14
speak up!
thesun says
Get it done
and over with
IT’S ironic to say the least. While it has been the practice
of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to
release information to the media on its activities including
investigations, this burden seems to have fallen on the
shoulders of the agency that is being investigated. Hence, it
came as a surprise when the office of the tourism minister
sent out statements to the media on the MACC’s visit to its
offices and the on-going investigations into the affairs of
agencies under its purview. Although this newspaper was
not on the list of recipients, the contents of the statement
which were published elsewhere are telling indeed.
However, the minister’s voluntary statement which
included a call for the inquiry to be “conducted fairly with-
out bias or assumptions” should be treated with some
seriousness in that this can be read as an accusation that
the MACC’s actions may have been prejudiced by other
factors. While the theory of innocent until proven guilty
should always prevail, the minister went one step further
by stating that “while no offence has occurred, the ministry
and Tourism Malaysia will extend its cooperation…”.
These two strong statements when read in totality give
the impression there is fear that since there has been no
wrong-doing, the investigations should not be sullied by
other factors.
It would be wrong to accuse the MACC of going on
a witch-hunt or looking for a needle in a haystack. This
would be a fallacy because the MACC is in possession
of information, including documents and independent
audit reports, which have outlined the wrongdoings by
certain parties in one or two agencies under the ministry’s
purview. Furthermore, the detention of a political aide to
the minister and three others have fuelled speculation that
all is not well in the ministry.
The onus is now on the MACC. The minister’s statement
seems to cast aspersions on the investigations. The com-
mission will do its job without fear or favour, but it must
close its files on an urgent basis and bring the wrongdoers
to book so as to silence the doubting Thomases. Prolong-
ing the issue will only lead to further and unnecessary
speculation.
Asian
billionaires
lose
RM1.6
trillion
RM60b package fails
to stimulate Opposition
pg 16
THOUGH this week’s meeting was
dominated by discussion on the
RM60 billion mini-budget to stimu-
late the economy, other subjects like
Perak and the Enforcement Agency
Integrity Commission Bill 2009 were
debated as well in and outside the
august chamber.
When Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also
finance minister, stood up to present
the Second Stimulus Package at 4pm
on Tuesday, the front benches were
almost full and so were the pews
occupied by the backbenchers.
But not so were the pews on the
opposite side of the floor. Among
the Pakatan Rakyat notables present
were Opposition Leader Datuk Seri
Anwar Ibrahim and Selangor Mentri
Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim. To many
observers in the public gallery, it was
a message of sorts.
Anwar was clearly unimpressed
and he said so. On Wednesday when
debating the package he dwelt at
length on the many weaknesses of
the government which he said must
be overcome before the people
can have confidence in the various
efforts to help them weather the
on-coming recession.
At the Dewan Rakyat
by Zainon Ahmad
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
He may be right but at the same time there
was little indications from speeches by Pakatan
MPs that the opposition coalition is warm to
the call by the government, in response to the
appeals by the rakyat, that Malaysians of all
political stripes work together to face the
economic turmoil.
Meanwhile, a former Perak executive council
member, Nga Kor Ming (DAP-Taiping), was
disappointed that his motion to debate the
affairs of his home state was rejected by Speaker
Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.
On another occasion on Tuesday, Nga had
just managed to say “Soalan Nomber 12” when
the 90-minute question time ended. Deputy
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Lajin Ukin said as
time was up, he would be brief in answering the
query about the state of the Sultan Azlan Shah
Airport in Ipoh.
Nga was disappointed with the answer and
stood up to ask a supplementary question
but immediately after the deputy minister sat
down, deputy speaker Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar
declared that question time was over.
The Taiping MP said it was unfair as he had
been waiting for the answer for a long time.
For using the word “unfair”, he was rebuked
by the chair, and in response to his saying that
he was waiting for a long time, Dr Mohd Fuad
Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) said: “Wait under the
tree lah.”
A number of MPs stood up immediately to
be recognised and permitted by Wan Junaidi to
speak. Unbidden Datuk Bung Moktar Radin
(BN-Kinabatangan) asked for the decision on
his motion without making clear what it was
about. The deputy speaker told him to sit down.
Datuk Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) told
Bung Moktar to be patient to which Nga quipped:
“You want to wait under a tree? I will bring you
to one.”
Following Home Minister Datuk Syed Hamid
Albar’s presentation of the Enforcement Agency
Integrity Commission Bill 2009 – perhaps the final
form of the Independent Police Complaints and
Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) recommended
by a royal commission three years ago – all kinds
letter
letters@thesundaily.com
Unwise to
backtrack on
science and maths
WHY are some groups against the teaching of
science and maths in English in government
schools?
From what I gather, the following are their
fundamental reasons:
1) Since Bahasa Malaysia is the official national
language, the medium of instruction in govern-
ment schools must be in Bahasa Malaysia.
2) Bahasa Malaysia should be used as the lan-
guage to unify all the races, thus used in the
teaching of these two subjects.
3) Students are having difficulty understanding
the two subjects because they are not well
versed in English.
4) Teachers are having difficulty teaching both
subjects as they are not well versed with
English.
For items 1 and 2:
» The reality is, the medium of instruction in
government schools is not restricted to Bahasa
Malaysia, as we also use Mandarin and Tamil.
If these groups want to “memperkasakan BM”
they should be demonstrating to demand for a
single education system where the medium of
instruction is solely Bahasa Malaysia. Mandarin
theSun | FRIDAY MARCH 13 2009
of commentaries were made in the lobby as well
as in the members lounge.
Under the proposed law the commission
would monitor 21 enforcement agencies, in-
cluding the police, but some MPs are wondering
why certain agencies like the Attorney-General’s
Chambers are not going to be monitored.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz have been called many
names – some like “opposition slayer” he relishes
but some he would rather have the name callers
say it to his face – but on Tuesday he had “baby
boy minister” added to the list.
He did not seem to mind; probably because
it came from a veteran lawyer and a veteran
member of the House, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit
Gelugor) who has been a legislator since 1974
with only a break between 1995 and 1999.
Furthermore, he probably had irritated the
Lion of Jelutong for saying that “you have to
listen carefully to understand what he says” after
Karpal had asked him a question about the need
to update the laws concerning privacy. Nazri was
rounding up the debate on the motion of thanks
to the Royal Address when opening the second
session of the 12th Parliament when Karpal
asked him about the upgrading of privacy laws
which come under the Minor Offences Act.
He said RM100 was big then but now with
sophisticated equipment available, making inva-
sion of privacy more prevalent and easier, surely
the penalty and fines should be heavier.
When Nazri made the remarks about having
to listen carefully to Karpal to understand what
he said, the veteran MP said: “Baby boy minister,
I warn you.”
Nazri said: “He supports the Perak boy
speaker and that’s why he is calling me baby
boy. OK, no problem, I look cute anyway.”
He then said that the laws that Karpal
mentioned were among those that are being
updated.
Among the other happenings in Parliament
were the letters being sent to all MPs by the
speaker asking them to behave. The MPs were
also urged to eat more local fruits including
those from Sarawak such as belunu, tarap and
kembayau.
Meanwhile, as a result of Karpal being
harassed by a Umno Youth members as he was
about to enter the Dewan Rakyat on March 5,
entering and leaving Parliament for two weeks
now is like entering and leaving Fort Knox.
and Tamil is also taught, where students have to
choose either one as a compulsory subject.
» For many decades, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin
and Tamil have been used to teach science and
maths in SRK and SRJK schools; has Bahasa
Malaysia been able to unify the races? In fact,
race relations have worsened. More and more
non-Malays are unable to speak Bahasa Malaysia
properly since those that go to SRJKs do not learn
much of the language or any other subjects in
Bahasa Malaysia anyway. A large section of non-
Malays do not go to SRK but go to SRJK.
» In short, these two reasons (or variations of
them) should not be used to revert to the old
system. They would only be true and successful
if we have a single education system, with Bahasa
Malaysia as medium of instruction and strong
emphasis on the learning of English, Mandarin
and Tamil (to comply to the constitutional rights
of the non-Malays to learn their own language).
On items 3 and 4: I feel that these are legiti-
mate concerns that have to be solved compre-
hensively, but reverting to the old system is NOT
the solution. The solution MUST be to improve
the teachers’ ability to teach and explain in
English, in the shortest possible time. As for the
students, in the globalised knowledge-economy
world, learning (and thinking) in English would
benefit them greatly.
And in future, when most teachers become
more proficient teaching science and maths in
English, problems 3 and 4 will disappear.
Adri Hemy Abdul Ghani
Jeddah