Incidents may mar Malaysia's tourism bid

Malaysia celebrates 50 years of independence this year and to mark the occasion it has launched Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

The country's palm-fringed beaches, affordably priced hotels, sprawling shopping malls, fantastic food and wildlife already make it one of Asia's premier destinations.

And this year its tourism authorities hope a big push will propel visitor numbers towards an astonishing target of 20 million.

But following an incident late last year, American Wayne Wright is far from convinced by the promise of Malaysian hospitality and the claim of its tourism slogan that it is truly Asia.

"I was walking in Chinatown," he told the BBC, "when a gentleman in very scruffy type clothes, nothing that you would associate with police or anyone in authority, walked up to me and asked me, "Can I see your passport?"."

Fearing a scam, Mr Wright refused and tried to move away.

"At that point he essentially lunged at me, grabbed me, put handcuffs on me really tightly and called for a few other people out in the crowd," he explained.

Mr Wright, a serving US Navy lawyer, says he protested that he was a US citizen and told the men who had grabbed him that his passport was in his hotel room, a matter of a few hundred meters away.

He was taken, shackled, through Chinatown and put into a caged truck used by the Malaysian immigration department.

'Worst experience'

There he met a second American, who had also been grabbed by men who refused to show any identification, Yahweh Passim Nam.

It became abundantly clear to Mr Wright and Mr Nam they had more in common than their nationality. Both they and every one of the 30 or so other people arrested in the same raid were black.

"At this time I'm knowing this is racial profiling, beyond a shadow of a doubt," said Mr Nam, an ex-US Navy serviceman and now a multi media engineer living in Vancouver, Canada.

"This is definitely some screwed up mission by some... militant group, trying to get Africans to take us somewhere," he said, adding that he feared for his life.

They were taken to an immigration detention centre where for almost 24 hours they say they were fed only bread and water, not allowed to go to the toilet and refused permission to contact the US embassy.

"I was treated inhumanely," said Mr Nam. "I felt like a dog, I felt like something worse than a dog."

Mr Wright agrees. "Honestly this was probably the worst experience I have had in my life," he said.

Both say that, when they were finally freed, immigration officers treated the matter as a joke, something that incensed them.

Morality patrol

Malaysia's Head of Immigration Enforcement Ishak Mohamad was approached by the BBC for comment, but was unavailable.

Nor would the prime minister's department comment, although a senior official privately cast doubt on the accounts of the two men.

However not only do they appear to bear one another out, but they are also backed up by the US embassy, which confirmed it provided consular assistance to have them released from custody. No charges were filed against the men.

The incident does not appear to be isolated.

Several Africans approached on the streets of Kuala Lumpur by the BBC over the issue reported facing discrimination in Malaysia, whether it be people refusing to sit next to them on public transport, taxis refusing to stop for them through to harassment by police and immigration officers.

Nor have recent problems been confined to people of African origin.

In October, a couple in their 60s from the US state of Alaska were woken at 0200 with threats to break down the door of their rented holiday apartment on Langkawi Island.

It was an Islamic morality patrol, which under Malaysian law has widespread powers over Muslims' behaviour.

"When I opened the door I saw six men, in my face, yelling at me that they want to inspect the apartment, that I'm Muslim and that they're coming in," Randal Barnhart said.

He told the men he was not Muslim and refused to let them enter, but they persisted.

"They started yelling, 'We want to see your woman, we want to see your woman'," an angry Mr Barnhart recalled.

"So I asked Carole, who was just wearing a sarong to stand back 15 feet in the light so they could see that she is a white woman - my wife of 42 years."

The intruders refused to leave without seeing a marriage certificate and were only persuaded to go after being shown the couple's passports.

Mr Barnhart says his wife suffered a nervous breakdown and returned to the US and he is currently pursuing legal action against the religious department.

But rather than disciplining the officers - who apparently broke the law by carrying out the raid without regular police in tow - local politicians defended them saying Mrs Barnhart was mistaken for a local Muslim because she liked to wear a sarong.

That assertion has been greeted with derision by some in Malaysia.

'Regrettable'

Malaysia's Tourism Minister Adnan Mansor defended the immigration department, pointing out that Malaysia has problems with illegal migration.

"Sorry to say especially there's a lot of Africans, black people, who come to our country and overstay," he said.

"What they did was just trying to clean up some of these people who've overstayed in our country." ( ? )

Both Wayne Wright and Yahweh Passim Nam had not overstayed their welcome. They had legitimate tourist visas.

The minister says he is keen to repair the damage.

"Give us a chance and let us correct this," Mr Mansor said.

He has apologised to the Barnharts and acknowledges Malaysia has a problem with petty officials who readily abuse their power - a problem he says the government will address by re-educating them.

But it is not the kind of news the country needs on the cusp of its big tourism year.

Asta, the American Society of Travel Agents, described the incidents as regrettable.

"Authorities have an obligation to educate the local populace about the importance of tourism and their role and to be vigilant and protective of anti-tourist incidents," a spokesman told the BBC.

And more worrying still for Malaysians is that such incidents are merely symptomatic of a wider issue - public servants who are increasingly resistant to government control.

Newspaper columnist Dina Zaman says some Malaysians are looking to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to take a tougher line.

"They don't think he's authoritative enough," she believes.

"You need someone to actually sit down and say, 'Look you can't do this, you can't do that'. And yes, he's a nice man but with... the crime rate, all these things... it just makes you wonder whether he's too nice."

Millions of people will doubtless visit Malaysia during 2007 and most will have a very happy time.

But until Malaysia's bureaucracy wants to make sure they all do, some would-be visitors may be deciding to holiday elsewhere.


IF Britain has its ‘London Eye’, then get set for Malaysia’s own ‘Eye on Malaysia’.

The country’s first observation wheel, standing at a staggering 60m high with 42 air-conditioned gondolas, is set to be a major tourist attraction.

Visitors to ‘Eye on Malaysia’ will be blown away by the 20km view of Kuala Lumpur’s skyline. Each ride will last 12 minutes.


RETURNING from Malaysia, 37 Taiwanese tourists who were unhappy with Malaysia Airlines' (MAS) services, refused to get off the plane after it landed in Kaoshiung, Taiwan.

Sin Chew Daily reported that the passengers, who arrived at Kaoshiung at 6.25pm on Tuesday, refused to disembark despite appeals from the flight attendants.

They insisted on seeing MAS manager Ma Zi Wei, who later managed to persuade them to disembark by promising that he would convey their unhappiness to the airlines' headquarters.

According to tour leader Yet Heng Xu, the tourists were to have left Terengganu at 11am on Monday but the flight was delayed until 9.10pm.

She said that MAS failed to look after the passengers, including those who were ill, and they had to buy food for themselves.

MAS media relations officer S. Anbarasu said the airlines would get the details from its office in Taiwan before explaining the situation to the passengers.

Meanwhile, Easyjet dismisses Malaysia link claim.

EASYJET has dismissed claims it is involved in the launch of a budget service to Malaysia.

Reports suggested the budget airline, which has a key hub at Liverpool John Lennon airport, has been approached, along with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic airline, to launch cheap flights between Manchester and Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's Air Asia, established in 2001 by former music industry executiveT ony Fernandes, is expected to receive Malaysian state approval this week to enter the long-haul market.

Malaysia is understood to have ambitions to establish itself as the budget carrier hub for south east Asia and AirAsia is keen to forge links with nofrills airlines.

Virgin said it was "alert to fast growing markets", but easyJet today vehemently denied any links.

Spokesman Toby Nicol said: "We are in talks with absolutely no-one. Someone in Malaysia has had an idea for an airline and has not spoken to us about it."

He insisted: "We are not in talks and we are not planning any talks with anyone and, if we are approached, we will probably say thanks but we are not interested," he insisted.


High Court Permits Challenge To Selangor Sharia Enforcement

Federal Court today gave permission for a lawsuit to be filed by a Muslim who has been charged by Selangor state authorities with illegally claiming to be God's prophet.

Both the International Herald Tribune and Sun2Surf report on the case.

Abdul Kahar Ahmad received permission from Malaysia's highest court to bring a challenge to the power of Islamic authorities in Selangor state after authorities issued a fatwah declaring his teachings as deviationist beliefs and then filed charges against him.

Ahmad's lawsuit claims that various provisions in the Selangor Syariah Criminal Enactment 1995 and the Islamic Religious Administration (Selangor) Enactment 2003 violate his constitutionally protected freedom of religion.

It also claims that under the Malaysian Constitution, only Parliament, and not state assemblies, have the right to make criminal laws.

Finally Ahmad claims that some of the offences with which he is charged are not violations of Islamic law.

Ahmad's lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar said the suit is in part intended to challenge the narrow interpretation of Islam by Malaysian religious authorities.


Johor Flood

Persatuan Buddha, Kristian dahului Jabatan Agama bantu mangsa banjir

Seorang mangsa banjir dari Kota Tinggi yang menelefon Harakahdaily hari ini mendakwa Jabatan Agama Islam Johor lewat menghulurkan bantuan kepada mangsa-mangsa banjir terutamanya orang Islam di negeri itu.

Beliau yang mahu dikenali sebagai Ismail Ahmad, berkata kelewatan itu mengakibatkan pihak lain daripada persatuan bukan Islam terlebih dahulu menghulurkan derma ketika ribuan mangsa mengharapkan ihsan wang zakat dan Baitulmal.

"Saya cukup pelik dan hairan, mengapa jabatan agama cukup lambat dalam bertindak hinggakan persatuan Buddha dan Kristian di sini lebih awal menghulurkan bantuan berupa wang RM200 dan makanan serta pakaian ketika kami mula-mula menghadapi bencana," katanya kepada Harakahdaily.

Menurut beliau, mangsa banjir yang berhadapan dengan kemusnahan harta benda benar-benar mengharapkan bantuan pihak berkuasa zakat, Baitulmal dan Jabatan Agama Islam untuk meneruskan hidup.

Justeru menjadi tanggungjawab pihak berkuasa agama dan zakat dalam membantu semula pembayar zakatnya sebelum ini yang kini dilanda musibah, katanya.

"Apa yang pihak Jabatan Agama Islam dan zakat tunggu lagi, saya pun pelik dalam hal ini mereka perlu mesyuarat dan buat prosedur macam-macam dengan pelbagai karenah birokrasi hinggakan mangsa terus menghadapi kesukaran.

"Saya tidak nafikan bantuan daripada kerajaan Pusat telah diterima, tetapi sebagai umat Islam dan pembayar zakat di Johor saya malu dengan kelemahan pihak berkuasa agama membela nasib umat Islam sendiri," katanya lagi.

Pihak berkuasa agama perlu mencontohi tindakan pantas persatuan bukan Islam di negeri ini yang begitu cepat menguruskan bantuan kepada mangsa yang beragama Islam dan bukan Islam, katanya.

Kelewatan pihak berkuasa agama di negeri ini bertindak membantu mangsa banjir hanya akan memburukkan imej Islam di mata bukan Islam.

Menurut Ismail, bagi mangsa sepertinya masih beruntung kerana ada pekerjaan dan gaji tetap untuk menampung kehidupan selepas ini, tetapi bagi golongan yang tidak bekerja dan hanya berniaga kecil-kecilan hidup mereka tentu cukup sukar selepas ini.

Dalam hal ini satu tindakan pantas dari pihak zakat dan Jabatan Agama Islam amat diperlukan dalam membela dan memberi sinar baru kepada golongan yang tidak ada sumber pendapatan ini, katanya.

Baginya pihak berwajib perlu menyediakan semula kemudahan dan kelengkapan kepada golongan ini untuk memulakan semula perniagaan kecil mereka, mungkin dalam bentuk pemberian geran bantuan atau sebagainya yang boleh dimanfaatkan untuk menyambung hidup.

"Ini soal kebajikan yang perlu diusahakan oleh pihak berkuasa agama dengan serius, jangan suatu hari nanti akibat kelemahan pihak berkuasa agama membela kebajikan, rakyat akan hilang kepercayaan untuk menyalurkan zakat kepada pihak berwajib," katanya.

Lebih dikesalkan lagi, tambah beliau, pihak berkuasa agama memang dikenali dengan kelewatan dalam meluluskan bantuan kepada fakir miskin, sebaliknya dalam hal-hal yang lain yang tidak membabitkan kebajikan mereka cukup pantas bertindak.

---

The New U.N. secretary-general

Ban Ki-moon, in his first day on the job as U.N. secretary-general, has named Darfur, North Korea and the Middle East among his top priorities. From U.N. headquarters, VOA's Peter Heinlein reports Mr. Ban avoided criticizing the execution of Saddam Hussein.

New U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ran into trouble on his first day of work (Tuesday) over Saddam Hussein's execution when he failed to state the United Nations' opposition to the death penalty and said capital punishment should be a decision of individual countries.

The U.N. has an official stance opposing capital punishment and Ban's predecessor Kofi Annan reiterated it frequently. The top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, restated it again on Saturday after the former Iraqi dictator was hanged.

Ban, however, took a different approach, never mentioning the U.N. ban on the death penalty in all its international tribunals, and the right to life enshrined in the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Saddam Hussein was responsible for committing heinous crimes and unspeakable atrocities against Iraqi people and we should never forget victims of his crime," Ban said in response to a reporter's question about Saddam's execution Saturday for crimes against humanity. "The issue of capital punishment is for each and every member state to decide."

His ambiguous answer put a question mark over the U.N.'s stance on the death penalty. It also gave the new chief an early taste of how tricky global issues are, and how every word can make a difference.

Mr. Ban is viewed as closer to the United States than his predecessor, Kofi Annan, who often clashed with Washington on policy issues. But in his introductory statement, the new secretary-general had a carefully phrased word of caution to those who would exercise power unilaterally.


UN human rights chief calls on Iraq not to hang co-defendants of Saddam

The top United Nations human rights official appealed directly to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani today not to execute two high-ranking colleagues of former president Saddam Hussein, who was hanged on Saturday.

“International law, as it currently stands, only allows the imposition of the death penalty as an exceptional measure within rigorous legal constraints,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said, referring to the scheduled hanging of two of Mr. Hussein’s co-defendants, Awad Hamad Al-Bandar and Barzan Ibrahim Al-Hassan.

“The concerns that I expressed just days ago with respect to the fairness and impartiality of Saddam Hussein’s trial apply also to these two defendants, she added in a statement. “I have therefore today directly appealed to the President of the Republic of Iraq to refrain from carrying out these sentences.”

Noting that the death sentences on the two were upheld together with that on Mr. Hussein, Ms. Arbour said that under Iraq’s international obligations, the country is bound to afford the two the opportunity to seek commutation or pardon of the sentences.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fully endorsed Ms. Arbour’s call for restraint, his spokesperson Michele Montas told the daily news briefing in New York.

“The Secretary-General is of course aware of the ongoing debate concerning a total ban of the death penalty,” she said.

“Until the matter is resolved, he respects the right of Member States to have their own positions on it. However, the Secretary-General strongly believes in the wisdom of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person,’” she added.

On the eve of Mr. Hussein’s execution Ms. Arbour likewise appealed to Iraq to avoid precipitously in light of concerns over the fairness of his trial.

“The appeal judgment is a lengthy and complex decision that requires careful study,” she said in a statement on Friday. “There were a number of concerns as to the fairness of the original trial, and there needs to be assurance that these issues have been comprehensively addressed. I call therefore on the Iraqi authorities not to act precipitately in seeking to execute the sentence in these cases.”

She noted that international law proscribes the imposition of the death sentence after an unfair trial. “All sections of Iraqi society, as well as the wider international community, have an interest in ensuring that a death sentence provided for in Iraqi law is only imposed following a trial and appeal process that is, and is legitimately seen as, fair, credible and impartial. That is especially so in a case as exceptional as this one,” she added.

She pointed out that under international treaties that Iraq has signed, Mr. Hussein had the right to appeal to the appropriate authorities for consideration of commutation or pardon.


Malaysia VMY 2007 UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Iraq Saddam