From America with love, Nazri tells Hamzah to stop going after his own MPs for exercising their freedom of expression

The six “rogue” Bersatu MPs

KL, 5 April: Malaysia’s envoy to the US Nazri Aziz is living proof that a posh posting overseas needn’t necessarily be a “cold storage” aimed at silencing a good politician. In fact, I believe the man Umno calls “Chief” will speak his mind on critical domestic political issues even if they send him to Uranus as our ambassador. 

MALAYSIA

Six Bersatu MPs who declared support for PM Anwar don’t have to vacate their seats, says Nazri Aziz

Astro Awani reports: Nazri, who is Padang Rengas Umno chief, said the six Bersatu MPs do not have to vacate their seats as they did not violate the Anti-Party Hopping law.  

The main purpose of implementing the Anti-Party Hopping Act was to prevent attempts to topple the government such as the “Sheraton Move” back in 2020.

“I was one of the committee members of the Anti-Party Hopping Act in Parliament at that time.

“What the six MPs did does not bring down the government, but strengthened it and they never declared to leave the party.

“They give support not to topple the government, but to strengthen the government,” he said.

A trained lawyer, Nazri was our Law Minister for a while so his views on the matter aren’t mere rhetorics. But Hamzah Zainuddin, the Opposition Leader from Bersatu party who said he would get the six “rogue” Bersatu MPs by amending the party’s constitution (which was approved by the ROS last Tuesday), may end up eating humble pie.

From the same news article:

Nazri also stressed that the Anti-Party Hopping Act was implemented to prevent MPs from gaining profit from the seats they won.

He explained that MPs could have traded their parliamentary seats for personal gain if it wasn’t for the Act.

“With this Act in place, no MPs can any longer gain profit by demanding a certain amount in return for their support. Therefore, this Act has prevented MPs from profiting from the seats they won,” he was quoted as saying.

Nazri, who is also the Malaysian Ambassador to the United States, said that the issue of declaring support for Anwar is part of freedom of expression and is a fundamental right of Parliament guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

“They are free to support or vote for any Bill presented by the government and Bersatu can’t stop them through their recent party constitution amendment” 

Nazri also said the Anti-Party Hopping law also enacted to save government expenses as there is no need to hold by-elections as some parties tends to intentionally vacate their seats.

“It is very irresponsible if Bersatu wants six by-elections to be held simply because of revenge and anger towards the six MPs. 

“They made a decision to support their prime minister for the sake of their voters without leaving the party, so why is Bersatu so angry?”

 

Hamzah, who resigned from UMNO after the party’s fall in the 2018 general election to join Mahathir Mohamad-Muhyiddin Yassin’s Bersatu, told his six MPs on Tuesday (after the ROS had approved the party’s Constitution amendments, that they would lose their seats. 

Excerpts from the FMT’s Safe? Waif for our surprise:

One of the six Bersatu MPs, Suhaili Abdul Rahman, yesterday said he would not have to vacate his seat as the amended constitution only took effect on April 1.

He pointed out that he and the five other Bersatu MPs had declared their support for Anwar between last October and January

However, Hamzah told Suhaili it was not up to Suhaili to determine if he and the other five MPs would have to relinquish their positions.

“Suhaili may claim they are safe, but it’s not up to him to decide,” Hamzah said.

While Hamzah did not reveal what steps Bersatu would be taking against the six MPs, he stressed that they would be in accordance with the law.

“I won’t show them my cards,” he said.

The six Bersatu MPs are Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang) and Tanjong Karang MP Datuk Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi.

They had expressed support for Anwar to ensure that their constituencies receive the promised federal funds for infrastructure and development.

A massive new eyesore just next to Rimba Kiara

TTDI, 11/Feb: I turned into a dragon yesterday, the first day of the new lunar year, as we walked up towards the Kiara hill, once my favourite grounds for walking, trekking and bicycling. I was breathing fire, I was fuming, not due to the exertion of the hike (I hadn’t been hiking for months) but at seeing this monstrosity that greeted us as we walked towards the guardhouse that marks the entrance of this (so-called) private road leading to KLGCC, a golf club for the richer than rich.

Where there used to be just blue skies, 
there is now … this!

Called Jendela (which means window in Malay), this monstrosity is a gigantic condominium project proudly brought to us by Sime Darby Properties. I’m not sure how many blocks of condo there are but they are located on the fringes of KLGCC, which is part of KL’s last major green lung. Construction had started sometime during the pandemic, I believe. I remember the guards politely turning the poor, unsuspecting cyclists away from the so-called private road (which had for years provided the cyclists safe access to Bukit Damansara and beyond). We were told that it was unsafe for us to use the so-called private road because of some kind of construction or other.

This was around the same time residents of TTDI were waging a bitter battle against the (previous) government over a most greedy and unlawful plan to build multiple condo complexes in Rimba Kiara, part of that green lung area. 

The TTDI residents would eventually win the battle to save Rimba Kiara. 

If they had known about the plans for Jendela, I’m sure the residents and their MP Hannah Yeoh would have considered including Sime Darby’s condos in their battle against the City Hall, the developers and the then Federal Territoties Ministry who had no qualms about robbing ordinary citizens of their precious green lung for profits.

There is no stopping Sime Darby now but as Jendela nears completion, the residents of TTDI will have to prepare for a new mission impossible - how to ensure there would be no traffic bottlenecks in the area once their new neighbours move into their new condos. I reckon each unit would have 2-3 vehicles, at least. Where are they going to park their Bentleys and Mercs?

To be continued …

Billionaires, billionaire politicians and now billionaire kings!

The Curve, 1/feb: Did you know how many zeros there are in a billion? Of course, you didn’t. I doubt if those billionaires knew, either, which is probably why they generally fail to declare their wealth to the taxman. And for a resource-rich nation that should have done much better economically, Malaysia does seem to have more than its fair share of billionaires. Several are right now being investigated and interrogated by the anti-graft authorities. There are politicians among them and there are several more on the ringside shaking in their boots, waiting for their turn to be called in by the MACC.

And now, thanks to the influential wire agencies, we have a billionaire King!

1,000,000,000: Nine zeroes in a billion

 Just read some of the headlines on the coronation of Sultan Ibrahim’s as the 17th Agong of Malaysia:

1. Billionaire Sultan takes Malaysia crown as royals gain influence - The Edge 

2. Billionaire Sultan Ibrahim sworn is (sic) the new king of Malaysia - AP

3. Malaysia swears in motorbike-riding billionaire as new king under rotating monarchy system - Daily Mail

4. “… half-British billionaire ..” - Straits Times 

 

5. “Malaysia’s new king is a Billionaire with a collection of 300 luxury cars, his own private army and family ties to Hitler” - Business Insider

Note that none of our own newspapers, online or otherwise, tv & radio, news portals or prominent social media platforms use “billionaire” to define Tuanku Ibrahim’s, the 17th YDPA. I don’t know why but perhaps the Malaysian editors think it is impolite to do so, even though the Palace has not protested the wire reports that estimate His Majesty’s wealth to be around USD5.7 billion. 

That kind of wealth places our billionaire Agong well within the top 10 richest persons in Malaysia. In comparison, though, the Sultan of Brunei’s car collection alone is  said to be worth USD5 billion! 

Anyway, Selamat Hari Wilayah Persekutuan! Happy Federal Territories Day.

Now what did the Sultan of Selangor ever do to piss off this Aussie in Hatyai?

Damansara, 29/jan: I am usually sympathetic towards fellow bloggers who get their blogs blocked but in the case of Murray Hunter, an Australian residing in Hatyai after years of making a living in Malaysia, the poor gentleman has got it coming. 

The MCMC took his blog down two days ago, according to Hunter himself, following his latest posting on the Shah Alam stadium - Approval to demolish Shah Alam Stadium given under strange circumstances.

“Blocked once again without being advised by MCMC. Looks like Malaysia going back to the dark ages,” Hunter said on X. 

But do read his posting on what he calls the “publicly unpopular” stadium project. In my opinion, the offending article was littered with biased suppositions, insinuations, and half truths that would lead to fake news and disinformation. And these he was making 500km away in Hatyai. 

I think you’d agree that Hunter crossed the line whenm he suggested that the “strange circumstances” had something to do with “pressure from the palace”.

Hunter even invoked a section in the Selangor Constitution that spells out the scope of power - or, rather the limitations - of the Sultan and proceeded to conclude that, “Thus, the issuance of the demolition order may in fact be unconstitutional. The state legal advisor must give an opinion on this matter.’

This wasn’t the first time Hunter has attacked the much-anticipated Shah Alam stadium project. It makes one wonder about this foreigner’s fixation. Why, isn’t there anything worth criticising or unearthing in Hatyai and Thailand? 

And I keep thinking also: who’s putting Hunter up to it? It cannot be coincidence that a day after the article appeared, sacked PKR politician Abdul Razak Ismail reared his head once again to challenge the Shah Alam project. I have written about this Malay gentleman before the general election last year - Defamation suit over Stadium project: Party Hijau’s Razak Ismail has no cause to whine unless …