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Posted: 23 Aug 2010 08:07 AM PDT MACC removes 'offensive' blog post attacking Dr Pornthip By Boo Su-Lyn August 23, 2010 KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was forced today to remove from its oficial blog an offensive posting describing Thai forensic expert Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand as a fortune teller, and which the DAP said was prejudicial to the Teoh Beng Hock inquest. The blog at ourdifferentview.com had posted an article entitled "Dr Porntip Ahli Nujum?" (Dr Porntip a Fortune-Teller), complete with an altered picture of Dr Pornthip as a gypsy fortune teller gazing into a crystal ball. The MACC's "Dr Pornthip a Fortune-Teller?" blog post, which was taken from an anonymous blog at www.imrite.wordpress.com, accused Dr Pornthip of being hired by the Selangor government to testify just to "inflame the rakyat's anger". "The article is prejudicial to the on-going inquest and is a clear attempt to disclaim any responsibility and prevent the discovery of the truth behind Teoh Beng Hock's death at MACC's premises," DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua told The Malaysian Insider today. "The use of an anonymous post to make baseless allegations against the credibility of Dr Pornthip is an offensive tactic by MACC to cover up its own mess," he added. The national anti-graft body's official blog at www.ourdifferentview.com was launched in May this year to fight negative public perception since the mysterious death of Teoh, a DAP political aide, at MACC's Selangor headquarters in Shah Alam last July. MACC deputy chief commissioner (Prevention) Datuk Hajah Sutinah Sutan had cited the abundance of "gossip and inaccurate information" about the agency as the reason for launching their blog, Facebook page, and Twitter micro-blogging account this year. The anti-graft body took down the "Dr Porntip Ahli Nujum?" post shortly after The Malaysian Insider requested an explanation on why they posted articles from anonymous blogs. MACC's corporate communications director however could not be reached for comment. Pua, also the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, said that MACC's blog post showed the agency's insincerity in its letter of regret to the Teoh family, noting that it was nothing but "crocodile tears" on their part. On the anniversary of Teoh's death, MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed had issued a condolence statement to the Teoh family written in Chinese, pledging not to "cover up" the actions of anyone who may have been involved in causing the DAP political aide's death. "MACC has neither demonstrated any remorse or regret in its deeds," said Pua, adding that the agency seemed to be interested in discrediting witnesses at the inquest instead of determining the truth behind Teoh's death which has caused a public uproar. Click here for the full article, and here for a follow up article by The Malaysian Insider. |
More Racist Investigation Committees Required? Posted: 22 Aug 2010 11:10 PM PDT Tan Sri Muhyiddin has set a ridiculous precedent of setting up a high-level taskforce to investigate allegations of racist remarks by a school principal and he will now have no choice but to set up a committee to investigate every such remarks. The Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has belatedly announced the set up of a taskforce specifically to investigate the allegations regarding highly racist remarks made by the principal of SMK SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor, after remaining silent for 1 whole week since the incident. The setting up of the investigation taskforce is clearly an afterthought by the Minister after the attempt by the ministry's Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to waive away the issue by claiming that the issue has been "resolved" as it was due to a "misunderstanding" backfired when the public voiced their outrage at the cover up by the Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, the public does not have any confidence at all that the taskforce will be able to produce a satisfactory outcome as the Minister himself has set the tone for the taskforce. 1.Despite this being a simple issue of determining if such words were spoken, especially with tens of witnesses as reflected by the police reports filed against Siti Inshah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin chose to "complicate" matters by emphasising on a "full and thorough investigation which my cross several agencies". While it is certainly fair for the principal to receive a "full and thorough investigation", the emphasis by the Minister that it'll involve several agencies is a clear attempt to unnecessarily prolong the investigation despite the obvious fact that Siti Inshah has apologised to the students for the offence. 2.Unlike his Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who had at the very least tweeted publicly that it was "not appropriate for principal to pass those remarks, shd be sensitive living in a multiracial society", Tan Sri Muhyiddin has still refused to condemn such remarks, if truly uttered. The question is, why is he, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, so reluctant to condemn such remarks and warn others in the Education Ministry from ever doing the same or face the harshest of consequences? His action, or in this case, inaction, has further damaged the "1Malaysia" concept proposed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to promote national unity. 3.What is perhaps most telling in Tan Sri Muhyiddin's setting up of this investigation taskforce is fact that there was no deadline set for the taskforce to present its findings and recommendations when a week would have been more than sufficient time to investigate and determine the outcome. The above shows that the Deputy Prime Minister is not serious about getting to the bottom of this issue quickly and in such a way to demonstrate that the Ministry of Education will not tolerate any such serious offences by anyone under its payroll. The setting up of the taskforce is just meant to temporarily placate the furious parents and upset Malaysians while the Ministry buys time for itself to "resolve" the issue the second time. However, the precedent of setting up such a taskforce of teachers or headmasters uttering racist remarks may just create a tidal wave of such taskforce for now there is a new case of a principal and teacher committing the same offence in a school in Sg Petani, Kedah. Will the Education Minister announce another taskforce to investigate these claims? Will more taskforces be set up as more such offences gets reported? We call upon the Tan Sri Muhyiddin to stop pussyfooting over the issue and demonstrate his commitment to "1Malaysia" by condemning outright such remarks and giving a warning to all teachers and principals that those found guilty of doing so will be punished most severely including being sacked from the profession. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin still refuses to take quick action on the above, then it is imperative for the Prime Minister himself to take all necessary steps to hold together his fragile "1Malaysia" brainchild, if the concept still means anything to him. |
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