Chief of Police should resign as a "gentleman"

28 JANUARI 2009
KENYATAAN MEDIA

Ketua Polis Selangor Harus Letak Jawatan Secara 'Gentleman' Orangramai begitu sedih dan kesal terhadap apa yang berlaku terhadap mendiang A. Kugan, 22 yang mati semasa berada di dalam tahanan polis di Balai Polis USJ 8, Subang Jaya tujuh hari yang lalu.

Tanpa berasa bersalah (without guilty conscience) Ketua Polis Selangor, Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar membuat kenyataan bahawa kematian Kugan adalah disebabkan terdapatnya cecair di dalam paru-paru simati.

Kugan dilaporkan rebah setelah meminum air semasa sesi soal siasat di balai polis tersebut.

Tetapi insiden di bilik mayat Hospital Serdang malam Selasa lepas membongkarkan 'pekong' pihak berkuasa polis dan pihak hospital. Semasa memeriksa seluruh badan Kugan, ahli keluarga serta kenalan mendiang dan sekumpulan orang awam mendapati banyak kesan-kesan penderaan seperti calar-calar dan lebam-lebam ke atas hampir seluruh anggota badan mendiang.

Insiden ini membuka mata orangramai betapa perlunya kerajaan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi untuk menpercepatkan penubuhan Suruhanjaya Bebas Penambahbaikan dan Aduan Polis (IPCMC) yang diperjuangkan oleh Pakatan Rakyat dan NGO Hak Asasi dan kemasyarakatan selama ini.

Kita juga menyeru agar ditubuhkan Badan Penyiasatan Bebas bagi menyiasat kes ini kerana orangramai 'sudah hilang kepercayaan' terhadap kredibiliti pihak polis menyiasat kes tersebut. Orangramai mempunyai presepsi bahawa pihak polis 'tidak dapat berlaku adil dan telus' apabila melakukan penyiasatan yang melibatkan anggota polis yang lain.

Kita ingin menegaskan di sini bahawa tugas dan peranan utama Polis "Diraja" Malaysia ("Royal" Malaysian Polis) ialah memelihara keselamatan dan kesejahteraan rakyat serta hartabenda mereka. Tetapi apa yang berlaku sejak kebelakangan ini… contohnya kes mata lebam Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, kes C4 – pembunuhan Altantuya dan terkini kes Kugan yang memerlukan tindakan segera.

Ini akan menimbulkan kepada persoalan umum ….."Polis bertanggungjawab memerhatikan Orangramai….tetapi Siapa pula memerhati Polis" Kes Kugan harus dilihat dari skop yang lebih besar. Ia bukanlah isu perkauman satu-satu kaum sahaja. Ini melibatkan isu keselamatan rakyat yang berbilang kaum yang terdiri dari masyarakat Melayu, Cina dan India.

Ibubapa merasa tidak selamat membenarkan anak-anak muda mereka bekerja apabila pihak polis yang sepatutnya menjamin keselamatan mereka di luar sana bertindak sebaliknya. Pihak Polis harus berdisiplin dan dan bersikap professional.

Sebarang tangkapan harus dimaklumkan kepada keluarga atau waris terdekat suspek. Suspek juga harus diberikan ekses untuk menghubungi peguam apabila mereka ditahan oleh pihak polis. Tetapi malangnya perkara ini tidak berlaku.

Presepsi umum terhadap polis adalah umpama "Tiga Dalam Satu" ….Polis adalah Penguatkuasa (Enforcer) , Hakim ( Judge) dan Pelaksana Hukuman (Executioner). Tanggapan masyarakat terhadap Polis sudah berubah sekarang. Rakyat harus menghormati Polis bukan 'takut' kepada Polis.

Dr. A. Xavier Jayakumar
AHLI MAJLIS MESYUARAT KERAJAAN NEGERI SELANGOR
Tarikh : 28HB Januari, 2009

UPSR award presentation ceremony 2008

PKR CNY Open Hse

27 January 2009
Hokkien Hall, Klang

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Chinese New Year celebrations.

Happy New Year !! to all my dear Chinese readers. I hope you have had a chance to enjoy the long weekend, and hope you have made it back safely to your homes.

This CNY saw me attending the PKR CNY Open House at Klang Hokkien Hall, on Monday. All the top leadership of Keadilan were there, as well as our friends from PAS and DAP.

Reduction of Premium for KKM Health Clinic

KENYATAAN MEDIA

22 Januari 2009, Khamis

Pengurangan Kadar Bayaran Premium Bagi Tapak Klinik Kesihatan
Ibu dan Kanak-kanak
Di Lot 11, Seksyen 15, Bandar Klang, Daerah Klang, Negeri Selangor

Keluasan : Kira-kira 0.675 ekar ( 2,731.63 meter persegi)
Premium Yang Harus Dibayar : RM 396,226.35 (berdasarkan jumlah 1/4 dari harga pasaran)

Harga pasaran berdasarkan nilaian tanah oleh Jabatan Penilaian dan Perkhidmatan Harta Negeri Selangor : RM1,584,345.40 (RM580 semeter persegi) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Selangor dalam Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (EXCO) pada Rabu 21 Januari, 2009 yang baru lalu telah bersetuju dan meluluskan kadar bayaran premium nominal terhadap rayuan yang dikemukakan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia bertarikh 05 September 2008 .

DR. A. XAVIER JAYAKUMAR
Ahli Majlis Mesyuarat Kerajaan Negeri (EXCO)
Kesihatan, Pekerja Ladang, Kemiskinan dan Kerajaan Prihatin Negeri Selangor
Tarikh : Khamis 22 Januari, 2008

Flashback : Cycling for Change (JERIT)

CYCLING FOR CHANGE - by Rani Rasiah

It was 11.30 am on 18 December 2008. The 500 km stretch of road leading to Parliament was lined on both sides with the red-shirted teenage heroes of the Cycle for Change campaign and supporters. They waited in anticipation as one kilometer away, the 'Prepared to be arrested' team (Skuad berani kena tahan) of 30 adult cyclists got ready. Tense negotiations were taking place between the police and our organizers at the point the road forked. The police stand for the day was absolutely no bicycles, whether cycled, pushed or carried, would be allowed. The order came from the Deputy Inspector Genral of Police and three police district were mobilised to ensure his instructions are met. For the Jerit organizers not cycling to parliament to hand over the memorandum was inconceivable.

Suddenly the knot of negotiating policemen and organizers broke up to allow through a stream of 12 cyclists pedaling towards parliament. Wild applause filled the air as the waiting cyclists and supporters rejoiced.

To the cyclists and organizers a historic 16-day adventure of struggle and fun had come to a successful end. To the police and their masters, it seemed as if the biggest threat to the nation had ceased.

Is it a crime to cycle?

Throughout the course of the cycle for change campaign the police have tried to criminalize the entire program by randomly accusing us of breaking all kinds of laws. First they wanted us to stop cycling, warning otherwise that we would be guilty of illegal assembly and holding a procession. When initially they could not justify that, they said our leaflets were in contravention of the laws on printing and publications Act, as truly we had failed to print the source of the leaflet. After we had rectified that, they were still not happy and kept pouncing on our pamphleteering teams. A number of people got arrested for this.When we took a break from pamphleteering, they arrested us for obstructing the police from carrying out their duties, in this case, clambering up our bus to intimidate our cyclists. Earlier, they had detained our bicycles that were being transported by a lorry to our next stop and I guess the only illegal thing about that was that it belonged to the campaign. In all the states the northern team had been to earlier – Kedah, Penang and Perak – we had been constantly harassed, assaulted, intimidated and wrongfully arrested by the police. Our camera had been snatched from us, an organiser molested etc. But the Selangor CPO and the Rawang police take the cake. Especially the CPO, Khalid Abu Bakar. He ordered for all the cyclists and organizers who were then seated in a restaurant having tea hosted by YB Gan Pei Nei, to be arrested for illegal assembly. Later he announced to the media that the organisers would be charged under the Child Act for forcing unwilling under-18s to cycle impossible distances and without consent from their parents. He unleashed the FRU on angry Malaysians holding candles outside the police station to press for the immediate release of all detained.

50 people aged 15 to 50 cycling single file through the peninsular, wearing t-shirts outlining the main issues affecting our working people – could that be a crime?

Can't the poor demand change?

The red t-shirts worn by the cyclists carry 6 demands, all of which are discussed in a memorandum that was handed over to the prime minister on 18/12/08 at Parliament. The campaign highlighted six main issues:

A minimum wage act

Adequate housing

Repeal of draconian laws such as the ISA

Control of prices

No privatization of basic amenities and services

Local Council elections

Are these demands irksome? Could be a thorn in the flesh to some. But they are not the result of the creative antics of some bored activists. They are born out of the real day-to-day hardship faced by 60% of the population who are victims of the low and no minimum wage policy of the government. The recession and ensuing job losses coupled with the high prices of staple food items such as rice have actually forced poor people to cut down on overall food intake. The price of milk powder has resulted in children drinking kopi-o and teh-o. What is so wrong in asking for a change to this situation?

Who will save our children?

Suddenly the police and their masters want to save the children!

They wanted to save our under-18s from being exploited and abused to further the aims of certain groups. So the police ordered the children into the station, barked orders at them, called them in for documentation one by one, separated them from the abusers (organisers), lectured them separately about the illegality of the whole campaign, the likely effect on their future etc. Then they roped in the welfare officers supposedly to protect and hand over the children to their parents when they arrived but who instead began writing intelligence reports on them. All the while the children they wanted to save were left drying in their shirts that had got drenched earlier while walking into the police station. There were sneaky attempts to record statements from the children, and those who refused to cooperate were called devils and yelled at. Some were asked to remove the offensive red shirt. One who said she would not leave the police station until all her co-cyclists and organisers were released was screamed at and threatened. Finally after 3am, they were given mats and pillows to sleep on. In so many ways the police tried to save the children from us.

When the parents arrived the next day, the police got a rude awakening, with all of them demanding reasons for detaining their children.

Who are the police trying to fool? It's not the children they are trying to save but their political masters and cronies whose policies are the cause of the hardship faced by people, and this campaign is obviously causing them a great deal of discomfort and damage. What a sham to say children should not be involved in or exposed to the issues of the campaign! As a member of a low-income household, every injustice affecting the parents translates into some form of material and emotional deprivation for the child. When a parent is unable to put 3 square meals on the table, there are no saviours to intervene and save the children. Children in a low-income home have to become adults quickly to understand their reality, and in many cases to start working to add to family income. Remember the children of plantation workers carrying oversized pails, and walking from tree to tree collecting scrap? They don't have the luxury of growing up as children. Their parents' plight is their plight. Their parents' struggle theirs.

What about children pining for loved ones in detention in Kamunting? If they were sincere, the government could save the children by abolishing the ISA!

Use resources to fight crime!

The entire police force of the country over the 16 days seems to have been mobilized to monitor and halt the campaign. At least 15 roadblocks in various districts from Alor Setar to Rawang, more than half led by OCPDs or their deputies were mounted. Many roadblocks were manned by up to 30 policemen. In Bagan Serai the Light Strike Force was waiting for the cyclists. The Special Branch followed the whole campaign in cars with photographers clicking away day and night, never losing sight of us. Patrol cars and unmarked cars hovered around the places where we stayed the night (though this round-the-clock vigil by the police failed to stop the real criminals, such as the arsonists who burnt 6 of our bicycles in Permatang Pauh).

The police worked with great zeal, even beyond the call of duty. In Kanthan Baru, they produced a form used on suspects of secret societies with questions on gang membership to be filled up for every cyclist!

Why spend so much time, money and energy trying to obstruct and stop a peaceful, healthy activity by people exercising their democratic rights in a non-violent manner?

The parents waiting outside the Rawang police station spoke for all Malaysians when they gave the police an earful on how precious resources could be used to fight the many crimes plaguing the nation instead of hounding us

The great German socialist Rosa Luxemburg, famously remarked that those who do not move do not notice their chains. The cyclists of the Cycle for Change campaign stand testimony to that reality. We are glad we moved. We are glad we cycled. As we cycled for change we found the chains that shackle us, and are determined to break them.

--
visit our website at
http://parti-sosialis.org

PAS won the Kuala Terengganu by-election

I have it from friends in KT, that PAS has unofficially won the Kuala Terengganu by-election by a majority of 2,631 votes.

Flashback : Campaigning in Kuala Terengganu

After my flight landed on Thursday morning from Bombay, India; my team and I made a quick trip to KT to help with the campaign in the crucial areas. These are some of the photos from that day.

A long overdue catchup

To all my dear readers, first of all I would like to wish everyone A Very Happy New Year. It's been a while since the blog has been updated, we've been very busy with end of year deadlines, and many of my volunteers and staff were on leave. I myself managed to take a much needed break with the family over Christmas and the New Year. I hope that the holiday season was good for you and your families as well.

Since the first week of January 2009, I've been abroad representing Selangor at 2 consecutive international trade conferences here in India. This first being the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention 2009 (January 7-9) in Chennai, followed by the Vibrant Gujarat: Global Investors' Summit in Ahmadabad (where I am now).

Selangor's participation here in both these International Conferences, is for the first time ever. The Selangor Government has never before made such an attempt of engaging investors and businesses here in India. Alongside Selangor, both the Pakatan Rakyat governments of Perak and Penang have also sent delegations here.

There is no doubt that these premier networking events, assume a significance of unexpected magnitude. The event creates opportunities for exploring mutually beneficial trade and business relationships and networking among the community. It also symbolises the continued interest of the Indian government in the progress and well-being of overseas Indians.

The Pakatan Rakyat representatives at the Chennai Convention made a stand yesterday (10th January 2008), that while many Indians abroad have done well for themselves, we must remember that there are many that have not done so well. The low economic status and lack of progress and development amongst the Malaysian Indians that were brought to Malaysia 50 years ago as labourers must not be forgotten. (Our full statement to follow)

Selangor in talks to woo investors

This is the fully article carried by the NST on Saturday. I guess with the way the papers are reporting these days, I should be grateful that they say anything decent about the Pakatan Rakyat led states.

NST, Saturday 10th January 2009

THE Selangor government is negotiating with several investors in India on the possibility of direct foreign investment in the state in the face of the economic slowdown.

State executive councillor in charge of Health, Estates Workers, Poverty and Caring Government, Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, said yesterday that Selangor investment council officers had initiated talks with interested parties over the past few days.

He said he would discuss the issue of FDI into Selangor and reverse investment in India with heads of government linked companies in Selangor on his return from the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference.

Dr Xavier was confident that some headway would be made in terms of attracting Tamil businessmen to Selangor as Tamil Nadu had a vibrant state economy which was among the three best in India.

Meanwhile, Penang Deputy Chief Minister Dr P. Ramasamy told the New Straits Times that Penang would not be as badly affected as other states this year due to the fact that it had attracted several big investors last year.

"We hope to do reasonably well this year despite the gloomy economic forecast. This is because the services sector is doing well. The hotel sector is expanding and providing jobs for many."

Pakatan disputes Hindraf figures (NST)

News Straits Times, Saturday, 10th January 2008

PAKATAN Rakyat has distanced itself from Hindraf chairman P. Waytha Moorthy's call to the Indian government to impose trade sanctions against Malaysia over the alleged ill-treatment of Malaysian Indians.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister Dr P. Ramasamy said the five states under the opposition coalition had their own way of handling the welfare of Malaysian Indians.

"We don't need a foreign country interfering in our domestic affairs," he said on the sidelines of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD).

Ramasamy said while Waytha Moorthy had his own way of handling the matter, "we value the cordial ties we have with India and have no intentions of severing it".

He said Pakatan Rakyat would study the pamphlet released to the 1,600 delegates attending the meeting by Waytha Moorthy and would state its stand on the statistics contained in the publication in the future.

It is understood that PR leaders here are unhappy with the exaggerated statistics quoted in the document by the Hindraf leader, who is in self-imposed exile, which they felt would undermine the efforts to help Indians in Malaysia.

Much of the statistics are said to be questionable as they were compiled before the March 8 general election last year.

On the statement by MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu on Thursday that Malaysian Indians had not been marginalised by the government, Ramasamy said the results of the March 8 general election last year had proven otherwise.

He said Samy Vellu had used the PBD as a forum to enhance the flagging image of the MIC which had only three members of parliament as opposed to the 11 Malaysian Indian Pakatan MPs.

Ramasamy said he would be writing to Indian Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi to protest the fact that Samy Vellu had been given prominence at the conference.

He hoped the Pakatan delegation would be seen as the main delegation from Malaysia at next year's conference despite the fact that the MIC delegation was always the largest from around the world.

"We reserve the right to represent Malaysian Indians here. The MIC is a small party with limited representation in Parliament and the various state assemblies."