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Something wrong somewhere. 15 minutes is barely enough to arrange the crowd, get into line and start shouting at same time. How can the MB simply agree to the police’ suggestion that outdoor protest is limited to 15 minutes, after which the protestors have to go indoors? Even PKR itself can’t organise a protest in 15 minutes la! Ini macam gol sendiri.

Wait a minute, maybe he meant 15 minutes outdoors, 1 minute indoors, another 15 minutes outdoors, then go back indoor for 1 minute, then another 15 minutes outdoors….and so on?

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Regardless of the manner in which the “rule/guideline/bylaw” (I think many people are still unsure on what to call it) has been proposed by PAS representatives, I fully support the restriction the sale of alcohol. Convenience stores and shops in petrol station should not be selling alcohol. So do mini-markets or grocery shops.

It was initially proposed by Pas councillor in Klang, Mohd Termizi, but has been retracted. The proposal was as follows:

Mohd Termizi had suggested that alcohol be sold discreetly; signboards prohibiting Muslims from purchasing alcohol be prominently displayed; only non-Muslims be allowed to manage shops selling alcohol; a special counter be allocated for non-halal products; and a ban on the sale of alcohol at 24-hour convenience stores, sundry shops, mini markets, pharmacies, restaurants and petrol station kiosks.

I think that to complement the sales control, state government should also start a massive campaign blitz at all areas - colleges, universities, factories, temples, mosques, churches, shopping centres, bus stations, etc.

Alcohol-related crime and damages are on increase in UK. I read a report saying the those damages run into billions! We also seem to read in papers nowadays on crimes committed by people high on alcohol. The Selangor state government (PAS included) should provide facts and figures - do some research on countries. Don’t talk in terms of religion, but in terms of economic costs, health, crime rates. The old strategy of simply banning this and that won’t work.

The DAP, PKR, and PAS people must continue this debate. Discuss what to do next. Argue maturely. I definitely don’t want to hear the old mantra of “behind closed doors” that doesn’t seem to respect the people’s intelligence. While at the moment the MB of Selangor and Pakatan Rakyat leader both said that there are  some strategies to enforce current rules, I think its time a committee is set up to study the menace of alcohol.

For me, I support the restricted sale because I understand the damage of alcohol, and at the same time respect the idea that people may WANT to damage their health by consuming alcohol.  But in that process of killing themselves slowly, they should not endanger others. Thus one way to curb this is to limit the locations of sales. This will allow for better enforcement of the rules - no to those under 18, and no to Muslims.

Another angle is to involve NGOs and religious bodies to join the campaign to support under “religious” banner.  Secondly, focus should be on the suburban areas, rural areas, foreign workers hostels, sales of samsu etc.

You know something? My friend’s car was hit by another car from behind near Avon (Federal Highway) last Wednesday. The speeding car was occupied  by 3 very drunk Malay girls. My friends car was damaged, but luckily no one was injured. The parent of one of the girls called him next day to apologise and “kaotim” the problem. No police report in order to avoid unnecessary questions.

Alcohol is no more a non-Muslim problem. Its affecting all, even the foreign workers.

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I’m still waiting for news from some of the HMs in Selangor but this seems to be true. Malaysiakini reports in detail while as usual nothing in the papers (except Makkal Osai).

I wonder how long before the protector of Tamil Schools reply to this latest news. What will the reply of  Pala nivel, Dr S Subramaniam, Saravanan, Devamany, etc will be? Who is involved in issuing orders to education department officer to call the HMs? By right, the Tamil schools are under the care of Tamil School controller. Perhaps can start with him. His details are below:

Penyelia Sekolah Tamil (DGA32)
Encik Vallikkannan a/l Ramasamy
03-5518 6518
rvallikkannan@yahoo.com.my

The information above is available in public domain and is not invasion of privacy. The website of Selangor Education Department has the contact info.

Out of 79 schools, only 11 registered. I wonder about the statistics for the Chinese schools. Did the state departments threaten the Chinese school heads as well?

Below is excerpt of Charles Santiago’s statement:

I however strongly denounce the act of the fear mongers who have ill-advised school principals against accepting the funds. The state education department should know better than to issue verbal instructions to principals asking them not to attend the function at the Petaling Jaya Civic Center..

Currently there are only 11 Tamil schools registered with the state government for financial aid, to be used to improve facilities and infrastructure. I encourage more schools to come forward for the future of the school children..

The government and state education department must not try to force a political issue out of the initiative by the Selangor state government . Instead they could try to genuinely reach out to help the Tamil and Chinese schools which are in dire need of funding.

Let’s see what the PTA representatives said to Malaysiakini:

Two PTA representatives interviewed later revealed that their principals had received instructions not to attend the event.

Kinrara school PTA president Michael Tamil (left) said the headmaster had received verbal instructions.

“He told me that he had received such instructions…I don’t see the rationale for this,” he said.

S Sugumaran of the Persiaran Raja Muda Musa school said the principal had received a phone call from the state education department, which issued similar ‘advice’.

“But the headmaster encouraged me to attend instead…she actually wanted to come but it would have been hard for her because she would have been easily identified (by the authorities),” he added.

Xavier had this to say:

Addressing participants at the event, state exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar - who handles the health, plantation workers, poverty and caring government portfolio - said he had sent two letters to the education department director, seeking consent for the principals to attend the event.

Instead, he claimed, the department had warned them against doing so.

“I have learnt that (the officials) had made numerous phone calls to the principals,” said Jayakumar.

However, he said it was a positive sign that many others had shown up despite the directive.

“Even though we faced some hurdles before the event, I thank you all for coming today…because this is about our children’s priority, rather than that of politicians,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

I’m appaled to even read about this. If this story is true, then those responsible should be hauled up and sacked. The Education Minister should initiate an investigation so that his name is not implicated. But, most importantly, the affected HMs must come forward to name the criminals. They can do it via the PTA representatives. Or the police can subpeona phone records to trace who made the calls to the schools or the HMs’ handphones. (Hmmm… watching police series/movies makes us think better!)

Better still, Selangor government should just call PTAs instead of HMs or just visit the schools to hand over the allocations. No need for some function which puts the HMs in difficult position.

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