UBF leaders paid courtesy call on James Wong recently; Dr Jeffrey on Lee Kuan Yew four years ago

By Nilakrishna James
KUCHING, Sarawak : United Borneo Front (UBF) leaders recently held an informal
meeting with Datuk Amar James Wong, former SNAP president and ISA detainee, to
discuss recent developments in UBF and SNAP party politics as well as the
genesis of the Malaysia formation.

Prolific author and poet, James Wong, now in his late 80s, has spent his life
determined to tell the truth about the formation of the federation and his book
entitled, “The Birth of Malaysia”, contains the key documents leading up to the
Malaysia Agreement in 1963, including the Malaysia proclamation by Tunku Abdul
Rahman, the Cobbold Commission Report and the Inter-Governmental Committee
Report in 1962. Unwilling to comment on the forthcoming Sarawak elections and
the future of the Taib regime, Wong discussed the UBF direction at length with
Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan and the issue of amalgamating various agendas between
different racial groups in Borneo.

Dr. Jeffrey, accompanied by Nilakrisna James and Zainal Ajamain, shared his ISA
experience with Wong which Dr. Jeffrey believes made them both ever determined
to tell the story of Malaysia to the world. “A former Malaysian Prime Minister
told me that I should not teach the people what the people don’t know. He
probably felt that ignorance would be a guarantee to the continual leadership of
the present regime. I decided to defy this and believe that knowledge would
empower the greatest amongst us and pave the way for a fairer system that would
reward those who rise through merit. James Wong and I have many things in common
and he is one of the last of the true mohicans,” said Dr. Jeffrey in his
statement.

The UBF leaders would promote Wong’s book, “The Birth of Malaysia”, in their
campaigns and will suggest to the government to make it a compulsory textbook in
all history courses in secondary schools.

Negara, not negeri, status for Sabah

Luke Rintod of FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah was supposed to retain its “negara” or national status in a series of arrangements to ensure that the rights of Sabahans would forever be protected during the formation of Malaysia.

This little known fact was revealed at a national conference on marginalised communities, which arrested the attention of the participants.

They were told that the ideals that gave rise to the birth of a new nation in 1963 have, however, been eroded until those rights have all but disappeared.

“Sabah was given the understanding that it was to remain a national entity within the Malaysian Federation, which was to be a partnership of four national units – Sabah, Sarawak,  Singapore  and Malaya,” deputy president of CigMa or Common Interest Group Malaysia, Daniel John Jambun, said in his presentation titled “Lest We Forget”.

Hindraf shocks Sabah, S’wak reps

Luke Rintod of FMT

Participants at an inaugural conference on the future of marginalised and minority communities get a shocking insight into the Indian community.

KUALA LUMPUR: Indigenous delegates from Sabah and Sarawak attending the National Human Rights Conference on the Future of Marginalised and Minority Communities in Malaysia were stunned when told of the conditions of the majority of Indians in Peninsular Malaysia.

Reacting to a paper presented by Hindraf national coordinator, W Sambulingam, one delegate from Sabah who declined to be named, told FMT: “I almost forget about my our own crippling conditions in Sabah.”

In his presentation, Sambulingam had described in detail, along with facts and figures, the striking conditions of the Indians in Malaysia.

He revealed that so depressed were their lives that suicide rates among the Indians were the highest at 21.1 suicides in every 100,000 Indians.

He also said that more than 30% of Indians do not own a house, compared to 25% Malays and 18% Chinese.

Persidangan masyarakat terpinggir di KL

Oleh Ezra Haganez
KUALA LUMPUR: Esok (Ahad - 24 Januari, 2011), buat pertama kalinya beberapa kumpulan etnik yang dianggap sentiasa terpinggir di Malaysia bersatu mengadakan Persidangan Hak Asasi Manusia Mengenai Masa Depan Masyarakat Terpinggir dan Minoriti Malaysia di ibu negara.

Persidangan sehari itu dianjurkan bersama oleh CigMa atau Common Interest Group Malaysia yang diketuai Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, dan HINDRAF, Persatuan Kebangsaan Dayak Sarawak (SDNU), Persatuan Dayak Iban Sarawak (SADIA), Borneo Resources Institute, dan Yayasan Hak Asasi Manusia yang berpejabat di London.

Sebanyak enam kertas persidangan akan dibentangkan mulai jam 9 pagi yang diadakan di Dewan Persidangan Cina Selangor. Enam kertas itu ialah satu dari Sabah, tiga dari Sarawak, dan masing-masing satu dari masyarakat India dan Orang Asli.

Menurut sekretariat persidangan, dianggarkan 200 peserta dijadual hadir. Penyertaan adalah percuma.

Malaysia is fifth in illegal money chart

Source

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Illicit money outflows from Malaysia tripled to US$68.2 billion (RM208.1 billion) in 2008, from US$22.2 billion in 2000, according to a report by US-based financial watchdog Global Financial integrity (GFI) released this month.

The country also had the fifth largest amount of illegal money outflows between 2000 and 2008, among developing countries. GFI defines illicit financial flows as generally involving the transfer of money earned through illegal activities such as corruption, transactions involving contraband goods, criminal activities, and efforts to shelter wealth from a country's tax authorities, said the programme’s website.

The report titled Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2000-2009 said that illicit financial outflows from Malaysia totalled US$291 billion (RM888 billion) in that period.

It said that the increase was “at a scale seen in few Asian countries.”

“The volume of illegal capital flight from Malaysia has come to dwarf legitimate capital inflows into the country in recent years,” said the report.