THIS HAS SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF DEEP THROAT, LITTLEBIRD AND HANTU and.....

BEATINGS WITH A VARIETY OF OBJECTS

Torture, as defined in the UN Convention, is an act by which severe mental or physical pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted against an individual, at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official, the purpose of which is to obtain information, or a confession, or punishment for an act the individual has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidation, coercion, or discrimination of any kind. Human Rights Watch’s research revealed a clear pattern of torture of suspects in police custody. Nearly all of the cases of abuse documented met the elements described above and thus rose to the level of torture.

Following are pictorial representations of the more common interrogation techniques favored by authorities.

REGULAR SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Disturbing Events Unfold Just After PM Called For Protection of Informants

CCID chief, DatukRamli Yusof at a Press Conference revealed, according to the Sun, disturbing events. He said, to some 40 reporters from the MSM, "I have until today remained silent about the developments in the police force, in particular the arrest and prosecution of officers of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department who are alleged to have falsified statements of confidential informanants in connection with the banishment of one Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku.

CONFINEMENT IN COMPLETE DARKNESS UP TO 2 DAYS

Screenshot's Jeff Ooi asked: What had all these made-by-police exposé meant to you?

At the explosive press conference yesterday, Ramli had implied the existence of factions in the police force.

However, his claim was denied the same day by Musa, who would only concede a “difference of opinion”.

Interestingly, Musa had recently claimed that he was being framed by his own men after he was cleared of yet another ACA investigation that implicated him, the Inspector-of-Police, in an alleged RM2 million bribery in releasing three gangsters.

CONSTANT BOMBARDMENT OF LOUD SOUND, MUSIC OR SCREAMING

Did the ACA protect police informants?

Ramli said there exists a clear and present danger as to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.

He added that, when several officers of the CCID investigating into the underworld kingpin and banishing him to Kelantan were arrested and charged in court for allegedly falsifying evidence, the names of the confidential informants have been disclosed in the charge sheets.

He said he was gravely concerned by the manner in which the identities of police informants are dealt with in investigations carried out by the ACA. "The identities of the informants were obtained through the circumvention of the Inspector General's Standing Orders," he said.

On this matter, Ramli paraphrased Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s call for authorities to protect whistleblowers.

“So I think we, as the police force must protect our informants. That is my stand,” he said.

COMPLETE DEPRIVATION OF MOVEMENT FOR LONG HOURS

EXECUTIVE manoeuvring in the AG's Chambers?

Ramli claimed it was unprecedented for an officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, attached as the legal adviser of the Ministry of Internal Security, to decline to advise and direct his officers in CCID in the underworld kingpin's case.

He said his officers had to prepare affidavits of the events surrounding the preparation of the investigative papers on the kingpin for the benefit of the deputy minister of internal security -- Johari Baharum.

"Those affidavits were to be filed in the High Court arising from the application by (the kingpin) to have his banishment order set aside," he revealed yesterday.

"Given the constraints of time, we, the officers of the CCID, sought legal advice from a private law practice who advised and assisted in the preparation of the draft affidavits concerned," he added.

"I was under advice at the time that the Attorney-General (Abdul Gani Patail) was under a duty to advise and assist us in the preparation of the said affidavits under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the Government Proceedings Act, 1956," he said.

DOUSING OF ICE WATER THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT

"Come forward lah, Apak nak takut? Takkan kita nak bantai orang kita" avowed Loudy Nazri in an NST interview.

Subsequently, Datuk Ramli and his officers were directed to deliver the confidential case files containing the names of the confidential informants to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"I have since been aware that officers of the ACA have tracked down these informants and taken statements from them," he said.

"Subsequently, these informants have made further statements in connection with their seeking of protection from the deputy minister of internal security."

FOOD,WATER DEPRIVATION

Can anyone direct the ACA to divulge the identity of informants? (Section 32 (1) (A) of the Anti Corruption Act 1964). Of course nobody can.
BUT SOMEBODY OR SOME BODY DID!
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Whistle-blowing BLOWN to bits observed Citizen Nades

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"Within the week, several of my officers were arrested and charged in court for allegedly falsifying evidence concerning the banishment of Goh. In the charge sheets, the names of the confidential informants have been disclosed." reported Datuk Ramli.

DEPRIVATION OF PERSONAL HYGIENE

ANTIQUE CORRUPTION ABBATOIR?

ACA quizzes Ramli’s sisters
Llew-Ann Phang, Terence Fernandez, Charles Ramendran and Maria J. Dass

PETALING JAYA (Oct 31, 2007): The Anti-Corruption Agency today questioned two sisters of Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Datuk Ramli Yusuff and seized documents from his accountant’s office in Brickfields.

The actions came a day after Ramli publicly declared that he is the RM27 million cop mentioned in press reports, but denied the accuracy of the figure.

In a faxed statement today, Ramli said the ACA had previously recorded statements from his sisters – Rohmah @ Hasmah, 58, and Roslina, 42.

"I believe that if they are interviewed again, it would be in connection with investigations against me," he said, adding that three ACA officers approached Rohmah at her Kampung Bunut Susu home in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, at 9.15am.

"Hasmah is unmarried and looks after my aged father of 83 years," Ramli said, adding that his father is a retired policeman and suffers from various ailments.

He said the ACA officers asked Rohmah to follow them so they could take her a statement. "She offered to make her statement at home, given my father’s health, but she was told that she would be arrested if she did not comply," Ramli, 55, said.

Rohmah was taken to the state ACA headquarters in Kota Baru and questioned for five-and-a-half hours.

Ramli said Roslina, who lives in Kota Damansara and was on leave today, was informed by her office that "a number of ACA officers were looking for her". "She contacted her lawyers who advised her to cooperate with the ACA."

It is learnt Roslina was at the ACA headquarters in Putrajaya for about four hours from 1.30pm.

Ramli described the actions as "highly questionable" because Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Gani Patail had said on Tuesday that he was satisfied with the investigations (on Ramli) which were completed and referred to him directly".

Ramli referred to a news report which quoted Abdul Gani as saying the agency had completed its probe and described the ACA officers as "very good" and had "done their work well".

FORCED INJESTION

Datuk Ramli made a scathing attack on the ACA, charging that their actions have resulted in danger to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.

Saying that police informants, who provided valuable information on the activities of Ah Long and gambling syndicates have been compromised by these actions, Ramli alleged that his officers had been mistreated by the agency and are "yet to be protected by their own force".

"Two days ago, the PM has indicated that we have to protect the whistleblowers or the police informers. We the police force must protect our informers. That’s my stand," he added.

HITTING ON BOTH EARS WITH MOUTH CLOSED

So what happened to the three informants, RPK's DeepThroat, Screenshots' LittleBird and Zorro's Hantu? With the current climate definitely not conducive to their stature as
informants, they have taken recorded leave to do some soul-searching as to whether they should consider a change in vocation. Thus this vacation to Crooked Island, in the Bahamas, despite Tropical Storm Noel, threatening into a full blown Hurricane. They claim they can handle either, but not what is happening within the ACA, the AG Department and the Ministry of Internal Security....our TAINTED BLESSED TRINITY.

MOVE OVER JOCELINE TAN, HERE COMES ANIZA DAMIS.

Every Sunday, after coffee at home with the Times Online, I religiously head for my favorite bak-kut-teh in PJ Newtown. I normally read a book whilst Kane gets my "tua-bak" ready. This Sunday I forgot to bring along my book. I went to the nearby news vendor. I normally only buy the NST on Tuesday to read Syed Nazri's takes on things. The Sunday Times caught my attention: Sunday Interview with Nazri Aziz. This guy has been vomiting out a lot of rancid stuff. I did not want to spoil my breakfast BUT the paper said that the interview was on page 6-8. That is very rare with the NST. Truth be told, I am a very suspicious chap. Why would they give him three pages? Why did Khairy, courtesy of Kali allow that? I still hesitated. When I used to read our MSM I paid scant attention to interview of politicians, especially in our UMNO and MCA daily newsletters.
Most of these interviews are STAGED to score points. Staged, in that the interviewee would want ahead of time the questions to be asked. The reporter's (oopppss the interviewer) job is done when he/she submits the set of questions, which has been duly approved by the upstairs powers. u He/she just waits for the day to have the interview assured that there will be loads of kueh in between a hassle-free interwiew. While he/she waits for the appointed day, the politicians spin masters, special assistants or (the current flavour of the decade), think-tanks will busy themselves "researching". I was still undecided when Patrick Teoh of Niamah called: In that raspy familiar voice he asked if I read the Sunday Times. I asked," why"? He said, " Buy lah bruder, this char bor (girl) is damn good." I asked, "Which girl?" He volunteered, "That girl who interviewed that idjeet Nazri....she damn choon bruder." If Patrick says someone is damn choon, that person got to be really choon.

Of course the interviewee spewed out the same load of shet that we have heard ad infinitum. But Aniza was awesome. She knotted, she gutted his innards big time. She gave no quarters a la Larry King and Tim Sebastian. I have this evil thought that Nazri who has an overdose of self-esteem accepted the interview without the normal prepared questions. She led him by the nose to make him say that the majority is important, not the minority....bloggers are a minority... She then zapped him with "So the Indians, the minority is not important?" She confused him such that for once a miracle happened. Nazri, the all-knowing said. "I dont know. I dont know anything." She probed with open-ended questions and he fell into a dead-end...."I dont waste my time (reading the blogs)".....and as she egged him on about bloggers he said that the standard of bloggers must be upgraded. If you dont read blogs, how can you judge? She continue to parry and trust and he admitted that he could empathize with his fellow lawyers. Something outstanding I noticed about Aniza ....her perspicacity. Her questions had that mental penetration that is the hallmark of a good journalist. I am not one. But thats how I judge them. Her questions left no doubt what answers she expected. She was masterful. Those who come before her, just be prepared unless you want to be canned. More power to you Aniza. Do I hear head-hunters ringing your doorbell?

ENOUGH ROPE GIVEN AND THE NOOSE TIGHTENS?

I take you back to September 30 when I put up a posting entitled: KHAIRY WILL KICK HIS BUTT...JUST YOU WAIT. More than butt-kicking is in motion. Khairy has subtly engineered, per courtesy of Kali's NST to give our subject enough rope to execute (pun vehemently intended) the obvious. Now it is the question of looking for the tallest tree in FRIM, to justify the length of the rope Khairy has planned. However, I cant let this go by so easily. I will now indulge in FISKING, a bloggers' slang which means taking apart sentence by sentence, disecting, and asking questions that should have been asked. Kind of like leaving no stones unturned.....or vacuuming what's under the carpet like. Miss Aniza certainly did a good job and she was able to make him say all the drivel a la Nazri. Of course our subject is thrilled to bits being afforded 2 pull pages and another 4 columns. He is crooning while the noose dangles. OK lets go Fisking, not sentence by sentence but on some relevant items. I leave it to our legal fraternity to combat him on the legal issues.

However, before I go Fisking, let me commend Khairy. This guy is smart. He is a Blue Ocean Strategist. W Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne "Blue Ocean Strategist" says: Cut-throat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. DONT WASTE TIME BEATING THE COMPETITION. MAKE THE COMPETITION IRRELEVANT. Now do you see what I see?

He:
There isn't a crisis (judicial). It is an allegation.
Fisk:
5,000 citizens who bravely volunteer their IC want to a petition to save the judiciary
is a false allegation. The Council of Rulers mulling over the extension of the JC is not
a critical situation? Judges being changed at the last moment is an allegation? Promotion of more pliable candidates not a crisis? Murderers go scott-free because of poor prosecution is no crisis? Judges not writing judgements whilst those in death-row languish at the pleasure of the judge....this is just allegation? He as the unconfirmed minister of law, should be on top of this. This is just allegation? The CJ told him that
he is not on the other end of the phone .This is an allegation? Cannot be. He announced that himself. The kopi-tiam talk of the sure-walk-away-free trio in the trial of
the C4ed mongolian lassie, is not an allegation, but surely is a crisis. No?

He:
We inherited the system from the British and for 50 years it has served us well. Something which has not brought us any problem, why should we change it?

Fisk:
Ask your grovelling-for-extension CJ. He wants to abandon the Common Law. The legal fraternity disagrees. You? I know you wait for instructions.

He:
(When asked: Coffee-shop chit-chat not important?) NO. The people are important.

Fisk:
Who chit-chats? Monkeys? Not the people?

He:
(refering to blogs): Its just chit-chat?

Fisk:

Why put Nathaniel Tan away for 4 days.....why question Raja Petra....why question his
wife. ....for chit-chatting. Hello bodoh, this is not Animal Farm lah? Jeff Ooi and Rocky
chit-chat also got sued. SO YOU GUYS ARE LISTENING TO CHIT CHAT AND YOU
ARE ALL AFRAID OF COFFEE SHOP CHIT-CHAT. What is there to be afraid of if you guys in BN have no skeletons to hide in your closets. 3 padlocks - ISA, OSA,Printing Press Act, to lock your closets? Refrigerators are for dis-membered bodies, closets for unofficial secrets. It figures.

He:
(when asked if he reads blogs) No. I don't waste my time. The few pieces that people print for me are rubbish.

Fisk:
The kiary episode is a figment of someone's rubbished imagination, for sure.
The taxi-tryst is rubbish of course.
Eloping with the Sultan's daughter is rubbish?
Claiming you cannot read English whilst smuggling in a suitcase of cash is rubbish?
Port Klang Free Zone fiasco is rubbish?
The Mansion he stole is rubbish?
Not paying assessment for 12 years is rubbish?
Accusation of Plagiarism is rubbish?
ACA abducting Nordin Ahmad's family to force him to change his statement is rubbish? The ECM-Avenue quickie marriage is rubbish? (More slack given but the noose tightens.) Azalina appointed to head cyber-troopers to do battle with bloggers rubbish?
The close-one-eye Jack rubbish?
The vomit from Sabah who leaked on women's monthly's rubbish?
The Jerai termite who condemned the disabled as cursed by God, also rubbish?
The People Protection Bill (not passed yet) will protect whistle blowers you said. Now that is pure BS read RUBBISH
EVERYTHING SAID BY OTHERS IS RUBBISH. You are the self-anointed intelligent one.

He:
When the standard of our blogs is upgraded, then probably I will look at what is written.

Fisk:
What is your measurement of standard? From yours? Judging from whatever we have heard from you, you dont expect us to do a jack-knife dive down to your lowly standard.....allow me to add my piece-de-resistance: Some people's fart has more substance than what they say. The reverse is a good starting point to benchmark on standards.


He:
I can get a lot of things out of you if I talk to you nicely. but if I start shouting at you, do you think you will accommodate me? No way!

Fisk:
Who was it that shouted Bodoh. Who were the ones shouting, Bocok, Goblok, Monkey, Liars, Rubbish? How to engage or accommodate you? No way!

He:
What's there to be afraid of? We wont beat up our own people?

Fisk:
The Black Eye just appear whenever you are in a lock-up? Either this guy is the kampung joker or seeking graduation to be the village idiot. Choose. And who won a few million ringgit for being beaten in Kamunting?

He:
(On what will happen if by Nov 7 nobody turns up about the Lingam tape). It's ( the video-clip). not genuine. That's all.

Fisk:
The almighty spoke. Such audacity. So pompous. Such finality.
.....no witnesses came forward, the police have not apprehended anyone after 42
days, so the little girls death is not genuine!? Excuse me, I am very angry over trash-talk.

He:
What crisis?When I go back to my constituency, nobody talks about it.

Fisk:
Silence is so cheap today. Rm200 can kow tim. Your colleagues say no crisis. They are all the 3 monkeys (hear no evil, see no evil but do talk evil) or Birds of a feather flock together mah.

PEOPLE JUST WATCH KHAIRY GIVING MORE SLACK WHILST HIS BOYS LOOK FOR THE HIGHEST TREE FOR IMPACT.

THE CANDLE BURNETH (FOR THE TRUTH).

Former Lord President Tun Suffian said: “When I am asked what I thought, my usual reply is that I wouldn’t like to be tried by today’s judges, if I am innocent.”

In my posting of 29th September 2007, in reference to the darkened corridors of power I quoted Raja Petra of Malaysia Today:

In Malaysia, if you were to squeal on those from amongst you who are corrupt, you will suffer retribution. Now do you know why it is so hard to pin down those police officers who murdered Altantuyu? Many know what happened but not many dare come forward to reveal what happened. To do so would be detrimental to one’s health.

Take the case of Nordin bin Ahmad, a police officer. He investigated the underworld bosses and helped build up the case against them. He squealed on the dirty cops. And he was made to regret that. They used the ACA to kidnap his wife and children on 23 September 2007 with a warning that they will be released only if he presents himself at the ACA office and changes his testimony implicating the underworld bosses. Both Nordin Ahmad and his wife, Kalsom Mat Nor, have made police reports on the matter.

Resulting from which I dedicated a lone candle to Chief Inspector Ahmad Nordin.

TODAY WE LIGHT ANOTHER THREE CANDLES FOR:

ASP Hong Ken Hock from Bukit Aman's Commercial Crime Investigation Department's Operations/Technical Assistance Division.
DSP Baharin Mohd. Rose, Public Safety and Order Division, Internal Security Ministry, Putra Jaya.
Lance Corporal Wong Boo Hai of Kluang CID.

THESE CANDLES WILL CONTINUE TO LEND THEIR FLICKERING LIGHT IN THIS SILENT VIGIL BECAUSE THESE FOUR ARE INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. WHILST WE HOPE AND PRAY FOR THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES LET'S ALSO REFLECT ON THE WORDS OF TUN SUFFIAN.

“When I am asked what I thought, my usual reply is that I wouldn’t like to be tried by today’s judges, if I am innocent.”

THIS MAN IS INCAPABLE OF DECENT SPEECH. HE IS DESPICABLE.HE IS UNADULTERATED VOMIT.

I thought monkeys wear only monkey suits!

He said in Parliament: Now you are sitting in a wheel chair. God has punished you.

Earlier, touching on the subject of manners, Karpal irked Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) when he remarked that there was little hope of seeing courtesy and good manners in the house.

"The Jerai MP is notorious for using foul language. The Kinabatangan member (Datuk Bung Moktar Radin) is no better," he said, referring to a foul word uttered by Badruddin during a sitting.

An angry Badruddin shouted back at Karpal. You are no better. Calling us (BN MPs) animals… you insult people. Now you are sitting in a wheel chair. God has punished you.

Click here to read the full article and download the article in PDF here.

Zorro says: People of Jerai.....this is your hero. He played God. If the people of Jerai are any good they would insist that this foul-mouth do not represent them in the next GE.

Wikipedia has an unsavory record of his antics.

PIC BY THE SWAMP MAN
Blogger Danny on wheels, at his maiden visit to MRT Tuesday past.
Danny aka Kerp owns a blog called Let's Go.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Tuesday With Bloggers (TWB)

Hello again. No, you didn't make a wrong turn and ended up in Jalan Sudin. You're very much in Let's Go land.

Its been quite an eventful week so far that I haven’t had much time to sit and write. Not that I have many things to say, apart from telling the world and the ISS crew somewhere up there how long my turd was earlier this afternoon.

Now here's one shit who had uttered the word Pukimak in the parliament for whatever reason it was and got away with it. Sadly, name callings in parliament has become the norm in Malaysia Nowdays. I am no fan of either sides but by insulting an opposition MP for being on wheelchair is not acceptable. And this coming from someone whose job is to represent the people. To that MP from the majority side, nah ambik ni...Pukimak kau balik.

I'm just going to leave it at that. You can read Peter's take on what was the hoo-ha all about.

No, Danny I am not leaving it at that.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!

I AM WHEELING YOU TO PARLIAMENT TO EXTRACT AN APOLOGY FROM THIS UMNO MAN WHO DEFAMED ALL DISABLED MALAYSIANS.

SOMEBODY OUT THERE, GIVE US SOME INFORMATION ON WHEN WE COULD MAKE OUR WAY TO PARLIAMENT.

I CANNOT CLAIM TO HAVE MANY RESOURCES. THE LEAST I CAN DO FOR MY FRIEND AND IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOR IS TO WHEEL HIM THERE.

ANYONE FOLLOWING US?
KEEP A DATE WITH THIS SPACE FOR UPDATES.
"WHEEL A FRIEND TO PARLIAMENT"

THE PHOENIX RISES! A DEDICATION TO TOK MOMMY.

The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity

THEN:

Said to live for 500 or 1461 years (depending on the source), the phoenix is a bird with beautiful gold and red plumage. At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises. The new phoenix is destined to live, usually, as long as the old one. In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of the old phoenix in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (the city of the sun in Greek). The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt or wounded by a foe, thus being almost immortal and invincible — a symbol of fire and divinity

_____________________________________________________________

Will Shakespeare contributed a stanza on the enigmatic bird:

Now I will believe

That there are unicorns; that in Arabia

There is one tree, the phoenix' throne; one phoenix

At this hour reigning there.

D H Lawrence of Lady Chatterlay's Lover's fame used the phoenix as a symbol for rebirth in life.
______________________________________________________________________

NOW:

On Sunday 18 March 2007 I did a posting on the Minister of Tourism labelling lady bloggers as , jobless and liars.

the merry band of liars
l-r Kak Teh of Choc a Blog, Marina of Rantings, Maria of Tok Mommy (then not a confirmed liar yet) and Noraina of Jalan Sudin.

Todays posting is fondly dedicated to a NOW confirmed liar Maria Samad aka Kak Ton , the hostess of MRT - Mee Rebus Tuesday.

a firestorm in blogosphere?

People, put on your seat belts; be seated; expected turbulence ahead. Already we have one younger sister scorching the wires with her Jalan Sudin Blog. Now, elder sister Maria has heralded this inter-monsoon season with her own blog. Be ready when the monsoon season starts and you can be assured that it will be a monsoon season of great ferocity.

Maria Samad was a journalist with Star and Bernama. I said was, thus my reference to the rise of the phoenix. This still sexy word-smith, gentle grandmother, gracious hostess WILL make a difference. She has fire in her belly. Bookmark her site. Tok Mommy will be your benchmark for sure. Welcome Maria. Whilst you blog, I will take care of your hubby Roslani. He and I will know how and where to make ourselves useful and occupied.

HIDUP MRT!

BRAND BANGSA MALAYSIA CROSSES THE BRIDGE.

Event : Malam Bangsa Malaysia

Date : 3rd November, 2007

Time : 8.00pm

Venue : Room A, Dewan Sri Pinang, Pulau Pinang.

There will be a charge of RM10 per person to cover rental and refreshment costs.

The event can only accommodate 200 people and attendance is by invitation.

The organising team has also put together a forum entitled ‘One People, One Nation’ which is open to all who are registered to attend the get-together later that night.

The forum is scheduled to start at 5pm. Registration will start at 4.30pm.

Speakers for the forum are :

1. Dato Lim Chong Keat (pending confirmation)

2. Khoo Kay Peng (independent political analyst)

3. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

4. Haris Ibrahim

You can read about the KL Bangsa Malaysia get-together here and here.

What you need to do to get an invitation

Firstly, as places are limited, please be sure that you can attend before you ask for the invitation.

If you are very sure that you can make it, please send an e-mail to bangsamalaysiapenang@gmail.com

In your email, please provide the following details :

1. Name (as per IC) and IC number

2. Contact number

3. A little bit about yourself ( where you’re from, what you do ). Also tell us what your feelings are about the last fifty years of independance and what your hopes are for the coming fifty years. Also, share your thoughts on what you think needs to be done to make the aspiration of one people, one nation a reality in Malaysia.

All e-mails will be replied.

All particulars furnished will be treated with utmost confidence.

Meanwhile, please help to spread this event to bloggers, non-bloggers, students, uncles, aunties, activists, NGOs and any Malaysian!

During dinner we will screen the award-winning Fahmi Reza's Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka. Fahmi has agreed to be at hand to interact with the participants.

PEOPLE OF PENANG, SHOW US HOW YOU RALLY.

EVERYBODY, ONE LAST PUSH TO SAVE THE JUDICIARY

SYMBOLIC GAVEL?

Fairuz’s term as CJ ends on 31/10/2007.

He has requested an extension.

(Such gall and audacity. Shameless, to say the least)

THE PETITION HAS BEEN SLOW, BUT ENCOURAGINGLY CONTINUOUS & INCREMENTAL.

4,008 concerned citizens have signed a petition asking for the setting up of a Royal Commission to inquire into and investigate the veracity of what is depicted in the Lingam tape and, if confirmed to be true, to set into motion the necessary steps to remove Fairuz and to clean up the judiciary.

CAN WE EVER ALLOW THE JUDICIARY TO COME TO THIS ?

In these circumstances, in my view, Fairuz should properly have taken a leave of absence or have been suspended pending such an inquiry.

Instead, we are confronted with the audacious prospect of an extension of his term!

The Conference of Rulers meets next week.

The matter of the extension or otherwise of Fairuz’s term is almost certain to be on the agenda before their Royal Highnesses.

It is, in my view, important that the concerns of those who have bravely signed the petition be made known to the Conference of Rulers.

For that reason, I shall be making arrangements to have the petition and the list of signatories delivered to the palace on Thursday, 25th October, 2007.

If you have not signed the petition and would like to do so, you have until 12 noon tomorrow.

Have you read the petition to His Majesty the Yang diPertuan Agong to ask for the establishment of a Royal Commission to look into and stop the rot in the judiciary and to return the judiciary to the rakyat?

To read the draft petition in English, please click HERE.

The actual petition, complete with the language of protocol, can be viewed HERE.

To sign up in support of this petition, please send your name and i.c. number to :

savethejudiciary@gmail.com

UNIVERSALLY PREFERED CURRENCY FOR LINGAM SAUCE


The above narrative is an extract from People's Parliament.


WHAT OTHERS SAID

Former Lord President Sultan Azlan Shah in his postscript to his book “Constitutional Monarchy, Rule of Law and Good Governance” (pp 399 – 401) in April 2004 had written:

“Sadly, over the past few years there has been some disquiet about the judiciary. Several articles have been written, and many opinions expressed, both internationally and locally, that the independence of our judiciary has been compromised. It has been said that there has been an erosion of public confidence in our judiciary.

Concerns have been expressed that some judges were not writing judgments, or that there were long delays in obtaining decisions or hearing dates in certain instances. Further, the conduct of certain judges was being questioned in public…

Whether these allegations are true, is not for me to say. However, having been a member of the judiciary for many years, it grieves me when I hear of such allegations. Since Independence, the early judges have always cherished the notion of an independent judiciary and had built the judiciary as a strong and independent organ of government. The public had full confidence of the judiciary and accepted any decision then made without any question. Unfortunately, the same does not appear to be the case in recent years.

Whatever the situation, a judiciary may only be said to be independent if it commands the confidence of the public – the very public it seeks to serve. After all, statements made as to its independence by the judges, or even the politicians, do not measure public confidence in the judiciary. At the end of the day, it is this public perception that ultimately matters.

It is my earnest hope that the Malaysian judiciary will regain the public’s confidence, and that it will once again be held in the same esteem as it once was held. In democratic countries, it is an independent judiciary that brings pride to the nation. Members of the executive and the legislature come and go, but an independent judiciary must remain steadfast forever, fulfilling the aspirations and ideals of the people. In the judiciary, people place their trust and hope.”

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Press Statement from ALIRAN

".. It would upset and disappoint Malaysians terribly if the tenure of the current Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, were to be extended. It would seriously undermine the confidence of the people in the judiciary to a point of no return.

The judiciary is already in a shambles and there is no need to degrade it further by extending the tenure of the Chief Justice of the Federal Court.

On behalf of all Malaysians, Aliran would like to politely and humbly appeal to His Majesty, the Yang diPertuan Agong, to reject Ahmad Fairuz’s application to His Majesty for a six-month extension of tenure.

Article 125(1) states:

' Subject to the provisions of Clauses (2) to (5), a judge of the Federal Court shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-six years or such later time, not being later than six months after he attains that age, as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may approve.'

In this extension of tenure of office, the Prime Minister does not seem to have any role to play. It would appear that His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, solely decides on this matter.

It is the absolute discretion of His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

By now it is very clear that it is the collective view of all thinking Malaysians that Ahmad Fairuz does not deserve to be in office even a minute longer. He must go - and go in the soonest time frame that is possible.

After the disgraceful Lingam tape, it is only morally correct that he should not be around to denigrate an institution that is the custodian of justice.

It is as simple as that.

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From Aisehman:

"... 'for the sake of the country', for when a person is no longer useful and threatens to become a liability, the likelihood of him or her being dumped like a hot potato or thrown to the dogs increases significantly.

... and judges are not supposed to be embroiled in politics.

Maybe Ahmad Fairuz should consider stepping back from being embroiled even in judicial matters.

The authenticity of the video clip no longer matters, as far Ahmad Fairuz’s tenure as Chief Justice is concerned.

Rightly or wrongly, he has been tainted by it, and therefore his position as Chief Justice has become untenable.

The right, honourable, and just thing to do would be to see out his tenure and retire into private life.

Ahmad Fairuz should withdraw his application, forget this business of an extension, and be reminded that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done..."

so speaketh the people

A PLAINTIVE PLEA!

PAGES FROM A 13TH CENTURY HOLY KORAN

It would be selfish of me if I do not share this poignant piece by Malik Imtiaz Sawar: I know that he will forgive me for not asking permission. A former boss told me that in times of urgency, it is easier (more expedient)* to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Reflect.
*(parenthesis mine)

Forgive Me

Forgive me, God
I looked into the Quran today,
I really looked.

Found nothing to support racism, corruption
Or the breaching of sacred trust
I read verses, I read between them
And no matter how much I tried,
I could not find anything about it being alright
to lie, cheat, steal and
to hurt, really hurt, people.
Injustice, it seems,
is not mandatory
is not permissible

I looked in the Quran today,
I really looked
And I did not find Malaysia

But then, who am I
To dare read and presume understanding,
Who am I to have the audacity to believe.
Who am I to think, to appreciate
what God expects of me,
all by my sorry self
when I was obviously given only
half a mind, and half an intellect
Safely esconced with the ulama,
the other halves lie there,
waiting for eternity
My passport to Heaven

Forgive me, God
For reading
Forgive me, God
For believing enough
to want to believe
Forgive me, God
For thinking that the Quran
was for me

I looked into the Quran today,
I really looked because I thought
that was what You wanted of me

I am sorry

MIS

HELEN ANG IS MORE THAN INCENSED.

HELEN ANG is angry because she is disappointed that Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament's initiative to get 5000 signatures for a petition to the Yang Di Pertuan Agung to save the judiciary is not getting the quick response the petition should generate. We are aware that some Malaysians are wary of volunteering their Identity Card Number to a cause they feel would put themselves in jeopardy. That is acceptable apprehension, considering some draconian laws already in place and executed at will. But there comes a time in our lives when we have to bite the bullet. Somebody has to do it. Malaysians who care for their future generation have to do it. As I said in an earlier posting, I will not be able to face my grandchildren if they found out that I was afraid for myself, thought more of my own well-being than their future well-being ....and that their grand-father did not make use of the opportunity to give his signature to a most pressing and significant cause.

Since the Judiciary Crisis of 1988 that initially saw , the suspension of Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and 5 Supreme Court judges and eventual dismissal of the Lord President and two of the 5 judges, Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman Pawan Teh and Datuk George Seah, it became crystal clear that the executive branch of the Government wanted nothing less than a judiciary that could do its bidding. We lived under this dark cloud. This dark cloud became more ominous when favored judicial cronies skipped seniority and experience because they were more obedient and non-confrontational. Over the years we have seen some strange decisions by the judiciary. The storm clouds finally burst when the Council of Rulers delayed in a decision that previously would have seen swift and easy passage. The deluge tsunamied into our lives with the exposure of the Lingam Tapes. 2000 lawyers aware that their profession was mired in dirt, marched. The march cascaded into this Petition to the Agung and will be followed by the Young Lawyers forum on 28 October.

For those who still hesitate to give their support to the petition I hope that Helen Ang's letter to Haris Ibrahim, would inspire you to the the needful.

Appended is Helen Ang's post to Haris Ibrahim:

Haris may be indefatigable but I’m not. I’ve just informed the malaysiakini editor that I’m taking a sabbatical. A catalyst for my decision was the disappointing response to this site’s Save the Judiciary petition.

While keeping the door open for me to drift back, Steven Gan was understanding and had a piece of advice for me. He suggested that I might want to “recalibrate” my expectations. I appreciate Steven’s careful choice of words, that he had not asked me to “lower” my expectations. He, more than anyone else, fully understands how Idealism is malaysiakini’s coin.

And I realize that I had unconsciously calibrated my expectations to Haris’ target of 5,000 signatures. An attainable goal, I’d thought, and reckoned that the converted being preached to in cyberspace could be counted on to sign up.

Malaysiakini had indirectly backed this petition through allowing me and KJ John a link in our columns as well making Amer Arshad’s a lead letter, also linked. Its news and editorial coverage favour a Royal Commission.

A slogan-writing competition in the newspapers (the parallel world to ours) can easily attract 50,000 entries where readers are quite prepared to fill their name and IC no. in the contest forms. It feels to me now like cyberspace is unreality. The real world is where Malaysians are keen on things like penning insipid slogans in the hopes of winning a refrigerator.

Doubtless, the state of the judiciary is of graver concern to lawyers than it is to those of us not in the legal fraternity. Nonetheless, it is one of the many troubles plaguing our country (the downslide in public healthcare being another) and an integral part of the big picture which is the ‘systemic corruption’.

Putting our name to the petition is one way of saying: ‘We, the public, want a stop put to this rot’.

Yet, what I see is Haris pleading and cajoling, prodding and scolding, and still the numbers are slow in coming. Mind you, clicking a mouse requires no one to really stick their neck out. Petitioners are not being asked to march on the street. If at this minimal level of effort there are so few takers, what more if greater or riskier involvement were to be demanded.

===================================================

Zorro's Note:

Malayans in 1947 seem more committed to a cause: On Oct 20 1947, from Perlis to Singapore they declared HARTAL against the British. See my post on Oct 20,2007 and watch the Fahmi Reza's video.

===================================================

The rot is status quo; therefore wanting to reverse the situation is challenging the status quo; which means tilting at our entrenched system bound by the nexus of Power, Privilege and Patronage. I’m figuring we’re not Datuks and Tan Sris here, and neither is Haris. What we would then require is strength in numbers for leverage and that’s when the pundits get to talk about ‘critical mass’ and ‘tipping point’.

The inability to rally 5,000 people to commit indicates that this civil society initiative that Haris is spearheading has still got some way to go. His highly idealistic colleague Malik Imtiaz shared some views with me early this year: “At the end of the day, if enough people say something, the government has to listen.

“How many people have actually stood up? You get Charles Santiago and his crew … but at the end of the day, every civil society initiative that we see is 10 people, 20 people, then you get some 200 people turn up at some function somewhere and that’s it.”

The fewer persons there are sharing the load, the heavier the burden on the core twenty. Haris is one of those shouldering more than his fair share. I’d like to lend some insight, if I may and gleaned from my own exposure to the Malay milieu, on the high price I believe he’s paying.

Some stone-throwers accuse me of Islamophobia; of Haris it is “Si Murtad tu”. The ulamas walk out of the room when Haris steps in and refuse to sit at table with him. As for me, I’m confronted by the dreadfully pinched, cast-iron faces of Chinese who – ‘count-me-out’ – exclaim: “Why are you courting trouble by talking against Islam and Malays?”

I’m not bloody ‘against’, I’m ‘for’!

We … ought to be ‘for’ freedom of religion for Lina Joy, ‘for’ freedom of conscience and movement for Revathi, ‘for’ places of worship for all, ‘for’ access to justice for ones caught in the secular-syariah bind; and ‘for’ affirmative action to help poor Indians and anyone else who has fallen through the cracks.

We may sound like dissonant voices but aren’t we kites rising against the wind, not with it? Go with the flow here, and the way the wind blows is to the slough of despond.

As a non-Muslim, non-Malay, taking the above stance does not cost me as much as it does Haris Ibrahim. He is going much harder against the grain and I can well imagine the hostility he has to put up with from the narrow-minded crowd. I have an idea too of the thorns that lined the path which has led him to the People’s Parliament.

But if Haris and the small band of Muslims including SIS had not thrown their weight behind Article 11, the line drawn on the sand could have been interpreted to be even more adversarial. As it is, there was already painted the deliberately polarising picture of two demarcated ‘Us vs Them’ camps facing off. It wasn’t the non-Muslims picking a fight with Islam; the stymied coalition had really been a redoubt.

If we believe in something, we can try to do what we can meaningfully as individuals. Haris is an energetic organiser. But I’m taking time-out and a step back because I don’t wish for my writing to be a personal crusade and I really, really don’t want to turn into an insufferably earnest moralist.

Lina Joy has been a recurrent theme in my essays and finally in a Merdeka eve piece, I confessed that like Lina I could not get married. This disconcerting public revelation was laying bare a facet of my private life and possibly invading the privacy of my two Malay ex-boyfriends and their families.

Writing to persuade or writing for a cause is emotionally draining, and a terrible balancing act. My rationale had been to underscore the point that national politics have the potential to impact the most intimate areas of our lives, and that Lina – what she had tried so hard to do instead of bending to expediency – personally means a lot to me.

My ‘Leaving Joy behind’ article was wrenching to write and though it was cathartic, I’m coming around to believe that it also marked the point where I fell off the tightrope.

Haris is still hanging on but I’m saddened by what I can only describe as the (nothing short of) stony indifference on the larger part of the public to the petition. It’s not his, Haris’ petition; it’s the people’s petition.

But it’s also more than the sum of its parts. Isn’t the core of it about our willingness to each stand up and be counted?

Unless we’re George Soros who can afford to put his money where his mouth is, for the rest of us it’s a trade-off: idealism and activism balanced with making a decent living, or among the younger generation like Nat Tan and his girlfriend, idealism pitted against opportunity cost.

But when everybody prefers to just let somebody else get things done, the higher the cost will be on lone individuals; or exacting an unbearable price like on Namewee, the 24-year-old student rapper who did the MCA’s dirty job for that useless party.

Haris fortified me when he said he and his wife were braced for the consequences of his activism. His affairs are all in order should the authorities suddenly decide his being at large ain’t so hot.

I remember him saying too that Nelson Mandela spent 26 years in prison. If that’s his idea of reassurance, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. But nowadays, I think there’s more to grieve about than there is cause for joy, especially for the majority of Malaysians who are neither well-off nor well-connected.

And I wonder if we can remain steely enough to make things better “for the sake of Malaysia” and whether more disillusioned idealists will be lost to the ‘real world’ because so few people care at all.

(As this goes to post, the petition is at 3,619, short of 1,381 to reach the targeted 5000.The 3,619 of us just got to go out and get one more of our friends to sign up.)

Make your stand at; savethejudiciary@gmail.com