Free Malaysia Today TUE, 24 AUG 2010 06:00

By Nurul Izzah Anwar

COMMENT A Malay daily recently declared that a civil war would break out in the country. And this war would dwarf the May 13 1969 racial riot – the worst in Malaysia’s history. The war, said the newspaper, is a response to a non-existing amended constitution that abolishes the special position of the Malays and Islam.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin also made reference to the 1969 riot in his comment when he reminded his Barisan Nasional (BN) colleague, Dr Chua Soi Lek, to tone down his demands to scrap what the government likes to call the pro-Malay economic policy.

In Penang, we heard stories that the name of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has been replaced with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Friday sermons in some mosques in the state.

Apart from some Umno leaders who are fond of making racist comments, we also now have Perkasa which claimed to champion the constitutional position of the Malays.

These stories have been reported at length and front-paged by many newspapers, inviting discussions from both sides of the political divide.

These stories are not new. Many of us have heard similar stories not too long ago.

Remember in 1987 when Umno organised a racially charged political rally? It was followed by detention of many opposition leaders, including Karpal Singh and Guan Eng, under Operasi Lalang.

I wonder what the people behind the recent racial provocations hope to achieve.

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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 19:01 Adrian Phung

The government has been urged to disclose the Public Service Department’s internal investigation report on the tragic death of Training and Diplomatic Officer, Norhashimah Wahid to the public.

There are unanswered questions regarding her death and the government’s refusal to reveal details of the investigation not only makes the situation worse but also deepens the grief of the victim’s family, Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Nurul Izzah added that she did not want to politicise this issue but had the responsibility to speak out about the incident so that appropriate action would be taken to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

“Norhashimah died while she was under the care of the National Institute of Public Administration (INTAN) so suitable compensation should be given to the victim’s family and not an ex-gratia payment.” she added.

An ex-gratia compensation was inadequate as Nurul Izzah felt that it would reflect on the attitude of the Prime Minister’s Department in letting go the issue and was not concerned about the irresponsible officials or coaches who were in charge.

According to Nurul Izzah, she did some research and found out that Tuntas Consultancy Sdn Bhd, which was owned by the sons of former Kuala Langat MP Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh, was awarded the contract of fully managing the training stint located at the Training Academy of Innovation And Motivation.

She wanted to know if the contract was awarded to the company because of political connections and why the government did not initiate action against it, adding that the government should confirm whether it was true that Tuntas Consultancy undertook the training exercise.

Commenting on this issue, Batu MP Chua Tian Chang said this was not the first time that death occurred at national service training camps and no one was held responsible, causing pain and sorrow to the victim’s family members.

Full story here

By Shannon Teoh

July 05, 2010

Pakatan Rakyat leaders attend the launch of FoPR in London yesterday, July 4, 2010. — Picture by Danny Lim

LONDON, July 5 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders continued their bullish stance towards a possible snap election by insisting that they would win big, when launching an outreach programme here yesterday.

Despite losing five MPs this year, they further taunted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak by stating that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition was running scared.

“Umno is in a state of panic. They see enemies everywhere,” PR secretariat chief Datuk Zaid Ibrahim told a crowd of over 200 at the launch of Friends of Pakatan Rakyat (FoPR) in London.

Other leaders at the FoPR launch, such as PAS treasurer Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, DAP’s Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, were also confident of expanding their historic wins in Election 2008 into the next general election, which must be held by 2013.

Their upbeat mood followed Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement last week that PR would be ready should BN opt to dissolve Parliament early.

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By Patrick Lee FRI, 02 JUL 2010 14:22

FULL REPORT PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has suspended the printing permit of PKR organ Suara Keadilan.

The decision came three days after the ministry slapped the publication with a seven-day deadline to explain a controversial article.

“After discussing the matter yesterday, the ministry came to the conclusion that it is not satisfied with the answer given by Suara Keadilan,” said the ministry’s al-Quran and text control department secretary Zaitun Samad in a statement.

According to Zaitun, the decision was made after reviewing the newspaper’s reply to the ministry’s show-cause letter on Tuesday regarding the “Felda Bankrupt” article in its June 22-29 edition.

She said the ministry received the reply on June 30 and held a meeting the next day to discuss the matter with regard to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

“We have sent a letter to Suara Keadilan’s printers instructing them to discontinue publication until a decision is made regarding the paper’s request for a permit renewal,” she added.

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Malaysian Insider

Syed Muaz Syed Putra

June 03, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Jun — Keluarga Allahyarham Norhashimah Wahid yang ‘terkejut’ dengan kematian pelatih Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik itu Isnin lalu mahu kerajaan menjalankan siasatan terbuka ekoran timbulnya beberapa kemusykilan di sebalik tragedi ibu muda tersebut.

Norhashimah, 31, meninggal dunia ketika mengikuti latihan Modul Jati Diri di Jugra, Banting selama tujuh bulan sebelum disahkan dalam jawatan dan telah tiga bulan mengikuti latihan itu.

Ibunya, Norlia Hashim, 62, berkata, dia mahu kematian anaknya disiasat dengan telus kerana sehingga kini masih tidak tahu sebab Norhashimah boleh meninggal dalam “keadaan yang teruk sebegitu.”

“Mungkin juga beliau ada dibuli kerana terdapat kesan luka dan lebam pada badannya,” katanya.

Norlia juga mempersoalkan tindakan pegawai latihan Modul Jati Diri yang didakwa memaksa pelatih pegawai tadbir dan diplomatik itu meneruskan latihan walaupun mengetahui beliau menunjukkan tanda-tanda sakit.

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Hazayani Zakaria

Harakah Daily

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Jun: Pimpinan Muda Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) menggesa kerajaan khususnya Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) menjalankan siasatan terbuka dan telus ke atas kes kematian seorang Pegawai Tadbir dan Diplomatik (PTD) sewaktu menjalani latihan ala-komando 31 Mei lalu.

Empat wakil rakyatnya juga mahu kerajaan meneliti kes itudengan serius dan memberi jaminan bahawa tidak ada mana-mana keluarga di negara ini harus berhadapan dengan kes kematian seperti itu selain membekukan sebarang penglibatan peserta dalam latihan seumpamanya sehingga ia disiasat sepenuhnya.

“Kami menggesa kerajaan Persekutuan khususnya Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam untuk menjalankan siasatan yang terbuka dan telus ke atas isu ini, apakah berlaku kecuaian di kalangan pelatih,” kata mereka dalam satu kenyataan yang dibacakan Ahli Parlimen Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar.

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