Instead of a meaningless “hero’s welcome home” in KLIA last night, is Najib prepared to convene a special Parliament on 1MDB scandal to clear and cleanse Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy?

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak returned to “a hero’s welcome” at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last night after his recent visit to White House and meeting with US President Trump.

What was the “hero’s welcome home” for?

Was it for representing Malaysia bearing gifts like a vassal state to the White House in the meeting with US President Donald Trump, with three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy to make America great again – as  stated in the White House transcript of the 5-minute 58-second exchange between Najib and Trump in their meeting?

Although the Finance Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Irwan Sregar has denied that Najib was bearing gifts to Washington to “strengthen the US economy”, the Prime Minister himself has not made any denial in the past four days.

I do not think Najib could deny what was clearly stated in the transcript of the Najib-Trump 5-minute 58-second exchange at the  White House meeting, as the transcript was released by White House itself.

Why did Najib make the three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy, although the idea is both revolting and ridiculous – as the first priority of a Malaysian Prime Minister is to promote Malaysian economy and not to strengthen someone else’s economy, especially when the Malaysian economy is in such dire straits with the Malaysian people suffering from both rising costs and worsening standards of living.

Such an idea is ridiculous because the Malaysian economy is very small as compared to the United States. – Malaysia’s GDP is less then US$300 billion while the GDP of USA is nearly US$19 trillion, some 63 times larger than the Malaysian economy.

Why then was Najib given “a hero’s welcome home” at the KLIA last night?

What did Malaysia get in return for Najib’s three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy?

Nothing for the country but a lot for Najib himself – which was in fact the very reason for his visit to White House and meeting with Trump.  We have yet to learn what was  the multi-million price Malaysians had to pay just to get Trump to invite Najib to the White House to achieve one very important objective for Najib before the 14th General Election – to counter and neutralise the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the USA, UK and Switzerland, where Najib was referred to as “MO1” in the “global kleptocracy” in Malaysia.

The real reason for Najib’s visit to the White House and his three “value propositions to strengthen the US economy” was revealed by the UMNO MP for Langkawi, Nawawi Ahmad, at the KLIA to give Najib “a hero’s welcome home” last night.

Nawawi said Najib’s visit  to the White House was highly successful because it was proof that Najib was not guilty of any of the charges levelled by the US DOJ investigating the 1MDB scandal.

He said if Najib had been guilty of alleged corruption, he would have been arrested when the Prime Minister visited  Washington, DC.

Nawawi said: “He wasn’t arrested. So it appears that the prime minister is not involved in the DoJ’s investigations and in the 1MDB scandal.”

It is indeed shocking that the country has MPs with such low mental calibre as to believe that Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with Trump is proof that he is not “MO1” and implicated in the US DOJ kleptocratic litigation and now criminal investigation into the 1MDB scandal.

Nobody in his right mind would have expected Najib to be arrested when he visited the US to meet with Trump in the White House, but this is a very different proposition from  whether he was involved  in the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Najib had visited White House and met US President Trump, but the 1MDB scandal has not gone away and will not go away unless there is full accountability and responsibility for a scandal which had overnight turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

Instead of organising a meaningless “hero’s welcome home” at KLIA last night, is Najib prepared to convene a special session of Parliament specifically devoted to the 1MDB scandal with the objective to clear and cleanse Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy?

[
Speech at the DAP Malaysia Day gathering organised by the people of Taman Mesra and Sim Sim in Sandakan at Gloria Plaza Hotel, Sandakan on Saturday, 16th Sept. 2017 at 3 pm where the highlight was the application for DAP membership by over 300  Muslim bumiputras to form four branches
]

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 17 September 2017, 2:46 pm and is filed under
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I will propose co-option of Jannie Lasimbang as a DAP Central Executive Committee member when the DAP’s problems with Registrar of Societies have been resolved

I want to announce tonight that I had intended to propose the co-option of Jannie Lasimbang as a DAP Central Executive Committee member so that we will have a woman leader of global status to be in the DAP national leadership to be in the national vanguard to save Malaysia and Sabah to ensure that there is justice, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and a sustainable environmental policy in our country.

However, this cannot be done now as DAP is entangled with problems with the Registrar of Societies and I will make the proposal to co-opt Jannie Lasimbang into the DAP national leadership after the DAP’s problems with the Registrar of Societies have been resolved.

Jannie is a former Suhakam commissioner and in 1987, a founding member of Partners of Community Organisations in Sabah (Pacos Trust), an NGO dedicated to the rights of the indigenous people.

At the international level, Lasimbang had served as the secretary-general of the Indigenous People’s Alliance in Asia and chairperson of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Communities.

This morning, the DAP co-ordinator for Lahad Datu Johan Nul told me in Lahad Datu that  UMNO operatives are trying to frighten Malay and Muslim bumiputras in Sabah from joining the DAP, claiming that DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam and that if Umno loses power, the Malays and Muslim bumiputeras will perish as the DAP and the Chinese will grab the political power of the Malays.

These are Umno lies, fake news and false information, which had been used for decades by UMNO in Peninsular Malaysia against the DAP, but they have failed to stop the forward movement of DAP as Malaysian political party for the rights and interests of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

This is why over the past few decades. DAP continues to have Malay and Muslim Members of Parliament (including Senators), State Assembly representatives, leaders, members and even Malays-only branches.

But this is the first time I hear that the same lies, fake news and false information about the DAP as anti-Malay and anti-Islam being spread by UMNO operatives in Sabah.

This is a significant political achievement for DAP – not that DAP anti-Malay or anti-Islam – but that even in Sabah, UMNO recognises that DAP has made a historic breakthrough and we are getting support for Malays and Muslim bumiputras in Sabah, with them taking up leadership positions at various levels of the party in the state.

This is why the UMNO lies that the DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, started in Peninsular Malaysia, a few decades ago, has now come to Sabah.

But such UMNO lies and falsehoods will fail in Sabah, just as they are failing in Peninsular Malaysia, for lies and falsehoods cannot survive in the face of truth and reality in the information era.

This is why over 350 Muslim bumiputras have applied to join the DAP when I was in Sandakan yesterday, and they want to form four new branches in the Sandakan area, which the homeground of the Sabah Chief Minister and UMNO leader, Tan Sri Musa Aman.

Yesterday, at the Malaysia Day celebrations in Kota Kinabalu, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia now highly-regarded by the world despite the fact that it was formed only 54 years ago.

He said Malaysia was an unknown country on the world map before, but now, the country was regarded by world leaders as a successful nation.

He said: “As we celebrate Malaysia Day today, let us recall how it was 54 years ago.

“Who knows about Malaysia then? An agricultural state with small population. But today, we are a successful country.

“The warm welcome and respect were given to me by world leaders, including the latest by the US president himself (Donald Trump), because they see Malaysia as a successful nation.”

The majority of Malaysians would not agree with Najib that Malaysia is now a highly-regarded nation.

Najib is very wrong, for Malaysia was a highly regarded nation until he brought shame, infamy and ignominy to the nation by transforming Malaysia into a global kleptocracy with the 1MDB scandal.

Let Najib declare why he dared not face reality to clear or cleanse Malaysia of such infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy by addressing the 1MDB scandal!

Is Najib prepared to convene a special session of Parliament to ensure that Malaysia can again become a highly-regared nation in the world, liberated from the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy?

[
Speech at the Kota Kinabalu DAP Malaysia Day-cum- August Moon Festival celebrations in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017 at 9 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 18 September 2017, 12:16 pm and is filed under
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US court grants stay in 1MDB assets seizure case

by David J Lynch in Washington

Financial Times

18th Sept. 2017

A federal judge in Los Angeles has granted a US government request to delay its attempt to seize assets allegedly purchased with funds stolen from the 1MDB Malaysian state investment fund while a criminal investigation proceeds.

The ruling came one day after President Donald Trump proclaimed it “a great honour” to welcome to the White House the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is linked to the investigation but denies any wrongdoing.

The US Department of Justice has been pursuing the alleged misappropriation of $4.5bn from the 1MDB fund along two paths.

Prosecutors have filed court claims against $1.7bn in assets purchased with allegedly stolen funds, in the hopes of returning the proceeds to Malaysian taxpayers. And the DoJ is investigating possible criminal charges against those who laundered the money through the US financial system in order to buy those assets.

The forfeiture cases are being halted to avoid tipping potential criminal defendants to the witnesses and evidence against them.

“The court is satisfied that the continuing prosecution of these civil forfeiture cases would adversely affect the prosecution of the related criminal investigation,” US district court Judge Dale Fischer wrote in the September 13 order.

The US has moved to seize a total of $1.7bn in assets, including Manhattan real estate, jewellery, and jet aircraft. In June, the US Department of Justice targeted $540m in assets, including a luxury yacht, a painting by Picasso and the rights to the film Dumb and Dumber, which it alleged had been purchased with some of the money stolen from the Malaysian fund.

The US is also investigating money laundering allegations arising from the misappropriation centred on Jho Low, the owner of several suspect assets and a politically well-connected Malaysian businessman who had no formal role in the $8bn fund, according to court documents.

Judge Fischer’s grant of an indefinite stay came a little more than a week after prosecutors filed a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent’s warning that proceeding with the forfeitures could imperil witnesses in the criminal case.

Several overseas individuals who have provided information to US investigators have “expressed concerned for their own safety and security if their contact with the United States became known”, said Robert Heuchling, a special agent with the FBI in New York.

Mr Heuchling’s declaration also cited Malaysian press reports of individuals involved in the 1MDB case who had been arrested by authorities in Kuala Lumpur or become the victims of violence.

At the centre of the 1MDB scandal is Mr Low, a gregarious businessman who befriended Hollywood stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio while allegedly diverting money from the Malaysian fund to finance a lavish lifestyle, according to court documents. Some of the looted funds were allegedly used to finance production of The Wolf of Wall Street film.

The film production company, Red Granite Pictures, which also made “Dumb and Dumber,” said in a court filing on Friday that it had reached a settlement in principle of the government’s claims. Terms were not disclosed.

More than two-thirds of a $1.2bn Deutsche Bank loan to 1MDB in 2014 also was siphoned into accounts controlled by Mr Low and an official identified in court documents only as “Malaysian official 1”, whose biography matches that of Prime Minister Najib.

No charges have been filed against either man, and Mr Low also denies any wrongdoing.

In the US legal system, defendants are entitled to see material the government intends to use in court. Owners of the assets targeted by the US had sought bank records, FBI agent interview summaries, and the details of US government requests to foreign law enforcement agencies, Mr Heuchling said.

In one of the forfeiture actions, lawyers trying to protect a $39m Los Angeles mansion that prosecutors say Mr Low bought with 1MDB money, filed 358 separate document requests, Mr Heuchling said.

They included “specific money laundering transactions” and details of “the involvement of any one of more than thirty banks involved” in the financial dealings described in the government’s complaint, he said.

Other requests were aimed at divining the names of potential witnesses. The combined effect could be to “potentially conceal, alter, or destroy evidence, as well as intimidate and/or retaliate against potential witnesses”, Mr Heuchling told the court.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 18 September 2017, 6:28 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s sixth mistake in one week:  the continued RCI hearings into Bank Negara forex losses a quarter of a century ago while no RCI on the elephant in the room –  1MDB scandal which turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight

Two days ago, I spoke about  Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a very disaster-prone Prime Minister who  made history by committing five political disasters within a week.

But I had under-estimated Najib, as I am today writing about Najib’s sixth political disaster within a week, while tomorrow, I will deal with Najib’s seventh political disaster within a week – from Sept. 12 to 19.

The six political disasters within a week which started from Sept. 12 are:

1.	Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump on Sept. 12, without any sense of personal shame or national humiliation at being branded a “kleptocrat” and “MO1” by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland, and his subservient role with a  supplicant role to Trump to the extent of offering up as homage three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy.

2.	Najib publicly labeled as a “crook”  by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Newsweek magazine on  Sept. 13, and Najib dare not sue them for defamation.

3.	Najib’s speech at the MCA-organised Chinese Community Patriotic Assembly at the UMNO HQ in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Sept. 16, where he threatened the Chinese saying that “the Chinese community would be targeted should Malaysia ever descend into chaos…If there is no peace in our country, what will happen? The Chinese will be the first to be targeted if there is no peace in this country.”

4.	The perfunctory manner in which Najib as Prime Minister celebrated Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, spending less than 24 hours in Sabah to attend the official Malaysia Day events in Kota Kinabalu at night while completely ignoring Sarawak altogether.

5.	The Prime Minister’s much-hyped pre-media conference announcement on Sept. 17 at 4.45 pm, resulting in the swarming  by  over 100 reporters from all over the world at the media conference, but which produced a dud in Najib’s latest “swamp politics” – “Mike Tyson” rejoining UMNO after a sojourn in PAS and PKR from April 2013.

6.	The continued hearing on Sept. 18 of the farcical Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara foreign exchange losses a quarter of a century ago, while there is no RCI on the elephant in the room – the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight.

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and former Finance Minster, Tun Daim Zainuddin, were sub-poenaed to testify at the RCI.

I was most struck by the following exchange between Daim and the RCI Chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan as reported by Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insight, viz:

11am: Daim insists he would have stopped the central bank’s forex activities if he had known about the losses incurred.

Sidek, earlier, cites former auditor with the Auditor-General’s Office P Kanason who questioned the legality of the central bank’s forex activities.

“Kanason took the trouble, he took his responsibility seriously….Kanason who was so small in the scheme of things.

“You, (then a) minister, so good, (but) didn’t know. I find that very odd.”

Daim, however, argues that he could not agree as he “did not know anything”, to which Sidek  retorts back with “but everyone knew!”

To this, Daim says he would have stopped the forex activities if he had known.

“If I knew, I would have stopped it, no way I would have allowed this to happen. I would have sacked (those responsible),” he stresses.
(Malaysiakini)

And the following report in The Malaysian Insight:

 Pressed by Sidek on why he did not know what was going on in the central bank, Daim kept repeating that he simply was not informed.

“If I knew these things, there’s no way I would have allowed it to happen. I would have sacked them. But I do not know how to act. There needs to be logic in your thinking,” said Daim, the RCI’s 23rd witness.

Sidek replied: “The illogical part, Tun (Daim), is that everyone seems to know, and you do not know. With respect, Tun, the Official Secrets Act is to protect information on the people who are supposed to know. In this case, you are supposed to know.”

Other panel members said Daim, as the then finance minister, was obliged to have known about BNM’s forex dealings as the law governing the central bank required it.

“If they chose not to inform me, what could I do?” Daim said.

He added that as finance minister, he had to oversee many things, such as the Employees Provident Fund, the economy and the Customs Department.

He said the government at the time had shares in 1,200 companies.

Sidek said while he did not expect the finance minister to know everything, something as significant as forex trading losses, which impacted the nation, should not have escaped Daim’s attention.

He added that he found it odd that other lower-ranking officials, citing former senior auditor P. Kanason Pothinker as an example, had known about the forex losses, and yet, Daim had not.

“And you, as a minister who was so good, didn’t know. I find that so odd. Don’t you agree?” said Sidek.

Daim replied: “How can I agree or disagree when I wasn’t informed?”
(The Malaysian Insight)
.

I have no doubt that every Malaysian reading these reports would immediately think of the 1MDB scandal.

Could there be a RCI on 1MDB in 2018, and there would be one such RCI  if Pakatan Harapan wins in the 14GE as this is a Pakatan Harapan commitment in its first 100 days of  forming the Federal Government in Putrajaya.

Or do Malaysians have to wait may be until 2050 for a RCI into 1MDB if Najib continues as Prime Minister after the 14 GE?

But whether there is a RCI on 1MDB next year or in 2050, a relevant question would be why the Prime Minister, the entire Cabinet, Members of Parliament and the key officials of the period (and Sidek was one of them as he was chief secretary  of government from 3rd September 2006 till 24th June 2012)  did nothing to stop the 1MDB scandal when it was known, not only in Malaysia, but in the whole wide world that Malaysia had ascended to the heights of a global kleptocracy because of the 1MDB scandal?

I am reminded of a recent article by  Malaysian business journalist, P. Gunasegaran entitled
“The difference between forex and 1MDB losses”
, who said it was wrong to say that 1MDB’s losses are paper losses and will be recovered.

He pointed to the differences between the two and wrote:

“The forex losses arose out of a desire to make money for the country even if it were by highly irresponsible and irregular speculative activities bordering on gambling by a central bank. Never before or since has a central bank engaged in such activities and made such losses.

“However, no individual or corporation associated to Mahathir or the government of the day made money from the losses that the central bank made. That is the important distinction when compared to 1MDB.

“We now know from press reports that US$7 billion is unaccounted for in 1MDB and that the DOJ maintains that RM4.5 billion has been stolen from 1MDB and the money moved through various accounts controlled by Jho Low, a person who is well-known to Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz and even to Najib himself and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. Indeed, the DOJ says that US$680 million came directly into Najib’s bank account while US$238 million went to Riza’s account.

“Jho Low could not have moved such amounts of money into his account without the connivance and collaboration of 1MDB officials but there has been no investigation to determine wrongdoing with Najib, the government, the attorney-general, and all senior Umno officials still maintaining that no wrong has been done despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

“The forex losses have been made and occurred 23 to 26 years ago. They represent a huge error of judgement and improper conduct by a central bank. But the 1MDB money stolen is still in the world banking system and the money is still being moved around into various assets as the DOJ investigations show.

“1MDB does not require an RCI now but immediate attempts to recover all stolen money and bring to account everyone responsible for this horrendous crime, representing kleptocracy by the state which has allowed fingers to dip in and take out nearly all of the bond borrowings of 1MDB. The scale of this and the necessary connivance is unprecedented too.

“1MDB represents a new chapter in the annals of corruption and mismanagement by the government led by Umno. The RCI will eventually get to the bottom and make official what many people in Malaysia knew all the time – forex trading was a harebrained gamble to make money for the country gone horribly wrong.

“But if 1MDB is to be righted now instead of having the truth revealed a quarter of a century down the line through another RCI, it needs a change of government, for the government controls all the supposedly independent bodies that should be investigating 1MDB now. We all know who was responsible for that.”

What have  the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, Sidek and the RCI commissioners on the Bank Negara forex losses, have to say on this commentary by Gunasegaran?

Mahathir said the RCI was meant to paint him, Anwar Ibrahim  and Pakatan Harapan in a bad light.

This is clearly the sole purpose for Najib in  setting up the RCI on Bank Negara’s forex losses.

Unfortunately, Najib’s plans went awry when the key RCI  witness, former Bank Negara advisor Nor Mahamed Yakcop and the key operator of the Bank Negara forex dealings at the time, Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop testified on Sept. 6 at the RCI that he accepted his fair share of accountability for Bank Negara’s forex losses in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that he never discussed the forex transactions in the years between 1986 and 1993 with both the then Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the then Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir.

The question Najib should answer is why continue with the charade of the RCI on Bank Negara forex losses more than a quarter of a century ago, when he is not prepared to immediately form a  RCI into the 1MDB scandal and even more imperative, urgent and relevant, to immediately attempt to recover all stolen money in the 1MDB scandal and bring to book and justice all the criminals in the 1MDB scandal.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 19 September 2017, 8:25 am and is filed under
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The Wolf Of Wall Street producer settles civil suit linked to 1MDB

The NewPaper

Sep 18, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR The company that made the film The Wolf Of Wall Street and was co-founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s stepson has settled a civil lawsuit brought by the United States government to seize assets allegedly bought with money stolen from a Malaysian state fund.

Red Granite Pictures announced the settlement in a filing at the federal Los Angeles court last Friday, without revealing any sum.

US prosecutors had claimed that the 2013 film, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was financed by Red Granite using funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“The parties are pleased to inform the court that Red Granite and the government have reached a settlement in principle,” the filing stated.

Red Granite has said previously that neither it nor its co-founder, Mr Riza Aziz, had done anything wrong.

The US Justice Department has lodged dozens of lawsuits in the past two years related to the alleged misappropriation of US$4.5 billion (S$6.05 billion) from 1MDB.

The US is seeking to seize some US$1.7 billion in assets, making it the largest action brought by the department under its kleptocracy asset recovery initiative.

DOGGED

The scandal has dogged Mr Najib, who had chaired 1MDB’s advisory board until it was dismantled last year, but he has denied any wrongdoing.

While Mr Najib has not been the subject of any of the lawsuits, a number of his close associates – including Mr Riza – have been named by US investigators.

Both US and Malaysian officials have confirmed, however, that Mr Najib is the “Malaysian Official 1” referred to in Federal Bureau of Investigation reports.

Red Granite provided no details of the settlement, which the filing said remains subject to final documentation and necessary approvals within the government.

The settlement also covers claims against Red Granite’s rights and interests in two other pictures, Daddy’s Home and Dumb And Dumber To.

Potential witnesses in 1MDB cases are afraid to speak with US investigators as they fear for their safety, the FBI said earlier this month.

The US lawsuits have also sought to seize a Picasso painting given to DiCaprio and millions of dollars worth of jewellery give to Australian model and actress Miranda Kerr, all allegedly from 1MDB funds.

Mr Najib met US President Donald Trump at the White House last week, but both steered clear of addressing the American investigation into the 1MDB scandal. – REUTERS

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 19 September 2017, 7:29 pm and is filed under
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Was RCI into Bank Negara forex losses three decades  ago concluded earlier than scheduled  to avoid the issue of Najib having to testify why he  had opposed my call for an RCI in 1993?

A few hours after I issued a statement describing “the continued hearing on Sept. 18 of the farcical Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara foreign exchange losses a quarter of a century ago, while there is no RCI on the elephant in the room – the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight” as the sixth political disaster of the Prime Minister,  Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a week, the Sidek RCI into the Bank Negara forex losses concluded earlier than scheduled.

Was the Sidek RCI into Bank Negara forex losses three decades ago concluded earlier than scheduled to avoid the issue why Najib is not testifying at the RCI to explain  why he had opposed my call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Bank Negara forex losses in 1993?

In his testimony before the RCI yesterday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad revealed that Najib was among the ministers in a 1993 cabinet meeting who rejected my proposal at the time  to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara foreign exchange losses.

I had at the time, some a quarter of a century ago,  asked the then Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to refer to the Cabinet to set up a RCI on Bank Negara’s forex losses.

Mahathir confirmed that that my proposal for a RCI for Bank Negara’s forex losses had been discussed in the Cabinet in 1993, and the Cabinet members including Najib, supported the decision not to hold a RCI.

Speaking to reporters after his RCI testimony, Mahathir repeated his call for Najib, who is now prime minister, to appear before the RCI to testify why his administration now supported the move to investigate the matter which took place some 25 years ago.

“In the cabinet meeting then, he was smiling away when the call to hold an RCI was rejected,” he said.

Najib, who was defence minister in 1993, was in Mahathir’s cabinet from 1986 to 2003.

In this connection, I wish to register my protest, shock and concern at the way top civil servants had been  treated with utter disregard of their previous high public office, even cruelly treated with utter contempt for their physical condition and health.

I think it is the height of disrespect and cruelty that Tan Sri Ishak Tadin, Auditor-General from 1986-1994, had to be physically dragged to the RCI and his second son Rizal Ishak had to appear before the RCI to plead that his father was unable to testify at the RCI as he had developed a condition in 2008 that affected his memory,  and that this cognitive impairment caused his father “trouble recalling past events”.

There were other examples of  the  utter lack of compassion and respect for old public servants, like the case of Datuk Othman Jusoff yesterday.

There were of course exceptions. Why was the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak not called to testify. Why was former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Badawi, who said in August this year that he knew the truth about Bank Negara’s forex losses, not called before the RCI?

As I said earlier today, I found some of the exchanges between the Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan and other Commissioners of the Royal Commission on the one hand  and witnesses like former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir  and former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin on the other  most shocking and quite unbelievable, especially when they  asked questions as to how Mahahtir or Daim did not know about the colossal Bank Negara forex losses  when “everyone seems to know”!

Sidek seems to have forgotten that he is himself a case in point – as Chief Secretary of the Government from 3rd September 2006 till 24th June 2012 and thereafter as Petronas Chairman, he seems not to know that the 1MBD scandal has turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy, which is known by everyone in Malaysia and informed opinion in the world except government politicians and public servants like him. Why is this so?

Sidek has left many loose ends around in declaring the RCI public hearings closed ahead of schedule.

Malaysians were told at the RCI yesterday  that Anwar Ibrahim would be recalled to testify at the RCI. Why was this not honoured.

Sidek said he would not withdraw his remark made on the first day of the hearing on August 21, that it could be concluded that BNM had suffered losses of RM31.5 billion because of its foreign exchange trading.

How can Sidek expect the Malaysian public and   world opinion to have  full respect for the report of the RCI when its chairman had preconceived ideas about the RCI findings and conclusions without taking into account the evidence at the RCI?

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday,19th September 2017)

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‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Producer Reaches Settlement in Federal Corruption Case

Gene Maddaus

Variety

15th Sept 2017

Red Granite Pictures, dogged for more than a year by its connection to a massive Malaysian corruption case, on Friday reached a settlement with federal prosecutors.

The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture case in July 2016, seeking to recoup proceeds from “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Prosecutors alleged that Red Granite — whose CEO, Riza Aziz, is the step-son of Malaysia’s prime minister — used funds embezzled from a Malaysian development authority to produce the film.

The case was one part of a much broader effort to seize more than $1 billion in assets, out of $4.5 billion allegedly stolen from the development fund, known as 1MDB. Prosecutors have seized a Picasso and a Basquiat that were gifted to Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as an Oscar statuette that once belonged to Marlon Brando.

Details of the deal were not released. Red Granite has consistently maintained that it did not knowingly accept stolen funds.

The company has been working for several months to resolve the case, and agreed to the appointment of an outside fiduciary to oversee the company’s operations. In an apparent vote of confidence, prosecutors in August agreed to put the company’s CFO back in charge of the company’s finances.

Red Granite is seeking to release “Papillon,” a remake of the 1973 Steve McQueen film that stars Charlie Hunnam, and has sought to dispel the cloud of alleged corruption surrounding the company.

In addition to resolving the government’s initial claim for “The Wolf of Wall Street” proceeds, the settlement resolves a subsequent claim for revenues from two other films, “Daddy’s Home” and “Dumb and Dumber To.”

The settlement does not end the legal difficulties for Aziz, who is also alleged to have used embezzled funds to purchase luxury real estate. In its original complaint, the government alleged that Aziz used stolen money to buy a $35 million condominium at the Park Laurel in New York, a $41.8 million townhouse in London, and a $17.5 million mansion in Beverly Hills. The civil cases seeking to seize each of those properties remain unresolved.

In a recent filing, in which prosecutors sought to put the asset forfeiture cases on hold, the government identified Aziz as one of the figures allegedly involved in criminal activity. U.S. investigators are working with their counterparts in several other countries to pursue criminal charges in the 1MDB scandal.

In a statement, Red Granite said, “We are glad to finally put this matter behind us and look forward to refocusing all of our attention back on our film business.”

The statement did not address Aziz’s position or future with the company.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 19 September 2017, 12:10 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s three  “political disasters” on the seventh day of  his week of “political disasters” totalling nine  “political disasters” from Sept. 12

Yesterday, I listed the six “political disasters” committed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s in his new “swamp politics ala-Trump”  from Sept. 12 when he visited the White House and met with US President Trump, viz:

1.	Najib’s visit to the White House and meeting with US President Trump on Sept. 12, without any sense of personal shame or national humiliation at being branded a “kleptocrat” and “MO1” by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland, and his subservient position in a  supplicant role to Trump to the extent of offering up as “homage” three “value propositions” to strengthen the US economy.

2.	Najib publicly labeled as a “crook”  by former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz and Newsweek magazine on  Sept. 13, and Najib dare not sue them for defamation.

3.	Najib’s speech at the MCA-organised Chinese Community Patriotic Assembly at the UMNO HQ in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, Sept. 16, where he threatened the Chinese saying that “the Chinese community would be targeted should Malaysia ever descend into chaos…If there is no peace in our country, what will happen? The Chinese will be the first to be targeted if there is no peace in this country.”

4.	The perfunctory manner in which Najib as Prime Minister celebrated Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, spending less than 24 hours in Sabah to attend the official Malaysia Day events in Kota Kinabalu at night while completely ignoring Sarawak altogether.

5.	The Prime Minister’s highly-hyped media conference announcement on Sept. 17 at 4.45 pm, resulting in the swarming  by  over 100 reporters from all over the world at the media conference, but which produced a dud in Najib’s latest “swamp politics” – “Mike Tyson” rejoining UMNO after a  five-year sojourn in PAS and PKR from April 2013.

6.	The continued hearing on Sept. 18 of the farcical Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara foreign exchange losses a quarter of a century ago, while there is no RCI on the elephant in the room – the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight.

I am to cite Najib’s seventh “political disaster” on the seventh day of the week of Najib’s political disasters” starting with his White House visit on Sept. 12,  but Najib had three  “political disasters” on Sept. 19 – totaling nine “political disasters” in Najib’s week of “political disasters” from Sept. 12.

Najib’s three “political disasters”  yesterday (Sept. 19) alone were:

FIRSTLY, the conclusion ahead of schedule of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara’s forex losses three decades ago, resulting in a caustic  article “A farce of an RCI is over” in a leading news portal,  coupled with the following eyebrow-raising developments:

•	The refusal of the RCI Chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to retract his statement on the first day of the RCI public hearings  on August 21 on the total Bank Negara forex losses even before oral and documentary evidence were submitted to the RCI;

•	The refusal of the RCI to recall former Bank Negara assistant governor Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid for further examination;

•	The failure of the RCI  conducting officer to honour his statement that he would recall Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim; and most significiant of all,

•	The “quitting” of Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop as deputy chairman of the sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd as he failed to “deliver” at the RCI to implicate Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Daim Zainuddin and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the Bank Negara forex losses scandal.  Will Nor Mohamad Yakcop next be stripped of his “Tan Sri”ship?

SECONDLY, the hubris in the UMNO leadership after the disastrous Najib media conference on Sunday  on the return of Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib to UMNO after nearly a five-year sojourn to PAS and PKR, with the UMNO Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa declaring that UMNO will use “various methods to wrest Selangor from the opposition, including out-of-the-box approaches” – reminiscent of Najib’s undemocratic and “political swamp” tactics to topple the elected Pakatan Rakyat Perak State Government in February 2009;

THIRDLY, the overhanging stench, infamy and ignominy in the land throughout the whole week, in fact for the past two years, of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal despite Najib’s brave boast in his 2016 New Year Message on 31st December 2015 that the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Even  in the past week, the 1MDB scandal continued to hog international news and headlines, viz:

On Sept 14, world reports that “US court grant stay in 1MDB assets seizure case” as a federal judge in Los Angeles granted  a stay on the US Department of Justice’s application to put on hold its civil forfeiture suits on assets allegedly purchased using funds misappropriated from 1MDB, to avoid jeopardising an ongoing criminal investigation.

The US Court said it “sees no reason to doubt the government’s claim that a criminal investigation is ongoing into the underlying money laundering allegations that form the basis for all of these civil forfeiture cases”, following the disclosure of facts by the FBI that the revelation of its methods of the investigation would  subject witnesses and informants to intimidation or retaliation, and raise the potential for evidence destruction.

The US Court said: “Given the complex nature of the alleged crimes and the sensitive political and diplomatic issues involved, it is apparent that revelation of any significant amount of information by the government could endanger the operation of the criminal investigation.”

On 15th Sept. US reports that “’Wolf of Wall Street’ Producer Reaches Settlement in Federal Corruption Case”, that Red Granite Pictures, “dogged for more than a year by its connection to a massive Malaysian corruption case”, reached a settlement with federal prosecutors in a US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil forfeiture case in July 2016  to recoup proceeds from the film. Prosecutors alleged that Red Granite — whose CEO, Riza Aziz, is the step-son of Malaysia’s prime minister — used funds embezzled from a Malaysian development authority to produce the film.

Where are Malaysians to hide their faces in shame at the unending turns and twists and new developments in the 1MDB scandal at the global level, which has turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy overnight?

Can Najib and the UMNO/BN government exorcise the ghosts of the 1MDB scandal? Impossible, as Najib continues the pretence and charade that the 1MDB scandal does not exist, and Parliament is not even allowed to ask questions about it, with the UMNO/BN Government  the modern-day version of the traditional three monkeys, with eyes that see not, ears that hear not, and mouths that speak not about the 1MDB scandal.

Only a change of the Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 14GE can the ghosts of 1MDB be exorcised, and Malaysia restores its international reputation and standing by shaking off the stench, infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 20 September 2017, 9:17 am and is filed under
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The Pakatan Harapan Youth wings should brainstorm  to encourage greater youth participation and leadership in effecting the first political change in national politics with the election of a Pakatan Harapan federal government in Putrajaya in the 14GE

A  recent Merdeka Centre National (Youth) Opinion Survey has found that despite being highly dissatisfied with the BN government,  the youth in the country are also dispirited with the political system as a whole.

Merdeka Center asked youths how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with the performance of the BN federal government, to which two-thirds – 67 percent – answered that they were dissatisfied.

Only 24 percent said they were satisfied with the government’s performance.

High dissatisfaction rates were registered by respondents across race, urban and rural divides as well as between those registered to vote and those not registered.

The survey, which looked at perceptions of the youth towards the economy, leadership and current issues, also asked respondents about their attitudes towards politics and found that an overwhelming majority (70 percent) were not interested in politics while a similar number of them (71 percent) felt they did not have any influence on the government of the day.

Another key finding from the poll was some 40 percent of respondents were not registered as voters despite being eligible, saying they did not have time to register or they felt that voting did not make a difference.

The Pakatan Harapan youth wings from DAP, PKR, AMANAH and Pribumi Bersatu should brainstorm to encourage greater youth participation and leadership in effecting the first political change in national politics with the election of a Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 14th General Election to replace the UMNO/BN coalition.

I remember that when I was first involved in politics at the age of 24 at  the end of 1965, the DAP was a political party for the youths.

In the first batch of 13 DAP Members of Parliament in the 1969 General Elections,  three MPs or 23 per cent were below 30 years old, eight MPs or   62% below 40 years old and two MPs or  15 per cent below 50 years old.

This  was why DAP did not form a youth wing until some five years after DAP’s formation, for the founding DAP leadership was a very youthful one.

Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Merdeka Cabinet in 1957 was a fairly youthful one  as well when compared to today’s Cabinet. The average age of Tunku’s Merdeka Cabinet was 43.3 years – with Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman at 54 years and Finance Minister H.S.Lee  at 57 the two  oldest members while the youngest were Education Minister Khir Johari 34 and Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein at  35.

The present average age of the Malaysian Cabinet is 60 years with over half the Cabinet more than 60 years old. Najib is now 64 years old and became Prime Minister when he was 56.

Over 90 per cent of Malaysia’s 32 million people are born after Merdeka on August 31, 1957, with over half the population below 25 years of age.

Although we have a most extraordinary situation of having a 92-year-old nonagenarian in the person of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, 92,  as the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, it  is time for more youths  to take over the leadership levels in all spheres of Malaysia’s national life.

We have just celebrated the 60th anniversary of our attainment of Merdeka on August 31, 1957 when I was in Form Three in Batu Pahat High School.

I remember that the students in the school were assembled at the school padang, where the Merdeka Proclamation was read out.

However, we have failed in our Merdeka Dream and Vision to be a world-class nation as a parliamentary democracy; a successful and developed economy; a centre of educational excellence and a united, harmonious and progressive nation despite the diverse races, religions, cultures, languages in the country.

Malaysia has become a joke of a parliamentary democracy, where Members of Parliament are virtually prohibited from posing questions or debating the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history – the 1MDB scandal.

Economically, we have lost out to other countries which had lagged behind us when we achieved Merdeka 60 years ago, in particular South Korea and Taiwan; in danger of being overtaken by Vietnam and Thailand, while other countries are swiftly closing the economic gap with us like Indonesia.

Educationally, whether at university, or secondary and primary education, we have lost our international eminence, while in recent years, the voices of extremism, intolerance and bigotry have caused the worst racial and religious polarization in the nation’s history.

What is worse, we have overnight been transformed into a global kleptocracy because of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal, with the Prime Minister only last week visiting the White House and meeting with President Trump, although it was the US Department of Justice (DOJ) which branded Najib as a “kleptocrat” and “MO1” in the largest US DOJ kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland.

Instead of clearing and cleansing his reputation to prove that he is not a “kleptocrat” and that Malaysia is not a “global kleptocracy”, Najib went as a supplicant to the White House with three “value propositions” to strengthen the American economy to make Trump’s America great again!

Only political change in the forthcoming 14th General Election, with a change of the occupants of Putrajaya with a new Federal Government, can halt Malaysia’s decline and save the country from the trajectory of a failed and a rogue state.

We must have a youthful Cabinet which must more attuned with the aspirations and problems of Malaysian youths as compared to today’s Cabinet.

The youths of Malaysia, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics, must be the vanguard of this imminent political change in Malaysia.

This is a tall order and a great challenge to the youth wings of Pakatan Harapan – to energise and inspire the youths of Malaysia to provide leadership for this great political change in the country!

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue in Stulang, Johor Baru on Wednesday, 20th September 2017 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 20 September 2017, 6:27 pm and is filed under
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Better use of the RM60 billion to  help Malaysians, like the closure of KRIMs, economic woes of 100,000 Felda settlers and the 700,000 PTPTN defaulters than the Quixotic objective   to “strengthen the American economy”

Recently, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, went to the White House to meet with President Trump to  help strengthen  the United Sates economy, which is a ridiculous idea when we take into account that the American economy has a GDP close to US$19 trillion while the Malaysian GDP has not even reached US$300 billion!

It is the United States which should help strengthen the Malaysian economy, and not the other way round.

There is better use of the RM60 billion to help Malaysians, like the closure of KRIMS throughout the country, the 100,000 Felda settlers who have an economic crisis in their hands, or the 700,000 PTPTN defaulters instead of being used for the  Quixotic objective to “strengthen the American economy”.

It is a sign of the failure of Najib’s economics and his policies that the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) are being closed down all over the country, starting in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Kelantan and Sarawak.

A brainchild of  the Prime Minister, the  KRIM stores were meant to appeal to urban Malaysians with low-income levels, by selling basic necessities like rice, cooking oil, milk powder and diapers at prices, 30 to 50 percent lower than at other supermarkets.

Mydin Mohamed Holdings, the company that operates the popular chain of Mydin wholesale supermarkets, started operating KR1M stores in partnership with the government in 2011, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.

After six years of operating the stores, Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin admitted in July this year that KR1M was in fact, a “massive loss-making CSR project” and it had only continued operating to benefit Malaysians.

But the  Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi accused Mydin of selling goods above market prices and thus, profiteering from operating the stores.

As for the  economic woes of the 100,000 Felda settlers, I had in June called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to establish why in a matter of five years, Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) suffered RM10 billion market capitalisation losses, with its share price at RM4.55 per share when it was listed in June 2012 plunging to RM1.68 per share today.

Why has FGV, which is the world’s largest plantation operator with more than two million acres of oil palms in Malaysia and in other parts of the world, suffered so badly?

There should be  a no-holds-barred Royal Commission of Inquiry into the tens of billions of ringgit of FGV and FELDA losses, which should include Najib’s responsibility in allowing such financial losses and scandals in the past five years.

The woes of the 700,000 PTPTN defaulters had been a long-standing one.

Undoubtedly, the needs of ordinary Malaysians facing the closure of KRIM stores selling essential necessities at affordable prices, the 100,000 Felda settlers and 700,000 PTPTN defaulters are more in need of help from Najib than the American economy.

It is time that  Najib wake up to the harsh realities and hard truth that neither him nor the Malaysian government and economy could really help the American economy, but his job  and responsibility as Prime Minister is to help all Malaysians see through the present economic crisis so that Malaysia, and not America, can be great again!

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue at Taman Sentosa, Stulang, Johor Baru on Wednesday, 20th September 2017 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 September 2017, 8:25 am and is filed under
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Is this the first blot on the professionalism of the new IGP?

I have just seen the statement by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, on the Kuala Lumpur City Ban on the Better Beer Festival next month, and I asked myself whether this is the first blot on the professionalism of the new IGP?

The job of the top policeman in the country is to lead the police force to fight crime and ensure the safety and security of Malaysia to its citizens, visitors and investors and not to play politics with the sacred duty of the police force for the benefit of one or two Ministers.

Out of the blue, Mohamad Fuzi said the police information that certain quarters were planning to cause chaos at the Better Beer Festival 2017 slated to be held next month in Kuala Lumpur and this is the reason the police were opposed to the event.

The IGP said: “There was information that militants were planning to commit sabotage at the festival, as they believe it was against their struggle.

“There was also intelligence which showed there were parties out there who were planning to create havoc during the festival, which would create a situation concerning security.

“To prevent the situation from spiralling out of control, PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) acted proactively by putting a stop to the event, in the interest of public safety and security.”

Not just the general Malaysian population, I believe that  the majority of the police in the Royal Malaysian Police Force take the IGP’s statement with a pinch of salt.

I repeat what I said earlier today at a press conference in Pekan Nenas:

“Two weeks before the 60th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations, the Perak Police Chief  revealed that the Islamic State (IS) was planning to launch an attack in Perak during the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations.

“Did the government cancel all Merdeka celebrations in Perak because of such intelligence reports?

“Of course not, although the intelligence reports would have justified more police reinforcements at critical areas and greater police preparedness.

“Similarly, if  it is true that there are intelligence reports that there would be security or terrorist threats to the Better Beer Festival, a ban on the event is not the answer as it would reflect very poorly on police professionalism. However, Ayub Khan has denied knowledge of such security or terrorist threat to the Better Beer Festival.

“If the Malaysian police cannot even handle a security or terrorist threat to the Better Beer Festival, which would be held in a very localised and easily protected area, Malaysians would be entitled to ask how could the Police face a major or  full-scale terrorist threat?”

The Police must not compromise its professionalism and get dragged into partisan politics.

[
Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 21st Sept 2017
]

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 September 2017, 6:49 pm and is filed under
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Liow Tiong Lai should publicly apologise for being caught red-handed a second time for telling a lie – this time about security/terrorist threat resulting in the City Hall ban on Better Beer Festival next month

I am calling this press conference to express my surprise that before I spoke at the DAP kopitiam dialogue here in  Pekan Nenas, which I have just concluded, there was a report in the Malay Mail Online  entitled “
’No idea’ about security threat to beer festival, police says
” quoting the Bukit Aman counter terrorism division chief, Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay, denying that there was any security or terrorist threat resulting in the Kuala Lumpur City Hall banning the Better Beer Festival next month.

The report read:

“KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 21 — The police today said that it has ‘no idea’ regarding an alleged security threat towards the scrapped Better Beer Festival, despite claims by MCA.

“MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai was reported by national news agency Bernama saying last night that the beer festival was cancelled due to security reasons as advised by the police.

“But Bukit Aman counter terrorism division senior principal assistant director Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay did not confirm such a threat existed.

“’No idea. You need ask [MCA leaders],’ Ayub told Malay Mail Online in a text message.”

But when I completed my speech just now, I found that the Malay Mail Online story is no more available, as it had been taken off.

In the information age where information travels at the speed of light, it is not prudent or even possible to try to undo what has appeared online.

Firstly, the taking down of the MMO report was too late, for it has already been captured on
cache
, which I have here with the time-print showing that it was put online on MMO on “1.07 pm -21 Sept 17”.

Secondly, the MMO report on “
’No idea’ about security threat to beer festival, police says
” has also been used in verbatim by “Yahoo! News” portal.

As I said in my speech just now, this will not be the first time that the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai would have been caught red-handed telling a lie.

Malaysians would remember that during the second Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur on 9th July 2011, when Tiong Lai was  then Health Minister and MCA Deputy President, he lied in denying that police had fired tear gas and chemically-laced water cannons into the Tung Shin Maternity Hospital during the Bersih 2.0 rally.

The controversy came to an inconclusive end when a group of doctors said they were prepared to provide sworn affidavits to say that police had fired tear gas and chemical-laced water into the compounds of the Tung Shin and Chinese Maternity Hospitals with scant regard for the safety of patients and doctors  during the Bersih rally on June 9, 2011.

Now Tiong Lai has again been caught red-handed a second time in telling a lie over the Kuala Lumpur City Hall ban on the “Better Beer Festival” next month.

I had in my speech just now welcomed Datuk Ayub’s clarification as otherwise the professional image of the Malaysian police would be put in a very bad light.

Two weeks before the 60th Merdeka Anniversary celebrations, the Perak Police Chief  revealed that the Islamic State (IS) was planning to launch an attack in Perak during the upcoming Merdeka Day celebrations.

Did the government cancel all Merdeka celebrations in Perak because of such intelligence reports?

Of course not, although the intelligence reports would have justified more police reinforcements at critical areas and greater police preparedness.

Similarly, if  it is true that there are intelligence reports that there would be security or terrorist threats to the Better Beer Festival, a ban on the event is not the answer as it would reflect very poorly on police professionalism. However, Ayub Khan has denied knowledge of such security or terrorist threat to the Better Beer Festival,

If the Malaysian police cannot even handle a security or terrorist threat to the Better Beer Festival, which would be held in a very localised and easily protected area, Malaysians would be entitled to ask how could the Police face a major or  full-scale terrorist threat?

[
Media Conference Statement after DAP kopitiam dialogue at Pekan Nenas Johore on Thursday, 21st September 2017 at 2 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 September 2017, 6:46 pm and is filed under
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MCA reduced to a party without political principles as well as a thoroughly indisciplined one  whose President is not respected even by the other MCA leaders whether at national, state or local levels

MCA has been reduced to a political party without principles as well as a thoroughly indisciplined one by the  proposed “Better Beer Festival” event in Kuala Lumpur next month.

The MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai seems to take his double role in the Merdeka video “Citizens” seriously, first opposing the Kuala Lumpur ban on the proposed “Better Beer Festival” but quickly caving in and even endorsing the ban after the Cabinet meeting this morning on the ridiculous grounds of “security”!

But the MCA is a thoroughly indisciplined political party, whose President is not respected even by the other MCA leaders whether at national, state or local levels, who continue to say the very opposite of the stand of Liow Tiong Lai, even blaming the DAP for “strengthening” PAS to successfully oppose the Better Beer Festival!

Have security and safety in Malaysia become so tenuous and perilous that the  Better Beer Festival, which had been held for the past several years, have to be banned because of “security” reasons?

Is this the way to promote tourism and turn Malaysia into a tourists’ haven when even the Federal Government and the Police cannot guarantee the safety and security of a very localised event, like the Better Beer Festival, in the Federal capital?

Isn’t such a ban encouraging the extremists and fanatics to up their demands, even sending a signal to “Islamic State” supporters that Malaysia is a fertile ground for them to cultivate to spread their brand of  bigotry, extremism and intolerance in Malaysia?

The Police owes Malaysians a full and satisfactory explanation, whether they had advised the Kuala Lumpur City Hall to ban the Better Beer Festival because of extremist and terrorist threats, and if so, whether Malaysia has become so unsafe as to justify such a ban.

DAP supports the professionalism of the police force, and takes seriously the police tasks to fight crime and to ensure safety and security in Malaysia – and this is why DAP MPs had recently invited the head of the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division, Deputy Comm Datuk Ayob Khan to give a briefing on the latest developments on the terrorist threat in Malaysia.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun should not allow partisan politics to interfere with police professionalism and duties.

Let him speak up whether Malaysia’s safety and security have become so compromised and brittle that a small and localised event like the Better Beer Festival which had been held for several years in the Federal capital had to banned on security grounds.

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue held at Pelangi hawker centre, Stulang, Johor Baru on Wednesday, 20th September 2017 at 8 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 21 September 2017, 7:01 am and is filed under
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MACC should change its slogan  from “Say No to Corruption” to “Say No to 1MDB scandal” to demonstrate MACC is really leading the fight against corruption and abuses of power in Malaysia

Yesterday, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Kembara Jelajah Anti-Rasuah Konvoi 2017 came to Johor Baru, with the slogan
“Say No to Corruption”
.

MACC should change its Kembara Jelajah slogan  from
“Say No to Corruption”
 to
“Say No to 1MDB scandal”
 for five reasons:

Firstly,
 the 1MDB scandal is the country’s largest financial scandal in history, in fact, it is the subject of United States Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in US, UK and Switzerland;

Secondly, it is the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal which has turned Malaysia overnight into a “global kleptocracy”;

Thirdly,
 “Say No to 1MDB scandal” embraces “Say No to Corruption” while “Say No to Corruption” does not include “Say No to 1MDB scandal”;

Fourthly,
 there is no single issue which will as forcefully and powerfully send out the message  to Malaysians and the world that the MACC is serious about fighting corruption than to launch an all-out battle against the 1MBD scandal; and

Fifthly,
 so long as MACC does not directly address the 1MDB scandal, it will never get the trust and confidence of Malaysians and the world that it has finally come of age and become a truly professional world-class anti-corruption agency dedicated to the war against corruption “without fear or favour” of the powers-that-be.

The 1MDB scandal will be Malaysia’s badge of shame so long as the government and the various national institutions, including Parliament, the Judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Police and the Anti-Corruption Commission keep up the charade that while the 1MDB scandal continues to hog international headlines with new twists, turns and developments all over the world, there is no 1MDB scandal within the four walls of Malaysia.

Such a charade may succeed before globalization and the information era, but it is just fool-hardy, myopic and downright foolish to keep up such pretences in the modern world!

The world today is replete with examples of nations with Anti-Corruption Commissions which are the among the most corrupt countries in the world, just as there are so many nations with Human Rights Commissions which are among the worst violaters of human rights of their citizens.

There is a new book on corruption and kleptocracy in the world  which details how nations had set up Anti-Corruption Commissions as part of their lip-service commitment to fight corruption.

This new book,
The Corruption Cure
 by Robert Rotberg,  pointed out that Anti-Corruption Commissions are no panaceas to end the problem of corruption. In fact, in many countries, Anti-Corruption Commissions have been worse than ineffective as they have been “weaponized to punish opponents of corrupt regimes”.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission must not be co-opted by the Executive to play such a role, and this is why it must be in the vanguard to
“Say No to 1MDB scandal”
 if it wants to convince Malaysians and the world that it is leading the anti-corruption battle of “Say No to Corruption” in Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 22 September 2017, 3:10 pm and is filed under
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Najib failed to project a “Malaysia First” image, instead he seemed to have knuckled down under to Trump’s “American First” doctrine, even proposing three “value propositions” to strengthen the American economy when he visited White House!

We can disagree, dislike or even disparage US President Donald Trump, and the latest abuse levelled against Trump is by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who blasted Trump as “mentally deranged” for threatening  his country, but the fact is that however cocky, arrogant or even high-and-mighty Trump  might be, he exuded an aura and  persona which emphasizes “America First” image – despite the disastrous trajectory he had set for America in the next few years.

This is immediately grasped by anyone who watches the 5-minute 58-second video on the initial Trump-Najib exchange when Najib visited the White House and met Trump on Sept. 12.

What about Najib?

All I want to say is that Najib failed to project a “Malaysia First” image, instead he seemed to have knuckled down to Trump’s “America First” doctrine, even proposing three “value propositions” to strengthen the American economy!

I believe that the people in Johore, as in Malaysia, are waiting impatiently for the coming 14th General Election for two reasons:

Firstly, for Johor to be the frontline state to bring about the greatest change in Malaysia’s political landscape in 60 years by ensuring a change of government both at the Federal level in Putrajaya and in Johore State; and

Secondly, for Johoreans, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics, to unite as Malaysian patriots  together with Malaysians all over the country to save Malaysia from being a global kleptocracy, and to reset nation building directions and policies so that we can become a successful, harmonious, progressive and prosperous plural nation as was our initial Merdeka Dream.

Great changes are afoot in Malaysian politics.

We heard just now from  the Chairman of Amanah in Gelang Patah, Dzulkefly Ahmad, who had been a PAS member for 30 years since he was 22 years old. But he left PAS for AMANAH because he found that PAS under the leadership of Datuk Seri Hadi Awang is very different from the PAS under  former Mursyidul Am Datuk Nik Mat Nik  Aziz or former PAS Presidents Datuk Fadhil Noor and Yusuf Rawa, as the present PAS President has  lost the “inclusive” Malaysian vision and become the greatest apologist and defender of the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s global kleptocracy.

We have also heard from Sdr. Samad Atan, the Gelang Patah Bersatu Chairman. Samad was in UMNO for 45 years, joining UMNO when he was 18 years and he is now 63 years old.

Why did Samad leave UMNO to join Bersatu, although he had to a pay a heavy price for  the decision – as he was sacked as Councillor and  Whip of Majlis Perbandaran Johor Baru Tengah for the decision.

This is because UMNO under Datuk Seri Najib Razak is a very different from UMNO of  the past, as none of the five previous UMNO President and Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and even Tun Abdullah – would have allowed Malaysia to be regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy and suffer the indignity, ignominy and infamy of such an appellation.

There is a great political awakening in Malaysia.

There was a political tsunami in the urban areas in the 13th General Election in 2013, resulting in the majority of the national voters (some 53%) voting for a change of government in Malaysia.

But without a political tsunami in the rural areas, this was not enough to effect a democratic change of government, as the present electoral system was so unfair and undemocratic that with only 47% of the popular vote, Najib could still win 60 per cent of the 222 parliamentary seats, allowing  him to continue  in power although as the first minority Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In the next 14th General Election, there is a likelihood that there would be a political tsunami among the Malay voters in the rural areas, to match the political tsunami of the urban voters –  Chinese, Indian and urban Malays.

If there is swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters from UMNO/Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE as compared to the 13GE, Pakatan Harapan would win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, leaving 50 to BN and two to PAS.

Together with support from Sarawak and Sabah, Pakatan Harapan would have 125 to 130 out of 222 parliamentry seats – and possibly more – to form the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.

If Malaysians miss this golden opportunity to save Malaysia and reset nation building policies and directions so that Malaysia can be a united, harmonious, successful, progressive and prosperous plural nation, Malaysia will be heading for greater setbacks in the years ahead.

The United Nations special rapporteur on cultural rights, Karima Bennoune, has issued a very unflattering report about Malaysia.

While acknowledging that cultural governance in a diverse society like Malaysia can be challenging and requires a considered approach, she said it also affords great potential.

She said that efforts to build unity on a foundation of diversity are vital, and yet harmony cannot imply silence about issues deemed ‘sensitive,’ a term she heard repeatedly when visiting Malaysia  from Sept. 11 to yesterday to prepare her report.

In her preliminary report, she stressed that  it is important to continue to centre the notion of inclusion of all of Malaysia’s cultures, religions and traditions on an equal footing, in accordance with international standards, rather than painting some as ‘others’ which are merely ‘allowed,’ a phrase which she often heard during her visit.

The worst racial and religious polarisation in Malaysia in 60 years of nation-building, the reckless and irresponsible way parties in the ruling coalition plays the racial and religious cards, and the latest development where  beer festival could also become a “security” problem, support the UN special rapporteur that things are not well with Malaysian nation-building unless there is a change of government in the 14GE.

Bennoune has  urged the government to review and clarify its criteria for censoring or banning books and films, and make the decision-making process more transparent in order to safeguard cultural rights including the freedom of artistic expression.

She also urged the government to drop nine sedition charges against the cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ul-Haque, who is also known as Zunar, and lift the travel ban against him.

Will the Najib government respond positively to her recommendations?

Let us wait for the government response first.

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue at Taman University, Gelang Patah on Friday, 22nd September 2017 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 22 September 2017, 3:15 pm and is filed under
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Call on the three MCA Ministers and  leaders, Liow Tiong Lai, Wee Ka Siong and Ong Ka Chuan to publicly apologise for expelling a former Johore village chief  for nine years as a MCA member for being photographed with me

The Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad” came into me when I saw the a letter from the MCA Secretary General Ong Ka Chuan sacking a former Johore village chief for nine years as a MCA member for being photographed with me  during my visits around the Johore state.

This is utterly mad, devoid of moral principles and standards, and something no sane or rational party or leader would do.

I call on the three MCA Ministers and leaders, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (MCA President), Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (MCA Deputy President) and Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (MCA Secretary-General) to publicly apologise for the crazy, irrational and morally unjustifiable expulsion of the  former Johore village chief for nine years as a MCA member for being photographed with me.

Both Tiong Lai and Ka Siong had been photographed with me at some function or other. Are Tiong Lai and Ka Siong going to be expelled from MCA as happened to this former Johore village chief for nine years, and who had a longer MCA membership history than Tiong Lai, or  are  there obviously double-standards in the MCA, one for the MCA leaders and Ministers and another for the MCA rank-and file?

I believe that the people in Paloh state assembly seat and Sembrong parliamentary seat in Johore are waiting impatiently for the coming 14th General Election for two reasons:

Firstly, for Johor to be the frontline state to bring about the greatest change in Malaysia’s political landscape in 60 years by ensuring a change of government both at the Federal level in Putrajaya and in Johore State; and

Secondly, for Johoreans, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics, to unite as Malaysian patriots  together with Malaysians all over the country to save Malaysia from being a global kleptocracy, and to reset nation building directions and policies so that we can become a successful, harmonious, progressive and prosperous plural nation as was our initial Merdeka Dream.

Great changes are afoot in Malaysian politics, and it is these political waves which are accelerating in the state and country which will see Pakatan Harapan win the Paloh State Assembly seat in Johore  and even the Sembrong parliamentary seat currently held by the Johore UMNO strongman, Datuk Seri Hishamuudin Hussein, the Defence Secretary and cousin of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I was at a kopitiam dialogue at Taman Universiti in my parliamentary constituency in Gelang Patah this morning. We had with us  the Chairman of Amanah in Gelang Patah, Dzulkefly Ahmad, who had been a PAS member for 30 years since he was 22 years old.

But he left PAS for AMANAH because he found that PAS under the leadership of Datuk Seri Hadi Awang is very different from the PAS under  former Mursyidul Am Datuk Nik Mat Nik  Aziz or former PAS Presidents Datuk Fadhil Noor and Yusuf Rawa, as the present PAS President has  lost the “inclusive” Malaysian vision and become the greatest apologist and defender of the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s global kleptocracy.

This morning,we also had with us as a speaker Sdr. Samad Atan, the Gelang Patah Bersatu Chairman. Samad was in UMNO for 45 years, joining UMNO when he was 18 years and he is now 63 years old.

Why did Samad leave UMNO to join Bersatu, although he had to a pay a heavy price for  the decision – as he was sacked as Councillor and  Whip of Majlis Perbandaran Johor Baru Tengah for the decision.

Samad left UMNO because UMNO under Datuk Seri Najib Razak is very different from UMNO of  the past, as none of the five previous UMNO President and Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and even Tun Abdullah – would have allowed Malaysia to be regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy and suffer the indignity, ignominy and infamy of such an appellation.

Tonight, we have with us Sdr. Onn Abu Bakar, the PKR candidate for Sembrong in the 2013 General Election, Datuk Osman Sapian, Johore Secretary of Parti Pribumi Bersatu  and Malacca Pakatan Harapan Chairman as well as Malacca Amanah Chairman, Adly Zahary.

Osman Sapian was formerly a three-term UMNO Assemblyman for Kempas. He joined UMNO in 1979 and had been with UMNO for 38 years.

Why are so many UMNO veterans who have been in UMNO for decades leaving the UMNO?

This is among the political change and revolution taking place in Malaysia, especially in the rural areas, today.

There was a political tsunami in the urban areas in the 13th General Election in 2013, resulting in the majority of the national voters (some 53%) voting for a change of government in Malaysia.

But without a political tsunami in the rural areas, this was not enough to effect a democratic change of government, as the present electoral system was so unfair and undemocratic that with only 47% of the popular vote, Najib could still win 60 per cent of the 222 parliamentary seats, allowing  him to continue  in power although as the first minority Prime Minister of Malaysia.

In the next 14th General Election, there is a  great likelihood of  a political tsunami among the Malay voters in the rural areas, to match the political tsunami of the urban voters –  Chinese, Indian and urban Malays.

If there is swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters from UMNO/Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE as compared to the 13GE, Pakatan Harapan would win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, leaving 50 to BN and two to PAS.

Together with support from Sarawak and Sabah, Pakatan Harapan would have 125 to 130 out of 222 parliamentry seats – and possibly more – to form the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.

If Malaysians miss this golden opportunity to save Malaysia and reset nation building policies and directions so that Malaysia can be a united, harmonious, successful, progressive and prosperous plural nation, Malaysia will be heading for greater setbacks in the years ahead.

There are therefore  two conditions we must fulfill if we want to see a new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government in Putrajaya and a new Pakatan Harapan State Government in Johore in the 14GE: firstly, a political tsunami among the Malays in the rural areas, which means the message “Sayangi Malaysia Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” must be able to reach the 3.5 million UMNO members and  one million PAS members for them to understand that the highest UMNO and PAS leadership have reached an unholy alliance to defend Najib’s kleptocracy, which is not in the interests of the nation and people; and secondly, to sustain and even enlarge the political tsunami among the Chinese, Indian and urban Malay voters in the urban areas.

I call on the people of Paloh and Sembrong, and from all over Johore and Malaysia, to meet in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 14 for the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” gathering to demonstrate our resolve, commitment and love to save Malaysia from kleptocracy and return our nation firmly and solidly to the path of democracy.

(Speech at the “Save Malaysia, Destroy Kleptocracy” Pakatan Harapan Dinner in Paloh on Friday, 22nd September 2017 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 23 September 2017, 7:09 am and is filed under
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Malaysia police say beer festival axed due to security fears

ABC

United States

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sept 21, 2017

An annual beer festival in Kuala Lumpur has been axed due to information that militants were planning to sabotage the event, police said Thursday.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Monday banned the “Better Beer Festival,” scheduled for Oct. 6-7 in a shopping mall, without giving any reasons. It followed protests from an Islamist party that called it a vice festival that could lead to criminal acts, rape and free sex.

The festival, which features craft beers from 43 breweries worldwide, has been held in Malaysia annually since 2012. The cancellation has angered many Malaysians, who slammed it as a sign of growing Islamization in the country.

National police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun said police have information that unidentified militants were planning to sabotage the event because it was deemed to be against their struggle. He said that several other parties, which he didn’t name, were also planning to create chaos at the festival.

“To avoid any incident beyond our control, police have to be proactive by objecting to the organizing of the festival in order to ensure public safety and security,” he said in a brief statement.

In a separate statement earlier Thursday, Fuzi said police had detained 41 foreign militant suspects this year alone. Since 2013, police in Malaysia have detained more than 300 people believed to be linked to the Islamic State group.

Opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said many Malaysians viewed Fuzi’s statement with a pinch of salt and wondered if police were dragged into partisan politics. If the police intelligence is true, Lim said a ban on the event is not the answer as it would reflect poorly on police professionalism.

“If the Malaysian police cannot even handle a security or terrorist threat to the ‘Better Beer Festival,’ which would be held in a very localized and easily protected area, Malaysians would be entitled to ask how could the police face a major or full-scale terrorist threat,” Lim said in a statement.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 23 September 2017, 6:27 am and is filed under
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Call on Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers to stop their abuse of immigration autonomy powers in illegally and undemocratically barring Pakatan Harapan leaders from entry into Sarawak and Sabah if they are serious in wanting Federal Government to fully respect the word and spirit of Malaysia Agreement 1963

I call on the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers to stop their abuse of immigration autonomy powers in illegally and undemocratically barring Pakatan Harapan leaders from entry if they are serious in wanting the Federal Government to fully respect both the word and spirit of Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement which conferred immigration autonomy powers to Sarawak and Sabah, it was clearly stipulated that no Malaysian from Peninsular Malaysia should be barred from entry into Sarawak and Sabah in pursuit of “legitimate political activities”.

In barring Pakatan Harapan leaders from entry into Sarawak and Sabah although in pursuit of “legitimate political activities”, the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers would be abusing their powers under Malaysia Agreement 1963, which would undermine their legitimate demands for the full recognition and restoration of the rights of Sarawak and Sabah under the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

The second point I want to make is with regard to what the former Inspector-General Tan Sri Rahim Noor said in Kota Kinabalu at a forum “Malaysia in the Future” on Tuesday.

Rahim Noor warned Umno its concessions to PAS, particularly over the controversial Islamic penal code hudud, could lose it Sabah and Sarawak support.

He said that the federal government would not only lose the goodwill and support of the East Malaysian states, the latter may even agitate to leave the Federation if the government submits to PAS’ demands to implement hudud just to ensure that Umno remains in power.

In his speech, the former Inspector-General of Police stressed that the Federation of Malaysia was never meant to be an Islamic country because if it was, Sabah and Sarawak would never have agreed to it.

He said when the idea of Malaysia was mooted, religion was the main issue addressed by the Cobbold Commission.

“The people in the Bornean states, all of them, regardless of race and religion, did not want an official religion for the new federation.

“The demand was reasonable. After all, there are many Muslim-majority countries in the world that do not have Islam as their official religion, for example Egypt and Indonesia, a country with the highest number of Muslim’s in the world.”

I call on both the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers to publicly endorse the position of the former Inspector-General of Police, for it concerns one of the fundamental nation-building principles of the country as well as one of the fundamental terms and conditions for Sarawak and Sabah’s agreement to form the Malaysian Federation in 1963.

Are both the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers prepared to do this?

[
Media Conference Statement on arrival at the Kuching International Airport on Sunday, 24th September 2017 at 1.30 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 25 September 2017, 8:37 am and is filed under
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Call on Sarawak and Sabah to provide Pakatan Harapan with the two-thirds parliamentary majority in 14GE to ensure “New Deal, New Hope” in constitutional re-arrangements based on fair and equitable review of Malaysia Agreement 1963

Tonight’s ceramah in Kuching is unique and special, since the re-ignition of new hope and expectations among Malaysians with regard to the next 14th General Election since July 14, following the announcement of a new Pakatan Harapan structure, Pakatan Harapan logo and new PH leadership line-up.

I was with the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the DAP “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” dinner in Penang last night, and today, I flew into Kuching,  transiting at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Wherever I went today, especially when transiting in KLIA and on arrival in Kuching, there was a throb in the air, a fervor and great expectation with people regardless of region, race or religion coming up to me in anticipation of something significant happening in Kuching today.

This is the why there is such a huge turn-out of the people of Kuching and Sarawak from all communities at the Pakatan Harapan ceramah tonight despite the heavy rain for the soft-launch of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto for Sarawak and Sabah.

The people of Sarawak and Malaysia have been waiting political change, a “New Deal, New Hope” for more than half a century, and they are not going to allow inclement conditions, whether of the weather or the political situation, to stand in the way.

Sarawak has been regarded a “fixed deposit” of Barisan Nasional, but like other former BN “fixed deposits” especially the states of Johore and Malacca,  Sarawak is now an important “key” to political change in Malaysia in the 14GE.

Two significant events took place in the past week in Sarawak and Sabah.

Firstly, there was the continued abuse of immigration autonomy powers by the Sarawak Chief Minister in the refusal to allow two PKR MPs entry into Sarawak and the ejection of a PKR Perak State Assemblywoman yesterday.

The Malaysia Agreement 1963 conferred immigrant autonomy powers to Sarawak and Sabah, but as provided in Section 67 of the Immigration Act 1959/63, no Malaysian citizen should be barred from entering Sarawak and Sabah “for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity”.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan are committed to the review of Malaysia Agreement 1963 and necessary constitutional adjustments and re-arrangements to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to ensure “New Deal, New Hope” for Sarawakians and Sabahans, but how can the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers ask for a fair and equitable review of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution when they are in the forefront in blatantly abusing their powers and the provisions in Malaysia Agreement 1963?

I had been a victim of such abuses of powers of Malaysia Agreement 1963 when 43 years ago, in 1974, I was first barred entry into Sarawak.

We have with us tonight Sdr. Ting Ling Kiew, four-term MP for Bintulu from 1974 to 1990, who was with me at the Kuching Airport on that day in 1974. We objected to the abuse of powers of immigration autonomy in  Malaysia Agreement 1963, and who took me to spend a night in Borneo Hotel, Kuching as the last flight out of Kuching that day had already left.

Will the Sarawak Chief Minister announce that henceforth there will be no abuse of powers of the immigrant autonomy  under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and that no Pakatan Harapan leaders from Peninsular Malaysia will be barred from entry into Sarawak “for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity”?

The second significant event was the speech by the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor at a forum “Malaysia in the Future” in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday where he warned Umno  that its concessions to PAS, particularly over the controversial Islamic penal code hudud, could lose it Sabah and Sarawak support.

I have a lot of differences with Rahim Noor, in particular the infamous black-eye which he inflicted on former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, but he has paid his dues for his greatest mistake in his life with jail time, a fine and loss of position as the top policeman in the land.

However, I am not shy to declare that I appreciate his warning that  the federal government would not only lose the goodwill and support of the East Malaysian states, the latter may even agitate to leave the Federation if the government submits to PAS’ demands to implement hudud, “inch by inch”, just to ensure that Umno remains in power.

Abdul Rahim Noor warned that “”If people’s anxiety over the issue of religion gets heated up, Malaysia may be thrown into chaos” as “Sabah and Sarawak  may think twice whether to continue to be in Malaysia or not”.

The former Inspector-General of Police stressed that the Federation of Malaysia was never meant to be an Islamic country because if it was, Sabah and Sarawak would never have agreed to it.

He said when the idea of Malaysia was mooted, religion was the main issue addressed by the Cobbold Commission.

“The people in the Bornean states, all of them, regardless of race and religion, did not want an official religion for the new federation.

“The demand was reasonable. After all, there are many Muslim-majority countries in the world that do not have Islam as their official religion, for example Egypt and Indonesia, a country with the highest number of Muslims in the world.”

I call on the Chief Ministers of the Sarawak and Sabah, as well as all Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs from Sarawak and Sabah, to publicly endorse the stand of the former Inspector-General of Police, for it concerns one of the bedrock nation-building principles of the country as well as one of the fundamental terms and conditions for Sarawak and Sabah’s agreement to form the Malaysian Federation in 1963.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, claimed success for his National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) programme.

I confess  I do not understand what Najib is talking about. Is he claiming success for the NBOS programme for achieving the following three things:

Malaysia becoming overnight as a global kleptocracy under his premiership;

his support of US President’s “America First” policy by offering three “value propositions” during his visit to White House and meeting with Trump to “strengthen the US economy”;

the closure one by one throughout Malaysia of Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KRIM) to benefit urban Malaysians with low-income levels, by selling basic necessities like rice, cooking oil, milk powder and diapers at prices, 30 to 50 percent lower than at other supermarkets?

Earlier today, Najib ridiculed Pakatan Harapan as one opposition pact  that is “laughable”, whose relationship among component parties is nothing but a “marriage of convenience” and that the different Pakatan Harapan leaders from the component parties “sleep in same bed, but with different dreams”.

Let me tell Najib tonight that Pakatan Harapan leaders, whether DAP, PKR, Amanah or Pribumi Bersatu, whether Tun Dr. Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim, Mat Sabu or myself – we all have one common dream and one objective, which is to topple Najib, UMNO and BN through the ballox box in the 14GE to give Malaysians a “New Deal, New Hope”.

If there is swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters from UMNO/Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE as compared to the 13GE, Pakatan Harapan would win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, leaving 50 to BN and two to PAS.

Together with support from Sarawak and Sabah, Pakatan Harapan may have 125 to 130 out of 222 parliamentary seats to form the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.

But this is not enough to achieve a two-thirds parliamentary majority of at least 149 out of the 222 parliamentary seats, to ensure that there can be constitutional re-arrangements following a fair and equitable review of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to provide “New Hope, New Deal” to Sarawakians, Sabahans as well as all Malaysians.

Can Sarawak and Sabah provide the 36 Members of Parliament for Pakatan Harapan to ensure Pakatan Harapan has the  two-thirds parliamentary majority in 14GE  to ensure “New Deal, New Hope” from a  fair and just constitutional re-arrangements based on review of Malaysia Agreement 1963?

This is one of the greatest challenges of the forthcoming 14GE!

[
Speech at the Sarawak Pakatan Harapan ceramah to launch the Pakatan Harapan manifesto for Sarawak and Sabah held in Kuching on Sunday Sept. 24, 2017 at 8.30 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 25 September 2017, 8:47 am and is filed under
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