If Cabinet on Wednesday will not apologise for shameful abdication of responsibility in giving “green light” for divisive and racist Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, will the  Ministers step forward to tender separate individual apologies?

A day immediately after the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Malay rally, I had asked the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to apologise to Malaysians for the most shameful abdication of responsibility in allowing Malaysia Day to be desecrated  and racial harmony and social peace to be undermined by the divisive, racially-charged and provocative Red Shirts rally.

It does not appear that Najib will be ready to tender such an apology, as he had transformed his “silent blessing” before  the Red Shirts rally to active endorsement after the rally,  closing his eyes, ears and mind to the racist slurs, provocations and breaches of law committed by the participants of the Red Shirts rally.

If Cabinet on Wednesday are not prepared to  apologise for its shameful abdication of responsibility in giving “green light” for  the divisive and racist Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, will the Ministers step forward to tender separate individual apologies?

I still hope that Najib can realise that he is Prime Minister for all Malaysians, and not just for Malays, UMNO or an UMNO faction.

Clearly, the primary purpose of the Red Shirts rally of Sept. 16 was to show that the Prime Minister still commanded mass support, despite widespread criticisms not only from Opposition parties and the civil society, but also from various UMNO leaders and ranks.

There is nothing wrong with organizing a Red Shirts rally to demonstrate that the Prime Minister had not become an isolated political figure but commanded “mass support”, but what was not permissible and most reprehensible  in a democratic and plural society is for the rally to be turned into a highly racially-charged and  provocative affair, threatening racial peace and social harmony, and what is worse, undermining Malaysia’s efforts at restoring national and international economic confidence by sending out the message as if Malaysia has become a potential  Indonesia in the late 1990s with  “anti-Chinese” protests and demonstrations.

I suggest that the Cabinet should invite the Suhakam Chairman, Tan Sri Hasmy Agam to give Ministers a briefing of what happened at the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally, as Suhakam was on the ground to monitor the rally.

In a press release a day after the rally, Suhakam had  expressed  its regrets on how the “peaceful assembly turned non-peaceful when a group of participants pushed past the police restriction lines in an attempt to reach certain parts of Kuala Lumpur that the organisers and PDRM had initially agreed were prohibited”.

Hasmy said the commission was “perturbed” by the “irresponsible and confrontational actions of several participants for inciting lawless and disorderly behaviour by flaunting racially charged placards and for uttering slogans that promoted racial or religious hatred in our multireligious and secular society”.

He said such behaviour cannot be condoned and must be appropriately dealt with, adding that the advocacy of racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence should be prohibited by law.

“The right to peaceful assembly is not an excuse to perpetrate violence which will only make a mockery of the concept of peaceful assembly,” he said.

The Cabinet should not be like the proverbial frogs in the well but must be brave to acknowledge that great damage had been done by the Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally not only to the Malaysian nation-building process but to Malaysia’s Vision 2020 to become a fully developed nation in five years’ time.

The 34-hour  Bersih 4 overnight rally of August 29 and 30, participated by hundreds of thousands of Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, age, gender or politics had hurt the dignity and pride of the Prime Minister and a coterie of UMNO leaders, but the four-hour Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally had deeply wounded the heart and soul of a “sehati sejiwa” united Malaysia nation.

This is a time of national healing, which is why I had suggested the revival of a National Goodwill Committee under the chairmanship of former Cabinet Minister, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, involving the participation of all patriotic Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or politics to take the nation back from brink of the precipice of a divided and failed state to return to the previous national trajectory of a twin success story of a plural society of diverse races, religions and cultures which could also make good in economic development and justice.

Is Najib and the Cabinet capable of rising up to this  national challenge?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 September 2015, 7:46 am and is filed under
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Umno’s red terror gambit

by Dennis Ignatius

Malaysiakini

21st Sept 2015

COMMENT
 When illiberal regimes lose their legitimacy, when they run out of excuses, when they feel their power slipping away, they almost always resort to scaremongering and scapegoating.

Suddenly, imaginary threats are everywhere. Everyone who does not toe the line becomes an enemy, an agent of dark unseen forces, part of some sinister conspiracy. All criticism, all dissent becomes seditious, unpatriotic, anti-national, a threat to national unity.

The ensuing tensions then provide the context and justification for further repression and for increased curtailment of fundamental liberties. What’s left of democratic space slowly vanishes.

Is the same thing now happening in Malaysia?

Najib’s red guards

Trapped in an increasingly untenable position over the massive 1MDB corruption scandal, Prime Minister Najib Razak and a close coterie of advisers appear to have adopted a strategy of trying to divert attention away from their own failures by playing up racial and religious issues, stoking fear and division and releasing their own version of the “red guards” to intimidate and terrorise.

With the connivance of the official media, old racist canards about the Chinese – that they are selfish, self-centred, ungrateful, money-grabbing, disloyal, unpatriotic, racist, disrespectful of Malays and Islam, that they control the economy, that they are blocking the progress of the Malays, etc. – are being highlighted once again.

What the red shirts, and by extension Umno, appear to be selling is the preposterous notion that despite decades of endemic corruption, abuse of power, mismanagement of the economy, fiscal irresponsibility and the degrading of our national institutions under Umno rule, it’s the Chinese who are really to blame for all the nation’s problems.

And the DAP, despite its multiracial character (it is in fact far more multiracial than any BN party) is somehow the chief villain, spearheading a sinister Chinese plot to overthrow the government, seize power and marginalise the Malay community.

Anyone who knows anything about Malaysia and the overwhelming control that Umno exercises over almost every single national institution, over every single lever of state power, will know how utterly asinine such a view is.

It is so absurd that surely not a single Umno leader really believes it but it is useful to confuse, distract and shift the blame.

The danger, of course, is that the red shirt mob will soon start believing the web of lies and deception they weave and take it to even more inane heights.

One senior Umno politician who was prominent during the red shirt rally, for example, went so far as to defend his racism by claiming that it is an Islamic obligation.

Has it come to this now when racism is worn as a badge of religious fealty instead of the disgrace that it is? Is nothing sacred to them anymore that they would turn a religion of peace and tolerance into an instrument of discrimination and hate?

Umno’s Malay problem

And all because the current leadership is feeling insecure and vulnerable, and worried about the real challenge to its power – not the DAP or the Chinese – but dissent within its own ranks and within the wider Malay/Muslim community.

Najib’s most dangerous critics, for example, come from within his own party.

Is any one more of a thorn in Najib’s side than former prime minister and Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad? Is any one more wary of Najib than his own deputy Muhyiddin Yassin? Has anyone been more aggressive in uncovering the truth about the 1MDB scandal than former Umno leader Khairuddin Hassan?

Mahathir is still revered within the Malay community and Muhyiddin still commands strong support in the south, so the party must proceed cautiously against them.

Several Umno luminaries like former ministers Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Rafidah Aziz, Zaid Ibrahim and Saiffudin Abdullah have all spoken out strongly against the racist turn that Umno has taken via the red shirts. Others like former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Idris Haron, the chief minister of Malacca, also appear to be increasingly uncomfortable with the party’s racism but again, it’s politically risky to hit out at them.

Umno is also losing ground to other Malay/Malay-led political parties like PKR, PAS and Amanah while more and more Malay NGOs, academics, professionals and student leaders are breaking ranks with the Umno narrative and speaking out. We’ve even seen senior government officers openly critical of Umno’s machinations.

The royals too, impatient and unhappy with the direction the country is taking, are growing more vocal in their criticism. One has only to read the alternative media to appreciate how widespread the dissent is.

Clearly, there’s a dawning realisation that after almost six decades of unbroken Umno rule, despite amassing untrammeled political power, despite billions of dollars in expenditure, despite lofty promises and great speeches, Malaysia is no where near where it ought to be in terms of living standards, quality of life and national progress.

While the cronies grow richer with each passing year, working-class Malaysians sink deeper and deeper into debt and struggle to make ends meet. They pay more for accommodation, for transportation, for utilities, for transport, for food and clothing and almost everything else because the economy is structured to allow cronies to exploit the citizenry with impunity.

Clearly, Umno has failed – it has failed the Malays, and it has failed everyone else.

Nazir Razak, the prime minister’s brother, summed it all up when he said recently, “I don’t remember a time when just absolutely everything seems to be going badly for Malaysia.”

But all this, of course, detracts from Umno’s Malay versus Chinese strategy, and are downplayed or hushed up. Instead, Umno is trying to turn its Malay ‘problem’ into a Chinese one. And so it is that the DAP and Chinese Malaysians must bear the brunt of Umno’s failures.

Stage set for new round of repression

But make no mistake, though the ostensible target is the DAP and its supporters, the real victim will be democracy itself. With state-sponsored tensions now rising, the stage is set for a new round of repression.

Umno leaders are already calling for the re-introduction of detention without trial, censorship of the internet, further restrictions on the media and the expanded use of sedition and other laws to curtail dissent.

Ominously, Najib himself is now conflating calls for his resignation, something that is par for the course in other parliamentary democracies, with attempting to illegally overthrow the government, and warning of stern consequences.

Opposition parties, civil society groups and individuals fighting to defend democratic rights, transparency and good governance can expect to face increasing intimidation and persecution. Indeed, Khairuddin, who has been unremitting in his efforts to expose the 1MDB scandal, has been arrested on charges of attempting to ‘topple the government.’

At this rate, as national laureate A Samad Said (right) has warned, what is left of Malaysia’s democracy will be gone before the next election.

The only hope for Malaysia’s future now lies in the hands of moderate Malay political, economic and religious leaders, and the majority of ordinary Malays who occupy the middle ground.

What they do in the months ahead, how they rise to the challenge, will determine whether Malaysia will remain a “democratic and independent state founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of its people…,” as our founding father, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared in his 1957 independence declaration, or just another morally bankrupt, kleptocratic, two-bit, third-world dictatorship.

I pray God will give them wisdom and courage to do what is just and right.

Ambassador DENNIS IGNATIUS was a career foreign service officer who served in London, Beijing, Washington, Santiago, Buenos Aires and Ottawa. He retired as High Commissioner to Canada in 2008.

Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/312967#ixzz3mLltQIv9

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 September 2015, 8:00 pm and is filed under
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Call for an overall review of Federal-State relations in Malaysia to effect greater decentralisation and confer greater autonomy from Putrajaya to all state governments, not just Sarawak and Sabah

September 16, Malaysia Day, was marred by the Red Shirts Malay rally organised by UMNO, although it did not officially showed its hand at the time and which, among other things, desecrated the meaing and importance of Malaysia Day as the foremost national public holiday in the country.

Sarawak and Sabah cannot but feel slighted that on Malaysia Day, UMNO had chosen to devalue Malaysia Day by sponsoring a Red Shirts Malay rally in Kuala Lumpur which not only stole the national and international spotlight from the 52nd anniversary of Malaysia’s formation, the federation of Malaysia was at best a second-thought after the primacy of Ketuanan Melayu of UMNO leaders.

However, Malaysia Day this year was a bit different from Malaysia Day of the past five decades, primarily because it is beginning to sink in among the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO leaders and they owe their continued political rule of the country to the support and loyalty of the Members of Parliament in Sarawak and Sabah, as without the support of the 48 Barisan Nasional MPs in Sabah and Sarawak, Najib will not be Prime Minister of Malaysia today nor could UNMO continue as “Big Brother” in the Federal Government in Putrajaya.

With the approaching Sarawak State Government Elections in a matter of months and the 14th General Elections in the next 24 to 32 months, Sarawak and Sabah would expect a New Deal from Putrajaya to continue to be the fixed deposit states of the UMNO/BN coalition government in Putrajaya and this is the reason for all the talk about granting greater autonomy to Sarawak and Sabah in recent days.

However, the issue of decentralisation and devolution of powers and the granting of greater autonomy to the state governments should not be confined to Sarawak and Sabah but should apply to all states in Malaysia.

There is no doubt that in the 58 years after Merdeka and 52 years after Malaysia, there had been too much concentration of power at two levels, firstly, in the hands of the Executive and ultimately the Prime Minister at the expense of the other two branches of government, the Legislature and the Judiciary; and secondly, in the hands of the Federal Government at the expense of the state governments.

At present, the Prime Minister’s Office has 10 Ministers with a budget of some RM19 billion – when during Merdeka in 1957, the Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Cabinet had only 10 Ministers (as compared to 36 Ministers in the current Najib Cabinet), and the budget of the Prime Minister’s office is more than 20 times that of the Federal Budget in 1957 which did not even reach RM1 billion. The total Federal budget every year is in the region of RM270 billion.

Malaysia needs a leaner and more efficient Cabinet, and efficiency and competence will not suffer if the number of 10 Ministers in the Prime Minister’s and the budget of the Prime Minister’s Office of some RM19 billion are both halved to five Ministers and not more than RM10 billion. Furthermore, the 36-strong Najib Cabinet can be productively pruned to half, i.e. five Ministes while the 36-Minister Cabinet can be productively slashed by half or having not more 20 Ministers!

Overall, the time has come for a comprehensived review of Federal-State relations in Malaysia to effect greater decentralisation and confer greater autonomy from Putrajaya to all state governments, not just Sarawak and Sabah.

This should be a major issue for Malaysians in the 14th General Elections.

[Speech (2) at the DAP Kuala Terengganu Branch “Ceramah Perdana Isu-Isu Semasa” held at Dataran Pulau Warisan, Kampung Cina, Kuala Terengganu on Monday, Sept. 21, 2013 at 10 pm]

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 September 2015, 3:06 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia does not want to be  a battleground of  “yellow T-shirts” versus “red T-shirts” as we want all Malaysians  united behind the Malaysian Dream for an united, harmonious, democratic, just, prosperous and progressive nation

Last week, Malaysia saw a 4-hour Red Shirts Rally  in Kuala Lumpur as a counter to a 34-hour Yellow T-Shirts Bersih 4 overnight rally on August 29/30.

There can be no greater differences between the Red Shirts Rally and the Yellow T-Shirts Rally.

Firstly, the Yellow T-Shirts Bersih 4 Rally  transcended race and was participated by hundreds of thousands of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender, age or politics, who came together with one common national purpose – good governance and clean, free and fair elections.

Those who participated in the  two-day Bersih 4 Rally never thought there could be any  racial clash or confrontation, for that was furthest from their mind as they gathered not for or against any race but for the sake of a better Malaysia for all races.

The Bersih 4 participants were worried that there might be trouble,  but not of any racial nature – for their only worry was that the Police might  not be independent and professional enough and might   wantonly and arbitrarily fire tear gas and shoot water cannons into a  peaceful and defenceless crowds. That was why some of the Bersih 4 participants armed themselves  with “goggles” and “smelling salts” not as weapons of offence but to protect themselves.

The Red Shirts Rally on the other invoked fear of racial incidents right from the beginning of the announcement of the event immediately after the Bersih 4 overnight rally, and for a fortnight, the country was inundated with highly-charged images of racial slurs, confrontation and even bloodbath, and the  objective of the Red Shirts Rally veered from “Kebangkitan Maruah Melayu” to  “counter Chinese Bersih 4”, “Teach Chinese DAP a lesson”, “Defend Najib Razak as Prime Minister” among others.

Everyone who donned a Yellow T-Shirt on August 29/30 knew why he or she was at the Bersih 4 rally, but not everyone who donned a Red Shirt at the Sept 16 rally knew why he or she was at the Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur.

The hundreds of thousands  who took part in the two-day Bersih 4 rally converged on Kuala  Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu  on their own expenses, but the 45,000 people to the Sept. 16 Red Shirt Rally were brought in from all over the peninsula by UMNO divisions  by some 2,000 buses with all pocket monies provided.

The hundreds of thousands of people came to the two-day Bersih 4 rally in peace but the organisers of the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally were not shy of being combative, belligerent and hostile even to the police trying to uphold peace, law and order.

The two-day Bersih 4 rally was founded on noble objectives of good governance and clean, free fair elections.

But the Sept 16 Red Shirts rally was built on lies and falsehoods –  that the Bersih 4 rally had  attacked the rights and dignity of the Malays;  that the DAP  had masterminded Bersih 4 rally;  that Bersih 4 rally was really a Chinese show-of-force to challenge the political power of the Malays; that the  DAP is a Chinese political party to confront the Malays; that  I had caused the May 13, 1969 racial riots in Kuala Lumpur leading anti-Malay “victory processions” hurling anti-Malay slogans  in the streets of Kuala Lumpur when I was never in Kuala Lumpur after the May 10, 1969 general elections and was in Kota Kinabalu on May 13 1969!

But the biggest and most mischievious lie of all was that Bersih 4 was a Chinese “show-of-force” to challenge Malay politidal power, and that Malay dignity had been trampled on by four Bersih 4 rallies and that it was time for the Malays to react and counter such Chinese “show-of-force”.

It is true that Malay participation on the first day of the Bersih 4 rally was quite low, but this was more than made up on the second day of Bersih 4 with Malay participation reaching some 40%.

Seven speakers at the ceramah tonight were all at the Bersih 4 rally – the MP for Kuala Terengganu, Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah, the MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad, the MP for Ipoh Timor Thomas Su, the Bandar Terengganu State Assemblyman Azan Ismail, the Co-ordinator for DAP Impian Kelantan, Syefura Othman (Rara), the DAP Terengganu Stated Chairman Ng Chai Heng and I myself.

It is completely untrue and a downright lie that Bersih 4 and the other three Bersih rallies had  attacked Malay rights and dignity when the objective was to uphold Malaysian rights and dignity – which must involve upholding the rights and dignity of all races and religions in the country.

In any event, it is completely inconceivable that the previous three Bersih rallies, which were dominate by Malays, had attacked Malay rights and dignity, as Bersih 1 of 2007 was dominated with some 80% Malays, Bersih 2 of 2011 had  some 70% Malays and Bersih 3 in 2012 with some 60% Malays – just as it is unthinkable that Bersih 4 which had some 40% Malays on the second day of the rally, would attack Malay dignity and rights.

Over the weekend, former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said jokingly in Kuala Lumpur that he felt at home when he heard of the yellow-shirt Bersih 4 rally and the red-shirt Malay rally on Sept. 16, but he hoped that Malaysians  would not bring racial issues to street rallies, or it would mean disaster not only for Malaysia but also the Asean region.

If Malaysia should degenerate into a battle between  “Red Shirts” versus “Yellow Shirts”, Malaysia would end up with the  fate of war-torn countries  and failed states  like Syria and Iraq and  Malaysia would have failed as ASEAN Chair this year if we are bogged down by multiple crisis of confidence in the country and unable to provide leadership to ASEAN as ASEAN Chair this year.

Let all Malaysians make a resolution:  We do not want to be  a battleground of  “yellow T-shirts” versus “red T-shirts” as we want all Malaysians  united behind the Malaysian Dream for an united, harmonious, democratic, just, prosperous and progressive nation

(Speech at the DAP Kuala Terengganu Branch “Ceramah Perdana Isu-Isu Semasa” held at Dataran Pulau Warisan, Kampung Cina, Kuala Terengganu on Monday, Sept. 21, 2013 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 September 2015, 7:18 am and is filed under
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As Malaysia’s PM struggles in graft scandal, his party plays the race card

John Chalmers and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Reuters/Channel News Asia

23 Sep 2015

KUALA LUMPUR: When thousands of Malay Muslims marched through Kuala Lumpur last week to support his scandal-wracked government, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak kept his distance.

He neither attended nor officially endorsed the racially charged rally by members of Malaysia’s majority community.

But several members of Najib’s political party told Reuters they helped an ultranationalist Malay group stage the “Malay Pride” rally. Critics accused the organisers of stoking racial tensions in multicultural Malaysia to distract from a multi-million-dollar corruption scandal swirling around the prime minister.

Protesters at the rally held signs reading “Don’t insult Malays and Islam” and “#najibstays”. Some were eventually dispersed by riot police outside Chinatown, where many Chinese businesses are located.

There, witnesses said, they hurled racial abuse against ethnic Chinese and threatened a repeat of 1969, when ethnic rioting killed hundreds of people, mostly Chinese. Communal tension has simmered in the succeeding decades, and some fear that racially volatile mass gatherings like the Sept. 16 rally could spiral into violence.

“It’s not a threat,” Ali Rustam, the head of the Malay group, said of the rally in an interview. “It’s a reminder: Don’t play with fire. Don’t insult the Malays too much.”

Malays make up about 60 percent of Malaysia’s 30 million people and Chinese about 25 percent. There is also a sizeable Indian minority.

Many opposition supporters are ethnic Chinese, who dominated an anti-government protest last month that demanded Najib’s resignation.

“SUPPORT YOUR BOSS”

In a rural region of Selangor state last week, an official from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) told Reuters that his party division hired 25 buses to ferry about 1,000 supporters to the pro-Najib rally in Kuala Lumpur. Five UMNO members said they were paid by party officials to attend.

“You have to support your prime minister, your boss,” said Ahmed Samsuri, an UMNO division secretary in Selangor. Participants were fed and given a red T-shirt to wear, but weren’t paid, he said.

But five protesters, all UMNO members in their teens or twenties, told Reuters that party officials had given them up to 50 ringgit (US$12) when they boarded the buses. These small sums represent at least half a day’s wages in rural areas.

“We didn’t go because of the money. We went to unite the Malays,” said Shahrizan Ahmad, 18, a fisherman.

The prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Two senior UMNO party officials also declined comment.

About 30,000 people attended the rally, which was held as Najib faces allegations of graft and mismanagement at indebted state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

According to reports in July, investigators found that nearly US$700 million was put into a private bank account in Najib’s name.

Authorities in several countries are now scrutinizing the fund. The New York Times has said a U.S. federal grand jury was examining allegations of corruption involving Najib and people close to him.

Najib has denied taking any money for personal gain.

MARTIAL ARTS GROUP

The Sept. 16 rally was officially organised by a Malay martial arts group called the National Silat Organisation, known by its Malay-language acronym Pesaka.

About half its members are also members of UMNO, said the group’s chief Ali Rustam. He himself is a senior UMNO functionary.

Authorities allowed the rally to go ahead although the opposition protest march last month was deemed illegal.

Ultranationalist groups like Pesaka have become more visible since the long-ruling party’s poor showing in a 2008 general election.

“To mobilise people they have to play on the same kind of rhetoric: that Malays are under threat and need defending,” said Sophie Lemière, an expert in Malay militancy at the European University Institute in Italy.

“Najib is in a very vulnerable moment. He needs these groups to create the impression that he’s strong.”

Business has returned to normal in Chinatown, but some traders there told Reuters they were still rattled by last week’s rally.

One said rumours of attacks against the community still circulated on social media.

The bulk of the protesters were mobilised by Pesaka, which says it is a civic organisation and claims hundreds of thousands of members nationwide.

While the prime minister didn’t attend the rally, he was guest of honour two days later at a mass gathering of Pesaka members in Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka Square.

There, in traditional Malay dress, the British-educated Najib watched a martial arts display in which fighters appeared to dip their hands in boiling oil.

Afterwards, in a fiery speech, Najib praised Pesaka members as “willing to die” for the government.

“Malay people can also show that we are still able to rise when our dignity is challenged, when our leaders are insulted, criticised, shamed,” he said.

He added: “We respect other races. But don’t forget: Malays also have their feelings. Malays also have their limits.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 8:14 pm and is filed under
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Can Malaysia’s PM Pull Off a Trip to the UN?

By John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

September 22, 2015

A trip by Malaysia’s embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak to London and New York is shrouded in mystery, with a London source saying the premier and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, are already in London, staying at the five-star Dorchester in Mayfair, and editors in Kuala Lumpur being told he won’t go until Sept. 23, after the weekly cabinet meeting. A source later confirmed that Najib had quietly left KL.

His overseas jaunt, which is expected to later include a trip to Milan with Rosmah for her Islamic dress fashion show, is scarred by spiraling investigations by international law enforcement agencies in New York, Switzerland, Singapore and London and domestic rumors of behind-the-scenes negotiations to replace him with a unity government — which seems unlikely now.

The multiple probes of the prime minister’s personal finances and the operations of the debt-strapped 1Malaysia Development Bhd., which faces more than US$11 billion of unmet liabilities that could trigger a national financial crisis, have delivered up disastrous international publicity in the US’s two most respected newspapers. The prime minister was hoping for a star turn at the United Nations General Assembly and a meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Hanging on

Conversations with multiple sources in Kuala Lumpur say the prime minister is determined to hang onto his job despite the international publicity. The pressure increased on Sept. 21, when Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the respected central bank governor, broke weeks of silence to say the public deserves answers on the controversy surrounding 1MDB and the huge donation to Najib’s own bank accounts. She said she had submitted her findings to the attorney general although others say the outcome is doubtful. Najib fired the former attorney general, Abdul Gani Patail, just about as he reportedly was to deliver indictments over the cases.

“We hear nothing here,” said the head of an economic think tank. “All the news is shut out of the local press.” That was echoed by several other sources who say that if the scandals have endangered his premiership, information hasn’t percolated to the surface.

There is the question of who would succeed him if he were to leave office. There appear few alternatives.

Who can lead?

“There is nobody else with what I characterize as the wherewithal of experience, knowledge, integrity and ability to lead,” said Dominic Puthucheary, one of the country’s most respected constitutional lawyers, in a telephone conversation. “Go into parliament and look at them, not one has that capacity. Our electoral system hasn’t produced the best in the country. We are unfortunately in a state where the institutions are dysfunctional. Not one institution really functions – not the judiciary, not the police, not the parliament, insofar as making sure the interests of the nation really function. That gap is a very big gap and that is a result of years of mediocrity having become the ethos everywhere. ”

Ahmad Zahid Hamadi, the man Najib picked to replace Muhyiddin Yassin, whom he fired abruptly, is considered too mercurial and too racist given the country’s delicate ethnic balance to take over. Muhyiddin, still the deputy president of the United Malays National Organization, is considered too close to Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister. Mahathir has riven the party with his attempts to drive Najib from office. Muhyiddin, who has become quite wealthy despite a lifetime of public service, is also viewed as ethically challenged.

Allies of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the Anglophilic 78-year-old one-time finance minister, have been seeking to put together a unity government. But many observers believe he has been too long out of the political mix and has become irrelevant. “There has been movement but I can’t speak about it over the phone,” said a source.

Immunity?

One of the big issues is whether to grant Najib immunity from future prosecution over the many questions that hang over his head concerning the enormous amounts of wealth he and Rosmah appear to have amassed, much of it in foreign countries, a good deal of it in jewelry, handbags and other decorations adorning Rosmah herself. Questions also have come up anew concerning the 2006 murder by two of his bodyguards of a young Mongolian woman with whom he was rumored to have had an affair. A recent Al Jazeera broadcast regenerated the questions. Mahathir is said to want to jail both of them.

Given the plethora of controversies, it is unsure if the prime minister is actually going to New York although his ace in the hole is Malaysia’s pivotal position on a number of issues including the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which US President Barack Obama wants to finalize before he leaves office. Other events in which Malaysia has an important part later this year are the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in the Philippines and the annual ASEAN summit in Malaysia.

In any event, there is considerable confusion. Many observers point out that Najib ducked out as a speaker over embarrassment at the prestigious 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference and Transparency International gathering, held Sept. 2-4 in the country’s political capital of Putrajaya. They question if he wants to face the possibility of similar embarrassment in New York.  If Obama meets with him, despite the fact that he previously showered Najib with praise, it will only be because of US concerns over the TPP.

No one answered the general telephone line at the prime minister’s office to confirm his travel plans. Najib had been scheduled to leave on Sept. 21 and a source at the London embassy said Najib had scheduled a meeting with officials from the UK government for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. However, a local news editor said he had received assurances that the premier’s luxurious Boeing jetliner would lift off after the weekly cabinet meeting on Sept. 23.

Najib reportedly postponed an earlier trip to London with Hishammuddin Hussein, his cousin and defense minister, to ogle military hardware for prospective purchases at the last minute. Hishamuddin went to the UK more than a week ago, with the prime minister remaining in Malaysia. Although there has been no official announcement in Kuala Lumpur about the current trip, the growing global clamor over corruption may have caused him to delay.

The clamor was renewed this week with a New York Times report on Sept. 21 that a federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption over properties in the US that were purchased by shell companies belonging to the prime minister’s stepson, Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, as well s other real estate properties purchased by Jho Taek Low, a close family friend. Investigators are also said to be probing a US$681 million payment that floated through the US electronic banking system and into his personal bank account at AmBank in Kuala Lumpur in March of 2013.

Separate investigations are also reportedly being carried out as a result of information provided to law enforcement officials in Switzerland and London by Clare Rewcastle Brown, the editor of Sarawak Report, which on Sept. 22 reported that the US Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Department and FBI members traveled to London earlier this year to collect evidence.

Other reports were published in the Wall Street Journal that at least US$3.78 billion in payments that 1MDB said it had paid to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) never got there.

These are serious investigations being carried out by competent and unreachable agencies. Unlike domestic offices, which the prime minister nullified, intimidated or co-opted, he has little chance of influencing other countries. That poses significant dangers that can’t be swatted away with charges that unnamed “forces,” usually referred to as Israeli, are trying to bring down a democratic Muslim government.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 8:59 pm and is filed under
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Formation of Pakatan Harapan important milestone for moderates and patriots to reclaim and save Malaysia from the racists, bigots, extremists and the corrupt in the country

The formation of Pakatan Harapan yesterday is an important milestone for moderates and patriots to reclaim and save Malaysia from the racists, bigots, extremists and the corrupt in the country.

Never before has race relations in Malaysia become so fragile and brittle. Every day, racial epithets, slurs, intimidation  and even explicit threat of  “bloodbath” are uttered with immunity and impunity.

The latest is the threat of a racial riot in Kuala Lumpur Chinatown, something which  had never happened before in the past 58 years since Merdeka in 1957.

Where is the twitter-happy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar?

No lie or falsehood was  too far-fetched in the evil campaign  to try to racialise issues and create a Malay-Chinese confrontation, even events  which have nothing to do race, like labelling the 34-hour Bersih 4 overnight rally on August 29/30 as a  DAP-dominated or a Chinese rally to challenge Malay political power  when the hundreds of thousands of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans  who gathered in Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu came out to support good governance and clean, free, fair elections which had nothing to do with race – and there was no inter-racial suspicion, distrust or hatred in the two-day Bersih 4 rally by true Malaysian inter-racial camaraderie,  goodwill and friendship.

From the standpoint of promoting inter-racial harmony and understanding, there should be more Bersih 4 rallies as they can  contribute to greater inter-racial understanding and goodwill but definitely not the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Perhimpunan Maruah Melayu which was full of distrust, hate, venom and discord.

In fact, the racial  situation became so serious that the recently-sacked Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had to issue a reminder-cum-warning of the importance of the constitutional framework to protect and promote  racial harmony, social peace and national unity.

Muhyiddin said that political parties that question the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak do so at  their own peril for they will lose the majority support of the electorates.

Likewise, political parties that undermine the legitimate interests of the other races will risk losing significant percentage of votes in elections and will fail to form the national government.

Let the formation of Pakatan Harapan be an important step to rally together all the moderates and patriots in Malaysia to reclaim and save the country from the racists, bigots, extremists and the corrupt in the country as only  moderation and tolerance are the  salvation for the country.

It is, however,  not just the moderates and patriots in DAP, PKR and Amanah who must stand together to save the country, but also the moderates from the ruling Barisan Nasional parties, whether the 3.5 million UMNO members or the Barisan Nasional  MPs, leaders and members in Sabah and Sarawak.

I call on all Malaysian moderates and patriots inside or outside the government coalition to stand together in the national mission to save Malaysia from racialism, bigotry, extremism and corruption which could end with only one outcome: a broken, divided Malaysia joining the ranks of the rogue and failed state in the world  where there is no democracy, rule of law, good governance or economic progress and prosperity.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 4:50 pm and is filed under
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Has Malaysia got a kleptocrat as a Prime Minister?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has  established a special niche for himself in  the Guinness Book of Records and of course the Malaysian Book of Records as the Prime Minister who has broken all the records of previous Malaysian Prime Ministers by  achieving the most “firsts”.

This despite Najib’s short premiership of  less than six-and-a-half years which cannot compare in length to the more than 22 years as PM of Tun Dr.Mahathir Mohamad or the more than 13 years of the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman – but unfortunately,  mostly for the wrong reasons establishing  bad records.

For instance, Najib is the first Malaysian Prime Minister to be investigated for alleged money laundering and corruption in four foreign countries, namely United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Now he  has added to this roll of dubious honour by  being the first Malaysian and ASEAN leader to be investigated by a federal grand jury in the United States in connection with corruption and money-laundering.

New York Times reported yesterday that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption involving Najib and people close to him.

It said the inquiry, which  is being run by a unit of the Justice Department that investigates international corruption, is focused on properties in the United States that were purchased in recent years by shell companies that belong to the prime minister’s stepson as well as other real estate connected to a close family friend, including the US$681 million payment made to Najib’s personal bank account.

What is this unit in the US Justice Department that investigates international corruption?

This is the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative launched by the United States Attorney General in 2010 under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) 1997 that relies on the the use of U.S. civil forfeiture actions to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption that pass through the United States.

This was the explanation by Leslie Caldwell, the Assistant Attorney-General who as head of the Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Criminal Division team of nearly 600 lawyers as to why the US Department of Justice is involved in the fight of corruption abroad when there are people who claim that taking aim at foreign bribery puts U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage in countries where bribery is just business as usual.

She said:

“The threats posed to the United States by international corruption, however, cannot be overlooked.  Foremost, corrupt countries are less safe.  Corruption thwarts economic development, traps entire populations in poverty, and leaves countries without a credible justice system.  Corrupt officials who put their personal enrichment before the benefit of their citizenry create unstable countries.  And as we have seen time and again, unstable countries become the breeding grounds and safe havens for terrorist groups and other criminals who threaten the security of the United States.

“International corruption also inhibits the ability of American companies to compete overseas on a level playing field.  Once bribery and corruption take hold, fair and competitive business practices are eliminated.  Nobody but the corrupt official benefits from bribery.

“For all of these reasons, fighting foreign corruption is not a service we provide to the global community, but rather a necessary enforcement action to protect our own national security interests and the ability of our U.S. companies to compete on a global scale.

“And, it is not just the United States that is recognizing the importance of foreign bribery laws.  There is an ever growing chorus of countries voicing support for the fight against this type of corruption.  More and more countries are joining international bodies that provide uniform standards for the criminalization of bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions.  This type of collaboration is critical if we are going to have a meaningful impact on international corruption.

“These themes apply equally to our Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative launched by the Attorney General in 2010.  The initiative relies on the use of U.S. civil forfeiture actions to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption that pass through the United States.

“More simply, it takes the monies and assets stolen by foreign despots and returns them to the people harmed.  This initiative protects the integrity of the U.S. financial system from use by corrupt officials, and denies corrupt officials the ability to enjoy luxuries purchased in the United States at the expense of the populations they purport to serve.”

One Oxford definition of “kleptocrat” is “A ruler who uses their power to steal their country’s resources” while the online dictionary.com defines a “kleptocrat” as “a government official who is a thief or exploiter”.

Whichever the definition, has Malaysia a kleptocrat as a Prime Minister as Najib is reported to be targeted for investigations under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative?

This is no small or slight matter.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri  Noor Rashid has said that the police is not certain about the veracity of the New York Times report of a US grand jury investigation into Najib under the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Unless and until the relevant authorities, whether the Police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Wismaputra,  the Prime Minister’s Office or the Prime Minister himself  can come out with a clear-cut and satisfactory denial, then Malaysians will have to live with the brutal fact that we  have a Prime Minister who is suspected of being a kleptocrat by the US  Justice Department.

If this is the case, then Najib should honourably step down as Prime Minister until he can fully clear himself of the charge and  suspicions  of kleptocracy, and he should not be presenting the  2016 Budget in Parliament on 23rd October but by a new Finance Minister.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 2:28 pm and is filed under
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Investors harbour doubts over Malaysia’s stock market rescue plan

by Emily Chow and Umesh Desai

Reuters

Wed Sep 23, 2015

Investors have voiced doubts over potential conflicts of interest posed by Malaysia’s plan for an equity fund to buy “undervalued” shares, reflecting their growing unease as a scandal over an indebted state fund engulfs Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Last week, Najib announced a series of measures to support the economy. Chief amongst them was a plan to infuse 20 billion ringgit ($4.6 billion) into defunct equity fund called ValueCap so that it can buy underperforming shares.

Analysts and investors have raised questions of propriety over the idea of a state-directed fund picking stocks to support.

“Why is the government intervening into the private sector?” said Tricia Yeoh, chief operating office of Malaysian think-tank IDEAS. “How is the government planning to identify which companies are under-valued versus those that are sufficiently-valued?”

Malaysians are still awaiting answers to questions thrown up by multiple investigations into allegations of financial mismanagement and graft at state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), whose advisory board is chaired by Najib.

On Tuesday, the government’s newly formed special economic committee sought to dispel some of the scepticism over ValueCap.

“ValueCap has a board of directors and investment committee that are separate to monitor its investment operations,” it said in a statement reported by state run news agency Bernama.

“This fund is not prepared by the government. It will be invested in stages based on current shares value and the right time,” it said.

The 20 billion ringgit will not be provided by the government and ValueCap was given the mandate to raise the amount from its shareholders and through other funds, Bernama reported.

The statement said ValueCap will pick its stocks after “an organised and objective evaluation, not sentiment and speculation”.

The other big concern for investors is the impact this spending will have on an economy that already has one of Asia’s highest budget deficits at 3.5 percent of the economy, and in particular on the column for contingent liabilities such as 1MDB’s 42 billion ringgit debt.

Opposition politicians have seized on the risks.

“The deficit will increase; it will have to be funded by increased borrowing; this in turn will lead to the self-imposed debt ceiling of about 55 percent being breached,” said Lim Kit Siang, leader of the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

Set up in 2002 to revive a flagging stock market, ValueCap’s shareholders include state investment fund Permodalan Nasional Berhad, the state-owned Employees Pension Fund and Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Ang Kok Heng, chief investment officer of Phillip Capital in Kuala Lumpur, said these state-owned firms would need to issue bonds to fund ValueCap’s investments.

“If they borrow, they would have to find a way to pay back too. This just means that ValueCap would have to invest prudently instead of listening to the government on where it should put its money,” Heng said.

The stock market hit three year lows last month and is down 8.4 percent this year, while the ringgit currency is near its weakest levels in 18 years, reflecting concerns over a deterioration in Malaysia’s trade position due to weak prices for its liquefied natural gas exports and nervousness over the scandals raging round Najib.

“The money could be better spent,” said Alicia Garcia Herrero, Chief Economist Asia Pacific Natixis, adding that it could put a drag on the fiscal deficit.

“Together with the external debt and falling reserves, the situation could hit a nerve with rating agencies,” she said.

Rating agencies are for now going with the assumption that the government will not be using its budgeted funds to revive the stock market.

“Our focus remains what the recent developments mean for the policy environment,” said Standard & Poor’s analyst Kim Eng Tan.

“And, if big spending increases are implemented, we would have to assess the fiscal position vis-a-vis rating support.”

(Additional reporting by Praveen Menon and Sheikh Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah in KUALA LUMPUR; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Simon Cameron-Moore)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 7:03 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Leader, Najib Razak, Faces U.S. Corruption Inquiry

by Louise Story

New York Times

SEPT. 21, 2015

The embattled prime minister of Malaysia, facing mounting political turmoil and a parade of inquiries at home and abroad into a sovereign wealth fund that he oversees, is now coming under the scrutiny of American investigators as well.

A federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption involving the prime minister, Najib Razak, and people close to him, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.

The inquiry, being run by a unit of the Justice Department that investigates international corruption, is focused on properties in the United States that were purchased in recent years by shell companies that belong to the prime minister’s stepson as well as other real estate connected to a close family friend, said the people knowledgeable about the case, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it. Investigators are also looking at a $681 million payment made to what is believed to be Mr. Najib’s personal bank account.

Pressure in Malaysia on Mr. Najib intensified on Monday as two separate courts dealt him legal setbacks. And the head of the country’s central bank, which is investigating transactions involving the sovereign wealth fund, said it had submitted its findings to the Malaysian attorney general.

“Right now, we know that the public wants answers to these questions, and they deserve to get the answers,” said the head banker, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, according to the Malaysian Insider news site.

The Justice Department investigation is still in its early days, and it could take years to determine if any federal laws were broken. It was opened partly in response to an examination by The New York Times of condominiums at the Time Warner Center in Manhattan whose ownership is hidden behind shell companies, according to the people with knowledge of the case.

In one article, The Times documented more than $150 million in luxury residential properties connected either to Mr. Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz, or to the family friend, a businessman named Jho Low. Mr. Low, The Times found, has also been involved in business deals with Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, which is a government investment fund.

That fund, called 1MDB, has run into serious financial problems in part because of aggressive borrowing. Investigators in several countries are examining allegations that money from the fund is missing. This month, Swiss authorities said they had frozen several individuals’ bank accounts, and inquiries are underway in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as in Malaysia.

Mr. Najib’s office did not comment on the Justice Department inquiry. A representative for Mr. Aziz said he was not involved in any investigation, adding that “there has never been anything inappropriate” about his business activities. A spokesman for Mr. Low said that he had not been notified that he was the subject of any investigations, and that his business “adheres to all relevant regulatory requirements.” A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

The details of the corruption allegations involving Mr. Najib and people connected to him are complex and multifaceted. Authorities in each country are focusing on the aspects that fall in their jurisdictions.

In the United States, officials are examining the real estate tied to Mr. Najib’s stepson and to Mr. Low, which could be seized if a case could be made that the properties had been purchased with the proceeds earned in corrupt practices, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The $681 million payment being investigated falls under United States jurisdiction because it was routed through Wells Fargo, an American bank.

The inquiry is being run by the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Initiative, which has seized properties in the United States owned by relatives of politicians from Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, South Korea and Taiwan.

Questions about where Mr. Low and the prime minister’s stepson — a movie producer behind films including “The Wolf of Wall Street” — obtained money for the United States properties have helped fuel political unrest in Malaysia, where several political leaders in the opposition and in Mr. Najib’s own party have called for the prime minister to step down. In the last month, there have been mass street protests, and a global network of nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, has joined the call for Mr. Najib’s resignation.

Mr. Najib has held fast, denying the corruption allegations and saying the $681 million payment, reported in July by The Wall Street Journal, was not improper. His office told The Times this year that he was not involved in the American properties connected to his stepson and to Mr. Low.

He has also struck back at his questioners and accusers. Over the summer, he dismissed several members of his administration, including the attorney general leading one inquiry, and he has barred several opponents from leaving Malaysia, including a member of his own party who was on his way to New York last week. That politician’s lawyer told The Times that he had planned to meet with the F.B.I.

In July, Mr. Najib also shut down a newspaper, The Edge, because of its reports of payments between 1MDB and Mr. Low. On Monday, though, a court in Malaysia reversed the action, ruling that the paper could resume publication as soon as Tuesday. In a separate decision on Monday, a judge ruled that a lawsuit calling for Mr. Najib to return the money that had been transferred into his personal account, and for seizure of his assets around the world, could move forward.

All of that muddies Mr. Najib’s international standing as he prepares to fly to London this week for a trade convention and then on to New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. Since taking office in 2009, Mr. Najib has drawn his country closer to the United States and has used his annual United Nations trips to promote Malaysia as a moderate Muslim partner in the fight against terrorism and as a strategic Asian counterforce to China.

“Najib really, really values his international image, and he was going out of his way to curry favor with America and with the Europeans,” said John Malott, a United States ambassador to Malaysia in the 1990s. In the current climate, he added, “he can travel, but is he going to be shunned? Are people going to shake hands with him?”

The $150 million in American properties tied to the prime minister’s stepson and to Mr. Low include a penthouse at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan purchased for $30.55 million by a shell company connected to Mr. Low’s family trust. Companies tied to Mr. Low’s family have also purchased a $39 million mansion on Oriole Drive in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills and part of the Park Lane Hotel in New York. Through shell companies, Mr. Aziz purchased a $33.5 million condominium at the Park Laurel on 63rd Street in Manhattan, a home in Beverly Hills known as the pyramid house for a gold pyramid in its garden, as well as other properties in the Los Angeles area.

The Park Laurel condo and the Beverly Hills home were owned by shell companies connected to Mr. Low’s family before being transferred to shell companies tied to Mr. Aziz. Shell companies — trusts, limited liability companies and other entities — are commonly used in real estate for privacy, wealth transfer or shared ownership. They also make it difficult, however, for law enforcement authorities and others to discover the true owners of property.

In the case of the Beverly Hills home, the property was transferred without any public filings, with Mr. Low’s family trust selling ownership of the shell company to a corporate entity controlled by Mr. Aziz, The Times found.

Mr. Low’s spokesman said this year that the transfers to Mr. Aziz were done at fair market value and at arm’s length.

New York City also appears to be home to at least one other person involved with Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

A condo at 23 East 22nd Street was purchased for $4.5 million in 2014 by a shell company called Cricklewood One Madison L.L.C. that listed Ai Swan Loo as its authorized signer, public records show. This summer, Malaysia’s Central Bank announced that a person named Jasmine Ai Swan Loo, a former executive involved with the 1MDB fund, was wanted for assistance in its investigation.

In New York, a lawyer for the Cricklewood declined to comment. Ms. Loo did not respond to a note The Times left for her at the condo building, but the concierge confirmed that a Jasmine Ai Swan Loo lived there.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 10:33 am and is filed under
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Red Shirts do not represent the Muslims

By Tajuddin Rosli

Free Malaysia Today

September 23, 2015

After Bersih participants were filled with pride. After the Red Shirts rally most are filled with shame

COMMENT

Incidents that took place on 16 September coinciding with Malaysia Day have shamed the majority of Malays throughout the country. For the first time ever, I went to work with my face down, feeling ashamed to be called a Malay. I could sense my non-Malay colleagues looking at me and laughing in their heads to what my people have become. I had to put on a brave smile and pretend nothing ever happened.

But the reality is Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu has shown the world how low some Malays in the country have sunk to.

Please don’t get me wrong. The hooligans who gathered for the rally in no way represent the silent majority of Malays in the country who are civilized. Unfortunately, just as Bersih 4.0 was called a Chinese gathering because the majority who turned out were Chinese, Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu was a dark day for the Malays in Malaysia. Those in attendance did not look like they belong in today’s world. They seemed to look like a bunch from the Period of Jahiliyyah who travelled through time to get here.

I had to convince myself that those who attended the rally were not true Muslims. They are part of a cult that Islam does not recognise. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) never taught us to ridicule another religion. He never taught us to call others derogatory names. We see people around the world embrace Islam because Islam is a religion of peace. Those who were on the streets chanting racism are not true Muslims. They belong to something else that Islam does not recognise.

I fail to understand the reason for the rally. They say Malaysia belongs to Malays. Strictly speaking, Malaysia belongs to the Orang Asli. Most Malays are descendents from Indonesia. So, what are they chanting about?

What if the Orang Asli one day hold a rally and ask the Malays to leave their country? How would we react? We condemn the Jews for robbing Palestinian land. What are we doing here?

UiTM has the largest number of small branches throughout the country. It is a university with predominantly Malays. We have the highest interest rates for Amanah Saham. We get special quotas and extra discounts when we purchase a property. We get loans approved easily. We dominate the public sector. Our children who are academically much poorer get scholarships while the non-bumis with better results miss out. Almost every state is ruled by a Raja Melayu. Majority top posts are held by Malays (although many may not deserve it).

We have it all but those on the streets still say they are being suppressed.

Bersih 4.0 hosted multiple folds more people, yet there was no racism. Look at those who attended Bersih. Majority were young, vibrant, educated and professional. The ‘Red-shirts’ rally instead hosted uneducated, and rude people who baffled the intelligent among us.

Post-Bersih, there was a sense of pride in those who participated. They travelled on their own accord, slept on the street and expressed their point. Nobody went back shy and disgusted.

The ‘Red-Shirts’ rally was sponsored ─ buses chartered, food provided, pocket money given and many who were there did not even know the reason they were there. Post-rally, we feel ashamed of ourselves ─ disgusted at how a minority of Malays represented the rest of us.

With pain in my heart, I sincerely apologise to all my non-Muslim friends for the behavior of some of our uncivilized people. You are responsible as much as we are for the independence of this country. We shall continue to live together as brothers and sisters. Most of us who are true Muslims will continue to live by the teachings of Islam and be at peace with all of you.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 9:01 am and is filed under
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The Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde of Umno

— Koon Yew Yin

Malay Mail Online

September 23, 2015

SEPTEMBER 23 — Malaysian readers of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous book which has been made into film on several occasions will recognise the split personality of good and bad, if not evil, in the country’s dominant party Umno since its early days.

This split personality has emerged more strongly especially since the Tunku was stabbed in the back and taken down in what amounted to a coup d’etat in 1969 by his own party colleagues led by Tun Razak, the father of the current prime minister.

Since then, although the party has had its share of good leaders such as Tun Hussein Onn and has played a positive role in some areas of nation building, it has been the major obstacle to building a robust and resilient nation based on the rule of law and ensuring equal rights, justice and freedom to all citizens.

This is because it has made Malay dominance or “ketuanan Melayu” its main party platform and ideology, while giving lip service to the constitutional provisions providing for racial, religious and cultural equality.

If you ask Malaysians who typified the best example of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde side of Umno during the past three decades, the name of Dr Mahathir will appear in the minds of many if not most Malaysians. Today we have a new name that is not only challenging Dr Mahathir for this dubious honour — Datuk Seri Najib Razak — but he also seems to be pushing Umno into a direction which can only bring dishonour, disrepute and disaster for the party and its Barisan Nasional partners running the country.

Everyone is aware that the Red Shirts rally was simply an exercise aimed at saving Najib’s position as prime minister and Umno party president. With the net closing in — or is it noose tightening around his neck — as a result of the 1MDB financial scandal and the unexplained RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank account, it is clear that the party and its president needed a major distraction.

Using the Bersih rally as an excuse, Najib has encouraged Umno’s proxies and Umno leaders to play the key role in organising the “counter” demonstration to defend so-called Malay honour and dignity.

It is no surprise then that this rally brought out such a disgusting display of racial demonising and political hooliganism. This was truly the Hyde part of Umno.

Looking at the slogans in the banners, watching the crowd behaviour, listening to the speeches made at the rally in Padang Merbok, many Malaysians will not disagree that this description is especially applicable Umno today.

But Dr Jekyll’s transformed personality Mr Hyde was effectively a sociopath — evil, self-indulgent, and utterly uncaring to anyone but himself.

Wake up Umno’s Dr Jekyll

There is one consolation. The Dr Jekyll part of Umno can be awakened as seen by these snippets of comments from some Umno leaders in response to the Red Shirts rally.

It is still a tiny minority opinion but hopefully these voices of sanity are reflective of the views of the Malay majority. We badly need to hear them and have them overcome the hateful and opportunistic forces that are allowing the Hyde part of the party to run amok.

Rafidah Aziz (former Umno Wanita chief and Minister of International Trade and Industry) in her Facebook Posting:

“I felt sad for my many non-Malay, especially Chinese friends, many from my primary school days, when I saw videos and photos berating the Chinese community.

“We all have friends of ALL races and creed. We feel for them, especially when, just like us, they are trying to make a life for themselves and their families in THEIR COUNTRY… MALAYSIA,”

Rafidah wrote in her Facebook posting today:

“I am personally, a fourth generation Malaysian. My great-grandfather came from Sumatra… and that is how I became a Malaysian.. Its the same story like many of the Malaysians of Chinese, Indian, and other descent, for whom Malaysia is THEIR COUNTRY OF BIRTH…

“So many of us Malaysians, can trace our origins to other countries and places… China, Sumatra, Java, India, Middle East, Europe, Australia, New Zealand… the list goes on…

“As a fourth generation Malaysian, I find it untenable and insulting to be told by anyone, to ‘balik ke negara awak’. MY NEGARA IS MALAYSIA!”

Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, International Trade and Industry Minister and UMNO Supreme Council Member speaking at the Malaysia Economic Update 2015 Dialogue:

“They think when you make such (racially charged) comments, you can be popular… We must go back to our humanity. As long as this is not resolved once and for all, it will be very worrying.

“In politics, there are those who believe that they can get votes by being extremists, and there are those who don’t.”

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, former Minister of Finance and presently Umno Member of Parliament) speaking to reporters on eve of Himpunan Rakyat, September 16, 2015:

“You have got the government that is headed by a Malay, state governments headed by Malays with the exception of one in Penang. The civil service is mostly made up of Malays.

“The army are mostly Malays and we also have Malay rulers. I don’t know where the threats are coming from. Let the gathering bring benefit to the masses and let it pass the message of unity which I think is much more important as we just celebrate 58 years of independence. That would be meaningful.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 8:31 pm and is filed under
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The FBI Has Its Eyes On Malaysia’s Embattled Prime Minister

By Shannon Hayden

VICE News

September 22, 2015

Malaysia’s prime minister is elbows-deep in a mess of trouble, and it looks like it’s only going to get worse. The fallout from $700 million that somehow found its way into Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account continued over the weekend, with the arrest of a prominent critic of Razak’s while he attempted to leave the country, reports of further missing payments, and news that the FBI is now on the case.

The once-domestic issue now involves unusually “generous” unnamed Middle Eastern donors, frozen accounts in Switzerland and Singapore, and nationwide demonstrations calling for Najib’s resignation. Najib’s attempts to delay further investigation have partially succeeded, but his remaining time in office is uncertain.

The 1Malaysia Berhad Development (1MDB) fund, established by Najib in 2009 to expand Malaysia’s economy, has amassed $11 billion in debt and long been the target of investigation. Four separate government probes are ongoing, led by Malaysia’s central bank, a parliamentary committee, the auditor general, and the police. International attention spiked this summer with a July Wall Street Journal report that Malaysian government investigators has traced nearly $700 million from 1MDB to the prime minister’s personal accounts.

This disclosure prompted the involvement of Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). In August, MACC published its findings, concluding that the money in Najib’s account was not from 1MDB, but rather was a “donor contribution” from the Middle East. MACC offered no further details. Najib supporters claimed the 1MDB funds were not for his personal use and would be expended in upcoming elections to support the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party.

Related: Malaysia’s Scandal-Plagued Prime Minister Just Purged His Cabinet

During the investigations, Najib removed Attorney General Gani Patail and reshuffled his cabinet. As a result, four men charged with probing 1MDB were promoted to cabinet positions — and away from such investigative roles. (Simultaneously, hearings in those probes were suspended through October.) Two newspapers critical of Najib were suspended, and access to NGO watchdog Sarawak Report was blocked in Malaysia. On Monday, Malaysia’s High Court overturned the suspensions, stating they were “tainted with illegality.” Najib’s critics have found themselves in trouble before; opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was jailed on sodomy charges earlier this year, effectively barring him from participation in national politics.

“Despite a fairly active civil society, the Malaysian government’s resources are pretty powerful,” said Scott Harold, deputy director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at the RAND Corporation. “When even the most astonishing of allegations appear in public, we’ve seen effective responses from the government to preserve the prime minister’s position in power.”

Recent developments have furthered the narrative of Najib’s crackdown on his critics. On Friday, a former UMNO division chief was arrested in Kuala Lumpur under suspicion of providing 1MDB-related documents to the Swiss Attorney-General’s Chambers. Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who is now barred from leaving Malaysia, confirmed through his lawyer that he had intended to deliver information to several foreign government agencies. Responding to wide criticism, Malaysia’s inspector-general of police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, insisted Khairuddin should have provided his evidence to local investigators instead.

“This is clearly an act intended to challenge Malaysia’s legal system, damage the credibility of local enforcement agencies, and invite foreign interference into the country’s democratic system,” Khalid said.

Over the weekend, additional reports surfaced questioning missing funds that were allegedly transferred between 1MDB and an Abu Dhabi fund, the International Petroleum Investment Co.; officials at 1MDB subsequently offered explanations and audited financial reports. The Swiss Attorney-General’s Chambers is investigating 1MDB executives for corruption and money-laundering, and Singapore too is looking into the fund — the two nations have frozen tens of millions of dollars in accounts related to 1MDB. Officials at 1MDB deny its accounts have been frozen. On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that sources said the FBI was also pursuing a money-laundering investigation against 1MDB.

Tens of thousands rallied earlier this month in Kuala Lumpur, and around the country, to demand Najib’s resignation and changes to the political system. Organized by a group of NGOs called the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections in Malaysia, the peaceful Bersih rallies — bersih means “clean” in Malay — were the fourth of their kind since the group’s inception in 2005, and the first since 2012. In attendance this time was 90-year-old Mahathir Mohamad, the “father of modern Malaysia” and its longest-serving prime minister. During the rally, Mahathir called for Najib’s resignation.

“There’s no more rule of law,” Mahatir said. “The only way for the people to get back to the old system is for them to remove this prime minister. And to remove him, the people must show people’s power. The people as a whole do not want this kind of corrupt leader.”

Described as a “political terminator” who has already driven two prime ministers from office, Mahathir is said to be promoting his son, Mukhriz, as a potential replacement for Najib.

Last week supporters of Najib and the government organized a counter-rally of red-shirts (Bersih protesters wear yellow shirts) to show their support, though the demonstrations’ focus on indigenous Malay rights highlighted tensions between the ethnic Chinese minority population; many opposition members come from the Chinese community. The redirection of political grievances toward indigenous rights will likely contribute to Najib’s staying in power, but, that doesn’t mean the end of his problems.

“The government has not convinced anyone to let the [broader] issues drop,” Harold said. “They have succeeded in preserving the prime minister in power and kept him from being pushed out of office. But Bersih has shown that many Malaysians share the same concerns — making government responsive to the people, making sure elections are not rigged. Bersih has put these issues on the public’s agenda and they are changing the narrative of politics in Malaysia.”

At the opening of a new UMNO regional headquarters this weekend, Najib said his critics should look at their own mistakes instead of finding fault in others, and advised his own UMNO party to remain strong and “stop playing politics among themselves.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 September 2015, 11:32 am and is filed under
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Do Malaysia, South Africa Deserve Junk? Moody’s Model Says Yes

by Lyubov Pronina

Bloomberg

September 24, 2015

Six developing nations including Malaysia and South Africa deserve to follow Brazil into junk status, if credit-default-swaps traders are to be believed.

Two weeks after the Latin American country’s credit rating was lowered, CDS investors are punishing other emerging markets facing similar challenges, sending their implied sovereign ratings at least five levels below their official grades, according to data from Moody’s Corp.

Malaysia is A3 at the company, though traders see it six levels lower at Ba3. South Africa, which is a Baa2, is viewed as a B1 borrower. Three Aa3 nations including China are perceived by the markets as deserving the lowest investment grade.

Most developing nations are confronting the same issues that saw Brazil losing its investment-grade rating at Standard & Poor’s — a plunge in commodity prices, a slumping currency and political turmoil. Sputtering growth in China and the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates are also boosting concern of more downgrades across emerging markets. Having been censured for laxity during previous market meltdowns, the ratings providers won’t want to be caught failing to act this time round, Per Hammarlund of SEB AB said.

“The deterioration in commodity-dependent economies’ credit-risk metrics can lead to more downgrades in emerging markets in the next three to six months, if not earlier,” said Hammarlund, the chief emerging-markets strategist at SEB in Stockholm. “The rating agencies were roundly criticized for being slow to react during the 2008 crisis as well as the 2011 euro-zone crisis. They are going to be much more trigger happy this time.”

Leading Indicator

While investors don’t always agree with official grades, the gaps for these nine countries are some of the biggest among the 65 borrowers tracked by Moody’s implied-ratings model, which is based on CDS prices as of Sept. 21 compared with peers in the same ratings category. While the investors’ ever-changing opinions are not an input into the ratings decisions, the company’s analysts study them to understand why the gaps exist, according to Moody’s.

“Market-implied ratings tend to ‘lead’ Moody’s ratings, given financial markets’ propensity to instantaneously incorporate information,” Irina Baron, an assistant director at Moody’s Capital Markets Research Group, said by e-mail.

Finance-ministry officials in Chile and Malaysia didn’t respond to requests for remarks. A National Treasury spokeswoman in South Africa declined to comment. Middle Eastern and Turkish governments were closed for the Eid holiday.

“Calculating an implicit market rating based on the price of CDS as a proxy to measure the fundamental credit rating of a country is not appropriate,” Peru’s Finance Ministry said in a message to Bloomberg. “Peru’s CDS is highly correlated to its peers in the region such as Chile, Colombia and Mexico,” the ministry said.

Political disputes are a key hindrance to investors’ perception of emerging-market creditworthiness. Protesters in Malaysia are calling for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s resignation over a funding scandal and Turkish politicians are preparing for premature elections after failing to form a coalition government.

Depressed oil prices have hurt producers. Saudi Arabia is heading for the biggest budget deficit in almost three decades, while the shortfall in Bahrain is forecast to double this year from 2014. The risk of a default by Kazakhstan within 12 months is at a historical high, according to Bloomberg’s sovereign-risk model.

Even as investor pessimism pervades these nine nations, Brazil, too, may be at risk of more downgrades as confidence wanes in President Dilma Rousseff’s economic policies. The country, which still has investment grades at Moody’s and Fitch Ratings, saw its implied ratings trade six steps below the official level.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 September 2015, 11:21 am and is filed under
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Pakatan Harapan’s Challenge – Turn  the crisis-ridden Malaysia into an opportunity to initiate fundamental political and socio-economic changes to transform Malaysia into a vibrant, progressive and forward-looking nation instead of heading in the direction of a failed state

Something has gone very wrong with Malaysia.

How did a country which was hailed as a model of Asian development and set  to be one of the “Tiger” economies in the early nineties had so  lost its way that it is today battling with a surfeit of negative developments and running the serious risk of becoming the “sick man of ASEAN” en route to become a failed state?

Three events illustrate that this Malaysian disease is reaching a terminal stage.

Firstly, there was yesterday’s charge of artist Bilqis Hijjas for dropping yellow balloons with the words  “Justice”, “Democracy” and  “Free Media”  onto an event attended by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife.

This  is a  reflection of a government which is  petty-minded and insular instead of being visionary and inclusive.

Why can’t Najib be charitable and big-hearted enough  to laugh off the incident and forgive Bilqis, instead of being vengeful and vindictive, demanding his  pound of flesh for Bilqis’ creative and patriotic infraction?

Better still, if Najib could have met up with Bilqis and assure her that he is as concerned as her and others with the goals of justice, democracy and free media!

Bilqis is being charged under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955, which carries a maximum fine of RM100 for those convicted, and she is released on RM500 bail – five time the maximum fine for the offence!

Is Najib and his legion of highly-paid publicists aware that in harassing, persecuting and prosecuting Bilqis for an offence whose maximum fine is RM100, the Prime Minister will be attracting adverse publicity at home and abroad equivalent to millions or even tens of millions of ringgit?

This is a classic case of  “Cutting off the nose to spite the face”!

Secondly, there was the re-arrest yesterday of former UMNO Batu Kawan divisional deputy leader, Khairuddin Abu Hassan under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma)  moments after he was released by the court in Jalan Duta Court Complex in Kuala Lumpur.

Khairuddin was re-arrested under Section 124K and 124L of the Penal Code which deal with sabotage and attempting to sabotage the state respectively.

Under Sosma, Khairuddin can be detained without trial for up to 29 days – a new-fangled detention-without-trial Internal Security Act (ISA) in action.

The  Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has said Khairuddin’s police reports on 1MDB scandal overseas could be seen as an attempt to sabotage Malaysia’s economic stability and sovereignty.

Khairuddin’s lawyer, Matthias Chang believed this was why the former Batu Kawan Umno deputy chief was released after being held under Section 124C of the Penal Code and re-arrested under different sections, as the sabotage charge couldn’t stick under Section 124C which  is related to acts detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

Chang is not too far wrong when he said that using Sosma against Khairuddin was a  clear intimidation and abuse of police powers by the government as well as a reflection of Najib’s increasingly repressive regime.

Khairrudin’s re-arrest will attract global attraction for it will be reminder to the over 1,000 delegates from over 120 countries who were in Putrajaya for the three-day 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) from 2nd – 4th September  where the Malaysian Prime Minister became the case study in a country where the 16th IACC  theme “Ending Impunity: People, Integrity, Action” is conspicuous by its absence.

In fact, the twin mega financial scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal bank accounts were developing almost every day that the Prime Minister had to  back out in the last minute from officiating the opening of the 16th IACC so as not to face “hard questions” on these two scandals.

Khairuddin, who had earlier submitted evidence and lodged reports with the Swiss, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore authorities in connection with the 1MDB scandal, was not allowed to leave  the country when he wanted to fly off to the United States to meet with Federal Bureau of Investigations.

Is the arrest of Khairuddin for lodging reports with foreign countries connected with 1MDB relating to offences of corruption and money-laundering compatible with Malaysia’s commitment to international anti-corruption efforts and conventions?

If Khairuddin could be arrested for wanting to report to foreign governments about transborder corruption and money laundering, which shows that Malaysia is against any international anti-corruption efforts, why did Malaysia host the 16th IACC in the first place?

New York Times has reported that a US federal grand jury is  probing corruption and money laundering allegations surrounding Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and those close to him, including his stepson Riza Aziz, under the US Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

Malaysians are still waiting for the Police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Wisma Putra, the Prime Minister’s Office or the Prime Minister himself to  give a clear and satisfactory statement as to whether Malaysia has got a kleptocrat as a Prime Minister.

Thirdly, the great secrecy of the embattled Prime Minister’s trip to London and New York, whether he left before or after yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, why his departure was shrouded in such secrecy and mystery totally incompatible with a head of government leaving for an overseas mission?

Is this because of  the warning by the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad that the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib could be arrested by Interpol in foreign countries investigating Najib for alleged corruption and money laundering?

Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that Malaysia is in the throes of an unprecedented multitude of national crisis,  whether political, economic, nation-building or the question of good governance.

The great challenge for Pakatan Harapan established two days ago by DAP, PKR and Parti Amanah is to turn the crisis-ridden Malaysia into an opportunity to initiate fundamental political and socio-economic changes to transform Malaysia into a vibrant, progressive and forward-looking nation instead of heading in the direction of a failed state.

This is the magnitude of the task and challenge confronting Pakatan Harapan.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 September 2015, 8:43 am and is filed under
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What happened in the Cabinet yesterday?

What happened in the Cabinet yesterday?

Firstly, was yesterday’s Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak or had the Prime Minister already secretly left abroad for his overseas trip as suggested by some media?

Secondly, did the Cabinet discuss the highly-charged racist and incendiary Sept. 16 Red Shirts Perhimpunan Maruah Melayu rally in Kuala Lumpur, now admitted by the MARA Chairman, Tan Sri Annuar Musa as the handiwork of UMNO, whose divisions throughout the country bused the some 45,000 people who were at the rally, and paid them with pocket monies and gave them the Red T-shirts?

Did any Minister raise at the Cabinet meeting the subject that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet should make a fulsome apology for their failure of leadership and responsibility in allowing the racially-charged and provocative Red Shirts Malay rally to be held which desecrated Malaysia Day on 16th September and undermined racial harmony, social peace and national unity?

Did any Minister suggest that the Cabinet should take pro-active steps to initiate a series of remedial measures akin to the formation of the National Goodwill Committee after the May 13 riots in 1969 (this time under the leadership of former Minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz) to repair the damage done to racial harmony,  social peace and national unity?

Did any Minister referred to the Suhakam finding and the statement by the Suhakam Chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam who said the commission was “perturbed” by the “irresponsible and confrontational actions of several participants for inciting lawless and disorderly behaviour by flaunting racially-charged placards and for uttering slogans that promoted racial or religious hatred in our multi-religious and secular society”, and stressed that “such behaviour cannot be condoned and must be appropriately dealt with”?

Or did everybody in the  Cabinet avoided the elephant in the room and pretended that the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Perhimpunan Maruah Melayu with all the racial slurs, insults, threats  with the Chinese being called “babi” (pigs) and told to “balik China” (Go back to China”) and even intimidation of a “bloodbath” whether before or during rally never happened?

Did any Minister pluck up the courage to say that if the Cabinet would not  apologise for its shameful abdication of responsibility in giving “green light” for  the divisive and racist September 16 Red Shirts rally, he or she will answer not only the call of conscience but duty to the nation to  step forward to publicly tender his or her   individual apology?

Finally, did the Cabinet touch on two items which occurred  after the previous Cabinet meeting on 9th Sept (as Sept. 16 was public holiday being Malaysia Day):

*Firstly,  the Al Jazeera current affairs programme 101 East Asia journalist “Murder in Malaysia” on new evidence on the brutal murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, especially the lack of motive for Altantuya’s murder although two former special police commandos Azila Hadri and Sirul Azhir Umar had been convicted for the physical act of the murder, raising anew the question whether and who was the mastermind of the Mongolian’s murder; and

*Secondly, the New York Times report that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption and money laundering  involving Najib and people close to him under the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which is a great slur on Malaysia’s good name and international repute as it raised the question whether the Malaysian Prime Minister is a kleptocrat, and the actions which the Malaysian Cabinet and Government are taking to restore Malaysia’s good name both nationally and internationally.

Can Malaysians get answers to the above questions or do we have, to borrow Tun Mahathir’s description,  a  “worse than  half-past six” Ministers  in the Cabinet?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 September 2015, 2:18 pm and is filed under
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Cops on alert for possible Isis attack in Kuala Lumpur

The Malaysian Insider

24 September 2015 10:11 PM

Kuala Lumpur is now the target of a possible attack from terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 24, 2015.

Police are on alert and have increased patrols in Jalan Alor and surrounding areas in capital city Kuala Lumpur following credible information on a potential terrorist attack following the arrests of several militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) in the past month.

“Yes, we are on alert. More policemen have been sent to the ground,” a Kuala Lumpur police source told The Malaysian Insider.

“It is believed to be retaliation for the crackdown against the militants.”

The US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur had also advised its citizens to avoid Jalan Alor and surrounding areas today.

Last month, Malaysian police arrested 10 suspected Isis members in multiple raids across the country.

Those arrested included six security forces personnel, a former interior designer and a kindergarten teacher, it was reported.

The suspects – eight men and two women – were detained by the special counter-terrorism division in six separate areas, including Kuala Lumpur.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said then that the suspected militants were believed to be plotting an attack on Malaysian soil, and were collecting funds to assist Malaysian Isis members wanting to travel to Syria.

The Diplomat, a current-affairs magazine, reported two days ago that Indonesia’s counter-terrorism chief has warned that the Isis is collaborating with smugglers to bring foreign fighters to Indonesia from Malaysia.

Saud Usman Nasution, head of Indonesia’s counter-terrorism agency, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the Isis fighters arrived from Malaysia in Sumatra, after which they are taken to Poso in central Sulawesi, believed to be a training ground for Isis fighters.

“We see that some foreign terrorist fighters from overseas come to Indonesia. First they leave Malaysia and head for Pekanbaru (Sumatra) to Puncak (west Java) — it’s all facilitated by asylum seeker networks, then from Puncak they would leave to Makassar and Poso, with facilitation from Isis network,” he said.

“So we need to stay vigilant, more so because there is information that in Malaysia, there are thousands, a lot of foreign terrorist fighters there who are about to be deployed – we don’t know where to – under the network,” he added. – September 24, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 September 2015, 6:34 am and is filed under
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From candidate as Tiger Economy to candidate for junk bonds – how far Malaysia has fallen under Najib!

From candidate as a Tiger Economy in the early nineties to a candidate for junk bonds – this is  an indication of how far Malaysia has fallen under the premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In  two decades, Malaysia has transformed from a “darling” to a “villain”  of the international media in our “transformation” from a model nation into a rogue state.

What has happened?

We seem to have the most useless and incompetent Cabinet in the nation’s history, unable to deal with the grave issues of the state at its meeting yesterday, especially the Sept. 16 Red Shirts Rally organized by UMNO which in fell swoop desecrated the concept and vision of Malaysia on the 52nd Malaysia Day anniversary and Najib’s own signature policy of 1Malaysia on the importance of racial peace, social harmony and national unity.

Nor was the Cabinet brave enough (with Najib absent, as the Prime Minister had left secretly for his UN, US and UK trip) to deal with two current issues which occurred after the last Cabinet  meeting on 9th Sept, viz: (i)  the Al Jazeera 101 East current affairs programme on “Murder in Malaysia” on new evidence on the brutal murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu; and (ii)  the New York Times report that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption and money laundering involving Najib and people close to him under the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

This morning, Malaysian ringgit fell to the lowest point of 4.4045 to the greenback  since a dollar peg was imposed in 1998, and what is worse, without strengthening exports or improved the trade balance.

Market analysts have warned that although the current currency crisis may not be a repeat of history and 1997, it “sure rhymes and is probably far from being over”, with CNBC reporting forecast that the greenback will be trading at 4.50 to the dollar by the end of the year.

With the insistence of the Prime Minister, his Ministers and economic advisers that Malaysia’s economic fundamentals are sound, the unchecked drop in  the value of the Malaysian ringgit can only be attributed to the crisis of confidence in the Prime Minister and government, and as rightly pointed out by the Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, an important factor is the “lack of clarity” over the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal.

Zeti did not mention the scandal of the  RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts in March 2013 – but this is undoubtedly the second major factor for the crisis of confidence in Najib’s premiership.

The Prime Minister and the Cabinet cannot take lightly Moody Corp’s comparison of official ratings of countries against grades implied by its credit-default swaps, which showed Malaysia among the six countries in the “junk grade” rating.

The “junk grade” is where the disparity between the official ratings and what credit activity implies is the largest, and shows Malaysia fifth lowest after Kazakhstan, Turkey, Bahrain and South Africa.

Najib’s current overseas trips to the United Nations, United States and United Kingdom are pointless unless they could contribute to the restoration of confidence in the government of Malaysia.

Najib should listen to his brother’s advice, as the CIMB group chairperson Nazir Razak has said that the government has to provide answers to the controversies plaguing it to restore international market confidence and in particular, the Prime minister should “change the current narrative about Malaysia with answers or legal suits”.

For a start, is the Prime Minister prepared to announce from United Nations his decision to sue the three  international media which had published adverse reports about him,  Wall Street Journal for its July 2 report on the RM2.6 billion “donation” in his personal banking accounts; Al Jazeera for its 102 East current affairs programme “Murder in Malaysia”  on Sept. 11, 2015 and the New York Times for its “Malaysia’s Leader, Najib Razak, Faces US Corruption Inquiry” report of Sept. 21, 2015 to substantiate his allegation that he is victim of an international media conspiracy to defame him.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 September 2015, 12:18 pm and is filed under
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