Deaths in custody - the hurt lock-up

S Thayaparan

Three years is not a long time. Here in Malaysia, it's just a year short of how long a regime can legitimately hold on to power before it needs to hold an election to get the endorsement of the voting public to remain in power.

Three years for ‘causing hurt' to A Kugan is what an officer of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) received.

The truth will never be known in this case or in the hundreds or perhaps even thousands of others who have suddenly died in police custody, immigrant detention camps, police shootouts and jails over the years. We will never know the anguish of families of those killed or who have died in custody due to negligence.

Awkward weekend foray for Najib

By Luke Rintod of FMT 

KENINGAU: The people in the interior divisions of Sabah are preparing to use the weekend visit of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, the third this year, as an opportunity to deliver a strong message about what they feel about his party, Umno, and his leadership style.

Najib will be in Keningau today (Saturday) to officiate at the national-level Kaamatan Festival and then he moves to nearby Tambunan in the weekend to launch the ground-breaking of a Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)-initiated KDM College.

STAR: Keningau National Kaamatan Is Political Campaign

KOTA KINABALU: The State Reform Party (STAR) is naturally thankful for the establishment of the KDM College in Keningau, but contends that there is nothing special about the whole thing and that the BN is blowing the whole publicity about it out of proportion.

In a statement here, STAR Sabah Chairman, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan said that the building of one community college for every parliamentary area has been decided for quite a long time now, and that this is just one of them.

“The KDM College is actually a community college, not one with a special purpose for the KDMs,” Jeffrey said. “And it is definitely not due to the special efforts of the PBS that the college is going to be built. And the college is not being built especially for the KDMs but for the Keningau community.

Egypt Voting For A Change – OpEd

By Jamal Kanj

This weekend, Egyptians will line up to select their next president in the first democratic election in the country’s modern history.

It was moving a fortnight ago to witness voters, old and young, standing in the simmering heat or being wheeled in to cast their ballots in the first round – for many, for the first time in their lives.

But unlike prior robotic participation in a process with a predetermined outcome, the voters were filled with excitement and anticipation.

The Palestinians And The ‘Piece’ Of The Process – OpEd

By Fadi Elhusseini, Embassy of the State of Palestine

Since 1990, both Arabs and Palestinians from one side, and Israel from the other side, decided to go through a peace process—presumably aiming to bring about peace and stability in the region, and to put an end to a sixty-year-old conflict. Now, it has been almost 21 years since that decision, and the result is an abject failure. Alas, violence engulfed the region, and the Middle East appeared to be raven, suffering from wanderings, political polemics and withering woes that appeared to be a Sisyphean ordeal; starting with the first Gulf war, to the second Gulf war, the second Intifada “Palestinian uprising II,” Lebanese and Palestinian internal clashes and assassinations, Israeli wars on Lebanon and Gaza Strip, bloodshed and atrocities in Iraq, and bombings in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco and Algeria by Al-Qaida, and finally unrest in the whole Middle East region, causing more spilled blood. The two leaders (Rabin and Arafat) who succeeded in signing the Oslo peace accords in 1993 were killed; the first was assassinated by an Israeli extremist and the second in mysterious circumstances. What a success: An ominous process which was designed to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and bring about peace and stability in the region turns to indulge everyone in anything but peace or stability.

Nasa and Holy Communion

By Fr. Tommy Lane

In a book entitled Healing Through the Mass (pages 84-85, published by Resurrection
Press and authored by Fr Robert DeGrandis S.S.J)

NASA did some experimenting with a special type of camera that could see the energy levels in the human body. This is then seen on a monitor. This energy shows up as an aura around the body. NASA’s interest in the experiment was to investigate the effects of space travel on astronauts in orbit. Experimenting in a hospital they discovered that when a person is dying, the aura around the body is thinner and gets thinner and thinner until the person dies. The scientist carrying out this investigation in the hospital and his associate were behind a two-way mirror. They could see with their camera another man coming into the room with light coming from his pocket. Then the man took the object from his pocket and did something so that in the camera the whole room was filled with light and with their camera they could no longer see what was happening. They ran to the room to see what was causing so much light to appear in their camera. They discovered that the dying man was being given Holy Communion. Afterwards with their camera they could see that the aura around him was brighter. Although in his fifties, the scientist conducting the experiment decided to become a priest after witnessing that. (you may also be interested in the true story of a photographic miracle involving Mother Teresa of Calcutta)

‘Don’t recycle tainted Sabah BN leaders’

By Luke Rintod of FMT 

KOTA KINABALU: KDM Malaysia, a pro-Umno organisation in Sabah, has warned the ruling Barisan Nasional leadership to discard tainted politicians to prevent further erosion of support for the already embattled coalition.

KDM Malaysia’s president, Peter Anthony, said the BN top leadership must take into account its own slogan of transforming itself when it comes head-on with tainted leaders.

“The voters are more educated and selective nowadays and therefore (government leaders) must take cognisant of the adverse effect of fielding or renominating leaders who had been linked to scandals, corrupt acts and obvious abuse of power,” he said explaining his complaints about illegal logging believed to be linked to several Umno leaders in Papar and Kimanis areas.

Musa’s ‘dubious wealth’ questioned again

By K. Pragalath 

PETALING JAYA: Accusations of corruption against Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman are mounting. He has been linked with illegally selling off native land and logging since 1996 and there are allegations that he has more than US$90 million in banks in Zurich, Switzerland and Hong Kong.

These “revelations” were first highlighted by news portal Sarawak Report and now PKR is asking the chief minister to declare his assets.

“Musa must make a full asset declaration soon on his assets including assets and properties stashed in foreign bank accounts in his and his immediate family members’ names to prove whether there is an iota of truth in these allegations,” said three PKR MPs and a Sabah PKR leader in a joint statement last night.

The " Unemployment Insurance Scheme" Betrayal !

By Dr. Jeyakumar

The PSM is appalled to learn through a news item in page 6 of the STAR on 12^th June 2012  quoting Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek as stating that the Prime Minister has directed the Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Subramaniam to shelve the “Unemployment Insurance Scheme”. Apparently this directive was given during a National Economic Council meeting on 11^thJune 2012.

Several parties including the PSM, JERIT and the MTUC have been pushing for a Retrenchment Fund ever since the recession of 1997 – 1998. The government has  said that they are seriously studying the issue, and more than a year ago, the government claimed it had referred the matter to the ILO for advice. Now after dragging its feet on this matter for 15 years, the BN government has decided to shelve the idea!

S'wak can’t step outside bounds on ties with Putrajaya

By Joe Fernandez

Malaysia Agreement or no Malaysia Agreement, Sarawak or Sabah/Labuan for that matter, cannot step outside the bounds with the Federal Government. Putrajaya belongs as much to the two Malaysian states in Borneo as to Peninsular Malaysia.

At a lower level, the Federal Government presides over the individual sultanates, states and territories in Peninsular Malaysia.

Five on-going issues, some simmering for long, have pitted the Sarawak state government in a head-long clash against the Federal Government. It’s anybody's guess how Putrajaya will bring the recalcitrant Taib Mahmud regime to heel. Surely, the Joseph Pairin Kitingan administration (1985 - 1994) in Sabah is the mother of all precedents!