Kampung Tanjung Tokong residents are opposing a RM1 billion “mixed development” project managed by Uda Holdings that could affect their 200-year-old settlement.
Photo courtesy of Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi
This project is clearly a legacy of BN rule, but how will the Pakatan administration handle it?
PKR, DAP, Snap and Pas are coming together to form the Sarawak Pakatan. The plan is to ensure straight fights with the BN in all 71 state seats when the Sarawak election is held either this year or next year.
It was never meant to be this way. Valli Perumal’s father bought a house in this village when he retired in 1965 after the previous owner returned to India.
“Have you heard anything about our houses?” asks a despairing Valli Perumal – Photo by Anil
Perumal had worked with the city council and thought that the tranquil village provided an idyllic setting for his family.
His daughter, Valli, was fifteen then, and she grew up in the village, where her family reared goats for a living.
Kampung Buah Pala villagers have been thrown back into the Dark Ages after electricity was disconnected in most of the houses still standing, many of them partially damaged.
Photos by Anil
Small groups of dejected and subdued villagers and other visitors sat huddled in quiet conversation along the lane under the glare of street lights.
Several houses still standing used candles to illuminate their partly broken homes. A stray dog trotted aimlessly along the lane.
It was a sad, sad day for Kampung Buah Pala as a demolition team smashed the homes of villagers who had struggled to protect and preserve their 200-year-old settlement.
Photos by an eye-witness
1930: “My heart is completely broken today. Where were all the NGOs and political parties?” lamented a volunteer who had stood by the villagers. “Nobody was there … to see for themselves the pain the people went through. (I was) standing there and watching the demolition helplessly.”
“Even trees were not spared. A goat took refuge under a tractor. Dogs and cats were helpless with nowhere to go.”
About 30 activists this morning voiced their concern about the MCMC’s action against Malaysiakini over its videos relating to the ‘cow-head’ protest.
Photos by Rakyat@work
They held a brief gathering outside the Malaysiakini office at 10.00am, followed by a press conference in the Malaysiakini office.
The main NGO speaker (centre among group of speakers) was Amin Iskandar, director of the National Institute of Electoral Integrity.
Is this a sign of things to come as our planet contends with water shortages aggravated by competing demand from the public and demand from industry (to cater to ever-increasing production of consumer goods, which in turn requires more raw materials)?
Why haven’t we heard more about the Labuan water shortages? Some 80,000 Labuan residents, including 4,000 students, have been faced with a serious water shortage since July.
Bernama reports that demand for water in Labuan is about 56 million litres a day but supply (from the mainland) is only at 42 million litres, a shortfall of 25 per cent. But 10 million litres (about a quarter) of the water supply is consumed by Petronas’ mega methanol plant (photo here).
And the people suffer.
The release of the federally sanctioned report on the sexual abuse of Penan women and girls has prompted contrasting reactions from Sarawak government leaders.
Take a look at the Borneo Post, which reports that Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, who had not seen the official report, took a swipe at the messengers, the “negative NGOs”, while casting aspersions on the contents:
Doubts over KL Penan rape report
By Churchill EdwardJabu says negative NGOs could have a hand in federal government finding
KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu yesterday questioned the credibility of a government report about allegations of rape of Penan women.
Although he has not seen the actual report from a special task force set up by the federal government as of yesterday, he believed negative non-governmental organisations (NGOs) could have a hand in it.
Samy Vellu’s men might have swept the top posts in the MIC party elections, but the future of race-based politics and parties remains distinctly bleak.
Leaving aside the lack of renewal in the party’s top leadership, the reality is that race-based parties are catering to a shrinking “market”, despite the best attempts of politicians to whip up ethnic sentiment. Thus, we now see attempts to use religion for political mileage. All this at great cost to unity.
Do we really have OneMalaysia or two Malaysias – one for the rich and the other for the lower-income group. Here’s something I wrote for Aliran:
The Najib administration has touted its One Malaysia slogan in the weeks leading up to the Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations.