The police has arrested three key leaders behind the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) – lawyers P Uthayakumar, P Waythamoorthy and V Ganapathy Rao, just as the movement is preparing for a mass rally this Sunday (Nov 25). [Malaysiakini]
Klang Valley folks should have noticed the unusual jam in and around KL for the past 2 days. Police has set up roadblocks, albeit prematurely, to cope with the potential confrontation before the rally. Seems like they has just up their ante by arresting the leaders of Hindraf.
About Hindraf and the rally
Not many Malaysians beside the Hindu community are paying attention to Hindraf… that’s a sad fact. After 50 years of independence, Malaysians are not giving much damn about the welfare of other races. The irony thing is… the arrest and roadblocks actually helped spreading Hindraf’s movement.
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2 seperate police reports are lodged against Malaysian bloggers Jeff Ooi and Raja Petra.
3 groups lodge reports against blogger (NST)
Three police reports were lodged against blogger Jeff Ooi for allegedly defaming the country, government and police force.
The reports were lodged by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress and Pertubuhan Seni Silat Ikatan Kalam Malaysia against a statement issued by Ooi to an Al Jazeera reporter. The statement was allegedly broadcast on YouTube following an illegal gathering on Nov 10 organised by a coalition of opposition parties and non-governmental organisations calling itself Bersih.
The police reports were lodged at the Sentul police headquarters yesterday about 4.30pm.
The complainants want Ooi to be investigated, alleging that the interview given to Al Jazeera not only tarnished the image of the country but was also seditious and caused racial tension.
Ooi is also alleged to have given inaccurate information to Al Jazeera in stating that the police used unnecessary force in dispersing the demonstrators.
[The videos in questions... video 1 & video 2]
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UPM in confrontation with its students again. [Malaysiakini]
Lee Song Yong, a second-year computer science student is in a battle with Universiti Putra Malaysia to get back a notebook that security personnel confiscated on Aug 22.
UPM on the other hand is seeking disciplinary action against Lee for not cooperating with the varsity officers during the confiscation.
This is not the 1st time UPM is involved with similar confrontation; another student had his laptop confiscated in September but his issue is settled sooner with the involvement of some opposition politicians.
I don’t like seeing lawyers and politicians involving in university affairs, but the lack of transparency from UPM in handling these disciplinary issues has left me no choice but to believe that the student is being victimized instead of some political agendas.
The disciplinary proceeding is a really bad joke as Lee’s lawyer mentioned. Do UPM authorities really expect the students to just hand over their expensive belongings when told to do so without questions asked? Besides, do they have enough reasons to do so?
Update Nov 23 – Lee is suspended for one semester for ‘obstructing campus officers from performing their duty’. [MP Lim]
I am not a supporter of the BERSIH’s yellow march yesterday (Nov 10) despite its great success (as claimed by the organisers).
I applaud the protesters’ spirit to convey their thoughts;
I condemn police’s action to use tear gas and water cannons on the protesters;
I hope that the Election Commission (EC) could be more independent;
I wish that the flaws in our electoral system could be minimized.
So why am I still not a supporter of the BERSIH rally?
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Hundreds of houses, a surau and a Hindu temple at Kampung Rimba Jaya in Padang Jawa, Shah Alam, were demolished by authorities on October 30.
The operation was protested by some residents and Hindu devotees, which turned into a police confrontation… people getting injured and some arrested. Shots reportedly fired, and the demolition was later alleged to be without a valid court order.
Above is my simple understanding of what was happening at the Rimba Jaya fracas… prime media is not giving much coverage about this issue except some interviews with Samy Vellu who finally speak up about temple demolition, which came a bit too late and with dubious intention of fearing a slash back by Indian voters in coming election.
News and thoughts from various sources…
The news…
Temple demolition leads to all-out fracas
Temple Demolished Without Warning – A Cruel Act
Bloggers’ thoughts…
Go fly kite
Kg Rimba Jaya
Pictures of latest Hindu temple Demolish in Klang
Blood and Mayhem Against Kg Rimba Settlers
Indian Temple Demolition and Chaos: Mainstream Media Silence
Shah Alam temple demolished and media blackout
Shah Alam temple demolishment details
The Police Must Be Crazy
What lies behind City Hall’s brutalities?
The Demise of the Malaysian Indian Voice
Deepavali and Bulan Syawal Destruction
Ex-ISA detainee Abdul Malek Hussin won a rare law suit against the government over his arrest and torture in 1998, and was awarded RM2.5 million in damages. [Malaysiakini]
I am not sure how the judge has made his call; is the compensation meant for the violence against Abdul Malek, or that the arrest itself is deemed unlawful?
I wonder if there will be any further action against those police officers that were involved in the case. They have committed a crime; monetary compensation is not enough to pay for what they did.
Besides, it is the tax payers, people like us that are going to pay the money. The police lost nothing beside their dented reputation, and we have to pay for the crime that they committed. Quite ridiculous ain’t so?
University Putra Malaysia security personnel allegedly broke into a student’s room and illegally confiscated a laptop computer and other electrical items and documents. [Malaysiakini]
Friday night, 4 staff members of the student affairs department (HEP) in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, raided the room of Yee Yang Yang, a first-year student in Hostel 13 who is a member of a pro-student grouping.
He was interrogated from 11pm to 1am, and his laptop, handphone, MP4 player, 2 pendrives, leaflets and personal documents were confiscated. [Jeff Ooi]
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2 men are injured after live bullets were fired in the crowd at the Batu Buruk violence in Terengganu on Saturday night (Sep 8).
The clash was sparked when police ordered the crowd of 500 people (some reported 750) gathering at Jalan Sultan Mahmud, close to Batu Buruk, to disperse peacefully at 10pm. The crowd was there to attend a talk organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH), which was held without police’s permit.
Police officer fired live bullets
Terengganu police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ayub Yaakob said that the policeman has fired one shot as act of self defence, while some PAS and PKR spokesmen claim that a few shots have been fired.
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