Rohaizat Othman's Status: When did UMNO know about it?

I am curious, when did UMNO know about Rohaizat's status as an advocate and solicitor? If UMNO knew what we know now, why was he picked as a candidate for Permatang Pasir By-election in the first place? If UMNO didn't know his status back then, it only tells us one thing: they have a flaw selection process. But, I don't believe that because according to UMNO's Vice President, they have checked with their legal people. So it only leave us with this that UMNO knew his status all the while and picked him anyway. What does that tell us about UMNO?

1) UMNO just does not care who represent us. As long as they have a candidate, the controlled press will do the rest.

2) It's UMNO' s culture. Rohaizat's mistake/crime is probably too tiny compare to other UMNO's corrupt practices. It would not get any attention in UMNO's culture of corruption. So who cares.

3) UMNO thinks nobody will ever find out since they control the media. Voters can be fooled into submission or worst still for them, voters are just too busy to think, because they just want 'development'. Well UMNO may still live in the past, probably in the 80s, most Malaysians are already in the 21st century.

Read the following statement from Bar Council and get a better idea on his crime.

http://www.malaysianbar.org.my/press_statements/press_release_clarification_regarding_rohaizat_othman.html

Pakatan, prove Kit Siang wrong!

Yes, let's prove to the people that Pakatan is not here for only one term, we are more resilient than BN wants people to believe we are. We are on this journey together and Let's claim back the country from BN for the people.

Mohd Prasad Hanif Aug 13, 09 12:30pm, Malaysiakini

Of late, Pakatan Rakyat has been feeling the enormous impact of the Barisan Nasional offensive. At the grass roots, it is even worse. Demoralized spirit, uneasy friendship, silence and the list goes on. Whatever Barisan Nasional is doing, we are falling for it – hook, line and sinker.

But we have to struggle on. The differences between PAS and DAP exists and they are not small. I am a PAS member and I do not agree with DAP on many issues and likewise DAP will not agree with me on many issues. The bottom line is, it is evident that the component parties in Pakatan Rakyat stand equal as partners and argue ideological differences with confidence. It is up to each individual leader to influence and convince the other members of his ideology or his opinion. Each individual leader is allowed to express his or her opinion and stand by it. Is this not the basis of consensus decision making and freedom of speech?

Our supporters have a responsibility. Pakatan Rakyat supporters have a responsibility. Pakatan Rakyat's strength springs from the spirit and goodwill of its supporters. Unwavering support a must Each supporter must show unwavering determination and stoic resolve to ensure that our leaders work together. Yes, unwavering determination and stoic resolve is needed.

Stop condemning Hasan Ali and Ronnie Liu. It is their right as leaders to have different opinions and stand by them. It is our responsibility to strengthen the coalition by disseminating the correct information - the correct worldview. We have to let the people on the street know that differences in opinions are acceptable, debate should be encouraged and minds should be opened to accept a different view. When we are able to achieve this, we are doing our part for Pakatan Rakyat. How do we achieve this?

Disseminate the thought that Pakatan Rakyat stands for justice and equality. Pakatan Rakyat wants freedom of speech and they practise freedom of speech and opinion. Pakatan Rakyat wants equality, and they practice equality among themselves. It is just not up to the leaders alone to hold Pakatan Rakyat together. We, the grassroots supporters, should do our part. We have to ensure that the people understand what we stand for.

We have to make the people understand that the destruction Umno and Barisan Nasional have left behind cannot be undone within a matter of months. We should stand fast, unfazed against anything that Barisan Nasional throws at us.

Mesquita et. al. eloquently describes political survival:

"Because leaders' political survival depends on their followers' support, we might expect that leaders who are more successful in bringing peace and prosperity to their nations will remain in power longer, yet the opposite appears to be true.

“Democratic governments appear to offer their citizens more peace and prosperity than autocracies do, but autocratic leaders stay in office roughly twice as long as leaders in democratic nations." This is the essence of political survival. Some wonderful ideas as well as some beneficial policies get buried and never implemented in the name of political survival. When politics become a career instead of a position of leadership, we, Malaysians, are the ones who will suffer.

Since a truly democratic leader stays in power only for a short period of time, Barisan Nasional can no longer claim the same. So, let Pakatan Rakyat leaders of today establish democracy. In a true democracy, we can change the leaders based on their ability to ensure prosperity for the people. Stand by each and every one of the PR leaders. Let us stand behind TG Abdul Hadi, DS Anwar, and Lim Kit Siang. We are being attacked in every possible manner.

Strengthen the self! Close ranks! Stand fast behind your imam and leader! The leaders might make mistakes today. Let them learn and let them lead. Let us all prove Lim Kit Siang wrong. PR is not here for only one term. We will not hand the country back to the wolves! When we stand before Allah, he writes not whether we won or lost the battle; but how we fought in the battle.Let us unite against the National Front.

Remember, people - Unwavering Determination, Stoic Resolve!

Storm in a beer mug

An article by William Leong, PKR MP from Selayang, perhaps better summed up the issue of beer in Selangor. Let's not look at every issue from the perspective of race and religion, for, the issues that we face everyday are common among all races in Malaysia. 52 years of UMNO-BN rule has turned us into a racial monster, perhaps this is the best time to cleanse it one and for all by constantly looking at issue from the Malaysian perspective.

If we don't start now, Malaysia will be torn apart by racism that has taken root in Malaysia since Merdeka, propagated by race based political parties.

Believe me, UMNO-BN is not sincere in fostering a united Malaysian, otherwise they would not have to come out with a slogan of unity every time a new PM was installed, the current PM is included of course. If we have unity, why we have to be reminded again and again? Read the following article and you will be wiser on the issue.

Racism and religious intolerance have been fed into the blood stream of Malaysians for so long that all of us are so poisoned in our thinking that even those acting with the best of intentions find it difficult to see the woods from the trees; between law enforcement and law making, between legislative policies and social or religious concerns. The recent comments by the Selangor State Executive Council member Hassan Ali of his fellow Pakatan Rakyat Executive Council member, Ronnie Liu on Shah Alam Municipal Council enforcement personnel seizing and confiscating beer sold by a convenience store is a case in point.

Hassan Ali (centre) said that PAS Selangor supported banning the sale of alcoholic drinks in convenience stores in Muslim areas especially Shah Alam. He also said PAS would come out with its draft by-laws governing alcohol sales in the State. The statements show the urgent need for us Malaysians to be aware of this sub-conscious racial discrimination and religious intolerance poison in Malaysians and the dire need for Malaysians to cleanse and detoxify ourselves so as to stop looking at every issue from the perspective of race and religion, imagined or otherwise. There is a need for a Malaysian renaissance of our views, our values and our mindset. There are clear laws relating to the manufacture, distribution and selling of beer and liquor. Alcohol abuse like smoking cigarettes are valid social concerns. Undoubtedly they are religious concerns because all religions teach us to respect our own bodies and take care of our health. However, not all laws and not all concerns are due to race or religion.

Law Making and Law Enforcement
The laws governing the powers of the Local Government Agencies are clear. There is no law prohibiting the sale of beer by convenience stores. There are laws governing the sale of alcohol and liquor but the sale of beer is not included as the alcoholic content of beer is lower than the prescribed limit of alcohol.The enforcement unit of the Shah Alam Municipal Council is not empowered to make laws and regulations. They only have the power to enforce the existing laws and regulations. There is no law prohibiting the convenience stores from selling beer.

There are however, Syariah law governing Muslims from consuming alcohol. However, the enforcement officers of Local Councils do not have jurisdiction to enforce Syariah law and certainly not against non-Muslims.

Therefore, the Shah Alam Municipal Council was wrong to confiscate the beer from the convenience stores. Hassan Ali in saying that PAS supported the banning of alcoholic drinks in convenience stores in Muslim majority areas ought to have also mentioned that he has been elected not only to represent Muslims but also all Malaysians irrespective of race or religion. There are many other quarters, Christians, Buddhist, Hindus and social organizations that are concerned about the ill effects of beer drinking and he should have sought their views and give voice to their concerns. Hassan Ali ought to have articulated their concerns also.There is a difference between concerns and laws. For concerns to be turned into law, the laws should be amended before enforcement agencies act to prohibit convenience stores from selling beer. Whether alcohol should be banned should be debated by all Malaysians, by those who drink and those who do not. In doing so, we should not reinvent the wheel because Selangor is not the first and certainly not going to be the last society having to deal with alcohol. We can look and learn from history of other societies and countries.

The first half of the 20th century saw periods of prohibition of alcoholic beverages in several countries:

1900-48 in Prince Edward Island and for shorter periods in Canada

1914-25 in Russia and Soviet Union

1915-22 in Iceland (though beer was still prohibited until 1989)

1916-27 in Norway (fortified wine, beer prohibited from 1917-23)

1919 in Hungary

1919-32 in Finland

1920-33 in United States of America

In the United States the manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor was made illegal on 16 January 1920 pursuant to the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution and clarified by the Volstead Act that stated beer, wine or other intoxicating malt or vinous liquor meant any beverage that was more than 0.5% alcohol.

Prohibition a dismal failureThe act stated that owning any item designed to manufacture alcohol was illegal and it set specific fines and jail sentences for violating Prohibition. Prohibition was meant to reduce the consumption of alcohol to curb crime and corruption, solve social problems, poverty and improve the economy.The Prohibition was ineffective. It caused an explosive growth in crime and increased the amount of alcohol consumption. Drinking went underground and illegal "speak-easies" mushroomed all over the country. Bootleggers smuggled liquor from overseas, stole it from government warehouses and produced their own. The illegal liquor business fell into the control of organised crime. Al Capone was perhaps the most infamous Bootlegger during the period known as the Roaring 1920s. Instead of reducing crime, Prohibition saw the crime rate skyrocketing with a nearly 78% increase. It saw serious crimes such as homicides, assault and battery increased by 13 %. There were gruesome shoot-outs as gangs fought for control over the profitable illegal business. The number of Federal convicts increased 561%. Consumption of liquor instead of reducing increased. Seldom had a law been more flagrantly violated. Not only did Americans continue to manufacture, barter and possess alcohol, they drank more of it.Prohibition was a dismal failure and it was repealed on Dec 5, 1933 by the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution repealing the 18th Amendment. It was the first and only time in US history that an amendment has been repealed.These countries that have experimented with Prohibition have now come to realise that not all social concerns and society's ills can be solved by making them illegal.

With alcohol abuse, it is through education and voluntary temperance that these societies learnt to be more effective measures to counter alcohol abuse than by making the consumption of alcohol illegal. The religious looking glassIt is unfortunate that Hassan Ali looked at the problem solely through a pair of Muslim's spectacles. The problem is wider than that and the evils of alcohol abuse affect all races, followers of all the various faiths, and even the atheists and agnostics. His statement has caused a perception that has turned the problem from a social concern to a struggle between Muslims and non-Muslims.

It has raised the mistaken belief by non-Muslims that Islam does not tolerate the existence of other religions. Based on what I know of Islam, this is not true. Allah decreed in the Quran, Surah 2 verse 256:"Let there be no compulsion in religion;Truth stands out clear from Error;Whoever rejects Evil and believes in Allah;Hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks.And Allah heareth and knoweth all things." According to the notes to this verse, compulsion is incompatible with religion because (1) religion depends upon faith and will, and this would be meaningless if induced by force, (2) Truth and Error have been so clearly shown by the mercy of Allah that there should be no doubts in the minds of any person of goodwill as to the fundamentals of faith, (3) Allah's protection is continuous and His Plan is always to lead us from the depths of darkness into the clearest light. There are many examples during the lifetime of the Prophet that shows the tolerance of Islam for other religions. Islam recognises that there is a plurality of religions on this earth and give the right to individuals to choose the path which they believe to be true. Religion is not to be and was never forced upon any individual against his own will and there are many examples of this in the life of the Prophet and in the verses of the Quran.Under the present oppressive and repressive rule of Umno, it is important for Malaysians to resist oppression and repression. It has always been the central approach of Islam to resist all forms of oppression. It is this approach that is the foundation of Islamic religious tolerance. To succeed in this struggle against oppression, mere tolerance by Muslims of other religions is not enough. Muslims must unite with Malaysians of all religions and work towards the common goal of justice, mutual respect, equal treatment and robust pluralism.

Malaysian Renaissance
After 52 years of the myth of racial inferiority of the Malays, used as a leverage for special privileges which in actual fact are enjoyed by a select few, the Malays, instead of enjoying God's gift of a life to be lived with dignity, are trapped in the bondage of a dependency on Umno chained by subsidies, loans, scholarships and handouts. Those brave enough to dissent and dare to be independent are punished by having these forcibly taken away. We, Malaysians of all races must standup to liberate our fellow brothers from this bondage.

To do so we need to combine into one the common strands of our different racial descent and to use the unique strengths of our diversity to forge a stronger bond. In doing so, it is imperative that we Malaysians accept that the Islamic concept of Man and the concept of Man founded on the religions and traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and the major religions practiced in this country share the basic fundamental ideas of the virtues and morality of mankind.It is time to have a Malaysian renaissance where the growth, development and flowering of our Malaysian society is to be based on the common vision of the perfection for Mankind, imbued with truth and the love of learning, justice and compensation, mutual respect and forbearance and freedom with responsibility. There is a need for the renewal of our faith and the assertion of our multiculturality as a Malaysian phenomenon not to be hidden away in shame but to be shown off to the rest of the world in pride. It is prayed that all Malaysians and in particular our Pakatan Rakyat state executive members will heed the call for a renewal of our values and to steel ourselves with the conviction that only a Malaysian renaissance will set us free.