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

Johor Orang Asli to get Compensation over Eviction

Published by The Malaysian Insider on 7 August 2012.

The Johor government will compensate the Orang Asli of Orang Selat descent over eviction from their land in Stulang Laut and demolition of their chapel nine years ago.

This follows the withdrawal of an appeal by the Johor Land and Mines Department represented by state legal adviser Datuk Abdul Rahman Putra against the decision of the Johor Baru High Court which had in 2010 awarded compensation to 50 Orang Asli which was to be assessed by the High Court.

The High Court had ruled that the eviction of Khalip Bachik Kelah Lah and 49 others from their land by the authorities was unlawful and the demolition of the chapel was an act of trespass. 

A three-member Court of Appeal panel led by Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin struck out the appeal and awarded RM5,000 in costs to the Orang Asli. Justices Datuk Clement Allan Skinner and Datuk Aziah Ali were the other two judges presiding on the panel.

Steven Thiru representing the Orang Asli said that following the withdrawal of the appeal the High Court’s decision stood. He said the next move was to go back to the High Court for assessment of damages to determine the amount of compensation.

Khalip and others are of Orang Asli Laut descent and members of the Orang Asli Christian congregation. They were originally residents of Kampung Orang Asli Stulang Laut. They received a directive from the Johor Baru City Council in 1993 to relocate to Kampung Orang Asli Kuala Masai on the grounds that the site they occupied was earmarked for development. 

Khalip and Kelah claimed that the Orang Asli Affairs Department (JHEOA) director-general had given them an assurance that they could build a place of worship at the new settlement and had done so upon relocation in 2003.

In 2005, 10 days before Christmas the chapel was demolished when the community was busy making preparations for the celebration.

In their civil suit filed in December 2008 the Orang Asli had named as defendants the state Land and Mines Department director Johor Baru City Council and JHEOA. However the city council and JHEOA chose not to participate in the proceedings in the High Court. The city council did not file affidavits in defence despite reminders and then failed to enter an appearance when the hearing dates were fixed. On September 22, 2010 the Johor Baru High Court ruled in favour of the Orang Asli and ordered the state Land and Mines Department director and city council to pay compensation to the Orang Asli.

Read more here: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/johor-orang-asli-to-get-compensation-over-eviction/

Oldest Profession, or Oldest Oppression? Ohio Judge Creates Court for Abused Prostitutes

Published by Christianity Today on 1 June 2012. By Amy L. Sherman.

"God, I realize that being a judge is a very unique position. Not many people get this opportunity. Can you show me some way that I could be significant for you in my work?"

About nine months later, Herbert, 51, was presiding in arraignment court. A typical procession of domestic violence victims passed before him. "A woman will come in, and she'll have these bright red marks around her neck. Clumps of her hair will be pulled out, maybe she'll have a puffy eye or a broken jaw—it's horrible." After seeing several of these women, the sheriff brought a prostitute before him. "She looked exactly like one of those victims that I'd been seeing," Herbert recounts. It shook up his categories.

Soon after, Herbert began researching the criminology of prostitution. What he learned stunned him. "Around 87 percent of these women are sexually abused, typically starting at around age 8," he explains. "They start using drugs to deal with that trauma around age 12." The girls run away from home or foster care and are dragged by predatory pimps into the commercial sex trade. "They are not in this lifestyle because they are nymphomaniacs who want to have sex with 15 different men a night."

Before, Herbert admits, "I would have said that women engaged in prostitution were involved in the world's oldest profession." Now he considers it "the world's oldest oppression."

Herbert decided to establish a restorative justice program for these women, launching CATCH Court—"Changing Attitudes to Change Habits"—in September 2009 with the support of his colleagues. Traditional treatment and probation had never been successful with this population, Herbert explains. Prostitutes simply cycled in and out of jail. The other judges told him, "If you want to try this experiment, go right ahead.'"

Through the two-year CATCH Court, women are sent to residential rehabilitation programs to detox and receive intensive therapy. Their movements are monitored electronically, they are subject to random drug tests, and they appear before Judge Herbert weekly in the courtroom to report on the progress. "I wish you could see the way they interact with each other," he says. "They all have each other's phone numbers, and they call, and they make meals for each other, and if one's in the hospital, they all go visit her. It's an amazing community."

Read more here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/thisisourcity/7thcity/oldestprofession.html

JESUS IS OUR CHAMPION!

Exstracted from Our Journey. Written by Joe Stowell.

“ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ ” Matthew 16:15

At some point in life we’ve all felt the frustration and fear of being up against situations that we can’t deal with and, worse yet, there seems to be no one to help. If you were to ask me to tell you about the times I have felt the twinges of hopelessness, my early recollections would be from my first year in high school.

From kindergarten through eighth grade I attended a small Christian school. My dad was a well-known pastor in the area, which meant that I was the big man on campus. Everyone knew who I was, and I had it made—until the day I graduated from that school and enrolled in the nearby public high school. Nobody knew me or my dad at the new school, and nobody cared. So, needless to say, I wasn’t a big shot anymore. What’s worse, I became the victim of Ronnie, who decided to prove his emerging manhood on me. Whenever I passed him in the hall, he would shove and taunt me. I was traumatized. Every day at school I was filled with anxiety and fear because of Ronnie. I needed somebody to help me. I pleaded with friends who knew Ronnie to ask him to stop, but they never did. I was all alone in my problem, and I needed a champion.

In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people were up against the oppressive regime of Rome. Every day they lived with the shame of being a despised minority under the tyrannical thumb of Caesar, who demanded hefty taxes and unflinching allegiance. The once- proud Israel was now a puppet servant state of a brutal and pagan empire. They desperately needed someone to champion their cause. Could it be that Jesus was the long-awaited deliverer? Hence, this on-the-spot quiz! Peter came up with the right answer when he declared Jesus as “the Christ”—the “Messiah” who would deliver them from the oppression they had endured for so long. Against the backdrop of Caesar-worship and rampant paganism in Caesarea Philippi, the disciples pinned their hopes on Jesus.

What Peter didn’t know was that Jesus would be their champion on a far more significant level than a political one: the oppression of Rome. Jesus came to overthrow the source of our problems, not the symptoms. Rome was merely the tool of Satan to defeat God’s people and tarnish God’s glory. Defeating Rome would have been a great accomplishment, but the enemy of our souls would have found another way to wage war against the people of God. So Jesus went head-to-head against Satan, engaged in battle on an old rugged cross, and after a three-day struggle with death rose victoriously from the grave to assure the final victory over the enemy of our souls.

Jesus is the ultimate champion! And when we cast our lot with Him, He assures us that the victory is already won on our behalf. The next time you find yourself in a full nelson up against the wall of despair, claim Jesus as your champion. As Paul declares, you may be “struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:9). Since He won the battle at Calvary, you are now entitled to share in the spoils of His victory. Thanks to Jesus, the word defeat is not in our vocabulary!