Archive for category Good Governance
Ban on “Allah” for non-Muslims and on stop-work on world’s tallest Mazu statue – are moderates in Cabinet outnumbered by extremists?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Religion, Sabah on Saturday, 5 January 2008
In his speech at the Christmas high-tea organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made a stirring call to moderates to lead the fight against fanatics or extremism will prevail.
He said: “If the moderates do not speak up, they will allow the extremists to occupy centre stage. And then, extremism will be seen as the religious or national approach in our country.”
However, from the continued ban on the use of “Allah” for non-Muslims and the stop-work on the world’s tallest Mazu statue in Kudat, Malaysians are entitled to ask: Where are the moderates in Cabinet and government to lead the fight against fanatics so that extremism will not prevail?
How can the Cabinet justify the total ban on the use of the word “Allah”, by surreptitiously inserting as an unwritten condition for the renewal of the printing permit of the Catholic weekly Herald, when for 50 years through four previous Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn and Tun Mahathir, the use of the word by Christians and Sikhs had not caused religious misunderstanding, tension or conflict?
It is the Cabinet decision to impose a total ban on the use of the word “Allah” for non-Muslim religions, trampling on the fundamental right of freedom of religion for non-Muslims, that is exacerbating inter-religious relations in plural Malaysia.
Why are there no moderates in the Cabinet to hold the middle-ground or have the extremists and fanatics now outnumber the moderates among the Ministers? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib – teaching baby crabs to walk straight
Today’s New Straits Times carried two intriguing and controversial front-page headlines in the aftermath of the Chua Soi Lek sex video scandal: “LET THIS BE A LESSON” and “’My biggest mistake’”.
The “LET THIS BE A LESSON” headline and NST report (p 6) elicited the common reaction from most readers – “Is Najib the right person to give such a warning?”
The report quoted the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak telling Barisan Nasional leaders and members “to learn a lesson from the resignation of health minister Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek”.
Najib told Barisan Nasional leaders “to behave themselves so as not to embarrass the party”. He said party members must exercise discipline and abide by the code of conduct of the party.
Had Najib set exemplary standards in his political career as to qualify him to issue warning or is he akin to Father Crab teaching Baby Crab to walk straight?
Or was Najib saying that the real lesson to be learnt was not to be caught with the pants down?
The second NST frontpage headline “’My biggest mistake’” – also front page headline of Star “My mistake – Chua blames downfall on hardwork“ and the Sun “Chua’s biggest mistake” – is equally thought-provoking.
Chua attributed his political downfall to his being too conscientious and hard-working as Health Minister and MCA vice president , to the extent that he gave this unsolicited advice to future Health Ministers – “Please go slow. If you go too fast, you will also be subject to speculation. This is political reality, so I agree with some people that it is the Ministry of Hell, not because of the ministry’s work but because of the political system that we have.”
A heart-felt advice by Chua to his successors to be Health Ministers of mediocrity instead of excellence and distinction? Read the rest of this entry »
EPF needs to explain why it discontinue the RM1.4 billion claim against it six former executives
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Friday, 21 December 2007
by Richard Teo
EPF has an obligation to explain to its contributors why it has discontinued the suit filed in 2005 against Rashid Hussain and five former top executives.
A writ of summons to the value of RM1.4 billion was filed against the six by RHB Capital, RHB Securities Sdn Bhd and RHB Equities Sdn Bhd at the Kuala Lumpur High Court sometime in 2005.
The six former top executives were sued” for breach of fiduciary duties, breach of trust,breach of
contracts of employment/or negligence in relation to certain margin financial facilities granted by RHB Equities during their tenure as Directors and/or Officers of RHB capital, RHB Securities and RHB Equities.”
The suit was filed by major shareholder Utama Banking Group in 2005 and during the course of the trial evidence adduced seems to indicate a clear breach of fiduciary duties. Dubious huge loans for margin financing was given without any collateral and proper approval.
Surely such obvious dereliction of duty should eventually bring to book those responsible for the loan fiasco.The loan claimed in the suit was not a paltry sum but for a mind boggling sum of RM1.4 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah plunging to new depth of shambolic government with “somnambulant governance”?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Good Governance, Religion on Wednesday, 19 December 2007
I wondered this morning whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is crafting a new form of governance – somnambulant governance – making Cabinet appointments on-the-run, with the public and the Ministers themselves completely unaware of the existence of such Cabinet portfolios and responsibilities.
This is from Abdullah’s reaction to the proposal from a coalition of Indian NGOs asking the government to set up a Non-Muslim Affairs Department to handle sensitive issues pertaining to religion.
Malaysian Indian Youth Council (MIYC) president A. Rajaretnam suggested that such a department should come under the Prime Minister’s Department and should look into issues such as conversions and temple demolitions so that these problems are handled department-to-department and not between NGOs and departments.
The Prime Minster’s response is utterly befuddling and confusing, as no one can make proper sense out of it, as illustrated by the contradictory media headlines, viz:
• Kerajaan tubuh Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Bukan Islam – Berita Harian
• “Government considers setting up panel for non-Muslims” – New Straits Times
• “Non-Muslim affairs dept, if necessary’ – The Sun
• Non-Muslims looked after –We already have panels to handle their affairs, Abdullah – The Star
• Not Necessary For Non-Muslim Affairs Dept Now, Says PM – Bernama
How can Abdullah’s one response produce three different perceptions as to what he meant – from the government setting up such a department for non-Muslim affairs, to studying the proposal and an outright dismissal as “not necessary”.
I do not blame the journalists, whether reporters or sub-editors for getting three completely different versions from one response, as nobody really knows what Abdullah was talking about. Read the rest of this entry »
Abdullah just don’t get it – that he has already disappointed Malaysians after biggest-ever electoral mandate 4 yrs ago
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Good Governance on Tuesday, 18 December 2007
In Puchong Indah, Selangor yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi declared: Support me and I will not disappoint you.
He said the support of the people give him greater sense of responsibility to strive even harder to ensure prosperity, harmony and development without leaving out any group.
Abdullah just don’t get it – that he has already disappointed Malaysians who had given him the greatest mandate ever secured by a Prime Minsiter in any general election in the nation’s 50-year history in 2004.
Is Abdullah’s denial so serious and even terminal that he is simply not aware of the widespread and deep-seated popular disenchantment over his failure to honour his catalogue of pledges when he became Prime Minister in October 2003 and during the 2004 general election to be the Prime Minister for all Malaysians, to hear the truth from the people however unpleasant, to wipe out corruption and abuses of power, to open up spaces for greater democracy and press freedom and to lead an administration of excellence and meritocracy towards a First-World Malaysia?
I cannot but ask whether the recent spate of unprecedented events had failed to make any impression on him whatsoever to shake off his denial complex – whether the nation-wide pickets of MTUC and workers for fair wage, the March for Justice of the 2,000 lawyers in late September to demand judicial independence and integrity, the 40,000-strong BERSIH demonstration on Nov. 10 for electoral reforms for free, fair and clean elections or the 30,000-strong Hindraf demonstration to end the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians? Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal – Chan Kong Choy still Minister-on-the-run
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament, PKFZ, Transport on Wednesday, 28 November 2007
MCA Deputy President and Transport Minister, Datuk Chan Kong Choy has confirmed that he is a Minister-on-the-run from his sheer inability to answer five simplified questions on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal in Parliament yesterday.
When moving a RM10 salary-cut motion for the Transport Minister yesterday, I tried to make things easy for Chan by reducing the public furore over the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal into five simplified questions, viz:
1. Was it true that when the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry insisted on buying the 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at RM25 psf on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, in the face of strong objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Treasury which had recommended that the land be acquired at RM10 psf, the Cabinet had given its approval subject to two conditions: (i) categorical assurance by the Transport Minister that the PKFZ proposal was feasible and self-financing and would not require any public funding; and (ii) that every RM100 million variation in the development costs of PKFZ would require prior Cabinet approval.
2. In the event, the first condition was breached when the PKFZ project ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion requiring government intervention and bailout while the second condition was breached with the original PKFZ development costs of RM400 million ballooning to RM2.8 billion without any prior Cabinet approval ever been sought for every RM100 million increase in development costs.
3. The Transport Minister had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor — to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market. The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. The first Letter of Support was issued by the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on May 28, 2003, which was Liong Sik’s last day as Transport Minister while the other three were issued by Kong Choy.
4. Whether it wasn’t true that in recognition that the four unlawful “Letters of Support” of the Transport Minister had nonetheless given implicit government guarantee to the market that the Cabinet had in mid-year to give retrospective approval for the unlawful and unauthorized four Letters of Support by the Transport Ministers in the past four years creating RM4.6 billion liability for the government in the bailout of PKFZ.
5. Why no action had been taken against the Transport Minister, both Liong Sik and Kong Choy, as well as the government officials responsible for the unlawful issue of the four “Letters of Support”. Kong Choy had said that he did not know that he had no power as Transport Minister to issue such Letters of Support. Was this acceptable explanation for getting the government embroiled in the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal?
After each question, I specifically asked Chan to give a “yes or not” answer — to deny if the facts I had mentioned were untrue, and to explain and justify what he and the government had done if what I had said was undisputed and true.
In his reply, Chan completely ignored the five simplified questions on the core issues of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal, as well as other questions which I had posed, including: Read the rest of this entry »
Shame of MIC MP challenging a woman DAP MP to “fight” outside Chamber – first time in Parliament in 50 years
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Parliament on Tuesday, 20 November 2007
Deputy Minister for Natural Resources and Environment Datuk S. Sothinathan should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and apologise for challenging a woman DAP MP, Fong Po Kuan (Batu Gajah) to a fight outside the Chamber yesterday during the winding-up of the 2008 Budget committee debate on his Ministry, when he was completely flustered and unable to reply in an exchange with DAP MPs. The shameful conduct of Sothinathan is the first time in 50 years of Parliament in Malaysia.
The fracas took place yesterday when he made a baseless charge against me when I raised the widespread opposition of the people of Kedah to the unfair, arbitrary and illegal increases of quit rent in the state.
Earlier during the debate, I had informed Parliament that 120,000 signatures regardless of race, religion and political beliefs, protesting against the unfair Kedah quit land increases was presented to the Kedah State Government on Sunday, and that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment which has responsibility for co-ordination of land policy, should ensure that the Kedah State Government is more responsible and responsive on the issue.
When the signature campaign opposing the Kedah quit land revision was launched by the Kedah Chinese Assembly Hall on 23rd May 2007 after a year of fruitless protests, there were those who ridiculed the campaign as unlikely to collect even a thousand signatures.
However, within two weeks it collected over 30,000 signatures while in less than six months, there were 120,000 signatures from all races and religions, reflecting the widespread opposition to the unfair, arbitrary and illegal quit land revision in the Kedah state.
The main objections of the Kedah people to the quit land revision were two: Read the rest of this entry »
Citizens’ Low Expectations of Their Government
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Good Governance on Monday, 19 November 2007
by M. Bakri Musa
It is a sad reflection of the citizens’ low expectations of their government and public institutions that the recent collapse of the Perak State Park Corporation’s building in Tasik Banding, Gerik, no longer provokes an outrage. The general reaction seems to be, “What’s new?” At this rate, soon only the buildings that stand would make the headlines!
Yes, Works Minister Samy Vellu feigned shock and anger, while Mentri Besar Tajol Roslin promised a “full investigation” of this latest disaster. We have heard those promises and reassurances too often before. Yet these new buildings keep collapsing or leaking, and half-baked projects like the crooked bridge to replace the causeway have to be scrapped.
From yet another perspective, or to “spin” it differently, it was indeed a blessing that such government facilities as the new Kuching Prison were not completed. With such shoddy constructions, it would have been a massive and tragic human trap, not a prison.
Only a few years ago there was a serious breach of security at the nearby Grik Army Base. The heist was perpetrated not by a gang of superbly trained infiltrators rather a rag tag bunch of sarong-clad village bums. Then too there was the promise by Defense Minister Najib Razak of a White Paper to get to “the bottom of the issue.” There was only one problem: It was only a promise. Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.5 m Belum complex collapse – pass-the-buck begins as Tajol blames Ramli Ngah
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Saturday, 17 November 2007
The “passing-the-buck” game over the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation complex in the Royal Belum State Park, Perak has begun, with the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali blaming his predecessor Tan Sri Ramli Ngah for the debacle.
Who is really responsible for the collapse of the RM4.5 million Belum complex — Tajol or Ramli?
After visiting the Pulau Banding site of the collapsed structure in Grik yesterday, Tajol described the complex as a project that had never been viable and had been problematic from the start.
This is what he said in the New Straits Times report today:
“How can you spend RM4.5 million for a complex that has only 14 rooms?
“I am really frustrated (with the whole project). As an accountant, I knew that it would be a problem to manage due to the limited number of rooms. You need at least 50 rooms for such a place to be economically viable.”
Tajol said there were developers in Ipoh who could build a complex or resort with 100 rooms on a budget of only RM8 million. Read the rest of this entry »
Emergency Parliament debate – collapse of RM4.5 million Perak State Park complex in Belum
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Saturday, 17 November 2007
I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah for an emergency motion in Parliament on Monday on the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation complex in the Royal Belum State Park, Perak.
Only two days ago, in his visit to Sarawak, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was calling on state governments to contribute positively to his campaign to improve the government delivery system.
The Perak State Government seems to have delivered a response with the collapse of the complex in Belum Park.
It is unfortunate but true that in his four years as Prime Minister, there are increasing evidence of Malaysia degenerating from “First-World Infrastructure, Third-World Mentality” to “Third-World Infrastructure, Fourth-rate Mentality” where there are not only cracks galore in public buildings, but we seem to have entered into a new phase of collapsing buildings!
Never before in the 50-year history of the nation has the public service been seen as more inept and incompetent — with the unending list of “crack-ups” of new government buildings and public construction projects, whether the brand-new administrative capital of Putrajaya, the RM270 million world’s second largest court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, the repeated leaks in the Parliament Building after RM100 million renovation, the safety of the 15-storey Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in Precinct 4, Putrajaya and the latest, the “implosion” and collapse of the RM4.5 million Royal Belum State Park administrative complex.
Who is going to be responsible for the RM4.5 million losses following the collapse of the Royal Belum State Park complex? Will it be the long-suffering taxpayers who will have to be the suckers again to foot the bill — while everyone else, whether the contractor, the government supervisor and those in authority who had a cut in the RM4.5 million project, enjoy impunity with some laughing all the way to the bank with their profits? Read the rest of this entry »
RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Sports on Friday, 16 November 2007
Now that the British East Herts Council had rejected the Malaysian government’s application to establish a RM70 million Sports High-Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury outside London, the siren proposal to appeal against the decision must be decisively resisted and struck down.
The Cabinet next Wednesday should just bury the idea of the RM70 million Brickendonbury Sports HPTC and establish an inquiry to ascertain who were responsible for the folly of wasting RM2 million in pursuing the project and who had really benefited.
The Council had publicly said that the Malaysian government had been consistently advised of the constraints in developing the Brickendonbury site due to the Green Belt policy, the site’s remoteness, the listed mansion and the historic park land. The Council had been doubtful about how outdoor sports facilities would assimilate satisfactorily and be accommodated within the historic garden landscape.
Why then was the Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman and the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Sports, so stubborn in ignoring these objections to the extent of throwing RM2 million of public funds down the drain, when good governance and good sense would have advised against it? Read the rest of this entry »
Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No”
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Sports on Thursday, 15 November 2007
Breaking News
Malaysia’s Application To Set Up HPTC In Brickendonbury Rejected
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) — The East Herts Council Development Control Committee has rejected the Malaysian government’s application to set up a High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury, Britain.
The National Sports Institute director-general, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz, said the decision was made at the council meeting in Bishops Startford, Herts, on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Malaysia).
“With the decision, we now have to prepare a report to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Sports headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their guidance on the next course of action,” he said in a statement. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion”
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Thursday, 15 November 2007
On Tuesday, Malaysians saw on CNN the spectacle of the implosion of the 16-storey 1,000-room New Frontier casino-hotel, collapsing the second resort that opened on the Las Vegas Strip half-a-century ago with 1,000 pounds of explosives.
It was a spectacular engineering feat to behold, the precisely-planned and delicately-balanced demolition operation — to give way to a US$2 billion, 3,000-room megaresort Las Vegas Plaza, featuring a 500-ft tall Ferris Wheel similar in size to the famous London Eye, set to open in 2011.
Malaysia has also our own implosion on the same day, but it was a most shameful and ignominous one – the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation’s two-storey administration building on a hillslope on the edge of Tasik Banding in Gerik.
Star said the structure “collapsed like a house of cards” while New Straits Times said the complex “collapsed into a heap of rubble”.
Malaysia’s very own implosion was no spectacular engineering feat but spectacular building failure and government negligence. Read the rest of this entry »
RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal — why is the government on-the-run?
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Transport on Monday, 12 November 2007
This is the question I posed in Parliament today — “Why is the government-on-the-run on the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?”
During the 2008 Budget committee stage debate on the Finance Ministry, I started my speech protesting against government ministers kicking the issue of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ scandal from one Ministry to another, evading accountability by refusing to give a direct answer to many pertinent questions which I had posed — with the ball being kicked among the Prime Minister’s Department, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport with no one wanting to give a proper answer.
I simplified the questions on the PKFZ scandal which cry out for answer, viz:
1. Was it true that when the Port Klang Authority and the Transport Ministry insisted on buying the 1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ at RM25 psf on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis, in the face of strong objection by the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Treasury which had recommended that the land be acquired at RM10 psf, the Cabinet had given its approval subject to two conditions: (i) categorical assurance by the Transport Minister that the PKFZ proposal was feasible and self-financing and would not require any public funding; and (ii) that every RM100 million variation in the development costs of PKFZ would require prior Cabinet approval.
2. In the event, the first condition was breached when the PKFZ project ballooned from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion requiring government intervention and bailout while the second condition was breached with the original PKFZ development costs of RM400 million ballooning to RM2.8 billion without any prior Cabinet approval ever sought for every RM100 million increase in development costs.
3. The Transport Minister had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor — to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market. The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. The first Letter of Support was issued by the former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on May 28, 2003, which was Liong Sik’s last day as Transport Minister while the other three were issued by Kong Choy. Read the rest of this entry »
ECM-Libra/Avenue merger and approval of Air Asia Singapore route
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Letters, Transport on Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Letter
by Richard Teo
I wish to refer to the Malaysiakini article ‘Air Asia: Its like going to the Moon.’
Yes, Tony Fernandez and Air Asia has every right to be in a jubilant mood after having obtained the rights to fly the Kuala lumpur to Singapore route. After all its a gold mine route previously the monopoly of our MAS airline.
But why the sudden change of mind to give this lucrative route to Air Asia when the logical decision would be to allow the status quo to remain and let MAS reap the profits while it is on its path to recovery?
The answer can be found by referring to the ECM-Libra and the Avenue merger. Prior to the merger, Kallimullah and Khairy Jamalluddin (son-in Law of P.M) bought a block of shares in ECM-Libra and lo and behold one month later ECM-LIibra sealed the deal with the cash-rich Avenue merger. Of course someone at the Ministry of Finance had to approve the deal and guess
who? Read the rest of this entry »
E-government to e-scam – Kong Choy should publicly justify e-Kesihatan
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Health, Transport on Saturday, 22 September 2007
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy should fully explain the second scandal since he became Transport Minister — the e-Kesihatan scandal which is also the latest example of e-government in Malaysia degenerating into e-scams.
The first scandal during Chan’s stewardship as Transport Minister is the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal, for which a full and proper accounting has still to be furnished by him.
Although the Cabinet on Wednesday decided to postpone the eKesihatan health screening of commercial drivers to enable the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to co-ordinate the implementation of the programme, what are exactly the implications of the Cabinet decision.
Does it mean that the RM450 million 15-year eKesihatan middleman concession to centralize the health screening of commercial drivers, scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, had been merely postponed with the monopoly position of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd. basically unaffected or could the whole concession monopoly be scrapped?
And in the latter, would Supremme Systems be compensated a substantial amount resulting in a “heads I will, tail you lose” situation for the company at the expense of the taxpayers, as had happened in the past like the Johore Baru crooked half-bridge cancellation, where the contractor Gerbang Perdana Sdn. Bhd had been paid compensation of RM257.4 million, although the government had earlier computed a RM100 million compensation!
Chan should make public the full details of the eKesihatan contract which had been signed between the Road Transport Department and Suprmme Systems Sdn. Bhd, whether the Transport Ministry had fully committed the government to compensate Supremme Systems for delays in implementing the eKesihatan scheme, like the postponement decided by the Cabinet on Wednesday.
After the shocking disclosures of pervasive mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report and the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal caused by the Transport Minister unlawfully committing the government to stand guarantee for RM4 billion bonds issued by a private company developing the PKFZ, Malaysians are entitled to demand higher standards of accountability to avoid repetition of the same mistakes in the Transport Ministry and the continued mismanagement of public funds. Read the rest of this entry »
Lingam Tape – why PM’s one-sided threat if not authentic but nothing about action to be taken if true?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Court, Good Governance on Saturday, 22 September 2007
The initial one-sided response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the Lingam Tape, which has plunged the country into a new crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability and professionalism of the Malaysian judiciary — both national and international — is a great disappointment compromising the neutrality and impartiality of his high office.
Abdullah said yesterday that he had directed the police to immediately start investigations into the Lingam Tape as it was important to act quickly because the content of the clip could tarnish the image of the country’s judiciary.
He said: “We cannot treat this lightly. We will act fast to determine the truth.”
He said that if investigations revealed that the claims were false, action would be taken against those who were trying to undermine the judiciary as the video recording would invoke public anger and hatred towards the judiciary.
He said at this juncture, the question of setting up a Commission of Inquiry did not arise as the allegations in the video clip had yet to be proven as authentic.
All right-thinking Malaysians are mystified and upset by the Prime Minister’s response and have one question — why is Abdullah threatening dire consequences if the Lingam Tape is not authentic but said nothing about action to be taken if it is proven true?
Abdullah’s initial considered response 48 hours after the public surfacing of the Lingam Tape does not inspire public confidence that the Prime Minister would rise above the fray and be absolutely neutral and impartial in handling the latest scandal of the Malaysian judiciary.
He is right when he said that the Lingam Tape has yet to be proven as authentic, but on the other hand, 48 hours and now 72 hours have passed since its public disclosure had elapsed and its authenticity has not been challenged — neither by Lingam nor Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, purportedly the other party in the telephone conversation recorded in the Lingam Tape.
The Prime Minister’s reaction is only valid and justifiable if he had received intimation from Fairuz denying the authenticity of the Lingam Tape as without such a denial from either Lingam or Ahmad Fairuz, Abdullah risks compromising his high office in staking a position which gave full status quo backing to the Chief Justice. Read the rest of this entry »
AG’s Report – why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Good Governance on Friday, 21 September 2007
Why the thunderous post-Cabinet silence over the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report — and does it signify the end of the three-day wonder of thunder-and-lightning in the media over abuses and mismanagement of public funds until next year’s Auditor-General’s Report?
Two Tuesdays ago, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that he had directed all Ministers at the Cabinet meeting on Sept. 5 to go through the Auditor-General’s Report in detail and to fully explain mismanaging funds and other irregularities in their respective ministries.
Last Thursday, Abdullah said the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) should step in and investigate any suspicion of corruption in ministries and government agencies implicated in the Auditor-General’s Report 2006.
When was the Cabinet meeting for the Ministers to explain in detail the strictures of the Auditor-General against their respective ministries?
I had expected some announcement after this Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting on the outcome of the Prime Minister’s directive to all Ministers, but there is only thunderous silence.
Have all the Ministers been given a reprieve from having to personally account to the Cabinet for all the public fund mismanagement and irregularities in their ministries as revealed by the Auditor-General’s Report; and if not, why is there no public accounting from the Prime Minister as to any outcome?
For instance, what is the explanation from the UMNO Youth leader and Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein on the mismanagement of public funds of over RM285 million in the Ministry of Youth and Sports when he was the Minister from 1999 to 2004?
It is no use Hishammuddin making brave statements in public that “I’ve nothing to hide” and calling for thorough investigations into the misuse of funds by the Youth and Sports Ministry when up to now he has failed to give any satisfactory explanation for such colossal waste of public funds as the Minister in charge. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian consulate service a letdown
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Letters, public service on Thursday, 20 September 2007
by Disappointed Malaysian
I am writing from Melbourne, Australia as I am frustrated with the services and support provided by the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra, Australia. My family have had the unfortunate incident of having our house burglarised and all (the entire family’s) our documents ie, Malaysian passports, birth certificates, Malaysian driving licences, our MyKads, marriage certificates have all been stolen.
We immediately reported the incident to the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra and was passed on to the person in-charge, a Mr Haa Doan. He must be the most unpleasant person we have come across and encountered during our stay in Australia so far. We told him our circumstances and asked him for the procedure to apply for a replacement travel document and he advised that he will immediately send us the necessary application forms.
We supplied him with our correspondence address and contact details. He then reprimanded us for the way we kept our documents at home which was uncalled for. He kept insisting that we have to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for all our documents but how could we when we have just lost our passports?
The documents came only four weeks later and we sent off our completed forms and the necessary certified documents. On Sept 13, we decided to check with the Malaysian Consulate on the status of our application. My husband who called was told that Haa was on leave. My husband was not happy and called again, and this time was told that Haa was not on leave and the call was passed to him.
He was very annoyed with my husband and irritated when asked about the status of our applications. He said it is still with him in his office which meant that the applications have been sitting at the consulate for more than a month. He said he was sick and that he just returned from back to work. The question is does the consulate stop functioning because Haa is on sick leave? Is there no one to take over his responsibility when he is away from the office?
When my husband asked why wasn’t it sent off to the Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur, he said that they do not do daily postings to Malaysia and that it was done only once a month! Asked how long will the whole process take, Haa said that he was not sure, maybe it would be six months or more and that it was entirely up to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office.
These kind of answers are definitely not reassuring for a whole family who is at their wits end at having lost all their critical documents. The passports are required to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for the other documents and looks like we are at a loss as to when we will get our passports approved or when they finally make their way back to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office. Is Australia so distant that there is only one mail service a month? Read the rest of this entry »
Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Court, Good Governance on Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Anwar Ibrahim has produced an explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised which has set off reverberations in the Palace of Justice, the corridors of power, offices and homes in the country as well as internationally.
The time for reckoning for the restoration of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law cannot be put off any longer.
Malaysiakini has carried the transcript of the conversation between lawyer V.K. Lingam with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz sometime in 2002, as recorded in the videoclip, viz:
“The CJ said he is relative to now Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan, I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him.
He said PM is already very angry with him, he said no problem he is going to make you acting err.. confirm your position as PCA, working very hard then working very hard to get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM.
Ah, we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku, I am going to see him tomorrow, there is a letter sent to CJ, I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin, that Datuk Heliliah, Datuk Ramli, Datuk Ramli and Datuk Ma’roop be made judges, and he rejected Dr Andrew Chui and apa itu Zainuddin Ismail lah. Because Zainuddin Ismail condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mokhtar’s appointment.
And then you also, you seems to wrote a letter for the remaining five be confirmed as judges. As per our memo I discuss with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM.
I just want to get a copy letter that that has been done. Read the rest of this entry »
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