Riot police fire tear gas as 1,000 Iranians protest in KL
Photos by Rakyat@work. View his blog here.
1814: The crowd of protestors swelled to a thousand. Riot police fired rounds of tear gas, but, according to another eye-witness behind police ranks, some of the fumes gusted back to the police as well. Either the shots were fired too low or the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he said.
Stung by the fumes, the protesters, many of them bearing placards with messages such as “Ahmadi get out” and “Stop coup d’etat in Iran”, have dispersed; others have re-grouped along Jalan U Thant.
The cops are looking a little more relaxed now.
7 arrested for defending houses from demolition
Seven people – six residents and an activist – have been arrested while they were trying to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall from demolishing houses in Kg Jinjang Selatan Tambahan (KTJS), according to human rights group Suaram.
In an urgent alert, the group said it had also received reports that several people were injured during the incident.
Now you see it, now you don’t…
31 May – The rock is there
7 June – The rock is blasted and gone
According to a Tanjung Bunga resident, this was done at the Bolton Surin project site, at the unapproved Lot 4165, where a stop work order is supposedly in force.
Bong who?
Photo courtesy of www.sriamanro.sarawak.gov.my
Or how Sri Aman in Sarawak got its name…
It’s now Anwar Ibrahim’s turn to call on the government to allow the former Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, to return home.
In the raging controversy over whether Chin Peng should be allowed to return home, few in the peninsula are aware of the peace treaty signed in 1973 in Simanggang, Sarawak between the then state chief minister, Abdul Rahman Yaakub, and Bong Kee Chok, the director and commissar of Partai Rakyat Kalimantan Utara (Paraku), which was linked to Tentara Nasional Kalimantan Utara (TNKU) and the Sarawak Communist Organisation (SCO). That led to several hundred communists laying down their arms and subsequently returning to society.
A vaccine for “women’s cancer”?
Photo by a concerned Penangite
A concerned Penangite spotted this banner at a private clinic along Burma Road, openly advertising a vaccine against “women’s cancer”. She called up the clinic and was told the vaccine would be delivered in three doses over a six-month period, RM250 each dose, total RM750. The vaccine is Gardasil (supposed to be a cervical cancer vaccine) and girls as young as nine could receive the vaccine, said the person at the other end of the line.
Penang gov’t right in revamping ferry service
The Penang government’s decision to take over the ferry service is a good move especially given the poor performance of Penang Port in running the service.
Penang Port could have done better. It’s a pity that it was unable or unwilling to revamp and expand the ferry service (including introducing new routes) for reasons best known to itself. There was no reason for such a poor service, evidence of which could be seen in the long queues of motorists on the island heading to the mainland at night. There was no shortage of demand, and yet the service was largely neglected.
Evictions: Penang Bishop’s office issues statement
Rev Michael Thoo has released a press state statement from the office of the Penang Bishop. Here is the statement in full:
In response to recent and current newspaper reports on the “eviction exercise” of’ 14 houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Penang Road, 10000 Georgetown, Penang the church wishes to clarify as follows:
– There are 14 semi-concrete pre-war houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis, Penang Road, George Town, Penang. The houses are old and have no architectural value.
– Other buildings on the land are the St Joseph’s Home for orphans and children from broken homes, the Learning Centre for children with learning disabilities and the “Lighthouse” which provides free food for the needy and school buildings. These social welfare and charitable organisations are run and/or supported by the church.
Evictions controversy: Penang Bishop responds
Citizen journalists Jimmy Leow and Lilian Chan have managed to get the Penang Bishop’s views on the controversy over the eviction letters issued to villagers residing on the church’s land at St Francis Xavier’s Church along Penang Road.
Just a few quick observations arising from the Bishop’s comments:
It doesn’t look as if the Church has carried out a proper survey of the affected households to establish the residents’ socio-economic status or needs before they were issued eviction letters. The question is, why the urgency to issue lawyer’s letters and evict the residents before carrying out such a survey of their needs, especially those of the senior citizens? Shouldn’t the process have involved extensive consultations with the affected residents, the setting up of arbitration panels and the soliciting of views from lay Catholics – rather than a top-down approach of resorting to lawyer’s letters?
High noon at Penang’s ‘High Chaparral’
Five more days.
That’s the remaining time the residents of Kampong Buah Pala in Gelugor have, following a Court of Appeal decision on 11 May giving them 30 days to vacate their homes.
The village, known as High Chaparral because of its history of cattle rearing, is at the centre of a controversial land dispute with luxury apartment developers.
Nasharudin retains No. 2 but Nizar bags 85% of votes
Nasharudin has retained the Pas deputy presidency. He collected 480 votes, Husam Musa polled 281 while Mat Sabu won 261.
It looks as if the “progressive” or modernist votes have been split between Husam and Mat Sabu, who together collected 541 votes (54 per cent of votes cast) compared to Nasharudin’s 480 votes.
In comparison, Nizar easily topped the contest for committee positions with 85 per cent of the votes.
Voting underway in Pas elections
Face to face: Mat Sabu (left) with Nasharudin – Photo courtesy of Harakah Daily
Fate of 64 arrested on 7 May still uncertain
The scene outside the Ipoh police station this morning – Photos by Jong
1021: The police have told those arrested that they will have to wait longer to find out their fate.
“They told us that investigations have not yet been completed,” says blogger Zorro, one of those arrested who had gone to the police station in Ipoh. “Why didn’t they tell us that last night?”
Full text of Obama’s speech to the Muslim world
In a much-awaited speech in Cairo just now directed largely at the Muslim world, Obama has vowed to:
- shut down Guantanamo Bay by next year,
- prohibit the use of torture by the United States (what about rendition or outsourcing of torture?) and
- remove US troops from Iraq by 2012 (what about the large permanent or “enduring” US bases it has built?).
- seek a world in which no nation holds nuclear weapons.
Nasharudin rules out Pas-Umno pact
Just spotted this on the Reuters wire service: Pas Deputy President Nasharudin Mat Isa, who enjoys the backing of conservatives within the party, has ruled out a Pas-Umno/BN pact and instead said that Pas should consolidate within Pakatan and consider itself a “government-in-waiting”.
On eve of general assembly, Pas at a crossroads
Mat Sabu is one of the contenders for the Pas deputy presidency – Photo by Anil Netto
Pas holds its 55th general assembly this week.
The party is now at a crossroads. As it aspires for federal leadership together with its Pakatan allies, Pas will have to decide and discern which direction it should take: towards a more inclusive and democratic Malaysia or towards a conservative theology that will alienate it from non-Muslims.
Pakatan on a roll
Here’s something I wrote for Asia Times after the Penanti by-election:
Malaysia’s opposition alliance has chalked up its fifth by-election win out of six since a general election last year.
This time, the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front – BN) coalition did not put up a candidate, perhaps fearing that another by-election defeat would be demoralizing. That left the coast clear for the Pakatan Rakyat (People’s Alliance) to brush aside three independent candidates on Sunday.
New dams in peninsula despite Bakun undersea cables
Now comes news that Tenaga is planning two new hydroelectric plants in Terengganu and Pahang (see report below).
Doesn’t this fly against the justification for the laying of submarine cables to transmit electricity from the Bakun Dam in Sarawak to the peninsula – that there would be no need for expensive new capacity on the peninsula?
Energy Minister Peter Chin said last month that the Cabinet had agreed that opting for the Bakun submarine cable project would be better than continuing to build new power plants in the peninsula. “In the long term, it will be more economical and viable to transmit power from Bakun to Peninsular Malaysia even though the undersea cable project will be very costly,” he said.
So, what’s going on? Was Peter Chin unaware of these two new dams in the peninsula – or was he simply having us on?
Widow facing eviction dies after deadline expires
When I first met her last week, she reminded me of my dear late grandmother. She did not say much but wore a worried frown on her face (see photo).
Tonight, I received news that she had passed away just after 8.00pm on the way to the hospital, after complaining of pain in her back and hand. She had not been feeling well for some time.
Widow Santhosa Mary @ Manimathu, 74, lived among the tenant-villagers at the St Francis Xavier’s Church along Penang Road. They had been given a 31 May deadline to sign an agreement to vacate their homes. The Church, through its lawyers, wanted the villagers to accept RM10,000 in compensation and leave by 31 May 2010. If they failed to accept these terms, they had to leave by yesterday, Pentecost Sunday.
As the deadline to accept the terms approached, Manimathu grew anxious, according to one of the villagers.