Anwar accused of sodomy

Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 23, caused a stir in the political scene. He lodged a police report on Saturday against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, saying that he had been sexually assulted and sodomised by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor.

In his blog, Anwar said that the report lodged against him was a "complete fabrication" to damage his political career. The Star reported that in a press conference, his wife, Datin Seri Azizah said the move "is a second conspiracy, a political murder that has been committed against my husband." Anwar has filed a suit gainst Saiful for lodging a malicious report and defaming him.

Azizah, who is PKR president, also released four pictures of the accuser with three Cabinet ministers and one taken at the Depty Prime Minister's office. To find out who the prominent ministers are and more pictures of Saiful, click here.

Following the report, Anwar took refuge at the Turkish Embassy on the invitation of its ambassador to Malaysia, Barlas Ozener. He said he has recived many death threats since the general election on March 8. However, he left the embassy at 6.45 on Monday.

Saiful was Anwar's aide during the general elections. He was also a student leader at Universiti Tenaga Nasional for 2006/2007. He is said to be a mole placed in Anwar's camp "to arrest the movement of the Malaysian people towards freedom, democracy and justice."

They all deny involvement in murder case

Prime Minster Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, his son-in-law, and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib are all denying allegations made by Raja Petra Kamarudin in his statutory declaration.

Najib dismissed that his wife was involved in the murder of Mongolian translator, Altantuya Shaaribuu.

Najib said the allegations that his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, was there at the crime scene as “total lies, fabrication and total garbage”.

He said Rosmah has given her statement to the police. “I welcome the police investigation and I hope they would be concluded soon,” he said when asked by reporters.

Najib also said the declaration was a “desperate and pathetic attempt to taint my political image.”

Meanwhile, Abdullah was reported saying that he did not receive any reports from Military Intelligence regarding the case. Khairy Jamaluddin also denied having received any reports from any party about the murder case.

“I told the police that I have never received any military intelligence report on the murder of Altantuya from the Prime Minister or from any other quarters. Nor have I received any other report from anyone about the murder.

“I don’t have, I’ve not kept any such report and I don’t know anything about the murder,” he told the press.

On June 18, Raja Petra filed a statutory declaration at High Court that he was reliably informed on the presence of three other people at the scene of the crime. They were Rosmah, acting colonel Aziz Buyong who is ‘a C4 expert’ and his wife, only known as Norhayati, who is said to be Rosmah’s aide de camp.

Raja Petra also claimed that Abdullah has received a report from the Military Intelligence about this, then the Prime Minister handed the report to his son-in-law for safe-keeping.

Altantuya’s was reportedly blown to pieces after she was shot dead. Policemen Cif Inspektor Azilah Hadri and Korperal Sirul Azhar Umar, both who are from the Special Action Force, are charged with committing the murder. Political analysis Abdul Razak Baginda is accused of abetting them.

French President says goodbye, policeman commits suicide

ISRAEL- The French President Nicolas Sarkozy received a different kind of goodbye as he was about to leave Israel- a possible suicide by a policeman.

After a gunshot was heard at the tarmac of the airport, President Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni were rushed off into their airplane by security guards. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres were also quickly escorted out of the area.

The Israeli leaders were saying goodbye to the French President on his plane, when the shot was fired. At least two female soldiers fainted when they heard the shot.

Investigation are still under way, according to Israeli officials. However, the local media speculated that it was actually a suicide by a policeman who was 200 yards away from Sarkozy.

At least two Israeli soldiers suffered minor injuries in this incident.

What the government should do

The fuel hike announced by the government evoked reaction from the people. Everyone had (and still has) something to say. One thing for sure, the rakyat are not happy. We’re angry. We want information. Some even resort to street protests to voice out their dissatisfaction.

The Star reported that ‘A large group of opposition party supporters from PAS and PKR gathered in front of the Kampung Baru mosque after Friday prayers to protest the recent fuel price hike.’

With that, here are a few things the government should do to assuage public anger.

1. Improve public transport
Most people rely on private cars to get to their destinations. Now, more people are depending on public transport. Ever been on one? Not exactly a wonderful experience, was it? Memorable, but for the wrong reasons. Therefore, the savings from cutting the subsidies should go to enhancing our public transport.

2. Real price of petrol, real price of cars
If one expects the people to pay the full, real-world price of petrol – and I must say it is a perfectly reasonable expectation – then the rakyat expects, also reasonably, to buy cars at real-world prices, without the exorbitant taxes currently imposed.

I agree with the writer. The above was part of a comment on The Star’s Column, Contradictheory.

3. Reveal Petronas accounts
Don’t compare the petrol price with other countries in the region and say we’re the cheapest (after Brunei). That’s just not right. And we’re NOT stupid. Compare our prices with the other oil-producing countries.

Having said that, Petronas raked in millions of ringgit in revenue every year. Where’s all the money? Shouldn’t it be sufficient to cover the fuel subsidy? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see for this one.


People from all walks of life are affected by the fuel hike, especially the poor.

In Malaysia Today, Bank Islam Malaysia senior economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin was reported saying

“For the poor, the recent fuel price hike comes as a double whammy of sort. For the past one year, they have been struggling to make ends meet with the rising food costs. Now they are hit once more with more expensive fuel while there is zero growth in their income.”

The ministers should not just in the air-conditioned offices and leave it to the people to cope with the changes. After all, it’s their job. They are the ones who should think of ways to help us. That’s why they were elected. It’s their responsibility.

Malay, Malaysian...what's the difference?

What does it mean to be a Malaysian? Does it matter what language you speak, what your skin colour is, or what race you are? Well, it matters a lot if you’re a Malay, because according to Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution, you are the one of the ‘chosen’ ones.

Before going any deeper into the subject, let’s get one thing straight. Who exactly is a Malay? I spent a fair amount of time on Google, and these are what makes a Malay.

- Malaysian citizen born to a Malaysian citizen who professes to be a Muslim
- Habitually speaks the Malay language
- Adheres to Malay customs
- Resides in Malaysia

If you have all the above, congrats! You’re a Malay, welcome aboard!

Now let’s check out what you get.

Article 153 explains the rights and privileges of the Malays (and the bumiputera). Among other things,

- quotas for entry into the civil service
- more opportunities for entry into public education
- higher chances of getting public scholarships
- allocation of extensive Malay land reservations

It started out when Malaya gained independence, the Malays were doubtful of the loyalty of non-Malays towards Malaya. Capiche? Therefore, in order for the non-Malays to be granted citizenship, the rights of the Malays had to be protected.

It is also considered as a social contract. One particular blogger uses a simple analogy to describe the situation- you can stay in my house, but any privilege to watch television should be given to me first, as I am the owner.

Maybe that was the right decision to be made during that time. But fast forward 50 years, some things have changed. It doesn’t help that some politicians make statements and decisions, in the name of the 'constitution'.

It might be time to look into the article, maybe some changes can be made for the benefit of all. I believe everyone deserves the right to receive education. How about the implementation of the regulations, are they effective? Heard of Ali Baba, anyone? Nope, it’s not Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves that I’m referring to here.

It is true that Article 153 protects the Malays, but maybe we don’t need that much protection? Or else when others are already running, we’re still trying to figure out how to crawl. What do you think?

where do we go from here?

Let’s get on the bandwagon and talk about petrol. After all, we don't want to be 'frogs under the coconut shell', now do we? So now the price of petrol has gone up. Waaay up. Yet, my allowance NEVER goes up. (Who’s with me here?) So how do we cope up with this? Where do we go from here?

Well, for starters, we might want to go slow.

Following the speed limit may not just save your life. It saves fuel and your money as well, says Road Safety Department director-general Datuk Suret Singh.
"As a general guide, travelling at 90kph is the optimum speed. The next time you travel home on the highway at 110kph, try driving at 90kmph. You'll notice the savings," he told reporters Friday at his office here.

I don’t drive at 110kph that often. Only when I feel like I’m going to be late. With that said, from now on, I’ll have to leave the house earlier to get to college. Let’s work backwards here. In order to get to college on time while driving at 90kph, I have to get up early. To get up early, I have to sleep early. Wouldn’t it be fair to ask for classes to end early, too?

(Either that or I’m going to be later than usual for class.)

I’m sure pretty soon, the prices of other things will sky-rocket. According to the Star, hawkers and other food operators will wait and see before raising prices.

The way I see it, they’re going to see what their competitors are doing, since no one wants to be the first to increase their price. So Pak Abu’s mamak stall will wait and see what Pak Mat does. When Pak Mat’s roti canai is up 20 sen, Pak Abu’s roti canai will either be the same price as Pak Mat’s or it will only go up 10 sen, but it will shrink half its usual size.

Pay extra 10 sen or be unfulfilled? Ahhh…the tough decisions we have to make in life.
But as Raja Petra puts it… life can’t revolve just around the price of petrol.