Time for a full audit and accounting of the RM100 billion losses in the financial scandals of the 22-year Mahathir premiership
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 February 2012, 5:11 pm
Malaysians are shocked and outraged by the cynical comment of former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who sought justification for the government’s bail out MAS which resulted in a loss of public funds on the specious ground that there were worse cases of bailouts after he stood down.
As example, he alleged that his successor Tun Abdullah lost about RM8 billion when he cancelled the double tracking and electrification project between Johor Baru and Padang Besar.
This is the classic perverse Mahathirish illogic that could righteously argue that so long as there is a greater financial scandal in later administrations under his successor-Prime Ministers, there is no need for him to feel remorse, guilt or responsibility for the colossal loss of public funds or for the lack of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance with regard to the earlier financial scandals under his watch.
This is completely unacceptable.
Read the rest of this entry »
A plea for unity
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, NEP, Razaleigh Hamzah on Friday, 24 February 2012, 2:57 pm
— Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 24, 2012
FEB 24 — I am indeed honoured to have been invited to speak to all of you gathered here this morning on a subject of great importance for the continued preservation and survival of our nation.
As all of you are aware, our nation became free from the fetters of colonial domination about five-and-a-half decades ago.
Sadly and strangely, after 55 years of independence, I think we are farther apart now than we have ever been before. Read the rest of this entry »
Stateless Indians gain right to be buried as Malaysians!
Posted by Kit in Indians, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 February 2012, 2:43 pm
— P. Ramakrishnan
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 24, 2012
FEB 24 — The plight of ignorant and uneducated Indians is legendary and deserves sympathy and compassion. From a humanitarian point of view, a caring and compassionate government would have rendered services to relieve them of their misery. But that doesn’t seem to be the case in Malaysia.
For various compelling reasons these deprived poor Indians had failed to secure an identity card and were unable to register the birth of their children. Those working in rubber estates and oil palm plantations and those struggling to survive in slum areas never understood the requirements of the law or the implications of non-compliance of the law.
Under such circumstances, they had failed to observe the law. This unfortunate situation condemned them to a pathetic stateless misery for decades. These are the people, born and bred in Malaysia, who remain as stateless persons forced to suffer the indignities of poverty and endure the misery inflicted on them by an uncaring and unsympathetic government. Read the rest of this entry »
Something’s rotten in Kuantan
Posted by Kit in environment, Lynas on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 11:39 pm
— Sam Peh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
FEB 23 — Now let me get this straight: The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB)) need not worry what the international community or investors think about getting Lynas out of Malaysia.
It only think about Malaysians — the same chaps who pay the salaries of Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan and other civil servants. According to the director-general of Lynas, he only goes by the facts.
So do I. The facts are that AELB has given Lynas a temporary operating licence and allowed them to put up a multimillion ringgit plant without a long-term plan for the disposal of toxic waste.
No company in the WORLD has devised a foolproof storage system and to think that some company from Australia has achieved a world breakthrough in storage is a joke. And to think that they have been given a temporary operating licence. Read the rest of this entry »
Budaya vandalisma semakin berkembang
Posted by Kit in Felda, Good Governance on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 10:46 pm
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
23 FEB — Apabila terfikir kembali tentang isu penyenaraian FELDA, saya tidak dapat melihat apa kah sebabnya yang kerajaan mahukan penyenaraian ini dilakukan dalam apa juga keadaannya. Saya tidak faham kenapa setiap badan-badan serta agensi kerajaan yang maju sentiasa berakhir dengan kerosakan.
Dulu MAS merupakan sebuah syarikat penerbangan yang premium jika berbanding dengan syarikat-syarikat penerbangan lain di dunia ini. Oleh kerana MAS begitu berjaya di bawah pengurusan Saw Huat Lai dan kemudiannya dikembangkan lagi oleh Tan Sri Aziz Abd Rahman maka setiap mata mereka yang meleleh air liur telah menjualkannya kepada Tajuddin Ramli. Sejak penyerahan MAS kepada Tajudin Ramli, MAS telah menjadi apa yang kita lihat pada hari ini.
MAS mengalami kerugian sehinggakan kerajaan terpaksa melakukan “bail-out” dengan membeli kembali saham-saham syarikat itu dengan harga yang sama yang dijual kepada Tajudin sebelumnya. Kerugian yang dialami oleh MAS begitu besar sehinggakan MAS tidak lagi boleh bangun sampai ke hari ini. Read the rest of this entry »
My debate transcript
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, MCA, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 7:20 pm
— Lim Guan Eng
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
FEB 23 — First of all, I would like to thank the organisers for this live televised debate. Televised debates mark a new chapter in Malaysian political democracy because it is an important element in the democratisation process. I hope that from today onwards, televised debates will be a common phenomenon in the Malaysian democratic system just like in Europe and the United States.
Thus, I believe what Malaysians really want to see is a debate between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to see who really deserves to be prime minister. Whoever isn’t brave enough to debate, don’t hope to think of becoming prime minister.
Chua Soi Lek suggested that DAP is being used by PAS. If we observe Umno amongst the Malays, Umno claims that PAS is being used by DAP. Therefore, I believe this self-contradictory statement is a dirty tactic employed by BN. I wish to stress here that Pakatan Rakyat component parties, be it PAS, PKR or DAP, we never use each other. We are only prepared to be “used” by the people! At the same time, we are also not anti-Malay or even anti-non-Malay; we are merely against a government that is riddled with corruption! Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir should not try to wriggle out of his responsibility to the nation to account for the MAS scandal reducing in less than a decade one of the continent’s top-fliers into the sick man of the airline industry
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Mahathir on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 5:22 pm
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad should not try to wriggle out of his responsibility to the nation to account for the Malaysian Airline System (MAS) scandal, reducing in less than a decade one of the continent’s top-fliers into the sick man of the airline industry.
Mahathir was too fast off-the-mark when he dismissed Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s call that he “write a book” on why MAS was privatised to Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli in 1994, claiming that he was not in charge of the loss-making national carrier.
Mahathir is trying to re-write the history of his 22 years as Prime Minister to make Malaysians believe that he was a very “blur blur” Prime Minister who did not know what was going on in the various Ministries under him – not only disclaiming responsibility for the worst judicial crisis in the nation’s history with the sacking of the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, Tan Sri Sulaiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah; the darkest period of human rights violations with the Internal Security Act mass arrests under Operation Lalang but also the series of financial scandals under his watch including the MAS debacle.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sabah RCI confirmed, scope to be finalised soon, says BN source
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
KOTA KINABALU, Feb 23 — Putrajaya is finalising the terms of reference for the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the problem of illegals in Sabah, a state Barisan Nasional (BN) leader has confirmed, dispelling rumours that Datuk Seri Najib Razak had backtracked on the highly-anticipated decision.
The Malaysian Insider was informed that the only reason why the prime minister had not announced the RCI during his visit here last week was to allow for further input from Sabah BN component parties and the state government in the panel’s terms of reference and composition.
Claiming to have sighted the minutes of the Cabinet meeting, the leader confirmed that federal ministers had agreed to the formation of the RCI on February 8 and had tasked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz to co-ordinate the scope of the RCI investigation.
At the Cabinet’s last meeting on Wednesday, February 15, a day before Najib’s Sabah trip, Nazri tabled a rough draft of the RCI’s terms of reference for discussion, the leader said.
“It was discussed but the terms of reference were not finalised because Cabinet wanted input from Sabah BN parties and the state government.
“And for that (reason), despite the huge expectation that the PM would announce the RCI on February 16, he was simply not ready to announce it,” the BN leader told The Malaysian Insider yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Lim should have said PAS never killed a Mongolian
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, MCA on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 12:47 pm
YOURSAY Malaysiakini
Feb 23, 2012
YOURSAY ‘By right, it’s Umno which should be upset over Guan Eng’s remark. But then again, MCA as always is doing Umno’s dirty job.’
Police report on Penang CM’s alleged racist remark
Boiling Mud: Selangor MCA’s public and services complaints bureau deputy chief Alan Liew said the Chinese community did not understand the true meaning of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s remark and was worried that the latter was playing on racial issue.
Liew, please do not play up racial discord when there was none to begin with regarding the said remark. And most importantly, kindly refrain from citing the Chinese community for whatever political agenda you may have.
Given the shift in the political landscape, I certainly doubt the Chinese community considers MCA as their representative. Can’t the MCA leaders get this simple fact right? Read the rest of this entry »
NFCorp directors in the dark
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Good Governance on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 11:54 am
R. Nadeswaran
[email protected]
23 February 2012
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23, 2012): The National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) bought luxury condominiums without the approval of the board of directors. Three government representatives who sit on the board were not consulted or told about the purchase.
Alias Mohd Yassin and Manaf Hussein represented the Agriculture and Finance Ministries respectively while Datuk Mat Ali Hassan was appointed by virtue of him being the Negri Sembilan state secretary.
These appointments were made to “safeguard the interests of the federal government and stakeholders and the state government as it provided the land.”
“At no time were these directors told of the purchase of the condominiums and other so-called investments and neither were they aware of it until the matter was reported in the media,” a source close to the investigations said. Read the rest of this entry »
Waging a jihad for ‘Malay interests’?
By Dr Mustafa K Anuar, honorary secretary of Aliran
Taking on Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, Mustafa K Anuar points out that it is certain actions by Muslim politicians and bureaucrats – their involvement in corruption, for instance – that are actually smearing the image of Islam.
Controversial Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria called on Muslims (possibly, in this context, only to be read as Malays) to go on a jihad to defend Islam, Malays and the institution of the Malay Rulers, which, apparently to him, are under siege.
The basic question that begs to be asked here is, are Islam, the Malays and the institution of the Malay Rulers indeed under severe threat (presumably by the “Others”?) that it merits a jihad of sorts? Are there still instances of economic injustice among some Malays? If it is true that these Malays are economically worse off, then it begs the question why? What has the BN government been doing ever since it came to power more than 50 years ago? Why has there been increasing income disparity within the Malay community itself, let alone the economic disparity between ethnic groups?
Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan states proof of economic success, proper governance, say leaders
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 8:19 am
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 23, 2012
PETALING JAYA, Feb 23 — High investment figures, budget surpluses and reduction of debts in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states are proof that the federal opposition is ready to take a shot at governing the country, its leaders have asserted.
PR leaders told participants at a DAP fund-raising function here last night that while Barisan Nasional (BN) could only resort to giving one-off RM500 aid to Malaysians while still pouring out billions of ringgit worth of taxpayers’ money in projects which are shrouded in secrecy, PR states have managed to save money as well as increase investment and productivity in less than four years.
Leading the fray was Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who gave the 3,500-odd crowd a blow-by-blow list of the state’s achievements and successes since 2008, and stressed that unlike BN, PR’s policies were not “divided by race” and that their goal was to help all Malaysians.
“Malaysia will become bankrupt because of cronyism, corruption. The (current) federal government debt is RM456 billion. If Malaysia goes bankrupt, who pays? Najib? Rosmah? It’s you and me, ordinary people,” exclaimed Lim to loud cheers from the Chinese-majority crowd. Read the rest of this entry »
MAS scandal: The gov’t must let the truth be told
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Crime, Good Governance, Law & Order, Transport on Thursday, 23 February 2012, 7:42 am
Mat Zain Ibrahim | Feb 22, 2012
Malaysiakini
I am referring to the report made by MAS against Tajudin Ramli to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) almost three years ago. This report has been in the public domain since Aug 23, 2010, when it was first published by Malaysia Today. It’s still there until today.
On May 20, 2009, Shahari Sulaiman, then the managing director of MASKargo, on the instructions of MAS management, lodged a report with the MACC. He alleged that when Tajudin Ramli took over MAS in 1994, the national airline company had RM600 million cash in reserves but when he left, the company had accumulated losses to the tune of RM8 billion. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad quoted the losses at RM9.4 billion as at 2000.
MAS also gave details of Tajudin’s various fraudulent dealings and also raised allegations of collusion between the police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers and in fact naming the parties alleged to be involved in the same report.
However, the report falls short of alleging the inaction of the former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is now MAS adviser, although it gave details of those senior MAS management who were present during the briefing by the former police director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), on March 26, 2007 at the Prime Minister’s Office. One of them is Idris Jala who is now a cabinet member. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP milik siapa?
– Oleh Fairuz Azhan
Roketkini
22 February 2012
Apabila orang Melayu dilihat mendekati atau pun menyertai DAP, antara komen-komen yang biasa didengar adalah, “Apalah sertai DAP, kalau ya pun mahu sertai pembangkang, masuklah PAS atau PKR.”
Secara peribadi komen seperti ini sudah beberapa kali saya dengar secara peribadi daripada kalangan rakan-rakan, saudara-mara dan juga bekas-bekas pensyarah saya. Seolah-olah tanggapan orang ramai adalah DAP sebuah parti untuk orang bukan Melayu sahaja dan jika orang Melayu ingin turut serta dalam perjuangan DAP ia bagaikan sesuatu yang amat pelik seperti makhluk asing mendarat di bumi.
Memang tidak dinafikan bahawa orang Melayu sememangnya minoriti dalam DAP, sebagaimana kaum bukan Melayu minoriti PKR dan hampir tiada bukan Melayu dalam PAS.
Tetapi yang lebih teruk lagi, UMNO hanya membenarkan orang Melayu menyertainya, walau pun ada ramai keturunan India semakin menguasai parti itu. Begitu juga MCA dan MIC yang masing-masing hanya membolehkan kaum Cina dan India sahaja bersama mereka.
Kita harus bertanya dan mengkaji mengapa andaian yang bersifat kaum (tidak semestinya perkauman) ini terjadi apabila Melayu bersama dengan DAP. Read the rest of this entry »
Huge O&G growth a poser for Malaysia’s future
By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 22, 2012
The government would be unable to finance its operational expenditure without oil revenues, according to the World Bank. When last year’s investment figures were released yesterday, one statistic stood out — the stunning 132.7 per cent growth in the mining sector — and painted a picture of a two-speed economy where oil-and-gas was booming while other sectors grew slowly or even registered declining investment.
This comes as the World Bank warned last November that Malaysia is too dependent on fossil fuel revenues, with its non-oil primary deficit having doubled in the last five years to almost 20 per cent of GDP.
The other concern is that oil and gas would continue to compete for talent and funds that could be used to broaden the country’s economic and wealth base, especially in home-grown science and high technology, areas in which Malaysia is an insignificant player. Read the rest of this entry »
Berniaga buluh kasap: Hujung hilang pangkal lesap
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
21 FEB — Saya terbaca berita yang beberapa veteran Umno telah bertemu secara tertutup untuk mencari jalan bagi menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi oleh orang Melayu. Diantara yang hadir itu ialah Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Ibrahim Ali, Presiden Perkasa, TS Sanusi Juned, Datuk Khalid Yunus serta beberapa orang kuat Perkasa termasuk ketua wirawatinya dan pemuda kepada pertubuhan yang sangat ‘famous’ itu.
Saya bersetujulah apa yang mereka lakukan itu, tetapi yang saya nak sentuh kali ini ialah mereka yang berjumpa itu ialah dikalangan orang-orang yang telah memecah belahkan umat Melayu dahulu. Bermula dengan tindakan Dr Mahathir menggunakan peguam Sri Ram untuk mematikan Umno dan terus menyekat usaha sekumpulan ahli Umno untuk menghidupkan Umno lama benar-benar telah memecah belahkan orang Melayu. Orang Melayu berada dalam dua kumpulan; yang satu adalah kumpulan yang sayangkan Umno asal itu dan yang satu lagi kumpulan yang membawa ahli-ahli Umno ke dalam pertubuhan baru yang bernama Umno baru.
Dalam perpecahan inilah tersingkirnya Ketua Hakim Negara semasa itu, Tun Salleh Abas yang telah mengambil keputusan untuk membawa semua sembilan orang hakim-hakim Mahkamah Agong untuk menghakimkan kes tuntutan bekas ahli-ahli Umno untuk menghidupkan parti itu. Dr Mahathir tidak bersetuju kerana beliau mahukan Umno yang baru untuk menyingkirkan semua pemimpin yang tidak sebulu dengannya. Read the rest of this entry »
The time has come for more public debates
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Najib Razak, Politics on Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 9:22 am
Kee Thuan Chye | Feb 21, 2012
Malaysiakini
COMMENT
Why don’t we have more debates between our politicians, and have these debates telecast live? This is a thought on many minds after the debate between Lim Guan Eng and Dr Chua Soi Lek.
Why not, indeed? After all, people were still talking fervently about the debate the day after – in homes, offices, coffeeshops and social media.
We now have a clear indication that there are two main players in the political field – BN and Pakatan Rakyat – which makes it conducive for a series of debates on a series of national issues to be held between representatives from both sides.
Although some of their politicians are already addressing issues in their own ceramahs, such gatherings are being audited by only a small proportion of the people.
Live telecasts will bring their views to the major populace. And that is something essential for a healthy democracy. Read the rest of this entry »
What I think
Joan Lau
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
FEB 21 — I was shocked to read our Home Ministry has ordered an immediate stop to the sale of “Where Did I Come From?”, an illustrated book for children that explains well… where we all come from.
I remember buying that book for my youngest brother when he was just six or seven years old.
It’s a lovely book that teaches you the proper names for the various parts of the anatomy (penis rhymes with peanuts) and told about how your parents fell in love, had sex and made you.
Sure, there are naked people in the book — illustrated, mind — but there is nothing pornographic about it. Read the rest of this entry »
BN defensive as Penang tops manufacturing investment
By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 21 — The performance of Pakatan Rakyat controlled states in attracting manufacturing investment prompted a minister today to play up the federal government’s role in their success.
The Ministry of International Trade and Industry released figures today that showed that the federal opposition controlled states of Penang and Selangor had recorded the highest levels of approved manufacturing investment in 2011, at RM9.1 billion and RM8.74 billion respectively.
This is the second year in a row that Penang and Selangor have topped the ranks for approved manufacturing investment and a sharp contrast to 2009 when Sarawak attracted the highest levels of manufacturing investment and Penang came in fourth.
Another Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state, Kedah came in fourth in 2011 with RM6.13 billion, behind Barisan Nasional (BN) controlled Sarawak which was in third place at RM8.45 billion.
The economic performance of PR states is closely watched as many voters and analysts use it as a gauge of whether the coalition is a viable alternative to the ruling BN. Read the rest of this entry »
Highway to hell
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Judiciary on Tuesday, 21 February 2012, 7:58 pm
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 21, 2012
FEB 21 — The thing that troubled me most about the latest expose in Malaysia is the seemingly cozy relationship between the current Umno lawyer and the former chief justice, who incidentally is a former Umno lawyer.
I am beyond griping that the contract was not awarded through an open tender because open tender means competition and competition means level playing field — all the things that our friends like Ibrahim Ali, Mahathir Mohamad don’t like.
But it does disturb me that there appears to be a business nexus between an Umno lawyer Hafirizam Harun and Tun Zaki Azmi. In most developed countries, judges and especially chief justices keep an arms length from lawyers because they don’t want to be accused of bias or bringing the judiciary into disrepute. The more strict judges do not even socialise with lawyers.
So I can’t imagine the head of the Supreme Court of the USA or India or even the Chief Justice of Singapore getting a government contract or being involved in a business with a lawyer, especially one who acts for the government. Read the rest of this entry »
