Asking The Wrong Questions To The Right Man...

Questions have been asked of Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK), specifically about who may be his 'backers'. These are interesting questions, now asked by senior politicians. However, I am not sure whether these are the rights questions for politicians, who also ostensibly have backers to be asking RPK, unless of course if these questions are rhetorical... what am I saying, of course it's rhetoric!

But politicians should be careful in asking these questions, they may be asked to reveal their own backers, and some may find themselves unable to answer!

As the innocence or guilt of DS Anwar Ibrahim is a matter of far greater public interest at this present time, I would suggest politicians ask a more pertinent question, specifically, WHY DID RPK VIA MALAYSIA TODAY PUBLISH THE FAKE PUSRAWI REPORT BY DR OSMAN ABDUL HAMID THAT DID NOT EXAMINE SAIFUL FOR SODOMY?

Those that have been following Saiful Bukhari Azlan's testimony at DS Anwar's sodomy trial in the papers would know that it is in conflict with the claims of Dr Osman, suspected of having links to DS Anwar, that Saiful was not sodomised. Saiful's account, conveyed properly, via legal channels as evidence in a sodomy or homosexual rape case should be, clearly states the same Dr Osman advised Saiful that he cannot be examined for sodomy at Pusrawi, a private hospital!

So, will YB Karpal Singh in all his glory choose to introduce Dr Osman as a rebuttal witness with this revelation? Clearly, Saiful's testimony has been very convincing, judging from Karpal rushing to request that testimony on how DS Anwar sodomised his victim be 'in camera', or restricted from public view. So much for the 'open government' that DAP espouse! Will Dr Osman be as convincing as Saiful, or will he wilt when his lie is laid bare?

Going back to our politicans, they should certainly ask questions of RPK, but their questions should be aimed at why he is involved in this sodomy case in such a way? How involved was RPK in fabricating the evidence from Dr Osman? And ultimately, if it is proven true that he fabricated evidence simply to protect the rape of a young man by his powerful friend, what other 'truths' have RPK and Malaysia Today been fabricating over these many years?

Why The Desparation To Save Anwar?

I e-mailed a DAP friend recently advising him to desist from his defence of Anwar. My reasons were sincere in that I did not want him and his party to needlessly lose all the credibility in has recently earned on defending a criminal, on the false premise that he's innocent. I then made the observation that the championing of reform in our country should not hinge so much on the future of just one man.

A couple of days ago we saw the unveiling of the next dramatic attempt to save Anwar by RPK. This was of course celebrated by reform activists and more formal 'institutions' with similar sympathies like Malaysiakini and LKS. To many of these activists, this news was a much needed vindication of Anwar's 'innocence'. The only problem is, how much of it is real and how much highes on hope?

Perhaps it is telling that LKS did not celebrate Anwar's 'presumed innocence', but simply urged for the police to be more transparent in their investigations. This is probably because Lim Kit Siang, seasoned politician that he is, knows that the risk of Anwar actually being guilty is too much for him to balance the future of his party on, especially with his son now doing so well in Penang.

Too much has been invested by too many people on Anwar being the victim all these years. Too many have invested not just their time, energy and material wealth to the struggle for his 'justice', but also their soul to the belief that their struggle is for the right side.

So if Anwar is proven guilty without a shadow of a doubt to have raped Saiful in that condo, as the horror of the realisation dawns that all those other victims were raped by Anwar in the 90's, it is not just the ringgit, sweat and tears wasted these last 10 years that would be lamented, but faith, hope and the reason for being would be lost by so many...

...will RPK ever be believed again?

...will Harris Ibrahim remain a rebellious hero?

...will there be any pride left in those who proudly wear the light-blue badge?

...will there be any fondness left in the memory of wearing a light-blue bandana?

Faith in Anwar had been fading, slowly, but surely, ever since he ran to the Turkish Embassy when Saiful came forward. All of Anwar's rhetoric has come to naught as his behavior retards the image of innocence, whilst Saiful, despite all the dirt hurled in his direction, remains a victim in hiding. It should be no surprise then to see those like RPK attempt to save Anwar yet again, even if he is not worthy, as the cost of Anwar's guilt it too high for them to bear...

ALERT: Tangential Approach To Kidnapping

I was alerted yesterday of a disturbingly insidious new approach to kidnapping now being attempted by persons unknown.

Yesterday, a school in Kota Damansara received a call from a person claiming to be the father of a 7-year old female student. The man supposedly gave sufficient identification to convince the school staff of the authenticity of the call, resulting in the girl being held back from taking her normal school bus home.

At about 6pm, 2 hours after school ended, a concerned teacher at the school called the girl's father, a close friend of my wife's sister, to ask why his daughter had not been picked up. The father was shocked as he had not made the call...

The girl is safe, and the father agreed for the teacher to deliver her safely home. The father then lodged a police report at Pondok Polis Mutiara Damansara with my brother-in-law as a witness. The police report no is: KOTA DAMANSARA/000703/08

Some lessons to be learned here:

1. Personal identification and details of parents and their children are not as private and privileged as we may believe in this day and age, where verbal confirmation by IC may no longer be sufficient to ensure a child's safety. Hence, any identity claims over the phone need to be verified with rigour; a call-back to registered phone numbers to confirm should be a minimum.
2. The girl was saved thanks to the actions of the concerned teacher. This emphasises the role that schools, with both its teaching and non-teaching staff, must play to ensure the safety of our children. Yet again, it appears the teaching profession is burdened well beyond their collective pay, but I as a parent for one would pay with all my dignity in begging that they all be as vigilant as the teacher above when caring for my children.
3. The scope of operations of such predators of our children appear not to be confined to the Wangsa Maju and Kampung Medan side of the city where Nurin and Sharlinie disappeared. They have now made a showing on the other side of KL. There are hence no 'safe areas' where we may relax our guard from the risks that are evident to children in KL today.

Please spread the word, and in doing so, pass the message that vigilance is paramount in keeping our children safe...

Adakah Orang Lain Yang Patut Disyaki Dalam Kes Altantuya - Razak Baginda?

Saya menulis di sini sebab merasa agak pelik dan kasihan terhadap musibah tuduhan yang mungkin fitnah dihamburkan terhadap Dato' Najib Tun Razak tentang kes ini. Macamlah kalau Razak Baginda tu bekas kawan dan kroni beliau ia menjadi bukti kukuh membolehkan tuduhan sedemikian. Saya rasa lebih adil kita sekarang mangambil tangen membuka skop tuduhan lebih luas kepada orang lain yang patut disyaki seperti...

1. Semua tahu yang lazimnya para ahli UTK ini melindungi kedua-dua VVIP jaguhan kita, PM dan DPM, dan juga kaum keluarga mereka apabila keluarga mengiring bersama dalam apa-apa acara, bukan Dato' Najib sahaja. Ya la, susah sikit nak percaya yang Pak Lah berupaya celik untuk mengganas sedemikian rupa, tapi yang si K, K dan pelbagai kawan-kawan K mereka macam mana? Adakah mereka juga pemangsa Altantuya?
2. Sebenarnya, Razak Baginda ni rapat dengan geng-geng Tingkat 4. Ya la, kan semuanya berintelek. Korek punya korek, mesti akan ada yang sedar mereka semua mula berkenalan sejak bebudak Tingkat 4 di Universiti lagi. Malah, boleh dikatakan Razak ada juga membantu beberapa dari mereka ke Tingkat 4 dan menyertai pejabat Najib. Adakah mungkin mereka begitu rapat sehingga terlibat?
3. UTK-UTK ini pun pernah melindungi bekas PM dan DPM lain. Mungkinkah Tun Dr M, Anwar Ibrahim dan Tun Musa juga patut disyaki terbabit dalam kes ini? Masya'Allah!
4. Para ahli kabinet, para ahli Majlis Tertinggi UMNO dan ahli-ahli perniagaan yang pernah melawat ke luar negera dengan PM serta DPM dahulu dan sekarang mesti ada yang sudah mengenali UTK-UTK ataupun Razak Baginda sebelum ini. Mungkinkah mereka ini juga ada yang terlibat?
5. Tambah pula, UTK-UTK ini pun ada kawan lain. Razak Baginda pun ada kawan lain juga. Apakah semua perlu disyaki?
6. Alamak... saya rasa saya pernah jumpa-lah Razak Baginda. UTK-UTK ni pun ada hadir kalau saya menghadiri majlis dengan PM dan DPM. Adakah saya juga patut disyaki? Adakah anda?

OK lah, pada saya mungkin kerja tuduh ramai-ramai ni taklah baik sangat, jadi baik kita tak suka-suka tuduh sembarangan siapa-siapa pun! Biar polis dan pejabat peguam negara sahaja yang meneruskan kerja tuduh-menuduh ini. Buat orang marah dan semakin sedih pulak! Tetapi apa pun berlaku, yang ingin sekali saya tahu tentang kes ini ialah...

Macam mana polis boleh dengan begitu mudah sekali menjumpai taburan tulang Altantuya yang sudah berkecai dibom di cerok belukar hutan yang kera sekalipun, apatah lagi manusia, tak minat nak lawat? Kalau sayalah yang menjumpai tulang macam itu, mesti saya ingat tulang binatang punya! Jadi macam mana boleh jumpa dan bagaimana polis tahu? Ada orang yang cerita ka...?

Blogging Is Global In Nature, Hence Is Its Litigation Global In Nature?

They say a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, so as I have no real formal knowledge of the law, any views I espouse probably would be ...

It's getting to be a little too much fun taking Tangents of the NST vs. Blogger (Jeff and Rocky) civil action. My earlier post pondered the risks of Pak Lah being partisan on this case. I now wonder if maybe Uncle Kali and co may have begun something that isn't quite within the realm of their 'control'.

Consider this. Blogging is global by nature. The audience is global, as witnessed by the global outpouring of support in addition to the international reporting of this case, cited even as a 'landmark' case by the over-exuberant. However, there are legalistically global implications also to the suing of Rocky and Jeff, in that:

1. Their blogs, whilst by and large Malaysian by content, are hosted in servers abroad, potentially making them 'resident' within a foreign legal jurisdiction.
2. Any income they derive from the blogs, either directly through advertising, or indirectly by incidentals, opportunities, etc, would also not only be from Malaysian sources, but from an international base and would typically be via off-shore facilitation (adsense, etc).
3. The reputation held by these blogs are also international in nature, evident from the global awareness and commentary of the case, hence the owners risk critical cross-border defamation and all that that entails, whatever the outcome of this case.

So, is it too far a Tangent to imagine that whatever the outcome of this battle in the Malaysian courts, Jeff and Rocky may be able to seek legal recourse of some sort from a foreign court of law, almost of their choice?

So, could Jeff and Rocky even from now on lay a counter-claim of libel, defamation and loss of income through restriction in blogging activity in a US court due to their blogs being hosted and the income from advertising being facilitated by US entities?

And lets assume say a link is made between the case and happenings in Turkey, just an example mind you, could they take action in a Turkish court specific to the element of the case being cited?

Wow... this is great kung fu for us wee bloggers if it proves to be true...