'For Umno to seek legal guidance from a QC is an affront to Malaysia's legal fraternity. More importantly, it is a direct insult and a show of disrespect to our beloved Sultan Azlan Shah.'
On Perak tussle: Umno seeks QC's opinion
Vijay: Malaysians would be shamed over the latest act of betrayal to our country's pride, dignity, and sovereignty. Umno should remember that Malaysia has long rid itself of the shackles of Western imperialists and we have valiantly withstood the efforts to bring us under a new form of imperialism - economic subjugation.
Thus for the last 50 years or so, ever since we chased away the English, we have been an independent nation holding our heads high with our numerous achievements, a nation respected and admired by every country from Afghanistan to Mongolia to Zimbabwe, except by Singapore who have always been jealous of our success.
For Umno to seek legal guidance from an English Queen's Counsel is an affront to Malaysia's legal fraternity. In what way are English lawyers superior to ours? And for that matter, in what way are ours inferior?
We have a worthy reservoir of experts who, being Malaysian, would understand much better the holy nuances in our legislative objectives and the judicial fortress in place to give substance and form to our aspirations; VK. Lingam and Eusoffe Chin readily come to mind.
Why is Umno being so subservient to England and Britain? The sun has long set on the British empire and, in fact, their football team struggles to beat even lesser teams from lesser countries and counties.
More importantly, this delegation to England is a direct insult and a show of disrespect to our beloved Sultan Azlan Shah. By going to London Umno doubts what the sultan did and seems to suggest that His Highness despite once being the Lord President does not know his law, constitutional or otherwise, and that he had gone afoul of the law in appointing our equally beloved Zambry as Perak's menteri besar.
If Umno persists in this brazen act of defiance, all its principal officers must be charged with treason and sedition, and never be allowed to set foot in Perak again.
On PM in 'contempt' of Perak assembly
Mooshie Mooshie: Can one imagine these two fellows.
A PM and a statesman telling the Perak MB to defy a constitutional ruling. This is not only in bad taste but also goes to show why Malaysia is in the state that it is in.
So, Zambry, your main concern is the people. What about Nizar?
Do you think he is not concerned about the people? This when you fellas illegally escorted him and his exco from the state secretariat building?
Please la ,we all know BN tricks and they are all outdated.
John Johnson: Well done to the Perak state assembly speaker who is able to rise to the occasion and use the law to make his decision. It might not be one that BN is happy about but nevertheless it is the law.
He has stood his ground in the face of so much pressure and still has managed to hold up his head with pride and dignity. It is indeed shameful for the PM to come out with a statement to say that he (the speaker) is disrespectful to the sultan.
It is obvious they are trying to get the Sultan of Perak involve and one can see why. Even if they lose the coming by-election, they will say that the sultan was not popular with the people.
Once and for all, let the people decide. Give the Perakians the chance to choose who they want to govern them by having an election again.
This is the only way out to settle this issue once and for all. Give the mandate to whoever wins the election.
No more ‘jumping frogs' please. And a law must be passed to prosecute these ‘jumping frogs' to prevent them from amassing a fortune in cash by jumping here and there.
Ex-ACS Ipoh Class Of 75: Honestly, I am utterly fed up with our lackadaisical PM. Beside showing to the nation how indecisive and ineffective he has been over the last five years, he has now demonstrated that he also possess a double tongue.
When Umno went against the Sultan of Terengganu in the latter's choice of MB, all hell broke loose with Umno supporters calling the sultan all kinds of names and carrying out demonstrations against the sultan.
Now, as suits the situation, our PM is saying that the Perak speaker has shown disrespect to the Sultan of Perak when the former ordered the suspension of the MB and the six exco members.
Mr PM, what is your actual stand for goodness sake? By doing what you have done, you have shown us to be a spineless person.
I strongly believe our PM will go down in Malaysian history as the most ineffective and indecisive leader the country has ever had.
Me and my family voted overwhelmingly for BN in 2004 because we were deceived by his clean and caring image and his perceived determination to implement changes to rid the country's ills.
I must say I feel very betrayed by him in particular and the entire Barisan Nasional leadership in general. He had his chances but did not have the will to implement what he promised during the 2004 election campaign. What a shame.
On Please migrate if you can't respect the sultans
Jing Yi Lim: I have no intention of getting into an argument with the writer, but I feel the urge to refute what he/she has said.
Recently there have been a lot of questions regarding Sultan Azlan Shah's decision to allow the BN to form the Perak state government instead of approving Nizar's request of dissolving the state assembly. This event has caught the attention of all the people in the country.
The folks on the street have little knowledge of what powers the sultans enjoy under the constitution, and whether such action was constitutional. Hence, they raised their concerns.
In fact, as many parties have suggested, the sultan's action was highly questionable as it violated the constitution. Even though the sultans are the rulers of the states, they too have to abide by the constitution.
Respecting the sultans does not mean that the people have to follow them blindly. Malaysia practices democracy with the constitution on top of everything and everyone else, not with the king having the only say.
The writer repeatedly mentioned that Malays were the ‘hosts' in this country. If that were the case, then what are we the Chinese, Indians, and other minority groups? Are we guests or squatters?
I don't deny that the ancestors of Malays came to this land before the other ethnic groups, but allow me to remind you that we hold the citizenship of Malaysia as you do. There should be no issue of ‘host' and ‘guests.
A lot of us, particularly the young generation, were born here, were raised up here, and we all definitely share the sense of belonging to this country. Please do not disregard the feelings of other ethnic groups when penning your thoughts.
After half-a-century of independence, we still have people who think their race is the owner of this land, people who call others squatters, and people who doubt others' love for this country. How pathetic.
On Scandal-hit firm likely to get water tunnel deal
Abdoor Kader: Seems that there is a mini frenzy brewing on news of the Pahang Water Project after a long delay in its starting.
Amidst all the allegations of everything negative ranging from irregularities in formulating bids, defective assessments, changing of bids, disagreement over the winner, hidden agendas to the corrupt practices of one of the bidders, I was just wondering if there would be any other ‘cloak and dagger' stuff hidden and yet to see the light of day.
That was until I stumbled upon a brief in The Star on my favourite and productive counter, listed IJM Corp, and its little surge in share price on rumours of participating in the Pahang Water Project through a Japanese -led Consortium.
What is really interesting is that this Japanese consortium, led by Shimizu, seems to have dropped a participating partner, Nishimatsu Construction, as the latter's name does not seem to appear in the write-up beside Shimizu, UEMB and IJM.
Is there more arising from this debacle as a result of the reported corruption scandal that Nishimatsu is currently embroiled in back home and the controversy soon to be going international?
Please do not tell me that this Shimizu-led consortium is thinking of dropping their good old partner in Nishimatsu in this venture to conveniently erase the stain.
Incidentally, I think this is against all rules of the game of open tendering and definitely gives cause for a rejection as similar to all the other misdeeds quoted.
Elizabeth George: The media has reported that Sime Darby is planning for a huge draw of water from Batang Padang which amounts to 2,000 million litres per day by 2010. The number is staggering and the investment is also equally huge.
A hundred years ago, we called the man who alerted us on global warming as crazy, yet we still have industries like Sime Darby, claiming 'Sustainable Groundwater Extraction'. The water that is sucked out of earth must be refilled.
Just like mining industries calling their activities as 'Sustainable Mining'; again there is no such thing. With global warming at our doorstep we should look at ways to take care of our water sources.
I have been on and off to Australia, a nation with a large number of groundwater extraction. Their groundwater extraction and global warming has caused a15 percent increase in desert area.
The water table has gone further down and is causing more dryness. Their recent staggering proof of effect in climate change was world news.
In Malaysia, we should focus on ensuring our water (river, lakes and swamp) quality. Sime Darby's money can be wisely spent on good projects to revive our rivers.
Different countries worked together to enhance the water quality of the Rhine River in Europe. Thames River is taking a better step ahead. Are we that lacking in brain capacity?
Sime Darby should do something meaningful with the capital they have.
On 'Anjing, keling': Student files report
Sang Kancil: This is another insult to the Indian Tamil ethnic group which was responsible for the pre-independance survival of Malaysia.
As the entire Malaysian system does not practice fair justice, it is very hard to handle issues of this kind. Whatever said and done, I regard this teacher as worse than her insults.
He should be arrested and punished heavily. Otherwise it is only the matter of time before the rakyat take the law in their hands and punish the irresponsible persons.
There is massive failure in the training of teachers from our teachers training colleges. I hope the relevant authority act fast and don't let the scenario reach a stage where nasi sudah menjadi bubur .
Dennis Madden: The mind boggles as to what else might be being taught in this Living Skills Class
Violence and racist insults seem to be acceptable and from looking at the rest of Malaysian society, then its not unreasonable to assume that sexism might well be part of the curriculum
What about trust, respect and commonsense? It would be interesting to see what the approach to teaching commonsense would be seeing that it's a fairly rare commodity in Malaysian society.
Then what about democracy and the structure of Malaysian society? Do the lucky students get to visit Parliament to see how effectively this country is run?
Or maybe Life Skills Classes are just another pseudonym for religious indoctrination
On The political rape of Elizabeth Wong
Farda Xi: Some victims have no voice as their aggressors silence them off. Some victims choose to silence themselves.
What is all the fuss about? If you want to discuss embarrassment, then consider this. Imagine if poor Wong accidentally stained her skirt one day. It happens, even to the best of us fertile women.
Then tabloids and certain politicians who have nothing better to do, will go on and on about something that is perfectly natural but obviously preferred to be kept private and unseen.
Should she resign over something so natural? Then what is next? Will our women MPs have to wear black in public ‘just in case'?
A Better Tomorrow: I read with dismay a report carried by a local tabloid on the KL CID police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman's statement that while the nude photos of Wong were posted by someone she knows, they were 'not posted online by anyone wishing to frame her for political reasons.'
I fail to understand how the CID chief could make such a statement that the photos were not posted for political reasons when the main suspect is still abroad and yet to be investigated.
I may have known a girl who has a bright political career but somehow along the road, our relationship got sour and we broke off. Feeling disgusted, I took to exact personal vengeance on her.
But if someone comes along and offers me a big fat ‘carrot' to do a far greater damage to her political organisation at the same time my original intention was only to exact a personal grudge, why not kill two birds with one stone?
Remember, this person who is said to know Wong was also involved with her political party once, although with a minimal influence.
But circles outside his party were looking for inside persons to do the damage and he appeared as the right person at the right time to do it for them. He will shoulder the blame but behind him looms a large shadow that maneuvres his hate and anger, and he fell for the bait.
When every corner of this country called for the person responsible for this despicable act to be condemned, they were actually calling for the real culprits to be brought forward, not the puppet. And many can speculate who.
And if many can speculate who, it is wise for the CID chief to investigate and bring the real culprits to book, and not for him to make statements that are seen to be biased to the order of the day.
JY: I cannot but agree with the many complainants and critics that our government right now is not focused on its governance and the handling of the all-important economy.
Seems like they have switched to auto-pilot mode. I just pray the economy will be able to ride out the tsunami waves and stay afloat intact.
Already we see pockets of poverty and misery here and there. I also cannot understand how a state government can be changed overnight through crossovers. It is really amazing.
On top of that, we read about the private lives of elected representatives being intruded. This is a clear violation of their privacy.
As far as my family and I are concerned, we are certainly not interested in who ElizabethWong has as her bed-partner. We are more interested in whether she can carry out her duties expeditiously for the good of the rakyat.
On Nik Aziz keeps mum on Ibrahim Ali
Toh SP: This guy will never be grateful to anyone. Just drop him before the next general elections. He can go running back to his former party and beg for a parliamentary/state seat.
He'll get swept into oblivion by the next tsunami and never surface again in Malaysian politics.
He is such a clown and never fails to come up with surprises and stunts. Unfortunately, in the wrong forum. He should be in a circus, not a parliament.
On Hundreds of fish were dying in Baram River
William Chang: I suggest Brimas check the level of unionised ammonia (NH3) in the water in addition to other water quality parameters. Unionised ammonia is very toxic to fish. The ammonia is produced from rotting plants in areas inundated during the recent floods.
When the flood water stays long, the plants inundated die and rot producing among others, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. During the high water, the fish are on the top layer of the water column which is replenished by fresh water from upstream during the rainy days.
When the flood water recedes after the rain, there is no more fresh water layer and the fish are trapped in the toxic bottom layer of the water column.
I would think both ammonia and low dissolved oxygen are the major causes of the fishes' death. The recent floods in many parts of Sarawak were quite unusual in the sense that they were prolonged and extensive, inundating a vast area of vegetation.
This phenomenon was observed quite often in the ox-bow lake at Long Terikan, Baram where cage culture project was implemented. During the period of heavy rain, the banks of the lake and surrounding streams were flooded, and the vegetation was submerged for days and rotting.
When the flood waters receded, a lot of fish in the cages died. It was found that the level of ammonia was very high.
As for poisoning, my view is that there is less likelihood of people doing that during the high water; it would need a lot of chemicals for that. People would tend to put pukat or gill nets at strategic places along the streams to trap the fish when the water recedes.
On Consumers association sees red over Penang Bridge fiasco
Spark:
Despite many solutions given to Penang bridge users to avoid jams, none of the facilities are in working condition.For the past few years, I have been frequently travelling to the island by the Penang Bridge. Each time there is a massive hold up on the bridge, the CCTVs on the Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd website are unable to be viewed.
PBSB should cooperate in this matter rather than making profit out the bridge users. On Thaipusam eve, massive jams on the bridge begian at approximately12.30am and lasted till 6am due to the work carried on the bridge by UEM.
UEM should be more considerate when carrying out works on a public holiday eve and on a public holidays.
Tim: Strange. Where are all the traffic policemen on Penang island and the mainland?
They should take initiative to react on this before the morning commute. At least, help to detour the traffic and display some signs to educate the people.
Ooi Hong Leong: As a regular user of the Penang bridge I have observed that the cameras are very frequently not working when there is very bad congestion or there are accidents such as the one that occurred last Thursday.
It is extremely aggravating when we log onto the Penang Bridge site only to find blank screens. Can someone explain that please?
On Chang e coming to Malaysia? Give me a break!
Loose Change
: The Brand Entrepreneur Conference 2009 is on same day as Obama Magic event on March 2!Now, I am in a quandary where I should go. The same day Roger Fisk, Barack Obama's National Director of Special Events is coming to Malaysia for a full-day session to talk about Obama's campaign strategies on new media, social media, globalization.
But I can't decide between listening to him and the following:
Mohammed Shazalli Bin Ramly
CEO of Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad
Maznah Hamid
Executive Chairman of Securiforce Group
Ahmad Farid Ridzuan
Group CEO of Television Network of Media Prima
Steven Sim
CEO of Secret Recipe Sdn Bhd
Noharuddin Nordin
CEO of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation
Dr Lim Kok Wing
I feel shortchanged!
