Meet OO, latest Petronas director

Updated
Other blog posts on OO's appointment:

1. A Soulless nation called home by SatD [note: rantings on OO in a local dialect]
2. Omar Ong slipped into Petronas by A Voice
3. Hmm .. Omar Ong is Petronas director by Shamsul Y

Original Article:
Omar Ong. He's young, he's bold and he's on the Board of Directors of Petronas!

Read the Malay Mail, here.

Only Isa can win it for Bagan Pinang?

Doing the right thing. Isa Samad was found guilty by his own party for money politics. Umno, that party, has not cleared him of the crime. Therefore, the idea that his supporters wanted Isa Samad to be the candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election is an absurd one. Most absurd, I mean. Bagan Pinang is not a party election, it is a national election. It's not just about Umno or Isa Samad's supporters, it's about the people.
So even if Isa Samad wins big at Bagan Pinang, it will be an absurd victory.
We don't know if Umno will pick Isa or someone else, but Isa should be doing the right thing and not wait for that potential mistake by Umno. As Dr Mahathir said, the former Negri Sembilan menteri besar should say he did not want to be nominated and instead and throw his support behind whoever the BN leadership chose.

That way, Isa would endear himself to all.

The full report Isa should be reading is here.

Malaysian fugitive meets family in Singapore

update 9.30 am 28/9/09. Waytha and daughter after breakfast in Singapore yesterday, before they said goodbye - he for London and she for Malaysia. Check out the Malay Mail online for the full story in a while.

Original article:

From UK with love. One of the ringleaders of Malaysia's banned Hindraf movement, lawyer P. Waythamoorthy, 43, has been in Singapore for the last nearly two weeks to meet his family from Malaysia. He left for London today.

Waytha spoke to me in my capacity as The Editor of The Malay Mail just before he left.

In Singapore he also met up with P. Uthayakumar, the other ex-Hindraf ringleader who ended up under the Internal Security Act during Pak Lah's watch (released last May and recently set up a political party to champion the Indians in Malaysia).

My exclusive interview with Waytha should be out in The Malay Mail tomorrow.

Green light for NSTP's "privatization"

And the birth of a new media giant. The relevant parties have agreed to go ahead with plans to take the NSTP private. The decision was made late Thursday. The bosses of NSTP and Media Prima will have a joint committee to draw up details of the scheme, including the proposed general offer, date of delisting, etc. Expect a statement soon, and promises that this will be good for the group.

I sincerely hope so.

Dr M at The Mines today, F1 Spore tomorrow

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be honoring the Singapore F-1 tomorrow night with his presence. The man who helped bring F1 to this region via Sepang will be watching the race, together with the "drivers" of the RM308 million-a-year 1Malaysia F1 team [see excerpts below and link here], from a super-exclusive paddock, which should also see S.M. Nasa, the son of the late Nasimuddin, founder of the Naza Group, making his first public appearance with the 1Malaysia team.

Tony Fernandes has so kindly invited me to join the Tun but I had to decline, even though I will be in Singapore to celebrate Eid with friends and relatives. I will be watching the race from elsewhere just to experience the "unique" night F1, but basically I am not a motor sports fan.

For those who can't join Dr M at the Singapore race but want to wish him Hari Raya personally, his Open House today beckons you at 58, Jalan Kuda Emas, The Mines, Seri Kembangan, until 5pm. Expect the longest queue, though, because I hear a lot of those who could not make it to his open houses the last 5 years are making their enthusiastic comebacks today!

Pakatan MPs for UNGA

Malaysian delegates. They'll be in New York for 2 weeks. Not a holiday, mind you. They will have to sit in for meetings of UNGA, its sub-committees, envoys, etc. "It's a great chance for me to represent my country," one YB was overheard saying.

A move on the part of Najib's government certainly to raise eyebrows on both sides of the political fence. Read HERE.

CORRECTION: The MM got 2 out of 3 right. The New York-bound DAP man won't be Chong.

Taking the NSTP private

Updated: The Scribe, a former GEIC of the NSTP: Protecting NSTP's Brandname and Goodwill

Original Article:
NOT a good idea. A journalist from the Edge asked me about the initiative to take the New Straits Times Press private. I said I heard a decision was going going to be made in a day or two. I also said that if it happens, there would be bad press for Najib or Umno. My friend isn't the only one who agreed.

The accountants can cook up 1001 means to justify the end (the favourite line I've heard is that taking NSTP private would "unlock its potential", or something to that effect). But the move, I'm afraid, will not be just about economic gains and financial potential. The NSTP is the media apparatus closest to Umno and the Prime Minister (even though its reports don't usually reflect that, especially lately). Which means, there is a political angle to the story which may override the "unlocking-the-potential" factor offered by the accountants.

The thing is, I don't think those accountants have taken time to gauge the political feedback. If they had, they would have stopped dead in their tracks upon realising the political backlash they could be unlocking.

Most of the people I talked to about the move to take NSTP private offered the same conclusion or, rather, assumption: That the plan is to PRE-EMPT a defeat by the Barisan Nasional to the Pakatan Rakyat at PRU13!

I was stumped. How does that happen?

Well, as another analyst told me, it does look like UMNO or Najib thinks an insurance is needed in the event of a defeat to PR in PRU13, crucial assets like Media Prima/NSTP don't fall to the enemy. I argued that the fear of losing the next general election was perhaps very real when Pak Lah was still the PM, but certainly it is no longer the case. I thought there was more confidence on BN's part now that they would do better at PRU13, especially with Najib winning the battle on the economic front?

Was I wrong?

Taking NSTP private will provide his detractors with the firepower to accuse Najib Razak of trying to put the media under his direct control. Anwar Ibrahim attempted the same with the Management Buy Out of the NSTP in the mid-90s. Such a negative perception will not be in the interest of the PM, who has said he would give more latitude to the media under his watch and who has thus far done well to keep to his word.

Any suggestion that the move to take NSTP private will be good for transparency and media freedom will be rendered idiotic. If they wanted to "free" the NSTP of direct political control and intervention, they should have done it as soon as PRU12 was over. We are now almost two years after PRU12!

On the contrary, if this idea of taking NSTP private involves a merger with Media Prima and its television channels (which are all doing very well without NSTP, anyway), Umno and Najib should be concerned with the prospect of having ONE media tsar controlling all the apparatus under the group.

We saw a glimpse of that in the last 6 years when Pak Lah "surrendered" the business of managing/controlling the media in the hands of one person that he and only he trusted.

That was the time when the Government believed in its own propaganda.

Johor's Retort

Blow by Blow. A special body or council should be set up to resolve problems involving members of the Malaysian royalty. They should not be allowed or encouraged to attack each other in public. It makes excellent copy for the newspapers, but it's downright demeaning to have a royal family mud-slinging another during a press conference and then have the other party returning the favour.

Which is what the Johor's Raja Muda is likely to do this week in order to protect his good name, or so says the front page article of the Malay Mail today. Read the article "No way, says Johor Royalty [Negri's RM50 million demand extortionate, they say]" here.

11/10, a turning point for Umno?

Bagan Pinang by-election. Blogger Sakmongkol, his AK-47 in their faces, is telling the "PR people" to prepare to lose. In Bagan Pinang - Vote for Normalcy, he said things are getting back to normalcy and that's bad news for Pakatan:

"... once things get back to normalcy, PKR starts to get panicky. This is what the situation in Bagan Pinang represents. Things are getting back to normalcy."

Sakmongkol, I think, is tired with PR's claims that postal votes are going to be rigged in favor of the BN. He sees the postal voting issue as just an excuse offered ahead by PR to blame UMNO for its loss.

"This coming win by BN in Bagan Pinang will expose the PR as a party which thrives only under abnormal conditions and that their extensive win at the 12^th General Elections was just an aberration. This coming by elections, the Bagan Pinang folks are voting for normalcy. That's why they are voting BN."

Sakmongkol's words, NOT mine. I just happen to agree with a lot of the things he wrote here.

Nomination is Oct 3 and polling has been set for Oct 11, a Saturday.

Related reading: PAS tak payah berlakun, dah pun kempen dalam kem

Aidil Fitri

Selamat Hari Raya
Maaf Zahir & Batin

This is my 4th Aidil Fitri in blogosphere. How time flies. The things I have written on Bru weren't all sweet and pleasing, so where my words and pictures have offended you, bros and sis, please accept my ampun-maaf in the spirit of wonderful Syawal.


This beautiful photograph is of the Syed Al-Bukhary mosque in Alor Setar, courtesy of jeebsion.com [Correction: The pix is of another masjid - Masjid Zahir. I've included the other pix by the same photographer, which is of the Syed Al-Bukhary's mosque, at the end of this posting]

Blogger Reme Ahmad has a collection of Singapore mosques in his Raya greeting here. The Masjid Tentera in Clementi is probably where I first performed my Hari Raya prayers, circa end-60s. They have a basement/underground masjid too.

Dara Naquiah denies demanding RM100 million from Johor prince

updated, Fri:
The Star also front-paged the news, and its EIC blogged about it here.

Original posting:

Only RM50 million. I'd heard earlier of the multi-million ringgit demands made by one royalty family against another but didn't want to post it. Pooh-poohed it, in fact. But now that Dara Naquiah has owned up to having sent a letter of demand seeking RM50 million in compensation* from the Tengku Mahkota Johor, I'm thinking that maybe I should have taken what I'd heard earlier more seriously.

The Negri Sembilan royalty's beef is with the police, actually. The "victim" told a press conference today that the cops were sitting on the case. What I've heard was that there was no case. But I'll let the cops say that.

Washing dirty linen in public (and in Ramadan, too) isn't going to help spruce up anyone's image, least of all the royalty's. Why can't these people just shake hands, grow up and move on? It's Hari Raya, sama-samalah bermaaf-maafan.


* from Malaysiakini:

(Dara Naquiah) also denied rumours that she had demanded RM100 million from the Johor royal house as compensation.

"I said (to the Johor royals) my son is priceless. Even RM100 million would not suffice," she said.

However, Dara Naquiah said a letter of demand has been sent to Ismail's lawyers for RM50 million in compensation for damages and an apology.

Peter Slipper says sorry to ex Prime Minister

"I didn't know what I was talking about". Peter Sugumaran from Paya Besar division admits to The Malay Mail that he was the one behind the Garland of Slippers idea. He's remorseful and wants to apologize to Dr Mahathir.

Read the story here.

Selamat Hari Malaysia

It's our National Day, so why isn't it a national holiday today? Koh Tsu Koon, the minister in charge of unity, was talking about a cyber countdown to mark 16/9. He has to do a lot better than that if he wishes to promote national integration. For starters, he should go back to the special Malaysia Day* site he launched last night http://1malaysian1wish.org and tell us why there's only 1 wish - his wish - that has been published by the site (as of 3.45 pm)!

Orang lain tak ada wish ke?

* 46 years ago today Malaya, North Borneo (Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore combined to form Malaysia as it is today (minus Singapore).

Only 9 left under ISA

... And Mat Shah won't be spending Aidil Fitri no 8 at Kamunting. WIth the release of 5 more detainees yesterday, there are now only nine people left under ISA. This time last year, there were still 65 people being detained without trial. Najib Razak released 13 on the day he became PM on 4/4 and another 13, including the three Hindraf extemists, just before Wesak Day in May.

The nine still at Kamunting comprise 4 locals, 4 foreigners, and Mas Selamat. Singaporean Mas Selamat gets special mention because he is the only person who's been sent to Kamunting under Najib's watch, so far. The alleged terrorist escaped a high-security prison and swam across to Johor. He was planning a series of armed attacks and abductions when Malaysian police nabbed him.

The 5 to be released in conjunction with Malaysia Day today and Aidil Fitri include Mat Shah Mohd Satray, who was detained in 2002 and would have spent his eighth Aidil Fitri at Kamunting this Sunday if not for this divine intervention.

His wife Laila blogs at Merah Hitam. Read her latest posting: Alhamdulillah, Abah dah balik rumah ....

Was the Garland your idea, M. Muniandy?

Latest! I was told the delegate involved is one Peter Sugumaran, mic delegate paya besar division in pahang.
Muniandy is not the one.

updates 4.30pm
Delegate suspended. This statement came in a little while ago. That hasn't stopped some angry people from planning an assembly in front of Muniandy's house in Ampang. It's going to be a peaceful gathering, they told me. "We want to throw slippers at his house".

DATO SAMY'S BRIEF STATEMENT ON SLIPPER ISSUE. With the powers vested in me as President under the MIC Constitution I have suspended the delegate with immediate effect pending the recommendations by the Disciplinary Committee to the CWC on any further action on the delegate. I hope that with this decision the issue will be settled. I have also discussed this matter with other senior leaders of MIC and the agreed with the suspension.

Original article
MIC's slipper. The Utusan Malaysia report "Kalung selipar gambar Dr Mahathir" (Utusan Malaysia, 14/9) quoted an MIC delegate from Ampang by the name of M.Muniandy throughout but did not say it was Muniandy who tabled the motion to give the garland of slippers to Dr M for allegedly interfering in the party's affairs. It was enough to earn Muniandy some colorful expletives from blogger Apanama who wants Muniandy's boss Samy Velly to apologize to the former PM.

DON'T EVER insult Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad, unless you want the situation to get ugly. -- "Who is the Bloody Bastard?"

More angry bloggers: Sudah sampai masa BN kaji semula kedudukan MIC and MIC now in real trouble

There will be a lot of angry Umno politicians, too, after the Deputy Youty Chief and even the former Youth Chief have come down hard on MIC for the uncalled for incident.

If the garland was indeed his idea, this Muniandy thoroughly deserves the shit they're throwing at him. He should have learned from the former spin doctors of ex-PM Abdullah Badawi who tried to demonize Mahathir in order to make his boss look better. This was back when the Umno leaders did not come to the defence of Dr M for fear of losing their positions. But the people were angered by the kurang-ajarness. You may not agree but Malaysians generally respect the Tun and love him for the good he's done or tried to do for this country. You don't try to treat a statesman like a pariah.

p.s. I know of one Muniandy who is in MIC and he is a Dato and the boss of the Kuala Lumpur Indian vendors. If it's the same Muniandy, I hope the slippers weren't his idea.

Cheaper passport, anyone?

Good news for infrequent travelers. A little thing like the Alternative International Malaysian Passport could produce a huge sigh of relief. Yes to this move to make it cheaper for the majority of us infrequent travelers. Now you need to pay only RM100 for a passport that lasts 2 years. Hishammuddin should make it even cheaper. Read Infrequent travelers can opt for cheaper passports. The Star's story didn't state that Malaysian international passport fees were increased to RM300 and RM600 in 1998 by our Finance Minister then, Anwar Ibrahim.

MI Survey: No potential PM in PR

The Unspinners' take yesterday on Malaysian Insider's spin about its own poll on Pakatan Rakyat's popularity is worth a re-read. Exceprts:

"The poll had higher scores for PR's weakness but was not given much highlight - their "inexperience in governing (38 per cent); bickering and fighting among members of the Opposition grouping (35 per cent) and the absence of a "good candidate" for the premiership (20 per cent)".

"This anti-Najib portal could be trying to downplay the absence of a Prime Minister material from Pakatan Rakyat. Wonder who Pakatan Rakyat could offer for Prime Ministership?"

It has inspired The Unspinners to come up with the analysis earlier today: Siapa Layak Jadi PM Dalam Pakatan Rakyat?

Btw, the flag on MI's original logo is the Jalur Gemilang.

Takeover at Proton?

Updated, Sun 13/9: Someone's back at Proton! I broke fast with Syed Zainal, Proton's Group CEO the same day I did the link to Pasquale's scoop. It was the first time I'd sat down with the Proton boss. He spoke about Dr Mahathir's return - physically - to the Proton headquarters in Shah Alam after more than 4 years! This Syed didn't seem too perturbed with the takeover rumours. "I heard about it quite a while ago," he smiled.

Original post:

Another saga. Pasquale has a posting on a plan by Yasmin Holdings, which is led by one of Proton's pioneer execs Kisai Rahmat, to take over the national car corporation. Sexy, especially when the scheme is said to involve the corporate muscles of local auto giant Naza and the support of Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The market is also talking about the rekindling of an interest in Proton by billionaire Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, who is also known to be close to the Tun.

I'm not repeating what Pasquale says about the "current bunch" running Proton. You'll have to click here to read the full posting.

KJ's Patience and Bamboo Stick Nationalism

• Updates: How should Malaysia read the Jakarta "sweep" for its nationals by a Malaysian in Jkt.
  
• SatD, who blogs from there, left a comment here basically to tell us not to worry, that those bamboo sticks were "just a bunch of few "preman" aka gangsters out to make a quick buck".
  
  

Malingsia vs Indonesialan. The so-called "Relawan Ganyang Malaysia" is not a nationalist movement. Those people are hooligans, like our own Mat Rempits. The sharpened bamboo sticks they wield are threatening enough, though, and suddenly I'm not that proud to say that my brother-in-law is a Javanese or that I have my roots in Sumatra (which was part of the Melaka Sultanate, if you know your Nusantara history).

I'm glad our government has made its concern known about the safety of Malaysians in Indonesia as a result of this bamboo-stick nationalism. And as much as I don't like to agree with Khairy Jamaluddin, I think he'd said out loud in his usual fashion here what I'm sure a lot of us feel like telling those Indonesians in their face.

Barisan 7 Pakatan 5

Cow head dozen. Did you say that the S23 cow-head protest, which saw 12 people aged 31-67 yrs charged in court yesterday, was the political game of one party? Well, now you know you were an idiot because the 12, who have been charged for sedition as well as illegal assembly, are members of parties from both BN and PR.

Find out here how many of them are your comrades.

Related article: Sedition charge unfair, says lawyer.

S'pender at Inquest

Updated, Fri 11/9 at 5.30am:
High Court rules in favour of torn underwear

I fail to see the JC's wisdom in allowing the Coroner's decision to okay alleged torn underwear's owner as witness in the Inquest. How do we know that it is his underwear in the first place, and if he was telling the truth about his prick being caned and what-not?
But that's how it's going to be.

Original piece:
NST 09/09: Beng Hock's inquest: Witness T. Sivanesan alleges he was slapped, kicked and caned on penis by MACC officer, showed underwear as proof

After all these years, many of us still can't get images of the mattress during the Sodomy Part I trial. And now we have this - a torn s'pender* at the Teoh Beng Hock inquest!

I don't know why the Coroner allowed Sivanesan's spender to the hearing. The MACC official who had caned his prick could be a rogue officer. If it's true, Sivanesan's bad experience should be brought to the Royal Commission that the Government has set up in connection with TBH to look into the procedures at the MACC.

The Coroner must now allow for witnesses who were NOT tortured by the MACC interrogation to share their experience with the Inquest. Just a week ago, a GLC head told me of his experience. I'm sure he still has his untorn s'pender/boxer/underwear to prove his point.

* S'pender is an old slang, believed to be short for suspender, to describe underwear. It's like gostan, which is derived from go a stern, which we still use to mean reverse.

18 months after March 08

Pakatan facing severe crisis. Wait, this is not me Pakatan-bashing. This is Lim Kit Siang's views. Read the full interview, "I'm worried about Pakatan's future", with mySinChew.

Kit Siang has been in politics long enough to sense when things go wrong, and why they go wrong. Besides internal problems, Pakatan Rakyat has failed to achieve maturity and fulfill the promises it made to the people.The DAP strongman is particularly concerned with the lack of urgency among the Pakatan leaders, especially in Selangor, in facing the crisis.

In Pekan a day earlier Najib Tun Razak said it too, but of course he did not share Kit's concern. The PM may have be savoring the moment:

”Now that they have come to power, they realise that governing is not as simple as when they were talking as the voice of the Opposition. We can see that the people are starting to question the decisions made by several Opposition-led states and their credibility in handling certain local issues. All these problems of late are due to their inability to keep their promises made during the last general election and their failure to take into consideration the views of the people." [Najib: Opposition discovering it is not easy to govern - The Star]

I've decided that Pakatan's main problem in the states they government (except Kelantan) is their inability to shake off their "Opposition" mentality. Instead of focusing on the business of governing, the state governments have been rather preoccupied with trying to find the faults of the previous (BN) government and blaming it for its woes.

A year and a half has gone by and a lot of the promises made during PRU12 could have been fulfilled, so why haven't they been fulfilled, as LKS said?

You tell me. But let me remind you, I'm not interested in PR-bashing here. I live and I now work in Selangor, Pakatan's biggest catch 18 months ago, and it is my concern - more so that it is Kit Siang's - if my state government is not doing as good a job as it's supposed to.

Cow head protesters to be charged tomorrow

Updated, 8/9:
Read the article, here.

Original Article:
Sedition. I'm not quite sure yet how many of them will be charged, but they will be charged under the Sedition Act tomorrow, most probably in Shah Alam, where the cow head protest took place two Fridays ago.

Meanwhile, this just in:
7/9 New site identified for 150yr-old Sri Maha Mariamman temple in another place in Section 23, Shah Alam: Selangor Govt/STAR

Updates: I heard SIX of the protesters will be charged under Sedition act, which carries a penalty of RM5000 or 3 years in jail, or both.
Also, ALL the protesters will be charged for illegal assembly.

Who'll defend them now? Anyone?

Thief! Thief!

Malaysia Today stole a Malay Mail scoop. We've been working on the story for days. It's what journalists called a "Scoop" or "an Exclusive". This one by Frankie d'Cruz and Kharleez Zubin on the confession of a election rigger we've saved for today's front page because it's a damn good scoop. The people at Malaysia Today seem to think so, too.

Imagine our shock when at 1.52am, which is way before our Press time, our scoop was already up on Malaysia Today! [see Screenshot below]



The Malay Mail usually updates its website around noon (about the same time the Print edition goes out to the streets) but today I told tour IT people we might as well upload the stories earlier. After all, the Malaysia Today has scooped our scoop!

Our lawyers say this is THEFT, so we're obliged to report it in the morning.

Seksyen 23 residents prevail

updates:.4 am Monday: End of Civility by Marina Mahathir
4.30pm Sunday: Cow Head, A Killer Wave on the Loose, by Shamsul Yunus
3.45pm, Big Dog's post: "Selangor MB Flip Flop"

Original posting:
Temple relocation shelved. Not a good day for Khalid Ibrahim. The Menteri Besar's dialogue with the Section 23 residents this morning went awfully awry.
Lessons for the govt:
1. Unilateral decisions don't pay, especially with a weak government/leadership
2. Democracy is alive (especially after a demonstration)

The residents/protesters' "victory" should inspire more demonstrations in Selangor in future, I reckon. Or more consultations between the Sgor govt and residents, especially the Malay-Muslim residents, before any action that may affect them is taken.
Or both.

Agenda Daily has a graphic brief on the event. Watch their space here for the full report.

Kecoh…kecoh...kecoh

'MB bodoh’ dan 'Khalid Babi’ serta macam-macam kata kesat menyelubungi Dewan Bankuet Wisma Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam pagi Sabtu dimana berlangsung sesi dialog Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim dengan penduduk Seksyen 23 berhubung isu pembinaan kuil.Kira-kira 300 penduduk termasuk 40 kaum India hadir dailog itu.Kalangan yang berang dengan keputusan kerajaan negeri hendak bina kuil Hindu dekat kawasan perumahan mereka juga boo kearah Ahli Parlimen Shah Alam Khalid Samad dan ADUN Batu Tiga PKR Rodziah Ismail.Malah satu ketika seorang penduduk tunjuk tapak kasut kearah Khalid dan ramai yang menjerit ‘ penipu’ semasa Rodziah berucap.Dailog selama sejam itu berakhir tanpa apa-apa keputusan dibuat.Sebelum itu penduduk tidak endahkan jaminan Menteri Besar kata nak kaji balik keputusan.Suasana juga agak tegang bila wakil penduduk India tetap mahukan kuil di Sek 23.Ia jadi lebih hangat bila dia kata orang India boleh tahan dengan laungan azan lima kali sehari.Khalid dalam sidang media di kediaman rasminya tengahari tadi, berkata kerajaan negeri membekukan sementara cadangan pemindahan kuil ke Sek 23 sehingga alternatif lain bagi menyelesaikan isu terbabit.-

p.s. I read somewhere that Khir Toyo said the previous state government had earmarked two sites for the relocation of the temple before March 08.

PKFZ fiasco: Closure on the horizon

4/9 PKFZ: Police have frozen the bank account of Kuala Dimensi that has RM140mil; IGP briefs PM/STAR

I wrote here that Ong Tee Keat, the man who pushed for a deep probe into the PKFZ scandal, vowed "heads will roll". Watch this space for more details.

One more year for Musa Hassan

"All for Musa's extension as IGP". The headline used by the Malay Mail today [click here to read] is misleading, I must admit. Not all are for Musa's extension. Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Kit Siang had asked the PM not to extend the IGP's tenure. Even P. Uthayakumar, the former Hindraf leader who has formed his own small party, had written to the Home Minister asking him to get a new IGP.

Anwar and Musa crossed paths back in 1998 when the de facto Pakatan Rakyat leader was the powerful deputy to Dr Mahathir. [Read Kenapa Anwar Benci Musa by The Unspinners here and another one on why Anwar feared Musa here]. Uthayakumar probably still blames Musa for his failed attempt to seek asylum in the UK six years ago. As for Kit Siang, just read his posting here to feel his hatred for Musa even as he accused the IGP of a personal vendetta against Opposition leaders, in particular Anwar and him.

Musa was made IGP on Sept 12, 2006. He shot to fame, of course, as the IO in Anwar's Sodomy Part 1 case. He was the deputy director of prosecution at Bukit Aman then. I first met him when he was Johor CPO, when he stamped his no-nonsense trademark. Under his watch, the Federal CID sent Datuk Tee Yam, the godfather of the underworld popularly known as Pai Kah Lek or Ah Lek, to Simpang Rengam. In June 2004, he ordered half the policemen at a police station in Subang Jaya to be transferred to different branches because they had failed to take action against two shoplots operating illegal gaming machines barely 100 metres from the station.

Some blogs have tried to paint Musa as a corrupt police officer but generally people would vouch for Musa as an honest, God-fearing man.

With the extension, Musa Hassan will now be IGP until 12 Sept 2010.

Hacked by Indonesia

From TV Smith's Dua Sen ...

Why did the Indonesian hackers insert a blog onto the afternoon paper's site?

Jawabannya, dan more web-defacing, di sini, bung.

Home Minister kena cow-cow!!

Ah, life's irony. So I'm here awaiting sahur, reading articles on the Internet, including of this pro-Singapore news portal that's giving Hishammuddin Hussein, our Home Minister, a treatment equaled probably only by that which the Shah Alam Seksyen 23 protesters had given the poor cow's head on 28/8. Read, in particular, Hisham needs reality check, an editorial based on a heavily-editorialized Hisham defends cow-head protesters.

The irony? The Malaysian Insider, the said portal that's drubbing Hisham cow-cow (actually it's kow-kow, which makes the drubbing not a mere drubbing but "a really good drubbing"), is powered by an ex-Singapore journo who is a major partner in Fox Communications, which is a Malaysian PR agency run by two PRs (of Singapore and Australia, if I'm not misled) that has a RM1,000-a-day contract to service the Polis Di Raja Malaysia. The PDRM, or the Royal Malaysian Police, comes under the Home Ministry.

And who's the Home Minister again?!

p.s. What's worse is that what Hishammuddin said about the protesters and the cow's head isn't even new; the Malay Mail reported it on Tuesday, here.

PKFZ: Special task force to brief Najib tomorrow

RM1.5 billion for nothing. The special task force set up by the Transport Ministry in June to investigate the fiasco and restore confidence in PKFZ has completed its job and, together with the police and the MACC, will brief the Prime Minister tomorrow of its findings, including fraudulent claims and other irregularities amounting to some RM1.5 billion.

Whose heads will roll?

A Letter from the Home Ministry

Nasihat. Today, I received a letter from the KDN re our 24/8 article MIC battles caste politics which some quarters in the party blamed for a demonstration against the paper in Petaling Jaya the next day by some 100 youths of MIC and over 20 police reports lodged nationwide against the Malay Mail, including by a leader of a newspaper vendor.

The key word in the letter is "nasihat". It's an advice for us NOT to publish similar offending articles in the future. We are also duly reminded of the guidelines issued by the Ministry from time to time.

I can't say I like the tone of the letter, at least not more than the letters from KDN which I used to receive back then. But what I can say is that the KDN under this new Minister has handled the matter quite well: queries were cool and collected, nobody was blowing things out of propertions. Can't say the same thing about some of the MIC leaders, though.

I can also say that despite the letter, The Malay Mail won't ignore issues of caste politics. It's an old issue that has remained relevant till today. [Read the piece in Malaysiakini here to know how old this issue is].

p.s. Earlier this afternoon, the Malay Mail's editor-at-large Frankie d'Cruz and writer Kharleez Zubin spent some time at the PJ police headquarters in relations to this case. Frankie gave his statement after an hour-long Q & A session, while Kharleez was in there for about 90 minutes.