Lebanon/Israel: Urgent need for arms embargo on Israel and Hizbullah

I really admire this statement on the issue of Lebanon/Israel. The photos, on the other hand are the one that I took during the protest of Malaysian civilian last 28th July, 2006 at Kg Baru. Thousands of people walk from the Kg baru mosque to the KL Concention Centre and direct to US Embassy to hand-over a memorandum.



As civilians continue to bear the brunt of the conflict in Israel and Lebanon, Amnesty International called for an immediate arms embargo on both Israel and Hizbullah.

Amnesty International is gravely concerned about the continuing transfer of weapons from the US, via the UK, as information emerged that a UK airport is being used by USA cargo planes on their way to deliver munitions to Israel.

"The pattern of attacks and the extent of civilian casualties show a blatant disregard of international humanitarian law by Israel and Hizbullah," said Irene Khan, Amnesty International Secretary General.

"Direct targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure and launching indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks amount to war crimes."

"Governments supplying Israel and Hizbullah with arms and military equipment are fuelling their capacity to commit war crimes. All governments should impose an arms embargo on both sides and refuse permission for their territories to be used for the transfer of arms and military equipment."

UK media have reported that two chartered Airbus A310 cargo planes filled with GBU 28 laser-guided bombs containing depleted uranium (DU) warheads and destined for the Israeli airforce landed at Prestwick airport, near Glasgow. The planes landed for refuelling and crew rests after flying from the US this past weekend.

Other reports claimed that the USA has requested that two more planes be permitted to land in the UK en route to Israel in the next two weeks. The reports said the aircraft will be carrying other weapons, including bombs and missiles.

"The UK government should refuse permission for its sea and air ports to be used by planes or ships carrying arms and military equipment destined for Israel or Hizbullah," said Ms Khan as Amnesty International wrote to the UK's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett. The organization also called on the UK to suspend the sale or transfer of all arms and military equipment to Israel.

"It is ridiculous to talk about providing humanitarian aid on the one hand, and to provide arms on the other. In the face of such human suffering in Lebanon and Israel, it is imperative that all governments stop the supply of arms and weapons to both sides immediately," stated Ms Khan.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/30/2006 01:45:00 am ... 0 blast off

 

 

Hentikan segala bentuk perhubungan dengan Israel

Tindakan Israel di Lubnan beberapa minggu lalu tidak berperikemanusiaan dan satu tindakan drastik perlu dilakukan segera oleh seluruh umat manusia yang cintakan keadilan dan supaya hak asasi manusia di kawasan yang terlibat dikembalikan.

Angkatan Muda Parti Keadilan Rakyat juga menggesa agar Perdana Menteri, Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yang dilantik sebagai Ketua Negara-negara Islam memainkan peranan yang lebih jelas dalam isu ini.

Angkatan Muda meminta Perdana Menteri sebagai Ketua Negara-negara Islam melobi mana-mana Negara Islam yang mempunyai hubungan diplomatik ataupun perdangangan dengan Israel agar memutuskan juga hubungan tersebut serta-merta sebagai tindak balas kekejaman tersebut.


Serangan yang baru lalu itu merupakan rentetan daripada seribu peperangan yang tidak pernah luput di situ.

Bermula dengan penculikan oleh HAMAS ke atas seorang tentera Yahudi, ia membawa kepada serangan hebat Israel ke atas Semenanjung Gaza bagi pembebasan tenteranya. Insiden yang sama itu telah merebak pula ke Lubnan ekoran tindakan Hizbullah menyerang dan menculik dua orang tentera Yahudi di pos sempadan kedua-dua negara.

Serangan yang telah masuk minggu ke-tiga ini dilihat oleh Angkatan Muda sebagai bukan lagi usaha untuk membebaskan dua tenteranya sebaliknya untuk melakukan satu lagi penjajahan baru Zionis di Timur tengah selepas Palestin pada 1948.

Justeru, Angkatan Muda mengutuk sekeras-kerasnya serangan yang tidak berperikemanusiaan Israel di Lubnan yang bukan sahaja membunuh orang awam yang tidak berdosa malahan meranapkan segala insfrastruktur Lubnan yang mana pembangunan pemulihan mengambil masa selama dua puluh tahun selepas berakhirnya perang saudara pada pertengahan 1980-an yang akhirnya ranap dalam sekelip mata.

Serangan Israel yang didalangi oleh Amerika Syarikat seharusnya dipandang dengan prihatin oleh Kerajaan.

Oleh itu, kedatangan Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat, Condoleezza Rice ke negara ini pada 27 Julai lepas seolah-olah menyokong kekejaman Israel di Lubnan dan sekaligus menyokong kekejaman Amerika di Iraq dan Afghanistan.

Sikap Amerika yang banyak melindungi Israel dalam apa jua perkara yang bersangkutan dengan kekejaman seharusnya ditelaah dengan teliti oleh Kerajaan.

Apakah kita sudah lupa pada kekejaman tentera Israel di Kem Shabra dan Shatilla pada tahun 1982 yang menyaksikan bagaimana ratusan rakyat yang tidak berdosa telah disembelih hidup-hidup oleh tentera Israel?

Angkatan Muda mengingatkan kepada Kerajaan Malaysia agar sensitif kepada perkara-perkara ini setelah seluruh dunia mengutuk serangan Israel di bumi Lubnan yang telah masuk minggu ke tiga.

Kami menggesa agar Israel menghentikan serangan terhadap Lubnan serta menerima syarat yang ditetapkan Hizbullah bagi pembebasan dua tenteranya yang diculik.

Apalah ertinya bagi Israel dengan nyawa dua tenteranya jikalau hendak dibandingkan dengan puluhan nyawa rakyat Lubnan yang telah terkorban kerana serangan tersebut.

Kami berpandangan bahawa andainya Israel meneruskan serangan, apa yang pastinya ia akan mengundang kepada perkara yang lebih besar; Iran dan Syria yang merupakan paksi utama kepada Hizbullah pastinya tidak akan berdiam diri dan mungkin akan berlaku tindak balas dari kedua-dua negara ini yang sekaligus perang semakin merebak dan yang tentunya Timur Tengah akan terbakar lagi.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/28/2006 03:23:00 am ... 0 blast off

 

 

Amnesty International launches global campaign against internet

Amnesty International is today going global with a campaign on internet repression. The campaign aims to claim back the web as a force for change in the face of an increasing willingness on the part of technology companies to aid censorship and repression. The internet's for change is being undermined -- by governments unwilling to tolerate this free media outlet, and by companies willing to help them
repress free speech.

We are calling on internet users across the world to sign a pledge calling on all governments and companies to respect internet freedom. The online pledges will be collected and presented to a key UN meeting on the future of the internet in November 2006. Go to http://www.aimalaysia.org to sign the pledge.

To coincide with the launch of the international campaign, Amnesty International is releasing a report about the role of Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google in internet repression in China. For those who are interested in obtaining the full report, please contact our office at 03-79552680 or aimalaysia@aimalaysia.org

For more on the report and campaign please go to http://www.aimalaysia.org

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/23/2006 10:23:00 pm ... 0 blast off

 

 

Masyarakat Islam dianiaya untuk pastikan penerusan dana

Kali pertama saya menjejak kaki ke Kerisik, Pattani pada 15 Julai lalu meninggalkan satu kenangan yang bercampur-baur.

Perasaan takut diserang tentera dan polis pengaman Thailand; perasaan gembira kerana berpeluang melihat sendiri tempat kejadian dan pembunuhan syahid di Masjid Sultan Muzaffar Syah Pattani Darul Islam; perasaan bangga kerana berkesempatan berjumpa dengan aktivis-aktivis hak asasi dari Thailand.

Tiada alasan khusus yang diberikan oleh penduduk kampung di Kerisik tentang serangan yang dilakukan oleh pihak tentera.

Menurut mereka, serangan yang biasanya dibuat pada minggu terakhir setiap bulan hanya untuk memastikan dana sebanyak 40juta Baht (kira-kira RM400 ribu) sebulan diperuntukkan kepada pihak tentera, khususnya di selatan Thai.

Namun, ia menjadi satu lagi rekod simpanan saya mengenai kekejaman yang dilakukan oleh pihak tentera Thailand terhadap masyarakat Islam di Thailand khususnya di Narthiwat, Yala, Pattani.

Tempat pertemuan saya bersama aktivis masyarakat Islam Thailand, Nik Mohd Nasir Nik Abdullah dan Abd Asis Tade-In ialah di masjid tempat berlakunya pengeboman.

Seramai 96 telah terkorban dalam kejadian 28 April dan 12 keluarga dilaporkan hilang.

“Berbeza dengan kejadian di Tak Bai kerana enam orang terkorban akibat daripada mati lemas kerana dihimpit oleh tubuh-tubuh manusia lain berjam-jam semasa dibawa ke kem tahanan,” terang Abd. Asis.

Menyorot kembali peristiwa hitam tersebut. Serangan bermula sewal Subuh ketika beberapa jemaah berada di dalam masjid menunaikan tuntutan Allah manakala yang penduduk yang lainnya bersiap-sedia keluar dari rumah untuk mencari nafkah.

Mereka yang berjalan kaki diserang dari arah bertentangan yang memulakan tembakan. Akibat kalut dengan tindakan tersebut, mereka berpatah-balik dan cuba mendapat perlindungan dengan memasuki kawasan masjid.

Dalam beberapa jam, terdapat 43 rakyat marhaen berada dari pelbagai arah sudah berada di dalam masjid.

Pihak tentera tanpa henti-henti membuat tembakan dari arah luar.

Dalam waktu tengahari, satu bom dilepaskan dari arah atas dan mengena terus kepada masjid.

43 orang yang berada dalam masjid itu diisytiharkan mati syahid.

PS: kalau diberi peluang, aku juga mahu tersenarai dalam nama syahid.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/23/2006 10:23:00 pm ... 0 blast off

 

 

Kesan peninggalan Wadi al-Hussein

Pada Jumaat, 14 Julai lalu,saya dijemput oleh rakan-rakan dari Kelantan untuk bersama mereka mengadakan satu lawatan ke selatan Thailand.

Kami bertolak kira-kira jam 9.30am dengan menggunakan feri dan sepuluh minit kemudian, itulah kali pertama kaki saya menjejakkan kaki ke Tak Bai.

Tempat petama yang saya kunjungi ialah Pattani di mana kami dibawa melihat sebuah masjid kayu terindah di Thailand. Kami tiba di Teluk Manok selepas dua setengan jam perjalanan.

Masjid Wadi al-Hussein yang terletak di Teluk Manok kira-kira 100km dari Badar Pattani.

Masjid Wadi al-Hussein dibina kira-kira 130 tahun yang dahulu diperbuat daripada kayu cengal dan beratap genting Senggora. Apa yang menariknya ialah pembinaan masjid tersebut tidak diikat dengan sebarang paku sebaliknya menggunakan pasak.

Menurut Muhammad Zambri Abdul Muluk dalam bukunya bertajuk ‘Masjid Kayu Terindah (2001)’, Wan Husseir bersama penduduk kampung Teluk Manok di Pattani bergotong-royong membina sebuah masjid yang indah dilengkapi dengan ukiran dinding yang rapi.

Di setiap dinding dan sudut masjid terdapat ukiran-ukiran halus yang menjadikan senibinanya sungguh indah.

Komponen seni ukiran seperti bunga-bungaan yang terdiri daripada pelbagai jenis termasuk kuntum bunga tepang, daun-daunan yang disubik menjadi bentuk awan-awan larut dan ranting-ranting. Motif-motif keindahan dan estetika yang diukir pada bahagian hadapan masjid itu mirip kepada garis dan lorek geometri setelah Islam berkampung di rantau Nusantara Melayu.

Teknik pengukirannya pula menggunakan system tebuk seoaruh timbul yang tidak berapa tebal menghiasi sekeliling bangunan masjid.

Keadaan ini mungkin menjadi bukti bahawa terdapat kecenderungan pengukir Meayu pada zaman itu. Penzahiran estetika Melayu paling sempurna dapat dilihat ketika cahaya menembusi ukiran-ukiran tebuk tembus di bahagian atas sekeliling dindning bangunan masjid itu.

Di sisi masjid ini mengalir sebatang anak sungai jernih yang digunakan untuk berwuduk oleh para jemaah, Di seberang sungai pula bertebaran batu nisan yang seusia dengan umur masjid itu.

Masjid itu dikatakan saksi sumbangan ulama besar Pattani beberapa abad yang lalu.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/16/2006 02:51:00 pm ... 14 blast off

 

 

KeADILan Youth calls for Investigation to Israel and the Occupied Territories

10 July 2006
Media Statement

KeADILan Youth calls for Investigation to Israel and the Occupied Territories

The Youth Wing of People’s Justice Party (KeADILan) condemns the brutal acts of collective punishment by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against the civilian Palestinians in Gaza.
We urge the UN Human Rights Council to deploy a team of authoritative international experts to Israel and the Occupied Territories, with a mandate to carry out an independent and thorough investigation into the deteriorating human rights situation in the Gaza Strip.
It is known that there is growing number of killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces and the deliberate and disproportionate attacks by Israeli forces against civilian property and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, as well as the launching of 'qassam' rockets by Palestinian armed groups from the Gaza Strip into nearby areas in Israel.
Both parties; Israeli and Palestinian, in another hand should agree to cooperate fully and grant the experts unimpeded access to people, places and documents.
The situation has deteriorated in recent months where Israeli forces have killed some 150 Palestinians including Cabinet Ministers, many of them unarmed, including more than 25 children.
Disappointedly, none of these cases have been adequately investigated.
In recent months the Israeli army has launched thousands of artillery shells and scores of air strikes against densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians, including several women and children, and injuring many others.
In the same period Palestinian armed groups have launched indiscriminately hundreds of 'qassam' rockets at Israel, injuring several civilians.
Palestinian armed groups were being kept as hostage. Israeli forces have also launched repeated and deliberate air strikes against electricity and water supply systems, roads and other civilian infrastructure, educational and other public institutions and private property in the Gaza Strip that has affected 1.3 million people.
We believe the destruction is having serious humanitarian consequences for the Palestinian population, whose situation had already worsened due to the impact of the sanctions imposed after Hamas won a majority in January's Palestinian elections.
As the tension between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and armed groups continues to mount, there is growing concern for the safety of the civilian population.
KeADILan Youth urges the Council to investigate and come up with concrete proposals to ensure effective protection of the human rights of all.
Under General Assembly resolution 60/251, the Human Rights Council has a clear and unambiguous mandate to address individual human rights situations, including gross and systematic violations, and to respond promptly to human rights emergencies. The situation now before the Council clearly fits these criteria.
According to Article 33 of 1949 IV Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, there is a clear and strict prohibition of reprisals against protected persons and their property.


Released by:

Faisal Mustaffa
Head of International Bureau
Youth Wing People’s Justice Party

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/10/2006 03:18:00 am ... 0 blast off

 

 

Deklarasi KL: Perlukah kita tandatanganinya?

Perjumpaan bersejarah faisamustaffa online bersama Pengerusi Forum Keamanan Global Perdana (Perdana Global Peace Forum) dan Presiden Kehormat Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana (Perdana Leadership Foundation), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dalam Majlis Dialog dan Sessi Panel – Pelan Tindakan untuk Rangkaian Global Keamanan pada 21 Jun lalu di Putrajaya perlu diteliti objektif dan arah tujuannya.

Memang tidak dapat disangkal tujuannya murni iaitu untuk menjadikan peperangan satu jenayah serta menjalankan gerakan untuk menghentikan Perang Dunia Keempat yang melibatkan penggunaan senjata nuclear.

Dalam forum yang dihadiri oleh kira-kira 300 peserta dari pelbagai latarbelakang organisasi yang dijemput sememangnya bersetuju dengan deklarasi yang dikemukakan.

Dalam petisyen edaran Yayasan tersebut menyatakan:

KL Declaration

• Wars increasingly involve the killing of innocent people and are, therefore, abhorrent and criminal.
• Killings in war are as criminal as the killings within societies in times of peace.
• Since killings in peace time are subject to the domestic law of crime, killings in war must likewise be subject to the international law of crimes. This should be so irrespective of whether these killings in ware are authorized or permitted by domestic law.
• All commercial, financial, industrial and scientific activities that aid and abet war should be criminalised.
• All national leaders who initiate aggression must be subjected to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
• All nations must strengthen the resolve to accept the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and institute methods to settle international disputes by peaceful means and to renounce war.
• Armed force shall not be used except when authorized by a Resolution passed by two-thirds majority of the total membership of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
• All legislators and all members of Government must affirm their belief in peace should be set up in all nations.
• Political parties all over the world must include peace as one of their principal objectives.
• Non-Governmental Organisations committed to the promotion of peace should be set up in all nations.
• Public servants and professionals, in particular in the medical, legal, educational and scientific fields, must promote peace and campaign actively against war.
• The media must actively oppose war and the incitement to war and consciously promote the peaceful settlement of international disputes.
• Entertainment media should cease to glorify war and violence and should instead cultivate the ethos of peace.
• All religious leaders must condemn war and promote peace.


Ya, memang benar. Semua rakyat dunia perlu bersatu dalam mempercayai bahawa keamanan adalah penting dalam kemandirian umat manusia.

Tetapi, pada masa yang sama kita juga perlu mengkaji latarbelakang organisasi yang menganjurkannya.

Tun Mahathir yang juga Bekas Perdana Menteri Malaysia selama 23 tahun tidak menampakkan satu figur yang menjurus ke arah keamanan dunia.

Dalam sejarah latar belakang pengasasnya yang diedarkan kepada semua peserta tidak dapat memberi satu kepercayaan kepada beberapa pihak termasuk saya.

Hanya kemegahan yang beliau miliki ialah sebagai ahli UMNO sejak 1946. Tetapi bukankah beliau pernah dipecat?

Dalam isu hak asasi, sepanjang era pemerintahan beliau, Mahathir telah menghalalkan penggunaan akta-akta zalim seperti Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA), Akta Hasutan, Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti 1971 (AUKU), Akta Rahsia Rasmi.

Beliau juga membenarkan Ordinan Kecemasan (EO) digunapakai untuk menahan seseorang tanpa dibawa ke badan penghakiman.

Mahathir juga mengamalkan nepotisme dan kronisme sepanjang pemerintahannya. Mirzan dan Mokhzani mendapat perlindungan daripada Kerajaan apabila perniagaan anak-anaknya menghadapi masalah.

Mahathir juga melindungi dan membahagikan kekayaan Negara kepada rakan-rakannya seperti Vincent Tan, Ananda Krishnan, Halim Saad dan Daim Zainuddin.

Itu adalah perkara asas yang meletakkan Mahathir ke satu tahap yang buruk.

Bagi Pengarang Eksekutif Majalah The Edge, P Gunasegaran, beliau mempunyai 22 soalan yang membuktikan latar belakang Mahathir sehingga menarik tangan saya untuk tidak menandatangani Deklarasi KL:

1. On clean government. You came to power in 1981 and introduced the slogan “bersih, cekap dan amanah” (clean, efficient and trustworthy). What did you do to further that? Did you make the Anti-Corruption Agency more independent and effective? Did you ensure that the police and judiciary did their job properly and reduce corruption in their ranks? Did you ensure that ministers and chief ministers not have income beyond their legal means? How many big guns were prosecuted for corruption offences during your long tenure? What happened to “bersih, cekap dan amanah”?
2. Press freedom. Your criticism of the government got plenty of coverage in the local media whereas during your time, criticisms against you by two former prime ministers were muted in the mainstream newspapers. Editors in Umno-linked newspapers too were removed during your time for not toeing the line. What did you do to advance the cause of responsible press freedom?
3. Proton. You went ahead with the national car project in 1983 despite a number of experts disagreeing with you, especially with respect to lack of economies of scale. Isn’t it true that Proton’s profits over the last 20 years came out of vastly higher prices that the Malaysian public has to pay to subsidise Proton, resulting in considerable hardship for Malaysians who need cars because of the poor public transport system? More lately, why was it necessary for Proton to buy a stake in a failed Italian motorcycle manufacturer when it could not even produce cars competitively?
4. Heavy industries. Why did you push into heavy industries such as steel and cement in the 1980s, ignoring studies which suggested developing natural resource-based industries instead? They caused major problems and billions of ringgit in losses.
5. Population. Why did you encourage a population of 70 million for Malaysia and change the name of the National Family Planning Board to the National Population Development Board? How do you expect poor people to take care of five, six or more children? What kind of quality of life can they provide their children?
6. Immigration. Why did you allow hordes of people to immigrate, mainly from Indonesia, in such an unregulated way that there are as many or more illegal immigrants than legal ones now, accounting for some two million or more people? Did you not realise that this would cause serious social problems?
7. On his first deputy. Some five years after you came to power, there were serious rifts between you and your deputy Datuk (now Tun) Musa Hitam. What was the cause of these problems and was it because you were heavy-handed and did not consult your ministers?
8. On the first serious Umno split. When Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Musa took on Tun Ghafar Baba and you at the Umno general assembly of 1987, it caused a serious split in Umno, with you winning by a very narrow margin (761 to 718). Why did you not seek to heal the rift in Umno post the elections? Instead, you purged Umno and its successor Umno Baru of those who opposed you, causing an unprecedented split in Malay unity.
9. Operasi Lalang. Why did you have to resort to this move in October 1987, when you used wide powers of detention under the Internal Security Act to detain over 100 people, close down four newspapers and cause a wave of fear throughout the country? Was it to consolidate your tenuous hold on power then by using an oppressive law?
10. Judiciary. What was your motive to take action in 1988 to remove the then Lord President and several Supreme Court judges from their positions under allegations of judicial misconduct, a move which was heavily criticised by the Bar Council and other bodies? Was it because you needed more compliant judges whose rulings would not threaten your position of power in a number of cases in court? Was this the first step in dismantling the judiciary’s role as a system of checks and balances against the legislature and the executive? What have you to say to repeated assertions by many, including prominent ex-chief justices, who maintain that this led to the erosion of judicial independence?
11. Education. You presided over the education system at an important part of its transformation first as Education Minister in the 1970s, then as Prime Minister. Would it be correct to surmise therefore that you were also responsible for its decline during those years? Why did you not spend more money and resources to ensure that our education system was excellent and continued to improve but instead spent billions on other showpiece projects? Why did you allow our national school system, which is the ideal place to develop ties among young Malaysians, to become so divisive that today, 90% of those who attend national schools come from only one race while the rest have opted out?
12. Former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin. Why did you give this one man so much power? And you have not given a satisfactory explanation why he left government the second time round. Did it have anything to do with the forced consolidation of banks? Why did the government buy back Malaysian Airline System (MAS) at RM8 a share in 2000 from Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli when the market price was less than half that?
13. Cronyism and patronage. Did you not encourage cronyism and patronage by dishing out major projects to a few within the inner circle? People such as Tan Sri Halim Saad (the Renong group — toll roads, telecommunications and so on), Tajudin (mobile telephone group TRI and MAS), Tan Sri Amin Shah Omar (the failed PSC Industries — multi-billion ringgit naval dockyard contracts) and Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing (Ekran — the Bakun Dam), to mention just a few?
14. Privatisation. Why did you allow privatisation to take place in such a manner that the most profitable parts of government operations were given away? Toll roads had guaranteed toll increases and compensation in the event traffic projections were not met. Independent power producers had contracts that guaranteed them profits at the expense of Tenaga Nasional.
15. Tun Ghafar Baba. Although Ghafar had the highest number of votes among Umno vice-presidents when Tun Hussein Onn became Prime Minister in 1976, you, who got the lowest number of votes, were chosen as Hussein’s deputy. Yet, when you called upon Ghafar to be your deputy in 1986 when you fell out with Musa, he obliged, helping you to win the Umno presidency. Yet, you and your supporters did little to back him up when he was challenged for the deputy presidency in 1993 by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Can we say that you stabbed him in the back? And what about Hussein, the man who picked you as his successor? He died not as a member of Umno as he had refused to join your Umno Baru.
16. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Did you move against him because he was a threat to your position in 1998? Did you use the entire government machinery at your disposal to get him sentenced? Do you think he got a fair trial? Don’t you think the country suffered terribly because of nothing more than a power struggle involving the two of you?
17. Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Was it really necessary to spend RM10 billion on a showpiece airport at Sepang when Subang airport could have been so easily expanded?
18. Putrajaya. What is the justification for spending RM20 billion on a grandiose government city at a time when office space was available in Kuala Lumpur? Could the money not have been put to better use, such as improving educational resources?
19. Government-linked companies. Why did you not make efforts to improve the performance of GLCs? Why did you allow funds such as the Employees Provident Fund and Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen to take up dubious investments? These have led to hundreds, if not billions, of ringgit in losses to these funds.
20. Islamisation. At the end of your tenure after your falling out with Anwar, you criticised the extreme elements in Islam of taking control of government institutions and doing things that divided Muslims from non-Muslims. But isn’t it true you started it all with your “Menyerap Nilai-Nilai Islam Dalam Pentadbiran Negara” policy of 1981 when you lured Anwar into Umno to help you promote it? And why did you declare that Malaysia was an Islamic state when it is clearly enshrined in our Federal Constitution as the wishes of our founding fathers that Malaysia should be a secular country given our multi-racial and multi-religious composition? Were you trying to reverse the policy of the nation’s founding leaders?
21. Approved permits. You blamed International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz for the AP fiasco. As we recall, you appointed her and kept her at the ministry since 1986 until you stepped down in 2003 and never once complained or took action over the issuance of APs by the ministry. Indeed, she was embroiled in some controversy over bumiputera share allotment but you stood by her. So why make it an issue now? If you say you were not aware back then, what does that tell us?
22. Money politics. Why did money politics (vote buying) in Umno become such a big issue during your tenure as Umno president? Why were you so powerless to do anything about it when the solutions were so simple? There are other questions, of course, but this is our list of 22. In the same way that Mahathir hopes the government will answer his questions, we hope that Mahathir will answer ours.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/08/2006 02:11:00 am ... 1 blast off

 

 

Hari Pooh-rific

Saya telah meluangkan masa untuk menerima jemputan TIGA Events menyaksikan pementasan Disney Live! Yang membawakan Winnie the Pooh 1 Julai semalam.

Sungguhpun mendapat layanan karpet merah, saya merasakan sungguh kecewa melihat kehadiran. Tidak sampai suku daripada isi stadium dipenuhi. Fikir saya, TIGA Events tentu rugi besar. Jelas, menurut sumber yang diperolehi, program tersebut telah membawa kerugian melebihi RM1juta. Lantas saya mula membuat andaian bahawa tiket jualannya terlalu mahal.

Saya tidak salahkan pementasan yang tidak bertenaga dalam Winnie the Pooh kerana watak yang berusia lebih 80 tahun itu dicipta sedemikian rupa dan tidak berubah dan rasanya tidak akan diubah.

Bukan seperti pementasan sejarah lagenda Puteri Gunung Ledang yang diubah jalan sejarahnya hanya untuk memberi kepuasan kepada segelintir pihak.

Faktor kedua pada firasat saya ialah kuasa pembeli yang berada di tangan ibu bapa. Pada ibu bapa, watak Winnie tidak sehebat Mickey Mouse mahupun Goofy.

Saya juga hadir dalam persembahan Disney on Ice baru-baru ini di Stadium Tertutup Bukit Jalil dan kehadirannya luar biasa.

Ya, saya juga beranai mengaku bahawa sekiranya tidak dijanjikan layanan karpet merah, saya mungkin tidak akan datang ke pementasan tersebut dan meluangkan har Sabtu untuk menyiapkan ‘buku’ saya.

Kereta saya mendapat pelekat VIP yang terus dapat diletak di hadapan pintu masuk.

Kehadiran kami diiring pegawai untuk ke kerusi khas.

Di akhir pementasan, kami dibawa ke belakang pentas untuk sessi khas bersama Winnie dan Tigger.

Hari jadi Winnie

Pementasan Disney Live! Menceritakan persiapan rakan-rakan Winnie; Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, Kanga dan anaknya Rhu, Eeyore dan Owl untuk memberi satu kejutan kepada Winnie yang meneyambut hari jadinya.

Persiapan tersebut mendapat gangguan atas sikap Tigger yang tidak berhati-hati (sebut clumsy).

Disney Live! Winnie the Pooh diterbitkan oleh Kenneth Feldd dan diarahkan oleh BT McNicholl.

Ia berada di Kuala Lumpur dri 29 Jun hingga 2 Julai.

Anonymous merepek ... permalink ... 7/02/2006 11:32:00 pm ... 0 blast off