The melancholy of a broken umbrella

[Lee Hsien Tau]

<div align="center"><img style="width: 640px; height: 460px;" src="http://www.craigwylie.com/images/still-life/Meltdown-2008.jpg" alt="" border="0"></div>

So we know now why the meeting was scuppered. Because SDA is one hell of a broken umbrella.




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Sep 3, 2009
<font size="6">3 hurt in fight at PKMS office</font>
By Jennani Durai and Wendy Hui

<img src="http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20090903/fight-bryanvanderbeek.jpg" alt="" border="0">
Police investigators take down notes at the scene of a fight on Changi Road. -- ST PHOTO: BRYAN VAN DER BEEK


AN ONGOING leadership tussle within opposition political party Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) turned violent on Thursday when the two factions got into a brawl outside its office building in Eunos.

Four men had to be sent to hospital with head and arm injuries, with one of them warded in intensive care with a fractured skull.

Police arrested a total of 21 people, two of them women, for rioting with dangerous weapons in relation to the incident, which happened around noon.

Those arrested, which included the four sent to hospital, were aged between 27 and 69. They were said to have used weapons such as hammers and screwdrivers in the fight.

Anyone convicted of rioting with dangerous weapons can be jailed up to 10 years and caned.

For the last three years, PKMS has been split into two groups which have been at loggerheads with each other.

The police have been called in several times in the past over previous bust-ups involving PKMS leaders. The party's leadership dispute was also brought before the Subordinate Courts.

Madam Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, who introduced herself as the party's deputy president, said eight members of her team had gone to the PKMS premises on Thursday to change the locks.

She said they had sent an e-mail to the police as well as the current council to inform them of their plans to do so.

Thursday was supposed to be the day the term of the current council, led by president Osman Hassan, ended, she said.

 

[Lee Hsien Tau]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story

Sep 5, 2009
PKMS BRAWL
Slim hope of peace
Rival camp's offer of peace rebuffed by current leadership
By Jeremy Au Yong

PKMS member Mr Mohamed Salleh bin Mohamed Said, 69, with a plaster on his head, injured during Thursday's clash.. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN


HOPES of a reconciliation between two rival factions of an opposition party involved in a street brawl appear slim after an olive branch offered by one side was rebuffed on Friday.

Both groups, battling for control of the Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS), met reporters in the aftermath of clashes on Thursday, which left four injured and saw 21 arrested for rioting.

Each had set up its own supreme council - the party's highest decision-making body - in the aftermath of a leadership feud stretching back to 2006.

On Friday, a suggestion from Mr Ramli Mohamad, 49, that the two sides might reconcile met with a cold response. He is the twin brother of Mr Ramlan Mohamad, who was seriously injured in Thursday's clashes.

Both are part of a breakaway group that has spent the past two years trying to gain control of the PKMS. They had been suspended from the party in 2007 by the council led by Mr Osman Hassan.

Mr Ramli told The Straits Times on Friday that he hoped both sides could move on from the violence and find some common ground. 'I want to find something positive from this. I think I can work together with Mr Osman Hassan,' he said.

But when this was put to Mr Osman and council members at a press conference held in the evening, they would only go so far as to say they might consider it.

Speaking for the group was Mr Malik Ismail, its secretary-general. His initial response to the question about reconciliation was to criticise the rival camp for its actions.

It is human nature to want peace, he said, but then quickly added: 'But look at their approach.' This was a reference to a number of court cases that the faction led by the twin brothers had brought to challenge their legitimacy. 'Who is to be blamed now?' he asked.

Pressed for a response on what would happen if Mr Ramli formally called for a meeting, he said the council would have to think about it. 'We will have our meeting. We will discuss the pros and cons. Let the committee decide,' he said.

 

[Lee Hsien Tau]

Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story

Sep 10, 2009
PKMS faction goes online
By Cai Haoxiang

THEY failed to gain control of the party premises in Eunos last week. So the faction claiming to be the rightful leaders of the opposition Singapore Malay National Organisation (PKMS) has now moved to establish a presence online.

The group set up an e-mail account and said on Wednesday it would use it as a way to serve the community.

'We can still function, regardless of whether we can operate from a building or not,' Madam Lella Mardiiiah Mohamed, 35, a member of the group, told reporters at a press conference at Hong Lim Park.

With the account, the group will be able to respond to queries and provide the Malay community with advice on family and education matters, and help the unemployed search for jobs online, she said. Madam Lella is deputy president of the group which last week tried to change the locks at the PKMS office building in Eunos.

Their attempt on Sept 3 sparked clashes with members of the group that has control of the premises. The incident led to the arrest of 21 people for rioting. Four men were also taken to hospital with injuries.

One of the injured, Mr Ramlan Mohamad, 49, was warded in intensive care with a fractured skull. He is now out of intensive care, said his twin brother Ramli Mohamad.

Both brothers, along with Madam Lella, are part of a breakaway group that has spent the past two years trying to gain control of the PKMS. Several members of this group had been suspended from the party in 2007 by the PKMS supreme council led by Mr Osman Hassan, 64.

Mr Osman's council does not recognise the breakaway group's claims to be the legitimate leaders of the party. In the wake of the clashes, the council also rebuffed a suggestion by the group represented by Madam Lella that the two sides might reconcile.

On Wednesday, she said that her group did not have the finances to mount a fresh legal challenge against Mr Osman and his council.

But it would, in the meantime, aim to continue to serve the community. Hence the initiative to start the e-mail service, she said, adding that those interested could send their queries to [email protected]