Malaysian blogger detained for displaying upside down flag: report

Malaysian authorities have arrested a second blogger, this time for displaying an upside down national flag on his website, according to a report Thursday.
Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, better known as Sheih Kickdefella, was picked up by police late Wednesday under the Sedition Act from his home in opposition-held northern Kelantan state, the Star daily reported.
"We were informed that the police were looking for us on Tuesday and waited for them but they didn't show up," his wife Bariah Ishak told the paper.
"We thought the worst was over but they came looking for him and so he surrendered," she added.
Syed Azidi, known for his links to the opposition conservative Islamic PAS party, had recently organised a nationwide Internet campaign to fly the Malaysian flag upside down in a sign of protest over the country's political and economic turmoil.
The campaign caused outrage in the conservative Muslim-led country with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ordering a police investigation into the matter.
Syed Azidi is the second blogger to get in trouble with Malaysian authorities over website content.
Prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who has targeted government figures on his website, was arrested last Friday under the tough Internal Security Act (ISA).
Raja Petra, founder of the controversial Malaysia Today website, has already been charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.
Rights groups say about 63 people are being held under the ISA, which allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial and is normally used against suspected terrorists.
It has also been used to lock up opponents of the government, and last year five Hindu rights activists were detained after mounting an anti-discrimination protest that targeted government race policies.

World shares dive after Lehman Brothers collapse, banks shore up markets

Asian stocks suffered heavy losses Tuesday after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, as nervous governments rushed to assure markets their financial networks were sound.
Officials called emergency meetings in capitals across the region as trading screens went red on the heels of the biggest one-day point loss for Wall Street's Dow Jones index since the September 11 terror attacks.
Japanese shares dropped almost five percent to close at a three-year low, while Hong Kong was off 5.9 percent at the lunch break, near a two-year bottom.
Some analysts said there were signs of panic selling, as officials in Australia, Japan and elsewhere pledged to try to keep markets calm. Japan injected 2.5 trillion yen (24 billion dollars) into the markets.
But investors were faced with an array of bad news that went well beyond the fall of Lehman, a 158-year-old institution which had even survived the market crash of 1929 that heralded the Great Depression.
Ratings agencies downgraded American International Group (AIG) -- a move that could spell the end for the insurance giant. Bank of America shares dropped 21 percent after it bought distressed Lehman rival Merrill Lynch.
"Lurking close to the surface are mounting pressures on institutions and on any number of investors as the dominoes start to tumble," said Patrick Bennett, an Asian currency strategist at Societe Generale.
Officials appealed for calm, trying to avert a panic and urging investors not to over-react to the drop, which comes after months of market turmoil set off by worries over US subprime, or high-risk, housing loans.
In Australia, where a surprise late rally kept the market's losses to 1.4 percent, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd met with the treasury officials and the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Rudd told parliament the government was "acutely conscious" that the turmoil was not over. "As events in the US have demonstrated in the last 24 hours, regrettably, there is a long way to run yet," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson vowed Monday to ensure "stability and orderliness" at home and overseas, but markets across Asia found no solace after news that two Japanese banks were among Lehman's biggest lenders.
Aozora, one of those banks, lost around 20 percent of its share value. Meanwhile Lehman's Japanese unit was reported to have the second-largest liability of any bankruptcy filing in post-war Japan.
Government officials held an emergency meeting with Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Masaaki Shirakawa.
In South Korea, shares closed 6.1 percent lower while the currency, the won, fell 4.3 percent against the dollar, its biggest daily drop in a decade.
The central bank said it would intervene on the foreign exchange market if necessary.
South Korean economic and financial chiefs met to consider their next move, with some looking for a silver lining amid the slew of negative news.
Vice Finance Minister Kim Dong-Soo told reporters before the meeting that Lehman's collapse could be positive for global markets by "quickly removing market instability."
His remarks echoed Paulson, who on Monday insisted that "market discipline" -- in other words, letting failing institutions fail -- needed to be part of the US response to the crisis.
But earlier this month he ordered the US government's takeover of US mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and on Monday he reiterated that the US housing mess was "the root" of the current troubles.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 4.4 percent on Monday, its largest one-day point loss since the re-opening after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Hong Kong said it would ensure orderly market trading as shares tumbled sharply, and Financial Secretary John Tsang said he was not worried about the health of other institutions in the financial hub.
"We have a comprehensive regulatory regime, so I'm not too worried," he said.
Chinese share prices closed 4.47 percent lower while Philippine share prices closed down 4.5 percent, the sharpest one-day fall in Manila since January.

- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report -

shocked by arrest of reporter and not perpetrator

shock that former Bukit Bendera Umno division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail, who made racist remarks has not been taken to task but reporter Tan Hoon Cheng, who wrote about the incident, has been arrested instead.

The perpetrator who vowed to conduct a nationwide roadshow on his remarks without any remorse is still at large,” MCA vice-president Datuk Ong Tee Keat said in a statement yesterday.

He said anybody in his right mind would certainly be stunned by such an arrest targeted at the reporter and not the perpetrator.
MCA vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said he disagreed with the use of the ISA on Tan.
“As a reporter, Tan was only carrying out duties assigned to her. Her story had gone through the due editorial process before it was printed,” he said.
Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said the arrest of Raja Petra Kamaruddin was judicious because he ridiculed Islam in his postings which could spark fury among Muslims.


wats going on is that fare to all.....

Former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail may have an unlikely advocate on the question of whether he should be dealt with under the Internal Security Act for allegedly making racially sensitive statements in the run-up to the Permatang Pauh by-election. (Raja Petra, Teresa Kok and Sin Chew reporter arrested under ISA)

Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamarudin, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) here and in Penang.
The first person to be picked up was Raja Petra, 58, from his house in Sungai Buloh near here, followed by Tan, 32, who was arrested from her house in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Teresa, 43, was detained at 11.20pm as she was on her way home in a car.
Detained: (From left) Raja Petra, Tan and Kok were picked up under Section 73(1) of the ISA.
All of them were arrested under Section 73(1) of the ISA for allegedly being a threat to security, peace and public order.
A team of police officers from Bukit Aman arrived at Raja Petra’s house at 1.10pm and led him away 40 minutes later.
The team also took some 15 VCDs on ceramah held by Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as well as 16 books.
Last week, the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) and several Muslim bodies lodged a police report against Raja Petra, who is already facing criminal defamation charges for allegedly insulting the Malays, Muslims and Islam.
In a statement, Deputy Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said Raja Petra was arrested based on surveillance that showed that he was involved in activities that could cause unrest among the multi-racial and multi-religious society of the country.
Tan, who was picked up at 8.40pm, was taken from her house in Taman Seri Rambai in Bukit Mertajam to the state police headquarters on the island.
Tan, 32, reported former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s racist remarks while campaigning for the Permatang Pauh by-election.
Lee Kelvin from Guang Ming and Tan Ming Xao from Nanyang Siang Pau, who had vouched for the accuracy of Tan’s report had gone into hiding.
Kok, 43, who is also state assemblyman for Kinrara and the senior Selangor state executive councillor, was picked up over an alleged involvement with a resident’s petition over a mosque.
Acting Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar confirmed the arrests of Tan and Kok.
Under the Section, police are empowered to detain the trio for a period of 60 days after which the Home Minister can decide on further detention.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar admitted that the decision to detain people and issue show cause letters would be unpopular and would be criticised but it had to be done.
“While we may want to be popular, freedom without responsibilities has ramifications.
“We have to take action to protect the wishes of the majority,” he said.
Syed Hamid also said Raja Petra had been warned on many occasions in the last two years.
“Now, with so much public uneasiness, we do not want anything that can threaten peace in the country.
“The police looked at all aspects and, under present circumstances, the actions were necessary,” he added.

arrested under ISA for inciting racial sentiments

Ahead of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting today, Gerakan Youth and Wanita have called for the sacking of Datuk Ahmad Ismail from Umno and for his arrest under the Internal Security Act for inciting racial sentiments.
Ahmad, who is Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, recently came under attack for making controversial remarks about the Chinese community.