Twelve issues which should be dealt with by a  White Paper on “Black Tuesday of 28.7.2015 and the Week of Long Knives in July/August 2015”

There are at least twelve issues which should be dealt with by a White Paper on “Black Tuesday of 28.7.2015 and the Week of Long Knives in July/August 2015”, viz:

1. Who  were the masterminds of the Black Tuesday of 28.7.2015 and the “Week of Long Knives of July/August 2015” apart from the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

2. Who was behind the website that appeared on Black Tuesday on July 28, 2015 marking the Week of Long Knives in July/August 2015 with the article  headlined “Ops Lalang 2015: Special Branch leads investigation into conspirators”, naming 13 persons in an international conspiracy to topple the elected government of Malaysia and marked “to be investigated under Section 124 of the penal code which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison” and to institute a regime of terror among top political and government leaders that they would be penalised if they do not toe the line?

A menacing article headlined “Special Branch Broadens Covert Investigation: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Green Lit” dated 31st July reported:

“Sources have indicated to us that the scope of the investigation into the 13 conspirators has been broadened to include all those involved whether directly or indirectly. All employees at the Attorney General’s office, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and even members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be made subject to military style interrogation techniques that it is understood will include polygraph tests in order to determine their level of involvement.”

The article also carried gruesome pictures of the “enhancled interrogation techniques” to “detects lies by monitoring a person’s physiological characteristics such as a person’s pulse and breathing rates” stating that “Modern polygraph tests are scarily accurate” involving “inhumane psychological pressure” which were used by the Bush administration against “terrorist suspects” – pointedly raising questions whether the techniques constitute torture.

3. Were the replacement of the Attorney-General and the changes in the top police personnel and other major enforcement agencies  related to  the most  serious, deplorable and disgraceful  attack on  the democratic principles of the Malaysian Constitution and the independence, impartiality and professionalism of all the important national institutions in the history of the  country?

4. What roles did  the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the newly elevated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, every Cabinet Minister at the time, the newly-appointed Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali,  the newly-minted Director of Strategic Communications, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the then Chief Secretary  Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, the then Director-General of Public Service Department Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi, the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, the then Director-General of Information Department Datuk Ibrahim Abdul Rahman play in attacking the fundamental principles and precepts of   parliamentary democracy which was  triggered by the  Week of Long Knives?

5. Why did Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali participate in the undemocratic and unconstitutional attacks on the fundamental principles and key  institutions of  parliamentary democracy, serving as Attorney-General although he knew that Tan Sri Gani Patail’s sacking as Attorney-General was unconstitutional?

6. Why did Najib’s  Cabinet Ministers aided and abetted in the most serious attack on fundamental  democratic principles and the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the national institutions, including telling lies and untruths to the Malaysian people about the 1MDB scandal?

7. Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong and Chew Mei Fun, currently the President and Secretary-General of MCA respectively, were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Deputy Minister for Women, Family and Community Development respectively in the Najib government  at the time. Why did they aid and abet  the most serious attack on  parliamentary democracy in Malaysia by their silence and condonation of kleptocracy and undemocratic governance?

8. Why was the 13th Parliament subverted and sabotaged with the then Speaker, Tan Sri  Pandikar Amin Mulia giving a  ruling  prohibiting the 1MDB scandal from being discussed or debated in Parliament?

9. How were the various institutions, designed to provide the necessary check-and-balance for the effective functioning of parliamentary democracy subverted or undermined – Parliament, Public Accounts Committee, Attorney-General’s Office, Police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Auditor-General’s Office, Election Commission, Press, etc?

I had said previously that I had received  a message in late  2016 from someone who was very close to the then Prime Minister but had no role either in the Attorney-General’s Chambers or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission  that the then Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption investigations and  charges would be dropped if I did  not co-operate with Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to bring about a united front to topple Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister.

Such a practice which undermined the efficiency, independence and professionalism of the system of justice was prevalent after the Week of  Long Knives.

I have never told Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad about such a threat. He did tell me during the Pakatan Harapan campaign during the run-up to the 14th General Election that appearing on the same stage with me was costing him dearly in Malay support, to which I replied that appearing with him on the same stage was also costing me dearly in non-Malay support.

10. How did a kleptocratic regime survived for another three years, when the then Prime Minister was described by a Malaysian academician in Australia in August 2015 as “A Deadman Walking”.

At the end of 2016, I typed “1MDB” into the Google search engine, and I got 255,000 search results in 0.42 seconds. In early 2017, such a search  got me 4.41 million results in just 0.32 seconds.

Today, I typed “1MDB” and the Google search engine produced 8.37 million results in 0.52 seconds! That is the be answer to the super fake news in the Prime Minister’s New Year Message on 31st December 2015 that the  RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

11. What would have happened if the kleptocratic regime in Malaysia had not been voted out of office in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018?

12. The 1MDB scandal was the economic sabotage of the nation. The Black

Tuesday of 28th July 2015 and the Week of Long Knives July/August 2015 was the political sabotage of Malaysia as a parliamentary democracy.

How  such a grave multi-facetted attack on parliamentary democracy could be averted in future?

Malaysians bravely saved Malaysia from the continuing infamy, ignominy and iniquity of a kleptocratic state in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

How can Malaysians avert a repeat of the Najib catastrophe to plunge Malaysia into the trajectory hurtling towards a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state in the future?

9Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 7th July, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 7 June 2019, 9:08 am and is filed under
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Lessons from ruckus over Latheefa Koya’s appointment – importance of constantly building trust among Pakatan Harapan leaders and the need for PH leaders to reaffirm commitment to the PH Manifesto as the Road Map to a New Malaysia

Pengajaran daripada kehebohan pelantikan Latheefa Koya — pentingnya untuk kita terus menguatkan kepercayaan di antara pemimpin Pakatan Harapan dan perlunya untuk Pimpinan PH memperkuatkan komitmen untuk menjadikan Manifesto PH sebagai panduan pembentukan Malaysia Baharu

Dua pengajaran penting yang dapat kita belajar daripada kekecohan mengenai pelantikan Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) adalah:

Pentingnya untuk pemimpin-pemimpin Pakatan Harapan untuk terus-menerus meningkatkan kepercayaan di antara mereka, dan

keperluan untuk Pimpinan Pakatan Harapan kekal komited dengan Manifesto Pakatan Harapan sebagai panduan dalam membina sebuah Malaysia yang Baharu.

Seperti yang telah diperakui ramai, pelantikan Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi SPRM adalah terletak di bawah kuasa yang diperuntukkan kepada Perdana Menteri dan ianya selari dengan peruntukan undang-undang.

Pelantikan Latheefa juga tidak dipersoalkan daripada segi kelayakannya.

Isu utama yang timbul berkaitan pelantikan ini adalah percanggahan dengan Janji ke-14 Manifesto PRU 14 Pakatan Harapan yang menyatakan: “…menaikkan taraf SPRM kepada sebuah suruhanjaya yang diiktiraf oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan, iaitu sama seperti kedudukan Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia”; “SPRM akan melapor terus kepada Parlimen, dan bukan lagi kepada Perdana Menteri”; menambah bilangan pesuruhjaya SPRM dan seorang daripada mereka akan dilantik menjadi pengerusi, dan “Pelantikan Pesuruhjaya-Pesuruhjaya SPRM perlu disahkan secara demokratik oleh Parlimen”.

Mereka yang mengatakan cara pelantikan Latheefa sebagai Pengerusi SPRM bertentangan dengan semangat Janji ke-14 Manifesto PH ini tidaklah salah dan saya yakin, jika pelantikan ini tidak melibatkan Latheefa, beliau akan menjadi individu terawal yang akan mengkritik pelantikan seperti ini.

Mengikut logik ini, pelantikan Mohd Shukri Abdull pada 18 Mei 2018 semestinya bertentangan dengan Janji ke-14 tersebut.

Peruntukan Perlembagaan bagi melaksanakan Janji ke-14 ini belum lagi disediakan dan hal ini mewujudkan satu keadaan di mana Perdana Menteri berhak dari segi peruntukan undang-undang tapi tidak betul daripada segi politik untuk menggunakan kuasanya dalam melantik Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi SPRM.

Seperti yang kita lihat dalam sesi Parlimen April yang lepas, di mana Rang Undang-undang Pindaan Perlembagaan kerajaan ditolak, reformasi undang-undang dan perlembagaan bukanlah sesuatu yang mudah untuk dilakukan.

Adakah Ketua Pembangkang di Parlimen dan parti-parti pembangkang akan menyokong pindaan perlembagaan bagi melaksanakan Janji ke-14 Manifesto Pakatan Harapan ini?

Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan perlulah meningkatkan usaha membina Malaysia Baharu dalam tahun kedua ini berbanding dengan tahun pertama yang telah digunakan untuk memeriksa dan menyemak keparahan dan kerosakan yang ditinggalkan oleh rejim yang lepas.

Perperangan menentang rasuah adalah salah satu matlamat terutama Pakatan Harapan.

SPRM dan semua rakyat Malaysia haruslah sedar, walaupun kesalahan bekas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan beberapa orang kanan rejim yang lepas sedang dibicarakan di mahkamah, perjalanan negara untuk menjadi negara terunggul yang berintegriti masih lagi panjang dan berliku.

Ujian terbesar untuk Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi SPRM adalah untuk beliau memastikan tahun kedua kerajaan PH dengan SPRM di bawah pimpinan beliau, berjaya dalam memerangi rasuah dan menjayakan transformasi Malaysia daripada sebuah negara yang dipenuhi rasuah kepada sebuah negara yang berintegriti.

Kita mahukan visi Malaysia Baharu Pakatan Harapan berjaya — dan untuk ini kita perlukan Latheefa Koya untuk berjaya dalam menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara yang bebas rasuah.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Ahad 9 Jun 2019)

======================================

Two important lessons from the ruckus over Latheefa Koya’s appointment as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner are:

•	The importance of constantly building trust among Pakatan Harapan leaders; and

•	The need for Pakatan Harapan leaders to reaffirm commitment to Pakatan Harapan Manifesto as the Road Map to a New Malaysia.

As everyone has acknowledged, the surprise appointment of Latheefa as MACC Chief Commissioner is the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister and is completely constitutional under present legal arrangements.

Latheefa’s appointment is also not being questioned as far as her credentials and qualifications are concerned.

The issue in contention is that her appointment is  not in keeping with Promise 14 of the Pakatan Harapan 14th General Elections Manifesto,  viz: to “upgrade the MACC to a commission that  is recognised in our Federal Constitution, similar to the status of the Election Commission of Malaysia”; “MACC will report directly to Parliament rather than to the Prime Minister”; increase in the number of MACC commissioners one of whom will be the chair of MACC and “Appointment of these commissioners must  be validated democratically by Parliament”.

Those who protested that Latheefa’s appointment as MACC Chief violated the spirit of the pledge in PH Manifesto Promise 14 are not wrong, and I am sure that if Latheefa had not been the person involved in the present controversy,  she would be in the very forefront of the ruckus criticising any appointment of  MACC Chief in a similar fashion as her present appointment.

In fact, going by this logic, the appointment of Mohd Shukri Abdull on May 18, 2018 would have violated Promise 14 of the PH Manifesto.

Constitutional arrangements to implement Promise 14 of the PH Manifesto have not been put in place, creating the invidious situation where the Prime Minister is constitutionally correct but politically wrong to exercise his sole prerogative to appoint Latheefa Koya as MACC chief.

As highlighted by the defeat of the Constitutional Amendment Bill in the April Parliament, it is no easy task to make legal and constitutional changes to pave the way for the attainment of a New Malaysia.

Will the Parliamentary Opposition Leader and Opposition parties support Constitutional amendments to implement Promise 14 of the PH Manifesto?

The Pakatan Harapan Government must be able to achieve greater headway in the goal  to build a New Malaysia as outlined in the PH Manifesto in the second year as compared to the first year of the PH Government, which had  largely  been spent to establish the extent and magnitude of the heinous political, economic and financial scandals left behind by the former regime.

The battle against corruption is one of the principal objectives of Pakatan Harapan.

Both the MACC and Malaysians as a whole must realise the fallacy to think that the corruption trials of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and a few bigwigs of the former administration signify that Malaysia is firmly on the road to becoming a top nation of integrity.

The greatest test of Latheefa Koya as MACC chief is whether she could ensure that while the  first year of the Pakatan Harapan Government in Putrajaya was a year to bring the kleptocrats to book, the second year of PH government  with MACC under her leadership will be a year to bring to justice the  sharks in the war against corruption so as to set Malaysia firmly on the path of transformation from a corrupt nation to a leading nation of integrity in the world.

We want the New Malaysia vision of Pakatan Harapan to succeed – which means we want Latheefa Koya to succeed in making Malaysia a corruption-free Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 9th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 June 2019, 3:55 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Latest Orang Asli tragedy of 14 Bateq deaths in Gua Musang  proof that the  six-decades-old Orang Asli/Orang Asal development policy an  utter failure and urgent need for new policy and roadmap for Orang Asli/Asal upliftment

The latest Orang Asli tragedy of 14 Bateq deaths in Kampong Kuala Koh in Gua Musang  is proof that the six-decades-old Orang Asli/Orang Asal development policy is an utter failure and the urgent need for a new policy and roadmap for Orang Asli/Orang Asal upliftment.

The 14 Bateq deaths is only the latest tragedy of the six-decades-old Orang Asli/Asal development policy, which had spawned other tragedies like the SK Tohol tragedy in Gua Musang  in 2015, where seven school children went missing from school, ending  in five deaths while two were found after 47 days in malnourished stage and the Kam Agong tragedy at Long Semadoh  in the deep interior of  Lawas, Sarawak 17 years ago.

It is most shocking and a great indictment on the authorities concerned, in particular the Kelantan State Government, that they were not aware of the Bateq tragedy resulting in 14 deaths  until after more than a month of its first occurrence when Amanah Senator Husam Musa sounded the alarm on June 8,  when four  deaths took place in the first ten days of May, with the first death occurring on May 2.

Another seven deaths took place in the rest of  21 days in May. Why were the authorities, in particular the Kelantan State Government, so negligent and  remiss as to be  cut off from the Bateq tribe in Kg Kuala Koh to the extent that they knew nothing about the death epidemic claiming eleven lives in May?

Long-time activist Colin Nicholas, the executive director of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC),  said the Bateq problem is not medical, but a direct result of what happens when people’s rights to their customary lands are not recognised and that land is destroyed.

He told Malaysiakini:

“Just seven to 10 years ago, if you visited them they were perfectly healthy and psychologically happy.

“But their land has been taken away, in this case by the Kelantan state government. And their resource base has been destroyed.”

Without access to their traditional way of life, they became malnourished and underweight, lowering their resistance and  many diseases became fatal.

“With their resistance low, many diseases – whether it’s pneumonia or tuberculosis, or even diarrhoea – can be fatal.”

In April this year,  the Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad launched the Conference “Upholding the Rights of the Orang Asli” in Putrajaya.

The Bateq tragedy is a serious reminder to the Conference organisers of the urgency that the authorities  must craft a new policy and roadmap for the upliftment of the Orang Asli/Orang Asal communities in the country, so that Bateq tragedy and the SK Tohol tragedy in Gua Musang  and the Kam Agong tragedy in Lawas will never recur.

Is the Federal Government able to inform Members of Parliament of such a new policy and roadmap for Orang Asli/Orang Asal upliftment in the July meeting of Parliament?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, 11th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 June 2019, 12:45 pm and is filed under
Orang Asli
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Mahathir has presented Latheefa Koya one of her greatest challenges as MACC Chief –  to ensure that both the kleptocrats and sharks are brought to  justice in the next two years of her contract

Mahathir sudah memberikan salah satu cabaran terbesar kepada Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi SPRM — untuk memastikan kleptokrat dibawa kemuka pengadilan sepanjang kontrak dua tahun beliau yang mendatang

Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah mengamanatkan salah satu cabaran  terbesar buat Latheefa Koya — untuk memastikan kesemua kleptokrat dan kaki rasuah dibawa ke muka pengadilan dalam tempoh kontrak dua tahun beliau.

Apabila ditanyakan di Jasin, sama ada kerajaan berhasrat untuk menyiasat peranan seorang bekas perdana menteri dan beberapa bekas pegawai kerajaan berpangkat tinggi dalam Minggu Pemecatan Besar-besaran yang berlaku pada Julai/Ogos 2015, Mahathir menjawab, kerajaan buat masa ini tidak mempunyai tenaga kerja yang mencukupi untuk menyiasat semua individu daripada pentadbiran yang lepas yang disyaki terlibat dengan rasuah.

Kata Mahathir:

“Kita dapati kerajaan yang telah ditewaskan tersebut dipenuhi dengan mereka yang melakukan jenayah, tapi buat masa ini, kita tidak boleh untuk fokus kepada mereka semua kerana kita tidak mempunyai tenaga manusia yang mencukupi.

“Buat masa ini, kita fokus kepada kes-kes yang amat serius, seperti kes (bekas) Perdana Menteri yang menyebabkan banyak wang daripada Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pekerja (KWAP) hilang.”

Saya telah menyatakan harapan saya sebelum ini, seperti mana yang kita dapat saksikan dalam tahun pertama Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan — para kleptokrat yang diketuai bekas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak disiasat dan didakwa atas tuduhan rasuah — tahun kedua Kerajaan ini akan menyaksikan kaki rasuah yang lain dibawa ke muka pengadilan.

Ramai rakyat Malaysia terkejut dengan kenyataan daripada kumpulan bekas pegawai kerajaan kanan G25 yang menyokong pelantikan Latheefa Koya sebagai Pengerusi SPRM sebagai suatu pelantikan yang luar biasa  yang perlu dilakukan kerana gejala rasuah kini sudah terlalu kritikal dan Perdana Menteri perlu mengisi jawatan tersebut secepat mungkin.

Mereka berkata: “Walaupun kami berharap untuk melihat kemunculan satu konvensyen berperlembagaan yang baharu bagi memberi ruang untuk parlimen mengambil bahagian dalam proses pelantikan tersebut, tidak dapat kami nafikan yang pelantikan ini bertepatan dengan peruntukan undang-undang.”

Mereka berkata rasuah di Malaysia sudah mencapai satu tahap yang kritikal, melangkaui semua lapisan masyarakat dan jawatan ini perlulah diisi dengan segara.

“Kita mestilah menyokong keputusan yang membawa kepada urustadbir yang baik dan proses perundangan yang betul. Lagi pun, semua ini hanyalah salah satu daripada cara untuk mencapai matlamat yang sama,”
 kata G25 lagi.

Tanpa ragu lagi, tangan-tangan pegawai SPRM sememangnya penuh dengan penyiasatan SPRM, tetapi, tidak ada seorang pun pemimpin sepatutnya terlepas dari siasatan rasuah kerana kes jenayah rasuah tidak mempunyai statut keterbatasan.

Biarpun jika SPRM tidak boleh untuk menyiasat pemimpin tertentu daripada pemerintahan sebelum ini kerana kesibukan menyiasat kleptokrat dan kuncu-kuncunya, tidak ada kaki rasuah di mana-mana sekalipun patut terlepas dari muka pengadilan.

Malaysia tidak boleh terus-menerus menjadi sebuah negara di mana bekas pegawai kanan kerajaan sendiripun mengakui yang rasuah berleluasa jika Malaysia mahu berubah daripada sebuah kleptokrasi global kepada sebuah negara berintegriti yang terulung.

Atas sebab ini, kenyataan daripada Presiden PKR dan ahli parlimen Port Dickson Anwar Ibrahim yang menyeru semua pemimpin Pakatan Harapan untuk menyokong keputusan Perdana Menteri dan memberikan ruang kepada Pengerusi baru untuk menjalankan tugas beliau haruslah dipuji.

Rakyat Malaysia haruslah sentiasa berazam untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara yang disegani di mata dunia dalam indeks persepsi rasuah, yang berada di tangga tertinggi kaji selidik persepsi rasuah dalam sejarah negara ini.

Mungkin masanya sudah tiba untuk Pusat Governans, Integriti, dan Anti Rasuah Kebangsaan (GIACC), SPRM, dan rakyat Malaysia secara amnya, yang mahu melihat Malaysia berubah daripada sebuah kleptokrasi global kepada sebuah negara yang berintegriti untuk mempertimbangkan satu bentuk program pengampunan bagi mereka yang terlibat dengan rasuah, dengan syarat mereka memulangkan semula semua harta yang diperolehi secara haram tersebut.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa 11 Julai 2019)

=============================================

The Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has in fact presented Latheefa Koya one  of her greatest challenges as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief – to ensure that both the kleptocrats and sharks of corruption are brought to justice in the next two years of her contract.

When asked in Jasin, Malacca yesterday whether several former high-ranking officers, as well as a former minister, are to be investigated for their role in the “Week of Long Knives” in July/August 2015, Mahathir said  they currently lack the manpower to investigate everyone in the previous government who is suspected of wrongdoing.

Mahathir said:

“We find that the government who was defeated had many who committed crimes, but at this time, it is not possible for us to focus on them all because we lack manpower.

“Right now, we are focusing on the very serious cases such as the (former) prime minister who had caused a lot of the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP) money to go missing.”

I had expressed the hope that just as the  first year of Pakatan Harapan government in Putrajaya saw the kleptocrats headed by former Prrime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, being charged and prosecuted for corruption, the second year of the Pakatan Harapan Governmment (which is the first year of Latheefa’s  charge as MACC chief), will see the other “sharks” of corruption being brought to book.

Malaysians are  struck by the statement of the  G25 group of former senior civil servants which supported the appointment of  Latheefa Koya as MACC head for  “an exceptional circumstance” –  because corruption had reached critical proportions and the prime minister had to fill the post immediately.

It said:
“Whilst we had wished for the emergence of the constitutional convention of parliamentary scrutiny in the appointment process, which sadly, did not happen, it cannot be denied that the appointment was strictly in accordance with the law.”

It said that corruption in Malaysia had reached critical proportions, traversing all levels of society, and the position had to be filled urgently.

“We must support decisions that promote good governance and appropriate legal processes. After all, these are a means to an end,”
 G25 said.

Undoubtedly, the  MACC officers had their hands full in their anti-corruption investigations, but no top leader should be spared corruption investigation and prosecution as there is   no statute of limitation for crime or corruption offences.

Even if the MACC is unable at present  to deal with certain leaders of the former government because it had its hands full dealing with other kleptocrats and “sharks”, no “sharks” should be spared being brought to justice.

Malaysia cannot continue to be among nations where even former top government officials like those in G25 admit that corruption has reached “critical proportions, traversing all levels of society” if  Malaysia wants to transform itself from a global kleptocracy to  become a leading nation of integrity.

For this reason, the statement by the PKR President and MP for Port Dickson, Anwar Ibrahim urging Pakatan Harapan leaders  to support the Prime Minister’s  decision and to give space to the newly-minted MACC chief and MACC  to do their duties  is to be lauded.

Malaysians must never lose sight of the challenge and possibility of Malaysia rising up in international rankings in future  corruption surveys to the best levels ever occupied  in the nation’s history, and this is a task which all Malaysians must support.

The time may have  come for the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), MACC and Malaysians who want to see Malaysia transform from a global kleptocracy to a leading nation of integrity to give thought to an amnesty programme for those involved in corruption provided they return their ill-gotten gains as a strategy to help curb the scourge of corruption in Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 11th July 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 June 2019, 12:49 pm and is filed under
Corruption
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call on authorities to ensure that there will not be a second Kampong Kuala Koh tragedy where 14 died mysteriously after suffering  malnourishment and immunocompromise making them vulnerable and fatal to diseases

The Health Minister, Dzulkefly Ahmad seemed to have confirmed the analysis of activists Colin Nicholas and Dr. Steven Chow  that the Kampong Kuala Koh tragedy where 14 Bateq villagers had died since early May is not so much a medical problem but a direct result of what happens when people’s rights to their customary lands are not recognised and that land is destroyed.

Nicholas, the executive director of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), said that after the land had been taken away from the Bateqs by the Kelantan state government and the destruction of their resource base and their traditional way of life, they became malnourished and underweight, lowering their resistance to  many common ailments, whether  pneumonia, tuberculosis or even diarrhoea, resulting in fatalities..

Chow, the team leader of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners’ Associations Malaysia (FPMPAM) medical outreach programme   visited Kampung Kuala Koh just a week before the tragedy unfolded.

He  was appalled by the conditions in the village and said this was “
a community left behind, dying from neglect”.

He said:
 “It was appalling. There was no running water. All the water tanks were empty. Pipes were broken. All we had was the bottled water that we brought along for the patients and the medical team.

“With no running water, the standard of sanitation was terrible. We saw patients from more than 60 families, many with multiple health problems. Almost all had infections affecting either the respiratory or gastrointestinal (systems), or the skin.

“There were 32 cases of tinea imbricata (an extensive fungal skin infection), the so-called ‘mysterious skin disease’. Almost all the children had worm infestation and malnutrition.

“We also heard that the tok batin (village head) and his brother had died earlier, before the recently reported spate of deaths. Something is obviously not right.”

The meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday is to be commended for the despatch of necessary supplements and supplies to the area, but the root cause of the problem of malnourishment and immunocompromise of the Orang Asli must be addressed.

While the immediate task is the dispatch of necessary supplements and supplies to Kampong Kuala Koh, the equally important task to ensure that there will not be a second Kampong Kuala Koh tragedy in any part of the country  must be urgently addressed, and the authorities must conduct an immediate survey to detect and identify any other Orang Asli community which is suffering from malnourishment and immunocompromise, making them vulnerable and susceptible to fatalities.

It is clear that the National Conference “Upholding the Rights of Orang Asli” in Putrajaya in April had never anticipated the Kampong Kuala Koh tragedy.

Let it be a lesson to all Malaysians – both the authorities and the citizenry.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 12th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 June 2019, 5:15 pm and is filed under
Orang Asli
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


A MACC report had been lodged by a former anti-corruption agency officer in January 2016  against Apandi as the then Attorney-General for clearing the then Prime Minister Najib of corruption charges but to date,  no action had been taken

It has come to my knowledge that a former anti-corruption agency officer had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in January 2016 against the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali for clearing the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of corruption charges but to date, no action had been taken.

This former anti-corruption agency officer had lodged a report with the MACC against Apandi after he cleared Najib of corruption charges which had been recommended by the MACC and agreed upon by the former  Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail for the  Penal Code offence of criminal misappropriation of public funds.

His report had been accepted by the MACC and registered.  Unfortunately it was never fully investigated by the MACC.

This in itself is an offence under section 217 Penal Code which says that, any public servant who is statutorily   bound to perform a public duty and fails to do so intending to protect or save any person from punishment or forfeiture of property  commits an offence.  And Section 7 of the MACC Act makes it a statutory duty for any MACC officer to receive any report of the commission of an offence and investigate such report.

This former anti-corruption agency officer said that Apandi’s press conference on 26th January 2016 in his capacity as Attorney-General clearing Najib of any corruption offence, which was not only  against the recommendation of the MACC but also tantamount to revoking the decision of former Attorney-General Gani Patail,  amounted  to a gross abuse of power and conflict of interest since the very person he cleared of the corruption charges was the same person who appointed him to the office of AG.

It had caused huge embarrassment to the legal fraternity and the rule of law in Malaysia in the eyes of the world.

On 14th May 2018, five days after the historic 14th General Election decision, Mahathir informed  the media that Apandi had been told to take leave and would be temporarily replaced by the Solicitor-General.

Asked whether Apandi was being investigated, the Prime  Minister said a police report must first be lodged before an investigation could be done.

Mahathir said: “At this moment, we have yet to lodge a formal report, although there are a lot of allegations made against Apandi,”

However, no action had been taken on the report by this anti-corruption agency official  against Apandi in January 2016.

On 19th May 2018, this anti-corruption officer had written to the MACC Chief Commissioner, Datuk Seri Shukri Abdull about his MACC report in January 2016 against Najib and Apandi (ADUAN SPRM/INFO/2016/002316).

Among other criminal acts both  Najib and  Apandi had committed was the offence under Section 16  MACC  Act as Najib offering the post of AG to Apandi, and Apandi accepting the post of AG, as an inducement to clear Najib of corruption charges and to stop further investigation against him.

Under the law, gratification includes any office or employment and Apandi did accept the post of AG and subsequently cleared Najib of all corruption offences.

May be when the new MACC chief, Latheeya Koya, appears before the parliamentary Special  Select Committee on Major Public Appointments on June 20 to share her vision and mission to fight corruption, she could throw some light on whether the MACC would re-open investigation into Apandi.

Under the doctrine of cabinet collective responsibility, it can be  argued that all ministers of Najib’s cabinet were collectively responsible for such illegal and unconstitutional removal and appointment designed  to cover up the corrupt acts of the  then Prime Minister.

The removal and appointment are clearly tainted by corruption and illegal practices, and as such each and every member of the cabinet were complicit to the action of Najib and were  criminally liable.

For this reason, the anti-corruption agency officer recommended that all ministers should also be charged for abetment of Najib’s act which was detrimental to parliamentary  practice.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 14th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 June 2019, 3:29 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Former Attorney-General Apandi and former Inspector-General of Police Khalid should be investigated for their role in the “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015” to establish the important principle of the  supremacy of  Rukunegara which  must be respected by all key top officials

The former Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali and the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should be investigated for the role in the infamous “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015” to establish the important principle of the supremacy of Rukunegara which must be respected by all key top officials.

Three key principles of Rukunegara, namely loyalty to King and Country, the supremacy of the Constitution and the Rule of Law, were undermined and assaulted  in the “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015”, causing a  great damage to the system of parliamentary democracy in the country.

This was the only occasion when the 2012 amendment to the Penal Code to create a new section 124B to a create a new offence that anyone carrying out , by any means, directly or indirectly,  “any activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” could be jailed to 20 years would have applied on all fours, but instead of invocation of Section 124B of the Penal Code against the principals undermining parliamentary democracy, these principals  were allowed to “run riot’ in their conspiracy to undermine the supremacy of Rukunegara.

It is the undermining of these key Rukunegara principles during the “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015” which led to Malaysia suffering the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy.

Malaysia must be respected by the world for our integrity but in those infamous years, we were condemned by the world  for our kleptocracy.

Malaysians have proved that they are a great people for against all expectations, they had peacefully and democratically saved Malaysia in the 14th General Election from being locked into the trajectory of a failed, undemocratic, rogue and kleptocratic state, which would be a national catastrophe for future generations of Malaysians.

In the second year of Pakatan Harapan government, we must see more progress to establish the fundamental principles of a New Malaysia and reset nation-building policies to achieve the five pillar promises of the Pakatan Harapan General Election Manifesto, viz:

· Reduce the people’s burden;

·Ins titutional and political reforms;

· Spur sustainable and equitable economic growth;

· Return Sabah and Sarawak to the status accorded in Malaysia Agreement 1963; and

· Create a Malaysia that is inclusive, moderate and respected globally.

We must establish, clearly and unequivocally, the supremacy of the rule of law and that all concerned, whether Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, Attorney-General or high officers of the state such as the Attorney-General, Inspector-General of Police or the MACC Chief Commissioner, must abide by the rule of law and must expect to be investigated subsequently if they had violated the fundamental principles of the Constitution and the supremacy of the rule of law while in office.

It is for this reason that one of the questions I had submitted to the July meeting of Parliament reads:

“ To ask the Prime Minister whether there would be investigations into the series of events in July/August 2015 which had been referred to as ‘Week of Long Knives’ where the Attorney-General was unconstitutionally dismissed, leading government officials  victimised and laws abused  for refusing to comply with a master plan to ‘cover-up’ the 1MDB scandal, and the remedial actions that have been taken.”

As I mentioned yesterday, a former anti-corruption agency officer had lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in January 2016 against the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali for clearing the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of corruption charges which had been recommended by the MACC and agreed upon by the former  Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail for the  Penal Code offence of criminal misappropriation of public funds.

Investigations should be initiated to establish whether Khalid, as the then Inspector-General of Police and a member of the Special Task Force of Four Tan Sris (Attorney-General, Police, MACC and Bank Negara) on the 1MDB scandal, was responsible for the series events known as the “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015” beginning with the unconstitutional sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General, sacking of Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin as Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Education Minister and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as Minister for Regional and Rural Development, and the “reign of terror” against independent-minded officers of the Attorney-General’s Office, the Police, the MACC and Bank Negara.

In the New Malaysia which Pakatan Harapan wants to build after the 14th General Election, no  person is above the law however high his office or status, whether as Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, Attorney-General and high officers of  state.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Saturday, June 15, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 June 2019, 7:46 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Haziq sex video is the greatest challenge to Pakatan Harapan  since the 14th General Election and PH  leaders must unite to forge ahead and  not to  be derailed from the New Malaysia agenda

For four days, the country has been agog, haunted and hounded by the Haziq sex video implicating a minister, which demonstrates its potency to destroy the Pakatan Harapan coalition and derail the PH’s New Malaysia agenda.

There is no doubt that the Haziq sex video is the greatest challenge to Pakatan Harapan  since the 14th General Election in May last year and PH  leaders must unite to forge ahead and  not to  be derailed from the New Malaysia agenda.

Are Malaysians to save Malaysia on 9th May 2018 in the 14th General Election from the trajectory of a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state only to allow the Haziq sex video to destroy the unique “Save Malaysia” mission a year later?

The new Inspector-General of Police, Hamid Badar has asked for time to determine whether the Haziq sex video is authentic or not as the police had not obtained any leads yet on the authenticity of the sex video clips.

Malaysians must trust the police under a new Inspector-General of Police to carry out its duties independently, fairly and in a trustworthy manner to investigate the Haziq sex videos and the masterminds behind Haziq  although they  might have doubts about the role of the police under previous IGPs.

This is why I advocate that the important principle must be re-established that no one in Malaysia is above the law, whether the Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, Attorney-General, Inspector-General of Police or other high officers of the state.

This is why I am pushing for an investigation into the involvement of high public officials, be it the Attorney-General or IGP at the time, who were involved in the  unprecedented plot against Malaysian parliamentary democracy in the “Week of Long Knives July/August 2015” to help cover-up the 1MDB  mega scandal.

The 14th Parliament is to meet for the fourth time for 12 sittings  from 1st to 18th July. Are we going to allow the July Parliament to follow the Opposition dictates to be obsessed with  the  Haziq sex video or can PH MPs turn it into the most historic Parliamentary session of the Pakatan Harapan government where we begin to deliver the promises of a New Malaysia which had inspired Malaysians to  bring about the historic peaceful and democratic change on May 9, 2018?

Instead of the July 2019 meeting of Parliament being known as a Haziq sex video session, I would like to see it be known as the IPCMC Parliament.

For the first time in many decades, we have an Inspector-General of Police who is prepared to commit himself to the goal of making the RMP a top world-class police force, acknowledge openly the problem of police corruption and share his vision to eradicate police corruption,  and declare his support of the IPCMC  which was first mooted by Police Royal Commission with  a former Chief  Justice as Chairman and the longest-serving IGP as Deputy Chairman.

Datuk Seri Hamid Bador was himself the victim of political interference with the police force in 2015 which forced him into  early retirement as Deputy Head of the Special Branch.

He recounted how a police constable tried to solicit a bribe from him when he turned to farming after his early retirement which provided a unique insight to his commitment to eradicate police corruption in Malaysia.

The new IGP recently said that he was eagerly waiting for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to finally take shape so that he could focus on his officers’ welfare.

The National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) director-general Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamad had briefed the Parliamentary Caucus on Governance and Institutional Reforms that the IPCMC Bill is ready.

Let us then make the July meeting Parliament a IPCMC Parliament by passing the IPCMC Bill next month so that the IPCMC could be set up some 14 years after it was first mooted in 2005.

To show that we are now in  a New Malaysia with room for greater consultation with the civil society, such a IPCMC Bill should be made public for feedbacks at least  one week before it is debated in Parliament.

Hamid would then have less than 700 days to make the RMP a top world-class police force, recognised and respected worldwide  for its anti-crime and anti-corruption record  as well as efforts to improve police welfare.

All PH leaders must be conscious of the challenge  in  the second year of the PH government to be more successful than the first year to deliver  the various New Malaysia promises.

The PH government had made a good start in making several important appointments to pave the way for far-reaching institutional, political and democratic reforms for a New Malaysia, viz:

· Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat as Chief Justice, taking over from Richard Malanjum who had retired on April 2,

· Mohamad Ariff bin Md Yusof as Speaker of Parliament;

· Tommy Thomas as Attorney-General;

· Azhar Azizan Harun or better known as Art Harun as Chairman and Dr. Azmi Sharon as Deputy Chairman of Election Commission;

· Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus as Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) Governor.

· Zulkifli Zainal Abdin as Chief of Armed Forces;

· Ismail Bakar as Chief Secretary;

· Syed Zaid Albar as Security Commission Chairman;

· Nik Azman Nik Abdul Majid as Auditor-General

· Abdul Kassim Ahmad as Director-General of National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption;

· Latheefa Koya as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner succeeding Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull.

What is noteworthy in the list of new appointments is the number of women in the top public posts – whether as Chief Justice, Bank Negara Govenor or MACC chief –  which is unprecedented in the nation’s history.

In fact, never had there been so many women in the Cabinet in the nation’s history, viz:

· Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Women, Family and Community Development;

· Zuraidah Kamaruddin – Minister for Housing and Local Government;

· Rina Mohd Harun – Minister for Rural Development;

· Teresa Kok – Minister for Primary Industries;

· Yeo Bee Yin – Minister for Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change.

· Fuziah Salleh – Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department;

· Teoh Nie Ching – Deputy Minister for Education

· Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan  –  Deputy Minister for Women, Family and Community Development;

· Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis – Deputy Minister for Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change.

Let us focus of what the  PH Ministers and Deputy Ministers can deliver  in the second year of PH government in the march towards the  New Malaysia vision.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 16th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 16 June 2019, 9:17 am and is filed under
PH Government
,
Save Malaysia
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Rise above “gutter politics” and unite all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region to build a Malaysia which is a top world-class nation

I was struck by three media reports yesterday.

Firstly, a Reuters report about the terrible humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, once one of the 20 richest countries in the world and the richest in Latin America with free education and free medical services for her citizens but now a poor, backward, broken and bankrupt state!

This Reuters special report was about eight-month pregnant hair-dresser Maroly Bastardo’s forbidding choices in a nation whose economy had collapsed.

Give birth in Venezuela, where newborns are dying at alarming rates in shortage-plagued maternity wards. Or board a crowded smuggler’s boat bound for Trinidad, the largest of two islands that make up the Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago where her  husband had landed there in February, found work and beckoned her to join him.

Neither Bastardo or two of her children with her could swim. Barely three weeks earlier, 27 people had gone missing after a migrant boat went down in the narrow stretch of water separating Venezuela from Trinidad. The 20-kilometer strait, known for its treacherous currents, is nicknamed the Dragon’s Mouths.

But the 19-year old hairdresser was determined. On May 16, she and the kids packed into an aging fishing vessel along with 31 other people, including three relatives of her husband.

The craft, the Ana Maria, never arrived. No migrants or wreckage have been found.

When I read this report of human agony and tragedy, I thought  how lucky Malaysia was to avoid such the  fate of Venezuela in two to three decades’ time if Malaysians had not plucked up the courage and foresight on May 9 last year  to Save Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

The second media report was from the Wall Street Journal, on two co-conspirators linked to the 1MDB scandal who were convicted and sentenced to jail in Abu Dhabi for financial crimes.

The Wall Street Journal cited sources and reported that former International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) managing director Khadem al-Qubaisi was sentenced to 15 years in prison while Mohammed Badawy al-Husseiny, who ran an IPIC subsidiary, was sentenced to 10 years.

Qubaisi and Husseiny were also ordered to pay €300 million (1.4 billion) – half to IPIC, which was referred to as the “victim company,” and the remainder as a penalty.

Both Qubaisi and Husseiny were named in the 1MDB Rogue’s Gallery of Eleven when the US Department of Justice filed  its largest kleptocratic litigation in July 2016 which was later updated in June 2017 to forfeit over US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets with a final 251-page indictment of embezzlement and defrauding of US$4.5 billion 1MDB funds.

Also named in the 1MDB Scandal Rogue’s Gallery of Eleven were nine Malaysians, the most infamous was one “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL1” described as “a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a  position of authority with 1MDB.”

Qubaisi and Husseiny have been brought to justice  and are serving long jail sentences, but out of the nine  Malaysians named in the 1MDB Rogue’s  Gallery, only “MO1” is undergoing trial while the other eight are still scotfree –  with quite a number becoming international  fugitives of justice.

Qubaisi and Husseiny’s conviction and jail sentences will make many Malaysians squirm and wonder why the wheels of justice in Malaysia grind so slowly and tardily, but this is the price we have to pay if we want to restore national and international confidence in the rule of law and an independent judiciary in Malaysia.

There are also the siren song by some politicians, like the former Johor Mentri Besar Khaled Nordin  that that it only “MO1” who is on trial and not UMNO.

They cannot be more wrong.

It is not just “MO1”  but all UMNO/BN leaders who had helped him to cover up the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal and did nothing to purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy who are on trial – which would include all the Ministers in the previous  Cabinet, the UMNO/BN MPs of the 13th Parliament as well as the leaders of UMNO and Barisan National parties.

Let the 34 Ministers and 34 Deputy Ministers from 2016-2018, UMNO/BN MPs of the 13th Parliament and national leaders come out individually now and state what they did when in July 2016, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) filed its largest kleptocracy litigation on the 1MDB scandal and  “Malaysian Official 1(MO1)” was  mentioned 36 times?

The third media report was the live coverage by  the South China Morning Post yesterday  of the protest by  nearly two million people of Hong Kong against the controversial extradition bill, with the Hong Kong city centre  brought to a complete standstill by the sea of black to chastise the Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam for refusing to withdraw the bill or apologise when first asked to.

It was an awesome, inspiring and touching sight to see Hong Kongers of every age, profession and background from every corner of the city marching in a massive show of solidarity and defiance

Six  hours after the protesters had transformed Central, Wan Chai and Admiralty into a sea of black, the public apology they were demanding came in the form of a government statement at night, and a government source said the Extradition Bill would die a “natural death” without a timetable to relaunch it.

But what were Malaysians concerned about yesterday?

The tawdry “gutter politics” of the Haziq sex video!

It is time that Malaysians rise above the “gutter politics” of questionable sex videos and unite, regardless of race, religion or region, to build a Malaysia which is a top world-class nation in every field of human endeavour.

This is the New Malaysia which the Pakatan Harapan coalition promised to build in the 14th General Election, and this is a mission and vision which all Malaysians should dedicate themselves to in the coming years and decades.

But if Malaysia is to  arise above such “gutter politics”, Malaysians must condemn, expose and dissociate themselves from the politics of lies, falsehood, intolerance and hatred hidden in the race, religious and royalty rhetoric of desperate and bankrupt political leaders who could even use religion to justify support for kleptocracy and falsehoods.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, June 17, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 17 June 2019, 11:51 am and is filed under
nation building
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Call for an international inquiry  into Morsi’s death, whether he had been denied basic medical care while in prison

Seruan untuk penyiasatan antarabangsa ke atas kematian Morsi, sama ada beliau telah dinafikan hak rawatan asas semasa di penjara

Saya menyeru supaya diadakan satu siasatan antarabangsa bersama untuk menyiasat perihal pemergian bekas Presiden Mesir Mohamad Morsi semasa perbicaraan mahkamah beliau, untuk menyiasat sama ada presiden Mesir yang pertama yang dilantik secara berdemokratik ini telah dinafikan hak rawatan asas semasa berada di dalam penjara.

Komuniti antarabangsa mestilah memastikan kerajaan Mesir bertanggungjawab ke atas kematian ini jika satu penyiasatan antarabangsa yang saksama, menyeluruh, dan telus mendapati kematian ini disebabkan oleh kegagalan pihak berkuasa untuk memberikan rawatan yang sewajarnya kepada Morsi.

Laporan daripada Human Rights Watch yang dikeluarkan dua tahun lepas mendakwa Morsi menerima layanan yang kejam dan tidak berperikemanusiaan sepanjang di dalam tahanan.

Laporan tersebut mendedahkan keadaan teruk yang menyebabkan Morsi mengalami kesusutan berat badan, pitam, dan koma diabetik.

Amnesty International juga telah menyeru supaya siasatan diadakan mengenai kematian mengejut Morsi dan keadaan yang dihadapi beliau di dalam penjara.

Siasatan hak asasi antarabangsa ini mestilah menyiasat pelbagai laporan yang telah dikeluarkan dalam tahun-tahun yang lepas yang membutirkan penganiayaan dan seksaaan yang dihadapi Morsi di dalam penjara, selain daripada dakwaan daripada anaknya sendiri, Ahmad, tentang bagaimana kesihatan ayahnya yang merosot teruk sejak dipenjarakan, dan bagaimana keadaan ini diabaikan oleh pihak berkuasa Mesir.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Selasa 18 Jun 2019)

===============================

There should be an international inquiry into the death of former Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi during  a court hearing, to investigate whether Egypt’s first democratically elected president in July 2012 after the Arab Spring uprising, had been denied basic medical care while in prison.

The international community should hold the Egyptian government responsible for Morsi’s death if an impartial, thorough and transparent  international inquiry establishes that the death was the result of the failure of the  authorities to provide necessary medical care to Morsi.

Human Rights Watch has pointed to a report that it had written two years earlier, which described the “cruel and inhumane” treatment Morsi had received in detention.

It detailed “appalling conditions” that led to Morsi losing weight, fainting, and experiencing a diabetic coma.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation surrounding Morsi’s sudden death and the conditions he had faced in prison.

The international human rights inquiry should investigate into various reports over the years that Morsi had been mistreated and tortured in jail, apart from the allegations by Morsi’s son, Ahmad, about the “severe deterioration” of his father’s health in prison, which had been “ignored” by the Egyptian authorities.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Tuesday, 18th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 18 June 2019, 12:01 pm and is filed under
Human Rights
,
International
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


RM270 million 1MDB civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and groups a good and  great start  by Latheefa Koya as MACC Chief

The RM270 million 1MDB civil forfeiture suits against 41 local individuals and groups is a good and great start by Latheefa Koya as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief.

This is the largest forfeiture action in the nation’s history, caused by the dispersal to the 41 respondents from former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal AmBank account.

The immediate response by the acting UMNO president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan that UMNO will fight the civil forfeiture suits in court is showing to Malaysians the real kleptocratic colours of UMNO, that the curse of kleptocracy is not  just the transgressions  of one person but  the fault of the entire  UMNO leadership – and even the previous Cabinet!

Is Mohamad Hassan and the UMNO leadership claiming that the 1MDB scandal, which is being  investigated in 10 countries, and for which banks in foreign countries had been fined and closed and bankers in foreign countries had been convicted of money-laundering crimes and imprisoned, was just a figment of imagination of the MACC?

As out of  the RM270 million civil forfeiture suits, RM212 million (78.5 percent) was sought from Umno divisions, is  the UMNO leadership prepared now  to admit to the reality of the 1MDB scandal which made Malaysia a global kleptocracy and declare  how it is prepared to co-operate with the anti-corruption authorities to purge Malaysia of the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of  the 1MDB global kleptocracy?

Is the UMNO leadership prepared to restore to public coffers the monies laundered from the 1MDB scandal or is the UMNO leadership claiming that UMNO had not benefitted a single sen from the mega 1MDB scandal?

I had expressed the hope that as the first year of the Pakatan Harapan government was a year to nab  the kleptocrats, the second year of the Pakatan Harapan government should become  a year to bring the sharks of corruption to justice, so as to achieve the Malaysian Dream of Malaysia  becoming a leading nation of integrity recognised and respected by the world.

With the filing of the RM270 million 1MDB civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and groups, and the establishment of a  new task force involving the MACC, the  National Finance Crime  Centre (NFCC) and the National Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Centre (GIACC) to recover  an estimated US$5 billion (RM20.75 billion) worth of 1MDB-linked assets from abroad, the anti-corruption battle and mission in Malaysia are in good hands.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 21st June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 June 2019, 6:39 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Sinister conspirators and  cybertroopers  working overtime again, churning out lies and falsehoods including the perpetual “motion of no confidence” against Mahathir  for  the forthcoming July Parliament

Has there been any positive news in the past week?

It’s not all doom and gloom in undoubtedly the  worst week of the Pakatan Harapan government since the historic decision of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

One positive news in the past week was that Universiti Malaya (UM) has made a giant leap up the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2020, and  is now ranked  70 in the latest edition of the international university rankings – an impressive 17 spot climb up from 87 last year.

This is the highest position the university has been at since the rankings began in 2004.

Of course I agree that university rankings are not the be-all and end-all for universities, as  rankings should not be the sole focus of universities in pursuing excellence.

Universities should not be too obsessed with university rankings as there are legitimate criticisms about the assessment and glamorisation of university rankings.

There is  no pride in being a highly-ranked university if the graduates lack integrity and integrity problems like plagiarism are rife and rampant.

Undoubtedly, more important than rankings is the ability to produce graduates who are good  citizens, who care about national unity, environment, being considerate to others and transforming Malaysia into a world top-class nation.

But while we should not be obsessed by university rankings, one should not ignore university rankings altogether or be too niggardly in our commendation for Malaysian universities which have improved their  university rankings.

We must always strive to develop an ecosystem of excellence in our universities, with  university ranking as one such measure – not just QS World University Rankings, but others as well like TIME’s Higher Education World University Rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities ARWU and  the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

In the QS World University Rankings 2020 of top 30  Universities, only six Asian universities are included – National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University (No. 11); Tsinghua University (16), Peking University (22), Tokyo University (22) and University of Hong Kong (25). Why is this so?

Malaysia scored well in the QS World University Ranking 2020, with five research universities  continuing to climb up the international university rankings, viz:

University

2020 rank

2019 rank

Universiti Malaya (UM)

70

87

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)

159

202

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

160

184

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

165

207

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

217

228

Malaysia is among the countries that has shown the best improvement in the latest QS world university ranking of top 1,000 universities.

Twenty local universities have been listed this year, with 10 universities improving from last year’s ranking, while two universities retained their positions.

The question the University of Malaya and all other university administrators have to answer is why their universities  have not been consistent for the various university rankings.

For instance, in the TIME’s World Universities Ranking 2019, only eleven Malaysian universities were ranked among the top 1,000 universities, with Universiti Malaya topping the list but with a rather poor ranking in the band  from 301-350.

Why can’t Universiti Malaya be like some 20 universities which can maintain consistency in excellence and  are ranked in the top 30 universities of both QS World Ranking 2020 and TIME’s World Universities Ranking 2019 –   universities like Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Duke,  Massachusetts Institute of Technology,  California Institute of Technology, Princeton, Yale, London University (Imperial),Tsinghua and University of Singapore?

Another positive news in the past week  is the announcement by the Home Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the terms of reference for the task force looking into the alleged enforced disappearances of Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat had been established.

This includes setting a six-month time limit, and commencing with an investigation into Amri’s disappearance first as Koh’s case is subject to legal proceedings.

It is unfortunate that there had been a spate of negative news in the past week.

Clearly, sinister conspirators and  cybertroopers  are working overtime,  churning out lies and falsehoods including the perpetual “motion of no confidence” against Prime Minsiter Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad  in   the forthcoming meeting of Parliament from July 1 – 18.

As next month will prove, this motion of no confidence against Mahathir in Parliament  is only the creation of the fevered imagination of sinister conspirators and cybertroopers.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 21st June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 21 June 2019, 12:55 pm and is filed under
Education
,
PH Government
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


World breathed a collective sigh of relief that China-US trade war has been averted in Osaka with the  hope that it will herald a  new international order based not on confrontation but on co-operation

The world was focussed on the meeting between President Xi Jinping of China and President of United States at the G20 meeting in Osaka yesterday and breathed a collective sigh of relief that the China-United States trade war had been averted

No one knows for how long the multibillion-dollar tariff war between the two nations could be averted, but the world hopes that the temporary ceasefire would give the negotiators of both countries another chance to forge a permanent accord governing the vast flow of goods and services between the world’s two largest economies and herald a new international order based not on confrontation but on co-operation.

This was the predominant view of the Chinese scientists, academicians and IT professionals whom the DAP delegation met on a week-long fact-finding visit to Hunan and Jiangxi.

Fairly unanimous of the view that the  escalating trade dispute between the United States and China is  detrimental to both countries and the rest of the world, they nonetheless have the confidence and took the moral high ground that in the long run, China would not be the loser should be the trade war eventuate.

The size of the Chinese domestic market provides important advantages when it comes to innovation and it has already passed its critical mass in technological capacity and moved from imitator to innovator.

China has become a world leader in areas such as solar energy, mobile payments and high-speed rail.

Huawei is starting to use its own operating system (OS) called “Hongmeng” which is 60% faster than Android.

The fact-finding visit was useful, informative and educational. We visited the Institute of Bast Fiber Crops of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Changsha. The Institute had previously collaborated with the National Tobacco and Kenaf Board in Malaysia and this collaboration should be revived.

The visit to the Super Hi-Tech company,  China Creator Information, the tour of the thousand-year Yuelu Academy, the introduction to the Autonomous-Rail Rapid Transit system –  a new innovation for urban transportation – as well as briefings by the Rail Transit System Solution Provider,  CRRC, were refreshing and eye-opening experiences.

The delegation also visited Shaoshan, the village where the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong was born as well Jinggangshan, the cradle of the Chinese Communist Revolution.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 30th June 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 30 June 2019, 11:33 am and is filed under
China
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Depressing to catch up on developments back home in past nine days after being abroad

It is depressing to catch up on developments back home in the past nine days after being abroad.

The country seems to be stuck in time, dominated by petty issues with the obsession of  navel-gazing instead of being inspired by great dreams and aspirations for the people and country.

The speech by the UMNO Deputy President, Mohamad Hasan that the 15th general election will be called by next year is the typical  example of such narcissistic preoccupation

Mohamad Hassan said when officiating the Sepang UMNO division meeting: “Don’t worry, this is a half-term government, not a one-term government. It will not last.

“I am confident Pakatan Harapan won’t last long. I expect the election would be called between May to December next year.”

It is a triple irony that Hassan has unfurled the banner of Pakatan Harapan as a half-term instead merely a one-term government hours after Ahmad Zahid Hamidi unilaterally announced his return from garden leave to resume the mantle of UMNO President, which was itself hours after former UMNO President Najib Abdul Razak had prepared the ground for Zahid’s return from garden leave by  declaring that Zahid does not require consent from the party’s supreme council to make his return as held by other UMNO leaders, like Khairy Jamaluddin.

At first, UMNO leaders who had never expected to be ousted in the 14th General Election consoled themselves with the belief  that their sojourn in the wilderness will be a very short one as  the Pakatan Harapan government would disintegrate in a matter of months because of inter and intra party differences of the Pakatan Harapan parties.

But as the few  months dragged into more  months without any sign of  Pakatan Harapan disintegration,  the three by-elections in Sungai Kandis, Seri Setia and Balakong were used as building blocks for creating the MCA/UMNO/PAS unholy alliance to topple the Pakatan Harapan government before 15th General Election in 2023.

The MCA/UMNO/PAS get-together was the most irresponsible, unprincipled, toxic and opportunistic alliance in Malaysian history as it is not founded on principles or  any noble objective, but based on the selfish interests of the leaders to topple the Pakatan Harapan Government to save many of them from long jail sentences for corruption  and to return to the kleptocracy, abuses of power and injustices of the Najib government which was thrown out peacefully and democratically in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

This unholy alliance with the superimposed “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign seemed to have developed some traction in the Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau by-elections, but the momentum of  these three by-elections were pulverised by the historic  Pakatan-Warisan victory in the Sandakan  by-election, which  also rendered a knockout blow to the “Malu Apa Bossku” campaign.

This morning, Vivian Wong was sworn in as Member of Parliament for Sandakan after polling a historic 16,012 votes, winning with a stunning majority of 11,521 votes in  the by-election on May 11, 2019.

It took nearly two months for the Opposition to recover from the Sandakan blow, as talk of a one-term Pakatan Harapan government vanished but such a chicanery has returned  with a vengeance with the new talk of a “half-term government”.

In the past six decades, Malaysia has slipped down the international rankings of excellence and good governance, losing out to countries which were previously  at par or more backward than Malaysia like Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and even to countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or politics should be united with a common Malaysian Dream to establish a New  Malaysia as a top world-class nation, now that Malaysians  have saved Malaysia from the trajectory of a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state.

But this does not appear to be the case, with a sex video continuing to haunt and hound the nation in the past nine days while the national conference of a religious-based political party  held recently was oiled with lies and falsehoods to engender hate and distrust of  race against race, religion against religion, culture against culture – the recipe for  disaster for any multi-racial,  multi-religious and multi-cultural nation.

Can Malaysians unite to build a New Malaysia where we can become a top world-class nation in every field of human endeavour; compete with the rest of the  world instead of dissipating our energies and resources fighting among ourselves; restore the rule of law and good governance, and transform a global kleptocracy into a leading nation in integrity?

We are told today that Islam does not allow declaration of assets, but to these same people, Islam has not stopped them from spreading lies and falsehoods, sowing hatred and distrust, as well as support kleptocrats,  kleptocracy and abuses of power.

In the second year of Pakatan Harapan government, we must see more progress to establish the fundamental principles of a New Malaysia and reset nation-building policies to achieve the five pillar promises of the Pakatan Harapan General Election Manifesto, viz:

· Reduce the people’s burden;

· Institutional and political reforms;

· Spur sustainable and equitable economic growth;

· Return Sabah and Sarawak to the status accorded in Malaysia Agreement 1963; and

· Create a Malaysia that is inclusive, moderate and respected globally.

It is not possible to achieve a New Malaysia overnight but the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto for the 14th General Election must remain the lodestar to guide Malaysia towards the achievement of the Malaysian Dream by all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics.

(Media Statement  by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang Parliament on Monday, July 1, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 1 July 2019, 4:07 pm and is filed under
nation building
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Is Zahid also back as Parliamentary Opposition Leader?

In a most dramatic fashion, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced yesterday his return from garden leave to resume the mantle of UMNO president.

But will he resume the role of Parliamentary Opposition Leader or will he concede that the UMNO President need not be the UMNO leader in Parliament?

Three  things are noteworthy about  Zahid’s return from his garden leave, viz

· firstly, it was a few days after Zahid was slapped with new corruption charges making him create history in the Malaysian courthouse with a total of 87 criminal charges related to corruption;

· secondly, opposition of UMNO leaders to Zahid’s unilateral ending of his garden leave, like former UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin who said Zahid should first seek the opinion of the UMNO supreme council; and

· thirdly,  intervention by the former UMNO president Datuk Seri Najib Razak overriding such opposition and paving the way for Zahid’s  return by insisting that Zahid does not require consent from the party’s supreme council to make his return as UMNO President as it was a decision up to Zahid alone to decide.

It is interesting to note the circumstances leading to Zahid’s taking garden leave as UMNO President six months ago.

Zahid had referred to “punishing” conditions imposed on UMNO and the humiliation it suffered in a number of meetings he attended, where he not only faced rejection and insults, but even “humiliation, as if Umno was as unclean as the faeces of animals deemed haram”.

He said: “If we accepted that humiliation, there were two requests. Firstly, Umno must be dissolved. (Secondly) Umno members must jump to a new party.

“That means Umno’s seven decades of history would be erased, supposedly because people hated Umno so much.”

As a result, he had to pay a heavy price for his insistence that the party would not be dissolved.

Has Zahid now realise that all  these indignities and humiliations were brought about by the UMNO leaders themselves, when they failed UMNO and Malaysia and aided and abetted former Prime Minister and former UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the monstrous 1MDB corruption money-laundering scandal and other corruption scandals in Tabung Haji, Felda, Felcra and MARA, which brought shame and infamy to Malaysia by being condemned worldwide as a global kleptocracy?

Will he now lead UMNO to demonstrate  remorse, contrition or repentance among UMNO leaders for this great act of disservice, even treason, to the country!

Or his Zahid’s return from his garden leave merely to ensure that UMNO is nothing but  a “Bossku” outfit with him playing the role of “Bossku” proxy, as Najib sense that he might lose control of UMNO?

In a few hours, Malaysians will know whether Zahid is back as Parliamentary Opposition Leader and the new opposition configuration in Parliament!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 1st July 2019)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 1 July 2019, 4:03 pm and is filed under
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


What a joke – a global kleptocrat inviting me to join UMNO when UMNO has not cleansed itself of “global kleptocracy”!

What a joke – a global kleptocrat inviting me to join UMNO when UMNO has not cleansed itself of “global kleptocracy”?

Can Najib Razak explain whether UMNO had cleansed itself of global kleptocracy with Ahmad Zahid Hamid as the new President of UMNO?

How can this be the case when Zahid is facing 87 charges related to corruption, money-laundering,  bribery and criminal breach of trust, 45 charges more than what Najib himself  is facing, with Zahid creating a new national record as a Malaysian facing the  most number of corruption charges in our courts.

Or had the previous Acting UMNO President Mohamad Hassan embarked on cleansing UMNO of “global kleptocracy” in the past six months when Zahid went on garden leave?

Why did Zahid go on “garden leave” as UMNO President for the last six months?

Have the reasons why Zahid had gone on “garden leave” been resolved in the past six months, and  if not, why had Zahid returned unilaterally and without consultation of the UMNO Supreme Council from “garden leave”?

That is only the first question.

Another is whether UMNO membership is open to all Malaysians or only to kleptocrats?

Najib said he was concerned that my membership application might be rejected on the grounds of lacking integrity and sanity.

Only a kleptocrat who is insane will apply to join a political party which had not cleansed itself of “global kleptocracy”!

For this reason, I am not so lacking in integrity and sanity as to take up Najib’s offer!

Najib should know that I would not invite him  to join DAP, for any such invitation will raise questions about the integrity and sanity of both the inviter and invitee.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Tuesday, 2nd July 2019)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 July 2019, 1:45 pm and is filed under
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


What has Tengku Razaleigh done to stop  the 1MDB scandal during the Najib premiership and what has he done in the past 14 months to cleanse UMNO of global kleptocracy?

Apakah tindakan Tengku Razaleigh untuk menghentikan skandal 1MDB pada waktu pemerintahan Najib dan apakah yang sudah beliau lakukan dalam 14 bulan yang lepas untuk membersihkan UMNO daripada unsur kleptokrasi

Di Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri Meraikan Penggiat Seni dan Sastera yang dianjurkan secara bersama oleh Pak Samad dan saya di Sentul malam tadi, saya telah diminta oleh pihak media untuk memberikan komen mengenai seruan Tengku Razaleigh untuk kerajaan melaksanakan cadangan-cadangan Suruhanjaya DiRaja mengenai Urusan Perdagangan Matawang Asing Bank Negara pada tahun 90an.

Saya telah menolak permintaan tersebut memandangkan majlis ini adalah satu majlis untuk meraikan seni dan sastera dan adalah tidak bersesuaian untuk bercakap mengenai perkara lain dalam majlis ini.

Majlis ini telah dihadiri oleh empat sasterawan negara — selain daripada Pak Samad (Datuk Seri Abdul Samad bin Mohamad Said), turut dihadiri oleh Dato Dr Ahmad Khamal Abdullah, Dato Dr Zurinah Hasan, dan Professor Emeritus Dr Mohd Haji Salleh.

Majlis seni dan sastera yang pertama kali dianjurkan oleh DAP ini turut dihadiri oleh Ketua Pengarah DBP, Datuk Ahmad Sallehudin, Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah dan Pengurus Besar ITBM, Encik Mazmi Bin Kamal dan Encik Sakri Abdullah, Presiden dan Setiausaha Agung PENA, Dr Mohamad Saleeh Rahamad dan Saifulizan Yahaya, dan Ahli Panel Penasihat FINAS, Bront Palarae.

Timbalan Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Steven Sim telah memulakan acara dengan membacakan dua puisi. Wakil-wakil rakyat DAP lain yang turut hadir memeriahkan majlis ini adalah Exco Negeri Johor, Sheikh Omar Ali, Ahli Parlimen Kluang, Wong Shu Qi, Ahli Parlimen Sandakan, Vivien Wong, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor, Edry Faizal (Dusun Tua) dan Lim Yi Wei (Kampung Tunku, Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Syerleena Binti Abdul Rashid (Seri Delima), dan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Pahang, Young Shefura Binti Othman (Ketari).

Setiausaha politik saya, Syahredzan Johan juga telah membacakan sepatah puisi yang ditulisnya sendiri.

Seperti yang saya katakan semalam:

“Mana-mana bahasa, tanpa sastera dan seni, akan menjadi bahasa yang layu dan lama-lama mati. Sastera dan seni menjadikan sesuatu bahasa itu indah dan kaya.

“Keindahan dan kekayaan bahasa Melayu, sama seperti semua jenis bahasa lain yang wujud di dunia ini, terbit daripada karya-karya yang dihasilkan sejak zaman-berzaman.

“Kita rakyat Malaysia perlu memberi sokongan kepada sastera dan seni untuk memastikan ia terus mekar.

“Kerajaan dan parti politik juga tidak terlepas daripada tanggungjawab ini.

“Dengan kesedaran ini, saya dan parti menyokong penuh keputusan Kerajaan untuk memberi pengiktirafan sewajarnya kepada para Sasterawan Negara baru  baru baru ini.

“Kami juga berharap Kerajaan akan terus memberi sokongan dan dorongan kepada penggiat seni dan sastera dalam pelbagai bentuk selepas ini. Usaha memartabatkan seni dan sastera Melayu tidak wajar terhenti di sini.

“Ini tanggungjawab kita bersama dalam membina sebuah Negara bangsa Malaysia.”

Mengenai komen Tengku Razaleigh tentang cadangan Suruhanjaya DiRaja Siasatan Urusan Perdagangan Matawang Asing Bank Negara, saya berpegang dengan apa yang katakan pada 2 Disember 2017, yang laporan ini bermotivasi dendam dan bertujuan untuk merosakkan nama Tun Dr Mahathir dan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sebelum datangnya Pilihanraya Umum ke-14.

Saya telah berkata sewaktu itu:

“Satu hasil yang menyedihkan daripada penyiasatan ini adalah penghinaan dan pencemaran institusi Suruhanjaya Siasatan DiRaja — seperti yang ditunjukkan melalui pembentangan laporan siasatan ini pada hari terakhir sidang parlimen, tanpa sebarang notis ataupun peluang untuk ahli parlimen mendebatkan kandungannya.”

Saya telah bertanya ketika itu, mengapa dua laporan dalaman Bank Negara yang bertajuk “Laporan Audit Bahagian Operasi Tukaran Matawang Asing Jabatan Perbankan dan Bahagian Pemprosesan Jabatan Akaun seperti pada 31 Disember 1992” — bertarikh 21 Januari 1994 yang disediakan Jabatan Audit Dalaman Bank Negara untuk pengurusan tertinggi Bank Negara dan Jawatakankuasa Audit — dan “Rawatan Perakaunan Kerugian daripada Pengurusan Aktif Rezab 1988 – 1994” — yang bertarikh 18 April 2007 yang disediakan oleh Bank Negara atas arahan Gabenor BNM pada waktu itu, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz — tidak dijadikan dokumen awam oleh RCI tersebut.

Saya juga telah menekankan yang kabinet Najib — yang berpura-pura seakan-akan skandal 1MDB yang menjerumuskan Malaysia ke dalam kleptokrasi global itu tidak wujud — bertindak sepantas kilat ke atas aduan bekas Penolong Gabenor dengan menubuhkan Suruhanjaya Siasatan DiRaja ini — yang mana saya sendiri telah terlibat dengan memberikan pengakuan saya.

Saya bertanya, dalam cubaan menyalahkan pemimpin politik dan penjawat awam tahun 90an ke atas kerugian Perdangangan Matawang Asing Bank Negara, kenapa peranan Najib Razak sebagai seorang menteri kabinet ketika itu tidak disebut dan sama ada pimpinan politik dan penjawat awam masa sekarang bersedia untuk menjelaskan tindakan mereka yang berpura-pura seperti skandal 1MDB yang merosakkan ini tidak pernah berlaku walaupun seluruh dunia menganggap Malaysia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi global.

Mungkin Tengku Razaleigh patut menjelaskan, apa yang beliau telah lakukan untuk menghentikan kerosakan skandal 1MDB ketika pemerintahan Najib dan apa yang beliau telah lakukan dalam 14 bulan yang lepas untuk membersihkan UMNO daripada anasir kleptokrasi.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu 3 Julai 2019)

====================================

At the Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri “Meraikan Penggiat Seni dan Sastera” in Sentul last night hosted by Pak Samad and myself, I was asked by media to comment on Tengku Razaleigh’s call on the government to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Bank Negara’s foreign currency dealings in the 1990s.

I declined as I told the media that the event was a night of “seni dan sastera” and not a suitable place to comment on other matters.

The event saw the presence of four Sasterawan Negara – as apart from Pak Samad (Datuk Seri Abdul Samad bin  Mohamad Said), three other Sasterawan Negara also graced the occasion, namely Dato Dr. Ahmad Khamal Abdullah, Dato Dr. Zurinah Hasan and Professor Emeritus Dr. Mohd Haji Salleh.

It was DAP’s first “Seni dan Sastera” event, for among the guests were the Director General of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Datuk Abang Salehuddin Abang Shokeran, ITBM Board of Director Chairman Mazmi bin Kamal, ITBM General Manager Sakri Abdullah, PENA President Dr. Mohamad Saleeh Rahamad, PENA Secretary-General Saifulizan Yahaya, and FINAS Advisory Board member cum renowned artist Bront Palarae.

Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Steven Sim, recited two poems he composed to start off the night, and other DAP elected representatives who attended were Johore State Exco, Sheikh Omar Ali, Kluang MP Wong Shu Qui, Sandakan MP Vivien Wong, Selangor Assembly members Edry Faizal (Dusun Tua) and Lim Yi Wei (Kampung Tunku), Penang State Assembly woman Syerleena Binti Abdul Rashid (Seri Delima) and Pahang State Assemblywoman Young Syefura binti Othman (Ketari).

My political secretary, Syahredzan Johan also recited a poem of his own composition for the evening.

As I said last night:

“Mana-mana bahasa, tanpa sastera dan seni, akan menjadi bahasa yang layu dan lama-lama mati. Sastera dan seni menjadikan sesuatu bahasa itu indah dan kaya.

“Keindahan dan kekayaan bahasa Melayu, sama seperti semua jenis bahasa lain yang wujud di dunia ini, terbit daripada karya-karya yang dihasilkan sejak zaman-berzaman.

“Kita rakyat Malaysia perlu memberi sokongan kepada sastera dan seni untuk memastikan ia terus mekar.

“Kerajaan dan parti politik juga tidak terlepas daripada tanggungjawab ini.

“Dengan kesedaran ini, saya dan parti menyokong penuh keputusan Kerajaan untuk memberi pengiktirafan sewajarnya kepada para Sasterawan Negara baru  baru baru ini.

“Kami juga berharap Kerajaan akan terus memberi sokongan dan dorongan kepada penggiat seni dan sastera dalam pelbagai bentuk selepas ini. Usaha memartabatkan seni dan sastera Melayu tidak wajar terhenti di sini.

“Ini tanggungjawab kita bersama dalam membina sebuah Negara bangsa Malaysia.”

As for Tengku Razaleigh’s comments on the recommendations of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Bank Negara’s foreign currency dealings in the 1990s, I stand by what I said on December 2, 2017 on the RCI Report, that it was clearly motivated by the impulse “not to seek justice but the 3Vs of vengeance, vindictiveness and vendetta to target Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim with the impending 14th General Election”.

I had said then:

“One sad outcome is the besmirching and devaluation of the institution of Royal Commission of Inquiries – as evident by the dishonourable manner in which the RCI Report on Bank Negara Forex Losses in the 1990s was surreptitiously circulated to Members of Parliament on the last day of Parliament, without any notice whatsoever and without any opportunity for MPs to debate it!”

I had asked why two internal reports of Bank Negara at the time, the “Audit Report on Foreign Exchange Operations Division of Banking Department and Processing Section of Accounts Department As At December 31, 1992” dated 21st January 1994, which was prepared by Bank Negara’s Internal Audit Department (IAD) for Bank Negara’s top management and Audit Committee and the “Accounting Treatment of Losses Arising from Active Reserve Management 1988 – 1994” dated 18th April 2007, prepared by Bank Negara in 2007 upon instructions of the then Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, had not been made public by the RCI.

I pointed out that In contrast, the Najib Cabinet – which carried out a continuing charade pretending that the 1MDB scandal which catapulted Malaysia into a “global kleptocracy” did not exist – acted with unusual speed on the former Bank Negara assistant governor’s complaint in January  2017 resulting in a RCI on Bank Negara’s forex trading losses in the 1990s – for which I mysedlf had appeared to testify.

I had asked why in presenting the top political leaders and public servants in the 1990s as a cast of villains because of Bank Negara’s forex losses, the role of Najib Razak who was then a Cabinet Minister was omitted and whether the top  political leaders and public servants  for the day were prepared to answer  why they aided and abetted  the public charade that the greatest corruption scandal in the nation’s history, the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal, did  not exist although Malaysia was regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

May be, Tengku Razaleigh should explain what he had done to stop the 1MDB scandal during the Najib premiership and what he had done in the past 14 months to cleanse UMNO of global kleptocracy?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, July 3, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 July 2019, 11:14 am and is filed under
culture
,
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


When will all former Ministers, MPs and BN leaders of the former Najib government  apologise to the nation for pretending that there was no 1MDB scandal – when the whole world regarded Malaysia under Najib was a global kleptocracy because of 1MDB scandal?

Bilakah semua bekas menteri, ahli parlimen, dan pimpinan Barisan Nasional daripada zaman pemerintahan Najib akan memohon maaf ke atas perbuatan mereka — yang berpura-pura seakan-akan skandal 1MDB tidak pernah berlaku sedangkan seluruh dunia melihat Malaysia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi global akibat 1MDB

Pihak Berkuasa Hong Kong baru-baru ini menyertai beberapa negara lain dalam mengambil tindakan terhadap Tim Leissner, bekas pegawai bank Goldman Sachs atas sebab-sebab berkaitan dengan skandal 1MDB.

Suruhanjaya Sekuriti dan Niaga Hadapan Hong Kong — biasanya dikenali sebagai Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) — telah mengharamkan Tim Leissner daripada menyertai industri perbankan untuk seumur hidup kerana penglibatan beliau dalam skandal 1MDB.

SFC berkata: “Pihak SFC mendapati tindakan Leissner (berkaitan 1MDB) menunjukkan satu peribadi yang serba kurang dalam kejujuran dan integriti dan perkara ini menimbulkan persoalan mengenai kesesuaian untuk beliau diberikan lesen perbankan.”

Merujuk kepada kenyataan SFC, Leissner telah mengaku bersalah terhadap tuduhan berkonspirasi untuk melakukan pengubahan wang haram dan pelanggaran Akta Salahlaku Rasuah Luar Negara (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) yang dibawakan oleh Jabatan Kehakiman Amerika Syarikat (US DOJ).

SFC juga mendakwa Leissner telah mengaku bahawa di antara tahun 2009 sehingga 2014; beliau berkonspirasi dengan beberapa individu lain untuk mendapatkan urusniaga daripada 1MDB untuk Goldman Sachs melalui janji untuk memberikan rasuah dan pembayaran rasuah kepada pegawai kerajaan di Malaysia dan Abu Dhabi; menyeleweng dana daripada 1MDB untuk kepentingan peribadi beliau dan beberapa individu lain; melakukan pengubahan haram wang rasuah dan hasil penyelewengan wang 1MDB; dan memintas prosedur dalaman Goldman Sachs yang bertujuan untuk mengesan salahlaku.

Mahkamah di Amerika Syarikat mendapati Leissner bersalah ke atas kedua-dua tuduhan dan mengarahkan beliau untuk menyerahkan USD43.7 juta (lebih kurang RM181 juta) sebagai hukuman.

Berbalik ke Malaysia, soalan yang ditanya-tanyakan oleh semua rakyat Malaysia ialah: Bilakah semua bekas menteri, ahli parlimen, dan pimpinan Barisan Nasional daripada zaman pemerintahan Najib akan memohon maaf ke atas perbuatan mereka — yang berpura-pura seakan-akan skandal 1MDB tidak pernah berlaku sedangkan seluruh dunia melihat Malaysia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi global akibat 1MDB.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri di Parlimen pada hari Khamis 4 Julai 2019)

=============================

Hong Kong is the latest country to take action against former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner because of the 1MDB scandal.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) banned Tim Leissner from re-entering the industry for life for his crimes linked to the 1MDB scandal.

The SFC said:
“The SFC considers that Leissner’s conduct demonstrates a serious lack of honesty and integrity and called into question his fitness and properness to be a licensed person.”

According to the SFC statement, Leissner had in August 2018 pleaded guilty to criminal charges brought by the US Department of Justice (US DOJ) against him for conspiring to commit money laundering and violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The SFC said Leissner admitted, among others, that between 2009 and 2014, he conspired with others to obtain and retain business from 1MDB for Goldman Sachs, through the promise and payment of bribes and kickbacks to government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, embezzle funds from 1MDB for himself and others, and launder the bribes and kickbacks, as well as other embezzled funds from 1MDB; and knowingly and wilfully circumvent the controls of Goldman Sachs.

The court in the US adjudicated Leissner as guilty of both offences, and ordered him to forfeit US$43.7 million (about RM181 million) as a result of his crimes.

Back home in Malaysia, the question  every Malaysian is entitled to ask is: When will all the former Ministers, MPs and BN leaders in the former government of Datuk Seri Najib Razak apologise to the nation for pretending that there was no 1MDB scandal – when the whole world regarded Malaysia under Najib was a global kleptocracy because of 1MDB scandal?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Thursday 4th July 2019)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 July 2019, 3:23 pm and is filed under
Financial Scandals
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.