Archive for category Good Governance
TV3 and other TV station should cancel live coverage of Najib’s presentation of BN Manifesto tonight unless similar facililities are also extended to Pakatan Rakyat election manifesto
Posted by Kit in Elections, Good Governance, Media, Najib Razak on Saturday, 6 April 2013
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will unveil the Barisan Nasional (BN) election manifesto in a speech at 8.30 pm tonight, which is to be broadcast live by TV3 and other TV stations.
This is a gross abuse of power and the latest in the long list of violations of the Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M)’s Election Integrity Pledge to conduct free, fair and clean elections which Najib signed with such fanfare some 45 days ago.
If the Barisan Nasional election manifesto is to be given live coverage over TV3 and other TV stations, similar facilities should also be extended to the Pakatan Rakyat’s election manifesto.
TV3 and other TV stations should cancel the live coverage of Najib’s presentation of BN Manifesto tonight unless they are prepared to offer similar facilities to the Pakatan Rakyat election manifesto. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Najib to make public all the mega defence and other contracts entered into by the Federal Government in the past three weeks since March 8 when his premiership has “expired” its credibility, authority and legitimacy
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Defence, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Sunday, 31 March 2013
The RM4.2 billion arms deal worth RM4.2 billion entered into by the Defence Ministry at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima 2013), on top of the earlier argument that Parliament could not yet be dissolved as a caretaker government cannot enter into mega-ringgit defence deals at LIMA, has brought to the centrestage the important questions of good governance and public integrity and the issue of corruption in Malaysia – especially what is the proper and ethical conduct of a government which is reaching close to or gone past its “expiry” period.
There can be no contention that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is already the country’s longest unelected Prime Minister without a mandate of his own after taking over the reins of premiership from Tun Abdullah Badawi is already an “expired” Prime Minister leading an “expired” Cabinet and Government in the past three weeks since March 8, when it lost all public credibility, authority and legitimacy as the government of Malaysia.
Why can’t the RM4.2 billion arms deal in LIMA wait until after the 13GE for whichever government, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, to make the final decision? Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t fear the consequences of change
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Economics, Elections, Good Governance, Politics on Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Anwar Ibrahim
Malaysiakini
Mar 12, 2013
COMMENT
The present Umno-BN government of Najib Abdul Razak is living on borrowed time. It doesn’t want to admit it but its legitimacy is now totally in question because constitutionally, its full term has expired.
The people’s patience is tested to the limit here by the audacity of a government that goes on ruling without a mandate.
A number of bogus analysts and self-appointed doomsday prophets, especially those driven by very personal agendas, have warned that Malaysia will descend into political and economic chaos in the event of a Pakatan Rakyat victory.
On the other hand, the more genuine and independent observers have expressed greater optimism. For instance, the original ‘Dr Doom’, Prof Roubini, says that our economy will stay robust even with a change in government.
We know that a mandate for change is not limited to the political sphere though it is true that without that mandate, economic management itself will be off to a false start.
When Indonesia made that break from military autocracy to constitutional democracy, much of the focus of the free world was on how its economy would weather the transition.
And in their case, transition would stretch for years and indeed the fruits of that initial process of political upheaval are for all to see.
In the case of the Arab Spring, the major worry remains the lack of clearly defined policies that would set the road map to economic recovery and growth.
They are still finding their way and it won’t be an easy way but that is no excuse for rejecting freedom and democracy.
Certainly, political stability is a key factor, and I might just emphasise the most crucial factor in setting the direction and objectives of economic management. Read the rest of this entry »
RM160m to solve Najib’s problem?
Posted by Kit in Defence, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 8, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
The object of the whole LTAT exercise seems to be to save Raja Ropiah, people from Mindef and even LTAT – players who may all have a hand in the exercise.
COMMENT
You know how government-linked companies (GLCs) screws us? In order to deceive people, they build themselves a byzantine maze with sister companies, brother companies, son-companies, grandson-companies and great-great grandson companies.
It will take a financial sleuth some time to trace the trail of deception and corruption.
Take the maze of companies involved in the Deepak Jaikishan-Raja Ropiaah Abdullah scam.
LTAT (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera) is the parent company. Boustead Holdings Bhd is the son-company. Baktiwira is the grandson company. And Jendela Hikmat is the great-great grandson company. Then there is Guppyunit
Umno has a system already in place. At every level, an Umno GLC infuses the culture of deception and corruption. Every level it skims off the milk.
The question is, why is LTAT so friendly with Raja Ropiaah? Why is Raja Ropiaah so special to Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and its minister then?
One thing is known. The object of the whole LTAT exercise seems to be to save Raja Ropiaah, the people from Mindef and even LTAT – players who may all have a hand in the exercise. Read the rest of this entry »
Zero success rate
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Media on Monday, 7 January 2013
R. Nadeswaran
The Sun Daily
6 January 2013
A SEARCH of the archives shows that in the past year, more than 100 columns and commentaries were penned covering about a couple of dozen topics.
Away from the office for a fortnight, there was plenty of time to reflect on what had happened in the preceding year, in between reading opinions and commentaries of fellow scribes regaling what a great year 2012 had been.
On reflection, what was there even to put down as a thought after having written on issues ranging from wrongdoing, inefficiency, insubordination, misuse to abuse of public funds and many more? These were issues of public interest – affecting every citizen of this country.
There is no way or equipment to measure the success of this column. The success rate in informing the public of such nuances and allowing them to draw their own opinions may have been excellent.
However, when it comes to getting responses, let alone results in bringing about such issues to the fore, the rate has been dismal – absolutely ZERO! Read the rest of this entry »
Wrong to bulldoze the AES
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Transport on Tuesday, 11 December 2012
— The Malaysian Insider
December 10, 2012
DEC 10 — The Automated Enforcement System (AES) is supposed to help cut down the number of accidents and road fatalities by making motorists slow down for fear of being caught and having to pay punitive fines.
Everyone gets that bit. Especially when there are enough reports of corrupt policemen or enforcement officials out there. Which leads to continuing mayhem and a loss of revenue for the government.
But that isn’t the reason to bulldoze the AES as the answer to ensuring laws are observed and those captured on film pay their fines and hopefully not continue speeding in the future.
The reasons are simple. Till today, the government can’t explain why the service has been privatised. Read the rest of this entry »
Resistance grows within BN against AES profits
Posted by Kit in Elections, Good Governance, Transport on Tuesday, 6 November 2012
By Leslie Lau and Md Izwan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 06, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — A whopping 2.72 million speeding tickets will have to be issued in each of the next five years for the two concession holders of the controversial Automatic Enforcement System (AES) cameras to just recoup their reported RM700 million investments.
And considering the authorities had only collected an average of about 25 per cent of all traffic summonses a year — which increased to 65 per cent only after a general discount was offered last year — the two companies will have to issue far more summonses to account for the poor collection.
Such calculations have led to apprehension on the part of a growing number of Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians who are concerned about the profit motive that is built into the concession agreements.
“The privatisation of the AES could be seen as attempting to make profits because some (cameras) are placed in inappropriate places,” Umno’s Seri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz told The Malaysian Insider.
The two firms awarded the contract to implement the enforcement system — ATES Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap — will spend between RM300 million and RM400 million each to set up traffic cameras at 831 “black spots” nationwide.
Both ATES and Beta Tegap are entitled to RM16 per valid summons for the first five million issued. They will then split the remaining revenue evenly with the government up to a cap of RM270 million each.
The firms will each receive 7.5 per cent from the remaining revenue and the government will keep the rest. Read the rest of this entry »
I weep for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Sabah on Friday, 12 October 2012
by J.C.
As the week draws to a close, I am struck by three events that occurred earlier in the week that would make every educated Malaysian tear his/her hair out.
The first is the allegation surrounding the award of a contract to supply padi seeds to companies that originally failed the evaluation criteria. Does this sound familiar ? My mind goes back to the Ampang LRT extension where a disqualified tenderer got reinstated, and then won the contract despite not being the lowest bidder. Back to the padi seeds case. Apparently the tender process was well crafted, and three committees from various ministries were created. The advertisement was clear enough: companies need to have the requisite qualifications to submit bids for the RM 164.8 million contract. When the successful tenderers were announced, it became clear that at least one company, linked to a Negeri Sembilan exco member, did not fulfill the original requirements of the tender. When asked about this, the Agriculture Minister Noh Omar sarcastically commented that “….it is suprising that when we introduced the open tender…..there were more protests…”. Read the rest of this entry »
BFM interview Koon Yew Yin
Posted by Kit in Economics, Good Governance on Thursday, 27 September 2012
Follow Koon Yew Ying’s BFM interview. Koon said: “There are hundreds of big buildings and structures, can you tell me which buildings or structures are won by Bumiputera contractors through open tender? There are hundreds of K. meter of highway, can you point out the stretch of highway awarded through competitive tender?
“Record shows that it is easy to produce doctors, surgeons, lawyers, engineers and other professionals but it is very difficult to produce competent contractors or entrepreneurs.
“Bumiputeras must be willing to start from the bottom and learn the business. Tan Seri Yeoh Tiong Lay started as a small time contractor. Tan Seri Lim Goh Tong started as a scrap iron dealer in Sungei Besi.
“I, Koon Yew Yin and 3 other small time contractors started with Rm 200,000 capital in 1966. As a result, I was one of the founders of IJM Corporation Bhd.
“I am completely retired from business and I hope you are not offended by what I have expressed here. I trust we will elect politicians who will not simply give out large contracts or concessions without open tenders.”
Video: Read the rest of this entry »
Speaker Pandikar Amin should overrule Nazri’s interference with parliamentary affairs and order that the Auditor-General’s 2011 Reports should be tabled in Parliament immediately without any delay
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Good Governance, Najib Razak, Parliament on Monday, 24 September 2012
The Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, should overrule the blatant interference in in-house parliamentary matters by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of parliamentary affairs, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and order that the Auditor-General’s national audit reports for 2011 be tabled in Parliament immediately without any delay.
The reason given by Nazri that the government will only table the Auditor-General’s 2011 audit reports about a week or two after the 2013 budget is presented by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Friday is utterly ridiculous, unacceptable and an outrageous affront to the concept and principle of parliamentary independence and autonomy, even in its most attenuated and diluted form after 55 years of encroachments by the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government!
Nazri said the tabling of the Auditor-General’s Reports are being held up so that “it won’t steal the limelight from (debate on) the budget” is totally misconceived, misguided and a blatant abuse of executive power, especially as the annual audit reports by the Auditor-General are an integral and essential part of the annual budget debate by MPs.
Has Najib given Nazri the “green light” or the directive to hold back the Auditor-General’s 2011 Reports a week or two after his Budget 2013 presentation on Friday? Read the rest of this entry »
Speaking up for Suaram
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Crime, Good Governance on Saturday, 22 September 2012
by Rom Nain
Malaysiakini
Sep 20, 2012
When there is no transparency, when everything is evidently opaque, when regime credibility is at all-time low, perception – often based on rumour, kopitiam gossip and the alternative media – becomes all.
Just look at crime. At a time when the people started feeling terribly anxious about their personal welfare and security, the regime started to boast about record crime prevention statistics and the purported reduction in crime.
When these statistics were questioned, when contradictory figures were highlighted, excuses rather than valid explanations were offered.
And then, quickly, the matter was dropped, certainly by the sycophantic mainstream media, in the hope that the people will forget.
But, of course, they haven’t. Their daily experiences of increasing crime make them view official explanations with scepticism.
It’s been the same, too, with the recent detention of young Malaysians for, at worst, petulant, impertinent acts, like the mooning of photographs and for stamping on these photographs. And then being threatened, without much explanation, with charges under the odious Sedition Act. Read the rest of this entry »
BN’s promise: Tribespeople, idiots or citizens?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Good Governance, Judiciary, Police on Sunday, 5 August 2012
— Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
August 05, 2012
AUG 5 — Why am I so disgusted with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government?
I take my citizenship seriously. I was born in Malaysia. My siblings were born in Malaysia. My mother spoke only two languages: her mother tongue, Tamil and Malay. My father was a civil servant for decades. I’m a Malaysian.
My school friends are in Malaysia. My parents were cremated here, their ashes loosed in the waters off Port Dickson. My siblings, my wife’s siblings and most of our friends live in Malaysia. I desire to live nowhere else. I am entrenched.
My upbringing and my beliefs cause me to think of everyone as my neighbour. I take seriously God’s command to love Him with my every breath, thought and action, and that I should love my neighbour as myself. I’m a citizen.
I remember daily the story the Messiah told in answer to the question: Who is my neighbour? In the story of the Good Samaritan, the neighbour is the one in need, the downtrodden everyman, to whom I am to show mercy.
I recognise that government and leadership are necessary. Without “people in charge,” such as police, lawmakers and government officials, we’ll have anarchy: bandits will reign; our cities will be like Baghdad, Beirut, or Bogota.
Those cities exemplify what happens in the absence of good government: the strong, the well-funded, and the bigots will suppress the unarmed. Mubarak did it in Tahrir Square. Najib did it in Merdeka Square.
The purpose of a government is to create, maintain and promote conditions of equity, harmony and equality through the right use of authority. A government is judged by how it treats the weak. How shall we judge the BN government? Read the rest of this entry »
Kudos to Khalid and Selangor state assembly for land reform measure
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Monday, 16 July 2012
By Koon Yew Yin | July 16, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
JULY 16 — Recently, the Selangor state assembly passed a new regulation barring any state representatives and local council members from applying for state-owned land. This is a really brave and unprecedented move which deserves more public attention than it has drawn so far. One question is whether the new rule also applies to the members of the royal family. There are probably many examples of members of royalty applying for state land. Should they be given special consideration or be treated the same as the public? I am sure there are pros and cons when it comes to applying the rule to royalty. The important thing is for the issue to be brought out into the open and for rational public opinion to prevail.
Among the physical assets belonging to the state, land is undoubtedly the most valuable. According to the federal Constitution, land is a state matter. Even if land is not owned by the state, the state still has control over the development and use of land through administrative and executive council rulings.
Read the rest of this entry »
The difference between Pakatan and BN
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Pakatan Rakyat, PKFZ on Sunday, 8 July 2012
— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 08, 2012
JULY 8 — In terms of scale, the Talam Corporation Bhd debt settlement pales in comparison with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and Scorpene submarine cases.
The mainstream newspapers have been going at great guns with the so-called TalamCorp scandal. Understandbly because they are partial to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. As for the alternative media, the reverse is true as some are partial to BN’s political foes, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
Yet, there’s a marked difference between PR and BN which can be seen by how each one has serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement and their respective reaction to the claims.
In the TalamCorp case, PR leaders are prepared to have a White Paper on the matter although it is puzzling why there has not been one since the case came up in 2010.
And PR MPs such as Tony Pua and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and even Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim are all willing to lift the veil of corporate secrecy and explain the numbers to the public. After all, it involves public institutions and funds from the time the deal was struck when Selangor was under BN rule.
Transparency is key to all this. Read the rest of this entry »
Should we continue paying taxes?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Sunday, 1 July 2012
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2012
JUNE 30 — My wife and I pay our taxes on time and we are assessed at the highest tax bracket. We never avoided or evaded taxes and viewed it as a moral duty.
But let me put in a caveat. I believe the time has come for us taxpayers (and this excludes 90 per cent of civil servants, Umno politicians and their nominees as well as rent-seekers) to consider a campaign of civil disobedience against paying taxes until the government of the day can show that it can utilise this revenue in a responsible way.
I am not talking about the world record holidays/trips abroad taken by the prime minister and the first family or his cabinet ministers. I am referring to the over-the-top spending by the Barisan Nasional government to stay in power.
It seems like every day is Christmas for this prime minister. Tyres for taxi drivers, cash for Malaysians, a few million for this group and another few million for that group. Read the rest of this entry »
Murky practices in rail tenders deter foreign firms, weekly reports
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Transport on Sunday, 17 June 2012
By Lisa J. Ariffin
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 17, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — International companies are shying away from Malaysia’s rail sector due to less-than-transparent decisions in the tender process, The Edge weekly has reported.
According to an article in the business and investment weekly’s latest edition, “intense lobbying, glitches in the tender process and political favouritism” are among some of the reasons why foreign firms are snubbing rail tenders, a move which could deprive the country of a high-quality rail system.
The Edge writer Lim Ben Shane reported that the response to open tenders has been poor purportedly due to the unfair selection of large contracts, adding that government officials have acknowledged the problem but have defended it as a relatively new phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC’s cow sense
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, UMNO on Thursday, 31 May 2012
— The Malaysian Insider
May 31, 2012
MAY 31 — Here’s a question for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Who accused Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil of being involved in the process of awarding the RM250 million government soft loan to the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) operated by her family?
Short answer, no one. Long answer, not one person ever did.
So, clearing the Wanita Umno chief of any involvement in the scandal is not even news because she wasn’t accused of that. And if MACC and Shahrizat are crowing about this, they have as much cow sense as the cattle in the Gemas farm.
Let’s be clear why Shahrizat’s name has been dragged into this and the government had to drop her from the Cabinet by not extending her tenure as senator.
Her family is accused of abusing public funds meant for a cattle-rearing project for their own shopping spree of luxury properties in Malaysia and abroad. They had admitted as much, saying the funds were being put to some use while waiting for the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries to do its part of the deal.
Of course, it begs the question whether public funds meant for one project can be used in other ways while waiting for something else to happen. The short answer, no. The long answer, of course not. Read the rest of this entry »
When Umno types prevaricate
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Mahathir, UMNO on Wednesday, 23 May 2012
— Othman Wahab
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2012
MAY 23 — This is what Umno politicians do when they get caught out: they huff and puff, spin some yarn and blow smoke all over the place.
Several months ago when websites reported that the government had instructed the Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun (the same chap with the RM2.2 billion highway project with former Umno lawyer Tun Zaki Azmi) to seek an out-of-court settlement on Tajudin Ramli’s massive RM589 million debt to Danaharta, Nazri Aziz denied any such endeavour.
The de facto Law Minister dismissed all such reports. And then it happened, there was a secretive out-of-court settlement where the man associated with the fall of the national icon got a sweet deal.
Till today, no one knows whether he paid anything or if he received a free pass but the fact that the government has not been willing to disclose the terms of the settlement suggests he got a great deal.
After all, Tajuddin had enough ammunition to sink Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Umno. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan promises to buy back MEX if voted to power
Posted by Kit in Elections, Good Governance, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 28 March 2012
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 28, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pledged today to buy back the part publicly-funded Maju Expressway (MEX) from its concessionaire should they wrest Putrajaya in the coming polls, claiming the move would save over RM4.6 billion in taxpayers’ money.
In a statement signed by representatives from all three PR parties – Rafizi Ramli (PKR), Tony Pua (DAP) and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS) — the leaders noted that it was one of PR’s Buku Jingga promises to restructure toll rates and the country’s many highway concession agreements, many of which they claim have over-benefitted Barisan Nasional (BN) cronies.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament today, Pua, DAP’s publicity secretary, said it was more sensible for Putrajaya to buy back the highway with a maximum payment of RM400.9 million, instead of allowing Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd to profit from its sale.
He said that Maju Group executive chairman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed stands to make a clean profit of RM1.09 billion or 1,800 per cent of his initial investment of RM60 million from his sale of MEX to EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB) for RM1.7 billion.
“This profit is too high because the government has already used taxpayers’ money to fund 74 per cent of the highway’s construction cost,” he said.
This, added Pua, amounts to a whopping RM976.7 million. Read the rest of this entry »
How Effective Has the Enforcement of the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010(WPA) Been in Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Lim Guan Eng on Tuesday, 6 March 2012
by Lim Guan Eng
Political Will, National Commitment And Even Personal Obligation Rather Than A Single Law Such As The WPA Will Determine Whether Integrity In Leadership Centred On An Ethically Based Society Can Be Established
It gives me pleasure to speak to you today at this 4th Annual Corporate Governance Summit organised here in Kuala Lumpur. I have been asked to speak on the issue of the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2010 (or “WPA”) which was passed by the federal Parliament and has been in force in Malaysia since December 2010.
Many of us here who are interested in corporate governance will have been captivated by the ongoing saga of alleged corruption and mismanagement in the RM250million National Feedlot Centre project. This is a corporate governance issue as well as a national governance issue. The question is will there be any action taken or will be it just be another case of of the RM2.52 billion losses incurred by MAS without anyone being punished and even those that caused losses such as Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli being let off the hook.
Danaharta had agreed to settle with Tan Sri Tajudin on February 14 without enforcing a High Court decision on December 2009 in Danaharta’s favour ordering Tan Sri Tajudin to pay RM589.14 million to Danaharta, over a loan taken to purchase MAS. Where is the moral hazard?
I think I can summarise my view of the WPA by saying that is not so much a Whistleblowers Protection Act but rather a “Whispering to the Police Act”. Read the rest of this entry »
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