Malaysian Parliament vs Animal Planet

A Kadir Jasin

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UPDATE, June 28 - NOT all is lost and not all about the country is bad. Many things about our country are still worth fighting for.

While a few intellectually challenged Members of the Parliament continue to make a monkey out of the august House, two heart-warming developments had taken place in the judiciary.

On June 26, Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge VT Singham has backed the proposal to form the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) immediately, noting an increase in cases of death in custody.

He said this while reading out his two-hour long judgment on the civil suit against the government, including the police, brought by the family of custodial death victim A Kugan . He ordered the respondents to pay RM801,700 in damages to the family and another RM50,000 in costs.

On June 27, a five-member Apppeal Court bench, led by Justice Md Raus Shariff, rules that the Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, would have to answer a civil suit brought against him by businessman Amir Bazli Abdullah over an assault allegation.

Justice Md Raus was assisted four fellow judges namely the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjum, and Federal Court judges Abdull Hamid Embong, Suriyadi Halim Omar and Zainun Ali. He ordered Ahmad Zahid to pay RM5,000 in legal costs to Amir Bazli Abdullah.

It is heartening the Judges are treating matters relating to the abuse of power by the authorities and people in high places seriously. That five justices, instead of the normal three, formed the Appeal Court bench in the Ahmad Zahid’s case is worth noting.

Original Post

IF you were a voter in the May 5 general elections, would you like to join me in kicking yourself in the rear for making mistake once again?

In case you do not know what I mean, (read here). It seems you and I have elected "anjing" and "binatang" (dogs and other animals) to the Parliament.

For making that blunder, either knowingly or accidentally, we have allowed some dogs and other animals to take seats in the Dewan Rakyat.

As the report says, the acknowledgement of the presence of "anjing" and other "binatang" in the House was made by the members themselves. They were the ones who made such a reference in the House.

Now, it is our collective responsibility to demand that a section of the Dewan be designated a zoo to house these quarreling, dangerous animals.

And as for dogs, we demand that the Veterinary Department carry out a thorough medical examination to ensure that none of them are rabid. Rabid dogs are a danger to their own kind as well as to human beings. Those days, rabid dogs were shot dead.

On the other hand, I am delighted that MPs themselves recognized that there are dogs and other animals among them and I think bloggers should feel vindicated at being called "beruk" (monkeys) by an Umno politician back in the mid-2000 for criticizing the government.

Beruk are genetically more intelligent than dogs. Beruk and other primates share as much as 98 per cent of their genes with humans.

Selamat bersidang YB. Henceforth, YB could also refer to "yang binatang". So much for Dewan Yang Mulia, janji ditepati and ubah!