Murdered Pastor May Have Known Killer

It has been a week but the whodunit question is still looming large in the murder of an American pastor, whom police believe might have known his killer. 61-year-old David James Ginter was found bound and murdered at his double-storey house in Taman Sri Ukay in Hulu Klang on 4^th May 2013. His neighbour, who had a spare key, discovered the body when he was asked by Ginter’s wife to check on him.

Ampang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Amiruddin Jamaluddin said that post-mortem results showed that Ginter haddied of asphyxiation due to gagging and neck compression. Police, he said, had been combing the area for new leads:

Initial investigations revealed that his wife last contacted him at 10pm on Friday. She tried calling him the next day but failed and asked the neighbour to check on him

There were no signs of struggle. His Toyota Avanza with the registration plate WRS 4390 is also missing. We are not ruling out robbery as the motive and that the victim might have known the killer. We have spoken to the neighbour, who discovered the body, but no arrests have been made so far.

He added that police had recorded statements from 20 people and advised the public not to speculate on the case and leave the matter to the police. David James Ginter’s wife, Sheryl had arrived in Malaysia from Australia following the tragedy.

Meanwhile, a memorial had been created online in memory of the pastor.

(Source)

Thousands More Join The #Black505 Black Parade In Ipoh

Source : http://hype.my/2013/05/thousands-more-join-the-black505-black-parade-in-ipoh

Following successful Black 505 aka #black505 mega-rallies in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, large crowds gathered last night in Medan Istana, Ipoh for a similar mourning against alleged electoral fraud. Eyewitnesses contacted by Malaysiakini told of a crowd size up to 30,000, many of whom were dressed in the trademark black.

“Speeches are now ongoing on stage and the crowd is about 30,000. It is peaceful and semangat (in high spirits)”, said one of the rally’s participants Sandrea Ng when contacted at about 9pm.

Previous events in Kelana Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and Batu Kawan,Penang had drawn crowds of about 120,000 each, while another event is slated for Tuesday and Wednesday in Kuantan, Pahang and Johor Bahru, Johor respectively.

The rallies are protesting against alleged fraud and misconduct in 13th Malaysian general election.

Among the speakers slated to speak at today’s event, which started at about 8pm, include PKR de facto leaderAnwar Ibrahim and former Perak Menteri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin. The venue is also just outside the PKR Perak headquarters and near the state secretariat building.

Although the police said they have not approved the rally, organisers said the authorities were not interfering with the event. “There are police personnel around, but so far they are not giving any problems”, said Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang when contacted.

(Source)

60,000 Malaysians Attend #Black505 In Penang

Source : http://hype.my/2013/05/60000-malaysians-attend-black505-in-penang

Thousands of people attended the Penang #black505 rally last night (11th May 2013, Saturday)organized by Pakatan Rakyat to protest the outcome of the 13^th Malaysian general election. This was the second leg of series of gatherings, with the first having taken place at Kelana Jaya stadium on 8th May 2013 (Wednesday) in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

It was reported that many who turned up, donning black outfits, had to park their cars at the Bukit Tambun toll plaza a few kilometres away due to the traffic congestion. Carloads of people were seen on major roads leading to the stadium, causing a traffic crawl from 5pm onwards.

Source: http://www.keadilandaily.com/

Source: DPP Malaysia

According to Star Online, the Batu Kawan stadium took on a carnival-like atmosphere with thousands in the full-fledged “black parade”. The people were seen carrying party, state, and national flags. By 9pm, the stadium was half full and the crowd was mostly on the pitch.

De facto Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim arrived at 8:30pm. Various online reports confirmedPKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, as well as other Pakatan leaders in the state were also present.

Source: CNA

Source: AFP

Anwar then addressed the tens of thousands in Penang by saying, “The last election if the other of all frauds. In these elections, we demand answers, and we demand the answers now”. He also added that the opposition would focus less on challenging the result and more on exposing pro-government biases in the electoral system, and that he will soon produce evidence of the fraud.

Watch the video here:

A third is scheduled to be held at Medan Istana 5 in Ipoh tonight.

Sources: NST, Malaysia Kini, ABN News.

#WilliamYau Inquest: Fractures On Skull + Possible Causes Of Death

Source : http://hype.my/2013/05/williamyau-inquest-fractures-on-skull-possible-causes-of-death/

 

A pathologist revealed three possibilities which could have led to the death of six-year-old William Yau who went missing for about a week before his body was found floating in Sungai Klang early this year.
Dr Nur Ayutimasery Abdullah of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang, said the post-mortem conducted on 25^th January 2013 showed that the boy had fractures on his skull, which could have been caused by a strong force applied to his head. But she was unable to determine whether William had died because of drowning or the injuries sustained to the head:

In my view, there are three possibilities. First, a strong force could have been applied to his head and died. Second, he fell into a drain, drowned and died. The fractures on his skull occurred after his death. And third, he fell into a drain, knocked his head and died.
To confirm that he had drowned, there should be changes in his lungs, like it was bloated or there were a lot of tiny bubbles in his respiratory tract.
In this case, none of these were found as the body had decomposed.

When asked by deputy public prosecutor Lee Keng Fatt on the point of impact on William’s head, Dr Nur Ayutimasery said, “Possibly at the back of the head”.
Based on the post-mortem, William had died about a week before his body was found.

Dr Nur Ayutimasery, who is the 12th witness in the coroner’s court conducting the inquest of William, said she had also found a healed fracture on the boy’s right rib as well as on the right shin bone. She said the fractures could have been occurred more than two weeks before the post-mortem.
She, however, ruled out the possibility that William had been abused because usually, an abused victim will have recurrent and multiple injuries. The doctor added that external examination of William’s body showed that there were scratch marks on his calf, which could have been caused by animals with paws like cats or dogs.

On whether there were blood stains on William’s clothes, Dr Nur Ayutimasery, who had conducted post-mortems on more than 600 cases, said she was unsure because the clothes were covered with mud.
Hearing before coroner Mohd Hezril Shaharil continues on 13th May 2013.
(Source)

#GE13: Through The Eyes Of Marina Mahathir

Source : http://hype.my/2013/05/ge13-through-the-eyes-of-marina-mahathir/

Marina Mahathir, daughter of Tun Mahathir Mohammad, otherwise known as a leader in many non-governmental organizations such as the Malaysian AIDS Foundation and an active socio-political blogger, has come out to share her thoughts and views on the 13th Malaysian general election. This is coming after the post effects of the GE13 e.g. silent protests, #black505 rally.

It’s a little lengthy but it’s worth spending a few minutes poring over. Perhaps it can give Malaysians an insight on how things have turned out post GE13 through the eyes of Marina:

For the last year, everything was put on suspended animation. First, because we did not know when the election would be; then, because we did not know what would happen afterwards. Now, we know and, in many ways, it was a very Malaysian result.

We gave every party just enough; not enough to make anybody ecstatic, but enough that they can console themselves that they did partly well. It may not be good enough for the people who want all or nothing, but the one thing about democracy is its unpredictability.

Perhaps there were a few heightened characteristics in the election campaign this time.

One is the incredible amount of advertising being thrown at voters from every possible direction. You couldn’t drive anywhere without seeing banners and posters, some of which should have been taken down for obstructing the view of drivers. You couldn’t even play games online without having to first endure a political video.

In the last days of campaigning, three human traits became obvious – fear, paranoia and mistrust.

All sides used fear to create paranoia and mistrust. Unfortunately, many allowed themselves to be used by politicians in that way. It made some Malaysians turn against other Malaysians, as well as foreigners. Tolerance, understanding and respect went out the window.

This is not the future that we expected, where all humans would enjoy equal rights. Instead, we fell to making distinctions between one human and another, based on suspicion and conjecture. We should really reflect on how easily this ugly side of us came out when provoked.

No doubt, we can blame various parties for creating an atmosphere in which this was possible. But we fell for it. In the name of democracy, we became undemocratic. But this is the day after, and we have to move on. Again, do we rely on our leaders of whatever stripe to lead us in moving on, or do we do it ourselves?

As the ever-cynical writer Gore Vidal said: “Democracy is supposed to give you the feeling of choice, like Painkiller X and Painkiller Y. But they’re both just aspirin.”

I feel that we will learn from this and we will focus on the next election, where we will insist that all sides have to earn our trust and, therefore, our votes. I don’t think we will succumb to manipulation any more.

I also think that the most crucial reform needed is in the media. It truly needs to redeem itself from its outrageous behaviour during the campaign, dispensing with any semblance of objectivity or balance. We need to demand from the media an account of how much it thinks it contributes to national unity and healing. The people voted out the worst proponents of disunity and the media should take heed of that.

I would really advise the Prime Minister to stop thinking of Cabinet posts as a form of reward but, rather, as assigning tasks of huge responsibility. For that, he should not choose the same old faces. To really show that he is sincere about change, his criteria for his ministers should be talent, youth and gender, three things that were wholly absent before.

Only then will we believe this is a fresh new beginning.

#GE13: More than 100,000 Turned Up For #Black505

Source : http://hype.my/2013/05/ge13-more-than-100000-turned-up-for-black505/

 
 
Yesterday, from as early as 4pm, Malaysians gathered at the Kelana Jaya stadium in Petaling Jaya to support a post-election rally (also known as the “Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat” rally or #black505“) led by PKR de facto leader Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim. He was to address his supporters for the first time since the 5^th May 2013 (Sunday) 13^th Malaysian general election aka #GE13.
Despite the rain, what seemed like more than 100,000 Malaysians braved the complete standstill jam on the LDP heading towards Kelana Jaya to make their way to the stadium.

Source: @Baz_Tan

Source: @chunhoww

Some of the participants parked their cars at the side of the main road and walked a few kilometres to the Kelana Jaya stadium. We hear that even nearby shopping mall, Paradigm Mall, was swarmed with enthusiastic Malaysians.
The Malaysians who turned up donned black T-shirts to symbolise protest against what they allege as “electoral fraud” and others brought yellow flowers, symbolising “Bersih”, or clean and fair elections:

Amongst the leaders who were present are such as the newly-elected MP for Kelana Jaya, Wong Chen, as well as Tian Chua, PKR vice president Nurul Izzah, Elizabeth Wong, Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, Selangor MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, and more.
Both Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang were spotted riding pillion on motorbikes in the effort to beat the tragic jam so that they could make it to the Kelana Jaya stadium on time. The sight of the leaders on motorbikes shocked onlookers but Anwar Ibrahim graciously waved at them as they whipped out their smartphones and cameras to snap away:

Source: Twitter

As for the environment at the stadium throughout the entire time of the rally, our sources have told us that it was “electric”. Malaysians, regardless of race, age, gender, background, stood steadfast for their home.
Phone lines were jammed, Twitter was abuzz, and as expected, “#black505″ and “Kelana Jaya” was trending:

When Lim Kit Siang finally took the stage, he began by thanking all Malaysians for their commitment towards making the country and people stronger and states that now is the time to “turn our resolve into the tasks that can move our country forward”. He also went on to say:

Foremost is the need to properly account for all of the irregularities during an election that was not only the dirtiest election in our country’s history, but also the most marred in its process. We support Bersih’s people’s tribunal as an essential step for justice and transparency. We call on all Malaysians to come forward to share their experiences and help us get to the truth.
In our initial assessment, we can point to multiple seats where serious irregularities occurred – Labis, Tapah, Segamat and Bentong, to name just a few. We believe that the irregularities are extensive and nation-wide and minimally affect up to 30 seats. As the irregularities impact more than 21 seats, the margin for which we would have won government, and involve at least two state governments – Perak and Terengganu.
The DAP, working in collaboration with our partners in Pakatan Rakyat, will work to gather and present the evidence. If Malaysia had free and fair elections, we would be in Putrajaya and many other state capitals across the country. Malaysians know this, and the BN knows it.
The Malaysia I know is one that believes in fairness. The Malaysia that I know is one that believes in decency.

Source: Twitter

When met by reporters later, Anwar Ibrahim said, “I would not quit until we reach Putrajaya, until we expose all fraud and claim Putrajaya for the rakyat. They deserved it as we, Pakatan, won the popular vote”.
Malaysians came as one again last night for change, for a better country that they so love. Here they are singing our national anthem, “Negaraku” in unison under the rain, signifying the end of the rally:

(Source)

Psst. One of our readers sent this in a couple of hours ago:

Source: @Baz_Tan