Malaysiakini : Former Sabah chief minister Salleh Said Keruak has urged the police to manage security concerns so American gospel singer Israel Houghton's planned concert can proceed.

State police commissioner Jauteh Dikun had recommended postponing the concert by Houghton’s band, Israel & New Breed, over concerns about his name and his support for the Zionist state.

At least two police reports have been lodged against the event, whose organisers have begun advertising it despite not yet filing the necessary paperwork.

In a statement today, Salleh said Jauteh’s (above) concerns should be taken seriously, but all factors should be weighed as Houghton has a following among Sabah’s Christian community.

“Sabah has always been known for religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence among its diverse communities. This is a tradition worth preserving.

"⁠If the security concerns can be reasonably managed, the emphasis should be on ensuring that the concert is conducted responsibly and peacefully, rather than preventing it from taking place altogether," said the Umno politician.

United Sabah Islamic Association (Usia) and Sabah Islamic NGOs lodged a police report in Lahad Datu yesterday and called for a review of the concert’s permits, Daily Express reported.

They cited Houghton’s alleged stance on Israel and the Israel–Palestine conflict, but stress the objection is not against any religion or race and that they reject hatred toward any group.

Houghton (below), an eight-time Grammy Award winner, is scheduled to perform in Sabah later this month.

Only truth : Let the concert go on as scheduled. We have had enough of people making police reports which does not involve them This is purely a Christian gathering involving gospel singing. 

Why should others poke their business into this, anyone has the right to their opinion, Where does it say that we all should think alike and do only what a certain group want What if it was the other way around ,will there be any noise made Sabah show how to respect each others religion

GP2025 : The singer has been invited to Sabah for religious reasons, not political reasons. As long as he is advised not to use the religious platform to advocate his political stance, the concert should go on. That’s Sabahans’ constitutional right and should be respected, esp since they form the majority there.

BlueShark1548 : Well spoken by a Sabahan.Sabah is not the peninsula where narrow-mindedness is a common trait of our religious heads.They can have a say here but not in Sabah where Christians were in the majority before. 

The successful holding of the concert will show the world what religious harmony we have in East Malaysia.Sabah people and police can manage the concert in peace Show your autonomy and confidence and have faith in Sabahans.

Sealthedeal : How pathetic does it get. The United Sabah Islamic Association (Usia) and Sabah Islamic NGOs are hysterical and forget where they are. Sabah is not an Islamic state. Kick these trouble makers out.

BusinessFirst : Thousands of reports against certain preachers also no action why the zeal when it comes to two reports?

KitaBoleh : If you are losing sleep over someone's name, then you should go back to school again. Our fellow citizens have biblical names and there hasn't been any issue. So, what's the problem with Israel?

Optimus : For those who are losing sleep over this concert, then don't attend but do not let the disease of religious disharmony that occurs ever so frequently over in the peninsula spread over to East Msia. 

Once the religious extremists take a foothold, the other religions would be trampled on and that will be the end of the road for religious harmony.

wayang : Sabah must not allow itself to become like the peninsula, afraid of religious bigots running paranoid trying to push their own personal agenda in making mountains out of a mole hill.

Headhunter : Looks like Sabah is being influenced by Malayan politics. If the fanatics are not stop in their track, brace for more ridiculous demands in the future.

Gutshot Podcast : I taped this much earlier but held it back due to current events i.e. tuition center fiasco etc.. so here goes. Lets call a spade a spade. (ps. may have missed the "former" in Former Bursa Chairman TS Wahid Omar. My opologies if so.) 

The tuition center fiasco is just the tip of the ice berg. Everyday Malays are neither interested and they have "maruah" not to ask for things to be forced to be given to them by non malays. Our every day Adam, Ali, Pak Cik and Mak Cik have the dignity, even when they are struggling to work hard selling nasi lemak, goreng pisang, working on offshore platforms 2 weeks on or a marine vessel 3 months at a time. 

But these elites really know how to make us Malays lose our dignity. In a dialogue session in a forum recently organized by the usual GLIC/GLC crowd, the Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah and Former Bursa Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, reviewed the so-called PuTERA35 target of forcing a 31% Bumiputera corporate contribution to the national GDP by 2035, a target set 10 years ago. Really?

The video though, is an AI-generated deepfake: the BBC never broadcast it, and its footage and audio were doctored. A second clip was also misrepresented and filmed in Dubai, not over where the incident occurred. Vedika Bahl fact-checks in Truth or Fake. BBC is a peddler of fake news anyway. Someone took the pain of creating some content for them.

Absolute respect and gratitude to the incredibly brave Indian pilot on this flight. Despite being stabbed and facing a life-threatening situation, his quick thinking to transmit an emergency signal, open the cockpit door, and resist the attacker truly saved everyone on board.

A true hero whose courage in the face of terror is nothing short of miraculous. Wishing him a full and speedy recovery.

For the love of...........

And the wing’s deputy chairperson, Mike Chong, even has a destination in mind, somewhere “filled with hatred, antagonism, or even conflict”, but he stopped short of naming any particular country. 

After all, Chong suggested, Ridhuan (above) might finally “feel comfortable” in such a place, given his apparent inability to come to terms with the diversity that defines Malaysia.

Chong also had a choice selection of words for Ridhuan, accusing him of stoking hatred and antagonism while laying bare what he described as the academic’s narrow-mindedness.

“If Ridhuan feels he is unable to live in a peaceful, harmonious, diverse, and inclusive Malaysia, he does not need to continue to subject himself to this grievance.

“MCA Youth strongly advises him to voluntarily renounce his Malaysian citizenship and migrate,” he added.

'Hypocritical performance'

Chong’s trenchant suggestion came in response to Ridhuan accusing government leaders of hypocrisy and of staging a “performance” by attending the funeral of Dr Hasmah Ali.

Ridhuan, a former lecturer at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, claimed that those who had ignored former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s wife when she was alive were now suddenly eager to display their kindness following her passing.

Chong was also stumped on a psychological level, asking: “What kind of mindset does Ridhuan possess that compels him to manufacture antagonism and provoke hatred over everything?”

“This is not Ridhuan’s first controversial remark. Recently, his rants ranged from accusing the Malaysia Airlines in-flight magazine of lacking Bahasa Malaysia, questioning why Hungry Ghost Festival celebration banners only used Chinese characters, and characterising the Unified Examination Certificate as a ‘product of communism’.

“He consistently steers issues towards ethnic, linguistic, and identity confrontation which could otherwise be discussed rationally. Now, even a funeral can become an outlet for his hatred,” he added.

'Think of the children'

Emphasising that a moment of national mourning should not be exploited to manufacture hate, Chong (below) likened Ridhuan’s words and actions to “someone walking around with a torch of hatred, indiscriminately fanning the flames on all sorts of issues”.

“As an academic with social influence, Ridhuan should treat his public statements with greater care and cease using tactics that tear society apart and manufacture antagonism simply to chase web traffic and show off.

“He should do so not only for the sake of his fellow Malaysians, but also for the well-being and future of his own descendants,” he added.

Two days ago, DAP lawmaker RSN Rayer lodged a police report against Ridhuan over a social media post, which the DAP MP said contained words that were “insulting, sarcastic, and disparaging” towards the Chinese community.

Central to Rayer’s report was Ridhuan’s use of the term “ultra kiasu harbi”, which conflates non-Muslim political figures with hostile combatants or “enemies of Islam”.

'This is not what Islam teaches us'

Separately, PKR’s Kota Anggerik assemblyperson Najwan Halimi also weighed in, backing MCA Youth’s criticism of Ridhuan and accusing the academic of repeatedly pushing divisive views on race and religion.

Najwan (above), also Shah Alam PKR chief, said such positions have no place in a multiracial country like Malaysia.

“His statements do not at all reflect the mindset of a rational and civilised scholar or Muslim.

“I do not understand what version of Islam Ridhuan subscribes to - day after day, he sows hatred and calls for division.

TOPSYTURVEY FROM 2018 : To borrow a phrase from ketuanan, he should balik to tongsan. However at this point does tongsan want him? However he is trying very hard to be part of ketuanan. So does ketuanan want him or use him as a tool? Time will tell.

This story follows how Arab unrest, British rule, World War II, and the refugee crisis pushed them from bitter infighting to uneasy cooperation—and finally into a single army. It also traces the last, violent test of unity in 1948, when the new state demanded one chain of command. 

Britain did the geopolitcal equivalent of farting in an elevator before getting out. You mentioned the ‘eccentric’British Officer who trained the night squads including Dayan and other future Israeli Army leaders in 1939 was General Orde Wingate, who led the ‘Chindits’ fighting the Japanese behind their lines in Burma. 

I understand that he is quoted as a foreword in the IDF handbook to every Israeli entry the IDF. Would like to see you continue this story with info on the Palmach, and especially on the contributions made by my father, who was a Machal pilot from New York. 

He and 5 other captains flew the C-46's smuggled from the USA that ferried guns and grenades from Czechoslovakia to Israel. Without the help of these 6 airplane crews, each making many trips between Zatec, Czechoslovakia and Israel under very dangerous conditions,, there would be no Israel today.

"Enough is enough!" said the indignant Jelutong MP. "How many more police reports must be filed before this hateful rhetoric is halted? Do we wait until hatred takes root, communities are torn apart, and the damage becomes irreversible?" he told Rayer warned that official inaction risked fuelling public anger and reinforcing perceptions of double standards.

"This goes against everything Pakatan Harapan stands for. We represent principles, accountability, and the equal application of the law," he emphasised.

'Ultra kiasu harbi'

Rayer’s police report concerned a social media post by Ridhuan, which the DAP MP said contained words that were “insulting, sarcastic and disparaging” towards the Chinese community.

Central to Rayer’s report was Ridhuan’s use of the term "ultra kiasu harbi", which conflates non-Muslim political figures with hostile combatants or "enemies of Islam”.

Mano : Do we wait until hatred takes root, communities are torn apart, and the damage becomes irreversible?" Unfortunately the bullying tactics of some Muslims and Muslim preachers against NM have shown and sown enough supremacy seeds within the Muslims. 

When this happens, the divisiveness against NM grows and when enough supremacy is there, the MM even start bullying their own MM.

DonGetMeWrong : How many hundreds if not thousand of police made but no action. If it is the other way round PDRM already in front of the person's house even if only one police report made. 

Muslims are protected from the hate speech. Zakir Naik an example. He is protected even though there is an extradition order from Indian govt.

Modern and ancient genetic research is helping scientists reconstruct this complicated history and identify ancestry connections that cannot be explained by a single migration or population. 

In this video, we explore the Malay DNA mystery, Malay ancestry, Southeast Asian genetics, ancient migration, Austronesian ancestry, Asian population history, and the genetic connections linking populations across the Malay Archipelago. 

We examine how ancient population movements and later interactions shaped the ancestry of modern Malays and why the genetic history of Southeast Asia is far more complicated than older theories suggested.

In explaining China’s ascendancy in the last decade, I said that in addition to investments in infrastructure, technology and a focus on communitarian development, a key factor was the hard-nosed fight against corruption, which included the state empowering the public to report on corrupt officials even via WeChat.

I also pointed out that the punishment was most severe for senior officials, especially ministers, and that it includes the death penalty.

During the Q&A, I was asked a question about what lessons Malaysia could learn from China. I said there are many, but we are unlikely to learn them given our dysfunctional and rent-seeking political system. I added that if there is one that we should focus on, it would be to get tough on corruption, especially with senior officials. I refrained from advocating capital punishment.

There was, as is common in Malaysia, a hush amongst elites when one openly addresses what so many say aloud in private. I have lost count of the number of taxi drivers from the airport who are victims of the scam system operating there and who have asked me about Chinese methods to fight corruption.

When informed, they tell me they would like to see these same harsh methods used in Malaysia.

In answering the question at the talk, I said these measures would dramatically change the fortunes of the country, and this is obvious if we look at the results in Singapore, where per capita GDP is more than six times ours. Yes, Singapore is small and may not be the best comparison, but our per capita GDP is roughly level with China’s, a country of 1.4 billion people.

If we had the same tough stance, I believe our GDP might well double, and there would be scores in jail for white-collar crime, especially politicians and people from within the government. Few, if any, discharges not amounting to an acquittal (DNAAs) would be issued.

Coincidentally, I also found myself last week speaking to two groups of foreigners, mostly Europeans, and I said that the tough anti-corruption stance in China was a major factor in its ascendancy. I also mentioned Singapore and its former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s tough position from the early days. In this video, he recounts how a minister under investigation for corruption took his own life.

In Korea and Japan, many politicians and business leaders resigned or even took their own lives when exposed, given the shame they felt they brought on the nation and their families. It is an expectation of the society. It has cultural roots which seem to be totally absent amongst our political elite.

The reasons for this will make for very uncomfortable reading for our elite political leaders. A respected Malay Islamic scholar, M Kamal Hassan, sets them out in “Corruption and Hypocrisy in Malay Muslim Politics: The Urgency of Moral-Ethical Transformation”, which argues that Malay political culture itself has become corrupt.

RedRaven6070 : UMNO’s oldest political weapon is fear: when scrutiny gets too close, bring out race, religion and royalty. After decades of 3R politics, some have been conditioned to defend the powerful before questioning where the money came from — until corruption can be dressed up as “rezeki” and accountability portrayed as an attack on the race. 

Then comes the convenient religious argument: that corruption, as a specific offence, is not explicitly classified as haram under Shariah law. That does not mean Islam permits corruption; Islamic teachings also prohibit bribery, fraud, betrayal of trust and unjustly taking wealth. 

But politically, the message is chillingly simple: when the money trail becomes embarrassing, change the subject from accountability to race, religion and royalty — and suddenly the accused becomes the victim.

- Anthony Loke

COMMENT | At this point, if DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke does not resign from his cabinet position, it would benefit the party’s enemies more than it would if he resigned. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Loke did nothing wrong, had opposed the pardon, and that his resignation would affect the stability of Madani.

Rational Malaysians understand that DAP resigning from cabinet positions and governmental agencies would not affect the stability of the Madani government because DAP MPs could still support the Anwar administration in terms of parliamentary voting; hence, this talking point that some DAP and Pakatan Harapan supporters spout is complete horse manure.

Loke's possible resignation is symbolic in that it demonstrates that, for a portion of the polity, Najib’s house arrest is the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to the policies of Madani.

However, if it is stability that folks want to talk about, we could do that. From the get-go, the main factor affecting the stability of Madani was Umno and its relentless attacks against DAP. The fact that the prime minister chose not to publicly rebuke Umno and support his reformasi comrades points to how crippled the DAP was in Madani.

For the sake of Madani, DAP placed a monetary value on Teoh Beng Hock’s murder. And let us not forget all the other malfeasances that DAP has turned a blind eye to in the name of political stability.

Madani is merely a vehicle for Umno to engineer a reversal of fortune. By giving such prominence to Umno in Madani, the prime minister has allowed Umno to leverage its federal influence while carrying on demonising the DAP, which they used as a stand-in for the Chinese community.

By kneecapping DAP, which Madani has done because it is deathly afraid of spooking the Malays, Madani has done a good job of destabilising non-Malay support for DAP, which only benefits Umno and PAS but, more devastatingly, has engineered a polity whose irrational disdain for the DAP would hasten the demise of democracy in this country.

Gahlot rejects Pakistan’s Kashmir claims

Exercising India’s right of reply, Petal Gahlot, First Secretary at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN, said Jammu and Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India. Responding to Pakistan’s repeated references to Kashmir at the UN, she instead raised concerns about conditions in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, including reported violence and restrictions on basic rights.

Jahanzaib Ali

The incident happened when Dr Jaishankar was addressing the media along with Liberia’s Foreign Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. Pakistani journalist attempted to interrupt the session by hurling accusations that India has been sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.

“When will your government stop sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan?” the Pakistani journalist asked Dr. Jaishankar, who shut him up with a fitting response. “A terrorist country is asking me that question? Come on!” the Indian External Affairs Minister hit back at the Pakistani reporter by calling out Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism in India.

Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan conveyed this strong message at his intervention at “The Hague Group Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting in Defence of International Law” at the United Nations (UN) headquarters on Friday.

Mohamad further stressed that “defending international law is not a matter of choosing sides”.

“It is about defending a rules-based order in which no state is above the law, and in which the rights of peoples are not subject to political convenience,” he said.

Mohamad is in New York from Sept 23 to 27 to lead Malaysia’s delegation to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

“We meet as the international legal order faces one of its most severe tests.

“In Gaza and across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we continue to witness blatant violations of international law, immense human suffering, and the systematic denial of fundamental human rights,” he said.

ScarletPanda9731 : Apply the same law.here. it is a universal law No double standards please. Human rights for all. Fairness for all people . 

Fight for all people Kidnap cases Disappearance case Death cases. What happened,? No closures. Empty.promises,. Even MA 63 not completely fulfilled After 60 years Nx ten

OrangeMouse9413 : He must be one of those moral cowards who was mocked while walking out of the assembly. Talking all kinds of poppy cock. Racial equality in Malaysia is also not an optional menu, where the majority can demand (nay rob) the minorities of 30% of their business under the guise of the law. 

Impunity of the racists and fanatics insulting other religions, making jokes about priests and nuns, threatening May 13 style retribution. Accountability must prevail on the corrupt who stole 1MDB funds instead of celebrating his pardon as a victory (actually perversion) of justice. 

The mighty is above the law, helangs over pipits. The rights of the non-Muslim peoples should not be subject to political convenience, whether the blues, greens, and reds having their quarterly lovers quarrel and changing partners like changing undergarments.

Among those who deserve greater recognition are the Pathans, whose contributions extend from the early police forces and village trading networks to national politics, journalism, business, sport and entertainment.

Their relative invisibility is partly the consequence of successful integration. Through marriage, shared religious life and the adoption of local languages and customs, many Pathan families became closely identified with the Malay community.

Yet assimilation should not mean historical disappearance. Their story helps us understand how Malaysia developed through the contributions of people with diverse origins who made this country their home.

Nada Villa : Later generations of Pathans became distinguished Malays. Yet Mahathir’s Malabar ancestry was reduced to “a few spoonfuls” of Indian blood. Some descendants proudly carry their roots; others seem determined to measure theirs out by the spoonful

Exile : Ranjit Singh Malhi’s account is a welcome contribution to Malaysian history. By restoring the Pathans to our national story, he demonstrates why we must step outside the restrictive “Malay, Chinese and Indian” construction inherited from colonial administration. Those categories conceal more than they reveal. 

“Indian”, for example, collapses Tamils, Punjabis, Malayalees, Telugus, Bengalis, Gujaratis and Pathans into a single imagined community, erasing their different origins and experiences. The article also helps correct the west-coast bias of much Malaysian history. 

Accounts centred on Penang, Perak, Selangor, Malacca and Singapore can leave the north-east of Peninsular Malaya—particularly Kelantan and Terengganu—looking peripheral. Yet these states were connected to wider networks of migration, commerce, Islam and political authority stretching across Patani, Siam and beyond. 

By tracing the presence and contributions of the Pathans, Malhi fills an important gap in that regional history. Their gradual assimilation does not make their story less significant; it shows how Malaysian society was actually formed. 

Communities arrived, settled, intermarried, adapted and contributed, often disappearing within later official classifications. A people’s history must recover precisely such lives. Malaysia was never built by three neatly separated “races”. 

It emerged from many communities whose stories overlapped. Malhi’s article is therefore more than an account of the Pathans: it is an argument for a richer, more truthful Malaysian history.

When the Muslim trainees went for Friday prayers, the non-Muslim trainees were left behind to rest.

If this is being discussed as a literary episode, its significance is less about the bodily detail itself and more about what Swami is conveying: the harshness, humiliation, absurdity and deliberately boundary-crossing nature of some military training experiences. The juxtaposition of Friday prayer, religious practice and an extremely degrading physical task makes the episode particularly memorable and uncomfortable.

It would distinguish, however, between what Swami records as his experience and that such treatment was, maybe standard practice at the training centre. 

This continuation makes the ordeal even more striking because the humiliation does not end when the feces exercise ends.

1. The instructors tell the men to prepare for lunch.
2. There is no water available, so the men run into the sea and dive in, trying to wash themselves without soap.
3. The smell of feces remains despite washing.
4. Swami searches his pack, finds a bar of soap, and uses it.
5. The men then run to the dining hall.
6. When Swami approaches the commandos, they wrinkle their noses because of the lingering smell.
7. Even before being allowed their lunch, the trainees have to perform ten chin-ups to qualify for what Swami sarcastically calls that “crappy lunch.”

Why this passage is so effective

The episode has a remarkable progression: contamination → desperate cleansing → social humiliation → physical exertion → food.

The sea provides only a partial solution. The fact that the smell remains means that Swami cannot simply wash away the experience. Then the reaction of the commandos—wrinkling their noses—makes the ordeal socially humiliating, not merely physically unpleasant.

The final requirement of ten chin-ups is particularly telling in the narrative. Hunger does not exempt the trainees from another physical test. Lunch itself becomes something they must earn.

Taken together with the preceding pages, this is one of the book's most visceral descriptions of military training. Swami isn't romanticising the experience. He records the disgust, smell, exhaustion, humiliation and absurdity of the moment, including his own disbelief at what he is being subjected to.

And there is an important narrative detail: the episode is remembered through the senses—feces on the body, the smell that will not disappear, seawater, soap, the reaction of the commandos, and finally the chin-ups before eating. That makes the scene unusually difficult for the reader to experience passively. 

That detail adds another layer to the episode. Based on what has been described from the passage, the training environment is presented as deliberately austere rather than comfortable or ceremonial.

The lingering smell of feces would naturally make eating difficult, so the irony is striking: after the trainees have struggled to clean themselves, they still have to perform chin-ups before receiving lunch. The meal is therefore presented less as a normal break and more as another part of the ordeal.

The detail about the uncovered dining area reinforces that atmosphere. When it rains, the men have to eat their meal which becomes soupy from their mess tins, rather than retreating into a conventional dining hall. In combination with the earlier episode, Swami is portraying training as an environment where discomfort is continuous—heat, rain, hunger, exhaustion, contamination and lack of basic amenities.

Literarily, the contrast is powerful:

feces → sea washing → lingering smell → chin-ups → lunch → rain → mess tins

It gives the account its warts-and-all quality. The military experience is not presented only through combat, courage or achievement; Swami also records the unpleasant, degrading and mundane physical realities of becoming a commando.

Arrogant Orang Putih

According to Astro Awani, Rais was charged with allegedly uttering seditious words at a hotel in Alor Gajah, Malacca, at about 1pm on June 5.

Among the statements cited in the charge were remarks expressing prayers for Tunku Nadzaruddin Tuanku Ja'afar as the 12th Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, as well as a call for the public to pledge their allegiance to the latter.

The charge also quoted Rais as saying that Tunku Nadzaruddin, as the state ruler, would be free to carry out matters of state administration, and that the public should focus on pledging allegiance to him in accordance with the law and customs of Negeri Sembilan.

Rais was charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948, punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act with a fine of up to RM5,000, imprisonment for up to three years, or both.

GreenPuma9227 : Hope the Court will find him guilty and sentence him to jail for many years.Real trouble maker.

The people of Selangor : This old man Rais Yatim himself ask for it. He thinks he is smarter than anyone. He has no respect to the Yamtuan. Busybody

RedWolf1406 : Rais has been too arrogant!!! He was never regarded as an expert in Law, never had any outstanding achievement during his tenure as MB in NS. Its timely to slam the sedition act agst him,during his twilight years. Let him study his Law Books again in jail!!!

Najib was granted a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his SRC International sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028. We keep being told that his house arrest is subject to RM50 million and “other conditions”.

What exactly are those conditions? Is there a publicly released document setting them out in full?

The Prison Department’s ordinary powers and procedures should not be confused with the specific conditions imposed by the Pardons Board.

The attorney-general said the Prison Department will issue SOPs covering visits, security, and monitoring. So how will Najib be monitored? Who can visit? What restrictions apply? Who supervises him? What happens if a condition is breached?

Why aren’t the full terms and practical arrangements publicly available?

PinkMarlin6024 : As Mariam Mokhtar rightly observed: “We know the Yang di-Pertuan Agong has the constitutional power to grant pardons, but Malaysians are still entitled to understand the process that led to the particular outcome.” 

Spot on! No one is questioning the constitutional prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to grant a pardon. The issue is transparency and public understanding of the process that produced this particular outcome. The decision to allow former Prime Minister and convicted offender Najib Abdul Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest is an exceptional one. 

It was made by the Federal Territories Pardons Board, chaired by the King, and announced following its 64th meeting on 18 September 2026. Naturally, Malaysians want to know: What considerations were placed before the Board? What advice was given? 

What were the relevant grounds and conditions? And how did the process lead to house arrest rather than continued imprisonment? Seeking answers to such questions is not disrespecting the monarchy. Nor does it mean questioning the constitutional power of the King. 

On the contrary, constitutional authority and public accountability can coexist. The exercise of a royal prerogative may be constitutionally valid while the public can still reasonably seek greater clarity about the process by which that prerogative was exercised. 

This is especially important in a case that has attracted enormous public attention and concerns a former Prime Minister whose conviction arose from the SRC International case. The rakyat are not asking to sit in judgment of the King. They are asking simply to understand. 

Respect for the Constitution should not mean abandoning the public's legitimate right to seek clarity. Indeed, transparency in the exercise of public power is one of the foundations of public confidence in the institutions of a constitutional democracy.

The Melaka state election should have been held before Johor and Negeri Sembilan, but the chief minister waited for the most opportune time. The Melaka assembly has 28 seats and was last contested on Nov 20, 2021, when BN won 21 seats, Pakatan Harapan (PH) five and Perikatan Nasional (PN) two.

The current state government’s mandate is due to expire in December. Up to now, there have been lots of negotiations between the parties as to which way they could work together. However, it’s very clear that the BN, urged on by its wins in Johor and Negeri Sembilan, led by UMNO, intends to go for an almost clean sweep in the coming election.

There are reports that PAS intends to contest 16 of Melaka’s 28 seats, including Tanjung Bidara held by the caretaker chief minister Ab Rauf. At the time of writing, PH appears to be working out a deal with Bersatu, but it remains unconfirmed.

This will be the first electoral test since the Pardons Board allowed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under home detention, and the constitutional crisis in Negeri Sembilan has been inflamed by UMNO. The electoral effects of this are still largely unknown.

The DAP looks safe to hold Ayer Keroh with a 5,624-vote majority, Bandar Hilir with a 7,778-vote majority, Kota Lakasamana with an 11,494-vote majority, and Kesidang with a 10,237-vote majority.

The voter turnout will be crucial, with the DAP needing their traditional supporters to turn out to hold the seats. However, the influence of DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke’s intention to resign, and the failure of other DAP ministers to make any declarations about their future, cannot be calculated. Amanah has a 1,057-vote majority in Bukit Katil, which UMNO/PAS will fight very hard for.

PKR have no seats in the Melaka State Assembly, and it will be very difficult to see where they could win any new seats. The seat of Sunai Udang, won by Mohd Aleef Yusof from Bersatu in the 2021 election, was held by only a 530-vote majority.

This is likely to fall to either UMNO or PAS. If the BN and PAS do an electoral deal, then BN will be returned with around 21 seats, with PAS possibly winning up to 3 seats, with the DAP maintaining the 4 seats it holds. If BN and PAS don’t do a deal, then PAS may be able to add a couple of seats. From that point of view, the Melaka state election will really be a non-event.

However, the BN proving Johor and Negeri Sembilan are not just flukes would increase pressure on the Prime Minister from the BN in edging for an early federal election.

The Prime Minister is holding steadfast on not calling for an early general election, so an increase in political turbulence will be expected. – September 24, 2026

Most are modest operations run by former teachers, part-time educators or family businesses structured as sole proprietorships or simple partnerships. Few are large incorporated entities. They operate on thin margins, serving local communities, often in the mother tongue of non-Malay students to bridge gaps left by the national curriculum.

The Ministry of Education has now embedded a 30% Bumiputera equity requirement into the registration rules for private education centres. From 2027, centres that fail to meet this threshold risk losing their licences. Foreign equity is barred entirely for tuition centres. Existing operators must either restructure ownership or close. The ministry has offered little public explanation of the policy rationale or whether the rule applies retroactively to long-established centres.

This is not an isolated administrative tweak. It mirrors the earlier imposition of Bumiputera equity rules on the freight forwarding and customs brokerage industry back in 2021. In that case, operators were told to restructure shareholding to retain licences. Many resorted to proxy arrangements or “Ali Baba” partnerships in which a Bumiputera name appears on paper while operational control and risk remain with the original owners. Costs rose, procedures slowed, and competitiveness suffered. Some firms contemplated relocation. The same dynamic now threatens the tuition sector.

Forcing equity dilution on small family businesses does not create genuine entrepreneurship. It creates rent-seeking opportunities. Finding a suitable 30% partner who contributes capital, skills and genuine involvement is difficult in a sector built on personal reputation and teaching expertise.

Many owners will face pressure to hand over shares at depressed valuations simply to keep operating. Others will go underground, conducting classes in living rooms without licences, precisely the informal sector the regulations claim to professionalise. Quality control, student safety and accountability will suffer.

The timing is especially damaging. Malaysian students already lag peers in Vietnam and Thailand on international assessments. The private tuition market has been one of the few responsive parts of the system, allowing parents to address weaknesses the public schools have not fixed.

Injecting racial equity conditions into ownership of these centres does nothing to raise teaching standards, improve teacher qualifications or expand access for poorer students. It simply politicises a service that thrives on merit and parental choice.

Specialised centres teaching emerging skills, such as AI, advanced IT, creative arts will be particularly constrained. Start-ups in education technology and niche training require agility and founder control.

Mandatory equity restructuring raises barriers to entry, deters investment and signals that successful non-Bumiputera operators will eventually be required to dilute ownership. This is the opposite of an innovation-friendly environment. Countries that have improved education outcomes have focused on curriculum, teacher quality and competition, not ownership ethnicity.

The original New Economic Policy (NEP) aimed to raise Bumiputera participation in the economy. Half a century later, the instrument has become a blunt bureaucratic tool applied indiscriminately. Requiring every individual firm in an industry to meet a fixed equity percentage ignores the diversity of business models and the reality that overall sector participation can be measured more flexibly through total equity, employment or number of firms, without dismantling existing enterprises. Family businesses that have served communities for decades should not be forced into artificial partnerships as a condition of continued existence.

The policy also sits uneasily with claims of reform under the current administration. Education regulation ought to prioritise standards, safety and outcomes. Linking licence renewal to the racial composition of shareholding introduces an extraneous criterion that will generate compliance costs, legal uncertainty and resentment without demonstrably improving learning.

Small operators who cannot or will not restructure will exit or operate informally. Students lose options. The informal market expands. Trust in institutions erodes further.

Malaysia cannot afford to damage one of the few functioning parts of its education ecosystem while international rankings decline. If the objective is genuine Bumiputera participation and capability-building, the focus should be on skills, capital access and competitive opportunity, not forced equity transfers that reward connections over competence.

The freight industry experience showed the costs of such rules. Applying the same approach to tuition centres risks repeating the mistake on a larger social scale.