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JBJ is laid to rest; salute to an inspirational life

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Today, J B Jeyaretnam is laid to rest after a long struggle for democracy and human rights in Singapore. Looking back, we can now see what an inspirational life he led, his principles and idealism shining forth like a beacon.

Hopefully, there will be others who will rise to accept the baton and continue the race. In years to come, the legend of JBJ will be narrated to future generations of Singaporeans, who will come to regard him as one of the island republic’s greatest heroes in the fight for democracy and freedom.

Aliran President P Ramakrishnan has issued a moving media statement, paying tribute to this giant of a man.

Today Singaporeans will bid farewell to an iconic symbol of a fighting spirit that had stood up for democracy and human rights, paying every price that was extracted from him!

We were saddened to learn of JB Jeyaretnam’s demise in the early hours of Tuesday, 30 September 2008. JBJ, as he was fondly referred to, succumbed to a heart attack, bringing to an end a life that reflected an indomitable spirit and a formidable fortitude that helped him to stay the course. Full statement

200 attend Abolish ISA vigil in Penang

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Ordinary Malaysians scrawl their signatures on the Abolish ISA banner

The Bishop of Penang (left) was among those who showed up

Some 200 concerned individuals turned up tonight in front of the Dewan Sri Pinang to attend the weekly candle-light vigil. The turnout was slightly lower than last week’s 300 perhaps because of the Raya holidays as some were still out of town.

But there were a few ‘visitors’ from KL attending tonight’s vigil, taking advantage of the holidays to return to Penang. One of them remarked that the Penang police appeared to be more tolerant of these candlelight vigils compared to the cops in KL.

Aliran’s Angeline Loh read out the names of the 66 ISA detainees and the duration of their detention as the crowd listened in silence.

A huge ‘Mansuhkan ISA’ banner was placed on the ground and those present then scrawled their signatures to support the call for the repeal of the Act.

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Another candlelight vigil in Penang tonight

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Another Abolish ISA candlelight vigil today in front of Dewan Sri Pinang at 9.00pm. It is organised by Penang-based civil society groups belonging to the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI).

Syed Hamid gets fewer nominations – but wins

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Some of you may have missed this news item as it was just a small snippet in The Star:

Syed Hamid has won the Kota Tinggi Umno division head post uncontested – after the membership of his opponent, who actually secured more nominations, was suspended by the Umno disciplinary committee. It was 23-21 nominations in his opponent’s favour.

Syed Hamid wins uncontested
Compiled by V.P. SUJATA, LEE YUK PENG and A. RAMAN

HOME Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar won the Kota Tinggi Umno division head post uncontested after his challenger A. Malek A. Rahman’s membership was suspended, reported Utusan Malaysia.

Malek’s membership was suspended by the Umno disciplinary board chaired by Tengku Tan Sri Ahmad Rithaudeen Tengku Ismail for three years or one election term.

Prior to the suspension, Malek received 23 nominations and Syed Hamid 21 for the division head post.

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An unforgettable Raya morning in Kamunting

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They came from all over to send their Raya greetings (Photos by Teh/Lim)

Marina received lots of flowers and cards for RPK

Eye-witness Peng shares his experience in Kamunting today:

We arrived around 11.06am. Singing was underway when I got there. I was excited to see many people who were there to show support. People were mingling around with intermitten shouts of “Free RPK, Free Hindraf Five” and “Mansuhkan ISA”. There was no heavy presence of police. Marina was there. It was good to see her smile amidst the challenges she’s facing. People, she needs all the support we can give. …

I am glad that strangers could get together for a united cause. Today, I put a face to names that I know through blog comments. … It’s great to have met you all. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

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300 gather at Kamunting to convey Raya greetings

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If you visited Kamunting today, do share your citizen journalist eye-witness accounts in the comments below:

Blog reader Rakyat@Work comments:

Way to go folks. Keep it up. Thank you all you great people. God bless all of you. Tell RPK that many more ‘reserve’ supporters (those like me who cannot make it for the trip) are still around. Don’t worry, we will continue to support and uphold him and family in prayer as well. Have fun. Cheers. Wish I was there.

1142: The crowd is singing ‘Negaraku‘ now before dispersing. They have lots of lots of flowers and cards outside the camp, but these are unlikely to reach the detainees.

Another contact at the scene reports that the crowd earlier had sung two numbers, ‘We are Malaysians‘ (sung to the tune of ‘We are the world‘) and a ‘Selamat Hari Raya‘ song. “Everyone is so cheerful and glad to be here,” says my contact, adding that Marina was touched by the show of support. The turnout today is estimated to be in the region of 200 to 300.

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How will the Murum Dam affect Bakun?

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Bakun Dam nearing completion (Photo by Raymond Abin/IPS)

Even before they can make up their minds what to do with all the electricity to be generated by Bakun, they have already started preliminary work on the 944MW Murum Dam, which is just 60km upstream from Bakun. Remember, Sime Darby has pulled out from the project to lay undersea power cables to the peninsula.

About a thousand indigenous Penan will have to make way as their homes will be submerged by the Murum.

How will the Murum Dam, which will be constructed in the Bakun catchment area, affect the Bakun Dam?

These are some of the issues I looked at in writing this piece for IPS:

PENANG, Malaysia, Sep 27 (IPS) – Preliminary work on a 3 billion ringgit (875 million dollar) dam in Murum in the north Borneo state of Sarawak has put the spotlight on a controversial scheme to build a string of public-funded dams to provide cheap electricity for energy-intensive industries to the state.

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Encounters with JBJ in JB

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I hope all of you are having a good Raya break.

But let us remember our Muslim brother undergoing detention without trial, in Kamunting or elsewhere.

Read Farish Noor’s ‘Eidil Fitri in prison’ (Aliran) and Raja Petra’s ‘Give me liberty or give me death’ (Malaysia Today) from Kamunting.

I wish all Muslim readers a joyous celebration with their loved ones and friends.

Blog reader RastamanJB shares with us how as a stranger, he met and got to know the legendary J B Jeyaretnam:

I met him many times at the Kerala Reastaurant, Jalan Ibrahim, JB, and chatted with him about his WP.

He was a man worth his salt. His steadfastness and righteousness was there for all to see. It is a shame that we do not have anyone, and I repeat anyone, on both sides of the border to match him.

He was a very approachable person and talked to anyone who acknowledged him. A simple man, with his trade mark side-burns, collared T-shirts and short pants and sandals… popped into JB very often for his thosai and air suam.

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J B Jeyaretnam 1926-2008: Passing of a legend

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The legendary Singapore opposition icon, Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, better known as JBJ (photo credit: Wikipedia), passed away early this morning of heart failure.

After having left the Workers Party, he had just formed the Reform Party to mount a new challenge to PAP dominance. He was the interim secretary general of the party.

He was Singapore’s Mr Opposition, having broken the PAP’s 15-year monopoly in Parliament in the Anson by-election in 1981, winning 52 per cent of the votes to become Singapore’s first opposition MP.

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Trip to Kamunting to convey Raya greetings

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I have just been informed by the Bukit Bendera MP’s office that they, along with several Penang-based civil society activists, are planning a drive to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping on the second day of Raya to convey their greetings to the ISA detainees:

Flowers, cards and gifts, if any, will be passed on to Raja Petra and the other ISA detainees to let them know that they are not forgotten on this special day.  RPK’s wife Marina has been informed of the event and hope that she will also be able to join us. The Press will also be invited for this event.

Details of travel:

Date: Thursday, 2 October 2008

Meeting Place: DAP Bukit Bendera Service Centre, Wayton Court, Penang
Meet at 9.00am

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