Archive for November, 2009
Teoh Beng Hock’s body exhumed
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Saturday, 21 November 2009
The exhumation of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock at the Nirvana Memorial Park, Semenyih this morning has been carried out satisfactorily and the second autopsy will be carried out at the Sungai Buloh Hospital tomorrow.
Thai pathologist, Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand, who was present at the exhumation, said Teoh’s body is still in good condition for the autopsy.
Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16 has become a national and international cause célèbre and touchstone of the independence, credibility and professionalism of MACC.
Teoh’s death and the ensuing crisis of confidence in the MACC is undoubtedly one major reason for Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in 15 years in the recently-announced Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2009, plunging 33 places from No. 23rd position in 1995 to No. 56th position in 2009 and a drop of .77 score from 5.28 in 1995 to 4.5 in 2009.
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MACC: Biting the Political Neutrality Bullet
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Saturday, 21 November 2009
Several days ago, I received an urgent message from a friend inviting me to a seminar on ‘Corruption Prevention in Business Sector 2009’ organized jointly by the MACC, MACC Consultation and Prevention of Corruption Panel and the Business Ethics Institute of Malaysia.
The friend – whose name I need not mention here – is an MACC advisory committee member who knows full well my scathing opinion of the MACC and its work to date. “Come to the seminar as my guest and hear them out” he urged me. “Rome was not built in a day; we must be constructive not destructive”.
Indonesia’s gecko-gate
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Friday, 20 November 2009
by Tim Lindsey
The Australian
November 20, 2009
(extract)
Instead, the nation is riveted by televised Constitutional Court hearings, explosive press conferences and a daily diet of rolling media revelations uncovering what may be the country’s biggest political crisis since the fall of Suharto in 1998.
At the heart of it all is Indonesia’s popular anti-corruption commission (KPK). Originally expected to be the latest in a long and unhappy line of toothless, gutless or silenced anti-corruption initiatives, it quickly proved itself anything but.
Energetic, determined and courageous, it used aggressive new tactics involving electronic surveillance and carefully managed stings to chase some very bigfish.
It targeted legislators at the local and national levels, as well as ministers, governors, police, prosecutors, judges and reserve bank governors. And it enjoyed a spectacular 100 per cent success rate in court. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should give iron-clad guarantee of personal safety of PI Bala to return to tell the truth of what he knows about C4 murder of Mongolian Altantuya
Posted by Kit in Crime, Najib Razak on Friday, 20 November 2009
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should give iron-clad guarantee of the personal safety of private investigator P. Balasubramaniam for him to return to the country to tell the truth of what he knows about the C4 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
There is no other option to Najib to ensure national and international legitimacy as Malaysian Prime Minsiter following the five-part publication of Balasubramiam’s interview, where he named names as well as cited monetary figures explaining the background to the mystery of his Statutory Declaration One and Statutory Declaration Two contradicting each other within 24 hours and his subsequence disappearance with his family from Malaysia.
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Personal Data Protection Bill put online as national service and to welcome public views
Posted by Kit in IT, Parliament on Friday, 20 November 2009
It has taken the government some two decades to finally come out with Personal Data Protection Bill which was presented in Parliament for first reading yesterday.
It is however not available online, which is a sad reflection on the government’s seriousness and commitment to ICT and e-government.
As a national service, the Personal Data Protection Bill is hereby put on-line and all public views and input are welcome before parliamentary debate next month.
In Parliament in April 1997, I spoke of eight principles which should be adopted in a Malaysian Data Protection Act, viz:
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The information to be contained in personal data shall be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully.
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Personal data shall be held only for specified and lawful purposes.
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Personal data held for any purpose shall not be used or disclosed in any manner incompatible with that purpose.
Divyashree, one of three pupils drowned in Kuala Dipang bridge tragedy, scored 4 As 3 Bs in UPSR, had ambition to become orthopaedic surgeon
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Crime, Parliament on Friday, 20 November 2009
V. Divyashree, 12, one of the three pupils drowned in the bridge collapse tragedy at SK Kuala Dipang in Jeram, Perak on Oct. 26 scored 4 As and 3 Bs in the UPSR results yesterday.
But the UPSR results were no comfort to her or her family. Divyashree’s life and her ambition to become an orthopaedic surgeon were snuffed out when together with two other pupils, N. Dina Deve and M. Devatharshini attending a 1Malaysia camp organized by the Education Ministry’s Co-curriculum Centre, she was drowned when the Kuala Dipang suspension bridge collapsed because of criminal negligence.
This morning, together with Perak Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives including MPs Ngeh Koo Ham (Bruas), M. Kulasegaran (Ipoh Barat), Nga Kor Ming (Taiping) and Perak State Assembly members A. Sivanesan (Sungkai), legitimate and legal Perak Speaker V. Sivakumar (Tronoh), Leong Mee Ming (Jalong), I was at the Ipoh High Court to extend support, sympathy and solidarity to the parents of the three victims of the Kuala Dipang tragedy to file a hundred-million ringgit suit against the Education Ministry for their death.
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Only 5.7 Per Cent Of Year Six Students Skilled At Problem Solving
Bernama
November 19, 2009 16:39 PM
PUTRAJAYA, Nov 19 (Bernama) — The education ministry’s first Aptitude Test for Year Six students during their UPSR exams has shown that only 5.7 per cent (29,084 students) out of 509,885 pupils are skilled at problem solving and decision making, and only 34.34 per cent (175,101) in skilled thinking.
Education Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom This said today that this indicated that the children needed more training on problem-solving and decision-making.
Speaking at a press conference here on Thursday, he explained that the Aptitude Test was divided into two dimensions, namely Skilled Thinking and Problem Solving and Decision-Making . Read the rest of this entry »
Teoh Beng Hock would not have died if MACC had followed the law (update)
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Police on Thursday, 19 November 2009
DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock would not have died if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had followed the law.
This is the immediate reaction not only of family members of Beng Hock, DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, but all Malaysians following the landmark decision by the Kuala Lumpur High Court today which ruled that the MACC is not entitled to interrogate witnesses late at night beyond normal office hours, from 8.30am to 5.30pm.
Justice Mohd Ariff Md Yusof ruled that it was illegal for the MACC to question its witnesses at night as such questioning must be done during the daytime.
“The term day to day as stipulated in the MACC Act cannot mean round the clock.”
This landmark decision is the result of the suit filed by Kajang Councillor Tan Boon Hwa who was falsely imprisoned together with Teoh Beng Hock on July 15 and 16 at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam, with the case argued by DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Glugor Karpal Singh.
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Another black day for Parliament and anti-corruption
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Thursday, 19 November 2009
Another black day for Parliament and for Malaysia’s anti-corruption campaign – when my motion for an emergency debate on Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2009 which saw Malaysia suffering the worst CPI rank of 56 and score of 4.5, as well as the worst single-year drop in CPI rank by nine placings from last year’s 47th position and fall of CPI score of 0.6 from last year’s 5.1, was rejected in chambers by the Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin as “not urgent”.
It is meaningless to talk about the TI CPI 2009 as a “wake-up” call, as it would appear that nothing is capable of waking up the Barisan Nasional government to clean up corruption in Malaysia except for a change of federal government in the next general elections.
A survey of the 15 annual reports of the TI CPI from 1995 to 2009 shows that Malaysia occupies dubious company, sharing with Philippines the dishonour of being two of the 12 Asian countries first surveyed in 1995 which had ended with both lower CPI ranking and score in CPI 2009 as compared to CPI 1995 – with Malaysia suffering a bigger drop in CPI score of .78 (5.28 in 1995; 4.5 in 2009) as compared to Philippines, which suffered a drop of .37 in the past 15 years (2.77 in 1995; 2.4 in 2009).
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Doctrine of separation of powers – Kula’s emergency motion on police killing of five Indians should have been allowed
Posted by Kit in Parliament, Police on Wednesday, 18 November 2009
DAP MP for Ipoh Barat M Kulasegaran was unsuccessful in his attempt this morning to move Parliament for an emergency debate on the police killing of five Indians in a shoot-out in Klang on November 8 for being suspected gang members.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaffar conceded that Kula’s motion met two of the three criteria of being definite and of public importance, but it was not “urgent” as police investigations were “ongoing”.
I stood up to support the protests by Kula and DAP MP for Teluk Intan, M. Manogaran for rejecting a debate on the motion and argued that “investigations under way” should not be used as an excuse to disallow a parliamentary debate as this will be against the doctrine of separation of powers.
“Ongoing police investigations” is an executive action, but under the doctrine of the separation of powers, it is the executive that must be answerable to Parliament and not Parliament having to kow-tow to the Executive.
The Malaysian public are concerned about police killing of people in police shoot-outs and this is a matter which should be debated in Parliament with the executive giving a full and satisfactory accounting as at stake are public confidence in the police as well as in Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
Heads must roll starting with the resignation of the MACC Chief Commissioner Ahmad Said for Malaysia’s worst single-year plunge in TI CPI ranking and score in past 15 years
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Heads must roll – starting with the resignation of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan – for Malaysia’s worst single-year plunge in Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking and score since the introduction of TI’s annual CPI in the past 15 years.
Malaysia’s TI CPI ranking and score from 1995 to 2009, which ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt), are as follows:
Single stream schooling: The bad and ugly side
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Education, nation building on Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Written by Dr Azly Rahman
Edited by Helen Ang
for Center for Policy Initiatives
‘Ideas move nations but indoctrinations remove intelligence’.
According to government figures, only 7 percent of students in national schools are non-Malays. Parents fear sending their children from their past experience of the government indoctrinating young minds in the guise of an educational setting. Inciting racial sentiments in the classroom and boot camps (BTN, National Service, 1Malaysia) is in fact a big business nowadays.
Language issues come to mind as we speak about identity formation, befitting the notion of “language as culture,” and “culture as the habits we acquire and the tools we use in a house we inhabit in order to create our realties.”
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Form Six class unfair treatment
Letter by citizen leong
A new system has recently been implemented in all schools with Form Six classes throughout the country. All Lower Six classes from 2009 will have to stay back until 4pm. This new system started in my school in early July.
I found out from the teachers that this batch (2009/2010) was used to try out the suitability of the semester-based system to be implemented in schools in the future. Unfortunately for us, our exams are still not semester-based. Staying back till 4pm means we, Lower Six students will not have a chance to participate in the extra-curricular activities as all the club and uniformed body meetings are held after 1pm. What about our co-curriculum marks? We were told that 10% of the overall criteria to enter local universities is from our involvement in co-curricular activities. Before this new system was implemented, we all could go for our co-curricular activities. With the new system in place, we are forced to stay back and could not involve ourself in such activities as the timing will clash with us as most activities are held after school. While co-curricular activities make up 10% of our total STPM grades, I strongly believe there must be other alternatives. I don’t think a person who has four distinctions, but without any co-curricular achievements will be selected to enter a local university. So, why should we stay until 4 o’clock when the things we are doing now will not contribute any marks to our STPM?
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Nazri insists Kelantan not entitled to oil royalty
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Oil, Parliament on Tuesday, 17 November 2009
By Syed Jaymal Zahiid | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 – The Parliament was in uproar this afternoon when Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz poured oil on the fire raging over the Kelantan oil royalty issue by insisting that the PAS-governed state has no legal right to demand the payment.
While winding up the Supply Bill debate, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department explained that former prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein had not specifically used the term “royalty” when debating the Petroleum Development Bill in 1974 that established Petronas and agreements with the various oil-producing states to receive 5 per cent of the oil revenues.
“The agreement was made as a promise so that future administrations will respect it. It is a promise but not a right and his son, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, is respecting this promise by giving goodwill payment to Kelantan,” Nazri told the Dewan Rakyat.
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Major blow for Najib premiership – Malaysia’s worst ranking and score in 15 years in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2009
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 17 November 2009
I asked in Parliament yesterday whether Malaysia is heading for the worst Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking and score in 15 years when TI CPI 2009 is announced in the next few days.
I had expected poor results for Malaysia both in CPI ranking and score, with Malaysia slipping further in ranking from No. 47 to may be No. 50 and to fall to the lowest CPI score ever of 4.8.
But my worst fears had been exceeded when the Berlin-based TI just announced that Malaysia had plunged nine places from last year’s 47th CPI ranking to 56th position while Malaysia CPI index score plunged to the lowest in 15 years to 4.5 when Malaysia’s previous worst scores below 5 were 4.8 in 2000 and 4.9 in 2002.
This is a national shame and major blow for Najib’s premiership
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Corruption conviction rate against ikan yu – Indonesia 100% Malaysia 0%
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Monday, 16 November 2009
During the parliamentary debate during the committee stage of the 2010 budget on the Prime Minister’s Department, I compared Malaysia to Indonesia on the anti-corruption front.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has declared that the war against corruption and fighting the “judicial mafia” would be a priority for his first 100 days of his second administration.
In Indonesia recently, there was a public movement and outcry in support of the country’s Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi) whose top officers and anti-corruption campaign were undermined and threatened by the “judicial mafia” comprising top officials in the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers trying to protect the corrupt and those who abused their public positions and power.
If there is a public movement in Malaysia concerning the Malaysian Anti-Corruption (MACC), it will not be in support but in condemnation of MACC for its failure to make a dent on corruption and for lending itself to be the catspaw of Umno/Barisan Nasional in their campaign to destroy the Pakatan Rakyat.
What has the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak got to show on the anti-corruption front after his first seven months in office?
Who is lying – father (2nd PM Tun Razak) or son (6th PM Najib Razak)?
Posted by Kit in Kelantan, Najib Razak, Oil, Parliament on Monday, 16 November 2009
I asked in Parliament today – “Who is lying – father (second Prime Minister Tun Razak) or son (sixth Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak”?
This was during the committee stage debate on the Prime Minister’s Department on the 2010 budget in Parliament.
On 3rd November, while replying during question time, Najib told Parliament that from a legal aspect, states such as Kelantan and Trengganu are not entitled to oil royalties for petroleum produced “off-shore” – as they are only entitled to oil royalties if the petroleum is drilled from its water.
Najib said:
“The offshore oil operations in their waters are defined as an area not more than three nautical miles, which is measured starting from the low watermark or the shoreline of the state.
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Malaysia can help Asia lead the recovery of the world economy if it has a fully liberalised economy like China
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Monday, 16 November 2009
Media Statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser in Seremban on 15th November 2009
WILL MALAYSIA PLAY A ROLE IN WHAT THE PUNDITS CALL ‘ASIA WILL LEAD THE RECOVERY OF THE WORLD ECONOMY’
It is becoming evident that while the economies in the West are trying very hard to revive their economies, and while America is still bogged down by failures of its banks – both big and small – China and India are having record GDP growths, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam.
This has prompted many economists to propose the trend that it is Asia that will show the way for recovery of not just the Asian economy but also the WORLD economy.
This conclusion was further emphasised only two days ago, at the GLOBAL LEADERS SERIES talk organised by the American Chambers of Commerce in Singapore, it was postulated that Asia will lead the recovery of the world, from recession.
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Prime Minister Najib requires superhuman effort to achieve high income status for the people of Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Sunday, 15 November 2009
Media Statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor in Seremban on 14th November 2009
To achieve high income status for the people of malaysia requeires a revolutionary policy and full support from the people.
PM Najib stated that his intention was to raise the present per capita income of US$7,000 to US$17,000 by the year 2020, assuming that the GDP increases on an average of 9% a year.
Later he revised his targets after realising that the targets were unrealistic. His new estimates were a 6% GDP growth annually and achieve per capita income US$13,000 in 2020.
What are the prospects of achieving a pci of US$13,000 by 2020? Dim.
Historically, it would be near impossible. In 1957 at independence, Malaysia enjoyed a pci of about US$500, the second highest in Asia after Japan. In 2008, Malaysia pci was US$7,000. It took 51 years to reach US$7,000. Year 2020 is 11 short years away to reach US$13,000, when it took 51 years to reach US$7,000.
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Seedless Slogans
Posted by Kit in Augustine Anthony on Saturday, 14 November 2009
People love seedless fruits. It is convenient for our consumption. The value of the fruit ends the moment it enters our digestive system. But a fruit with seeds can maintain continuity if placed in the hands of a creative and resourceful owner.
Just imagine if we pick up the seed and visualize the beginning and the end of what the seed can become, we will see many things that the mind had not thought or perhaps had taken for granted. We will begin to see the seed becoming a shoot, a little plant, then a tree after which it will bear fruits and we get to enjoy the fruits. More fruits mean more seeds and more seeds mean more trees and the cycle continues. Of course we can expand this simplistic explanation into a complex and endless discourse. But in short, in the miniature seed we are able to glimpse the continuity of a grand scheme of things.
Play the concept forward and then play it backward, play the idea from the seed to the fruit and fruit to the seed. We will see nothing but harmony and purpose. The seed has a purpose for which it must grow as a tree to bear fruits and the fruits have a purpose to produce more seeds and the end result is continuity of purpose.
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