Archive for November, 2009
Premier Seeks His Mandate in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Saturday, 14 November 2009
By PATRICK BARTA | Wall Street Journal
SINGAPORE — The pace of social and economic reform in Malaysia is likely to slow over the coming months but the country remains committed to opening its heavily regulated economy to more competition in the long term, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Friday.
In a rare private interview, Mr. Najib said that steps he has taken since assuming power in April, including relaxing rules for foreign investment in business services and tourism, are “quite unprecedented” for Malaysia.
But more dramatic overhauls, including major restructuring of a race-based political system that reserves ownership of much of Malaysia’s economy for ethnic Malays, will likely have to wait.
“For the next few months, we want to deliver what we have promised” rather than focus on big new reforms, he said. Short-term efforts will include achieving “performance indicators” announced by the government this year to curb crime and improve government services and infrastructure — a program Mr. Najib hopes will further bolster the popularity of his government.
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MACC probing RM1.43 billion cost escalation of Rawang-Ipoh double-tracking rail project based on phantom PAC investigations?
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Friday, 13 November 2009
The statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will investigate the double-tracking rail project that has resulted in more than RM1 billion losses, as reported by Malaysian Insider “Nazri confirms MACC to probe double-tracking project” yesterday, is intriguing and perplexing.
The Malaysian Insider reported:
The MACC investigations come after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) announced last week it wanted to probe the RM6 billion double-tracking project when the Auditor-General’s Report said poor project management led to the losses.
“MACC will investigate PAC‘s minutes. PAC is the parliament’s committee so certainly … As I have said, MACC has informed me that they will investigate based on the allegations made by the PAC so there will be no dispute so don’t worry,” the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department told reporters in Parliament.
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Higher education: The worst aspect of policy discrimination of private universitie
By Dr. Lim Teck Ghee, Director CPI
Where is the public money for R&D going?
The following recent article caught my attention: “Universiti Malaysia Pahang has invested RM5 million in a state-of-the-art central laboratory that will focus on developmental research and industrial collaborations …. On financial grants for researchers, Prof Daing Nasir [Vice Chancellor] said they were entitled to a sum of up to RM40,000.” (The Star, 5 November 2009)
Whilst UMP is to be congratulated for having secured generous public funding, the article also raises a number of questions that are of interest to the public in view of the recent concerns raised by the Auditor General’s report focusing on irregularities in the procurement process and supply of equipment at illogically high prices.
These questions include: Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin blames demonization of police for high crime rate – as outrageous as his keris-wielding in the past
Posted by Kit in Crime, Parliament, Police on Thursday, 12 November 2009
Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s blaming of the country’s high crime rate on the demonization of institutions such as the police is as outrageous as his keris-wielding before the 2008 general election as Umno Youth leader.
This is Malaysian Insider’s report on Hishammuddin’s speech in Parliament yesterday in the winding-up of his Ministry during the 2010 Budget debate:
Hishammuddin: Demonisation of police main cause of high crime rate
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein blamed the country’s high crime rate on the demonisation of institutions such as the police.
He said this in Parliament yesterday evening, immediately drawing stinging criticisms from members of the Opposition. Read the rest of this entry »
Hishammuddin “rubbishes” Home Ministry website opinion poll on crime
Posted by Kit in Crime, Parliament, Police on Wednesday, 11 November 2009
I was floored.
In response to my questioning on the deplorable crime situation when winding-up his Ministry in Parliament in the 2010 Budget debate, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the Home Ministry official website poll of some 10,000 respondents on crime in Malaysia do not reflect the actual situation as the number of persons involved do not come to even .01 per cent of the Malaysian population of 27 million.
I told Hishammuddin that this was a most shameful answer and demonstrated that the government was in serious denial, raising grave questions about its commitment to end the endemic crime situation to restore a safe country where citizens, tourists and investors can feel safe and secure.
The three findings of the recent Home Ministry website opinion polls were: Read the rest of this entry »
Neglect Sabah at your own peril, BN told
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Two Sabah Barisan Nasional leaders issued the same warning about the heavy price that Barisan Nasional will have to pay for the continued neglect, discrimination and marginalisation of Sabah, but is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak really listening?
These are extracts from Malaysiakini reports on the PBS and UPKO annual general meetings opened by Najib in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday:
(1) Neglect Sabah at your own peril, BN told
Joe Fernandez
Nov 10, 09
Former Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) hawk Bernard Giluk Dompok fears that if the Barisan Nasional may pay a heavy price if it continues to pay scant attention to important issues in Sabah.
He foresees the political tsunami that swept Peninsular Malaysia on March 8, 2008 being repeated in Sabah and Sarawak if local issues are not addressed urgently.
“It is not an easy task to identify the root causes of a problem,” said Dompok, who broke away from PBS in1994 to head United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko).
Dompok, who is federal minister for plantation industries and commodities, is of the view that the more things seem to change in Sabah, the more they tend to remain the same. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO MPs’ “ambush” for OTK foiled by Minister’s absence
Posted by Kit in Corruption, MCA, Parliament, Transport on Tuesday, 10 November 2009
The ambush by several UMNO MPs for MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat last night during his Ministry’s reply in the government winding-up of the 2010 budget debate was foiled when the Minister was absent.
The reason given by the Deputy Transport Minister, Datuk Robert Lau, who stood in for the Minister, that Ong was “busy” with the official visit of the Chinese President Hu Jintao as Ong is the “Minister-in-attendance”, did not go down well with the UMNO MPs concerned as Hu’s visit would only begin the next day.
Led by Umno MP for Sri Gading, Datuk Mohamad Aziz, at least three UMNO MPs questioned Ong for the RM28 million purchase of second-hand DMUs (diesel multiple units) by Keretapi Melayu Bhd (KTMB) instead of EMUs (electrical multiple units).
Mohamad even asked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the Transport Minister for the DMU decision, which is the first time a Barisan Nasional backbencher had called for anti-corruption investigation into a Barisan Nasional Minister. Read the rest of this entry »
PAC proposal to investigate CKC for cbt – testimony of MACC impotence/failure
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament, PKFZ on Monday, 9 November 2009
Why must Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) wait for Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommendation for further investigation into former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy for possible offence of criminal breach of trust in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal when the first report was lodged with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) as far back as 2004?
Isn’t this testimony of the failure, ineffectiveness and impotence of MACC and its predecessor ACA?
These are the questions I posed to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in the ten minutes he touched on corruption in the government winding-up on the budget before he ended his reply for lunch-break today.
I remarked that Nazri was defending the status quo of a worsening corruption problem in Malaysia instead of spearheading an attack on corruption, as is happening in Indonesia.
Nazri was in his classic mode of denial and also disagreed that there is need for a parliamentary motion to adopt the PAC report on the PKFZ scandal for all MPs to take a stand on the PAC recommendations. Read the rest of this entry »
When will MACC command public confidence to the extent that Malaysians will publicly rally to its support against any obstruction of anti-corruption efforts as is happening in Indonesia?
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Sunday, 8 November 2009
I have been asking myself – When will MACC command public confidence to the extent that Malaysians will publicly rally to its support against any obstruction of anti-corruption efforts as is happening in Indonesia?
In Indonesia, we are seeing the phenomenon of the Indonesian people publicly rallying to the support of the Indonesian anti-corruption agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to protest moves to frame KPK investigators and cripple the KPK anti-corruption campaign.
The Indonesian public believe that that the KPK has become the target of the police and the attorney-general’s office because of its reputation of putting corrupt officials behind bars – even those in high places.
Indonesians respect the KPK but have little faith in the police or the judiciary.
Read the rest of this entry »
Time For MCA To Ask Najib To Step In – Hishammuddin
KLUANG, Nov 7 (Bernama) — The time has come for MCA to ask Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to step in to resolve the crisis the party is facing, said Umno vice president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.
Hishammuddin said he believed the Prime Minister would not hesitate to assist MCA in trying to resolve its problems as the BN was also affected by what was happening in the party.
“I do not want to interfere in MCA’s internal matters but I am concerned about our (Umno’s) friends. If previously the BN chairman only gave advice, now it is time he stepped in to help out.
“I feel the public also feels the same way. Umno is also not happy with the turn of events in MCA. The people in the end will become bored with us (BN component parties) and look elsewhere for leadership, which will not only be a loss for MCA but the BN overall,” he told reporters after attending a youth carnival here on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the Opposition wasting a historic opportunity?
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 7 November 2009
By Tunku Aziz
A mere footnote at the bottom of a page of Malaysia’s political history or a tome on political change that recreated and revitalised a sick and openly corrupt society into a vibrant and prosperous democracy for all? Pakatan Rakyat must decide quickly where it wants to be. On present showing, it has not a ghost of a chance to ever breach and occupy the still impregnable Putrajaya citadel, in spite of the credible 8 March 2008 electoral onslaught. It does not have to look far to find out why it is in such a sorry state. Lim Kit Siang’s warning of a “one term miracle” could well become self-fulfilling and Putra Jaya would be just a gleam in the eye if his words are not taken to heart.
Pakatan Rakyat leaders must come to terms with the reality that is Barisan Nasional. We may despise its politics of immorality, of corruption and injustice, but even the most rabid alternative political practitioners must readily concede that it is still a formidable organisation with an armoury of unsavoury tricks they have to contend with. Remember Perak, and the bad after taste that lingers on and on. Pakatan must wake up from its euphoric pie in the sky self-induced dream that the one off massive voter handouts would be there for the asking at the next general elections. There will be no repeat performance until and unless it gets its act together. The electorate owes PR nothing. The truth is that Pakatan Rakyat owes their supporters everything.
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1Malaysia: A victim of mental fatigue
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 7 November 2009
By Tunku Aziz
Najib’s 1Malaysia propaganda campaign, now in full swing, has taken on the uncanny appearance of a blitzkrieg that would have the Fuehrer of the Third Reich double up in the Reichstag in uncontrollable ecstasy. It really is that funny. The single-minded mindless saturation bombardment of the media, at what financial cost we will never know, has already begun to show all the tell tale signs of mental fatigue and psychological rejection. I am told that it is not unlike the metal fatigue that put a premature end to the promising start of the world’s first commercial jetliner, the Comet operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation more than four decades ago. Perhaps there is a lesson the 1Malaysia strategists could learn from history about over indulgence. There can be too much of a good thing for their own good.
I have been asking our prime minister, as indeed many others, to venture beyond sloganeering and spell out in terms that are concise and clear what he has in mind when pontificating on what appears to thinking Malaysians to be nothing more than a party dogma being shoved down their throats as part of a ploy to regain the non-Bumi electoral support. If Najib really believes that voters are going to buy his half-baked1Malaysia cake as an article of faith- that is more form than substance, he should put it to the test by going back to the country for a fresh authority or mandate to govern. His legitimacy is in serious doubt. The UMNO process of succession is open to question.
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Entertainment vs Empowerment
Posted by Kit in Augustine Anthony on Friday, 6 November 2009
A few of us were chatting and one in the group quipped, “Hey did you see the video footage of that parliamentarian?” To this curiosity, another friend seated next to us immediately raised his voice, “THAT goon? If he can become our parliamentarian, then Popeye can also become our Prime Minister”. Before anyone rushes to think that that reference must always be reserved for the Barisan Nasional politicians, please hold your horses for it was a sharp riposte against one of the opposition parliamentarians.
Entertainment: The art in which even garbage can be glamorized
With our football standards declining to a state where very soon the remote pacific island of Vanuatu might give Malaysia a good drubbing, the disappointed Malaysians can now hope on our politicians for a good weekend entertainment. And have faith and believe that our politicians can truly deliver.
The habit of distracting the nation with entertainments is not something new. It has been happening for as long as we can remember. The only thing is, the methods employed keep changing to suit the flavor of the day.
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MACC should be censured for failing to bring to court those guilty of abuses of power and corruption in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal although the first report was lodged as far back as 2004
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, PKFZ on Friday, 6 November 2009
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should be censured for failing to bring to court even a single person of those guilty of abuses of power and corruption in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal though the first corruption report was lodged as far back as 2004.
How can MACC convince Malaysians that it is now a Malaysian version of Hong Kong’s ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) when all it has demonstrated is its overzealousness and even abuses of power in investigating a RM2,400 Pakatan Rakyat state assembly constituency allocation resulting in the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock, while it has completely nothing to show and totally impotent in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ “mother of all scandals’?
An exchange between Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member and DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua and the MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan at the PAC meeting on 23rd June 2009 highlighted the hypocrisy of the MACC.
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The Asri problematique and the rise of denominational Islam?
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Islam on Thursday, 5 November 2009
By Azly Rahman
The current uproar over the arrest of Dr. Asri, former Mufti of Perlis interests me. I am not particularly interested in the political and ideological dimension of it; rather in how this issue will develop in this hypermodern country plagued with internal contradictions. “The center cannot hold” as the Irish poet W.B. Yeats once said, and “Things Fall Apart” as the title of the great African novel of Chinua Achebe suggests – these describe the Malaysian theological dilemma, a dilemma that has a history and a future.
Malaysian Muslims are yet faced with another challenging situation; one which presents an interesting extrapolation of the historical dilemma the Muslims have been facing intellectually. Coming soon would be a public intellectual crisis that involves the Grand and subaltern voices in Islam. Those of the Wahabbi, Salafi, Sunni, Syiah, Sufi, and the “denominations derived from traditional and indigenous practices” (the tariqats primarily) will come out in the open to assert the “truth-ness” of their perspective and practice of Islam.
Essentially now, Islam seems to have many ‘denominations’ based on cultural, geographical, political, economic, and intellectual factors Read the rest of this entry »
PAC report on PKFZ scandal revealed ongoing high-level conspiracy to suppress pertinent information about Ministerial and top governmental abuses of power and malpractices
The Public Accounts Committee Report on the Port Klang Free Zone scandal does not reveal enough although it had revealed inadvertently what it had not intended to reveal – the ongoing high-level conspiracy to suppress pertinent information about Ministerial and top government abuses of power and malpractices landing the country with a RM12.5 “mother of all scandals”.
This is why the statement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the special task force set up by the Cabinet in September on the PKFZ scandal would look into the PAC findings and would take action is greeted with widespread skepticism and disbelief.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is competing with the Prime Minister as to who can make a more incredulous statement on this subject.
Muhyiddin said PAC had the power to recommend that former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and former Port Klang Authority general Datin Paduka Phang Oi Choo be investigated for criminal breach of trust in the PKFZ, and that the government’s stand on the PKFZ scandal had been clear from the start,viz:
Read the rest of this entry »
Attorney-General Gani Patail should resign unless he can explain why he failed to take action against former Transport Minister Chan Kong Choy for criminal breach of trust
Posted by Kit in Crime, Parliament, PKFZ on Wednesday, 4 November 2009
At long last, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the mother of all scandals, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), has been tabled in Parliament, together with several tombs of documents, viz verbatim minutes of 13 PAC meetings on the subject from 11th June to 3rd September 2009, Price Waterhouse Coopers’ report on position review of PKFZ and its appendices.
The PAC report has confirmed and vindicated my statements and allegations about the PKFZ not only as “a can of worms” but a “swamp of crocodiles” that I have made in Parliament since the last session, and raises the question why no action had been taken very much earlier to avoid the rotten state of the PKFZ scandal today.
The PAC report has confirmed that RM645.87 million would have been saved if the PKFZ land had been acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1960, for then it would have cost only RM442.13 million and not RM1.088 billion before interest.
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Strange, stranger, strangest – Chua is MCA deputy president
11/03/2009 03:36 PM
MCA Greater Unity Plan – President OngTeeKeat sacks 4 Liow-aligned central committee members ChorCheeHeung GanHonSu ChaiKimSen YooWeiHow.
11/03/2009 01:34 PM
Strange, stranger, strangest – Chua is MCA deputy president: ROS shocker http://bit.ly/2AUapk
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Chua is deputy president: ROS shocker
Nov 3, 09 1:18pm | Malaysiakini
In a dramatic turn of events, the Registrar of Societies (ROS) has declared Dr Chua Soi Lek the legitimate MCA deputy president.
Read the rest of this entry »
Pathetic Police Play Politics in Perak
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Perak, Police, Politics on Tuesday, 3 November 2009
By Martin Jalleh
Bolehland continues to boast of the world’s one and only State with two Chief Ministers (Menteris Besar), two Speakers, two State Governments and two State Assemblies conducted simultaneously under one roof.
The Prime Minister’s slogan of 1Malaysia is beginning to bear much fruit as the Government, Police, Judiciary and Election Commission bond and blend together as one to bury any political dissent and opposition.
The doctrine of the separation of powers is blighted by the usurpation of power by the PM and those willing to do his bidding. There are no longer any boundaries or checks and balances – only cheques waiting for those who bow in subservience to the political elite.
The only “boundaries” left are those separating the government from the people – barricades, blockades, barriers and barbed wires like those put up by the police at the Perak State Assembly building recently. Be prepared for more barbaric times.
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Revisiting the Spin of Malaysia and Indonesia as ‘Moderate’ Muslim states
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, Islam on Tuesday, 3 November 2009
By Farish A. Noor November 2nd, 2009.
It is now ‘moderate’ season once again when the leaders of the developed Western world are on the lookout for moderate Muslim states and leaders to engage in dialogue with as strategic, economic and political allies and partners.
Needless to say, the leaders and governments of the Muslim world are equally pleased with this open invitation, particularly from the White House, and there are plenty of Muslim leaders and governments that are prepared to bend over backwards to accommodate the demands of the man who is currently residing in the White House too.
On top of that it ought to be noted that the honour of being anointed as a ‘moderate Muslim’ leader is something that most Muslim leaders today would wish for and cherish above all else, cognisant of the fact that such an anointment would be followed by a blanket support of their own domestic policies at home as well as lashings of economic, political and military support to boot. Read the rest of this entry »
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