Friday, April 24, 2009

Malaysiakini, Fairus, Dr Syed Husin, Karpal Singh - what's going on?

Here’s something to make me worry about Malaysiakini!

But first, let’s read The Malaysian Insider Fairus leaves fate to party which reported:

Former Penang Deputy Chief Minister Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin today said it is up to the party leadership to decide whether he should retract his resignation as Penanti assemblyman after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cleared him of any wrongdoings.

He said his resignation as a lawmaker was a sign of his loyalty to the party as he has always put the interest of the party above himself.

"I leave it to the party leadership on the next course of action, whether I should retract or not it is up to them," he told The Malaysian Insider.

I read it as Fairus wanting to withdraw his resignation, but deferring the decision to PKR leaders.

But in Malaysiakini, there was no such report of Fairus saying that. All it said in its article Fairus says it again: I quit was:

Fairus Khairuddin has today reiterated his decision to resign as Penanti assemblyperson.

“I reaffirm my earlier stand to resign as Penanti assemblyperson and pledge full support for the PKR leadership under Anwar Ibrahim.”

But if you read CAREFULLY it was a statement ISSUED BY the party’s information bureau this afternoon, and not a direct quote from Fairus himself.

Malaysiakini earlier (breaking news) article on subject had PKR Deputy President, Dr Syed Husin, insisting that Fairus didn’t quit because of the corruption allegation, thus MACC clearing him has no bearing at all nor cause for Fairus to withdraw his resignation.

From the tone of that initial (breaking news) article, Dr Syed sounded rather angry and panicky with the suggestion that Fairus might withdraw his resignation. [Incidentally, that report quoting Dr Syed Husin has gone from the revised Malaysiakini report]

I bet Dr Syed Husin must have made Fairus feel very wanted wakakaka.

My dear doctor, alas, you’ve changed so much since you joined up with Anwar Ibrahim – I see you now as just another acolyte mesmerized by the
miasmatic mist of malarkey.

Contrary to your frenetic assertion, the following is what your de facto leader had been quoted by Malaysiakini in its article Fairus stays despite tempting offers:

PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim has hailed Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin for being a ‘gentleman’ by gracefully relinquishing all his elected and appointed positions in the Penang government.

The opposition leader said PKR took pride that a young leader like Mohammad Fairus was standing up for his principle to clear his name from the graft allegations and prevent the party from being further tarnished.

above bold-ing and underlining are mine


Dr Syed, I believe it’s time for you to retire.

Also in that earlier article Penang speaker (PKR) Abdul Halim Hussin was quoted as saying Fairus cannot withdraw his resignation, but since then, he has denied saying that.

Abdul Halim stated: “I only said that his resignation was done in accordance with the law. As the speaker, I am legally bound to verify the authenticity of the resignation letter, hand it over to the EC and wait for its decision.”

Now, who do we blame for that misquote. Errr … it’s OK to blame the media for misquoting Abdul Halim as he is not BN wakakaka.

Now, this is the best part to the sorry PKR comedic episode (MIC, eat your heart out wakakaka) – DAP national chairperson, Karpal Singh said that Fairus has the right to withdraw his resignation as Penanti assemblyperson so long as the Election Commission hasn’t accepted his quit notice or announced the by-election date.

Karpal stated: “Since the MACC has cleared him of all the graft allegations, I think Fairus has the right to withdraw his resignation letter.”

Wakakaka. But good on you, Karpal, Khalsa warrior of truth!

But I am terribly terribly disappointed with Malaysiakini for not reporting Fairus’ re-think on his resignation, instead of publishing only the statement from PKR’s information bureau. That extra piece of news, no doubt worrying to PKR, could have given us the full context of the story.


And why has Malaysiakini also withdrawn the post on Karpal Singh's assertion that Fairus can withdraw his resignation? - bloody right in front of my eyes.

28 comments:

  1. HAiyah KT .. like Anwar, hit and run ... that's how they operate.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A Malaysiakini reporter once admitted (inadvertantly I guess) in a comment on my now defunct blog
    that she sees Malaysiakini as being to PKR what The Rocket is to DAP. This was some time back, just after the Ijok by-election.

    It seems so obvious to me that when the chips are down, Malaysiakini practices the doctrine of "Anwar First". It's a pity that the "Malaysian First" crowd seem willfully unaware of this.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KT

    Karpal fell of the wheel-chair.
    High time the lion retires.
    Be man man lai with the wife, kids and grandkids.
    Or is he waiting to be the PM too?
    Wakaka.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those carrying him up some steps lost their balance and allowed him to fall out. Some of our Malaysian buildings aren't friendly to the disadvantaged. I recall there was a case of an Indian lady having problems with parking meters and the KLang office to pay fines because of this. It's time we do something for our (physically or economically) lesser advantaged compatriots.

    Karpal may be physically disadvantaged but his mind is still very dynamic, clear and brilliant. And the Lion still has a sharp bite but one that's fair (he bit Mr Man Man Lai, didn't he, wakakaka).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Steven Gan and Malaysiakini are Anwar sponsored or inspired either directly or indirectly financially or otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aiyah Kaytee

    As if you didn't know , don't pretend you didn't know that Malaysiakini has always been referred to us as AnwarKini .

    ReplyDelete
  7. Idzan Ismail

    High time the lion retires.

    Still has his bite , remember , he asked Anwar , Kit Siang and Hadi to step down .
    He's still needed , can't say much here and still very useful at times like this .
    He will say his piece and he doesn't care who you are , a very straight forward lion .
    Maybe should rename him Richard the Lion Heart after King Richard .

    ReplyDelete
  8. Meiyen, int, chaptokam, anon will now surely give us some hard evidence of their Malaysiakini=Anwarkini allegation, since they eagerly practice the presumption of innocence for all ;)

    Aside. I agree with Chaptokam on the Lion, once he had been put back on his wheels he had the stamina to comment: "Fortunately nothing happened to me. If there was, there'll be another by-election."

    ReplyDelete
  9. Folks

    Sorry to go off track a bit but this is sensational material and story.

    It was reported that Nga and Ngeh had been remote controlling the Perak Speaker Siva Kumar during the assembly seating.

    This was reported by Malaysiakini and I have also have the original transcripts of that step by step, minute by minute instructions.

    At one point Nga even threatens Siva that he will replace him.

    I am shocked that such thing can happen in a DAP led govt. That a DAP leader can behave in such undemocratic, unconstituitional and unethical manner is shocking.

    These documents are too detailed to be forgeries. Judge for yourselves.

    ===================================
    http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/102813

    __________________________________

    These are the exchange, "You" is the speaker.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vGi46E7srto/Sem1SP0LAzI/AAAAAAAAAkE/JnXYZEUffh8/s1600-h/dun+perak+aa.jpg


    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vGi46E7srto/Sem1SE_nzrI/AAAAAAAAAj8/ctQ8SkCyb9w/s1600-h/dun+perak+aa+001.jpg


    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vGi46E7srto/Sem1RvSCEtI/AAAAAAAAAjk/dq5IuROhv7o/s1600-h/dun+perak+aa+007.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  10. Would you still vote for this Cina Balek China AS**HOLE from PKR ? The Kulim boy wonder ? The one Anwar says NFA ( no further action )

    PKR man against Cabinet decision

    PETALING JAYA: A PKR MP has questioned the Cabinet’s decision to amend the laws of conversion for children. He thinks it contradicts the Federal Constitution and Federal Court decisions.

    Kulim-Bandar Baru MP Zulkifli Noordin disagreed with the decision to allow children whose parents are divorced — and where one parent had converted to another religion — to be brought up in the “common religion at the time of marriage”.

    In his blog, he said the issues relating to the conversion of children did not arise as the Federal Court had made several rulings in the past to address them.

    “Actually this issue had been addressed clearly by the Federal Court in the Subashini case, where the court stated that the issue is bound by Article 12(4) of the Federal Constitution,” he said.

    Article 12(4) states that the religion for a person under the age of 18 is determined by his or her parents or guardian, and this meant either one of them can decide which religion the child practises.

    “Therefore the issue does not arise in the case of Patmanathan @ Mohd Ridhuan who decided that Islam is the right religion for his children,” he said.

    He added that the issues of conversion and custodial rights were two separate matters, as addressed in the S. Shamala case where the father embraced Islam and converted his children’s faith but was not given custodial rights.

    “The custodial rights were given to the mother, a Hindu, with a caveat that the mother cannot convert the children’s religion,” he said.

    He said the presumption that the father would automatically get custodial rights from the Syariah Court while the non-Muslim mother would definitely lose her case was unfounded.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yo Chaptokam
    The Kulim guy is just like his boss. Fork tongued.
    As for Karpal, he did not take things lying down.
    He already asked for facilities for the disabled in courts and his trial moved to the first floor.

    Eric,
    The whole world knows Malaysia Kini is Anwarkini.
    You cannot operate such outfit without a godfather.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yo Chaptokam

    Yes,another hypocrisy exposed.

    In fact I want PAS and PKR's official stand one this...no..I demand their official stand on the child conversion and 30% equity waiver. I would specifically like to know what the Great Deformer has to say after his C4'ing of the article condeming Najib on his equity waiver.

    ReplyDelete
  13. You BN (Barisan Nazak) fellows call yourselves analysts! What u guys don't know is you and your masters got played out.

    Once upon a time they caught two guys in Perak on corrupt practices. Put pressure on them and they buckled under. Thinking the same can be done to the Selangor MB, Tan Sri Khalid, the MACC ran after his car and 'his' cows. But sorry lah wrong person. Khalid refused to buckle under. So keep quiet. But Khalid dosen't keep quiet and reveals the excesses of the previous MB and his family on rakyat's money.

    Then the Perak coup. Very successful. You guys so happy; blame AI.

    So Nazak guys try the same strategy in Penang. Float rumours about impending arrest of big gun PKR guy. You guys ecstatic.

    But this time PR well prepared with strategy. First keep quiet. No further action it seems. You guys rave and rant at the CM LGE, "why no action ? blah, bla, blah"

    When Fairus refused to be 'bought' threaten asot(all sorts of things).

    So PR play next card, the resignation letter and make it seem like AI and LGE don't talk to each other or keep each other informed. Actually, they did not keep you guys and MSM informed. Fish took the bait. Talk of bye-election. All you guys so ecstatic once again claiming LGE merely puppet of AI.

    But the Nazak guys realized they will lose in bye-elections and term it 'waste of money'. YOu guys also parrot the same (see who are the puppets). Wakakaka. And, the EC delay declaring the seat vacant.

    Then the cows and cars association say officially Fairuz clean (but KIV) and EC announce decision on vacancy will be made public next week.

    But PR announce Fairus to withdraw resignation (because Barisan Nazak don't dare lawan - all pondans mah!)

    Wakakakaka!!

    What Najib going to do now? Declare new evidence against Fairus ? Or go for another seat ?



    Sone time ago Tan Sri Khalid said 10% of seats in UiTM should be reserved for non-bumis and immediately all those UMNO fellows jumped up, called him all sorts of names, demanded his resignation. Now that Najib has announced the relaxation of 30% requirement, where are those same guys who were protesting ? AI was being sarcastic and referring to these hypocrites and you guys don't even know that. So who are the racists ?

    With guys like you blindly supporting BN, how can they win. They will surely become Barisan Nazak!

    So don't feel so bad that you got played out, just go ahead and eat your poopcorn and drink the stale champagne. One should not waste. Times are hard without buy-elections!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous 10.37am
    Hello who declared the seat vacant? THE MAN right?
    To reinstate Fairus, loss of face.
    Srill undecided on the candidate since they do not have one of calibre.
    Even a woman ex-PKR has offered to contest.
    This shows how popular the Fakatan is.
    Why must you drag Najib?
    P.S. I like to see Fairus helping BN if they decide to contest.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Eric,

    Please see here: http://thesilo.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/how-to-get-away-with-bias/

    Read the comments as well, and also read my other blog entry here:

    http://thesilo.wordpress.com/2007/04/28/ijok-coverage-malaysiakini-why-not-just-call-it-anwarkini/

    Once again the interesting part is in the comments, where a Malaysiakini journalist had this to say when I raised concerns that Mkini will one day side with PKR against DAP: "5. Tirath, not to say Mk is perfectlah but btwn DAP and PKR, one party needs hope and survival more than the other :) One also kena blackout more than the other from mainstream. Bagi chancelah." Subtle, but very telling I think. (FWIW I think this journalist has recently left Mkini)

    I'll repeat what I said in those blog posts: there is nothing wrong with bias per se, so long as people acknowledge it and are aware of it, and consequently seek out alternative viewpoints on controversial issues, instead of assuming Malaysiakini always carries "the truth".

    And the truth is, Malaysiakini can often be considered Anwarkini. I still read Malaysiakini every day. But to balance it out, I also read Ktemoc Konsiders, almost as often as I read Malaysiakini ;-)

    Btw, I've stopped blogging already, so if anyone has any comments on those posts on my blog, maybe best to post the comments here since I hardly even log in to the wordpress control panel anymore these days; your comment might sit in my moderation queue for months.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Dear Killer

    Let's all write to Danny Boyle to do a film on Malaysian Slumrat.
    Bet you it will win more awards than Slumdog Millionaires.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have edited killer's comments at
    11:27 AM, April 25, 2009 - edited version as follows:

    *****************

    Killer said...
    Anon 10.37am

    This got to take the cake as the most convulated political strategy of the decade is it is happens to be true...hahahahahahahhaa

    This whole thing seems to be like an episode of a particularly bad Latin telenovela with all villans and no heroes...filled with tears and betrayals.

    As I had stated we ain't seen the end of this sorry saga yet. Understand that Fairus is still sore with his downfall though it seems that soreness has been somehow assuaged with the medicinal balm called "Ringgit" so generously bankrolled by the shadowly financier Datuk [DELETED].

    However, I hear (unconfirmed) rumours that MACC not quite finished with Fairus yet since he has only been cleared one allegation with the others are still open. Read their press statement and that will tell you that for that particular case (overseas trip) there was no ground for charging.

    I also hear that (again unconfirmed I apologise) that the Cheap Minister and his Deputy Cheap Manservant...oops DCM2 Prof Rama has provided alibi for that particulat trip in claiming that Fairus was sponsored by the state an not his private sector "sponsors". Well, I will leave it to you guys to add 1 and and make your own conclussion..wink wink..

    Bro Chaptokam...did you hear the same since your antenna is longer and more powerful.

    Whatever it is, the world war 3 has been declared in Penang. I think PR need no help from BN or humble bloggers like us to break them apart in Penang. So let's just grab some popcorns, peanuts, beers/champagne/toddy/samsu/etc and watch this violent and tragic telenovela called "Internal Affairs : Friendly Fire ".

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yo Killer

    I though its otherwise that Deputy Cheap Manservant...oops DCM2 Prof Rama was sponsored by the state and that the other chap who resign was sponsored by the private sector .

    Read these two statements carefully !
    a)“It also found that Fairus attended an international course in London in mid 2008 together with Penang Deputy Chief Minister II (P.Ramasamy) who was fully sponsored by the organiser and the state government,” said the statement.
    b)“MACC investigation found that he had asked and received funding from a quarry operator to attend an international course in London,” said the statement.

    Analysis:
    with Penang Deputy Chief Minister II (P.Ramasamy) who was fully sponsored by the organiser and the state government,”

    To me this statement implies that only Rama was fully sponsored by the organiser and the state as it did not use the word both were sponsored...

    He had asked and received funding from a quarry operator to attend an international course in London,”

    He had asked and RECEIVED funding QED.

    DCM2 Prof Rama has provided alibi for that particulat trip in claiming that Fairus was sponsored by the state an not his private sector "sponsors". ??????????

    Cleared on that one , the rest still pending as its still not complete . They MACC didn't mentioned how many cases or files opened , it was me who said more like 10 cases according to info .

    Understand that Fairus is still sore with his downfall

    Why did he resigned???

    1. If he is not guilty why did he resigned in the first place?

    2. Why not just 'pergi bercuti' like what Eli did and wait for the result? Go to Australia for one month , favourite destination for Malaysian politicians seeking refuge !!

    3. Is it because someone close to the 'Godfather' forced this fella to quit? or provided the medicinal balm called "Ringgit"

    Anyway who cares !! And as you said , So let's just grab some popcorns, peanuts, beers/champagne/toddy/samsu/etc and watch this violent and tragic telenovela called "Internal Affairs : Friendly Fire ".

    ReplyDelete
  20. Idan Ismail

    When people fall, you laugh at people's misfortune???

    It shows that you insult Allah. Your ex MB Dr Gigi did the same thing by enjoying people's mone in Pirates of the Carribean because there is no remote control.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for your prompt reply.

    @ Idzan Ismail
    "The whole world knows Malaysia Kini is Anwarkini.
    You cannot operate such outfit without a godfather."
    Sounds like "I've been reliably informed if yous ask me". Please forgive me, if I have yet to be convinced.

    @int, you failed to give any precise references in your first post. How can we check your elements of proof? Your observations sound subjective without these (or downright wrong DAP was in Gagasan Rakyat, right?). For instance, "although it’s not overtly pro-PKR coverage, it’s anti-DAP coverage", where do we go from there?
    Your Ijok post has more bite, although we do not know whether Politikus aka Soon Li Tsin comments in her own or professional capacity. Could I put it to you that she may be pro-PKR, yet that this may not reflect the whole of M’kini editorial policy? For instance, Baraddan Kuppusamy has the privilege of writing for the Star, M’kini and the MI, this does not deliver much on . Perhaps, you are closest to the truth when you sum up: M’kini is a “relatively objective albeit opposition-and-particularly-Keadilan-leaning publication.”
    That said, I agree with your remark "mainstream media’s complete bias stemming from the fact that the government parties own them (on top of tight regulations such as the PPPA)." I'd add RTM's and Bernama's bias are particularly shocking as you and I pay for it and it should therefore show some independence. A shame you stopped blogging.

    I’m still leaning to think that if M’kini was beholden to Anwar, the latter would have neither the intelligence nor the humility to stop himself from making M’kini his blatant mouthpiece. Of course, I may be wrong on this.

    PS: Meiyen, chaptokam, anon, shall we understand that you “like Anwar, hit and run ... that's how [you] operate”?

    ReplyDelete
  22. As I have said before, and as I say again, Anwar is playing a game. I thought that Najib was smart enough and was playing along. But after reading the comments of the likes of Chaptokam, Idzan Ismail and the Killer above, I am now convinced that he didn't know what the game was, and is good as lost now. As one of the anonymous commentators above says, "What u guys [BN sympathisers] don't know is you and your masters got played out."

    Syslasp

    ReplyDelete
  23. If Anwar is that smart as you say and is playing a game ,
    How's that he got caught with his pants down with the sodomising charges ? Huh ? also playing games with with other peoples golden holes ? huh !

    Sysilaspondan

    ReplyDelete
  24. "What u guys ( Anwar sympathisers ) don't know is you and your masters (Anwar Lim and Hadi )got played out by the lone sucker called Anwar .

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous 2.16 pm.
    After re-reaing it, I knew it. You guys will think I laughed over the accident.
    No, I was laughing whether he is also waiting to be PM.
    Anonymous 3.29pm, of course Anwar is always playig games.
    But we are aware Najib is always on top of things.
    Eric, okay I agree it's Pakatan propaganda paper.
    Baradan is my ex-Star colleague so he knows what articles Star can accept.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Sysilaspondan said that Anwar was "also playing games with with other peoples golden holes." How does he know that Saiful's hole is golden? He says that other people's holes are golden too. He must be talking from experience. His nick, "Sysilaspondan," does tell us a lot about his sexual orientation, doesn't it?

    Anti-Gay

    ReplyDelete
  27. Eric,

    Re: Elements of proof...

    I admitted in the post itself that I didn't keep a record of all these things. If you wish to simply dismiss the idea tht Malaysiakini is biased you may of course do so, but all I am asking is that enlightened readers try to be a bit more sensitive to these things. There's a saying that people like to either believe everything they read, or none of what they read, especially based on the publication. I think most people in reality are sensible enough to believe some of what they read in any publication. I want to nudge Malaysiakini's believability threshold towards the negative so that people are more skeptical of what Malaysiakini says, because I believe they have exhibited non-trivial amounts of pro-Anwar bias.

    Re: Gagasan Rakyat...

    Ah yes, you are quite right about Gagasan Rakyat; DAP was indeed a member of this coalition. I got some facts mixed up in my head. While DAP was in GR, PAS was not. PAS was in Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah. The common factor between APU and GR was Semangat 46. Therefore, although I got the specifics wrong, the basic thesis remains: DAP and PAS had not, until the formation of Barisan Alternatif, been directly allied in a coalition. This relationship was unprecedented, and so the premise of that opinion piece remains flawed.

    Re: personal view vs profesional view...

    When I proposed that Malaysiakini is biased, this reporter did not attempt to argue otherwise, she merely justified it. I don't see how the severity of this can be negated by saying it's just a "personal view". We can dismiss a personal view only if it does not impact profesional behaviour, e.g. if one is a doctor whose personal view is all UMNO Youth members should go to hell, but this doctor honor his oath and treats them properly anyway. That wasn't the case here. The lack of proper treatment was not denied, merely justified.

    Re: Mkini beholden to Anwar...

    There are more subtle forms of bias, e.g. if I set up a newspaper in the USA and staffed it with "independants" from evangelical families I can hardly expect them to give Nancy Pelosi some friendly space... that's what I have in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  28. @Idzan Ismail

    "okay I agree it's Pakatan propaganda paper."
    Huh, it's a tad distant from my QUOTATION, not my admission, of int's blog: "relatively objective albeit opposition-and-particularly-Keadilan-leaning publication."
    I am still concerned with people like you who worry about the independence of a tiny private e-media, while ALL Malaysian media of significant size are a particular party's propaganda tools as admitted by the "Information" minister (his title is so laughable, I can't prevent a smirk). Doesn't the latter deserve a bit more attention? When your house is crumbling, do you wonder whether you like the paint?

    @int,
    Points noted. I am not saying I know what's wrong or right, and I am surely biased myself. What I just wanted to check is whether the people who are throwing accusations here can substantiate them.
    I believe Meiyen, chaptokam and anon have hereby proven their integrity. Unsubstantiated accuser Anwar has shown to have fans in both PR and BN ;)

    ReplyDelete