Friday, July 29, 2016

Immigration DG replaced, MACC gets new chief




Damansara, 29 July: I am sure the current shortage of passports is not the reason why the Immigration Department director-general Sakib Kusmi is being replaced by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's deputy chief commissioner, but people will make their own conclusions. Just as they will have their own assumptions about the appointment of Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad  from the Attorney-General's Chamber as the new MACC chief replacing Abu Kassim. I would prefer someone from MACC itself to move up and take the position as the top anti-graft fighter but sometimes an "outsider" can provide a fresh perspective to help an organisation forge ahead. Wallahualam. 
As for the shortage of passports, I do hope the new D-G is not as patient as his predecessor. A six-month wait for anything is too long.
New MACC chief

Read: Dzulkifli Ahmad is new MACC chief
Reasonable to expect six-month wait for new passports: Immigration DG

A call for Crusade in France

Crusade for survival or popularity?
Read Christians must stand up to Islam via Helen Ang's blog and tell me you're not concerned. Tell me you think it will not ever happen in peaceful, prosperous Malaysia. 
If we are not careful, it can happen here. I agree with the senior lawyer I met while lunching at the Lake Club yesterday, we Malaysians have no problems when it comes to racial issues. "We have overcome those racial barriers," he said. But religion is another thing altogether. We are not sure we are immune to extremism in religion. Whatever is happening in France between the Christians and the Muslims there, is beyond race and colour. "And if we are not careful those events can affect our multi-religious population, easily," Mr Loyar Senior said. 
I hate to agree with him. We have to be extra vigilant. More importantly, we must continue to educate one another about our peaceful beliefs. Instead of spending hundreds of millions RM on moral policing, I think the money is better spent by our religious bodies on educating ourselves and people of other faiths on how peaceful and beautiful Islam is.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

"Why Dr M should be the last to be complaining about harassment"


Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Thurs:
Everybody's reminding me about karma these days. What a bitch it is. One former High Court I had lunch with today told me what many others have stated before: Dr Mahathir Mohamad is "reaping what he has sown". The Yang Ariff was referring to the former PM's complaint to the Singapore Straits Times  about how his family and friends are are under pressure over criticism of Malaysia PM Najib Razak. The ex-judge, who declined to be named, said Mahathir should be the last to complain about harassment. "Look back at what he did to some of us when he was the Prime Minister". One man extremely critical of Dr Mahathir, and who doesn't mind being identified, is Tawfik Ismail.



Tawfik, the eldest son of "the man who saved Malaysia", wrote a "cold" posting on his Facebook in response to Dr Mahathir's complaint to the Singapore paper.




The Mole spoke to Tawfik and got more H E R E

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Well done, Tabung Haji!





PETALING JAYA — July 26, 2016: Tabung Haji will not sell its Tun Razak Exchange land despite receiving a very high offer.
Chief Executive Officer Datuk Johan Abdullah said the decision was based on Tabung Haji’s expectations of its high value-added potential over the long term.
“From the start, the land was bought based on a commercial (consideration) and we’ve made an evaluation of its value in the long term.
“We’ve received a very high offer (for the land), but we don’t want to sell it as we believe in the long-term value creation of that investment,” said Johan.
He was met after the launch of the Tabung Haji Foundation by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Johan also said that currently Tabung Haji is in discussion with several architects’ firms on the development plan for the land measuring 0.631 hectare for which Tabung Haji paid RM188.8 million to 1Malaysia Development Berhad last year. — Bernama via The Mole
Puchong, 27 July 2016: Until this statement by Johan yesterday, we were never quite certain what Tabung Haji was going to do with the TRX land it bought from 1MDB last year. Now we are absolutely sure. And we - the few of us who have been campaigning on our blogs against the campaign to pressure TH into selling off the TRX property - salute the new CEO and the board of directors of the hajj pilgrims fund for doing the right thing. 

Personally, I take my hats off to Ismee Ismail (pic, right), Johan's predecessor, for his vision and for securing TH the deal.  Readers of this blog know that I have often been unkind to Ismee in my writings but credit where it's due (and in his case, overdue).

p.s Lesson to be learnt? Keep calm and be professional. Or calmly let the professionals run the show.


Some of my previous postings on TH's TRX land:

Read also:


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

It's business - and politics - as usual in Malaysia after the D.O.J.

Puchong, 26 July 2016:
I thought Bloomberg reported quite well the aftermath of the US Justice Department's take on the so-called 1MDB scandal via this article It's business as usual for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak amid graft scandal. It has all the relevant facts of the matter, carries the views of analysts both pro and anti, and furnishes the bigger picture for Malaysia so that the reader can place things in perspective. The only thing missing, perhaps, is an agenda. The agenda. The crusade shared by the likes of The Sarawak Report against the Malaysian Prime Minister for alleged misdeeds, crime, graft etc that they have attributed to 1MDB. 
The Bloomberg article doesn't make the picture look prettier than it really is. But it doesn't fabricate anything to make it look uglier than it already is, either.
It's what good, old journalism does.  







Read the entire Bloomberg article via South China Morning Post h e r e. 

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Was "the man" the Tun, dear Tunku?


"How anyone could conduct a thorough and professional investigation without seeking and obtaining information from primary sources such as 1MDB officials and other relevant authorities, including Malaysian law officers, is something we should all learn from Attorney-General Lynch and her talented and dedicated officers ... It is a modern day wonder."
- Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim

No prize for guessing the man behind it all
By Tunku Aziz

KL, 23 July 2016: The filing of civil forfeiture complaints by the United States Department of Justice for the recovery of assets in excess of US$ 1 billion that they believed to have been acquired by persons who had plundered 1MDB, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, sits uneasily with many fair-minded, thinking Malaysians.

The announcement was made by US Attorney-General Lynch in the company of at least four top officials from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service.

The press conference was intended as a display of power and might of the incomparable American justice system which we know from long years of careful observation to be not what they want us to believe.

In the current investigation of the 1MDB related case, we are treated to a demonstration of very rough and ready justice that America is still capable of dispensing.

The frontier tradition is still alive and well under the thin veneer of 21st century USA. There are several features of this filing that intrigue me.

The most obvious to us who have been lectured to by Americans about the rule of law, democracy and natural justice at every turn has been the total absence of communication with 1MDB, the subject of the complaints or allegations that have triggered the FBI investigation, and the attendant hype, upheaval  and excitement.

How anyone could conduct a thorough and professional investigation without seeking and obtaining information from primary sources such as 1MDB officials and other relevant authorities, including Malaysian law officers, is something we should all learn from Attorney-General Lynch and her talented and dedicated officers.

It is a modern day wonder.

Given that corruption is a serious crime against the state and society, and assuming in good faith that they have irrefutable evidence that can stand up in their law courts, why have they not pursued the matter under criminal law?

Filing the complaints under civil law would seem a little odd. Surely, they are keen on securing a conviction and sending the wrong doers to jail.

It smells. It somehow does not add up.

It is regrettable that the Americans have chosen to fight their war against cross-border corruption by hiding behind a smokescreen of high-minded moral principles that cannot stand up to close scrutiny.

Yet in the same breath, and stopping just short of naming names, they impute improper motives to our Prime Minister and cast aspersions on his reputation and character, without being able to produce an ounce of proof.

It is worth reminding ourselves that there is absolutely no suggestion in any of the investigations conducted so far by the authorities in Switzerland and Malaysia that Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak had stolen anything from 1MDB.

The Public Accounts Committee, comprising Government and Opposition lawmakers, after months of exhaustive investigation and in regular consultations with the Auditor-General recently produced their authoritative report that exonerated Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak from all allegations of wrong doing.

In short, the allegations against him were reckless, vindictive and frivolous. In all the circumstances, Datuk Seri Najib is innocent until proven guilty under the law.

What is shocking is that there are many among us who cannot cope with the truth and the truth is that the Prime Minister is innocent until proven guilty.


Tunku Abdul Aziz is a Malaysian corporate figure, activist and politician. He has held numerous roles in the worldwide anti-corruption movement, most prominently, vice-chairman of the board of directors of Transparency International and the former Vice-Chairman of DAP.



p.s. Cheeky headlines, indeed! 
Tunku Aziz didn't name anyone in his article but I can't help but think of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad! Perhaps because the two old men - Aziz is 82 and Mahathir 91 - have a lot of things in common and yet no love lost between them. In a past era, Mahathir would have lynched Lynch mercilessly for trying to do this kleptocracy thing on Malaysia or Malaysian citizens. Tunku Aziz's lashing here would be so mild compared to what Mahathir would have unleashed upon the Americans and (local politicians and activists who dare support them). We still remember what happened when Washington tried to blame the 1997 financial crisis on nepotism, corruption and cronyism of his Administration ... 

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Why we shouldn't be losing too much sleep over the US Justice Department's 1MDB announcement


"... the Prime Minister has always maintained, if any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception.” - Najib Razak's press secretary, in his response to the US Department of Justice's 1MDB announcement

Puchong, 21 July: Some people must have stayed up all night to celebrate their "victory" over Prime Minister Najib Razak after the US Department of Justice announcement on 1MDB last night. I don't know if they rejoice prematurely but I know that these people will be rolling-on-the-ground unhappy if Najib is NOT found guilty by America of the crimes THEY (these rejoicing people) have accused him of committing! Already, they are whining the fact that the US DoJ has failed to name Najib Razak specifically in its damning 136-page report. How sweet it would have been if the DoJ had spelled out Najib's name. Well, I don't understand that bit, either, but that's the fact of the matter that we must remember: Najib's name is not there. 

The name of his stepson, Reza Aziz, is. Well, if one's hand was in the cookie jar, one has got to pay. Without exception, as the PM has said.

The people at 1MDB, obviously, had to sacrifice some sleep last night to respond to the situation. So did the PM's press secretary and the Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak. [Read 1MDB, the government will cooperate with US Department of Justice, the Mole]. 

"1MDB highlights that it is not a party to the civil suit, does not have any assets in the United States of America, nor has it benefitted from the various transactions described in the civil suit. Furthermore, 1MDB has not been contacted by the US Department of Justice or any other foreign agency in relation to their investigations". - exceprts of 1MDB's official response to the DoJ

We can expect the people who rejoice to manipulate the DoJ's statement for some political gain. YB Tony Pua has already started his campaign on Twitter. The aim is to make as many people as possible to believe in what the DoJ DID NOT say ...





Not all armchair critics think Najib should be losing too much sleep over the DoJ's move, though. 





I could write a six hundred word blog before getting to the point here, but I will get right to it: The 1MDB asset seizure is likely to have minimal impact on Malaysian domestic politics. To recap … the U.S. Justice Department this morning announced it was filing “civil-forfeiture complaints against more than $1 billion of assets allegedly acquired using funds misappropriated from a Malaysian economic development fund,” known as 1MDB, according to the Wall Street Journal, which has extensively covered the 1MDB saga. This is believed to be the largest asset seizure in U.S. history, and the Justice Department has targeted a wide range of purportedly 1MDB-related assets that were supposedly bought with misappropriated money from the state fund—classy art, a private jet, the rights to the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” luxury real estate in New York and Los Angeles, and more. It’s an impressive list of potential seizures, and an important case showing the power of the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. Expect authorities in other countries that are still investigating 1MDB, like Singapore and Switzerland, to eventually make other demands for asset recovery.
But as for the impact on domestic Malaysian politics? Don’t expect the case to lead the Malaysian government to fold, the way that investigations of FIFA triggered reforms in that institution. The impact on the administration of Najib Tun Razak will be virtually none. Yes, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said at a press conference today that, “Unfortunately and tragically, a number of corrupt officials treated this public trust as a personal bank account.” Yes, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is believed to be the “Malaysian Official 1,”—which the New York Times says is a “high-ranking government official who oversaw the fund and is a close relative of Mr. Aziz,” Najib’s stepson, who was one of the people served with complaints by the Justice Department. Yes, the perception within Malaysia (and probably globally) is that Najib played a central role in 1MDB’s funny business, his denials to the contrary. Yes, Najib is probably very unpopular with urban Malaysians, although no poll has been taken in recent months that quantifies his support—or lack thereof—in urban areas. Yes, Najib and his family are perceived by many Malaysians to live lavishly, with little evidence of where the money comes from.
But Najib also has proven a masterful and tough politician throughout the 1MDB scandal, and Malaysia’s opposition, which was close to winning parliament in 2013, has fallen apart even as the 1MDB investigations mushroom. Over the past two years, Najib has overseen a dramatic crackdown on civil society, forcing or prompting the closure of several independent media outlets, overseeing a suspicious sodomy case that put Anwar Ibrahim back in jail, and presiding over the arrests of many other civil society leaders on vague sedition charges. He has purged the governing coalition of opponents and stacked his cabinet and the Malaysian bureaucracy with loyalists. He has installed as his top deputy a man, Ahmad Zahid Hamdi, even less liked by both members of United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and younger Malaysians; his deputy serves basically as a kind of insurance against getting rid of Najib.
Meanwhile, the opposition coalition—if it can be called that now—has fragmented with Anwar in jail, the government cracking down on civil society, and fissures emerging among the parties that made up the 2013 coalition. It was always a coalition held together with scotch tape, but last year the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), the Islamist party, left. It had long argued with other members of the coalition over social issues, including whether state and federal governments could implement Islamic law on a range of criminal issues. The new coalition that has emerged, which includes some small remnants of PAS, is weaker; it lost two by-elections to the ruling coalition in Selangor and Perak in June.
Anti-Najib politicians and civil society activists are in such disarray that some belatedly have come around to seeing former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as their champion. Mahathir, who is 91 and was hardly known for his democratic style as prime minister, has indeed been harshly critical of Najib for more than a year now, and has derided the prime minister over 1MDB. Now, Mahathir says he is forming a new party to reinvigorate Malaysian politics. He probably will populate with some leading critics who were fired from Najib’s cabinet and other senior levels of UMNO. It’s not likely to restore Malaysia’s opposition to the level of being able to challenge, nationwide, for control of parliament.
Read also

Monday, July 18, 2016

"If Mahathir was my father ..."


Puchong, Mon 180716
Of all the online scribes who have tried to remain "neutral" in the protracted Mahathir-Najib fight, I think Life of Annie tried the hardest. She has been frank but fair in her commentaries on Najib Razak although she has been harsh towards the PM's so-called advisers, and she has deftly avoided any kind of personal diatribe aimed at Mahathir. 

In her latest posting, however, Annie betrays signs of one who is increasingly frustrated with the Tun and, especially, with his people for making the 92-year Old Man fight their battle. 

His advisors and the people around him really should tell him to rest.

Maybe his son DS Mukhriz Mahathir can do that.
If Dr Mahathir is my father, that's what I will try to tell him.

Annie even writes about restricting the Tun to making doas:

If he still must, Dr Mahathir should instead help them with his prayers.

If it's true that Najib is destroying the country, let Allah answer Dr Mahathir's prayers and enable the opposition, which include his supporters to win the next general election.
Whatever it is, the young should do the fighting, not an over 90-year-old man.
I can just imagine how tiring it must be for Dr Mahathir.
Honestly, I'm tired just by being an observer of the fight.

Unscrupulous people are using the Tun to try and get what they want or regain what they have lost. That, to Annie, is too much. 

Read her entire Dr Mahathir Should Rest. 

Needless to say, Annie has now been accused by her commenters of accepting dedak (cheap bribes) to demonise Dr M and his camp.

Another blogger, who barked almost daily for Mahathir's cause not too long ago, asked me early this morning what I thought of the new Opposition pact (Pakatan has become Pakatun, Helen Ang)  after my own tentative posting Pakatan Tun: A dangerous liaison (or a tired cliché?)

I have to admit that I agree with Annie: It's not a big issue.

It's like when Umno founder Datuk Onn Jaafar left to set up Independence of Malaya Party and later Parti Negara.

Sadly for Dr Mahathir, I think his plan will end up like that of Datuk Onn's - not very successful.

And am 100 per cent with Helen (read her Will Perkasa bersekongkol dengan DAP for GE14?)


Tun's new party is likely going to be nothing more than just Perkasa donning a new mask, one that , for political expediency, must look friendlier and sweeter to the non-Malay crowd, especially the DAP.  Ibrahim Ali, the high priest of Perkasa, is expected to figure prominently in the new party. He has under his command "hundreds of thousands of followers". Muhyiddin Yassin may lead the new party initially but I don't see him leading it into the next general election; the former Deputy Prime Minister is quite the spent force and does not even command a fraction of his home state Johor. Similarly, Shafie Afdal, the ex Umno VP, has no influence in Sabah outside his own kawasan. Mukhriz will have more luck, being young and being a Mahathir, but then again he's nothing like his father.


So the way I see it, it's going to be Tok Him. He will eventually be the one calling the shots. Perkasa has always been Dr Mahathir's baby, anyway, and was instrumental in helping the Tun bring down Pak Lah ...


p.s. Zaid Ibrahim should figure out somewhere in this picture but I can't work that out as yet

Read also:
Who will lead new Opposition pact? - FMT via Malaysia Today
A new GOD or just another DOG? - Gopal Raj Kumar

Friday, July 15, 2016

Pakatan Tun: A dangerous liaison ... or a tired Malaysian cliché? [UPDATED]

Updates Friday 15 July:
The Opposition leaders - the ones who matter, at least - are still mum on Mahathir's new political party. They are well aware of the virtue for caution when dealing with the master. But their pundits and spokesmen have dutifully come out to hail the Tun's new pact as a beacon of hope. Wong Chin Huat, who once championed the Malaysian chapter of Occupy this-and-that (what happened to that campaign, anyone knows?), told disbelievers that they are wrong. Mahathir's new party will strengthen the Opposition. 
 He sounds genuinely relieved the former Umno President of more than two decades and his band of rebels hadn't decided to apply to join any of the existing Opposition parties  " ...as DAP is too different, Amanah is too new, while PKR would be too much of a step down for Mahathir".
Whatever little details on the new proposed party can be learned from veteran journalist The Scribe's A new party to rival Umno (July 15). Kadir, who attended the meeting to talk about the new party yesterday, says Muhyiddin Yassin, Mukhriz Mahathir and Shafie Afdal will lead the new party.
He did not mention I'm-coming-back Ibrahim Ali, the Perkasa chief, but Perkasa friends told me there won't be a new party without Tok Him.
Whoa!


Read also Helen Ang's Hilarious! Chinese voting to resurrect Mahathirism: It's legit. Pakatan has become Pakatun!


Original article:





Thurs, 14 July
"Waa ... Mahathir forming Opposition party, ah?"
That was the first question that greeted me when I got home a while ago. 
"Mmm. According to the news," said I, ready for the barrage of questions and running political commentaries that would surely follow the opener.
"Could you pass me the ketchup, please?"
That was the follow-up question?! 
And then the armchair critics around my dinner table dropped the subject like poo into  a hole in the ground.. I am now left with all the space there is at the table, me and my laptop. Six months ago there would have been non-stop of follow-up questions, interrogations, suggestions and fantastic theories and conclusions.
Today, the interest has not just waned, it is hardly there anymore.
YB Rahman Dahlan is spot on when he says that "most people are not really surprised" with Dr M's announcement on his new Opposition pact made up of not-so-new faces (mostly former Umno). 
"Maybe because he has been attacking BN for many years now. Or maybe because the faces we saw today at Tun's press conference are largely made of those who are widely known to have personal tiff with the current leadership."
I also agree with the Barisan Nasional Strategic Commiunications director that "the new coalition will only weaken the opposition further". In fact, I have argued in this blog about how Mahathir's moves were actually undermining the Opposition, especially DAP and PKR. [How Mahathir is helping Najib, May 17].
My first thought, upon learning of the Pakatan Tun: wouldn't Anwar Ibrahim rather die than allow the Tun to rob him of his de facto leadership of the Opposition pact that he had built from his blood, sweat and tears since 1998?
Bceause I don't see Mahathir being willing to kowtow to Anwar just so he can bring down Najib Razak and his government and party and the BN coalition!
Many people see the pact Dr M is founding as a pathetic move, perhaps even the Old Man's biggest mistake since he started his offensive against the Prime Minister and his own former party and coalition. Rahman Dahlan sees it as "dangerous liaison" of frustrated and failed politicians. 
"If there is any regret to this whole episode, it is the fact that we have to fight an aging Tun whose golden years should have been spent as a statesman. Seriosuly, there is no fun not pleasure gained in fighting a nonagenarian..." 
 
I, too, would like to wish the whole Opposition good luck. With this new pact, they would need all the luck in the world - and one big and deep hole in the ground  - for the next General Election ... 

Read also:
Mahathir's last throw of the dice by Salleh Said Keruak

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

"Doomsday" blogger says he was misunderstood over 1MDB posting

Updated: Propaganda OutSyed serupa propaganda Kominis - Snapshot
For other responses towards Syed Akbar's prediction, pls scroll to the end of the Original article ...


Original posting
“Idiots. What I was trying to say was that such a thing can happen and the fact that MoF is dragged into arbitration along with 1MDB is bad enough for our country’s rating and image." - Syed Akbar Ali on those who made fun of his "prediction" that the country would go bankrupt on 11 July 2016 because of 1MDB. (Malaysia Bankruptcy Day that didn't happen, The Mole).





Puchong, 12 July: Syed Akbar Ali is the author of several books including Malaysia and the Club of Doom. It is safe to assume, therefore, that predicting doom and gloom is not something new or alien to him. Except that he has insisted now that he did not really predict that this country - his, yours and mine - was going bust exactly on 11 July 2016 over the 1MDB-IPIC arbitration process. [Read LSS vows to quit writing forever and ever if Syed Akbar Ali ... June 21]

What he actually wrote on his deleted-already posting, he defended himself yesterday, was "it can happen ..."

The Mole took the trouble to get Syed's side of the story in Malaysia Bankruptcy Day" that didn't happen because it's the fair thing to do. If only more people, Syed and his wannabes included, could also go a bit out of their way to establish the truth of what they are writing before publishing them, fewer people would be "misunderstood".

The 1MDB, the "reason" for our bankruptcy that wasn't, issued a statement on the 11 July event, by the way:

A Robust Response by Malaysia 
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) on Monday (Jul 11) agreed to resolve its dispute with Abu Dhabi wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) via the London Court of International Arbitration.  
In a statement, it said it had submitted a "robust response" to IPIC's request for arbitration, but when asked what that meant, Group President Arul Kanda would not say on account of being bound by a confidentiality clause.  
However, 1MDB maintains it is confident of its legal position.  
IPIC is claiming US$6.5 billion from 1MDB, as well as the Ministry of Finance which owns 100 per cent of the debt-ridden state fund.  
IPIC said it did not receive payments that 1MDB claimed to have transferred to its subsidiary Aabar Investment in British Virgin Islands and said its subsidiary is actually based in Abu Dhabi. 
1MDB, on the other hand, insisted it had communicated with IPIC executives before each transfer and has documentary evidence of the payments.  
As both sides have agreed to refer their dispute to the London Court of International Arbitration, the next step will be to appoint arbitrators before case management meetings begin in September.  
IPIC is expected to file its statement of claim and 1MDB its statement of defence before hearings begin towards the middle of next year. 
Depending on the complexity of the case, the arbitration process may take months if not years. 
According to the London Court of International Arbitration, more than 70 per cent of its past cases took more than 18 months to resolve
Meanwhile, 1MDB reiterated that, notwithstanding the dispute with IPIC, it will continue to implement its rationalisation plan and has ample liquidity to meet its current debt obligations. 
- CNA/hs