Teresa Kok

Hello Friends,

This blog will not be updated anymore. Please join me at my new blog at www.teresakok.com.

Seputeh DAP and I wish our Hindu friends Happy Deepavali.

郭素沁

这数星期来，邻国印尼烧芭, 令东南亚南部烟霾重重。在国内，土著股权的数据也仿佛被笼上重重烟霾。第九大马计划指土著的股权目前只有18。9%，但是亚洲策略及领导研究中心（ASLI）的林德宜博士，在今年2月向政府提出的第九大马计划建议书里，却指土著的股权经已高达45%。

林德宜博士的报告最初出炉时，并没引发任何的注意，直到他在9月26日受邀在行动党的经济讲座会发表他的报告时，在媒体的报道之下，才震荡全国。

接着，行动党和民间团体呼吁政府公布股权计算法，巫统头头则纷纷谴责有关报告，巫统副主席兼农业部长慕希丁刻薄的形容ASLI的报告是垃圾，首相也公开指ASLI报告所使用的计算法不正确，没反映真相。 (more…)

Seputeh DAP is on yet another fund-raising drive. It’s been terribly hard to make ends meet. We don’t have rich cronies nor do we get kickbacks to keep our service centre going. Out of desperation, we have decided to appeal to the public for financial assistance. The following is the content of a letter that will be sent to some business people. I’ll be happy if readers could help out in anyway possible. No amount is too small; every sen is appreciated.

Service Center Building Fund

We are very grateful the voters of Seputeh have been electing DAP candidates into Parliament continuously for the past four decades.

Ever since I became your MP in October 1999, I have done my best to serve the people of this constituency.

While my services have always been free, the costs of running the service centre have skyrocketed to RM8,000 per month, of which RM1000 is for rent. (more…)

道歉、边缘化

这几个星期来，报章上重要的政治新闻里最常用和重要的字眼，莫过于《边缘化》和《道歉》。

在国外，教宗本笃16 世因在其学术演讲中引用了拜占庭皇帝与一个学者在对话里提到回教与暴力的例子，来论说“道理与信仰“（faith and reason），结果引起世界各地的回教徒群起抗议，使教宗被逼向回教徒社会道歉。

在国内，巫青团副团长凯里在吉打州日轮区团大会中，指华社往往乘巫统分裂时提出他们的诉求，接着又指槟州马来人被边缘化，引起国阵华基政党和华团纷纷出来指责他。

当大马因着华小和马来人被边缘化课题闹得热烘烘之际，邻国内阁资政李光耀在莱士论坛演讲时发表大马和印尼华人被有系统的边缘化的伟论，引起国阵内阁部长们群起炮轰，首相伯拉更特地致函李光耀表达他的不满。

面对大马国阵各族最高领导人的炮轰，以及大马华社基层对李光耀言论的认同，邻国这位政坛老将也很高明的致函回敬首相一番。他在信里先称赞伯拉是个尊重法律的人，接着向他解释说他发表那番言论时是针对西方的观众，他当时是要说明为何新加坡需要一个强势政府，以和把新加坡视为华人国家的邻国政府周旋。然后，他以附件里的多个例子来证明大马的巫统领袖在很多场合里公开警告大马的巫裔，指如果他们失去权力，那么他们像新加坡马来人那样被边缘化。最后他才对他的言论引起首相的极大不悦而感到抱歉。

李光耀的《致歉函》非常高明，他实际上并未对他的言论表示忏悔，相反的，他还倒回来指巫统的前首相和领袖之前多次在公开场合以相同的论调来指新加坡的马来人被边缘化。换句话说，巫统诸公和他都互相“干政“，大家《半斤八两》。

李光耀的道歉信公开后，首相和内阁“为了维持双边友好关系“而被逼接受李光耀的道歉，因为他们无法反驳李光耀信里的事实，越跟李光耀纠缠就越理亏。

教宗本笃16世因他的言论被媒体和回教徒社会曲解而向回教徒道歉，李光耀也为了他的言论令伯拉“极度不快“而道歉，但是巫青团那位伤害华社与友党感受的凯里却死都不认错。报道指出，他在国阵青年团会议里说，他可以像李光耀那样的道歉，但那绝对是不真诚的。

这三个引发争议的人物平息众怒的方式各不相同。教宗秉着宗教里的谦卑精神而向误解他言论的回教徒道歉，李光耀在致歉之馀还不忘讽刺巫统领袖一番，而凯里过去两个月来，在引起华社的公愤后，还一再发表马来人被边缘化的言论，最后更拒绝道歉。

这是宗教家、政治家与政客的不同。前两者有顾全大局和化解危机的智慧，后者则是像唯恐天下不乱的《搅屎棍》，最终肯定会在政治圈里被边缘化。

Dear friends,

I forgot to let you know the outcome of a case which was handled by me last month, i.e. the doctor who was abducted by her father who strongly opposed her marriage to a car sales executive. I was too busy at that time so I have no time to do it.

Credit should be given to YB Dato’ Seri Nazri who lent a helping hand to them by writing to the OCPD of all the police stations where the couple have lodged their police reports prior to and after the ‘abduction’ (more…)

上星期，当媒体报道教宗本笃16世在德国的演讲引起世界各地回教徒的抗议之后，我已预料到国会肯定会有回教徒的议员提出辩论这课题的紧急动议，即使回教党的议员不提，巫统的议员也肯定会提出。

不出所料，回教党议员沙拉胡丁在本星期一便向议长提呈这课题的紧急动议，议长次日便批准下议院对这课题进行辩论。由于这课题属国际议题，所以由外交部回答或总结。外交部长赛哈密当时在纽约，副外长沙朗是来自沙拉越的天主教徒，为了避免在下议院里发表违背良心的话，因此他刻意避嫌，而把总结辩论这任务交给来自巫统的政务次长沙比里茨负责。

沙拉胡丁的动议的原文看来措辞谨慎，他说有鉴于教宗的演词经已引起世界各地的回教徒的不满，他担这会引发大马宗教社群之间，特别是回教徒和基督徒之间的矛盾，因此国会有必要辩论这课题。

在沙拉胡丁的紧急动议的演讲里，他说，回教徒尊敬耶稣这位先知，当年把耶稣钉死在十字架上的是犹太人，不是回教徒。因此，基督徒和回教徒其实应该联合起来共同对抗犹太人。此外，他也指美国总统布殊最近的声明，似乎要成为教宗的代言人。他呼吁教宗不要陷入美国所设的陷阱，而批准布殊逼害回教徒。他也质问美国是否要制造文明冲突，而把梵蒂冈拉来与回教徒为敌？

沙拉胡丁似乎忘了历史背景，在耶稣在世的时代，回教还没出现。此外，他把教宗在一个学术演讲里引用影射到回教圣战的例子，牵连到质疑美国是否要拉拢梵蒂冈来逼害回教徒？这种论述也实在令人‘佩服‘。

接着是公正党主席旺阿兹沙发言。我以为公正党拥有多元种族和宗教的党员，该党应该可呈现较中立和讲理的立场，但是很令人失望的，旺阿兹沙的演词依然是一面倒的谴责教宗，呼吁教宗收回他的言论，以免分裂回教徒和基督徒的关系。

轮到笔者发言时，我分析教宗9月12日在德国的里根斯本大学的学术演讲的真正讯息，是《理由在信仰里有很重要的角色，而神学在大学里也占有重要的角色》，教宗是因为在演词里举了一个拜占庭皇帝和波斯学者针对回教对话的例子，而引起争议。但是教宗已经澄清他在该演词的例子，并不代表他本人的立场，同时梵蒂冈和教宗本身都已对这事件分别致歉。梵蒂冈在其声明里，更特别阐明教会对回教徒的最崇高的敬意。但是很令人遗憾的是，国会在天主教会和教宗致歉两次后，还要辩论这个议题。

在笔者准备讲词前，几位朋友和党同志告诫我，要以中立和不情绪化的方式来演讲，我尽可能做到这点，但是要在一个回教徒议员占大多数的议会里为教宗作澄清和辩护，是非常困难的事。笔者在演讲时频被巫统的议员打岔，笔者言毕后，我便面对回教党和巫统的议员排山倒海般的反击。

令人惊讶的是，身为天主教徒的沙巴州伯鲁然区国会议员竟然起来抨击教宗，说教宗的言论引起回教徒和基督徒的愤怒，他呼吁教宗收回其言论。大概由于他是基督徒的关系，他的演讲得到好些巫统议员拍桌欢迎。唉，这是另一个没阅读过教宗原文的基督徒议员的声音。

在巫统议员们对教宗和笔者大肆批判时，我环顾下议院会议厅，许多国阵的基督徒议员都不见人影，我党内的非天主教徒的同僚都因事不关己而溜到议会厅外去。我恍悟到我在孤军作战。突然间，我感到一阵孤寂。

面对回教徒议员的连声无理谴责，我记取友人之前的劝告，尽量以理服人，避免在这事件与这些回教徒议员纠缠，以免被媒体歪曲我的言论。

紧急动议辩论完毕后，步出会议厅外，巫统的议员和部长还在揶揄笔者为教宗辩论，一些即使看来很理性的议员，也还在强烈的不认同我的演讲，他们还是坚持教宗不应该引用有关的例子，完全忽略那是一个学术演讲。在笔者撰写此文之际，回教党率领一群回教徒在甘榜巴鲁的回教堂针对教宗的演讲示威。

梵蒂冈和教宗经已相继道歉两次，咱们回教徒政治人物仍然不愿罢休。唉，只要涉及宗教，再理性的人也会变得难以理喻。这种‘政治资本‘落到玩弄权术的政治人物手里，则更将没完没了了！

（22-9-06）

PEMBERITAHU PERTANYAAN DEWAN RAKYAT, MALAYSIA

PERTANYAAN : LISAN

DARIPADA : Y.B PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIM

KAWASAN : SEPUTEH

TARIKH : 21.09.2006 (KHAMIS)

SOALAN:

Y.B PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIM [SEPUTEH] minta Menteri Pelajaran menyatakan apakah pencapaian subjek Matematik dan Sains, murid-murid SJKC di bawah formula 2-4-3. Apakah medium bahasa yang akan digunakan dalam peperiksaan Matematik dan Sains pada tahun 2008.

JAWAPAN

Tuan Yang Di Pertua,

Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) telah menjalankan Kajian Status Pencapaian Murid untuk melihat pencapaian murid dalam pelaksanaan Pragram Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matermatik (PPSMI) sejak dilaksanakan pada tahun 2003. Dapatkan kajian tersebut menunjukkan bahawa prestasi murid termasuk di SJKC dalam mata pelajaran Sains dan Matematik tidak terjejas. Dalam ujian yang dijalankan di bawah kajian tersebut bagi mata pelajaran Sains Tahun 3 pada tahun 2005, sebanyak 80.3% murid berjaya memperoleh markah 40% ke atas. Manakala bagi mata pelajaran Matematik Tahun 3 pula, sebanyak 53.1% murid memperoleh markah 40% ke atas (more…)

USUL MENANGGUHKAN MESYUARAT DI BAWAH
PERATURAN MESYUARAT 18(1)

KENYATAAN POPE BENEDICT MENCETUSKAN KEMARAHAN UMAT ISLAM

Timbalan Yang di-Pertua [Datuk Dr. Yusof bin Yacob]: Ahli Yang Berhormat. Sekarang masa telah pun pukul 4.30 petang dan menurut keputusan yang telah pun dibuat pada pagi tadi, satu usul di bawah peraturan mesyuarat 18(1) telah dibenarkan dibahaskan pada petang ini. Saya sekarang memulakan perbahasan usul itu. Seperti yang telah pun diputuskan tadi, pihak pencadang akan diberi masa 30 minit dan pihak kerajaan juga 30 minit. Yang Berhormat bagi Kubang Kerian sila kemukakan.

4.31ptg
Tuan Salahuddin bin Ayub [Kubang Kerian]: Bismillahir Rahmannir Rahim. Tuan Yang di-Pertua. Apabila kita membincangkan tentang Usul yang saya kemukakan pada pagi tadi, saya mengucapkan terima kasih di atas Tuan Yang di-Pertua, yang telah pun memberikan keizinan untuk usul ini dibahas, dan saya mengharapkan hasil daripada perbahasan usul ini akan menatijahkan sesuatu implikasi yang sihat dan subur di dalam kita memberikan sumbangan ke arah keharmonian kehidupan beragama, khususnya dalam negara kita (more…)

SOALAN NO.23

PEMBERITAHU PERTANYAAN
DEWAN RAKYAT, MALAYSIA

PERTANYAAN : LISAN

DARIPADA : Y.B PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIM

KAWASAN : SEPUTEH

TARIKH : 14.09.2006 (KHAMIS)

Y.B PUAN TERESA KOK SUH SIOM (SEPUTEH) minta MENTERI PERDAGANGAN ANTARABANGSA DAN INDUSTRI menyatakan jenis-jenis Approved Permits (AP) sedia ada selain daripada AP untuk mengimport automotif. Rasional untuk mengadakan AP selain daripada AP bagi automobil dan rasional Kerajaan mengadakan AP jenis ini untuk mengimport produk ataupun barangan tersebut.

JAWAPAN

Tuan Yang Di Pertua,

Pada masa ini, terdapat 1,251 barangan yang dikenakan Lesen Import (AP)di bawah Akta Perintah Kastam 1967. Daripada jumlah ini, sebanyak 607 barangan yang bersamaan 48 peratus dikenakan AP adalah di bwah tanggungjawab Kementerian Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri Selebihnya adalah di bawah tanggungjawab pelbagai Kementerrian dan jabatan lain seperti Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tanah, Kementerian Kesihatan, Jabatan Bekalan Elektrik dan Jabatan Alam Sekitar (more…)

The Irrawaddy News Magazine
Some Coups are Good (Online Commentary)
September 20, 2006
By Bruce Kent

Most coups are bad affairs, normally involving a military figure or faction seizing power. Then there are relatively benign ones, not simple power grabs but a forceful way to put things right in the country.

The latest one in Thailand on Tuesday night appears to fall into the latter category. It will, however, inevitably be condemned by most world leaders, particularly in the West, because it constitutes a military ousting of an elected government by non-constitutional means. They are almost duty-bound to make such statements.

It is normal after many coups for the military victor to proclaim that it will only be a short period of military rule before the return of civilian democracy. In most cases these prove to be empty words, but this is almost certainly not the case in Bangkok. The new controlling Democratic Reform Council, comprising powerful Army Commander Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the two other service commanders and the police chief, have given similar assurances of a return to civilian rule, but somehow they ring true.

The coup was mainly to remove Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and a government that he totally dominated. While popular at election time, mainly because of the large vote from the huge poor, rural area of northeast Thailand where his populist policies dazzled villagers, he was increasingly unpopular with a large segment of the urban population. The urban middle-class, most businessmen, academics and professionals, tend to be much more aware of what’s happening at the top than rural farmers, who have less access to newspapers and rely more on TV and radio, which in Thailand are totally under state control.

Thaksin’s critics, who gathered peaceful protest crowds of sometimes 100,000 earlier in the year calling for him to leave, accused him of abuse of power and allowing rampant official corruption. He eventually reacted by calling a general election on April 2, which he won because the opposition boycotted it. Thaksin said afterwards he wouldn’t be prime minister again, and indicated he would be leaving the scene soon. The poll was eventually annulled by judges and Thaksin has remained in power ever since as caretaker prime minister, with no real signs he would leave any time soon.

A new election was scheduled for November, but was massively wealthy Thaksin ever going to go, or at least allow an investigation of dubious business deals he was accused of? Among other things, his opponents accused him of dividing Thailand-between those for and against him-in an unprecedented way in a country normally remarkably united and stable. And this seemed to be becoming more pronounced the longer he stayed.

Soon after the coup, the new military leaders said they had taken over for four main reasons: there were unprecedented divisions in the country; widespread suspicion of abuse of power; and activities based on lese majeste, a curious law which makes insulting the monarchy a crime; and for leaders taking power for a period they promised would be temporary.

Although not named, these are all charges laid by the opposition at Thaksin’s door.Gen Sonthi is known as a professional soldier. He recently moved several of Thaksin’s defense academy preparatory school classmates-Thaksin was once a police colonel-from key commands in Bangkok and nearby. There has never been any hint he wanted power for himself, or anyone else. He and other similarly professional officers were known to be concerned about Thaksin’s meddling in the ranks to get his men to the top, particularly now, when a reshuffle of top commanders is due in October. Of more immediate concern to Sonthi apparently was the threat of violence at a massive anti-Thaksin rally planned to be held in Bangkok on Wednesday evening. A unit of well-armed forestry police from outside Bangkok was rumored to have been martialled by the government to be drafted into Bangkok to confront the rally.

Overall, it doesn’t look like Thailand is set to have another prolonged military regime, as in the old days. For a start, civilian Thaksin opponents, now happy he’s gone, would violently oppose it. So maybe this was one of the better coups.

Irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO MÜNCHEN, ALTÖTTING AND REGENSBURG (SEPTEMBER 9-14, 2006)
MEETING WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF SCIENCE
LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER
Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections
Your Eminences, Your Magnificences, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a moving experience for me to be back again in the university and to be able once again to give a lecture at this podium. I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn.

That was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves. We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties. Once a semester there was a dies academicus, when professors from every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university, making possible a genuine experience of universitas – something that you too, Magnificent Rector, just mentioned – the experience, in other words, of the fact that despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason – this reality became a lived experience. The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties (more…)

Ucapan YB Teresa Kok, Ahli Parlimen Seputeh Dalam Perbahasan Usul 18 (1) Yang Dibawa Oleh YB Daripada Kubang Kerian Mengenai Kenyataan Yang Dibuat Oleh Pope Benedict XVI Pada 16 September 2006


Datuk yang diPertua, saya menyertai perbahasan usul tergempar yang dibawa oleh YB dari Kubang Kerian dengan hati yang berat dan kesal. Saya merasa kesal kerana kita membahas satu isu yang tidak merupakan tujuan sebenar Pope Benedict XVI, selain itu, kita juga membahaskan satu isu yang telah dipohon maaf oleh Vatican dan Pope Benedict XVI sebanyak dua kali selepas petikannya disalah-fahamkan oleh media dan pihak-pihak tertentu.


Sebelum kita membahaskan ucapan Pope Benedict XVI, kita mesti baca teks ucapannya yang sebenar dan juga mesti faham ucapan Pope Benedict XVI yang menimbulkan kontroversi ini sebenarnya disampaikan dalam satu forum di University Regensburg di Negeri German. Pope Benedict XVI merupakan seorang pensyarah Theology ataupun Teolog, beliau sebenarnya dijemput untuk memberi kuliah akademik yang bertema “Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections” ataupun dalam Bahasa Malaysia “Iman, Akal dan Universiti” di universiti lama yang beliau pernah berkhidmat. (more…)

Given at the University of Regensburg on Sept. 12, 2006
Posted Saturday, Sep. 16, 2006http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1535672,00.html

It is a moving experience for me to be back again in the university and to be able once again to give a lecture at this podium.

I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn. That was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves.

We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties…. The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties. It was clear that, by inquiring about the reasonableness of faith, they too carried out a work which is necessarily part of the “whole” of the universitas scientiarum, even if not everyone could share the faith which theologians seek to correlate with reason as a whole (more…)

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Some instances in which Pope John Paul II admitted errors or apologized for actions of the Roman Catholic Church:

– 1992: Declares the church was wrong to condemn astronomer Galileo for maintaining the earth is not the center of the universe.

– 1992: Visiting Senegal, begs for forgiveness for Christians who were involved in the slave trade.

– 1995: Issues document saying church is “truly sorry” for discrimination or mistreatment of women.

– 1995: During trip to Czech Republic, asks forgiveness for violence by Catholics against Protestants during 16th century Counterreformation.

– 1998: In document on Holocaust, expresses remorse for cowardice of some Christians during Nazi persecution of Jews.

– 1999: Denounces persecution of Jan Hus, 15th century religious reformer and precursor of Protestantism who was burned at stake.

– 2000: Asks forgiveness for sins of Catholics through the ages, including wrongs inflicted on Jews, women and minorities.

– 2000: In stop at Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, says Catholic Church “deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place.”

– 2001: On visit to Greece, issues sweeping apology for wrongs committed by Roman Catholics against Orthodox Christians.

– 2001: Apologizes for missionary abuses against indigenous peoples of South Pacific.


Last modified: September 17. 2006 5:36PM

15 September, 2006
by Samir Khalil Samir, sjhttp://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=7224

Muslim criticism against the Pope’s remarks is mounting, but no one has actually read the whole speech. Benedict XVI criticises violence and proposes a reasonable alternative that could lead to a new Golden Age.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Negative reactions in the Arab and Muslim world to the remarks made by Benedict XVI at Regensburg University are exaggerated and misplaced. Protest marches are being organised everywhere in ways that bring to mind what happened in the wake of the publication of the blasphemous Muhammad cartoons. But one thing is clear. No one, and I mean NO ONE, has fully read what the Pope said.

An English translation of the speech, which was in German, was released yesterday, a French version is not yet ready, and no translation has been made in any Eastern language (more…)