The Johore state general election is about whether Malaysia can do a national  turnaround to stop the decline of last half-a-century and start the arduous task to become a world-class great nation by Malaysia’s Centennial in 2063

(Versi BM)

I was born, bred and schooled in Batu Pahat, Johore although in my political demonization, I was accused of being China-born and swam to Malaysia when I was 18 years old.

After secondary schooling in Batu Pahat, I worked in Singapore as a journalist for nearly five years.

I was never involved in any form of politics in Singapore although I was elected Secretary-General of the Singapore National Union of Journalists.

But throughout my stay and work in Singapore, I never felt at home in Singapore as I wanted to be back in Malaya.

I believe these are the same feelings of the 200,000 Johore voters in Singapore, who are in Singapore working for better pay but have not been fully Singaporeanised and feel that they are more Malaysians and Singaporeans.

We admire Singapore for its successes as a world-class great nation but it has its flaws.

We also believe that Malaysia can become a world-class great nation but in different ways although Singapore’s success is a tribute to the talents of Malaysia for Singapore is what it is today also because of the contributions of Malaysians.

Malaysians want to be proud as Malaysians just as Singaporeans are proud to be Singaporeans.

At the present, many things prevent Malaysians from being proud as Malaysians.

Lets take a look at what is currently happening in New York and Johor Baru.

In New York, the trial over the multi-billion-dollar looting of a Malaysian government fund, the 1MDB fund, has started and is expected to last for six weeks.

Roger Ng, Goldman Sach’s former head of investment banking in Malaysia, is charged with conspiring to launder money and violating anti-bribery law in his dealings with Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.

The trial is renewing scrutiny of Goldman’s role in the international scandal that led to a 12-year jail sentence for Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak.

“The defendant saw an opportunity to make millions of dollars by cheating, and he took it,” Brent Wible, a lawyer with the US Department of Justice, said in an opening statement.

Ng has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer has said he is a “fall guy” for one of the biggest financial scandals in Wall Street history.

The scandal stems from some US$6.5 billion in bonds that Goldman helped 1MDB, launched by Najib to spur economic growth, sell from 2009 to 2014.

US prosecutors say Goldman earned US$600 million in fees from the deals, but that about US$4.5 billion of the funds raised was embezzled.

The bank in 2020 paid a US$2.3 billion fine, returned US$600 million in ill-gotten gains, and agreed for its Malaysian subsidiary to plead guilty in US court as part of a deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).

Wible said Ng helped two co-conspirators – his former boss, Timothy Leissner, and a Malaysian intermediary, Jho Low – launder funds embezzled from 1MDB and used some of the stolen money to bribe officials in the south-east Asian country to win business for Goldman.

Ng received US$35 million in kickbacks from Leissner, Wible said.

Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo countered that Ng had no role in the scheme perpetrated by Low and Leissner and that he even warned Goldman management not to trust Low.

What is important to Malaysians is that the 1MDB scandal, which the then United States Attorney-General Jeff Sessions had termed as “kleptocracy at its worst”, was not a figment of the imagination and truly existed, as its colossal debts would have to be borne by future generations of Malaysians.

But in Johore Baru, one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal had no compunction whatsoever for the 1MDB scandal, and was in fact preparing his campaign which he hoped would culminate in the 15th General Election and his return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

What is presently happening in New York and Johor Baru underlined one important question about the the Johor state general election – whether Malaysia can do a national turnaround to stop the decline of the last half-a-century and start the arduous task to become a world-class great nation by Malaysia’s Centennial in 2063.

The 200,000 Johore voters in Singapore can make a difference in answering this question – whether Malaysia is condemned to be a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state by 2063 or whether we have the wherewithal as a Malaysian people to buck up, undergo institutional reforms to revert to the nation-building principles of the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukun Negara and return to the era of the early founders of the Malaysian nation like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak and Hussein Onn for Malaysia to fulfil Tunku’s aspiration to be “a haven of peace, harmony and happiness” and “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”.

While I will continue in Part 2 of my Open Letter tomorrow, I ask for two things:

Firstly, that in view of the Omicron wave in the two-year Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia and Singapore, the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore should register as postal voters on the Election Commission website by Friday Feb. 18, 2022;

Secondly, that the Election Commission should extend its registration of postal voters by a week from Feb. 18 to 25, which should pose no problem in the Internet Age.

(Part One of an Open Letter to the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 16th February 2022)

Pilihan raya umum negeri Johor akan menentukan sama ada Malaysia boleh melakukan pemulihan nasional untuk menghentikan kemerosotan sejak setengah abad yang lepas dan menandakan permulaan tugas berat untuk menjadi Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia menjelang ulang tahun ke 100 negara pada tahun 2063

Saya dilahirkan, dibesarkan dan bersekolah di Batu Pahat, Johor walaupun sepanjang kerjaya politik saya, saya dituduh lahir di China dan berenang ke Malaysia ketika saya berusia 18 tahun.

Selepas bersekolah menengah di Batu Pahat, saya bekerja di Singapura sebagai wartawan selama hampir lima tahun.

Saya tidak pernah terlibat dalam sebarang bentuk politik di Singapura walaupun saya telah dipilih sebagai Setiausaha Agung Kesatuan Wartawan Kebangsaan Singapura.

Tetapi selama saya tinggal dan bekerja di Singapura, saya tidak pernah berasa selesa di Singapura kerana saya mahu kembali ke Malaya.

Saya percaya inilah perasaan yang sama 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura, yang berada di Singapura bekerja untuk gaji yang lebih baik tetapi masih berjiwa rakyat Malaysia, bukannya Singapura.

Kami mengagumi Singapura atas kejayaannya sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia tetapi negara tersebut juga mempunyai kelemahannya.

Kami juga percaya bahawa Malaysia boleh menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia tetapi dengan cara yang berbeza, walaupun kejayaan Singapura sedikit sebanyak juga dibanggai kita kerana sumbangan bakat rakyat Malaysia kepada kejayaan ini.

Rakyat Malaysia mahu berbangga sebagai rakyat Malaysia sebagaimana rakyat Singapura berbangga menjadi rakyat Singapura.

Pada masa kini, banyak perkara yang menghalang rakyat Malaysia untuk berbangga sebagai rakyat Malaysia.

Mari kita lihat apa yang sedang berlaku di New York dan Johor Baru.

Di New York, perbicaraan rompakan berbilion dolar dana kerajaan Malaysia, Dana 1MDB, telah bermula dan dijangka berlangsung selama enam minggu.

Roger Ng, bekas ketua perbankan pelaburan Goldman Sach di Malaysia, didakwa bersubahat untuk mengubah wang haram dan melanggar undang-undang antirasuah dalam menguruskan dana 1MDB Malaysia.

Perbicaraan itu mendedahkan peranan Goldman dalam skandal antarabangsa yang membawa kepada hukuman penjara 12 tahun ke atas bekas perdana menteri Malaysia Najib Razak.

“Defendan melihat peluang untuk membuat berjuta-juta dolar dengan menipu, dan dia mengambilnya,” Brent Wible, seorang peguam dengan Jabatan Kehakiman AS, berkata dalam satu kenyataan pembukaan.

Ng telah mengaku tidak bersalah dan peguamnya berkata beliau adalah “kambing hitam” untuk salah satu skandal kewangan terbesar dalam sejarah Wall Street.

Skandal itu berpunca daripada bon yang bernilai kira-kira AS$6.5 bilion yang diuruskan Goldman untuk 1MDB, yang dilancarkan oleh Najib untuk merangsang pertumbuhan ekonomi, dijual dari tahun 2009 hingga 2014.

Pendakwa raya AS berkata Goldman memperoleh bayaran sebanyak AS$600 juta daripada perjanjian itu, tetapi kira-kira AS$4.5 bilion dana yang diperoleh telah diseleweng.

Bank itu pada tahun 2020 membayar denda sebanyak AS$2.3 bilion, mengembalikan AS$600 juta keuntungan yang diperoleh secara haram, dan bersetuju agar anak syarikat Malaysianya mengaku bersalah di mahkamah AS sebagai sebahagian daripada perjanjian, yang dikenali sebagai perjanjian pendakwaan tertunda (DPA).

Wible berkata Ng membantu dua konspirator bersama – bekas bosnya, Timothy Leissner, dan seorang perantara Malaysia, Jho Low – untuk menyeleweng dana yang dicuri daripada 1MDB dan menggunakan sebahagian wang yang dicuri untuk merasuah pegawai di negara Asia Tenggara itu untuk memenangi perniagaan untuk Goldman.

Ng menerima sogokan AS$35 juta daripada Leissner, kata Wible.

Peguam bela Marc Agnifilo membalas bahawa Ng tidak mempunyai peranan dalam skim yang dilakukan oleh Low dan Leissner dan bahawa dia juga memberi amaran kepada pengurusan Goldman supaya tidak mempercayai Low.

Apa yang penting bagi rakyat Malaysia ialah skandal 1MDB, yang pada masa itu digelar oleh Peguam Negara Amerika Syarikat Jeff Sessions sebagai “kleptokrasi yang paling teruk”, bukanlah satu khayalan, sebaliknya benar-benar wujud, kerana hutangnya yang sangat besar perlu dibayar dan ditanggung oleh generasi masa hadapan rakyat Malaysia.

Tetapi di Johor Baru, salah seorang daripada dua protagonis skandal 1MDB tidak mempunyai sebarang rasa prihatin terhadap skandal 1MDB, dan sebenarnya sedang mempersiapkan kempennya untuk kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 atau ke-11.

Apa yang sedang berlaku di New York dan Johor Baru pada masa ini menggariskan satu persoalan penting mengenai pilihan raya umum negeri Johor – sama ada Malaysia boleh melakukan pemulihan nasional untuk menghentikan kemerosotan sejak setengah abad yang lepas dan menandakan permulaan tugas berat untuk menjadi Malaysia sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia menjelang ulang tahun ke 100 negara pada tahun 2063.

200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura boleh membuat perubahan dalam menjawab soalan ini – sama ada Malaysia terhumban menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi dan negara gagal menjelang 2063 atau sama ada kita mempunyai kemampuan sebagai rakyat Malaysia untuk bangkit, menjalankan reformasi institusi untuk kembali kepada prinsip pembinaan negara seperti dalam Perlembagaan Malaysia dan Rukun Negara dan kembali ke era pengasas awal negara Malaysia seperti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak dan Hussein Onn agar Malaysia memenuhi aspirasi Tunku untuk menjadi “syurga keamanan, keharmonian dan kebahagiaan” dan “suar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu”.

Walaupun saya akan meneruskan Bahagian 2 Surat Terbuka saya esok, saya meminta dua perkara:

Memandangkan kita sedang berhadapan dengan gelombang penularan varian Omicron di Malaysia dan di Singapura, 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura patut mendaftar sebagai pengundi pos di laman web Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya sebelum hari Jumaat, 18 Disember 2022;

Kedua, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya perlu melanjutkan tempoh pendaftaran pengundi pos selama seminggu dari 18 hingga 25 Februari, perkara yang sepatutnya tidak menimbulkan masalah dalam Era Internet.

(Bahagian Pertama Surat Terbuka kepada 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura dari Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Rabu, 16 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 February 2022, 2:38 pm and is filed under
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200,000 Johor voters in Singapore must vote to ensure that the people of Johor, representing the people of Malaysia, do not become suckers twice

(Versi BM)

In Part One of my Open Letter to the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore yesterday, I asked the 200,000 voters to register as postal voters as tomorrow, Feb. 18, is the last day of the registration exercise by the Election Commission.

I have also asked the Election Commission to extend its registration of postal voters by a week from Feb. 18 to Feb. 25, which should pose no problem in the Internet Age, but as to whether the Election Commission would agree is not known now.

I hope there would be good news from the Election Commission today or tomorrow that the registration of postal voters would be extended to next Friday.

To be on the safe side, the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore should visit the Malaysian Election Commission website and register as a postal voter by tomorrow especially as this is the time of the Omicron wave of the more than two-year Covid-19 pandemic, with both countries posting record new Covid-19 cases yesterday – 27,831 cases in Malaysia and 16.883 cases in Singapore.

Yesterday, a MCA Johor official said that MCA aimed to win six seats in Johor as the voters are no longer angry with Najib Razak and the 1MDB scandal.

The 200,000 Johor voters, as well as the right-thinking ones in the state, cannot be proud of Najib and the 1MDB scandal, which was described as “kleptocracy at its worst” by the then US Attorney-General, Jeff Sessions, as the present and future generations of Malaysians have the pay for the billions of 1MDB debts guaranteed by the Malaysian government.

The criminal trial of Roger Ng which started in New York this week provides an insight of the criminal betrayal of trust and the corruption in the billions of 1MDB loans which were looted under Najib’s premiership – how one of the two protagonists in the 1MDB scandal, Jho Low splashed millions of 1MDB cash paying Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashan, Megan Fox to party with him, with invoices produced at the trial to show US$250,000 , was spent on “celebrity fees” to secure Leonardo DiCaprio and a US$3.6 million Las Vegas party of which US$100,000 was spent on 65 bottles of Cristal champage, all of which have finally to be paid by the Malaysian taxpayers.

Roger Ng’s own lawyers have admitted the 1MDB scandal is “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world”, but it is the Malaysian taxpayers and present and future generations who will have to pay for this “single largest heist in the history of the world”.

More than US $4 billion Malaysian government funds were stolen.

One can compliment the two 1MDB protagonists for their criminal wizardry for accomplishing the “single largest heist in the history of the world” but at whose expense was it if not at the Malaysian taxpayers’ expense?

Right-thinking Malaysians cannot be proud of such criminal breach of trust and colossal corruption and that is why the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore must make their condemnation loud and clear.

Singapore is the only Asian country ranked in the top 10 nations in the world for least corruption since the beginning of the Transparency International (TI) annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) series in 1995.

I do not aspire for Malaysia to be among the top 10 countries in the world with least corruption, but I hope to see Malaysia to be at least among the top 30 nations in the world in the TI CPI series.

Are we in Malaysia incapable of achieving this objective?

In fact, the objective for Malaysia to be one of the top 30 countries in the world with the least corruption had been the official objective of the National Integrity Plan launched by the fifth Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi in 2004 to improve Malaysia’s ranking in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 37th place in 2003 to at least 30th position in 2008 and to achieve the score of 5.2 out of 10 for Malaysia in 2003 to at least 6.5 by 2008.

But in the TI CPI 2021 Malaysia has fallen to 62nd position in rank and 48 out of 100 points in score!

And from the look of things, the TI CPI 2022 for Malaysia will be worse!

This is why the 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore must register as postal voters by tomorrow and cast their vote in the Johor state general election on March 12 as we must do our utmost to reverse the national decline of the last half-a-century and save Malaysia from the fate of a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state.

The 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore must vote to ensure that the people of Johor, representing the people of Malaysia, do not become suckers twice – first, for the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal and second, glorifying the other protagonist of the 1MDB scandal as “BOSSku” to extent of welcoming him back as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia in the 15th General Election.

(Part 2 of Open Letter to 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 17th February 2022)

200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura perlu mengundi untuk memastikan rakyat Johor, yang mewakili rakyat Malaysia, tidak tertipu dua kali, pertamanya dengan skandal 1MDB, dan kedua dengan mengangkat dalang skandal 1MDB sebagai “Bossku” menjadi Perdana Menteri ke-10 atau ke-11

Dalam Bahagian Pertama Surat Terbuka saya kepada 200,000 orang pengundi Johor di Singapura semalam, saya meminta mereka untuk mendaftar sebagai pengundi pos memandangkan esok, 18 Februari, adalah hari terakhir untuk pendaftaran undian pos ini.

Saya juga telah meminta Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya untuk memanjangkan tempoh pendaftaran undian pos ini untuk seminggu lagi, daripada tarikh tutup pada 18 Februari kepada 25 Februari, tetapi sama ada SPR akan bersetuju atau tidak, masih tidak diketahui lagi.

Saya harap, akan ada berita baik daripada Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya hari ini atau esok mengenai pelanjutan tempoh pendaftaran pengundi pos ke hari Jumaat depan.

Tetapi, untuk selamat, 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura perlu melawat laman web SPR dan mendaftar untuk menjadi pengundi pos menjelang hari esok, terutamanya memandangkan negara kita sedang dilanda gelombang penularan Omikron, dengan kedua-dua Malaysia dan Singapura mencatatkan rekod baharu kes harian semalam – 27,831 kes di Malaysia dan 16,883 kes di Singapura.

Semalam, seorang pegawai MCA Johor mengatakan yang MCA menyasarkan untuk memenangi enam kerusi di Johor kerana pengundi tidak lagi marah dengan Najib Razak dan skandal 1MDB.

200,000 pengundi Johor, dan juga pengundi-pengundi yang berfikiran waras dari dalam negeri, tidak mungkin akan berbangga dengan Najib dan skandal 1MDB – yang sebelum ini digelar sebagai “kleptokrasi yang terburuk” oleh Peguam Negara AS, Jeff Sessions – kerana rakyat Malaysia yang ada sekarang dan juga generasi akan datang akan terpaksa menanggung berbillion ringgit hutang 1MDB yang dijamin oleh Kerajaan Malaysia.

Perbicaraan jenayah Roger Ng, yang bermula di New York minggu ini, memberikan pendedahan kepada pengkhianatan amanah dan juga rasuah dengan berbillion ringgit pinjaman 1MDB yang dirompak di bawah pemerintahan Najib – bagaimana salah seorang protagonis skandal 1MDB menabur jutaan wang 1MDB untuk membayar Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, dan Megan Fox untuk berparti bersamanya, dengan invois yang ditunjukkan semasa perbicaraan itu menunjukkan AS$250,000 dibelanjakan untuk “bayaran selebriti” untuk memastikan kehadiran Leonardo DiCaprio, dan kos parti Las Vegas sebanyak AS$3.6 juta, di mana AS$100,000 dibelanjakan untuk 65 botol Champagne Cristal, semuanya dibayar oleh rakyat Malaysia.

Peguam Roger Ng sendiri telah mengakui yang skandal 1MDB ini “mungkin merupakan satu-satunya rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia”, dan pembayar cukai di Malaysia dan generasi masa kini dan yang akan datang yang perlu membayar untuk “rompakan tunggal terbesar dalam sejarah dunia” ini.

Lebih daripada AS$4 bilion dana kerajaan Malaysia telah dicuri.

Mungkin ada yang boleh memuji kedua-dua protagonis 1MDB ini atas “kehebatan bakat jenayah” mereka dalam melaksanakan “rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia” tetapi kita tidak boleh lupa yang kitalah yang akan menanggung kos rompakan ini.

Mana-mana rakyat Malaysia yang berfikiran waras tidak boleh berbangga dengan pengkhianatan amanah dan korupsi sebesar ini dan kerana inilah 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura perlu membuatkan undi mereka didengari dengan jelas.

Singapura adalah satu-satunya negara Asia yang berada dalam kedudukan 10 teratas sejak daripada permulaan penerbitan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) pada tahun 1995.

Saya tidak mengharapkan Malaysia menjadi salah satu daripada 10 negara teratas, tetapi saya berharap untuk melihat Malaysia sekurang-kurangnya berada dalam kalangan 30 negara teratas di dunia.

Adakah kita di Malaysia ini tidak mampu untuk mencapai sasaran ini?

Sedangkan sasaran untuk Malaysia menjadi salah satu daripada 30 negara teratas dalam TI CPI ini adalah sasaran rasmi Plan Integriti Nasional yang dilancarkan oleh Perdana Menteri kelima, Abdullah Badawi, pada tahun 2004 untuk meningkatkan kedudukan Malaysia dalam TI-CPI dari tempat ke-37 pada tahun 2003 ke sekurang-kurangnya tempat ke-30 dan mencapai 6.5 markah menjelang 2008.

Tetapi, Malaysia telah jatuh ke tempat ke-62 dengan 48 per 100 mata pada tahun 2021!

Dan melihat kepada keadaan dalam negara, TI-CPI 2022 mungkin akan mencatatkan kedudukan yang lebih buruk!

Kerana inilah 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura perlu mengundi sebagai pengundi pos menjelang esok dan mengundi dalam Pilihan Raya Negeri Johor pada 12 Mac, kerana kita perlu lakukan segalanya yang boleh untuk mengundurkan kemunduran nasional yang berlarutan dalam setengah abad yang lebih dan selamatkan Malaysia daripada nasib menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi, dan sebuah negara yang gagal.

200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura perlu mengundi untuk memastikan rakyat Johor, yang mewakili rakyat Malaysia, tidak tertipu dua kali, pertamanya dengan skandal 1MDB, dan kedua dengan mengangkat dalang skandal 1MDB sebagai “Bossku” menjadi Perdana Menteri ke-10 atau ke-11 dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.

(Bahagian Kedua Surat Terbuka kepada 200,000 pengundi Johor di Singapura dari Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Khamis, 17 Februari 2022:)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 February 2022, 7:17 am and is filed under
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The  136 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia in the past week confirmed survey that over half of Malaysians viewed Putrajaya’s handling of Covid-19 pandemic as dismal

(Versi BM)

The 136 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia in the past week has confirmed a survey that over half of Malaysians viewed Putrajaya’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic as dismal.

When emergency was declared more than a year ago to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 2,232 new daily cases and 4 daily Covid-19 deaths

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded 27,831 new Covid-19 cases and 21 Covid-19 deaths – a loud testimony of the failure of the emergency to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are three countries which have registered record daily new Covid-19 cases, but have to reach a new Omicron peak.

Will the daily peaks of the Omicron cases in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore be like India, which was lower than the Delta peak, or like the Philippines which is about one-and-a-half times the Delta peak, or like the United States, UK and Germany where the Omicron daily peak is three times the Delta peak or worse of all, like South Korea where the Omicron peak is more than 11 times the Delta peak or Hong Kong where Omicron peak is about 30 times that of the Delta peak?

This is yet to be known, but the 136 Covid-19 deaths in Malaysia in the past week must be reduced as a matter of urgency and priority by the Ministry of Health.

The Health Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin should take serious note and respond to the the survey by the Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute that Putrajaya’s handling of the Covid-19 crisis was rated negatively by Malaysians respondents with 51.8 per cent labelling the government’s response as “poor” or “very poor”.

The perception over the government’s response also deteriorated sharply, with 24.4 per cent of respondents rating it “very poor” for the 2022 as compared to 0.9 per cent in the 2021 report.

In comparison, just 10.4 per cent of respondents rated the response as “well” and 22.2 per cent said it was “adequate” in 2022.

This was also a decline compared to the result in 2021 when there had been 14.5 per cent for “well” and 40.2 per cent for “adequate”.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 17th February 2022)

136 kematian Covid-19 di Malaysia pada minggu lalu mengesahkan dapatan tinjauan bahawa lebih separuh daripada rakyat Malaysia melihat pengendalian pandemik Covid-19 oleh Putrajaya sebagai tidak memuaskan

136 kematian Covid-19 di Malaysia pada minggu lalu mengesahkan dapatan tinjauan bahawa lebih separuh daripada rakyat Malaysia melihat pengendalian pandemik Covid-19 oleh Putrajaya sebagai tidak memuaskan.

Apabila darurat diisytiharkan lebih setahun yang lalu untuk memerangi pandemik Covid-19, terdapat 2,232 kes harian baharu dan 4 kematian akibat Covid-19.

Semalam, Malaysia merekodkan 27,831 kes baharu Covid-19 dan 21 kematian akibat Covid-19 – satu bukti jelas kegagalan darurat untuk memerangi pandemik Covid-19.

Malaysia, Indonesia dan Singapura adalah tiga negara yang mencatatkan rekod kes baharu Covid-19 setiap hari, tetapi belum mencapai puncak Omicron baharu.

Adakah puncak kes harian Omicron di Malaysia, Indonesia dan Singapura akan menjadi seperti di India, yang lebih rendah daripada puncak Delta, atau seperti di Filipina yang kira-kira satu setengah kali puncak Delta, atau seperti di Amerika Syarikat , UK dan Jerman di mana puncak harian Omicron adalah tiga kali ganda puncak Delta atau lebih teruk lagi, seperti di Korea Selatan di mana puncak Omicron adalah lebih daripada 11 kali ganda puncak Delta atau Hong Kong di mana puncak Omicron adalah kira-kira 30 kali ganda daripada puncak Delta ?

Perkara ini masih belum diketahui, tetapi 136 kematian akibat Covid-19 di Malaysia pada minggu lalu mesti dikurangkan dan perlu menjadi keutamaan oleh Kementerian Kesihatan.

Menteri Kesihatan, Khairy Jamaluddin harus mengambil perhatian serius dan menjawab tinjauan oleh Pusat Kajian ASEAN yang berpangkalan di Singapura di ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute bahawa pengendalian Putrajaya terhadap krisis Covid-19 dinilai negatif oleh responden rakyat Malaysia dengan pelabelan 51.8 peratus respons kerajaan sebagai “buruk” atau “sangat buruk”.

Persepsi terhadap respons kerajaan juga merosot dengan ketara, dengan 24.4 peratus responden menilainya sebagai “sangat buruk” untuk 2022 berbanding 0.9 peratus dalam laporan 2021.

Sebagai perbandingan, hanya 10.4 peratus responden menilai respons itu sebagai “baik” dan 22.2 peratus mengatakan ia “memadai” pada 2022.

Perkara ini juga merupakan penurunan berbanding keputusan pada 2021 apabila terdapat 14.5 peratus untuk “baik” dan 40.2 peratus untuk “memadai”.

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Khamis, 17 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 February 2022, 12:20 pm and is filed under
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If it is true that only some 1,000 voters have registered as postal voters when there are 200,000 Johor voters in Singapore, I  call on Election Commission to extend the online registration for a week or it  will be the single biggest IT failure in the world

(Versi BM)

It has been reported that only some 1,000 voters have registered as postal voters in Singapore when there are 200,000 Johor voters there – representing a shocking half per cent.

If this is true, then it qualifies to be the single biggest IT failure in the world.

I call on the Election Commission to extend the online postal voter registration campaign from today, when it is supposed to end, to next Friday on 25th February, which should pose no problem in the Internet era especially as Johor voters in Singapore have been given less than 10 days for registration exercise.

The postal voter registration exercise by the Election Commission has been plagued by many glitches and technical issues.

The former State Assemblyman for Pekan Nenas, Yeo Tung Siong, has received complaints about these technical issues from more than 10 Johor voters working in Singapore in the last two days.

The former State Assemblyman for Mengkibol, Chew Chong Sin, suggested that the Election Commission enhance the overseas postal voting system for the Johor polls as there is a huge Malaysian diaspora particularly in Singapore.

He suggested that the EC should allow Malaysians to vote at the Malaysian embassies with the overseas embassies become polling stations where registered voters can collect their ballots and to vote on the spot.

These are proposals which the Election Commission should act on to ensure that there is a maximum voter turnout in the Johor polls on March 12, 2022.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 18th February 2022)

Sekiranya benar hanya kira-kira 1,000 orang yang telah mendaftar untuk mengundi secara pos sedangkan ada 200,000 orang pengundi Johor di Singapura, saya seru Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya untuk melanjutkan tarikh tutup pendaftaran ini seminggu lagi, atau ia akan menjadi kegagalan sistem IT terbesar di dunia

Telah dilaporkan hanya kira-kira 1,000 orang pengundi telah mendaftar sebagai pengundi pos dari Singapura sedangkan ada 200,000 orang pengundi Johor di negara tersebut – kadar pendaftaran setengah peratus yang mengejutkan.

Sekiranya perkara ini benar, perkara ini layak dikira sebagai kegagalan sistem IT terbesar di dunia.

Saya menyeru Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya untuk melanjutkan kempen pendaftaran pengundi pos secara atas talian ini untuk seminggu lagi ke hari Jumaat depan, 25 Februari. Perkara ini tidak sepatutnya menjadi sebarang masalah dalam era internet terutamanya memandangkan pengundi Johor di Singapura diberikan kurang daripada 10 hari untuk mendaftar.

Proses pendaftaran pengundi pos oleh SPR ini penuh dengan pelbagai gangguan dan isu teknikal.

Mantan ADUN Pekan Nenas, Yeo Tung Siong, telah menerima aduan mengenai isu-isu teknikal ini daripada lebih dari 10 orang pengundi Johor yang bekerja di Singapura dalam dua hari yang lepas.

Mantan ADUN Mengkibol, Chew Chong Sin, telah mencadangkan kepada SPR untuk menambah baik sistem pengundian pos dari luar negara untuk PRN Johor ini memandangkan terdapat diaspora Malaysia yang besar terutamanya di Singapura.

Beliau mencadangkan SPR supaya membenarkan rakyat Malaysia untuk mengundi di kedutaan Malaysia dengan kedutaan-kedutaan di luar negara ini menjadi stesen mengundi di mana pengundi berdaftar boleh mengutip kertas mengundi mereka dan mengundi di situ.

Inilah cadangan-cadangan yang memerlukan tindakan SPR untuk memastikan terdapat kadar keluar mengundi maksima dalam PRN Johor pada 12 Mac 2022 ini.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Jumaat 18 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 February 2022, 8:39 am and is filed under
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Jho Lows pays superstars US$250,000 for  appearance from 1MDB funds but it is the Malaysian taxpayers who have to pay for such billions of 1MDB debts

For years I have wondered what is the reason  one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal, described by US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions as “kleptocracy at its worst”, could get superstars to his wild parties.

The answer was provided during the criminal trial  in New York of a  Malaysian banker, Roger Ng, for corruption in the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

These are the two  international  media reports on the current 1MDB scandal criminal trial in New York:

1.     “A quarter of a million dollars for Leonardo DiCaprio. A US$385,773 (about RM1.616 million) bar tab. Five grand for “model wrangling”.These were among the expenses that jurors in the federal conspiracy trial of former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng heard about Tuesday, as a government witness described how millions of dollars siphoned off in the 1MDB scandal were frittered away on lavish parties hosted by a high-flying Malaysian financier.”

       2 .“Leonardo DiCaprio, Kim Kardashian and more were allegedly paid extravagant sums to party with Malaysian fugitive Jho Low, according to a government witn4ss from the ongoing trial.

            ‘Earlier this week, the jury in the federal court trial learned of invoices from a Las Vegas party for the now infamous Jho Law that totaled $3.6 million.

            “Major items on the include 65 bottles of Cristal Champagne for $100,000, a whopping $39,955 tip and fees for celebrities to participate in the party.”

It is reported that the price list for featuring some of US top celebrities at parties include: Leonard DiCaprio (US$250,000), Paris Hilton (US$100,000), Megan Fox ($US250,000) and Kim Kardashian (US$50,000).

But who have to pay for these  exorbitant fees for US celebrities, whether Leonardo DiCaprio, Paris Hilton Megan Fox or Kardashian?

It is the Malaysian taxpayers, current and future ones, who will have  to pay for these 1MDB extravagances in these wild parties.

It is all the more  shocking that the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal has absolutely no compunction whatsoever over the 1MDB scandal and is campaigning in the Johore state general elections  to eventually return  him as the 10th or 11trh Malaysian Prime Minister.

This is why the Johor voters should vote solidly against such 1MDB  escapades and squandering in the Johore general election, to tell the world that the people of Malaysia, as represented by the people Johore, could differentiate between what is  right and what is  wrong.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the candidature announcement for the Johor Jaya constituency at the DAP Solidarity Dinner at  Restaurant Pekin, Johor Baru on Friday, 18th February 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 February 2022, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Johor voters must vote not only for Johor, but for Malaysia and future generations to ensure that Malaysia can become a world-class great nation by Malaysia’s Centennial in 2063

DAP Johor Chairman Liew Chin Tong said in his speech just now that UMNO wants a landslide victory in the  Johor general election to bring about an early 15th general election.

The Johor general election is  therefore not only about Johor but about Malaysia and the future of our children and children’s children in the coming decades – whether Malaysia can become a better country  as to become a world-class great nation before Malaysia’s Centennial in 2063

UMNO hopes to follow up on the momentum in the Malacca general election to win big in the Johor general election to bring about early 15th General Election, regardless of the Covid-19 pandemic where the Omicron variant has taken daily new Covid-19 cases to stormy new heights – currently exceeding 27,000 cases a day.

But did UMNO win back the support of the people of Malacca in the Malacca general election in December last year?

No, UMNO did not  although Barisan Nasional won 21 of the 28 Malacca State Assembly seats which is over two-thirs majority.

This is not because UMNO had won back the support of the voters of Malacca but due to two factors: the low voting turn-out and the split of votes against UMNO and Barisan Nasional.

If not for these two factors, UMNO and Barisan Nasional on their own would have won only eight seats – not enough to form the Malacca State Government let alone securing two-thirds majority  in the Malacca State Assembly.

UMNO won only eight seats out of 28 constituencies in Malacca with majority voter support while the13 seats (including the two seats won by MCA and one seat by MIC)  were won on minority votes of less than 50 pcr cent because of low voting turnout and the split of votes against Barisan Nasional.

Johor must not follow the example of the Malacca general election and allow UMNO and Barisan Nasional a great victory in the Johor general election although it practises corruption and abuses of power.

Every Johor voter must assume the responsibility to urge other voters to cast their votes for we must overcome the disappointments and despondency that we have yet to achieve institutional reforms in Malaysia as evidenced by the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 which shows that in the field of corruption we are losing out to more countries – even Indonesia, Philippines and China – and continue with our long-term struggle to make Malaysia a better world-class nation for the sake of our children and children’s children.

The Johor general election is also about whether Najib Razak will succeed in getting early 15th general election and can return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia

The criminal trial of Roger Ng in New York this week for corruption in the 1MDB scandal, which has been described by the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions as “kleptocracy at its worst”, has revealed how the millions and billions  of 1MDB debts were abused and  misused, but it is the Malaysian taxpayers and future generations who will have to pay the billions of 1MDB debts  for such corruption.

The voters of Johor must lead Malaysians in making it very clear that the country does not want someone, who is well-known for making Malaysia into a kleptocracy, to return to lead the nation.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the candidature announcement for the Stulang constituency at the DAP Solidarity Dinner at Cathay Restaurant, Johor Baru on Friday, 18th February 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 February 2022, 7:23 am and is filed under
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My first  81st birthday wish is for people of Johore representing Malaysians to tell the world on March 12  that Malaysians are capable of differentiating between right and wrong, what is corruption and abuses of power and what is not

(Versi BM)

I thank all Malaysians who send me greetings on my 81st birthday yesterday.

I have two 81st birthday wishes.

My first wish is for the people of Johore, representing Malaysians, to tell the world on March 12 that Malaysians are capable of differentiating between what is right and wrong, what is corruption and abuses of power and what is not.

The DAP and I have been accused of many fake and false things. The latest false accusation is that MUDA is the creation of DAP aimed at baiting Malay youths.

The DAP has also been accused of setting up Amanah.

These false accusations are like the false accusations of the then UMNO President who told the 2015 UMNO General Assembly that the DAP was anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Although I was born, bred and schooled in Batu Pahat, there were allegations that I came from China when I was eighteen years old and there were also allegations that I was related to Chin Peng and Lee Kuan Yew, although they never explained how this could be so as Chin Peng is a Hockchia, Kuan Yew a Hakka and I a Hokkien.

I am now waiting for more idiotic accusations in the same vein – like instructing the PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang to support Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional and to oppose UMNO despite Muafakat Nasional.

In my 55 years in Malaysian politics, I have been demonised from one end of the spectrum to the other end.

I have been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam on one hand accused of being anti-Chinese over the Jawi issue.

I am not anti-Malay or anti-Islam. No one can be a Malaysian leader if he or she is anti any race and religion in Malaysia, for he or she must be committed to Malaysia as a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia.

Malaysia must be Truly Asia, not just to draw the tourists, but as an ineluctable fact of Malaysian life.

I have never changed my stand on the Jawi issue. I have always opposed the compulsory learning of Jawi but support the optional right of Malaysians to learn Jawi. In fact, I learnt Jawi in 1969 when I was first detained under the Internal Security Act for 17 months in the Muar detention centre.

My second 81st birthday wish is that Malaysia is capable of rising from the disappointments of our high hopes in the 14th General Election to continue the mission to unite Malaysia into a world-class great nation to fulfil Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman’s aspiration for Malaysia to be a “beacon of light to a difficult and distracted world” despite half-a-century of national decline, losing out to one nation after another – Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 21st February 2022)

Harapan pertama ulang tahun yang ke-81 saya adalah agar rakyat Johor akan mewakili Malaysia untuk memberitahu dunia pada 12 Mac bahawa rakyat Malaysia mampu membezakan antara perkara yang betul dan salah dan membezakan di antara rasuah dan salah guna kuasa dan perkara yang bukan

Saya berterima kasih kepada semua rakyat Malaysia yang menghantar ucapan pada hari lahir saya yang ke-81 semalam.

Saya mempunyai dua harapan sempena ulang tahun saya yang ke-81.

Harapan pertama ulang tahun yang ke-81 saya adalah agar rakyat Johor akan mewakili Malaysia untuk memberitahu dunia pada 12 Mac bahawa rakyat Malaysia mampu membezakan antara perkara yang betul dan salah dan membezakan di antara rasuah dan salah guna kuasa dan perkara yang bukan.

Saya dan DAP telah dituduh melakukan banyak perkara palsu dan palsu. Tuduhan palsu terbaru ialah MUDA adalah ciptaan DAP bertujuan untuk mengumpan anak muda Melayu.

DAP juga telah dituduh menubuhkan Amanah.

Tuduhan palsu ini adalah seperti tuduhan palsu Presiden UMNO suatu masa dahulu yang mengatakan dalam Perhimpunan Agung UMNO 2015 bahawa kononnya DAP adalah anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam.

Walaupun saya dilahirkan, dibesarkan dan bersekolah di Batu Pahat, ada dakwaan mengatakan saya datang dari China ketika saya berumur lapan belas tahun dan ada juga dakwaan yang menfitnah saya kononnya ada kaitan dengan Chin Peng dan Lee Kuan Yew, walaupun mereka tidak pernah menjelaskan bagaimana perkara ini boleh berlaku kerana Chin Peng adalah seorang Hockchia, Kuan Yew adalah seorang Hakka dan saya adalah seorang Hokkien.

Saya kini menunggu lebih banyak tuduhan bodoh dalam nada yang sama – seperti tuduhan kononnya mengarahkan Presiden PAS Abdul Hadi Awang untuk menyokong Bersatu dan Perikatan Nasional dan untuk menentang UMNO walaupun adanya Muafakat Nasional.

Dalam 55 tahun saya dalam politik Malaysia, saya telah difitnah dari satu hujung spektrum ke hujung yang lain.

Saya telah dituduh sebagai anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam manakala di satu pihak dituduh anti-Cina dalam isu Jawi.

Saya bukan anti-Melayu atau anti-Islam. Tiada siapa yang boleh menjadi pemimpin Malaysia jika dia anti mana-mana kaum dan agama di Malaysia, tetapi mereka perlu komited kepada idea Malaysia sebagai negara yang berbilang kaum, bahasa, agama dan budaya.

Malaysia mesti benar-benar Asia, bukan hanya untuk menarik pelancong, tetapi sebagai fakta yang tidak dapat dielakkan dalam kehidupan Malaysia.

Saya tidak pernah mengubah pendirian saya dalam isu Jawi. Saya sentiasa menentang pembelajaran wajib Jawi tetapi menyokong hak pilihan rakyat Malaysia untuk mempelajari Jawi. Malah, saya belajar Jawi pada 1969 ketika pertama kali ditahan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri selama 17 bulan di pusat tahanan Muar.

Harapan kedua sempena ulang tahun saya yang ke-81 ialah supaya Malaysia mampu bangkit daripada kekecewaan harapan tinggi kita pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 untuk meneruskan misi menyatukan Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia bagi memenuhi aspirasi Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman untuk Malaysia menjadi “suar cahaya kepada dunia yang sukar dan terganggu” walaupun negara kita telah mengalami kemerosotan selama setengah abad, kalah kepada satu demi satu negara – daripada Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Singapura dan kini Vietnam.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP untuk Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 21 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 February 2022, 11:27 am and is filed under
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Are Johor voters going to approve the 1MDB scandal  – which has been described as “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world”?

(Versi BM)

Last week, Malaysians heard of how one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal spent millions of ringgit in one night from 1MDB funds throwing an extravagant 31st birthday party attended by superstars, who were paid “celebrity charges” for attending his lavish bash -: Leonard DiCaprio (US$250,000), Paris Hilton (US$100,000), Megan Fox ($US250,000) and Kim Kardashian (US$50,000).

Invoices were produced to show that Jho Low’s Las Vegas party costs US$3.6 million.

Major items include 65 bottles of Cristal Champagne for $100,000, a whopping $39,955 tip and fees for celebrities to participate in the party.

The Wall Street Journal described Jho Low’s birthday bash the “wildest party (Las) Legas ever saw”.

This week, we learnt that a former Goldman Sachs banker used money he received from 1MDB to buy a US$10 million home in London for his then lover, who was threatening to tell the authorities about his involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

All these stories came from the criminal trial in New York of a Malaysian banker, Roger Ng, for corruption in the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal, accused of pocketing US$35 million in “secret kickbacks”. The trial is expected to run for several weeks.

Whether Roger is guilty or not, or he is being made a scapegoat as his lawyer had submitted in the New York court, the fact is that it is Malaysian taxpayers who will have to pay for these 1MDB extravagances in these wild parties and other expenditures.

There is no denial whatsoever that the 1MDB scandal is a pure figment of imagination and never existed. In fact, the then US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions even described it at the time as “kleptocracy at its worst”.

It is therefore all the more shocking that the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal has shown absolutely no compunction whatsoever over the 1MDB scandal and is campaigning in the Johore state general election to eventually return him as the 10th or 11th Malaysian Prime Minister in the 15GE.

This is why one of the issues before the Johor voters in the Johore general election on March 12 is whether they approve of the 1MDB scandal, which has been described as “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world” and whether they can differentiate between what is right and wrong, what is corruption and abuse of power and what is not.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 23rd February 2022)

Adakah pengundi Johor menerima skandal 1MDB – yang dikatakan sebagai “rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia”?

Minggu lepas, rakyat Malaysia dimaklumkan mengenai bagaimana dua orang protagonis skandal 1MDB membelanjakan jutaan ringgit dalam satu malam daripada dana 1MDB dengan mengadakan majlis hari jadi ke-31 yang amat mewah, dengan bintang terkenal seperti Leonardo DiCaprio (AS$100,000), Megan Fox (AS$250,000), dan Kim Kardashian (AS$50,000) yang dibayar “caj selebriti” untuk hadir.

Invois menunjukkan parti Las Vegas Jho Low ini memakan belanja sebanyak AS$3.6 juta.

Perkara utama invois ini termasuklah 65 botol Champagne Cristal bernilai $100,000, bayaran tip sebanyak $39,995, dan bayaran kepada para selebriti untuk menghadiri parti ini.

Wall Street Journal menggambarkan majlis ini sebagai “parti yang paling liar di Las Vegas”.

Minggu ini pula, kita mengetahui yang bekas pegawai bank Goldman Sachs telah menggunakan wang yang diterima daripada 1MDB untuk membeli rumah bernilai AS$10 juta di London untuk kekasihnya yang mengugut untuk mendedahkan kepada pihak berkuasa mengenai penglibatan dia dalam skandal 1MDB.

Semua cerita-cerita ini datang daripada perbicaraan jenayah pegawai bank Malaysia, Roger Ng, atas tuduhan rasuah dalam skandal 1MDB yang bernilai berbillion dollar di New York. Dia dituduh menyeleweng AS$35 juta sebagai “sogokan rahsia” dan perbicaraan ini dijangkakan berterusan untuk beberapa minggu.

Sama ada Roger bersalah atau tidak, atau sama ada dia dijadikan kambing hitam seperti yang dikatakan oleh peguamnya di mahkamah di New York, hakikatnya, rakyat Malaysialah yang akan menanggung perbelanjaan mewah parti liar 1MDB dan perbelanjaan-perbelanjaan lainnya.

Tidak ada penafian sama sekali yang mengatakan 1MDB ini hanyalah rekaan atau tidak pernah wujud sama sekali. Malah, bekas Peguam Negara AS, Jeff Sessions juga telah menggambarkannya sebagai “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk terburuk”.

Kerana itulah lebih mengejutkan lagi apabila seorang lagi protagonis 1MDB ini tidak menunjukkan rasa bersalah langsung kerana menyebabkan skandal 1MDB ini, sebaliknya kini sedang berkempen di PRN Johor untuk membuka jalan kembali baginya sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 atau ke-11 dalam PRU15.

Kerana inilah, salah satu isu yang perlu ditentukan oleh pengundi di Johor dalam PRN Johor pada 12 Mac ini adalah sama ada mereka menerima skandal 1MDB, yang telah digambarkan sebagai “rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia” dan sama ada mereka dapat membezakan di antara perkara yang betul dan yang salah dan dapat mengenal pasti apakah itu rasuah dan penyalahgunaan kuasa.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu, 23 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 February 2022, 4:16 pm and is filed under
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Three questions on corruption in the first week of Parliament

(Versi BM)

I have submitted three questions on corruption in the first week of Parliament, which will be officially opened by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Monday, February 28, 2022.

The three questions are:

To ask the Prime Minister why nobody in Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (SPRM) was prosecuted in connection with the death of Teoh Beng Hock although the police had completed investigations into the case and consent for prosecution had been given.

To ask the Prime Minister why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki has not been asked to go leave until he has cleared the conflict-of-interest allegations made against him as far back as October 2021.

To ask the Prime Minister the reaction of the government to the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 which showed Malaysia in a dismal light in anti-corruption field.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 24th February 2022)

Tiga persoalan mengenai rasuah untuk minggu pertama sidang Parlimen

Saya telah menghantar tiga soalan mengenai rasuah untuk minggu pertama sidang parlimen yang akan dibuka secara rasmi oleh Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di Pertuan Agong pada hari Isnin, 28 Februari 2022.

Tiga soalan ini adalah:

Minta Perdana menteri menyatakan mengapa tidak ada sesiapa pun dalam Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) yang telah didakwa berhubungan dengan kematian Teoh Beng Hock walaupun pihak polis sudah menyelesaikan siasatan dan kebenaran untuk mendakwa telah diberikan.

Minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan mengapa Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) Azam baki tidak dicutikan sehingga nama beliau dapat dibersihkan daripada tuduhan konflik kepentingan yang timbul sejak Oktober 2021.

Minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan reaksi kerajaan terhadap terbitan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2021 yang menunjukkan kedudukan buruk untuk negara kita dalam bidang pencegahan rasuah.

(Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Khamis, 24 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 February 2022, 10:30 am and is filed under
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Call on voters of Skudai to create history in Johore and Malaysia in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to become a world-class great nation where the leaders are “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans

(Versi BM)

There are those who regard the candidature of Marina Ibrahim in Chinese voter-majority seat of Skudai as suicidal and is bound to fail.

On the contrary, I call on the voters of Skudai to create history not only in Johore and Malaysia in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream for Malaysia to become a world-class great nation where the leaders are “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans.

I have dedicated 55 years to Malaysian politics in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream of an united plural Malaysia which is a world-class great nation in more and more fields of human endeavour.

For the last half a century, Malaysia has lost out in one field after another to other nations in our national decline, and the latest is in the anti-corruption arena.

The 22-month Pakatan Harapan government which ended the UMNO hegemony in the 14th General Election in 2018 was an attempt to reverse Malaysia’s national decline and resume our journey to become a world-class great nation but it was subverted by the undemocratic and illegitimate Sheraton Move conspiracy which ended the five-year mandate of the Pakatan Harapan government.

Since then, there had been the 17-month Muhyiddin backdoor government and the six-month Ismail Sabri backdoor government, and the country is in a worst straits than the UMNO-hegemony government of the previous half-a-century.

This is reflected in the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 2019, 2020 and 2021.

The TI CPI 2019 under the PH government was Malaysia’s best TI CPI performance in 25 years with a single-year improvement of six points for TI CPI score and 10 placings for TI CPI ranking, i.e. a ranking of 51 or a score of 53 out of 100.

But when the PH government was undemocratically and illegally toppled, the TI CPI 2020 and 2021 of the two backdoor governments saw an unprecedented fall of five points in score and 11 points in rank in two years – the worst two years in TI CPI in the last 27 years since 1995.

Now we are back on the slippery slope of corruption as before the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 and the worst is yet to come as Azam-gate and worsening of the system of integrity in public life have yet to be taken into account.

We have been overtaken by many countries since the start of the TI CPI in 1995, like Taiwan and South Korea, but at the rate of our trajectory on anti-corruption field in the last 23 months, the two countries regarded as most corrupt in the TI CPI 1995 – China and Indonesia – may overtake Malaysia before the end of the decade.

We must check the national decline and turn the country around to become a world-class great nation and not continue in the trajectory of a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state where all Malaysians, regardless of whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan will suffer.

This can only come about if more and more Malaysians become “Malaysian First” and not just Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans or Kadazans.

The DAP, in its 55 years of political struggle, have fought for the rights and dignity of all Malaysians. Which political party, for instance, has produced a leader who had sacrificed his position as a Member of Parliament and even gone to jail for defending the honour and dignity of another Malaysian of another race? There is no such political party except the DAP, and that person is none other than Lim Guan Eng, the DAP Secretary-General.

In my 55 years in Malaysian politics, I have been demonised from one end of the spectrum to the other end.

I have been accused of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam. No Malaysian can be ‘Malaysian First’ if he or she is anti any race or religion in Malaysia because Malaysia is a multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural nation. To be Malaysian First, we must accept and respect all races, religions, languages and cultures that meet in confluence in Malaysia.

But strangely, I have also been accused of selling out the rights and interests of the Chinese in Malaysia as well. My stand on Jawi has been used as an example.

I do not know why there are people who are so gullible as to believe such lies and falsehoods. My stand on Jawi down the decades has not changed at all – that it should be not be a compulsory subject mandatory for all to learn but optional whether one wants to learn it. I learnt Jawi when I was detained in Muar for the first time under the Internal Security Act and I said it did not make me less of a Malaysian. This was twisted to mean that I had declared that those who do not know Jawi are not Malaysians.

The information era has its uses and abuses and Malaysians must be alert to the lies, falsehoods and fake news especially those who are well-funded and are capable of employing an army of cybertroopers who are prepared to perpetrate any lies, falsehood and fake news for money.

Is it possible that after spending more than five decades fighting for an integration instead of an assimilation policy, including being detained for 35 months, I would advocate the compulsory study of Jawi?

Similarly, the DAP candidate for Skudai, Marina Ibrahim, would be accused of wanting to make Jawi compulsory.

I have had a discussion with her and she had no hesitation in supporting the DAP position that Jawi should not be made a compulsory subject in schools and but should be optional whether one wants to learn it or not.

Marina will be attacked on this issue because two years ago, she disagreed with DAP leaders in Pahang for filing a judicial review challenging the state government requiring all signboards to include Jawi as she thought there were other avenues to be explored first – but she has no hesitation in accepting the party position that Jawi should not be a compulsory subject in schools.

After 62 years of nation-building, the time has come for more and more Malaysians to regard themselves as “Malaysian First” instead of being a just a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban or Kadazan.

The DAP embraces the Malaysian Dream where Malaysians regard themselves as “Malaysian First” and not merely a gathering of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Iban or Kadazans. If we have a Malaysian First mentality, we can regain our position in the international place as a world-class great nation. If not, we will end up as a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state, selecting as leaders who do not what is right and what is wrong and who end up as corrupt leaders, thieves and crooks.

The Skudai contest is therefore very important for Johore and Malaysia, and for the future of the country, and I urge the voters of Skudai to make it a historic victory for the Malaysian Dream to restore Malaysia as a world-class great nation!

(Media Conference Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Skudai with DAP candidate for Skudai Marina Ibrahim on Friday, 25th February 2022)

Seruan kepada pengundi Skudai untuk mencipta sejarah di Johor dan Malaysia dengan mengejar Impian Malaysia untuk Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia di mana pemimpinnya mengutamakan identitinya sebagai rakyat Malaysia, bukan hanya sebagai seorang Melayu, Cina, India, Iban atau Kadazan

Ada pihak yang menganggap pencalonan Marina Ibrahim di kerusi majoriti pengundi Cina di Skudai sebagai cubaan “bunuh diri” dan pasti akan gagal.

Seruan kepada pengundi Skudai untuk mencipta sejarah di Johor dan Malaysia dengan mengejar Impian Malaysia untuk Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia di mana pemimpinnya mengutamakan identitinya sebagai rakyat Malaysia, bukan hanya sebagai seorang Melayu, Cina, India, Iban atau Kadazan.

Saya telah mendedikasikan 55 tahun hidup saya kepada politik Malaysia dalam mengejar Impian Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara majmuk yang bersatu padu yang merupakan sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia dalam pelbagai bidang yang diceburi umat manusia.

Selama setengah abad yang lalu, Malaysia telah tewas dalam satu demi satu bidang kepada negara lain dalam kemerosotan negara kita, dan yang terkini adalah dalam arena anti-rasuah.

Kerajaan Pakatan Harapan selama 22 bulan yang menamatkan hegemoni UMNO pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-14 pada 2018 adalah satu usaha untuk memulihkan kemerosotan negara dan meneruskan perjalanan kita untuk menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia tetapi ia telah ditumbangkan oleh Langkah Sheraton yang tidak demokratik dan tidak sah, konspirasi ini menamatkan mandat lima tahun kerajaan Pakatan Harapan.

Sejak itu, terdapat kerajaan Muhyiddin selama 17 bulan dan kerajaan Ismail Sabri selama enam bulan, dan negara berada dalam keadaan paling teruk berbanding kerajaan hegemoni UMNO pada setengah abad sebelumnya.

Perkara ini dicerminkan dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International (TI) 2019, 2020 dan 2021.

TI CPI 2019 di bawah kerajaan PH adalah prestasi TI CPI terbaik Malaysia dalam tempoh 25 tahun dengan peningkatan enam mata dalam masa setahun untuk markah TI CPI dan 10 kedudukan dalam carta TI CPI, dengan kedudukan ke-51 dan markah 53 per 100.

Tetapi apabila kerajaan PH dijatuhkan secara tidak demokratik dan tidak sah, TI CPI 2020 dan 2021 daripada dua kerajaan pintu belakang menyaksikan kejatuhan yang tidak pernah berlaku sebelum ini, dengan kejatuhan lima markah dan 11 kedudukan dalam masa dua tahun – dua tahun terburuk dalam sejarah 27 tahun penerbitan TI CPI sejak 1995.

Kini kita kembali ke kancah rasuah seperti sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 pada 9 Mei 2018 dan perkara yang terburuk masih belum tiba kerana Azam-gate dan kemerosotan sistem integriti dalam kehidupan awam masih belum diambil kira.

Kita telah diatasi oleh banyak negara sejak permulaan TI CPI pada tahun 1995, seperti Taiwan dan Korea Selatan, tetapi pada kadar trajektori kita dalam bidang anti-rasuah dalam tempoh 23 bulan yang lalu, kedua-dua negara yang dianggap paling korup dalam TI CPI 1995 – China dan Indonesia – mungkin mengatasi Malaysia sebelum akhir dekad ini.

Kita mesti menyemak keadaan kemerosotan negara dan mengubah nasib negara untuk menjadi negara hebat bertaraf dunia dan bukannya terus dengan trajektori kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi dan negara gagal di mana semua rakyat Malaysia, tidak kira Melayu, Cina, India, Iban atau Kadazan akan menderita.

Perkara ini hanya boleh berlaku jika semakin ramai rakyat Malaysia mengutamakan identiti mereka sebagai rakyat Malaysia dahulu sebelum sebagai seorang Melayu, Cina, India, Iban atau Kadazan.

DAP, dalam 55 tahun perjuangan politiknya, telah memperjuangkan hak dan maruah semua rakyat Malaysia. Parti politik manakah, misalnya, telah melahirkan seorang pemimpin yang telah mengorbankan kedudukannya sebagai ahli Parlimen malah dipenjarakan kerana mempertahankan kehormatan dan maruah seorang lagi rakyat Malaysia yang berbangsa lain? Tidak ada parti politik seperti itu kecuali DAP, dan orang itu tidak lain dan tidak bukan ialah Lim Guan Eng, Setiausaha Agung DAP.

Dalam 55 tahun saya dalam politik Malaysia, saya telah difitnah dari satu hujung spektrum ke hujung yang lain.

Saya telah dituduh sebagai anti-Melayu dan anti-Islam. Tiada rakyat Malaysia boleh menjadi ‘Malaysian First’ jika dia anti mana-mana kaum atau agama di Malaysia kerana Malaysia adalah sebuah negara berbilang kaum, bahasa, agama dan budaya. Untuk menjadi Malaysian First, kita mesti menerima dan menghormati semua kaum, agama, bahasa dan budaya yang bertemu di Malaysia.

Tetapi anehnya, saya juga pernah dituduh menjual hak dan kepentingan orang Cina di Malaysia juga. Pendirian saya tentang Jawi telah dijadikan contoh.

Saya tidak tahu mengapa ada orang yang terlalu mudah percaya untuk mempercayai pembohongan dan fitnah seperti itu. Pendirian saya tentang Jawi selama beberapa dekad tidak berubah sama sekali – bahawa ia bukan mata pelajaran wajib yang wajib dipelajari oleh semua orang tetapi pilihan sama ada seseorang mahu mempelajarinya. Saya belajar Jawi apabila saya ditahan di Muar buat kali pertama di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan saya berkata ia tidak menggugat identiti saya sebagai seorang rakyat Malaysia. Perkara ini kemudian diputarbelitkan untuk mengatakan yang saya telah mengisytiharkan bahawa mereka yang tidak tahu Jawi bukan rakyat Malaysia.

Era maklumat mempunyai kelebihan dan kekurangannya dan rakyat Malaysia perlu berwaspada dengan pembohongan, fitnah dan berita palsu terutamanya dari mereka yang kaya dan mampu menggaji tentera siber yang bersedia untuk menabur sebarang pembohongan, fitnah dan berita palsu demi wang.

Logikkah, selepas lebih lima dekad memperjuangkan dasar integrasi dan bukannya asimilasi, termasuklah ditahan selama 35 bulan, saya akan menyokong pendidikan wajib tulisan Jawi?

Begitu juga dengan calon DAP Skudai, Marina Ibrahim, yang akan dituduh mahu mewajibkan pengajian tulisan Jawi.

Saya telah mengadakan perbincangan dengannya dan beliau tidak teragak-agak untuk menyokong pendirian DAP bahawa tulisan Jawi tidak seharusnya dijadikan mata pelajaran wajib di sekolah dan tetapi harus menjadi pilihan sama ada seseorang itu mahu mempelajarinya atau tidak.

Marina akan diserang dalam isu ini kerana dua tahun lalu, beliau tidak bersetuju dengan pemimpin DAP di Pahang kerana memfailkan semakan kehakiman yang mencabar kerajaan negeri yang memerlukan semua papan tanda untuk ada tulisan Jawi kerana beliau fikir ada jalan lain yang perlu diterokai terlebih dahulu – tetapi beliau tidak teragak-agak untuk menerima pendirian parti bahawa Jawi tidak sepatutnya menjadi mata pelajaran wajib di sekolah.

Selepas 62 tahun usaha pembinaan negara, sudah tiba masanya untuk lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia menganggap diri mereka sebagai “Malaysian First” dan bukannya sekadar Melayu, Cina, India, Iban atau Kadazan.

DAP berpegang kepada Impian Malaysia, di mana rakyat Malaysia melihat diri mereka pertamanya sebagai rakyat Malaysia, dan bukannya hanya sekumpulan orang Melayu, Cina, India, Iban, atau Kadazan. Sekiranya kita mempunyai mentaliti mengutamakan identiti Malaysia kita ini, kita akan mampu untuk mendapatkan semula kedudukan kita di pentas antarabangsa sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia. Sekiranya tidak, kita akan menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi, dan sebuah negara yang gagal, sebuah negara yang memilih pemimpin yang tidak dapat membezakan di antara perkara yang benar dan yang salah, yang akhirnya menjadi pemimpin yang korup, pencuri, dan juga penyangak.

Oleh itu, pilihan raya di Skudai ini amatlah penting untuk Johor, Malaysia, dan juga masa hadapan negara, dan saya seru kepada semua pengundi di Skudai untuk membawa kemenangan bersejarah kepada Impian Malaysia untuk mengembalikan kedudukan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara hebat yang bertaraf dunia!

(Kenyataan Sidang Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Skudai bersama dengan Calon DAP Skudai, Marina Ibrahim, pada hari Jumaat, 25 Februari 2022)

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What will the daily peak of the Omicron wave in Malaysia –  will it  be thrice the Delta daily peak like USA and UK, over  20 times  like in South Korea or  nearly 60 times like in Hong Kong?

(Versi BM)

What will be the daily peak of the Omicron wave in Malaysia?

We cannot be like India, which at present, its daily peak during the Omicron wave of 347,254 new Covid-19 cases on 20th January 2022 is lower than its daily peak of Delta wave of 414,433 new Covid-19 cases on 6th May 2021. New Covid-19 cases in India has come down to 13,166 cases yesterday.

Yesterday, Malaysia under the Omicron wave recorded 32,070 new Covid-19 cases, which is over 30% of the Delta daily peak of 24,599 new Covid-19 cases on 26th August 2021.

We have not reached the Omicron daily peak, but will it be like the USA and UK where they recorded an Omicron peak which was about three times the Delta daily peak, or will it be like South Korea whose Omicron daily peak is about 20 times that of the Delta peak, or even worse, like Hong Kong where the Omicron daily peak is about 60 times the Delta daily peak.

This is not known yet but the signs in the ASEAN region is quite encouraging that it is unlikely that the Omicron wave in Malaysia would reach the South Korea or Hong Kong levels.

In the Philippines, after an explosive surge of Omicron wave, it reached a daily peak of 38,867 new cases on 15th January 2022 as compared to the Delta daily peak of 26,208 new Covid-19 cases on 11th September 2021 – or about one-and-a-half times that of the Delta daily peak. Yesterday, it recorded 1,624 new Covid-19 cases.

Indonesia reached a Delta daily peak of 56,757 new Covid-19 cases on 15th July 2021, but under Omicron wave, it has reached a peak of 64,716 new cases on 16th February 2022. It recorded 57,426 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

Singapore has the highest increase in the daily peak of Omicron wave when it recorded 26,032 new Covid-19 cases on 22nd February 2022, which was about five times its Delta daily peak of 5,324 new Covid-19 cases on 27th October 2021, followed by Vietnam whose Omicron daily peak yesterday of 69,128 new Covid-19 cases is over thrice its Delta daily peak of 20,454 new Covid-19 cases on 30th December 2021.

The Omicron wave has to be monitored closely, as the mortality rate where there are 224 Covid-19 deaths in the past five days are unacceptably high.

The Health Ministry warning that serious infections were mostly occurring among the unboosted should be taken seriously.

{Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Friday, 25th February 2022}

Apakah kemuncak kes harian gelombang Omicron di Malaysia – adakah tiga kali ganda kemuncak kes harian Delta seperti di Amerika Syarikat dan UK, lebih 20 kali ganda seperti di Korea Selatan atau hampir 60 kali ganda seperti di Hong Kong?

Berapakah kemuncak kes harian gelombang Omicron di Malaysia?

Kita tidak mungkin menjadi seperti India, yang buat masa ini, mencatatkan kemuncak kes hariannya semasa gelombang Omicron setinggi 347,254 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 20 Januari 2022, lebih rendah berbanding kemuncak kes harian gelombang Delta sebanyak 414,433 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 6 Mei 2021. Kes baharu Covid-19 di India telah turun kepada 13,166 kes semalam.

Semalam, Malaysia dengan gelombang Omicron merekodkan 32,070 kes baharu, iaitu lebih daripada 30% daripada kemuncak kes harian semasa penularan gelombang Delta sebanyak 24,599 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 26 Ogos 2021.

Kita belum mencapai kemuncak penularan gelombang Omicron, tetapi adakah ia akan menjadi seperti di Amerika Syarikat dan UK di mana mereka merekodkan kemuncak kes harian Omicron dengan angka kira-kira tiga kali ganda lebih banyak kes berbanding dengan angka gelombang Delta, atau seperti Korea Selatan dengan lebih 20 kali ganda seperti di Korea Selatan atau hampir 60 kali ganda seperti di Hong Kong.

Perkara ini belum diketahui lagi tetapi tanda-tanda di kawasan serantau ASEAN agak memberangsangkan, bahawa tidak mungkin gelombang Omicron di Malaysia akan mencapai tahap seperti di Korea Selatan atau Hong Kong.

Di Filipina, selepas lonjakan gelombang Omicron, negara tersebut mencatatkan kemuncak kes harian sebanyak 38,867 kes baharu pada 15 Januari 2022 berbanding dengan 26,208 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 11 September 2021 semasa penularan varian Delta, atau kira-kira satu setengah kali ganda lebih banyak daripada angka tertinggi Delta. Semalam, negara tersebut merekodkan 1,624 kes baharu Covid-19.

Indonesia mencatatkan kemuncak kes harian gelombang Delta dengan 56,757 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 15 Julai 2021, tetapi dengan gelombang Omicron, negara tersebut telah mencapai kemuncak 64,716 kes baharu pada 16 Februari 2022. Ia merekodkan 57,426 kes baharu Covid-19 semalam.

Singapura mempunyai peningkatan tertinggi dalam kemuncak harian gelombang Omicron apabila negara tersebut mencatatkan 26,032 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 22 Februari 2022, iaitu kira-kira lima kali ganda kemuncak kes harian Delta daripada 5,324 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 27 Oktober 2021, diikuti oleh Vietnam yang mencatatkan kemuncak kes harian Omicron semalam sebanyak 69,128 kes baharu Covid-19, melebihi tiga kali ganda puncak harian Delta sebanyak 20,454 kes baharu Covid-19 pada 30 Disember 2021.

Gelombang Omicron perlu dipantau dengan teliti, kerana kadar kematian di mana terdapat 224 kematian Covid-19 dalam tempoh lima hari yang lepas adalah terlalu tinggi.

Kementerian Kesihatan memberi amaran bahawa jangkitan serius kebanyakannya berlaku di kalangan yang belum menerima dos penggalak harus diambil serius.

(Kenyataan media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah pada hari Jumaat, 25 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 February 2022, 6:14 pm and is filed under
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Johore and Malaysia should not elevate “shamelessness” as a moral standard for political leaders who feel no shame or guilt for making Malaysia world-infamous as a kleptocracy

(Versi BM)

There are 239 candidates in the Johor state general election on March 12, 2022 vying for the 56 State Assembly seats, most of whom have no chance of winning as their role is just to split votes to enable the UMNO candidates to win.

This is a scenario which pleases UMNO, which had forced the holding of the Johor state general election when the primary focus should be on how to defend the lives and livelihoods of the people to enable life and the economy to re-open after more than two years of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.

The masters of UMNO want to have early 15th General Election, and forcing the holding of Johor state general election after UMNO’s victory of the two-thirds of the Malacca State Assembly seats is their way of achieving this objective – for undoubtedly, they want the Johore state general election on March 12 as a prelude to the holding of the 15th General Election.

The ulterior motive of the UMNO masters is clear. Although none of the UMNO “court cluster” is a candidate in the Johor state general election, it is obvious that the UMNO “court cluster” are calling the shots as they want early 15th General Election so that they can escape punishment and go to jail for their corruption and their abuses of power when they were in government.

This is why Najib Razak, the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, is campaigning so hard in the Johor general election to spread his message of “Apa Malunya BOSSku”, promoting the immoral concept that political leaders need not have moral standards of honesty, probity and accountability.

The Johor voters should take heed of what is happening in New York in the criminal trial of a Malaysian banker Roger Ng for corruption in the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

For many years, I have wondered why superstars appeared in the 31st birthday party of one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal, Jho Low – a party which the Wall Street Journal had described as “the wildest party (Las) Vegas ever saw”.

The answer were provided in the criminal trial of Roger Ng in New York last week.

Jho Low spent millions of ringgit in one night from 1MDB funds throwing an extravagant 31st birthday party attended by superstars, who were paid “celebrity charges” for attending his lavish bash -: Leonard DiCaprio (US$250,000), Paris Hilton (US$100,000), Megan Fox ($US250,000) and Kim Kardashian (US$50,000).

Invoices were produced to show that Jho Low’s Las Vegas party costs US$3.6 million or some RM10 million in one night.

If these were from Jho Low’s fortune, it would be a separate matter, but he spent from the 1MDB funds, which had to be repaid by Malaysians of this and future generations.

Roger Ng is charged with pocketing US$35 million in “secret kickbacks”.

Whether Roger is guilty or not, or he is being made a scapegoat as his lawyer had submitted in the New York court, the fact is that there is no denial whatsoever that the 1MDB scandal is not a pure figment of imagination and never existed. In fact, the then US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions even described it at the time as “kleptocracy at its worst”.

Roger Ng’s lawyer has admitted that the 1MDB scandal is “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world” and it is therefore all the more shocking that the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, Najib Razak, has shown absolutely no compunction or regret whatsoever over the 1MDB scandal and is campaigning in the Johore state general election to eventually return him as the 10th or 11th Malaysian Prime Minister in the 15GE.

For the firsf time in the history of elections in the 65-year history of Malaysia, we are having an election where a major political party is elevating “shamelessness” as a public good, where its political leaders need not have moral standards or guilt for making Malaysia as a kleptocracy, where political leaders cannot differentiate between what is right and wrong, what is corruption and abuse of power and what is not.

Is this going to be the fate of Malaysia – far from becoming a world-class great nation but doomed to become a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state?

This is what the Johore state general election on March 12 is all about.

I believe that all the great civilisations and religions of the world want their leaders, in fact the people, to have moral standards and can differentiate between right and wrong – to have a feeling of shame where they have lost their moral compass – and not to end up as a society where political leaders have no sense of shame at their corruption and abuses of power.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah on Sunday, 27th February 2022)

Johor dan Malaysia tidak boleh membiarkan sifat “tidak tahu malu” menjadi standard moral pemimpin politik yang tidak merasakan rasa bersalah atau malu setelah menjadikan negara terkenal di seluruh dunia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi

Terdapat 239 calon pada pilihan raya umum negeri Johor pada 12 Mac 2022 yang bersaing untuk merebut 56 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri. Kebanyakannya tidak berpeluang untuk menang, sebaliknya peranan mereka hanyalah untuk memecahkan undi bagi membolehkan calon UMNO menang.

Ini adalah senario yang menggembirakan UMNO, yang telah memaksa untuk diadakan pilihan raya umum negeri Johor apabila tumpuan utama sepatutnya adalah untuk mempertahankan kehidupan dan mata pencarian rakyat untuk membolehkan kehidupan dan ekonomi dibuka semula selepas lebih daripada dua tahun berhadapan dengan wabak Covid-19 yang membawa maut.

Para pemimpin UMNO mahu Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 diadakan awal, dan memaksa mengadakan pilihan raya umum negeri Johor selepas kemenangan dua pertiga kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri Melaka oleh UMNO adalah cara mereka untuk mencapai objektif ini – sudah tentu mereka mahu PRN Johor pada 12 Mac ini untuk menjadi acara pembuka kepada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15.

Motif tersembunyi pemimpin UMNO jelas. Walaupun tiada seorang pun daripada “kluster mahkamah” UMNO yang menjadi calon dalam pilihan raya umum negeri Johor, jelas sekali bahawa “kluster mahkamah” UMNO yang memimpin usaha PRN ini kerana mereka mahukan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 awal supaya mereka dapat terlepas daripada hukuman penjara atas kesalahan rasuah dan salah guna kuasa semasa mereka dalam kerajaan.

Inilah sebabnya Najib Razak, protagonis seorang lagi dalam skandal 1MDB, berkempen begitu keras dalam pilihan raya umum Johor untuk menyebarkan mesejnya “Apa Malunya BOSSku”, mempromosikan konsep tidak bermoral bahawa pemimpin politik tidak perlu mempunyai standard moral kejujuran, ketelusan dan akauntabiliti.

Pengundi Johor harus mengambil iktibar daripada apa yang berlaku di New York dalam perbicaraan jenayah seorang pegawai bank Malaysia Roger Ng atas dakwaan rasuah dalam skandal 1MDB yang bernilai berbillion dolar.

Selama bertahun-tahun, saya tertanya-tanya mengapa bintang-bintang terkenal hadir ke parti hari jadi ke-31 salah satu daripada dua protagonis skandal 1MDB, Jho Low – parti yang disifatkan oleh Wall Street Journal sebagai “parti yang paling liar pernah dilihat di (Las) Vegas” .

Jawapannya diberikan dalam perbicaraan jenayah Roger Ng di New York minggu lalu.

Jho Low membelanjakan berjuta-juta ringgit dalam satu malam daripada dana 1MDB dengan mengadakan pesta ulang tahun ke-31 mewah yang dihadiri bintang utama – yang dibayar “caj selebriti” untuk hadir – Leonard DiCaprio (AS$250,000), Paris Hilton (AS$100,000), Megan Fox ($AS250,000) dan Kim Kardashian (AS$50,000).

Invois telah dikeluarkan untuk menunjukkan bahawa parti Jho Low di Las Vegas menelan kos AS$3.6 juta atau kira-kira RM10 juta dalam satu malam.

Sekiranya perbelanjaan ini datang daripada kekayaan Jho Low sendiri, ia akan menjadi perkara yang berbeza, tetapi dia membelanjakan dana 1MDB, yang perlu dibayar balik oleh rakyat Malaysia sekarang dan juga oleh generasi yang akan datang.

Roger Ng didakwa menyeleweng AS$35 juta dalam bentuk “sogokan rahsia”.

Sama ada Roger bersalah atau tidak, atau dia dijadikan kambing hitam seperti yang dikemukakan oleh peguamnya di mahkamah New York, hakikatnya tiada penafian sama sekali bahawa skandal 1MDB bukanlah khayalan semata-mata yang kononnya tidak pernah wujud. Malah, bekas Peguam Negara AS Jeff Sessions menyifatkannya sebagai “kleptokrasi yang paling teruk”.

Peguam Roger Ng telah mengakui bahawa skandal 1MDB adalah “mungkin satu-satunya rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia” dan sebab itulah amat mengejutkan apabila protagonis seorang lagi dalam skandal 1MDB, Najib Razak, langsung tidak menunjukkan rasa kesal dengan perkara ini, sebaliknya terus berkempen dalam PRN Johor untuk membuka jalan untuk beliau kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri ke-10 atau ke-11 dalam PRU15.

Buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihan raya Malaysia selama 65 tahun, kita mengadakan pilihan raya di mana sebuah parti politik utama mengangkat sifat “tidak tahu malu” sebagai satu nilai moral, di mana pemimpin politiknya tidak perlu mempunyai standard moral atau rasa bersalah untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara kleptokrasi, di mana pemimpin politik tidak dapat membezakan antara yang betul dan salah, dan membezakan antara rasuah dan salah guna kuasa dan apa yang bukan.

Adakah ini akan menjadi nasib Malaysia – jauh daripada menjadi negara hebat bertaraf dunia tetapi ditakdirkan untuk menjadi kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi dan negara gagal?

Inilah intipati pilihan raya umum negeri Johor pada 12 Mac.

Saya percaya bahawa semua tamadun dan agama besar di dunia mahu pemimpin mereka, malah rakyat mereka. untuk mempunyai standard moral dan boleh membezakan antara yang benar dan salah – mempunyai perasaan malu apabila mereka kehilangan kompas moral mereka – dan bukan untuk berakhir sebagai sebuah masyarakat di mana pemimpin politik tidak mempunyai rasa malu terhadap rasuah dan salah guna kuasa mereka.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Gelang Patah, pada hari Ahad, 27 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 27 February 2022, 8:00 am and is filed under
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Has Najib no compunction whatsoever for the billion-ringgit 1MDB scandal and for turning Malaysia into a kleptocracy?

UMNO has forced the holding of the Johor state general election on March 12, 2022 not to defend the lives and livelihoods of the people to enable life and the economy to re-open after more than two years of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, but to later force the early holding of the 15th General Election to enable  Najib Razak to return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

The ulterior motive of the UMNO masters is clear. Although none of the UMNO “court cluster” is a candidate in the Johor state general election, it is obvious that the UMNO “court cluster” are calling the shots as they want early 15th General Election so that they can escape punishment and go to jail for their corruption and their abuses of power when they were in government.

This is why Najib Razak, the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, is campaigning so hard in the Johor general election to spread his message of “Apa Malunya BOSSku”, promoting the immoral concept that political leaders need not have moral standards of honesty, probity and accountability.

The Johor voters should take heed of what is happening in New York in the criminal trial of a Malaysian banker Roger Ng for corruption in the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

For many years, I have wondered why superstars appeared in the 31st birthday party of one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal, Jho Low – a party which the Wall Street Journal had described as “the wildest party (Las) Vegas ever saw”.

The answer were provided in the criminal trial of Roger Ng in New York last week.

Jho Low spent millions of ringgit in one night from 1MDB funds throwing an extravagant 31st birthday party attended by superstars, who were paid “celebrity charges” for attending his lavish bash -: Leonard DiCaprio (US$250,000), Paris Hilton (US$100,000), Megan Fox ($US250,000) and Kim Kardashian (US$50,000).

Invoices were produced to show that Jho Low’s Las Vegas party costs US$3.6 million or some RM10 million in one night.

If these were from Jho Low’s fortune, it would be a separate matter, but he spent from the 1MDB funds, which had to be repaid by Malaysians of this and future generations.

Roger Ng is charged with pocketing US$35 million in “secret kickbacks”.

Whether Roger was guilty or not, or he is being made a scapegoat as his lawyer had submitted in the New York court, the fact is that there is no denial whatsoever that the 1MDB scandal is not a pure figment of imagination and never existed.

In fact, the then US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions even described it at the time as “kleptocracy at its worst”.

Roger Ng’s lawyer has admitted that the 1MDB scandal is “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world” and it is therefore all the more shocking that the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, Najib Razak, has shown absolutely no compunction or regret whatsoever over the 1MDB scandal.

Has Najib no compunction whatsoever for the billion-ringgit 1MDB scandal and for turning Malaysia into a kleptocracy?

For the firsf time in the history of elections in the 65-year history of Malaysia, we are having an election where a major political party is elevating “shamelessness” as a public good, where its political leaders need not have moral standards or guilt for making Malaysia as a kleptocracy, where political leaders cannot differentiate between what is right and wrong, what is corruption and abuse of power and what is not.

Is this going to be the fate of Malaysia – far from becoming a world-class great nation but doomed to become a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state?

This is what the Johore state general election on March 12 is all about.

I believe that all the great civilisations and religions of the world want their leaders, in fact the people, to have moral standards and can differentiate between right and wrong – to have a feeling of shame where they have lost their moral compass – and not to end up as a society where political leaders have no sense of shame at their corruption and abuses of power.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at Mengkibol ceramah in Kluang on Sunday, 27th February 2022 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 February 2022, 6:15 pm and is filed under
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The signs are that the Omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will not  be as severe in Malaysia as in UK or USA where the daily peak of new Omicron cases is about thrice that of the Delta peak

(Versi BM)

There are signs that the Omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic will not be as severe in Malaysia as in the United Kingdom or the USA, where the daily peak of new Omicron cases is about thrice that of the Delta peak, or in South Korea where it is 20 times higher or in Hong Kong where it is 60 times higher than the Delta daily peak.

The best performing state in the Omicron wave so far is India, which reached a daily peak of 347,254 new Omicron Covid-19 cases on 20th January 2022, which is lower than the daily peak in the Delta wave of 414,433 new Covid-19 cases on 6th May 2021.

Yesterday, the daily new Covid-19 cases have come down to the four-digit figure of 7,985 cases – less than one third that of Malaysia, which recorded 24,466 new cases yesterday, which is less than the Delta daily peak of 24,599 new Covid-19 cases on 26th August 2021.

The Omicron daily peak in Malaysia is higher than the Delta daily peak – as there were 32,090 new Covid-19 cases on 24th February 2022, which is about 30 per cent higher than the Delta daily peak of 24,599 new cases on 26th August 2021.

For the last three days, there has been a drop in new Covid-19 cases to 24,466 cases yesterday.

If this trend holds, Malaysia will do better than the Philippines in the ASEAN region, where after an explosive surge of new Omicron wave, reachedf a new daily peak of 38,867 new cases on 15th January 2022 as compared to the Delta daily peak of 26,208 new Covid-19 cases on 11th September 2021 – or about one-and-a-half times that of the Delta daily peak. It has come down to the low four-digit figure of 1,038 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

Singapore is having an explosive Omicron wave and some medical experts expect the Omicron daily peak could reach 40,000 new cases a day. At present, the daily peak for Omicron wave is 26,032 new cases on 22nd February 2022, which is about five times its Delta daily peak of 5,324 new Covid-19 cases on 27th October 2021.

Indonesia reached a Delta daily peak of 56,757 new Covid-19 cases on 15th July 2021, but under Omicron wave, it has reached a peak of 64,716 new cases on 16th February 2022. It recorded 34,976 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

Malaysians must keep their fingers crossed that Malaysia will be the best performing nation in the Omicron wave.

The Omicron wave has to be monitored closely, as the mortality rate where there are 327 Covid-19 deaths in the past week are unacceptably high.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 28th February 2022)

Tanda-tanda menunjukkan yang gelombang Omicron di Malaysia mungkin tidak terlalu teruk di Malaysia berbanding dengan keadaan di UK atau AS di mana kemuncak kes harian baharu Omicron berada pada paras tiga kali ganda lebih tinggi berbanding dengan Delta, atau Korea Selatan atau Hong Kong yang mencatatkan kemuncak penularan 20 dan 60 kali ganda berbanding dengan gelombang Delta

Terdapat tanda-tanda menunjukkan yang gelombang Omicron di Malaysia mungkin tidak terlalu teruk di Malaysia berbanding dengan keadaan di UK atau AS di mana kemuncak kes harian baharu Omicron berada pada paras tiga kali ganda lebih tinggi berbanding dengan Delta, atau Korea Selatan atau Hong Kong yang mencatatkan kemuncak penularan 20 dan 60 kali ganda berbanding dengan gelombang Delta.

Negeri dengan prestasi terbaik dalam mengendalikan penularan gelombang Omicron setakat ini adalah India, yang mencatatkan kemuncak 347,254 kes baharu Omicron pada 20 Januari 2022, yang lebih rendah berbanding dengan kemuncak kes Delta, 414,433 kes pada 6 Mei 2021.

Semalam, jumlah kes harian baharu Covid-19 di negara tersebut telah turun kepada 7,985 kes – kurang daripada satu pertiga jumlah kes di Malaysia yang mencatatkan 24,466 kes semalam, yang juga merupakan kadar yang lebih rendah berbanding dengan kemuncak penularan gelombang Delta sebelum ini pada 26 Ogos 2021 dengan 24,599 kes.

Kemuncak kes harian Omicron di Malaysia adalah lebih tinggi berbanding dengan Delta – dengan 32,090 kes pada 24 Februari 2022, kira-kira 30 peratus lebih tinggi berbanding dengan 24,599 kes penularan Delta pada 26 Ogos 2021.

Untuk tiga hari yang lepas, terdapat penurunan kes baharu Covid-19 kepada 24,466 kes semalam.

Sekiranya trend ini berterusan, Malaysia akan mencatatkan prestasi yang lebih baik berbanding dengan Filipina dalam kawasan serantau ASEAN. Negara tersebut mencecah kemuncak baharu sebanyak 38,867 kes pada 15 Januari 2022 berbanding dengan kemuncak penularan gelombang Delta setinggi 26,208 kes pada 11 September 2021 – kira-kira satu setengah kali lebih tinggi berbanding dengan kemuncak Delta. Negara tersebut kini mencatatkan jumlah kes harian dalam julat empat angka rendah, dengan 1,038 kes baharu semalam.

Singapura kini sedang berhadapan dengan ledakan gelombang Omicron dan sesetengah pakar perubatan menjangkakan kemuncak kes harian Omicron di negara tersebut boleh mencecah sehingga 40,000 kes sehari. Setakat ini, jumlah tertinggi kes harian yang disaksikan negara tersebut adalah 26,032 kes pada 22 Februari 2022, kira-kira lima kali ganda kemuncak penularan Delta yang dicatatkan pada 27 Oktober 2021 dengan 5,324 kes.

Indonesia mencatatkan kemuncak penularan gelombang Delta dengan 56,757 kes pada 15 Julai 2021, tetapi dengan gelombang Omikron, negara tersebut mencatatkan kemuncak 64,716 kes pada 16 Februari 2022. Negara tersebut mencatatkan 34,976 kes semalam.

Malaysia perlu terus berharap agar kita akan menjadi di antara negara dengan prestasi terbaik dalam mengendalikan gelombang Omikron.

Gelombang penularan Omikron ini perlu diperhatikan dengan rapi, kerana kadar 327 kematian akibat Covid-19 dalam minggu yang lepas adalah satu kadar yang amat tinggi dan tidak boleh diterima.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Isnin, 28 Februari 2022)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 February 2022, 9:06 am and is filed under
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