UMNOPORNO government wants the people living under the bridge...KL sees spike in EIU’s cost of living index

Kuala Lumpur’s cost of living index in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) ranking of the world’s most expensive cities has risen by nearly 25 per cent over the last two years, posing a potential challenge for the Najib administration which is aiming to bounce back from the ruling party’s worst-ever electoral defeat in 2008.

The EIU takes into account more than 160 items, from food, toiletries and clothing to domestic help, transport and utility bills, in 140 cities worldwide to formulate its index, which uses New York City as a benchmark.

Higher fuel prices have contributed to the rising cost of living in Kuala Lumpur. — Reuters pic
Data made available by the EIU to The Malaysia Insider show that KL’s index rose from 67 in June 2009, which was just after Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over as prime minister, to 82 last month, a jump of 15 points or 22 per cent.

While the US dollar’s depreciation against the ringgit could partly account for the rise, rapid increases in prices of property and food and to a lesser extent fuel have been a constant source of complaints especially among urban Malaysians in the last two years and the discontent could manifest during a general election which must be held by 2013.

In the run-up to the 2008 polls, a spike in fuel prices and toll rates had helped contribute to a backlash against the Abdullah administration and helped earn the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition the informal moniker of “Barang Naik” (or “Price Increase”).

Cost of living was also a key election issue in the recently concluded Singapore general election in which the ruling PAP party won its narrowest votes gained since the island republic’s independence.

While the BN government maintains that the inflation rate remains manageable at 2.2 per cent last year and between 3 and 4 per cent this year, many urbanites feel that the figures do not reflect the real cost of living and that wages have not kept pace.

Price increases, especially for property and food, also tend to be higher in urban areas where BN tends to be weakest.

The Najib administration is also facing a dilemma as it has pledged financial reforms such as subsidy cuts to help balance its budget and push Malaysians to get used to market-based pricing but such fiscal exercises could further aggravate price pressures.

The prime minister has however taken some steps to tackle price issues such as launching an initiative to build affordable urban housing, freezing toll rate increases at selected highways or even removing them altogether, and is introducing a competition law in January next year which could help boost competitive pricing.

It also aims to introduce a minimum wage by the end of this year although both the country’s largest workers’ and employers’ groups are against parts of the wage policy.

It is too early to tell however if such initiatives will be enough to alleviate the cost of living issues experienced by the electorate to any significant degree.

The EIU report showed that KL rose from 101th most expensive city in June last year to 86 in June this year.

The most expensive city in the world in the EIU ranking was Tokyo, Japan while the cheapest was Karachi, Pakistan.

The online version of the EIU report is available at www.eiu.com/wcol2011.



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No thanks to BN's Barang Naik policy!

We need to have an alternative government!

How to survive nowadays with my fixed pension? Utilities, foods, and essential items are up but our self-declared 1st lady just received a diamond ring of RM73million. There is something isn't right in Malaysia, ordinary folks work hard only to have shelter and foods but the ruling class can afford luxurius items beyong our imagination.

Them ministers don't get it. They live in the luxury of chaffeur-driven cars and fly 1st class everywhere, at the expense of the Rakyat. Show me 1 minister apart from LGE who flies economy class. When they feel that they are entitled to live a life of luxury, then however much prices go up, they still won't feel it. Our generation is one poorer than our dad's. Development? Sure. Inside the minister's bank accounts.

This bastard liar defends clampdown on Bersih march

Datuk Seri Najib Razak was forced to defend the clampdown on Saturday’s Bersih rally when faced with reporters in London, saying that allowing the march to proceed would have resulted in protracted chaos in the country.

The New York Times reported that the prime minister told a small group of international reporters on Wednesday that “if we allow for street demonstrations, there’s no end to it, there will be another group that wants to demonstrate.”

“Public order is very important in Malaysia,” Najib (picture) said, adding that if protests are not controlled, “you will get a situation in which more and more of these street demonstrations will take place in Malaysia.”

The government has faced widespread criticism from the media, human rights groups and even the United States government following its outlawing of the July 9 march demanding free and fair elections.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons at tens of thousands of demonstrators who poured into the city last weekend and arrested nearly 1,700 as scores were injured and the husband of a PKR division leader died in the ensuing chaos.

The Najib administration has embarked on a damage control exercise, sending Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor to Indonesia to explain its actions to the regional giant and also sent a letter in response to the Wall Street Journal’s stinging tone against Putrajaya’s reaction to Bersih.

The electoral reform group had gone ahead with Saturday’s march despite the government ban and the lack of a police permit, insisting it had a constitutional right to voice its demands.

Bersih had initially accepted Najib’s offer to move its street rally to a stadium but negotiations broke down when the coalition of 62 NGOs insisted on the historic Stadium Merdeka despite being told by authorities to move its gathering outside of the capital.

“I was saddened by the fact that they didn’t accept the government’s offer. They still insisted on marching through the streets, because I think they wanted to get maximum publicity and secondly challenge authority in the hope that they can make this an issue,” the prime minister said in London.

He also defended the police, stating that they had used “minimum force, and there was no physical contact at all with the demonstrators,” saying that a maximum of 15,000 had turned up, contradicting both police and Bersih estimates of 6,000 and 50,000 respectively.

Najib’s defence came after the Bar Council released a report on Tuesday claiming that police used tear gas and water cannons “arbitrarily, indiscriminately and excessively” while the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia has announced that it will hold an inquiry into police conduct during the rally.

The prime minister also said on Wednesday that the government would clean up the electoral roll by implementing a biometric register of voter and “clarify” the postal ballot system.

However, despite stating that the government is committed to clean and fair elections, he passed the buck to the Election Commission on extending the period for election campaigning



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Najib how come you forgot to inform that BERSIH wanted to rally as promised by you at a stadium.Then you showed how indecisive you are by breaking the promise you made.Whatever you will say to the world they will not believe you because you have lost your crediblity

Malaysians should send video/youtube links to all international reporters showing Najib promising he was allowing the rally at a stadium, and he broke his promise.

devilish police corruption eaters....Cops overpaid for Bersih detainee meals

Police brutally arrested nearly 1,700 people during Saturday’s Bersih rally

PKR Rembau chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin today urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to look into police procurement of meals for Bersih detainees, claiming the fare was not worth RM25 per person.

He pointed out that the simple meal served by police to protesters in Pulapol last Saturday should not have cost that much as it only consisted of rice, fried chicken, vegetables, sambal and a drink.

“Ask any food supplier the cost of that menu for over 1,000 people at a buffet. Most will say (it costs) RM6 per person while others will even go as low as RM4 if payment is simplified.

“PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police) forked out RM25 (per person). Where did the other RM20 go?” he wrote on his blog today.

Badrul Hisham, better known as Chegubard, alleged that such “corrupt” practices have long gone on in lock-up where no one checks the food allocation budget or quality of meals provided.

He added that the RM25 price tag would make sense only if the police detained more than 3,500 protesters at the rally, more than double the nearly 1,700 arrests reported.

“Now PDRM must answer if they arrested more than was declared or if there is ‘corruption’ involved in buy food for detainees with the people’s money,” he said.

Acting Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Amar Singh Ishar Singh said on Sunday that the police spent a total of RM42,425 providing food for 1,697 detainees during last weekend’s rally for free elections.

He said the police not only supplied meals — which he said was as good as wedding food — but provided space for prayer and medical treatment to those who spent time in lock-up.

Amar further claimed that Bersih detainees were treated better on Saturday than policeman themselves, some of whom only managed to eat after the police action ended.



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Caterer was an UMNO company even in this happenings too there is corruption.Sad to say

This is the hallmark of Malaysian mentality - when thet provide something for you, it is not because they sympatise you, it is because they see an opportunity to make money

It is not Amar Sigh's money, so he and the police won't care. It is the rakyat's money. Maybe, the rest of the food was given to the police personnel and their family members because they can't afford to buy food anymore due to their low salaries. They should also organise their own rally to ask for increment, that is what they should do.

bastard Liow passing the buck on Tung Shin

The DAP has accused Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai of shifting his responsibility as health minister to a special committee that has been set up to investigate claims that police fired tear gas and water cannons into the Tung Shin Hospital during Saturday’s Bersih rally.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said in a statement today that the MCA deputy president should simply apologise for his earlier insistence that police had not fired at the hospital instead of attempting to defend the force.

“The health minister (has attempted) to abdicate his responsibility to a ‘special’ committee. Instead of a quick admission and apology, Liow has chosen to prolong the agony for himself and all Malaysians despite the mountain of irrefutable evidence which has already been made available to him,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said.

Pua (picture) pointed out that the MCA leader had admitted on Twitter three days ago that he has “seen and heard the videos and stories that some of you have posted on Facebook and Twitter.”

“It is also sickening that Liow is refusing to take responsibility for declaring in no uncertain terms that the police had not fired tear gas and water cannons into the hospital compound, incredulously blaming the ‘wind’ for any tear gas felt instead.

“He had even argued that the police officers were only bringing in injured Bersih supporters for treatment without arresting anyone. However, he is now blaming the hospital board for allegedly giving him the wrong information,” he added.

Liow had announced yesterday that a high-level committee headed by his ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Kamarul Zaman Md Isa will conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the incident “to clear the contradictions in various statements made by different parties over the last few days.”

The Tung Shin Hospital board had on Monday informed Liow that no tear gas canisters and water cannons were fired directly into the hospital which is located on Jalan Pudu, where some of the fiercest clashes between protestors and police occurred.

But a group of medical consultants had written to the media saying the police and hospital versions of the incident were wrong.

Pua also said that several DAP leaders, including Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong and he, who were on the scene on Saturday were prepared to testify before the committee “to ensure that the government takes responsibility for its callous actions.”

He also said the health minister showed a lack of seriousness by announcing the setting up of the committee without details such as its composition, date of commencement and deadline for the report to be completed.

“As the minister himself promised a ‘thorough and transparent’ investigation, the committee must conduct its hearing in public, and not behind closed doors... and its report must be completed within three weeks. Any date later than that will only prove that the government is trying to further cover up the issue,” he said.

On Saturday, demonstrators calling for electoral reforms who were heading to Stadium Merdeka were pegged back by police in various spots in the city through a series of roadblocks and police-lines. A significant portion of the protesters was forced on the stretch from Puduraya to Bangunan Magnum on Jalan Pudu where Tung Shin is located.

Repeated police action in releasing tear gas and water cannons on the protesters forced a section of the protesters into the hospital compound. A large number of personal accounts and video loaded onto the Internet showed that the police did fire into the hospital compound before sending in their personnel to apprehend the protesters.


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Now they are trying to victimise the consultants who came forward....it seems that these brave doctors would be investigated by hospital authorities....what is there to investigate when all the damning visual evidence could be seen in the internet?

Trying to find a fall guy for the embarassing situation they got themselves into? They mishandled the situation, all they need to do is come forward and admit their mistakes instead of looking for a scapegoat! The mistake started when Liow was trying to cover for Hisham, then got the Tung Shin directors to cover for him.....now see who is left standing there holding the baby?

He definitely miscalculated his move and thought by calling Board of Directors of the hospital to make a stand will solve all problems and silent the outcry. Unfortunately, they are still right minded people who cannot be so easily intimidated and prepare to tell the truth without hesitation. A big round of applaud should be given to those hospital Doctors & Specialists for standing up against injustice.


A leader will listen, admit his mistake and change for the good.

Now, Liow is being extremely irresponsible. There's no need to waste the rakyat money to investigate something that is RIGHT. Setting up the special committee is pointless.

Please do not victimise consultants who are brave heroes (consensus of all Malaysians). This will aggravate brain drain which Malaysia has been suffering because of BN/UMNO policy.

dick head of UMNOPORNO dog said BNM can freeze Bersih assets

Ambiga said money for the Bersih rally was donated by Malaysian citizens

Datuk Awang Adek Hussin today said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) can freeze the assets of those believed to be participating in activities deemed risky to the nation’s security if the police recommend so.

The deputy finance minister highlighted this in relation to reports that the Bersih 2.0 movement headed by Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was receiving foreign funding for its activities.

According to Awang, provisions within the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act allowed for the central bank to not only bar access to such funds but also trace both deposits and withdrawals to the offending accounts.

Bersih was earlier hit by allegations of having received funding from, among others, foreign Christian organisations to finance its July 9 rally for electoral reforms.

The group, however, moved to repudiate the accusations by saying the donations for the rally came from Malaysian citizens here and abroad.

It also clarified that money the group received from two US organisations — the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open Society Institute (OSI) — were for other projects unrelated to the July 9 march.

Customs officer: I was beaten and forced to confess

A Customs officer who was among those arrested in a recent crackdown on corruption in the Customs Department said he was beaten and forced to confess to taking bribes.

Abdul Rahim Abdul Kadir, 41, told a coroner’s inquest into the death of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamed that he was detained by the MACC from April 1 to 5. The two were among those arrested in the swoop.

“The officers raised their voices and snarled at me, and even threatened me so I would confess,” Abdul Rahim said.

He said he was hit on the head during questioning on April 4 and he wasn’t allowed to perform his prayers.

Ahmad Sarbaini, the Selangor Customs assistant director, was found dead after he was believed to have fallen from the pantry on the third floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane here on April 6 and landed on the badminton court on the first floor.

Ahmad Sarbaini had confessed on April 4 to accepting between RM50 and RM100 a month from Schenker Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd officer Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Zaki as well as between RM30 and RM200 a month from a Top Mark Freight & Shipping Sdn Bhd officer called Ah Seng.

Abdul Rahim told the court that he had diarrhoea and migraine on April 4, and was taken to the clinic.

After that, during questioning an officer had hit him once on the back of the head.

MACC lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked the witness to bring a copy of the police report of the alleged beating tomorrow.

Another witness, Mohd Khairul Hisyam Mohd Gazali, 29, also a Customs officer, said he saw Sarbaini on April 2 at 7.30pm.

He said Sarbaini had told him that he was pressured by the MACC to confess that Top Mark had given him RM30 but he did not give in.

Another witness, Siti Sarina Samsudin, 33, also a Customs officer, said she was not threatened, yelled at nor was she mistreated while under the MACC’s custody, although her phone was confiscated.



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I guess after the TBH incident, nothing has really changed.

Just can imagine before TBH case , they might even more fierce and inhuman to the suspects .... Under BN , what you expect ???

Inhumane treatment and brutality is the most unprofessional way to getting confession from a suspect. MACC should learn from their counterpart from ICAC Hongkong or Singapore's CPIB investigative model to getting confession and it is not an easy way out by meting cruel treatment on a person.

Pahang head thugs ramble....I can get 3m to support PM on Facebook

Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob is confident of getting at least three million to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Facebook.

Facebook is a social networking site, on which a page dedicated to Najib (100,000 People Request Najib Tun Razak Resignation) has raked in 188, 067 likes as of 8.04pm today. The page continues to grow much to the chagrin of the Najib administration and its supporters.

Adnan, who just opened a Facebook account, said that the page did not depict well the real feelings the majority of Malaysians had for their prime minister, according to Bernama Online.

To rebut the page Adnan, who leads the state Najib’s from, is willing to gather more than three million to show positive views towards the prime minister who is also the Pekan MP.

He also questioned the actual numbers of those really seeking for the prime minister to resign.

Adnan was speaking to media at a gathering in Raub district in his state.
.his capacity as state BN chief to go down to the people to counter and clarify allegations made against the government.



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Go ahead. See how many you can get. ..Go Adnan go!

Don't talk, boast or threaten like Najib, Ibrahim Ali and Chua Soi Lek, each promising humongous numbers but with no guts to follow through.
So Adnan, show us the man you are - get the numbers even if you have to pay for them.
Btw, do you know how to switch on your computer?

Gerakan should have backed Bersih

Bersih protesters fleeing a police attack during Saturday's rally July 9 2011.

Gerakkanlah Gerakan or “gG”, a vocal reforms movement within Gerakan, has lashed out at party leaders for maintaining a “shameless silence” over the Bersih 2.0 rally debacle, saying they had missed the plot by not backing the coalition.

“Gerakan has always claimed to be the ‘conscience of the Barisan Nasional (BN)’. In the face of its performance in this Bersih 2.0 rally, such claim sounds very hollow and superficial... the fact is, Gerakan no longer has any conscience.

“The national Gerakan leaders’ response was shameless silence, and borders on cowardice,” gG’s spokesperson Yeap Ban Choon wrote in a hard-hitting statement.

Yeap, who himself had attended Saturday’s rally, said Gerakan should have actively supported Bersih 2.0’s demand for electoral reforms as the event had turned out to be “a people’s movement”.

“Gerakan’s full name is ‘Malaysian People’s Movement Party’ or in Bahasa Malaysia ‘Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia’.

“Bersih 2.0 is a coalition of 62 established NGOs and it wants a clean and fair election. Why are Gerakan leaders not engaging this social coalition as part of a strategy to go back to basic i.e. the people’s movement?,” he said.

He told his party leadership that the mindsets of Malaysians have changed and many have abandoned their past fears to clamour for justice and the freedom to assemble peacefully.

“However the government is fearful of such spirit and wants to ‘nip it in the bud’; hence the unprecedented repression and suppression of the Bersih 2.0 rally,” he said.

Yeap urged the Gerakan leadership to change its strategy by abandoning its subservience to Umno and instead, consider whether it should remain in the ruling BN pact.

The gG movement has been openly critical of its party leadership and was instrumental in the recent Penang Gerakan revolt, which saw an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held to remove its chief Datuk Teng Hock Nan.



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Gerakan should leave BN and think of disbanding because it has no more roles to play as it is supposed to be multi-racial but it is not!

if am not mistaken, Gerakan president was watching the silat show with PM just a few days back. How to join Bersih after finding out 1st hand the strength of our silat "stars"?


BN's parties always talk, talk, talk.... after the events, CSL talked so, LTL talked so, KTK talked so... but what is the point, you should have talked to your master to allow people to have their basic right to voice and not suppress us.

monggolia pesky male bluff...Police action mild during Bersih rally

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said police used the appropriate level of force to disperse Bersih protesters during last Saturday’s rally in the capital.

“It was quite mild because although they were taken in, they were released after eight hours and they were treated really well,” he told CNN’s John Defterios in an interview today.

“There was no undue use of force and the demonstrators were dispersed using minimum force.”

Najib also dismissed the rally for free and fair elections as a partisan movement, and stressed that his administration was “committed to making (electoral reform) better”.

The prime minister gave the interview in the Britain, where he is on a four-day visit to cement economic ties.

Malaysia has been savaged by the international press for last weekend’s Bersih crackdown, which influential British daily Guardian described as “characteristic heavy-handedness” by Najib.

The Bar Council noted in its monitoring report that the way police had fired tear gas canisters - at close range and at eye-level — suggested they wished to inflict injury on and not disperse protesters.

The government has promised to investigate allegations of police brutality, including alleged beatings and the reported firing of tear gas and water cannon into the compound of a maternity hospital.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today also said it will be holding a separate public inquiry into police conduct during the Bersih rally.



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Yea, agreed with the PM that the police action were mild by any standards considering that only 1 protesters were beaten and later died, only 1 protesters were rammed by police car until he fell off his bike, only tears gas and water were used on tung shin hospital. Is he implying that the police is actually very brutal when dealing with peaceful protesters like using M16 live rounds, sending in silat gangsters and so on ?

What does he know about the Bersih peaceful march until police intervene? He was hiding under Rosmah's skirt last Saturday.

From all the videos I viewed from You Tube, I can see some policemen kicking and clubbing people. Blood can be seen from those injured. I can also see unprovoked people being water canoned and tear gased. Verbal abuse was also heard. The police also did not helped a man who fell unconscious.

Is this what you called handling with appropriate or mild force. I shudder to think what would have happened if non-appropriate or stronger force are used.

Bersih 3.0 if no electoral reforms before GE

 

PAS has called on the Najib administration to bow to Bersih’s eight-point reforms to the electoral system or face a repeat of the rally that plunged the capital into chaos on Saturday.

Party deputy president Mohamad Sabu said today it would hold another rally before the next general election if the Election Commission (EC) failed to implement the reforms demanded by the coalition of 62 NGOs.

“The EC should act. If there is no action by the next election, we will suggest that Bersih holds another demonstration,” he said at a press conference.

Despite Bersih claiming that 50,000 had poured into the city last weekend, Mohamad (picture) threatened a larger rally, stating that “PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang has already said this is only the beginning.”

He also said the Islamist party would ask Bersih to declare Saturdays “Bersih Day” where members of the public should wear yellow to show their support for free and fair elections.

Asked if he was calling for the public to disobey the law, Mohamad said “the yellow shirts are only illegal to Umno but no court has declared them unlawful.”

He added that the EC could already implement part of the demands set out by the electoral reform movement such as cleaning up the electoral roll, reforming postal votes, using indelible ink and providing free access to the media for all parties.

Bersih had claimed a turnout of 50,000 for the street demonstration which went ahead without police permission, resulting in nearly 1,700 arrests, leaving dozens injured and the spouse of a PKR leader dead.

The electoral reform movement decided to take to the streets despite previously accepting Najib’s offer to move the street rally to a stadium after the government refused to allow the gathering to take place in Stadium Merdeka.

This came after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong called on the government a week ago to execute its duties fairly and for it to meet Bersih and discuss the issue of free and fair elections.

Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin had intervened after a police dragnet that had seen over 100 arrests, the raiding of the Bersih secretariat and confiscation of Bersih-related materials in the space of a week.

The first Bersih rally in November 2007 also saw tens of thousands being dispersed by police with tear gas and water cannons.

It was said to have been a key factor in a general election called just four months later, which saw BN losing its customary two-thirds hold of Parliament, ceding 82 seats and five state governments in its worst showing ever at the polls.

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I totally agreed with the suggestion to wear yellow on saturdays as a way to show support for a free and fair election. Its not disobeying the law but a good democratic and harmless way to show the people's stance

What UMNO fears most is Bersih spreading to the Malay Heartland as well as East Malaysia. So instead of focusing on KL where PDRM can mobilise all their man here, Bersih should penetrate the Malay Heartland and Sabah/Sarawak. Hit them where it hurts the most just like what they gave Bersih.

election reforms is highly required before GE13 as the rumours on the ground is that UMNO/BN will manipulate the elections like never before....to ensure not only they retain Putrajaya but exceed 2/3 majority....therefore we the rakyat must demand for this reforms...if there is BERSIH 3.0 please make it nationwide,perhaps we could already start booking every major stadium in each state....

dirty man unconscious ....MCA porn star said...Police doing their job at Tung Shin

 

The police had to fire tear gas near Tung Shin Hospital to protect its patients from Bersih 2.0 protesters who sought refuge there, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has said.

The MCA president said the situation should be viewed “in totality”, pointing out that the police would be accused of not doing their job had they decided against dispersing the crowd of protesters that ran into the hospital.

“If the police don’t do anything, people will say the police failed to safeguard the patients in the hospital,” he told reporters at Wisma MCA here today.

Dr Chua (picture) also said it was difficult to determine what exactly transpired at the hospital on Saturday as it was difficult to tell the whole story from the photos and videos that have emerged online since then.

“Pictures may not convey the total picture, depending on the angle the picture is shot,” he said.

“It’s just like sometimes the newspaper will show the picture of a politician, if they don’t support the politician they will always show the politician’s face very angry, very sad.”

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai added that he had been told by Tung Shin’s management that tear gas was fired into an adjacent carpark and not into the hospital compound proper.

“If there is any other proof... (let) the police investigate. So be patient for the report,” he said, adding that both the Health Ministry and Home Ministry will look into the incident.

Since Saturday’s chaotic events, debate has escalated between Bersih supporters and the Najib administration over whether the police had fired tear gas and water cannons into Tung Shin Hospital.

Liow slammed protestors yesterday after meeting with hospital authorities, saying they had “ambushed” the hospital when they entered its compound to escape the bombardment.

DAP publicity chief Tony Pua has accused Liow of “lying through his teeth” for contradicting “irrefutable” photo and video evidence, and urged the minister to apologise to Tung Shin and Malaysians for his statement.

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MCA is history and forget about making any statement to rebute them. MCA is history and you will witness this in 13 GE.

One death reported at rally

The “success” of the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform today was soured by the death of Baharuddin Ahmad, the husband of the Setiawangsa PKR Wanita division chief.

Baharuddin, who was marching along with the thousands who turned up today in support of Bersih 2.0, died when he fell during a scuffle with police at KLCC this afternoon.

Police confirmed earlier today that 1,401 of the estimated 6,000 protestors were detained during the gathering, which lasted for over four hours.

Scuffles reportedly broke out between protestors and the armed riot police when the march, which was originally intended to be peaceful, descended into chaos.

Tear gas canisters and water cannons were also fired at various points across the city as the police attempted to force protestors to disperse.

This is Bersih 2.0’s second such rally since 2007 calling for free and fair elections. Its leaders attempted to march to Istana Negara today to hand a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong but were held back by the police about 200m away.

At a press conference after the crowd slowly began to disperse, Bersih 2.0 declared that the rally had been a success, claiming it had drawn a crowd of over 50,000 supporters despite efforts by the police over the past few weeks to restrict the turnout.



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If the police have assisted for the rally to be held peacefully this would not happen. Most of the chaotic situations are caused by the police firing the tear gas and water cannons into the crowd.

the actual trouble makers are the police and fru under the instructions of thier boses...... otherwise it definately would have been a really a peacefull demonstration......

Why fire tear gas when they were marching along peacefully? to make it looks unruly? Were the crowd fighting or attacking to warrants the firing of tear gas and water cannon? Shame on the Police!

Allahyarham Baharuddin Ahmad is a martyr in the eyes of Malaysians! You died for a good cause for all Malaysians! Our deepest and sincerest condolences to your family!

Police car rammed into Mat Sabu’s motorbike

PAS deputy president Mohamed Sabu was knocked down by police as he was riding pillion on a motorcycle today and has “badly injured” his right knee, PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah said.

Mohamed, better known as Mat Sabu, was said to have been heading to Masjid Negara at around 12.30pm earlier when a police car allegedly knocked into the motorcycle deliberately, causing it to fall.

“His right knee is badly injured. Although not broken he cannot walk on it. He cannot stand without assistance,” Sivarasa (picture) said in an email today.

“My view is that he needs to be in hospital not in lock-up. He was taken there earlier for treatment but brought back to Jinjang.”

As at 2.30pm today police confirmed that they arrested 672 people during the Bersih march, including Bersih chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS vice-presidents Datuk Mahfuz Omar and Salahuddin Ayub, as well as a number of other Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih leaders.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and the wing’s committee member Lokman Adam have also been detained.

Those arrested were picked up at various checkpoints across the city when today’s march descended into chaos after police fired tear gas canisters and water cannons at the tens of thousands of people who gathered to support Bersih 2.0’s call for electoral reform.

UMNOPORNO Print media attacks Bersih

Barisan Nasional’s print media moved quickly today to contain the damage from yesterday’s Bersih rally, claiming that the police succeeded in foiling the electoral reform movement which it accused of disturbing the peace and heightening tensions.

Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia front-paged the 1,401 arrests, which included Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang under the headline “Police efforts succeed.”

“Preventive measures by the police succeeded in foiling the illegal Bersih gathering from meeting at Stadium Merdeka.

“The troublemakers finally dispersed at 5pm, but police continued to be stationed at certain locations and roadblocks were maintained to ensure peace was returned,” the Malay daily wrote in its Mingguan Malaysia Sunday edition.

Both Berita Harian and New Straits Times (NST), controlled by Umno under the Media Prima group, slammed the electoral reform movement for bringing chaos to the city.

“Supporters of the illegal Bersih 2.0 gathering emerged from all directions in the capital yesterday from unknown hiding places, causing the situation to become tense,” Berita Harian reported.

The NST’s Sunday edition front-paged a picture of a protestor in the act of throwing an object with the headline “Peaceful?”

Its op-ed pages also accused the coalition of 62 NGOs of “wrecking the weekend” and of being a political rally with nothing to do with electoral reform.

MCA’s The Star also lamented that “if every complaint made one or the other party take to the streets, bringing a city to a standstill, people would not be getting much work done” in an editorial today.

Bersih had claimed a turnout of 50,000 for their street demonstration which went ahead without police permission.

The coalition of 62 NGOs decided to take to the streets despite previously accepting Najib’s offer to move the street rally to a stadium after the government refused to allow the gathering to take place in Stadium Merdeka.

With the whole of Kuala Lumpur locked down for nearly 24 hours, the government has sought to blame the demonstrators for the disturbance and ensuing economic impact.

However, the majority of urbanites on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, have laid the blame on heavy-handed police action, who set up roadblocks, shut down rail stations, and fired tear gas and water cannons in efforts to quell the gathering.



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It is the UMNO polis that forced shops to close and bus stations to shut dowm,closed the roads like gangsters all to prevent the protestors from getting into KL.This was UMNO instructions to the polis.Normally in a peaceful walk the shops make roaring business especially the restaurants and wayside stalls selling drinks.It always is like a pesta.But the polis determination to stop the gathering turned KL into a war Zone.Shame to BN and their Polis.

The havoc was brought in by BN government together with the PDRM. If they were to have issue the permit and allow the Bersih rally to carry out such eye sore incident would not have happened. Bersih has always maintain their stand that their march is a peaceful one, so we see no reason why Najib administration is so fearful, shivering and demand the Police to come in to cause havoc. So undemocratic.... here again I respect all who came out full force to march on 9th July, 2011 and for the one killed my condolence to your family. Blame it on BN,,,,

I was there. Not a window was broken. Not a street lamp was broken. Not a car burn. Not even a stone thrown. The crowd was super. They were discipline. The only violence came from the police who chased them like rats---shooting tear gas and gassing peaceful protesters, including man old men and old ladies who came from far away kampongs from all over Malaysia. I pity them---because the police were merciless. In spite of the clampdown in central KL (there were no traffic), people came, sneak through the condon and protested. The people were the Hero. I was an experience I will never forget.

Perkasa rally ends in a whimper

Supporters of Malay extremist group Perkasa were supposed to gather at Tasik Titiwangsa here and march in droves to Stadium Merdeka. But the planned march fizzled out.

At 2pm there were no supporters at the lake, except for a few joggers, a wedding party and several policemen. Perkasa leader Ibrahim Ali has apparently got cold feet.

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said that Ibrahim would not be present at any rally because of the court order barring him from entering certain parts of the city.

After promising to arrive at Tasik Titiwangsa at 12.30pm, Perkasa leaders decided to postpone the rally after zohor prayers, according to Syed Hassan.

At 2pm, however, there were no Perkasa members at the lake.

Speaking to FMT, Syed Hassan said that his supporters would possibly be congregating in “an hour, maybe an hour and a half”.
Meanwhile, Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi said that he was “waiting for instructions” from Ibrahim.

Perkasa had intended to congregate at the lakeside area and march to the city centre to intercept Bersih 2.0 supporters.
However, police have cordorned off every entrance to the park, forcing visitors, including a very disgruntled bride in full regalia – to leave their cars by the roadside and make their way out on foot.

Nik Aziz slams way government handled Bersih rally

Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat today attacked the Najib administration for the way in which it handled the Bersih rally today, and warned the government that the mass arrests and police “brutality” will fuel the anger of Malaysians towards the ruling coalition.

“I stress that these actions will only increase the rakyat’s hatred towards Umno. Even though it was the police who had reacted towards the Bersih supporters, everyone knows that the remote control is held by the prime minister who is also the president of Umno.

“What is wrong with the (Bersih) gathering?” the PAS spiritual adviser said in a statement today.

During the protest, a total of 1,401 people were detained, including 1,273 men, 115 women, 12 boys and one girl.

Among the notable personalities detained were Bersih 2.0 chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, his deputy Mohamad Sabu, vice-presidents Datuk Mahfuz Omad and Salahuddin Ayub, and a number of other Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih 2.0 leaders.

The police have now said that all detainees will be released by 9pm today.

“Didn’t the Umno president, the same person, once promised that the gathering would be allowed if it was done in a stadium and those involved could ‘scream till early dawn’?” said Nik Aziz.

The Kelantan mentri besar said the government would “pay” for any crime committed today against ordinary Malaysians, and that their punishment would be meted out in the afterlife



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There was no looting or destruction of properties, no burning vehicles of sorts. Only the PDRM was the one who was committing acts of violence. Shame on you PDRM

How to respect a leader who never kept his word.. Feel disgusted even to the mentioning of his name.. PRU 13, lets all bungkus Be End!!!

Toh Guru! UMNO has no fear of God. They worship power and money. When the devil rule their heart what do you expect from them ? of cource evil. They are bad example for muslims.

Police used force against the ordinary unarmed Malaysian that gathered and expressed the agenda of a fair election.

This is an example of a blatantly in the abused of power.

Why the police is not spending the same serious effort to curb rising crime rate in town?

Why spend energy to curb the voice of Malaysian public that is allowed under the constitution?

Why the permit to gather in stadium is not given as promised earlier?

Sad to see Putrajaya headed on this grave direction.

an elusive Malaysian unity appears

A brief commotion at an LRT station showed off the Bersih 2.0 rally’s young, multi-racial face.

National laureate and Bersih icon Datuk A Samad Said was mobbed by Indian and Chinese Malaysian youths as he appeared to board the train home.

“Please take a picture with us Pak Samad, you are our hero,” said a young Indian Malaysia youth who came to KL to watch the rally. His place was then taken by two other Chinese youths who wanted their own pictures with the national poet.

Bersih or the Coalition for Free and Fair Elections may have declared that the rally attracted a multi-ethnic crowd of all ages but the movement still has a huge obstacle to overcome — the stigma that has been painted by the federal government and the Barisan Nasional (BN)-aligned media.

Of particular worry are the people in non-urban areas whom Pakatan Rakyat parties, such as PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat, are courting ahead of the next general elections.

Bersih is a civil society-led movement but it has solid backing from PR parties who have historically complained that the BN games elections.

Though Bersih has been hugely successful in deepening and expanding support among urbane professionals of all races, it is still viewed suspiciously by those in the rural areas.

Such sentiments would spread from the movement itself to the political parties that support it.

PAS grassroots activists, for instance, were pumped up and made it to the rally in thousands. But they privately worry about how the electoral reform movement has been demonised.

“Even my husband didn’t want to come because he watched the news and thought it would be dangerous,” said a Pahang PAS activist who requested anonymity. In the end, the matronly retiree attended the rally with her 18-year-old daughter.

“People who watch the nightly news will definitely think negatively of Bersih. They aren’t as exposed,” says the activist.

According to a Johor PAS activist who wanted to be known as Faizul, the news reports of weapon caches found with Bersih T-shirts have been particularly damaging.

“Village folk tend to believe what is being shown without really thinking whether it makes sense. Who would put weapons caches and advertise their identity at the same time? It’s illogical,” says Faizul from Batu Pahat.

There were a string of news reports in the days leading up to the rally about police finding caches of parangs, knives and Molotov cocktails in several areas of the city. The bundles were hidden with piles of Bersih T-shirts.

Though the police have yet to determine whom the bundles belonged to, the discoveries implied that there were disruptive elements out to hijack the rally.

Merdeka Centre head Ibrahim Suffian believes Bersih and the ensuing government reponse have polarised Malaysians of all stripes.

“For Pakatan Rakyat supporters, it has just increased their scepticism of the (BN-ruled) government. For those who are pro-government, it has hardened their belief that the PR is out to cause trouble.”

Ibrahim believes that the rally will have an effect on the electorate even though for now, its campaign resonates only with non-governmental organisations and political parties.

“It’s a KL-centric issue. But it will be fodder for both political coalitions in the coming days and each will use it to their advantage.”

One participant, however, cautioned against putting too much faith in the traditional media — state television and BN-owned papers — to shape opinion.

“The fact is Utusan Malaysia is not selling as much as it used to. No one reads it anymore,” says Wahab, an activist who works in a government agency.

“The larger fact that you cannot ignore is that the government mounted a month-long campaign in the build-up to Bersih. There were roadblocks all over the place, people were getting arrested because of wearing Bersih T-shirts.

“But despite all that, people showed up in the thousands. This is a sign of how successful it’s been,” And as Faizul and Esah, showed, Bersih’s supporters came from as far as Johor and Pahang — two states which have been traditionally pro-BN.


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Yes, we must all bring the true message of Bersih 2.0 back to the rural folks whose channel of information til now is still the BN-controlled lies of RTM, TV3 and Utusan.
We don't need APCO, consultants, expensive government machineries, big budgets or even super mega events.
Only genuine and sincere cause & all folks of Malaysians will be there

Over 1,400 arrested, tear gas fired in Malaysia protest against PM Najib Razak

 

Malaysian police fired repeated rounds of tear gas and detained over 1,400 people in the capital on Saturday as thousands of activists evaded roadblocks and barbed wire to hold a street protest against Prime Minister Najib Razak's government.

At least a dozen people were hurt in the demonstration for electoral reform in downtown Kuala Lumpur. There were no reports of serious injuries but some analysts said the police action was excessive and would dent Najib's image.

"We are not criminals, we are just asking for free and fair elections," opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, told reporters after her father was knocked down and hurt in a melee when he and his supporters were tear gassed.

"Many innocent people were injured. We condemn this act of cruelty by UMNO and Barisan Nasional," she said, referring to Najib's party and the ruling coalition.

Street protests are rare in this Southeast Asian nation, but foreign investors are worried that any groundswell of anti-government sentiment could delay economic reforms seen as essential to draw investment.

If he is put under popular pressure, Najib may reconsider plans for a snap election and hold back on reforms such as cutting fuel subsidies or unwinding an affirmative action programme for the country's Malay majority.

Polls are not due until 2013 but analysts have said Najib could seek an early mandate after economic growth accelerated to a 10-year high in 2010.

"From Najib's perspective, holding elections anytime soon would be a mistake because of the damage that has been done today," said Bridget Welsh, Malaysia specialist at Singapore Management University.

"The fact that such a large crowd turned up despite a crackdown shows that voter anger is deep and this is going to push a lot of people who are in the middle towards the opposition."

Reuters witnesses saw tear gas shells lobbed repeatedly at groups of protesters in downtown Kuala Lumpur as the crowds chanted "Long Live the People" and "Reformasi, reformasi," the Malay word for reform.

Several people were seen bleeding after the tear gas was fired, but police gave no details of any injuries. Crowds around the city's main bus station were also sprayed with water cannon.

Malaysia's inspector-general of police, Ismail Omar, said 1,401 people were taken into custody, but many will be released after questioning. At least three senior opposition leaders were among those detained, other officials said.

"We have made our point that we want free and fair elections," said Chan Mei Yin, a 32-year old accountant who joined the protest.

"The police are just showing that they are brutal to Malaysians. I will not vote for this government."

NOT THAILAND

While Malaysia is far from being divided by political strife like its northern neighbour Thailand, the opposition has been steadily growing more vocal.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets at a November 2007 rally, which analysts said galvanised support for the opposition ahead of record gains in a 2008 general election.

Analysts said the turnout of protesters on Saturday was more than 10,000, around the same as in 2007. Police, however, put the number at 5,000-6,000, while protest organisers claimed 50,000 attended.

"Malaysian civil society is showing the government that intimidation will not work," said Ooi Kee Beng, a political analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Singapore.

"We're seeing a lack of will on the part of the government to try to negotiate and to defuse the situation. It's all going to look very bad outside Malaysia."

After Malaysia's constitutional monarch tried to defuse the situation, the government initially offered Bersih (Clean), the group that called the protest, the use of a stadium to hold its demonstration.

But it baulked at allowing the group to use the main stadium in downtown Kuala Lumpur, at which point Bersih said it would defy the ban.

From midnight, police locked down the central shopping district of the city of 1.6 million people, setting up roadblocks and barring taxis and buses from the area. Suburban trains, however, continued to operate and other areas of the city were not affected.

Bersih has vowed to bring together tens of thousands of supporters to the protest but it fell short. Still, some analysts said the government faced a problem.

"Just looking at the crowd there were many 'first timers', young people from the Facebook generation who just wanted to have a peaceful life," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the independent opinion polling outfit Merdeka Center.

"This is trouble for Najib as it will polarise traditionally non-political segments of society like the young even further away from him."

Najib took power in 2009, and inherited a divided ruling coalition which had been weakened by historic losses in the 2008 polls. He has promised to restructure government and economy and introduced an inclusive brand of politics aimed at uniting the country's different races.

Najib's approval ratings have risen from 45 percent to 69 percent in February, according to independent polling outfit Merdeka Center. But analysts said recent ethnic and religious differences have undermined his popularity.

UMNO dogs savage....One death reported at BERSIH rally

The “success” of the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform today was soured by the death of Baharuddin Ahmad, the husband of the Setiawangsa PKR Wanita division chief.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Baharuddin, who was marching along with the thousands who turned up today in support of Bersih 2.0, died when he fell during a scuffle with police at KLCC this afternoon.

Police confirmed earlier today that 1,401 of the estimated 6,000 protestors were detained during the gathering, which lasted for over four hours.

Scuffles reportedly broke out between protestors and the armed riot police when the march, which was originally intended to be peaceful, descended into chaos.

Tear gas canisters and water cannons were also fired at various points across the city as the police attempted to force protestors to disperse.

This is Bersih 2.0’s second such rally since 2007 calling for free and fair elections. Its leaders attempted to march to Istana Negara today to hand a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong but were held back by the police about 200m away.

At a press conference after the crowd slowly began to disperse, Bersih 2.0 declared that the rally had been a success, claiming it had drawn a crowd of over 50,000 supporters despite efforts by the police over the past few weeks to restrict the turnout.



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If the police have assisted for the rally to be held peacefully this would not happen. Most of the chaotic situations are caused by the police firing the tear gas and water cannons into the crowd.

To Baharuddin Ahmad's family, we are very very sad to hear this. A death under police violence. Our condolences, we do not know what to say, except we think of him , of you..
and ask God to receive him, and honour him, for his courage and sacrifice for the Nation.
Damn UMNO..... and Najib. And IGP. God will Judge them.

50,000 protested, declares BERSIH rally ‘great success’

Bersih 2.0 leaders led by national laureate Datuk A. Samad Said said today their rally was a “great success” as an estimated 50,000 people turned out in support of their movement, despite being unable to hand their memorandum to set up a royal commission to look into electoral reform to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

“I have never seen all the races in Malaysia so united for one cause before,” Samad said.

He also said the supporters of Bersih 2.0 were more multiracial this time compared to its previous incarnation in 2007 as Bersih.

The 76-year-old poet was boldly dressed in the distinctive yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirt, which has been outlawed by the police under Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s orders since July 1.

Samad told reporters at Midah Hotel here that Bersih 2.0 will try to hand over the memo to the King at a later date, but declined to say when.

Samad speaks to reporters about the Bersih rally on July 9, 2011 where he said he had “never seen all the races in Malaysia so united for one cause before.” — TMI pic
He said the organisers will not do it through another rally.

The rump Bersih 2.0 leadership condemned the police, claiming the cops reacted harshly to the civil organisation and slammed them further for arresting their coalition chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and fellow leader Maria Chin Abdullah.

“The only violence witnessed was perpetrate by the police who unleashed immense amounts of tear gas and chemically-laced water on innocent members of the public,” said Bersih 2.0 steering committee member Dr Subramaniam Pillay.

Fellow Bersih leader Richard Yeoh suggested to supporters to wear yellow every Saturday as a mark of their “civil disobedience”.

Hishammuddin had also outlawed the colour when he declared the coalition of 62 registered civil societies illegal.

“The struggle for clean and fair elections continues. Bersih 2.0 is proud that in spite of all the obstacles and hindrances that we were forced to face, Malaysians of all walks of life overcame the oppressive acts of the police to come out peacefully and in incredibly large numbers to show their love for country and for the principles of justice,” Pillay said.

He reminded the public that the fight was not over


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The most important thing in Bersih's Rally today is the unity of all races coming out together for a common cause. Never before has this country seen the people of all races, all walks of life joining hands to make Malaysia a better place. The generations of tomorrow will remember this day in history for what their predecessors have done for them.

The people must have the only option and that is to get rid of Umno as the Federal Govt when the GE13 is called. The Umno must be kicked out in the GE13