Man up and apologise for your insulting remarks, MCA Youth to Nazri

Man up and apologise for your insulting remarks, MCA Youth to Nazri (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth has asked Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz to 'man up' for his remarks which were uncalled for and issue an open apology to tycoon Robert Kuok. MCA Youth chief Datuk Chong Sin Woon pointed out that although Nazri has said his recent attacks are aimed solely at Kuok and not the Chinese in the country, the community felt otherwise due ...

Article - 28/02/2018 - 3:56pm - 0 comments

Nazri glad that Kuok is speaking up (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Although unapologetic about his recent attack on Hong Kong-based Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok, Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz said he is happy and relieved that Kuok has finally come forward to shed some light on the issue. Nazri today said Kuok should have done it earlier so that the issue of his funding of the DAP and a news portal would n...

Article - 27/02/2018 - 4:42pm - 0 comments

Nazri challenges Robert Kuok to contest in GE14

PETALING JAYA: Outspoken Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz today challenged tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok to contest in the coming general election. While lambasting the 94-year-old billionaire, Nazri said if Kuok was truly interested in politics here, he should not hide in Hong Kong, but return to Malaysia and contest in the elections. "You are already rich,...

Article - 27/02/2018 - 8:04am

All parties must step in to tell the true facts

I REFER to Ismail Mina Ahmad’s (chairman of Gerakan Pembela Ummah) reported comments about Malaysian history recently. He apparently said that “only the Malays resisted British colonists, Japanese occupiers and the communists”.

Tuesday, 16 Jan 2018

Malayan police on patrol: Malaya’s multiracial military and police forces fought gallantly against the communists during the Emergency. – Picture courtesy of the National Archives.

His comments are grossly inaccurate, racist, irresponsible and seditious in nature.

The non-Malays too resisted British rule in Malaya. For example, the All-Malaya Council of Joint Action (AMCJA) – a federation of mainly political parties and trade unions formed in 1946 – championed for a united Malaya including Singapore; a popularly elected central legislature and state councils; and a citizenship granting equal rights to all who made Malaya their permanent home and the object of their undivided loyalty.

Indeed, AMCJA together with Putera (Pusat Tenaga Rakyat comprising Malay left-wing parties such as Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf and Angkatan Wanita Sedar) organised a Malaya-wide hartal on Oct 20, 1947 to demonstrate their opposition to British rule.

Regarding resistance to Japanese rule, the non-Malays too played a major role. For example, the Chinese in Sabah formed an anti-Japanese movement known as Kinabalu Guerillas under the leadership of Albert Kwok Fen Nam which was also supported by the indigenous people, Eurasians and Sikhs (including Subedar Dewa Singh).

On the night of Oct 9, 1943, the Kinabalu Guerillas attacked the Japanese soldiers and managed to capture Tuaran, Menggatal and Jesselton (present-day Kota Kinabalu). More than 50 Japanese soldiers were killed. The Japanese launched a counter attack on Oct 13 and quickly recaptured these three towns.

One must also not forget the role played by Sybil Kathigasu and Gurchan Singh (Lion of Malaya) who supported the resistance during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya.

Ismail Mina’s unkindest cut of all was to assert that “only the Malays had battled the communists”. Malaya’s then multiracial military and police forces fought gallantly against the communists.

Many Chinese officers with the Malayan Special Branch too sacrificed their lives in gathering information about the communists. British and the armed forces of other Commonwealth countries (including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Rhodesia) also played a major role in quelling the communist rebellion.

Enough is enough! It’s time to act. I believe that all necessary parties will have to step in and take the necessary action so that the true history of our beloved nation is told to our young.

DR RANJIT SINGH MALHI

Kuala Lumpur

https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/01/16/all-parties-must-step-in-to-tell-the-true-facts

THE increasing tide of divisive rhetoric and actions, which threaten our national harmony and make a mockery of our proclaimed adherence to moderation, is causing alarm among concerned citizens.

Tuesday, 16 Jan 2018

As the 14th general election approaches, this tide is becoming a tidal wave. Now, hate politics is also coming into the picture so much so that the Prime Minister has recently come out strongly against it.

Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam has given an excellent list of proposals on how to combat this hate politics in his letter, “Keep hate politics out of GE14” (The Star, Jan 9).

For sustained national harmony and to minimise the impact of hate politics, I think Malaysian citizens should adopt and practise a certain code of ethical conduct. In this respect, I would urge concerned Malaysians to adopt and practise the Dialog Rakyat code of ethical conduct and make it our New Year resolution. The code of ethical conduct is as follows:

> Respect for one another regardless of ethnicity, religion, geographical region, status or political leaning; and

> Recognition of our similarities and acceptance of our differences.

We, the concerned and responsible citizens of Malaysia agree to:

> Respect the Federal Constitution and uphold the Rukunegara so as to preserve the independence and sovereignty of our nation;

> Promote activities that nurture civic consciousness, civic nationalism, patriotism, national cohesiveness, harmony and unity at all levels of society;

> Advocate justice and fairness, transparency and integrity in all aspects of management and governance;

> Resolve contentions and differences through constructive engagement, always seeking for equitable, mutually beneficial outcomes;

> Refrain from actions that offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate others;

> Reject any form of discrimination, bigotry, extremism, unjustified acts causing harm to any individual or group, including any action that can disrupt harmony and cohesion; and

> Fight corruption and kleptocracy at all levels and in all its manifestations.

We, the concerned and responsible citizens of Malaysia, resolve to:

> Adhere to and promote the Code of Ethical Conduct, and to

> Mobilise citizens towards a Citizen Movement for National Cohesion and Unity.

This code of ethical conduct is the outcome of the first Dialog Rakyat on National Cohesion and Unity held in December 2016. Since then, three other dialogues have been convened to translate the code of ethical conduct into “actionable practices” respectively for individuals, universities and community groups such as residents associations and rukun tetanga.

Dialog Rakyat is an initiative of seven organisations initially, Association of Voices of Peace, Conscience and Reason (PCORE), Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS), Nation Building School (NBS), G25, Inter-faith Spiritual Fellow­ship (INSaF) and Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI). They were joined later by Yayasan 1Malaysia and the National Council of Women’s Organisations, Malaysia (NCWO).

The dialogues have been jointly convened by a number of universities, residents associations and rukun tetanga. More are planned for 2018 to get the support of other organisations and citizen groups.

We can continue to express concern and assign blame about the unhealthy development in our country but we cannot control the action of those with selfish agendas. It is better therefore to focus on what we can control – ourselves – and together we CAN make a difference.

TAN SRI OMAR ABDUL RAHMAN

Chair, Organising Committee

Dialog Rakyat for National Cohesion and Unity

Kuala Lumpur

https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/01/16/focused-on-making-a-difference