Is Malaysia a nation of cowards, who only sit and moan at what is going on around them? Its only January and I foresee an exciting year ahead, for me personally and for the bigger world at large. In light of everything going on now, I am transported back to the 1979 revolution in Iran that overthrew the dictatorship of a monarch but which unfortunately instated a new form of quasi democratic theocratic dictatorship. While I am not claiming that theocracy has to be undemocratic, the complexity of syariahs history and other forms of religion codified-laws makes it difficult to negotiate the hermeneutics of these laws within the parameters of Enlightenment democracy. Of course, many countries have undergone many revolutions, some beginning as a fight for sovereignty before transforming into resistance against cruel rulers. What would Tunisias fate be? There are talks in the media about how suppressed Islamist groups are becoming a force to be reckoned with. They overthrew a ...

east med wanderer has added a photo to the pool: Betwa river in front for more information on Orchha see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchha

royaldrummer has added a photo to the pool: The fine carvings of Mukteswar temple, Bhubaneswar Orissa (india). The color comes from the red sandstone.

Masood Hussain has added a photo to the pool: Best viewed large..

DUBAI: An Indian teenager died after accidentally falling from the window of a high rise building in Abu Dhabi, according to a news report. Thirteen-year-old Asma Abdul Rasakh, an eight class student of Indian High School, was fixing a curtain hook at her residence on Saturday when the chair she was standing on slipped and threw her out of the window and she died on the spot, according to eyewitnesses. "On Saturday around noon, we heard a loud sound. It's only a little later we learnt that a girl had fallen from the 11th floor window. Immediately a lot of people assembled and Abu Dhabi Police soon cordoned off the area. We don't know how the accident happened, but two of the windows of the 11th floor flat remain open," said an eyewitness. Family members said the body is kept at the Central Hospital morgue and would be cremated in Abu Dhabi once the formalities are complete. The family hails from Perla, Kasargodu district of Kerala. She is survived by two brothe...

Here is an initial analysis of the Indian votes in Tenang: 20082011 Total Indians voted1104694 Indian votes for BN550555 Indians voted for PR554144 This analysis is very telling. 1) What BN got in 2008, it was able to defend in 2011. 2) PR lost support of almost 400 Indian voters 2008- 2011. 3) But that did not mean BN got those lost votes. These Indian voters very smartly just abstained from voting either PR or BN they just stayed home on a rainy day. The rains make more difference to them than either BN or PR. Now, playing HRP and HINDRAF into this Tenang election could produce a picture like this 1) 90%,of the Indians would have come out to vote if HRP/Hindraf were a factor in this election- in spite of the rain. 2) That will be 1500 voters who would have voted. 3) All those who abstained would very likely have voted HRP/HINDRAF. 4) That is already about 950 voters. 5) Then add about half those who voted BN vote for HRP, that will be another 275. 6) That makes for a total of 1...

The real issue here is ketuanan Melayu, ketuanan Islam: that Malays and Islam are superior to others, so you all keep your mouths shut. Only their sensitivities are allowed to be expressed. Others just keep quiet and accept your plight. That is what it is all about. Unfortunately, what is so ketuanan about Muslims and Islam? The moment Malays mention this, then the Malays must be prepared to be challenged. They cannot practise ketuanan and expect other races/religions to keep quiet, especially when the Malays/Islam have nothing superior. Dr M has raised the question as to why Chinese/Indians dont embrace Islam out of love. The reason is obvious. There is nothing that attracts me. The way it is practised makes me wonder whether they are allowed to think. Malays must do something to themselves so that they can be ketuanan. At the moment they are kosongan. I have read the book. It is full of geographical, cultural errors which do not reflect a National Literature Laureate. I a...

With BNs Tenang win, Malaysia far from being Tunisia, Egypt January 31, 2011 BN leaders and Azahar (in songkok) raise their arms in victory in the Tenang by-election last night, January 30, 2011. Picture by Choo Choy May KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 Will Malaysia become like Egypt and Tunisia? This is a question which many Malaysians are asking in the wake of people power and street demonstrations which have rocked several Muslim countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan. Barisan Nasionals (BN) 3,707-vote majority win in Tenang within its Johor stronghold shows that the ruling coalition remains popular among the electorate although it has failed to regain the Chinese vote, a major block in most urban areas. However, opposition politicians like to believe that the conditions are ripe for a similar style uprising here, citing repressive practices and endemic corruption by the BN government. On the flip side, government leaders say that the si...

4 Share 0 diggs digg If the BN wins yet again, it is going to demolish the morale of the people who had very strongly called for change in 2008, warns S Arutchelvan . It is time to work together to ensure change. If the BN wins the next general election, we could see the introduction of GST - Photo courtesy of wargamarhaen.blogspot.com It is time to consolidate and focus our efforts in 2011 to end 53 years of BNs rule which is marred with repression, corruption and authoritarianism. (Note, before the May 13, 1969 emergency, the BN was called the Alliance). If a general election is called in 2011, it will be the best time to oust the tyrant. Today, perhaps for the first time in our history, there seems to be a real chance to change the ruling party at the Federal Level. Pakatan Rakyat, in spite of all its shortcomings, has proven to be the best force to overthrow the BN in the next general election. PR has committed itself to a welfare state and has pledged to abolish a...

Kugan's death: RCI only? Home Minister, IGP and AG must go Written by Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysia Chronicle The Sessions Court acquitted 30 year-old police constable V Navindran for causing the death of A. Kugan who died whilst he was in police custody. The prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case. Kugans family was deeply disappointment with the court verdict but indicated that they would continue to seek justice for Kugan. Initial post-mortem reports stated that the 23 year-olds death was classified as sudden death and that he had water in his lungs. Following a second post mortem examination, his death was reclassified as murder. A 2010 BBC report said that over 1,500 people died between 2003 and 2007 while being held by the authorities. There are also unsubstantiated reports that most of the dead were Indian. MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said that he had...

Who says that it is arbitrarily wrong to state the Melayu are stupid? How many people even know who is a Melayu, and who is not? Do Malaysians even know the difference? Well, take a walk with me, and see how you fare on this educational journey. The next time you meet someone who claims to be a Melayu, ask him, or her if he/she is a Melayu Deli or Melayu Riau. Thats the first question the individual needs to answer. A Javanese is definitely NOT a Melayu. He is a Javanese. The same applies to a Batak, Achehnese, Bugis, Sundanese, Sumba, Florence, Balinese, and so on. BTW, the Bataks are further subdivided into Karonese, Toba, PakPak, and so on. And NONE see eye to eye, and have much heated debates on which group is more Pure. I guess that they forgot that the concept of Thoroughbreds is directly propagating the concept of in-breeding. Somewhere, somehow, people just forgot this. You see, in Indonesia, there are more than 164 sukus, and Melayu is but one of them. Why is it s...

LRCAN has added a photo to the pool: Fuerte de Amber, Jaipur.

WASHINGTON: After being duped by a California-based "sham" university, scores of Indian students in the US are now enduring the ignominy of being forced to wear radio collars around their ankles so that authorities can keep track of their movements. The students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, may also be deported as authorities shut down Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, a major suburb in San Francisco Bay Area, on charges of a massive immigration fraud. A number of students were interrogated by authorities and also forced to wear radio collars fitted with GPS technology to track their movements. "They (the students) were tagged with some sort of monitoring system placed on their ankles," Jayaram Komati of the Telugu Association of North America told a private Indian channel. "...it is none of their (the students') fault, but the university is at fault as it violated some rules and regulations because of which all the students are being victimised ...

"FLOM"= First Lady of Malaysia Read here for more Putrajaya: A new unit in the Prime Ministers Department has set tongues wagging. The unit known as FLOM, an acronym for First Lady of Malaysia, is a full-fledged department that looks into the operational needs of the Prime Ministers wife, Rosmah Mansor. Ensconed within the premises of the PMs Office, FLOM has a six-member staff headed by special officer Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod. The rest of the unit comprises two personal assistants Saleha Mohd Rabani and Siti Zaiton Abdul Ghani and three assistant officers with special functions G Vimala, Rizal Mansor and Nurul Rosemiemmy Kahsimi. What these personnel actually do is anyones guess and FLOMs mission and vision remain a mystery. The Prime Ministers Office (PMO) official website too is not helpful. Suffice to say that FLOM was probably involved in the highly publicised and controversial Islamic Fashion Week, the recent RM4.5 mill! ion thre e-day First Ladies Summit and, not t...

Australia is the best graded country in our report, followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Australia scores well in virtually all major categories of risk. Its government system is stable and it has very well developed national institutions that are staffed by professionals and operate largely free from political interference. Social instability risks are lower only in Japan and Singapore. It faces fewer external threats than any other country covered by this report. India is the worst-graded country in our report. Although India is trying to position itself as another emerging market success story to rival China, it faces external security risks and internal divisions in the form of terrorist threats, insurrection movements, and state-level disputes that are largely absent from China. These risks, combined with the policy implementation weaknesses associated with a very fragmented multi-party coalition government, the poor quality of physical infrastructure, and suffocating level...

DUBAI: A four-year-old Indian girl has won half a kilogramme of gold at a promotional draw lined up for the Dubai Shopping Festival. Jase Elma Mathew won the prize in the ongoing 'Bag of Fortune' campaign launched by Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group during the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF). Her father, Saju Mathew, entered Jase's name on several raffle coupons that he received on purchase of gold jewellery. "This is the first time that anyone in our family has won in a raffle draw of the DSF. Needless to say, our happiness is beyond words and little Jase is excited too. We look forward to taking part in more such winning opportunities that make the DSF so special," Mathew said. Jase's mother, Elma Mathew, plans to save the gold for her future and perhaps for Jase's wedding one day. "Gold is an important part of Indian weddings and Jase is lucky to have won gold. We are very happy for her," Elma said. A Bangladeshi was another winner in th...

Imperative that the public lock horns over Interlok Introduction by CPI The Star today frontpaged Interlok stays as its main story and reporting Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying the contentious novel is to remain a Form 5 exam text but with amendments to several aspects deemed sensitive by the Indian community. A section of the Indian community suspects that the selection of this more than 40-year-old book only reprinted as recently as last year was impelled by an ulterior motive. The novel Interlok not only portrays the Indian community as the pariah class that emigrated to the peninsula but has as its running theme a recurrent allusion to the Indian and Chinese races as pendatang as well as many negative, racial stereotypes. Muhyiddin was quoted by The Star (source: Bernama) as saying that his ministrys decision to retain Interlok was made after taking into consideration the views of all parties, which acknowledged that the book was good in nurturi...

kaushik.photo has added a photo to the pool:

Tenang Indian voters: Interlok? Whats that? The Indian voters in Tenang are more concerned with bread-and-butter issues than an inconsequential book. LABIS: The majority of the Indian voters here are unperturbed as the Interlok debate rages, thus foiling the oppositions bid to exploit it and win their votes. Despite the uproar caused by the governments move to merely amend the book amid demands that it be completely removed, many Tenang Indian voters say they will not vote based on the issue which some have described as irrelevant. Yes, I am a bit disturbed by it but I got better things to think of, said one voter who wants to be known only as Sathia, a 32-year-old rubber tapper. Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday that the controversial textbook would continue to be used for the literature component of Bahasa Malaysia for Form 5 in Zone 2, namely Kuala Lumpur, P...

To hell with upsetting the 8% Indian voters. (see Utusan Malaysia 29/1/11 at headlines)

Kugans family upset by constables acquittal By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani January 28, 2011 N. Indra, Kugan's mother KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 The family of A.Kugan are deeply disappointed that the man accused of causing his death was acquitted by the Petaling Jaya Session Court this morning. Judge Aslam Zainuddin found constable V.Navindran not guilty of causing grievous hurt to the 23-year old, since the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case. Kugans aunt, Renuka Subramaniam, told reporters that the family is still seeking for justice over his death. We are really not satisfied with the decision. We as Malaysians do not feel safe as we can still die under police custody. We have been mourning the loss of our son for over two years and today his mother wants to know what has happened him. What we can tell her? she said while sitting beside Kugans mother. Navindran, 28, was charged for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to ex...

PETALING JAYA: Various groups have condemned the government decision to retain the novel Interlok as a Malay literature text in schools, and their anger is directed mostly at Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister. Klang MP Charles Santiago called it a slap on the face of Malaysian Indians and accused Muhyiddin of pandering to ultra-Malays to win votes in the Tenang by-election. Muhyiddin, who announced the government decision today, said there would be amendments to the Abdullah Hussain novel to avoid hurt to Indian sentiments. Many groups are offended by what they describe as the novels stereotyped and misleading characterisation of Indians in Malaysia. He is pandering to the conservatives within Umno to secure his position in the party at the expense of the Indian community, said Santiago. This morning, Santiago led a group of 25 people representing non-governmental organisations and opposition parties to the Tenang police ...

Interlok to remain as textbook but sensitive parts will be edited later KUALA LUMPUR: The novel Interlok will remain as a textbook in the literature component of the Bahasa Malaysia subject for Form Five students, but changes will be made to parts deemed sensitive by the Indian community, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said. Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, said an independent panel would be set up to study the types of amendments and submit recommendations to the Government. The decision to continue using the novel, with amendments so as not to hurt the feelings of the Indian community, is the best solution, Muhyiddin said in a statement. He added that the panel would comprise linguists, academics, literary figures and representatives of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as well as the Indian community. I expect the amendments to be carried out in the near future, he said, adding that the novel would be distributed to schools f...

MELBOURNE: Thousands of Indians are still waiting for a refund of their tuition fees following the closure of several colleges in Australia, said an official of an Indian students' federation. Gautam Gupta, spokesperson for the Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA), said: "There are thousands of ordinary Indians who are still waiting for refund of their tuition fees following closure of several colleges in Australia. "This total figure although unknown could be in millions - much more than the Commonwealth Games dues owed to Australian companies." He said this issue was raised by India's then human resource development minister Kapil Sibal when he visited Australia in May 2010. A large number of Indian students who had enrolled in some colleges in Australia were hit hard following the closure of their colleges. The Indian students have also faced a string of attacks in Australia over the past two years, causing an uproar in India. Nitin Garg, ...

WASHINGTON: A Sikh community group says it will challenge any effort by the Indian government to get diplomatic immunity for urban development minister Kamal Nath for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The issue of diplomatic immunity is decided by the court and the US Department of State can only give its recommendation, according to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal advisor to Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US based human rights advocacy group, which filed a civil suit against Kamal Nath last April. If diplomatic immunity is granted to Kamal Nath, plaintiffs will challenge it in the highest court of the US and will also lodge petitions and complaints before the UN Human Rights Commission with regard to India's open practice of impunity, he said Thursday. The US is still reviewing whether Kamal Nath, who has been summoned by a New York court for his alleged role in the1984 anti-Sikh riots, can be given diplomatic immunity, State Department spokesperson Philip J. Crowle...

Ganyang or Selamatkan M'sia: BN crushes and Pakatan saves Written by Jeswan Kaur, Malaysia Chronicle It is worrying when people refuse to learn from history and keep repeating mistakes. In this instance, it is the Umno-controlled newspaper Utusan Malaysia that has been seen as riding high even to the point of arrogance, and all for the wrong reasons. The newspaper recently tried to get rid of its writer Hata Wahari using intimidating tactics because he - in his capacity as head of the journalists' union - had questioned Utusan's racial stand in many of its writings. But what did such action earn Utusan? Loads of public wrath and certainly a drop in readership. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the 'almighty' Utusan top management, the battle is far from over. For now, Hata's issue has been put on the backburner for there is a bigger and supposedly mor...

Malaysian court sends back 14 year old poor child Mughilan back to jail to continue with 2 months jail before even being found guilty. Arising out of a swimming pool misunderstanding where Mughilan (14) was alleged to have at worst accidently touched a young girl while swimming. The policeman slapped Mughilan 3 times on the cheek, handcuffed him to his motorcycle and brought him to the police station. Mughilan started sobbing and repeated that he had not done any wrong. Children are naturally naughty and should be protected and not punished under any legal system in any part of the world. Just because two police reports were lodged by Mughilan against the police, he was slapped with a charge under Section 354 of the Penal Code for outraging modesty and criminal force in outraging modesty which carries a ten year jail term whipping and a fine. How could a 14 year old boy use force on an 8 year old girl in a public area swimming pool at 6.15 p.m which is peak time wit...