Pakatan Harapan's Victory At Malaysia #GE14 #PRU14

Public holidays on Thursday and Friday: Ali Hamsa

MAY 10, 2018 @ 3:49AM 

BY IRWAN SHAFRIZAN ISMAIL published by New Straits Times Malaysia.

PUTRAJAYA: The government has declared Thursday and Friday (10 dan 11 May) as additional public holidays in conjunction with the 14th General Election.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa said for states whose weekends fall on Friday and Saturday, the additional public holiday will fall on Sunday (May 13).

“The declaration of this public holiday is made under Section 8 of the Public Holidays Act 1951 for Peninsular and Federal Territory of Labuan.

“For Sabah and Sarawak, the state government shall have to declare the additional public holidays for both dates according to the respective General Public Relations Ordinance," he said in a statement here today.

Link: https://www.nst.com.my/node/367879/amp

Johor falls to opposition for first time in Malaysian history

(Updated: 10 May 2018 03:06AM)

By Justin Ong published by Channel News Asia.

Malaysia’s southernmost state and traditional ruling party stronghold Johor toppled to the opposition Pakatan Harapan alliance after general elections on Wednesday (May 9), in a historic moment for the country.

Pakatan’s component parties won 36 out of 56 state seats to take control of the state assembly, ousting the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition which had, up until now, governed Johor since Malaysia’s independence... 

And Johor's chief minister Khaled Nordin surprisingly lost his Permas state seat by 8,746 votes to Pakatan’s Che Zakaria Salleh...

And in Muar, BN’s deputy minister in the prime minister’s department Razali Ibrahim was stunned by nearly 7,000 votes courtesy of young Pakatan upstart Syed Saddiq.

Elsewhere, Muhyiddin also retained his Pagoh parliament seat by nearly 7,000 votes, while longtime opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang held on to his Iskandar Puteri - formerly named Gelang Patah - parliamentary ward, trouncing BN challenger Jason Teoh by nearly 45,000 votes.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/johor-falls-to-opposition-for-first-time-in-malaysian-history-10218926

Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan pulls off shock victory at Malaysia general election

Updated: 10 May 2018 09:00AM

By Sumisha Naidu published by Channel News Asia.

KUALA LUMPUR: In a stunning result that made political history, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition crossed the minimum threshold of 112 seats needed to form Malaysia's new government, according to figures from the Election Commission early Thursday (May 10) morning. 

The result brings to an end the rule of Barisan Nasional (BN), which has dominated Malaysian politics for decades.

In a press conference just before the official confirmation, PH leader and former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said PH had achieved a victory. 

"We have achieved a very substantial majority," said the 92-year-old.

PH component parties Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Democratic Action Party officially crossed the victory threshold at around 4am after a long night of results which saw power steadily ebbing away from Najib Razak and his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party. The final official result showed that PH had won 113 seats, with BN on 79.

Dr Mahathir also said that a palace request has been made for Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to be the designated deputy Prime Minister.

The 92-year-old pledged a government that would include a "young person" and said he would honour his agreement to help secure a royal pardon for jailed leader Anwar Ibrahim. 

However, he added that Anwar would have to win a by-election or be elected senator in order for him to take over as prime minister from Dr Mahathir, as per their agreement.

FIRST SIGN OF AN UPSET

The first sign that an upset was on the cards came when unofficial results started trickling in about four hours after the ballot boxes were closed.

At about 9pm, Bernama reported that caretaker Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, the president of BN component party Malaysian Chinese Association, had lost his Bentong seat to PKR’s Wong Tack.

Caretaker Health Minister S Subramaniam, of BN component party Malaysian Indian Congress, was the next major casualty, losing his Segamat seat in Johor to PKR’s R Santhara Kumar.

At 9.30pm, there was respite for BN when word came in that incumbent prime minister Najib Razak – had successfully defended his Pekan seat in Pahang.

But the bloodbath continued for the ruling coalition. 

By 9.45pm, another four deputy ministers fell. 

At about the same time, it emerged that Mahathir would make a return to parliament after winning his Langkawi seat.

WHAT FUTURE FOR NAJIB RAZAK?

The result throws into doubt Najib Razak's position in his party.

While he had been praised for his fiscal policies, he was also unpopular for rolling out a goods and services tax in addition to being a target of unwanted international attention over allegations funds were misappropriated from a state fund he advised, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He has denied any wrongdoing.

It was the controversy over the fund, however, that sparked Malaysia's longest serving prime minister's return to active politics after 22 years of retirement.

Mahathir had accused his former protege Najib of corruption and abuse of power before quitting UMNO to form his own party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

At a news conference where he declared victory, Mahathir was asked if he would act against Najib now that he would assume power.

To this, Mahathir said: "We are not seeking revenge. We want to restore the rule of law."

As well as seizing control of the national government, several state legislatures across the country fell into PH hands for the first time, including the highly symbolic bastion of Johor, the birthplace of Najib's party that was the lynchpin of the ruling coalition.

As it became clear that Mahathir had won, supporters took to the streets waving flags of the Pakatan Harapan alliance.

After polls closed earlier in the day, journalists had headed to the headquarters of Najib's UMNO, but he failed to turn up to give a speech and the media were told to leave.

Huge numbers of voters earlier turned up at the polls across the country, despite Najib having called the election on a weekday in what critics said was a bid to keep turnout down.

The BN wipeout is a disaster for Najib, who had been under pressure to score an emphatic win after the government lost the popular vote for the first time at the last elections in 2013.

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-election-pakatan-harapan-opposition-shock-victory-ge14-10219070

#1MDB: U.S. Seeks to Recover Approximately $540 Million Obtained From Corruption Involving Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund

15 June 2017

The Justice Department announced today the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of approximately $540 million in assets associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Combined with civil forfeiture complaints filed in July 2016, seeking more than $1 billion, and civil forfeiture complaints filed last week seeking approximately $100 million in assets, this case represents the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Assets now subject to forfeiture in this case total almost $1.7 billion.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco, Acting U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Brown of the Central District of California, Assistant Director Stephen E. Richardson of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Deputy Chief Don Fort of the IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.

According to the complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates. 1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people. 

“The Criminal Division is steadfast in our efforts to protect the security, safety, and integrity of the American financial system from all manner of abuse, including by kleptocrats seeking to hide their ill-gotten or stolen wealth,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. “Today’s complaints reveal another chapter of this multi-year, multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme, bringing the total identified stolen proceeds to $4.5 billion. This money financed the lavish lifestyles of the alleged co-conspirators at the expense and detriment of the Malaysian people. We are unwavering in our commitment to ensure the United States is not a safe haven for corrupt individuals and kleptocrats to hide their ill-gotten wealth or money, and that recovered assets be returned to the victims from which they were taken.”

“These cases involve billions of dollars that should have been used to help the people of Malaysia, but instead was used by a small number of individuals to fuel their astonishing greed,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Brown. “The misappropriation of 1MDB funds was accomplished with an extravagant web of lies and bogus transactions that were brought to light by the dedicated attorneys and law enforcement agents who continue to work on this matter. We simply will not allow the United States to be a place where corrupt individuals can expect to hide assets and lavishly spend money that should be used for the benefit of citizens of other nations.”

“Today’s filing serves as a reminder of the important role that the FBI plays in rooting out international corruption. When corrupt foreign officials launder funds through the United States in furtherance of their criminal activity, the FBI works tirelessly to help hold those officials accountable, and recover the misappropriated funds,” said Assistant Director Richardson. “I applaud all my colleagues and our international partners who have worked to help recover an immense amount of funds taken from the Malaysian people, who are the victims of this abhorrent case of kleptocracy.”

“Today’s announcement is the result of untangling a global labyrinth of multi-layered financial transactions allegedly used to divert billions of dollars from the people of Malaysia and fund the co-conspirators’ lavish lifestyles,” said Deputy Chief Fort. “The IRS is proud to partner with other law enforcement agencies and share its world-renowned financial investigative expertise in this complex financial investigation. It’s important for the world to see, that when people use the American financial system for corruption, the IRS will take notice.”

Read more here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-seeks-recover-approximately-540-million-obtained-corruption-involving-malaysian-sovereign

By Justin Baer, Aruna Viswanatha and Bradley Hope. Published by The Wall Street Journal on 15 June 2017.

The lawsuits also allege that Mr. Low had given $8 million worth of jewelry to Ms. Kerr from New York jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, including an 11.72 carat heart-shaped diamond on Valentine’s Day in 2014. Mr. Low and Ms. Kerr were dating at the time, according to a person who knows them. Ms. Kerr was married last month to Snap Inc. co-founder Evan Spiegel.

Most of the assets in the lawsuits belong to Mr. Low, a flamboyant Malaysian deal maker who is a central figure in the alleged misappropriation of funds from 1MDB, according to the Justice Department. His yacht was sighted Thursday off the coast of the Cambodian island of Koh Rong, according to ship-tracking site MarineTraffic.

The lawsuits allege Mr. Low used money siphoned from 1MDB to buy jewelry worth $200 million from companies around the world between April 2013 and September 2014. Some of that was given to Ms. Kerr, and nearly $30 million was given to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Mr. Najib, according to the suits.

Ms. Rosmah received in early 2014 a 22-carat pink diamond necklace from Lorraine Schwartz worth $27.3 million, allegedly arranged by Mr. Low and paid for with money stolen from 1MDB, according to the suit. Later that year, Mr. Low arranged for Ms. Rosmah to get a further $1.3 million worth of gold necklaces from Lorraine Schwartz. A spokesman for Ms. Rosmah didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Read more here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-targets-540-million-of-new-assets-in-1mdb-fraud-case-1497539922?mod=e2twa

Published by The Malaysian Insight on 16 June 2017.

HOLLYWOOD actor and Oscar-award winner Leonardo DiCaprio has surrendered an Oscar statue originally won by Marlon Brando to the US government as part of the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) probe into allegations of corruption in Malaysia’s state investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The statue was allegedly given to DiCaprio by Red Granite, the production house co-owned by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s step son Riza Aziz which financed the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ in which DiCaprio played the leading role.

Red Granite apparently gave DiCaprio the Oscar as a thank-you gift after work on ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ wrapped up. He voluntarily handed the statue over prior to the latest filing, according to a report by Hollywood entertainment site Vanity Fair.

Read more here: https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/5213/

#Bersih4

US Supreme Court Permits Jesus Prayers at Government Meetings

By Ruth Moon. Published by Christianity Today on 5 May 2014.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that explicitly Christian prayers at government meetings do not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment. At least in the 94,000-person town of Greece, New York, which may continue to open its council meetings with sectarian prayer after the court's 5-4 reversal of an appeals court's ban on the tradition.

Requiring prayers to be nonsectarian would require courts to "act as supervisors and censors of religious speech," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority opinion, "thus involving government in religious matters to a far greater degree than is the case under the town's current practice of neither editing nor approving prayers in advance nor criticizing their content after the fact."

Two residents of Greece had sued the town board for its practice of beginning meetings with prayer, saying the practice violated the establishment clause (full summary below). The Second Circuit Appeals Court agreed, saying that even though the town board allowed members of any faith to pray, functionally, a majority of the prayers contained "uniquely Christian language."

But the Supreme Court reversal highlights the difficulty of determining where the line is between sectarian and nonsectarian prayer. Phrases like "Lord of Lords," Kennedy points out, might seem ecumenical to many Christians but exclusive to practitioners of other religions. "The First Amendment is not a majority rule, and government may not seek to define permissible categories of religious speech," Kennedy said in the opinion. "Once it invites prayer into the public sphere, government must permit a prayer giver to address his or her own God or gods as conscience dictates, unfettered by what an administrator or judge considers to be nonsectarian." 

Such prayers might offend people, Kennedy acknowledged. "Offense, however, does not equate to coercion," he said. "Adults often encounter speech they find disagreeable; and an Establishment Clause violation is not made out any time a person experiences a sense of affront from the expression of contrary religious views in a legislative forum."

The court handed down several opinions: Kennedy wrote the court's opinion, which Chief Justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito joined. Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined in part and filed a partially concurring opinion; Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Sonia Sotomayor joined a dissenting opinion by Elena Kagan.

Kagan in the dissenting opinion said the Greece prayers were "more sectarian and less inclusive" than any allowed in the precedent case, Marsh v. Chambers. That 1983 case upheld the state of Nebraska's tradition of opening legislative sessions with a chaplain's prayer.

"When citizens of all faiths come to speak to each other and their elected representatives in a legislative session, the government must take especial care to ensure that the prayers they hear will seek to include, rather than serve to divide," Kagan said.

The Greece case, the first legislative prayer case taken by the Supreme Court since 1983, has been closely watched. CT, which previously examined whether Christians must pray in Jesus' name at public forums, noted how the Second Circuit ruled that the town didn't try hard enough to find non-Christians to give the invocations—even if that required recruiting beyond the town's borders. But many expected the Supreme Court to reverse the ruling, and wondered how narrow or broad the reversal would be.

Most of Kennedy's opinion "is devoted to refuting respondents' argument that the Establishment Clause requires legislative invocations to be non-sectarian," explains Religion Clause's Howard Friedman in his analysis, while most of Kagan's dissent "emphasiz[es] the differences between city council meetings and state legislatures" on religious equality.

"The Supreme Court has again affirmed that Americans are free to pray," said David Cortman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represented the town of Greece before the Supreme Court. "Opening public meetings with prayer is a cherished freedom that the authors of the Constitution themselves practiced. Speech censors should have no power to silence volunteers who pray for their communities just as the Founders did."

ADF believes the ruling has ramifications for similar cases in other courts, and "will seek to resolve those cases in light of the decision."

"Today's Supreme Court decision is a great victory for religious liberty," said Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed an amicus brief in the case. "Prayers like these have been taking place in our nation's legislatures for over 200 years. They showcase our nation's religious diversity, highlight the fact that religion is a fundamental aspect of human culture, and reinforce the founding idea that our rights come from the Creator—not the legislature."

The decision highlights U.S. freedom to enjoy religious liberty, said Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, which also filed an amicus brief in the case. "I am very thankful the Court did the right thing," he said. "Prayer at the beginning of a meeting is a signal that we aren't ultimately just Americans. We are citizens of the State, yes, but the State isn't ultimate. There is some higher allegiance than simply political process."

Here is the Supreme Court's summary of Greece v. Galloway:

Since 1999, the monthly town board meetings in Greece, New York, have opened with a roll call, a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer given by clergy selected from the congregations listed in a local directory. While the prayer program is open to all creeds, nearly all of the local congregations are Christian; thus, nearly all of the participating prayer givers have been too. Respondents, citizens who attend meetings to speak on local issues, filed suit, alleging that the town violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause by preferring Christians over other prayer givers and by sponsoring sectarian prayers. They sought to limit the town to "inclusive and ecumenical" prayers that referred only to a "generic God." The District Court upheld the prayer practice on summary judgment, finding no impermissible preference for Christianity; concluding that the Christian identity of most of the prayer givers reflected the predominantly Christian character of the town's congregations, not an official policy or practice of discriminating against minority faiths; finding that the First Amendment did not require Greece to invite clergy from congregations beyond its borders to achieve religious diversity; and rejecting the theory that legislative prayer must be non-sectarian. The Second Circuit reversed, holding that some aspects of the prayer pro- gram, viewed in their totality by a reasonable observer, conveyed the message that Greece was endorsing Christianity.

Link: 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2014/may/supreme-court-permits-jesus-prayers-at-government-greece.html

Lawsuits Against Religious Communities Over Gay Marriage & Abortion Are Crossing 'Red Lines of Liberty'!

By Michael Gryboski, published by The Christian Post on 19 November 2013.

A legal expert and head of a conservative law firm has stated that government actions against religious groups over same-sex marriage and abortion are "red lines of liberty" being crossed.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel, told The Christian Post while part of an event in the Washington, D.C.-area on Monday that these red lines involve coercion on the part of government.

"These red lines of liberty are coming very rapidly. They're not just issues that are contrary to Christian values that you can coexist with," said Staver.  "These are issues where the government is seeking to force you to affirm ideas and values that are completely contrary to your Christian faith."

Staver spoke in regard to measures like the HHS "preventive services" mandate, which critics say forces some religious organizations to violate their moral objections to abortion and birth control, as well as recent lawsuits leveled against Christian businesses that refuse to provide their services to same-sex weddings and receptions.

"It's a zero-sum game, not because we made it a zero sum game, but because they've made it a zero-sum game," said Staver. "The sanctity of human life transcends politics and now we're moving into a situation where the federal government, under the HHS mandate, is forcing employers to fund the taking of innocent human life; otherwise be fined or go out of business."

Staver's remarks came at a two-day event sponsored by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, titled "Justice Summit 2013."  Beginning Monday afternoon and held at the Crystal City Hilton near Ronald Reagan National Airport, the summit features several Christian leaders from various churches and organizations. In addition to Staver, guest speakers include Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church; and Danielle Jones, chair for the FreedomUNITED Campaign.

"The NHCLC Justice Summit is an opportunity to amplify our influence, to dialogue and strategize about key justice issues," reads an entry on NHCLC's website.  "The NHCLC Justice Summit 2013 is an effort to increase our unified commitment and propose answers, from a Christian worldview perspective, to key issues such as: immigration reform, poverty, the struggle against human trafficking, the defense of the right to life and religious liberty."

Gus Reyes, director of the Hispanic education initiative for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, served as emcee for the summit.  Samuel Rodriguez Jr., president of the NHCLC, gave remarks early Monday afternoon where he spoke inspirational words and provided an overview of the summit.  In his remarks, Rodriquez stressed that he believes true justice comes from God and that far too often the word "justice" has been "exploited" by ideological partisans.

"Justice is not a term to be exploited. It is not a copyrighted nomenclature to be exploited by political operatives on the left or on the right," said Rodriguez.  "Justice does not belong to the donkey or the elephant, justice comes from the heart of the lamb. And we are here these days to lift up, to elevate justice."

At one point, Rodriquez went "off script" and led the audience through an emotional prayer based in "reflection and repentance" in which a majority of summitt attendees went to their knees.  "We repent before you in the name of Christ as a nation, as a community, and people of the Church, we have fallen short," prayed Rodriquez.

Staver, who presently serves as executive board vice president and chief legal counsel for NHCLC, told CP that the event was some time in the making.  "We've been actually talking about and planning an event like this for quite a while. So it's good to see it come to pass," said Staver.

Said to be the largest Latino Christian organization in the United States, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is a sister organization to the National Association of Evangelicals.

Link: http://www.christianpost.com/news/expert-lawsuits-against-religious-employers-over-gay-marriage-abortion-are-crossing-red-lines-of-liberty-109037/cpt

By Katherine Weber, published by The Christian Post on 19 November 2013.

A small town in upstate New York has rallied together to continue funding its local community's Christmas celebration, even though an atheist's complaint forced the local government to stop supporting the event.

The town of Spencerport, N.Y., a small village located just outside of Rochester, has been celebrating its annual "Christmas on the Canal" event for 17 years until this year, when Elaine Spaziano, the event's founder and organizer, announced that the tradition had to be canceled after an atheist complained about First Amendment rights and the separation of church and state to the local government... 

According to the local Rochester YNN news, after word got around that the "Christmas on the Canal" event had been canceled, donations from local residents and businesses began pouring in, in an effort to keep the decades-long tradition going. Resident Ralph Parmelee began imploring local businesses to donate to the event, and the town has now officially raised enough money to hold "Christmas on the Canal" for another year.

"We cannot let this die. For the generations that are coming, the young people and all, we can't take Christmas out of the picture. It's got to stay there and we're going to keep it there," Parmelee told the local media outlet.

Read more here:

http://www.christianpost.com/news/ny-town-rallies-to-keep-christmas-event-after-atheists-complaint-cancels-government-funds-109132/cpt

#GE13: What happened and what it means - Written by John Malott, former US ambassador

Published by Malaysia Chronicle on 8 May 2013.

Barisan Nasional (BN), the political coalition led by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that has ruled Malaysia for over five decades, won both the national and state elections this past Sunday, May 5. But for the first time in more than four decades, they lost the popular vote. The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won 52% of all votes cast, compared to BN’s 46.5%.

Both the number of voters and the turnout rate of 85% were the highest in the nation’s history, a reflection of the strong interest in this year’s elections. For the first time in history, Malaysia’s voters had a real choice between two strong political forces, with two distinct visions of Malaysia’s future. (See http://www.theislamicmonthly.com/may-5-malaysias-fate-will-be-decided/)

Malaysia’s election commission announced that BN won 133 out of 222 seats in the national Parliament, a drop of seven seats since the 2008 elections. The government also failed to attain the two-thirds majority that is needed to amend Malaysia’s constitution. However, BN’s victory means that it will hold 60% of the seats in Parliament, despite receiving less than half of the national vote. That is the result of the gerrymandering of electoral districts and also the gross imbalance in the size of those districts, which can range from less than 25,000 to over 100,000 voters. That tends to benefit rural districts, where the BN is strong, at the expense of urban voters, who favor the opposition.

In every election there are reports of voter fraud, “phantom voters,” and vote buying. The general consensus among political experts is that in past years it did not affect the ultimate outcome. This year, however, the picture is more confused. There are numerous and well-documented reports of vote buying and illegal voting. The indelible ink that the Election Commission used turned out to be easily removable.

As a consequence, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has refused so far to accept the results and says he will address the nation at a rally on Wednesday evening. The civic group Bersih, which has been leading the call for free and fair elections for several years, announced that it also is withholding recognition of the new government until its fact-finding mission is completed and public hearings are held. The group’s leader, attorney Ambiga Sreenevasan, said that the election commission “has failed to ensure a clean, free and fair election process.”

Najib lost the urban Malay vote

The ruling coalition’s victory was not good news for all its constituent parties, however. In years past the BN was seen as a multi-racial political grouping, composed of ethnic Malay, Chinese, and Indian parties. But that is no longer true. The United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, now clearly dominates the coalition. Of BN’s 122 seats, UMNO can claim 109 of them, up from 79 in the last elections, which were held in 2008.

Meanwhile MCA, the Chinese ethnic party, won only six seats; in the 2004 and 2008 elections, it won 31 and 15 seats, respectively. Gerakan, another Chinese party, fell from 10 seats in 2004 to just one seat on Sunday. The ethnic Indian party MIC won only four seats. UMNO’s Chinese and Indian partners basically are disappearing as major political forces in Malaysia.

As for UMNO, its gains came primarily in the rural areas. As before, it took a major drubbing in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and in Malaysia’s most important and economically advanced states, Selangor and Penang. For the first time, it lost seats in the State of Johor, another important economic center next to Singapore.

Although Najib and others say that they lost votes because of a Chinese “tsunami” and “racial polarization,” that is not the whole story. They also lost the urban Malay vote, just as they did in 2008. Kadir Jasin, who was the longtime editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times (which is owned by UMNO), wrote that it is not just a Chinese tsunami; it is also a Malaysian tsunami “that is centered on the aspirations and a new reality, especially among young voters.”

The opposition picked up 22 seats from the government coalition and made inroads for the first time into the states of Johor, Sabah, and Sarawak. But UMNO was able to wrest 15 seats back from the opposition, all in rural Malay areas. Rural Malaysian voters generally are seen as less sophisticated than their urban cousins, and they are less likely to have access to the internet and alternative media that the opposition used. Instead they rely on television, radio, and newspapers — all of which are under control of the government and the ruling party. They were barraged continuously with pro-government, anti-opposition propaganda and told that Malay privileges would be taken away if the opposition came to power, that Islam would be abolished as the official religion, and that a Chinese would become Prime Minister. With low income levels, they were vulnerable to the cash handouts that Najib’s government made to them, using public monies.

What happens now?

Opposition may yet have its day

Najib was sworn in as Prime Minister on Monday, May 6 and will form his government shortly. Anwar will address the nation on Wednesday, and stories of electoral fraud will continue to swirl.

Before the elections, Anwar said that if the opposition loses, he will step down from politics. But Anwar personally was reelected to Parliament, and he is likely to continue as leader of the opposition. If he quits now, it would be a major setback to the opposition.

As for Najib, his leadership of his party likely will come under challenge. Although he and the government “won,” it was their worst showing in history. The number of seats held by the governing coalition in Parliament and the state houses went down. They lost the popular vote at both the national and the state levels. Najib’s opponents within the party no doubt already are thinking about how to bring him down by the time of the party elections later this year. Behind the scenes, that could involve leaking details of the various allegations of corruption that surround Najib and his wife.

Najib’s likely successor is the current Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who famously said, “I am a Malay first and a Malaysian second.” Muhyiddin is not seen as a reformer; to the contrary, he is seen as a product of the “UMNO system.”

Because BN achieved its support this year primarily from the Malays and especially the rural Malay community, Muhyiddin and his associates are likely to resist any attempt by Najib to reach out to other ethnic communities or to ease the special privileges that so many Malays have come to see as their birth right. Utusan, the Malay-language daily that serves as UMNO’s mouthpiece, had a two page headline on Tuesday, screaming in red ink, “What More Do the Chinese Want?” Najib, who had promised national reconciliation the day before, defended the paper.

Because these same politicians have benefited from their close relationships to certain businessmen (and the businessmen in turn have benefited from their relations with the politicians), they also are likely to resist any serious efforts at economic reform. The markets clearly signaled this the day after the elections, when the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange’s composite index (KLCI) hit a record high. The KLCI is composed of just 31 stocks, most of which are the companies of the so-called “cronies.” Rather than a vote of confidence in the prospects for reform, it just as easily could be seen as a signal that the markets expect “business as usual” to continue in Malaysia, so buying stock in those companies therefore is a good investment.

Therein lies the irony and the difficulty for UMNO. If it wants to appeal to the “new Malaysia” — the Malaysia that voted against it and for the opposition last Sunday — then it has to change the very nature of its being. But if it does that, then it risks losing the support of those who have kept it in power.

All this provides yet another chance for the opposition. The demographics of Malaysia are changing in its favor. The nation is becoming younger and more urban, and more aware of what is happening in the outside world. The opposition may yet have its day in Malaysia.

http://www.theislamicmonthly.com/malaysia-elections-what-happened-and-what-it-means/

Link: 

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=98141:malaysia-elections-what-happened-and-what-it-means-former-us-ambassador&Itemid=2

Pergi Awal Untuk Mengundi. 提早去投票. Go Early To Vote.

Dedicated To Those Who "Hate Politics"

Churches roll out campaign for GE13

By Bob Teoh. Published by mysinchew.com on 5 April 2013.

Churches throughout the country have rolled out its campaign for the forthcoming general elections known as "Prayer United." This initiative was mooted two years ago partly in response to various challenges facing the church particularly Islamisation and the erosion of religious liberty.

One in ten persons in the country is a Christian, thus making the church a significant block of votes. Thus it is no surprise that the rallying call is for the church to be "fully awakened, engaged and empowered during this critical season and to understand the urgency and importance of this elections…," according to Prayer United.

The church is generally conservative and pro-establishment. However, as older church leaders begin to retire, they have been replaced by younger and more articulate pastors and lay leaders. Coupled with their unhappiness over curtailment of religious freedom, the church has been searching for the middle ground with many encouraging congregational members to go into the political arena.

Although the GE13 prayer campaign comes under the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the umbrella Christian body in Malaysia that comprises the mainline Council of Churches of Malaysia, National Evangelical Christian Fellowship and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, the initiative is by a movement of nine prayer networks and pastors’ fellowship throughout the country.

Churches also see holding the general elections in 2013, the fiftieth year of the formation of Malaysia, as spiritually significant.

As pointed by Prayer United, "This election season is one of the most critical of our nation’s history as it will be held during the Jubilee Year. This is no coincidence."

Bumiputera Christians make up about two thirds of the some two million Christians in the country mainly in Sabah and Sarawak. It is there that they have been reeling from the impact if Islamisation particularly covert conversion of their young. Another sore point is that they are still not allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God even though the High Court has ruled otherwise. That judgement is still under appeal by the Attorney General for four years now.

Given this unhappiness, the Pastors’ Fellowship of Kota Kinabalu initiated a call to prayer in 2011 to prepare for the jubilee year of the church. That soon snowballed into a country-wide movement spearheaded by the NECF to usher in the jubilee in 2012 with a forty-day fast and pray known as the Hope of Jubilee in anticipation that the general elections would be held then.

According to NECF, "Having faced one contentions issue after another regarding the Christian faith over the last 12 months, we await a refreshing touch from God to lift us up beyond our human concerns. Equality and religious liberty are the missing factors that cause many citizens to examine the constitution to seek fairness against injustice and an oppressive system."

Meanwhile, Christian Federation of Malaysia issued an advisory on 18 July 2012 to Christians for the GE13 entitled "Vote wisely, vote for a better Malaysia."

It said, "CFM encourages all Christians to be conscious of their political rights--to vote, and to use the power of the vote to elect a government that will ensure justice with equity and the well-being of our nation."

It took care to point out that CFM is not politically motivated nor is it endorsing any one political party.

With many constituencies won by a wafer thin majority in the last general elections, the Christian vote may just swing the final tally one way of another, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.

Link: http://www.mysinchew.com/node/84915?tid=12

Anwar menang saman terhadap Utusan

Oleh Aisha Geoffrey. Diterbitkan oleh Keadilan Daily.

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Januari 2013: Ketua Umum KEADILAN, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hari ini menang kes saman fitnah RM50 juta terhadap Utusan Melayu Bhd dan ketua pengarangnya berhubung artikel berkaitan temu bualnya yang disiarkan oleh BBC tahun lalu. Keputusan penghakiman itu dibacakan Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur, Datuk VT Singham di sini pagi ini.

Utusan didapati bersalah memfitnah Anwar kerana menuduh beliau menyokong pergerakan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transeksual (LGBT). Singham memutuskan artikel itu bersifat fitnah dan bertujuan menjatuhkan reputasi Anwar sebagai pemimpin politik. Beliau berkata, keputusan itu dibuat kerana mengambil kira fakta dan bukti yang dibentangkan sepanjang perbicaraan, menunjukkan Utusan dipunyai oleh Umno.

“Artikel tersebut adalah terpesong, tidak tepat dan di luar maksud yang diperkatakan,” kata Singham dalam penghakimannya. Keputusan itu merujuk artikel bertajuk ‘Tolak Anwar-Hassan’ yang disiarkan muka depan akhbar kawalan Umno itu pada 17 Januari 2012.

Anwar memfailkan fitnah terhadap Utusan dan Ketua Pengarangnya, Datuk Abdul Aziz Ishak 20 Januari tahun lalu, yang didakwanya telah mencetak dan menerbitkan berita berhubung komen beliau bersama BBC mengenai undang-undang berkaitan dengan homoseksual.

“Mahkamah berpuas hati (dalam artikel tersebut) bahawa ini adalah fitnah kepada plaintif,” kata Singham. Menurutnya, Utusan tidak mengamalkan kewartawanan yang bertanggungjawab. Sedangkan katanya, defendan mempunyai peluang untuk membetulkan fakta selepas Anwar menghantar notis peguam untuk keterangan.

“Wartawan dan editor mempunyai hak untuk menyiarkan berita, tapi bukan fitnah, atau berita palsu,” tempelak Singham dalam penghakimannya. Katanya, hakim memainkan peranan penting dalam memastikan kebebasan badan kehakiman.

“Keadilan perlu dilaksanakan tanpa dipengaruhi mana-mana pihak mahupun parti politik, semua keputusan perlulah selari dengan fakta yang dibentangkan,” jelas Singham. Beliau mengarahkan Utusan membayar gantirugi kos sebanyak RM45,000 kepada Anwar manakala pampasan damage (teruk) ditetapkan ke satu tarikh kemudian.

Link: http://www.keadilandaily.com/anwar-menang-saman-terhadap-utusan/

UK court vindicates Christian demoted for opposing gay ‘marriage’

By Hilary White.

MANCHESTER, November 23, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A court in Manchester has ruled that when Adrian Smith wrote on Facebook that he objected to government plans to create “same-sex marriage.” he was not committing an act of “professional misconduct.” Smith, 55, a property manager in Manchester, was demoted and had his pay cut by his employers, who alleged that his comment constituted an act of “gross professional misconduct.”

Smith had commented on his Facebook page that the redefinition of marriage planned by the coalition government is “an equality too far.”

“The Bible is quite specific that marriage is for men and women,” Smith wrote. “If the State wants to offer civil marriages to the same sex then that is up to the State; but the State shouldn’t impose its rules on places of faith and conscience.”

The court ruled that Smith’s employer, Trafford Housing Trust, a branch of the local municipal government, had acted unlawfully in breaching the terms of its contract with Smith, and had no right to demote him. Mr. Smith made the comments on his own time and in a venue where they could not be read by the general public, the court observed. The Trust claimed, however, that he had broken the code of conduct for employees by making comments that “might offend co-workers”.

Mr. Smith said he was “pleased” with the outcome of the year-long case. “Britain is a free country where people have freedom of speech, and I am pleased that the judge’s ruling underlines that important principle,” Smith said. “But this sad case should never have got this far. Long ago, Trafford Housing Trust should have held their hands up and admitted they made a terrible mistake.”

The case prompted lawyer and religious discrimination law expert Neil Addison to comment that “the obsession with hate crime and hate speech has created a new generation of publicly paid heresy-hunters.”

Link:

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/uk-court-vindicates-christian-demoted-for-opposing-gay-marriage

Inconsistency In Criminal Courts Sentencing

By Dave Avran. Published by Free Malaysia Today on 27 October 2012.

First, we saw how it is OK to rape a 13-year-old girl if you’re a star when Court of Appeal president Raus Sharif led the three-man panel in ruling that the jail term for national bowler Noor Afizal Azizan be substituted with a bound over sentence for good behavior for five years.

Now, two brothers are sent to the gallows for killing a burglar. Indonesian brothers Frans Hiu, 22, and Dharry Hiu, 20, were found guilty of murder for defending themselves against a violent robber. The High Court in Shah Alam sentenced them to death on Oct 18.

The brothers were jointly charged with having a common intention in the murder of 26-year-old R Khartic at a shophouse in Sepang on Dec 3, 2010. They were caretakers of the premises.

In her brief judgment, Justice Nurchaya Arshad ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven the case beyond reasonable doubt and sentenced the men to death.

What does “in her brief judgment” mean? How brief is brief? Two human beings are being deprived of their lives. Wouldn’t we require the court to give more substantial consideration than just a brief judgment?

Here are the facts of the case: three guys were inside their room. A burglar tries to break in first through the front door, then through the back door, and finally he climbs through the ceiling and falls into the room. There is so much determination and premeditation on the burglar’s part – he seriously wants to break in.

He then violently attacks the three occupants of the room. One of the occupants runs away. The other two defend themselves, there is a desperate life and death struggle and in the process the robber dies. Now the robbery victims are ironically sentenced to death.

Why not charge them with assault which carries a lesser sentence instead of murder? Criminal intent (Mens Rea) is a vital ingredient in all murder charges. How could the two brothers have entertained such an intention when in fact it is the burglar who had broken into their room and then attacked them?

He must have startled the brothers when he crashed through the ceiling and started attacking them. In self defence, the brothers fought back with their bare hands. They did not have any weapons in their bedroom.

Acting in self defence

The Malaysian Bar Council has weighed in on the issue and said that people should not take the law into their own hands.

Should the brothers not have defended themselves when attacked? The incident involved a robber who had gained illegal entry into a building and was motivated by a predetermined criminal intent.

In such cases, isn’t it instinctive and normal for the occupants to react spontaneously to restrain an intruder who may pose a danger to their lives?

It would be interesting to know which officer in the Attorney-General’s Chambers sanctioned the murder charge, knowing full well that the brothers were acting in self-defence. Don’t the people have a right to self defence in life-threatening situations? This is a seriously worrying question.

Why didn’t the court assign counsel for the defendants for a charge as serious as murder and for which a death sentence was a distinct possibility? The brothers were the only ones who testified in their own defence.

Doesn’t this case and the subsequent the charge reek of a serious defect in our legal system? There have been many similar cases where victims of crime have been penalised but for the sake of this article we will remain focused on this case alone.

Rightfully, several groups are calling for a judicial review into the death sentence imposed on the two Indonesian brothers, with National Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Lee Lam Thye saying that the sentence was too extreme and would have implications on the way people react to situations that involved their own personal safety and security.

MARAH has also started a forum on the subject. There must be consistency and fairness in how sentences are meted out. What were the brothers supposed to do? Wait for the robber to kill them first?

What are we the public supposed to do when someone breaks into our home? What kind of signal is the court giving?

Given the current crime free for all spree in Malaysia, should we all simply give in to the inevitable and just wear t-shirts with a bright red target painted on it?

Visit MARAH Facebook here

Dave Avran is the founder of MARAH (Malaysians Against Rape, Assault & snatcH).

Read more here:

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2012/10/27/whats-the-matter-with-our-judges/