Archive for category Corruption
KT by-election – Najib not campaigning as DPM and police should not apply double-standards
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Election, Najib Razak, Police on Monday, 5 January 2009
The police in Kuala Terengganu by-election campaign should not apply double standards and should treat Datuk Seri Najib Razak as one of the party leaders in town for the by-election and not as a Deputy Prime Minister or Prime Minister-elect.
At a time when the retiring Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is trying to give new life to his National Integrity Plan and anti-corruption efforts in his last three months in office, the way the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election is conducted will be a test as to whether his national integrity efforts and the newly-minted Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have any real meaning.
For instance, would the police in Kuala Terengganu treat Najib at par with other party leaders, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, for the duration of the by-election, as there is no business for a Deputy Prime Minister to be campaigning in Kuala Terengganu in his official capacity.
Najib is in Kuala Terengganu as UMNO Deputy President and Barisan Nasional Deputy Chairman and not as Deputy Prime Minister, and this distinction must be scrupulously observed not only by the police and all relevant government departments but also by Najib himself!
Najib should dispense with the horde of police outriders during his visit to Kuala Terengganu to show that he is not abusing his powers and be an example to all other Ministers and VIPs – that they should not misuse scarce police personnel and resources in having to provide outriders and escorts. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Ahmad Said the most suitable candidate to be the first Chief Commissioner of the MACC?
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Monday, 29 December 2008
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was reported in the New Straits Times on Saturday as announcing that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will begin operations on Thursday on 1st January 2009 with Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan as its first chief commissioner.
The first question is whether Ahmad Said is the most suitable candidate to be the Chief Commissioner of the MACC.
Parliament and the nation have been promised that with the establishment of the MACC, purportedly modeled after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the new anti-corruption body can no longer be accused of being the “lapdog of the government” as the ACA had been accused of being thus far.
The implication is very clear – that the ACA had corruption cases which it had not been able to prosecute because of various constraints and considerations all boiling down to “political interference”. Read the rest of this entry »
Why some Government Officers become corrupt
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Letters on Sunday, 28 December 2008
Letters
by R. Ganesh
I was utterly shocked when I read today’s NST dated 2008/12/27, article entitled “ACA officers feel ‘demoralised’ over new salary scale”. In the article, it was stated that Grade 29 officers would be offered a basic salary of RM1,482.85 and RM3,246.48 when they reached the top of the scale. “The maximum year between the basic salary and top of the scale is 22 years while the yearly increase is only RM80.17.”
Police officers in the same grade receive a basic salary of RM1,423.50 with a maximum of RM3,282.77. However, the maximum number of years getting to the top is only 18 years with a yearly increment of RM103.29, the article said.
My question here is this, how do you expect an individual in power to refrain from being corrupted when he merely earns RM1500? Nowadays, one can barely survive with RM1500 if one has 3 or 4 mouths to feed at home. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC/JAC Bills – don’t count chickens before they are hatched
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament on Thursday, 18 December 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Abdullah should not count the chickens before they are hatched as he did yesterday following the passage of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Bills when he indulged in the following hyperbole:
MACC – “They (foreign investors) will know there is no corruption or very little of it”; and
JAC – “we will bring back the confidence of the public in the judiciary”.
As I said during the debates on the MACC and JAC Bills, nobody in Government really believe
(i) that the MACC could check the rot of corruption in the country and catapult Malaysia into the stratosphere among the world’s ten or twenty least corrupt nations, with the MACC able to rival the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in Hong Kong or the Corrupt Practices Investigation Board (CPIB) in Singapore; and
(ii) that the JAC could fully restore national and international confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary after two decades of erosion and devastation or even to prevent in future the repetition of controversial appointments like the Zaki Azmi appointment as Chief Justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Why afraid of a Special Parliamentary Commitee on MACC?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Parliament on Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Second Amendment to MACC Bill –
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Fasal 14:-
Menggantikan “Jawatankuasa Khas Mengenai Rasuah” dengan “Jawatankuasa Parlimen Mengenai Rasuah” setiap kali perkataan-perkataan berkenaan muncul di dalam Rang Undang-undang
[Replace “Special Committee on Corruption” with “Parliamentary Committee on Corruption” where it appears in the Bill.]
Pindaan Fasal 14(2)
MEMOTONG dan DIGANTIKAN dengan “Jawatankuasa Parlimen hendaklah terdiri daripada tujuh anggota yang hendaklah dilantik oleh Dewan-dewan Perwakilan yang menggambarkan perwakilan di Parlimen dan diketuai oleh seorang Ahli Parlimen Pembangkang, dan tiada seorang daripada mereka merupakan anggota pentadbiran
[Clause 14(2) – DELETE and SUBSTITUTE: “The Parliamentary Committee shall consist of seven members to be appointed by the House of Representatives reflecting the representation in the House and headed by an Opposition Member of Parliament, none of whom shall be a member of the administration.] Read the rest of this entry »
MACC Bill – will it propel Malaysia to be among world’s 10 or 20 least corrupt nations in five years’ time?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Parliament on Tuesday, 16 December 2008
First amendment:
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[Clause 5(6):
DELETE the words after “an officer of the Commission” and SUBSTITUTE “and shall have all the powers of a Deputy Public Prosecutor under the Criminal Procedure Code.”]
Until removed by the Anti-Corruption Act 1997, the Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) had the powers of Deputy Public Prosecutor under the Criminal Procedure Code.
Thus, section 5(1) of the Anti-Corruption Agency Act 1982 states:
“5(1) The Director-General of the Agency shall have all the powers of a Deputy Public Prosecutor under the Criminal Procedure Code and all the powers of an officer of the agency.”
These powers of the ACA Director-General as Deputy Public Prosecutor were not given just by the ACA Act 1982, but were also in the Biro Siasatan Negara Act 1973, which was repealed by the 1982 ACA Act in order to effect a change in the name of the Agency.
Section 376(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code provides that a Deputy Public Prosecutor “may exercise all or any of the rights and powers vested in or exercisable by the Public Prosecutor by or under this Code or any other written law except any rights or powers expressed to be exercisable by the Public Prosecutor personally.” Read the rest of this entry »
Dare ACA or MACC answer like this?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Monday, 15 December 2008
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Q: How does the ICAC maintain its independence?
A: We are independent. There is nothing to maintain.
This is from the Sunday Star interview with Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) deputy commissioner and head of operations Daniel Li to illustrate the difference between ICAC and Malaysia anti-corruption body, whether the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) or the soon-to-be MACC.
I quoted this Q & A in Parliament during the debate on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC).
I asked which Malaysian anti-corruption chief would dare to answer with such insouciance and categorical assurance without any hesitation or shadow of doubt about the independence of the Malaysian anti-corruption body? Read the rest of this entry »
MACC and JAC Bills – postpone second reading from 4-6 weeks to allow fuller study/greater consensus by concerned stakeholders
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament on Sunday, 14 December 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi wants to fulfill three reform pledges on anti-corruption, restore the independence of the judiciary and establish an efficient and professional world-class police service before he steps down from office next March.
Tomorrow, Parliament is slated to start debate on the first of two of these reforms, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Bill and the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) Bill.
DAP, just like the other component parties in Pakatan Rakyat, would want to give as much support as possible to ensure the accomplishment of these three reforms. However, we cannot give blanket support or endorse proposals which are inimical to these reform objectives.
MPs saw the MACC and the JAC Bills only on Wednesday and there have been increasing concerns and reservations about the provisions in these two Bills as to whether they would be able to further the objectives of having a truly independent anti-corruption body to spearhead an all-out war against corruption and the restoration of the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary.
I have given notice to move five amendments to the MACC to provide greater fire-power in the battle against corruption, strengthen the independence of the MACC from the Executive and reinforce the oversight powers of Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
5 amendments to MACC Bill to strengthen MACC’s independence from Executive and reinforce Parliamentary oversight
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Saturday, 13 December 2008
If Hong Kong’s Number Two graft fighter is to be believed about what he said with regard to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Bill, Malaysia is on the threshold of greatness – to join the ranks of the world’s 20 or even 10 least corrupt countries!
The local media have been inundated with reports of the short visit of the deputy commissioner and operations head of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Daniel Li on the invitation of the Anti-Corruption Agency, heaping praises on the MACC Bill which is to be debated in Parliament on Monday.
Praising the government’s commitment in fighting the scourge of corruption, Li said the MACC was equal or better than the ICAC after which it was modelled.
He said he found the MACC Bill to be very comprehensive and very focused.
He said: “The affected area that it covers is wider than what the ICAC is covering in Hong Kong.”
He praised the government for being “faster than us in Hong Kong” in terms of developing strategies to combat corruption, adding: Read the rest of this entry »
MACC – principles of indepencence and parliamentary accountability too watered down
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Friday, 12 December 2008
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Bill is so watered down that the principles of its independence from the Prime Minister’s control and accountability/responsibility to Parliament can be quite tenuous and even fictitious.
The original intention to amend the Constitution to give the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission a constitutional status has been abandoned while there is no clear-cut provision to establish its responsibility and accountability to Parliament.
Five bodies will be set up under the MACC Bill to hold a close watch over the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure its independence, transparency and integrity, viz: Anti-Corruption Advisory Board; Special Committee on Corruption; Operations Review Panel; Corruption Prevention and Consultative Council; and a Complaints Committee.
However, all these five scrutinizing bodies, including the Special Committee on Corruption which is to comprise of Parliamentarians, are all beholden to the Prime Minister or the Executive, making nonsense of the principle of parliamentary responsibility of the MACC. Read the rest of this entry »
MACC and JAC Bills – both fall far short of expectations and promise of anti-corruption and judicial reforms
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament on Thursday, 11 December 2008
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) personally presented in Parliament for first reading yesterday by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi both fall far short of expectations and the promise of anti-corruption and judicial reforms.
The 15th anniversary today of the Highland Towers tragedy in 1993 which killed 48 people and over 1,000 people were made homeless, preceded five days ago by the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide disaster which killed four, with one missing while displacing some 5,000 people, should serve as wrenching reminders of the necessity for urgent and meaningful anti-corruption and judicial reforms.
Even the mainstream New Straits Times yesterday editorialized that “Everything from the loss of faith in national institutions, as measured in both the electoral vote and the rising crime rate, to the catastrophic failure of developed hill slopes seems at least partly attributable to the corrosion of corruption – of corners cut, blind eyes turned, and money paid for benefits unseen”.
The New Straits Times editorial could have cited as another recent example of the far-reaching consequences of the corrosion of rampant corruption – the road carnage in the express bus North-South Expressway (NSE) crash in Tangkak which killed 10 and injured 14 on Sunday. Read the rest of this entry »
Ka Chuan – don’t be a second Samy Vellu
Posted by Kit in Corruption, environment on Wednesday, 10 December 2008
The Bukit Antarabangsa landslide disaster on Saturday, 6th December 2008, claiming five lives and dislocating 5,000 people after destroying 14 bungalows, is sheer criminal negligence after the Highland Towers tragedy 15 years ago on Friday, 11th December 1993.
It is sad and shocking testimony that the 48 who died in the Highland Towers tragedy 15 years ago had died in vain as the lessons had not been learnt by the relevant government authorities and parties.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi blamed developers and buyers when he lamented:
“Malaysians never want to learn from past experiences. They want good views while developers only seek to profit; but no one takes safety and soil stability into consideration”.
Conspicuously absent from Abdullah’s blame list are the various government agencies and authorities who should be even more culpable in giving approvals or closing an eye to dangerous hillside developments and in totally ignoring the lessons of the Highland Towers tragedy 15 years ago.
Subconsciously admitting that it was indefensible to exonerate the government from responsibility for the criminal negligence resulting in the Bukit Antarabangsa disaster, Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek complained that it was not fair to slam the Government for failing to act every time a disaster happens. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib, 3 UMNO DP and 8 UMNO VP candidates – declare stand whether support Abdullah “reform” legislation
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption, Judiciary, UMNO on Sunday, 7 December 2008
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has utter contempt for his successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, pouring scorn on Abdullah’s promises to push through reform before he steps down in March next year – particularly the bills to establish the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MCAC), reputedly patterned after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).
Writing in his blog, Mahathir noted sarcastically that “after failing to implement any of the promises made in the 2004 or 2008 elections, it looks like nothing is being done either with regard to the promise to carry out a variety of so-called reforms” before Abdullah steps down as Prime Minister in March 2009.
It would appear that Mahathir is privy to information not generally known to the Malaysian public, that forces are at work to frustrate and roll back any reform legislation on anti-corruption and an independent judiciary which Abdullah had promised to present to Parliament next week.
I will not be surprised if Mahathir is hands-in-glove with these reactionary UMNO forces to undermine and even roll back any reform legislation to be proposed by Abdullah in Parliament next week. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO top leadership opposing Abdullah’s reform bills for anti-corruption and judiciary?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, Parliament, UMNO on Saturday, 6 December 2008
With the end of the 31-day debate on the 2009 Budget last Thursday, the focus of the last six sittings of the current budget meeting ending on December 18 will be on two of the three reform measures which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had promised to accomplish before he steps down from office next March.
These are the Bills to establish the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MCAC), reputedly patterned after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Judicial Appointments Commission.
As I have not sighted either of the bills, I am unable to comment intelligently on them.
However, it is evident that both these “reform” bills have evoked considerable opposition in UMNO circles, reaching to very high evels of the Umno leadership.
It would appear that there are powerful Umno circles who are uncomfortable with any measures to create a more independent agency with a bit more bite to fight corruption, especially as the ongoing Umno party elections is mired in the worst money politics and corruption in the party history. Read the rest of this entry »
Still no PAC report on Eurocopter inquiry – will Azmi emulate Indian Home Minister and resign?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Defence on Monday, 1 December 2008
On November 11, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid had promised that the PAC report on its inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter deal would be tabled in Parliament “in two or three days”.
How can Azmi’s interpretation of “two or three days” be so elastic as to stretch to three weeks, and there are still no signs of the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter deal although it is now close to 50 days since Azmi first made the public announcement that the PAC would investigate into three scandals which had shook Parliament and the country – the Eurocopter helicopter, Bank International Indonesia (BII) and the high speed broadband (HSBB) deals?
I had intended to table a motion to debate the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter deal with Parliament having to make the final decision whether to accept or reject the PAC report and recommendations, but this PAC report must be tabled in Parliament latest by Wednesday, 3rd December 2008 so that I could give the necessary 14-day notice required for a motion to be debated on the last parliamentary sitting of the current budget meeting on December 18.
It is useless for Azmi to table the PAC report on the Eurocopter inquiry after December 3 because it would not be possible for MPs to give the requisite notice to debate it as a specific motion. Read the rest of this entry »
RM50 million Pempena scandals – 3 questions Azalina should answer as non-functioning Pempena CEO has clamped up
Posted by Kit in Corruption, MCA, Tourism on Sunday, 23 November 2008
I am posing three questions on the RM50 million Pempena Group of Companies scandals for the Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman to answer in Parliament next week since the non-functioning Pempena Executive Chairman Datuk Paduka Chew Mei Fun has clamped up and refused to accept accountability.
Firstly, why was PricewaterhouseCooper engaged to conduct a high-level business review of Pempena’s 14 Investee Companies and not on all its 24 Investee Companies – especially as most of the 24 investee companies have not been recording operational profits over the last three years.
Out of these selected 14 investee companies reviewed, PwhC has proposed that Pempena should “exit its investments” from five companies, suffering an immediate loss of RM20 million. The five companies are:
(i) Malaysia Tourism Executive Sdn Bhd (“Matex”)
(ii) Sri Kebaya Restaurant Sdn Bhd (“Sri Kebaya”)
(iii) Malaysia Restaurant Hyderabad Limited (“Awana Hyderabad”)
(iv) Dalamasa
(v) Nathena
PwhC also proposed the liquidation of another company, My Destination, which will involve a loss of RM7.5 million – making a total loss of RM27.5 million for the “exiting” from five companies and the liquidation of one!
Read the rest of this entry »
I will employ Chew Mei Fun at a salary befitting her real qualifications – send me her cv
Posted by Kit in Corruption, MCA, Tourism on Saturday, 22 November 2008
MCA Wanita chief and Pempena Executive Chairman, Datuk Paduka Chew Mei Fun publicly asked me on Thursday whether I will employ and “feed” her if she resigns from Pempena. (Sin Chew Daily, Guang Ming Daily)
My response – Chew should send me her job application with her cv and I will employ her at a salary befitting her real qualifications.
However, Malaysians are amazed at her crass audacity – which is typical of many MCA leaders – that Malaysians owe her a living, and the government must give her a job and “feed” her just because she lost to Tony Pua in the March general election in the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary constituency!
If this is the case, then Chew should have been truthful in the March general election campaign and should have owned up publicly that she would be “fed” by the Barisan Nasional government even if she loses in the parliamentary contest against Pua – that she was in an envious “cannot lose” situation, whatever the outcome of the election!
Be that as it may, Chew may be out of her job as Pempena Executive Chairman faster than she think, especially if the Star report “Pempena probe has Azalina fuming” (20.11.98) is to be believed, that the Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman is mulling over whether to shut down the subsidiary of the Tourism Ministry! Read the rest of this entry »
Will former Pampena Chairman Chor Chee Heong step forward to explain the RM50 million Pempena scandals?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, MCA, Tourism on Thursday, 20 November 2008
The new Executive Chairman of troubled Tourism Ministry subsidiary, Pempena Sdn. Bhd, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun called a press conference yesterday but refused to answer questions about the RM50 million Pempena scandals of bad investments, criminal breach of trust and financial improprieties declaring:
“I will not answer on things that happened before my time. Now I just want to focus on revamping the company.”
Is nobody to be responsible for the scandalous RM54.4 million Pempena investments in 24 investee companies as at June 2008, where Pricewaterhouse Cooper audit has recommended the immediate closure of five companies resulting in instant loss of some RM20 million!
If Chew does not want to assume responsibility for what happened before her time, why didn’t she get the former Pampena Chairman, Datuk Chor Chee Heong, to appear together with her at the media conference yesterday so that questions about the propriety, accountability and integrity of the RM50 million Pampena scandals could be answered? Read the rest of this entry »
Pempena Police report – “looting of people’s money using tourism as a front’
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, Tourism on Tuesday, 18 November 2008
I thank the Tourism Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman for giving me a copy of the Summary Report of the PricewaterhouseCooper review of Tourism Ministry’s subsidiary, Pempena Group of Companies but I will write to her for a copy of the Final Report, as the implicit promise she made in Parliament during her winding-up of the 2009 Budget debate on Nov. 3 was for a full and unqualified disclosure of the PricewaterhouseCooper report.
I must admit that I am somewhat surprised by the PricewaterhouseCooper summary report as the Tourism Minister had led Parliament to believe that it is an audit of the various financial scandals of the Pempena Group of Companies, but clearly this important brief was excluded from PricewaterhouseCooper’s terms of reference, which is a clinical “high level business review” of selected investments by Pempena Sdn. Bhd and “specifically does not include any investigative audit or forensics work”.
In fact, it is mentioned in the PricewaterhouseCooper summary report that the investigation into the various financial scandals in the Pempena Group of Companies are “separately performed internally” in an internal audit of Pempena.
Why did Azalina hide the fact from Parliament that there had been an internal audit by the Tourism Minsitry of the various financial scandals of its stable of Pempena Group of Companies, which includes its affiliates Malaysian Travel Business Travel Sdn. Bhd and SD Corp Communication Sdn. Bhd and that such an internal audit had been completed by 14th August 2008? Read the rest of this entry »
Summary Report of PricewaterhouseCooper on Pempena Companies
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Tourism on Tuesday, 18 November 2008
Overview of Pempena
In 2005, Pempena established a business plan for 2005-2009 to implement the following key activities:
(i) Equity participation in tourism related industries
(ii) Implementation of activities under the Shopping Malaysia Secretariat
(iii) Placement of funds in the money market and unit trusts.
There were 14 key areas of new businesses indentified by Pempena for implementation.
Pempena planned to invest a total of RM49.8m over the period of its business plan (ie 2005 – 2009) representing equity and profit sharing arrangements.
As at June 2008, Pempena has invested a total of RM54.4m via equity participation in and advances made to the Investee Companies. Read the rest of this entry »
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