Archive for category Good Governance

Najib should present ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday on various current Petronas issues

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should present a ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday on various current Petronas issues – a new CEO, his insistence to appoint defaulter Omar Mustapha as Petronas director, declining Petronas profits and most important of all, a new regime of Petronas accountability to Parliament.

Recently, what is making waves in Petronas and well-informed local circles and reported internationally, though completely swept under the carpet by the local mainstream media, is the repeated attempts by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to force the appointment of his aide, Omar Mustapha as director of Petronas.

The Singapore Straits Times has reported that the Petronas Board of Directors has rebuffed Najib’s attempt to foist the appointment of Omar for the second time this Wednesday, as the Board was directed by Najib to reconsider its decision last month rejecting Omar’s appointment.

The reason for the Petronas Board’s rejection of Omar as director is that Omar had defaulted on his scholarship loan agreement with Petronas two decades earlier. Omar did not complete the required number of years of service with the national oil corporation or a related government agency as stipulated in his scholarship agreement. Petronas also initiated legal proceedings against Omar in 2001.
Read the rest of this entry »

24 Comments

Who was the MCA President most responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – Liong Sik or Kong Choy?

My three questions (No.31 to No. 33 on the 11th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

  1. Who was the MCA President most responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik or Datuk Seri Chong Kong Choy, who were Ong’s predecessors as Transport Minister?

    Furthermore, among the MCA Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairmen from the start of the ill-fated PKFZ project, who was the one who must bear the greatest blame – Tan Sri Ting Chew Peh, Datuk Yap Pian Hon or Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung or were all three blameless?

  2. Read the rest of this entry »

16 Comments

Public Forum – RM12.5 billion PKFZ Scandal: Will Heads Roll?

Admin : We would try to live webcast from KLSCAH. However, we do not have a reliable Internet connection. Sorry, 3G connection could not sustain the webcast.

Public forum – RM12.5 billion PKFZ Scandal: Will Heads Roll?

Venue : KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jalan Maharajalela, KL (MAP)
Date : 10 June 2009
Time : 8.00 pm

Panelist :

  • Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam – Chairman of the Asli-Center of Public Policy Studies, former President of Transparency International Malaysia*, prominent Malaysian economist, former Transport Ministry Secretary-General
  • Captain Yusof Ahmad – former pilot superintendent of the Klang Port Authority and pioneer general manager of West Port
  • Teh Chi Chang – Economic Advisor to DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng
  • Tony Pua – DAP Publicity Secretary, MP for PJ Utara
  • Lim Kit Siang – DAP Parliamentary Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur
  • Dr Tan Seng Giaw – DAP Deputy Chairman, PAC Deputy Chairman, MP for Kepong

Enquiries Read the rest of this entry »

116 Comments

Ong Tee Keat’s “roadmap to recovery of PKFZ” reminds me eerily of Myanmar military junta’s “seven-step roadmap to democracy” which leads to nowhere!

Transport Minister and MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat blogged a response from Beijing to my 15 questions (three per day) on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-Off but he was forced to camouflage his failure to honour the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s directive and promise of a question-by-question reply as well as very weak and insipid contents by very harsh language and distractions.

“…a knee jerk reaction which spells of political agenda and defeatist attitude”.

“It will save people a lot of time not to repeat ourselves for the benefit of self-serving politicians”.

“I see no reason to waste valuable time to engage in fruitless public debates of any form that does not help to solve the problems”.

“… public debates are the opposition’s obvious idea of resolving all the country’s ills”.

Just four quotes from his short statement. What character of the man, at least for this moment, do they reveal?

Pompous. Arrogant. Quite insufferable. Worse than Najib on all three scores!
Read the rest of this entry »

23 Comments

Cabinet meeting yesterday a double-disappointment on university education – PSD S’ships and USM Apex Uni fiasco

The Cabinet meeting yesterday was a double disappointment on university education particularly to the young generation of Malaysians which must be rectified in a special Cabinet meeting on university intake as well as PSD scholarships for SPM students with 12As.

I am very disappointed that my call for a colour-blind JPA scholarship system has not been heeded by the Cabinet. Clearly, the Cabinet Ministers themselves have yet to fully understand the meaning of 1Malaysia which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has adopted as the slogan of his administration.

Furthermore, my specific proposal to resolve this year’s public ruckus over the unfair and discriminatory award of JPA selection of foreign degree scholarships has also not been acted upon.

I had proposed that all students with SPM 9A1s and above should be awarded PSD scholarships – which would mean an increased allocation of RM300 million for JPA scholarships budget from RM700 million to RM1 billion this year.
Read the rest of this entry »

21 Comments

Has Malaysia lost the battle to become a developed nation and entered the cycle to become a failed state?

The collapse of the roof of the RM300 million 50,000-capacity Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak within a year of completion provoked disbelief, shock and outrage with a whole spectrum of unflattering comments and reactions.

One reaction is that the shocking collapse of the RM300 million stadium within a year of completion is a disaster waiting to happen. An engineer, A. Mohamed who often jogged in the area, has told the media that he had noticed that the space frame which held the roof was getting bent out of shape but his efforts to warn government agencies and the media of the stadium defects were ignored.

Another is that the collapse is the inevitable consequence of a system which gives premium to “know who” than “know how”, the curse of Umno cronyism hiding under the guise of New Economic Policy. Will the Umno cronies responsible for the infamous collapse of the RM300 million stadium roof within a year of completion be exposed and fully penalized?

I was told this morning that the collapse of the Gong Badak Stadium symbolizes the collapse of the “1Malaysia” slogan of Datuk Seri Najib Razak marking his second month as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »

161 Comments

Have MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

Has MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

I have received the following email from a Malay student in a private college:

“I am 21. My father left the family in 1995 and since then my mother has been taking care of the family by herself. I have two other elder sisters, all of whom are working now. My mother was a teacher but now she is retired. She is taking care of the family by herself with the pension she receives every month.

“I studied in … School and later at International Islamic College (IPTS), taking a diploma in computer science. I was a self-sponsored student in IIC.

“I was supported by my mother since she could afford it back then but I had to keep to a really tight budget. Although we were in a quite a difficult financial situation back then, I didn’t waste any time and studied hard.
Read the rest of this entry »

58 Comments

Why was Ong Tee Keat so irresponsible to talk about PKFZ may cost less than RM4.6 billion when PwC reported that the PKFZ “white elephant” had escalated to RM7.5 billion and may cost another RM5 billion to total RM12.5 billion?

Silence, sense-surround silence, thundering silence from Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, MCA President and Transport Minister, to my daily three questions on the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-Off despite the open and public directive by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Ong “to provide answers on every question raised by any party” on PwC’s PKFZ report.

Am I surprised? I am not.

However, as there is standing instruction by the Prime Minister to Ong to answer every question on the PKFZ “mother of all scandals” by anyone, I will continue with my daily three question to the Transport Minister, this being the fourth consecutive “3 questions a day”.

My first question today to Ong is why he was being downright irresponsible when he said in Penang yesterday that “outlays for the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project could end up being less than RM4.6 billion” (“PKFZ could cost less than RM4.6b” – New Straits Times June 2, 2009) by engaging legal experts and consultants to recover the “overcharging” reported by PcW.
Read the rest of this entry »

35 Comments

PKFZ questions – why Transport Ministry should not cut losses instead of continuing to throw good money after bad to create a RM12.5 billion PKFZ “white elephant”?

In less than two days, MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has forgotten the directive of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to “provide answers on every question raised by any party” on the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and has started to be abusive and refused to answer the many queries raised by the Malaysian public in the past three days.

Ong even refused to answer the six questions I have posed on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal in the past two days, but I will pose another three questions today, as this is what the Prime Minister had promised – that he had directed Ong to respond to “every question raised by any party” on the PKFZ.

Ong seems to be “on the run” from these questions, like his predecessor as Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in November 2007. Why is this?

At the media conference at Port Klang Authority (PKA) on Friday, after a DAP team had spent five hours leafing through the three-and-a-half-inch high documentary annexure to the PwC audit report on PKFZ, containing 20 appendices, I had asked the government to consider the option to cut losses in PKFZ instead of continuing to incur further losses in view of the PWC warning that the cost of the ill-advised project could skyrocket by another RM5 billion to reach the astronomical total of RM12.453 billion.
Read the rest of this entry »

42 Comments

PKFZ “mother of all scandals” – 2nd set of 3 questions for OTK: agree to RCI to nab all culprits?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced on Friday that he had directed Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to “provide answers on every question raised by any party” involving the PricewaterhouseCooper audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).

I am still waiting for Ong’s full response to my first three questions on Malaysia’s “Mother of All Scandals” – the RM12.5 billion PKFZ Rip-Off.

Ong should end his linguistic games and boldly admit that he had failed the public pledge he made in his first month as Transport Minister to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, that he would not condone or protect wrongdoers responsible for the PKFZ “Mother of All Scandals” , even though they were former top leaders, whether MC A or Barisan Nasional. Read the rest of this entry »

43 Comments

Khir Toyo – Suspend him from Selangor State Assembly but not his assemblyman’s allowances

The Selangor State Assembly should not suspend Datuk Seri Dr. Mohd Khir Toyo’s state assemblyman allowances even if it endorses the Selangor State Assembly Rights and Privileges Committee recommendations to punish and suspend the former Selangor Mentri Besar from the Assembly for grave breach of privileges.

The Selangor State Assembly Rights and Privileges Committee has recommended that Khir be suspended for a year from the state assembly without state assemblyman’s allowances and privileges for not attending an inquiry conducted by the state’s Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) in March on the disbursement of state agency funds to Balis – the Wives of Selangor Assemblymen and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation.

Khir is also found guilty of three other charges of making disparaging remarks and negative statements about Selcat in the media and on his blog, with the recommended sentence of six months’ suspension each, with all the suspensions to run concurrently. Read the rest of this entry »

44 Comments

RM8 bil PKFZ scandal? – Cabinet tomorrow should overrule OTK’s “passing-the-buck” game and direct immediate release of PwC Report

The Cabinet tomorrow should overrule Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s “passing-the-buck” game and direct the immediate and full publication of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and to respond to the Edge cover report that the cost of PKFZ had escalated fourfold from the original RM1.8 billion to RM8 billion.

Ong should not try to distract public attention from the real issues about the PKFZ scandal by threatening that he would be “checking with his legal adviser and see if the article carried in the weekly was libellous”. (Star April 27, 2009)

Let him respond fully, frankly and forthrightly to two issues:

Firstly, why as the Transport Minister he had reneged on his promise made in April last year, as reported by Star (April 8, 2008) headlined: ”Ong to tell all on Port Klang Free Zone” quoting him:

“I wish to inform the rakyat about the true situation – whether it was actually squandered, not squandered, and whether it has gone to, as well as the breakdown of the budget.”
Read the rest of this entry »

12 Comments

8 tests for Najib Cabinet

Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet

YAB Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Cabinet Ministers, Putrajaya.

YAB/YB,

Firstly, let me start by congratulating Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his appointment as Prime Minister and all the Ministers of the first Najib Cabinet.

The Najib Cabinet saw the removal of seven Ministers in the old Abdullah Cabinet, namely Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home); Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Tourism), Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Senator Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works) and Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories).

No one shed any tears for the dropping of the seven Ministers in the Abdullah Cabinet.

However, Malaysians are outraged at the new set of Ministers in the Najib Cabinet, for they are not only another set of “old faces” but include 11 new Ministers or Deputy Ministers who entered Parliament from the backdoor of the Senate.

Worse still, they include “political rejects” like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin who were trounced by the electorate in last year’s political tsunami in the March 8 general elections, making the Najib Cabinet even more unrepresentative and unpopular than the second and last Abdullah Cabinet.

As a result, no new Cabinet in the nation’s 52-year history could have got off with a worse start than the present one.

Read the rest of this entry »

24 Comments

Wow factors of Najib Cabinet? Backdoor Cabinet, Parti Belakang

What is the Wow factor in the Najib Cabinet?

None on the positive side.

If any, there are the negatives, viz:

  • Najib’s “backdoor” Cabinet – the first Cabinet in the nation’s 52-year history with the most number of “backdoor” Senators, 11 in all and comprising mostly of candidates rejected by the voters in the political tsunami of last year’s general elections.
  • Replacement of one set of “old faces” like Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said but who have entered Parliamen by the front-door by a set of equally “old faces” like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin who have to get into Parliament by the backdoor of the Senate as they had been rejected by the voters in last year’s general elections.
  • Parti Gerakan becoming “Parti Belakang” with its president having to sneak into Parliament from the backdoor.

Read the rest of this entry »

67 Comments

An untalented team lacking integrity

by Tunku Abdul Aziz
The Malaysian Insider
11th April 2009

APRIL 10 — If you want my honest opinion, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s People’s Cabinet is totally uninspiring and insipid to boot. And that is being charitable. What a sad commentary on the paucity of proven talent and integrity within the ranks of Barisan Nasional that all Najib has succeeded in putting on offer is a team of recycled political expendables, many with personal records of integrity that will not bear close scrutiny.

Najib has done nothing more than a bit of tinkering. Is this the clean and honest team that he has promised the nation? Instead of calling it a Cabinet, a more accurate and honest name for it is surely “baggage room” because most of those who are our new ministers, including Najib, unfortunately, are perceived to be carrying oversized baggage into office. If this had been a team chosen by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I should not have been surprised.

But subjecting his ministers to the discipline of the KPI or key performance indicators is an idea whose time has come. However, the danger with management tools like Long Range Strategic Forecasting and Management by Objectives, now long forgotten, and the new panacea, the KPI, is in the distinct possibility of their being more honoured in the breach than in the observance. That being said, let us see whether the new broom can keep up with a mountain of bureaucratic trash that has been generated in the corridors of Putrajaya. Read the rest of this entry »

35 Comments

Najib Cabinet – dominated by old faces, old ideas and old approach rejected by Malaysians in the March 8 political tsunami and two Bukit by-elections

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak claims that his cabinet announced yesterday is not only a new team with a new face, but also a new approach to administer the country better in a more responsible and transparent manner that focuses on the people.

This is not the perception and reaction of the Malaysian public who find the Najib Cabinet dominated by old faces, old ideas and old approach rejected by Malaysians in the March 8 political tsunami last year and the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections on Tuesday.

Most of the media headlines screamed “28 Ministers, 40 Deputy Ministers” when actually it should be “29 Ministers, 40 Deputy Ministers”.

How could Najib, with his new slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” make such a small yet colossal mistake?

Has Malaysian educational standards fallen so low after five years of Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein as Education Minister, that the government is incapable of the most simple calculations?

What “Performance Now” when the Najib premiership cannot even count whether there are 28 or 29 Ministers in the Cabinet?

Malaysians were promised a “lean” Cabinet but Najib has 29 Ministers, only two less than the 31 Ministers of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when the fifth Malaysian Prime Minister submitted his resignation to the Yang di Pertuan Agong last Thursday and two more than the last Cabinet appointed by the fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad after the 1999 general elections!

If Najib is serious about a lean and smart Cabinet, he should have trimmed the Cabinet by one third to have not more than 20 Ministers when in contrast, the United Kingdom has a Cabinet of 23 full-rank Ministers, Australia a Cabinet of 20 Ministers and France 17 Ministers. Read the rest of this entry »

35 Comments

Disgust at the new low in politics

The Royal Address was a valedictory address to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, when the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the end of his address touched on the transition of leadership of the country, with the hand-over of the premiership to the Deputy Prime Minister next month.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong recorded appreciation to the Prime Minister for his leadership and contribution, mentioning specifically to issues concerning “democracy, accountability, integrity, the fight against corruption, strengthening the judiciary and the application of Islamic Hadhari approach”.

To the majority of Malaysians, Abdullah’s tenure as the fifth Prime Minister will be remembered more for its missed opportunities than any real achievements.

We are told that a second stimulus package in the form of a mini-budget would be presented in Parliament on March 10 to boost the country’s economy, when more than four months ago, I had called on the new Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to present a revised 2,009 Budget to take corrective measures to shield the country from the world’s worst economic crisis in 80 years so as to enhance competitiveness, boost growth and tamp down inflation. A missed opportunity.

We are told of a Cabinet Committee to Identify and Monitor the Participation of Indian Community in Government Programmes and Projects chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, when immediately after the landslide Barisan Nasional March 2004 general election, I had called for a high-powered Cabinet Committee to present a blueprint in the first meeting of Parliament to address the long-standing issues of marginalisation and alienation faced by Indian Malaysians in the country and to bring the Indian Malaysians into the mainstream of national development – political, economic, educational, social, cultural and all other aspects of the nation-building process. Another missed opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

93 Comments

100 dead and over 45,000 dengue cases this year – “conspiracy of silence” outrageous

I feel totally outraged at the conspiracy of silence involving the government headed by the Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai and even the media to play down the worst dengue epidemic in the country’s history which has to date claimed 100 lives and recorded over 45,000 dengue cases.

It came as a shock to me, as it must be to all Malaysians, that 100 lives have been lost to dengue in the first 50 weeks of this year.

No mainstream newspaper headlined or even reported this shocking news or that the country is facing the worst dengue epidemic in history, which has been confirmed by the latest dengue statistics by the Director, Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Datuk Dr. Hassan Abdul Rahman yesterday that dengue fever claimed two more victims last week, bringing the number of fatal cases in the country to 100.

Dr. Hassan did not give the latest total number of dengue cases in the country as on December 13, 2008 when they have also established a dubious new record of exceeding 45,000 cases – which is another shocker that the total number of dengue cases have crossed the 40,000 mark even before the full year is over.

Liow should explain why there is a conspiracy of silence to play down the worst dengue epidemic in the country when he should be spearheading a nation-wide anti-dengue public campaign to save lives by reducing avoidable deaths as well as mitigate considerable unnecessary sufferings? Read the rest of this entry »

21 Comments

Why afraid of a Special Parliamentary Commitee on MACC?

Second Amendment to MACC Bill –

    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 »

27 Comments

MACC Bill – will it propel Malaysia to be among world’s 10 or 20 least corrupt nations in five years’ time?

First amendment:

    [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 »

11 Comments