Mother and child reunion

Baby Freddie has been found at 12.20 pm today at Lake Titiwangsa, much to the relief of everyone, more so, his mother, Sarah Joseph.  Following are pix and video of the happy reunion between mother and child.

Sarah Joseph becomes emotional on receiving news that Baby Freddie has been found

A passer-by in Lake Titiwangsa comforting Baby Freddie in her arms, and feeding him with water and snacks

As Paul Simon would sing, "Mother and Child Reunion"

Baby Freddie back safely in the arms of mummy

For the die hard Shadows and Ventures fans

Back in the good old days of the sixties, forming a 4-piece was a popular past time amongst us school boys. In my school alone, SMK Jalan Cochrane, I believe we had four bands. 

 

Now one of the interesting things is that to get a band going..., one of the first tune we must be able to play was "Apache" by The Shadows from the UK, or if you are unable to form a band but wished to join one, you be "auditioned" by members of the band, and again it is "Apache" irrespective whether you play the lead, rhythm or bass.  "Apache" became a staple piece for all the bands in the country.

 

The Shadows

Later, the American group, The Ventures released their own version, but still many of us preferred The Shadows version. However, some other groups held the view that The Ventures was a better version.
 

The Ventures

 Anyway for the many diehard Shadows and Ventures fans, I have a video clip here of the two bands playing the same tune alternating one after the other demonstrating their individual style and technique. Now we can make the comparison.

 

 

Has "Sleep Apnea" struck again, this time it's Najib

How could he do this in front of hundreds of delegates and right there on the stage too?

And while he is snoozing away in a world of his own, the British people are giving him the heat from outside the convention hall.

"British Victims of Investing in Malaysia" protest against Doxport Technologies Sdn Bhd outside Excel Centre in London at the World Islamic Economic Forum.

 

 

 

 

Read more here.

Is Malaysia a looney house?

To be a Malaysian is not easy these days.  Besides having to struggle to survive, many on their meagre income, our lives are further made more difficult by politicians who do not seem to know whether they are coming or going with their ill-thought policies.

Boy, am I confused

We have a Federal Constitution which is meant to protect the well being of ALL its citizens, irrespective of race, religion or creed.  But apparently this doesn't seem to be the case.  Instead we have laws enacted that are so skewed across racial and religious boundaries, that it is almost like walking in a minefield, gingerly taking one step at a time, lest you stepped on a landmine to have it exploded in your face.  The Federal Constitution somehow seems to have been relegated to the background.

So, we have laws ...
1. Meant for the Bumiputras.  This is further sub-divided into Bumiputras (West) and Bumiputras (East).
2. Meant for non-Bumiputras [or better known as discriminatory laws]
3. Meant for Muslims [Syariah laws]
4. Meant for non-Muslims [Civil laws]
5. Meant for Sunnis
6. Meant for Shiites, Ayat Pin; and the latest ....
7. Two sets of law for the Christians.  One for Christians residing in Malaya and the other for those residing in East Malaysia.

This brings us to the 'Allah' issue which further proves my point on the state of confusion we are in.

1. The Court of Appeal said one thing supported by UMNO Baru.
2. Christian ministers said another.
3. Muslims around the world said one thing.
4. Pro-UMNO Baru NGOs said that the Arabs were ignorant of the religion, and the Indonesians are not good Muslims because they ate pork, and yet they like to copy the way the Arabs dress and even send students to the Middles East to further their religious studies.  Contradictory, isn't it?
5. To add to the already confused issue, one ISMA leader who earlier supported the CoA decision, now said it was okay for East Malaysians to use the word.  Even they themselves were not sure how the policy works.
6. Christian leaders in the BN said the government will honour the 10-point agreement but to date, not one UMNO Baru leader has stepped forward to unreservedly make that stand.
7. The head of the ISMA NGO, told East Malaysians that if they didn't like the CoA decision, they could migrate.  Where to, when the latter themselves are the natives of Sabah and Sarawak. Duh!
8. But, before we could even heave a sigh of relief that East Malaysia has been exempted from the 'Allah' ban, 2,000 copies of The Herald were confiscated at the KK airport, leaving many Catholics in the state without their Sunday paper.
9. The Home Minister then came out with a statement that the word was only prohibited in The Herald, but not the BM version of the Bible. Huh?
10. Thus, we ended up having two set of 'Allah' laws, one for East Malaysia and the other, for Malaya.
11. A group of lawyers now said there cannot be two set of laws for Christians. If the CoA decision was to be implemented, legally that is, the banning of the word was to be applied to both East and West Malaysia alike. Read the press report HERE.

The Christians in this country can only say, "Duh!?" every time a politician comes out with another statement that contradicts the early statement made by another party.

At the rate things are going, I thought it would be best to go for a check up before I start seeing a 'cuckoo' bird flying in front of me, and I am glad to report that I have been certified to be still mentally sane which means I will still be happily blogging away for a long time to come.

And while confusion reigns, WHERE THE HECK IS THE PRIME MINISTER????

Obama should have checked his facts before commenting

Suaram wrote a letter to the US president yesterday, rebutting a statement made by President Barack Obama on Oct 11 that Malaysia is a global model for "diversity, tolerance and progress".

President Obama's statement on Malaysia's "model" totally ignored the history of racism, religious extremism, corruption, electoral fraud and various other criminal activities the nation has endured while one government has ruled uninterrupted for 56 years.

Among other issues, spiralling violence, electoral fraud, corruption and serious human rights abuses that have taken place, and continue to be committed, under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Since the election outcome, PM Najib's office has overseen the demonisation of Malaysia's non-Malays, whose 'crime' was voting for the opposition. The Malaysian government has also selectively deployed repressive legislation such as the Sedition Act 1948, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Penal Code to suppress protests against the election result by human rights defenders, opposition leaders and all the concern and peaceful Malaysians from various religions and ethnicity.

While President Obama's statement marked PM Najib's government with the word "progress", the Parliament - that the Malaysian leader dominates by gerrymandering - three weeks ago passed a Bill to amend the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) to allow detention without trial.

Suaram reminds the US president that Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson stated that "Malaysia is taking a huge step backwards on rights by returning to administrative detention practices much like the draconian Internal Security Act" (ISA).

There is no doubt Malaysia's PM has publicly backtracked on a commitment made in 2011 to do away with detention without trial and that such a policy reversal represents anything but "progress".

Further, Malaysia's home minister recently announced that police have the right to "shoot to kill" without question any person suspected of being a criminal. Political and community leaders who have defended the minister's strategy have accused one race in particular of committing crimes against another, deliberately fanning racial tension and encouraging racial violence.

On the religious front, we have a judiciary that remains infamously compliant to the BN government. On Oct 14, the politically driven judgment that day by Malaysia's Court of Appeal banned non-Muslims from using the word 'Allah' in Malay-language publications. This appeal against an earlier High Court verdict was lodged by the Malaysian government.

Suaram urges President Obama to revisit an ill-considered and dangerous complicity with PM Najib's regime.

In light of the gravity of the issues raised in the letter, Suaram fully expects the office of the president of the United States of America to formally reply to our letter, which was written on behalf of millions of long-suffering Malaysians.

NALINI ELUMALAI
Executive Director
Suaram

What the late Tun Mohamed Suffian Hashim said ....

In the Braddell Memorial Lecture that was delivered at the National University of Singapore in 1982, former Lord President and one of our greatest judges, Mohamed Suffian Hashim, described his fellow judges as follows:

"In a multi-racial and multi-religious society like yours and mine, while we judges cannot help being Malay or Chinese or Indian; or being Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever, we strive not to be too identified with any particular race or religion - so that nobody reading our judgment with our names deleted could, with confidence, identify our race or religion, and so that the various communities, especially minority communities, are assured that we will not allow their rights to be trampled underfoot."

Our three CoA judges have failed us miserably.

A test case on UMNO Baru's new directives on the 'Allah' issue

Now, let's see what cock and bull story UMNO Baru is going to come with in not returning Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill's CDs.

Sarawakian Christian Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill’s lawyer urged Putrajaya today to return his client’s CDs bearing the word “Allah”, after ministers said last week’s court ruling was restricted to the Catholic Church’s newsletter the Herald.

Annou Xavier said “simple logic” dictated that CDs and other publications, which refer to God as “Allah” in non-Muslim creeds, should then be allowed for importation and distribution in Malaysia.

“If you say it’s the Herald, then all other publications and CDs and materials can be used,” Xavier told The Malay Mail Online today, referring to the Catholic Church’s weekly, the Herald.

 

“If it’s only confined to the Herald, then return the CDs. The CDs are not Herald. Simple logic,” added the lawyer.

On May 11, 2008, the Home Ministry confiscated eight Christian CDs from Jill Ireland at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) airport in Sepang, prompting the Melanau Christian to challenge its decisions in court.

The CDs, which Jill Ireland had bought on a trip to Indonesia for personal use, bore names such as “Cara Hidup Dalam Kerajaan Allah”, “Hidup Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah” and “Ibadah Yang Benar Dalam Kerajaan Allah”.

Ministers Tan Sri Joseph Kurup and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday that last week’s Court of Appeal decision — which found that the home minister had acted well within his powers to prohibit the Herald from using the word “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section — was limited to the church newspaper.

Last Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also reassured Christians in Sabah and Sarawak that they could continue describing God as “Allah” in their religious practices, pointing to the 10-point solution, which his government issued in 2011, that allows Christians to publish, import and distribute Malay-language bibles containing the Arabic word.

The Court of Appeal ruling, however, has cast doubt over how the judiciary will rule on Jill Ireland’s case, and on another similar suit brought by Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (Borneo Evangelical Church) against the Home Ministry for confiscating its Malay-language Christian education publications, which contain the word “Allah”, in 2007.

Xavier said recently that Jill Ireland’s case differed from that of the Herald, as his client’s case revolved around her right to worship and education, while the latter was about a publication permit.

In August 2008, Jill Ireland filed for a judicial review of the Home Ministry’s actions and a return of the CDs, besides a declaratory relief saying that she has a legitimate expectation to exercise the right to use “Allah”, and to continue to own and import such materials.

In August 2010, Jill Ireland’s lawyers had also filed an application to cross-examine the then Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, but the application was dismissed by the High Court on July 12, 2011.

The Bumiputera Christian then appealed to the Court of Appeal in April 3, 2012, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal on getting Syed Hamid to appear for cross-examination on May 10 the same year.

According to Xavier, Jill Ireland’s case will come up in the High Court for mention soon.

Although the High Court granted Jill Ireland leave for judicial review in May 4, 2009, the hearing for the legal challenge has yet to start.

The Court of Appeal ruling on the Herald has earned censure from religious scholars and international publications, while lawyers have said that the court decision has created a precedent for a future ban on non-Muslims from using the word “Allah”.

[Source: MM Online]