Pakatan Rakyat has unveiled a 10-point manifesto for Sarawakians aimed at restoring the state's wealth to the people.

Among key highlights are a guarantee of freedom of religion, free WiFi to move Sarawak into a knowledge-state, a Competency, Accountability and Transparency system of governance, respecting the 18-points agreement and a promise to investigate allegations of ill-gotten wealth of BN leaders and their cronies.

1. FREEDOM OF BELIEF

WE GUARANTEE FREEDOMOF RELIGION as enshrined in the Federal Constitution without any form of

hindrances and make no discrimination in assistance and allocations to a particular belief or religionand in the

process maintain the status ofSarawak as a secular State.

2. GOOD GOVERNANCE

WE PROMISE GOOD GOVERNANCE premised onproven international principles of Competency, Accountability

and Transparency (CAT),which will create and promote a clean administration of the State’s welfare, equal

business opportunities, and bring back national pride, patriotismand self esteem in the public sector.

WE PLEDGEA FAIR DISTRIBUTION of the State’s wealth and riches, endeavoring to end the practice of

favouritism, corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

WE PROMISE TO SET UP AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF INQUIRY to investigate the allegations of ill-gotten

wealth of BN politicians and their cronies, to ensure the due process of law and prosecution and to return the

wealth to the people of Sarawak.

WE PROMISE to establish an Ombudsman to receive complaints from the public against corruption and power

abuse by Government Ministers and heads of departments.

WE PLEDGE TO RESTORE local government elections for all local authorities including the adatruaiand/or

custom of choosing the Village Leaders or KetuaMasyarakat in order to return power to the people at all levels.

3. LAND REFORM & NATIVE LAND COMMISSION

all expiring leases will be unconditionally renewed for 99 years;

all s.47 notifications will automatically lapse after 2 years of gazettal;

all in perpetuity and 999-year leases will remain when land is approved for

development;

land alienation will be carried out through open tenders; and

a Native Land Commission shall be formed having the power to investigate all

Native Customary Rights land claims, and thereafter to survey and issue grant

or leases to such lands in accordance with the adator customs of the natives of

Sarawak.

4. ERADICATION OF POVERTY

WE PROMISE to set up a RM1 billion State Poverty Alleviation Fund to ensure that no family in Sarawak lives

below the official poverty line.

WE PLEDGE TO KICK-START THE RURAL ECONOMY by the construction of roads connecting all the rural areas

of Sarawak that will quicken the provision and construction of public amenities including schools, kindergartens,

medical services and telecommunications.

WE ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE agricultural entrepreneurship, like small holdings through micro-financing to all

farmers.

Berubahlah! Vote for a NEW Sarawak!

5. FEDERAL-STATE RELATIONS

WE PLEDGE to maintain good federal state relations in line with the spirit

of the Malaysian Agreement 1963, and to ensure that any marginalization,

neglect and omission on the 18 points be addressed immediately.

Confident that Pakatan Rakyat will take over the federal government WE

GUARANTEE to increase the petroleum royalty from the present 5% to 20%.

WE BELIEVE that priority in employment opportunities in the public service

of Sarawak should be given to Sarawakians.

6. GREENER SARAWAK

WE WILLENSURE the observance and implementation of State and International

laws and/or conventions on the environmentfor the benefit of future generations

of Sarawakians.

WE WILL STOP the constructions of excess dams.

WE FORBID the construction of nuclear powered plants in Sarawak.

7. A FAIR DEAL FOR ALL SARAWAKIANS

WE ARE COMMITTED to support stable economic growth, sustainable development and a

fairer distribution of income and wealth based on hard work, competitiveness and

technological innovation.

WE ENDEAVOUR to remain investor friendly, emphasizing long term investment in human

capital by offering financial incentives to all industries to upgrade the technical skills of their

employees as well as their production processes.

WE PROMISE the immediate registration of stateless Sarawakians and the unconditional

granting of citizenship papers to all Malaysians of Sarawak origin.

WE PLEDGE a grant of RM200-00 for every child of Sarawak origin who begins primary

one education.

In appreciation of their contribution to the State, WE PROMISE to give all Sarawakians above 60 years of age who

are residents in the State annual welfare assistance of RM600-00 and to set up community support systems

within every local government authority for their continued well-being.

8. CULTURE AND EDUCATION

WE RESPECT the constitutional rights of all ethnic groups to learn their mother tongues and to treat all mother

tongue education equally.

WE PLEDGE that all schools regardless of background will be given systematic allocations according to needs as is

practised in Penang, Selangor and Kelantan so that our children can have a bright future.

WE EMPHASIZE thatScience and Mathematicssubjectsin secondary schools must be taught in the English

language.

9. RIGHTS of WOMEN’S & THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

WE GUARANTEE gender equality and will REVIEW all laws that are discriminatory

against women.

WE PLEDGE to establish women’s aid centres to shelter women suffering from

violence and child care services to reduce the financial and psychological burden of

working mothers.

WE PLEDGE to set up more special schools for children with special needs.

WE IMPLEMENT measures to employ those with disabilities and PROMISE incentives

to employers who employ them.

10. INVESTMENT INTO THE FUTURE

WE PROMISE to tackle the flood problems in Sarawak in 2 years.

WE EMPHASIZE in long term investment in human capital and

infrastructure to make Sarawak a great economy.

WIFI will be provided free to move Sarawak into a knowledge state.

Malaysians Must Know the TRUTH

Mufti Perlis bidas Presiden Persatuan Peguam Muslim Malaysia Zainol Rijal isu video sex......

Mufti Perlis Dr Juanda Jaya membidas kenyataan Presiden Persatuan Peguam Muslim Malaysia Zainol Rijal Abu Bakar bahawa video seks seseorang yang didakwa berzina boleh dijadikan bukti di Mahkamah Syariah.

Dr Juanda (kanan) berpendapat kenyataan Zainol Rijal itu "menyeleweng" daripada prinsip dalam Islam.

"Jenayah zina hanya boleh dibuktikan dengan dua perkara sahaja iaitu pengakuan orang yang berzina dan pengakuan empat orang saksi (yang adil) yang melihat perlakuan zina itu.

"Bukti video atau gambar atau rakaman tidak diterima bagi jenayah zina. Pandangan (beliau) ini cukup menyeleweng.

"Beliau seorang peguam, takkan dia tak tahu mengenai perkara ini," katanya ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini semalam.

Berikutan itu, Dr Juanda meminta Zainol Rijal agar tidak menimbulkan salah faham kepada rakyat umum.

"Hukum syara' jangan dipolitikkan... Hukuman zina amat berat dalam Islam, jadi pembuktian juga perlu maksimum," tegasnya.

Dr Juanda mengulas laporan akhbar yang memetik Zainol Rijal (kiri) berkata rakaman video aksi seks yang didakwa melibatkan seorang pemimpin parti pembangkang boleh digunakan sebagai bahan bukti untuk mendakwa pelaku terbabit di mahkamah syariah.

Zainol Rijal berkata ia dikategorikan sebagai "bukti bayynah" iaitu keterangan yang boleh diperolehi dalam pelbagai bentuk antaranya dokumen, percakapan dan video.

Sehubungan itu, kata beliau, klip video boleh dijadikan sebagai bahan bukti untuk mendakwa seseorang melakukan zina sekiranya pihak pendakwa tidak boleh membawa empat orang saksi lelaki.

Mengulas lanjut, Dr Juanda berkata beliau juga memuji tindakan Speaker Dewan Rakyat yang tidak membenarkan penayangan video seks di parlimen.

"Saya bersetuju (untuk larang tayangan) dengan beliau, nanti ada orang lain mungkin nak tunjuk video (seks) orang lain pula," kataya.

Sehubungan itu, beliau menggesa kerajaan supaya menutup isu video seks ini dengan segera demi menuju sebuah negara yang rakyatnya mempunyai akhlak.

MALAYSIAKINI

The massive crowds at DAP’s first night ceramah in Kuching, Sibu and Miri may be a signal of a Chinese tsunami for Sarawak.

IT was the tiniest makeshift stage that most people had ever seen and if DAP leader Lim Guan Eng had held up his arms, he could have easily touched the aluminium roof.

But the crowd that stretched out before the Penang Chief Minister was the biggest the party had ever experienced for a first night ceramah in any election.

Even Tony Pua, the party’s national point man for the Kuching campaign, was surprised at the response. They knew the Chinese in Sarawak were restless but they had not expected this boiling point kind of sentiment.

And it was not just in Kuching. Pua showed some reporters images from his BlackBerry which his counterpart in Miri had sent over –the scene at an ongoing ceramah there was just as packed. It was the same in Sibu where DAP hopes to make the most gains.

DAP has been in Sarawak for years but its leaders have never seen anything like this. It looks like the DAP rocket is about to shoot really high in Sarawak as the Chinese prepare to send their clearest ever signal to the Taib Mahmud regime.

The Chinese like to say that one’s ears tend to itch when people talk about you. If that is true, then Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud’s ears could be itching like crazy over the next week.

The Chief Minister is the top ceramah topic for DAP and Lim’s oratory is peppered with mentions of Bai Mao, the Mandarin term for his snowy-white hair. In Kuching, where the Hokkiens are the majority, he is known as Peh Moh.

Lim is a star over here. His Johor style Hokkien sounds stilted in Penang but it fits right in with the Hokkien spoken here. He has clearly overtaken his father as an orator and his status lends him clout.

When he goes on stage, it is about one Chief Minister going for another Chief Minister. He does not have much to boast about as yet, but his state government is certainly nowhere as controversial as Taib’s.

DAP has only 15 candidates in the polls. Their average age is only 39 compared to SUPP whose candidates average out to 57.

But the fight between DAP and SUPP is not going to be about age, experience or credentials. These are key criteria in ordinary times but these are extraordinary times in Sarawak.

The urban contest is primarily about who dares to speak up, question state policies and most of all stand up to Bai Mao.

For instance, Pending incumbent Violet Yong shot to fame when she was suspended from the State Assembly for raising issues about land acquisition.

Few thought the pint-sized lawyer could take the heat when she won in 2006. But she is a star today, and definitely, the YB with the best hair because she never seems to have a bad hair day.

Yong is now facing Dr Sim Hui Hian, a brainy but awkward-looking cardiologist who is well-known in the capital.

Dr Sim is the sort of candidate that any party would love to have but he is fighting someone who has stood up to the powers-that-be and he will have to convince the voters he can do the same. That is what every SUPP man facing a DAP candidate is up against.

SUPP had the highest percentage of new faces among the Barisan component parties. But it is also the only Barisan party without a single woman among its 19 candidates. Having a woman in the line-up can lend a party a more contemporary image.

DAP has three women candidates – Yong and newcomer Christina Chiew in Kuching and the demure and sweet-looking Alice Lau in Sibu.

Alice’s candidature is a sign of the times. The Australian graduate is with DAP while her father Datuk Lau Cheng Kiong is a local strongman of SPDP, a Barisan component. He is also chairman of the Sibu United Chinese Association which makes him a big man in the local community.

Reporters in Sibu have been quite gaga over Alice, 29, and had asked her opponent and incumbent Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, 69, how he felt about having to take on a sweet young thing.

But Wong is a smoothie and his tongue-in-cheek reply was: “No problem, I’m also quite handsome.”

Elections have often been about the economy, the economy and the economy. But in Sarawak, it seems to be about Taib, Taib and Taib.

Even the ceramah site was just a stone’s throw from the Titanium commercial complex which belongs to one of Taib’s sons. It is not fully operational but it has become a symbol of the way Kuching folk feel about the business interests of Taib’s family.

Every other person seems knowledgeable about how Titanium secured a multi-million ringgit contract to replace some 300 bridges in the state.

For instance, the crowd loved it when Lim gave the Wonder Girls song his own twist, singing, “nobody, nobody but you … no money, no money for you.”

Posters with catchy phrases like “Bai Mao bu tao, ren min chi cao” (if Taib won’t go, the people will eat grass) have gone up in town.

The DAP is tapping big time into the Chinese discontent.

************

Why is The Star pandering on the Chinese minority’s agenda playing their card as of they are the majority?

The Star being an unofficial arm of the Chinese political voice which is propegated by MCA should be playing to Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak’s ’1 Malaysia’ agenda of unity, coming as one and harnessing the best from each societies and communities, instead of allowing the Chinese Chauvinism flavoured reporting in favour of the DAP.

The DAP in their borderline anti-Malay agenda has shown to be counter productive to the bigger agenda of moving Malaysia forward.

BN Sarawak 2011's Manifesto launched in Sibu

The Star instead should do a full blown analysis on Sarawak 2011 BN’s Manifesto, which focused on developmental economics and giving a special attention on SCORE as a tool of making Sarawak a high income state and Sarawakians high income earners across the board by 2030, if not a major contributor to the Federal Government New Economic Model and Economic Transformation Plan fully realised and succesful.

Group Editor in Chief Dato’ Sri Wong Chun Wai must be responsible for this. Unless, MCA President Dato’ Sri Dr Chua Soi Lek is ‘condoning’ if not deliberately ‘allowing’ the ‘systematic backstabbing’ of Barisan Nasional, reflected here in Sarawak.  

Suspiciously, The Star is simply realising fully their commercialisation of media with this sordid agenda to pander for the Chinese readership. after all, the ADEX cartel is very a Chinese cartel game and The Star already immensely benefited from this prime position in print advertising market.

As the cliche’ goes, “Cash is King”. BN Leadership should really watch these spaces very carefully.