Dr Mahathir gets Mother Teresa award
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the first Malaysian to receive the Mother Teresa Memorial International Award for Social Justice.
The award was presented during a ceremony at Taj President Hotel in Mumbai, India, yesterday.
Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir received the award on behalf of his father, who is recuperating from a mild heart attack.
Dr Mahathir’s personal assistant Adzlin Azhar said the award was given in recognition of Dr Mahathir’s efforts in pushing through national unity in a multiracial and multireligious country.
“During his tenure as the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir had ensured that economic development and progress was enjoyed by all, regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds,” she said when contacted yesterday.
“The award was given in honour of his achievement.”
Adzlin said the award, given by the Harmony Foundation, was to honour men and women of integrity.
Meanwhile, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zahid Hamidi considers Gerakan President Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik's dissatisfaction with the language used by some Umno delegates when debating Malay interests at the recent Umno General Assembly as inviting polemics among the communities.
"Umno spokesmen will not say anything if Gerakan or other parties, representing the Chinese community, do not raise the social contract and Malay special rights issues," he said in a statement to Bernama here.
Dr Lim Saturday expressed his dissatisfaction with the tone of language used by the Umno delegates when debating at the assembly that ended on Friday.
He had said that the delegates should have not attacked or offended other races when expressing their opinions on the interest of a community.
The social contract says that at that time , the less advance Malays should be given extra protection. No one is complaining of that. But how was it implemented?.
"mindful of the sensitivity surrounding the Malay issues" have they think the same way of other race such as chinese & indian ?
So many extremist speech during last week's UMNO's annual assembly, Why Datuk Zahid Hamidi never criticise his colleagues in UMNO of being extremist? Who are the ones spitting out racial sentiment and waving the Kris ?
The social contract should not be used to bulldoze into satisfying the greed of a small group of people. The leaders should think of the country as a whole and of all Malaysians regardless of race.
The famous son-in-law thinks otherwise, it is mormal at an internal party gathering, to use this type of tune of language to address in a meeting.
Umno Youth is confident that its Barisan Nasional (BN) counterparts can accept that the sensitive issues discussed at the Umno General Assembly which ended on Friday as something normal at an internal party gathering.
"I feel they ( BN components) will understand as their gatherings too are heated ones but perhaps not as fiery," said the movement's Vice Chief Khairy Jamaluddin when asked to comment that some quarters had not been pleased by the nature of debates at the assembly.
He, however, said that Umno Youth would meet its BN counterparts over the matter to iron out any potential misunderstanding so that it did not become a problem during the next general election.
He said that the debates became an issue as this year's Umno general assembly was televised live for the first time.
"Those who have never seen the assembly before will be shocked by the no holds barred debates when delegates spoke on religion and race," he told reporters after attending the Pasir Salak Umno Aidilfitri gathering near here.
He said that what were expressed during the assembly were the feelings of the grassroot and not about conflicts the partners had, as they (components) had a good relationship based on mutual respect.
IT’S about time we revisited the darkest period of Malaysian history and learned something from it. Writes Brendan Pereira, New Straits Times.
Excerpt :
Skip past the weeks and days leading to the race riots, and don’t bother trying to apportion blame. That is an exercise in futility. All we need to understand is that very bad things happen when chaunivism and racism edge out reason.
Spend a bit of time studying the period of curfew, of hardship, the despair and the gargantuan task of rebuilding a country and repairing its damaged psyche.
And then focus on the Malaysians who injected compassion, integrity, reason and a spirit of oneness in the days after May 13, 1969. This country survived and rose from the ashes of those difficult days because of their voices.
* In an interview with the Straits Times on July 7, 1969, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman said: "The second-rank politicians, the people who will take over from older politicians when they retire, are far more extreme than we are. But this doesn’t worry me because when we were younger, we, too, were extremists and refused to compromise with the British.
"When these politicians come into power, they will understand the basic fact that we just have to get on together."
* Tun Dr Ismail on June 8, 1969 said: "The best advice I can give people who think that they can run this country better is to make sure that they understand the conditions in this country. In Malaysia, where the racial balance is so fine, a lot of responsibility was called for from those who wanted to enter politics and who wanted to govern the country."
* Speaking to the National Association of Muslim Students on Aug 3, 1969, Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie said: "We know today that our nation faces its gravest challenge... If we are weak or faint-hearted, then the danger will overwhelm us. If we are enthusiastic but short-sighted, then we shall gain only the illusion of victory...
"But if we have the vision and tenacity, then we shall snatch from these perilous times the opportunity to create a truly motivated society which will be our proud gift to the generations which are yet to come.
"We must challenge the times, not in gestures, not in whispering campaigns, not in coffeeshop politics but in purposeful and positive activity."
* In a speech broadcast over radio and television on July 1, 1969, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein said: "Fellow Malaysians, I have outlined our new approaches to economic development and our new methods of implementation of development programmes. In all these efforts, our aim is more work and greater prosperity.
"But I must make it very clear that this increase in prosperity is not for any particular group or community. This prosperity must be widely shared and must be spread throughout the nation. This prosperity is for all.
"Only in this way can we correct, the imbalance that exists, and rebuild trust and confidence among the various racial groups in our country. On our ability to achieve this objective rests the survival of our nation and the peace and happiness of our people."
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi belongs to this generation of politicians. He saw the harm caused by words and misplaced actions in 1969. As a young civil servant, he was a member of the National Operations Council and heard the heated but rational discussions on the future of Malaysia.
He must have been influenced by Tun Abdul Razak and the other wise men of those times.
He sounded like one of them when he delivered his winding-up address on Friday when he reminded ruling party members that they must not only be fair to Malays but also to everyone else who called Malaysia home.
He acknowledged that Umno members had the right to debate issues on the special position of Islam and the special privileges.
But "we must never forget the rights of other races as stipulated under the Constitution. We must uphold the Constitution which was agreed upon by past leaders — both Malays and non-Malays".
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the last of that generation. Will future Malaysian leaders — from Umno, MCA, Gerakan — speak in that tone and display such compassion?
Imelda Marcos starts recycling her trinkets
By Jonathan Owen -( Independent News )
Imelda Marcos, once one of the world's most conspicuous consumers, yesterday launched a jewellery line that she described as "both worthless and priceless". It is unlikely to unduly dent the sales of either Tiffany or Cartier.
The 77-year-old widow of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos has lent her name to "The Imelda Collection". It includes earrings, necklaces, brooches, pins, combs and cuff links.
Many of the items have been recycled from things Marcos picked up on her travels, while others are fashioned from items the government failed to seize after the family's fall from power. Their prices, however, are not for ordinary Filipinos. A hairpin made of olive jade, freshwater pearls, antique French glass, Austrian crystals and woven glass beads with white, gold-plated chain was priced at 5,800 Philippines pesos (£61), about half a month's salary for an office employee. A necklace made from a vintage brooch, glass beads, cat's-eye gemstone, freshwater pearls, orange calcite and ribbons cost 15,600 Philippines pesos (£165).
Mrs Marcos was notorious for her shopping sprees abroad. Following her husband's fall in 1986, she was found to have collected 1,220 pairs of size-8 shoes.
Saddam trial 'flawed and unsound'
The trial of Saddam Hussein was so flawed that its verdict is unsound, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch says.
HRW said "serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects" meant the 5 November trial for crimes against humanity was not fair.
The Iraqi government has dismissed the report, telling the BBC that the trial was both "just and fair".
The ex-Iraqi leader has two weeks to lodge an appeal but his lawyer claims he has been blocked from doing so.
Appeal controversy
Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi told the BBC his team had been prevented from filing appeal papers. Under Iraqi law it must be done within a month of sentencing.
However, the chief prosecutor, Jafaar al-Mousawi, has told the BBC it was a fair trial.
He said the appeal would be automatic because a death sentence had been passed - and that the relevant papers had been sent to the appeal court.
Mr al-Mousawi's claims that the trial was fair were echoed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari:
"We believe strongly that the trial was fair and Saddam Hussein had every right to defend himself," he told the BBC. "The procedure, I think, in the court, was witnessed by the whole world."
"It wasn't something done behind closed doors or through summary justice, as was the case during his rule. And we stand really by the court's verdict, and we believe the trial was just and fair."
Historical record
Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants all faced charges of crimes against humanity relating to the deaths of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on the Iraqi leader in 1982.
Two of his co-defendants also received death sentences.
Saddam Hussein is now being tried on a different set of charges relating to a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s, in which more than 180,000 people are alleged to have died.
The New York-based HRW group said the trials were among the most important since the Nazi trials in Nuremberg after World War II.
They "represent the first opportunity to create a historical record concerning some of the worst cases of human rights violations, and to begin the process of a methodical accounting of the policies and decisions that give rise to these events", the report said.
The BBC's David Loyn in Baghdad says HRW's disappointment is the greater because it considers the Iraqi court to have failed to take account of the international significance of this trial and the one currently under way.
Supporters of war crimes trials say that they can improve healing after conflict, our correspondent says, but like so much else in post-Saddam Iraq, his trial does not seem to have achieved that lofty ambition.
Lawyers murdered
HRW based its scathing assessment on extensive observation of court proceedings, and interviews with judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and court administrators involved.
The trial took just over one year to complete and was the first case brought before the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Proceedings were marked by frequent outbursts by both judges and defendants.
Three defence lawyers were murdered, three judges left the five-member panel and the original chief judge was replaced.
Defence lawyers boycotted proceedings but HRW said court-appointed counsel that took their place lacked adequate training in international law.
In addition, important documents were not given to defence lawyers in advance, no written transcript was kept and paperwork was lost, said HRW.
The defence was also prevented from cross-examining witnesses and the judges made asides that pre-judged Saddam Hussein.
'Indefensible penalty'
The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority decided that the Dujail trial would be held by an Iraqi court in Iraq, ruling out an international tribunal or a mixed Iraqi-international court under UN auspices, the HRW report said.
Because Iraqi lawyers and judges had been isolated from international criminal law, this decision resulted in a court that lacked the expertise to prosecute crimes against humanity on its own, the report said.
Defence counsel come under criticism in the report for trying to use the court as a political platform.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government was guilty of influencing the independence of the judges, the report said, to the extent that the first chief judge resigned.
"Under such circumstances the soundness of the verdict is questionable," HRW concludes.
"In addition, the imposition of the death penalty - an inherently cruel and inhumane punishment - in the wake of an unfair trial is indefensible."
(Source: BBC News)
Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Mahathir Asia ASEAN Bush Singapore Imelda Marcos Saddam
The award was presented during a ceremony at Taj President Hotel in Mumbai, India, yesterday.
Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir received the award on behalf of his father, who is recuperating from a mild heart attack.
Dr Mahathir’s personal assistant Adzlin Azhar said the award was given in recognition of Dr Mahathir’s efforts in pushing through national unity in a multiracial and multireligious country.
“During his tenure as the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir had ensured that economic development and progress was enjoyed by all, regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds,” she said when contacted yesterday.
“The award was given in honour of his achievement.”
Adzlin said the award, given by the Harmony Foundation, was to honour men and women of integrity.
Meanwhile, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Zahid Hamidi considers Gerakan President Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik's dissatisfaction with the language used by some Umno delegates when debating Malay interests at the recent Umno General Assembly as inviting polemics among the communities.
"Umno spokesmen will not say anything if Gerakan or other parties, representing the Chinese community, do not raise the social contract and Malay special rights issues," he said in a statement to Bernama here.
Dr Lim Saturday expressed his dissatisfaction with the tone of language used by the Umno delegates when debating at the assembly that ended on Friday.
He had said that the delegates should have not attacked or offended other races when expressing their opinions on the interest of a community.
The social contract says that at that time , the less advance Malays should be given extra protection. No one is complaining of that. But how was it implemented?.
"mindful of the sensitivity surrounding the Malay issues" have they think the same way of other race such as chinese & indian ?
So many extremist speech during last week's UMNO's annual assembly, Why Datuk Zahid Hamidi never criticise his colleagues in UMNO of being extremist? Who are the ones spitting out racial sentiment and waving the Kris ?
The social contract should not be used to bulldoze into satisfying the greed of a small group of people. The leaders should think of the country as a whole and of all Malaysians regardless of race.
The famous son-in-law thinks otherwise, it is mormal at an internal party gathering, to use this type of tune of language to address in a meeting.
Umno Youth is confident that its Barisan Nasional (BN) counterparts can accept that the sensitive issues discussed at the Umno General Assembly which ended on Friday as something normal at an internal party gathering.
"I feel they ( BN components) will understand as their gatherings too are heated ones but perhaps not as fiery," said the movement's Vice Chief Khairy Jamaluddin when asked to comment that some quarters had not been pleased by the nature of debates at the assembly.
He, however, said that Umno Youth would meet its BN counterparts over the matter to iron out any potential misunderstanding so that it did not become a problem during the next general election.
He said that the debates became an issue as this year's Umno general assembly was televised live for the first time.
"Those who have never seen the assembly before will be shocked by the no holds barred debates when delegates spoke on religion and race," he told reporters after attending the Pasir Salak Umno Aidilfitri gathering near here.
He said that what were expressed during the assembly were the feelings of the grassroot and not about conflicts the partners had, as they (components) had a good relationship based on mutual respect.
IT’S about time we revisited the darkest period of Malaysian history and learned something from it. Writes Brendan Pereira, New Straits Times.
Excerpt :
Skip past the weeks and days leading to the race riots, and don’t bother trying to apportion blame. That is an exercise in futility. All we need to understand is that very bad things happen when chaunivism and racism edge out reason.
Spend a bit of time studying the period of curfew, of hardship, the despair and the gargantuan task of rebuilding a country and repairing its damaged psyche.
And then focus on the Malaysians who injected compassion, integrity, reason and a spirit of oneness in the days after May 13, 1969. This country survived and rose from the ashes of those difficult days because of their voices.
* In an interview with the Straits Times on July 7, 1969, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman said: "The second-rank politicians, the people who will take over from older politicians when they retire, are far more extreme than we are. But this doesn’t worry me because when we were younger, we, too, were extremists and refused to compromise with the British.
"When these politicians come into power, they will understand the basic fact that we just have to get on together."
* Tun Dr Ismail on June 8, 1969 said: "The best advice I can give people who think that they can run this country better is to make sure that they understand the conditions in this country. In Malaysia, where the racial balance is so fine, a lot of responsibility was called for from those who wanted to enter politics and who wanted to govern the country."
* Speaking to the National Association of Muslim Students on Aug 3, 1969, Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie said: "We know today that our nation faces its gravest challenge... If we are weak or faint-hearted, then the danger will overwhelm us. If we are enthusiastic but short-sighted, then we shall gain only the illusion of victory...
"But if we have the vision and tenacity, then we shall snatch from these perilous times the opportunity to create a truly motivated society which will be our proud gift to the generations which are yet to come.
"We must challenge the times, not in gestures, not in whispering campaigns, not in coffeeshop politics but in purposeful and positive activity."
* In a speech broadcast over radio and television on July 1, 1969, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein said: "Fellow Malaysians, I have outlined our new approaches to economic development and our new methods of implementation of development programmes. In all these efforts, our aim is more work and greater prosperity.
"But I must make it very clear that this increase in prosperity is not for any particular group or community. This prosperity must be widely shared and must be spread throughout the nation. This prosperity is for all.
"Only in this way can we correct, the imbalance that exists, and rebuild trust and confidence among the various racial groups in our country. On our ability to achieve this objective rests the survival of our nation and the peace and happiness of our people."
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi belongs to this generation of politicians. He saw the harm caused by words and misplaced actions in 1969. As a young civil servant, he was a member of the National Operations Council and heard the heated but rational discussions on the future of Malaysia.
He must have been influenced by Tun Abdul Razak and the other wise men of those times.
He sounded like one of them when he delivered his winding-up address on Friday when he reminded ruling party members that they must not only be fair to Malays but also to everyone else who called Malaysia home.
He acknowledged that Umno members had the right to debate issues on the special position of Islam and the special privileges.
But "we must never forget the rights of other races as stipulated under the Constitution. We must uphold the Constitution which was agreed upon by past leaders — both Malays and non-Malays".
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is the last of that generation. Will future Malaysian leaders — from Umno, MCA, Gerakan — speak in that tone and display such compassion?
**********
Imelda Marcos starts recycling her trinkets
By Jonathan Owen -( Independent News )
Imelda Marcos, once one of the world's most conspicuous consumers, yesterday launched a jewellery line that she described as "both worthless and priceless". It is unlikely to unduly dent the sales of either Tiffany or Cartier.
The 77-year-old widow of the late Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos has lent her name to "The Imelda Collection". It includes earrings, necklaces, brooches, pins, combs and cuff links.
Many of the items have been recycled from things Marcos picked up on her travels, while others are fashioned from items the government failed to seize after the family's fall from power. Their prices, however, are not for ordinary Filipinos. A hairpin made of olive jade, freshwater pearls, antique French glass, Austrian crystals and woven glass beads with white, gold-plated chain was priced at 5,800 Philippines pesos (£61), about half a month's salary for an office employee. A necklace made from a vintage brooch, glass beads, cat's-eye gemstone, freshwater pearls, orange calcite and ribbons cost 15,600 Philippines pesos (£165).
Mrs Marcos was notorious for her shopping sprees abroad. Following her husband's fall in 1986, she was found to have collected 1,220 pairs of size-8 shoes.
**********
Saddam trial 'flawed and unsound'
The trial of Saddam Hussein was so flawed that its verdict is unsound, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch says.
HRW said "serious administrative, procedural and substantive legal defects" meant the 5 November trial for crimes against humanity was not fair.
The Iraqi government has dismissed the report, telling the BBC that the trial was both "just and fair".
The ex-Iraqi leader has two weeks to lodge an appeal but his lawyer claims he has been blocked from doing so.
Appeal controversy
Chief defence lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi told the BBC his team had been prevented from filing appeal papers. Under Iraqi law it must be done within a month of sentencing.
However, the chief prosecutor, Jafaar al-Mousawi, has told the BBC it was a fair trial.
He said the appeal would be automatic because a death sentence had been passed - and that the relevant papers had been sent to the appeal court.
Mr al-Mousawi's claims that the trial was fair were echoed by Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari:
"We believe strongly that the trial was fair and Saddam Hussein had every right to defend himself," he told the BBC. "The procedure, I think, in the court, was witnessed by the whole world."
"It wasn't something done behind closed doors or through summary justice, as was the case during his rule. And we stand really by the court's verdict, and we believe the trial was just and fair."
Historical record
Saddam Hussein and seven co-defendants all faced charges of crimes against humanity relating to the deaths of 148 people in the mainly Shia town of Dujail following an assassination attempt on the Iraqi leader in 1982.
Two of his co-defendants also received death sentences.
Saddam Hussein is now being tried on a different set of charges relating to a military campaign against ethnic Kurds in the late 1980s, in which more than 180,000 people are alleged to have died.
The New York-based HRW group said the trials were among the most important since the Nazi trials in Nuremberg after World War II.
They "represent the first opportunity to create a historical record concerning some of the worst cases of human rights violations, and to begin the process of a methodical accounting of the policies and decisions that give rise to these events", the report said.
The BBC's David Loyn in Baghdad says HRW's disappointment is the greater because it considers the Iraqi court to have failed to take account of the international significance of this trial and the one currently under way.
Supporters of war crimes trials say that they can improve healing after conflict, our correspondent says, but like so much else in post-Saddam Iraq, his trial does not seem to have achieved that lofty ambition.
Lawyers murdered
HRW based its scathing assessment on extensive observation of court proceedings, and interviews with judges, prosecutors, defence lawyers and court administrators involved.
The trial took just over one year to complete and was the first case brought before the Iraqi High Tribunal.
Proceedings were marked by frequent outbursts by both judges and defendants.
Three defence lawyers were murdered, three judges left the five-member panel and the original chief judge was replaced.
Defence lawyers boycotted proceedings but HRW said court-appointed counsel that took their place lacked adequate training in international law.
In addition, important documents were not given to defence lawyers in advance, no written transcript was kept and paperwork was lost, said HRW.
The defence was also prevented from cross-examining witnesses and the judges made asides that pre-judged Saddam Hussein.
'Indefensible penalty'
The US-led Coalition Provisional Authority decided that the Dujail trial would be held by an Iraqi court in Iraq, ruling out an international tribunal or a mixed Iraqi-international court under UN auspices, the HRW report said.
Because Iraqi lawyers and judges had been isolated from international criminal law, this decision resulted in a court that lacked the expertise to prosecute crimes against humanity on its own, the report said.
Defence counsel come under criticism in the report for trying to use the court as a political platform.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government was guilty of influencing the independence of the judges, the report said, to the extent that the first chief judge resigned.
"Under such circumstances the soundness of the verdict is questionable," HRW concludes.
"In addition, the imposition of the death penalty - an inherently cruel and inhumane punishment - in the wake of an unfair trial is indefensible."
(Source: BBC News)
Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Mahathir Asia ASEAN Bush Singapore Imelda Marcos Saddam
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