The call to boycott Chinese businesses and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's silence show continued desperation and fear among the BN leaders, says Sabah STAR.

Raymond Tombung, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Calls by Malay-Muslim groups to boycott Chinese businesses is bad enough without Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s arrogant retort for the 51% voters who voted for the opposition to leave the country if they are unhappy, said Bingkor assemblyman Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Compounding this ‘dangerous levels’ of racism is Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s silence, he added.

“The Prime Minister needs to speak up against these calls, lest the BN (Barisan Nasional) and Umno is continued to be seen as supporting extreme racism in Malaysia.

“His continued silence in the face of this increased racism, anti-Chinese activism, and heightening of the Malay supremacy is shocking.

“He dearly needs to speak up against it to show the world that Malaysia is a mature democracy that is model of progress, wisdom and social harmony,” said Jeffrey, who is also Sabah State Reform Party chief.

Alluding to recent racially intoned rantings by the Muslim Consumers Society and the Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM), Jeffrey said if left uncontrolled it “will lead Malaysia into turmoil and anarchy”.

Jeffrey said these recent developments had taken racism in Malaysia into “darker and more sinister” levels.

“The call is also a reflection of utter disregard to social harmony and is only the tip of the iceberg in emerging social conflicts in the nation.

“This is all due to gross mismanagement and neglect on the part of the federal leaders.” he said

He said Najib’s silence was shocking considering his ardent call for social harmony and unity under his 1Malaysia banner.

“The socio-political situation now is being made worse by the Home Minister who is so arrogant that he is asking more than half of the Malaysia’s voters who voted against the BN to leave the country!

“Is Malaysia being purposefully led to descend into total chaos by its own leaders? Has this minister forgotten that he is the Home Minister for all Malaysians and not just the Umno/BN members and Malays?

“This behaviour by the Malay Muslim groups and the Home Minister is so unbelievable that one can only wonder if they have any leadership wisdom left in them.

“They make us reel back in utter disbelief at their lack of reason, good manners or diplomacy,” he said.

Are Malay-Muslims ignorant?

Jeffrey also questioned the wisdom of these groups calling for the boycott of Chinese businesses.

“Don’t the Malay-Muslim groups know that boycotting the Chinese businesses is impossible and even if it can be done it will spell disaster for the Malaysian economy?

“Are they so ignorant of the fact that by boycotting Chinese businesses they won’t even be able to survive?

“How would they live without simple things like salt, sugar, coffee, tea, and noodles since these are supplied through Chinese importers and distributors? So don’t even talk about electrical goods, building materials and cars.

“How do you deny the hard fact that the Chinese run the majority of the businesses in Malaysia and without them the country will collapse overnight?” he asked.

READ MORE HERE

(The Sun Daily) - Former NUJ chairman Hata Wahari was heckled and booed by his former colleagues at Malay-daily Utusan Malaysia during his annual 'protest' at their office yesterday.

Some 50 Utusan Malaysia staff gathered at building's entrance at about 5pm in anticipation of a 'demonstration' led by Hata, who instead showed up alone with a message for his former employer - on a large black banner with bold white type.

"Kepada Ketua Pengarang Utusan: Hentikan kewartawanan tidak bertanggungjawab. Jadilah wartawan yang menjunjung etika kewartawanan. Jangan gadaikan masa depan Utusan untuk kepentingan diri. Jangan jadi wartawan rasis. (To the Utusan Editor in Chief: Stop irresponsible journalism. Be an ethical journalist. Do not gamble the future of Utusan for personal gains. Do not be a racist journalist.)

Several police trucks and patrol cars were also seen parked around the premise as Utusan Malaysia had previously reported that Malay right-wing NGO Pekida would be sending its members to "defend" the paper against Hata and his supporters.

Hata, who stood across the road from the office for about 10 minutes, was met by jeers and taunts by the staff - "Barua!" (goon) "Kau sakit!" (You are sick!) "Balik!" (Go home!).

A man also dashed across the road and kicked his banner, while another threw a packet of fried noodles which splattered on the road.

When met earlier, Hata expressed surprise at the 'attention' he received, stating that it was a "personal protest" which he has been doing since 2011, on May 2, to mark his sacking from the paper.

Hata, who served the company for 16 years, was subjected to an internal inquiry before being sacked for issuing statements which allegedly goes against the company's policies.

"May 2 is also my birthday and World Press Freedom Day. But this year, due to the general elections, I decided to come here on May 20.

"I did not want to involve anybody else because of possible repercussions. If any action was to be taken (by Utusan), I would be the only one affected," said Hata.

He added, Utusan Malaysia is expected to move out of its present premise by this year, and thus it is significant for him to persist in his call for them to 'change'.

"I will continue protesting every year until there is a change in the paper's direction towards upholding principles of ethical journalism," he said, in stressing that the paper's predecessor, Utusan Melayu, was a vocal critique of the government led by the nation's founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman.

K Vasantha Kumar, who contested in Tapah, wants answers over the murder of his aide K Murugan.

Priscilla Prasena, FMT

A group of NGOs have urged the police to expedite investigations into the murder of political aide K Murugan’s during the 13th general election.

Led by PKR’s candidate for the Tapah parliament seat, K Vasantha Kumar, the group handed over a memorandum addressed to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Murugan, who was Vasantha Kumar’s aide, went missing on May 1. His remains were later discovered on May 5 in a pond in Bemban Industrial Park, Batu Gajah.

“His hands and legs were tied with wires and the post mortem revealed that Murugan had died of blunt force trauma to the head,” Vasantha Kumar told reporters.

“We believe that the murder was politically motivated as he was threatened by the supporters of MIC candidate M Saravanan,” he added.

Vasantha Kumar was accompanied by Murugan’s family lawyer M. Visvanathan and several other NGOs.

The memorandum demanded that the IGP form a special task force to investigate all political parties involved in the election campaign without fear and favour and to investigate the records in Murugan’s mobile phone.

According to Vasantha Kumar, Murugan was very helpful in organizing the election campaign in the rural and interior areas in Tapah.

Murugan had informed Vasantha Kumar that he had been receiving threatening calls from unknown persons, who warned him to stop campaigning or he would be killed.

“On May 1, Murugan arranged a ‘ceramah’ at his residential area in Bidor. After the talk, he was cleaning up the venue with his friends when he received a phone call. He left the venue and never returned.

“Murugan’s sister lodged a report with the Bidor police station when he failed to return home and was not reachable,” Vasantha Kumar explained.

READ MORE HERE

FMT journalists were quizzed over articles quoting Haris Ibrahim with regard to his proposal to hold a rally to topple the ruling government.

(FMT) - Two FMT journalists yesterday gave statements to the police with regard to their news reports on Haris Ibrahim’s vow to topple the government through a massive street rally.

FMT journalists Lisa J Ariffin and Alyaa Azhar were called to give their respective statements to the police under Section 111 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with respect to the police officer’s power to require attendance of witnesses.

Both journalists gave their statements to ASP Ananthan Rajoo from the Dang Wangi district police station.

However, it is not clear if Haris will be investigated for suspected offences under the Sedition Act or under the Penal Code as student activist Adam Adli Halim, who also made the same call on a May 13 forum to topple Barisan Nasional through street rallies.

When asked on the arrest of Adam, Ananthan said the police had been monitoring the latter’s movements prior to the forum.

“He had been calling for a massive street rally even before May 13,” he explained.

On May 13, speakers at the forum had unanimously agreed that waiting for five years until the next general election was too long, and vowed to overthrow BN this year through force.

“We will take to the streets and take over Putrajaya. If we really want to overthrow them, there is no other way. Democracy does not work,” Anything But Umno (ABU) spokesperson Haris was quoted as saying.

“The people cannot wait anymore. We don’t want to wait another five years. We will take the streets,” he added.

He had also insisted the street government would go on with or without opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s support.

Azril Annuar, fz.com 

The United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong) must "meet the demands and requirements" of the Education Ministry in order for the United Examination Certificate (UEC) to be recognised.

(International Business Times) - Malay power is important because we're concerned about keeping a pure Malay community all over the Malay Archipelago 

Nazism is typically associated with racialist, nationalistic movements in western and northern Europe. But Nazism (or its contemporary form, neo-Nazism) has been embraced by some far from Adolf Hitler’s Germany.

Consider the case of Malaysia, the multiracial state in Southeast Asia, where a neo-Nazi movement has sprung up to defend the rights and survival of what is called a "pure Malay” race.

The CIA World Factbook states that about one-half of the population of Malaysia are indigenous Malays, while about one-quarter are Chinese and 7 percent are of Indian descent. Malays clearly feel besieged and threatened by the rising numbers of “foreigners” in their country.

According to a report from Vice.com, neo-Nazis in Malaysia not only espouse openly racialist theories, but they have adopted some of the symbols and language of the Third Reich and neo-Nazi movements from post-war Europe, including swastikas as well as imitating Combat-18, a notorious British fascist organization. They like to shout "Sieg Heil” and “Blood and Honor” while listening to Nazi punk bands like Angry Aryan, Skrewdriver, English Rose and Brutal Attack.

Mirroring the rhetoric of neo-Nazis and skinheads in faraway Germany, Britain and other European states, the Malay far-right wants to end all immigration into their country and keep Malaysia a preserve of the Malay peoples.

Vice found a Malay Nazi band called Boot Axe and spoke to band member “Mr. Slay” about his group’s ideology.

“Malay power is important because we're concerned about keeping a pure Malay community all over the Malay Archipelago,” Slay said.

“We're extremists in regards to the Malay race, but that doesn’t mean that we're extreme racists. It’s not about racism. It’s all about being Malay.”

Slay also complained about immigrants pouring into Malaysia.

“The government can't control the entry of immigrants, and we get so many of them,” he stated. “There are so many protests against the government about this issue, but they haven’t done anything tangible to improve the situation. Race has become a focus because of the inclusion of uncontrolled numbers of these [foreign] people in our society.”

Slay then went on to express the familiar racialist canard that immigrants increase crime and threaten the safety and welfare of native-born peoples.

“The lesson that we can learn from Nazism is that we can take extreme racist action if the position of the Malays is affected by these factors,” he declared. “We won't practice overt racism if the Malay race isn't compromised, but, if threatened, we will take action. We don’t like minorities in Malaysia if they can’t coexist with the Malay race. If they are good, then we are good.”

Bizarrely, Slay has even embraced anti-Semitism, even though there are virtually no Jews whatsoever in Malaysia.

“All Malay power punk and skinhead bands are outright anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist,” Slay proudly stated.  “Malay power is connected to Islam.”

Slay admitted that neo-Nazis in Europe would not accept his group as part of their global diaspora, and he also conceded that the movement within Malaysia is probably not very large.

But what cannot be denied is that Malaysia is fraught with racial problems which have periodically erupted in violence over the decades. The world caught a glimpse of the festering problems in the country in May 1969 when race riots – pitting the poorer Malaysians against the wealthier Chinese minority – killed at least 200 people (perhaps many more), leading to the suspension of parliament, the imposition of a state of emergency, and the formation of a caretaker government.

Five years before that, when Singapore was still a part of Malaysia, race riots in that city ultimately led to the breakaway of Singapore as a state dominated by ethnic Chinese, as it remains to this very day.

In recent years, Malaysia’s racial strife has focused increasingly on its restive and impoverished Indian population, who are mostly descended from Tamil immigrants who arrived in the 19th century as laborers.

In November 2007, thousands of Indians rioted in Kuala Lumpur during a visit to the country by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth. A group calling itself the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) demanded that the British government pay $4 trillion in damages for what the group described as "150 years of exploitation" of Indians by their former colonial masters.

Although that demonstration dealt with abuse by British colonial rulers, the rioters also vented their rage at the dominant Malay and Chinese communities of Malaysia.

"Our community is backward, our schools are dilapidated. We are the last in the line for jobs, scholarships, health benefits," Indian opposition lawmaker Kulasegaran Murugesan told Time Magazine at the time.

Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.com/neo-nazis-sprout-malaysia-yes-malaysia-1271165 

Azran had criticised the racial tone of Utusan’s front page headline, “Apa lagi Cina mahu?” 

(TMI) - Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia reported today a civil servants union and two other groups joining its boycott of AirAsia and sister airline AirAsia X, after the latter firm’s chief executive condemned the newspaper for its racially provocative headline targeting the Chinese following the May 5 polls.

The Malay broadsheet cited the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) in a front-page report urging all civil workers to avoid the budget airlines and to instead fly aboard national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and its sister company, Firefly, for the upcoming two-week school holidays.

“The power of 1.4 million civil servants can give an impact on AirAsia, so I ask all civil servants to prove this especially in the school holidays,” Cuepacs president Datuk Omar Osman was quoted saying, claiming he had received numerous complaints from several consumer groups dissatisfied with AirAsia’s service.

Several other groups were also cited giving similar reasons backing their call to make AirAsia the airline of last resort, including the Executive Officers Union (KEPAK) and the Malaysian Consumers Potection and Welfare Board (LPKPM), the paper reported.

In an apparent attempt to back up their claims of dissatisfactory service, Utusan also reported on its front page a man complaining that the airline had refused to fly back his mother’s corpse from Jogjakarta to Kuala Lumpur even though she had previously purchased a ticket aboard AirAsia ― despite the carrier not being licensed to do so.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/after-utusan-cuepacs-joins-airasia-boycott-call/ 

(The Malay Mail) - MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yesterday refused to take any responsibility for the party's worst electoral outing, instead blaming it on party veterans and their "political baggage".

He said the party was forced to shoulder the burden of the past generation, and this was the reason for its poor performance.

“MCA’s new generation must take on the burden of the past generation. We have to carry the baggage of the previous leadership,” Dr Chua said after chairing the party's first central committee meeting after the general election.

He said one of the 15 party veterans had even been jailed and nearly destroyed the economies of Malaysia and Singapore.

Refusing to name anyone, Dr Chua said the veteran caused the Malaysian and Singaporean stock exchanges to close, bringing untold damage to the economies of both countries.

Asked if the group of veterans were to blame for MCA's poor electoral showing, he responded:

"Of course, lah! We have to deal with the burden which we have inherited. "I am an elected president.

What is the need fr oparty elections if we ask the elected president to resign?

"They should not have spoken about party matters openly. Instead, they should have come to see me to discuss their grouses."

Dr Chua said the party veterans should work behind the scenes if they were genuinely interested in seeing the party grow.

He said criticisms raised by the veterans were never brought up by any member during the MCA CC meetings.

Clara Chooi, TMI

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) federal lawmakers have vowed to make full use of their increased parliamentary numbers to ensure constituencies are fairly redrawn when the Election Commission (EC) kicks off the redelineation exercise this year-end.

PKR’s Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli reminded that if the exercise involves an increase in seat numbers, a two-thirds majority vote is needed to approve the changes before they are passed by the lower House.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) does not have required two-thirds majority in Parliament, with only 133 seats to PR’s 89 seats, and will require votes from opposition lawmakers to approve the exercise.

“But if they (EC) do not add constituencies and the process only includes redrawing boundaries, this could be dangerous as this allows gerrymandering and there is no need for a two-third vote.

“In the past, they (BN) score big in the elections because the redelineation exercise is often in [their] favour ... they disperse our support to other seats,” Rafizi told The Malaysian Insider.

But the PKR strategy director said it was likely that, this time, redelineation would include an increase in seat numbers.

He said that in tandem with the DAP’s “one vote, one value” campaign push, PR lawmakers will fight hard to use their parliamentary powers to ensure voters are more fairly distributed unlike the present situation.

The allegedly unfair dispersal of voters in constituencies here has been used as a major argument point by PR lawmakers to back accusations that gerrymandering in favour of BN has helped the ruling pact stay in power.

In a recent article on news portal FZ.com, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan had pointed out that the existing delineation of constituencies defies logic in terms of size and the number of voters.

“Putrajaya has 15,791 voters compared with Kapar, which has 144,159 voters. It doesn’t make sense.”

“And then you have a state seat like Sri Serdang with 72,769 voters which is higher than the Putrajaya parliamentary seat,” he was quoted saying.

This has also earned the attention of the foreign media.

In the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Hong Kong journalist Philip Bowring commented on how PR had lost the election despite winning 51 per cent of the popular vote ― an outcome that opposition lawmakers and civil society groups have blamed on unfair gerrymandering.

“Thanks to an extreme anti-urban bias and the abolition of rules governing the relative size of constituencies, the largest constituency has nine times more voters than the smallest.

“On that basis, and taking account of the number of closely fought seats, the opposition would probably have to win at least 58 per cent of the popular vote to get a majority of seats,” Bowring wrote.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insider, DAP’s publicity secretary Tony Pua said with the polls now over and efforts underway to challenge some of the results through election petitions, the next step for PR would be to focus on the coming redelineation exercise.

The EC recently said that the exercise will be kicked off by year-end after the six-month process to hear election petitions are completed. The petitions must be filed within 21 days after the results of the election are gazetted.

The Federal Constitution prohibits a redelineation exercise from being conducted within eight years of the last. The EC last redrew constituency lines in 2003.

READ MORE HERE

PRS and SPDP felt they deserved better recognition since both parties delivered all the seats they contested in.

(The Star) - KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud is not going to interfere in the Federal Cabinet appointments. Speaking to reporters after the first session of the State Legislative Assembly Sitting here yesterday, Taib said to interfere was not his style.

“We shall leave it to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak). I’m sure he will think (about it) after talking to them,” he said.

By them, he was obviously referring to PRS and SPDP, the state BN coalition members who are disappointed with the Cabinet appointments despite Sarawak having a record number of seven ministers and three deputy ministers’ posts this time around.

PRS and SPDP felt they deserved better recognition since both parties delivered all the seats they contested in.

In the past week, members of the two parties had been lamenting over the Cabinet appointments. Some even felt it was unfair to give SUPP a ministerial post when the party only delivered one out of the seven seats it contested in.

SUPP’s deputy president Datuk Richard Riot, the party’s only victor, was made the Human Resources Minister.

PRS was given a minister and a deputy minister’s posts while SPDP was completely left out.

PRS’ Selangau MP Datuk Joseph Entulu was appointed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, while Datuk Joseph Salang, who is Julau MP, was appointed Deputy Tourism and Culture Minister.

Salang, however, declined his appointment, saying the post did not serve the pressing needs of the Dayaks.

PRS president Tan Sri James Masing and his SPDP counterpart Tan Sri William Mawan, will meet with Najib to resolve the matter.

When asked if he would make recommendations to the Prime Minister, Taib said he would not.

“No, I do not interfere in the Cabinet appointments. It is not my style (to do so),” replied the state Barisan chairman.

Meanwhile, state Barisan secretary-general Datuk Dr Stephen Rundi Utom said there would be a discussion with PRS and SPDP to see what could be worked out.

“I do not feel it is wrong to be dissatisfied although it is impossible to fulfil everyone’s request.

“Personally, I feel that it is not important what portfolio you hold. What’s important is being able to serve and help the people,” he said.

He believed PRS realised this which was why the party wanted a more relevant portfolio.

Having said that, he said the position in the Cabinet was also not to only help Sarawak but to serve the whole nation.

As such, he said, the state Barisan would lend its support where it saw fit and under good reasons. He stressed that at the end of the day it was the people who should gain from all this (inclusion in Federal Cabinet).

(The Star) - MCA has denied all allegations that the party is selling off its assets.

“All assets are under the MCA headquarters and any decision regarding them (the assets) has to have the support of at least two-thirds of the party’s central committee members.

“The CC (central committee) can also ask for an extraordinary general meeting to decide,” said MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek.

He added that the party would sue those who continued to spread rumours about the party’s assets.

In another development, he said MCA was against any call to boycott goods and services because it would hurt the economy.

(The Star) - The call by certain groups to boycott Chinese businesses is dangerous for the country’s well-being, said State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.

Such a call by the groups, including the Muslim Consumers’ Society and Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia, had brought racism into a darker and more sinister level in Malaysia, he said.

“If left uncontrolled, it can lead Malaysia into turmoil and anarchy,” said Dr Jeffrey, adding that such a call totally disregarded the social harmony and unity under the 1Malaysia concept.

Boycotting Chinese businesses, said Dr Jeffrey, was not possible and even if this could be done, would spell disaster for the local economy.

“Are they so ignorant of the fact that by boycotting Chinese businesses they won’t even be able to survive? How would they live without simple things like salt, sugar, coffee, tea and noodles since these are supplied through Chinese importers and distributors?

“So don’t even talk about electrical goods, building materials and cars,” he said, urging all groups and leaders to foster unity for the benefit of the country’s prosperity and progress.

He urged the Prime Minister to speak up against such calls to show the world that Malaysia was a mature democracy and a model of progress, wisdom and social harmony.

Meanwhile, Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong urged the Government to put measures in place to prevent such an “unhealthy scenario” from taking place.

“Although only a small group of people are involved in the calling of the boycott, no one should encourage this,” he said.

Political analysts have mixed views over Pakatan's rejection of the election results.

Lisa J. Ariffin, FMT

Political analysts have expressed mixed views over Pakatan Rakyat’s rejection of the recent 13th general election results.

The analysts contacted by FMT today were responding to the opposition’s stand to not recognise the overall result of GE13, but readily accepted their wins in Pakatan-led states.

“I think this is practical politics, and that the disagreement comes down to those states where the votes are more or less borderline, and not outright wins,” Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Associated Professor James Gomez told FMT.

He stressed that the focus “comes down to that level of disagreement”.

“It is a two tier understanding. The general win is contingent on constituencies where the margin call on the number of votes are slim,” he said.

“Should those current seats turn the other way, obviously there will be an overall shift in the national numbers,” he explained.

“This is practical politics,” he added.

‘Pakatan does not walk the talk’

However, UUM vice chancellor Mohamed Mustafa Ishak disagreed with his colleague and said Pakatan should accept the overall GE13 results if they recognised state results.

“If you have officially accepted the mandate for your three states, you must show clearly that you are willing to accept the decision of the public by virtue and do not question the outcome of the election,” he said.

Mohamed Mustafa said Pakatan’s actions of “continuing to govern” their three states, “clearly shows the results is something that they can accept”.

“By rejecting the overall results, it is something really contradictory. It shows they do not walk the talk,” he said, pointing out that Pakatan only rejected results at the federal level and not state.

“It is the same process, at state level and federal level. So you cannot accept one and reject the other,” he said.

“Pakatan must make a stand on their accusations as right now, it is very difficult to understand why they accept three states, but not the overall results,” he added.

Aruna Gopinath of the National Defence University’s Faculty of Strategic Studies also believed Pakatan should “reject the whole thing totally” and not resort to selective acceptance.

“If you say there is fraud, then you cannot say you only want to accept certain things,” she explained.

“You must reject the whole thing totally,” she added.

However, Aruna noted that if there was “enough evidence” of electoral fraud, the Election Commission (EC) should “come in with a full investigation”.

“They must make a full study and investigation,” she said.

READ MORE HERE

Several disgruntled party members have called for action to be taken against PKR deputy president Azmin Ali for criticising the party president in public.

G Vinod, FMT

The attacks against PKR deputy president Azmin Ali escalates as more party grassroots members call for action to be taken him for critising party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

In letters addressed to PKR disciplinary committee dated May 16, one former party leader said that Azmin had breached party discipline by hurling baseless accusations against Wan Azizah.

“Azmin’s attacks received widespread attention from the mainstream media, which wants to discredit us. It’s was highly improper.

“His criticism had tarnished the party’s image and gives the impression that there is trouble in the party’s internal system,” said former Pahang PKR Youth chief Kamarul Hatta Mohamed Ali.

On May 11, Azmin made a veiled attack against Azizah for allegedly failing to consult party leaders on the choice of candidate to become the Selangor menteri besar.

He also took a potshot against Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, saying the party should not choose a “lame duck” for the top job in Selangor.

Kamarul said that as the party’s number two, Azmin should lead by example and should know better in maintaining the good name of the party.

“Any criticism against party leaders should be made internally, not in the public space. With this, I urge the party to take stern action against Azmin for his transgressions,” he said.

Another letter, sent by Hulu Langat PKR member Lee Kai Meng, also urged the party to take action against Azmin for criticising Wan Azizah.

“His attacks has caused negative polemics to be hurled against the party. I call for action to be taken against Azmin,” said Lee.

READ MORE HERE

Chan Wei See, fz.com

Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok said her party is standing firm with its decision to seek four seats in the Selangor state executive council, and hinted that all four nominees are Chinese, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The student activist was arrested on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13.

(FMT) - Student activist Adam Adli, whose five-day remand expires tomorrow, will be charged with sedition at the Jalan Duta Sessions Court tomorrow morning.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya today said the police had officially informed about the matter today.

“The police had informed that Adam will be charged under the Sedition Act tomorrow morning at Jalan Duta. Lawyer N Surendran will be representing Adam,” she said in a tweet.

Adam, 24, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on May 18 for remarks he allegedly made during a post-GE13 forum on May 13.

In the forum, Adam, along with other activists, had called for a street demonstration to protest alleged electoral fraud during the general election.

He is being detained at the Jinjang police detention facility and is being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act and Section 124(B) of the Penal Code.

Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act provides that it is a criminal offence to make any oral, printed and published statements or acts with “seditious tendency”.

If Adam is found guilty of sedition, he could be imprisoned for up to three years, fined up to RM5,000, or both.

Earlier today, Amnesty International called for the immediate and unconditional release of Adam. The rights watchdog said Adan was arrested solely for peacefully expressing his views.

It also said it was told by credible sources that Adam “was subjected to interrogation from 10am until 6pm on May 19 and May 20, with the interrogators repeatedly asking the same questions”.

Adam has refused to answer the questions in the latter part of the interrogation, telling the police to just watch a video of his speech during the public meeting instead, said Amnesty.

Amnesty also urged the Malaysian government to stop using the Sedition Act and provisions in the Penal Code to stifle people’s right to free expression.

READ MORE HERE

(ST) - Malaysia's Election Commission on Wednesday gazetted the official results of the 13th General Election, the official Bernama news agency reported, citing the commission's chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Candidates and political parties who are dissatisfied with the outcome of the May 5 polls have 21 days to file objections or petitions, starting from Thursday, said Mr Abdul Aziz in a statement.

He added that petitions can be filed at high courts in the respective states.

Zurairi AR, TMI

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won in 59 mixed-race federal seats, almost double its 30 wins in Chinese-majority seats in Malaysia’s Election 2013, according to a new research, debunking Barisan Nasional’s (BN) claim of a “Chinese Tsunami” that cost it more losses.

Independent online research house PoliTweet.org also said the ruling BN gained most of its votes from rural federal seats while PR increased its support from urban and semi-urban areas in the South-east Asian nation chasing developed nation status by 2020.

“BN represents the rural majority and can retain power with rural and semi-urban seats alone. This election highlighted PR’s weak areas which are rural seats, Bumiputra Sabah majority and Bumiputra Sarawak majority seats,” said the report, which can be found on PoliTweet’s official blog.

According to PoliTweet, 108 out of the 133 seats (81 per cent) won by BN came from rural seats, while PR won urban or semi-urban seats with almost the same percentage (72 out of 89 seats).

PR won all 16 urban Chinese-majority seats, 12 urban Malay seats and12 urban mixed seats, giving them 40 out of the total 43 urban seats (93 per cent). In comparison, BN only won four urban Malay and one urban mixed seats.

Out of the 54 semi-urban seats, PR won 34 of them (63 per cent). BN won the rest of the semi-urban seats, with Malay semi-urban areas making the bulk of it at 12 seats.

PoliTweet also pointed out that PR had won more urban and semi-urban Malay-majority seats than BN, effectively making Malay-majority seats no longer a guaranteed win for BN.

For its research, PoliTweet categorised seats into three categories which do not follow Election Commission’s (EC) own classification, but rather were based on Google maps satellite imagery and EC’s maps.

PoliTweet defined “rural” areas as those containing villages, small towns or farmlands, and tend to be physically large with a low population. “Urban” areas are cities covered by some form of urban development. “Semi-urban” areas are a mix of the two.

Under the three categories, PoliTweet grouped 125 seats as rural, 54 as semi-urban, and 43 as urban.

Urban areas made up slightly more than half of Chinese-majority seats, but Malay-majority seats are still predominantly rural. There are however more Malay-majority semi-urban seats than Chinese-majority and mixed areas added together.

The research house also highlighted the low probability of BN regaining urban seats, as BN obtained only 47 per cent of popular vote in semi-urban seats and 36 per cent in urban seats, compared to the 57 per cent it had amassed in rural seats.

The last Population and Housing Census in 2010 showed that urban population in Malaysia has been on a steady increase since the 1960’s, with 71 per cent of Malaysians living in urban areas. The World Bank put the number slightly higher at 72 per cent.

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(The Star) - At least 18 people were arrested after failing to disperse following a candlelight vigil outside the Jinjang police station in support for Adam Adli Abd Halim, 24 (picture).

At least 1,000 had gathered outside the police station since 8pm.

Roads leading to the police station were barricaded since evening as police stood watch to keep the protesters away from the entrance of the police station.

It is learnt when Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo was giving his speech to the crowd at 9.45pm, he was told by a senior police officer that the crowd was given 10minutes to disperse.

However when the crowd failed to leave in the stipulated time, the police moved in towards the crowd and began arrests.

It is learnt among the 18 arrested were four women.

This was the fifth night that crowds of protesters held candlelight vigils outside the police station in support of the release of the activist.

(The Star) - Two journalists were among those caught up in a confrontation when a group of unidentified men disrupted a candlelight vigil in Esplanade to show solidarity for student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim (picture).

The vigil which started at about 8pm was attended by more than 100 non-governmental organisation (NGO) members, students, social activists and several state Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

Some 45 minutes into the vigil, a group of unidentified men arrived and one of them disrupted the vigil by using a loud hailer to claim that the gathering is illegal.

The group of men were also heard chanting “Satu Malaysia (1Malaysia)” repeatedly and saying that Adam Adli, who was arrested on Saturday (may 18)for offences under the Sedition Act, was rightfully detained.

About 15 minutes later, the participants of the vigil dispersed.

It was believed that one of the vigil organisers who were leaving, had uttered the word “samseng” (gangster) towards the group of unidentified men.

One of the men from the group then allegedly tried to run over the vigil organiser Sean Ho with a motorcycle.

Oriental Daily's reporter Ooi Chun Nam and Sin Chew Daily reporter Cheah Chin Liang tried to help Ho and were caught in the scuffle.

Ooi's glasses were broken and he suffered a cut on his arm in the scuffle.

There was about 15 minutes of intense shoving between the organisers and the group of unidentified men before everyone dispersed when police intervened.

Ooi and Cheah said they will be lodging a police report.

The event, which was held at 8.30pm in front of a fast food restaurant opposite Universiti Sains Malaysia's Sungai Dua entrance, saw about 30 students and social activists taking part.