PAS in need of a serious metamorphosis — Lee Yew Meng |
- PAS in need of a serious metamorphosis — Lee Yew Meng
- Avoid using iCloud, smart devices, celebrity lawyer tells clients
- Only we can stop this
- Japan index futures buoyed by yen losses as oil gains after drop
- Despite dangers, Sotloff determined to record the truth
- Snatch thief nabbed while reporting loss of motorcycle
| PAS in need of a serious metamorphosis — Lee Yew Meng Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:54 PM PDT
Both the GE12 and GE13 results have demonstrated that dropping the Islamic state agenda got them more traction. This is not their first foray into an accord, having been with the Barisan Nasional (BN), Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah and the Barisan Alternatif. But it is the first time that their agenda has been sidelined. The other time they strayed was when its 4th president Tan Sri Asri Muda (1969-82) shifted towards Malay nationalism. He was nudged out by the Ulama and Yusuf Rawa (1982-88) took over the post. Yusuf had then steered the influence back to the Ulama faction. Asri's ouster illustrated the fortitude of the Ulama. His predecessor, Burhanuddin al-Helmy (1956-69), died in office. Yusof stepped down voluntarily citing ill health and was replaced by Datuk Fadzil Nor (1988-02) who too, died in office. Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has since taken charge. PAS also has a strong disdain over robust campaigning for party positions. Hadi continued with the non-Muslim engagement started by Fadzil Nor. The PAS Supporters Congress was formalised as the non-Muslim wing and in GE13 it fielded two candidates. Both performed creditably in the Malay majority seats securing 40.1 per cent and 40.7 per cent of the votes respectively. PAS first fielded a candidate under the PKR banner in GE 12 before their constitutional amendment. On its 60th anniversary, PAS formally introduced their Chinese name as the "Malaysian Islamic Party" or Malaixiya Yisilandang. This help addressed nuances between "Masuk Islam" and "Masuk Melayu." As "Hui Party" previously, it drew a negative connotation to the Chinese community in that the conversion was not just into Islam but an ethnic and culture change. The Hui is an Islamic cultural community in China. In the "Allah" issue, spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Hadi came out to support its non exclusivity. Then the "hudud" episode was reignited. And now the Selangor menteri besar incident. Pundits expected a breakup towards the PAS central executive committee (CEC) meet on August 17. Nothing untoward except for the proposed one additional nominee. During the PR presidential council meet later, attended by the Moderates, it was reverted to a single nominee. Underpinning the single and two nominee impasse are basically two arguments; that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is of the incorrect gender or that she would be the surrogate menteri besar, to her spouse. A serious metamorphosis PAS has for the first time secured double digit parliamentarians consecutively, with 23 and 21 seats in GE12 and GE13. And a total state assembly seats numbering 85, including large gains in Selangor which is outside their Malay heartland base. When it is success for one faction, for the other, it is a signal that all is not well. That is their dilemma, the more seats secured, the further it drifts from its Islamic state agenda. There was a time where Umno was labeled as "un-Islamic" for collaborating with infidels. PAS Research Centre operations director Dr Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki's WhatsApp incident which said: "If DAP and non-Muslims make noise about the Allah issue and raids, we can just swat them away. "At the end of this year we change the boundaries to return all the Muslim Malay political power," gave a clear peek into the deep resentment over PR "concessions." Shah Alam MP and CEC member Khalid Samad, who is also with the Moderates, had asked PAS members who do not agree with the PR pact to leave the party. He had labelled the two assemblymen who broke ranks to support Wan Azizah — Saari Sungib and Hasnul Baharuddin — as heroes. The duo have since been recommended for disciplinary action by the Selangor Ulama Council. The PAS women's wing announced support for Wan Azizah three days ago. On the next day, Hadi thundered: "We are in the true congregation. We uphold Islam. Do not think we have the same principles as others, that is not right." PAS is indeed going through a serious metamorphosis. An alternative beckons If the Moderates should prevail, Umno will face direct competition for a similar political constituency as never before. Our prime ministers will be Malay for any forseeable future. It is whether they come from an Umno or PAS/PKR-led coalition, as Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Sarawak (PBB) seem content to only safeguard its state interests. Although politically conscious from the mid 70s, I only felt the "Malay-ness" of Umno in the early 90s with an occasional dose of Islamism, but not the Islamic values. So what was Umno like earlier? It was a Malay political party led by Malay Malaysian politicians with "Agenda Malaysia." The government was habitually promoting programmes to inculcate Malaysian-ness and the civil society today is practically appealing the government to be more Malaysian! I wonder how strategists in the Umno leadership explained the inroads by PR? From my perspective, their appeal was largely, less racial and religious chauvinism and more Malaysian-centric. The Rukunegara proclamation on August 31, 1970, said it all. This was how Umno got everyone together with the Alliance and BN. The plot is for Umno to lose. Postscript On Merdeka eve, an Umno supreme council member/Cabinet minister encouraged all Malays to stand united, instead of being Umno Malays, PAS Malays, PKR Malays, and lately DAP Malays, so that "others would not dare to challenge us." How about "As a united Malaysia, we can take on the world?" The next day, an Umno vice president/Cabinet member joined in: "We allowed them to be indebted to us without needing them to pay it back; they are now insulting Islam and the Malays under the pretense of democracy, freedom of speech and globalisation," in reference to non-Malays. And our Merdeka theme is "Here lies love." * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.  |
| Avoid using iCloud, smart devices, celebrity lawyer tells clients Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:49 PM PDT
Martin Garbus, a New York trial lawyer who over the years has represented actors Al Pacino, Sean Connery, Robert Redford and others, said yesterday worried clients have approached him about security issues. "Nothing is safe on the Internet, period," he told Reuters. "Everything on your iPhone, whether it be phone calls, message texts, pictures, is all available." Garbus said clients started to contact him after intimate photos of Lawrence, a star of "The Hunger Games" movie franchise and a best actress Academy Award winner for "Silver Linings Playbook," and other high-profile women began appearing on Sunday. Personal photos of Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton and American actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead were also posted on the image-sharing forum 4chan. Apple Inc has said it is investigating the reports that its iCloud, which stores data online rather than on a user's device, had apparently been hacked. Lawrence's representative described the release of the photos as a "flagrant violation of privacy" and said the authorities have been contacted. A spokesman for the FBI said the agency is addressing the matter. Garbus said he was not surprised by the hacking because he said he has seen it in the past. "There are just so many different ways that one's privacy can be invaded," he added. — Reuters |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:48 PM PDT SEPTEMBER 3 — A professor has been arrested for the simple crime of having an opinion and calling for the rule of law to be obeyed. The IGP wants two Twitter users to be investigated for making disrespectful Tweets about him. PPS volunteers have been arrested pre-emptively, waiting for the police to figure out what they should be charged for. It looks like we have pretty much thrown the law out of the window. Last time I checked, we were a parliamentary democracy and not a totalitarian state. Dear Mr. IGP: What next? This unreasonable flexing of muscle to punish anyone who displeases the ruling government is not acceptable. It should not be a crime to have an opinion. It should not be a punishable offence to be critical of the government. And everyone should be free not to like the IGP. And be able to tell him so without getting arrested. I was very young at the time but I still remember the atmosphere of fear during Operasi Lalang. I grew up with the threat of the ISA looming from every corner, like a bogeyman who would envelop anyone who dared speak up. The government claims it wants our young people to be creative, innovative, intelligent and resourceful. At the same time, the government expects its citizens to be silent, forever grateful and to never question or criticise the government. Freedom of speech and thought is necessary for a people to progress. You cannot chain minds, hearts and tongues and still expect great things from people. It is just not feasible. Using force and coercion is the sign of a government whose primary motivation is its own survival. It isn't too much for citizens to hold their government to the same laws imposed on them. In the end, a government's real role is to serve and not to rule. The IGP is a servant of the law, of the people and it shouldn't be a crime not to respect him. So as times get darker, more than ever, we need to hold our government accountable. And remember that we do not owe the government fear, nor respect, nor gratitude. We have every right to tell the government when it's wrong. And every right to make it listen. *This is the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Japan index futures buoyed by yen losses as oil gains after drop Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:42 PM PDT
Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures climbed in both Osaka and Chicago, while the yen was at 105.16 per dollar by 8:30am in Tokyo after dropping to the weakest level since January 10. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were little changed after the index slipped 0.1 per cent from a record in the US The kiwi was steady at 83.09 US cents following last session's 0.7 per cent slide as dairy prices fell at auction. Oil in New York added 0.3 per cent from the lowest close since January. US factory output grew in August at the fastest pace in three years, underlining the economy's divergence with Europe and China, where gauges of manufacturing this week dropped more than analysts projected. Measures of services from China to Japan and the euro area come a day before the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan review monetary policy, as the threat of deflation stokes speculation over the outlook for stimulus. Australia may report a slowdown in economic growth today. "The US economy looks to be starting to reach escape velocity," Con Williams, an agricultural economist in Wellington at ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd., wrote in a client note e-mailed today. "European services PMIs are forecast to remain unchanged, albeit in expansionary territory. Markets are likely to keep pressure on the euro going into the ECB tomorrow." Yen slump Nikkei futures rose 0.2 per cent to 15,790 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, after gaining 2.1 per cent last session from the August 29 close. Contracts on the Osaka pre-market were bid at 15,790 by 8:05 a.m., from 15,770 at 3am and 15,670 at their close in Japan yesterday. The stock index jumped 1.2 per cent yesterday to the highest close since January. The yen depreciated as much as 0.8 per cent yesterday to touch 105.21, its weakest level since January 10. Breaching 105.44 would push the currency to an almost six-year low. Regarded along with gold and US Treasuries as a haven investment, the yen lost more than 1 per cent in each of the past two months amid a resurgence in the US dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, was little changed after jumping 0.4 per cent in New York to its highest close in almost a year. The Institute for Supply Management's index of US manufacturing unexpectedly climbed to 59 last month, the highest level since March 2011 and up from 57.1 in July. The result exceeded all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Services PMIs Markit Economics releases a services purchasing managers' index for Japan today, with the BOJ to issue its monetary policy statement tomorrow. Official and private non-manufacturing PMIs are also due for China, after factory gauges posted September 1 signaled a slowdown in manufacturing growth. Markit's eurozone services PMI is expected to hold at 53.5 today, while retail sales may contract on a month-on-month basis for the first time since March. Of the 57 economists surveyed by Bloomberg before the ECB's policy review tomorrow, six are predicting the main refinancing rate will be reduced to 0.05 per cent from the current 0.15 per cent. ECB President Mario Draghi ignited speculation over a potential quantitative-easing program at the Federal Reserve of Kansas City's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming August 22, saying policy makers will use "all the available instruments needed to ensure price stability." European money markets are pricing in about a 50 per cent probability that the ECB will cut interest rates by 10 basis points this week, according to BNP Paribas SA. Dairy auction The kiwi dropped as much as 1 per cent last session after prices for whole milk powder at the GlobalDairyTrade auction fell to the lowest level since July 2012. Prices are down 47 per cent from their February peak, with ANZ predicting Auckland- based Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world's biggest dairy exporter, may have to reduce its milk payout to farmers. The Australian dollar, known as the Aussie, was little changed at 92.80 US cents after slipping 0.6 per cent yesterday. The nation's gross domestic product probably expanded 0.4 per cent in the second quarter from the previous three months, down from 1.1 per cent growth in the first, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg before data due today. Central bank Governor Glenn Stevens is also slated to speak in Adelaide. Futures on Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1 per cent in most recent trading, while contracts on the Kospi index in Seoul fell 0.1 per cent. Hang Seng Index futures and contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong, both fell 0.1 per cent. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese shares in New York gained 0.6 per cent. Treasury yields Yields on 10-year US Treasuries rose eight basis points, or 0.08 per centage point, to 2.42 per cent as trading resumed following the Labour Day holiday. It was the biggest increase in more than a month and came after rates slid 21 basis points in August, the most since January. The US manufacturing data bolstered speculation that the Fed may bring forward its timeline for higher US interest rates. Reports last week showed US GDP expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter, propelled by the biggest gain in business investment in more than two years. A Labour Department report September 5 will show the number of workers added to payrolls rose by more than 200,000 in August for a seventh straight month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. The S&P 500 rally isn't over and the gauge could jump 50 per cent more by 2020 as the US economic recovery heads for a record winning streak, according to Morgan Stanley. The US benchmark dropped 0.1 per cent yesterday to 2,002.28 after reaching a record 2,003.37 August 29, before the US holiday. Energy stocks While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average declined yesterday, the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.4 per cent, boosted by gains of more than 1.9 per cent in Facebook Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. Energy stocks led losses in New York, with Newfield Exploration Co. down 2.1 per cent as producers dropped 1.6 per cent as a group. West Texas Intermediate oil rose to US$93.15 a barrel after sinking 3.2 per cent last session from the August 29 close to the lowest settlement price since January 14. Brent crude tumbled 2.4 per cent to a 16-month low of US$100.34 a barrel yesterday, amid concern slowing manufacturing from Europe to China will crimp demand for fuel. Gold added 0.1 per cent to US$1,266.19 an ounce on the spot market today, after slipping 1.6 per cent yesterday to the lowest level since June amid the stronger dollar. Palladium was little changed at US$883 an ounce following yesterday's 2.9 per cent drop from a 13-year high. Putin backtracks Russia, engaged in a conflict with Ukraine over its support for separatists in the former Soviet republic's east, is the world's No. 1 producer of palladium and the biggest energy exporter globally. US President Barack Obama is heading to eastern Europe to reassure NATO members of their security amid criticism from Russia over the US approach to the tensions in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine's allies were stoking the five-month-old tussle and should back peace talks, while President Vladimir Putin sought to quell concern over remarks that his army could "take Kiev" in a matter of weeks. Ukraine has been strengthening its defences. The Bloomberg Commodity Index, which tracks futures contracts on 22 materials, fell 1 per cent yesterday, snapping a four-day advance to post its biggest one-day drop since July 7. — Bloomberg |
| Despite dangers, Sotloff determined to record the truth Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:42 PM PDT
In October 2012, the American reporter was in Benghazi, Libya, covering the aftermath of the deadly raid on the US diplomatic compound there. In December, he was in northern Syria, writing about the lives of destitute, displaced Syrians and the war, according to his published reports and his communications with colleagues and editors. "I've been here over a week and no one wants freelance because of the kidnappings. It's pretty bad here," he e-mailed another journalist. "I've been sleeping at a front, hiding from tanks the past few nights, drinking rain water." In August 2013, telling colleagues he understood the dangers, Sotloff returned to Syria, slipping across the border from Turkey. He was quickly kidnapped and fell into the hands of Islamic State, the violent militant group that wants to establish a jihadist hub in the heart of the Arab world. Islamic State said in a video released by a monitoring group on Tuesday that it had beheaded Sotloff, 31, in retaliation for US airstrikes against the group, the second such killing of a US journalist in two weeks. His family said in a statement they believed he had been killed. Colleagues and acquaintances recalled Sotloff as a generous man fascinated by journalism and the changes gripping the Middle East, and determined to tell stories from the perspective of average people, not army movements on the battlefield. "He struck me as a very, very decent guy ... he wasn't chasing headlines, he wasn't hyping a pitch," said James Denton, publisher and editor of the Washington-based journal World Affairs, one of several publications that hired him for freelance work. Others included TIME and Foreign Policy. "He wanted to get the story, he wanted to peel away the layers," said Denton, who met Sotloff over coffee in Washington in May 2013, and published two of his dispatches from Cairo the following July. SUDDEN DISAPPEARANCE
One individual familiar with the case said the family's theory had been that Sotloff was grabbed by a criminal gang, and later transferred or "sold" to Islamic State. This could not be confirmed by his family, which declined interview requests. His plight burst into the open on Aug. 19, when he appeared at the end of an Internet video depicting the execution of fellow American journalist and hostage James Foley. His mother, Shirley Sotloff, issued a direct video appeal last week to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, to spare her son. Her son, she said, was an "honorable man and has always tried to help the weak." Colleagues said Sotloff was well aware of the dangers of reporting from Syria but was determined to return there nonetheless. At least 70 journalists have been killed covering Syria's civil war since it erupted in 2011, and more than 80 have been kidnapped, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "He was very eager to go to Syria," said Lee Smith, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank who crossed paths with Sotloff several times in the Middle East. Mutual friends in Lebanon tried to discourage Sotloff from going to Syria, Smith said. "He was very insistent," he added. Preparing for the trip, Sotloff asked a fellow reporter in June 2013: "What type of lawlessness in Aleppo? Should I keep my eyes open for anything regarding safety?" "Can you meet with ISI," he asked, using an earlier acronym for Islamic State. "And the quality of life? Is there still plenty of food available? Gas?" Little is known about Sotloff's year in captivity before his murder, although there have been persistent reports that Western hostages were abused, and some were subject to waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning. Didier Francois, a French journalist who was held hostage by Islamic State fighters and released this year, told Reuters he had been held with Sotloff for nine months, as well as with Foley, suggesting foreign captives were kept at a common site, at least for a time. A person familiar with contacts between Sotloff's family and his kidnappers said the captors originally demanded a ransom. "They wanted money," said this person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. JOURNALISM AND BASKETBALL Sotloff, who grew up in the Miami area, attended Kimball Union Academy, a boarding school in Meriden, New Hampshire, from 2000 to 2002. He revitalised the school's newspaper and received a journalism award upon graduation, the Academy said in a statement today. He studied journalism at the University of Central Florida from 2002 to 2004 and wrote for an independent student newspaper. He did not graduate. "Devastated and crushed. Steve was an amazing friend. Lucky to have him in my life. Heart is heavy for his family," Emerson Lotzia, who roomed with Sotloff at UCF, said via Twitter. Sotloff was an avid basketball fan. When it came to journalism, he focused on human angles, whether it was a mother of nine in a refugee camp innorthern Syria or protesters in Cairo's Nasser City neighborhood demonstrating against the military's ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. "Coups depicted as revolutions, peaceful protesters painted as fanatics and disgruntled citizens hailed as revolutionaries," he wrote in World Affairs in July 2013, "have transformed Egypt into a circus where the main attraction is the uncertainty of heading into the unknown". — Reuters |
| Snatch thief nabbed while reporting loss of motorcycle Posted: 02 Sep 2014 05:39 PM PDT
For a teenager who allegedly resorted to crime to make a quick buck yesterday, everything went wrong! The 16-year-old took his father's motorcycle and, together with a friend, confronted a 50-year-old trader at the wholesale market in Kampung Sena about 4am. One of them struck Abdul Karim Abdul Rahman's hand with an iron bar before making off with the victim's bag containing RM2,000 and a mobile phone. In their haste to make their getaway on the motorcycle, the machine skidded and hit a perimeter fence of a house in Jalan Datuk Ahmad here. Just when they thought nothing else could go wrong, the duo collided head-on with a police patrol car, about 20 minutes later. For fear that they would be detained by the patrol policemen, they fled from the scene, leaving behind the motorcycle, money, mobile phone and the iron bar. Kangar police chief Supt Abdul Rahman Mohd Noordin said that when the teenager's father questioned him over the missing motorcycle, he rushed to the Jitra police station about 11am and lodged a reported that the motorcycle was stolen. He said the police however, smelled a rat and detained the teenager, adding that they were looking for the suspect's accomplice. — Bernama |
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