What is the reason for Najib’s five-month silence on whether the sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General has anything to do with preparation of corruption charges by Attorney-General’s Chambers against him as the Prime Minister?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 29 December 2015, 6:39 am
It was exactly five months ago that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak purged the government by sacking the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, a senior Cabinet Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail and unleashed forces which resulted in “nine days of madness” in Putrajaya dissolving not only the high-powered multi-agency Special Task Force into the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal headed by the then Attorney-General but also the arrest or immediate transfers of recalcitrant officers in various investigative and enforcement agencies like the Police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC), as well as the derailing of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigations into the 1MDB scandal for more than three months until the election of a “cari makan” PAC Chairman.
Many strange and extraordinary things happened in these five months and one of them is Najib’s silence on whether the sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General has anything to do with the preparation of corruption charges in the Attorney-General’s Chambers against him as Prime Minister.
Najib is a seasoned politician and he cannot be unaware of such prevalent talk, not only in the country but worldwide, that he saved his premiership and political life by the skin of the teeth with the sudden and pre-emptive sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General exactly five months ago, or he would have found himself in the dock answering corruption charges.
Will Najib clear the air on the sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General before the year 2005 ends in four days’ time, as nobody gives credence to the official reason of health given for Gani Patail’s termination of service – especially as Gani looked very healthy and well in his three public appearances after his summary sacking: twice in September in connection with the murder of DPP Kevin Morais and third time at the Bar Council forum on “Sosma: Wolf in sheep’s clothing” in early November.
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Departmnet, Datuk Paul Low, is right – it is a stigma that the Najib Cabinet is not “God-fearing” when not a single Cabinet Minister, including Low, had dared to voice any protest or even query as to the propriety for the sudden and pre-emptive sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General three months before his retirement! Read the rest of this entry »
Did Paul Low imply that the Najib Cabinet is not a “God-fearing” one, which is why the country is inundated with so many political, economic and nation-building crisis?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 29 December 2015, 6:19 am
Yesterday, I had asked what the ”cryptic” speech of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low at the Christmas high-tea reception organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) really meant – when he said that if the government is
God-fearing, then there would be no need for him to be in the Cabinet.
To the overwhelming majority of literate Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or politics, it could only mean two things:
Firstly, the Najib Cabinet is not a God-fearing one, and needs God-fearing Ministers to ensure that it does not completely lose its moral compass; and
Secondly, Low is “God-fearing”, and he is either fighting a very lonely battle or in any event, fighting a losing battle among a handful of “God-fearing” Ministers who are committed to a national and sacred mission to ensure that the Cabinet keeps to the straight and narrow path of serving the people and nation and not just themselves and their cronies.
Who are the other Cabinet Ministers who are “God-fearing”, whether Muslim or non-Muslim?
Furthermore, was Low implying that the country was inundated with so many political, economic and nation-building crisis precisely because the Najib Cabinet is not “God-fearing”? Read the rest of this entry »
How 1MDB overpaid Goldman Sachs
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Monday, 28 December 2015, 1:16 pm
BY KHAIRIE HISYAM | Kinibiz
DECEMBER 18, 2015 8:00AM
With a number of questionable dealings over its seven years or so of existence, a considerable part of 1MDB’s shenanigans have involved Goldman Sachs who were handsomely, and extremely generously, rewarded. But why is the US firm so close to 1MDB?
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As the fires of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) controversy, long confined to embers unnoticed by the public, continue burning this year, authorities foreign and domestic have turned their attention to one of the company’s friends: Goldman Sachs.
It is no secret that Goldman Sachs seems to enjoy an intimate working relationship with 1MDB, having seen its services engaged for all three of 1MDB’s foreign market bond issuances.
Read the rest of this entry »
Another questionable use of loans – the Goldman bonds
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Sunday, 27 December 2015, 8:25 pm
BY P. GUNASEGARAM | Kinibiz
DECEMBER 17, 2015 8:00AM
In just one year, 2013, 1MDB had a huge US$6.5 billion (some RM27 billion at current exchange rates) of borrowings from bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs, nearly 65% of total borrowings. The problem is that it is not possible to ascertain how the funds were used.
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In 2013, 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) finalised US$3.5 billion through two bonds of US$1.75 billion each, both jointly guaranteed by 1MDB and International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC). They carried effective interest rates of close to 6% (see Part 3 of this issue on the bond mispricing).
And then there was the US$3 billion bond, also priced at around 6% effectively, which had a letter of support from the Malaysian government.
Read the rest of this entry »
How 1MDB lost RM6 bil through bond mispricing
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 10:35 am
BY KINIBIZ
DECEMBER 16, 2015 8:00AM
1MDB has already lost some RM6 billion by mispricing its bonds. So was this deliberately done, and whose pockets ended up bursting at the seams?
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A big chunk of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) fundraising over the years had been through issuing bonds. However, the company had been massively underpricing its bonds, losing some RM6 billion according to KINIBIZ estimates – and this is not paper but real, cold, hard cash.
When a bond is issued, it has a coupon rate and a face value. The coupon rate typically remains constant over the life of the bond and is a promise by the issuer to pay a certain percentage of the face value of the bond each year.
Bonds are commonly priced to give roughly similar yields as other comparable bonds in the open market. Yields are the annual coupon payments for the year divided by the price of the bond. Yields are adjusted by raising or lowering the bond price – they move in opposite directions.
Read the rest of this entry »
After ‘annus horribilis’, can M’sians look forward to a better year?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 9:05 am
Koon Yew Yin
Malaysiakini
26th Dec 2015
COMMENT Our prime minister is said to have had an “annus horribilis”. He will probably be very happy when this stressful year for him comes to an end.
Malaysians who are not familiar with this Latin term may have dirty thoughts when hearing the term for the first time. They should be excused for thinking of rude or four-letter words when cursing the BN government for making the lives of many Malaysians so hard and miserable.
It is safe to say that our prime minister is not alone in his year of disaster and misfortune. Millions of Malaysians are having it worse – much worse.
At least the PM’s personal bank account has increased by RM2.6 billion. But pity him; let’s not forget that much of this money has had to be distributed to Umno leaders, including members of parliament, state assemblypersons, supreme council members, division leaders, bloggers, media experts, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Will God-fearing Paul Low ask the Prime Minister to withhold presentation of NSC Bill to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for Royal Assent until Shahidan’s promise to Parliament to improve the Bill’s “shortcomings” had been honoured?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Najib Razak, Parliament on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 8:28 am
What are Malaysians, Christians and non-Christians, to make of the cryptic speech by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low, that if the government is God-fearing, then there would be no need for him to be in the cabinet?
Speaking yesterday at the Christmas high-tea reception organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), which should have been attended by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself, Low said:
“If we have the fear of God, actually there is no need for me to be in the government.
“If we have this fear, we will be concerned for justice, good governance, integrity, the environment, fairness. We will not abuse the power that is entrusted on us ourselves as leaders.”
Deferring the very intriguing issue raised by Low whether one should be in a Cabinet when it is God-fearing or not God-fearing, the most pressing issue facing the country is one of the unfinished business of the year 2015. Read the rest of this entry »
The colourful family and friends of 1MDB
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, General, Najib Razak on Friday, 25 December 2015, 5:10 pm
BY KHAIRIE HISYAM | KiniBiz
DECEMBER 15, 2015 8:00AM
From its inception to the present-day state of disarray, 1MDB counts an interesting – and colourful – group of people who are either directly involved in its operations or who are linked to the company in some manner.
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Controversial 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has a “triple-tier” corporate governance structure, with a board of advisors chaired by the prime minister himself in addition to having a board of directors overseeing the senior management team.
That adds another shade of perplexing contradiction in light of the company’s dodgy dealings and controversial decisions in the past. KINIBIZ examines in no particular order some important characters involved:
Jho Low, the dealmaker Read the rest of this entry »
Are Malaysians striving after the pinnacle of success or staring at the abyss of a failed state?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Friday, 25 December 2015, 8:08 am
In his Christmas Message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak called on Malaysians to celebrate the festive season and welcome the New Hear with a brand new resolution and personal mission to bring Malaysia to the “pinnacle of success”.
It is indeed deserving food for thought for Malaysians in the last week of the year to ponder whether Malaysians are striving after the pinnacle of success or staring at the abyss of a failed state if present national trajectories are not corrected!
I don’t think there are many Malaysians who would regard 2015 as a successful year for the country, bowed and beaten in the past 12 months by a host of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crisis to the extent that astute observers of the national scene are even warning about the coming of the “perfect storm”.
The first step for Malaysia to shake out of this impending “perfect storm” is to end the denial syndrome paralysing the nation’s leaders, making them dream about “pinnacle of success” when we should staring at the the “abyss of a failed state” – as just a year ago, it would have been unthinkable that the Malaysian ringgit would have fallen by a fifth of its value to struggle between RM4 to RM5 to a US dollar, but which has now sadly come to pass. Read the rest of this entry »
Our freedom to celebrate diversity
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Religion on Friday, 25 December 2015, 5:41 am
COMMENTARY
The Malaysian Insider
24 December 2015
Today is Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birthday and Malaysia is one of the rare Muslim countries to celebrate the occasion with a public holiday thrown in. Not many celebrate it, let alone gazette a holiday for it.
Unlike Christmas, which is celebrated worldwide except in two countries this year and forever – Brunei and Somalia. It would appear that public celebrations of Christmas and in the case of Somalia, New Year, is inimical to their beliefs.
That is their excuse. And the limit to their citizens’ freedom and rights.
But we in Malaysia are a lot more fortunate. We have the freedom to celebrate diversity, celebrating Christmas and New Year despite the views of a narrow section of public that wishing Merry Christmas is not quite kosher. Read the rest of this entry »
Let Nik Aziz and Karpal be the example for all Malaysians to promote harmony, goodwill and tolerance across race, religion and culture so that Malaysia can be a model of peaceful multi-religious diversity for the world
2015 Christmas Message in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 24th December 2015
Christmas Day tomorrow in 2015 is especially significant as today is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad on Maulid-ar-Rasul, an overlapping which underlines religious diversity both in Malaysia and the world.
I am reminded of two events, the first the Monday incident in Mandera in northeast Kenya where Muslims protected Christians in a bus attack by Somali Islamist terrorists, telling the terrorists, “You’ll have to kill us all” and other, the January 2013 Thaipusam visit by the then PAS Mursyidul Am and Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat to the DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh in the latter’s Penang home where Nik Aziz’s 82nd birthday was also celebrated.
Let Malaysians regardless of race, religion and region be inspired by both these events, in particular the example of the two great Malaysian leaders, Nik Aziz and Karpal Singh, to promote harmony, goodwill, tolerance across race, religion and culture so that Malaysia can be a model of peaceful multi-religious diversity for the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Anatomy of a money-spinner
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Thursday, 24 December 2015, 9:00 am
BY P. GUNASEGARAM | Kinibiz
DECEMBER 14, 2015 8:00AM
The very setting up of 1MDB and its operations was aimed at spinning billions out of this self-styled strategic development company owned by the government for the benefit of various others. The eventual cost of this to the country might be as high as RM42 billion.
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[Note to readers: This article and the associated charts provide an overview map of our coverage of 1MDB, and attempt to link the various parts to the whole. The information for the series is obtained from various sources both public and private and includes reported content elsewhere and others from our own sources, which we believe to be accurate. Figures have been rounded off where it makes things clearer.]
Even before it became 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), it was mired in controversy as Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) in 2009, Terengganu’s very own sovereign wealth fund. TIA was to be kickstarted with a RM5 billion bond issue guaranteed by the federal government.
Read the rest of this entry »
National Security Council (NSC) Bill greatest security disservice to Malaysia as instead of uniting Parliament and nation with a single-minded purpose to defeat the threat of ISIS terrorists, it has divided the country with an unprecedented unconstitutional grab for power
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Parliament on Thursday, 24 December 2015, 5:38 am
The National Security Council (NSC) Bill is the greatest security disservice to Malaysia by the Najib premiership, as instead of uniting Parliament and the nation with a single-minded purpose to defeat the threat of ISIS terrorists, it has divided the country with an unprecedented unconstitutional grab for power by the Prime Minister.
After the shot-gun passage of the NSC Bill in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3 as if “a thief in the night” without proper prior notice or consultation with MPs and the civil society, the country was assured that the NSC bill is aimed primarily at fighting terrorism particularly the threat posed by ISIS, and not intended to usurp the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong in declaring a state of emergency for country.
If the NSC Bill was designed primarily to deal with the threat of terrorism posed by ISIS, the logical thing to do is to park the proposed National Security Council under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) instead of creating a new executive body which is even more powerful than the Cabinet with far-reaching and new-fangled powers. Read the rest of this entry »
A Christmas wish
Lyana Khairuddin
The Malaysian Insider
23 December 2015
It is really easy to get caught in the hype and commercialisation of Christmas.
Let’s be realistic here, Christmas no longer represents merely a religious holiday that marks the birth of Jesus, but rather an occasion for merrymaking with friends over food, that great unifier of mankind.
Of course, in Malaysia, our turkeys are halal-certified and our merrymaking involves being served orange juice in wine glasses. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO Asemblyman raises eyebrows when he demands revelation of donor for the RM10 million arch facelift, but cowardly silent about Najib’s 2.6 billion “Donorgate”, which is 260 times bigger than the face-lift donation
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 3:33 pm
I could not believe my eyes when I saw the report, “Reveal donors for RM10m arch facelift, Umno rep tells MB” (Malaysiakini), and I had to read it a second time to believe what I had.
Most readers would have reacted in similar disbelief and incredulity to the report, for the common question which would leap to everyone’s mind is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” with the astronomical sums in his personal banking accounts before the 2013 general election, and the many turns and twists, including parliamentary escapades, of this RM2.6 billion “Najib Donorgate”, which had intrigued national and international attention for some six months since it was first exposed by Wall Street Journal in early July.
The marvel is not that a Selangor UMNO Assemblyman Mohd Sharif (Dengkil) is asking for the identity of the donors for the RM9.8 million facelift for the Kota Darul Ehsan arch along the Federal Highway and marks the border between Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, but that there is not a single one from the whole gang of UMNO Members of Parliament and State Assembly representatives in the country demanding revelation from Najib about the RM2.6 billion “DonorGate”, which is 260 times bigger than the RM10 million facelift donation in Selangor. Read the rest of this entry »
In search of hope for Pakatan Harapan
Posted by Kit in Bridget Welsh, DAP, Pakatan Harapan, Parti Amanah, PAS, PKR on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 9:38 am
Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
22 Dec 2015
COMMENT Today marks the three-month anniversary of Pakatan Harapan – the revamped opposition coalition that is having difficulty getting off the ground. It is supposed to bring about hope, to galvanise like-minded Malaysians in the spirit of reform and cooperation to offer an electoral alternative. It is failing badly. As the year end approaches, it is valuable to examine why.
Legacy issues
The fact that Harapan was formed out of disappointment with Pakatan Rakyat has marked the new coalition. Attention still centres on who was responsible for Pakatan Rakyat’s collapse, with the blame game a persistent dynamic. At the same time, there is denial that Pakatan Rakyat is over, with some individuals and parties unwilling to let go of the past.
These legacies of the past are debilitating Harapan. Rather than look forward, opposition parties in Harapan are continually focused on old wounds and battles. Fighting old friends now enemies is the norm, as old wounds are still raw. DAP attacks PAS. PKR insists that it can work with everyone (while in effect it is working with none as it stymies its supposed partners). Read the rest of this entry »
What parliamentary charade!
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan, Parliament on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 9:04 am
What parliamentary charade!
What I had feared most has indeed come to pass – and what happened in Senate yesterday invokes Shakespeare’s immortal lines in Macbeth: “It is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.””
Also come to pass was my warning yesterday, viz:
“BN Senators who have won new respect from Malaysians for daring to speak up to oppose the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC (National Security Council) Bill will forfeit their new-found public respect and admiration in a matter of 24 hours if they are not prepared to act on their conviction and vote for reference of the Bill for further study and amendment, as the NSC Bill in its present form is a blight on constitutional democracy in Malaysia.
“Which is better, to speak boldly against the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill but to submissively vote in favour of the NSC Bill in the Senate; or to act like the BN MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to keep their silence for the elected BN MPs know from the very beginning that they have finally to vote obediently for the NSC Bill, whatever their inner reservations and objections to the draconian Bill?”
I have to qualify my statement yesterday as the elected Barisan Nasional MPs in Dewan Rakyat need only be ”very envious and even jealous that their counterparts in Dewan Negara are allowed to speak up about their objections and reservations about the NSC Bill which they were not allowed to do when the NSC Bill was debated in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3” only for 24 hours, as the Senate has been quickly reduced to its original form as no more than a rubber stamp after the parliamentary charade in the NSC Bill debate in the last two days. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA is history when it cannot even ensure that the national contributions and role of MCA founders are given proper respect and recognition in the school history text books
Today, the MCA-owned Star report entitled “Penang’s first CM will not be in history books” made the startling announcement:
“Kuala Lumpur. It seems Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee will not be joining the ranks of other local top leaders in the Year 6 history textbooks used by Chinese vernacular schools after all.
“Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the history books were already printed and would soon be sent to schools.
“’There will be no more amendments made to the history books,’ he was quoted in a report by Sin Chew Daily.
“Mahdzir pointed out that corrections were made to Malacca which was mistakenly labelled onto the state of Terengganu.”
Mahdzir’s explanation is neither satisfactory nor acceptable. If the ghastly mistake in the SJKR Year Six history textbook, which shifted the Malacca state to the north of the country near Kelantan, could be corrected, why could’nt the omission of Wong Pow Nee in the formation of Malaysia, as one of the members of the Cobbold Commission which recommended positively on the establishment of Malaysia in 1963, be rectified? Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s not have a parliamentary charade where BN Senators are allowed to criticize the NSC Bill but forced to vote for it at the end of the debate
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Parliament on Tuesday, 22 December 2015, 9:50 am
Three cheers for the Dewan Negara.
For the first time in 58-year Malaysian history, the appointed UMNO/BN MPs in Dewan Negara have put the elected UMNO/BN MPs in Dewan Rakyat to shame not only for speaking up for the people, but even more important, for daring to speak the truth in accordance with the dictates of their own conscience.
The BN Senator who stole the limelight was none other than the Malaysian Senators Council (MSM) President Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman who expressed concern that the NSC Bill may be unconstitutional and contravene other laws in terms of the extensive power given to the director appointed to a security area.
He called for amendments to the Bill so that it will not contravene the Federal Constitution.
Abdul Rahman hit the nail on the head for the pernicious and monstrous NSC Bill is unconstitutional on multiple fronts, not only in usurping the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet, the Sarawak and Sabah Governments with regard to the autonomy powers conferred on them by the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the 11 State Governments in Peninsular Malaysia, but also the many guarantees and fundamental liberties entrenched in the Constitution.
The Rukunegara principles on the Supremacy of the Constitution and Upholding the Rule of Law are blatantly flouted by the NSC Bill which grants protection to the authorities from legal proceeding and judicial review.
Abdul Rahman further questioned the power granted to the security forces to relocate people, as well as acquire land and properties, which clearly contravene Article 9 on Prohibition of Banishment and Freedom of Movement and Article 13 on Rights to Property of the Constitution.
But despite these trenchant and potent arguments against the NSC Bill, will Abdul Rahim vote for the NSC Bill at the second and third readings when the time for voting in Dewan Negara comes later today? Read the rest of this entry »
Release Anwar from Sungai Buloh prison; drop all politically-motivated charges against Zunar, Azmi, Maria Chin and others; withdraw NSC Bill; suspend GST and fully account for Najib’s twin mega scandals before anyone talks about “Let bygones by bygones”
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Najib Razak, PAS on Monday, 21 December 2015, 8:21 am
Christmas is five days away, and there is already a lot of talk about forgiveness and forget about the past.
I support the philosophy of being prepared to forgive and forget past transgressions to promote greater amity, understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups of people, not just because it is a teaching by all great religions but a good philosophy of life.
However, it is indeed odd to talk about forgiving and forgetting another political party’s past transgressions when the other party had never confessed or owned up to any past transgression or wrongdoing.
It is all very good to adopt the religious teaching or philsophy of “Let bygones be bygones” to construct a new relationship and to build a new future, to forget all the sins and transgressions of the past.
However, this readiness to forgive and forget all the sins and transgressions of the past must be accompanied by the readiness and resolution to right all current wrongs, injustices and transgressions or it is totally premature for any talk about “Let bygones be bygones”.
Is such a possibility on the cards? Read the rest of this entry »
