August 22, 2010 Racist we all are, but despair not too much by ZAINUL ARIFIN zainul@nst.com.my SOMEONE suggested to me that the level of racism is rather alarming these days.In the anonymity of the World Wide Web and the all-narcissistic social media, the tone is harsh and divisive. One can imagine the depth we have [...]
Archive for August 2010
Racist we all are
August 22, 2010Trash for News
August 22, 2010August 22, 2010 Utusan Malaysia substitutes trash for news by Terence Netto @www.malaysiakini.com (August 21,2010) COMMENT These days the spectacle of Utusan Malaysia holding out a red bandana to draw out the bull of Malay nationalism would be disquieting if it weren’t also abjectly comic in its failure to achieve that end. This is the [...]
The Balfour Declaration and Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
August 21, 2010August 21, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com New York Times Sunday Book Review THE BALFOUR DECLARATION The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict By Jonathan Schneer ‘View With Favor’ by Tom Segev On November 2, 1917, the British government expressed its sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations and announced that it would use its “best endeavors” to facilitate “the establishment [...]
Enter the Jester
August 21, 2010August 21, 2010 Enter the Jester by Mariam Mokhtar (August 20, 2010) http://www.malaysianmirror.com COMMENT Very few court cases are titillating but the cross-examination on Wednesday, of Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand by Abdul Razak Musa, the lawyer representing the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission, was a tragi-comedy. This is Dr. Pornthip’s second appearance at the inquest into [...]
At Ringside: Dato’ Ramli Yusuff Acquitted For The 3rd Time!
August 21, 2010August 21, 2010 At Ringside: Dato’ Ramli Yusuff Acquitted For The 3rd Time! by Din Merican My comment yesterday was just a curtain raiser. Here is my ringside account of the Dato Ramli Yusuff’s acquittal by Judge S.M Komathy Suppiah. At 4pm sharp on August 20, 2010, the KL Criminal Sessions Court Judge SM Komathy [...]
MACC loses again
August 20, 2010August 20, 2010 Comment: My wife, Dr. Kamsiah and I were at the Courts today to listen to the tail end of prosecution’s submission and Dato Shafee Abdullah ‘s brilliant rebuttal. In not more than 25 minutes, the respected lawyer convinced the Honorable Judge Somathy that his client, Dato Ramli Yusuff, should be acquitted without [...]
Jazz for the Weekend
August 20, 2010August 20, 2010 Jazz for the Weekend Friends and Fellow Bloggers led by Mongkut Bean, Dr. Kamsiah and I are in a very celebratory and jazzy mood for this weekend and we have reason to be because our friend Dato Ramli Yusuff was acquitted this afternoon for the 3rd time when Judge Komathy pronounced that [...]
Memali, its Forgotten People and NEP
August 20, 2010August 20, 2010 Art Harun recalls Memali and its Forgotten People “In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organised robbery?”: Saint Augustine Date: November 1985. Place: Malaysia. The prime minister was Mahathir Mohamad. Musa Hitam was the deputy prime minister and home minister. Malaysia was going through a bad recession. The prices of [...]
MACC backs off from alleged RM8 billion Tajuddin Swindle
August 19, 2010August 20, 2010 MACC backs off from alleged RM8bil Tajuddin Swindle by Regina Lee at www.malaysiakini.com (August 19, 2010) Mahathir’s Response to the Tajuddin Ramli MAS Deal PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub has trained his guns on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in his crusade to uncover a purported RM8 billion scandal in national carrier Malaysian [...]
TRUTH AND JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL
August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 TRUTH AND JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL by Din Merican On Sunday August 8, RPK (Raja Petra Kamaruddin)’s Malaysia Today ran a piece – “ The Ramli Yusuff Story; the real reason why he was brought down”. That was very frightening and sent chills down the spine. That article gave vivid description of IGP [...]
Happy Birthday, Indonesia
August 18, 2010My wife, Dr Kamsiah and I extend our warm good wishes to the President and People of the Republic Indonesia on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Indonesian Independence. May you continue to prosper in the years to come and contribute to regional peace and security in ASEAN.–Din Merican Indonesia Marks Quiet Independence Day [...]
More on Sarawak’s White Rajah (Taib Mahmud)
August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 EDITORIAL(www.freemalaysiatoday.com)–August 17, 2010 The MACC Untouchable White Rajah (Taib Mahmud) and His Business Empire When the wealth of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud was exposed to public viewing, the reaction was one of utter disgust. How could a political animal earning RM20,000 a month amassed such a colossal fortune? Where did he [...]
“Civilisation and Its Discontents”
August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 Reflecting on Sigmund Freud’s “Civilisation and Its Discontents” by Scott.C. Thompson THE wonder of a great essay is that, in disaggregating important phenomena, it makes us think more clearly. I cited Freud’s great essay last September, but for different purposes, and I have a particular reason for re-reading it (have you noticed [...]
King Rats of the NEP
August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 BREAKING VIEWS King Rats of the NEP – William Leong Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin of SP Setia Bhd provided statistics to show that Malaysian Chinese businessmen have prospered and fared well under the pro-bumiputra New Economic Policy. He said Chinese individuals controlled 73% of the wealth owned by the top 40 [...]
An Authoritarian Fantasy
August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 Sodomy 2–An Authoritarian Fantasy by Terence Netto @www.malaysiakini.com(August 17, 2010) Judge Mohamed Zabidin Mohd. Diah, the Malaysian judiciary’s version of ‘Stonewall Jackson’, continues to proceed in Sodomy II by the light of his interpretation of the law, no doubt. Yesterday(August 16) he rejected, for what must seem the umpteenth time (one loses [...]
Understanding the Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham
August 17, 2010August 17, 2010 The Malaysian Government and Bank Negara Malaysia should study the statement from Shariah Counselor of World Islamic Mint and Former Imam of the Great Mosque of Granada, Spain. It is clear from the Imam’s statement that the right of Bank Negara Malaysia as the sole note issuing authority for the ringgit which [...]
Selangor: A Political Sandiwara in Progress
August 17, 2010August 18, 2010 For Dramas, Just Come to Selangor by Syed Nadzri @www.nst.com.my A SPY camera in the Menteri Besar’s office, a death threat on a Member of Parliament, a garbled “OMG” Twitter message from the State Assembly Speaker, a mere rap on the knuckles for a controversial state executive councillor — what the freaky [...]
