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 .

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... !

Positive News : Top Web Sites and World Heritage Sites

Malaysiakini is No 1 news site
Alexa ranked the paid news site Malaysiakini recently. This is a positive development not only for Malaysiakini itself, but on the other fact : Malaysian netizens are plausibly more aware of socio-political developments in the nation post-PRU12.

Perhaps, with news reporting which is done on a fairer measure than mainstream media, inclusion of Malaysian blogrolls, publications of letters from readers and exclusive videos on various happenings across the nation make this a must-visit site.

Other news websites to make it into the top 50 are The Star (16), Utusan Malaysia (18), Berita Harian (30), Malaysia Today (31), Harian Metro (34) and Harakah Daily (36).

I am not too happy that Malaysia Today ( http://www.malaysia-today.net/ ) only made it at no 31. I expected it to be higher in the list (meaning more visitors). However, for an independent site that runs on limited funding, it is a high achievement by itself. I have been a follower since its inception. Congratulations to Raja Petra and Malaysia Today commenters for making it happen. News coupled with public opinion does matter.

Personally, I do not really like politics, similar with many Malaysians but I feel it is unavoidable. Where there is human, there is politics. One can be ignorant if one is not affected by politics. Judging by the current situation the nation is in, the national political situation must be paid attention. It is at a critical stage where economy and livelihood of Malaysians are affected. By being knowledgeable of what is happening in the country, one can educate people who are less aware.

Note : Anyone wondering where NST stands ? Goodness gracious, I shouldn't have asked.

Youtube is no 4 and Blogger is no 5 (most visited sites)
Having an opinion is one thing but it is only through education and pro-active actions, the national situation may improve. Perhaps, that is why Blogger ranked no 5. Blogging is a form of pro-active action although it is not necessarily enough to turn things around.

Lately, The Sun reported : Abdullah hits out at slander and lies spread in cyberspace. It is not necessar to waste time to make too much out of what he said. There is nothing really significant or nothing that has never been said before. An excerpt from the words of All Blogs president Ahirudin Attan of Rocky's Bru ( http://rockybru.blogspot.com/ ) explains it all ...

In an immediate reaction, National Bloggers Alliance pro tem president and National Press Club adviser Ahirudin Attan, who blogs as Rocky's Bru, urged Abdullah and other leaders to look at the positive side of blogging.

"Labelling blogs as something negative is going back to the stone-age, because we have been through this before," he said.

Indeed .. and indeed Youtube is no 4 and Blogger is no 5 in the World Wide Web of the Information age by Malaysian standards. Further, on negative perceptions ....

Ahirudin said the government should not accuse bloggers of attempting to create negative perceptions through their postings, but should instead act on slanderous and defamatory accusations.

“Just like there are good cops and bad cops, good politicians and bad politicians, there are good blogs and bad blogs,” said Ahirudin.

Ahiruddin, the former editor of the Malay Mail, said that politicians were to blame as well “because they are the ones who give out statements”.

A blog is just a medium for discussing issues affecting the people, adding that the traditional media were also reporting the same thing, said Ahirudin ....

Georgetown, Malacca win world heritage status
Finally, after all these years.

Did anyone care to notice there are some unique similarities?

These towns are the result of the elements of pluralism. Multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic. It is hard for one to find places in the world that house Islamic Mosques of Malay-Pakistani-Indian designs, Christian/Catholic churches, Buddhist-Taoist-Confucian/Siamese/Burmese based temples, Hindu temples very near to each other.

In Malacca, one can see designs of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dutch, Portuguese, English and Nyonya buildings in one place. People of different faith and religion live in various settlements and make their living peacefully in the town.

How could that be achievable? That is a question Malaysians should ask themselves. I can think of one for now.... Mutual respect. It's time to celebrate.

Cybertroopers on the Prowl Again

Aliran reports Aliran website attacked on 1st July 2008 7:10 pm
Excerpt:
"Within a three-minute spell, our website was bombarded with 60,000 hits from two IP address in particular. This was confirmed by our web-hosting company, which temporary disabled our website for a few hours. "The account was getting attacked," said the company's network security administrator."

Malaysiakini reports 'Malaysia Today' hacked by Soon Li Tsin on 2nd July 2008 8:00pm
Excerpt:
"Popular political blog Malaysia Today was hacked this morning and the poor Internet connection affecting several areas in Malaysia has affected efforts to restore the website. "

Tun Dr. Mahathir's 'Che Det' blog posted an entry titled Note To Visitors on 22nd June 2008, 11:09pm
Excerpt:
"On Friday June 19th, chedet.com was locked by the administration of Bloggers.com for what was termed as "suspected spam blog". Following that chedet.com has not been able to publish any new posting pending approval by Bloggers.com"

Anil Netto wrote this phrase in Malaysia Today, Aliran websites attacked :
"Is this all just a coincidence?"

Once upon a time, Sagaladoola blog shared the same experience as Che Det's blog. I was not able to post anything as well. Eventually, after a period of time, it was released after some investigation processes by the owners of blogger.com . Ronnie Liu's site (of DAP) suffered a similar fate before the 8th March General Election .

With the Anwar issue making big rounds as major headlines on almost all medias, it is certainly mind-boggling the cyber attacks would come at the same time. Perhaps, Anil Netto asked the right question.

There is of course one socio-political commonality between all the attacked sites. Freedom of speech is under attack. It is not hard to guess which group of people potentially executed the moves. The question is, who are behind this group of people? Who will be most advantaged by limiting the access to these websites?

Like what I said just now... That really isn't hard, right? That's really suspicious....

Of Dust and Million Ringgit Libel Suit on RPK, PKR Sites

2008 Dust Still Lingers
It is a messy day for me after reading a number of news and blog entries on Malaysian politics in Malaysiakini and various news spots . It seems like the 2008 election dust has not settled down.

There is nothing really profound to read upon, only a massive messy state of affairs. Most of the state governments have been installed but as for the plans and mechanisms on respective states, everything is still in a blur, except for Penang and Kelantan.

As for UMNO, the main event being discussed is the internal polling. The latest official date reported is December. Unofficial sources rumoured April. Whatever that is, we shall see a big showdown on Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and changes to the party itself. It was also rumoured that all party posts could be contestable.

Million Ringgit Libel Suit
Meanwhile, as a blogger, I feel a certain amount of distraught and displeasure over a case of a million ringgit suit against Raja Petra Kamarudin, the web owner of Malaysia Today and Suara Keadilan. According to the post, Online writer, opposition paper slam libel verdict , University Utara Malaysia and its vice-chancellor Nordin Kardi had filed a lawsuit against Raja Petra Kamarudin, who runs the popular Malaysia Today website, and Suara Keadilan, the newspaper of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), over a piece that alleged Mr Nordin had plagiarised an article. The High Court in Kedah ruled on Wednesday that Raja Petra must pay RM4 million (S$1.8 million) for publishing the defamatory article on his website in 2006. The court also ordered the PKR newspaper to pay RM3 million for reprinting the same article.

There is a lengthy and detailed explanation from the blog Muhtar Suhaili As-Sarawaki. The current stand of Raja Petra and PKR on this matter is "civil disobedience".

Opinion on the suit
Let's take a look at the meaning of Libel according to Wiktionary.

libel (plural libels)
1) A written (notably as handbill) or pictorial statement which unjustly seeks to damage someone's reputation.
2) (uncountable) The act or crime of displaying such a statement publicly.

It shall be made clear the common reason for the initiation of a libel suit by a prosecuting person is to protect his/her reputation or any associated parties. Most of the time, if the libel has become widespread, famous and obviously talked about in many places by many people until it gives an impression that the libel may be real and only then the person affected will consider making a case out of it.

Honestly, I did not know who is Dr. Nordin Kardi before this. Neither do I know he is associated with UUM or the existence of such alleged libel. I mean, for God's sake the article was in 2006. Today is 2008. It's been years. I have been surfing Malaysia Today for many years, never stopped since 2004 and I can't even remember such article even after the suit is being filed.

Personally, I think this libel suit is certainly "interesting" because it made me pay attention on Dr. Nordin Kardi, UUM and the article mentioned. Ironic, isn't it?

I could not recall the so-called libel before this libel suit. Now everybody knows. Do you feel it is a much talked about affair in blogs today (after the libel) rather than in the past? Ironic, isn't it? Smells strange, doesn't it?

I leave it for the readers of this blog to think about this.

BERSIH: We Do Not Want Representative, We Want Tuanku (To Tell Us)

Malaysiakini recently reported King: No royal support for Bersih rally ( Nov 16, 07 1:34pm )

Excerpt of the news:
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abdidin in a rare press statement said neither he nor Istana Negara had directly or indirectly supported the massive rally held over the weekend in Kuala Lumpur.
-> Don't get involved in illegal activities
-> Build a better nation together

I was actually shocked when I read that piece of news. If it is really the truth, it will still come as a "no surprise" to me. After all, striving for electoral reform, a clean election as a civil rights is nothing simple. It is a long and painful Struggle.

The African Americans took decades to obtain proper civil rights. Most of the time, in the midst of their journey faced many obstacles that make their struggle looked seemingly impossible.

The most important thing is, they thrived and hold on to their beliefs, have faith in God that one day they will get what they want : to get the fundamental human rights that they have always aimed for. That provided they took actions in the likes of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks.

In the case about Malaysia, I think with or without Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, the Struggle for a Clean and Fair Election must persist. Of course, if the Monarch is participating, it will definitely be good. Inevitably, we have to react accordingly.

Which brings back to the original story of Malaysiakini. Immediately after reading that piece, I searched through the internet to obtain more updates. Have found a lot of articles.

After reading those, I felt more angry than remorseful. Angry at Yang Di-Pertuan Agong? No, no, no, of course not. Why? That is because I found out that it was claimed by other articles on the net: the statement was made by a person called Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja . It is not coming directly out of the mouth of Yang Di-Pertuan Agong. It is through a runner in the Palace. Purportedly, the runner is said to be someone from a certain ruling party (hope you catch the drift). Is there a conflict of interest here?

For more information on some conspiracy theories on the subject of runners doing something extraordinary, please read these articles. It would be best to make sure these are distributed to the public so that Malaysians will be able to judge and comprehend what is happening.

Read these:
Malaysia Today : What the eye does not see (Raja Petra Kamarudin)
Merah Tinta MSO : Respon Cepat, Penjelasan Pengelola Istana Negara Tidak Mengejutkan (Mohd Sayuti Omar)
Malaysia Today : Bohong! Bohong! Bohong! (Kamal Amir Menulis)

I echo the decision made by Mahaguru58, a famous blogger himself. He said : Agong's 'Statement'. Won't believe it till I see and hear His Majesty on live tv!

To date, our Monarch has not made any direct statements albeit by himself on the Memorandum for Electoral Reforms by BERSIH. There are some possible powerful hands (not Agong's) at works, although I cannot say it for a fact.

There are certain quarters that claimed the BERSIH rally is about freedom to assemble and not about electoral reform. That is certainly weird, I would like to reiterate this point :

BERSIH , the organisation is for Freedom to Assemble AND / FOR Electoral Reform. Been that since day one.

Besides that, it should be made known that we need Agong to support a clean and fair election through electoral reforms proposed by BERSIH in the memorandum. He does not have to support the rally and gathering. It is merely symbolic.

In the meantime , one of the heroes of our nation did this: Mind your own business, Syed Hamid tells foreign Human Rights groups . I was wondering whether this is the professional way to respect Human Rights as well as the best way to handle public foreign relations. I find that approach quite impolite.

Anyway, Freedom to Assemble and Clean Elections are Fundamental Human Rights in Any Democratic Country. That I cannot regard as applicable with nations of Communist Governance, Dictatorship or Autocracy.

Regards and best of luck Malaysians. When the going gets tough , the tough gets going.

Bloggers, beware of hired hackers

Malaysiakini published my letter Bloggers, beware of hired hackers .

by Sagaladoola
Nov 6, 07 5:22pm

I wish to bring to the attention of all bloggers and concerned citizens Malaysiakini's report, Bersih website hacked ahead of Nov 10 rally.

The hacker posted a message saying that the Nov 10 gathering will be postponed. On the contrary, Bersih had later reiterated that the gathering would proceed as planned. A large number of organisations will be there and various political parties had confirmed their participation in this peaceful gathering.

A few days ago, a famous independent news portal, Malaysia Today, suffered a similar fate. Currently, Malaysia Today is back online. Elsewhere, I have read of another blog by a member of parliament (Ronnie Liu) having a few days worth of articles being removed the same way.

It is certainly ironic that as the days of the rally draws near, several websites are being attacked. Perhaps, there is some greater hidden powers at work - one that may not be comfortable with certain concerned citizens in the form of bloggers and writers expressing their opinions on the Internet. Otherwise, there could be certain parties who are not pleased with calls for electoral reforms for the better.

If the latter is the main reason for such unruly behaviour, the actions of the hacker(s) and the people who gave the orders are indeed strange. After all, if one is patriotic towards the nation, one should always support a move that supports true democracy through a necessary change in electoral processes. Naturally, upon careful thinking, it may not be hard for Malaysian bloggers and citizens to guess who the real perpetrators are.

Online bloggers should periodically back up their work in Word documents or Notepad files to ensure that their hard work are not permanently lost. Bloggers who do not use familiar blogging sites such as blogspot.com or wordpress.com but use their own purchased domains should exercise extra caution by incorporating better security. Personal, purchased domains are more vulnerable to attacks.

P.S. The Member of Parliament mentioned here is Ronnie Liu. His website http://colour-blind.org/ was hacked. Meanwhile, he will be reusing his older blog http://ronnieliutiankhiew.wordpress.com/ for any public updates.

People's Petition to The Agong - Please Sign and Distribute

With the recent shooting incident in Terengganu where two unarmed civilians were hurt in the process. The "ceramah" (forum) was organised by BERSIH (Gabungan Pilihan Raya Adil dan Bersih) with the good intention of calling for electoral reforms and encouraging a healthy democratic election environment.

Some mainstream medias have been trying to paint a picture that looks as if the Opposition Parties caused a riot. However, through a thorough analysis from a number of sources, inclusive of those who were there at the scene, there are theories of Agent Provocateurs not from the Opposition involved.

The biggest problem that we need to pay attention is the use of firearms against civilians. Such violent approach must be condemned. In fact one of the victims was hit on the chest. With such a large number of FRU dispensed, it is not excusable to say that the unarmed crowd cannot be controlled without firing some shots.

Nathaniel Tan of jelas.info wrote this: Terengganu Truth: The Bigger Picture
Malaysiakini readers wrote this: Terengganu riot: Who is lying?
Malik Imtiaz Sarwar of HAKAM called for a Royal Commission Inquiry (Independent) to investigate: Seriously, Mr. Deputy Prime Minister

In tandem with this as well as other issues besetting the nation, Malaysia Today has created a People's Petition, which will be submitted to the Monarch of our nation, Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

Please read the content of the petition and sign on the website if you have a log-in username. Alternatively, you can e-mail raja.petra.kamarudin@gmail.com with the message "Signed" and your name. Otherwise you can post a comment here and type "Signed : " followed by your name. This blogger will compile and submit them to Malaysia Today. E-mail this post to your friends if you wish to.

HERE IT IS; PLEASE SIGN :

Petition to The Agong

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Malaysia Today !

Sagaladoola wishes ( http://www.malaysia-today.net/ ) Malaysia Today's founder Raja Petra Kamarudin, editors, writers, commenters, readers, bloggers a Happy 3rd Anniversary.

Years pass by without us realising how far we have walked. Malaysia Today have walked a long way, from a http://www.blogger.com/ website with a registered domain into a self-sustaining (technically) news portal. Currently, Malaysia Today closes in on The Star online, its only rival in cyberspace.

There are some good reasons to celebrate and rejoice. On this important day, let's evaluate the positive aspects Malaysia Today has given to the nation:

1) A platform for Malaysian citizens to discuss issues in articles.

2) Important news that do not appear in mainstream media.

3) A place for Malaysian Bloggers @ Citizens to convey their views in "Around the Blogs" and "Letters" section.

4) Analysis on socio-political happenings in Malaysia.

5) Evaluations on certain articles in the Constitution.

6) Promote understanding between people of different race and religion.

7) Calling citizens to respect the Federal Constitution, Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysian royal families and Islam as the official religion.

8) Inspire Malaysians to speak up and look for solutions to existing national problems.

9) Instil nationalism among Malaysians and a hope for change towards a better future.

10) Allow alternative evaluations and views on historical context.

11) Supports transparency, accountability and revocation or reforms of draconian laws.

12) Giving "a voice" to Malaysians regardless of political affiliation.

Despite being severely attacked by Cybertroopers and faced with mind-boggling police reports, Malaysia Today has managed to survive through it all. If 13th of May is a reminder of the dark days of racial clashes, let 13th of August be the day of understanding between multi-cultural Malaysia.

May news portals such as Malaysia Today ( http://www.malaysia-today.net/ ), Malaysiakini ( http://www.malaysiakini.com/ ) and Merdeka Review ( http://www.merdekareview.com/ ) continue to bring more breaking news to the community.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Malaysia Today ! ... and ... thank you for everything.

Sagaladoola's note: We Walk with Malaysia Today stickers are ready for distribution.

Citizens In Solidarity with Raja Petra and Freedom of Speech !

I found this on the comment section of my website today .
Anonymous said...
New Petition... Citizens In Solidarity with Raja Petra and Freedom of Speech !
http://www.petitiononline.com/FrdmRPK/petition.html
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 1:19:00 PM

I visited the petition mentioned and these are the details that I have found...
___________________________________

To: The Government of Malaysia

Citizens In Solidarity with Raja Petra and Freedom of Speech !

Bloggers United ! Malaysian Citizens United ! Supporters of Freedom of Speech United !

We, hereby, Malaysian Citizens, the Boss of the Malaysian Government demand to be given the Freedom of Speech and Discussion.

We call for the government to respect the Malaysian Constitution in Freedom of Speech.

We protest against the formation of similar draconian, non-transparent, oppressive acts that undermine the freedom of the cyberspace such as certain sections of ISA, OSA, SA, UUCA and PPPA.

We protest the action against Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who is one of the Top 20 Asian Progressive, a Towering Malay Malaysian. We, Malaysian Citizens see it as a way government to clampdown on bloggers, cyberspace and freedom of speech !

Link:
http://www.worldbusinesslive.com/search/article/655151/top-20-asian-progressives/

We do not find any writings of Raja Petra Kamaruddin offensive. We protest any potential attempts to close down Malaysia Today, an avenue for freedom of speech !

We call the Malaysian government to not emulate China's Communist control on cyberspace !
We call the Malaysian government to investigate the corruption allegations supported by documents provided in Malaysia Today website.

We, Malaysian Citizens, the Boss of the Malaysian Government demands the government to investigate and clampdown on Corrupted Officers in a highly transparent manner and not Whistleblowers and Bloggers.

We, Malaysian Citizens urge that Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib be excluded from party, Members of Parliament Candidacy and elections until his name is cleared on the allegations in Malaysia Today.

We, Malaysian Citizens, the Boss will translate the actions of the Government into election votes. Malaysian Citizens choose and vote their government through democratic means !

Freedom of Speech, Constitution of Malaysia and Agong rules !

Sincerely,
The Undersigned
___________________________________

Interested people can do whatever necessary.

Raja Petra found the Police report puzzling as he claimed he had not written anything on the mentioned date in the report ( news from Malaysiakini )
Raja Petra is defiant after eight-hour grilling by Police in IPD Dang Wangi yesterday. There was a mention of certain "cybertroopers" essentially involved (read it in the link). Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, the UMNO Information Chief made the police report.
___________________________________

As Malaysia made it international with BBC reporting " Malaysia cracks down on bloggers ", I feel a little chilled and grow concerned.
The new rules would allow a suspect to be detained indefinitely, without being charged or put on trial.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Sounds like a passage from repressive "Internal Security Act" ( ISA ). Finally, it has come.

Read this passage from Centre for Independent Journalism article Nazri, govt threats to bloggers alarming :
The Centre for Independent Journalism objects strongly to the government's threat to use the Internal Security Act (ISA) to silence critical bloggers. Detention without trial, as stipulated under the ISA, against a blogger is grossly disproportionate and alarming. The government's willingness to use the draconian law seems to affirm the speculation that it fears the freedom of speech over Internet. It also shows that the government takes the easy way out to punish a blogger without going through an open court process, besides violating the fundamental rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

I am actually writing this article in fear. I fear a number of things in my life. Of which, one includes the fear that I can't safeguard my own country against corruption. Fear to get married. I do not want my children to end up uncertain about the future like me. Fear of losing everything I have because of the mismanagement of people more "higher class" and position than me. Fear because I get intimidated year by year with words calling for "blood" and such.

Fear that if I do not speak up something bad would really happen. Fear that if I speak up, I may get caught.

I fear but I shall try my best to overcome and do something about it. After all, what is the meaning of 50th Merdeka when all one knows is fear?

Good luck and best wishes to all. May you celebrate 50th Merdeka with a sense of pride, dignity of what we achieved thus far with the political parties and politicians of this land. And... Make sure you celebrate it only at the permitted time set by our government.

Regards....

Malaysia Today, What is 50th Merdeka?

Dr M: Gov’t wants to curb cyber dissent (Malaysiakini Jul 24, 07 12:21pm)
Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad believes that there is an attempt by the government to curb voices of dissent on the Internet.
-> Failed under his rule
-> Report against Malaysia Today

Umno lodges report against Malaysia Today (Malaysiakini)
Jul 23, 07 2:46pm
Umno has filed a police report against political website Malaysia Today for allegedly publishing disparaging remarks against the King and Islam.

Sagaladoola: Who's Next? 1st Nat? 2nd RPK? Cyber-Axe Cometh?

The Straits Times: Umno files report against webmaster
Raja Petra said yesterday he had no idea which article about the king made Umno leaders upset. 'I am also not against Islam. I am just against the conduct of some Muslims,' he told The Straits Times, saying he believes the government wants to shut down his site and arrest him.

Malaysia Today: Press statement/Letter to the Editor by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
I am writing in defence of Raja Petra Kamarudin and his writings in his website, Malaysia Today. ... I hope good sense will prevail - and Raja Petra and Malaysia Today can be allowed to continue unhindered in their good work aimed at achieving a better Malaysia.

Jeff Ooi: E-mail from Dr. Helmy Haja Mydin
And if UMNO is so concerned about the lies that is being spread at the website, perhaps it would be more appropriate for them to bring up the various issues of corruption that has been highlighted by Raja Petra. I am sure Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who led the lodging of the report, would want to publicise the issue and clear his name as Raja Petra can't possibly have evidence to back up his rhetoric, can he? If the issues were brought to an open, impartial court and the man be given the opportunity to present his evidence (or lack thereof) then we would have justice. To deny justice, after all, is the ultimate insult to Islam.

My words: What is Merdeka? by Sagaladoola

What is there to celebrate on the 50th Anniversary of Merdeka?

What is Merdeka?

What is Merdeka when people cannot speak?

What is Merdeka when we have a sense of fear on the net?

What is Merdeka when we have a sense of fear walking on the street?

What is Merdeka when we have draconian laws "watching" us?

What is Merdeka when there is no transparency and accountability?

What is Merdeka when we do not know where our hard-earned money went?

What is Merdeka when corruption is killing my country?

What is Merdeka when my citizens cannot talk about the "State" of my homeland in public?

What is Merdeka when my media is not free?

What is Merdeka when I remain suspicious of my leaders, ACA and police?

What is Merdeka when I am not sure if my interests are being safeguarded?

What is Merdeka when certain businesses are "systematically" monopolised?

What is Merdeka when my country is benchmarked against underdeveloped nations of Africa?

What is Merdeka when my citizens cannot be sure of their own future?

What is Merdeka when my citizens are divided and ruled?

What is Merdeka when my citizens are leaving my homeland out of disappointment?

What is Merdeka when my leaders are sleeping through it all?

What is Merdeka when my leaders are not respecting the Constitution?

What is Merdeka when my voice is not heard?

What is Merdeka when my fellow citizens and virgin forests are being raped?

What is Merdeka when I can only complain and see Malaysia "go down"?

What is Merdeka when we are not free to celebrate as how we like?
( Patriotisme tidak boleh dimonopoli , Sambutan ambang 31 Ogos hanya di Dataran Merdeka ? )

What is Merdeka when I fear that I will be caught for writing this?

What is Merdeka when all I can do is to ask but have no courage to tell the answers?

What is Merdeka when all I can do is forcing myself to write out of fear?

I weep for Merdeka. I weep ... that is all I can afford to do to celebrate Merdeka.

That's me Sagaladoola.

Regards ........

Who's Next? 1st Nat? 2nd RPK? Cyber-Axe Cometh?

Oh My God ! What is Happening to my Merdeka Country? 50th Anniversary of Merdeka is one month from now? ! ?
____________________________________

Malaysiakini: Umno lodges report against Malaysia Today

Lim Kit Siang: Axe finally coming down in Malaysian cyberspace - after Raja Petra, who’s next?
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Terror ! Terror ! Help ! Help ! RED ALERT !!! CALL IN THE PROTECTORS...
(Picture courtesy of Wattahack? blog )


There was Nathaniel Tan .

Now, after RPK?

Who's Next? Who's Next?

Carmen bin Laden and Tribal Practices

In the Malaysia Today article, Understanding the Malay-Muslim mind, Raja Petra described about the Wahhabi sect practised by Saudi Arabia, which houses the holy land of Mecca and Medina.

It was said that Saud is a tribe who fought the way into the establismenf of its Saudi kingdom. These days, Muslims all over the world are returning to the roots of their religion and seem to get the idea that practices in Saudi Arabia reflects the true way of Islam. Ironically, a big number of the Muslims come from the Sunni sect.

Actually, the practices of Saudi Arabia is more tribal than Islamic in nature.

I have made two essential highlights and made additional comments on it based on a book I read about Carmen bin Laden, the ex-sister-in-law of the Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

HIGHLIGHT 1:
Abdul Aziz then declared Wahhabi the official religion of the land and all other religions and other versions of Islam were banned.

HIGHLIGHT 2:
Tolerance was not on the agenda as what Abdul Aziz said, “The Arabs understand two things only; the Word of Allah and the sword.”

COMMENT:
Perhaps that is why the West always view Islam in the way that Abdul Aziz mentioned (The holy book and the sword thing). You see, my father and his friends mentioned to me that they were taught to brand Islam that way.

My father mentioned to me that it was mentioned to them that the third World War may arise from the basis of religious differences, which could be somehow true.

For more information on medieval Saudi Arabian practices, please read the book below.

-----------------------------
CARMEN BIN LADIN
Inside the Kingdom: My Life in SAUDI ARABIA(Hardcover)
-----------------------------

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Kingdom-Life-Saudi-Arabia/dp/0446577081

I got mine from MPH Mid-Valley. Even Carmen (originally an Iranian Muslim) was culture-shocked with the MEDIEVAL practices adopted by Saudi Arabia. It took her 14 years to get herself and her daughters out of the country albeit legally.

If you read the book, you will certainly feel very sad, women does not even get a right to their own name. Her mother-in-law's name is Om Yeslam. Mothers use the names of their first son on his puberty. Women are placed in harem arrangements in the house. They are not supposed to move out of the house. If they were to go somewhere, they had to be driven in a car fully clothed in a burqa, which covers the face as well. The surroundings must be 100% made clear of men. All this are done as if the women are seriously diseased; avoid at all cost. Quarantined as sex slaves meant for breeding and full enjoyment of the husband.

Please don't tell me this is the true Islam. Islam is not about suppression of women. This is the Saudi Arabia version, which I detest and protest against.

She mentioned that Arabians are very uptight (most of the time very unreasonable) in their own Saudi Arabia. Once they got out of Saudi Arabia, it is freedom. Women dress without head scarves. In fact, if they are in America, they wear jeans and act like any average American. Woman and man can shake hands.

In matters of personal opinion, I do not think Wahhabi represents the so-called true version of Islam. Muslims around the world somehow have this idea because Saudi Arabia is where the holy cities, Mecca and Medina resides.

So, by simple logic, most Muslims assume the practice that come from the people who lives in the place where they perform the hajj should be the purest. It's definitely not true.

The best way is to learn the religion by referring the Qur'an all by yourself. Do not be controlled or misled by other people.

Islam is OK but please "Say No to Saudi Arabisation" or "Wahhabi-ism"

I will uncover more details from the book in my upcoming blog postings.

Malaysia Boleh Bodoh and the MCA Slumber

Bolehland, Bodohland Malaysia
Malaysia Today published an article by Michael Backman titled "With this cash I thee wed: here comes the bribe".

This is an excerpt of what he wrote:
"In the column, I said that Malaysian government waste wasn't "Malaysia boleh" (the national slogan that means "Malaysia can") but "Malaysia bodoh" ("bodoh" translates as stupid.) The column was emailed pretty much to anyone with an email account.

Many in Malaysia have taken to referring to government waste and poor decision making as coming from "Bodohland"."

How apt, how true. Further in his article, he talked about the various corruption cases in Malaysia and the way in which they were handled. It is really worthwhile to read his writings. After all , corruption is handled in the most ironic way in "Bolehland", I mean "Bodohland".

There is not much difference between the term "Bolehland" and "Bodohland". We "can"/"boleh" spend so much of money sending first Malaysians to space just to make "teh tarik" and play "congkak". Isn't that a "stupid"/"bodoh" approach? Other countries send scientists to space to make studies that will benefit mankind. We, Malaysian taxpayers and the government belong to the "Bodoh" category. There should not be no excuses there. After all, we are footing up a hefty million dollar bill to enable the world to laugh at our immature government and ridiculous pride.

To top it off, there were even speculations that the SMS method a la "American/Malaysian Idol" would be used to decide on who gets to be the first Malaysian in space. That has never been done in the world. Other countries choose the best candidate based on technical, health and knowledge credentials. Malaysia Boleh !!! and Bodoh too ...

Remember, we are not making our own spaceships. We are just taking another person's "bus" (Russian rocket) up to space. We are paying a very expensive "bus fee". Anyone could do that. A Japanese millionaire paid for his space vacation even before we send ours. Ohh, that would now mean that we "boleh" (can) spend money for useless escapades but "tak boleh (can't) make our own spaceships.

The world "Boleh" in Malaysia is slightly twisted as you will realise. We "can"/"boleh" do things that others have never done before (most of the time with gigantic financing) but produce products or so-called "achievements" of insignificant value to society. What is all this bull/crap about "biggest pizza" or "biggest teabag" in Malaysia? People are "stupid"/"bodoh" enough to regard it as something to be proud of.

It is utterly disappointing to have a foreigner Australian to remind us of our problems rather than realising and solving it ourselves as Malaysians. Perhaps, Michael Backman is more worthy of becoming a citizen of our country rather than our own Malaysians.

Sleeping MCA MP's
MCA said "Give feedback through proper channels to fight crime", reported The Star. There were arrests at Johor’s anti-crime protest in front of Johor Chief Minister's residence. The police arrested two SUARAM members after the demonstration. Johor Bahru (JB) citizens are living in fear. JB is now the crime capital of Malaysia.

There is even an Online Petition to pressure our "Bodohland" government to take action.

The Opposition, Lim Guan Eng has something to say about this matter. Remove DSP Leow Kian Heong from the crime prevention unit of Johor.

Excerpt:
"At the public dialogue organized by the Johor Baru Tionghua Federation on Sunday, Leow had insulted the audience and Chinese community by saying that the crime situation in Johor is not alarming but had improved instead by 8% as compared to last year. Leow blamed the Chinese press for giving extensive coverage to crime stories that gave the impression of a deteriorating crime situation unlike the English/Malay press that do not have such reports. He even called on not the public not to racialise and politicize the issue.

Johor state crime prevention unit DSP Leow Kian Heong should stop talking like Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman."

This is the latest spat of crime in Johor. Johor Criminals Chase and Ram Car, Rape Girl (and Another Gang Rape On Next Day).

This is what MCA has to say:
“MCA leaders will continue to give feedback and the views of the community to the Government through the proper channels to ensure that effective measures will be carried out to combat crime,” he (MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting ) told a press conference after the meeting."

As a representative of the Malaysian Chinese, that is the sort of "Bodoh" statement that the president has to say. Crime cases have been escalating in Johor since Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Johor Crimes were written as HEADLINES in major chinese newspapers all along. Everyone on the street, and I mean not only Johor knows that state is a Crime Capital.

What sort of crap is he saying that "MCA will continue to give feedback and views of the community"? Where are these so-called MCA leaders all along ? Too "busy" sleeping enjoyably in their high-class residence that they do not read the papers? Too "busy" making money? I thought MCA is a social association, not a business association? I thought MCA has a lot of MPs being voted by these eventual victims of crime? Where are they? Sleeping?

These Members of Parliaments (MPs) should know what is happening in their community. That is the "proper channel" of their job. If they are not aware, that would be they are not doing their job, therefore should be called to resign.

When is MCA going to request the police to release the SUARAM members, the brave people who fought for the rights of the Johor citizens? These SUARAM members have done something, which MCA by right, should have done ! Malaysia Kini reported that Suaram condemns police action on this matter. Criminals are the ones who should be arrested, not those who speak up against crime !

Tionghua means the Chinese race in the Hokkien dialect. The fact that Johor Bahru Tionghua association has to take matters by ways of protests and petition prove that the community no longer has confidence in MCA and the police force.

Ng Yen Yen, the representative of Chinese women in Malaysia were against the so-called "little dragon ladies" from China. Sexistly, she said, these people would wreck Malaysian families. How about this matter? Crime will wreck families too. Most crime victims in Johor are women. Women are gang-raped. This is even worse than "dragon ladies". Now where is she?

Perhaps, people like Ong Ka Ting, Chua Soi Lek and Ng Yen Yen "boleh" continue with their elegant slumber. It will definitely be a "surprise" if they win in landslides in the next election.

Sleep well, sleep tight, my fellow so-called "leaders" of the "Bodohland". MCA will pay the price.

Underworld, RMP, Malaysian Government: An Unholy Trinity?

The roaches are scurrying and the rats are hurrying, according to Malaysia Today.

I have just finished reading up a detailed article in Malaysia Today on the unholy alliance between the Chinese organised crime syndicate and the Royal Malaysian Police. I am not sure on how true the acussation and various documents provided is, but generally many visitors to the site seemed to believe.

The article is the second part to the article "Malaysia’s organised crime syndicate: all roads lead to Putrajaya". Everybody knows Putrajaya is the centre of administration for Malaysia. Is this what we call the unholy trinity (Underworld, RMP and Putrajaya)?

I have written my opinions on the first part in "Malaysian Government, Daredevil, Hell's Kitchen" article. Let's hope the stories about the syndicates are not true.

Politics is all about perception. With or without proof, if people on the streets believe this government and administrative bodies is wicked, that would signify that the ruling party has managed poorly. If it is US of A, the current ruling party will definitely be kicked out and be replaced by the opposition. In Malaysia, it is quite impossible for this to happen with our poor election machinery, citizens' endless suspicion on the voting system and scandals around so-called phantom voters and "postal" voting. Not to mention that all political parties in Malaysia are divided along racial or religious lines. It would be almost impossible for Malaysians to collaboratively vote a party other than Barisan Nasional (BN) to govern.

These days, crime is prevalent. I have heard from my friends staying in Kepong of weekly robberies. Two weeks ago, my friend was on the scene of a mugging. Two muggers approached the driver of a Toyota Fortuna with a parang and a gun. The driver was shot dead on the spot during the struggle to escape. Another week before, a pharmacy was robbed. Kepong folks are thinking of reviving their "Rukun Tetangga". Would that be a feasible solution?

How in the world did the muggers grab hold of a gun you may ask. In the 80s and 90s, we barely hear of such a thing. Having a gun is a serious offence. One can be charged under ISA for possession of a bullet let alone a gun! How did they get it?

Areas like Sri Petaling and Kepong frequently experience break-in attempts. These folks are not even close to rich. Sri Petaling took action by employing 2 security guards to patrol their area during the night. I still have the notion that this should be a police department job

In Johor, robberies and snatch thieves are common. It was said, snatch thieves will slash you whether you fight back or otherwise before fleeing away with your belongings. In other states, ecstasy can be easily bought in clubs. Isn't government supposed to protect us from all this?

Reading RPK's article in Malaysia Today only to be told that those we are supposed to depend on are potentially the ones betraying us is certainly hard to bear. Let's pray that what he said is not true.

Few years back, Putera UMNO of the ruling party BN made a move to recruit local biker gangs known as Mat Rempit. It is a surprise step considering the fact that there are criminal cases involving Mat Rempit.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/8/26/nation/15254779&sec=nation

There is a scandal involving murdered Mongolian Altantuya and a high-profile politician in Malaysia.

http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=5313

The current "movement" in the courts without proper explanation made "Malaysia's justice system a casualty"

http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/index.php?itemid=5246

Guang Ming Daily will be sued by Michael Chong. The paper labelled him as "King of Ah Long" (King of Loan Sharks) purportedly with some "reasons".

http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/newsncom.php?itemid=5321

Remember, remember the 5 million scandal and Johari Baharum Minister? Remember Kong Cho Ha's (Deputy Minister of Science and Technology) brother?

http://rockybru.blogspot.com/2007/03/rm5-million-trail_05.html

Remember the “Jackie Chan” of Malaysia?

http://ronnieliutiankhiew.wordpress.com/2007/03/04/johari-baharum-in-hot-soup-how-about-mca-taikohs/

Do not forget the ACA chief Zulkipli Mat Noor and Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman scandal.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/64940
http://www.jeffooi.com/2007/03/can_of_worms_in_aca_probe_on_a.php

What about the Port Klang Assemblyman, Zakaria Mat Deros?

http://the-malaysian.blogspot.com/2006/10/is-port-klang-assemblyman-datuk-zainal.html

What is becoming of Malaysia? How much longer can we accept all these? Can we still depend on the police, ACA, MPs and government to protect us?

Good luck, Malaysia and Malaysians.....

Sexism in BM Dictionary: Terrible to be a Woman

THE second reprint of the fourth edition of the venerable door-stopper Kamus Dewan (2007) is out according to Amir Muhammad in the New Straits Times. So, what’s the fuss all about, you may ask.

According to the article:
"
But a gamelan performance, of all things, that I saw a few months ago did something interesting with the gender terms in the same dictionary. The women in this show simply read out the definitions of laki-laki (man) and perempuan (woman). A good actor is supposed to make the phone book seem like riveting material when reading it; but our dictionary doesn’t require much of an additional push.

The usage examples of laki-laki (on page 870) uniformly describe positive values: hatinya memang laki-laki (he has a manly heart). There’s also a bloke who sounds like a good catch: Alias memiliki sifat kelaki-lakian yang tulen, jujur, ikhlas, berhemah tinggi serta berupa kacak. (Alias has true masculine virtues, he’s honest and trustworthy, polite and dishy too).

Contrast this with the distaff side on page 1,182. You get penyakit perempuan (female disease, i.e. syphilis), perempuan gatal ("itchy", lascivious woman), perempuan jahat (bad woman), perempuan jalang (prostitute), perempuan joget (dance-hall girl), perempuan jungkat (another lascivious woman) and perempuan simpanan (mistress).
"

Wow, that's a mouthful of words. Everything to do with male is positive and for female it's negative. The other word for "laki-laki" is lelaki. If there is no discrimination, they should have added this for the males:
Lelaki miang (lascivious man), lelaki gatal ("itchy" man), lelaki curang (man who commits adultery), lelaki lembut ("softy" man),

Learnt some from this "Mengetahui Jenis Lelaki" (Know the types of Males) article in Cintagila Weblog :
Lelaki manja, Lelaki sensitif (sensitive man)

Tokeikedai Online wrote some as well:
Lelaki konservatif (conservative man), Lelaki hipokrit (hypocrite man), Lelaki anti-perempuan (anti-females man), lelaki feminin (feminine man).

Sometimes, who can females blame when their own breed makes sexist statements against themselves instead. A good instance would be some women leaders who called women maids from China as "little dragon ladies" and home-wreckers without understanding the situation.

Sometimes, Women Are Sexist Against Women.

Is it such a shame to be a woman these days? Where are the smart and independent women? They should come out and speak against all these.

In the process, please spare the man. Some of them are against such sexist attitudes. Amir Muhammad is a liberal man who brought the dictionary entries into notice.

How many more Carlo Fiorina, Angel Merkel, Indira Gandhi, Kim Dae-jung and Nina Wang are needed to convince the world to be rid of sexism?

The Irony of Bahasa Malaysia, Alleycats and Mister Zam

Rest in peace, Loga

Condolences to the members of Alleycats for the passing of its member Loganathan Arumugam who succumbed to lung cancer on Monday, 10.50 a.m. at Mount Miriam Hospital. He was 54, succeeded by a 23-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter, The Star reported.

I am not a fan (they were way past my time) but I would like to state my opinions and observations regarding the contributions of the band in Malaysia, be it music or nation-building.

Alleycats was particularly famous in the 1970s and 80s, with their trademark Afro big hair churning Malay pop hits such as "Sampaikan Salam" and "Andainya Aku Pergi Dulu". Group members include Loganathan Arumugam and David Arumugam on vocals, Tan Chin Hock on drums, Shunmugam Arumugam on lead guitar, Chester Anthony Passerella on saxophone, Khoo Fook Sin and Grenville on keyboards, Frank Ong on bass guitar.

The Penang-originated band is one of the great pioneers in the music progression of Malaysia. Other than producing songs sung in the national language (Bahasa Malaysia), Alleycats indirectly taught us to be blind of racial or religious "colours". The band is multi-racial (Chinese and Indians) and multi-religious. Their fans come from ALL races with a huge base in the Malay community. Ironically, the band was incepted in 1969. The same year, Malaysia experienced one of its worst period in history, the 13 May 1969 Racial Riot.

Mahaguru58 and Kay Stanford Jr Kastum paid tribute. Jeff Ooi dedicated an entry with their videos. Edmund Yeo (son of Alleycats producer Eric Yeo) wrote the article "R. I. P. Loga of Alleycats" and provided some links to their music.

Time passes so swiftly.

The success of Alleycats symbolise the potential unity of Malaysians. Despite not having any ethnic Malays in their band, they sang in Malay. Perhaps, they accept it honestly in their hearts that Bahasa Malaysia belongs to all Malaysians. I hope we are able to see multi-racial bands as such in the near future.

In memoriam, Loganathan Arumugam.

Bahasa Melayu "was" and "is" Bahasa Malaysia


Another irony on the same day that Loganathan passed away, Zainuddin Maidin, Information Minister declared that the name of the language "Bahasa Melayu" will be changed back to "Bahasa Malaysia".

“The Malay language belongs to Malaysians of all races and not just the Malays. The term Bahasa Malaysia would instil a sense of belonging,” Zainuddin told The Star

That is perhaps, the only right thing Zainuddin has done compared to his sproutings over the past months regarding bloggers (attempts of classification, registration and mind-boggling statistics).

He further added, “It was generally accepted and no one asked for a change until (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim became the education minister (in 1986). He dropped the term Bahasa Malaysia for Bahasa Melayu and it has remained that way. But now, we feel we should go back to the original term,” he said.

Or maybe I should say, near right but not absolutely right.

I am a Malaysian who has never regarded Bahasa Malaysia as Bahasa Melayu "sahaja". I have never treated Bahasa Malaysia as a language not of my own. I believe people in the Alleycats band back in the 1970s would probably think like me.

Analysis on the Logic of Language Name Change

The Star article stated:
"In a unanimous decision last April, the Cabinet felt that reverting to the term Bahasa Malaysia would help inculcate a sense of belonging for all citizens irrespective of race, said Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin."

That would mean, to change the name "Bahasa Melayu" to "Bahasa Malaysia" requires a decision from the Cabinet. Using Zainuddin's logic, would that mean that there should also be a decision from the Cabinet to allow the change of "Bahasa Malaysia" to "Bahasa Melayu" back in 1986?

So, may I ask Zainuddin Maidin, why did the Cabinet, of which Barisan National (of UMNO = Malay, MCA = Chinese, MIC = Indian) is the ruling party blamed Anwar Ibrahim as if Anwar is solely responsible for the situation?

Even if it was not the Cabinet's decision, why didn't the UMNO, MCA and MIC Members of Parliament oppose the move in Parliament back in 1986? BN was still the ruling party way back since 1957 Independence.

Rustam Sani stated an apt statement in his Malaysia Today article that the ministers "sounded like a Columbus who claims to have just “discovered” America – whereas the truth of the matter is that the continent had already been discovered several times over by earlier discoverers such as Amerigo Vespucci."

Is the General Erection around the corner? Will such attempts work on the non-Malays? This leaves an area to be evaluated.

Anti-ISA: Adopt Italian, Australian Anti-Terrorism Law Instead

A blogger by the name of "Mat Keris" repeatedly emphasised that Internal Security Act (ISA thereon) should be retained to counter terrorism from certain deviant groups who use the name of "Islam". The discussion is still commencing in the comments section of Malaysia Today article "Riot at Kamunting".



All in all, I oppose ISA as a method to counter terrorist activities. I had written an article in the past requesting citizens to strongly call for the abolishment of ISA, "United We Stand, Divided We Fall".

Below are my responses to "Mat Keris" on the issue at hand.
_________________________________________

Italian and Australian Anti-Terrorism Laws Are More Effective Than USA and Israeli ISA

-> ISA failed to counter terrorism.
-> Anti-Terrorism Law is the Best Alternative to replace ISA.
-> How did Italians and Australians catch terrorists without any eminent attacks in public?

Mat Keris said:
If an abstract artist (me) can’t understand how a simple solution like “setting alternative news site” can eliminate terrorism, u seriously think the mass could comprehend your “abstract” proposal like "a murder can be proven without a corpse by mere “interrogation and investigation”? Which Malaysian law are u referring to and how, may I ask?

Comment:
Hi Mat Keris,

1) Alternative website cannot eliminate terrorism. Why are you saying that it can? No one said it can but only you.

2) Darling Mat Keris, before the commitment of any terrorist activities there would be plans, documents, bombs, weapons, or anything chemical in preparation for that exercise. So, darling Mat Keris, that was how ITALIANS use their anti-terrorism laws to interrogate, check, charge and sentence the North African men on the verge of committing the terrorist attack.

How do they do that without a "corpse"? How do they charge someone in court (unlike ISA) without a terrorist attack? That is what and why Malaysia has to learn from them.

Otherwise, how would Italians and Australians catch these people. Italians and Australians think out-of-the-box. They have other approaches (other than ISA) that has been proven to be effective. That is why Malaysia should learn from Italy and Australia.

Again, I repeat, bear in mind, that with the anti-terrorism law (not Internal Security Act), the terrorist attack was foiled. Italy and Australia was warned of attacks in 2004 and 2005 and both managed to grab hold of those in the plan before any attacks.

So far, Italians and Australians have been successful with using the anti-terrorism law to counter potential terrorist attacks. Again, I ask, do we hear of any attacks in their homeland until now? Again, I repeat, no.

Whereas, again, I repeat, USA and Israel have ISA, but look at them, so many terrorist attacks. ISA to counter terrorist attacks? Not a good solution. Not even effective.

Again, I repeat, Italians effective anti-terrorism (compared with USA and Israel's ISA) is humane and fair. Italians give proper trial and chance for the North African men to defend themselves before sentencing them to imprisonment.

Again, I repeat, the difference between ISA and Italian (and Australian) anti-terrorist law is the fairness level. ISA imprison without trial and not effective to counter terrorism, therefore should be abolished whereas anti-terrorism and criminal laws in Italy and Australia allows defense and trial.

Again, I repeat, that is why, Malaysia should not follow the style of USA and Israel (because ISA is ineffective to counter terrorism) but learn and emulate Italy and Australia's effective criminal and anti-terrorism laws.

Again, I repeat, how else do we know it is effective? Italy and Australia without ISA has managed to foil so many potential terrorist attacks in their homeland where ISA countries failed.

Did you read the website given? No, right. That is why, keep on asking for spoon-feeding even when the food is given is not a healthy thing to do.

When people give you website, read it and understand. When people give you answer, read the website. Don't make people explain, repeat and repeat.

P.S. So, perhaps you can read this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4728873.stm

Read, yeah and remember.

To say they proved the murderer without the corpse is a bad example. Maybe you can try asking the Italians and Australians how they managed to foil several plans of terrorist attack WITHOUT having the terrorist attack the places intended. Use the example that I gave and ask them.

If we do not know how they do it, we should LEARN from them.

So far, their anti-terrorism legislation approach is succesful without invoking ISA. ISA countries like USA failed miserably in countering terrorism. Of course, they used ISA to gag people and stuff like that.

Yes, ask them and please do research as well. I hope you are not blindly supporting an unjust law.

Which part you do not understand again?

3) Don't opt for suicide. Do research, instead.... Learn from fair laws. Don't use tyrant laws just because it is easy.

4) Malaysian law does not have such anti-terrorism laws of course. They prefer to group it under the ineffective, draconian law called ISA. Mat Keris, do you know that Acts like ISA can be abolished in ISA? Do you know that laws like Italians and Australians Anti-Terrorism Laws can be made in the parliament with a majority supporting it?

So, why are you asking a question like this: "Which Malaysian law are u referring to and how, may I ask?"

Do you understand it when I say Malaysia has to learn from Italians and Australians anti-terrorism laws for this matter? I have said it many times. Do you understand Malaysian parliamentary procedures?

Regards,
Sagaladoola
_________________________________________

Anti-Terrorism Is Not Anti-Islam

Dear Mat Keris,

I am against terrorism especially those who use the name of Islam to massacre.

However, still, I support the use of a new effective anti-terrorism law (similar to Italy's and Australia's)rather than maintaining a draconian and ineffective ISA.

Italy and Australia, first world countries formulate such laws in an indiscriminate manner. For them, the law was made to counter any form of terrorist attacks regardless of race, religion or sex.

The current problem is, coincidentally, majority of terrorism arises from people who uses the name of Islam.

If there is a possibility that Christians / Buddhists / Hindus commit terrorist attacks in the future, the laws would be used as well. There should be no discrimination in thinking.

ISA should not be maintained just for the sake of one religion. It is not a just, social or first world thinking.

Let's move to the first world with a first world mentality. We should not imprison people without trial (regardless of any race, religion or sex).

Regards,
Sagaladoola

Malaysian Government, Daredevil, Hell's Kitchen and Kingpin?

Do you know that Malaysian politics is very much like Oscar movies such as "The Departed" and "Godfather" ?

Is Malaysian politics also similar to comics?

This is what I felt when I read this article from Malaysia Today, titled "Malaysia’s organised crime syndicate: all roads lead to Putrajaya".
_____________________________________

Daredevil, Hell's Kitchen and Kingpin

Anyone remember "Daredevil" the movie adapted from comic? Do you remember that it was banned at the very last minute for a nonsensical reason?

The story is about this Underworld Leader whose name is Wilson Fisk, nicknamed Kingpin. He literally had everyone under his nose including the government and police department.

In "light" he is a powerful CEO of a corporation. In "dark" he is a powerful underworld organisation head.

He owns both sides of the coins. It is up to his whim and fancy to throw it around and make sure he makes himself rich.
_____________________________________

Perhaps, the Kingpin and his cohorts are the only truth from the comics that reflects reality.

Until now, we do not get to see anyone such as DAREDEVIL to "clean up" the streets. Maybe it exists in comics after all as fantasy.

Another similar movie-adapted-from-comic is "Sin City", which is not shown in cinemas here.
_____________________________________

May God Care For Us and Take Proper Action

Apart from that, I have heard from friends that Ecstasy and other Casual Drugs (street name is Chem) are making rounds in various night spots. Last year was sort like introduction. The distribution is definitely heavier this year.

There should be no blaming on any race. It is a national issue, nothing to do with race.

I really do not know what to say. I am very disappointed although it is no surprise. I do not know how true the article is but I do hope that God intervenes if the government is corrupt.

Seriously, I want to do something but do not know what can a mere small-time common tax-paying Malaysian citizen do to these suckers.

In this hopeless situation, I pray to God Almighty for his guidance.

Hope God does "something" to the people who make money out of misery of others (force people to become prostitutes) to pay in big time one day.

Anti-ISA: United We Stand, Divided We Fall

This is my comment in the article ‘Riot’ at Kamunting: The real story of Malaysia Today . The article describes the plights of Norlaila Othman, the wife of ISA detainee, Mat Sah Mohd. Satray published as a Special Report on 17 March 2005 of Aliran Monthly Vol 24 (2004): Issue 11/12.

For those not in the know, Kamunting is the detention center ISA. Wikipedia has a detailed entry on ISA of Malaysia.

As reported by his wife, Mat Sah was elbowed and choked when UKP personnels were reported to "orchestrate a riot" among detainees on 8-9 December 2004. Other detainees were beaten up. NST and Berita Harian placed the news as front page.

These are the words that Norlaila wrote pertaining to the "orchestrated riot"
" The “riot” actually started from a spot check, a normal procedure carried out by the Prison Security Unit (UKP), at Block T-2B, one of the blocks in the camp. At 9.00 am, the detainees in the block were shocked to see a large number of UKP officers dashing into their block and simply taking their belongings, especially tools and material to make handcraft. They tried to stop the action of the UKP but there were too many UKP personnel and 12 detainees inside were beaten up badly. "

Internal Security Act (ISA) was formed in the early days of independence to counter communism in the country. ISA is under the umbrella of Emergency Ordinance Act. When the State of Emergency was over, ISA was not taken off. Instead, it became a tool of oppression and propaganda.

These are the websites relating to the Abolish ISA Movement
http://www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?page=asem-watch_asem74
http://www.hakam.org/news170402_2.htm
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A person by the nickname of josh made a comment on the Malaysia Today article. Raja Petra replied him and I commented accordingly....

josh wrote:
huh, old story...read b4
28/05 19:17:28

Raja Petra wrote:
Dear josh, and what did you do about it when you read it before? Oh, kalau pasal Operasi Lalang in 1987, engkau semua bangkit and ungkit sebab orang bukan Melayu yang kena tahan. Kalau Melayu yang kena tahan, engkau jawab 'old story' and 'these Islamic extremists deserve it'. Yang kena tahan pada 1987 orang jenis apa? Government kata Chinese extremists yang hendak bunuh orang Melayu. Is that so?
29/05 09:09:17

My comments:
Yup, Raja Petra, you are right about this.

Sad isn't it? Malaysians only fight for their own race and religion. Not for the rest of the people.

It is high time for us to change our thinking. Josh, please repent.

The other day, I was reading a book about ISA by Khoo Kay Peng in MPH Mid-Valley.

There were pictures inside from the early days. All sorts of people were detained. Some do not even have the chance to get out of the prison. Sometimes it feels as if certain people have been given life imprisonment without going to the court.

Imagine your, being imprisoned for life without a fair trial? Without a chance to defend yourself with a jury and judge present?

In the pictures there were old grandmothers (in droves) wailing, begging for their children to be returned while armed police officers drag them away from the road.

What did their children do to deserve such treatment? To my surprise, some of these people are actually fighting for society. Some workers were dismissed unfairly by factory tycoons without proper compensations back in the old days.

Do these people deserve ISA?

Bear in mind, that ISA is non-discriminatory when it comes to race and religion.

ALL are victims.

There are many cases like the above where some families lost all their money because some detainees are the sole breadwinner of the family.

I am not saying that all detainees imprisoned are good people. What I detest is, these people are being locked-up without having a chance to defend themselves through proper legal channels.

For me, ISA is a form of Dictatorship. Dictators lock-up people without trial. Why hasn't ISA been revoked? Isn't the State of Emergency over? Isn't Malaysia a Democratic country?

United we Stand, Divided We Fall.

The main reason that ISA still stays is because there were no "Unity" when it comes to protest regarding any detention.

Remind me if what I say is not true.

Reformasi was regarded a Malay issue, therefore many Chinese did not stand together with the Malays when ISA was applied.

Some chinese (non-BN supporters) even label Tian Chua as a troublemaker for purportedly "mingling with Malay affairs".

Is that right to judge Tian Chua that way considering the fact that PKR was attempting to fight against corruption, an ubiquituous issue?

Operasi Lalang were considered a Chinese issue, therefore Malays did not give any support when ISA was executed.

The Chinese were only demanding for their rights as described in the Constitution.

Tell me if I am wrong to say that "some" Malays labeled their Malay friends who protested against ISA during Operasi Lalang to be a traitor.

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Dear josh,

This article is to highlight the effects from the tyrant and cruel ISA.

Perhaps, you should give a token of support rather than provide such statements.

Having more articles to raise social awareness is better than a lack of it minusing the fact that the story can be repetitive.

For me, the concept of Malaysian Malaysia is to band together to fight against tyranny rather than looking at one's personal advantage or disadvantage in the shades of race and religion.

Please do not view people of different races as "worthy" of ISA.

Josh, I hope you understand and repent.
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First, ISA take the Reformist Malay away, you say you are not a Malay. Then, ISA take the Reformist Chinese away, you say you are not in politics.

One day, when the situation worsens and you protest. ISA comes to take you away and you realise, there is no one to help you.

This situation is applicable to the Malays and Indians as well.

Yes, this is an old phrase.. but it still rings true to this day.
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Think Utilitarian, Think General.

We are Malaysians, We are Not Enemies of Each Other's Race.

I have written too much......