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Khir Toyo picked up by police!

February 13th, 2009

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Hmmm..i thought I’d never read this news in papers. But surprise, surprise, police “picked up” Khir Toyo and another fella for questioning (one may suspect that could be for their “own protection” or even some sort of publicity gimmick in view of impending party elections):

Former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and a local Umno Youth leader were picked up by the police for questioning in an aborted protest march against veteran parliamentarian Karpal Singh in George Town today.
Mohd Khir’s car was stopped at a junction near Waterfall Hotel as he was leaving with his aides and Permatang Pauh Umno Youth chief Mohd Zaidi Said. They were then escorted by a patrol car to the city police headquarters in Jalan Patani for questioning.

Mohd Khir, an Umno Youth national leadership aspirant, and Mohd Zaidi were later released after police recorded their statements.

Sporting a songkok, and wearing a white shirt and black pants, Mohd Khir was earlier about to lead a protest march from Youth Park in Waterfall to Karpal’s house, located about a kilometer away.

Umno Youth had planned to demonstrate outside Karpal’s house at 3pm over the DAP leader’s intention to file a lawsuit against Perak ruler Sultan Azlan Shah.

However, Mohd Khir and the protesters aborted their plan about 10 minutes before the protest was scheduled to start when the police warned them of stern action.

The police, including members of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU), appeared to outnumber the protesters.

Police also stayed guard outside Karpal’s bungalow to thwart any untoward incidents and seized banners with anti-Karpal, anti-Pakatan, pro-Malay and pro-Umno slogans.

Addressing those present with a loud hailer, Mohd Zaidi said: “Even though the police may have stopped us today, our Malay spirit will never die.”

He also took the police to task for stopping their peaceful demonstration.

The protesters started chanting ‘Hidup Melayu‘ (Long Live Malays) and ‘Daulat Tuanku‘ (Hail The King) when the police moved in to arrest Mohd Zaidi.

At this juncture, the protestors, some of them sporting red headbands with the words ‘Daulat Tuanku‘, managed to rescue Mohd Zaidi and whisked him away to a nearby car.

However, Mohd Zaidi was later picked up together with Mohd Khir.

The crowd dispersed immediately when George Town police district chief ACP Azam Abdul Hamid raised his voice and gave them a five-minute deadline to disperse.

Azam later told reporters that the gathering was illegal and the police would have arrested the protesters if they had started to march to Karpal’s house.

Earlier, the police stopped and turned back several buses and vans ferrying protesters at several check points from reaching Youth Park.

Knowing our makkal, this drama will be dismissed as another ploy or publicity stunt. Or worse, to justify arrest of some politicians from the other side.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags: Politicians Protest UMNO

Sampah Masyarakat cleans up Batu Caves

February 12th, 2009

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The group of volunteers under “Sampah Masyarakat” got together on Monday, the day after Thaipusam to help clean up the area. The initiative mooted by Shyam via email and Facebook saw abotu 30 volunteers sacrificing their holiday. Unfortunately, I was unable to join in on that day 🙁

Fellow blogger, Puvanan was caught on camera doing his bit. I think few other MindsBlog members also took part:

Puvanan at Batu Caves clean up by Sampah Masyarakat

No easy task: N.Puvanan, 24, (left) and Khairunisa filling up bags with rubbish.

THE Thaipusam celebration at the Batu Caves Temple in Selayang drew a big crowd and as such rubbish was found strewn about. To help clear this, a group of volunteers clad in white T-shirts took charge.

The group of volunteers, who call themselves Sampah Masyarakat, came armed with brooms, shovels and plastic bags and were kept busy from 7am on Monday.

Subscription manager M. Shyam Priah, 35, took the initiative to form the group by sending a global message through the social network Facebook to all her friends requesting for assistance for a massive gotong-royong.

It is Shyam’s way of creating awareness on cleanliness.

“We had about 30 volunteers in the morning and more by noon.

“We have divided the area to three zones from the main gate to the stairs. It is not just about cleaning up because nothing will come out of it.

“We are doing a study on how many times the bins gets filled and how long it takes to see how much rubbish people discard. We want to see if there are enough rubbish bins around the temple.

Big pile: Volunteers R. Rajendran, 42, and Dr Al Wee, 49, helping to clean up the coconut offerings at Batu Caves

“We want to create an awareness at a different level because when the attitude changes, it will last.

“I am glad to see that we have many Malay and Chinese volunteers who came to help in the clean-up,” she said.

Shyam said the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS), Alam Flora and temple committee members were also there to help them.

Student Ming Sing, 24, from Petaling Jaya left her home at 5.30am to volunteer her services in the clean-up.

“This will help create awareness on how we can save the earth.

“It is very surprising to see how people can throw rubbish indiscriminately,” she said.

Project manager Khairunisa Kamaruzaman, 30, decided to join in the good cause after hearing about it from friends.

“I have never been to Batu Caves before. I think this project should continue for other festivals as well. We should focus on reactive measures instead of just using preventive measures,” she said.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia, Indian

Tags: Batu Caves Bloggers Festival Harmony Role Model Thaipusam

retracted increment?

February 11th, 2009

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Heard some unusual news today that can turn you black. A prominent private university in Selangor today asked all its staff who were confirmed in their positions and those that received yearly salary increments recently to return the confirmation/salary increment letter issued in January. Reason? the black and white was not signed by the correct person!

My immediate thoughts are… gee,wouldn’t it be easier to issue another letter with the correct signature and inform that the earlier one is null and void? Hmm..maybe I’m not that creative nor technology savvy enough.

Obviously the staff are incensed. Probably they are left wondering if there would be no increment this year. I guess some of their hearts would have turned black as well.

Bolehland.

p.s: don’t ask me which uni it is.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags: Education

MIC memorandum on Sri Lanka war

February 11th, 2009

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The memorandum by MIC was finally submitted yesterday by Dr S Subramaniam to Minister Rais Yatim. Earlier, MIC Youth advisor said the memorandum was to ask for resolution in parliament, while this one says to intervene on humanitarian grounds. Rais Yatim said the Government would send a note to the Sri Lankan government next week to express concerns over the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and hoped to extend humanitarian relief to the war victims in response to the call of the Tamil community here.

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Posted in BornInMalaysia, Indian

Tags: MIC Politicians Protest

Lion of Jelutong roars…

February 11th, 2009

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Karpal Singh gives an interview to NST (even though Pakatan top guns asked him not to use BM media). Later Malaysiakini reports that:

DAP’s top leaders have agreed to set aside their differences and focus on the upcoming by-elections for the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak and Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah.

MCPX

The party’s chairperson Karpal Singh, supremo Lim Kit Siang and former chairperson Dr Chen Man Hin held a meeting last night where they agreed to bury the hatchet.

The interview:

DAP chairman Karpal Singh is in fighting mood and ready to take on anyone, including his own party leaders. The veteran politician’s robust position has not been appreciated after his attacks on Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and even his own party colleagues Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng. Has Karpal taken on more than he can chew with opposition coming fast and furious not only from within his party but also those angered by his stand on the Sultan of Perak’s appointment of a new menteri besar? He spoke to SHARANJIT SINGH yesterday

Q: Many police reports have been lodged against you on the Sultan of Perak issue. What do you think of the reports?

A: These people are ignorant of the law and are completely misguided for accusing me of disrespecting the sultan. There is nothing illegal in what I have stated in relation to the sultan being subject to the due process of law. I know what I am talking about.

Q: There are also calls for you to be detained under the Internal Security Act. What do you have to say about this?

A: So what’s new? Besides calling for the ISA to be used against me, some people also want me to be banished from Perak and my citizenship revoked. How foolish one can get is beyond me. I cannot lawfully be banished from Perak, which is a constituent state in the Federation of Malaysia. Neither can my citizenship be revoked as I was born a citizen in Penang on June 28, 1940. Idle threats are, therefore, of no consequence to me and neither is empty rhetoric criticising me in the execution of my duties.

Q: You have also come under attack from all sides for your uncompromising stand on defections. What do you have to say to the critics?

A: The attacks against me do not trouble me as I was only speaking the truth. I have been speaking up against party-hopping as far back as the formation of the DAP itself. I am sure I can be excused for being a little emotional when it comes to the issue as I have stuck my neck out on this matter of principle on more than one occasion. I am now being taken to task while other DAP leaders have chosen to keep mum. The impression is that I am choosing my own fight and it has nothing to do with the party. This is nonsense as it has everything to do with the party. We must always stick to the principles.

Q: Do you feel party leaders like Kit Siang and Guan Eng have deserted you?

A: Their flip-flop (on party hopping) is most unfortunate. Guan Eng in particular issued a statement on Jan 26 welcoming Bota assemblyman Datuk Nasarudin Hashim’s crossover from Umno to Pakatan Rakyat. However, on Feb 6, he changed his tune when our assemblywoman from Jelapang (Hee Yit Foong) hopped over to the other side. He described Hee’s move to support Perak Barisan Nasional as tantamount to betraying the trust of those who had voted for her. I only hope he (Guan Eng) was misquoted. His statement has been haunting me as our members are questioning the conflicting stand of the secretary-general and party chairman.

Q: Why didn’t you settle it internally without making it public and allowing the DAP’s political enemies to capitalise on the issue?

A: The flip-flop by party leaders was done openly. How can I keep quiet? I was left with no alternative but to make a public statement to clear the air. Nobody can fault me for speaking out because it is relevant to what happened in Perak. We lost a state because of the inconsistent stand. I have said what I wanted to say and I stand by it.

Q: Do you think the party will act against you for your single-minded approach on this issue?

A: I have said nothing wrong that they (party leaders) should not support me. The members, including party leaders, are 100 per cent with me on the issues of hudud law and also our stand on party-hopping.