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MCA will hold our annual Chinese New Year Open House on 23 January 2012 at Wisma MCA in Dewan San Choon.

Our Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek will lead MCA leaders in celebrating the Year of the Dragon with members of the public.

As with previous years, lots of delicious cuisine and interesting programmes have been prepared for the MCA Chinese New Year Open House to entertain our guests and the public. Activities include lion and dragon dances, wushu, cultural dances, singing and distribution of mandarin oranges by the God of Prosperity, etc.

Special booths will be set up for members of the public during the Chinese New Year Open House featuring Chinese Traditional Handicrafts like Paper-cutting, calligraphy, Chinese- knots, dough figurines, asparagus sugar, etc.

MCA welcomes the public to participate at our party’s Chinese New Year Open House. Meanwhile, here is wishing everyone prosperity and happiness for the Dragon Year.

MCA Chinese New Year Open House program flow

Time Programme
8.00am Welcoming Guests with Lion Dance(Main Entrance)
8.15am Arrival of President & MCA CC Members
8.30am Lion Dance Performance(Main Entrance)
8.30am-11.30am Chinese Traditional Handicraft： (Paper-cutting,c alligraphy, Chinese- knots, dough figurines, asparagus sugar)
9.00am Dragon Dance Performance
9.20am Arrival of Deputy Prime Minister
9.30am Arrival of Prime Minister(to be led by Lion Dance Troupe)
9.40am New Year Dance Opening
9.45am Martial Art Performance (1st Part)
10.00am Chinese New Year Song
10.10am Chinese New Year Dance
10.15am Martial Art Performance (2nd Part)
10.25am “Abundant Harvest Dance”(Accompanied by God of Prosperity & Dancers)
10.30am Distributing Mandarin oranges by God of Prosperity & Dancers to invited guests and public
10.35am Presentation of souvenirs to PM & DPM by the MCA President

Dato’ Seri Kong Cho Ha
MCA Secretary General

http://123malaysia.com/events/listing/mca-cny-open-house-kl/

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/176228

SUBANG JAYA: With Chinese New Year spring cleaning over, assemblyman Hannah Yeoh has urged USJ residents to be more diligent at disposing of garbage.

Hannah expressed disappointment against the irresponsible attitude of residents dumping garbage along the streets and open fields resulting in illegal dumping grounds sprouting around the vicinity.

“We need residents to cooperate. After Chinese New Year festivities, rubbish started to pile up again barely a day or so after we cleared the area,” she said.

She said such unscrupulous action should be reported to resident associations.

She said this dampened efforts by Subang Jaya Municipality (MPSJ) to combat the problem. Also present at the press conference were MPSJ councilors Dr Loi Kheng Min and R. Rajiv.

“They seem unaware of where to dump excess garbage. So they leave them by roadsides,” she said.

The Jalan USJ2/5G field alone saw the accumulation of at least three piles of garbage.

“Locals are setting a bad example for others resulting in mostly foreign maids following suit,” she said.

She said these illegal dumping spots were not attended to by regular collectors who are hired to mainly focus on garbage from individual houses.

Such irresponsible acts have also been reported in the nearby vicinities of USJ 4, 6, 9, 11 and 13.

Checks showed so far about 44.95 tonnes of rubbish were collected from areas in USJ1 to 23, while another 28.21 tonnes were collected from SS12 to 19.

Rajiv said as part of a pilot project, a total of four community bins were placed in USJ2 by MPSJ this month.

The other locations include USJ2/3, USJ2/4E, USJ6 and USJ7.

“We first need to determine the cost and amount required to carry out this project,” he said. “We will also provide information pamphlets to educate users and RM1,000 fine on those caught for misuse under the council’s by-laws.”

However, she said residents should refrain from such bad habits to help create a cleaner environment.

She said queries on garbage collection should be forwarded to the MPSJ’s city services department.

They can be reached at 03-8026 7431.

http://www.mmail.com.my/content/89304-postcny-illegal-waste-dumping-headache

The first time I visited Westminster Abbey in London, I went for Evensong on Sunday. Even though I was studying the sociology and anthropology of religion, and this was a non-Eucharistic service, I wondered if it was wise of me as a Muslim. I think I saw a Muslim woman in a hijab going in and that relieved me a bit. Reading the service sheet before the actual worship began, I was moved that the Abbey explicitly welcomes people of all faiths to participate in the service or merely observe.
Clearly, there was no sign barring a non-Christian from entering the church. Additionally, there weren’t any Christian books or leaflets titled The Truth about the Prophet Muhammad, or The Truth about the Jews. It seems that in England, a country with an established church, the Church of England doesn’t need to assert its “truth” about another religion.
My purpose in sharing these experiences is not to judge one religious tradition against the other. That would be a trap too easy to fall into. Especially since Malaysia’s current social and political climate is as charged as it is now, what with public demonstrations and anxieties about apostasy among some Muslims and tense debates about hudud. Rather, I wonder if this is about the boundaries between religions in a diverse society, and how these are created, maintained or even dissolved.
Sharing or proselytising?

When I finally read the pamphlet, The Truth about Jesus Christ, I had no quarrel with it. It merely included Quranic verses relating to Jesus, who is a revered prophet in Islam. In fact, these are verses I have shared with my English friend, and we have had meaningful and affectionate exchanges about Christianity and Islam as a result. I guess one difference is that I presented these as Islamic perspectives of Jesus, rather than The Truth about Jesus.

Pamphlets from the National Mosque (pic courtesy of Giles Goddard)
So was the Islamic NGO presenting Islam to the world or was it proselytising to non-Muslims through its different pamphlets? Have I been merely sharing my faith with my friend or have I been proselytising? Yes, there are times when we know people are proselytising aggressively. “Accept Jesus as your saviour or you won’t get to Heaven,” I’ve been told by some Christians. But it can be subtler than that. So what is the boundary between sharing one’s faith and proselytising? Who determines when someone is proselytising? And in the case of Malaysia, where proselytising to a Muslim is a crime, who determines what constitutes proselytising?
And how was it that I did not feel proselytised at Westminster Abbey? There were clergypersons reading lessons from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament. There was a priest preaching at the pulpit. The Trinitarian formula was invoked, and the choir sang from the Anglican hymn book. The substance of Christianity and the Church of England’s worship style were on full public and active display. At the same time, I might not have felt proselytised at but would all other non-Christians feel the same way?
Boundaries and foreclosure
This is where the 22 Oct 2011 Himpun Sejuta Umat demonstration deserves scrutiny. Surely it is a group of Muslim citizens’ right to publicly assemble and express their anxieties about proselytisation and apostasy? And surely the state’s response — allowing the demonstration to go ahead and listening to the protesters’ demands — was also justifiable?
On another level, I am deeply alarmed by Himpun and the state’s response to it. What does the Barisan Nasional government hope to accomplish by endowing “apostasy” with such aggressive political meaning, and simultaneously whipping up fears about a monolithic “Christian enemy” in our midst? And what is the state doing, taking on Himpun’s demands without criticism or caution? Furthermore, the prime minister himself has justified the state’s amicable interaction with Himpun and compared it with the state’s antagonistic interaction with Bersih 2.0. We now get an idea of not only where several boundaries are in this country, but where they should be according to those who hold social and political power.
There are two big problems with this. Firstly, these particular boundaries around religion foreclose our ability, as Malaysian Muslims and non-Muslims, to think and act on our own behalf especially when it comes to something as private as faith.
Secondly, the state is itself actively engaged in drawing these boundaries for all of us. Ironic, given that Himpun Sejuta Umat only managed to draw a few thousand Muslims despite the absence of tear gas, water cannons and the threat of arrest.

“David Beckham people”

Not all is doom and gloom though. A few days after we visited the National Mosque, my English friend and I went to Alor Setar, Kedah, and visited Masjid Zahir. The security guard there, a nice Malay-Muslim Malaysian, handed my friend the customary robe. Pak Guard then welcomed us into the mosque. He even offered to take several pictures, including with us on the minbar where the imam delivers the Friday sermon.
When the grand imam walked in, Pak Guard wanted to introduce us, but the imam was in a hurry, and so only smiled and waved. Pak Guard even engaged my friend in conversation. “So, you are the David Beckham people?” My friend laughed. “Pi lah bawak dia minum teh tarik kat belakang! Mesti dia seronok,” Pak Guard said to me.
There are so many observations one could make about this special encounter. I prefer to just declare how happy my friend and I were after we left Masjid Zahir. He was even more enchanted by Alor Setar, and I was proud to be a Muslim born and bred there.
Was Pak Guard just being nice, or was he proselytising? Was it a bit of both, or neither? And if a Muslim were to be similarly welcomed into another religion’s house of worship in Malaysia, what do we think would happen?

Shanon Shah did his MA in Religion and Contemporary Society at King’s College London, and often maintains his anak Kedah boundaries in Kuala Lumpur and London.

http://www.thenutgraph.com/who-is-proselytising/

The Nut Graph has continued exploring our shared migrant roots as Malaysians through the Found in Malaysia series of interviews on the website. Now, we’ve compiled another 50 interviews with notable local personalities into a second book, Found in Malaysia Volume 2.
Published by ZI Publications, the book will soon be available at bookstores for RM50.
Volume 2 contains four exclusive interviews with international TV personality Asha Gill, feng shui expert Lillian Too and politicians Khairy Jamaluddin and Baru Bian. These have not been published on our website.
The book was launched on Malaysia Day as one of the events at the MalaysiaKu: Imagining Malaysia 2011 Street Festival on Jalan Bangkung, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. The day-long festival featured various traditional performances, forums on current issues, fundraising dinners for civil society groups as well as a bazaar.
A discussion on what it means to be Malaysian was also held at the book launch. Moderated by art personality Datin Marion D’Cruz, the discussion panel included well-known personalities Asha, Datuk Yasmin Yusuff, Patrick Teoh and Mano Maniam, who are also featured in the book.
Apart from sharing their personal thoughts on being Malaysian, the four were asked to comment on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Malaysia Day speech and the reasons they chose to stay in Malaysia.
The first Found in Malaysia book was also launched on Malaysia Day in 2010 and is currently in its second print run.

http://www.thenutgraph.com/found-in-malaysia-vol-2-is-launched/

Sarawak has vast tracts of land which are ironically being turned into oil palm plantations even as the state becomes heavily dependent on food imports.

By John Brian Anthony

KUCHING: Malaysia’s cost of living has risen steeply. Most basic food like rice, flour, cooking oil, sugar prices has shot up.

In Sarawak, we have land but are totally dependent on the importation of rice (Sarawak imports 70% of its rice consumption). Even fruits are imported from Australia and New Zealand.

So why are we not focused on trying to meet our basic needs? Do we not have enough land to plant rice?

We have enough land, more than enough land. Why then are we not planting enough rice, fruits and vegetables?

The answer is simple: The Barisan Nasional government does not want to allocate money to help farmers farm and cultivate fisheries activities.

Lets look at what technology the government has brought into Sarawak over the years to improve its agricultural production and increase the income of farmers. None.

The government has not allocated much money and has not introduced technology.

At one point the government even shut down the agriculture training centre out of fear that the natives would plant more and it would leave the government with lesser land to grab.

(Last year, the state government announced the reopening of these centre, but I fear the damage has been done).

No subsidies, no support

Farmers, fishermen and those involved in animal husbandry need government support in order to increase production and stabilize the prices.

Take the poultry situation in Sarawak. Now chicken and egg prices have gone up substantially because the government has failed to enable small farmers to rear chickens with subsidy and technical contribution.

Lets look at animal feed. This is so easy to produce. Tapioca and maize/corn are so easy to grow.

All the government needs to do is allocate some money to encourage farmers to plant these crops and a centre for them to sell their crops at a reasonable price. This would help them improve their income.

Pineapple farms, why don’t we have them? Pineapples are so easy to grow but the government has failed to organize a planting system.

They have failed to offer farmers land and technical resources including the setting up of canning factories to process and market this produce. Likewise with bananas.

Another area is fisheries.

The federal government “gives” RM200 ringgit monthly to every registered fisherman but has made no move to help increase fishery activities in fresh water areas or create fish ponds for long term production.

Its not the farmers who are lazy and fail to work.

Government lacks will to help farmers

It is the BN government who has failed to support and implement system to support the marketing and storage of agricultural products.

It is not difficult to grow catfish or ‘ikan keli”. I did on my own but I had no place to sell the fish.

At the end of the day, with small volume we rear we cannot commercialize it into smoke dried food or canned food and sell for local consumption or export.

The government has really not looked after the well being of farmers, who are predominantly Dayaks.

The government only says that it wants to improve agriculture practices and production, but it does almost nothing to actually make it happen.

The move to abolish agricultural subsidy has hurt the farmers the most.

Such subsidy is of critical importance because it helps to bring cost of farming down and bring agricultural productivity upward.

The quality of farming products will also improve as subsidy is always associated with using the “right” product as it has gone through expert evaluation on what is the best and most effective product for money that can be used by poor farmers.

Expert guidance needed
Technology too plays a very big role in order to succeed in farming.

Technology means expert guidance and advise and this means our farmers learn better farming method that will make our community sustainable and robust in coping up with changing economic situation in our country.

Take Bintulu for instance. If a rubber processing plant is set up there, I am sure that rubber would be the crop of choice for farmers.

As it is now, its the middle man who are making money out of buying rubber sheet at low prices and selling it to the exporter at higher price.

No wonder gangsters are interested in controlling the business and the BN government has no solution to the problems.

The fact is that the government is only interested in oil palm because they can make personal money out of the venture.

The writer is a consultant who researches Dayak psychology and culture. He is also the chairman of Dayak Consultative Council.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/12/26/misplaced-priorities-and-rising-food-prices/

DAP scores a coup with Umno veterans and bloggers, including former Pulau Manis Umno rep Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Pulau Manis Umno assemblyman Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz and Negeri Umno veteran Aspan Alias (photo) have joined DAP.

Having Ariff on board is a major coup for DAP because he was Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s information chief in his Pekan Umno division up until 2004.

“If you want to know, yes, that is what we are doing (joining DAP).

“I am impressed by DAP. They are principled, I like their professionalism.

“I was with (Lim) Guan Eng at the bloggers conference last month. There is no fancy words, they are focussed on work … always thinking unlike our Umno people,” he told FMT recently.

Ariff’s admission puts to rest weeks of wildfire speculations in pro-Umno blogs.

He is also rumoured to be contesting under the DAP banner in the next general election.

Ariff is rumoured to be contesting in Raub where MCA’s Ng Yen Yen is incumbent. Ng is currently the tourism minister, and a MCA vice president.

Warning to Umno’s bloggers

Gunning pro-Umno bloggers who have been maligning them both personally and professionally, an incessant Ariff (photo) said: “Why the paranoia? If we are not good, failed Adun (assemblymen), bankrupt politicians, it will be cinch for any winnable Umno candidates to beat us.

“So, it’s no cause of concern or a sleep depriver.”

“But be warned, you want to play ball, we play ball too, so stop telling lies about us and we can promise not to tell the truth about you (Umno).”

Both Ariff and Aspan are not alone. There are increasing speculations of shifts within and out of Umno.

DAP has been targeting ‘thinking’ Malays post-2008 GE to increase its support within the community.

Onboard is Transparency International Malaysia founder Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim who is now the party’s vice chairman and former Umno education minister Khir Johari’s son Zairil.

Zairil and party strategist Liew Chin Tong along with Youth chairman Anthony Loke have been tasked with wooing selected Malays.

It was reported that the party leaders have been meeting “Malay opinion-makers in small closed-door discussions dealing with issues concerning Islamic state, hudud and Bumiputera affirmative action”.

‘DAP more relevant to Malays now’

Ariff and Aspan have been the target of pro-Umno bloggers who have among others accused the duo of treason.

But according to Ariff, DAP is ‘more relevant’ to the Malays now than Umno.

“Don’t read our move as blasphemous or treasonable. I believe the DAP is more relevant and functional in achieving a more democratic and abuse-free society than Umno.

“In DAP I can speak on the plight of the displaced and disowned Malays with more energy than allowed of in Umno.

“Umno has turned its back on corruption and abuse of political office. DAP abhors these traits. To me these are are attractive propositions.

“As a Muslim, we are changing wadah not aqidah…that is what Umno fears. It fears that its monopoly over Malays is broken, ” said Ariff, who is also an FMT columnist.

Last week DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke had reportedly said that the party had approached Ariff and Aspan but ‘no decision has been made’.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/01/02/najibs-ex-info-chief-joins-dap/

Menurut lagenda, Orang Minyak ini perlu merogol 99 anak dara selain mengamalkan beberapa ‘syarat dan pantang’ bagi membolehkannya mendapat apa yang dihajati seperti kekuatan menakjubkan, kemewahan dan kekebalan.
Dan ini pula gambar orang Minyak yang ditangkap di sebuah taman perumahan di Kuala Lumpur.

Gambar di atas menunjukkan seorang penduduk, Nurlidah Hassan bercerita sambil menunjukkan lokasi ‘orang minyak’ (gambar kecil) yang ditangkap di Flat Taman Pinggiran Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, 18 September 2011.

Orang Minyak di atas dipercayai warga asing. Dia berjaya ditangkap penduduk ketika melakukan aktiviti jenayah itu. Namun badan orang minyak itu tidak berminyak atau berwarna hitam sebagaimana digambarkan dalam Lagenda Orang Minyak.

Benarkah Orang Minyak wujud?? Hmmm hanya Tuhan saja yang tahu.