Saturday, January 28, 2023

Will Anwar do the inappropriate with Singapore?

BATU PUTEH: APPLICATION WITHDRAWAL DURING DR M’S TIME INAPPROPRIATE, AG SAYS

KL, Jan 27: I don’t know why the editors at The Vibes decided to drop the word “irregular” from the headline as that was exactly how Attorney-General Idrus Harun, in his report to Anwar Ibrahim’s Cabinet on Jan 11, had put it: the decision by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration in 2018 to withdraw the review application in relation to sovereignty over Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge was “irregular and inappropriate”. 

In the diplomatic world, every word, nuance, punctuation is thought through. When Anwar meets his Singapore counterpart early next week, he may choose to omit either or both words the AG used or both PMs may decide to defer talks on Batu Putih altogether. 

The top officials of their foreign ministries, however, don’t have the luxury. They will have to visit the subject, even though it has been 15 years since the ICJ gave away Malaysia’s outcrops off Johor to the republic. It’s their job.

I believe a lot of Malaysians are still interested to know. Why Tun Mahathir withdrew the application. Why AG Idrus think it was irregular and inappropriate. Did an officer in ex AG Apandi Ali’s office really advise Mahathir to withdraw. How and why did we lose Pulau Batu Puteh. Where is ex AG Gani Patail in all this? How will this affect Malaysia-Singapore ties under the unity government led by Anwar?

It will also be interesting if the potentially game-changing High Speed Railway project, which was stalled also by the previous Pakatan Harapan government and later terminated by the Muhyiddin administration (costing us taxpayers some RM380 million of money for nothing), will be raised between Anwar and his counterpart.

The Singaporeans are, obviously, still hopeful. Their media (read HERE) seem to be. 

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Averting a UiTM tragedy

Bangsar, 12 Jan: At the UiTM’s faculty of communications and media studies’ 50th anniversary celebration last October, vice chancellor Dr Roziah Mohd Janor pooped the party by announcing the merger of the faculty with two unrelated disciplines; namely, the Computer Science & Mathematics faculty and the Information Management faculty. Everyone was dumbfounded. Protests qucikly followed. 

Last week, the poor VC gave in to pressure from the faculty’s alumni: she promised to undo the merger. But it would take three to six months before the mistake can be “dismantled”, according to news reports.

You may call this merger-demerger whatever. In one word, I’ll call it regressive. A waste of everyone’s time and resources. Ngabih  boreh.

If this ill-conceived merger is not reversed, it will be a tragedy.

When I enrolled into the faculty in 1982, UiTM was still just an “institute” but its School of Mass Communications, the brainchild of some of hte country’s finest intellects, was churning out quality journalists, broadcasters, pr practitioners and advertising execs. Today the faculty’s influence on the country’s media landscape is indisputable.

The varsity should be looking into ways to expand its comms and media studies faculty’s capabilites in order to address the various challenges posed by social media, cyber security, and tiktok. Its comms faculty should be leading national efforts to help the nation deal with cyber security issues, fake news, online scams, 

Read also: After UKM, now UiTM stops pro-democracy forum

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Rm1.3 billion projects in Sabah just tip of iceberg (Now we know what they all did just days before the Nov 19 GE)

KL, 10 Jan: Poor pundits sure got themselves worked up for nothing by the so-called Sabah political condunrum. Was it even that - a conundrum - in the first place? Joniston Bangkuai, the state assemblyman for Kiulu, laughed it off: 

“Just a storm in a tea cup,” he told me. “Our ship remains steady.”

Indeed. Just days after threatening to bring down the Hajiji-led state government, Umno/BN strongman Bung Mokhtar, a controversial figure in Malaysian politics, finds himself face down in the political crap of his own making. His attempt at political blackmail, which is what this conundrum really is according to some political observers, has brought about a terrible backlash, not just against himself but Umno and BN in the state. 

Chief Minister Hajiji Noor himself seems unaffected, if not stronger than before. There is a sense of finality to this when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, fresh from his quick visit to Jakarta, said Hajiji had his support to continue leading the state goverment. Read HERE.

“Touching,” Joniston said, “that a few upright Umno state assemblymen (in the state) have stayed clear of those out to topple the CM and continued to support Hajiji.

“What is even more significant is the support of the seven Aduns from (Anwar Ibrahim’s) Pakatan Harapan.”

Under Hajiji’s leadership, Sabah, always one the poorest states in Malaysia, posted RM6.6 billion in revenues in 2022, its largest ever, and a healthy RM33 billion in investment.

“To put it in a nutshell, there is really no reason to disrupt the encouraging development momentum or to replace the Chief Minister,” Joniston added.

But all the reasons in the world now for the relevant authorities to rush in and investigate claims that some of those behind the failed coup had hastily given out some RM1.3 billion worth of projects during the days leading up to the recent general elections in November. 

Were those projects given out to cronies with blatant disregard of proper procedures? Were proceeds from those projects used for the election? Or did people pocket the money for themselves?

People believe Hajiji became a target for the coup after he reportedly refused to sign off the RM1.3 billion projects.

Interestingly, we’ve been hearing that the same thing also happened in several ministries in the Federal government just prior to the GE. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is already onto one corporation that was said to have almost emptied its coffers in the days leading up to the elections, according to my sources. 

I guess we’ll know more soon enough …


Read also:

Kinabalu coup bid shows Anwar is weak: poor pundits

Bung mahu Shafie Apdal, lantik Salleh Menteri Kewangan, ambil semula RM1.3 bilion tidak dilulus MOF Sabah

Krisis Sabah: Ini semua salah Haji, kata Shafie Apdal