‘Police are BN bannermen’ (Free Malaysia Today)

KUALA LUMPUR: The police allegedly replaced Pakatan Rakyat banners in Penang with Barisan Nasional (BN) ones, just before Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak made a visit there two days ago. Balik Pulau MP Yusmadi Yusoff said that the April 2 incident took place at Pekan Balik Pulau, only a few hours before the start of Najib’s official visit. “Why are the police taking down Pakatan flags during Najib’s visit and replacing them with BN banners?” the PKR MP asked at the Parliament lobby here today. “It was done in the morning just before the prime minister’s visit in the afternoon, and it was done all over town.” Yusmadi also asked why such a decision was made when the Pakatan banners were not in danger of obstructing traffic. He said this while showing four photographs of police officers caught in the act. Abuse of power In one instance, a plainclothes officer was seen alighting from a patrol vehicle before removing a PKR flag from a lamp post. Another image allegedly showed another police officer setting up a poster thanking Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor for their visit to Balik Pulau. According to the time shown on the photographs, the incidents reportedly took place between 11.12am and 11.33am. Yusmadi said that the pictures, which were reportedly taken by Balik Pulau residents, were a sign of the government’s abuse of political power. “This is a case where a government agency has been improperly used, and an example of a collusion of power among the government, BN and the police,” Yusmadi said. “The police have no right to put up banners belonging to any political party.

This is an encroachment of the civil and political rights of the people of Balik Pulau.” The PKR MP said that he had spoken to the police on the matter, and was allegedly told that they had received instructions from their superiors to do so (take down the Pakatan banners). Yusmadi also said that some of these banners were even set up near his office, and that they were still in place. Although disappointed with the action of the police, he said that he would not take down the BN banners. However, he wants the Home Ministry to apologise over the flag incident or face legal action.

Salam Eidul Fitri

Saya dan keluarga mengucapkan Salam Eidul fitri kepada semua warga Balik Pulau. Saya mohon ampun dan maaf sekiranya saya ada melakukan kesalahan kepada mana-mana warga Balik Pulau yang saya kasihi. Moga hari raya tahun ini akan memberi keberkatan kepada kita semua. Amin

MUAFAKAT Keusahawanan

Alhamdullillah Koperasi MUAFAKAT Balik Pulau terbentuk selepas mesyuarat Protem Committee minggu lepas sebagai wadah keusahawanan warga Balik Pulau melalui pendekatan Muafakat. Semua warga Balik Pulau tidak kira latar belakang bangsa, taraf sosio-ekonomi dan usia dijemput menyertainya. Anda boleh hubungi Hj. Nor 017-4753656 dan di Kak Long Saodah di 013-4528643. InsyaAllah Kita Muafakat, Balik Pulau hebat!

MUAFAKAT Sukan - Bolasepak

Semalam berlangsung perlawanan akhir pertandingan bolasepak Parlimen Balik Pulau. Kali ini pasukan JKKK Kongsi mengalahkan pasukan JKKK Sungai Burung berkesudahan dengan tendangan penalti apabila kedua-dua pasukan terikat 1-1 sehingga tamat perlawanan. Saya amat kagum dengan 'MUAFAKAT' kesukanan yang ditunjukkan oleh anak-anak muda yang rata-rata berumur 25 tahun ke bawah.

Elemen kepimpinan MUAFAKAT yang diterapkan ialah kerjasama di antara pemimpin (YB), JKKK (NGO), pengadil (sukarelawan), anak-anak muda, masyarakat setempat dan kelompok peniaga kecil (penjual air etc.)

Semalam kami hanya adakan majlis kecil di Azlan Tomyam sebaik sahaja tamat perlawanan. Majlis penyampaian hadiah akan dibuat selepas hari raya. Tahniah anak muda Balik Pulau!

Cabaran kepada Kepimpinan MUAFAKAT

Di dalam artikel yang ditulis oleh Alan B. Slifka yang bertajuk Leadership for Enhancing Coexistence: Promoting Social Cohesion Among Groups in Pluralistic Societies di dalam buku Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference menggariskan beberapa halangan kepada model kepimpinan 'MUAFAKAT':

i) Painful Memories: Religious, Ethnic, Cultural and Regional Conflict
ii) Trauma, Resistance to Change and Addiction to the Status Quo
iii) Differing Backgrounds, Experiences and Conditioning
iv) Minorities' Desire for Inclusion Without Loss of Cultural and Religious Identities
v) Discrimination and Inequality of Opportunity
vi) Lack of an Entity Charged with Responsibility for Promoting Social Cohesion

Leadership: What Goverment Can Do:
- must take active steps to promote equality, diversity, inclusion coexistence among people etc.
- the need for leadership not only on the part of the goverment but also on the part of coexistence scholars, nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens to provide the moral support, research, and personnel required to make the notion of a shared future a national goal.
- e.g. Community Relation Council (NGO), Triennal Action Plan etc.

Leadership: What Individual Leaders Can Do:
- effort to create a new vision
- e.g. Nelson Mandela, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi

Improving Leadership for Coexistence:
a. Recognize and identify community diversity within state borders

b. Acknowledge diversity as areality that positively contributes to the country's economic and moral development

c. ratify and implement relevant international declaration and covenants concerning respect for differences, tolerance and peace

d. work with local and national government agencies, civil and social organizations, community leaders to identify key barriers to coexistence and develop policies to address them.

e. create institutions to implement and monitor these policies in tandem with civil and social groups

f. codify policies into laws, where appropriate

g. keep the public informed of the benefits of the policies and include the public in the process of creating and implementing them

h. engage with all identity groups on aregular basis to ensure that they feel included in government policies and programs.

Pengurusan Sinergi Tenaga MUAFAKAT

Pengembelingan tenaga di antara 4 sektor MUAFAKAT akan membentuk sinergi dinamik tenaga yang perlu diurus. Makan terbentuklah MUAFAKAT Corner lubuk dinamika sinergi MUAFAKAT di Balik Pulau

Agenda 'Muafakat' di Konvensyen Pakatan Rakyat

Saya berasa bangga kerana agenda MUAFAKAT RAKYAT telah diangkat sebagai premis Pakatan Rakyat semasa Konvensyen Pakatan Rakyat yang berlangsung di Shah Alam baru-baru ini http://balikpulau2008.blogspot.com (Suara Muafakat Balik Pulau).