vox populi small thumbnail 'If the government that spends our money refuses to tell us, justice must be done by the court by instructing them to tell us.'

Court quashes MP's bid to check on funds

Abil:

The MP for Sungei Siput is representing the people of Sungei Siput and our courts say he has no right to know how the allocation is spent. Even the ordinary man in the street would know that the people have a right to information.

Chuath : Which law did the court quote to stop Jeyakumar's quest for transparency? We have a right to know where our money has gone.

Who does the court protect, if not the citizens of the country? Shame on the judge and court.

If the government that spends our money refuses to tell us, justice must be done by the court by instructing them to tell us.

The alternative is money disappearing into thin air with cover-ups, no accountability and gone to fatten individuals who have no right to it.

Louis : Dr Jeyakumar, go for it right to the Federal Court. even though it may be costly! Do start a small fund for this purpose. I will play my small part and I am sure more will donate to the people's cause.

Ben-ghazi : When your promotion or job itself is at stake, what options do you have? You have to side your political masters. I also find it strange that the government must appeal in the first place.

It clearly shows they have a lot to hide, and with a subservient judiciary, it pays off. It is sad that we are still very far from transparency in this country. The only way to get it is by 'force' - not physical, but at the ballot box. Yes, force this government out at the next GE.

Police disrupt 2,000-strong 'Green Rally'

Bender : The real issue is not with the police. It's their political masters who are pulling all the strings. They like to play with the rakyat's sentiments, perhaps as some sort of a test to see how people will react.

Thus far, I bet they're greatly disappointed. Not only did the activists manage to get the message across, the dirty tactics employed by the police under the orders of their masters also managed to promote the event to the whole country with much better impact than if it were allowed to run its original course.

IloveBN : Malaysia has become so repressive that we may even put totally repressive Third World countries to shame. What can we do to voice our views?

109 kuantan green solidarity 091011 04 Why are the police so afraid of the rakyat gathering peacefully to express their views if they do not have anything to hide or benefit from?

ICEMAN : So when people go round carrying a cow's head, even the home minister says they have a right to make their views known. Now when people stand up for protecting the environment, the move suddenly becomes illegal.

I guess if you want to rally, make sure you are from the "accepted" party or else no way. Forget the promises about abolishing repressive laws. All that is just hogwash, just for the coming elections.

Gerard Samuel Vijayan : This is an example of the "world class democracy" that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is talking about?

It was not a street protest or demonstration but a rally in a public park, next to the beach. So why did the police cancel the permit after approving it?

All it takes is one phone call from Umno and the police will stand on their heads to serve their political masters.

This so-called reform agenda by Najib is a charade. When Umno/BN's vested interests are involved, democracy, freedom and human rights will be the first to be flushed down the toilet by this regime.

Bender : This is what should be called progress. Regardless of all the negative connotations that the establishment might stick to such movements, the fact is that the Malaysian public have come out of its slumber.

The establishment may see this as politically motivated, but the people know better. This is the kind of pressure that will hopefully break the regime that has been notoriously insensitive to the needs of the rakyat. To our heroes: keep up the pressure and build up the momentum until the next GE!

Local varsities not ready for Times ranking, says Khaled

Cala : The philosophy of research. What is a teaching university and what is a research university? Higher Education Minister Mohd Khaled Nordin seems to imply that the former impacts knowledge, while the latter ends up with a lot of research finding their way to established journals.

Either way, a university is constrained by the quality of intake students and academic staff.

In the case of Malaysia, since meritocracy has never been its hallmark, a mere wait of seven to eight years before seeing the fruits of harvest is not realistic until there is a real institutional change.

Jimmy Ng: Although the minister may be accurate in his observations, the saddest part is that it took more than three decades for this conclusion to be reached. Like most other government institutions, racial politics, discrimination and mediocrity have been allowed to fester at the expense of quality.

LeRoc : The higher education minister thinks that in the next seven to eight years, other countries in top 400 ranking will stay idle, do nothing and Malaysia can catch up.

Bob teoh : Our varsities are not ready to be ranked yet because research takes time? What have they been doing all these years, with billions of ringgit pumped into public universities?

ONG : The University of Malaya was established in 1949 from the merger of KE VII College of Medicine (founded 1905) and Raffles College (founded 1928). UM (Kuala Lumpur division) opened in 1959. Now, not ready for ranking.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology opened in 1991. Now ranked 62. Nanyang Technological University set up in 1955. Now ranked 169.

City University of Hong Kong started as a polytechnic in 1984, assumed university status in 1994. Now ranked 193.

Other younger universities go forward, some on overdrive. We have been around longer but decided to engage reverse gear, or to use local slang, gostan !

Astraltraveller : If our local universities are excellent in teaching and learning, then why do all the BN cronies send their children overseas?

Thisia : Dear minister, how do you expect our universities to make the cut into the top university list when our education system is plagued with discrimination?

The top students are either not given a place in local universities or even if they are given, it is in the field that they are not interested in. The day we have meritocracy and one system examination for all, that's when we will be in the list. If not, you have to give the same stupid reasons, year in and year out.

Proposed hike in MPs' allowances to be withdrawn

Gunner: May I propose an increase of MP allowance for those MPs without cabinet or government posts? As for the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, he should not be paid an MP allowance since he is paid as cabinet minister. PM Najib should only be paid as PM. No additional salary as minister of finance and Member of Parliament.

Anonymous : In these bad times, how can we talk about increasing allowances of the MPs. We should be talking of cutting them. Those who want to engage in politics should do it for the love of improving society.

Hainanese : Nazri, do we hear the thumping of benches from the greedy BN back-benchers in approval of this? It has been withdrawn more because of fear of a backlash from the rakyat during the forthcoming GE and not because of objections from the opposition.

Don't you think the Opposition MPs secretly desire increases in their allowances and facilities too? Remember, "Politics is a matter of who gets what, where, when, how and why."

It has always been "What's in it for me?" with 1Malaysia Boleh politicians!

Dev:

First of all, in these troubled times, the PM and gang have the nerve to propose a pay hike for themselves?

That is unbelievable. Doctors, nurses, and other paramedics work 24/7 to help those in need. Have they got a mention during this or in the past five budgets? Not a squeak! People can't even afford to have a decent meal outside, and they dare bring up the issue of increasing their own pay!

You should be ashamed, Nazri. A huge thank you to all opposition MPs for standing up, and not putting your own needs above the people's.

 

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