In a surprising turn of events, Yang Kaiheng, founder of socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS), indicated yesterday that he wished to plead guilty to the seven sedition charges he faces.
Yang, 27, had originally claimed trial, denying he had posted inflammatory articles on the TRS website and Facebook page between 2013 and 2015. (See report…)
During the trial, which went on for seven days in March and April, Yang claimed his involvement in TRS was for only a month in 2012 after helping to set it up.
The trial was supposed to have resumed yesterday until his lawyer told the judge in chambers about his client’s intention to plead guilty.
During the trial, Yang claimed that his wife, Ai Takagi, 23, an Australian national of Japanese descent, was responsible for the day-to-day business and editorial content of TRS.
Between December 2013 and April 2015, TRS raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue, the court heard.
In April, Yang claimed that he and Takagi had been inspired to start TRS after their Facebook page, which petitioned for the removal of new Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling after the 2011 General Election, garnered about 60,000 likes.
But during cross-examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan asked how this was possible when the couple had not yet met during the 2011 GE period.
DPP Kannan said he had a log of very personal and embarrassing WhatsApp messages that proved they had met only after the petition Facebook page was created.
Yang’s lawyer tried to interject, but Yang then conceded: “It’s okay, Your Honour, I admit I am lying.”
The next day, Yang again admitted to lying – this time for having falsely told the police he did not know that his friend, Mr Damien Koh, was involved in setting up TRS.
Yang had met Mr Koh, who later quit TRS, during their University of Queensland days.
Yang told the court: “I was being investigated for sedition during my interview. I didn’t want to implicate my friend. I was sure he had nothing to do with sedition in the TRS site.”
Yang turned up at the State Courts yesterday wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length bermuda shorts.
He is expected to be back in court tomorrow.
If convicted of each charge under the Sedition Act, he faces up to three years’ jail and a fine of up to $5,000.
Takagi pleaded guilty to sedition in March after also initially claiming trial and was jailed 10 months.
Now about five months pregnant,, she began serving her sentence on April 22.
HIS CHARGES
Yang Kaiheng is accused of seven counts of sedition:
An article falsely asserting that a Filipino family caused an incident between the police and participants at last year’s Thaipusam procession.
A similar Facebook post.
An article alleging that a Filipino employee bribed a colleague to delete traces of his misdeeds to ensure that only his countrymen were hired by the company.
An article portraying women from China as home-wreckers whose main motive was “trying to hook” Singaporean men.
An article that had an editor’s note warning companies about hiring foreigners over Singaporeans.
An article claiming that Filipino managers working here would give preferential treatment to subordinates of the same nationality at the expense of Singaporeans.
Copied an article from Stomp about an elderly woman who told her grandson to urinate into a bottle on an MRT train, then doctored the article to say she was a Chinese national who allegedly had an accent and posted it on TRS.
An eighth charge of failing to produce documents to the police for investigations has been stood down.
TIMELINE OF CASE
2012
The Real Singapore (TRS) is set up.
February 2015
TRS publishes an article on Feb 4 alleging that a Filipino family’s complaint over noise from drummers led to a scuffle during the Thaipusam procession on Feb 3. The police receive reports about an “insensitive article” online the next day. The authorities arrest Yang Kaiheng and Ai Takagi in Singapore that month.
April 2015
Yang and Takagi are charged with sedition and failing to produce documents to the police.
May 2015
The Media Development Authority suspends TRS’ operating licence and orders that it be taken down.
August 2015
Yang and Takagi open two ramen stalls in two National University of Singapore foodcourts.
October 2015
They get married.
January 2016
They open a third ramen stall at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.
March 2016
Yang claims trial while his wife pleads guilty. Takagi is sentenced to 10 months’ jail.
April 2016
During Yang’s trial, he admits to lying on two different occasions before the trial is adjourned to June. Takagi begins her sentence on April 22.
Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat, John Kerry, mengecam Donald Trump kerana mengancam untuk mengharamkan orang Islam daripada memasuki negara itu.
Encik Kerry melemparkan kecaman tersebut di satu majlis iftar yang disertai para penganut berbilang agama di Virginia.
Tanpa menyebut nama calon presiden Amerika dari parti Republican itu, Encik Kerry berkata “retorik taksub dan berbaur kebencian terhadap orang-orang Islam hanya memanfaatkan golongan perekrut pengganas.”
Encik Kerry memberitahu para hadirin bahawa tindakan seperti itu memanfaatkan “individu-individu yang menyebarkan pembohongan bahawa Amerika berperang dengan Islam.”
Majlis iftar itu secara kebetulan diadakan pada hari yang sama dengan Hari Pelarian Sedunia, dan turut hadir di majlis tersebut ialah Duta Khas agensi pelarian Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB), UNHCR, yang juga pelakon terkenal, Angelina Jolie.
Jolie berkata “mencemuh sesiapa sahaja kerana agama, kerakyatan, orientasi seksual, jantina atau atas sebarang ciri-ciri atau perbezaan mereka, sama ada benar atau hanya bayangan, tidak membuat seseorang itu lebih kuat.”
Kekuatan itu, katanya, ialah mengenal pasti cara mengatasi cabaran “kumpulan minoriti amat kecil yang memilih laluan ekstremisme yang ganas, atau menyalahgunakan sesebuah agama, tanpa melakukan stigma dan memencilkan jutaan orang yang menganuti agama indah itu.”
Encik Kerry berkata “tiada bukti sama sekali” bahawa para pelarian yang melalui pemeriksaan ketat untuk memasuki Amerika Syarikat menjadi ancaman kepada masyarakat, seperti juga anggota kumpulan lain.
Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I was already 18 going on 19 in 1969 when the race riot (and not the first race riot, mind you) erupted on 13th May, three days after the Saturday, 10th May, general election.
Much has been said and written about one of these dark periods in Malaysian history (oh yes, we have had many dark periods in Malaysian history). Nevertheless I was there, so I can tell you what happened (or partly about what happened) from an eyewitness’s account.
It is true that on the 11th and the 12th of May the non-Malays were parading (at least from what I witnessed in Bangsar and Brickfields where I lived) and were shouting insults at the Malays and telling the Malays to leave Kuala Lumpur and balek kampung because the Chinese now own the town(s), etc. However, that was not why ‘May 13’ started. That was the excuse they used to start ‘May 13’.
In fact, I was not only a witness to the events in early 1969, I was also at the anti-government demonstration in front of Pudu Jail earlier (where we got shot with tear gas) and I attended all the opposition ceramahs in Brickfields, which were very inflammatory and racial in tone.
So, yes, there was a build-up to the 13th May 1969 race riot and it was built up over a period of time. But then this was intentionally allowed to happen. And as much as Tunku Abdul Rahman tried to curtail all this and he issued instructions to the police to clamp down on the racial rhetoric, there were others in Umno and in the government who countermanded the Tunku’s orders and undermined Tunku so that the racial heat can build up even higher.
And this was why the Tunku stepped down one year later in 1970. The Tunku did not step down because of May 13 or because he failed to stop May 13. He stepped down because of a broken heart. His heart was broken by the fact that so many Malaysians had to die unnecessarily (some estimates put it at 600 and others at thousands, although ‘officially’ it is less than 200) just because some people in Umno were trying to oust him from power.
Even decades later the Tunku would still break down and cry whenever he talked about this. You can see he was still upset until the day he went to his grave and one of the people he blamed for ‘May 13’ was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The Tunku even went so far as to say that Malaysia would be cursed if Mahathir ever took over as Prime Minister.
Over the last ten years since 2006 (when Mahathir first launched his campaign to oust Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) Mahathir has travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia to talk about how Malays lost power. Yes, that is the gist of Mahathir’s lectures — about how Malays lost political power and now have to share power with the non-Malays.
Mahathir starts with the story of Melaka and about how some Malays collaborated with the Portuguese, which resulted in the collapse of the Sultanate in 1511 and which resulted in Melaka and eventually the rest of Malaya getting colonised for hundreds of years (and for Penang and Singapore becoming Chinese-owned).
Anwar Ibrahim, however, has a slightly different version of that same story. Anwar says it was because of the treachery of the Mamak that Melaka fell. And that is why ‘Mamak Bendahara’ (meaning Mahathir, the then Prime Minister) must be ousted. It is actually quite hilarious considering that Anwar himself is Mamak so it was actually a battle of the Mamaks but using the Malays to fight this battle.
Anyway, the point that Mahathir was making (at least in his lectures over the last ten years since 2006) is that the Malays perpetually fight amongst themselves and in the end the foreigners take over the country. And Mahathir is also telling us that unless the Malays unite then Malaysia will always be in danger of getting colonised or the non-Malays would be able to grab political power.
This was what Mahathir told the Malays in 2006-2008 when he wanted to oust Abdullah and this is what Mahathir is telling us now when he wants to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. The Malays fight with the Malays and the non-Malays or foreigners end up taking over the country.
In 1969, Mahathir told the Tunku that the reason the Malays were very angry (and did not vote Umno) was because he (the Tunku) gave too much face to the Chinese. In 2013, Mahathir told Najib the same thing: that he (Najib) was giving too much face to the Chinese (who do not support the government anyway) and was neglecting the Malay voters (who are actually Umno’s support base).
As Mahathir is so fond of telling us, the Malays love to self-destruct. The Malays love fighting each other. Malays suffer from a syndrome called PHD (perangai hasad dengki). They can’t stand seeing someone have more than them so if you spend RM1,000,000 on your daughter’s wedding then I must spend RM1,500,000 and if you invite Mahathir as your VIP guest then I must invite Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin.
Yes, the Malays first became divided in 1951 when PAS was created (by Umno people themselves). Then, in 1987, the Malays further became divided due to a power struggle within Umno (that involved Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah) and which resulted in the creation of Semangat 46. In 1998, the Malays became divided, yet again, due to, yet again, another power struggle in Umno and Parti Keadilan Nasional was created followed by an opposition coalition.
So the history of the Malays is that every few years they will fight and they will get divided and they will become a little bit weaker because of it. And the non-Malays will take advantage of this (as they should) and unite while the Malays divide.
Over the last two years the Malays have become divided even more, the worst ever in history. Umno is divided with the Mahathir faction leading the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign). PAS is divided with the creation of PAN a.k.a. Amanah as the breakaway party. PKR, a Malay-based multi-racial party, is also divided with the Anwar and family faction on one side and the Azmin Ali faction on the other.
Yes, and while the Malays are divided into six, or maybe even seven or eight, the Chinese are united under Pakatan Harapan. And because the Malays now see how weak they have become and now that they realise they no longer have bargaining power like they used to (and that even MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc., now dare challenge Umno when in the past they would not dare squeak) the Malays need to find someone to blame. And the most convenient scapegoat would be to blame the Chinese for this.
This is a typical Malay attitude. When they are lazy and they fail, they will say this is God’s will (so they blame God for their failure). When they fight amongst themselves and become weak, they will blame the Chinese for uniting and for splitting the Malays. When they are bankrupt of ideas, they will use Islam as the political weapon or political platform and then will blame the non-Muslims for insulting Islam or for not respecting Islam.
Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.
A man who was previously convicted of terrorism and pledged allegiance to ISISkilled a French police commander and his partner at their home in Magnanville in an horrific attack France’s president says was “incontestably” a “terrorist act.”
The officer was named as Jean-Baptiste Salvaing. His partner has not yet been identified, but she was also a police employee.
Abballa, who was born in France and called himself Mohamed Ali on Facebook, was killed in a SWAT raid that saved the slain couple’s 3-year-old son, who was being held hostage inside the home, authorities said.
The attack came as France hosts the 2016 UEFA European Championship soccer tournament and is in a heightened state of security as a result. The country has been under a state of emergency since the November 2015 attacks in Paris by ISIS terrorists.
Magnaville is west of Paris.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Abballa Livestreamed the Killings on Facebook & Told His Followers ‘I Don’t Know What I’m Going to Do With the Boy’
French special forces RAID vehicle leaves after an assault on June 14, 2016 in Magnanville, 45 kms west of Paris. (Getty)
In the 12-minute video he expressed his allegiance to ISIS and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. At one point in the video, Abballa referenced the police officer’s 3-year-old son, who he was holding hostage.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with the boy,” Abballa said. Police later raided the home, killing Abballa and saving the boy.
Larossi Abballa, the ISIS sympathizer who murdered two French police officers in the Paris suburb of Magnanville yesterday, filmed a 12-minute video while he was barricaded inside their home. Watch it here.
2. A List of Targets, Including Other Police Officers, Politicians & Journalists, Was Found at Abballa’s Home
(Getty)
Police found a list of targets, including other police officers, politicians and journalists, at Larossi Abballa’s home in Mantes-la-Jolie, a suburb of Paris, Prosecutor Francois Molins said at a press conference.
Three knives used in the attack were found at the police officer’s home.
In his video, he urged more attacks by French Muslism, according to SITE. He said, “”kill them even if their name is Mohammad or Aisha,” SITE says.
3. He Was Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for the Prior Terrorism Conviction & Was on a Watch List
Larossi Abballa.
Abballa was sentenced to three years in prison for “criminal association in view to preparing terrorist attacks,” for recruiting jihadis to Pakistan and Afghanistan, The Guardian reports.
He was 20 at the time of that 2011 conviction and was released from prison in September 2013.
Abballa was more recently investigated by French authorities and was on a watch list, according to officials. He was being monitored for being part of the entourage of a French man who had recently traveled to Syria.
4. An Official ISIS News Agency Called Abballa an ‘Islamic State Fighter’
In a statement, the ISIS Amaq news agency said “Islamic State fighter kills deputy chief of the police station in the city of Les Mureaux and his wife.”
The phrasing of the statement is similar to one posted after the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida. In both messages the killer was referred to as an “Islamic State fighter.”
In Orlando, the FBI is investigating whether gunman Omar Mateen had any official ties to ISIS. Like Abballa, Mateen pledged allegiance to ISIS during his attack at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others before he was shot dead during a police raid.
5. Salvaing Was a Commander & His Partner Worked as a Secretary at a Police Headquarters
French policemen stand guard on June 14, 2016 near the house in Magnanville where a man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group killed a French policeman and his partner on the night of June 13. (Getty)
Jean-Baptiste Salvaing, 42, was a police commander in the city of Les Mureaux, according to officials. His 36-year-old partner, who has not been named, worked as a secretary at a police headquarters.
He was not in uniform when he was ambushed at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, Fox News reports.
“The toll is a heavy one,” ” Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told reporters.
