Development + Journalism + World

Malaysia Couple Charged with Maid Murder

Every year, dozens (maybe hundreds?) of domestic workers die in countries that are foreign to them. Many of these maids and caregivers come from Indonesia and Cambodia. They are “exported” by their countries (which of course PROFIT from exporting them) to work for people who often treat them like animals.

Mey Sichan was found dead by paramedics called by her employers on March 31. When found, she weighed 26 kilogrammes (57 pounds). She also had bruises on her body.

Police said she died from acute gastritis and ulcers likely due to lack of food over a long period. The maid had been working for the family for eight months.

Why do Indonesia and Cambodia encourage their young women to go abroad and risk this kind of abuse?

Source: Agence France Presse, in The Jakarta Globe (April 13, 2012)

exxi:

This mother orangutan and her baby were saved by the animal charity Four Paws from people who are paid to kill them. There are allegations that many palm oil companies in the area of Borneo pay rewards of up to 1m Indonesian rupiah (about £70) for each ape killed. The Four Paws team found the pictured orangutans surrounded by a group of local youths intending to kill them for a bounty
>| Vier Pfoten / Four Paws

We read about these atrocities all the time in Indonesia. The owners of the palm oil plantation first cut down the orangutan habitats to grow their vile and disgusting palm oil trees, where there once was a beautiful rainforest. Then, when the homeless orangutan come looking for food or shelter (which is no longer there), local people murder them to get money that is paid by the owners of the palm oil plantation. The police and the government do little or nothing to stop this, most of the time.

(via cvvc)

The video shows clearly the brutality of the Malaysian police against the peaceful, nonviolent march of citizens from all sectors of Malaysian society. 

“Southeast Asians are bone weary of authoritarianism, and increasingly unafraid to say so. There is a growing demand for accountability and good governance that the region’s elites and demidespots ignore at their peril.”

In particular, the Bersih 2.0 movement in Malaysia shows promise for finally dislodging a paternalistic and racist political party that has been holding back a vibrant, creative population for at least 10 years.

“Stability requires functioning institutions, free media and an unfettered civil society, as well as economic growth.”

SOURCE Time magazine 10 October 2011

Source:

“Rimba Raya was designed to be part of the U.N’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme. The idea is simple: every tonne of carbon locked away in the peat and soaked up by the trees would earn a steady flow of carbon credits. 

“Profit from the sale of those credits would go to project investors and partners, local communities and the Indonesian government. That would allow the project to pay its way and compete with palm oil farmers and loggers who might  otherwise destroy it.

“Rich countries and big companies can buy the credits to offset their emissions. 

“By preserving a large area of peat swamp forest, Rimba Raya was projected to cut carbon emissions by nearly 100 million tonnes over its 30-year life, which would translate into total saleable credits of about $500 million, Gazprom says. 

“It would also be a sanctuary for orphaned or rehabilitated orangutans from elsewhere in Borneo.”

16 August 2011 

Malaysia presents a special case because one’s race confers certain privileges — or not. To be Malay is to be Muslim. Not Muslim = not Malay. Political forces collaborate to require Malays to maintain and promote an Islamic identity. This is fine for those who desire to be Muslims. But for anyone else, the government’s policies cause all kinds of trouble. 

“… liberal Muslims are concerned about the recent application of strict Islamic law to women, Muslims who hold unorthodox beliefs, or religious minorities.

“To their great consternation, non-Muslims in Malaysia are even finding that the state’s application of Islamic law for ‘Muslims’ also encroaches on their lives.”

SOURCE East Asia Forum 2 July 2011

Some juicy allegations in WikiLeaks:

“The cables also draw attention to an intriguing allegation that then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may have attempted to use the proceedings to implicate Najib, a claim that was quickly hushed up in the Malaysian press.”

“… Malaysia’s daily newspapers rarely mention the case’s latest developments, and it is unprecedented in Malaysian judicial history that a murder trial could drag on for seven months and still not give the defense an opportunity to present its case. Such an environment has led many to conclude that the case was too politically sensitive to yield a verdict before the anticipated general elections.”

“However, in July 2008, P Balasubramaniam, a former policeman and private detective who had been hired by Razak Baginda to protect him from Altantuya, filed a sworn statement saying he had been told by the accused man that Najib not only knew the murdered woman but had an affair with her and introduced her to him, passing her on because he did not want the onus of having a mistress in the event that he would become prime minister.”

Najib Tun Razak: Prime Minister of Malaysia.

SOURCE: Asia Sentinel 17 MAY 2011 

The ugliest thing in the world is a palm oil plantation. The rainforests of Borneo and other precious forests in Malaysia and Indonesia are being stripped away every day to free up more land for these destructive and indefensible money-making operations.

Oil palm trees deplete the soil. They are not a sustainable crop, and they do not support most of the wildlife that used to live on these lands:

• Global Palm Oil Demand Fueling Deforestation
• Oil Palm Plantations Are No Substitute For Tropical Rainforests, Study Shows
• Rainforest Destroying Palm Oil Hiding in Far More Products Than Previously Thought

Now Malaysia and Indonesia are spreading propaganda to try to cover up what a crime against nature and the world is being committed in the destruction of these forests and habitats: 

Malaysia and Indonesia bolster defence of palm oil industry to west (Guardian, 20 MAY 2011) 

Malaysia plans to become hub for Western education

British and Australian universities are building branch institutions in Johor: “… the Malaysian government is bearing the start-up costs. Educity is spending about $100m on the infrastructure and buildings.”

SOURCE: The Economist 5 MAY 2011