Friday, April 18, 2008

Tun Salleh Abas' "moral victory"

update: Ex-g payment not an apology, says Najib.
"I have waited for this 20 years". I spent about three hours with Salleh Abas yesterday, from 11 till nearly 3pm, at his double-storey link house in Setiawangsa. One of his daughters came back from the cobbler with his black shoes for last night's dinner. Salleh was having problems with his Nokia again.

"They wanted me to sit at the main table. Do you think I should?"

Nuraina A. Samad, who will be co-authoring Salleh's autobiography* with me, said, "Yes, Ayah, I think you should say yes." I told him that perhaps he should not agree to sit at the main table. But the Tun has heard that I've been perceived as a "Mahathirist" and perhaps - just perhaps - that was good enough for him to listen to Nuraina. I am glad he didn't agree with me.

From where I sat for dinner at the JW Mariott last night, with Pas' deputy president Nasharudin and former BN storngman Samy Vellu, I could just see Salleh's shoes, newly repaired earlier in the day.

Such a simple man, such a giant.

I'd nominate him for chairman of the Judicial Appointment Commission. I am sure he would want the Commission to have the final say on the appointment of judges instead of just a body to recommend the appointment to the PM, whom Pak Lah says will have the final authority on who will be appointed as Judges.

* We are about 10 per cent into the book, I think. This week, we managed to do about 15 hours of interviews with the Tun.

85 comments:

  1. The establishment of a Judicial Commission is much welcomed. The recent appointment of Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi as President of the Court of Appeal was exemplry of the judicial abuse by Pak Lah himself, done legitimately under the ambit of the Constitution. Even within UMNO, there was much hue and cry on the appointment of a lawyer with a tainted private life.

    It begs to ponder. How much commitment will Pak Lah give for the greater independence of the judiciary? Will it be complimented with the independence of BPR which is currently directly under his purview? Will he remain to be so, if any of his family members is at stake?

    Lest we forget, this the man with a compendium of statements, slogans and promises, but none delivered.

    Luckily, Pak Lah did not flip flop to offer an apology when he already committed not to apologise. It would be an embarassment to the Government. However, the mere financial compensation package is as good as an "admittance of guilt".

    These judges are legitimately sacked, unless proven legitimately otherwise or absolve through proper proceeding. By the practise of Government, they are not entitled to any form of pension or compensation.

    The Government had rejected the Cuepeacs pay rise demand and merely compensated with extended retirement till 60. The private sector have generally not seen pay revision throughout Pak Lah's tenure. On what legitimate or administrative precedents are these judge to be paid ex-gratia compensation?

    Are there prior agreement that there are no lawsuit arising from this "admittance"? Will this have legal ramification to other cases against Government?

    It begs to ponder also. Are these steps by Pak Lah really genuine olive branch offering? Does it not appear to be merely sweeping under the carpet? Does it arise out of admittance of his own guilt? Or an insiduous political move to remain in power and avoid the "transition of power"? Pak Lah being Pak Lah, is there family link involved in this manouvre?

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  2. Anonymous2:08 pm

    Looking forward to the book. Anything to do with the judiciary has No.1 place in my heart.


    i hope Biggum is reading this. He will understand why i am passionate about this subject.

    My congratulations to Tun Salleh Abas - your time has come, sir!

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  3. suara-suara seni rakyat marhain. suara melayu yang tenggelam dilanggar arus kemodenan. aku bangkit dari lobang gelap. dengan kain pelikat duduk menghisap rokok daun. mencari ketenangan dibawah pohon ketapang. menyuluh malam dengan ‘torchlight’. melihat Kuala Lumpur dari mata manusia Melayu yang benci pencemaran alam. yang menolak kebisingan. yang memandang sinis enjin dan ekzos. menyelusuri kaki lima dengan hanya berselipar. menolak ‘inferiority complex’. aku mencari ketenangan di tangga-tangga Masjid. meneruskan hidup dari kaca mata ‘fish-eye’. melihat intergriti dan kredibiliti sebagai hukum hakam. si pengganas intelek… bergelumang dengan sub-budaya. menelurusi peluru media. lalu aku bangkit memandang sebagai manusia Melayu. Melayu itu Islam. Islam bukan teroris!

    Aku bangkit mengutip…cabang-cabang pemikiran Melayu kontemporari. Bertahan dibawah ‘Pokok Melayu’ (malay-tree)…

    Ini blog baru lahir.Jemput masuk: http//malay-tree.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:48 pm

    What is Pak Lah if it doesn't involve family?

    Tun Salleh Abas SIL is Shah Hakam, CEO of Scomi. He together with Kamaluddin Abdullah of Kerajaan Tiga Beranak fame are partners in a venture called Kaspadu.


    Kaspadu has controlling shares in Scomi. Another partner and said to be the seed capital provider of Kaspadu was ISA detainee named BSA Tahir.

    BSA has been detained by Pak Lah under ISA since Pak Lah came into power and locked away for good arising from a nuclear centrifuge scandal that involved Kamaluddin. Since then, the two partner forced BSA's wife to sell his shares for cheap.

    Justice? My foot!

    Come clean on the BSA Tahir detention. Why is Kamaluddin not detained?! Why Bar Council barking only about Hindraf ISA detainess but quiet on BSA Tahir?

    F**k Scomi! F**k racist anti Malay, anti Islam, hypocrit and self serving Bar Council! F**k Salleh Abas for presenting himself as pious and yet his own daughter is married to a leech, crook and thief!!! F**k to all hypocrits! Yes, biggest f**k to Pak Lah!

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  5. Truth hurts . Absolute truths hurts like hell absolutely ! To Tun Salleh and his brother Judges who were wronged 20 years ago , last night were your Lordship's night .

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  6. You were too engrossed with Samy. Hantu failed in trying to get your attention, He read your lips too....you were complaining about the pigmentation of your drink.LOL

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous3:10 pm

    Friday, April 11, 2008

    Pak Lah Buat Keputusan Berdasarkan Anak Menantu Lagi


    Mengapa Pak Lah dan Zaid Ibrahim begitu beria-ia mahu mengangkat kembali bekas Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Salleh Abbas yang dipecat oleh Yang Dipertuan Agong beberapa dekad lalu? Jawapannya masih terdapat pada isu anak menantu.

    Menurut sumber, Kamaluddin sedang mempengaruhi Abdullah untuk memulihkan kedudukan Tun Salleh Abas sebagai satu tanda sokongan (menutup rahsia?) kepada CEO Scomi, Shah Hakim Zain.

    Siapakah Shah Hakim Zain ini dengan Tun Salleh Abas? Shah Hakim adalah menantu kepada Tun Salleh Abas.

    Justeru isu Tun Salleh ini dibangkitkan semula bagi membolehkan Pak Lah membantu Kamaluddin dan CEO Scomi tersebut.

    http://cuitsikit.blogspot.com/2008/04/pak-lah-buat- keputusan-berdasarkan-anak.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous3:10 pm

    Rocky,

    I would like to suggest in finishing this book, you ought to talk to Matthias Chang, former Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad's political secretary and now a practicising lawyer.

    Get him to tell you about the the two letters Lord President Tun Mohamed Salled Abas wrote to HM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong Tuanku Sultan Iskandar Al Haj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail in 1988. Only one letter is made known to the public. Even that, not the contents, just mere existence of the letter.

    These letters played a significant role where HM SPB YDP Agong Sultan Iskandar instruct the Government to enact a proceeding against Tun Salleh as the Lord President.

    Maybe you can use this material in book, if you seek the truth in the case leading towards the Special Tribunal and LP Tun Salleh's ejection from his office in August 1988.

    Personally, I would conclude this letter is the Judiciary attempt to temper into Government business of running the country, contrary to popular belief that Government temper into the Judiciary.

    These letters should impair your professionalism, despite your 'Mahathirist' stand.

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  9. Anonymous3:16 pm

    Rocky,
    Moral victory has mirror, it's fit with any shoes of people who feel comfortable with it. People who are disagreed would consider it as immoral.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous3:24 pm

    i lauded the government's intention to form Judicial Appointment Commission to assist the process of appointing the judges. but i don't agree with packlah last night when he sort of saying sorry to all the sacked judges including tun salleh for breaching the fed constitution in the then judicial crisis. and he also promised to pay them ex-gratia payments for the lost of jobs. this is not fair. this is a contempt of court (tribunal) by packlah. the decision had been made by the tribunal whose members were local and foreign judges and by doing that packlah was saying the judges were wrongly sacked by the tribunal. if this is the precedent then packlah must go further back and say sorry to those arrested under operasi lalang, under isa's, and many-many more who do not belonged to the judicial community and pay them their ex-gratias.. mentang-mentang mereka itu hakim mereka mesti diampun? bagaimana yang lain-lain, yang bukan kalangan hakim, yang rakyat biasa, pegawai kakitangan kerajaan yang telah dihukum oleh hakim-hakim yang berat sebelah, pilih kasih dan kerana sistem kehakiman dan undang-undang negara yang berlubang2. hendakkah packlah membuka dan melihat semula kes-kes ini? packlah dont try to be populist for the sake of winning back the support of the people. kalau dah hukum salah salahlah. believe me if packlah continue to feel sorry for others who have been so called dianiaya oleh kerajaan, alamat lingkuplah kerajaan dan undang-undang negara dan huru haralah malaysia. the government wont be credible any more if it try to relook all the court cases. people especially foreigners will see malaysia an unreliable country because it can simply overturn the decision of the courts because the public say the government is wrong and not the laws are correct... so my sdvice be careful because somebody will gain a lot from the latest development by the flip flop government.


    GELAP MASA DEPAN

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  11. Bro,

    I think Tun's appointment to chair the Commission will be a more fitting recompense for the wrong done to him ( if indeed there could ever be any fitting recompense ) than any ex-gratia from the gomen.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Salam Bro Rocky,
    When do you expect to publish this book?
    Malaysian Publisher?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous3:43 pm

    Bro,

    If PM still holds the final say of whom should be appointed as a judge, this is not the kind of justice we are looking forward to.

    Judiciary should be free from political influences. As i expected, this is another wayang kulit.

    "delivering justice" turned out to be delivering compensation to the former judges for being sacked last 20 years. The new definition of "justice". The real issue of "justice" went into oblivion.

    "Renewing trust" - I would spare some if judiciary is free from political influences. otherwise, our court rooms remain as a live horror sitcom where actors fumbled while trying hard to remember their scripts particularly in high profile cases.

    As a whole, i would say this is only a cosmetic change. new cover, new colour, new packaging, price revision, alter the size and the bottom line, same old product manufactured by the same old factory and managed by the same old bunch of management team. Soon, expect free samples for testing :)

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  14. Anonymous3:43 pm

    As citizens of this nation, we are glad to see that Tun Salleh Abbas and the 5 judges have finally seen the light of day, after 20 long years of sufferings and silence.
    Our government is too cowardice to apologies. Imagine the mess they have to face if they revamp the whole judiciary system dated back then. In comparison to the Australian government who made a public apology to their natives.
    Our government is nowhere near their league.
    However my family and friends appeciate the sacrifice these brave souls made. Their children and grandchildren would be very proud of the legacy they leave behind........

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  15. Anonymous3:50 pm

    We are talking about Fairness, aren't we!

    Knowing the constraints the PM is facing and the difficult situation he is in, he deserves to be commended for what he has done. The wronged judges there last night expressed satisfaction with what was proposed by the PM. This matter should be left with the PM to take it forward for its implementation.

    There may be some who are are still dissatisfied, they think the PM has not gone far enough. Let us give credit where credit is due. In the past 20 years of Mahathir's rule, no one had managed to nudge Mahathir an inch! Now, AAB has, on his own volition (albeit with some pressure from the GE12 result), has instituted some changes. This is more than what Mahathir had ever conceded. One may be still unforgiving and is adamant to want to extract more, but it would be good to remind oneself that one was also around in the 20 years Mahathir was the prime minister, what had one extracted from the man himself. Nothing, nought!

    If one still feels more can be done and wants the PM and his government to go along that line, then it is for one to monitor, prompt, direct, advise and guide them.

    Let us give credit where credit is due!

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  16. Everybody will be a simplae person once he or she no longer hold the power. Yes "power" change a man..and "lost of power" will again change the man, usually for good. Just see Anwar, Mahathir and people around us and you will know.

    So, the important thing here is not the shoes sent for repair, but alla bout who was Tun Salleh when he was Chief Justice, what he has done and why he was removed..So many unanswered questions..maybe you can put some light..

    Again, Pak Lah action is little too late, purely for political mileage, more of like putting flower on the grave of some forgotten war hero who majority of us don't even know or care..

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  17. " Such a simple man, Such a giant"
    But should he have dabbled in politics,when the chips were down! & does not this episode rule him out from being appointed to judicial commission to be set up ? Will yesterday's event rule out all bitterness in him?

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  18. Anonymous4:43 pm

    As you want to do a really good job, get the oldman to talk of "developmental" justice that has been and is still being practiced in Malaysia. Once the judges started doing this, it was slippery slope for us and the judges too. Judges are there to keep the politicians, other thieves and liars in line - not kowtow to the bastards. If he is honest, he will tell you the truth about how they subverted the clear "black letter" law set out in the Constitution to "protect" the Govt or UMNO or BN. Ask him 100 different ways if you have to, so you get out the full story how the politicians were protected. Then you will have a good book and even better a clear conscience that you asked the hard questions. Ex-Journalist.

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  19. If there is a Judicial Appointment Commission, I would prefer the body recommend 3 or 4 names to the PM, and the PM pick judge from the recommended candidate..

    Again, when it comes to human, there is always emotion, believe, philosophy and interest and other influences... Can we be honest and just in making decisions without any bias or self interest?

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  20. Hey guys, utusan's frontpage today shows a photoshop picture of paklah shaking hands with Tun Salleh. absurd to say the least!!

    http://www.carigold.com/portal/forums/showthread.php?t=35018

    http://www.utusan.com.my/info.asp?pg=others/cover.htm

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  21. Anonymous5:06 pm

    I had to disagree with last night events... last night was a political attempt of being popular and not an attempt to be right!!!

    to many bullshit and not enough facts!

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  22. Anonymous5:10 pm

    muahahaha...akhirnya hakim-hakim telah dapat dibeli dengan duit ringgit (ex-gratia). melihat muka agong di atas kertas ringgit itu, sejuklah hati dan matilah dendam kesumat mereka selama ini terhadap kerajaan. tertebuslah dosa kerajaan terhadap mereka dan sanak saudara kerana mendapat habuan yang ditunggu selama 20 tahun!!!

    EVERYBODY HAS A PRICE?

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  23. Yes, Bodohwi has done it, admitted the fallacy of the previous govt. NOW he must clean it up. ALL the sh"t from mahathir. I pity the man Bodowi, but I damn mahathir and his sh"t. Malaysia is still a God fearing nation and His grace is still with us. LET us heal.

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  24. Anonymous5:12 pm

    you know what rocky, last night my prime minister show that he is stupid and arrogant enough to go against the consensus of tribunal formed in 1980's (members consist of judges from Commonwealth nations) and revoking the decision made by Yang Dipertuan Agung (not Mahathir).

    Pak Lah made the decision of ex-gratia solely by himself (perhaps by refering to Khairy Jamaluddin).

    but think again, u know what... perhaps Pak Lah just being Pak Lah. Prime Minister who sleeps during the meetings.

    He screwed up big time this time!!!

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  25. Anonymous5:19 pm

    Not everyone, is convinced, it is such a good thing

    check out this article
    http://www.malaysiaaktif.com/article.php?pid=2&cid=0&aid=1040

    I also think that Abdullah did things the wrong way.. he obviously rushed into this for some political capital. Even if we disregard hi intention, hi methids were unacceptable.

    In what capacity can he declare that what had happened to TUn Salleh Abas and his colleagues were wrong?
    He should have set up a tribunal of his peers and let them come to the conclusion and determine how things can be set right and this tribunal should come up with the compensation package, then it would be proper
    The PM has no authority to declare that the original tribunal was wrong in sacking Tun Salleh, they comprised top legal minds from the Commonwealth, only an equal tribunal can find the original findings or procedures improper

    In effect Abdullah played judge and jury in the court of public opinion and the bar clapped him on, and so did the judiciary.

    just because the decision swayed their way this time, it does not make it right procedurally... even if it was a moral victory for the country

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  26. Anonymous5:25 pm

    Najib has already started putting his "spin" on this subject.

    - this is not an apology
    - the payment is some form of ex-gratia compensation for past hardships, nothing more
    - ultimate authority for selection and promotion of judges will still rest with the PM and the King

    I wonder if the PM authorised Najib to issue the "clarifications" or if Najib is on some little power play of his own, seeing a weakened PM as fair game?

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  27. Anonymous5:32 pm

    bro rocky, ada extra job ka untuk kekawan buat buku tu. dapat buat part-time jadi proof-reader pun jadilah.. kalau ada can lagi baik kekawan boleh bikin layout, design, sampai cetak sekali... amacam..? dapat tumpang tui pun jadilah, maklumlah sekarang job slow la beb..

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  28. Be realistic.

    Would Pak Lah made such gracious overtures had he won a resounding mandate from the Rakyat in PRU12?

    It is nothing more than a PR exercise. Tun Salleh Abas (TSA) has unwittingly become a pawn in Pak Lah's political agenda.

    As everybody knows, nothing happened for the last 5 years.
    And all of a sudden Pak Lah became so passionate about judicial reform and undoing the so called wrongs against TSA and the 3 Judges.

    PRU12 has ruined Pak Lah's image and battered his reputation. His speech last night at the Bar Council Dinner would have been full of rhetoric and nothing else had he won BIG in the last election.

    I congratulate his advisers for the PR scoop. But do not worry, after the next few days all these will be forgotten.

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  29. Anonymous6:26 pm

    that link to Malaysia Aktif again
    http://www.malaysiaaktif.com/article.
    php?pid=2&cid=0&aid=1040

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous6:30 pm

    Najib speaks with a forked tongue. What is the ex-gratia payment for if it's not an apology? If the Govt believes the Mahathir admin had done no wrong, why compensate the judges for the pain and shame they endured? Me thinks that Najib is hedging his bets, fence-sitter and pondan that he is. He is afraid of annoying Mahathir and yet wants to appear to be supportive of judicial reforms. Pak Lah's announcement is a good start. What I really hope to see is an apology from the old man Mahathir himself... to Tun Salleh Abbas and the judges concerned and to the nation as a whole for the evil he had woven into the body politic, the administration and the social fabric as a whole. Mahathir sacrificed the soul of the nation to his own ego. I pray he will live long to see his legacy unravel and his misdeeds made plain to public scrutiny.

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  31. Anonymous6:33 pm

    Tuan Rocky,

    Tun Salleh is a nice man. I know him well. He helped draft many bills.

    But he is not without flaws. He is only a human being. As an associate I lost respect for him when he politicized his grievances by joining Pas.

    He was no better than the people who were accused of fixing him and his fellow judges.

    He was tried by his peers from Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. He was found guilty. That's that. We cannot change it. No apology owed. A big thank you to whoever advised the PM and Zaid Ibrahim on this.

    Zaid is only a junior Umno lawyer. He is nothing compared to Tun Salleh. As a fellow member of the Bar, I know what a chameleon (sesumpah) he is. He'll bring ill to Dollah as he did to Mahathir.

    We should get over this and move forward. Dollah is as guilty as Mahathir and other Umno ministers past and present for the state of happened to the Judiciary all these years.

    Legal Eagle

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  32. Anonymous6:50 pm

    Whatever said, what happened was a moral victory indeed and impliedly an apology of sorts.
    Even the PM saying that the currency given cannot be compared with the pain and loss incurred by the receipients during those dark days shows regret and shame.
    To now say that it was not an apology is just plain nonsense since the words and actions displayed showed elements of an apology unless of course one wants to talk of degree of apology. Evenso Tun Salleh Abbas and his honoured friends have won in the eyes of all justice loving citizens of Malaysia.
    The PM and his team did well here with the rakyat, i must say.
    Lets hope this putting things in right frame of mind transcends to many other outstanding issues that need quick attention from the PM.
    SukaMalaysia.

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  33. Saudara/saudari yang dihormati,is there a provision in Law or the Constitution where judges who are sacked by the Yang diPertuan Agung as recommended by a Tribunal which was established in accordance with our Constitution could be paid some form of ex-gratia payment for the personal loss that these sacked judges suffer.

    I suppose Dollah will be receiving a lot of visitors from today with many complaints and grouses on the judiciary not former judges in particular, people like the family of the late Madam Boonyamit,heck even Anwar Ibrahim, just wondered what Zaid will advise him to do then.

    Its not really about the reform of the judiciary so much which Dollah should have done like 4 YEARS back and like was noted by our learned commentators the appointment of Zaki Azmi from nowhere to being the Appeals Court President does raise eyebrows. My take, its just an ungrateful Dollah's half baked try to once again demonise and debauch Dr Mahathir, the very man TOTALLY responsible for him sitting in the Prime Minister's chair,to shore up support for his waning fortune in UMNO and BN.

    Anyway after this episode in Malaysia's history is over and done with I hope that I would live long enough to tell my children and grandchildren what a Titan of a Man Dr Mahathir is and what an ungrateful and small hearted man his successor was.

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  34. Anonymous7:51 pm

    If you are serious about judical reforms in this country ask Tun Salleh Abas how the non-muslim law-brains were, and are still being, side-stepped and trampled upon when judical appointments were/are dished out.
    Ask him to speak the truth about bumiputra quota in this section too. If he speaks the truth, as he seems to potray himself as a pious Allah follower, then this book wil be a NYT-Bestseller. And Malaysian judiciary will be saved from the gutter it is in today.
    Wasalam....

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  35. Anonymous8:02 pm

    Money salves all conscience. Any biography of anyone living or dead requires alternative opinions and viewpoints. Give us some investigative journalism. The sole voice of a simple giant.is too puny.

    ReplyDelete
  36. I say bigdog..I have been reading rocky for some time now, and sure as hell I haven't seen many indications he is pro-mahathir.

    It WOULD be intriquing if the "other" letter could be handed to rocky.

    I should think rocky can even ask Tun Salleh abt this.

    After all it is a biography! warts and all, no?

    To the justice for bsa tahir - you are insisting Salleh Abas is guilty by association with his SIL.

    Do you have anything to substantiate what you are saying...

    just guilty by association ain't gonna cut it.

    Any info on private jets? yachts? luxury villas? diamond-dripping wife?

    If you hv more on the subject, then can go round f**king the world

    Just a suggestion here:-
    Why not save the "f" word for when you really need to get our attention? More effective that way lah!

    salaam to you dear angry blogging commentator!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous9:20 pm

    kepada penyokong fanatik tun mahathir

    sudah sudah la korang buat fitnah

    tak cukup ke korang fitnah dsai, tun salleh abas, pak lah dan ramai lagi

    kalau tak insaf jugak, aku doakan tuhan bagi balasan setimpal pada korang

    kepada saudara rocky

    jangan percaya kalau matthias chang cakap agong pecat tun salleh abas sebab surat dia complain pasal renovate rumah. itu semua fitnah penyokong TDM. cukup2 la tu

    ajip

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  38. You should turn from being a Mahathirist to Sallehist from now. Much better. TQ.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Anonymous9:48 pm

    I dunno if payment of money is due to Tun Salleh. The blow was to his dignity and that of the judiciary not his pocket.

    Money is not apology said Najib. Then what is this? Wang Ehsan?

    What would be a fitting tribute is the Malaysian government coming clean on the issue. Including Tun Dr M. The who did what n all that.

    Last night's event IMHO is pandering to populist sentiments. It is more PR than anything else. However, I'm very glad Tun Salleh has his day in the sun, even though the event was held at night :)

    But the greater wrong was done to the Malaysian people.

    Biggie,

    If you know of these two letters (or have read them) don't you think the time has come to make it public?

    Kaspadu's Scomi insinuation is disturbing, but one to ponder nevertheless.

    The Constitution has been raped so many times it doesn't resemble the intentions of the nation's founders anymore.

    Laws have been introduced that gave the Executive power over individual liberty, and this happened in what we call a parliamentary democracy.

    With a castrated judiciary, emasculated royalty, and basically hijacked media, there was virtually no mechanism for check and balance until March 8 when Malaysians (for different reasons) used the only means open to them: the ballot.

    I hope the symbolic gesture that last night's event was, will translate into genuine efforts to do away with the Big Brother laws.

    You guys know what they are.

    I wonder if Pak Lah realises this golden opportunity to be remembered as a statesman instead of a somnambulist.

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  40. Judicial Commission is fine..but what does final authority remains with the PM mean?

    The fact that this whole thing is motivated to immediately benefit Badawi more than anyone else sadly leaves last night's events as an embarrassing episode insulting of those Badawi or his government tried to atone to.

    Any relegation of the 1988 episode to a description that is even a little complimentary to the victims puts to shame Mahathir. I have even seen well educated academicians who at that time whole heartedly support Mahathir, jsut as one Muslim Lawyer's Association did. i wonder, if these people are still around how they will explain the seeming turn of events to their wives.

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  41. My memory now brings me to an event of 10th December 1988 some four months after Tun Saleh Abas' dismissal and fourteen months after Dr Mahathir's infamous Operasi Lalang. I was together with many others at the Federal Hotel (if I am not mistaken)attending a seminar in conjuction with the World's Human Rights Day. It was a privilege that I would likely never enjoy again. Tun Hussein Onn and YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putera AlHaj were there and I had a short conversation with them, which I had never dreamt of before. I always admire both statemen and to be able to exchange words with them is a great honour. Both had been called to eternal rest.

    On that same occasion, this one man, so down-to-earth in his conversation, an experience that I would never forget. And that one man is no other than Tun Saleh Abas--the man that Dr Mahathir had to remove for standing in his way in Killing UMNO. Saleh Abas is a symbol of the independence of the judiciary. He has fallen in the course of fighting against injustice. He is not merely a symbol. He is also a hero against tyranny and despotism. Now afer 20 years, the BN government under Abdullah Badawi is nothing more than making an expensive joke in trying to do something to Saleh Abas.

    In his bid to ensure that the infant UMNO (Baru) would survive, Dr Mahathir had to terminate Saleh Abas' career through the wicked Tan Sri Hamid Omar (the unrecognised Lord President). One man's ambition had caused many others to die in the course of fighting against tyranny.

    I thought I was angry because I was relatively young in 1988. But then why now I am still angry after a lapse of 20 years despite my forever forgiving nature? Now I realise it wasn't for my youth that I was angry. It was because of my vision that the judiciary would thereafter become a political rubber stamp and a venue for genetic engineering of Mahathir's judges. Judges were thereafter picked not for their commitment to social justice or constitutional values or upon talents but among those who can please the executive best. These are our judges of the post-Saleh Abas' removal. Those who are brilliant or whose social dialectic is founded upon great sense of justice and fair play have no place in the post-Saleh Abas removal. Scandals after scandals emerge before public eyes. This is because the stinking acts are not capable of being hidden for long.

    I don't believe in whatever commission that would act as a filter in the appointment of judges. There is no such corresponding commission in the USA but yet the judges of the Supreme Court are independent. To me, the most important strategy is to create an effective mechanism to limit the power of the executive so that it will not have sufficient energy to maim the judiciary. Unless this is done, after sometime the executive will exercise its enormous power to mutilate the judiciary or to divide and rule the judiciary by hidden promise of perks, etc. But if the executive lacks the strength to mutilate the judiciary then there is no need for such commission as judges elevated to the bench would have no fear of being threatened with removal or hooked to alluring perks by the controlled executive.

    But for now, the best mechanism would be the ballot box. Even Abdullah Badawai himself has to kow-tow to the outcome of those boxes and we know many among those who had helped to make the difference are those fragile fingers of women and aged folks.

    Abdullah Badawi should learn from Suharto and Marcos if indeed he is true to his catchwords "Cemerlang, gemilang dan terbilang".

    In essence, what is due to me is given to me otherwise the catchwords are only falling in phrases and mere mirage only good for the lyrics of some boring so-called patriotic songs praising and flattering political leaders.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous10:01 pm

    I think this is political bribery.Why no apology in the first place if the government is sincere? The government must have a hidden agenda as their image is already rotten to the core and now wants to please them in giving ex-gracia payment.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Anonymous11:12 pm

    Kenapa Pak Lah tak RABA si AMBIGA tu? kenapa ye?

    ReplyDelete
  44. Anonymous11:38 pm

    A man who once sat at the pinnacle of justice, lives on in a double storey house and walks with re-worked shoes.

    But there are politicians who rose from being mere rail guards only to leave a trail of lavishness including a palace-like domus.

    And some others pride with a fleet of marque cars lined up in their purpose built garages.

    And not to mention all the partying, merry-making, excesses and holidays with trappings beyond one's imagination.

    You call this restoring the judiciary?

    It all smells of smokescreens for gross indecencies in our corrupt society.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Anonymous1:33 am

    Yes I too wonder, who is he representing when he said what he said about payment not being an apology! After the gracious PM has given moral victory why this sudden cold shower? Were people being given the politically correct version of the speech? How can compensation be unrelated to a mistake? How can a mistake be overlooked without an apology? This is Najib, the fence-sitter, traitor and sinner.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Anonymous1:34 am

    Why must Bar Council be made use of as a political tool to serve a lame duck PM? Why the Bar Council President only announced on `
    15-04-08 in its website about the dinner being sponsored by the government?

    Don't tell me that only on 15th April that the Bar Council knew about the dinner sponsorship?

    It smells of conspiracy between the budak-budak Tingkat(an) Empat and Ambiga and gang.

    Ambiga should have been conferred a datukship for an ampu job well done. OOPS!!! I heard she has just got it. Please read tomorrow MSM if you all don't believe me.

    How about the other Bar Council Members? When are they going to get the Datukship? AMPUlah dulu!!!

    ReplyDelete
  47. It looks like, smells like it & sounds like it, bit it ain't an apology!!

    Sounds familiar?

    Maybe it's because, the compensation will come out of the taxpayers' pockets and not Firaun's, or Rosemajib & his cohorts who all stood by and did not lift a finger to save our Judiciary.

    And Rosemajib wants to be our next PM? Who is he kidding? He's not fit to like these judges' boots!!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Anonymous2:33 am

    I am sure the book will be very well received. I congratulate you for your effort. Maybe proceeds from the sale of the book could be donated for a good cause, seed funds for welfare for children of lawyers, scholarships etc... ( but only after certain fee for your time and efforts in writing the book, off course...) Congratulation!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Anonymous2:37 am

    Friday, April 18, 2008

    MONEY; IS IT ALL THERE IS TO IT?


    IT was with great expectations that I waited for the major announcements to be made at the Bar Council dinner but I must confess that by the time I knew I didn't feel as excited as most people.

    Firstly, the proposal to form the judicial commission had been widely reported in the last one month. The prime minister merely confirmed what the public knew had been in the pipeline.

    No details were mentioned under the review of the terms of service and remunerations for members of the Judiciary but this announcement wasn't exactly a surprise because it's been quite a while since this was last done.

    The goodwill ex-gratia payments to the six judges was the only thing new but herein lies the issue. Would this help restore confidence in the Judiciary? Was this the closure to the 1988 crisis many were asking for? Do the payments exonerate the six? A moral victory for the six or some of them? Does this mean the government did wrong against six who did right? The answer to all these is a simple no.

    Bar Council chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan: "What we wanted was a recognition that something wrong took place in 1988 and it happened tonight". Wrong. There has been no admission of wrong-doing by anyone, certainly not the government. No new evidence has been presented to proof that the government then had done wrong. Which simply means that on record it will continue to be written that the six did wrong.

    Former Lord President Salleh Abas, one of the six: "The government has recognised and acknowledged the wrong done to me and the other judges." I have read the prime minister's speech twice and see nothing to this effect.

    Again Salleh: "I've suffered so much in the last 20 years, so much so I ran away from the public. I found solace in farming. I talked to monkeys, birds and wild boars. I asked them not to disturb my plants."

    Melodramatic. If Salleh was absolutely certain he did no wrong he should have been able to walk with his head high in public. Furthermore public opinion since 1988 has been in his favour. People who knew him would have shook his hand, maybe even kissed it.......

    But Wan Suleiman Pawan Teh's widow Siti Nurhayati Mohd Daud sounded different from Salleh or Azmi Kamaruddin: "My husband cannot be valued with money."

    Or George Seah's son Basil: "The goodwill payment....how do you gauge and measure how much to compensate?"

    While disagreeing with the decision to compensate, I also agree with the attitudes of Siti Nurhayati and Basil.

    I take a position different perhaps from that of many others who applaud when they hear what they want to hear, regardless if nothing is changed. I still say the government should not have been seen to be back-tracking without any new evidence because this is not about a need to be popular.

    But what I find almost unbelievable is to know that after 20 years, all that is needed to appease some people is just a bit of money.

    I read the above from http:\\azizhasan.blogspot.com

    If it is not for money and its no redemption, what is it really for?

    Culd it be a favour for SIL shah hakim zain of scomi and friends ... kalimullah, khairy, tony fernandez and lets not forget kamaluddin, the true PM.

    This ppl are due to lose big time. Fuel price is gonna murder airasia after its failed hedging.

    Is there something in the offing for pulling this stunt?

    ReplyDelete
  50. Anonymous7:12 am

    Let this be the beginning of the down fall of our evil ex-PM TDM. The worst PM we have encounter is TDM that is parellel to Kim Jog Il of North Korea.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Anonymous9:15 am

    I have posted at 3540 Jalan Sudin, the letter from Tun Mohamed Salleh dated 26th March 1988 to HM the Agong, that started it all .... and it ended with the letter from the Istana Negara dated August 3,1988;

    --+--*--+--*--+--

    ISTANA NEGARA

    WALLAAHU GHALABUN ALLAA AMRIHI
    QAULAH AL_HAQ

    Assalaamu Alaikum Warahmatullaahi Wabarakaatuh.

    Alhamdu Lillaahi Rabbil Aalaamin, Wassolaatu Wassalaamu Alaa Saiyudinaa Muhammadin Asyraffil Ambiyaa I Walmursaliin, Wa Alaa Aalihii Wasahbihi Ajmaiin.

    Warkah Al Ikhlas Watahfatul Akhir iaitu daripada Kita Almutawakil Allalahi Sultan Iskandar, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Malaysia.

    Mudah-mudahan barangdiwasalkan oleh Tuhan Rabbil 'Aalamin Ke Majlis Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, S.S.D.K., S.S.A.P.,S.P.M.S.,S.P.M.J., D.P.(Sarawak),D.U.P.N.,S.P.N.S.,S.P.D.K.,S.P.C.M.,S.S.M.T.,D.U.M.N.,P.I.S., Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang pada masa ini di Kuala Lumpur, dengan sebarapa selamat dan kemuliannya.

    Waba'adah ehwal adalah Kita memaklumkan iaitu Y.A.A. Tan Sri Dato' Abdul Hamid bin Haji Omar, Pengerusi Tribunal yang Kita tubuhkan di bawah Perkara 125(3) Perlembagaan Persekutuan untuk menyisat representasi terhadap Y.A.A. Tun Dato' Haji Mohd. Salleh bin Abas, telah menyembahkan laporan dan syor Tribunal itu kepada Kita pada 31hb Julai, 1988.

    Dalam laporannya Tribunal itu telah mengesyorkan supaya Y.A.A. Tun Dato'Haji Mohd. Salleh bin Abas dipecat daripada jawatannya sebagai Ketua Hakim Negara. Kita bersetuju dengan syor itu. Maka, atas syor itu dan berasaskan kepada Perkara 125(3) Perlembagaan Persekutuan, Kita dengan ini menitahkan supaya Y.A.A. Tun Dato' Haji Mohd. Salleh bin Abas dipecat daripada jawatannya sebagai Ketua Hakim Negara mulai 8hb Ogos,1988.

    Walaupun Y.A.A. Tun Dato'Haji Mohd.Salleh bin Abas dipecat daripada jawatannya, Kita mencadangkan supaya beliau, atas pertimbangan belas kasihan, diberi kemudahan pencen sekadar yang difikirkan berpatutan.

    Demikianlah sahaja Kita maklumkan serta disudahi dengan Wabillahil Taufil Walhidayatu Wassalamu 'Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

    Termaktub pada
    3 haribulan Ogos, 1988.

    --+--*--+--*--+--

    It all started with the appeal case to Fed.Court by a journalist from Asian Wall Street Journal who was based in Hong Kong, John Berthelson way back in the middle of 1986. The Petronas-BMF case by KC Chia (remember the one with Mickey Mouse mask!!)and Suzie Teo case. Later the appeal cases from Karpal Singh and on the UMNO 11. The latter was serious as it involved the position/status of the Prime Minister.The dates to be set sometime mid June 1988. ... and regretably the function of Tun Mohamed Salleh as the Lord President was suspended effective May 26,1988 under Article 125(5)

    ReplyDelete
  52. Dear "Justice for BSA Tahir!",

    Malaysians have not forgotten BSA Tahir. I agree with you that the PM must come clean on this. (Datuk?) Ambiga pleaded with Badawi to release all ISA detainees; she and the Bar Council must pursue this tireless, and we must support them.

    That Salleh Abas has a son-in-law named Shah Hakim, who is CEO of Scomi, is not a secret. In 2004, when Badawi became the Prime Minister, Shah Hakim was already heading Scomi and married for years to Salleh's youngest girl.

    If Salleh was the sort to use his family ties, he would have made sure that the PM gave him his "day in the sun" (to quote Galadriel) four years ago instead of last Thursday night!

    The fact is Salleh never met Badawi again after their meeting where the PM asked Salleh to be involved in IPCMC!

    I believe you owe the Tun an apology, mate.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Anonymous10:20 am

    My heartiest to Shah Hakim CEO of Scomi, for the succesful resurrection of his father ini law Tun Salleh Abas!! Another example how easy to influence AAB using the right connection, you are there!! This also include the efforts by the son Kamaluddin!!! Pak Lah is a real munafik!! You allwait and see when Pak Lah is out, how many gelang besi he and his family members are going to wear!!! God bless Malaysia!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Anonymous10:24 am

    Why don't Pak Lah institute a Royal commission to investigate the wrongful dismissal of the judges ? To these judges are still criminals since the court or royal commission have not stated otherwise!! Come on Pak Lah not this cheapstate to regain people's confidence!!! You are a goner, man!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Anonymous10:29 am

    For the information, BS Tahair was detained by Malaysian authority in anticipation of the arrest by CIA!! If The CIA took the initiative, then Kamaludin and his company will recieve the same fate as the supplier in Tokoyo!! Nobody knows the whereabout of BS Tahir!! Idon't think he is still in Kemta, Taiping. I strongly feel that he has been given new id or being handed to CIA!!!! (of course with certain condition by Pak Lah)

    ReplyDelete
  56. Anonymous12:17 pm

    DEAR ROCKY BRU,

    I DONT THINK ANYBODY OWE ANY APOLOGY.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Anonymous1:10 pm

    To "Justice to BSA Tahir and "Brunt Council",

    Both of you have made some serious wild allegations against a number of people. Let me guess, this is driven by hatred but without a shred of evidence. You would have the world believed that Pak Lah's action on this is actually a carefully hatched plan to enrich his son, family and their associate. What far fetched stories that only fools would fall for.

    Yesterday's event marked a moral victory for Tun and his 5 brothers who were wronged by the previous adminstration. Don't try to take the attention away from the significance of this episode by spinning tall stories.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Anonymous1:20 pm

    What if an apology was made for the many years of hardship incurred.
    Then on the next day the deputy PM says the apology was just for the years of hardship and not an apology for the debacle of being removed.
    How then? Is it 2 different things?
    I would think while an apology is intangible,the giving of the ex gratia represents the tangible part of the apology though in no way being the full value of it as the value is irredeem-able.
    So why deny the admission now??
    Just let it be and be made whole again at least.
    .duh..

    ReplyDelete
  59. Anonymous3:35 pm

    After 20 long years it's wonderful to see a gross injustice put right - well, to a certain extent anyway.

    Men like Tun Salleh Abas, who put principles above personal gain, job, status, are rare indeed particularly in our status-money-celebrity obsessed society.

    From PL's perspective this gesture would have meant so much more if it were done years ago, rather than post-March8 that reeks of self-survival.

    Nevertheless, the restitution is underway and for that I, as a Malaysian citizen, am touched & grateful.

    Tun Salleh & his fellow judges who sacrificed their careers & in many cases their personal happiness to fight for justice & principles are the true heroes of Malaysia - giants who should be upheld as role models for our children. Not the many much-feted politicians/billionaires/celebrities who are glorified by society & the press but actually live only to serve themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Anonymous4:09 pm

    Dear Rocky Bru

    Taking your explanation as true, then Tun has no way of knowing Shah Hakim Zain would turned out to be a crook and betray his own partner.

    I would sincerely apologise to Tun Salleh Abas for my unwarranted accusation and abusive words.

    I have been very frustated with the compromises this administration made that jeorpardised our sovereignty, independence, and well being. This incidence is the key to unlock the whole sordid affair.

    As a man deemed by many as of integrity and wisdom, I hope Tun Salleh should correct the wrong his Son in Law has been involved in and let justice run its course. Its due time Shah Hakim take ownership of his misdeed.

    If successful, Tun could certainly set the example for another Father in Law.

    Again, my apologies.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Anonymous4:26 pm

    does it mean that the government especially prime ministers can do anything they like and later use the taxpayers' money to redeem themselves. what a shame to you all!

    ReplyDelete
  62. Anonymous5:52 pm

    justice For Tahir
    Your personal issues on partners betrayals are easily spewed in this medium.Your cowardly act of accusations behind this bloggers veil reflects your personal vendetta rather than a concern for judicial reform for us, the people of Malaysia.
    You spoit a Great Malaysian's and fine gentleman's day in the sun after living a life shrouded in injustive poured upon him.
    take your personal issues directly with whomever your problem lies , dont hide behind the tree and throw the stone and blame the whole world

    ReplyDelete
  63. Anonymous6:14 pm

    rocky,

    this whole thing was a messed up... does pak lah convene a cabinet meeting for this? does he seeks a cabinet consensus?? or is he act on his personal terms? the way i see it Pak Lah is too desperate to be popular again.. people doesn't care and dun give a damn about judicial issue. and why this year and not in 2004??? why??? please answer my question rocky!

    is pak lah acting on behalf of th malaysian government and his office or personal thots??? because i think if that speech made 2 nights ago was on the basis of the Malaysian government then that is not the way to do it.

    he should had set up a tribunal or commission to revoke back the decision made by the 1988 tribunal. who is he to go against the commonwealth judges that presided the 1988 tribunal?? again rocky... not enough facts but to many bullshit!

    this thing will backfire on Pak Lah again one day and i bet my life on that! his day are numbered and he is doing everything blind to keep his office.. that man is a danger to Malaysia and himself!

    ReplyDelete
  64. rocky,

    some of your commentators have questioned the monetary compensation for the judges, saying that these judges could be appeased with money. Like, money can ease their pain...

    listen to yourselves.

    now, if you were the judges...could you be appeased with money? No.
    did the judges ask for any compensation all these years? No.

    do you think that ANY AMOUNT of MONEY could adequately compensate for their years of suffering, their mental anguish, their pain?

    Tun Salleh told us, didn't he -- that NO...no amount could.

    but the fact remains that the government is compensating them for those 20 years.. TWENTY YEARS, not five, not 10...TWENTY.

    Should they REFUSE this gesture?

    and you people are making a moral judgment on this?

    HOW DARE YOU ALL!

    ReplyDelete
  65. wat did u chat wif tat semi value?

    ReplyDelete
  66. Anonymous8:58 pm

    semi value..being semi value must be the odd man out - the square peg looking for a square hole.
    what's he doing there?

    ReplyDelete
  67. Anonymous9:53 pm

    kak aina,

    u`re speaking like the tribunal 1988 did the wrong decision. If the 1988 tribunal were wrong then Malaysian government should set up a new tribunal to apologise. but 18th April ceremony wasn't about rectifying wrongs... more likely to show that Prime Minister is popular and transparent. Go to hell with that. How about other cases that had been wrongly deliberate in court..

    how about Norita Shamsuddin cases?
    how about Man Datuk cases?? and the list never ends...!! Go To hell with Pak Lah and his acting! Go to hell with KJ and his connections... I'm not a fool!

    ReplyDelete
  68. Anonymous9:54 pm

    I am not sure what "moral victory" Tun Salleh Abbas is talking about. Isn't it clear that no one has admitted any mistake and nobody has offered an official apology?

    Regarding the event, I could only conclude the following:
    (1) It is a money giving event to shut up Tun Salleh Abbas, his compatriots and amazingly the bar council was tricked as well.
    (2) It is an attempt to regain popularity, what more with his leadership in jeopardy
    (3) It is yet another action to insult the rakyat's intelligence. The judicial committee is not actually independent as primer minister still still has the final say, and who appoints the committee members????

    ReplyDelete
  69. "Apabila Hindraft mengadakan tunjuk perasaan, kerajaan BN memberikan cuti Thaipusam di Wilayah Persekutuan untuk mengambil hati orang-orang Hindu. Ini menimbulkan kemarahan di kalangan orang Islam. Kepada siapa lagi mereka hendak percaya. Kerajaan BN pimpinan Melayu adalah kerajaan yang lemah dan tidak berupaya lagi untuk menjaga maruah Melayu dan Islam."

    I would AVOID MalaysiaAktif.com at all cost. It clearly shows it'sa Raced/Religion-Based 'Independent News'. We worked so hard to keep racial politics at bay and here we have an 'independent news' which set us back to Stone Ages!

    ReplyDelete
  70. Anonymous11:12 pm

    is ex-gratia compensation a valid response to twenty years of Barisan Nasional dismantling of the Malaysian judicial system? the government is not above the law and the rakyat is convinced that like any citizen, it has to pay the price when it violates the law of justice.

    to me this current masquerade by the Badawi adminstration is similar to cutting of a person's nose and offering him a rose to smell.

    and this whole so-called attempt of offering "an olive branch" to the judicary stinks like a clandestine belacan factory selling contimated belacan to the people. doing the right things for the wrong reasons is one of the greatest treasons.

    the criminal violations and manuverings by the Mahathir administration in emasculating the judicary is the key issue. Mahathirists cannot close one eye and neither can they close the eyes of the rakyat to this travesty in our nation's history.

    a serious death blow was given to the judical system of Malaysia in 1988 because dastardly prepetraters like Mahathir Muhammed fabricated lies against men and women who upheld justice. the judges were put in limbo and made to suffer like decapitated and featherless doves.

    this nation was shamelessly robbed of its integrity in judical status both locally and abroad.

    such ruthless excercise of political hegemony cannot be excused or minimised by ex-gratia renumeration. it is like putting a band-aid on a person who is dying of blood loss.

    the heart and soul of justice and integrity was crushed by those who orchestrated this pernicious sabotage. let us demonstrate courage and sincerity in demanding that justice be done to those it was robbed from.

    let there be a sincere and unconditional apology to Tun Salleh Abbas and all of the othe judges. let us witness a just process of bringing those responsible for this shameful act to pay the penalty.

    this scar on the nation's soul needs a proper closure and the current acknowledgement of Abdullah Badawi though commendable is not sufficient.

    many court cases have been tampered with since 1988 and the rakyat demands a genuine repentance and reversal of all the damage it has done to both the judicary and the people's faith in the system.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Anonymous11:17 pm

    Tun Salleh Abas and the Bar Council are being used by Pak Lah spinners. All these are just for publicity stunt made out by the 4th floor boys.

    These desperados even made one big blunder...
    The proof was when NST, BH and UM published a slightly different pictures of Pak Lah shaking hand with Tun Salleh Abas. Those pictures were clearly the product of shoddy photoshop work. Clearly the pictures originated from one source. And you know from where....

    ReplyDelete
  72. Anonymous12:30 am

    "HOW DARE YOU ALL?"

    So sorry, ma'am, a thousand apologies, we beseech you.

    So sorry that the insignificant rakyat has to express himself to make some sense of justice, money and compensation.

    We shall shut our mouths and concentrate on how to pay for rice, fish, petrol for my Kancil, transport cost for my children etc. etc and the rent for my one-bedroom hovel.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Anonymous1:02 am

    Ghosts in the judiciary
    Francis | Feb 12, 01 8:42am
    For the judiciary to regain the nation's confidence, the ghosts of Tun Mohamed Salleh Abas and Dato' Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah must be exorcised.

    Was Salleh removed from his position as Lord President purely because of the [#1]letter[/#] that he wrote to the King or were there other forces at play then?

    Was Syed Ahmad forced to resign from his post as a High Court Judge in 1996 merely for (allegedly) blowing the whistle on the rot in the judiciary? Were his allegations true?

    Surely there must be some brave men left in our country who can come out to clear the names of these two gentlemen?

    ReplyDelete
  74. Anonymous10:57 am

    The accumulative filth that is revealed and reported in the several readers' comments may, if piled up together, reach the sky; but, sad to say, it falls miserably short, for many who were involved and implicated, of reaching the heavenly paradise.

    The dramas, intriques, manipulations, injustices, cruel and unconscionable acts perpetrated against fellow Malaysians, abuses of power, sacking of judges, clipping of royal power, grafts, nepotism, ostentations, hypocricies, the moral and decaying rot of social fibre, racial and religious polarisations in schools, the incompetent civil service etc provide for not only interesting reading and historical records of our 50 years of 'successful' nation-building but also shame and bad reputation to our beloved country called Malaysia.

    If the above reports were conveyed to the souls of past leaders, they might rise to haunt those responsible.

    In my view, the BN must realise the above phenomena were not brought about in one day, just like Rome was not built in a single day.

    Wben the truth was spoken, often times the whistle blowers or 'reporters' were chastised or strongly criticised by the BN-controlled media or in certain cases, sacked or coerced to resign from the organisations for which they were employed. For certain undesirable but vocal and daring political dissidents and activists, they might get detained under the ISA or OSA.

    Then, finger-pointing, fire-fighting, open and blatant denials would ensue. Or, the common modus operandi comes into play - to institute a board or commission of inquiry into the alleged or reported incident and follow by an eyewash pledge to the public that appropriate actions would be taken against those found guilty. Such time-playing devices have bcome too mundane and comtemptible.

    Or they would employ or engage external consultants to investigate and report back with recommendations on possible solutions and actions. In the meantime, money flowed out of the national treasury.

    How many times we were told that projects were abandoned half-way and hefty compensations paid to such consultants for 'dubious services' rendered.

    Ill-conceived mega projects caused millions of Ringgits to be drained out of the country. Examples may include the proposed sport complex in UK and the S-bridge linking Singapore and Johore.

    The 'recognition ceremony' carried out recently by the BN Government at the Bar Council dinner function to indemnify the sacked LP and his merry judges sounded very noble but definitely not novel.

    If the reports of some bloggers were true, then the said ceremony, I am afraid, is another great mistake of the PM.

    If the Judges' Appointment Commission is to be headed by the condoned LP with all the accompanying skeletons of nepotism, Malaysian can go without.
    The Bar Council have been hoodwinked again without being conscious of the hidden agenda of the PM.

    I am sad to say again that the PM has been too influenced by the impetus of self-interest. That self-interest is so intense in him that it always tends to corrupt his mind far oftener than it corrupts his heart.

    I have lost confidence in the PM and his BN. Please stop that wayang kulit. We need honesty, integrity, transparency, prudendence in public expenditure, justice and equality for all; and not piece-meal and miserable policies or actions. We have had enough of such filths.

    PR please wake up to the weakness of the BN. Topple BN before it topples you. Make hay while the sun shines. This is the defining moment for the country to be liberated or freed from the shackle
    of half a century of social-economic abuses and policies.

    Malaysia was once a very healthy cow but maurauders have come to milk it so often that its milk-producing capability is serious undermined.

    A lot of deserving people did not receive the milk at all as promised. What do you think the cow will do one day?

    The cow will say to BN, I do not need you to milk me. I will give my milk directly to the people who are crying out for milk. You have processed my milk and priced it so high that many people out there can not longer affort to buy it.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Anonymous1:22 pm

    "Tun Salleh Abas and the Bar Council are being used by Pak Lah spinners. All these are just for publicity stunt made out by the 4th floor boys."

    I concur. Add our bro Rocky in the list too. You are being duped and you feel good about it.

    Too bad.

    The way I see it, I dont need a cheapskate, dumb old man (Tun Salleh Abas) who can sell his soul to a clown (AAB)as a person responsible of our Judiaciary, then or worse still today.

    No way.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Why "moral victory" ? Isn't a victory moral ? After 20 years almost to the month since Salleh Abbas's letter to the Agong, this cash payment now signifies victory ? Why don't we revisit the case openly, after all it was an open tribunal with local and foreign judges sitting together cracking their legal minds to consider the propriety of a fellow jurist's actions. Please visit my blog zamyunus.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  77. Anonymous2:51 pm

    there is no difference whether the government establish the judicial commission or not. because it has no effects on the court cases. and it do not give anything to the people. it just gives the pm paklah the support he needed for his dwindling leadership. the belief that the jc will bring back confidence of foreigners especially investors to the country is a only a myth. it is said the jc will appoint judges of high integrity, clean and not corrupt. but what's the use? because at the start the court system already make the judges are not a trusted lot as they are mere mortals with defects. that is why the courts are set up with many levels of hierachy - magistrate courts, session courts (the lower courts), high courts, appeal court, supreme court/ federal court - because among brother judges (because of so much independence or leeways for them to interpret the laws)they have the tendency to make decisions according to their whims and fancies just to show their power and arrogance (because they can kick the government ass and get away with it - read separation of power). but with the system in place the brother judges with the so called independence also kick their brothers asses (maybe for personal career, vendetta, self glory, ball carrier, etc?) as they ascendingly overturn and counter overturn their brothers' judgements making court decisions a mockery and the courts like a malaysian circus. so what is so great about the judicial commission? not counting yet on its membership and the veto power of the pm and the king?

    KANGAROO COURT (anyway why's its kangaroo - its australian!) let make one made-in-malaysia court!
    MONKEY COURT!!!

    ReplyDelete
  78. Anonymous8:16 am

    MENGADAP KEBAWAH DULI YANG MAHA MULIA TUANKU SULTAN ISKANDAR IBNI ALMARHUM SULTAN ISMAIL. AMPUN TUANKU, PATEK INGIN MERAFAK SEMBAH MAKLUM BAHAWA MEMANDA PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA TELAH MELAKUKAN 'CONTEMPT OF COURT' DENGAN MEMBELAKANGI KEPUTUSAN TRIBUNAL DIRAJA YANG TELAH MENESIHATI KEBAWAH DYMM UNTUK MEMECAT TUN SALLEH ABAS. OLIH ITU PATEK SEKALI LAGI MERAFAK SEMBAH AGAR PERKARA INI DI BAWA DALAM MESYUARAT RAJA2, AMPUN TUANKU.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Anonymous11:15 am

    Hats off to a Man of Integrity!

    ReplyDelete
  80. Anonymous6:59 pm

    A rose called by any other name is still a rose.

    The granting of an unspecified sum of gratuity to the former LP and five other judges according to DPM was not an apology. But, any dupe would know that it was admission that was tantamount to the commission of a malfeasance by the BN Government 20years ago. It was a recognition of their past services rendered to the country that qualified them to receive the gratuity.

    I think the public needs to know how much was being awarded to the six justices who were sacked by Dr Mahathir.

    By giving the awards to the past judges and the intended contemplation to install Tun Salleh Abbas as head of the JAC, what shit the PM was trying to tell us if what he did was not an indirect apology, if not a condonement or amnesty. All of a sudden the six were exonerated and liberated to come back to the civvy streets and offerred appointment.

    If that was the intention, a written apology would have been more effective. It would have saved the public a lot of money!

    But, how much would be an appropriate sum for each of the six 'erroneouly sacked' judges? Basing on Rm10,000/- per month for 20 years, it would cost the tax payers RM2.4 million per head and multiply that figure by 6, it would cost the treasury a sum of RM14.40 million! No wonder Dr Mahathir jumped up from his sleep and posed the question, 'Why pay the sacked judges?' Tun had a point.

    What has Pak Lah got to say in response?

    ReplyDelete
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