Demand for Malaysian Apology

Mongolians held a rally on Wednesday (Dec 6) in their capital’s National IT Park to protest against the murder of one of their citizens in Malaysia.

(Mongolian beauty, Altantuya Shaaribuu 28-year-old mother of two were abducted and murdered in Kuala Lumpur, and two policemen were last month charged for the murder.)

THE Mongolian National Center Against Violence held a joint meeting with other human rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights organizations in the country on December 6 at the conference hall of National IT Park to call for action in protest against the murder of a Mongolian woman in Malaysia. “We Demand Justice” was the unanimous demand at the gathering. The meeting began with the assembly standing for a minute in silence in memory of the victim, Sh.Altantuya, 28, a mother of two. A short documentary film about her life was then shown.

The alliance of human rights organizations and women’s non-profit organizations urged the Government of Malaysia to apologize to the people of Mongolia for the murder, to pay for the support of the victim’s children until they reached majority, including their medical expenses. “I hope that the Government of Malaysia apologizes. We also demand a fair trial and that full justice is seen to be done,” said Sh.Altanzul, a sister of Altantuya.

J.Altantsetseg, director of National Center Against Violence, explained that they were demanding an apology from the Government of Malaysia as police officers, who by definition were part of a State’s legal enforcement machinery, were found to be involved.

“The final hearing of the trial will be next week. The reputation of the Malaysian judicial system itself is on trial at the international level. The people of Mongolia, especially its national network of human rights organization, are watching carefully how this case proceeds. We hope some human rights organizations in Malaysia would support us in this respect and put pressure on their government,” she said. The Government of Mongolia has to protect its citizens abroad, and this does not mean merely sending formal letters, according to many of the speakers. The gathering has sent two letters of demand, one to the President of Mongolia, its government, and parliament, and the other to the King of Malaysia, its government, and parliament.

"


Nation-building involves all

Tunku Abdul Aziz (former president of Transparency International and Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General in the Ethics Office.)wrote :

Sixty years on, looking out of my 30th floor office in the UN Secretariat overlooking the skyline of Manhattan, and thinking about Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and his lurid keris-wielding performance at the recently-concluded Umno general assembly, I am struck by the similarity in the emotional and mental make-up of Hishammuddin, the rising star of Umno of 2006 and his illustrious and mercurial grandfather.

What Hishammuddin shares with Onn is unbounded passion in the principles he espouses, and complete openness and sincerity of purpose.

His sense of honour is never in dispute. He has all the makings of a great leader of Malaysians. He has to remember, though, that while he naturally wants the best for his race, and which leader does not, the feelings, sentiments and rights of his fellow Malaysians must be respected scrupulously.

It is unfortunate if his propensity to play to the gallery will mark him out as immature and unpredictable which I know is an undeserved reputation to bestow on Hishammuddin.

This leads me to a consideration of what it means to be a Malaysian in today’s Malaysia. The idea that one can become a useful citizen of Malaysia while opting deliberately to adopt a self-imposed system of social apartheid in the mistaken belief that the other races should be politely avoided is a recipe guaranteed to enhance mutual suspicion and misunderstanding.

Many of our fears and misunderstandings spring from ignorance of other people and their way of life.

Unless we are prepared to go out of our way and engage people of other races and religions, we will never understand that their fears, apprehensions, hopes and ambitions are not so different from our own. Underlying it all is a belief in common humanity, in our own self-respect, and the same self-respect that we must concede as a right in others.

We must all accept the fact that this is a country that sustains us; a country that expects us to contribute to its development and stability. If we sit idly by, and allow our own indifference or, worse, those forces bent on weakening our resolve for reasons not always readily understood, then we have ourselves to blame when our international reputation takes a further beating.

Polarisation must be stifled before it gets worse and consumes the very substance that is intended to nourish Bangsa Malaysia and all that it implies. The time to recover and re-establish our sense of "Malaysianness" is now.

Nation-building is a process. It is not a product that you can pick up at a pasar malam. We have to work at it, and not be distracted by those issues that, upon mature reflection, are not important but are nevertheless divisive. Let us all concentrate on those that matter to our long-term goals.

All of us — Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Ceylonese, Eurasians and all people of Sabah and Sarawak — must keep an open mind and adopt a positive attitude to the rebuilding of a new Malaysian nation, based on equality of opportunity, equal treatment under the law, and all the rights enshrined in our Constitution as well as those in the United Nations Charter and conventions.

The Malays, as the majority race, have a sacred duty to protect the weak, irrespective of race or creed, and to ensure that their rights are protected.

I despair when some Malays adopt an exclusive approach to nation-building, implying that non-Malays should remain mere onlookers in determining the sort of Malaysia we should work towards.

Malaysia is no more Bumiputera than it is Chinese or Indian. It belongs to us all who make her "the object of our love and loyalty," as Tunku Abdul Rahman used to say when Malaysia was a less divided country.

As I often reflect, the only visible national asset that is still officially designated "Melayu" is "Keretapi Tanah Melayu". With this, I urge Hishammuddin and other Umno worthies to sheath their keris, and think what we can all do to make this God’s great little acre for generations to come.

**********

Genting's new world

THE bubbly will no doubt be overflowing this weekend at Lim Kok Thay's Sentosa Cove home.

And it's an apt way to celebrate, marking the end of a gruelling, two-year race.

From the second floor of his five-bedroom bungalow, Genting's 54-year-old chairman should be able to see his new pride-and-joy: A 49-ha site that will — in four years' time — see his grandest dream come alive.

Bouncing back from its Marina Bay defeat, the low-key Malaysian company triumphed over two flashier rivals to take home the coveted Sentosa integrated resort (IR) prize on Friday, ending the second and final leg of Singapore's great casino race.

It's also an outcome that surprised few, not least analysts who had predicted that with its Universal Studios trump card and regional experience, Genting was a shoo- in for the crown, despite the fact that its $5.2-billion bid was the lowest of the three.

Clearly, the Government saw the potential that Resorts World at Sentosa can bring.

"The reason why Genting has been awarded is because they gave us the most compelling proposal," said Trade Minister Lim Hng Kiang at a press briefing on Friday. "We were looking for a family resort."

The good news was delivered to Genting at about 5.15pm, via its Singapore point man — chief financial officer Tan Hee Teck — just 15 minutes before the rest of the world learned of the outcome.

Despite strong rumours over the past few days that Genting has already bagged the prize, the consortium didn't pop the champagne prematurely.

It was perhaps taking a cue from the previous Marina Bay IR race, where one bidder — high on talk that it had won — reportedly bought three crates of champagne to celebrate, only to have its hopes dashed when the prize went to dark horse Las Vegas Sands.

But it's second time lucky for the Genting folk — who won in the all-important numbers game — despite its less-than-glamorous image.

Said minister Lim: "We estimate that its economic contribution will be largely similar to that of Marina Bay Sands, (generating) $2.7 billion, or 0.8 per cent, to our GDP, and about 30,000 jobs throughout the economy by 2015."

It was also the only bidder that made sure that 70 per cent of its resort consisted of greenery, beamed Mr Darrell Metzger, CEO of Sentosa Leisure Group, in line with the rules set for the island.

So, come 2010, you'll come face to face with Shrek and Spiderman in the Universal Studios theme park, which will have 22 rides, of which 16 are new.

It's a 30-year licensing deal that will see Universal operating exclusively in Singapore, and nowhere else in South-east Asia — a draw that the Government highlighted.

Genting also hit the sweet spots in a recent survey commissioned by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) among 5,000 tourists from China, India, Malaysia and Japan. It revealed that the top two draws were branded theme parks and water-based attractions respectively — both of which Genting has.

But the Government concedes that the other two firms in the running — Kerzner International and Eighth Wonder — had also submitted "high quality" proposals.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan singled out Kerzner's architect Frank Gehry's glass-and-steel design, which he said was "especially refreshing, innovative and iconic".

Said Mr Mah: "It had the potential to project a distinctive signature image, not just for Sentosa but for Singapore. But in the end, each proposal was assessed not just on architectural concept and design but in its totality, based on how it met our various criteria overall."

The Government also stressed that bilateral ties between Singapore and Malaysia was never a criterion in picking a winner.

Just last week, Genting received a ringing endorsement from Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, who said a Genting win would bring economic benefits to both countries.

The unexpected plug had some wondering if the Singapore Government would bow to such high-level persuasion.

When asked about this, Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar said: "The bilateral relationships between the countries of the respective bidders is not a factor." But he admitted that the Genting win would "bolster the strong economic ties" between both countries.

It also didn't bother the Government that both lucrative casino licences — which will have a monopoly period of 10 years — have gone to foreign companies, with no local involvement at the strategic level.

In particular, Temasek-linked CapitaLand retires from the IR race empty-handed for the second time, after failing first in Marina Bay with its MGM Mirage tie-up, and now with Kerzner.

However, it is unlikely to be the end of CapitaLand's pursuit of the leisure industry pie, as it is understood to be in talks to bring Disneyland into Marina East, and is also courting the theme park business in China.

It will also be interesting to see if Kerzner has further plans in Singapore or the region, considering it won so many fans with its imaginative concept for Sentosa, coupled with the striking Gehry design.

The involvement of Gehry had many in the architectural circles rooting for the Bahamas-based company and its Singapore partner.

But Merrill Lynch analyst Sean Monaghan, who had backed Genting from Day 1, took a more philosophical approach.

He said: "I don't think that anyone really lost out on any particular aspect. Any of the three could have built the IR and it would have been successful, but it came down to a matter of degree of success or lower execution risk. The Genting proposal was more mainstream and probably more applicable and more appropriate for Singapore." .
(Today Online)


Malaysia visit Malaysia 2007 Mongolian beauty murder Genting