On 'I stopped PM from ordering Yong's arrest'

LTL: If Raymond Tan’s claims are true, shouldn’t he and the PM be charged for corruption and abuse of power? I thought no one is above the law, including those in the seats of power?

Is Tan trying to tell us that if you are a BN ally, you will not be charged for your offences? Yong Teck Lee should be arrested if he is indeed guilty of corruption. However, action should also be taken on Tan and the prime minister as it seems that they have had a hand in manipulating justice.

Milton Yap: Raymond Tan is very brazen to make this claim. When Anwar Ibrahim enquired about the investigation into his earlier sodomy case, he was accused of trying to stop the investigation and charged and convicted for corruption.

In this case, Tan has openly admitted that he has interfered with the work of the prime minister and the Anti-Corruption Agency. Shouldn’t he be charged? Or is he going to escape any sort of reprimand because he is on the government’s side?

Sabahwatcher: So, it is out in the open. The deputy chief minister of Sabah has himself verified that political persecution does happen and is happening in Malaysia.

It is either that or Yong Teck Lee is so brilliant that he has made Raymond Tan a mole, who shoots off his mouth, making the prime minister look bad in the end. Whatever the case, long live Sapp, the only party in Sabah with courage to do the right thing.

Tetraigrat: This is a very serious allegation if we look at it from various angles. Firstly, Raymond Tan's claim that he had prevented the arrest of party president Yong Teck Lee on allegations of corruption smacks of political persecution.

Someone in Sabah should file a police or ACA report on Tan for obstructing the course of justice.

Secondly, Tan was also quoted as saying that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had wanted Yong arrested by the ACA after Yong spearheaded a no-confidence motion against Abdullah’s leadership. This further strengthens the claim that the government is selective in who it chooses to charge with wrong doing.

If at all Yong has committed acts of corruption, charge him. But what enrages the rakyat is the fact that he was threatened with arrest only after he fell out of favour with the PM. This only proves how unjustly the country is being lead.

G-man: Seems like the disgruntled ex-deputy president of Sapp has shot himself in the foot. Even more damaging is the statement he made on supposedly halting the investigation on Yong Teck Lee.

This has shattered the PM's credibility, who says the 'neutral and unbiased' ACA acts based on its own findings and is not influenced by anyone. It seems anyone with power, admittedly on the government’s side, can order and halt investigations.

On 'Gila-gila': Deadline set for BN rep to issue apology

Sam: This issue clearly highlights the long standing and endemic political problem that exists in Sarawak. Village heads and rural people in general are 'required' to vote for Barisan National otherwise they will be victimised or even, as this case illustrates, be accused of being insane.

This is to say nothing of the fact that any rural community in Sarawak which is so bold as to exercise its democratic right to vote for the opposition will be deprived of basic services such as electricity and water supply and government assistance for agriculture and health.

Rather than being ‘gila gila’, these village leaders have, by demanding an apology and objecting to Peter Nansian's behaviour and that of his mentor Taib Mahmud, very clearly demonstrated their clarity of mind and rapidly emerging political awareness of how they have been duped by BN.

I sorely hope that such 'madness' sweeps Sarawak like an epidemic of the flu.

On Group lodges police report against Anwar

JK: As concerned citizens, we must be very practical in exercising our rights to seek police investigation by way of a report. The complainants must ensure that they have credible grounds, facts and figures to assist the police in conducting an investigation .

People cannot blame the current economic slowdown in the country on Anwar Ibrahim as it is a global phenomenon. Likewise, those insecure parents who refrained from sending their children to school on September 16 should not blame their fears on the opposition leader. If they had legitimate fears of possible unrest, they should have enquired at a nearby police station.

Such unwarranted police reports will only burden the already over-worked police force, besides wasting tax payers money.

Imagine, if we all made police reports when and as we liked, there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day to attend to our complaints.

On Muhyiddin attacks transition plan, again

Wisernow: The Umno VP's call to reform or face 'oblivion in the next election' is an admission of serious defects within the alliance. If such defects are not rectified, why wait for the next election to face oblivion?

Fearing the ISA, I shall thread carefully by opining that any government which comprises of different racial component parties needs some serious rethinking by current standards, even if it had seemed to work previously.

Otherwise, it will be like saying that it is better to divide and rule than have new policies that espouse equality and racial harmony. Would not such a system offer the not-so-righteous an opportunity to continue their personal agenda by instigating racial tensions?

On MIC says it again: Release the Hindraf 5

JK: Samy, we know you have been trying hard to get the Hindraf 5 out. But we also know that you kept silent when the order for their detention under the ISA was given out. All this would not have happened if you had done your job.

Seeing DAP leaders going all out to secure the release of Teresa Kok would have struck a chord with you. Are you now feeling guilty for not doing all you could to secure the release of the Hindraf 5?

You can’t run away from the fact that the majority of Indians in the country have not had a fair chance in life, all because of your weak leadership.

There is no use shouting yourself hoarse now. No one is listening to you. If they didn’t listen when u had a position in cabinet, do you think they will listen now that you have no position and was rejected by voters?

You have missed the boat Samy, it's too late.

Rocky: Really Samy you need to face reality. The government will not do what you say or ask of them, more so after you failed to deliver the Indian vote during the last general election. You claim that Indians are returning to MIC. Really? Just look at the Permatang Pauh by-election, who did the Indians vote for? I don’t think it was BN.

It is really time for you to make way for another leader and even then the Indians may not come back to MIC. In your mind, you are the only leader who can lead and make the changes which you have not been able to do for the last 20 odd years.

Releasing the Hindarf 5 will also not win MIC any support because the Indians have woken up. They know that they are better of not having an Indian party representing them. As you can see, there are more Indian MPs after March 8 and this is possible thanks to multiracial parties like PKR and DAP.

What has MIC done for the Indians? Nothing! You have failed as a leader. MIC doesn't need rebranding, it needs an overhaul. So please leave the Hindraf 5 alone because you were nowhere when they needed help, in fact you were against them. You say MIC cares, but the question is for whom?

GV: Samy Vellu was recently quoted as saying,"Hundreds throng MIC offices daily". What does he mean by hundreds? 100, 200 or 900? As an ex-minister, he should be able to provide facts and figures.

He also said many want to return to the party. How many exactly?

Only MIC can help the Indians? Of course, because only MIC is being given the funds by the government. So, obviously the Indians will go to MIC hoping to get some help. But how many people actually end up getting the help? One out of 100? 5 out of 100?

He also admitted to not using the Internet and electronic media to reach out to the Indian community. Since when do we depend on these two methods to reach out? Doing the right things for the Indian community is itself reaching out to the community. Why was it not done prior to the March 2008 elections?

Finally, MIC does not need re-branding. MIC is not a brand to be sold. It is a representation of the Indian community in this country. It needs to re-engineer itself and become part of society, instead of being an organisation which strives to manage the Indian community.

It is time the MIC leadership takes accountability of their failure and stop acting as though the community has understood them wrongly. It is not the Indian community that failed MIC in the recent election, it is MIC that has failed the Indians. MIC leadership must understand one thing: the Indians are out of the estates.