Monday, December 30, 2019

MACC bedal polis?


updated 31/12:
Counter-report against 3 "lying" cops by MACC officer


Original article 30/12


30 Dec 2019: Sometimes you just don't know what to make out of such things you read. Back in the day, before Teoh Beng Hock jumped out or was pushed out of an MACC window to his death, we in the media often heard whispers of skirmishes between the Malaysian Anti Corruption and the Polis DiRaja Malaysia. Nothing too serious, just a slap here and push and shove there. You raid me, I raid you kind of thing. You can look at it as part of the system's check-and-balance. Or tit for tat, quid pro quo
But after the Teoh Beng Hock's case, the cops and their brethren from PDRM closed ranks. The MACC's procedures with regards to interrogation of suspects were reformed and improved.  
Surely, now, there would be CCTV to record the interrogation of the three police officers who claimed to have been punched and slapped by the Selangor MACC officer? And lawyers representing the police officers when they were called in to assist the investigation? 
I smell a fish, small but still rotten. Best to get to the bottom of this little wayang quick, before things get out of hand. Don't forget to keep us taxpayers, voters, Rakyat in the loop ...

Thursday, December 26, 2019

One PM, Two Oppositions (The 3 factors pulling this great nation down)


Ah, so this is Christmas ...
I hope you, my Dear Readers, had a merry one.
Me, it was a sederhana one for us. I visited an old buddy at Damansara, who opened his house (and makeshift bar) over (extended) lunch, where I met several other old friends and former little kids who have now grown up into full-fledged adults with their own little girls and boys.
Generally, Hari Natal was a subdued affair. Most everything is, including the manner in which we are ushering in the new year and new decade. The economy is such. As YB Johari Abdul Ghani, the former Minister of Finance ll, said, this beloved country of ours is sinking ...


1. The PM. 2. Flip-flopping. 3. GST. You can read Johari Ghani's diagnosis of this nation's 3 big weaknesses here. AKJ, the PM's communications advisor, has taken exception to the former Minister's analysis. That was to be expected, of course.
But the fact is, this great nation is being pulled down, going under. Many factors are responsible but if you ask me to limit them to three, I'd go with Johari. Our problem is we have ONE Prime Minister (who can't or won't let go) who has to deal with TWO (not one) Oppositions, including his own Pakatan Harapan people, who have opposed his decisions and undermine his position on more occasions than we thought possible. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Why you shouldn't even bother reading Azilah's SD

Azilah

KL, 17 Dec: Like me, you may not have read Azilah Hadri's statutory declaration and, like me also, you probably know all there is you needed to know about the SD without reading a word of it. Because everyone is talking, writing and commenting about it.
That's how I came to know that in the SD, Azilah has made the explosive (pun intended) claim that he had murdered Altantuya Sharibuu one night 13 years ago on the orders of Najib Razak, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister. 
But that wasn't what the courts heard, though, and the courts, given the evidence and arguments of a long and fair trial, had found Azilah guilty of that cold-blooded killing of the Mongolian (together with Sirul Azhar Omar, who managed to flee to Australia). As RPK pointed out, Azilah is extremely desperate. I'm quoting RPK because he did author an earlier,  fantastic SD on Altantuya's murder, so he must know how the game is played.  RPK is also claiming that PH leaders had met Azilah and that the SD was planned since Feb). 

Between RPK's and Azilah's, there were other statutory declarations. The following are just some of them that I captured on this blog:





By the way, he most graphic SD is still the one written for (not "by", please-lah) PI Bala but I'm not sure if it was the first or the second SD ... you may read my old posting on that but, a word of caution, it remains anal until this day. 


Monday, December 16, 2019

543 more journos to lose jobs today as NSTP retrenches




16 Dec 2019: A national tragedy Today, 543 journalists from NSTP will receive their termination letters as the group's newspapers - NST, Berita Harian and Metro - execute its biggest retrenchment exercise to date. Read 543 from NSTP to be axed in retrenchment exercise.  The number will be higher when we know later today how many broadcast journalists from these papers' sister companies under the Media Prima group will lose their jobs.  In the last year or so, some 3,000 journalists would have been displaced throughout the country as result of business closures or consolidation.  
Easily one of the highest casualty numbers in the world, if not the highest. 
Such tragic news makes the government's announcement that the Cabinet has agreed, in principle, to establish a Malaysian Media Council "to secure the future and safeguard the welfare of the media practitioners in the country" almost pointless, certainly insensitive, and even sinister, if you ask me.

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Ex Finas DG: I didn’t know group’s real intention

Updated Dec 13:
Only the minister can tell me to go - Hans


Original article
KL, Dec 12: Not everyone present at last Tuesday’s press conference organised by Profima agrees with the association’s call for Hans Isaac, the Finas chairman, to step down.



Kamil Othman (far left), the fomer DG of national film development corporation for two years until 2018, claims he didn’t even know that the press conference was to declare support for outgoing Finas CEO Ahmad Idham.

“They invited me to talk about Finas, so I agreed to attend and that was what I did (talk about Finas),” Kamil said.

“I had no idea they were going to ask the Finas chairman to step down over the CEO affair”.

The pro-Ahmad Idham group, led by Professional Film Industry Workers Association president Khir Mohd Noor (pic, in white), also demanded that Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo be transferred out to another ministry over Ahmad Idham’s “shortened” tenure as CEO.

When asked his stand on the issue, Kamil said it’s not about Ahmad Idham or Han Isaac. “It’s about what the industry needs”.

And he believes that what the industry needs is a Finas CEO with strong corporate background.

“Columbia Picutres, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, Disney Corporation, Paramount Pictures, MGM ... they all have one thing in common: all their CEOs have solid corporate backgrounds. Finas should be headed by such a CEO,” Kamil said.

Ahmad Idham sure doesn’t fit that bill, if that’s the case. He made his name as an actor and a movie producer before he was made Finas CEO in  March last year, an appointment that surprised many in the industry. His tenure was supposed to end in 2021 but this has been shortened to March 2020, at his own request.

Many believed that after his call for Netflix to be censored last month, Ahmad Idham’s position as Finas chief executive had become untenable. He had since denied making the Netflix call.


Wednesday, December 11, 2019

China, rare earth and the suit against Mahathir and Cabinet over Lynas decision

Source: Malaysiakini

If you're not a Mkini subscriber, don't despair! You may go to Ktemoc Konsiders h e r e. The news article did not mention that Save Malaysia Stop Lynas, the grouping that has been on the forefront of the anti-Lynas movement since Day 1, is not a registered organisation [read The Mole's A peculiar facet of Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas]. 
Me, I'm fascinated with the fact that the trio is "muhibah" team when all know that the anti-Lynas movement has always been 99% Chinese. One commenter at Ktemoc suspects a "multiracial" political party to be behind the lawsuit against their own Big Boss the PM and his Cabinet. Well, you can't stop people from speculating. But the suit did come hot at the heels of another earth-shattering story Crackdown on rare-earth mining and smuggling (The Mole, 10 Dec) about the authorities uncovering a syndicate smuggling out rare earths from this country. Where to, you ask? 
Yes, all rare earth roads lead to China, it seems.


Read also:
Rare earth mining to resume in Perak  
Perak rare earth mining deal with China comes under fire

Monday, December 09, 2019

What PKR infighting will actually derail ...




Puchong, 9 Dec: If you're a PKR party member or supporter, you probably won't be amused by this picture. But you'd understand if some of us nearly died laughing. I bet the Old Man was sniggering, at least, when he was told of what had happened at the PKR Congress and to the so-called Prime Minister in waiting. Of course Dr Mahathir Mohamad was expected to say that the PKR infighting won't affect the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition. And he is probably right, you know. The only thing the infighting might derail is the transfer of premiership. If Anwar Ibrahim can't take care of affairs within his own party, how can one expect him to be able to rule a nation?

Monday, December 02, 2019

The day Ronnie Liu praises Dr Mahathir

Dec 2: For decades, DAP was a chauvinist party whose raison d'ĂȘtre was to make life for Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Umno president and the country's 4th PM, as difficult as possible. From top echelon leaders to the grassroots, they seemed dedicated to this mission. Then, after the 14th general election, Dr M became the 7th PM and the DAP his strongest supporter. Except for Ronnie Liu.  
Today all that changed.

Excerpts of what Dr M said with regards to Chin Peng's ashes:
“Yes, we know the guerrillas fought a war, and they have killed many people in the war. We killed many people too. So what is the point of raising issues like this? Who are we appeasing?
“Are you telling us to pick up his remains and send him back (to Thailand)? These petty things are being dug up to cast the government in a bad light,” he said, rubbing his forehead a few times when asked to comment on the issue.