It’s good to know that the Selangor state government is pursuing religiously its intent to make Freedom of Information (FOI) law a reality. The PR government reportedly planned to table a FOI Enactment in the next sitting of its state assembly in March next year.

People of Selangor and Malaysians in general have now seen how vital FOI can be especially after being revealed by the PR Selangor government how taxpayers’ money had been misused by the previous BN government.

But, to be sure, FOI should not only be meant to expose questionable economic planning and development projects of the previous government. It should also convey the notion to the rakyat that they have the right to know how their money has been spent by the very people who have been entrusted to run the state and the country.

As we also know, leakages in the delivery system can exact a heavy toll on the rakyat and the country in the long run and unless information is made freely available, these leakages can’t be plugged or plugged effectively.

In other words, FOI law is one of the means of making political leaders, irrespective of their political hues and party affiliations, accountable to the rakyat in whose name they supposedly govern.

Given the importance of the FOI law, we hope other state governments, particularly those under PR rule, would not be averse to the idea of pushing for transparency via a law like the FOI Act.

Incidentally, the mainstream media, particularly those that supposedly have the welfare of the ordinary people at heart, should campaign for FOI. It’s good for journalism too.

(Photo credit: The Malaysian Insider)

The photo above suggests that Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin and PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah have kissed and made up, so to speak, after a recent public spat.

In his insistence that things have been resolved, Zulkifli tells Malaysians that “we want to educate the public that this is the new politics that we are bringing”.

What he wants Malaysians to know is that their spat is a living demonstration of a democratic process where party members do criticise one another and, in fact, they could agree to disagree.

So far so good.

But wary and weary Malaysians are concerned with certain Pakatan Rakyat politicians who espouse views that run counter to the very core beliefs or ideology of the respective PR partners, which leaves many Malaysians wondering why the hell do these politicians still align themselves to the political parties concerned.

To take a hypothetical case: a politician whose narrow political views and actions go against, say, the multiethnic ideology of her party may want to reconsider her membership in the party.

Equally serious, there are certain PR politicians who seem to have veered from the spirit of political understanding and cooperation between the coalition partners to the point of aggravating the ideological crack that already exists.

Indeed, ordinary Malaysians, with an eye on the next general election, may no longer tolerate such political misconduct. Needless to say, this should be instructive to the politicians concerned.

It would seem unfair that the primates above had to be dragged from the comfort of their natural habitat only to get themselves entangled with what looks like a babe in the woods.

But then, today’s event in Malaysia’s Parliament seems to warrant the very physical appearance of these expressive monkeys.

Ex-Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who was hauled up last night by the JAIS (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) enforcement officers and police, suspected a form of selective persecution in relation to his arrest after he delivered a religious talk in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Asri is known to be vocal in his criticism of the country’s religious establishment as a whole and of some of its religious judgements.

Often Asri’s stand on certain religious issues, such as ’snoop squad’ and ‘yoga’, is perceived as being problematic, if not too ‘extreme’.

At the time of writing, JAIS is reportedly still mulling over what charge will be preferred against Asri after the latter was arrested.

In other words, arrrest first and reason (for the arrest) later. How does such JAIS action square with Islam’s insistence on justice, fairness and compassion? 

Below is Asri’s media conference on his recent religious and ideological clashes with national Islamic missionary movement YADIM and like-minded Islamic organisations in Malaysia.

Indian Malaysians who, according to Prime Minister Najib, are ’somewhat marginalised’ are told to stay loyal to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) as this is where their future supposedly lies.

To be sure, the Indian community as a whole had remained loyal to the BN all these many years — despite the fact that a substantial number within the community had to, and still do, face economic neglect and hardships.

Indeed, for many of them, particularly those living in rubber plantations and urban squatters, their socio-economic marginalisation is rather real and painfully persistent.

So Port Klang assemblyperson Badrul Hisham Abdullah finally says goodbye to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) after months of speculation by political observers about his political future and inclination.

Like his Perak counterparts, he’s now independent but ’BN-friendly’.

One wonders whether it would be terribly ‘painful’ for Badrul to maintain his so-called independence while at the same time he commits himself to being ‘BN-friendly’.

What does it take to have such political versatility, the very stuff that such politicians are made of?

The ordinary folks in his constituency who voted for him may be excused for passionately believing that there is such a thang as ‘Malaysia Boleh’.

Incidentally, he was reported to have said this: “I was elected by the people and not by the Mentri Besar of Selangor” — in a three-page statement in response to Khalid’s call for him to quit.

In this regard, Badrul may want to remember that he was then elected by the people as a PKR candidate, not ‘independent’ nor ‘BN-friendly’.

At the rate things are going, the Perak State Assembly, which will be sitting today, is being transformed into a ‘political fortress’ by the present BN state government.

What’s even sad and appalling is that ordinary Malaysians in general and Perakians in particular aren’t allowed to go near this building, let alone enter it, a place that is in principle meant for and represent the interests of the ordinary citizens of a democracy.

Sadder still is that politics in Perak has become a subject of ridicule in the eyes of people who cherish democracy, justice and political sanity.

See here and here.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat MP and strategic director, Tian Chua, was found guilty by the KL magistrate’s court of “biting a police constable and preventing the latter from discharging his duty”.

As a result, he was today jailed six months and fined RM3,000. Chua was granted a stay of execution pending appeal.

Chua may lose his parliamentary seat as the fine exceeds RM2,000. Another by-election for the election weary Malaysians?

And another battle royale between the BN and the Pakatan bloc, with the former dishing out election goodies?

See here and here for the full story.