Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
Gek Bachik meninggalkan penempatan masyarakat suku Jakun di Kampung Buluh Nipis, Muadzam Shah, Pahang lebih sepuluh tahun lalu.
Beliau kemudiannya menetap di kampung setinggan di Batu 12, Gombak dan mencuba pelbagai jenis pekerjaan rencam di sekitar Kuala Lumpur untuk menyara isteri dan empat orang anaknya.
Namun Gek,38, kemudiannya sedar, menceburi diri dalam sektor pemburuhan di kota besar, ditambah dengan kos sara hidup yang lebih tinggi, jauh lebih mencabar daripada mengusahakan ladang.
“Dengan keadaan saya saya serba kurang, (jumlah) jari pun tidak cukup, memang susahlah untuk buat kerja-kerja kontrak (binaan),” katanya yang ditakdirkan tuhan hanya mempunyai enam batang jari.
Beliau kini patah harapan, lebih-lebih lagi dengan kematian anak bongsunya pada Februari tahun lalu yang didakwa berpunca daripada kecuaian pihak Hospital Orang Asli Gombak.
Isterinya, Aspadiah Bah Sok, 38, telahpun pulang ke Kampung Buluh Nipis semenjak anak mereka meninggal dunia. Gek juga telah membuat persiapan untuk kembali ke pangkuan masyarakatnya.
“Saya tengah bersiap untuk balik tengahari ini, tapi kerana (wartawan) telefon untuk berjumpa, saya batalkan dulu. Esok pun boleh balik sebab saya kerja sendiri,” kata Gek lagi.
Temuramah diadakan di rumah seorang saudaranya, Wangah Pandak, 57. Suami Wangah merupakan seorang kakitangan lanskap di hospital itu dan mereka mendiami kuarters berkenaan dengan bayaran RM300 sebulan.
Kampung tanpa nama
Bahang di dalam ruang tamu dalam unit rumah panjang binaan kayu itu cukup terasa, apatah lagi rumah tersebut hanya beratapkan zink.
Kipas angin dalam ruang tersebut dimatikan kerana bunyinya mengganggu rakaman. Namun mereka kelihatan tidak begitu endah dengan keadaan panas itu. Alah bisa tegal biasa.
Gek sebelum ini mendiami salah sebuah rumah di kampung setinggan yang tidak bernama – menjadikannya seolah-olah tidak wujud, walaupun dapat dilihat dengan jelas daripada Jalan Gombak.
Menurutnya lagi, ada yang memanggil tempat itu dengan nama Kampung Bukit Kala.Tetapi, tambahnya, nama itu juga tidak tepat.
Kebanyakan mereka mengenali tempat itu dengan nama ‘Skem’, sempena nama sebuah pusat belajar memandu yang terletak berhampiran.
“Bukit Kala itu jauh di dalam hutan sana. Kawasan itu yang orang kampung minta tanah untuk berkebun, tapi seorang pun tak dapat tanah,” katanya.
Beliau juga memohon untuk mendapatkan tanah untuk diusahakan dengan tanaman di sekitar Gombak, termasuk kawasan hutan simpan.
“Orang jabatan (Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli) kata boleh teroka, tetapi jangan tebang pokok. Macam mana nak menanam kalau tak boleh tebang pokok?
“Lagipun ini bukan kampung saya. Kalau tempat saya, saya berani juga untuk buka kawasan hutan simpan. Kita Orang Asli pun patuh kepada undang-undang juga,” katanya lagi.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
Dalam keadaan malu-malu, Ketua Pemuda Umno Khairy Jamaluddin menafikan wujudnya ‘perang fesyen’ antara beliau dengan anak bekas perdana menteri Mukhriz Mahathir.
“Tidak, tidak (ada perang). Pakaian ini (berdasarkan) apa yang selesa dan apa yang sesuai dengan keadaan. Saya selalu tidak fikir panjang lebar tentang apa yang saya hendak dipakai pada hari itu.
“Cuma saya melihat pada jadual, kalau saya hendak pergi ke sekian majlis yang memerlukan pakaian kebangsaan, batik, sut, saya akan pakai ikut kesesuaian dan keselesaan,” katanya yang berulang kali ketawa apabila mengulas perkara itu.
Khairy diminta mengulas penyertaan beliau dan Mukhriz – yang pernah merebut jawatan nombor satu dalam Pemuda Umno – dalam majalah gaya hidup dan fesyen kebelakangan ini.
Mukriz bulan ini tampil dengan gaya korporat – berkemeja dan bertali leher – dalam majalah remaja dan gaya hidup popular KLue.
Diperkenalkan sebagai “rakyat Malaysia yang pendiam” (the Quiet Malaysian), Mukriz bercerita dengan pendirian dan pengalaman politiknya sebagai anak Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.
Manakala Khairy pula pada tahun lalu pernah tampil ala model – dengan gaya kontemporari – dalam majalah fesyen dan gaya hidup terkenal Harper’s Bazaar dan bercakap soal politik, keibubapaan dan kontroversi yang membelenggunya.
Kedua-dua Khairy dan Mukriz dilihat sentiasa bersaing bagi mendapat tempat dan meraih populariti dalam sayap kanan Umno. Lebih-lebih lagi apabila kedua-duanya masing-masing mempunya pertalian rapat dengan dua perdana menteri sebelum ini.
‘Janggut pun dah beruban’
Dalam wawancara eksklusif dengan Malaysiakini di pejabatnya di Bukit Damansara semalam, Khairy berkata beliau tidak percaya dengan politik yang menggunakan fesyen bagi menonjolkan personaliti masing-masing.
“Ini politik yang sangat ceteklah,” katanya ringkas dalam wawancara penuh ceria itu.
Sebagai ketua kepada kira-kira 200,000 anggota pergerakan itu, Khairy juga kelihatan malu-malu apabila bercakap soal citarasa fesyennnya.
“Apa yang saudara lihat, inilah yang saya pakai,” katanya yang keberatan mengulas perkara tersebut.
Beliau sebelum itu sempat berseloroh, diikuti dengan ketawa besar: “Kamu dari Malaysiakini, saya tidak percaya kamu tanya soalan ini.”
Dalam sese tersebut, ahli parlimen Rembau – yang sebelumnya bergegas daripada parlimen – tampil dalam pakaian formal dengan sut kelabu dan bertali leher warna gelap.
Menantu Tun Abdullah Badawi itu juga menjelaskan, pembinaan imejnya merupakan sesuatu yang tidak pernah dirancang.
“Saya tidak fikir pada perkara ini pun. Kalau tengok janggut saya pun dah beruban. Dari segi imej ini tidak adalah apa-apa yang saya rasa terancang, biasa sahaja,” katanya.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
Pertubuhan Hindraf Makkal Sakthi memulakan kempen antarabangsa untuk ketua pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dengan ‘pembentangan hari awal’ atau Early Day Motion (EDM) di parlimen di Britain.
Pembentangan awal itu didedahkan oleh Suresh Grover yang mengetuai kumpulan pemantau -The Monitoring Group, sebuah pertubuhan hak asasi manusia di Britain dan Ireland Utara.
Menurut Grover, penyokong Anwar meminta pengerusi Hindraf P Waythamoorthy (kanan) untuk membantu ketua umum PKR itu dan mereka mencadangkan supaya membentangkan EDM melaui seorang ahli parlimen.
Menurut Waythamoorty, ahli parlimen bagi Islington, North London, Jeremy Corbyn, bersetuju membawakan usul itu.
“Kami 100 peratus menyokong Anwar. Dia adalah lelaki baik yang dilayan dengan buruk oleh Kerajaan Malaysia,” kata Corbyn dalam wawancara telefon dengan Malaysiakini.
“Dakwaan yang dilemparkan ke atas beliau tidak betul. EDM adalah luahan parlimen berhubung perkara itu.”
MP dari parti buruh itu membuat penilaian terhadap Anwar berdasarkan perjuangan bertahun-tahun bekas timbalan perdana menteri itu untuk merapatkan kefahaman antara dunia Barat dan Islam.
Katanya, beliau dan kebanyakan ahli parlimen Britain yang lain telah lama mengenali Anwar dan berpendapat dia adalah pemimpin yang baik.
Mereka yang ingin memberikan pendapat mereka mengenai EDM berkenaan dijemputkan menghubungi Corbyn di corbynj@parliament.uk.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
All in all, Anwar is a great speaker. It is difficult not to be softened by his jokes about UMNO, the government and the general crap that is Malaysian politics. Anwar does promise a lot to us but he will have to earn my trust by actually implementing his words as laws.
I went to a talk by Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim titled ‘Religion and Pluralism in a Divided World’ at the London School of Economics this evening. It was good to meet Anwar in the flesh for the very first time. My early impressions of Anwar was from his deep intellectual Islam from the ‘Faces of Islam’ series in the late eighties and the Asian Renaissance concept in the early nineties. Neither concept came to fruition. Ziauddin Sardar in his book ‘Desperately Seeking Paradise’ blamed Mahathirism for the downfall of Anwar but Malaysians may differ with him on that.
Anyway, to see Anwar in the flesh for the first time was refreshing. The great media image had become real and he had all of the humour I had come to enjoy on Youtube. He openly denounced fundamentalism (which I heartily approve) and paraphrased the great poet Rumi who said that ‘the lamps may be different but the light stays the same’. By this paraphase, Anwar wanted to press home the point that Islam in Southeast Asia has always been incluvist in nature. He believes that religion is a force to unite mankind and that by focussing on the maqasid al-sharia/higher intent of sharia law (which implies justice, dignity and basic rights for all people) we will find that Islam and democracy has no inherent discrepancy.
With this rather idealist declaration, Anwar opened the floor for questions. I will mention only some of the questions here for lack of space.
Naturally, one of the first questions he was asked was on apostasy. One young man asked what Anwar would do if he was in power. Would he allow Muslims to leave Islam? Anwar, I am proud to say, bravely declared here that it was against the principle of freedom of religion in Islam that any person would be compelled to remain Muslim when he or she doesn’t believe. This would give birth to hypocrisy in society. Quite an accurate analaysis. Anwar then threw a few names, Islamic scholars who supposedly uphold the maqasid al-sharia (but fails to mention that none of those scholars oppose the apostasy law). Nonetheless, Anwar did promise total freedom of religion. How he will reconcile that with the equivocation that all Malays are Muslim and since one cannot change his Malayness, he also cannot change his Muslimness, I don’t know. He did however close this question with a joke touching on the Allah issue, which was good.
The next question he was asked is whether the constitution should be changed to allow freedom of religion. He replied that that freedom of religion was enshrined in the constitution (and it is) but Islam is the official religion of the federation. The issue therefore is the denial of rights. I would agree that Islam is the religion of the federation but the equivocation that all Malays are Muslims is what’s really causing the contradiction. This equivocation is simply political and does not reflect actual belief in Islam. As RPK often laments, it is the Malays who are most deeply embroiled in corruption, one of the cardinal sins in Islam (quran 2/188) so Islam is to us is merely cultural affectation.
Yours truly finally managed to get his question in a short time later. I asked how Anwar would reconcile his approach to sharia law with the fundamentalist view held by PAS. Anwar strongly disagreed that PAS was fundamentalist. He mentioned that in the Allah issue, PAS was against the decision to restrict the use of the word to Muslims alone. True but Anwar, PAS isn’t made of a single faction. As Abdul Rahman Talib
points out (look at minute 3.48) , there is the ‘geng terengganu’ consisting of Nasharuddin Mat Isa, Harun Din and others who sided with UMNO on the issue. Anwar then mentioned that PAS has totally forgotten it’s Islamic state issue. Not true, in late 2008 itself, Husam Musa was exposed by Khairi Jamaluddin on the issue. Husam loudly declared PAS’ true intent for an Islamic state. Hadi and Nik Aziz himself were squarely behind the idea. Sorry Anwar, I didn’t have a chance to rebut you in the lecture earlier but here’s my answer now. Be wary of PAS, once they come into government, Hadi, Nasharuddin, Harun Din, Hasan Ali and quite possibly Tok Guru himself will make UMNOfacists look like hippies.
Another question Anwar was asked was about Muslim women. A bright Malaysian lady who became a new friend of mine told him that Malay women were now third class citizens in Malaysia. Anwar agreed and once again invoked the maqasid al-sharia to show that if the higher intents of sharia were under consideration, these draconian laws which oppress Muslim women would not be happening. I would add that if we actually put the Quran as a criteria for law, most of sharia law itself would become non-issues.
Perhaps the most contentious question was asked was by new friend of mine who reminded him of his firebrand politics of bygone days. Anwar of old upheld Malay supremacy and brought about Islamisation to government. Anwar parried by saying that his firebrand style was a trademark of youth and that he had always been against laws such as the ISA, in fact he had been a detainee himself before he came into government. He does love the Malay language but not at the expense of other languages. He has studied other religions and often quotes from them. This is all true but doesn’t detract from his past support of racist and fundamentalist policies. Keen historians of Malaysian politics would note this. Bakri Musa certainly did in his ‘Malay Dilemma Revisited’.
All in all, Anwar is a great speaker. It is difficult not to be softened by his jokes about UMNO, the government and the general crap that is Malaysian politics. Anwar does promise a lot to us but he will have to earn my trust by actually implementing his words as laws. When he actually introduces reform and stands firm against Malay fascists and Islamic fundamentalists, I will believe him and give him my full support. Till then, I will consider this talk time well spent and perhaps to remind us of hope for the future.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
By R Mutharasan
MIC president S Samy Vellu recently attended the opening of a textile shop in Klang which belongs to a party division chief. The next day, photographs of the event were splashed in the Tamil dailies.
Most would have given the photographs a glance and nothing more. But to the MIC politics-trained eye, a picture speaks more than a thousand words.
And in this case, there was one particular photograph which indicated that a new alignment is taking shape albeit slowly in MIC.
It was a photograph that showed former vice-president S Sothinathan standing next to Samy Vellu.
Yes, the very same Sothinathan whom the president ripped to shreds when he decided to go against his word and contest for the deputy president post in last year’s party elections.
This means that Samy Vellu and his one-time protege have burried the hatchet to forge a new alliance, or rather a marriage of convenience.
However, the saree shop event was not the first sign that the duo have patched up.
During the Bagan Pinang by-election in Negeri Sembilan last year, there was some form of coordination between the campaign ceramah by Samy Vellu and those by Sothinathan, who is the former MP of Teluk Kemang.
Apart from this, there were also speculations that the president, his son Vell Paari and Sothinathan met in Chennai in December to trash out their differences.
Recently, the Samy Vellu family-owned Tamil Nesan highlighted a speech delivered by Sothinathan to a group of Indian students at a local university.
Sothinathan had defended the MIC president, saying: “Samy Vellu should not be blamed for all the problems in the Indian community. He was not the prime minister but only a minister. He did his best for the Indian community.”
In January this year, Sothinathan, to the surprise of many, attended the Maju Institute Education Development (MIED) annual meet (for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008) and voted in favour of the accounts and reports submitted, sending the signal to Samy Vellu that he is once again prepared to work together on party affairs.
There are also speculations that Samy Vellu might decide to make his former ‘blue-eyed boy’ a senator. One senate appointment for MIC has been vacant since January 2010 and so far no name has been officially announced. Another senate seat reserved for MIC would be falling vacant in April.
Appointed secretary-general once again?
As for the party, talk is that Sothinathan could be appointed as the next MIC secretary-general so that he would able to re-establish his netowrk with the branch and divisional leaders. In the past, he had held that post for six years.
At the forthcoming MIED AGM (for 2009) scheduled for March 31, Sothinathan is expected to be appointed into the board and would play a key role in the administration of the MIC-owned Aimst University.
Bringing Sothinathan into MIED would also strengthen Samy Vellu’s position since the president is facing mounting problems with regards to the MIC education arm in the wake of allegations of corruption.
Numerous reports have been filed with the authorities by former MIED chief executive officer P Chitirakala Vasu and former MIC Youth chief SA Vigneswaran.
It has been previously reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission conducted several raids on the MIED office and quizzed some of the key office-bearers.
It must be pointed out that Sothinathan was the first to lodge reports against Chitirakala about missing files and alleged misappropriation of funds.
In the coming legal tussles between Samy Vellu and Chitirakala, Sothinathan’s evidence could alter the course of the case, in the president’s favour.
Sothinathan vs Palanivel
On the political front, rebuilding the bridges with Sothinathan also provides an upper hand for Samy Vellu, who is a trained architect.
Many in MIC believe that Samy Vellu is priming Sothinathan to be the next deputy president, or to use him to keep the current number two G Palanivel in check.
It is no secret that ties between Samy Vellu and Palanivel have soured since their brief heated exchange during the January MIED AGM, which was widely reported in the Tamil media.
Party insiders believe that Samy Vellu extended the olive branch to Sothinathan in order to use him as a shield should Palanivel decide to move for the kill.
One might ask why Sothinathan and not Dr S Subramaniam, who is a party vice-president and cabinet minister?
Subramaniam is generally perceived as the “good guy” of MIC who lacks the political determination and mettle to take on senior politicians like Palanivel.
Furthermore, Subramaniam’s close associates point out that on many occasions the medical doctor has indicated that he does not wish to play the role of the president’s stooge.
Sothinathan, on the other hand, has a long history of political enmity with Palanivel and this was one of the main reasons why he contested for the number two post. He would play the game exactly as how Samy Vellu would want him to and to unseat Palanivel would be sweet revenge.
On the flipside, Sothinathan’s credibility would take a beating following this sudden change of heart and his decision to once again work with his mentor. But then again, realignment of political forces is nothing new.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
KUALA LUMPUR, 19 MAC – Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur menetapkan 14 Mei ini bagi keputusan permohonan Ketua Pemuda UMNO, Khairy Jamaluddin untuk mengenepikan penghakiman ingkar yang diperoleh oleh Ketua Pembangkang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dalam kes saman fitnah 100 juta ringgit.
Peguam Sankara Nair berkata, Penolong Kanan Pendaftar, A. Kaveetha menetapkan tarikh itu dalam kamar ketika sebutan kes saman tersebut pagi ini.
Pada 4 Disember 2008, Anwar memperoleh penghakiman ingkar ekoran kegagalan Khairy memasukkan kehadiran.
Pada 7 Mac 2008, Anwar memfailkan saman kerana mendakwa Khairy, yang ketika itu Naib Ketua Pemuda UMNO Malaysia telah memfitnahnya.
Anwar selaku plaintif mendakwa pada 20 Februari 2008, Khairy sebagai defendan telah mengucapkan dan menyebabkan penerbitan dalam beberapa laman sesawang termasuk Malaysiakini.com satu rakaman klip video dan telah diterbitkan bersama-sama sebuah artikel.
Artikel yang didakwa merujuk kepada Anwar didakwa diucapkan oleh Khairy dalam sebuah ceramah di Lembah Pantai pada 20 Februari 2008.
Sehubungan itu, Anwar memohon ganti rugi pampasan RM100 juta, ganti rugi teruk, teladan serta injunksi selain faedah lapan peratus, kos dan relif lain yang difikirkan.
Pada 20 Februari tahun lalu, Khairy memfailkan permohonan untuk mengetepikan penghakiman ingkar yang diperoleh oleh Anwar.
Posted by RAKYAT MARHAEN
Akhbar harian Cina, China Press hari ini menggantung ketua pengarangnya, Teoh Yang Koon selama dua minggu berikutan keputusannya menyiarkan laporan peletakkan jawatan Tan Sri Musa Hassan sebagai Ketua Polis Negara, Sabtu lalu.
Akhbar itu juga dalam permohonan maaf sebanyak empat perenggan di muka hadapannya hari ini berkata mereka menyesali tindakan berkenaan.
“Laporan yang tidak tepat itu mengakibatkan kesulitan kepada perdana menteri, kementerian dalam negeri dan menterinya, ketua piolis negara serta timbalannya. Perkara itu tidak dijangkakan dan kami amat menyesalinya.
“Justeru, kami ingin memohon maaf kepada mereka yang terbabit,” kata laporan itu.
Semalam, Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Dalam Negeri Datuk Ahmad Fuad Abdul Aziz dalam satu kenyataan akhbar berkata pihaknya berpuas hati dengan penjelasan bertulis China Press mengenai isu berkenaan.
Sehubungan itu, menurut Ahmad Fuad, KDN tidak akan mengambil sebarang tindakan kecuali menyerahkan kepada China Press untuk mengambil tindakan dalaman terhadap pengarang yang bertanggung jawab.
Pada laporannya Sabtu lalu, China Press menyiarkan laporan bahawa Musa (kanan) telah mengemukakan surat peletakan jawatannya kepada Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein dan juga Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Beberapa jam selepas berita itu disiarkan, Musa dan Hishamuddin segera menafikannya.
Bagaimanapun, Hishamuddin selepas perasmian Penggal Ketiga Parlimen Ke-12 oleh Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Isnin lalu mendedahkan bahawa rombakan barisan pimpinan tertinggi pasukan polis akan dilakukan.
Katanya lagi, rombakan berkenaan bukan sahaja akan membabitkan KPN tetapi juga pegawai kanan yang lain, termasuk empat pengarahnya.
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