VoxPop: 'We were not rude to PM'

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vox populi big thumbnail ‘We, Hindraf, only told the PM to please release the Hindraf 5, RPK, all the ISA detainees and abolish the ISA and he said he will look into it.'

On Anti-ISA activists at PM open house

S Jayathas: At the PM's Hari Raya open house at PWTC on Wednesday, we went as peace- loving Malaysian citizens to forgive PM for what he had done to our Hindraf lawyers who spoke out on the marginalisation and discrimination of the Indians.

We told the PM to please release the Hindraf 5, RPK, all the ISA detainees and abolish the ISA. The PM said he will look into it.

We are disappointed with Bernama, RTM and TV3 for saying that we acted rudely.

We came with peace and we left in peace as that is our way. Please report without fear of favour. ( The writer is Hindraf National Information Coordinator ).

Timo Finian: To aspire to be a politician in the Malaysian sense, one has to be an idealist. To sustain oneself as a politician in the Malaysian sense, one has to be a materialist.

What does Hindraf hope to accomplish going against a battalion of hard-core materialists is anyone's guess. As far as the latter are concerned, the vile ISA, the centre of all the commotion, is to protect their own selfish interests and has nothing to do with ideology.

It wouldn't have moved them even if the whole hall was filled with a sea of black and red t-shirts. They would only find it all the more amusing to the chagrin of the protesters.

A wiser alternative, to make their voices heard, would be to hit them where it hurts. A nationwide boycott of all Petronas stations would be a small start followed by government-owned banks, tabloids etc.

A quick check online could reveal a list of interests owned and operated by Umno fat-cats like hotels and gas-stations. The list could go on.

Bloggers, activists. you need your thinking-caps rather than t-shirts that 'make a lot of noise'.

On Indian students unable to enjoy Deepavalli

E Sivabalan:

I refer to the above letter.

Following an appeal by the MIC which was published in local newspapers today, the DG of Education has immediately issued a directive to all schools to conduct their final year examinations at least a week after Deepavali on Oct 27 and not a day after the Hindu festival ( The writer is a MIC spokesperson ).

On All eyes on PM as he weighs his options

Mengyee: Dear Pak Lah, as you weigh in your options and with the remote chance you read this letter - may I humbly request that whatever you decide, there is much unfinished business to your legacy.

You can leave in March with nothing much to your legacy except for the greater democratic space you allowed during your short tenure.

This led to greater expression including those who are critical of your administration and of the government.

However, before you decide on your options it is not too late to complete this greater democratic space which you started by bringing closure to some pressing transgression in the administration:

1. An innocent foreign woman was brutally murdered on Malaysian soil and as long as those who committed such heinous act are not brought to justice, her blood shall forever be upon Malaysia.

You must bring to justice and expose all who were involved irregardless of position or rank.

2. The ACA must be fully unleashed without fear or favour. The ACA must investigate any wrongdoing and those who have taken money through commissions etc should be prosecuted.

3. The judiciary must be reformed and revamped with clean and prudent judges not beholden to the executive. Zaid Ibrahim should be called back to the Cabinet and allowed a free hand in bringing reform to the judiciary.

4. The ISA must reviewed and repealed in Parliament. All detainees must be releaed immediately or brought to a court of law.

5. You must complete what you started and that is the implementation of the IPCMC for the Royal Malaysian Police.

Should this five items be completed in the next five months, you will be so supported by the Malaysian rakyat that you can continue on as the prime minister despite the pressures from within your own party.

On Taib family's CMS to benefit from dam

G-Man: I guess another clear example of power abuse in Sarawak, where the chief minister's family, friends and cronies are all benefitting from this deal that will pretty much devastate a large part of the forest as well as displace the indigenous population.

Why we ask do we need such a project when the current power supply exceeds demand? We need to prioritise on mega-projects that are not required at this time.

It's time for the PM (as well as PM-in-waiting) to bring this up. Why we should do this at the expense of the taxpayers, so the elite few may benefit from it?

They are robbing the country blind and the rest just look on. This is exactly why the current government has lost the trust of the people. Put a stop to this excesses, I'd say.

On Indonesians in boat accident were duped

Capt Abdul Aziz Abdullah:

Indeed, for this to occur during the festive season and befalling those whose sole fault was simply to be close to their loved ones in this period of gaiety, irrespective of what mode of transportation theychose to use, adds further consternation to the unfortunate incident.

My commiserations and sympathy goes to the relatives of those whose lives were lost due to the greed and selfishness of the boat's skipper and his crew.

To those who assisted and managed to prevent more loss of lives in this tragedy, I offer my most sincere appreciations.

However, I wish to know how is it that such a boat could have embarked on this humanly- despicable illegal operation sans being detected?

Malaysia has two uniformed agencies - the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Marine Police - who are well endowed with appropriate floating assets and manpower routinely patrolling the waters off our ports to ensure they are safe and secure.

I also understand that the port perimeters of both Westpost and Northport are well-protected under the International Ship and Port Facilities Security (ISPS) Code - an international obligatory requirement that every port around the globe has to comply with in order to encourage international vessels to keep calling at the port.

Does this mean that, though the land-side is well covered, the waters off these two ports are not?

Why was there no mechanism in place to be able to detect the barter trade boat and monitor her deviant movement?

Granted that such a vessel is not covered by the ISPS requirements due to her size and nature of operations, but, I shudder to think of the consequences should same boat be engaged in unloading weapons or other items that could pose a security threat to this nation of ours!

Perhaps, it is high time for our authorities to start considering the utilisation of appropriate alternative means of detecting and monitoring these smaller vessels that do not come under the ambit of the ISPS Code operating within our port waters and commence enforcing them.

I understand that Penang Port Commission (PPC) is undertaking a pilot project to test efficacy of such a system.

In my mind, we should be able to trace, monitor and identify each and every vessel that moves about in our ports' waters to ensure full-proof security and nip out illegal activities such as human trafficking as well as smuggling, besides the ever sensitive issue of weapons infiltration.

Singapore has been doing it for some time now, why not us?

I sincerely hope that the comment made by one of the survivors alleging that the ‘agent' who sold him the ticket had requested money to ‘pay-off' our police and immigration is merely that, i.e. an ‘allegation' with no truth in it whatsoever.

Let us all hope that a lesson has been learnt out of this wretched tragedy.

JK:

During the Hari Raya festive season this is the normal trend. The alarming part is why was this overloading not checked ? There must be sufficient safety equipment such as life jackets for all the passengers.

Also, the boat must have a proper engine and be manned by capable hands. It is the duty of the Malaysian marine authorities to ensure all this.

This is the second time a ferry tragedy has happened. Sometime this year, a ferry in Johor waters capsized and there were casualties. Once, the former Menteri Besar of Selangor did a random check at the Port Klang jetty and found that some foreign boats were not even qualified to enter our waters.

Such repeated incidents will only damage our country's image and our tourism industry will be impacted.

Densemy:

Were they really duped? There is a serious problem here. All these guys knew at least one month ago that Hari Raya was imminent and they had a month to organise themselves.

But they still got conned into paying exorbitant fees for ridiculously risky ventures.

On Samy: Pakatan's claims on demolition confusing

Kenny Gan: MIC and Samy Vellu is really going to town on the Ampang temple demolition issue, trying to make as much political capital as possible. Even MCA Youth has joined in.

All this over an unintended demolition due to a failure in the chain of command while not a squeak of praise over the many land grants and approvals for new Hindu and Buddhist temples which was alien to the BN state governments.

My question is, where were their voices when the the BN state governments were doing a string of temple demolitions in Selangor and Perak? Had they been half as vocal as they are now, a lot of Hindu temples may have been saved and Hindraf may not have given birth.

To the hypocrites in MIC and MCA, I'll like to see what your response is when the next temple is demolished by a BN state government.

Let's hope you'll condemn the act as loudly and bravely as you're doing now.



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