Pilihan raya lokal hakis hak Melayu?

Saifuddin Abdullah

Sinar Harian

3 OGOS 2015

MINGGU lalu, Presiden Pas Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang menuduh DAP “cauvinis” kerana ingin mengadakan semula pilihan raya Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan (PBT). Enam bulan terdahulu, beliau menyatakan yang pilihan raya tersebut akan menghapuskan hak keistimewaan orang Melayu.

Saya tidak terlibat dengan perselisihan antara beliau dengan DAP. Tetapi, saya tidak bersetuju dengan pendapatnya tentang hak orang Melayu dalam konteks pilihan raya PBT.

Pada 13 Mac 2015, saya telah menyampaikan syarahan khas bertajuk “Adakah Pilihan Raya PBT Menghakis Hak Keistimewaan Melayu” di Persidangan PBT di Malaysia: Menilai Laporan Athi Nahappan Untuk Masa Kini, anjuran Penyelidikan Untuk Kemajuan Sosial (REFSA). Teks syarahan itu diterbitkan dalam REFSA Quarterly, Isu 1 2015.

Saya mula berbicara dan menyokong diadakan semula pilihan raya PBT sejak 1986. Saya pernah menjadi Ahli Majlis PBT Temerloh selama enam bulan, pada 2007, iaitu sebelum menjadi Ahli Parlimen Temerloh pada 2008-2013. Oleh kerana pada saya, Majlis Daerah dan Majlis PBT tidak partisipatori dan representatif, maka, sebagai Ahli Parlimen, saya telah menubuhkan mini-parlimen tempatan, iaitu Majlis Perundingan Parlimen Temerloh.

Saya sedia maklum bahawa pilihan raya bukanlah tongkat sakti yang dapat secara 100 peratus menyelesaikan semua masalah PBT. Tetapi, saya cukup yakin bahawa ia akan membawa lebih banyak kebaikan daripada keburukan, khususnya dalam lima aspek: pendemokrasian, kerangka governans, keterangkuman substantif, integriti dan penilaian.

Adakah ia akan menghakis hak keistimewaan Melayu? Jawabnya: tidak.

Pertama, kita perlu mempunyai pandangan alam dan tafsiran yang tepat tentang makna hak keistimewaan Melayu. Saya tidak berpegang pada konsep ketuanan Melayu. Sebaliknya, saya berpegang bahawa sebagai Melayu, dan Muslim, kita perlu menegakkan keadilan dan mengelakkan diskriminasi, iaitu seperti yang tercatat dalam Perkara 8 Perlembagaan Persekutuan, yang menyatakan bahawa semua rakyat adalah sama di sisi undang-undang dan tidak boleh berlaku diskriminasi atas alasan agama, kaum, keturunan, tempat lahir dan gender.

Islam juga menegaskan perkara yang sama, contohnya, penolakan terhadap konsep asabiyah.

Perkara 153 Perlembagaan menjamin kedudukan istimewa Melayu. Tetapi, ia adalah untuk mewajarkan langkah afirmatif. Ia tidak pula meliputi semua bidang. Ia hanya meliputi empat bidang sahaja, iaitu perkhidmatan awam Persekutuan, biasiswa, pendidikan dan permit/lesen. Dalam bidang-bidang tersebut, ia tidak pula boleh dipanjangkan sehingga langsung tiada hadnya. Contohnya, dalam perkhidmatan awam, Perkara 136 menyatakan bahawa setelah seseorang diambil, maka, semua perlu dilayan secara saksama.

Kedua, menurut Dr Ong Kian Ming, majoriti PBT adalah kawasan majoriti Melayu. Penduduk Melayu Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (45.9%) mengatasi Cina (43.2%). Daripada 49 PBT terbesar, hanya 6 sahaja yang penduduk bukan-Melayunya melebihi Melayu. Ini bermakna 88 peratus PBT terbesar mempunyai penduduk yang bercampur, dan kebanyakannya adalah majoriti Melayu.

Ketiga, kita boleh mengadakan sistem dan mekanisme yang menjamin keterangkuman semua kaum, termasuk minoriti, dan mengelakkan diskriminasi terhadap mana-mana kumpulan. Contohnya, dengan mengadakan zon dan komposisi ahli Majlis.

Dan keempat, banyak telah berubah. Dari segi politik, rakyat semakin rabun warna. Di samping itu, menurut Tan Sri Dr Kamal Salih, ketua kumpulan sarjana yang menghasilkan Laporan Sumber Manusia Malaysia 2013, hari ini, 95 peratus daripada masalah ketaksaksamaan ekonomi Malaysia ialah bersifat intra-kaum, dan tidak lagi bersifat antara-kaum.

Masanya telah tiba untuk kita meningkatkan keyakinan diri sendiri dan melangkah ke hadapan dengan berani dan bernas dengan melakar pemikiran politik yang tidak berasaskan-kaum dan membina solidariti yang merentas-kaum.

Antaranya ialah dengan menolak andaian bahawa pilihan raya PBT menghakis hak keistimewaan Melayu.

* Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah ialah CEO Gerakan Kesederhanaan Global dan bekas Timbalan Menteri Pengajian Tinggi. Beliau aktif di twitter: @saifuddinabd.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 3 August 2015, 12:01 pm and is filed under
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What Can Ensure a Real Political Breakthrough

Koon Yew Yin

3rd August 2015

Recently I wrote of developments on the opposition side that had the potential to lead to a political breakthrough for the country. I was referring to the formation of a new party led by Pas moderates and progressives.

I had also written on the need for the new Islamic party to adhere to the Common Policy Framework and reject a hard line and extremist Islamic ideology; oppose the move to introduce hudud in Kelantan and the federal parliament; support the constitutional position on democratic and human rights and the equality of all citizens, irrespective of race or creed and to fight racial and religious extremism wherever it comes from.

But in politics it is not enough to have the right manifesto or ideology. To win power, it is equally – if not more important – to have the right leaders. Today we have a clear political leadership crisis in the country in both government and the opposition.

In the opposition we have seen the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim effectively remove him from being a key player in the current political situation.  Although Anwar can continue to be a rallying point to remind the electorate how unscrupulous the Barisan Nasional government has been in trying to hold on to power, the Pakatan coalition will have to be realistic and move on to the post-Anwar leadership team if it is to topple the ruling government.

It is pointless and even politically suicidal to insist that Anwar continues to be the leader of Pakatan and to have the next election campaign focus around him or be directed by him from prison. Without a direct physical presence and involvement in daily politics,  Anwar cannot lead Pakatan’s or even PKR’s campaign. He can be an adviser and moral icon at best.

Hence, the present and future of the opposition coalition is best taken care by a replacement leadership team in PKR; and the electoral energies of PKR is best put to other causes such as GST, 1MDB, etc.

Who can be the replacement leader or leaders is the 64 thousand dollar question.  This is particularly important for PKR whose participation in the opposition coalition is crucial to Pakatan winning power. PKR cannot wait till the elections are around the corner before it decides on its new team, especially in terms of Malay leaders. It has to be done now.

What is PKR and Pakatan’s “A” Team

Here are my suggestions on this new replacement team.

Azmin Ali: He has passed all the tests of leadership in Selangor as well as in PKR. He has been a fighter for the opposition cause for the longest time and has ability and credibility. He has also strong multi-racial support and has not played the religious or racial line or game. In my opinion, Anwar should send a clear signal to the nation by passing the baton of leadership of PKR and Pakatan to Azmin as soon as possible.

Muhyddin and Zaid Ibrahim: Efforts should be made to recruit Muhyiddin Yassin and Zaid Ibrahim to the PKR, Harapan Baru and Pakatan side.

Zaid Ibrahim has been fighting a lone battle against Islamic extremism and for moderation and sanity in religious and racial politics. Some people regard him as a prima donna. But I feel he can be an asset rather than a liability to the opposition. He is one of the clearest political thinkers in the country and has a big following among the educated and upper middle class which cuts across race.

As for the former Deputy Prime Minister, it is clear that his political future is finished as far as UMNO is concerned.  To pacify him, Najib may reward him with a foreign posting or a GLC plum job. But if that happens, everyone will know that he has been bought off.  I hope Muhyiddin’s sense of pride and honour will not permit him to be bought off.

Many of my Malay friends say that they respect Muhyiddin for speaking out on the 1MDB fiasco despite the knowledge that it may kill off his political future. If Muhyiddin wants to remain relevant in national politics, the only place for him now is in the opposition camp, perhaps with the Harapan Baru grouping. It is not only Najib that he has to fight against within UMNO. Zahid and other UMNO rising stars will want to consolidate and maintain their position. That basically means Muhyiddin and his supporters will be marginalized within the party.

Although it may be futile to get Muhyiddin to cross over, his more idealistic supporters may now be convinced that UMNO is beyond redemption and that the opposition deserves a crack at running the country.  If so, they may decide to boycott the elections or even provide support to the opposition cause.

A combination of Azmin, Zaid and Muhyiddin’s supporters even though Muhyiddin remains within UMNO  – together with the present DAP and Harapan Baru stake players – could be an unbeatable team leading Pakatan to a resounding victory in the next elections. No amount of electoral gerrymandering or BN dirty tricks can stop the changeover of government that will take place if this combination or some variation of it comes about. What can stop it is if a new leadership team is not set up within PKR and Pakatan, and the party and coalition remain rudderless.

A final word of advice to Anwar’s staunch supporters: Anwar’s cause will be best served if he facilitates the urgently needed leadership transition in PKR and Pakatan.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 3 August 2015, 1:48 am and is filed under
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Akmal Saufi Khaled’s hard questions about the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal bank accounts give hope to Malaysians facing a new dark age that the future is not totally lost

The hard questions about the RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts by Akmal Saufi Khaled, son of Johore Mentri Besar Khaled Nordin, give hope to Malaysians facing a new dark age that the future is not totally lost.

It shows that the extraordinary statement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday that the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 just before dissolution of Parliament for the 13th General Elections came from donation and not from 1MDB funds is not only questioned by the older generation of Malaysians, but also by the thinking young generation as well.

Among the questions posed by Akmal, who is the Youth Parliament’s security, law and integrity committee chairperson, in his Facebook are:

•	What is the proof that the RM2.6 billion was a donation and not from 1MDB or parties that have transactions related to 1MDB?

•	The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the money was a donation. Was it a donation for the government, Umno, or to (Najib) himself?

•	If it was for Umno, was the supreme council aware of the donation? When did Najib plan to tell them?

•	If it was a private donation to Najib, did he receive it while he was a minister? Is a minister, deputy prime minister, or the prime minister allowed to receive donations while in office?

These and many other questions posed by Akmal are the very ones which are making the rounds in the country as all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender are asking them since the MACC statement yesterday – proving that Malaysians are not such a supine and unthinking lot.

It is noteworthy that the pro-Najib blog MYKMU had tried to answer and rebut some of Akmal’s questions, but not all of them and with little convincing power in the answers.

It is clear that MACC’s statement yesterday claiming that the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal bank accounts came from donations and not from 1MDB raise more questions than answer any.

Why is MACC making such a statement outside its scope of  investigations when MACC had said on July 30 that its probe was limited to SRC International and not 1MDB?

When did MACC discover that the RM2.6 billion did not come from 1MDB, and why didn’t MACC make such a statement earlier?

Why wasn’t such a statement made by the Special Task Force on 1MDB, or has the Special Task Force ceased to exist with the sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General and the attacks on key officials of Attorney-General’s Chambers, the MACC and Bank Negara Malaysia as being involved in an international plot to “criminalise” Najib and to topple the elected government of Malaysia?

Was MACC’s unsolicited statement yesterday clearing 1MDB as the source of the RM2.6 billion a “peace” offering by MACC to the end the attacks on MACC, which has seen the harassment, interrogation and arrest of top MACC officials by the police?

The speech by the Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin at the Pasir Gudang Wanita Umno annual general meeting on Sunday that silence  was not an option when Umno deviates from its struggle to defend certain people in the name of “loyalty” deserves support not only from UMNO members but the public at large.

All Malaysians must stand solidly by Khalid in his stand that UMNO cannot stay silent when corruption becomes a culture and trust is betrayed.

Not just UMNO members, but all patriotic Malaysians cannot stand by the sidelines when corruption becomes a culture and trust is betrayed, and this is why Najib must account fully and immediately about the 1MBD scandal and the RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 4:19 pm and is filed under
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An open letter to Paul Low

By Robert Hum

Malaysiakini

Aug 1, 2015

Mr Paul Low

Malaysian Minister of Integrity and Good  governance

Putrajaya

Malaysia

Dear Sir

Please allow me to add some comments concerning your press statement of July 31, 2015.

Excerpt from your press statement: “I was brought into the federal cabinet specifically to promote good governance and to strengthen transparency and accountability in the government.”

Firstly the all important concept of good governance involves the rule of law, transparency and accountability.

Mr Low, all of these basic points were missing in the unceremonious dismissal of the attorney-general (AG) on Monday by PM Najib Abdul Razak. The incongruent statement of dismissal of the AG due to ill health by the chief secretary to the government smacks of the arrogance and the contempt of the PM for the office of the AG in order to stay in power at all costs.

There was no rule of law evidenced in the dismissal of the AG who was in the process of leading the investigation into the conduct of the PM concerning 1MDB. On the contrary the AG’s dismissal from office by PM Najib is against natural justice and is a direct interference by the PM who is being investigated.

From the onset of the investigation of 1MDB, it was clear that there could never be an objective, fair and thorough investigation when the person under investigation is the PM himself. Good governance would have dictated that PM Najib temporarily stand down from office so that a without prejudice, fair and thorough investigation could be carried out. But this did not happen.

By removing the AG from office and promoting three key public accounts committee (PAC) investigating members to cabinet positions has now rendered the demise of a fair and thorough investigation of the 1MDB saga and is now a laughing stock to the whole world. Where is the good governance in all these? Where is the accountability that you referred to?

All these happened on July 28 and you have the audacity to issue your press statement of July 31 about good governance and transparency.

How could you as a follower of Jesus Christ, participate in activities that are highly irregular, suspicious, undemocratic and lack moral decency in every aspect?

How could you partake of idolatrous delicacies at Najib’s cabinet table on the weekdays and break bread at the Lord’s table on Sundays?

The Christian community is indignant, annoyed and very disappointed with Najib’s summary and contemptuous removal of the AG, the PAC members and the deputy prime minister when the investigation of 1MDB is on-going. No amount of platitude from you about the Najib’s intention concerning good governance will have any effect on anyone in light of these events, including many young Malaysians.

What example are you and your boss, the PM, setting for the younger Malaysians who will be the leaders of the country tomorrow?

On the wrong side of Malaysian history?

Dear Mr Low, I believe you are on the wrong side of Malaysian history. Fifty years from now, Malaysian history will record your duplicity concerning this shameful episode and your name will be remembered as one who stood with the unjust rulers who were despots and greedy, supporting nepotism, cronyism and corrupt to the very core in Malaysian society. History reminds us of Marcos, Suharto and Mubarak, to name a recent few.

Are you not aware that your position in the Malaysian cabinet as a minister to promote good governance, transparency and accountability is but a game played by Najib? Wake up! You have been sucked into it without fully understanding the ramifications of your participation and complicity in the evil deeds.

The Malaysian Christian community is highly suspicious of Najib’s move against the DPM. Would he be arrested and suffer a black eye in the holding cell at Bukit Aman, like one infamous incident that Malaysians are reminded of, not too long ago?

Would he also be charged with morality offences now that he is no longer in the executive?

Your continued presence in Najib’s cabinet bring disrepute and shame on the Christian community in Malaysia since you have identified yourself to be a Christian. You are supposed to be the light for them that walk in darkness but alas, you, too, walk in darkness.

Your continual presence in the Malaysian cabinet could only allow me to conclude that you are a man of poor judgment and of highly doubtful moral and ethical standards.

Let me in closing quote you from the writing of the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus.

Ephesian 5:11. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

Your other seven Christian colleagues in the cabinet, namely Idris Jala , Maximus Ongkili, Douglas Uggah,Wilfred Madius Tangau, Richard Riot, Joseph Entulu and Joseph Kurup should  all hang your heads in shame, bearing the name of Christ and yet participating in the works of darkness.

Remember what Jesus said to his disciples. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.” Matthew 7:21

ROBERT HUM is a retired accountant.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 9:49 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s overdue housecleaning clamor

by Gary Kleiman

Asia Times

August 3, 2015

Malaysia’s stock market was down over 10 percent at end-July after Prime Minister Najib Razak, fighting to extend his six-year tenure in the wake of the 1MDB debt and campaign funding scandal, sacked his deputy and other cabinet members openly challenging him.

His public approval rating at 45 percent has suffered since the United Malay party won re-election last year, despite the opposition getting a larger vote total.

His predecessor Mahathir Mohamed did not think he deserved another term for lack of economic and political vision, as the household debt burden, which soared to 85 percent of GDP through government programs to boost consumption, is no longer sustainable to offset falling oil exports.

Foreign investors, with respective one-third and one-quarter ownership in the local bond and equity markets, were once enthusiastic about early promises to change the state-dominated business and financial sector model. But the results were meager and with the currency now at a 15-year low as the region’s worst performer, aversion is spiking as in the Asian financial crisis aftermath.

The sovereign wealth fund investigation into $11 billion in accumulated debt has also begun to scapegoat international finance houses as during the early 2000s. Goldman Sachs has been singled out for high bond underwriting fees and the aggressive style of its Asia head.

The son of a wealthy Malaysian business executive, who started a fund in New York and expanded 1MDB’s portfolio into luxury real estate, has been accused of shady foreign practices and steering $700 million into Najib’s account.

As a central bank task force examines such conspiracies, asset sales to other government-linked companies, with stock exchange heavyweight Tenaga Nasional just bidding for a power unit, will be the main channel for servicing obligations and staying afloat.

GDP growth may be only 4 percent this year as the PMI manufacturing index fell below 50 in June, and April introduction of a goods and services tax to narrow the chronic 3-percent range budget deficit caps domestic demand.

Property and construction after a long upswing have stalled as bank credit growth drops to single digits, with personal non-performing loans rising.

The central bank has held rates despite ringgit depreciation to 3.8/dollar to discourage a further borrowing binge, which has been the main factor cited by ratings agencies for a likely sovereign downgrade.

Fitch Ratings last month maintained an ‘A’ grade on the prospect of household deleveraging amid the allegations swirling around the prime minister. To allow banks to handle workouts, short-term Islamic government securities issuance, which soaked up liquidity, has been stopped, effectively halving the global ‘sukuk’ universe to $50 billion in 2015, according to Standard & Poor’s.

External accounts show a dwindling current account surplus to 1.5 percent of GDP as both high tech and natural resource exports sputter. International reserves have dropped 20 percent this year to just over $100 billion as they are used for currency intervention, and domestic and foreign-based capital outflows accelerate.

In May, a $2 billion sovereign bond was placed to boost holdings, but fund flow tracker EPFR shows steady debt and equity exit since the first quarter. Outward FDI from both private and state companies is a strong trend, as they diversify risk and react to slim infrastructure pickings in Najib’s ambitious Economic Transformation Program now compromised by debt and political baggage.

These elements are also pervasive in Thailand where the stock market was off the same 10 percent at end-July on the MSCI index. It is tied with Malaysia for ASEAN’s greatest household debt, which was pushed by the Yingluck administration’s rice farmer and auto buying schemes before she was ousted by the military.

The generals postponed the election timetable into late 2016 as a new constitution is drafted and former government officials face trial for misconduct, including in agricultural credit.  Informal money lenders and external corporate and financial institution borrowing add to the debt load which altogether is estimated at 125 percent of GDP. Balance sheet bloat in both countries regardless of criminal intent remains scandalous, and investors need to see that fiscal and political houses are equally in order.

Gary N. Kleiman is an emerging markets specialist who runs Kleiman International in Washington, D.C.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 4:39 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s ringgit takes a wild ride

Leslie Shaffer

CNBC

3rd August 2015

Malaysia’s currency, already under pressure from a political scandal and the oil price drop, really fell out of bed Monday, with the ringgit falling nearly 1 percent.

The central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), has been intervening in the market to support the currency, but analysts said those efforts may be stumbling.

“(The central bank) can’t hold the level of the currency where it is, given that their reserves have been declining. Now maybe they’re starting to throw the towel,” Khoon Goh, senior foreign-exchange strategist at ANZ, told CNBC Monday, noting he hadn’t expected the currency to hit the 3.85-handle until next year.

The U.S. dollar was fetching as much as 3.85 ringgit in Asian trade Monday, compared with around 3.8156 ringgit Friday, before the Malaysian currency abruptly strengthened to 3.8460 against the U.S. dollar around midday. That’s still hovering around its weakest levels since 1998, during the Asian Financial Crisis, with the currency among the world’s worst performing after falling around 10 percent so far this year.

“Domestic political developments are suddenly to the fore and on top of that we have (central bank) Bank Negara, which tried to hold the currency earlier in July at around the 3.80 level (against the U.S. dollar) and using up around $5 billion of their FX reserves,” Goh said. “I think that reserves are probably under the psychological $100 billion mark now and I think that is starting to spook the market.”

The currency has been hit by a toxic brew of expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates later this year, a development likely to spur outflows from emerging markets, as well as facing declining prices its key petroleum exports and a corruption scandal involving the prime minister.

The intervention likely has provided a lot of support to the spot exchange rate , based on the spread with the non-deliverable forwards (NDF), or a forward contract in which the parties settle the difference between the spot and contract exchange rates without actually delivering the currency.

“The NDF has moved a lot more than the spot,” said Nizam Idris, head of currencies at Macquarie, noting that the one-month NDF is at 3.8720 ringgit against the dollar. “It’s clear the (central bank) has been proactive in the spot market.”

Read More Would Malaysia really censor the Internet?

He’ll be watching for the reserves data on Aug. 7 to see just how much the central bank has used since the previous release on July 15.

Others are also worried about the use of reserves to support the currency.

“Depleting reserves in order to protect the current level of USD/MYR could prove expensive as we head into Fed lift-off later this year,” analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note last week, noting that the country has among the lowest coverage of external liabilities in Asia.

In addition, foreigners hold nearly 49 percent of Malaysian government securities, and while foreign investers were net buyers in the second quarter, reversing those portfolio flows could easily overwhelm the country’s current account surplus, it said.

Morgan Stanley also noted that oil and gas exports account for nearly 16 percent of Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the sector has been hard hit by crude prices falling below $50 a barrel again. The bank has a forecast for the U.S. dollar to fetch 4.0 ringgit.

Domestic politics are likely to continue to weigh on sentiment for the currency.

Last week, embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a cabinet shuffle, including sacking Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after he called on Najib to explain the controversy surrounding a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report earlier this month that nearly $700 million from quasi-sovereign wealth fund One Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB) was deposited into the prime minister’s personal bank accounts. The accusation is particularly explosive given that 1MDB is in debt to the tune of $11 billion.

The Prime Minister has denied accepting money for personal gain and is reportedly considering a defamation lawsuit against the WSJ.

“Fundamentally, the Malaysian economy is not that bad. It’s just a shame that the fundamentals are being overshadowed by domestic political developments,” ANZ’s Goh said.

–Nyshka Chandran contributed to this report.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 5:34 am and is filed under
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The onus is on Najib to convince Malaysians and  the world of his innocence

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has continued his roller-coaster governance of Malaysia after his “Black Tuesday” of July 28.

In the “Black Tuesday” last week,  Najib  summarily sacked the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail who had served three Prime Ministers for nearly 13 years and some two months short of mandatory retirement when reaching the age of 60; launched the nation’s second wave of attacks on national institutions including Parliament, the Executive, key agencies comprising the “Special Task Force on the 1MDB” such as the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the Press;  sacked his Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Education Minister  Tan Sri Muhyiddin and Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for raising questions about the 1MDB scandal which Malaysians and the world have been asking; reshuffled his Cabinet with “loyal people over smart people” and form his trio of Cabinet “spin doctors” to defend him and 1MDB; and most serious of all, setting off  unprecedented convulsion in the most fractured Government in the nation’s history, with one enforcement agency investigating and pouncing on another.

The Prime Minister and his UMNO lieutenants have over the weekend been  on a national roadshow with UMNO members bussed in tens of thousands to declare their support and loyalty to Najib at every stop, but all these theatrics, even with the support of UMNO’s erstwhile opponent, PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, cannot hide the fact that Najib is the weakest Prime Minister in the nation’s history.

This is not just  in terms of popularity rating as Prime Minister with Malaysians –  which fell to 44% in January but could have plunged now to the lower 30% levels – but most important of all, plumbed the lowest depth never reached by Malaysia’s previous five Prime Miniters, Tunku, Razak, Hussein, Mahathir and Abdullah in terms of moral authority, standing and credibility as Prime Minister.

After the “Black Tuesday”, Najbi’s trio of Cabinet “spin doctors” had been busy preparing the ground to present Najib  in the best possible light not only in the 1MDB scandal but also  after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report of July 3 that government investigators have found US$700 million (RM2.6 million) deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, just before the dissolution of Parliament.

This was why in the past few days we have media headlines like  the following:

–	Najib’s accounts are not your concern, ex-DPM told

–	‘UMNO allows trust account under president’s name’

–	Any politician free to accept overseas funds

–	1MDB not taxpayers’ money, says Najib

All these are clearly preparing for the final admission that the Wall Street Journal report on July 3 was correct, i.e. government investigators have found that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, but that the RM2.6 billion came  from donation and not from 1MDB funds.

The question is why the MACC has only made such an admission now, when it knew even before the WSJ report of July 2 that what the WSJ report was correct.

Furthermore, why was Najib unable to say a simple Yes or No as to whether RM2.6 billion had been deposited into his personal accounts, where the monies came from, where and to whom the monies have gone to, whether they were all used for UMNO/BN election campaign in the 13th general election, the parties and candidates who received such funding and the respective amounts, the Ministers who received such fundings and whether they will act honestyly and honourably by recusing themselves from any Cabinet discussion or decision on the matter?

Furthermore, whether there was any  remainder to the funds deposited into Najib’s personal accounts after expenditures for the 13th General Elections, what was  the sum remaining and where such sums had gone to as the accounts concerned in AmBank had been closed.

The admission and revelation by MACC that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank have raised even more questions.

In fact, the roller-coaster developments surrounding Najib, the 1MDB scandal and his personal accounts with the deposit of RM2.6 billion from mysterious sources, as descended into deeper mystery, with the protest by the MACC special operations director Bahri Mohamad Zain whether “hidden hands” are behind the ongoing police crackdown on MACC officers, with him being questioned by a police team from Bukit Aman under Section 124 of the Penal Code for activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

Bahri was also puzzled by the police arrest of DPP Ahmad Sazalee Abdul Khairi in the MACC, saying: “I think the police won’t do mad work like this is if there was no instruction for them to do so.”

When the  Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar  can say  publicly that the police will record statements from more officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara and Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), not excluding the Bank Negara governor Zeti Akthar Aziz and MACC number two Shukri Abdull, he is in fact giving credence to pro-Najib blogs of a major crackdown of  top government officers reaching up to the Bank Negara Governor and Attorney-General  for involvement in an international plot to “criminalise” the Prime Minister and topple the elected government of Malaysia.

I agree with Bahri that Malaysia has been attacked by madness in the highest reaches of government and one must wonder whether there are “hidden hands” in the current assault of the national institutions like Press, Parliament, Atttorney-General and AGC, Bank Negara, MACC and the Special Task Force investigating IMDB scandal – with the hunters becoming the hunted!

Malaysians and the world are watching the country being seized by a madness where the government is warring against itself.

Such madness must stop and Malaysians must face up to one and only one issue – for the Prime Minister Najib Razak to convince Malaysians and the world of his innocence and moral authority to continue to lead Malaysia!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 8:22 am and is filed under
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The onus is on Najib to convince the world of his innocence

Editorial

South China Morning Post

02 August, 2015

Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing over the state sovereign fund 1MDB’s huge debts. He claims opponents are trying to orchestrate his removal through allegations that almost US$700 million was transferred into his bank accounts. Yet his explanations have not been convincing. The dismissal of critics in his cabinet, the disarray surrounding an official inquiry and the silencing of media have only heightened speculation. Restoring lost moral authority requires ensuring a genuinely independent investigation.

There is every reason why this has to happen. The 1MDB scandal has damaged Malaysia’s image and outlook, causing the stock market and the ringgit currency to plummet. Malaysia’s oil-driven economy was already in trouble over the sharp fall in prices. Allegations of corruption shrouding the leadership only deepens the crisis.

Najib’s replacement of five ministers including his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, and the attorney-general, Abdul Gani Patail, has caused ructions in the United National Malays Organisation, the dominant partner in the Barisan Nasional coalition. Muhyiddin, critical of the government’s handling of the scandal, was removed in favour of the prime minister’s strongest ally, Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Patail was just three months from retirement and the leader of the special task force investigating 1MDB. The chair of the parliamentary committee looking into the allegations, Nur Jazlan Mohamed, was promoted to the cabinet and his posting will mean a suspension of its work until October. The moves come amid a media crackdown, with websites blocked and two publications belonging to The Edge group suspended.

Replacements and suspensions buy time, but do not resolve the crisis. Najib’s strongest critic, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, continues to call for him to resign. Rumours remain rife. If Najib has done nothing wrong, he has to do a better job of proving his neutrality.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 4 August 2015, 5:50 am and is filed under
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Call on former PMs,  DPMs and  Ministers, former and current MPs, former heads of Ministries and departments, former and current civil society leaders to step forward as patriots to  save Malaysia from becoming a failed state because of a fractured government, rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices and collapse of good governance

Malaysia is terribly sick and in an unprecedented crisis.

Never before  in the nation’s history  has there been a more fractured government and divided nation – with the government warring against itself after the sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General, the scuttling of the multi-agency Special Task Force on 1MDB and the Wall Street Journal report of July 3 about RM2.6 billion deposited into Prime Minister’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, and the “witch-hunt” against the other three agencies in the Special Task Force, the AGC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Bank Negar Malaysia (BNM).

AGC had already been decapitated with the sudden and shocking sacking of Gani Patail (who seemed to have become the first Malaysian to become a non-person and disappeared into Malaysia’s Gulag Archipelago) and the appointment of a new head, Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali, who had to instantly resign his Federal Court judgeship to replace Gani as Attorney-General.

The “witch-hunt”, grounded on the expose of an international conspiracy to “criminalise” Najib and topple the elected Prime Minister of Malaysia involving top government officers, seemed design to decapitate more than one enforcement agency.

The top two in the MACC, Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and his deputy, Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull have gone on  unexplained leave, raising the question whether their heads are on the chopping block.

Already, six MACC officers had been arrested or questioned by police, apparently under the new-fangled catch-all offence of Section 124 of the Penal Code on “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” which can send a convicted person to jail up to 20 years.

No wonder, having lost hope in human intervention, MACC officers had to rely as a last resort on divine intervention to allow them to carry out  their anti-corruption duties, which was why a special prayers (solat hajat) was held by MACC staff at its Putrajaya headquarters yesterday – to pray not only for the safety of MACC officers but also for the country.

Even Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Zeti Akthar Aziz is not safe, as she is one of those named as  the “Ring of 13 conspirators” accused of being part of the international conspiracy to topple Najib as elected Prime Minister by a pro-Najib blog, which seems to enjoy powerful backing in able to make the wildest of allegations against named individuals without fear of official reprisals.

I have publicly dissented and admonished Gani Patail and Abu Kassim for their actions and decisions, as  I have often been disappointed by the failure of both agencies, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption commission,  to carry out their duties and responsibilities independently and professionally.

It is for instance a travesty of justice for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be prosecuted and imprisoned a second time in Sungai Buloh Prison – a major blot  to both to  the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Judiciary.

The MACC has not acquitted itself as an intrepid and independent graft-fighter, without fear or favour, going for the sharks and not just the ikan bilis. Teoh Beng Hock’s death will forever be a cross the MACC must bear unless Beng Hock’s killers in MACC are brought to book and justice.

In the last two days, MACC had become the joke of the nation when it issued a statement on Sunday confirming that the Wall Street Journal report on July 3 was correct as  government investigators had found that RM2.6 billion had been deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, but that the RM2.6 billion came  from donation and not from 1MDB funds.

Who says Malaysians lack ingenuity as  I find the following “creativity” making its  rounds in the social media:

Polis ambil RM50 panggil

         CORRUPTION…

Menteri ambil RM500 juta panggil

         COMMISSION…

PM ambil RM2.6 billion panggil

         DONATION…

I will however not stay silent when there is another round of attack on the independence, integrity and professionalism of the key national institutions, including the AGC, MACC, extending to Bank Negara Malaysia, Parliament and the Press, for whatever their failings in presently unable to match up to the high standards of independence, impartiality, integrity and professionalism, another round of attack will weaken them further which will be a great disservice to the cause of democracy, nation-building, excellence and prosperity for Malaysia.

In an article in The Diplomat today, Danny Quah, the Penang-born Professor of Economics and International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science, lamented that Malaysia – “one of Britain’s greatest friends…that admired and reflected the grand British ideals of democracy, rule of law, free speech and egalitarianism” has “gone rogue”.

Let us look at our southern neighbour, Singapore, which will be celebrating its 50th National Day in four days’ time – which should serve as a sad reminder of the many promises unfulfilled and potentials untapped.

We do not lack natural resources or human talents. We are a nation of “endless possibilities”.

Where have we gone wrong that instead of being one of the First World countries ahead or in tandem with Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, we are  hurtling towards a Third Country status and a failed state come Year 2020!

We must stop warring against each other, stopped being a fractured government and divided nation.

Diversity of race, religion, language and culture is our real strength not our weakness.

We must stop the “witch-hunt” in the higher reaches of the government to ferret out traitors for there are no traitors but only patriotic Malaysians who want the best for our country and our people.

We must save Malaysia from self-destruction from corruption and greed.

I call on all Malaysians, including former PMs,  DPMs and  Ministers, former and current MPs, former heads of Ministries and departments, former and current civil society leaders, NGOs and NGIs to step forward as patriots to  save Malaysia from becoming a failed state because of a fractured government, rampant corruption, socio-economic injustices and collapse of good governance.

Former Law Minister, Zaid Ibrahim has called for a 100,000-strong protest rally of all backgrounds to gather peacefully against Najib and to save Malaysia.

He suggests that Tun Mahathri and I set aside our differences and stand together, with  other political leaders like Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Azmin Ali of PKR, former DPM Muhyiddin Yassin and  Mohamad Sabu of Gerakan Harapan Baru.

I am always ready to stand on a common platform with other political leaders with the common objective to save Malaysia, because we are all finally, Malaysians.  I am ready to take common stand with Mahathir to save Malaysia but not to Save Umno.

At this critical hour, are there enough Malaysians to save Malaysia!

(Speech at the forum “Malaysia – Where do we go from here” at the Chinese Assembly Hall, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 8:22 pm and is filed under
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Call on Najib to halt the  “witch-hunt” in the past week in high government places to ferret out  so-called traitors involved in an international conspiracy to topple him as the  elected Prime Minister of Malaysia

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should halt the “witch-hunt” in the past week in high government places to ferret out  so-called traitors involved in an international conspiracy to topple him as the elected Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as the Attorney-General of Malaysia after serving as the  first legal officer of the land for three Prime Ministers for nearly 13 years seems part of such a  “witch-hunt”, so too the wave of police arrests or questioning since Friday night starting with  the former MACC adviser Rashpal Singh, Attorney-General Chambers’ (AGC) officer Jessica Gurmeet Kaur, followed by six senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission  (MACC) officers including MACC deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Sazalee Abdul Khairi, MACC special operations director Bahri Mohamad Zin  forensics director IG Chandran and MACC’s Special Operations Department officer Roslan Che Amat.

With the MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and his deputy, Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull on unexplained leave, the question is whether the heads of the two MACC chiefs are on the chopping block, especially with the latter being named as among the top government officers involved in an international plot to topple Najib as the elected Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Yesterday, s   most unprecedented special prayers (solat hajat) were held by MACC staff at its Putrajaya headquarters which signalled that MACC is facing an unprecedented crisis where  only divine and not human intervention could allow MACC to continue with its anti-corruption duties.

Datuk Seri Zakaria Jaffar, the retiring MACC deputy chief commissioner who led the prayers,, said there is nothing that can be done about the past, but they can pray that Allah will help them to create a better future for the country.

As Zakaria said at the prayer session: “Keep us away from wrongdoing, give strength to these graft-busters so they could save themselves, and their families, organisations, communities, and especially our beloved country from being violated by actions of those who practise graft.”

Did the reshuffled Cabinet at its meeting today discussed and  halted the “witch-hunt” in the past week in high government places, particularly in MACC,  Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and AGC  to ferret out  so-called traitors involved in an international plot to topple Najib Razak as the elected Prime Minister and government of Malaysia?

Did the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low, speak up at the Cabinet meeting to call for a halt of the “witch-hunt” against MACC and Special Task Force  officers which he had vowed to do to protect them  to ensure that they are allowed to conduct their investigations until a satisfactory conclusion is reached?

Or has the Cabinet, by its silence, given consent for the “witch-hunt” to continue, blacklisting all officers suspected of being involved in an international plot to topple Najib as elected Prime Minister of Malaysia, even implicating directly the Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akthar Aziz as in some pro-Najib blogs?

Malaysia seemed to gone into an era of symbolisms, as the Instagram by Nazir Razak, the Prime Minister’s brother, hailing Zeti as among the “global icons” in a photograph with International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagrade seems to bespeak a larger message.

Najib should not only speak up to stop the “witch-hunt” of top government officers for committing treason in wanting to topple the Prime Minister by violent or unconstitutional means (which is a “first” in the 58-year Malaysian history), but state clearly and categorically what is the position of Special Task Force on 1MDB and Wall Street Journal report of July 3, 2015 – whether the Special Task Force is still in existence and functioning or whether it is as good as dead and buried.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 3:20 pm and is filed under
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Economic research body says ringgit to decline further if confidence crisis remains

The Malaysian Insider

4 August 2015

The ringgit can be expected to deteriorate further if Malaysia does not solve its confidence crisis stemming from political instability in the country.

Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) executive director Dr Zakariah Abdul Rashid said lack of public confidence is the key factor resulting in the weakening ringgit, should crude oil prices remain stable.

“The political situation is complex – from the lack of confidence on how 1MDB is handled to the Cabinet reshuffle – these have put pressure on investors’ confidence and the ringgit,” he said during MIER’s 13th national economic briefing.

 Zakariah, however, pointed out that should the Cabinet reshuffle result in a more effective administration, this will help to restore confidence in the economy.

Nevertheless, at this juncture, he opined that the current level of RM3.86 to US$1 “may not be the floor” as it could worsen before it gets better.

Indeed, Zakariah did not rule out the possibility that the ringgit could fall to RM4.00 against the US dollar should crude oil prices slip further.

“The level of international reserves have also been falling and the fear is that it will breach the psychological threshold of US$100 billion, which may be a cause for triggering a credit rating downgrade,” said Zakariah.

Since the ringgit is managed based on a managed float regime, Malaysia might risk not having sufficient international reserves to back the ringgit when it needs reserves, he added.

In July 2005, Malaysia scrapped the ringgit’s peg to the dollar and adopted the managed float system, with its value determined by economic fundamentals and monitored by the central bank against a currency basket to ensure it remains close to fair value, to avoid speculation on the exchange rate. – The Edge Markets, August 4, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 6:45 am and is filed under
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The scandal in Malaysia

– Danny Quah

The Malaysian Insider

31 July 2015

In 1971, more than forty years before the world would turn its attention to the top 1% and the problem of income inequality, Malaysia embarked on one of history’s boldest and most noble of experiments to reduce social disparity. Malaysia’s New Economic Policy or NEP would seek to “eradicate poverty for all” and “eliminate identification of race by economic function and geographic location”. This polity was setting out to solve the massive problem of injustice and inequality that other societies much more mature continued to struggle with.

Malaysia was a democracy that hewed the rule of law. The NEP would be Malaysia’s key political driver. Over the decades that followed, the NEP’s mantra would serve as backdrop to almost all political discourse in the country. NEP-themed policies would, among much else, flesh out the concept of Bumiputera – an ethnic-driven formulation of native peoples in Malaysia.

It is difficult to grow an economy – look at train wrecks strewn around the world. But seeking to do so and at the same reduce ethnic- and rural-urban inequality, and maintain social harmony among diverse ethnic and religious groups is an order of magnitude more arduous. Malaysia succeeded: Its income is now well above world emerging-economy average, and its urban infrastructure and worker skills approach those in the first world. Malaysia’s top bankers, business people, and entrepreneurs are admired everywhere. NEP reduced pockets of extreme poverty and created a significant, thriving, and successful Bumiputera middle class – a group of professionals and intellectuals whose contributions to Malaysian society would be the pride of any country.

And, although from time to time patchily diverging from the ideal, throughout this history Malaysia worked hard to maintain its young democracy and its adherence to rule of law, and to support a healthy vigorous open sphere of public debate. Sensitive racial questions were out of bounds, but open questioning of the government was lively. Top government officials routinely had the judiciary rule against them. And a national identity emerged, one that combined the best aspects of local culture and an easy-going open-minded cosmopolitanism developed from, among other things, the many Malaysians who have seen significant international experience. More so than even when within, Malaysians outside Malaysia saw each other for the warm and lively friends they genuinely were, people who felt driven by a mission to make their country better.

Since his 2009 swearing-in, Malaysia’s current prime minister has sought to articulate an international vision for a ‘coalition of moderates’. As leader of a successful moderate Muslim country, he carried an authority and credibility sorely needed in global discourse. He was widely accepted in international circles, and even famously golfed with Barack Obama.

All this is now at risk.

However noble the goal of reducing social disparity, and however laudable the democracy, transparency, and rule of law to which Malaysia has desperately clung, this NEP half-century has seen the emergence of an increasingly hateful race-based narrative to Malaysia’s political and economic strategies. The Bumiputera concept has become conflated with questions of religion, and threatens the open society that Malaysia has built. That concept is now considered by many – both Bumiputera and non-Bumiputera alike – to hold back continued social development for the country. Significant Bumiputera and rural poverty remain. Ever more frequent accounts have appeared of government agencies intended to reduce Bumiputera poverty only enriching the elites of that group. A recent article by one of Malaysia’s most thoughtful interlocutors has had to ask:

Why after decades of rigorous development planning, 40% of Malaysian households earn only about RM1,847 a month? Why after more than four decades of the NEP, 75.5% of those at the bottom are Bumiputeras? Why in spite of the billions poured into education and boarding schools, 64.3% of the Bumiputera workforce have only SPM qualifications? Why some 90% of the unemployable university graduates are Bumiputeras? Why of the $54 billion worth of shares pumped to Bumiputera individuals and institutions between 1984 and 2005, only $2 billion remained in Bumiputera hands today?

In March 2010 at an international investors’ conference, the prime minister announced urgent need for revision to the NEP, towards a national development strategy more transparent, merit-driven and market-friendly, and towards a new needs-based affirmative action. The prime minister had just won a resounding electoral victory; he had the backing of all the Malaysian people. (I am told by reliable sources that even Malaysia’s opposition MPs felt like standing up and cheering.)  But then elements within the prime minister’s political party mounted significant pushback, the moment passed, and he did not stay the course. Open democratic process has not kept in check the rise of extremists rallying together the Bumiputera grassroots, good people who have been told this time will be different, this time more of the same will help them, despite its having failed to do so these last 50 years.  Since 2010 no one has been able to recount significant action on that announcement.

That same interlocutor went on to say:

And why oh why should the Bumiputeras continue to raise a begging bowl and ask for more of the same kind of handouts from the same ruling elite? The bottom 40% get crumbs, while the cronies laugh their way to the bank.

The Malays should be asking these questions of the party that proclaims itself to be the protector of the race, and without it in power, the Malays will supposedly perish.

All this is background. The practice continues to worsen in Malaysia of elites undermining good intentions and exploiting for self interest the very instruments designed to help others. And it’s doing so more and more sharply: shutting down the press is just the most visible of that escalation. In July 2015 Malaysian authorities blocked a website that had become a significant and honest whistle-blower on high-level developments in Malaysia. That same month Malaysian authorities suspended The Edge newspaper for its reports on 1MDB – a scandal of a national investment fund that has seen billions of dollars of public money moved around the world in suspicious circumstances, with hundreds of millions of dollars believed to have been funnelled into the prime minister’s personal bank accounts. Criminal defamation litigation threatened by the prime minister against the Wall Street Journal on its 1MDB reporting has turned into a fiasco of the most basic legal ineptitude. Towards the end of July Malaysia’s prime minister removed from Cabinet his own deputy prime minister, the government’s most significant and prominent voice who raised questions on 1MDB. Four different official Malaysian government investigations are undergoing into 1MDB but then suddenly there has been the replacement of the Attorney-General and Chief Prosecutor; the parliamentary committee looking into 1MDB has had four members moved into the Prime Minister’s cabinet, therefore shutting down all further proceedings even as the committee’s official report comes due; and opposition MPs have been prevented from leaving the country on their way to discussing 1MDB and the political crisis in Malaysia.

In all this turmoil, many of Malaysia’s most remarkable leaders and numerous ordinary people have spoken out on the need for the country to get back to its roots. The country again needs to have government that runs for the well-being of its people. Malaysia’s current political leadership no longer articulates a vision that serves Malaysia’s people. Malaysia’s leadership is no longer one admired by and hopeful for others around the world.

One of Britain’s greatest friends – an ex-colony that admired and reflected the grand British ideals of democracy, rule of law, free speech, and egalitarianism – has gone rogue.

It does not take authoritarian autocracy to run a country into the ground. Regardless of system of government, it takes only political elites out of touch with their people, a co-opted judiciary, an electoral process that even while open fails to surface progressive leadership, and a system that keeps to the law but fails to protect those speaking truth to power. – July 31, 2015.

* Danny Quah is a Professor of Economics and International Development.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 7:14 am and is filed under
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When Najib sacks AG and DPM and produce a reshuffled 1MDB Cabinet, understandable  MACC can only seek divine intervention to be allowed to  carry out their  anti-corruption duties

When the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sacks Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General who had served three Prime Ministers in nearly 13 years, and Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for asking questions all Malaysians are asking about the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, and the multi-agency Special Task Force on 1MDB becomes “the hunted” instead of being the hunters in the 1MDB investigations, it is  understandable that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) could only seek divine intervention to be allowed to carry out their anti-corruption duties.

The MACC often bragged that Malaysia is now  the world’s model of a comprehensive systemic attack on corruption, and it is undoubtedly pioneering anti-corruption efforts in a new dimension – seeking divine help and intervention!

Najib’s reshuffled 1MDB Cabinet which meets today will not admit that Malaysia has becoming a laughing stock, not only among Malaysians, but to the world when the MACC made the astonishing admission that the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was correct when its  report of July 3 said that government investigators had found that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been deposited into Najib’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013 just before the dissolution of Parliament for the holding of the 13th General Election, but that the RM2.6 billion was a donation and not from 1MDB funds.

This MACC statement did not come as a surprise as  Najib’s new Ministerial  “spin doctors” had been preparing the public for such an announcement, but it furnishes a classic example of Najib’s recent admission that he valued loyal  people over smart people in Cabinet.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin had described  recent Cabinets as comprising “half-past six” and “deadwood” Ministers, and I am sure they must be at a loss for words how to describe the present batch of Ministers, though they passed Najib’s criteria of being more  loyal people than smart people in Cabinet.

None of these  “more loyal than smart” people now dare breathe the name of Lester Melanyi which must have  become anathema although it is over the body of this poor former Sarawak journalist that these new Ministerial wannabes climbed aboard Najib’s Cabinet as the new “spin doctors”  or even gained “strategic” status to allegedly protect and defend Najib from the slings and torpedoes of the 1MDB scandal.

These Ministerial “spin doctors” want Malaysians to believe that they were not born yesterday, but they often acted as if they were born today!

The MACC statement on Monday, which they had strategized long and hard, that the RM2.6 billion was from donation and was not from 1MDB funds, is a real classic example of the violation of the  basic do’s and don’ts in “strategic communications” – not to be regarded as a fool and the “strategy” dismissed and dissolved in general laughter, mockery and scorn.

One of the new Ministerial “spin doctors” was very annoyed and complained that the outcry over the MACC statement was a “classic case of never being able to satisfy critics”.

He asked: “So what is the issue now? Should they not be happy that the money was not stolen from 1MDB as alleged?”

He just does not understand.

It is a reflection that all these highly-paid Ministerial “spin doctors” are “more loyal than smart” to Najib that they do not realize that they have committed another strategic error, and in the process, even destroyed whatever credibility MACC had painstakingly built up as an independent and professional anti-corruption agency, carrying out its anti-corruption duties without fear or favour!

I advise the Prime Minister to listen to the genuine voices on the ground, and not the air-conditioned hubbub of the Ministerial “spin doctors” – starting by answering the  questions posed by Akmal Saufi Khaled, son of Johore Mentri Besar Khaled Nordin, so as to learn about the general disbelief and incredulity over the MACC statement.

Can Najib’s credibility and trustworthiness over the 1MDB scandal and the WSJ reports be salvaged?

It will be a tall order.

But if this is Najib’s top concern, then he must make amends immediately by ensuring that his reshuffled Cabinet is not a 1MDB Cabinet to interfere and frustrate in-depth investigations but a Cabinet which would leave no stone unturned to give full, frank and immediate accounting on these issues to Malaysians by taking the following four steps:

•	Order an immediate halt to the “madness” convulsing the government, with top government leaders suspected or accused of treasonous activities to topple the elected government of Malaysia, as if the Malaysian government has suddenly become so fractured that overnight top government leaders have become traitors;

•	Statement by the Prime Minister where the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank accounts in March 2013 came from; where and to whom they have been disbursed; what was the remainder left and where the monies  have gone to.

•	Cabinet should ensure that the Special Task Force into the 1MDB and WSJ reports are fully reinstated in its duties, with Tan Sri Gani Patail officially announced as head of the Special Task Force and all key officers of the multi-agency body, whether Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), MACC, Royal Malaysian Police or the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) fully reinstated in their capacities in the Special Task Force; and

•	Convening of Emergency Parliament before Merdeka Day on August 31 to appoint new Chairman of Public Accounts Committee and the three others elevated as Minister or Deputy Minister.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 9:22 am and is filed under
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Four  among teeming questions about the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion in his personal bank accounts

There are four among the teeming questions about the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank accounts in March 2013 which cry out for instant answer from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, viz:

1.	Did Najib give the green-light for the series of police arrests against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigators and the disruption of MACC investigation into SRC International Sdn Bhd?

Two MACC investigators involved in the SRC International investigation were arrested by police last night after presenting themselves at the Putrajaya district police headquarters.

Both MACC officers also had their offices and homes raided by police.

A sum of RM42 million out of the RM2.6 billion deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts originated from SRC International.

Several MACC investigators were investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code, which concerns activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

Najib should explain whether MACC investigators of top government leaders is now considered as likely offences under Section 124 of the Penal Code on activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy, where a person convicted could be jailed up to 20 years?

Or is Najib seriously saying that the unprecedented “war” launched by the police against the MACC was done without his knowledge or authority?

If so, who is the real authority in the government in Malaysia?

2.	Is the Prime Minister aware of the pro-Najib blog which appeared on the day the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail were sacked, with the clear aqenda for a  “Ops Lalang 2015” by the authorities with the mass arrest of over a dozen so-called conspirators in a “Ring of international plotters” to “criminalise” Najib and topple the elected government of Malaysia, targeting leading officers in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Bank Negara Malaysia, naming the highest officers of these agencies accusing them  of being involved in an international  plot against Najib, most prominently the Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

The Prime Minister and his Ministerial colleagues had been railing against the irresponsible abuse and exploitation of the social media for nefarious purposes, which raises the question why this particular pro-Najib blog seems to have the authority, including immunity and impunity, to make the wildest allegations against certain personalities and accusing them virtually of treason without the authorities taking any notice or action.

Can Najib explain why?

3.	Has Najib  approved the abolition of the Special Task Force on 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal accounts, and if so, why.

The revelation that the multi-agency Special Task Force had been killed by the new Attorney-General Tan Sri Apandi Ali was revealed inadvertently by the MACC statement yesterday to explain why it had issued a statement on Sunday that the RM2.6 billion had come from donation and not from 1MHD funds.

Or is Najib saying that he neither knew nor approved the death of the Special Task Force.

4.	Najib should explain where the RM2.6 billion came from, and where and to whom the monies have gone  to, as a follow-up to the MACC statement on Sunday that the RM2.6 billion was a donation and did not come from 1MDB funds. Furthermore, why Najib failed to admit  RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank accounts in March 2013 when the Wall Street Journal report first revealed it more than a month ago on July 3, 2015?

These are only four of the teeming questions about the 1MDB scandal and the RM2.6 billion deposits in Najib’s personal bank accounts which cry out for answer.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 6 August 2015, 2:18 pm and is filed under
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Political Donation in Najib’s Personal Bank Account?

By K.Siladass

6.8.2015

            The plethora of excuses that are now offered in regard to the huge amount deposited in the personal account of the Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak do not satiate the troubled Malaysians. These excuses indeed raise far more profound questions which call for acceptable answers.

            Firstly, if it is a political fund as it is now claimed why was it not disclosed earlier? Aside that, why is this childish challenge to the opposition that they disclose their donors before you disclose yours? A leader leads by example. He is a role model to be emulated and the challenge to the opposition is not a prudent move.

            Secondly, it is not the opposition alone to whom Najib is answerable. He is also answerable to all Malaysians and to those who truly and sincerely love Malaysia and have its welfare at heart.

            Thirdly, it is now claimed that the money deposited in Najib’s personal bank account was in fact a political donation. Was this fact revealed to the UMNO Supreme Council members? If such a disclosure had been made, then why was Muhyiddin Yassin querying about it after The Edge had published about the huge deposit? If the disclosure had been properly made to the Supreme Council, it was unnecessary for all the accusations and counter accusations to surface. This seems to indicate that the Supreme Council members were unaware of the deposit in Najib’s bank account. Even if what now as claimed i.e. the huge deposit in Najib’s account was political donation, it was unnecessary to call in MACC to investigate the deposit in Najib’s personal account. The explanations and new versions do not help Najib’s cause.

            Fourthly, was Bank Negara informed of this colossal deposit? If not, why was the omission? On the other hand if there was notification to Bank Negara what was its response then? Was the donor identified to Bank Negara? Did Bank Negara accept Najib’s explanation? Was the purpose and objective of this huge donation disclosed to Bank Negara? If there had been proper disclosure then Bank Negara is under a duty to disclose the purpose. On the other hand if there had been no proper disclosure what action did Bank Negara take against the bank in which the billions were deposited?

            Fifthly, how were the billions in Najib’s personal bank account disbursed and to whom? If the billions were spent during the country’s 13th General Election as alleged, then, would it not be in violation of the country’s election laws because there is a ceiling as far as election expenses are concerned. In such a case what action would the Election Commission take?

            Another point Najib is canvassing is that perception is substituting the truth. This line of argument will not take Najib far. One important thing Najib has to appreciate is that when certain facts are self evident or are alleged to exist those who are answerable should explain to prevent negative inferences. What is in issue is not the perception of the truth but the omission to disclose the truth. What the Malaysians and the whole world have before them is an explanation from Najib and his supporters which do not help prevent negative inferences.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 6 August 2015, 7:55 am and is filed under
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Muhyiddin’s daughter Najwa commended for her filial piety for her song “After the Rain” but it would be greater if she could compose and sang for higher cause of “saving Malaysia”

I commend Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s daughter, Najwa Mahjaddin for her filial piety for her song “After the Rain” to give support to her father in his political travails after being sacked as Deputy Prime Minister.

This is the lyrics of her song:

We may all fall down, but we all get up.

Hold your head up, Malaysia.. after the rain comes the sun.

When life gets cold and skies aren’t blue, you’re not alone, I’m here for you.

My brothers and sisters, we’ll see you through.

These are the times we must get through, courage and wisdom must live in you.

The way of our future lies in you.

From the rising of the sun, together

we are one, we are stronger forever.

Most touching, especially the part pledging the solidarity and loyalty of the siblings to Muhyiddin’s trials and tribulations.

My only comment is that while it is most commendable for Najwa to pledge solidarity and loyalty of her siblings  to their father in whatever temporary tests and troubles he has to go through, the time has come  for a vaster canvas of life and nation, to go beyond giving heart and courage to one person but to think of what can be done by every patriotic Malaysian to go beyond individual self or party and to save Malaysia and her people from unjust, inequitable and oppressive policies.

Malaysians are facing, not just the rain, but an approaching storm which may be more devastating than previous storms which the country has gone through in the past 58 years of nation-building.

How great if Najwa could compose and sing a song dedicated to all Malaysians to prepare them for the approaching storm.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will come to JB on Sunday to officiate the UMNO Pasir Gudang division meeting.

Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin,  has pledged to be “a good host’ when Najib officiates  his Pasir Gudang UMNO divisional meeting but declared that he would nonetheless raise issues which party grassroots wanted UMNO leaders to be accountable and responsible for, the most conspicuous case  being the turns and twists by Ministers and top government officials to escape liability for the  scandals of 1MDB and RM2.6 billion in Najib’s  bank accounts.

This morning there is another headline
“We’re not targetting MACC”
, says the police.

The Bukit Aman claims has little credibility, for Malaysians are very concerned by the developments of the past few days with police arrests of MACC officials – producing a spectre of a full-scale “war in a very fractured government.

What Malaysians want is to get to the bottom of the RM42 billon 1MDB scandal and the other scandal of RM2.6 billion deposited into the personal accounts of the Prime Minister before the 13th General Election, and  not a “war” within a fractured government over the scandals involving the higher levels of government.

Public confidence in the government will be irreparably damaged if this “war” inside a very fractured government is not stopped immediately, and I would like to ask Najib why is he doing nothing to restore a unity of  purpose concerning all governments machineries.

(Speech at the  launching of the Gerakan Harapan Baru Johore office bearers in Skudai on Friday August 7, 2015 at 11.30 am)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 August 2015, 5:13 pm and is filed under
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When a new political party emerges from Gerakan Harapan Baru in a few weeks time, a new Pakatan Rakyat – whether PR Baru, PR 2.0 or whatever name – will be ready to carry the torch for a Malaysia Baru

DAP Johor State Assemblyman for Pekan Nenas Yeo Tung Siong told me just now that Ayer Baloi tonight breaks record with the biggest crowd ever in history, signifying the powerful public support for Gerakan Harapan Baru and hopes for political change after nearly six decades of UMNO/Alliance/Barisan Nasional rule.

However, we want to create history not only in Ayer Baloi but in Johore and the whole of Malaysia in the forthcoming 14th General Election – when we are not only setting our sights on the Federal government in Putrajaya but also  the state government in Nusajaya.

For over half a century, Johore  had been regarded as an impregnable  fortress for UMNO/MCA/MIC coalition and an invincible  UMNO/Barisan Nasional “fixed deposit state”.

UMNO/BN leaders were so arrogant that they even talked about Johore being a “zero-opposition” state until such cockiness were buried by the   historic Pakatan Rakyat breakthrough in the 13th General Election in 2013,  winning 18 State Assembly seats – one seat short of denying UMNO/BN two-thirds majority in the Johore State Assembly.

But  now Pakatan Rakyat is no more and the country needs a new Islamic political party which is all-embracing and inclusive which can unite not only Muslims and Malays but also non-Muslims and non-Malays, in other words, with all Malaysians to achieve the Malaysian Dream of ensuring that all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, are entitled to basic human rights and dignity as citizens of a modern society.

It is a shame that Pakatan Rakyat, despite the promises of the 13th General Election in Johore and other parts of Malaysia, winning 52% of the popular vote, is dead and no more because one of its component parties has lost its political plot – not only failing to be nationally inclusive, unable to unite Malays and Muslims let alone unite  non-Malays and non-Muslims, it is also unable to unite all its leaders, members and supporters.

Pakatan Rakyat may be dead and buried, but the hopes and aspirations of Malaysians for political change are not dead and buried, and with the great public support for Gerakan Harapan Baru not only in Johore but in other states of Malaysia, these hopes and aspirations for change have been brought back to life, continuing to be very  much alive,  valid and relevant, throbbing as strongly as ever in the hearts of all patriotic Malaysians.

Mat Sabu tells me that a new political party will emerge from Gerakan Harapan Baru in the nexf few weeks.

This will be another milestone in the political history of Malaysia, for the formation of a new inclusive and open-minded Islamist political party will mark the culmination in the  realignment of political forces in the country and the advent of a new political coalition to replace Pakatan Rakyat – whether Pakatan Rakyat Baru, Pakatan Rakyat 2.0 or any other name to be decided – to carry the torch for a Malaysia Baru.

Should Malaysians continue to hope for political change?

Time  in fact is running out for Malaysia.  The country urgently needs a  great  and supreme effort by all patriotic Malaysians to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state.

Our southern neighbour, Singapore, will be celebrating its 50th National Day anniversary in another two days.

A comparison of the  achievements and attainments of the two countries after 50 years is a salutary reminder that Malaysia has fallen far behind, and Malaysians  regardless of race, religion, region even politics, must not allow the country to continue  lag behind Singapore or other countries.

Although some UMNO Ministers regard our education system, primary, secondary and tertiary as world-class, even better than the education systems in United Kingdom, Germany and United States, even ordinary UMNO/BN members do not believe them.

International educational tests have repeatedly shown that our primary and secondary school students are three to five years behind the best countries in the world in terms of educational standards and excellence.

In contrast, Singapore’s primary and secondary education and her universities are recognised internationally as world-class.

Why has Malaysia fallen so far behind Singapore in the field of education? Or iin economic development or nation-building?

Let us look at our respective currencies. Today, we have the sad and shocking development of the Malaysian ringgit tumbling to a new low since it was unpegged from its fixed rate of 3.80 to the US dollar  in 2005 – with the ringgit today  valued at 3.91 to the US dollar or 2.82 to the Singapore dollar.

The devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit, which was at par to the Singapore dollar 50 years ago, to 2.81 to the Singapore dollar  is a harsh verdict of Malaysian nation-building in the past 50 years, and why all patriots must unite to save Malaysia from  hurtling towards a Third World status when we should have already become a First World nation.

This was why this morning, DAP, PKR and Gerakan Harapan Baru Members of Parliament and leaders including Mat Sabu, Dr. Hatta, Khalid Samad who are here tonight,  visited the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Putrajaya to show our support and  solidarity to MACC to  carry out anti-corruption responsibilities.

Never before has the country seen a more fractured government, which is even warring against itself, with the Police arresting MACC officers,  as well as top officers in other agencies like Bank Negara Malaysia and the Attorney-General’s Chambers coming under attack.

All this is related to the scandals of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, with regard to the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the Wall Street Journal report more than a month ago about RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

RM2.5 million – with six zeroes or a seven-figure number  –  is already too big figure  for ordinary Malaysians but RM2.6 billion – with nine zeros or a 10-figure number – is completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary people to grasp its magnitude.

In developed countries which we hope to join in five years time in 2020, Prime Ministers who have RM2.6 billion deposited into their personal banking accounts must immediately be able to give satisfactory explanation to demonstrate their propriety and integrity, or they have only two options before them – resigning or going to jail!

This is the crisis which has engulfed Malaysia, causing not only a fractured government – with one department warring against another – but also a fractured UMNO and Barisan Nasional, for I believe ordinary UMNO and BN members cannot accept the Prime Minister’s failure to provide satisfactory explanation and accountability for both scandals concerning the 1MDB  and RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib’s personal accounts.

Malaysians must think of how to save Malaysia from becoming a failed state even before the 14th General Election which will only be held in another two years.

This is why despite our political differences,  I am prepared to work with Tun Mahathir and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to “Save Malaysia” but not to “Save UMNO”.

(Speech at the Gerakan Harapan Baru rally at Ayer Baloi, Pontian, Johore on Thursday, August 5, 2015 at 11.30 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 August 2015, 8:18 am and is filed under
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Zahid’s guarantee of no more arrest of MACC officers welcome but there must  be full inquiry of why and whether there were  “hidden hands” behind the “seven-day of madness in Putrajaya”  with Police and MACC on war footing against each other

The guarantee by the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that there would be no more arrests of MACC officers by the police, only to take their statements, is welcome but this cannot be the end of the sorry  story of the  “seven-day of madness  in Putrajaya” with Police and the MACC on war footing with each other.

There must be a full inquiry of who were responsible and whether there were “hidden hands” behind the “seven-day of madness in Putrajaya”, when there was a complete breakdown of orderly governance and the rule of law in  the country.

This inquiry  into the “seven-day madness in Putrajaya” of Police-MACC “warring” must be  a full, independent and comprehensive one, even in the form of a Royal Commission of Inquiry or by way of  a Parliamentary Inquiry, to ensure that there could be recurrence of this “seven-day madness in Putrajaya”.

Clearly, the prompt and strong protests by DAP, PKR and Gerakan Harapan Baru leaders and Members of Parliament, with the visit to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya yesterday,  as well as adverse public reactions against such gross abuses of police powers, interfering with the MACC’s role to fight corruption, had not been completely in vain.

We in the DAP, PKR and Gerakan Harapan Baru cannot stay silent to allow the MACC, which has already disappointed Malaysians in being unable to act with independence, impartiality and professionalism to combat corruption, to be further undermined and subverted by the powers-that-be.

In his statement, Zahid  as good as confirmed that the wanton arrests of MACC officers in the past week  were related to the leakage of information on social media, most notably the alleged final draft of the charge sheet against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for  the offence of corruption.

The new Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali had dismissed the draft charge sheet as false, and if so, this should be the end of the story.

When the police arrested  and interrogated MACC officers in relation to the draft charge sheet, does it mean that there was in fact such a draft corruption charge sheet against Najib in the premises of MACC, and that this draft charge sheet had  leaked out to the social media?

Which is which?

Let the Police, the Attorney-General and even the Home Minister Zahid fully explain to the people  whether there was such a draft charge sheet against the Prime Minister for corruption, and that it had been leaked to the social media in violation of the Official Secrets Act?

Does this mean that the draft charge sheet against Najib for the offence of corruption is not false or figment of the imagination?

If there was no such draft charge sheet against the Prime Minister, all the police arrests and interrogation of MACC officers  in the past week were clear abuses of power and all officers conerned  should be punished severely.

When Zahid said that any arrest of MACC officers in the future would be in compliance with police investigation procedures, is this an admission by the Home Minister that the arrest of MACC officers in the “seven-days of madness in Putrajaya” had been against police investigation procedures?

Zahid should also explain why several MACC officers are being investigated under Section 124B of the Penal Code, which concerns ‘activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy’.

Zahid’s dismissal of the statement by the MACC Special Operations Division director Bahari Mohamad Zin of “hidden hands” which had directed the police action against the MACC is neither satisfactory nor acceptable.

Could there be any such  “hidden hands”, so powerful that the madness went on for seven days before it could be stopped as a result of the strong protests by DAP, PKR and Gerakan Harapan Baru leaders and Members of Parliament, as well as members of the public?

The Police had acted most high-handedly and arbitrarily in the “seven days of madness in Putrajaya”, sowing bad blood between these the Police and the MACC.

This itself is strong enough reason for an independent inquirty into the “Seven-Day madness in Putrajaya” to avoid a recurrence.

It would appear that the country has been spared the adverse consequences of the most fractured government in the nation’s history, leading even to a “war of prerogatives”.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim had earlier dismissed claims that there were hidden hands behind the police investigation of the MACC, claiming that it was the “prerogative” of the Police to carry out its investigations.

The Deputy IGP cannot be unaware that it is also the prerogative of the MACC to act under Section 48 of the MACC Act to arrest and investigate police officers for interfering with MACC investigations!

Would there have been a “war of prerogatives” between the Police and the MACC if the “seven-day of madness in Putrajaya” had not been stopped?

Malaysians are entitled to know why the Prime Minister and his newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister had been so remiss in their duties as to allow the “seven-days of madness in Putrajaya” to occur, which had never happened in the nation’s history under country’s previous six Prime Ministers.

(Speech at the DAP-PKR-Gerakan Harapan Baru joint Hari Raya Open House in Kluang on Friday, 7th August 2015 at 4 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 August 2015, 7:16 pm and is filed under
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All Malaysians must be incensed and outraged by Zahid’s contemptible justification for the immediate and punitive  transfer of two MACC directors to PM’s Office

All Malaysians must be incensed and outraged by the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s contemptuous and contemptible justification for the immediate and punitive transfer of two Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) directors to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Zahid claimed that the transfers of the  two MACC directors, special operations division director Datuk Bahri Mohamad Zin and strategic communications director Datuk Rohaizad Yaakob were not linked to a police investigation against them, and that  it was ordinary for public servants to be transferred at any time and to any other agency.

He said: “It has completely nothing to do with the action by the Royal Malaysia Police against the two senior officers; in fact, I think it is only an administrative matter conducted by the Public Services Department.

“Every government officer is subject to circulars and general orders, and there is even an oath signed during their appointment.

“As such, I don’t think this issue should be politicised.”

Last month, a Cabinet Minister and newly-minted BN Director of Strategic Communications retorted that he was “not born yesterday” in response the  publication The Edge’s statement that it was not politically motivated – which prompted a public response that the Minister was completely out of his depths.

Zahid’s explanation and justification for the transfers of the two MACC directors to the PM’s Office shows his utter contempt for the Malaysian public, treating  Malaysians with no thinking and critical ability as if they were born yesterday and dismissing Malaysians as utterly irrelevant and immaterial as far as government actions are concerned.

The explanation given by Zahid for the transfer of Bahri and Rohaizad is sheer garbage, displaying unjustified contempt for  all MACC personel in general and the two MACC directors in particular.

Is this because Zahid regards himself as Minister for the police and not responsible for the MACC?  If so, why has be accepted the responsibilities of Deputy Prime Minister to represent all interests not only in government, but also in the country?

Can Zahid explain the most touching WhatsApp message by the MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull from the United States last night urging Putrajaya to rescind the transfer orders for Bahri and Rohaizad, and his offering to take their places instead?

Shukri had said: “Please return both of my officers immediately. Take me as a replacement. They did what they did and acted based on my instructions.”

Is this sheer emotionalism without any basis of fact or reality?

Malaysians had expected more from Zahid!

Zahid should not mock Shukri or even Elia Bahru, who in her facebook lamented the injustice done to her father, Bahri Mohamad Zin, despite his decades-long battle against corruption.

She wrote in a FaceBook posting:

“My father, Bahri Muhamad Zin, served MACC (previously Anti-Corruption Agency) for 33 years.

“For decades, he carried out his duties to investigate and arrest those who were out to swindle funds illegally from the rakyat.

“He and his division succeeded in saving hundreds of millions from going missing.”

She added that because of her father’s commitment, Bahri’s family had to endure all kinds of harassment.

“For as long as he worked as a MACC officer, our family was constantly threatened, hit with black magic, disturbed, boycotted, scolded, and he (Bahri) experienced even more.”

She also questioned what purpose her father would serve by being transferred to the PM’s Office.

“As long as I have known Bahri, he is good at three things – teaching religion, investigating, proving, arresting bad people and planting trees.

“When my dad was transferred to PMD, I started thinking what they (the authorities) wanted him to really do?

“Teach people at PMD religion? Plant trees at PMD and use the produce to pay the bills of dignitaries?

“Or do they want him to expose more of them?”

What is Zahid’s response to Eila’s lament?

Zahid should make amends. The least he should do is to ensure that injustices are not done to Bahri and Rohaizad and their transfer orders rescinded.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 8 August 2015, 5:08 pm and is filed under
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