Raw deal for the poor in Sabah

By Luke Rintod of FMT

TONGOD: The Umno-led Sabah government has been accused of providing the state’s poor with shoddily built houses minus the essential utilities.

Citing the houses in Kinabatangan, State Reform Party (STAR) community leader James Ait said the government was being “dangerously careless” in the construction of these houses just because the recipients were impoverishd.

Born in Sabah but no free MyKad

By Luke Rintod of FMT

KUALA PENYU: “Newly-arrived illegal immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia can easily get Malaysian citizenship, but why can’t I get it after 65 years?” asks John Dismas, a man who has lived in Sabah all his life.

The 65-year-old who was born in Kuala Penyu a year after Second World War, ended is perplexed by his situation. His mother was a Dusun Tatana and he speaks the dialect fluently, while his father was an Australian soldier who abandoned the family soon after the war.

From Perlis to Sabah: Umno's legacy - a trail of disappointment and flops

Written by  Nawawi Mohamad, Malaysia Chronicle
In May 2010, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Idris Jala woke the nation up from its slumber by announcing that Malaysia will be bankrupt by 2019 if the government does not cut subsidies and rein in borrowings. By end of 2011 our National debt was at RM460 billon and still rising.

Then we were shocked by the findings of ecoomic think-tank MIER in in January 2012 that if nothing is done to reverse the current trends in government expenditures and revenues, extrapolation suggests that Malaysia’s national debt will explode to 100 per cent of GDP by 2019.
Yet UMNO-BN remains unconcerned about the matter, if not totally ignored it. Along the way we were shocked and still feel disgusted about the RM250 million NFC debacle, which Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's PKR party exposed.

Malaysia: Security Bill Threatens Basic Liberties

Replacement for Internal Security Act Offers Some Reform, but New Concerns

(Bangkok, April 11, 2012) – The government of Malaysia’s proposed law to replace the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) of 1960 opens the door to a range of future abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 10, 2012, the government submitted the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012 to parliament, where quick ratification is expected.

The administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak touted the bill as a significant improvement over the ISA because it reduces the period of detention without judicial review from 60 to 28 days and only for an “active investigation.” It also prohibits arrest solely on the basis of “political belief or political activity.”

Large Aceh quake triggers Indian Ocean tsunami warning

Source 

An earthquake with an magnitude of 8.7 has struck under the sea off Indonesia's northern Aceh province.

The quake triggered a tsunami warning across the Indian Ocean region.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said it was not yet known whether a tsunami had been generated, but advised authorities to "take appropriate action".

Such a sad state of affairs in Malaysia

By Abdul Haleem Abdul Rahiman

Kuala Lumpur,  April 05, 2012

I will join the Bersih 3.0 rally because I can’t stand the gross stupidity that is crippling the entire nation. Honestly, as much as I agree stupidity has no limit, I can’t take this absurdity which has been fed to us in high doses on a daily basis.

Day in, day out the events unfolding in Malaysia make you sick and drive you insane. With all the transformation programs and what-not, I believe we are on full speed in a very wrong direction. Almost every institution in this country is failing. Religious bigotry is at its peak.

‘Mafia’ trio Gani, Musa, Anifah cornered MACC files

Even as new revelations surface about MACC thwarting investigations in
Sabah, infighting within Sabah Umno is threatening Najib's influence.

By Pushparani Thilaganathan

Source
KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah’s most influential men – Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, Chief Minister Musa Aman and his brother Foreign Minister Anifah – allegedly blocked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigations into tens of millions of ringgit worth of secret timber concessions and money laundering.

Leaked MACC documents revealed that Gani had allegedly shelved files on the investigation and refused to prosecute.

UPKO branch in Kg Lampada Kota Marudu dissolves as members joined STAR

By Ezra Haganez
KOTA MARUDU : One branch of UPKO in Kampung Lampada, Kota Marudu, was claimed to have been dissolved with its members quitting en masse to join State Reform Party (STAR).

The branch leader, Taimin Kanur, had quit UPKO, a key component party of Barisan Nasional, together with 50 other members.

Sairin, okey let us debate says STAR's Dr Nicholas

By Dr Nicholas James Guntobon
KENINGAU :  UMNO's Liawan State Assemblyman Sairin Karno has challenged STAR's Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan to a debate on the 20 Points and Borneonisation.

Such a challenge to Dr Jeffrey should come from Sabah UMNO Chief Musa Aman and not Sairin who lacks locus standi.

Defence Ministry moves to soothe Dusun natives

By Luke Rintod of FMT

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi

KOTA BELUD: The local grapevine in Kota Belud is abuzz over a scheduled visit by Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, seen as an attempt to soothe uneasiness among the local Dusun natives ahead of a crucial general election.

Word is that Zahid is coming to Sabah to, among others, attend a briefing and visit areas in Kem Paradise that could be excised and later be “given back” to the surrounding Dusun Tindal villages in the area.

Kem Paradise is a huge army training base in Kota Belud. It’s probably the only military base in the world that shares its turf with densely populated villages.