State DAP gets brickbats for unsettling Bersih rally

September 1, 2015 

KUCHING: Several Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have taken the state DAP, notably its chairman Chong Chieng Jen, to task for trying to turn the Bersih rally here into something it is not meant to be.

PBB Supreme Council member Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said Chong’s outburst against the rally organiser showed he was a ‘leader in desperation’, while state BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) chairman Abdullah Saidol and SUPP Youth publicity chief Milton Foo noted that the party had hijacked the gathering.

Abdul Karim said while Chong, who is also Bandar Kuching MP and Kota Sentosa assemblyman, had the right to call for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s resignation, it was not in sync with the objectives of the rally.

“I thought Bersih 4 was a rally calling for, among others, clean government, transparency, and good governance. The organiser is the one that keeps to their promises to the authority that comes with the clearance for the rally.

“It was not a venue just for the DAP, but for all. Chong wanted to hijack the Kuching Bersih rally but the organiser was not stupid. They could smell the rat in their midst and ended the rally early before the DAP and Chong turned it into a DAP rally,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Abdullah said it was pleasant that the rally organiser kept their promises to ensure a peaceful gathering.

“Chong confidently said the crowd would be overwhelming, of no less than 10,000 people. But it seemed the rally in Kuching received only a cool reception.

Jangan sampai negeri, negara berpecah: disebabkan tarikh Julai 22

June 29, 2015

Motif gerakan Sarawak for Sarawakians anjur perarakan memperingati kemerdekaan Sarawak diragui

KUCHING: Menteri Muda Pembangunan Belia (Bandar) Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah meragui motif rancangan gerakan Sarawak for Sarawakians (S4S) untuk menganjurkan perarakan bagi memperingati kemerdekaan negeri ini pada 22 Julai depan.

Karim yang dihubungi semalam berkata, meskipun beliau bersetuju bahawa kita tidak seharusnya melupakan tarikh penting ini namun pada masa yang sama kita harus memastikan bahawa negeri dan negara ini tidak berpecah belah disebabkan tarikh ini.

“Kita di Sarawak ini telah mengambil 16 September sebagai tarikh kemerdekaan kita dalam Malaysia dan tarikh ini harus diberi keutamaan.

“Malah di Amerika Syarikat (AS), tidak semua 52 atau 53 negerinya mendapat kemerdekaan serentak tetapi satu tarikh umum telah dikenal pasti sebagai tarikh rasmi bagi hari kemerdekaan AS,” katanya.

Tambah Karim yang juga Menteri Muda Perumahan, gerakan S4S dan aktivis Peter John Jaban selaku pengerusi penganjur seharusnya tidak bersikap terlalu emosional terhadap tarikh 22 Julai melainkan mereka ada motif tersembunyi yang lain.

“Saya berharap tiada motif terselindung di sebalik rancangan S4S dan Peter John untuk menganjurkan perarakan ini pada 22 Julai nanti.

“Nasihat saya, demi kepentingan perpaduan kita seharusnya hanya menyambut 16 September sebagai tarikah kemerdekaan kita dalam Malaysia,” ujarnya.

Peter John Jaban is a chameleon - Karim

June 11, 2012

“Hahaha … knowing this guy, who is like a chameleon, do you believe his words?" Tuan Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah

KUCHING: Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said deejay Peter John Jaban was free to do whatever he wished within the limits of his rights and freedom.

“This is a free and democratic country, and everyone is free to do whatever he or she pleases. But unlike anarchy, there are laws and regulations. Democracy is not about unfettered freedom. There are various shades and colours of the concept of freedom and democracy based on the wishes of the majority,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday.

Wan Junaidi, who is also Santubong MP, said this when asked to comment on Jaban’s statement that he had decided not to return to London where he had been working with foreign-funded Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) since 2010.

Wan Junaidi opined that Jaban’s struggles for his people were noble and honourable, adding that both were high sounding and provide the moral high ground, and advised him to stay clear of underhand tactics.

“One should not resort to underhand and irregular tactics and ways. Oblique minds and bias judgment would deprive one of the nobility of struggle and moral high ground one placed him or herself on. Therefore, everyone must observe the law and moral provisions in order to achieve noble objectives.”

Meanwhile, Assistant Minister of Housing Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, when contacted, responded: “Hahaha … knowing this guy, who is like a chameleon, do you believe his words?

“I won’t be surprised if he had been sacked by Clare (Clare Rewcastle-Brown) of RFS or that he had gone missing in action because he didn’t get what he was expecting there.”

Much ado about nothing

June 3, 2012

RFS broadcaster seen in Kuching recently, disappearance beginning to look like publicity stunt

KUCHING: The drama and speculations over the disappearance of Radio Free Sarawak (RFS) announcer Peter John Jaban while on his way from Miri Airport to the city seemed to have fizzled out when it was revealed that he had entered the state earlier without any problem.

Assistant Minister of Youth Development Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah when asked about Peter’s ‘houdini’ act disclosed that he had come back to the state and left in the past without any hindrance.

The Asajaya assemblyman added that he had seen Peter driving a classic car with a lady here a few weeks ago and that the RFS broadcaster had also come back for the Gawai last year. He added the whole incident could be just a publicity stunt staged by Peter and Pakatan Rakyat to stir up a storm against the government.

“From what I read in the paper and blogs, he didn’t seem to have been forcibly taken away,” said Abdul Karim.

If that was the case, he said Peter had succeeded and presume he was enjoying the publicity generated but whether it would be good or bad publicity remained to be seen.

However, the assemblyman cautioned that the case could not be considered closed until his disappearance had been reported to the police and investigations concluded.

“Until there is some clue to his disappearance or some police report made on him missing, we can’t speculate,” he said.

  

Politicians call for action against blog and rogue station

By NG AI FERN 

aifern@thestar.com.my

Friday February 25, 2011

KUCHING: Now that the brains behind Sarawak Report and Radio Free Sarawak have been exposed, politicians from both sides of the divide are calling for action to be taken.

Sarawak United People’s Party youth chief Sii Hua Tong asked the authorities to find out if the blog and radio station had committed any offence.

“There is no need to create something to threaten the nation. No one in our country, whether in Barisan Nasional or the Opposition, will want to see our country in chaos. Whether those responsible are overseas or not, when they interfere in our nation’s interest and threaten national security, it is a serious matter.

“If what they allege is true, they must have evidence,” he told Star Sarawak yesterday.

Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu deputy president Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said that he had been monitoring what was aired and opined that the contents were just rhetoric.

“Well, it is close to election and so you can expect a lot of things to pop up. I don’t like rhetoric,” he said.

Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Peter John Jaban, an Iban activist known as Papa Orang Utan to his listeners, went public on Wednesday saying they were responsible for the blog and radio station in a British tabloid report.

Karim wants action against brains behind rogue radio, Sarawak Report

February 24, 2011

KUCHING: The people behind Radio Free Sarawak and Sarawak Report have been revealed at last.

They are Clare Rewcastle Brown, the sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Peter John Jaban, an Iban activist known as Papa Orang Utan to his listeners.

Rewcastle Brown is also the author of the hard-hitting Sarawak Report — a blog that has been making several allegations against the Chief Minister —that gets 18,000 hits a day. They went public in a report by tabloid London Evening Standard on Wednesday, said an article by The Malaysian Insider.