Restructuring federal-state relations: Critical issue in next polls

Aliran

Power must be devolved, decision-making must be decentralised, and development funds must be shared all the way down, asserts
Francis Loh
.

An important issue in the next general election, no doubt, must be the restructuring of federal-state relations. Our federal system of government needs to be transformed from a highly centralised to a more equal and co-operative one. Indeed, cooperative federal systems are the norm throughout the world, not only in Canada, Australia and Switzerland, but also in India, South Africa and Nigeria.

This means that more devolution of power must occur. As well, decentralisation of decision-making and of course disbursement of development funds from the federal government to the state governments. And the civil service must act more professionally to serve the government of the day, regardless of party affiliation.

Two years of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rule especially in Penang and Selangor has highlighted how centralised our political system is. It has also highlighted how the BN federal government can dominate PR-led state governments as a result of the former’s control of development funds.

Whereas such funds are channelled to the state governments as in the cases of Pahang, Johore and Malacca which are BN-led, the same development funds are channelled to federal-appointed State Development Officers in the cases of PR-led states. This is so although PR state governments have been duly elected into office by the rakyat.

The recent war of words between Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and the federally appointed State Development Officer Nik Ali bin Yunus on 20-21 July over the Botanical Gardens expansion project highlights how the federal government dominates the state government.

First, the Garden’s expansion project falls under the control of the Tourism Ministry rather than the Penang state government or the Penang Municipal Council. To any Penangite, surely the state or municipal authority would be better informed of how best to carry out the expansion of the Garden!

And even if the federal Ministry was in charge, why did it not devolve power and funds to the state and local authorities? One can imagine that if the state-government was BN-led, there might have been more consultation and perhaps even decentralisation of decision-making. In this regard, we should recall how the federal government had disbursed to the BN-led Malacca state government its share of the heritage conservation funds but had denied the PR-led Penang state government its share of the same, channelling it instead to the Penang Representative Office of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which is owned by the Finance Ministry. Yet Malacca and George Town share joint listing as Unesco heritage sites!

This episode also highlights a second way of federal domination. Lim blamed Nik Ali, who is responsible for overseeing the channelling of all federal allocations for projects in Penang, for ‘openly and blatantly sabotaging the state government’. It is significant that the SDO chose to declare the Chief Minister as ‘biadap’ at a press conference called by Penang Umno leaders! Isn’t a civil servant supposed to serve the government of the day? And in the case of Nik Ali, should he not be serving the interests of the Penang state government to which he has been appointed State Development Officer, notwithstanding he is a federal appointee?

Indeed, it is not only Nik Ali who has facilitated federal domination over Penang, the SDOs in the other PR-led states have also been giving the PR-led governments in Selangor, Kelantan and Kedah a hard time, as the Menteri Besars of those states have complained from time to time.

In this matter, we need to recall how the Pas-led Kelantan government and the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS)-led Sabah governments were bullied by the federal government authorities during the 1990s. Then, so-called Federal Development Offices were set up in both states in order to bypass the state governments too.

No wonder, federal appointees like Nik Ali consider it their duty to serve the BN federal government over the PR-state governments. Yet, no amount of ill-mannered name-calling by the SDO will whitewash popular opinion that most federal appointees to the state government have been acting very unprofessionally. They have been biased towards the BN government rather than acting fairly towards the PR state governments.

Underlying the recent exchange of words between the Penang CM and the SDO, therefore, is this discriminatory way by which the PR-led states are treated by the federal BN government. In effect, they have not given due recognition to the wishes of the rakyat who voted PR-led governments into office in five states in the 2008 election.

In the recent case concerning the construction of two monstrous arches at the entrance to the Botanic Gardens, which look completely out of place and one of which is tilting, there had been minimum consultation with the rakyat prior to their construction. Concerned NGOs had complained to the Penang state government about the cutting of trees, the cementing over of various parts of

the gardens to build a car park and hawker complex and the construction of the arches.

Now that the Tourism Ministry has declared that the arches will be brought down, it is clear to the NGOs and concerned Penangites that the Garden expansion project is indeed a federal project, and that the SDO does, in fact, have oversight of the project and should be held responsible for this wastage.

In this regard, perhaps the NGOs should have directed their complaints to the federal authorities in the first place. Whichever the case, there was no consultation with the rakyat by the federal Ministry of Tourism until it had become obvious that a disaster was in the making, when it was discovered that one of the ugly arches was tilting. And of course, there had been no consultation whatsoever on the part of the federal-appointed SDO even up till now. (Of course, he would plead that it is not his job to do so since he is only involved in disbursing the funds)

That said, the NGOs believe that the Penang state government could have been more pro-active and acted more responsibly in the face of such ill-conceived projects, even if they were federally funded. It could have intervened to prevent this wastage of M150,000 and the destruction of the local Botanic Garden environment. In this regard, it must share a part of the blame.

One way to prevent such wastage is to make sure that restructuring of federal-state elections become a priority for all the parties in the next elections. Power must be devolved, decision-making must be decentralised, and development funds must be shared all the way down.

Francis Loh is honorary secretary of Aliran.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 July 2010, 8:06 am and is filed under
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Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?

The charge preferred against former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, in connection with the RM12.5 million Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal has mystified many.

The charge against Ling reads:

“That you, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002, at Level 4 of the Prime Minister’s Office in Bangunan Perdana Putra, cheated the Govern ment by deceiving the Cabinet into approving a land purchase in Pulau Indah for a Mega Distribution Hub project in Port Klang according to the terms agreed between Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and Port Klang Authority which, among others, are:

the size of the land being 999.5 acres or 43,538,200 sq ft

the purchase price for the land being RM25 per sq ft amounting to a total of RM1,088,456,000

the repayment period being based on a “deferred payment” of 15 years with an interest rate of 7.5% per annum (total RM720,014,600), and thereby dishonestly hiding the fact that the valuation by the Valuation and Property Service Department on the land was RM25 per sq ft for a repayment period of 10 years or RM25.82 per sq ft for a repayment period of 15 years, including coupon/interest that could be charged for the repayment period.

And as such, you purposely induced the Cabinet to give its consent to the purchase, whereas the Cabinet would not have given its consent if the fact had been told to the Cabinet, and the fraud was committed with the knowledge that you could cause a loss to the Government, where you have an interest in the transaction pertaining to the fraud and you are bound under the law to protect it and, as such, you have committed an offence punishable under Section 418 of the Penal Code.”

The Prime Minister at the time was Tun Dr. Mahathir. Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with 15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?

Who were the Ministers in the 2002 Cabinet? The Deputy Prime Minister was Tun Abdullah. Other Ministers in the 2002 Cabinet who are still Ministers include Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was Defence Minister; Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who was Minister for Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs; Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who was then Minister for Youth and Sports; Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who was then Entrepreneur Development Minister;  Datuk Seri Rais Yatim and Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who were  then Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Other Ministers of the 2002 Cabinet no more in Cabinet include Rafidah Aziz (International Trade and Industry);  present Public Account Committee Chairman Azmi Khalid (Rural Development); three MCA Ministers at the time, Chua Jui Meng (Health), Fong Chan Onn (Human Resources), Ong Ka Ting (Housing and Local Government), Lim Keng Yaik (Primary Industries), S. Samy Vellu (Works) and Law Hieng Ding (Science, Technology, Environment).

Will Mahathir or any of his Ministers in 2002 Cabinet testify in court of being misled by Ling to approve Port Klang Authority’s purchase of PKFZ land with  15-year repayment with compound interest instead of 10 years?

As far back as three years ago in Parliament, during the budget debate in September 2007, I had focused on the main issues of the PKFZ scandal, viz:

Port Klang Authority (PKA) purchase of  RM1,000 acres of Pulau Indah land from Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd.  for PKFZ at RM25 psf when Treasury and Attorney-General’s Chambers have proposed acquisition under Land Acquisition Act at RM10 psf.

The ballooning of the PKFZ cost from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion and its development costs from RM400 million to RM2.8 billion.

The four illegal “letters of support” by Transport Ministers Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy  for the RM4.6 billion bonds issued by KDSB through special purpose vehicles.

These issues have not been adequately dealt with despite the promise by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail last December and the  country is still waiting for the Attorney-General to fulfil his pledge to leave no stone unturned to haul in the “big fishes” implicated in the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 July 2010, 1:05 pm and is filed under
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MCA Ministers and leaders should show at least equal concern for “Justice for 27 million Malaysians who are victims of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal” than “Justice for Ling Liong Sik”

MCA leaders, including Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung, lined up to give support to former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik after he was charged with cheating the Cabinet in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Without commenting on Ling’s case,  Malaysians are entitled to expect that MCA Ministers and leaders should show at least equal concern for “Justice for 27 million Malaysians who are victims of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal” than “Justice for Ling Liong Sik”.

What have the MCA national leadership, and in particular the four MCA Ministers, done to ensure justice for the 27 million Malaysians in connection with the PKFZ scandal?

Did the MCA national leadership and the MCA Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha prioritise the interests of the 27 million Malaysians when he overrode the decision of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and directed it to pay its PKFZ bond obligation of RM222.58 million to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB)  special purpose vehicle Free Zone Capital Bhd (FZCB)?

Does the MCA national leadership and the MCA Cabinet Ministerial bloc agree with former MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that it is  “a foolhardy move” to “pay according to what has been decided much earlier, according to the schedule that was set a long time ago”, ignoring latest developments, new facts and “missing link” in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services report, viz:

•	Letters revealing that KDSB had given undertaking or guarantees that it would cover any shortfall in repayments towards the bonds should PKA fails to do so;

•	The dubious legal status of “Letters of Support” given by two former MCA Tranport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy; and

•	At least RM1.4 billion in disputed claims for all principal agreements between KDSB and PKA, of which more than RM2 billion payable as scheduled until 2017.

The present MCA national leadership and the MCA Ministerial bloc must prove the former MCA President and Transport Minister wrong in his serious charge that they are party to “sweeping the dirt under the carpet” by being in the very forefront to ensure:

•	No stone is left unturned in the full public accounting of the PKFZ scandal, from the controversial PKA purchase of PKFZ land; ballooning of PKFZ costs from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion and snowballing into a RM12.5 billion scandal; and the four illegal “Letters of Support” by two former  MCA Transport Ministers.

•	Putting utmost pressure for everyone who had a role in the PKFZ scandal, however “big the fish”, should be hauled to court to face corruption, abuses of power and criminal breach of trust charges.

•	The suspension of PKA payments to KDSB special purpose vehicles in connection with the RM4.6 billion bonds.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 July 2010, 11:50 am and is filed under
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We were once ‘Malaysians’

By
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

The following keynote speech given by former finance minister and Gua Musang parliamentarian Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at the 4th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit (MSLS) today.

I have played some small role in the life of this nation, but having been on the wrong side of one or two political fights with the powers-that-be, I am not as close to the young people of this country as I would hope to be.

History and the 8 o’clock news are written by the victors. In recent years, the government’s monopoly of the media has been destroyed by the technology revolution.

You could say I was also a member of the United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC). Well, I was, except that belonged to the predecessor of the UKEC by more than 50 years, The Malayan Students Union of the UK and Eire. I led this organisation in 1958/59.

I was then a student of Queen’s University at Belfast, as well as at Lincoln’s Inn. In a rather cooler climate than Kota Bharu’s, we campaigned for decolonisation. We demonstrated in Trafalgar Square and even in Paris. We made posters and participated in British elections.

Your invitation to participate in the MSLS was prefaced by an essay that calls for an intellectually informed activism. I congratulate you on this. The Youth of today, you note, “will chart the future of Malaysia.” You say you “no longer want to be ignored and leave the future of our Malaysia at the hands of the current generation.” You “want to grab the bull by the horns… and have a say in where we go as a society and as a nation.”

I feel the same, actually. A lot of Malaysians feel the same. They are tired of being ignored and talked down to.

You are right. The present generation in power has let Malaysia down. But also you cite two things as testimony of the importance of youth and of student activism to this country, the election results of 2008 and “the prime minister’s acknowledgement of the role of youth in the development of the country.”

So perhaps you are a little way yet from thinking for yourselves. The first step in “grabbing the bull by the horns” is not to require the endorsement of the prime minister, or any Minister, for your activism. Politicians are not your parents. They are your servants. You don’t need a government slogan coined by a foreign PR agency to wrap your project in. You just go ahead and do it.

A man at ease with himself

When I was a student, our newly independent country was already a leader in the post-colonial world. We were sought out as a leader in the Afro-Asian Conference that inaugurated the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77.

The Afro-Asian movement was led by such luminaries as Zhou En Lai, Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah and Soekarno. Malaysians were seen as moderate leaders capable of mediating between the more radical leaders and the West. We were known for our moderation, good sense and reliability.

We were a leader in the Islamic world as ourselves and as we were, without our leaders having to put up false displays of piety. His memory has been scrubbed out quite systematically from our national consciousness, so you might not know this or much else about him, but it was Tunku Abdul Rahman who established our leadership in the Islamic world by coming up with the idea of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Conference) and making it happen.

Under his leadership, Malaysia led the way in taking up the anti-apartheid cause in the Commonwealth and in the United Nations, resulting in South Africa’s expulsion from these bodies.

Here was a man at ease with himself, made it a policy goal that Malaysia be “a happy country”. He loved sport and encouraged sporting achievement among Malaysians. He was owner of many a fine race horses. He called a press conference with his stewards when his horse won at the Melbourne Cup.

He had nothing to hide because his great integrity in service was clear to all. Now we have religious and moral hypocrites who cheat, lie and steal in office, who propagate an ideologically that shackled the education system for all Malaysians while they send their own kids to elite academies in the West.

Days when we were on top

Speaking of football – you’re too young to have experienced the Merdeka Cup that Tunku started. We had a respectable side in the 60s and 70s. Teams from across Asia would come to play in Kuala Lumpur: Teams such as South Korea and Japan, whom we defeated routinely.

We were one of the better sides in Asia. We won the bronze medal at the Asian Games in 1974 and qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Today our FIFA ranking is 157 out of 203 countries.

That puts us in the lowest quartile, below Maldives (149), the smallest country in Asia, with just 400,000 people living about 1.5 metres above sea level who have to worry that their country may soon be swallowed up by climate change. Here in Asean we are behind Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, whom we used to dominate, and now only one spot above basketball-playing Philippines.

The captain of our illustrious 1970’s side was Soh Chin Aun, R Arumugam, Isa Bakar, Santokh Singh, James Wong and Mokhtar Dahari. They were heroes whose names rolled off the tongues of our schoolchildren as they copied them on the school field. It wasn’t about being the best in the world, but about being passionate and united and devoted to the game.

It was the same in badminton, except at one time we were the best in the world. I remember Wong Peng Soon, the first Asian to win the All-England Championship, and then just dominated it throughout the 1950. Back home every kid who played badminton in every little kampung wanted to call himself Wong Peng Soon.

There was no tinge of anybody identifying themselves exclusively as Chinese, Malays or Indian. Peng Soon was a Malayan hero. Just like each of our football heroes. Now we do not have an iota of that feeling. Where has it all gone?

Capital flight troubling

I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that makes us think there was a time when the sun shone more brightly upon Malaysia. I bring up sport because it has been a mirror of our more general performance as a nation.

When we were at ease with who we were and didn’t need slogans to do our best together, we did well. When race and money entered our game, we declined. The same applies to our political and economic life.

Soon after independence, we were already a highly successful developing country. We had begun the infrastructure building and diversification of our economy that would be the foundation for further growth. We carried out an import-substitution programme that stimulated local productive capacity.

From there, we started an infrastructure build-up that enabled a diversification of the economy leading to rapid industrialisation. We carried out effective programmes to raise rural income and help the landless with programmes such as Felda.

Our achievements in achieving growth with equity were recognised around the world. Our peer group in economic development were South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and we led the pack. I remember we used to send technical consultants to advise the South Koreans.

Bmalaysia stock exchange market klse 141008 05y the late 90s, however, we had fallen far behind this group and were competing with Thailand and Indonesia. Today, according to the latest World Investment Report, FDI into Malaysia is at a 20-year low.

We are entering the peer group of Cambodia, Burma and the Philippines as an investment destination. Thailand, despite a month-long siege of the capital, attracted more FDI than we did last year. Indonesia and Vietnam far outperform us, not as a statistical blip but consistently. Soon we shall have difficulty keeping up with the Philippines.

This, I believe, is called relegation. If we take into account FDI outflow, the picture is even more depressing. Last year, we received US$1.38 billion in investments but US$8.04 billion flowed out. We are the only country in Southeast Asia that has suffered net FDI outflow.

I am not against outward investment. It can be a good thing for the country. But an imbalance on this scale indicates capital flight, not mere investment overseas.

Time to wake up

Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and Billions more are being siphoned out as our entire political structure crumbles. Yet we are gathered here in comfort, in a country that still seems to ‘work’ – most of the time. This is due less to good management than to the extraordinary wealth of this country.

You were born into a country of immense resources, both natural, cultural and social. We have been wearing down this advantage with mismanagement and corruption. With lies, tall tales and theft. We have a political class unwilling or unable to address the central issue of the day because they have grown fat and comfortable with a system built on lies and theft.

It is time to wake up. That waking up can begin here, right here, at this conference. Not tomorrow or the day after but today. So let me, as I have the honour of opening this conference, suggest the following:

1) Overcome the urge to have our hopes for the future endorsed by the prime minister. He will have retired, and I’ll be long gone, when your future arrives. The shape of your future is being determined now.

2) Resist the temptation to say “in line with” when we do something. Your projects, believe it or not, don’t have to be in line with any government campaign for them to be meaningful. You don’t need to polish anyone’s apple. Just get on with what you plan to do.

3) Do not put a lid on certain issues as “sensitive” just because someone said they are. Or it is against the Social Contract. Or it is “politicisation”.

You don’t need to have your conversation delimited by the hyper-sensitive among us. Sensitivity is often a club people use to hit each other with. Reasoned discussion of contentious issues builds understanding and trust. Stress test your ideas.

4) It’s not “conservative” or “liberal” to ask for an end to having politics, economic policy, education policy and everything and the kitchen sink determined by race. It’s called growing up.

5) Don’t let the politicians you have invited here talk down to you.

Don’t let them

Don’t let them tell you how bright and “exuberant” you are, that you are the future of the nation, etc. If you close your eyes and flow with their flattery, you have safely joined the caravan, a caravan taking the nation down a sink hole.

If they tell you the future is in your hands, kindly request that they hand that future over first. Ask them how come the youngest member of our cabinet is 45? Our Merdeka cabinet had an average age below 30.

You’re not the first generation to be bright. Mine wasn’t too stupid. But you could be the first generation of students and young graduates in 50 years to push this nation through a major transformation. And it is a transformation we need desperately.

You will be told that much is expected of you, much has been given to you and so forth. This is all true. Actually much has also been stolen from you. Over the last 20 five years, much of the immense wealth generated by our productive people and our vast resources has been looted. This was supposed to have been your patrimony.

The uncomplicated sense of belonging fully, wholeheartedly, unreservedly, to this country, in all its diversity, that has been taken from you. Our sense of ourselves as Malaysians, a free and united people, has been replaced by a tale of racial strife and resentment that continues to haunt us. The thing is, this tale is false.

Reclaim your history

The most precious thing you have been deprived of has been your history. Someone of my generation finds it hard to describe what must seem like a completely different country to you now.

Malaysia was not born in strife but in unity. Our independence was achieved through a demonstration of unity by the people in supporting a multiracial government led by Tunku Abdul Rahman.

That show of unity, demonstrated first through the municipal elections of 1952 and then through the Alliance’s landslide victory in the elections of 1955, showed that the people of Malaya were united in wanting their freedom. We surprised the British, who thought we could not do this.

Today we are no longer as united as we were then. We are also less free. I don’t think this is a coincidence. It takes free people to have the psychological strength to overcome the confines of a racialised worldview. It takes free people to overcome those politicians bent on hanging on to power gained by racialising every feature of our life including our football teams.

Hence while you are at this conference, let me argue, that as an absolute minimum, we should call for the repeal of unjust and much abused Acts of Parliament which are reversals of freedoms that we won at Merdeka.

I ask you in joining me in calling for the repeal of the ISA (Internal Security Act) and the OSA (Official Secrets Act). These draconian laws have been used, more often than not, as political tools rather than instruments of national security. They create a climate of fear.

I ask you to join me in calling for the repeal of the Printing and Publications Act, and above all, the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA). I don’t see how you can pursue your student activism with such freedom and support in the UK and Eire while forgetting that your brethren at home are deprived of their basic rights of association and expression by the UUCA. The UUCA has done immense harm in dumbing down our universities.

We must have freedom as guaranteed under our constitution. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write, move. This is basic. Even on matters of race and even on religious matters we should be able to speak freely, and we shall educate each other.

Make BN multiracial

It is time to realise the dream of Hussein Onn and the spirit of the Alliance and of Tunku Abdul Rahman. That dream was one of unity and a single Malaysian people. They went as far as they could with it in their time. Instead of taking on the torch, we have reversed course. The next step for us as a country is to move beyond the infancy of race-based parties to a non-racial party system.

Our race-based party system is the key political reason why we are a sick country, declining before our own eyes, with money fleeing and people telling their children not to come home after their studies.

So let us try to take 1Malaysia seriously. Millions have been spent putting up billboards and adding the term to every conceivable thing. We even have ‘Cuti-cuti 1Malaysia’. Can’t take a normal holiday anymore. This is all fine.

Now let us see if it means anything. Let us see the government of the day lead by example. 1Malaysia is empty because it is propagated by a government supported by a racially-based party system that is the chief cause of our inability to grow up in our race relations.

Our inability to grow up in our race relations is the chief reason why investors, and we ourselves, no longer have confidence in our economy. The reasons why we are behind Maldives in football, and behind the Philippines in FDI, are linked.

So let us take 1Malaysia seriously, and convert Barisan Nasional into a party open to all citizens. Let it be a multiracial party open to direct membership. Pakatan Rakyat will be forced to do the same or be left behind the times. Then we shall have the vehicles for a two party, non-race-based system.

If Umno, MIC or MCA are afraid of losing supporters, let them get their members to join this new multiracial party. Pakatan Rakyat should do the same. Nobody need feel left out. Umno members can join en masse. The Hainanese Kopitiam Owners’ Association can join whichever party they want, or both parties en masse if they like.

We can maintain our cherished civil associations, however we choose to associate. But we drop all communalism when we compete for the ballot. When our candidates stand for elections, let them ever after stand only as Malaysians, for better or worse.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 July 2010, 3:57 pm and is filed under
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Kit Siang: ‘Renewed’ and ‘committed’ to fight ISA

By
Melissa Chi
 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — For Lim Kit Siang, a veteran politician popularly known for his no-holds-barred rhetoric, the one most painful experience from his detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) was having his freedom capped.

The DAP adviser’s only freedom had come in tiny doses and during those difficult days and his only comfort came from being allowed to wear his own clothes and to take short jogs around the secured compound to keep himself active.

When relating his story recently, Lim told The Malaysian Insider that it was really during his 35-month confinement under the ISA that he truly started to value his freedom.

“Freedom is the most precious thing, it is not tangible, something only when you lose, you’ll cherish it,” said Lim, who was detained on two separate occasions in 1969 and 1987.

He noted that it was the provision in the law that allowed for detention without trial that truly hampered a person’s freedom.

“It could really put a strain on a person’s belief and conviction. It is also extremely tough on the families. I would say that for most detainees, their families would go through great trauma,” the Ipoh Timur MP said.

Lim explained that the families had to adjust to the fact that they can only see the detainee once a week for such a short amount of time.

“For some, it is even harder for they would have to travel quite a distance just to spend a half hour with their loved one,” he said.

During his first detention in 1969, Lim’s family was living in Batu Pahat, Johor, which is about 32 miles from the Muar Detention Centre.

“Also, we are often kept in the dark. Most of the detained would not be informed of their release date and would only look forward to the 24th month of their detention to know if they would be released of have their terms extended,” he said.

He noted that in both cases of his detention, he was only informed of his release on the very day itself.

“Of course, I did not believe it (at first). I was a shocking, but pleasant experience,” the veteran politician said.

In 1969, Lim was detained under the ISA for 17 months for making “insensitive statements” and creating “disharmony to the state”.

He was sent to the Muar Detention Centre, which does not exist anymore.

Ten years later, he was convicted of five charges under Official Secrets Act (OSA) for exposing an inappropriate arms deal between the government and a Swiss company. He was again a victim of the ISA during the infamous Operasi Lalang in 1987 for “inciting racism” and was held without trial for 18 months at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak.

His two-time detention did nothing to dampen Lim’s fighting spirit however and instead, the 69-year-old said it had made him more resilient to fighting for a “better Malaysia”.

He said that his experiences had not wavered in his conviction, but rather reaffirmed his stance toward abolishing the preventive laws.

“In my case, I felt more renewed and committed [to fight for a] better Malaysia and not to allow all these undemocratic and repressive measure,” he said.

“It is pernicious, undemocratic and also opens to all sorts of abuses and should be abolished,” Lim said of the Act.

Lim’s sentiments were echoed by local as well as international human rights groups and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

He said there are talks about the amendments and the promise to table it at the Parliament but he said it had yet to happen.

The government had announced its plans to table amendments to six preventive laws including the ISA 1960, Emergency Ordinance (EO) Act 1969 and the Police Act 1967 this year, and has promised that the tweaks would better protect human rights and prevent abuse of power.

The proposed amendments have been approved by the Attorney-General’s Chambers for presentation to the Cabinet soon.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop had said that the amendments to the laws would involve five primary aspects including ministerial powers, the shortening of detention periods, police powers, rights and treatment of detainees and the abolition of several sections in the ISA.

Abu Seman, however, confirmed that these laws would only be amended and not abolished.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein had said that the changes to the ISA would include the right to hold peaceful assemblies.

The most recent incident in relation to that was on August 1, 2009 when 589 people were arrested on the day of the rally, including 44 children and 40 women. Out of the total, 498 people were released on the same day and 91 were held at the Bukit Jalil Police Station, according to Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram)’s memorandum to Suhakam.

On April 3, 2009, the day Datuk Seri Najib Razak took office as Prime Minister, he announced the removal of bans on two opposition newspapers, Suara Keadilan and Harakah, run by PKR and PAS respectively, and the release of 13 people held under the ISA.

He pledged to conduct a comprehensive review of the much-criticized law which allows for indefinite detention without trial. These promises had garnered support locally and abroad, and earned him goodwill.

Lim, however, reiterated that the ISA should be abolished. He pointed out that since the government had been holding on to the excuse of terrorism, there should be a specific terrorism act, and do away with such an “open-ended” act such as ISA.

“It had stunted the democratic growth… creating a culture of fear,” he said of the ISA, since its inception 50 years ago.

Lim said a greater public pressure from all sectors of society would add pressure to the government to abolish the act.

“Those in power at present should take seriously of such charges,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 1 August 2010, 1:35 pm and is filed under
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BN working to solve issues before snap polls

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is looking to solve three pressing issues — the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) case, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy trial and Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death — before considering a call for snap elections.

The Malaysian Insider understands that BN leaders have privately agreed that these issues, together with the soft economy, need to be addressed before the ruling federal coalition is confident of dissolving Parliament for the country’s 13th general election, which is not due until March 2013.

“The three issues need to be solved. There is no two ways about it,” a BN leader told The Malaysian Insider over the weekend.

Talk is rife that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak might call for snap polls to coincide with the Sarawak state election, which is due by July 2011, but the consensus is that the country’s largest state will proceed with its own election first. Pakatan Rakyat-ruled (PR) states have said they might not follow BN’s schedule as they want to fulfil promises made in Election 2008.

The Economist Intelligence Report on Malaysia August 2010 said it does not believe that Najib is preparing to go the polls before 2012.

“Although a strong election performance would bolster his mandate, the results of recent by-elections suggest that the electorate has become much more volatile, especially non-Malay voters, and there is no guarantee that the government’s plans to reform policies that favour Bumiputera has increased its appeal among ethnic minorities,” the report said.

BN leaders say these issues in conjunction with recent concerns over price hikes due to subsidy cuts and protests related to religion, gambling and preventive security laws could delay the federal elections further.

However, it is understood that Najib has given the go-ahead for the authorities to resolve some of the outstanding issues that have proven to be excess baggage for the ruling coalition.

Among them is throwing the book at the culprits of the PKFZ scandal, which may balloon from an ambitious RM2 billion transhipment hub to one potentially costing of RM12.5 billion if repayments are not kept to schedule.

Former transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik being is the first high-profile person to be charged for cheating the Federal Cabinet over the land valuations in 2002. He is the fifth to face charges but it is understood several other people, including an ex-Cabinet minister and a lawmaker, might also be charged in relation to the scandal.

The Najib administration is also under fire for directing PKFZ owners Port Klang Authority (PKA) to pay outstanding amounts for bonds taken out by the land vendor and main contractor, Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) despite ongoing litigation between both parties.

The second pressing issue of Anwar’s sodomy trial is being played out today when the PKR de facto leader’s lawyers cross-examine witnesses related to the complaint by former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The trial has taken a salacious turn during the last recess with gossip that a member of the prosecution team, deputy public prosecutor Farah Azlina Latif, is romantically-involved with Saiful. The prosecution has dropped her from the case, dismissing her as just someone who took notes and not crucial to the team.

Anwar has complained that the charges are made-up and meant to send him back to jail due to his popularity and leadership that brought Pakatan Rakyat (PR) four more states and 82 federal seats in Election 2008.

The former deputy prime minister, who lost his job in 1998 after a similar case, had said the complainant was just a “coffee boy” although Saiful followed him on trips abroad.

But the case has stretched on due frequent postponements, with the most recent due to illness by Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh.

Another important issue for BN to have closure for is Teoh Beng Hock’s death after overnight questioning by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on July 16, 2009. The DAP political aide was found dead on the morning he was to marry his pregnant fiancée.

An on-going inquest had prompted a second post-mortem after Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand — engaged by Teoh’s employers, the Selangor government — said his death was “80 per cent homicide” and not suicide as was listed in the first autopsy.

Dr Pornthip observed the second autopsy but refused to testify due to security concerns. She has since changed her mind and is due to give her testimony later this month, 13 months after the 30-year-old died.

Political observers say that Najib is now focusing on these issues that can affect the BN’s popularity, apart from socio-economic issues that have taken the bulk of his time since assuming office in April 2009.

“He has been focusing on the economy especially to get the New Economic Model (NEM) off the ground,” a Najib aide told The Malaysian Insider.

But critics say Najib has not been able to defend the NEM proposals, especially with protests from Malay rights groups such as Perkasa that want the government to keep quotas created under the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Najib, who is also finance minister, has vowed to open up the economy to competition in his bid to make Malaysia a high-income nation by 2020.

He has also cut subsidies in a bid to reduce a budget deficit equivalent to seven per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 owing in part to his administration’s economic stimulus measures.

But trimming subsidies for fuel and sugar to save RM750 million this year met with a barrage of criticism especially after the Prime Minister’s Department revealed it had a RM4 billion operational budget and a staff strength of nearly 44,000 for 2010.

The Najib administration is also wary of widening the tax base to overcome its deficit and have encountered strong resistance from businesses as well as consumers.

The government has already announced changes to a new property tax, which will reduce the amount collected from this particular source. However, it remains non-committal on the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a crucial part of tax reform. Under its original plan, the government had sought to introduce the tax in the third quarter of 2011 but it is now on indefinite hold.

The BN will also have to counter protests related to the Internal Security Act (ISA), where more than 10,000 people have been arrested in its 50-year history. The government has promised to amend the law that allows for detention without trial but the opposition and human rights activists are adamant it should be abolished.

A series of vigils last night to observe the security law’s 50th anniversary was marked by police action that saw 30 being arrested in Petaling Jaya, four in Penang and one in Ipoh.

The government has also to solve the festering issue of inter-faith harmony after a High Court ruling allowing a Catholic Church publication to use the word “Allah” met with opposition from the country’s dominant Malay Muslims. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein yesterday said he lamented the ban on the word, saying it had woken up a sleeping dog.

The Court of Appeal has yet to fix a date to hear the government’s argument against the decision, while allowing a stay of execution of the ruling.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 August 2010, 3:55 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet should make a decision to withdraw the appeal against Lau Bee Lan judgment on the Allah controversy

The Cabinet should make a decision to withdraw the appeal against the KL High Court judgment of Lau Bee Lan on the Allah controversy now that the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has admitted that his predecessor, Tan Sri Hamid Albar should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

Speaking at the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit yesterday, Hishammuddin admitted that this issue will continue to haunt his ministry “for a very long time”, saying: “We should have let the sleeping dogs lie.”

With Hishamuddin’s admission, the Cabinet should do what it had failed to do these past six months after the Lau Bee Lan judgement in January, i.e. take a policy decision that the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the High Court judgement allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia sections of its newspapers, Herald,  to demonstrate the government’s seriousness and commitment to resolve the issue through inter-religious dialogue.

So far, Cabinet Ministers had been denied the right to consider whether the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the “Allah” controversy.

This is the time for the Cabinet to take full responsibility for the resolution of this controversy especially as the original decision to file the appeal against the Lau Bee Lan judgment was made without reference to the Cabinet.

When Lau released the written grounds of her judgement laying out the reasons and the laws behind her ruling on January 15 this year, I had called on the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail to ensure that all Cabinet Ministers were immediately given copies of the 57-page judgment so that they can individually make up their minds on whether the Cabinet should take the decision that the Home Ministry withdraw its appeal in the “Allah” controversy and focus instead on inter-religious dialogue to resolve the issue in view of Lau’s well-reasoned and solid judgment, in particular:

the 22 grounds why the Home Ministry’s ban on Herald on the use of the word “Allah” is illegal;

why the Home Minister’s ban is unconstitutional;

on the seeming conflict between the Federal Constitution and the state enactments to control and restrict the propagation of religious doctrine among Muslims;

on the claim that the Home Minister’s ban was to safeguard public security and order; and

on claims from Muslim groups that “Allah” cannot be challenged in court.

All  Cabinet Ministers must be conscious of the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility as the appeal is not just the appeal of the Home Ministry but represents the appeal by the Barisan Nasional government and Cabinet.

With Hishammuddin’s admission of the mistake by the former Home Minister in creating the “Allah” controversy, undermining Malaysia’s multi-religious harmony, this is the time for the Cabinet to revisit this issue to make a policy decision to drop the appeal or Cabinet Ministers would be failing in their individual and collective responsibility in continuing to drag out the controversy in allowing the appeal to remain in court, still unheard.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 August 2010, 3:47 pm and is filed under
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Mass arrests of 36 people for candlelight vigils protesting 50th ISA anniversary – clear signal by Najib and Hishammuddin

The mass arrests of 36 people in Petaling Jaya, Penang and Kota Bahru for candlelight vigils protesting the 50th anniversary of the Internal Security Act is a clear signal that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hisham are not prepared to repeal draconian laws to show greater respect and commitment to human rights of Malaysians.

The Najib government was fully aware beforehand of the peaceful candlelight vigils planned countrywide to protest against the pernicious and draconian Internal Security Act, which had detained over 10,000 people without trial in the past half-century, stifling fundamental liberties of Malaysians to freedom of speech and expression, the right to peaceful assembly and association and most important of all the right to liberty and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention.

The police crackdown on peaceful candlelight vigils protesting against the 50th anniversary of the ISA in various parts of the country last night is an unmistakable statement by the Najib administration that it cannot be trusted in taking the country towards a more open, democratic and accountable direction.

 If the Najib government is not prepared to respect the rights of citizens to gather peacefully in candlelight vigils to protest the 50th anniversary of the ISA, which pose no security threat or hazard in any manner, it gives the lie to all talk of pending democratic reforms, as allowing peaceful assemblies to be held without requiring police permits.  Now all such talks require bigger pinches of salt!

In a way, the Police must be thanked for their high-handed and undemocratic actions last night, for it had been a powerful antidote to the soothing and lulling propaganda of the Najib administration for over a year that there would be greater respect for democracy and human rights causing a relaxing of vigilance among Malaysians.

The lesson from last night’s high-handed police action is that Malaysians must not drop their guard in the battle to restore democracy and human rights.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 August 2010, 12:24 pm and is filed under
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Tiada Maruah (Lack of Integrity) At The Very Top

By
M. Bakri Musa

 Last week I wrote, “So we have two disturbing displays of less than exemplary behaviors if not outright lack of professionalism at the highest levels of our civil service.  One is the Chief Secretary not hearing both sides to the Lim Eng Guan and Nik Ali squabble before rendering judgment, and the other, the Solicitor General failing to recognize a breach of professional ethics.”

             I penned that piece too soon.  For a few days later we have yet a third example from another top civil servant, this time Attorney General (AG) Gani Patail.  Responding to the allegation of improper behavior by one of his prosecutors in the Sodomy II trial, Gani Patail simply reassigned her.

             Living ten thousand miles away I have little to do with the Malaysian civil service.  My daily life is thus not affected by these tiada maruah (lack of integrity) folks at the top.  The organization however, is essentially Malay; likewise the political establishment.  These top civil servants and political leaders are thus seen as representing the best of not just their organizations but also of Malays.  Consequently, their shortcomings are viewed less as personal failures but more of our community.  When they behave tiada maruah, collectively Malays are also seen as such.  That is what makes me angry.

Essence of the Exposé

 The AG justified his action “to remove any negative public perception of the prosecuting team.”  He did not address the substance of the allegation; he managed only the perception and ignored the reality.

             Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) first made the explosive allegation in Malaysia Today (mt.m2day.net).  In a headline-blaring column titled, “The Bizarre Case of Sodomy 2,” RPK in his trademark style named the specific prosecutor, and rightly characterized the indiscretion as “a conflict of interest of the first degree.”

             The allegation appeared at the end of a long article, and seemed more as an afterthought.  You have to read his entire piece to get to the stunning revelation.  Those who gave up earlier would miss it.  It was as if RPK was challenging his readers to be thorough and not be content with only the headlines and few introductory paragraphs.

             There was also a teasing coyness to the exposé; it was uncharacteristically brief.  Beyond the mention of the name, there were no other details.  It was as if RPK was laying a trap.  Throw a teaser out, and then see those bastards falling all over themselves condemning him.

             This time however, there was silence.  There were no hysterical accusations or righteous condemnations that RPK was purveying “half-truths,” or as one novice politician would put it, “only 40 percent facts and the rest made up.”

             My gut feeling is that RPK reveals way less than 40 percent of what he knows or has information on this evolving scandal.  I had hoped that those UMNO jackasses would have resorted to their usual mouth-frothing denunciations of RPK.  Then I could see him salivating like a lion that had successfully lured its prey to a trap where it could be pounced upon mercilessly.

             Alas, no one walked into the trap.  So we have to be patient with RPK or hope that someone would aggravate him enough for him to reveal the sordid details, perhaps titillating snippets of the videotape of the amorous illicit encounter!

The Larger Issue

 It took less than a week for Gani Patail to respond to RPK’s revelation; unusually ‘efficient.’  This promptness, while laudatory, did not excuse his avoiding the heart of the matter – the truth to the allegation.  For if the allegation were other than the “only 40 percent facts,” then the AG would have perpetrated a grave injustice on the young lawyer.  Far from reassigning her, she should have been publicly exonerated, her integrity openly defended.

             At the very least she should have been accorded due process.  Even an accused murderer deserves that!  The AG should be the last person to have to be reminded of this elementary legal tenet.  Here we have the obscenity of the AG having a press conference first, with the poor prosecutor learning of her fate not from the media.  Simple decency demanded that the AG should have met with the alleged wayward lawyer first, to get her side of the story and then to inform her of his decision.

             If the allegation were true, then the AG has more than a serious disciplinary problem.  There are the legal issues with respect to the Sodomy 2 trial.  Additionally, the alleged act was also criminal per the Sharia.

             Gani Patail cannot abrogate his responsibility.  It is not enough for him to simply declare, “… [A]ny personal matter, if it can have any implication in whatever form on the department, will be handled very seriously.”  He also has to demonstrate it.

             If the allegation has substance, then the AG must remind himself that if she is not disciplined now, she would continue winding her up the civil service.  She could one day be a judge or even the AG.

             I am not concerned here with the career trajectory of a young lawyer.  Nor am I particularly perturbed at the ineptness of some of our high level officials.  I have seen enough similar examples elsewhere to be able to put that in perspective.  The Peter Principle is after all universal.

             I am however concerned with the pattern of tiada maruah leadership in the civil service and other essentially Malay entities.  The recent scandal at Sime Darby reflects the pervasiveness of this blight.  Again this being Malaysia, the racial element is never far from the public radar.  One only has to read the bigoted comments on the Internet and elsewhere to be painfully reminded of this.

             These tiada maruah Malays only feed this ugly stereotype.  Of all people I would have expected them to be conscious of this, and thus make every effort to ensure that their behaviors would help tear down this unfair image.

             I am not in the least comforted by the fact the Indian civil service is even more bloated and lumbering, or that the folks in Beijing are hideously more corrupt (note the recent scandal of tainted baby formulas) and disrespectful of basic human rights (witness their all too frequent summary executions).  We are talking about Malaysia here, with our own rules, norms and expectations.

             The other communities too have their own peculiar blights.  The scandals with MAIKA and Port Klang Free Zone Project are obscene reminders of that.  To me that is neither an excuse nor a consolation.

             I feel for those honest, competent and diligent public servants who are Malays.  They give all they have for the nation but their good work is being overshadowed by these yahoos at the top.  How did the likes of Gani Patail reach the top?  Likewise, I keep wondering how such unimaginative, frankly corrupt, and not terribly competent people get to lead us.  More importantly, why did we let them?  The answers elude me.

            We can only change the negative image of our community by changing the reality.  Vote these corrupt and incompetent bastards out!  Voting them in again would only encourage them.  Indeed this is exactly what has been happening.  By repeatedly voting them in for the past 50 years, we are implicitly condoning if not encouraging their wayward ways.

             Once we have capable political leaders, they will take care of the Napoleons in the public service, the little as well as the big ones.  In the meantime we must do everything we can to shame them.  This essay is an exercise in that.  Come the election, we can punish them.

             Those who love our community and champion its cause, including the Ketuanan Melayu folks, would do well to enlist in this urgent and critical mission of ridding our community of these tiada maruah leaders and civil servants.  Unless we destroy the blight now, it will be the undoing of our society.  This is where we should focus.  We must not be distracted by such imagined enemies as the pendatangs (immigrants), capitalism, or globalization.  The enemy is us, specifically our leaders.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 August 2010, 3:43 pm and is filed under
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Abolish the ISA and all oppressive laws

By
Thomas Lee Seng Hock
 | Mysinchew

Thirty-five persons — 30 in Petaling Jaya, four in Penang, and one in Ipoh — were detained by police during a peaceful candle-light vigil held in several parts of the country on the night of Sunday 1 August 2010, the date commemorating the 50th anniversary of the oppressive Internal Security Act (ISA).

Those arrested were among the people who had gathered to protest against the country’s most hated and feared legislation, which allows for detention without trial and has been wielded against more than 10,000 people since it went to effect on 1 August 1960.

The enactment of the ISA in 1960, three years after Malaya gained independence, was related to the internal battle against the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) which was then involved in an armed insurgency and insurrection, which started soon after World War 2.

Earlier in 1948 after three European planters in Perak were killed by communists, the then colonial British administration introduced the Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948 and declared the infamous Emergency across the country.

Under the Emergency Regulations, the police were given sweeping powers of arrest, and severe punishment, including the death penalty, could be administered without an ordinary trial.

The martial law rule forced the CPM to go underground and launched an armed struggle using hit-and-run guerrilla warfare tactics.

The Emergency officially ended on 31 July 1960, after 12 long years. But the CPM campaign continued on a much smaller scale, and officially ended only in 1989 when the communists laid down arms.

Following the formal ending of the Emergency, the then Malayan Parliament enacted the ISA on 1 August 1960 to replace the colonial Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948.

The ISA has been in force since 1 August 1960, and this year marks the 50th year of existence.

When it was first tabled in Parliament on 21 June 1960, the then Deputy Prime Minister cum Home Minister Tun Razak declared that the law was meant to deal with the CPM and related subversive activities, and not to restrict legitimate political activities. The ISA was not enacted to silence the voice of dissent nor meant for the ruling party to abuse it to curb its political rivals.

However, over the years, the ISA has evolved to become a harsh tyrannical law to curb political dissension and to silence the critics of the ruling party. It has, in effect, became a legal, but immoral, legislative tool in the hands of the ruling party leaders to get rid of their political rivals, abusing it to put the popular legitimate opposition leaders under detention without trial.

Under the ISA, anyone can be arbitrarily detained indefinitely without trial at the pleasure of the Home Minister.

Hence, the ISA is a draconian law that violates the fundamental human, civil and constutional rights of the citizens, and is in contradiction to the democratic concept of the rule of law.

The ISA has be abused by the authorities during the recent years, the most recent case being the unjustified detention of Selangor senior state executive councillor Teresa Kok of the DAP, and Sin Chew Daily reporter Tan Hoon Cheng on Friday 12 September 2008.

The most notorious abuse of the ISA was during the Mahathir administration when he launched Operation Lalang which was carried out on 17 October 1987 to crack down on opposition leaders, social activists, and church leaders.

The operation saw the arrest of 106 persons under the ISA and the revoking of the publishing licences of English daily The Star, Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily and the new defunct Bahasa Malaysia weekly Watan. They were given back their publishing permits about six months later. The employees of these publications had to undergo half a year of hardship, with no job, no money, and they should be counted as victims of the oppressive ISA, too. I was one of them.

Among the prominent persons arrested during Operation Lalang were the then Opposition Leader and DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, his son Guan Eng, DAP strongmen Karpal Singh and the late P. Patto, trade unionist and DAP strongman the late V. David, the then PAS Youth secretary Khaled Abu Samad, Brother Anthony Rogers of the Catholic Church, university lecturer and pastor Dr Poh Boon Sing, religious teacher Jamaluddin Othman, the then Penang PAS Yout chief Mohamad Sabu, and Christian social activist Lim Chin Chin.

The ISA is no more relevant, and should be abolished. The Najib administration should be bold and brave enough to acknowledge the current geo-political realities in the contemporary world on our multi-racial, multi-religious, mult-cultural and mult-lingual nation, and act to abolish the oppressive draconian ISA to give due recognition and respect to the dignity of the human person and his fundamental God-given human, civil and constitutional rights.

Why has our FDI (foreign direct investments) declined so drastically? One basic reason is our poor record of human right practices, whether the federal government admits it or not.

Human rights are the fundamental basis for a holistic well-being of all human persons in all aspects — spiritual, moral, intellectual, emotional, physical, social, and economical. A progressive nation must ensure the balanced development of all these aspects for its citizenry.

If we want to be a progressive developed nation by 2020, the most fundamental matter we need to get right is our practice of human rights. There is the primary need for the authorities to recognise and respect the right to racial, religious, cultural, political, social, economic self-determination of all persons. Due recognition and respect must be given to the dignity, equality, and religious and educational rights of all citizens, irrespective of colour, creed, culture, and class.

As the first step toward such an ideal morally righteous, equitable, virtuous, and just society, the Najob administration should abolish the ISA, and review and revamp all other restrictive and oppressive laws such as the Police Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the Universities and University Colleges Act.

The second step for the federal government to ractify all the international human rights covenants and coventions of the United Nation, especially the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

The presevation, promotion and propagation of human rights are essential to the pursuit of a balanced holistic, just and fair development.

If the Najib administration is prepared to walk the talk, and take the country to greater heights by taking positive commited action to abolish the ISA, and remove all the legal restrictions to allow for truth, righteousness, freedom , justice, fairness, and peace to flourish and bloom in our nation, it has my vote at the next general election.

But, I think I am just having a hallucination!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 9:16 am and is filed under
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Guan Eng says ‘confused’ man harassed him over federal project

By
Yoges Palaniappan
 | The Malaysian Insider

GEORGE TOWN, August 3 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the man who harassed him in Komtar yesterday “appeared confused and needed help”.

Relating the incident, Lim said he was approached by a man in his 60s in the drivers’ room at the building’s second floor last night.

“We were talking as usual when he suddenly raised his voice and then he rapped hard on my shoulder,” he told reporters at a press conference in his office.

“When I asked him why he did that, he accused me of implementing anti-Malay policies. He said the state government had chased village folks out of Kampung Tanjung Tokong,” he said.

“I sat him down and explained to him that the development in the village was not brought by us [state government], but UDA as a federal government project. He then appeared very confused and hit the sofa angrily many, many times,” he added.

In September last year, the Urban Development Authority had announced plans to build low and medium-cost flats, apartments, condominiums and commercial buildings with a sale value of between RM800mil and RM1bil at the village.

Lim today said although the incident was “an unfortunate matter, it should not be played [up]again and again”.

He said that he did not intend to press charges against the man, but Penang chief police officer thought an investigation was crucial because it involved a chief minister.

“In the meantime, we must change our modus operandi. Although we’re a people-friendly government, we need to change because of a few confused individuals,” he said,

“The state government needed to work out ways on how the public could approach us,” he added.

Lim said the incident also did not look good on the credibility of the police force in providing security in the building.

“The man was waiting in the drivers’ room. It cannot be permitted. Drivers’ room is only for drivers,” he said, adding that the security in Komtar would definitely be tightened in the next few days.

Lim said he was leaving the matter to the police and did not want any unwanted speculation over the incident.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 1:11 pm and is filed under
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Let the Thrill-Ling Show Begin!

By
Martin Jalleh

Bolehland’s economy is buckling

FDIs are drastically a-tumbling.

The impact of corruption is crippling

The brain drain numbers are appalling.

Many ordinary people are struggling

The elite, nation’s wealth are gobbling.

Umno’s “internal security” is crumbling

Confidence of its members is wobbling.

MCA, its members quietly squabbling

MIC a sad story of continued shackling.

Other BN partners are loudly grumbling

Against Umno’s bullying ways so galling.

Race and religious harmony sorely failing

In human rights the country is sadly trailing.

For 15 months the PM has been babbling

Slogan after slogan he has been dangling.

Rakyat fed-up of his 1Malaysia rambling

APCO’s gimmicks fall flat and fumbling.

The country needs something very startling

To kick-start PM’s image so troubling.

So they call the AG to get the circus rolling

Put in the dock a very big fish called Ling.

First Tun ever charged in court, of star billing

No handcuffs, but it must be very humbling.

From the government he has been stealing

In a case where they have been long stalling.

RM12.5 billion, a scandal very mind-boggling

After three long years, they are still hobbling!

Ling is commanding and confidently smiling

Some people, even in Umno, will be trembling!

He needs only to begin with a bit of “spilling”

And some big guns will be slipping and falling.

More will be arrested to give a serious feeling

Ling could even recommend some for grilling.

The AG’s case seems so strange and puzzling

Will there be brokering, wheeling and dealing?

MACC in big cases has so far been bungling

Will they succeed in making this revealing?

Pre-election circus has got officials scrambling

PM’s image must be made to look real sparkling!

Past big fish arrested in charades most telling

All were acquitted, came out of court giggling.

The citizens of Bolehland are riotously chuckling

Such a circus and charade is no longer appealing!

Will we be spared of more deceit and swindling?

In the next general elections, God-willing!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 5:01 pm and is filed under
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MCA, stand firm or close shop

By
Thomas Lee

MySinChew.com

The arrogance of Deputy Prime Minister and Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in giving a stern warning on Monday 3 August 2010 to the MCA over the “Allah” issue simply cannot be stomached and tolerated.

If the MCA has any dignity and integrity, it should not allow itself to be so severely rebuked and dictated to publicly by an “equal” partner in the Barisan Nasional coalition.

The MCA is right in standing up for the right of the non-Muslim community to be allowed to freely practise and express their religious faiths using any word they deem fit in Bahasa Malaysia, which is their national language.

The MCA is absolutely right to ask the federal government, of which it is purportedly an essential component, to rescind the ban on non-Muslims using of the word “Allah”, after Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein expressed regrets over the decision to ban its use by his predecessor.

The deputy prime minister had insisted that the MCA must accept the decision of the federal government without questioning, saying that the party should not trigger another debate on the word “Allah.”

The MCA should not allow such haughtiness to go unchallenged, and should ensure its fundamental right is recognised, accepted, and respected as an equal component of the ruling coalition to any assent and/or acquiescence of any decision affecting the nation.

If the MCA is not allowed to voice its views and have a say on such fundamental matters as the right of the non-Muslims to freely use any word in the national language for the purpose of expressing, worshipping, teaching and publishing of their religious faith, then the party should dissolve itself as it is obviously politically impotent, and has no essential practical use to the Chinese community it claims to represent.

Muhyiddin has also questioned the MCA intention in sharing the same platform with the DAP.

“I am not sure why the DAP and the MCA have the same stand in this matter,” he said.

In condemning the MCA stand on the “Allah” issue, which happens to align with that of the DAP, Muhyiddin is showing himself to be superficial and perhaps even shallow in understanding the universal fundamental human, civil and constitutional rights of the people.

The MCA may not be idealogically and politically compatible with the DAP, but the universal principles and values of the fundamental human rights are applicable to political parties of all tints and shades, including even Umno.

So, for the MCA to make a stand on the “Allah” issue, which is basically a human right issue, is both legitimate and justified, even if it is similar to the stand of the DAP.

Take the case of Umno having a similar stand as PAS on the issue of the need for Malay unity.

If Muhyiddin’s argument on the MCA having the same political agenda on the “Allah” issue as the DAP is seen as a perfidy against the Barisan Nasional, then Umno’s willingness to hold unity talk with PAS is likewise a betrayal of trust against the other component parties of the Barisan Nasional.

The MCA must not compromise on this “Allah” issue, which involves the fundamemtal human, civil, and constitutional rights of the people. If it now shrinks from its responsibility to help preserve, protect, and promote the God-given rights of the people, then it can be sure that its days are numbered and the next general election will be its funeral ceremony.

NOTE:
 As I had expected, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said in a statement soon after the above Comment was published that the MCA “does not share the same stand with the DAP on the call to lift the ban on the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.” In view of the party backing out on its stand on the issue, I think it should start making arrangement to hold nationwide funeral ceremonies after the next general election.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 10:02 pm and is filed under
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Najib should explain why after 16 months of his 1Malaysia slogan, Malaysians are even more  divided with even the former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir declaring that he is confused and does not know the meaning of 1Malaysia?

I do not agree with the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who criticized the Najib administration’s 1Malaysia slogan, claiming that the concept needed further “explanation” to prevent it from interpreted differently by various races.

But Mahathir is right that Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan which he introduced after he took office in April last year had failed to unite Malaysians as a whole.

This is not because the 1Malaysia slogan is vague or Najib failed to provide an explanation or definition of  what his slogan means.

An official definition of 1Malaysia was given by the  1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap released by the government in January this year, which states:

“The goal of 1Malaysia is to make Malaysia more vibrant, more productive and more competitive – and ultimately a greater nation: a nation where, it is hoped, every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second and where the principles of 1Malaysia are woven into the economic, political and social fabric of society.”

The question is how many Ministers in Najib’s Cabinet endorse this definition and objective of 1Malaysia?

When the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin can publicly declare that he is Malay first and Malaysian second, without any contradiction by  any of the other Cabinet Ministers from the Barisan Nasional component parties and with seeming endorsement by Najib, Malaysians are presented with the public spectacle of the Najib administration itself repudiating the very meaning and objective of 1Malaysia.

No wonder, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah could deliver a speech entitled “We were once ‘Malaysians’” at the recent Malaysian Students Leaders’ Summit over the weekend – on the diminishing numbers of Malaysians over the decades who regard themselves as Malaysians first and last, transcending their ethnic, religious, geographical or socio-economic affinities!

The ball is in Najib’s court. Can he explain why after 16 months of his premiership and 1Malaysia slogan, Malaysians are even more  divided with even the former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir declaring that he is confused and  does not know the meaning of 1Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 3:11 pm and is filed under
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Penang open tender spree shows up Putrajaya

By
Lee Wei Lian
 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — The Penang government’s open tender spree in the past few months could put the federal government in a bad light as both strive to show the public that they stand for transparency and excellence.

While both have initiated efforts to make procurement more transparent to the public, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Penang government seems to have taken the lead with a stream of open tenders announcements for its big ticket items while the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government has appeared very slow off the mark.

Among landmark projects that were tendered out by the Penang state government include the multi-billion 100 acre Bayan Mutiara township project, the restoration of Fort Cornwallis, restoration of Crag Hotel, management of the Penang International Sports Arena and the Penang Hill facelift. Upcoming tenders include that for the Pulau Jerejak tourist development project.

In the case of the Bayan Mutiara project, the Penang government seems to have taken a leaf out of the Singapore playbook and has opened the tender to international bidders in an attempt to build an “iconic, prestigious and sustainable” development.

Singapore’s newest landmarks — the two world class integrated resorts (IR) at Sentosa Island and Marina Bay were built by international investors.  A subsidiary of Malaysia’s own Genting Berhad had built the IR at Sentosa Island.

The federal government on the other hand has been slow to open up major projects to open tenders. The highly valuable 65 acre piece of government land in the prestigious Jalan Duta area was privatised last November to the Naza group without an open tender.

Other major parcels of land where open tenders have yet to be called for redevelopment include the 3,300 acre Malaysia Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of the 400 acre Sungai Besi Airport and the development of the 85 acre KL Financial District. Other valuable tracts of land where no open tenders have been called include 204 acres of government land in Jalan Cochrane and land at Jalan Peel and Jalan Lidcol.

The open tender debate in Malaysia is a politically charged one as it is widely acknowledged that many if not most government contracts and licenses go to companies controlled by persons close to the political leadership. As companies are not selected based on merit, completed projects and public services are often of poor quality despite high costs and subject to much public complaint.

Both governments also maintain public procurement portals but Penang had launched its portal first. The federal government portal — MyProcurement — also suffered the embarrassment of having glaring data entry errors discovered just a few days after being launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

While Najib has taken steps to tidy up procurement and the New Economic Model (NEM) framework mooted by his administration has also stressed the need for open tenders, the slow pace at which such reforms are taking place under his administration are leaving many wondering if anything has really changed.

The danger for the prime minister than is that the island state will prove to be much more serious in terms of public accountability and performance and his government will suffer in comparison.

While some expressed fears that the Penang open tender system would penalise Bumiputeras, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng quashed such claims and revealed in January that 70 per cent of tenders from two state owned firms were won by Bumiputera contractors.

He said that Malay contractors had won 16 out of 23 tender awards, or 70 per cent, from the Penang Development Corporation(PDC) and 44 out of 66 or 67 per cent of contracts issued by the Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang(PBAPP) in open tenders since March 2008.

Najib has had to contend with continued demand for quotas set aside for Malay contractors after he said the NEM will free the economy and make it more competitive.

Malay rights group point out that the BN government has yet to meet the 30 per cent target for Malay equity with just nearly 20 per cent since the New Economic Policy (NEP) came to effect in 1970.

But detractors say the amount does not include equity by government units and companies investing on behalf of the Malays and Bumiputeras such as PNB and others.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 10:14 am and is filed under
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Will the 4 MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper/unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal on “Allah” controversy?

The Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Umno President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had acted completely out of turn in issuing a most improper and unwarranted “stern warning” to MCA to accept the decision of the government and should not trigger another debate on the word “Allah”.

Does this mean that the MCA leadership, despite having four Ministers in Cabinet, are not allowed to raise in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting a proposal to ask the Ministers to take a policy decision to withdraw the Home Ministry’s appeal against the Lau Bee Lan judgment of the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January which allowed the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its publication, Herald?

Such a proposal in tomorrow’s  Cabinet would be most timely, appropriate and fully in accord with the national interests in view of the admission by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that his predecessor Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

Are there two classes of Ministers – those who can raise issues in Cabinet and ask for policy decisions to be made or reviewed and the lower class of  Ministers who cannot raise issues which are regarded as “sensitive” by the first class of Ministers?

Malaysians are entitled to know when this classification of Ministers into two categories – between those who can raise issues for decision by the Cabinet and others who cannot do so and must go along with what had been decided for them – got institutionalized, as Malaysians have been told that all Cabinet Ministers are equal in power and responsibility in the Cabinet with the Prime Minister being the primus inter pares?

Another example of such lopsidedness in the power equation among Cabinet Ministers and different Barisan Nasional component parties is  still  fresh in the people’s mind – where the government decision to reject the legalization of football betting was made at the Umno Supreme Council and not in the Cabinet – and without consultation with the MCA or other BN component parties!

Will the four MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper and unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow the issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal?

If there is a  MCA Minister who has the courage of conviction to formally ask the Cabinet tomorrow to revisit the issue to resolve once and for all the prolonged and unnecessary “Allah” controversy in the interests of promoting inter-racial and inter-religious  understanding and harmony, what would happen to him or her?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 August 2010, 2:53 pm and is filed under
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Are the police sabotaging the BN?

By
P. Ramakrishnan

Tuesday, 03 August 2010 20:28

Sunday, 1 August 2010, marked the 50th Anniversary of the ISA. It was a milestone that had to be observed by every caring Malaysian. It was an occasion that deserved to be commemorated.

This evil Act has been with us for 50 years serving as a convenient and useful political tool to keep the ruling elite in power. For 50 years, this Act has terrorised innocent people. Some 10,000 people lost their freedom because they were detained under the ISA which gives them no recourse to the courts.

Their detention is at the pleasure of the Minister of Home Affairs. He is legally empowered to detain any Malaysian indefinitely by simply extending their detention orders every two years. No court of law can question the Minister’s detention orders. As long as he is of the opinion that an individual is a threat to national security, he can order the detention.

Such an unjust law has to be opposed. It was only logical that on the 50th Anniversary of the existence of this obnoxious legislation, peaceful Malaysians should commemorate this important occasion. In this instance, they planned to hold candle light vigil in eight states on 1 August 2010, the 50th anniversary of the enactment of this Act.

This candle light vigil would have taken place peacefully without any incidence – if only those gathered had been allowed to do so. Surely Malaysians are entitled to the freedom to light a candle, sing a few songs, deliver a few speeches and go home.

NGO events such as this don’t normally attract a mammoth crowd. At most only a few hundred people turn up. There was no public urging for Malaysians to turn up in their thousands.

So why was this peaceful gathering stopped? What was achieved?

The police action only made those present even angrier with the Barisan Nasional – not with the police. They were aware that the police only act on the orders of the BN – more implicitly on the instructions of the Umno ministers.

In Penang, when I arrived at around 8.50 pm I witnessed some activists being herded into a truck and carted away even before the event could take place at 9.00 pm. There were more police personnel present than people who had come to attend the function. They outnumbered those present by almost two to one. The police were ordering the people to disperse but they lingered on. What was inspiring was the fact that there was no fear among the people. No one ran helter-skelter. They stayed put.

At about 9.30 pm, my wife and I went to the Jelutong Police Station, where the four detainees were taken to. There were at least 50 Malaysians holding up lit candles and moving to an advantage position to attract the attention of passers-by. We bought a packet of candles and joined the group.

Motorists passing us on both sides honked their horns expressing their support.

As more and more cars and motorbikes passed, their honking grew louder and more persistent. One cyclist even rang his bell!

When it became evident that the people were in support of the cause that we represented, that was when the police moved in and dispersed us. Even then, some did not go home. They stayed on at  nearby coffee shops until it was time to free the detainees. Four of those still hanging around went into the police station to bail them out.

The people have a right to be angry with the BN. The police were tolerant of the pro-Umno group who came there to be unruly. They were provocative and were a nuisance. They came to cause mischief and disrupt the peaceful event to mark the 50th anniversary of the ISA. They supported the ISA. They could have held their own function elsewhere to express their support for the ISA. But why come here to wreck a peaceful event?

Why were they not apprehended?  Why were the police tolerant of this group?

According to a Malaysiakini report:

“When asked if the police knew about a group of pro-ISA members believed to be Umno representatives gathering at the Square, Georgetown OCPD Asst Comm Gan Kong

Meng conceded, saying ‘Yes, they tried to create trouble and agitate”.

They tried to “create trouble and agitate” and how were they treated in comparison to those who were arrested? It was clearly a case of double standards.

Ordinary Malaysians are not naive. They see the difference and they understand the biased treatment.

This conduct is not a plus sign for the BN. It is definitely a minus sign. The police action only makes the people turn against the BN.

The BN must realise that the police action is only sabotaging the BN.

P Ramakrishnan is president of Aliran.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 August 2010, 11:20 am and is filed under
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I disagree, chief secretary!

By
KJ John

fter the spat between Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Nik Ali Mat Yunus – the federal officer posted to Penang as state development officer (SDO) – the chief secretary to the government concluded: “If he (Nik Ali) was accused with all kinds of untruths and criticised repeatedly, he too, has his dignity. If he did not reply, then people would say that he is guilty. So, it was proper that a clarification was given.”

I disagree with your judgment, Sir!

The word ‘dignity’ is a very expensive word in human sociology and psychology and cannot be treated lightly. Much like the word ‘integrity,’ it cannot and should not be abused by all and sundry. In fact, when I proposed the ‘dignity in the workplace’ hypothesis, the first and biggest challenge was defining the concept as applied and used at the workplace.

And, even before I could define it, I had problems at the ontological level about our differing theories about the nature of man and our assumptions about reality. Some of my professors thought I should move to a school of theology or philosophy to seek a definition, instead of a School of Government and Business Administration. Therefore, that word is neither a simple word nor an easy concept to understand and then defend.

While I agree with the chief secretary’s application of the word and its personal meaning to defend the honour and due regard for the human being responsible, I disagree that the manner of his defence was either right or proper. The officer should never have publicly responded to the matter against the chief minister; after all he is the head of a state administration. That is public service decorum.

While the chief secretary is a very good friend, as is the chief minister, and Nik Ali (left) was my colleague at the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), truth matters in every area of life. What I write now is an attempt to be professional about the subject and my views are nothing personal.

First of all, all federal public servants serve at the pleasure of the Agong. And in both the unfederated and federated Malay States, officers serve at the pleasure of the sultan or head of the state.

The chief secretary is the secretary to the cabinet and therefore a federal level cabinet officer, but his appointment is institutional and ex-officio, regardless of who forms the government. The chief minister or menteri besar is an elected head of administration at the state level from the party that commands the majority in the state.

The SDO is only a federal departmental officer not even of cabinet rank, like an ambassador, whose names are cleared and approved by the cabinet before their appointment is gazetted.

Respect not shown

My disagreement therefore with the chief secretary’s views stems from the fact that the SDO is only a departmental appointee who holds office in the state at the pleasure of the head of the state or the governor.

This SDO is not the head of all government officers in Penang. That post is held by the state secretary, who also serves as ex-officio secretary to the state executive council. Therefore, why didn’t this SDO carry his complaints to his immediate boss in the state where he serves?

He has thus failed in a major way in terms of state-level courtesies and respect for heads of administration at state level. To me, it is the equivalent of insulting the governor of the state or, in the case of a foreign government, tantamount to insulting a sovereign head of state.

The chief secretary should not make this error of judgment because the officer’s poor example can now be repeated by all federal appointees in every state led by the opposition coalition.

While I am aware that the SDO’s Office, sometimes called the Federal Office at state level, can be used and abused by the federal government for its political agenda, this cannot be rationalised as good and acceptable practice.

When we have a two-party governance structure; the government of the day may become the opposition of tomorrow.

In fact, the chief secretary himself was previously reported as saying that all public servants must undertake their duties professionally and without fear or favour.

For the record, let me also say that when I was in Penang for a conference last April I heard case-stories from federal government officers that the SDO was giving them explicit instructions not to submit information to the state government, especially in terms of statistics and feedback on progress or failure of federal government programmes.

At that point I was not aware that the SDO was my former colleague, Nik Ali. My advice to him, therefore, is the same one given to me by then Miti minister Rafidah Aziz (left): if you cannot serve the government in authority with a clear conscience, then please leave and take optional retirement. I agreed and I did.

Service in public interest

The public service is always a service in the public interest. If one has strong views against the particular colour and shape of the government, please do not seek to serve in that state or department. It should never become incumbent upon federal government officers to succumb to partisan interest of one group versus another.

Partisan leadership of the public services must become a thing of the past. Public servants must seek to serve the public interest first and foremost.

The power and authority model of leadership is no more relevant in all spheres of work; what is now needed is the responsibility model of leadership. Any federal officer serves first of all at the pleasure of the Agong and works for the public interests as defined by the federal constitution.

How does the constitution define the role and jurisdiction of the SDO? Was not the SDO a creation of the Abdul Razak Hussein (right) era? Are there not limits to the definition of ‘minor works allocations’ under this delegated authority? Can the SDO bypass the state financial officer (another ex-officio state administrator) in doing his job, other than for minor works projects? Are not district officers still the executing authority for all such projects?

Are not the real issues actually related to the federal government abusing financial and procurement procedures to circumvent publicly financed projects in Penang and keeping them outside the philosophy of competence, accountability and transparency in the open purchase of services and goods by the state administration?

Dear chief secretary: let us become more transparent, open and accountable over the core concerns in this issue. The SDO was speaking out of turn, and if this was in any state with a Malay Ruler, he could easily have been given the ‘get out of state’ order!

Maybe in Penang, a former Straits Settlement, the rules are different. But are we not the federation of states? Would a federal officer also be allowed to speak in the same way in Sabah or Sarawak? Would you support him or her too? Professionalism calls for us to conduct ourselves rationally and without fear or favour.

May God grant all of us the grace to become more professional and courteous in our conduct!

KJ JOHN was in public service for 29 years. He is now dean of the Faculty of Economics and Policy Science at UCSI University, Malaysia. The views expressed above are truths that matter to him as an individual citizen wearing private and civil society hats and therefore are not opinions of the university or faculty. Do send feedback to him at
[email protected]

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 August 2010, 11:23 am and is filed under
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