Archive for June 20th, 2009

Lee Kuan Yew keeps corruption at bay

By Tunku Abdul ziz
In MySinchew

I BEGIN with a confession. I may be fairly described as a dyed in the wool admirer of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s Minister Mentor. I am pleased that his recent visit to our country went well. He was received and treated as an honoured visitor, in the grand palaces and everywhere else he went, as well he should, because Lee undoubtedly played an important and historic role in the creation of Malaysia as a political entity. That is a historical fact.

I am glad that Lee gave Mahathir a wide berth. It would have left a bad taste in the mouth if he had asked to meet the bitter old man of Malaysian politics. Mahathir could have been relied upon to be obnoxious and boorish as only Mahathir knows how. His reference to Lee as the little emperor from a small Middle Kingdom is vintage Mahathir, dripping with venom and uncharitable innuendoes. The man, Mahathir I mean, is a total disgrace to the Malay sense of gracious hospitality and traditional decorum. I suppose the kindest thing to do is to ignore Mahathir and let him continue to entertain the sad fantasy that he is an indispensable part of our country’s process of governance.

Lee Kuan Yew is far from perfect. His record on human rights and media freedom is well documented, and there is not a great deal to choose between his and ours. We should wipe off that feeling of smugness. On balance, though, Lee runs a tight ship and Singapore’s pre-eminent position as a modern, affluent and corruption free society owes entirely to his vision and his determination. What he has achieved for his country in the face of the hopelessly impossible challenges says a great deal about his single minded devotion to public duty in the public interest. Enriching himself or his family has never been part of his game plan. Read the rest of this entry »

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Muhyiddin pushing for Umno-Pas unity government makes a total mockery of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, undoing 52 years of Malaysian nation-building by five previous Prime Ministers

At the meeting of DAP MPs in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, I said that Malaysian politics is in the throes of great flux and even lightning change.

This has been borne out by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pushing for Umno-Pas “unity government” talks, trying to expedite an Umno-Pas meeting “in the next few days, anytime, no problem”, even sugarcoating it by declaring that Umno “will not impose any conditions and we accept whatever terms set by PAS”.

If any political leader or observer had been asked before Muhyiddin’s overture in Kuala Krai yesterday whether the No. 1 or No. 2 Umno leader could have made such a public proposition to PAS, nobody would have answered in the positive.

So what game is Muhyiddin up to?

Muhyiddin’s political gambit is all the more intriguing as his latest mentor, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had on the same day expressed his disapproval of the proposed unity talks between Umno and PAS, saying he did not think that the country wants a government which is 100 per cent Malay.
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Is Ong Tee Keat going to say in his Ministerial statement on Monday that he is taking legal action against me and therefore there is no need for him to give any accountability for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

My three questions (No.64 to No. 67 on the 22nd day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

No. 1: In his blog from Paris, Transport Minister and MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has threatened to sue me for standing up for the public interest to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal. He is trying to put words into my mouth, claiming that he had been defamed. That is his business. He can do what he like, whether he wants to sue me or not.

The turnkey developer of PKFZ has also announced its intention to initiate a series of legal proceedings against Ong, the Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman, Datuk Lee Hwa Beng, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), newspapers and others over the PKFZ scandal.

The public interest to get into the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal to find out how a RM1.1 billion scandal under Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr. Ling Liong Sik in 2002 could quadruple to RM4.6 billion under his successor, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in 2007, again double to RM7.453 billion and heading towards the astronomical cost of RM12.453 billion under the watch of Ong as Transport Minister should not be blocked or buried by a pile of litigation suits.
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The spectre of crime in the daily lives of Malaysians

Letters

(This email is reproduced completely unedited, in its pristine atrocious English for two reasons: firstly, it seems to have become the standard Malaysian English; secondly, the subject of the spectre of endemic crime which haunts the daily lives of Malaysians refuses to be buried by the distraction of the atrocious English used, for the writer is able to communicate his genuine cry from his heart and to strike resonance among the Malaysian public.

(Both issues must be addressed: how to improve the command of English language among Malaysians, but even more important, how to start reducing crime to make Malaysia safe again for its citizens, tourists and investors. – Kit)

Greetings to all Member of Parliament,

I write this mail to you all for a reason of snatch thieves in KL has been rising more and more in front of my eyes. Here’s a few incident:

1. I was having my lunch at KL near Tune Hotel. After having my lunch, I was carrying my notebook on my hand and a motorcycle pass through me coming from behind attempt to steal my notebook, but they failed. Then they run away with their motorcycle as fast as they can to another road.

2. I was working on a roadshow at Taman Melawati around CIMB Bank area. My colleagues was walking around promoting something, and heard a voice of shout from a Malay lady and when my colleague saw her, her bag was already with the thief.

3. The incidents where pregnant lady was snatch and she lost her life. Read the rest of this entry »

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