According to Malaysiakini, Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, who reported about Ahmad Ismail’s racist rant, has been arrested under the Internal Security Act at 8.30pm on Friday (Sept 12) at her home in Bukit Mertajam, Penang.
Latest news from Thestar reported that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is held under ISA too. She was arrested at 11.20pm.
This is getting ridiculous.
Update - Tan was released after 18 hours of detention. Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said Tan’s detention under the ISA was part of the police’s action to ensure her safety after she received threatening calls… huh???
As if they haven’t done enough to damage their reputation for the past six months… they decided to detain controversial blogger Raja Petra under ISA for being a threat to security, peace and public order [more on Malaysiakini and Thestar]
I am not a fan of RPK; I think he is an arrogant jerk who trash-talked too much and often bordering on spreading rumours and fabricating stories. But has he done enough to cause security concern for the country? I strongly doubt so.
Pak Lah is trying to justify that the government will not be using ISA without concrete reasons, but seriously… how is it justifiable that the likes of Ahmad Ismail is walking on the streets acting like a patriotic hero?
And from my point of view I won’t even want to see Ahmad Ismail detained under ISA because it’s plain wrong to detain a person without trial as you wished.
What Ahmad Ismail said was stupid, but how some political leaders reacted is the one thing that really disappoint me. What Ahmad Ismail allegedly said was wrong, and we shouldn’t encourage it… but instead of pure criticism, shouldn’t we seek out the crowd to communicate openly about the issue instead?
As said earlier in another post… there must be a portion of Malay that still have the Ketuanan Melayu mindset locked in their mind, and even a small portion like 10-20% means that million(s) of them are still thinking that way. Some of them are pure arrogant, but lots of them are simply fearing that their life will be miserable once their special rights are gone.
I don’t want to debate about the special rights here, it’s another long story. Point is, if we are going to abolish those special rights and create a fair country for every Malaysians in future… communication among races are strongly needed.
We need to convince those who hold firm to Ketuanan Melayu ideology that it’s not a bad thing to create a Malaysia for all Malaysians… but have we really done that or trying to do so? All the (non-Umno) politicians know is to demonise those who hold that ideology but seek no communications to assure that Malay will not be neglected in the country development with or without the special rights.
How are we supposed to create communications when we are going to report to the authorities every time something controversial is being brought up? While Chinese think that questioning of our citizenship is being racist, how do you think some Malay would feel when we question their special rights?
I am not here to dictate what’s right or wrong; what I want to emphasise is that we need communications between races, between all Malaysians… we need to find a platform to communicate about sensitive issues in a civilised manner; or else we won’t have the chance to create a Malaysia for all Malaysians in a harmonious way.
For goodness sake I am one of those who don’t believe in absolute freedom for speech, yet I can see the need for more open communications… and ironically some of those freedom fighters are eating their own words instead.
Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Ahmad Ismail has been suspended from the party for three years over his racial rants; he will be stripped of whatever posts he now holds which are related to the party.
Ahmad Ismail said that he accepted the decision by Umno’s Supreme Council (MT) and would remain loyal to the party; but he still remains bullish that he has done nothing wrong and try to look like a saviour to the Malay race.
Read more on Bernama and Thestar; below is a video from Malaysiakini of Pak Lah speaking about the suspension…
Like it or not, the Chinese community should see this as the end of the saga. It’s up to the authorities to charge Ahmad Ismail with sedition act or not, but both the Chinese and the Malay community involved have to stop retaliating about the issue… don’t let it roll into a snowball that we can’t control of.
The Kota Kinabalu High Court on Monday (Sept 8) declared null and void the election of Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup as the unopposed winner of the Pensiangan parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election [more on Bernama]
Kurup could appeal the judgment; but if everything stay as it is, a by-election will have to be called pretty soon. While the Parmatang Pauh by-election is easily predictable… a by-election for Pensiangan would be a good indication to check if the Sabahans are ready to embrace Pakatan Rakyat as alternative to the BN government.
49 BN members of parliament embarked on their epic journey yesterday (Sept 8) to Taiwan on a study tour of the agriculture technology to waste taxpayers’ money.
It’s hard not to relate the visit as an attempt to prevent Pakatan Rakyat from forming a new government on Sept 16. Regardless, there are no justified reasons to send 49 MPs on a study trip to learn the industry and technology that most of them have no basic knowledge about… it’s a waste of money in every sense.
Well, BN might be able to delay Anwar’s takeover plan (if it’s happening) for a week or two… but at what cost? They are continuously throwing away people’s trust and gradually losing their original supporters with all these money wasting gimmick.
The Ahmad Ismail saga has been straying for way too long. Not sure if he did slur those ‘Pendatang’ or ‘Penumpang’ words, but I chose to believe those reporters that claimed to hear what he said loud and clear.
The issue is obviously being politicised and blown out of proportion, and some of the Chinese communities are over-reacting on this issue. Seriously, are the Chinese really THAT offended with what Ahmad Ismail said? Or is that the Chinese politicians thought that they finally found an easy target to win back some Chinese supporters?
Personally I don’t bother much about what Ahmad said… I believe most Malay are liberal and willing to share equal rights with every Malaysians, but there must be some portion of the Malay who didn’t share the same sentiment… and it means million of Malay even if 10% of them are ultra-supporter of Ketuanan Melayu. It’s a fact of life that Malaysians have to deal with, and we have to deal it maturely.
What Admad said was stupid… and the Chinese leaders have retaliated with enough criticism, and the case should have been put to rest. Both side should realise that there is not enough rooms to push the thoughts any further… Malaysians are not that harmonious yet to allow racial debates to be carry in public On second thought, read this instead.
A public apology doesn’t mean anything. Just look at Hishamuddin… he did apologise for once or twice for his keris waving, but his sincerity will always be questioned, and the damage has already been done regardless. It’s not like the Chinese would gain anything if Ahmad Ismail apologised; we will question his sincerity anyway… it’s just a needless moral victory that some of the Chinese are craving for.
Besides, how far off are Chinese from being racist? Just go ahead and read the comments from Lim Kit Siang’s blog and other popular blogs, some of the comments are far more racists than what Ahmad Ismail had said… and those same bloggers who criticised Ahmad Ismail couldn’t bother much about criticising their own readers instead. How ironic is that?
When Namewee was caught in the Negarakuku saga, ridiculing Muslim prayers… you said that the Malays were over-reacting, that sedition act was barbaric, that freedom of expression was not respected.
When Ahmad Ismail was caught in the racist saga, calling some Malaysians as squatters… you justified the Chinese’ reactions, that sedition act is great, that freedom of expression has its limits.
What Ahmad Ismail said was stupid, and deserved his share of criticism… but please show the same attitude when it’s one of your own that made the insensitive act.