The Alkitab Injil Issue: Seems the CFM does not like the Gomen's offer

I don't know how true this report from the MI is:

Christians reject Putrajaya’s overture over Malay bibles
UPDATED @ 07:07:53 PM 30-03-2011By Debra Chong March 30, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) rejected today the federal government’s overture in the Alkitab row, saying it did not resolve the core issue which is the erosion of basic human rights protected by the Federal Constitution.


The umbrella body representing over 90 per cent of churches here was referring specifically to Putrajaya’s offer to mask the Home Ministry’s stamp and serial numbering of 35,100 copies of the Malay bibles shipped in from Indonesia last week, as laid down last week by its Christian minister, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, who is in charge of government and economic transformation.


Jala, in his statement on March 22, also said that certain Christian donors had also offered to fully replace, free of charge, the two marked cargoes at Port Klang and Kuching, which had been seized and detained by home ministry officials. Read more here.


If the report is true and not spun by the MI then All I can say is that the Government had bent over backwards to accommodate the Alkitab Injil issue which I was told was imported from Indonesia before getting clearance from the KDN in the first place and like any religious books imported from overseas will be subjected to KDN rules and regulations this include even the Muslim Holy Book the  Al-Quran imported from overseas. KDN does not allow any exceptions even when it is the Al-Quran folks.


Since the Gomen willingness to back down on the AlKitab issue is not reciprocated and the CFM seems to be changing the goal post as they get bolder with every offer, its beginnng to be more and more looking like a "menangguk di air keruh" situation. Perhaps the Government should just deal straight with the user of the Alkitab Injil the  Sidang Injil Borneo(SIB), I don't know.


Anyway I pray to ALLAH that the PM and his Cabinet  will have the patience and the wisdom to deal with the issue  taking into account the sensitivity of Muslims in this country who make up the majority in this country, the Perlembagaan and of course the various State Islamic legislations.


Me?  As a ordinary citizen I have the luxury to say I give up already I am wondering  where the tolerance and unity in diversity that we used to have in this blessed country gone to. 

We should stop running away from radiation by Wade Allison

By nature, we humans are always fearful of something we cannot see and understand, things such as nuclear radiation, I would like to share this absorbing article from the BBC:


26 March 2011 Last updated at 12:50 GMT
Viewpoint: We should stop running away from radiation
By Wade Allison
University of Oxford


More than 10,000 people have died in the Japanese tsunami and the survivors are cold and hungry. But the media concentrate on nuclear radiation from which no-one has died - and is unlikely to.


Modern reactors are better designed than those at Fukushima - tomorrow's may be better still
Nuclear radiation at very high levels is dangerous, but the scale of concern that it evokes is misplaced. Nuclear technology cures countless cancer patients every day - and a radiation dose given for radiotherapy in hospital is no different in principle to a similar dose received in the environment.


What of Three Mile Island? There were no known deaths there.


And Chernobyl? The latest UN report published on 28 February confirms the known death toll - 28 fatalities among emergency workers, plus 15 fatal cases of child thyroid cancer - which would have been avoided if iodine tablets had been taken (as they have now in Japan). And in each case the numbers are minute compared with the 3,800 at Bhopal in 1984, who died as a result of a leak of chemicals from the Union Carbide pesticide plant.


So what of the radioactivity released at Fukushima? How does it compare with that at Chernobyl? Let's look at the measured count rates. The highest rate reported, at 1900 on 22 March, for any Japanese prefecture was 12 kBq per sq m (for the radioactive isotope of caesium, caesium-137).


A map of Chernobyl in the UN report shows regions shaded according to rate, up to 3,700 kBq per sq m - areas with less than 37 kBq per sq m are not shaded at all. In round terms, this suggests that the radioactive fallout at Fukushima is less than 1% of that at Chernobyl.


The other important radioisotope in fallout is iodine, which can cause child thyroid cancer.


This is only produced when the reactor is on and quickly decays once the reactor shuts down (it has a half life of eight days). The old fuel rods in storage at Fukushima, though radioactive, contain no iodine.


But at Chernobyl the full inventory of iodine and caesium was released in the initial explosion, so that at Fukushima any release of iodine should be much less than 1% of that at Chernobyl - with an effect reduced still further by iodine tablets.


Unfortunately, public authorities react by providing over-cautious guidance - and this simply escalates public concern.


Over-reaction
On the 16th anniversary of Chernobyl, the Swedish radiation authorities, writing in the Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter, admitted over-reacting by setting the safety level too low and condemning 78% of all reindeer meat unnecessarily, and at great cost.


Bottled water was handed out in Tokyo this week to mothers of young babies
Unfortunately, the Japanese seem to be repeating the mistake. On 23 March they advised that children should not drink tap water in Tokyo, where an activity of 200 Bq per litre had been measured the day before. Let's put this in perspective. The natural radioactivity in every human body is 50 Bq per litre - 200 Bq per litre is really not going to do much harm.


In the Cold War era most people were led to believe that nuclear radiation presents a quite exceptional danger understood only by "eggheads" working in secret military establishments.


To cope with the friendly fire of such nuclear propaganda on the home front, ever tighter radiation regulations were enacted in order to keep all contact with radiation As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA), as the principle became known.


This attempt at reassurance is the basis of international radiation safety regulations today, which suggest an upper limit for the general public of 1 mSv per year above natural levels.


This very low figure is not a danger level, rather it's a small addition to the levels found in nature - a British person is exposed to 2.7 mSv per year, on average. My book Radiation and Reason argues that a responsible danger level based on current science would be 100 mSv per month, with a lifelong limit of 5,000 mSv, not 1 mSv per year.


New attitude
People worry about radiation because they cannot feel it. However, nature has a solution - in recent years it has been found that living cells replace and mend themselves in various ways to recover from a dose of radiation.


These clever mechanisms kick in within hours and rarely fail, except when they are overloaded - as at Chernobyl, where most of the emergency workers who received a dose greater than 4,000 mSv over a few hours died within weeks.


However, patients receiving a course of radiotherapy usually get a dose of more than 20,000 mSv to vital healthy tissue close to the treated tumour. This tissue survives only because the treatment is spread over many days giving healthy cells time for repair or replacement.


In this way, many patients get to enjoy further rewarding years of life, even after many vital organs have received the equivalent of more than 20,000 years' dose at the above internationally recommended annual limit - which makes this limit unreasonable.


A sea-change is needed in our attitude to radiation, starting with education and public information.


Then fresh safety standards should be drawn up, based not on how radiation can be excluded from our lives, but on how much we can receive without harm - mindful of the other dangers that beset us, such as climate change and loss of electric power. Perhaps a new acronym is needed to guide radiation safety - how about As High As Relatively Safe (AHARS)?


Modern reactors are better designed than those at Fukushima - tomorrow's may be better still, but we should not wait. Radioactive waste is nasty but the quantity is small, especially if re-processed. Anyway, it is not the intractable problem that many suppose.


Some might ask whether I would accept it if it were buried 100 metres under my own house? My answer would be: "Yes, why not?" More generally, we should stop running away from radiation. Source here.

NOTE
A becquerel (Bq), named after French physicist Henri Becquerel, is a measure of radioactivity;


A quantity of radioactive material has an activity of 1Bq if one nucleus decays per second - and 1kBq if 1,000 nuclei decay per second;


A sievert (Sv) is a measure of radiation absorbed by a person, named after Swedish medical physicist Rolf Sievert;


A milli-sievert (mSv) is a 1,000th of a Sievert.

A Mat Salleh Amerika view on Malaysia's "Video" of the moment

An American Mat Salleh view of the much talked about video politikus melampau, a different view, a breath of fresh air than the arguments and counter arguments that we have had so far in Malaysia:

Anwar Ibrahim's wife and Anwar's Latest Alleged Sex Scandal
Posted by Christopher Badeaux (Profile)
Monday, March 28th at 11:42AM EDT


It is a staple of American politics, when American politicians can be bothered to notice Malaysia, to sing the praises of Anwar Ibrahim, the more-or-less permanent opposition leader of that state. It is to the Obama Administration’s rare credit that it has started to distance itself from Anwar, recognizing that Malaysia’s government has made serious strides in the last several years, and that Ibrahim’s unsavory past and ties do not make him a good partner in the region.


The Administration is so very bad at so much foreign policy, that we should actually take the opportunity to praise them when they do something right.


Anwar faces a crisis of his own making, distracting from his latest, quixotic attempt to move from opposition leader into government. In what was initially portrayed as a replay of his famous turn-of-the-millennium sodomy trial, he once again faces a sex scandal and trial. This time, however, there is video. And more importantly, there is the matter of the dynasty he is trying to create.


Here in the U.S., we are well-used to the scene of the politician’s fall from grace via video and photograph, with infidelities real and imagined making their grainy way onto the evening news.


Sometimes the “evidence” is a set-up, and sometimes it is not. But the pattern is usually the same: First the politician and his wife go through a period of denial, then the politician’s wife goes on national TV and (as we saw with Eliot Spitzer, all too literally) stands by her man, defends him, and forgives him for his alleged sin. This is even truer when the wife has political experience or political ambitions, as was the case with Hillary Clinton or (at first) Elizabeth Edwards, to cite two of our better-known, recent political sex scandals. It was even true in the case of former Senator Larry Craig, whose wife defended him when he was arrested for allegedly trying to have gay sex in a public restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.


But in Malaysia, Dr. Wan Azizah, Anwar’s wife, has been strangely silent, refusing even to comment on the possibility that a new video tape purporting to show her husband having sex with a female prostitute is genuine. Instead, over the weekend Anwar claimed that his wife, who is not coincidentally the President of his PKR Party, “is not interested in watching the video concerned.”


Anwar, who has become a past master at playing the victim card to deflect attention to his own sins, claimed it was all a set-up, a smear campaign. This is old hat for him. He made the same claim when B’nai B’rith International wrote to Congress and the Obama Administration last year asking that the government cut all ties with Anwar because of his history of anti-Semitic remarks. He claimed it was a a smear when he refused to allow his own DNA to be tested in order to back up his claims of innocence in his current sodomy trial. Anwar also claimed it was a smear last year when Zaid Ibrahim, a respected lawyer, resigned from the opposition PKR party and accused Anwar and his wife and daughter of running a feudal dynasty and rigging internal elections. Zaid’s main charge was that Anwar was more interested in his personal power than in real and substantive policies.


In the world of Anwar Ibrahim, any allegation against him, even by those closest to him, is always a smear, and he is always the victim. Of course, all too often, the shadowy figures behind those smears are Jews.


Yet the more interesting issue here is not that Anwar, when accused of wrongdoing, invariably goes on the offensive and tries to portray himself like a martyr, stretching the imagination to compare himself to real martyrs like Nelson Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi, or the democratically-elected government of Malaysia as the equivalent of Mubarak’s Egypt. It is to Hillary Clinton’s credit that her State Department has begun to back away from him and his ravings.


No, the really interesting question is why his wife has not come out more vociferously to stand by her man, and has instead simply echoed others in the PKR party, of which she is president, in making the predictable claim that it is all a put-up job.


In fact, rather than visibly and substantively respond to the allegations against Ibrahim, her most recent public statement is to say that she does not regret marrying Anwar, and, perhaps somewhat tellingly, that when he proposed marriage, she had dreams about seeing his face on election posters.


“I have never regretted. Before Anwar, I accepted another proposal. But when Anwar asked me to be his wife, I dreamt of lots of posters that looked like election posters,” Wan recently said. “All these posters were of Anwar. For me, that was a sign from God so I picked Anwar.”


Election posters. A proposal for marriage elicits dreams of election posters.


“All these posters were of Anwar,” Wan said. “For me, that was a sign from God, so I picked Anwar.”


In the States, we generally assume that in a marriage with a politically ambitious wife and her husband, the public face, in the middle of a sex scandal, the husband is going to get all but literally castrated in private, followed by a stand-by-her-man routine for the cameras. Silence is usually a tacit admission that the straying was too awful to be masked.


We usually don’t end up with a confession of pre-marital dreams of election posters.


And that may take us to the ultimate explanation of why Anwar’s wife — who is after all the President of PKR, and let’s face it, the most likely successor to Anwar should he eventually step down or step away from his political career — is being so careful. It may be that she intends that her own face, or that of her daughter Nurul Izzah, is the next one that could appear on election posters. If Anwar is persona non grata with the Administration, perhaps a different face (one not on imaginary election posters, but the real things) would be a better one for the American political establishment.


In her previous career as Apologist-in-Chief to the Adulterer-in-Chief, Hillary Clinton came out and dealt directly with Monica Lewinsky. (Of course, she did so by accusing a shadowy cabal of enemies of setting the whole thing up, but really, that was her way back then. Not now. Certainly.) But Wan Azizah is perhaps as adamant as she is, because even the slightest admission of suspicion on her part would cause the whole edifice of Anwar’s opposition PKR Party and, therefore, the whole Anwar Family Dynasty, to crumble.


The State Department would do well to remember that Anwar has not only denied that he is the man in the now-famous sex video, but also the allegations that his wife and daughter were turning their backs on him.


In this, he is probably right. Neither Wan Azizah nor Nurul Izzah can afford to turn their backs on Anwar, whatever happens. They are all in this together, and should remain so in the minds of the foreign policy professionals charged with maintaining our relations with this rare, functional Muslim democracy. Source here. 

How I wish PAS leaders would read this article.

The imported AlKitab issue: Gomen offer on 23 March 2011 met with contempt by small group, Madu diberi janganlah dibalas tuba

In respect to the Al-Kitab issue, I must say that the Government has bend over backwards to offer a fair solution to end the AlKitab issue read here.


I regret to note that some small groups are not reciprocating nor appreciating  the intense efforts of the Government to find a amicable solution based on the Perlembagaan and the Law and keeping the sensitivity of Muslims as well: 

Christian coalition formed amid Alkitab row

This is rather nasty with strong language oblivious to the sensitivity of Muslims in Malaysia:

Who next after Christians, questions non-Muslim interfaith council which was questioned by blogger SatD here.

The Gomen silence after their offer on 23 March 2011 begs this obvious question from blogger Din Turtle:

Isu Bible Melayu - Puak Kristian Bersatu Menuntut, Puak Melayu ? Kerajaan Najib ?

In any case Malaysians do not have to wait long for a reaction from Malaysian Muslims:

Christians inviting trouble over Alkitab row, say Muslim NGOs

I think the Gomen who have acted very responsibly in handling the issue with a velvet glove may have to take it off as some people seems to see the Gomen's kindness and willingness to negotiate to give and take as a sign of weakness which can be manipulated. Wonder where they got the idea.

For a start the Government should make it clear which Church organisation that they are officially dealing with to resolve the issue and  any announcement by the Government on the AlKitab issue cannot anymore be delegated to the junior ministers it should be done by the PM himself.

God bless our Beautiful Country.

The truth is like the sun, you cannot keep it out forever

By now everybody, well just about everybody in Malaysia will have known about The Dato Trio (Some say The three Tooges, Three amigos), the missing Omega watch and the Video politikus melampau. We now know who the Dato' Trio are but we still do not know for sure who the actors in the video are. The Pakatan Propoganda Machine is working overtime to spin this issue of course.


Well the Police are investigating, the original video is with them, they also know where the video shoot location were.


Here are some interesting post on the unfolding sex scandal of the moment, Malaysians just love these stories don't we:

Mat King Leather is really desperate this time

Of getting laid, lies and liars

ANWAR SEX VIDEO: Harakah journo confirms its Anwar and his fanboys failed to explain two missing hours

The actor in the video can be positively identified by an expert in facial recognition it is not quantum mechanincs and it does not matter if the expert is from overseas or local, so whether it is a fitnah or the chilling truth it is now up to the Polis to investigate. Until then these are but mere speculations as far as many Malaysians are concerned.


For PAS the so called Islamic party, this video will be one that will break the camel's back so to speak, because if it was Anwar Ibrahim in the video in the act of fornication with a woman who is not his wife then it will be impossible for PAS leaders to associate with a leader who has very-very low moral standards especially if they are still talking about Hudud and an Islamic State. If they, the PAS Leaders continue with the charade of keeping their head buried in the sand, PAS will be punished big time in the next GE by its own members.


I think whatever the outcome of the video the fact is it is  is just a side show, the Real political killer is The Sodomy 2 trial i.e Saiful's damaging testimony and the DNA evidence against Anwar which will soon be decided by the Courts. 


The truth is like the Sun, one can stop it coming in for some time BUT one can never stop it from coming in, forever.


I think Anwar's political life is almost over, in medical terms he is on life support fed by PAS and DAP just waiting to pull the plug when the time comes.

The Battle for Pulau Pinang has started in cyberspace folks and this is for real, a frontal attack against the DAP

The latest posting from blogger Syed Akbar Ali here, highlighted the existence of another very interesting pro BN definitely anti Pakatan blog authored by some good dudes from Pulau Pinang, I presume. The People against Opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) started on 18th March 2011.


Fascinated, I have taken time to read this blog and here are some posts I would like to share with like minded readers:


This take on the Malacca born, ex convict who became DAP CM of Pulau Pinang is interesting, I always think he is a lot of DAP hype promoted by his daddy Kit Siang:

Lim Guan Eng - The Chinese Pharoah of Penang

Lim Guan Eng is not as good as he is made to appear. It is only a political gimmick created by the DAP machinery that make him to appear as though he is doing a good job.


Why must we praise Lim Guan Eng as he is merely an administrator who has done nothing to uplift the current status of Penangite ?


Since 2008 till now, no significant new job oppurtunities created for the People of Penang. How many new factories did Mr Lim Guan Eng opened from 2008 till now ? Any new economic models did he unveiled to the Penangites since taking over Penang ? Did he open up any new schools ? Any new hawker centres ? Any new sports centre ? Read more here.

This post strike at the heart of the Penang DAP regime:

DAP - A Liability to Chinese Voters in Penang

DAP claims that since 2008, they are responsible for many improvements in Penang. We are of a concern that whatever done in Penang for the last few years is due to the effective and workable Public Administration workforce which was left behind by the BN state government.


The real credit in Penang should go to the late Dato Lim Choong Ewe with Tun Dr Mahathir. The late Dato Lim Choong Ewe, started the migration of MNC's to Penang and Tun Dr Mahathir actually developed much of the needed infrastructure in Penang.


The BRIDGE ! How could the Chinese forget the bridge. The icon of Penang. In the late 80's throughout the 90's, Penangite experianced the highest amount of self development in terms of monetary and other gains when scores of MNC's outsourced and offshored to Penang. Intel, Dell, Motorola, Iomega, Quantum, etc to name a few ...


In Penang, the Chinese voters is playing with fire. DAP is in coalition with PAS and PKR. PAS will never recint its agenda of creating an Islamic State. Lim Guan Eng was highly praised by Tok Guru Nik Aziz and he is even called Umar Abdul Aziz. Lim Guan Eng will be called Abdul HaLIM Abdullah if he goes on this track of relationship with PAS.


PAS supporters will be angry with DAP if they do not support PAS Islamic State Agenda. The sign of this dissastisfaction has already occurred in the Sinar Harian dated 23rd February 2011 page U6 where Mohamed Hafiz Nordin, the leader of Penang PAS Pemuda left the party because he is not happy that PAS accept DAP in the coalition.


If and if Pakatan Rakyat wins PRU 13, and DAP dishonour its promises to PAS, there will be a riot in the street by PAS supporters especially their Youth Wing. They are capabale of doing such thing. The Chinese will be greatly affected by this as businesses will close down due to anarchy persist and rioting became rampant.


The logic here is that how can a state government survive if it does not get support from the federal government ? The people of Penang will be the one lossing for electing a weak state government. Penang will be like Kelantan and one single major riot in Penang, all the MNC's will relocate itself elsewhere.


The Chinese , are the majority working in these MNC's in Penang. They do not realise what they are voting for. Be warned that your entire life will be disrupted if you do not come to terms with reality.


Just look what a mess the ADUN KOMTAR did. That was a mess indeed. How could a people representative go and close down a Nasi Kandar shop and shouted racial remarks to the owner. The whole Indian Muslim community is angry with DAP leadership. In the history of Penang, none of the previous Chief Minister received a coffin as a gift. That is a grave sign for the Chinese to heed.


To all Chinese voters in Penang. Remember your father the late Dato Lim Choong Ewe. Remember how the older generations among the Chinese have kept good relationship with Malays and Indians in Penang. We urge you to return to Barisan Nasional and maintain the PEACE and HARMONY in Penang.


BN already hearken to your voice. Come and embrace 1 Malaysia...reject DAP now ! source here.

I like this, I happen to think its true:

All Oppositions Supporters are NEGAHOLICS !

I think none of the Oppositions Supporters know what is Negaholics. Most of them are non readers and I believe many of them are passive listeners but I know one Opposition leader who is an active speaker, active homo and aggressive womaniser. That besides the point.


What is Negaholism?


Negaholism is a condition that is sweeping the globe. Negaholism is a syndrome in which people unconsciously limit their own innate abilities, convince themselves that they can’t have what they want, and sabotage their wishes, desires, and dreams. Negaholism manifests itself daily in the lives of normal people. Self-imposed limitations on happiness, joy, and fulfillment contaminate the consciousness of the majority of the population in subtle ways. The beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions that keep us restricted, constrained, and curtailed have reached epidemic proportions.


Where Do Addictions Originate


There are three elements that create the conditions conducive for addictions.


1) Overwhelm is experienced in individual
2) Stress resulting from the overwhelm
3) Insufficiency feeling unable to meet life’s challenges


How the Negaholic pattern becomes established


1) The need for attention
2) The inability to give or receive positive attention
3) The ingrained habit of focusing on what is wrong
4) The opiate peptides - chemical rush when being severely criticized
5) The simultaneous feel bad, coupled with the significant amount of attention (feel good)


The addictive pattern takes hold, and one becomes a Negaholic!


Why Is the Syndrome Called “Negaholic?”


Nega = negative, holic = one who is addicted to something. A negaholic is one who is addicted to negativity. Negare is a Latin root meaning to deny. The “I can’ts” are denying that the “I cans” are right. Denying means that the “I can’ts” refuse to accept the fact that the “I cans” are capable, competent, able to give you what you want. The “I can’ts” deny that the “I cans” are worthy, loveable, and deserving. A negaholic is one who is victimized by inner forces that are waging a war of self-negation with attitudes, thoughts, words, or behavior. These forces are keeping you trapped in a private dungeon with graffiti all over the walls that say: “You can’t be it. You can’t do it. You can’t have it. So forget it!” The “I can’t” self laughs and says “I told you so” when you prove its prophecies right.


One common sickness among all Oppositions Leaders and Supporters, they ALL dont like MALAYSIA BOLEH ! Source here.

I like this best of all so far, a post to challenge the perceived DAP invincibility in Penang, must read, don't worry its not a racist post it just goes to show that DAP cannot use the race card in Penang all by themselves:

An Analysis - How to get rid of Pakatan Rakyat and DAP from Penang ?

Looking at the above chart, which is the Population Chart of Penang breakdown according to all races, herein are our observations. The total Chinese in Penang is 651'600 and these Chinese are surrounded by 660,800 Malays. We are taking this population census as a rule of thumb as we are aware that the total electorate is lesser than the population census.


So according to statistics , the Malays are the majority in Penang. The spread of the Malays , they are more on the mainland rather than on the island. Majority of the Chinese are on the island. The Indians and others are spread in between the island and mainland. When we say mainland it means - Seberang Prai Utara, Tengah and Selatan.


So the first myth is that, the Chinese are not the majority in Penang. The Chinese vote alone is not enough to form the state government in Penang. The Chinese in Penang need, some of the Malays votes plus some of the Indians votes in order to win an overwhelming majority. Read more.

This one just proof that Anwar ibrahim does not have political currency anymore with or without the Video politikus melampau he could even loss the Permatang Pauh seat.

Anwar Ibrahim The Liar - Sold Off Malays to Penang DAP

Hold on to your seats friends, the battle for Pulau Pinang in cyberspace has begun.

A solution for the "Interlok" imbroglio, thank you Minister

I sincerely hope our Indian brethrens will find this solution offered by the MOE acceptable:


19 sensitive items found in Interlok
2011/03/24


The independent panel studying proposed amendments to the novel Interlok has agreed with only 19 of the 106 suggested changes, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said. He told the Dewan Rakyat that the government agreed that the 19 changes should be made because they concerned parts which could hurt the sensitivities of the Indian community.


Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said the other 87 suggestions were found to be irrelevant to the core issue, and they included putting the name of the author on the cover and altering the spelling of a word.


Of the 19 changes, three related to the use of the caste word pariah which the novelist had agreed to drop.


Three other changes related to reference to the cow as a sacred animal to Hindus, the safety of the wife of the character Maniam in India and the exhaustive description of a wedding, he said in reply to Datuk Abd Rahman Bakri (BN-Sabak Bernam) and four other MPs who asked about the status of the novel which is to be a text book for fifth formers.


For seven of the changes, the panel agreed unanimously to insert "errata" in the novel to correct or drop phrases that the Indian community could find culturally and religiously offensive, Muhyiddin said.


The other changes included substituting words and dropping phrases such as "orang berkulit hitam" (a dark-skinned race), he said.


Muhyiddin said that all members of the panel, including representatives of the Indian community, had agreed to leave it to Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (the literary agency), as the publisher, to edit the novel accordingly for the new edition.


He said the Education Ministry would at the same time prepare a glossary to explain phrases and concepts contained in the novel.


Muhyiddin said that settlement of the Interlok issue showed that there was no problem that could not be resolved at the negotiating table.


"The Intelok episode is proof that the spirit of unity, acceptance and mutual respect in line with the 1Malaysia concept continues to thrive in our country", he said.


Muhyiddin said that Interlok was a creative work which attempted to depict a harmonious life in multi-racial Malaya before the country attained Independence. - BERNAMA


Read more here.

Time to move on don't you think.

Sodomy 2: The 3 items in lockup now allowed as evidence

Justice has been served today:


Anwar sodomy trial: Three items now allowed as DNA evidence


KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court reversed its earlier decision and has allowed three items to be tendered as DNA evidence in the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial.


The items are a toothbrush, a towel and a mineral water bottle.


Justice Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled this on Wednesday.


However, he dismissed an application compelling Anwar to submit his DNA sample for profiling. Source here.

The Prosecution will be recalling their expert witnesses tomorrow.

Its a great day today for me and I hope many others.

The imported Alkitab Injil Issue: A satisfactory solution by the Government which should be accepted by all Malaysians

I think this is a satisfactory solution to the imported Indonesian Alkitab Injil issue:

PRESS STATEMENT: Datuk Seri Idris Jala on the Bibles issue
2011/03/22


KUALA LUMPUR: The following is the media statement issued by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala on the bibles issue:


"The Government wish to reiterate that since March 15, it had given the directive to release all Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia, which are impounded in Port Klang and Kuching. However, to date the Christian groups who imported the Bibles have not yet collected them because they did not accept the stamps and the serialisation of these Bibles.


Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, the Minister of Home Affairs mentioned that the act of stamping and serialisation is standard protocol; for example, Qurans which are imported into the country are also checked as authorised copies and are stamped with serial numbers before they are released. Qurans which are not authorised are impounded and destroyed. The act of stamping and serialisation of the Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia and the Qurans should not be perceived as desecration of Holy scriptures. Attached is a copy of the stamp and the serialisation as they appear of the Quran.


A special cabinet committee on this matter comprising Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Unity, Minister in PM's Department (Law and Parliamentary Affairs), Minister of Religious Affairs and Minister in PM Dept/CEO of PEMANDU and the Attorney-General met on Thursday, March 17, to discuss the issues at hand and find a fair and amicable solution.


The solution should take into account the polarity of views between the Christians and Muslims, within the context of the existing laws of the Country.


Subsequently on Friday, March 18, Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, the Attorney-General of Malaysia met with representatives from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM), other relevant Christian groups together with their legal advisors. At this meeting, Idris said, "AG and I presented on behalf of the Government what we believe is a workable solution for all parties."


The solution put forward by the Government is as follows:


1. The BM Bibles currently impounded in Kuching and Port Klang will be released with the words "For Christians Only" stamped clearly in font type Arial/size 16 in bold. No other words or serial numbers will be stamped on the Bibles.


2. To ensure that there is no misrepresentation in its implementation by civil servants, the Government will issue a directive from the Director-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs. As with all similar directives, failure to comply with this directive will subject the relevant officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders.


3. To highlight the Government's commitment to resolving this issue amicably, the Government has received an offer from Christian donors who are prepared to pay for the cost of all the Bibles, which have already been stamped and serialised. These BM Bibles can either be released in their present state (with stamps and serial numbers) or arrangements can be made to put stickers with the words "For Christians Only" to cover the existing stamps and serial numbers. The choice is for the importers of these Bibles. In the event they do not wish to take possession of these impounded Bibles in the present state, the Christian donors will pay for the full cost of new bibles to be brought in with the words “For Christians Only” printed at source or stamped with these words "For Christians Only" by the Ministry of Home Affairs at Port Klang and Kuching.


At the end of this meeting, the representatives from Christian groups requested for time to meet and discuss and have advised the Government that they would revert on their decision as soon as practicable.


Idris said, "In presenting the above solution, the Attorney-General (AG) and I have been authorised by the Prime Minister and the special cabinet committee to convey the Government's proposed solutions to the Christian group."


He clarified, "I was requested to discuss this matter with the Christian groups in my capacity as Minister in PM Department (not as CEO of PEMANDU), as a Christian and more importantly, as I am the only cabinet minister who is not a member of any political party. 


The Government wants this matter to be resolved amicably in a non-partisan manner and in line with the spirit of 1Malaysia. The Attorney-General's involvement is obviously necessary because we have to ensure that the solution must be in the context of the existing laws of the Country."


The Government urge the Christian groups to come and collect the Bibles immediately for three reasons:


1. The focus should be on getting the bibles into the hands of people who want to read them; it has been established that the Ministry of Home Affairs is not singling out the Bibles for stamping and serialisation because this is also the same practice as they appear in the Quran.


2. Notwithstanding (1) above, an arrangement has been made by the Government with the help of Christian donors to pay for the cost of all 30,000 impounded bibles in Kuching and the 5,100 bibles in Port Klang free of charge. The importer can take these bibles completely free of charge at no cost. If the Christian groups do not wish to take the Bibles, then the Christian donors have agreed to pay for the cost of bringing in new bibles as replacement and these will be printed or stamped with the words "For Christians Only".


3. The Government has agreed to issue a Directive so that future Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia can be brought in as long as these have the words "For Christians Only" in Arial font size 16 either printed at source or stamped at the receiving Port.


Finally, Idris said, "This is a fair and reasonable solution from the Government and with the help of Christian donors, all 35,100 are to be released completely free of charge at no cost at all to the importers. In addition, by virtue of the Government directive, there is an assurance from the Government that future Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia can be imported and released with the words "For Christians Only". - BERNAMA

Read more: PRESS STATEMENT (NST/Bernama): Datuk Seri Idris Jala on the Bibles issue


A big Thank You  to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Unity, Minister in PM's Department (Law and Parliamentary Affairs), Minister of Religious Affairs and Minister in PM Dept/CEO of PEMANDU and the Attorney-General. 


Let us Malaysian NOT see it as a I win you lose situation. In a democracy the views of the majority and the minority counts, a Good Government listens to all its people but it must be accepted that no body can be fully satisfied. The Government has to make the right decision based on the law not on wanting to be popular, the stability and security of this country is paramount.


In the spirit of one Malaysia, I sincerely hope that the relevant Malaysian Christian Groups will accept the Government offer without further conditions. Let us live and let live. Let us count our blessings in this great country. Let us move on. God Bless this great country of ours.

Get set for a battle royale, its Sarawak 10th State Election

The Sarawak State assembly was dissolved yesterday Monday, 21st March 2011:

Sarawak dissolves state assembly
The Star 

KUCHING: The Sarawak state assembly was dissolved yesterday, paving the way for the 10th state election.

Speaker Datuk Seri Mohamad Asfia Awang Nassar told a news conference here that the proclamation of the dissolution, signed by Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abang Muhammad Salahuddin Abang Barieng, was received yesterday morning.

He said the notice of dissolution would be handed over to Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof today.

The EC is expected to meet here tomorrow to decide on the dates for the nomination and polling.

In the outgoing assembly, Barisan Nasio­nal controlled 63 of the 71-seats after Engkilili assemblyman, Dr Jonical Rayong Ngipa, who contested on the opposition Sarawak National Party (SNAP) ticket in the last election on May 20, 2006, joined Barisan last year.

DAP controls six seats while Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM), through an Independent representative, control a seat each.

Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is also PBB president, said yesterday that a quarter of the party’s candidates for the election would be new faces.

“There will be more younger faces,” he said.

He said Barisan’s candidates would be made known shortly before nomination day.

“The candidates will know beforehand but we will only announce their names when everything is in place and agreed to by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is the national Barisan chairman,” Taib said after launching a seminar for councillors from the state’s local authorities here yesterday.

The state PKR, meanwhile, has yet to finalise its list of candidates.

Its state information chief See Chee How said the party was still negotiating with its other partners in Pakatan Rakyat.

Attempts to contact state PKR chief Baru Bian to comment failed.

PKR is looking to contest in 52 seats in the coming state election but it could be at loggerheads with SNAP which recently announced 16 candidates and said it was eyeing at least another 40 seats.

PCM has also announced that it would contest in 10 seats. DAP is likely to contest in 20 seats, most of them in the Chinese majority urban seats.

This has put the Opposition front on a collision course and Pakatan Rakyat’s aim to give Barisan a straight fight in all 71 seats may not materialise.

Sarawak is a very politically complex state of about 2.4million Malaysians made up of more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle. Cities and larger towns are populated predominantly by Malays, Melanaus, Chinese, and a smaller percentage of Ibans and Bidayuhs who have migrated from their home-villages for employment reasons. Sarawak is distinctive from the rest of Malaysia in that there is only a small community of Indians living in the state. Source here.

CM Taib Mahmud has been in power for about 30 years and has announced that he will step down after the state election, who will replace him will face a daunting task of satisfying the various needs of the diverse people of Sarawak.

Anyone interested to understand Sarawak politics please read here:

Cabaran Pilihan Raya Negeri Sarawak by Dato' Kadir Jasin

The Question of Succession in Sarawak from Marahku blog

Sarawakreports.org if you want to read rebuttals of that Mat Salleh lady writing about Sarawak from the UK.

Anyway good luck to BN in Sarawak but this time it would not be a walk in the park as usual though.

Malang Tidak Berbau: A 10 year old child electrocuted in accident at playground

Updated 22 March 2011:

Probe into death of boy at playground

KUALA LUMPUR: The Energy Commission, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) are jointly investigating the death of an 11-year-old boy from electrocution last Saturday.

Read more: Probe into death of boy at playground http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/13mpsj/Article#ixzz1HI4voGCZ

Original Post:


This is a needless accident and a tragic death of one so young:

10-year-old electrocuted in accident at playground


SHAH ALAM: A 10-year-old boy was electrocuted when he accidentally fell and touched an exposed high-voltage wire on a lamp post at a playground near his house. Source: The Star

Salam Takziah saya kepada bapa Allahyarham adik Mohd Naqiuddin Marzuki.


Even though the PDRM has classified the case as sudden death, I do think that the matter be investigated further to ascertain that there is no negligence involved:


1. In regular maintenance of the electrical light post, which maybe reported inspected but not really inspected properly.


2. Has there been a report of the lamp post being vandalised and its wiring left exposed but not attended to by the local authorities responsible for the lamp post.


There are lamp posts all over the country that could be exposed to our children, fatal accidents like these must be avoided.


The local authorities and TNB have a duty of care to ensure that children and adults are not exposed to live electricity due to faulty or vandalised connections. Malang Tidak Berbau.

Penang turning into an apartheid state under the DAP Regime?

The news from the Star on 19 March 2011:

No free WiFi for non-Pakatan areas in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government will continue to exclude three parliamentary constituencies held by non-Pakatan Rakyat MPs in its free WiFi initiative.

read in full here.

The DAP Penang Regime is at it again, after promising to provide free wifi for the state of Pulau Pinang if they come in power they have now reneged their promise, if they keep on dividing the people of Pulau Pinang  into Pakatan and non Pakatan areas soon Pulau Pinang  would turn into an apartheid state. 

The DAP Penang regime is not adhering to one of its own DAP Party Objective:

offering equal access and opportunity

What is the point of voting a party which makes promises it know it would not keep and do not even bother to adhere to its own party objective when in power? Just show that they are a bunch of hipocrites. Cakap tidak serupa bikin.

Fukushima Nuclear disaster will NOT be like Chernobyl says Nuclear Expert

Latest from the BBC on the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster:

Timeline: Nuclear plant accidents
Nuclear power may be considered by some as a "viable" fuel source for the future, but anti-nuclear campaigners point to the industry's safety record around the world as a reason for caution.

The BBC News website lists a selection of accidents at nuclear plants over the years:

29 September 1957(INES Level 6)
Mayak or Kyshtym nuclear complex (Soviet Union): A fault in the cooling system at the nuclear complex, near Chelyabinsk, results in a chemical explosion and the release of an estimated 70 to 80 tonnes of radioactive materials into the air. Thousands of people are exposed to radiation and thousands more are evacuated from their homes. It is categorised as Level 6 on the seven-point International Nuclear Events Scale (INES).

7 October 1957(INES Level 5)
Windscale nuclear reactor (UK): A fire in the graphite-cooled reactor, in Cumbria, results in a limited release of radioactivity (INES Level 5). The sale of milk from nearby farms is banned for a month. The reactor is unsalvageable and buried in concrete. A second reactor on the site is also shut down and the site decontaminated. Subsequently part of the site is renamed Sellafield and new nuclear reactors are built.

3 January 1961
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (USA). A steam explosion in reactor SL-1 during preparation for start-up destroys the small US Army experimental reactor and kills three operators.

29 March 1979(INES Level 5)
Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, Pennsylvania (US). A cooling malfunction causes a partial meltdown in one reactor, resulting in a limited release of radioactivity (INES Level 5).

The site's first reactor (TMI One) on the Susquehanna river was closed for refuelling. The second was at full capacity when two malfunctions occurred: first there was a release of radioactive water, then radioactive gas was detected on the perimeter. No deaths or injuries were reported.

It is considered the United States' worst nuclear accident and led to major safety changes in the industry.

26 April 1986 (INES Level 7)
Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Soviet Union). One of four reactors explodes after an experiment at the power plant (INES Level 7). The resulting fire burns for nine days and at least 100 times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima is released into the air. Radioactive deposits are found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere.

Two people die in the explosion and another 47 from Acute Radiation Sickness. Thousands of extra cancer deaths are expected as a resulted of the disaster. A huge cover, known as the New Safe Confinement, is due to be erected over the existing sarcophagus covering the site some time after 2008.
6 April 1993
Severesk, formerly Tomsk-7 (Soviet Union). A tank at a uranium and plutonium factory inside the plant explodes, resulting in radioactivity being dispersed into the atmosphere contaminating an area of over 120 sq km (INES Level 4). A number of villages are evacuated and left permanently uninhabitable.

30 September 1999
The Tokaimura accident shook confidence in the industry in Japan
Tokaimura nuclear fuel processing facility (Japan). Workers break safety regulations by mixing dangerously large amounts of treated uranium in metal buckets, setting off a nuclear reaction (INES Level 4). Two of the workers later die from their injuries, and more than 40 others are treated for exposure to high levels of radiation.

9 August 2004
Mihama nuclear power plant (Japan). Five people die in an accident at the plant in the Fukui province (INES Level 1). Seven people are also injured when hot water and steam leaks from a broken pipe.

Officials insist that no radiation leaked from the plant, and there is no danger to the surrounding area.

11 March 2011(INES Level 5)
Fukushima nuclear power plant

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News

As it was almost bound to do at some point, Japan's nuclear safety agency has uprated its assessment of the Fukushima power station incident from a level four to a level five.

These are categories on the International Nuclear and Radiological Events Scale (INES), which runs from zero (nothing happened, essentially) to seven, a "major accident".

So far, Chernobyl is the only seven-rated incident in nuclear history.

Level five is defined as an "accident with wider consequences".

So what is the worst-case scenario for those "wider consequences" at Fukushima?

What clues are there either from that level five rating, or from the situation on the ground, as to how things might transpire - whether it will in the end prove to have been a disaster or a distraction from the serious and widespread impact of the tsunami?

"The worst-case scenario would be where you have the fission products in stored canisters or in the reactors being released," said Professor Malcolm Sperrin, director of medical physics and clinical engineering at Royal Berkshire Hospital, UK.

"Radiation levels would then be very high around the plant, which is not to say they'd reach the general public.

"And we're definitely not in the situation where we're going to see another Chernobyl - that possibility has long gone."

Read more here.

Latest News:

Workers are close to restoring power to cooling systems at a quake-hit Japanese nuclear power plant, officials say.

Engineers connected a cable through which they hope to supply electricity to part of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The earthquake and tsunami it triggered crippled the plant's cooling systems, and some radiation has leaked.

At the stricken plant, firefighters have continued to spray water at the dangerously overheated fuel rods, in a desperate attempt to avert a meltdown.
Engineers hope that restoring power will allow them to restart pumps to continue the cooling process.

Japan's nuclear safety agency earlier hoped that electricity would be restored on Saturday but later revised its projection.

"If no problem is found at the facility today, the power will resume as early as tomorrow [Sunday], " agency spokesman Fumiaki Hayakawa is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

However, an official from the power company which runs the plant told AFP: "Although we are doing our best, unfortunately we cannot say when electricity will be restored."

Given the scale of the damage, it is not certain the cooling systems will work even if power is restored. Workers are also boring holes in roofs at the plant to prevent a potential gas explosion.

Read more here.