PM: Government will not tolerate anyone making racist remarks

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has warned the people against spreading “half-truths” on racial issues and said the Government has zero tolerance of racist remarks.

“We are aware of some SMSes that have been going around, (in which the content) is not accurate and is intended to raise (racial) sentiments,” he said.

Najib emphasized that action would be taken against those who made remarks that were racist in nature and unlawful, and also against those who vandalized places of worship such as churches or surau.

“Let’s not have people who spin the issue racially, as if we practice selective prosecution,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Najib said the Government had zero tolerance for racist remarks by anyone.

“Our stand is not to tolerate racist remarks by anyone. Unity is very important as part of our nation building,” Najib said.

Najib, however, added that alleged racist remarks must first be investigated before action was taken.

You got Chua Soi Lek’s facts wrong completely

Ironically, article spinning would be the losing strategy. It end up with worthless and not the exact same meaning with the intension to confuse readers.

It reflect the unethical side of the media which resulted from lack of qualified personnel. The decision to commit an unprofessional act and to behave unprofessionally in order to accomplish their personal goals are highly condemned.

The so called spinning Doctor is trying to confuse you to sell some ideas that may seem smart, but can ultimately destroy the good reputation the politician has worked years to build.

Undeniably, the opposition manage to create a myopic illusion to misleading and fool the public that only religious opposition to cloning a little better government.

Chua Soi Lek's remarks is purely a political rebuttal to the opposition’s rebuttal. The ultimate aim of MCA President Chua Soi Lek is to highlight the political logic and reality about the opposition especially PAS.

“Although Malaysia is also a Muslim-majority country, we are luckier because of the moderate and pragmatic policies implemented by the Barisan Nasional government.”

“Do not be too optimistic that once PAS rules the government, the country will be free from corruption and other problems. Bear in mind, some of the most corrupted countries are Muslim-majority countries.”

Clearly, the media appear to be deliberately distorting the issue and Chua Soi Lek's remarks had been deliberately wrongly reported in order to create a critical mass unfavorable to the ruling party under the banner of freedom of press and news value.

Opposition has no chance of winning a good victory in the 10th Sarawak state election

The 10th Sarawak state election is around the corner and it might be held anytime from now. It is strongly believed that with the current sentiment in the opposition ranks that it has absolutely no chance of winning a good victory at the poll.

EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said, the Election Commission is ready to conduct the 10th Sarawak state election and has set aside RM30 million for purpose. Although the current term of the state assembly would only expire in July next year, he said, the commission was ready for the poll anytime.

Sarawak has 71 state seats. The EC allocated RM31 million to carry out the state election in 2006 with the bulk of the expenditure was for helicopter charges due to accessibility problems in certain areas. Abdul Aziz said the EC had so far registered a total of 940,924 voters in Sarawak.

Last year, the EC registered 29,278 new voters compared to 18,830 in 2008.

'Opposition only talks but incapable of fulfilling promises'

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said it is now proven that the opposition pact, especially in Selangor, is incapable of running a government.

He said the opposition parties only knew how to make promises without thinking whether they had the ability to deliver them.

He said in Selangor, the state government was faced with various issues such as the sand mining issue, which he said, was in stark contrast to their claims of being an efficient government.

"They have no ability to manage the state economy although they claim to be an efficient government.

"In reality, they only talk... they talk like a parrot, they say things without knowing the meaning,"

Muhyiddin said the failure of the opposition to run their administration smoothly had affected confidence among investors towards the country, especially in Selangor.

"Should we trust them? I want the people to be aware of this and not destroy our future by believing in the lies and allegations being spread by the opposition parties when they themselves are not capable of delivering their own promises," he said.

Muhyiddin said that unlike the opposition pact, Barisan Nasional had proven its capabilities and that it had now overcome its past weaknesses, with the leaders now going to the ground to meet the people.
"We are now a true government for the people," he said.

He also refuted allegations by the opposition that the BN was a racist government.

"How is it that they are accusing us of being racist when we are representing the interest of everyone... the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan and so on," he said.

马华及民政是国阵的乘客?

根据《东方日报》报道，阿末扎希为甲州巫统武吉卡迪区部代表大会主持开幕时，警告马华及民政不能只满足于 成为国阵的“乘客”，反之必须与巫统协力合作，力阻民主行动党继续壮大，否则将在来届大选付上惨痛的代价！

他更 在会上质问，马华是否可以拿下以华人占大多数的选区，因为他们很多都是得靠巫统在马来区的优势胜出！

他强调，若马华及民政已没有了斗志，任由行动党继续强大，那么在国阵精神下分配给他们的选区议席都已是徒然。

他继称，据调 查报告显示，国阵的马来支持票已有回流的迹象，若与308全国大选相比，民联的巫裔支持率已下跌4%至7%。

Subsidies reduce would not burden the people

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that when implementing the subsidy rationalization plan, the Government would seek not to burden the people.

He said the rationalization move was necessary to reduce Government expenditure and strengthen the financial position of the country.

From Friday, the subsidies for sugar, petrol, liquefied petroleum gas and diesel will be cut as part of the gradual subsidy rationalization programmed.

Subsidy rationalization will allow Malaysia to reduce Government expenditure by more than RM750 million this year. The Government will still spend an estimated RM7.82 billion on fuel and sugar subsidies this year. The prices of fuel and sugar in Malaysia will still be among the lowest in the region.

The decision to reduce subsidies for fuel and sugar is based on the fact that reducing fuel subsidies will have the greatest impact on government spending while reducing sugar subsidies will help promote healthier lifestyles.

The price of sugar will go up 25 sen to RM1.75 per kg; LPG will go up 10sen to RM1.85 per kg; petrol RON95 will be up 5 sen to RM1.85 per liter and diesel will be up 5sen to RM1.75 per liter.

RON 97 will no longer be subsidized. It will be subjected to a managed float, where the price will be determined by the automatic pricing mechanism.

Suara Keadilan's permit suspended under PPPA

The Home Ministry yesterday suspended PKR organ Suara Keadilan's publishing permit for running afoul of the Printing Presses and Publication Act (PPPA).

The ministry said in a statement that it was not satisfied with the explanation provided by the weekly tabloid. Therefore, its annual publishing permit, which expired yesterday, would not be renewed.

The Suara Keadilan explanation was given for an article it reported in its June 21-29 edition that the Federal Land and Development Agency (Felda) is bankrupt.

"As of July 1, the publication is no longer valid and as such, it cannot be printed or published… according to Section 5(1) of the PPPA," said the ministry's publications and al-Quran text controls secretary Zaitun Ab Samad.

She said the decision was made by the ministry's Panel for Evaluating Printing and Publications Permit Applications (Panel 13), which is headed by its secretary-general Mahmood Adam.

The publisher will be required to respond to the letter. The application for the renewal of their permit - which expired on June 30 - will be considered after we have received a satisfactory explanation," she said.

The ministry reportedly sent Suara Keadilan three show-cause letters prior to the one on its Felda article, which was sent on June 28.