Malaysia Wins Laser Beam Soccer Final

20 years down the road, nobody is going to talk about the laser beam anymore. The history book will record it as a Malaysia victory, and will always be remembered as the first Cup win of the tournament for Malaysia. Indonesia must learn to accept it, that it is the result that counts, not how the match is won. Sporting spirit is kinda of irrelevant and childish.

MALAYSIA has declared Friday a public holiday to celebrate its victory over Indonesia in the final of the Asean Suzuki Cup - south-east Asia's premier football tournament.

Malaysia beat Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in a final played over two legs, winning the cup on Wednesday for the first time.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the holiday in a statement to the national news agency Bernama late on Wednesday, saying that the victory marked 'the greatest night in Malaysian football.'

He posted from his Twitter account: 'Well done, Malaysian Tigers! You played well as a team and have made your country very proud. Congratulations!'
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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s sports minister Monday said he was upset at “unsporting” football fans who aimed laser beams at Indonesian players during an ASEAN Football Championships match which Malaysia won 3-0. Malaysian fans among the 100,000-strong crowd at the national stadium in Kuala Lumpur late Sunday reportedly aimed laser beams at Indonesian players, forcing the game to be halted after 53 minutes.

The Indonesian players walked off the pitch in protest, and organisers warned fans that the match would be called off if their behaviour continued, according to The Star newspaper.

The game resumed six minutes later and shortly after the restart, Indonesia conceded three goals.

“I am upset. I am not happy at all, it’s very unsporting for Malaysian fans to do so,” youth and sports minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek told AFP, promising there would not be a repeat of such incidents.

“We were worried about a clash between the fans so we have put in place measures to segregate them but using laser beams was rather a new thing to us,” he said.

“I am not pleased at all. In fact I was embarrassed in front of my Indonesian guests,” said the minister, who however hailed Malaysia’s performance as a “big achievement”.

Malaysia’s victory in the first leg of the championships, formerly known as the Tiger Cup, puts them a step closer to their first Southeast Asian championship title.

Indonesia will host the return match on Wednesday.

Meanwhile furious Indonesians have flooded Twitter with accusations that Malaysia unfairly won a key regional football match after fans in Kuala Lumpur apparently distracted Indonesian players with laser beams.

At least four of the top 10 words and phrases most popularly used on the social network site were linked to tirades against Malaysia soon after the home team beat Indonesia 3-0 Sunday night in the first leg of the ASEAN Football Federation Cup final.

For nearly an hour, “Malaysia cheat laser” ranked No. 1 on Twitter’s global “Trending Topics” chart. Other phrases used were “Use Laser,” “Curang,” which is Indonesian for “cheat,” and “Support Garuda,” a reference to the Indonesian squad.

The match was halted for five minutes shortly after halftime when Indonesia’s goalkeeper and another player complained that bright green lights were directed at them from laser pens used by an unidentified few among the 85,000-strong crowd at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Malaysia’s largest city.

Officials then warned fans to stop using laser pointers.

All of Malaysia’s goals came later between the 61st and 73rd minutes.

Many Malaysians were quick to defend their team, saying there were no beams shone on the field during those 12 minutes of goal scoring.

“None of the 3 goals had anything to do with (cheating). It had to do with” a weak Indonesian defense, Khairy Jamaluddin, a prominent Malaysian government politician and former deputy president of Malaysia’s football association, wrote on Twitter.
Agencies
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JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) — The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) on Monday said Malaysia’s national team cheated during the first leg of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup final on Sunday, the Jakarta Post reported.

Nurdin Halid, head of the PSSI, said a powder which causes itchiness and allergic reactions was discovered in front of Indonesia’s goal net in the Bukit Jalil football stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The match was won by Malaysia by 3 goals to zero.

According to Halid, the suspicious powder affected Indonesian goalkeeper Markus Haris Maulana and other defensive players as it caused itchiness which had a negative effect in their performance during the first leg match.

In addition, the Indonesian team claimed that, during the match, Malaysian supporters were aiming laser beams at their eyes. The game was stopped after 53 minutes and the Indonesian team walked off the field in protest.

Stadium authorities called for measure and warned that the match could be suspended if that behavior continued. The game eventually resumed after five minutes and Malaysia then scored three goals in minutes 53, 71, and 68.

Indonesia has announced that it will file a formal protest with the Asean Football Federation as the team claims it was terrorized since they were in a bus heading towards the stadium.

It was Malaysia’s first final in 14 years and first victory over Indonesia since 1979. The second leg is scheduled to take place in Jakarta on Wednesday.
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MIC wants national football coach K Rajagopal to be honoured with at least a Datukship.

Party president G Palanivel said Malaysian football has been on the rise since Rajagopal took charge of the under-23 side.
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The team won the SEA Games gold medal in Laos last December and yesterday clinched the AFF Suzuki cup for the first time.

"Before this, the country waited many years to get back Asean glory.

"We were in the doldrums all these years," said Palanivel.

"This man beat all the odds, he was focused and believed in himself and his team. Such dedication must be rewarded," he added.

The MIC president said Rajagopal built a winning team made up of players with varied skills which is much more difficult than coaching an individual sportsman.

"This is the first time Malaysia won the AFF championship since the biennial tournament was introduced in 1996," he added.

Malaysian Police is the real "Killing Machine"

Another 3 men killed by trigger-free policemen of Malaysia. It seemed that they were trained to shoot-on-sight the moment they get nervous. When in Malaysia, the last thing that you should get near to is the police force, not the terrorists.


Families want answers to police killings
Teoh El Sen
KUALA LUMPUR: Last year, police shot dead three youths – and today their families want answers to their unsolved “murders”.

The trio – Mohd Shamil Hafiz Shafie, 15, Mohd Khairul Nizam Tuah, 20, and Mohd Hanafi Omar, 22 – were gunned down in Jalan Kerjaya, Glenmarie, on Nov 13, after allegedly robbing a petrol station in Jalan U1/1 nearby.

The families of the victims this morning handed over a memorandum to the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar at the entrance of the federal police headquarters at Bukit Aman here.

They want the police to investigate and charge those responsible for shooting the three youths “at close range”.

Speaking to reporters, Shamil’s mother Norhafizah Mad Razali said that the three families simply wanted answers.

“My son was only 15 when he was shot dead. I just want justice. Why was he shot? I don’t think he had ever done the things the police accused him of,” she said, adding that her son was shot in the middle of his head and chest.

“The police also said my son and the other two boys were armed with parangs, but where are the parangs? ” asked Norhafizah, 36, who was comforted by her husband when she broke down in tears.

Khairul Nizam’s sister, Norhaliza Tuah, 27, said her brother’s death did not make sense.

“I don’t believe he is a criminal. We were shocked when this happened. When we saw his body, there were bruises on his face. Was he hit before they killed him? We don’t know. The police must answer.

“The police even lied. They told us that he ‘had an accident’ and asked us not to worry. But when we reached the hospital, we saw his bullet-ridden body,” said Norhaliza.

Hanafi’s father, Omar Abu Bakar, 56, said police did not update the families even after reports were lodged two months ago.

“I am not satisfied. My son was shot in the right ear and if the police said he was attacking them, why wasn’t he shot from the front? This means my son was driving at the time. I want the police to speed up their investigations and take action against the people who killed my son,” he said.
Also present were human rights NGO Lawyers for Liberty (LFL), Suaram members and Opposition MPs Nurul Izzah Anwar and R Sivarasa.

The memorandum urged the IGP to:

* investigate the fatal shooting of the three youths and prosecute the policemen who fired the shots;
* stop abusive and arbitrary practice in the discharge of firearms;
* make public the Inspector-General Standing Order on police guidelines in the discharge of firearms;
* support the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to function as an external body to investigate complaints about police conduct; and
* support human rights education and training programmes to change the attitudes and methods of law enforcement personnel.

“We are here because the police have committed murder and we can prove it. The three youths were shot at close range. It looked like all three were kneeling when they were shot. Why are the police covering up? We have lodged a police report on Nov 20 and nothing has been done,” said N Surendran, a lawyer from LFL.

“We are worried for the people. There is a real need for an IPCMC. We are here for all the other teenagers in Malaysia who are in danger as well. We intend to pursue this until there is justice for the families of the victims.”

No accountability

Fellow LFL lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri said Malaysia was faring badly in terms of extra-judicial killings in comparison with other countries.

“Is it so hard for the police to be responsible? Even if the victims were criminals, should they be shot like that? We are troubled and puzzled. We want the police to prosecute those who have been cruelly murdered. They say they are ‘seasoned criminals’ but they don’t even have a single police record.”

Added Nurul: “This is not a political issue. It’s about the future of our children. We want a better system so that this sort of incident won’t recur.”

Sivarasa said: “This incident has all the traits of a murder case. It is not isolated. The police simply do have any accountability whatsoever.”

Surrounded by a crowd of about 40 people, Bukit Aman public relations department chief inspector Saipul Anuar Razali received the memorandum.

“The investigations are still ongoing. I am here to receive the memorandum. The IGP will answer all your questions later, ” he told the family members.

When pressed for answers on the status of the investigations, Saipul left to check but returned later to say it was a Saturday and he could not get in touch with any officers.

He promised to have the answers on Monday.

In the incident, the police claimed the three youths were members of the notorious “Geng Minyak” and were wanted for preying on petrol stations in isolated areas.

The trio were apparently fleeing the scene when they bumped into a team of policemen who were patrolling the area.

A car chase ensued. When the car skidded and stalled by the roadside some 2km away, the police said the trio alighted and tried to assault them, forcing them to open fire.

All three sustained similar gunshot wounds to the forehead and chest.

The families of the victims later lodged reports urging the police to investigate the killing, which they regarded as “murder”.

Crosses Removed For Najib's Christmas Day Visit

Reports have been surfacing that some ‘paranoid’ Catholic church officials have been told to make sure that crucifixes were removed and that no hymns were sung when the prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak attended the Christmas tea party last weekend hosted by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur in order to protect his Islamic credentials. Apparently, the actions were done without Najib’s knowledge as some would regard his visit to be detrimental to his political standing after the recent call by certain Islamic scholars on Najib not to attend non-Muslim celebrations.

Since becoming the Prime Minister, this would be his first Christian function where according to sources, some of the Prime Minister’s aides had issued instructions to Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop in order for the visit by Najib to be glitch-free. Among those mentioned were to have symbols like crucifixes removed, no singing of hymns and to not quote anything from the scriptures or say any prayers. According to the Christian Federation of Malaysia, the same set of ‘rules’ were also given out in previous Christmas events including one which was attended by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

Anwar-Leaks vs WikiLeaks

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim today moved to stem the impact on his sodomy trial of US cables released by WikiLeaks claiming he had sex with a male aide in a honey trap set by enemies.

Anwar's lawyer Sankara Nair told AFP he will file a complaint with the court hearing Anwar's sodomy case over articles in the local media which could affect the former deputy premier's ongoing trial.

Most newspapers in the country carried the allegations on their front page with influential Malay daily Utusan running a headline stating: "Singapore spy agency verifies sodomy act".

"Clearly it's a case of sub-judice, it's hearsay and conjecture, intelligence reports are not based on facts generally, they are based on rumours and I have served in the security services before so I know that the last thing you do is to trust such a report," said Nair.

"The judge must call up the newspapers and ask them to explain why they wrote the piece and to show their proof. If they can't do this then they will be cited for contempt," he added.

"If this is not sinister then it is totally unethical reporting. I have advised my client to file a lawsuit against these papers as well."

The leaked US state department cables from November 2008 were given to Australia's Fairfax media group, which reported Sunday the Australian and Singapore intelligence agencies' assessment of Anwar's ongoing case.

"The Australians said that Singapore's intelligence services and (former prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA (Office of National Assessments) in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar 'did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted'," the cable read.

"ONA assessed, and their Singapore counterparts concurred, 'it was a set-up job and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway'," according to the cable.

Anwar, 63, has vehemently denied sodomising his aide, 25-year-old Mohamad Saiful Bukhari Azlan, claiming he was the victim of a political conspiracy.

He faces 20 years in prison if found guilty of sodomy, a serious crime in Muslim-dominated Malaysia.

Human Rights Watch has urged Malaysia to drop the charges against Anwar, condemning the case as a "charade of justice".
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KUALA LUMPUR: On his first day back in Parliament, independent Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali told Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim not to cry conspiracy over WikiLeaks.

"I don't know if it is a trap or not... for me, what's important is that when we do something wrong, and when people take the opportunity to trap us, we cannot accuse others of conspiracy," the Perkasa president told reporters.

Read: Anwar acts to stem WikiLeak effect on sodomy case

According to Internet whistleblower WikiLeaks, a US department cable issued in November 2009 showed that Singapore officials believed that Anwar was guilty of his sodomy charge.

The revelation, which was contained in a message between the Singaporean intelligence and an Australian agency, said that Anwar "did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted".

Reacting to the message, Anwar had accused the Malaysian police and their Special Branch division of contributing to the leak.

However, Ibrahim, who spent the last two months recovering from a heart bypass surgery, said that he was not surprised with Anwar's reaction.

He also advised the opposition leader to take action against WikiLeaks.

"I am not surprised at all (with Anwar). We have talked about him for many years, even during (former prime minister) Mahathir Mohamad's time, to the time where he was sacked as deputy prime minister," Ibrahim said.

"The best thing for him to do is to sue (WikiLeaks). I don't know (how to do so) from what point of the law, but that is the best way for him."

The firebrand MP also criticised the government for not taking action against controversial rapper Wee Meng Chee, or better known as Namewee.

by Patrick Lee