MIC polls: Focus shifts to vice-presidents

Come Sept 1, G Palanivel will be elected as president of MIC without any contest. In the given political scenario, it is a mammoth task for anyone to garner the support of more than 300 branches  in order to mount a challenge for the presidency.

Dr S Subramaniam, who agreed not to contest for the top post, is also not expected to face any serious contest for his deputy president's post.

Taking a cue from Palanivel who has announced that he will relinquish his position in favour of Subramaniam, in the first quarter of 2016, all the key leaders of MIC are now vying for the vice-president slot to enable them to position themselves when the leadership transition takes place in 2016.

None of them are interested in mounting a challenge for deputy presidency as they know it will be political suicide if they lose.

As of today, the indications are that the following candidates will be contesting for a vice president's slot in the forthcoming MIC elections:

Mahabharata – Bahagian 46

“Tolonglah ceritakan apa yang sebenarnya berlaku di sini,” pinta Raja Yayati apabila melihat Devayani terus membisu di tepi tasik berair jernih di pinggir hutan.

“Saya boleh menceritakan sekiranya tuanku berjanji tidak akan memaksa saya pulang ke rumah,” gadis itu meletakkan syarat.

“Baiklah,” kata Raja Bharata itu tanpa berfikir panjang kerana terlalu ingin tahu apa yang berlaku sehingga menyebabkan seorang gadis jelita berada di dalam sebuah perigi buta dalam keadaan berbogel.

Maka mulalah Devayani menceritakan mengenai kedatangannya ke tasik itu bersama-sama Puteri Sarmista iaitu anak Raja Vrishaparva.

Tentulah memandangkan dia yang bercerita, maka watak dan perwatakan dirinya diputihkan manakala personaliti Sarmista dihitamkan.

“Saya tidak sanggup pulang ke rumah saya yang terletak dalam kerajaan di bawah pemerintahan Raja Vrishaparva memandangkan puterinya, Sarmista, sudah memalukan dan menghina saya,” Devayani berkata sebagai kesimpulan bagi ceritanya.

Sepanjang mendengar cerita itu tanpa bersuara, Yayati tertanya-tanya juga dalam diri tentang rupa fizikal Sarmista; apakah dia jelita atau hodoh seperti digambarkan oleh Devayani.

“Jadi apa yang mahu kau lakukan sekarang? Tentu seorang gadis jelita seperti kau tidak boleh terus tinggal di pinggir hutan seorang diri,” Yayati berkata sejurus kemudian dalam usaha memujuk Devayani supaya pulang.

Mahabharata – Bahagian 45

Raja Yayati adalah Raja Bharata yang terkenal. Sebagaimana lazim dilakukan oleh raja-raja India pada zaman dahulu, baginda sering memburu di dalam hutan.

Pada suatu petang, baginda terpisah daripada kumpulan pemburu yang datang bersama-sama masuk ke dalam hutan. Walau bagaimanapun, Yayati tidak risau.

Baginda meneruskan perjalanan menunggang kuda dengan harapan akan mendapat mangsa yang sesuai untuk diburu.

Tidak lama kemudian, raja itu sampai di tepi sebuah tasik berair jernih di pinggir hutan.

Tanpa berlengah-lengah, Yayati turun dari atas kuda. Kuda tunggangannya dibawa ke gigi air untuk minum. Kemudian, bagindu juga minum air dari tasik untuk menghilangkan dahaga.

Tiba-tiba, Yayati berhenti. Baginda memasang telinga. Benarlah seperti apa yang disangkakannya. Sayup-sayup kedengaran suara seorang wanita sedang menangis teresak-esak.

“Siapakah itu?” Yayati tertanya-tanya dalam diri. “Tidak mustahil bahawa ada penunggu di tasik ini. Mungkin ia sengaja cuba menipu dan memperdaya orang dengan bunyi tangisan itu.”

Namun begitu, rasa ingin tahu yang sangat mendalam membuatkan Yayati terus meneliti sekeliling. Matanya tajam memperhati manakala telinga tajam mendengar.

Court frees Azilah and Sirul of Altantuya murder charge

The Court of Appeal today freed Special Action Unit officers Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar of the charge of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

This followed the court’s unanimous decision to allow the duo's appeal in the sensational case.

However, the prosecution has the opportunity to appeal with the Federal Court - the country's highest court.
As soon as the court's decision was read, the two accused said: "Thank you, your lordships."

While justice Md Apandi Ali led the three-member bench, justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat read out the judgment, which ruled there were serious misdirections by the High Court judge.

The misdirections included the failure to call Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's former aide de camp DSP Musa Safri and the failure to take into consideration the police station's diary, which stated that Azilah was at Bukit Aman at the time of the incident.

The other judges were justices Linton Albert and Tengku Maimon Tuan Mat.

Alibi not taken into consideration

Shah Alam High Court judge Md Zaki Yassin on April 2009 convicted the two of murder but acquitted Najib’s close confidante, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda (below), of abetting the murder.

In today's judgement, justice Tengku Maimun said the court did not find anywhere in the High Court's judgment about whether it had considered the alibi and the inconsistency in the telephone call logs of the accused.

"These include the police station’s diary, which states that Azilah was at Bukit Aman and not at the crime scene.
"The learned trial judge had misdirected himself by way of non-direction in failing to consider the station’s diary and in failing to make a finding whether the defence had cast a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case," she said.

On the call logs, she said the court found inconsistencies in the testimonies of the telephone company's witnesses, which had put an issue on the accuracy of the calls in question and the coverage protection.

“In our judgment, it is essential for the trial judge to address his mind to the challenge raised by the defence on whether there was in fact alteration or tampering of the data and whether the authenticity of the data was questionable or otherwise.

"Regrettably, the judge failed to do so and this amounts to serious misdirection rendering the exhibits (the call logs) unsafe to be relied upon," she said.

Inconsistency in police testimonies

The court also ruled that there were inconsistencies in the testimonies of the police’s prosecution witness leading to the discovery of the crime scene, where the High Court judge did not examine the credibility and did not address the defence’s contention.

"This has raised a doubt on the accuracy of the section 27 statements and whether the discovery was made exclusively as a result of the information supplied by the two appellants (the two accused) and not from other sources," said Tengku Maimun.

On the possession of explosives, Tengku Maimun said the High Court judge should have made a further finding to connect the explosives to the two accused.

"By not making any findings on possession by the appellants of the explosives used in the commission of the murder, the learned trial judge had failed to address his mind on this missing link, resulting in yet another misdirection," she said.

The defence had argued that the type of explosives used in the murder was not kept in the police armoury.
Tengku Maimum also ruled that the non-calling of Musa (Najib's aide de camp) was essential.

"This is to unfold the narrative upon which the prosecution's case is based on.
"The failure of the prosecution to call or offer Musa for cross-examination in the circumstances of the evidence as a whole would have triggered adverse inference under section 114 (g) of the Evidence Act 1950 against the prosecution," she said.

The Court of Appeal also found that justice Md Zaki (High court) had failed to establish whether there was common intention.

"We find the judge made no findings on whether the prosecution had established that there was a pre-arranged plan by the appellants to commit murder and that murder was committed pursuant to the pre-arranged plan.

"In our judgment, the absence of such findings by the learned trial judge on the ingredient of common intention amounted to a misdirection by way of non-direction," Tengku Maimun ruled.

Blood-stained slippers and spent bullet

On the issue of the blood-stained slippers (allegedly Altantuya’s) found in Sirul's car, the court ruled there was no nexus between the slippers and Sirul and the prosecution had not closed the gap.

There were questions about the blood-stained slippers as they were not Sirul's size and it was not ascertained who owned it.

On the issue of a spent bullet found in Sirul's car, again the court found that there was a gap in the prosecution's case and the High Court judge had failed to direct his mind to the matter.

"It is our judgment the cumulative effect of the non-directions by the judge rendered the conviction unsafe.

"We unanimously allow both appeals. Conviction and sentence are set aside. The appellants are acquitted and discharged," said Tengku Maimun.
Azilah was represented by Hazman Ahmad and J Kuldeep Kumar, while Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin and Hasnal Rezua Merican appeared for Sirul.

Deputy solicitor-general III Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah led a team of prosecutors that comprised  DPP's Manoj Kurup and Noorin Badaruddin.

Altantuya (above) was murdered in the forest of Puncak Alam near Shah Alam between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006.

According to the accuseds' lawyers, the two should be released from prison later today.
Sirul is being held at Tapah prison while Azilah is at Kajang prison.

Scorn explodes in Twitterjaya over Altantuya ruling

The social media is abuzz with the news that former police personnel Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar have been freed of the charge of murdering Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Many of the netizens greeted the news with cynicism, musing that Altantuya may have killed herself.

One Twitter user @azzizul82 said: "I have guessed that Altantuya is a suicide bomber. It's just that she bombed the wrong coordinates."

Another user, @jaillanish, speculated that she had "exploded from within just like in (the movie) Iron Man 3".

Other netizens raised the question: Who killed Altantuya?

Meanwhile, constitutional lawyer Syahredzan Johan pointed out via his Twitter account that Sirul and Azilah's acquittal this morning does not mean that the court is ruling that no one had murdered Altantuya.

While qualifying his statement that he has yet to see the grounds of the judgement, he said it could mean that the now-overturned High Court conviction was "unsafe" and the case had yet to be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

"It is not easy to convict someone of a charge, as it should be. Better to free 100 guilty fellows, than to convict one innocent sod. Understandably, people are shocked.

"But let's criticise if the judgement is wrong, not because we didn’t get the judgement we want to see," he tweeted.

Other netizens raised issue with the fact that the verdict meant that the Altantuya case remained unresolved.

"A woman was killed using explosives. No one is found responsible for her death. Where is justice?" tweeted @1Obefiend.

Below are other selected tweets and Facebooks postings:

@rafiziramli: Shock & horror! Altantuya case: initially no motive, now there's not even murderers! Who killed Altantuya? Even Sherlock Holmes can’t solve

@chrisyht: So, who killed Altantuya? Oh well, this is Malaysia, land of endless possibilities...

@RajivJayKumar: Razak Baginda free, now cops free. Only in Malaysia will a foreign woman come to posses military grade C4 and blow herself up.

@marclourdes2m: So, if there's no connection between Azilah and Sirul to Altantuya's murder, does it mean this is Malaysia’s first spontaneous combustion case?

Paan Zaki: Altantuya had in fact committed suicide, wakes up, then blows herself up to hide the evidence – Another cartoon story from Malaysia.

@obie2610: Court of Appeal overturns conviction in Altantuya murder case... Now, how many did not see that coming?

Lau Chin Chua: Just my two cents, I think Sirul and Azilah’s acquittal is a good move. The explosives were not theirs; they have no interest in killing Altantuya. Congratulations to the two of you, but be wary because many  think only you would know who is behind the murder.

@MillicentBogert: So what happens next regarding Altantuya’s murder case, Malaysia? Any chance she will receive justice at this late date?


Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/239105

What's next for MIC following Palani-Dr Subra truce?

ANALYSIS Last Sunday, the MIC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur was abuzz with activity with hundreds of MIC branch chairpersons converging there.

It was the day for MIC branch chairpersons from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Pahang to personally receive the endorsement signature from president G Palanivel in their respective nomination forms for the MIC presidential election.

The next evening (Aug 19), Palanivel headed for Seremban where he received similar support from branch chairpersons in Negri Sembilan.

MIC sources said the overwhelming response received by Palanivel (right) on these two occasions had changed deputy president Dr S Subramaniam's mind about contesting for the top post.

The media is also abuzz with speculation that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak met the key leaders of MIC and brokered a deal whereby Palanivel and Subramaniam would be elected as president and deputy president respectively, with Palanivel agreeing to step down in 2016 after serving one more term.

A formal announcement on this deal is expected tomorrow.

Besides the deal brokered by the PM, MIC sources pointed out that it was Subramaniam’s delay in announcing if he wanted to contest that enabled Palanivel to take the lead in the run-up to the presidential campaign.

We are Chindians

"No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive." - Mahatma Gandhi

COMMENT Chindians are a minority within a minority. Being Chindian has made me look at the issue of race differently. I have always found it easy to find common ground with people of different races. I believe this is a result of being Chindian.

The Chindian Diaries project is aspiring to collect and document stories from the community in Malaysia and Singapore.

It is focused primarily on Chindian culture but is open to stories from other mixed marriages. By gathering these collective stories, it is hoped that they will form a greater, overarching cultural narrative.

Reflecting on my life, I was intrigued by my grandparents - my paternal Indian-Tamil grandfather and Chinese-Nyonya grandmother.

My father used to tell me about their union and how my grandmother was disowned by her family for marrying my grandfather, a dark skinned Indian.

I started this project in June 2012, after participating in a weekend storytelling workshop to dig deeper into my ancestors. It forced me to delve into my family history and I learnt new things about them.

Most Chindians lean towards Indian culture, only because there were more Indian men marrying Chinese women in the 1980s till 1990's.

Lee: Rajapakse a Sinhalese extremist

COLOMBO: Former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew has described Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as a Sinhalese extremist.

He also described what happened in Sri Lanka in 2009, during the end of the civil war, as ethnic cleansing.

The father of modern day Singapore made this statement during a conversation with author Thomas Plate, who wrote the book ‘Citizen Singapore: How to Build a Nation – Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew.

Lee described Sri Lanka as an “unhappy country” as it was disunited between the Sinhalese and Jaffna Tamils for decades.

“Yes, they have beaten the Tamil Tigers this time, but the Sinhalese who are less capable are putting down a minority of Jaffna Tamils who are more capable. They were squeezing them out.

“That’s why the Tamils rebelled. But I do not see them getting rid of all two million-plus Jaffna Tamils.

The Jaffna Tamils have been in Sri Lanka as long as the Sinhalese.” he said.

Batu Caves dress code draws mixed reaction

KUALA LUMPUR: The dress code imposed by the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar Temple committee drew brickbats from joggers and devotees alike.

While some argued that it may affect tourist arrival, one even gave spiritual reasons to back his argument.
D Ponranggan, a senior citizen who frequents the temple for prayers, said a man of faith would not be perturbed by people wearing shorts or any other attire.

“Are you telling me that our people are so weak in faith that a man or women in shorts would distract them while praying?” he asked.

Ponranggan, a permanent resident in Malaysia, argued that imposing such a guideline would not give foreigners a good impression of Malaysia as a developing country.

“Our body itself is a temple and God lives in everyone. So, are we still going to stop ourselves from seeing people in shorts and skirts wherever we go? I think this is not logical,” he said.

Yesterday, FMT reported that the temple committee has imposed several prohibition on the visitors such as no smoking, running up the steps and spitting as well as barring them from wearing shorts, skirts and having pets with them.

Ishtiaq - A humble all-round sportsman

OBITUARY Ex-sportsmen seldom make good coaches. Isthiaq Mubarak bucked the trend. He probably is the only ex-international who has produced endless champions.
He was no ordinary coach. Nor was he an ordinary athlete. He was special. A passionate lover of sports.

To the athletes he was a father figure. More of a Svengali. Young athletes looked up to him as a role model.

Ishtiaq had the acumen of spotting talent. He simply loved to pick 15-year-olds and groom them to become champions.

When I first met Ishtiaq in 1981 at the Kampung Pandan sports complex in Kuala Lumpur, he was training Wan Zaleha Radzi, 15, to hurdle.

Less than a year later Wan Zaleha, who later made her name as a TV3 newscaster, was winning medals in school championships at Asean level.

"Ishtiaq was more than an inspiration. He was kind of a coach you just trust and surrender yourself too," recalls Zaleha.

Ishtiaq had an uncanny ability to get the best out of an athlete. He was a great motivator. One can cite numerous examples but a classic case was that of decathlete Hanapiah Nasir.

No spitting, no shorts: Dress code at Batu Caves

PETALING JAYA: A dress code for visitors, especially morning joggers, to the Batu Caves Sri Subramaniar temple has been put up at the foot of the 272 steps due to complaints made by temple devotees.

Temple committee chairman R Nadarajah said devotees came to pray as early as 7am and they were especially embarrassed and disturbed to see people exercising in front of the temple when prayers were being conducted.

“People cannot exercise in front of the temple in shorts. We have been receiving complaints every week,” said Nadarajah.He said joggers in shorts would be told to exercise in the field nearby.

Nadarajah said this when asked to comment on a Chinese daily report on six dress code prohibitions imposed by temple management committee.

According to the Sin Chew Daily’s front page report, visitors to Batu Caves are not allowed to smoke, run up the 272 steps, spit, wear shorts, wear skirts and bring pets.

Temple’s works committee chairman N Sivakumar said devotees wearing shorts and carrying kavadis during Thaipusam would however be allowed.

“They are coming here for a religious purpose and there will be no restrictions for tourists during Thaipusam,” he said.

He added that competitions such as the Tanggathon Batu Caves could still be held provided that the participants were properly attired and inform the temple committee in advance.

“We can allocate one or two flight of steps for the participants without inconveniencing and endangering devotees,” he said.More than 800,000 locals and foreigners visit the temple every year.


Source :http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/08/12/no-spitting-no-shorts-dress-code-at-batu-caves/

BAM perlu buka mata sebab kegagalan

GUANGZHOU: Biar apa jua alasan dan sebab musabab, skripnya tetap sama dan tidak boleh diubah. Pemain Malaysia sekali lagi gagal membawa pulang gelaran pada Kejohanan Badminton Dunia 2013 yang berakhir di sini semalam.

Ketika pasukan jiran tetangga, Indonesia dan Thailand berbangga kerana pemain masing-masing mampu menjulang kejuaraan pada kejohanan itu, skuad Malaysia terpaksa berpuas hati apabila Datuk Lee Chong Wei sekadar di tempat kedua dalam acara perseorangan lelaki.

Untuk rekod, pemain Indonesia muncul juara dalam acara beregu lelaki dan beregu campuran manakala pemain muda Thailand, Ratchanok Intanon merangkul gelaran dunia dalam kategori perseorangan wanita.

Kegagalan Chong Wei menamatkan badi kekalahannya kepada musuh tradisi, Lin Dan dari China pada perlawanan akhir semalam, mengulangi skrip seperti pada Kejohanan Badminton Dunia 2011 dan Sukan Olimpik 2012, kedua-duanya di London.

Pada ketiga-tiga pertemuan tersebut, Chong Wei gagal kepada lawan yang sama iaitu Lin Dan yang kini sudah mengecap lima kejuaraan dunia dan dua pingat emas pada temasya Sukan Olimpik.

Mahabharata – Bahagian 44

Pada suatu petang, Devayani bersama-sama Puteri Sarmista dan sekumpulan kawan sedang mandi di tebing sebuah tasik.

Sarmista adalah anak kepada Raja Vrishaparva iaitu pemerintah bagi golongan asura. Penasihat diraja pula ialah Maharishi Sukracharya yang memiliki mantera Sanjivini.

Melalui hubungan itulah Devayani mengenali Sarmista dan hubungan mereka juga agak rapat.

Sukracharya membiarkan anak gadisnya meluangkan masa bersama-sama puteri itu kerana sekurang-kurangnya boleh membantu melupakan pengalaman pahit bercinta dan kemudian ditinggalkan Kacha iaitu anak Maharishi Brihaspati yang merupakan penasihat golongan vasu (dewa).

Pada petang itu, Devayani, Sarmista dan kawan-kawan mereka memutuskan untuk mandi di dalam tasik. Untuk itu, mereka menanggalkan pakaian dan meletakkannya di atas beberapa ketul batu besar di tepi tasik.

Sewaktu kumpulan gadis berkenaan sedang seronok bermain dan mandi di dalam tasik yang berair sejuk dan jernih, angin bertiup agak kencang.

Mahabharata – Bahagian 43

Maharishi Sukracharya segera memejamkan mata dan mulutnya terkumat-kamit membaca mantra (mantera) dalam Bahasa Sanskrit.

Tindakan itu adalah untuk mengetahui di mana mayat Kacha yang dikerat-kerat dan dibakar menjadi abu itu dibuang.

Apabila lokasi sebenar sudah diketahui, mudahlah untuk maharishi itu menggunakan mantera Sanjivini untuk menghidupkan semula Kacha, anak Maharishi Brihaspati.

Devayani terus menanti dengan tidak sabar di hadapan bapanya. Gadis itu benar-benar risau memikirkan nasib kekasihnya.

Pada pendiriannya, sekiranya Kacha tidak dapat dihidupkan semula, biarlah dia turut mati bersama-sama buah hatinya itu.

Seketika kemudian, Sukracharya membuka kelopak mata. Keningnya berkerut dan peluh mula kelihatan mengalir turun dari dahi dan pipi.

Matanya tidak berkelip sewaktu merenung tajam ke arah anak gadisnya.

“Kenapa? Apa yang berlaku? Di mana Kacha? Sudahkan mantera Sanjivini dilafazkan untuk menghidupkannya semula?”

Mahabharata – Bahagian 42

Apabila Kacha dibunuh oleh segerombolan asura bagi kali ketiga, mayatnya dikerat-kerat, dihancurkan sehingga lumat, dibakar menjadi abu dan dimasukkan ke dalam bekas kecil.

Sebagaimana diarahkan oleh ketua asura, bekas itu dibawa ke ashram milik Maharishi Sukracharya di Vrishaparva.

Penasihat kepada golongan asura itu tidak mengetahui semua ini.

Pada tengah hari, apabila Sukracharya meminta secawan air, Devayani segera pergi untuk mendapatkannya. Walau bagaimanapun, seorang asura sempat memasukkan abu mayat Kacha ke dalam cawan minuman itu.

Menjelang senja, Devayani kembali risau. Kacha yang membawa lembu-lembu ke padang ragut masih belum pulang.

Tidak lama kemudian, lembu-lembu berkenaan sahaja kelihatan berjalan pulang ke ashram.

Gadis itu segera menangis kerana dapat mengagak bahawa sesuatu yang buruk telah melanda kekasihnya sekali lagi.

 Devayani tidak tahu mengapa Kacha sentiasa menjadi sasaran penjenayah dan pembunuh. Dia juga tidak tahu bahawa pembunuhan dilakukan oleh golongan asura sendiri.