Hello 2010!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Let's hope 2010 will bring joy, peace & prosperity to us all.

Catholic Magazine Can Use word "Allah"

Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan ruled in the High Court today that the The Herald has the constitutional right to use the word in the magazine to propagate the Christian religion but not Islam.

She also ruled that the Home Ministry's decision prohibiting the magazine from using the word "Allah" in its publications was illegal, null and void. Bernama has the report below.

Catholic Magazine Herald Can Use Word "Allah"
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- The Catholic weekly magazine, Herald, can use the word "Allah" in its publications, the High Court here ruled on Thursday.

Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan, in her oral decision, held that the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in the magazine to propagate the Christian religion but not Islam.

She said that pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, it was an offence for non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" to Muslims to propagate the religion.

But it was not an offence for non-Muslims to use the word to the non-Muslims for the purpose of religion, she added.

Pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Constitution, the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in respect of instruction and education of the congregation in the Christian religion.

Article 10 allowed it to use the word in the exercise of its right to freedom of speech and expression, she said.

Lau said the decision by the Home Minister prohibiting Herald publications from using the word "Allah" in the magazine was illegal, null and void.

She said the minister had also failed to adduce evidence that the use of word would threaten national security and create misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

On Feb 16, Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam filed for a judicial review on the usage of the word "Allah" in the church's publications, naming the Home Ministry and the government as respondents.

He claimed that the word 'Allah' was not exclusive to the religion of Islam.

On Jan 7, the Home Minister approved the Herald's publishing permit for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009, on condition that the word "Allah" was not used in it and the words "Restricted" must be printed on the weekly's front page whereby it could only be circulated to Christians and at churches only.

The Home Minister had justified the ban on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

-- BERNAMA

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all visitors here a Merry Christmas and May God's Blessings be on each of you.

Former project director charged with cheating PKFZ

A former Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd project director was charged Monday by the Malaysian Anti-Crime Commission (MACC) over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) financial fiasco.

Law Jenn Dong, 51, was charged in with making 24 false claims involving a total of RM116.850 million.

He is the fourth person to be charged in relation to the PKFZ scanda and was alleged to have committed the offence together with architect Bernard Tan between June 30, 2006 and May 30, 2008.

Tan, who was one of a trio charged last Thursday, faces two other charges of making false claims with chief operating officer of Kuala Dimensi Steven Abok while former Port Klang Authority (PKA) general manager OC Phang, is alleged to have committed CBT involving RM254 million.

Law claimed trial before Sessions Judge Yong Zarida Sazali and was granted bail of RM250,000 pending mention of the case on Feb 4.

The prosecution had asked for bail to be set at RM1 million but the judge rejected the application after hearing objections by Law's lawyer, Tan Hock Chuan.

Phang has claimed trial and has been released on bail of RM350,000 with one surety. The case will start on Jan 12, on which date she will be required to surrender her passport.

Abok and Tan, also on bail, will have their case mentioned on Feb 4.

The PKFZ controversy arose after the cost of developing the massive 400ha integrated cargo distribution hub spiralled from RM2 billion to RM4.6 billion.

Chua: Fresh polls unlikely...

The fresh polls that warring factions in MCA had earlier agreed on may not take place because only 13 central committee (CC) members are willing to resign, less than the two-thirds or 20 resignations required under the party's constitution.

Party deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek told reporters at the MCA headquarters today after chairing the first meeting of a special committee that he was told only 13 of the 42 CC members, including him, were willing to resign to pave the way for fresh polls.

The special committee was set up last week to look into the constitutional and other aspects related to the proposed fresh elections to break the leadership impasse, and whether it should involve the Youth and Wanita wings.

Under the MCA constitution, fresh polls can only be called if one-third or 20 of the elected CC members resign.

“A standard resignation letter will be prepared to facilitate this resignation process,” said Dr Chua, who refused to reveal the identity of the other 12 CC members who have resigned.

He was also unsure when fresh polls can be held, saying that it depends on whether seven more CC members would resign.

On Nov 28, vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai had announced that 13 CC members from his faction had signed undated resignation letters. However, according to Chua, only a dozen had made their intentions clear.

He said early fresh polls would cause technical and legal problems such as the tenure of the new leadership -- should it be in power for three years or one-and-a-half years?

The tenure for the incumbent leadership expires in 2011.

The party's lawyers had been directed to also look into other problems like whether the fresh polls should include the Youth and Wanita wings headed by Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong and Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, who are aligned to Liow.

For more read here...

Ahmad Said: I wasnt forced out...

Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan, has denied that his early retirement from the post was due to pressure from political parties or other groups.

He said his retirement was due to personal reasons and his own wish after having served in the agency for so long, and not because of other people.

Ahmad Said said he had decided on an earlier retirement to make way for his successor and to spend time with his family.

His announcement on Friday that he would be quitting five months ahead of his retirement has got many wondering why.

Read here ...

Liow's faction vows to quit to force fresh polls

The MCA special briefing today, passed a declaration calling on the party leadership to allow fresh polls at the Central Committee (CC) level to resolve the party crisis.

MCA central committee members aligned to vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai have vowed to quit their posts in order to force fresh leadership polls, Malaysiakini reports.

According to Liow, 13 of the elected central committee members have signed undated resignation letters and are waiting for the right time to submit them to the party.

The crisis, according to him stemmed from the apparent failure of the party leadership to recognise and implement the resolutions of the Oct 10 extraordinary general meeting.

Datuk Liow told reporters after the special briefing that he and his supporters hope that party elections can now be held within 60 days.

He said that once the necessary resignations are submitted, the party must hold fresh polls for the central committee within 30 days as stipulated in the party constitution.

Datuk Liow said that this agenda (pushing for fresh polls) would now be his prime focus.

He also hoped that party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat would stick to the consensus and the roadmap to hold fresh polls as soon as possible.

But his faction has the task of convincing another seven out of 30 elected central committee members to do the same in order to have the necessary numbers - one third of the powerful CC - to force fresh polls

Yesterday, party information chief Heng Saei Kee said the party would not be postponing the Dec 4-5 AGM, and those claiming so were attempting to cause confusion.

On why party elections must be held as soon as possible, Datuk Liow said the party cannot function under current circumstances and new leaders must be elected.

Observers have noted that Liow's faction is pushing for immediate fresh polls in order to ride on the wave of discontent against Ong.

Salam 'Aidil Adha

Wishing all my Muslims brothers and sisters Selamat menyambut Eidul Adha.

To those who are going to balik kampung, I wish you a safe journey and berhati-hati di jalan raya.

MCA Crisis: Najib to step in

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Thursday he will meet the warring factions in MCA after describing the crisis in the party as getting “more serious”.

Datuk Najib had said that he would only interfere in the crisis if invited due to the policy of non interference in the ruling coalition.

However, he said many people were upset with what was going on in the MCA.

Najib said he plans to meet the leaders before the Nov 28 extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by the faction aligned to Liow Tiong Lai.

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat yesterday dropped Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong, Wanita chief Datuk Paduka Chew Mei Fun and seven others aligned to vice-president Datuk Seri Liow from the party’s presidential council.

The party president replaced Liow's men on the presidential council with supporters of Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, reflecting a deal between the two men to fill party appointments with leaders aligned either with Ong or Dr Chua.

Najib to meet warring factions in MCA - The NST online

2009/11/19

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said today he will meet warring factions in MCA to find a solution to the deepening crisis in the party.

Najib said he felt that the crisis in MCA, the second largest Barisan Nasional's (BN) component party, had become more serious and severe.

He added that the failure of MCA leaders to find a solution to the impasse could result in the party unable to win the trust and confidence of the Chinese community and the people as a whole.

"I will find time to talk to them and will see if there is a common ground; we will take it from there," he said after opening the 2009 International Paralympic Committee General Assembly here today.

To a question, Najib who is BN chairman, said he would meet the factions probably separately and would try to do so before Nov 28.

Groups aligned to vice-president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai are set to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on that date to push for a fresh party election.

Najib said there were many groups expressing disappointment over the turn of events in the MCA.

"Certainly if we want to find a formula for unity, our action should reflect that desire. It seems that what is happening in the MCA so far, no longer inspires confidence among those outside the party, including among BN component members," he said.

The prime minister also said that the crisis in the MCA would affect the BN, especially the effort to restore the coalition's image in the eyes of the people.

"Yes, it is going to hamper our effort to revive the position of BN in the eyes of the people. The people now see Umno as being very stable and has gone through the process of reforming itself and presenting a new image to the rakyat.

"We hope that other parties will come together and reflect the desire to put together a new image for the BN," he said.

In a latest twist to the crisis, MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat yesterday removed nine leaders aligned to Liow from the Presidential Council, including Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong and Wanita chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.

More updates will follow at www.nst.com.my and keep watch for NST Live session with Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat today at 2.30pm.