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Written by Mariam Mokhtar, Kedah Gerakan Youth leader chief Tan Keng Liang rebuked PKR national Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Akin because Shamsul had criticised Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak for telling everyone to stop passing judgments on the “Rais Yatim” case.
Tan seems to be making a habit of being close to controversy. It was two weeks ago that he made a sexist remark about pregnant women on maternity leave. He has yet to apologise for this sexist remark which he directed at Hannah Yeoh, assemblywoman for Selangor.
So, is Tan out to score brownie points with Umno? Ever since Gerakan’s dismal performance in the 12th general election, the party has failed to inspire and regain the public’s confidence.
In his latest outburst, Tan said that in a fair and democratic country, a person shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty and pointed out that one cannot be prejudged and sentenced.
He is of course correct. The only difference is that we are not in a ‘fair and democratic country’. Malaysia is far from fair and it is only democratic in name.
How many times have Umno/BN politicians, including others higher up in the social scale, escaped justice whether it is for rape, sexual assault, murder, corruption or currency irregularities? (The list at the end of this article might help jog his memory.)
Did these people ever face prosecution? Or were they saved by their allegiance to Umno?
Shamsul is right to reprimand Najib for being irresponsible and for practicing double standards when he said, “It shows two sets of law being applied here, one for Umno and another against the opponents of Umno.”
However, Tan claimed that Shamsul’s criticism of Najib had put the country’s political standards at its lowest ebb. He also accused certain political factions of ‘making false allegations against BN leaders merely to serve their selfish agenda’ and he alleged that ‘these quarters were prepared to sow seeds of suspicion among Malaysians that all BN leaders were criminals as charged without proper probes and trials’.
Tan is mistaken because Najib and Umno have placed our politics at its lowest ebb without any help from anyone else.
If Umno was not trying to protect itself, it would have demanded an investigation into its member who is allegedly accused or rape, to preserve whatever is left of its name. But it hasn’t, has it? It is Umno who has the ‘selfish agenda’.
Tan said that he was disappointed that these quarters were willing to deploy any unethical methods to achieve their political goals. He said that the whole episode had already unfairly tarnished the image of Rais and his family, as well as the country’s international reputation.
“Are these principles of justice and democracy advocated by Pakatan?” asked Tan.
It is bizarre that Tan has not noticed his 'surroundings'. A girl has been raped. She has no means of defending herself. It was expected that before long, those who were responsible would ‘get to her’ to silence her, one way or another. It has happened.
Tan is naïve to think that this is the first and last sexual assault involving our politicians. If he cannot even put himself in the shoes of the electorate, how can his party possibly hope to regain their trust?
Tan may have questioned Pakatan’s principles of justice and democracy, but is confused about his own party's.
A telling example of Tan's misplaced priorities is that he was quick to come to the defence of Umno but has said nothing about supporting the family of Teoh Beng Hock - the man who died in suspicious circumstance after being interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Tan is silent about supporting the family's call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which will investigate fully Teoh’s suspicious death rather than a RCI which is limited to the investigation methods of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
What then, are Gerakan's principles of justice and democracy?
Malaysia’s Hall of Sexual Infamy
1. A Chief Editor of a mainstream newspaper who had an affair with a young girl while his wife lay paralysed in bed
2. A Chief Minister who eloped to Thailand to secretly marry his second wife
3. A Federal Minister who was caught with a female artiste in a Port Dickson hotel room
4. A Federal Minister whose brother was arrested for drug trafficking
5. A Federal Minister who had an affair with someone else’s wife that eventually resulted in a broken marriage
6. A Chief Minister who had an affair with someone else’s wife that eventually resulted in a broken marriage
7. A Chief Minister who had an affair with an under-aged girl
8. A Chief Minister who had an affair with a girl who eventually gave birth to an illegitimate child
9. A Chief Minister who kept an under-aged mistress at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur
10. A religious leader who had an illicit affair and who is now holding a prominent position in a very important government religious body Council.
11. A Chief Minister who had an affair with his sister-in-law who have birth to an illegitimate child
If you have had your head above water, you likely have noticed that South Carolina has been in the news a lot lately. First there was our governor's Brazilian waxing-poetic, followed by a state partisan's hurling of insults at Mrs. Obama, and then there was of course The Outburst, by Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) which will live in infamy both locally and nationally.
No, the news has not been good for South Carolina. But, regrettably, things here may be even worse than you imagine.
South Carolina, like a number of states in the Southeastern region, is being devastated by a silent enemy that hasn't attracted a lot of media attention lately: HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers South Carolina one of the top-ten HIV "hot spots" in the nation. We have the 8th-highest AIDS rate in the U.S., yet apparently neither we nor our region have made it onto many policymakers' radar screens.
On Monday, Oct 26th representatives from the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) will be in our capital for a town hall meeting, and we are very grateful to them for coming to South Carolina. State health professionals, community-based organizations and HIV/AIDS advocates will have the opportunity not only to voice concerns, but also to make their recommendations about what the federal government can do to help states such as South Carolina -- those that are southern, primarily rural, economically depressed, and revenue-poor -- get on top of this public health problem. Many of us are hoping that members of South Carolina's own Congressional delegation will be tuned in, if not attending themselves.
Also, now is the critical time of year when a House-Senate conference committee will zero-in on the federal budget's Labor, Health & Human Services and Education appropriations for next fiscal year. A move is afoot within the House and Senate to resuscitate the failed Abstinence-Only Beast that sits like a troll in a very Grimm tale, waiting and willing to eat our young (or anyone else) to sustain itself. That any member of South Carolina's own Congressional delegation would vote to pour millions more of tax payers' dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage programs -- rather than investing in HIV-prevention in South Carolina -- is unfathomable. It also would indicate a serious lack of understanding on the part of our Congressional representatives about the seriousness of HIV in our state.
HIV is no less than a public health crisis in South Carolina. We have few public or private resources to dedicate to preventing the spread of HIV. This is not the time for ambivalence in Washington, nor is it a time when we can allow ourselves to be victimized by Congressional compromises or back room deal-making -- and HIV-prevention should not be overshadowed by Congressional representatives' personal or ideological ties to the abstinence-only gluttons back home. Reinvesting in abstinence-only funding streams not only would divert needed funds from HIV-prevention at home, but also would cause further obstruction of medically accurate sexual health education in our schools and communities. South Carolinians have suffered too much from this already. In fact, some of the responsibility for the growth of our HIV epidemic could arguably be laid at the feet of those who have worked vigorously to censor public health information.
To House Majority Whip and Congressman James Clyburn (SC 6th), to Congressman John Spratt (SC 5th), and to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham: You are our state's best hope. You have supported federal funding for treatment of South Carolinians, who are infected with HIV/AIDS, via Ryan White renewals, and all South Carolinians should be thankful to each of you for your support, which has been and will continue to be vital. However, only a small portion of federal funding to date has been dedicated to HIV prevention, and we must have more funding to put more boots-on-the-ground to prevent HIV here at home.
HIV-prevention work is inherently labor-intensive in the South. Southern, rural communities are hardest hit and hardest to reach. Also, we need more prevention-soldiers to fan out among historically black colleges and universities, to protect many of our "best and brightest" so that they do not become infected with HIV. (Almost one-third of new HIV cases in South Carolina are transmitted heterosexually.)
A major, federally funded, multi-year public health campaign is needed to educate people about how to prevent HIV infection. A federal mandate for comprehensive health education in our schools is needed, including mandatory education about sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. There are evaluated, evidence-based programs that tell us what to do; we simply need the funding to implement them with fidelity.
Last year, when House Majority Whip Clyburn announced the passage of H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, he stated, "Helping to prevent the spread of infectious diseases around the world is a moral responsibility of the United States government and one which this New Direction Congress takes very seriously."
It is time for an equally ambitious and dedicated investment at home.
by Bonnie Adams Kapp, Executive Director of the New Morning Foundation
Originally published on rhrealitycheck.org
Originally published on rhrealitycheck.org
This is an Open Letter to Pope Benedict on behalf of all victims of child sexual abuse by catholic priests; on behalf of all catholic people, and all honorable catholic clergy; on behalf of every media outlet under the sun; and on behalf of The Holy Spirit.
Sir,
Some burning questions arise from the following statement you made in your Christmas address to your cardinals on December 20th regarding how it came to pass that the house of The Holy Spirit became a haven for criminals of a sexual nature.
"In the 1970's pedophilia was theorized [by the church] as something fully in conformity with man and even with children."
Please deign to respond to this letter directly and personally and put aside all the pomp and titles and so-called 'proper channels' -- all of which belong not in the 21st century but the 12th and are unbecoming of Christ.
Exactly who held the theory that pedophilia was fully in conformity with man and with children?
Please give us their names.
Exactly when did they hold this theory?
Exactly when if ever did they cease holding the theory?.
Why was this information not given to victims?
Why was it never given to any commissions of inquiry or civil authorities?
Why in all the years since these scandals broke out was yesterday the first mention of this information?
It is highly disrespectful of the victims that you would throw this out as an aside remark and not present yourself for questioning on such a very serious piece of information which would be key in the potential recovery of the church.
The Holy Spirit requires you to familiarize yourself with honesty and respect if you retain any desire to salvage the remains of the church which has been ruined by its being allowed to live by its own laws and not God's
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