Can I go to the reception counter and request an application form? But before that, will it provide a list of land available for sale? Is a list of available plots displayed on the notice boards or the website?

The answer is “no”, but is such information conveyed only to a select few, mainly developers and selected titled individuals? Doesn’t Joe Public get equal opportunities to buy state land?

Under these circumstances, will land designated for public amenities, such as police stations, fire stations, or schools, end up in private hands.  Despite having a large communications team, DBKL will never attempt to provide answers. Internally, such details will be classified as “sulit” (confidential), and even asking for more information could constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act.

In 2004, the developers of Effingham Estate (now Bandar Utama) surrendered six parcels of land intended for public amenities, but all of them ultimately ended up in private hands.

However, more shocking was that the land designated for a cemetery ultimately fell into the hands of a developer. I then wrote: “First, they pinched land from the poor. Then they pilfered playgrounds from children. Now, they are even stealing from the dead!

“One administration handed over land acquired for a cemetery to a private developer. The succeeding administration destroyed a forest reserve to replace the land that had been stolen.” Those were the bad old days of the BN government, which saw itself as “we can do no wrong”, defying any authority and breaching the statutes.

But even with the change in government and the Madani administration in charge, little has changed. Nevertheless, the questions to DBKL must be recorded not for posterity but to be raised when the prime minister or members of his cabinet and party claim, “We are open and transparent.”

BlackGuppy0377 : The corruption machinery in Malaysia is so bloody efficient coupled with the entitlement mentality and we have a perfect environment for all the little napoleons running around getting richer and richer at the expense of the common folks not to mention the environment.

Now, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is witnessing massive protests, with the United Awami Action Committee making strong demands. Their warning? If the army cracks down, the response will be even more severe.

The 13 Italians and their Names

I first met Captain David Daud in September 1960, a graduate of RMA Sandhurst, he was a flamboyant person driving a MGA sports car when he visited us at the Government Mess A chalet (now Wisma LTAT) where we stayed prior to departure for the Congo.

A brief background. The Congo during that period was basically divided into three factions:

(1) Mobotu's faction (pro-West), the central government, occupied slightly more than a third of the western portion of the country;

(ii) Gizenga's faction (left-leaning) occupied roughly another third in the eastern Congo, and (iii) Tshumbe's faction (pro-West business), occupied less than a third, the southern part of Congo. Kindu was strategic with a port, rail and airhead in Gizenga's eastern Congo.

It was first occupied by a company of Nigerian (5QONR) ONUC troops. One day, a Nigerian platoon was ambushed by the Congolese near their Officers' Mess. The officer, a Lt Ben, a Sandhurst graduate was known to some of our officers, was killed, with many wounded.

The Nigerian Officers' Mess was a nice villa located on the road from the airport to Kindu town. After that ambush, the Nigerian contingent withdrew and was replaced by the Malayan Special Force (4RMR plus C Sqn 2 Recce) in March 1961. When we took over that Officers' Mess was rejected outright by our CO, Lt Col Ungku Nazaruddin simply because it was indefensible.

Caliph Erdogan

What does this mean for Erdogan's political future? Is this the end of the road for the Turkish president? The Turkish people have a wonderful political proverb: "When a clown moves into the palace, he doesn't become a king, the palace becomes a circus." The police are supposed to protect the people, NOT THE POWER! Türkey, Afghanistan Iran, Saudi Arabia will not exist This scream is the footsteps of a dictator's end. The dictator should know that he will be tried, he should give back to the state what he stole Mustafa Kemal's soldiers will not give up.

Vietnam was born out of the ashes of the collapse of the French Empire but was a country divided with both sides dreaming of unification but without compromise when it came to their own beliefs.

Lasting 19 years and claiming over two million lives, the Vietnam War was as much a battle of wills as it was of tactics and weapons and in this regard, the communist north and their supporters in the south – the Viet Cong – had will to spare, so much so that not even the technology of the west could blunt their drive for victory.

While South Vietnam eventually fell to the communist north, history particularly in the west, views the conflict as an American tragedy given the damage it did to American prestige, influence and even its own society. However, the United States was by no means alone when it came to defending the South Vietnamese. Far from it for they called upon a number of key allies to support them not just militarily but diplomatically.

Malaysian here, thank you for another great video. Thanks for the Commonwealth soldiers and shout out to the best local army at the times, The Sarawak Ranger. My dad served in Malaya (Green Howards attached to 6th Gurkha Rifles & Jungle Scouts) between '49 & '53.

One of their Iban trackers crafted a cased blowpipe & darts (in their own small case) as a parting gift for my dad, but the RSM caught wind of the gift and it was confiscated for use by the regiment lol. We visited the Regimental Museum back in the 70's, only to find dad's blowpipe set proudly amongst other items in their Malayan Emergency display case.

My Uncle, Brian Clayton (1936-2006) did his National Service 1957 to 1959 and served in Malaya. I wrote to him in 2005 and asked him to tell me about his time there. He wrote back with a few thousand words of his experiences in the Malayan Emergency and lots of photographs. I am willing to pass this stuff on to you if you would like. His reminisces are very evocative.

Captured Indons by 3rd RAR

The confrontayion remained an undeclared war invovling small-scale jungle clashes in the border areas. The border between East Malaysia and Indonesia saw the heaviest fighting with further action concentrated in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.

The dispute ended after President Sukarno was deposed and Indonesia accepted the formation of Malaysia. ITN produced four reports documenting the conflict and reporting on the efforts of British and Gurkha troops who were deployed to help Malaysian forces.

Sukarno wanted to continue to rule without a democratic process (legislative oversight & elections, etc.) so he needed a diversion from the failure of his left-leaning socialist dictatorship in managing the economy and the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party) wanted to save the oppressed Malayan Communist Party.

They collaborated to create a confrontation in the name of expelling neo-colonialism in the Malayan federation. But the Indonesian military did not fully support this effort and was divided into factions, those in favor were driven by the KKO (Marine Corps) and AURI (Indonesian Air Force) which had been infiltrated by PKI agents and those against were driven by the Army and Navy who hated the PKI.

Therefore, most of the ground forces were filled with untrained volunteers who were mobilized in a hurry, not regular soldiers. Therefore, as with dictator-made conflicts, the confrontation was doomed to failure due to unreliable troops, logistical limitations due to poor economies and weak support from communist countries.

After the failure of the confrontation and under the pretext of protecting Sukarno, the PKI then carried out revenge and massacre of high-ranking Army officers in the G30S/PKI incident in 1965. The Army retaliated back against the communists and their sympathizers led by Suharto and the Army Reserve, then one of the worst genocides in the 20th century occurred which claimed the lives of 500,000 to 3,000,000 people, most of whom were not even communists including ethnic Chinese who were considered pro-Sukarno and mainland Chinese (PRC) communists.

The Waqf Board's sweeping powers today trace back to colonial-era laws, later expanded drastically by Congress, allowing it to claim properties with minimal checks.

Waqf has a long, winding history in India. Initially, back in 1894, the British came up with the Waqf Bill for the first time via a judgment. At that time, the British were grappling with its legal status. From 1894 to 1947, laws and amendments were introduced to shape the Waqf Act’s legal system. Later, after 1947, the Congress-led government eventually turned it into a system with far-reaching authority. So much so that now Waqf Boards can claim any property using several clauses, and the onus to prove the land they have claimed is not Waqf lies on the actual owner, which in many cases is the central or the state government.

Waqf was initially supposed to be about charitable endowments, which has drastically changed over time. It has grown into something much larger, often at odds with the secular framework of the country. The initial rules were indeed set by the British, but it was the Congress that took it further—and took it too far. Here is how the Waqf has changed over time.

British rule – A shaky start for Waqf

Waqf properties were dedicated under Islamic law for religious and charitable purposes. However, under British rule, Waqf faced legal hurdles. In 1894, a landmark judgment by the Privy Council in Abul Fata Mahomed Ishak vs Russomoy Dhur Chowdhury sent a shockwave through the Muslim community. According to the judgment, Waqfs which benefited the founder’s family were declared invalid. The Council cited English law’s aversion to perpetuities as the basis of the judgment.

It was not a minor ruling and challenged a tradition stretching back to the Delhi Sultanate. Notably, Sultan Muizuddin Sam Ghaor gave villages to Multan’s Jama Masjid, which continued through the Mughal era’s vast Waqf holdings. The decision by the Privy Council caused uncertainty among the Muslim community.

The case that led to the establishment of the foundation of the Waqf Act stemmed from a family feud over a Waqf property in Bengal. Two brothers, Abul Fata Mahomed Ishak and his sibling, had created a Waqf property as per Islamic law. The intention behind creating it was to provide for their descendants. The remaining benefits would eventually flow to charitable causes. Following the death of the founders, a creditor named Russomoy Dhur Chowdhury challenged the validity of the Waqf in court.

An Alawite family slaughtered

A scandal.

An “act of faith” worth 5.8 billion euros to the “new Syria”: The Donors Conference organized by the European Union certifies the change of pace in the West’s relations with Damascus after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime and the arrival to power of Ahmad al Sharaa, known as “al Julani”. The conference raised 5.8 billion euros in loans and grants, 80 percent of which from the EU. From the Commission alone, Ursula von der Leyen announced, 2.5 billion euros are arriving in Damascus.

More of the slaughtered

Six billion a week after the worst religious pogrom in recent history?

A new regime ruled by a former jihadist who until December had a $10 million bounty on his head, who is building an Islamic dictatorship and who has just organized a religious pogrom of Alawites?

It is eye-opening. Mouth-dropping.

Once the massacres were over, the dictator welcomed in Brussels formed his new government: 21 ministers, all Sunni Muslims and of 154 government appointments, 150 are Sunni. Not bad for “diversity”.

Meanwhile, the European embassies in Damascus are reopening: today the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock flew to Syria. Two months ago the dictator had refused to shake her hand. But evidently there is no “Sofagate” that can stop her.

Amine Ayoub of the Middle East Forum warns: “You cannot go from being an al-Qaeda affiliate to a human rights defender overnight.” He emphasized the concept of taqiyya, used to describe the deception sanctioned by the Islamic religion to consolidate power.

Are Europeans stupid? Or a mixture of cynicism and naivety? Or is it corruption? We have seen Qatargate.

Is the EU aware that it is funding a Taliban emirate in the Mediterranean?

A bloodthirsty Islamist coalition, responsible for the massacre of thousands of innocents - Christians, Alawites, Druze and other minorities - has just taken power in Damascus. The European Commission, always ready to lecture Hungary on “rule of law” and “protection of minorities” to the point of cutting off its funding, remains strangely silent in the face of jihadist massacres. And when it comes out of its silence it is to announce 2.5 billion for the Syrian Caliphate.

I see it as an absolute scandal.

IDF Alpinists at Syria-Israel border

While Alawites constitute but a small religious community in Syria, perhaps 10 per cent of the country's 15 million resident population, they suffer from a unique prominence and vulnerability.

Through a millennium, they stood out as Syria's most isolated, impoverished, despised and oppressed ethnicity. Only when generals from their community seized power in Damascus in 1966 did the power balance change.

But the ruthless domination of Syria by Alawites for the next 58 years caused the country's majority Sunni Muslim population in 2011 to rebel, leading to a full-scale civil war that ended in December 2024 when Sunnis overthrew Alawite rule and returned to power.

Solid green indicates an Alawite majority and partial green a significant Alawite minority.

Recent events point to an ominous Sunni desire for retribution. To understand its sources and implications requires a look at the past.

As is well known, Islam claims to be the final religion; accordingly, Sunnis and Shi'ites alike historically reviled Alawism, a new and distinct religion that emerged from Shia Islam in the ninth century. They looked upon Alawites as apostates. A 19th-century Sunni sheik, Ibrahim al-Maghribi, decreed that Muslims might freely take Alawite property and lives, and a British traveller records being told: "These Ansayrii, it is better to kill one than to pray a whole day."

Frequently persecuted and sometimes massacred during the past two centuries, Alawites insulated themselves geographically from the outside world by staying within their highlands. A leading Alawite sheik called his people "among the poorest of the East". Anglican missionary Samuel Lyde found the state of their society "a perfect hell upon earth".

After Syria's independence from French rule in 1946, Alawites initially resisted central government control but reconciled to Syrian citizenship by 1954 and, taking advantage of their over-representation in the army, began their political ascent.

From March 6-9 – unchecked by Ahmed al-Sharaa's professedly "moderate" interim government – his jihadist troops slaughtered an estimated 1,080 Syrians in 72 hours, apparently mostly civilian members of the minority Alawite religion.

From March 6-9 – unchecked by al-Sharaa's professedly "moderate" interim government – his jihadist troops slaughtered an estimated 1,080 Syrians in 72 hours, apparently mostly civilian members of the minority Alawite religion. The Alawite sect, which split off from Shia Islam in the ninth century, is regarded by other Shiites as heretical. To people who practice Sunni Islam -- the religion of al-Sharaa and Turkey -- all non-Sunnis are infidels. Alawites are estimated to be up to 10% of Syria's population, and the deposed Assad family belong to the sect.

Al-Sharaa, on taking power in Syria in December, originally professed to be a "moderate." The Biden administration even lifted a $10 million bounty for his arrest, for previous terrorist activity linked to Al Qaeda, presumably in the hope of moderation actually being delivered. Since that time, however, al-Sharaa and his followers have appeared more as terrorists in suits and ties.

Since December, and escalating in March, Jihadist terrorist gangs have been slaughtering Alawites in coastal Syrian towns. The atrocities this month began purportedly in response to attacks on government troops by Alawite remnants of the Assad regime's security and military forces. Some Syrian Christians were also slain, but possibly not specifically targeted by the new government.

Like the Alawites, Christians were for the most part a protected minority during the Assad years. According to many Syrians, however, Christians are resented by the Sunni Syrian majority "because they are viewed as infidels."

Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University anti-Israel activist whom the Trump administration has targeted for deportation, has become a darling of the left, as people who hate America so often do. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) claimed Friday that Khalil’s arrest “has created a speech-chilling atmosphere of fear,” and charges that “the Trump administration’s actions represent a dangerous escalation of the president’s attempts to choke off the free speech rights of people on American soil.” And on Sunday, Khalil’s wife attempted to blow up the entire case against him, asserting that it was “ridiculous” and “disgusting” to say that Khalil supports Hamas.

This is all-important, because if Khalil is found to be a Hamas supporter, the case against him would be nearly open-and-shut. U.S. Code § 1182 states that “any alien” who is “a representative” of “a political, social, or other group that endorses or espouses terrorist activity” is “inadmissible.” U.S. Code § 1227 adds that such an alien “is deportable.” The Associated Press described Khalil two weeks ago as one of the “student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest” (CUAD). The Washington Post reported last Tuesday that “No one disputes that Khalil was the face of Columbia University Apartheid Divest.”

Khalil was CUAD’s chief negotiator with Columbia administrators. Politico explained: “Khalil was a lead negotiator representing the student protesters to the Columbia administration during the school’s ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ last spring. The student group behind the encampment — Columbia University Apartheid Divest, or CUAD — had two main demands: that Columbia cut all its ties to Israel, including divesting and halting plans to build a ‘global center’ in Tel Aviv, and that the protesters themselves receive amnesty for their actions.”

However, apparently aware of how damaging that fact is to his case, Khalil himself disputes this. The BBC framed Khalil’s connection to CUAD as if it were merely something his opponents claimed: “Activists supporting Israel have accused Mr Khalil of being a leader of Columbia University Apartheid Divest (Cuad), a student group that demanded, among other things, the university to divest from its financial ties to Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza. Mr Khalil has denied that he led the group, telling the Associated Press (AP) that he only served as a spokesperson for protesters and as a mediator with the university.”

It’s easy to see why Khalil would want to distance himself from CUAD. In August 2024, it posted this on Instagram, then removed it once it started getting appalled notice from saner quarters: “We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.” During the anti-Israel protests at Columbia, the demonstrators screamed “Death to America.”

There is more.

In one post, he wrote, “The end of the US empire in our lifetime in sha Allah.” Months later, he celebrated receiving his student visa, writing, “Student Visa issued. We going to America baby! Alhamdulillah!” Shortly thereafter, he tweeted, “My hatred of the US empire knows no bound. Wallahi.”

“When the enemy is US imperialism, then absolutely anyone the US calls an enemy is my friend,” he posted in July. “My hatred for US imperialism and the global system it reproduces knows no bounds,” he wrote one month prior. “At this point; any movement, nation, people who are working to decrease the impact and effects of US imperialism on the world has my support.”

…The youngest victim was 14 hours old. That was Naama Abu Rashed, a Bedouin Israeli, shot while still in her mother’s womb. The bullet went through her tiny leg. She was born gravely wounded, and later died. The oldest victim was Moshe Ridler, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor. He perished when Hamas militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the safe room in which he had sought refuge from the rampage. They then shot to death his Moldovan carer, Petro Boscov. Mr Ridler, as a kid in Romania, had survived the Nazi ghetto and deportation trains, but he could not survive Hamas’s sadistic crusade.

The methods of murder included shooting, burning, asphyxiation, grenade explosions and missile attacks. Many of the victims were subjected to mutilation, sexual violence and ‘other forms of deliberate brutality’, either before or after death. A woman was raped at gunpoint. Other women were raped in their bedrooms before being murdered. Rescue forces found women’s bodies ‘stripped of their underwear’ as well as ‘signs of semen’. The part of the report where I had to take a break from reading describes the discovery of a woman’s body where there had been ‘[the] insertion of a knife into the genital area’.

The violence was ferocious. Molotov cocktails were thrown to burn people alive. A father and his baby daughter suffered savage burns when Hamas militants used a butane gas cylinder to make an inferno of their home. Dad spent 58 days in an induced coma, his daughter spent eight days. Hamas entered one home screaming ‘Yahud!’, meaning Jews. And they found Jews: a father, a mother and their four kids. Dad used a piece of furniture in a desperate effort to ward off the invaders – they shot him dead. They then shot his daughter in the face. She had ‘a hole in her cheek and she was gasping her last breaths’, her mother later recounted. Mum and the three surviving kids were taken to Gaza and forced into a ‘hole’ in the ground. Why? Because they’re Yahud.

The report is full of accounts like this, of the most bestial violence, visited with extreme prejudice on men, women, children. 7 October feels like a thing from the last century, the century of war and extermination. It was as if atavistic hatreds had leapt from the history books and imprinted themselves on our complacent era. Perhaps the report’s most valuable contribution is to make it crystal clear that this was no impulsive assault. This was not the Wretched of the Earth ‘breaking out’ of their ‘prison camp’ to wreak desperate revenge on their oppressors, as Hamas-adjacent leftists would have us believe. No, this pogrom was years in the making. It was a conscious and thoroughly organised massacre of Jews….

This, then, is what the activist class has been making excuses for. This is what they referred to as ‘resistance’. This is what they called ‘a day of celebration’. The burning to death of Jews. The rape of Jewish women. The murder of Jewish children. The assassination of a Jew who had survived the greatest crime in history. We now have all the data, all the timelines and all the information about 7 October. But we still await that moment of moral clarity when our intellectual elites finally acknowledge the gravity of this crime against Jews and humanity, and devote themselves to defending the civilisation it so gravely offends.

I have nothing to add to Brendan O’Neill’s impassioned response. Now if you can stand to do it, read all of O’Neill’s article, and then read the entire 318-page report. Then you will understand why Israel must, not just for its own survival, but for everyone who is part of our advanced, Western, still salvageable civilization, destroy Hamas — destroy it utterly.

COMMENT | This young non-Muslim kid was slapped, and I read all these articles about how this is a hypocritical act considering this is a holy month of fasting.

Never mind that this act happens in a country where the religious bureaucracy and the state make it mandatory for believers to fast. Where shops are closed for the fasting month. Where school canteens operating for non-Muslim students become fodder for the political and religious class.

Not to mention this is a country where non-Muslims are banned from using certain words and demonised by religious preachers for their religious beliefs. Where the religious class and political operatives always tell non-Muslims to stay clear of religious issues even if they trespass onto their rights as citizens of this country.

When this man slapped this kid, it was not about religious hypocrisy. This is not about how someone misused religion. This is about how ideas of superiority infect the social interaction of the everyday rakyat.

This is about bully-boy tactics that are internalised and then unleashed on people who couldn’t defend themselves except to let the world know of their victimisation.

darmakochi : "The slap is a petty display of religious power but carries the same symbolic weight as the power that comes with building a mosque on the site of a demolished temple." Sir, you said it very well!

Koel : It is religious bullying by cretins nurtured in violence. But I am also not impressed by the lack of action by the eatery where this young man was assaulted.

They should have also have immediately lodged a police report, at the very least, to show their customers that they are concerned about their welfare.

Failing to protect customers under their roof speaks badly of their customer service. Just another indication that non Muslims should look for non halal eateries where violent cretins don't roam.

ScarletPanda9731 : Do not cross the RED LINE. AMICABLE SOLUTION means RESPECT ALL The kid had the RIGHT to eat food in the open . The Hindu temple at Jalan masjid INDIA was ALREADY THERE 130 YEARS AGO!PSO, WHAT OWNERSHIP are you barking about ?

City Hall did not exist 130 years ago! Umno did not exist then . What " AMICABLE SOLUTION " IS TO RE- LOCATE the temple? A win- win solution is to have BOTH MOSQUE AD TEMPLE SIDE BY SIDE Fair or not?.

Open minded 2281 : The authorities also feel that non Muslims can be bullied and there is no offence when a Muslim preacher mocks the Hindus. All this happens because the Minister of Home Affairs is ineffective and the cabinet just closes all their eyes.

KK Voter : Every religion that practices fasting emphasizes abstinence, spiritual cleansing, and self-discipline. However, here, one month every year, the message seems to be:

"I am fasting; therefore, I am above you and can abuse you in the name of righteousness," making the entire fasting ritual pointless. Those who create Islamophobia blame others for having Islamophobia.

Nowadays, during the fasting month, I change my dinner time to avoid overlapping with fasting Muslims. Where I live, even if there is no physical aggression, sitting in a restaurant and eating around 6:00–6:30 p.m. earns me plenty of dirty looks from Muslims who are sitting there waiting to break their fast.

It wasn’t like this when I was growing up in the ’70s and ’80s, studying in a "kampung" school with three classrooms, where we had an approximately 50:30:20 Malay:Chinese:Indian mix.

We were all from B40 families, sat together to eat, and during the fasting month, our Malay friends still hung out in the canteen to play with us while we ate. No one had any problems then.

OBSERVER from Space : The most accurate, truthful & courageous article on this despicable cretin's act. Certainly the dark truth on the status of Malusia.. Blessings upon you Commander Thayaparan..

MS : One of the last few truth-tellers left in a country darkened by untruth.

Just : Pure racial bullying. Gone to physical Level. This man need to be sentence to jail for his assault and his brain need to be realign or rebrainwashed to Normalcy.

The Illusion Of Choice : It has nothing to do with Islam or hypocrisy (religious or otherwise). Its about putting the pendatangs in their place This man believes in Malay Exceptionalism....that the Malays are lords of this land.

Classic Ketuanan mentality. He wanted to flex this "superiority" over a pendatang, a young boy no less, bespectacled, alone, smaller than him, looks soft, who posed no threat. Do you think he would have done the same if it was a big-sized Indian man?

Or a Chinese ah beng covered in tattoos? He saw an easy prey and he wanted to flex his Ketuananism. And when the boy answered him back, he couldnt believe it. He exercised his "authority" and it wasnt acknowledged How dare this pendatang talk back. Why didnt he cower?

Why didnt he respect his Malay "superior"? It made his blood boil. At a loss, he resorted to violence to reinforce his superiority. The rage and pure hate that these people feel against the NMs is palpable, boiling over. You see it in their words and actions. Its a very intense form of bigotry.

The causes of Islamophobia 1 and the Other.............