Monday, May 31, 2010

A Prayer for the safety of our Gaza-bound friends

updates, Monday 11pm: 
Pemuda Umno will submit memo to UN at Jalan Dungun, 10.30 am,tomorrow (Tuesday)
Perkasa to protest in front of US Embassy 10.30 am, tomorrow
Pakatan to protest in front of US Embassy 11.30 am , tomorrow
Perkasa to hold solat hajat at Masjid Kampung Baru, after Maghrib, also tomorrow       

Dr Mahathir condemns Israeli attack
Original posting: The Israelis killed 10 members of the international aid flotilla. Two Malaysian journalists are on the ship attacked by the Israelis, their fate still unknown. My brother Shamsul Akmar and five other Malaysians are on board another vessel, which is a day behind. I can only pray for their safety.


The Israelis said the flotilla members had pistols "taken" from their officers of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Awesome Youths

Speakers' Corner pun ada. Nuraina A. Samad, Syed Akbar Ali and I had an hour-long slot with the young ones at Youth '10 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur this morning. It is the largest youth gathering in Malaysia. The whole event was just awesome. There was a huge exhibition, mini concerts, fun and games, a speakers' corner (where youths help youths sharpen their public speaking skills), and a conference where the three of us presented our "Can Blogs be Trusted" panel discussion. 

All events were managed and attended by youths, but my two old friends and I didn't feel out of place. The young ones made us feel at home.

We should encourage more events like this one. 

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Mother of all Tongkats Part 2

Time to do away with the tongkat, according to economists Ramon Navaratnam and YKL (Yeah Kim Leng) as told to the Malaysian Insider and posted by Din Marican in Subsidy Cuts will be good for Malaysia here.  
Three major benefits of subsidy reforms, says YKL:
  • greater efficiency gains overall.“Subsidy savings, instead of supporting consumption, can be directed to productive spending such as education, R&D, healthcare and public transportation.
  • enhancement of the efficiency of the economy.“As we move closer to market prices, supply and demand becomes more market-responsive [and are] driven by price signals. 
  • a more resilient economy, strengthened by lower fiscal deficit and government debt.
The Pakatan "economists" don't think so.All roads lead to politics, as in Vote BN for Bankruptcy featuring Kit, DSAI, and Nik.

Statesman Dr Mahathir on Tongkats

Watch the live feed from Johor Baru NOW,
at Malaysia4All

Friday, May 28, 2010

Pantai returned, a Sin atoned

SIN, of course, is also the internationally-accepted abbr for Singapore. Just like MAS is for Malaysia and KUL is for Kuala Lumpur.
Pantai refers to Pantai Holdings, the company that owns Pantai Hospital and a major network of local medical services that was bought, without the approval of the FIC and without the knowledge of our Bursa, during the days when Putrajaya was a sleepy hollow and foreign agents were having a field day.

The latest news that Khazanah Nasional has bought over Pantai from Sin's Parkway throws me back 5 years into the past when I was the editor of the Malay Mail, which front-paged the sale of Pantai to Singapore. The order had come via a phone call to a Cabinet Minister from someone close to the Prime Minister, who was then in Australia for a minor surgery, so the Malay Mail article ruffled powerful feathers at the PMO's 4th floor. The rest, as they said, is history. I became a blogger soon after and posted several articles on Pantai, such as Joget Pantai Irama, Majulah Singapura Part 3, Jews Behind Pantai, among others (several postings on Pantai and Parkway had to be taken down and therefore can't be hyperlinked, by Order of the Court, to facilitate the court case against taken against me in 07 by NSTP and 4 of its chiefs).

Khazanah to buy Parkway stake for RM2.76 billion (the Star, Fri May 28), which comes right at the heels of  the Tanjung Pagar deal, clearly shows that the current Administration is undoing the mistake of the previous regime which allowed the sale of a national asset without proper due processes. For the record, there was never any formal approval from the FIC for Parkway's purchase of Pantai and sources from Parkway back then were bragging that they were dealing directly with the "highest sources in (Malaysian) government". That was how 2 government concession landed up with foreigners .


That's all behind us now. But surely there is at least one lesson to be learnt. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. The Pantai-Parkway saga, and the merger of 3 to create Synergy Drive that is today loss-making Sime Darby, offer these lessons of how the boys at Khazanah Nasional and PNB tried to fix what wasn't broken and ended up shooting themselves in the foot.

Reverse Psychology 101

Read Syed Akbar Ali's posting Nota Untuk PM dari Bloggers Pro-Umno


The pro-Umno bloggers who sent Najib this memo say Khairy Jamaluddin has been doing a great job in turning back Umno Youth into a pressure group, back to the pre-Anwar Ibrahim days when Umno Youth leaders were not Cabinet Ministers and held no government posts.

Mmmm .... Ikhlas ke ni?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

If there was fraud in Sime Darby, will anyone go to court?


Phoenix Rising? Azhar (Azhar who?) aims to double Sime Darby's turnover and net income in 5 years. That's not ambitious, that's VERY ambitious. But as the acting Group Chief Exec said in an exclusive chat with a couple of business-savvy bloggers after the Press conference to announce SD's 9-month losses yesterday, “Why not? We have to aim to achieve”.
Read the conversation, h e r e.

With updates
Zubir's Letter of Indemnity. In 1999, Ismail Zakariah became the first CEO of a bank charged in court for breaching the banking laws here. He was from Sime Bank. The previous year, Sime Darby had reported losses of RM1.81 billion, the first time it was in the red, as a result of the Sime Bank fiasco.

Today, a much bigger Sime Darby is expected to announce a burning hole in its financial results, the result of losses in Qatar Petroleum and Bakun (and Ramunia?*). The company's Group Chief Executive has been on "leave of absence" since the Board chaired by Musa Hitam, the former deputy prime minster, had discovered the gaping hole. In January, a top executive of the company's energy division was told to go after signs of massive cost overruns in the Qatar project became visible.

Interestingly, the Group Chief Exec, it now appears, had signed a letter or indemnity that, in effect, waived all rights of Sime Darby to take the former energy division executive to court.

And this blessed individual from the energy division was not told to go in the way you and I understand the phrase to mean. The Group Chief Executive who is now on leave of absence had given him quite a nice parting gift the works out to about half a million ringgit, and this has enabled the former energy division chief to take to the KL nite life with a vengeance. 
* Sime Darby's questionable purchase of Ramunia Bhd's yard in Teluk Ramunia is set to become a new saga in the current debacle. Last year Sime offered to take over Ramunia, lock stock and barrel, for RM232 million, but by April this year it ended up buying just the yard assets for RM530 million. Ramunia a PN 17 status company, suffered a combined net loss of RM330 million over the last two years.
Updated, Friday:
 Bernama's full strory, here

Mother of all Tongkats


No, Not the NEP (or Goodbye, Subsidy). Whether we like it or not, we Malaysians have been walking around with a big, big tongkat in each of our hands in the form of various kinds of subsidies given by this Government. Last year alone the Government spent RM74 billion to subsidize us. That works out to nearly RM13,000 for every Malaysian household, regardless of race, religion, and political belief. We are one of the most - if not the most - subsidized nations on Earth: subsidy expenditure as a percentage of nominal gross domestic product (GDP) between 2006 and 2009 is a staggering 11 per cent, about 3 times higher than the Philippines and 55 times more than Switzerland!

The Government is taking away that tongkat from all of us, starting right about now.Bukan main-main punya!
Pic is of The Malay Mail front page, today's edition, hitting the streets about NOW!

Monday, May 24, 2010

A little help for a cop in need

Anonymous donor. Last Friday an old friend called up to hand over RM5,000 in cash from a good Samaritan who was moved by the plight facing Corporal Khalid Che Rus, the cop who woke up last month from a year-long coma after a hit-and-run.

I should be passing the donation later today to blogger Mahaguru, who highlighted Khalid's plight here. (My own posting here).

Anyone interested to help Khalid's family, pls check details at Mahaguru's blog or contact me directly at rockybru@gmail.com. Politicians won't be turned away. Thank you.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

RPK dares Malaysia to charge him in British courts

“I will take on the government and I will fight them in MY territory. MY territory is here in the UK.” - Raja Petra Kamaruddin, in London



RPK in London, with bodyguards. One thing for sure, RPK is in London. And by the look of things and what I hear, it's a good life. I'm not sure if he's staying at Kalimullah's wife's apartment in Bayswater, but he moves about with burly bodyguards and is not one of the thousands of homeless in the streets of London. 
Kit Siang posted the Malaysian Insider story headlined RPK dares Malaysia to fight him in the UK. I'm not a lawyer but I thought you can only be charged in a court in the country where you had committed the crime?

Pic by Danny Lim. 
Other pics and story at RPK in London with burly bodyguards, Please attribute all pics to Danny Lim.

MORE PICS here.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Bum 2010

Updated, Sunday 23/5
Bum 2010: The "Allah" Session by Shamsul Yunus
Allah revisited at Bum 2010 by Bujai
SatD's Pre-Event Analysis

Bloggers slam lawyer for "racist" means in dealing with issues facing the Indian community. P. Uthayakumar found himself at the wrong end of the stick at the final session of Bum10 yesterday after he attacked  and blamed authorities, the media, MIC and about everyone else for the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia.Big Dog (read his latest take on BUM and YB Dr Zul, who shared the same panel with Uthayakumar) took the first bite at the Hindraf Party leader, who spent about 18 months in detention under ISA for his involvement in the 25/11/2007 Hindraf protest. Uthaya dropped fellow lawyer and blogger Haris Ibrahim's name a couple of times to lend credibility to himself, till Haris himself had to take the mic to clear his name and tick off Uthaya for not getting the message. Not sure if Uthaya got any of it in the end.

But kudos to the Hindraf man for sticking out his neck and in his own way helping make BUM10 a success. Politicians from both sides of the divide have taken notice of BUM. For the first time, it had a Menteri Besar - Selangor's Khalid Ibrahim - in attendance and a Cabinet Minister - FT and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik - to give a special address. Teresa Kok, Khalid Samad, and Dr Zulkifli Ahmad were among the Pakatan politicians who spoke. Umno's Akramshah was a panelist and Tun Faisal, the head of new media from Umno Youth, participated.
There was talk of inviting the Prime Minister for next year's BUM.

 Original Posting

Defending "Allah" at Bloggers Universe Malaysia 2010, live feed by Shamsul Yunus, at http://www.livestream.com/malaysia4all

Friday, May 21, 2010

Part ll of Sime Darby's Zubir, his friend Azeez, and a woman from Xinjiang

... Cont'd from here.

Sime's Uighur woman with the Birkin bag. The stunner from Xinjiang was hired as an employee with Sime Darby's Human Resources department but that, it soon turned out, was just a cover. After a while she ceased coming to the office. There were stories told that she's holed up in a 22nd floor penthouse in the heart of the city. Now and then when she makes an appearance, she'd make an impact. Even without her Birkin bag, the kind that Hollywood celebs love to be seen with, she would have been a draw at any party.

During our meeting with Musa Hitam last Friday to talk about Sime Darby board's fall-out with its Group Chief Executive Ahmad Zubir Mursyid, the woman from Xinjiang was not discussed. I can't imagine Musa not knowing about her by then. The Sime Darby chairman was probably either too embarrassed to bring the subject up or he simply didn't wish to go into someone's personal life.

In any case, I found out later that Azeeez the PM's-name-dropper benefitted directly from at least one project as one fine day Zubir told some of his staff, "PM wants us to help Azeez's company". This, my source assured me, the old Sime Darby had never done. But the boss wanted it done, so the kulis had to carry out his orders. They met Azeez to discuss value proposition, something Azeez obviously never heard of. "Eh, I know your boss told you to award the job to my company, so just award lah". Or something like that. How much? Not so much ... RM2 million to RM3 million only.

Should the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) decide to come into the picture, they will find out that there's more to the debacle than just the Qatar Petroleum and Bakun dam "cost overruns", and minor distractions like the woman from Xinjiang who has a thing for US$10,000 designer bags.

But the question is, what's the MACC waiting for?
... To be cont'd, in the light of Musa Hitam's offer to resign.
In the meantime, pls read this blogger's arguments on why directors Ahmad Sarji, Tajudin Ali, and Mohamad Sulaiman are the ones who should resign immediately, here.

Fed Court rules for anti-corruption

After-hours interrogation allowed. If we seriously want to combat corruption, any attempt to limit the powers of our anti-corruption officers must be dealt with harshly.. I hope the likes of Tan Boon Wah do not try to pull this kind of stunt again to score cheap political points. And I hope the Federal Court's decision will spur the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to go about their duties without fear and without favour.


Thursday, May 20, 2010

Sime Darby's Zubir, his friend Azeez, and a woman from Xinjiang

Azeez with double-E. I've checked and double checked, there is nobody by the name of Azeez with a double E high up on Sime Darby's payroll. But the deeper I dig into the current financial fiasco of this "largest plantation company in the Universe", the more frequent the 2-Es crop up. But everyone mouths his name with an exaggerated emphasis on the "E"': Azeeeeeez. Usually with a scowl.

Anyway, I have a good reason or two to believe that this Azeez is known to Ahmad Zubir Mursyid, the Group Chief Executive of Sime Darby who was last week asked to go on leave of absence until the end of his term in Nov this year over cost overruns running into close to RM1 billion.

Btw, that was last week's figure. As I'm writing this, Tun Musa Hitam and his Board of Directors are uncovering more dirt and the latest figure may now run to a bit more than the Sime Bank losses of 1998, which was only RM1.81 billion.

And I think we are not looking at a simple case of "cost overruns"..

Back to this Azeeez. He hails from a northern state of the Peninsular and is said to be close to the former Prime Minister, whose idea it was to merge Sime, Guthrie and Golden Hope into the world's largest plantation company to be named Sime Darby. Dropping the PM's name was Azeez's forte. Musa alluded to this name dropping syndicate in the company during a dinner meeting with bloggers last Friday [here] but did not mention and Azeez or anyone else by name.

To be Continued ...

Competitive nations: Malaysia joins world's Top 10 for first time


No 10. Something else for Malaysians to feel good about, other than the 10.1 percent GDP growth in the first quarter. According to the Swiss-based Institute of Development Management, we are now the No 10 most competitive nation, the only developing nation to be in the Top 10, and we are ahead of Germany, Austria, Holland and Denmark, among others.

The institute's World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 attributes the big improvement in Malaysia's performance to some of Najib Razak's policies and economic measures.

There are still some weaknesses in the economy (read here and here), but things are definitely looking up.

p.s. For the thick-skulled, do remember that this is not what I'm saying, ok, this is what the Swiss-based institute has established based on research on comparing Malaysia's competitiveness with over 50 other countries. .

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

PRU 13, not before 11/11

WHY MALAYSIA'S NEXT GENERAL ELECTION CANNOT HAPPEN SOONER. MIC president S. Samy Vellu says he will stick to his - he will step down "eight or nine months" before the expiry of his term in May 2012. Not sooner, not later.

Which means September next year at the earliest or latest by October 2011.

Now, the PM would want to wait for this to happen before he calls for the next general election. Why? Samy Vellu's contributions to Malaysian politics and the Indian community are immense, whether you like him or not, and his voluntary retirement is likely to create a feel good factor that may benefit Najib (assumming that his Administration continues to gain ground on the economic front, makes progress on the objectives of NEM, and scores well on the KPI and NKRAs).

When Dr M quit at the end of 2003 after 22 years as prime minister, it created the settings for Abdullah to notch one of BN's biggest general election wins the following year. Samy Vellu is no Mahathir but the effect of his retirement from politics will be felt in a big way, and Najib will want to use this to his advantage.

Read the press release issued by Samy Vellu's office on his resignation, here.

Soh free Malaysia today!

Soh Chee Wen enters portal. Free Malaysia Today, the latest political news portal, made quite a mark during
the Sibu by-election, often eclipsing its more established rivals Malaysiakini and Malaysian Insider, and certainly more equipped than local, almost one-man op, and slightly more pro-Establishment, Sarawak Update.

John Soh, a big corporate name in the 90s, is a dear friend and strong supporter of brother Anwar but Free MT's journalists say they are trying to stay faithful to journalism's credos of being fair and truthful. John Soh is also a loyal backer of B.U.M since it started as Bloggers United Malaysia in 2007. It is now known as Bloggers Universe Malaysia.


B.U.M 2010 is happening this Saturday 22 May at Subang Jaya, featuring FT & UW Minister Raja Nong Chik and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, among others. To Register for this event, please click here.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Congrats DAP, and the Chinese!

A quick post-mortem by an observer from Sibu (or Why the boundary of Sibu must be redrawn). I"ve just received a not so short SMS from an old friend who was observing the Sibu by-election, which the DAP has won by a 398-vote majority. His analysis, I believe, addresses some of the more salient points that have dictated the proceedings - and, more importantly, the outcome - of the Sibu by-election.
A'kum bro.
having been to Sibu, I have learned that :
1) BN should not depend on Chinese votes
2) it is the YBs and their District Offices that must be made to have KPIs and NKRAs
3) the nation badly needs to identify youngish technocrats with hearts for the plight of the poor and the disadvantaged
4) SPR must redraw the boundary for Sibu cos if 68% are Chinese and the YB is Chinese, no one cares a damn for the rest who are all living below the hardcore poverty line.
sad.
Early blog analyses of the Sibu results also touch on the Chinese factor. in Big Dog's PM Najib wajar henti beri habuan kepada minoriti yang sombong, the blogger says Najib should stop trying to buy the loyalty of the Chinese voters. The RM18 million he pledged to this community would have served Sibu's indigenous people in the rural areas who are in greater need of help than the relatively wealthy Chinese.

Read also A. Kadir Jasin's commentary DAP rebut kerusi Parlimen Sibu. Excerpts:
Melihat perkembangan pilihan raya kecil Sibu dari jauh, saya tidak berani membuat kesimpulan tegas selain mengatakan mungkin juga wujud unsur pemulauan atau boikot oleh pemilih.

Nampaknya pengundi Cina bukan sahaja tidak meneruskan sokongan kepada BN seperti dalam pilihan raya umum 2008, sebaliknya berpindah menyebelahi DAP walaupun BN memberi belasan juta ringgit peruntukan segera kepada sekolah jenis kebangsaan Cina dan menjanjikan pelbagai projek serta tindakan.

Mengubahsuai pantun lama; sorong papan tarik papan, buah keranji dalam perahu, beri makan mereka makan, minta mengundi mereka tak mahu.
p.s. With regards to the title of this posting, Congrats DAP, and the Chinese!, let me tell you that I was inspired by a tweet where the tweeter was congratulating Sibu (for voting in the DAP) and the Chinese (for wining the Thomas Cup).

Saturday, May 15, 2010

10.1 % 1st Q growth: A Fluke?

Recommended reading: Solid Growth, But Momentum Is Slowing by HashimH from Economics Malaysia, the latest addition to my blogroll.
"NAJIB GOT IT RIGHT". I've been thinking of what the 10.1 per cent GDP growth for Jan-March this year means for the people. The bottom 40 per cent, especially. It's the biggest quarterly economic growth Malaysia has recorded this decade. Back in the early 90s, double-digit GDP growth wasn't news. Which was why, I suppose, Dr M was so gung-ho about us achieving the developed nation status by 2020.

The last 5 years or so have been a rough patch for the economy. Are we on solid ground now? Can we expect an economic boom after this?

Dr Yeah Kim Leng, the top ecomomist at RAM Holdings, thinks Najib has got it right in terms of his economic policies, so far.

Excerpts:

"When Prime Minister Najib took office, it was at the height of the global financial crisis. What we see here is that the PM has passed the most critical challenge of ensuring that we can withstand the synchronised global recession.

"The policies that are implemented have mitigated the effects of the global financial crisis to the extent that Malaysia did not suffer a hard landing," he said.

Read Bernama's Economists: Najib got it right.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Wee quits PKR

Updated, the morning after:
Wee's last press release before giving up on the party, H E R E

Original post:
Wangsa Maju MP YB Wee Choo Keong has finally given up on his adopted party, PKR. He would be announcing his resignation at a press conference in KL at 3pm. Wee is the latest in a series of elected reps who have left the Pakatan Rakyat.
updates: The Malay Mail's edition yesterday afternoon.
 Read the story online.http://www.mmail.com.my/content/36435-wangsa-majus-wee-quits-pkr-updated

Me and you and a dog named Foo

GUAN ENG'S MUMMY FOO? The pro-BN bloggers covering the Sibu by-election seem to know something we don't about one Mummy Foo. Shamsul Yunus the Marahku journo-blogger says Lim Guan Eng knows who he's talking about here.

He says Mummy Foo's identity will be made known to his readers this afternoon or latest by tomorrow morning.

Wee clashes with Khalid, Ronnie over cover-up

PR cover-up? YB Wee Choo Keong's days in Pakatan Rakyat are numbered, I tell you. I hope I'm wrong as vPakatan has too few good men left as it is but Wee's latest offensive against Selangor MB and YB Ronnie Liu, the DAP strongman, will not go down well with the Pakatan leaders.

Wee joins Kapar MP Manickavasagam in making headlines this past one week on what could well be a major cover-up of  corrupt practices that could great embarrass Pakatan's Selangor state government.

The Malay Mail's report Wee: It's a Cover-up! suggests the makin gof a major scandal.Read also YB Wee's own posting on his blog, YB Ronnie Liu knew about the sand mining scandal back in Feb 2010!


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Vincent Tan, half-a-B richer, just like that!

ANG POW. It's not even the season of Gong Xi Fa Cai but Tan Sri Vincent Tan would have woken up this morning knowing he would be RM525 million richer soon. Vincent is selling 70pct of a currently dormant company to Berjaya Corp Bhd for the said amount. The currently dormant Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd, this week learned it will become Malaysia's first and only legalised sports betting operator.

Zubir's "leave of absence"

SIME DARBY'S BOSS ASKED TO GO. The Board of the Directors, chaired by Tun Musa Hitam the former Deputy Prime Minister, met last night and perused the full audit report of the company, which must have included the basis for this and this. At the end of the meeting, the directors decided to ask Ahmad Zubir Mursyid to take a "leave of absence". Musa announced this at a press conference a little while ago.

Question is, does the buck stop at Zubir? My neighbour thinks the entire Board should assume responsibility, not just Zubir. They are in this together.

Nazri to head Public Transport Commission?

Does Najib really want the Commission to fail? NazriAziz seems to be making all the important announcements on transport matters lately. Last month he made the front pages with the news that the proposed road transport Bill was not going to be pushed through, yet. That Bill was meant to show no more mercy to serious traffic offenders (For now, the highway killings will go on by Azmi Anshar, NST).

Now he's made the announcement that the PM has made it known to him that he WILL BE heading  the new Public Transport Commission.

With many things Nazri, this last one has not gone down well at all with even the pro-government bloggers. JMD describes Nazri Aziz pre-empting the PM as disturbing news. Read also Should PM Najib lead SPAD?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Workshop in KJ

Kelana Jaya: About 900 "movers and shakers", from Ramon Navaratnam to Tricia Yeoh of the Selangor MB's office, are attending a National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) workshop in Kelana Jaya right now. Their recommendations will be presented to the Cabinet next week, which will finalize the key areas the Government would need to focus on in the next decade or so in order to achieve objectives under the New Economic Model and drive the nation towards developed status by 2020.

I was one of the "senior editors" invited to the workshop, which was inaugurated by the DPM, Muhyiddin Yasin. We did not take part in the workshop, though, as we took leave right after Idris Jala had laid down the ground rules on the workshop. The 900 or so people were to be divided into more than 20 clusters to complete their task by 7pm. Their recommendations will be submitted to the Cabinet next Wednesday.

There were some oohs & aahs when Ms Yeoh introduced herself and took the microphone (through an audio-conference as she was in another smaller hall in the same building) to ask Idris a question. I guess we are still in awe of anyone who can set aside their political differences to work together for a common good. But seated where I was, I realized there were more skeptics than we'd like to believe. The two guys seated in front were probably Perkasa members (they were muttering the need to discuss Malay rights) and when Nor Mohamed Yakcob went on stage to pose with the DPM, the chap on my right went: "Ah, the guy who lost our RM20 billion!"

If all these people agree to disagree, Idris Jala, fondly known as the Minister in charge of KPI,  should get some good results out of the workshop tonight.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

With Consent, Without Consent

Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy II trial is still the most-read story on The Malay Mail's website. That's 3 days in running. People are interested and they are following the case closely. First it was plastic object, then it's mandi junub, and today Karpal Singh underscores a contradiction in the charge levelled against his client, the former DPM. Saiful, the accuser, said he was sodomized by Anwar without his consent while he police did not state so; therefore, the buggery is assumed to have taken place with consent.

What's the difference? The Malay Mail's story Drop Charge if Contradiction valid, says Karpal merely reports the details of the trial.

Shamsul Yunus the blogger takes the discussion a wee deeper in If Consent is Irrelevant, why is Consent so Important?

Interesting.

Bajau cop charged for manslaughter, pleads not guilty


Of the 6,500 fatal road accidents involving cars and motorcycles in 2008, 41 per cent were unlicensed drivers between the ages of 15 and 25. Last year, 16- and 17-year-olds made up 67 per cent of unlicensed drivers who died in car crashes. - Parents under fire for allowing children to drive without license, NST 10/5/2010 

AG charges 25-year police veteran for causing Aminulrasyid's death. Jenain Subi, a Bajau from Sabah, is 48 years old and has been a cop for a quarter of a century. He joined the service in 1985. He has four kids. He pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge.

The Malay Mail carried the report on its front page yesterday here.
There hasn't been much noise in cyberspace over this news. Perhaps because the politicians and their campaigners are too busy in Sibu, Sarawak to win or lose another by-election. I hope they won't abandon this issue altogether. Because the circumstances leading to the death of 15-year old Aminulrasyid have opened up a new debate about the rise in number of teenagers driving their parents' cars and riding motorbikes without license. Every year thousands of  these kids drive and ride to their untimely deaths, according to this report.
Who should we put in the dock for their deaths?

Twitter & I

Better late than never. If you see xrockybrux on Twitter, that's me. I took my sweet time to get on Twitter but I guess it was inevitable. Hope to see some of you, my faithful readers, there. 

Monday, May 10, 2010

Recoloring May 13


United People. It was multiracial Malaysia's bloodiest day. On 13 May 1969, riots in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere around the country broke out, showing us how fragile race relations had been and, perhaps, would be. Against the odds, though, Malaysians have survived till today without another major skirmish. In fact, the nation has thrived economically and we pride ourselves as a very peaceful and stable nation. 

Under the surface, however, racial unity has continued to come under pressure. With the total freedom of expression that we enjoy on Internet, we test each other. Some quarters won't stop until we are at loggerheads once more. Fortunately there are many among us who genuinely want us to be 1. Anas Zubedy is one of us. His latest project, in conjunction with the 41st anniversary of the bloody 13 May, is to launch the Let's Recolor May 13, "to breathe new spirit into the date, to dilute and eventually erase the negative thoughts and replace them with positive meanings and values".   

I'm all for that.
Are you?
Learn how you can recolor May 13 here.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

YB Nurul Izzah responds


"We're on it". The YB has responded on her blog - and quickly, too! Now to get the management of Pantai Towers to do the right thing, YB. Some said in my previous posting this vandalism business is petty and not an MP's concern. It's good to know that Nurul Izzah disagrees.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

YB Nurul Izzah will not be pleased with this picture ...


Defaced Pantai. The Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah, would want to have a word urgently with the management of these condos in affluent Bangsar, which is a core part of her constituency.

Pantai is Malay for beach;  pantat, on the other hand, is no beach. YB Nurul Izzah must let the management of this Pantat Towers know and get them to put back the I where the T now resides.

Nuraina A. Samad, who took this picture yesterday and published it this morning with aplogies, wonders if the P word is now accepted in normal lingo. Read her in OMG!

Friday, May 07, 2010

Good cops, bad cops and one that needs your help

Corp Khalid Che Rus. Walking the hills yesterday evening, a fellow walker who comments on my blog introduced himself to me and we got acquainted as we walked down the slope. We talked about politics and we talked about the fatal shooting of 15-year Aminurasyid by the police in the wee hours of ... He has a son about Aminurasyid age. "How do I explain to my 9-year old if it had happened to my son, how do I explain why the police opened fire at a 15-year old?"

I have a 15-year old son, too, and I am deeply affected by this tragedy. I have questions I want to ask the parents as well as the cops which I will not ask on my blog at this juncture because doing that will not help any.

I told my new friend that the PDRM has a good record of coming down hard against its own [read Shooting of 15 year old: The Circus Begins for past actions against errant/rotten police officers], so it's best to wait for the investigation into the incident to complete.

There are many good cops out there. I know many of them.

This morning, Mahaguru sent me an SMS asking me to help publicize the plight of a good cop who's rotting away after almost a year in coma following a hit-and-run incident. Meet Corporal 104747 Khalid Che Rus, 44, father of three:

Click here to watch Mahaguru's interview and visit Khalid at his home. The Malay Mail carried a report on his plight on March 29 this year, Cops family in dire straits after hit-and-run but according to Mahaguru, Corp Khalid's situation remained dire.

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The Abdullah Irony


IRONY. Tun Abdullah Badawi is visiting Sarawak, neighbouring Brunei today (Tuesday). IRONY. Tun Lah  is satisfied with progress of his brain child - the five corridors, having spent  RM243.3 billion on them. IRONY. Tun Lah's visit to the Sarawak industrial heartland, is home to a smelter being built by Tan Sri Syed Mokthar, which Tun Lah had rescinded in one of his first acts as Prime Minister.


Monday, May 03, 2010

Resignation at Petronas tomorrow?

SHERYL STOTHARD TO QUIT. After the latest bout of postings on blogosphere exposing Miss Sheryl Stothard's political past, it has become rather inevitable that the new Corporate Comm head of Petronas would resign not just from the post but from the company. I hear there'll be an internal com on this at the national oil corporation this week, maybe even tomorrow.

Read Vote Umno and BN out, says Petronas' GM by Apanama.

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Royal Commission to investigate missing Block L and Block M

updated, Monday 3/5/2010
The Foreign Ministry has admitted, more or less, that the two blocks had been "handed over" to Brunei but only because Brunei has sovereign rights over those oil-rich areas. The Foreign Minister said as much h e r e today.

There's the ICJ to settle overlapping claims between countries (such as the Pulau Batu Putih dispute) but, if I'm reading it right, what Anifah Aman means is Brunei and Malaysia did not have a dispute over the areas or, if they did, the two governments decided to resolve with by having a joint development agreement in the oil-rich blocks.

Either way, it would have been great if the Government had been transparent about the whole thing instead of waiting for someone to blow the cover.

ORIGINAL PIECE:

If there's a need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry, this is the one. After the expose by Dr M on his blog, Lim Kit Siang came out asking that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi explain himself. Dollah did but his explanation was lame, as lame as Kit Siang's call for the explanation in the first place. We are talking about a possible loss of USD100 billion in revenues, the possibility of a "Midnight Regulation", a major scandal involving the Prime Minister's Office, the Cabinet, a foreign government, and our national assets and the best anyone came out is, "Pak Lah, explain yourself"?

Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry, Kit Siang! Do your job without fear and favor!