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By Frankie D'Cruz February 11, 2009 Categories: News
Parti Keadilian Rakyat’s assemblyman from Kedah, V. Arumugam, is believed to have hatched a plan to resign his post to crawl out of a morality wormhole.
His strategy: Resign as Bukit Selambau State assemblyman and pin the blame on the Barisan Nasional for pressuring him to cross over.
Then, declare that he was offered RM5 million to defect. Then, make a police report alleging an attempt to kidnap him and threats to his family and support staff.
Arumugam, 55, who was also a State executive councillor in the Pakatan Rakyat-led Kedah government, is now under fire from both his party and BN leaders.
A PR leader told Malay Mail yesterday that it was a lame excuse for a man who was embroiled in a morality issue for allegedly marrying another woman through customary rites without divorcing his wife.
PR leaders said they were having problems explaining his sudden disappearance as no one believed he was a BN target.
Arumugam is thought to be in India to “think things over”.
A PR leader, who requested anonymity, said: “Arumugam doesn’t have the calibre or credibility to command RM5 million to defect to BN.
“He’s not a people’s man. He was just there by default,” he said. “He’s not a hero. He is in this dilemma because his wife lodged a report accusing him of bigamy. He did himself in.”
BN leaders say his resignation was a ploy to enrage the voters of Bukit Selambau and punish BN during the by-election.
“Arumugam was never a notable State assemblyman and we are shocked at the insinuations that such a huge sum was offered to a nobody to cross over,” said the source.
“Why would anybody offer a nobody with hardly any influence RM5 million? He’s problemridden.”
Arumugam, sources said, had never had time for his constituents.
“The constituents hardly know him and that clearly shows that he has no experience as a people’s representative.
“So, when news of his alleged bigamy leaked out, he panicked and started blaming everyone except himself.”
Arumugam was implicated in a recent petition to the Sultan of Kedah that a married State executive councillor was involved with another woman.
The petition was submitted by a group of people claiming to represent residents of Taman Ria in Sungai Petani.
Rahman Daros
KUALA LUMPUR: Top cops in charge of police districts and stations in the Klang Valley have been ordered to check old records after a gay Malaysian man seeking refugee status in Canada claimed physical and sexual abuse under police detention five years ago.
The order came from Bukit Aman, a day after The Malay Mail frontpaged (on March 14) the allegation by Kulenthiran Amirthalingan at a Press conference in Ottawa on March 5, in which he appealed to the Canadian government to stay his March 6 deportation order to Malaysia.
The asylum-seeker, who has been in Montreal since 2003, begged the Canadian government to let him stay in Canada as he feared he could become a target of authorities here.
Sources told Weekend Mail that police at district levels have begun poring through old fi les since March 14, adding that Kulenthiran’s allegation could be linked to an old case in Selangor where a man was beaten up by an assailant claiming to be a policeman. It could not be determined which station the incident had occurred.
It is learnt that the search for the old cases will continue as there could be similar cases in other stations as well.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Datuk Ismail Omar, when contacted on Thursday, confi rmed the order but declined to elaborate, saying that investigations were ongoing.
On March 14, The Malay Mail reported that Kulenthiran had fi led a lastditch appeal with Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley, asking her to stay the March 6 deportation order to Malaysia as he feared persecution since he was gay.
At the news conference, which was also attended by New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair, to request Finley’s intervention, Kulenthiran said: “I will be deported back to Malaysia, and I fear my imprisonment, so I would like to ask Miss Finley to let me stay in Canada.” Kulenthiran had also said that he feared for his life if he were to be sent back to Kuala Lumpur, where he claimed to have experienced discrimination, harassment and abuse for being gay.
He had applied for the refugee status on humanitarian grounds, claiming that his life was in danger because his homosexuality had made him a target of Malaysian police who detained him for fi ve days and abused him, physically and sexually. He claimed that he had been punched and pushed to the fl oor to force him to admit that he was gay.
In The Malay Mail report on Monday, IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan questioned Kulenthiran’s motive in making the allegations as police did not simply arrest anyone unless an offence was committed.
“What was his offence (that led to his arrest)? That’s just it, if he did not commit any, how could the police arrest him?” he was quoted as saying.
Ismail, in echoing the sentiment, had expressed sadness that such accusations were hurled at the police.
He also said police would investigate Kulenthiran’s case and issue a statement once they had obtained details of the case.
The allegation also prompted PT Foundation chairman, Hisham Hussein, to question the allegations.
“We have not heard of any persecution of homosexuals in Malaysia,” he was quoted as saying in The Malay Mail on the same day.
Previously known as Pink Triangle Sdn Bhd, PT Foundation is a communitybased, voluntary, non-profi t organisation providing HIV/AIDS education, prevention, care and support programmes, sexuality awareness and empowerment programmes for vulnerable communities in Malaysia, including homosexual men.
Hisham said: “Of course, we do have laws against sodomy in the country, but it’s diffi cult to understand what exactly this person mean by persecution.
“Persecution seems to give the impression that it’s State-sanctioned action against someone because of their sexuality. To my knowledge, this doesn’t happen here.”
by DAWN CHAN
IS segregation the answer to sexual harassment problems?
Three non-governmental organisations contacted by The Malay Mail yesterday agreed it’s not.
The NGOs were asked to comment on Sri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz’s suggestion to have separate coaches for male and female LRT passengers to prevent ‘awkward situations’.
Women’s Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said sexual harassment will not stop with segregation.
“Sexual harassment can take place anywhere. Segregation should be the last resort,” said Chin.
“At the end of the day, it comes back to education on gender sensitivity.
“The transport provider should go beyond providing public transport services. They should emphasise on security for all passengers.”
All Women’s Action Society president Judith Loh-Koh called for a more effective and lasting solution.
“Putting men and women in separate coaches will not eliminate sexual assault on a woman’s integrity in any way, be it verbal, non-verbal, visual, psychological or physical,” she said.
A fairer option, she said, is to provide the avenues for victims to make complaints with RapidKL personnel trained to handle them sensitively.
Loh-Koh said there is also the need for an efficient public transport system to spread out the congestion.
“There should be more trains and buses that run according to schedule,” she said.
“Another suggestion is to introduce flexible working hours to spread out road congestion and reduce its duration.
“Sexual harassment should not occur under any circumstance.”
Loh-Koh hopes the Government and RapidKL will seek alternative steps to combat the problem.
“In the long run, the society needs to be educated,” she said.
“Sexual harassment is not acceptable on any grounds, and it is symptomatic of a society based on unequal gender relations.”
Sisters In Islam programme manager Norhayati Kaprawi said segregation will just create more problems.
“It is perplexing how segregation can solve the problem. If sexual harassment is an issue, we urge policymakers to ensure that awareness on gender and sexual harassment issues be carried out in schools,” she said.
“The Government needs to be serious in pushing for gender sensitivity not only to our young, but also among the decision- makers.”
by DAWN CHAN
That's what Women's Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah wants women to do.
"Women should not be ashamed if they don't want their babies," she said when responding to Weekend Mail's front page report on the rise of abandoned babies, especially in Selangor, Sarawak and Johor.
Chin said there were a lot of negative perceptions when a woman did not want their child.
The public, she said, should understand a woman's background before passing judgement.
"It's possible the woman cannot handle the baby or she had practised unsafe sex or has other children. We should stop blaming women."
"In some countries, if a woman doesn't want her baby, the mother will see it through until the child is adopted," said Chin.
She added that there should be a campaign allowing women to surrender their babies without having to reveal their identities.
On Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's statement on having at least one trained counsellor in every family, Chin said it was not feasible.
"We should have counsellors by the population. It cannot be one to one. The Government should also focus on sex education and use the media to put forward more issues on abandoned babies."
"I conduct a lot of training programmes with youngsters and they do not seem to have a clear understanding of what sex is. That is why they experiment," said Chin.
She added that sex education should be a part of the education system.
All Women's Action Society executive director Honey Tan echoed Chin's views.
She said at the end of the day, the solution to problems like abandoned babies lies in education.
"Sex education is essential. Educators, including those responsible for setting up the national curriculum, should take a holistic approach where children are not just taught the biological aspects of sex but also about rights and responsibilities."
"They should be taught to consider carefully if they are ready to have sex and to respect their partners," she said.
Educating boys to respect girls is especially important. Boys should also be taught to take responsibility and face up to any consequences instead of leaving girls high and dry.
"We urge the Government to plug the loopholes in the law which allow men to escape responsibility for fathering children out of wedlock."
"Women in Malaysia cannot file paternity suits for maintenance because the law does not require men to give their DNA samples to prove paternity," said Tan.
Sisters in Islam programme manager Norhayati Kaprawi agreed with Shahrizat that women alone should not be blamed for abandoned babies.
"Instead of the judgmental and punitive approaches, what is needed is greater public awareness on the issue of sex and gender."
"We propose that biological fathers be made responsible. They should also provide maintenance for the children."
"Sex education should be introduced in schools and the media should also be fair and gender sensitive in covering such issues," said Norhayati.
