Parti Keadilan Rakyat Bahagian Labuan

Kebakaran di Kampung Muslim

keadilanlabuan — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:59:05 +0000

Ratusan keluarga telah kehilangan tempat kediaman dan segala milik mereka.

Kebakaran teruk di Kampung Muslim memerlukan bantuan orang ramai.

Sila hubungi:

Mohd Budin, tel. : 016-8461016

untuk memberi sebarang bentuk sumbangan kepada mangsa-mangsa kebakaran tersebut.

Kebakaran di Kampung Muslim yang kebanyakan di diami oleh PTI bermula dari jam 1100 pagi dan meranapkan 300 buah rumah dalam masa 2 jam setengah melibatkan 2000 peghuni.

Berita dari Mohd Budin, Timbalan Ketua Bahagian Labuan.

Dun Sarawak: Kesamsengan BN di mana-mana

keadilanlabuan — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:35:42 +0000

Opposition leader suspended from S’wak assembly

Tony Thien & Joseph Tawie | May 14, 09 11:14am

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MCPX

The Barisan Nasional-controlled Sarawak legislative assembly has suspended state DAP leader and Bukit Assek elected representative Wong Ho Leng for 12 months from the assembly starting yesterday.

He was suspended on a recommendation of the state assembly’s privileges committee over a remark he made which insinuated improprieties in the the government’s financial accounts presented to the assembly in 2008.

Sixty members of the assembly voted in favour of suspending him under Section 14(1) of the Dewan Undangan Negeri (Privileges and Powers) Ordinance. Seven other objected.

Wong left the house at 6.08pm after a heated argument with speaker Asfia Awang Nassar over the procedure in the tabling of the motion to accept the recommendations from the committee of privileges to suspend him.

His party colleagues also staged a walkout in protest following Wong’s suspension.

The motion to suspend Wong was tabled by Land Development Minister James Masing and seconded by Roland Sagah (BN-Tarat).

After leaving the chamber yesterday, Wong told reporters he was contemplating legal action, adding that the move to suspend him was unfair and undemocratic.

“There is nothing that we can do against the decision. Might is right, but I can consider legal action,” he said.

He added that under the assembly rules, a member can only be penalised until the end of this current session which ends on Dec 31, 2009.

In his case, he has been barred from attending the assembly for 12 months until May 13, 2010.

The offensive remark that Wong was alleged to have uttered was in relation to the Supplementary Supply Bill 2008 moved by the state’s finance minister last year.

He also repeatedly used the word “camouflage” during the debate on the bill.

Of the RM921 million sought by the state government under the supplementary bill, RM900 million was allocated for the statutory fund while RM21 million for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) bonus.

Second opposition leader to be suspended

The DAP assemblyperson was then asked to withdraw the word “camouflage”, failing which action would be taken against him. He however refused to withdraw it and was therefore referred to the committee of privileges.

At yesterday’s sitting, Wong who was given 10 minutes to speak before he was ordered out of the House, said that he should have been given a copy of the minutes of the proceedings of the select committee because he was entitled to a revision.

“Even if the House wanted to take action against me, it should be done in the last session and not carried forward to this session, and anyone who can read the standing order will understand the point,” he said.

Speaker Asfia replied by saying that Wong had not disputed or challenged the evidence against him but instead went on to argue on the procedure of the motion.

Wong is the second opposition leader to be suspended in the House.

Last year, party colleague Chong Chieng Jen, the state assemblyperson for Kota Sentosa, was also suspended for six months by the committee of privileges on another matter.

Chong is back in the House after the the expiry of his suspension period.

Chong got another rebuff yesterday in the House when he was unable to continue reading his speech while trying to table a motion seeking better protection for native landowners in Sarawak.

As he was about to read out his text, BN members started leaving the chamber and the House was left without sufficient quorum for him to continue.

Later, the state minister in charge in resource management Awang Tengah Ali Hassan told reporters that Chong was merely trying to keep the land issue alive.

He said that the problems involving land matters have been adequately dealt with by the government.

The Republic of Malaysia?

keadilanlabuan — Mon, 11 May 2009 02:06:28 +0000

It’s all about race, stupid!

by Raja Petra

Thursday, 07 May 2009 19:19

Raja Nazrin has just launched the debate on whether it is time that Malaysia abolishes the Monarchy and turns this country into a Republic. Yes, the Republic of Malaysia. I like the sound of that. I think I shall go along with that.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Oh, no! Not another ‘stupid’ article from RPK. Sheesh…….it’s getting to be very boring. If it’s not about Altantuya, it’s about stupid this or stupid that.

Yes, I pre-empted what you are going to say and said it first. So there!

But that is just the thing. It is about race. And if you thought it is about anything else then you are plain dumb and deserve to be called stupid.

Oh, I forgot, I am talking about what happened in Ipoh today. And what happened in Ipoh is about race. It is about ensuring that the Malays do not lose political power. And, as far as Perak is concerned, as far as Umno is concerned, Perak has fallen into the hands of the Chinese.

Did DAP not win the most number of seats in Perak? And is not DAP a Cina-Kominis party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and a Malaysian-Malaysia? And is this not what Lee Kuan Yew also propagates for Singapore? And is not Singapore persecuting and discriminating against Malays? Are not Malays serving in the Singapore Armed Forces not allowed to even carry guns because the Chinese do not trust them? And is not Singapore the enemy of Malaysia who is illegally occupying Malay land that the British robbed from the Johor Sultanate?

Did PKR not win the second highest number of seats in Perak? And is not PKR a non-race-based party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and Ketuanan Malaysia? Are not only half the PKR Wakil Rakyat Malays while the other half are Chinese and Indians?

Did PAS not win the least number of seats in Perak? And is not PAS an Islamic party that classifies Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy as nationalism and discrimination and therefore haram (forbidden) — and does it not support DAP and PKR in opposing Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy? Is not PAS the boneka (puppet) of DAP, and although the Menteri Besar is from PAS, DAP actually pulls the strings from behind the scenes?

Yes, that is what it is all about. That is why Pakatan Rakyat must be kicked out of Perak at all costs. That is why fairness, legality and the Constitution are no longer crucial. In the fight to uphold Malay Supremacy, fairness, legality and the Constitution must take a back seat. The ends justify the means. It is not how you play the game. It is winning, by hook or by crook, by fair means or foul, that counts.

If it were in Kelantan, Umno would not have dared do what it did in Perak today. If Umno tried to do the same thing in Kelantan as what it did in Perak today, blood would have flowed on the streets of Kota Bharu. By now, Kota Bharu would be under curfew. Widows would be claiming bodies at the mortuary and new orphans would be created. The plainclothes police officers in songkok would not have been able to drag the Speaker out of the State Assembly like a drunken cowboy in a Hollywood Western movie.

Did you see how the police officers dragged Siva out of the State Assembly? I did. And they were able to drag him out in such an undignified manner because he is an Indian-Hindu from Perak. If he had been a Malay-Muslim from Kelantan, they would never have done that in a million years. They do and parangs would fly. Heads of the Umno dogs would be scattered all over the roads of Kota Bharu.

Do I sound racial? Do I sound violent? Well, I hope so. Because that is exactly what it is all about. I do not mince my words. I do not hold my punches. This column is called No Holds Barred. And my article is therefore no holds barred.

I am disappointed about today. I am disappointed not because of what Umno did. I expected that from Umno. I knew that Umno would do that. What I am disappointed about is that Pakatan Rakyat did not hold their ground. Siva was dragged out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes. Yet no one did anything. No one jumped in and gave those goons a hard bash on the head.

I am also disappointed because the crowd was not a crowd. The people on the ground were mostly from out of Perak. Many were Bloggers and civil society movement activists. But they were not locals. They were not Perakians. Where were the local Perakians? They were not around. If they want to argue they could not get through because of the police roadblocks, then how could all those out-of-towners get through, in spite of the roadblocks?

There should have been blood spilled, today, in the Perak State Assembly. Violence must be met with violence. There is no other way. If they want to talk, then we talk. But if they want to use violence, then we match them with violence. And they violently dragged Siva out of the Perak State Assembly.

Siva should have been allowed to exit on his feet. Instead, he was dragged and thrown out like a drunken wino. Is that how a Speaker should be treated? Well, if he were Malay that would never have happened. If it were in Kelantan that would never have happened. But because he is an Indian from Perak then it can happen. And it did happen.

And you know what the icing on the cake is? Raja Nazrin graced the whole fiasco. He gave legitimacy to the entire circus in Ipoh today. His presence gave legality to what should have been illegal. Raja Nazrin’s decision to play along with Umno has hurt the Monarchy badly. It will take a long time for the Monarchy to recover from what happened in Perak today. In fact, it may never recover.

That is what Perak was all about, today. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Repeat after me: It’s all about race, stupid!

Huru-hara, ciptaan Umno-BN, yang memalukan Malaysia

keadilanlabuan — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:49:00 +0000

MB Umno ke rumah tokoh PAS

keadilanlabuan — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:03:12 +0000

Muda Mohd Noor | May 8, 09 12:48pm

Ketika penentangan majoriti ADUN Umno terhadapnya belum reda, menteri besar Terengganu menemui seorang tokoh utama PAS baru-baru ini – membuka pelbagai spekulasi baru.

Walaupun Datuk Ahmad Said dikatakan “hanya membeli dua ekor kambing” milik ADUN Manir, Datuk Harun Taib, seorang pemimpin Pemuda PAS membuat andaian sebaliknya.

Pertemuan Ahmad dengan bekas ketua Dewan Ulama PAS itu diadakan di rumah pemimpin pembangkang itu di Kampung Kubang Lembek dekat Kuala Terengganu minggu lalu.

Harun mengesahkan Ahmad membeli dua ekor kambingnya jenis boer.
Bagaimanapun timbalan ketua Pemuda PAS Terengganu, Wan Sukairi Wan Abdullah memberitahu Malaysiakini, “tetapi saya rasa mereka ada urusan lain. Mungkin ada membincangkan isu-isu politik.”

Ahmad berdepan dengan tindakan 18 ADUN Umno yang mahu menyingkirkannya daripada jawatan itu – yang disandangnya bersama bantahan besar susulan kumpulan bekas menteri besar, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

Baru-baru ini, 10 daripada ADUN pro- Idris yang memulaukan persidangan DUN pertengahan bulan lalu dengan alasan nyawa mereka terancam.

Tiga daripada mereka menerima SMS ugutan susulan ura-ura membawa usul undi tidak percaya terhadap Ahmad di persidangan tersebut.

Ketika dihubungi, Harun berkata Ahmad membeli dua ekor kambing jenis boer tetapi tidak mahu memberitahu harganya.

Ditanya sama ada mereka turut membincangkan isu politik khususnya membabitkan usaha 18 ADUN BN tersebut, Harun berkata, “kita bercakap kisah kambing sahaja.”

“Tidak eloklah bercakap pasal lain kerana Datuk Ahmad datang hendak membeli kambing,” tambahnya, yang juga timbalan pesuruhjaya PAS Terengganu.

Harun antara pemimpin PAS yang dikatakan condong kepada aliran pro-rundingan PAS-Umno seperti juga pendirian pesuruhjaya negeri Datuk Mustafa Ali dan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Harun bagaimanapun menambah, PAS negeri sedia berunding dan bekerjasama dengan Ahmad dan mana-mana pemimpin Umno lain.

Katanya, semasa sidang DUN lalu, beliau pernah menyebut bahawa PAS sedia berunding dengan pemimpin Umno negeri.

“Tetapi Ahmad tidak menjawab. Tapi kalau dia jawab, kita boleh berunding,” katanya.

“Kalau sungguh mereka hendak (berunding), saya sanggup bincang.”

malaysiakini.com

Kesamsengan Umno-BN dalam Dewan Undangan Negeri Perak

keadilanlabuan — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:02:15 +0000

Speaker yang sah dikeluarkan secara paksa dan kasar:

Apa sedang berlaku di Perak? (dikemaskini)

keadilanlabuan — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:26:40 +0000

Opinion

Zambry struggles for legitimacy

MAY 7 — Having been installed as mentri besar
by the palace, Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Dr Zambry
Abd Kadir would naturally expect to
run Perak smoothly. It never crossed in
his mind that he would face such big challenges.
To date he has had great difficulty convincing
the people that he is the legitimate MB and
not Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin.

The noble intentions and the sweet words
alone cannot replace the people’s perception
that his government is an illegitimate one.
Like it or not he has to live with such a
tagline throughout his tenure as MB.

This is the price that he has to pay
when his party robbed a state which was
duly installed by the rakyat in the last general
election. Nizar may lose the governance but
he has managed to garner overwhelming
support from people of all walks of life,
transcending religious and racial barriers.

Since being appointed as MB, Zambry has
been struggling for legitimacy. For now
there seems to be no light at the end
of the tunnel.

His feeble attempt to depict Nizar as a traitor
did not work. The people just would not buy
his argument that by failing to resign Nizar
has been acting in defiance of the Sultan’s
prerogative powers. In fact, the people
responded to such an argument by saying
we are more comfortable with the alleged
traitor than a confirmed robber. If you can
rob a state how are we convinced that you
are not going to rob our money and our dignity.

Zambry tried in vain to kill Nizar’s lawsuit at
the infancy stage through the instrument of
the Attorney-General’s office. When the
matter was first heard before Justice
Lau Bee Lan, the A-G sought to fast
track the matter by asking the judge to
refer to the matter to the Federal Court.
What A-G did was definitely wrong as at
that time the A-G was not party to the action,
thus he had no business asking the court
to refer to the matter to the Federal Court.
Despite vehement objections by Nizar’s
lawyer, the judge, with due respect,
bowed to the A-G’s pressure and in turn
referred the matter to Federal Court.
Despite being asked to stay the referral
pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal,
the judge didn’t bother to grant an order of stay.

When the matter went to the Court of Appeal,
the latter affirmed the decision of the High Court.
Thus Nizar was prematurely forced to go to
the Federal Court. Zambry was too confident
that he would obtain a victorious judgment in
the Federal Court, thus wiping out Nizar’s suit
against him once and for all. But God was
with Nizar. The Federal Court unanimously
overturned the High Court’s decision and
remitted the matter to the High Court again.
The Federal Court judges in unison rejected
the A-G’s argument that the matter could be
referred to under section 84 of the Court of
Judicature Act as that very section dealt with
the interpretation of the Federal Constitution
whereas Nizar’s suit involved the state Constitution.

The matter went back to High Court and this
time before a new judge. Zambry was still adamant
to have Nizar’s case dismissed at the preliminary stage.
Hence the A-G played his role again. This time
the A-G objected to Nizar’s application for leave
for judicial review. Under Order 53 of the Rules of
High Court 1980, any application for leave for
judicial review needs to get leave from the court.
The application must be served on the A-G.
The A-G has the right to object. As a matter of
practice the A-G will not object unless such an
application is clearly frivolous. Nizar’s application
definitely does not belong to the frivolous category,
thus one would expect the A-G not to mount any
objection. But raise an objection was what the A-G did.

The A-G contended that Nizar was challenging the
Sultan’s prerogative power. Nizar’s suit,
the A-G argued, was in fact an attempt to challenge
the Sultan’s power through the backdoor.

On April 3, the court, in granting leave to Nizar’s
application for a judicial review against Zambry,
held that such an application was not frivolous.
The court concurred with Nizar’s lawyers that
he has passed the minimum threshold required in
the leave application.

The judgment of the court simply means Nizar
has been able to establish an arguable case
against Zambry. The judge declined to uphold
the A-G’s strenuous objection. Rejecting the
A-G’s argument that Nizar was challenging
the Sultan’s prerogative power, the learned
High Court judge held that Nizar has every
right to assert on what authority Zambry
could say that he is the lawful mentri besar
when Nizar claims himself as the legitimate
MB of Perak.

This has frustrated Zambry. Not only has
his dream that Nizar’s suit would be terminated
at the preliminary stage not materialise but
he now needs to put up a credible defence.
He has engaged a private lawyer to defend him.
Despite being unlucky in his first attempt to refer
the matter to the Federal Court, he continued
with his second attempt to fast track the suit.
He hoped to get a judgment in his favour before
the sitting of the Perak assembly today.
He desperately wanted to go to the state
assembly as a legitimate MB. Thus he needs
to be armed with a court judgment proclaiming
that he is the legitimate MB of Perak.

Once again God was with Nizar. Zambry’s
attempt to get the Federal Court hear and
dispose of the matter failed once again.
The Federal Court unanimously dismissed
Zambry’s application. Thus the matter was
remitted to the High Court.

The High Court heard the matter on May 4
and then continued on May 5 and 6. Zambry
wanted badly a judgment in his favour before
May 7. The court has not made any decision .
In fact the court wanted Nizar’s lawyer
to make a closing speech on May 7.

Umno may be proud of ultimately being able
to convene a state assembly sitting on May 7,
of course, with the aid of the police who can be
found everywhere in Ipoh.

Whether Zambry also shares the same pride
remains unclear. Without a judgment by the
court proclaiming him as a valid MB, his
presence in the state assembly today has
no beneficial meaning. For the people on
the street he is still an illegitimate MB a.k.a
a trouble maker.

———————————————————————————————

DUN Perak kecoh, BN-PR bertegang

May 7, 09 8:31am

Berikut perkembangan
terkini di Perak:

5pm: Nizar tells a press conference that as far as Pakatan

is concerned, the House did not sit today. He says that whatever

BN did was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

As for the regent’s speech, the ousted MB describes it “as just a royal

speech, nothing more than that. It is not opening the assembly.”

4.55pm Ahli parlimen PAS
Salahuddin Ayub memberitahu Malaysiakini,
semua wakil rakyat – termasuk beliau sendiri -
yang ditahan pagi ini di balai polis Sungai Senam
telah dibebaskan jam 4.30 petang.

Beberapa puluh orang yang turut ditahan
kebanyakannya sudah dibebaskan.

Bagaimanapun ahli parlimen PKR Zuraida Kamaruddin
pula berkata, semua wakil rakyat dibebaskan
kecuali D Jeyakumar, ahli parlimen Sungai Siput.

Tian Chua yang ditahan sebentar tadi baru
dibawa masuk jam 4.30 petang di balai tersebut,
kata ketua Wanita PKR.

4.12pm Speaker asal
V Sivakumar tiba-tiba masuk semula
ke dewan DUN. Sidang akhbar akan diadakan
di dalam dewan tersebut sebentar lagi.

4.05pm Pemangku Raja Perak,
Raja Nazrin Shah berangkat meninggalkan dewan.

Menteri besar BN Datuk Zambry Abd Kadir
mencadangkan persidangan itu ditangguhkan
dengan disambut jeritan wakil-wakil Pakatan
Rakyat “bubarkan DUN”.

Speaker baru R Ganesan menangguhkan
persidangan DUN ke suatu tarikh yang akan
ditetapkan.

4.05pm Naib Presiden
PAS Mohamad Sabu – yang ditahan
semalam di Kuala Lumpur – dibebaskan jam
3.30 petang di mahkamah Tanjung Malim,
Perak setelah magistret menolak permohonan
reman pihak polis.

Beliau dibebaskan dengan jaminan polis dan
disambut isterinya Normah Alwi dan seorang
anak mereka di situ.

4pm Pemimpin PKR
Tian Chua ditahan polis di belakang bangunan
sekretariat kerajaan Perak sewaktu
cuba menyambut kehadiran wakil-wakil rakyat
Pakatan yang akan keluar dewan selepas
perasmian sebentar tadi.

3.47pm Pemangku Raja Perak,
Raja Nazrin Shah menamatkan titah ucapan
baginda dalam perasmian pembukaan sidang
dewan setelah menyampaikan ucapan
kira-kira setengah jam.

Baginda menyentuh pakej rangsangan ekonomi
tetapi tidak mengulas isu-isu politik.

3.15pm Pemangku Raja Perak,
Raja Nazrin Shah berangkat masuk ke dewan
untuk majlis rasmi pembukaan persidangan DUN.

Baginda kemudian bertitah kepada
Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS-Pasir Panjang)
dan Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP-Sitiawan).

Mohamad Nizar kemudian menyeru semua
ADUN Pakatan agar duduk dan mereka semua
kembali di tempat masing-masing.

3.13pm V Sivakumar
dibawa oleh kumpulan polis ke satu tempat
yang tidak didedahkan. Hanya isteri beliau
dibenarkan berjumpa ADUN DAP itu.

3.12pm Kenderaan rasmi
Speaker DUN V Sivakumar jenis Toyota Camry
dengan nombor pendaftaran AFD 999 kelihatan
keluar dengan seorang penumpang wanita tetapi
ADUN DAP itu tidak berada di dalamnya.

3.10pm R Ganesan, speaker
baru lantikan BN, memulakan persidangan
dewan dengan meminta seorang pegawai
DUN membacakan doa.

Beliau juga mengarah keluar dua ADUN Pakatan -
Chan Ming Kai (PKR-Simpang Pulai) dan
Chang Lih Kang (PKR-Teja) – tetapi mereka enggan.

Speaker itu kemudian menangguhkan dewan
bagi menunggu keberangkatan tiba Pemangku
Raja Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah.

3pm Ketua Pemuda
PAS Salahuddin Ayub, yang sedang ditahan
polis di balai polis Sungai Senam di Ipoh,
memberitahu Malaysiakini melalui
telefon bahawa beliau tidak pasti bila akan
dibebaskan.

Beberapa lagi ahli parlimen – Zuraida Kamaruddin
(PKR-Ampang) dan Mujahid Yusof Rawa (PAS-Parti Buntar) -
juga sudah memberikan keterangan kepada polis.

Katanya, kira-kira 40 lagi turut ditahan pagi ini
berdekatan bangunan DUN Perak yang menyaksikan
persidangan genting bagi Pakatan Rakyat dan BN.

Difahamkan polis 13 orang orang setakat ini,
tetapi jumlah mereka yang ditahan tidak dapat
diperolehi. Usaha menghubungi polis gagal.

Seorang tokoh DAP Lim Kit Siang berkata
64 orang ditahan.

2.55pm Kumpulan “pegawai”
mengelilingi tempat duduk Speaker – kini diambil
alih oleh R Ganesan – untuk mengawal keadaan.

2.41pm Sekumpulan lelaki
berjaket, dengan tag nama “pegawai”,
yang dilaporkan anggota polis mengheret
V Sivakumar dan memaksanya keluar dewan.

2.35pm Usaha pengawal
dewan dan kakitangan DUN mengalihkan
V Sivakumar dari tempat duduknya dibantah
oleh Speaker tersebut dan sekumpulan
ADUN Pakatan Rakyat.

Sementara sekumpulan ADUN Pakatan yang
lain cuba membawa keluar Ganesan, speaker
lantikan BN, dari dewan.

2.15pm Persidangan dewan
negeri Perak bersambung. Wakil-wakil rakyat
Pakatan cuba menghalang R Ganesan, speaker
lantikan BN, memasuki dewan.

Suasana kelam-kabut dan tidak menentu
di dalam bangunan tersebut. Saling
tolak-menolak dan tumbuk-menumbuk,
beberapa ADUN kelihatan nerdiri di atas meja.

Bebarapa pegawai polis masuk ke dalam
dewan DUN bagi menenangkan keadaan,
dengan disambut jeritan ADUN Pakatan
agar mereka meninggalkan dewan.

Pada waktu yang sama, wakil-wakil rakyat
pula berusaha membuang keluar V Sivakumar
dari tempat duduk Speaker – tetapi beliau
masih dikelilingi oleh beberapa ADUN Pakatan.

1.10pm Difahamkan
Zambry bertemu dengan Raja Nazrin Shah -
yang dijadual membuka secara rasmi
persidangan DUN Perak pagi ini – di luar dewan.

Tiada maklumat lengkap tentang pertemuan dan tujuannya.

12.55pm Enggan meninggalkan
dewan R Ganesan, speaker baru lantikan BN,
mengumumkan penangguhan sidang dewan
DUN Perak selama sejam lagi.

Keadaan kembali tenang dengan kedua-dua
pihak duduk kembali di tempat masing-masing.

12.45pm Thomas Su, ADUN
Pasir Pinji, mengunjukkan sekeping wang RM50
ke arah timbalan Speaker, Hee Yit Foong,
sambil menjerit “pergi mampus” dalam dialek Kantonis.

ADUN Aulong, Yew Tian Hoe pula kemudian
membaling dua keping wang kertas RM1 ke arah
Hee, yang juga ADUN Jelapang.

Bekas ADUN DAP itu, kini wakil rakyat bebas, mengambil wang itu dan mencarik-carikkannya.

Wakil-wakil rakyat BN merakamkan gelagat dua ADUN DAP itu dengan video telefon mereka, sementara tindakan serupa dibuat oleh ADUN Pakatan.

12.37pm Hampir semua ADUN Pakatan Rakyat mengerumuni kawasan tempat duduk ADUN BN bagi meminta R Ganesan – speaker baru lantikan BN yang duduk di situ – meninggalkan dewan.

Kumpulan ADUN BN mempertahankan Ganesan, dan berlaku sekali pertengkaran di dalam dewan yang mulia itu. Berlaku sedikit pergelutan seketika antara ADUN BN dan Pakatan tetapi mereka kemudian menghentikannya.

Ganesan, bekas ADUN Sungkai dan pemimpin MIC Perak, tetap berdegil dan terus duduk di situ.

12.15pm Speaker asal V Sivakumar mengharamkan R Ganesan, speaker baru yang dilantik BN, meninggalkan dewan.

Kemudian beberapa ADUN Pakatan mendekati Ganesan agar berbuat demikian dan mereka bertengkar.

Mengejutkan, wakil-wakil rakyat BN hanya duduk dan memerhatikan gelagat tersebut, sambil membuat bising.

11.59am Tidak pasti bila Pemangku Raja Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah akan masuk ke dewan untuk merasmikan pembukaan persidangan DUN Perak.

Kedua-dua kumpulan wakil rakyat BN dan Pakatan sedang menunggu di dalam dewan. Tiada lagi pertikaman lidah seperti sejak dua jam lalu. Mereka sedang menunggu.

11.22am V Sivakumar, speaker Pakatan, memulakan semula persidangan DUN walaupun R Ganesan, speaker BN, menangguhkannya sebentar tadi.

Walaupun tanpa mikrofon, Sivakumar tetap meneruskan arahannya yang awal agar tujuh ADUN BN termasuk menteri besar mereka Zambry dan tiga wakil bebas meninggalkan dewan.

Jika mereka enggan berbuat demikian, beliau enggan memulakan persidangan tersebut.

Kedua-dua pihak bertikam lidah sekali lagi dari tempat duduk masing-masing, tidak seperti tadi.

Wakil-wakil rakyat Pakatan berkumpul di sekeliling menteri besar mereka Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin dan berbincang dengan mereka tindakan selanjutnya.

Kedua-dua pihak masih bertegang leher tetapi tidak sehangat tadi.

Wear all black tomorrow, 7 May 2009

keadilanlabuan — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:56:24 +0000

Melonjakkan keberdayaan rakyat Labuan

keadilanlabuan — Tue, 05 May 2009 06:26:36 +0000

Visi dan misi Labuan banyak berkaitan dengan pengambilan tempat (positioning) di dalam sektor kewangan dunia dan pembangunan serantau.

Adakah rakyat di Labuan telah dilengkapkan dengan profesionalisme yang bertaraf antrabangsa dalam semua sektor yang wujud di Labuan, khususnya sektor pendidikan, kesihatan dan kegiatan utama yang lain?

Strategi pembangunan Labuan tidak menjadi

keadilanlabuan — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:58:37 +0000

25 years later, Labuan a white elephant Joe Fernandez | May 2, 09 1:14pm

Malaysiakini.com

Former chief minister Harris Salleh has finally convinced himself, like most of his fellow Sabahans, that Labuan Island has become a white elephant. MCPX map of labuan islandThe duty-free island became a Federal Territory on April 16, 1984, and 25 years later still remains an international offshore financial centre and tax haven in name only. These days, the island is more in the news as a hotbed of human trafficking activity in Filipinas and locals feeding the fleshpots and labour markets in Singapore and the region. “Labuan is Malaysia’s one and only offshore financial centre or international business and financial centre but it is not a success,” said Harris without mincing his words during the ongoing 25th Silver Jubilee celebrations of Labuan as a Federal Territory. “Also, industries which are suitable for Labuan were established in Peninsular Malaysia and not on the island as promised.” The former chief minister noted that many concrete structures had emerged on the island in the last quarter century but have since degenerated into becoming white elephants sitting in the tropical sun. labuan portHe cites the little-visited Bird Park and Pulau Papan Picnic Resort as among the projects which generate little economic activity for the island and “Labuan continues to remain a village town”. The island is said to be an ideal place to be the headquarters for the Malaysian Armed Forces in Sabah and Sarawak. Instead, even the small military contingent that was on the island moved away some years ago to the mainland. The main reason cited is the desire of the top military brass to rub shoulders with the state government leaders in Kota Kinabalu “for their own ends”. Harris had high expectations when he handed over Labuan to the federal government nearly a quarter century ago. Labuan is not economically viable His main expectation was the federal government, with all its massive manpower and financial resources, would turn the island into a “Little Singapore”. This, the federal government had failed to do even on a small scale, added Harris. “It is abundantly clear after 25 years that Labuan is not economically viable and the federal government has failed to develop the island in all aspects. There are no economic activities to sustain and assure the present and the future.” harris mohd sallehHarris noted that successive prime ministers in Kuala Lumpur had raised the prospect of turning Labuan into a haven for retired foreigners and senior citizens. However, the policy on retired overseas people’s settlements has seen no improvement since it was first mooted and “there is not even one organised self-contained housing complex on the island built for retired people”. A pilot project on the island for retired foreigners was mentioned by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Nothing was heard thereafter and Mahathir turned his attention towards Langkawi island in his home state of Kedah. “The federal government must have a straightforward policy. There are many reasons that foreigners must consider before moving to Labuan or Malaysia,” said Harris, who has studied the matter in some detail in recent years. “Foreigners must have the assurance that they can stay in Malaysia all their lives. The present policy only allows them to stay 10 years. There is no guarantee that they will be able to stay in the country after the 10th year.” Retirees generally can be expected to sell off their homes before moving to Malaysia and can ill-afford to take the risk of the 10-year policy which might see them being shipped back eventually to their home countries, “wiser but older, poorer and sicker”. Policies and programmes not consistent Malaysia can be a second home for foreigners, feels Harris, if the federal government is serious about the concept and changes its present policies. He notes that most of the people who may be attracted by the second home concept would be professionals and experts in various fields “who can still contribute their knowledge to the country and guide the people”. Apparently, there are many other reasons for the failure of the federal government to achieve the objectives it set for itself upon taking over the island, according to Harris. He reckons that policies and programmes adopted for the island were wrong and done “half-and-half” and “perhaps the biggest issue is that they are not clear and keep changing all the time”. Above all, the federal government allegedly does not listen to the views of local leaders and civil servants and is not willing to entertain local requests. Harris’ modest but dwindling band of aging admirers claim that the federal government has so far been unable to dwarf what their man himself has done for the island. During Harris’ time, it is said that Labuan rapidly emerged from the economic backwaters with the completion of the Rancha Rancha Industrial Estate, the Asian Supply Base for the oil and gas industries, a methanol plant, and a shipyard, among others. Even so, no one remembered Harris’ good deeds come election day in 1985. Harris, a native Labuanite of Hindu Indian and Muslim Brunei parentage, paid the ultimate price himself for handing over the island to the federal government when he was booted out of office by the 45-day old PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) led by the then unknown Joseph Pairin Kitingan from Tambunan. Not even a single sen in compensation Labuan wasn’t the only reason for Harris’ untimely exit but it was the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back. Sabahans felt that Harris had no right to hand over the island to Kuala Lumpur and to add insult to injury; Kota Kinabalu didn’t get even a single sen in compensation unlike in the case of the other federal territories where billions had been paid. Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, taking a cue from the proposed halal hub in Tanjung Manis, Bintulu, Sarawak, promised to turn Labuan into an international halal hub before being forced out of office last month. Labuanites are convinced that there will be no halal hub on their island. The main federal government presence on Labuan is through 50 government departments, each with a director, which reports to Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur. This has seen the federal government spending some RM8 billion over the last 25 years on the island. Much of this money has not been seen by the people, it is alleged, but has gone into the pockets of “a favoured few mostly from elsewhere”. These “favoured few” have secured projects to improve the infrastructure including water and electricity facilities, landscaping works, and establishing institutions like the Labuan campus of the Universiti Malaysia Sabah, the Labuan International Matriculation College and a relatively-modest financial centre. Other projects secured by the “favoured few” include the hospital, a new airport where the tiling work by a Sarawakian company has been so badly done it is falling apart, the Sea Sports Complex which is hardly used, court houses, a second undersea pipeline for fresh water from the mainland and the international ferry terminal completed recently. Air Asia also giving up on Labuan Labuan is just used as a post box address with a token staff presence to benefit from the island’s international offshore financial centre and tax haven status, according to critics in the know. “Much of the actual international financial work is done in Kuala Lumpur.” Already, even incurable optimist AirAsia is giving up on Labuan, having stopped its Labuan-Kota Kinabalu flights after two attempts. Meanwhile, its Kuala Lumpur-Labuan flight has been cut to one a day after its entry into Brunei. This has seen many of the people in the sultanate avoiding the island unlike before when it was a stopover en route to Kuala Lumpur. Many critics see the verdict of history as being against the emergence of Labuan from the backwaters to international prominence. Brunei, for example, eventually found the island of little use and handed it over to Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in 1846. The British failed to turn it into a naval and re-fuelling station for the South China Sea as initially planned and after mining the local coal reserves for several decades, handed it over to the Chartered Company of North Borneo in 1881. In 1906, it came under the Straits Settlements linking Singapore, Malacca and Penang which was briefly ruled from India. City status for Labuan in 2015? In 1941, Labuan was under Japanese rule for a time and after World War II, when the Chartered Company sold Sabah to the Colonial Office in London for 1.2 million pounds, the British put the island and Sabah together as British North Borneo. The short period of British colonial rule ended with the independence of Sabah and Labuan on Aug 31, 1963 followed by the newly-independent country forming the Federation on Malaysia on Sept 16 1963 together with neighbouring Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya despite Brunei’s pullout at the 11th hour over the sharing of oil and gas revenues. Labuanites are looking forward to 2015 when it is hoped that the island’s urban centre would achieve city status. Another local concern is the building of a bridge to Menumbuk on the mainland to bring in the numbers to generate the critical mass which will help make the island more economically viable. Among the still hopeful, Harris being among them, Labuan could still be part of the golden heart of North Borneo which embraces the Menumbuk to Kota Kinabalu’s coastal stretch, Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei, Limbang and Miri in northern Sarawak. Meanwhile, Sabahans have not given up on Labuan. They hope to win back the island once there is a federal government in Kuala Lumpur with a two-thirds majority in Parliament to amend the Constitution and reverse the takeover. However, they are not banking their hopes too much on the ruling Umno-led BN ever returning the island to the state.