A traitor again?

By Hussein Hamid

Yesterday I received an email that disturbed me. It disturbed me because of the venom that it spewed on me. It said that as a Malay I am a disgrace to my race. That I deserved to be put in ‘neraka’ (hell) for advocating that the Malays no longer should be with UMNO. Do I not know that the orang Cina, India and ‘others’ together with DAP want to take over this country – that it is not ‘keadilan dan demokrasi’ that they want. What they want is the Political Power that now is in the hands of the Malays. We are the Malays! Are you not a Malay…they ask me?

Then I am reminded of the screaming newspaper headlines that I see in the “National” Malay newspapers.

“Ketuanan Melayu Tercabar”

“Jangan Persoal – Ketuanan Melayu bukan jenaka yang boleh dipermainkan”

“Bangkitlah Melayu – Bersatu hadapi tuntutan kaum lain yang makin keterlaluan”

To those that understand Bahasa there is no need for me to translate. To those that do not I will not translate lest I am accused of inciting racial discord.

This is not the first time that I have received emails of this nature. In the past I have patiently read through what they send them and try to understand where they were coming from. We are all entitled to out point of view and it is not only the Malays that have these ‘ultras’ so do the Chinese, the Indians and others. So why did I linger over this particular email? Something clicked in my head. Why not try to reason with this person and bring him to my way of thinking? Not possible. A face to face meeting would probably result in me being verbally abused at best or physically abused at worst. Two things I dislike – rejection and pain! And meeting him will probably expose me to both. I made a cup of green tea and went back to the email and I decided to write this.

In the beginning my first conscious memory of this racial thing was when I was around six years old living in Pendang in Kedah. I remember clearly that our house was beside the road that the Chinese Funeral procession will take on their way to the cemetery. I remember the wailings and the long processions –  sometimes with a band. And I remember that the Malays did not say “Cina mati” …but “Cina mampus” – a derogatory term of death not use by the Malays unless it is to denote disgust for the dead. That memory has stayed with me until now that I am 63 – but only the memory for many years ago I stopped using the term ‘mampus’ to describe the Chinese who have died.

Is it not natural that those who have been bought up to dislike – or even to hate another race for whatever reason – that this dislike, this hate will stay with him or her for a very long time? So what will chage them? It cannot come from within them. It must come from without. For me the beginning was my education at MCKK. This was an all-Malay boarding school in Kuala Kangsar but we had wonderful teachers of all races. Race was never an issue. I left MCKK completely at ease with being amongst the ‘others’ around me. And after MCKK I never looked back to those Pendang days.

Now I am even more aware what we Malays need to do to achieve our own level of comfort amongst the others in Malaysia. But it is my own personal goal wherever I am. I always want to better myself whether I am in London, Bombay, Adelaide or Kuala Lumpur. Race has got nothing to do with it. We must each educate our children of this. How we tell our children to see others will make the difference between the Malaysia that we see now and the Malaysia that we want. It will take one or two generations to make that change but it starts with us and it starts with the right education.

Then we will know that in the time to come our children will not be receiving the kind of emails that I got this morning – an email that is a sad commentary of what UMNO has made some Malays into. A Malay obsessed with Kutuanan Melayu. A Malay haunted with the worry that PAS and Anwar will give DAP ‘kuasa politik Melayu’ and control over the Government in this country. A Malay unable to understand that for the ‘others’ to love Malaysia they must be given equal opportunity and Justice in all things Malaysian because to do otherwise would not be ‘adil’ to those that call Malaysia “HOME”.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 12:00 pm and is filed under
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Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B!

By Hussein Hamid

“The people who live in the kampongs in Bagan Pinang are so very poor, Hussein. They have simple homes, and live simple lives. And they are fine people: friendly, happy, simple, good. It is a shame that despite the fact that their own kind are in power, their lot hasn’t changed”.

“If they hated our (the non malays) guts, I’d not be surprised. I might too, given that I had bumiputera status, and I had less than the bangsa asing that live next door! Sigh, things are so wrong here lah, I wouldn’t know how to change them – there’s so much to do.”

“We’re silenced by the parties that are supposed to represent us (mic, mca, gerakan, and other impotent idiots), so most will be behind Pakatan”.

“I think if we took the government, their slogans and their so-called advice out of the equation, we’d all get along fine! It’s with their help that we have these feelings that we’re not getting enough, or being bullied out of our rightful place! It’s all too stupid”.

This was what I was told when I inquired of a friend living in Bagan Pinang as to what was Bagan Pinang like. That in a nutshell is the situation in Bagan Pinang – if we take the ‘postal votes’ factor out of the equation.

But since when have the wants’s of the people been of concern to UMNO? All that matters to UMNO is how do we stop the rot. How do we stop losing to Pakatan Rakyat?

WE MUST WIN IN BAGAN PINANG !

Win at all costs. If we are not willing to cheat, then we don’t want to win bad enough. Isa gives us the best chance of winning.

Has UMNO come to this?

The coming of the 2008 election was the dawn of a new era for all Political parties in Malaysia – a BRAN NEU DAY – as they say down here.

Pakatan Rakyat was handed a victory that till today they are trying to come to terms with. An assortment of political parties joined together to give the Rakyat an alternative, any alternative, to UMNO and Barisan Nasional. The voters considered the election a referendum on whether they wanted Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. That and that alone decided who won what seats.

The Malays were asked to vote UMNO so that their rights would be protected. The Malays decided that their right would be protected better by Pakatan Rakyat then by UMNO. The Malays decided that after 50 years UMNO have done more for UMNO then for the Malays. We go to where we are cared for – maybe Pakatan Rakyat will deliver. We will hold them to their promise to us.

In their unseemly haste to position themselves in position of power factions in  UMNO decided that they no longer wanted Abdullah Badawi as their President. Rather then be pushed out, Abdullah graciously stepped down.

Did UMNO have a worthy replacement? Yes Najib. Najib? Yes Najib! This would have been our classic Alfred E Neuman moment of “What’s me Worry” if it was just UMNO that was involved. But tragic when the final cost to our country and us is finally accounted for. This Najib is fundamentally flawed.

Already even before he became PM, came the taking of Perak. A classic for the “What not to do” book for future Malaysian Politicians because you are damm if you succeed, damm if you failed. After Perak it was downhill all the way. I will not bore you all with the details but suffice for me to say that the speed with which he was able to make deeper the hole he was already in, was breath taking. Speedy Gonzales would have been proud of Najib – arriva arriva andale andale !!!!

And now Bagan Pinang. ? All that matters to UMNO is “How do we stop the Rot”. How do we stop losing to Pakatan Rakyat?

WE MUST WIN IN BAGAN PINANG !

They are considering Isa Samad as their candidate. Why? Win at all cost. If we are not willing to cheat, then we don’t want to win bad enough.

Has UMNO come to this?

They want so desperately to win this immediate battle unconcern that they will lose the war in the long run? Is there nobody in UMNO moral enough to stand up and say “Not Isa Samad. He has been convicted of corruption”.

Yes I understand that once a man has serve his time he should be given an opportunity to get back into society and earn his keep. I am sorry but he will have to earn his keep somewhere else. Not with me. Would I take an ex convict to work in my garden? No. Would I take him to work in my kitchen? No. What about as my driver? No. And now UMNO is asking the people of Bagan Pinang to accept Isa as their State Assemblyman? The one who is going to be taking care of their area in Parliament? Where is the morality of it all?

Has UMNO really come to this?

Dato Onn, Tunku, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Mahathir and Abdullah Badawi will say “NO”. Even Samy Velu will say “NO”…well he did say “NO” to Subramanium!. But Najib is considering it and Najib is desperate enough to say “YES”. The UMNO Warlords of Negri Sembilan say that they have their White Knight for Bagan Pinang. Isa will save us. Isa will start the tsunami to drown PR.

Najib if you believe that and the results proves that you were right – you will still lose. Because for the people of Malaysia you have made the wrong decision again and you will know that you did come the General Elections.

So for Pakatan Rakyat there is no Plan B. Whatever happens in Bagan Pinang, we win!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 11:16 am and is filed under
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Cleaning up the Judiciary – was the Chief Justice right?

by
Art Harun

When I first read the news report in the Star that YAA Tan Sri Zaki, the Chief Justice, had told 2 errant High Court Judges to voluntarily resign, my initial reaction was one of pleasure. I thought it was good that the CJ has finally cracked the whip and told these useless Judges to leave the Judiciary. However, after having thought about this issue with a little bit more depth, I am now hesitant to say that it was a good move by the Chief Justice.

Our Judiciary was among the best in the Commonwealth prior to 1988. We had people of absolute integrity and capable of serving justice with the highest standard of knowledge of the law coupled with flawless judicial temperament. Tun Suffian was highly regarded as among the finest. His Majesty the Sultan of Perak, Raja Azlan Shah was among the best. Tan Sri Eusoffee Abdool Cadeer, who would scold Counsel in Latin, could teach a thing or two about the law even to some British law Lords themselves. And at the lower rung of the Courts, we had Judges such as Dato’ VC George; Dato’ Mahadev Shanker; Dato’ NH Chan; Dato’ Razak Abu Samah, Tan Sri Harun Hashim et al. It was indeed a pleasure and an honour for me, as a young Counsel then, to appear before all these legal giants.

Of course the regime of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad had to change it all in 1988. Just after the highest Court of the land, led by none other than Tun Salleh Abbas had bent over backward to appease the Government in the UEM vs Lim Kit Siang case – and in the process set our administrative law back by about 50 years! – Tun Salleh was himself subjected to the ignominy of having to defend himself before a doubtful tribunal. The rest is history.

Our Judiciary was never the same again, until today. Tun Dr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s efforts in restoring some semblance of integrity in our Judiciary had seen the establishment of a Judicial Appointment Committee. How far does that go towards restoring public confidence in our Judiciary? When the absolute power of appointment still rest with the Prime Minister and nobody else, what does it matter whether there is a JAC or not? The JAC might well be just another coat of paint on a very old and rickety wooden hut full of white ants. Or favoured by Tan Sri Eusoffee, it is a very thick white sauce over a very large red herring.

To a large extent, the public have become numb with our Judiciary. The people know that there are some honest and hard working souls in there. But the people also perceive some unsavoury shenanigans in there. To top it up, the appointment of YAA Tan Sri Zaki, a former leading UMNO legal adviser, as the Chief Justice served to fan discontent with a section of the public.

Lord Chief Justice Hewart’s oft repeated pronouncement, “justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done”, is not only a legal truism as much as it is in fact an expectation. However, there is an obvious lack of appreciation as to what this phrase entails on the part of our Judiciary and Government. It really does not matter whether a given Judge had arrived at a decision after having applied the relevant laws honestly, with absolute integrity and the soundest of reasoning. If the ultimate stakeholder of the Judiciary, namely the people and litigants perceive that there is something wrong or improper, than justice is not seen to be done.

To illustrate, just imagine a situation where a brother of mine is a Judge (none of my brothers is a Judge I must hasten to add). Let’s say I have a case and the case is heard by my brother. Now, regardless of the fact that my brother is the most honest person on earth, and regardless of the fact that he has decided the case in my favour correctly under the law, justice is not seen to be done. This is because he is my brother. How could he hear and decide on my case? That is the crux of it all.

I have stated that the ultimate stakeholder is of course the litigants and the people. The people look to the Judiciary for justice and implementation of the law. The Judiciary is therefore not a private institution. It is an institution which is in the public domain. Although the Judiciary, theoretically, is not answerable to any branch of the administration of this country, it must however be able to withstand the closest of scrutiny by the people. And it must be able to take it up its chin with nary a grimace on its face.

The legal fraternity is pregnant with speculations as to the identity of the two Judges who are now asked to leave. The antics of one of these two Judges have been a source of wonderment for a very long time. He has been misbehaving from day one. His was a case of a Judge who was contemptuous of the very seat of justice which he himself occupies! Thus it is a source of another great puzzlement as to the timing of him being asked to leave. Why now? Or why only now? I am sure the public would ask.

Judges are well protected under the law. And it is not any insignificant law at that. They are protected by no less than our Federal Constitution. Under Article 127 for instance, the conduct of a Judge cannot even be discussed by Parliament without a notice of a substantive motion being given by not less than a quarter of the total number of Parliamentarians. Also, a Judge cannot be dismissed except by His Majesty the King upon a recommendation by a tribunal established under Article 125.

Such is the protection accorded to Judges. This is necessary in order to prevent the Executives (the Government) from interfering with the Judiciary by asserting powers of dismissal or transfer at its own whims and fancies. Nevertheless, with compliant cohorts, 1988 has proven that despite such protection, the system could still be breached!

It is therefore imperative that any decision to remove any Judges, whether by reasons of misbehaviour or wrongdoings, must be done, and ONLY be done, in accordance with the procedure enshrined in the Federal Constitution. It does not speak volume for us to say that the procedure would be too expensive, time consuming or cumbersome. It is there for a reason.

My concern is this. What will the public now think? They do not know what these two Judges had done. Is justice seen to be done? To the people, it might not be. They could question the real intention. Why wasn’t the Federal Constitution followed? What were the complaints against them? With all due respect, to ask Judges to resign voluntarily in the comfort of the Chief Justice’s chambers without laying out the exact reasons, in clear and precise terms, is a recipe for disaster. The Judiciary is not a private coperation or institution where disciplinary proceedings could be initiated and proceeded with behind closed doors.

Had there been a tribunal, all these would be in the public domain. There would not be any speculation. Nor would there be any suspicion of unsavoury motive or motivation. If a citizen could be given the right to be heard, – and this includes the right to be defended – why wouldn’t a Judge be accorded such right?

With all due respect, this is a dangerous precedent. And it is not going to help improve the image of the Judiciary. Not when justice is not seen to be done.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 3:44 pm and is filed under
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There can be no meaningful 1Malaysia when Malaysia Day Sept. 16 is regarded as a Sabah and Sarawak event rather than as a national celebration

For the 46th year today, Malaysia Day is commemorated in national disunity rather than national unity.

This should not be the case as five months ago, when Datuk Seri Najib Razak become the sixth Prime Minister, he had proclaimed the new motto of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

Najib had the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past 45 years with the  people of Sabah and Sarawak marginalized from the mainstream of national development although it was the support of the people of  Sabah and Sarawak in the political tsunami of the March 8, 2008 general elections which had kept the Barisan Nasional Federal Government afloat.

In the general elections last year Barisan Nasional won 140 Parliamentary seats  as against the Pakatan Rakyat’s 82, but 54 of the BN parliamentary seats came from Sabah and Sarawak (Sabah 24 and Sarawak 30).

Without these 54 parliamentary seats from Sabah and Sarawak, BN would be reduced to 86 seats out of 222 MPs in Parliament, evicting the BN from Putrajaya into the Opposition and Najib today would have been Parliamentary Opposition Leader instead of Prime Minister.

So long as Malaysia Day is regarded as a Sabah and Sarawak event rather than as a national celebration, there can be no meaningful 1Malaysia for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or territory.

The 52nd National Day on August 31 came and went under very subdued and even somber circumstances, not only because of the A (H1N1) pandemic but because of a recrudescence of communalism, chauvinism  and religious intolerance in the country like the cow-head protest sacrilege in Shah Alam  three days before National Day.

Everyone noticed the absence of national flags throughout the country whether on buildings or vehicles.

Najib’s 1Malaysia could not have a worse start with this year’s National Day and Malaysia Day.

There can be no meaningful 1Malaysia when Malaysia Day Sept. 16 is regarded as a Sabah and Sarawak event rather than as a national celebration.

Pakatan Rakyat has pledged to do what the Barisan Nasional has failed to do – to declare September 16 as a national public holiday.

This will mean that Malaysia will have two National Days – August 31st as Merdeka Day and September 16 as Malaysia Day.

Malaysia will then join the rank of countries like India and Pakistan which commemorate two National Days a year as national public holidays.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 September 2009, 12:20 pm and is filed under
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Best Hari Raya present Najib can give country is to declassify all Cabinet minutes and documents relating to PKFZ scandal

In the past five-and-a-half months of his premiership, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had made  valiant attempts to project his administration’s commitment to reform, accountability, integrity and good governance as exemplified by his slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”, his website, walkabouts  and his emphasis on KPIs with the appointment of two KPI Ministers.

But all these efforts by Najib had failed to convince the Malaysian public that the Prime Minister is committed or capable of fundamental change in government.

One important reason is the long drawn-out farce of the
RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal
 – resulting in the public fallout between the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing who is also the CEO of the PKFZ turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd  and other political skirmishes in MCA, Umno and Barisan Nasional.

For the past three consecutive  days, fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin has published on his website Malaysia Today documents including Cabinet papers throwing light on the extent of Cabinet involvement in the PKFZ scandal, snowballing from a RM1.1 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister to RM4.6 billion in 2006 under Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy and now set to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong Tee Keat.

Does the Prime Minister deny the veracity and authenticity of the official and Cabinet documents about the PKFZ scandal revealed by Raja Petra on his website, whether they fall under the Official Secrets Act or otherwise?

Have  these documents been brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC)  investigating into the PKFZ scandal, and if not, isn’t it right and proper that the PAC should extend its sessions on testimony from  witnesses to bring  these documents within its cognizance  before reaching its end stage to formulate its conclusions and findings for submission to Parliament?

The person most suitable to be summoned by the PAC to throw light on these official and Cabinet documents would be none other than the Cabinet Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan who was appointed to the highest civil service position in September 2006.

In fact, the PAC should question Mohd Sidek to find out why in the past two years he had failed  to carry out the Cabinet decision to investigate and take the necessary action against those responsible for landing the government and country with  the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – especially on  the unlawful issue of the four Letters of Support by the former Transport Ministers, Ling and Chan!

The failure of the PAC to summon Mohd Sidek to give testimony in its inquiry into the PKFZ scandal will be a major and even fatal one affecting the credibility and acceptability of the final PAC report.

In fact, it is precisely because of Mohd Sidek’s failure  to carry out the Cabinet’s decision in 2007 to investigate and take the necessary actions against the culprits of the PKFZ scandal that there is widespread skepticism and cynicism about the Super Task Force under  his chairmanship into the PKFZ scandal announced by Najib last week – as it smacks of being a Super “Cover-Up” Task force more than anything else.

For this reason, the PAC should suspend its deliberations on its conclusions on the PKFZ inquiry to summon the Chief Secretary as Mohd Sidek’s testimony can completely change the entire character of the PAC’s findings, especially in the light of the official and Cabinet documents published by Raja Petra on his website in the past three days.

The best Hari Raya present Najib can give the country on his first Hari Raya as Prime Minister is to declassify all Cabinet minutes and documents on the PKFZ scandal  to send out two unmistakable messages to the nation and the world , viz

his commitment to accountability, integrity and good governance and  that he and  his administration have nothing to fear or hide in the PKFZ scandal; and

an end to the culture of impunity and that  no one implicated in the PKFZ “mother of all scandals”, regardless of  his  position or status, whether in MCA, Umno or any Barisan Nasional party, is above the law  and will be brought to justice so that the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal will not end up as another “heinous crime without criminals” like the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal three decades ago.

Otherwise, the coming Hari Raya holidays will be another gloomy one in terms of public accountability, integrity and good governance.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 September 2009, 3:42 pm and is filed under
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Raja Petra’s Malaysia-Today website not accessible – any connection with disclosure of the PKFZ Cabinet documents?

Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s
Malaysia-Today
 website is not accessible.

Has it anything to do with the
RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ)
 documents, including Cabinet papers, on the website in the past three days?

New Straits Times reported today that investigations have been ordered into Malaysia-Today’s disclosures of secret official government documents showing how the Port Klang Free Zone issue had spiraled into disaster.

The Attorney-General Tan Sri
Gani Patail was quoted as saying that if the document was genuine
, action could be taken against the editor of the website under the Official Secrets Act.

The time has come for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to honour his pledge of public accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance which must include a commitment to freedom of information and respecting the right of Malaysians to information about the entire process as to how Malaysia could be landed with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal through three Prime Ministers, three Transport Ministers and four Port Klang Authority Chairmen.

To do this, it is essential that the Prime Minister should declassify all relevant PKFZ government documents, including Cabinet papers, to public scrutiny as there can be no security justification to continue to protect these information as “official secrets” under the Official Secrets Act.

This is why I said yesterday that the best Hari Raya present Najib can give the country is to declassify all government official documents, including Cabinet minutes and papers relating to PKFZ scandal to demonstrate his commitment to accountability, integrity and good governance.

Are there Ministers whether from Umno, MCA, MIC, Gerakan or the other BN component parties who are prepared to come forward publicly to support the call for the declassification of all official documents, including Cabinet papers, on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, for the country to  move towards accountability, integrity and good governance?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2009, 2:28 pm and is filed under
IT
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OSA
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PKFZ
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Vrroooom….vrrooom

By Hussein Hamid

It would seem that Malaysia is once again, in the words of our Prime Minister Najib, raising its “profile on the world stage” by having it’s own team in Formula One next year. The first thought that hit me was this – if BMW has decided to wind down its Formula One Team after just four seasons in order to focus the resources that had been expended on the company’s F1 program to the “development of new drive technologies and projects in the field of sustainability” why oh why must this fool rush in where angels fear to tread?

Here are the other headlines news that is relevant to this issue – relevant because it only serves to complicate matters and again confirm that the usual suspects are involved – Politics, ‘big business’ well known personalities and taking money from the Rakyat:

“This is where the cars will be designed, manufactured and tested. It will be ‘Made-in-Malaysia, by Malaysians’ and of course, the pit-stops will be run by Malaysians,” he said. Najib.

The company behind the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs.

The FIA has announced that a 13th slot has been awarded to the Malaysian-backed Lotus F1 Team. The BMW entry remains undecided, which means that Lotus will have to build its cars in England.

The team will almost certainly be buying the Sauber operation in Hinwil and it is anticipated that the engines will be Ferraris.

It will be announced later today that the Malaysian government will be funding a Formula 1 team in 2010 and that the entry has been granted.

It is believed that the team will be funded by the automobile company Proton and will probably be called Team Lotus and be backed by Petronas money.

“Our F1 team will also have technical experts from outside Malaysia to ensure that we are ready to compete on the world’s most prestigious racing stage.”

Nicolas Todt, the son of FIA Presidential candidate Jean Todt, who is a partner in ART Grand Prix, the GP2 team that won the title last weekend with Nico Hulkenberg. Todt has the ambition to run an F1 but only in the right circumstances. His father in well connected in Malaysia thanks to his partner Michelle Yeoh.

The company behind the team is a partnership between the Malaysian Government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. The team will initially be based at the RTN facility in Norfolk. RTN was built by Toyota for its initial Formula One programme and then used by Bentley for its successful Le Mans programme.

The team’s future design, R&D, manufacturing and technical centre will be purpose built at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.

The team’s technical director will be Mike Gascoyne. The team has agreed an engine supply deal with Cosworth and a wide variety of technical partnerships.

The usual suspects were paraded. Funded by Proton and backed by Petronas money. Funded by the Government!

Is this going to be another MV Augusta situation? Has not Proton learned a lesson from its disastrous Euro 70 million ‘investment’ in MV Agusta then under administration which was explained to us layman as being Protons mother of all business coup to enable Proton to “tap into MV Agusta group’s styling ability; technical expertise and well-developed distribution network” as Proton then CEO Tengku Mahleel was quoted as saying in June 2004.

Less then a year later Proton sold their 59% stake in MV Agusta for One Euro and yet a year later Harley Davidson Inc bought MV Agusta for US109million.

Logic tells me that if BMW lasted four years in Formula One – how long will we last? I say WE because if Proton and Petronas money are involved then it is OUR money –and we should have a say in whether we should go into Formula One or not. The other “investor” has all made their money off the Rakyat in those few short years that they have been in “business”.

It is no great secret that Formula 1 is a sport for the rich and money is the only master of the game. Dollars are counted in the hundreds of millions. Do we need the distraction of Formula One seeing the state our country is in? Why not use whatever money Proton has now to give us a better and cheaper car that more Malaysians can afford to buy? Why not use Petronas money for Malaysian. The people of Kelantan could use some money now. There are enough poor in Malaysia that would have need of the money that Petronas will spend on Formula One. But as usual our Government will not allow the loss of hundreds of our millions of Ringgit to get in the way of raising THEIR profile on the world stage.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2009, 5:00 am and is filed under
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Hussein Hamid
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Were Umno’s Slippers Soleless, Mukhriz?

By G. Krishnan

Are you keeping track of the slippers being flung so far in the slipper spat that has ensued? I have to admit, a few more of these slippers and I might just lose track of who is partaking in it – not to mention the ‘quality’ of the slipper being flung, by whom, and in which direction!

Mahathir’s most recent confession that the hits he took to his image from the slippers hurled at him from several within Umno itself must surely be one of the unequivocal highlights of this slipper fight. I can only imagine the sheer embarrassment – not to mention utter shock – this must come to those Umno cronies after they apparently flexed their muscles and primed themselves to fling Sukumaran and the MIC with their own political slippers.

Of course this retort by Mahathir about Umno having done more to insult him than Sukumaran’s now famous ‘slipper garland’ comment triggered so many me images and phrases in my mind: Umno hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle black, blowback, getting burnt, self-inflicted wound, and a stunt that backfired are but just some of the things that came to mind.

In case you’re wondering – yes, I was smiling as I read what Mahathir had to say about the insults by Umno’s lackeys against him. Of course, among other things, this raises the obvious question: where was Mukhriz and his cronies when his father was being insulted by his fellow Umno comrades? Was something else more of a priority to Mukhriz than defending his father when those Umno lackeys were belittling his father? Did he think that the slippers those Umno people were hurling at his daddy did not have soles? Well, according to daddy, sounds like those slippers not only had soles, they were made from some robust leather since they were much more painful for daddy. Perhaps something else was thicker than blood back then, eh Mukhriz? Hmm…. I wonder what it could have been?

Seems as if Mukhriz still has lots of growing up to do, and perhaps daddy can remind him that those who live in a glass house should not throw slippers. But then again, it may not be a bad idea if daddy also took this advise to heart.

Parenthetically, a strange thing happened – somehow I couldn’t find any big splash about Mahathir’s swipe at his Umno comrades’ insults against him in Utusan Malaysia. I wonder why that is. Hmm….

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 September 2009, 11:14 am and is filed under
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How to make 1Malaysia motto a meaningful slogan instead of being the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt

Happy Hari Raya Aidilfiltri to all Muslims in Malaysia.

As the first Hari Raya under new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, it should be an occasion for Malaysians regardless of faith, race or political beliefs to give real meaning to his 1Malaysia slogan so that it will not be  short-lived and the butt of ridicule, derision and contempt like the slogans of previous premiers.

However, Najib’s praise for Utusan Malaysia for being “the voice of the people, especially the Malay community” could not have come at a worse time with a more disastrous consequence, when Utusan Malaysia had been most guilty in fanning racial and religious ill-will and misunderstanding in recent months.

Malaysia’s international competitiveness recently came under a cloud with two adverse global rankings – falling three places from 21st to 24th ranking in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2009-2010 and a drop of two places in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times from 21st to 23rd placing.

With institutional efficiency, independence and professionalism a major factor in Malaysia’s fall in international competitiveness rankings, and no signs of meaningful institutional reforms as evident from the prolonged crisis of confidence in key institutions like the judiciary, the police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency, the Elections Commission and the public service, Malaysia’s future in the global arena is grim.

A meaningful slogan, programme and policy of 1Malaysia is one response – but not when 1Malaysia is mere rhetoric contradicted at every turn of reality that it stands for the very opposite of an united, harmonious and competitive Malaysia.

Some food for thought.

[2009 Hari Raya Message]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2009, 4:08 pm and is filed under
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Joining Formula 1 is glamorous but will not help to make Malaysia a high income developed country

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser

The other day PM Najib’s kitchen cabinet announced plans to make Malaysia a high income developed country.  Two days later he announced Malaysia will become a F1 racing country to bring glory and prestige as a renowned automobile producer of world standards.

Proton is sucking up millions every year of taxpayers’ money to support the automobile industry, and now F1 will require spending a billion or more annually. It will increase the financial burden of the people.

Tun Mahathir supports the F1 initiative because it will bring publicity worth millions for Malaysia, as F1 races are splashed across the media. He forgets that it will also focus on the sorry state of the automobile industry headed by Proton.

Instead of sponsoring F1, PM Najib and former-PM Mahathir should pull up their sleeves and turn the automobile industry around to be as successful as the Thai automobile manufacturing. Thailand is now internationally known as the ‘Detroit of SE Asia’

Thailand is not chasing for F1 fame because it does not bring fortune.

The Thais do not have a national car to subsidise, like Malaysia. They take the road of liberalisation and invite international car makers to support their automobile programme.

PM Najib should take note that HONDA and BMW, world famous car makers have lost interest in F1 and have pulled out of the F1 racing grid.

He should also be aware that LOTUS F1 in its heydays in the nineties won 6 coveted F1 constructors title. But what good did Lotus bring to the British auto industry, which is in a sorry state? Its one time branded car makers had to be bailed out by US and European car makers.

It is doubtful that participation in F1 will help to develop the economy of the country and contribute to the making of a high income Malaysia.

We respectfully suggest that the two Prime Ministers should concentrate their energy to save the automobile industry liberalisation measures. Stop subsidising Proton and let there be free competition of all motor makers, which is the successful formula adopted by Thailand, the ‘Detroit of SE Asia’

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2009, 12:33 pm and is filed under
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Malaysian Election and Army votes

Malaysian Election and Army votes I

by drrafick

1. With the Bagan Pinang by-election just around the corner there have been concerns voiced by Pakatan Rakyat and the Rakyat as to whether there will be manipulations by Barisan with regards to the Army Postal votes . Nearly 5000 postal votes from the Army will make a difference to the results  of the by-elections and being a former serviceman, I know that their concern is not without merit. Allow me to share my experience of going through 3 elections while I was serving in the Army.

2. Soldier’s votes are very important to Barisan as we all know that their numbers are significant when they are located in high concentration areas. I am not sure how many remembered that Najib won narrowly in Pekan during the General Election that took place after Anwar was sacked from UMNO. In that year, Najib the number of postal votes that came from the Army and Air Force base in Batu 9 and Batu 10 Kuantan made all the difference to him winning.

3. During the same GE,  Anuar Musa  lost the Ketereh seat because the airman at the Gong Kedak, which is located at the border of Kelantan and Terengganu, chose to abstain from voting. The camp is unique as it is located right at the border of Kelantan and Terengganu. They live in Terengganu and they go to work by crossing the road which brings them into Kelantan. They votes goes into Anuar Musa area in Kelantan. I remember when his wife complained to me that the soldiers were ungrateful for not voting BN.

4. In Bagan Pinang, the impact is significant as the Basic Army Training center is located there. At any one time there are easily a few thousand recruits and soldiers in the Camp. I am not quite sure where the electoral boundaries are but there are many other Army training centers along the famous PD beach road. Certainly there will be concerns by Pakatan Rakyat on the impact of these votes. Unfortunately their concern appears to be targeted at different matters.

5. PR is concern that the election will be rigged. They are concern about multiple votes from one person and they are also concern of Pakatan Rakyat’s accessibility accessible to the voters during campaigning. This would be their greatest mistake. I would say they should not be concern about the election being rigged or they not being able to campaign. They should be concern with soldiers being ordered to vote BN as well as the possibility that other people will be tasked with crossing the voting papers on behalf of the recruit and soldiers.

6. During the GE when Anwar was sacked, my voting rights were denied as the voting paper was not in TUDM Subang but was in Mindef. When I went to the voting center, I was told by the adjutant that my name is not in the list under Subang but was located in Mindef. I was given a number to call.

7. I remember calling them vigorously from morning and finally getting through at about 400pm. The Corporal that answered my call and confirmed that my voting papers were in Mindef. He said it would be difficult for me to go to Mindef and would probably not make it on time. He told me he could help me to cross the papers. I only need to tell him whom to vote. I told him not to do anything but my gut feeling is that someone had vote BN on my behalf.

8. In Bagan Pinang, PR biggest concern should not be about campaigning among the soldiers. They should be concern about how soldiers and recruits would be forewarned and will be ordered to vote certain individuals or certain symbols. Being recruits whose young brain and mind has been thrashed, they will follow orders. They would prefer to follow orders just to get a weekend pass or to avoid being forced to march with 40kg packs on their back.

9. I am not sure how PR wants to ensure that the recruits and soldier can vote without fear or favor. The soldiers will go and cast their papers under MAFREL and under Pakatan Rakyats agent’s nose but they will never be able to ensure that the soldiers are casting their votes on their own free will. If they expect any of the soldiers or recruits to change their mind based on campaign promises, I can say for sure that they are expecting a big surprise. The only way they can win is they know exactly how many soldiers are there in the camp and they need to find matching numbers among the civilians population to neutralize this numbers and then work triple hard to get the rest of the voters to vote for them. Other than that they need some serious divine intervention.

Malaysian Election and Army Votes II

by drrafick

1. A regular commentator on my blog sends me an email requesting me to provide more details on how the voting takes place among soldiers during election. I thought I would share it with some readers for the purpose of knowledge but I must qualify that the process that I am about to describe what was actually the process that I went through prior to leaving the Armed Forces 10 years ago. There might have been some changes since them which I am not privy to.

2. Soldier’s position in a camp or station is very dynamic. Some people go in and others go out. Soldiers are always posted in or posted out or they came in for temporary duties. Every time a soldier is posted in there will be movement orders and in would published in “Perbah II”. This publication is signed by the unit commander which basically sorts of confirmed that someone has been posted in or has been posted out.

3. The moment someone is registered on Perbah II, he is considered “a local resident of the camp” and he can vote. This is a secret document which only stays within the military circulation. It goes without saying that depending on who gave the orders and how the camp commander wants to play ball, Perbah II can always be backdated. Once published, the soldier can cast his vote. There are some ball careers or spineless officers in the Army that is willing to do this. I have seen enough to identify such a character. These are the kind of people that goes up the rank via the “express lane”.

4. It used to be that the entire election process is conducted by the Military themselves. It is being organized by a team set up under the OC Admin or the Adjutant. These two characters are very powerful influencing characters that can make a difference on whether election takes care neatly or otherwise.

5. They organized the place, the military verification officers, the schedule of voting and they control the ballot papers. The EC officers usually observe from a distant and usually do not interfere in the process. They would only receive the sealed bag once voting completes. I was told that since the last 2 GE, political parties agents are allowed to observe the voting process which was absent previously. As usual, the voting exercise is done few days earlier than the actual voting by the general public and while waiting for counting the soldiers ballot are kept in a safe place. In theory it is kept by EC. In practical sense, your guess is as good as mine.

6. Some people may be wondering when and how the votes can be manipulated. Firstly soldiers can be brought in and their names are published as unit member’s days before the election. Those who are brought normally have been screened and selected. They will be briefed and will be ordered wisely. They will be told that informed that the Army has ways to find out who they voted for. Indeed the system is not perfect. Post election, we could find out who the soldiers voted based on the serial numbers on the paper as well as the soldiers Bat C 10 No.

7. At the same time soft campaign is being done by those in the government. It is time for “Majlis gotong royong or Majlis perjumpaan dengan ADUN or Menteri. There will be good makan! Food is definitely better than the Armed Forces Messes ration. The soldiers will be advice gently to vote the right party. The serious side of advice is done by several officers.

8. Since the soldiers voted earlier than the general public, there is a long waiting time between the actual voting and the counting of their votes. These votes can be manipulated. The bags that contain the votes can disappears or be change. This is a serious concern that can actually change the result of an election.

9. Among the many factors that would affect the soldiers decision during voting is their mindset. As soldiers that are trained to follow orders and live in fear of their superiors, their mental state has been primed right up to the point they mark X on the paper.

10. The system is not perfect. It is open for manipulation by design. No serious effort is being taken by EC to ensure that soldiers voting exercise would be free from influence.

11. Maybe the EC should maintain a separate electoral rolls for soldiers and policeman which is updated quarterly and during a by election, the latest list is to be used. The election must be done outside their camps in public areas and managed accordingly by civilian volunteers under the eyes of the respective agents. Their votes must be counted on the same day and the result is announced to the agents as well as the public. The downside of this process outweighs the benefit of convincing the public that EC is truly fair and clean.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2009, 11:33 am and is filed under
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Why didn’t AG Gani prosecute previous Transport Ministers Ling and Chan for unlawfully issuing 4 Letters of Support causing the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

 Today’s media report top government leaders virtually falling upon one another in their competition to denounce and declare action being taken against fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and Malaysia-Today website under the Official Secrets Act for leaking on the Internet an 18-page Treasury Memorandum to the Cabinet in June 2007 on the
RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal
.

Led by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, those who had spoken of action under the Official Secrets Act include the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar and Director of Commercial Criminal Investigation Department, Datuk Koh Hong Sun.

However, none of them has shown any concern about the right to know of Malaysians about the hows and whys the taxpayers are being burdened with the “mother of all scandals” – the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal running through three Prime Ministers, three Finance Ministers and four Port Klang Authority Chairmen.

Najib said: “We will inform the people what we should concerning the case and we will do so later but that is no excuse to reveal cabinet papers.”

The question Najib has failed to answer is why the Cabinet papers on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal should continue to be kept as secret documents instead of being declassified, unless the Barisan Nasional has skeletons in the cupboard which must be kept hidden from public knowledge and scrutiny.

As former member of the Cabinet, the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Datuk Azmi Khalid would have access and digested the Cabinet documents on the PKFZ scandal.

Why didn’t the PAC, under his chairmanship, summon the Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to appear to help the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal and testify as to the information given to the Ministers and the decisions taken by the Cabinet on the issue?

Shouldn’t the PAC take a stand that all the Cabinet documents and papers relating to the PKFZ scandal should be declassified not only for full study by the PAC buit also by all MPs and the Malaysian public – unless there are skeletons which must be kept hidden?

In the PAC hearing on August 12, the Attorney-General Gani Patail had made clear his position that the four Letters of Support issued by the two previous Transport Ministers Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy from 2003 – 2006 for the RM4 billion bonds by the PKFZ turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB) – and which has landed the government with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – were in fact Letters of Guarantee and had been unlawfully issued.

The next logical question is why the Attorney-General did not prosecute the two former Transport Ministers for unlawfully issuing the four Letters of Support landing the taxpayers with the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

This is the question which the Attorney-General and the government leadership should be answering instead of running after Raja Petra and Malaysia-Today under the Official Secrets Act for their role as whistleblowers.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 September 2009, 12:38 pm and is filed under
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In The Spirit of Eid ul Fitra

By M. Bakri Musa

I applaud Prime Minister Najib Razak for releasing five more prisoners held under the unjust and abominable Internal Security Act (ISA).  That he did it in the last Ashra (ten days) of Ramadan, and within days of Hari Raya, captures best the true spirit of Ramadan and the generosity of Eid ul Fitra.

       Najib’s generous gesture illustrates another important point.  Leaders do not need to resort to catchy slogans or grandiose gestures in order to demonstrate the greatness of our faith.  His releasing the prisoners (this latest group of five, plus the earlier 13 set free on his assuming office and the 16 a few weeks later) did more to enhance the image of Islam than all the pontifications of his predecessor and self-styled Imam of Islam Hadhari, Abdullah Badawi.  Abdullah’s frequent recitations of the ideals of Islam notwithstanding, he did not release a single prisoner during his tenure.

       The only sour note to this latest action was the idiotic (what else is new?) comment by Home Minister Hishammuddin. He threatened “to fill Kamunting to the brim” if that was what it would take to protect the nation’s security.  Despite his long years in government he has learned nothing; he still has the same perverted priorities.

       Hishammuddin and others of his persuasion must be reminded over and over, for they are prone to forget, that the greatest threat to our nation’s security, and indeed our well being, remains our corrupt and ineffective institutions, including and especially the police and the anti-corruption commission.  Both agencies are under Hishammuddin’s direct purview.

       Two of the five just released had been detained for nearly eight years.  That is a very long time to be deprived of one’s freedom, and to be away from one’s loved ones.  It is well to remember that one of the purposes of Ramadan is to remind Muslims to feel for the pains of hunger of those less fortunate.  In this regard, the wife of one of the men released, Mat Sah, had dutifully blogged (Merah Hitam: www.lailagmi.blogpsot.com) the sufferings she and her son Suhaib endured during the nearly eight years that the family was without a husband and a father.

       I suggest that Hishammuddin and others who favor the ISA read her blog.  If their conscience is not at all pricked by the running accounts of this young mother, then I suggest that they read Kassim Ahmad’s The Second University:  Detention Under the ISA, and Syed Hussin Ali’s Two Faces:  Detention without Trial.

       If Hishammuddin is still not persuaded as to the evilness of the ISA, then I respectfully suggest that he is not entitled to be the beholder of the title “Yang Berhormat,” let alone be a minister in charge of such an important portfolio.

       For every individual the government sends to Kamunting without affording him or her due process means a failure of our security apparatus and other institutions.  Had our institutions, especially our intelligence gathering and law enforcement agencies been effective, we should have been able to secure enough evidence to charge and convict them.

       We are told that there are nine more still detained under the ISA.  Until they too are released, or charged in open court, their detention will remain a blemish on the nation’s record.  Nor should we remain quiet as to their plight, for the authorities are only too eager to read our silence as tacit approval.

       We should not rest or take comfort until Kamunting is emptied and the ISA repealed.

       One of those still detained is a fugitive from Singapore, Mas Selamat.  Hishammuddin should entertain an extradition application from that republic.  If nothing else that would give us an opportunity to evaluate the conviction of Mas Selamat down there.

       If Hishammuddin feels strongly that the current detainees are a threat to Malaysia’s security then he should share the evidence he has with us and be prepared to charge them in court.  Like his many predecessors, Hishammuddin has not demonstrated any credibility for us to believe merely his utterances.

       Those citizens were deprived of their basic dignity and human rights by the decision of one man:  the Home Minister.  There is no provision for a judicial or other review of his pronouncement.  His word is supreme.  In our faith, only Allah has that power.

       That is an awesome responsibility to put on any human being.  Only the reckless and conscienceless would shoulder that responsibility lightly and thus would make flippant comments as wanting “to fill Kamunting to the brim.”

       In the words of the Sudanese reformist Mahmoud Mohamad Taha (1909-85), “No person is perfect enough to be entrusted with the liberty and dignity of others.”  Hence we need an effective system of checks and balances to minimize the risk of miscarriage of justice.

       Tradition has it that once while Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., was leading a prayer, there was some confusion over the verse he had recited.  After the prayer he turned to his companion Umar and inquired, “Where you present with us [during the prayer]?”  When Umar replied in the affirmative, the prophet then asked him, “Why then did you not correct me?”

       Muslims rightly regard Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., as the embodiment of the perfect human being.  Our leaders and ministers are far from that.  Thus we must not be fearful of or even hesitate in correcting our leaders when we think they have gone astray.  The sooner we do this the less likely they would lead us further down the wrong path.

       It is also incumbent upon leaders to straighten those under them who have strayed or demonstrate a tendency to do so.  In releasing this latest batch of ISA detainees, Najib Razak demonstrated best the spirit of generosity and forgiveness that is the essence of Ramadan and Eid ul Fitra.  He should not hesitate to correct the waywardness of those under him, beginning with his cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 September 2009, 11:30 am and is filed under
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Government of Malaysia Inc

KJ John

Malaysiakini

Sep 22, 09

I cannot agree with bloggers Art Harun and Lim Kit Siang more. Both have basically argued a similar concern; why is the government acting as if they privately own the country.

Yes, to their minds the chief secretary to the government and chief justice are both CEO appointments – one for the executive branch of the public services, and the other for the judicial services. Both are accused of “doing things as they like”, as if they are in a private corporation and answerable to no one outside of the “cabinet” as their board of directors.

Allow me to repeat their arguments for those who did not follow them.

Art Harun, a lawyer in his own right, and a very articulate one at that, argues that the chief justice has basically over-stepped his bounds if he asked the two errant judges to resign privately, without being charged officially and publicly. He has basically no authority to ask them to leave privately; as this is neither a private appointment nor a private matter. This is not Government of Malaysia Private Limited!

If these two senior judges have in fact not carried out their oath to public office diligently and dutifully, as per their code of conduct; they must he charged and due process followed as per the constitutional provisions for the sacking of judges. I cannot agree more with Art Harun. We must move away for the so-called privatisation of the Malaysian government.

Now, for Lim Kit Siang’s argument about the secretary to the cabinet and the only cabinet rank chief public servant and the executor of the cabinet decisions.

The question asked by LKS (Lim Kit Siang) is why chief secretary Mohd Sidek Hassan did not oversee the previous decisions of the cabinet. LKS wrote: “I see it as a major step backwards in public accountability and good governance, as it smacks of being a super ‘cover up’ task force for the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) scandal.”

He continues, “he (Sidek) should explain to the Malaysian public why he had failed in the past two years to carry out the cabinet decision in July 2007 when it resolved on the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, including giving retrospective approval to the four illegal Letters of Support unlawfully given by the two previous transport ministers, Dr Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy, that the chief secretary should conduct an inquiry as to how the four Letters of Support could have issued unlawfully and to take the necessary disciplinary actions against the culprits who have now landed the country with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.”

As an ex-public servant of 30 years service, and a senior of Sidek, I fully agree with LKS: The chief secretary to the government and the secretary to the cabinet must answer LKS’ query as to why there was no serious follow-up to the relevant cabinet decisions, if they were in fact actual cabinet decisions.

If there was wrongdoing who was really responsible for that ‘close-one-eye culture’ in this instance?

Public service morally bankrupt

In fact, for the public that does not know, I visited the Prime Minister’s Department website and found out that there is a whole division called, ‘The Cabinet, Constitution, and Inter-Governmental Relations Division’ under the chief secretary headed by another deputy chief secretary-general with five secretaries to divisions, eight chief assistant secretaries, two system analysts, and eight whole units – all to service the cabinet.

In my calculation, that should be about at least 30 officers, if not 50, in that cabinet division headed by a very senior officer.

What were they doing to follow-up and follow-through the cabinet decisions? If my memory does not fail me, every other week we used to get reminders from this division about follow-up matters of cabinet meeting decisions and we were required to give updates, failing which we could be hauled up.

When such an elaborate and excellent system of follow-up and follow-through exists, why were these decisions not followed up and adequately reported in a timely matter?

Now that even the former finance minister who oversaw much of the privatisation which became ‘piratisation” has spoken up too, maybe it is time for the chief secretary to come clean and speak up for the truth on all such matters. There really is no reason for anymore cover-up; let the whole truth and nothing but the truth be known.

For a fact, on Jan 13, 2006, I did make an official complaint to the Parliamentary Special Committee on Integrity that the whole cabinet system of government was collapsing because ‘information papers’ were being passed off as cabinet decision papers when in fact they were only ‘information papers’ or ‘kertas maklumat’.

It looks to me like no one took the compliant seriously, and even more seriously, that the Parliamentary Special Committee Report has not yet even been tabled to the Parliament yet after more than three years. So much for People First, Performance Now!

The public services of Malaysia, like the judicial services, were excellent at one time. Today, they are morally corrupt, if not reeking with incompetence at absolutely all the wrong places. For example, every other week I hear that the Economic Planning Unit is requesting and putting pressure on government departments to “under declare and sell government land to private entities for a song”.

Why would the EPU be involved in such land transactions and transfers? Why is EPU now becoming an enforcement agency when its name suggests that it should be planning for the nation? Is it the dismal failure of EPU as a strategic planning outfit which caused the formation of new National Economic Council with a chairman of cabinet rank and developed by a non-public servant as secretary general?

Is it also the failure of the “privatisation agenda” of the EPU that is daily revealing all the “piratisation projects” and many failures of the government like the PKFZ? Was not the then minister of finance also the minister of the EPU?

A personal message to my friend

My dear friend, Mohd Sidek Hassan, you have always been a straight forward and truth-seeking person, whether in Washington DC, or in Miti (Ministry of Trade and Industry) or as the KSN (Chief Secretary to the Government) now.

Please carry on with such a straightforward performance driven agenda. But, please also be as firm and forthright with the prime minister and his cabinet; please do not cover up for their weaknesses, even if in the past.

Please tell the truth as it is, at least to the cabinet and tell the PM how rotten the public services have truly become over the years. My friend, I can only speak and write like this now because, as I told then Minister Rafidah Aziz, I was bailing out of the PTD (Adminstrative and Diplomatic Service) because it was beginning to stink even then.

As I wrote to you when you took office, you can make a difference to change the course of this nation vide your public policy defining role. You have done well so far, but I am equally concerned that you finish well. Therefore please do not compromise on any truth; speak the truth to the best of your ability, speak it in honest but true love; speak it also full of grace and hope.

Recently, in a bible study I am doing, I read about how the prophet Moses did not enter the promised land because he failed to obey God in the last years of his 120 year life.

Therefore my friend, please stay focused on finishing well for the sake of your children and our grandchildren.

Unfortunately for our senior colleague who was the ex-general manager of Port Klang Authority, her name is now dragged in the mud only because she may have given in to political interests, and may be self-interest, rather than to serve the public interest. May the Lord God Almighty help you finish well instead!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 September 2009, 7:12 pm and is filed under
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Life is 2 short 2 vote UMNO

By Hussein Hamid

I use to view with amusement the goings on every year of the UMNO AGM at PWTC. The fight between Team A and Team B, spectacle of Mahathir crying on stage, the brandishing of the Kris, gag order, no gag order, contest no contest…the whole spectrum of human failings all there for us to see. But amusement is far from an appropriate response given the anger that I now feel at the way UMNO is still conducting itself despite the wake up call of the last General Election.  UMNO has

enjoyed over fifty years of freedom in which they were left alone to do as they wish  – to change, amend, and innovate whatever they choose to do to ensure Ketuanan Melayu and to deliver a united, peaceful and prosperous Malaysia with abundant opportunities for all citizens. They failed.

For the Malays who have staunchly supported UMNO and  unfailingly given UMNO their  votes it has been a challenging time. It used to be the opposition parties that has been looked upon by the Malays with detached amusement as these parties tried desperately to muster the non-Malay votes without much success. Those Malays who openly sided with these opposition parties were regarded as a traitor to the Malay cause. How times have changed.

The myth of UMNO as being the champion of the Malays has long been proven a farce. It might be a myth that UMNO still continues to encourage though we know that that UMNO accomplishments or lack thereof is there for all to see. If the integrity and ability of Singapore Leaders to govern their  City State well is an inspiration to people the world over, and if that made UMNO leaders look like little man, then UMNO has only themselves to blame.

Malaysia needs a new kind of leadership. We cannot build what the Rakyat now wants without competent, clean and skill leaders. This we cannot find from the ranks of UMNO or Barisan.This simple truth seems to elude UMNO and Barisan leaders – but not the Rakyat. We need leaders with humanistic disposition towards their own people. We do not need leaders who came to high office of state just because they can lay claim to the name of Tun Razak or Tun Hussein and by reason of this “pedigree” chose to think that they, their families and their ‘sahabats’ are entitled to rob the country blind. You govern in our name and we pay taxes to maintain you in office and yet you have the audacity to take more from us in the name of national development and Ketuanan Melayu. If Ketuanan Melayu and National Development have not progress it is because of your incompetence. The accumulated

opportunities presented to you over the years for the resolution of these “problems” have not been taken. And the reason why you have not done so is attributable to your incompetence – and nothing else. There is something desperately wrong with UMNO.

Much blame deserves to be laid down at the feet of its leaders who time and time again uttered “Malay Unity” as the rationale for everything that they do and then fed the exuberance of the UMNO masses a staple diet of money, money and more money. MCA and MIC echoed these same sentiments in the things that they do.

While trumpeting the need of an independent Judiciary UMNO handpicked its members so that it will do their biddings when instructed. The appointment of Suhakam, MACC and the various Suruhanjaya were all bluster and no substance.

Left alone these last 50 years UMNO did an astoundingly good job of enriching themselves. But when the time came to fulfil their promise to the Malays and the nation they have shown rather less ingenuity.

Even now Barisan and its components parties continue to publicly unravel their seedy and unacceptable side of how they do things. We are in shock and in awe at the exposure of the deeds of UMNO, MCA and MIC – all can be reduced to four words “for a quick profit”.

Inevitably the people have had enough. Grim as the prognosis is for our country change is in the air – driven by the very people UMNO, MCA and MIC have blind-sided. The Chinese and Indians rejection of MCA and MIC is self evident in the results of the last GE. It is the rejection of UMNO by an ever-increasing number of Malays that has given the opposition momentum and much hope for their future after the next GE.

But the best reason for hope for all of us is that despite the obvious rejection of Barisan by the Rakyat it is still business as usual for them – they are relentless in continuing with their conceit, their deceit and their arrogance towards the Rakyat instead of getting their house in order. For that we have to be grateful.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 September 2009, 1:07 pm and is filed under
Hussein Hamid
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UMNO
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Fallacy to automatically equate Najib’s Hari Raya Open House crowd with support for his 1Malaysia slogan

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet Ministers’ Hari Raya Open House at Sri Perdana on the first day of the festivities on Sunday had a good crowd, but it is a fallacy to automatically equate Najib’s Hari Raya Open House crowd with support for his 1Malaysia slogan.

The mainstream media refer to a crowd of 50,000 to 60,000 for the Prime Minister’s Open House at Sri Perdana on Sunday.

If crowd numbers is a measure of public support for the incumbent Prime Minister’s policies and slogans, then how is one to interpret the crowd sizes of Hari Raya Open Houses of previous Prime Ministers, Tun Abdullah and Tun Mahathir?

A check with reports of past years will show the following crowd numbers cited in the mainstream media for Abdullah’s  six  Hari Raya Open Houses during his tenure as Prime Minister:

2003

70,000

(NST 26.11.03)

2004

200,000

(NST/Malay Mail 16.11.04)

2005

100,000

(Malay Mail 5.11.05)

2006

200,000

(Berita Harian 26.10.06)

2007

200,000

(NST 15.10.07)

2008

200,000

(Harian Metro 3.10.08)

With Najib’s first Hari Raya Open House crowd reported as 50,000 to 60,000 in the mainstream media, is this an indication of reduced support for Najib and his 1Malaysia slogan as compared to the public support given to his predecessor not only after Abdullah won the biggest-ever Barisan Nasional  electoral mandate in the March 2004 general elections but also  after he had suffered the worst Barisan Nasional electoral defeat in the political tsunami of March 8, 2008 general elections?

For both occasions in November 2004 and October 2008, the mainstream media reported 200,000-strong crowds for Abdullah’s Hari Raya Open House.

Or were these crowd figures during Abdullah’s premiership completely unreliable and unfair to Najib as they were very inflated figures multiplied three or four-fold?

As for Mahathir’s Hari Raya Open House as Prime Minister, Berita Harian reported in 2002 a crowd of 50,000. (BH 17.12.2001)

Be that as it may, the lesson to be drawn is that one should not succumb to the fallacy of automatically equating the Prime Minister’s Hari Raya Open House crowd with support for his 1Malaysia slogan, especially when Najib is very ambivalent as to its real meaning, sending out conflicting messages of what he himself understood as 1Malaysia.

This was illustrated by his Hari Raya Message where he called on Muslims and the people of Malaysia to strengthen harmony and break down any prejudice for the sake of the future generation.

While this call finds common support, his subsequent statement deploring ”certain quarters who peddle hatred and try to deny this” highlights how polarized and divided Malaysians have become – with Malaysians sharply divided as to who are these “certain quarters who peddle hatred and try to deny this” with the Shah Alam cow-head protest sacrilege as the latest example.

1Malaysia would have halted the brain-drain of the best and brightest of Malaysians overseas. But there are no such signs. Confidence in Najib’s 1Malaysia cannot be high when a commentator ended his article yesterday about the dilemma of the Malay middle class with the question: “Is it any wonder that some Malays – some of the best and brightest – are starting to vote with their feet?” (
Karim Raslan – “Caught between two extremes” Star 22.9.09
)

If the nation is moving towards 1Malaysia, we should become increasingly competitive internationally, but three recent indicators show the reverse is the case for Malaysia – that we are losing in the international competitiveness race, viz:

Three-place fall from 21st to 24th ranking in World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010;

Two-place fall in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings 2009 from 21st to 23rd placing.

A net FDI outflow of US6 billion in 2008, more than double the US$2.7 billion  net outflow posted in the previous year – Unctad’s World Investment Report 2009 released last week.

Time is running out for Najib to salvage the 1Malaysia slogan before it is dismissed as an empty and  meaningless motto like previous slogans of his predecessors.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2009, 12:29 pm and is filed under
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Is Malaysia heading for the worst Transparency International Corruption Perception Index ranking and score in 15 years?

Is Malaysia heading for the worst Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) ranking and score in 15 years, when the TI CPI 2009 is released next month?

When launching the country report in the TI  Global Corruption Report (GCR) 2009 yesterday, Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and other “reforms” introduced by the government have so far been ineffective in fighting corruption.

These measures have not produced the desired results and so the public perception of corruption remains unchanged.

Pointing out that Malaysians are fed up with the status quo and the unbearable effects of corruption in the country, Low said the Global Corruption Barometer 2009 surveyed released in May showed that 70 per cent of Malaysians believe that the government is ineffective in fighting corruption.

In contrast, although Indonesia has a far worse position in the corruption perception index than Malaysia, 76% of its people believe their government is effective in fighting corruption.

The public perception position for Malaysia  is likely to be  even worse than the Global Corruption Barometer 2009 survey in May after two further developments:

the mysterious death of DAP political aide  Teoh Beng Hock on July 16, who went to the 14th floor MACC headquarters as a healthy, vigorous, idealistic young man to  give his co-operation as a witness but ended up as a corpse on the 5th floor of the building;  and

the MACC role as Umno catspaw to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption, going all out to harass Pakatan Rakyat over alleged constituency allocation  improprieties involving RM2,400 (even costing a human life) while being totally blind to corruption and abuses of power against Barisan Nasional leaders running into tens or  hundreds of millions or even billions of ringgit!

Transparency International will be releasing its CPI 2009 report next month, which will be  the 15th  in its annual series since 1995 in the  ranking of countries based on their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.

The TI Malaysia president is pessimistic about Malaysia’s rating for the TI CPI 2009 expecting it to remain static or even worsen despite (or more correctly, precisely because of) the revamp of the Anti-Corruption Agency to become the MACC and the setting up of the much watered-down Special Complaints Commission in lieu of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) proposed by the Royal Police Commission in 2005.

A survey of the 14 annual reports of the TI CPI from 1995 to 2008 shows that Malaysia occupies dubious company, sharing with Philippines the dishonour of being two of the 12 Asian countries first surveyed in 1995 which had ended with both lower CPI ranking and score in CPI 2008 as compared to CPI 1995 (See table, CPI score in bracket with “10” highly clean and “0” highly corrupt).

Country

CPI 1995
 (out of 41)

CPI 2008
 (out of 180)

Malaysia

23 (5.28)

47 (5.1)

Philippines

36 (2.77)

141 (2.3)

In the first TI CPI 1995 report, the last two of the 41 countries surveyed were all from Asia, viz: China (No. 40) and Indonesia (No. 41) but both have made significant strides in anti-corruption efforts as illustrated as follows:

Country

CPI 1995
 (out of 41)

CPI 2008
 (out of 180)

China

40 (2.16)

72 (3.6)

Indonesia

41 (1.94)

126 (2.6)

In the first TI CPI 1995 report, Malaysia was fourth top-ranked Asian  country, behind Singapore  (No. 3), Hong Kong (No. 17) and Japan (No. 20), but 14 years later, Malaysia has  slipped to sixth place when ranked No. 47 in the CPI 2008 report, behind Taiwan (No. 39) and South Korea (No. 40).

Even Thailand and India made significant strides in combating corruption in their CPI scores if not in ranking, as follows:

Country

CPI 1995
 (out of 41)

CPI 2008
 (out of 180)

Thailand

34 (2.79)

80 (3.5)

India

35 (2.78)

85 (3.4)

It will an enormous shame and great infamy for Malaysia if in the TI CPI 2009 report, Malaysia slides further in both indicators of CPI ranking and score.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 September 2009, 1:34 pm and is filed under
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Hope lives on in Malaysia: The Hassan Mat Yaacob story.

By Augustine Anthony

Rural folks have many land problems. The safest way to find lasting and meaningful solutions to their problems is to first eliminate all the politicians, bureaucrats and even the office boys who behave like lords of the lands, lording over many of these rural folks who lack confidence to confront them.

Those who had abused the existing laws, particularly the land acquisition legislations with utter disregard for the welfare of the affected people must never forget that their tryst with insidious tyranny has a half life that will soon end.

I say this with confidence not because of the many stirring speeches of great leaders and orators but inspired by the display of resilience by ordinary village folks who are now awakening to a belief system that they can stand up for their rights even as they journey to free themselves from a state of mind that had been shackled by a long train of abuses and usurpations.

One such inspiration is Hassan Mat Yaacob, a padi farmer who refuses to take ‘no for an answer’ to reclaim what was legitimately his.

This padi farmer had only one possession in his life. His padi field.  It was cultivated with “padi tabur”.  He had the original land title to prove ownership of the padi field. Unknown to him a new land title was issued to a third party even though the original land title is still in valid existence. Soon this “new land owner” prevented Hassan from cultivating padi in his own land.

Hassan believed in the system within the government so much that he thought that it will resolve his weighty problem and bring justice to him but little did he realize that it is this very system that will cause grave injustice to him.

Hassan had lost his land and his one source of income. He confronts the “new land owner” who in turn taunts him because the “new land owner” is well connected. He meets up with the employees of the land office and they ridicule him that he is a kampung man who does not understand law. He makes a police report because someone had “stolen” his land but the department does little or nothing to determine the possible culprits who are responsible for the predicament of Hassan.

Hassan complains to the Anti Corruption Agency (now MACC) but they too display inaction. He thinks his elected representative will help but he is too busy with other matters. Hassan is such a simple man and without the slightest show of anger, says that he can only see the elected representative during election time.

Hassan had lost his land but not hope.

Rural folks are such simple people. Some of them think that meeting the Menteri Besar is like dropping by at the neighbors’ orchard. With this mindset, Hassan goes to the Menteri Besar’s office and personally meets up with the Menteri Besar and pleads for help but the door slams hard on his face.

Next he dares himself to meet the Prime Minister but could only reach as far as the then Biro Pengaduan Awam (Public Complaints Bureau) with no positive outcome. His hopes are near destroyed. Heartbroken it finally hits Hassan that the system within the public sector had failed him miserably.

While this is only a simplified account of his struggle, only Hassan and a few others know how many strange places and how many strange stairs and lifts and corridors this poor farmer had to pass through just to reclaim what was legitimately his. How many lonely nights and how many anxious days, all were his and his alone to shoulder.

Fresh out of the betrayal that he had suffered in the hands of the public sector, he now looks for other avenues with his critically asphyxiated hope. He looks to the private sector now. He had by now heard of the “noble” profession called the legal profession.

But here lies the problem with the legal profession.

It was the 1990’s and a boom time for the private sector including the legal profession. This noble profession was fast turning into a money making ‘business’. Employees from the public sector and a good number of people from other professions including retirees were lured by the sweet songs in the streets that there is plenty of money to be made in the legal profession.

Ridiculous land acquisitions that displaced farmers, fishermen, plantation workers and poor rural folks who lived and toiled in these lands and that were subsequently replaced with luxury hotels, private gated communities, villas and golf courses required lawyers among others to do the job.

The country has turn into a corporation. Profit driven and all else secondary or irrelevant. It is now a
Malaysia Incorporated
. People who stood in the way of profit driven entities were trampled in this glorious stampede for a photo finish to Vision 2020.

The country was preparing for glory with a perfect vision in 2020.  Every man in the street had a vision, so the saying goes. From the tallest building  to the longest national flag ( you can even see one concrete flag along the road to Batu Ferringhi), to growing padi on roof tops that would cost 50 sen a grain, to bringing Masai warriors to act as cover for the barren lands carved out from  our depleted forests, all things were possible in Malaysia.

Thus, the birth of the catchword, Malaysia Boleh! or the Boleh land.

Hassan Mat Yaacob an innocent rural farmer was caught in this quagmire.

A bitter and heart broken Hassan now readied himself to take on the very system he had trusted all his life. He is now prepared to battle the government in court.

Hassan now turns to lawyers for help. But it requires money, sometimes it takes a lot of money to engage a lawyer. Even if people like Hassan are ready with whatever money that they have to fight on, they need to overcome the next hurdle. The hurdle of whether the lawyer is part of the very system, where he is dependent on the government and quasi government bodies, banks, insurance companies and a whole lot of entities with government interests for the lawyer’s personal survival. Hassan had experienced a good number of lawyers declining to act for him on the basis of conflict of interests.

Do not antagonize the guys who control the system or you will not have enough to maintain your lifestyle, such is the warning.

An insidious tyranny veneered as a guided democracy is now cleverly in place. Its various   tentacles of power are ever ready to immobilize unacceptable dissent.

Having crossed the hurdle of engaging a lawyer, Hassan is now in court to take on the government and its well entrenched system that suffocates many ordinary people like him.

Now here lies a strange and interesting twist to the system of governance that had seen much condemnation as being unfriendly and corrupt to the point of its near collapse.

Within this system there are still people who are honest, courageous and dedicated in service to the nation. With a system that is still scattered with good people, there is redemption.

Those witnesses, men in service within the system who took the stand in court and spoke the truth, the witness who courageously announced his faith in Islam and boldly uttered that Islam teaches him to speak against oppression and help the oppressed in a brotherhood, the senior federal counsel who proudly addressed the court that he is in court not to win at all costs but to ascertain the truth, the brave judge who stayed true to his oath of office and pronounced a judgment against the government, are part of this system too.

Hassan has won!

News travelled fast in places where rural folks lived that Hassan had beaten the mighty system in its own killing field.  His hope that flickered in all the dark days had now spread across the rural land as a beacon of light bringing optimistic tidings that the end is near for the insidious tyranny  masked by sly  smile of those thick faced people within the system of governance.

It is this once flickering hope of many people like Hassan that is now the fire that burns in the younger and incisive generation that is demanding change in our decaying system of governance.

Seasons come and go, people live and die but
hope
 lives on in Malaysia and ordinary people like Hassan and the good souls within the system of governance bear testimony that the chain of hope will forever be unbroken and that this nation will one day see the coming of better times.

(
NB
: In the year 2006 I wrote an article titled
“
Freedom in Midheaven
”
 seeing Malaysia in the future and spoke of Sdr Lim Guan Eng, Tunku Abdul Aziz, and the Seenivasagam Brothers etc. It was published in The Malaysian Lawyers at Yahoo Group Forum. Some harbored hope while others ridiculed it by saying there is no hope in this country.  Then,  the 12th General Election in March 2008, the new Chief Minister of Penang and the many changes that are taking place now).

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 September 2009, 9:52 am and is filed under
Augustine Anthony
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Living in the shadow of Najib’s 1 Malaysia

 by Tunku Abdul Aziz

Malaysian Insider
26th September 2009

I was in Seoul last Monday to participate in the World Forum for Democratisation in Asia (Third Biennial Conference) on “Sustaining Democratisation in Asia: Challenges of Economic and Social Justice” with some 200 delegates from Asia and the United States.

The conference brought together people from diverse backgrounds and of all ages, to seek ways of strengthening, and arresting the rapidly declining state of democracy in their countries. These men and women, all with impeccable credentials as human rights advocates, shared many of the same democratic values that have inspired human beings through the ages, all over the world, to make great personal sacrifices against humanly impossible odds in the name of justice and freedom from the tyranny of state-sanctioned human rights abuses, such as we are subjected to in Malaysia regularly.

I spoke on the panel on “Citizen Participation and Political Accountability.” In the audience were participants from Indonesia, the US, India, Cambodia, Nepal, Singapore, Malaysia and Mongolia, among others.

I thought I was doing well, having made some rather important points on the need for citizens to take charge of their own destiny as freedom was far too important to be left to the tender mercies of politicians, many of whom were charlatans at best and untrustworthy to boot. I mentioned as an example how citizens’ active participation in the March 2008 general election in my country had succeeded in changing, albeit ever so slightly, the 50-year corrupt political landscape, a feat that was nothing short of miraculous given the corrupt and repressive environment against which they were fighting to change.

I must confess that I was somewhat surprised that interest in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “baggage” had extended beyond the shores of Malaysia. Blame the borderless cyber technology for this unwelcome attention. Before I could finish my final remark, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the personable Yale- and Princeton-educated Ms. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, advisor to the President of Mongolia. She wanted to know, in the nicest possible way, why Malaysian citizens had voted for a person of Najib’s known reputation to assume the highest political office, and, she continued, was it true that in the Altantuya Shaariibuu trial, the Malaysian judiciary was acting improperly to protect Najib?

We do not, of course, have direct prime ministerial elections in Malaysia. I explained that the prime minister was elected by his party; Umno. It says more about the integrity of the party than perhaps the person it elected to high office. Now, I am not unused to being asked all kinds of questions in my years of public speaking, both at home and abroad, but this, about the murder trial of Altantuya threw me off balance. Ms Tsedevdamba was putting the proverbial cat among the pigeons. It caused a real flutter in my dovecot, no pun intended. My character and integrity would be put under close scrutiny, effectively on trial, and as in any trial, telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would, I thought, be the best policy.

I am fiercely patriotic, proud of our many achievements in a number of important areas, but like many of you I often hang my head in utter shame and humiliation when I see the cynical manipulation of democratic principles by a government that seems to have lost its moral capital by developing an unethical and immoral political behaviour into a fine art form. To them who govern this country, the end would seem to justify the means.

In this respect, it is useful to remind ourselves what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister, used to proclaim, without a tinge of embarrassment, that we were a democracy because we held regular elections. It was not important to the emasculator (or perhaps constrictor is a more appropriate word in his case) of human rights that they might not always have been free and fair. What Dr Mahathir and his Umno friends have never appreciated, or deliberately failed to acknowledge, is the fact that democracy is not just about elections. It is what happens between elections that really is the point at issue. I hope Najib will not allow this grotesquely vintage Mahathir blind spot to rub off on him. It could lead to further electoral nightmares he can do without.

The “Umno-led by the nose Barisan Nasional” government has always been preoccupied more with the form rather than the substance. To them democracy is a product you could pick and choose as and when you like, much like buying a kilo of sugar over a supermarket counter, in the same way they buy votes by the thousands at party election time.

Democracy is a process that requires active citizen participation and direct involvement because it belongs to the people irrespective of race. They should, therefore, be free from the shackles of corrupt political and bureaucratic practices that have become embedded in many of our once proud national institutions but, which today, have become nothing more than the sordid tools of an unprincipled government. The people should be liberated from the clutches of  unjust and undemocratic laws such as the ISA.

Don’t these Umno leaders see any contradiction between sending their own fellow citizens to indefinite detention without trial and celebrating Merdeka religiously at great public expense each year to mark the nation’s freedom from the injustice and degradation of alien rule? You cannot have 1 Malaysia without first dismantling those policies and systems that have done untold damage to the development of democracy in our society. These must be replaced by those that are consistent with the dictates and aspirations of a Malaysian Malaysia with all that this implies.

The end of the year is the season for overseas conferences. I will be speaking at three in the next six weeks and I wonder if the likes of the delectable Ms Tsedevdamba will be in the audience to plague and ply me with questions as I was in Seoul about the Najib-Altantuya nexus, the submarine and other arms contracts. Najib should have realised by now that his every word, gesture and action will be scrutinised and analysed by the people of this country. It is their right to know what their prime minister is up to in the public domain. It is the price he must pay willingly under our democratic system.

I suppose if my listeners ask me awkward questions about Najib, I will have to tell them that I am not, thank heavens, Najib’s keeper. I suppose, also, that is the price I pay for living in the shadow of Najib’s 1 Malaysia

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 September 2009, 7:06 pm and is filed under
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Stop Calling 103 on Maxis

Letters

by
Bernard Tan

If you are using Maxis network and please be alert that now the new charges for making 103 (TM Directory) was increased from 30 cents to RM2.00 per call.(extra of RM1.70 almost 700% jump).

I just found out from my maxis statement dated 21/6/08 today and i rang up the Maxis 123 and been told the new rate was started lately only and since I’m not aware of this new adjustment and they willing to waive it for this month but next month will be charging me based on the new rate (RM2.00 per call to 103).

Shocking right? The best part is everyone knew how ‘good’ service our TM directory can provide?? Most the time i need to call at least 2-3 times to get the number i looking for mean that one number i need to pay RM4.00 to RM6.00…OMG. …equal to one meal already…

So please pass this news to your maxis friends to alert them the new charges.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 September 2009, 6:41 pm and is filed under
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