Whistleblower on hidden truths of the pork import business
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 2:17 pm
Introduction by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
Centre for Policy Initiatives
On 5 March 2013, CPI posted an article on ‘NEM at ground level: same old model, no paradigm shift’. The article revealed how pork importation has degenerated from a freer market to a semi-monopoly controlled by a business-political mafia and which involves the highest level of leadership in the Ministry responsible.
On 13 March, the Malaysian Association of Pork Importers (MAOPI) issued a press statement – apparently available only to the Chinese mainstream media – in which it denied the charges in the CPI article and alleged that the contents of the article were untrue and aimed at smearing the good name of MAOPI.
Since then we have received further damaging disclosure from both members and non-members of MAOPI on the subject.
We are reproducing below unedited excerpts from another informant. Read the rest of this entry »
Political suicide or stroke of genius?
Written by Mohsin Abdullah of fz.com
The Edge Malaysia
Wednesday, 20 March 2013 10:56
PAKATAN’S move in putting Lim Kit Siang to contest Gelang Patah is obvious. Political analysts say it’s to win all Chinese majority seats in the state of Johor. Not only Gelang Patah. Using Lim’s “image” and “stature” to garner the votes.
Still, before that, the analysts as well as strategists within Pakatan itself agree that the major challenge now is to get the entire Pakatan fraternity, in particular the grassroots in Johor, to “see the big picture”.
The big picture, of course, is winning GE13 and forming the federal government. But isn’t that obvious? Why reiterate the need to see the big picture? If not for anything else, it’s to “pre-empt any chance” of an “implosion” arising from the move of bringing in Lim to Johor.
Pakatan strategists agree “there can be problems”, citing the recent PKR-DAP spat as an example. Other “potential time bombs” could be a PKR backlash as Gelang Patah has always been their’s to contest and MCA man turned PKR leader Datuk Chua Jui Meng’s “disappointment” of being overlooked after eying the Gelang Patah candidacy for some time. Enter the big picture. Read the rest of this entry »
An open note for Dr Chandra Muzaffar
by Choo Sing Chye
Malaysiakini
5:09PM Mar 18, 2013
Once your heart was filled with egalitarian ideals which copiously propagated into the pages of your books and Aliran Monthly.
I admired your courage to say these forbidden ideals which in the eyes of the Umno kingpins were seditious.
I believed that you had the passion then, to offer solace for the poor without fear of offending the BN elites of the day.
You didn’t speak for the opposition, nor the BN government, but you spoke up eloquently for the poor and injustices.
In your heart you felt the anguish, despair, misery and wretchedness of the poor.
But today I see a different you. Read the rest of this entry »
Lim Kit Siang the ‘giant slayer’
Malaysiakini
9:48AM Mar 20, 2013
YOURSAY ‘Kit Siang could have stayed in Ipoh and nobody would fault him. But a general never sits still when the war is raging.‘
Confirmed! Kit Siang will do battle in Gelang Patah
MrM: Uncle Lim Kit Siang is getting on in his years. Last time, he mentioned that 2008 will probably be his last election.
It is understandable that he will choose to stand again to give Pakatan Rakyat a fighting chance in Johor. So people of Gelang Patah, it is up to you.
Give Uncle Lim a resounding victory so that it may be the finest hour in his career and he can retire in peace.
Observer_2013: Kit Siang in Gelang Patah? The reason is because Pakatan doesn’t have any strong candidate in Johor.
Where is PKR state chief Chua Jui Meng? Trouble in PKR camp? In reality, BN will retain Johor easily. Read the rest of this entry »
The myth of the rich and poor
Posted by Kit in Economics, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 9:56 am
by Anas Alam Faizli
The Malaysian Insider
MARCH 20, 2013
MARCH 20 ― “They are simply lazy”
“His father is a Tan Sri”
“He knows someone from the inside”
“I made it purely out of effort; I worked hard to get where I am today”
These are some typical expressions that are sure to be heard in coffee chats, every time the topic of rich and poor is brought up. People have grown easily accustomed to brushing off the topic of inequality as welfarist or socialist.
This happens even amongst supposedly “middle class” Malaysians, not realising that they are in actuality, most likely top income earners and wealth owners. Households earning RM10,000 a month and above already qualify as top 4 per cent Malaysians!
In fact, while partisan voices continue their discourse in the racial imbalance tone, Malaysia has silently migrated into new battles, concerning intra-racial, income, and class-based imbalances.
It is often argued that the poor and the low income earners are plain lazy and do not work hard; that one earns what one deserves. This is not true. Many are simply unlucky, to be born to parents who lack education or skills to escape from the clutches of poverty.
Some were born with disabilities and diseases, while some others live in flood-prone or hazardous places. On the other hand, we have sub-quality undeserving businessmen linked to political patrons, estate and fortune inheritors, and individuals plainly lucky to be placed in lucrative industries with high economic rent. Accusations like laziness then become hardly the issue. The rich can be lazy too! Read the rest of this entry »
Johor tidak lagi simpanan tetap
oleh Subky Abdul Latif
The Malaysian Insider
March 20, 2013
20 MAC ― Bunyinya Datuk Ghani Othman tidak lagi dikekalkan sebagai Menteri Besar jika Barisan Nasional hendak mengekalkan Johor di bawah perintahnya.
Nama Datuk Khalid Nordin, Menteri Pelajaran Tinggi yang hampir menggantikan Ghani tahun 2008 dikatakan akan menggantinya kali ini.
Pemerhati yang dekat dengan Umno masih percaya Johor akan kekal di bawah BN tetapi kedudukannya tidak lagi seperti sepanjang separuh abad lalu. Nama Ghani mulai mewarisi dua Menteri Besar yang awal dulu iaitu Datuk Hassan Yunus dan Tan Sri Othman Saad sebelum mereka digantikan dengan Menteri lain.
Maka bagi memastikan Johor kekal dengan Barisan Nasional walaupun tidak segagah dulu, MB-nya mesti ditukarkan. Itu ikhtiar politik BN.
Pakatan Rakyat sangat yakin, Johor bukan lagi simpanan tetap Umno/BN. Inilah peluangnya yang terbaik untuk merampas negeri Datuk Onn, Musa Hitam dan Muhyiddin Yasin itu. Read the rest of this entry »
What Kit Siang hasn’t done
by Jimmy Chia
The Malaysian Insider
March 19, 2013
MARCH 19 – Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today rattled off what Lim Kit Siang has not done – which is not serving his constituents as the DAP leader keeps switching parliamentary seats.
Soi Lek has a point there.
I’d like to help the MCA president by listing off what else Kit Siang has not done in his long career as a politician. After all, MCA needs all the help it can get these days when even Datuk Lee Hwa Beng is wondering how well this towkay party can do in GE13.
So, what else hasn’t Kit Siang done? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib is no Transformer but mere Performer!
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 9:06 am
by Martin Jalleh
What has Najib Achieved?
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 8:59 am
by Martin Jalleh
23-Day Countdown to 13GE – Will Najib make a mockery of his signing of the Transparency International’s Integrity Pledge by not taking any action against Taib Mahmud and his family on the explosive video evidence produced by Global Witness?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Sarawak on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 8:57 am
On 20th February, 2013, almost a month ago, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak signed the Transparency International Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge with much aplomb in the presence of many BN leaders including the Chief Minister of Sarawak and leader of PBB, Taib Mahmud.
Today, international NGO, Global Witness released a shocking video involving a nexus of prominent figures all of whom connected to Taib Mahmud. These individuals included Norlia and Fatima Abdul Rahman, daughters of former Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul Rahman Ya’akub and cousins of Taib Mahmud. Fatima was caught on camera admitting that she could ‘speak to the CM very easily’ in order to obtain the necessary approvals for a land sale to a Global Witness representative, land which Fatima said was given to them by Taib. This land sale would involve a company, Ample Agro Sdn Bhd, whose first six shareholders are all daughters of former Sarawak CM, Rahman Ya’akub which includes not only Norlia and Fatima but also Tanjong Manis MP Nora Abdul Rahman as well as Najib’s sister in law Khadijah Abdul Rahman.
Norlia is also caught on tape asking the potential ‘buyer’ from Global Witness to undergo an illegal transaction whereby only 10% of the sale price of the land would be booked in Malaysia while the rest would be booked in Singapore in order to avoid Reals Property Gains Tax (RPGT). Norlia also said that these sorts of deals ‘have been done before’ in order to assurance the buyer that this is a standard operating procedure. The lawyer for Ample Agro, Alvin Chong, also confirmed the nature of this transaction in the Global Witness video who also proposed ways for the potential buyer to evade the 49% foreign shareholding limitation by appointing nominees based in Singapore. Alvin was caught on video saying that “I’ve put this to use many a time”. Read the rest of this entry »
Return Of The Heroic Son: Lim Kit Siang
by Allan CF Goh
He is born in Batu Pahat,
But since has lived in people’s heart.
He dares to stand up to torment
For his conscientious fair comment,
On all aspects of corruption,
And every discrimination.
To silence him up, they jailed him,
But truth remains his battle hymn.
He is never cowed by prison,
Violent threats, or words of poison. Read the rest of this entry »
As the Altantuya Murder Plot Thickens
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 5:22 pm
By Kee Thuan Chye
from Yahoo! Malaysia
Private investigator P. Balasubramaniam is gone, and his untimely death from a heart attack makes it all the more pressing for Malaysians to find answers to the mystery of the murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Who actually did it? Logically, it would seem unlikely that the two police personnel who have been convicted acted on their own. What would be the motive of Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri? They didn’t even know Altantuya before they whisked her away and dealt the fatal blow. It would seem they were merely hitmen.
Furthermore, according to Sirul’s cautioned statement, they were offered RM50,000 to RM100,000 to dispose of Altantuya. If this is true, who made the offer?
Other questions float in limbo like ghosts whose souls have not been put to rest. How did these two men get their hands on the C4 explosive used to blow Altantuya’s body to smithereens? It’s something that is difficult to procure. Did they have help from certain quarters? Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s culture of “Slander first, Sorry later” continues
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 5:17 pm
by Martin Jalleh
Kit Siang: Unleash political storm in the south
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 2:48 pm
by Lee Way Loon
Malaysiakini
11:12AM Mar 19, 2013
Some predict a handsome win for Pakatan Rakyat in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat when the general election is held, but its candidate does not expect the battle to be easy.
Nevertheless, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang is willing to take the risk, in order to “set off a political storm” in south Malaysia and in Sabah and Sarawak as well.
Lim coined the term “political tsunami” to describe Pakatan’s gains in the last election in March 2008.
“This is a historic chance to decide whether there will be a regime change. We need to set off a political storm in Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan,” he told a press conference in Skudai, Johor, last night after he was named as the Pakatan candidate for Gelang Patah by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
“And then the storm must cross the South China Sea and reach Sabah and Sarawak. With this, the people can complete a movement for political awareness and democracy.”
Lim, the Ipoh Timor MP, said this would be his fifth move into a new state to contest the election in his political career spanning 47 years.
“This is not an easy battle… but it is worth (fighting for) as it is for our goal, as well as for the nation and people,” he said.
He reiterated that Pakatan was targeting to win at least 18 parliamentary seats from BN in these three southern states: 15 in Johor, two in Negri Sembilan and one in Malacca.
DAP to contest seven seats Read the rest of this entry »
Najib looks more and more like a Crime Minister than the Prime Minister!
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 11:05 am
by Martin Jalleh
Confirmed! Kit Siang will do battle in Gelang Patah
by Lee Way Loon
Malaysiakini
9:47PM Mar 18, 2013
After weeks of speculation, Pakatan Rakyat officially announced tonight that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang will be contesting the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in Johor.
The announcement was made by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim at DAP’s 47th anniversary celebration and ceramah in Skudai.
“It’s true that Gelang Patah was a PKR seat. But we can discuss.
“I hold the opinion that it is still a PKR seat. But if Kit Siang comes and assists us, leads us and becomes the Gelang Patah candidate, I give him my full support,” Anwar told a cheering 20,000-strong crowd.
The PKR de facto leader then invited Lim and all the DAP leaders to come on stage to endorse his decision. Read the rest of this entry »
24-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians deserve a Cabinet and a Government which is not a laughing stock of the world because of the frequency of stupid statements and foolish acts by Ministers
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 18 March 2013, 2:05 pm
I believe we are entering the final week when the 12th Parliament will at last be dissolved to pave the way for the holding of the long-awaited and much-postponed 13th General Elections next month.
This explains why UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders are getting more and more panicky, with some even making hysterical statements, under the intense pressure of the impending 13GE, which cannot be postponed much further after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had put the country on an election campaign footing for close to four long years and breaching the five-year natural life of Parliament – and now just a week ahead of the automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly on March 26!
Najib has said he wants Malaysia to become the world’s best democracy. Then Najib and Umno/BN leaders must first learn to accept Lesson One of the most basic prerequisites of a functioning normal democracy, i.e. to accept that their power in government is not a divine right but a trust granted by the people once every four or five years to be withdrawn or renewed in every general elections.
Up to now Najib and all the Umno/BN leaders have been conspicuously silent on what would be very routine and matter-of-fact in developed democracies all over the world – that they will submit to the verdict of the electorate in the impending general elections and if they lose the mandate to continue as the Federal government for the first time in 56 years, they would peacefully and democratically ensure a peaceful transition of power from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat and they would all serve the role of a loyal Opposition in Parliament as the DAP had done in the past 47 years since the formation of DAP in 1966. Read the rest of this entry »
Ex-cop: Lahad Datu cops’ pleas ignored
Anisah Shukry | March 15, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
A former Lahad Datu police chief says that years of government indifference towards the dire state of security forces in the district paved the way for an armed incursion into Sabah.
PETALING JAYA: Insufficient police personnel, lack of equipment, police vehicles in bad shape — those were the security issues plaguing Lahad Datu for years, said a former Lahad Datu police chief.
Yet, the federal government continued to ignore Lahad Datu police’s requests to upgrade security, said Kamis Daming, and this was why the Royal Sulu Army was able to breach Sabah with ease on Feb 9.
“When I was in Lahad Datu five years ago, I often expressed concerns to our superiors about the possibility of intrusion by foreign elements, but our proposals and requests for security beef-up were looked at very lightly,” Kamis was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.
He told reporters in Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the Lahad Datu district police had scarce equipment and police vehicles such as their four-wheel drives and patrol boats were in terrible shape and constantly broke down.
Meanwhile, the force faced fuel shortages because their supplier allegedly refused to supply them fuel due to unsettled debts, he added.
And despite the district being short of police personnel, he said there were not enough living quarters in the police compound for the force to reside in. Read the rest of this entry »
25-Day Countdown to 13GE – Parliamentary Reforms and restoration of the doctrine of Separation of Powers
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament on Sunday, 17 March 2013, 7:10 am
Under the Federal Constitution and in keeping with the concept of the Separation of Powers, Parliament consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Senate are the supreme law making bodies.
They constitute the Legislative branch of Government, other branches being the Executive and the Judiciary.
The supremacy and independence of Parliament are accepted concepts adopted and practiced by all Parliamentary democracies.
In the Malaysian system of governance, after over five-and-a-half decades of Umno/Barisan Nasional rule, the Executive branch has usurped power and turned Parliament into a subordinate institution thus trampling on the fundamental concept and principle of representative government.
Several aspects of the current scene merit mention. Read the rest of this entry »
Is It Part of Our Culture?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Kee Thuan Chye, Law & Order, Lynas on Sunday, 17 March 2013, 6:09 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
14th March 2013
Last week, I was speaking to students of a higher institution of learning about a play of mine that they are studying called We Could **** You, Mr Birch.
When I got to the issue of getting Malaysians to discuss so-called sensitive issues openly, one of the students commented, “It’s not part of our culture.” I asked her if she was being ironic. The bright lass nodded.
She was alluding to the favourite catchphrase of the Government that is invariably invoked when it wants to discourage Malaysians from taking part in certain activities, usually those that are adversarial or threatening to it.
One such activity is taking part in demonstrations and street protests. Many a government official has used “it’s not part of our culture” to denounce especially large gatherings that challenge the Government’s rulings and actions, like the Bersih and anti-Lynas rallies. Read the rest of this entry »
