Friday, May 03, 2024

Ramasamy: How can Anwar deny the unity gov’t has never sidelined the Indian community?




Ramasamy: How can Anwar deny the unity gov’t has never sidelined the Indian community?





PRIME Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said the unity government never sidelined the Indian community.

He pointed out the government’s RM100 mil assistance to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA), RM30 mil through the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (TEKUN) and other initiatives including the RM50 mil loan scheme of Amanah Ishtiar Malaysia (AIM) to empower Indian entrepreneur especially women in the country.

All in all, outright financial grants and loans would amount to less than RM200 mil. Anwar also mentioned the fact that Indians should not be angry or jealous because Malays are getting more than them.

What Anwar mentioned as financial assistance from the government through MITRA, TEKUN and AIM is the pittance given to the Indian community.

The implementation of the financial assistance programmes is riddled with the lack of accountability whether the funds are reaching the targets groups or individuals.

Needless to mention, it is common knowledge in the country how MITRA managed the funds and how the agency was kicked about here and there.


Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with the Indian community (Image credit: Bernama)


Even if all the funds reached the target groups, the amount is minuscule and ridiculously small. Anwar should understand that 70% of the Indian community are members of the working class.

It is inaccurate on the part of Anwar to say that the Indians should not be angry or jealousy of the assistance to the Bumiputera community.


Indians ‘bolder” than Chinese

If the financial assistance to the Bumiputera community goes to the poor, the working class and peasants, Indians have no reason to be angry.

However, if the government assistance ends up in the coffers of the rich and connected, then not just Indians but other Malaysians might get angry.

Anwar and DAP leaders are under the impression that fear of the green wave might not give much option to the non-Malays other than vote in favour of the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led group. Here these leaders are clearly mistaken.

The Chinese might still rely on DAP but Indians are willing to experiment with new political parties and coalitions.

Anwar could not answer the question of a student about Indian discrimination in the matriculation programme. Instead, he frightened the student by saying that the opening of the programme to the non-Malays might be a breach of social contract and the alternative might be worst.



It was essentially an answer that bordered on threat that if Indians questioned the matriculation programme, the Malays might opt for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) opposition.

The point is that the Malays are already with PN. The good thing is that Anwar has stopped his dances to Tamil songs. He has also stopped saying that Chinese, Malays and Indians and others are his children.😂😂😂

Anwar’s reliance on race and religion to perpetuate his hold on power has laid bare his pretensions about Malaysia as one big family. In the last more than one year after Anwar became the PM, the real Anwar has emerged from the earlier confusion.

Anwar is no more the intellectual or philosopher he once pretended to be. He is just an ordinary politician who wants to get by for at least one term by indulgence in divisive politics.

His manipulation of race and religion is to ensure that he stays in power at all costs.


Don’t undermine Urimai

It is in this context that we can understand the pittance allocated to the Indian community while billions are channelled to the Bumiputra community.

To be popular with the Malays and Muslim, Anwar has even presided over the religious conversion of an Indian youth to Islam thereby hurting the sentiments of the Hindus.

Recently, he defied the conventional practice of not appointing an Indian Tamil as the minister in the cabinet. That Anwar can hurt and humiliate the Indian community is because he is surrounded by yes-men and sycophants around him.


Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy


These are the men and women who are going around telling that Anwar is the best leader of the country and the future of Indians depend on his leadership.

Moreover, DAP is not an aggressive party like before. Under the leadership of its secretary- general Anthony Loke Siew Fook, the party has lost all semblance of independence and integrity.

It is big shame on the party with the non-Malay leaders giving up dignity and self-respect in exchange for power, positions and perks.

Why didn’t the DAP and PKR leaders speak up on the legitimate concerns of the Indian community?

Why are they rallying in support of the Madani government in anticipation of the Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) polls on May 11?

The newly formed United Right of the Malaysian Party (Urimai) wants to expose the Madani government as non-interested in the well-being and welfare of the Indian community.

This is why Indians and others should come together to deny their votes to the PH/DAP candidate – a crony of DAP leader Nga Kor Ming – in the KKB polls.

My leadership of Urimai is not predicated on revenge politics. There is no politics of retaliation on the part of Urimai. Urimai just wants to educate Indians and others how the PH-led government has betrayed the community.

KKB polls is the beginning of the national politics of Urimai. Whether PH/DAP candidate win the KKB polls or not, Urimai is poised enter the mainstream politics.

Urimai hopes that the KKB polls will be the mini-Battle of Waterloo for the Madani government. – May 2, 2024



Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.


Palestine & the Collapse of Western Moral Authority

 

Dennis Ignatius

 

~ Provoking discussion, dissent & debate on politics, diplomacy, human rights & civil society.

Palestine & the Collapse of Western Moral Authority

Vivid television coverage of heavily armed police moving into US campuses to quell peaceful student demonstrations is not what one expects to see in a nation that prides itself on 1st amendment rights – the right to free speech and peaceful assembly. No less shocking is hearing the Speaker of the House of Representatives egging the police on against student protestors.

For those with a bit of years behind them, it brings back memories of the anti-war protests of the late 1960s when American campus became a hotbed of resistance to what many felt was an immoral war of aggression against Vietnam. 

Although the student demonstrators were vilified at the time, they turned out to be on the right side of history. Today, we look back at the Vietnam War as a murderous, unprovoked war of aggression that devastated much of Indochina and killed millions.

We are now at another such moment in history with Palestine in the eye of the storm. Long years of global apathy over the plight of the Palestinian people are now being replaced with growing revulsion and horror over Israel’s war of aggression in Gaza. A fire has been lit on American campuses; it won’t die down so easily. 

It’s not hard to understand why. Israel, the US, and other Western powers have gone too far; they have crossed every line of human decency and international law. Their callous disregard for the lives of the long-suffering people of Palestine have awakened the conscience not just of US students but of people across the globe. 

It’s just too much to watch the daily slaughter of innocent civilians, the mass starvation of non-combatants, the wanton destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and civil infrastructure. In less than 7 months, the Israeli army – generously stocked and supplied by the US and other Western backers – have dropped more than 25,000 tons of explosives on Gaza, the equivalent of two nuclear bombs. Some 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and tens of thousands wounded or maimed since October 7th. Gaza itself has been reduced to a barren wasteland.

The global fallout will be profound. Israel, the US, and western democracies have lost what’s left of their moral legitimacy. The world now sees through their hypocrisy, their double standards, their prejudice as never before. The great ideals they long preached apparently apply only to themselves. They are quick to rally world opinion when American, Israeli, or Ukrainian lives are lost but have scant regard for the slaughter of Palestinians.  Why? Do Arab or African or Asian lives matter less?

Israel has often been defended in Western capitals as the only democracy in the Middle East, but that narrative can no longer be sustained. What democracy incarcerates thousands of people including children without trial? What democracy carries out genocide or engages in brutal and illegal occupation? What democracy humiliates its people, subjects them to apartheid conditions and steals their land in defiance of UN resolutions? 

Of course, Israel is quick to accuse anyone who opposes Israel as anti-Semantic but that is nonsense. One can support Israel’s right to exist – as I do – while at the same time demanding that Israel respects international law and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian people deserve to live free in their own state as much as Israel does. 

Sure, Hamas ought to be condemned as a terrorist organization, but Hamas does not exist in a vacuum. Hamas is but a creature of Western and Israeli hypocrisy and their failure to offer the Palestinians a viable way forward to peace and freedom.

The complicity of Palestine’s Arab neighbours is also staggering. They talk about brotherhood and revel in their common faith but sit as mute witnesses to occupation, destruction, and annihilation. What does it say of Arab governments and the wider Arab and Muslim world when American campuses erupt in anger over Palestine while they remain silent?

Gaza has brought home in vivid detail the stunning hypocrisy of Western democracies. Their claim to moral superiority on the global stage now stands exposed as hollow and trite. The true keepers of the global moral code are the ones – like those student protestors on US campuses – that now fight for justice for the Palestinian people.

Whatever it is, one thing is certain: the world will not be the same again. 

[Dennis Ignatius |Kuala Lumpur |Friday, 03 May 2024]

Is Ramasamy's campaign working if DAP pushing back?








Is Ramasamy's campaign working if DAP pushing back?

Published: May 2, 2024


YOURSAY | ’Loke talks a lot about Ramasamy and then tells people to ignore him.’

Loke slams Ramasamy's 'revenge politics' in KKB



Kilimanjaro: It looks like DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke lacks confidence. Why go on a tirade against former party colleague P Ramasamy and yet claim the latter matters not?

Isn't Loke displaying his ignorance?

Ramasamy has the right to campaign and explain to the people of Kuala Kubu Baharu, just as others do.

If DAP has done its part in servicing the people, why should it worry? Just explain to the people what you have done and let them decide whether they wish to continue voting for DAP.

And please don't insult the intelligence of the Indian voters.

Loke is very prejudiced in his accusation against Ramasamy. Why doesn’t he dare tell the Perikatan Nasional candidate to do the same?

Ramasamy is not a DAP member anymore and he is the chairperson of his own political party, United for the Rights of Malaysians Party (Urimai).

Ramasamy believes that the people of Kuala Kubu Baharu should know whether DAP and the government have done their duty when it comes to the Indians. What is wrong with that?

Maybe Loke and his gang think that getting a few members of the Indian elite to say “yes” would convince the Indians to close their eyes and vote for DAP.

What DAP should have done is to appoint another Tamil in Ramasamy’s place.

If you want the Chinese votes, you listen to the Chinese, but if you want the Indian votes, you have to listen to them too.

I see this as a watershed election where the Chinese would want to strengthen their stance. If so, then the Indians would have no choice but to go their way.

Apanama is Back: Loke, I am curious why you need to comment about Ramasamy’s “not to vote for Harapan” campaign. He is no longer a DAP member.

You can choose to ignore him and focus on helping candidate Pang Sock Tao to win the seat.

Now I am wondering whether Ramasamy’s campaign is bearing some fruit and going against your candidate.

Otherwise, why are you so eager? On April 30 it was Jelutong MP RSN Rayer and on May 1, you. Who is next? Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming? Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng?

RedGopher0486: Not a fan of Ramasamy, once a defender of the very system he is now fighting against.

But he is proving himself right with this latest statement by Loke.

Ramasamy is taking the right issue to the right audience whilst DAP, Harapan, and BN are intimidating and blackmailing voters, character assassinating dissenters and defending the status quo.

These folks want the minorities to be grateful to them.

Stalp Ymas: Ramasamy was a political science lecturer who knew what he was talking about, especially the plight of Malaysian Indians.

It’s the fear of him and his influence upon the voters via the message he has been and still is putting across that seems to have touched the nerves of many, causing them to retort unnecessarily for the sake of it.

KickOutPN_PAS: Loke is absolutely 100 percent right to the point.

This sore and bitter Ramasamy just wanted revenge against DAP for not choosing him as a candidate in the last Penang state election.

He should give back his pension to DAP since he is a former assemblyperson of the party.

Pink: Whether it is revenge or he is a sore loser is irrelevant. The fact is that the Indians are treated badly and contemptuously under the Madani government.

There are two million Tamil people in Malaysia but not even one Tamil minister. Even the Ibans and Kadazandusun, with fewer numbers, have more ministers in the cabinet.

Ramasamy was a professor and performed loyally and brilliantly as Penang deputy chief minister but he was shoved to the sidelines.

Judge what Ramasamy said and not question his motives. What he said cannot be disputed, 100 percent correct.

Omega: Loke, why did you drop former Klang MP Charles Santiago, Ramasamy, and other Indian candidates?

Why is there no Indian Tamil minister in the cabinet? Don't talk about revenge politics to cover up your mistakes.

The difference between you and Ramasamy is that he has been outspoken throughout while you have gone quiet after becoming part of the coalition government.

OrangePanther1466: Ramasamy’s party, Urimai, is not even contesting, yet he is stomping the campaign trail, not to attract votes but to ask voters not to vote for a party that is contesting.

I would like to know if that is allowed. Is it legal? Is this an act of campaigning or an act of defaming one’s reputation?

Urimai has no business holding rallies and meeting the voters to defame another party.

DAP should look at the possibility of suing Ramasamy and his acolytes for defamation post-election.

Ra1965: You talk a lot about Ramasamy and then tell people to ignore him. Why attack Ramasamy at all?

Harapan is the one that failed its voters.


Zaliha 'zips mouth' on Najib's house arrest bid








Zaliha 'zips mouth' on Najib's house arrest bid

Published: May 3, 2024 4:33 PM


Amid a court case about a purported royal addendum which would allow Najib Abdul Razak to serve his remaining jail time under house arrest, the minister who sits on the Pardons Board refused to comment on the matter.

“No comments from me,” Utusan Malaysia reported Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa as saying.

She also made a gesture of zipping her mouth and added, “Whatever Datuk Seri (Anwar Ibrahim) has said (before), follow that. So, nothing else from me.”

Zaliha (above) was reported to have said this when met during a Hari Raya Aidilfitri event organised by her ministry.

The event was also attended by Anwar and his wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Zaliha is a member of the Pardons Board, in her capacity as the federal territories minister.


Judicial review

On April 3, Najib filed a judicial review leave application claiming that apart from being granted a partial pardon, there was also an addendum which would allow him to serve the remaining of his six-year jail term under house arrest.

Hence, the former prime minister is seeking a court order to compel the home minister, the attorney-general, the Pardons Board, the federal government, and a few other respondents to confirm this alleged addendum in the royal pardon.

According to a copy of the judicial review bid, applicant Najib claimed that the addendum was issued by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 29.

On April 17, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi backed Najib’s claim of a supplementary royal in an affidavit filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on April 9.

When queried on the matter on April 21, Anwar responded by saying that Putrajaya would not question the authority of the former Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide on Najib’s house arrest issue.

“Our position is clear that any decision made in the Pardons Board, the Agong’s decision, is final.

“Ever since Merdeka until today, there has been no action by the government that goes against the role and power of the Malay rulers, and this we must keep.

“Those who can’t understand the decision, they are not fit to be a political commentator,” the PKR president was reported as saying.


Woman's 10-year battle to quash childhood Islamic conversion ended








Woman's 10-year battle to quash childhood Islamic conversion ended


A woman's over 10-year legal battle to nullify her 1991 childhood Islamic conversion came to an end today when the apex civil court dismissed her appeal to reverse her religious status.

A three-person Federal Court bench in a split 2-1 verdict denied the 36-year-old's appeal to restore the 2021 Shah Alam High Court ruling that quashed her religious conversion brought about by her Muslim convert mother.

In January last year, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) and the state government to reinstate the woman's Islamic conversion.

In 1991, her mother - then having separated from her Hindu father - converted to Islam and sought Mais' assistance to convert the woman, who was five years old then, to Islam as well.

Two years later, Jais issued a conversion certificate for her. However, her mother - having married a Muslim man by then - allowed her to continue practising Hinduism.

Between December 2013 and July 2017, the syariah courts denied her bids to nullify the conversion, prompting her to turn to the Shah Alam civil court.


Majority ruling

Court of Appeal president Amar Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and fellow Federal Court bench member Abu Bakar Jais constitute the majority ruling, while bench member Mary Lim Thiam Suan dissented.

Reading out the majority ruling, Abu Bakar said the woman falls under the category of “no longer a Muslim” and not “never was a Muslim”.

He said only the Syariah Court has jurisdiction over people who claim to no longer be Muslims and the civil court only has jurisdiction over those who were never Muslims from the onset.

This is because the woman, despite being converted to Islam when young, was raised as a Muslim till her adulthood.

He noted that when the woman came to the Syariah Court in 2013, made her case on the premise that she wanted to renounce the faith and did not challenge the validity of the childhood conversion.

Abu Bakar further said she only raised the issue of the validity of her childhood conversion when she went to the civil court.

He noted that the Selangor state syariah enactment applies here because the woman was raised under her Muslim convert mother's care as a Muslim.

"As long as one professes the religion of Islam, one is identified as a Muslim despite the degree of faith or practise," Abu Bakar said.


Dissenting ruling

However, in her dissenting ruling, Lim ruled that the woman was never a Muslim from the very beginning as the appellant was converted when young, whereby non-adults are not able to consent to the conversion.

She noted that the prevailing Selangor state enactment back in 1991 required the consent of both father and mother to convert their children to Islam, pointing out that the Muslim mother converted the woman without the Hindu father's consent.

Lim said that a later amendment in 1992 of the state enactment - which allowed unilateral conversion of a child without needing the consent of both parents - does not apply here as the actual conversion happened in 1991.

"She was not a child born to Muslim parents. Her conversion was done unilaterally by her mother and without her father's consent.

"She did not understand what happened at the time," Lim said over the conversion that took place on May 17, 1991.


The apex court today made no order as to costs.

Counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Surendra Ananth represented the woman while lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla appeared for Mais.

State legal adviser Salim Soib @ Hamid represented the Selangor government.


Zaid slams ‘fear’ of opening UiTM course to non-Bumis

 

FMT:


Zaid slams ‘fear’ of

opening UiTM course to

non-Bumis

FMT Reporters-

The former law minister says helping non-Malays enter the university’s cardiothoracic surgery programme would solve the nation’s problem.

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Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim says there are no outstanding issues beyond the ‘perennial’ fear of opening UiTM to non-Bumiputeras.

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim today urged against allowing the fear of having more non-Malay doctors, nurses or lecturers stop Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) from opening its cardiothoracic surgery programme to non-Bumiputeras.

In a post on X, Zaid said there were no outstanding issues beyond the “perennial” fear of opening UiTM to non-Bumiputeras.

“This is Umno’s problem. Umno, it would help if you started looking at things differently. The nation must come first. We are short of all kinds of medical specialists in public health. We are short of nurses.

“UiTM was started to help Bumiputeras and should continue to do so. But today, we have to recognise that helping non-Malays enter UiTM also helps Bumiputeras by solving the nation’s problem.

“Umno must exorcise itself of this irrational fear. We are now one country with more significant problems but have enough resources to serve every group,” he said.

Zaid was responding to higher education minister Zambry Abd Kadir, who said there had been no discussions on opening UiTM’s cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme to non-Bumiputera students.

Zambry said several underlying issues, which he did not specify, needed to be addressed before the proposal to accept non-Bumiputera students could be considered.

“We haven’t engaged in any discussions yet, nor have we received official communication on this matter,” he was quoted as saying in a Berita Harian report.

“It is crucial to resolve the fundamental issues before delving into such proposals.”

Santiago rues ‘disconnect’ between Selangor govt, Indian community

 

FMT:


Santiago rues ‘disconnect’

between Selangor govt,

Indian community

FMT Reporters-

The ex-Klang MP says the community is in the dark about the state’s initiatives to address issues like poverty, making them feel discriminated against.

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DAP’s Charles Santiago says the Indian community in Kuala Kubu Baharu wants to meet the Selangor menteri besar to discuss their grouses.

PETALING JAYA: The Indian community in Kuala Kubu Baharu is mostly in the dark about the Selangor government’s initiatives to address issues like poverty and low income, says a former MP.

DAP’s Charles Santiago said this disconnect has built a perception that the community is being discriminated against by the state government, although aid is available.

The former three-time Klang MP said the decades-old housing problems in Bukit Tagar and Ladang Nigel Gardner were still unresolved despite promises made during the past elections.

“People are not interested in ceramahs. They want an avenue to express their issues to the authorities, namely the state government. It’s, therefore, time to set up a complaints mechanism and work on tackling them.

“The people believe there is no political will. Solving the housing issue will go a long way to soften the anger (of the Indian community),” he said in a statement.

Santiago also said the local Indian community had suggested that Selangor menteri besar Amirudin Shari meet with them to hear their grouses and address their concerns more effectively.

“I hope he takes up their requests,” he said, pointing out that many among the community were “upset and looking at alternatives”.

Yesterday, Santiago said the Indian community in the area struggled with poverty, lack of job opportunities and inadequate housing, adding that this has been unresolved for decades.

He said political leaders should focus on solving these issues instead of wasting time arguing with one another ahead of the May 11 by-election for the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat.