Thousands gather to share nation's sorrow

Thousands of city folk gathered at Dataran Merdeka and in front of the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Kuala Lumpur, today to share the nation's grief over the MH17 tragedy in conjunction with the Day of National Mourning.

Like the rest of the country, they observed one minute of silence at 10.54am after the coffins containing the remains of 20 of the Malaysian victims which arrived earlier on a Malaysia Airlines special aircraft MH6129 at the KLIA in Sepang were placed in the waiting hearses.

The crowd, in dark attire, started to gather at the historic landmark around 9am to watch the official ceremony of receiving and honouring the victims at KLIA via a large screen at the square.

During the minute of silence, the Muslims in the crowd offered the Al-Fatihah while the non-Muslims silently prayed for the victims according to their religious belief. Many were seen shedding tears.

Meanwhile, motorists around the area stopped their vehicles as a mark of respect for the MH17 crash victims during the minute of silence.

Foreign tourists were also seen observing the minute of silence in sharing this nation's sorrow over the MH17 tragedy.

MH17 was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam when it crashed in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border on July 17.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 298 people including 15 crew members, is believed to have been shot down by a missile over the troubled country. Forty-three of them were Malaysians.

Newspapers go black and white

The front pages of most of the major newspapers were in black and white to express the sadness felt on the Day of National Mourning for the victims of the MH17 tragedy.

The headlines, photos and quotations on the front pages also mirrored the sadness felt by the nation over the deaths of those who were on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that went down in Ukraine in July.

Malay language newspaper Utusan Malaysia used black with the heading 'Penghormatan Negara' (National Tribute) and the names of the 20 passengers and crew on the ill-fated flight.

Another Malay daily Berita Harian had a black-and-white photograph of the Jalur Gemilang hoisted at half-mast on its front page.

With the headline 'Malaysia Berkabung' (Malaysia in Mourning), a third newspaper Sinar Harian used a photograph of the funeral rites performed at the Monuta Ineeme funeral home in the Netherlands on Thursday before the remains were flown here.

Harian Metro also used black and white, carrying the headline 'Kembali Bersemadi' (Back for Burial) as well as quotations of the final words of MH17 leading stewardess Mastura Mustafa to her husband Mohamed Affendi Khairuddin sent on the Wechat application.

Her message said she would not always be with him, but one day she would go to meet Allah, never to return.

English language daily The Star had a black-and-white front page which carried the photographs of the 20 MH17 tragedy victims whose remains were brought home today, and with the headline 'They are home'.

The front page of another newspaper The Sun had the photograph of a Malaysia Airlines aircraft and the Jalur Gemilang flown at half-mast, with the heading 'Malaysia Mourns RIP MH17.'

Meanwhile, The New Straits Times published the names of all the 43 Malaysian victims of the MH17 tragedy on its front page, which was also in black and white.

The Malay Mail's front-page headline, in the meantime, was 'They're coming home, no words to say farewell'.

On the Internet, the mood was equally sombre, with the local media using black and white for their logos on their websites and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The masthead colour of the website of the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), www.bernama.com, was also in black and white.

Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 people on board.



Source- Bernama

Malaysia Mourns

Sri Lanka president bars UN war crimes investigators from country

Sri Lanka will deny visas to United Nations' investigators probing accusations of war crimes as it strengthens a domestic panel looking into allegations related to its 26-year war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa (pic) said on Tuesday.

Rajapaksa's comments come a week after UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay said that even though Colombo had refused to cooperate, the UN probe could go ahead as there was a wealth of information outside the country.

"We will not allow them into the country," Rajapaksa told the Foreign Correspondents' Association, adding that any cases of people missing, or allegations of misdeeds, had to be investigated through the local panel.

Sri Lankan government forces have been accused of widespread human rights violations in the final stages of the war, which ended in May 2009.

He has added two experts, one each from India and Pakistan, to advise the local panel, besides three international experts appointed last month. He has extended the commission's term to probe possible war crimes.

"This advisory panel is not to replicate an international investigation panel," Rajapaksa said. "We can get the international expertise from these highly reputed people."

The local commission had received around 20,000 complaints so far, and was about to begin the "tedious process" of looking into the missing persons on the list, he added.

Asked about Pillay's comments, Rajapaksa said, "I don't think anybody will take it (the UN investigation) seriously, other than the people who want it."

He said the government was trying to locate the missing, perhaps in other countries, where some Sri Lankans have won refugee status, but many diplomats had refused to reveal any details about these people.

About 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final weeks of the war, mostly by the army, the United Nations estimated in a 2011 report. Sri Lanka has rejected the accusation, and said it was conducting its own investigation.

In March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted to investigate the deaths of some 100,000 people, saying Rajapaksa had failed to do so properly.

Sri Lanka's external affairs minister G.L. Peiris, who was accompanying Rajapaksa, called the UN investigations biased, saying they went against natural justice as the UN had said it would not reveal witnesses' identities.

"So how can you ascertain the truth?" he added. "They are judges in their own courts. We don't recognize their jurisdiction and their authority."

Source :  Reuters, August 19, 2014.

A clash of two egos

The collision of an unstoppable force with an immovable object seems almost tenable when compared to a clash between a recalcitrant Menteri Besar and a petulant political animal.

What we have are two men, one a former company CEO and the other a scarred political veteran, engaged in a pissing contest to end all pissing contests. It is a spectacle to behold, if only Selangorians did not end up paying the price.

What gives them the right to toy with the lives of 5.4 million people, for political gain? These “alpha males” are in need of an industrial dose of Omega-3 to recharge whatever brain functions they may have left. They are dragging everyone down to their level.

Khalid Ibrahim, stop playing the victim here. There is no conspiracy against you. What we do have is a classic case of your time running out. For someone with your experience in the corporate world, you more than anyone else,ought to know that different situations require different styles of leadership.

It happens that what you have isn’t needed any longer. So just go. You are not bigger than the state, you happen to be expendable like everyone else.

As for Anwar Ibrahim, you are not Midas. What you touch does not always turn to gold.

In fact, the things you have touched in your career have often turned into incriminating evidence against yourself, whether fairly or not. This Kajang Move is another to add to your shelf of illustrious manoeuvres that have added up to nothing, unless chaos, discord and the possible break-up of Pakatan Rakyat are considered notable achievements.

It is Selangor that ends up suffering the most.

A state that has displayed the independence to break the shackles of the old order is now seeing the fading of the dream of even greater political maturity. That dream has been broken by immature men, acting just like the politicians that Selangorians despise, men who claim to carry the banner of reforms.

They are no reformers, they are merely remnants of the past. Their lack of relevance is made apparent by their failure to let go of personal ambition in a world that demands much more than that.

Source : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/highlight/2014/08/14/a-clash-of-two-egos/

'McD's staff shunned, children singled out'

Anger against McDonald’s following allegations that it contributes to Israel has resulted in a series of abuse and harassment for 12,000 of the fast food chain’s employees in Malaysia.

In an impassioned plea for the harassment to stop, McDonald’s Malaysia’s managing director Stephen Chew said the abuse has been so bad that its staff are even being shunned when they go to the mosque.

Some of the 85 per cent of staff who are Muslim have even opted not to return home to their hometowns for Hari Raya Aidilfitri for fear of ridicule over their employment at family gatherings.

He added that children of McDonald’s staff are also being singled out in school when teachers warn students not to patronise the restaurants in the nationwide boycott over claims of Israel links which McDonald’s has denied.

“On behalf of the 12,000 employees at McDonald’s Malaysia, I am writing to make an appeal to all Malaysians to please stop hurting fellow Malaysians,” Chew said in astatement.

Chew said that other types of abuse endured by the staff include:

• Threatening telephone calls;
   
• Physical intimidation;
   
• Public humiliation; and
   
• Vandalism of property.

'Love M'sians more than you hate others'

“We can understand people’s anger over the conflict in Gaza which has claimed thousands of innocent lives. But what we cannot accept is Malaysians venting out their anger at fellow Malaysians over what’s happening in Gaza.

“Malaysians are already hurting from all the national tragedies and many other issues we are facing today. We don’t need any more hurt.

“We need healing as a nation. We need to love our fellow Malaysians more than we hate others,” he said.

Last week Malaysiakini reported that McDonald’s delivery personnel were told not to wear uniforms and to remove all McDonald’s logos from their motorcycles fearing attacks.

Some delivery staff said they have been hurled insults while on the job, including by other motorists.

A video of youths verbally abusing a McDonald’s drive-through staff has also gone viral online.

A McDonald’s outlet in Terengganu also had to shut down operations last week after a rowdy protest which saw protestors pelting stones at the restaurant.



Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/271297

IGP, policemen liable for Kugan’s lock-up death, appeal court rules

The Court of Appeal today upheld a High Court ruling that Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and his police officers were responsible for the death in custody of A. Kugan five years ago.

Court of Appeal judge Datuk Wong Dak Wah, who delivered the court's unanimous judgment, said custodial deaths should not happen in this country and there must be zero tolerance.

"An independent and public inquiry must be held to commensurate the right of the deceased family," he said in affirming the findings of the then High Court judge, Datuk V. T. Singham, last year -Wong, who sat with Datuk Ariff Mohd Yusof and Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, said in this case, the burden was shifted to the family of Kugan to prove their claim in court.

He said the court had to take a proactive role in custodial deaths because there was no independent body to monitor detaining authorities. Singham in his judgment on June 26 last year said there were overwhelming evidence to establish a claim of assault, referring to the nature of injuries which "spoke volumes."

Kugan's mother N. Indra, filed a RM100 million suit against Khalid, then the Selangor police chief, former constable V. Navindran, former Subang Jaya OCPD Assistant Commissioner Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar (deceased), the Inspector-General of Police, and the government.

Khalid was subsequently promoted IGP. Indra alleged that the defendants failed to ensure the safety, health and welfare of her son was while in custody.

She also filed a claim of misfeasance in public office against Khalid which the Court of Appeal agreed. Kugan, then 22, was arrested in Puchong on Jan 14, 2009, and held overnight at the Puchong Jaya police lock-up before police obtained a remand order.

He was taken to the Taipan USJ, Subang Jaya police station two days later for questioning and was found dead on January 20, 2009.

Singham, who has since retired, said Khalid was also liable for misfeasance as he failed to carry his duty required of a senior civil servant.

In allowing the suit, Singham had said the injuries Kugan suffered could not have been done by one person and that the senior officers could not plead ignorance.

Wong, however, allowed Navindran's appeal and ruled that he was not solely responsible for Kugan's death. He then attributed liability at 55% for the death of Kugan against the police, and 45% against Navindran.

The appellate court also set aside the award for false imprisonment which Singham had awarded at RM100,000.