The Imam's Magical Shoes (revisited & updated)

Lawyers urge review of jail term for shoe-throwing imam

By Shannon Teoh | The Malaysian Insider | March 08, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, March — Lawyers stunned by the Federal Court’s one-year jail sentence for contempt of court against an imam who threw his shoes at three senior judges have called for a review of the “excessive” punishment. 

The court decided this morning that Hoslan Hussin’s “act of contempt was very serious” and “if no action is taken, can threaten the powers of the court” before meting out the jail term that several lawyers told The Malaysian Insider was unprecedented for a case of contempt. 

“No, I have never seen such a heavy punishment. Even considering the need for a deterrent, I had expected a custodial sentence but no more than six weeks. Does the punishment really serve justice?” said senior lawyer Karpal Singh, who had pleaded in mitigation for Hoslan. 

Hoslan praying at the court building in Putrajaya before being sentenced to jail
for contempt March 8 2012. — Picture by Choo Choy May (The Malaysian Insider) 

Human rights lawyer N. Surendran also said “the sentence is excessive and inappropriate”. 

“The circumstances of this case required that justice should be tempered with mercy. This the Federal Court failed to do,” the PKR vice president said. 

Imam Hoslan Hussin: denied his day in court since 1999

Remember Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who enjoyed a brief burst of global fame and popularity in December 2008 for throwing his shoes at George W. Bush during a press conference?

[First posted 15 November 2013]





Imam Hoslan Hussin may or may not have been inspired by Muntadhar's act of raw courage and pure passion, but his act of shoe-throwing was most certainly in the same heroic and noble spirit.

Just as George W. Bush symbolized the hypocrisy and arrogance of power unleashed against the powerless in the interest of greedy corporations and their lunatic desire to dominate the world - economically and militarily - the Malaysian Judiciary since 1988 has become emblematic of everything that has gone wrong in our once blessed and bountiful land.

Zaki Azmi, retired Chief Justice
recently awarded a highway project

The monolithic power of the state apparatus maintains itself through cowing the masses - whether through the sort of colossal architecture you will find in the Kremlin and Putrajaya, or through the threat of physical violence, outsourced to vigilante mobs like Perkasa, Pekida, Rela, Redshirts and Mat Rempit on the Umno Youth payroll.

While those in the political opposition are constrained to operate within the framework of parliamentary debate - using their leverage to expose policy errors and serious wrongdoing - the proverbial man-in-the-street is confined to merely casting a vote every four or five years when a general election is called.

By casting his shoes at the bench of judges who had dismissed his case without due consideration or regard for the imam's growing sense of frustration with the ponderous, impersonal workings of so-called justice, Hoslan Hussin did the only thing possible to reclaim his dignity and sovereignty as a human individual.

Nobody, as far as I know, has ever been killed or even injured by a flying shoe. Indeed, if modern warfare consisted of squadrons of planes dropping a million pairs of shoes on a deeply insulted populace, the only casualty would be the local shoe industry - notwithstanding the hypothetical possibility that somebody gawping at the sight of shoes raining down from the skies might find himself with a set of fractured dentures, should one of these missiles land directly in his mouth.

In any case, if someone was extremely angry with me, I would much rather he or she lob a shoe at me - than a rock, for instance, or an empty bottle or a grenade. I would view this act of hostility as extremely negative feedback. Obviously, I must have said or done something to deeply hurt or annoy my assailant. It would present an opportunity to make amends by quietly returning the attacker's footwear with a sincere apology and a renewed effort to resolve the issue amicably.

What the Malaysian judiciary has done, in this instance, is utterly unpardonable. By imposing the harshest possible sentence on the imam - a one-year  imprisonment - they have only revealed their immaturity and vindictiveness. Those who sit in judgement of us, with their somber robes and deadpan expressions, were clearly handpicked for their jobs on account of their subservience to authoritarian principles - essentially, might makes right.

I feel far more respect for the funky imam's shoes than any of the judges who have denied him justice. I'm sure many will support my suggestion that the imam's shoes be displayed in a glass case as a symbol of honorable resistance to injustice - and that Hoslan Hussin be declared a national hero for making such a bold statement on behalf of all justice-loving, but justice-denied, Malaysians.

As for the judges, their names and images deserve to be assigned to the ever-growing judicial Hall of Shame.

[First posted 9 March 2012, reposted 23 November 2016, 7 March 2017 & 3 March 2025]

"ANWAR GAVE HOPE TO THE NATION" ~ AMBIGA SREENEVASAN

By Alyaa Azhar | Malaysiakini

It is important for everybody to remember what Anwar Ibrahim - incarcerated for the second time, this time on a second sodomy charge - has gone through in the last 17 years.

In her review of the book titled The Prosecution of Anwar Ibrahim: The Final Play, prominent lawyer-cum-activist Ambiga Sreenevasan read a passage, quoting the vivid moments when Anwar suffered severe beatings during the first sodomy charge against him.

"He was boxed on his temple, hit on his neck… He said he was handcuffed and blindfolded and savagely kicked and punched.

"Some junior police officers helped him. Anwar said without their help, he might have died.

"I read that passage; I hope it didn't upset you," Ambiga said, looking at Anwar's wife, parliamentary Opposition Leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who was in the audience at the launch of the new book by Australian criminal lawyer and Queen's Counsel Mark Trowell.

For the audience at the event held at the Royal Selangor Club last night, it was indeed a jolt back to a dark moment in Malaysia's 'Reformasi' period of 1998.

"We forget too quickly that he suffered in so many ways; and the manner in which he was treated would have cowed anyone else.

"He spent six years in prison on a corruption charge. Corruption, that's a joke, how small (in magnitude), considering the kind of corruption we are facing right now. How many years do they deserve? I don't know how many hundreds of years (to be proportional to the) RM2.6 billion," Ambiga said, in reference to the amount of money deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.

'He continues to fight the system'

And 17 years after the influential leader was sacked from his deputy premiership, he is still languishing in prison, Ambiga noted.

"He came out and for several years made a difference. He was responsible for bringing several disparate parties together and made them work together in a coalition, giving hope to the nation.

"And for that, I think we must never forget the sacrifices made by him and his family.

"I highlighted that passage because I feel we must never forget how the system turned on one man and how that one man fought back and continues to fight back," she added.

Reminding the audience again of the prosecution faced by Anwar back in 1998, Ambiga said she had never dreamed that the people would be treated to front pages of newspapers giving detailed descriptions of sodomy.

"That trial robbed the nation of its innocence. Nothing was sacred, the bounds of decency meant nothing.

"Can you imagine what this did to the psyche of our children; and what about the psyche of our nation?

"It destroyed something, this trial that took place. These prosecutions should never have been brought," Ambiga stressed.

Power abusers may one day be the victims

Ambiga also had a warning for those who condoned or perpetrated the abuse of any of the country's institutions or their powers.

"They will do well to remember that they, too, may one day become the victims. We have seen it happen.

"In other words, you create a monster, tomorrow it may gobble you up," she cautioned.

The 376-page book by Trowell recounts both Anwar's first sodomy case as well as his second. It also describes the acquittal of the second sodomy charge, as well as the sentence by the Court of Appeal which overturned that decision last year.

The guilty verdict was upheld on Feb 10 this year by the Federal Court and the PKR de facto leader is currently serving his five-year jail sentence at the Sungai Buloh Prison.

[Reproduced from Malaysiakini as a community service]

Permatang Pauh Revisited (Yet Again)

Anwar Ibrahim plays the crowd like a maestro at the Kelana Jaya Stadium, 6 July 2008 (photo by TV Smith)

I salute and thank Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah for releasing Anwar Ibrahim on a personal bond of RM20,000 this morning after recording his plea of innocence. From all reports, the judge performed her duty fairly, honorably, and with all the courtesy due to a Prime Minister elect. There is a glimmer of hope yet in the Malaysian Judiciary.

My heart was heavy last night, pondering the possibility that Anwar might well be detained and forced to contest the Permatang Pauh by-election from behind bars. He himself had steeled his resolve for such a possibility, quipping that in that eventuality his songkok and sarong would have to represent him. So it was a profound pleasure to learn today that Anwar is free to campaign in person and be in the loving company of his family, colleagues, and friends. The pleasure was doubled by the simple fact that the judge acted compassionately, humanely, and wisely by letting Anwar walk out a free man. This is evidence that there are still a few members of the judiciary capable of doing their job without fear or favor and who refuse to be browbeaten into subservience to political puppetmasters.

Anwar & Azizah bask in the glow of his freedom after his sodomy conviction was overturned in September 2004 (photo courtesy of AP)

PERMATANG PAUH DECLARATION REVISITED

Being conscious of the Quranic injunction which urges striving towards betterment;

And inspired by the Asian traditions, which all encourage renewal for the individual and for society;

And acknowledging that Malaysia is in the grip of a terrible crisis and requires recourse to its inner strengths in order to rise again,

We the citizens of Malaysia of all cultural and religious backgrounds are determined to launch a movement for comprehensive reform:

A reform movement shining with a light radiating from aspiring and pure hearts; from the awareness that man is truly noble and free, with rights and responsibilities, that it is a sacrilege to abuse and denigrate any man or woman, to bind and restrict any man or woman without following the due process of just laws;

A reform movement to establish justice for all, the weak and strong, the rich and poor, to preserve the institutions and processes of law from the defilement of graft and abuse of power;

A reform movement to sanctify the power of the people through democratic means, for democracy is an imperative: man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary;

A reform movement that champions economic justice, one that advocates fairness in economic growth and distribution so that the rich do not get richer at the expense of the poor, for the world has enough for everyone, but too little to satisfy everyone’s greed;

A reform movement to eradicate graft and abuse of power, to strip the opulent and greedy clique of their power to manipulate the market;

A reform movement to reinforce a dynamic cultural identity, where faith in our noble cultural traditions is intact, but there is openness to all that is good in all traditions;

A reform movement to launch the Malaysian nation into the information age and the borderless world, encouraging wisdom, self-assurance and openness towards a global friendship based on the principles of truth and justice.

We launch this reform movement as a peaceful movement, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and in observance of the principles of the rule of law.

The time has come. Unite for Reformasi.

Permatang Pauh
12 September 1998

[First posted 7 August 2008]

MAY DAY FOR JUSTICE (revisited yet again)

Dr "Octopus" Mahathir Mohammad, Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981-2003)

WHAT TDM (THAT DESTRUCTIVE MAMAK) DID TO MALAYSIA: Some historical background to Tun Salleh Abas's book The Removal of Tun Salleh Abas

By K. Das, co-author of May Day For Justice

MAHATHIR was continually upset with the Judiciary because the verdicts in a number of cases went against the Government. According to then Deputy PM, Datuk Musa Hitam, one of his favorite slogans was "Hang the Lawyers! Hang the Judges!"

From 1987, he intensified his verbal attacks against the Judiciary in the news media, making damaging statements which clearly demonstrated that he did not understand the role of the Judiciary as being independent from the Executive and Legislative arms of Government. That the Judiciary exists as a check-and-balance against the excesses of the Executive appeared to have been a concept he never fully grasped. Instead, he accused judges of the sort of political interference that would result in confusion and loss of public confidence in the Government. Hence, to curtail the powers of the Judiciary and subsume it beneath the Executive became one of his cherished dreams.

In April 1987, after an UMNO leadership contest in which Mahathir very nearly lost to Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, there were allegations that several delegates who had voted were drawn from branches not properly registered under the Societies Act 1966. An appeal was filed by eleven UMNO delegates to have the elections declared null and void. This was a very serious matter for Mahathir because if the appeal succeeded, fresh elections would have to be held and he might lose. The matter finally came before Justice Harun Hashim of the KL High Court who ruled that under the existing law, he had no choice but to declare not just the elections invalid, but the whole of UMNO an unlawful society as well. The country and, more particularly, UMNO, went into a state of shock.

In most modern democracies, a political catastrophe of this magnitude would have resulted in the immediate resignation of the party's President and Prime Minister. But Mahathir did not resign. He informed the country that the Government would continue running the country. Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and Tunku Abdul Rahman called for a vote in Parliament to establish Mahathir's legitimacy but those calls were ignored. Mahathir then set in motion the machinery to form a new surrogate party called UMNO Baru. His opponents, however, wanted the old party revived. The eleven UMNO delegates then launched an appeal in the Supreme Court to have the 1987 elections alone declared illegal and the party not an unlawful society.

Mahathir fully understood the danger to him of this pending appeal. He had to act quickly. In October 1987, he launched the notorious Operation Lalang in which at least 106 people were arrested and detained without trial under the ISA, including three very articulate critics, Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, political scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar and leading lawyer Karpal Singh. The official reason for the arrests was that a highly dangerous security situation had arisen but this has been strongly disputed as nothing more than a shameless fabrication. The broad sweep included even environmentalists and Consumer Association spokesmen. Four of the most outspoken newspapers - The Star, The Sunday Star, Watan and Sin Chew Jit Poh - had their publishing licences suspended. When, after five months, the papers were free to publish again, they were no longer the same.

Mahathir's next move was to push through Parliament far-reaching amendments to the Constitution so that the Executive gained in power enormously at the expense of the Judiciary. There was general indignation at this rude behavior which shocked a good many people. The indecent haste and the fact that the amendments were made at a time when the Government's main critics were in detention - including the Opposition Leader and six vocal MPs - and outspoken newspapers were demoralized, added further to the appalling injustice of the situation. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's beloved first Prime Minister, put it succinctly: "It was legal, but was it just?"

Others noted angrily that the Constitution had been raped once again. In a speech, the outgoing President of the Bar Council, Param Cumaraswamy (right), said:

"The Prime Minister's vile and contemptuous allegations, and the accusations leveled at the Judiciary and our judges left many shocked beyond belief. His speech which was full of venom, hate and spite with no substance whatsoever, illustrated his complete and total ignorance of the role of the Judiciary and the judicial process itself. He has indeed defiled and defaced the Constitution. It is surprising that those 142 MPs who voted in favor, after taking the oath that they would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, had no compunction about destroying one of its basic structures."

One visiting parliamentarian was astonished at the lack of public debate. In his own country, he said, such amendments would have taken years.

Next, after having curbed the independence of the Judiciary, Mahathir set about destroying its integrity. This was the removal of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President in 1988, a move which Tunku Abdul Rahman described as "the most shocking story in modern legal and judicial history."

TUN SALLEH ABAS (left) was a man of humble origins - his father was a sailor and small village trader - who rose to become Lord President, the highest judge in the land and head of the Judiciary while remaining a deeply religious man.

By March 1988, Mahathir's scandalous and violent public attacks on the Judiciary had so provoked the judges that Tun Salleh was obliged to call a conference. Twenty judges met in the Supreme Court one week after the debilitating and shameful Constitutional amendments were made. By unanimous agreement, a letter was drafted to the King (also the Sultan of Johore) and copied to all Sultans, expressing disquiet over various comments made by the Prime Minister. The letter was delivered on 25 March and Tun Salleh left soon after for medical treatment in the United States followed by a pilgrimage to Mecca . He had a most important duty to perform upon his return: He fixed the hearing of the crucial UMNO Eleven appeal for June and, because of its overwhelming significance, decided that a full quorum of nine Supreme Court judges should hear this. Three days later, Tun Salleh was suspended from his official capacity by the King on recommendation of the Prime Minister. In the same hour that he received the suspension letter, the Acting Lord President, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid took the UMNO Eleven case out of the calendar so that the link between the two was difficult to deny.

Tun Salleh's suspension came after he refused to bow to Mahathir's pressure to either resign or retire, even though financial inducements were offered, including mention of a lucrative job in the International Development Bank in Jeddah. The initial reason given for the suspension was that the King had taken great displeasure over the letter Tun Salleh had written on behalf of all judges. According to official records prepared by the Attorney General, the King had requested Tun Salleh's removal in an audience with the Prime Minister on the "Wednesday morning of 1st May, 1988" after the weekly Cabinet Meeting.

There are serious doubts as to whether this audience actually took place. The first of May, 1988, fell on a Sunday, not Wednesday as the Attorney-General recorded. Even if the day of week were corrected, there can be no Cabinet meeting on a Sunday. That the King expressed great displeasure only on 1st May, when he had in fact received the letter on 25 March cast further doubt over this assertion. It is difficult to believe that the King wanted Tun Salleh removed purely because he had protested about the public insults directed against the entire Judiciary by the head of the Executive. In any event, royal displeasure would not be a constitutionally valid ground for dismissal. Indeed, Mahathir advised the King as much in a letter written four days after this probably fictitious audience; however, the Prime Minister went further in the same letter to say that he would investigate Tun Salleh for any evidence of misbehavior. In any event, the King did not clear up the mystery and, in an audience with Tun Salleh, actually asked the latter to step down without giving reasons although the Conference of Rulers had already asked for his reinstatement. Amazingly, Tun Salleh was suspended and a Tribunal set up to determine his fate before any formal charges were laid.

The Constitution does not provide for the removal of a Lord President. While the Tribunal need not be an inappropriate means, its composition was to say the least, disgraceful. It was composed of six acting and retired judges, although the Constitution required an odd number to prevent deadlock. Of these - four from Malaysia, one from Sri Lanka and one from Singapore - only the Sri Lankan enjoyed a rank comparable to Tun Salleh's. This was contrary to the very reasonable dictum that one should be tried by one's peers rather than one's juniors. The fact that two retired Lord Presidents of Malaysia were available but not invited was glaring. There were grave conflicts of interest with three of the Malaysian judges that should have disqualified them from sitting: Tan Sri Abdul Hamid who was next in line to succeed as Lord President and who had also participated in the conference of 20 judges which resulted in the letter to the King; Tan Sri Zahir who, being also the Speaker of the Lower House, was beholden to Mahathir, the principal complainant in the matter at hand; and Tan Sri Abdul Aziz who, although a former judge, was then a practising lawyer and, more incredibly, had two suits pending against him at that time. But Tun Salleh's objections were ignored and when the Bar Council issued a statement calling for the Tribunal to be re-constituted, both the New Straits Times and The Star refused to publish it. Further, it was decided that the Tribunal would sit in closed sessions although Tun Salleh had requested a public hearing.

The charges, when finally published, were manifestly absurd. Running over 12 sheets of paper, it was clear that quantity had been substituted where quality was lacking, and some of them actually related to Tun Salleh's behavior after suspension. Many of them related to his speeches and press interviews, whereby sinister meanings were imputed to various innocuous comments that he had made. To cite an instance, in a speech at the University of Malaya, he had said: 'The role of the courts is very important to bring about public order. If there is no public order there will be chaos in this country and if there is chaos, no one can feel safe.' On this basis, Tun Salleh was charged with making statements criticizing the Government which displayed prejudice and bias against the latter. Another statement of his, 'In a democratic system, the courts play a prominent role as agent of stability but they can perform this function only if judges are trusted,' resulted in the charge that he had ridiculed the Government by imputing that it did not trust the judges. These charges were doubly ludicrous in the light of Mahathir's many poisonous attacks against the Judiciary.

It is not surprising that Tun Salleh, after reading this catalogue of fantasy crimes, refused to appear before what was so evidently a kangaroo court. The Tribunal, after refusing representations made by Raja Aziz, Tun Salleh's leading counsel, that it had no constitutional validity to sit, chose instead to proceed so hastily that it wound up deliberations, including the examination of witnesses with just four hours work. As it prepared to issue its Report, Tun Salleh's lawyers sought an urgent stay of proceedings in the High Court. This would normally be granted immediately at the least possibility that an injustice may be about to be done but, here, events turned into utter farce.

Instead of immediately reaching a decision as expected, the presiding judge, Datuk Ajaib Singh, after the court had been in languorous session the whole day that Friday, adjourned hearings for 9.30 am the next day. On Saturday however, the judge emerged in court only at 11.50 am and, even then, postponed hearings again for the Monday! In desperation, Tun Salleh's lawyers, knowing that the Tribunal could easily release its Report before then, sought the assistance of Supreme Court judge, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman, in his Chambers. The latter agreed to hear them in open court in half an hour's time and called a quorum of all remaining Supreme Court, one of whom, Tan Sri Hashim Yeop, refused to sit. The soap opera reached an apogee of ridiculousness when Tan Sri Abdul Hamid, head of the Tribunal and Acting Lord President, gave orders for the doors of Supreme Court to be locked and for the seal of the Supreme Court to be secreted away!

Undeterred, the five Supreme Court judges ordered the policeman on duty to open the door forthwith. After less than half an hour, the Court ordered the Tribunal not to submit any recommendation, report or advice to the King. Tun Salleh's lawyers were typing the Order to serve personally to the Tribunal at Parliament House when news arrived that the gates of Parliament House had been locked! At this point, Justice Wan Suleiman rose to the occasion and, calling the office of the Inspector General of Police, told a senior officer that any impediment to serving the Order would constitute contempt of court. The gates of Parliament swung open and, at 4pm, Raja Aziz and his team served the Order to the Tribunal members who were found to be still hard at work on a word-processor that Saturday afternoon. All six members accepted service without complaint.

It would appear that justice had at last prevailed but, four days later; all five Supreme Court judges were suspended. Almost every rule that was broken to suspend Tun Salleh was broken again to suspend them. The prohibition order they had made was revoked within days. A second Tribunal eventually reinstated three of the judge: Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoff Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Hamzah but Tan Sri Wan Suleiman and Datuk George Edward Seah were removed from office.

The UMNO Eleven case was quickly dismissed. The removal of Tun Salleh also saw the resignation of Deputy PM Datuk Musa Hitam who, according to popular wisdom, could no longer stomach Mahathir's ways.

NOTE: These ignominious events took place 26 years ago, when many of the present generation may have been too young to understand the ruinous long-term consequences of Mahathir's brazen attacks on Judicial independence and integrity. I've blogged this excerpt from May Day For Justice to refresh memories and to provide some insight to the younger generation. Now they can see for themselves what a manipulative creature we had as Prime Minister between 1981 and 2003.

Some say Mahathir did a lot of good for Malaysia by putting the nation on the world map with his ambitious industrialization program called Wawasan 2020. In truth what Mahathir actually did was destroy the country singlehandedly with his shallow and ill-conceived Cyclopean vision.

The Malays sold their souls to the Mamak for a meagre handout or two with which to buy cheesy chandeliers for their plastic palaces. Now many have awakened! Only the selfish or brainless remain supportive of Mahathir. The cruel, deceitful and destructive "UMNO Baru" culture Mahathir spawned has to go before Malaysia is totally doomed to pathological self-delusion. Unfortunately, although Mahathir rants and raves against his hand-picked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the present-day leadership of UMNO Baru continues to uphold Mahathir's legacy of lies and unprincipled power play.

[Original illustration by Antares © 1999. First posted 17 June 2008]

AN OBSCENE TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE (reposted in loving memory of Irene Fernandez)

From Malaysiakini: 
Court documents 'incomprehensible', 
appeal put off
Oct 28, 2008 12:58pm

The 13-year court battle of migrant worker activist Irene Fernandez has again run into problems as parts of the 9,000 court documents on the case are said to be ‘incomprehensible.’

Fernandez’s lawyer M Puravalen said that portions of the notes written by the trial judge were unclear.

The judge decided to postpone the appeal hearing to November 24 when the defence is expected to submit its objections to the court documents.

Fernandez, 62, was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment in 2003 after being found guilty by the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court of maliciously publishing false news. She was allowed bail pending appeal.

In 1995, Fernandez exposed the poor conditions at immigration detention centres in a memorandum entitled ‘Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres.'

She was arrested and charged under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 a year later.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is three years' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding RM20,000, or both.

The appeal mention date has been postponed four times due to several technical glitches since April, when papers containing her appeal went missing.

Her case has become the longest-running trial in Malaysian history.

ABOUT THE TRIAL OF IRENE FERNANDEZ, DIRECTOR OF TENAGANITA, MALAYSIA

14 October 2003

Day for judgement brought forward

The day for the Judgement on the trial of Irene Fernandez, the longest running trial in Malaysian legal history was abruptly brought forward to 14th October 2003.

When the defence wound up its case in March this year, the Magistrate asked the prosecution and defence counsels to make written submissions and set March 17, 2004, as the day when the verdict would be delivered.

However, on Friday, 10th October 2003, the defence lawyers were informed that judgement would be delivered on Tuesday 14th October 2003 and asked that the written submission be handed in by Saturday, 11th Oct 2003.

The sudden change of date has placed Irene and Tenaganita in a difficult situation; The leading counsel for Irene is abroad on a fact finding mission and her other lawyer is engaged in another matter in the high court. Therefore it has not been possible for the defence to make its written submission and furthermore Irene's lawyers will not be able to be present in court on 14th October when the verdict is delivered. The abrupt decision to conclude the trial in this manner appears to constitute a miscarriage of justice.

Background

* Irene Fernandez was arrested by the police at her home on 18th March 1996. She was charged under Section 8A(1) of the Printing and Publications Act 1984 for "maliciously publishing false news" through the issue of a memorandum entitled, "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at the Detention Camps". The maximum penalty for this offence is imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine not exceeding RM20,000 or both.

* Bail was posted at RM3,000 and her passport was impounded as part of the bail condition. Each time she wants to leave the country for any reason she has to make an application to the court for the release of her passport.

* The Memorandum, "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at the Detention Camps" was released by Tenaganita in August 1995. The findings in the Memorandum comprises information that Tenaganita received from interviews with more than 300 ex-detainees during the course of its research on "Migration, Health and HIV/AIDS."

* The interviews with the ex-detainees showed consistent abuse, torture, denial of access to lawyers, denial of proper medical care, widespread diseases, lack of food and water and even deaths in the detention camps due to negligence on the part of the authorities. The Memorandum describes treatment of detainees in a manner which violates Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which prohibits torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The facts contained in the memorandum gave rise to expressions of concern by individuals and organisations locally and internationally. The Malaysian authorities, instead of investigating the allegations, promptly denied that anything was amiss and instituted criminal proceedings against Irene.

"On the first day of my trial, I had stated to the press that since the government had refused to conduct its own independent inquiry, this trial will then become the public inquiry I asked for. We hope that through the trial, the truth will be revealed. As far as we are concerned, we raised, in a legitimate way, with authorities, issues of public concern, e.g.:- problems faced by migrant workers, inside and outside detention centres." (Irene Fernandez, June 1997)

* On May 30th, 1996, on the advice of her lawyers, Irene made an application to transfer the case from Magistrate Court to High Court. One of the reasons for the application for transfer is that the case will be best adjudicated in the High Court. This is because Section 8A of the Printing and Presses and Publications Act, 1984, under which Irene is charged, seems to negate Article 10 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression. And the key issue of the treatment of migrant workers at the detention centres has become a national and international concern. However, on 05 June 1996, judge Hashim Yusof, dismissed the application for transfer to High Court.

To date, the trial of Irene Fernandez is the longest running trial in Malaysian legal history. During this period, Irene has been in court for over 310 days of full hearing and she has made over 30 applications for the release of her passport to travel to foreign countries to represent the organisation and for medical treatment.

The trial of Irene Fernandez was postponed for about two years as the court would not provide a Bengali interpreter. It reconvened on 14th January 2003.

On 17th March 2003 the defence lawyers for Irene wound up the defence case. The decision by the defence to conclude its case was made after it had made several unsuccessful attempts to get women witnesses who had been detainees more than seven years earlier. On the same day the Magistrate set March 17th, 2004 as the day the judgement would be given after receiving the submissions from the defence and prosecution.

However the day of judgement was suddenly brought forward to 14 October 2003.

THE TESTIMONIES

During the trial, Tenaganita brought five former detainees from Bangladesh to testify on her behalf. They testified on conditions in four different detention camps: Semenyih, Kemayan, Tanah Merah and Langkap. The testimonies of the five former detainees were much more graphic and painted a picture of the conditions in the detention centres that were far worse than what was described in the Memorandum. Almost all the former detainees were in tears describing the torture and sexual abuse that they had experienced. Although these witnesses were rigorously cross-examined by the prosecution their testimony was unshaken. On the other hand, the prosecution claimed that the police had interviewed 36 former detainees during the course of its investigations but not a single detainee was produced in court to testify on behalf of the prosecution.

Golam (former detainee): Golam says he will never forget the repeated beatings they suffered in the camp. "The police always beat us with a police stick. They beat us on our heads, bodies and legs for no reason. Sometimes they just came and beat up everybody - it was an everyday routine. They would beat us if they found us talking, not sleeping at night or for any reason at all."

The detainees lived in constant fear, their hearts always tense. "We became unconscious after the beatings. There was no bleeding but we were in serious pain all the time. No police came to help us, but we helped each other. I never found a doctor in the camp." [Source: March 11, 2000 Malaysian 'death camps': A survivor recounts, Ajinder Kaur, Malaysiakini]

Mozumder (former detainee): Mozumder told the court that 120 Burmese inmates were forced to perform oral sex on one another.

"Police were watching how was their penis size, how they (the inmates) were performing, whether they were sucking the penis or just putting it in their mouth," he said, in reply to a question by the defence counsel.

He added that the inmates who were forced to suck the penis immediately rushed to the toilet after the act was over.

"Most of them closed their mouth with their hand and ran towards the toilet to vomit. Those who had oral sex performed on them stayed standing in the field. Their faces were pale, shamed. Most of them started crying. Some of them covered their eyes with their hand and some of them looked down to the ground," he recalled. He testified that he could not eat his meals after witnessing the incident. [Source: Friday, May 12, 2000, Sick inmate died after being kicked by police, Ajinder Kaur, Malaysiakini]

Zakir Hossain (former detainee): "His whole body was swollen - his arms, legs, knees, face and stomach," said Zakir Hossain, 37, who was detained in Kajang's Semenyih camp for illegal immigrants six years ago.

"When I told the police, the reply was, "If the doctor comes, you can explain to him." The policeman knew how sick he was because he had seen him. The sick inmate told the police, "I'm very sick, I can't move my hands and legs. Please call a doctor..."

Zakir told magistrate Juliana Mohamad that he asked the police to get a doctor about a week before the sick inmate passed away.

"He was in pain and he sometimes screamed, "My whole body is painful, please help me". He cried. I couldn't do much, but gave some consoling words that he would get well one day. I didn't think he would die because I thought the doctor would visit him," he added.

"Seven to eight days before he died, he could move his body slightly but with a lot of effort. He could eat with other's help. Someone had to carry him to the toilet," he recalled.

Zakir said that the sick inmate's condition got worse, and he was told of his death five to seven minutes after he passed away.

"He died in Block C, late in the evening. I saw his body. It was lying on the floor. His face was not covered. [Source: - June 28, 2000, Inmate died without medical help, says witness, Ajinder Kaur, Malaysiakini]

TENAGANITA
Penthouse, Wisma MLS
31 Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman
50100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: 6 03 26913681 Fax: 6 03 26913681
Email: tenaganita@yahoo.co.uk

Posted on 2004-01-09

WHO IS ANSWERABLE FOR THESE ATROCITIES?


Mahathir Mohamad, Minister of Home Affairs (1986-1999) and Megat Junid Megat Ayub, Deputy Home Minister (1986-1997).

I recall that in 1995, when Irene Fernandez submitted the Memorandum from Tenaganita on the unbelievably cruel treatment suffered by migrant workers detained by the Immigration Department, it caused the Mahathir administration acute embarrassment.

There was talk in the streets that then deputy home minister Megat Junid (right) was personally implicated in the whole ugly affair as his brother (or brother-in-law) owned an employment agency responsible for importing Bangladeshi and Burmese workers and cruelly mistreating them. Which explains why the police were ordered to launch a vicious attack against Irene Fernandez - "wicked messenger" and bearer of bad tidings - rather than investigate the serious allegations documented in the Tenaganita memorandum and prosecute those responsible for these inhuman acts.

In those days there was no Malaysiakini or Malaysia Today - and no bloggers too - and so the shameful matter was easily ignored or played down by the BN-controlled mainstream media. Only Aliran and the international press kept the Irene Fernandez case in the news. Megat Junid died of prostate cancer on 24 January 2008, leaving a long wake of scandals; but his boss Mahathir Mohamad is still alive and stirring up a whole load of shit.

After 13 years, it's high time the Malaysian government apologized to Irene Fernandez by dropping all charges against her and awarding Tenaganita RM13 million in long overdue compensation - one million for each year the stupid trial has dragged on.

But first we shall have to boot out that pea-brained poison-toad Umno politician in the Home Ministry who goes by the name Syed Hamid Albar - son of Syed Jaafar Albar, the infamous "Malay Ultra" from Yemen who, in 1965, suggested arresting Lee Kuan Yew under the ISA and imposing martial law on Singapore for the PAP's opposition to "Ketuanan Melayu." Bapa borek anak rintik (like father, like son).

[First posted 28 October 2008. Irene Fernandez was recalled to Heaven on 31 March 2014]

ONE PERAK! ~ by Martin Jalleh

One man’s catchphrase of reform – “the culture of change” is in reality one potent chicanery and concoction of 4Cs – Corruption, Coercion, Crossovers and Coups. The self-proclaimed “people’s Prime Minister” with his recycled One Malaysia slogan, robs in broad daylight the people of Perak of their right to determine their State Government.

One haughty political party humiliated in the last general election and by a series of by-election losses, hangs on to power desperately. It hijacks a state government by high-handed, hideous and heinous means such as money politics, mysterious disappearances, mobs and manipulative manoeuvrings of the nation’s democratic institutions.

One fraudulent State Government is formed by the crossovers of two assemblymen charged with corruption, one assembly woman who compromised and reduced the price of democracy to cash and Camry – a threesome who made themselves “independent” of the will of the people – and the double-crossing over of one Umno assemblyman.

One – hand-in-glove with its political (pay)master, the one-sided Election Commission (the supposed paragon of democracy) – panders and plays to the tune of and remains pliant to Umno and its power grabbing to prevent the people of Perak from being the one paramount arbitrator to overcome the State’s political deadlock.

One farcical State Government – made up of an overwhelming 27 Umno assembly members, one MCA assembly member and three 'independent' hoppers – is portrayed as a strong representation of multiracial unity and governance! The people are expected to believe that the most divisive force, led by the most devious of characters, will make Perak one!

One interfering and intimidating show of force by the police force, assisted by Umno’s thugs and a spineless State Secretary is brazenly displayed to prevent the Menteri Besar (MB) and the Pakatan Rakyat Assembly members from entering the State Assembly. The partisan police who pathetically fail to arrest the rising crime rate in the country rise to every occasion to protect Umno’s “internal security.”

One “small boy” in the Prime Minister's Department calls the Speaker a “boy speaker.” The latter has in fact been amongst the very few who are man enough to stand up to the taunts, threats, tricks of Umno and refuse the tempting offers to commit treachery – in sharp contrast to the Minister who is well-known for his childish temper tantrums and theatrics in Parliament.

The one and only judiciary!

One open-court-shy probationary judge is chosen to decide on a constitutional matter of such monumental significance. He rules that the genuine MB must be represented by the State Legal Advisor – which means that the two political adversaries fighting for the MB’s seat have the same lawyer in the same court case! It was one historic judicial farce!

One further bizarre leap of logic, the “arrogant novice” takes. He extends his judicial purview to the proceedings of a state assembly – which the Federal Constitution clearly forbids. He issues a court order restraining the Speaker from holding any assembly meetings. The trainee judge had his contract extended for another two years! Alas, it pays to be arrogant and asinine in the judiciary!

One jaundiced judgment leads to another. Constitutionally, a Speaker or his acts in a Legislative Assembly cannot be questioned in court. Yet, one High Court judge in Ipoh dismisses the Speaker’s application to strike out the summons of the three turncoat assembly members who sought a declaration that the Speaker’s order to declare their assembly seats vacant was illegal.

One Federal Court of five unanimously myopic judges declares that the three turncoat assembly members are still members of the Perak State Legislature and that the Election Commission is the rightful entity to establish if there was a casual vacancy in the Perak State Legislature and the authority to declare a seat vacant, and not the Speaker.

One bad judgment it surely was when seen against a clause in the Perak Constitution which states: “It is only upon receiving the decision of the Legislative Assembly will the Election Commission be able to establish that there is a vacancy.” As respected and retired Court of Appeal judge N.H. Chan commented: “The Federal Court has put the cart before the horse – in this case, just the cart without the horse.”

One unanimously errant Federal Court five-judge panel declares that the Speaker's decision to suspend the illegitimate MB and six others was null and void. As was pointed out by the abovementioned “inconvenient” former judge, it was a “perverse ruling”, an “ineffectual thunderbolt”. Or in the infamous words of Justice Augustine Paul – “irrelevant”!

One dead constitution the Federal Court leaves behind. It disgracefully disregards and discards constitutional provisions to treat the doctrine of separation of powers with deference. This dastardly desecration of the Constitution is in stark contrast to the five occasions wherein the Courts had ruled that the judiciary has no jurisdiction over decisions made in legislative assemblies.

Umno & the Police are One

One black day Bolehland will never forget. A fracas takes place in the Perak State Assembly. A fraudulent State Government grabs power. One fake Speaker is installed. Police trespass into the State Assembly, forcibly drag out the Speaker and detain him for about 90 minutes against his will. Public disgust was best captured by one Umno leader, Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, who called it – “high-handedness at its foulest.”

One silly excuse after another the Home Minister dishes out in parliament for the police’s unlawful and disgraceful action. He says: “The police were merely following the instructions of the ‘new Speaker’ ” – one who was illegitimately installed! In short, the long arm of the law aided and abetted with an illegal Speaker whom Umno smuggled into the State Assembly – a perfect start to a Police State!

One more spin by the humbug Home Minister – “what the police did was in accordance to the law.” As reputed lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar would highlight, the Perak imbroglio has made manifest the fact that the BN “took the law into its own hands”; the BN “appears to see no limits to what it is permitted to do to achieve its objectives” and the BN “considers itself a law unto itself.” The BN, Umno and the police are of course ONE – especially in Perak!

One sad, scandalous and shocking day it was indeed, when the Executive literally laid siege on the Legislature resulting in the death of the Perak and Federal Constitutions and the democratic rights of the rakyat of Perak. But one Hishammuddin Hussein was “thankful” that no “serious incidents” took place in Perak that day! One more Minister suffering from a very serious deficiency in intelligence!

One big constitutional mess

One new judge (only one month old) in the Court of Appeal continues the judicial circus. He is a one-man panel and grants the usurper MB a permanent stay of the Kuala Lumpur (KL) High Court’s ruling that Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (Nizar) is the lawful MB. Why choose a new man and a one-man panel when the Court of Appeal has 22 judges? Why stay a declaratory order which is not normally done?

One question crops up after another. Why the “indecent haste” to grant the illegitimate MB a stay? Why was the application of the lawful MB not treated with equal urgency? The court gave a verdict as fast as about only two-and-a-half hours after the usurper made his application. Nizar had to wait eight days before his application was heard! Why?

One further major judicial misstep the Court of Appeal takes by allowing an appeal by the illegitimate MB. In a five-minute oral judgment, the appellate court reversed the brave decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court that declared Nizar the rightful MB. For many “(t)here was no reasoned grounds of judgment but mere findings of the Court of Appeal” (Lim Kit Siang).

One big constitutional mess the learned judges leave the country in. One grave implication of the judgment is that a Sultan can sack his MB without a no-confidence vote in the State Assembly. The Agong can now sack the PM at his pleasure (and surely much to the pleasure of Bolehland) without a motion of no-confidence in Parliament!

One initial shocking piece of news was that there would be no written judgments by the “extraordinary judges in Malaysia with extraordinary abilities” in the cases related to the Perak constitutional crisis. Disturbed perhaps by their pangs of conscience, two federal Court panels explained in writing how each of their solemn mockery was arrived at.

One written judgment by Augustine Paul that the Speaker does not have the power to suspend the usurper MB and his band of six from attending the assembly, is reduced by N.H. Chan to pages of “gobbledegook.” Another by Nik Hashim bin Nik Abd Rahman that it is the EC and not the Speaker which determines a vacancy, Chan rubbishes as the “regurgitation of not administering justice according to law.”

DANGER! EXPLODING WHALES!

One clear evidence from both the written judgments says N.H. Chan, is that the Federal Court judges have brought the Judiciary into disrepute or brought discredit to it, by not administering justice according to law (a “besetting sin”). They should be removed from office under the Judges’ Code of Ethics 1994. Alas, they have reduced the judiciary to one big joke!

One month has passed since the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by the usurper MB to reverse the KL High Court decision that declared Nizar the rightful MB of Perak. The presiding judge has failed to keep his promise made after his five-minute oral judgment that the written judgment would be given in “one week.”


One working day before the 30-day appeal deadline expires, Nizar files his application for leave to appeal – without the two written grounds of judgment of the Court of Appeal that removed him as MB. He poses one pressing question: “If High Court judge Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahim managed to write his 78-page judgment within four days, how come these judges cannot provide the written grounds of their judgments (after one month)?"

One colossal failure

One Perak – a State with two MBs, two Speakers, two State Governments and a police force and judiciary without the two essentials of manhood that would make them bold enough to stand up to Umno’s shameless display of belligerence, brazen high-handedness and unbridled arrogance of power.

One colossal failure it is by the PM and the illegitimate and delusional MB who compares his political struggle to that of Mandela and Gandhi. Tengku Razaleigh hit the nail on the head (of the government) when he declared: “The Perak power grab had reduced Perak into a failed state…(it) is a tragicomedy of errors and bad political judgment that reflects a failure of political leadership.”

One and only way for Perak to move forward is to go back to the people! It of course depends very much on the failed PM and also on His Royal Highness (HRH) Sultan Azlan Shah who has made it very clear that “rulers are above all politics,” and yet, prior to that HRH had very ironically made a decision above all human understanding and logic.

One MB with an indomitable spirit, one Speaker who has become an inspiration to many, one retired judge intensely committed to the law, one intrepid High Court judge who administered justice according to the law – each one of them together with every significant individual and unsung hero – represents a tiny ripple of hope when in continued synergy will surely serve as a surging and unstoppable wave of change... one day!

Martin Jalleh
25 June 2009

[The above is an improved and expanded version of an article which first appeared in the latest issue of Aliran Monthly]

Hey, Mr Pink Lips, have a nice cup of tea...

... and a great big bearhug!

Smug arrogance and supercilious pomposity bring out the nasty streak in me. Try as I might over the last 28 years, I have never been able to look upon Mahathir Mohamad with the compassion and empathy all living beings deserve.

Same goes for Najib Razak and his dad, Malaysia's second prime minister. Thirty-three years ago when I read that Tun Razak had died of leukemia in London, I felt an irrational surge of joy. At the time I wasn't at all interested in politics and had no personal reason to dislike Razak - but on the subconscious level I must have detected his inherent racism and his fascistic agenda to institutionalize repugnant, reactionary doctrines like Ketuanan Melayu.

Indeed, evidence has since emerged that reveals it was Tun Abdul Razak who masterminded the 13 May 1969 coup d'etat - camouflaged as a post-electoral outbreak of racial violence - which forced Tunku Abdul Rahman to resign, thus paving the way for Umno's young turks to implement divisive and destructive social engineering agendas like the New Economic Policy and the National Cultural Policy. But all that is blood and water under the bridge.*

I remember recoiling in disgust the first time I saw Najib's face in the newspaper. Never actually met the guy but his energy just put me off big time. Call it a visceral reaction if you like, or an instinctual response to negative stimuli. I have always trusted my cellular wisdom.

To be fair, local politicians weren't the only ones who triggered in me an irrational repulsion. International figures like "Tricky Dick" Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Augusto Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, Suharto, George H.W. Bush (and, later, his chimpanzee-faced son Dubya), and Dick Cheney had pretty much the same effect on me. I felt predisposed to loathe them. Guess I'm essentially tyrannophobic, having myself played such unsavory roles in early incarnations.

Since 8 March 2008, a large section of the population has been focused on preventing a nightmare scenario from happening: the rise to ultimate power of high-profile murder suspects Rosmah Mansor and Najib Abdul Razak.

Most people have gotten used to tolerating a certain amount of financial hanky-panky from those in public office. But cold-blooded, gruesome murder is too macabre to accept, particularly in view of the desperate lengths to which the entire Umno/BN regime has gone to protect their blue-eyed boy Najib and his ruthlessly acquisitive Lady Macbeth from investigation.

Indeed, the incumbent government of Malaysia has become vulnerable to accusations of being accessories to Altantuya's murder. After all, only the home minister can order the deletion of immigration records; and only the defence minister can authorize the unscheduled use of C4 plastic explosives - not to mention the gross abuse of power involved in recruiting his personal bodyguards to commit a capital crime.

Najib can swear a million times on the Who's Who, the Guinness Book of World Records and the Greater London Telephone Directory that he never met "that Mongolian woman" - but he can't wriggle out of accepting ultimate responsibility for the misbehavior of his uniformed staff.

If it turns out that Najib had absolutely no foreknowledge of what his aide-de-camp DSP Musa Safri had instructed Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar to do to "that Mongolian woman"... then he should immediately step down, for this failure alone reveals an utterly incompetent leader.

On 3 April 2009 the nation's worst nightmare materialized. It's not our personal nightmare and we refuse to lose any sweat over it. But the Najib nightmare serves to protect a handful of corrupt Umno bigwigs and their corporate cronies from what could be for them an even bigger nightmare - Anwar Ibrahim as PM.

As the newly installed "crime minister" of Malaysia, Najib Razak has promised drastic reforms. How drastic we don't know yet - though many feel Najib's idea of "drastic reforms" may simply mean equipping his new cabinet with government-issue jackboots and ordering the ISA arrests of all opposition leaders and loudmouthed critics of Umno/BN.

Well, I'm not opposed to genuine reforms. I hereby solemnly promise I shall make Mr Pink Lips a nice cup of tea and give him a great big bearhug the day he...

1) sacks Musa Hassan and Gani Patail (along with 500 or so corrupt senior police officers);

2) releases all political detainees and abolishes the ISA, OSA, PP&PA, UUCA, the obsolete Sedition Act and the stupid Police Act that forbids public assemblies without a permit;

3) implements the IPCMC and instructs the new Attorney General to take decisive action on the abominable Lingamgate affair;

4) replaces the idiotic chief of the MACC with someone intelligent, impartial and honest;

5) drops Zaki Azmi as Chief Justice, replacing him with a senior judge of impeccable integrity who will dismiss all politically motivated charges against Raja Petra Kamarudin and Anwar Ibrahim;

6) appoints an Opposition MP, preferably Elizabeth Wong, as Minister of Information;

7) assigns Syed Hamid Albar to political oblivion;

8) gives Khir Toyo the option of transmigration to Java or castration;

9) divorces Rosmah Mansor and turns her in for questioning on her role in the disbursement of the submarine commission and Altantuya's gruesome murder;

10) fires himself and hands over the PM's job to Anwar Ibrahim, Nizar Jamaluddin, or Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

But I doubt Mr Pink Lips can fulfil these entirely reasonable conditions and accept my very generous offer.

Najib Razak: Umno's savior, shortlived prime minister and political leper?

------
*In recent months I have heard from at least four different sources a gruesome bit of gossip I am loath to repeat in print, lest I end up in RPK's predicament. If only one person had told me this story, I'd be reluctant to attach any credibility whatsoever to it. However, coming from so many different people, I'm inclined to give the report some credence. And the fact that I do is already a damning indictment of Najib's public image. What is this malicious bit of gossip that has reached my ears from so many different sources? Brace yourself for this: apparently, the late Umno warlord Zakaria Mat Deros was summoned to the DPM's office after the electoral debacle of 8 March 2008 and instructed to stir up some racial trouble in Klang. Mat Deros either failed - or refused - to carry out this mission - and ended up dead because he knew too much. The coroner recorded Mat Deros's death as a heart attack. Now that we have witnessed the glaring discrepancies over A. Kugan's two post-mortem reports and the obscene attempt to cover up the whole thing, it's much easier to believe that in Bolehland "semua pun boleh" or "bisa diatur" as the Indonesians would say. Now, I'm not sticking my neck out and stating this as the truth. I have absolutely no way of verifying the story, but the fact that such grotesque and vicious gossip - which make insinuations about some PKR leaders' sexual peccadilloes pale in comparison - is going around does not augur well for Najib's premiership and Umno/BN's future.

HOW TO GET PINK LIPS