Reporter Arrested Under Sedition Act For Asking A Question. I Say Relek La Brader. DAP Got Nothing To Say Ah?

 

OutSyed The Box

Saturday, January 17, 2026

Reporter Arrested Under Sedition Act For Asking A Question. I Say Relek La Brader. DAP Got Nothing To Say Ah?

• From South China Morning Post
• Malaysian reporter arrested for sedition after controversial question 
• Rex Tan resigned as a Free Malaysia Today reporter 
• apologised for his question, which raised an uproar 
• Rex Tan was arrested 12.45am Sat at Dang Wangi police HQ 
• arrest confirmed by his lawyer
• Tan detained under Section 4(1) of Sedition Act 1948, Section 505(c) of Penal Code
• followed sensitive question raised during a public lecture in Kuala Lumpur.
• Tan posed the question that later drew widespread criticism online.
• FMT subsequently issued an apology
• Malaysian Media Council condemned doxxing, harassment, intimidation of journalists
• Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim said authorities “gone overboard” in charging Tan 
• Malaysian Media Council: detaining a journalist was excessive and punitive.
• This article was first published by The Star

My Comments:

Let me get straight to the point. Do you all recall in 2008 Theresa Kok was arrested under the ISA?  She was released a few days later. Like 'catch and release' fishing. The Minister in charge at that time was Chrome Dome. (Hello Bang, how is the wax and polish?) It was over another really brainless issue.

At that time the BN had just lost the 2/3 majority in Parliament in March 2008. Then 10 years later in 2018 the BN got kicked out. Then Najib got thrown in jail. Now its 2026 and Najib is still in jail.

Not only was Theresa Kok arrested under the ISA but there was a rash of cases where writers, alternative media people were arrested, charged in court etc for speaking, writing or uploading things online. It was a very bad time in the history of this country.  But all that eventually added up to get the BN kicked out of office in 2018. And as I said Najib is chilling his heels in jail now.

Now how many of you dunggus believe that history will not repeat itself? 

There are enough voters in the country - of all races - who do not like these silly laws that are still floating around. Some of you might think something great has been achieved by arresting this young boy under the Sedition Act. Well, everything has a cost. And the cost is you will get kicked out at the next elections. The Sedition Act has to be abolished. It just does not belong in our country anymore

Believe me the arrest of this young reporter is going to cost some people plenty of votes. The comment by Zaid Ibrahim is relevant. They went 'overboard'. Now they are going to walk off the plank - into the sea.

The DAP has 40 seats in Parliament but all they need are one pair of cojones. I see the DAP repeating their 8-0 Sabah election performance on a national level.

I used to live next to a pig farm

OPINION | I used to live next to a pig farm


17 Jan 2026 • 2:00 PM MYT



Fa Abdul
FA ABDUL is a former columnist of Malaysiakini & Free Malaysia Today (FMT)

Photo credit: The Sun

In the late 1980s, my family bought a property in Bukit Jambul, Penang. Back then, it was a good place to grow up - quiet, green, and far enough from the city to feel calm without feeling isolated. We didn’t think much about the empty land opposite our apartment. Empty land, after all, feels harmless. It carries possibility, not consequence.


Some time later, that land was turned into a pig farm.


The smell didn’t arrive all at once. It crept in slowly, the way you don’t notice a problem until it has already settled into your life. At first, you wrinkle your nose and move on. Then you start closing windows without thinking. Then you realise certain hours of the day are worse, and you adjust your routines around it - laundry earlier, meals later, conversations indoors. That’s when you know something has been taken from you.


On breezy days, it was unbearable. The wind carried the stench straight into our home, unapologetic and inescapable. Smell does not respect property lines or zoning laws. It doesn’t care about permits, approvals, or the reasons behind a decision. It arrives, and you live with it. Daily.


What stayed with me wasn’t just the smell, but the helplessness. You learn very quickly how little control you have over the air you breathe. Home is supposed to be the one place where you rest your body and lower your guard. But when the smell rolls in, even your living room feels like borrowed space.


What unsettles me most is this: nearly forty years have passed since then, and yet people living next to pig farms today are still complaining about the same things - the smell, the waste, the way it seeps into daily life. For all the talk of modernisation and technology, the lived experience sounds hauntingly familiar.


That experience is why I struggle when this issue is reduced to slogans and moral posturing. Living near a pig farm is not an abstract debate about tolerance, economic necessity, or political compromise. It is a deeply physical reality. It sits in your nose, your throat, your appetite, your sleep. And once you’ve lived with it, you never forget it.


So when residents raise concerns and are quickly dismissed as reactionary, narrow-minded, or overly sensitive, I find it deeply unfair. This is not about what animal is being farmed. A poorly managed chicken farm, cattle feedlot, landfill or waste facility would have produced the same misery. The problem is not culture. It is planning. It is enforcement. It is the convenient habit of placing unpleasant industries as close as possible to people with the least power to object.


What makes it worse is how often authorities act surprised. As if odour, waste and environmental impact are unforeseeable side effects rather than well-documented outcomes. We have decades of examples, locally and globally, of what happens when regulation is weak or selectively applied. To pretend otherwise is either incompetence or a refusal to listen.


That time in Bukit Jambul also taught me something uncomfortable: suffering becomes invisible once it is normalised. Once a community has endured something long enough, their complaints start sounding like background noise. And once complaints become noise, ignoring them becomes policy.


I learned, too, that this is never really about the animal. It is about whose comfort matters, and whose discomfort is considered acceptable collateral damage. It is about how easily people are told to “understand” and “be patient” - conditions that decision-makers themselves would never tolerate outside their own homes.


Perhaps that is why this issue still unsettles me decades later. Because it reminds me how fragile the idea of home can be, and how quickly quality of life is treated as negotiable. Development is always framed as progress, but progress that demands people quietly endure daily indignity is just neglect dressed up in better language.


I don’t pretend to have neat or easy solutions. I only know this: if those making these decisions had to live where the wind carries the smell, the conversation would sound very different. And maybe then, we would stop treating these experiences as abstract debates, and start acknowledging them for what they are - real lives disrupted, day after day.

***

I agree 101% with Fatimah - the odour from a nearby pig farm is horrendous, at times more than horrendous

Never allow pig farms to be near housing estates or even just houses (not related to the pig farms)

From Lions to Pussycats: How Power Is Taming DAP

OPINION | From Lions to Pussycats: How Power Is Taming DAP


17 Jan 2026 • 4:00 PM MYT



TheRealNehruism
An award-winning Newswav creator, Bebas News columnist & ex-FMT columnist

Image credit: MySinChew



Last month, Najib Razak’s bid to convert the remainder of his prison sentence into house arrest was dismissed by the courts. What should have been a legally unremarkable outcome quickly spiralled into a political controversy — not because of Najib, but because of how his defeat was publicly received.


DAP MP Yeo Bee Yin made a celebratory Facebook post following the decision, describing it as “another reason to celebrate this year end.” While several politicians across Pakatan Harapan — including DAP’s Tony Pua and PKR’s Wong Chen — also welcomed Najib’s misfortune, it was Yeo’s remark that drew the sharpest backlash, particularly from UMNO leaders.


The reaction was swift and visceral. UMNO secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki warned that perhaps it was time for UMNO to reassess its cooperation with partners who failed to appreciate the party’s “contributions” to the unity government. Puchong UMNO cut ties with its Pakatan Harapan counterpart after Yeo refused to apologise. Soon after, UMNO Youth chief Akmal Saleh organised a special convention on January 3, which culminated in calls for UMNO to withdraw from the unity government altogether.


In other words, the anger directed at Yeo Bee Yin did not remain symbolic. It translated into concrete political pressure, and arguably served as the immediate catalyst for Akmal’s mobilisation against the Anwar-led government.


For weeks, however, DAP’s top leadership remained conspicuously silent.


Only now — nearly three weeks after the controversy erupted — has DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke finally come out to address the issue. Speaking in a Chinese-language podcast, Loke struck a carefully calibrated tone. He said he disagreed with Yeo’s actions but stressed that he did not reprimand her. He confirmed that he had spoken to Yeo, and added that “in hindsight, she could have handled it better.”


More tellingly, Loke framed the issue not as one of principle, but of political management.


“There is no need to ruin the party’s relationship with UMNO,” he said, adding that “like it or not,” Najib once led UMNO. Najib, he noted, is already serving his sentence, and therefore the objective DAP had set — accountability — had been achieved. “There is no need to give an extra stab,” Loke said, referring to Yeo’s remarks. She could have “rejoiced inwardly,” he added. These words, he suggested, were unnecessary.


Loke went further. While affirming that DAP has its own principles and stance, he stressed that cooperation requires communication, and communication becomes difficult when relationships are damaged. Reform, he implied, cannot proceed if allies are constantly antagonised.


This, in essence, was damage control.


On one hand, Loke was clearly trying to reassure UMNO that DAP does not intend to humiliate it or gloat over Najib’s downfall. On the other, he was careful not to publicly hang Yeo Bee Yin out to dry and alienate DAP's supporters, who are already inclined to believe that DAP has become too accommodating and and compromising since it became a part of the ruling government . The result was a statement that was deliberately ambiguous — disapproval without punishment, disagreement without discipline.



But what is perhaps most revealing is not what Anthony Loke said, but when he said it.


That it took nearly three weeks for DAP’s secretary-general to respond suggests a deeper problem: a party unsure of how it is being perceived, and uncertain about how to react. DAP appears to have spent weeks “reading the situation” — and even after all that time, still failed to arrive at a clear position.


In my view, this hesitation is not accidental. It reflects a party experiencing a quiet but serious crisis of confidence.


Since its wipeout in the Sabah state election — where its top guns lost all eight seats it previously held in Sabah — DAP has struggled to read the public mood. It likely suspects that public sentiment towards it has turned negative, but does not quite understand why. It knows it is bleeding support, but seems unsure what exactly it has done to deserve the backlash, or what it must do to regain trust.



This uncertainty explains both the delay and the ambiguity of Loke’s response. DAP needed time to assess the damage — but even after taking that time, it still could not decide which audience it was speaking to, or what message it wanted to send.


At a deeper level, this episode illustrates a structural difference between politicians from majority groups and those from minority groups.


When politicians from majority communities rise from positions of powerlessness to positions of power, their transformation is often positive. They evolve from community heroes into national leaders. Their confidence grows with authority; their sense of entitlement to lead expands.


The opposite, however, is often the case for minority politicians.


Minority politicians often shine the brightest as heroes and champions, only when they are not in a position of power.



When minority politicians move from marginality into power however, their transformation is frequently negative. Once daring and courageous defenders of their communities, they become overly cautious administrators — bureaucrats who appear to be permanently walking on eggshells, terrified of overstepping invisible boundaries.


This is precisely the dilemma that DAP, like other minority led party in the past, now finds itself in.


If leaders from the minority group like Anthony Loke are unsure why the party is losing support, this is a large part of the answer. People admire heroes — and they elevate heroes into leadership roles with the expectation that those heroes will act even more heroically once they hold power.


But when the heroes they promoted begin to behave like bureaucrats — obsessing over procedural caution, technocratic minutiae, airline ticket prices, or toilet cleanliness, or how to punish for litterbugs — people feel cheated.


They feel they were sold a promise.


They were told that if they elevated lion cubs, they would one day get lions. Instead, what they got were well-groomed, well-spoken and bureaucratic pussycats.


And no matter how competent a pussycat may be at doing a pussycat’s job, people will still demand their money back — because they never wanted a well-performing pussycat in the first place.


They wanted a lion.

Foreign minister: Missing Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma exited Jeddah airport, missing persons complaint to be filed soon

Foreign minister: Missing Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma exited Jeddah airport, missing persons complaint to be filed soon



Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the Consulate General of Malaysia in Jeddah will lodge a missing persons report with the local police after a 20-hour wait time, as required by local regulations in Saudi Arabia. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

Saturday, 17 Jan 2026 5:06 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma had left the King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah before she went missing, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan confirmed today.

The actress, whose real name is Nadia Kasumawati Abdul Karim, reportedly went missing after she could not be traced while transiting at the airport during her flight from Kuala Lumpur to London on Thursday.

Mohamad said the Consulate General of Malaysia in Jeddah will lodge a missing persons report with the local police after a 20-hour wait time, as required by local regulations in Saudi Arabia.

“Last night, I contacted our Consulate General in Jeddah a few times and they are also in touch with the local police.

Immigration records show that she has exited the airport in Jeddah.

“Although we wanted to lodge a report, the local police said their law requires us to wait for at least 20 hours because filing a missing persons complaints,” Mohamad told reporters on the sidelines of the Umno General Assembly, here, today.

Mohamad said he has directed the Consulate-General in Jeddah to intensify their efforts to locate the missing actress and urged the travel agency that arranged Nadia’s trip to take responsibility and support efforts to locate her.

***

Went for cafe with 'stranger' she met???

EXCLUSIVE | Keris, kleptocracy, and Umno’s theatre of irrelevance

EXCLUSIVE | Keris, kleptocracy, and Umno’s theatre of irrelevance


17 Jan 2026 • 7:00 AM MYT


Citizen Nades
A legally qualified journalist and a good governance champion

Image Credit: Focus Malaysia



OPINION: Not too long ago, Umno’s annual assembly was broadcast live on state television, a spectacle amplified by politically appointed editors who dispatched platoons of reporters for wall-to-wall coverage. Their presence was less about journalism than feudal -- cameo appearances to reassure party masters that obedience was guaranteed.


For six decades, fortified by dominance over the media and a compliant civil service, Umno operated with an air of invincibility. Its power permeated every sphere, from administration and law to contracts and finance. Little moved without the party’s blessing.


In this unchallenged era, even theatrical gestures -- like then Youth leader, Hishamuddin Hussein, unsheathing, kissing, and brandishing a two-foot keris -- were symbols of unchecked arrogance, not subject to scrutiny.


The political landscape treated Umno’s utterances as scripture. Observers, analysts, and diplomats would analyse speeches as if decoding prophecy, desperate to read the party’s next move.


That era is over. Those heady days are gone. The political tsunami of 2008 stripped Umno of its two-thirds majority and humbled it in four states.


The crushing blow came in 2018 amidst the involvement of its president, Najib Abdul Razak, in the 1MDB scandal. As hard as Umno and its members tried, the stigma of being named as the world’s biggest kleptocrat would not go away.


Najib insisted 1MDB was not directly implicated in the U.S. Department of Justice report, but Malaysians were unconvinced. Week after week, the Wall Street Journal and The Edge Weekly churned out damning exposés.


https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/350449


In July 2020, Najib was convicted of abuse of power, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust involving RM42 million in SRC funds. He swore his innocence with an Islamic oath, but the courts spoke otherwise.


His deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, inherited the helm and wagered everything against Anwar Ibrahim’s fledgling opposition.


By 2022, Umno was clinging to survival, propping up the unity government -- the only lifeline left. Yet the party refused to accept the court’s verdict, insisting Najib had not received a fair trial and clamouring for pardons, even as billions were looted under his watch.


On December 26 last year, Najib was convicted on 25 charges, sentenced to 15 years in prison, and fined $2.8 billion by the High Court of Malaysia. He will appeal, but the stain remains.


But it refused to accept what the court ruled – Najib stole money from the public purse. They claimed he did not get a fair trial and later argued that he should be pardoned for “his services to the country”.


To insist otherwise would be stretching fantasy to its breaking point. After all, it was under his watch that RM45 billion vanished from the treasury, as if public funds were a magician’s prop to be spirited away.


After getting a reduction in his sentence but failing to complete his jail sentence at home, Umno began yet again clamouring for yet another pardon.


But on Dec 26 last year, Najib was convicted on 25 charges, sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $2.8 billion by the High Court of Malaysia, but will appeal the judgment.


These days, Umno makes its presence relevant and noticeable with loud noises, especially from the Youth leader, Akmal Salleh.


The DAP (which some observers say has metamorphosed into MCA 2.0) has become its punching bag and even merely expressing an opinion could incur not only Umno’s wrath but also of DAP leaders.


https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/01/11/like-it-or-not-najib-once-led-umno-loke-reminds-dap-members


Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin found out the hard way when she was ticked off by DAP secretary general, Anthony Loke but he maintained stolid silence on what party disciplinary chairman, Tony Pua, had said.


https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/764066,


Umno is now a party caught between nostalgia and irrelevance. Its leaders still brandish the keris as theatre, (the samurai sword has replaced the keris)!


But the blade no longer cuts through the electorate. The swagger of dominance has given way to grievance, with the party clinging to old enemies as if they were lifelines.


The truth is harsher: Umno’s survival depends less on its own strength than on the indulgence of coalition partners and the patience of voters weary of scandal. Its refusal to reckon with Najib’s convictions, its obsession with pardons, and its reliance on racial theatrics betray a party unable to reinvent itself for a Malaysia that must move on.

Missing Malaysian Actress in Jeddah: Luggage Found at Airport, Husband Clarifies “I Met Strangers” Text

Missing Malaysian Actress in Jeddah: Luggage Found at Airport, Husband Clarifies “I Met Strangers” Text

Published 9 hours ago
January 17, 2026


By Azri Azizan

Source: nadiakesumawati | Instagram & Harian Metro


Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma reportedly disappeared after landing at Jeddah Airport in Saudi Arabia on Thursday (15 January).


Her hand-carry luggage was later found at the airport, but Nadia herself remains missing.



Source: Nadia Kesuma


Nadia’s husband, Prof Dr Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan Abdullah, said he is trying to remain calm but urged the government to act immediately. He appealed for diplomatic efforts to be mobilised to contact the Saudi Arabian government in order to expedite the search for his wife.

“I’m just an ordinary citizen. If a minister or the government steps in, it would be much better and would feel quicker,” he said.


“Perhaps as an ordinary citizen it may take two to three days, but if a minister makes the decision by calling or contacting their counterpart in Saudi Arabia, it could take just two to three minutes.”


He added that Nadia’s family had lodged reports with Wisma Putra and the Malaysian Consulate in Jeddah, both of which had provided assistance and advice on the next steps. He also shared that his wife enjoys travelling and has always kept him and their children informed of her whereabouts whenever she arrives in another country.


“She has never been like this because this isn’t her first experience abroad. In fact, last year she performed umrah with her friends. She would regularly update me,” he said, as reported by Harian Metro.



Source: Harian Metro


Earlier reports claimed that Nadia went missing after sending a final text message to her husband saying, “I met a stranger.” However, Kamarul later clarified in a Facebook post that he never received such a message from Nadia.

He explained that the term “strangers” had been misinterpreted, as it was meant to refer to other pilgrims Nadia travelled with this time, unlike the previous year when she went with her friends.


Meanwhile, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) confirmed that they have received a report regarding Nadia’s disappearance.

U.S. Attack on Iran: Why Pakistan Could Pay The “Highest Price” of U.S. Military Operations on Tehran?

Saturday, January 17, 2026


U.S. Attack on Iran: Why Pakistan Could Pay The “Highest Price” of U.S. Military Operations on Tehran?

By EurAsian Times Desk
-January 17, 2026


A possible US attack on Iran has not only rattled Tehran but also almost all its neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and even Pakistan.

After provocative statements like “help is on the way” and warning of stern action against Iran’s hanging of protestors, Trump has dialled down the rhetoric in the past few days.

The threat of an attack is far from over, with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group now on its way to the Middle East. Some reports also claimed that the George H.W. Bush Carrier group was also headed to the region.

The last time the Pentagon ordered such a heavy deployment, we saw the capture of Venezuelan head of state Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

The fear of possible US strikes on Iran has stirred regional uneasiness for a variety of reasons.

The biggest concern among the US allies in the region is potential Iranian retaliation on the American military bases spread across the region, from Saudi Arabia to Turkey, as an Iranian official recently warned.

The Gulf oil-producing states have warned that an escalation could lead to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil trade. This would result in a massive uptick in oil prices, dealing a big blow to global markets. But more importantly, analysts believe that a reduction in Gulf oil supplies could prompt major oil consumers, such as China, to seek alternative suppliers.

However, there is another country that fears that a strike on Iran and a possible weakening of the Islamic Republic could cause an upheaval on its borders.


Pakistan At Direct Risk?

Pakistan believes that a stable and peaceful Iran is in Islamabad’s interest.

“Any US military attack on Iran would have dangerous, destabilizing consequences for the entire region,” former diplomat and political analyst Maleeha Lodhi told AFP. “Pakistan in particular would be seriously affected if there is a spillover across its border. Any ungoverned space opening up near its border would strengthen militants in its restive province of Balochistan and pose a grave security threat to Pakistan,” she added.

Since June 2025, when Israel attacked Iran and triggered the ’12-day war’, Pakistan has been opposing all attacks on Iran despite cozying up with the United States after the four-day conflict with its arch-rival, India.

The reasons behind this are manifold.

Pakistan and Iran share an approximately nine-hundred-kilometre border, which has been a haven for Baluch militancy on both sides.

The Baluch-Sistan province of Iran, bordering Pakistan’s Balochistan, is home to Baloch separatists who are in a constant state of strife with Islamabad.

Pakistani troops speak with a visitor as they stand guard at a checkpost near the Kot Lakhpat Jail on the outskirts of Lahore (Photo by Arif Ali / AFP)


Pakistan alleges that militant groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) have factions across the border, which allows the militants to launch attacks on Pakistani security forces with impunity.

Similarly, Pakistan’s Balochistan province is a haven for anti-Iran militias like the Jaish al-Adl and Ansar Al-Furqan that frequently target Iranian security forces.

This has caused a mutual distrust between the two neighbours, with both countries accusing the other of harbouring terrorists.

These tensions peaked in January 2024 when Iran launched missile and drone strikes on Jaish al-Adl bases in Pakistan’s Panjgur district. Pakistan retaliated with Operation Marg Bar Sarmachar, using drones, rockets, and aircraft to strike BLA and BLF hideouts in Iran’s Saravan, as reported by the EurAsian Times at the time.

The two countries made peace later and took coordinated measures to restore ties. Later, during his 2025 visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated the brotherhood between the two countries and signed 12 agreements with Islamabad.

A potential US attack on Iran has stirred fears that anarchy, weakening of the Iranian regime, and the potential of borders being left ungoverned could be disastrous for Pakistan’s security, as it will essentially embolden the Baloch militias to further intensify attacks on Pakistan.

With a rise in Baloch militia attacks in recent times, such as the daredevil hijack of the Jaffar Express in March 2025, Pakistan’s fears seem more than valid. Moreover, Pakistan already has unstable borders with the Taliban-run Afghanistan as well as with India, and cannot afford another unstable frontier.

Pakistani soldiers escort a Shiite Muslim religious procession in Quetta on July 3, 2025, during the Islamic holy month of Muharram in the lead-up to Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh-century killing of Prophet Mohammed’s grandson, Imam Hussein. (Photo by Banaras KHAN / AFP)


In addition, Pakistan could find itself in the middle of a US-Iran escalation due to its friendly relations with the United States.

The US could use Pakistan’s military facilities and airspace to strike Iran — which could further strain already difficult ties between the two neighbours.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting refuted claims on social media that Islamabad would be used as a launchpad to assist the US in a potential military attack against Iran.

Recall the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Iran bolstered Shia militias that indirectly affected neighbouring states, and a similar dynamic could unfold if Iran views Pakistan as a US ally.

An American attack on Iran could have a cascading effect on cross-border terror by emboldening the militias to launch more attacks on Pakistani soil.

For now, it is unclear whether Pakistan, like its Gulf counterparts, is lobbying the United States to stave off a crisis. However, it expressed its hope to the UN Security Council for early normalization of the situation in Iran, arguing that international law and the UN Charter prohibit external intervention in a state’s domestic affairs.

“The UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against other states’ territorial integrity or political independence, or interference in matters essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of states,” Ambassador Asim Ahmad, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, said at an emergency meeting.

The Malays Don’t Really Love Najib. They Just Love Winning

OPINION | The Malays Don’t Really Love Najib. They Just Love Winning


17 Jan 2026 • 7:00 AM MYT


TheRealNehruism

An award-winning Newswav creator, Bebas News columnist & ex-FMT columnist

Image credit: Center of Foreign Relations


Many non-Malays are often bewildered by the support and affection Najib continues to receive from the Malay community.


To them, Najib is corrupt and criminal. He betrayed the trust placed in him by the nation. He is seen as a man without integrity or principles — someone who deserves condemnation and punishment, not appreciation, adoration, sympathy or support.


Anthony Loke, for example, appears to believe that this support stems from Malay attachment to UMNO, the party Najib once led.


“Like it or not, Najib used to lead UMNO,” Anthony said, in an attempt to rationalise why UMNO leaders continue to take offence when Najib is criticised, despite his multiple convictions in court.


This view, however, lacks insight.


It does not explain why Chinese voters have not shown similar support for Lim Guan Eng, even though Lim Guan Eng also faces legal issues and was once the leader of DAP, the dominant party among the Chinese community.


It also does not explain why Malays abandoned Najib in 2018. We often forget that Najib fell precisely because Malays turned against him and BN en masse during the 14th general election.


Nor does it explain why Najib’s political competitors — especially PAS — have been actively campaigning for his release in recent despite wanting him to be locked up in the previous years. In early 2025, PAS continued to rally in Putrajaya in support of Najib even after UMNO pulled out. PAS however, was in government when Najib was first jailed. If Anthony Loke’s explanation were correct, PAS — UMNO’s traditional rival — should have little reason to support Najib today, yet it does.


To explain this, and see the reason for the fluctuation in the relationship between Najib and the Malays, we need to recognise a more fundamental truth: all of us, at our core, love ourselves first.


If we love anything else — our family, our party, our leader, our race, or our nation — it is because we have extended our sense of self to include them. Loving them then, becomes another way for us to love ourselves.


But self-love is conditional.


We can only love ourselves when we believe we are successful, innocent, good, right, or winning. When we feel like failures — guilty, wrong, losing — we often turn against ourselves instead.


Seen in this light, Malay support for Najib today becomes easier to understand.


Many Malays today feel that they are failing and losing. Najib on the other hand, represents not only memories of past success, but also the possibility of future victory. Because they resent who they are now, but love who they were before, while having hopes that they will become who they were in the past in the future, they are have learned to appreciate and cherish Najib, for symbolizing who they once were and who they can once again be in the future.


Najib may have led UMNO to defeat in 2018, but by 2021 and 2022 he had turned things around, and led UMNO to victories in the Johor and Melaka state elections.


Among Malay leaders today, Najib is also seen by many as the one that is most capable of leading Malays back to victory and success.


If PAS, Bersatu, or UMNO had a leader capable of delivering victory today, I truly believe that Najib would still be condemned by the Malays as criminal and corrupt, just as how they condemned him back in the years leading to 2018, and be left to rot in prison as his comeuppance, without sentiment.


The reason Chinese voters have largely abandoned Lim Guan Eng is precisely because they have Anthony Loke — who they believe is capable of leading them to greater success and victory. In contrast, Lim Guan Eng is remembered as a leader who failed in 2020, when under his watch, power slipped out of their hand, in lieu of the Sheraton Move.



If Anthony Loke were to quit politics tomorrow however, and Lim Guan Eng is the only one that DAP and the Chinese community could depend on to bring them success and victory, I wouldn't be surprised if DAP and Chinese supporters rally by the thousands outside court during Guan Eng's court appearances too, just as how the Malays are doing for Najib today.


That Malays are supporting Najib today is also an indictment of Anwar Ibrahim, in the sense that many Malays do not see Anwar as “one of them.” As a result, they do not internalize Anwar’s victories as their own.


When politicians like Yeo Bee Yin, Tony Pua, or Wong Chen celebrate Najib’s defeats, they are likely doing so because they are seeing themselves as Malaysians who are celebrating justice for all Malaysians. But many Malays don't see the likes of Tony Pua, Yeo Bee Yin or Wong Chen as Malaysians. Instead of seeing them as Malaysians, the Malays are likely just seeing them as Chinese politicians who are celebrating the Malay's failure and setbacks.


The diametrically opposed views of Najib among Malays and non-Malays are symptomatic of a deeper psychosis in Malaysia’s racial relationships.


In Malaysia, the winning race tend to feel cooperative with the other races, while the losing races tend to feel competitive.


When a race feels like it is winning or has won, it will expand its identity and adopt the “Malaysian” identity, in order to be able to calls for cooperation with the other races, to consolidate and expand its winnings. When it is losing, on the other hand, it will retreat into racial identity, to stop itself from suffering further losses and defeats.


DAP politicians, let us not forget, were more openly “Chinese” when they they were losing. They only began adopting a more “Malaysian” posture when they believed they could win — and after they did.


Similarly, many Malays opposed Najib when UMNO was dominant and Malays felt secure. At that time, Malays could afford to think as Malaysians, and opposing Najib felt like they were doing their duty as Malaysian to protect Malaysia.



After Najib and BN fell in 2018 however, the non-Malays increasingly adopted the Malaysian identity after they rose following the fall of Najib an BN, which in turn caused the Malays to no longer feel “Malaysian” . Feeling that they were losing grounds to the non-Malays, many Malays then discarded the Malaysian identity they had briefly embraced to bring down Najib, and returned again to a more explicitly Malay one.


Once this happened, Najib ceased to be seen as a Malaysian villain and began to appear instead as a Malay hero — someone capable of leading Malays back to victory.


The tragedy of race relations in Malaysia is that the races here tend to compete with one another while imagining that their r relationship is based on cooperation.


This leaves us in an absurd situation where we will ask those we wish to defeat to cooperate with us — so that we may defeat them.


Once we understand how absurd it is to ask those who we wish to defeat to cooperate with us, the persistent and never-ending tension in Malaysia’s racial relationships becomes far less mysterious.

***

Nehru matey tends to be philosophical in his writings, wakakaka

Norway stunned after Machado gifts Nobel Prize medal to Trump

Norway stunned after Machado gifts Nobel Prize medal to Trump

Ott Ummelas and Heidi Taksdal Skjeseth
Jan 16, 2026 – 9.50pm


Norway reacted with disbelief to the news that Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado gave her award medal to US President Donald Trump, who has long coveted the award.

“That’s completely unheard of,” Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor with the University of Oslo and a former politician, told public broadcaster NRK. “It’s a total lack of respect for the award, on her part,” she said, calling the act “meaningless” and “pathetic.”

Trump, who claims to deserve the peace prize for having resolved numerous wars during his second term, accepted the medal from the Venezuelan opposition leader at a White House meeting on Thursday. He has earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Donald Trump and Maria Machado with the Nobel Peace Prize at the White House on Thursday. X/The White House

The award cannot be shared or transferred, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement last week. It didn’t respond to phone calls and text messages seeking comment on Friday.

Machado has been shut out of Venezuela’s leadership transition since US forces ousted Nicolás Maduro on January 3 but kept his regime in place. Machado gave Trump the medal as “a recognition of his unique commitment with our freedom,” she said on Thursday.

The peace prize is arguably the world’s most prestigious award for diplomatic efforts. It’s one of five Nobel Prizes established under the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite who died in 1896.

“This is unbelievably embarrassing and damaging to one of the world’s most recognised and important prizes,” Raymond Johansen, a former Oslo mayor with the ruling Labor Party said in a Facebook post. “The awarding of the prize is now so politicised and potentially dangerous that it could easily legitimise an anti-peace prize development.”

***

'Very generous of her': Wong praises Machado for gifting Nobel prize to Trump

The foreign minister made the comments after she was asked if the US was creating a world order in which "might was right"

Wong said the world was moving through a "time of great change", and the federal government was working to ensure peace and stability in our region. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has praised Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for gifting her Nobel Peace Prize to United States President Donald Trump, saying it was "very generous of her".


Machado presented the prize to Trump during their first face-to-face meeting at the White House on Thursday. A White House official confirmed that Trump intends to keep the medal.


In a social media post on Thursday evening, Trump wrote: "María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!"


On Friday, Wong was asked if Trump was creating a world order in which "might was right" after the US captured deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro during a military operation earlier this month.


"Can I first say in relation to Ms Machado's presentation or her gifting of the peace prize, that was very generous of her," she said.



The questions still hanging over Trump's plan to 'run' Venezuela

Wong said the world was moving through a "time of great change" and the federal government was working to ensure peace and stability in our region.


"What I have also said is we should be confident as Australians in our ability to navigate these changes together," she said.

***

Clever Penny - by praising Machado she avoided commenting on the criminal act of a Caribbean Pirate, wakakaka

Gerakan felt 'left out on a limb' in recent meeting between PAS leaders and Muhyiddin

Gerakan ready to accept either Bersatu or PAS as new PN chair


Published: Jan 17, 2026 3:33 PM
Updated: 6:33 PM


Gerakan president Dominic Lau today said the party is ready to accept either a candidate from Bersatu or PAS as Perikatan Nasional’s new chairperson, replacing Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a statement following the party’s first meeting this year, Lau noted Gerakan was not involved in a recent meeting between PAS leaders and Muhyiddin at the former premier’s Bukit Damansara home.

“Although Gerakan was not involved in the meeting, the party stressed that each component party within PN has its own space and channels to contribute to the stability and strength of the coalition,” said Lau.

“On the issue of leadership of the PN chairpersonship, Gerakan is of the view that the decision is the right and responsibility of the coalition as a whole.

“Gerakan is ready to accept whatever decision is mutually agreed upon, whether led by PAS or Bersatu, for the sake of PN’s stability and unity,” he said.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin said he, together with PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, had vowed to reinforce the opposition coalition.

Muhyiddin said the commitment was reached during a meeting with Hadi, also attended by Bersatu secretary-general Azmin Ali, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, and PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan.

In his Facebook post, Muhyiddin, however, did not elaborate on whether the PAS leaders had also reached an agreement on who they wanted to name as his successor.

Lau, meanwhile, reaffirmed Gerakan’s commitment to continue helping resolve any internal issues within the coalition in a mature and prudent manner, based on the spirit of consensus and PN’s long-term interests.

Apart from Bersatu, PAS, and Gerakan, the federal opposition alliance also comprises the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.

No need for me to follow Akmal’s lead, says Melaka DAP exco

FMT:

No need for me to follow Akmal’s lead, says Melaka DAP exco

Allex Seah says his executive councillor role was offered by the chief minister in the spirit of strengthening the unity government at the state level

DAP’s Melaka exco Allex Seah said his main focus is to continue serving the people and ensure the stability of the state’s unity government. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Melaka executive councillor Allex Seah, from DAP, says there is no need for him to follow in the footsteps of Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh by resigning from his state post.

Seah, however, said he was prepared to resign if instructed by chief minister Ab Rauf Yusoh.

Holding the portfolio for entrepreneur development, cooperatives and consumer affairs, he said his position was offered by the chief minister in the spirit of strengthening the unity government at the state level.


“In any state government, if an executive councillor no longer has the confidence of the chief minister, menteri besar or his own party, the position will be vacated.

“So, as long as there is no request from the party leadership or the chief minister, this issue does not arise, even if some parties try to stir political sentiments,” Seah said, according to Sinar Harian.

He was commenting on actions to be taken following Akmal’s announcement that he would step down as executive councillor for rural development, agriculture and food security, effective next week.

Akmal, at the Umno Youth general assembly, announced his resignation from the Melaka government to “fight DAP to the end”.

Seah said his main focus is to continue serving the people and ensure the stability of Melaka’s unity government.

“What is important is that we concentrate on work for the community, reduce political sentiments, and continue strengthening unity so that this government remains stable,” he said.

Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’ with son-in-law and Tony Blair take charge of Gaza amid ceasefire — no Palestinians included

Trump-led ‘Board of Peace’ with son-in-law and Tony Blair take charge of Gaza amid ceasefire — no Palestinians included



Displaced Palestinian families set up tents in the vicinity of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East’s headquarters in Gaza City on January 11, 2026. US President Donald ‌Trump named himself chairman of a ‘Board of Peace’ to oversee Gaza’s governance. — AFP pic

Saturday, 17 Jan 2026 1:22 PM MYT

• Trump names himself ‘Board of Peace’ chair under October plan
• White House to announce more board members in coming weeks
• Gaza has had a fragile ceasefire since ​October

WASHINGTON, Jan 17 — The White House on Friday announced some members of a so-called “Board of Peace” that is to supervise the temporary governance of Gaza, which has been under ‍a fragile ceasefire since October.

The names include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald ‌Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Trump is the chair of the board, according to a plan his White House unveiled in October.

Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas signed off on Trump’s plan, ‍which says a Palestinian technocratic body will be overseen by the international board, which will supervise Gaza’s governance for a transitional period.

Many rights experts and advocates have said that Trump overseeing a board to supervise a foreign territory’s governance resembled a colonial structure, while Blair’s involvement was criticized last year due to his role in the Iraq war and the history of British imperialism in the Middle East.


The White House did not detail the responsibilities of each member of the “founding Executive board.” The names do not include any Palestinians. The White House said more members will be announced over the coming weeks.


The board will also include private equity executive and billionaire Marc ‍Rowan, World Bank President ‍Ajay Banga and Robert Gabriel, a Trump adviser, the White House said, adding that Nickolay Mladenov, a former UN Middle East envoy, will be the high representative for Gaza.

Army Major General Jasper Jeffers, a US special operations commander, ​was appointed commander of the International Stabilization Force, the White House said.


A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized the board and countries working with it to establish that force in Gaza.

The White House also named an 11-member “Gaza Executive Board” that will include Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Sigrid Kaag, the United Arab Emirates minister for international cooperation, Reem Al-Hashimy, and ‌Israeli-Cypriot billionaire Yakir Gabay, along with some members of the executive board.

This additional board will support Mladenov’s office and the Palestinian technocratic body, whose details were announced this week, the White House ‍said.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations in Gaza, where more than 450 Palestinians, including over ‌100 children, and ‍three Israeli soldiers have been reported killed during the truce.

Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023 has killed tens of thousands, ‍caused a hunger crisis and internally displaced Gaza’s entire population. Multiple rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say this ‍amounts to genocide.

Israel has said it took action in self-defense ⁠after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and ‍took over 250 hostages in a late 2023 attack. — Reuters

Malay unity only possible if Umno cuts ties with DAP, Zahid told

FMT:

Malay unity only possible if Umno cuts ties with DAP, Zahid told

5 hours ago
Faiz Zainudin

PAS assistant secretary-general Syahir Che Sulaiman says no Malay would accept DAP’s agenda

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday dismissed the proposed ‘big tent’ concept, saying his party was in a better position to unite the Malays.

PETALING JAYA: Umno’s efforts to unite the Malay community can only succeed if it stops cooperating with DAP, a PAS leader says.

PAS assistant secretary-general Syahir Che Sulaiman suggested that Umno take the first step by severing ties with DAP to make the agenda of Malay and Muslim unity successful.

“PAS has always been open to the agenda of Muslim unity based on political cooperation, which prioritises Islamic principles above party or personal interests.


“Umno needs to demonstrate sincerity (in its efforts to unite the Malays) with courage and dignity. The first step: leave the DAP,” he told FMT.

Syahir Che Sulaiman.


Syahir, who is Bachok MP, claimed that no Malay would accept the agenda championed by DAP, which is working with Umno in the unity government.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday dismissed the proposed “big tent” concept, saying his party was in a better position to unite the Malays.

He also said the “big tent” had failed to materialise as Umno was not involved

Zahid said Umno was not just a political party but a “Malay house” that served as a platform to unite the community and help them face current challenges, including those political in nature.

Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man


PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, on the other hand, said Muslim unity would fail if it is built around individual parties, as each group has its own diverse following.

“Malays need a broad coalition beyond the framework of their respective parties, groups or organisations.

“Muslim unity must be based on shared commonalities and give priority to those commonalities,” said the Kubang Kerian MP.

Umno sec-gen: Khairy hasn’t asked to come back yet, but many others have, party open to returnees

Umno sec-gen: Khairy hasn’t asked to come back yet, but many others have, party open to returnees



Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said Umno had received multiple applications from former members seeking to rejoin the party. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

Saturday, 17 Jan 2026 3:00 PM MYT


KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — Secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today said that Umno has yet to receive any application from its former youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to rejoin the party.

He said this at a press conference held at the media centre during the Umno General Assembly 2025 here.

“From KJ, not yet,” he said, referring to Khairy’s initials.

However, Asyraf added that Umno had received multiple applications from former members seeking to rejoin the party.


“As secretary-general, I can say that we have indeed received many applications, and we welcome all of them.

“If we understand from the president’s policy speech, this house is open to everyone — all of them — because all of them originally came from the womb of Umno,” he said.

Speculation of Khairy returning to the party intensified after he made an appearance at the party’s annual assembly on Thursday, nearly three years after being expelled from the party.


Khairy, who was sacked in January 2023 after criticising the party’s leadership, attended the event upon an official invitation from current Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, and with the blessing of Zahid himself.

A former Umno Youth chief from 2009 to 2018 and a former Cabinet minister, including as health minister, Khairy described his return to the Umno headquarters as an emotional moment.

However, he played down speculation of an imminent political comeback, urging a “one step at a time” approach.

Zaid, Lip Eng condemn Rex Tan’s arrest

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim calls Rex Tan’s arrest “hypocrisy” and selective enforcement, while Lim Lip Eng demands his immediate release, slamming police action as repressive. - Scoop pic, January 17, 2026
NEWS



[UPDATED] Zaid, Lip Eng condemn Rex Tan’s arrest


Former law minister and DAP MP call police action 'hypocrisy' and 'repressive selective enforcement'


Scoop Reporters
Updated 14 seconds ago
17 January, 2026
1:03 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR – Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has criticised the arrest of journalist Rex Tan under the Sedition Act, calling it an example of selective enforcement.

Zaid compared Tan’s case to PAS MP Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, who in October posted on Facebook that non-Muslims and non-bumiputera posed a threat to Malay-Islam interests.

“This is hypocrisy. Amanah insisted Marzuk be investigated but no probe was carried out. Yet police acted swiftly against Tan,” said Zaid, as quoted by Malaysiakini.

He stressed Marzuk’s post was clearly racial in tone, yet no action was taken. By contrast, Tan was detained for asking what Zaid described as a “stupid and insensitive” question.

“He certainly did not think carefully when asking the question… but he is not a racial provocateur. His statement, while disappointing to many in the audience, could not possibly cause public disorder or racial tension,” Zaid added.

Meanwhile, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng accused the authorities of being repressive and demanded Tan’s immediate release.

“I demand that former Free Malaysia Today journalist Rex Tan be freed immediately from Royal Malaysia Police custody.

Tan has already apologised publicly, admitted his mistake, expressed regret and pledged full cooperation. In this situation, detaining him after midnight, following his summons to the Dang Wangi police headquarters, is repressive and excessive,” Lim wrote on Facebook.

Lim said the arrest raises serious questions about transparency and fairness in law enforcement, noting that many politicians who have made racially charged remarks have never been detained despite multiple police reports.

“There are even politicians linked to corruption scandals involving billions seized from their aides, yet they remain free. Why is Tan treated differently? Is the law harsh only on certain individuals but lenient on the influential?

“Law enforcement must not be used as a tool for selective punishment. This practice must stop as it undermines justice and the rule of law,” he said.

Tan, who resigned from FMT yesterday, was accused of asking a racially-tinged question during a Kuala Lumpur forum featuring UK politician George Galloway titled “Gaza Exposes the Complicity of International Actors.”

He was detained late last night after being summoned to Dang Wangi police headquarters and is now being investigated under Section 505(c) of the Penal Code.

Former Klang MP Charles Santiago also warned that Tan’s arrest could set a bad precedent for criminalising free expression, including ignorant questions.

“If arrests become the response to poor political questions, we cross a dangerous line: one that invites abuse of state power. Challenge and rebut ideas fiercely, but don’t criminalise free expression.

“Threats, & harassment against Tan are unacceptable, no matter how misguided his question was. It cannot be a licence for mob punishment,” Santiago said on X. – January 17, 2026