"TH took appropriate measures" after Zeti's letter, according to Bank Negara in 2016

Bangsar, 9 April: Federal Territory Minister Khalid Samad's bungling  of Kiara Park  has convinced many that older brother Shahrir, the original FT Minister and former Felda chairman, is the smarter sibling by far. If I had any doubts about that in the first place, Shahrir's posting on Facebook in defence of Tabung Haji (and, specifically, the previous management of TH) yesterday might have restored my faith:

For context, the new management of Tabung Haji, the pilgrimage fund, has just announced a hibah of 1.25 per cent, a mighty drop from the heavenly dividends depositors enjoyed under the previous management/old government. The PH government blames it on "poor management and governance in the past" (TH dividends see sharp drop for 2018 - FMT). A Bank Negara letter to TH in Dec 2015 was used to back this claim: the letter is supposed to show that TH had been in trouble even back then but he previous management/government weren't listening.

But did the previous management of TH respond/listen to the central bank's letter? Apparently, according to Shahrir, it did. This was evident in the Bank Negara's press statement in Jan 2016, a month of so after it had sent the advisory to the management of TH.

Here was what the Bank Negara had to say:

In relation to Lembaga Tabung Haji, the institution has proactively taken appropriate measures to further strengthen its risk management practices, both on its own initiative and in response to earlier engagements with the Bank. These will reinforce a sustainable and healthy financial position of the institution going forward. 

Read the Bank Negara's full press statement Surveillance of non

-bank financial institutions dated 26 Jan 2016. Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's oft-(mis)quoted letter to TH was dated 23 Dec 2015.

Which also means that Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, the PKR sec-gen, wasn't telling quite the truth when he said that "nasihat BNM tidak didengari oleh pemerintahan dahulu" (the BNM's advice was not heeded to by the previous government). Read Bank Negara pernah tegur Tabung Haji cara bayar hibah - Utusan, 6 April).

Back to Khalid Samad, he hasn't commented on TH for quite a while. His last tweet Google recalled for me was Dec last year:

:-)

Ex-Utusan vs Utusan Part 2

Baharom

TTDI, 4 April: Until August last year, Baharon Mahusin was still tipped to take over the top editorial post of Utusan Malaysia. He was at the time the editor of Kosmo, a steady brand in Utusan's fledgling stable of publications, and was considered "the future" of the the Utusan group.

Another chap in the running for the post was UiTM alumni president Zaini Hassan, the combative Cuit Sikit columnist. If Baharom was viewed as politically moderate and technologically savvy, Zaini was the direct opposite - technologically moderate and politicly savvy -  or so a blogger told me at the time.

Zaini

But a few post-general election changes in the ownership and management of Utusan later, both seasoned journalists found themselves on the way out. 

Zaini wasted no time in helping found bebasnews.my (read also Ex-Utusan vs Utusan) with several other former Utusan journalists in December.  

Yesterday, Kumpulan Karangkraf Media appointed Baharum as its Group Editor-in-Chief cum Chief Content Executive. Karangkraf chairman Hussamuddin Yaacub said Baharum will be the one to transform Sinar Harian,  set its next direction and enhance its branding so as to  "compete with the other mainstream newspapers". 

Quite a move by a media conglomerate that has seen happy growth while most others slide by being a constant throb in the government's side ... 

Note: I first blogged about Sinar Harian in July 2006 h e r e.

Returning to the National Press Club

Challenging and exciting times, indeed

Jalan Tangsi, April 1: The first time I relinquished the NPC presidency, in 2007, was mainly due to an ongoing court case against me the blogger and the fact that I was no more attached to a formal news outlet after parting ways with the NST, my employer for 21 years, a year earlier. Other than a fortnightly column with a Singapore newspaper, I was not writing for any of the local papers and was considered a full-time blogger then. Blogging was new and constantly under siege and we had just set up the National Alliance of Bloggers (with uber bloggers Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Jeff Ooi, A. Kadir Jasin, Kickdefella, A Voice, 3540 Jalan Sudin, Eli Wong, Susan Loone, Patrick Teoh and many more). I wanted to focus on the All Blogs. I was its first (and only) president.

The second time I let go of the NPC presidency, in 2013, I had just left The Malay Mail (my second - and much shorter - tour of duty as editor at the tabloid; the first was from 2001 to 2006) and I wanted to concentrate on the newly-formed Blog House (the organisation to replace the All Blogs, which had faded after two of its office bearers won the general election of 2008). I was the All Blogs advisor.

Last Wednesday, I had just returned from an international Press event in Spain when the guys called up to ask me to attend the National Press Club's 27th Annual General Meeting at its clubhouse in Jalan Tangsi, Kuala Lumpur. Bernama deputy editor-in-chief Datuk Mokhtar Hussain, who succeeded me in 2013, had already informed me the week before that he wasn't seeking re-election as president of the NPC. 

For reasons (some of which) captured in the following interview with twentytwo13.my, and due to the exciting and ever-changing political and media landscapes, I decided to offer to come back and serve the NPC to the best of my ability.

Wish me and the new team luck.

To read the twentytwo13 article, click h e r e.
Read also: The National Press Club has a new president by Bernama

After the Christchurch mosque massacre, we still want the Death Penalty banned?

Erdogan urges NZ to restore the death penalty

KL, 20 March: The Christchurch massacre teaches us a lot of things. One of them is that the campaign by some Malaysians to ban the death penalty is foolish and unjust.  

Brenton Tarrant, who mercilessly gunned down scores of unarmed Muslim civilians during Friday prayers last week, will live. Imagine that. Oh, sure, he has been charged and they say he "faces unprecedented sentence" but, be that as it may, he will live happily ever after. 

Why? Because there is no death sentence in New Zealand (and in Australia, the killer's country of birth). 

In New Zealand, being found guilty of murder usually comes with a minimum of 10 years in jail before possible parole. Imagine that! The longest-ever murder sentence imposed in New Zealand was in 2001 when a judge sentenced William Bell to life imprisonment with a 30-year minimum term for a triple murder. Which works out - yup - to 10 year's per life taken, give and take a couple of years. 

Tarrant knows this and obviously he does not want to die (otherwise, he'd have killed himself after the massacre, which is what they usually do). This man recorded the whole heinous act so apparently he fancies that one day he would be able to discuss what he'd done and why. Books will be written about him. Maybe even a movie. Heck, I won't rule out a video games. Along the way, they might try to make him out to be the "real" victim. Eventually, a hero. Others would want to emulate him. 

Elsewhere, including here in Malaysia, Tarrant would pay for his heinous crime with his own life. He would get justice.

I believe that the laws we have today, here in Malaysia, especially the death penalty, is the reason why we still live, work and pray in peace. Many didn't give it much thought before  but now, after the massacre in New Zealand, many believe the death penalty does not mean that life is cheap; on the contrary, it reminds us of how precious life is. 

Read also:

"How many countries do we have to cite as examples to show that the death penalty isn’t the magic pill to solve crime? In the Global Peace Index, the top seven safest countries – Iceland, New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, Denmark, Canada and the Czech Republic – have all abolished the death penalty." - Abolishing the death penalty: Q&A with Ambiga Sreenevasan and Ding Jo-Ann, November 2018