr.Jeffery Kitingan,who was also recently invited by the Selangor State Government to deliver a keynote address on Malaysia Day.

In reality,Sabahans and Sarawakians celebrated Malaysia Day this year with much disgust as the Barisan National Government with their 'misinformed politicians' have once again failed miserably in acknowledging historical facts.Malaysia is 46 years of age and not as ceremoniously acclaimed as 52 years by the UMNO/BN lead Government.Historical facts should never be distorted or ignored and for whatever denial syndrome or agenda the UMNO/BN lead government may have up their sleeves,this forum is poised to ensure that history must be corrected.

Dirgahayu Malaysia Dan Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Perutusan Eidul Fitri 1430H,Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

2009-09-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

Saya dan Azizah, mewakili keluarga, kepimpinan dan akar umbi KEADILAN seluruhnya ingin mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Hari Raya Eidulfitri 1430 Hijrah kepada semua sahabat handai, rakan taulan serta muslimin muslimat sekalian dengan lafaz Minal Eidin walfaizin wal maqbulin. Kemaafan dipohon daripada saudara/i seluruhnya di atas sebarang keterlanjuran kata dan perilaku.

Syawal tahun ini juga disambut dengan tekanan kos sara hidup yang tinggi.Penguncupan ekonomi bagi suku tahun ini amatlah membimbangkan, KDNK kekal mencatat peratusan rendah.Sudah tentu situasi ini membingungkan kita tatkala berbilion ringgit telahpun dibelanjakan. Sering saya ulangi pemerkasaan ekonomi tidak akan berjaya selagi mana kemajuan dan pembangunan didorong oleh nafsu serta tamak. Amalan memacu ekonomi negara harus difahami dengan pengertian yang lebih mendalam, tidak terhad sekadar dasar yang indah di permukaan tetapi bergelodak pelaksanaannya.

Syawal juga mengajar erti persepaduan dan muafakat disamping bulan untuk memacu amal ibadat. Sabda Rasulullah SAW:

“Hendaklah kamu bersungguh di Eidulfitri ini untuk melakukan sedekah dan segala bentuk kebaikan dan kebajikan seperti solat, zakat, bertasbih serta bertahlil kerana sesungguhnya hari ini adalah hari yang Allah SWT mengampunkan dosa-dosa kamu dan Allah SWT melihat kamu dengan rahmat.”

Justeru marilah kita menyambut penjelmaan Syawal dengan keinsafan, kesabaran dan kesederhanaan. Penyempurnaan ibadah Ramadhan seharusnya mampu mengangkat darjat ketaqwaan dan menggilap roh serta semangat perjuangan menegak yang hak dan keadilan serta menolak kezaliman dan kebathilan.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

Sabah Native Rights Eroded,No Thanks To Sabah Government?

2009-09-16T08:35:00.001-07:00

Datuk Kong Hong Ming (left) today urged the State Government and Department of Lands & Surveys to give priority and act immediately to settle land ownership claimed by the natives of Sabah who are losing their ancestral land and land acquired by native customary rights (NCR) in stead of offering lip-service.

According to Kong, native customary right in the form of customary tenure, even without any document of title, confers a permanent heritable and transferable right over occupancy and use of land under our system of land law.

In his statement today, Kong disputed the statement of the Director of Lands & Surveys Sabah, Datuk Osman Jamal claiming that the State Government and Department of Lands & Surveys never neglected their duty to protect the rights and privileges of the native community in terms of land ownership.

“His statement was misleading and did not reflect the predicament encountered by the native community in Sabah claiming for land ownership. On the contrary, what is really happening is that the natives of Sabah have been and are losing their ancestral land rapidly to the extent that many natives are now landless people, whether knowingly or otherwise” Kong responded.

Kong said, “Either the Director did not know the present predicament and plight of the native community in Sabah or he intended to mislead the people and the BN political leaders in believing that all is well insofar as the land rights and ownership of the Sabah natives are concerned.”

“To understand the dire situation faced by the natives in Sabah in respect of their appeals for help due to encroachment and loss of ownership in land, the Director could verify with the State Attorney General Chambers and all District Land Offices where there are a large numbers of court cases and land disputes outstanding and accumulating.” Kong said.

“If the BN State Government and its leaders respect and protect the land rights and ownership of the indigenous people of Sabah, the State Government especially the Chief Minister as minister in charge should have the political will and immediately direct the Department of Lands & Surveys to conduct the settlement exercise to identify and settle all NCR lands in the State by issuing individual and communal land titles as provided in the Sabah Land Ordinance.” Kong suggested.

“The fact that the State Government and Lands & Surveys Department had now given a speedy approval letter for the land alienated for the Mazu statue and temple speaks for itself since it was only made possible by personal intervention by Sabah Chief Minister (right) himself in the unusual circumstances.” Kong said.

Kong disclosed, “The promising picture painted by the Director was merely a good public relation exercise by the Director which did not reflect the real sentiment of the natives of Sabah who are helplessly suffering from the massive loss of their ancestral land due to indiscriminate alienation of huge acreages of land by the Chief Minister Department and Lands & Surveys Department to many large corporations including government agencies, which subsequently entered into joint ventures with private corporations.”

“The painful truth is that the Sabah natives have been crying out loud for the past 10 years for the massive loss of their ancestral land and land acquired by native customary rights (NCR) which were continuously encroached, destroyed and taken away from them through alienations by the State Government.” Kong said

Kong said “The indigenous people of Sabah (left) had voiced out their plight and frustration to the State Government in many occasions. But their voices were never heard or respected.”

“Sometime in 2006 and again in February 2008, not less than 32,352 natives from 18 districts of Sabah had voiced out their grievances and came out appealing to the government to respect, defend and protect against encroachment of their ancestral land for a collective area of 339,984 acres in 18 kampungs in the State. More than 100 representatives from 18 districts led by Galus Ahtoi of PACOS (Partners of Community Organization) gathered at Kota Kinabalu and jointly submitted a memorandum to the Head of State of Sabah, Sabah chief minister, Suhakam, State Secretary, State Attorney General and the Director of Lands & Surveys himself.” Kong said.

“Despite their protests and appeals, nothing was done by the State Government in taking step to preserve, protect and respect their land rights and ownership. On the contrary, huge acreages of state land to the extent of 20,000 acres to 60,000 hectares per land title were alienated to powerful corporations without any due consideration to the existing rights in of the natives’ ancestral land and NCR land that they and their forefathers have occupied and cultivated for generations.”

“One of the major causes for the massive losses of ancestral land rightfully belonging to the natives was due to the excessive time-consuming process practiced by Lands & Surveys Department between land application and issuance of land title. In many cases, it could take as long as more than 30 years and still waiting. Another major cause of concerned is that natives have to compete with big corporations for land due to heavy demands for agricultural land for oil palm plantations. Due to the lack of financial resources, natives always lose out and give up at the end.” Kong said.

“Over the years, it is generally perceived by ordinary citizens especially natives of the remote villages that the State has been more readily to alienate large acreages of land to selected individuals or corporations whose primary or sole objective is out to amass land for wealth accumulation rather than for basic need or livelihood. At the same time, land applications and alienation can be such a complex procedure and lengthy process for natives who are in dire need of small acreages of farmland to support their basic livelihood and survival. It is rather common in Sabah that natives have been waiting for more than 30 years for document of title to the land that they applied. One of those many cases is the natives in Tongod of Kinabatangan.” Kong said.

“Some 24,000 acres were alienated to a company in 1998 in a single land application submitted in 1997 whereas Tongod natives had applied much earlier for 5 to 15 acres per family since 1975 and have been there as a village community comprising of 12 kampungs for not less than 7 generations. They and their forefathers were owners of the land by adat or custom long before the British Chartered Company or at least well before the formation of any state government. The State Government through Lands & Surveys Department in one single approval took away their land without any due regard to the people’s existing rights and their livelihood and survival.” Kong said.

“Never ignore the fact that natives of Sabah were often the victims of uncontrolled logging activities and indiscriminate land development schemes including by Government land agencies. Public officials so often seized opportunity to limit, delay, disregard and reject claims by native community based on NCR or their land applications submitted earlier in time but instead to facilitate by giving preferential treatments to applications later in time to selected powerful individuals and corporations.

“Depriving customary land of the natives can be construed as depriving their livelihood, which is unconstitutional in violation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his life which includes the rights to livelihood except in accordance with law. Further, the taking away or extinguishments of customary land from native or alienation of customary land without compensation was discriminatory, unfair and unconstitutional thereby violated Article 8 of the Federal Constitution that guarantees equality before the law. Moreover, the taking away or extinguishments of customary land from natives or the alienation of customary land without compensation was unconstitutional on the ground that it is in violation of Article 13 which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of his property without adequate compensation and save according to law.

“The State and its administrators have a general fiduciary and constitutional obligation to protect the welfare of the natives and a specific obligation to protect and preserve the native customary and proprietary rights in land. In the premises, they must act for the benefits of the said native community as the beneficiaries. Any deprivation of customary land belonging to the native communities and their future generations is to deprive them of their sources of food, water, rivers, medicines, wildlife, other forest produce which the said native communities need and are dependant upon for their livelihood and daily sustenance.

“Now by his own admission, the Director has finally conceded after all these years that his Department and State Government are incapable of handling the many land applications submitted by natives with some 265,000 remaining outstanding, which is very alarming as the backlogs have accumulated since 1975 until now and continuing.

“Based on their working capacity of 16,000 applications per year, the future and prospect of obtaining native land rights and ownership is indeed very bleak for the Sabah natives.

“Street demonstration is never our culture, especially for Sabah indigenous people. The native community in Sabah clearly has a legitimate claim against the State Government for neglects and breach of duty in defending protecting and preserving the rights and interests of the native community in Sabah” Kong said.

“The natives of Sabah are running out of time. It is now or never. In reality, the natives are not only demanding respect for their land rights and ownership of property which were legally belonging to them, they are in fact preserving, defending and protecting their livelihood, survival as well as culture, tradition and custom.” Kong said.

Serbuan Tentera di Tahap Tertinggi

2009-09-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Kedaulatan rakyat di Sabah telah mencapi tahap bahaya apabila Tentera Bersenjata digunakan untuk memenuhi halatuju Politik. Dalam halaman pos saya sebelum ini, PERUBAHAN MALAYSIA SEBAGAI NEGERI POLIS? Saya telah menyuarakan rasa malu dan keji kepada regim pemerintahan sekarang, yang telah mengarahkan dan mempersalahgunakan semua dana institusi umum di dalam Negara ini. Yang mana fundamentalisma dan tanggungjawab utama mereka untuk mempertahankan keselamatan Negara dan keutamaan Rakyat dipersoalkan.

Serbuan pegawai tentera bersenjata yang telah memaksa seorang penduduk tempatan Datu Pengiran Ahmad Datu Ali Alam, seorang ahli Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), untuk menurunkan bendera parti yang beliau telah kibarkan dengan bangga di rumah beliau, adalah semata-mata mematuhi arahan of Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Zahid Hamidi melalui lawatan operasi “ops pasir”. Arahan ini bukan sahaja perlakuan yang sangat besar dan tindakan salahgunakan kuasa, tetapi arahan ini juga, adalah kuasa penghakisan total dan pencabulan hak asasi rakyat dan hak kebebasan untuk berorganisasi dengan parti politik pilihan sendiri.

Adalah difahamkan bahawa pihak polis telah menyerahkan laporan polis yang dibuat oleh Datu Pengiran Ahmad kepada pihak tentera untuk tindakan selanjutnya. Saya juga telah diberitahu oleh Datu Pengiran Ahmad sendiri bahawa beliau juga telah ditawarkan oleh seorang pihak ke-tiga untuk membatalkan dan menarik kembali laporan polis tersebut.

Saya sungguh terkejut apabila mendengar berita ini, yang mana bagi saya sesuatu usaha untuk “menutup” episode semuanya di muka bumi. Ini juga telah menyakinkan saya dalam pos saya sebelum ini bahawa, peristiwa ini mencerminkan tanda yang nyata bahawa regim pemerintah sangat takut kepada kedatangan pihak Pembangkang, dan mereka sanggup membuat segala upaya untuk menimbulkan rasa takut atau membuat ancaman kepada rakyat yang menyokong pihak Pembangkang.

Ahli Dewan Tertinggi, Hj. Ansari Abdullah dan semua ahli tertinggi Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) di Sabah, telah memohon kepada pihak tentera untuk menghidari dari pencengahan politik di negeri ini. Demikian ulasan mereka dibuat di perutusan akhbar di pejabat PKR, Sabah baru-baru ini. Rakaman video dikepilkan untuk tentapan umum.

"Shooting the messenger"

2009-09-12T06:17:00.001-07:00

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kamaruddin of the Tawau Police Station, the investigating officer, invited me to give my statement relating to the investigation on the registration of birth certificates and Mykad by NRD Mobile Registration Unit at Kg. Kalabakan Tengah I between 10th, 11th and 12th of August 2009.

He informed me that my statement was needed in response to a police report lodged by Sylvester, an UPKO leader on 09.09.2009. I agreed to meet him at 1415 on 10.09.2009 at Tawau Police Station.

I was impressed by the courtesy extended to me by the police officers in Tawau Police Station, particularly, ASP Kamaruddin who interviewed me from 1430 to about 1600 on 10.09.2009. I would say ASP Kamaruddin has during that occasion conducted his duty professionally.

National Registration Department (NRD) has a crisis of credibility. NRD must review its operation and procedure under its Mobile Registration Unit. For a start, there is no good reason why NRD could not and failed to disclose and publish its yearly schedule for its Mobile Registration Unit operating in Sabah.

It defeats the very objective of the mobile registration exercise if NRD turned away genuine local villagers and their children who were at the registration centre and instead allowed outsiders being strangers to the locality to register for late birth certificates and Mykad or even as voters since Election Commission (SPR) was there in the same operation.

I admit that I have been and still am skeptical about police reports. In the past, I made several police reports and Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) reports but nothing came out of them. Simply, these authorities were never obliged to account to the maker of the progress and outcome of his or her report.

Likewise, on the same subject matter, many police reports were lodged on dubious Identification Cards (IC) activities by activists such as Dr Chong En Leong, Mutalib and others including some PBS senior leaders when they were in the opposition. None of these police reports has come to any fruition after the media reports.

Police reports are never cheap publicity. Making a police report entails a heavy responsibility other than a strong sense of justice and other serious considerations.

In Sabah, thousands of PTI or foreigners were arrested and convicted in courts from day to day for having questionable IC and Mykad which was only a small tip of a huge iceberg. Many more are still holding such dubious identity documents without being detected and still many more are being and will be given Mykad by NRD. In many instances, I would not be so sure to describe them as ‘faked’ IC or Mykad, which could be issued by NRD. Perhaps, it is more accurate to describe them as IC or Mykad issued by NRD but based on faked or fictitious particulars.

Rightly or otherwise, the persistent inaction and callous conducts on the part of the federal government and NRD have shaped a general public perception and opinion that the federal government and relevant authorities such as NRD are the mastermind behind the entire scandalous scheme, ultimately to manipulate election results at targeted constituencies by BN particularly UMNO.

Many political leaders including BN leaders knew about the NRD bogus IC list of dubious IC holders who were registered as electoral voters in the Sabah electoral roll. Being in BN, BN leaders opted the silent approach and prefer it to their political advantage.

Infiltration of PTI or foreigners as electoral voters has brought about drastic change to our political landscape resulting marginalization of the once majority indigenous people of the State of Sabah. Sabah electoral roll is polluted with fraud and conspiracy for power and control.

A formerly election commissioner while he was the election commission secretary once said the electoral roll for Sabah ought to be thrown to the sea.

NRD must act now to recall and revoke all IC or Mykad within the NRD bogus IC list and to re-process their applications on a case to case basis so as to determine whether or not such applications are genuine based on statutory requirements.

Sabah, once a beautiful nation of peace and harmony, may never be the same again without a holistic reform. In reality, Sabah is being, if not already, ruined by our own administrators due to the reckless greed for power and control at the expenses of the well being of the people of Sabah. It is time for change.

KONG HONG MING

Anwar Ibrahim: The Future Of Malaysia

2009-09-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

Part 1: SEE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE

Part 2: SEE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE

Part 3: SEE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE

Part 4: SEE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE HERE

PERUBAHAN MALAYSIA SEBAGAI NEGERI POLIS

2009-09-03T04:50:00.001-07:00

Saudara Malaysia dan Warga Sabah sekalian, saya menulis pos terbaru ini dengan hati yang penuh hiba, kerana Negara kita yang tercinta ini cepat atau sedang dalam process perubahan menjadi negeri polis, atau pun kini sudah menjadi nyata.

Sebelum memberikan beberapa petunjuk untuk mendokong kenyataan ini,, biralah saya memberikan maksud definasi apakah itu Negari Polis?

Merujuk kepada Kamus Wikipedia, kenyataan Negari Polis adalah merujuk kepada, negeri dimana kerajaannya mengamalkan, pengawalan secara pengongkongan dengan tegas kepada soal social, ekonomi, dan kehidupan politik rakyat. Negeri Polis mencerminkan unsur unsur totalisma (muktamad) dan pengongkongan kawalan sosial, dan sememangnya mengamalkan sedikit atau tiada perutusan di antara rang undang undang dan semuanya kepada amalan kuasa politik yang berlebihan.

Raykat yang dibendung dan dikongkong dengan kuasa di bawah Kejaraan Negeri Polis akan mengalami Mobiliti atau pergerakkan terbatas, di mana pergerakan mereka tertakluk kepada pemantauwan dan pengkuatkuasaan pihak Polis. Kawalan secara berpolitik akan diamalkan sebagai panduan dan diketatkan oleh kuasa politik di negeri tersebut.

Sekarang dengan segala dukacitanya saya ingin mendedahkan bukti kenyataan ini. Sebulan yang lalu, pada tanggal 3 Ogos, pasukan Gerak Khas dari 7 RAMD, telah merempuh ke sebuah Pulau di Semporna yang di namakan Pulau Pandanan Kecil dan mengarahkan semua penduduk penduduk pulau tersebut menurunkan semua Bendera Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) yang berkibar di setiap anjung rumah rumah mereka. Apabila penduduk pulau berkeras agar tidak menurunkan bendera bendera tersebut, pasukan Gerak Khas dengan paksaan, menurunkan sendiri bendera bendera tersebut.

Apabila penduduk pulau, yang kini sangat kecewa dan marah, memohon penjelasan daripada daripada pegawai pasukan Gerak Khas, siapa yang memberi arahan tersebut? Mereka hanya diberi tahu bahawa arahan tersebut datangnya dari “Bos”, tanpa memberi sebarang nama. Saya berpendapat kita tidak memerlukan graduan roket saintist untuk mengetahui siapakah “bos” yang dimaksudkan?

Sedih dan kecewa dengan perakuan anggota tentera tersebut, penduduk Pulau Pandanan Kecil di Semporna telah membuat laporan rasmi polis di Pejabat Polis Semporna. Peristiwa yang menghayat hati ini telah sempat dirakam dan digambar untuk dijadikan bukti utama kenyataan ini dan memperingati peristiwa penghinaan yang memalukan ini. (sila tekan untuk melihat rakaman tersebut 1) (sila tekan untuk melihat rakaman tersebut 2)

Peristiwa di Pulau Pandanan Kecil Semporna ini,, mencerminkan betapa tercabarnya dan dengan rasa takut yang mendalam, kerajaan pemerintah kepada kemunculan parti parti pembangkang. Maka itu, mereka telah di arah untuk memberikan ancaman dan terus menindas rakyat yang menyokong mana mana parti pembangkang.

Ancaman ini merangsangkan rasa malu kepada regim kerajaan pemerintah yang telah mengarahkan dan mempersalahgunakan wang rakyat dan kewangan institusi di Negara ini. Tangungjawab utama mereka untuk mengekalkan dan mengawal keselamatan Negara dan memberikan keutamaan kepada rakyat, telah diabaikan. Ancaman ini semata mata di buat untuk memenuhi dan mengekalkan nafsu politik dan kedudukan mereka, agar mereka akan senantiasa dapat menghisap kekayaan Negeri ini untuk kekayaan mereka sendiri dan untuk semua kroni mereka. Di manakah ungkapan “Satu Malaysia” yang dilaung-laungkan:- Rakyat Didahulukan, Keselamatan Rakyat diutamakan?

Bagi saya, biarlah mereka merampas dan menurunkan semua bendera-bendera parti pembangkang yang berkibar dengan megah di seluruh Negara, Tetapi mereka tidak dapat merampas dan menindas apakah yang tersirat di hati setiap rakyat Malaysia.

Ini lah antara peristiwa dan adegan yang yang sangat memalukan dan keji, pernah berlaku di negeri kita yang tercinta ini semenjak pilihanraya umum. Perakuan perebutan dan pencengkaman dalaman diantara komponen komponen parti BN seperti MCA, MIC, PPP dan lain-lain, akan menjadi kenyataan akan permulaan keruntuhan regim kerajaan perintah ini.

Semangat Kemerdekaan Menyanggah Perhambaan dan Membina Keyakinan Baru

2009-08-31T06:21:00.000-07:00

Apabila mendekati tarikh 31hb Ogos, ingatan kita akan mengimbas kembali rentetan peristiwa dan perjuangan rakyat yang berkemuncak dengan Kemerdekaan. Tarikh tersebut terungkap sebagai tarikh keramat ,menjanjikan kebebasan daripada cengkaman penjajah dan menyelamatkan martabat hidup rakyat.

Persoalan yang menerjah kita semua ialah; bagaimana kita menghayati makna tarikh tersebut hari ini. Pergulatan ini menjadi penentu kepada persoalan makna diri kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia.Tekad baru untuk memahami makna diri Malaysia sebagai bangsa merdeka juga menuntut kita untuk memahami bagaimana kita menjadi tidak merdeka; bagaimana kita hilang kemerdekaan sebelum kita memperolehinya kembali.

Lebih dua ribu tahun yang lalu, Brutus bertanya warga Kota Rom “siapakah yang begitu hina sehingga mahu hidup sebagai hamba ?” Ceasar mahu memiliki kuasa yang tidak terbatas. Nafsunya sebegitu besar dan mahu memastikan Rom dalam genggamannya.

Pertentangan antara Brutus dengan Ceaser adalah pertentangan antara kebebasan menentang nafsu kekuasan tidak terbatas. Sejak negara kita merdeka kita masih bergelut dengan pertentangan ini. Kebebasan – kebebasan bersuara, kebebasan media, kebebasan institusi kehakiman sentiasa mahu disekat oleh penguasa. Oleh itu kita menginsafi hanya bangsa yang pernah melalui gelita penjajahan akan mengerti makna cahaya kemerdekaan. Bagitu juga, hanya diri yang pernah kebebasannya diragut akan menghargai nilai kebebasan.

Syarahan Perdana Professor Dr. Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas yang berjudul Islam Dalam Sejarah Dan Kebudayaan Melayu juga menghuraikan dengan panjang lebar peranan paksi tauhid sebagai aqidah menambat keyakinan baru yang menolak faham tahyul dan perhambaan, seterusnya menjadi pelantar kepada pemikiran yang berakar dengan tradisi aqliyah dan mencernakan budaya segar dengan bahasa Melayu sebagai pertuturan kepustakaan(lingua franca) rantau ini. Ratusan tahun berlalu yang sewajarnya tambah memperkukuh dan memantapkan semangat dan keyakinan baru tersebut.

Cantik sungguh puteri Palembang,
Sayang bersunting bunga pudak;
Betapa keras dilambung gelombang,
Kucacak tiang, kulayar jua.

Manakala melangkaui separuh abad kemerdekaan, kita rakyat Malaysia sewajarnya mempunyai kesedaran betapa Bahasa Melayu bukan sekadar bahasa pasar, bahasa komunikasi basahan untuk berjual beli. Bahasa Melayu adalah bahasa ilmu, bahasa tamadun dan bahasa untuk mengungkapkan pengalaman kemanusian yang paling mendalam dan luhur. Bahasa Melayu telah menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian untuk umat Islam, makanya Bahasa Melayu juga seharusnya menjadi bahasa intelektual dan kerohanian umat Budha, Hindu, Kristian dan lain-lain keyakinan.

Bahasa Melayu yang saya sebutkan di sini bukanlah bahasa milik orang Melayu semata-mata. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik rakyat dan bangsa Malaysia yang berketurunan Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan, Dayak dan lain-lain. Bahasa Melayu adalah milik semua rakyat Malaysia.

Kemerdekaan mestilah tidak terperangkap dengan bahana dari politik sempit dan kelam sesebuah parti politik tertentu. Kemerdekaan perlu di lihat dari perspektif rakyat keseluruhannya; perjuangan pelbagai kaum, menggunakan pelbagai wadah, dan melibatkan pelbagai aliran pemikiran. Sejarah ternyata mengajar kita bahawa Perjuangan Menuntut Kemerdekaan menerbitkan kesatuan semangat untuk menentang penjajah dan imperialisme Barat ketika itu.

Generasi terdahulu yang sama-sama berjuang untuk kemerdekaan, dan mereka yang menempuh zaman mudanya di masa awal kemerdekaan menjadi saksi kepada kepelbagaian aliran dan wadah perjuangan rakyat. Tetapi penulisan sejarah kemerdekaan yang disampaikan kepada generasi hari ini masih belum berlaku adil kerana fakta yang bercampur propaganda. Ini merupakan beban dan tanggungjawab kepada ahli-ahli sejarah kerana tanpa pensejarahan yang adil, kita tidak akan dapat melihat dan menemui makna dan rupa diri bangsa kita yang sebenarnya. Nama pejuang kemerdekaan seperti Dato’ Onn Jaafar, Ustaz Abu Bakar Baqir, Dr Burhanuddin al Helmy, Ahmad Boestamam, Mat Salleh, Panglima Rentap dan Rosli Dhobi tidak sewajarnya digelapkan dari sejarah menuntut kemerdekaan.

Kemerdekaan adalah untuk kebebasan dan keadilan. Inilah yang dijanjikan kepada kita pada 31 Ogos 1957. Sekiranya kita mahu berdegil untuk meneruskan saki baki peninggalan feudal, atau mahu memperkokohkan lembaga-lembaga sistem otoritarianisme, sudah pasti kita menjadi bangsa yang terpinggir. Bangsa Malaysia tidak miskin dengan sumber daya manusianya. Dengan paras pembangunan yang telah dicapai dan kekayaan yang kita miliki Malaysia boleh menjadi negara yang besar. Dan kita perlu yakin bahawa Malaysia boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar. Tetapi kita tidak boleh menjadi bangsa yang besar sekiranya rakyatnya tidak bebas dan merdeka.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

1 Black Sabah

2009-08-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

The decision last year by the Sabah State Government to scrap the proposed 300MW coal-fired power plant project in Silam, Lahad Datu once again put the spotlight on the perennial power shortages which the people in this state have long suffered. For many, these disruptions to daily economic and social activities can only be suffered in silence as the decision makers are heartless and hard of hearing. It seems power cuts have become the norm in Sabah.

The sole power utility provider in Sabah is the Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (SESB) - 80% owned by national utility giant Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), with the remaining 20% being owned by the Sabah State Government.

The manner in which the Silam IPP project was awarded in 2007 leaves much to be desired in the way of transparency and fair evaluation on the part of the Federal Government, and corporate governance on the part of TNB. For the first time, the Federal Government decided to undertake a tender exercise for an IPP project, with a supposed objective to obtain the best possible technical and commercial proposals. When this tender closed, sometime in June 2006, a total of 13 bids were received, including one from a TNB subsidiary i.e. TNB REMACO.

The chronology of events, as shown below, subsequent to tender closing gives substance to my earlier comments regarding transparency and corporate governance:

§ The evaluation committee, though comprising independent technical and financial experts, was headed by TNB, even though a TNB subsidiary was one of the bidders;

§ The evaluation committee then proceeded with a detailed evaluation of EACH of the 13 bids received, such bids being evaluated against their individual and specific merits and demerits;

§ The bidders were bidding for only 60% of the project’s equity as the bid documents clearly stated that the remaining 40% had been reserved for “Sabah bumiputera” interests;

§ When the Federal Government finally announced the award of the project almost a year after bids had closed, it awarded 80% of the equity of the project to a consortium comprising three of the original 13 bidders i.e. TNB REMACO, Eden-Nova Nusantara and Maser, and Yayasan Sabah the remaining 20%. How could evaluation of 13 unique, specific and individual bids lead to an award to a group of 3 of them? Was this group ever asked to submit a fresh proposal as a consortium? Why weren’t other bidders encouraged to team up as consortia and submit fresh proposals on the basis of consortia and not individual bidders? Why was the portion reserved for Sabah bumiputera interests inexplicably reduced from 40% to 20%?

§ This consortium proceeded to sign an engineering, procurement and construction contract (EPCC) even before its Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with SESB had been negotiated and signed. One might see this either as taking a business risk or complete arrogance on the part of TNB, in that TNB felt it would easily be able to pressure its subsidiary, SESB, to put pen to paper. Why complain now that the turbines have already been ordered?

Now that the Sabah State Government has scrapped the project on environmental grounds, TNB/SESB is crying aloud as to why the project must be allowed to proceed albeit at another “more suitable” location. TNB/SESB’s premise is that such a power plant must be constructed in Sabah’s East Coast for contingency and system requirements.

Given this requirement then, and apart from relocating the project, shouldn’t TNB/SESB also be required to suggest alternative fuels for the power plant, gas perhaps? Sabah, as yet, does not have sufficient volume of biomass to sustain a 300MW power plant. The proposed Silam plant was to use imported coal from Kalimantan anyway, so why can’t natural gas be “imported” from Sabah’s West Coast to the East, either via pipeline or as liquefied natural gas (LNG) using sea-going tankers. After all, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Japan’s largest power utility, imports LNG from MLNG in Bintulu for its power plants. Perhaps by coincidence, the new Sabah Oil & Gas terminal at Kimanis is being designed to serve only as a transit point for gas being exploited offshore Sabah, this gas eventually being piped to Bintulu to be converted to LNG for export to Japan and China for use in power plants there.

Such a trans-Sabah gas pipeline could also serve as a catalyst for industrial development along its route especially for energy-intensive industries (e.g., cement and steel manufacturing) and gas-related industries like petrochemicals and so on.

At the time the project was being designed, coal was at a market price of around US$50 per tone. But in line with global fuel price increases, average coal price now stands at about US$100 per tone. In the Malaysian PPAs (power purchasing agreements), fuel price is a pass-through cost i.e. the power purchaser will pay the IPP whatever price it pays for its fuel. Bearing in mind that local natural gas for power production is quite heavily subsidized by the Federal Government, does not it make economic sense to use a fuel whose price is controlled as compared to one which is subject to the vagaries of market forces? The party eventually bearing the burden of high fuel costs will be the rakyat, as TNB is 70% owned by the Federal Government, leading to SESB being 56% owned by the Federal Government and 20% by the Sabah State Government i.e. a total of 76% in state ownership.

What will happen to the consortium? Will the same consortium be asked to propose a more environmentally-friendly power project and site? Why wasn’t there any coordination between Federal and State governments prior to the implementation of this project?

The sad saga of how the Federal Government continues to mismanage the award of power projects in Sabah does not end here.

In the mid-1990’s, the Federal Government awarded a 120MW open-cycle gas-fired IPP project in Kota Kinabalu to a consortium comprising Time Engineering, EPE, Sabah Energy Corporation and Aras Setia (an unheard of, local Sabahan political crony outfit). The consortium called itself Powertron Resources Sdn. Bhd. A few years down the road, Ranhill Berhad bought over the equity holdings of Time and EPE, thereby becoming the major shareholder in Powertron, subsequently re-naming it Ranhill Powertron.

Towards the end of 2005, the Federal Government approved the conversion of Ranhill Powertron’s 120MW open-cycle plant to a 190MW combined-cycle plant to benefit from the technical and economic efficiencies of such a conversion. The completion date stated in the revised PPA which Ranhill Powertron signed with SESB was March 2007. The project was finally only completely commissioned in 2008.

Parallel to obtaining Federal Government approval to convert its Powertron plant to a combined-cycle plant, Ranhill submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Federal Government for a new 190MW combined cycle IPP plant, to be located adjacent to its Powertron plant. The supposed benefits of this project were that it would enjoy economics of scale with the Powertron project and as such Ranhill would be able to offer the lowest IPP tariffs in Sabah. Yet again, the Federal Government gave its approval to the new Ranhill Tuaran IPP project. The completion date stipulated in Ranhill Tuaran’s PPA with SESB was July 2008.

Ranhill Tuaran ran into problems right from the start, facing problems with the private owners of its proposed power plant site, eventually leading to these landowners filing court action. Why did the Government approve this project when Ranhill could not even show proof of ownership of the proposed project site?

In an effort to prevent delays to the project, SESB stepped in and procured the land from the landowners and then leased it to Ranhill Tuaran. The company was further given an extension of time to complete the project by 2010. The first power plant unit for this project with a capacity of 65MW was supposed to be commissioned by November 2009 but progress on the ground has been slow and this date looks more like February 2010.

Although there has been and continues to be a public outcry over the performance and attitude of SESB, there seems to have been no commensurate change in the mindset of the top management in SESB. A recent statement from SESB stated amongst others that the utility was spending RM26 million to repair a 20MW diesel generator in Sandakan, thus making it seem as if SESB was reaching deep into its pockets to repair a generator which had broken down due to faulty technical parameters.

Little does the public know that the said generator is actually one of two diesel-fired gas turbines on board SESB’s power barge anchored off Sandakan. The generator had been in good operating condition but has incurred this much of repair expenditure not because of plant breakdown but because of mal-operation by SESB personnel. To further add insult to injury, the second unit on board this power barge has also broken down recently, again due to mal-operation and not technical reasons.

The protracted delays in all of the scheduled power projects mentioned earlier, and the poor operating methods employed to run its existing generators, will see SESB facing acute generation adequacy shortfalls in the short and medium terms. Whilst the lobbyists and UMNO/BN cronies play out their own power games within the corridors of Putrajaya, the ordinary, tax-paying rakyat of Sabah will be left facing more dark nights and hot, sweaty days and incalculable economic losses.

courtesy of "powerman"

人民公正党沙巴财政谢圣铭医生，足请国能有限公司的主席，首席执行员，以及全体董事会成员自愿性，集体总辞，以对无法有效和彻底解决沙巴的电供问题负责。他透露“国能是一家总资产达678亿令吉的公司，2008年的营运额265亿令吉，净利达26亿令吉。无法解决沙巴的区区数十兆瓦的短缺问题，是件可耻的事情”。

谢圣铭医生表示“在先进国家，那些负责人民的基建和最基本的生活条件物资的个人或单位，在无法有效执行工作或出现差错时，会引咎辞职。又或是接受减薪的处分，直到问题和危机得到圆满解决，省下的薪金可以用在疏解人民的不便”。

国能的远景是“成为在国际间，能源和相关业务的领头企业”。国能的使命是“我们承诺竭尽所能，提供卓越的产品和服务”。谢圣铭医生指出“引述国能的远景和使命在沙巴的情况，使叫人难堪和羞耻的”。他更建议国能，在放眼在相同领域的国际企业间扮演领头羊之前，请正视自己后院的窘境，以及沙巴人民苦难。

“ 沙巴作为一个全国最大的原油和天然气生产州，以及通过全国最大棕油生产基地加工生产生物材油的出口地，却被联邦政府严重的亏待，遭受不公平的待遇。很多时候，沙巴人民的处境已经来到无计可施；一些非政府组织，甚至是政党，也惟有上街示威抗议的最后手段，毕竟，这个顽固的问题已经困扰沙巴30多年了！” 谢圣铭医生愤愤不平的细数沙巴被联邦政府长期忽略时，如此表示。

“记得30年前，当我还是个小孩时，我的家就频频经历停电的困扰；如今我学成归来，30年后回到我的家乡和家人身边，同样的问题还在发生，没有停止过。营业各行各业的业者，更是活在水深火热之中，各个方面的成本因此高涨，更有不能维持，面对亏损的！” 谢圣铭医生如此叙述。

courtesy of Dr.Roland Chia.

"When a communal party becomes a racist party, it will destroy the country!" - Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

2009-08-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

In clear simple words Datuk Zaid Ibrahim drove home the message: "Malaysia is for all Malaysians, not for a particular race. If we can understand this and try not to think of ourselves as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans then we are truly Malaysians." These were the key words in his first maiden visit to Sabah when addressing more then 500 members, supporters and invited guests in Kota Kinabalu.

Another important message from him was that ..."it was time for politics to have principles." He said that while Barisan Nasional's (BN) strength lay "in its power (over) the police, Election Commission and control of the media ... that of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lay in the consultation, brotherhood and fraternity."

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim also stressed that "PKR is a party for all and not for a particular race. UMNO has become so disillusioned with its struggle, to the extend that it will do anything and at any cost, to stay in power, even to the extend that the people have to suffer for it. This is where PKR differs he said; for PKR struggles for all races and all the people."

He added: "This country was built by many groups of people. Negara cemerlang, terbilang, gemilang - this is all our contribution, all the communities."

The event also witnessed the launching of a book titled "Lest We Forget" written by activist and now PKR member, Dr.Chong Eng Leong.

Among the National and State PKR leaders that attended the event themed "An Evening with Zaid Ibrahim" were PKR Vice President Datuk Dr.Jeffery Kitingan, Supreme council member Christina Liew, Sabah Deputy Chairman Datuk Kong Hong Ming, Datuk John Ghani, Treasurer Dr.Roland Chia, Information Chief Jonathan Yasin, Director of Communications Ronnie Klassen, Cabang Chiefs and heads of the Wanita and Angkatan Muda movements.

MALAYSIA UNTUK SEMUA WARGA MALAYSIA

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim berkata “Malaysia adalah untuk semua Warga Malaysia…tanpa mengira bangsa dan keturunan, kita harus memangil diri kita sebagai “Malaysian”. Bangsa Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan dan Iban adalah semua warga Malaysia yang sebenar dan Malaysia bukan untuk satu bangsa sahaja” Demikian nota utama ucapan beliau di hadapan lebih daripada 500 ahli dan penyokong PKR di suatu Majlis di Kota KInabalu.

“Tiba lah masanya untuk Politik memiliki dasar asas” Kata beliau. “sementara kekuatan Barisan National (BN) terletak kepada cengkaman kuasa kepada pihak polis, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya dan pihak akhbar di Malaysia…. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bergantung kepada kepentingan konsultasi kepada kekeluargaan bersama.”

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim juga menekankan “PKR adalah parti untuk semua dan bukannya untuk bangsa yang tertentu sahaja. UMNO telah menjadi disilusi dengan cengkaman kuasa mereka, dan sanggup melakukan apa sahaja, sebarang kos untuk mencengkam kuasa, dan UMNO sanggup merangkul segalanya sehingga rakyat merana. Ini lah dimana PKR berlainan dengan UMNO, PKR berjuang untuk satu bangsa Malaysia dan untuk semua raykat Malaysia.”

Sambung beliau, “Negara ini dibangunkan oleh semua rakyat Malaysia, “Negara Cemerlang, Terbilang dan Gemilang” ini lah sumbangan kita bersama sebagai warga Malaysia untuk Malaysia.”

Majlis yang berjodol “Malam bersama Zaid Ibrahim” ini juga telah menyaksikan perlancaran buku yang ditulis oleh Dr. Chong Eng Leong yang berjodol “Lest We Forget”. Antara pemimpin National dan Negeri PKR yang turut hadir pada malam tersebut adalah PKR Vice President Datuk Dr. Jeffery Kitingan, Ahli Kounsil Tertinggi Puan Christina Liew, Timbalan Pengerusi Sabah, Datuk Kong Hong Ming, Datuk John Ghani, Bendahari Dr. Roland Chia, Ketua Perhubungan Encik Jonathan Yasin, Pengarah Communikasi Encik Ronnei Klassen, Ketua-ketua Bahagian, Ketua Wanita dan Pemuda dan jemputan-jemputan khas.

We Know Who Is Our Common Enemy!

2009-08-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Deputy Chairman of Sabah, Kong Hong Ming has categorically denied that he ever told fellow opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to "stop dreaming" that it (SAPP) can form the Government as a stand-alone party in the next elections.

“I categorically deny having given such statement or made any suggestion on SAPP as reported in a local newspaper on 20, August.

“It’s rather mischievous for whoever responsible for the said news report to unnecessarily put me or any other PKR leader at odd with any fellow opposition party, such as SAPP.

“In fact, my stand has been and still is that PKR leaders and members at all levels should maintain a friendly and cordial relationship with all opposition political parties, including SAPP. I reminded them as to who is the real opponent of Pakatan Rakyat,” he stressed.

He clarified this in a statement issued here today, adding that PKR leaders and supporters present in the dialogue session can always vouch that he did not make such statement as alleged.

“People who know me well would vouch that I would never say such thing,” he said.

Kong further noted that the gist of his message to party members during the recent dialogue session held in Kota Belud, was to remind them to focus and work hard to serve the people and strengthen the Party which now has the second largest number of MP in Parliament.

“Strengthening PKR is strengthening Pakatan Rakyat, as the sole national mainstream political entity in the opposition,” he said.

“It is within sight that Pakatan Rakyat will form the next government” Kong said.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat wishes all our Muslim brothers and sisters Selamat Berpuasa.

PERKASAKAN SEMUA KOMPONENT PAKATAN RAKYAT BERSAMA

Timbalan Pengerusi Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sabah, Kong Hong Ming menafikan laporan yang mengaitkan beliau dengan usaha untuk memperlagakan PKR dengan SAPP seperti yang terpapar pada sidang akbar tempatan bertarikh 20 August.

Menurut laporan, beliau telah menuduh Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) untuk “berhenti bermimpi” dari membentuk kerajaan tanpa kerjasama daripada Pakatan Rakyat di pilihanraya akan datang.

Beliau menafikan membuat sebarang kenyataan tersebut atau membuat cadangan seperti berikut ke atas SAPP yang sememangnya akan menimbulkan rasa kurang senang diantara persabahatan pemimpin PKR dengan komponent semua parti pembangkang, seperti SAPP.

“Saya percaya semua pemimpin PKR dan parti pembangkang yang lain bersetujuh, bahawa kita harus bersama-sama memperkasakan persahabatan antara komponent parti pembangkang termasuk SAPP dan menerajui tujuan utama perjuangan kita bersama dalam menyeru perjuangan menebus hak rakyat di Sabah dan memberikan peluang kita untuk bertukar!” Kata Beliau.

Beliau berpendapat bahawa kenyataan ini mungkin diperlagakan semasa ucapan beliau di Kota Belud baru-baru ini yang semata-mata untuk memupuk kerjasama dari semua pihak Komponent parti untuk fokus berkerja keras demi kepentingan rakyat dan memberi kepercayaan kepada PKR dan Pakatan Rakyat yang kini mewakili jumlah MP kedua terbesar di parliament.

“Memperkasakan PKR adalah usaha untuk memperkasakan Pakatan Rakyat, dan ini adalah saluran utama semua komponent parti pembangkang” Tambah Beliau.

Kudat folk show their disgust in the face of DPM's visit

2009-08-17T01:44:00.000-07:00

The quiet , harmonious and peaceful town of Kudat, situated in the northern part of Sabah, was abuzzed with excitement and renewed vigor on Sunday 16th August 09, not because of Tan Sri Muhyuddin Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister Of Malaysia – of whom even among those with the lowest IQ know that he is only good at hurling false accusations at just about anybody who is fair-minded and innocent – but more so because the peace loving people in this serene town had at last found truly realistic ray of hope when the newly appointed State PKR leadership arrived there for their maiden roadshow.

After years and years of abuse and neglect by Umno-lead BN government, it was hardly surprising that the conference room at RIA hotel was jam-packed with members, supporters and well wishers. What does this genuine show of support prove? Don’t forget they were not paid a single sen to entice them to come and neither were they given any promise that they would be paid whatever amount f money, unlike the standard practice of BN where tons and tons of the rakyats money were distributed wantonly.

Well, such an outpouring of overwhelming support simply goes to prove beyond any doubt that PKR/Pakatan Rakyat is already well poised to wrest the State Government from Umno/BN in the next election. In their trade mark arrogant and delusional manner , Umno/BN may laugh it off as a foolish dream on the part PKR/Pakatan Rakyat, but we will see who will laugh the last and the loudest in the aftermath of the next general election when the blood sucking, incompetent, ineffective and corrupted incumbent Umno/BN government will be decisively and undisputedly booted out of office in a landslide decision made by the disgusted rakyat in Sabah.

Among the state leaders of PKT in the roadshow were Deputy Chiefs - Kong Hong Ming, Dr.Hamzah Amir, John Ghani, Secretary - Ahmad Tamrin, Deputy Secretary - Adris Taripin, Treasurer - Dr.Roland Chia, Director of Communications - Ronnie Klassen, Legal Bureau Chief - Chau Chin Tang, Wanita Rep - Bernadette Wong and Activist - Dr.Chong En Leong. This is a clear indication that they are committed to getting down to the grassroot level to bring about a change for the better

A strong supporter, Ustaz Kahar when asked how he felt about the new leadership lineup replied “This is a good lineup, young and mixed blend of dynamic individuals who are prepared to listen to the people. This is the leadership we want.” After Kudat, the state leadership also proceeded to cover Kota Marudu and Kota Belud where similar sentiments were shared among the members and supporters as well.While in Kota Marudu,Cabang Chief Anthony Pilit handed over to the state leadership 250 new members to the party.

By a stroke of coincidence, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyuddin Yassin was also in Kudat to officiate the Kudat Umno division’s annual general meeting. As expected and typical of Umnos’s propensity to exhibit the ever sickening arrogant behavior, he arrived in a helicopter like and Oil Sheik baron.

When he made his return to Kota Kinabalu, it was reported that the helicopter in which Sabah’s Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Yahya Hussien was also traveling in, was forced to make an emergency landing in Tuaran.

Whilst we are genuinely relieved that nothing untoward happened to the DPM and his entourage, one just can’t help but to wonder whether this incident could be a sign from somewhere that the unscrupulous, heavy-handed, dictatorial and the corrupted ways of Umno/BN will just have to come to an absolute and permanent end soon in the hands of the honest and fair-minded, and the long suffering rakyat of Kudat, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud and……. The whole of Sabah for that matter.

Penyokong dan Ahli Jati PKR tampil dengan padu walaupun dengan kehadiran Timbalan Perdana Menteri.

Bandar sepi Kudat yang terletak di utara Sabah merasa sungguh gembira hari ini. Harapan penyokong PKR di Kudat seakan-akan dibangunkan semula setelah menerima kunjungan daripada barisan pemimpin PKR Sabah yang baru. Kunjugan ini merupakan satu perhentian mesra bersama rakyat dan barisan pemimpin PKR ini akan mengadakan lawatan ke seluruh Sabah. Perjumpaan julung kali ini telah diadakan di bilik mesyuarat Hotel Ria Kudat. Lawatan seperti ini telah meyakinkan kepada rakyat bahawa masa untuk bertukar telah tiba dan barisan pemimpin PKR akan bertarung tanpa henti demi kepentingan rakyat. Pemimpin UMNO/BN mungkin merasa ini adalah semata-mata cerita dongeng tetapi melihat kepada sokongan daripada rakyat di Kudat, masa untuk bertukar akan tetap berlaku.

Antara barisan pemimpin PKR yang hadir ke kunjugan mesra ini adalah Timbalan Ketua Kong Hong Ming, John Ghani, Setiausaha PKR Negeri Encik Ahmad Tamrin, Timbalan Setiausaha Encik Adris Taripin, Bendahari Dr. Roland Chia,, Pengarah Kommunikasi Negeri Encik Ronnei Klassen, Ketua Biro Peguam PKR Chau Chin Tang, Wakil Wanita Puan Bernadette Wong dan Dr. Chong En Leong.

Penyokong Ustaz Kahar merasa gembira dan berpuas hati dengan barisan pemimpin baru PKR yang dinamik, segar, muda dan sedia untuk mendengar suara rakyat. “Inilah kualiti pemimpin yang kita mahu”. Beliau berkata. Dalam kunjugan ini, barisan pemimpin PKR, mesra bersama rakyat juga telah berkunjung ke Kota Marudu dan Kota Belud.

Dalam masa yang sama Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia, Tan Seri Muhyuddin Yassin juga mengadakan lawatan ke Kudat untuk merasmikan mesyuarat tahunan UMNO bahagian Kudat. Seperti Baron (orang kaya-kaya) minyak Sheikh Muhyuddin dan seperti pemimpin UMNO yang lain dating dengan penuh gaya mewah, dan diterbangkan dengan helicopter. Adalah dilaporkan bahawa semasa rombongan Timbalan Perdana Menteri terbang balik ke Kota Kinabalu, helicopter yang mereka naiki terpaksa mendarat di Tuaran dengan penuh kecemasan kerana cuaca yang kurang baik, Walaupun kita bershukur bahawa mereka semua terselamat, tetapi mungkinkah ini merupakan suatu permulaan kepada alamat yang buruk.

Dalam ucapan janji beliau dan UMNO, UMNO akan sekali lagi focus kepada pembangunan di luar Bandar terutama di Sabah dan Sarawak melalui skim NKRA (National Key Result Areas) dan akan memberikan focus kepada pembanguan asas diluar Bandar. Adalah diingatkan kepada Orang Kaya Minyak ini bahawa rakyat Sabah dan Sarawak tidak mahu pembangunan ASAS sahaja, tetapi komitmen yang tulin daripada kerajaan UMNO dan memastikan infrastuktur dan pelbagai keperluan lain harus dibangunan khusus untuk generasi kini. Kerana pemimpin UMNO memang suka berjanji tetapi jandi tidak dimahkotakan. Ini lah janji terang bulan UMNO dan rakyat Sabah dan Sarawak masih merupakan rakyat termiskin di seluruh Malaysia. Beliau berharap janji pembangunan ini dilaksanakan sebelum pilihan raya akan datang.