Author: Rilek1Corner

Stern-Warnings Issued For Cooling-Off Day Violations

The police have issued stern warnings to an alternative news website and four individuals for flouting electoral campaigning rules during the 2016 Bukit Batok by-election.

Acting on the directions of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, police issued the warnings to Chua Chin Seng, The Independent Singapore (TISG), Masilamani Pillai Kumaran, Ravi Chandran Philemon and Alfred Dodwell. “Should any of the parties commit similar offences in subsequent elections, the stern warning that was administered can be taken into consideration in the decision to prosecute,” said a police spokesman.

The parties involved published online articles in breach of the prohibition of election advertising on Cooling-Off Day (6 May) and Polling Day (7 May), an offence under the Parliamentary Elections Act.

Yahoo Singapore understands that two of the articles were found on the Fabrications About The PAP page, which is seen as a pro-People’s Action Party site and is run by Chua.

Augustine Lee Zixu, organising secretary of the opposition People’s Power Party, filed a police report in June last year to complain that the two articles on the page had violated Cooling-Off Day rules. One article called for Bukit Batok residents to vote for PAP candidate Murali Pillai and the other article was critical of Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan, who ran in the by-election.

Separately, TISG published two articles, “5 highlights of DPM’s speech” and “Workers’ Party and the Bukit Batok By-election” on Cooling-Off Day (6 May) and another article, “Tan Cheng Bock denies involvement in posting by irrational group of PAP fans” on Polling Day (7 May). The articles prompted the Elections Department to file a police report against TISG in the same month.

Upon careful consideration of all the circumstances of the cases, including the nature of the publications, the Attorney-General’s Chambers decided to administer stern warnings to all parties. The offence is punishable with a fine of up to $1,000 or to a jail term not exceeding 12 months or both.

“The prohibition of election advertising on Cooling-Off Day and Polling Day allows voters time to step back from the excitement and emotion of campaigning, to reflect on the issues at stake before casting their votes.

The Cooling-Off Day breaches detected during the 2016 Bukit Batok by-election go against the spirit of the election rule. Left unchecked, such breaches can undermine public trust in Singapore’s electoral process,” added the police spokesman.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

February 17, 2017
Sylvia Lim: Appointment Of Hri Kumar As Deputy Attorney-General Not Ideal

PMO has announced that Mr Hri Kumar, former PAP MP, will be appointed Deputy Attorney-General with effect from March 2017.

I was asked by a local paper whether I had any concerns about partisanship, given that Mr Kumar was such a strong critic of AHPETC, our WP-run Town Council.

I gave my response as follows (which I was just told would not be published due to lack of space):

“It is critical that persons entrusted with vast prosecutorial discretion act in the public interest, and not for partisan political gain. The appointment of a former PAP MP to such a post is not ideal. Whether my concerns prove to be founded or otherwise – remains to be seen”.

#DAG

Source: Sylvia Lim

February 17, 2017
Here’s What Lee Kuan Yew Did When WW2 Hit Singapore 75 Years Ago

February 15 is the day when the British surrender to the invading Japanese forces in Singapore, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of one of the darkest period in our island nation’s history — the Japanese Occupation (1942 to 1945).

Many of S’pore’s past leaders, such as Lee Kuan Yew and David Marshall, were young men during that period. They experienced the hardships, felt the hunger brought on during that period, and lived through the uncertainties with some narrow escapes.

Following our previous story on what these founding fathers did at the outbreak of war, let’s now take a look at some of their experiences during the Occupation.

1. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first prime minister (1959 to 1990): He had a lucky break as he escaped theSook Ching massacre.

Lee was 18 years old when the Japanese Occupation of Singapore began.

Source: NAS

Recording his Japanese Occupation experience in his memoirs, The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew, Lee wrote that a few days into the Occupation, the Japanese carried out the Sook Ching operation to cleanse the local Chinese population of anti-Japanese elements. He reported to Jalan Besar stadium together with his family friend and helper, Koh Teong Koo, for registration and screening. He narrowly escaped being one of the many Chinese rounded to be massacred in the operation.

“Soon after the Japanese soldiers left my house, word went around that all Chinese had to go to a registration centre at the Jalan Besar stadium for examination. I saw my neighbour and his family leave and decided it would be wiser for me to go also, for if I were later caught at home the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai, would punish me. So I headed for Jalan Besar with Teong Koo.

As it turned out, his cubicle in his coolie-keng, the dormitory he shared with other rickshaw pullers, was within the perimeter enclosed by barbed wire. Tens of thousands of Chinese families were packed into this small area. All exit points were manned by the Kempeitai. There were several civilians with them, locals or Taiwanese. I was told later that many of them were hooded, though I do not remember noticing any.

“After spending a night in Teong Koo’s cubicle, I decided to check out through the exit point, but instead of allowing me to pass, the soldier on duty signalled me to join a group of young Chinese. I felt instinctively that this was ominous, so I asked for permission to return to the cubicle to collect my belongings.

He gave it. I went back and lay low in Teong Koo’s cubicle for another day and a half. Then I tried the same exit again. This time, for some inexplicable reason, I got through the checkpoint. I was given a “chop” on my left upper arm and on the front of my shirt with a rubber stamp. The kanji or Chinese character jian, meaning “examined”, printed on me in indelible ink, was proof that I was cleared. I walked home with Teong Koo, greatly relieved.”

Images of Sook Ching screening centres, taken at the Syonan Gallery.

Source: Extracted from http://mothership.sg

February 17, 2017
Jufrie Mahmood: Don’t Question The Loyalty Of Malays To Singapore

During the war my late father, who was then an officer in the Civil Defence was busy risking his life evacuating people from buildings bombed by the Japanese warplanes.

Compare this with what the father of someone in the ruling party did, collaborating with the Japanese invaders while many of our countrymen were being tortured and executed. For what my father did he was honoured by the Queen, head of the government of the day, with a medal (MBE) while the father of that person was posthumously honoured by the Japanese government for his services.

And I am a Malay and they dare question my and my community’s loyalty to this nation.

That is where it hurts!

Source: Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood

February 17, 2017
Mufti Wilayah & JAKIM Tolak Khidmat Valet Doa Sebagai Mengelirukan Dan Tidak Mengikut Syariat

Pernahkah anda mendengar tentang ‘Valet Doa’? Secara ringkas, khidmat ini menawarkan khidmat ‘Doa anda, Kami baca, di Makkah’.

Itulah satu perkhidmatan baru yang ditawarkan di Malaysia oleh seorang warga negara itu menerusi Facebook, yang membahasakan dirinya sebagai Haji Nasrin, atau nama sebenarnya Nasrin Harin, berusia 40 tahun.

BERITAMediacorp mendapati, harganya bukan murah. Khidmat itu, yang akan bermula bulan depan (Mac) mengenakan bayaran antara RM500 (S$160) hingga RM5,000 (S$1,600) untuk menyampaikan doa pelanggannya di Makkah.

Namun baru sekitar seminggu Nasrin Harin memperkenalkan dirinya dan membuat promosi khidmat tersebut, dia kini dikritik hebat oleh pihak-pihak berkuasa agama di Malaysia termasuk golongan Mufti.

JAKIM: JANGAN TERPEDAYA DENGAN TAWARAN VALET DOA

Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) Tan Sri Othman Mustapha menasihatkan umat Islam supaya jangan terpedaya dengan individu atau pertubuhan yang menawarkan pakej khidmat valet doa di Makkah dengan harga tertentu, seperti yang ditularkan di media sosial ketika ini.

Tan Sri Othman menambah, pakej valet doa itu jelas menunjukkan unsur perniagaan, menjaja serta menggunakan ibadat serta doa untuk tujuan perniagaan yang tidak dibenarkan Islam.

Malah, Valet Doa dengan berani menjanjikan bahawa doa-doa pelanggan “confirm makbul cepat”.

Ini dia antara kata-kata promosi yang ditulis Valet Doa di Facebooknya: “Dah bertahun berdoa tapi hajat belum makbul juga?…Valet Doa bantu anda berdoa depan Kaabah – Confirm makbul cepat!!…Bermula Mac 2017.”

Ini antara jawapan JAKIM kepada Valet Doa itu seperti ditukil agensi berita Bernama: “Adalah sangat tidak wajar doa dijadikan produk atau perkhidmatan komersil kerana ia mempergunakan agama untuk habuan dunia dan mencemarkan kesucian agama Islam. Hak termakbulnya doa adalah milik Allah semata-semata, bukan terletak kepada manusia.”

Ketua Pengarah JAKIM dalam satu kenyataan hari ini menambah: “Ia tidak boleh diqiyaskan dengan badal haji kerana bukan haji mabrur yang diupahkan tetapi amalan badal haji itu sendiri yang boleh menerima upah.”

MUFTI WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN: VALET DOA TIDAK IKUT SYARIAT

Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri, juga nampaknya mahu segera menangani fenomena Valet Doa ini dengan mengeluarkan satu kenyataan hari ini.

Mufti tersebut menyatakan: “Setelah kami meneliti isu Valet Doa yang disertakan pula dengan pakej-pakej dengan harga yang berbeza seolah-olah mengikut tahap kemustajaban doa, dengan ini kami berpendapat, ia adalah sama sekali tidak menepati Islam yang sebenarnya, dan tidak mengikut syariat.”

Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan itu, menerusi laman rasmi pejabatnya menambah, penamaan pakej-pakej seperti Pakej Raja Salman dan Pakej VIP adalah “sangat tidak berakhlak dan mengelirukan”.

JAKIM juga menyatakan, tidak wajar mana-mana individu menjamin doanya termasuk doa untuk orang lain akan dimakbulkan Allah.

PENGASAS VALET DOA MAHU TERUSKAN KHIDMAT WALAU DIHENTAM

Dalam tulisannya di Facebook, pengasas Valet Doa, Nasrin Harin mengakui dia “bukanlah Ustaz, jauh sekali alim. Apatah lagi ulamak”.

(Gambar-gambar: Valet Doa/ Facebook)

Di laman Facebooknya, Valet Doa juga banyak dihentam kerana konsep tersebut diragui ramai netizen.

Namun, semasa diwawancara oleh laman MalaysiaKini, Encik Nasrin Harin berkata dia akan tetap meneruskan perkhidmatannya itu.

Diminta mengulas tulisan Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan yang menolak Valet Doa, Encik Nasrin Harin menjawab, “kami ada dalil masing-masing”.

Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

February 17, 2017