Anwar to contest in Kulim: Pas assures full backing

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Anwar enters the hall in Kulim to a hero’s welcome

  • Anwar publicly announces he will contest in Kulim “barring obstacles”
  • 8,000-strong multi-ethnic crowd greets his announcement with thunderous applause
  • Hadi assures Anwar of Kedah Pas’ full backing
  • DAP to assist in campaign as well
Anwar Ibrahim was given a hero’s reception in Kulim, Kedah during an emotional night when he announced that he would contest a by-election here barring obstacles. In doing so, he has raised the stakes considerably.
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“Someone” is dam upset in Sarawak

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“Someone” appears to have had his feathers ruffled in Sarawak. Apparently, this “someone” in Sarawak is upset with “someone” in Penang – apparently an activist who has hit out at the 12 more dams in the pipeline in Sarawak. (Hmm, I wonder who that could be…) See: It’s madness: nuclear plan, 12 dams, undersea cables Anyway, this “someone” in Sarawak should be interested to know that it is not just one or two “someones” over here who think his dam-building frenzy sounds cuckoo. Only 2 per cent of you in a poll on this site (to which over 500 of you have responded so far) think that the plan for 12 more dams in Sarawak is just what Malaysia needs right now. In other words, 98 per cent of you seem to think the plan to increase capacity by 600 per cent “tak masuk akal” (doesn’t make sense).
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Speaker praises PKR back-bencher Sim’s speech

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PKR back-bencher Sim Tze Tzin (Batu Uban Pantai Jerejak) has delivered a visionary speech in the Penang State Assembly that received praise from the Speaker. Speaker Abdul Halim Hussain described Sim’s speech as people-centric, reports theSun today. Sim made several suggestions to promote sustainable urban development including those which this blog has been advocating:
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Floods in July: Ecological disaster in Sibu?

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Sarawak Voice sent in this comment which I thought I should highlight:
Talk about the dams in Sarawak? Hmm, apparently it seems that the government created an ecological disaster! My hometown is in Sibu, Sarawak (at the delta of the Mighty Rejang River) (and you) can clearly see the effects (of) logging, jungle clearing and hydro dam development up river. Once a clean river now muddy and the river is getting shallow due to the mud that was washed from upriver. Even now at this moment, as I am typing this, we are experiencing floods! Yeap, floods in the month of July….
Read the details in this piece from The Borneo Post:
Troubled waters Numerous efforts have been made to implement a flood mitigation plan for Sibu town but without any concrete follow-up action to date, residents complain they have been living in fear of floods whenever it rains for too long
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It’s madness: nuclear plant, 12 dams, undersea cables

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What on earth are our energy planners thinking of? First of all, we have 40 per cent reserve capacity in the peninsula. TNB is now paying capacity charges for electricity it buys from the independent power producers which it doesn’t need. Then, there is the plan to transmit a huge chunk of the electricity from the Bakun Dam from Sarawak over to the peninsula via undersea cables. But hold on, the submarine cables, which would be the world’s longest, would now cost RM15 billion. Alamak! So how? Sime Darby has already pulled out from the project.
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Superficial “populist gestures are like free meals”

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Ever since the new PR government took over Penang, we have seen several populist measures introduced. On the face of it, these measures appear good. Rather than squandering funds or handing them over to cronies, benefits in cash or kind are actually handed to the rakyat. So I agree, it is better than handing them over to the cronies. But I have a couple of reservations. These are one-off payments that don’t bring lasting benefit. They are also superficial – in that the sums handed over to each of the rakyat are too negligible to make much difference to their lives. It’s like handing bags of rice to the poor. Once the rice is finished, what then? It feels good to hand over goodies to the poor, but once we have handed over these goodies, which are used up in no time, what happens? We invariably forget about the poor – until the next occasion we start feeling generous and charitable again. Each allocation for superficial populist gestures carries with it an “opportunity cost” – which means it deprives the state of funds for more meaningful future projects that would really empower the poor. Such projects would include affordable housing for the poor, scholarships for poor students, affordable higher education, access to affordable quality health care, literacy programmes, skills training and loans for small businesses.
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You got to hand it to him…

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If you are feeling down and out and if you think your problems are insurmountable, let Tony Melendez inspire you.

Anwar locked in a battle of wills

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This is something I wrote today: POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Opposition leader unfazed by new sodomy charges Analysis by Anil Netto PENANG, Jul 22 (IPS) – Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia’s de facto opposition leader, is locked in a political battle of wills with ruling coalition leaders and determined to wrest federal control despite fresh charges of sodomy brought up against him. Anwar hopes that parliamentary defections from the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Alliance) will enable the three-party opposition People’s Alliance to seize power by Sep.16 — but so far there has been little to show. For the full article, click here. Here are a few other articles you might find relevant or interesting: In ‘Conquering and vulnerable: Anwar’s predicament and ours’, Khoo Boo Teik looks at how Anwar has come to personify many dissident, even conflicting tendencies. His two different images – that of a conquering political leader and frequently disabled politician – capture society’s current predicament. We have moved towards more open dissent; and yet we are unsure if we can really achieve a more open political system. One article that has struck a chord among many Malaysians – judging by how widely it is being circulated on the Internet, including on Facebook – is Farish Noor’s ‘The boring yet necessary thing called Governance’. Finally, Dr Chris Anthony, a practising surgeon, takes a look at whether proper procedure was followed during Anwar’s medical examination in “Was Anwar stripped and measured?”

Home Ministry warns Herald to stick to “religion”

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herald cover The Herald has highlighted current events and related them to faith The latest issue of the Herald (20 July), the Catholic weekly, carries a little note below its editorial, which I reproduce here:
NOTE Warning letter from Home Ministry The Ministry of Home Affairs has warned us to work within their designated term and category “agama”. Their warning letter fails to indicate what they mean by “agama”. Can HERALD stop ‘awakening the consciences’ as the Pope teaches us? Are they interfering in matters that pertain to our religion?
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Enthusiastic response for Anwar in BN-stronghold Johor

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This was Anwar’s ceramah on 20 July 2008 in Sri Gading, Johor. Anwar is in his element and the crowd soaks it in. He claims that when he was brought from the police station to the hospital, the roads were closed to others. He tells the crowd not to read Utusan Malaysia as he says their reports allegedly insult the intelligence of the Malays; instead he recommends that they read the Chinese newspapers. “I know you can’t understand the language, but there are lots of pictures in them!” he jokes.
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Puspakom gets additional concession, 15-yr extension

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Puspakom, the entity which inspects vehicles for road-worthiness, has been granted a 15-year extension of its concession by the government. That’s not all. The government has also agreed to revise the company’s rates and to award it another concession for the mandatory inspection of second-hand vehicles prior to transfer of ownership. The Edge business weekly has expressed concern about the 15-year extension. The paper said the government should have reviewed Puspakom’s track record in carrying out inspections since 1994 -and considered some of the bad press it has received – before granting the extension. The government will only review the company’s performance at five-year intervals. Puspakom made a net profit of RM18 million from turnover of RM76 million for its 2007 financial year. By the time the government reviews its performance in five years’ time, the company could have raked in a further RM90 million or so, The Edge noted.
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Putting the RM2b Penang Sentral cart before the horse

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Penang Sentral RM2 billion terminal – but not enough funds for public transport (Image from penangsentral.com.my)

So we are going to have a montrous RM2 billion terminal in Butterworth that is supposed to be the gateway to Penang.

This project is supposed to be located on a 12.8ha site “at the existing Butterworth train, bus and ferry terminal and will integrate KTM’s rail services, road transport facilities and the ferry services operated by Penang Port”. It’s going to be a big money project for Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) and Pelaburan Hartanah Bumiputra Berhad (PHBB). Last year, The Star reported that “it would have two ferry platforms, two monorail platforms, four train platforms, 50 bus platforms and 4,000 parking bays”. Oops, no federal money for monorail – or trams for that matter – now. It’s pathetic that the state has to celebrate because the federal government has approved RM40 million to revive the broken down Penang Hill railway. (Under the Penang Hill project, a new one-stretch cable railway track will be laid between the lower and upper stations, doing away with the present middle station, reports Malaysiakini. The rail track will be laid to accommodate larger and longer funicular trains.)
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Why not reveal Saiful’s police report?

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Aliran president P Ramakrishnan has come up with an apt response to Syed Hamid Albar’s statement. He is asking the Minister why Saiful’s police report has not been revealed to Anwar. Why is it so difficult to show Anwar the report? Good question.
What is Syed Hamid Albar afraid of? In a rhetorical stance, the Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar posed this question to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, “What is he afraid of?” Aliran would like to pose this very question to Syed Hamid, “What is he afraid of?” Why are they afraid to release the police report lodged by Mohd Saiful Bukari Azlan against Anwar Ibrahim on 28 June alleging sodomy? Full statement

What happens when Unesco finds out about this?

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George Town building spree threatens world heritage site

The Pier project along Weld Quay

The Rice Miller Hotel project (Images courtesy of http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=22767668) See poll at end of entry Barely has the news about George Town’s listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site sunk in than we learn of a building spree in the heritage and heritage buffer zones of this historical city. In fact, the three-day celebrations on 25-27 July to mark the heritage listing have not yet begun. But already, reports tell us that high-rise buildings and massive commercial development will be allowed in the historical zone. I am going to find it hard to celebrate for a single day, let alone three days. Property development projects in the pipeline:

  • AGB Sdn Bhd’s RM500 million “The Pier at Weld Quay” project including the 100-room Rice Miller boutique hotel at Weld Quay: 100,000 sq feet commercial plaza, 160,000 sq feet retail podium, 23 small office-house-office (Soho) townhouses and 105 condominiums;
  • Low Yat Group’s 23-storey hotel project along Millionaire’s Row (Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah), said to be in the heritage buffer zone;
  • Boustead’s RM100 million Royale Bintang Hotel (4 star, 295 rooms) project behind the post office in Downing Street;
  • Extension of E&O Hotel.
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Anwar lashes out at his treatment

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Read his press statement here. An incredulous Australian friend sent me an email this afternoon:
“Anwar’s plight is still a topic on the news here. Arrested by hooded and armed police it seems. I wonder if those that are behind these tricks know what it all looks like from a distance? That he has been taken away for DNA testing has also been reported.”

Hadi confirms Pas will remain with Pakatan

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Dark clouds hung in the sky this morning, reflecting the mood of the nation, and then it rained … showers of blessing, perhaps? Anyway, it’s turning out to be not a bad day at all for those yearning for justice and freedom in our land. Anwar released on bail (read his press statement here), Raja Petra freed on bail, and now this… After all the speculation in the media that the Hadi Awang faction in Pas was getting too close to Umno for comfort, the Pas president has today stressed (menegaskan) that Pas will continue its struggle with Pakatan Rakyat to create a government that is “trustworthy, clean and just”. This from Hakarah Daily:
Presiden PAS, Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang menegaskan bahawa PAS akan terus berjuang bersama Pakatan Rakyat bagi mewujudkan sebuah kerajaan yang amanah, bersih dan adil.
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Raja Petra freed on bail (updated/corrected)

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Thank God he is out – for now. Next appearance in court: 15 August. Updated: According to The Star, they have charged him with three counts of criminal defamation after Raja Petra had earlier protested that the charges were defective. I got in touch with Zunar, the Suara Keadilan editor, who had just returned from overseas, and he told me he had received news that bail was finally reduced to RM2,000, which Raja Petra posted after consulting his wife. The earlier report on the Suara Keadilan website, picked up by Malaysia Today, appears inaccurate. Apologies for the confusion.

Next change: Anwar out, Raja Petra in

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So Anwar has been released on police bail and it’s now Raja Petra’s turn to face the music. He has been arrested and is being taken to court to face a charge of criminal defamation. What on earth is happening to Malaysia? Many have drawn comparisons with the events of 1998. But there are a couple of crucial differences between then and now.
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Anwar’s arrest: A day of high drama

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Gobind Singh Deo in the video above says Anwar is in good spirits and hopes that he will be released by the end of the day. The news of Anwar’s arrest has flashed across the world. It is one of the main headlines on BBC: “Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim arrested“. The Lingam videotape scandal has been completely forgotten. Earlier this afternoon, Anwar was arrested and taken into a police Mitsubishi Pajero where he was seen with his face covered with a cloth and flanked by two policemen in balaclavas, reports the NST. He was brought to the city contingent police headquarters. The Malaysian Insider reports that, soon after his arrest this afternoon, more pandemonium erupted in Parliament when Azmin Ali challenged the government to reveal who issued the order for Anwar’s arrest.
“What is Syed Hamid Albar, the Home Minister’s, stand? Who gave the order? Is it the IGP,” he spat out.
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Warrant of arrest out for Raja Petra

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Malaysia Today reports that Raja Petra Kamarudin has been ordered to report to the ninth floor IPK KL (opposite Pudu Jail) at 10.00am tomorrow. He could be charged for criminal defamation in relation to the sworn statement on 18 June that Deputy Prime Minister Najib’s wife Rosmah was present when Altantuya was blown up. The NST reports that police have obtained a warrant of arrest against Raja Petra.
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