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back in business

December 17th, 2007
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to all readers,

i was unable update my blog and approve comments since i was outstation, without access to internet.

thanks for your comments and patience. normal service will resume, and i hope to have healthy conversations/opinions in this blog.

it has been a hectic week, with the main issues of ISA, SEA games. and flood dominating the media. Anyway, i’ll be writing on astro subscription once i settle all the pending work.

adios for now.

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Uthayakumar arrested this morning

December 11th, 2007
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Uthayakumar arrested this morning
http://www5.malaysiakini.com/news/75895
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Dec 11, 07 10:18am

Lawyer P Uthayakumar was arrested this morning in Bangsar and taken to the Jalan Duta Sessions Courts in Kuala Lumpur.

His fiancee S Indradevi who was with him during the arrest told Malaysiakini that Uthayakumar was not informed of the reason of his arrest.

She said two police cars stopped Uthayakumar’s car at about 9.20am opposite the Bangsar Shopping Complex and four plainclothes policemen rushed at him before grabbing him.

“They just told us that he was being taken to Jalan Duta. I was really scared. I am still trembling in fear from what happened this morning,” she said by telephone.

Lawyer M Manoharan said the arrest could be related to Uthayakumar’s role in the rally organised by Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Nov 25.

“I believed he will be charged for illegal assembly. There could be more arrests coming later in the day,” he said when contacted.

At the same time, Manoharan is also not ruling out a charge under the Sedition Act for Uthayakumar, over a speech he had made in July at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. This was Hindraf’s first public gathering.

Uthayakumar is Hindraf’s legal adviser. The rally – to highlight the marginalisation of the Indian Malaysian community – attracted about 30,000 people.

Last week, 31 of the protesters were charged with the attempted murder of a policeman. They were also charged with causing mischief. Sixteen of them were charged with illegal gathering as well.

Another round of arrests has been threatened by the police.

Uthayakumar and two other Hindraf leaders – P Waythamoorthy and V Ganabatirau – are currently out on bail on a sedition charge. Yesterday, the Shah Alam High Court ruled that the discharge order for the trio made two weeks ago was made in error.

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5 lawyers arrested at human rights march

December 9th, 2007
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well, i don't suppose water cannons used againsts educated professionals like lawyers will bode well for our country. It will be different if this was mass protest involving all segment of societies, "penyangak"s included!
 
Human rights march: 5 lawyers arrested
Syed Jaymal Zahiid | Dec 9, 07 8:16am

The police have arrested eight people, including five lawyers, for proceeding with a march to mark International Human Rights Day from the Sogo department store to Central Market in Kuala Lumpur early this morning.

The arrests came after a failed attempt by the organisers of the march to negotiate with the police to allow them to finish their march at their intended spot.

The 100-odd crowd was already halfway to their destination when the police give the marchers a 10-minute warning to disperse.

The organisers, who believed that they could complete their march within the time limit, wanted to press on. According to an eyewitness, the police however cordoned off the area, moved in and made the arrests even before the stipulated deadline expired. 

Those arrested included five lawyers – N Surendran (photo), Latheefa Koya, R Sivarasa, Eric Paulsen and Amer Hamzah. Others were Anthony Andu, Norazah Othman and an unidentified activist.

They were arrested near the Jalan Tun Perak LRT station and were immediately taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

The eight were arrested under the Police Act for illegal assembly, said Dang Wangi's acting Superintendent Che Hamzah Che Ismail.

 The remainder of the marchers dispersed following the arrests.

"Authorities seem to be upset by any visible signs of protest and I think this is a problem with the country," said Sivarasa, who is also a leader of PKR.

"They don't seem to be able to deal with peaceful dissent," he told AFP before he was arrested.

Organiser Latheefa said that Malaysians needed to continue to exercise their constitutional right to public assembly.

Willing to cooperate

Earlier today, at about 8am, the small group of about 100 gathered at the Sogo departmental store under the watchful eyes of the police. There were however no signs of the dreaded Federal Reserve Unit and their water cannon trucks.

The marchers had carried banners that read "Lawyers for the freedom of assembly" and "Government that abuses human rights is terrorist."

Eyewitnesses said that one of the persons arrested was dragged into the waiting police truck and the arrests were done despite the marchers’ willingness to cooperate with the police.

This small group of marchers have undertaken this march after the Bar Council had dropped its annual march in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day celebration – which falls on Dec 10 – due to pressure to obtain a police permit.

Yesterday the police had warned the public not to participate in the march given that no permit had been issued for the gathering.

"As no permit has been issued for the gathering, those who take part in it can be charged under Section 27(5) of the Police Act 1967 for participating in an illegal assembly," warned Che Hamzah in a Bernama report.

Upon the decision of the Bar Council to call off the march, at least 15 lawyers decided to proceed with the walk to make a statement that citizens have a right to assemble peacefully and without prior requirement of a police permit.

Venue changed

Two days ago,  Surendran had said that the march was purely initiated by a group of concerned lawyers, adding that the organisers will not be applying for a police permit.

  “We think that applying for a permit is a negation of our fundamental right to freedom of assembly as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution,” he had explained.

“We feel the (Bar Council) march was called of due to undue pressure from the authorities. We want to send a message that the people of Malaysia have the right to a peaceful assembly,” Surendran said.

Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan meanwhile had explained that the decision to call off the march was made after “anxious consideration to the present circumstances that surround the event, particularly the interests of the public and the Malaysian Bar."

The Bar Council also moved its “Festival of Rights” event today to its own building located near Central Market after police insisted that organisers apply for a permit to hold the event at Central Market.

In a related development, Ambiga today expressed disappointed over not being allowed to see the arrested people.

Ambiga said that the march was peaceful and slammed the arrests as "totally unnecessary and unfortunate."

"The Bar holds the view that requirement of police permit is unconstitutional," she told reporters.

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Malaysia’s performance in Global Corruption Barometer 2007

December 8th, 2007
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NST reported about the Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2007 (download PDF copy here). Some of the highlights on Malaysia are listed below:

1. 6-18% of respondents reporting they paid a bribe to obtain a service (Table 1)
2. Malaysia is among the countries who believe government efforts to fight corruption are most effective (Table 3).
3. Number of respondents is 1250.
4. 6% of respondents paid bribe to obtain a service. (Table 4.1 )
5. Police sector is perceived as most affected to corruption (3.7 out of 5), followed by political parties (3.6 out 5). Both are lower than the overall average of 3.6 and 4.0 respectively. Religious bodies are perceived as least affected at 1.9 out 5. (Table 4.2).
6. 63% says in next three years corruption will increase, 18% says decrease, while 19% says it will remain. (Table 4.3)
7. 53% says the government effort to fight corruption is effective, 10% say its neither effective nor ineffective, while 37% says its ineffective. (Table 4.4)

Graft hits poor in Africa, Asia hardest

source

BERLIN: Some of the world's poorest people in Africa and Asia are hardest hit by public corruption — forced to pay bribes for police protection, education and justice — according to a survey released on Thursday.

Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International's 2007 Global Corruption Barometer showed that as a region, Africa suffered the most public corruption. In the African countries surveyed, 42 per cent of people reported that they had been asked to pay a bribe to obtain a service during the past 12 months. The Asia-Pacific region was next with 22 per cent; the grouping of Russia, Moldova and Ukraine came in next with 21 per cent; Latin America with 13 per cent; southeastern Europe with 12 per cent; the European Union with five per cent; and North America with two per cent.

"This year's Global Corruption Barometer has made it clear that too often, people must part with their hard-earned money to pay for services that should be free," said organisation chairman Huguette Labelle.

The survey of more than 63,199 people in 60 countries, compiled by polling agency Gallup, found that a majority believe corruption in general is on the rise, and they consider politics the most graft-ridden sector. Fifty-four per cent said they expected the level of corruption to increase in the next three years, 26 per cent said it would stay the same, while 20 per cent said it would decrease.

Slightly less than 70 per cent said political parties were the most corrupt institutions, followed by about 55 per cent who said parliament or the country's legislature was the most corrupt, narrowly trailed by just over 50 per cent citing police departments. The figures total more than 100 per cent because people gave multiple answers about where they paid bribes.

Of the countries and territories where interviews were carried out, Cameroon fared the worst, with 79 per cent of respondents saying they had paid a bribe to obtain services. They were followed by 72 per cent of Cambodians, 71 per cent of Albanians, 67 per cent from Kosovo; both Macedonia and Pakistan registered 44 per cent.

Romania registered the highest levels of corruption inside the European Union, with one in three Romanians saying they paid bribes in 2007 — a higher rate than last year, before Romania joined the EU, when one in five said they paid bribes.Canada, Japan, South Korea, Austria, France, Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland fared the best overall, with only one per cent of respondents saying they had paid a bribe. The United States, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain did slightly worse with two per cent.

The study found that police departments were the most corrupt, with one in four respondents around the world who had contact with police being asked to pay a bribe — and one in six ending up paying. Police departments were followed by the judiciary, permit and registration services, the education system and medical services.

This year's survey was done between June and September. It has been carried out yearly since 2003.

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YSS, Putera MIC and MIYC condemn Hindraf

December 8th, 2007
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Hindraf 'does not speak for majority of Indians'
By : K. Harinderan

KUALA LUMPUR: Claims made by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) do not represent the views of the majority of Indians. 

Social Strategic Foundation executive director Datuk Denison Jayasooria said the organisation wanted to trigger religious sensitivities by using words like ethnic cleansing. "This is simply wrong. Their ploy will diminish the status of Indians." Jayasooria said this proved that Hindraf's motives were far from the truth and questionable. He said Indians had to be cautious and not be exploited by these claims which were baseless. 

"I believe that Indians can distinguish between what is true and what is not." Jayasooria said it was up to the police to investigate Hindraf's claims. He said the government had helped many Indians become successful through various opportunities. "This clearly indicates that there are opportunities for Indians to progress in the country. "This has been achieved by addressing problems through democratic principles." Asked how Hindraf's claims had affected the Indian community, he said the government had responded by investigating its claims through organisations like the police and MIC.

"If Hindraf leaders claim to be followers of Gandhian principles, the act of throwing stones and opposing authority would not have happened." He said Malaysia was a proven model of a multi-racial democratic society which applied the due process of law and parliament to formulate laws and policies for its citizens. "Hindraf can destroy this process by taking the law into its own hands," Jayasooria said, adding that the country had no room for extremists. Jayasooria was commenting on a report yesterday which quoted Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan as saying that the police were investigating Hindraf for allegedly stoking hatred against the government and inciting racial unrest.

Meanwhile, Putera MIC national co-ordinator P. Kamalanathan echoed Jayasooria's sentiments that Hindraf's motives were unfounded. "Its leaders have disgraced Indians and the country. They have been ungrateful to our forefathers who worked hard to develop peace and unity in the nation." On Hindraf's claim that Malaysia may go the way of Sri Lanka, he said although there was dissatisfaction among Indians here, there were specific avenues to voice grievances to the government. Kamalanathan believed that Hindraf had not exhausted the avenues to negotiate with the government.

Malaysian Hindu Youth Council president K. Rasaselvan said Hindraf's actions smacked of desperation as it was using racial and religious issues to gain support. "This has hurt the relationship between Indians and the government. "Unrest can never solve anything. This is all that Hindraf has managed to achieve."

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