RPK dares Malaysia to fight him in UK
Posted by Kit in Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Sunday, 23 May 2010, 9:40 am
By Shannon Teoh | The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2010
LONDON, May 23 — Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has thrown down the gauntlet to Malaysian authorities, challenging them to bring standing charges against him to the courts in the United Kingdom.
Swaggering into a packed hall in the UK capital yesterday and flanked by two burly men in dark glasses, the controversial Malaysia Today writer insisted that he would fight charges of criminal defamation and sedition as well as the appeal against his Internal Security Act (ISA) detention, given a level playing field.
“I will take on the government and I will fight them but I will do what Sun Tzu said, ‘Fight him in your territory.’
“So my territory is here in the UK,” he declared to applause from a largely partisan crowd of over 300, who had their bags searched before entering the hall at the BPP Law School.
Many had to stand for the two-hour talk by the blogger, who repeated what he had written over the years, in his first formal appearance after over a year in self-imposed exile.
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Baram residents fear a repeat of Bakun fiasco
By G Vinod | FMT
MIRI: The Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia today said the residents of longhouses near the proposed Baram dam in Sarawak do not want to see another repeat of the Bakun resettlement fiasco.
Its executive director Mark Bujang said that the people in the affected area want the project to be scrapped altogether.
Bujang said this was clearly expressed by the locals during a two-day seminar organised by the Baram Residents Action Council at Telang Usan Hotel here.
“The residents have voiced concerns of their fate once the dam is built.
“They are wondering what will happen to their land once its waters inundate their villages… how are they going to be resettled and how much it will cost them,” he said.
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Why MACC dare not announce it will probe Najib if corruption is suspected in the Prime Minister’s infamous RM5million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election polling?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Election, Najib Razak on Saturday, 22 May 2010, 11:40 am
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) does not want to be left out in the nation-wide furore over the latest financial scandal in the country – the RM964 million Sime Darby losses from cost overruns from four projects in its Energy and Utilities Unit, in particular the Bakun Dam project.
Thursday’s New Straits Times carried this headline: “MACC; Sime probe if graft suspected”.
My instant thought is when there is going to be a newspaper headline: “MACC: PM probe if graft suspected”.
Not that there is not enough cause. The recent Sibu by-election provides the MACC ample evidence for investigation against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whether he had been guilty of corrupt practices particularly in the infamous RM5 million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election – which is on YouTube for all to see.
Has the MACC the guts, commitment and professionalism to investigate the Prime Minister for corruption?
I am not even talking about arresting and charging the Prime Minister for corruption – just to open a probe on the Prime Minister.
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Najib should not dodge questions but should answer frankly whether the Bakun Dam project has cost overruns of RM1.7 billion and that the government will be asking Parliament for a RM700 million bailout package for Sime Darby
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Good Governance on Saturday, 22 May 2010, 11:15 am
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has dodged questions about the Sime Darby costs overruns scandal since the GLC-conglomerate’s May 13 admission of RM964 million losses for the second half of FY2010, comprising:
| 1. | Qatar Petroleum (QP) | RM200 million |
| 2. | Maersk Oil Qatar (MOQ) | RM159 million |
| 3. | MOQ marine project | RM155 million |
| 4. | Bakun Dam | RM450 million |
| Total | RM964 million | |
These are however only a part of the losses suffered by Sime Darby from these projects, for instance:
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the RM974 million QP project which was awarded in April 2006 and scheduled for completion in August 2008 incurs losses exceeding RM500 million;
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the RM2.2 billion MOQ Project, awarded in January 2007 and due for completion in October 2009 incurs RM526 million losses.
Sarawak By-Election: Old Habits Die Hard
Posted by Kit in Election, Sarawak, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 22 May 2010, 5:05 am
By Tunku Abdul Aziz
Sibu, that remarkable town on the mighty Rejang that the Foochows built all those long years ago with sweat, blood and tears, notched another milestone: the Chinese community decided that May 16 was to be the day when they would show the rest of Malaysia, and indeed the world, that Najib’s largesse however packaged had all the smell of moral decay, or not to put too fine a point on it, undisguised vote buying. This illegal and immoral practice is apparently endorsed and encouraged by both the Election Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Sibuans on the other hand would have none of it.
What was so distressing was that the EC and MACC were ever so quick to affix their “No Action” tab on what clearly was corruption committed by Najib who offered financial inducements to the voters of Sibu to return the Barisan Nasional candidate. Similarly they took no action against Najib for his shenanigans in the Hulu Selangor by-election. Most surprising of all, there was not even a whimper from the self-proclaimed anti-corruption fighter, Transparency International Malaysia. Have they decided to flow with the tide of political corruption as well? Najib’s practice of bribing voters into supporting his election agenda shows a complete and utter disdain for public opinion and the law.
What is the point of spending hundreds of millions on beefing the MACC up, already bloating and bursting at the seams with gross inefficiency, when the prime minister bribes the voters of Sibu, with complete arrogance and impunity? To our complete surprise, the good citizens of Sibu, unlike some of their fellow citizens elsewhere, turned up their collective nose and gave Najib the elbow, more or less telling him to “take a running jump into the Rejang.”
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Never before in Sibu
By Wee Wui Kiat
[UPDATED with photos from the ground] A musing on the many firsts for Sibu that took place in the few weeks leading up to last Sunday’s by-election, that reflects a changed Malaysia.
Sibu Miracle – May 16,2010
Never before in Sibu have we seen such a strong line of a multi-ethnic opposition coalition working together hand in hand way into the wee hours of the night to bring about change.
Never before in Sibu have we seen so many Malays proudly wearing DAP caps and shirts on the streets.
Never before in Sibu have we seen a Malay woman donning the tudung, hoisting a huge DAP flag.
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Kit Siang chides EC over ‘disrespectful’ and ‘rude’ claim
PETALING JAYA: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang chided the Election Commission (EC) for saying the party was “disrespectful” and “rude” during the tallying of the Sibu by-election results.
“As far as DAP is concerned, we were very civil,” he told FMT, in response to EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar’s statement in Malay-daily Utusan Malaysia today.
Lim stressed that DAP was only aiming for a free and just election and said that the party has been fully cooperating with the EC to ensure such objective being achieved.
Wan Ahmad was quoted as saying that the opposition party was “rude” and “disrespectful” to the EC and accused them of obstructing their workers during the tallying of the postal votes.
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Najib should present a preliminary White Paper to the June 7 Parliament on the RM1-2billion Sime Darby cost overruns which have already led to the fall of its group chief executive Ahmad Zubir
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Friday, 21 May 2010, 8:04 am
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should present a preliminary White Paper to the June 7 Parliament on the RM1-2 billion Sime Darby cost overruns which have already led to the fall of its group chief executive Datuk Seri Ahmad Zubir and growing calls led by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for the whole Board of Directors including Chairman Tun Musa Hitam to resign.
This is because the Malaysian people and taxpayers are the final shareholders of Sime Darby, hitherto the biggest and most successful government-linked company (GLC).
I welcome the announcement by Musa yesterday that the ongoing internal probe by Sime Darby Bhd to find out how it made staggering losses has now been expanded to cover all its six business divisions.
The probe was previously confined to the conglomerate’s energy and utilities division and is now expanded to its five other business units, viz: plantations, property, healthcare, automotive and industrial divisions.
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Senior MBPJ officials own low-cost flats
Posted by Kit in Good Governance on Friday, 21 May 2010, 7:19 am
by R. Nadeswaran, Terence Fernandez and Llew-Ann Phang
The Sun
PETALING JAYA (May 20, 2010): SHE is chauffeur-driven in an official four-wheel drive on duties and states her address in official documents as a double-storey corner terrace house in Kota Damansara. But Sharipah Marhaini Syed Ali is also the owner of the low-cost apartment in Ara Damansara and happens to be the planning director of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
She is not the only senior official owning a low-cost apartment.
MBPJ’s senior assistant engineer, Hanizah Katab, owns one in the same block – and so does about 500 other MBPJ employees, many using the names of wives, husbands and relatives to own low-cost homes in Petaling Jaya.
By her own admission, Sharipah is not the only director who owns a low-cost flat. Questioned by a councillor, she charged that there are other “directors and deputy directors” who own such properties.
In a reply to a memo from Deputy Mayor Puasa Md Taib dated Feb 4, Sharipah argued that “if the policy is that those earning above RM2,500 are not eligible, then all the other officers involved should be asked to explain”.
Going by the state government’s guidelines on eligibility for low-cost units, they would not qualify by a mile because only those having combined family income of less than RM2,500 a month can apply. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Utusan Malaysia capable of paradigm shift to be true standard-bearer of a 1Malaysia concept or will it continue like Canute to spearhead the resistance to the tide of change in Malaysia?
In his speech at the ground-breaking ceremony for the new Utusan Malaysia headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak urged the 72-year-old Utusan to transform itself if it is to stay relevant.
He said Utusan must be more than Umno’s mouthpiece and must be a medium to build an intellectual culture and a critical society.
He said that the groundbreaking ceremony must coincide in a paradigm shift for the newspaper – going beyond “race, Islam and country” to play a pivotal role in helping the government achieve its transformation plan.
But is Utusan capable of being Najib’s “partner to government” in forging a 1Malaysia and to implement the New Economic Model (NEM) reforms to overhaul the Malaysian economy to break away from the decade-long economic stagnation and middle-income trap to take the quantum leap to become a high-income developed country?
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Will IGP try to understand the public and agree to a public inquiry into police shootings now that there is another police report lodged by port worker Sharil Azlan?
The Malaysian Insider headline “Understand cops, IGP tells public” sums up what the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan has to say on TV3 last night.
I would be the first to agree with him, and this is the reason why I had consistently advocated and supported improvement in the wages and working conditions of the Malaysian police force in my four decades in Parliament.
But can the IGP fathom that the Police must understand the public who want to have an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service singled-mindedly focused on three core functions: to keep crime low, to eradicate corruption and to uphold human rights – the very words used by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report released in May 2005?
Musa said: “The people must understand that if there was a police road-block, they must stop and not ram into a road-block. By doing so, police will become suspicious, because they might be criminals or drug traffickers or they just want to run away from the law.”
Musa said police would act according to the law when handling such situations, including using deadly force, when trying to defend themselves (police) or others.
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Call on Najib to suspend UUCA for five years to demonstrate he has the political will to implement NEM priority to “retain and attract talent”
Congratulations to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that Malaysia has broken into the top 10 list of the world’s most competitive countries, taking the 10th spot on the Switzerland-based IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2010 – up from 18th placing last year.
Malaysia, however, has still a long way to go if we are to break away from the decade-long economic stagnation, escape from the middle-income trap and take our rightful place in the international community of nations, catching up with nations which have overtaken us economically although we were ahead of them when we achieved Merdeka 53 years ago – like South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
For a start, has the Najib premiership the political will to break the logjam of resistance by vested groups represented by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and various interest groups which have been outsourced by Umno to champion rightwing, extremist and racist views like Perkasa and Gertak?
As a test whether Najib has the political leadership and will to implement New Economic Model (NEM) reforms, I call on him to suspend for five years the Universities and University Colleges Act which acts like a suffocating blanket stifling creativity, innovation and excellence among university lecturers and students, reducing the public universities into second class universities not only in the world but also in the country.
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Putrajaya dream not far-fetched, says Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 20 May 2010, 8:37 am
KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat’s victory in the recent Sibu by-election proved that all is not lost for the coalition in its hopes of winning the 13th general election, and forming the next federal government.
In his blog, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang also said the days Barisan Nasional considered Sabah and Sarawak as its “fixed deposits” are over.
“The BN survived the onslaught of the 2008 political tsunami due to the support from Sabah and Sarawak.
“However, it must have realised now that it cannot take the voters of the two states for granted by disregarding their legitimate grievances and discontent,” he said.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #15
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 20 May 2010, 8:35 am
By M Bakri Musa
Chapter 2: Why Some Societies Progress, Others Regress
The Seminal Role of the Individual
The preceding discussion focused on society. It is the function of society and its culture to mould its members into a preexisting pattern through socialization and acculturation. The intention is to maintain the status quo; it is necessarily static to ensure that the values and nature of that society are propagated and maintained; it is a mechanism to ensure societal stability.
Individuals are by nature unique, each of has our own preferences and choices, our likes and dislikes. Left to our own devices, human society will not be possible. We would be like a bunch of wild cats, marauding on our own. Ever try to corral a bunch of them? But even with wild animals a certain pack behavior is identifiable – a primordial societal form.
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What more do we want from the Chinese?
I find myself in a strangely odd position – an Indian speaking up for the Chinese. It has recently been asked of them: “What more do the Chinese want?”
If it were merely rhetorical, I will defend the right to ask questions of such a nature in the name of free speech and healthy discourse. Unfortunately it is not a question. It is a blatant threat. The politicians behind the threat have clearly identified themselves. They have also now shown their hand. They are shamelessly indulging in the gutter politics of communalism.
A demonstration 10,000-strong had been planned for May 13 in Terengganu. We should reject this threat for the same reason we reject a bribe. Racial politics and corruption are slowly and surely destroying the very fabric of nationhood. A country that was put together carefully with effort, toil and sacrifice deserves better.
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Surprising signals from Sibu
By Bridget Welsh
The real measure of change among the electorate is how they mark the ballot paper.
This analysis explores how people voted in Sibu, drawing from the polling station results and local interviews. The results from the Sibu by-election point to major transformations in voting behavior in Sarawak.
T?hey show swings among voters of all the different ethnic communities towards Pakatan and consistent youth disenchantment with the BN.
The results also reveal a crack in the rural-urban divide in Sarawak voting. Even the composition of the low voter turnout under close scrutiny points in Pakatan’s favour.
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Najib’s infamous Sibu campaign speech – Seeing is Believing
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Election, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 19 May 2010, 4:44 pm
I read Mariam Mokhtar’s article “‘Deal or no deal’ falls flat” in Malaysiakini this morning dismembering Prime Minister Najib Razak’s RM5million-for-offer speech at Rejang Park, Sibu in the final hours of the Sibu by-election campaign Polling Eve on Saturday.
I knew about Najib’s dishonourable RM5 million offer to the people of Rejang Park to mitigate their flood problems – a drop in the ocean as Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had admitted that it would cost at least RM1 billion to resolve Sibu’s long-neglected floods problem – in return for BN candidate Robert Lau elected as MP for Sibu.
But I had not seen the video of Najib’s infamous speech and I did not fully believe what Mariam wrote – as I just could not imagine the Prime Minister of the country saying, doing and behaving the way she has written.
This is why I started on the hunt for the video on the Internet. It was not difficult to find. The Malaysiakini video had been put up on many sites, including other electronic websites.
I was just astounded that Mariam was 100% right and Najib did say, act and behave as she has described and rightly castigated him.
It is indeed “Seeing is Believing”.
Mariam’s was a Must Read article. This is a Must View video!
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Call on Rais Yatim to lift all RTM restrictions on Chou Z Lam’s Bakun Dam documentary and ensure that the remaining episodes of the television documentary is aired
The Information, Unity, Culture and Arts Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim should intervene to lift all RTM restrictions on producer Chou Z Lam’s television documentary on the Bakun Dam.
There had been unacceptable political interference in RTM’s TV2 resulting in Chou’s documentary on the Bakun Dam being taken off the air because of Barisan Nasional concerns over it chances in the Sibu by-election during the campaign period.
The documentary was taken off the air under the direct instruction of RTM’s chief broadcast executive Ibrahim Yahya.
RTM’s newsroom chief executive Jumat Engson had said the documentary was taken off the air because it had sensitive elements that could be harmful for BN in the ongoing Sibu by-election.
Now that the Barisan Nasional had lost the Sibu by-election even without the Bakun Dam television documentary, this rigmarole of political interference with media freedom should be stopped immediately.
Diplomatic claims by the authorities that the documentary would be postponed to ‘a more appropriate time’ is not acceptable.
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Radzi doing the nation a grave disservice in down-playing the public crisis of confidence facing MACC
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Wednesday, 19 May 2010, 3:22 pm
The Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Corruption, former Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad is doing the nation a grave disservice in downplaying the crisis of confidence facing the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Radzi said in Parlimanet after the meeting of the Special Committee on Corruption that MACC’s image has suffered after Teoh Beng Hock’s death and loss of several court cases.
MACC’s image was already on the nosedive before Teoh Beng Hock’s tragic death at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16 – as the MACC did not act as an independent, professional and fearless fighter against corruption but conducted itself as a shameless catspaw of Umno/Barisan Nasional to further their ulterior political agenda against the Pakatan Rakyat – but Teoh Beng Hock’s death sent MACC into a tailspin into the abyss of infamy from which it had not yet been able to redeem itself.
This was why nobody shed any tears when the first MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan retired early under a cloud for MACC under him had ended its first year with lower public confidence and esteem than when it started – actually fulfilling the worst fears of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
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Election Commission’s professionalism, credibility and integrity plunged to its lowest point
The Election Commission’s professionalism, credibility and integrity plunged to its lowest point in its 53-year history in the Sibu by-election unless it could satisfactorily explain the two-and-a-half hour delay in announcing the results on polling night and the 9.37% or 5,172-voter mistake in voter turnout.
Counting for postal ballot ended at around 8.30 pm on polling day and almost instantaneously, Barisan Nasional and SUPP leaders left the Counting Centre at the Civics Centre – a sign to all that they knew at that time that the BN had lost the by-election.
The mystery remains three days after the by-election as to why the Election Commission delayed for two-and-a-half hours before announcing the results.
DAP leaders did not “storm” the Sanyan Building where the postal ballots were counted, but we went over there from the DAP Sibu Ops Centre to find out what was happening.
When I arrived there with DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, as well as a battery of DAP MPs and State Assembly representatives from all over the country at about 9.30 pm, counting of postal ballots had already been completed for an hour but there was a “standoff” as there was no Election Commission official to issue Form 15 to certify the final tally for the postal ballots counted.
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