BLACK POWER

The new president of the United States of America brings the promise of change not just for the United States but for the whole world, too.

I HAVE a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ ... I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King on Aug 28, 1963.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.” – US President-elect Barack Obama’s first public words after winning the election on Nov 4, 2008.

ON Dec 1, 1955, six years before US President-elect Barack Obama was born, a black American woman, Rosa Parks, refused to get up and give her seat on a bus to a white as required under laws then in Montgomery, Alabama.

The man reported to the police, Parks was arrested and later became a symbol for millions of blacks who were systematically discriminated against despite the end of slavery almost a 100 years before that.

US civil rights activist Martin Luther King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, lasting 385 days, when blacks, the major users of buses, took other transport. King’s house was bombed and he was arrested during the campaign, which ended with a United States District Court ruling that ended racial segregation on Montgomery public buses.

That energised the black civil rights movement, with King playing a prominent role. In August 1963, two years after Barack Obama was born, King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech (extract above), to 250,000 people in Washington, considered one of the most stirring in history and a defining moment in the US civil rights movement.

Less than a year later, in June 1964, partly because of the work done by King and others, the Civil Rights Act was passed in the US giving blacks equal rights under the law and enabling most of them to vote.

In recognition of his work, King was awarded the Nobel Prize the same year, becoming, at 35, its youngest recipient. Four years later, when Obama was seven, King lay dead, felled by a single bullet to the neck from an assassin.

Forty years later, Obama, gave his victory speech to a cheering, crying crowd of over 250,000 in Chicago, when he became – beating his rival John McCain by a wide margin – the president-elect of the United States.

While he shed tears publicly when his grandmother died just a day before the polls, he was rock-solid composure itself during that speech (excerpt above), even as those around him and his supporters cried tears of joy.

Obama’s victory represents the culmination of a long, painful and perilous road that blacks have taken in America to gain recognition for themselves as a people.

They were forcibly brought from Africa as slaves, put through the most inhumane conditions and finally got their freedom from fiefdom in the 1860s. But they continued to be severely discriminated against and humiliated long after that, earning recognition as full citizens under US law only in 1964.

But despite that, the discrimination continued and although it has reduced tremendously, it is by no means over.

While Obama’s victory is without doubt a defining moment for the history of blacks in the US and an indication of how far they have come over the years, Obama himself was not a black civil rights activist.

His thoughts, his actions, his political behaviour cut across racial lines. He never sought to champion just black causes but included everyone in his agenda. That was what made him a presidential candidate and, eventually, president-elect.

Civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson – who shed tears on Obama’s election victory, and the black who came closest before Obama to the presidency – tried creditably, but failed, to get a Democratic nomination for the 1988 election.

Obama’s book, outlining his thoughts and aptly titled the The Audacity of Hope, sets out his political philosophy, his guts and his, well, audacity, to think that he could one day become US president. Against all the odds he did.

In America, where an estimated 70% to 75% of voters are white, he could not have done it without white support. However exit polls by CNN showed he did not enjoy white majority support – some 55% of whites voted for McCain but that 43% (2% of answers were indeterminate) support he got was large.

Huge support from blacks (95%) and Latinos and others (over 65%) tilted the balance in his favour, enabling him to get about 53% of the popular vote. That is an indication of how much power minorities can muster when they vote in unison, as some of our own politicians found out to their dismay or delight on March 8.

Obama got remarkable support among young voters. The CNN exit poll showed two-thirds of voters under 30 supported him. And, importantly, 54% of white voters in this category were behind him, a clear indication the young are becoming less racist.

Obviously Obama did not win because he was black – he’s half-black, to be accurate. He won because he was by far the best candidate. He endeared himself to all segments of society by his genuine, reasoned yet impassioned plea to the goodness inherent in all of them, seeking always to unite and find common ground.

That he was black was NOT sufficient deterrent for the American public to vote him in as the next president of the United States – and by a wide margin, too. That is really fantastic and represents a situation many thought would never materialise.

A dream come true, a hope fulfilled. A victory against racism, a giant leap for mankind – Obama’s win is all that and more. If there is a lesson, it is to show that the problems of race and repression are indeed surmountable. Yes, change has come.

Never in history has a US president-elect had so much of support outside of the United States. Kenya, where his father came from, claims him as its own; students from his former school in Indonesia celebrated unabashedly; a town called Obama in Japan was delighted he won; and in cities around the world there was elation at his election.

Not just the United States, the world expects much from this man Obama. Destiny will dictate that he will make his mark.

OBAMAISME......

Barack Obama’s election demonstrates that we can overcome our prejudices and bigotry and bring ourselves to do what is right, and that we can succeed if we try.

COULDN’T you just cry? With great pride and much joy, many in the United States of America did after Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election.
They were celebrating in the streets – dancing, singing, and honking their car horns as if they had just won the football World Cup. Not that Americans in general give two hoots about soccer, but you get the picture.

In fact, even if they did bother about the World Cup, Obama’s victory is arguably much, much bigger in terms of significance and impact.
With the election of the first African-American president, the people who proudly describe their country as the “Land of The Free” and the “Home of The Brave”, laid to rest many ghosts of their past, and did indeed live up to their boasts.

African-Americans have a long and deep history. The first African slaves were brought over to the British colonies in America in 1619, more than 150 years before the colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776 and formed the United States of America.

The Declaration of Independence, which holds as self-evident the truths of human equality and the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, was primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers who, by the way, owned more than 200 slaves.
Nearly a hundred years later, in 1861, Americans went to war with each other over slavery. After the war, the 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution outlawed slavery.
This was quickly followed in subsequent years by the 14th Amendment, which granted full citizenship to African-Americans, and the 15th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to African-American males in 1870. (Women, of whatever colour, were still not allowed to vote.)
You would have thought that that would have been the beginning of true life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for African-Americans. And, for a brief period, the promise was met with progress of substance.

But they soon found themselves oppressed, marginalised and discriminated against – in many instances, legally discriminated against – right up until the 1960s.
So it was no surprise to read in some of the commentaries published in US newspapers today how truly a historic moment it was when the American people chose an African-American as their new president.

(It is also worthy to note here that while African-Americans are a minority, they do not form the largest minority group in the US – that “honour” belongs to Hispanics, who make up 15% of the population, as opposed to 12% for African-Americans.)
The opening words to Thomas Friedman’s column in The New York Times went thus: “And so it came to pass that on Nov 4, 2008, shortly after 11pm Eastern time, the American Civil War ended, as a black man – Barack Hussein Obama – won enough electoral votes to become President of the United States.”

Indeed, the war has finally ended.

The Washington Post published a cartoon by Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Tom Tolles, showing a caricature of Obama walking through the gates of the White House.
The caption at the top of the sketch was the famous line from the Declaration of Independence written down more than 200 years ago : “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”.

At the bottom, the caption read: “Ratified November 4, 2008.”
Indeed, that truth is now clearly self-evident, at the very least to Americans.
But what of the rest of us, who have followed the US presidential election as if it were the World Cup, including we here in Malaysia?

In fact, there has never been a person that so many non-Americans have wanted so much to be president.

What is this utter fascination with this man, so much so that aliens from Mars on their first visit to Earth could be forgiven for thinking that we earthlings were rooting for Obama as World President?

The answer lies, I believe, not so much in who he is but in what he symbolises.
It is the age-old story of the triumph of hope over despair, of freedom over oppression, and of the best qualities in each and every one of us over the worst that we are all capable of.
It is a story that demonstrates that we can overcome our own prejudices and bigotry, that we can bring ourselves to do what is right, and that we can succeed if we try.
I am not saying that Americans did the right thing by electing Obama. What I am saying is that they did the right thing by voting for who they thought could best lead their country, regardless of skin colour.

There is no doubt many Americans – white, black and every other colour in between – are still unable to get over their racial prejudices, just as there are many such people elsewhere in the world.

But on Tuesday, Nov 4, this unjustifiable intolerance was drowned out by a truth that should not only be self-evident in America, but also to the rest of us.

All men are created equal.

Couldn’t you just cry, thinking about that?

The_Great_Deprezion

Because of the extraordinary greed of American financiers and businessmen, they invent all kinds of ways to make huge sums of money. We cannot forget how in 1997-98 American hedge funds destroyed the economies of poor countries by manipulating their national currencies. When as a result of the so-called trade in currencies the companies in the poor countries faced bankruptcy, the Governments were told not to bail out any company or bank which was in deep trouble.

The Americans claimed that these companies or banks were inefficient and they should be allowed to go bankrupt and perish. Better still they should be sold at fire-sale price to American investors. Yet today we see the US Government readying US700 billion to brazenly bail out banks, mortgage companies and insurance companies. Where does the money come from? From thin air as no real money in cash or bullion or anything tangible are moved into the bankrupt banks. The money is just in the form of loan papers and entries in the books of the banks or companies. The US 700 billion has no backing whatsoever. No gold reserves, no foreign currency reserves as required for other countries. Without such backing the US Dollar is actually useless. Only the military power of the US is forcing the world to give value to the US Dollar.

Desperate to avoid a serious recession the US has abandoned all its principles. It has now banned short selling, limited currency trading and insist that the accounts of hedge funds and currency traders to be open for inspection and be published. In the final spasm of fear, the Government has given itself the right to resolve the problem of bankrupt banks and companies by the Government taking over i.e. the great capitalist country has accepted what is nothing more than nationalisation which it had condemned so much before.

The US now owes the world US 14 trillion. There is no way it can ever settle this debt. If other countries fail to repay or service their debts, the US would demand that they be made bankrupt. Now the US is literally bankrupt but it still insists that the pieces of paper, the famous or infamous greenbacks have some value. It actually has no value. Certainly it cannot be used to finance wars of aggression against Iraq and Afghanistan, to finance the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) activities in undermining Governments and countries. But still the US' ability to threaten countries is undiminished.

::SALAM EID MUBARAK::

Like the famous scholar Ibn Khaldun a long time ago, there are thousands wholanguish today in the prisons of the Muslim world as political prisoners whoare deemed a danger to the prevailing order of power. Though history andhindsight may offer little consolation for those who are languishing inprison, it is important to remember that the pen is mightier than the swordand that the labours of the just will always prevail over the injustice oftyrants. History will see to it that they will be remembered, long after thenames of the tyrants and dictators who abused them have been forgotten, saysAliran member Farish Noor.This week marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadhan and the celebrationof Eid'ul Fitri the world over. For more than a billion Muslims all over theplanet the month of Ramadhan has been a time of personal reflection,contemplation and deliberation over their deeds and achievements over theyear; a time of restraint and introspection; a time of reckoning. One onlyhopes that the leaders of the Muslim world have also taken this time off todo some serious soul-searching as well, and in particular to reflect ontheir deeds and misdeeds in the course of running the respective countriesthey have been elected to govern. (That is assuming that they were electedin the first place, for the quaint peculiarity of the Muslim world today isthat quite a number of Muslim leaders have never been elected, and many ofthem regard the position of high office as if it was a God-given right tothem and their families.)During this month of Ramadhan quite a number of peculiar events have takenplace all over the Muslim world. In Malaysia, the fasting month began with aright-wing leader of the conservative Umno party making some ratherrepugnant remarks about the Chinese Malaysian community, referring to themas foreigners who can go back to China if they dont like things as they arein the country. Odd that such a remark could mark the start of the month ofRamadhan, when Muslims are meant to be controlling their emotions ratherthan letting them run riot in public. Odder still that an Umno leader caneven make such a historically inaccurate and unqualified remark, obliviousto the simple fact that not only have the Chinese in Malaysia - and the restof Southeast Asia - been in the region for more than five hundred years, itwas also thanks to the missionary efforts of Chinese Muslim scholars thatIslam came to some parts of the region like Java for instance.The month of Ramadhan also witnessed a string of rather uncharitable actionsbeing performed in the glare of the public eye: Teresa Kok, a member ofParliament and one of the leaders of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) ofMalaysia, was arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) onthe grounds that she had made some inflammatory remarks concerning thevolume of the azan, or call to prayer, emanating from the mosques in herconstituency. The member of Parliament was then detained under the ISA onthe grounds that her own remarks were 'provocative', despite the fact thatmuch of the hoo-ha that led to her arrest came from the pro-Umno vernacularMalay media. During the course of her detention Teresa Kok maintained thatshe had never made any of the remarks or statements she was accused of, andthat she was the victim of an orchestrated media campaign aimed at defamingher character instead.Indicative of the lack of direction that prevails in the corridors of powerin Malaysia today, the political leadership at the top of the Badawiadministration was not even consistent in its stand on Teresa's case, andthe MP has been released from detention without trial.But the sordid spectacle of a media campaign used to whip up public angerand hatred against an individual is indicative of the culture of pogroms andblack-listing that dates back to the Emergency era when laws such as the ISAwere first created, designed to help bolster a (then) colonial Britishgovernment on the brink of collapse. Since the 1950s hundreds of Malaysianshave been the victims of the ISA (or other forms of detention without trial)and other colonial-era laws such as the Sedition Act, all in the name ofnational security and the stability of the country.Malaysia's use of such colonial laws is neither new nor unique: Similar lawswere once used in countries like India, Pakistan and South Africa, and ifthe issue at hand is detention without trial then one can only conclude thatthis has been the norm in many Muslim societies dating well back into thepre-colonial era.But it is during the time of Ramadhan that our thoughts go to those who areunfortunate enough to become the prey of such laws. Muslim history isreplete with cases of such arbitrary modes of (in)justice at work, wherecountless Muslim scholars and intellectuals fell prey to the whims andfancies of despotic rulers and tyrants who ruled with an iron fist, andalways in the name of God, needless to say.One needs only to look to the case of one of the most famous scholars ofMuslim history, Ibn Khaldun. During his lifetime Ibn Khaldun was imprisonedtime and again by a succession of despotic rulers who found his criticalideas and deconstructive reading of official history somewhat trying. Onmore than one occasion he was framed, defamed and scandalised by his rivalsand enemies who sought to discredit the scholar and to erase hiscontribution to scholarship for good. Time and again the unfortunate Khaldunfound himself languishing in gaols and dungeons, to be kept thereindefinitely according to the whims of the ruler of the day.Yet despite the hardships he endured, including having to spend many a monthof Ramadhan in isolation in his cell and away from his family, Khaldunpersevered in his critical scholarship against the odds. At a time whenofficial history was nothing more than courtly hagiography written tobenefit and inflate the egos of rulers and noblemen, his humanist reading ofhistory placed the ordinary individual at the centre of the process ofhistory; insisting on the rational agency - and by extension power andresponsibility - of the individual as the master of his own destiny. For thecourtiers who grovelled at the feet of their rulers, this form of popularhistory was destructive and threatening to the order of things.Centuries later, the rulers and kings who imprisoned Khaldun are all butforgotten. Nobody remembers their names despite the grand monuments theybuilt to their own egos. Ibn Khaldun, on the other hand, has beenimmortalised as the founder of modern political sociology, a discipline thatremains crucial in the political education of millions the world over. Hisimprint can be read in the works of Franz Fanon and Antonio Gramsci, and thehumanist, materialist approach he took to the writing of history changed therules of that discipline forever. It is thanks to the efforts of scholarslike Ibn Khaldun that history today is and remains a political andpoliticised discipline, and not just a collection of happy fables to placatethe demands of demagogues and dictators.Like Khaldun, there are thousands who languish today in the prisons of theMuslim world as political prisoners who are deemed a danger to theprevailing order of power. Though history and hindsight may offer littleconsolation for those who are languishing in prison, it is important toremember that the pen is mightier than the sword and that the labours of thejust will always prevail over the injustice of tyrants. History will see toit that they will be remembered, long after the names of the tyrants anddictators who abused them have been forgotten.

UTUSAN MALAYSIA...pembela rakyat... :p

Penggunaan Akta Keselamatan dalam negeri (ISA) terkutuk terhadap wartawan wanita Sin Chew Daily Tan Hoon Cheng, ahli exco kerajaan Selangor, Teresa Kok dan pengendali laman web Malaysia Today Raja Petra Kamarudin mencetuskan bantahan dan gerakan anti-ISA terbesar yang pernah berlaku di negara kita. Selain badan-badan bukan kerajaan dan Majlis Peguam, parti-parti komponen Barisan Nasional sendiri juga tidak dapat bersetuju dengan tangkapan sewenang-wenang itu. Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, menteri perundangan de facto, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim malah meletakkan jawatannya sebagai pengakuan kegagalan reformasi perundangan yang merupakan tanggungjawabnya.Sungguhpun Hoon Cheng telah dibebaskan 18 jam selepas ditahan sejak 12 September dan Teresa Kok turut dibebaskan selepas seminggu ditahan, namun alasan-alasan yang diberi berkaitan asas penahanan mereka tidak masuk akal dan mengelirukan. Hoon Cheng kononnya ditahan agar diberi "perlindungan keselamatan", dan Teresa, menurut beliau sendiri, cuma disiasat berasaskan suatu rencana kolum yang ditulis oleh Zaini Hassan yang disiarkan oleh Utusan Malaysia pada 10 September lalu bertajuk: “Azan, jawi, JAIS, UiTM dan ba-alif-ba-ya…” .Hoon Cheng yang mula-mula melaporkan kenyataan ketua bahagian Umno Bukit Bendera, Datuk Ahmad Ismail yang melemparkan kenyataan perkauman bahawa masyarakat Cina "kaum penumpang" yang mustahil mendapat hak yang sama dengan kaum bumiputera.Atas tekanan parti-parti komponen Barisan Nasional, Umno terpaksa menggantung hak keahlian Ahmad selama tiga tahun kerana enggan meminta maaf secara terbuka berkaitan kenyataannya.

Yang menakjubkan, Hoon Cheng yang hanya menjalankan tugasnya sebagai seorang wartawan sebaliknya telah ditahan bawah ISA, kononnya untuk melindungi keselamatannya – suatu dalih yang amat melucukan! Menurut rencana Zaini, ahli parlimen Seputeh tiba-tiba menjadi “dalang” di sebalik isu-isu azan, tulisan jawi, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) dan babi seperti disenaraikan dalam tajuk rencana kolum terbabit.Selepas membaca artikel tersebut, Mohamad Asri Shafii, biro badan bertindak Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) Perak telah mencapai kesimpulan seperti tajuk suratnya kepada akhbar yang sama (11 September 2008) “Terhakisnya ketuanan Melayu”! Mohamad Asri selanjutnya merumus: “Adalah menjadi mimpi ngeri bagi orang Melayu sebagai tuan di bumi bertuah ini mendapat menteribesar yang bukan Melayu. "Hakikatnya telah berlaku, meskipun kita melihat dua buah negeri Perak dan Selangor diperintah oleh ketua negeri berbangsa Melayu dan beragama Islam, tetapi hakikatnya daripada artikel ini adalah sebaliknya." Nampaknya niat Zaini untuk merasiskan imej Teresa, dan melaluinya “memomokkan” kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat dari perspektif ketuanan Melayu telah tercapai, dan nyata sekali Teresa telah menjadi mangsa artikel terbabit!Biarlah kita meneliti dakwaan-dakwaan artikel Zaini secara lebih objektif. Terlebih dahulu, dibangkitnya tuduhan bekas menteri besar Selangor, Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo bahawa ada usaha pihak tertentu yang cuba menasihatkan pihak masjid dan surau supaya tidak menggunakan pembesar suara semasa melaungkan azan.Padahal menurut Steven Ee, yang bertanggungjawab menghantar petisyen kepada masjid Bandar Kinrara seperti yang dilaporkan Malaysiakini, penduduk bukan Islam di Seksyen 5 taman perumahan itu tidak pernah membantah penggunaan pembesar suara untuk laungan azan. Mereka hanya meminta agar direndah atau diperlahankan suaranya apabila kaset/CD berkaitan ceramah, kuliah agama serta bacaan al-Quran dipasang sebelum sembahyang subuh di masjid tersebut.Kini, menteri besar baru Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim telah mengeluarkan kenyataan bahawa masjid boleh terus menggunakan pembesar suara semasa menjalankan aktiviti bagi menyebarkan syiar Islam kerana pihaknya tidak menerima sebarang bantahan daripada mana-mana kumpulan atau persatuan penduduk.

Mungkin masih ada dua masalah masih belum terjawab. Yang pertama, adakah petisyen bukan Islam Bandar Kinrara terbabit boleh dianggap sebagai tidak sensitif, malah menghina agama Islam seperti tuduhan terbabit? Yang kedua, permintaan agar suara pembesar masjid direndahkan atau diperlahankan juga tiada tolak ansurnya, seperti ditegaskan JAIS? Jika petisyen agar bunyi suara pembesar aktiviti agama direndah atau diperlahankan juga tidak dapat ditoleransi dan ditolak ansur, seperti mesej-mesej yang dibawa dalam Utusan Malaysia, maka semangat toleransi yang diuar-uarkan selama ini hanyalah jalan sehala saja di sisi ketuanan Melayu dan ketuanan Islam!

Teresa yang mendapat salinan petisyen terbabit telah dipertanggungjawabkan sepenuhnya oleh Zaini, dan melalui mulut seorang YB dalam Pakatan Rakyat kononnya dihubunginya melalui telefon, Teresa dikritik sebagai "kurang ajar", dan dikatakan sedang "memaksa" DBKL menurunkan semua tulisan jawi di semua papan tanda jalan di Kuala Lumpur, supaya dinaikkan papan tanda tulisan Cina dan Tamil bersama-sama tulisan rumi. Namun, siapakah Teresa Kok yang mampu "memaksa" DBKL menurun dan menaikkan papan jalan mengikut suka hatinya?

Bagi mereka yang berfikiran liberal, di samping tulisan rumi, jika kaum Melayu inginkan tulisan jawi ditambah atau dikekalkan, sama juga dengan permintaan agar tulisan Cina dan tulisan Tamil ditambahkan di papan jalan, apa salahnya jika kaum Melayu tidak terlalu obsesi dengan ketuanan Melayu? Sekalipun tidak bersetuju, habislah cerita, buat apa digembar-gemburkan seolah-olah tibalah hari kiamat jika bahasa Cina dan bahasa Tamil ditambah di papan tanda jalan! Menurut imaginasi Zaini, Teresa tiba-tiba menjadi manusia yang begitu "berpengaruh" sekali, sehingga sanggup "menyuapkan" Khalid mengenai cadangan supaya diambil 30 peratus peruntukan JAIS untuk digunakan bagi kegunaan agama-agama lain, serta "memegang tali" untuk menyuruh menteri besar itu membuat kenyataan agar pintu UiTM dibuka kepada 10 peratus penuntut bukan Melayu.Jika kita percaya kepada kebebasan beragama seperti yang dijamin oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan, dan bersetuju bahawa agama-agama bukan Islam di Selangor juga berhak menerima bantuan daripada Selangor seperti JAIS, maka sudah barang tentu JAIS tidak dapat memonopoli seratus peratus peruntukan yang disediakan kerajaan negeri sebagai bantuan kepada institusi-institusi semua agama. Jangan lupa, penganut bukan Islam di negara kita juga wajib membayar cukai.Sebelum kenyataan Khalid, jika tidak silap penulis, kabinet telah mengambil keputusan agar pintu UiTM dibuka kepada 10 peratus penuntut bukan Melayu, masa itu, tiada kontroversi dicetuskan seperti kali ini.

Selain itu, projek pemeliharaan berpusat babi di Sepang juga projek lama Barisan Nasional Selangor, ia juga tidak digembar-gemburkan seperti kali ini.Pembaca Utusan Malaysia tentu sedar bahawa azan, jawi, JAIS, UiTM, dan babi antara isu-isu yang diperbesar-besar dan diapi-apikan oleh Utusan Malaysia daripada perspektif ketuanan Melayu dan ketuanan Islam, demi memburuk-burukkan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor.Jika wujud sebarang ketegangan kaum seperti dakwaan pihak polis, maka antara lain, Utusan Malaysia sudah barang tentu telah memainkan peranannya, dan oleh itu, patut disiasat dan diberi amaran, bukan mereka yang menjadi sasaran agenda perkauman, seperti Hoon Cheng, Teresa dan Raja Petra.

JBJ-R.I.P.

He was a man worth his salt. His steadfastness and righteousness was there for all to see. It is a shame that we do not have anyone, and I repeat anyone, on both sides of the border to match him.
He was a very approachable person and talked to anyone who acknowledged him. A simple man, with his trade mark side-burns, collared T-shirts and short pants and sandals… popped into JB very often for his thosai and air suam.
My first encounter with him was in the late 1980s at the Kerala outlet and I was sort of mesmerised to start a conversation with him. However, the many repeated encounters somewhat thawed my anxiety and thereafter we were familiar to each other. He would always address me, “Hello, young man”, and I would call him “Sir” and our conversation would usually centre on the political happenings of our countries.
Can I equate him with Karpal? No, he was a few notches above him. Can I equate him with D R Seenivasagam? Yes, he was as fearless as DRS, a fighter at that.
I also had the misfortune to meet up with him after the demise of his wife - and that was the only time he was at his lowest. His eyes welled with tears as he spoke to me of his only love. He really felt bad for her and regretted that he did not do enough for her. It was a moment that has stood memorably for me thus far.
He advised me repeatedly to stop my smoking habit. He told me that LKY was an incorrigible smoker during the 60s and eventually became a non-smoker. I will never forget his fatherly advice tho’ I still puff away.
I feel privileged to have befriended a LEGEND who was a simpleton fighting for the masses.
And he never expected any returns.
May his soul rest in peace.

It is truly a sad occasion to face the passing of such a gentle soul with an unshakable sense of justice and a mighty heart. But it is just as heartening to know that everyone who has written about his demise have only kind words for JBJ. He deserves them all. Whether the PAP government and LKY appreciate him or not speaks of their humanity. For JBJ did his best and gave his all. He should be resting well in peace now.

this man is a believer,....stubborn to the core.....yet, humble citizen, your uncle, you granpa or whatever he is to you, could have taken an easier path in life, with his wealth that he had previously, and migrated back to sri lanka, and happily lived ever after", but noooo....Man, he fought, he fought for ...so called "Singaporeans" he fought for everyone in that country, be it rich or poor, u may have heard about gandhi, nehru and etc, well welcome to the next generation, JBJ......he is a LION....his spirit is endless...till his deathbed...he tried to make a change, he fought a lonely war....not that singaporeans don support him, but singaporeans hands are tied....and there isnt much that one could do to march down the road with him. But he was stubborn, he chose to fight a war, rather than resolve issues peacefully. For that, he lost his wealth, and many more. Neverthless, a great man he is, a LEGEND, and hence be proud, be real proud.......We all know its too much to ask for when we say "rest in peace" for he still havent finish or achieve what he started, but from the bottom of one's heart...JBJ thanks for everything...PLEASE rest in PEACE...u deserve it for all your efforts....

Here is one of his last public speeches in 2007.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/09/a-video-tribute-to-jbj/

WORKERS' PARTY Statement On The Passing Of Mr J. B. Jeyaretnam
Wednesday, 1 October 2008, 12:27 am

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/10/wp-statement-on-the-passing-of-mr-j-b-jeyaretnam/

FREE RPK

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Tuesday, 30 September 2008 12:51


I was perturbed when I read YB Teresa Kok’s statement that the food under ISA detention is equivalent or slightly better than dog food. It costs RM8 to feed a dog, according to the Malay Mail survey and only RM4.50 to feed on ISA detainees.
I feed my cats and fish premium food such as science diet and would never dream of feeding my pets the food that we are fed here. I actually stopped eating the food here after the first couple of days because it gave me diarrhea.
A couple of nights ago I vomited after eating the food and now I cannot even stand the sight or smell of the trays that they send to our cell twice a day.
I now survive on dates and plain water and I suppose if that is good enough for camels to survive in the Arabian Desert, it should be good enough for me.
I was told camels have a healthy sex drive and I would like to believe it because of the date that is my staple food. Of cause, there is no way I can test this theory until I come safely out of this place.
Actually, food is the least of my worries at this point of time. I am presently in three months solitary confinement and the only pussy I get to see is this mangy cat that somehow has found its way into my cellblock to sleep outside my locked door.
It has not rained since I arrived here a week ago and I was told Kamunting has not seen any rain for the last few weeks.
The heat in the cell is unbearable and the air is very stuffy.
The uncomfortable environment does help to put your mind off your growling stomach.
I am what they call under orientation. This three months' orientation I suppose is to get me used to the 2 years I am going to spend here.
One of my favorite classics that I used to read in Standard 1 is the Tale of Two Cities, which is about the French Revolution. I can now better appreciate the battle cry “give me liberty or give me death”. They say you appreciate something only after it has been taken away from you. Today, my liberty is at the top of my priority list. But I know it shall not come soon and it shall not come easy and it shall only come if there is a change of government and if the new government fulfills its promise to abolish the ISA.