1Malaysia Or 1Race-1Religion?

Housing & Local Government’s Minister’s Defence of Ibrahim Ali’s Bible-burning call proves there is no 1Malaysia, but only Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion

For those who are familiar with the antics of Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Member of Parliament for Kota Belud and new Housing and Local Government Minister, he will be the first in the House to stand up and concoct a reason to defend “why the chicken cross the road?”

However his latest response as to why Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali's urging to burn bibles containing the word ‘Allah’ cannot be compared with the present case against the sex bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee for insulting Muslims certainly takes the cake.

Datuk Rahman Dahlan argued that Ibrahim’s remark was merely to “correct the error of printing the said bibles”, and hence “burning them was the proper thing to do” just as Muslims burn copies of the Quran that have misprints.

He further added that "what Ibrahim Ali said was normal”, but has been “twisted”.

No right-thinking Malaysian would believe the explanation that Ibrahim’s fiery and emotional remark was just an innocent and virtuous attempt to “correct the error of printing” in the bibles.  And even in the unlikely earth-shattering event that it was, that is no defence against the current Sedition Act.

For example in the landmark case of Public Prosecutor v Mark Koding, Justice Azmi Kamaruddin in the course of his judgment said: “... It is immaterial whether the accused intention or motive was honourable or evil when making the speech” when finding the latter guilty of sedition.  All the judge has to do is to see whether the words are likely to create disaffection against the government, the ruler or the people.

What Datuk Rahman Dahlan has done is to defend the indefensible attempt by the right-wing Perkasa leader, Ibrahim Ali in his attempt to incite Malays and Muslims in the country to burn the holy books of Christians.

However, in the case of the bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee, better known as “Alvivi”, who probably thought it was “funny” to ridicule fasting Muslims, “justice” was meted out before those charged has an opportunity to defend themselves.

Make no mistake, those found guilty must be punished accordingly and the acts of insulting another’s religion is not acceptable.  However, in the case of Alvivi, they have been denied bail on the basis that “both accused had a tendency to upload pictures that could arouse public outrage”, making them guilty before their defence is called.

The clear-cut double-standards in Malaysian prosecution system proves the hypocrisy of “1Malaysia”, a slogan preached by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.  It also makes a mockery of our Federal Constitution which provides that all Malaysians are equal before the law.

The fact that Ibrahim Ali who the open and defiant call for bibles to be burnt was not only left uncharged, but also now defended by the UMNO Minister, while summary punishment was meted out to the blogging duo who carried out the tasteless prank confirms that the Federal Government practices not “1Malaysia” but Malaysia for 1Race and 1Religion.

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Internet Blackout Day 14 Aug 2012 to Fight 114A

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Deja Vu

Anwar has been taken in by the police.

It feels a little like 1998 all over again.

I won't write in detail because the issue is being discussed right now all over blogosphere ad nauseam.

My little wish:

1. The Royal Malaysian Police with conduct its investigations in a fair, controlled and professional manner.

2. That Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be treated with total respect and decorum as an individual who is innocent until proven guilty under Malaysian laws. We do not need another black eye for Malaysia.

3. That if he is charged, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be given a expedious, fair and just trial under an independent judge of integrity. Justice must not only be served by be seen to be served.

All the political brinkmanship, drama and threats today while superficial, has downgraded the perceived stability of this country which will only result in a further weakening economic situation, especially in the light of the existing turmoil in the global economy.

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Hindraf Trio Discharged

I spent my morning with my boss in the Klang sessions court today giving my moral support to the defendants, the leaders of Hindraf who were charged by the government for sedition.

I witnessed first hand the incompetence of the government prosecutors, and the sheer contempt for our courts. Thankfully, in this instance, the learned judge, Zunaidah Mohd Idris, chose to accept simple logic, and discharged the trio - P Uthayakumar, P Waythamoorthy and V Ganapathy Rao.

1. The Government had intended to charge the trio of making seditious statements at a forum recently at Batang Berjuntai. The speeches made were in Tamil. However, in the charge submitted, only a Malay translation was provided. In situations where language and interpretation is crucial to the fact as to the accused committed any criminality, omission of the source transcript makes the charges totally untenable.
   
   
2. Yet, despite a specific instruction from the judge for the prosecution last week to amend the charge over last weekend to include the Tamil transcript in the charge documents. The Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) still had the cheek to turn up in court today without the necessary amendment and continued to argue against the judge's instruction. Some might argue that that's clearly a contempt of court orders.
   
   
3. What's most laughable of course in the fact that the charge statement by the DPP specifically mentioned that the seditious words which were uttered by the accused are underlined and highlighted in the attached Tamil transcripts in Lampiran A (!) The DPP team didn't attach any Tamil transcripts and yet, made references to such transcripts in the charge documents filed with the court - if that's not incompetence, what is???!

Sigh, makes you wonder if the Government was even serious about charging them in the first place!



Anyway, once the trio were discharged, the crowd in the public gallery joined the crowd waiting nearby outside the courts and proceeded to march spontaneously to an open field next to a Hindu temple. It was Little India in Klang at noon. The crowd swelled quickly to thousands as they cheer short speeches made by various speakers.



Unsurprisingly, FRU water cannon trucks numbering at least 7 units had to move from the court house to the field. What was however, most disgraceful of the police force was the blatant attempt by the circling helicopter first, to recklessly lower itself within 20 feet of the field to intimidate and endangere the crowd. On at least 2 separate occasions, it swooped down at high speed, like an eagle catching its prey, without any concern for the crowd gathering below.

Is it then surprising that the Indian community who have been marginalised by the Barisan Nasional government for the past 50 years, to finally say, we've had enough? Will the Indian community, particularly the rural Indians, who have been rock solid in their support for Barisan Nasional in the past elections, switch their support for the opposition, particularly for DAP?

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Bar Council March

That's Ting Fong doing the "wave" ;-)

Yes, yes, the "March for Justice" was like eons ago... but I finally found the time to download the pictures from the camera and sort through them ;) Plus, its probably a good reminder that while the march was more than a month ago, there has still been no tangible result from the "independent" panel "investigations" or by anybody else.

I like this pic, unfortunately, it's a video capture...
('cos the camera-man didn't know how to use the camera! ;-))

Yes, we were all tourists that day visiting the mighty Istana Keadilan.
Ng Lip Eng, Liew Chin-Tong, Lau Weng San, YB Teresa Kok, me & Ting Fong

More touristy shots for those arriving early for the March.
I won't name the others in the picture ;-)

The crowd gathers for the biggest gathering of lawyers ever.
Note the irony of the "50th Years of Independence" banner in the background.

Ah, the Hammer of Justice, courtesy of Jenice Lee

Dark clouds hang over the Corridors of Power

Ah, Kay Peng, Li Tsin and Weng San taking shelter from the impending downpour

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Waving the Constitution (II)

Ah... I know, I know, I need to post more ;)

For a start, it has been about a month since I've last posted my weekly articles to Oriental Daily. So, I'll start there while I get my thoughts sorted to put up more posts, many of which are much delayed ;)

The following article was a combination of what I wrote on the Government's total disregard of the Federal Constitution as demonstrated by the Minister in Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's proclamation that he's the Chief Justice "boss", as well as an earlier post where I remarked on the MCA Youth Chief's placid atttempt to wave the Federal Constitution. We have still not witness any attempts to do so both at the Parliament or the Cabinet by MCA.

举起联邦宪法

我国联邦宪法是国家的最神圣的法律文件。如果马来西亚国家领袖或人民不尊重联邦宪法，国家统治就会陷入混乱。

所以当首相署部长纳兹里为了平息¨林甘短片〃所引起的丑闻，宣布他是联邦法院首席大法官阿末法鲁斯的部长，以及是“掌管法律事务的部长”时，我感觉到前所未有的不寒而栗。

我国联邦宪法明文规定司法是独立的，司法更是制衡政府行政部门的机关。失去了司法与立法独立的马来西亚，就再也不是一个真正的民主国。我们也没有办法保证，国家法律还能作为庇护公民免受政府欺凌的护身符。

一个初级部长能够那么骄傲自满的宣布他是联邦法院首席大法官的上司，根本就是藐视联邦宪法的表现。难道我们国家政府已经完全无视宪法的存在，不需要再尊重联邦宪法了吗？

刚刚过去的第44届马青全国常年代表大会上，马青总团长廖中莱很骄傲的宣告“国人应坚守宪法独立精神”。他率领中委举起《联邦宪法》，嚷嚷“以举手机取代举短剑”暗讽出席该大会的巫青团副团凯里。

廖中莱还强调，马华不是任人欺负的，“人不犯我，我不犯人；人若犯我，我必犯人！”席中也表示关系民族利益的课题，马青的立场绝对鲜明，不回避、不挑衅，咬定青山不放松！

但可笑的是，他只用华语表达给马青团员与不谱华语及热烈鼓掌的凯里听。他在以国语演讲时，却不再提这几句义气冲天的说辞。

目前，我国司法与宪法又受严重的威胁了，引起律师公会在布城大型的游行。问题是，廖中莱或者其它马华部长是否会在内阁或国会举联邦宪法，强烈地仗义直言来保护我国司法机关？还是马华领袖会把“林甘短片”丑闻视若无睹？

廖中莱还说，批评比建设容易，马青要做的事情很多，没有时间和反对党纠缠不清。可是，看来廖中莱应该认为开空头支票比接受批评还要容易。马青不只没时间反驳反对党提起的问题，它们也没时间、气节或胆量作出维护宪法的行动。

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What Constitution?

I won't write much. The quote from the Minister in Prime Minister's Department is shocking enough on its own. With reference to the boiling crisis of credibility facing our Malaysian judiciary with the exposure of the "Lingam tapes", Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has this to say, as reported in Malaysiakini.

De facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said he issued a denial on behalf of the chief justice in relation to the explosive ‘Lingam tape’ revelations because “I am his minister”.

“I am his minister. I am the minister in charge of legal affairs. He is clever enough to know that the reporters will ask me for a response.”

Clearly, the Federal Constitution is only a document for show in the current administration led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Having desecrated the constitution by declaring Malaysia as an Islamic state, the Government now does it again by not only removing the independence of the judiciary, but also subjecting it to a junior minister in the Malaysian cabinet.

I will certainly like to see the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Datuk Leow Tiong Lai to wave the Federal Constitution, as he promised to do at the MCA Youth General Assembly at both the Cabinet as well as the Parliament. Having failed to defend the Malaysian constitution when the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak declared Malaysia as having never been a secular state, will he redeem himself this time round? Or more likely, is it a case of chicken again?

For that matter, why are all the BN component party parliamentarians so quiet on this issue? Some like Datuk Fu Ah Kiow even became apologists for their UMNO masters.

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