Will Ong Tee Keat drop everything in France and take the first flight back to discharge his paramount duty as Minister – to fully account to Parliament on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?
Posted by Kit in Parliament, PKFZ on Sunday, 14 June 2009, 1:14 pm
My three questions (No.46 to No. 48 on the 16th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
No. 1. – I commend Ong for the prompt answer to my third question yesterday, viz: “As Parliament is periodically asked to approve allocations for the multi-billion ringgit bailout of PKFZ, is Ong ensuring that every MP gets a copy of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report of PKFZ, together with the appendices, to ensure that there could be an informed debate and discussion of the issue in Parliament?”
The government portal on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, www.pkfznews.com.my, announced today that “All MPs to have a copy of the PwC report, including the appendices”.
I am glad that Ong had changed his mind. At the two-day Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 10/11), Ong had refused to revoke his directive to the Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng restricting the access of PAC members to the four-inch high appendices only during the PAC meeting.
This is a most ridiculous and unacceptable directive totally contrary to all concept of accountability and transparency as well as the important principle of responsibility to Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures – forecast of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 ending up in Malaysian economy shrinking by 4-5 per cent
Posted by Kit in Economics, Education, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 14 June 2009, 11:40 am
Datuk Seri Najib Razak is nearing his first two-and-a-half months as the new Prime Minister in Malaysia, but he does not seem to be able to do anything right, as he is still dogged by a deepening crisis of credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership.
This is why Najib should be brave enough to cut the Gordian Knot of this crisis of confidence and ask for a vote of confidence as the first item of parliamentary agenda when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.
Whether on the political, economic, educational or nation-building front, Najib has still to deliver his first accomplishment.
Politically, Najib inflicted on himself a deep and grievous wound in orchestrating the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.
Economically, Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures as evident by the downward revision of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 in the first RM7 billion package last November to the current estimate that Malaysian economy will shrink by 4-5 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s indecision to introduce genuine liberalisation major cause of present calamitous economic situation
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics on Sunday, 14 June 2009, 7:29 am
By Dr. Chen Man Hin
PM NAJIB MUST INTENSIFY HIS EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMY QUICKLY OR THE PEOPLE WILL SUFFER MORE WITH INCREASING UNEMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF POORER BUSINESS ACTIVITY, CLOSURE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOWER INCOME TO BUY FOOD AND ESSENTIALS FOR THE FAMILY
The world economic credit crunch and economic downturn has begun to create havoc for the malaysian economy, and this despite the announcement of two stimulus financial packages and liberalisation of services.
On becoming Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak proudly announced his 1 Malaysia, People First and Performance Now program. He was quite sure that the economy would not be affected by the global crunch.
However, with the fanfare and the shouting over, the economy has not shown signs of getting better. On the contrary it is getting worse. Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lankan Humanitarian Crisis Deepens. What can ordinary Malaysians do?
Posted by Kit in Augustine Anthony on Sunday, 14 June 2009, 7:07 am
by Augustine Anthony
august.anthony@gmail.com
How much more should the Sri Lankan Tamils suffer before the Malaysian government responds decisively, consistent with its previous efforts in condemning the practices of human rights violations such as :-
1. Apartheid discriminating blacks and coloured in South Africa,
2. Genocide of Muslim population in Bosnia,
3. Atrocities against the Palestinians in the Middle East fighting for their homeland.
Almost three decades of civil war coupled with the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami that displaced more than 500,000 people, the Sri Lankan Tamils had suffered unimaginable hardship.
But what awaits the Sri Lankan Tamils and the world in the aftermath of the Armed Forces perceived victory against the LTTE is about to explode into a major international crisis unless sooner averted. Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO is no bully in BN? Then why instant removal of poll on MCA President’s blog where 78.1 per cent or 2409 out of 3084 persons want MCA out of Barisan Nasional!
Posted by Kit in MCA, Najib Razak on Saturday, 13 June 2009, 4:02 pm
The instant removal of the poll “Should MCA leave BN” on the blog of the MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat where 78.1 per cent or 2,409 out of 3,084 persons polled want MCA out of the Barisan Nasional reminds me of last October’s MCA General Assembly.
In his opening speech, the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denied that UMNO was a “bully” party in the Barisan Nasional.
Abdullah’s denial, responding to the earlier speech of the outgoing MCA President, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in Barisan Nasional”, made the newspaper frontpage headlines like “UMNO IS NO BULLY” (New Sunday Times 19.10.08) and “Umno bukan pembuli: PM” (Berita Minggu).
If UMNO is no bully in BN, then why the instant removal of the poll “Should MCA leave BN” on MCA President’s blog immediately after the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed his displeasure at such a poll in the MCA President’s blog? Read the rest of this entry »
Public forum – RM12 billion PKFZ scandal : In BN we trust?
Posted by Kit in Announcement on Saturday, 13 June 2009, 3:58 pm
Public forum : “RM12 billion PKFZ scandal : In BN we trust?”
Date : 16th June 2009, Tuesday
Time : 8:00pm
Venue : Dewan Hamzah, Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MAP)
Speakers :
- Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur
- Tunku Abdul Aziz, DAP Vice Chairman, Senator
- Charles Santiago, DAP Selangor Vice Chairman, MP for Klang
- R. Nadeswaran, The Sun – Citizen Nades columnist
- Terence Fernandez, The Sun – Down 2 Earth columnist
PwC report on RM12.5b PKFZ and appencices – OTK should ensure every MP gets a set
Posted by Kit in Parliament, PKFZ on Saturday, 13 June 2009, 3:06 pm
My three questions (No.43 to No. 45 on the 15th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
No. 1. – Will Ong cancel his overseas trip to be in Parliament to account for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal instead of emulating his predecessor as Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy who ran away overseas to avoid parliamentary accounting on the PKFZ in November 2007?
No. 2 – Former MCA President and Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik has said he is prepared to be summoned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist in the investigations into the PKFZ scandal. Does he agree that Liong Sik should not only co-operate with the MACC but also the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib must deal with corruption
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 13 June 2009, 2:16 pm
By Tunku Abdul Aziz | MySinchew
PRIME MINISTER Najib Abdul Razak has done it again. His high income vision for Malaysia, following so closely on the heels of his yet to be fully charted 1Malaysia has caught the nation off guard.
Najib, while remaining largely uninspiring as a leader, is at least aspirational. Nothing wrong with indulging in a little fantasy from time to time, but Najib has to learn to control his propensity for grandstanding. I don’t suppose it is too rude to ask Najib to spell out in the clearest possible terms what precisely he has in mind when he talks about 1Malaysia. Is it fair to ask us to support a concept that he has difficulty in articulating to our satisfaction?
Najib cannot be so naïve that he cannot see what the inherent problems are in the way of turning Malaysia into a high income nation. For starters, a country such as ours which has been so mismanaged these last thirty years in all the important areas of governance is a most unlikely candidate for the High Income Country Stake.
That does not mean that we have not the potential; indeed we have but, I am afraid we have squandered it beyond belief by putting in place investment, trade and industrialisation policies that have tended towards excessive, crippling control rather than encouragement to compete globally.
Read the rest of this entry »
PKFZ scandal – OTK should cancel overseas trip and not emulate Kong Choy to run overseas to avoid parliamentary accounting
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, PKFZ on Saturday, 13 June 2009, 11:05 am
On Thursday, I gave notice to Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin that I will move an emergency motion in Parliament on Monday to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
The notice under S.O. (18)(2) to move a motion of urgent definite public importance in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 15th June 2009, is as follows:
“That the House gives leave to MP for Ipoh Timor YB Lim Kit Siang to adjourn the House under S.O. 18 (1) to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance – the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.
“The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit report into the PKFZ made public on May 28, 2009 was most unsatisfactory as its terms of reference were restricted to “a position review” instead of wide-ranging inquiry as to how a RM1.1 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister, could more than quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2007 and now further doubled to RM7.453 billion and heading towards the figure of RM12.5 billion under the present Transport Minister!
“Although the Prime Minister had on 29th May publicly directed the Transport Minister to answer every question raised by any party on the PwC report on PKFZ, and I had been posing three questions a day on the PKFZ since 30th May, no satisfactory answers had been forthcoming from the Transport Minister.
Read the rest of this entry »
Will OTK clip the wings and tie the hands of Paul Low and his corporate governance committee to prevent them from conducting a full probe into past PKFZ misdeeds, corrupt practices and abuses of power?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, PKFZ on Friday, 12 June 2009, 4:29 pm
My three questions (No.40 to No. 42 on the 14th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
No. 1. Does Ong agree that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself and step aside in the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal because of conflict of interest as Azmi was Minister in the Cabinet which decided on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout in July 2007 and that the entire PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal should be conducted under the leadership of the PAC Deputy Chairman, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw?
No. 2. I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin to move an urgent motion of definite public importance when Parliament reconvenes on Monday on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the PKFZ scandal.
Does Ong agree that Parliament should have a special urgent debate on the PKFZ scandal on Monday?
No. 3. Speaking at the DAP Public Forum “The RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – Will Heads Roll?” in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and commenting on the special task force and two committees which Ong had set up as a follow-up to the PwC report on the PKFZ, I had described the PKFZ scandal not just “a can of worms” but “a swamp of crocodiles”. I added:
Read the rest of this entry »
OTK on the run from 3-questions-a-day on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal
“Kit Siang ‘misled community’” – New Straits Times
“What’s your stand, Kit Siang asked” – The Star
Screaming headlines attacking me are back in the Barisan Nasional-controlled mainstream media.
Suddenly the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat himself has led a ferocious political charge against me, challenging me to state my stand on the resolutions tabled by PAS at its muktamar last week and wanting me to apologise for misleading and betraying the Chinese community for supporting Pas.
This is the New Straits Times report:
He (Ong) said in the run-up to the general election, DAP had appealed to the Chinese community to support Pas by claiming that the Islamic party was harmless and only interested in setting up a welfare state. Read the rest of this entry »
PAC inquiry into PKFZ scandal – Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself
Posted by Kit in Parliament, PKFZ on Friday, 12 June 2009, 11:24 am
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid announced after the PAC meeting this morning that the PAC would not summon four key personalities in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, viz: the two former Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, former Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman and currently Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung and the former PKFZ general manager O.C.Phang.
This is a most extraordinary decision despite requests by Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the PAC for the four to be summoned to appear before the PAC.
Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself and step aside in the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal because of conflict of interest as he was Minister in the Cabinet which decided on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout in July 2007. Read the rest of this entry »
The PwC report on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal which PKA has taken off the Internet
Posted by Kit in Corruption, PKFZ on Thursday, 11 June 2009, 5:44 pm
Since yesterday, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report on RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) has been taken off the Port Klang Authority (PKA) website.
As a national service, the PwC report on the PKFZ scandal is hereby restored online and available here (Malaysia-mirror).
As I said, the PwC report is most unsatisfactory with its very narrow and restricted terms of reference, as noted by the PwC in its “Important Notice”, viz:
“The report is limited in scope. It is restricted to a position review of Port Klang Free Zone and Port Klang Free Zone Sdn. Bhd as set out in our Letter of Engagement dated 8th October 2008. We were not asked to and we have not advised on any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement. No investigation to detect any wrongdoing or audit to form an opinion on any financial information, including any forecasts and projections, has been undertaken.” (p.1)
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has not been able to explain why he had decided on such a limited and restricted term of reference for the PwC study, deliberately excluding from inquiry the conduct or misconduct of previous Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in the PKFZ scandal, as well as not asking PwC to detect any wrong doing or render advice on “any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement”?
Read the rest of this entry »
Why is Ong Tee Keat afraid of a Selangor Exco member sitting on the PKA Board and insist on having his own appointee representing Selangor State Govt?
Posted by Kit in Parliament, PKFZ, Transport on Thursday, 11 June 2009, 12:56 pm
My three questions (No.37 to No. 39 on the 13th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
1. In his blog from Beijing on 3rd June 2009, Ong wrote:
“At this very moment, professional experts and entrepreneurs have been roped in to provide their views and expertise on how to bring PKFZ back on track for which it was originally conceived.
“ We are not sitting still and playing rhetoric. In the weeks and months ahead, my Ministry and PKA will put in place a series of action plans to lessen the pain on taxpayers.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) submitted its “position review” report of the Port Klang Free Zone (PFKZ) on 3rd February 2009, which means Ong had more than four months to digest it.
Can he explain what he had done in these four months apart from “sitting still and playing rhetoric” to “put in place a series of action plans to lessen the pain on taxpayers” with regard to the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal and why he needs four months just to announce a blue-ribboned Task Force to make some more studies in the next two months to make recommendations “for follow-up actions” to be taken by the Government? Isn’t this a colossal waste of four months after the PwC report on PKFZ? Read the rest of this entry »
Ong Tee Keat should be cited for parliamentary contempt in refusing to release the appendices of the PcW audit report on PKFZ scandal to PAC members, allowing them access only during PAC meeting
Posted by Kit in Parliament, PKFZ on Thursday, 11 June 2009, 10:46 am
Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat should be cited for parliamentary contempt for refusing to release the appendices of the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to Public Accounts Committee (PAC) members, allowing them access only during the PAC meeting.
It was Ong, in an oblique response to my queries, blogged from Beijing on 3rd June that he had instructed the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to submit 14 copies of the PwC audit report, “as well as the appendices”, to members of the PAC “as soon as possible”.
However, the PAC members were informed this morning that the 14 sets of appendices were only available for them during PAC meetings and not meant for them to take back for detailed study.
Such a ridiculous directive restricting access of the PwC Report appendices to PAC members during PAC meetings makes a total mockery of parliamentary responsibility and accountability of both the Transport Minister as well as PKA and should be deplored in the strongest possible terms.
Read the rest of this entry »
Orang Asli in Perak and the 6th Bushido Code
Posted by Kit in Augustine Anthony, Orang Asli on Thursday, 11 June 2009, 7:04 am
by Augustine Anthony
I joked candidly that M. Kula, the Ipoh Barat Member of Parliament must have been an Orang Asli in his past life because of his concern and support for my work with the indigenous people of this country. He revved his 4WD on a precariously winding road in the secondary forest that was once ravished and ravaged by the greed of men and narrowly missed the ravine that would have taken all those in the vehicle into the river below.
“You need not be an Orang Asli headman in your past life”, M. Kula was quick with a reply without even looking at me. An instantaneous and poignant response expected of a man who confronts an assortment of rotting issues that emanates unwelcome stench in our midst.
I knew what he was trying to tell me.
The journey beyond that was a humourless exchange of thoughts about the promises and betrayal of Orang Asli for the last 52 years. Though living with physical independence but sadly chained and shackled with a mind of perpetual dependence. Read the rest of this entry »
Another Lesson in PAS History: The Malaysian Public Does’nt Like Extremists
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, PAS on Thursday, 11 June 2009, 6:45 am
By Farish A. Noor
The repercussions of the somewhat clumsy attempt by some sections of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS to call for the investigation, and possibly banning, of the Muslim women’s rights group Sisters in Islam are still being felt today. Many questions have arisen in the wake of the proposal that was passed without debate at the recent General Assembly of PAS: How and why was the proposal passed as one of the ‘non-debated proposals’ in the first place? Why was it not vetted properly and why was it tabled at all? What does this say about the internal cohesion of PAS and its internal discipline? Does this proposal reflect just a faction of opinion among PAS members, or is it actually representative of the party as a whole? And what does this mean with regards to PAS’s avowed claims to be a modern party that supports the democratisation process and dialogue with others?
It is hard, to say the least, to believe that a party can be supportive of democracy if it starts by calling for the banning of NGOs even before it comes to power…
For now however we are left to watch the internal and external drama of PAS unfold as the party seeks to re-consolidate itself after what was clearly a hectic assembly for all. The lingering question of where PAS really stands, and where it goes from here though will have to be addressed sooner than later. Read the rest of this entry »
Did Kit Siang and Karpal commit sedition?
Posted by Kit in DAP, Judiciary, Law & Order, NH Chan on Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 5:25 pm
By NHChan
Prelude – please read it before reading the article
I write this article so as to apprise the people who, in the mind of the general public, have taken the law into their own hands through the harassment of law abiding citizens of this country with the threat of using the Sedition Act 1948 on them. They should not have done it without first taking expert legal advice on the technical and difficult law of sedition under the Act.
After you have read this article, I am sure you will agree with me that the law of sedition is not easy for a layman to understand. Even lawyers and judges have found great difficulty in understanding it – let alone an uninitiated policeman. If the police are not careful, one of these days they will find themselves at the receiving end of a suit for malicious prosecution, false arrest or whatever the victims of their harassment would throw at them.
I hope you will bear with me if this time I am not able to explain difficult law in simple language as much as I would like to. It is at a time like this that I really appreciate the great ability of the late Lord Denning who was so adept at explaining difficult law to us ordinary folk. Read the rest of this entry »
PKFZ scandal – When will Ong Tee Keat make public apology for misleading Parliament and nation in past 14 months denying that Liong Sik/Kong Choy had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support
My three questions (No.34 to No. 36 on the 12th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:
1. Since becoming Transport Minister, Ong had misled Parliament and the nation in denying that his two predecessors as Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy had unlawfully issued four Letters of Support to Kuala Dimensi Snd. Bhd (KDSB), the PKFZ turnkey contractor – to raise RM4 billion bonds, which were regarded as government guarantees by the market.
The Transport Minister had no such powers to issue financial guarantees committing the government, as it could only be issued by the Finance Minister and only after Cabinet approval. Read the rest of this entry »
How Soon We Forget: Malaysia’s Ahistorical Politics
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor, PAS, Politics, UMNO on Wednesday, 10 June 2009, 7:28 am
By Farish A. Noor
How soon we forget. Malaysian politics is characterized by a curious form of ahistoricity and a willful neglect of history in general. The contribution of the diverse communities of Malaysia to the country’s nation-building process is often forgotten in the official narratives of the country, the role of women in our national history is seldom even mentioned.
Malaysian politicians and political parties are likewise blind to history, and even recent history at that. Which has prompted many of my students to ask me the same question: “How come people don’t seem to remember anything in this country, and how come alliances can be made one day and broken the day after?” Well that, dear students, is precisely what Malaysian politics is made up of: Pragmatism that is grounded on political ambitions rather than the empowerment and education of the people. Politics here seems to be more directed towards the acquisition of political power for politicians than the political empowerment of the public; for the latter means having to educate the public, and to remind them of their history as well.
Now that all of Malaysia is abuzz with talk about the impending collapse of the Pakatan Rakyat and the moves to bring the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS closer to UMNO, let us revisit the history of these two parties for a while… Read the rest of this entry »
