2 Jul Malaysiakini : Senator Ezam Mohd Nor has called on the Home Ministry to probe both Malaysiakini and Star over news reports concerning the plight of foreign workers at the construction site of the new palace in Kuala Lumpur. After his visit to the construction site, he said " their reports are anti-Malay and anti-Istana (anti-palace). The reports (portrayed) the palace as if it was being built upon the tears of the people."
Who is Senator Ezam Mohd Nor ?
He was the Former PKR Youth chief who was also Anwar Ibrahim political secretary in the late 1990's. He left PKR in 2007 and rejoined UMNO a year later. Actively campaigning against Anwar, in May 2010 he was "rewarded" as a senator.
I was shocked when I read about his call for action against MalaysiaKini and The Star. I refer back to the said articles and I do not see any direct or innuendo on " anti-Malay" or "anti-Istana". The report only touch on the plight, mistreatment of workers and the building's safety. Some workers had claimed their salaries were not paid for months. The reports NEVER mention that the king himself is responsible for paying any of the salaries. Neither is the King responsible for hiring those illegal foreign workers.
If the reports are wrong, the Ministry of Labor, the district MP, NGO's or even opposition MPs can investigate.
This educated chap definitely have higher perception and interpretation beyond my understanding on the written word than me ! How he can link contractors not paying wages to the workers as an attack on the Malay institutions, and being anti-Malay or anti-Istana is a puzzlement to me.
Giving him the benefit of the doubt, I find his remarks stupid, illogical to the point of being nonsensical and an attempt to have cheap publicity. I shudder to think that we have a person with such lines of thought and reasoning as one of the country's legislators.
No ! He is not dumb. He is in fact smart as he is stirring up unnecessary racial issues as a means to possibly please his master - another Ibrahim Ali in the works? He takes on the role of the " bad guy" and giving Najib the chance to exploit it to act as the "good guy" in promoting his 1Malaysia vision. I view his action as just another political ploy to garner UMNO and Malay's support. Being newly appointed as Senator barely 2 months, he just want to remind all of his presence in Parliment.
Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had rightly told Ezam off saying the controversy involving unpaid foreign workers at the new palace construction site should not be turned into a racial issue.
SUHAKAM , the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia wants to conduct its own investigations over the allegations of abuse and late/unpaid salaries. Suhakam Commissioner, James Nayagam, said he viewed the case seriously and was willing to meet the workers to verify their claims. Similarly he said “Ezam should get his facts right before commenting on the matter. Please look at the issue and find out the actual situation at the site. This is about seeking justice for the workers and finding out the truth and has got nothing to do with the royalty or being anti-national...Highlighting the plight of these workers is not only to bring justice to the foreign workers but also to ensure that the contractor delivers a good job and the palace is built properly for the royal institution,”. He said Senator Ezam Mohd Nor had blown the issue out of proportion when he accused Malaysiakini and The Star of being “anti-national institutions and against Istana Negara.”
Tenaganita president, Irene Fernandez, agrees with Nayagam and said Ezam’s accusation was an absolute nonsense.
Ezam the jerk, should be charge and place under ISA arrest as he'd committed high treason of stirring up racial sentiments unnecessary.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment