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Tag: Najib Razak

  • Najip Ali Apologises To Malaysian PM Najib Razak For Joke In Poor Taste

    Najip Ali Apologises To Malaysian PM Najib Razak For Joke In Poor Taste

    PETALING JAYA: Singapore broadcasting group Mediacorp today apologised to Najib Razak for airing a comedy show in which participants made comments deemed offensive to the Malaysian prime minister.

    Popular talk show host Najip Ali in a statement carried by Mediacorp today expressed regret over comments he made on “OK Chope!”, a programme on Singapore’s Channel 5 in which panel members give humorous takes on current affairs.

    “I realise how insensitive and callous I was. I would like to apologise unreservedly to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. I beg his forgiveness and that of my viewers and friends.”

    In an episode last week, host Vernetta Lopez asked panelists to complete a news headline “Najib slams — for threatening Malaysia’s progress”.

    They responded by offering funny phrases to complete the sentence, including a reference to the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts, money which Najib claimed was a donation from Saudi Arabia for Umno’s 2013 general election campaign.

    “Najib with a ‘b’ slams Najip with a ‘p’,” said Najip, who is best known for hosting the 1990s regional talent show Asia Bagus.

    “Najib slams bomoh’s heads with his own coconuts,” said another, taking a jibe at shaman Ibrahim Mat Zin, also known as Raja Bomoh, who made headlines with his antics at the peak of the MH370 flight disappearance crisis as well as the recent diplomatic tiff between Malaysia and North Korea.

    Lopez then announced the correct headline, “Najib slams fake news for threatening Malaysia’s progress”, before remarking: “What, he’s doing the Trump line now? Fake news!”

    “What’s he going to do now, follow Trump’s hairstyle as well?” Lopez went on.

    Mediacorp chief customer officer, Debra Soon also apologised on behalf of Channel 5 and the show’s production team, saying the references to Najib were in “poor taste”.

    “We apologise unreservedly for this mistake.”

    She added that a repeat of the programme would not be aired.

     

    Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

  • Malaysia Right-Wing Group, Perkasa, Sends Protest Letter To K Shanmugam For Claiming That Singapore Malays Better Off Than Malaysian Malays

    Malaysia Right-Wing Group, Perkasa, Sends Protest Letter To K Shanmugam For Claiming That Singapore Malays Better Off Than Malaysian Malays

    PETALING JAYA: Malay right-wing group Perkasa wants Wisma Putra to send a letter of protest to Singapore for comments attributed to a senior minister comparing Singapore Malays with Malaysian Malays.

    Singapore Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam had been reported as saying that Singapore Malays are better off in terms of education standing, skills and wealth than those of similar ethicnicity in Malaysia or Indonesia.

    Perkasa deputy chairman Sirajuddin Salleh said the statement made by Shanmugam was uncalled for.

    “I am concerned about the statement. It is not diplomatic and is an insult to the King and the government of Malaysia,” he told FMT when asked to comment on Shanmugam’s statement.

    Sirajuddin said Malaysia and Singapore were close neighbours and there should be greater diplomacy between both countries.

    “I hope Wisma Putra will issue a strong protest letter. To me, the remark is not good. I will not touch on the content because it is very subjective.

    “It is just like if he comes to my house and says something that is not nice. Whether he is right or not, that is subjective, but in this case, it is not very nice,” Sirajuddin said.

    Earlier Channel News Asia quoted Shanmugam as saying that “with a stable, strong political system, with a strong government, with a guarantee for the minorities … with this framework, we can become the community that Muslim societies in other countries look towards and say, this is the example.”

    Shanmugam had also suggested that Malay, Indian and Chinese PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) from Singapore were better off than those of the same race, respectively, in Malaysia.

    However, the minister had cautioned that while Singapore was doing better compared with many parts of the world, “within Singapore there is still a gap” and they were no longer just competing with Malaysia or Indonesia, but instead competing with the world.

    He said the proportion of Malay Primary 1 students who go on to post-secondary education had doubled from 45% in 1995 to 93% in 2015. Those who eventually receive polytechnic diplomas, professional qualifications or university degrees have “gone up over a five-year period to 21%.”

    Shanmugam added that the proportion of Malays working as PMETs increased to 28% in 2010 and their median real monthly income per capita had doubled since 1990.

    Nearly 90% of Malay households in Singapore own their own homes, according to Shanmugam.

    However, he singled out three challenges facing the Malay-Muslim community in the country – radicalisation, loss of jobs and the over-representation of Malays being caught for crimes and drug abuse.

    Citing a Pew Research Centre study which showed that 10% of Malaysian Malays had a favourable opinion of Islamic State (IS), and that nearly one-quarter were not prepared to come out and say that IS is wrong, Shanmugam said that Singapore Malays must not get to that level.

    “A key part of that depends on you, the leaders of the Malay community, and whether you can make sure that the right religious values are put forth. We have to work hard at this because the influences are on the internet,” Shanmugam reportedly told a seminar organised by the Association of Muslim Professionals in Singapore.

    On drug abuse, Shanmugam had said 53% of those arrested for drug abuse last year were Malays. This is an increase from 10 years ago when the proportion of Malays arrested for the same was 32%.

    Singapore Malays better off, claims minister

     

    Source: www.msn.com

  • How PAS Bit The Bullet Once Again

    How PAS Bit The Bullet Once Again

    The Party Islam Se-Malaysia, or PAS, will never learn the lesson particularly the political ones as history seems to be repeating itself for the Islamists.

    Their leader Hadi Awang thought he had a well laid plan, in which his would be the hero of Islam in Malaysia with a personal bill to amend the criminal laws in Malaysia consistent with  upgrading it to Shariah or Hudud Islamic laws.

    He had this planned for years, while he was the deputy leader of the Islamic party and he also thought he was even more brilliant than the former spiritual leader of the party, Nik Aziz Nik Mat who warned the Islamists not to enter in any political alliances with the United Malays National Organisation or Umno.

    But Hadi did not wait too long after the passing of Nik Aziz in 2015 to show his true colours and to push his luck on the national scene, with the Hudud in one hand and the idea of a pact with the Umno in the other.

    All seemed to be well for Hadi – until the fatal Wednesday this week – when Prime Minister Najib Razak made an incredible (but expected by The Independent) on the bill called the RUU355.

    The PAS had campaigned for the bill with the thought that it will be voted before the next General Elections and that would seal the alliance it was nurturing with the Umno.

    Hadi Awang took full responsibility within the party and among its followers, saying publicly he believed the Umno had veered towards Islam and with this change, the PAS was even more willing to be an ally with the ruling Malay nationalist party.

    His tactic was to get the Hudud read in Parliament this year, and even if did not get to be  voted before the elections, it would certainly be the case after his party would win at least 40 Parliamentary seats and four or five states in Malaysia.

    This after plotting with the Umno to play the ‘third force’ at national level, forgetting that a third force has always failed in realising anything but a trashing of the opposition forces and big win for the Umno-cum-Barisan Nasional (BN) in any elections in this country.

    Now, licking his deep wounds, Hadi must be planning to reverse the situation in his favour amid calls within and outside the PAS for him to quit after failing to get the RUU355 amended.

    But Hadi is adamant. PAS leaders who supports the Spiritual leader of the party are now saying the Islamists have gained from the setback from Najib, instead.

    The Islamists are now saying even if Najib has abandoned the project – in order to salvage a breaking apart BN – Hadi’s motion still stands and if it is put to vote soon the party would have won in its battle for the Hudud.

    Dismissing the political implications of the Najib rejection of the RUU355 is a fine consolation for the Islamists, but it is widely seen as a slap in their faces in the public eye.

    The only real thing that matters now, is how the Islamists will take to the streets and ask people to vote for them individually with the hope that the Umno would not sabotage them in the course of the next General Elections?

    Would they be so proud to say that a defeat in the next elections would have taught the PAS lessons and that they did not lose after all?

     

    Source: www.theindependent.sg

  • Malaysia Court Upholds Jailing Of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim

    Malaysia Court Upholds Jailing Of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim

    Anwar Ibrahim, the former leader of the Malaysian opposition, has lost a final appeal to have his prison sentence for sodomy overturned and will serve out the remaining 16 months of his sentence in jail.

    Significantly the ruling means Anwar will not be allowed to contest the next election in 2018, which the opposition saw as their best chance to unseat prime minister Najib Razak and end his ruling party’s six decades in power.

    A five-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal.

    “We will not proceed to examine the applicant’s review application,” the court said.

    Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside the Palace of Justice to show support for Anwar and police erected steel barricades around the court complex.

    Anwar was led into the dock by more than a dozen prison guards. His wife, daughters and grandchildren were present. After the ruling he told reporters: “It is not the end of the road.”

    Having led a coalition of opposition parties in 2013 to their largest ever electoral gains, Anwar, 69, is seen as the greatest threat to the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

    He served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in the 1990s for Umno under former leader Mahathir Mohamad but they fell out and he was removed from his post and jailed for several years amid outcry from human rights groups.

    In 2013 he returned to politics to run a campaign against corruption and nepotism against Najib that won the popular vote but lost the election by number of legislators elected. Its was Umno’s worst ever election performance.

    But Anwar returned to prison in 2015 after his longstanding conviction — for allegedly sodomising a former aide — was upheld. His supporters say the case is a politically motivated attempt to end his career.

    This summer Anwar rejoined his old enemy Mahathir to try to unseat Najib, who in 2015 was thrown into a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal involving the debt-laden state fund 1MDB. Najib denies taking any money for personal gain.

    The historic partnership between Anwar and Mahathir brought members of the opposition and Umno against Najib for the first time.

    However under Malaysian law a person is banned from political activities for five years after the end of their sentence, closing the possibility of Anwar leading any campaign as he did in 2013.

    The Free Anwar Now campaign released a statement ahead of the verdict saying the case had “been plagued with many anomalies and inconsistencies, questionable DNA evidence and tampering of critical evidence”.

    “Anwar Ibrahim, who turns 70 next year, is surely not a hardened criminal that deserves the harshness of a prison sentence. He endures physical discomfort and mental anguish daily.”

    Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the decision was a “real tragedy for justice” in Malaysia.

    “More than anything this outcome shows that the Malaysian courts were no match for prime minister Najib Razak’s political vendetta against Anwar,” he said.

    “With this final decision running roughshod over Anwar’s rights and sending him back to prison, Najib and the ruling Umno party have just fired the starting gun on the expected 2018 election by permanently sidelining the political opposition’s most capable leader.”

    Writing in the Guardian on Tuesday, Anwar said his “political imprisonment” meant Malaysia needed “unyielding international encouragement and pressure”.

    “The past 20 years … have seen our country go from bad to worse politically and economically, driven by compromised democratic institutions and years of systematic abuse by the ruling elite to maintain their grip on power.”

     

    Source: www.theguardian.com

  • Najib Main Wayang Kulit Di Himpunan Solidariti Ummah?

    Najib Main Wayang Kulit Di Himpunan Solidariti Ummah?

    Kehadiran Datuk Seri Najib Razak ke Himpunan Solidariti Rohingya Ahad lalu menjadi tanda tanya kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia bilamana media melaporkan Panglima Angkatan Tentera Malaysia, Jeneral Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin berada di Myanmar untuk membaiki hubungan Yangon-Kuala Lumpur berikutan perbalahan diplomatik kedua-dua negara.

    Menurut Myanmar Times, satu kenyataan telah dikeluarkan oleh Pejabat Ketua Turus Angkatan Tentera Myanmar mengesahkan pertemuan itu.

    Presiden Myanmar, U Htin Kyaw juga dilaporkan bertemu dengan Zulkifeli untuk membincangkan operasi ketenteraan yang sedang berlangsung di Maungdaw dan Buthidaung negeri.

    “Jeneral Kanan Min Aung Hlaing memberitahu rakan sejawatannya dari Malaysia bahawa tiada pelanggaran hak asasi manusia dilakukan ke atas masyarakat etnik Rohingya yang beragama Islam itu.

    Susulan itu, timbul tanda tanya dari sesetengah pihak berhubung tujuan sebenar Perdana Menteri hadir ke himpunan tersebut.

    Sebelum ini, pemerintah Myanmar mengecam keras kehadiran Najib dalam Himpunan Solidariti Rohingya di Kuala Lumpur yang dihadiri oleh ribuan orang itu.

    Myanmar mengatakan kehadiran beliau melanggar prinsip ASEAN untuk tidak mencampuri urusan dalam negara anggota.

    “Saya tidak peduli. Apakah saya, pemimpin lebih dari 30 juta rakyat, diharapkan untuk menutup mata? Berdiam diri? Saya tidak akan melakukan itu,” tegas Najib.

    Malah, beliau berkata, Malaysia akan terus memberi tekanan kepada negara-negara ASEAN untuk menyelesaikan krisis kemanusiaan.

    Pakar mengenai hal ehwal ASEAN yang berpangkalan di Bangkok, Kavi Chongkittavorn berkata, tindakan Najib itu hanya merupakan usaha untuk mendapat sokongan daripada masyarakat Islam di Malaysia dan beliau menganggap keprihatinan beliau mampu memberi kesan melalui diplomasi bijaksana.

    Malah, Penasihat kepada bekas Presiden, U Thein Sein, U Ko Ko Hlaing, menuduh Najib mengeksploitasi isu ini untuk mengalihkan perhatian awam dari dakwaan rasuah yang dilemparkan terhadapnya.

     

    Source: IslamWeb