Mahathir: September 11 is Self-inflicted by Americans

KUALA LUMPUR: There is strong evidence that the Sept 11 attacks on the United States that killed nearly 3,000 could have been “staged” as an excuse to mount attacks on the Muslim world, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Show of support: Dr Mahathir greeting Wael A. Saqqa, a participant from Jordan, at the conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

“I am not sure now that Muslim terrorists carried out these attacks. There is evidence that the attacks were staged.

“If they can make Avatar, they can make anything,” the former prime minister told a press conference here yesterday after delivering his speech at the General Conference for the Support of Al-Quds to aid the Palestinians.

He said killing innocent people to provide an excuse for war was not new to the US.

“But whether real or staged, the 9/11 attacks have served the United States and Western countries well. They have an excuse to mount attacks on the Muslim world,” he added.

Mahathir also criticised US President Barack Obama for failing to fulfil his promises concerning the country’s commitment in West Asia, including his promise to resolve the prevailing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I am a bit disappointed because so far none of his promises have been kept. He promised to get out from Afghanistan but he ended up sending more troops there instead.

“He promised to close down Guantanamo but he has not closed down Guantanamo.

“It is quite easy to promise during election time but you know there are forces in the United States which prevent the President from doing some things. One of the forces is the Jewish lobby, AIPAC,” he said.

On another issue, Dr Mahathir said he supported the plan to set up the inter-faith council as it could help promote effective understanding among religious groups in the country.

Such a council, he said, would provide a platform for people to talk about sensitive religious matters reasonably without taking it to the streets.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Mahathir spoke about the Palestinians’ claim on their land in West Asia which he said was based on legitimate grounds.

He said one of the greatest injustices done was to take Palestinian land to give to the Jews to create the state of Israel.

Later in Putrajaya, Dr Mahathir said the opinions of “powerful nations” should not deter Malaysia from continuing with its effort to help Palestine.

He was speaking at a ceremony to hand over certificates of appreciation to nine Malaysians who were part of the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza.

Mahathir criticises selling of sands to Singapore

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed today lashed out at the
government for inaction over the issue of sand-smuggling throughout the
country.

Dr Mahathir claims that this practice has been going on for some time but
corrupt officials have managed to keep a close lid on the matter.

"I read in the papers about the Works Minister saying 500 lorries delivering
sand to Singapore. No one has said anything on that, seems like they are
'agreeing' to it. Well I know it is not 500, it is actually 700 lorries,"
he said to reporters during a press conference.

"If I didn't draw people's attention to this issue, no one would speak up,
they all are too busy worried about whether they would get their Datukship,"
quipped Dr Mahathir.

The elderly statesmen maintained the validity of his facts, saying that the
main sources were the Works Minister (Datuk Shaziman Mansor) as well as a
"friend", whose identity he declined to reveal as he did not want to get his
friend "into trouble".

He claimed that Malaysia was being sold bit by bit to foreigners, citing the
sand-smuggling issue as an example.

"What these people are doing is selling a little bit of Malaysia at one
time, dig, keep digging Malaysia and give her to other people."

Democracy is the best system: Mahathir

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 01/15/2010 10:12 AM | World

INDONESIA: Democracy is the best system a country can adopt to promote people’s welfare despite its many weaknesses, former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad said during a visit to Indonesia’s province of South Sulawesi on Thursday.

Mahathir was addressing around 1,000 people at the graduate school of Hasanuddin University in Makassar about democracy, following recent religious turmoil back in Malaysia over the use of word Allah by the Christian community.

“Is there any governance system better than those provided from people, by people and to people?” he said in the seminar that also presented South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

He also warned of the possibility of the decline of democracy as certain groups might derail it for their own vested interests.

“Even if democracy goes on well there is no guarantee that it will bring prosperity to people. Everything depends on culture and the maturity of people in carrying out democracy,” said Mahathir.

Malaysia is a country that mixes the governance system of an institutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. It is ruled by a premier elected by people, and the king has no real power.

Dr M call to resolve situation privately and calmly

SHAH ALAM: Tun Dr Mahathir Moha­mad has reiterated his call for a closed-door discussion to resolve the situation following the attacks on four churches in the Klang Valley.

He said although Christians and Muslims enjoyed a harmonious relationship, there were “immature minds” out to cause havoc.

“These people are unable to digest the matter in a rational manner and it is more important to have discussions behind closed doors,” he said, adding that while the more sophisticated or educated groups would respond positively, one could never be sure of the irrational ones.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that using the legal avenue to settle certain matters might not take into account sensitive issues, which could provoke tension.

“So, for the best interest of the nation, we must choose a better approach,” he said after attending Proton’s Family Day yesterday.

He also cautioned the Govern­ment against giving into the demands of people who were more liberal than others.

“Some people might make demands because they are mature but there are those around them who might not be. I think we should not be toeing the line of Western countries on the idea of being liberal,” he added.

In Muar, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said the rakyat should heed the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s call to remain calm and respect all places of worship.

He said arson attacks could affect the business sector as foreigners might not want to invest in Malaysia.

Penang MCA deputy chairman Eng Hiap Boon said the attacks had created a bad impression among foreign investors and businessmen, adding that if the situation is not contained they might move out of the country.

Marina Mahathir: ‘Allah’ uproar just ‘knee-jerk reactions’

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — In a response to the uproar over the “Allah” issue, Datuk Marina Mahathir said those protesting against the court ruling obviously did not know enough about Islam as a religion.

She felt that the recent outcry over matter was just “knee-jerk reactions,” and that these people had likely not taken the initiative to actually study the legal aspects of the case, as well as the court decision.

“Maybe it’s because they do not know enough. They say knowledge is power, and the lack of it is ignorance. Holding on to the word Allah is not going to ‘convert’ anybody from Islam into another faith,” said Marina.

Marina, who is the daughter of Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, posted an article “Confident people do not get confused” on her blog yesterday morning.

Among other things, she highlighted a historical treaty between Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Christians from a delegation of St. Catherine’s Monastery. The treaty showed clear evidence that the Prophet himself declared “Christians as allies and any ill-treatment of them to be in violation of God’s covenant.”

She wrote that Muslims should be “confident” in their faith, and that they should be unfazed by the issue of “Allah”, as the basis of the Islamic faith lay in the fiver pillars of Islam alone.

The article received many comments, some favourable but many were against the points raised by Marina. Some readers said they were “concerned” that the Catholics’ insistence on using the word “Allah” raised questions about their true motives.

One reader even went so far as to suggest that while “confident Muslims” such as Marina may be knowledgeable with regards to Islam, the poorer, uneducated sections of the Muslim population in Malaysia would be easily confused over the usage of “Allah” by non-Muslims, insinuating that churches have used this as an excuse to convert Muslims out of their faith.

“I think it is really insulting and patronising as some of these comments mention how churches have converted Muslims for ‘free lunches.’ Well, if all it takes is a free lunch to convert someone, I say we should do the same then.

“I think it is a self-fulfilling prophecy... if you keep saying that Muslims will get confused, then they will eventually get confused. No one is interested in clarity, in understanding,” said Marina in a phone interview yesterday.

Marina, who is known for being outspoken on issues pertaining to human rights and freedom of speech, asserted that if Muslims in the country were to always portray themselves as easily manipulated and weak, they would be doing nothing but to serve the stereotypical misconceptions of Islam being a religion of little faith.

“Why don’t we believe in the strength of our own faith? What these people are doing is giving power to the other side. By reacting like this, you are basically saying that your faith is weak. Why are you portraying Islam as a weak religion, when it is clearly not? It is a beautiful, peaceful and understanding religion,” she added.

She said this constant battle for ownership of God was in essence wrong as it is people who should be submitting to God, not the other way round.

“It is not about God belonging to you, rather YOU belong to God,” Marina said.

The government has said it will appeal against Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan’s judgment that Catholic weekly “The Herald” had a constitutional right to use “Allah” to describe the Christian God in the national language.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin have themselves come out and made reassurances to the public, telling people not to make any comments which may further fuel tension between the Muslims and the non-Muslims in the country.

Their statements came as more than 40,000 people signed up in a Facebook page to pressure the government to reverse the Dec 31 court ruling.

The Facebook page titled “Menentang penggunaan nama Allah oleh orang bukan Islam (Against the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims)” plans to get a million Muslims to sign a petition against the court ruling and, judging by the comments left on the page, they seem to feel that Muslims are under siege by the Christians.

When asked on what she thought of the online battle over the issue, Marina said that it was very easy to misuse social networking services to aggravate the situation.

“Someone should complain to the Facebook administration and mark the page as offensive... the comments posted by people who wrote on my blog are that of urban people, most likely the same type of people who dragged the cow’s head in Shah Alam,” she said, in reference to the now-infamous incident in Shah Alam where 70-odd protestors dragged a severed cow’s head to the State Secretariat in retaliation towards the Selangor government’s relocation of a Hindu temple to a predominantly Muslim-majority area.

As an afterthought, Marina said that she was dismayed to see how the new year has turned out as she lamented how some Muslims were not progressing and that their mentality still remained the same.

“It is now the 21st century. What is the 21st century Muslim like? Different, or same as how we were in the past?

“Sadly, the way we are looking at things right now, I’d say we are the same.”

Restrict how 'Allah' is used

KUALA TERENGGANU - THE Malaysian High Court's decision allowing a Catholic weekly publication to use the term 'Allah' must be governed by strict conditions, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

'What I am afraid of is that the term 'Allah' might be used in such a way that could inflame the anger of Muslims, if they were to use it on banners or write something that might not reflect Islam,' he said.

Tun Dr Mahathir said whatever justifications offered for the approval, it would not defuse the anger of Muslims in the country.

'This is because 'God' in other religions is translated as 'Tuhan' in Bahasa Melayu or Arabic, not 'Allah'. 'Allah' specifically referred to God in Islam,' he told reporters after a function in the capital of Terengganu.

He was responding to the High Court ruling on Thursday that lifted the Home Ministry's ban on the Roman Catholic church using 'Allah' in its newspaper, The Herald.

The church had been banned before from using 'Allah', but the Home Ministry lifted the ban upon appeal. When it was re-imposed in 2007, the church took the issue to court.

Mahathir has refuted the charges of corruption and squandering

Former PM Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has refuted the charges of corruption leveled against him during his 22 year long tenure as a Prime Minister adding that he would welcome any enquiry for investigating his role in burning 40.9 billion Singapore dollars on grandiose projects.

Expressing a clear distrust over government machinery and its officials, Dr. Mahathir said that people of impeccable reputation should be incorporated in the enquiry commission.

Asking for widening the scope of commission, Dr. Mahathir said that role of other PMs including former PM Tun Abdullah Badawi should also be investigated. He said that the commission should be allowed to access the official record between the period of 1981 and 2009 for making the enquiry successful.

Dr. Mahathir wrote in his blog, "It should also include how much money was lost due to the cancellation of the crooked bridge and the Johor Baru- Padang Besar railway project."

Challenging Barry Wain, the author of the book Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times' Dr. Mahathir asked him to provided proofs to substantiate the charges he leveled against him.

Dr Mahathir challenges former WSJ editor to criticize Singapore leaders

Malaysian former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had challenged the former Managing Editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal, Barry Wain to criticize Singapore leaders.

Wain, recently released his book “Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times,” in which he accuses Dr Mahathir of wasting RM100 billion in public funds during his tenure as Malaysian Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003.

In a posting on his blog chedet yesterday, Dr Mahathir made a point for point defence against the accusations leveled against him and said he welcomed opposition leader Lim Kit Siang’s call for the Malaysian government to set up a royal commission to probe whether he “burned” RM100 billion.

True to his combative style, Dr Mahathir poured scorn on Wain for criticizing him only and challenged him to take on the leaders of Singapore, where he now resides.

“Barry Wain was formerly with the Asian Wall Street Journal and Asia Week. Presently he is with the Singapore think tank, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. He knows that if he writes anything against Singapore leaders he would be dragged to the courts, sued and forced to pay huge indemnity. His colleagues have all been found guilty of defamation when they wrote something that was not approved by Singapore leaders.” Dr Mahathir wrote.

He suggested that journalists dare to do so as the Malaysian courts are “lenient” with them:

“It is safe for journalists to impute all kinds of misbehaviour by Malaysian leaders. There have been many cases where the courts have found in favour of the journalists,” he added.

Dr Mahathir was referring to a recent court case involving WSJ’s sister publication – Far Eastern Economic Review which was sued for defamation by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The Singapore High Court had ordered the Review Publishing Company, publisher of the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), and editor Hugo Restall to pay 200,000 dollars in damages and 30,000 dollars in legal costs to Premier Lee Hsien Loong.

His father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, will get 150,000 dollars in damages and 25,000 dollars in legal costs.

The penalties were set after the Court of Appeal last month upheld a 2008 decision finding the defendants guilty of defaming the Lees in a 2006 article based on an interview with Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party leader.

The article at the heart of the case — entitled “Singapore’s ‘Martyr’, Chee Soon Juan” — described the opposition Singapore Democratic Party secretary general’s battle against the ruling People’s Action Party and its leaders.

Leaders from the Singapore’s ruling party have won numerous defamation suits against their political opponents back home and foreign publications such as The Economist, Time, Bloomberg, AsiaWeek and the International Herald Tribune.

Despite similar leadership style between him and Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, Dr Mahathir seldom sued those who opposed him for defamation.

The litigious nature of Singapore’s leaders have attracted international criticisms and opprobrium, especially from human rights organizations.

Singapore’s Law Minister Shanmugam defended its harsh defamatory laws lately to an American audience on the grounds that it is important to safeguard the reputation of its leaders from “scurrilous and baseless” accusations.

As one Malaysiakini reader puts it succinctly:

“And about Singapore, I bet my life, Barry Wain will never, never write anything about their ” Incorruptible Leaders ” Least he wants to be bankrupt. Just so you know, a very famous opposition leader in Singapore, spent donkey years getting out of bankruptcy, and died few months later.”

It will be interesting to see if Wain, Restall, or any other WSJ editor will write a fair, accurate and objective assessment of MM Lee when he passes on finally.

China’s Mao was a living god when he was still alive. Today, he is persona non grata in China and denounced as a mass-murderer outside China.

Lee will probably suffer a similar fate as Mao with few Singaporeans being remotely aware of his contributions or even existence long after his PAP is booted out of office.