Bersih 2.0: Najib never specified Shah Alam in stadium offer

Election watchdog Bersih 2.0 disputed Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s claim yesterday that he had specifically offered “a stadium in Shah Alam” for its July 9 rally.

Steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah reminded the prime minister today that he had never named a stadium when he made the offer to the coalition just days before the mammoth event.

“That offer only came from Selangor Mentri Besar (Tan Sri) Khalid Ibrahim, not from the PM. Najib never said which stadium... he only said a stadium. Perhaps we were expected to read his mind,” she told The Malaysian Insider when contacted this afternoon.

Maria Chin (picture) was commenting on Najib’s statement to the press yesterday that he had specifically offered Bersih 2.0 use of a stadium in Shah Alam to hold its rally and had never retracted the offer.

“We are regretful that the offer made by the government (to Bersih) to have its gathering in a stadium in Shah Alam was not accepted by the (rally) organisers.

“This offer was never denied or retracted by the government. We wanted to avoid any untoward incidents from happening,” he had said.

Maria Chin recalled that the stadium offer was made following the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin’s surprising decree on July 3, calling for all warring parties to reach a mutual agreement over Bersih 2.0’s electoral reform demands.

A check on media reports of the sequence of events in the run-up to the tumultuous July 9 rally revealed that Najib had not expressly named any stadium in Shah Alam when he made the offer.

In one media report on July 3, Najib was quoted as saying: “We are willing to provide a stadium for them to rally but why choose to protest in the streets. The government is not against them rallying in a stadium from morning until night. Just don’t hold street protest as it is very risky to the nation.”

Following the offer, Bersih 2.0 announced its request to meet with the King and upon emerging from Istana Negara on July 5 said it would proceed with the rally and accept the government’s stadium offer.

After Bersih’s audience with Tuanku Mizan, Najib said his administration was willing to meet with Bersih to decide on a venue but stressed that the offer would be conditional as it would depend on the group’s willingness to ensure the gathering would be peaceful.

The following day, Khalid offered Bersih 2.0 use of the Shah Alam stadium but urged for discipline, order and control should the event be hosted in Selangor.

But Bersih 2.0 declined and named the iconic Stadium Merdeka as its choice. Its suggestion was immediately rejected by Cabinet for two reasons — the group is not registered with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) and safety concerns.

“I myself have checked with all the media reports — like I said, Najib never told us which stadium when he first made the offer,” Maria Chin insisted today.

The July 9 rally was held despite Bersih’s tug-of-war with the authorities for Stadium Merdeka and chaos broke out in the capital when the police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protestors.



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can our govt be trusted ? one day say this another day say that

if the government can be trusted, the pig also can climb up the tree and swing like tarzan.

Utusan Malaysia promotes racial unity as tensions rise

With perception on race relations in Malaysia on a decline, Utusan Malaysia’s editors sought to preach racial unity today, urging Malaysians to remember efforts by the country’s forefathers to ensure the nation’s peace and stability.

Instead of the usual political rhetoric found daily in its columns, the Umno-owned newspaper chose instead to praise the state of racial unity in Malaysia, claiming the country had become a role model for other nations.

Writing as Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used by the Umno-owned daily’s editors, the daily said Malaysians must protect the formula for peace and harmony created by the country’s freedom fighters.

Without elaborating, Awang said several incidents of late have led Malaysians to be reminded of how the country’s forefathers and nationalists had fought to maintain stability in a nation of diverse races and cultures.

“And since Merdeka, we were taught to respect one another’s religion, cultures and way of lives,” the paper said.

Awang said using with a formula founded on provisions in the Federal Constitution, Malaysia had already succeeded in her goals.

“Perhaps there are some among us who are not aware of how enjoyable it is living in a peaceful country because they have not experienced living in troubled and chaotic situations. (But) the road mapped by those before us should be defended for the good of all,” the paper said.

It cautioned Malaysians against acting for the benefit of only a small group of people, at the expense of demolishing the interests of the majority.

This, said Awang, would also end up destroying the country’s economy and development, and affect the lives of all Malaysians.

“As such, Awang is confident that the public can protect the foundation of Malaysia’s successes thus far — that is, racial unity.

“It was because of this unity that we have progressed today. So protect what we have by respecting all cultures, religions and the traditions of all races,” the editors said, signing off as “Awang — Anak Malaysia”.

Recent years have seen communal politics being stirred up after the landmark Election 2008 — the stiffest contest in Malaysian history.

With Barisan Nasional (BN) losing its customary two-thirds hold on Parliament and five state governments, several political leaders have retreated into racial silos to drum up support.

Calls for more meritocracy to be practised have been met by accusations of being anti-Malay. Tensions between the Muslim and Christian communities also come to the fore with the dispute over the use of the word Allah to refer to the Christian god still not settled.

A recent raid by religious authorities on a church in Petaling Jaya accused of proselytising Muslims exacerbated the distrust that arose after Utusan Malaysia and Malay rights lobby Perkasa accused the church and the DAP of trying to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.

Independent pollster Merdeka Center for Opinion Research discovered recently in a survey from May 24 to June 8 that only 66 per cent of Malaysians believe ethnic relations in Malaysia is “good” — a 15 per cent decline from the 78 per cent who said so in February 2006.

It also found that just over a third of the 1,013 Malaysians polled believed that there was “sincere and friendly ethnic unity,” down from 54 per cent five years ago, and those that thought unity was superficial rose from 29 per cent to 44 per cent.

Respondents also said they trusted other races less, with trust towards Indians declining from 37 to 31 per cent, Chinese decreasing from 47 to 42 per cent and belief towards Malays dropping marginally from 66 to 65 per cent.



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what? this from the most unselamat editor in town? election must be very near. and this unselamat must have thought that the previous months of venom from his mouth has done enough damage to PR.

jihad dick head by ezam...ha ha ha ha...Ezam threatens ‘jihad’ against those proselytising Muslims

Umno Senator Ezam Mohd Nor vowed today to wage war against those who try to proselytise Muslims, in a highly-charged assembly where he also defended the state Islamic religious authorities’ raid on a dinner at a church last week.

The former PKR leader and a group of demonstrators rallied after Friday prayers here in support of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) over its raid at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya on August 3. Among those present was Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin.

“Those who are rude to Islam, Allah, Quran, we have no choice but to wage a war to defend our religion,” Ezam told the crowd under the newly-organised Gerakan Cegah Murtad group.

“We are ready for war. I stress that illah is Allah and we will die to defend Islam,” he added.

Ezam also warned the media of what he described as false reporting against Islam, citing Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider.

“If you don’t stop all this rubbish, we will go and burn you down,” he threatened the online news portals.

Ezam said the issue was not with religion itself.

“To people of other faiths, we have no problem with you. For the past 50 years, we have protected you, looked after you, and defended you.

“We have problems with those who insult our religion and try to proselytise Muslims, We have problems with Muslims themselves, who insult our religion and support the proselytising of Muslims,” he said.

Ezam also warned leaders and Selangor executive councillors who spoke out against the religion.

“MPs especially the Selangor menteri besar (Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim) and the MP from Shah Alam (Khalid Samad) who manipulate Islam for votes, status, position, and power are warned,” Ezam said, also naming Pandamaran state assemblyman Ronnie Liu, Kinrara’s Teresa Kok, Andalas assemblyman Xavier Jeyakumar and Bukit Lanjan representative Elizabeth Wong.



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Hi Dude..yours screaming is heard by whole Malaysian,,but the whole world as well.. now you got the world attention and lets see how it impact the investment index.
Najid.. you have more hardwork to convince investors to invest Malaysia if we have more morons like this screaming and cursing other religions everyday.. worst JIHAD??
This gut is nuts..

He is accusing others of manipulating Islam for vote. It seems quite to me he is the one trying to manipulate the muslim for his own political agenda with this Jihad call. I am sure the majority of our muslim friends are not easily fooled.

By the way, anybody care to enlighten what is contained in Quran 2:256?

another threat from another UMNO wannabe. Why dont they do good instead of threatening and issuing bullying aspirations. Go and help all the poor Malays instead of getting all worked up with hatred and barking up the wrong tree !! what a loser !!!

Read the readers comments in the malay version of Malaysiakini of the same story, 98% dun trust Ezam and Zul Nordin. They are creating publicity because they expect the next election going to be held soon. So expect them to support Najib so as to be nominated as BN candidates. Its Umno aggressiveness all over again minus the kris.

Nazri's minister rotter....Nazri says Tajuddin intervention could save Putrajaya billions

Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz has rebuked those who have questioned his authority in intervening in the Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli’s civil cases, insisting today that the move could save the government billions in legal claims.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department disagreed that he had overstepped boundaries with a letter earlier this month telling all government-linked companies to withdraw their suits against the former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chairman, claiming he had done so in his role as a “facilitator” for the government.

Nazri also told detractors to check their facts before spewing insult against him, saying, “I know what I am doing.”

He accused DAP publicity chief Tony Pua of practising double standards for saying the minister should be placed under the Emergency Ordinance for issuing the letter, asking the leader why he had not urged the same when other Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders attempted to intrude on government affairs.

“I want to ask him (Pua): When (PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul) Hadi Awang asked the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) and Jais (Selangor Islamic Religious Department) to see him and explain the recent church raid, why did he not rebuke Hadi?

“Because what power does Hadi have in doing so? He is not the mentri besar of Selangor and neither is he the minister for religious affairs. So why the double standards, Tony?” Nazri told ...

Similarly in the controversy over the Kedah government’s ban on entertainment outlets during Ramadan, Nazri said DAP chairman Karpal Singh had no business ordering the businesses to stay open.

“On my part, I spoke to the second finance minister and he told me why don’t I explore this issue and that I may be the facilitator to urge these GLCs to sit down with Tajuddin to come up with an amicable solution. So what power did I abuse?” he asked.

Nazri said that to defend himself, Tajuddin, who is facing millions in legal claims for allegedly causing MAS to suffer losses in excess of RM8 billion during his tenure, had made a whopping RM13 billion counter-claim.

“Our total claims by the companies against Tajuddin are only half a billion ringgit. That is why, we said we should sit down and talk,” he said.

The letter to the GLCs, said Nazri, was not an order set in stone and did not outline any commitment on behalf of the companies stipulating that Tajuddin would walk away scot-free.

“It’s different if I went and spoke to some parties and then went claiming as if the government has agreed to settle all claims and let him go,” he said.

Nazri also disputed law professor Abdul Aziz Bari’s claim that, notwithstanding his explanation that the letter only constituted advice, he could not absolve the Najib administration of responsibility by attempting to settle the outstanding claims against Tajuddin.

“It is my letter so I should know better whether or not I made an order or advice. I asked them (GLCs) to speak with Tajuddin’s people. He (Aziz) is shallow in his thinking,” he said.

Nazri had told yesterday that he had written to GLCs earlier this month seeking for them to withdraw their suits, worth at least RM2 billion, to buy time for all concerned parties to reach a “win-win” agreement and put an end to the prolonged financial saga involving Tajuddin.

The Padang Rengas MP had listed the three main parties involved in suits against Tajuddin — MAS, Telekom Malaysia and Prokhas Sdn Bhd — and said the government-linked entities can still choose to proceed with their suits if they felt they had a strong case against him




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Pls explain oh wise one ( "i know what I am doing"), how we will be spared billions in losses? I do not understand how, we the taxpayer, will benefit from Tajudin, the thief and cheat not being brought to justice!

It is not to save Putrajaya billions BUT to prevent Tajudin from washing UMNO's "dirty laundry" in public which I believe Tajudin has threatened the UMNOputras should his cases proceed in Court. What say you?

The dirty laundry is the fact that much of that money had gone into funding UMNO's "business". This is what Nazri meant by win-win. We won't prosecute you, so you don't spill the beans. Put another way, "You help me, I help you". Sounds familiar?

Pdang Renggas voters, remember what he said on this matter and his past actions, vote him out in next GE, he is setting a precedent for the Govt to protect these thives

PAS rejects EC’s denial, calls for royal intervention

PAS has refused to accept the Election Commission’s (EC) “technical error” excuse to explain discrepancies in the electoral roll and instead today urged the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to intervene.

Party deputy president Mohamad Sabu said the King, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, should exercise his powers over the commission and take action against its chairman and deputy chairman for manipulating voter details, allegedly to benefit the ruling coalition.

He scoffed at EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof’s explanation yesterday that the errors were due to technical glitches and outdated website information, saying the excuse was not plausible as there were too many discrepancies found in the electoral roll.

“We are talking about thousands and thousands of errors — double registration, permanent residents given voting rights in the blink of an eye... too many.

“We even have a case of a voter with the name of ‘Kampung Baru’ and these are not isolated errors... there are over thousands in Selangor alone,” he told a press conference at the party’s headquarters here.

Mohamad (picture) claimed that the countless discrepancies exposed by opposition lawmakers have caused public confidence in the integrity of the current EC leadership to reach its worst state.

This, he said, could create doubt and dissatisfaction among suspicious voters once the results are announced following the next general election.

“So we hope the Agong will take action against the (EC) chairman and his deputy who have failed to give confidence to the people that the election process is free and fair.

“If the people reject the results of the elections, then this could affect national security. So those responsible at the top must take full responsibility and make sure that the electoral roll is clean,” he said.

Mohamad stressed that PAS and its partner parties in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would not raise hue and cry should the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retain or even gain more seats in the coming polls, but only if their victories are achieved via a fair election process.

He also slammed the EC for constantly referring to PAS and other PR lawmakers as “the opposition”, reminding the commission that it should treat all parties as its customers.

“Especially the EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar... He often refers to us as the opposition. As an impartial, non-partisan body responsible for handling elections in Malaysia, the EC must treat everyone, even those from the BN, as equal customers,” he said.

At a press conference yesterday at the EC’s Putrajaya headquarters, Abdul Aziz had denied allegations that it has been granting voting rights and citizenships to permanent residents and blamed discrepancies exposed by opposition lawmakers on outdated information on the National Registration Department’s (NRD) website.

He confirmed that the over 1,100 names revealed by opposition lawmakers recently were all legal citizens after their applications to convert their PR status were approved.

Abdul Aziz also said PAS lawmakers were cross-checking voter details using NRD’s website, which is not always up to date. The EC, he explained, uses the NRD’s agency link-up system (Alis) which is constantly updated.



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Fully agreed with Mat Sabu. The king should take action against the EC chief and his deputy who work for UMNO and the BN gorvenment in order that the 13th GE is clean and fair.

The problem is EC thinks we stop at Standard 6.

Updating databases can be done quickly and not should not be outdated in this current technology world. It can be sync up between EC & JPN without hassle.

That's why voters registering can be manipulated and we really don't need it as it has been practiced in many countries. Referring to JPN record is suffice enough to avoid confusion.

The desperate action of Najib and Umno in recruiting so many foreign permanent resident as full citizens with voting rights is a very big cause of concern for everyone. It needs to be addressed immediately. Their actions ultimately speaks louder than words and it provided more answers than questions. If PAS, DAP, PKR, Bersih, NGOs' and the Rakyats can see Umno's dirty plan, why is it that EC, an impartial, apolitical, check and balance body blind to such dirty and Un-Islamic deeds committed by Umno.? As for Tan Sri Abd.Aziz, please go tell it to the marines. The Rakyats already have had enough of ECs' one sided act.

For 50 years Malaysians from every race are peaceful and harmonious, and never riot indiscriminately, but with the influx of foreigners who do not value our culture and peaceful co-existence, we could one day experience London Riots in downtown KL. Our Malaysian culture will disappear slowly but surely and so will our future.

And it will not be as the Deputy Inspector General of Police and the Najib administration has tried to suggest – due to the Bersih movement for free and fair elections. The fault will lie fairly and squarely on the BN for endorsing and allowing Najib and Hisham to get away with allowing such an influx of migrant workers, all for the sake of clinging to power.

The Election Commission is criminally aiding and abetting the biggest fraud in the history of elections in our country. Any and every means must be used to prevent this massive cheating exercise. If the royalty can help by all means try it. Losers should not be illegally made winners because of a criminally negligent and overtly biased E.C.

manopoly game....MAS in share swap with AirAsia

Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Tan Sri Azman Mokthar, Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Mohd Rashdan Mohd Yusof and Datuk Sri Nazir Razak at the MAS-AirAsia signing ceremony

MAS managing director Tengku Datuk Azmil Zaharudin lost his job today after the airline’s shareholders finalised a share swap with Asia’s largest low cost carrier, AirAsia.

The Malaysian Insider understands that an executive committee led by Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof will manage the state carrier until a new CEO is appointed while day-to-day operations will be handled by Khazanah Nasional Bhd executive director and MAS board member, Mohd Rashdan Mohd Yusof.

The executive committee will comprise of Datuk Mohamed Azman Yahya, Rashdan, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Meranun.

Azmil will join Khazanah as an executive director effective September 12, 2011.

Under the share swap, AirAsia’s main shareholder Tune Air Sdn Bhd will swap 10 per cent stake in the budget carrier for 20.5 per cent share of the ailing flag carrier in the agreement called a “Comprehensive Collaboration Framework.”

Before the share swap, Tune Air was the biggest shareholder in AirAsia with 26.28 per cent stake while Khazanah held a total of 69.33 per cent share of MAS.

The MAS board will also see some new faces, namely Land & General Bhd founder, Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah, former IJM chief executive Datuk Krishnan Tan, Astro chief executive Datuk Rohana Rozhan and David Lau from Shell Malaysia, who will act as independent non-executive directors.

Fernandes and Kamarudin, on the other hand, have been appointed as non-independent non-executive directors of MAS.

Rashdan, popularly known as Danny, was part of the BinaFikir consultancy that engineered the wide asset unbundling (WAU) restructuring that made MAS a virtual airline in 2002. BinaFikir was then led by Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, who is now managing director of Khazanah, the majority shareholder in MAS.

CIMB Bank was appointed as advisor to the deal.

CIMB Group CEO Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said at the press conference that the collaboration would align shareholders and create synergies between the two airlines.

He added, however, that there is no commitment to collaborate until an analysis is completed to ensure that the deal does not contravene any global anti-trust laws.

The collaboration agreement comes into immediate effect for a period of five years with an option for a further five years.

The two airlines will also share common directors as Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Azman and Rashdan will be members of both boards.

Tony Fernandes called the deal “something very special” today. — Picture by Jack Ooi
Malaysia Airlines chairman Nor Yusof said that no timeframe has been determined to appoint a new CEO but a search is ongoing.

He said that Tengku Azmil was being replaced as CEO as they were looking at a new approach for the national carrier and therefore needed a new team.

A joint collaboration committee will be chaired by Azman while an advisory panel chaired by former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be set up to ensure that all parties operate in the interest of the public and consumers.

Fernandes said that the tie-up between the two airlines was a “fantastic step forward.”

“I assure the Malaysian public that this is something very special,” he said.

“I hope you (Malaysia Airlines staff) will now take down my picture with all the darts on it,” he quipped in reference to the traditional rivalry between the two carriers.

He added that the airlines would not scale back their respective plans for expansion.

Azman said that the two airlines will remain separate with separate brands and cultures.

“The idea is for the two airlines to focus on core competencies,” the Khazanah managing director said.

Nazir said that the swap price used was the closing prices for the shares on August 5 which gives a swap ratio of 2.05.

“It is a coincidence as the deal was also done at 2.05 am at One World Hotel (in Bandar Utama) on Sunday,” he revealed.

Under the deal, MAS shareholders would get one AirAsia warrant for every 30 MAS shares while AirAsia shareholders would get one MAS warrant for every 10 AirAsia shares



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Both airlines will see their profit soar on the removal of competition, however for the consumer like us, no more super cheap fares on the no frill segment. this kind of integration does not benefit us, more like a monopoly game

I smell rotten fish when the deal involves Nasir of CIMB who is the brother of the PM. I hope EPF is not involved directly or indirectly. The restructuring and or merger involves hidden hands with the tacit approval of the PM.

Hasan Ali says ready to face axe

Datuk Hasan Ali said he was willing to be sacked as a Selangor executive councillor for the sake of defending Islam, before facing the PAS central working committee today to explain his defence of a controversial church raid.

Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, reported the senior PAS member’s remarks on its front page today with the headline, “Saya rela dipecat” (I’m willing to be sacked).

“I’m willing to do anything, including accepting the reality of being asked to resign as state executive councillor and whatever other positions I hold, for the sake of fighting for what I believe will help the Muslims, especially in Selangor,” Hasan was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

“If anyone believes in religious harmony, then the sanctity of Islam cannot be violated at all. This is what I am fighting for. Is that wrong?” asked the Selangor executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs.

Hasan broke ranks with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact when he backed the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) raid last Wednesday on a multi-racial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya.

He said on Thursday that the words “Quran” and “pray” were used in the presence of Muslims at the dinner function, claiming that this was part of the authorities’ evidence of Christians proselytising to Muslims.

Selangor’s Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment (1988), which outlines offences deemed as acts of proselytisation by non-Muslims towards Muslims, grants the religious authorities powers to launch investigations and arrest individuals without producing a warrant.

Hasan’s defence of Jais came just after Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim expressed regret over the incident.

Widely seen as a religious conservative, Hasan has been at odds with the state government’s seemingly liberal policies on several occasions, most notably his push for a beer sale ban in the country’s most-developed state earlier this year.

Hasan had lost badly in the recent PAS election as the Islamist party moved to embrace leaders like Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who is seen to represent a more progressive and inclusive brand of Islam.

Dropped as PAS Selangor chief after the party polls, Hasan’s defence has been seen to renew his tendency to mirror rival Malay party Umno’s thinking.

“Towards the end of the event, the enforcement team and the police had made checks and found attempts to prevent their examination and to get rid of the evidence material,” the PAS man has said.

He said the authorities had discovered further materials to prove there were attempts to proselytise a religion other than Islam to Muslims, but did not disclose what these were.

Hasan added that several Muslims had attempted to flee the premises through the church’s back door, but were successfully stopped by Jais.

He also denied the authorities had carried out a “raid” on the church as alleged, saying instead it was merely an “examination” that was based on a report that Muslims had attended the church dinner’s “fast-breaking” event.




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You sure you 'defending Islam' or only defending your own folly or advancing your own personal agenda and conveniently using 'defending islam' as an excuse ?! We got too many of tat lately to believe you.

Hasan ali is not defending Islam ,He is degrading Islam.He is a definite liability to PAS.PAS should kick him out before he causes further damage.

The guy is clearly ready to join UMNO and that's just what UMNO wants. Najib has already called on UMNO to use whatever weapons it has to retake Selangor. Hasan is one of the weapons Najib is using.

We. the rakyat, who want a free and democratic nation that is governed by the rule of law with checks and balances must be ready to face those who oppose these ideals. UMNO wants a nation that it can continue to divide and rule so that it can continue to enrich the UMNOPutras and their cronies at the expense of all other Malaysians and, worse, at the expense of all our children.

foot butt UMNOPORNO to answer to PAS CWC tomorrow

PAS will make its official stand on a controversial church raid tomorrow, after meeting with senior party member Datuk Hasan Ali who broke ranks with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact when he backed the Selangor religious authorities’ action.

PAS central working committee (CWC) member Dzulkifly Ahmad said his colleague has been asked to explain himself to the central panel at the party headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut tomorrow morning.

The Islamist party is part of the state PR government where Hasan is state executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs.

“We reserve final comment until we are able to get Jais’ report and meet with Hasan Ali to seek further clarification. We want to see what evidence Hasan has,” Selangor PAS deputy commissioner Khalid Samad said yesterday.

Last Thursday, Hasan issued a statement defending the Selangor Islamic Religious Department’s (Jais) disruption of a multiracial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya yesterday, saying the words “Quran” and “pray” were used in the presence of Muslims at the dinner function.

He claimed this was part of the authorities’ evidence that Christians were proselytising to Muslims.

Widely seen as a religious conservative, Hasan has been at odds with the state government’s seemingly liberal policies on several occasions, most notably his push for a beer sale ban in the country’s most developed state earlier this year.

Hasan (picture) had lost badly in the recent PAS election as the Islamist party moved to embrace leaders like Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad who is seen to represent a more progressive and inclusive brand of Islam.

Dropped as PAS Selangor chief after the party polls, Hasan’s defence has been seen to rebuff his tendency to mirror rival Malay party Umno’s thinking.

“Towards the end of the event, the enforcement team and the police had made checks and found attempts to prevent their examination and to get rid of the evidence material,” the PAS man said.

He said the authorities had discovered further materials to prove there was activity to proselytise a religion other than Islam to Muslims, but did not disclose what they were.

Hasan added that several Muslims had attempted to flee the premises through the church’s back door but were successfully stopped by Jais.

He also denied the authorities had carried out a “raid” on the church as alleged, saying instead it was merely an “examination” that was based on a report that Muslims had attended the church dinner’s “break fast” event.

“There was no raid and no arrests. Instead, examinations were conducted after negotiations with the organiser,” he said.

Hasan said 12 Muslims who attended the dinner have been ordered to turn up at the Jais enforcement office for further investigation.

“Based on initial investigations those involved can be charged under Section 10 of the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1995.”

The executive councillor in charge of Islamic religious affairs’ remarks came just after Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim moved to calm the uproar over the raid.




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suddenly hasan ali is an UMNO mole, an UMNO spy. for once admit your own mistakes. just do not take the easy way by blaming UMNO and BN for everything that goes wrong. diarrhoea...blame umno, constipation...also blame umno. pkr/pas/dap blameless?

Hassan is a glaring example of an ‘over the hill’ politician fighting for his political survival. From the little that I know of him in the past he did not come across as a chauvinist with extreme tendencies. This is all most probably a ‘wayang’ or what you call his ‘political front’ to come across as a defender of his religion. Having been sidelined by PAS he is now banging his hopes on UMNO to rescue him. This could be his probable reason for breaking ranks and defending JAIS that too without clear evidence. This is what they call being caught in a ’time wrap’.

Christian charity conversion report a ‘conspiracy

Calling it yet another conspiracy plot, a PAS MP and a Catholic priest both spoke out today against the latest news linking church charity groups to covert conversions as a ploy to pit Muslims against Christians.

Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad suggested it was it was a political move calculated to claw back the support of Malay-Muslim voters ahead of the 13th general election, expected to be called by year-end.

Dzulkefly said it was a political move to win back the support of Malay-Muslim voters. — File pic
“You see it now, they are full of plots,” the PAS central working committee (CWC) member told The Malaysian Insider in an immediate reaction to the allegations following a Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya last Wednesday night.

Earlier today, Umno-owned Berita Harian and its sister newspaper Harian Metro had accused certain Christian groups of buying over Muslims in an attempt to swell their ranks by offering cash, free food and housing to poverty-stricken Malays.

Rev Father Michael Chua dismissed the allegations as old news, saying the stories about mass conversions of Muslims as well as the entry of large numbers of “priests” or “pastors” brought in intentionally for this purpose have repeatedly surfaced within the Muslim community.

“Past allegations have never been substantiated by any proof or evidence. I believe that such rumours are often used to frighten Muslims and to create hostility against Christians,” said the Catholic Church’s ecclesiastical assistant in charge of ecumenical and inter-religious affairs in the Kuala Lumpur area.

“[But] This is the first time I’m hearing of a ‘priest’ training programme involving former Muslims as alleged by the two persons interviewed in the Malay dailies,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Chua dismissed the allegations as old news. — Picture courtesy of visitation-seremban.blogspot.com
Chua urged the relevant authorities to investigate the claims made by both Malay dailies which cited from witnesses nabbed by Jais and the police during the DUMC raid.

According to witness accounts as reported by the two newspapers, they embraced Christianity after attending talks by Christian evangelists from east Malaysia and Indonesia and being given copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia besides listening to Christian religious tapes.

“Given the sensitive nature of this issue, I believe the matter should not be left to ‘trial by media’ as the sensationalising of this issue would only result in reinforcing lies, half truths and prejudices,” the Catholic priest said.

In the latest census results released a few months ago by the Statistics Department, Malays, who are constitutionally Muslim, make up the biggest race and religious group nationwide at 61.3 per cent. In comparison, Christians form only 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million population.

The reports by Berita Harian and Harian Metro come three months after another Umno-owned daily, Utusan Malaysia, frontpaged a report headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (“Christianity the official religion?”) based entirely on the words of a handful of pro-Umno bloggers claiming a secret pact to install a Christian instead of a Muslim as prime minister and oust Islam as the religion of the federation.

Putrajaya’s severe actions in limiting the import of the Alkitab, the Malay-language version of the Bible, from Indonesia plus delays in moving forward the legal tussle over the use of the word “Allah” to also refer to the Christian god has stirred anger among the community, especially in east Malaysia, long considered the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s vote bank.

The allegations by BN-controlled media that depict Christians as working hand-in-glove with communist insurgents and opposition politicians to topple the government of the day and supplant it with a Christian prime minister have stirred a storm of protests that saw thousands take to the streets in a public rally organised by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 on July 9.



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it is 'wayang kulit' no doubt, but as always, innocent people are being harassed each time they do this. People in the more rural areas will depend on Utusan, Berita for news, and these types of news will be propagated into their minds to hate/be wary of other faiths.

Yes it is very obvious that UMNO is trying to divide the christians and the muslims so as to get the muslims to get under the umbrella of UMNO and vote for them. First it was Penang and then it was Selangor, both under the administration of Pakatan.

Pakatan should form a committee or instruct the police to investigate the truth of such claims. If it is true then the christian organisation should be seriously reprimanded according to the law. If true, tell the public that it is true; if it is false tell the public that it is false and dispel all the insinuations and suspicions once and for all instead of letting it fester and allow the culprit behind it to capitalize on it.

Very clearly this is UMNO in their perpetual state of stupidity attempting to win back Malay support as the 'defenders of Islam'. Thankfully the people of this nation are not as retarded as the UMNO leadership...

Muslim claims sustained church advances, Malay papers report

Two pro-Umno Malay newspapers continued to highlight today allegations that Christian organisations are secretly trying to convert impoverished Muslims through welfare aid.

Berita Minggu and Harian Ahad reported on their front pages today a Muslim woman called Nur claiming that she was continually approached by a church in Seremban, despite her decision to stop receiving aid from it.

Nur said she initially accepted cash and food from the church since April to raise four daughters, aged five to 12 years, after failing to get aid from Baitulmal.

“Every month, the church will call twice or three times to ask how I am,” Nur was quoted as saying in Berita Harian’s weekend edition today.

“They also offered to place me and my children in a hostel at the church and said they could take care of our necessities, including schooling expenses, but I refused to accept it. However, since last January, I have rejected all forms of aid offered every month after my neighbours looked at me funny,” added the 40-year-old woman.

The Umno-linked Media Prima Bhd newspapers’ reports came after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and the police raided a multiracial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya last Wednesday night, based on an allegation that Christians were proselytising to Muslim guests

The weekend edition of best-selling Malay tabloid Harian Metro reported Nur saying she had no choice but to accept help from the church, pointing out that she was unemployed because of various illnesses like asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The tabloid’s report is a departure from its norm as it largely focuses on sensational stories involving sex and the supernatural rather than reports with political or religious undertones.

Christian churches demanded yesterday for evidence behind allegations that Christian charity groups were involved in covert conversions.

A priest has dismissed such allegations as old rumours used to pit Muslims against Christians



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Hmm... one case of an unemployed, diabetic single mother receiving some help from a church and they spin like the entire Malay community is in danger of being converted.

Come on, Christians make up 9.2% of the population while Muslims are at 60%. Why so scared?

I don't know whether this report is being paranoid, pathetic or both!

the tabloids should be asking where has all the zakat collections gone to? should the people managing zakat collections wait for applications form the illiterate destitudes? or should they go out to seek muslims who needs aid?

after 54 years of UMNO - a party that supposedly care for malay and muslims it is indeed shocking to read such front page news.