Malaysian top news headlines

If the government is serious in pursuing a more democratic and open Malaysia, then the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) should be abolished too.What people says?

Tan Kim Keong He’s right on the OSA. However his intention regarding strengthening preventive elements with regards to the new law is only from one perspective i.e. not to question anything to do with Ketuanan Melayu or institutionalised racial discrimination. He sees standing up for one’s equal right under the Malaysian sun as a threat or encroachment to him, his race and his kind. Racism is written all over in his intention.

Malaysian Born Nothing of the kind, this sly bufoon is indirectly wanting the new laws to be used to stifle the opposition, For the record the ISA was for dealing with the security of the country against the communist and terrorist threat, nothing more. It is not meant to cover islam and bumiputra rights. If anyone does anything against a specific law then that law should be used to prosecute them. He is trying to say preventive laws are needed, in other words any excuse to lock your opponents up without trial. The last people I want to ask for advice where it comes to this is the police, it is there job to prove the case, not use preventive measures without trial. Really why is this muff being given face and time. Give him his tokens and chair outside the toilet and be done with him.

David Dass Ibrahim Ali ! Inconsistency is thy name. Yesterday he opposed liberalization. Today he supports it. He wants the Official Secrets Act and the University and Colleges Acts repealed. Critics of the OSA have always said that the OSA must not provide cover for questionable governmental activity. The Rakyat have called for more open and transparent government. We now have a Freedom of Information Act in Selangor. As for the University and Colleges Act there have been many calls for its repeal or at least for its more offensive provisions to be amended. University autonomy is universally regarded as an essential attribute for a center of higher learning. Lecturers and students have to experience their own empowerment to unleash their intelligence and creativity. No such noble purpose for Ibrahim Ali. There are close to a million undergraduates. He remembers his student days. And thinks that he can rabble rouse these undergraduates. Good luck to him. Students are smarter and more aware today.

JusticeKini YES- for the first time I can agree with Ibrahim Ali but with a caveat- Ibrahim Ali MUST GO TOO. His warped thinking that the two new acts must include protection of Islam and special rights which are all in the constitution. Does Allah needs a nincompoop like Ali to protect Islam? Are all Malays so insecure and greedy like him to have “protection” for their rights. The all powerful Ghadafi of Libya and Mubarak of Egypt are all now a footnote in history. Ibrahim Ali must learn that the concepts of race n religion supremacy does not jell in a modern cosmopolitan world. Liberty, equality, fraternity! are the cries during the French Revoultion and they are still relevent in today’s world as evident in Libya, Egypt, Syria etc. The people are rising against the UMNOputras not becos of race n religion but becos of corruption nepotism n elitism.

Singapore is coming under mounting pressure to ease political restrictions after neighbouring Malaysia unveiled steps to abolish tough security laws and ease media and protest regulations. What people says about this:

David Dass Singapore would do well to learn from its politically more robust neighbor. Just as Malaysia could learn some things from Singapore. Singapore’s success comes from just 3 things. A zero tolerance for corruption, high standards of education and the recruitment of talent from all over the world – most of all from Malaysia. High standards of education was in no small part achieved by retaining English as the medium of instruction and the language of administration. Politically repressive laws were unnecessary tools for the creation of an advanced economy. Harsh and repressive laws cowed a population for a time – fear diminished them for a while. But now a new generation have said – ‘enough is enough’. We do not need such repressive laws. We need to be free of fear. We are confident of our ability to find honest intelligent leaders who do not need to use terror to govern Singapore. Look at Libya, And Egypt and Syria. And look at Malaysia.

Swen Singapore was not ejected from Malaysia. Singapore chose to breakaway and everyone can see this small nation is more wellknown than many of her neighbouring countries. Singapore’s wealth and economy is an envy to us. The currency strenght at 2.47x over the RM speaks loud and clear on their way governance, believable clean and clear world preception index on corruptions.

Anonymously If the PAP government of Singapore does not learn from Malaysia and cling on to the obselete ISA, their days are numbered. ISA is not compatible with an educated, well-informed and increadingly out-spoken populace like their.

Black Mamba Let’s face it, ISA will never be abolished in Singapore as long as the Lee Dynasty is still around. It has help them built up the nation as they deem fit as the same in Malaysia where it serves Dr. M’s rule as he too deem fit to cripple and breakdown his strongest opponents.

CyberSecurity Malaysia, the government’s online watchdog, has launched new guidelines called ‘Best Practice on Social Networking Sites’ (SNS), reports Bernama. CyberSecurity Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Husin Jazri said the purpose of establishing the guidelines is to assist SNS users, either organisations or individuals, to understand the ‘dark side’ of SNS. The guidelines suggest acceptable practices that support usage of the SNS while protecting the security of users and privacy needs.

Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria had once advised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that it is the government’s “weaknesses” and “corrupt” practices that have divided the Malay community, he revealed today.

What people says about this issue?

Malaysian Born Well this chap likes the sound of his voice and is one of the most crass political opportunists in the country. He enjoys coming out with controversial statements using non-muslims as his favorite boogeymen. For him to openly turn on the prime minister is an indication that he has now collected his fee of 30 pieces of silver and is now doing his masters bidding. Looks like an internal struggle in UMNO. For him to say that he advised prime ministers is a joke, he is a class clown who knows how to manipulate racial and religious sensitivities, he represents the lowest form of political tool and these days spends his time stirring discontent and fear among the lower income group and rural muslims. What a shame that a low life like this is given such prominence and face when vermin like him should be shown the door.

David Dass The problem was and is not Islam. The problem is one Mufti Harrussani Zakariah. This is not the first time that he has tried to stir up trouble between Muslims and non Muslims. He was the one who sent out a text message – saying that thousands of Muslims had been converted into Christianity and that a Catholic Church in Ipoh was baptizing Muslims. That caused a crowd of Muslims to gather around the Church during a service scaring the congregation. Whose interest does it serve to allow someone like this to spew so much garbage without penalty or sanction ? How does Islam or the nation benefit from tension between the races or from polarization or from people emigrating because they cannot take this constant attempt by some to stoke the fires of racial and religious hatred ? There are contrary voices but in the nature of things discordant and raucous voices are the loudest. There is no spiritual law that says people of different faiths cannot live together peacefully and harmoniously.

Wong Yoke Leong I hope the Perak Mufti was wrongly quoted when he said that non muslims are cruel according to the Quran. I have many non muslim friends and I can sincerely say that they are definitely not cruel. Statements like this causes religious tensions. Sigh!

4thForce Many people who commented here didn’t attend the forum and look how they lambasted not only the mufti but also Islam based on what is reported by Malaysiakini. Qur’an gives warning and reminders to all humanity but I don’t recall Qur’an states non-muslims being cruel simply because they are non-Muslims. Reporting on interpretation of Qur’an verses by people who are not knowledgable would result in this gross misunderstanding. I would advise Malaysiakini to be careful in this area and not simply report without clarifying. You could be held responsible for irresponsible journalism.

ANONIMOUS Z How sad it is for Malaysia these days! Why does he keep talking of Malays split? Isn’t it should be Malaysians split? Also he is only interested in Malay Muslims to come together. He does not even want the Mamak-Muslims or other non-Malay Muslims to come together. What a real extreme racist under the pretext of religious supremacy. So, to all our Mamak-Muslims and non-Malay Muslims or non-pure blood Malay Muslims, all of you are considered 2nd class Muslims in Malaysia. It is just like in Middle East, the Gulf region, all non-Arab Muslims including the pure Malay-Muslims are 2nd class Muslims.

Simon Lee 3ed5 And what this Islamic “hero” is now trying to only preach is half of the Malays supports corruption?! And which half are you standing on Mr Mufti? If you are trully a man of Allah who practise & live by the tenets of Islam, you should call for all Muslims to vote for PR, while it may not be perfect, but at least the party is incorrupt & sincere, unlike Umno,a party of corrupt & filthy $$billionaires! As you had confirmed & declared the govt is corrupt, for Allah’s sake, why didn’t you demand the $24 million diamond ring, the $100K handbags & the $200billions of the nation’s wealth that were plundered be returned to the rakyat & the corrupt charged? Where were you, Man of Allah, all these 54 years, when the nation’s bleed & every institution of our nation is corrupt & collapsed, countless killed in custody & the many sins & criminal acts perpetuated against the rakyat & Islam by Umno? A leader who supports a corrupt party & condones corruption & every evil betrays Allah!

wfworker All leaders whatever their belief must look at the mirror FIRST before running down people with different belief; do note the time span that separate the gap between civilizations. If there are civilizations that had lasted longer than your own; surely it provides you an indicator. Being over sensitive about oneself while ‘jabbing’ in the air does not reflect any depth of thinking. Anyway, one can claim anything in this world or the next world; the majority of the population in this world can only smile and judge as such conclusion from such a LEARNERED man! anyway that is your claim!

Malaysia’s reliance on the preventive detention law Internal Security Act (ISA) has limited its effectiveness in identifying terrorist networks, says a report produced by the United States Department of State.

What people say about this?
David Dass – We are creating problems for ourselves. We rely on a law that allows us to detain someone without having to charge him and try him in open court. It is a preemptive law we say. We do not need the evidence to prove the charges against him. So we detain someone on suspicion and hope that through interrogation we can get information. That may sometimes work. In more developed countries investigation, long term surveillance, undercover agents are all used to gather information on terrorist cells or organised crime. Premature arrests only serve to alert the criminals of a sting operation and they disperse to reappear on some other more secure front. At another level we allow into the country a huge number of unskilled workers many of whom will obtain papers to stay on as migrants. These people are not subject to deep level scrutiny. We may be importing future problems – whether they be of class or some other variety. Our borders are simply too porous.

jbsuara – Many NGOs and d public has called for d ISA to be repealed, esp. after d ISA was used or abused to arrest n detain a journalist and a popular opposition Member of Parliment during d time of d previous Home Minister. Both of them have no proven link to terrorism until now. Apparently, d recurring use or probable abuse of this act has lead to its ineffectiveness, besides creating deep distrust from d public when d Act is used to detain citizens.This act has lost its relevance in d civil society. It should be replaced with an anti terrorist act.

What actually Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had to say about Petronas petroleum revenue?Well, you may want to click those more button below to find out the whole story.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who is also referred to as Ku Li, the founder of Petronas and former Finance Minister has claimed that Malaysia under the Barisan Nasional government had abused the huge revenue gained by pumping more than the agreed amount agreed upon during its formation.

The BN led federal government had been misusuing petronas revenue on wasted government projects which according to sources amount from RM100 Billion to RM500 Billion. It was noted that most of the wastage were during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenures.

Furthermore, the Kelantan prince, claimed that Kelantan should rightfully be compensated for oil royalty irrespective of is within its shores or off-shore. The Kelantan State government is an Opposition government and the BN federal government seems to find way to cripple its administration by claiming that royalty payments are only on specific fields.

Will Petronas finally account to the rakyat on the amount wasted by these leaders?

Implement the goods and services tax of four per cent?Well, that was really wise decision.While after we suffer the effects of the recession, now Goods and Services Tax?Is this what we raelly need in the future?Hopefully this Goods and Services Tax will be discuss once more.

The government intends to implement the goods and services tax of four per cent in the middle of 2011, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said today.

This would give all parties 18 months to get ready for the implementation, he told reporters at the lobby of Parliament House after he had tabled the Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 for first reading in the Dewan Rakyat.

The bill seeks to provide for the imposition and collection of goods and services tax and related matters. The GST will replace the sale tax and the service tax currently imposed and collected under the Sales Tax Act 1972 and the Service Tax Act 1975.

The GST is a broad-based consumption tax based on a value-added concept. Unlike the present sales tax, which is a single stage tax, the GST is a multi-stage tax. Payment of tax is made in stages by the intermediaries in the production and distribution process.

The tax itself is not a cost to the intermediaries and does not appear as an expense item in their financial statements.

The GST covers all sectors of the industry and is a tax on final consumption of goods and services. It is collected through a credit system where GST incurred on inputs is offset against GST charged on outputs.

Ahmad Husni said the GST, which was a more efficient tax system in terms of cost effectiveness, would replace the current consumption tax in the form of sales tax and service tax.

With the implementation of the GST, the government would garner revenue of RM13 billion for the first year compared to the current RM12 billion, he said.

He also said that businesses would save RM4.1 billion in taxes while the export sectors would save RM1.4 billion.

“The main purpose for the government to introduce the GST is to make the current taxation system more comprehensive, efficient, effective, transparent and business friendly,” he said.

He said that based on the proposed model, businesses were expected to benefit in terms of lower cost of doing business as the GST was not a cost to business.

“The government is proposing to impose the GST at a rate which is lower than the sales tax and service tax rates and to allow certain exemptions from the GST, especially on essential goods such as agricultural products (padi and vegetables), basic foods (rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil), fish, meat and chicken so as to ensure that it will not burden the people at large, especially the poor and the lower income group,” he said.

Furthermore, the GST would be more able to reduce bureaucratic practices in the management and administration of the country’s tax system and to overcome the various inherent weaknesses that existed in the sales and service tax, he added.

Ahmad Husni also noted that companies with revenue of RM500,000 and below would be exempted from imposing the GST and about 70 per cent of small and medium sized industries (SMEs) would also be exempted.

The second and subsequent readings of the bill would be done during the sitting of the Dewan Rakyat next year, scheduled for March.

He said this was to give the opportunity for everyone to scrutinise the bill to provide feedback. –