Former Sabah Pakatan reps face hostile reception

By Roy Goh THREE assemblymen will be seated with different views when the Sabah 2014 Budget is presented at the state legislative assembly this Friday.

After their unceremonious departure recently, they will not be sitting with the opposition Pakatan line-up and surely not with Barisan Nasional backbenchers.

Despite claiming to be government or BN-friendly independents, Hiew King Chiu, Jelani Hamdan and Jeremy Malajad will be on their own.

How they plan to support BN is anybody's guess, but they can expect a hostile reception from Pakatan lawmakers.

Hiew was the first to leave DAP in September, followed by Jeremy and Jelani from PKR on different days last week.

This sparked strong protests from the parties they represented in the May 5 general election this year, apart from showing cracks in the loose alliance. It also exposed undelivered promises that were eventually used by the trio as part of their excuse to leave the opposition pact.

Following the election, Pakatan reasoned it needed to provide greater recognition to Kadazandusun leaders to hold on to its support in Sabah. Leaders from the community were promised key positions but were left out.

Former Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin was made Sabah PKR chief and opposition leader in the state assembly. Hiew disagreed, however, on how Lajim was picked as the leader while Jelani and Jeremy felt the Kadazandusuns were marginalised by PKR.

Pakatan is now left with eight assemblymen -- five from PKR and three from DAP. Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitin BN can also make do without the three independents as they still command a big majority or 48 of the 60 seats in the state assembly.

Some of the BN component parties would not be too excited if their coalition partners roped in any of the three under their wing.

Hiew was Kota Kinabalu member of parliament after the 2008 general election and Luyang assemblyman after May 5, defeating candidates from PBS and MCA respectively.

Jeremy, the Kadamaian assemblyman, was with Upko but jumped ship to PKR to contest against PBS incumbent Herbert Timbun Lagadan.

As for Jelani, who was once a rising star in Umno before being suspended for money politics, his return to BN would likely not be welcomed. PBS deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili made it clear recently when he said BN would need to be wary of their intentions.

"Direct acceptance of opposition representatives into a BN component party is essentially party hopping and unprincipled political behaviour.

"It is gratifying that members of the opposition and their elected representatives have realised that only BN can deliver for the people. PBS welcomes new BN supporters but, as a principle, it prefers to be cautious of elected representatives who have jumped parties.

"It is important to know if those who left the opposition were sincere in their actions," said Ongkili, who is also Kota Marudu MP.

As a rule, former BN members who contested for the opposition could not be accepted without full consent from coalition members.

Upko secretary-general Datuk Donald Mojuntin said it was only fair for the coalition partners that were affected in the elections.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had lambasted the three party hoppers and blamed the BN for enttheir respective parties.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, however, said Anwar should look within the opposition alliance before pointing fingers at others.

"There are certain leaders in Pakatan who have come to realise that to stay on with the coalition would be futile.

"They are moving on to serve their constituencies. Instead of blaming others for its weaknesses, Pakatan should examine itself."

Read more: Former Sabah Pakatan reps face hostile reception - Columnist - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/former-sabah-pakatan-reps-face-hostile-reception-1.399132#ixzz2kUQazgcI

Christian leaders harden stand on Allah, say Putrajaya misleading East Malaysians on court ruling

Christian leaders in Sabah and Sarawak have vowed to carry on using the word Allah even if it meant being prosecuted under a Home Ministry directive allowed by a court ruling.

They also accused Putrajaya of trying to mislead Christians from East Malaysia into believing that the Court of Appeal ruling was only applicable to the Catholic weekly, Herald.

They said they will speak up on this issue as this is what their respective congregations expected them to do.

In Sarawak today, the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) will hold a public forum to address the use of the word Allah as it "relates to religious freedom". The forum will address the legal implications of the Court of Appeal ruling, on whether the decision only affects the use of the word in the Herald in Peninsular Malaysia.

Catholic Bishop for the Keningau diocese in Sabah Datuk Cornelius Piong said Sabahans, especially the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut natives, have been using the word for generations and will continue doing so.

"Who is going to stop us? Even God allows us to use the word," he said, calling the move to restrict the use of the word illogical.

His conviction was supported by the Bishop for the Sandakan diocese, Datuk Julius Dusin Gitom, who said that whatever views the church leaders expressed reflected the congregation's feelings.

"We will continue to use the word until they prosecute us," he said.

Gitom also took to task government leaders for "hiding" the real extent of the ruling by saying that the Court of Appeal ruling was limited to the Herald.

"It is not the case and the people know that. It is a blanket ban which affects everyone."

He also accused political parties Umno and PAS of trying to outdo each other in being more Islamic, which he added was a contributor to the Allah problem.

Gitom said some Catholics in rural areas who had no access to information were being told by certain political leaders that there was nothing to worry about, and that it was only a problem for the Herald.

"These politicians are giving Catholics the wrong facts of what is really happening. That is when we step in to explain to them our rights as Christians," Gitom added.

Piong also lashed out at ministers from Sabah who were not speaking up on the issue.

"We are not too happy about it, they are supposed to represent us, they should speak out but they are too quiet."

Piong said that the congregation would continue to use the word, and added: "What can they do, they will have to sew our mouths to stop us."

Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Sabah president Reverend Datuk Jerry Dusing said its members felt cheated over the way in which the government was handling religious issues.

He said that although most of SIB's 300,000 members throughout the country were made up of natives of Sabah and Sarawak living in the interiors, they understood what was happening, even though they did not say much about it in public.

"They may not be able to articulate exactly how they feel, mostly due to lack of confidence, but I visit them in the interiors, and they know what is happening.

"They know the problems they face, in relation to their children being 'converted' to Islam in their identity cards and also losing their native lands. This, they said, is all linked to the government's handling of religious issues," said Dusing.

He claimed there were so many cases where Christian parents were surprised that their children were listed as Muslim in their identity cards.

Dusing also took to task politicians who were trying to play down the issue by saying the ruling was limited to the Herald and would not affect Sabah and Sarawak, pointing out instead that the Court of Appeal judgement had defined that the word Allah was not integral to the Christian faith.

"So let us not be fooled that this is only about Herald and Allah. The judgment is far reaching. How can it then not apply to Sabah and Sarawak? And that is why we are throwing our support behind the Catholic Church in its appeal,” Dusing added.

The Christian community in Sarawak said the forum today is being held to inform and educate Bumiputera Christians who are affected by the court ruling.

ACS secretary-general Ambrose Linang said the forum will discuss the historical context behind the formation of Malaysia and the promises leading to the Malaysia Agreement.

"We will also go into the history of the Malay bible translation, that Allah is an integral part of the Christian faith among the native Christians of Sarawak," said Linang.

"The forum will also discuss the use of Allah in the Malay language bible and Christian publications, and that the use of the word must extend to Christians in the peninsula, based on freedom of religion for all Malaysians.

"The premise is that Article 11 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion for everyone and that it does not say one set of freedom for Sabah and Sarawak and another set of freedom for West Malaysia," he said in a statement.

Speakers at the forum will include lawyer Lim Heng Seng, who will speak on the constitution and religious freedom, Dr Ng Kam Weng, who will address the theological and historical perspective of the use of the word Allah, and Professor Dr Jayum Jawan, on the role of churches in nation building.

On October 14, the Court of Appeal ruled that the word Allah was not an integral part of the Christian faith and practice, where the three-man bench saw no reason for the church to remain adamant in wanting to use the name Allah.

They also said that allowing Christians to use Allah would lead to confusion within the Muslim community.

The ruling drew the attention of Muslim scholars from the international arena who warned that the prohibition of the word could push a progressive country like Malaysia backward. – November 13, 2013.

Villagers block roads to Baram dam site, want heavy machinery removed

A group of native villagers who have been protesting against the Baram dam today demanded that Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) keep its word and remove the heavy machinery at the dam site now that the three-week grace period has lapsed.

Peter Kallang, chairman of non-governmental organisation Save Sarawak Rivers (SAVE), said six natives from among the hundreds of villagers who blocked the access road leading to the dam site, handed the letter to SEB.

SAVE is a grassroots network of indigenous communities and civil society organisations in Sarawak whose main aims are to protect the human rights of the indigenous people and to stop the construction of the dams the Sarawak government plans to build.

“The natives wanted them to remove the machines when it was first brought in on October 23 but the representative said it cannot be done due to logistic issues. They asked to be given three weeks to arrange for transportation and logistics to remove the machines from the site,” he said.

“The natives wanted to tell the company that if they failed to remove the heavy machinery, the villagers should not be held responsible if anything should happen to them,” he said.

On another matter, Kallang said Penan villagers who were affected by the RM4 billion Murum Dam project will lodge a police report on drunk police personnel who had tried to “provoke” them.

Since September 23, police have arrested 10 villagers including two small children over the Baram Dam protest.

“Police should be professional and fair in carrying out their duty and not as a tool to harass the people,” said Kallang.

About 1,500 people have been displaced by the dam project. About 200 Penan, including women and children, are taking turns to camp out in the open to press their demands for fair compensation.

It is understood that the Penan people were promised RM500,000 for each family affected, a plot of land and some other perks when the dam becomes operational.

"However, they were later told that the government would only offer each family or household RM4,000 to move out and RM800 monthly allowance for four years,” said Kallang.

The Murum project is part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) plan, which aims to multiply Borneo's cheap power supply by nearly 20-fold to draw in power-guzzling industries such as aluminium smelters and other factories.

Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) recently claimed that companies associated with Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, like construction conglomerate Cahaya Mata Sarawak, are likely to be the main beneficiaries of public contracts in SCORE.

BMF recently criticised the state government after disclosing that SEB had awarded a contract worth RM618.6 million to develop transmission lines in the state to a company linked to Taib's eldest son, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib.

Trenergy Infrastructure Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Sarawak Cable Bhd (SCB), won the contract.

BMF said company documents showed that Bekir is chairman of SCB and is its second-largest shareholder with a 33% stake in the company. - November 12, 2013.

Suspek kes bunuh dan rompakan bank di Subang Jaya ditahan di Terminal Penerbangan Tambang Murah (LCCT)

Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM) telah mengesahkan khabar angin yang mengatakan suspek kes bunuh dalam rompakan di sebuah bank di Subang Jaya petang semalam telah berjaya ditahan di Terminal Penerbangan Tambang Murah (LCCT) ketika cuba melarikan diri ke Sabah adalah palsu.

Suspek bernama Ardi Hamza, 37, dan berasal dari Tawau Sabah, manakala mangsa bernama Norazita Abu Talib, 37, ialah seorang isteri dan ibu kepada sepasang anak.

Mereka yang mempunyai maklumat mengenai suspek diminta melaporkannya di balai polis terdekat atau menghubungi talian hotline 03-20529999.Source