Archive for May, 2017

MAS caps 2-year extensive probe into 1MDB fund flows

Anita Gabriel
Business Times, Singapore
May 31, 2017

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore ended its “most extensive” ever two-year check on banks involved in the illicit fund flows of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) with two more banks getting the rap, bringing the total number of banks here to eight that have been stung in various degrees by the Malaysian scandal.

The last two banks, Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank (UOB), were fined S$700,000 and S$900,000 for seven and nine breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules, respectively, with MAS noting however that none had “pervasive” control weaknesses.

Their fines are also the lowest among the banks that were earlier hit with financial penalties that ranged between S$1 million (DBS Bank) and S$13.3 million (BSI Bank) as a result of MAS’ scrutiny into 1MDB-related money flows within the financial system here that has led to unprecedented actions against errant institutions and individuals. Read the rest of this entry »

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1MDB review is over, but the effects are long-term

Yasmine Yahya
Straits Times
MAY 30, 2017

SINGAPORE – Regulators have wrapped up a two-year review of banks involved in 1MDB-related transactions known to-date but the after-effects of this probe will likely reverberate through the financial industry for many years to come.

As the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) itself noted in a statement on Tuesday (May 30), the review is the most extensive it has ever taken.

The investigation was a deep dive into all the transactions that have flown through Singapore and were related to Malaysian fund 1MDB, which is under investigation in at least six countries over billions of dollars of suspected misappropriations.

It led to the shutting down of two banks, BSI Bank and Falcon Bank and financial penalties totalling $29.1 million being imposed on eight banks – BSI, Falcon, DBS, UBS, Standard Chartered Bank, Coutts, Credit Suisse and United Overseas Bank. Read the rest of this entry »

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Alas – Kamarul Zaman is only a “downline” UMNO propagandist, and his admission that it is ridiculous for anyone to claim that “Lim Kit Siang is the DAP and DAP is Lim Kit Siang” will not stop the “upline” UMNO propagandists, cybertroopers and leaders from continuing such attacks

Kamrul Zaman Yusoff has done irreparable harm to the academic reputation of University Utara Malaysia (UUM) and I mourn for Malaysia’s university academic standards when people like him could become the director an university institute of political analysis.

Kamarul Zaman has only exhibited his academic mediocrity and sloppiness in his gem of lies and falsehoods in his latest FaceBook posting, repeating the garbage about a “DAP Christian agenda”, and claiming as proof two major “strategists” of such agenda, the DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke and DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua.

But Kamarul Zaman did UUM and Malaysian universities’s academic reputation no favours when he committed the most rudimentary academic sin of being misled by Loke and Pua’s western names and not verifying that Loke and Pua are Christians in the first place. For Kamarul’s information, both Loke and Pua are not Christians. Where come the DAP’s “Christian agenda”? Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or party affiliation, must steadfastly speak up for peace, harmony, tolerance and goodwill to foil designs of those who want to spread hate, extremism and strife in plural Malaysia

The latest news from the Philippines that over a hundred people have died in the city of Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao in less than a week as fighters affiliated with Islamic State (IS) engaged in violent clashes with government forces, coupled with the gory reports of the senseless bombings and killings of over 50 people in Manchester, Jakarta and Egypt, in the past week are sad reminders of the troubled world we are living in today.

They are also challenges to Malaysians to preserve the country as an oasis of peace, tolerance, harmony and goodwill in a plural society where the greatest religions and civilizations meet in confluence.

Is there something Malaysia can teach the world? I think so. Read the rest of this entry »

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The most meaningful way to celebrate Malaysia’s 60th National Day celebrations is to launch a national movement to save the country from the politics of lies, hate and fear to ensure that what happened in Manchester, Jakarta and Egypt in the past week never happen in Malaysia

The past week had been a sober reminder that we are living in dangerous times, with the senseless bombings and killings in Manchester, Jakarta and Egypt, causing the death of over 50 innocent lives and the injury of scores of others as a result of bigotry, intolerance and extremism.

In Malaysia, there has recently been an intensification of the politics of lies, hate and fear coupled with irresponsible politics of race and religion which must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians who want the country to be an oasis of peace, tolerance, harmony and goodwill in the midst of diverse races, religions and cultures.

Malaysia can and must be a showcase to the world that diverse races, religions and cultures can live in peace, tolerance, harmony and understanding and not in bigotry, intolerance or strife. Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysia can only succeed as a top-class nation competing with rest of the world if Malaysians adhere to the Constitution and Rukunegara principles to be good Malaysians by being good Muslims, good Buddhists, good Christians, good Hindus, good Sikhs and good Taoists

I want to start by apologizing to Hannah Yeoh, Selangor State Assembly Speaker and DAP State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, that although she gave me a copy of her book, “Becoming Hannah – A Personal Journey” more than two years ago, I did not get to reading it until she and her book became a controversy because an university academician in Universiti Utara Malaysia accused her of trying to “proselytize” Muslims.

It was then that I read her book.

I am not a Christian and reading her book, I do not feel that Hannah was trying to proselytize or Christianise any person from another faith. I do not feel “proselytized”! I am indeed surprised and shocked that an university academician can come to such a conclusion. Read the rest of this entry »

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Will Annuar Musa bear full legal responsibility for the “Lim Kit Siang is racist” writing contest and all the articles which won awards?

I have one question for the UMNO Information chief Datuk Annuar Musa whether he would bear full legal responsibility for the “Lim Kit Siang is racist” writing contest and all the articles which won awards.

I have not yet seen a copy of the book inspired and launched by Annuar Musa titled “DAP Bahaya Kepada Melayu-Islam Di Malaysia) (DAP a danger to Malays and Islam in Malaysia”) in Shah Alam yesterday but according to the DAPSY Youth Wong Kah Woh, the book violated the law as it does not display the names of the publisher and printers as required by the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA).

This is the second question for Annuar to answer – how could the UMNO Information chief launch such a book and whether UMNO leaders are above the law? Read the rest of this entry »

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‘Contest to label someone a racist is stupid’

TK Chua
Malaysiakini
26th May 2017

Depravity is a dangerous indulgence to fall into. It may cause us to lose our minds. We become stupid, not knowing we are.

There is another way of saying the same thing: “Those whom God wishes to destroy, He first drives them mad.”

How can they ever rationalise a contest to label someone is a racist? Is this not what the ‘Lim Kit Siang is racist’ writing contest is all about? Read the rest of this entry »

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While Malaysians condemn the bombings and killings in Manchester, Mindanao and Jakarta, we must not allow the country to slide towards greater intolerance and extremism because of racial and religious politics of lies, hate and fear

Malaysians condemn the bombings and killings in Manchester, Mindanao and Jakarta but we must learn the lessons of these tragedies and horrors – we must not allow Malaysia to slide towards greater intolerance and extremism because of the racial and religious politics of lies, hate and fear.

Yesterday, Selangor DAP central committee member Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof lodged a police report over the death threats made against him on a hate-and-damn-DAP Facebook page.

As Edry said yesterday, differences in opinion are part of a healthy democracy, but not when it leads to extremists conjuring falsehoods and threatening a person’s safety. Read the rest of this entry »

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The forthcoming 14GE will decide whether Najib can “outwit” 30 million Malaysians with the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which has given Malaysia the infamy and ignominy of a “global kleptocracy”

The forthcoming 14th General Election will decide whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak can “outwit” 30 million Malaysians with the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which has given Malaysia the infamy and ignominy of a “global kleptocracy”.

The spurious assertion by the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak, yesterday that Najib was right in creating the “fake news” that the next general election is a choice between an UMNO-led government and a DAP-led government is one of the tactics and strategies which UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists are relying to “outwit” the Malaysian people that the 1MDB scandal and kleptocracy have nothing to do with 14GE.

Salleh’s blogpost yesterday is part and parcel of the insidious, divisive and disruptive “Great Design” to falsely portray the forthcoming 14th General Election as firstly a battle between Malays and the Chinese; and secondly, that it is a battle between Islam and the enemies of Islam. Read the rest of this entry »

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Singapore Convicts Fifth Person Involved in 1MDB-Related Cases

by Andrea Tan
Bloomberg
May 24, 2017

Kelvin Ang Wee Keng was fined S$9,000 ($6,477) after he admitted that he made a corrupt payment to an analyst in a Singapore case related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd investigations.

Ang, 35, was a broker with Kim Eng Securities Pte until 2015 and made about S$100,000 annually in commissions, prosecutor Vincent Ong said in a Singapore State Court on Wednesday. He was charged a year ago for what authorities said was corruptly giving S$3,000 to a research analyst to speed up the preparation of a favorable valuation report. Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysians do not know whether to laugh or to cry!

Malaysians do not know whether to laugh or to cry!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that his government is No. 1 in the world in transparency and government delivery when presenting the Government Transformation programme (GTP) yesterday, but on the same day, TIME magazine included Najib in its list of five world leaders who it claims are less popular than United States President Donald Trump.

The TIME magazine “risk report” said that despite an approval rating of under 40 per cent, Trump was “sitting pretty” compared to the five – the other four being Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Brazilian President Michel Temer, South African President Jacob Zuma and Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras.

Najib was cited among the ignominous five because of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money laundering scandal, which Najib had denied, but which has earned Malaysia the appellation of a “global kleptocracy” – especially after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic lawsuits to forfeit over a US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The TIME citation of Najib asked: “Who needs popularity when you have political power and money in the bank?” Read the rest of this entry »

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5 World Leaders Less Popular than President Donald Trump

Ian Bremmer
TIME
May 22, 2017

RISK REPORT

Donald Trump had a historically bad series of news cycles this month, right up until he left the country on an overseas trip last week. But believe it or not, Trump—currently with an approval rating just under 40 percent—is sitting pretty compared to some of the world’s other heads of state and government. Here then is a world tour of political figureheads who are even less popular than the U.S. president: Read the rest of this entry »

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Patriotic and right-thinking Malaysians must condemn and smack down mischief makers who want to falsely frame the 14th General Election as a battle between Malays and Chinese as well as between Islam and enemies of Islam

This year is the 60th National Day Anniversary celebration to mark the nation’s independence on August 31, 1957.

Unfortunately, instead of a more united, harmonious, progressive and prosperous Malaysia, we see Malaysia falling behind more and more countries in various fields of human endeavor in the past six decades, and what is worse, there are people who are trying to put back the clock of Malaysian nation-building by sowing distrust, hatred and animosity and instead of greater tolerance, harmony and unity in multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia.

The countdown for the 14th General Elections has started, and there are irresponsible mischief makers who want to create chaos in the country by falsely framing the forthcoming 14th General Election as a battle between Malays and Chinese as well as between Islam and enemies of Islam.

The forthcoming 14th General Election is not a battle between Malays and Chinese, nor is it a battle between Islam and the enemies of Islam. Read the rest of this entry »

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Call on political parties and leaders in Penang to be the vanguard in Malaysia to condemn mischief-makers who are trying to falsely frame the 14th General Election as a battle between Malays and Chinese as well as between Islam and enemies of Islam

I call on all political parties, whether in government or opposition, to take an united stand to condemn mischief makers who want to create chaos in the country by falsely framing the forthcoming 14th General Election as a battle between Malays and Chinese as well as between Islam and enemies of Islam.

This is the height of mischief and even treason.

The forthcoming 14th General Election is not a battle between Malays and Chinese, nor is it a battle between Islam and the enemies of Islam.

The 14th General Election is a battle between Malaysians vs Malaysians, for a democratic Malaysia with accountability and good governance or a kleptocracy which rejects the principles of democratic good governance.

It is for Malaysians, regardless of race or religion to ponder deep and hard why Malaysia in the past six decades had failed to live up to the promise when we achieved Merdeka on August 31, 1957 to be united, harmonious, democratic, progressive, prosperous multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation; save Malaysia and re-set nation-building directions and policies for Malaysians to compete with the rest of the world and not to fight among ourselves and lose out in the international race of nations for development and progress. Read the rest of this entry »

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Irony of ironies – Wasatiyyah for the world but no wasatiyyah at home

Irony of Ironies – Wasatiyyah for the world but no wasatiyyah at home. Instead, there is growing tataruf.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been promoting the Wasatiyyah (moderation) principles of justice, balance and excellence in the past few years in his international campaign for the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) embracing all nations, religions and communities, but at home, there is the growing phenomenon of tataruf, which has been described by the former CEO of GMM as the opposite of wasatiyyah and denotes inclination towards the peripheries, extremism (including violent extremism), radicalism and excess.

The assault of film director David Teoh in front of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Najib during a Transformation Nasional 50 (TN50) dialogue session at the Prime Minister’s residence on Wednesday night is a slap on the Prime Minister’s Wasatiyyah campaign of the past few years – an incident which would not have happened in the past 60 years under six Prime Ministers of Malaysia!

Another instance of the absence of wasatiyyah is the false and malicious police report lodged by University Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer Kamarul Zaman Yusof against Selangor Speaker and DAP Selangor State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, Hannah Yeoh, accusing her of proselytization of Muslims with the publication of her autobiography “Being Hannah” three years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

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Kamarul Zaman’s police report against Hannah Yeoh raises the question whether he is fit and proper to be a lecturer of plural Malaysia’s public university

Kamarul Zaman Yusof’s false and malicious police report against Selangor Speaker and DAP Selangor State Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya, Hannah Yeoh, accusing her of proselytization of Muslims with the publication of her autobiography “Being Hannah”, raises the question whether he is fit and proper to be a lecturer of plural Malaysia’s public universities.

It is a further sign that the Malaysian nation-building process, after six decades, have gone terribly wrong and must be corrected.

It is unimaginable that Hannah Yeoh’s autobiography on her personal journey to be a good Christian so as to be a good Malaysian would have caused objections, let alone be the subject of a false and malicious police report of proselytization to Muslims, in the first five decades of our nationhood. Read the rest of this entry »

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Best Wishes to Hadi for swift recovery from heart surgery to the best of health

I congratulate PAS President, Datuk Hadi Awang on a successful heart surgery and convey to him my best wishes for his swift recovery to the best of health.

We may have different political positions, but it is a test of maturity of Malaysian political leaders in a democratic system that political leaders must always be civil and polite with each other, and never be personal, cantankerous or abusive in pursuit of their roles in a democratic system to submit their objectives, programmes and policies to the peaceful and democratic electoral endorsement of the people in periodic general elections. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Sorry Shape of the Malaysian Ship of State

M. Bakri Musa
May 16, 2017

A nation is like a boat on a river. Face the craft in the wrong direction and it would end up downstream in the marshy delta in short order, with minimal or no effort. It would languish there in the mud, at the mercy of the tides and floods. Face your boat sideways to head for the comfort of the nearby shore and you risk being broadsided by the current. Even if your boat were to face upstream, you could still end up downstream, albeit more slowly, for lack of paddling.

By facing our boat upstream and paddling hard, Malaysians have achieved much and traversed many superior fishing grounds as well as enjoyed numerous beautiful sights. Malaysians have also met and mingled with many upstream people, folks used to and comfortable in waters that are fresh, cool, and clean. Now we too aspire for that; we too want the waters around us to be free of the jetsam and flotsam. However, we can only get that by going upstream. Read the rest of this entry »

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“Curiouser and curiouser” as there is no way PAS can win 40 parliamentary seats and five state governments without some form of electoral arrangement or alliance with UMNO

Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland phraseology of “curiouser and curiouser” comes to mind as there is no way PAS can win 40 parliamentary seats and five state governments without some form of electoral arrangement or alliance with UMNO.

The results of the general elections since 1959 shows that PAS achieved its best results in the 1999, 2008 and 2013 general elections when it was a member of the Barisan Alternative or Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition, as illustrated by the following chart:

MP PAS Total seats
won contest
1959 13 58 104
1964 9 53 104
1969 12 62 144
1974 154
1978 5 88 154
1982 5 82 154
1986 1 98 177
1990 7 30 180
1995 7 45 192
1999 27 62 193
2004 6 86 219
2008 (1+) 23 66 222
2013 21 73 222

In the last few days, PAS leaders have upped the ante and are talking about fielding 100 parliamentary candidates (an increase from the figure of 80 parliamentary contests cited before the PAS Muktamar last month) although they are still keeping their winning total to a “modest” 40! Read the rest of this entry »

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