Malaysia one of the most corrupt nations, survey shows
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Friday, 27 September 2013, 4:22 pm
by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
September 27, 2013
Malaysia has been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations and listed as a country which is most likely to take shortcuts to meet targets when economic times are tough, according to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, signalling that the government’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has failed in its role to transform the economy.
Malaysia, along with China, has the highest levels of bribery and corruption anywhere in the world, according to the latest report, Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey Report Series 2013.
This year’s survey polled 681 executives in China, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and South Korea.
About half of the 681 executives polled on their perception of fraud felt that China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam were the worst in bribery and corruption. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia and the non-fulfilment of two agreements with Sabah and Sarawak
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Razaleigh Hamzah, Sabah, Sarawak on Thursday, 26 September 2013, 6:12 pm
– Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
The Malaysian Insider
September 26, 2013
It is my singular honour to have been invited to such an august gathering as this. I am privileged to have this opportunity to talk about the birth of Malaysia. Allow me, therefore, to record my gratitude and appreciation to our host, the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, for the invitation in the first instance.
The timing is apt, coming as it does eight days after the 50th anniversary of her founding. It is also relevant given that Malaysia is facing unprecedented political and economic challenges. These challenges are formidable and, if left unsolved, could cause damage to the economy and political integrity of Malaysia.
The legitimacy of the formation of Malaysia is based on the fact that at the time of her formation, Malaya was the only country that was independent and had a democratic constitution, with institutions supporting such a constitution, within this region.
Her economic foundation justifiably gave Malayans, at that time, a vision that we would one day be the shining example in South East Asia. It was with this perspective that Malaya, under the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman, took the initiative in helping to maintain stability in the region. This was at a time when British colonialism was forced by international opinion and in particular by Asia, to retreat as the colonial power without leaving a vacuum. Read the rest of this entry »
Adakah Kerajaan menyokong pemberian kuasa penuh pendakwaan kepada SPRM, serta kuasa menuntut pengistiharan harta dari mereka yang sedang disiasat ?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Wednesday, 25 September 2013, 7:35 pm
Pertayaan Dewan Rakyat:-
SOALAN :
Tuan Lim Kit Siang [Gelang Patah] minta PERDANA MENTERI
menyatakan sama ada Kerajaan akan menyokong pemberian kuasa penuh pendakwaan kepada SPRM dalam kes rasuah serta memberikan kuasa kepada SPRM menuntut kakitangan awam termasuklah Menteri, Ketua Menteri dan Menteri-Menteri Besar mengisytiharkan harta mereka sementara menunggu siasatan.
JAWAPAN : YB HAJAH NANCY SHUKRI
MENTERI DI JABATAN PERDANA MENTERI
Tuan Yang di-Pertua,
1. Kerajaan tidak bercadang untuk memberikan kuasa penuh pendakwaan kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) untuk memulakan pendakwaan bagi kes rasuah tanpa perlu merujuk Peguam Negara kerana dalam penyiasatan dan pendakwaan sesuatu kes, perlu ada ‘check and balance’.
Read the rest of this entry »
RM20 million for education blueprint is reasonable, says Muhyiddin
by Diyana Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
September 25, 2013
Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin (pic) stood by Putrajaya’s decision to pay RM20 million to consulting firm McKinsey and Co for the National Education Blueprint.
He said the sum was reasonable as it was a two-year-project involving large scale processes and input from international experts.
“I believe it was a reasonable sum as we needed assistance from experts. It was not something we could have done on our own,” said Muhyiddin who is also the Deputy Prime Minister. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO’s Blunder with Chin Peng’s Place in Malaysian History
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 25 September 2013, 12:25 pm
Koon Yew Yin
25th Sept 2013
Almost two years after my meeting with Chin Peng in Bangkok on 2 October, I learnt – as did other Malaysians – of his death on 16th September 2013. His passing on is not unexpected as he had been ill for some years. What is unexpected is the Government’s refusal to allow his ashes to be returned to Malaysia, his home country for which he fought for liberty and freedom, initially against the Japanese and then against the British.
Chin Peng was a freedom fighter in every sense of the word. His record of defiance and opposition to Japanese and British colonial rule in Malaya is unprecedented. It is comparable or even exceeds that of anti-colonial leaders such as Ho Chi Minh, Mohammad Hatta, and Jawaharwal Nehru who were his contemporaries in Asia’s struggle to free itself from the yoke of western powers and Japan in the mid twentieth century. Other leaders that come to mind during that crucial period of nationalist ferment after the Second World War are Nkrumah, Nasser and Lumumba.
In all those countries whether in Asia, Africa or Latin America where the anti-colonial and nationalist freedom fighters fought, they have been accorded due recognition and honour.
But not in Malaysia where UMNO-putraism has sought to stamp its racial and religious politics on every aspect of life in the country –dead and living; past, present and the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Happy One Tree Day!
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 24 September 2013, 10:06 pm
Ong
Sep 24, 2013
I do not understand the obsession with race and race-based policies in Malaysia. It has already been scientifically proven that everyone alive today on earth share the same ancestors who left Africa around 60,000-80,000 years ago. For the scientific proof, see National Geographic’s The Genographic Project
The scientific fact is, all humans alive today share a common African ancestor. Yes, this means we Malaysians are all genetically-related cousins. Humans may have developed a diverse range of cultures, civilizations, and languages over the centuries but it doesn’t change the fact that there is only 1HUMANRACE.
Think about it: When we humans get cut, we all bleed red. Doctors will tell you that when you compare the internal organs of two people from two so-called ‘different races’, you really can’t tell which internal organ came from which ‘race’–they function and look the same. Cosmetic differences like skin colour are nothing more than natural adaptations to climate and other environmental factors–just google ‘melanin’ to learn more about skin colour.
The truth is, ‘race’ is nothing more than a false mental construct that the political class use to coerce, terrorize, and oppress the masses, so that they can remain in control. But you already knew that.
This brings me to my next point: May 13, 1969. Read the rest of this entry »
Beep beep here comes the roadrunner!
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP on Tuesday, 24 September 2013, 3:32 pm
– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
September 24, 2013
Najib has launched the Bumiputera economic empowerment Plan. BEEP. It has come to this now. Twittering, face booking, blogging, whats-apping and now beep-ing the country. Najib will be beep-ing the Malays so that they can take their rightful place in our country. After NEPing the country, Malay equity stands around 23%? Does ownership of this 23% mean anything to the ordinary Malays who have the face the daily grind of life?
Many of us know exactly what the BEEP means. It means a license to pillage and plunder in the name of king, religion and country. The Malay elite salivate at the prospects of carving out wealth earning resources.
23% is owned by GLCs, the Malay elite, the privileged and the Malay monied class. This BEEP is going to turn into another excuse to justify the rape and plunder. After raping the girl repeatedly, the rapist presents her with a bunch of flowers. This is exactly what the BEEP announced by Najib represents, the presentation of a bunch of flowers after the raping the Malay lady over and over again.
If you can’t dazzle people with your brilliance, confound them with your bullshit.
There are almost 10 million Malays living with a monthly income of RM1500. Why these people aren’t directly aided? Why do we arrogate ourselves the authority and omniscience to even claim we know what is best for the Malays? The ordinary Malay knows he wants to get out of poverty and destitution if only he has the means to. So why don’t we give them the means to? The problems of the present lot of 10 million people must be tackled immediately. Read the rest of this entry »
Registrar of Societies disregarding the law, says DAP
by Diyana Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
September 24, 2013
DAP has criticised the Registrar of Societies (RoS) for accusing the party of not conducting its central executive committee re-election according to party constitution.
DAP’s legal head Gobind Singh Deo said RoS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman Abdul Rahman had repeatedly accused the party of wrongdoings before hearing explanations given by party leaders.
“Abdul Rahman should know. If there are complaints, he needs to inform us and ask for an explanation before making a decision,” DAP’s legal head Gobind Singh Deo said in a statement today.
“This raises questions because I would like to know if he follows this procedure. If not, why? And what is his power to make decisions in such a manner?” he added. Read the rest of this entry »
Chin Peng has the last laugh
Posted by Kit in Mariam Mokhtar on Tuesday, 24 September 2013, 8:06 am
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Sep 23, 2013
The Malaysian government intended to deliver a humiliating blow and final insult to Chin Peng, the late former secretary-general of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), by denying his dying wish.
Despite the sabre rattling by premier Najib Abdul Razak and extremist groups like Perkasa, it is Chin Peng who has won the psychological battle and more importantly, is having the last laugh from beyond the grave, leaving Najib with egg on his face.
Najib may wish to diminish Chin Peng’s role in our history, perhaps even airbrush him out of the struggle for Independence, but the irony is that his death on Sept 16, will mean that the Malaysia Day celebrations, will now also commemorate Chin Peng’s memory. Read the rest of this entry »
Thank you, now move on
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 23 September 2013, 6:55 pm
Hafiz Noor Shams
The Malay Mail Online
September 23, 2013
SEPT 23 — A good dozen issues is holding Malaysia back. Several big ones are legacies originating from days long gone.
While we can never truly escape history, I feel it is dragging us down too much. So heavy is the baggage that sometimes, I feel the best way to move forward is to forget.
I write this because Chin Peng died on Malaysia Day. He fought for a very different version of Malaysia, possibly the very opposite of what we have today.
That makes the date of his death quite ironic, although it is arguable that his struggle hastened the independence of Malaya and later the formation of Malaysia.
We can never truly know how it would have been if he had his way. But, if offered the choice between a Communist state and today’s Malaysia, I will choose today’s reality—even with its lamentable imperfections—without hesitation. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s Leadership Deficiencies Undermine Malaysia’s Future
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 23 September 2013, 6:36 pm
M. Bakri Musa
23.9.2013
Najib’s glaring leadership deficiencies have now been glaringly exposed. Malaysia deserves better. His performance has not been up to par even when compared to his lackluster predecessor. If under Abdullah Badawi Malaysia had the modernity of Manhattan but the mentality of Mogadishu, under Najib, Malaysia risks degenerating, period.
Najib is not terribly bright or introspective. Like a little child, he always hunger for approval. He is also severely “charimastically-challenged.” A leader could survive or even thrive despite having one or two of these flaws, but to be cursed with all three is fatal.
All his adult years Najib has depended entirely on government paychecks. No surprise then that his worldview is narrowly circumscribed. His solution to every problem is to distribute government checks, well exemplified by his many “1-Malaysia” handouts. His recent Majlis Ekonomi Bumiputra was no exception; likewise its hefty price tag. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan and national aspiration
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Monday, 23 September 2013, 2:17 pm
– The Malaysian Insider
September 22, 2013
Utusan Malaysia’s Sunday edition today carried an opinion piece lashing out at The Malaysian Insider for its reportage of the Malay newspaper, saying it goes against national aspirations.For good measure, it defined the aspirations as Malay issues and the official religion, Islam.
And it went on a litany of issues from the Allah issue to the late Communist Party of Malaya secretary-general Chin Peng and how the authorities should take action including suspending the portal’s permit.
Let’s make a few things clear.
Utusan’s narrow racial interest is not akin to the larger and wider Malaysian interest.
This is a nation which is 50 years old and it is for all Malaysians, not just a racial subset.
One cannot use the name Malaysia in its masthead and just champion a single race and call it a national aspiration. One cannot then say anyone having a contrary opinion is a traitor to a national cause. Read the rest of this entry »
First day back, Kit Siang targets new Bumi agenda, says only for Umnoputras
Posted by Kit in NEM, NEP, Parliament on Monday, 23 September 2013, 12:13 pm
by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
September 23, 2013
DAP national adviser Lim Kit Siang fired the first salvo when Parliament’s new session began today, saying that the government transformation programmes had failed and that the new Bumiputera agenda went against the grain of the New Economic Model which hinged on merit and not based on race.
He said this after Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Razali Ibrahim responded to a question from Lenggong Member of Parliament Datuk Shamsul Anuar Nasarah to state the achievements of the transformation programmes.
Lim pointed out that the new Bumiputera agenda only benefitted a select few “Umnoputras” when there were many other Bumiputeras and non-Bumis who lived below the poverty line and needed government assistance.
“Isn’t this evidence that the government programmes have failed?” Lim, the Gelang Patah MP, asked.
He questioned whether Umno leaders were willing to pledge that they were Malaysian first and Malay second. Read the rest of this entry »
At tribunal’s end, Ambiga says NRD needs ‘shake-up’
by Ida Lim
Malay Mail Online
September 22, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22 — At the end of a five-day tribunal hearing on election irregularities, Bersih’s co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan said the National Registration Department (NRD) needs to be shaken up as well as help clean up the voter registration roll.
When going through Bersih’s demands and recommendations during the hearing, Ambiga repeated the election watchdog’s long-standing complaint that the Election Commission (EC) had failed to take steps to clear the country’s electoral roll of discrepancies.
Ambiga acknowledged the EC’s stand that it was limited to only registering voters based on the identity cards issued by the NRD, even as electoral reform groups have voiced suspicion that foreigners had obtained citizenship through dubious means.
“That’s why it’s not just a question of electoral roll, it’s so intrinsically tied up – the identity card and the election commission.
“The JPN needs a shake-up as well,” she said when testifying as the last witness today, referring to the NRD by its Malay initials. Read the rest of this entry »
Chin Peng deserves his place of rest
Posted by Kit in DAP, Parliament, Police on Sunday, 22 September 2013, 12:24 pm
M Kulasegaran
Malaysiakini
Sep 22, 2013
MP SPEAKS I had heard about the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) secretary-general Chin Peng from a young age. For as long as I can remember, Chin Peng has been associated with the town of Sitiawan, but it was his career as a guerrilla fighter drew me to him.
I, too, hail from Sitiawan where I was born a good many years after Chin Peng emerged on the west coast of Perak in 1924. Marxists might disagree, but a sense of geographical solidarity may be just as strong as class solidarity.
I had wanted to meet with Chin Peng since the time I first heard about him. Being from a rubber tapping family, I was drawn to read quite a lot about him and his struggles.
Rubber was the mainstay of the Malayan economy but rubber tappers were poor and communist ideology was sympathetic to those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Hence I had an interest in the fighter who was from my hometown of Sitiawan and in how his career worked out in history.
My curiosity was gratified with the publication of Chin Peng’s memoirs, ‘My Side of History’, which was published in 2003. I devoured the book and remembered striking aspects of the story. Read the rest of this entry »
10 ways to really help bumis
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP, UMNO on Sunday, 22 September 2013, 11:27 am
P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Sep 20, 2013
QUESTION TIME The recent RM30 billion package (although I am not sure how it works out to that) for bumiputera economic empowerment is certainly not something that will help or have any kind of impact on the vast majority of bumiputeras who form 67 percent of the population.
Just think of that figure for a moment. Nearly seven out of ten people in the country are bumiputeras. Help everyone in the country who needs it and you help the bumiputera community the most. More on that later.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s plans to economically empower bumiputeras will not help the ordinary bumiputera because he is not the one who owns shares, or will become a major entrepreneur, or live off government contracts. That affects only the rich bumiputeras.
Realistically, the economic empowerment programme is a thinly disguised ruse to help those who continue to live off the government through patronage and corruption. And in this case this is the Umno elite and many of them are likely to be among the 150,000 delegates who will vote in Umno’s forthcoming general assembly.
It’s another form of vote buying.
So what will help ALL bumiputeras and especially those who are in the poor and middle classes and thereby help bridge the income gap between bumiputeras on the one side and Chinese and Indians on the other?
For that, you simply go back to the basics. Here are are 10 things we can identify immediately. If the government had been doing this without respite and full sincerity for the last 56 years from independence we would long ago have become a developed a country, even far surpassing that of our southern neighbour Singapore which has no natural resources to speak of.
1. Raise school education levels
In the haste to increase Malay usage and hire more Malay teachers into the education system after 1970, educational quality dropped in national schools. Until today this is a major problem because of poor quality of teachers (entry standards were foolishly dropped) and lowering examination standards to favour bumiputera students. Read the rest of this entry »
A “grouse” about TMI’s “woeful” usage
– Clive Kessler
The Malaysian Insider
September 22, 2013
“In a public tribunal, many air grouses over Election 2013,” your recent TMI headline trumpets.
Malaysian journalistic usage, with its verbal idiosyncrasies, is sometimes strange.
Even stranger is the fact that those who seek to offer an alternative approach, or speak in a different voice, often (and unthinkingly, so it seems) adopt the language of the dominant press.
They, and here now including The Malaysian Insider, do so without recognizing the hidden assumptions and attitudes, the insidious implications, that are built into those all too familiar “mainstream” usages.
Malaysians love to speak of “woes”.
A woe is a disaster that descends without discernible cause, mysteriously, and without anyone being responsible. Since they exclude human agency, the word’s connotations are exculpatory.
To call some systemic failure (of public utilities or services) a “woe” is to imply that it is a mysterious affliction, a metaphysical conundrum, for which nobody is, or may be held, accountable.
Whose interests does this implication, neatly smuggled unawares by the word “woe” into a reader’s response to the reported facts, serve? Read the rest of this entry »
“One bed, two constituencies” because Election Commission “separated” husband and wife, Tribunal told
by V. Anbalagan and Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
September 21, 2013
A couple that lives in the same house in Johor has been “separated” by the Election Commission and told to vote in different constituencies, the Bersih People’s Tribunal was told today.
The couple, identified as Mr and Mrs Ong, was represented by a family member, G.S. Ong. He said that before the delineation exercise in 2003, they had lived in Kg Abdullah, Segamat, for over 40 years and came under the parliamentary constituency of Segamat (P125).
After 2003, however, Mr Ong was asked to vote in Segamat, which was reorganised to become P140, while Mrs Ong was designated to vote in a newly-created constituency named Sekijang (P141).
G.S.Ong said he felt sorry for the couple who could not vote together.
“What this shows is that the Election Commission is so powerful it can ‘divorce couples’ and this has happened to many couples and families in Kampung Abdullah,” G.S. Ong said. Read the rest of this entry »
Berapa nilai Melayu dalam DAP?
– Izmil Amri Ismail
The Malaysian Insider/Roketkini.com
September 20, 2013
Ya, berapa nilai Melayu dalam DAP? Lebih spesifik, berapa nilai politisi Melayu dalam DAP? Sekupang, dua kupang, atau lima kupang? Atau adakah lebih daripada itu? Siapa yang menentukan nilai; dan kalau pun nilai itu boleh ditentukan, bagaimana caranya?
Untung sebenarnya DAP ditakdirkan untuk mengadakan pemilihan semula. Dengan kemenangan besar DAP sebagai sebahagian daripada koalisi Pakatan Rakyat pada PRU-13, 5 Mei lalu, pasti ramai personaliti yang ingin menyendeng dan bermesra dengan parti ini. Parti yang sebelum PRU-13 dilihat sebagai sebuah parti Cina dan tidak begitu mesra Melayu.
Dengan kemenangan tiga wakil rakyat Melayu pada PRU agak susah untuk musuh politik DAP menggunakan hujah ‘parti Cina’. Arakian maka semakin galaklah sekalian Melayu untuk kian mampir dan mengikut serta dalam perjuangan DAP.
Ini adalah perkembangan yang amat sihat dan membanggakan. Jenuh sungguh parti itu berusaha bagi menarik minat Melayu menyertai parti serta menjenamakan DAP sebagai sebuah parti berbilang kaum. Penyertaan kian ramai orang Melayu ke dalam DAP kini sudah bukan lagi bahan berita. Sudah jadi perkara biasa. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Barring Chin Peng’s ashes makes us laughing stock’
Malaysiakini
Sep 21, 2013
Former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Mohd Noor warned that Malaysia will become a laughing stock if the government adamantly refuses to allow Chin Peng’s remains to be brought into the country.
“There is a hue and cry from the public not to even allow his ashes (back into Malaysia). My God… This is stretching the argument a bit too far. It’s a bit naive I think.
“If the government – the authorities – succumb to this public pressure not to allow Chin Peng’s ashes to be brought back, I think, we are making Malaysia a laughing stock to the whole world,” he said in an interview aired on BFM yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
