Najib and Hadi have reached rare unanimity that Najib does not have to answer the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” but 30 million Malaysians, including three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, want Najib to give immediate answer without any more delay

This is the fourth of my five-whistlestop visit to Perak today as part of the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign.

I started in Kopisan in Gopeng, went to Kampar, and now coming from Bidor, ending up in Hutan Melintang after this visit.

Everywhere I went, since the first day of this nation-wide campaign after my six-month suspension from Parliament for wanting the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give full and satisfactory accounting for his twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal banking accounts and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal – I found the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” close to the hearts and minds of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

They are also close to the hearts and minds of the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, although their respective leaders, Najib and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, are in advanced “courtship” based on the understanding that these twin mega scandals should be banished from the  public domain in Malaysian politics.

In fact, in May this year, Hadi publicly said  Najib should not bow down to pressures from the 1MDB scandal and should not resign as Prime Minister.

In July, Hadi was quick to come to the defence of Najib after the Wall Street Journal expose of RM2.6 billion deposits into Najib’s personal banking accounts before the May 2013 General Election, demanding for credible witnesses to substantiate the Wall Street Journal allegation of financial embezzlement  as Najib is not “an angel but an ordinary human being”.

Najib and Hadi have reached rare unanimity that Najib need not answer the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” on the lip of every thinking Malaysian, but I do not believe this is the position of the 30 million Malaysians, including the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members,  who want Najib to  immediately answer this question without any more delay, procrastination or prevarication.

Politics in Malaysia are in a great flux and unprecedented political configurations are in store in the coming weeks and months, basically to shore up Najib’s weakening political position, whether in UMNO or in the country.

The Barisan Nasional coalition may be relegated to a secondary position for the first time since its formation by Tun Razak in 1973, overtaken by some new political arrangement between UMNO and PAS.

Although Najib sailed through without mishap the recent 25-day Parliamentary meeting, where his 2016 Budget was passed without challenge, and the five-day UMNO General Assemblies, where his detractors inside UMNO like Tun Mahathir and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were silenced, Najib’s seeming political strength is clearly at the expense of  UMNO’s increasing political weakness and even irrelevance.

Muhyiddin had warned in his speech to 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh at the end of last month that Malay support for UMNO had dwindled to 30 per cent, when Malay support for UMNO over the years had always been above 50 per cent.

Muhyiddin further warned that unless this political reality in particular the unhappiness of the people over Najib’s twin mega scandals  is faced by the UMNO leadership, UMNO may  be defeated in the 14th General Election in two years’ time.

Najib is too much of a political realist not to know the political reality on the ground – in particular UMNO’s plunging stocks not only among Malaysian voters, even among Malay voters.

To salvage his political position as Prime Minister and UMNO President, while keeping his twin mega scandals under “lock and key” as much as possible, Najib needs a political life-line, which seems to be offered by Hadi with the PAS President’s acquiescence with Najib’s mega scandals and a stance of asking no  embarrassing questions and taking no embarrassing positions like holding placards all over the country demanding: “Mana RM2.6 billion?”

Hadi not only has no  moral  position on Najib’s twin mega scandals, he is quite comfortable in coming to Najib’s political rescue with a UMNO-PAS co-operation to shore up Najib’s political position both inside UMNO and in the country as a whole.

I doubt  such compromising position with Najib’s twin mega scandals will sit well with the three million UMNO members and one million PAS members, let alone the general Malaysian public, as even ordinary UMNO and PAS members are daily confronted with the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” in the market places and streets which they not only have no answers but resonate with them as well!

The country is now in a political “no man’s land”,  in a situation Malaysians had never been before.

The challenge before all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or even politics is not how to save an individual, whether Najib or Hadi; not to save any political party, whether UMNO or PAS; but how to save Malaysia from becoming a failed and a rogue state, where there is no respect for the supremacy of the Malaysian Constitution (like the National Security Council Bill which is a usurpation of the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and 13 State Governments),  breakdown of the rule of law and collapse of good governance principles with rampant corruption, abuses of power and massive political  and socio-economic injustices in the country.

Let this message go out to all Malaysians loud and clear – the question is how to save Malaysia and the 30 million Malaysians, not how to save an individual, whether Najib or Hadi; and not how to save a political party, whether UMNO or PAS.

(Speech at the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam in Batu 12, Teluk Intan on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 at 3 pm)

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Singer-actress Soo Wincci says demanding Najib’s resignation a ‘responsibility’

by Nabihah Hamid

The Malaysian Insider

20 December 2015

Malaysian singer-actress Soo Wincci recently made headlines when sponsors pulled out of her first solo concert in the country, after she made a video demanding Datuk Seri Najib Razak resign as prime minister.

But insisting that the show must go on, the former beauty queen bankrolled the October 31 concert herself and managed to attract a packed stadium that included opposition supporters, politicians and celebrated local singer Siti Nurhaliza.

Looking back on the entire saga nearly two months later, the winner of the Miss World Malaysia 2008 said she had no regrets about releasing her outspoken video, made at the same time as the Bersih 4 rally in late August, despite the troubles it brought her.

She said the controversy surrounding Najib as well as the debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) needed to be resolved immediately, and that all Malaysia’s problems were caused by just one man.

“It is just one person at the end of the day. The leader is important. It is not about the party, it is about the leader.

“Just change the leader. We all have the right to this. We don’t want leaders that control us, we want leaders that lead,” said Wincci, 30.

The University of Reading (UK) law graduate, who has made a name for herself as a singer in Taiwan, urged every Malaysian to speak out for the sake of the country’s future.

“We are born in the Asian culture, so we don’t always like to speak out. In the end, we blame the leaders, but what matters is that we resolve the problems,” said Wincci.

However, the award-winning singer said each criticism leveled against the government should be substantiated and “not too aggressive”, and that each person had to be prepared to face the consequences of being vocal.

Reflecting on her own video calling for Najib to resign, Wincci said she had only meant to rally Malaysians to unite and “get rid of the problem”.

“If we keep fighting, we won’t improve. At the end of the day, we need to unite. Don’t side with one party, open your eyes.”

She said that after the eight-minute video went viral, she had received offers from several political parties to join their cause.

“But I didn’t feel it was necessary, and I’m not interested in going down that path. I think it’s enough that I observe and speak out,” said Wincci, who spoke in English, Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia in the video.

The video, uploaded on YouTube on August 30 with the title “Soo Wincci Words for Najib Malaysia Prime Minister” (see video below), was inspired by the Bersih 4 rally that called for democratic reforms as well as Najib’s resignation, Wincci said.

“I know that you (Najib) have been on stage for too long, and you know what, the stage now is too crowded. Najib, hopefully that you can give us some space and please come down from the stage.

“Give us back some space for freedom,” Wincci had said in the video, which was recorded in Taiwan.

A music video of her song “This is the Time” on YouTube also features scenes showing a sea of yellow protestors at the Bersih rally.

Wincci told The Malaysian Insider she studied law because her parents asked it of her, even though she had begun singing when she was 16.

But she pursued her studies without protest, earned her law degree as well as an MBA from the University of Sunshine Coast, Australia, and is now doing her PhD in Business Administration at the Open University.

She said she only began her career as a singer after completing her Masters, but admitted that it was difficult to get people to buy her album at first.

“I gave it a year. At first, I knocked on the doors of many recording labels, but they didn’t want me because they were scared,” she recalled.

Undeterred, Wincci said she released her first album herself, only for it to flop.

But the singer was determined to make it big, and after releasing several more albums in Chinese over the years, she eventually launched her first Chinese International album, titled “Happiness”, in Taiwan.

She said she was now setting her sights on breaking into the Malay market, but had reservations because of the stiff competition.

“I’d love to work with Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and compose a song with her. She is one of my idols,” said Wincci.

Not content with just singing, Wincci is also the one of the leading actresses of “Takhta Tiga Ratu”, a six-part Astro series.

“I’m trying to make my mark in acting, but it’s more challenging because the hours are long. When I first started out, I was just really confused, and was taking up roles as an extra,” she said, adding that her experience had taught her how to multitask.

She has just completed filming alongside local actors Aaron Aziz and Izara Aishah, for a movie that is set to release next June.

“There were many scenes in the movie that were passionate and challenging for me. But I count myself lucky to have gotten the chance to work with such talents,” said Wincci.

Last year, she founded her own talent management company, Beyond Artistes, and also took 4th place in “Malaysia’s Master Chef: All Stars” edition. – December 20, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2015, 10:45 am and is filed under
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Umno-PAS alliance a ‘reinvention’ to remain relevant

P Ramasamy

Malaysiakini

20th December 2015

COMMENT
 Is it a major surprise to Malaysians that Umno and PAS are moving closer and closer for a final embrace? Or are Malaysians shocked beyond belief that those once-formidable foes have sunk their deep-seated differences for a new political alignment?

Whether Malaysians are surprised or shocked, the reality of this new alliance seems to be looming in the horizon. Whether such a relationship will be cemented in the form of admission of PAS into BN or a formation of a different sort of arrangement, remains to be seen.

However, most political analysts seem to think that a political relationship is in the offing.

What are the benefits for Umno if this alignment takes shape?

First, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak needs the support of Malays so that he can continue to hold power in Umno – and by definition, continue on as the premier of the country – until the next general election.

Since PAS has not attacked Najib on the RM2.6 billion deposits he received in his accounts, and nor has it questioned the shady deals of 1MDB but on the contrary defended Najib on these two controversial matters, the likelihood of PAS emerging as an ally seems attractive to Umno.

Second, despite the fall in Malay support for Umno, it is the only strong party in the BN coalition; otherwise, BN is in shambles. MCA, Gerakan and MIC are not in a position to deliver votes for BN in the coming general election. These non-Malay parties are weak, and have become politically irrelevant for the continuation of BN.

Third, given the vacuum in non-Malay support, Umno thinks that the time is ripe to seek an alignment with PAS even if such an alignment would deal a death knell for BN. Of course, the prospect of this alliance has come about as PAS itself is experiencing internal problems of great magnitude.

Fourth, since Najib has placed so much premium on his own survival rather than that of Umno, he has no qualms about seeking accommodation with PAS even though both parties are ideologically divided on the question of Islam and the nature of political governance.

What is the attraction for PAS?

PAS is at its lowest point in the political history of Malaysia. Its purge of progressive Islamic leaders that led to the formation of Parti Amanah Negara has taken away some support from the party. Most importantly, PAS has lost leaders who are articulate and who could take on Umno – both in the Parliament and outside.

Given this development, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang thinks that by supporting Umno, he could re-engineer support for PAS.

Moreover, PAS is a political party that is well known for political rhetoric, but very poor in political governance. The way it has governed Kelantan speaks volumes of its nature. During the 2014 floods, its administration could not even organise and render social, economic and welfare assistance to those affected. There are grounds to believe that without an alliance with Umno, it might be able to retain power in Kelantan in the next general election.

PAS under the present leadership seems to realise that it has reached a dead-end in Malaysian politics; and unless it reworks its political strategy and forms a new alliance, it would be forgotten in the due course of time.

Hence, the present move on the part of PAS to endear itself with Umno and refraining from criticising Najib on matters of corruption, reflects the internal crises within the party and how it is moving in the direction of “reinventing” itself.

Also, given the autocratic leadership style of its leader Hadi, there is little or no time for dissent in the PAS – the move to embrace Umno reflects not a consensus within the party, but a position of Hadi himself and his sycophants.

Implications for the non-Malay parties in BN

MCA’s vehement opposition to the admission of PAS in BN might not have the desired effect. MCA, given its weak position in the Chinese community, might not be in a position to oppose the admission of PAS; in fact, Umno does not care a damn of MCA, Gerakan or MIC.

These parties exist not because of the support they get from their respective communities, but from the lifeline extended by Umno.

The question of MCA or another non-Malay party opposing the new alliance might not have any impact on Umno. It is better for MCA to say that it would leave BN if PAS is admitted, rather than say it would oppose the move. But will MCA have the guts to do so? I doubt it.

And forget about Gerakan or MIC, these are non-consequential political parties. Even if Umno does not admit PAS, the former can always have a different kind of political arrangement to accommodate with it. Again, the MCA embargo on PAS’ entry into BN might not make any sense – at least for the moment.

Furthermore, given the dire straits that Umno is caught in at the moment, there is little that these non-Malay political parties can do to prevent this alliance.

In their entire political history, Umno today is at its weakest. If it wants to remain relevant in the Malaysian political scenario, then its choices are limited as non-Malay support for the party has virtually vanished in the peninsular.

The strange part is that it is not Umno who is really in trouble, it is Najib. But the latter has been capable of dragging the entire party into the mud, as though his survival is the survival of the party – which is what former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been trying to tell the Malaysian public.

P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the state assemblyperson for Perai.

Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/323988#ixzz3urAqvHyz

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2015, 6:47 pm and is filed under
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Umno, PAS perlu gabung jadi satu parti

Amin Iskandar

The Malaysian Insider

20 December 2015

Peristiwa Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Hadi Awang berada di atas satu pentas di Kuala Lumpur minggu ini menjawab pelbagai persoalan yang sebelum ini tidak begitu jelas.

Dalam hal kerjasama di antara 2 parti Melayu itu, Umno kelihatan lebih jujur berbanding PAS.

Ketika Hadi dan beberapa pemimpin lain masih berdolak-dalik tentang kerjasama di antara 2 parti itu, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed mendedahkan sudah 2 tahun Umno dan PAS bekerjasama.

 “Kerjasama berlaku, (ia) bukan mimpi… tidak tepat (kenyataan Timbalan Presiden PAS Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man), itu tidak betul.

“Kerjasama berlaku 2 tahun dah,” kata pengerusi badan perhubungan Umno Kelantan itu seperti dilaporkan Bernama.

Mungkin tidak semua pemimpin dalam PAS yang tahu dan dilibatkan dalam hal bekerjasama dengan Umno ini.

Maka tidak hairanlah mengapa ramai di antara pemimpin kanan PAS keluar parti dan menubuhkan Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

Umno dan PAS kini sama

Ketika ucapan penggulungan pada perhimpunan agung Umno baru-baru ini, Najib seolah-olah seperti seorang pemimpin PAS.

Beliau sudah mula menggunakan perkataan-perkataan Arab dalam ucapannya.

Sebelum bersalaman dengan Timbalan Presiden Umno Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang dipecatnya daripada Kabinet pada Julai, Najib menggunakan istilah seperti “syura”.

Dalam menawarkan kerjasama bersama PAS, Najib juga menggunakan ayat-ayat al-Quran untuk “menghalalkannya”.

Berucap semasa merasmikan Majlis Multaqa Serantau Alumni Al-Azhar Malaysia, presiden Umno itu turut membacakan ayat daripada surah Al-Imran dalam al-Quran bagi menyokong kenyataannya.

“Islam menganjurkan betapa pentingnya perpaduan dan kesatuan ummah dan sebaliknya, betapa bahayanya apabila kita umat Islam terjebak dalam kancah perbalahan.

“Dan petunjuk al-Quran dengan begitu jelas menggariskan perpaduan ini, sehingga orang biasa seperti saya dapat memahami.

“Ini bukan pilihan, ini wajib. Bila mana Allah perintah, hukumnya adalah wajib,” katanya semasa merasmikan multaqa itu di Kuala Lumpur yang menyaksikan perhimpunan bekas pelajar Universiti Al-Azhar, Mesir dari Malaysia dan Indonesia baru-baru ini.

Begitu juga dengan segelintir pemimpin PAS. Sudah lama mereka bersikap seperti Umno.

Sehingga kadang-kadang yang membezakan di antara seorang pemimpin Umno dan PAS hanyalah songkok dan kopiah.

Dewan Ulama Umno

Untuk menguatkan lagi Najib di dalam Umno, penggabungan di antara kedua-dua parti Melayu itu harus disegerakan.

Oleh kerana PAS bukanlah jenis parti politik yang mahukan kekuasaan tetapi hanya reda Allah semata-mata, penggabungan akan menjayakan lagi misi dakwah mereka.

Realitinya, walaupun sudah lebih 50 tahun PAS menjadi sebuah parti politik, mereka masih gagal menawan Putrajaya.

Jadi, penggabungan bersama Umno akan menyebabkan PAS dapat melebarkan “dakwah Islam” mereka di dalam kerajaan.

Selepas bergabung, PAS bolehlah memainkan peranan sebagai Dewan Ulama Umno.

Pemimpin-pemimpin PAS bolehlah mengambil portfolio agama dalam Kabinet dan menjadi menteri besar di negeri Pantai Timur seperti Kelantan dan Terengganu.

Semua ini perlu dilakukan PAS sementara Umno masih mahukan mereka. Ketika kedudukan Najib masih belum kuat. Jika Umno sudah kembali kuat, mereka juga tidak akan hairan dengan PAS.

Meneruskan PAS ketika Umno sudah menerima “Islam ala PAS” akan menyebabkan banyak pembaziran wang dan tenaga. Bergabung akan lebih menjimatkan.

Bukankah membazir itu amalan syaitan? – 20 Disember, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2015, 6:57 pm and is filed under
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When democracy and human rights activists are regarded  as bigger threats than ISIS terrorists  as envisaged by  the monstrous NSC Bill, Malaysia is replacing Myanmar as the rogue nation in ASEAN

The monstrous National Security Council (NSC) Bill  made history of sorts when it spearheaded a European Parliament motion condemning human rights violations in Malaysia even before it became law – as it has still to be passed by the Dewan Negara expected on Tuesday, given the Royal Assent and gazetted before it joins the statute list for  the most pernicious  and infamously bad laws in Malaysia.

The  European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution deploring  the slew of human rights violations in the country and called for the withdrawal of the NSC

Bill which were rushed through the Dewan Rakyat on the last day of Parliament on Dec. 3 in a late-night sitting without  adequate prior notice or consultation with MPs and the civil society.

Even the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) was kept out in the cold and was completely in the dark about the NSC Bill although Suhakam was  tasked by Parliament with the statutory duties of promoting and protecting human rights.

Why have a Suhakam when it was not consulted and even did not know that such a monstrous and pernicious NSC bill was in the works – making a total mockery of human rights, democracy and the supremacy of the Constitution as professed by the Najib government?

The Najib Government has been fork-tongued on the NSC Bill, assuring the Malaysian public that it was formulated to combat the threat of terrorism, but telling a very different story to UMNO leaders, causing the Wanita UMNO leader, Datuk Shahrizat Jalil to defend the NSC Bill  at the Wanita UMNO Assembly last week as necessary to deal with “anti-government elements” who want to topple the government under the “guise of democracy, human rights and freedom”.

The European Parliament resolution is proof that even the international community is not convinced  that the NSC Bill was aimed to combat terrorism and not designed to arm the Prime Minister with undemocratic powers to undermine the democratic process just to protect his own political position.

When the Najib government  regards democracy and human rights activists  as bigger threats than ISIS terrorists  as envisaged by  the monstrous NSC Bill, Malaysia is replacing Myanmar as the rogue nation in ASEAN.

The Najib government must convince Malaysians and the world that the NSC Bill does not have an ulterior objective to  combat  human rights and democracy to preserve the political position of the Prime Minister and the UMNO/BN government, but is a genuine legislation to combat terrorism, especially with reports that 123 Malaysians  are linked to  the Daesh (ISIS) terrorists, with 66 of them in Syria, and with some 50,000 supporters of ISIS in Malaysia.

The Prime Minister should direct that the NSC Bill be withdrawn from Senate tomorrow for it to be duly amended for the new powers to to deal specifically with terrorism, park the National Security Council under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015, and remove all unconstitutional provisions which usurped the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and the 13 State Governments.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2015, 6:11 pm and is filed under
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Why it is good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders  and to reform to be politically relevant again as  experienced by  Indian National Congress, Taiwan Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal Democratic parties

Some 10 days  before the recent  UMNO General Assembly, the Deputy UMNO President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said  in his speech to 1,000 Barisan Nasional leaders in Pagoh that Malay support for UMNO had dwindled to 30 per cent when Malay support for UMNO over the years had always been above 50 per cent.

He warned that unless this warning signal to UMNO,  in particular the unhappiness of the people over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin mega scandals of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts before the  13th General Election and the RM55 billion 1MDB debts, is faced by the UMNO leadership, UMNO may be defeated in the 14th General Election in two years’ time.

This theme was taken up by the Perak Mufti, Harussani Zakarai who warned at the Regional Conference (Multaqa Serantau) for al-Azhar University alumni  in Kuala Lumpur that Malays will lose their political power in about two years’ time if their leaders continue to fight against one another.

In an apparent reference to the 14th general election, Harussani called for the defence of Malay power in the country, saying the maintenance of that power would protect the position of Islam.

He said: “Malay leadership in this country must be defended because that’s where the strength of Islam lies.

“If the Malays are defeated, then Islam will too.”

There are two dangerous fallacies here.

Firstly, that the defeat of UMNO in the 14th General Election will result in Malay losing political power in country.

Secondly, the defeat of UMNO will  result in the defeat of Islam in Malaysia.

Desperate, unscrupulous, unprincipled and unpatriotic politicians are going to spread these falsehoods in next 30 months, ratcheting them up in ever-growing intensity with the approach of the 14GE Polling Day, to foment fear and hatred among the electorate in order to avert the electoral defeat of UMNO in the 14GE.

The electoral defeat of UMNO is a given, not whether UMNO would be rejected by voters in the ballot boxes but when!

In fact, if the electoral system had been really “one man, one vote, one value”, UMNO would now  be in the Opposition benches and the Prime Minister today would be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and not Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and the country would have been spared the catalogue of political and socio-economic scandals plaguing the country, including Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal; the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal; a Prime Minister being investigated by seven separate countries on corruption and money laundering, and in particular by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI)  and US Department of Justice whether he is a “kleptocrat”; the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit; the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) adding to the hardships of low-income Malaysians already sandwiched between rising cost of living and falling incomes; and horror of horrors, the National Security Council Bill which usurps the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong on the proclamation of an emergency, the Cabinet and 13 State Governments.

So far, nobody in UMNO and its propaganda apparatus has been able to give a decent reply to the question asked by National Laureate Pak Samad as to how Malays would lose political power if UMNO is defeated in a general election.

Pak Samad had found it odd that the Malay community are obsessed over the loss of power to the country’s other minority groups if UMNO loses control of Putrajaya, and how the Malays and Islam could be under threat, and  asked:

“How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malays for over five decades?

“What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?”

The demographics in the country is the surest guarantee that the Malays will not lose political power whatever happens to UMNO in the next general election.

In 1970 Malaysia’s population was made up of 44.32% Malays, 34.34% Chinese, 8.99% Indians, 11.89% non-Malay Bumiputeras, 0.67% others.

In 2010, the percentage of Malays increased to 55.07%, Chinese reduced to 24.34%, Indians dropped to 7.35%, non-Malay Bumiputeras maintained at 11.94% and 1.3% others.

During the 13th general election, 52.63% of the voters were Malays, 29.68% Chinese, 7.31% Indians, 8.96% non-Malay Bumiputeras and 1.43% others.

Out of the 165 Parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, 114 are Malay majority seats, 22 Chinese majority seats and 29 mixed seats. There is not a single Indian majority seat.

Is Harussani suggesting that if UMNO loses in the 14GE, it would be possible for the new Malaysian Government in Putrajaya to ensure the Chinese capture political power by increasing the present 22 Chinese-majority seats to over 83 seats as to constitute a majority of the total of 165 seats in Peninsular Malaysia?

No magician can perform this impossible feat. In fact, the trend is the opposite with fewer than 22 Chinese-majority seats in the coming years because of the demographic realities and declining Chinese population in the country.

If Pakatan Harapan succeeds in winning Putrajaya in the 14GE, one of its top priorities will be to do better than UMNO/BN to look after the rights and interests of all Malaysians, including Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans and Orang Asli as we do not want to be a one-term Federal Government but  to have the confidence and support of the Malaysian electorate to continue to enjoy the mandate in Putrajaya in the subsequent general elections.

The Pakatan Harapan Federal Government will compete with UMNO and Barisan Nasional to have a better record in upholding the fundamental features of the Malaysian Constitute and looking  after the rights and interests of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, Orang Asli and the question of Malays or any community losing political rights, or Malays and Islam under threat,  will not arise.

Pakatan Harapan will ensure that the defeat of UMNO will not be a threat or disaster for Malays or Islam, or for that matter, for any race or religion in the country.

Will UMNO’s electoral loss in the 14 GE be such an unmitigated disaster than it will end in  UMNO’s demise.

I do not believe so. I do not believe  UMNO is in such a terminal stage of political cancer that it will die and can never recover if it loses the 14GE.

Other countries in the world provide examples of the resilience of ruling parties which had dominated their nation’s political scenes for decades but  who could still spring back to relevance and importance after the shock of their first electoral defeat and rejection in n the ballot boxes.

In fact, it will be  good for the soul of UMNO to be defeated in 14GE – as it is the only way for UMNO to get rid of corrupt leaders  and to reform to be politically relevant again like what had been experienced by  Indian National Congress, Taiwan’s Kuomintang and Japanese Liberal  Democratic parties.

(Speech at the “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang & Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam in Hutang Melintang on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2015, 4:07 pm and is filed under
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Release Anwar from Sungai Buloh prison; drop all politically-motivated  charges against Zunar, Azmi, Maria Chin and others; withdraw NSC Bill;  suspend GST and fully account for  Najib’s twin mega scandals before anyone talks about  “Let bygones by bygones”

Christmas is five days away, and there is already a lot of talk about forgiveness and forget about the past.

I support the philosophy of being prepared to forgive and forget past transgressions to promote greater amity, understanding and tolerance among individuals and groups of people, not just because it is a teaching by all great religions  but a good philosophy of life.

However, it is indeed odd to talk about forgiving and forgetting another political party’s past transgressions when the other party had never confessed or owned up to any past  transgression or wrongdoing.

It is all very good to adopt the religious teaching or philsophy of “Let bygones be bygones” to construct a new relationship and to  build a new future, to forget all the sins and transgressions of the past.

However, this readiness to forgive and forget all the sins and transgressions of the past must be accompanied by the readiness and resolution to  right all current wrongs, injustices and transgressions or it is totally premature for any talk about “Let bygones be bygones”.

Is such a  possibility on the cards?

Before there can be talk of “Let bygones by bygones” in the Malaysian  political arena to forgive and forget the “sins of the past” committed by the government parties, there must be an equal readiness and resolution for the immediate righting of all current wrongs, injustices and  transgressions.

Is there such a readiness and resolution to right ongoing wrongs, injustices and transgressions?

If so, let the following wrongs, injustices and transgressions be immediately rectified, righted and resolved without any delay:

•	The immediate release of Datuk Seri Anwar  Ibrahim from Sungai Buloh prison;

•	Drop politically-motivated charges against all accused including cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar (Zunar), blogger Khalid Ismath, academic Azmi Sharom, political dissidents Khairuddin Abu Hassan and Matthias Chang and human rights activists Lena Hendry and Maria Chin Abdullah – as contained in the European Parliament resolution last Thursday condemning human rights violations in Malaysia.

•	The withdrawal of the monstrous and pernicious National Security Council Bill which will usurp the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet and the 13 state governmernts;

•	Immediate suspension of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for causing great hardships to low-income Malaysians sandwiched between falling incomes and rising cost of living; and

•	Immediate, full and satisfactory accountability by the Prime Minister for  his twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts before the 13th General Elections and the RM55 billion 1MDB scandals.

Let these five issues be resolved before anyone talk about “Let bygones be bygones”, as otherwise, it is just sheer complicity, aiding and abetting in the commission of wrongs, injustices and transgressions ongoing in our country, which no fair-minded and justice-loving Malaysian can or should agree.

“Mana RM2.6 billion”

Kuala Langat is the 55th parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22 in pursuit of the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” in Parliament.

I have set out on a nation-wide tour of the parliamentary constituencies in these six months to witness the rising crescendo of the people’s demand for answer to the question “Mana RM2.6 billion?” by  the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as well as for answer to another of Najib’s twin mega scandals – the RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.

Although it will not be possible for me to visit all the 222 Parliamentary constituencies in the country during the period of my 180-day six-month suspension from Parliament, I will try to visit more than 150 Parliamentary  constituencies in the country by the time I am allowed to return to Parliament – with a strong and unmistakable mandate from Malaysians from all over the country, embracing all races, religions and regions in the country, to demand that Najib must fully account for his  twin mega scandals.

Najib and his Ministers went to great lengths both at the 25-day budget meeting of the Dewan Rakyat and the five-day 69th UMNO General Assemblies to suppress all disclosures and discussion about the twin mega scandals, but apart from causing Najib’s credibility to plumb to ever-lower depths, it could not succeed to bury both mega scandals for the simple reason that events and developments are no more within Najib’s full control.

At least seven countries have launched independent investigations into the 1MDB scandal – United Kingdom, Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and United States – and Najib himself is targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and United States Department of Justice in its probe under the US Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative 2010 to determine whether Najib is a kleptocrat falling within the definition of the US law.  This is an investigation which will go beyond Barack Obama’s administration which ends on November 8, 2016 when the 58th United States Presidential  elections will be held.

This is why bombshells about Najib’s two mega scandals are now and then exploding in foreign countries which are totally beyond Najib’s control or prior knowledge and why Malaysia’s international reputation has fallen to an unprecedented abyss because the nation’s Prime Minister is being investigated by at least seven countries for corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities.

How can anyone be talking about “Let bygones be bygones” when these scandals and injustices are haunting and hounding Malaysians all over the world  – are Malaysians to tell the world we have forgotten and forgiven all these  current wrongs, injustices and transgressions and there is no need to rectify or right these wrongs, injustices and trangressions?

(Speech  at the  Kuala Langat Parti Amanah Negara ceramah in  Banting on Sunday, December 20, 2015 at 9.30 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 December 2015, 8:21 am and is filed under
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Let’s not have a parliamentary charade where BN Senators are allowed to criticize the NSC Bill but forced to  vote for it at the end of the debate

Three cheers for the Dewan Negara.

For the first time in 58-year Malaysian history, the appointed UMNO/BN MPs in Dewan Negara have put the elected UMNO/BN MPs in Dewan Rakyat to shame not only for speaking up for the people, but even more important, for daring to speak the truth in accordance with the dictates of their own conscience.

The BN Senator who stole the limelight was none other than the Malaysian Senators Council (MSM) President Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman who expressed concern that the NSC Bill may be unconstitutional and contravene other laws in terms of the extensive power given to the director appointed to a security area.

He called for amendments to the Bill so that it will not contravene the Federal Constitution.

Abdul Rahman hit the nail on the head for the pernicious and monstrous  NSC Bill is unconstitutional on multiple fronts, not only in  usurping the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet, the Sarawak and Sabah Governments with regard to the autonomy powers  conferred on them by the 1963 Malaysia Agreement and the 11 State Governments in Peninsular Malaysia, but also  the many guarantees and fundamental liberties entrenched in the Constitution.

The Rukunegara principles on the Supremacy of the Constitution and Upholding the Rule of Law are blatantly flouted by the NSC Bill which grants protection to the authorities from legal proceeding and judicial review.

Abdul Rahman further  questioned the power granted to the security forces to  relocate people, as well as acquire land and properties, which clearly contravene Article 9 on Prohibition of Banishment and Freedom of Movement and Article 13 on Rights to Property of the Constitution.

But despite these  trenchant and potent arguments against the NSC Bill, will Abdul Rahim vote for the NSC Bill at the second and third readings when the time for voting  in Dewan Negara comes later today?

The same question applies to all Barisan Nasional Senators, who have suddenly found the  voice to articulate the concerns of the ordinary Malaysians and to be true to their own conscience as well?

More than one Barisan Nasional Senator endorsed Abdul Rahim’s concern that the NSC Bill violates the Federal Constitution and the need for a further study of the NSC Bill so that the Dewan Negara would not be called a rubber stamp.

Senator K. Bathmavatahi, who proposed that the NSC Bill be referred to a  Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Parliament, is rightly concerned about the vague definition of national security of the Bill.

Another Barisan Nasional Senator disagreed that the Prime Minister should be given the powers to declare a “security area” under the NSC Bill and wants the Yang di Pertuan Agong to be granted the power to make such decisions.

There have also be suggestions that the Chief Ministers of Sarawak and Sabah should be members of the NSC and the Bill amended to make it compulsory to seek the approval of the Chief Ministers of both Sarawak and Sabah if security areas are to be declared in the two states.

The elected Barisan Nasional MPs in Dewan Rakyat must be very envious and even jealous that their counterparts in Dewan Negara are allowed to speak up about their objections and reservations about the NSC Bill which they were not allowed to do when the NSC Bill was debated in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3.

This is one positive outcome of the powerful  backlash in the past 18 days against the NSC Bill not only nationally but internationally as a result of the shot-gun passage of the NSC Bill, like “a thief in the night”,  in the Dewan Rakyat in a late-night sitting on the last day of the 25-day budget parliamentary meeting, without proper notice to MPs and the civil society or adequate time for parliamentary debate.

Imagine, the Dewan Negara having more time than Dewan Rakyat to debate a Bill, which is completely unheard-of in Malaysian parliamentary history.

Clearly, the Najib government has relented a little  as a result of the bad national and international publicity in the shot-gun passage of the NSC Bill in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3 –  to allow for a longer debate and  Barisan National Senators  to speak up and criticize the NSC Bill, so long as they eventually voted for the passage of the NSC Bill.

If it is true that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had met the BN Senators before the debate, and given them the “green light” to speak up and criticize the bill provided they obediently voted in support of the Bill, then what happened in the Dewan Negara in the debate on the NSC Bill is a mere parliamentary charade which is of no credit either to  Dewan Negara or the Malaysian Parliament.

BN Senators who have won new respect from Malaysians for daring to speak up to oppose the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill will forfeit their new-found public respect and admiration in a matter of 24 hours if they are not prepared to act on their  conviction and vote for reference of the Bill for further study and amendment,  as the NSC Bill in its present form is a blight on constitutional democracy in Malaysia.

Which is better, to speak boldly against the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill but to submissively vote in favour of the NSC Bill in the Senate; or to act like the BN MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to keep their silence for the elected BN MPs know from the very  beginning that they have finally to vote obediently for the NSC Bill, whatever their inner reservations and objections to the draconian Bill?

There have been tons of suggestions in  the debate in Dewan Negara about the need for amendments to the NSC Bill to ensure that it does not contravene the Federal Constitution or stifle  parliamentary democracy by paving the way for a Prime Ministerial dictatorship in Malaysia, but what is the use of these suggestions and speeches if the BN Senators know that none of their suggestions would be accepted and  that they would have to vote for the NSC Bill with all their weakness, flaws and dangers at the very end?

The Dewan Negara should invoke Standing Order 74 to refer the NSC Bill to a Select Committee for a further study of the Bill.

If the Najib government wants to force a vote, then Senators should not just speak up but must be prepared to stand up to be counted, and there should be a division under Dewan Negara Standing Order 46 for every Senator, whether Barisan Nasional or the Opposition, to let Malaysians know how he or she voted on the NSC Bill.

Let’s not have a parliamentary charade where BN Senators are allowed to criticize the NSC Bill but forced to  vote for it at the end of the debate

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2015, 9:50 am and is filed under
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MCA is history when it cannot even ensure that the national contributions and role  of MCA founders are given proper respect and recognition in the school history text books

Today, the MCA-owned Star  report entitled
“Penang’s first CM will not be in history books”
 made the startling announcement:

“Kuala Lumpur. It seems Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee will not be joining the ranks of other local top leaders in the Year 6 history textbooks used by Chinese vernacular schools after all.

“Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the history books were already printed and would soon be sent to schools.

“’There will be no more amendments made to the history books,’ he was quoted in a report by Sin Chew Daily.

“Mahdzir pointed out that corrections were made to Malacca which was mistakenly labelled onto the state of Terengganu.”

Mahdzir’s explanation is neither  satisfactory nor acceptable. If the ghastly mistake in the SJKR Year Six history textbook, which shifted the Malacca state to the north of the country near Kelantan, could be corrected, why could’nt the omission of  Wong Pow Nee in the formation of Malaysia, as one of the members of the Cobbold Commission which recommended positively on the establishment of Malaysia in 1963, be rectified?

Page 10 and 11 of the textbook showed various Malaysian leaders like UMNO’s Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Razak, two leaders from Sabah namely Tun Fuad and Tun Mustapha and three from Sarawak, Stephen Kalong Ningkan, Temenggong Jugah and Ong Kee Hui, and even Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, as “founders” of Malaysia but no mention of any MCA leader, whether Wong Pow Nee or even the MCA President Tun Tan Siew Sin.

For the past three weeks, MCA Ministers and leaders have been protesting that MCA’s contributions to nation-building like the formation of Malaysia had been sidelined in history textbooks.

What is the use of having three Cabinet Ministers and four Deputy Ministers,  one of them the Deputy Education Minister, when MCA cannot even protect the name,  dignity  and national services and contribution of their founding leaders like Siew Sin and Pow Nee in the school history textbooks?

In an earlier Facebook posting, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong claimed that he, along with the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, had managed to persuade the Education Minister to feature Pow Nee more prominently in the history textbooks and to rectify the sidelining of MCA’s contributions to the nation.

Wee said MCA want the school texbooks to “truly reflect” the nation’s history, allowing future generations to remember those who contributed in forming Malaysia, reminding all that Pow Nee was not only the proclaimer of independence at the Esplanade, Penang on August 31, 1957; the first Chief Minister of Penang but also the second senior member of the Cobbold Commission.

MCA is history when it cannot even ensure that the national contributions and roles of MCA founders, like Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee, are given proper respect and recognition in the school history text books.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2015, 3:05 pm and is filed under
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A Christmas wish

Lyana Khairuddin

The Malaysian Insider

23 December 2015

It is really easy to get caught in the hype and commercialisation of Christmas.

Let’s be realistic here, Christmas no longer represents merely a religious holiday that marks the birth of Jesus, but rather an occasion for merrymaking with friends over food, that great unifier of mankind.

Of course, in Malaysia, our turkeys are halal-certified and our merrymaking involves being served orange juice in wine glasses.

But even halal turkeys do not stop some from calling for a ban on Christmas, or rather, that Muslims should not celebrate it.

Apparently, such merrymaking would damage our faith. Brunei even issued an overall ban, complete with a possible charge under their penal code for Muslims who publicly partake in Christmas celebrations there, bearing a jail term of up to five years.

I personally think that this is taking things a step too far. Where is the harm in people from different faiths and background sitting together and extending friendship over food?

Honestly, that is all that happens when we don our Santa hats and celebrate Christmas with our Christian friends.

Visiting the houses and being friends with people of other faiths would only promote interfaith dialogue and serves as a tool to promote unity in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country.

Malaysia is unique in this sense as we have multiple occasions throughout the year to implement this.

Yet, perhaps due to the date being close to the end of the calendar year, Christmas always seem to be the one big occasion that brings everyone together, at least for me.

But as I write this, I cannot shake off the anxiety over the uncertainty of how much longer would I be able to enjoy an end-of-the-year celebration with my non-Muslim friends in Malaysia.

This year alone has been fraught with many incidents that seem to discriminate against non-Muslims and Christians in particular.

The Taman Medan Church’s “cross episode” was again brought to my attention recently, not only for the fact that the perpetrators of hate-speech at the inane protest got off scot-free; but a question by a very young man who personally asked me whether it is true that we Muslims will have our hearts turned to stone when we look at a cross.

Apparently, his teacher relayed this information to him.

I was shocked and upset at his question. What are they teaching kids these days?

Then I remembered that we adults too, get overzealous over “protecting” our faiths that we tend to believe such hearsay – just look at Brunei!

I answered the best that I could, perhaps also for my own benefit and rather unscientifically, that God is within our hearts regardless and no symbol can turn it to stone if we believe in God wholeheartedly.

We have segregated trolleys for non-halal products; this is in addition to the segregated non-halal sections in grocery stores and wet markets.

We have prohibited Christians in Peninsular Malaysia from using the term “Allah”, in addition to the long list of banned Arabic words that we Muslims claim are ours.

The anti-Christianisation seminar held in a local university recently was apparently the second of its kind held at the same academic institution.

We seem very keen to not want to make and be friends with Christians. Meanwhile, in the US, Professor Larycia Hawkins, was suspended from her tenured job at an academic institution for donning the hijab in solidarity with Muslims whom she saw were facing an onslaught of bigotry.

When terrorist attacks happened, and the world seems too quick to blame Muslims generally, we saw many similar signs of solidarity from people of other faiths.

Lest we forget, the country that accepts the most number of Syrian refugees currently is Germany, where 66.8% of its population is of Christian faith.

I do not know why we are keen to segregate and discriminate rather than include and understand differences.

Perhaps, my naïve optimistic outlook to life is fed by the fact that for every unkind person I meet, I have met at least another two whom are kind to me.

These people come from different backgrounds, people of different faiths, agnostics and even atheists.

Thus, I urge us all to celebrate Christmas for the values associated with it, regardless of our faiths.

As Muslims, we can visit our friends and invite them over to our homes for a reciprocal visit during Hari Raya.

We can extend generosity through giving gifts to underprivileged children, or perhaps donate some monies for a new set of uniforms or stationeries for the coming school year.

We can extend our hands in friendship, we can sit together for a halal-certified turkey dinner, and we can commiserate our woes and anxiety for this country we love over a good meal and great company.

I sincerely hope that we will be able to do so for many more years to come.

Happy Christmas! – December 23, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 10:08 pm and is filed under
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In search of hope for Pakatan Harapan

Bridget Welsh

Malaysiakini

22 Dec 2015

COMMENT
Today marks the three-month anniversary of Pakatan Harapan – the revamped opposition coalition that is having difficulty getting off the ground. It is supposed to bring about hope, to galvanise like-minded Malaysians in the spirit of reform and cooperation to offer an electoral alternative. It is failing badly. As the year end approaches, it is valuable to examine why.

Legacy issues

The fact that Harapan was formed out of disappointment with Pakatan Rakyat has marked the new coalition. Attention still centres on who was responsible for Pakatan Rakyat’s collapse, with the blame game a persistent dynamic. At the same time, there is denial that Pakatan Rakyat is over, with some individuals and parties unwilling to let go of the past.

These legacies of the past are debilitating Harapan. Rather than look forward, opposition parties in Harapan are continually focused on old wounds and battles. Fighting old friends now enemies is the norm, as old wounds are still raw. DAP attacks PAS. PKR insists that it can work with everyone (while in effect it is working with none as it stymies its supposed partners).

Parti Amanah Negara attacks its old colleagues to show it is not PAS as it focuses on justifying itself. So much negative energy is being spent fighting rather than elsewhere. For now, it appears as if Harapan is divided rather than united. Some even doubt whether there is a working partnership.

This is being compounded by a serious erosion of trust within the opposition itself. When members of a party have to use audio recordings of meetings to keep other members of the same party in check, something is wrong. Inside parties and among different parties, the trust erosion has corroded relationships. Ties are deteriorating further from persistent battling. As long as the opposition focuses on its past, it will not be able to move forward.

Leadership

This new opposition coalition suffers from a lack of viable leadership. Harapan has opted to have jailed Anwar Ibrahim as its leader, rather than offer a new option to the public. While the injustice surrounding the jailing of the former opposition leader is real, and the calls for his release have increased and will continue, the reality is that Anwar is not in a position to lead the opposition or to serve in a capacity as leader in Parliament or in government any time soon.

Leaders matter – they win support and most importantly, they lead through making the hard decisions to bringing a diverse opposition together. Anwar’s lack of presence is being keenly felt, as evident of the infighting and lack of cohesion not only in his party PKR but in the opposition as a whole.

If the opposition wants to be at all viable in the next election and Harapan is to be taken seriously, there needs to be alternative leadership that unifies the coalition, rather than divides it. This leader needs to be viable to the electorate as a whole. Voters need to know who they are voting for and why, as Harapan has to move from a holding pattern to moving ahead.

The highest chances of releasing Anwar from jail lie with the opposition winning over the national government.

A power game

The leadership problem has worsened as individual parties have moved simultaneously into defensive silo mode, assuring that they strengthen their own party’s position for upcoming election. This is most obvious in the announcements of candidates in Sarawak, where rather than compromise or engage in quiet dialogue, the practice has been to demand in public and provoke.

Each individual party wants to assure its fortunes and given the insecurity in the current political climate, the approach means look out for themselves rather than the opposition as a whole.

The contraction of cooperation is tied to an ongoing fight for dominance and relevance in Harapan. Unlike with Pakatan Rakyat, where all three parties brought different strengths to the coalition, the focus now is on what weaknesses they have. DAP is seen as too Chinese, too arrogant. PKR is seen as too fragmented, too selfish. Amanah is seen as lacking a base and clear direction.

All of the parties suffer from a lack of grassroots with the separation from PAS. Connectivity to the Malay grassroots is a particular problem. These shortcoming factors overshadow what they do bring to the partnership and the reality is that they are stronger together, rather than apart.

The opposition parties are spending time in a power game to win dominance in Harapan for the case of PKR and DAP, and for Amanah to make itself relevant and to distance itself from perceptions that it is controlled by other parties in Harapan, notably DAP.

As with the infighting tied to legacy issues, this expense of energy is also diverting the opposition from coalescing. Now, more than ever, as racial tensions and religious differences have heightened, the lack of a viable multi-racial alternative that brings Malaysians together rather than tear them apart is negatively shaping the political climate.

Public credibility gap

The biggest shortcoming of Harapan lies with the connection to voters. Three months on, it is not clear what Harapan stands for. It is just a vehicle for political power, a vehicle without the PAS wheel but essentially the same model without the hudud feature? Or is it something else? Is it a working multi-ethnic alternative?

The only common ground that appears apparent to voters is that it is made of people who want to stay in office and in Penang and Selangor stay in government. What exactly is the common ground of Harapan? It cannot just be about winning an election to get support from voters.

Harapan has yet to develop a clear platform or meaningfully engage with the public to explain what that platform might be. Within Harapan, Amanah in particular has yet to clearly define itself. The issues that voters care about are being ignored. Harapan is banking on the anger toward the incumbent Umno-led national government and hoping past support for the opposition will transfer to the new coalition.

Both of these assumptions are flawed; Harapan underestimates the rise of apathy and underestimates the important pull of hope that the opposition provided to some Malaysian voters. It underestimates the impact of the delineation exercise, with many of the parties going along with the process and abandoning substantive electoral reform to position their individual party.

It also underestimates the patronage power of an Umno-PAS relationship and overestimates the potential of these two Malay parties as reaching a level of cooperation that will alienate voters. Rather than work to win over the public, there is a sense of entitlement in Harapan that the public will come to them – a similar sentiment to that of BN that in many ways does little to differentiate Harapan from BN.

More than ever, after a difficult year, Malaysians are searching for hope, for the promise of a different future. Sadly, Harapan has yet to offer this option. The potential of Harapan remains alive. Hard work and hard decisions are needed to make this substantive. Giving Malaysians a meaningful electoral alternative will not happen until Harapan works to fulfil its name, to move beyond the past, to sort out its present and outline a clear future.

BRIDGET WELSH is a Senior Research Associate of the Center for East Asian Democracy at National Taiwan University, an Associate Fellow of The Habibie Center, a University Fellow of Charles Darwin University, and a Professor at Ipek University.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 9:38 am and is filed under
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UMNO Asemblyman raises eyebrows when he  demands revelation of donor for the RM10 million arch facelift, but cowardly silent about Najib’s 2.6 billion “Donorgate”, which is 260  times bigger than the face-lift donation

I could not believe my eyes when I saw the report, “Reveal donors for RM10m arch facelift, Umno rep tells MB” (Malaysiakini), and I had to read it a second time to believe what I had.

Most readers would  have reacted in similar  disbelief and incredulity to the report,   for the common question which would leap to everyone’s mind is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” with the astronomical sums in his personal banking accounts before the 2013 general election, and the many turns and twists, including parliamentary escapades, of this RM2.6 billion “Najib Donorgate”, which had intrigued national and international attention for some six months since it was first exposed by Wall Street Journal in early July.

The marvel is not that a Selangor UMNO Assemblyman Mohd Sharif (Dengkil) is asking for the identity of the donors for the RM9.8 million facelift for the Kota Darul Ehsan arch along the Federal Highway and marks the border between Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, but that there is not a single one from the whole gang of UMNO Members of Parliament and State Assembly representatives in the country demanding revelation from Najib about the RM2.6 billion “DonorGate”, which is 260 times bigger than the RM10 million facelift donation in Selangor.

Mohd Shazrif has indeed raised eyebrows when he  demands revelation of donor for the RM10 million arch facelift, but cowardly silent about Najib’s 2.6 billion “Donorgate”.

The latest escapade of the tortuous turns and twists of Najib’s RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” was only less than three weeks ago in Parliament on Dec. 3, where the Prime Minister vanished from the Dewan Rakyat despite promises for six weeks that all questions about his RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” would  be answered on the last day of Parliament on Dec. 3.

But when Dec. 3 came, there was not only no Prime Minister Najib, there was also no answer on the RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” as the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi made the historic three-minute Ministerial statement that he could not answer any questions on Najib’s RM2.6 billion “Donorgate”!

Malaysians were told the Zahid was advised by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali not to answer questions about RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” on the ground that it could be sub judice, although the RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” is not the subject of any court proceeding.

However, in the following week, at the media interview in the run-up to the  UMNO General Assembly and in his UMNO presidential speech, Najib defied the Attorney-General’s instruction and claimed innocence of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion “Donorgate”.

Dogged by  Najih’s twin mega scandals – the RM2.6 billion donation and RM55 billion 1MDB – nobody is any the wiser as to who donated the RM2.6 billion and deposited the astronomical sums into Najib’s personal banking accounts.

Was there one donor or more than one donor?

What was the donation for? Was it to combat the Islamic State terrorists?

How much of the RM2.6 billion had been used for the 13th General Election campaign, what is the balance and where has the rest of the money gone to?

Zahid opened up a new can of worms when he told the pro-UMNO news portal Agenda Daily on 9th December that the donor  was not an individual but the leadership of a government in the Middle East who gave the RM2.6 billion “donation” – “Penderma RM2.6 billion itu bukanlah individu dalam ertikata seorang. Ia adalah pimpinan sebuah kerajaan.”

This should ring warning bells among Malaysian patriots about the danger of foreign governments interfering in Malaysia’s general elections and the buying up of  Malaysian political parties to  serve their ends.

No UMNO MP, State Assembly representative, leader or delegate had  raise any of  these disturbing questions in the five-day UMNO General Assemblies. Why?

Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir never believed the claim that the RM2.6 billion came from an individual, describing it as  “bullshit”, saying that only a “crazy Arab” would part with RM2.6 billion for nothing.

He recounted how when he was Prime Minister, he had written to the Arab nations for donation for Islamic educational institutions but he could not raise even a single dollar from them for the Malaysian International Islamic University or for the Oxford Islamic Centre.

Now that Zahid has come out with the latest variation of the RM2.6 billion “Donorgate” that the donor is   a leadership of an Arab government, Malaysians are entitled to know who is this Arab government which funded UMNO in the 13th General Election.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 3:33 pm and is filed under
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What parliamentary charade!

What parliamentary charade!

What I had feared most has indeed come to pass –  and what happened in Senate yesterday invokes  Shakespeare’s immortal lines in Macbeth: “It is a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.””

Also come to pass was my warning yesterday, viz:

“BN Senators who have won new respect from Malaysians for daring to speak up to oppose the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC (National Security Council)  Bill will forfeit their new-found public respect and admiration in a matter of 24 hours if they are not prepared to act on their  conviction and vote for reference of the Bill for further study and amendment,  as the NSC Bill in its present form is a blight on constitutional democracy in Malaysia.

“Which is better, to speak boldly against the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill but to submissively vote in favour of the NSC Bill in the Senate; or to act like the BN MPs in the Dewan Rakyat, to keep their silence for the elected BN MPs know from the very  beginning that they have finally to vote obediently for the NSC Bill, whatever their inner reservations and objections to the draconian Bill?”

I have to qualify my statement yesterday as the elected Barisan Nasional MPs in Dewan Rakyat need only be ”very envious and even jealous that their counterparts in Dewan Negara are allowed to speak up about their objections and reservations about the NSC Bill which they were not allowed to do when the NSC Bill was debated in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3” only for 24 hours, as the Senate has been quickly reduced to its original form as no more than  a rubber stamp after the parliamentary charade in the NSC Bill debate in the last two days.

Malaysians can never understand how some of the Barisan Nasional Senators, especially those from Sarawak and Sabah,  could speak  be with such conviction, passion and even righteousness about the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill during the two-day Senate debate, but were so meek, tame and submissive when they were “led to the slaughter” during the voting of the NSC Bill!

They were even  so vociferous in shouting down by voice vote DAP Senator Chandra Mohan’s motion to refer the NSC Bill to a Select Committee to ensure that the Bill is not an unconstitutional monstrosity which not only usurps the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet, the Sarawak and Sabah state governments with regard to the autonomy  promised in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement, the eleven State Governments, but also  the many guarantees and fundamental liberties entrenched in the Constitution.

The “outspoken” BN Senators have adopted “lock, stock and barrel” all the objections to the Bill from the constitutional, democracy and human rights aspects which have been articulated by Opposition Members of Parliament  and civil society leaders, but this has not prevented the BN Senators from submissively voting for the NSC Bill at the end of the debate.

Are the BN Senators such great actors or pretenders?

Some UMNO Senators attacked me in the Senate yesterday for asking whether the BN Senator’s new found courage in speaking up on the weaknesses,  flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill was  genuine  or parliamentary charade.

They claimed that they “spoke from the heart”. If so, they had not voted in accordance with the wishes of their heart and none of them  seems to be  heart-broken!

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who shepherded the NSC bill through Parliament, said the NSC Bill will not make the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak a dictator.

He also said that a sadist will not be appointed as Director General of the NSC.

But such promises in Parliament are easily made and of little value, as it was a Senator from Sarawak who reminded the Senate of the promise by the then Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman  to Parliament in 1960 that the purpose of  the Internal Security Act was “to be used solely against the communists” and how such a promise in Parliament was infamously broken.

Shahidan promised that the government would look into the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill raised by the Barisan Nasional Senators, but how genuine are such assurances when Shahidan dismissed the very same concerns of Opposition MPs and the civil society when the NSC bill was rushed through the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3  like a “thief in the night” without proper prior notice or consultation?

Parliament will be seriously remiss in its duties, and MPs from both Houses in serious violation of their oath of office, if they allow the NSC Bill to be put on the statute book, despite its many weaknesses, flaws and dangers just on the unenforceable  promise of the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, who is not even a member of the NSC, that the government would consider the views of the MPs.

If Shahidan is sincere an d serious in wanting to improve the NSC Bill to address the many weaknesses, flaws and dangers highlighted by MPs in the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, he should seek the agreement of the Cabinet to withhold the NSC Bill from presentation to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for his Royal Assent until there have been appropriate amendments to the NSC Bill.

The Cabinet should set up a  special committee to include Members of Parliament from both sides of the House to propose new  amendments to the NSC Bill, which can be presented to the Special Parliament which will be convened at the end of January to consider approval of  the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

Two days have been fixed for  the Special Parliament at the end of January for the TPPA debate.  This Special Parliament at the end of January should be increased to four days to allow for a two-day debate on the amended National Security Council Bill which should incorporate amendments to address the weaknesses, flaws and dangerous of the present NSC Bill highlighted by both Houses of Parliament.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan Members of Parliament are prepared to co-operate in such a special committee to propose new amendments to the NSC Bill for presentation to the Special Parliament at the end of January before the Bill is presented to the Yang di Pertuan Agong and gazetted to join the statute book.

The question is whether the Najib Government is prepared to reciprocate this offer from DAP and Pakatan Harapan for a final study to address the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill which, though passed by both Houses of Parliament, have yet to receive the Royal Assent.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2015, 9:04 am and is filed under
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Anatomy of a money-spinner

BY P. GUNASEGARAM
 | Kinibiz

DECEMBER 14, 2015 8:00AM

The very setting up of 1MDB and its operations was aimed at spinning billions out of this self-styled strategic development company owned by the government for the benefit of various others. The eventual cost of this to the country might be as high as RM42 billion.

___

[Note to readers: This article and the associated charts provide an overview map of our coverage of 1MDB, and attempt to link the various parts to the whole. The information for the series is obtained from various sources both public and private and includes reported content elsewhere and others from our own sources, which we believe to be accurate. Figures have been rounded off where it makes things clearer.]

Even before it became 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), it was mired in controversy as Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) in 2009, Terengganu’s very own sovereign wealth fund. TIA was to be kickstarted with a RM5 billion bond issue guaranteed by the federal government.

In the same year itself, TIA, whose bond repayment was supposed to have been made from oil royalties to the state, was taken over by the Minister of Finance Inc after both the Sultan of Terengganu and the Menteri Besar objected to financing methods. More on that later.

The brains behind TIA was none other than Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, a well-connected young businessman-whizzkid known for his lavish parties all over the world with well-known celebrities and now reportedly in hiding in Taiwan.

Low and the others associated with the saga that 1MDB has become are dealt with in greater detail in the next article.

He has denied any links with 1MDB, indicating that he merely gave advice when asked and never had any management role. That may be technically correct but a series of email leaks from 1MDB management indicated that Jho Low was intimately involved in the decision-making at an unofficial level.

This eventually culminated in email revelations that US$700 million was transferred in 2009 into the accounts of a company, Good Star Ltd, allegedly related to Low. Good Star was not linked in any way then to any of 1MDB’s transaction.

But even this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as potential losses for 1MDB and the nation – which indirectly owns 1MDB through the Minister of Finance Inc – are concerned. KINIBIZ analysis indicates that the money wasted through various means could be as high as RM42 billion, assuming that there is no recovery from investments into dubious way. And this does NOT take everything into account.

Unsuitable business model

1MDB’s business model from the start was flawed and its reporting line drew alarm bells from way back in 2009 when it was excluded from all the corporate governance measures introduced under the government-linked transformation programme from the mid-2000s. It became a law unto itself and its CEOs often acted in direct contravention to orders from the board.

It was built on an edifice of debt – RM1 million in initial capital as against RM46 billion in debt – that’s a gearing ratio of 46,000 times! The subsequent equity level of RM2.44 billion was due entirely to revaluation of properties injected cheaply into 1MDB.

1MDB, its management and co-conspirators outside the company used five main ways to siphon billions out of the company. They were:

Poor funding methods (RM10 billion)

This started with the RM5 billion bond issue arranged by AmBank group where the bonds were mispriced by giving higher coupon rates to selected investors. This was repeated in subsequent US dollar bonds arranged by Goldman Sachs. Such mispricing could have accounted for as much as RM6 billion.

On top of that, there were strange arrangements for some of these loans. For some US$3 billion of loans which were guaranteed by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), nearly half of the money or over RM4 billion was put back as security deposits with Aabar PJS Investments, a company related to Aabar. 1MDB did not have use for over 40% of the funds it raised while much of the remainder went into a joint venture with IPIC.

Questionable asset selection (RM27 billion)

In its latest available accounts for the year ended Mar 31, 2014, 1MDB had listed some RM13 billion as unspecified assets for sale, which auditors were not able to verify because there was no market for them. It is unacceptable that the fund took tens of billions in loans but yet had intentions to sell those assets.

Other examples include the PetroSaudi deal where all the initial borrowings by 1MDB and more went into PetroSaudi and which to date has not been satisfactorily accounted for. It is through this deal that some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was transferred into the account of a company related to Jho Low, a company totally unrelated to the transaction. 1MDB directors had vehemently questioned the transfer and demanded its return but to no avail.

Another example was the payment of some RM4 billion (nearly US$1 billion) to extinguish an option given to Aabar to purchase a 49% stake in the energy assets of 1MDB upon its listing. That’s a crazy price because the entire power assets when purchased were around RM12 billion to RM13 billion; 49% would be worth no more than RM6.5 billion. The RM4 billion price for an option is therefore worth over 60% of the underlying asset!

Finally, there was the overpayment for power assets by an estimated RM3 billion.

The question is why did 1MDB undertake these transactions which could incur losses of as much as RM27 billion in total? Basically, to benefit others, not 1MDB.

Overpaying of advisors (RM2 billion)

One firm, Goldman Sachs, could have got billions of ringgit in fees. Such overpayment could have accounted for as much as RM2 billion. Fees for just US$1.75 billion in bonds, accounted for some US$200 million in one instance, or an unheard of 11.4% of such a huge issue.

Repeated links to the same people

These include some unsavoury people in some major projects, eg PetroSaudi. Others are Abu Dhabi, joint-venture partners in Bandar Tun Razak and convoluted deals involving IPIC and Aabar. And finally, the Qataris in the Bandar Malaysia project. Why is there a need to get foreign investors into land projects where we have plenty of expertise within Malaysia?

Links to Jho Low (US$700 million, RM2.6 billion)

Despite his denials and the denials of 1MDB, Jho Low played a massive although background role in 1MDB, influencing management behind the scenes and eventually there was a transfer of US$700 million to a company related to him out of a 1MDB unit.

Basically, all these show that 1MDB is indeed in dire straits. Its loan and interest obligations of over RM8 billion post-2014 could not be met from cash flow and hence the need to continue to borrow and to roll to hide its true situation where its viability as a going concern is already under serious threat.

Current management assertions that obligations will be met is only because further loans have been taken and disbursed and the sale of better quality assets, for example power for RM10 billion, and property represent desperate attempts to inject liquidity to stop it from going under.

The best thing to do as far as 1MDB is concerned is as follows:

To first acknowledge the magnitude of the problem, which has not been done to date.

To get professional forensic accountants to establish once and for all the hole in 1MDB.

To take all steps necessary to recover as much as possible from all assets.

To identify all those responsible for the mess they are in, including management and collaborators.

To bring them to book and throw the full weight of the law against them.

But that’s not likely to be done any time soon.

 [click to enlarge]

Tomorrow :
The colourful family and friends of 1MDB

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2015, 9:00 am and is filed under
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Let Nik Aziz and Karpal be the example for all Malaysians to promote  harmony, goodwill and tolerance across race, religion and culture so that Malaysia can be a model of peaceful multi-religious diversity for the world

2015 Christmas Message in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 24th December 2015

Christmas Day tomorrow in 2015 is especially significant as today is the birthday of Prophet Muhammad on Maulid-ar-Rasul, an overlapping which underlines religious diversity both in Malaysia and the world.

I am reminded of two events, the first the Monday incident in Mandera in northeast Kenya where Muslims protected Christians in a bus attack by Somali Islamist terrorists,  telling the terrorists, “You’ll have to kill us all” and other, the  January 2013 Thaipusam visit by the  then PAS Mursyidul Am and Kelantan Mentri Besar, Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat to the DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh in  the latter’s Penang home  where Nik Aziz’s 82nd birthday was also celebrated.

Let Malaysians regardless of race, religion and region be inspired by both these events, in particular the example of the two great Malaysian leaders, Nik Aziz and Karpal Singh, to promote harmony, goodwill, tolerance across race, religion and culture so that Malaysia can be a model of peaceful multi-religious diversity for the world.

Let Malaysia be a show case to the world to dismantle  walls of misunderstanding, hatred and intolerance among religions and  to build bridges of understanding,  harmony and tolerance among different faiths.

Let this  be Malaysia’s distinct contribution to international peace and human civilisation.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2015, 5:28 pm and is filed under
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National Security Council (NSC) Bill greatest security disservice to Malaysia as instead of uniting Parliament and nation with a single-minded purpose to defeat the threat of ISIS terrorists, it has divided the country with an unprecedented unconstitutional grab for power

The National Security Council (NSC) Bill is the  greatest  security disservice to Malaysia by the Najib premiership, as instead of uniting Parliament and the nation with a single-minded purpose to defeat the threat of ISIS terrorists, it has divided the country with an unprecedented unconstitutional grab for power by the Prime Minister.

After the shot-gun passage of the NSC Bill in the Dewan Rakyat on Dec. 3 as if “a thief in the night” without proper prior notice or consultation with MPs and the civil society, the country was assured that the NSC bill is aimed primarily at fighting terrorism particularly the threat posed by ISIS, and not intended to usurp the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong in declaring a state of emergency for country.

If the NSC Bill was designed primarily to deal with the threat of terrorism posed by ISIS, the logical thing to do is to park the proposed National Security Council under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) instead of creating a new executive body which is even more powerful than the Cabinet with far-reaching and new-fangled powers.

I had expected the government go out of its way to convince the nation in the debate in the Dewan Negara that the NSC Bill is no attempt at an unconstitutional grab for power to allow the Prime Minister to exercise powers never envisaged under the Merdeka and Malaysia Constitutions of 1957 and 1963, but was focused on arming the government with the necessary powers to fight the new threat posed by the ISIS terrorists.

But this never happened.

Instead, the focus of the  Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Shahidan Kassim, the Minister responsible for shepherding the Bill through Parliament, was to deny that the Prime Minister was taking over the powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, on the spurious ground that the power to declare a state of emergency is still in the hands of the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 150 of the Constitution.

But with the NSC Bill, Article 150 is as good as a dead letter.

It is most disturbing that the Najib government has refused to admit and acknowledge what is obvious to all sensible Malaysians – that Section 18 of the NSC Bill, which empowers the Prime Minister to declare an area as a security zone (which could be the whole country), has rendered redundant and nugatory the prerogative of the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 150 to declare an emergency.

True, the power to declare a state of emergency is still in the hands of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, but with Section 18 of the NSC Bill, the Prime Minister can now completely by-pass the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Cabinet to invoke and exercise emergency powers which until now could only be invoked if there is a Proclamation of Emergency by the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 150 of the Constitution.

In forcing the Senate to go through the parliamentary charade of allowing the Barisan Nasional Senators to speak up on the weaknesses, flaws and dangers of the NSC Bill, but requiring them to vote in support of the Bill,  the Najib administration is in fact admitting that the critics and the opponents of the NSC Bill are right that it is open to considerable abuses by the Executive, but the Prime Minister is in desperate need of such dangerous powers as Najib is fighting for his political life.

Najib should explain why he is so intent on Malaysia replacing Myanmar as the “bad boy” in Asean for democracy and human rights, as highlighted by the European Parliament resolution last Thursday, focusing on “corruption and human rights abuses in Malaysia”, referring in particular to  the NSC Bill and the “rapidly narrowing space” for public debate and free speech as the government “resorts to vaguely worded criminal laws to silence its critics and quell public discontent and peaceful expression”, with at least 78 people investigated or charged under the Sedition Act since the beginning of 2014.

What are the chances of the Najib administration heeding the widespread protests and objections to the NSC Bill, which posed the greatest threat to the two Rukunegara principles of the Supremacy of the Constitution and the Rule of Law in Malaysia, and make appropriate amendments to the NSC Bill before they are presented to the Yang di Pertuan Agong for Royal Assent?

The whole country waits for word from Najib– is the Prime Minister going to defer the NSC Bill from seeking  for the Royal Assent until there are suitable amendments or is he not.

The ball is in Najib’s court.

What a way to end 2015 and to usher in the new year 2016.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2015, 5:38 am and is filed under
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Are Malaysians striving after the pinnacle of success or staring at the abyss of  a failed state?

In his Christmas Message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak called on Malaysians to celebrate the festive season and welcome the New Hear with a brand new resolution and personal mission to bring Malaysia to the “pinnacle of success”.

It is indeed  deserving food for thought for  Malaysians in the last week of the year to ponder whether Malaysians are  striving after the pinnacle of success or staring at the abyss of a failed state if present national trajectories are not corrected!

I don’t think there are many Malaysians who would regard 2015 as a successful year for the country, bowed and beaten in the past 12 months by a host of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crisis to the extent that astute observers of the national scene are even warning about the coming of the “perfect storm”.

The first step for Malaysia to shake out of this impending “perfect storm”  is to end the denial syndrome paralysing the nation’s leaders, making them dream about  “pinnacle of success” when we should staring at the the “abyss of a failed state” – as just a  year ago, it would have  been unthinkable that the Malaysian ringgit would have fallen by a fifth of its value to struggle between RM4 to RM5 to a US dollar, but which  has now sadly come to pass.

There were at least five major national crisis this year alone,  a few of which even assumed international dimensions, viz:

(i) The scandal of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts.

(ii) The RM55 billion 1MDB scandal.

It is  sad commentary on the poor state of good governance and government accountability in Malaysia that the year is ending with more questions than answers to Najib’s twin mega scandals.

Najib’s twin mega scandals have poisoned the system of governance,  rocking the  government and nation with the first government purge in the nation’s history, resulting in the sacking the Deputy Prime Minister, a senior Minister for Rural and Regional Development and the Attorney-General; the dissolution of the most high-powered multi-agency task force ever formed in the nation’s history to investigate the twin mega scandals; the derailing of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee investigations into the twin mega scandals and my six-month suspension from Parliament.

(iii) The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) adding to the hardships of low-income Malaysians, already sandwiched between rising costs of living and falling incomes.

(iv) the racist and provocative Sept. 16 “Red Shirts” rally in Kuala Lumpur to counter the patriotic Bersih 4 Rally,  totally against the spirit and concept of Malaysia Day, Najib’s signature nation-building policies of 1Malaysia and Global Movement of Moderates.

(v) The National Security Council (NSC) Bill which usurps the constitutional powers of the Yang di Pertuan Agong, the Cabinet, the Sarawak and Sabah State Government on state autonomy agreed in the 1963 Malaysia Agreement,  the 11 State Governments in Peninsular Malaysia; the Rukunegara principles of the Supremacy of the Constitution and the Rule of Law; and the host of constitutional guarantees on democracy and human rights.

Yesterday, a sixth item has been added these five major national woes of the country for this year when it was reported that Malaysia has once again attained the unenviable “honour” of being in the top five countries which registered the highest average illicit financial flows over the decade.

According to the latest annual report by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity (GFI), Malaysia had lost an accumulated amount of US$418.542 billion (RM1.8 trillion) since 2004.

In 2013 alone, Malaysia lost a total of US$48.25 billion, according to the global financial watchdog.

The illegal capital outflows, said the report, stem from tax evasion, crime, corruption, and other illicit activities.

Malaysia has also remained stagnant in its position as among the top five countries for illegal capital flight. After being ranked second worst in 2010, it “improved” to fourth place in 2011 and remains in fifth place since 2012.

For 2013, Malaysia is once again ranked behind China, Russia, Mexico and India.

Statistics from 2013 alone found that US$1.1 trillion had flowed illicitly out of developing and emerging economies.

If a seventh item is needed to  add to such a toxic list which are the marks of a nation heading towards the direction of  failed state, rather than striving after the “pinnacle of success”, it would be Malaysia’s replacement of Myanmar as the “bad boy in ASEAN” in democracy and human rights as Myanmar painfully negotiates its way out of the dark age of military repression and rampant human rights violations.

This dangerous drift of Malaysia, away from any “pinnacle of success”, but towards the abyss of a failed state if the present national political and economic trajectories are not corrected, warrant a full debate by the Special Parliament to be convened at the end of January to consider approval for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 December 2015, 8:08 am and is filed under
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Our freedom to celebrate diversity

COMMENTARY

The Malaysian Insider

24 December 2015

Today is Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) birthday and Malaysia is one of the rare Muslim countries to celebrate the occasion with a public holiday thrown in. Not many celebrate it, let alone gazette a holiday for it.

Unlike Christmas, which is celebrated worldwide except in two countries this year and forever – Brunei and Somalia. It would appear that public celebrations of Christmas and in the case of Somalia, New Year, is inimical to their beliefs.

That is their excuse. And the limit to their citizens’ freedom and rights.

But we in Malaysia are a lot more fortunate. We have the freedom to celebrate diversity, celebrating Christmas and New Year despite the views of a narrow section of public that wishing Merry Christmas is not quite kosher.

And we have our many faiths and cultures that have not weakened any one component of Malaysian society but has instead enriched us further. It is not about mutual tolerance but about mutual respect for one another.

We have our open houses for everyone to join in and celebrate the festivities that abound the entire year in Malaysia. We have our smiles and friendship among all, not just within our own communities.

We might not have the riches of Brunei’s oil wealth but even that is fast depleting. So they have nothing to teach us or lead us in how to run a country or protect minorities.

What we must do is to keep protecting this freedom of diversity and not allow such ideas that celebrating the various festivals of many other religions will be bad for us. It has not been and it will never be as long as we keep united as a country.

Let us make sure we keep doing that, today, tomorrow and forever.

Salam Maulidur Rasul and Merry Christmas. – December 24, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 December 2015, 5:41 am and is filed under
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