The law on sedition is often seen as a colonial legacy ?

Where words run free

(Pankaj Butalia)

The law on sedition is often seen as a colonial legacy. However, its problem is not so much that it is colonial as that it is archaic. Sedition is a law that has its roots in societies which did not want change and which privileged the preservation of order above everything else. But democratic societies must by nature be inherently unstable - because it is from this instability that change arises.

Scholars have shown that the etymology of 'sedition' is conflicted - on the one hand the Greek roots of the word 'stasis' imply changelessness or stalemate and on the other stasis also is a synonym for revolt or movement. Similarly, the Latin 'seditio' conveys the idea of 'a turning back onto oneself and the tension of movement, of separation from the other'. It is astounding that a word with such an interesting legacy came to represent such reactionary politics where people could be, and are, incarcerated for life for opposing the political views of an established state.

Most modern states have a conflicted relationship with this law - not wanting it because it clearly runs against the right to free speech, and not wanting to dump it because it helps contain criticism of the state. In the US, the Sedition Act of 1798 had so much opposition that Thomas Jefferson allowed it to expire when he became president. Former president Adams, his political rival, had used the Act to imprison his supporters. Later, southern states tried enacting sedition laws primarily to prevent any criticism of slavery. However, sedition did not find its way back in the American Constitution till World War I, and then too it was restricted to criticism of the state's war efforts.

Today, sedition is not applicable to American citizens and is used primarily against what Americans call 'aliens'. In Malaysia, sedition laws are used to control hate speech, primarily against Malays or to pre-empt any criticism of the state. Maintaining 'order' in Malaysia thus means maintaining Malay supremacy and sedition laws are an instrument to ensure this.

India's relationship with sedition has also been a troubled one and it is incomprehensible that, given the level of opposition there was to retaining it in the Constituent Assembly, it was nevertheless retained. Most stalwarts of the assembly, including Nehru, spoke vehemently against it, but the clause stayed! In 1962, the Supreme Court upheld Section 124A of the IPC, the sedition clause. However, the court clearly recognised that there was a problem in implementing the law as it was framed. So it set about imposing very strict conditions which had to be met in order for someone to be convicted for sedition.

In looking at whether the Act was merely a colonial act or not, the court found that since it was a general British law there was no real reason to strike it down. This was almost 50 years ago. However, England started the process of removing sedition from its books as far back as 1979, but because of the Northern Ireland imbroglio, this was delayed and it was only in 2009 that sedition and seditious libel, as common law offences, were abolished. If, in 1962, the Supreme Court retained 124A because England had it, is this not enough reason to junk it now that this is no longer the case?

The 1962 judgment also imposed strict conditions under which sedition could be applied. It was to be limited to acts where there was a clear intention or tendency to create disorder, or incitement to violence. Effectively it would therefore require not only speech which caused 'disaffection' or 'disapprobation', but also a clear intention to create disorder or incite violence.....read more

Mosque near Ground Zero? Have a little sensitivity

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is some sort of bigot. In a speech about the ground zero mosque and religious freedom, Bloomberg stipulated that "it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation."

Why do they, of all the sects represented in New York, have to show "special sensitivity"? Does the mayor demand "special sensitivity" of St. Paul's Church, the Episcopal parish a few blocks from ground zero? And who appointed him arbiter of "special sensitivity"? Where in the First Amendment does it give mayors the power to enjoin builders of churches, synagogues or mosques to show sensitivity, special or otherwise?

It must be that the mayor harbors a subtle animus toward Muslims that impels him to impinge on their constitutional rights in violation of all that this country holds dear. Or so one would conclude if Mayor Bloomberg's obtuse hostility to opponents of the ground zero mosque were turned against him.

The mayor unloosed a self-righteous oration about how critics of the project are disgracing the memory of firefighters who died in 9/11, among other offenses against truth, justice and the American way. But even he had to admit that there's something different about building a mosque so close to the site of a horrific, history-changing act of Islamic terrorism. What Bloomberg refuses to see is that those who want to block the mosque are demanding a truly meaningful gesture in "special sensitivity."

Namely, moving it elsewhere. If the founders of the project are as serious about interfaith bridge-building as they say, they'd be delighted to find a less controversial location. Rubbing hurt feelings raw is not an act of understanding. Stoking a religiously charged debate at ground zero is not a blow for tolerance. They are provocations, by people who are either witless or understand exactly what they are doing.

It is true that Islam as such is not responsible for 9/11, but symbolism and the sensibilities of New Yorkers and victims of 9/11 can't be discounted. When the Anti-Defamation League bravely bucked elite opinion to oppose the project, its national director, Abe Foxman, made an illuminating comparison with a Carmelite convent established outside Auschwitz in the 1980s.

Carmelites were not a cog in Adolf Hitler's death machine. Survivors of the Holocaust and Jewish groups nonetheless found the Catholic outpost offensive, which was enough for Pope John Paul II to ask the nuns to move. True interfaith bridge-building is made of such forbearance.

The organizers of the mosque, in contrast, relish their hot-button address. Feisal Abdul Rauf, the project's imam, wrote a book called "What's Right With Islam Is What's Right With America." But as former prosecutor Andy McCarthy points out, it was published in Malaysia under the more pungent title "A Call to Prayer From the World Trade Center Rubble: Islamic Dawa in the Heart of America Post-9/11" (dawa is Islamic proselytism). A noncommercial edition was published by two organizations that have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and promote Hamas.

Rauf himself won't condemn the Palestinian terror group. Asked about Hamas in a recent radio interview, he said, "Terrorism is a very complex question," the stock answer of anyone excusing terrorism. "I am a peace builder," he explained — so long as peace-building doesn't require saying a discouraging word about the Palestinian murderers of innocent Jews.

Even if Rauf has the best of intentions, a $100 million mosque is an open invitation to Saudi funding. Nina Shea of the Hudson Institute has documented how Saudi materials at American mosques exhort Muslims to spill the blood of infidels and Jews, in interfaith bridge-building Wahhabi-style. If the ground zero project relies on Saudi money, the desert monarchy will have pulled a perverse twofer — funding the radical version of Islam that created ground zero, then funding the mosque that outraged the families of the victims.

No thanks. Good taste and common sense should prevail, or what Mayor Bloomberg, in his surpassing wisdom, calls "special sensitivity."

- By Rich Lowry, Sun Journal.

An insult to our intelligence - Mariam Mokhtar

IT has become something of a ritual lately that when certain Muslim NGOs run scared of a good debate, they eagerly go about making police reports.

Events of the past week have raised urgent questions about the political leadership in Malaysia. When various NGOs and Majlis Agama Islam Selangor (MAIS) lodged a police report against The Star's managing editor, P Gunasegaran, they said that he had no right to comment about Islamic matters because he is not a Muslim.

I disagree. As a Malaysian, his contribution is of immense importance.

In fact, there should be more voices to debate the issue. According to these protesting NGOs, I satisfy their requirements to comment on Islamic matters. However, I wouldn't be surprised to find that they will deem me unsuitable because I am not sufficiently scholarly in Islamic matters or that I am a woman. Therefore, just as Gunasegaran surmised, these issues have to be urgently aired.

Isn't it deplorable that a non-Muslim highlighted the inconsistencies with which our dual-system laws are interpreted? It shows how Muslims in Malaysia have been cowed into submission and have become fearful of taking the initiative.

Islam is also about critical thinking, reasoning and understanding. It was never meant to be by dogma and doctrine. What or who, do these NGOs and MAIS fear? Why are they acting like the class bully? A great debate will do our politicised religion a world of good.

Gunasegaran brought up valid points in his article and it is only by intelligent discourse that we are able to find amicable answers. Lodging police reports just shows the impotence of these NGOs and MAIS. Their apparent failure to act with dignity and intellect, fails Muslims in our country. Our political leaders, including the Minister for Women Family and Community Development, have not been expansive on these issues, and that is deplorable.

We are moving backwards

I remember a time when all of us lived under the one umbrella called Malaysia and got on well enough, regardless of our race, religion or gender. No one's saying we shouldn't move on from those good old days.

We have. Backwards! It seems that in Malaysia today, Muslim women's lives are under a microscope. When compared with their non-Muslim counterparts, they have relatively little freedom. The downside of this is that Muslim women will build up a lot of resentment. Is it any wonder that Malay women go abroad to find their first taste of freedom liberating; that some are unable to control themselves?

Somehow, I fail to see how the article 'Persuasion, no compulsion', would stir discontent among Muslims. Any unease surfaced days earlier, on Feb 9, when it was announced for the first time that three women had been whipped in Kajang.

All along, Malaysians were under the impression that Kartika, who consumed beer in public, was the first woman to be caned. How is it that none of the NGOs and women organisations was made aware of the plight of these women? To date, the only information we have is that they gave themselves up voluntarily, were 'pleased' to be whipped, and repented for their sins.

No information has been divulged about the men with whom these women had sex? Would it be possible for women organisations to have access to these women to check on their well-being? Did anyone know if they had legal representation and were able to exercise their full-rights? Or were they like lambs to the slaughter, and made show-case examples in a vain attempt to show us the might of the male sex, the might of the religious authorities and the authoritative indefatigable stamp of Islam in our society?

The furore and the international condemnation that ensued have caused a lot of backpedalling from our authorities, with a conference of caning to be hastily arranged. Taxpayers' money must not be wasted on this futile exercise. The answers can be found in this country and not from international participants. Moreover, the whipping laws have already been passed. Any discussion should have been done before implementation.

Some of the questions which we asked, but are denied answers, are simple ones such as why the women were whipped because of syariah law, even though civil law forbids it? Why did the women receive the harshest punishment, which is whipping? Why were they not given any consideration as first offenders, with fines or community service as alternatives?

Making a point

Are these religious authorities trying to make a point – that the government of the day is endorsing its Islamic identity? It is pathetic to use four (including Kartika) hapless women as pawns in their power-game. It is equally deplorable to waste police, as well as the Home Ministry's time to search for Gunasegaran's 'hidden motive' for the article he wrote? Do they think these institutions have nothing better to do?

If the ulama have so much time on their hands, they might care to reflect on the comments of Shahrizat that decaying family values and absentee fathers were compounding the problems in Muslim/Malay society. Maybe the state syariah bodies should finally sit down and formulate solutions to address these social breakdowns?

They could also decide when to standardise our syariah laws, which currently differ from state to state, and plug the various loopholes which men take advantage of.

Do they acknowledge the difference in severity: Kartika is to be whipped and fined RM5000 for drinking beer but the man who leaves his wife and kids and mistreats her is only fined RM1000? Do they notice the inconsistencies and injustice?

Furthermore, they could reassess the enforcement and raids of the religious police so they are conducted with less crudity, which strips people of their dignity. They might wish to reflect on individual human rights, too.

There is so much that these Muslim NGOs and the ulama could constructively do rather than be overly sensitive to statements from individuals.

If anyone has insulted the religion and brought it into disrepute, it is these NGOs and MAIS.


Mariam Moktar
Malaysian Mirror

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Fairest of them all?

Ali, Ah Kow, Arumugam, Ajan and Aidee, all friends, may look into the mirror and ‘see’ five normal lads.

But according to the establishment, Ali belongs to the supreme race. The reflection reveals an underlying reality which is different and damaging.

Can someone satisfactorily qualify ketuanan Melayu? Why is Ali superior? Birthright? But they were all born in Malaysia, and their fathers and grandfathers, too.

Is it because our sovereign rulers are Malay? But all Malaysian citizens swear allegiance to King and country. Is patriotism confined only to the Malays?

Malaysia is at a crossroads

Is it because the Malays arrived a few hundred years prior to the Chinese and Indians? So why is there positive discrimination against Aidee, the Orang Asli and Ajan who is Kenyah? These 'original' people are denied many of the rights accorded to the Malays. They are prevented from practising their own culture or religion and are hounded from their ancestral lands.

Malaysia is at a crossroads and the reflection in the mirror is cracking.

Our politics has always been mired in controversy. And since its beginnings, has been race-based. After decades of so-called unity, we risk throwing it all away. Recent events are disturbing. It seems like we never knew each other at all.

Some would like to forget the last 52 years or at least the period from the 70s. Others would simply like to rewrite our history.

The majority race in Malaysia acts like it is a minority under siege. They are full of demands. They want respect. But they conveniently forget that respect has to be earned.

Politicians sidestep these prickly issues, whilst some deliberately provoke dissension.

It is an extraordinary travesty that significant numbers of Malays believe in ketuanan Melayu, which is based on perception. The poor, underprivileged Malay perceives, or is conned into thinking, that power in the hands of the non-Malay, will be abused to remove whatever little wealth he possesses. Petrified and overwhelmed by what he is told, the poor Malay clings even harder to the concept of ketuanan Melayu.

Malaysians are not treated equally

Before everyone can share, fairly, in Malaysia’s growth, difficult choices have to be made. We need to rebuild public confidence and regain trust.

Malaysians are not treated equally. The non-Malay is denied education, housing, health care, scholarships, job opportunities and wealth creation.

Unfortunately, our leaders put off difficult decisions, like confronting racism head-on. Successive generations leave it to the next lot of political leaders to tackle the problem. When they did not, we were left mired in confusion and contempt for each other.

Politicians act irresponsibly by not mapping our course of direction. And are hypocrites by not coming down hard on those who are stoking the fires of racism.

BTN, ketuanan Melayu and other racist connotations are wrong. Most right minded people can see this. But our politicians are digging a hole deeper by refusing to acknowledge that it is harmful, divisive and politically motivated.

Sadly the mirror also reflects other profiles of the truly ugly Malaysian.

We have scandals involving the police, judiciary, MACC, politicians siphoning taxpayers’ money. We can’t even decide which languages are important in our education. We classify non-Malays as second-class citizens but are encouraged to learn Mandarin. What sort of mixed message is that?

Politicians with no morality

The mirror reveals even more.

We have unscrupulous people profiting from baby factories. We have polygamy being promoted with little regard for the rights of women. We have inequalities and lack of safety in the workplace. We ignore human rights with detainees resorting to eating grass. We have high HIV rates among married women, even when religion education was supposed to have ‘guided’ the people. We have numerous abandoned babies. We are swamped by drug abuse. We are punished for the actions of a few Malaysians who overstay when abroad.

We know of those who are in charge of the public purse but who have no morality, no idea of responsibility, no clear principles and who to this day have not been charged for any wrong-doing.

We’ve had glimpses into their lifestyle, their gaudy mansions, expensive visits abroad, first-class travel. All of these make us feel uneasy. Do these politicians have an insight into what it is to be ‘normal’?

We’ve had several millions spent on projects, or quietly siphoned away. Despite the NEP, the Malays comprise the majority of the poor. The gulf between the rich and poor is bad for everybody. And the gap between the rich and poor Malay has grown even wider.

These ‘fat-cats’ grow more wealthy, yet little, if any money filters down to the poor and deprived Malay. These vulgar, ultra-rich Malays are not stupid to relinquish their hold on power and prestige. They are the ones who champion the BTN, NEP, ketuanan Melayu etcetera. They have little regard for the poor man who when applying for welfare aid is given a difficult time with umpteen form-fillings, to satisfy a ludicrous selection criteria.

Improve our reflection in the mirror

No. We cannot afford to give more money away. And yes, we have to improve our reflection in the mirror.

Our leaders fail to understand the scale and magnitude of the problem. What they do not see in the mirror is a country that is beset with gross inequality in income and a disparity in assets.

These will inevitably cause social breakdown which has already manifested itself in violent crime, physical and drug abuse. The evidence is overwhelming. The challenges are immense but the response from our politicians has been puny.

Drastic and massive policy changes are needed now. Politicians must appreciate that they can be part of the solution.

Maybe our leaders should look into the Mirror of Erised, the magic mirror in Harry Potter, which shows the ‘deepest and most desperate desire in the hearts of those who look at it’. Maybe then they will see themselves as leaders of a Malaysia, that is a freer and fairer society. Only then, we can truly call it ‘1Malaysia’

- Mariam Mokhtar


MARIAM MOKHTAR has a passion for people, places and plain speaking. Don't suffer fools gladly

Brutal Silence of Western and Arab Governments on carnage in Gaza

"This article is reflective of the rising sentiment in the Pakistani people that Muslim world must help itself. Waiting for the UN, EU or the U.S help in stopping Israeli occupation of Palestine and slaughter in Gaza is useless."

- Les Blough, Editor

January 11, 2008 - While the carnage continues in Gaza, rest of the world is busy with other problems and lot of the world governments simple don’t care about the genocide in Gaza. The main culprits are U.S, British and the Muslim World Governments. Israeli writer, author and former professor of Haifa University Ilan Pappe, sums it up eloquently,

“I know that even the killing of hundreds of innocent Palestinians would not be enough to produce such a shift in the Western public opinion; it is even more unlikely that the crimes committed in Gaza would move the European governments to change their policy towards Palestine. It seems that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as discrete events, unconnected to anything that happened in the past and not associated with any ideology or system. In this new year, we have to try to realign the public opinion to the history of Palestine and to the evils of the Zionist ideology as the best means of both explaining genocidal operations such as the current one in Gaza and as a way of pre-empting worse things to come.”

New U.S President-elect, Obama, during his visit to Israel in July 2008 said,

“If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters [Malia, 10 and Sasha, 7] sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”

The Israelis are doing exactly what the U.S has done to perfection over the last half a century, and that is massive civilian killings in different parts of the world. A few million in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, a few hundred thousand in Iraq and Afghanistan and many more countries also appear on the long list of victims of U.S hegemony. Israel is merely doing what it has been doing for the past few decades and that is a ‘Holocaust’ of Palestinian people. According to Axis of Logic columnist, Gali Hassan,

“On Saturday 27 December 2008, U.S.-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes, Apache attack helicopters and artilleries unleashed premeditated and indiscriminate genocidal attacks on the densely populated and Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. The aggression includes ground invasion, aerial and naval bombardment of the besieged Gaza using banned weapons such as cluster bombs, napalm-like white phosphorus bombs and new very high explosive weapons known as Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME), which cuts its victims to pieces and causes cancer in survivors”.

Gideon Levy of the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, writes

“Speaking to reporters on the steps of the Elise Palace in Paris, Tzipi Livni, Israel’s pathological liar, publicly declared that Israel intention is the total destruction of Gaza. Contradicting all the evidence of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Livni declared: 'There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza'."

Bombing Children in Schools

Around 900 Palestinians have been killed so far, a lot of them are children (about 37% according to Axis of Logic correspondent, Hiyam Noir in Gaza) and over 3000 have been injured so far. It is outrageous that President Obama can’t utter a single word from his mouth against brutal killing of at least 30 school children who were taking shelter in U.N school compound or the other hundreds of Palestinian children killed. Can you imagine the response of the U.S if some Muslim country bombed and killed U.S children? We can all imagine the consequences for that country.

Why would Israel target and drop bombs at a U.N school? Oh, maybe the intelligence was faulty. Just like when in 2006 U.S drone attack at Chingai village area of Bajaur tribal area of Pakistan resulted in 80 students being killed. What looked like a terrorist training camp to U.S intelligence experts and drone handlers was nothing more than a poverty bitten mud shackled rural school for children, who are only able to get basic Islamic education because of lack of main stream schools.

How did the U.S learn to go on a rampage of violence against weak oppositions? From the British, their previous occupiers or rulers, as the British call their status in continental United States. To expect that the U.S, Britain or Israel will stop this military adventurist mindset is naive to say the least. To think that the U.N would be able to stop Israel from killing civilians in Gaza is definitely living in fool’s paradise. Yes the U.N can allow tough sanctions against Muslim countries like it did against Iraq after the first Gulf War, during which at least 500,000 Iraqi children died. How many times did you watch that on CNN or Fox News? We should all recall the response of Madeline Albright who was U.S ambassador to the U.N at that time; she said in an interview in May 1996, that “we think that the price is worth it”. In order words, she meant that it’s ok if half million Iraqi children are dying as a direct result of U.N sanctions.

World Leaders:

All this is just one side of the spectrum. The other side is equally ugly - that is the silence of the Muslim world leaders specially the Arab world. The harsh reality is that every single country in the Arab world and most of the Muslim world has either a corrupt King or a brutal dictator as a leader who enjoys awesome rapport with the U.S.

Hosni Mubarak:

If there is ever a World award for the most obedient servant of the U.S it will definitely go to Hosni Mubarak the President of Egypt, the Grand puppet of all the American puppets in the Muslim World. He has been Egyptian president since 1981. How many times has the U.S asked Egypt for fair elections? U.S can’t afford to ask Egypt or other Muslim world to hold free and fair elections. The reason is because of its failed foreign policy. It has radicalized the people of the Muslim world to such an extent that any independent government would ask the U.S to remove its bases from its soil followed by other such demands which are not in the interest of the U.S hegemonic interests.

Egypt proved its loyalty again to the U.S and Israel by closing down Rafah border crossing and warning Iran not to interfere into Palestine issue since it was an Arab issue and not for non-Arabs to interfere. Since when did killing of Muslims become an Arab issue? This is against the very fundamental teachings of Islam which sees men in general and Muslims in particular all part of a big brotherhood or a fraternity. Who is Egypt fooling? Palestine is the area that has Jerusalem, which is the third holiest city of Islam and cherished by all Muslims throughout the world. The Palestine issue is the biggest issue for the entire Muslim world.

Arab Leaders:

Most of the Arab world from U.A.E to Saudi Arabia are least bothered with this massacre for they are too busy bathing in their abundant oil wealth. They are too busy watching live coverage of Gulf Cup football tournament. It’s the most happening thing at the moment in the Gulf region and you have to be nuts to miss it. This is not the lowest ebb to which the Arab world governments have fallen I am sure the pit will become deeper to accommodate more depth for the falling pride of Arab world leaders.

President Hugo Chavez: They could all learn something from Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president who sent Israeli Ambassador packing back to Tel Aviv due to their ungodly slaughter in Gaza.

Muslim Leaders:

Sadly, there is nothing much at the moment that other Muslim countries can do for Palestine. The Muslim world’s 80 percent population is non-Arab. The bigger and more powerful Muslim countries are Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, and the most populated of all, Indonesia. These countries are the ones that must take on the role of Veto power states amongst the Muslim world. There exists an organization in the Muslim world which has been sidelined by the Arab world; it is Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The Arabs roam around in their own Arab League, and Gulf Cooperation Council, two utterly useless organizations that have not been able to solve any problems of the Arab world. The five mentioned countries need to get together revamp the OIC, take control of the OIC, and affairs of the Muslim world particularly the Arab World. In the past Egypt was kicked out and sidelined by the rest of the Muslim world because of its strong pro-U.S ties. The need of the hour is to revitalize OIC and restore some pride and sense of political direction into the Arab world.

The Need of the Hour

It’s a tough task for these countries to join hands and lead the Muslim world. But it is the need of the hour we can’t simple keep sitting and waiting for the U.N or EU to come to rescue us from Israel or whoever else the aggressor is. The lesson for the Arab world is that eventually they will run out of oil but even before that they will end up squandering their petro dollars. Hatred is equally distributed against the U.S foreign policy and the corrupt rulers of the Muslim world.

How long will the despot rulers of the Muslim world keep their Yankee governments alive? Only time will tell but the actions of U.S and Israel is radicalizing the populations of Muslim world. This should be alarming for the people of Europe and U.S and they must demand from their governments change in their policies towards the Muslims world. They must demand people to people contacts between the policy makers and the local populations. A U.S think tank expert who has never visited the Muslim world, who doesn’t know the ground realities, dictating policy to a puppet leader of a Muslim world, is only messing things up so badly that eventually it will be too late to fix them.

Conclusion: Bush and Obama

It is too early to suggest if President Obama will continue following the same policy that Bush was following. Bush's policy of rampage wars, mass murdering of civilians in the Muslim world came up with useful, mischievous words like ‘crusades’, ‘war on terror’, Islamo-fascist’, ‘axis of evil’, and ‘they hate our democracy’. In being a war president, as Bush used to call himself after 9/11, Bush jolted the U.S economy and that of the rest of the world. Obama now has a choice, either to let go of this legacy and build new bridges with the Muslim world or he can out flank Bush’s legacy and come up with better words for Muslim world, while sinking the U.S economy even further, making certain CEO’s of U.S military-industrial complex richer and making the Middle East more bloodier than it already is. The choice is his but the ripples will be felt all over the world.

- By Talha Mujaddidi in Pakistan. Axis of Logic.

Talha Mujaddidi is a writer/analyst and Axis of Logic correspondent, living in Pakistan.

Talha is a writer from Pakistan, Talha is wireless communication engineer by profession. Has studied, lived and worked in USA. Talha follows current affairs and history of Middle East and Pakistan.

We have 50 words for ‘love’ – and we risk losing them all

Taryam al Subaihi
The National,Abu Dhabi.

The Arabic language possesses an unquestionable beauty and elegance than can be recognised by all. There are numerous stories about people who have fallen in love with Islam or Arab culture simply by being introduced to the perfect form of Arabic writing. A language filled with an endless flow of lines displaying a faultless structure of art, even in its simplest form: to see it is to witness writing that is almost being sung off the pages on which it is written.

To fully understand the meaning of its words is a complex, everlasting journey that many scholars have spent their entire lives travelling. Take just one English word – “love” – and you will find more than 50 Arabic words to appropriately describe it, each more harmonic than the last.

For centuries, Arabic poetry was the most respected form of communication in the Arab world and beyond. For this reason it is not uncommon in the UAE to find Arabic poetry being recited during a casual get together, an official ceremony, a wedding, or even a funeral. When Arabic poetry is heard, all Emiratis stop to listen out of respect.

However, throughout the Arab world, Arabic is struggling in a vicious battle against globalisation. Conferences are being held to support the language and to speak out against “language pollution”. To focus on matters closer to home, a new problem has risen for UAE nationals that threatens to grow if not resolved.

Emiratis are expected to know Arabic. That is a fair statement; after all, it is hard to imagine one without the other, and 10 years ago, it was a rare thing to find an Emirati whose first language was not Arabic – only, maybe, a small minority of people who were educated abroad or whose mother was from an another country. Nowadays, thanks to poor teaching in our schools and the minimal usage of Arabic in our daily lives, the language is beginning to disappear, even among UAE nationals.

This is a tragedy. It is heart breaking to see the language of our forefathers disappearing – especially among the young – particularly as there are so many organisations struggling to prevent this very thing from happening. Yet, it is clear that what is being done to preserve our language is simply not enough.

Today, it may only be a small percentage of our children who are experiencing this loss of language. But 10 years ago, they hardly existed at all; what is the situation likely to be in another 10 years? There is no denying that globalisation will take its toll on the language of the country, but that doesn’t mean we should simply do nothing.

I enjoy travelling to Malaysia whenever I find an opportunity to do so. In my opinion, the country displays a perfect blend of nature and technology intertwined brilliantly with the Muslim culture. I was talking with a friend of mine who is a Muslim Malaysian of Chinese origin. He tells me that the Chinese language among the younger generation of his ethnic group is facing the same problem as Arabic here but has reached a much further stage then our own. According to my friend, it has become socially acceptable for Malaysian-Chinese to not know how to write or read in any of the Chinese languages.

Yet in Malaysia and elsewhere, this erosion of language has happened over centuries. We Emiratis are fortunate to have had our years of development compressed into less than 40 years, and as a consequence we have only begun to see the impact on Arabic in the last decade or so. Which means that we still have a chance to prevent the ultimate catastrophe – the complete loss of our language – from befalling us.

We should take heed and begin building our defences. We need stronger Arabic curriculums in our schools, free courses offered in different levels across our major cities, and more up to date literature. Even in our public schools, when students reach a certain stage in many subjects they are asked to switch tuition from Arabic to English.

We need to find a way to bring life back to the Arabic language, to show its benefits and our involvement in its history. Our children continuously need to be reminded of the beauty of their native tongue and should be expected to express themselves in it with clarity and confidence.

It was shocking to read in yesterday’s The National how few of the novels shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction are stocked by bookshops here. But if you walk into any popular book store you will find that Arabic literature takes up only a small corner. Which is hardly surprising, as I recall the damning statistic from 2005 that revealed that the total number of Arabic language books published across the Arab world in one year was equivalent to the output of a small non-Arab country in the same time.

A strategy must be devised to preserve the Arabic language and to ensure that our children continue to speak their native tongue.

Taryam al Subaihi is a journalist from Abu Dhabi who specialises in human resources

Nigeria : Vision 2020 and War Against Corruption

Hon. Kayode Amusan, who represents Abeokuta North/Obafemi/Owode/Odeda Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, in this interview with Jaiyeola Andrews, speaks on Vision 2020 being proposed by the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, arrest of past governors over corruption charges and agitation for creation of state Police among other issues of interest

Do you think the current presidential system of government is really effective in Nigeria?

I would have suggested the practice of parliamentary system of government as an alternative to this presidential system. But to me, it won't augur well because there will be no room for technocrats to come in. It is only politicians that will be ruling. But I still believe that there should be a mixture of the presidential system with the parliamentary system in order to get a good result.

So much has been said about Vision 2020. But events in the polity today, such as epileptic power supply, do not show that the vision is realizable. Do you agree?

I want to tell you that it is realistic because we have just started. The vision is a projection. It is like you are preparing a budget and you expect to make a target revenue. And so, you want to spend some amount of money. It will be clear; it's more of a proposal. We are going to get there. With determination and dedication by the leadership of this government, I think they will get there.

If Malaysia could get there, what's wrong with Nigeria?

And Malaysia was coming behind Nigeria before now. But today, Malaysia is number four in the world economy. So, what are we doing? We should be ashamed to have drifted this backward.

When President Umaru Yar'Adua came on board, people hailed him, saying he started well. But that tune has changed now. There are allegations that he is slow and not focused. What is your view on this?

Let me tell you one thing. There is a maxim that says slow and steady win the race. I believe that our people are so much in a hurry. I still believe that Yar'Adua should be given more time. And I want to tell you that he will deliver. For him to have done what he did in Katsina, I'm of the opinion that he won't disappoint this country.

In what specific area do you think Nigeria needs to improve?

Let me tell you one thing, the major problem rocking this nation is power supply. Other problems are caused by this singular problem. If you talk of unemployment, it is caused by power. Inflation is basically caused by poor power generation. We cannot produce. If you dare to produce, the cost of production will exceed the cost of importation.

So what are we saying?

I believe the major problem threatening this country today is poor power supply. If we are able to resolve power problem, honestly, I can tell you that all other things will fall in place. Although, it has not been easy to tackle this problem. The major factor behind the power sector problem is sabotage. I believe that distributors of generating sets offer bribe to officials in the power sector. Therefore, we need to look into sabotage if we must get a good result.

How would you respond to the opinion that that the much touted war against corruption by this government is not a sincere effort?

Well, let me tell you something. War against corruption in Nigeria goes beyond the application of rule of law. We need to intensify the war because if you don't do so, things will continue to get worse. To me, I don't believe in hiding under the cloak of rule of law, to fight corruption. We need to take more drastic steps to discourage people from perpetrating this act. And if we don't, we won't help the unborn children, because the young ones will have in their mentality that the most pleasurable thing to do is to embezzle government money.

But during the last administration, people were scared from corruption by the advent of the (Economic and Financial Crimes Corruption) EFCC and the (Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission) ICPC. They were jittery. But this time around, the way the card of rule of law is being played, some politicians will dare to go into corruption and later exonerate themselves from the act.

So, I still believe we need to do a lot in terms of fighting corruption, because it is another cancer eating deep into this country. I believe it is even worse than power problem. And when you look at the level of corruption in this country, initially it was a tradition, but today, I believe it has become an epidemic. It looks like a disease which has no cure. We must look critically into it and do something urgently to save this nation from this disease. Otherwise, it may ruin this country.

What is your position on the recent controversy over the ceding of Bakassi to Cameroon?

Well, I agree with the former president's argument that he consulted the National Assembly before taking the decision. The truth is that the order to cede Bakassi to Cameroom, was a verdict of the world court and I don't think there's anything we can do about it.

We'd signed so many agreements before it went to the Cameroonians. The former president actually consulted the then leadership of the National Assembly. The man even tried his best, to see that some parts of the area remained in Nigeria. But Cameroun didn't take it lightly with us. So, I want to tell you that it was done in good faith. We shouldn't blame the Federal Government for what it had done.

Back to your constituency here in Ogun State, what have you done to better the lots of your constituents and what further plans do you have for the people?

Well, let me start from issues that arose from the allowances we received. The allowance was about N300,000 and it was meant to assist the lawmaker in securing an office, so that your constituents can know where they can go to make complaints when need be. It was mainly to devise a way of touching their lives.

There's no member of the House who was given any money to go and construct roads or boreholes or build schools. And in terms of what the legislator can bring back home, members do try their best when it comes to budgeting.

Whenever we are asked to start budgeting, we normally come back home to meet with elders and ask them what they need. Actually, we normally make sure that these things reflect in the budget, but when it comes to implementation, we are not in charge. Our own is to make sure that this thing gets into the budget, so that the implementation of such a budget could be carried out. But the executive arm will say there's no fund, so what can we do?

We are not in charge of funds and so, there's no way we can dip our hands into the treasury to fund projects. So, if you looked at the 2007 budget, you would see a lot of efforts I made on rural electrification, but was anything done? At times when you go to the ministry to ask for money, they will keep deceiving you and saying, there's no fund yet; due process certificate is not out, all sorts of complain.

Source : Nigeria: 'War Against Corruption Has Lost Momentum'

Consolidation Threat to Venerable Hong Kong Newspaper

A Malaysian tycoon engineers a questionable merger of assets into a Hong Kong newspaper group

Tiong Hiew King (張曉卿), previously best known as a Malaysian timber tycoon, is planning to create “one of the largest global Chinese language media platforms” through a complex merger between listed companies he controls in Malaysia and Hong Kong.

As matters stand, however, the deal looks far more like a way of offloading his ailing Malaysian media interests into the Hong Kong company, raising questions over whether the merged conglomerate will finally kill off the reputation of the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao (明報) , once regarded as the gold standard of Chinese newspapers.

Ming Pao is the flagship of the Hong Kong-listed Mingpao Enterprise Corp., which spun off its magazine holdings into a smaller listed entity known as One Media Group. The Malaysian companies joining the merger are Sin Chew, which owns Sin Chew Daily, the largest Chinese language newspaper in Malaysia and the money-losing Nanyang Press (南洋報業股份) , which publishes both newspapers and magazines.

When Tiong took over the Nanyang group last year it gave him a near monopoly on Malaysia’s Chinese-language newspapers and sparked concerns over how this dominant position would be used, given the tycoon’s close connections to the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second-biggest partner in Malaysia’s governing coalition.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Tiong Hiew King had effectively rescued Ming Pao from the failed businessman Yu Pun-hoi in 1995. It had been founded and subsequently run by Louis Cha, one of the most famous living Chinese authors and a talented editor who made Ming Pao into Hong Kong’s leading quality newspaper. It went into sharp decline under Yu but has revived slightly under Tiong’s ownership. Louis Cha remains a shareholder but is far from the driving force.

Now all these media holdings are due to be merged into a single entity under the Ming Pao umbrella, with listings on the Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur stock exchanges. Furthermore the group is interested in spreading its tentacles into the electronic media. In January Rita Sim, an executive director of Sin Chew, told a media briefing that the company was eyeing radio and television acquisitions. This aspiration is not being mentioned in the current merger plan but rumors persist of possible targets, including TVB, Hong Kong’s leading television broadcaster currently controlled by the 100-year old Run Run Shaw.

Tiong’s real intentions are not clear despite some talk of his aspiration to become an Asian version of Rupert Murdoch, a vision hardly likely to be welcomed by those familiar with Murdoch’s mode of operation and track record of diminishing the editorial quality of practically every publication that has fallen under his control.

Meanwhile the realities of the Malaysian Chinese language market, particularly for newspapers, are all too evident. There is a shrinking base of Chinese language readers and the likelihood of this accelerating as literacy in Chinese is in rapid decline in a country committed to policies enhancing the Malay language.

The impact of this shift away from Chinese is already evident in the profitability of Tiong’s two newspaper groups. Nanyang is losing money RM6.31 million in the red last year, following on from a profit in the previous year. Sin Chew turned in a profit of close to RM54 million last year, compared with almost RM60 million the year before.

Ming Pao on the other hand is increasingly profitable, albeit not entirely as a result of its publishing activities. The company recorded a HK$68.5 million profit last year, compared with HK$43.3 million in the previous year and a loss in 2002.

Maybe because Ming Pao is becoming more profitable its board brought forward a proposal in February for capital reorganization that would allow the company to distribute more of its earnings to shareholders.

The main beneficiary of this move is Tiong, who controls 62 percent of Ming Pao’s shares. He has significantly smaller holdings in Sin Chew (49 per cent) and Nanyang (32.5 per cent). If the merger goes through he will hold almost 55 per cent of the shares in the combined company.

But what’s in it for the minority shareholders? On the surface it looks very good for shareholders in the Malaysian companies, whose shares are valued at a healthy premium to the price they were trading at prior to the announcement of the merger plan on April 23. Sin Chew shares are valued at RM4, while Nanyang shares are given a nominal value of RM4.40, which represents a premium of up to 59 per cent on recent historical prices but a more modest premium on recent trading levels which reflect the fact that this merger was talked about before it was formally proposed.

Ming Pao shares meanwhile are being valued at HK$2.70. Compared to HK$1.95 prior to the merger announcement, this represents a premium of almost 28 percent but Ming Pao shares had already been rising in the weeks prior to the announcement, which means that shareholders who were on board when the deal was originally mooted in January could see the value of their holdings double.

Comparing the value of the three companies is not simple because intangible assets form an important part of the newspaper business but in plain book to price terms, i.e. comparing the share price to the net asset value of the company, Ming Pao shareholders seem to have got the raw end of the deal because the proposed price for new shares equates to a multiple of only 1.7 on their company’s assets, compared with 3.8 for Sin Chew and 2.3 for Nanyang.

There is much talk of making use of the synergies created by this merger, particularly at the production end where the existing 12 production plants are almost certain to be rationalized. But what of the newspaper’s content? Both Ming Pao and Nanyang hold a special place in Chinese newspaper publishing history. Nanyang is now in serious decline and well past its golden age.

Ming Pao’s situation is more complex. It no longer occupies the special place it once held among Hong Kong newspapers but, to be fair to its current owners, it has crawled back from the lows reached during Yu Pun-hoi’s stewardship. Its Malaysian counterparts are seen as having moved towards a pro-government position, while Ming Pao is edging in that direction, although it has not moved as far as some other Hong Kong publications toeing whatever line emanates from Beijing.

Under Tiong’s ownership, magazines published by the group have made a far more determined effort to enter the Chinese market, with all the editorial compromises that this entails. It is hard to find evidence that Tiong is committed to either editorial excellence or journalistic integrity. In these circumstances the creation of a bigger block of newspapers under a single umbrella is not raising high hopes.

As for the company’s minority shareholders, they may be asking whether this merger is really in their interests, even though the extensive re-jigging of their shareholdings is producing theoretical profits, at least in the short term. In the longer term they are tied into a declining newspaper market.

- Stephen Vines. Asia Sentinel.

MALAYSIA- Racial Melting Pot on the Boil

Asia's melting pot, Malaysia, is celebrating 50 years of independence from British rule but against a backdrop of mounting racial disquiet fuelled by race-based politics, redundant policies that divide and discriminate and affirmative action that favours native Malays over minority Chinese and Indians.

Half a century into nationhood, the ideal of a ‘Bangsa Malaysia' -- that promised a blended Malaysian race that was to have climbed out of the melting pot -- is still nowhere in sight. Instead there is a clash between resurgent Islam and the secular constitution.

Even Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi admitted recently that the major races that make up this unique country are drifting apart owing to racial and religious divisions and built-in discriminations.

''The situation is worrisome,'' Badawi told Malaysians during a televised address last December, appealing for racial understanding, tolerance and national unity.

Foreign travellers who only see peace, stability and development are unaware that racism and discrimination pervade every aspect of Malaysian society.

The country's first ever survey of race relations conducted last year confirmed that, below the façade of unity and peace, racism, discrimination and religious bigotry run deep.

For instance all political parties are race-based and champion the cause of their particular race. Playing the "race card" is a sure and tried method to advance politically.

The education system is heavily segregated with nearly 90 percent of Chinese students studying in Chinese vernacular schools and as large a proportion of Malays preferring national schools or Islamic schools where the Malay language and Islam are emphasised.

Inter-racial mistrust, resentment and condescending attitudes are common features of daily life, as the race relations survey showed.

Despite these setbacks, nowhere in Asia can one find so many different races and cultures calling one country home. Besides the majority Malays, other racial groups include Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, Eurasians and dozens of ethnic and aboriginal communities.

A potpourri of religions co-exist from the majority Muslims to Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Sikhs and numerous native belief systems.

"We coexist, even live together but we live separately in our own worlds," said opposition lawmaker Kula Segaran from the minority Indian community that makes up about 8 percent of the population of 26 million and is the most disadvantaged economically.

"The outward peace and stability is not built on justice or meritocracy but made possible by fear and other drastic measures," Segaran told IPS. "An expanding economy with tremendous wealth creation had hid the warts...as the economy slows, the warts are surfacing.''

"We celebrate 50 years of independence as a nation but the people are further apart than ever," Segaran said. "We don't know each other, we go to different schools, have people from our own races as friends and live separate lives."

Malay Muslims, about 60 percent of the population, were the most backward economically at independence in 1957 but, through "Malays-first" policies, have advanced on many fronts and today form a sizeable middle-class.

Despite the advances, Malay wealth is in the hands of a politically well connected elite while in the rural areas of the country the Malay poor predominate.

The Chinese who first arrived as labourers to work the tin mines, now form 25 percent of the population and are economically the most vibrant -- controlling some 60 percent of the economy.

At the core of racial divide is the New Economic Policy or NEP which was originally designed to eradicate poverty irrespective of race, create wealth and ensure economic equality.

However, in its implementation, Malays benefited over other races -- including in preferential employment, education, scholarships, business, access to cheaper housing and assisted savings.

Originally designed to last for 20 years, the basic policies of the NEP have continued under different names, sparking envy and resentment between Malays and non-Malays. Non-Malays have come to accept the discrimination as the price they have to pay for peace and stability.

But as the economy shrinks and wealth contracts and a new generation of Malaysians come into their own, many are unwilling and unable to stomach the discrimination that is institutionalised.

"I was born here, I am a citizen, why should I be treated as second or third class," said law student Amarjeet Singh, who did not make it to the local university despite having good grades. "We simple can't continue with these unfair policies," he told IPS.

Even some sections of the Malay leadership led by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad have said that unfair advantages given to Malays have made them uncompetitive. He called the aid "crutches" in a major speech a year before he retired in 2003, calling for the aid to be reviewed.

Badawi also believes the "crutches'' have to go, but a class of Malays have arisen with powerful political clout who have enjoyed these privileges and see them as their birthright and demand their continuation.

Although the political will to make major changes is missing, the government has taken steps to close the divide. But critics say it is only curing the fever without killing the cause of the infection.

One experiment in racial integration is the "Vision Schools" where students from all races share sports fields, assembly halls and canteens, but attend classes conducted in their own languages.

Another initiative is a compulsory national service programme for 18-year-olds that was started in 2004.

It puts youths from different racial background under a single roof. Students are chosen at random and taken to camps for three months to learn teamwork and absorb one another's cultures.

But the experts say racism is too deeply entrenched in official policies and the socio-political system for such "half hearted" measures to make an impact.

On the political front, opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, on a political comeback after six years in prison, is campaigning on a platform offering affirmative action for all needy Malaysians and an end to race politics. But it is left to the voters to decide.

Analysis by Baradan Kuppusamy
- IPS

Backlash has begun

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has clarified that he did not label all women bloggers as liars.

He said his statement was specifically made in reference to an Indonesian journalist who wrote in her blog about the ministry’s inefficiency.

The Star published a letter quoted Director-general, tourism Malaysia as saying :

Nila made her ad hoc requests to shoot and film at the two malls. However, requests at the eleventh hour require some form of notification and accreditation. A prior consent in writing had first to be obtained from the relevant authorities before any filming could be done in any of these premises.

In a letter (addressed to Tourism Malaysia Jakarta), Bapak Gunawan, the producer for SCTV said Nila was acting on her own and her actions have transgressed the terms at SCTV.

Unspun wrote :

This is unfair and presposterous to blame the troubles of a department and minister on one lone blogger.

At this stage what Nila said is no longr the issue. The real issue is the behavior of the Tourism Minister and the MTB who dug their own holes by being in denial and pissing off all bloggers, especially women bloggers.

Now they are trying to shift the blame on to an Indonesian blogger. What will happen instead is that they will piss off all Indonesian bloggers. (read here)

Thank you for all bloggers - Nila Tanzil

Dear bloggers,

I would like to thank you for all your support. Am very sorry that I haven't been able to give any comments related to the statement of The Malaysian Tourism Board Tengku Adnan yet (on the “Bloggers are liars. They use all sort of ways to cheat others. From what I know, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women")) as I was still mourning of the loss of my special person in life.

I'm very touched to read the posts in the blogosphere. Just to mention some of them:
Susan Loone, Elizabeth Wong, screenshots, Nuraina A Samad, Kak Teh, Skthew, Marina Mahathir, and many many more.

And today, I got even more responses in my blog as Tengku Adnan made a clarification on the remarks last week on women bloggers by saying "I didn't mean all women. I was referring to Indon journalist" (Relishdish.blogspot.com),
Elizabeth Wong.

Soon after, I got a phone call from one of the online media in Indonesia, asking me about this matter. The media wrote 3 articles regarding this issue and there were some comments as well from the readers in their website as well as in my blog.

Reading all the comments and posts in the blogosphere, I'd love to thank all of you for the supports. As a blogger, all I wanted to do was to tell the truth, share my experience (and hopefully readers can learn from it), thoughts and how I felt toward certain things. I'm sure that's what we all do :)

So, again, thank you for Indonesian bloggers, Malaysian bloggers and all bloggers in the world! As for Malaysian bloggers, thank you for your posts and comments. I would love to visit your country again, and maybe promoting Malaysia in the near future (if not in the TV station - coz I'm still being suspended, could be in the printed media as I'm also a writer for a travel magazine).


xoxo,

Nila Tanzil

Nila Tanzil: Keep writing, keep telling the truth! - SK Thew

Nila Tanzil suspended from job, but thanks all bloggers - Susan Loone

MTB’s latest salvo: but what’s the issue? - Unspun

Ku Nan blooper: Backlash in Indonesia - Screenshot


Nila Tanzil: Mana yang Tak Benar? - detikcom

Liars, to blog or not to blog ?

(Image courtesy of Kickdefella)

Last year, Singapore's bloggers and Web-based writers signaled that they were a force to be reckoned with. And in a state where government control over the mainstream media has been a fact of life for more than four decades, Singapore's freewheeling blogosphere is set to have significant political and social ramifications.

It's still altogether unclear what direction the Internet revolution will take in Singapore. While there have been few moves toward legally protecting Internet-based writers, there haven't yet been any official signs of a comprehensive clampdown, despite an accelerating migration of readers from the traditional media to the digital medium.

The political content on many blogs was overwhelmingly anti-government, a fact recognized by People's Action Party (PAP) politicians after the elections, which, as usual, the party swept in resounding fashion.

"I know that something has gone wrong when more than 85% [of the bloggers] write negatively about the PAP," ruling-party member of Parliament Denise Phua told a public forum. The government should figure out how to "manage this channel of communication", she added, a remark that itself brought down a ton of digital bricks on her head.

Two months later, optimism about freedom of speech over the Internet would be tempered. The government objected strenuously to a column written by a well-known blogger, "Mr Brown", published in a print daily newspaper, in which it was alleged that the government had withheld adverse economic data from the public until after the elections. The newspaper promptly ditched "Mr Brown" from his regular column. Bloggers saw that as heavy-handed punishment for controversial postings in the blogosphere.

Thus freedom on Singapore's Web may only be a luxury so long as blogs and website audiences remain small and atomized.

It is notable that where Malaysia has spawned the critical Malaysiakini.com and South Korea has the widely read OhMyNews.com, in Singapore, despite a vibrant blogosphere and Asia's third-highest Internet penetration rate, so far nothing as established has blossomed in the island state.

In Malaysia, the popularity of some liars postings is forcing the authorities to take them seriously.

IS DATUK Seri Abdullah Badawi remarrying?, the Prime Minister, who lost his wife to cancer in 2005, was asked about it this week. He took the question sportingly, and laughingly brushed it off as 'just rumours'.

Few were surprised that the news first popped up on Raja Petra Kamarudin's website, Malaysia Today, several weeks ago.

Raja Petra, 56, does not fit into a neat box - he is a writer, political analyst, activist and, generally speaking, a man in the know.

He ran several businesses for more than 20 years, but cashed out in 1998. These days, he administers his website full-time and pays for its operation from his own pocket, he says.

His website is extremely popular, getting some 1.5 million hits a day, because it conveniently gathers Malaysian news from diverse sources into one site.

No one is spared, not least the Prime Minister's son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin. Scores of outrageous stories about him were posted week after week last year under the heading 'Khairy Chronicles'.

How much of this was fiction, how much the truth - that was left for the reader to figure out.

One of them was his story that the Prime Minister had allegedly bought a new jet. It astounded many when the government confirmed there was indeed a new plane, but it was for government use, including the King, not just the Prime Minister.


His connections give him access to all kinds of politicians and, besides, he is a gregarious sort of person.


Raja Petra is probably the best-known Malaysian Internet writer today, but he is not alone in dishing out nuggets of scandals.

One of the more recent stories - the Prime Minister's supposed purchase of a yacht in Turkey - was first written in a blog by former New Straits Times (NST) editor Ahiruddin Attan.

This forced the Prime Minister to publicly deny the news.


In the last few weeks, the Internet has churned out allegations of graft against Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum and Anti-Corruption Agency director-general Zulkipli Mat Noor.

These allegations were quickly picked up by the mainstream media, and the police are now investigating.

As websites of varying credibility lift the lid off scandals and sticky issues and attract sizeable numbers of readers, the authorities find they cannot afford to look the other way.

'They do not have a choice. At first they ignored it but the information gets down to the ground. The Internet pages are printed out, translated and distributed to the rural constituents,' Raja Petra said.

Mr Khoo Kay Peng, a political analyst, said the government has to act as Internet claims are slowly gaining credibility after several allegations were proven to be true.

He added: 'More and more people are seeing the Internet as a channel for their complaints.'

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of Transparency International Malaysia, also said that the authorities must be open to receiving complaints of all types because corruption is an insidious crime.

Freedom of expression over the Internet is being put to the test in Malaysia, where two bloggers are being sued for their postings by the politically influenced New Straits Times newspaper.

Malaysia's mainstream newspaper NST has sued two bloggers for allegedly libelling its editors. One is former editor Mr Ahiruddin whose blog was a source of information and gossip about the NST and its management.

The other target of the NST suit was information technology expert Jeff Ooi, 45, who came to public attention after he started his hard-hitting Screenshots blog several years ago.

Tales from Bolehland

March 8, it’s International Women’s Day, just when Malaysian women this week marked their achievements in many areas but were uniformly worried over a sharp rise in gender related violence - especially rape and domestic abuse. greeting from our Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor "bloggers are liars, 80% are unemployed women", read Elizabeth's :"Tengku Adnan whacks women bloggers"

Malaysian Minister for Tourism, Tengku Adnan was reported by Sin Chew (9 March 07, Early Evening edition pp 5) to have said the following :

Tengku Adnan: Bloggers are Liars
80% are Unemployed Women
updated:2007-03-08 20:11:32: MYT

(Kuala Lumpur) The Tourism Minsiter Tunku Adnan lashed out today (Mar 8, 2007) that all bloggers on the Internet are liars, out of which 80% are unemployed women.

“All bloggers are liars, they cheat people using all kinds of methods. From my understanding, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women.”

Tengku was addressing the media at the 2007 Malaysia GP Sales when he was asked about allegations made on a blog by a female TV presenter. The guests present were shocked at first, but burst into laughter.

He said he may lose some female voters but did not retract his statement or indicate that he was just joking.

He said that bloggers spread rumours, disrupt social harmony and many bloggers are slanderous and are cheating people with their blogs.

“All bloggers are not in favour of national unity. Our country has been successful because we are very tolerant with each other, if not, there will be civil war, the Malays will kill the Chinese, the Chinese will take revenge and kill the Malays, and the Indian will kill everyone.”

He urged the rakyat not to simply trust bloggers, and gamble our future away because the achievement we gain in the 50 years of independence is not an easy task.

“We have to show the world our positive attitude, if the world learn to be as tolerant as us, the world will be peaceful, without war or civil war.”

He said that the tourism ministry has been promoting the country for the rakyat’s benefit, not just to benefit his own ministry.

He stressed that the Malaysian tourism industry is now in a critical moment as the competition from the neighbouring countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines will be stiffer and Malaysia must respond proactively.

(Translation by Jeremiah Foo )

Not too long ago, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has accused his critics of unfairly smearing him.

"I know there are people who are trying their best to ridicule me,"

"They make a mountain out of a molehill. They just want to rubbish me."

Abdullah did not specifically identify his critics then, but said bloggers and other people were using Web sites "to create stories" that underscore how online freedom has been manipulated.

"Lies after lies are being told," Abdullah was quoted as saying. "They feel they are free, they cannot be disturbed and they can say whatever they wish to say."


Recently, UMNO Reform .com labelled certain bloggers as Anti Abdullah :"Pak Lah dalam Bahaya?".Excerpt of the posting translated by Susan :-

This is a more comprehensive and thorough attack. This attack is more organised and Pak Lah should be worried, not only of their presence but because there are no othordox supporters to defend him. This only goes to show that Pak Lah is more in danger now than it was during the reformasi movement. The systematic attack against Pak Lah is increasingly organised, and more ‘adventures” in starting a movement.

Furthermore, UMNO reform said these people are not ‘penembak curi” but those who “open fire” with a certain feature (face), motive and vision (quoting from Sang Kelembai’s blog). This open attack seem to have more substance and looks more thorough while Pah Lah seem to have failed to respond (to compete) with the rising attacks.

“Whatever it is, if Pak Lah failed to defend himself against this attack, it shows that he had failed to see the scenario and sentiment on the ground,” ended the said article.

The citizens of Bolehland ended the year 2006, Year of half-bridge, half-past-six govt and half-witted leaders, in high spirits. Even though things did not quite fork out for the "work-with-me, not for me" Prime Minister (PM), the government of the day took us to great heights in various ways.

Pak Lah’s chime of change and his high-sounding anti-corruption cheer and chant continued on in 2006 to 2007. Three years after being voted into office on an anti-corruption platform,allegations that the head of the powerful Anti-Corruption Agency is corrupt and unscrupulous, the Prime Minister has dismissed damaging allegations against two of the country's top anti-corruption officials.

The prime minister has promised to allow for a full investigation. He has asked the police to probe both allegations thoroughly. He has said that he will act once the evidence is presented to him. If he fails to act in the face of incontrovertible evidence, then the public will begin to lose faith in his drive against corruption.




Still not long ago, A PKR leader Tian Chua was accused of attempted murder.The news report from NST :

An opposition politician is facing up to 20 years in jail after police yesterday claimed they have built a strong case of attempted murder against him.

The 44-year-old politician is being investigated for trying to run over a site supervisor with his car at Kampung Berembang off Jalan Ampang on Wednesday.

The real story ? Read here, here and here.