Kua Kia Soong

Ops Lalang: Absolving Dr M is like absolving Hitler, says Kua

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: FMT News

Pic from FMT News

KUALA LUMPUR: Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong has condemned the actions of some Pakatan Harapan politicians in absolving former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad from any blame for Operasi Lalang, which took place in 1987.

He said their willingness to forget who was behind the arrests of more than 100 Malaysians under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) in October 27 that year, was akin to absolving Adolph Hitler for being the reason why World War 2 started.

“It’s like saying Hitler had nothing to do with it and that it was because of fascism and therefore, Hitler does not need to apologise,” he said in a speech at the start of an event commemorating the 30th anniversary of Ops Lalang, held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall here today.

Mahathir, who is now Pakatan Harapan chairman, has been insistent Ops Lalang was a police decision and that although he was home minister at the time, he had no say in the matter. Read more →

Hold off hangings until death penalty rule revoked, urges LFL

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: FMT News 

PETALING JAYA: Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has called for a moratorium on capital punishments pending amendments to Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Speaking to FMT, LFL executive director Eric Paulsen said he “cautiously” welcomed an announcement that the cabinet had agreed to amend the act to provide judges with discretion in sentencing.

He said the right thing to do now was to hold off all hangings until the amendments are passed. He also called for similar changes to other laws that provide for mandatory death sentences.

Yesterday, in a written reply to a parliamentary question, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said the cabinet was unanimous in agreeing to amend the act and relevant ministries and agencies were preparing proposals for the amendments.

Paulsen said: “This is indeed good news but the government has said this in the past and did not carry through with it. So we cautiously welcome the announcement.” Read more →

Suaram: Time for inquiry into Scorpene scandal and murder of Altantuya

Nur Farzana Md Yusof

Source: FMT News 

KUALA LUMPUR: With the indictment of Abdul Razak Baginda over graft allegations by a French court, Suaram wants a full public inquiry into the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu and the motive for her murder.

It also wants the inquiry to cover the allegations of commissions paid for the purchase of Scorpene submarines by Malaysia from the French.

Razak Baginda was an aide of then defence minister and current Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong said in a statement today: “The prosecution of the (murder) case has been tardy from the start, with the failure to establish the motive for Altantuya’s murder being the most questionable of all. Read more →

Ops Lalang: Let bygones be bygones, says Khairuddin

Coordinator

Source: FMT News

Former Umno and PPBM man wants Kua Kia Soong, who was imprisoned without trial for 445 days, to focus on improving country with Mahathir. Pic from FMT News.

PETALING JAYA: Khairuddin Abu Hassan has urged Kua Kia Soong to put the past behind him after the Suaram adviser demanded that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad apologise for the Operasi Lalang which took place 30 years ago.

“Those who were detained are now very close to Tun Mahathir,” the New Generation Party (NewGen) deputy president said today.

He said Kua should let go of the past and address current concerns like saving Malaysia from kleptocracy, overcoming corruption in the government and helping the people. Read more →

2016 in Msia: Human rights takes a beating — Kua Kia Soong

admin

Source: FMT News

By Kua Kia Soong

Kua Kia Soong -- file pic

Kua Kia Soong — file pic

2016 was certainly one of the worst years for human rights in Malaysia with detention without trial used against human rights defenders, bringing back memories of Operation Lalang unleashed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1987. Malaysia’s internationally celebrated cartoonist was arrested and charged, the online press Malaysiakini harassed yet again, neo-fascists intimidating peaceful Bersih 5 participants and getting away with impunity… all of these abominations happened while the country was embroiled in one of the biggest financial scandals involving the national sovereign fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

While the police have been skilful at arresting and detaining Malaysians such as Maria Chin, Zunar and others, they have proven ineffectual at apprehending human traffickers, industrial polluters of water sources and the person or persons who have issued death threats against Maria. Have we seen any convictions against these criminals? Can we therefore count on our police force to apprehend international terrorists? And by letting neo-fascists get away with their bullying behaviour with impunity, the police run the risk of losing all credibility as keepers of law and order. Read more →

Lay off those who did good deeds with their foreign funding — Dr Kua Kia Soong

Coordinator

Source: FMT News

Dr. Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM advisor: "Lay off those who did good deeds with their foreign funding November 7, 2016 The government should lay off Malaysiakini and local NGOs that have been working selflessly for decades for Malaysian justice, democracy and human rights"

Dr. Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM advisor: “The government should lay off Malaysiakini and local NGOs that have been working selflessly for decades for Malaysian justice, democracy and human rights”.

It is pathetic that our beleaguered government should be trying yet again to demonise NGOs including Malaysiakini and Bersih 2.0 over their receipt of foreign funding, after the humiliation it received when it launched an all-out attack against Suaram in 2012, in concert with the mainstream media.

The government’s vindictive campaign against Suaram lasted for more than a year and involved no less than six government agencies that were ordered to investigate Suaram. Everyone could see that it was payback time for Suaram having complained to the French courts to investigate the suspected commissions in the RM7 billion Scorpene submarine scandal. Read more →

Is racism the Malaysian norm? — Kua Kia Soong

Raevathi Supramaniam

Source: FMT

BY KUA KIA SOONG

Ever since the news broke about the residents at Waja Apartments in Taman Tun Perak, Cheras openly displaying a banner calling for realtors to refrain from renting condominium units to African tenants (“Say No to African People”), I have waited to see if there would be protests by Malaysians, especially politicians and community leaders, against this blatant racism.

I was sadly disappointed. After all this time, it is only former Miss Malaysia-Universe Deborah Henry who has protested against this blatant racism, saying it is unfair to generalise and stereotype a community for the mistakes of a few.

“There’s a thin line between racism and discrimination. One bad person doesn’t equate to an entire community.” She criticised the action of displaying racist banners in residential areas as unhealthy, saying that instead, these issues need to be dealt with appropriately. It has been reported that such banners against Africans have cropped up in Shah Alam and the Sunway area as well. Read more →

Kua: Stop playing football with citizenship

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Source: FMT News

kua-kia-soong_rakyat_malaysia_6001

Suaram calls for an end to ‘sickening spectacle’ of token non-Malays granted citizenship at election time.

PETALING JAYA: The Federal Government was criticised today for “playing political football” with citizenship by granting citizenship to “a token group’ of non-Malay residents just to fish for votes during elections.

The human rights group Suaram, in a statement today, called for the release of statistics on the number of stateless Malaysian residents, by ethnic group, and the length of time they had been living in Malaysia.

“The government should also give us a cogent explanation for why these Malaysians, who have lived in this country for more than 10 years, have not been given citizenship.”

Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong said the press had recently highlighted the case of a 100-year-old Malaysian Chinese woman being finally given citizenship after being resident for decades, and that of a Malaysian Chinese restaurateur who had been in the country for more than 40 years.

“Were they expected to be grateful to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government for finally getting their citizenship or should they be angry at the BN government for depriving them of the citizenship they deserved many years ago?” he said. Read more →