We got our tickets at a very low price, RM 315 for 2 to Krabi. Thanks to some AirAsia promo. The down side is that our flight was at 7 am in the morning. We had to leave early to catch the flight.

We arrived Krabi at 815 am local time. We decided to take the bus for more adventure (budget sebenarnya). It costs us 300 baht for both. 600 baht would be the cost if we took the taxi or private transport.

The bus isn’t that bad. If you have loads of time at hand, why not?

It took us 45 minutes to reach hotel. We stayed at Aree Tara in Aonang. Because we arrived early, we weren’t able to check in yet.

We rented a bike for 200 baht per day (about RM 20). I was laughing my ass off while riding it. It felt like a toy bicycle, very low pick up and slow. It was just good enough to take us nearby. It’s not very aerodynamic either and because it’s light weight, it wobbles every time the wind blows. Overall, it was fun.

The day was getting hotter, we decided to hang out a place that provides aircond for free, where else can we go if not McDonalds. We also needed to figure out how telcos work in Thailand.

I was recommended by a friend to use Happy Tourist. The starter pack is 49 baht for prepaid, free Internet for the day of activation. There was several packages, daily limit, duration in days and time limit. We used the time limit package where it’s 30 baht for 5 hours data use  in 7 days. It’s not like we use data every time of the day, when we’re not using data, we switch it off.  We got the cheapest top up for 60 baht.

This is our hotel room. Just as advertise in Wego.com (the place we booked)

Two elephant and a combined super twin bed.

The toilet is clean and decent. We paid about RM 600 for 5 days and 4 nights. RM 150 per night was a deal we couldn’t resist. However it was a bit far from the tourist attraction. The plus point is, cheap hotel and very quite.

Tips: Don’t get an expensive hotel if all your activities are outside hotel.

Manggo sticky rice was the first meal we had. It proved to be the best meal we’ve ever had for the entire trip. Food porn will be tomorrow or the day after

We were fortunate to arrive on Friday as Krabi Town has night market on weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). It took us 45 minutes by motorcycle doing 40-50kmh (I told you the bike is slow).

This is fried ice cream, she literally fried them on the cold slab. She poured in yogurt/cream and flavors of choice. Dice and flip to trap air, then serve it in a cup. It’s a manual way of making ice cream. Tastes just about the same as normal ice cream. We have to admit, it’s the most eye catching stall.

They provided a place for us to enjoy our street food dinner. It was convenient and we had fun watching the shows and dance by locals. It got pretty pack as dinner time arrives.

This is a great idea of making money. Donate and Paint. I was surprised he could withstand people painting hearts on his nipple. If it was me, I’d be laughing my ass off and peed in my pants.

Some points I forgot to take photos of are:

Airport

It’s small, clean and tidy. The staff were friendly and we immediately knew where to go upon arrival. It’s hard to get lost in such a small space. Compare to LCCT, it was easy to get lost, there weren’t many sign boards. Baggage claim was quick and easy.

Language

The local speaks Thai and very basic English. In rural areas, they don’t speak English at all. This is where gestures and calculators are important used to negotiate with the locals. If you’re going to complain or ask complex questions, I recommend you don’t waste your time. Get a data plan and Google it.

Asking for directions is as easy as a single liner. For example, “Aonang?”, they’d immediately connect.

People

My wife told me a tip she read online “Thais are very happy people, don’t offend them”. It was hard to offend them as they smile almost all the time. In Malaysia, only 10% would smile at strangers 90% have straight face. In Thai, it’s the opposite. They are very nice. Even when you negotiate and bargain at a terribly low price they won’t be offended. They love what they do and would love to repeat the good experience from you to another.

ps: I’ve some videos to share swimming with fishes. Catch me tomorrow ok!

Malaysiakini

The Election Commission (EC) cannot simply say that it has nothing to do with the police report lodged by its officers, alleging the buying of ballot papers by a BN candidate, said PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli.

He told reporters this is because the EC is constitutionally duty-bound to safeguard its reputation and the credibility of the electoral process.

“(EC deputy chairperson) Wan Ahmad (Wan Omar) likes to scold us and then, when a police report is lodged, he goes into quiet mode,” Rafizi(centre in photo) told a press conference today.

“This is his responsibility. If a report was made by the EC’s own officers, then it is his constitutional duty to clear the air, explain and to nullify the election (results) if it is true.”

He also rubbished a claim by the BN’s Hulu Besut representative Nawi Mohamad that he is not involved.

“(Nawi) only said ‘there is no such thing’, as easy as that, which is the standard Umno answer.

“They are saying a police report is not evidence enough and that anyone can lodge one, not realising that there are penalties for false reports.”

Rafizi said the fact that the EC officer was willing to put herself forward to be investigated and to give evidence lends credence to her claim.

“But at least Nawi is nicer than Shahrizat,” he said, referring to former Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who has sued him for allegedly defaming her over the National Feedlot Corporation exposes.

Nawi had told KiniTV he did not buy any postal ballot paper, while Wan Ahmad told Sinar Harian that the claim has nothing to do with the EC.

Yesterday, Rafizi provided media with a copy of a police report lodged by an individual claiming to be an EC officer.

The individual said that her postal ballot paper was “bought” by Nawi for RM100, and when she asked for the paper back, the ballot was already marked for BN.

Malaysiakini

Pakatan Rakyat will write to Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the police today to state their intention to hold the Kuala Lumpur legof the ‘Black 505′ rally at Padang Merbok on June 15.

PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said, however, the coalition’s first choice for the 2pm rally would be the iconic Dataran Merdeka, about a kilometre away.

“Our wish and intention is to hold the rally at Dataran, but we take heed of the constant reminders by the police to avoid Dataran,” he told a press conference today.

“In a mutually beneficial move, we take this initiative. But if the police and DBKL do not mind, we would like to assemble at Dataran.”

He said Pakatan is choosing Padang Merbok for now to avoid going “back and forth” in negotiations, which could lead to delay.

The Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 requires that authorities be informed 10 days in advance of any gathering, and that written permission is obtained from venue owners.

Padang Merbok is managed by DBKL.

Rafizi reiterated that the rally is to demand the resignation of the Election Commission, as well as reinstatement of an interim panel that is agreed upon by the BN, Pakatan and civil society groups like Bersih to spearhead electoral reform.

“The time when the BN decides on its own is over. We can discuss terms of reference for the appointment of a new EC, but (there will be) no compromise unless all members resign immediately,” he said.

He said the rally will also demand that a re-election be called in 30 parliamentary constituencies, under the watch of the proposed interim EC.

It will further demand that amendments to electoral laws and the intended redelineation exercise is halted until the interim panel is in place.

“We are apprehensive about (Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s) announcement that the EC will be under a parliamentary select committee (PSC), as this is nothing but a delay tactic.

“We have been down this path (before) … the PSC is made of a majority of BN members, and there will be delays, and further delays.”

‘PAS leaders, members will be there’

Also at the press conference was PAS deputy secretary-general Syed Azman Syed Nawawi, who refuted claims that the party is not behind the ‘Black 505′ rallies nationwide.

He said that the entire PAS top leadership will be present at the KL rally and that the party will mobilise members and supporters to attend as well.

PKR’s Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul said the event will take on a “festive” mood and will “safe and non-confrontational” just like the many ‘Black 505′ rallies held since May 8.

“There have been many young people who come in a respectful and orderly manner, and this is encouraging as it shows that the nation is maturing fast,” he said.

Prior to the Kuala Lumpur event, Black 505 rallies will be held in Perlis on June 10, in Sungai Petani, Kedah, on June 11 and in Batu Pahat, Johor, on June 14.

“We are inviting everyone, whether party members or not and including BN members, to come and listen as this is part of political education,” he added.

Human Rights Watch

At least six alleged organizers of the “Blackout 505” rallies have been charged with violating Malaysia’s Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 for failing to give police the required 10-day advance notification. On May 22, police also arrested 18 peaceful protesters at a candlelight vigil outside the Jinjang police station in Kuala Lumpur.

“Prosecuting activists for organizing peaceful protests makes a mockery of the prime minister’s promises to establish a rights-respecting government in Malaysia,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “The government should drop the charges against the six activists and publicly pledge to cease bringing cases against organizers of peaceful protests.”

The “Blackout 505” rallies in Selangor, Penang, Ipoh, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Johor Bahru, and other parts of Malaysia attracted large numbers protesting the results of, and alleged malfeasance during, the country’s May general elections. The well-ordered demonstrations have generally been confined to clearly defined spaces or venues, such as sports stadiums and empty fields.

Statements by prominent public officials called into question the government’s commitment to protect the right to peaceful assembly. For example, Minister of Home Affairs Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told the media that people had to stop the post-election gatherings, and “if they still want to continue, then they will have to pay the price.” Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Mohmad Salleh said the police refused to tolerate the candlelight vigil, “as it will only cause agitation among the public.”

The 10-day notice provision under the Peaceful Assembly Act is contrary to international human rights standards and should be amended along with other problematic parts of the law to protect public assembly and free expression. The United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and of association, Maina Kai, reported to the UN Human Rights Council in April 2013 that “peaceful protests should not be viewed as a threat” by governments. He flagged lengthy notification periods and recommended a maximum notice requirement of 48 hours.

“Prime Minister Najib should understand that addressing the issues surrounding the May elections means listening to his opponents – not prosecuting them for asserting the right to have their voices heard,” Robertson said.

A short video I made from most (if not all) of the videos I took while on the trip.

This is going to inspire me to keep working on my trip video Will surely start filming while on trip.

Yvonne posing with a bunting banner about Dr. Leaf.

Last week was an extremely energy draining week for me as I attended HSG’s biggest annual event – Project Barnabas – while still recovering my strength after an arduous battle with aspiration pneumonia in Bethesda less than one month ago. But I wanted to, I wanted to catch the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend Dr.Caroline Leaf’s seminars during the conference.

Who is Caroline Leaf?

Dr. Leaf is a neuroscientist originally from Texas. She takes a keen interest in researching on how the human brain affects our thoughts and emotions, and vice versa. Her scientific discovery stirs her awe and amazement at God’s wonderful creation. It drives her passion to teach people on how they can unlearn negative thinking patterns and discover their unique gifts instead. Among her wide field experience, is helping children of impoverished communities who are deemed un-teachable, to learn by using their individual gifts. These children that others deem hopeless eventually graduate from school successfully thanks to her. Dr. Leaf is frequently invited to speak around the world – she is that good – and it cost HSG five figures just to bring her here, to South East Asia, for the first time.

Dr. Leaf explaining with a model of the human brain.

What I have gained from attending her seminars.

There were fifteen one-hour sessions in total, spread over three days, so I had almost fifteen different volunteers transcribing her speeches on my laptop verbatim as best as they could. Dr. Leaf speaks very fast, which proved to be a challenge for some of them. 

Negative thoughts don’t just produce negative psychological wellbeing. They actually change and damage the brain physically.

I have long observed and known that negativity such as bitterness, un-forgiveness, and vengeance can mushroom into psychological disorders such as Major Depression, Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, Psychopathy, Sociopathy, and what have you. But these psychopathologies are diagnosed AFTER their symptoms have fully developed, so researchers have so far focused on looking at what happens in the brain during the course of these disorders. They looked at chemical disruption and imbalances (neurotransmitter in the synapse) and develop psychotropic drugs to change these chemical abnormalities.

Dr. Caroline Leaf (she says there are others doing similar research too) was curious enough to find out how the symptoms of these psychopathologies develop in the first place.

Graphic of a neuron with an axon and dendrites

She discovered that every thought we think about causes the neurons in our brain to grow new dendrites. A negative thought and a positive thought produces two different kinds of dendrites. The differences are evident in brain scans. If we constantly think negatively, more negative dendrites grow which impairs our mind’s function. That’s how the many psychological and psychiatric disorders we know about develop.

The more we think about a negative thought, the more of that thought’s dendrites grow, the more entrenched it becomes in the brain, the stronger it affects our psychological and physical wellbeing, and the harder it becomes to eliminate that thought and its symptoms.

That reminds us of hallucination, depression and psychosis, doesn’t it?

Milder symptoms include stress, anger, fatigue, bitterness, mild depression, hopelessness and dejection.

In other words: Self-perpetuation.

One participant is on anti-depressant and asked Dr. Leaf if she should stop taking it. Dr. Leaf advised her to please do so, but with her doctor’s help. This is because anti-depressants may reduce the main depression, but it will cause another depression to develop – depression for being on anti-depressant. Rather than using drugs to produce a superficial result, it is best to re-train our mind.

Dr. Leaf is a strong believer in the brain’s potential for growth and reconditioning. Besides furthering her research as she travels to teach, she also provides consultation to people in a clinical setting – so she practices what she preaches! 

Besides her research on the impact of negative thoughts and emotions on the human brain, she has also developed a profile to help us discover our unique gifts as well as differences between a male brain and female brain.

Dr. Leaf invented a 21-day detox program to retrain our brain. It takes 21 days for a new dendrite or thought to grow in the brain, and two more 21 days for it to become permanent. In this detox program, we practice a daily mental exercise to train our brains to think a positive thought the moment negativity rises, until it becomes permanent – until the positive dendrite grows fully and becomes permanent in the brain. As this happens, negative thought dendrites will also become dislodged from their parent cell and will no longer affect us.

The wonder of science and nature brings hope

Meeting and hearing from Dr. Leaf in person encouraged me in many ways. Firstly, I identify with her love for science and the appreciation that comes with studying it. Since the day I discovered that I have Neurofibromatosis, I have been studying the genetic, neurological, and chemical basis of my physical experiences. I have been similarly filled with awe for the human brain and physiology.

Later, at the age of 21, I became interested in cognitive neuroscience than ever, because I wanted to understand my father’s post-stroke condition. No one had ever talked straight to me about the effects of his brain hemorrhage. They hoped and even expected him to function optimally. And when he couldn’t, most people in the family seemed to forget about his stroke and said his behavior was his in-born character. They described my dad as a bad person to me. But despite what they said, I had an innate love for my father. Although sometimes, his behavior seemed to tally with what they said about him, yet a small voice in me hinted that something was amiss. Hence, since the age of 21, I became increasingly curious about his brain and wanted to find the truth.

But my yearning for knowledge and understanding didn’t just start when I was diagnosed with NF. It started much earlier in life. Following my father’s stroke in 1989, my environment became dark, sad, and hopeless. I physically bore the brunt of other people’s bitterness and resentments and wondered why was I so unloved, how life could be so harsh. I wanted to understand how this could be possible. This unwittingly trained my mind to be inquisitive.

It also unwittingly made me a kind person, because I empathize with those who are lost, traumatized and in pain. I have been there.

Dr. Leaf speaking on stage with a graphic of the human brain behind her

Picking up where I left off

Dr. Leaf’s work has encouraged me on the importance of my own work and calling. Though I may not be a neuroscientist, not even a licensed psychologist, but my role and work are similar to hers in some ways.

When she spoke about our individual gifts, Dr. Leaf emphasized that no other person has a mind that is identical to ours, Even an identical twin thinks differently from ourselves. The greatest question of all time has been, “Is there anyone out there who understands me?” Her answer is – no. We may empathize with you, but no one can fully understand you because everyone is different and unique. The thing is that we should not be asking if anyone understands us, but rather, know and accept that everyone of us is different and unique. Accept that you are unique.

This message from Dr. Leaf affirms me in several ways.

1. I have faith that A Celebration of Life foundation will become reality, and I have a vision of how it will materialize. But I can’t explain it to another person – it will sound like an idle fantasy. Because, our faith is a personal experience – another person will never be able to feel the same. They can empathize and believe in us, but not experience our faith experiences.

2. Seeing Dr. Leaf speaking on stage – her mastery in the subject of her research and study, her conviction and commitment to imparting her knowledge for the betterment of her audience, her love for science, knowledge and wisdom, and her confidence in herself and her calling – stirred my own sense of purpose as an author and motivational speaker.

My life progression is somewhat different from most people. I found my soul’s path early in life, before I graduate from school and university. I don’t need to wait until I earn degrees and certifications to play my role. This difference can sometimes affect my self-esteem. Most people have day jobs, earn a monthly salary (and capable of accumulating monthly debts. haha), have job titles that are real in the sense they belong to some established company, amd so on.

Being unique and different can be a source of pride. Yet sometimes, it can feel daunting. I live my life by faith, I go with the flow. Every speaking invitation I receive – I do not advertise or seek out opportunities – they come to me by themselves. Faith in living my role this way is a constant test. Therefore, meeting Dr. Leaf was a much needed comfort and affirmation for the uniqueness of who I am and the value of my work.

Dr.Caroline and her husband Mac on stage Mac is also her manager,

After attending her seminars…

Right after Project Barnabas ended and Dr. Caroline went on to her next stop in Vancouver, I revived the Facebook page that a friend created for me several years ago which have been left dormant. This FB page, I shall use exclusively to update people on my work and impart what I learned from day-to-day. I will still post long articles like this one on my blog, but the FB page is better for brief jottings.

I am also starting to draft my next book. Dr. Caroline and the other PB speaker – Apostle Naomi Dowdy – affirm the value of what I have to write.

Lastly, and most importantly, Dr. Caroline’s life reminds me of myself. Seeing myself in her made me aware that:

All the lessons that I have been trying to impart with my work, which are the ways that I live my own life – can be summarized into two simple words.

Self-Empowerment.

I have been trying to encourage others to empower themselves. But I didn’t know how to condense my hope for others into one or two simple words, until I met Dr. Caroline. I saw it in her. Self-empowerment.

In this issue, we’ll explore two more examples on business exit plans or business succession plans executed by business owners that are done wrongly & defective in some ways.

 Problems with some existing business exit planning or business continuation plans

1. Using keyman insurance to fund the purchase of the shares

Many business exit plans created using the insurance proceeds from keyman insurance policies. In summary, a keyman insurance policy is a policy that is insures the life of key personnel of the company. It is paid for by the company and therefore, this keyman insurance policy is owned by the company, rather than by the key personnel. The idea behind keyman policy is to compensate the contracted amount to the company for the financial losses that would arise from the death or total permanent disability of the key personnel mentioned on the insurance policy. This insurance policy facilitates the continuity of the business.

When a keyman insurnace policy is used for business exit plan, it will be caught under section 67 of the Companies Act 1965. It prevents a private limited company from purchasing its own shares or to provide any form of financial assistance to the shareholder or any third party directly or indirectly to purchase the company shares of another shareholder. As such, when the proceeds are used to purchase the shares of the deceased shareholder, whether it is disguised as gratuity to the family or not, on the understanding that such payment is in exchange of the shares of the deceased shareholder, it will be caught under section 67 of the Act.

The Directors of the company will be held liable when the company is found to infringe section 67. The penalty faced will be a fine of RM100,000 or 5 years imprisonment or both.

1. Payment of insurance premium by the company

As mentioned in the earlier articles, the business owners are to pay for the premium using their personal funds. If the business owners are Directors, he will be able to use part of the Director’s fee received to make such payment. If he is a shareholder, then any dividends received can also be used to make such payment. The company is not allowed to use its funds to pay for the premiums (whether or not it is categorised as deductible expenses or not) and if it does, it will contravene section 67. Again, if caught, the penalty faced by the company directors will be a fine of RM100,000 or 5 years imprisonment or both.

In summary, let’s take a look back on the advantages of creating a proper business exit planning

1. The Business Exit plan and business owners guarantee the sale of the business interest at a fair value. It sale price is stated in the buy-sell agreement. At the same time it avoids the unqualified heirs from being part of the business or selling of the deceased’s shares to outsiders.

2. When the Business Exit plan is put in place, it avoids any unnecessary argument or negotiation over the purchase price between the heirs and the surviving business owners. This is important even though the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association (for private limited companies) provide pre-emptive rights to shareholders regarding the disposal of the shares by way of a sale. However, the pre-emptive rights do not mention to pre-agreed price that is fair to the parties. The heirs and surviving business owners would still need to agree on a price to sell the shares. The heirs and surviving business owners may disagree for on the proposed price and the deadlock can last a very long time. In the meantime, the surviving business owners would have to work with the heirs.

With a Business Exit Plan, this is avoided as the parties can longer have the right to discuss on the pricing. It has been agreed and stated in the agreement that binds the business owner, his heirs and estate of the business owner.

3. With a power of attorney, it provides for a smooth transfer of outgoing business owner’s interest to the purchaser when the specified events occur. There is no need to wait for the personal representative to act or worse still when the outgoing business owner is disabled or in coma, to wait for his recovery to sign Form 32A.

4. As the business or the company is a not a public listed company, there is no outside market to sell to. The existing business owners would be the natural purchasers. Thus, with a Business Exit plan, it ensures that non-liquid stock/interest is converted to liquid income, providing a fund for outgoing business owner or for his loved ones to use during their time of need.

5. The Trustee ensures that the outgoing business owner’s interest are properly transferred to the surviving business owners and the sale proceeds are distributed proper without involving the surviving business owners and family members of the outgoing business owner. By implementing a trust, the business owner can ensure that the sale proceeds are not misspent by his beneficiaries.

6. The business carries on like normal and the suppliers/creditors can be assured of the existence of the business. The key employees will be willing to remain within the business due to the smooth transfer of ownership to the remaining business owners.

In reality, when we discussed the exit planning with business owners, it is very common that they will try to find a way to “save cost”. However, as a professional, our duty is always to highlight the issue and suggest suitable options for business owners after evaluating their situation.

We’ve been discussing extensively for the past 5 issues in Malaysia SME articles, talking on exit planning when businesses consist of partnership among non-direct family member, which includes friends, siblings or relatives

About the Author

Evanna Phoon is a dynamic & technopreneur  owner of www.MalaysiaWills.com, a Senior Franchisee of Rockwills International Group & as-Salihin Trustee Bhd. In March 2012, she partnered with KCLau and REVOLUTIONIZED the entire financial planning industry to become the FIRST & ONLY Malaysian to use WEBINAR Series to provide FREE education to the public at www.malaysiawills.com/FREEWebinar
She is actively recruiting professional firms to join her team. To find out how, visit  http://malaysiawills.com/recruit

The Problems with Current Business Exit Agreements is a post from: KCLau.com

No mobile phone, no roller skating, no outside food. Yes tobacco and yes animal with supervised (or something like that) ?

The Malaysian Insider

PKR has stood by its allegations that foreign nationals of Bangladesh origin had voted illegally in Election 2013 despite the denial made by the country’s High Commissioner here yesterday, insisting that it has proof to back its claims.

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party added that the Election Commission (EC) should also take full responsibility for the hostilities shown towards Bangladeshi migrant workers since its failure to deal with complaints of phantom voters had strengthened accusations that the government had won the May 5 polls through fraud.

“We accept their statement, that is their right but you have to ask this question: if majority of our people have been talking about it for a long time, I don’t think your normal Malaysians would go and create news out of nothing and more importantly the integrity of an election is sacred and so important to our country.

“But they have refused to probe so it strengthens the perception that there are phantom voters from overseas,” PKR strategic director told a press conference at the party’s headquarters here.

Yesterday, the government of Bangladesh denied allegations that its Malaysian-based workers had acted as phantom voters in Election 2013, adding that the “xenophobic” accusation has subjected its citizens to abuse.

The country’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Atiqur Rahman also laughed off claims that 40,000 of Bangladeshi citizens had been transported into Malaysia to vote for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) a week before the May 5 polls.

He further described the allegations as “propaganda” and “political manipulation” that might put innocent Bangladeshis under increased threat and, at the same time, impose a negative image of its country unfairly.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said although the party conceded it was wrong to target Bangladeshi migrant workers, the EC could have done its part to prevent the xenophobic reaction towards foreign nationals if it had acted on the complaints.

“Of course, the attacks and hostilities should not be brought against the foreigner, the EC should have prevented this. We are not asking the public to hate and so on but we must not let this incident to become something that we easily forget.

“You have to push and demand that EC and relevant conduct investigations most professionally,” she told the same press conference.

PR leaders have accused the ruling coalition of rigging the Election 2013 results through fraudulent practices that included transporting foreign nationals into key states in Malaysia to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN).

BN leaders, however, described the allegation as baseless and said the opposition has yet to show any concrete evidence to support its claims.

Despite a resurgent opposition, BN clung on to power by winning 133 seats against PR’s 88, although this was seven fewer than what it garnered in 2008. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s coalition also lost the popular vote for the first time since 1969.

PR and electoral reform group Bersih are now planning to file election petitions to challenge some results from the May 5 polls, claiming to have strong evidence of fraud in what had been Malaysia’s closest election to date.

Among the evidence compiled are videos that purportedly showed foreign nationals being flown in a day before the election.

Najib had recently announced that his government would see through its plans to reform the electoral system by placing the Election Commission (EC) under a special parliamentary committee.

PR leaders, however, claimed the move was more of a public relations exercise and called for the resignation of the commission’s leadership as the first condition towards genuine polls reform.

Malaysiakini

Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga said that the electoral reform pressure group will support the ‘Black 505’ rally held by Pakatan Rakyat in Kuala Lumpur should it aim to urge the Election Commission (EC) to resign.

Ambiga said that Bersih has yet to get know the aims of the rally, which will be held on June 15.

“We don’t know, we believe one of the aims as they said earlier is to ask the EC to resign. If that’s the case, we will support such a move because we think the EC should resign,” she told the press after Bersih failed to meet Immigration Department director-general Alias Ahmad this morning.

Ambiga also stressed that Bersih maintains its stand that everyone has the constitutional right to hold a rally.

PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim announced yesterday that Pakatan will hold this rally in Kuala Lumpur on June 15 to protest alleged electoral fraud in the 13th general election that was held on May 5.

Asked if the rally would be held in a stadium or whether it would be a street demonstration, he said the rally secretariat would furnish details in due course.

This is to continue a series of protests around the country against alleged electoral fraud dubbed ‘Black 505′, which began in Kelana Jaya, Selangor, on May 8.

Bersih previously had held two massive rallies in downtown Kuala Lumpur to urge electoral reform prior to the 13th general election.

Malaysiakini

In exposing this today, PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli said one of the officers had on May 4, just a day before the 13th general election, lodged a police report on this.

Copies of the police report were given to members of the media by Rafizi during a press conference at PKR headquarters at Tropicana in Petaling Jaya this afternoon.

The report details how the EC officers were called up by the BN candidate before they passed their ballot papers to BN coalition workers.

According to Rafizi, four of the EC officers demanded back their ballot papers a day after they were sold to the BN candidate for RM100 each.

“However, when they got back their ballot papers, they found that their ballots had already been been marked,” Rafizi said

The police report names the BN candidate. Malaysiakini is withholding his name until he responds to our queries.

Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 4.6.2013.

Malaysia should not follow the Singaporean model to regulate online portals because this violates the Malaysia MSC Bill of Guarantees that there will be no internet censorship. DAP regrets that newly-minted Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek is starting off his tenure by breaking BN’s earliest promise of not censoring the internet in wanting to regulate online portals. Where is BN’s “Janji ditepati”?

Ahmad Shabery should be granting freedom to the media and the press instead of trying to further choke off any limited space of press freedom found in the internet. Why should Malaysia follow Singapore in regulating online portals when Singapore performed worse than Malaysia in press freedom?

According to Reporters Without Borders, Malaysia fell 23 places from 2012 to 145th this year in the 2013 Press Freedom Index because “access to information is becoming more and more limited”. Reporters Without Borders said that Malaysia’s “sorry record” was caused by the government’s repeated efforts to censor information.
“Despite an all-out battle by rights activists and online media outlets, a campaign of repression by the government, illustrated by the crackdown on the ‘Bersih 3.0’ protest in April, and repeated censorship efforts, continue to undermine basic freedoms, in particular the right to information,”

Only Singapore performed worse than Malaysia at 149th place. Is Malaysia going to compare itself with the better or the worse-off ones?

As Ahmad Shabery now considers online portals to be mainstream media, he wants to control them like BN controls the mainstream media. This appears to be BN’s main agenda after the online news portal were blamed for causing the BN to lose the popular vote for the first time in history in the 2013 general elections.

BN is blaming everyone except their own selves for this historic defeat, from the Chinese community to the online news portal, when PR won 51% of the popular vote compared to BN’s 47% or 385,899 more votes than BN. Such proposed regulation is not progress but regression.

Ahmad Shabery was not impressive in his previous stints as Information Minister and then Youth and Sports Minister, as he has no outstanding achievements to show off. However his suggestion to regulate the internet shows that he is worse than his predecessor Tan Sri Rais Yatim in failing to take a national or international perspective, and pandering to the UMNO constituency in preparation for the UMNO party elections later this year.

How Can Screening The Racist Hate Film On May 13 Riots “Tanda Putera” Be Compatible With Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s Call For National Reconciliation And The Country to Move Forward With Less Politicking?
Another proof that Ahmad Shabery is worse than Tan Sri Rais Yatim is his decision to release the racist hate film ‘Tanda Putera’ on August 29 in cinemas nationwide. This racist hate film on May 13, 1969 riots panders to extremism and again blame non-Malays for igniting the May 13 riots.

It also contained malicious lies against DAP leaders, especially DAP leader Lim Kit Siang, who was never in Kuala Lumpur throughout the entire period but was in Sabah. For these reasons, Rais refused to allow cinemas to screen this film nation-wide.

For Ahmad Shabery to permit the screening of this hate film ‘Tanda Putera’ because he said that it has a “national theme”, is not only divisive and discriminatory but also promotes lies, hatred and fear. How can screening the racist hate film on May 13 riots “Tanda Putera” be compatible with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s call for national reconciliation and the country to move forward with less politicking?

Ahmad Shabery is gravely mistaken to think that UMNO can win back lost Malay or non-Malay votes by taking a hard-line racist and extremist stand that creates fear and hatred to frighten both Malay and non-Malay voters to return to BN. Such tactics backfired badly in the recent general elections, when more than 42% of Malay voters especially young voters abandoned BN by voting for PR.

LIM GUAN ENG

—-BM Version- —

Kenyataan Akhbar oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP dan Ahli Parlimen Bagan, Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 04.06.2013.

Malaysia Tidak Perlu Ikut Model Singapura Untuk Mengawal Portal Berita Online Kerana Ia Melanggar Akta Jaminan MSC Malaysia Yang Menjamin Tiada Penapisan Internet.

Malaysia tidak perlu mengikut model Singapura untuk mengawal mana-mana laman web kerana ia melanggar Akta Jaminan MSC Malaysia yang menjamin tiada penapisan internet. DAP kesal dengan kenyataan Menteri Komunikasi dan Multimedia, Ahmad Shabery Cheek yang memulakan khidmat beliau dengan memungkiri janji BN supaya tidak akan menapis internet untuk mengawal mana-mana laman web. Di mana ‘Janji Ditepati’ BN?

Ahmad Shabery perlu memberi kebebasan kepada media dan akhbar dan bukannya cuba untuk terus mematahkan mana-mana ruang yang mengehadkan kebebasan akhbar yang terdapat dalam internet. Kenapa Malaysia perlu mengikuti Singapura dalam mengawal mana-mana laman web apabila kebebasan akhbar di Singapura lebih teruk?

Menurut Reporters Without Borders, Malaysia jatuh 23 tempat pada 2012 dari tempat ke-145 tahun ini dalam Indeks Kebebasan Akhbar 2013 kerana “akses kepada maklumat menjadi lebih dan lebih terhad”. Reporters Without Borders berkata bahawa ‘rekod buruk’ Malaysia adalah disebabkan usaha-usaha berulang kerajaan untuk menapis maklumat.

“Walaupun perjuangan habis-habisan oleh aktivis dan media atas talian (online), kempen penindasan oleh kerajaan, digambarkan oleh tindakan keras dalam protes ‘Bersih 3.0′ pada April lalu, dan usaha penapisan berulang, akan terus menjejaskan kebebasan asas, khususnya hak untuk memperoleh maklumat”.

Hanya Singapura yang lebih teruk berbanding Malaysia iaitu di tempat ke-149. Adakah Malaysia ingin dibandingkan dengan yang lebih baik atau lebih buruk?

Seperti yang dianggap Ahmad Shabery, portal berita atas talian adalah media arus perdana, beliau mahu mengawalnya seperti BN menguasai media arus perdana itu. Ini menunjukkan agenda utama BN selepas portal berita atas talian dituduh menyebabkan BN kalah undi popular buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihanraya umum 2013.

BN menyalahkan semua orang kecuali diri mereka sendiri untuk kekalahan bersejarah ini, daripada masyarakat Cina kepada portal berita atas talian, apabila PR menang 51% undi popular berbanding BN 47% atau 385,899 lebihan undi daripada BN. Peratusan itu dicadangkan bukan kemajuan tetapi kemunduran.

Ahmad Shabery tidak memberangsangkan dalam melaksanakan tugas beliau seperti sebelum ini sebagai Menteri Penerangan dan kemudian Menteri Belia dan Sukan, kerana dia tidak mempunyai pencapaian yang cemerlang untuk ditunjukkan. Walau bagaimanapun, cadangan beliau untuk mengawal internet menunjukkan bahawa beliau adalah lebih teruk daripada Tan Sri Rais Yatim kerana gagal mengambil perspektif nasional dan antarabangsa serta memenuhi kehendak kawasan UMNO dalam persediaan untuk pilihanraya parti UMNO akhir tahun ini.

Bagaimanakah Boleh Tayangan Filem Berunsurkan Kebencian Perkauman Pada Rusuhan 13 Mei “Tanda Putera” Disamakan Dengan Seruan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak Untuk Keharmonian Negara Dan Negara Maju Ke Hadapan Dengan Kurangnya Mainan Politik?

Satu lagi bukti bahawa keputusan Ahmad Shabery adalah lebih teruk daripada Tan Sri Rais Yatim apabila beliau membenarkan filem kebencian perkauman “Tanda Putera” ditayangkan di pawagam seluruh negara pada 29 Ogos ini. Filem ini adalah filem kebencian perkauman pada 13 Mei 1969, ketidakpuasan dan ekstremis dan sekali lagi menyalahkan bukan Melayu yang mencetus rusuhan 13 Mei.

Ia juga mengandungi pembohongan berniat jahat terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin DAP, terutama pemimpin DAP Lim Kit Siang, yang tidak pernah berada di Kuala Lumpur sepanjang tempoh tersebut tetapi berada di Sabah. Atas sebab-sebab ini, Rais enggan membenarkan pawagam di seluruh negara untuk menayangkan filem ini.

Bagi Ahmad Shabery untuk membenarkan tayangan filem penuh kebencian “Tanda Putera” ini atas sebab kononnya ia mempunyai tema ‘kebangsaan”, bukan sahaja memecah-belahkan dan mendiskriminasi tetapi juga menggalakkan pembohongan, kebencian dan ketakutan. Bagaimana pemeriksaan filem kebencian perkauman pada 13 Mei “ Tanda Putera” bersesuaian dengan saranan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak untuk keharmonian kebangsaan dan negera ini untuk maju ke hadapan dengan kurangnya mainan politik?

Ahmad Shabery ternyata silap untuk berfikir bahawa UMNO boleh memenangi kembali kehilangan undi Melayu atau bukan Melayu dengan mengambil pendirian bersifat rasis dan melampau yang mencipta ketakutan dan kebencian untuk menakutkan kedua-dua pengundi Melayu dan bukan Melayu untuk kembali kepada BN. Taktik ini telah memakan diri sendiri apabila mengakibatkan kekalahan teruk dalam pilihan raya umum baru-baru ini, di mana lebih daripada 42% pengundi Melayu terutama pengundi muda meninggalkan BN dengan mengundi PR.

LIM GUAN ENG.

—-Mandarin Version —-

民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年6月4日在吉隆坡发表声明：

马来西亚不应该模仿新加坡管制网络媒体，这种做法有违马来西亚多媒体走廊法案中保障网络无审查的条文。

马来西亚不应该模仿新加坡管制网络媒体，这种做法有违马来西亚多媒体走廊法案中保障网络无审查的条文。对于新上任的通讯及多媒体部长阿末沙比里“新官上任三把火”，违背国阵之前不进行网络审查的诺言，改以建议管制网络，行动党感到遗憾，我们要问国阵，你的“一诺千金”在哪里？

阿末沙比里应该给予媒体及报馆自由，而不是企图钳制网络上仅有的媒体自由。当新加坡的新闻自由方面比马来西亚表现更糟，为什么马来西亚要模仿新加坡管制网络新闻？

根据无疆界记者的报告，马来西亚的新闻自由指数从2012年第23名跌至2013年145名，因为“资讯的获取越来越有限”。无疆界记者报告中所指马来西亚新闻自由的“惨况”是政府一再审查资讯流通所导致的。

“尽管社会运动分子及网络媒体竭尽全力迎接，但是政府的一系列打压行动，正如四月份净选盟大集会3.0、一而再地审查，继续破坏基本自由，特别是获取资讯的自由。”

新加坡的新闻自由排名比马来西亚糟，排在149名，马来西亚是不是只想跟不好的比较，而不是向好的学习？

由于阿末沙比里现在将网络媒体做为主流媒体， 他想到像国阵控制主流媒体那样管制网络媒体。这就是国阵怪罪网络媒体导致国阵在2013年大选中，破天荒第一次失去多数票之后，主要的打压议程。

国阵输了多数票后除了他们自己，怪罪全世界， 从华人到网络媒体。在大选中，民联得票率为51%比国阵高，国阵得票率为47%或385,899张。管制网络的建议不是进步，而是开倒车。

阿末沙比里之前担任资讯部长、青年及体育部长前，表现平平，也没有展现特别的政绩。但是，他建议管制网络，显示了他比丹斯里莱依斯雅丁还糟糕，后者在国内外都没有声望，只是一味地迎合巫统以备战巫统今年底的党选。

解禁有关513种族仇恨电影《王者之风》，如何算是响应拿督斯里纳吉的国民和解及减少政治挑衅让国家前进？

另一项证明阿末沙比里比丹斯里莱依斯雅丁更糟的证据是，他决定在8月29日，于全国戏院解禁有关1969年513种族仇恨的电影《王者之风》，这部电影迎合极端主义、而且责怪非马来人发动513暴动。

这部电影也诬蔑行动党领袖，特别是行动党领袖林吉祥，513期间，他人在沙巴，而不是吉隆坡。因为这些理由，莱依斯不让电影在全国戏院放映。

阿末沙比里却准许这部分仇恨性电影《王者之风》上映，因为他说他有“国家主题”，这不是只分裂性、歧视性，也鼓吹谎言、仇恨及恐惧。一部关于513种族仇恨的《王者之风》，如何算是响应拿督斯里纳吉的国民和解及减少政治挑衅让国家前进？

阿末沙比里大错特错，他竟然认为巫统采取强硬种族及极端立场，制造恐惧及仇恨，吓唬马来人及非马来人，便可以让他们的选票回流。这种伎俩已经在最近的大选中证实无效，超过42%的马来选民特别是年轻马来人已经唾弃国阵，投选民联。

林冠英

So sometime back, some buddies and I went for dinner at Wondermama for a mysterious present exchange. But before we move on to that, let’s check out some food we ordered that night.

Oh btw, this is Wondermama, Bangsar Village.

My mee siam with fried chicken. Super yummeh

Nasi lemak with green curry if not mistaken

Some pasta. Lol

Fried rice.

A look at the mysterious presents wrapped in newspaper to avoid being identified.

As our smartphones get smarter, they may function like home medical tricorders in the future!

from the Palmdoc Chronicles

The Smartphone Physical

The Malaysian Insider

Sabah PKR MP Darell Leiking today demanded the state spell out how long it is barring entry to opposition leaders, saying the information was crucial to help plan future programmes.

Specifically referring to the deportation of Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar last Thursday, Leiking questioned if Sabah Deputy Speaker Datuk Johnny Mositun had been accurate when he claimed the ban had just been for a day.

“Can I ask Datuk Johnny Mositun on what is that ‘threat to the state security’ that Nurul Izzah poses to Sabah and can he confirm that she is banned only for that day only?

“His verification will be of great help for us to find out and to get bottom of the facts as there are many speculations as to why Nurul was denied entry and deported from Sabah,” the Penampang MP said in a statement here.

Leiking was referring to Mositun’s remarks in the Daily Express today where the latter was quoted saying that Nurul Izzah had been barred from entering Sabah last week for just a day and because she was deemed a threat to state security.

From the statement, Leiking said it was reasonable to assume that Mositun was privy and aware of the actual reason behind Nurul Izzah’s deportation.

The deputy PKR secretary-general, however, also asked for confirmation from Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman on whether the ban had been a pre-planned decision by the state Cabinet.

Earlier today, The Malaysian Insider reported the contents of a leaked letter from Musa’s office to the state’s Immigration Department confirming that apart from Nurul Izzah, her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Rafizi Ramli are also on a blacklist barring them from entering the east Malaysian state.

The May 21 letter, which sports the letterhead from Musa’s office, also says the list was given the Sabah Cabinet’s stamp of approval following its first meeting last month on May 15 – 10 days after the 13th general election.

“The Cabinet has agreed that the chief minister invoke his absolute powers under the Immigration Act, and in accordance with certification from the Sabah Royal Malaysian Police Special Branch chief, not to land these individuals to Sabah,” the letter said, before it listed out the names of the five politicians and Bersih 2.0 co-chairman.

According to Sabah DAP chief Jimmy Wong, a reliable source from the Immigration Department had leaked a copy of the first page of the document to him.

The document was emailed to The Malaysian Insider this morning. From the single page, the duration of the blacklist or its reason, was not stated.

When contacted, Lim described the ban “ridiculous”, pointing out that the government was making a mockery of democracy by not only banning its own citizens from entering a state in the country, but legally elected representatives.

“Of course this is not my first time… I am probably the most banned leader… I’ve been banned from Sabah, from Sarawak… but I thought we have passed those days.

“It looks like we are still in the thick of it,” he complained.

Last Thursday, Nurul Izzah was barred from entering Sabah upon arriving in Kota Kinabalu to celebrate Pesta Kaamatan, or the Harvest Festival, in her personal capacity.

Explaining the ban on Saturday, Musa was reported saying that those who pose a threat to the Sabah ideals of peace harmony will not be welcomed to the state.

He added that state never restricted other opposition leaders before the polls, but believed Nurul Izzah had different intentions this time.

“Now that the elections are over, their leader refuses to accept the verdict. It is a case of sour grapes and ungentlemanly conduct. He wants to rile up the masses to rally throughout the country to show his, and I repeat, his discontent,” he said.

“We have reason to believe that Nurul Izzah’s intentions to come to Sabah, this time around, may not be as innocent as she or her fellow opposition members make it out to be,” he added.

Malaysiakini

Thirty-nine years ago, a little-known incident in Baling caused a seismic shift in Malaysian politics, but very few Malaysians are aware of the incident or realise its significance and the impact it created.

If the full details of this incident had been divulged in 1974, the government might have fallen. The Baling incident caused a nightmare for Abdul Razak Hussein, the prime minister at the time.

Today, the nightmare is recurring for Najib Abdul Razak, the leader of the current minority government. Najib feels he has no alternative but to instigate several crackdowns on the rakyat.

The Baling event referred to is not the historic meeting in 1955 of Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was the head of the Malayan government and Chin Peng, the leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).

Nor was it the Memali Incident of 1985, the shameful massacre of a defenceless community by forces loyal to Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s government.

The Baling Incident (BI) which occurred in 1974 was shrouded in secrecy. It was a series of many small expressions of the bottled-up feelings of anger, betrayal, fear and resentment, of the rural poor.

In present-day Malaysia, the rakyat participated in democracy marches and rallies against oppression, injustice and the dictatorial rule of Najib and the BN government. In 1974, it was Abdul Razak, Najib’s father, who faced similar marches against social injustices.

The root cause of the BI was abject poverty and starvation. The rubber smallholders faced ruin when the global price of rubber plummeted. The farmers could not cope with the rising cost of living and rural families had to forage for food in the jungles.

Bizarrely, in 1974 Abdul Razak (right) announced in Parliament that the civil servants’ allowance would be increased by 50 percent, from RM1,000 to RM1,500.

When news broke of the deaths of a few children from eating ubi gadong, a type of poisonous wild yam, to stave off hunger pangs, the social unrest reached a tipping point. At its peak, around 25,000 of the rural poor took to the streets.

Like father, like son; both Abdul Razak and Najib unleashed the might of the FRU and the police on peaceful protesters. Najib is a politician without imagination, but he knew that brutal action had served his father well.

A dark chapter in our history

In 2013 Najib merely employed his father’s tried and tested methods of retaliation. The consequences of 1974 opened a dark chapter in our history.

Then, like now, information was heavily censored. Abdul Razak did not want the rakyat to know that an uprising had occurred in Kedah.

Five years earlier, the country had been overwhelmed by the May 13 clashes. The Chinese were convenient scapegoats.

Abdul Razak was in a quandary. The district of Baling was mainly populated by Malays. The significance of the BI had to be suppressed.

In the BI there was no Chinese element, or communist subversives at work. BI was social unrest – a revolt by Malay smallholders and farmers. Peaceful hunger marches throughout Baling spread outwards from Baling town, Kulim and Sik.

News travelled fast and despite media censorship in 1974, students at Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Kolej Mara, as well as the universities’ teaching fraternity expressed their support for the uprising. They organised a series of meetings and urged the government to address the plight of the poor.

Syed Husin Ali (right), then an associate professor at Universiti Malaya, said: “At first they (the students) demonstrated within their campus. The police fired tear gas but some cannisters landed on the nearby squatter settlement, injuring some children.

“The students joined forces and gathered in the centre of KL. When the police acted against them, they took refuge in the National Mosque. Over 1,000 students were arrested and detained for a few days.

“Some squatters joined some students to ‘run riot’ at the highway, putting up blockades and smashing traffic lights.”

Abdul Razak warned of tough reprisals and over 40 students and lecturers were detained under the ISA. Among them was Anwar Ibrahim, who was detained for two years.

Syed Husin said: “I was detained for six years. I was an associate professor and considered recalcitrant for refusing to admit guilt.

“I was accused of being pro-communist and the brain behind the demos. They wanted me to serve as an example to create fear among those academic staff to prevent them from following my path.

“I think these are the reasons why I was incarcerated up to six years.”

The education minister then was Mahathir. He and Ungku Aziz, the vice-chancellor of UM at the time, produced the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA).

The UUCA has effectively curbed students’ freedom and deprived universities of their autonomy. Students and lecturers are fearful of speaking out on issues which are deemed sensitive to BN. Our universities have never recovered from Mahathir’s despicable legacy.

Abdul Razak, his peers and successors’ children were sent abroad for their education, whilst the rest of the rakyat received a stifling Malaysian schooling.

Baling not an isolated incident

In 2013, history repeated itself and the nightmare which descended on Najib’s father is now his own.

Today, Najib has warned that he would get tough with students Adam Adli Abdul Halim and Safwan Anang as well as other dissenters. The ISA has been repealed, so what has Najib up his sleeve?

Let this column warn both Najib and Mahathir, the joint rulers of Malaysia that their efforts to subjugate the rakyat will not succeed. Baling was not an isolated incident.

Prior to BI, there were unreported acts of unrest against the BN government. In Tasik Utara, Johor Baru, poor urban Malays camped in front the residence of then MB Osman Saat to voice their disgust at being cheated of housing and land.

In 1974 and in 2013, the Malays opposed the government, but Najib has created a red herring and claimed that in GE13, it was a Chinese tsunami.

It is not! It is Malaysians fighting tyranny.

The wounds which Abdul Razak, Mahathir and Najib opened are still festering. Our awareness of their crimes and of their despotic rule are more acute.

Their policies have cast long shadows and there will be more Baling incidents until Najib and the illegitimate BN government step down.

Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 3.6.2013.

Only the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) can prevent needless custodial deaths following the 3rd death in the police lock-up in 11 days. Karuna Nithi’s death 2 days ago in Tampin police lock-up brings to three the number of recent mortalities among suspects while under police custody. Before that, was the death of R James Ramesh in a Penang police lockup on May 26 and the brutal killing of N Dhamendran with 52 injuries, while in a KL police headquarters lockup on May 21.

The number of custodial deaths since 2000 is 219, a shocking figure that is sure to rise without any safeguards and preventive mechanism such as the IPCMC. There is no reason why the BN Federal government refuses such oversight of the police when it is recommended in 2005 by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Police.

Whilst some of the custodial deaths may be due to natural causes, the public will continue to have grave suspicions in police interrogation methods unless the police were not only clean, but seen to be clean. Only a transparent and accountable mechanism which is available by establishing the IPCMC, can restore public confidence and reassure the public that detainees in police custody will be safe. Otherwise, the public will have recurring nightmares that should any of their loved ones be placed in police custody, they may walk not necessarily walk out alive.

The public have lost hope in new Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who does not appear interested in fighting crime but is more focused on using harsh and oppressive methods to silence any dissent. even from law-abiding citizens pressing for free, clean and fair elections. Will Datuk Seri Najib, MIC or MCA leaders walk the talk by supporting the establishment of the IPCMC whether in or outside Parliament?

Lim Guan Eng

—-BM Version —
Kenyataan Media oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP merangkap Ahli Parlimen Bagan, Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 3 Jun 2013.

Hanya dengan menubuhkan sebuah Suruhanjaya Aduan Salahlaku Polis (IPCMC) sahaja maka kes kematian dalam tahanan dapat dielakkan.

Hanya dengan menubuhkan sebuah Suruhanjaya Aduan Salahlaku Polis (IPCMC) sahaja maka kematian dalam tahanan dapat dielakkan, berikutan kematian dalam lokap ketiga dalam masa 11 hari. Kematian Karuna Nithi dua hari lalu di lokap polis Tampin menjadi jumlah kematian suspek yang ditahan polis mencecah tiga orang. Sebelum itu, R James Ramesh mati di lokap polis Pulau Pinang pada 26 Mei, manakala N Dhamendran yang dibunuh kejam dengan 52 kecederaan sewaktu ditahan di lokap ibu pejabat polis Kuala Lumpur pada 21 Mei.

Jumlah kematian dalam tahanan sejak tahun 2000 ialah 219, sebuah angka yang mengejutkan yang pastinya akan bertambah tanpa sebarang langkah dan mekanisme untuk menghalang kes sebegini kecuali dengan IPCMC. Tidak ada sebab kenapa Kerajaan Persekutuan BN tidak bersetuju dengan pengawasan pihak polis sedangkan ia telah dicadangkan oleh Suruhanjaya Siasatan Di Raja terhadap pasukan polis pada tahun 2005.

Walaupun beberapa kematian dalam tahanan mungkin disebabkan faktor semulajadi, orang awam akan terus curiga dengan cara soal siasat polis, kecuali jika pihak polis bersih dan dipastikan tidak korup. Hanya sebuah mekanisme yang telus dan akauntabel seperti IPCMC boleh mengembalikan keyakinan orang ramai dan memastikan tahanan polis selamat. Jika tidak, rakyat akan terus mengalami mimpi negeri bahawa jika mana-mana ahli keluarga mereka ditahan polis, orang yang ditahan mungkin mati dalam tahanan.

Orang ramai telah putus harapan dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri yang baru Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yang nampaknya tidak berminat memerangi jenayah tetapi lebih menumpukan untuk menggunakan cara yang kasar dan tegas untuk membisukan suara yang tidak bersetuju dengan pihaknya. Walaupun mereka rakyat yang patuh kepada undang-undang yang menuntut pilihanraya yang bebas, adil dan bersih. Adakah Datuk Seri Najib, pemimpin MIC atau MCA akan berani mengotakan janji dengan menyokong penubuhan IPCMC di dalam dan luar Parlimen?

Lim Guan Eng

—-Mandarin Version —
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年6月3日在吉隆坡发表声明：

唯有成立独立警察投诉及行为不检委员会（IPCMC） ，才可以阻止不必要的扣留所命案。

唯有成立独立警察投诉及行为不检委员会（IPCMC） ，才可以阻止不必要的扣留所命案，我国在11天内发生了三宗扣留所死亡事件。卡鲁那两天前在森美兰淡宾警区扣留所毙命，成为第三宗死在警察局扣留所的死者。之前，占姆斯于5月26日毙命于槟城警察局，达门德兰在5月21日被发现死在吉隆坡警察总部扣留所内，全身有52处伤痕。

自2000年开始的扣留所命案达219宗，如果没有像独立警察投诉及行为不检委员会这样的防卫及预防机制，这个数据一定还会增加。国阵联邦政府实在没有理由拒绝这个监督警方的组织，这是2005年皇家调查委员会针对警方提出的建议。

虽然一些扣留所命案可能是自然死亡，但是公众会继续怀疑警方的审问手法，除非警方不只是廉洁，也要看起来廉洁。唯有成立独立警察投诉及行为不检委员会这类透明及有公信力的机制，才能恢复公众信心，也可向公众保证扣留所内的被扣留者将会安全。否则，公众会不断地重复恶梦，担心他们亲爱的家人在扣留所内是否安全？能不能活着走出来？

公众已经对新任内政部长拿督斯里阿末查希失去希望，他看来没有兴趣打击罪案，而比较倾向使用严厉及压迫性的方法，压制任何异见，就算是奉公守法的公民要求自由、干净及公平的选举。拿督斯里纳吉、国大党或马华部长能否讲到做到，在国会内外支持独立警察投诉及行为不检委员会的成立？

林冠英

Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 3.6.2013.

UMNO’s refusal to be a single party that is inclusive or multi-racial but instead insist on clinging to a single racist entity spells the death sentence on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia. For UMNO Information chief and Deputy Minister Ahmad Maslan to say that it is impossible for UMNO to be a single party for all Malaysians proves that UMNO is committed to dividing Malaysians by race to maintain their hold on power.

For the past 50 years BN, UMNO, MCA and MIC have divided Malaysians by race to justify their excesses and abuses of power, especially corruption, crony capitalism and depriving or limiting the fundamental human rights. Despite BN’s loss in the 2013 general elections, when BN lost the popular vote for the first time in Malaysian history with 47% compared to PR’s 53% of the popular vote, UMNO have refused to heed the people’s rejection of racial politics.

PR won the urban Malay vote and the Malay youth vote by a clear majority. Nationally PR won around 43% of the Malay vote. UMNO’s racist message can not overcome the corruption and abuse of power. This means that Malaysians of all races have given a loud and clear message in the last general elections that they want to be “Malaysians first”, where people not cronies must come first, where good principles and policies matters more than hatred and fear.

Instead UMNO continues to cling on to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin’s divisive and destructive “Malay first, Malaysian second” extremist ideology. Being Malaysian first does not mean we lose our Malay, Chinese, Dayak, Kadazan or Indian identity but that we give our paramount loyalty to our country as embodied in our national anthem “Negaraku”.

As UMNO is the dominant party, UMNO’s refusal to open up to all Malaysians means that there will be no single party for BN that is inclusive to all regardless of race. Clearly, Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan is empty of all meaning except as a propaganda exercise for the general elections to be discarded when BN have won the most number of parliamentary seats despite losing the popular vote.

Lim Guan Eng

—–BM Version —-
Kenyataan Media oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP merangkap Ahli Parlimen Bagan, Lim Guan Eng di Kuala Lumpur pada 3 Jun 2013.

Keengganan UMNO untuk menjadi satu parti tunggal yang inklusif atau berbilang kaum dan sebaliknya berkeras mahu berpegang kepada semangat parti satu kaum adalah suatu hukuman bunuh terhadap konsep 1Malaysian Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Keengganan UMNO untuk menjadi satu parti tunggal yang inklusif atau berbilang kaum dan sebaliknya berkeras mahu berpegang kepada semangat parti satu kaum adalah suatu hukuman bunuh terhadap konsep 1Malaysian Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Kenyataan Ketua Penerangan UMNO merangkap Timbalan Menteri, Ahmad Maslan bahawa mustahil UMNO menjadi sebuah parti tunggal untuk semua rakyat Malaysia membuktikan bahawa UMNO terus-terusan mahu memecahbelahkan rakyat Malaysia mengikut kaum demi memelihara kekuasaan mereka.

Untuk lebih 50 tahun, BN UMNO, MCA dan MIC telah memecahbelahkan Malaysia menurut kaum demi menghalalkan salah guna kuasa mereka, terutamanya rasuah, kapitalisme kroni dan penafian atau menghalang hak asasi manusia. Walaupun BN kalah dalam pilihanraya umum 2013, apabila BN kalah undi popular untuk pertama kali dalam sejarah negara; dengan hanyan 47% undi berbanding 53% undi popular yang diraih Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO masih lagi enggan menerima penolakan keras masyarakat terhadap politik perkauman.

Pakatan Rakyat memenangi undi orang Melayu bandar dan anak muda Melayu dengan majoriti yang jelas. Di peringkat nasional, Pakatan Rakyat memenangi 43% undi orang Melayu. Mesej perkauman UMNO tidak mampu melampaui rasuah dan salahguna kuasa yang ia lakukan. Ini bermakna rakyat Malaysia daripada semua kaum telah memberikan mesej yang lantang dan jelas dalam PRU ke 13 yang lalu bahawa mereka mahu menjadi ‘Malaysian first’, di mana rakyat mendahului kroni, prinsip dan polisi yang baik dilihat lebih penting daripada kebencian dan ketakutan.

Sebaliknya UMNO terus berpaut kepada ideologi melampau Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyidin Yasin yang memecahbelah dan menghancurkan, “Melayu pertama, Malaysia seterusnya” (Malay first, Malaysian second). Menjadi ‘Malaysian first’ tidak bermakna kita kehilangan identiti Melayu, Cina, Dayak, Kadazan atau India tetapi ia bermakna kita menumpahkan taat setia yang tidak berbelah bagi kepada negara seperti yang termaktub dalam lagu kebangsaan kita, ‘Negaraku’.

Memandangkan UMNO adalah parti paling dominan, keengganan UMNO untuk membuka keahlian kepada semua rakyat Malaysia bermakna tidak akan satu parti pun dari BN yang menjadi inklusif buat semua tanpa mengira kaum. Jelas sekali, slogan 1Malaysia Najib tidak ada makna langsung kecuali satu usaha propaganda untuk pilihanraya yang akan terbuang akhirnya apabila BN memenangi jumlah kerusi Parlimen terbanyak walaupun kalah undi popular.

LIM GUAN ENG

——-Mandarin Version ——
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2013年6月3日在吉隆坡发表声明：

巫统拒绝成为一个包容性、多元种族政党 ，坚守做为一个单元种族政党，好像为拿督斯里纳吉的一个马来西亚宣判死刑。

巫统拒绝成为一个包容性、多元种族政党 ，坚守做为一个单元种族政党，好像为拿督斯里纳吉的一个马来西亚宣判死刑。巫统宣传局主任兼副部长阿末马兹兰说巫统不可能成为全体马来西亚人的单一政党，说明了巫统志在通过捍卫他们的权力以种族分裂马来西亚人民。

过去50年，国阵、巫统、马华及国大党以种族分裂马来西亚人 ，合理化他们的滥权、贪污、朋党资本主义、剥夺或限制人权。尽管国阵在2013年大选输了，第一次输掉多数票，得票率只获47%的，民联得票率为53%，巫统却拒绝听取人民拒绝种族政治的民意。

民联以明显大多数赢得了城区马来人及年青马来人的选票。民联在全国赢得43%的马来选票。巫统的种族主义言论不能让他们摆脱贪污及滥权的嫌疑。这意味着马来西亚各族人民在上届大选已经大声说明，他们要“大马人优先”，人民利益为先，而不是朋党，良好原则及政策比仇恨及恐惧更重要。

巫统来继续坚持副首相丹斯里慕尤丁的分裂性及毁灭性的极端想法“马来人优先，大马人第二” 。“大马人优先”不代表我们会失去马来人、华人、达雅人、卡达山人或印度人的身份，而是我们视效忠国家为首位，正如我国国歌“Negaraku”所述。

由于巫统还是主导政党，巫统不愿意对全马人民开放党藉，意味着国阵将不会成为包括各族人民的单一政党。很明显地，当国阵在输掉多数票、却获得大多数国会议席，纳吉充作大选宣传机器、空洞的1个马来西亚口号即将被丢弃。

林冠英

I’m just interested in seeing how many poeple are interested. You don’t have to be be commited to coming. This will help our our volunteer organizers. Thank you so much. Hope to see you in Penang & KL.

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