The fiction of a unified, harmonised Asean
David Pilling
Financial Times
December 9, 2015
The bloc favours consensus. Its lack of overarching ambition is a strength as well as its weakness
If you think European nations are having a hard time holding it together — strained by disputes over immigration, austerity and debt — spare a thought for the 10 countries that form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
True, compared with Europe, they face few fatally divisive problems. Most of Southeast Asia is contending with the impact of a slowing China and braced for the turbulence that could accompany the steady normalisation of US monetary policy. Yet there are no big financial transfers within Asean, a loose federation akin to the EU of the 1950s. No country is threatening to leave, nor are there fundamental differences over the direction of policy.
Still, as Asean prepares for an important milestone this month — the creation of a theoretically single market — it is worth reflecting on the incredible diversity of the “new bloc on the block”. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians do not want to hear from Zahid or even the MACC – they want Najib himself to stop procrastinating and prevaricating and to give full and satisfactory accountability on the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, Parliament on Saturday, 12 December 2015, 7:53 am
Malaysians do not want to hear from the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi or even by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), as they want the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself to stop procrastinating and prevaricating and to give full and satisfactory accountability on the RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals.
Having misled the nation and Members of Parliament to wait for six weeks for the last day of Parliament on Dec. 3 to answer all questions about the twin mega scandals, Najib should not disappoint Malaysians a second time – and his winding-up speech at the UMNO General Assembly later today is the last opportunity for him to come clean on the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB scandals.
The 1MDB scandal went back to more than six years ago, when 1MDB was incorporated in 2009 after its precursor, Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), was turned into a federal agency, with the unprecedented Clause 117 in the 1MDB’s Memorandum and Articles of Association requiring the Prime Minister’s written approval for any of 1MDB’s deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring, amendments to the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association and appointments and removal of directors and senior management team of 1MDB.
The RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal is more recent, going back to March 2013, just before the 13th General Election on May 5, 2013, but awareness in the corridors of power that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark” did not begin only on July 2 this year when Wall Street Journal shook the country and the world with the scoop about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts in March 2013, but much earlier. Read the rest of this entry »
On RM2.6b, Najib’s answers beg more questions
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak on Friday, 11 December 2015, 2:19 pm
Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysiakini
11th December 2-15
COMMENT There’s something not right about Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s revelation on national television on Dec 8 that he did receive RM2.6 billion from donors.
In fact, it was even laughable to hear him say that the donors wanted the money to be deposited in his personal account.
“Yes, that was the donor’s wish,” he said. “The donation was made to me personally, that is why the account is under my name.”Is Najib that naïve? He allowed the donors to dictate that despite the risk of the money being easily traced to him?
If you recall, when The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) came out with its report about the RM2.6 billion last July, even Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan responded that no prime minister would be that stupid to have such a huge amount deposited into his personal account.
And that’s Ahmad Maslan, mind you. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation – from one donor or more than one, from one foreign country or more than one?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Friday, 11 December 2015, 1:27 pm
A question which should have been answered some six months ago if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak really believes in accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance is now creating havoc all over the country, latest additions to the teeming questions swirling around the scandal of RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts just before the 13th General Election in May 2013.
The question is one of two queries central to the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal – where the RM2.6 billion came from and where this RM2.6 billion had gone to.
Najib had refused to give a full and satisfactory accounting of the RM2.6 billion scandal, despite leading all Members of Parliament up the garden path for six weeks during the recent 25-day budget parliamentary meeting that the Prime Minister will bravely, fully and satisfactorily address all questions relating to this issue, only for Najib to play truant from Parliament on the last day on 3rd December, leaving to the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi to go through the parliamentary charade of a three-minute answer-nothing Ministerial statement.
Najib’s subsequent attempts to “save the day” on the RM2.6 billion donation scandal, with tame and orchestrated interviews with UMNO media and closed-door UMNO briefings, were to no avail, as Najib has again proved that his repeated promise to come clean on the RM2.6 billion “donation” just could not be believed or trusted!
So much for accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance in the Najib premiership.
But the half-hearted and haphazard attempts at explaining away the RM2.6 billion donation scandal had spawned more questions, including whether it was one donor or more than one donor involved in Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” and whether only one foreign country, or more than one foreign country had been involved. Read the rest of this entry »
The presentation of National Security Council (NSC) Bill to Senate should be deferred until all the 13 State Governments have been consulted and agreement given for the creation of a parallel NSC government vesting the Prime Minister with executive powers to interfere with the running of the 13 state governments
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Human Rights, Najib Razak on Friday, 11 December 2015, 8:23 am
Today is Human Rights Day 2015 and we should be joining with peoples all over the world to celebrate another milestone in the promotion and protection of human rights in Malaysia – but the reverse is taking place.
On the Human Rights Day this year, Malaysians are facing with the greatest threat to democratic and human rights for over a decade since the retirement of Tun Mahathir as Prime Minister with the human rights horrors committed during his 22-year premiership, like the Operation Lalang mass arrests and closure of newspapers in 1987 and the assault on the independence of the judiciary beginning in 1988.
This is what has brought us to this forum “National Security Act: To Protect or to Oppress” tonight.
I had called the National Security Council (NSC) monstrous and pernicious because it was nothing less than a quadruple power grab, usurping the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Cabinet on the proclamation of Emergency as well as the autonomy rights of the Sarawak and Sabah State governments, and it was rushed through the Dewan Rakyat “like a thief in the night” with a vote of 107 vs 74, in a late-night session on the last day of the 25-day Parliamentary meeting without any prior notice to the major stakeholders in the land.
On closer look, the NSC Bill is even more monstrous and pernicious for it would create a parallel government with an infrastructure of bureaucracy of its own, vesting the Prime Minister with executive powers to interfere with the running of the 13 State Governments without the consent or even consultation with the State Governments concerned. Read the rest of this entry »
Why is UMNO afraid of DAP? Not because the Chinese will control the Malays but because UMNO-putras will not be able to exploit the Malays
Posted by Kit in Malays, Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 10 December 2015, 1:46 pm
The UMNO Wanita leader, Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil is the typical example of UMNO leaders who have to resort to the politics of fear, hate and lies to try to perpetuate their political careers and political position in the party.
Malaysiakini reported that at the winding-up speech of the UMNO Wanita General Assembly, Shahrizat urged former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apbdal to return to the fold as she does not want Malays to be “controlled” by DAP because of Umno leaders opposing UMNO president Najib Abdul Razak.
She urged Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Shafie to be with UMNO, “right or wrong”.
She said: “There is no other party. Do you want to surrender the Malays and bumiputera to DAP? I am not prepared (to do so).”
She lost control of herself when she continued in a most irresponsible and seditious manner, declaring: “Let blood flow, we won’t allow DAP to take over. Umno is weak, god forbid, our country is taken over by DAP.”
If any DAP or Pakatan Harapan leader had made a similar “blood-curdling” speech, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar would have tweeted a directive to his subordinates to commence immediate police investigations and action.
Let us see whether there will be any action from the Inspector-General of Police against Shahrizat or she belongs to a special breed of Malaysians who enjoy immunity and impunity under the law! Read the rest of this entry »
Difficult questions on Umno’s future trajectory
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 10 December 2015, 1:36 pm
Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
9 Dec 2015
COMMENT Today the Umno general assembly begins – an event that has been stage-managed to deliver another show of support for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. These sorts of activities have become commonplace since the July revelation of the RM2.6 million ‘donation’ that continues to be inadequately explained and embarrasses Malaysia.
The meeting provides an opportunity to take stock – not only of the PM but of the state of the party that has governed Malaysia since independence. By whatever measure, Malaysia’s leadership is facing serious challenges ahead. Read the rest of this entry »
The Umno Circus has begun…
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 10 December 2015, 11:44 am
By Martin Jalleh
The AGM of UMNO also known as 1MDB is here to entertain you!
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 10 December 2015, 11:42 am
By Martin Jalleh
DAP will mark the universal 2015 Human Rights Day by challenging the undemocratic and unconstitutional National Security Council Bill every step of the way – from Dewan Rakyat to Dewan Negara, Royal Assent, the courts and the bar of public opinion
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Najib Razak, Parliament on Thursday, 10 December 2015, 9:17 am
Tomorrow, Dec. 10, is the universal Human Rights Day observed every year the commemorate the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This year’s Human Rights Day is devoted to the launch of a year-long campaign for the 50th anniversary of the two International Covenants on Human Rights: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights, which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16th December 1966.
The two Covenants, together with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, form the International Bill of Human Rights, setting out the civil, political, cultural, economic, and social rights that are the birth right of all human beings.
The theme of this year’s Human Rights Day – “Our Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.” – aims to promote and raise awareness of the two Covenants on their 50th anniversary.
The year-long campaign revolves around the theme of rights and freedoms — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear — which underpin the International Bill of Human Rights and are as relevant today as they were when the Covenants were adopted 50 years ago.
Thirty-eight years ago, in October 1977, I moved a motion in Parliament for Malaysia’s ratification of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights 1966.
I asked in Parliament during the two-day debate on my motion why the Malaysian Government was prepared to vote for its adoption in the UN General Assembly but not prepared after eleven years, to ratify the Covenant after it was opened for signature since Dec. 19, 1966. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Muhyiddin be the second Deputy Prime Minister to be expelled by UMNO?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, 3:53 pm
All eyes will be focused on the UMNO Supreme Council special meeting today, as to whether Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will be the second Deputy Prime Minister to be sacked from UMNO, whether today or later shortly.
The Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s UMNO Presidential speech tomorrow will establish a record of sorts as attracting the least national anticipation, as nobody expects the UMNO President, apart from excelling himself in the past in breathing fire and brimstone on racial and religious rhetoric, to really address the important issues not only to the three million UMNO members but also to the 30 million Malaysians – Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals and his policy disasters like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the midst of of the people’s economic woes of rising inflation and falling incomes.
UMNO Baru has indeed come a long way since the formation of original UMNO in 1946.
In 1950, the founder UMNO President, Datuk Onn Jaafar was too ahead of his time when he tried to open up UMNO to “non-Malays” to create a united nation and left UMNO in disgust.
Today, 65 years later, the present UMNO has become very regressive and exclusivist while at the same time become more corrupt and repressive, and one proof was the barring of non-Muslim journalists from covering the Puteri Umno launch of its programme “Daulatkan Islam Agama Negara” (DIAN) by the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi yesterday.
From a “national” party, the present UMNO is not even a party for the Malays or of the three million UMNO members but has been reduced to a party of Najib’s cronies and UMNO chieftains who dominated the UMNO Supreme Council and the various UMNO divisional leadership positions. Read the rest of this entry »
Can Najib explain why he dared to explain the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB twin mega scandals in a tame and orchestrated interview with UMNO media and at closed-door UMNO meetings but not in Parliament in the presence of Pakatan Harapan MPs and critics?
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, Parliament on Wednesday, 9 December 2015, 6:44 am
Last night, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak broke his silence on the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal which had been dogging him and his government for the past five months in an exclusive interview with UMNO media, conducted by Media Prima Bhd group managing editor of news and current affairs Mohd Ashraf Abdullah, the New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd group managing editor Abdul Jalil Hamid and Utusan Group editor-in-chief Abdul Aziz Ishak.
Najib said that the donation of RM2.6 billion deposited into his account is neither from a public fund nor the government’s strategic investment company, 1MDB, that it was the donor’s wish that the funds were deposited into his account and that the donation was made in a personal capacity.
Najib’s explanation on the twin mega scandals leaves open a thousand-and-one other questions, but the most important issue is why Najib dared to explain about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB twin mega scandals in a tame and orchestrated interview with UMNO media and at closed-door UMNO meetings but not in Parliament in the presence of Pakatan Harapan MPs and critics?
Why did Najib run away from Parliament on the last day of the budget Parliamentary meeting last Thursday, after fobbing off some 90 questions from Pakatan Harapan MPs in the 25-day parliamentary session with the promise right from the very first day of Parliament on Oct. 19 that all the questions about the twin mega scandals would be answered in “one go” on the last day of the Parliamentary meeting? Read the rest of this entry »
Retraining Ustazs into Global Communicators
Posted by Kit in Islam, Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi on Tuesday, 8 December 2015, 6:41 pm
Professor Dr. Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
UCSI University
8th December 2015
In my previous article, I had suggested that most Muslims have a disturbing attitude that the only civilization that they are concerned with is only the 1500 years of Islam in the Muslim world. Muslims seem to look down and even reject the sum total of human civilization as ‘jahili’ or ignorant.
I think this is the wrong attitude to take and my reading of the Qur’an and hadiths does not conclude such a stand. The problem with most Muslims is simply that they let their thoughts and ideas be formed by the religious scholars trained in the limited mindset of the Madrasa.
Muslims are either too lazy to read and understand the Qur’an and hadith on their own or they are being frightened by the clerics that studying these sources without the ‘proper’ guide of ustazs will make them go astray and incur the wrath of Allah The Most High.
I have therefore called many times in my writings to reeducate the ustazs or religious teachers by exposing them to the greater awareness of the rich thoughts and ideas of humanity. Muslims, in brief, must be brought back into the fold of humanity.
It does not mean that Islam is being ‘compromised’ but I have enough experience as an academic that the interpretation of an event or an idea is more meaningful and richer when a larger context is used rather than a small one.
If ustazs were trained in the USA or Britain or Europe, they might have different views and interpretation of the sources of Islam then those trained in the so called Muslim countries of Egypt, Saudi Arabia or India or Iran.
Read the rest of this entry »
Amend the National Security Council (NSC) Bill to alter it to National Anti-Terrorism Council (NATC) Bill and remove the four usurpations of power and draconian provisions, DAP is prepared to support such a NATC Bill
Posted by Kit in Law & Order, Najib Razak, Parliament on Tuesday, 8 December 2015, 3:32 pm
In his pre-UMNO General Assembly interview with Media Prima and Utusan groups, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak defended the newly-passed National Security Council (NSC) bill, suggesting that it was enacted to keep the country safe from terrorist attacks.
If the NSC Bill was in fact intended to deal with terrorist attacks and armed insurrection ala-Islamic State or the Sulu intrusion in Lahad Datuk two years ago, then the drafters of the NSC Bill should be sacked for their gross incompetence and inefficiency in drafting such an atrocious Bill and the 107 Barisan Nasional Ministers and Members of Parliament deplored for voting for such a Bill, which went far beyond the intention to empower the state with the resources and capability to deal with modern terrorist threats.
In actual fact, there was not a single reference to the threat of terrorism or terrorist attacks in the monstrous NSC Bill passed by the Dewan Rakyat which defined “national security” in so wide and catch-all a fashion that it could be interpreted to cover all situations, even those which would not normally be associated with national security issues arising from political, economic and nation-building factors and circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »
Full support for Muhyiddin’s proposal to Najib to “take a break” as Prime Minister to allow unimpeded 1MDB investigations and to return as PM after he is cleared of any involvement by the probe
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 8 December 2015, 7:56 am
Just as over a thousand people are gathered here in Batu Uban in Penang tonight to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?”, over a thousand people are gathered at the Kelab Sultan Suleiman in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur to support Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who had been sacked as Deputy Prime Minister and may be sacked as UMNO Deputy President for basically asking the same question to Najib – “Mana RM2.6 billion?”
In his speech at Kelab Sultan Suleiman, which had just been completed, Muhyiddin proposed that Najib should take leave as Prime Minister pending investigations into 1MDB, as there should be no perception that the Prime Minister is meddling in the investigations.
Muhyiddin said that if Najib is not involved, he can come back to serve as Prime Minister again.
I fully support Muhyiddin’s proposal that Najib “take a break” as Prime Minister to allow unimpeded 1MDB investigations and to return as PM after he is cleared of any involvement by the probe.
Will Najib announce in his UMNO Presidential Address on Thursday that he would take leave as Prime Minister until the completion of investigations into 1MDB? Read the rest of this entry »
Most-watched political event in Malaysia
Straits Times
DEC 7, 2015
Umno’s general assembly is the most closely watched political event in Malaysia annually, except when there is a general election.
In the past, the issues raised at the five-day congress, attended by party members from all over the country, have resulted in new or tweaked government policies. Key speeches are broadcast live on radio and TV, with Umno the only political body to be given this privilege.
Love or loathe it, the reason for Umno’s power is its outsized position in Malaysian politics. Read the rest of this entry »
A strict and no-nonsense Prime Minister would have sacked Abdul Rahman as Minister for his shockingly insensitive tweet about bomb explosion in Kuala Lumpur in an attempt to justify the monstrous and pernicious National Security Council Bill
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Human Rights, Parliament on Monday, 7 December 2015, 6:20 pm
A strict and no-nonsense Prime Minister would have sacked Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan as a Minister for his shockingly insensitive tweet about bomb explosion in Kuala Lumpur in an attempt to justify the monstrous and pernicious National Security Council (NSC) Bill.
Responding to tweets criticizing the NSC bill, which was passed “like a thief at night” at the late-night session last Thursday on Dec 3, the final day of the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting, and which conferred on the Prime Minister such absolute executive powers as to usurp the constitutional prerogative of the Yang di Pertuan Agong to declare an emergency under Article 150 of the Malaysian Constitution, as well as to oust the powers of the Cabinet and to undermine the autonomy powers of Sarawak and Sabah, Rahman had tweeted:
“If a bomb exploded in KL then perhaps you guys would have a different view. But sadly that would be too late.”
Rahman’s tweet is not only frighteningly insensitive but also outrageously illogical. Read the rest of this entry »
Let Najib clarify in his UMNO Presidential Address at the UMNO General Assembly whether he is the first Malaysian Prime Minister to be investigated by the FBI as to whether he is a ‘kleptocrat’
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Najib Razak, Parliament, UMNO on Monday, 7 December 2015, 2:08 pm
Should Pakatan Harapan MPs from DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara who have been in the forefront demanding full and satisfactory accountability from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his twin mega scandals on RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB go on their bended knees and thank their lucky stars that the Prime Minister was so merciful and spared them the agony and shame of an expose on the last day of the 25-day parliamentary meeting last Thursday (Dec. 3)?
This is because Najib said last night that the opposition spews nothing but “lies” on 1MDB (auta bukan fakta), declaring: “It they (the opposition) attack us using logic, rational thinking and facts, they will lose. It’s now the battle of the minds.”
If Najib is right, and the Prime Minister had appeared in Parliament on the last day of the budget parliamentary meeting on Dec. 3 to lay down the facts of the two scandals, all the Pakatan Harapan MPs who had been harping them would have been mercilessly exposed not only as opportunists, charlatans and even ignoramus.
However, before deciding whether the Pakatan Harapan MPs should be thankful for such little mercies from Najib, they must ask why the Prime Minister was so kind to them, if it was true that it would be so easy for him to squash the Opposition MPs who had been raising a storm particularly since March about the 1MDB scandal? Read the rest of this entry »
Tun Razak – A Leader With A Free Mind
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, UMNO on Monday, 7 December 2015, 10:49 am
M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
7th December 2015
Notwithstanding their common aristocratic background, obvious brilliance, and genuine nationalism, plus their overlapping leadership in UMNO, Tun Razak had little in common with Datuk Onn Jaafar. To start with, there was their obvious age and thus generational difference, Onn being about 30 years older. The critical differentiating feature separating the two however was their personalities.
Like Onn, there is as yet no authoritative biography of Tun Razak. There is William Shaw’s, published in 1976, sympathetic bordering on the hagiographical. Razak had many contemporaries, some very erudite, but none had sought to pen an account of this great man. Likewise his sons (he had no daughters) who are all well educated, including one who is a Cambridge graduate, yet none has seen fit to write an account of their great father, apart from the anecdotal recollections in responses to interviews.
The contrasting personalities between Onn and Razak could not be more obvious then when they were campaigning or otherwise engaging the common people. To be sure, both were atypical politicians; neither exhibited the usual politician’s backslapping or feigned familiarity and affability. They both seemed aloof and uncomfortable with crowds. While Onn had the imperious look of an aristocrat who is forced to be with the peasants, Razak had that of a policy wonk embarrassed at being unable to articulate more simply his complex ideas. Both however, had great intellect and more importantly, were remarkably free-minded although expressed in very different ways. Read the rest of this entry »
