Press Interview with Kwong Wah Yit Poh after been elected as DAP State Treasurer. I said every DAP leaders have to work on government affairs, constituency and party work. It is a golden triangle concept. Combination of these three factors will determine the success of DAP in many years to come.
40 DAP Bukit Gelugor members celebrate International Women's Day by distributing flowers and recycled bags at Farlim Market. YB Wong Hon Wai leads the group and received overwhelming response from the general public.
Safety first: Wong and Kampung Melayu flats resident, Sesu Anna Pushpa, 69, showing the new wiring system in her unit.
AN open tender and balloting will be called for two projects worth RM1mil to upgrade the Kampung Melayu flats in Air Itam, said state Town and Country Planning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai.
"The project will involve the retarring of the car park area and the replacement of three new lifts.
"The retarring and the lifts' replacement will cost RM100,000 and RM900,000 respectively," he told reporters after inspecting the flats on Monday.
Wong, who is also Air Itam assemblyman, said any project costing more than RM200,000 will have to go through an open tender.
"The rewiring of the flat block comprising 400 units costing RM1.4mil, which is already 95 per cent completed, is scheduled to be completed next month."
The Kampung Melayu flat, which was built in 1969, is one of the earliest low-cost housing projects in the state.
He added that other maintenance works such replacing the sewer's missing covers and drain pipes were completed last year. Better facilities: Kampung Melayu flats in Air Itam to get new lifts and retarred car park.
Wong also said that the state government would provide two shuttle buses to the Kampung Melayu Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) to ferry residents to the Ning Baizura concert.
"The concert at the Penang International Sports Arena on March 12 is to celebrate the state's success in attracting the most investments to the country.
"Residents interested in attending the concert should gather at the JKKK compound by 6.30pm as the concert will start at 8pm," he said.
Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 11.3.2011
The recent detention or seizure of 30,000 copies of Malay-language Bibles at Port Klang and the Port of Kuching by the federal government authorities is clearly against the spirit of the federal constitution, as it denies the basic right to freedom of religion. Article 11 of the federal constitution expressly allows every person the right to profess and practice his/her own religion.
In the case of Malay-language Bibles, it has been a longstanding practice, especially for non-Muslim bumiputras and East Malaysians, to learn and practice Christianity in the national language. Depriving them of their holy scriptures is therefore unconstitutional and clearly exposes exposes the hype of 1Malaysia is just mere rhetoric and propaganda.
Further prohibiting the Bible just because it is in Bahasa Malaysia(BM) is contrary also to the position of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language. Religion should not be politicised but is a matter of personal faith to be exercised by the individual, especially when there is no threat to other religions or to the peace and harmony of our country.
DAP urges the government to release the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles immediately to preserve the peaceful practice of cultural and religious diversity that is the hallmark of our nation.
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By Thomas Lee Enough is enough! The usually docile, meek and temperate Christian community in Malaysia has had enough, and has exploded in anger over what they perceive as their human, civil and constitutional rights being denied and rendered illusory, with the latest seizure of 30,000 Malay Bibles from the Kuching Port in Sarawak. Several [...]
by Azly Rahman Malaysiakini Mar 9, 11 Q: Being a multicultural society that Malaysia is, how should our education system be designed? Or, should it be designed at all? A: Education is a deliberate attempt to construct human beings who will participate in society as productive citizens. The question whether our education system should be [...]
Malaysiakini Mar 10, 11 Malaysia recorded RM135.3 billion in errors and omissions (E&O) in its outflow funds for the period 2000 to 2009. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said considering the huge amount of trade transactions with the rest of the world as well as the lack of data for specific goods due to statistical [...]
By Ong Kian Ming Malaysiakini Mar 10, 11 What can we make of the Merlimau and Kerdau by-elections four days after the results were announced? The results were not surprising. Most analysts, including me, had predicted that the BN would win by a bigger majority in both seats. My prediction of a 4,000-vote majority for [...]
By Debra Chong The Malaysian Insider March 10, 2011 KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Christians in Malaysia say they are angry and fed-up with the Najib government for what they see as a systematic move to deny their religious rights enshrined in the country's highest law. Spurred by the Home Ministry's latest seizure of 30,000 [...]
by Clive S. Kessler The Malaysian Insider Mar 10, 2011 MARCH 10 — "What's in a name?" asks Shakespeare's Juliet. "That which we call a rose," she avers, "by any other name would smell as sweet." Likewise, "Malaysia." So what is in a name, and behind this one? In a recent blog post (Semenanjung Tanah [...]
Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta | Thu, 03/10/2011 10:34
A three-day ASEAN senior officials' meeting concluded here in Yogyakarta on Wednesday with several new ideas raised but left one crucial issue — the migrant worker regional deal — untouched.
ASEAN agreed, among others, to enhance studies on ASEAN in universities, to lobby five nuclear weapon states in accordance with the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Treaty, on the draft of the development roadmap in line with MDGs at the ASEAN level and has made preparations for the first ASEAN-EU business summit in Jakarta on May 5, senior officials said.
"There was a good suggestion from fellow Singapore and Malaysia to enhance ASEAN in university studies. In fact, they are very eager to have this move forward," Foreign Ministry director general for ASEAN cooperation Djauhari Oratmangun told a press briefing.
"We also agree to give a mandate to the executive committee of the SEANWFZ to lobby the five nuclear weapon states [to sign the protocols of the SEANWFZ]," he said.
The SEANWFZ Treaty was signed by 10 ASEAN leaders in Bangkok on Dec. 15, 1995.
Signatory countries would also undertake not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any state party to the treaty and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons within the SEANWFZ.
The five weapon states — the US, the UK, Russia, China and France — have refused to sign the protocols largely due to US and French objections over the unequivocal nature of security assurances and the definitions of territory, including exclusive economic zones (EEZ).
The treaty zone covers the territories and continental shelves, and EEZ of the States Parties within the zone.
Rizal Affandi Lukman, deputy to the coordinating economics minister for international economic and financial cooperation, said the meeting agreed to have a midterm review on the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community's blueprint as ASEAN was in the second phase of its way to the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Trade Ministry director general for international trade cooperation Gusmardi Bustami said ASEAN was prepared to have an ASEAN-EU business summit, which was expected to draw at least 300 businesspeople from ASEAN and the EU, including those in small and medium enterprises.
"There will be five sectors that we will focus on: Agrifood, healthcare, services and automotive, as well as energy and infrastructure," he told the press.
"There will be a meeting between businesses and businesses, as well as between businesses and governments."
Meanwhile, the meeting decided not to take migrant worker issues, particularly those related to the instrument of the protection and promotion of the right of migrant workers, to a higher level, said Sugihartatmo, deputy to coordinating people's welfare minister for coordination of culture, tourism, youth and sport.
"But it is agreed that discussions will continue at the technical level."
For Indonesia, the migrant workers issue is among top priorities as millions of its migrant workers are in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
The issue is frequently politicized, with opposition parties here using it as a political bullet to attack the government whenever Indonesia's migrant workers are abused abroad.
Malaysia should immediately halt the judicial caning of refugees and migrants, Amnesty International said after the government disclosed that almost 30,000 foreigners had been caned in five years.
In a response to a parliamentary question on 9 March, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein disclosed that Malaysia had caned 29,759 foreigners between 2005 and 2010 for immigration offences alone.
"The government's figures confirm that Malaysia is subjecting thousands of people to torture and other ill-treatment each year," said Sam Zarifi, Asia Pacific director at Amnesty International. "This is a practice which is absolutely prohibited under international law, no matter what the circumstances."
"As a first step, the Malaysian government has to immediately declare a moratorium on this brutal practice."
Amnesty International also called for a complete abolition of all forms or corporal punishment, which constitutes torture or other ill-treatment.
In December 2010, Amnesty International published an in-depth investigation into judicial caning in Malaysia. In each of the 57 cases it examined, Amnesty International found that the caning amounted to torture, as the authorities had intentionally inflicted severe pain and suffering through the punishment of caning.
While most countries have abolished judicial caning, Malaysia has expanded the practice. Parliament has increased the number of offenses subject to caning to more than 60.
Since 2002, when Parliament amended the Immigration Act 1959/63 to make immigration violations such as illegal entry subject to caning, tens of thousands of refugees and migrant workers have been caned.
At least 60 per cent of the 29,759 foreigners caned were Indonesians, according to Liew Chin Tong, the parliamentarian who submitted the question. In March 2010, Amnesty International documented how unchecked abuses by unscrupulous labour agents led to many migrant workers losing their legal immigration status and thus being subject to caning.
Refugees are also caned for immigration violations in Malaysia. Since Malaysia has not yet ratified the UN Refugee Convention, asylum seekers are often arrested and prosecuted as illegal migrants. Burmese refugees in Malaysia have told Amnesty International how they live in fear after being caned.
"Malaysia is subjecting thousands of people from other Asian countries to torture and other ill-treatment," said Sam Zarifi. "Indonesia, which chairs the Association of South East Asian Nations and its human rights Commission this year, must press Malaysia to stop caning their citizens."
அண்மையில் அம்பாங், தெலோக் ஆயர்தாவார் கோலா குபு பாரு இடைநிலைப்பள்ளிகளில் நிகழ்ந்த சம்பவங்கள் சர்சைக்குரிய இண்டர்லோக் நாவலின் தாக்கமே.
பள்ளிக்கூடம் என்பது நல்ல விஷயங்களை கற்று கொள்கிற இடமாகும். ஆனால், தற்போதைய நிலைமையே தலைகீழாக இருக்கிறது. குறிப்பாக இந்திய மாணவர்களுக்கு பள்ளிகளில் எதிரிகள் நிறைந்தும் ஆசிரியர்கள் பகைவர்களாகவும் இருக்கின்றனர் என கிள்ளான் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ சாடினார்.
இது அண்மையில் தெலோக் ஆயர்தாவார் இடைநிலைப்பள்ளியில் சாதிப்பெயரைச் சொல்லி மாணவன் முகத்தில் குத்திய சம்பவம், அதே சமயத்தில், இண்டர்லோக் நாவலில் எழுதியிருந்த விஷயங்களை ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள முடியாமல் அந்நாவலை தலைமையாசிரியரிடம் ஒப்படைக்கச் சென்ற கோலா குபு பாரு இடைநிலைப்பள்ளி இந்திய மாணவர்கள் எந்த ஒரு வலுவான காரணமின்றியும் பெற்றோர்களின் அனுமதின்றியும் 10 மணி நேரம் காவல்துறையில் விசாரணையில் வைத்துள்ள செயல்கள் மூலம் நிரூபணமாகிறது.
இவ்வாறு பெரும்பான்மையினத்தவர்கள் இந்திய மாணவர்களை அவமானப்படுத்தப்படுத்தி தாக்குவதும், தாக்கிப்பேசுவதும் தொடர் கதையாகி வருகிறது. அதிலும் குறிப்பாக பள்ளியில் இவ்வாறான விஷயங்கள் நிகழ்ந்துக் கொண்டிருகின்றன. குறிப்பாக இந்திய மாணவர்களுக்கும் ஆசிரியர்களுக்கும் இடையில் இவ்வாறான பல பிரச்னைகள் தலை தூக்கி நிற்கின்றன.
தனது பதவியை தவறாகப் பயன்படுத்திய பெற்றோர் ஆசியர் சங்கத் தலைவரும் காவல்துறை அதிகாரியுமான பக்தியார் மட் ரஷிட்டின் செயலும் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட ஆசியர்களின் செயலும் கண்டிக்கத்தக்கது என சார்ல்ஸ் சுட்டிக் காட்டினார்.
ஆகவே, கல்வியமைச்சு சம்பந்தப்பட்டவர்கள் மீது எந்த ஒரு பாரபட்சம் இல்லாமல் தகுந்த நடவடிக்கை எடுத்தாக வேண்டும். அதுமட்டுமில்லாமல் இப்பிரச்னைகள் உருவாக காரணமாய் இருக்கும் இண்டர்லோக் நாவலை உடனடி மீட்டுக்கொள்ள வேண்டும் என சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ கல்வி அமைச்சை கேட்டுக் கொண்டார்.
கல்வி அமைச்சர், இண்டர்லோக் நாவலை ஐந்தாம் படிவ மலாய் இலக்கியப் பாடநூல் என்ற நிலையிலிருந்து அகற்றாவிட்டால் அது தொடர்பான விவகாரங்களை மக்கள் கவனத்துக்கும் நாடாளுமன்றத்தின் கவனத்துக்கும் கொண்டுசெல்ல டிஏபி திட்டமிடுகிறது.
"(கல்வி அமைச்சர்) முகைதின் யாசினை அவசரமாக சந்தித்துப்பேச ஏற்பாடு செய்து வருகிறோம். மீண்டும் ஒருமுறை அவரைச் சந்தித்து அந்நூலைப் பள்ளிகளிலிருந்து அகற்றும்படி கேட்போம்", என்று கிள்ளான் எம்பி சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ இன்று நாடாளுமன்ற வளாகத்தில் கூறினார்.
"இந்நூல் பற்றி விவாதம் நடத்த நாடாளுமன்றத்தில் அவசரத் தீர்மானம் ஒன்றும் கொண்டு வருவோம்."
அத்துடன் நாடுமுழுக்க சென்று விளக்கமளிக்க தொடர்நிகழ்ச்சிகளையும் டிஏபி ஏற்பாடு செய்யும். இன்னும் இரண்டு வாரங்களில் சுங்கை பட்டாணியில் தொடங்கும் அந்த விளக்கமளிப்பு ஏப்ரலில் சிலாங்கூரில் முடிவுறும்.
"அதில், தேசிய ஒற்றுமையை உருவாக்க அந்நூல் உதவாது என்பது மலேசியர் அனைவருக்கும் விரிவாக எடுத்துச் சொல்லப்படும்."
நேற்று மலேசியாகினியில் வெளிவந்திருந்த செய்தியைச் சுட்டிக்காட்டிய சந்தியாகோ, அந்நூலால் நாட்டின் நிலைத்தன்மை கெடும் என்பதற்கு அதுவே சான்று என்றும் குறிப்பிட்டார்.
அச்செய்தி, ஒரு பள்ளியில் அந்நாவலை தலைமையாசிரியாரிடம் ஒப்படைக்க சென்ற ஏழு இந்திய மாணவர்களை அதன் கட்டொழுங்கு ஆசிரியர் தடுத்து நிறுத்தினார் என்றும் அவர்களில் மூவரைப் போலீசார் கோலா குபு போலீஸ் நிலையத்தில் வைத்து 10 மணி நேரம் விசாரணை செய்துள்ளனர் என்றும் கூறியது.
"பள்ளிகள் பகைக்களங்களாக மாறிவிட்டிருக்கின்றன. இதனால் கற்பித்தலும் சிரமமாக இருக்கிறது, கற்றலும் சிரமமாக இருக்கிறது.", என்று சந்தியாகு குறிப்பிட்டார்.
தேசிய ஒற்றுமையை உருவாக்கும் நோக்கத்தில்தான் அது பாடநூலாக ஆக்கப்பட்டது. ஆனால், நடந்துள்ள அத்தனையும் அதற்கு நேர்மாறாக உள்ளது என்ற சந்தியாகோ அம்பாங் பள்ளியொன்றில் நிகழ்ந்த சம்பவம் இதற்கு ஓர் எடுத்துக்காட்டு என்றார்.
அந்நாவலை இந்திய என்ஜிஓ-கள் எதிர்க்கின்றன. குறிப்பாக மனித உரிமைக் கட்சி கடும் எதிர்ப்பைத் தெரிவித்துள்ளது.
அதன் தொடர்பில் தெரு ஆர்ப்பாட்டங்களை ஏற்பாடு செய்ததுடன் பல விளக்கக் கூட்டங்களையும் அது நடத்தியுள்ளது.அதன் நடவடிக்கைகளை ஒடுக்கும் வகையில் போலீசாரும் அதற்கு எதிராகக் கடுமையாக நடந்துகொண்டிருக்கிறார்கள்.
Fresh from churning out Pemandu reports, some of which proposed the building of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), consultancy firm McKinsey & Co has again been hired - this time to conduct a Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) study on the value management of such a project.
Basing his question on a report in The Star today that said Mckinsey would now helm the Spad study into the matter, DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua (right) questioned the impartiality of the arrangement.
"Will McKinsey do a fair analysis of the cost benefits of the MRT system, when it is part of the Pemandu project that, in the first place, proposed the MRT system? While there may be no direct conflict of interest, one has to wonder how fair and unbiased the report is going to be," Pua (right) told a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.
In light of this, he called for all studies carried out now, and in the future, to be done openly to make sure everything was above board
"This is no national security issue, so we must publish all studies to be done, and yet to be done, openly to see if they are done in a fair and transparent manner," he said.
SPAD must institute transparency, competition, as well as public and market control to ensure that the MRT delivers its stated benefits and targets within a confined budget
Last week I have issued a statement citing a study on major infrastructure projects around the world by Professor Bent Flyvbjerg at Oxford University which found that rail projects not only suffered from an average of 44.3% cost overrun, actual passenger traffic is 51.4 per cent lower than forecast traffic on average. The study "Survival of the unfittest: why the worst infrastructure gets built—and what we can do about it" published in the Oxford Review of Economic Policy (2009) also noted that 9 out of 10 of suffered from cost overruns; 84 per cent of rail passenger forecasts are wrong by more than ±20 per cent; nine out of 10 rail projects have overestimated traffic.
Flyvbjerg had warned that the main reason for the ugly set of statistics is that "planners and promoters purposely spin scenarios of success and gloss over the potential for failure." He also argued that "competition between projects and authorities creates political and organizational pressures that in turn create an incentive structure that makes it rational for project promoters to emphasize benefits and de-emphasize costs and risks. A project that looks highly beneficial on paper is more likely to get funded than one that does not."
New estimates on the cost of the MRT project, RM50 billion and RM53 billion cited by The Star and CIMB Research respectively have far exceeded the original estimate of RM36.6 billion. This is despite the fact that the project has yet to take off on the ground and raises major concerns as to whether it will fall victim to similar failures cited in the Flyvbjerg study.
To prevent such excesses, Flyvbjerg has called for several measures to be implemented by Governments seeking to implement such infrastructure projects. The key measures which should be adopted by SPAD and Pemandu will include:
1. Forecasts and business cases should be made subject to independent peer review. Scientific and professional conferences should be organized where forecasters would present and defend their forecasts in the face of colleagues' scrutiny and criticism.
2. For publicly funded projects, forecasts, peer reviews, and benchmarkings should be made available for public scrutiny, including by the media, as they are produced, including all relevant documentation.
3. Public hearings, citizen juries, and the like should be organized to allow stakeholders and civil society to voice criticism and support of forecasts. Knowledge generated in this way should be integrated in project management and decision-making.
4. Forecasters and their organizations must share financial responsibility for covering cost overruns and benefit shortfalls resulting from misrepresentation and bias in forecasting.
In fact, Flyvbjerg argued that projects with inflated benefit–cost ratios should be reconsidered and stopped if recalculated costs and benefits do not warrant implementation. Projects with realistic estimates of benefits and costs should be rewarded.
The implementation of the MRT to date by both Pemandu and SPAD has left much to be desired in terms of the transparency measures propagated in the above study. Besides the deluge of rhetorical statements that the MRT will improve public transport in the Klang Valley and that it will have a "catalytic" effect on the economy, the Government agencies have failed to provide detailed forecasts and business cases for peer review and public scrutiny.
While there is an on-going feedback process, the information provided for the route, station designs, traffic information as well as plans on integration to new and existing transport terminals are scarce or absent altogether. Worse, decisions on the MRT system are being made regardless of the public feedback outcome, with tenders for various parcels of the project commencing next month.
Hence just like the public feedback exercise carried out for the LRT extension project, it has become quite clear that the exercises are meant to "show" that feedback has been conducted, with no intention of ever having them "integrated in project management and decision-making" in any substantive manner.
அண்மையில் அம்பாங், தெலோக் ஆயர்தாவார் கோலா குபு பாரு இடைநிலைப்பள்ளிகளில் நிகழ்ந்த சம்பவங்கள் சர்சைக்குரிய இண்டர்லோக் நாவலின் தாக்கமே.
இவ்வாறு பெரும்பான்மையினத்தவர்கள் இந்திய மாணவர்களை அவமானப்படுத்தப்படுத்தி தாக்குவதும், தாக்கிப்பேசுவதும் தொடர் கதையாகி வருகிறது. அதிலும் குறிப்பாக பள்ளியில் இவ்வாறான விஷயங்கள் நிகழ்ந்துக் கொண்டிருகின்றன. குறிப்பாக இந்திய மாணவர்களுக்கும் ஆசிரியர்களுக்கும் இடையில் இவ்வாறான பல பிரச்னைகள் தலை தூக்கி நிற்கின்றன.
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