Rabu, 3 Ogos 2011

Charles Santiago

Charles Santiago

Malaysian government must Recognize Transgender Rights as Human Rights that must be Protected and Promoted.

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 08:49 PM PDT

In June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution to document discriminatory laws, practices and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also mooted a program to study how to end human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

If Malaysia had taken this resolution seriously, Aleesha Farhana might still be alive. After all, Malaysia was re-elected to the UNHRC on June 19, 2008 and would serve a three-year term which ends in 2013.

There is a common belief that the severe depression suffered by Aleesha following the court’s dismissal of her application to change her name and gender in her identity card resulted in her death.

The ruling is inconsistent with a 2005-precedence where Justice James Foong ruled in favor of a mak nyah, who had made the same application.

This is discrimination and a transgression of the Federal Constitution which states that no person shall be deprived of his/her life or personal liberty.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Malaysia has pledged to uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights.

In reality, Malaysia refuses to grant equality and legal recognition to all transgender people in the country.

Islamists nations like Iran and Egypt allow and conduct sex reassignment surgeries. This medical procedure is also practiced in Thailand and India while the transgender community is recognized as the third gender in Nepal and Pakistan.

Malaysia’s continued refusal to recognize the transgender people only serves to thrust them into a hostile environment where they are bullied, physically and sexually assaulted and mentally tortured.

They are also denied access to health services, employment, education and housing which are rights and privileges enjoyed by Malaysians.

The local media organizations too persecute this vulnerable community and their reporting is echoed by ruling politicians who have no qualms about fox-trotting with whatever that comes to their minds.

Instead of spewing out comments of no consequence, the government must allow for consultation with the transgender community to include their aspirations and ensure that their issues could be taken into account.

It must repeal all laws which criminalize the transgender community and instead allow for national registration in accordance to that which is identified by the transgender people.

Only this would pave the way for legal remedies, public services and domestic policies which would be in line with citizens articulating the way they want to be defined and identified.

Charles Santiago

Member of Parliament, Klang.


Should Bersih 3 be the Appropriate Response to Continued Electoral Fraud?

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 07:56 PM PDT

Sometimes, I cannot help but think that Malaysia’s Election Commission is very creative.

This time around, the electoral body is struggling to spin an imaginative yarn over new evidence which clearly show that the Election Commission has been subtly registering Permanent Residence (PR) holders as eligible voters.

Following the case of Mismah, who was given a citizenship in a matter of hours to facilitate voter registration, more facts and figures are emerging from the bowels of the government’s electoral manipulation to ensure it stays in power.

PAS has found more than 1,000 permanent residence holders in Selangor who have been included in the electoral roll of eligible voters, confirming the fear that the government would resort to every devious tactic to topple the opposition-led state government.

The UMNO-led Barisan Nasional government is clearly cheating to win the next general election.

These shocking evidence vindicates Bersih 2.0, the coalition for free and fair elections, and underscores the nature of dirty politics in the country.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is well aware of the dissatisfaction and unhappiness of the people against his government and uses his office as the bully pulpit to garner votes by unfairly influencing the Election Commission.

The stunning gains by the opposition in 2008 has led the government to default to a time-tested strategy by engaging in back door deals with public institutions. This is shameless behavior.

It also demonstrates the lack of openness and accountability on the part of the government and its reluctance to allow for public scrutiny and debates over its decisions.

Following the rally last month, which saw tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand for electoral reforms, the government has clamped down even more violently on activists and opposition politicians by nabbing them under emergency laws to curb dissent.

The people remained defiant while Najib and his cabinet ministers refused to take into account that their days are numbered when the rakyat are no longer afraid of the government’s show of force.

In June this year, Malaysia unveiled a plan to fingerprint voters to combat electoral fraud. The Election Commission took a whack for this plan, which in itself, is not foolproof.

Many Malaysian identity cards have faulty chips and it does not look into serious allegations of vote buying, vote rigging, gerrymandering and the opposition parties’ lack of access to the local media.

But evidence of the Commission registering foreign-born permanent residence holders caricatures the shadow play by the government to hoodwink its people into believing that it is serious about nipping unscrupulous electoral practices.

We cannot allow the government to win the next general election through phantom voters. The Election Commission must, therefore, be committed to cleaning-up its electoral roll.

If the Commission fails to resolve this issue then the call for Bersih 3 would become a reality.

And when that happens, it would deal the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government with a long-postponed death blow.

 

Charles Santiago

Member of Parliament, Klang

Analysis: World poorly placed to meet new economic crisis

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 10:29 AM PDT

By Andrew Torchia and Paul Carrel

LONDON/FRANKFURT | Wed Aug 3, 2011 1:04pm EDT

(Reuters) – With financial markets in turmoil and economic growth slowing, policymakers around the world may once again be forced to cooperate to try to head off a crisis, as they did successfully in 2008-2009. But this time, they have fewer good options.

Central banks have less room to ease monetary policy than they did three years ago; cash-strapped governments cannot afford to boost spending as much; and political disarray in some countries may make concerted global policymaking harder.

“What can you do? On monetary policy, clearly no one agrees with anyone. On fiscal policy, everyone is blocked,” said Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec.

By some measures, the global situation is not nearly as bad as it was in 2008. Banks have strengthened themselves since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the world is still far from a recession; JPMorgan may have cut its forecast for 2012 U.S. growth this week but it still expects an expansion of 1 percent.

Global stocks have dropped nearly 10 percent in the last month but MSCI’s world equity index is still 90 percent above its 2009 low.

“I know people are saying that this feels very much like 2008 but I don’t think we are there. In 2008, you could point at the problem in the banking sector and there were failed banks,” said Nomura economist Jens Sondergaard.

Still, the trends have clearly turned negative. National purchasing managers indexes around the world have dropped near or below the “boom or bust” threshold separating economic growth from contraction. This week’s slide of British government bond yields to record lows underlines both investor nervousness and a grim growth outlook.

In some ways, the situation is more worrying than it was in 2008: There is widespread concern about the risk of a downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating, and a bond market attack on Italy, the euro zone’s third-biggest economy, has called into question the long-term viability of the zone. Valuations of U.S. and European bank shares are back around levels hit at the time of Lehman’s collapse.

“The difference (between 2008 and now) is that this is not only a currency and banking crisis, you have now a currency, banking and sovereign crisis,” said Sylvain Broyer, analyst at European financial firm Natixis.

The Swiss central bank’s shock decision to cut interest rates on Wednesday to fight the rapid appreciation of the Swiss franc was seen by some analysts as a possible precursor to concerted efforts by central banks in the Group of 20 nations to stabilize markets.

Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at European investment bank Saxo Bank, said the G20 nations were likely for now to leave it up to their central banks, which can act relatively flexibly and quickly, to handle market turmoil.

But if the economic climate keeps worsening, perhaps with another 10 percent fall by global stocks, G20 governments may be pushed into making a concerted pledge of action to protect markets and growth, as they did at a London summit in April 2009, he said.

G20

By displaying solidarity among world leaders and promising $1.1 trillion for global lending institutions and trade financing, the London summit succeeded in reassuring investors enough to support a recovery in markets and economic growth.

Now, however, it may be harder for governments to show such solidarity. President Barack Obama has been weakened politically, and his economic policy options narrowed, by his battle to push up the U.S. debt ceiling.

Some big countries are further along in their election cycles, complicating decisions. Important elections are due in the United States, Germany and France over the next couple of years, as well as a leadership change in China.

“The maneuverability of governments is much less than it was in the last crisis. A lot of people want to be seen not to be caving in to pressure,” Jakobsen said.

During the 2008-2009 crisis, the International Monetary Fund played a major role in coordinating the global response, but there are now signs of internal division, with powerful emerging economies criticizing the policies of Western governments.

Last month, Brazilian and Indian directors of the IMF warned the Fund’s management against pouring more large sums of aid into the euro zone debt crisis, while official Chinese media have denounced U.S. politicians as globally irresponsible over the debt ceiling dispute.

These tensions may complicate G20 agreements on action in several areas:

- Joint currency intervention. This is the most likely initial form of G20 cooperation because well-tried mechanisms for it already exist; central banks could send a message that they want stability in markets by intervening massively to stop appreciation of the Swiss franc or Japanese yen.

But China and the rest of the world are still far from agreeing on a more fundamental problem in the global currency system — the value of the Chinese yuan.

- Coordinated interest rate cuts. In October 2008, six Western central banks cut interest rates in a coordinated move, while China also eased policy.

Global central bankers may signal an easier policy bias when they meet in Jackson Hole in the United States on August 25-27. But coordinated rate cuts look unlikely in the foreseeable future because some central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve have very little room left to cut, and central banks are also at different stages in their monetary cycles. The European Central Bank began tightening this year, criticizing Fed policy as too loose; China may still be in tightening mode.

A weakening economy might eventually push the Fed and the Bank of England into printing more money through “quantitative easing.” But this would almost certainly not be part of any coordinated G20 move; China and other emerging economies sharply criticized U.S. quantitative easing last year as destabilizing for markets.

- Expansionary fiscal policy. During the 2008-2009 crisis, the G20 did not resolve differences over fiscal policy; Germany resisted U.S. pressure to boost government spending more. But the London summit in 2009 still produced a pledge of “an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion” by G20 states, which cheered markets.

Such a pledge is extremely unlikely now, with the euro zone and the United States desperate to reassure investors that they can bring sovereign debt down to manageable levels.

Markets are hoping fiscally strong G20 members may spend more to help weak ones. Germany could change tack and support a major expansion of the euro zone’s 440 billion euro bailout fund in order to provide a precautionary credit line to Italy. [ID:nLDE77017G] China might invest more of its $3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves in euro zone sovereign debt.

Both these measures might be discussed by the G20 and could have a quick, dramatic effect on markets. But they would face some political opposition within the contributing governments, and would not necessarily change the long-term outlook for economies.

(Writing by Andrew Torchia

“居協斡旋獲新突破‧發展商允增寬土地面積”

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 02:07 AM PDT

Source: Chinapress

MP in Conversation – Your Right to Know?

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 12:56 AM PDT

பழனிவேல் முழு அமைச்சரானதற்கு ஏதேனும் அர்த்தம் இருக்கிறதென்றால், அவர் சிம்பாங் லீமா தமிழ் பள்ளியை கட்டட்டும், சார்ல்ஸ்

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 11:51 PM PDT

3 Aug | செய்தி| மலேசியாஇன்று

மலேசியாவில் பல பள்ளிகள் அடிப்படை வசதிகள் இல்லாமலும், வகுப்பறை பற்றாக்குறையினாலும், நிலப் பிரச்சனையாலும் அவதிப்படுகின்றன.
இதில் கிள்ளான் சிம்பாங் லீமா தமிழ் பள்ளியும் ஒன்றாகும். இண்டாயிரத்திற்கு மேற்பட்ட மாணவர்கள் பயிலக்கூடிய இப்பள்ளியில் போதுமான வகுப்பறைகள் இல்லை என கிள்ளான் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ கூறினார்.
 

இந்தப் பள்ளி விவகாரத்தை பற்றி நாடாளுமன்றத்தில் பல முறை கேள்வி எழுப்பியுள்ளேன். இவ்விவகாரத்திற்காக வட்ட மேசை கலந்துரையாடல் நடத்தி காலம் இரண்டு வருடங்கள் கடந்து விட்ட போதிலும், கூட்டரசு அரசாங்கம் பள்ளி கட்டுமானத்திற்கு உதவ முன் வருவாதாக எந்த அறிகுறியும் இல்லை. நமது இந்திய தலைவர்களிடமும் இதை எடுத்துரைத்தும் இது வரை எந்த ஒரு நடவடிக்கையும் இல்லை என்றாரவர்.
 

"இது ஒரு புறமிருக்க, இந்தியர்களாகப் பிறந்து தாய் மொழியை கற்க ஏங்கும் நமது இளைய சந்ததியினருக்கு உதவும் வகையில் சிம்பாங் லீமா தமிழ்ப்பள்ளிக்கு சிலாங்கூர் மாநில அரசாங்கம் நிலம் ஒதுக்கி இரண்டு ஆண்டுகளாகி விட்டது. ஆயினும் அப்பள்ளியின் கட்டுமான செலவுகளை ஈடுக்கட்டமுடியாமல் தவிக்கும் அப்பள்ளிக்கு கூட்டரசு அரசாங்கமும் மஇகாவும் எந்த வகையில் உதவி செய்ய தயாராக உள்ளன", எனவும் அவர் கேள்வி எழுப்பினார்.
 

முழு அமைச்சரானதும் தமது மஇக கட்சியை தற்காத்துக் கொள்ள குரல் எழுப்பிய ஜி.பழனிவேல், இனியும் காலம் தாழ்த்தாது, இந்தியர்களின் பிரச்சனையை தீர்க்கவும் இந்தியர்களின் உரிமைக்காக அரசாங்கத்திடம் போராடவும் முன் வர வேண்டும் என்று அவர் கேட்டுக்கொண்டார்.
 

"அதில் முதல் கட்ட நடவடிக்கையாக  கிள்ளானில் பெரும் பிரச்சனையான இருந்து வரும் சிம்பாங் லீமா தமிழ் பள்ளியின் மறு சீரமைப்பு கட்டுமானப் பணியை அரசாங்கமே முழுமையாக ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள மஇக அம்னோவை வலியுறுத்த தயாரா?", என சவால் விடுத்தார் சார்ல்ஸ்.
 

கட்டுமானத்தின் பொறுப்பையும் அதன் செலவுகளையும் கூட்டரசு அரசாங்கம் முழுமையாக ஏற்றுக் கொள்ள வலியுறுத்தினால்தான் ஜி. பழனிவேல் "முழு அமைச்சரானதற்கு ஓர் அர்த்தம் இருக்கும்" என தாம் நம்புவதாக சார்ல்ஸ் கூறினார்.
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