Tag: bumiputra

Khairy Jamaluddin: Do Not Question Special Rights Of The Malays

KUALA LUMPUR — Non-Malays should never again dispute the special rights of the Malays and the position of the rulers, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today (Nov 26), adding that Malays themselves never questioned vernacular schools and the citizenship of non-Malays.

He said in his policy speech at the party’s general assembly that the Malays had “accepted and they had never questioned” the social contract they agreed upon during the formation of Malaysia. “If the Malays can accept it by not raising the matter of citizenship and acknowledging that we cannot shut down vernacular schools, why are there those among non-Malays who refuse to honour what they have previously agreed upon?

“Why are there those who ask for the Malay special privileges to be stopped, those who dispute the position of the Malay rulers and even those who cannot speak a word of the national language?

Mr Khairy said it was a huge sacrifice for the Malays to allow other races to be a part of the country, so non-Malays must keep their end of the bargain and not question Malay rights: “So great were the sacrifices of the Malay people, and all that we ask in return is for the non-Malays to accept several of those matters which I just brought up as the other end of the bargain.”

Mr Khairy also defended the existence of vernacular schools, saying that they were allowed as part of the “status quo” which had “existed pre-Independence, and which will continue to exist”.

Despite Mr Khairy’s statement, some UMNO grassroots leaders have in the past few months demanded that Chinese and Indian schools be shut down for the sake of national unity. Last Sunday, a coalition of 58 Malay-rights groups repeated the call, and even urged Putrajaya to silence “radical” education organisations like Dong Zhong with the threat of de-registration.

Mr Khairy conceded today that there were “fringe voices” questioning the existence of vernacular schools, but stressed that the UMNO leadership has long accepted the current education system.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, however, said Mr Khairy is now travelling the “dark road” of extremists like Perkasa and its president Ibrahim Ali.

Mr Lim said UMNO was no longer the future hope for Malaysia as even Mr Khairy, whom Mr Lim described as a “sober voice” in UMNO, was playing the racial and religious card by warning non-Malays not to challenge the “special rights” of Malays.

“He (Khairy) has taken the dark road travelled by extremists like Perkasa and Ibrahim Ali, when he used his policy speech at the UMNO Youth assembly to blame the non-Malays for questioning the status of the rulers, special position of the Malays and official status of Bahasa Malaysia as the national language.

“Putting the blame on non-Malays is dishonest and evil politics by Khairy because it is simply false and malicious that the non-Malays questioned such rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution,” he said in a statement today.

Mr Lim, who is also Bagan MP and Penang chief minister, said Mr Khairy should be addressing facts and figures from reports about the incomes of Malaysian households.

The Malaysia Human Development Report 2013 revealed that 53 per cent of Malaysian households have no financial assets while one in three Malaysians have no banking or financial accounts of any kind. It also showed that rural households have the highest number of those without any financial assets (63 per cent), compared to 45 per cent of urban households.

By ethnic group, about 57 per cent of non-Malay Bumiputeras and 55 per cent of Malays have no financial assets, with the figure for the Chinese and Indians at 45 per cent and 44 per cent respectively. Almost 90 per cent and 86 per cent of rural and urban households respectively had no savings, the report had said, citing the Household Income Survey (HIS).

Mr Lim asked why Khairy had not addressed the report, which was sponsored by the Prime Minister’s Department, since it had a direct impact on the economic future of Malaysians, especially youths including Malays and Bumiputeras. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Source: www.todayonline.com

November 27, 2014
Malaysia Sacrifices Talent To Keep Malay Race On Top, Says Lee Kuan Yew

Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan Yew in his new book which was launched tonight in Singapore.

And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.

“This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes use of talent from all races.

“They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the dominance of one race,” he said in the 400-page book called “One Man’s View of the World” (pic).
It features conversations between Lee and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, former leader of West Germany. They discussed world affairs when Schmidt visited Singapore last year.

In the book, Lee pointed out that Malaysia is losing ground and giving other countries a head start in the external competition.

About 400,000 of some one million Malaysians overseas are in Singapore, according to the World Bank.

When announcing the five-year plan for Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament in 2011, the government would set up a talent corporation to lure some 700,000 Malaysians working abroad back to the country.

But in his book, Lee said the demographic changes in Malaysia will lead to a further entrenchment of Malay privileges.

He noted that in the last 10 years, since the enactment of the New Economic Policy, the proportion of Malaysian Chinese and Indians of the total population has fallen dramatically.

“The Chinese made up 35.6 percent of the population in 1970. They were down to 24.6 percent at the last census in 2010. Over that same period, the Indian numbers fell from 10.8 percent to 7.3 percent,” he said.

He added, “40 percent of our migrants are from Malaysia.

“Those with the means to do so leave for countries farther afield. In the early days, Taiwan was a popular destination among the Chinese-educated.

“In recent years, Malaysian Chinese and Indians have been settling in Europe, America and Australia. Some have done very well for themselves, such as Penny Wong, Australia’s current finance minister.

“Among those who have chosen to remain in Malaysia, some lack the means to leave and others are making a good living through business despite the discriminatory policies. Many in this latter class partner with Malays who have connections.”

World Bank data for 2012 showed that the island republic has raced ahead of its neighbour, with gross domestic product per capita of US$51,709 compared with Malaysia’s US$10,381.

Najib had said Malaysia is set to become a high income developed nation as early as 2018, two years earlier than the targeted 2020.

Lee said in his book the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 marked “the end of a different vision in Malaysia on the race issue”.

He added, “Much of what has been achieved in Singapore could have been replicated throughout Malaysia. Both countries would have been better off.” – August 6, 2013.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-sacrifices-talent-for-dominance-of-one-race-says-kuan-yew#sthash.OPmvUQYk.dpuf

October 10, 2014
‘Corruption’ is First Word When Malaysians Think of Their Government, survey says

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Most Malaysians immediately think of “corruption” the moment they are asked to talk about their government, while “profit” comes to mind when thinking about corporations, an international survey has revealed.

In the Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller,1,076 Malaysians were asked the open-ended question of “What is the first thing that comes to the mind when you think of the government?”.

The resulting answer from both Malaysia’s 1,001 general public and the 75 executives polled was “corruption”, which was also the most popular word in most of the 25 countries surveyed.

This puts Malaysia in the company of the India, US, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, UK, Spain and South Africa, while only the general public in neighbouring Indonesia, China, South Korea, Canada, Russia, UAE immediately linked “government” to “corruption”.

In a similar open-ended question on corporations, the top answer for the 1,076 Malaysian respondents was “profit” – a word similarly shared by most Asians polled including those in Indonesia, India, Japan and executives in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea.

Malaysians polled in the survey also felt that small businesses were profit-driven.

The general public in Malaysia trusted the government the most to steer the local economy at 33 per cent, while executives here placed their trust in corporations instead at 31 per cent.

Most Malaysians also believed that the most important role for corporations is to strengthen the economy, with 44 per cent polled saying businesses had “just the right amount” of influence over the economy as opposed to firms wielding “too much” influence at 29 per cent.

A high number or 59 per cent of Malaysians polled said it was good for corporations to be influential as this would help drive economic growth, with a whopping 70 per cent pointing to businesses as a “source of hope” for them.

Out of all 25 countries, the Malaysians showed the strongest preference for multinationals at 43 per cent, while 37 per cent said it did not matter to them, with both those supporting domestic companies and who did not indicate a preference standing equally at 10 per cent.

Malaysians polled also believe the news media to be the most socially responsible industry, with many saying that firms should direct their corporate social responsibility efforts towards social welfare.

Malaysians picked heads of government out of 10 professions as both the most powerful and most respected people in society.

The Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey was jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller through online questionnaires answered by over 25,000 people between June 28 and August 15 this year.

The margins of error for the sample size in Malaysia of 1,001 members of the public and 75 high-ranking executives at companies employing more than 50 people are 3.10 per cent and 11.32 per cent respectively.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/corruption-is-first-word-on-malaysians-minds-when-thinking-of-government-su

September 30, 2014
Fallen Sex Blogger Alvin Tan Seeks Asylum and Citizenship in US

EXCLUSIVE: Two days ago, Alvin Tan chose to break his two-month long silence to the Malaysian media by leaving a comment on The Ant Daily website.

His comment resulted in an article yesterday titled “Has Alvin Tan of Alvivi finally surfaced?”

Reacting to that article, Alvin had posted another comment today using a new Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007968164924), revealing details about his whereabouts and his future plans.

Alvin says that he is in the US presently, applying for asylum, and plans to become a US citizen in 5 years.

He also explains his reasons for leaving Malaysia and his comment forms an interesting rebuttal to his perceived trial-by-media.

We are unable to verify whether this account does in fact belong to the real Alvin Tan or is actually just an elaborate hoax. As such we are unable to vouch for the authenticity of the comment and will reproduce it here in verbatim.

“I never felt scared, because I’m not a fugitive at all (try “recognized asylum seeker”). All that talk of Interpol is just typical Umno/PDRM wayang. In any case, the US government isn’t just going to cooperate with PDRM to hand over a recognized political refugee (even the Department of State’s 2013 Human Rights Report on Malaysia cites my case for fu*&’s sake). That’s not how extradition works. I’ve already filed for asylum, and I’ve passed many preliminary filterings (interviews, documentation, court hearings) that pretty much guarantee that I won’t be deported/extradited.

And about trying to command attention among Malaysians, LOL… Come on, get real. Malaysia is a small and poor market, what does it matter even if I commanded everyone’s attention in Malaysia, which I did? Has any big stars ever came out of Malaysia, built on the strength of the pathetic 30-million-strong Malaysian market with super-low disposable income? There’s no critical or financial success to be gained from “making it big” in Malaysia (what an oxymoron).

Malaysia is nothing, and anyone who wants to make it big needs to get out. Malaysia is a toxic wasteland with tons of people with negative attitude; you can’t do anything creative or different, because people are too uneducated and the government too tyrannical.

So the reason that I’m quiet is not because I’m scared. It’s because I’m too busy building and enjoying my life here in one of the most modern, exciting, culturally-and-economically-significant cities in the world.

Why should I stay back to face trial, when it’s obvious I won’t get a fair trial? So that I can sacrifice one year of my precious 20s sitting in jail like Adam Adli? He wants to be a politician — that’s his problem. I have better things to aspire to. Now, I’m on track to get a Green Card in a year, and then US citizenship in five years. Admit it, I came out on top from the Ramadhan Bah Kut Teh saga, and you people are really bitter, angry, dissatisfied, and jealous about it.

I’ve burnt all my bridges with Malaysia and will not bother to comment further on anything even remotely related to Malaysia; I’ve sold all my stakes and therefore lost all legitimacy to speak credibly on it, so to speak. I won’t return forever too, so enjoy your “beautiful” country, you bumpkins. I’m simply taking Umno ministers’ advice of “you tak suka, you keluar,” and I love it. Maybe you bitter souls should try migrating too.”

So there you have it, right from the horse’s mouth.

His comment does seem to show the same defiance that is his trademark. Yet, if we strip away the anger and bluster, we see a voice speaking his views (right or wrong be damned), and more importantly, if he truly is in the US and applying for citizenship, a person who does not only talk, but also walks the talk.

Can we say the same for most politicians and officials in Malaysia?

September 24, 2014
Death Penalty for Malaysian Drug Trafficker

SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old Malaysian who had earlier been found guilty of bringing into Singapore 22.24g of diamorphine, the pure form of heroin, was on Monday (Sep 22) sentenced to death.

Prabagaran a/l Srivijayan was arrested in the early morning of April 12, 2012, at the Woodlands Checkpoint after immigration officers found two bundles wrapped with black masking tape – later found to contain the diamorphine – in the centre armrest console of the car he was driving into Singapore.

Prabagaran, who had said he was unaware that the two bundles were in his car, claimed trial on a charge of importing heroin of more than 15g, which carries the death penalty.

He was convicted in the High Court on July 22.

Court documents said Prabagaran had borrowed the car from a friend to enter Singapore on that day in April because he could not use his motorcycle. He had been behind in paying his monthly installment and he was afraid that the motorcycle shop in Malaysia would repossess the vehicle.

Prabagaran had also told another friend that he had to take the car to Singapore early in the day – even though he was due to start his shift at a petrol pump station here only at 3pm – because he needed to return his work permit and gate pass to a former employer.

During the trial, the prosecution had argued that Prabagaran was an untruthful witness and that his testimony was “unconvincing, riddled with inconsistencies and cannot be believed”.

“If the accused (Prabagaran) had truly intended to return his work permit and the gate pass to his former employer, he has not offered any satisfactory explanation why he had to do so several hours before his work shift began,” said the prosecution.

Prabagaran’s defence lawyer, Mr N Kanagavijayan, told the court that his client would be filing an appeal against the conviction.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/death-penalty-for/1375990.html

September 23, 2014