Letters

Reference: "The PAP's Challenge" - reply given by Chen Hwai Liang, Press Secretary to the Singapore Prime Minister. Does Singapore have the lowest rates of taxation and government spending in the world ? The tax rates maybe low as reflected in the published Personal and Corporate tax schedules, but this government has a plethora of tax regimes hidden in all the various taxes that is applied based on consumption. GST has created an annual surplus that was so embarrassing when launced, that an economic progress package was created to annually refunds miserly amount to pacify and distract the amount accumulated. Fuel tax is high, and used supposedly as a tool to dampen dependence on automobiles - and has led the infamous Minister Mah Bow Tan to claim that reduction in fuel tax will amount to government subsidy. When the ERP {Electronic Road Pricing} was first introduce - then Transport Minister Mah - stated that Road Tax that was increased to nearly 200 per cent will be reduced when the ERP network is extended to moderate road usage. Since ERP had become extensive, Road Tax has only reduced by no more then 30 per cent. Other forms of taxation that removes cash from the Citizen's pockets exist in various forms. While CPF is seen as forced public savings, its final return to the Citizens has been continuously changed. When CPF was first created, the withdrawal age was 55 years, now it is 65 years and with retention sums for old age support till 85 years, and separate amounts locked-up in Medi-Shield and Medi-Save. Can the Singapore Government be the lowest spending government when the Minister's wages alone is the highest in the World - when the Prime Minister's salary is nearly 6 times more then the US President's ? The Singapore Government has used public housing budget to prime pump the economy during recessionary downturns, and all infrastructures are from government spending to be recovered from public usage. In South-east Asia alone, the Singapore Government has the biggest budget spent on Defense - with money spent to maintain the most modern equipment available, extensive overseas training in so many countries and conducted on a regular high tempo to keep the armed forces well trained, and allocate funds for the amortisation of present equipment. Even though the Defense Budget is a small percentage and is a fraction of the GDP, it remains the largest bulk spent in the list of public annual expenditures. It is remarkable that the Press Secretary will dare state that "the Government is ecouraging the growth of civil society and alternative views but does not require a weaker PAP". With the PAP dominating all forms of views and opinions, and fearing the growth of civil society - can there be such hoped for growth when the PAP remains inherently insecure of losing its own position ? The perception is that there can only be one on top of the mole-hill - and it has to be the PAP.

Raja Petra Kamarudin A FEARLESS PATRIOT IN OUR MIDST After reading at length Haris Ibrahim’s take on whether we, the readers & commentators of Malaysia Today, have misrepresented ourselves to our beloved RPK, and having done much soul searching, my conclusion is spelt out below. Raja Petra Kamarudin being Raja Petra Kamarudin would have continued with his crusade against Injustice, Inequality, Corruption, Abuse of Power, and Cover-Ups by the Powers-that-be, and his fight for Free Speech, Civil Rights, the Poor, the Down-Trodden, and those too weak to defend themselves, whether or not anyone encouraged or “egged” him on or not. That is the power of FAITH of a True Muslim who holds fast to his Islamic Principles, and a MAN who fears nothing, and answers to no one, but God. That describes Pete’s character in a nutshell pretty succinctly. He speaks out against the people in power fearlessly, knowing full well these unprincipled beasts dressed in human clothing would retaliate using all the arsenal at their disposal, including the Devil’s own invention, the Internal Security Act, which has no place in a Democratic country and in Civil Society, as it gives Dictatorial Power to these unprincipled animals to Abuse and incarcerate without trial, Upright and Outstanding Citizens like Raja Petra Kamaruddin who poses no security threat to anyone, let alone the country. This travesty of Justice as used by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar and his Ministry’s minions, the Police Special Branch, called the ISA, must be repealed IMMEDIATELY and ALL detainees under the ISA should be either freed, or charged in court under due legal process. No one in a democratic country like what Malaysia professes to be, should be subjected to abuse under the ISA where any citizen can be detained without charges just by the police, or some dictatorial Minister or even Prime Minister, at their mercy. This is a blatant travesty of Justice. Enough digression on the ISA issue. This is about our FOLK HERO, Raja Petra, after all. It is people like Pete, who is the conscience of Malaysia and Malaysian society, who keep our faith in humanity intact. No doubt, he must have experienced some disappointment at not achieving the number of petitioners for both the Agong’s petition and the Free RPK and other ISA detainees’ petition, but that would not have stopped him in his Noble Quest of walking the straight and narrow path of TRUTH, and the expression of it. In Pakistan, the people would have come out in droves, on the streets, to defend their democratic rights to freedom and an independent Judiciary, but these are people who dared to secede from a country based on their religious beliefs, and form their own country. Not so Malaysians who are mainly immigrants from Indonesia, China, and India, who either ran away from hardship at home, or from despotic governments. Malaysians are not built the same way as Pakistanis or Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Thais, or others who have stayed and fought for their rights. These Malaysians are peace-loving middle class types who just want to make a decent enough living for their families and don’t like suffering any type of hardships. Recently, this has been threatened by the massive corruption that is going on in Malaysia and the huge increase in the cost of living. Suddenly, their middle-class world came crashing down like a house of cards, and that is when the Tsunami of March 8th 2008 happened, and the Permatang Pauh by-election underlined the feelings of the common Malaysian. Voting anonymously and having no fear of direct repercussions emboldens even cowards to come forward and be counted, literally, and this was reflected in the two polls, at the GE and at the PP by-election. But to get these same people to come out with their names and IC numbers, or even their names and email addresses, to back these most worthy petitions was probably too much to expect. These same people would bypass Govt. blocks to read Malaysia Today, and to comment under pseudonyms, but would not jeopardize their “rice bowl” of their families by risking being identified by the authorities and the government of the day, and put out to pasture prematurely. These same people who vociferously support Raja Petra and Malaysia Today cannot be trusted upon to stand forth and be counted when the chips are down. As statistics show, only 26,000 or so have the guts to put their signatures and names where their mouths were and are, out of 1,000,000 plus Malaysia Today readers, and that is the sorry state of Malaysia and Malaysians, today! As the Law Minister who resigned in protest over the use of the ISA on Malaysian citizens, Zaid Ibrahim pointed out at the court house on the 23rd Sept. at Pete’s transfer to Kamunting when our sorry excuse of a Home Minister signed those papers for the transfer, Malaysia sorely needs more people like Raja Petra, who dare to speak up and speak out. However, these same people who have done nothing to jeopardize their rice bowls, will be more than willing to be heard and make their presence felt at the next GE. They just have no stomachs for suffering or even the possibility of suffering for themselves and their families, by disclosing their identities and standing proudly for what they secretly believe in, in petitions, or demonstrations. We have to live with this Malaysian psyche, like it or not, though the younger generation has shown much more guts, and become more vocal in Malaysian society. The future looks much brighter with the enlightened youth of today, and much of the thanks have to go to Raja Petra, and people like him, who have stood Unwaveringly for their principles and the TRUTH, to enlighten all Malaysians and foreigners to what is actually happening in Malaysia. Raja Petra is a True Son of Malaysia and a Malaysian Patriot that all Malaysians can be proud of, whether or not they agree with his views. He stands for what he believes in, and is willing to go to jail under the Draconian ISA for what he stands for. A Towering Malaysian for our younger generation to emulate, and aye, even for the older generation, too, and especially those who only find their guts when the elections come round. If I were part of Raja Petra’s family, I would hold my head up HIGH and be the proudest person in the world to have a patriarch like Raja Petra, and to have the opportunity to support him through all his challenges. We are in a way Raja Petra’s extended family and I would ask that we do what we can to help free Raja Petra from the clutches of the Devil, the ISA, by proactively signing the petition to free him. Throw your caution to the winds and sign. Whatever your religion, do you believe that we are here on Earth just to live for four score years and die for nothing?? Let us do something that is Right and Good, so that at the end of our four score years on Earth, we have something to show our Maker. Here is the petition address http://www.petitiononline.com/isa1234/petition.html Just SIGN IT ! Only your email address is needed. Go and register a new one for this if you must, but sign it, and get your family members to sign it as well as your friends. For the sake of our Patriot & Towering Malaysian, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, let him be FREE and walk in our midst once more.

“Singapore's leaders defamed by HK magazine: court” Are we surprised by this Ruling? No! The Lees controls the Justice mechanism, just as they control everything in that moronic island. I have been to the place several time; I’m not impressed! This is but a nanny city state, with so many petty controlling laws over its citizens. Any opposition or criticism of the Ruling Party is ‘dealt’ with in the ‘Court’. There is no ‘Long Hair’ in Singapore! ‘Free election’ is a farce. It is recognized by the West as a democratic state only because the Lees are their pet poodles.