Archive for March, 2010
With 10 days to his full-year as PM, Najib has lengthened his list of “dubious firsts” – this time, interfering with Perlis Speaker’s duties to act on the resignation of MCA Titi Tinggi Assemblyman
Posted by Kit in Election, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 24 March 2010
With only 10 days to go to complete his full year as Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has lengthened his list of “dubious firsts” – this time, interfering with the Perlis Speaker’s duties to act on the resignation of the MCA Titi Tinggi Assemblyman Yip Sun Onn.
This week saw the Najib premiership chalking up two “dubious firsts” apart from the many in his 11+ months as Prime Minister – the other being the public spat between the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister, with the head of police making the very serious allegation in a newspaper interview of a “third party” undermining his authority in the police, by giving directives to the police personnel behind his back, saying that the third party could be “politicians” or “certain individuals”.
Although both the Home Minister and the IGP had appeared jointly for a sudden photo-shoot yesterday to claim that relations between them had never been better, expecting Malaysians to be so simple-minded as to be taken in by their play-acting and to believe that the public spat between the two had never happened, the episode had gravely shaken public confidence not only in the Home Minister and the Inspector-General of Police, but raised fundamental questions about the cohesiveness and sense of purpose of the Najib premiership.
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Najib should give Liow Tiong Lai an ultimatum to resolve the Sabah health crisis or be sacked
I am shocked and outraged by a letter I have received from a serving medical officer of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu about the deplorable conditions of the hospital complexes in Sabah particularly Kota Kinabalu which had been likened to Vietnam refugee camp.
Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai had been Health Minister for more than two years and despite repeated complaints, he had turned a complete deaf ear and blind eye to the prolonged healthcare crisis and the deplorable hospital conditions in Sabah particularly in Kota Kinabalu.
The serving doctor in QEH wrote of the horrors suffered by the sick in Kota Kinabalu where they are subjected to “a wicked game of musical chairs” shunted around various hospital centres according to their changing healthcare needs as “there is not a single centre that can address a patient as a whole”.
The medical maze, which has brought total chaos to healthcare services in Sabah, includes the state’s only referral centre, Queen Elizabeth Hosptal and nearby centres like Hospital Bukit Padang the mental institution, Hospital Likas, the makeshift hospital in Lingzhi Museum in Kepayan and Umno’s favourite Sabah Medical Centre (SMC). Read the rest of this entry »
Class divisions in access to healthcare — what about Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Health on Wednesday, 24 March 2010
By Azly Rahman
‘Why can’t all Americans have the same access to healthcare to those enjoyed by members of Congress?’ is a popular question on the ObamaCare debate.
At the time of writing I am following the debate over universal healthcare for all Americans. If the US$1 trillion Bill passes, it will help insure 32 million Americans that do not have access to healthcare.
This is another controversial issue in the tradition of Democrats and Republicans. This is a good case study of one of the enduring issues of an advanced capitalist state.
I know friends who do not have health insurance and who question the human rights dimension of it – right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, endowed by the Creator who insist that ‘all men are created equal’ and cautioned by the Enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau that “… everything is good in the hands of the Author of Things and everything degenerates in the hands of Man”.
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Does Perkasa Get the Hint?
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, UMNO on Wednesday, 24 March 2010
by Kee Thuan Chye
The Sultan of Selangor has done the right thing in withdrawing from his earlier agreement to open the inaugural general meeting of Pertubuhan Peribumi Perkasa Negara (Perkasa) on March 27. Although the reason given is that the Sultan does not want to be seen to be supporting a politician, namely, Ibrahim Ali, who heads the NGO, the more important implication is that right-wing organisations, even though they are championing Malay rights, have to be “tolerant and respect other races” and operate within existing laws.
Such a message is timely, especially since the country seems more divided than ever along racial lines. After the 2008 general election, Umno and certain individuals have been playing on racial sentiments to win back the Malays who had voted against the party, by warning them that the race is under threat. This has provided the impetus for organisations like Perkasa to garner support and step up right-wing activism.
If Ibrahim Ali is to be believed, Perkasa is attracting new members every day. He expects a gathering of 10,000 at the March 27 general meeting, which is pretty phenomenal for an organisation that is only one and a half years old. He has since gone on to form the Majlis Perunding NGO Melayu, a consultative council comprising 80 or so NGOs pledging to defend Malay rights, the institution of the Malay rulers and Islam.
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The difficult trials of Anwar Ibrahim
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim on Tuesday, 23 March 2010
By Gideon Rachman | Financial Times
Published: March 23 2010 02:00 | Last updated: March 23 2010 02:00
Gideon Rachman: I met Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the Malaysian opposition, in the ornate surroundings of the Landmark Hotel in London last week. He was remarkably relaxed for a man who is due to be put on trial, on charges of sodomy next week, which is a crime in Malaysia punishable with a long jail term. If convicted, this would be a return to a prison cell for Anwar. He was arrested in the late 1990s and served six years in solitary confinement on previous charges of sodomy (later over-turned) and corruption.
Yet for a man about to undergo a humiliating and dangerous ordeal, Anwar seemed in remarkably good form: relaxed, cracking jokes and outwardly convinced that he would beat the rap. I asked him how he could be so laid-back, given the trial that he was about to face. He replied coolly: “It’s not that I’m oblivious to it, or unaffected by it, but you have to just get on with life.” He knows that he can survive prison and he has the support of a staunch and politically-engaged wife and six daughters.
I first met Anwar in 1992, when he was Malaysian finance minister. At the time, the going was good, both for Anwar and for Malaysia. The country was booming and the young finance minister was widely regarded as the favoured protégé and heir apparent of Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s long-serving and autocratic prime minister.
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Once Perlis Speaker has confirmed receipt of Titi Tinggi Assemblyman Yip Sun Onn’s resignation, it cannot be retracted or it could be challenged in a court of law
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Election, State Assembly on Tuesday, 23 March 2010
It’s a political bombshell – the resignation of Titi Tinggi Assemblyman from Perlis, Yip Sun Onn after he was removed from the state executive council and replaced with Indera Kayangan assemblyman Dr. Por Choo Chor last Friday because of MCA’s “Three Kingdom” factional infighting.
But it is also a legal bombshell – for once Perlis Speaker, Yazid Mat has confirmed receipt of Yip’s letter of resignation (which he has done to more than one media), Yip’s letter of resignation cannot be retracted or it could be challenged in a court of law.
Various parties, including the Speaker, the Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Isa Sabu and the Perlis MCA Chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, are trying to persuade Yip to reconsider his resignation – as reported by various printed and online media.
But this is too late. Once Yip’s resignation letter had been received by the Speaker, it cannot be retracted and if Yip tries to do so, his status as State Assemblyman could be challenged in a court of law, as Yip would be an unlawful State Assemblyman from the date of his resignation and the Speaker would be acting unlawfully in allowing the resignation letter to be retracted.
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‘Third force’ claim demands PM’s intervention, says DAP
Tweet @limkitsiang :
Had Parliament press conference calling 4PM 2intervene 2end unprecedented crack between Home Minister n IGP surfaced publicly last few days
03/23/2010 11:50 AM
Told Hishammuddin ending his pc b4 me that crack between IGP n him has 2b ended Jokingly he said he would kiss up w IGP on Police Day (1)
03/23/2010 12:01 PM
How nice if 1st crack top security ldrship cld be easily resolved with a kiss! IGP’s allegation of ‘3rd party’ directing police most serious
03/23/2010 12:08 PM
‘Third force’ claim demands PM’s intervention, says DAP
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider
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Rumah Sakit Yang Sakit
An Open Letter to Health Minister
Dear Yang Berkhidmat Liow Tiong Lai,
Mr. Wong, an elderly man presented at Hospital Likas because of severe breathlessness and was found to have severe pneumonia on chest x-ray.
He was then admitted to the High Dependency Unit of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) 30 minutes away for treatment.
He improved after six days and was then transferred to the normal ward for further recuperation.
A bed was urgently needed one day later and the frail Mr. Wong was then shipped off to Hospital Bukit Padang for ‘rehabilitation’.
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DAP to assist Sabahans stranded in Peninsula
By Queville To | Free Malaysia Today
PENAMPANG: DAP is planning to go in search of destitute Sabahans stranded in Peninsular Malaysia.
A special gathering is being planned for them in the Klang Valley to listen to their plight and to find ways to help them.
Speaking at a news conference here, Ipoh Timor DAP MP Lim Kit Siang said the gathering was tentatively fixed for April 18.
“We call on all the Sabahans currently working or stranded in Peninsular Malaysia to come to this meeting so that their voices can be heard.”
The meeting is being organised by the Sabah DAP chief-cum-MP for Kota Kinabalu Dr Hiew King Cheu, and coordinated by DAP MPs for Serdang and Segambut, Teo Nie Ching and Lim Lip Eng.
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Pandemonium in the house as MP breaks procedures
Posted by Kit in Parliament on Monday, 22 March 2010
Tweets @limkitsiang :
Gross abuse of standing orders by KotaBelud MP condoned by deputy speaker resulting in unprecedented pandemonium Parliament worst in 53yrs
03/22/2010 01:37 PM
Had warned if KotaBelud MP is allwd by dy speaker then dangerous precedent is set n PR MPs can do same. Chair failed resulting in 1hr chaos
03/22/2010 01:42 PM
2day most shameful episode in parliamentary history Standing Orders arbitrarily violated, Minister Nazri made unrepentant sexist remark
03/22/2010 01:56 PM
All bcos Umno obsession 2persecute Anwar 4 APCO-1Malaysia speech The hr-long bedlam was not over Anwar but abuse of parl process n sexism
03/22/2010 02:01 PM
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Why is Sabah still poor? asks Kit Siang
By Queville To | Free Malaysia Today
KOTA KINABALU: DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has called for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on whether the expectations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed over the past 50 years.
He stressed that this would be appropriate in view of the fact that in 2013 the country would mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Malaysia.
“Have the people of Sabah been granted their full citizenship rights as Malaysians in the past five decades?
“Let the debate and soul-searching begin as to how one of the richest states in Sabah had been reduced in five decades to become the poorest state in the federation,” he said in a statement issued here on Saturday following a visit to Keningau.
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Lim to Najib: Explain ‘massive’ oil find
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Oil, Sabah on Monday, 22 March 2010
KOTA KINABALU: DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang wants the government to disclose full details of an alleged new oilfield discovered by national oil company Petronas.
“I call on the PM Datuk Seri Najib (Razak) to make a ministerial statement in parliament tomorrow (today) on this very important subject, the biggest oil find in the Malaysian history and the role of Petronas because Petronas is now contributing about 42 per cent to the country’s revenue,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Lim was commenting on Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s statement on Saturday that he had been told of the discovery of a new oilfield by Petronas, which could be the biggest oilfield in the world.
“I have heard about this but up to now the government has not made any announcement. I think this should not be kept under-wraps.
“Malaysians have a right to know as it will mean that the future of Malaysia will be cast in a different light.
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Sabah power supply scandal deepens
By Queville To | Free Malaysia Today
PENAMPANG: The electricity supply scandal in Sabah has taken a new twist.
Figures disclosed by the state and federal power utility companies are at variance with each other and do not add up, according to a top parliamentarian.
The discrepancies are so great that DAP Parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has questioned whether the persisting poor and worsening System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) on power supply in the state was genuine, or a deliberate fix.
He believes it could be part of measures to create a ‘panic situation’, so as to compel the people to accept the controversial coal-fired power plant.
He said suspicion arose from the consistent disparity in the SAIDI figures that were given out by the Federal Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, Peter Chin Fa Kui, the Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) and the Energy Commission Malaysia.
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Healthcare As A Bottomless Pit
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Health on Monday, 22 March 2010
By M. Bakri Musa, MD, MS, FRCSC, FACS
[Invited editorial, Malaysian Journal of Medical Science, 17(1):1-2, Jan-Mar 2010.]
As a young surgeon at the General Hospital Kuala Lumpur in the 1970s, I remember pleading with Tan Sri Majid Ismail, then Director-General of the Ministry of Health, for funding of my research project.
A distinguished clinician turned policy maker, Tan Sri Majid was professionally interested in my proposal. Nonetheless he politely declined it, but not before offering me a comforting explanation. Between funding me and building a Klinik Desa (rural clinic) in Ulu Kelantan, the choice was clear, he gently told me. Besides, he assured me, I would have minimal difficulty securing funding elsewhere while those poor Kelantanese had no choice.
Tan Sri Majid said something else that reverberates in me today. “Healthcare is a bottomless pit,” he advised me, “but the resources to meet those literally endless worthy needs are limited, so society must set its priorities and draw the line somewhere.” The job of government is to ensure a minimal acceptable level of care for all, he added, and beyond that it is for individuals to set their own limits with their own resources.
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Will Najib be the last UMNO Prime Minister and the RAHMAN prophecy fulfilled in next general election?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Sunday, 21 March 2010
Coming to the end of Najib’s first year as Prime Minister, the country is bogged down with many unresolved questions and issues, including:
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the two missing jet engines disappearing all the way to Uruguay;
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the multi-billion ringgit submarine that cannot dive;
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the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal still awaiting the prosecution of “big fishes”;
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who killed DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock who went willingly to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters on July 15, 2009 and came out as a corpse the next day;
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when MACC will break its apron-strings to its political masters making it the catspaw of Umno/BN political agenda to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption;
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Malaysia’s unchecked plunge down the slope of decreasing international competitiveness accompanied by avoidance of FDI and flight of domestic capital;
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First anniversary of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and concept dogged by the worst politicking of race and religion in recent years, spearheaded by none other than the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Umno media Utusan Malaysia;
Where are the “sharks” of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, PKFZ on Sunday, 21 March 2010
On corruption, where are the “big fishes” the country had been promised would be netted and prosecuted in connection with the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal.
I am surprised in read in the press today a statement by the MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that the Opposition did not want him to win and be re-elected as MCA President in the MCA “Three Kingdom” party elections.
Let me declare here and now that DAP has no interest whatsoever in the MCA “Three Kingdom” party battle, in particular in the fight to be MCA President expected to be a three-cornered one among Ong, former MCA President Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting and the MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek.
I do not want to emulate former Gerakan President, Tun Dr. Lim Keng Yaik who recently declared that Gerakan had “lost Penang for good”, gave very low assessment of his successor Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and contemptuous dismissal of the Najib premiership when he said: “I give up la talking to this government” to make any similar comments about the MCA leaders.
But I want to tell Ong that he is to go down in history as a short-term MCA President and Transport Minister, do it with a bang and not in a whimper.
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Allow the Police to start on a new page on Police Day on 25th March
After a year of premiership, national and international confidence in the key national institutions and the system of governance in Malaysia have deepened instead of being improved.
Although there is a lot of talk about achievements in the NKRA for combating crime, in particular street crime, the fact is that as far as the man-in-the-street is concerned, they are still hounded by the endemic crime and the fear of crime.
The fact that there are more gated-and-guarded communities in the country in the past year is the best proof that all the talk about NKRA achievements in combating crime is no real meaning to the ordinary people.
A meaningful NKRA for combating crime is when the people feel safe and secure enough to dismantle the guarded and gated communities instead of the reverse – with more people feeling unsafe as having to build new guarded and gated communities.
The Prime Minister and the Home Minister must accept the reality that an essential element to have a new start in restoring public confidence in the efficiency, independence and professionalism of the police is to have a new Inspector-General of Police.
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New Economic Model – has it been hijacked by Neo-NEP Umnoputras like Perkasa
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 21 March 2010
When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister last April, he announced that the government would introduce a new economic model for the country to ensure that Malaysia makes a quantum leap to escape the middle-income trap to become a high-income country through greater emphasis on innovation, creativity and competitiveness.
In May last year, the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the new economic model would be announced in the second half of the year.
Time is clearly of the critical essence to launch a new economic model as Husni subsequently admitted in a very frank speech in December that the country had lost a decade in economic stagnation.
In actual fact, the World Bank had recommended that Malaysia adopt a new economic model three years ago, stressing that industrial countries are already aiming for economic model 3.0, and with competition at economic model 1.0 intensifying, striving to achieve economic model 2.0 is not an option for Malaysia but a necessity.
The question is why the World Bank’s advice that Malaysia migrate to a new economic model 2.0 was ignored for three years, losing more precious time for Malaysia to catch up in the international competitiveness race when the country had become a straggler as compared to other countries.
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Sabah State Assembly next month should pass special resolution to support RCI on 50 years of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia
The Sabah State Assembly, when it meets next month, should pass a special resolution supporting the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry on how the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades.
However, even before the Sabah State Assembly meets starting on April 15, I hope that the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs would speak up in Parliament in the current parliamentary debate on the royal address to endorse my call in Parliament on Thursdays for such a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
2013 in three years’ time mark Sabah’s 50th anniversary in the formation of Malaysia. It is appropriate in preparing for the occasion to seriously assess whether the dreams of Sabahans and Sarawakians in 1963 to form Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed.
Have the people of Sabah been granted their full citizenship rights as Malaysians in the past five decades?
Let the debate and soul-searching begin as to how one of the richest states in Sabah had been reduced in five decades to become the poorest state in the federation.
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Call for Royal Commission of Inquiry on how the dreams and aspirations of Sabahans and Sarawakians in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in the past five decades
Posted by Kit in Parliament, Sabah, Sarawak on Saturday, 20 March 2010
Last month, together with DAP MPs Hiew King Cheu (Kota Kinabalu), Teo Nie Ching (Serdang) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut), I visited Kota Belud and Tuaran, which left us with one abiding impression – how the dreams of Sabahans in forming Malaysia had been betrayed in the past five decades.
In Kota Belud, 800 students and 54 teachers of SMK Tambulion have been suffering daily from the worst and most disgraceful 8km road which covered them in dust, turning them into orang putih, an ordeal which will last another year or two.
But this was not the only outrage in Kota Belud, for we visited Camp Paradise military complex meant to house 1,800 personnel. What we saw were impressive high-rise quarters which were virtually empty. Camp Paradise is now Ghostland Paradise with only some 35 personnel in a complex for 1,800 people – what a gross waste of public funds.
Will the Defence Ministry decide that no new army complexes would be built in the country until Camp Paradise is fully utilised?
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