Category: Politik

Dr Zakir Naik “Muncul” Sekali Lagi Di Malaysia

Dr Zakir Naik kini berada di Malaysia selepas menghadiri persidangan tahunan Al-Khadem di Kuala Lumpur semalam (23 Okt).

The Star melaporkan beliau juga bertemu dengan Timbalan Perdana Menteri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi di rumahnya.

Hari ini (24 Okt), Dr Ahmad Zahid memuat naik gambar beliau dan Dr Zakir di Instagram.

Beliau menulis kapsyen “pendakwah terkenal” mengunjunginya.

Laporan The Star turut mendedahkan bahawa lawatan Dr Zakir ke Malaysia adalah yang kedua ke negara itu.

Beliau mengunjungi Malaysia pada April lalu untuk menyampaikan ceramah mengenai Islam.

Menurut The Star, Dr Zakir juga menyampaikan satu siri ceramah di Terengganu pada April lalu, sementara ceramah beliau yang dijadual berlangsung di Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, yang pada awalnya diharamkan oleh polis, diberi keizinan untuk meneruskannya selepas mencapai kata sepakat – iaitu menukar tema ceramah tersebut.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

October 25, 2016
Orang Islam Di Itali Adakan Bantahan Bagi Kebebasan Bersolat

Beberapa ratus Muslim menunaikan solat di luar bangunan Colosseum di Rome sebagai bantahan terhadap apa yang menurut mereka adalah sekatan tidak adil terhadap kebebasan mengamalkan agama Islam di Itali.

Para penganjur berkata mereka mengadakan bantahan itu semalam (21 Okt) menyusuli penutupan lima masjid sementara di negara itu atas sebab-sebab pentadbiran.

Ramai rakyat Muslim Itali mengesyaki pihak berkuasa tempatan memberi respons terhadap rasa curiga terhadap orang Islam akibat serangan pelampau baru-baru ini di Eropah, dengan menutup tempat-tempat ibadah disebabkan masalah-masalah yang mudah dihuraikan, seperti jumlah tandas di sesebuah premis tertentu.

“Kami merasakan orang ramai menuding jari ke arah kami,” kata Francesco Tieri, seorang warga Itali yang memeluk agama Islam yang merupakan penyelaras bagi beberapa kumpulan Islam.

“Tiada keinginan politik untuk mengiktiraf bahawa kami ada di sini dan kami masyarakat yang aman. Kami terpaksa menyewa tempat untuk solat – yang bagi kami adalah seperti bernafas, jika kami tidak boleh lakukannya, kami akan mati,” katanya lagi.

Menurut perangkaan rasmi, lebih 800,000 orang Islam tinggal di Itali secara sah dan para pegawai menganggarkan lagi 100,000 tinggal di negara itu secara tetap tanpa dokumen rasmi.

Ini bermakna masyarakat Islam mungkin membentuk lebih 1.5 peratus penduduk di Itali dan Islam merupakan agama kedua yang paling ramai dianuti di negara yang kebanyakan penduduknya beragama Roman Katolik itu.

Islam bagaimanapun tidak diiktiraf sebagai agama rasmi di Itali, tidak seperti agama Yahudi atau Mormon, dan ramai orang Islam dari utara Afrika dan Asia Selatan rasa didiskriminasi dari segi kaum dan agama.

Rome menempatkan masjid terbesar di dunia Barat, namun saranan-saranan untuk membina masjid-masjid bercorak tradisional di tempat lain kerap dibantah majlis-majlis tempatan yang boleh menyekat izin bagi merancang pembinaan atas pelbagai sebab teknikal daripada saranan saiz kemudahan meletak kereta, dan keharmonian seni bina dengan sesuatu kejiranan tertentu.

Parti-parti berhaluan kanan menyeru agar mengharamkan mana-mana masjid yang dibina dengan dana dari penderma di luar Itali.

Anggota Parlimen Barbara Saltamartini dari Liga Utara yang anti-imigresen, menyifatkan bantahan itu sebagai “provokasi tidak boleh diterima” yang tidak sepatutnya dibenarkan diadakan di Rome sama sekali.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

October 23, 2016
Singaporeans Prefer To Be Fooled by PAP, Good Jobs Go to Foreigners

In PAP’s elitist eyes, Singaporeans are fools and are therefore treated as such. No one should blame PAP.

For years, Singaporeans have been fooled by PAP’s creation of “good” jobs for citizens, which is of course another half truth. We don’t bother, or are afraid, to ask the government point blank to list all the good jobs it has created. Well, there’s likely to be only a handful and that’s about it because most of the “good” jobs go to foreigners.

Whether a job is ‘good’ is relative: it’s dependent on our living costs.

To a foreigner degree holder from India, any job paying between $2000 and $3000 a month is a good job. Damn good in fact for he would be earning only a fraction of this amount back home and could also have been periodically unemployed. In 15 to 20 years, he would have sufficient savings to enjoy an early retirement back home, not eating at hawker centres but restaurants.

For a local diploma graduate, a $2000 starting salary won’t get him far if he is considering marriage and having kids. Our high cost of living, inflated by PAP through property prices, is a killer and there is little prospect of retirement, even if one eats at a hawker centre every day.

One would have thought that after 26 years of prostituting Singaporeans for GDP growth, PAP must have created hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs. So how come PAP is unable to provide a breakdown of good jobs in the various industries created for SINGAPOREANS?

In a self-insulting statement, DPM Teo insisted PAP was unable to provide “a more detailed breakdown because it may not be in our interests to do so”. “Our” of course refers to “PAP”, not Singaporeans. PAP has resorted to obfuscating the truth by lumping PRs and citizens together. There would be public outrage and all hell will break loose should relevant employment statistics be publicly disclosed.

The majority of Singaporeans appear to be sleepwalking and don’t seem to be aware that government-linked companies are totally dependent on hundreds of thousands of foreigners to mitigate high rental and labour costs. Profit driven PAP will always enact legislations in GLCs’ favour.

(Besides GLCs, there are PAP-affiliated companies – SMCs set up by PAP grasslooters – whose employees are mostly foreigners.)

Sleepwalkers should wake up and take a look at Changi Airport, SATS, SBS Transit, SMRT, NTUC, etc. Still cannot see the hundreds of thousands of jobs created for foreigners?

With the opening of Jewel Changi Airport in 2019, what is the ratio of good jobs created for foreigners vs locals? Of course there are good management positions but don’t they all go to PAP cronies?

Even GLCs in the security industry such as Certis CISCO and AETOS employ at least 80% of foreigners to lower business costs. (AETOS was recently transferred to Surbana Jurong)

If PAP wasn’t profit driven and had focused on improving productivity, it would not have set up an entire business park in Changi for foreigners, mostly Indians. And guess which nationality some of the Indian companies employ. PAP creating good jobs for Singaporeans? Or are we expected to believe that Singaporeans are so choosy that few want good jobs with good pay?

Where is PAP’s ‘blueprint’ for job creation for Singaporeans? How come got no figures?

The business model of most GLCs rely 100% on cheap labour, without which they would have gone ‘pock kai’ years ago. PAP has created hundreds of thousands of jobs which pay peanuts and they do not benefit Singaporeans. PAP has not been creating good jobs for locals.

Singaporeans are supposed to be an educated lot but what’s the point of a ‘good’ education when we choose to go down the same path after being repeatedly fooled?

Source: https://likedatosocanmeh.wordpress.com

October 22, 2016
Gilbert Goh: Global Charitable Organisations Deserve Support

Supported the emboidery work of this handicapped Palestinian refugee woman at Musawat Saida.

The Palestinians are great with their hand-sewn emboidery work and its a pity there is a lack of marketing effort to sell them abroad.

The refugee emboidery market is a great money-churning goldmine that remains very much untapped and we are trying our best to assist in this area.

Moreover, for the refugees themselves, its great to earn one’s keep than sitting at home and wait for handout. The emboidery sewing can also be done at home with minimal interruption to their household chores as most refugee women also tend to look after the children themselves.

The wealthy international charitable bodies these days are stretched to the limits with their funding resources and many local NGOs suffer from this reduction in funds.

The idea of a social enterprise model whereby NGOs self-fund themselves from selling their own hand-made products takes more eminence now.

However, its still difficult to change the mindset of NGOs here as they are used to easy access to funds contributed from the European charitable organisations.

But such days are truly numbered…and my fear is that some noble charitable organisations may need to close down soon due to a lack of funds.

Source: Gilbert Goh

October 22, 2016
Pink Dot Disappointed By New Ruling, Google Pledges Continued Support

In light of new rules that could curb foreign funding and involvement in events held at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park, organisers of Pink Dot said they hope more Singaporeans and local companies will step forward to support them in 2017.

Pink Dot, an annual non-profit event, organised in support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community, also said in a statement on Friday (Oct 21) that while it respects and understands the Ministry of Home Affairs’ position, it is “disappointed” by the latest clarifications from the ministry.

“Pink Dot has always been a local movement dedicated to bringing LGBT Singaporeans closer to their friends and families and closer to Singapore society as a whole – a universal aspiration that we do not consider to be controversial or political,” said spokesman Paerin Choa.

“We remain committed to organising and holding Pink Dot as we have done for the past eight years and we want to work closely with the Ministry of Home Affairs and other Government agencies to ensure that we remain within legal boundaries and keep the event safe for all participants, as we begin planning for next year’s Pink Dot event,” said Mr Choa.

“As our society continues to evolve, we hope that this will be the start of an ongoing dialogue and we look forward to continue engaging with the various Government agencies to better foster understanding between the Government and the LGBT community in the long term.”

The 2016 edition of Pink Dot had 18 corporate sponsors, including Facebook, Google, Barclays, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BP, Bloomberg, and Twitter.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) stated that foreign entities will have to apply for a permit to organise or assist in the organising of events held at the Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park. This covers sponsoring, publicly promoting, or organising members or employees to participate in the event.

Meanwhile, Singapore entities, such as local companies and non-governmental organisations, can organise or assist in the organising of an event, without the need for a permit. This is meant to “reinforce the key principle” that the Speakers’ Corner was set up primarily for Singaporeans, MHA stated.

MHA also clarified that Singapore entities refer to those which are incorporated or registered in Singapore and controlled by a majority of Singapore citizens. This means many of Pink Dot’s foreign sponsors, which are registered and incorporated in Singapore, would not qualify as a Singapore entity, and would need to apply for a permit.

GOOGLE BACKS PINK DOT

At least one sponsor has committed to taking the extra step of applying for a permit in order to continue supporting Pink Dot.

When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, a Google spokesman said: “We’ve been proud supporters of Pink Dot since 2011 and we will continue to show our commitment to diversity and inclusion. So we will apply for a permit to support Pink Dot in 2017 if required by this new regulation. We hope that these new rules will not limit public discussion on important issues.”

Another past sponsor, JP Morgan said via a spokesman that the company is “committed to promoting equality in our workplace and encourage a supportive and inclusive culture”. Channel NewsAsia has reached out to six other past sponsors of Pink, including BP, which said it had no comment.

Other entities which have organised events at Hong Lim Park include the YMCA, but its head of corporate affairs Samuel Ng told Channel NewsAsia that he believes the YMCA “won’t be affected” by the new rules, as its past Proms @ the Park events were held at the main lawn ‎of Hong Lim Park, not at the Speaker’s Corner.

“The administration and all is quite different,” said Mr Ng, referring to whether an entity applies to hold an event at the Speaker’s Corner or at the park. “(Our events) would be under the community shelter that manages the park.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

October 22, 2016