Charles Santiago

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• Slogan Najib “Rakyat didahulukan” bermaksud hak untuk berhimpun secara Aman & meluahkan perasaan?
• Malaysia: Free 30 Peaceful Political Activists Government Refuses Permit for Opposition Rally, Jails Pamphleteers
• Bersih 2.0 Arrests: UMNO Fears the Rakyat
• Malaysian Youth for Change
• கல்யாணிக்கு நீல நிற அடையாள கார்டு
• Mikrokredit bantu rakyat Selangor tambah pendapatan

Slogan Najib “Rakyat didahulukan” bermaksud hak untuk berhimpun secara Aman & meluahkan perasaan? Posted: 27 Jun 2011 11:38 PM PDT Kadang-kadang sudah cukup untuk mengatakan bahawa kerajaan Malaysia mahu menganjurkan badan politik di Malaysia dengan cara yang ia memenuhi kepentingan elit pemerintah dan kroni mereka. Ini adalah cita-cita yang sama atau yang lebih tamak yang telah mencetuskan bantahan besar-besaran seperti di seluruh Afrika, Timur Tengah dan Eropah. Mengapa saya mengatakan perkara ini? Di Malaysia, kita mempunyai pelbagai undang-undang pencegahan termasuk Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) yang zalim, di mana membenarkan tahanan tanpa bicara, untuk menutup mulut pembangkang. Pertubuhan-pertubuhan media berkaitan dengan kerja penyuntingan secara terang-terangan  di bawah cengkaman  pemimpin UMNO. Wartawan yang berani menolak batas kemungkinan akan diberhentikan kerja atau dikenakan siasatan. Kita sering berkata bahawa negara kita adalah sebuah negara demokrasi tetapi ia adalah jelas hanya dengan tempahan sahaja semata-mata. Sebagai contoh, pihak polis boleh menggunakan kekerasan untuk  menyuraikan perhimpunan aman di mana lebih daripada empat orang boleh menjadi suatu perhimpunan haram. Tambahan pula, mereka berkuasa mutlak dan manakah tidak  dengan menyelesaikan kes dengan kekerasan atau kematian dalam tahanan polis. Jelas, Institusi kerajaan dan perbadanan Undang-Undang Pencegahan telah digunakan untuk menjaga masyarakat di bawah cengkaman Elit pemerintah. Sesiapapun tidak dibenarkan mempersoalkan tindakan mereka dan sesiapa yang berani akan diambil tindakan. Sebab-sebab inilah, kita memerlukan satu sistem pilihan raya bersih yang membolehkan rakyat untuk  melaksanakan hak-hak mengundi mereka untuk menunjukkan rasa tidak puas hati mereka terhadap kerajaan dan membuat satu perubahan. Pilihan raya yang bebas dan adil merupakan satu aspek demokrasi yang telus. Orang ramai mempunyai hak mengundi di dalam sistem yang berasaskan integriti tanpa sebarang penyelewangan iaitu: memecah bahagi kawasan untuk kepentingan, pembelian undi, dan undi hantu. Pembelian undi berleluasa di Sarawak pada pilihan raya baru-baru ini, terutamanya di kawasan luar Bandar dan tempat yang miskin. Pendek kata, seharusnya tiada manipulasi dari kerajaan yang memerintah untuk memastikan jangka hayat mereka dalam politik. Keputusan pilihan raya mestilah sama dengan kehendak  rakyat. Tetapi di Malaysia, perkara ini adalah disebaliknya. Saya meyokong Bersih 2.0,  merupakan satu gabungan 63 pertubuhan bukan kerajaan yang memberi tumpuan kepada reformasi pilihan raya untuk memastikan hak mengudi rakyat tidak dicemari oleh Ahli politik yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan sistem yang tidak sama rata. Bersih telah memanggil Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya untuk reformasi undi pos, penggunaan dakwat yang kekal, pembersihan daftar pemilih, membolehkan semua pihak mengakses kepada media dan memberi tempoh kempen sekurang-kurangnya 21 hari. Walaubagaimanapun, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya telah menentang sebarang idea untuk pembaharuan. Malah, baru-baru ini, laporan media menunjukkan bahawa mereka telah menutup pintu kepada cadangan Bersih 2.0. Aduan dibuat terhadap pembelian undi semasa pilihan raya di Negeri Sarawak juga telah ditolak dengan cara sambil lewa sahaja. Ini memberi tanggapan awam bahawa Institusi-institusi kerajaan disusun dalam satu cara untuk memastikan bahawa yang kaya akan kembali berkuasa dan memastikan mereka dapat mengekalkan kedudukan dominan mereka dalam tempat masyarakat. Dalam beberapa minggu sebelum protes yang dijadualkan pada 9 Julai, kita telah melihat satu respon daripada Pemuda UMNO yang juga pemimpin PERKASA, Ibrahim Ali yang mengambil kesempatan untuk mempromosikan diri. Kedua-dua organisasi telah mengutuk perhimpunan Bersih dan merancang satu bantahan serentak untuk melafazkan kesetiaan berikrar untuk mempertahankan proses pilihan raya yang sedia ada. Kami mengalu-alukan perhimpunan mereka sebagai satu kebebasan berhimpun yang merupakan satu bentuk ungkapan pokok mana-mana Negara yang demokratik. Apa yang kita mengutuk adalah berkenaan tindakan mereka yang menyebarkan fitnah tentang Bersih 2.0. Propaganda  tersebut adalah cukup bijak untuk mencemarkan usaha oleh gabungan Bersih 2.0. PERKASA hanya memahami bahawa dengan mengkritik dasar-dasar kerajaan adalah merupakan satu langkah tidak setia kepada negara. Timbalan Perdana Menteri ,Muhyiddin Yassin mengatakan bahawa perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 adalah taktik untuk menggulingkan kerajaan. Menteri Penerangan,Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan Rais Yatim menyatakan bahawa siri serangan siber ke atas laman web tempatan dan kerajaan juga mempunyai kaitan dengan perhimpunan yang dirancang ini. Ini adalah palsu dan dakwaan tersebut terbukti bertujuan untuk mengelirukan orang ramai. Pada tahun 2007, beribu-ribu orang telah menyertai protes untuk reformasi pilihan raya. Puluhan ribu rakyat akan sekali lagi berkumpul kali ini dan berani menghadapi pancutan air dan meredah polis anti-rusuhan untuk menunjukkan kemarahan mereka terhadap rejim yang menindas. Kita telah mendengar polis bercakap- di mana mereka telah memberi amaran kepada penunjuk perasaan dan mengugut tangkapan awal terhadap pihak penganjur. Saya melihat ini sebagai ungkapan ketakutan dari kerajaan yang memerintah sedia ada. Mari kita berharap pihak polis tidak akan menggunakan ancaman dan taktik budak buli untuk mendiamkan tentangan yang sah di Negara ini. Kelakuan ini hanya boleh memalukan pihak kerajaan sendiri. Daripada menggunakan kekerasan untuk melarang pihak penganjur dan penunjuk protes, Kerajaan sepatutnya harus mendengar aspirasi rakyat. Lagipun, itulah yang Perdana Menteri Najib Tun Razak melaungkan didalam slogannya seperti mantera. Slogan "Rakyat Didahulukan" akan menjadi tidak bermakna jika rakyat dihalang oleh pihak polis untuk perhimpunan yang aman.   Charles Santiago Ahli Parlimen Klang

Malaysia: Free 30 Peaceful Political Activists Government Refuses Permit for Opposition Rally, Jails Pamphleteers Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:47 PM PDT Source: Human Right Watch on Malaysia http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/malaysia (Bangkok, June 28, 2011) – The Malaysian authorities should order the immediate release of 30 members of the opposition Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) who were pulled off their bus and arrested on the way to a political rally in Penang on June 25, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. They were charged with "waging war" against the king of Malaysia. The authorities are holding the 30 in remand for seven days while the police investigate the charge that the party was restarting the Communist Party of Malaysia, a long vanquished communist movement that signed a peace treaty with the government in 1989. The Penang police publicly presented as evidence against the activists a few shirts with photos of former Communist Party of Malaysia leaders and several leaflets promoting political change in the next election. "Charging the political opposition with restarting a movement that died with the Cold War 20 years ago is more than a little absurd," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "These arrests show the government's fundamental disregard for the democratic process and its willingness to go to great lengths to frighten Malaysians with political bogeymen from the distant past." The charge of "waging war" against the king, section 122 of the Penal Code, carries penalties of up to life in prison as well as fines. General elections are not slated for Malaysia until 2013, but the government has tightened repression on all election-related activity. The Coalition for Free and Fair Elections (Bersih) 2.0, a civil society coalition urging electoral reforms, announced a major public march and assembly for July 9. The home affairs minister, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, responded that the government would not permit the march and the Minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Dr. Rais Yatim, called the event an "evil and unlawful rally." Prime Minister Najib Razak accused Bersih 2.0 of trying to "wrest back political momentum" from the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front), a charge that Bersih's steering committee immediately rejected. According to a media account, 81 opposition activists have been arrested since June 22. They include 28 Socialist Party members arrested in Johor on June 25, who were reportedly charged under the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Police also arrested a number of activists in various locales for selling or wearing yellow Bersih 2.0 shirts. In November 2007, the first Bersih march and rally for clean and fair elections brought together approximately 60,000 participants. The Malaysian government's actions to deny the rights to freedom of association, expression, and peaceful assembly run counter to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the government's commitments to respect international human rights standards as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The government should heed the call of the governmental Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) and permit the Bersih rally to proceed, as well as possible counter-marches to Bersih being planned by United Malays National Organization (UNMO) Youth and Perkasa, Human Rights Watch said. "Rather than trying to silence peaceful critics, the Malaysian government should be working to ensure that election processes are fair and that they fully protect the civil and political rights of all Malaysians," Robertson said. "Arresting people for wearing t-shirts and distributing leaflets simply shows the depths of the government's intolerance of opposing viewpoints."

Bersih 2.0 Arrests: UMNO Fears the Rakyat Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:03 PM PDT It has been a rather disturbing week. It has also been a circus-choreographed by the ruling UMNO/BN government and acted out by the police. Weeding through rambling comments made by UMNO leaders, reports about activists and opposition politicians summoned to give statements at police stations and the arrests made by the police ahead of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally, I can confidently say that the ruling politicians are shivering in their pants. As I write this, the total number of people arrested to thwart the rally has exceeded 80. My colleague Senator RamakrishnanSuppiah was detained for asking people to join the rally at a DAP dinner on Monday. Bersih chief AmbigaSreenevasan and national laureate A Samad Said were also questioned. The renowned poet was interrogated for his poem on the rally, which the police claimed to be seditious. More people are expected to be arrested in the next two weeks. And the harassment is nothing but pure bully-boy tactic to prevent the tens of thousands of Malaysians from gathering to call for electoral reforms. Many of those arrested are being investigated for “waging war against the King”. These charges are baseless and a mere witch-hunt to stop the rally at all cost. Bersih 2.0 is not about the organizers. It is also not about the opposition leaders or prominent civil society representatives. It is a movement by the people to re-claim their right to a clean electoral process. The government simply does not get this. When I meet people and find myself discussing about the arrests and warnings issued to stop the rally, their sentiments echo the fact that the government is rattled about peoples’ power or the political awakening of a society which has largely been under the grips of the ruling government for more than five decades. I also sense their anger against a government which would do anything to stay in power. And clearly at the expense of the rakyat. Bersih is a coalition of 62 non-governmental organizations which zeroes in on meaningful electoral reforms. It has lobbied the Election Commission to reform postal voting, clean-up the electoral role, use indelible ink, allow all parties access to the media and introduce a minimum 21-day campaign period. The Election Commission has not just shown strong resistance for any reforms but media reports indicate that they have closed the doors to Bersih 2.0 permanently. The planned rally is a peaceful gathering by Malaysians to show their dissatisfaction at the current electoral system and demand for changes to nip the abuses such as vote rigging, vote buying, phantom voting and gerrymandering which have been common features all these years. A memorandum would be sent to the King to ask him to intervene and make the implementation of these reforms possible. How would this amount to “waging war against the King”? In the circus I have witnessed over the last week, some politicians have proved themselves to be clowns. Information, Communication and Culture minister, RaisYatim, has shot off his mouth saying that PSM were “desperate parties” who were using an “evil and illegal” ideology to gain support for the rally. He had also said that “spreading communism is against the law”. The learned minister could not differentiate socialism from communism. Ibrahim Ali keeps insisting that Bersih 2.0 is a covert effort to instigate the Malays to clash against each other. Again these are baseless allegations used to create confusion and fear among the public. Freedom of assembly, expression and speech are key indices of democracy. They form the backbone of democratic nations. In Malaysia, we see the exact opposite. Arrests to stop the rally, cloaked warnings and veiled threats are blatant examples of restrictive democracy. Fashioning the rally as an attempt to topple the government is the mark of a dictatorship. As such, I call on the police to immediately release all the 81 people who have been arrested and stop further arrests. Let’s not be cowed into submission by dictators. Let’s take to the streets on July 9 to demand for our right to free and fair elections. As I say this, I am reminded of the German theologian Martin Niemoller. The text of Niemoller's statement is usually presented as follows: First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Malaysians need to stand up united to fight against an electoral system which is riddled by abuses to serve the interest of the ruling elite. We cannot allow the high handedness of the government or police to silence us. Otherwise, when they come for you, there will be no one left to speak out… Charles Santiago Member of Parlaiment, Klang

Malaysian Youth for Change Posted: 27 Jun 2011 06:54 PM PDT Source: Malaysiakini

கல்யாணிக்கு நீல நிற அடையாள கார்டு Posted: 27 Jun 2011 03:00 AM PDT மூலம் :- மலேசிய நண்பன்

Mikrokredit bantu rakyat Selangor tambah pendapatan Posted: 27 Jun 2011 02:55 AM PDT Source: Free Malaysia Today Zainal Abidin Nor | June 27, 2011 Mereka yang mempunyai pendapatan kurang dari RM1,500 sebulan, termasuk ibu tunggal, layak mendapat pinjaman maksima RM5,000 di bawah program merakyatkan ekonomi Selangor. PETALING JAYA: Golongan miskin bandar terus mendapat pembelaan dari kerajaan negeri Pakatan Rakyat apabila Selangor memperuntukan sebanyak RM20 juta kepada mereka yang ingin menambah pendapatan melalui perniagaan secara kecil-kecilan. Menurut Ahli Parlimen Klang, Charles Santiago, mereka yang mempunyai pendapatan kurang dari RM1,500 sebulan, termasuk ibu tunggal, layak mendapat pinjaman maksima RM5,000 di bawah program merakyatkan ekonomi Selangor. "Skim mikrokredit ini telah lama dilaksanakan, sejak Pakatan Rakyat mentadbir Selangor, dan pada tahun ini kerajaan negeri memperuntukkan sebanyak RM20 juta," katanya ketika dihubungi FMT. Beliau berkata, para pemohon perlu mengemukakan pelan perniagaan untuk layak mendapat skim pinjaman mudah tanpa faedah ini dan mereka hanya perlu membayar balik setelah 12 bulan perniagaan mereka beroperasi. Menurut beliau, "Skim ini mendapat sambutan yang menggalakkan daripada rakyat Selangor kerana "siapa yang tidak mahu kalau kerajaan negeri nak bagi duit". Santiago berkata, program ini berjaya meningkatkan pendapatan mereka yang hidup di bawah paras kemiskinan dan meninggikan taraf hidup serta ramai juga yang bebas dari belenggu kemiskinan. Untuk tujuan penerangan dan promosi sebuah bengkel yang dinamakan Bengkel Mikrokredit Miskin Bandar Selangor (Mimbar) akan diadakan pada 3 Julai ini di Dewan Rumah Pangsa Bukit Tinggi 2, Klang. Menurut beliau, setakat ini lebih 150 peniaga dan penjaja di kawasan parlimennya telah mendapat faedah dari skim Mimbar ini dan buat masa ini beliau telah menerima 60 permohonan dan dijangka menerima 60 permohonan lagi dalam sedikit masa. Para peniaga dan penjaja yang berniaga buah-buahan, makanan dan minuman, barangan keperluan harian, cenderahati dan lain-lain boleh membuat permohonan di bawah skim ini.

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