Rizal Mansor mempunyai ingatan terpilih berkenaan lawatan PERMATA kami

Kenyataan media oleh Yeo Bee Yin, Adun Damansara Utama pada 21 Februari 2017 di Petaling Jaya.

Datuk Rizal Mansor seakan mempunyai ingatan terpilih berkenaan lawatan PERMATA kami

Saya begitu bingung dengan jawapan oleh pembantu Rosmah Mansor, Datuk Rizal Mansor kepada kenyataan terbaru Pakatan Harapan supaya memotong perbelanjaan Jabatan Perdana Menteri, termasuk mengubah peruntukan PERMATA kepada kementerian yang sepatutnya bagi tujuan pendidikan awal kanak-kanak. Beliau berkata bahawa saya dan beberapa rakan yang membuat lawatan ke PERMATA pada 6 Oktober 2016 telah berpuas hati selepas lawatan terbabit.

Beliau nampaknya mempunyai ingatan terpilih tentang apa yang telah kami bincangkan tentang PERMATA. Ketika lawatan tersebut, kami nyatakan dengan jelas bahawa program PERMATA perlu diletakkan di bawah Kementerian penuh, terutamanya Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita dan Keluarga, dan bukan Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Saya petik sebahagian daripada kenyataan media saya pada 6 Oktober 2016 di sini:

“Kalau ada satu hal yang boleh saya bangkitkan dalam lawatan hari ini, ialah pendirian saya untuk menggesa Putrajaya meletakkan program-program PERMATA di bawah kementerian penuh yang sepatutnya, bagi memastikan bahawa program berjalan secara tersusun dan dengan strategi yang helas bersekali dengan program kerajaan.”

“Saya tidak melihat sebarang sebab, dari segi operasi, koordinasi dan strategi yang memerlukan agensi asing di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri untuk mencapai sasaran yang sama hendak dicapai oleh PERMATA. Memindahkan PERMATA dari Jabatan Perdana Menteri juga membantu untuk mengurangkan saiz Jabatan Perdana Menteri yang telah membusung sejak Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak mengambil alih.”

Ini adalah selari dengan saranan rakan-rakan Pakatan Harapan - Khalid Samad, Saifuddin Nasution dan Liew Chin Tong, untuk memindahkan peruntukan PERMATA bagi tujuan pendidikan awal kanak-kanak ke kementerian yang sepatutnya. Cadangan sedemikian sewajarnya dipertimbangkan dengan serius oleh Putrajaya agar wang pembayar cukai dibelanjakan dengan lebih bijak, dengan strategi dan operasi yang lebih tersusun dalam hal pendidikan awal kanak-kanak.

Tambahan kepada itu, saya ingin mengingatkan Datuk Rizal Mansor bahawa ketika lawatan tersebut, kami meminta PERMATA membentangkan akaunnya. PERMATA meminta kami untuk menulis surat kepada Ketua Audit Negara untuk mendapatkan akaun tersebut, yang telah kami lakukan. Namun pihak Ketua Audit memberitahu kami bahawa akaun tersebut telah dipulangkan kepada PERMATA dan sebaiknya kami meminta akaun tersebut daripada PERMATA. Kami kemudian menulis lagi kepada PERMATA untuk meminta akaun itu, yang kemudian dibalas pada 10 Januari 2017 dengan berkata bahawa tidak ada keperluan bagi mereka membentangkan akaun terbabit. Kami nampaknya dibuat celaru tanpa jawapan yang memuaskan hati daripada PERMATA. Mungkin Datuk Rizal Mansor boleh memberi sedikit pencerahan.

Secara keseluruhan, kami tidak melihat sebarang sebab kenapa program yang dijalankan oleh PERMATA tidak boleh diambil alih oleh Kementerian penuh, yang pastinya mempunyai lebih pengalaman dan kepakaran dalam pendidikan awal kanak-kanak berbanding Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Mungkin keterujaan Datuk Rizal Mansor untuk mempertahankan PERMATA di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri adalah disebabkan faktor-faktor selain manfaat untuk anak-anak Malaysia kita? Jadi siapa sebenarnya yang mendapat faedah terbesar melalui PERMATA dan peruntukannya dia bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri? Jawapannya nampak begitu jelas sekali.

林吉祥是一个“坏人”？！我眼中的林吉祥

我的儿时记忆：林吉祥是一个“坏人”！

我成长在一个叫峇都安南的小镇，就读于华校，学校里的核心价值观无非就是顺从和勤奋。在我整个小学和中学时期里，我经常以为老师、课本、国营电视台的新闻和报章里所说的都是正确的。我将整本历史课本背诵起来（是的，这是一个怪咖会做的事！），我真的相信我所读的都是真实的历史。我小时候很少阅读报章，但每当我阅报时，我只看头版标题。我也不在乎观看电视新闻，但每当我看新闻时，它都是在TVB晚间节目之前或之后播映的新闻（我在儿时曾经喜欢看TVB剧集）。

然而，我也从主流报章和电视新闻那里得知一些琐碎的资料，我是由此知道林吉祥的，并对他有看法。我猜想关于人类的一个奇妙的事情就是，我们对任何事物都有看法不管我们收集到的资料有多少。

对我来说，在那个时候，林吉祥是一个“坏人”，就像安华那样。“火箭”是一个麻烦制造者。我甚至都记不起“那个火箭党”的全名。我经常好奇为什么我儿时最好的朋友的父母都投票给民主行动党——那些“坏人”。从这里你可以看到，主流媒体的洗脑确实对儿时和青少年时期的我很有效

几年后，我去上大学，然后到国外工作和深造，我开始改观——历史课本不一定正确、报章和电视新闻并没有告诉我全部真相，还有政府当然不是圣人，它也并不是全知的！但即使在那个时候，我也不大关注马来西亚政治，虽然我会投票给在野党；我对民主行动党和包括林吉祥在内的领袖抱持着中立的看法。

和许多人不一样，林吉祥不是我的“儿时英雄”。

Lim Kit Siang is a “bad guy”?! Seeing Lim Kit Siang from My Eyes.

My childhood memory: Lim Kit Siang is a "bad guy"! 

I grew up in a small town called Batu Anam and studied in chinese schools, where the core values were to be obedient and hardworking. Throughout my primary and secondary schools, I always thought that what teachers, textbooks, RTM news and newspaper said were always right. I memorized the whole history textbooks (yes, that's what a nerd do!) believing that what I read was the real history. I rarely read newspaper, but when I did, I would read only the headlines. I also didn’t bother much about watching TV news, but when I did, it would just be part of it as the news was before or after the TVB evening shows (I used to like to watch TVB drama during childhood days.) 

However, from the little things I knew from the mainstream newspapers and TV news, I did know about Lim Kit Siang and had an opinion on him. I guess that’s the amazing thing about human being, we always have an opinion on just about anything based on the information we gather, no matter how little it is. 

To me, at that period of time, Lim Kit Siang was a “bad guy”, just like Anwar Ibrahim. The “rocket” was a trouble-maker. I couldn’t even remember the full name of “that rocket party”. I always wondered why the parents of my childhood best friend voted for DAP - those “bad people”.  (Mainstream media brain-washing really worked on me during my childhood and teenage days.) 

As the years went by, I went to the university, then worked and studied overseas, my view began to change – history text books were not necessarily correct, the newspaper and TV news were not telling me the full truth and the government surely was not saint and did not know it all! But even then, I wasn’t that into Malaysian politics although I would vote for the opposition; I had a neutral view on DAP and the leaders including Lim Kit Siang. 

Unlike many people, Lim Kit Siang had never been my "childhood hero”.

With LKS at one of the DAP fund-raising dinners 

国家转型的三大关切

青年及体育部部长兼巫统青年团团长凯里在他于国家抱负及领袖大会上的演讲中说道，他对于“2050年国家转型目标”（TN50）最大的恐惧就是不能改变马来西亚人的公民意识。 眼下我们的国家面临这么多挑战，但他对国家转型最大的关切却是这个？我并不能认同。既然TN50是公开咨询的，所以我要在这里发表我对于2050年马来西亚转型三个最大的关切，好让巫统青年团团长参考一下。

关切1： 衰弱的民主以致贼狼当道

马来西亚的民主正在衰弱中——我们的选举受到操纵、确保三权分立的机关正在遭受损害还有言论自由被压制。衰弱的民主在近年催生贼狼当道的政治。《经济学人》在它有关纳吉和一马公司丑闻的文章的开头恰当的描述这样的情况，

“先生女士们，请鼓掌。任何一个典型民主国家的任何一位典型领袖，一旦被发现在其账户里有一笔来自一名不具名的外国捐献者的接近7亿美元的无从解释的款项，都会经历迅速和致命的倒台。然而，在有关纳吉的银行存款增多的新闻首次报导的将近两年后，他的高风险行为依然如常进行。”

“纳吉现象”并不是一夕间就爆发的，它是丧失制衡能力的民主的产物。我们的民主已经不再是“典型的民主”了。

Three Biggest Concerns for National Transformation

In his speech at the National Aspiration and Leadership Conference, the Minister of Youth and Sports, and UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said that his greatest fear for National Transformation 2050 (TN50) was the mindset, attitude and civic-mindedness of Malaysians[i]. I found it unbelievable that amongst so many challenges we face as a country, this stands out as his greatest concern for national transformation. Since TN50 is supposed to be consultative, here are my three biggest concerns for Malaysia in 2050 for the minister’s reference.

Concern 1: Kleptocracy in a Faltering Democracy

Malaysia’s democracy is faltering - our election is rigged; institutions to ensure separation of power are broken; and freedom of expression is suppressed. Faltering democracy has allowed the birth of kleptocracy in recent years. The Economist put it so rightly in the opening of one of its articles about Najib Razak and the 1MDB scandals,

“A round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. Any typical leader of a typical democracy, when found with nearly $700m of ill-explained money from an unnamed foreign donor in his accounts, would experience a swift and fatal fall. Yet, nearly two years after news first broke that Najib Razak’s bank balance had been thus plumped up, his high-wire act continues.”

The “Najib Razak’s Phenomenon” did not come overnight; it is the product of a non-functioning democracy that has lost its ability for check and balance. Our democracy is no longer a “typical democracy”.

马华妇女组主席拿督王赛芝不应混淆了重复指控法律和性罪犯登记

百乐镇州议员杨美盈于2017年2月8日（星期三）在八打灵再也所发布的媒体文告

马华妇女组主席拿督王赛芝在担任妇女、家庭及社区部副部长不应混淆了重复指控法律和性罪犯登记。

首先，我要对妇女、家庭及社区部同意我加快建立性罪犯登记的呼吁表示欢迎。［1］然而，我希望该部针对何时才能完成这个登记给予我们一个期限。

无论如何，我对于马华妇女组主席拿督王赛芝就重复指控法律的课题对我的同僚牛汝莪国会议员蓝卡巴星的回应感到极度震惊。她随手引述我的性罪犯登记的立场来为她的重复指控的论据说项。［2］她似乎混淆了重复指控法律和性罪犯登记！

首先，我要提醒拿督王赛芝她曾经是妇女、家庭及社区发展部副部长。那么她在担任副部长的时候究竟为建立性罪犯登记做了什么努力？还有万一她已经忘记了，她在马华的同僚周美芬是现在的妇女、家庭及社区发展部副部长。 靠着马华妇女组许多年来在政府的职位，他们老早就应该完成这个事项了！ 当了官这么久竟然到现在都还在“呼吁”阶段，而王赛芝还有颜面自诩马华妇女组是首个呼吁展开性罪犯登记执法的妇女组。这真是太可笑了。

MCA Heng's Should Not Be Confused Between Double Jeopardy and Sex Offender Registry.

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama on Wednesday, 8 February 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

What has MCA Wanita Chairwoman Datuk Heng Seai Kie done for the establishment of Sex Offenders’ Registry when she was the Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development?

First of all, I welcome the reply from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development that agreed on my call to expedite the establishment of a sex offenders’ registry[i]. However, I would like the ministry to give us a deadline as to when this can be established.

Furthermore, I am totally dumbfounded by MCA Wanita chairwoman Datuk Heng Seai Kie’s response to my colleague MP for Gelugor Ramkarpal Singh on double jeopardy law. She conveniently quoted my position on sex offenders’ registry to suit her argument on double jeopardy[ii]. It seems that she is confused between double jeopardy law and sex offenders’ registry!

Picture Source: Free Malaysia Today

First and foremost, I would like to remind Datuk Heng that she was once the Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. What has she done for the establishment of sex offenders’ registry when she was a Deputy Minister? And just in case she does not remember, her MCA colleague Chew Mei Fun, is now the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. It is laughable that the MCA women’s wing actually has the cheek to be proud to be the first women’s wing to call for enforcement of a sex offenders’ registry. With the positions they have held in the government for so many years, they should have gotten this done a long time ago!

In addition, I would like to clarify with Datuk Heng that the establishment of  a sex offenders’ registry does not violate the Federal Constitution; hence there is no need for Ramkarpal to “rebuke me”. All convicted sex offenders, who reside in Malaysia, can and should be registered in the sex offenders’ registry regardless of where the crime was committed. This is so all sex offenders can be monitored properly. How a sex offenders’ registry should work depends on the legislation that provides it. However, despite many years of activists and politicians calling for the establishment of a sex offenders’ registry, the related law is still not in existence.

Last but not least, it is shameful that Datuk Heng quoted Richard Huckle’s case in her statement. I would like to remind her that Richard Huckle went undetected and roamed free in Malaysia for 9 years even though he violated at least 70 of our young girls here in that span of time. He was detected by Australian investigators due to his online activities and was arrested by the British police in December 2014 when he went home for Christmas. He was charged only in the British court. Huckle’s case is a painful reminder to all of us that there is still a lot for us to do to protect our women and girls, and that there is an urgent need to strengthen our criminal justice system in Malaysia.

If Datuk Heng is really concerned about sex crime, and since her party is in the government, I would like to propose that she helps to set-up a bi-partisan committee in Putrajaya, which includes not only concerned politicians from both sides of the political divide but also women activists and government officials. This committee should review all the existing laws and propose the amendments needed to the parliament. It should also come out with a holistic action plan against sexual crime that involves all relevant government agencies and monitor the progress of the execution of such plans. I will be very glad to be a member of such committee.

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[i] http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/ministry-welcome-call-to-expedite-sex-offenders-registry#sthash.DdWnF1ZM.dpuf

[ii] http://mcadev.mca.org.my/2/Content/SinglePage?_param1=07-022017-123383-02-201707&_param2=TS

Set a Timeframe for Sex Offenders Registry

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama on Friday 3 February 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

We call upon Putrajaya to give us a time frame as to when a proper Sex Offenders Registry can be established.

Many Malaysians are worried upon receiving the news that a serial rapist Selva Kumar Subbia, who has served 24 years sentence in Canada, will be deported back to Malaysia this coming Sunday. He was suspected of violating as many as 1000 women and girls and was described as “the worst offender with the highest risk ever” by Andrew Laut the chairman of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada hearing .[i]

Upon the breaking of the news, many women groups once again urged Putrajaya to establish a proper sex offender registry, which purpose is to ensure proper monitoring of sex offenders.  This is not the first time that Putrajaya is urged on this matter. In fact, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri agreed with the call of such registry back in May 2015 after public uproar when convicted student Nur Fitri Azmeer Nordin, who owned over 30,000 videos and photographs of child pornography, was returning to Malaysia[ii]. What is her follow-up on that?  

Picture Source: Free Malaysia Today