Thursday, April 23, 2015

Should the Agong grant Sirul a Royal pardon? 62 per cent say ...



The Poll: Should Sirul get a Royal pardon for killing Altantuya?


NOOOO! I see internet polls as cheap entertainment, something you take with a pinch of salt. Not that they don't provide a representation of a general trend or sentiment, if that's what we are looking for. As probably is the case with the above poll by The Unspinners, the poltical blog that generates probably the highest traffic in Malaysia.

The poll, which ran for a few days this week, asks: Should Sirul be let off for Altantuya's murder? [For context, do read Mahahtir says it again, unfair to hang Sirul].

Because Unspinners has a huge following, the survey drew 883 "respondents". That's a big number by any standard. The Merdeka Survey usually limits its respondents to 1000. Most blogs get fewer than a few dozen respondents. MARAH, a closed Facebook group of Malaysians against crime, which conducted the original survey after Mahathir called on Najib to pardon Sirul, attracted less than 100 respondents [and it has over 4000 members].

In the poll by MARAH, only 13 per cent of the respondents felt Sirul should get a Royal pardon, with  2 per cent reasoning that "so that maybe one day (Sirul) might spill the beans on who ordered him to kill". 51 per cent of MARAH respondents said NO to Royal pardon for Sirul. [Poll shows majority not in favour of royal pardon for Sirul].

Those who said NO in the Unspinners' poll made up 62 per cent of total respondents. 

I am not the least surprised by the outcome of these surveys. Of all the issues raised by Tun Dr Mahathir against PM Najib Razak, the pardon-for-Sirul element in Alantuya's murder is the weakest. Sirul was a policeman convicted of cold-blooded murder. He had his day in court but decided not to speak the truth and under oath when he had the chance to. 

Haivng said that, Sirul still has a shot at redemption: before he goes to the gallows and pay for his crime like all killers must, he should tell us and the whole world WHO actually ordered him to kill Altantuya.

Whether or not people would believe SIrul is another issue altogether, perhaps one for yet another entertaining online poll!


Read also:
How credible are polls? - Knowledge@Wharton, Nov 3 2004
Can you trust online surveys? - Mark Pack , Jan 2015

And Tun Mahathir's latest attack on Najib via 
Apanama's 1MDB by Dr M



Wednesday, April 22, 2015

The Azan, Salib rapped

Updated: Open Letter to Alvin from Rev Sherman Kuek



It's heartening to see Christians like Rev Kuek taking Alvin Tan to task for his latest antics. By now it's very clear that Muslims in Malaysia are too peace-loving and forgiving to even be able to properly rebuke Alvin. Most of us, anyway. So I hope, for Alvin's sake, that the Muslims in America, his new "home", will be as understanding ...

Original posting




Doa untuk si Alvin. Muslims in this country, let's pray that Allah opens Alvin Tan's heart to accept Islam. Stranger things have happened, in syaa Allah. 
We should also pray for those idiots who held that anti-Cross protest in Taman Medan. If they were indeed Muslims and they really thought they were doing Muslims in this country a favour, they have clearly been misled. Give Ahmad Zahid Hamidi our Home Minister the strength to deal swiftly and severely with them and others who try to pit Muslims against Christians. 
And pray, also, that agent provocateurs like this UK-based DJ Jambun don't get to influence our Christian neighbours to turn against us. The majority of Muslims in this country where Islam is the official religion are peaceful folks who are quite happy with whoever or whatever non-Muslims choose to pray to ...
Amiiin.

p.s. Time to learn from the Sabahans?
A pic that's going viral on social media. Weren't we Malaysians all like this before?






Monday, April 20, 2015

The Muhyiddin Gambit

Updated: "... but the decision by NST, Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia to blackout the news (Muhyiddin's purported support of Dr Mahathir) has turned opinion into perception and now reality ...," - Zam in Akhbar-akhbar perdana anggap Muhyddin sokong Mahathir, 21 April 2015

Original Posting;




"Melayu tidak memegang janji". When the social media started sharing, liking, favouriting the above clip, it didn't seem to me that Muhyiddin Yassin was throwing his support behind Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the former premier's call for, among other things, PM Najib Razak to resign. I thought people were reading too much into it (see constrasting reports by  h e r e). But I would be in the minority. Even Mr Ong, my financial analyst friend, said after work just now that it is soooo clear lah that the DPM is turning against his younger Boss. Ku Li's words from 2006, when he was tipped to be PM if Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could be made to step down, came rushing back: "Who doesn't want to become Prime Minister?"

It made me wonder. Am I in denial? Were we wrong then to have brought down Pak Lah and put Najib there? Muhyiddin turned down the offer to replace Pak Lah as PM back then (twice, if I'm not wrong) so why would he want the job now?

In times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me. But this time AsH's wisdom didn't get me out of the jam. Her latest posting is troubled cure for a trouble mind.

"... just as constant is the black news about the shenanigans of Malaysian politics and of Malay politicians at home which only serve to cripple the rakyat, especially the Malays.  Harapkan pagar, pagar makan padi." - Anak si Hamid, Musings: Melayu Tidak Memegang Janji, Sunday 19 April 2015


Excerpts:
... It was my abah who, - when I was growing up in Singapore, often reminded me - "Orang Melayu kuat dengki sesama sendiri.   Rela naikkan lain bangsa untuk menurunkan bangsa sendiri.  I have lived and worked long enough in three Malay countries - Singapore, Brunei and Penang - to experience this foible.    No, 'foible'  is not a strong enough word - it should be 'sickness', a canker that eats at the heart and spirit of a people known to be gentle, easy-going and tolerant.  
Malays today - be they belacan Malays or mayonnaise Malays or tahini Malays must take heed of the sincere and honest voices of people like Helen Ang and Ridhuan Tee who are concerned enough for their country to remind the Malays that they must keep together.  
Can our 21st century Malays learn from this simple gesture of unity that the Chinese uphold for their bangsa? 
The Chinese in China, like Indians in India, or the Brits in UK will not cut themselves up - despite their political and social differences - in the way that the Malays are doing to themselves in their Tanah-Air.  One country, one culture, one religion and what keeps them apart is the loss of their sense of Malayness - greed, envy, conceit and self-righteousness have taken over asohan budi ...

I did ask Mr Ong, who said the war has begun and that it is sooo clear-lah that Muhyiddin is going for Najib, "... whose side are you on?"

Came the answer, "Siti Nurhaliza."

Saturday, April 18, 2015

The Malaysian Insider has done it again!


"The Malaysian Insider somehow chose to twist some of the words in their reporting dated 17 April. May Allah SWT guide us all to do the right things." - Abdul Wahid Omar, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department

Taken from the Unspinners' Insider spin AWO's simple explanation on 1MDB, 18/4/2015


MALAYSIAN INSIDER TWISTING THE FACT AGAIN

The following is the transcript of AWO's answer to a question on 1MDB during a dialogue at Akademi Kepimpinan Kapten Hussein on 16 April 2015.

Latest victim of TMI's sincere misreporting

"1MDB is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MOF Incorporated, so meaning that it is wholly-owned by the Government. It was set up as a strategic investment company with a paid-up capital of RM1 million.

So their model was to raise long term bonds and aided by Government guarantee that helped to lower the cost of funds.

And hopefully with that money, can be invested into projects that will generate high returns. So that was actually the so called the capital structure or the model how 1MDB started.

So over the years, they have expanded by way of borrowing from the banks or borrowing from the capital markets. And they have been buying many assets including some of the power IPPs and it has gone to the level where the debt level had hit RM42 billion as of 31 March 2014.

And if you can imagine the burden of servicing such a high debt is actually quite, is very high, is very difficult. So until and unless your assets are able to generate that cashflow, it is not sustainable.

So that is something that the Board and Management of 1MDB had realised. And therefore they have undertaken a strategic review of their business model and of their capital structure and they have decided on three things among others.

Number one, they have decided not incur any new debts, any new borrowings unless it is to meet the current debt obligations or to refinance their current debt obligations. So that's number one.

Number two, they have agreed not to embark on any new projects or any new venture and focus their effort on executing the two big projects that they have which is Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia. So these are highly valuable projects that needed to focus on.

And the third thing that they have to do is to work as much as possible to get the IPO of Edra Energy going.

So this IPO or the listing of Edra Energy, Edra Energy is the holding company for their IPP assets they are hoping to get listed.

And they will benefit in two ways. So from the IPO, they will get proceeds that can be used to reduce their debts plus if they were to reduce their shareholding to below 50%, so they are then able to de-consolidate all the debts at subsidiary level.

So that will help to reduce the overall gearing of the company. So that's the strategic review undertaken by the Management and Board of 1MDB." .

Thursday, April 16, 2015

TV3, NST ... Do not demonize Dr M to defend Najib


Najib Razak's media advisors may be making the same grave mistakes as Pak Lah's aides had done a decade ago. Then, the 4th Floor boys used the mainstream media to demonize Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in order to make their Boss look good. Their scheme backfired big time ...

Now  those advising Najib are on the verge of doing the same thing. In Siti Nurhaliza bahaya untuk Datuk Najib, Zainudin Maidin's latest posting, the veteran journalst called editors of mainstream media names like bahlol and bodoh for trying to demonize Dr M.

The New Straits Times was singled out:

Akhbar NST yang edarannya telah jatuh dengan teruk, menyiarkan berita sokongan dari orang sudah tidak ada kedudukan dalam parti (dan) sepucuk surat pembaca menuduh Tun Dr. Mahathir semasa menjadi Perdana Menteri menekan seorang penyanyi dari Singapura kerana bertanya "Siapa Mahathir.”
Kalau “bahlol" dalam sejarah tak usah tulislah untuk menipu atau mengelirukan orang ramai . Hanya tambah menjatuhkan maruah NST yang menyiarkannya.

Zam called the editors idiots for trying to bury the stories about popular Siti Nurhaliza nd Rozita Che Wan's support for Dr M.

M. Nasir tidaklah merbahaya kepada Dr. Mahathir seperti apa yang sedang berlaku kepada Najib dengan sokongan ikhlas dan penuh berhemah dari Siti Nurhaliza dan juga pelakon jelita Rozita Che Wan kepada kepada Tun Dr. Mahathir. Jika tidak "Merbahaya” sokongan ini, masakan semua akhbar diminta membenamkan berita ini. Bodohkah semua Ketua Pengarang akhbar sehingga tidak nampak nilai berita ini?

A commenter came into Zam's blog to report on last night's prime time news on TV3. 

Semalam Berita TV3, mereka boleh ambil pejalan kaki, di tepi kaki-lima, minta pendapat, mengapa Jabatan Bengkok tidak lagi sesuai untuk dibina. Menyampak betul saya dengar. Issue Jambatan Bengkok yang TV3 lebih utamakan. Lepas tu minta pandangan dari orang yang siapa pun tak kenal. Pasal hal, Tun pun dah kata; "Kalau tak da Jambatan Bengkok, saya mati ka?"
Dulu saya rajin juga tengok TV3, pasal banyak berita negatif mengenai Pakatan. Tapi sekarang ni banyak pula cerita negatif mengenai Tun Dr.M. Naik meluat saya, tak ingin lagi tengok berita dari buletin TV3.
Kalau ya pun nak bela Najib, tolong lah jawab apa yang Tun dan ramai tanya mengenai 1MDB. Takkan TV3 tak tahu Tun Dr.M ada ramai pengikut yang juga penyokong UMNO. Jangan jadi bangang, sehingga menyakiti hati penyokong sendiri.

I have to agree with Zam and his commenter. The MSM should refrain from attacking or demonizing Dr Mahathir. You can't win this hat way. If the advisors and these editors are serious about defending Najib, very simple: just given an account on the long list of programs and projects the PM has carried out and has promised to undertake to grow the economy and prosper the people. 

And get the PM to start explaining to the people why and how BR1M is actually helping out the poorer people (regardless of colour including party colours, according to Tun Daim Zainuddin ), why Najib can't be expected to seek a Royal pardon for killer cop Sirul, why Tun should not blame Najib (yet) for the crooked bridge, and why people should let the authorities including the AG and the PAC carry out their investigations into 1MDB.

Listen to Tun Daim's view on why BR1M is a "bad" policy. Surely not everyone agrees. Ask them why they disagree. Ask the BR1M recipients themselves ...



Meanwhile, at Maybank, a "massacre" in four parts



"The racially bias composition on the aggressor and victimes are too distinct to ignore and not notice. The long serving Chinese staff were equally appalled to such racial discrimination and ethnic cleansing ..." - A Brick in the Wall



Overkill?

"Not fair to implicate PM Najib ..."
Not to the blogger Another Brick in the Wall, who hints that he will not stop until the bank responds. The people at Maybank may or may not be perturbed, but there is a quiet discomfort in the higher ups.

"What happens at Maybank is the responsibility of the bank's top management. We at the Yayasan are not involved in day-to-day," a source insists last Saturday at the launch of UiTM's RM1billion education fund by the Prime Minister, questioning the blogger's motive for "dragging the PM into the picture".

The role of the Yayasan Bumiputera Berhad, chaired by PM Najib Razak, is discussed at the very onset of the four-part series:

"The Maybank building was designed by the architect Hijas Kasturi to emulate the kris, a weapon and more a symbol of power in Malay culture. It was symbolic for Maybank as the leading Bank of Malaysia and owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).
In a complex organsation structure, PNB is owned by Yayasan Bumiputera Berhad in which the Chairman is the President of UMNO and members of  the Board of Trustees are UMNO leaders too. Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASN) is a subsidiary of PNB which managed the Sekim ASN and ASB initiated by PNB.
This was all established under the NEP era to increase Malay and Bumiputera equity ..." 

I am not sure how my friends at Maybank want to respond to the postings but buat bodoh is a poor option. I won't recommend a lawsuit, either, unless the bank wants to think like an Anwarista and sue A Voice for more than RM1 billion (Ringgit One Billion Only), for that's how much another pro-Najib/Mahathir blogger is being sued for. The story of that billion-ringgit defamation lawsuit is coming soon ...

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Rais to Dr M: "Cukuplah ..."

Updated: But Siti Nurhaliza, the super-pop singer, pledges support for "lonely" Dr M


ORIGINAL POSTING:

The people who want Tun Dr M and Najib Razak to continue to be at loggerheads are not many but they are heard. Those want to see Statesman and Prime Minister make peace not war are many but they are less noisy, which is a normal trait of the majority, anyway. And in a democracy, the majority always prevail. Or so is the norm.

One of these voices belongs to Rais Yatim, a proven-beyond-doubt Mahahtir loyalist who's asked the Tun to stop it already ...




Quickly translated without the help of Google:
"I have given my view - the verbal assault by Tun M against PM DS Najib ought to stop right here. Both have black spots that tarred their administration and service records. And both have their good deeds and brilliance. To expose each other's shit at this point will not benefit country and people. Stop right there. Give Najib and Muhyiddin the room to manouvre according to the dictates of their era. Every shortflall, we shall overcome. Come the 14th GE, they will be judged by their work and service."

Like I said, there are many who want Tun to stop doing a Pak Lah on Najib. Rais Yatim's Facebook entry on the matter, however, is most important. Perhaps also in a personal way. Not too long ago, when he was the Cabinet minister in charge of MCMC, the clueless (at the time it was) regulator of bloggers like me, Abang Rais and I quite suddenly turned against each other. Things were getting ugly. 

One day, after one of our bloggers-meet-Mahathir sessions, the good doctor held me back so that he could advise me that the "perang" between Rais and myself should stop there. "You've said your piece, so move on."

Someitmes, I think, Dr Mahathir should try out some of the cure he'd been prescribing others and I say that with the greatest regards for the man.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Covering up those who cover up

I can't blame Malaysiakini for going to town with this stuff Dr Mahathir Mohamad purportedly said during a closed-door* meeting with bloggers at his office in KL last Friday ...

"If (Najib Razak) doesn't go now, the Public Accounts Committee and others will be investigating the matter for the next two or three years and come GE, if he is still around, we will lose. I think there will be a lot of trouble for everyone. And those who cover up, they will have to pay the price." - Dr Mahthir Mohamad 
Veteran journalist and former Cabinet Minsiter Zam says Dr Mahathir, too, will be charged and maybe even jailed if the Opposition wins the next general election. In his latest posting Bukan sahaja Najib tetapi Mahathir juga akan ditangkap jika Pembangkang menang Zam said jailed Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim will be released.

If Pakatan wins, all hell will break lose. We will witness vindictive politics by those who see themselves as vindicated. Even Zam will go in even though he doesn't cover up. The ISA will be brought back (or a more draconian law enacted) and like in Singapore, political foes are enemies of the state and will be charged, bankrupted or/and imprisoned for long periods of time.

I'm just a blogger and I don't cover up so I shouldn't fear if Pakatan rules and BN loses. But I do fear. I fear for children's future. For their sake, I wish BN would continue to rule this country. I wish the coalition can heal itself, improve its quality of leadership and governance, and charge its own people who cover up. 

Pakatan's politics have proved in such a short time to be disruptive, counter-productive and potentially destructive. BN, on the other hand, has the track record and the experience to govern. 

But I don't want the BN to continue to govern so that "those who cover up" can get away scot free. 

So Prime Minister Najib Razak, please order the Public Accounts Committe to investigate not just the 1MDB (where you have been implicated for cover up and wrongdoing, read PM orders AG and PAC to verify 1MDB accounts) but also other possible and suspected cover ups by incumbent BN leaders.

Otherwise, the people will perceive you as covering up for those who cover up.

* As a blogger, I've initiated and attended many closed-door meetings with our top leaders, including Anwar Ibrahim. These meetings are meant for "backgrounder", to help the bloggers understand better where these leaders are coming from where issues of the day are concerned. Rarely has any of these meetings been covered so extensively as last Friday's. 
See h e r e for all the clippings from the meeting with Dr M. Annie, who did not attend the meeting, arranged these clippings nice, by issues, in Dr M's latest videos. Please use your discretion.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Tun vs PM: The morning after

"Now, was that so difficult?" - Tun Dr M to Najib Razak after the PM had answered all his  questions and accusations, from Altantuya to 1MDB, last night

Najib asnwers Tun M, with host Hamdan Ahmir, last night

Dream on. Some of us must surely wish the above scene had actually taken place because we want the two men we love and admire - and so that all of us in this land of plentyful - can live happily ever after. But the truth is, like the blogger Annie said before the interview hosted by Hamdan Ahmir on TV3 at 10pm last night, Dr M is probably going to keep up his assault to oust Najib as Umno president and PM. Hamdan implied the same, too. This land of plentiful is also plenty of fools. "Dr M did not want answers, he wanted blood," someone declared on the social media.

Personally, I thought Najib did quite well to cover all the issues in the hour that he had. His answers were easy to digest. Some of the responses and questions were a little too general at times, but the important thing to me is that he appeared calm and collected, if still a tad sad over the tragic passing of JJ and two aides, and he asnwered Hamdan's questions without having to submit to the host's provocation to run his critics down, least of all Dr Mahathir whom the PM repeatedly said he (still) respected. 

For the first time, Najib told us some of the things he and Tun talked about when they met: Tun wanted him to revive the "crooked bridge" (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ditched the bridge because "rakyat Johor did not want the bridge" and went on to lose the Premiership in 2009) and wanted the Government to stop BR1M. [Najib says disagreed wtih Dr M over BR1M, crooked bridge] Najib clearly wanted viewers to see him as a PM who is in control and not obliged to any individual but to the whole nation and his party.

My main fear before last night was that if Najib appeared on TV to "take on" the Tun, he'd make the same mess Pak Lah did in 2006. Well, I'm glad that was unfounded. In fact, as in many instances, Tun M's criticisms had brought about the best so far in Najib. The interview last night, if you'd watched it, was off-the-cuff: Najib wasn't reading from some prepared text. And he spoke as he normally does when he speaks in English or in everyday life, NOT the Najib full of the theaterics of the rostrum you endure during Umno general assemblies and other Bahasa Melayu gatherings.

I won't provide links to the interview last night, you know where to find it. But one more thing: it's amazing how many people actually believe that the so-called spat between Tun and Najib is staged (or "drama"), that the idea of Mahathir's open "attack" on PM is actually to get Najib to come out and checkmate the Opposition. As many people want to believe or actually believe that Dr M's only intention is really and sincerely to compel the PM to speak out and now that Najib has spoken out, it's Mission Accomplished.

Dream on.




Thursday, April 09, 2015

#SantaiWithIGP: Go, "Twitter Khalid", Go!

Crooks not welcomed!

OUR top cop, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, is shaping up to be quite a force, in real life as well as in cyberspace. His invitation to Netizens to chill with him over Malaysians' favourite drink teh tarik while discussing the state of crime, of course, is not only unprecedented, it's super cool.  
Crooks and detractors, who include some politicians who tried to use the Parliament to sack him, won't have kind words for him. Not needed. I'm quite sure the people appreciate what the IGP is trying to do. The social media is a powerful tool. It can bring the people together to fight crooks and make a community more vigilant against crime. Ask the TTDI folks, who have been connected to their local police chief and are the better for it.

Netizens abuzz over #SantaiWithIGP event by Awani here.

Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Zaid Ibrahim to Dr M: Make Ku Li PM if you really want to end corruption

East Coast's top contender for PM

In earnest, the scan for candidates begins. Talk is that several senior Umno leaders have been approached to possibly take over in the event that Najib Razak decides - on his own free will, of course - to resign as Prime Minister. 

One Sabah politician was said to have "contemplated momentarily" the tempting offer but in the end shook his head and said no. A well respected politician from down South has declined (and not for the first time). A vocal politician not far north of KL has turned down the invitation to treat. Wallahualam.

I don't think Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has been formally approached but former Umno & PKR strongman Zaid Ibrahim is strongly proposing the Kelantan prince's name to be our 7th Prime Minister. (We did anticipate this, though. Refer to my March 20 posting Ku Li for PM (A sequel 9 years in the making)In making his pitch for Ku Li, fellow Kelantanese Zaid, for once, agreed with Tun M about this country being "very corrupt" but didn't say who he meant by "leaders who keep close company with business tycoons and get free rides in their business jets"; read h e r e. 

“Corruption has flowed into our national bloodstream to such an extent that it will take generations—if at all—to cleanse the system. Our values must first change. We must first feel that it’s wrong to be corrupt. That’s why, if he truly wants to see some improvements in curbing the systemic corruption, Tun should endorse Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as the one to take over as Prime Minister after Najib.” - Zaid Ibrahim

Loyalist Shafie
Ku Li, 78 last month, is relatively young (compared with Dr M, who celebrates his 90th this year). Muhyiddin Yassin, the DPM, turns 68 next week. Zahid Hamidi is just 62. Hishammuddin Hussein will only be 54 in August, and Shafie Afdal a youthful 58. Khairy Jamaluddin, who has managed to remain seemingly neutral in the spat between his boss and Dr M, turns 40 next January. I don't think they have approached anyone under 40 for the job but I may be wrong, of course ...

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

Mahathir vs Najib: "Whose side are you on?"

Doing a Pak Lah on Najib

In a chatroom of about a dozen bloggers, whose combined online traffic is bigger than the Edge's,  someone popped the question: "So, whose side are WE on?"

Many of us who took active part in the so-called revolution that brought down Abdullah Ahmad Badawi have refrained from taking sides, at least not openly. We can't be doing this again, can we? For many of us it is a torn-between-two-lovers kind of situation. We love Dr Mahathir and we think Najib Razak is still the best man in BN and in Malaysia to be PM, which is something the Tun has openly disagreed [To save party and country, Najib must go, Straits Times Singapore, 4 April], and which is why we are asking each other the question that will divide us: Lu gang siapa? 

Wisdom kicks in. "Let us be guided by our respective conscience," says the anonymous Jebat Must Die in the chatroom. I concurred. "But whoever side you want to take, be respectful." 

Something Parpukari, a blogger with an impressive following in the Malay-reading cyberspace, must find it hard to heed to in the face of A. Kadir Jasin's latest posting [Crystal-balling Malaysian politics post-Mohd Najib, 6 April] on why taking down Najib Razak as Prime Minister won't be as easy as sending Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to pasture in 2009.

Showing Pak Lah the door in 2009 was a lot easier ... Pak Lah did not have an ambitious wife ... Mohd Najib has an ambitious determined wife who would want him to stay at all costs. On the other hand, Pak Lah’s wife, (Tun) Jeanne, is not ambitious woman and it was said that she urged him to resign.

Read also FMT's interview with Kadir, Rosmah won't let Najib quit, 6 April

Parpukari says his respect for the veteran journalist has gone down a notch. "His attacks on Najib I can understand but why lash out at Rosmah? She is just the wife of the Prime Minister .. Have they lost it?"

Rosmah mighty ambitious, Kadir tells FMT
Serang Najib saya faham la sebab dia PM tapi serang Rosmah untuk apa? ...

Dia hanyalah isteri kepada Perdana Menteri sahaja, saya nak tanya sama AKJ dan semua yang dok suruh Rosmah berundur la, ada cita-cita besar la. Nak tanya sikit apakah Rosmah ni ada jawatan ke? Dia menteri besar ke? Dia menteri ke? Dia Ketua bahagian ke? Nak suruh dia berundur dari apa? Dari menjadi isteri Perdana Menteri ke? Gila ke korang ni?

Read what made Parpukari see red in Betul ke Rosmah mempunyai cite-cita besar? 6 April. 

When I read Parpukari's original entry last night, I asked him if he could use "Saya" instead of "Aku". It sounds more respectful. And if you know Parpukari the person, he's a sopan-santun chap. As for Kadir's mention of Rosmah, which was highlighted by FMT because it was juicier than anything esle he had to offer in the interview, I wrote recently: To bring down Najib, first bring down those closest to him, 12 Feb 2015. 

So, whose side am I on? The same side as Annie's [The Right Side  6 April]. 

Wednesday, April 01, 2015

40 countries you can migrate to if you wish to avoid Malaysia's new tax


Updated:
Hantu Laut, who's in Nepal where the GST is 13% and prices of goods are way more expensive than in Malaysia, is now convinced that his fellow Malaysians are a truly spoilt and ungrateful lot. (Shame on you, Malaysians!):

"They complained about everything from the prices of fuel to the price of their underwear, when we are one of the cheapest in the world.
Try figure out how wasteful and useless Malaysians are when come to saving. Our household debt was 87% of GDP in 2013, in the top 10 in the world. They never stop complaining and whining about how expensive everything are, but are awful wasters and gas guzzlers themselves, want everything cheap and free, spoilt by years of government subsidies.
Just 6% GST, they make so much noise, like the world falling apart on them.

The irony, the biggest squanderers are not the poor, but the middle class and the wealthy .., and so are those, who ceaselessly complaining, the same group of people.
Shame on you Malaysians!"

Original Article
[Do check out the Portal Islam dan Melayu www.ismaweb.net for the Bahasa Melayu translation of my posting below, Anda boleh pindah kenegara tiada GST ...

Happy GST, Malaysia! Today, our beloved nation joins more than 160 other countries that have already applied the Goods and Services Tax to their tax structure. Why is it that 80 per cent of the nations in the world have gotten GST? I dunno, maybe it has proven to be a fairer and more effective form of taxation? If that's so, why then are those politicians saying GST will be bad for us and the nation, that revenues for GST will be used to pay the government's mounting debts, etc? Well, simply because those tax evaders will be able to evade no more. I suspect an unholy alliance between those politicians and some of the major tax evaders in the systematic and holistic attack on the GST these past few months.

In any case, if you choose to trust those politicians, here's the good news for you: 40-odd countries have yet to implement the GST. In Southeast Asia, there are two left: Brunei and Myanmar. A little further away, there's North Korea. A host of African countries are GST-free so you will be spoilt for choice: Angola, Eritrea, Somalia, etc. So if you truly are convinced that GST is the end of good things and your fine living in Malaysia, check out those non-GST countries h e r e for possible migration in the near future.

p.s. I don't mind Cuba myself, actually.

For the rest of us, here's the deal:

UP. Some good things are going to be more expensive from today, no doubt. Six per cent more expensive. Those who love their drinks at the pubs and hotels, for example, will be needing more of those shots because they will be paying more for everything: beers, single malt, wine, tidbits. Even the mineral water at your neighbourhood pub will cost 6% more. So stop drinking or buy from the 7-Eleven.

Your Iphone will be more expensive. Fags cost 50 sen more = RM14 for a packet of 20.

DOWN. But not everything will go up; in fact, prices of many goods and services will be cheaper. Our national car, Proton, will cost less. Even CKD Honda and Toyota will be cheaper from today. No increase in fuel prices at the pump for April. Big bikers, rejoice, cause I hear that those mean machines are going to be less mean when it comes to their price tag, thanks to GST! My Triumph mates are already defiining GST as Gua Suka Triumph or I Love Triumph in anticipation of more savings when one buys a Triple or Tiger!

UNCHANGED. A long list of stuff will remain unchanged with GST, including basic food items and some 4,000 types of medicines/medication.

You can Google for more info. It doesn't cost more to Google, I think.

Thanks to Big Dog for attaching this clip to his latest posting, Divine.



p.s. Some businesses will take advanage of GST to up their prices when they shouldn't. These are profiteers and these leeches will try to make more from you any chance they get. They can be fined up to RM200,000 if found guilty, so don't hesitate to tell on them.


READ ALSOFirst Day of GST by Economics Malaysia:
…and the world hasn’t ended. Car prices have even come down, as predicted (so will furniture, and quite a few imported manufactured goods). There will no doubt be teething troubles along the way, but Malaysia’s most significant tax reform in a generation is now established. But confusion abounds. Take this article from yesterday ...