Chor Chee Heung has proven Mahathir and Daim right when they respectively condemned the present Cabinet Ministers  as “half-past six” or “deadwood”

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin have one thing in common – they do not think very highly of the quality and calibre of the Ministers in post-Mahathir Cabinets.

Mahathir have dismissed the Cabinet as comprising “half-past six Ministers” while Daim only recently called for the removal of the “deadwood” from the Barisan Nasional’s Cabinet line-up,  to which Mahathir gave “full-hearted” support, saying:

“I agree entirely. Lots of deadwood should be chopped down and thrown away and new trees grow.”

The MCA Vice President and Minister for Housing and Local Government, Datuk Chor Chee Heung came to Gelang Patah yesterday and provided ample proof that  he fully deserves the contempt Mahathir and Daim reserved for the present Cabinet Ministers, dismissing them as “half-past six” and “deadwood” Ministers.

In Gelang Patah, Chor questioned my motive for contesting in Gelang Patah. He alleged that I was “hopping from one seat to another” because I was “greedy” for pensions, claiming that I would get separate pension entitlements if I moved from constituency to constituency.

I have been an MP for  four states, namely Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak and am going to contest in Johore in Gelang Patah in the 13GE.  Does this mean that I would be entitled to five pensions if I win in Gelang Patah?

I am astonished by Chor’s claim, as I never knew that I would be entitled to more than one parliamentary pension if I moved from one constituency to another.

This is of couse totally baseless and an entire concoction of Chor ignorance and folly.

Let me tell Chor that a Member of Parliament is only entitled  to one parliamentary pension regardless of the number of constituencies he had represented in his life.

There is no such law which provides that an MP can get multiple pensions based on his moving from “constituency to constituency”.

No wonder MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers command so little respect not only from Pakatan Rakyat ranks but also from UMNO and BN circles as well as in the civil service – when MCA Ministers could utter such garbage as Chor did in Gelang Patah yesterday.

The Malaysian Cabinet with so many “half-past six” and “deadwood” Ministers (to quote Mahathir and Daim) is a national and international disgrace to Malaysia, and is one important reason why  there must be a change of tenant in Putrajaya in the 13GE, so that the country can not only get a new Federal Government, a new Prime Minister but also a  new Cabinet of high-calibre, dedicated and honest Ministers.

Recently the MCA had escalated their vicious  and baseless propaganda attacks against the DAP but the ferocity of these MCA assaults cannot hide the fact that the MCA is in the most parlous state in the party’s 64-year history, as never before in MCA history has a MCA President lost the right to decide whether he himself could contest in a general election.

At present, the MCA President must depend on the approval of the UMNO President whether he could contest as a BN candidate in the 13th general elections.

When the MCA President has to depend on the approval of the UMNO President on whether he could be allowed to be a BN candidate in the forthcoming general elections, who believes that the MCA Presicent and the  MCA leadership under him are capable of being independent and courageous political leaders who will not compromise their principles and the interests of the public because they are  beholden to UMNO pressures or demands?

(Speech when visiting Taman Bukit Indah, Pengkalan Rinting on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 5:45 pm and is filed under
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Come Election Day

by Allan CF Goh

Election is for folks

To make meaningful choice;

To choose moral people

To represent our voice.

It’s time to elect folks

Of good integrity,

To helm the government,

With perfect propriety.

This is to prevent chaos,

As well as corruption;

To safeguard civil rights

And their slow erosion.

Elected officials

Serve with people’s consent;

They are public servants,

To make good our dissent.

Bad government begins

With people’s indifference

To stealthy wrong doings.

Let’s make a big difference,

By voting in good folks,

Who are wise, efficient,

Filled full of righteousness;

And not men deficient.

All the public malaise,

Starts with our inaction

To stop the rot quickly,

To make fast correction.

General election

Is for people to change

A regime for the better,

With good sense, not deranged.

Democracy’s great gift,

Is to give folks the votes.

Vote wisely,  carefully,

Vote good people of note.

Make sure the government

Is most answerable

To people’s want and need.

It must be clean, able.

Come this Election Day,

Let’s vote for salvation,

Free of foul racism,

Free of vile corruptions.

Let us build a country,

Brimming with harmony,

With ability, grace;

Without acrimony.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 6:10 pm and is filed under
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Is Najib ready for GE13?

By
CH Lee

The Drawing Is On The Wall

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 11:18 am and is filed under
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Malaysia at (yet another) crossroads

— Gerhard Hoffstaedter and Greg Lopez

The Malaysian Insider

April 01, 2013

APRIL 1 — The Malaysian government and its multiple state governments have become caretaker governments and elections will have to be called before June 28 if the country wants to maintain the semblance of an electoral democracy.

Everything is at stake at these elections. Malaysia has been ruled as a country by one coalition since independence in 1957 and its hold on political power has been tenacious. The economy and society remain formidable.

Opposition coalitions have tried at every election to make inroads in a system clearly stacked against them. In 2008, there was a real breakthrough, with the opposition capturing five out of the 13 states of the federation and breaking the ruling coalition’s psychologically important two-thirds majority it had become accustomed to.

It is not easy to categorise the two opposing coalitions and its members, as they are disparate, complex, and, with multiple agendas, often fractured. The ruling coalition is run by Umno, with other constituent parties largely serving the Chinese and Indian populations as well as some indigenous communities of Sabah and Sarawak.

This consociational model of politics provided each major ethnic group a share in the political domain under the leadership of the Malays and an increasingly Islamicised Umno. In return, the basic social, cultural and economic rights of the non-Muslims were guaranteed. With a plethora of positive discrimination for the Malays to become upwardly mobile, a new Malay middle class was created, which secured a peace between and among what in Malaysia are referred to as racial groups.

This coalition and its grasp on power has maintained this status quo, which has served the elite very well and achieved real economic success, at least on a national level, with Malaysia almost eliminating absolute poverty, recording impressive socioeconomic outcomes, building state-of-the art infrastructure, and achieving upper middle income status in less than half a century after independence.

However, outward peace and economic success were built on enduring human rights violations, a lack of a free press, corruption, and the capitulation of the civil sphere to reactionary and extremist nationalist and religious zealots.

The opposition promises to unmake some of these strictures and aims to provide a more transparent form of governance, which it demonstrated in two of Malaysia’s most populous, rich and industrialised states — Selangor and Penang — which it has governed since 2008.

But the opposition coalition is a looser coalition, made up of a predominantly Chinese party with socialist ideologies, Malaysia’s only Islamist party, and PKR, headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. He remains a divisive figure in Malaysia. His democratic credentials (as well as his economic liberal ones) are well known in the West, but in Malaysia punters are more concerned with his sexuality. The ruling coalition will continue to pursue any opening it can to destabilise his appeal as elder statesman.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, meanwhile, is ignoring corruption charges in a French court over kickbacks in the purchase of French submarines and, more disconcertingly, questions about his involvement in the murder of a Mongolian model in Malaysia, who had acted as a translator in the said French submarine deal.

The campaign thus far has been fought by chipping away at both leaders’ capacity to elder statesmen and their ability to lead a divided country. The ruling coalition has, upon advice from an American PR company, rolled out a more inclusive image of its administration and vision for Malaysia, epitomised under its “1 Malaysia” concept that now features on shop fronts, medical centres and government offices.

It has not, however, reined in the divisive reactionary movements and NGOs that call for sharia to be the supreme law in the country or that continue to call non-Malays “sojourners” in “their” land.

To overcome the divided body politic, it will require a leader of substance and integrity. For many, that continues to be Anwar Ibrahim, while others are less sure. But without any alternatives, the stage is set for a bruising and expensive campaign with the highest of stakes and the lowest of strategies — in terms of quality — to get there.

Australia has largely been able to accommodate and deal with even the intransigent Dr Mahathir Mohamad, so continuing with a Najib administration will suit it just fine. In fact, Najib signed off on the Malaysia Solution, or refugee swap deal, has furthered economic ties, and has been a gracious host to Australian delegations, bar one.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon learnt the hard way, being the wrong person at the right time for Najib and Umno to show their mettle domestically. Umno moving into overdrive in the home stretch made it clear that there is a magic, invisible line foreigners should not cross when “meddling” in Malaysia’s affairs. Any commentary on the democratic process in Malaysia is not sought from the officials and Australian interventions, even in election observation, are not tolerated. These are the limits of good neighbours like Malaysia in its current political climate.

If the opposition wins, it is unlikely that there would be any fundamental departure in the overall Australia-Malaysia relationship as it is on solid footing. If anything, it would further improve bilateral relations as the opposition coalition’s stated aspirations of social justice are quite similar to Australia’s core values.

There are two outstanding issues currently — the Malaysia Solution and the Lynas rare earth plant. In relation to the Malaysia Solution, Australia would have to renegotiate and reassess its border protection plans as at present the opposition coalition does not have a clear refugee policy other than stating its commitments to current international norms. They may sign a range of international conventions including ones that would protect the rights of the refugees, and require that Australia process them onshore.

However, in signing the various international conventions, the Malaysia Solution would also meet the requirements of the Australian High Court decision and leave open the possibility of renegotiating them. The Lynas issue is more complex as it involves an approved investment. The issue has created a groundswell of popular domestic dissent, but the opposition has been ambiguous on what it would do if it comes into power.

But for now, all we can do is wait for the election to be (finally) called. — The Drum Opinion

* Gerhard Hoffstaedter is a lecturer in anthropology in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland, and the author of “Modern Muslim Identities: Negotiating Religion and Ethnicity in Malaysia”. View his full profile here. Greg Lopez is a visiting fellow at the department of political and social change, Australian National University. View his full profile here.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 7:51 am and is filed under
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Only BN (Bluster and Noise) over Zul Nordin!

by Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 2 April 2013, 1:24 am and is filed under
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8-Day Countdown to GE13: Reasons to vote out every single one of the 30 Cabinet Ministers who were with Prime Minister Najib this morning when the announcement for the dissolution of Parliament was made

After months of speculation and waiting, Prime Minister Najib finally dissolved Parliament this morning in a live broadcast to the nation in the presence of his entire Cabinet.

Since Najib has already set a string of new records in Malaysian history including by presiding over the longest-serving administration in the country without an electoral mandate and allowing the Negeri Sembilan state assembly to automatically dissolve, I put forward to the Malaysian voters to help Najib set another record of being the first BN Prime Minister that will lose an election in the upcoming 13th general election.

To help Najib along, I give reasons for Malaysian voters to vote out every single Cabinet Minister who was with Najib this morning, if they are selected to run as a candidate.

1.     Chor Chee Heung, Minister of Housing and Local Government, MP of Alor Setar

Vote him out for making the ludicrous statement that that I was hopping from one constituency to another in order to obtain more than one pension when in reality, an MP is only entitled to ONE pension regardless of the number of constituencies has represented in his life.

Vote him out for not declaring the huge conflict of interest when he was both Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman as well as a non-independent director of Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd’s sister company, Wijaya, for a period of 4 months.

2.     Idris Jala, CEO of Pemandu and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator

For performance deception and the massaging of statistics in order to show that the ETP and GTP have ‘achieved’ their stated KPIs to mask their total failure to transform the government or the economy

3.     Jamil Khir bin Baharom (B), Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator

For spending RM63,650 in zakat funds for pay for his legal costs incurred when Anwar Ibrahim named him and two senior officials from the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council (MAIWP) as respondents in his 2010 qazaf application in the Syariah Court

4.     Raja Nong Chik, Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Well Being, Senator

For borrowing RM1.5b from EPF to build low-cost housing instead of using government funding, as it should be, and for saying that low-income voters should have no problems to repay loans at a 6.5% interest rate

5.     Anifah Bin Aman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, MP of Kimanis

For not clearing his name in his purported role in a RM400 million timber logging concession scandal involving companies owned by him and his nephew, Hairul Aman

6.     Kong Cho Ha, Minister of Transport, MP for Lumut

For approving the implementation of the RM800 million Automatic Enforcement System (AES)

For not going after those responsible for the PKFZ scandal but instead attempting to cover up for some of the parties involved and to approve payment to KDSB bondholders despite objections from the previous Port Klang Authority (PKA) board headed by Lee Hwa Beng

7.     Ahmad Husni bin Mohamad Hanadzlah, Minister of Finance (II), MP of Tambun

For making the outrageous lie that Pakatan’s Manifesto will increase the government deficit to 11.5% whereas in actual fact, Pakatan’s 2013 Alternative Budget projects for a 3.5% budget deficit which is less than BN’s projected deficit of 4.0%

8.     Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob, Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism, MP for Bera

For spending an extra RM200 million on sugar subsidies in 2011 for the benefit of MSM Holdings and Tradewinds (which is controlled by Tan Sri Syed Moktar Al Bukhary) when global sugar prices during this period had dropped

9.     S. Subramaniam, Minister of Human Resource, MP for Segamat

For failing to uniformly implement the minimum wage policy of RM900 a month for Peninsular Malaysia and RM800 a month for Sabah and Sarawak four months after the deadline for its implementation

10.  Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Youth and Sports, MP for Kemaman

For failing to deliver a gold medal for Malaysia despite spending RM20 million for the “Road to London 2012” programme

11.  Liow Tiong Lai, Minister of Health, MP for Bentong

For lying and denying that police had fired tear gas and water cannons into the Tung Shin Maternity Hospital during the 9th July 2011 Bersih 2.0 rally

For not playing his part in advocating for the temporary operating license of the LYNAS plant to be revoked so as to protect the health and well-being of the people of Kuantan and the surrounding areas

12.  Shaziman bin Abu Mansor, Minister of Works, MP for Tampin

For not rectifying the problem that led to the roof collapse of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Terengganu in 2009 which led to the roof collapsing again in 2013

13.  Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Minister of Defence, MP for Bagan Datok

For his total lack of transparency and sincerity dealing with the RM6.7 billion Scorpene submarine scandal, including RM574 million that was paid to Perimekar Sdn Bhd for coordination services, a company owned by Razak Baginda, a known close associate of Prime Minister Najib.

14.  Noh Omar, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, MP of Tanjong Karang

For awarding RM165m worth of contracts to unqualified companies to supply paddy seeds

For obtaining 30 acres worth of land at a heavily discounted rate in his home constituency and renting this land out for prawn farming

15.  Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism, MP of Raub

For spending RM1.8 million on a facebook campaign to promote tourism in Malaysia that resulted in far fewer page likes than a free campaign to protest against the spending of this RM1.8 million!

For failing to stand up for the residents in Raub in the Bukit Koman gold mine cyanide poisoning case

16.  Douglas Uggah Emas, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, MP of Betong

For failing to protect the land rights of the native population in Sarawak as they are being displaced by palm oil plantations, dams and logging

17.  Peter Chin, Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water, MP of Miri

For failing to resolve the water disagreement issue in Selangor and for siding with the interest of the private companies rather than the interest of the people

For failing to revoke the operating license of LYNAS despite its failure to present any definitive waste disposal plan for the radioactive residue arising from its operation

18.  Dr. Maximus Johnity Ongkili, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, MP of Kota Marudu; &

19.  Mohd Shafie bin Haji Apdal, Minister of Rural & Regional Development, MP of Semporna; &

20.  Bernard Dompok, Minister of Plantation Industries & Commodities, MP of Penampang

For failing to even beginning to address and solve the problem of illegal immigrants who have gotten ICs in Sabah and the presence of these immigrants in the electoral roll in large numbers

21.  Mustapa bin Mohamed, Minister of International Trade & Industry, MP of Jeli

For failing to fight for the rights of the people in Kelantan to ask for oil royalty to be paid to the state government of Kelantan instead of to the federal government

22.  Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin, Minister of Higher Education, MP of Pasir Gudang

For failing, during his tenure, to place any Malaysian university among the top 200 universities in the world according to the widely recognized university rankings

23.  Nor Mohamed bin Yakcop, Minister in the PM’s Department, MP of Tasek Gelugor

For failing to clear the air in terms of his role in the RM5.7 billion forex losses in Bank Negara under a unit which he was in charge of

24.  Dr. Rais Yatim, Minister of Information, Communication & Culture, MP of Jelebu

For making a mockery of freedom of the press and freedom of information by offering the opposition parties only 10 minutes worth of airtime during the upcoming general election knowing full well that pro-BN ‘news’ on mainstream television channels almost whenever news items are featured

25.  Hishamuddin bin Tun Hussein, Minister of Home Affairs, MP of Sembrong

For clamping down harshly and unjustly against the Bersih 2 and Bersih 3 gatherings in 2011 and 2012 respectively

For his ineptitude in the handling of the Lahad Datu invasion by foreign terrorists

For not doing all within his power to clamp down on political violence especially against the opposition

For using the Registrar of Societies to go after NGOs like Suaram who are standing up for truth and justice

26.  Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, Minister in the PM’s Department, MP of Padang Rengas

For failing to deliver on almost all of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reform

27.  Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Minister in the PM’s Department, Senator

For defending the surreptitious showing of the controversial and incendiary film, Tanda Putera, to select groups of Malaysians, despite his position as the Minister in charge of National Unity within the PM’s department

For going back on his word to not become a ‘back door’ Minister should he be defeated in the 2008 general elections

28.  Palanivel Govindasamy, Minister in the PM’s Department, Senator

For miserably failing to speak up on and resolve issues of importance to the Indian community especially on the issue of statelessness, displaced estate workers, and police brutality.

29.  Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin, Minister of Education and Deputy Prime Minister, MP of Pagoh

For being the worst Education Minister in the nation’s history when he presided over the drop in Malaysia’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study ranking from 20th in 2007 to 26th in 2011 in Math and from 21st in 2007 to 32nd in 2011.

For his acceptance of an honorary doctorate from an online university which was awarded an RM23 million contract to train Physical Education (PE) teachers in Malaysia

For his inability to present a Finalized version of the National Education Blueprint (NEB)

30.  Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, Minister of Finance, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Prime Minister, MP of Pekan

For his failure to deliver on his promises of a genuine transformation, for the better, in the government, in the economy and in the political landscape of the country

For his hypocrisy and inconsistency in promoting 1 Malaysia on the one hand and allowing racial sentiments and fears to be promoted through organizations like Perkasa and media outlets like Utusan and TV3

For being the 1st Prime Minister in Malaysia to hold the Women’s Ministry portfolio thereby demonstrating that he has no trust in other women leaders within the BN to manage this portfolio as a Minster

For his failure to address the serious problem of ‘grand corruption in Malaysia

I agree with the statements made by Dr. Mahathir and Tun Daim recently which stated that many Cabinet ministers were ‘deadwood’ and ‘half past six’ Ministers. But I would go even further. As my list of reasons show, there is cause for us to vote out every single of these Ministers, if they are chosen as candidates in the upcoming 13th general election.

But there is only one full proof way to ensure that none of these individuals will have a chance to be a Minister even if they are elected as MPs in their respective constituencies – which is to vote out BN at the federal level and replace it with a Pakatan Rakyat government. Only then can we ensure that all these ‘deadwood’ and ‘half past six’ Ministers can be replaced. I call on all Malaysians to play a part in the upcoming 13th general election which will be the mother of all elections in Malaysia’s history.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 10:05 pm and is filed under
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Dear MCA: Self praise is no recommendation

 – Honest Man

The Malaysian Insider

April 02, 2013

APRIL 2 – If there was a prize for the most unintentionally funny as well as pathetic political party around, MCA would score top marks and take the blue ribbon.

It was reported in The Malaysian Insider today that the MCA had issued itself a “report card” and gave itself top marks.

The MCA is also said to be using this as a major plank in its Election 2013 campaign.

If having a president with a sex scandal past is not bad enough, the issuing of this report card will finally prove to the public that the MCA is a party with zero ideas and even less shame.

To Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and his party strategists here’s a little nugget of knowledge which you may have missed when you were in school.

Self praise is no praise at all.

Actually for your benefit, the correct idiom is self praise is no recommendation.

Perhaps Dr Chua and his strategists missed class the day they taught Politics 101, but it is not for the party to praise its own achievements.

It is the public that gives its elected representatives and politicians a report card.

And how does the public do that?

In an election.

It is no wonder that even those in Umno do not think much of MCA.

This is probably because the party under Dr Chua has rightfully earned enough marks to be conferred with the moniker of Malaysian Clowns Association.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 7:45 am and is filed under
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GE13 Malaysia – Sonia Randhawa

By Greg Lopez

New Mandala

3 April 2013

Sonia Randhawa

1.       What do you think will be the most important issue that the new government must address?

Whoever wins the next election there will be an urgent need to rebuild democratic institutions, whose credibility is being questioned by an increasing number of Malaysians, increasingly vocal. Should Barisan Nasional win, this will be a doubly urgent task – there seems to be a growing belief among Pakatan supporters that the only thing that will keep BN in power is fixing the election. I don’t agree with this conclusion, but it undermines BN’s legitimacy as a government from the outset. The two most urgent institutions in need of reform to ensure ongoing peace in the country are the police and the Election Commission. The police force needs urgent reform, given the perception of rising crime, the perception of police corruption and the inability of the force to engage in internal reform. The Election Commission will also need to be overhauled to ensure public support of the democratic process in Malaysia.

On top of these fundamentals, however, neither coalition appears to be addressing the increasingly urgent issue of climate change. Malaysia ranks among the highest climbers in terms of contributions to global warming, yet both coalitions prioritise the use of private cars, the need to sustain subsidies (including on sugar and petrol), and the importance of economic over ecological sustainability. Unless resilience to climate change is factored into political calculations, standards of living in Malaysia are likely to face increasing pressure in the medium- to long-term.

2.       What do you think is Barisan Nasional’s greatest strength?

Barisan Nasional still controls the three Ms that have sustained it in power. It is losing the media war online, and with the advent of Radio Free Malaysia, it could lose control over the (radio) airwaves, but it would be a mistake to underestimate its ability to shape the debate and to undermine the credibility of Pakatan Rakyat. It controls a lot of money, from the traditional levers of patronage to the newer disbursements being used to attempt to sway public opinion. And it still has its party machinery. While Pakatan, particularly Pas, has learned from BN’s machinery, they do not have the same reach that BN has. BN is still perceived to pay the salaries of teachers, doctors and other community leaders, and with neither the majority of tax-payers nor the government itself drawing a distinction between party money and government money, this equates to a lot of people on the BN payroll.

3.       What do you think is Barisan Nasional’s greatest weakness?

It seems unable to change. The Prime Minister knows that Umno, in particular, is in need of reform if it is to win back the Malay electorate it lost in 2008, and to gain ground among young voters. Many leading figures in the cabinet also recognise the need for reform. But with the voices of Mahathir and Perkasa ricocheting in the background, the murkiness surrounding Najib’s own dealings as Defence Minister (in particular his connection to Altantuya Shariibuu) and the BN’s reliance on money politics, change is glacial.

4.       What do you think is Pakatan Rakyat’s greatest strength?

It is the underdog. Right now, a lot of people can sympathise with that – the cost of housing, particularly in the capital, is rising; the cost of food, electricity, water are all rising, and the rakyat are being told to tighten their belts, have been told to do so for at least seven years. And yet, the belt-tightening is a bottom-up exercise. The former, Pakatan chief minister of Perak uses a motorbike. While by all accounts this is a reflection of his humility, it is also good politics – BN ministers say they are with the people, but they seem to have little understanding of the hardships that are being faced at ground level, regardless of the party they represent.

5.       What do you think is Pakatan Rakyat’s greatest weakness?

They have overcome a number of earlier weaknesses – they no longer seem to take public support as a moral right, which they did during the 2004 elections, but the ‘victory’ of 2008 has led supporters (if not leaders) to underestimate the power of the BN machinery, which could be a mistake. But the greatest weakness is that the electorate is still not sure what a PR government will look like. PR has governed very differently in Kelantan, Penang, Perak and Selangor, (ignoring Kedah which is beset by internal difficulties). This means there is still little precedent to show how the coalition will work once it is in power. This uncertainty means that they have to work harder than BN to convince fence sitters to give them a try.

6.       What is your hope for Malaysia?

With the elections of 2008, Malaysia came a long way to overcoming the racialised politics that have dogged it since Independence – they put to bed the ghost of 1969. But ghosts have a tendency to resurrect, and this is an appropriate time of year to ensure they stay happily ensconced in the underworld.

Given that, my hope is that we can rise to the challenges of the next 50 years, which are going to be at least as difficult as the last fifty. We have squandered a lot of our natural wealth, and have to face the coming years without that buffer. We need a government that has the courage and imagination to lead Malaysia through these challenges – and the courage to help initiate bottom-up rather than top-down democratic initiatives.

Sonia Randhawa is a director for the Centre for Independent Journalism, Malaysia, and a PhD candidate in history and law at the University of Melbourne, looking at the role of women journalists in the 1990s.

New Mandala is asking Malaysians and Malaysianists worldwide their views on the two coalitions vying for power at the 13th general election in Malaysia. Their responses are published unedited.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 8:03 am and is filed under
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GE13 Set to Be a Titanic Clash

By
Kee Thuan Chye

MalaysianDigest.com

Parliament has been dissolved, paving the way for the much-awaited 13th general election.

Finally, Prime Minister Najib Razak made the call on April 3, which marked the fourth anniversary of his premiership, after much hesitation that had provoked much speculation that he was afraid of the election outcome.

Indeed, a week prior to the dissolution, he embarked on his famous “I help you, you help me” routine of giving cash bonuses or salary increments to a spectrum of people, including the civil service (which is 1.4 million-strong), the army, the police, and the staff of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Telekom Malaysia, Petronas and seven statutory bodies.

This incensed level-headed Malaysians who saw it as a blatant form of vote-buying, but it appears that Najib must be desperate to resort to such a desperate measure.

Besides, the feedback from his giving out the BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) RM500 to households earning not more than RM3,000 a month must have indicated that the recipients responded positively to it. Although BR1M does not necessarily ensure votes for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), it has reportedly influenced fence-sitters to be more partial towards the coalition. There is no scientific survey as yet to prove this is so, but the amount of anecdotal evidence is telling enough.

The common expectation is that this general election will see a tight race between BN and Pakatan Rakyat. But while there are pundits who think this is the one time the Opposition can unseat the ruling party at federal level, most are of the opinion that BN should win. Even so, Najib might have been delaying calling the elections because he wanted to be more certain that he could win back for BN the much-coveted two-thirds majority in Parliament which it lost in 2008.

Ground sentiment, however, indicates that this will be improbable. There has never been a stronger call for change in Malaysia than now. The top reasons given for this desire for change have invariably been intolerance of the corrupt government, BN’s mismanagement of the country in the past few decades, the economic wastage resulting from crony capitalism, the worsening of race relations heightened by the rhetoric of BN leaders, BN’s abuse of the country’s institutions, BN’s double standards in applying the law, and, above all, the rise in the prices of essential goods.

Attendance at Pakatan ceramahs have also been unexpectedly huge, even in BN-controlled states like Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor. Although there is no guarantee that huge attendances will translate into plenty of votes, the enthusiastic response has been grating on pro-BN supporters, spurring them to violently attack some of these ceramahs.

Furthermore, there has been an increase of 2.9 million voters since 2008, and many of these are young people. It is as yet unpredictable how they will vote, and BN has done its darnedest to influence them to support it, including barraging them with SMSes and letters, giving them BR1M cash, subsidising their smartphone purchases and organising a myriad number of youth events. It has even resorted to frightening them with the prospect of racial riots.

But the young don’t carry the baggage of fear that the older generations do, especially the fear of May 13 and Operasi Lalang. They have not been through the Mahathir era of autocratic rule. Neither have they been as conditioned by “the devil we know”, the reference now associated with BN.

In fact, university students have broken out of the yoke imposed on them for three decades by the ruling party, by way of the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA). Many have become staunch activists calling for greater freedom and an end to BN rule. Some have even offered to stand in the general election. This is something any ruling party would be worried about.

Another factor that accounts for a close election outcome is the character of the Opposition. It has burgeoned since 2008, when the so-called political tsunami propelled it upwards, a phenomenon that took even the Opposition by surprise. Over the last five years, the three main partners PKR, PAS and the DAP have developed into a credible Opposition that gives substance to the idea of the two-coalition system that Malaysia needs. It is also multi-racial, which is always a plus point in a society that is still fixated on the issue of race.

Its administration of four states has also helped increase its profile, although these administrations have been embattled by disruptive pro-BN forces and suffered poor cooperation from the federal government. Despite these difficulties, Penang and Selangor in particular have earned praise for prudence in the handling of their economies.

Taking the fight to the giant BN this time, the underdog Pakatan has unveiled its manifesto way ahead of the latter and declared its intent on conquering a few more states. Among those it has set its sights on are Perlis and Negeri Sembilan, apart from the task of recapturing Perak.

DAP’s national chairman, Karpal Singh, has been even more gung-ho in predicting that Pakatan would win Johor as well. This, however, is very unlikely, considering that Johor is one of BN’s safe deposits. Pakatan might win a few more seats there, but winning the state would require a miracle.

Winning Putrajaya will be even more herculean for the underdog. DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has said that it can be achieved if Pakatan holds on to its existing 82 seats and goes on to win at least 40 per cent of those in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. But there are 83 of these in those three states and 40 per cent would amount to 33 seats. At present, Pakatan has only three; what are the chances of its winning another 30? And what are the chances of its retaining all its current 82 as well?

Besides, to win a good number of seats in Sabah, Pakatan needs to form an electoral pact with the local Opposition parties there, in order to avoid multi-cornered fights that would be an advantage to BN. But this has not been achieved despite negotiations by all concerned parties. And the way it looks, it will not come about.

Be that as it may, the 13th general election is set to be a titanic clash. BN might win with a reduced majority or Pakatan might pull off an upset victory.

However, at a recent forum, a pro-Pakatan speaker gave a different perspective on how it could turn out. He said this general election would not be about one man, one vote; it would be about billions of ringgit. He said too much was at stake for BN, and, as such, it would not allow itself to be defeated, no matter what.

Given the claims by NGOs and Pakatan leaders that the electoral roll has been compromised by the presence of countless dubious voters; given the claims by some quarters that identity cards are being given out to foreigners on a massive scale so that they can vote; given that this illegal issuance of identity cards had found precedence in Sabah, according to the testimony given at the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry on that matter; and given the Election Commission’s questionable decision to apply the indelible ink on voters’ fingers before they mark their ballot papers instead of after, that speaker’s observation might well be true.

If this be so, the announcement of the final result of the 13th general election may not convince many that it was truly the decision of the Malaysian rakyat. That would be a sad day for democracy indeed. And we should hope it will not come to pass.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 10:17 pm and is filed under
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More and more like Election Omission than Election Commission!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 11:09 am and is filed under
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Najib’s pledge to respect people’s decision on transition of power, whether federal or state, commendable but it must be backed with deeds and not just empty slogans

The pledge by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of a peaceful transition of power in the 13th General Elections, whether at the federal or state level, is most commendable.

I had many times in the past four years , both inside and ouside Parliament, asked Najib to make the public commitment that if Umno/Barisan Nasional loses the mandate to form the federal government in Putrajaya, he and UMNO/BN would accept the verdict of the electorate and would assume responsibility to ensure peaceful transition of power from the BN to Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya.

Until today, however, Najib had evaded the subject.

Although Najib’s public commitment is very late in the making, it is better late than never and this is why I commend him for his pledge “to respect democracy” and “to respect the voice of the rakyat”.

Pakatan Rakyat on our part makes a similar commitment to respect the voice of the people in the 13th General Elections and peaceful transition of power, whether at federal or state level.

However, such commitments must be sincere and serious and must be backed up with deeds and not just be empty slogans, and this is why all political parties and leaders must act in conformity with their public commitments and pledges.

There are at least three areas which will put Najib’s commitment to respect the voice of the people and a peaceful transition of power to an immediate test, viz;

No political party or political leaders should use during the general election campaign the threat of May 13 riots or the fear of chaos and mayhem if another political party or candidate is elected.

There must be a total halt to the politics of gangsterim which has been rearing their ugly heads in recent days. I witnessed myself the politics of gangsterism at the PKR ceramah in Kampung Melayu Majidee in Johor Baru where Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced the parliamentary candidature of a former four-star general, Tan Sri General Hashim Hussein, former army chief, for Johor Baru constituency.

There was a systematic and deplorable attempt by a group of UMNO and Perkasa elements out to cause disturbance and disruption of the PKR ceramah, which must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.

I call on Najib to condemn such politics of gangsterism as all political parties and candidates should be able to hold their ceramahs and public meetings to explain their policies and objectives to the voters without any disruption or sabotage from any quarter.

Pledge to conduct clean, honest and fair election campaign, without abuse of publlic resources and funds in keeping with the spirit and conventions of a caretaker government after the dissolution of Parliament.

For a start, the Barisan Nasional control of radio and television facilities should be terminated, and all the state radio and television channels should be run and operated by a caretaker administration to ensure fair and equal radio and television time for all contending parties, 24 hours a day and seven days a week and not just for 10 minutes.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 8:57 pm and is filed under
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No action again and again …

2 April 2013

R. Nadeswaran

The Sun Daily

THE images on television were horrific. Smoke billowing from the embers in a village in Myanmar and a mob burning down a branch of the iconic Fashion Bug chain in Sri Lanka. These are the results of religious bigotry. Groups calling themselves “religious” have succeeded in manipulating and contradicting the tenets in every religion – moderation and non-violence.

Common sense should remind us that fanatical organisations and individuals have no place in society and religion, when used as a tool for political expedience, the results could be persuasive. In Sri Lanka, Buddhist monks are leading right-wing groups against the Muslims while in Myanmar, a group called 969 is leading the onslaught against the Rohingyas.

Islamophobia and any other forms of religious chauvinism and extremism have no place in modern society. Fortunately for right-thinking Malaysians, we can confidently affirm that acceptance and understanding of each other’s religion has been a major factor in bringing about a strife-free country.

But occasionally, a handful break that confidence by making utterances that are totally deplorable, unacceptable and above all nauseating.

When a lone voice makes such remarks, the general tendency is to dismiss the person as a voice in the wilderness and take the stand that “let barking dogs lie”. But when more bigots champion the same cause, it is time to sit up and question them.

With the hustings around the corner, race and religion have become two more weapons in the armoury of self-centred politicians, cronies and supporters.

When race and religion combine with politics, it could be a potent mix. Hence, when some try to score brownie points by belittling religions, it tends to upset the majority.

Rabble-rousers have no place in our society; especially those who choose to eschew the norms of society like respect for values, reverence for religion and good moral principles. When the long arm of the law which is supported by legislation fails to address the issue by taking these guilty parties to task, it encourages not only others to follow suit but breeds yet another generation whose hearts are filled with hatred and contempt.

Over the weekend, I watched a video clip of a politician making wretched remarks about religion and religious beliefs. It was not met with anger but with disdain watching a supposedly man of religion with a skullcap and clothes to boot making such disparaging remarks. It is not his God-given right to make such derogatory remarks and add insult to injury; he seemed to be making a joke out of religion.

Some have rallied behind him saying that it was made years ago, but when it was made is not the essence of the issue. The fact that he made those remarks remains indisputable. Why are these extremist views becoming a common feature?

The answer lies in not acting against them. There seems to be no deterrent and everyone is of the opinion that if you are affiliated to the ruling party, you can get away with it.

We have in the past heard of people asking to burn religious books and ridiculing those who head to Batu Caves. And yet, no one has lifted a finger to question their actions and motives. This yet again encourage more to become chauvinists.

There’s no place for religious bigotry in our multi-religious society. A healthy “my religion is better than yours” debate among matured adults in a confined area may be acceptable, but when tensions are running high, it has no place in the public domain.

If the authorities fail to act, then again the deep-rooted suspicion of selective prosecution will lend credence to itself.

IT looks as if that the Election Commission has taken a stand that it need not address issues of concern raised in the media. It has been more than a week since several issues of importance were raised in this column. They affect the credibility of the commission.

Answers would have assured the public that the commission is indeed independent and that it responds to complaints of irregularities in the rolls.

Unfortunately, the commission does not think on the same lines. It has taken the stand that it is not obliged to address issues raised by citizens encouraged by a recent court ruling that “it is not answerable to anyone”.

Public perception of the commission is at a very low ebb. If it continues to act high and mighty, it is inevitable that its reputation and credibility will hit rock bottom. But does anyone care?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 7:25 am and is filed under
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Open Letter to Tengku Razaleigh: Time to Take a Bold Stand

by Koon Yew Yin

As the election date draws nearer, it is important that all politicians wishing to take part should make known to the public what they stand for.

Among our political leaders, there are few that have earned the respect of Malaysians in the same way that Tengku Razaleigh has. Through his actions he has struck many as a man of honour, decency, good sense and ability. These qualities – not superhuman virtues – are the ones needed at the helm of the nation to guide us through this difficult time of racial and religious extremism, and unquenched opportunism and power craze.

On what Tengku Razaleigh stands for, there is little or no doubt. However, given his marginalization in the mainstream media, many Malaysians may not be aware of his political philosophy. This philosophy which I heard him elaborate on in Ipoh in 2012 could serve as the template for the nation’s political development. It has served as the template for my book, Malaysia: Road Map for Achieving Vision 2020.

I call on all election candidates – as well as parties – across the political divide to read and endorse Tungku Razaleigh’s 10 principles contained in his speech to the Perak Academy event. These ‘10 Golden Political Principles’ are necessary to ensure Malaysia’s political future, irrespective of whichever coalition party wins the elections.

Ku LI’s Ten Golden Political Principles

1. All political parties are required to include in their constitutional objectives the equality of citizenship as provided for in the Federal Constitution.

2. An economic and political policy that political parties propagate must not discriminate against any citizen.

3. All parties shall include and uphold constitutional democracy and the separation of powers as a fundamental principle.

4. It shall be the duty of all political parties to adhere to the objectives of public service and refrain from involvement in business, and ensure the separation of business from political parties.

5. It shall be the duty of all political parties to ensure and respect the independence of the judiciary and the judicial process.

6. All parties shall ensure that the party election system will adhere to the highest standards of conduct, and also ensure that the elections are free of corrupt practices. Legislation should be considered to provide funding of political parties.

7. It shall be the duty of all parties to ensure that all political dialogues and statements will not create racial or religious animosity.

8. All parties undertake not to use racial and communal agitation as political policies.

9. To remove and eradicate all barriers that hinder national unity and Malaysian identity.

10. To uphold the Federal and State Constitutions and its democratic intent and spirit, the Rule of Law, the fundamental liberties as enshrined in Part II of the Malaysian Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Taking a Stand on Party of Choice Based on Principle

If adhered to by the winning coalition, these principles – not what are in the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat elections manifestos – can provide an important foundation for rebuilding our Malaysian unity which has been undermined by the likes of Ibrahim Ali, Perkasa and sadly too, the former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir.

Whilst Tengku Razaleigh does not need to publicly restate his political philosophy, there is an urgent need for him to decide whether he should stand as an UMNO candidate or on some other platform and to announce this decision to the public as soon as possible. Now is the correct time for put his principles into practice.

Should Tengku Razaleigh decide to stand as a candidate of UMNO – a party lacking in the political integrity and ethical standards that he has espoused – I and many other Malaysians who have the deepest respect for him – will feel badly disappointed and let down.

We are sure he is aware of the saying, “It is better to die with honour, than to live without.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 10:21 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan continues fielding heavyweights in Johor

Malaysiakini
 | 11:54PM Apr 2, 2013

The flurry of heavyweights from the Pakatan Rakyat camp contesting parliamentary seats in Johor continued as former army chief Gen (Rtd) Md Hashim Hussein was announced as PKR’s candidate for the Johor Baru parliamentary seat tonight.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim also announced Steven Choong as candidate for Tebrau, Nor Hizwan Ahmad for Muar and Idris Jauzi for Batu Pahat.

These are also parliamentary seats.

Choong is the PKR deputy secretary-general and is strongly linked with Johor PKR chief Chua Jui Meng.

Nor Hizwan is Muar-born, had worked in MAS, and was active in Ampang PKR before being appointed as Muar PKR parliamentary coordinator.

Idris Jauzi is NGO Wadah Pencerdasan Umat Malaysia (Wadah) vice-president and former leader of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim).

His links with Anwar goes back to the days when Anwar was in the government and Idris was Biro Tata Negara deputy director-general.

Anwar made the announcements in front of a strong crowd of a few thousand at the Ceramah Perdana Merdeka Rakyat in Kg Datuk Sulaiman Menteri, Johor Baru.

“We have a four-star general as your candidate for Johor Baru,” he proudly pointed out.

In fact Hashim’s (right) candidature was supposed to be announced over a week ago.

But he fell victim to a bout of food poisoning on the night of March 23, leading to Anwar abstaining from announcing him as the candidate.

Hashim received his degree in War Studies from King’s College in London and had once led the elite 10 Paratrooper Brigade.

He rose steadily through the ranks and eventually served as army chief between January 1999 to December 2002.

Upon his retirement, he was appointed as the Malaysian high commissioner to Pakistan between 2003 and 2006.

He only joined PKR recently, on March 6.

Anwar’s decision to field Hashim follows two DAP bigwigs being announced as candidates in Johor.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has been confirmed to do battle in Gelang Patah, while Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong will be shifting his base to the Kluang parliamentary seat.

These are PKR’s first major announcement of candidates in Johor with more to come as the opposition attempts to ambitiously wrest away Johor, long known as Umno’s bastion, away from the ruling coalition in forthcoming election.

The Johor Baru seat is currently held by Umno’s Shahrir Samad, who defeated Parti Rakyat Malaysia’s (PRM) Hassan Karim by a majority of 25,349 votes.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 3 April 2013, 11:21 am and is filed under
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7-Day Countdown to 13GE: MCA President most red-faced with dissolution of Parliament yesterday after he had told the world some 12 hours earlier that he felt “syok”  Najib had confided in him that there was “plenty more time before GE13”

The MCA President, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek must be the most red-faced man in Malaysia yesterday with the dissolution of Parliament as some 12 hours earlier, he had told the world that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had confided in him that there was “plenty more time before GE13”

Trying to impress MCA leaders and members as well as outsiders of his “intimate relationship” with the Prime Minister, he told party members at the launch of the 1,000-day MCA report card that he met Najib for the third round of meetings to finalise the list of election candidates on Monday and asked him how long more he had to provide new names for the candidates list.

Chua said Najib told him “there was still a lot more time”.

Chua said: “I don’t understand what he meant but I feel syok (good) that there is a lot more time.” (
Malaysiakini
)

I do not know whether Chua still feel syok or “soiled” with the dissolution of Parliament yesterday, as the whole episode shows the MCA President is suffering from a serious dual ailment of gullibility and denial complex.

Without privilege of access to the Prime Minister, I had told reporters in Gelang Patah on Tuesday that dissolution of Parliament on the next day of Wednesday was eminently likely for four reasons: the cancellation of Najib’s Umrah trip, the fourth anniversary of Najib’s premiership, Wednesday being Cabinet meeting when the Prime Minister would have a weekly audience with the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the announcement that the Barisan Nasional election manifesto would be made public on Saturday on April 6,  an event which is normally held after dissolution of Parliament.

It is clear that the MCA President does not bulk large in the radar of the UMNO President, who clearly regarded Chua as totally irrelevant and insignificant in the larger UMNO/BN scheme of things, especially with regard to the impending 13GE  life-and-death battle and who is never regarded as an equal among top BN leader!

This is why Najib fobbed off Chua’s query as when is the 13GE with a big lie about “a lot more time” when he had already made up his mind to dissolve Parliament two days later.

I do not think the first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman would have treated his contemporary MCA President Tun Siew Sin in so contemptuous and humiliating a manner.

Last Thursday on 28th March 2013,  Datuk Wong Chun Wai, the MCA-owned daily, the Star, was dragooned to write a front-page comment piece in the Star declaring
“No dissolution yet – 4 reasons why”
, viz:

Caretaker government cannot enter into agreements at Lima;

Finishing touches to some projects and programmes;

Barisan Nasional candidates’ list not finalised; and

Impossible at the moment for politicians to campaign freely in Lahad Datu.

Wong’s four-reason justification for Najib’s feet-dragging on the dissolution of Parliament earned a well-deserved riposte “
Four  ‘good’ reasons, my foot
” from S. Ambiga, Bersih co-chairman.

Why did the MCA President and the MCA-owned daily Star allow themselves to be trampled so shabbily by UMNO leaders and operatives?

I am tickled by Chua’s declaration that he will not contest against  me in Gelang Patah parliamentary seat as “I’m no dictator to take on Kit Siang on a whim” (
Malaysiakini April 2, 2013
).

In the first place, I had never challenged Chua to contest against me in Gelang Patah. It was his own MCA stalwart, Pasir Gudang MCA division leader Tan Cher Puk who had instigated him to take me on in Gelang Patah to “raise the MCA’s morale”.

Secondly, Chua does not seem to know MCA history, for there were at least four MCA Presidents had “parachuted” into other constituencies to contest.

If he will just visit the MCA website, he will easily discover the shifting of constituencies of former MCA Presidents like Tan Sri Lee San Choon from Segamat Utara (1969), Segamat (1974/78) to Seremban (1982); Tan Koon Swan from Raub (1978) to Damansara (1982) and Gopeng (1986); Tan Sri Dr. Ling Liong Sik from Mata Kuching (1974/78) to Labis (1982- 1999); and Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting from Pontian (1990/94/99) to Tanjong Piai (2004) to Kulai (2008).

Or is Chua scolding Lee San Choon, Tan Koon Swan, Ling Liong Sik and Ong Ka Ting as a quartet of dictator-MCA Presidents?

However, Chua has undoubtedly created history for a MCA President in the 64-year history of the MCA – the first MCA President who has lost the power to decide whether he could stand as a candidate the the national general elections, as Najib must be convinced about his “winnability” and give his nod and approval before Chua could stand as a parliamentary  candidate in the nation’s general elections.

Imagine a MCA President who the UMNO President dismisses as a candidate because of the lack or “winnability” – what a shame and humiliation!

This deplorable state of affairs would be totally unthinkable and unacceptable in the first 60 years of history of the MCA whether the party was headed by a President or Acting President –Tan Cheng Lock, Dr. Lim Chong Eu, Dr. Cheah Toon Lok (Acting Tan Siew Sin, Lee San Choon, Dr. Neo Yee Pan (Acting), Tan Koon Swan, Ling Liong Sik, Ong Ka Ting and Ong Tee Keat.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 4 April 2013, 1:29 pm and is filed under
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6-Days to 13GE – Idris Jala’s 12 clear signs of success – April Fool’s Day Message of Illusions

Datuk Seri Idris Jala in his article entitled 12 Clear Signs of Success has the chutzpah to make the claim that he believes in numbers and that their proper use and measurement does not result in lies.

It is rather laughable that having staked out this position, he proceeds to use fabricated numerical data in a brazen manner to make claims that do not have a basis and the assertions being made deviate from the truth.

However, he is not alone in spewing false and spurious numbers to befuddle the public. This has indeed been the season in which the nation has been treated to a recitation of false numbers to telltales of success and to make promises and paint mirages.

Pemandu has led the way and carved a niche for itself as the propaganda arm of the Government; and Datuk Idris is now a purveyor of twisted facts to cover up the failings of the Government.

The BN effort started with the Prime Minister claiming in the course of his March 23rd televised interview that per Capita GNI had grown by 49 percentage – and according to him the fastest ever in global terms – between 2009 and 2012.

This audacious claim, despite being challenged, was repeated by Pemandu in its Annual Report.

When further challenged, Datuk Idris was forced into issuing a “correction” citing a figure of 41 percent, further repeated in his article.

This so-called correction has been justified with an utterly unbelievable claim that the international methodology for computation of per Capita GNI had been revised by the United Nations by way of the 2008 edition of the System of National Accounts, thus necessitating a correction.

This was the lamest excuse that could have been concocted. The truth of the matter is that Pemandu has never fully used the World Bank’s Atlas method for computing GNI per Capita.

The credibility of Pemandu and its CEO was further punctured by the wholly unprofessional use and treatment of data on its recent Annual Report.

The rather glossy and slick presentation did not mask the odor of false and wild claims of “achievements” and untenable promises of achieving “High Income Country” status by 2018.

The Report was replete with other false numbers based on erroneous calculations and misuse of commonly accepted methodologies and conventions.

Datuk Seri Idris has come forth on April Fool’s Day with more fables. He, along with the rest of the BN Government, does not appear to have noted Abraham Lincoln’s warning: “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”.

Datuk Idris’s article of April 1st -12 Clear Signs of Success- is a rather convoluted and implausible set of statements and claims built around numbers that cannot be fully substantiated.

The numbers are based on illusions; many of the calculations are dishonest as they use numerical  methods that are not used by serious analysts.

The article cannot stand professional scrutiny and dismally fails in conveying a believable portrait of the performance of the economy and its medium-term prospects.

The author has lost all claims to objectivity and professionalism; not a word is said about the several looming economic challenges confronting the country: stagnant incomes, a rapidly exploding debt burden faced by the Government, the private sector and households, and the country becoming entrapped in the shallows as a Middle Income Country because of policy failures.

The numbers and the accompanying assertions offered by Datuk Idris can be easily punctured.

The truth of the matter is that there are no 12 signs of success. The road ahead is not paved in gold as Datuk Idris would like us to believe but is likely to be hard and rocky unless remedial measures are taken.

The target of Achieving High Income Country Status

A central theme of his article deals with the target of achieving “High Income Country” status by 2020. However, if the country continues on its present trajectory, Malaysia will miss that target and remain entrapped in the category of Middle Income Countries.

Datuk Idris and Pemandu have created a false he target of US$15,000 per capita GNI based on dubious assumptions.

What PEMANDU has done is a two stage juggle. It has first converted the GNI per Capita series for recent years in Ringgit terms into US Dollars using prevailing exchange rates. The resulting converted numbers in US Dollars differ grossly from the World Bank’s US $ GNI per Capita figures.

The reason for the divergence from the World Bank’s calculations of country per Capita GNI lies in the fact that the World Bank uses a unique methodology ( the so-called World Bank Atlas Method) which has not been used by Pemandu.

This failure to use the World Bank’s methodology leads to the exclusion of a number of important variables pertaining to global inflation and changes in exchange rates that impact in establishing threshold levels for classifying countries and estimating per Capita GNI. These fact explain the differences in the GNI series as calculated by Pemandu and the World Bank.

GNI CALCULATIONS

Year

GNI Per Capita in US$ (BANK NEGARA)

GNI Per Capita US$ (PEMANDU)

GNI Per Capita US $(WORLD BANK ATLAS METHOD)

2009

7,059

6,700

7,550

2010

8,346

8,100

8,090

2011

9,693

9,700

8,770

2012

9.974

9,970

NA

Pemandu has not used the Atlas method to calculate the bench-mark figure for the categorization of “high Income”.

The PEMANDU Report states: “The World Bank’s current GNI per capita threshold for a high income economy is US$12,476. We factored in the World Bank’s published historical global inflation figure of two per cent until 2020 to arrive at a high-income threshold of US$15,000.”

This is totally flawed for several reasons. The threshold figure of US$12,476 for High Income level is in current dollar terms with adjustments for inflation and exchange rate deviations.

It must be stressed that this figure is never projected by the World Bank. Indeed, it cannot be projected in the manner done by Pemandu. By ignoring these methodological issues, Datuk Idris shows that he is either clueless or engaged in deluding readers.

Datuk Idris makes much of the so-called “correction” in the GNI per Capita figures and the lowering of the growth rate from 49 percent to 41 percent over the period 2009 to 2012.

A number of observations are in order. He has offered no explanation as to why 2009 was chosen as the reference base year; the reference to the SNA 2008 is a red herring as the change in methodology was marginal in nature.

It is clear that Datuk Idris and his cohort of consultants are being devious in so far as the target GNI per Capita is concerned. It would appear that the goal posts are being shifted surreptitiously.

He appears to be suffering from a bout of amnesia and does not recall that the 10th Five Year Plan had used a vastly different growth measure, namely of GDP growth. The Plan stated:  “Looking ahead towards 2020, the challenge is to sustain the momentum of robust growth. Our goal of high-income status by 2020 requires, among others, achieving an average GDP growth of 6.0% per annum during the Tenth Plan Period.”

By this criterion, Malaysia has fallen short thus far in attaining GDP growth of 6 percent. Growth in 2011 was 5.1 percent; 5.6 percent in 2012 and is projected at under 6.0 percent in 2013. Thus, the claim now being made that the country could reach developed status by 2018 is truly delusional and has really been manufactured and has indeed been plucked from the air!

Pemandu’s Other Numbers Games

The tale that Datuk Idris spins is replete with other glaring abuse of statistics.

For instance, the claim of an addition of 438,800 employees to the workforce is unsubstantiated and certainly inconsistent with employment/labor force growth estimates embodied in the 10th Plan and inconsistent with demographic trends.

The comparisons of GDP growth rates of other countries are selective. Were countries such as  China, India, and Indonesia included, Malaysian performance would not be as brilliant.

Datuk Idris’s treatment of the Federal Government deficit and debt story is selective and partial. The calculations pertaining to the deficit tell only part of the story.

The Federal Government’s debt has grown from RM 228.5 billion in 2005 to RM 501.6 Billion as of the end of 2012 and the debt level is now almost reaching the ceiling of 55 percent of GDP.

These numbers only relate to the debt of  the Federal Government and exclude the Non-Financial Public Enterprises (NFPE)that have a sizable debt portfolio of their own.

Furthermore, the numbers cited in both the Pemandu Report and in the article exclude the Contingent liabilities of the Federal Government. The latter are in the nature of loan guarantees to entities such as toll operators, IPPs etc. While no details are provided by the Government, they are estimated at 15 percent of GDP.

The Federal Government’s overall public sector deficit is projected to have risen to 5.1 percent of GDP in 2012 (from 3.3 percent in 2011), partly reflecting higher investments by nonfinancial public enterprises (NFPEs), and according to the IMF’s calculations the overall deficit for the Consolidated Government ( a more comprehensive measure made up of both the Federal Government and the NFPEs) is expected to further widen to 6.3 percent of GDP in 2013.

Thus, the soothing statements advanced by Datuk Idris conceal the true state of affairs. Clearly, in the post-election period a re-elected BN Government will attempt to “balance the books” by introducing the GST and reducing consumer subsidies.

The burden of these fiscal measures will directly fall on households. The intent to make these fiscal changes has not merited mention by Datuk Idris and is thus being concealed even though a promise has been made by the Government to the IMF, a fact reported in the IMF Report following the Article IV Annual Consultations.[1]

Datuk Idris has conveniently omitted to mention the fact that household debt has exploded and at the end of 2012 amounted to 80.5 percent of GDP. This component of data has grown from RM 465.2 billion at the end of 2008 to RM 754.6 billion at the end of 2012.

It does not require a lot of imagination to visualize a situation when the bubble bursts, and the resulting havoc when households default on their debts, causing a mini version of the 2008 subprime crisis in the United States which forced foreclosures and the collapse of several financial institutions.

The factors that have contributed to this mountain of household debt can in part be attributed to policies pursued by the Government. The failure to support the construction of an adequate volume of truly low and modestly priced housing has pushed the cost of housing leading to the need for larger and larger loans; the protection provided to Proton and the abuse of the AP regime has led to high prices for automobiles, again forcing households to get deeper into debt in order to purchase motor vehicles.

Datuk Idris makes much of percent changes in private investment in a rather disingenuous manner.

He chooses to calculate growth based on the current price series, a practice no serious analyst would adopt as the convention for growth rate calculations of this nature are conventionally based on constant price series in order to neutralize the impact of price changes.

Thus, Private Investment as reported by Bank Negara in 2011 in constant prices was estimated at RM 70.3 billion rather the figure of RM139.5 billion cited by Datuk Idris.

He claims that the there was a hefty 48 percent increase over the previous year. He somewhat glibly proclaims: “That really is something!” Indeed, it is something to distort numbers in the manner he has done!

Yet another claim concerns the performance of the stock exchange. However, he makes no mention of the fact that the Malaysian market performed below other markets in the region.

According to the Financial Times of April 3, , the KLCI index has performed about three times less than benchmarks in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines since Najib took office. The ringgit has been Asia’s fifth-worst performing currency this year.

While indeed there were improvements in Malaysia ‘rankings in the World Bank’s ranking of countries in the ease of doing business, and in the AT Kearney’s Foreign Direct Investment Confidence index, Datuk Idris conveniently fails to point to the deterioration in the TI Corruption Perception Index, the Global Competitiveness Index and other indicators of performance.

The citation of improvements in infrastructure described under point 11 of the article read much like a  mixed list that is neither meaningful nor can the reported results be verified. For instance, the reported number of beneficiaries cannot be verified as the reader is given no indication of how these numbers were derived.

Like so many other numbers cited by Datuk Idris, the numbers relating to trade, meaning the sum of imports and exports, amounted to RM 1.16 billion, RM 1.27 billion and RM 1,.31 billion   in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.

The numbers cited in the article are in error and conveniently conceal the fact that exports grew very sluggishly at a rate of 0.6 percent  in 2012 after growing at 9.2 percent in the previous year.

The corresponding rates of change in imports was 5.9 percent and 8.5 percent. The reality is that both imports and exports were sluggish in 2012 and were not performing robustly in the manner Datuk Idris would like the public to believe.

Conclusion

The article attempts to blind an unsuspecting public into believing that the transformation programs launched by the BN Government have led to miraculous change and put Malaysia on to the road to great prosperity.

The nation is being promised that in five short years from now Malaysia shall have attained the status of a  High Income country.

This forecast is based on false assumptions and dubious manipulation of number. The necessary GDP growth in excess of 6 percentages for the rest of this decade is not within reach as the country has lost its competitiveness.

The truth is that the policies that have been pursued by the BN Government have led the country to become mired in a Middle Income trap; it has become a highly indebted country in grave danger of having to cope with a debt crisis; it is facing massive capital flight and losing further competitiveness as the brain drain continues unabated.

These are not signs of success; these are signs of a country facing ruin unless urgent remedial measures are taken. Datuk Idris is doing the nation a grave disservice by peddling false data. It is imperative that he retract the fairy tales he has put out.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 11:41 am and is filed under
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GE13: MCA doesn’t rule out possibility that Ghani may contest Gelang Patah

The Star

Published: Friday April 5, 2013 MYT 11:26:00 AM

Updated: Friday April 5, 2013 MYT 12:18:05 PM

JOHOR BARU: The MCA does not eliminate the possibility of Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman (pic) coming down to Gelang Patah to contest in the 13th general election.

However, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Friday that there has yet to be a decision on the matter.

“There will be a discussion among the Barisan Nasional component leaders soon but what is important is that Barisan wins,” he said in a press conference after meeting with voters at the Taman Ungku Tun Aminah market in Skudai here Friday.

Dr Chua said that they want a candidate with a good track record and “Abdul Ghani has a proven track record as a Mentri Besar who is accepted by all races.”

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Might as well dissolve MACC after Taib snub

– The Malaysian Insider

April 04, 2013

APRIL 4 – Naughty seems to be the byword in Sarawak.

The long-serving state chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud used that word today to describe the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) for its investigations into alleged graft in timber land awards.

“They don’t deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

The MACC probe was launched after an environmental activist group released a video documentary alleging the state Barisan Nasional chief to have received millions of ringgit in kickbacks over land deals that have denuded the Borneo state.

In the video, the Sarawak people were also called naughty for occupying state land. But for Taib, the MACC is the naughty one now.

“Let them victimise me… I am not scared,” said Taib, expressing no fear over the investigations.

What is the MACC to do now?

All eyes are on the MACC, again. After all, two people have died in the course of their investigations since they were set up in 2009.

WIll it back down and keep quiet after this brazen response from Taib? Won’t this kind of snub embolden others to thumb their nose at the MACC and refuse to cooperate too?

If the MACC doesn’t do anything about this response from Taib, it might as well close shop. It is already working on a trust deficit basis and this snub from Taib has just shown how powerless the commission can be when it comes head-to-head with the powerful.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 7:45 am and is filed under
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Pakatan needs 7pct vote swing to win Putrajaya

By Chong Zhemin | 10:33AM Apr 4, 2013

Malaysiakini

The 13th general election will be the first election in history where Malaysians go to polls knowing that they have a chance to vote for a regime change.

There are three possible outcomes for the coming election:

Scenario 1 – BN regains two-thirds majority

Scenario 2 – Slight gain for Pakatan Rakyat

Scenario 3 – Pakatan wins the election

Scenario 1 – Low possibility

For BN to regain two-thirds majority, BN would need to swing 1.5 percent of Pakatan voters in 2008.

If BN succeeds in this, the coalition will add 11 parliamentary seats to the 140 seats won in 2008, giving them a total of 151 parliamentary seats with a comfortable two-thirds majority.

However, this is unlikely given Chinese voters, which form a significant proportion of the electorate, are reportedly swinging heavily against BN.

[See chart – Scenario 1, left]

Scenario 2 – medium possibility

The second scenario has a medium possibility where the status quo is maintained, with Pakatan gaining an additional nine parliamentary seats.

If Pakatan could swing 1.5 percent of BN voters in 2008, Pakatan can add nine seats to the 82 seats they won in 2008. In total, Pakatan will win 91 parliamentary seats, 21 seats short of a simple majority.

[See chart – Scenario 2, below]

Scenario 3 – high possibility

The third scenario which has a high possibility is where Pakatan forms the next federal government.

In order for this to happen, Pakatan needs to overturn seven percent of BN voters in 2008.

Pakatan would be able to gain an additional 38 seats giving them a total of 120 parliamentary seats to form the next federal government.

[See chart – Scenario 3, below]

In order to overturn seven percent of votes for seats like Lubok Antu – (at the bottom of the list) where BN gets a popular vote of 56.75 percent – for every six Pakatan voters, one BN voter needs to be converted to vote for Pakatan in the coming election (seven percent out of 43 percent is roughly 1 to 6).

To put things into perspective, if every six Pakatan voters could convince one BN voter to vote for Pakatan in the coming election, the third scenario could become a reality.

Political barometer

An interesting side note would be the Gelang Patah seat, to be contested by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang. If Pakatan is only able to swing seven percent of votes from BN, Lim Kit Siang will still lose in Gelang Patah.

However, if Pakatan is able to obtain a swing of an additional one percent, making it a total eight percent of the votes, Pakatan will be able to win eight more seats (including Gelang Patah) giving them a total of 128 seats – a very comfortable majority in the new government.

Hence the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat acts as the political barometer on whether Pakatan could form the next government.

[See chart – If 8% swing, left]

The above scenario is based on the following justifications:

In 2008, the opposition parties did not form any electoral pact hence any cross-voting among the opposition parties in 2008 was limited.

PM Najib Razak has already lost one of his trump cards – the timing of the election – and thus he was unable to take Pakatan by surprise. The opposition is ready for elections this time, unlike in 2008.

The opposition poses a more credible challenge compared to 2008 as they are able to present an alternative budget and election manifesto.

New voters traditionally favour the opposition.

Internet penetration rate is higher than in 2008 making it easier for opposition parties to disseminate information. The opposition parties also have an upper hand in the social media war.

The rise of civil society movements, in particular Himpunan Hijau and Bersih, will help the opposition to garner some fence-sitter votes.

Other factors

BN has provided freebies and cash handouts to the people, and these allow them to strengthen their current vote base in the rural areas which benefitted most from the cash handouts.

The urban voters still favour the opposition and are more interested in the reform agenda rolled out by Pakatan.

However there is a slight possibility that the semi-rural constituency will buy Najib’s transformation plan and swing back to BN, hence giving BN its much-vaunted two-thirds majority.

Najib’s delay in calling the election however shows his lack of confidence in getting back the two-thirds majority, validating the low possibility of this scenario from happening.

The above analysis is based on the 2008 election result without taking into account the three million new voters and transfer of voters from one constituency to another (for example the alleged transfer of 5,000 voters from Seputeh to Lembah Pantai).

Other factors that also need to be considered are the local issues and the strength of candidates.

Nevertheless, the above analysis provides an educated guess on the possible seats that will fall to either BN or Pakatan should there be a swing of votes in the 2013 general election.

CHONG ZHEMIN is a lecturer at a local university.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 11:57 am and is filed under
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‘President’ Najib has failed

By Gobind Rudra

April 4, 2013

COMMENT

As grotesque as it was, Najib sought desperately to adopt the Obama image of a change agent.

Najib Tun Razak has kept to his chosen self-image of a presidential prime minister by calling for a general election only after completing a full four years in office.

In fairnesss, he might even be allowed a measure of self-congratulation, for having stayed the course and completing his “term”, even if it is only in his imagination that his four years as PM can be compared to the fixed four-year term of the US president, and only in his own imagination could he be compared to Barack Obama.

With his image handlers, he has worked hard at projecting himself in the Obama mould — even down to the solecisms of his swearing-in and the King’s proclamation of dissolution and his frenetic adoption of new media savviness and online cool.

His projection of himself in the image as Obama, as absurd as it may seem, could be seen as early as June 2009 when the US president made the semi-obligatory phone call, engineered by the State Department, to the newly-appointed prime minister. Najib recorded it thus in his blog:

“It was our first conversation with each other as Heads of State and we exchanged congratulatory wishes on our respective appointments.”

Well, to start with, there’s only one head of state in Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. For Najib to usurp the King’s position is an act of lese majeste if not possibly treasonous, and I’m surprised that the Keeper of the Ruler’s Seal, the Grand Chamberlain, or other official at Istana Negara did not send an official letter of reprimand to crack the PM on his knuckles.

And again, in trying desperately to put himself at par with the president of the United States, he chose to talk about “our respective appointments”. Wrong.

Barack Obama was not appointed to his job, he was elected president of the United States. Najib was appointed prime minister by his head of state. As prime minister, he is head of government — but not head of state, even though Najib chose to call himself that. Obama, however, is both head of state as well as head of the US government.

Najib is well aware of this, having spent his entire working life in politics and government, besides being a titular Pahang chieftain. That he chose to use the words “head of state” and recorded them in his official blog is a reflection of his own needs to project himself as being one of the big boys.

Unfortunately, he effused them with the cheap reek of the social climber’s over-reaching need for recognition, to be considered among his betters. It bore the cheap reek of the image-builder, more conscious of how he seems and less bothered about what he is.

More grotesque was Najib’s desperate striving for the image of a reformer, of a Obama-like barrier-crashing leap to the top. But the contrasts could not be more obvious.

Obama, the half-breed son of a Kenyan immigrant, the outsider from Hawaii and Illinois, achieved the US presidency in a culmination of decades of efforts by a coloured minority class to cut through centuries of majority-class repression and oppression.

Najib, the English-educated member of the political aristocracy, the consummate insider, sauntered into his father’s constituency, and strolled into the prime minister’s office after a lifetime cruising through the corridors of Malaysian power, always an insider, always a member of the majority, always in the inner circles.

Misplaced efforts

As grotesque as it was, Najib sought desperately to adopt the Obama image of a change agent. He tried, or seemed to try, to shatter the obstacles of social and ethnic privilege that his own majority ruling class had placed in the path of the coloured minorities of Malaysia, while also trying to placate the lumbering fat cats of his class.

His personal efforts, projecting a presidential demeanour and style, were very much at odds with the rest of his party well-ensconced in decades of privilege. His appearances of reaching out — at coffee-shops and stalls, meeting with Chinese educationists, attending minority religious festivals — were personal, thus presidential, seeking to overwhelm a party image of self-serving and self-satisfied indifference with that of a personal image of responsibility and of making an effort.

Ultimately, these efforts are likely to be seen as misplaced.

It is not Malaysian society that needs to change, it is Umno. It is not the leader of Umno who needs to be seen as relevant to Malaysian society, it is Umno itself that must tear away the scab of domineering top-down father-knows-best condescension and reveal the pus in its flesh.

Najib may have meant well, but personal efforts, and being personable, are not enough. He took the easy path, the presidential path, to project himself.

But he is not the president of Malaysia, merely the president of Umno. It is not Malaysia that will elect him as president, merely Umno delegates.

And in his presidential four years, he failed to cause the only meaningful type of changes that would realistically be a catalyst to institutional and systemic change.

The real test of change, the one that Najib has failed, was to change Umno itself.

For change without is nothing without change within.

Gobind Rudra is a former newspaper editor.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 10:35 am and is filed under
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Taib has delivered a coup de grace to Najib’s pretensions of elevating “fighting corruption” as top agenda of his transformation programme when Taib is not only mightier than MACC but also the Prime Minister

The photograph of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak flamboyantly signing the Transparency International-Malaysia (TIM) “Election Integrity Pledge” on February 20 flanked by UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders, with the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, the bete’ noire of international anti-corruption campaigns, glaring malevolently from the back and the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek in a somnabulant pose, will go down as one of the most unforgettable  pics of the 13th General Elections.

This is because nobody, including the TIM President Paul Low, seated importantly on Najib’s left and who could not suppress a cynical sneer,  really believed Najib and his Umno/BN Ministers and colleagues have even an ounce of sincerity in wanting to eradicate grand corruption and gross abuses of power in the country.

It was just a meaningless public relations exercise scripted by Najib’s political consultants and image-builders to score political points in the 13GE, destroying in the process all credibility and legitimacy of TIM’s Election Integrity Pledge.

How can Najib for instance convince Malaysians that he is now a “convert” in the fight against corruption and abuses of power when Malaysia in the past four years is most corrupt in the nation’s 56-year history when compared to the previous five Prime Ministers, whether Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir or Tun Abdullah – as testified by the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) since 1995 well as by the perceptions of all Malaysians down the 56 years of the nation’s history.

In fact, Najib proceeded to violate one item after another of the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge (EIP) before the ink of his signature was dry, chalking quite a catalogue of violations in the 44 days since his signature of the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge which made a total mockery of the four principles of the TI-M EIP, viz:

Truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in corrupt practices in any way;

Upholding and giving priority to the interests of the rakyat as a whole;

Good governance and transparency; and

Compliance with all the applicable laws and regulations of Malaysia.

Is Najib prepared to have a public debate as to whether his as well as the  UMNO/BN endorsement of TI-M EIP is most insincere, hypocritical,  opportunistic and a travesty of the truth?

All these issues and concerns have been brought to the fore with the outburst  yesterday by Taib against the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), declaring:

“They don’t deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest.”

It was reported that the MACC launched a probe after an environmental activist group Global Witness released a video documentary alleging the state Barisan Nasional chief to have received millions of ringgit in kickbacks over land deals that have denuded the Borneo state.

In the video, the Sarawak people were also called naughty for occupying state land. But for Taib, the MACC is the naughty one now.

“Let them victimise me… I am not scared,” said Taib, expressing no fear over the investigations.

The ball is now in Najib’s court. Is MACC going to back down or will Najib direct MACC to proceed to open full investigations, or even better, establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into all the corruption allegations which have been made against Taib and his family.

The establishment of a RCI is one of the decisions which a caretaker government should not take after the dissolution of Parliament, but there can always be exceptions if all political parties, particularly the Pakatan Rakyat, gives consent.

I believe I can speak on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat on this matter and say that PR will fully agree even during this period of the caretaker government to establish a RCI into all the allegations of corruption against Taib and his family, subject to the terms of reference and composition of the RCI being agreed upon by both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

Otherwise, Taib would have delivered a coup de grace to Najib’s pretensions of elevating “fighting corruption” as the  top agenda of his transformation programme when Taib is not only mightier than MACC but also the Prime Minister.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 12:43 pm and is filed under
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Taib says Global Witness video expose was ‘sneaky’

By Zurairi AR

The Malaysian Insider

April 05, 2013

KUCHING, April 5 — Tan Sri Taib Mahmud has challenged Global Witness to debate him on the issue of illegal land deals in Sarawak, and accused the international environmental activist group of having a hidden agenda by visiting Malaysia’s biggest state in a “sneaky way”.

He has also suggested links between Global Witness and opposition parties.

“The timing is too much to ignore … I think there is a link between them and the opposition,” said the long-serving Sarawak chief minister, who noted the release of a video showing how illegal land deals are allegedly brokered in the state happened just before with Election 2013 which will be held soon.

Global Witness’ accusations against him were also the result of second-hand information obtained from the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), Taib said in a video interview uploaded online yesterday.

He invited the international activists to observe the real situation in Sarawak themselves as he trumpeted the state’s many achievements in preserving its forests.

“Global Witness should … not (be) hiding behind some picked up second-hand tales from a fellow NGO,” Taib told the Malaysian Observer (MobTV) channel, referring to environmental and human rights group BMF.

The chief minister was cast into the international spotlight last month after Global Witness released a video documentary alleging the state Barisan Nasional chief to have received millions of ringgit in kickbacks over land deals that have denuded the Borneo state.

He refuted accusations that only five per cent of forests is left in the state, saying that the true picture can be found by looking at the state using Google’s satellite images.

Google maps the Earth using periodic shots taken using satellite imagery and aerial photography in its applications Google Earth and Google Maps.

Taib had said yesterday that he will not co-operate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding his graft allegations as he believes the government body to be “naughty” and “dishonest” in its investigations.

“They don’t deserve my co-operation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest,” he told reporters after attending a Barisan Nasional leadership meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

He has also maintained his innocence, saying his cousins and others implicated in the video expose were promoting themselves to be his agents to solicit favours.

The video, titled “Inside Malaysia’s Shadow State”, showed dealings by Global Witness’ undercover investigators with Taib’s cousins and several other intermediaries to acquire thousands of hectares of forest land, which the group said would displace thousands of indigenous people living there.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 7:23 am and is filed under
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What has Najib done for the Indians during his premiership, Samy?

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 11:08 am and is filed under
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When a Syiok turns into a Slap for Soi Lek!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Friday, 5 April 2013, 10:19 am and is filed under
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