Playing the right tune on the Xylophone

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon arrived at the LCC airport on Saturday and was refused entry by immigration. This is one brave move by the government.

However, all the back and forth of exchanges is not sending out the right answer. It took Foreign Minister Dato Anifah Aman to tell it like it is before the other side understand.

Xenophon is a troublemaker and intruding into an area he has no business to be involved in. Thus, Malaysia has every right to deny his entry.

Is that so difficult to tell?


The Bernama report as carried in The Sun as follows:

Detained senator has record of undermining country's harmony

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16, 2013): Independent Australian Senator Nick Xenophon was detained at the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Sepang near here today, after it was found that he had a record of undermining the country's harmony.

He was nabbed at 6.50am, under Section 8 (3) of the Malaysian Immigration Act, upon arrival on a flight from Melbourne, Australia.

Confirming Xenophon's detention to Bernama, Immigration Department director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said the senator was in the list of 'undesirables' and barred from entering the country because of the record.

He said Xenophon was merely confined at the immigration's LCCT office, and was not held in a cell or lock-up as claimed by some quarters. He further dismissed claims that Xenophon was denied his rights to meet or communicate with anyone.

"Xenophon was allowed to meet with Australia's High Commissioner Miles Kupa at the conference room at the immigration's LCCT office."

Alias said Kupa also met him over Xenophon's detention and expressed satisfaction with the Malaysian immigration's handling of the case, and that he respected the country's laws.

According to Alias, Xenophon who was reported to be among 50 Australian law-makers who had called for the sodomy charge against Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be dropped in February 2010, was expected to be sent back to Australia tonight.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said Xenophon's detention was not politically motivated, adding that it was the prerogative of the immigration director-general to take such action based on existing provisions in the law.

"As long as the decision is made based on the law...does not make any senator special. As a minister, if I go to London and they do not let me enter and I have to return to Malaysia, it is not necessary for them to give any reason," he told reporters after closing the Jelajah Anak Malaysia programme at Stadium Mini Pancarona here today.

He said the ministry through Wisma Putra was constantly communicating with the Australian High Commission in the case.

In a related matter, Umno Supreme Council member Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said Malaysia did not need any external interference in its affairs, while Malaysian Young Journalists Club president Dzulkarnain Taib said the action against Xenophon was appropriate, describing the Australian senator as an alleged provo cateur in the coming 13th General Election.

On another issue, Hishammuddin said the armed Filipinos who had encroached on Lahad Datu, Sabah would be extradited to their country of origin as soon as possible.

"From intelligence sources, this group is not a militant or terrorist group but supporters of the 'Sulu Sultanate'," he said. – Bernama

Hishamuddin sounds like kissing a keris then apologising and will later go around saying my hands are tight. Why the "was not" and defensiveness? And, passing the buck to his subordinates?

Please put the Lahad Datu incident aside. If we are not lazy, we'll deal with it too. 

Be firm.

Troublemaker Xenophon is one of the 50 Australian Senators demanding that his alleged fellow gay, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim not be subjected to trial for his sodomy charges. He wants to interfere in the due process of law in this country.

Then he interfered by supporting the violent Bersih 2.0 and help perpetuate their game of perception against the Election Commission.

Already, indication is openly showing his assistance is useful for these lawbreakers' long term strategy to justify a Tahrir Square-like unlawful coup d'etat in the event they lose the general election. It looks most likely they will lose.

Anarchy and mob rule are security threat to any country. Thus, any country in the world has every right to inspect and deny entry to anyone that can result in such threat to the country. 

Just realised he sounded overly cautious and funny or strange?

Need we be reminded that Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had to remove his shoes and undergo check up by Immigration at Los Angelas airport in one of his American visits as Prime Minister.

In the past, American immigration had denied entry to foreign leaders viewed unfavourably to attend United Nation Assembly.

Compare that with missing appointment with Nazri Aziz, Anwar Ibrahim and Ambiga.

These holier-than-thou "orang putih" think they can do it and we have no right to do it to them. "Orang putih" are bigger security risk. They are the biggest merchant of war and misery to the world at large.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the Australian perspective of the event:

'Security risk' senator was envoy

February 17, 2013

Nick Xenophon in Malaysia

AN AUSTRALIAN senator detained and ordered to be deported by Malaysia as a ''security risk'' has acted as an emissary for Malaysian Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, carrying a letter warning of infringements on democracy to the federal government.

On Saturday the South Australian senator, Nick Xenophon, was detained after being told at Kuala Lumpur airport that there was a technical glitch with his passport and then escorted to an area of holding cells.

Senator Xenophon's detention has caused the cancellation of a visit to Malaysia by a delegation of Australian MPs from all major parties.

Speaking by phone from the airport, Senator Xenophon, an independent, described his detention as ''bizarre''.

''They have told me I am a security risk,'' he said.

In an separate interview with Sky News, he said: ''I was eventually told apologetically by immigration officials that I am on a watchlist, that there are orders from above in terms of security concerns and I have to be deported on the next flight out of here.''

Only hours before Senator Xenophon's arrest, Mr Anwar lashed out at Foreign Minister Bob Carr in an interview with Fairfax Media, revealing he asked in the letter for Australia to speak out about Malaysia's rigged political system.

Mr Anwar said his warnings of Malaysia's rigged political system had fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Anwar, who heads a three-party opposition alliance, said Senator Carr was ''ill-advised or clearly lacks an understanding'' of what is happening in Malaysia when he refused to act on the letter sent late last year asking for Australia's help.

Senator Carr on Saturday raised Australia's concerns with the Malaysian government about Senator Xenophon's detention.

''Senator Xenophon's detention is a surprising and disappointing act from a country with which Australia routinely maintains strong diplomatic relations,'' Senator Carr said.

Senator Carr said Australia's high commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, who had made direct contact with Senator Xenophon, was ''seeking an explanation from Malaysian authorities regarding the reasons for this detention''.

He said preliminary reports indicated Senator Xenophon had been held under Malaysia's national security laws.

Senator Xenophon was expected to leave Kuala Lumpur on a flight to Melbourne in the early hours of Sunday morning.

In a statement issued after Senator Xenophon's arrest, Mr Anwar condemned the Malaysian government's accusations against Senator Xenophon. ''Prime Minister Najib Razak has no right to treat visitors as enemies of the state merely because they are critical of his UMNO-led administration,'' he said.

''This act of detention and proposed deportation for partisan political reasons is therefore a gross abuse of power.''

Senator Xenophon was in Malaysia leading a bipartisan visit of Australian politicians for talks with the country's opposition party about electoral systems. The other MPs, Liberal Mal Washer, Nationals senator John Williams and ALP MP Steve Georganas were due to fly out on Monday, but have cancelled the visit.

They were to have met Mr Anwar, as well as Malaysia's minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammed Nazri, and members of the group Bersih, a coalition campaigning for fair Elections.

''It seems that a member of the Australian Parliament is now not allowed into Malaysia because I am a supposed security risk,'' Senator Xenophon said.

''I just wanted to arrive here quietly and do our work. I didn't ask to be deported, believe me.''

In the interview that preceded Senator Xenophon's arrest, Mr Anwar lashed out at the Gillard government over its failure to speak out about widespread election fraud ahead of his country's fiercely fought election.

Mr Anwar told Fairfax Media it is hypocritical of Australia to speak out about democracy in other countries such as Afghanistan but not support Malaysia in what he described as its dirtiest ever campaign.

After a meeting and receiving the letter from Mr Anwar, Senator Carr told the ABC that Malaysia's elections are a matter for the Malaysian people.

''It's very hard for Australia to do anything about how they're run, as hard as it would be for Malaysia or another government to have a say in how Australian elections are run… we're not the election authority for Malaysia,'' Senator Carr said.

Senator Xenophon said he had visited Malaysia previously at the invitation of Mr Anwar, participating in the elections observer group last year.

''We found there are some serious systemic concerns about the Malaysian elections that are coming up. They are due to be called any day,'' he said.

Analysts say Mr Anwar's opposition has a chance of ousting the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled Malaysia for half a century since its independence from Britain.

Prime Minister Najib Razak must call the election within weeks, but parties have been campaigning for months.

Since Malaysia have diplomatic relationship with Australia, they try to test the relationship by creating uproar over this incidence.

To repeat again, Xenophone interfered in our electoral process at the request of the opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. The Austraian government position is not to be involved and Anwar is lashing at the Australian government's independent position and wants them to believe his side of the story.

Did one notice Xenophon's prejudging the EC?

The Malaysian Insider's reported EC's response and side of the story albeit from their own bias angle. Xenophon never heard the EC's side of teh story and never intended to do so but made his bias opinion openly heard.

Read below:

EC defends Xenophon expulsion, says unfair to doubt Election 2013


By Boo Su-Lyn
February 16, 2013

Wan Ahmad said the EC was willing to meet foreigners who wished to monitor Election 2013 but that neither he nor the EC chairman had been contacted by Xenophon. — file pic

PETALING JAYA, Feb 16 — The Election Commission (EC) defended today Australian Senator Nick Xenophon’s deportation from Malaysia, saying that immigration authorities were merely performing their duty.

EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar also said that it was unjust to judge the fairness of Election 2013 based on Xenophon’s expulsion.

“I think it’s an insult to the intelligence of Malaysians,” Wan Ahmad told reporters here today.

“They don’t have to rely on the opinion of this one fellow to make a conclusion,” he said.

Xenophon was detained at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal in Sepang this morning and will be deported later tonight.

Xenophon had planned to meet Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, de facto law minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz and EC officials next week to discuss the country’s electoral system, according to Anwar’s chief of staff, Ibrahim Yaacob.

Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan has lambasted Xenophon’s deportation as a move that showed the government’s “paranoia” about the coming national polls.

Several other Twitter users joined Ambiga in raining scorn on the government’s decision, with the subject spawning a hashtag #xenophon.

But Wan Ahmad stressed that there was nothing to hide as Malaysians were free to observe Election 2013.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad said earlier today that Xenophon was deported because the senator had made statements that allegedly tarnished Malaysia’s image.

Alias highlighted Xenophon’s remarks about the Malaysian government being “authoritarian” in handling last April’s Bersih 3.0 rally for free and fair elections.

Xenophon, who had observed the mass protest, noted that the police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water in what had been a largely peaceful protest.

Alias added that the Australian senator was barred from entering Malaysia under the Immigration Act 8(3).

Ibrahim said today that other Australian MPs and senators, who were due to arrive here, have cancelled their plans.

Wan Ahmad, however, said that the EC was willing to meet foreigners who wished to monitor the coming Election 2013 as long as they contacted the EC directly.

“I’ve never received his (Xenophon’s) call. The EC chairman also did not receive any call,” said Wan Ahmad.

He added that Xenophon had made an appointment with a senior EC official through a third party, but did not specify further.

Wan Ahmad also questioned Xenophon’s intention in coming here, saying: “We don’t know what (is) the agenda in his mind.”

He urged foreigners not to disparage Malaysia’s democratic process as it was based on Malaysian law, not Australian or European law.

“I think we have laws in this country. If people don’t respect the laws, I think the majority of the rakyat will not like it,” said Wan Ahmad.

Australia’s Foreign Ministry has expressed its disappointment with Xenophon’s detention.

News of Xenophon’s detention has also been picked up by international press.

“I am effectively a prisoner here,” he was quoted as saying in the Australian newspaper The Sunday Mail.

The paper reported the Australian lawmaker managed to slip through a phone call when he was left unattended in the interrogation room.

“I’m being held in an area with all these holding cells which are full of women. They have basically told me I am an enemy of the state. They are trying to get me on the next plane out of here and back home.

“I was even meeting members of the government, I mean, the whole situation is ridiculous, we are meant to be the closest of friends with Malaysia,” he told the paper.

“We are meant to be having a people swap deal on asylum seekers but so far it looks like the only person being swapped is me,” he was quoted as saying.

The paper also reported Xenophon as saying he believed a recent piece he had written for Fairfax newspapers last month, which was critical of human rights here, may be a reason for the authorities to refuse him entry.

Xenophon came to Malaysia last April as an election observer after being invited by Anwar.

The Australian senator was part of a seven-member international team of election observers who later met Nazri.

Despite being invited by Anwar, the group insisted they were independent, claiming that their expenses for the fact-finding mission were borne by themselves or their respective governments.

Xenophon had said that fundamental concerns regarding Malaysia’s electoral roll, campaign period, media access and other issues pertaining to electoral reforms were raised with Nazri.

The senator was portrayed by local English daily the News Straits Times (NST) last year as anti-Islam in an article that falsely quoted him as calling Islam a “criminal organisation” during his 2009 speech in Australia’s Parliament.

Xenophon later said he would sue the NST after the newspaper admitted its mistake.

TMI is an opposition friendly news portal and is a key player in perpetuating the opposition propaganda against EC. Their final touch in the report is seeking sympathy for Xenophan. 

Australia is not happy with this deportation.

But, did they bother to realise that Xenophon did not hear out EC's side of the story and is only bias in favour of Anwar and the bigau (dumb) Ambiga? .

Foreign Minister Bob Carr comment is only given scanty coverage by TMI. He was the one that recomended that the Australian government do not entertain the interference agenda pushed by Xenophon.

The Sydney Morning Herald report, below:

Carr: Xenophon's Malaysian detention surprising and disappointing

February 16, 2013

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Malaysia's detention of independent senator Nick Xenophon is a surprising and disappointing act.

Senator Carr said Australian officials in Kuala Lumpur were seeking the immediate release of Senator Xenophon, who was detained and held pending deportation when he entered the country on Saturday morning.

As well, Australian officials have raised Senator Xenophon's plight at the highest level of the Malaysian government.

Senator Xenophon, who was participating in an unofficial delegation of Australian MPs, said he was told he was a security threat and would be deported.

Senator Carr said preliminary reports indicated Senator Xenophon had been held under Malaysia's national security laws.

"Our High Commissioner Miles Kupa has now made direct contact with Senator Xenophon at the airport and is seeking his release," he said in a statement.

He said Mr Kupa was also urgently pursuing an explanation from Malaysian authorities regarding the reasons for this detention.

"Australia's concerns have been raised with Malaysia's foreign minister and the minister for home affairs and the Malaysian high commissioner to Australia. Their support is requested in securing Senator Xenophon's swift release from custody," he said.

"Senator Xenophon's detention is a surprising and disappointing act from a country with which Australia routinely maintains strong diplomatic relations."

The delegation, including Senator Xenophon, Liberal Mal Washer, Nationals Senator John Williams and ALP MP Steve Georganas, have now called off their visit to Malaysia.

They were to have met opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, as well as Malaysia's minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammed Nazri, and members of the group Bersih, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections.

Senator Xenophon has raised concerns about the probity of the upcoming Malaysian election.

AAP

Just cause we have diplomatic relationship, it does not mean you can interfere in our affairs and we cannot implement our law and apply it on Australians. Go on with their surprise and disappointment. How do they like if we sponsor and help campaign for oppositions to their parties? 

Australia pursues Malaysian explanation for senator's deportation

(Reuters) - Australia is seeking further explanation from Malaysia about why an Australian senator, who went to politically sensitive Malaysia to discuss electoral reform, was denied entry and deported, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Sunday.

Malaysia refused entry on Saturday to independent Senator Nick Xenophon, with an immigration official saying the decision was made because he had participated in an illegal street rally for electoral reform in the Southeast Asian country last year.

The Malaysian government is bracing for an election within months that is expected to be the closest in the former British colony's history.

"We made immediate and strenuous representations on his behalf, not only in relation to him being detained, but into him being allowed to be in Malaysia," Gillard told reporters in Melbourne, where Xenophon had arrived earlier on Sunday.

"Clearly we didn't succeed. We will continue to pursue this issue with the Malaysian government."

Xenophon was part of an unofficial delegation seeking to discuss the coming elections with members of the Malaysian government, opposition, judiciary and election commission. The other three members of the delegation canceled their trip after Xenophon was detained on arrival in Kuala Lumpur.

He said he had been told he had been detained because he was considered "a security risk". The Malaysian government said he had broken the law on a previous visit.

Xenophon was invited to Malaysia last year by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and observed a major street rally for electoral reform in April that ended in violence. He later criticized the government's handling of the rally.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, wrote on his blog on Saturday that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak should not treat visitors as "enemies of the state" because they had criticized the ruling United Malays National Organisation.

"While it is true that senator Xenophon has raised concerns about the probity of our coming general elections, he has neither violated any written law nor conducted himself in a manner which may be constituted as a threat to our society," Anwar said.

Razak must call the election by the end of April and the opposition holds a good chance of toppling UMNO, the anchor of a Barisan Nasional coalition government, after 56 years in power.

That prospect is unnerving some government officials, emboldening the opposition and raising risks for investors.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said he had contacted his Malaysian counterpart, Anifah Aman, over Xenophon's deportation but did not think ties would suffer.

"He said Malaysia took strong objection to foreigners interfering in their election campaign," Carr told reporters.

Australia and Malaysia have had a sometimes rocky diplomatic relationship. The two countries clashed 20 years ago when former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating called former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad "recalcitrant" for boycotting the 1993 Asia-Pacific economic forum. - Reuters

Something wrong with this country.

The Prime Minister wants to pursue an answer but the same report say the Foreign Minister already said what our Foreign Minister told him forthrightly that your people are participating and helping Anwar political campaign.

The issues Anwar raised on alleged electoral fraud is not the issue but a mere political campaign or propaganda.

Be reminded that the Australian government had taken a stand of non interference .

Conveniently, Reuters only gave a small space to Anifah Aman.  They did not get his comment but quoted him via a third party. But that is the crux of the issue.

Xenophon is campaigning for Anwar just like Reuter's report gave to much space to Anwar for an issue that is not directly linked to him.


Good answer Anifah.  Tell it like it is. Firm and clear.

If he had come from Johor or have family link to some Johor nobleman, he would have been a contender to be the future Prime Minister.


Perhaps, sons of nobleman are not taught to speak so directly and honestly. Too many things to consider and webs to untangled. It tightens one's hands and makes it difficult to speak clearly and truthfully.

Update:

O ye! Sons of noblemen ... It is not too late for thee to learn. 

Read Apanama here. Stop kowtowing to the west.