SPRM MATI DI HARI ‘RASMI’ KELAHIRANYA
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia secara rasminya telah di rasmikan ‘kelahiranya’ oleh YAB Perdana Menteri Malaysia pada 24 Febuari 2009, di PWTC, Kuala Lumpur.
Namun meneliti beberapa perkembangan serius mutaakhir ini maka dengan ini bagi kami Anak Muda Malaysia mengistiharkan bahawa SPRM sudah mati rohnya di hari ‘rasmi’ kelahiranya.
Gendang perang rasuah yang dipalu kerajaan ’sejak berundurnya Dr. Mahathir’ amat menarik dan ramai mula bernafas lega. Namun sejak gendang itu dipalu seolah tiada tindakan konkrit sehinggalah Badan Pencegah Rasuah (BPR) ditukar kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) diwujudkan.
Walaupun SPRM gagal menjawab dua persoalan penting yang menjadi punca utama kelemahan BPR iaitu
masih tidak bebas semua lantikan dan kenaikan pangkat masih dibawah ketiak Perdana Menteri seharusnya diletakkan terus di bawah Parlimen Malaysia untuk menjamin kebebasan.
masih terikat iaitu tidak punya kuasa pendakwaan. Maknanya kejadian siasatan keatas menteri boleh disiapkan namun tidak boleh didakwa kerana Peguam Negara mendapat arahan dari atas boleh berulang.
Namun ramai yang masih cuba melihat positif. Saya sendiri telah menjadi individu pertama menghantar laporan beserta bukti rasuah kepada SPRM pada hari pertama kewujudanya. Sememangnya laporan ini bertujuan menguji sejauh mana efisyensi SPRM yang menggunakan buget wang rakyat yang jauh lebih banyak dari BPR.
Namun setelah namun setelah hampir masuk bulan ketiga langsung tiada khabar dari laporan yang mengandungi bukti dan kes rasuah yang amat mudah diselesaikan itu. Ada maklumat dalaman yang diperolehi ada antara kes yang dihantar tersebut ditutup begitu sahaja. Malah jauh dari itu SPRM kelihatan lebih berminat bertindak berdasarkan kepentingan politik pihak tertentu.
Kes 110 orang pegawai SPRM telah menahan ahli Puteri Umno di bahagian Jempol, lalu sesi soal siasat dijalankan di sebuah hotel murah di Bahau. Ahli Puteri ini yang dikerutung oleh 10 lelaki pegawai SPRM tanpa ditemani sesiapa ketakutan dan dipaksa menandatangani surat akuan palsu bahawa dia menerima rasuah. Selepas perkara ini terdedah Setiausaha KEADILAN Rembau telah membuat laporan polis sebaliknya SPRM telah membuat laporan balas dan mengugut untuk saman. Kes ini disenyapkan begitu sahaja.
Kes 2Seorang AJK Umno Bahagian Temerloh telah diseksa ‘ala siksaan Abu Gharib’ untuk mendapatkan tandatanganya dalam satu akuan ‘palsu’ yang mengakui dia menerima wang dari seorang pemimpin Umno
Setelah diselidiki dua kes ini bukan kes terpencil. Banyak kes hampir berlaku lagi namun ahli Umno yang ‘terkena’ takut untuk tampil ke depan. Perkembangan ini membuktikan SPRM kelihatan seronok diperkudakan oleh kumpulan politik tertentu untuk mencapai kehendak politik mereka.
Dalam perkembangan antara parti pula SPRM jelas menjalankan kerja politik bagi pihak Bn.Kes aSeorang ahli KEADILAN bahagian Kuala Pilah pilah telah ditangkap ekoran laporan Ahli Parlimen Kuala Pilah. Kononya dia yang bekerja sebagai budak pejabat di sebuah institusi kewangan menawarkan jumlah wang mencecah jutaan ringgit untuk memujuk ahli parlimen Kuala Pilah untuk keluar Bn. Ahli KEADILAN yang ditahan ketika bekerja di pejabatnya ini dibawa ke Pejabat SPRM Seremban untuk sesi soal siasat. Namun amat menyedihkan sesi soal siasat ini bertukar menjadi sesi brain wash atau turn over dimana Pegawai Penyiasat menyerang peribadi Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Kes bDalam isu hangat bertukar parti akhir - akhir ini, Ketua Pengarah SPRM secara tiba - tiba mengeluarkan kenyataan berminat untuk menyiasat ADUN Bota apabila beliau mengistiharkan masuk KEADILAN (walaupun tanpa ada laporan). Namun apabila 4 ADUN Pakatan Rakyat masuk Bn, SPRM seolah seronok dengan perkembangan tersebut dan tidak pun keluar kenyataan minat untuk siasat.
Kes c dan seterusnya berkaitan dengan ratusan malah mungkin mencecah ribuan laporan yang dibuat beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini kepada BPR dan kini di bawa kehadapan atas nama SPRM mengenai salahguna kuasa pemimpin politik Bn mahupun pegawai tinggi kerajaan. Namun seolah tiada tindakan diambil. Saya pernah menghantar semula kertas siasatan dimana BPR pernah menyelesaikan kertas siasatan dengan mendapati 2 menteri bersalah kerana rasuah namun BPR sendiri dalam kertas siasatan yang sama menyarankan agar pendakwaan tidak dilakukan jika menteri tersebut meletakkan jawatan dalam kerajaan dan parti politik. Nampaknya SPRM juga gagal berbuat apa-apa ke atas kertas siasatan tersebut.
Laporan kes penglibatan Peguam Negara dan Ketua Polis negara mereka bukti (palsu) dalam kes Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim juga gagal disiasat. Kes Pita Linggam SPRM diamkan. Malah dalam kes melibatkan Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Zaki, SPRM langsung tidak menunjukkan minat walaupun YB Karpal Sigh telah mendedahkan bukti rakaman suara Tun Zaki mengaku menerima rasuah.
Pendedahan terbaru Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di parlimen juga memeranjatkan dimana beliau punya bukti bahawa SPRM punya bukti dan tangkapan ketika urusan rasuah dijalankan oleh Bn Kedah ketika sedang dalam operasi membeli ADUN (KEADILAN) Kulim.
Di Selangor tentu ramai yang mempertikaikan kerajaan PAKATAN kerana sebelum PRU 12, terlalu banyak tuduhan rasuah ke atas Khir Toyo tetapi selepas Khir Toyo tumbang sebagai MB kenapa tiada pendakwaan? Untuk pengetahuan semua Khir masih selamat kerana dilindungi aparat kerajaan seperti SPRM. Selepas kalah polis mengepung bangunan yang menempatkan SUK dan Pejabat MB Selangor untuk operasi musnahkan dokumen. Laporan rasuah telah dibuat bukan dalam satu isu tetapi berpuluh isu ke atas Khir Toyo namun SPRM kelihatan mandul.
Jika BPR kelihatan sebagai kuda tunggangan Bn tapi kini SPRM ini kelihatan bukan setakat jadi kuda tetapi kelihatan seronok dan bersungguh untuk jadi kuda terbaik kumpulan politik tertentu dalam Bn.
Sehubungan dengan itu, atas nama Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia, sebuah badan gabungan ‘tanpa ikatan’ yang menggabungkan anak muda Malaysia yang mempunyai cita - cita perubahan (tanpa kira latar politik, kaum dsb) hadir di depan Ibupejabat SPRM Putrajaya ini bagi tujuan memprotes dan memberi amaran kepada SPRM. Di istiharkan juga hari ini kewujudan SPRM hanya membazirkan wang rakyat, memalukan negara dan lebih baik di tutup sahaja jika dua tuntutan rakyat tidak dilaksanakan.
Letakkan SPRM terus dibawah Parlimen dan semua lantikan dibuat dibawah cadangan Parlimen kepada DYMM Yang Di Pertuan Agong.
Setelah SPRM bebas berikan kuasa penyiasatan, tangkapan, penguatkuasaan dan pendakwaan penuh dibawah SPRM
Kemuncak himpunan ini akan dibakar ’salinan’ laporan dan bukti - bukti rasuah yang pernah dihantar kepada Polis, SPRM / BPR. Ini sebagai menifestasi rakyat Malaysia hilang harapan terhadap SPRM. SPRM lebih baik tidak wujud kerana kewujudanya selain membazirkan ratus juta wang negara, ia juga akan menjadikan Malaysia sebagai bahan tawa dunia. Biar dunia mentertawakan SPRM tetapi bangga melihat kebangkitan anak muda Malaysia.
Ini bukan kegiatan ganas tetapi amaran keras dari anak muda Malaysia.
Badrul Hisham Shaharin
Civil society joint statement: 25st February2009
We, the undersigned Malaysian civil society organizations and individual citizens express here our gravest concern on the Constitutional crisis in Perak – and potentially elsewhere – where parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy are threatened by defections of elected representatives and attempt to illegally sack the democratically-elected government. We hold the following principles and practices as self-evidently essential to the healthy functioning of parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.
Voters are the only legitimate force to decide the parties represented in the Parliament or a State Legislative Assembly. If an elected representative resigns from the party s/he represented in election, voters must be given a chance to re-express their mandate. This can be done through the provisions for "recall elections" as in Canada where election can be held for a constituency if 40% of the registered voters in the last election sign petition to recall the representative for whatever reasons. Two ballots will be cast in such elections. If more than 50% of voters vote "yes" in the first ballot to recall the representative, then the top amongst candidates on the second ballot will be elected as the replacement.
Meanwhile, the current prohibition of resigned incumbents from re-running elections for the next five years, in Article 48(6) of the Federal Constitution and state constitutions, should also be repealed. To oust a government, a vote of no-confidence must be carried out on the floor of Parliament or State Legislative Assembly where debates and deliberation may take place. Whether or not permissible by the letter of law, audience with the Ruler or statutory declarations cannot be the substitute of a formal no-confidence vote. If an important government bill is defeated, which has the similar effect of a no-confidence vote, the speaker must allow the executive to table a motion of confidence to ascertain the intention of the Parliament/State Legislative Assembly, if it so wishes.
When a government seeks to dissolve the Parliament or State Legislative Assembly after suffering a vote of no-confidence or losing a vote of confidence, the Ruler or Governor should not withhold his consent unless in very justifiable exceptions. In the logic of parliamentary democracies, the legislative uses no-confidence vote to check the executive which may then counter-check the legislative by seeking a new mandate at the polls. Arbitrary withholding of the royal/gubernatorial consent therefore damages the balance in the system's separation of power. As Sultan Azlan Shah rightly argued, "under normal circumstances, it is taken for granted that the Yang diPertuan Agong would not withhold his consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament.
His role is purely formal." Based on these principles, we hold that in Perak
1. As no vote of no-confidence has been passed by the Perak State Legislative Assembly, YAB Menteri Besar Mohd Nizar and his Executive Council are the only legitimate government of the State of Perak.
2. The appointment of the second state government is ultra-vires and the use of police and other state apparatus to protect this illegitimate state government hurt both parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy in Perak.
3. The dissolution of the Perak State Legislative Assembly and the conduct of a fresh election are the only constitutional, democratic and politically sensible way for Perak to come out of the deepening crisis.
We call upon all Malaysians to express support to the above position to affirm parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. We must work together so that good sense may prevail in the palace, amongst the political elites and the general public. Returning to democratic and constitutional principles is the only way out to ensure political stability and political will to stay focused and deal with the imminent economic recession.
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公民社会团体联合文告: 25st February 2009
马来西亚人民对于议会民主和君主立宪的立场 我们,签署这文告的大马的公民社会团体,欲借此声明表达我们对霹雳州宪政危机最深切的关注。那些跳巢的民选议员和使用非法途径解散民主选出的政府的举动,已经严重侵蚀我国的议会民主和君主立宪制度。 我们认为唯有坚持以下的原则和实践,才是良好的议会民主和君主立宪制度。 选民是唯一能够决定,在州议会或国会中代表他们的政党。如果一个民选的议员要从他或她的政党中辞职,选民应该有机会重新表达他们的委托。这可以透过要求选举的规定,例如在加拿大,只要有40%的上届合法选民联名签署提出要求,就可以重新选举。选民在该选举中可以投两张票。如果第一张票,有超过50%的选民认为"可以撤换"该议员;那在第二张选票中得票最高的候选人,就会被宣布成为当选的议员。另一方面,目前在《联邦宪法》中,禁止辞职的议员在五年内不得重新参选的条文,也应该被废除。 要撤换民选政府的唯一途径,就是在国会或州议会中进行不信任动议的辩论和投票。无论是统治者会面的结果或者任何宣誓书,是不能取代正式的不信任动议投票。如果执政政府的一项重要议案在议会中被否决了,它也具有如投不信任票类似的效果,议长应该允许内阁(行政权)进行信任动议的辩论和投票。 当执政政府被投不信任动议获得通过后,或信任动议不被通过后,要解散国会或州议会时,统治者在一般的情况先是不会不御准,除非是有强而有理的理由。在议会民主的逻辑下,立法权用不信任动议来检验行政权,而行政则会通过重新选举寻求委托,制衡立法权的决定。皇室或统治者任意的不御准解散州议会,将会破坏三权分立的制度。苏丹阿兹兰莎曾表示,"在正常的情况下,最高元首是不会拒绝御准解散国会的要求。他的角色是中立的。" 谨以上述的原则,我们认为在霹雳州:
1. 既然没有在霹雳州议会中,通过不信任动议;那么拿督斯里尼查和他的行政议员,依然是唯一的合法政府。
2. 越权委任的第二任州政府,和动用警察及其他州机构来保护这非法的州政府,是严重破坏了霹雳州的议会民主和君主立宪制度
3. 解散霹雳州州议会和进行选举,是唯一可以让霹雳州走出宪法危机、符合民主和通情达理的方法。 我们呼吁所有的马来西亚人支持以上的声明,以捍卫议会民主和君主立宪制。
无论在政治精英和普罗大众之间,我们必须同心合力维护这议会民主和君主立宪制的精神。还政于民和符合宪法原则,是唯一保障政治稳定的方法和要专注处理逼近的经济衰退的政治意愿。
Signed by:
Alaigal
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM)
Citizen Think Tank
Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH - CRC)
Civil Society Initiative (CSI)
Coaliation Against Water Privatisation (CAWP)
Community Development Centre (CDC)
Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (JERIT)
LLG Cultural Development Centre
Malaysia Youth and Students Democratic Movement (DEMA)
Monitoring Sustainability of Globalisation (MSN)
Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER)
Persatuan Komunikasi Masyarakat (KOMAS)
Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor dan Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
Persatuan Sahabat Wanita, Selangor (PSWS)
Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM)
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Tenaganita
Women's Aid Organisation (WAO)
Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
JARINGAN RAKYAT TERTINDAS( JERIT)
Perbicaraan pelajar UUM Choo Kok Wei yang didakwa dibawah AUKU telah ditangguhkan oleh pihak universiti kepada satu tarikh yang belum diketahui. Ini adalah akibat tekanan yang tinggi yang diterima oleh pihak universiti dari semua pihak. Syabas kepada anda semua dan Choo Kok Wei yang berani memperjuangkan hak.
Terima kasih kepada sokongan solidariti dari semua.
Salam Perjuangan Sekretariat JERIT
Malaysia: Chinese party rattled again by sex tape

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A videotape showing a top ethnic Chinese politician engaging in illegal sex acts has resurfaced in Malaysia, causing a rift in his party that could rock the ruling coalition, already severely weakened by electoral losses.A split in the Malaysian Chinese Association party, the second biggest component of the ruling National Front coalition, bodes ill for the government whose popularity has plummeted in recent months. It retained power with an unconvincing victory in the March 2008 general elections.
NGO'S BAKAR REKOD SERAHAN LAPORAN RASUAH YANG DI KETEPIKAN

Para pejuang NGO's hari ini membakar kotak-kotak yang dikatakan salinan kepada beberapa puluh laporan yang di buat terhadap beberapa pimpinan kepada BPR dan kini Suruhanjaya Pencegah Rasuah bagi di siasat,namun semuanya hanya kosong belaka.Tidak ada satu pun yang disiasat dan diambil tindakan.
Ianya di ketuai oleh Badrul Hisham atau Cikgu Bard bersama SAMM(Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia)yang membakar lebih dari 4 kotak yang berisi laporan rasuah sejak dari tahun 1990 lagi.
Ekoran tindakan pantas SPRM yang akan menyiasat kes Tan Sri Khalid berhubung dengan 43 ekor lembu dan kereta yang di gunakan, SPRM menunjukkan kesungguhan yang luar biasa untuk menyiasat.
Adakah tindakan ini dilihat oleh anak-anak muda bahawa aspirasi yang dicitakan dengan penubuhan SPRM ini adalah bertujuan menjadi alat kepada pemerintah????Jika aspirasi anak muda menilai maka yang disalahkan ialah pemerintah sendiri. Maka kerana itu Umno/Bn harus berani keluar dari tanggapan negatif ini atau mereka hanya bergantung kepada institusi ini untuk membiarkan generasi muda menilai mereka sebagai mengarut dan tidak akan berubah selamanya ...menjauhkan mereka dari parti tersebut.Inilah yang di bincangkan di dalam debat semalam antara Tan Sri Rahim Tambi Chik dan juga Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar....Maka kerana itulah ianya harus berubah......ini saranan Dato Seri Syed Hamid.Umno harus berubah.....namun SPRM akan membuatkan anak-anak muda menyatakan pendirian mereka bahawa adalah tidak mungkin Umno berubah jika inilah tindakannnya.
Apa pandangan anak muda???
1.kes yang dilaporkan tidak diendahkan malah tidak disiasat.
2. Siasatan terpilih dan contoh terkini ialah kes Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim VS Khir Toyo
3.Menyalahkan Umno kerana dilihat menguasai institusi seperti SPRM walau pun ianya bukan perbuatan Umno...jika ini benar.
PAK SAMAD NAFI DI PENGARUHI-TAK KAN SATERAWAN TERSOHOR BOLEH DIPENGARUHI KAN????

PPSMI: Samad Said nafi diperalat pembangkang
KOTA BAHARU 25 Feb. — Sasterawan Negara Datuk A. Samad Said menafikan dirinya telah diperalat pembangkang dalam usahanya memperjuang Bahasa Melayu dalam isu Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) yang digunakan sekarang.
Beliau berkata kehadirannya dalam beberapa siri ceramah pembangkang itu tidak seharusnya disalah anggap oleh masyarakat kerana apa yang penting adalah memperjelas kepada umum dalam isu tersebut.
“Bagi saya adalah halal untuk saya bercakap mengenai Bahasa Melayu yang saya perjuangkan tidak kira di pentas politik mana sekali pun.
“Umur saya sudah 76 tahun dan sudah sampai masanya saya memperjuangkan bahasa ibunda saya sebelum hilangnya Bahasa Melayu di muka bumi,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas Majlis Sembang Pagi Bersama Sasterawan Negara di Institut Pendidikan Guru Malaysia Kampus Kota Baharu di sini, hari ini. - Bernama
GUAN ENG SAMAN UTUSAN-KHALID SAMAN KHIR TOYO

Guan Eng Ketua menteri Pulau Pinang nekad akan menyaman hero Umno Pulau Pinang iaitu Shahbudin Yahya yang masih memegang tampuk YDP Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang walau pun Umno telah tewas di negeri tersebut.Kini beliau bakal di saman bersama akhbar Utusan Malaysia kerana memfitnah ketua menteri tersebut dengan alasan mendapat maklumat yang tidak sahih kononnya kerajaan negeri telah menubuhkan suruhanjaya antara agama.Saya akan tetap meyaman Utusan dan juga Shahbudin kerana mereka menuduh dengan cara keterlalauan dan tanpa bukti.
Manakala Khalid Ibrahim menteri besar selangor pula akan mendedahkan tentang akaun 17 juta yang dikatakan diterima Khir Toyo." Apa yang menghairankan, Resolusi Pengarah PNSB
bertarikh 14 September 2007 hanya meluluskan pembelian lima unit kediaman berjumlah RM8,352,427.66 sedangkan rekod PNSB menunjukkan sejumlah RM25,603,545 telah dibayar ke akaun individu di Arab Saudi dari 17 September hingga 19 September 2007."Menurut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan Sekretariat Akhbar Menteri Besar Selangor, 24 Februari lalu, kesemua transaksi dibuat atas nama Mohd Khir selaku Pengerusi PNSB atas alasan Arab Saudi hanya membenarkan hartanah di Makkah dibeli oleh individu muslim.
Malaysian government says no to Race Relations Act

The government of multi-ethnic Malaysia Tuesday rejected a proposal for a Race Relations Act, saying it preferred to review existing laws that 'are enough to keep the peace'.Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi's government said there was no need for a Race Relations Act 'because current legislations are enough to tackle issues related to race relations and unity', NST Online reported.
PERAK WOMEN FOR WOMEN (PWW) MENYOKONG ELIZEBETH

NIZAR PINDAH ..........LAWAN TETAP LAWAN

"Mereka lupa, kuasa besar dan tinggi yang BN pernah berikan kepada Speaker 50 tahun dahululah kita guna balik ikut peraturannya," kata Nizar dengan penuh semangat sambil menggesa para pengundi menolak Umno dan BN dalam pilihan raya yang akan datang.
"Kami anak jantan, sangup berdepan dengan mereka dengan apa jua keadaan pun!"
Artikel dalam blog MYKMU yang dituduh menghasut...
Ampun Tuanku Beribu Ampun,Adalah menjadi harapan patik-patik sekalian rakyat jelata agar Tuanku Sultan Perak mengambil tindakan segera ke atas Speaker Dewan Undangan Negeri Perak dan mereka yang bersama beliau menggantung Menteri Besar Perak dan Barisan EXCOnya dari menghadiri sidang DUN Perak.
Tidak pernah ada dalam sejarah orang Melayu ada manusia bukan Melayu boleh membuat keputusan bawa barang sesiapa yang hadir Majlis Tuanku Raja Melayu sebagai satu tindakan menghina negeri jajahan takluk tuanku sendiri.Jika zaman dahulu orang seperti Sivakumar ini sudah lama dibunuh oleh Laksamana Melayu. Hari ini orang Melayu sudah menjadi bacul-sebaculnya. Tidak pernah dalam sejarah Melayu pembesar Melayu mengangkat sembah kepada bukan Melayu, hari ini sudah berlaku di DUN Perak dan Selangor.
Ampun Tuanku Beribu Ampun, Sembah Patik Harap DiampunSejak April 2008, cacing sudah menjolok mata. Apakah Tuanku ingin membiarkan cacing ini terus bermaharajalela tanpa batasan? Pada hemat patik pacal yang hina, sudah tiba masanya Tuanku menintahkan hukuman buang negeri ke atas sekumpulan bukan Melayu yang merasakan mereka sekarang raja di Perak.
Jangan terus berdiam diri, patik khuatir suatu hari nanti nasi sudah menjadi bubur, tragedi Kuala Sepetang berulang lagi. Nyahkan Sivakumar dan mereka yang terbabit membuat keputusan kononnya menghadiri majlis tuanku satu kesalahan keluar dari negari Perak Darul Ridzuan. Apakah guna seorang rakyat negeri tuanku jika majlis tuanku pun dianggap haram dan hina?
Cukuplah orang Melayu menjadi bacul jangan sampai penaung orang Melayu pun dilihat tiada bertaring.Ampun Tuanku, sembah patik harap diampun!Sembah dari Rakyat Marhaen
EDITOR MYKMU
Video contribution by John Motes, ICFJ-Malaysiakini citizen journalist trainee.
ALIRAN MEDIA WORKSHOP
The workshop is structured in a manner which will allow for input from the speakers as well as active participation by the participants. There will be break-up sessions to encourage participants ‘read critically’ the content of the media. Comparisons will also be made between mainstream media and the Internet media It is hoped that such ‘media awareness’ or ‘media literacy’ would empower young people as active citizens of a democracy to demand real changes in the way the news is reported.
The Labour Party of Malaya, 1952–1972
The Labour Party of Malaya, 1952–1972
, 21 February 2009 19:08
The rise and demise of the Labour Party of Malaya was an important experience of socialist politics in Malaysia. Mistakes were made and many leaders and members paid a heavy price for them. Even so, their courage, commitment and sacrifices before and after independence cannot be denied a proper historical appreciation, observes Tan Kim Hong in tracing a brief history of the party.
The Labour Party of Malaya (LPM) was a multi-ethnic socialist party of the 1950s and 1960s. Its political origins lay in the ‘New Trade Unionism’ of the Cold War period. Before Merdeka, the anti-communist International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), with the support of the colonial government, encouraged the formation of a non-militant trade union movement and moderate Labour Parties located in different regions of the country. Yet, the LPM grew into a mass radical political party whose rise and fall were crucially shaped by circumstances often beyond its control.Regional labour parties
The first regional Labour Parties shared some characteristics of organisation and ideology. Their leaders were English-educated leaders of the Malayan Trades Union Congress. Their members were largely Indian and Malay members of public service unions. The parties were modelled on the British Labour Party, having democratic socialism and multi-culturalism as guiding principles. However, they were different in policy formulation and execution. The Penang Labour Party spoke earnestly of moulding national consciousness and instituting administrative reforms to help the down-trodden. It paid some attention to the issue of self-government but steered away from the core question of ending colonial rule.
On the other hand, the Selangor Labour Party expressly aimed to achieve independence through constitutional means. Its other important objectives were economic egalitarianism, the socialization of the means of production, equitable income and wealth distribution, and political liberalization.The colonial government tacitly supported the involvement of such regional Labour Parties in elections but prohibited them from expanding beyond their geographical boundaries. Thus, the Labour Parties operated in restricted spaces. Their leaders could only conduct limited discourses with their small membership. Besides, it was difficult for them to transcend existing language barriers to disseminate ideas of social justice and political equality to the masses.On 26 June 1952, the Pan-Malaya Labour Party (PMLP) was formed from the amalgamated membership of the Penang, Selangor and Singapore Labour Parties. With Mohammad Sopiee as its National Chairman and Osman Siru as his deputy, the PMLP was more a liaison organization than a structured party.
The party did not admit individual members but accepted all democratic labour and socialist organizations as members. Its formation was expedient, to take advantage of early electoral politics; yet, it was a pioneering attempt to galvanize workers’ support in impending municipal elections. The PMLP’s constitution had two main objectives: to co-ordinate labour and socialist organizations to achieve national independence, social justice, and political, social and economic emancipation; and to cooperate with labour, socialist and other organizations in Malaya and elsewhere to promote a higher standard of social and economic life for workers.The PMLP’s first policy statement, Towards a New Malaya, passed in September 1952, laid out much of its programme which included democratic socialism, workers’ participation in industrial policy-making, land for the peasants, and provisions for social welfare, medical and health services, and social security and pension schemes for all.
In economic management, the PMLP wanted to check industrial and commercial monopolies, provide agricultural subsidies to farmers, enlarge the acreage of rubber small holdings, manage the rubber industry, reform the salary structure of workers, and revamp the taxation system.In 1953, sixteen intellectuals including D.S. Ramanathan, Tan Phock Kin, N. Patkunam, Lee Kok Liang, C.Y. Choy, Tan Chong Bee and V. Veerapan from the Fabian Society of Penang joined the PMLP. These professionals and teachers, all social democrats, moved to immerse themselves in politics, offering analyses, recommendations, and political participation vastly different from those of the moderate trade unionists favoured by colonial officials. By early 1954, the PMLP had come to resemble the British Labour Party, advocating gradual economic nationalization and a welfare state.Pan-Malaya Labour PartyOn 5 June 1954, the PMLP took the new name of the Labour Party of Malaya (LPM). With the election of Lee Moke Sang as its Chairman, the LPM proclaimed itself a political organization to unite the workers and peasants of Malaya and struggle for a united, independent and democratic nation.
The LPM’s manifesto for the 1955 Federal Election was inclined towards socialist reforms. (See box for details) On the eve of Merdeka, LPM gained from the Chinese school students’ movement and the national workers’ movement; the organizational collaboration between an emerging Socialist Youth League and the Pan-Malaya Union of General Workers; and cooperation with Partai Rakyat (founded in December 1955). These developments brought LPM victory in the George Town Municipal Council election of 1957. The party won five out of the nine contested seats, a result that strengthened the party’s multi-ethnic mass base in Penang, and gave a leading role to the Penang Division in the LPM’s national structure. The Socialist FrontMerdeka Day was a turning point in LPM’s history. With Parti Rakyat, the LPM formed a coalition, the Malayan People’s Socialist Front (SF), which was the second legal alliance to transcend communal differences.
The SF’s 1959 policy statement, also named as Towards a New Malaya, laid out its position on the national language, art and literature, education, the Orang Asli, Malay reservation land, plantations and mines, fisheries, labour and social welfare, and defence and foreign policy.In subsequent local government elections, the SF won control of the City Council of George Town, and the local councils in Jinjang, Serdang, Tanjung Sepat, Pengkalan Titi and elsewhere. In George Town, the SF fulfilled some of its campaign promises, for example, by implementing low-cost housing projects such as the People’s Court in Cintra Street and the Kampong Selut scheme in Jelutong.
In the 1959 General Election, the SF progressed in mixed constituencies in Selangor, Johore and Penang: it gained 34.6 per cent of the popular vote cast in the constituencies it contested. The SF was poised to be a non-communal socialist alternative in Malayan politics during the 1960s.The issue of ‘Malaysia’The SF confronted a huge political obstacle, however, in the ‘Grand Design’, previously conceived by Britain, and promulgated as ‘Greater Malaysia’ by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman in May 1961. Following a Five-State Socialist Conference of the proposed Malaysian territories, held in Kuala Lumpur in January 1962, the LPM moved to accept Malaysia in principle at its 9th Annual Conference in August. The LPM’s new Secretary-General, Lim Kean Siew, maintaining that the merger of Singapore with Malaya was inevitable, nonetheless warned that ‘unless our thinking is radically changed and the inconsistencies of the Malaysian concept are removed, ultimate conflict and disintegration is inevitable.’However, the party rank and file became bitter over the ‘Malaysia issue’ after the detention under the Internal Security Act of Lim Chin Siong and the Barisan Sosialis and SATU leaders in Singapore under Operation Coldstore in February 1962.
The use of the ISA there, coupled with the arrest of Parti Rakyat Chairman, Ahmad Boestamam in Malaya, was seen as a move to repress the left in Malaya and Singapore. From then on, the SF’s relationship with the regime badly deteriorated.SF’s declineThe SF’s performance in the 1964 General Election was adversely affected by two major factors. First, allegations had been made from June 1963 of malpractices in the City Council of Georgetown and other SF-controlled local councils. Second, the Alliance, the People’s Action Party, and the United Democratic Party – respectively led by the Tunku, Lee Kuan Yew and Dr. Lim Chong Eu – vehemently attacked the SF as the ‘fifth column’ of Indonesia. Despite SF’s repeated acceptance of Malaysia and a 5-Point Plan to secure a truce between Britain and Malaysia, and Indonesia, the SF and LPM fell victim to the psychological manipulation of voter sentiments and suffered their worst defeats, even in their own electoral bastions. It is quite likely that some LPM cadres and functionaries were convinced then to adopt a ‘hard line’ vis-à-vis the regime.
Soon they found other reasons to be so. In the 1960s, the ISA was widely and indiscriminately used to detain hundreds of LPM and SF leaders and members in Taiping, Batu Gajah and Muar. Repeated repression of this sort undermined the LPM and SF’s organizational effectiveness. The detentions of Ishak bin Hj. Mohammad, Abdul Aziz bin Ishak and Datuk Kampo Radjo on untried charges of setting up a government-in-exile during Konfrontasi with Indonesia were attempts to repress the Malay Left.In 1965, key SF leaders, such as Chairman Hansul bin Abdul Hadi, Secretary-General Tajuddin Kahar and Assistant Secretary-General Tan Kai Hee were arrested to foil a demonstration called for 13 February, the SF’s Human Rights Day, to commemorate the second anniversary of Ahmad Boestamam’s internment. Radicalisation under repressionThe pace of radicalisation intensified. The SF’s Perak Division hailed the ‘February 13 Incident’ in Kuala Lumpur as an epochal event in the struggle against neo-colonialism, and an instructive lesson in class struggle.
The LPM division in Perak went on to develop a theory of shili douzheng (militant struggle). A different kind of problem developed after Singapore’s separation from Malaysia on 9 August. Within the SF, the LPM and Parti Rakyat diverged, principally over the issue of official language. In December, Parti Rakyat resolved to break away from the SF while Lim Kean Siew announced that the coalition would end on 16 January 1966. At this juncture, internal quarrels terminated the SF’s control of George Town City Council and LPM lost a most important political platform.Between July 1964 and June 1965, LPM Assistant Secretary-General Dr. M K Rajkumar had warned the party of the infiltration of agents provocateur who would create internal confusion and division. The Perak Division’s stance was part of a smear campaign against the ‘rightist’ LPM leaders, five of whom resigned in March 1966. An ad hoc Central Secretariat now led the party towards more strident radicalization in ideology and tactics with worsening repercussions. An Anti-US Imperialism Campaign resulted in the mass arrests of cadres, members and supporters.
The LPM Central Secretariat called an Extraordinary National Delegates Conference on 24–25 September 1966 that resolved to expedite ‘anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, anti-feudalism and anti-Malaysia’ struggles.’ While combining ‘mass struggle’ with ‘constitutional struggle’, the Conference placed the former ahead of the latter as a strategy to wrest political power.The end of the LPMIn October 1967, the 13th National Delegates’ Conference in Penang passed ‘ultra leftist’ resolutions on such matters as US imperialism, Soviet revisionism, the Cultural Revolution in China, the Vietnam War, ISA, worker-peasant united front, mass organizations and revolutionary strategies.The LPM now initiated regular street demonstrations all over the country which culminated in the Penang hartal of 24 November 1967 in response to the unpopular devaluation of the Malaysian currency. The regime’s response was more repression with ISA and other measures.
The party was crippled when divisions in Penang, Johore and Malacca, and 36 branches in the country were proscribed. The Kedah Division’s call for a boycott of the 1969 General Election was endorsed on 29 September 1968 by an Enlarged Central Committee Meeting comprising three de jure members and several other divisional representatives. By the end of the year, in protest against another wave of arrests on 9 November, LPM councillors at all levels had resigned from their positions. And, after ‘May 13’, 17 other LPM branches were banned and over a hundred members were detained.
In September 1969, an accord of understanding was reached between LPM’s Lim Kean Siew and Dr. Rajakumar and Parti Rakyat’s Kassim Ahmad and Syed Husin Ali to hold to ‘scientific socialism’, ‘working class solidarity’ and ‘the unity of the people of all nationalities’ against ‘chauvinism and narrow nationalism’. No steps were taken to work towards such objectives. Three years later, in September 1972, the Registrar of Societies deregistered the LPM on account of its failure to submit annual reports for several years. The rise and demise of LPM is an important experience of socialist politics in Malaysia. Mistakes were made and many leaders and members paid a heavy price for them. Even so, their courage, commitment and sacrifices before and after independence cannot be denied a proper historical appreciation.
LPM Manifesto for 1955 Federal Elections
To implement planned economy to fulfill needs of the Malayan people. All exploitation of the workers should be stopped and all monopolies and inefficient industries should be nationalized;
To amend the Labour Law and the Trade Union Ordinance. All unions to enjoy the full rights of free assemblies and political participation;
To provide the poor with legal assistance;
To solve problems of unemployment, and to
enforce minimum wage and parity for women workers;
To resolve issues of land indebtedness and to assist peasants with land, agricultural cooperatives, agricultural banks and collective farms;
To promote local industries with tariff protection;
To establish a Central Bank to regulate circulation of money and
To implement compulsory free primary education, and to develop secondary schools and tertiary education.
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Yusmadi angotai Kumpulan Penasihat Rentas Parti

, 21 Februari 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, 20 FEBRUARI (SK) - Ketua Angkatan Muda Pulau Pinang, Yusmadi Yusoff dilantik untuk menganggotai Kumpulan Penasihat Rentas Parti (Cross Party Advisory Group, CPAG) yang dianggotai tokoh politik pelbagai parti,
Kumpulan yang ditubuhkan oleh sebuah badan pemikir profesional, Malaysia Think Tank (MTT) ini turut dianggotai oleh Setiausaha Agung Pas yang juga Ahli Parlimen Tumpat, Kamarudin Jaffar, Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Tunku Aziz Ibrahim, Ahli Parlimen Pulai dari Umno Nur Jazlan Mohamed dan Ahli Jawatankuasa Pusat MCA Wong Nai Chee.
Menurut Yusmadi yang juga Ahli Parlimen Balik Pulau, penubuhan kumpulan ini adalah satu tindakan berani yang diambil oleh Malaysia Think Tank beliau akan sedaya upaya untuk membantu kumpulan ini.
“Model rentas parti yang digunapakai oleh MTT merupakan satu model berani. Saya akan cuba membantu sebaik mungkin pertubuhan yang bercita-cita tinggi ini ke arah memperkukuh demokrasi di negara kita,” katanya yang dipetik dari laman Malaysia Think Tank.
Sementara itu, mengulas perlantikan berkenaan, Ketua Pengarah MTT, Wan Saiful Wan Jan berkata tokoh-tokoh ini walaupun berlainan pemikiran polikik, namun sebagai sebuah organisasi, MTT tidak bercakap mewakili mana-mana tokoh-tokoh ini.
“Memang terdapat perbezaan dan kami sedar bahawa mereka merupakan tokoh-tokoh yang disegani yang akan terus berkhidmat untuk parti masing-masing demi untuk negara. Kami akan meminta nasihat mereka untuk melahirkan idea-idea yang boleh membantu menjadikan Malaysia lebih maju dan harmoni,” katanya.
Mana amukan AMK?
Melihat kemelut politik yang menjadi2 serta serangan ganas umno/BN terhadap PR aku tertanya2 ke mana perginya ketua AMK dan anak2 buahnya..
sehingga minit2 ini tiada kenyataan 'menggugat' dari mereka..
Kes lompat, ugut dan yang terbaru Elizabeth Wong sepatutnya hanya ditangani oleh Anak2 muda, tak perlu tunggu Anwar..
setakat nak dedahkan kes skandal pemimpin Umno sesama dalam parti,huh! kan dulu dah bongkar tapi la ni senyap je..
Khir Botox masih belum cukup dimalukan sebab tu dia masih berani menyalak lagi..Azmin bagi tempoh seminggu dari Jumaat lepas supaya Khir minta maaf, jika tidak dia akan telanjangkan Khir..
Ahhh!! Azmin ..anak muda mana?
Bukan tak boleh jumpa YB atau mana2 ahli majlis untuk meninjau kontrak dan projek...(haha)..tapi seperti yang aku kata dulu, "kita belum menang semua!"..
Perjuangan belum tamat malah makin susah!
Percayalah,
Sehebat mana pun perjuangan Anak muda PKR hari ini masih belum dapat menandingi sehelai bulu hidung perjuangan ketuanya dahulu biarpun mereka menganggap Mat Ezam sudah sesat dan khianat!
Posted by kulupSakah at 3:11 PM
TERTARIK JUGA DENGAN PANDANGAN DARI KULUP SAKAH NI.MEMANG BETUL EZAM DI ZAMAN SUMPAH KERAMAT DAPAT MENGGEGARKAN PEMUDA KEADILAN WAKTU ITU.
Sokongan Wanita PKR Zon Utara Kepada YB Elizabeth Won
Drop ISA charges against RPK
Aliran would like to echo the plea of secretary-general Jean-Francois Julliard of Reporters Without Borders requesting His Majesty the Yang diPertuan Agong to intercede in the case of Raja Petra Kamarudin who is better known as RPK.RPK was detained under the ISA for posting certain articles in his web-page that were deemed to be a “threat to internal security.” He has been posting many, many provocative articles for years.
His articles have been eye-opening, thought-provoking, sensational, and simply incredible. His web-page has an amazing number of daily hits, proving that he has a large following.His readers are from all backgrounds. They are amused, angry or incredulous but no one has rioted or threatened the security of the nation because of RPK’s articles. This is why it is difficult to believe that RPK is a “threat to internal security.” There is no evidence even to hint of this possibility.He is already facing a series of court charges for some of the articles. Aliran has no quarrel with this. If anybody felt defamed or hurt by his articles, the aggrieved party should sue him and take him to court.
The government should not be suing RPK on behalf of the aggrieved party. While some of the cases are on-going, why is it necessary to detain him under the ISA? Instead of resorting to the ISA, can’t RPK be pinned down by existing laws and taken to court to be judged for his alleged offence?The obnoxious thing about the ISA is that there are no charges against a person and no right of defence is available to the unfortunate detainee. He is simply detained for no definite reason.He was detained on 12 September 2008. RPK challenged his detention.
The High Court released him on 7 November 2008. Can’t we let matters rest at that instead of pursuing it further to put him away?As far as the people are concerned, the widespread perception is that the government is intent on putting him away because he has damaging information that could discredit the BN government. The BN is worried that his articles will expose the BN and ridicule it in the eyes of the public. This is a very persuasive belief.Aliran hopes that His Majesty will intercede to ensure that every subject of his will be treated with courtesy and accorded justice, which is a fundamental right of a person.
P RamakrishnanPresident
19 February 2009
A Photo Scandal Roils Malaysian Politics


As intraparty elections near in the country's biggest political party, the temperature rises
With intra-party elections scheduled for March in Malaysia's United Malays National Organization, there seems to be no stopping the deluge of political crises in Malaysia. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has made it his mission to claw back as many opposition seats as he can in the effort to gain primacy for his faction within the party, which has been riven for months by interparty squabbling that has put many of his lieutenants at risk.
In rapid fire over recent weeks, the Perak state government, like Selangor led by the Pakatan Rakyat, was toppled via a coup-de-tat in which three state legislators crossed the floor although the state assembly was not in session to hold a no confidence vote. At about the same time, Pakatan in Kedah lost another state legislator who was forced to resign when it became known that he had two wives, illegal for non-Muslims.
The latest, but probably not the last, occurred with the humiliation of Elizabeth Wong, an unmarried 37-year-old Selangor state assemblywoman and councilor for Pakatan Rakyat, the national opposition party. As the world knows, Wong's jilted boyfriend sent photos of the woman sleeping nude to the media and the blogosphere. Although Wong had not posed for the photos, they kicked off a huge fuss in the conservative country and resulted in her offering her resignation. If it is accepted, it would mean there would be three by-elections.
The aggressive tactics, most of them credited to Najib, have included the filing of scores of police complaints against Karpal Singh, the veteran lawyer and national chairman of the Democratic Action Party, one of the three component parties of Pakatan Rakyat. Karpal Singh offered to sue Sultan Raja Azlan Shah, the titular head of Perak, after Azlan Shah named an UMNO chief minister to head the Perak assembly when the body was still in a 28-28 tie. The opposition speaker, from the Democratic Action Party, has refused to seat the new chief minister or the executive councillors, however, continuing the constitutional crisis.
The accusations against Karpal and other Pakatan members are meant to attempt to whip up ethnic Malay resentment against the opposition although UMNO leaders have, when they found it necessary, attacked the sultans themselves. In particular, Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister, accused them of giving the country away to the British colonialists and a long list of other sins. His son, Mukhriz, was one of those who filed a complaint against Karpal Singh.
UMNO and the rest of the Barisan Nasional, or national ruling coalition, had been perceived as fumbling and unable to slow the march of the opposition, led by onetime Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, since March 8, 2008 national elections in which the coalition lost its historic two-thirds majority in parliament and five state legislatures. Since the start of the year, however, the opposition coalition has been under unceasing attack on all fronts.
The contest is especially lethal in Selangor, the most developed state and a national jewel, contributing about 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Shortly after the general elections, the UMNO-controlled Malay media singled out Teresa Kok, a four-term Member of Parliament and Selangor senior councilor. The former Selangor chief minister, Mohd Khir Toyo, accused her of trying to abolish the azan, the Muslim call to prayer. At the height of the assault, Utusan Malaysia, a Malay newspaper owned by UMNO, published a short story in which a narcissistic woman politician who appeared to share some of Kok's attributes was assassinated. Kok has claimed that the character refers to her and has sued Utusan, Khir and the writer of the short story.
The current episode is probably a new low in Malaysian politics, observers say. Politicians have called it "gutter politics", while Wong herself said, "The distribution and publication of these photos/video is a malicious attack on my personality. This constitutes a gross outrage on my modesty, a gross invasion of my privacy, and in particular the sanctity of my personal life. It is being done by unscrupulous persons to embarrass and discredit me."
*THE POLITICAL GAME MUST END*

What had happened in Perak is the subversion of the people’s government by elements courting unethical and corrupt people to bring about the downfall of a duly elected government.
This dishonourable government that was created by the BN to frustrate the will of the people now finds itself out-manoeuvred and out-smarted by the original group that was elected into power as the people’s government.
It would appear that there would be no end to this political game unless fresh elections are held for the people to settle this issue once and for all. People are frustrated and angry that the government elected to govern is unable to govern.
Governance through their elected representatives has come to a standstill. This situation is intolerable and totally unacceptable. This stalemate should not be allowed to linger on.
The only solution to resolve this predicament is to dissolve the state assembly and hold fresh elections. This is something that Aliran has been advocating ever since the trouble started in Perak.
Since the Election Commission seems to be willing and eager to conduct elections simultaneously on April 7, 2009, it would be appropriate to have the Perak state elections on April 7 as well!
In the interest of the nation the crisis in Perak must be brought to an end through the will of the people. Let the people decide decisively their choice of government. This is very crucial particularly at a time when concrete strategies from an accountable government are sorely needed to combat the ravages of recession.
Let the political game end forthwith and let’s get back to the serious business of running a government in the interest of the people and the state.
P Ramakrishnan
President
19 February 2009.
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LAWATAN YB HAMDAN
Lawmaker’s ex-boyfriend to be questioned for her nude pictures

Kuala Lumpur, Feb 18 (IANS) Malaysian Police Wednesday said they will question the former boyfriend of a woman lawmaker whose nude pictures have been circulated on the Internet.
Elizabeth Wong, executive councillor (minister) in Selangor state, has denied any wrongdoing saying that the pictures were taken and circulated without her knowledge and consent.
She offered to resign to ‘protect’ her party, Parti Kadilan Rakyat (PKR), Tuesday after the news got out.
However, opposition leader and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim rejected the offer and urged her to reconsider it.
“Azizah (PKR chief Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) and I will meet up with her again to discuss and see what is best for her. I have asked her to rethink her options,” New Straits Times quoted him as saying Wednesday.
There was indignation in Dewan Rakyat (parliament) and human rights groups condemned the incident, demanding that the guilty be booked.
The suspect former boyfriend has not been named, but media reports Wednesday said he was Wong’s personal aide who moved out some months ago when their relationship broke down.
For PKR and the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat (PR), this is another blow after V. Arumugam, the only ethnic Indian legislator in Pahang state, resigned following a scandal around his suspected second marriage without divorcing his first wife.
Non-Muslims cannot have more than one wife in Muslim majority Malaysia.
Arumugam sent in his resignation without meeting the assembly speaker and left for Chennai, India.
The country’s health minister had to resign last year after a film showing him performing sex with an unknown woman was circulated.
The latest incident has triggered a media debate, even as two journalists of Malay Mail newspaper are cooperating with the police by surrendering Wong’s photographs that they found on the net.
“It is news and there is an obligation to report what transpires after that and how a public figure responds to an unfolding event of great stress to her and the reactions of those around her,” The Star said in a commentary.
“Despite everything we say about the right to privacy and our public position that Wong did no wrong, it will be hypocritical if those concerned still insist that she pay the price with her resignation.
“Let’s admit and acknowledge that for a wide section of the public - the vast majority of us normal human beings - there are boyfriends and girlfriends and intimate moments of great privacy.
“If a partner violates that privacy for any reason, the other party is not to blame - the blame lies with the person who broke that trust, not the person who gave it,” the newspaper said.
Politician offers to quit over nude pics

February 17, 2009 - 4:34PM
A prominent Malaysian opposition politician tearfully offered her resignation on Tuesday after photos of her in the nude were circulated to the media.
Elizabeth Wong, one of Malaysia's top human rights activists, blamed government "gutter politics" for the release of the images, which reportedly show her sleeping in her bedroom.
Newspaper reports have speculated that the images may have been taken by a former boyfriend.
"I wish to state that I am not ashamed of my sexuality as a woman and a single person. I have broken no laws. I stand by the fundamental principle in a democracy that everyone has a right to privacy," she told a press conference.
The photographs, which are circulating via mobile phones but have not yet been published in the media, have caused a political storm in Malaysia, which is a conservative and predominantly Muslim country.
Wong, a bespectacled 37-year-old who is not married, is a well-known member of the multiracial Keadilan party led by Anwar Ibrahim, who steers the three-member Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance.
She has won support from both sides of the political divide, including from women in the Barisan Nasional coalition and the Pakatan Rakyat.
But there have also been calls for her to quit her seat in the Selangor state assembly, which the opposition won for the first time in general elections a year ago.
"She is a single person. How can she allow a man into her room when they are not married? What's the status of the relationship," said Mohamad Khir Toyo, the former Barisan Nasional chief minister of Selangor.
Keadilan officials said that Anwar would make an announcement later on Tuesday on whether Wong's resignation would be accepted, triggering a by-election which would not affect the balance of power in Selangor.
They said they feared other more compromising pictures may emerge unless Wong stood down.
"I believe that these attacks will continue with greater intensity," Wong told the press conference, adding that Barisan Nasional would "continue to manipulate the situation".
"Accordingly I have decided to make a stand in the interests of the party and its struggle for the people," she said, as a group of supporters holding flowers and banners yelled their support.
Malaysia: Blogger vows to die in silence if re-arrested

Kuala Lumpur, 16 Feb. (AKI) - Rebel blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has vowed to die in silence as a sign of protest if he is re-arrested on what many believe are politically motivated grounds. His pledge came as a court was due to rule whether he is to return to prison under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA), Raja Petra, who has risen to prominence as a pro-opposition blogger, was arrested on 12 September after accusations lodged by several religious groups who claim that he offended Islam in an article published on 8 August.
April elections to test Malaysia PM’s popularity

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s incoming prime minister will face his first referendum in two simultaneous by-elections just days after taking office in early April. The polls, to be held a month after the government’s rollout of a second stimulus package, will also gauge public acceptance of Najib Razak’s management of a country whose exports are tumbling and whose economy looks set to slide into its first likely recession in eight years.
The outcome of the votes will not alter the national political power balance, but opposition victory will keep Anwar Ibrahim and his alliance on track as contenders to win power in the next general elections due by 2013. Anwar’s People’s Alliance won control of five of Malaysia’s 13 states and denied the government its iron-clad two-thirds parliament majority in last year’s general elections.
It has also won two by-elections in the last six months, but suffered a recent setback after losing control of the state of Perak in a political coup by the National Front. “Whether intended or not, the timing of the two polls means it will be seen as referendum on Najib as Prime Minister,” said Ibrahim Suffian, director of respected opinion pollster the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.
The by-elections, called after the death of an MP in Perak and the resignation of a state lawmaker in neighbouring Kedah state, will be held simultaneously on April 7, the Election Commission announced yesterday.
The polls are a just week after Najib takes office as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister with poll ratings that stand at 41 percent versus 46 percent for incumbent Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
That the polls will happen only after Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party completes internal elections where Najib stands unopposed as party president, will allow the party to close ranks before heading for the vote.
The Democratic Action Party (DAP). one of three members of the People’s Alliance, accused the Election Commission of giving UMNO, the lead component in the National Front, an unfair advantage. “The fractious and internecine UMNO party elections until March 28 had been the primary consideration of the Election Commission ... so that the campaign will be held after the UMNO elections and Najib has become the Prime Minister,” said DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.
Observers are keenly watching how voters will take to the second stimulus package that Najib, who is also finance minister, will table in parliament on March 10.
Najib has not revealed any details about the spending plans beyond the fact that it will be larger than the 7bn Malaysian ringgit ($1.94bn) stimulus announced in November.
Najib on Thursday announced a 21 million ringgit allocation from the second stimulus package would be given to mission schools in the eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak, where Anwar has been trying to make inroads.
Campaigning will be especially intense for the Bukit Gantang parliament seat in Perak, where public anger over the coup against the Pakatan Rakyat remains high.