Malaysia Today Address Blocked, What about Blogs ?

Malaysiakini reported Malaysia Today blocked! Order from MCMC :
Excerpt: In a rare move, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has ordered all internet service providers (ISPs) to block controversial online portal Malaysia Today.

I was definitely shocked by this piece. Being a blogger and a frequent visitor of http://www.malaysia-today.net/ , to be denied entry is a serious bad news for me. On top of that, if the article is true, that is even more shocking, considering the fact that Malaysia is a free country and its citizens granted freedom of speech by the Constitution.

For the time being , Malaysia Today has re-launched its site at a temporary address ( http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008 ). One can never know how long will this address be sustenable. The one thing certain in Malaysia these days is the assurance of uncertainty. Truly ironic but that is the fact.

Further details on configuring notebooks and laptops can be found here :
http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/content/view/11912/84/

Is it a coincidence that Malaysia-today.net address is blocked right after Anwar won in Permatang Pauh ? Seriously, I do hope it is a coincidence. If it is politically intentional, then there would be a serious cause of concern. I believe it is not necessary to elaborate further on this.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Insider reports : Somebody to target blogosphere next. Should I only write about cooking and shopping next time... ? Certainly, that is not what I like.

Good luck Malaysians ....... Please inform others of the new Malaysia Today address ....

Updates 07 September 2008 11.59 p.m.
Currently, http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com has been blocked.

The new address is http://mt.m2day.org/2008 .

Anwar : The New Opposition and Pakatan Rakyat Leader ?

This month has been a very busy month. Other than suffering from work fatigue, I am also suffering from political fatigue. Too much of drama and work. However, I feel that, as a SoPo blogger and commentator since 2004, I should say something about a positive news.

Malaysiakini reports Official: Anwar gets BIGGER majority.

Finally, Anwar Ibrahim can get back into Parliament after 10 years of waiting and working. Anwar won with a big majority of 15500++ votes in Permatang Pauh, a constituency previously held by his wife, Wan Azizah.

Will we see a New Dawn in Malaysia? It is hard to tell yet but expectations are abound, reading what was written in the free edition of reader commentaries in Malaysiakini title 'Khairy, look who got buried!' .

Summarily, the public expects him to be back in the parliament to do these few things :

1) End racial discriminatory policies that are not beneficial to the nation.

2) Combat corruption.

3) Establish better, more efficient systems and governance.

4) Better democracy for Malaysia.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? I do not think those are easy to be done.

I am a person who always reserve a benefit of doubt but his installation as an MP into the Federal Parliament would provide me as well as millions of Malaysians a chance for him to prove his integrity, sincerity and dedication to deliver the above.

Should Anwar be able to form a new government by September 16th, I would not mind that the above are not able to be completely achieved in one term. To rectify problems that lasted for 4 to 5 decades is not easy.

However, the most important thing is the sincerity and the progressive direction in achieving the above.

Happy 4th Anniversary, Online Portal Malaysia Today

Malaysia Today ( http://www.malaysia-today.net/ ) was incepted 4 years ago. I wasn't there exactly at the same time it appeared but precisely around 13th August 2004.

I recall it was right after the 2004 election, which saw the massive landslide victory of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's coalition party . It is the biggest win ever in history by Barisan Nasional.

At that time, Malaysia Today was attached to blogger.com . However, around 2005 it had to move into its own domain due to overwhelming traffic and user commentaries.

Malaysia Today even made it into top 10 most visited news site in Malaysia, putting it on par with The Star ( a mainstream media with an online version). The main factor of the success of Malaysia Today lies in the airing of public opinions in the form of comments on articles, letters and blogs.

Other than that, the online portal indirectly inspired and spurred its commenters to set up blogs. With more voice, comes more democracy.

Perhaps, in the past, Malaysia Today was seen as a simple site that brings no effect to governance. The 12th General Election proved otherwise although it should not be dismissed that other factors play a part.

Malaysia Today merely highlights issues.that mainstream media may not publish due to vague reasons. Malaysia has a law called Printing, Publications and Presses Act (PPPA) . In it, a clause subjects all related media to make an annual renewal of their licenses.

Today, on the 4th Anniversary, its founder is faced with much difficulties, facing lawsuits from "left, right and centre". Numerous hacker attacks have tried to bring it down. Perhaps, Malaysia Today is not as not influential as many had previously thought.

Public opinion shall persist from this 4th Anniversary onwards. Memetically, Malaysia Today had propelled the silent majority to evolve from being silent to speaking up. Malaysians are yet to be wholesomely enlightened but the numbers are growing.

With that, this blog would like to thank and congratulate the Malaysia Today team;

First and foremost, Raja Petra Kamarudin for giving us this spendid site, ....

its editors, for constantly extracting news, letters and bringing up the site when its down, ....

its common article contributors, namely Azly Rahman, Bakri Musa, Mohd Sayuti Omar, Hishammuddin Rais, your writings are complimentary ....

and all Malaysia Today readers, commenters, bloggers, e-mail forwarders, word-by-mouth communicators which constitute the concerned citizens of Malaysia.

Malaysia Today is here to stay... !

My Opinion on the Recent Interfaith Dialogue

Malaysiakini had an entry titled : Bar Council's forum: More shelling for police, protesters . This is the excerpt :

Twelve non-governmental organisations today signed a joint statement, denouncing the high-handed action taken by Muslim protestors and the police to stop an open discussion on legal issues related to the conversion to Islam.

The blogger Kaytee posted some notable comments on the issue ( Who had insulted Islam? ) .

This is not the first time that a public forum revolving around Interfaith dialogue is disrupted with similar protests or rough approach.

As a Malaysian, I am quite disappointed with the outcome although such happening is not really unexpected. This incident makes me think for a while before writing. I was trying to decipher and analyse the implicit cause of such response from particular Muslims.

On the subject at hand, indeed the theme "Conversion to Islam" is sensitive but does that mean it should not be brought up as a public discussion? I think it should, considering the fact that Islam is the official religion of the nation and every citizen would be affected (directly or/and indirectly) by that.

Furthermore, over the years there are unpleasant cases of body-snatching, Lina Joy among others causing confusion and disagreements among Malaysians. The best attempt to iron all these out is to hold discussions for both sides of the party (Muslims and non-Muslims) to table their opinion, questions, priorities and maybe, voice out their dilemmas.

Issues as described above can only be solved when both sides of the parties get to know what each other are thinking. A common understanding can only be formulated if all factors are taken into account. Without discussion, none of these are achievable.

A dialogue does not instantly promise a solution but it does indeed help in getting more minds to think and therefore, the possibility of achieving an agreable amicable solution is higher and perhaps quicker. It is a long journey but more brains create greater synergy.

Why can't Malaysians see the dialogue this way? Why can't Malaysians look further and be far-sighted?

Religion/faith is a sensitive issue to all. It touches the core of one's soul and more often than not emotions run deep. But, in order to sort out related issues emotion has to be temporarily put aside.

Besides, a dialogue should not be literally seen as negatively "challenging" one's religion. It should be viewed in the positive light of promoting inter-religious tolerance, inculcating understanding and sorting out problems.

Reading news like Molotov cocktail scare and No, this 'Babi' will Not 'Balik Cina' are disappointing. Interfaith dialogue has nothing to do with race, animals or China. It absolutely has nothing to do with violence.

Perhaps, all Malaysians should try to comprehend this phrase "I may not agree with what you have said but I will defend your right to say it".

Anyway, Blogger Kickdefella said there could be some other people who is behind this in his latest post. That makes me curious when I think of it ... Could it be? Must really read and analyse....

Free Arrested Blogger Penarik Beca @ Bakaq !

Blogger Penarik Beca @ Bakaq, who writes on http://penarikbeca.blogspot.com/ and administers http://www.malaysiakita-bakaq.blogspot.com/ had been arrested yesterday.

As for the exact reasons of the arrest, nothing concrete has been made known to me. It is indeed sad to know the unfortunate has caught on one of the core bloggers who started off his blogs pre-12th General Election.

In the meantime, bloggers from the same generation had assembled amidst heavy rain to lend support to Bakaq. Mahaguru58 wrote the entry Bakaq's Arrest - Bloggers Gathering at Bukit Perdana with supplementary pictures.

Bakaq's latest contribution to the Malaysian socio-political scene is the speculative disclosure of secrets in the recent UMNO-PAS discussions.

My personal encounter with Bakaq is limited to the websphere. From the exchanges of conversation with him, I can say he is a polite, patriotic person dedicated to serving the nation that prompted him into blogging.

Such situation reminds me of other bloggers' arrest such as Nat Tan and Raja Petra. Rocky's Bru wrote Another blogger detained in Malaysia.

As a blogger from the same generation, I am saddened by this episode and would like to call for all bloggers to support the call for his release.

Anwar in Permatang Pauh, PAS Will Not Join BN, Ex-MCA People Leave BN

PAS and BN
Previously I had blogged with a question as the title : Will PAS Embrace Islam Hadhari or Join BN?

Thankfully, the answer from PAS is a "NO". It was said that PAS is greatful to both the Malay and non-Malay communities and if there is any future discussions, the party would try to include other components of Pakatan Rakyat. Maybe, common sense had finally caught on with the PAS faction that spoke with UMNO regarding the issue of "Malay Unity". PAS should realise that Malaysians voted for it to speak about "Malaysian Unity" which logically includes the interests of Malays under its theme.

I hope PAS will be cautious in making future decisions on discussions as such.

Ex-MCA People and BN
In the meantime, Malaysiakini had just posted a report titled Ex-MCA leader defects to PKR.

Accordingly ... (from Malaysiakini) ...

Former MCA Wanita deputy chief Dr Tan Yee Kew today crossed over with 1,700 others to PKR in Klang - the constituency which she once represented for 13 years. She was three-term Klang MP.

Now, this exodus should be a cause for concern within Barisan Nasional : A popular leader with a big crowd crossing over to Pakatan Rakyat.

Remember, remember, the "Crossover", 16th of September? Can anyone recall what Anwar Ibrahim had said about that date? It is only 6 weeks away. The clock is ticking.

Anwar and Permatang Pauh
Meanwhile, Wan Azizah had announced her resignation from the Permatang Pauh constituency to allow her husband Anwar Ibrahim to contest in a by-election.

Permatang Pauh is the stronghold for PKR and of course, Anwar, even he was in UMNO. The campaigning had started. YB Lim Kit Siang of DAP said, "Permatang Pauh by-election - turn it into a mini political tsunami".

Winning for Anwar should not be difficult under 'normal conditions' , looking at history. His party and himself is concerned that he would be arrested, and that could make things quite complex.