Sep
08
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
08 Sept 2008
When a proposal was made to convert an unused school, Serangoon Gardens Technical School, into a dormitory for foreign workers, residents of the nearby Serangoon Gardens private estate banded together to show their intense disapproval and displeasure.
Over 1,600 residents out of the roughly 4,000 households in the immediate vicinity of the proposed dormitory have signed a petition, started by the residents’ committee, asking the authorities to reconsider.
The school in Burghley Drive has been vacant for about four years and can possibly house 1,000 workers. It is situated less than 10 metres away from the nearest residential property.
The petition was handed to Aljunied GRC MPs George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua on Wednesday 03 Sept, in a highly publicized forum that saw a storm of criticism rain down upon the proposal that would, in the petition’s own words, “create security and social problems and spoil the ambiance of the estate”.
The Ministry of National Development (MND) stated that the school is just “one among the sites being studied, and there is no decision to proceed yet”.
MP Lim Hwee Hua said it was “good that residents are speaking out with an interest” on the issue and that she would convey their feedback to MND.
During the dialogue session, which was attended by some 250 people, residents let loose their tirade of objections to the proposal, including concerns about security, the possibility of increased crime in the area, and fears about maids hooking up with foreign workers.
The fears expressed by Serangoon Gardens residents are not without merit. For example, in residential areas like Jalan Kayu, where two dorms housing 6,000 foreign workers were built three years ago, littering, loitering and rowdy behaviour are some of the problems residents have had to put up with. (ST, “Problems ‘Next Door’”, 05 Sept).
Worse still, public announcements regarding the accommodation of foreign workers are usually relatively last-minute, low-key and piecemeal affairs because anything else would spark a massive outcry from residents living nearby. (ST, “Your backyard, my front door”, 07 Sept).
In other words, the usual Government practice is to hush up the issue until it is too late for residents to complain.
Earlier this year in Parliament, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said that, given the constraints of land, foreign workers’ dorms would eventually be near residential areas.
In my opinion, that stand is hardly sufficient.
If the Government wants to import a large number of foreign workers to build our casinos and all the mega projects that are supposed to spur our economy on, ample preparations first have to be made to house them properly. That means providing living quarters for foreign workers in locations that would inconvenience local residents the least.
In at ST article published on 7 Sept, Lydia Lim wrote that “foreign workers are human beings, no less so than I am … And human beings need places to live … That all persons are equal in dignity is a value I hold dear.”
Her view is certainly valid, but to me, it misses the point of the whole debate. The point of the whole debate is that the Government has over-extended itself, initiated too many projects which then require the import of large numbers of foreign workers, without ensuring before-hand that there would be suitable accommodation for those workers located away from populated areas.
Sep
07
Posted by admin
AFP, The Star/Asia News Network, 06 Sept 2008
Jakarta - Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, here on a two-day visit, said yesterday that he is on track to meet his deadline to recruit enough MPs this month to topple the government.
The opposition is confident it will secure the defection of at least 30 members from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) - the number needed to unseat the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, he said.
And although the government has approved an overseas trip by Barisan MPs that will clash with the opposition’s Sept 16 deadline for the takeover, significantly, some MPs believed to be among potential defectors have said they are staying back in Malaysia.
Datuk Seri Anwar, speaking to reporters in the Indonesian capital after a meeting with a think-tank, said he was ‘quite positive from the initial response from the Members of Parliament’.
‘We have seen some very positive signs, but we have also seen the desperate acts by the government, threats and using institutions to discourage them,’ he said.
Government attempts to compel MPs to travel overseas until after his pledged Sept 16 deadline to take power would not work, Mr Anwar said.
‘The only issue now is that they are going to compel Members of Parliament to (travel to) China or overseas until after the 16th of September, so we’ll have to deal with that. Probably we’ll meet on the 17th because they’ll come back on the 17th,’ he said.
The 61-year-old leader of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat coalition declined to name or give the number of lawmakers who have pledged to defect.
Asked if he had used his two-day trip to Jakarta to meet potential government defectors, Mr Anwar said: ‘I won’t comment on that, but I will say it’s a good visit.’
Datuk Seri Abdullah, who is facing calls from his party to quit amid plummeting popularity, has said Mr Anwar’s push to take power will fail. The parties of Pakatan Rakyat gained unprecedented ground against the BN coalition in the March general election, securing a third of parliamentary seats and five states.
Mr Abdullah on Friday supported the plan by Barisan MPs to go abroad this week until Sept 16, in what is seen as a panicky move to thwart Mr Anwar’s attempt.
Some 48 MPs have agreed to go, said BN Backbenchers Club chairman Tiong King Sing. BN has 140 MPs, including 65 ministers and deputy ministers. The remaining 75 are government backbenchers.
It is unclear where they would go, with some reports mentioning Australia or New Zealand. Tan Sri Tiong said China or Taiwan was being considered.
A number of MPs who had been named previously as possible defectors said they are staying put in the country due to busy schedules with their Muslim constituents during the fasting month.
They include Sabah MPs Anipah Aman, Abdul Ghapur Salleh, Eric Majimbun and Chua Soon Bui.
AFP, The Star/Asia News Network
Sep
07
Posted by admin
AFP, 06 Sept 2008
JAKARTA - MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said on Saturday he is on track to meet a mid-September deadline to recruit enough members of parliament to topple the government.
The opposition is confident it will secure the defection of at least 30 members from the ruling Barisan Nasional government - the number needed to unseat the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, Anwar said.
Anwar, speaking to reporters in the Indonesian capital after meeting with a think tank, said he was ‘quite positive from the initial response from the members of parliament’.
‘We have seen some very positive signs, but we have also seen the desperate acts by the government, threats and using institutions to discourage them,’ he said.
Government attempts to compel members of parliament to travel overseas until after his pledged September 16 deadline to take power would not work, Anwar said.
‘The only issue now is that they are going to compel members of parliament to (travel to) China or overseas until after the 16th of September, so we’ll have to deal with that. Probably we’ll meet on the 17th because they’ll come back on the 17th,’ he said.
The 61-year-old leader of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat coalition declined to name or give the number of lawmakers who have pledged to defect.
Asked if he had used his two-day trip to Jakarta to meet with potential government defectors, Anwar said: ‘I won’t comment on that, but I will say it’s a good visit.’
Mr Abdullah, who is facing calls from his party to quit amid plummeting popularity, has said Anwar’s push to take power will fail.
The parties of Pakatan Rakyat gained unprecedented ground against the Barisan Nasional coalition in the March general election, securing a third of parliamentary seats and five states. — AFP
Sep
06
Posted by admin
A group of about 30 Burmese activists in the United Kingdom held a demonstration on the 29 Aug 08 in front of the Singapore Embassy. The demonstrators were members and supporters of Burma’s Kachin National Organisation.
Holding placards which read “Support the People, Not the Dictators“, and “Singapore, Please Renew Burmese Visas“, the group called on the Singapore government to stop its discrimination against Burmese nationals living in the island state, and stop supporting the Burmese junta through its commercial and diplomatic dealings.
Earlier on 22 Aug, some Burmese residents held a press conference in Singapore at Peninsula Excelsior Hotel in a bid at publicizing the plight of 6 of their compatriots who have had the renewal applications for their PR re-entry permits, employment passes, work permits, or social visit passes turned down. All 6 Burmese patriots had earlier been involved in peaceful demonstrations against the Burmese Junta’s murderous crackdown on monks and innocent civilians in 2007, and the “Vote NO” campaign against the sham referendum on the new military-drafted Constitution for Burma during late April and early May 2008.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
05
Posted by admin
Alicia Wong
THEY called the official report “forward looking” but clearly, its recommendations were too cautious and focused on the short-term for one group of bloggers.
Five days after the Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (Aims) announced its findings came the response of 12 out of the 13 bloggers who in April handed the Government a proposal on Internet freedom.
And the netizens’ response took the form of suggestions of their own — such as an unconditional repeal of the Films Act Section 33 — on how Aims’ proposals should have gone a step further.
With the council having highlighted fundamental shortcomings in current legislation, Mr Choo Zheng Xi, co-editor of The Online Citizen, said that “the logical conclusion following their criticism really should be, ‘let’s go all the way’.”
Yawningbread.org’s Alex Au put it another way: While the 13 bloggers had “asked ourselves what should be the destination and then worked backwards” to propose changes, Aims seemed more focused on plugging “gaps” where technology has “moved far ahead of the existing legislation”.
For instance, the council had suggested narrowing the scope of the Films Act so only “clearly misleading” films are banned, or repealing the law and introducing a “blackout period” where new party political films cannot be created or distributed during elections.
Why not repeal Section 33 without condition? Politically slanted videos, Mr Au said, are “an integral part of the democratic process” and will help citizens strengthen their “political discernment”. And as Aims had noted, a blackout period may be unfair as the incumbent party has prior knowledge of when the election will be, and could release party political films just before.
The bloggers also asked to repeal Section 35 of the Films Act, which empowers the Minister to ban any film at his discretion. They argued for scrapping the list of acceptable practices during elections, and to allow online fundraising.
Settle violations in open court
While agreeing with Aims’ proposal to abandon the symbolic ban on 100 websites — mainly pornographic — bloggers pushed to dismantle the entire Class Licensing Scheme, which treats all websites as automatically licensed and liable to be fined by the authorities for violations of the code of practice.
Saying that this scheme leads to self-censorship online, Mr Au argued: “As the Aims paper says, there is already adequate legislation in place, whether to deal with child pornography or racial and religious hate-mongering.”
Bloggers also wanted Aims to consider the principles they had raised in their April proposal: Scrapping Internet-specific regulation, free flow of information and transparency in regulation. So, instead of having the Media Development Authority or Board of Film Censors regulate films, violations should be settled in open court, for instance.
Mr Au said because they focused on “gaps”, Aims’ recommendations were “under-whelming” and could result in a lack of coherence. He thus urged the council to come up with a vision, then a regulatory regime that lives up to it.
On the state’s desire to engage netizens, Mr Choo said: “You cannot divorce e-engagement from the larger political process.” That is to say, offline policies must change for e-engagement to be effective.
For instance, he noted, on policies such as Electronic Road Pricing and foreign talent, the Government should seriously take into account citizens’ offline feedback first, before thinking of how to “market thee-engagement process”.
Mr Ng E-Jay, editor of Sgpolitics.net, suggested the Government do more to publicise online forums. He only learnt about its feedback arm, Reach, the day before.
Speaking to Today, deputy director of the Institute of Policy Studies Arun Mahizhnan said while the Aims report has “a few points that need to be debated,” it has made a significant leap compared to previous government thinking.
He added: “I think the bloggers are making quite a lot of sense in what they are asking for. It is a bunch of views shared by quite a lot of others, who are not necessarily bloggers.”
Sep
05
Posted by admin
KUALA LUMPUR: Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid, the doctor who first examined Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan for alleged sodomy, has confirmed that the Statutory Declaration (SD) he made on Aug 1 was genuine.
He also confirmed that the con tents of his SD published in the Malaysia Today website are his and are correct.
“I am standing by the SD I made. There have been a lot of media state ments that have put me in a bad light, both professionally and personally.
“Please be assured that I was merely doing my job as a doctor. I am not involved in politics and I will always tell the truth,” Dr Mohamed Osman said Thursday in a press conference, accompanied by his lawyers M. Puravalen and Yusri Kamarudin at the Bar Council.
The doctor said he did not know how his medical examination report on Mohd Saiful, who alleged that he was sodomised by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was circulated to the media and Internet.
“I don’t know how the informa tion got out and I don’t know Mohd Saiful on a personal capacity.
“I have never, at any time, breached my professional ethics and have always practised doctor- patient confidentiality,” he said.
Dr Mohamed Osman said he was very angry and saddened by the whole issue as he was not in control of what happened to him.
“I am not holding the patient’s fold er all the time. If I were working as a doctor in my own clinic, the records would be under my hand or control. But now, I just want to clear my name,” he said adding he was on hol iday overseas for over a month and was still employed by the hospital.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin was called in to give his statement at the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) headquarters here in Bukit Perdana at 9am Thursday.
“They wanted to know if I knew Osman and if I had obtained any doc ument from him, whether I published all those documents and whether I’m the owner of the news portal.
“Basically my answer was not rel evant. I’m not answering anything. Who is the owner of Malaysia Today? I don’t know. Who makes the decision for Malaysia Today? I don’t know. Go find the owner and charge him,” Raja Petra said.
Sep
05
Posted by admin
Written by Seah Chiang Nee
02 Sept 2008
Malaysia’s UMNO leaders shun the Internet, block the ‘troublesome’, while in Singapore the opposite for a simple reason: It can’t be banned.
With both their parties in power since independence, the leaders of Singapore and Malaysia have shared a common jaundiced view towards the use of the Internet for politics — until recently.
Now they appear to be moving towards the opposite directions.
While Malaysia’s UMNO-led government remains hostile to the new technology and, in fact, has banned the country’s most popular weblog, Malaysia Today, Singapore’s Prime Minister is loosening web control, probably with a view of entering the arena.
The contrast apparently stems from different assessments of how effective the fast, wide-reaching multi-media as a political weapon.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
05
Posted by admin
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KeAdilan) recognizes that for millions of Malaysian citizens the economic climate has become a troublesome one. Malaysians today face ongoing reduction in their purchasing power, job insecurities, increased fuel prices, low wages, and a high gap between the rich and poor. KeAdilan believes that Malaysia can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines and allow the BN government to pursue a ‘too-little-too-late approach’ to addressing these issues. That is why, on this day, KeAdilan is pushing forward one more step its positions on the Malaysian Economic Agenda, to relieve the burden on Malaysians struggling with record high inflation levels and dwindling economic prospects. Whereas the current government has failed to adequately assess or address these issues, KeAdilan will pursue the policies critical to reasserting Malaysia’s quality of life, economic strength and competitiveness in the global economy.
1.0 Summary:
The KeAdilan proposals on the budget and response to the current BN government’s Malaysia Budget 2009 are based on a new model of socio-economic development drawing on an analysis of some of the best performing economies in the world. This specifically includes understanding the successes of Taiwan, Korea and Ireland, and integrating the best practices of these economies with the enormous potential of Malaysia’s natural and human resources as well as the positive aspects of Malaysia’s past development plans.
When Parti Keadilan Rakyat model is implemented, the gap between Malaysia and other developed countries in terms of economic performance and living standards must be narrowed, instead of growing as it has under the current government. KeAdilan’s policies will spur a rapidly growing economy that can effectively compete at the regional and global level as well as open up numerous opportunities for all Malaysians and for all scales of business at the individual and sector level. KeAdilan’s educational and human development reforms will bring about an improved educational system and knowledge based economy and enable Malaysia’s domestic businesses to meet the global challenge with a locally sourced and higher skilled labor force.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
04
Posted by admin
Speech by Dr Chee Soon Juan at SDP’s Annual Dinner held on 31 Aug 2008.
When I was in jail in 2006, I re-read the book Comet In Our Sky, a compilation of essays written by friends and associates of the late Lim Chin Siong. I will assume most of you here know Lim Chin Siong and will not endeavour to go into detail how he was seen by the majority of Singaporeans as the natural leader of our then fledgling republic in the 1950s and 60s, other than to say that his charisma and compassionate style of leadership won the hearts and minds of many.
The book includes a chapter written by Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Tim Harper, from Cambridge University. Professor Harper documented his research after poring through bundles of de-classified papers, memos, letters, etc. written by Britsh colonial officials during the turbulent period leading up to Singapore’s independence.
The picture that emerged was one not quite the story that I heard and read growing up. In a nutshell, the Professor’s account was that the people of Singapore wanted Lim Chin Siong as their leader but the British would not allow it and wanted Lee Kuan Yew instead.
So we have two versions of what happened: one written written by a disinterested, third-party academic and based on verifiable de-classifed papers, and the other by Lee Kuan Yew who still has vested personal interests in telling these events. I do not think I would be far wrong if I say that the majority of people would look to the former for a more accurate and objective account of that part of history.
This is what I tried to do in the first part of A Nation Cheated, that is, summarise Professor Harper’s research finding’s.
But my nerves are rubbed raw when I keep hearing Lee Kuan Yew, who came to power backed by the colonialists, rant about how the West should not foist its system on an Asian people, meaning us. Somehow the democratic practices that allowed Lee Kuan Yew to become prime minister suddenly become Western and not suited for us Singaporeans.
Today the propaganda continues unabated, that Singaporeans are not interest in human rights and democracy. I will come to this subject in a moment and show you how this lie has now been exposed.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
04
Posted by admin
Statement for the media
3 September 2008
By Bernard Leong, Benjamin Cheah, Choo Zheng Xi, Gerald Giam, Justin Zhuang, Martyn See, Ng E-Jay, Scott Teng, Roderick Chia, Alex Au, Ho Choon Hiong, Mohan Gopalan
Dr Cherian George was unable to sign this paper due to a conflict of interest. His wife sits on the AIMS committee.
1. The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) released its public consultation paper last Friday, 29 August 2008.
2. In April, a group of 13 bloggers submitted proposals for the deregulation of the Internet to the Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts. It can be found at http://www.yawningbread.org/ybsamplerfiles/bloggerssub.pdf. AIMS has put on the table some good, forward-looking options that move in the directions proposed by us. AIMS’ analysis of the state of the technology and its impact on the relevance of the existing regulatory assumptions were particularly lucid.
3. However, the Consultation Paper is silent on two aspects which we consider fundamental, and which we had discussed at length in our April proposals:
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
03
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
03 Sept 2008
The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) has released a paper entitled “Engaging New Media – Challenging Old Assumptions”. In this article, I will discuss AIMS’s stand on Government e-engagement and offer my point of view.
One of the key principles guiding AIMS’s work is articulated as follows: Traditionally, the Government’s regulatory efforts have been focused on containing extremist and harmful content. Moving forward, the emphasis should be on leveraging on the opportunities that the Internet provides in order to enhance communication and engagement between the public and Government.
In other words, AIMS wants the Government to move away from the traditional acts of censorship, but instead use the Internet more effectively as a communications tool and as a means of engaging the public.
In the paper, AIMS correctly recognizes that the Internet has empowered people’s lives and revolutionized the way people communicate with each other and share ideas and information. In addition, people increasingly seek to have their views heard online, such as via blogs and forums. There is thus a need for the Government to re-examine the way it engages people who use the Internet extensively.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sep
02
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
02 Sept 2008
The government has always claimed that abolishing GST for essential items such as food is unwise because it would benefit the wealthier households more as they spend more money on such items as compared to poorer households.
However, we should be looking in percentage rather than in absolute value terms.
Food, housing and utility bills make up a larger percentage of the household expenditure for poorer families. According to a Department of Statistics report, food expenditure, for example, currently makes up 30 per cent of the budget for a household in the bottom 20 per cent income bracket, but just 17 per cent for a family in the top 20 per cent income bracket (ST, “Poor worry about food”, 26 Aug).
Basic items are also costing more for poorer families than richer ones. Food prices rose 8.1 per cent in the first six months of the year for poor households, higher than the 7.5 per cent experienced by rich families. Similarly, housing costs, which include the electricity bill, for the poor jumped 11.6 per cent, against 9.9 per cent for the rich.
Overall, the consumer price index (CPI) for poor households rose an average of 7.4 per cent in the first six months of the year, above the national mean of 7.1 per cent and the 6.9 per cent faced by richer families.
The government has consistently turned a blind eye to the fact that the poor are hardest hit by inflation, even though their own Department of Statistics lays bare the plain facts for all to see.
One-off Budget handouts are insufficient to help the lower income, especially given that a significant amount goes into Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEA) for the children as well as Medisave Accounts, and are thus unavailable for day-to-day use.
Rather, more comprehensive and sustainable plans should be put in place to help the poor and lower income, including putting Singaporeans first in job search, instituting a minimum wage, and abolishing GST for essential items.
Sep
02
Posted by admin
Written by the Singapore Democrats
01 Sept 2008
The Singapore Democrats celebrated our 28th Anniversary yesterday in a most colourful way. Our guests showed up in bright Hawaii garb. Some looked like they had come straight from the open surf.
The evening opened with party chairman Gandhi Ambalam welcoming our friends. Among them was Mr J B Jeyaretnam who was greeted with appreciative applause. There were also members from the Workers’ Party and the National Solidarity Party.
A surprise guest was Mr Vincent Cheng who was cruelly imprisoned and abused in 1987 by the ISD for being a “mastermind” in the so-called Marxist conspiracy. The crowd told the PAP what it thought of the detention by giving Mr Cheng a rousing welcome. Ms Wong Souk Yee, another 1987 detainee, was also present.
Husband and wife team of Suraya and Jufri then treated the audience with a gutsy rendition of the Phantom of the Opera. Ms Suraya recently won the talent contest when she was a finalist at the Mrs Singapore pageant.
Read the rest of this entry »
Aug
31
Posted by admin
NSP Press Release:
INTERESTING BUT WITHOUT SUFFICIENT IMPACT
The Prime Minister’s National Day speech was generally interesting in terms of linguistic versatility and showmanship. It however lacked sufficient impact as many of its measures were deemed to be short, despite the lengthy 3.5 hours delivery.
POLITICAL LANDSCAPE
Few people are surprised at the Government’s lackluster efforts to “liberalize” the political landscape, considering its paranoiac obsession towards power consolidation over the years. The nominal gestures in softening media controls and confining outdoor demonstrations to the Speakers’ Corner, are rather insignificant responses to international pressure for Singapore to reveal its true posture in the arena of democracy. Those superficial measures are grossly insufficient in meeting the needs of an expanding, politically conscious and active citizenry.
The Government could be more proactive by expanding the platform for greater public participation in politics and parliamentary elections. A genuine attempt to liberalize should include the easing of cumbersome election procedures, reverting mega-sized GRCs to their original size of three, introducing proportional representation, and refraining from any eleventh-hour “stick & carrot” inducements. Here lies the toughest challenge for the PAP … to be truthful to itself.
PARENTHOOD PERKS
PM Lee exhorts the people to look beyond complaints and see the bigger picture. But the bigger picture also comprises of high inflation and job insecurity made worse by intense competition from locally based foreigners. The average, middle-class family would take a rational, double look and flinch away from the risk of a 21-year responsibility of raising a child in the light of such uncertainties. The change in lifestyle of the now generation, coupled with social pressure and the usual marital stress, would render the latest tranche of goodies with only limited appeal. Thus, the Government should have tackled the “bigger picture” first.
LIVING STANDARDS
Instead of wringing blames on “external factors” the Government is expected to well manage the steep rise in inflationary rates -– a job for which it has, for long, been very well paid. Instead of pointing at “uncontrollable factors”, it could reduce and not increase the GST rates, ERP rates & gantries, and public transport fares. In fact, the inflation rate started to climb along with the increment of the GST rate from 5% to 7%. The PAP Government had, in many ways, helped to initiate the inflationary price hikes; it therefore cannot be free from blame!
SOCIAL GRACE
The decades-old Courtesy Campaign has never been successful. So has the annual ritual by the Government to inspire grace as a way of life. Its consistent emphasis on materialism, elitism and officiousness effectively cancels any budding effort toward graciousness. The Executive and the Judiciary – in effect, the entire Establishment -– are always so full of pride and prejudice. Compassion seems to be a galactic term. The recent STTA power-hungry fiasco easily brings one to mind the ease of corruptability of naked power. Ego and materialism have now dug deep as a full-bred culture. Perhaps, the PAP Government could conduct a little introspection on itself first, before its next pronouncement on the need for social grace.
Nevertheless, we do sincerely applaud the Prime Minister for his continuing efforts to bring about improvements. We also hope that all these improvements would ultimately be for the betterment of our little red dot of an island. Majulah Singapura !!
Aug
31
Posted by admin
Written by Khairy Jamaluddin, MP for Rembau
30 Aug 2008
Original Blog Link
No other website has caused me as much bad rep and deliberately destroyed my character as Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s Malaysia Today. Yet I cannot help disagreeing with the recent move by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to block access to the site. Such blatant and crude employment of State power is inconsistent with the widening of the democratic space – an approach the current Administration adopted long before the 12th General Election.
Citizens’ right to information aside, MCMC’s high-handed approach also sends out the wrong message as it is at odds with the Multimedia Super Corridor Bill of Guarantees – a ten-point Bill that prescribes zero Internet censorship. The government will do well to appear consistent in its application of Internet regulation and steadfast in its commitment to ensure, wherever possible, free access to information as controversial or inaccurate as they may often be in Malaysia Today’s case.
I am sure many are aware that Raja Petra is for the time being hosting the site elsewhere. It is quite bemusing that MCMC should have thought the blocking of access to Malaysia Today would actually succeed. Internet censorship may not only be unnecessary, it is quite often impossible, especially when the targeted site is, for better or worse, one of the most popular across the country.
Few would disagree with the view that Malaysia Today deliberately invites controversy upon itself and does its best to elicit reaction from the government and certain individuals that become targets of Raja Petra. In his incessant desire to concoct sensationalism, he often peddles half-truths and occasionally, outright lies. The inability to judiciously moderate comments also results in racially and religiously offensive remarks being posted without any restriction by the web master.
Nevertheless, none of these should justify an attempt at outright censorship. There are ample alternative channels to pursue action if desired - public rebuttals or civil suits for defamation are a few. And from personal experience, I find it apt sometimes to simply ignore the site and its wild stories even at great cost to my own reputation.
Apart from violating the principle of openness and transparency that this Administration champions and that I have publicly defended, this move also threatens to further alienate young, urban voters from Barisan Nasional. This act of censorship betrays a lack of faith in Malaysia’s youth to intelligently decide the truth for themselves. Tabloids sell far more than broadsheets in many countries, but it would take a bold person to suggest that readers of The Sun or The Mirror in the UK, for example, take all of its content at face value. I see every indication that bright young Malaysians, too, can apply the same self-filtering process. What they will not stand for is the State imposing its own filter on the Web. The Barisan Nasional government needs to be savvier in responding to issues on the Internet.
Incidentally, YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed has also blogged on this issue and similarly proposed that the government avoid Internet censorship. And so I find myself on the side of both Raja Petra and Tun Dr Mahathir. It could either mean that I find myself as Alice in an impossible Wonderland or just simply the magic of the Ramadhan spirit is at work.
Aug
30
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
29 Aug 2008
The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (AIMS) has released a paper entitled “Engaging New Media – Challenging Old Assumptions”. This objective of this paper is to provide a review of the increasingly complex social, ethical, legal and regulatory issues have arisen as a result of the rapid growth of new media such as the Internet, and recommend appropriate changes to legislation.
In the paper, AIMS dealt with four time-sensitive issues:
- e-engagement (or how the Government can use new media to better interact with the public),
- the regulation of online political content,
- the protection of minors, and
- intermediary immunity for online defamation.
AIMS stated that its work was guided by four key principles:
- Government regulation should be used as a last resort, because using laws as a first measure to deal with online problems is unwise as the Internet and its users are continuously evolving and can creatively route around laws and regulations, especially if they are not well thought-through.
- “Free-for-all” is not feasible, because many dangers lurk in cyberspace and there should be regulations that society can call upon to address such dangers. The key issue is what kind of regulation can allow us to harness the benefits of the Internet while minimising the potential for harm. Where the risk of harm is high, there should be legislation. Conversely, where the risk of harm is low or moderate, the imposition of legal controls should be avoided.
- Shifting the focus from regulation towards engagement: Traditionally, the Government’s regulatory efforts have been focused on containing extremist and harmful content. Moving forward, the emphasis should be on leveraging on the opportunities that the Internet provides for enhanced communication and engagement between the public and Government.
- Community participation is key: The sheer amount of content available on the Internet makes it impossible for any one agency to monitor and regulate it efficiently. The wider community has a role to play in fostering a conducive online environment.
In the arena of online political content, AIMS said that while current laws in this area might have been effective in curbing the excesses of irresponsible speech, they may also unduly limit the use of what can be a valuable, and probably indispensable, channel of communication.
AIMS recommended liberalizing Section 33 of the Films Act that prohibits the making, distributing and exhibiting of party political films. The ban on party political films is too wide-ranging and stifling as the definition of a party political film could cover any film that touches on politics or government policies. Furthermore, technology has out-paced the law and has made it unenforceable, and potential threats to society, like the exploitation of race and religion for political purposes, are already dealt with via other legislation.
AIMS suggested the authorities could narrow the scope of the law to only prohibit political films that are clearly misleading, with an independent advisory panel to decide what distinguishes the misleading film from those that should be considered to be valuable and in the main, harmless to society as a whole.
Another option advanced by AIMS was to repeal Section 33 of the Films Act altogether, but impose the restriction of the distribution and exhibition of party political films during elections period under the Parliamentary Elections Act, in order to manage “risks” associated with political films.
Yet a third option was to repeal Section 33 in phases in order to provide the time needed for an objective evaluation of how a complete repeal might actually work in practice.
My personal opinion is that AIMS is being overly cautious and is still unable to divest itself of the climate of fear that the PAP has instilled in Singaporeans with regards to the Internet and political films in particular.
Government regulation should indeed be used only as a last resort, not merely because the freewheeling nature of the Internet renders much legislation unenforceable in practice, but more fundamentally, because the Government should respect the right of citizens to freedom of speech and expression. Many of the current laws governing political content on the Internet are not only unenforceable in practice, but are also unjustified in principle.
In my opinion, only a complete repeal of Section 33 of the Films Act is acceptable. Furthermore, it is unreasonable and unconscionable to allow an arbitrary committee formed by the Government to decide whether a film is misleading or not misleading. The onus is on the public and on private researchers to make that conclusion, and EVEN SO, whether a film is deemed misleading or not should not be used as a justification to infringe on the right of a person to produce and distribute it.
Any Government-formed committee with the power to decide whether a political film is misleading and to ban it on that account will bring us right back to square one.
Currently, political campaigning (or election advertising) by political parties, candidates, election agents and registered persons on the Internet via podcasts, vodcasts, blogs and social networking sites (e.g. Facebook) during the General Elections is not allowed as these activities are not prescribed in the “positive list” under the Parliamentary Elections (Election Advertising) Regulations.
AIMS recommended extending the positive list for Internet election advertising, in the sense of changing the Parliamentary Elections Act to allow, during an election period, videos or recordings of live events, such as election rallies, party press conferences and constituency tours, and broadcasts of party manifestoes and stories already aired over radio and TV.
Under present regulations, individuals can discuss political issues, blog, post podcasts for political purposes, or carry on election advertising during the election period, but the MDA still has the authority to compel registration, under the Class License Scheme, for those whom it deems “persistently propagate, promote or circulate political issues relating to Singapore”. These registered individuals, also known as “relevant persons” under the Parliamentary Elections Act, would not be permitted to provide material on the Internet that constitutes election advertising during elections period.
AIMS recommended the removal of this registration requirement for individuals who provide discussion of political or religious issues relating to Singapore through the Internet. I fully agree with this stand. However, AIMS stated that the registration requirement for websites belonging to registered political parties should be retained to ensure accountability, especially during elections period, as political parties need to adhere to a “positive list” for online elections advertising.
In my opinion, the registration requirement under MDA’s Class License Scheme should be removed even for political parties, and Section 78A of the Parliamentary Elections Act should be completely repealed, in the interest of protecting free speech. This section of the Parliamentary Elections Act provides leeway for the authorities to discriminate against different political parties. If such happens, it would render the political process extremely unfair.
In the arena of online defamation, AIMS said that given the volume of material on the Internet, it is impractical for Internet intermediaries to exercise much control over Internet content. It is potentially a medium of virtually limitless international defamation. Claimants are more likely to bring actions for defamation against borderline defendants for Internet defamation because those who are more directly involved in publishing the material may be difficult to locate or may be residing in a foreign jurisdiction.
Currently, Section 10 of the Singapore Electronic Transactions Act confers immunity from civil and criminal liability to network service providers in respect of third-party material to which they merely provide access. The phrase “network service providers” does not apply to content hosts.
As regards to liability for criminal defamation, a content host may be liable for defamatory remarks posted by a third party if he has knowledge of the defamatory remarks and that they are harmful to reputation.
AIMS recommended that the relevant authorities consider enacting legislation to confer limited immunity upon online content intermediaries such as Internet content hosts and aggregators in respect of civil and criminal liability for defamation with regards to third party content where such intermediaries have acted in good faith. Immunity should be subject to the obligation of the intermediaries to take down defamatory content on receiving a credible and authenticated request from the person allegedly defamed.
The full report by AIMS can be downloaded here.
Aug
28
Posted by admin
NCMP Sylvia Lim made a speech in Parliament on Wed 27 Aug on the issue of by-elections and GRCs.
She said that she was unable to support the motion tabled by Nominated MPs Thio Li-Ann and Loo Choon Yoong for amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act because this motion sought to entrench the GRC system, which WP is opposed to.
Sylvia Lim also pointed out what she thought were flaws in the motion tabled.
Firstly, the motion proposed that the moment a Minority member left a GRC, a by-election would be called. Sylvia Lim asserted that it is unjustified for by-elections to be triggered by the departure of a single member, including a Minority member, because elections are won or lost by GRC teams not necessarily on the merits of any one member.
In this respect, Sylvia Lim’s position is in complete agreement with the stand made by PM Lee Hsien Loong.
Secondly, the motion proposed that once half or more of the members of a GRC team have departed, a by-election in the GRC should be called as well. Sylvia Lim said that this would mean that we could be left with a situation no by-election is called even if 1 or 2 members departed. The issue of the constituents being under-represented immediately arises.
Thirdly, the motion asked the House to amend the Parliamentary Elections Act such that a writ of by-election shall be called in the event that a Member of a single member constituency vacates his or her seat for any reason. Sylvia Lim pointed out that is already provided for under the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act. In particular, Article 49 of the Constitution states that whenever the seat of an elected Member has become vacant for any reason, the vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by law. The Parliamentary Elections Act, S 24, further provides that the President shall issue a writ of election “to supply vacancies caused by death, resignation or otherwise”.
Sylvia Lim then gave her views on what she thought was wrong with the GRC system:
- A team member’s non-co-operation could sound the political death knell for the rest, including during the period leading up to nomination day.
- The motion tabled in Parliament itself shows that the GRC system does not promote representative democracy.
- GRCs increase the bar for those who intend to contest, increasing the likelihood of walkovers.
- GRCs serve the PAP’s interest rather than the people’s interest: When Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong spoke of the PAP’s recruitment challenge in 2006, he said: “Without some assurance of a good chance of winning at least their first election, many able and successful young Singaporeans may not risk their careers to join politics.” Are we to infer that the PAP candidates these days are not what they used to be? It also seems that the GRC is a recruitment and training tool for the ruling party.
- GRC has weakened politicians’ mandates: Back in 1988, Dr Ahmad Mattar already hit the nail on the head. His views were quoted in Parliament, as follows: “As a Malay, I don’t think I would like to contest in any Elections where my victory is guaranteed - not because I am a ’strong’ candidate but because I have a so-called ’strong’ twin brother to lean on.”
On the issue of minority representation, Sylvia Lim said: “How do we ensure minority representation? Singapore’s history has shown that, in the past, minority candidates stood and won single seats. PAP MPs such as Mr Dhanabalan, Mr Rajaratnam, Mr Sidek Saniff and Mr Zulkifli Mohd have done so; so have opposition leaders like Mr Jeyaretnam in Anson, a predominantly Chinese constituency. This was so even in the 1984 GE. Are we saying that Singapore has regressed as a society? Or is the PAP now saying that they have less confidence in their current minority Ministers, MPs or new candidates winning on their own?”
Aug
28
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
28 Aug 2008
In a deplorable attempt at curbing freedom of speech on the internet and silencing dissent against the Government, the Malaysian authorities have blocked access to the popular political website, Malaysia-today.net.
Malaysia-today.net was the first website to publish the leaked medical report made by Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid on Mr Saiful Bukhari Azlan which confirmed that the latter had not been sodomized. This website has played a pivotal role in disseminating timely news on Malaysia’s political scene, including the recent Permatang Pauh by-election in which Anwar Ibrahim won by a convincing majority of 66.6% of the valid votes cast.
The Malaysian Internet Service Provider TM Net has blocked access to Malaysia-today.net, on the basis that “some of the comments on the website were insensitive, bordering on incitement“, according to Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, as quoted by Malaysiakini.
TM Net is a wholly owned subsidiary of the government-linked corporation TM Bhd. Established in 1995, this company holds a near monopoly of Internet service in Malaysia, largely because almost all the last mile connections in the country are owned by TM Bhd. Last mile connections refer to the final leg of connectivity delivery from a communications provider to a customer.
The webmaster of Malaysia-today.net, Mr Raja Petra Kamaruddin, is already facing a sedition charge and a defamation suit after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.
Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters: “I think we don’t intend to curtail people’s freedom and right to give information and debate. But when you publish content that is libellous, defamatory and slanderous to other people I think it is only natural we take action.”
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Malaysia 124 out of 169 on its worldwide press freedom index, and says the main media are “often compelled to ignore or to play down the many events organised by the opposition”.
The government has previously threatened that bloggers could be punished under draconian internal security laws which provide for detention without trial.
As a person who deeply believes in freedom of speech and expression, especially in the political and civic arena, I find the Malaysian authorities’ actions despicable and cowardly.
While Mr Raja Petra Kamaruddin seems to have found a way to get around this problem, an alternative solution might be to use the Firefox browser with Tor. Tor is a software that can get around such problems by using onion routing technology. It can be downloaded here.
Aug
27
Posted by admin
Written by Ng E-Jay
27 Aug 2008
The issue of foreign workers depressing local salaries has cropped up again in Parliament. Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong attempted to dismiss this view on Tuesday in his reply to a question from Non-Constituency MP Sylvia Lim.
Sylvia Lim had reiterated the point that wages for the lowest income earners for the last 10 years had stagnated, due to the presence of foreign workers. (ST, “Simplistic to say foreign workers depress local pay”, 27 Aug).
Given rapidly rising inflation, it is fair to say that real wages for the bottom earners have even outrightly declined.
Mr Gan attempted to discredit this idea by stating that foreign workers form a big and growing pool in the services industry, yet wages there are comparatively better.
He said, “In 2007, total wages went up by 5.9 per cent in the overall economy. Services sector wages went up by 6.5 per cent, and this is a sector with growing numbers of foreign workers in 2007.”
I think Mr Gan should pay careful attention to what Sylvia Lim was saying. She was referring to wages at the lower end of the pay scale, not to overall wages.
Mr Gan also claimed that during a recession, foreign workers would be retrenched faster than Singaporean workers, but his claim has yet to be empirically tested in a real life recession. Talk is cheap.
Why would there be an incentive for companies to retrench foreigners first during a recession, when there is no legislation governing this aspect of employment, and no monetary incentives awarded for such acts?
Foreigners, if they are without families in Singapore, would in fact be in a better position to bargain for less pay in exchange for keeping their jobs, as compared to local workers who might have mouths to feed in high-cost Singapore.
As usual, the government’s obsession with overall statistics clouds the real issue of the poor and lower-income households being the first to bear the brunt of rising inflation and an overly-liberal policy of importing large numbers of foreign workers, many of them unskilled.
Aug
27
Posted by admin
Summarized from CNA and ST Online, 27 Aug
Parliament rejects motion to fine-tune electoral system
Parliament has rejected a motion tabled by Nominated MPs Thio Li-Ann and Loo Choon Yoong for amendments to the Parliamentary Elections Act to allow by-elections to be called in a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) when a member vacates his or her seat for any reason.
MPs, who voted with a division in the House, rejected the motion 62 to five.
Eight MPs had earlier spoken on the motion to fine-tune the electoral system — tabled after the death of MP Dr Ong Chit Chung in July.
The motion sought to make it mandatory for a by-election to be called for if a seat is vacated by a GRC member from a minority community, half or more elected GRC members, or a member of a single member constituency.
Read the rest of this entry »
