Why Fauzi Shaari and Yusof ZA could be doing PDRM and the AG a great favour

Updated:

How Anwar plays it: Anwar Ibrahim, of course - and you can't blame him, really, did not waste the chance to play the opposite sides (Yusof vs former boss AG Gani Patail), as the excerpts from this report quoted by Din Merican shows:

Anwar welcomed Yusof’s participation in the defence team, disclosing that he had checked whether he was available and then contacted him.

“As you can see, (Yusof played) a role in the preliminary stage with Karpal, and is not here to make up the numbers.

“Yusof’s participation shows that he does not condone this … politically-motivated charge.

“There are many who are in the AG’s Chambers who hold the same view and are waiting for the right time to be with me.”

His willingness to join the defence team “is a clear perception that not all in the government condone” such action.

Anwar added that some have been of the view that Yusof should have been appointed the AG.

Original posting

Playing both sides now. Those born to hate the PDRM and the Attorney-General Chamber, or for that matter the Establishment and its institutions, tend to align them with Umno. Examples abound. My old friend Commander (Rtd) S. Thaya, who used to serve a pro-government NGO before becoming a columnist with a pro-Anwar portal, is so bold as to label our Royal Police as "The armed division of UMNO" (May 2, 12), a sentiment echoed by Suara Keadilan on May 9 in A Shitty Affair! PDRM: The Empire Strickes Back - The Armed Division of Umno.

When it suits them, they will label not just the police and the AG but also the judiciary, the media, the forensics and everybody else that did not agree with them (and that they did not agree with) as conspirators against the truth, justice, Anwar Ibrahim, etc. Example, this piece here by some lawyers who were so sure that Anwar would be convicted for sodomy. How wrong they turned out to be -  Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted! 

And you can't blame people if they suspect, rightly or wrongly, that the acquittal may have something to do with former Solicitor-General ll Yusof Zainal Abidin, who was the lead prosecutor against Anwar in the Sodomy 2 case and who earlier today re-emerged from early retirement as the defender of Anwar, who has been charged for his involvement in the Bersih 3.0 riots. 

Yusof - Anwar Ibrahim's secret weapon?. 

 (Asked about his involvement in Anwar's case ...) Yusof said: "He called me last night, I was willing and able."

He also said that "he was not joining any political party" and that he was an "advocate and solicitor and a free agent".

He said that he took optional retirement in February and had his own law firm and was the only employee in the firm.

Karpal, when asked how he felt about having Yusof onboard said: "This is his first case as a defence counsel. Let's see how he goes, we are there to guide him and anyway he is a very experienced prosecutor".

Karpal also said that when he heard on Monday night that Yusof would be joining the team, he was taken aback.

"Quite incongruous, difficult to reconcile, nevertheless he has opted to be on our side."

Read more: Anwar, 2 others charged over April 28 rally - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/anwar-2-others-charged-over-april-28-rally-1.86479#ixzz1vagMhFkT

Difficult to reconcile, indeed.

Well, still think the PDRM is an extension of UMNO?

Meet Fauzi Shaari, the former Federal CID director who has just joined PAS, admitted that he was a closet fan of the so-called Islamic party since his teens. Read Former CID Director Fauzi joins PAS. He is even advocating the hudud laws for all in Malaysia but "we are living in a multiracial country. We need to make the people understand about Islam and hudud before implementing it".

Was Fauzi Shaari the only PAS supporter happily drawing good salaries and perks from the PDRM/government, never mind if the PAS ulamas would surely rule it as duit haram? Not likely, right?

That's why I say Yusof and Fauzi could be doing not just UMNO but also the AGC and the PDRM a favour. They are living proofs that these institutions are not aligned to a single political party or ideology.  Only people like Commander Thaya and Malaysiakini and their political masters want us to believe that that is the case, because it would be to their advantage if people are gullible enough to believe so.

Anas Zubedy's scoop on Tunku Aziz vs Lim Guan Eng

A DAP Parody. Would you believe that Tunku Aziz (pic), the quintessential Malay gentleman, the former Towering Malay according to the DAP, had yelled at Lim Guan Eng during one of the the party's central committee meetings? I found it hard to believe. The Tunku supposedly lost his temper and screamed, "Lu ingat ini DAP bapa lu punya ka?". Wow!

Anas Zubedy cooks up the story in LGE & Tunku Aziz - The Real Story, The Straw that Broke the Camel's Back

Malaysia's press freedom, indie journos, start a joke

Government "advisers" in a newsroom. I have a soft spot for the Centre for Independent Journalism. When Jeff Ooi and I were sued by a newspaper giant back in Jan 2007 (mine later became the first case of a newspaper dragging a blogger to court), it was the CIJ that initiated a campaign against the newspaper company. I can't say the same about a lot of my colleagues n the MSM back then, they were employees and they were friends of the people who were suing me, the same journos who recently got together in Kuala Lumpur to form a group to press for greater freedom for "independent" journalists. Hurrah! A new-found courage to fight injustices against journos, including against the police for beating up journos during the Bersih 3.0. Better late than never Still, I couldn't help wondering, where were they when their own newspaper and editorial bosses were beating bloggers up?

But I digress. What I wanted to do is draw your attention to a CIJ report on Press Freedom, as reported by the "financially indepedent (sic) state newspaper Selangor Times": 

.... Meanwhile, CIJ also credited the Selangor and Penang governments led by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for demonstrating a greater understanding of civil liberties, especially by introducing freedom of information laws.

However, the media watchdog noted that Selangor had two advisers, who vet its content before it goes to print, in financially independent state newspaper Selangor Times, .

“Whether Selangor Times will be able to maintain its independence will be a good indication of how a potential PR Federal government would behave if it came to power,” said CIJ in its report.

 (Editor’s note: The Selangor government does not interfere in the operations or editorial content of the Selangor Times.)

Read full story here.

The CIJ should have told it as it is. Since the last General Election in 2008, Lim Guan Eng has declared war against the MSM in Penang, especially NST and Utusan Malaysia. In Selangor, Khalid Ibrahim has set aside millions on a state-controlled media network. Anwar Ibrahim, Teresa Kok, Azmin Ali and many other Pakatan leaders have filed multi-million ringgit suits against journalists and their organisations in this country. Freedom of Information? What freedom of information?


The CIJ should not beat around the bush. These people promised us greater freedom and their state governments should now walk their talk. 


Still, I'd like to commend the CIJ. If not for their good work, we would not have known that the Selangor state government stations two "advisers" on the Selangor Times editorial floor to "vet its content before it goes to print".


And the Editor says the Selangor state government does not interfere in its operations or editorial content. He should listen to the Bee Gee's I Started A Joke.


 Long live Robin Gibb. 

The Malays in DAP after Tunku Aziz

DAP's Malay twin towers: Aspan and Sak flank Kit Siang

... and the RM50k-a-month year offer. Before embarking on the 4-day, 1000km Kembara Mahkota Johor 2012 last Sunday, I did a positng on Tunku Aziz Ibrahim. He was still a DAP member then, although an unhappy one. When I re-entered the Malaysian political blogosphere this morning, Tunku Aziz has quit the party. The man they called "the Towering Malay" when he joined the DAP 4 years ago was effectively forced to quit for daring to voice his "personal views" on Bersih 3.0, a desperate Pakatan Rakyat's political lifeline.

Twin Towers. There aren't many notable Malays in the DAP to start with. You have, perhaps, Aspan Alias and Dato's Sabri aka Sakmongkol who joined the party quite recently, and there is Khir Johari's son, Zairil. 

The collapse of the so-called Towering Malay is, of course, an opportunity for Aspan and Sakmongkol to get an early promotion in the DAP. But neither is of Tunku Aziz's class; in fact, both are seen no more than just two more disgruntled ex-UMNO men. Most DAP members don't trust either of them and in light of the damage Tunku Aziz has done to their party, I reckon they'd truth the two Malays even less now.

At the heart of the matter is DAP's own lost credibility. As Tay Tian Yan the deputy editor-in-chief of Sin Chew puts it bluntly, the departure of Tunku Aziz signifies the banishment of DAP's ideals.

Tunku joined DAP all because of an aspiration, thinking his move could propel the nation's democracy and progress ... When this party begins to lose its ideals to favouritism and utilitarianism, its culture begins to recede.

Tay blames the "populism and fanatism that are beginning to take shape within (the DAP".

These people are eager to drift with popular sentiments, and lose the rational thinking and democratic traits the party enshrines.  

As if that is not enough, DAP has found itself infiltrated by a bunch of mundane folks lacking in both democratic qualities and political ideologies. 

Tay could be referring to Zairil, or to Lim Guan Eng himself ...

As these people ascend the leadership ladder, they begin to create issues and foes while engaging themselves in all sorts of seditious and provocative tricks, causing the moderate thinking to feel disgruntled and disenchanted.

Under the spell of populism and fanaticism, the party surrenders its capacity to think and debate logically, rendering it less tolerant to criticisms.

Read Tay's article in the Sin Chew, Democratic Ideals Banished, h e r e.

The sensational RM50,000 offer by the party to Tunku Aziz has worsened matters. For years, the DAP has been at the forefront in accusing parties linked to the Barisan Nasional of practising money politics. The RM50k offer made to Tunku Aziz is money politcs, Dr Chandra Muzaffar, who was a deputy president of PKR, says.

"I think the matter should be brought to MACC. This is an attempt to buy a person to stay in the party."

Go read The MOLE's RM50,000 is money politics. 

Zairil Khir Johari has since "regretted" the consequences of the offer here.

IMHO, there is no future for the Malays in DAP. The DAP is not a place for Malays who think that their views can be accepted. And the DAP will not have a future if tries to be what it can't be. It is a Chinese-based party and should not pretend that it is not.

Chinese Press: Tunku Aziz and DAP's Paradise Lost

John Milton's Paradise Lost is an epic poem based on stories from the Bible, written by one of the greatest English poets. It's about the battle between Satan and God's Angels, between good and bad, Adam and Eve, the desire for Freedom and the lost of innocence, among other things. It is interesting to see how my old friend Tay Ting Hean of Sin Chew is lost for words in his analysis of the Tunku Aziz's fall from grace in the DAP, so much so he had to depend on Milton to help him with the breakdown of the problems.

Tiga tahun lalu, Tengku Abdul Aziz masuk parti DAP dengan sambutan ramai orang yang begitu meriah. Inilah kali pertama DAP sejak ia ditubuhkan mencipta sejarah kerana dapat mempengaruhi orang Melayu yang berkedudukan begitu tinggi dan berpengaruh manjadi ahli dalam parti. 

Jawatan Kerusi timbalan presiden diserahkan kepada beliau, supaya dapat mengunakan pengaruh Tengku Abdul Aziz menaikkan kewibawaan DAP, dimana DAP anggap DAP telah bertukar wajah baru, menjadi sebuah parti yang benar-benar terbuka untuk semua kaum, selepas itu tidak lagi takut dituduh sebagai parti Cina chauviis..

I'm not sure how many of use is familiar with Milton's work or the interpretations of Paradise Lost. I'm still wondering: Is Tunku Aziz the Satan in Tay's own Paradise Lost or does that refer to Lim Guan Eng? Who lost, the DAP or Bersih or Tunku Aziz?

What's certain is, something good was lost that day on April 28.

Read in my Little Chinese Bru the translation of Sin Chew Tay's Paradise Lost.

Malaysiakini says sorry to ex-SC chairman and hubby

Kini says sorry to her

Withdraw, Retract, and Apology, x2. It is rare to catch Malaysiakini saying sorry for what it has published but to get a double apology on the same day over the same story from the hard-hitting independent pro-Opposition news site is almost never! But that's exactly what former Securities Commission chairman Zarinah Anwar and husband Azizan Abdul Rahman got today ... Click Apology to Zarinah and Azizan. 

Why the apology does not spell out Zarinah's name in full leaves one wondering, Usually, news organisations pay attention to such details after they have screwed up big time. In any case, it is good to note that news portals are behaving more like mainstream media these days in that they can be convinced to apologize for their /honest mistakes or/and their malice. It's good for the profession.

Now that the Malaysiakini has said sorry for using the Asia Sentinel article, Asia Sentinel should also apologize to Zarinah and Azizan. It's only right.

Blogger gets "accident" threat over Bersih postings

Spanking the Monkey blogger Dave Avran lodged a police report in Puchong this morning after getting a "friendly call" from a man who asked him to stop blogging about Bersih's Ambiga or risk an "accident". I've known Avran as a blogger since before I started blogging (in 2006) and can tell you that this guy does not make up stories. So when he told me about the call, I urged him to lodge a police report and ask our friendly Bandar Kinrara cops to check up on him once in a while ...

The call wasn't the only think that got him uneasy. Read Is the Spanker Famous or Infamous?

Time to bring real aviation experts onto MAS board

Bashir, served MAS in the good years

Other than Md Nor Yusof, the chairman himself, the new board of Malaysia Airlines after the share swap and the hurried departure of Tony Fernandes and Din Meranun is now without a single soul that can claim to have even some aviation background in their past endeavors. 

YB Wee Choo Keong, who isn't letting up on his campaign to get all Air Asia "imports" out of MAS management, has proposed that the new Board bring on board some people with aviation knowledge and network. 

He's proposed two names: Tan Sri Aziz Rahman, a former MD of Malaysia Airlines, and Tan Sri Bashir, the Malaysia Airports boss who served MAS during the national carrier's good years.

Aziz .. Has advised foreign airlines

I hear Khazanah is talking about getting an international aviation name on board MAS. Good idea. But only if it doesn't turn its back on the local talents.

Councillors who don't know BM and a certain "powerful MP"

The letter DAP won't publish. The "emperors" in DAP don't tolerate dissent, full stop. Look at what happened to YB Wee Choo Keong. And Lee Lam Thye. As it is, the ex-Transparency International man Tunku Aziz, described not so long ago by the DAP leadership as a Towering Malay when he decided to join the party, belongs to the gutters and is an "embarrassment to the party" for daring to spell out his personal views on Bersih 3.0. 

The emperors are, therefore, not going to be too happy today. The Star has the story of a another "suicidal" DAP chap. His name is Dr Cheah Wing Yin and he is the state assemblyman of Damansara Utama. He has written a letter to Lim Kit Siang and son, Karpal and Dr Chen Man Hin telling them that the four years of Pakatan Rakyat rule in Selangor has been "a comedy of error". Read DAP rep flays Pakatan.

Dr Cheah is unhappy with a few things, including the appointment of a fresh grad as a councilor in the state, DAP councilors who could not write or read Bahasa Melayu, the national language, and a certain "powerful MP" who had "the final say" on the appointment of the councilors. 

The article did not say who the "powerful MP" is but the newspaper made an attempt to contact Selangor DAP chairman YB Teresa Kok, who is the Seputeh MP. As a former editor, I can tell you usually that means that the newspaper knows, or at least suspects, that she is the "powerful MP" meant by Dr Cheah in his stinging letter. 

And usually, when this happens, the emperors will issue a gag order to shut everyone up.

The Felda Settler's Wife

Pix by Hussein, The Mole

According to Big Dog, the traffic jam to Jengka 8 yesterday where the PM was to meet one of the largest gatherings of Felda settlers the country has seen, was 6km-long, at least. It was like Hari Raya. And, indeed, there was a festival-like air over the Felda settlement, people who were there reported. An estimated 40,000 pairs of ears listened to Najib Razak, whose father the late Tun Razak, Malaysia's 2nd Prime Minister, was largely credited for a scheme that today has benefited over 112,000 families and the nation's economy.

To some, RM15,000 may be a small sum. But according to Big Dog, who was there to cover the event for The Mole (read his report here), there were tears and shouts of joy all around him at the Felda settlement. When the PM announced that RM5,000 of the windfall was meant for the wife of the settler, he saw some of the Felda ladies broke down. If you know Big Dog, you will be able to imagine him standing near one of the ladies and, as soon as she looks up to him, he would ask: "Why are you crying?"

It's the recognition the PM is giving to the settler's wife. All this while, it was all about the settler, the settler and the settler. Finally, someone's paying tribute to the sacrifices and hardship of the wives of the settlers.

But only one wife gets the RM5,000. If the settler has two wives or more, pandai2lah dia.


As for the IPO itself, the NST says there is BIG investor interest. 

The Economist on Najib's image after Bersih

More evidence is crawling out of cyberspace about what really sparked the violence at the end of Bersih 3 on April 28. In the clip above, Azmin Ali's words and intentions were as clear as day.

Even The Economist had to concede that Najib Razak's reputation as a reformist has remained intact despite Bersih 3.0:

Mr Anwar had some explaining of his own to do. He was caught on video near one of the police barricades talking to one of his colleagues; critics allege that he was inciting supporters to push aside the barriers. Mr Anwar himself says this is nonsense. 

Either way, it is clear that Bersih won’t be able to dominate the moral high ground—at least not on the score of one weekend’s theatrics—as they did last year. The campaign for electoral reform goes on, but Mr Najib emerges from this year’s fracas with his reformist credentials essentially intact, not much worse for the wear. - READ MORE

Read also Sin Chew vs The Economist, views on Bersih

Xenophon, we know what you did on April 28

Mr X showing a finger

OZ lawmaker was breaking the law of THIS land! And who happened to invite this Australian lawmaker to Malaysia during the Bersih 3 riots? Correct anwswer, Anwar Ibrahim. Why was he invited here? Did he have a hand in starting the mayhem on April 28? Did he beat up any of our police officers? As a lawmaker, surely he knew that as a non-citizen, he had no right to take part Bersih 3 or any assembly in Malaysia.

I hope the authorities don't place Xeno above our laws. Since he's going to sue NST already, well, see him in court!

Thanks again to SatD for his timely legal input and extraordinary research. We need an AG like him. Go to his blog HERE to leave your comments..


p.s. We also now know that this close pal of our Opposition leader is a great anti-oil palm campaigner (go to this article from Oil Palm Truth Foundation, thanks to some serious research work by Pasquale in Nicholas Xenophony of Australia campaigns to label Malaysian palm oil as unsafe ... and he is a good friend of Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim?!!. 

Where were the batons during Bersih 3?

This image of a cop defending himself - and public peace - with his baton has stayed on my mind since Labour Day, when the picture was taken during an Occupy Wall Street demo in New York. Read here. I was wondering why our "riot" police during Bersih 3 did not look this impressive. 

Someone pointed out that our cops did not have their batons. The IGP had instructed batons to be taken away form every policeman covering Bersih 3, it seems. Betul ke? No can do, IGP. Next time you want to send in your boys to meet a mob, equip them with the basics at least.

No wonder the cops used their legs and fists, just like the Bersih thugs.

Tunku Aziz to Bersih organisers: "You are no angels"

Tunku Aziz had warned all of them. The DAP newcomer said Bersih 3 would lead to mob violence. They wouldn't listen. They gave him hell. They told him to stay at home and play with his grand kids. DAP big boss' son Lim Guan Eng found it apt to openly reprimand the old man, told everyone that the statement by the Melayu had "embarrassed" the party.

Then the mob did get violent. Like all mass street protests anywhere in the world, things got out of hand.

Now Tunku Aziz tells Bersih organisers: you guys are no angels so don't blame others for the violence that erupted during Bersih 3. Orang Melayu kata: Itulah, tak dengar cakap orang tua-tua. Listen to your elders. Respect them.

Read The MOLE's interview with a defiant Tunku Aziz, post Bersih 3.0

Another old man - THE old man - has just written about Bersih 3. He said if elections in our country were not clean and fair, how is it that the ruling party has never been able to wrest Kelantan from PAS? Why did it lose Sabah? Penang in 1969 and again in 2008? How could it lose FIVE STATES and the two-thirds majority just in the last general elections?

13. So why the demonstrations and the demands for the elections to be clean and fair? Well should the opposition lose in the States or at the Federal levels, then one can safely assume that the opposition will claim that the Government had not conducted the elections fairly, that the Government cheated. 

14. There would then be more demonstrations, perhaps bigger and more violent ...

Read Dr M's Bersih 3. Sometimes we must listen to our elders.

Stupid Stupefied. Still on Bersih 3, you've got to watch and listen to this exchange between one of the Bersih 3.0 leaders ( who is now on the police WANTED list) and an expat journalist.

Footage courtesy for Dr Novandri.

Serve the yellow* bitch right. And so much for Bersih respecting us journalists! Good for the dude. I hear he is an expat who's been a photographer for one of the foreign wire agencies. Not really sure what went on earlier but the Malaysian woman spewing expletives and racist remarks was totally stupefied by his response in crisp Bahasa Melayu. I suspect she can't hold a conversation in BM.

* reference to t-shirt colour, not skin