- Ganesan orders Nizar out of the Perak State Assembly ; Nizar refuses to budge. LIVE – https: #
- Live – Coverage of Perak State Assembly sitting this morning #
- 300-400 people gathered at Brewster Road for the Ipoh vigil last night. (No arrests – apologies for incorrect info last nite). #
- Shu shi released. But has to appear in court tomorrow for mention of charge re section 19 police act. #
- They are now serving shu shi of awam with a warrant of arrest in penang in connection with a 2008 case. #
- The 4 arrested in penang will be coming out soon. We are waiting near the station. Abolish the ISA! #
- 4 people have gone into the police station in penang to post bail for the arrested 4. #
- Lawyer told me that ocpd promised that the 4 arrested in pg would be released on police bail tonight. #
- 30 people are holding an impromptu vigil outside Jelutong police station, penang. Motorists honking in support. #
- Cops have given 5 mins for pg vigil to disperse. But many already left. Others leaving now. They have made their point. #
- Syd Ibrahim chief of GMI and Mafrel arrested in PJ. #
- lly lighted their candles bright. I horned as I passed and they were so happy to respond, just like carnival time! Its officially over. … #
- tat one arrested. #
- Eyewitness from IPOH – vigilers gave polis the slip by gathering at the other side- other entrance of Parkson Grand on Brewster Rd. Ap … #
- Eyewitness from IPOH – PEACEFUL but one was arrested. I was driving, circling trying to get in but all entrances and exits were closed … #
- FWD fr eyewitness – Now we gathering in front of pj police station to show support. Fru in front of police station protect their station … #
- to catch ppl. #
- Suaram penang coordinator ong jing cheng arrested in penang. #
- Darshan Singh, Kris khaira, Chon kai arrested at ISA vigil at speakers square in penang. Now in truck. Cops outnumber protesters. #
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-08-08
D-Day is on Monday
That’s Demolition Day for the two Penang Botanic Garden arches – scheduled for Monday. Or rather it should be Demolition Night.
Cranes are expected to slam into the arches from 8.00pm to 11.00pm, and work is expected to last six days.
Cranes are expected to slam into the arches from 8.00pm to 11.00pm, and work is expected to last six days. My name is bond…
The government has been borrowing billions of ringgit through bond issues.
There are two main types of government bonds: Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) and Government Investment Issues (GII).
Plans were announced for 19 bond issues this year – 12 via MGS and seven via GII. Each issue raises about RM2-4 billion.
Edmund Bon on the ISA and basic rights
Edmund Bon discusses the ISA and our basic rights over PopTeeVee.
PICC and the risks of BOT
It is good to hear that the Penang government plans to stay put at its present offices in Komtar instead of building a “mini-Putrajaya’ (one of the hare-brained ideas of the previous administration). This, we are told, will save us RM1 billion in public funds.
We are also told the government will try to maximise its resources, to get more money so that it can continue its development and social programmes which are consistent with a people-centric government.
In the same spirit, I hope the state government will think along the same lines when it comes to the Penang International Convention Centre.
Taib’s hold on Sarawak loosens
It was supposed to be the highlight of Sarawak chief minister Taib Mahmud’s trip to the United Kingdom. But his visit to Oxford University’s Said Business School to give a special address did not go quite as planned – and underscored his and the ruling coalition’s rising troubles in a pivotal electoral swing state.
British activists caught wind of his 26 July visit and scheduled speaking engagement at the inaugural Oxford Global Business Forum and stationed themselves bearing critical placards at the venue’s entrance. In the event, Taib, who has been in power for nearly three decades, suffered the indignity of being reportedly transported in a blue, windowless van and then whisked through a kitchen to enter the venue.
6 foreign experts enlisted to Penang EMF panel
Six scientists, public health officials and experts have been enlisted to an International Advisory Panel set up by the Penang Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Radiation Protection Alliance.
They are:
- Dr Gerd Oberfeld, adviser for environmental medicine of the Austrian Medical Association
- Olle Johansson, associate professor, head of the Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
- Dr David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment, University at Albany, Rensselaer, NY, United States
- Dr Carlos Sosa, physician and surgeon in Medellin, Columbia
- Eileen O’Connor, Trustee of the Radiation Research Trust, UK
- Alex Swinkels, National Platform on Radiation Risks, Netherlands and Board Member, International EMF Alliance
Live – PR reps walk out after Nizar ordered out
The Perak State Assembly sitting today ended in chaos after Ganesan ordered Nizar out. Nizar refused to budge and all the Pakatan reps then staged a walk out.
Another dramatic day in Ipoh tomorrow
Police personnel comprising special civilians, plainclothes police, and light strike force units are mobilising around the State Secretariat building in Ipoh, according to ousted Perak Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin.
Goodness, what’s happening?
Oh, it’s just another sitting of the Perak State Assembly, scheduled for tomorrow. – Photo of previous sitting by Kinta Kid
Oh, it’s just another sitting of the Perak State Assembly, scheduled for tomorrow. – Photo of previous sitting by Kinta Kid
Abolish ISA vigil: From Esplanade to Jelutong
An impromptu anti-ISA vigil was held last night outside the Jelutong Police Station in Penang for a good half an hour after the one planned at the Speakers’ Square was disrupted.
1250: Shu Shi, who is now attached to women’s group Awam, has been charged under the Police Act in connection with an incident at a police station in Penang in 2008. The former Suaram Penang coordinator will have to appear in court on 16 August. Her NGO colleagues are now in the process of posting bail of RM500 for her.
1140: Activist Lau Shu Shi is still waiting in court with her lawyer. The other four arrested last night in Penang and released on police bail will have to turn up at the police station on 14 August to find out if charges will be pressed.
0200: Earlier last night, a group of pro-ISA rowdies infiltrated the crowd attending the planned vigil at the Esplanade leading to some scuffling and shoving.
But it was only those anti-ISA activists at the vigil who were arrested: Suaram Penang coordinator Jing Cheng, PSM’s Chon Kai, Pekerja Tanjung activist Kris Khaira and lawyer Darshan Singh were taken away in a truck to the Jelutong Police Station.
Live – Police break up Abolish ISA vigils
2120: Roads to the sea-front near the Esplanade in Penang have been sealed off by police.
2110: Activists Kris Khaira and Chon Kai and lawyer Darshan Singh have been arrested at the Speakers Square in Penang. They are now in a truck at the Esplanade and more could be arrested. The cops outnumber the protesters.
Over in PJ, half a dozen people are believed to have been arrested around Amcorp Mall and the stand-off with police continues.
2018: Riot police have moved in to break up the vigil at the Amcorp Mall attended by several hundred people. A crowd of about 200 people moved into the mall to take refuge. Tian Chua says the police had used force against the people without waiting for organisers to negotiate and they want to arrest him as well.
The crowd are singing Negaruku. Malaysian Insider tweeted that two people have been arrested.
ISA: It’s 50 years to the day…
Today marks 50 years of the ISA’s existence. That’s fifty dark years.
It’s time for the ISA to go.
In 1960, D R Seenivasagam accurately predicted what would happen when the ISA bill was tabled.
Rising to debate the Internal Security Bill on 22 June 1960, D R Seenivasagam called it “a vicious and repulsive document, a document which is repulsive to all those who believe in democracy”. He found it “difficult to believe any citizen of this country could have drafted this Bill if he has the interests of his fellow citizens at heart”.
Bloated PM’s Department?
Is this incredible or what? The White House employs 1,888 staff, but Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Department has 43,554 employees.
There is also a similar disparity in their respective budgets. The White House’s budget is US$394 million for 2011.
Have a look at the White House website here.
Compare that with the PM’s Dept budget of RM4 billion or is that RM12 billion?
The vast difference is partly down to the whole array of departments, agencies, and what-have-you under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Gender paradox
Girls and women are excelling in secondary and tertiary education; yet formal women’s participation in public life and major decision-making remains lower. Why is that?
This is a piece I wrote for IPS:
It is a paradox, all right. Women make up more than half of those who take part in protests and other activities organised by her political party on issues affecting low-income workers, says Rani Rasiah of the Socialist Party of Malaysia.
But when it comes to holding official positions at the party’s local branches, more than half of the officials happen to be men, she observes.
Try Firefox’s Tab Candy: it’s great
I’ve just been trying out Firefox’s Tab Candy, and I must say it could change the way you work on your browser.
I think it’s great. But a warning: it’s an alpha version (not even a beta); so it’s only for those of you who really want to see what’s in store and how it could radically change the way you use your browser tabs.
What Tab Candy does is to give you the flexibility to create groups of tabs on an empty workspace of your browser, so that you only need to open one group at a time in your browser, instead of opening an ever-increasing number of tabs. Each group of tabs can be given a name. You can also drag a tab to move it from one group to another. And then you can save the groups of tabs.
Taib Mahmud in a room in House of Lords
Technically speaking, the Sarawak Chief Minister did speak at the House of Lords – but it appears to have been in a room down a corridor.
Not quite the image many had in their minds. Blog reader Sean took the initiative to write to the House of Lords about the visit.
According to him, the House of Lords replied:
Thank you for your email.
More on the 20 Pykett Avenue land deal
Some details about the deal involving the 20 Pykett Avenue building, whose demolition over the weekend caught the MPPP by surprise.
In December 2009, the Mah Sing board announced to Bursa Malaysia that its subsidiary Klassik Tropika had entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the 3.4-acre freehold property from Khaw Bian Cheng Sdn Bhd for RM38 million. There were two private caveats on the land.
Khaw Bian Cheng Sdn Bhd was supposed to transfer the land free from all encumbrances and with vacant possession. (I guess you could say it is now ‘vacant possession’.)
UK Parliament’s website silent about Taib’s visit
Taib Mahmud reportedly gave an address at the House of Lords in London on Friday, 23 July.
From the Bernama report here, it is not clear who exactly he was addressing, though the report mentioned:
Also present were Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Richard Riot Anak Jaem, High Commissioner of Malaysia to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland Datuk Zakaria Sulong, Special Advisor in the Chief Minister’s Office Tan Sri Adenan Satem, Conservative Women’s Organisation president Lady Fiona Hodgson, and the Muslim Council of Britain secretary-general Farooq Murad.I wondered what the House of Lords itself had to say about the visit.
A tourist’s impressions of Penang
Beyond the glossy brochures of Penang boasting of sandy beaches and promising an unforgettable stay, what do tourists actually make of the place?
Blog reader Sean describes his recent experience on the island. Notice that the need for proper and unobstructed pedestrian walkways figures prominently in his impressions of the place:
It wasn’t awful! There are bits and pieces that are quite good, but it didn’t give us the impression of a proper tourist destination – more somewhere that had moved on from being popular with tourists and had its sights focussed elsewhere now. Perhaps we were just not Penang Tourism’s target market. We were impressed by Rapid Penang – with two small kids, the reliable, clean, cool, inexpensive buses with their cheerful, helpful drivers were marvellous. The ‘frequency’ schedule was great for us on holiday, but I guess it might not be ideal if you’re commuting to work.