Archive for March 22nd, 2017

Why Bentong did not become a model constituency with the best educational, health and socio-economic infrastructures and facilities in the country as it had been held by Ministers for over four decades?

My one-day visit to the Bentong parliamentary constituency, covering Perting new village and Karak town, to encourage all eligible voters in the constituency to register themselves by this month if they want to be able to cast their vote in the 14GE if held in September, attracted considerable MCA attention, with MCA putting up posters and buntings all over the constituency attacking me.

This did not happen during my previous visits to Bentong, when it was held by the two previous MPs – Tan Sri Chan Siang Sun and Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek.

Does this mean that the incumbent MP for Bentong Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, unlike his two previous predecessors, has reason to be afraid of my visit to Bentong – resulting in the posters and bunters attacking me for visiting Bentong!

Bentong is one of the most fortunate parliamentary constituencies in the country, as it had been a Minister’s constituency for over four decades – when the first MP for Bentong, Tan Sri Chan Siang Sun was MP ifor 1959 to 1989 and Lim Ah Lek became the MP for Bentong from 1989 to 1999. Liow Tiong Lai is the third MP for Bentong since 1999. Read the rest of this entry »

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PAS leadership fantasies of winning 40 Parliament Seats and capturing Selangor in 14GE

Recently, a video of clip of PAS President, Hadi Awang viralled.

In this video, he was clearly shown to have made two important points. Firstly, that PAS wanted to win control of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Perak and Selangor and that PAS would leave the other states to UMNO.

Secondly, that PAS wanted to win 40 parliament seats in the next general election to have the “king-maker” role to determine the next Federal Government in Malaysia.

I am not sure where Hadi derives his confidence to win 40 parliament seats in the next general election but it seems to be based more on fantasy than facts. Read the rest of this entry »

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The U.S. Is Preparing to Charge Financier Jho Low in Malaysian 1MDB Scandal

By BRADLEY HOPE and TOM WRIGHT
Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2017

U.S. authorities intend to file criminal charges against Mr. Low, according to people familiar with the investigation, but haven’t disclosed potential timing

U.S. authorities intend to file criminal charges against a financier in connection with an international scandal rooted in Malaysia that they believe could be one of the largest financial frauds ever, according to people familiar with the matter.

The scandal involves a state fund called 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, and the focus of the criminal investigation is Jho Low, a flamboyant financier the U.S. Justice Department portrayed in civil asset-seizure lawsuits last July as central to an alleged plot to siphon billions of dollars from the fund.

The civil suits, which are proceeding separately from the criminal probe, seek more than $1 billion of assets, including van Gogh and Monet paintings and luxury real estate in New York and Los Angeles, allegedly bought with stolen money. The Justice Department is currently seeking to add recently discovered Low family property to the list of assets it is trying to seize, including a yacht Mr. Low controls, the $165 million, 300-foot, helipad-equipped Equanimity, people familiar with the U.S. investigation said.

In addition, Singapore has been building a potential criminal case against Mr. Low, said a person involved in the city-state’s investigation. A Justice Department team has just finished a visit to Singapore to conduct interviews related to Mr. Low and other aspects of the 1MDB matter, said two people familiar with the trip. Read the rest of this entry »

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Will Liow, Wee, Ong, Mah and Subramaniam succeed at the Cabinet meeting on Friday to get Zahid to withdraw his statement that the government will adopt and move Hadi’s private member’s bill in Parliament and clarify it is UMNO but not BN stand?

Last Friday, Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi announced that the government will take over PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill in Parliament to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 or Act 355, but the MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders claim that they knew nothing about it and never agreed to it.

At this stage, we need not go into the merits or demerits of such a bill, although there are attempts by irresponsible, divisive and destructive quarters to brand those who criticize or even oppose Hadi’s private member’s bill as anti-Islam, forgetting that the Sarawak Chief Minister, Datuk Abang Johari Tun Openg (a Muslim himself) had upheld the stand of the previous Sarawak Chief Minister, Adenan Satem (another Muslim) and directed all the 25 Sarawak Barisan Nasional MPs (which included four Muslim Federal Ministers) to reject Hadi’s private member’s bill motion .

Before we discuss the merits or demerits of Hadi’s private member’s bill, the first question to be dealt with is whether Barisan Nasional has changed its character from a coalition based on consensus, where everyone of the 13 Barisan Nasional component parties must give consent and agreement before a policy, measure or decision can be regarded as Barisan Nasional policy, measure or decision into one where the Barisan Nasional is only a coalition in name but accepts UMNO hegemony, where what UMNO leaders want and desire become the law in Barisan Nasional!

This will be the case if the Zahid can announce that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government will take over Hadi’s private member’s bill in Parliament even without have to discuss and get the agreement of the Ministers and leaders of the other 12 BN component parties outside UMNO. Read the rest of this entry »

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