Thursday, July 29, 2010

In Malaysia, a Tun is charged in court re PKFZ

Syabas MACC. Don't stop with Dr Ling.The people of Malaysia will support you. A new dawn in the fight against corruption.
That was my last tweet this afternoon on the biggest story so far this year - Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, former MCA president and Transport Minister, the most decorated Chinese politician in Malaysia, charged in court for misleading Cabinet on the Port Klang Free Trade Zone project. My first tweet, at 1.16 pm, had read:
Tun Ling Liong Sik was supposed to be charged today re PKFZ scandal.
Shock and awe. Twitterjaya was full of disbelief after this tweet and about a dozen others that followed (thanks to Marhalim of The Malay Mail, who was updating me via Blackberry from Putrajaya court). When the AG himself read out the charge sheet against Dr Ling, there were two kinds of reactions. The first was excitement, pride. The people want to support the government's fight against corruption, but they wanted a "Big Fish" to be nailed. They wanted the MACC to forge ahead. The second reaction was aimed at downplaying the achievement, rubbishing it even. These people have been demanding the arrest of a "Big Fish", too, but I suppose they never thought that the MACC would actually, could actually, do it.

Now they know.
Read the Malay Mail report.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Rogue DAP Councillor (and Innocent Assemblyman?)

Could the "black blog" be right after all? The Star's reports on how a councillor allegedly ripped off over 100 projects in Selangor by "misusing" a DAP assemblyman's letterhead has further exposed the problems facing the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor.

The Star reports take pains to picture Assemblyman Ronnie Liu as the "good guy" and the "victim" in this shocking scandal. He was supposed to be unaware, until about two weeks ago, that his signature had been tampered with to help the "rogue" councillor to rip off over a hundred projects worth more than RM1 million in Selangor.

But, really?

You can fool some people some time, as the saying goes. Some other people won't buy that so easily and would want proof. They'd want the on-going investigation (which was a hushed affair until the Star's expose) to leave no stones unturned. It must also probe, for example, into the possibility of a collusion between the councillor and the office of Ronnie Liu.

Like it or not, I have to bring back the series of investigative postings published about a year ago in the anonymous blog called Truth for Teoh Beng Hock, which implicated Ronnie Liu in many of its reports on questionable contracts which were the subject of an investigation by the MACC (until the death of witness Teoh Beng Hock).

T4TBH was suggesting a link between the tragic death of the MACC witness with these projects and alleged wrong-doings. For that and its other postings, Lim Kit Siang called it a "black blog" and said it was started as an attempt to defame TBH and the DAP.

In the light of the "Rogue Councillor" expose, I'm afraid we can't ignore the postings ran by T4TBH anymore.

Read the Star's report Klang councillor denies allegation of graft and the original Probe on rogue DAP councillor started 2 weeks ago.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Remove him, unseat her ...

5 delicate issues. More calls on blogosphere for the Najib administration to scrutinize the roles of some of its top officials, regulators and former regulators included, for their alleged links with some unsavoury elements, including anti-Najib ones, in the past and possible even now.

Read journo-blogger Bujai's nor-holds barred posting here on the 5 most delicate issues Najib must act on, or else ... 

Selangor to spend RM15 million on propaganda

So whose fault is it that we Selangoreans don't know who our MB is? Every person in Selangor will pay RM3 to the state-backed news portal Selangor Kini, its internet tv station TV Selangor, and the print version of Selangor Kini next year under a plan by Khalid Ibrahim, the Menteri Besar, to "beef up the state's communication delivery system to widen the dissemination of information to the public and provide balanced news reports on the state government. The state is also planning to start a radio station soon".


Khalid is peeved that some people in Selangor did not know that he was their MB and not Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who was the MB before Khir Toyo,


Selangoreans must be the dense-st people in Malaya.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Unholy Alliance

Anwar in the news again ... compares self with Suu Kyi and Mandela.

Excerpts from a new book by Washington Post journo:
While serving as Deputy Prime Minister in Malaysia from 1993-1998, Anwar tried to topple then Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad, himself an anti-Semitic demagogue who made Anwar his protégé. When the attempt to unseat Mahathir failed Anwar was imprisoned for corruption and sodomy. Needing international support to regain power, Anwar has spent the last five years meticulously cultivating a benign image among some of the most influential individuals in the Western world. He describes himself as “a leading proponent of greater cooperation among civilizations” and “an authoritative voice in bridging the gap between East and West.” In private conversations with journalists, he outlandishly compares himself to Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela. Read MORE ...

Friday, July 23, 2010

SC wants to meet (some) bloggers?

4 postings and nothing. I wanted to respond to lawyer-activist Haris Ibrahim's four postings which he has been churning out in the last 24 hours - here, here, here and here - following my posting Doing a number with numbers: 1,805 died in custody in Malaysia, 2003-2009? and the postings of two bloggers Haris un-affectionately called "dogs".

But I've changed my mind. I think I'll let Haris catch up on lost sleep. Perhaps he will be able to tell us where he got his 1,805 in his 5th or 6th posting. Take your time Haris, I can wait; after all, it's your reputation.

In the meantime, the SC wants to meet these same "dogs" which have been threatening to chomp off Haris' head.

So why does the SC want to meet these bloggers? Syed Akbar Ali has the story.

"Well I have just heard that the Chairwoman of the Securities Commission wants to meet the Blogger or Bloggers who have been blowing up the shenanigans that have been going on at the SC. I am given to understand that she does not want to meet the Media.

"(This simply goes to prove again that the Blogs now have more influence on public opinion than the mainstream media - which is now not even used to wrap pisang goreng anymore)."
 Read more ... here.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Big Dog goes canoeing in Jerlun, Malaysia

Adventure kayak race Akar Jerlun 2010. A first in Malaysia, the kayak race will see 160 canoes that will slip, glide and splash through 53km of waterways, padi fields, and caves over 3 days, starting tomorrow 3pm. The blogger 150kg Big Dog is, I'm told, taking part so that should make the race even more interesting.
Get more details H E R E.

Doing a number with numbers: 1,805 died in custody in Malaysia, 2003-2009?

All wild accusations, says Hishammuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had lambasted certain quarters for exaggerating statistics related to custodial deaths in the country and for creating a perception many detainees had died in the hands of authorities.
“People have been quoting all kinds of figures (of custodial deaths). But, they're not true,” said Hishammuddin in Parliament last week.
A memorial service organised by non-governmental organisation, Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia was held last Friday as a tribute to those who had died in custody. According to the movement’s blog site, 1,805 people died in detention from 2003 until 2009.
The figure was disputed by Hishammuddin but he did not say what the exact figure was. “I’m not so sure. But, from what I was told the other day, the figures being bandied about were for custodial deaths over a period of 10 years. So, it isn’t much.
“I was also informed by Chee Leong (Deputy Home Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong) the majority of the cases of deaths in custody were due to diseases such as AIDS.
“They are free to raise the issue all they want, but at the end of the day, the truth will prevail.”
Haris Ibrahim, lawyer and leader of Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia party, claimed 1,805 lives perished in our remand cells, prisons and detention centres between 2003 and 16th July, last year. It was written as a statement of fact. He did not attribute it to anyone. Read what he wrote in his blog here and what he told The Malay Mail here.

Hishammuddin Hussein, Home Minister, is "not sure" of the exact figure but rubbished Haris Ibrahim and SABM's numbers.

If both Hs had checked with the police before speaking to the Malay Mail this morning, they would have discovered that there were 147 deaths in custody from May 2000 to date:

2000 - 7 deaths
2001 - 16
2002 - 15
2003 - 23
2004 - 21
2005 - 14
2006 - 15
2007 - 15
2008 - 12
2009 - 6
2010 - 3

Causees of death:
HIV 32
Athma  4
Heart attacks 9
Other illnesses 64
Suicide 21
Fights with other detainees 3
Brain hemorrhage 3
Fall1
Beaten up by police 1

In my column in The Malay Mail today, I wrote that the SABM's figure is questionable. Even Haris is not so sure of it now as he asked The MM:
“Let’s say the figures are wrong and it is only 15. Should we still not be concerned over 15 custodial deaths?”
I happened to agree with him. But, really, we can't just throw any figure we like. One of the reasons why Haris does not trust the mainstream media and has called for a boycott (see his poster below) is because some of us can't count, he'd complain - The Start would report a turnout of 1000 people at an anti-government protest when it was actually 10,000 people, for example.

In the same spirit, Haris needs to get his numbers right.


In my article Doing A Number with Numbers, I wrote
On the other hand, according to official statistics provided by ouir Home Ministry, 147 people have died in police custoiry in the last 10 years since May 2000. For 2010, the number of deaths in police custory so far is three. The highest in a year is 23 (2003). It's not a sterling record but certainly nowhere near the claim by SABM of 1,805 deaths in half that period.  Which makes one wonder: what kind of number are the people behind SABM trying to do, and on whom? Where did they get their statistics, anyway?
I also drew a comparion with the US' global "war on terror", where "nearly 100 detainees have died while in the hands of US officials .... between August 2002 and 2006. At least a third of them were victims of homicide and torture. Others succumbed to accidents, illnesses and harsh conditions of the detention centres.


A couple of bloggers have beaten me to it, actually.
1. Shamsul Yunos
Prominent human rights lawyer, Haris Ibrahim caught dealing inimaginary numbers

2. Zakhir Mohamad
What is the color of the sky in Haris Ibrahim's world?

Monday, July 19, 2010

Paris Hilton's Majestic Masterpiece


Those in the international business circles, from New York to Paris and to Joberg, seem to know Mr Jho Lo more than we Malaysians do. When Malaysians speak of Jho Lo, they whisper. Some said he was close to the Prime Minister. True or not, the PM's Office should come out and tell us how close. 

More pictures of Jho Lo and Paris Hilton, here.

Alfatihah, Raden Galoh

Innalillah. This morning Dalilah Tamrin, who was introduced to me by Nuraina A. Samad a couple of years back, left this world, certainly for a better life. I'm reading her last post, before meeting the others to see her off. Knowing her, though we weren't close, was such a privilege.

By Dalilah Tamrin in Onebreastbouncing

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Too Many in Too Little

It has been 3 weeks that I have not updated this blog. My condition was bad and I am still not well. Today, with heavy head I try to write and see if I can complete it and publish it. Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim...

I was okay for 2 days after taking the herbal concoction given by the Traditional & Complementary Medicine Unit of Putrajaya Hospital. After that series and bouts of pains and fever start to increasingly reducing my ability to get up and move around.

The pain came on my left shoulder and abdomen troubled my sleep. I would get 15 mins of sleep and that's the most. The pain became intense and excruciating that I have nothing else in my mind except pledging for Allah's mercy and love to reduce the pain. I seldom talk, in fact I became some who was not bubbly at all. People don't see my pain and I have not had that sick face so they don't quite figure out why I hardly can't move around or I became so quiet and most of the time I dwell in my world. My world of zikrullaah actually.

Alhamdulillah, my family understands my condition. My children helped me walk to the bathrooms. They took turn serving me and making sure I don't move to the kitchen to send the plates. They vacuum the house because they know there are many visitors coming. My mother cooks for me. They all become a clear evidence of the many blessing bounty that Allah still provided me for....Alhamdulillah...

The fever was odd. It came at 3 pm and subsided by night and flared up again by 3am.... With the pain and the fever, to push myself about living my life to the fullest was really hard. All I have hope. Hope that becomes a prayer. A prayer that Allah cures all pains and fever. I am still thankful, even in this difficulties my hope and my prayers didn't get washed away. Yet, they heightened and I am so much in this believe that Allah is very close to me because I feel so calm and at peace even when I battled my pains and fever.

Hubby said I moaned in my little sleep but I was like uttering istighfar most of the time. I understand the power of istighfar and zikr in times like this. It is not making me thinking about death but it is making me feeling the love of Allah embracing me.

My upper stomach has started to protrude. That's the sign of the stretching liver. The cancers cause it to happen. Like the pain too. The cancers in the liver cause it to occur. Yesterday, the Oncologist gave me the steroid of Dexamethasone for a week to reduce the stretching liver and hopefully will reduce the pain. I was given some sleeping pills so that I can I can sleep well and my body can rest. Otherwise, the sleep deprivation will make me losing energy by day time and that make the body easily tired, like what I was feeling for the past 3 weeks.

I have stopped taking the herbal concoction as told the MO that it defeats the objective of the complementary unit which is to increase the quality of life of the chronic patient. In my case it has proven to aggravate its decline. I want to continue doing my way, InsyaAllah Allah will guide me.

Alhamdulillah, last night I slept well and not get disturbed by the pain. I didn't even complete my 100 zikr of Hasbiyal Allaahi wa nikmal wakeel. Today, I am feeling fresher and able to sit longer. So far typing this entry seems fine with me. The heavy head has gone by now. Syukur...

Today, I will have many visitors. I have been getting many these past weeks. Alhamdulillah, thank you all for making your time coming to visit me. There are so many fadhilats in visiting the sick. I have not forgotten to pray to each of you that Allah forgives all your sins and shower His many barakah and rahmah in your life.

Alhamdulillah, the preparation for the Umrah trip is slowly in order. Alhamdulillah I will be accompanied by my darling hubby MH in the trip. I am taking this opportunity to seek forgiveness from all of you for the wrongdoings I have done. Maybe my tone of writing is not to your liking. Maybe my way of giving nasihat and reminder is not fancied by you. Maybe my way of expressing me thoughts and experiences is not in your favour.

Let's hope this is not the final entry. Should it be, I hope it becomes an avenue that people seek for some good guidance, InsyaAllah.

God bless you all.

Sir Crook

I'm starting my Monday by again telling myself this: I shall not believe everything a politician tells me.
You'd probably have read DAP's Jeffrey Wong Su En's stupid lie about having been knighted. The pictures are from here.
But have you read Anwar receives Britain's highest honour?

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Selective prosecution, Selective response


Sunday 18/7/2010: More updates at the end of this posting ...

Updated, 11.11pm , Sat 17/7/2010
YB Wee responds to SC's response:
"Zarinah Anwar ... has to personally answer for the ECM Libra transaction, MyEG Services Berhad, Isyoda Berhad, Lityan Berhad, Ekowood Berhad and Tenco Berhad, among others. If Zarinah Anwar does not personally come clean on these matters she can be assured more questions will be raised in parliament in October. Questions that have been directed at her personally and her connection with her husband, Azizan Abdul Rahman, over many of the corporate deals must take the onus to speak for herself. I still stand by my statement that unless Zarinah Anwar gives satisfactory answers to the issues including the ECM Libra takeover of Avenue Capital I have raised, she is then deemed unfit to hold the post as Chairman of Securities Commission.
Original article:
Securities Commission speaks out on Pantai. Ah, it's good that finally the Securities Commission wants to show us that it has the faculty to respond to queries. Read SC nafi tuduhan Choo Keong on the Utusan Malaysia's front page today. But like its selective prosecution of companies, the SC's response is very selective in nature. It has decided to address only the Pantai issue. There are many holes in the response, too, but I'm sure YB Wee would like to address them so I shall only ask this question in response to the SC's selective response:

 Where's your response to the queries on:
1. Azizan, the SC Chairman's husband, and his involvement in all sorts of business that puts his wife's position in question?
2. Isyoda
3. Tenco
[Read YB Wee's speech and questions in Parliament here]

If you can respond to one issue, why aren't you responding to the rest of the questions., which are more crucial if you ask me, put forward by our honorable YB in Parliament? Any attempt to pull wool over our eyes, SC, will be deemed as (borrowing your fine words) "perbuatan yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan amat melampau".

Updates, Sun 18/7/2010
Read also:
1. Wee vs SC by Zakhir
 "This is bad for the capital and securities industry when the regulating body can no longer be trusted as the integrity of the steward of the organisation is doubtful. PM Dato’ Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak is counting on the bullishness of the capital market as one of his bets to drive the economy forward ...."
2. Zarinah to Wet her pants? Another Reality Check for Malaysia by Syed Akbar Ali
"Kepada YB YB UMNO dan BN yang makin kurang dihormati ramai, jangan jadi bodoh macam tunggul kayu. Isu ini patut disokong dan dibincang dengan menyeluruh oleh semua ahli Parlimen BN.


Sila ikut contoh baik Utusan Malaysia dan memberi sokongan penuh kepada YB Wee Choo Keong dalam hal ini.


Saya rayu kepada YB semua jangan kekal dalam bebal ok...".

3. Did SC and Nor Mohamed beat up Utusan Malaysia editors? by A Voice of Another Brick in the Wall
Kesian Wee ... his response was only given two sentence at the end. It looks like he is being clobbered two days in a row by Utusan Malaysia. If much speculated PM Office's gatekeeper, Dato Shafie Abdullah kacau his constituency, then it confirm Nor Yakcop's hand in it.

Asia Sentinel pun bantai Anwar?

Updates: Syed Akbar Ali on the friends Anwar keeps (Yusuf al-Qardhawi, a village idiot from Egypt who married a girl younger than his youngest grand daughter; Al Gore, conman and genocidal maniac par excellence; and Wolfowitz, arch neo-con who has the blood of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis on his hands) and his RM7 million mansion in Selayang.


Original article
Depan belakang sapu. Dulu dia bantai Najib Razak, kali ni Asia Sentinel menyiarkan berita tentang Ketua Umum Anwar Ibrahim, hubungan intimnya dengan Bush neocons dan putar-belit Foundation for the Future. Anwar sendiri pernah beriya-iya bikin hyperlink pada cerita Asia Sentinel masa portal tu bantai Najib bulan Oktober lepas. Tak tau lah kalau artikel Anwar Ibrahim and the Bush Neocons - A Washington, DC NGO bares some awkward questions for Malaysia's opposition leader akan disiarkan di blog Anwar. 

Petikan:
Anwar has previously disavowed any US funding of the organization, established in 2005 as "an essential front on the global war on terror" and part of President George Bush's "freedom agenda" to promote democracy and reform in the Middle East and Africa. Anwar served as chairman and acting president of the organization's board in the period when he was out of politics following his incarceration on corruption and sexual perversion charges.

The Government Accountability Project report lends considerable ammunition to Anwar's opponents in the United Malays National Organization, who have long charged that Anwar was connected to the US Central Intelligence Agency, although neither the CIA nor the US government as a whole has ever exhibited any particular desire to bring down the Malaysian government, and in fact considers Malaysia, as a moderate Muslim democracy, to be one of its staunchest allies in the region.

In particular, UMNO Youth Chief Kairy Jamaluddin called attention to Anwar's statements disavowing US funding of the foundation and demanded that Anwar explain himself. He accused Anwar of misleading the US government in a memorandum of understanding saying the foundation had agreed to get other countries to commit funds to match those the US government was providing.

"For me, it is a serious matter that the opposition leader has tried to mislead the US government to get grants for a foundation that he was chairman of," Khairy told the Malaysian newspaper The Star.

An Anwar associate said the opposition leader would decline to comment, adding that there was little to be gained by saying anything about the matter. Nonetheless, he characterized Anwar's role as blameless.

"There is nothing wrong going on," he said. "This is part of the campaign to get Wolfowitz out of the World Bank and to do so they threw Anwar under the bus."
p.s. Kalau nak baca versi Bujai, pergi kat sini.  Puji KJ mamat ni: "So, Member of Parliament for Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin must have done his research well enough before establishing the story at the Dewan Rakyat."
Pasquale pun ada cerita di sini, tapi tak puji siapa2 kecuali Tun Dr Mahathir.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Felda bankrupt?


Updated: Check out this new blog Anak Jati Felda
The blogger compares Felda with IOI, Sime Darby and Wilmar International not just in terms of numbers  but also in terms of its contributions towards the landless. Felda has given land ownership to over 110,000 settlers.

Original Article

As of last year, the group chalked up a total revenue of some RM3 billion, a little lower than in 2008 but substantially more than in the years before that. Its cash and cash equivalent balance stood well over RM2.9 billion, higher than in the previous two years ....
Rocky's Bru on Thursday. My latest column in The Malay Mail disputes claims that Felda had gone bust. The figures are NOT out yet but you can get an idea here and why the problems facing Felda are not on the balance sheet.

Price increase: Learning from Dollah Badawi's mistakes

Prices of fuel and sugar inch up as government cuts subsidies gradually. The price of Ron95 per litre will be 5 sen higher from today. Sugar will be 25 sen more expensive for every kg, so new price is RM1.90/kg. These are still heavily subsidized, though. Even after the increase, the Government would still be spending some RM7.82 billion on fuel and sugar subsidies this year!

This means that the Najib administration has opted to increase prices - and cut subsidies - gradually. (At one of his subsidy briefings I attended, Idris Jala asked if we'd rather the government cut all the subsidies immediately or gradually over 3-5 years; only ONE participant said the government should cut all subsidies at one go). Does that make any difference or make the price increase less painful?  Certainly.

Remember when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pushed up diesel prices by 63% and petrol prices by 41%? That was cruel. And the time when, announcing the 60% toll rate increase for LDP, Samy Vellu said the government had made sure the hike was "not too high"? Najib Razak has obviously learnt what NOT to do from his inconsiderate predecessor.

Still, nobody is going to be happy with Najib today and in the days, weeks and months to come. We can be thankful that he didn't push up the prices by 60-70 sen at one go but what he'd need to do is tell us, every step of the way, what the government is doing with the RM750 million in savings derived from this first part of the government's subsidy  rationalization exercise.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Anwar misled US IRS

GAP’s report also suggests that FFF management – including former FFF Chairman (and close friend of Paul Wolfowitz) Anwar Ibrahim, who is currently a Malaysian parliamentarian – misled the US Internal Revenue Service. The FFF’s financial statements for 2006 and 2007 state that the Foundation did not attempt to influence national legislation, an assertion contradicted by the cables and reports released by the Department of State. These documents suggest that several Foundation representatives actively lobbied the US Congress in 2006-07 for legislative changes favorable to the FFF. - GAP report, 8 July 2010
We all know the unholy alliance between Wolfowitz and Anwar. What we didn't know is how sinister the outcome would be. Read the report on the US' Government Accountability Project (GAP) here.

In May 2007, Anwar went on record to say that his FFF received no funds from the US government. That is now clearly not the whole truth. 

Pornthip to return for TBH inquest after all

updated 16 July

Read The Malay Mail story here.

Original article

AH, NO MORE POLITICAL PRESSURE! A few days before she was scheduled to testify at the Teoh Beng Hock inquest last April 20, Lim Kit Siang made a very serious allegation by saying that Pornthip was "under pressure from the Malaysian government" not to return to this country for the Teoh Beng Hock inquest.

Well, today Gobind Deo said Pornthip has agreed to return "after receiving permission from the Thai authorities". Does that mean there's no more political pressure from the Malaysian government? Gobind didn't offer an answer. I hope Kit Siang will come up with an explanation as to what really happened with the "political pressure by the Malaysian government".

That aside, the important thing is Pornthip will appear at the inquest in person. She was the reason why the 2nd autopsy on TBH was conducted [she had concluded tat TBH's death was 80% homicide just by looking at pictures of the first autopsy conducted on TBH, and this led to the family of the late TBH to demand another autopsy, which was witnessed by Pornthip and a renowned British expert, Prof Peter Vanezis].

At least, we can say come Aug 18, Pornthip is brave enough to come back and finish what she'd started.

In another development, YB Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, a former PKR members, has challenged PKR icons Raja Petra Kamaruddin and P Balasubramiam to return to Malaysia to be investigated if they were truly innocent. Read the story, RPK angry because he feels threatened, H E R E.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Donald Lim, Wee Ka Siong and KJ

Donald Lim, Wee Ka Siong, and KJ. How Khairy Jamaluddin saw Wee Choo Keong as the "Chinese Ibrahim Ali" is still a mystery to me. What's clear is that the young MP from Rembau did a Rambo and went for Wee after the Wangsa Maju MP had taken to task SC's Zarinah Anwar in Parliment. Was KJ still haunted by Kalimullah's 'give him a leg up' statement (read here). His taunt partner Wee Ka Siong, the tearful MCA youth head, is perhaps still mindful of PKFZ.

And Donald Lim, 'the father' of the Chinese Perkasa. The senator is a deputy finance minister, and up to April this year was the managing director of PJI Holdings Bhd. Both he and his wife own shares in PJI. Lim recently bought a condo from PJI for more the a million ringgit. Not bad for a politician.
Read this report on Donald Lim when he was a deputy tourism minister, PJI and Sri Lanka.

Good luck Mr Prime Minister, if these are your generals to combat the anti-1Malaysia onslaught.

Monday, July 12, 2010

"Anwar made his own bad choices during DC visit"


"Wolfowitz IS pure CIA, any ‘opposition leader’ of any country that calls this gangster ‘my friend’ is now, ipso facto, part of the CIA machine. This machine runs on FRIENDSHIPS and SECRET MEETINGS and DOUBLE TALK by these friends who lie to even their own families!" - Anwar made his own bad choices during DC visit - EMSNEWS
Excerpts:
"... When visiting Washington, when he was told to meet with various top leaders who are Jews in Congress and ‘other Jewish leaders’ what did (Anwar) do?

1. Hurry off to these meetings and then apologize and grovel?
2. Ask for US Jewish politicians to stop killing Muslims?
3. Tell them to go to hell and turn around and make a public visit to Turkey?

The answer was #1: grovel and apologize. I didn’t make this choice, HE made this choice. I didn’t even report on this, the neo-con far right wing Zionist editor of the Washington Post BOASTED about this! He thought it was funny. If I were Ibrahim, I would have chosen option #3 or if I was foolish and went off to visit a bunch of very angry Zionists in DC, I would have lectured them about their beastly behavior towards the Turks, the people trapped in Gaza and the West Bank and ethnic cleansing in general."
So why blame Utusan and Umno only? Between his great apology to his friends in Washington over his anti-Semitic remarks (which is a fact) and the claim that he is a CIA agent (which is an allegation), Anwar made his own bad choices during his DC visit. Read MORE.

Read also Bernama's Anwar Not Loyal to Country, quoting Dr M, who was responding to a question by this blogger.

MCA wants RM1 billion for Chinese schools under 10MP


WITHER INTEGRATION. Read the NST article here.
So the MCA thinks if the government shows a billion-ringgit commitment towards Chinese schools, the votes (for MCA) will return. I have a question. Did the DAP give RM1 billion to the Chinese schools? Do they have RM1 billion to give?

I hope Muhyiddin can see where this is going. Yes, this will lead us nowhere. To integrate our young, we need to
introduce an integrated primary school system. It's as simple as that. Call it Satu Sekolah untuk Semua or national primary schools, but we can't allow a further disintegration of Malaysians. We certainly can't allow this shallow thinking that (and I'm quoting Liow the MCA deputy president): ""Once the Chinese community can see a concrete plan for the future of the Chinese schools, I'm sure that the votes will return."

We can't talk about the future of our children in terms of how many votes you can get in the next general election!

Integrate the schools, integrate the children. And for heaven's sake, go back to the use of the English language as the main teaching medium. Bahasa Malaysia is the first and national language, now and forever. Make it a language of unity, not a language of science or maths, which it isn't and can never be. In an integrated school system, pupils elect a third language (after English and BM). And that means every Malay boy and girl must learn either Mandarin or Tamil. Again, integration.

RM1 billion for Chinese schools to keep MCA alive? Say NO, Najib.

92% success rate and Hindraf didn't know?

Petition to King DYMM YD Agong on 11/7/2010 at 2.30pm call for Royal Commission of Enquiry further to Article 93 of the Federal Constitution on the exclusion and segregation of especially the poor Indian students from being granted JPA Scholarships, PTPTN study loans, Matriculation and University places. - Hindraf aka HRP

Barking wrong tree again. While the Opposition and some liberal elements within Umno are busy with their new punching bag called Perkasa which they claimed are extremists, their old pals in the really extreme and racist Hindraf (now masquerading as Human Rights Party) are at it again [read here]. I am just thankful that this time they're not claiming  that there's genocide in our schools and Indian pupils and students are being systematically decimated by the Umno-backed and Perkasa-loving government. Hehe.

And here's why there will not be a Royal Commission and why Hindraf and HRP are, as usual, barking the wrong tree:
  • In 2009, MIED gave RM6.8 million to 723 students in loan to further their studies out of which RM4.9 million was for medical students. *
  • From 1984 till 2009 - MIED has given out loans to 13,371 students amounting to RM96 million *
  • 4551 Indian students applied for IPTA, 2499 are qualified and 2304 got a place to study. That's 92.2% success rate. *
* Figures taken from YB P. Kamalanathan's twitter

Friday, July 09, 2010

Tycoon Syed Mokhtar to end Malaysians' toll woes?

ANOTHER TOLL STORY. If the government implements a proposal by a group called Smash Plus said to be backed by tycoon Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, Malaysian highway users will not only get an immediate 10 per cent reduction in what they are paying now but they will not ever, as long as the sun rises from the east, ever have to go through another increase in toll. Yep, NO MORE TOLL RISE!

I'm not sure what to make out of this news you can pick up here from the watchers of Asas Serba, the company linked to Halim Saad which proposed to end our toll woes not too long ago (the proposal is still being considered, according to parliament yesterday).

One thing for sure, both Asas Serba and Smash Plus say they only need RM40 bil or RM50 bil to resolve this issue.

Sweet. Who's going to pay for the RM40-50 billion, you think?

Thursday, July 08, 2010

RBT: Our politics of lies

ICONS ON THE RUN. My latest column in the Malay Mail takes a dig at PI Bala, who won't come back to Malaysia to help the authorities but will be flying to Paris on his way "home" to India from London, to help the French authorities investigate some crooks in Malaysia. Bala has become sort of an icon to some Malaysians eversince he vanished from Malaysia two years ago. His press conference in London yesterday was attended by Raja Petra Kamaruddin, another Malaysian icon who left home.

Read the column H E R E.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Court throws out biggest defamation suit by trade unionist against newspaper

RM150 MILLION SUIT. Zainal Rampak, the former MTUC president, this morning lost his defamation suit against the Sun newspaper over an article published 10 years ago on the EPF's annuity scheme. The article was written by K. Ravindran, a former union man himself. I got to know both 70-year olds when I was on the trade union beat, reporting for the Business Times, in the mid-80s. Ravi, on the phone with me, was super relieved. "A good day for reporters like me la brother, a very good day!".

I still couldn't believe that a trade unionist would take out a multimillion lawsuit against a journalist and fellow trade unionist. And am glad the judge Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamed ruled in favor of common sense.

"CNN, bad journalism, and Anwar's apology tour"

Anwar Ibrahim may be CNN's darling but The New Ledger, the American online news portal, is certainly not bought. To those who say Malaysian journalism sucks and Anwar is god, do read Joshua Trevino's follow-up article CNN, bad journalism and Anwar's apology tour. Or watch the video.

TV Selangor's latest report on Apco still calls it """firma perunding berkaitan Zionis APCO Worldwide" but like CNN made no mention of Anwar Ibrahim's apology in the article. Kira TV Selangor dan CNN kat sama standard la.
Dari TV Selangor
Parti Keadilan Rakyat mencabar Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak mendedahkan butiran kontrak antara Putrajaya dan firma perunding berkaitan Zionis APCO Worldwide.
Gesaan ini dibuat ekoran sumber The Malaysian Insider yang melaporkan kerjasama antara Umno dan firma berkaitan Zionis ini telah diperbaharui akhir bulan lalu.
PKR turut mendesak kerajaan Umno mendedahkan bayaran yang dibuat kepada firma itu.
“Keseluruhan isu APCO hanya didedahkan selepas ketua pembangkang kami memberikan bukti berdokumen bahawa kerajaan mengambil khidmat khidmat APCO,” kata Ahli Parlimen Machang Saifuddin Nasution.
Ekoran pendedahan itu didapati kerajaan memeterai perjanjian bernilai RM76.8 juta untuk mendapatkan khidmat APCO.
“Kami ingin tahu kos kontrak yang diperbaharui ini dan apakah skop tugas dan tanggungjawab yang terlibat dalam kontrak kali ini?” kata beliau.
Saifuddin juga mendesak agar kerajaan menyediakan satu laporan komprehensif tentang prestasi dan pencapaian sejak khidmat APCO diambil tahun lalu.

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Re-re-return of the Muslim Allah, Christian Allah issue

 What the DAP is doing is mixing Race and Religions issues into a political tool to instigate dissent .... how long will it be before something similar to (Maluku) reach our shores? SatD in Sidang Injil Borneo headhunters coming our way: The Jill Ireland Allah Ciplak CD Case
AN OBLIGATION TO EVANGELIZE. A decision by a High Court senior assistant registrar to allow clerk Jill Ireland, a member of the Sidang Injil Borneo, to question two local scholars (her lawyer calls them "so-called Islamic experts" so as to cast doubt about their credentials)who support the Home Ministry's ban on the use of Allah by Christians in Malaysia is set to bring back the war or words between Muslims and Christians.

SatD suspects the case is a ploy by the Sidang Injil Borneo to keep alive the "war", which also saw the burning of churches and the defecation of mosques early this year, and push Najib Razak's administration into a corner. Logical assumption, given that the handling of this issue is making the BN government unpopular, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.

In his latest post, the blogger traces the roots of Sidang Injil Borneo, its "extremist teachings" and obligation to evangelize, and how the Brunei government successfully handled the cult.

SatD thinks the Malaysian government could learn from Brunei.
p.s. As usual, with most of Pure Shiite's well-researched postings that I link, please leave comments in his blog. Go H E R E.

Monday, July 05, 2010

Pictures of the May 4 ambush of Sultan Kelantan

On whose orders? Bujai has the pictures, here.
Details of what actually happened on May 4 this year have remained sketchy. The UTK may have acted in the interest of the Sultan, who was very ill then, or they could have acted on behalf of others.
But the point is if they can do this to the Sultan of Kelantan, they can do this to anyone.

Pix courtesy of one of the Sultan's bodyguards, it seems.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Breaking the Siege of Gaza

THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
In the spirit of Rachel Corrie and Mavi Marmara
Venue: PWTC Kuala Lumpur
Date: 11 July 2010
The international conference will feature, among others, Yildirim Bulent, head of the Turkish humanitarian relief organisation, the Insani Yardim Yakfi (IHH), Denis J. Halliday, former assistant secretary-general of the United Nations, Derek Graham, head of the MV Rachel Corrie team, Dr Hasan Huseyn Uyzal who was on board the Mavi Marmara and helped treat the injured, Palestinian judge Dialdeen S. Madhoun who is head of the Palestinian committee of war crimes documentation, and, of course, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a leading figure in opposing Israeli consistent and systematic genocide of Palestinians.

More details here.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Najib, Anwar, Guan Eng and newspapers

Dua kali lima. I was hoping the Home Minister would not over-react against Suara Keadilan, the party paper of Anwar Ibrahim's PKR, which has a limited circulation and influence. But, regrettably, it did. Before that, Ahmad Maslan gave a world-class headline opportunity to SK's publishers by slapping them with a RM200 million lawsuit.

At the same time, reading the comments by Kit Siang, Tien Chua, Nurul Izzah and Anwar Ibrahim on the suspension made me LOL. As I tweeted this morning to Tien Chua and Umno's Tun Faisal, both gentlemen known to me in the real world, "Dalam hal ni, korang semua sama saja. PKR suka saman paper, DAP suka bar paper, BN suka gantung paper."

And then Anwar Ibrahim tweeted that the banning of SK showed "PM Najib's autocratic rule - no tolerance of dissent, no free media, no indept judiciary. Yes to corruption!". I retweeted: "Like I said, no matter what, we journalists lose - Najib's government suspends newspapers, Guan Eng bans them, and Anwar sues us."

We can no longer deny it. Two years plus after PRU12, journalists' freedom continues to be in a dire state even - and sometimes especially - in the states ruled by parties that had promised us a better Malaysia. and a new dawn. Yawn ...  We not only still don't have freedom of the (old/traditional) Press, we have also lost those idealistic people in politics and in government who used to support the fight for that freedom.
So get on with your politics guys and stop talking cock about journalism, freedom of the press, etc etc.

And thank god for the blogs

Friday, July 02, 2010

Why is Anwar Ibrahim on "bad decline"?

Updated, Fri 5pm: Anwar came up with two back-to-back postings to explain his position regarding the article by the New York Post about his apology. In Penjelasan DSAI berhubung fitnah Utusan, he posted a Malaysiakini video of him accusing Khairy Jamaluddin as the hound dog of Umno. In the second posting an hour later, he republished the New York Post's article Flirting with Zealotry in Malaysia and wrote a one-para comment:
Ini merupakan rencana asal dari The Washington Post yang kemudiannya digunakan Utusan Malaysia untuk menuduh kunjungan Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim ke Amerika Syarikat sebagai memujuk pihak Yahudi. Namun Utusan Malaysia gagal mengungkapkan perkara mustahak yang terkandung dalam artikel tersebut, iaitu, Dato’ Seri Anwar tuntas mengkritik bahawa Kerajaan Israel bertindak melampau
But in both postings, the question we all want answered - Did Anwar apologize for his anti-Semitic remarks? - was not addressed. Anwar should come clean on this one. He must tell us if the Washington Post's article is true, that he had "spent a lot of time offering explanations to old friends, not to mention House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman and a Jewish leader or two. He said he regretted using terms such as “Zionist aggression,” which are common coin for demagogues like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad".
  
If it's not true, he must deny the story. And sue the Wshington Post, too. Takkan berani dengan Utusan Malaysia saja.
Original piece:
Read the whole story here at Pasquale's. So it is true that Anwar has apologized. He should make it a formal apology, from here in Malaysia where the sin was committed.

The Washington Post was the one that broke the story about Anwar's "apology" [see Shamsul Yunos' posting here].

Journalists and insecure people in power

In the latest Rocky's Bru on Thursday column in The Malay Mail headlined Journalists and insecure people in power, I discussed the two Acts in the news these days - the Internal Security Act and the Securities Commission Act. The ISA is up for amendments and the SCA ought to be, now that we know it's so blatantly open to abuse [pls read The Star writer seeks judicial review over SC notice]

On the proposed ISA amendments, I wrote:
The anti-ISA movement in the country, which is demanding the abolition of the Act, won't be satisfied. But most rational Malaysians will appreciate that there's still need for a law that is able to act as a strong deterrent.
 A commenter and friend challenged my views after reading the column:
Old Fart: You say 'rational Malaysians ....still need for law...act as strong deterrent'...  will u hold on to that opinion if and when you are taken in?

Bru: Within the context of an amended ISA, my answer is yes I'll hold on to the view that we do need preventive laws. Already, and unlike pak samad's time, we can challenge isa detention in court. Saying no, we don't need deterrent acts is an extremely optimistic view, which I wld like to share but don't/can't.

Old Fart: I agree with. But just that its like giving candy to a kid and expecting him not to eat it. If I have no choice but to give the kid the candy, i'll just also accomodate the thought he will eat it.
Yes, we'll all have to accommodate that thought. But here's another thoughtt: Najib Razak has been PM for 14 months and the story so far is that he, or rather his Home Minister , hasn't come near sending anyone to Kamunting. That is a good sign. In addition to that, the Home Minister is coming out with a set of proposals to amend the ISA. Two good signs. Maybe there is a kid who doesn't like candy after all.

Thursday, July 01, 2010

SC's antic, Zarinah's conflict of interest may go to Dewan Rakyat

MP lashes out at Securities Commission. Konsensus Bebas Member of Parliament (Wangsa Maju) Wee Chooo Keong describes the SC's action as "trampling on principles of universal human rights". Read his SC out of control, out of order. I know YB Wee well enough to feel assured that this issue - especially the excessive powers of Section 134 of the Securities Commission Act 1993 - will make it all the way to the Dewan Rakyat for debate.

He did his blog entry before A Voice's explosive posting.

Recommended reading to understand some people at the Securities Commission -- Dinosaurs in the SC by Syed Akbar Ali.