Can Puad Zarkashi of JASA which is nothing but a Special Affairs Department specializing in lies and black ops against DAP and PH reply rationally to former UMNO Secretary-General Sanusi Junid about me?

UMNO Supreme  Council member Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi has finally proven that the Special Affairs Department (JASA) in the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia which he heads is nothing but an UMNO/BN propaganda unit which specializes in lies and black ops against DAP and Pakatan Harapan and therefore a blatant abuse of public funds.

This is why Puad is in the forefront trying to salvage the two latest two-prong  UMNO/BN propaganda campaign against me from becoming a total failure – the campaign to accuse me of wanting to be Prime Minister and posing a major  threat to the Malays and Islam in the Malaysian political landscape; and secondly, that I am as open to bribery and corrupt practices like UMNO leaders with the outrageous allegation of RM1 billion bribe from Tun Dr. Mahathir  to me to serve Mahathir’s  four objectives.

This is why Puad is so quick on the draw in coming with a statement stating that I may deny wanting to become Prime Minister but my intention is to install a puppet Prime Minister.

Puad said:  “He may deny it, but surely he has many tricks including appointing a puppet prime minister as a start – in reality, he will be the prime minister.”

I weep for Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of UMNO/Barisan Nasional. With his 1MDB billions, can’t he find smarter and more intelligent propagandists, publicists and cybertroopers?

The UMNO/BN demonisation campaign of lies and falsehoods against me and DAP leaders painting us as anti-Malay and anti-Islam, are heading for a big flop, as the demonization campaign does  not have any traction with the majority of Malays and Muslims,  who  are not so naïve and  stupid as to succumb to the lies, fake news and false information pumped out by the UMNO propaganda mills of lies and falsehoods.

I have  been painted  as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam; cause of May 13, 1969 riots; a communist (although astute observes will note that this communist “label” had not been used recently after Najib tried to get very pally with  China, with UMNO invited to speak at the 19th Communist Party of China national congress next week); a stooge of foreign powers  (although it was Najib who paid homage to US President Trump at the White House, offering to “strengthen” American economy with Malaysia’s puny economy!); that I dominate Pakatan Harapan and made other leaders like Tun Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Mohamad Sabu and Husam Musa into my stooges and puppets.

These attacks were not sufficient to discredit me, which is why there is need to tar me with the allegation of corruption – the reason for the origin of the lie about the RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir to me.

But the Puads Zarkashis, and other shadowy warlords like “HR”, have not been able to dent our reputation for the simple reason that their propaganda digits and cybertroopers, at home and overseas,  lack credibility whatsoever.

The only  way for UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers to gain credibility is prove they talk sense, as answering DAP and PH statements rationally and responsibly, and not with lies, fake news and false information.

For a start, let Puad as head of Special Affairs Department (JASA) answer rationally and responsibly the article written by former UMNO Minister and UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid about me.

This article by Sanusi, entitled
“SEMUA SALAH LIM KIT SIANG”
 reads:

“1. Lim Kit Siang tidak mencadang atau menyokong pengenalan GST yang membebankan rakyat jelata.

“2. Lim Kit Siang tidak mencadang atau menyokong keputusan menghapuskan subsidi sehingga naik harga barang dan toll.

“3. Lim Kit Siang tidak mencadang atau menyokong kenaikan harga minyak petrol dan diesel.

“4. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah bersetuju untuk menggunakan wang KWAP untuk melabur dalam perniagaan atau perusahaan yang tidak menguntungkan.

“5. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah dirundingi untuk menukar surat hak-milik tanah peneroka Felda yang sangat bernilai dan tidak turun harganya dengan sijil saham yang tidak menentu harganya dan kini harga sahamnya merudum turun kerana dilanda kerugian.

“6. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah menjadi perajurit dalam angkatan tentera dan tidak tahu menahu mengenai Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera; beliau tidak terlibat dalam keputusan menggunakan wang tabung LTAT untuk membiayai projek yang tidak menguntungkan.

“7. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah pinjam duit Mara untuk berniaga atau sebagai biasiswa waktu beliau belajar; beliau juga tidak pernah merestui penyelewengan yang kini dikatakan berlaku dalam MARA.

“8. Lim Kit Siang belum memeluk ugama Islam dan beliau tidak pun tahu mengenai salahguna wang Lembaga Urusan dan Tabung Haji untuk pelaburan yang merugikan.

“9. Lim Kit Siang, kerana belum memeluk ugama Islam, tidak pernah membayar zakat itulah sebabnya dia tidak tahu bahawa pejabat ugama mengadakan lawatan ke Paris sebagai salah satu acara dalam ‘Kursus Pernikahan’.

“10. Lim Kit Siang bukan seorang Melayu/Bumiputera dan dia tidak merasa penderitaan, dan bukan sebab kepada penderitaan, maka biasiswa anak-anak Melayu dikurangkan jumlahnya oleh kerajaan.

“11. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang menamatkan khidmat Peguam Negara.

“12. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang menukar pegawai MACC kerana menyelidiki kes yang melibatkannya.

“13. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang mencadangkan dikenakan label OSA atas semua hasil penyelidikan atas sebarang salahlaku dalam apa jua syarikat, badan dan agensi kerajaan.

“14. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang menghalang Bank Negara Malaysia dari mengambil tindakan atas penyelewengan dalam institusi kewangan  dalam dan luar negara.

“15. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang mencadang untuk membeli kapal selam Scorpine; dan bukan dia yang suruh Sirul dan rakannya untuk membunuh Altantuya.

“16. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang suruh SPRM untuk menyelidik dan tangkap perasuah-perasuah kecil supaya perasuah yang lebih hebat kelihatan tidak rasuah.

“17. Bukan Lim Kit Siang yang mengarah media perdana supaya setiap hari mengutuk Tun Dr. Mahathir walaupun beliaulah yang telah mengharumkan negara Malaysia di zaman pemerintahannya selama 22 tahun menjadi Perdana Menteri.

“18. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah terbabit dalam sebarang skandal seks.

“19. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah terlibat dalam sebarang skandal kewangan.

“20. Lim Kit Siang tidak menjadi pengeluar filem lucah di Hollywood dengan memakan belanja wang yang disalurkan dari syarikat milik negara.

“21. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah melabur wang negara yang dicurinya di Singapura, Hongkong, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Amerika Syarikat dan namanya tidak pernah disebut sebagai penjenayah dalam mana jua mahkamah didunia.

“22. Lim Kit Siang tidak pernah merancang untuk membawa 1.5 juta rakyat dari Bangladesh sehingga rakyat Bangladesh melebihi jumlah rakyat keturunan India yang ada dalam negara sekarang ini.

“23. Lim Kit Siang juga bukan perancang untuk membenarkan ratusan ribu Cina dari negara Komunis China untuk membeli harta milik tetap (freehold) dan tinggal di negara ini.

“24. Lim Kit Siang juga tidak boleh disalahkan jika harta-harta yang sangat bernilai seperti Lapangan Terbang Sungai Besi dijual kepada syarikat dari negara Komunis China.

“25. Lim Kit Siang tidak boleh disalahkan jika kos pembangunan satu-satu projek, seperti keretapi di Pantai Timur dinaikkan harganya sehingga Negara terhutang sejumlah yang sukar untuk dibayar dari hasil projek berkenaan.

“26. Lim Kit Siang tidak bertanggungjawab, malah tidak tahu menahu mengenai penubuhan 1MDB; tidak pernah menjadi penasihat atau ahli lembaga pengarah, pegawai atau pekerjaa di 1MDB.

“Oleh itu, takutkah Datuk Zaid Ibrahim untuk berkawan dengan DAP.

“Salahkah Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad untuk bergabung tenaga dengan Lim Kit Siang untuk sama-sama menentang penyelewengan, rasuah dan pengkhianatan kepada negara?

“Salahkah Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad untuk membetulkan kesilapannya kerana telah salah menanam budi dan memilih pengganti2nya yang beliau tidak sangka menjadikan negara dipandang hina seperti sekarang dan rakyat jelata menderita kerana beban hutang negara yang bertimbun dan tidak mungkin selesai dibayar oleh anak, cucu dan cicit kita semua.”

Can Puad, “HR” and the other highly-paid UMNO/BN propagandists, consultants and cybertroopers reply rationally to Sanusi, or are they all struck dumb and mute by Sanusi’s article?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 October 2017, 1:01 pm and is filed under
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CANCELLED BEER FEST IN MALAYSIA: IF NAJIB IS COURTING ISLAMIC HARDLINERS, ARE HIS RIVALS ANY BETTER?

BY BHAVAN JAIPRAGAS

South China Morning Post

8 OCT 2017

As Islamic hardliners grow more influential, political parties hesitate to offend the voting bloc of religious Malays, and the cancelled Oktoberfest-inspired event is likely a sign of things to come

Compared to the millions-strong boozy crowd of Munich’s fabled, month-long Oktoberfest, the now-cancelled Better Beer Festival in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur would have been a decidedly flat affair.

Planned for this weekend in a shopping centre and with just around 6,000 people expected to attend, the latest installation of the country’s biggest annual craft beer event would have posed little threat to public order, and was likely to have gone unnoticed in the international media.

But now its abrupt cancellation – compelled by Islamic hardliners seeking blanket alcohol prohibition – has sparked a fresh political maelstrom for both Prime Minister Najib Razak and his chief opponent, the 92-year-old ex strongman Mahathir Mohamad.

Two other Oktoberfest-related, beer-themed events in shopping malls are also likely to be banned in areas the opposition controls.

While Najib for years has been under fire for his purported appeasement of Islamic fundamentalists, these bans are raising questions on whether the Mahathir-helmed opposition is in the pocket of religious conservatives as well, despite its public brand as a champion of secularism.

The beer festival bans are tricky for both leaders as, with a general election looming, they are each battling for the support of the country’s largest vote bank: rural Malay Muslims for whom religious conservatism is a way of life. The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is popular among these voters.

At the same time, Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition and Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan need to assure secularist urbanites across the racial divide that Islamic mores like alcohol prohibition will not be imposed on everyone.

Most Malaysian Muslims practise a moderate form of Islam, and do not impose their faith on others.

About 40 per cent of Malaysia’s 32 million people are non-Muslims, most of them Chinese or Indian.

Police have insisted the decision to disallow the Better Beer Festival was due to threats of a terror attack, rather than pressure from PAS.

A leader from the hardline political party had earlier demanded that authorities ban the event, or risk the national capital turning into “the largest vice centre in Asia”, with rampant rape and criminal activity.

With few details released about the planned terror attack, some observers say the police explanation might have just been an excuse for the real reason behind the ban: mollifying increasingly influential PAS leaders.

Najib is seen as intensifying the use of Islam as a wedge issue to shore up floundering Malay support, a tactic first masterminded by Mahathir when he was in power from 1981 to 2003.

“The Najib administration has repeatedly used religion to galvanise Malays, positioning themselves as the defenders of Islam in Malaysia and reinforcing a siege mentality,” said Malaysian politics researcher Rashaad Ali.

Najib, facing pressure because of the graft scandal at the state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) – in which he denies any culpability – has gone as far as to suggest a loose partnership with PAS in the coming polls.

Mahathir and his successor Abdullah Badawi both actively galvanised Malay support using Islam, but never entered into an actual alliance with PAS during their terms in office.

The hardline political party controls the rural Kelantan state and has 14 MPs in the 222-seat national legislature.

Last year, it was ejected from the opposition coalition because of its push to strengthen sharia courts in the country. Its dalliance with Najib has coincided with an increase in episodes of intolerance.

In a high-profile instance last month, a Malay laundromat owner in the southern state of Johor briefly barred non-Muslim users. He was ticked off by the province’s monarch Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, a staunch supporter of multiracialism.

And in August, the government banned a book on moderate Islam, claiming it was “likely to alarm public opinion”.

“We’ve … seen a marked increase in incidents of some kind of religious conflict or discord,” said Rashaad of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

He added: “These incidents are also happening ‘organically’ at a grassroots level without further prodding from [the ruling party], which indicates a people that are increasingly divided along religious and racial lines, alienated from one another.”

Boo Soo-Lyn, co-founder of the Malaysian secular rights group Bebas, said both sides of the political divide were “sacrificing our personal freedoms just to appease the minority of religious fundamentalists because they think this will gain them political points with the Malay Muslim base”.

But most Malays likely “don’t really care about beer festivals in the first place”, she said.

Boo took particular aim at Pakatan Harapan, which has promised to expand civil liberties if it comes to power.

Two Oktoberfest-themed beer events in the Selangor state it controls are unlikely to take place, amid a lack of support from local municipal councils and the coalition’s top leadership, including Mahathir. Police meanwhile have suggested these events too could be targeted by militants.

“[Pakatan Harapan] are using the same bigoted tactics as their rival to get the Malay vote,” Boo said.

In comments to This Week in Asia, a Malaysian government spokesman sought to dispel the idea that Najib was appeasing hardliners.

He said the premier’s stance as a champion of religious moderation was “a matter of public record”. Praise for the Malaysian leader from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in April for countering terrorism showcased Najib’s global reputation in this regard, the spokesman said.

“The prime minister regards protecting Malaysia’s harmony, peace and security as vital, as he has said many times over many years,” he added.

Pakatan Harapan lawmakers say these claims are farcical.

Charles Santiago, an MP with the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a constituent of the opposition bloc, said the Johor monarch’s intervention in the case of the Muslim-only laundromat was “a tight slap in the face of Najib”.

“It shows a clear lack of leadership that a sitting Sultan had to intervene before Najib as prime minister spoke about the issue,” said Santiago.

Sultan Ibrahim had publicly admonished the laundromat owner’s “extremism”, adding that “Islam teaches the faithful to be tolerant and respect other people and faiths.” Najib, in comments released hours after the Sultan’s views were published in a local newspaper, said the government supported the constitutional monarch’s views and embraced wasatiyyah – moderate Islam.

He had stayed silent for days as images of the Muslim-only laundromat circulated online.

Zaid Ibrahim, a former law minister who has joined the DAP, said “sustained recruitment [of] Saudi-trained Islamic scholars into the civil service and religious establishment” had made religious moderation untenable in the current administration.

The Singapore-based researcher Rashaad said Mahathir, who claims he crossed aisles to end Najib’s “kleptocratic” rule, has to shoulder some blame for the current climate of intolerance.

“Considering the climate that has been fostered over the last 20 to 30 years, and accelerated in the last 10 years, it would be political suicide for [Najib] to take a middle path and speak out against hardline groups, let alone curb the powers of the religious bureaucracy,” Rashaad said.

He added: “Path dependency dictates that this strategy is unlikely to change any time soon, making a strong case for Najib taking ‘Islamisation’ much further than his predecessors.”

Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, a Malaysia analyst with the BowerGroupAsia political risk consultancy, said the wishes of middle ground, urban voters like Boo are likely to be overlooked by both political coalitions as they fight for the hearts and minds of rural Malays.

“The rural Malay constituencies are the key battlegrounds… disgruntled urban voters are a minor headache that both [sides] are willing to take,” Asrul Hadi said. The government spokesman meanwhile signalled Najib was bullish about his chances at the ballot box.

“The government under the prime minister’s leadership has consistently prioritised the economic welfare, social well-being and security of all Malaysians,” he said. “Though we take nothing for granted, we are confident in the wisdom of Malaysians when they next cast their votes.” ■

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 October 2017, 1:55 pm and is filed under
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Abdul Rahman should not be a “one trick pony”

Yesterday, the Director of Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan returned to his theme that I will become the Prime Minister if the Opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan  wins the next general election in his interview with Channel News Asia.

Abdul Rahman, who is described as “a rising star and a loyalist to Prime Minister Najib Razak” – a description which will be disputed by many who see him as a “falling star”- said neither  Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad nor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will lead the country in event of an opposition victory.

He said: “If Pakatan Harapan were to win the next general elections, Lim Kit Siang will be the next Prime Minister, not Tun Dr Mahathir as Lim Kit Siang is always suggesting.

“He (Lim) needs to use Tun Mahathir to win the elections.

“Tun Mahathir can forget about the job. Anwar Ibrahim can forget about the job. It will be Lim Kit Siang. And therefore to understand Malaysian politics, focus on this guy.”

How flattering and soothing for the ego, except that it is as true like  the falsehood of Mahathir’s RM1 billion bribe to me, and that RM750 million had already been paid tro me in Singapore and Hong Kong in return for four objectives –  to let Parti Pribumi Bersatu to join Pakatan Harapan, make Mahathir the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, ensure my silence  on the Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex)  scandal of the 90s and give Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir a safe Parliament seat to contest in the forthcoming general election.

First and foremost, I want to declare my stand that if this allegation of RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir to me for fourfold purposes is true, it is corruption within the definition of the anti-corruption law in the country  and the excuses that  the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has no powers to take action against such corruption offences are completely  untenable and self-serving.

I am a bit surprised that Abdul Rahman should repeat such a canard when I had spoken on the subject at the DAP Pesta Tanglung in Rasah in Negri Sembilan on Saturday night, where I said that in my 52 years in politics, the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind.

I had asked if I had never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties, why should I be thinking of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I am in the seventies?

In the United States, a black man Barack Obama had become the President of the United States – but this took place some 230 years after the establishment of the United States in 1776.

I hope that Malaysia would not need 230 years before a non-Malay become Prime Minister, but I do not expect a non-Malay to become Prime Minister in this century.

Whether Obama’s example will be replicated in Malaysia in the 22nd or 23rd century (i.e from Year 2,100 to 2,299), will depend on whether the politics of identity will not continue to be  so primordial and elemental as a political force  in the Malaysian political landscape as today.

But my clarification, in particular my various earlier statements that I do not see any non-Malay becoming Prime Minister during my lifetime, failed to make any impression on the UMNO/BN leaders.

Is this reflection of their  poor intellectual abilities or lack of basic honesty and moral worth.

Abdul Rahman Dahlan should not be “one trick pony” who is rendered completely useless when that “one trick” is taken away from him.

I do not foresee any scenario developing where by a non-Malay would become Prime Minister of Malaysia after the next general election.

Even if I am offered the office of Prime Minister after the general election – which is  a total impossibility – I would decline  it, as there are no  political conditions for it.

I am reminded of the lie of Mahathir’s RM1 billion bribe to me and that I had already received RM750 million in Singapore and Hong Kong.

I have said at the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” ceramah at Pandaraman on Sunday night that if Mahathir had given me RM1 billion bribe, I will give one million Malaysians earning below RM1,200 a month a donation of RM1,000 each.

Produce the evidence that RM750 million  had been paid by Mahathir to me in Hong Kong and Singapore and I will gladly donate the entire sum to 750,000 Malaysians earning less than RM1,200 a month at RM1,000 each!

I have been told that  there are  better ways of using the RM1 billion to help Malaysians  if Mahathir had given me such a sum, like building 5,000 units of affordable housing for young Malaysians or using the money to bring back public scholarships which could benefit some 3,000 university students in one year.

I am open to suggestions as to what are the best ways to spend the RM1 billion if this sum of money is really available!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 October 2017, 11:56 am and is filed under
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Discovery – Salleh Said Keruak is another “one trick pony”

I only came across the blog of the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak on
“Kit Siang camouflaging his true ambitions”
 after I had issued my statement
“Abdul Rahman should not be a ‘one trick pony’”
  on Abdul Rahman’s interview with Channel News Asia yesterday.

Suddenly I realized that there was not one  but two “one trick ponies”, and both are from Sabah.

Salleh took offence when I said in Tawau last Monday that Sabah had produced two “UMNO stooges”, he and Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan, and Salleh asked if standing up for one’s party to defend it against lies, slander and other attacks makes one a stooge.

My  answer was a categorical  “NO’.

I said such  a question indicated two maladies:  Firstly, Salleh’s poor grasp of thinking and logic, for I had never said or implied such a thing. Secondly, his poor grasp of English,  which seems to be an affliction reaching the highest levels of the UMNO/BN Cabinet and leadership.

Salleh never realized that when I said “Sabah has produced to UMNO stooges”, I was referring in  the context like the “The Three Stooges”,  where Salleh and Abdul Rahman Dahlan  played the role of  Najib’s court jesters, becoming  the laughing stock of the country.

But on  reflection, I agree that both Salleh and Abdul Rahman Dahlan also qualify for the second meaning of “stooge”, an unthinking underling who will do anything to please his master.

I am prepared to produce a list where Salleh and Abdul Rahman played the two roles of “stooges” if both or any one of the two is prepared to organise and host a public event.

But in continuing to play their role as  “one trick pony”, Abdul Rahman has decisively beaten Salleh as the BN Director of Strategic Communications was able the get the Channel News Asia to publish his interview yesterday that I would be the Prime Minister if Pakatan Harapan wins the next general election, while Salleh was one day late, blogging about it only today.

Be that as it may, both the Sabah duo have only convinced Malaysians about  their lack of vision as well as lack of imagination as well.

Malaysia can surely do better than having these two “one trick ponies” in the Cabinet in Putrajaya!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 October 2017, 1:01 pm and is filed under
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Five questions for Annuar Musa before I respond to his latest fulminations against me and Tun Mahathir

UMNO Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa claimed  that I had “brought  to heel a formidable politician” like  Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, alleging that the former Prime Minister and UMNO President, “who appeared invincible in the world of politics”, had succumbed to my “sweet words”.

But before I respond to Annuar’s latest fulminations, let me ask him five  questions and I hope he will respond promptly without any hesitation or doubt.

The five questions for Annuar are:

First,
 how many cases of corruption and abuses of power in his capacity as MARA Chairman and other MARA portfolios had he been investigated by MACC and the outcome of these investigations.

Second,
 does the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has to give the green light before the MACC could arrest and prosecute him for corruption as MARA Chairman and other MARA responsibilities.

Third,
 Annuar was suspended as Chairman of MARA as well as Chairman of Pelaburan Mara Bhd (PMB) at an emergency MARA Board  meeting on 31st January 2017 when he was visiting New Zealand as MARA Chairman.  Why did he submit to such shabby indignity,  and what did he do in the ensuing six months to establish his innocence and honesty as well as the injustice of his suspension as MARA Chairman?

Fourth,
 Annuar said in early August that  he had no plan to continue being the  MARA Chairman after holding the post for four years (omitting reference that he was suspended for more than six months at the end of his appointment as  MARA Chairman) and that he had personally sent a letter to the Prime Minister about it. Why did he take the stand that he did not want to be re-appointed as MARA Chairman when he  was not withdrawing from public life as he continued to be very active  as UMNO Information Chief?

Fifth
, was his nation-wide roadshow to attack and demonise DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders in his capacity as UMNO Information Chief one of the terms of agreement between him and the Prime Minister, so that he could  relinquish the post of MARA Chairman but continue as UMNO Information Chief?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 October 2017, 6:41 pm and is filed under
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Kassim Ahmad: The passing of a great Malay intellectual

Rosli Dahlan

Free Malaysia Today

10th October 2017

Today, we mourn the passing of a great Malay intellectual, a towering Malaysian who stood firm in his belief to his last breath. At 10am on Oct 10, Kassim Ahmad passed away in Kulim Hospital after slipping into a coma two days ago.

Kassim was known as a non-conformist thinker, who was seen as being highly critical of the religious authorities, and more recently of Jabatan Agama Wilayah Persekutuan (Jawi).

His books were banned and Jawi considered him to be a heretic. It is unknown to many that Kassim who was born on Sept 9, 1933 was the son of an Islamic religious teacher, Ahmad Ishak. Kassim’s religious knowledge therefore was not skin deep.

On Feb 16, 2014, Kassim was invited to speak at the Perdana Foundation in Putrajaya. The topic was “Hadis: Satu Penilaian Semula” and “Hadis: Jawapan kepada Pengkritik”.

The media reported about his speech. And following the media coverage, Jawi proceeded to persecute Kassim relentlessly. On March 26, 2014, Jawi officers raided Kassim’s house in Kulim, Kedah.

They showed up outside his house in 13 vehicles, broke down his front door, humiliated him before his wife and grandchildren, videotaped and photographed him without his consent, wrongfully arrested and detained him, and bundled him into a van for a six-hour ride to Penang Airport where they forced him to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur.

He was interrogated through the night, and on the next day, produced in the Putrajaya Shariah Court.

The charges levelled against him were defective. His wife, who rushed to Kuala Lumpur from Kedah was not allowed to post bail for him. Kassim had to look for two Wilayah Persekutuan residents to bail him instead. In the meantime his illegal detention continued. Jawi did all these to a feeble, 82-year-old man.

Kassim could have had it easy by admitting to the Shariah criminal charges against him and paid the fine. But he would not have it that way. He decided to fight for what he believed in. Thus, began the long and arduous journey to seek his vindication.

While defending himself in the Shariah Court, he sought leave for judicial review in the civil High Court to declare that Jawi’s actions and prosecution against him were illegal.

The High Court at first instance dismissed his request for leave. He appealed to the Court of Appeal and succeeded. The High Court then dismissed his judicial review. Again he appealed to the Court of Appeal.

On Dec 21, 2015, the Court of Appeal stated in no uncertain terms that Jawi’s actions and prosecution against Kassim were illegal and directed the religious department to pay costs and damages to him.

Despite this, Jawi did not withdraw the charges against Kassim and dragged the case on for two more years. Jawi sought to appeal to the Federal Court and failed on March 7 this year. Again, Jawi refused to back down.

On August 7, Jawi’s prosecution officers appeared in the Shariah Criminal Court and gave the excuse that they could not withdraw the charges against Kassim because the office of the Ketua Pendakwa Syarie had become vacant.

As Kassim’s Shariah counsel, I had to put up a strong argument for the dismissal of the charges. Finally, the Shariah judge agreed and released Kassim. Until today, Jawi has not paid the costs and damages to Kassim as ordered.

Throughout this ordeal, Kassim remained steadfast but his health kept deteriorating. His daughter, Soraya, and son, Shauqi blamed Jawi for Kassim’s deteriorating health when he was made to travel from Kulim to Putrajaya on every court date. Now they want Jawi to be held accountable for their actions.

On August 7, the day when Kassim was finally freed by the Shariah Court, there was no jubilance in him. There was only relief that the long, painful ordeal had finally come to an end.

He told me and his family that Jawi must pay damages to him not so much because he wanted the money but as a reminder that they had committed wrong on an 82-year-old man whose only sin was that he had exercised his freedom of thought.

Kassim could not accept that a man’s mind could be caged by any authority. Kassim believed that Man was created to have free will.

Today, I mourn the death of Kassim, whom I had developed a deep respect for his resilience, his intellectual honesty and his tenacity. Malays and Malaysians have lost one of their greatest thinkers.

Innalillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Rajiun

Rosli Dahlan was lawyer and friend to Kassim Ahmad.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 October 2017, 3:07 pm and is filed under
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Liberation Through Education

M. Bakri Musa

10th October 2017

                          Sajak Palsu (Fake Poem)

            Selamat pagi Pak, selamat pagi Bu,

            Ucap anak sekolah dengan sapa’an palsu.

            Lalu merekapun belajar Sejarah palsu dari buku-buku palsu!   (1-3)

 Argus R. Sarjono, 1998

My translation:

Fake Poem

            Good morning, Sir! Good morning, Ma’am!

            Greeted the schoolchildren with fake enthusiasm

            Then they pretended to study/Their fantasies as history/And other made-up stories!

The crucial role of education in liberating citizens is encapsulated in the wisdom of the Greek philosopher Epictetus (Discourses):  “Only the educated are free!” Having been born a slave, he knew a thing or two about freedom.

            Teachers are liberators! No surprise that I have a high regard for them, quite apart from the fact that both my parents were teachers. Consider that as a physician, the best that I could do is to return my patients to their pre-illness state. With a good teacher, there would be no limit to the achievements of her students.

            Munshi Abdullah wrote, “Antara mereka yang berguru dan mereka yang meniru, jauh beza-nya!” (Between those who are taught and those who parrot, is a vast difference!) Those who parrot could only repeat after you; those who are taught, and taught well, pave their own path. Others can then follow in their path.

            In his Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind) Pramoedya wrote, “Seorang terpelajar harus sudah berbuat adil sejak dalam fikiran apalagi dalam perbuatan.” (An educated person must be just, first in his thoughts and then in his deeds.)

            That should be the objective of education, to produce adil (just) citizens and thus leaders. Islamic education strives for an additional goal, to produce citizens who are soleh, roughly translated as being “good” or useful to society.

            Not everyone accepts the value of education, or that all systems of education confer the same benefits. In Brunei, they do not believe in educating their people. That would only make them uppity, dissatisfied, and arrogant. They would then rebel, as Azahari did in 1962.

            If you have enough petrodollars you can bribe or lull your people into submission,but do not expect greatness from them. Think of what would happen when those petrodollars dry up, as inevitably they would. Sometimes you do not have to wait that long; look at Tunisia today.

            There was a time when Malay parents too did not believe in education especially for girls. Educate them and they would leave and then marry someone outside the village. Who would take care of you in your old age? Today, we worry about the lack of male Malay undergraduates. Who says we cannot change culture?

            Those benefits of education cited earlier are true with one major caveat. Where indoctrination masquerades as education, then the less formal education you have the better. That is the case in Malaysia, and with Malays to be specific. Malaysian teachers treat their students as dustbins to be filled with dogmas, rather than as knives to be sharpened, borrowing Munshi Abdullah’s metaphor. This is especially true with religious education.

            With a bin, all you could possibly get out is what you put in, nothing beyond. With a sharp knife, the possibilities are limitless. To a butcher, a sharp knife brings meat to the table; to the sculptor, an exquisite work of art; and to a surgeon, a tool to cure cancer. To a thug however, it is but a lethal weapon; hence the need to focus on the “just” (adil) as well as “good” (soleh) in matters educational.

            Malaysian education suffers from three crippling deficiencies:  environment, content, and philosophy.

            Malaysian schools and universities are increasingly segregated along race. That is not a healthy learning or social environment. It is also not good for the future of the nation as that breeds intolerance among the young that would only become worse when they become adults.

            Content-wise, Malaysian schools and universities do not equip the young with the necessary tools to enable them to compete and be productive citizens.

            Philosophically, we treat young minds as dustbins to be filled with dogmas. That is not the path towards excellence and greatness, for them or Malaysia.The system indoctrinates rather than educate; entraps rather than liberate young minds, producing citizens who are neither adil nor soleh.

            In addressing these bewildering problems, Malaysian educators and leaders ignore the simple inexpensive yet effective models of the British colonials preferring instead the showy, expensive, but ineffective solutions.

Next:  Simple Solutions Skipped In Favor of Expensive Ones

Adapted from the author’s book, Liberating The Malay Mind, published by ZI Publications, Petaling Jaya, 2013. The second edition was released in January 2016.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 October 2017, 3:51 am and is filed under
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Annuar and the UMNO stooges are  all wrong – DAP will not be the Pakatan Harapan  party with the largest bloc of MPs from  the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia

When UMNO Supreme Council member and Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Deputy Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman made a false accusation against Tun Mahathir and tried to claim that  Mahathir was “injected  with DAP’s blood”, everyone including UMNO leaders must be wondering what blood Tajuddin had been injected with because there is not a  more foul-mouthed political leader today than Tajuddin who seemed to have  no trace of  “adab orang Melayu” at all.

Would UMNO Information Chief, Tan Sri Annuar Musa agree with Tajuddin’s analogy of “blood injection” for the improper conduct of UMNO leaders to the extent that they have become the very personifaction not only of  kleptocracy but “global kleptocracy”?

Has Annuar been affected by “injected blood” for his ongoing campaign to demonise me and Mahathir, especially in his speech yesterday alleging that the “formidable” and “invincible” politician had been “tamed” by me and that I deserved the title of “political dictator”?

As there is neither logic nor coherence in Annuar’s speech,  it may be a good idea for Annuar to go for a blood test!

When I said last week that Sabah had produced two UMNO stooges – Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak and Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan – I was not implying that there are no UMNO stooges on this side of the South China Sea.

There are, and among the leading  UMNO stooges are the UMNO Information Chief Annuar Musa and UMNO Supreme Council member and  Director-General of the Special Affairs Department (JASA) in the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi.

Annuar can benefit from a little  humility.  He should realise that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”.

Annuar waxed eloquent on how Tun Mahathir had been “captured” and “tamed” by me, claiming that “Kit Siang had never been to the Umno headquarters when Mahathir was in Umno. But finally, Mahathir went to the DAP office.”

Annuar cannot be more wrong. I was sitting on the front row as “guest” during the official opening of the UMNO Headquarters at the PWTC by Mahathir  on Sept. 2, 1985. Where was Annuar at the time?

Annuar, like other Umno leaders, continued to propagate the perception that DAP controls the opposition coalition.

But Annuar made a most abominable and detestable statement when he accused the DAP of using “young Malay women” such as Dyana Sofia Mohd Daud for publicity purposes.

Annuar has received a rightly-deserved reprimand from Dyana. He should not be so blind to the achievements of DAP women leaders, regardless of race or religion, like Hannah Yeoh, Selangor State Assembly Speaker; Gan Pek Ching, Johore State Assembly Opposition Leader; Liow Cai Tung,  Johore State Assembly representative for Johor Jaya and  the youngest serving assemblyperson in Malaysia; Chong Eng, long-standing activist for woman causes and  Penang State exco member; the redoubtable quartet of DAP Members of Parliament Teresa Kok (Seputeh), Teo Nie Ching (Kulai), Kasthuriraani a/p Patto  (Batu Kawan) and Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (Lanang); Sabah DAP wanita leader Jannie Lasimbang; as well as many others, including Dyana, Yeo Bee Yin, Mary Josephine Pritam Singh, Young Syefura Othman, Syerleena binti Abdul Rashid and Sangeet Kaur Deo.

Annuar and the other UMNO stooges contend that I will become the next Prime Minister as  DAP will win the largest bloc of MPs among the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Annuar and the UMNO stooges are  all wrong – as DAP will not be the Pakatan Harapan  party with the largest bloc of MPs after the 14th General Election as far as the distribution of the parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia are concerned.

In the last general elections in 2013, the Opposition coalition won 89 parliamentary seats in the 222-seat in Parliament, while Barisan Nasional won 133 seats. Out of the 89 seats, DAP won 38 seats (31 in Peninsular Malaysia and seven  in Sarawak and Sabah); PKR 30 (28 in Peninsular Malaysia and two in Sabah and Sarawak) and PAS 21 (all in Peninsular Malaysia).

I have said that if there is a swing of 10%  Malay voters and 5% non-Malay voters from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in Peninular Malaysia in the 14th General Election as compared to the 13th General Election, Pakatan Harapan will win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats, leaving Barisan Nasional with 50 and PAS two.

In this scenario of 113 Pakatan Harapan parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, the distribution could be DAP 32, and the other three Pakatan Harapan parties 39, 32 and 10 respectively or other possible combinations and permutations, but the political party with the  biggest parliamentary bloc in Peninsular Malaysia would be either PKR or Parti Pribumi Bersatu and not DAP.

When the parliamentary seats in Sarawak and Sabah are taken into consideration, then there would be more than a comfortable majority for the Pakatan Harapan government coalition.

However, whatever the final combination and permutation of the distribution of parliamentary seats among the Pakatan Harapan parties in Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysia-wide, the Prime Minister will be a Malay and will not be from the DAP.

And I definitely will not be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But this will not stop UMNO/BN leaders, strategists and cybertroopers from  their campaign of fear, lies and falsehoods  among the Malay voters that their fate will be adversely affected if UMNO is routed in the next general elections because of the myth that “UMNO is Malay and Malay is UMNO”.

The best rebuttal to the UMNO myth that the Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the forthcoming general election is from the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan in his speech at the opening of the Sembrong Division UMNO delegates’ conference in August this year.

Mohamad said Umno must woo the Malay voters to get the support of the majority of the people so that BN wins the 14th general election.

He said Umno could no longer think that the Malays needed it but instead it was Umno that needed the Malays in order to survive.

As Mohamad Hassn rightly pointed out,  Malays now have many choices, such as Parti Pribumi Bersatu, PKR, Amanah, PAS and DAP, and UMNO will pay a heavy price in terms of loss of Malay electoral support if it continues to believe in the myth that “UMNO is Malay and Malay is UMNO”.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 October 2017, 9:52 am and is filed under
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Why the pin-drop silence from Prime Minister and Cabinet the last two days  on the Malay Rulers’ statement of concern on national unity and harmony

The Malay Rulers should be lauded for their expression of concern over the eroding unity and harmony in Malaysia, in light of racially controversial issues that have taken place of late.

Malaysians are entitled to ask why the pin-drop silence from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet in the last two days and whether the concern of the Malay Rulers was top of the agenda of the weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, and if not, why not; and if yes, the outcome of such Cabinet deliberations.

Praises and support  have come from flooding in from all quarters in Malaysia concerned that the 60th anniversary of the attainment of Merdeka in 1957 and the 54th Malaysia Day anniversary are  marked by the rise of forces of extremism, intolerance and bigotry and the muting, even abdication, of the role of the Malaysian Government to uphold the moderate and inclusive  character of Malaysia as enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution.

It would appear that the Cabinet Ministers have forgotten not only the bedrock principles of nation-building enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution, they have forgotten or completely lost sight of the nation-building principles of Rukunegara referred to in the Malay Rulers’ statement.

The Malay Rulers said  that “As a religion that encourages its followers to be respectful, moderate, and inclusive, the reputation of Islam must not ever be tainted by the divisive actions of certain groups or individuals which may lead to rifts among the rakyat”.

The Malay Rulers want  Malaysians to continue to follow the core principles embedded in the Federal Constitution and Rukun Negara which was drafted on the bedrock that the diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds in Malaysia must be respected.

The Malay Rulers stressed that the  Rukun Negara “must continue to serve as a compass to all parties, be they leaders, government officials and citizens of our country”  as “Unity among Malaysia’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious people is key to ensuring the country’s ongoing stability”.

Are all political parties represented in Parliament prepared to reaffirm their support and allegiance to the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukunegara when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 23?

I know there are MPs who do not support the Rukunegara.

Clearly, Najib’s initiative for a Global Movement of Moderates (GMM)  have again proven to be neither global, a movement or moderate, first by the resignation of the founding CEO of GMM, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah who presently heads the Pakatan Harapan secretariat  and now  by the Malay Ruler’s statement of concern.

When will Najib and the government  break their silence on the Malay Rulers’ Statement?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 October 2017, 7:58 am and is filed under
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Will Najib give an assurance that the Malay Rulers’ statement of concern on national unity and harmony will not suffer the same fate as  their previous statement two years ago on 1MDB scandal, which was virtually ignored and disregarded

Will the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, give an assurance that the Malay Ruler’s statement of concern on national unity and harmony two days ago on Oct. 10, 2017 will not suffer the same fate as their previous statement two years ago on the 1MDB scandal, which was virtually ignored and disregarded.

The only reference, and a most indirect one, made by the Prime Minister to the Malay Rulers’ statement of concern on the 1MDB scandal was some three months later in Najib’s 2016 New Year Message on 31st December 2015 where Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, as the past 21 months have shown that the 1MDB and Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals  have continued to haunt and hound Malaysians from various corners of the world.

As result, Malaysia has won the dubious distinction of being known worldwide as a “global kleptodcracy”!

On October 6, 2015, the Malay Rulers issued a rare joint statement and called on the Government to complete the investigation related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as soon as possible and take “the appropriate stern action” against all found to be implicated.

The Malay Rulers stressed that all concerned should extend “real and sincere” co-operation so  that the 1MDB  investigation achieves its objectives.

They said: “The findings of the investigation must be reported comprehensively and in a transparent manner so that the people will be convinced of the sincerity of the Government which shall not at all conceal facts and the truth.”

Issued by the  Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal, Datuk Seri Syed Danial Syed Ahmad, the Malay Rulers said they were worried that if the issue was not wisely handled and was allowed to drag on, it could jeopardise the country’s economy and the livelihood of the people.

They said: “Hence, the Malay Rulers remind all leaders to always adhere to the Rukun Negara principles of upholding the Constitution and the Rule of Law.

“To ensure that the Government enjoys the people’s trust, that leaders are respected, that political stability is guaranteed and that the economy continues to grow, all leaders must constantly ensure that justice is meted out equitably and transparently based on the law.”

The advice of the Malay Rulers on the 1MDB scandal had been completely disregarded and their concern ignored.

The Malay Rulers’ advice for  “appropriate stern action” against all implicated in the 1MDB scandal were completely ignored in Malaysia while in other countries,  former bankers were fined and even  imprisoned for their role in the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Except in Malaysia – the land of 1MDB!

No “real and sincere” co-operation was extended to  the investigations into the 1MDB scandal in other countries, with the Attorney-General’s Chambers refusing to co-operate with foreign investigative bodies like the Swiss, the United States and Singapore, so that  the full enormity of the kleptocratic 1MDB scam can  be revealed.

The Malay Ruler’s call for “comprehensive” and “transparent” reporting of the 1MDB investigations so as not to “conceal the facts and the truth’ were stymied  by the government’s classification of the Auditor-General’s Report on 1MDB presented to the Public Accounts Committee of  Parliament under the Official Secrets Act.

In sum, the wise counsel of the Malay Rulers that  the 1MDB scandal be “wisely handled” and not be  allowed to “drag on” to jeopardise the country’s economy and the livelihood of the people” were ignored.

The Rukunegara principles, the   Constitution and the Rule of Law were not always adhered to  – to the great detriment of public confidence in the government and international confidence in Malaysia.

As a result, the last 18 months were a tortuous period  of infamy and ignominy for Malaysia with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) largest kleptocratic  litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Swizerland, first filed in California in July 2016 and updated in supplementary litigation in June 2017, together with  the spate of prosecutions and criminal  investigations in over half a dozen foreign countries, while the Malaysian Prime Minister was branded a “kleptocrat” and “MO1”.

Malaysia’s international good name, reputation and standing were repeatedly dragged through the mud with new revelations and developments of the  monstrous 1MDB scandal in one country or other.

Two years have passed since the Malay Rulers’ statement calling for a quick end of the 1MDB scandal, but although the Royal Statement of Oct. 6, 2015 sparked a Citizrens’ Declaration signed by over a million Malaysians calling for Najib’s resignation as Prime Minister, the country is no closer to closure of the 1MDB scandal with full accountability and transparency, with  the “culprits” brought to justice.

Can the “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocracy” rally at Padang Timor, Petaling Jaya on Saturday organized by the Pakatan Harapan be an important milestone to bring the largest financial scandal in the nation’s history to a closure?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 October 2017, 3:01 pm and is filed under
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MCA should requisition a Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting to thrash out once and for all whether the UMNO/BN propaganda attack is going to be Mahathir is Lim Kit Siang’s stooge or Lim Kit Siang is Mahahtir’s stooge!

I have just read the report on Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad’s blog suggesting that BN should make  a decision regarding him and myself, decide who bought who, whether Mahathir has bought me or I had bought Mahathir.

UMNO leaders like the UMNO  information chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa keep repeating the claim that DAP dominates Pakatan Harapan, but  MCA makes the very opposite allegation, accusing me of  selling myself and DAP to Bersatu instead.

This is a most ridiculous scenario, and only those who cannot catch up with the times would make such a colossal blunder. Let me tell the UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders and propagandists  that we are in the information era where information travels at the speed of light and not in the stone age or bullock cart era, where it is possible to restrict access to information.

Furthermore, it also highlights the Machiavellian and treacherous character of those responsible for the propaganda and information war of UMNO/BN that they  are prepared to say different things to different audiences.

This is one basic difference between the Pakatan Harapan and the Barisan Nasional Coalitions, where the four component parties in Pakatan Harapan, whether DAP, PKR, Amanah or Pribumi Bersatu say the same thing and deliver the same message regardless of audience or  location, while the Barisan Nasional component parties are  utterly dishonest and hypocritical, with UMNO saying one thing to Malay audience but the MCA saying a completely different versio  to the Chinese audience.

This itself would be a powerful reason why  the time has come for the UMNO/BN coalition to be replaced, for Malaysia cannot succeed or progress if its leaders say different and even contradictory things to the people depending on  the audience, circumstance and location.

This  is not the recipe for the building a  united Malaysian nation  but a formula for divided and disunited  Malayia  along racial or religious lines.

It is shocking that 60 years after Merdeka and 54 years after the formation of Malaysia, the Federal Government of the day is so schizophrenic and hypocritical, with Ministers completely unaware of or forgotten the bedrock principles in the Malaysian Constitution, the Rukunegara and the basis of a Malaysian nation.

May be, MCA should requisition for an emergency meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council  to thrash out once and for all whether the primary  UMNO/BN propaganda attack is going to be Mahathir is Lim Kit Siang’s stooge or Lim Kit Siang is Mahahtir’s stooge.

It cannot be both. It’s one or the other, or  even both are wrong.

Why should I be Mahathir’s stooge?  I have been accused of receiving RM1 billion bribe from Mahathir.  If I have RM1 billion, I can devote the entire sum for the development of the townships of Kota Tinggi, Kulai, Kluang, Segamat, Muar, Batu Pahat and Johore Baru to create new Kota Tinggi, new Kulai, new Kluang, new Segamat, new Muar, new Batu Pahat and new Johor Baru.

If I am in politics to get Ministerial positions or material benefits, why should I stand my ground on my principles and political conviction, and got detained twice under the Internal Security Act, arrested and prosecuted numerous times for standing up for the rights of Malaysians, go through the agony of seeing my son Guan Eng  disqualified as Member of Parliament and imprisoned for standing up to defend the honour and dignity of an underaged Malay girl?

On the other hand, why should Mahathir be my stooge, after being Prime Minister of Malaysia and UMNO President for 22 years?

Let the BN Supreme Council deliberate on these issues and let us see what decision would come out of it.

(Speech at the DAP kopitiam dialogue in Kota Tinggi on Friday, 13th October 2017 at 1 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 October 2017, 9:05 pm and is filed under
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To Malaysia’s eternal shame, we are singled out and named in the new book “The Corruption Cure” as the nation which the United States government is combatting in the fight against global kleptocracy

It is to Malaysia’s eternal shame that we are singled out and named in the  new book, “The Corruption Cure” by Robert Rotberg as the nation which the United States government is combatting in the fight against global kleptocracy.

This is to be found in Page 288 of the book, which reads:

“Under President Obama and his two attorneys general, the U.S. has intensified its attack on corporate, sovereign wealth fund, and individual corruption because it is wrong, but also because the Department of Justice believes that such corruption is a major cause of global instability, a severe hindrance to economic development everywhere, a major creator of poverty, and a critical abuse of national social contracts. Funds pilfered abroad – as in the Malaysian government sovereign wealth fund case, where more than $3 billion was misappropriated – also distorts real estate markets and the overall American economy (witness Miami and New York). For all those reasons and more, corruption is a ‘threat to American national security’”.

Reading this paragraph, I find it most ironical and indignant that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak could speak about Malaysia strengthening the American economy when he visited US President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 12.

One important point made in this new book is that Anti-Corruption Commissions are no panaceas to end the problem of corruption. In fact, in many countries, Anti-Corruption Commissions have been worse than ineffective as they have been “weaponized to punish opponents of corrupt regimes”.

Where does the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) stand in this international scheme of things in the battle against corruption?

Not very highly, as the MACC is unable to convince Malaysians and the world that it is leading the anti-corruption battle of “Say No to Corruption” in Malaysia.

A fortnight ago, at the launching ceremony for Johor Pakatan Harapan in Tampoi, I challenged the MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad to explain at the Pakatan Harapan “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” rally at Padang Timor, Petaling Jaya tomorrow  what he had done to defend Malaysia’s reputation against being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the 1MDB scandal.

So far, there has been no response from Dzulkifli, although he is in the national limelight for a variety of reasons.

Dzulkifli should not forget that he is being watched by 32 million Malaysians whether he is genuine about fighting corruption, in particular grand corruption, and whether he could explain why China had been catching and punishing “tigers” and Indonesia pursuing the “crocodiles”, but in Malaysia, the “sharks” of corruption are swimming freely and merrily in the South China Sea?

Three frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the 1MDB scandal are:

Whether Najib received RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty;

Whether Najib returned RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty; and

Whether the RM144 million  pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1” came from stolen 1MDB funds.

The answers to all these three FAQs about the 1MDB scandal are available in great detail in the US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland.

The answers to the three FAQs are:

(1) Najib never received the RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty just before the 13th General Election, although he received other donations from Saudi sources which have not been given a proper accounting. The RM2.6 billion monies came from 1MDB funds.

(2) Najib never returned the RM2.1 billion to Saudi royalty, as the money did not come from Saudi sources, but were returned to Tanore account in Singapore  which was operated by 1MDB mastermind and Najib’s confidante, Jho Low, and were from stolen 1MDB funds.

(3) The RM2.1 billion returned to Tanore account in Singapore was used to buy, among other things, the RM144 million pink diamond necklace for the “wife of MO1”.

Why is Dzulkifli silent on the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia’s infamy as a global kleptocracy, which is highlighted by the new book on corruption in the world?

[
Speech (2) at a DAP kopitiam dialogue in Senai, Johor on Friday, 13th October 2017 at 10 am
]

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 October 2017, 4:31 pm and is filed under
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UMNO is the country’s biggest manufacturer of “fake news” through its owned or controlled “mainstream media” especially Utusan Malaysia – will it direct them to stop publishing “fake news”?

Yesterday, the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak called on Malaysians to defend the nation from false news.

I instantly responded in a tweet: “Only time so far I agree with Salleh”.

However, I had added a caveat: “I oppose all fake news, whether against DAP and Pakatan Harapan or Umno/BN leaders.

“Will Salleh/MCMC (Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission) oppose all fake news, even those against DAP/Harapan leaders?”

In response, Salleh thanked me for backing his call on Malaysians to help counter fake news and information but did not specifically address the issues I raised,  deflecting them with a very officious position that MCMC  would make a similar stand on the fake news which targets the opposition.

He said: “The law is clear. If a report is lodged with MCMC, the necessary action would be taken.”

In the country today, the biggest manufacturer of “fake news” is none other than UMNO/BN through its owned or controlled “mainstream media”, led by  UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia.

For over 40 years from 1965, I did not exist as far as Utusan Malaysia was concerned, as all my statements, speeches and activities were blacked out in its pages, but in the past ten years since the 2008 General Election in March 2008, I became “big news” in Utusan Malaysia, with my photographs and reports  getting huge play in the Utusan Malaysia, but not true news, but fake news.

I was painted as quite a devil, a puaka, even jembalang; that I am anti-Malay, anti-Islam; cause of May 13, 1969 riots; a communist (although astute observes will note that this communist “label” had not been used recently after Najib tried to get very pally with China, with UMNO invited to speak at the 19th Communist Party of China national congress next week); a stooge of foreign powers (although it was Najib who paid homage to US President Trump at the White House, offering to “strengthen” American economy with Malaysia’s puny economy!); that I dominate Pakatan Harapan and made other leaders like Tun Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Mohamad Sabu and Husam Musa into my stooges and puppets.

Are these facts and truth or are they lies and fake news?

It is incontrovertible that  UMNO is the country’s biggest manufacturer of “fake news” through its owned or controlled “mainstream media” especially Utusan Malaysia.

If UMNO leaders are sincere in wanting to fight and expose “fake news”, as expressed by Salleh yesterday, is UMNIO prepared to direct its owned or controlled “mainstream media” to stop publishing “fake news”?

I want here to challenge Salleh to a series of “Fake News Confrontation” between Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan leaders,  which should be telecast live, starting with an initial series of “Fake News Confrontation” between Salleh and myself.

In these series of “Fake News Confrontation” between Salleh and myself, each side will produce  five “fake news” to be either confirmed as true and factual or debunked as  pure “fake news”.

Among the “fake news” which had been hurled against me include Tun Mahathir’s RM1 billion bribe to me, my intention to become the Prime Minister of Malaysia, that DAP wants to “Christianise” Malaysia and that I am anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

Let these “fake news” be the subject of such “Fake News Confrontation” so that we fight and expose the “fake news” all over the country.

(Speech at a DAP kopitiam dialogue in Senai, Johor on Friday, 13th October 2017 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 October 2017, 2:06 pm and is filed under
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Declare and Observe  October 14 as Anti-Kleptocracy Day in Malaysia until the world stops regarding Malaysia as a global kleptocracy

Today is the day  Pakatan Harapan has chosen for the “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” rally in Padang Timor, Petaling Jaya for Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender to show their love for and loyalty to  Malaysia through an  united opposition to Malaysia being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Befitting the occasion, October 14 should be declared and observed as Anti-Kleptocracy Day in Malaysia until the world stops regarding Malaysia as a global kleptocracy.

For 13 years, the world had celebrated 9th December as the International Anti-Corruption Day to commemorate the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption on 31st October 2003.

The Convention states, in part, that the UN is:

“concerned about the seriousness of problems and threats posed by corruption to the stability and security of societies, undermining the institutions and values of democracy, ethical values and justice and jeopardizing sustainable development and the rule of law”

and delegates to the Convention the power to:

“promote and strengthen measures to prevent and combat corruption more efficiently and effectively… promote, facilitate and support international cooperation and technical assistance in the prevention of and fight against corruption… [and] promote integrity, accountability and proper management of public affairs and public property…”

Malaysia is one of the countries of the world where the Government of Malaysia has refused to officially recognize, observe and celebrate the annual Anti-Corruption Day on Dec. 9 every year.

In fact, Malaysia is probably the only country where its head of government pulled out in the  last minute from delivering a keynote opening address of a long-scheduled major international anti-corruption conference in Putrajaya because of Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy as a global kleptocracy.

In May 2015, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for good governance and integrity, Datuk Paul Low, was still boasting about the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) themed “Ending Impunity: People, Integrity, Action”  to be held in Putrajaya from Sept. 2 -4, 2015, that it would be the world’s largest anti-graft conference to be opened by the Prime Minister and closed the Deputy Prime Minister.

But neither the Prime Minister nor the Deputy Prime Minister appeared at the 16th IACC as  Datuk Seri Najib Razak was advised by Low not to attend as the IACC participants might not welcome him following recent developments over the 1MDB scandal, while Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had by that time been summarily sacked as Deputy Prime Minister for  questioning Najib over the 1MDB scandal.

Malaysia also had nothing to show in efforts to fight corruption in the 13 years since the passage of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in 2003.

In  the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2003, Malaysia was ranked No 37 out of 132 countries with a score above midpoint of  5.2 out of 10; but in 2016, Malaysia’s ranking  has fallen precipitately to No. 55 out of 176 countries with a score below the midpoint of 49 out of 100.

South Korea was behind Malaysia in the TI CPI in 2003, but overtook Malaysia in the last 11 years; while China and Indonesia made great strides in the war against corruption while Malaysia had regressed in the battle against corruption in the past 13 years!

This is the reason why “tigers” are being caught, jailed and even executed for corruption in China, “crocodiles”  brought to justice in Indonesia, but “sharks” in Malaysia swimming freely and merrily in the South China Sea.

What is even worse for Malaysia – we have “graduated” to become a “global kleptocracy”.

It is to Malaysia’s eternal shame that we are singled out and named in the  new book,
“The Corruption Cure”
 by Robert Rotberg as the nation which the United States government is combatting in the fight against global kleptocracy.

This is to be found in Page 288 of the book, which reads:

“Under President Obama and his two attorneys general, the U.S. has intensified its attack on corporate, sovereign wealth fund, and individual corruption because it is wrong, but also because the Department of Justice believes that such corruption is a major cause of global instability, a severe hindrance to economic development everywhere, a major creator of poverty, and a critical abuse of national social contracts. Funds pilfered abroad – as in the Malaysian government sovereign wealth fund case, where more than $3 billion was misappropriated – also distorts real estate markets and the overall American economy (witness Miami and New York). For all those reasons and more, corruption is a ‘threat to American national security’”.

Reading this paragraph, Malaysians will  find it most ironical and indignant that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak could speak about Malaysia strengthening the American economy when he visited US President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 12!

One important point made in this new book is that Anti-Corruption Commissions are no panaceas to end the problem of corruption. In fact, in many countries, Anti-Corruption Commissions have been worse than ineffective as they have been “weaponized to punish opponents of corrupt regimes” instead of fighting corruption without fear or favour.

Let Oct. 14 be declared and observed as a Anti-Kleptocracy Day in Malaysia until we have succeeded in wiping out Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy as a global kleptocracy.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 October 2017, 12:10 pm and is filed under
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Thanks Ismail Sabri, for helping me win a small bet that an UMNO leader wannabe will jump on Zaid’s article  as proof that I want to be Prime Minister of Malaysia

Thank you, Sabri Ismail Yaakob for helping me win a small bet that an UMNO leader wannabe will jump on Malaysiakini’s report
“Zaid: Kit Siang would make a better PM than anyone in UMNO”
 as proof that I want to be Prime Minister of Malaysia.

We were not referring to the UMNO “washouts” like the UMNO Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who left MARA under an unresolved kleptocratic cloud and  dare not even answer my five questions surrounding his credibility and integrity, or the Director-General of UMNO propaganda mouthpiece in the Ministry  of Communications and Multimedia, JASA, Datuk Mohamad Puad Zarkashi, but the “up-and-coming” UMNO leader wannabes who fancy themselves scaling tne top UMNO leadership hierarchy, and Ismail Sabri is clearly one of them!

Ismail said that the “exposure” by Zaid that I aspire to be the Prime Minister if the opposition wins in the coming general election should open the eyes of Malaysians particularly the Malays and Bumiputeras.

He said although I  had frequently denied the aspiration, Zaid’s statement clearly showed that I deliberately played the “drama” merely to gain the support of the Malays.

Ismail said: “Zaid’s exposure clearly showed the real agenda of the leader…it is not something that is surprising because if I had said it previously when officiating at the divisional Umno meetings, many would consider it as merely a theory.

“But today, it is explained and confirmed personally by Zaid that it was their real agenda to topple the government in order to become the leader in this country.”

Zaid is quite mischievous in setting such a simple trap to test the I.Q of UMNO Ministers and wannabe leaders, and sure enough, Ismail, who fancies himself  of  UMNO National Vice President-material, is the first to fall victim and jump into the Zaid trap.

Did Zaid say that I aspire to be Prime Minister of Malaysia?

I went back to the Malaysiakini report and read it for a few times, but I cannot find such a statement.

I am prepared to come to Ismail’s Ministry in the presence of the media for Ismail to show me where in the Malaysiakini report is it mentioned that I aspire to be Prime Minister of Malaysia.  Just name it and I will be there.

How can Ismail be a Minister and aspire to be a UMNO National Vice President when he cannot pass a simple IQ test set by Zaid?

Does Ismail deny that he aspire to become a UMNO National Vice President?

Does Ismail understand my various statements that I have never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia, most recently, in my speech at the DAP Rasah Pesta Tanglung last Saturday, where I said that I have been in politics for 52 years and the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind.

If I had never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I was in my twenties, thirties and forties, why should I be thinking of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia when I am in the seventies?

I am also on public record as saying that although the Malaysian Constitution provides that any Malaysian can be a Prime Minister, I do not see any non-Malay becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia during my lifetime.

In fact, I said in Rasah last Saturday that I do not expect a non-Malay to become Prime Minister of Malaysia in the present century, as it had taken the United States 230 years before a black man, Barack Obama became the President.

I thank Zaid for his confidence that I would make a better Prime Minister than anyone in UMNO, but this does not mean I aspire to be Prime Minister of Malaysia.

If Ismail still cannot understand such simple reason and logic, I suggest he should leave the Cabinet and return to school.

The frightening thought is how many UMNO Ministers and leaders are like Ismail, who do not understand simple reason and logic.

No wonder Malaysia is heading towards the trajectory of a failed and rogue state with the nation under the stewardship of a Cabinet full of Ministers of Ismail’s calibre and mentality!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 October 2017, 10:16 am and is filed under
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Top 10: Apa lagi rakyat mahu?

P Gunasegaram

Malaysiakini

5 Oct 2017

QUESTION TIME |
BN and its component parties are fond of saying how much the rakyat should be grateful to them for achieving independence, forging harmony between the races, and fostering peace and economic development, amongst others.

They, especially Umno, even say that Malays are ungrateful if they do not support the ruling party which they claim has brought them immense development and progress over the years, much better than other Third World countries.

But they fail to realise that Malaysia was already relatively well-developed a long time ago with Malaysia and Singapore having the highest living standards in Asia after Japan way back in the 70s. So, on a relative comparison with other countries which were not corrupt, Malaysia has actually declined.

Thus the ruling party and the opposition have to understand what is it that the rakyat – the majority of the people whose income makes it difficult for them to enjoy decent standards of living – really want from the government. It’s not very difficult, you just have to stop and think.

Apa lagi rakyat mahu? What more do the people want? That question implies they already have a lot and want more. But that’s not true, they don’t have enough. What they want are the basics first from which all else follows. Here are 10 – there are more of course, but these provide a flavour.

At the end of each item, I am going to rate the government between 0 and 10 – 0 for worst and 10 for best and then total them all up for an overall score out of 100. You can rate them too and get your own score. Anything less than 50 is an emphatic failure.

1. A government that really works for the people.
 While there is much lip service about the welfare of the rakyat, politicians enrich themselves first. Look at how many ministers, chief ministers and others live way beyond their means – all of them claim to be great businessmen who amassed their wealth before joining the government.

image: https://i.malaysiakini.com/1129/d27fe0b0249b814f10ed8f443a2876dc.jpeg

The MACC has only to check the assets they have amassed and how they obtained them to put many of them behind bars. Umno is now filled with businessmen when they used to be full of teachers once. It looks like the government exists to enrich the few at the expense of the many.

Rating: 2 out of 10

2. A clean, corruption-free government.
 Do we have to go into details as far as this is concerned? The current government has brought corruption to new heights, introducing kleptocracy for the first time at the highest echelons.

It is now okay to dip your hand into the till, take away borrowed money and still be unaccountable in any way whatsoever. The public considers the police to be the most corrupt government body according to polls and the MACC, despite their recent activity, remains powerless to act against grand larceny.

Rating: 1

3. Adequate checks and balances.
 The checks and balances, so important to the functioning of a democratic society by holding the government and its leaders accountable through independent investigation, prosecution and judging, are now non-existent.

The legal and enforcement system has been systematically undermined since May 13, 1969, and especially from the time of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister to concentrate inordinate power in the hands of the government, much like our colonial masters did for centuries before that.

Instead, archaic laws are exploited and new ones introduced to control legitimate dissent, making Malaysia virtually a police state.

Rating: 3

4. Uphold democracy, and protect rights of everyone.
 Instead of upholding democracy, successive governments have eroded the rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, introduced divisive policies, polarised the country according to race, religion and language, cut down the wings of independence of the judiciary, influenced investigation and prosecution, changed the constitution multiple times, and did nothing to uphold the tenets of democracy.

Minority races and religions feel threatened by increasing militancy of both religious and racial bigots while the police stand by and watch when these militants blatantly violate the law to “protect” what they see as their rights. Now, even schoolchildren can wave Umno flags and it is not considered incorrect, descending to yet another new low for the country.

Rating: 2

5. A competent government.
Remember ‘bersih, cekap, amanah’? Where did all that go? Even when there are competent Malays to take over key jobs in government, they often go to those who are politically compliant.

And did the prime minister have to defend the appointment of an Indian to head the Customs Department? Why? What’s wrong with giving an opportunity to all competent people within government? Are they not Malaysians?

The problem is, most of the ministers in government are incompetent and while there are sections within the civil service that are competent, that is fast eroding because of extremism and militancy by those who feel that they are entitled to power, whether they deserve it or not.

Rating: 3

6. A government that takes care of the environment.
Mahathir once said the West talks about conservation when they have cut down all their trees. And it was under his administration that Kuala Lumpur abandoned a structure plan it had formulated in the 80s.

But we keep our trees for ourselves, for our own benefit. We have parks and open spaces so that our cities don’t suffocate from overcrowding. We don’t want pollution because at the end of the day we suffer from it.

While some good efforts have been made at conservation by various government departments, there is a lot more that the government must do. But corruption often gets in the way as projects are approved because money is pushed.

Rating: 4

7. Good planning and implementation.
 We are supposed to have great plans – the Malaysia plans, the economic policies, the multimedia super corridor, the various corridor developments, the economic and government transformation plans.

But somewhere along the way, the self-interest of politicians comes in the way. Planning imperatives fall by the wayside, implementation of various measures is stalled and progress comes to a grinding halt. Plans end up half-finished at best and not even started at worst.

Rating: 3

8. A great educational system.
 While private education has made considerable progress, public education has declined in terms of standards. Politicians, some of them educated at Oxford and other overseas seats of learning, maintain straight-faced that English should not even be used for teaching science and maths, depriving their own people of learning a language which increases their opportunities in the modern world.

How many Malays can’t find a job because their English is poor? If they don’t watch it, Chinese may fall into the same trap as more of them opt to send their children to Mandarin-medium schools. The standard of education has fallen while history has been rewritten in textbooks to favour current political and Islamic thinking. The independence of schools has been irrevocably compromised.

Rating: 4, because of availability of reasonably good private higher education and cheap public education.

9. A good standard of living for everyone.
 While living standards have increased, relative standards compared with higher income countries – not the impoverished even more corrupt countries our leaders compare us with – have by and large declined.

We are among the top 30 countries in the world in terms of income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient). Poverty is still very high in Malaysia and the majority of households in Malaysia earn less than RM5,000 a month. Anyone who lives in an urban area knows that is not enough to lead a decent life these days. But still, there have been good income increases over the years.

Rating: 4

10. Opportunities for all to improve their well-being.
 This increases only if as many people as possible are given the opportunity to rise through good, cheap education. While education has remained cheap, quality education is very expensive with steep drops in the quality of public universities, some of which were competitive with the best anywhere before.

Further, factors such as unrestrained imports of cheap labour, often illegal, impoverish Malaysian labour and make it very difficult for them to rise out of their poverty as their wages remain depressed.

Rating: 3

That gives an overall rating of an abysmally low 29% and indicates why many Malaysians are dissatisfied with the current government. Not even in one category did the current government earn a pass.

Will that translate into fewer votes for BN in the upcoming elections? Perhaps. But will it mean that BN will lose? It depends on what the rakyat think of the opposition. Will the opposition really consider the welfare of the rakyat? Will they be free of corruption? Will they support democracy? Etc. If they really do, their chances may be good.

P GUNASEGARAM is an independent writer and consultant. E-mail:
[email protected]
.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 14 October 2017, 3:27 pm and is filed under
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Before Annuar continues with his tirades and lies about the DAP being anti-Islam, he should ask himself whether he is worthy to be a “warrior of Islam” when he is a walking example of the “curse of kleptocracy” in Malaysia?

Before the UMNO Information Chief Tan Sri Annuar Musa continues with his tirades and lies about the DAP being anti-Islam, he should ask himself whether he is worthy to be a “warrior of Islam” when he is a walking example of the “curse of kleptocracy” in Malaysia?

In recent years, Malaysia has suffered from the curse of the “kleptocratic culture” which has resulted in Malaysia becoming the object of world-wide scorn and ridicule as a “global kleptocracy”.

The most egregious example of this curse of kleptocratic culture  is undoubtedly the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Although not as egregious as the 1MDB scandal, the MARA and Felda/FGV scandals rank high on the list of corruption scandals constituting the “curse of kleptocratic culture”  in the country which will be the subject of root-and-branch investigations by a Pakatan Harapan Federal Government if Pakatan Harapan can topple UMNO/BN in the 14th General Election.

But the 1MDB scandal and FELDA are not the only examples of the curse of the culture of kleptocracy which has permeated into all aspects of national life, which is why Malaysia’s 2016 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI), both in ranking and score, are even worse than 22 years ago, when TI CPI first made its annual appearance in 1995.

Other countries like China, India and Indonesia have been impressive strides in the anti-corruption campaign in the past two decades, but Malaysia’s ranking and score of the annual TI CPI are even worse than two decades ago.

“Tigers” are being caught, jailed and even executed for corruption in China, “crocodiles” brought to justice in Indonesia, but “sharks” in Malaysia swimming freely and merrily in the South China Sea.

Can Annuar explain why?

Now Annuar fancies himself as a “warrior for Islam”.

Does the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang acknowledge and recognize the UMNO Information Chief as a “warrior for Islam”, although Annuar has not been able to resolve the kleptocratic cloud under which he was suspended as MARA Chairman till the end of his tenure as head of MARA?

Let Annuar first  answer my five questions to him five days ago concerning his credibility and integrity before he goes on his  latest frolic pretending to be a “warrior for Islam” in Malaysia, viz:

First,
 how many cases of corruption and abuses of power in his capacity as MARA Chairman and other MARA portfolios had he been investigated by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the outcome of these investigations.

Second,
does the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has to give the green light before the MACC could arrest and prosecute him for corruption as MARA Chairman and other MARA responsibilities.

Third,
 Annuar was suspended as Chairman of MARA as well as Chairman of Pelaburan Mara Bhd (PMB) at an emergency MARA Board meeting on 31st January 2017 when he was visiting New Zealand as MARA Chairman. Why did he submit to such shabby indignity, and what did he do in the ensuing six months to establish his innocence and honesty as well as the injustice of his suspension as MARA Chairman?

Fourth,
 Annuar said in early August that he had no plan to continue being the MARA Chairman after holding the post for four years (omitting reference that he was suspended for more than six months at the end of his appointment as MARA Chairman) and that he had personally sent a letter to the Prime Minister about it. Why did he take the stand that he did not want to be re-appointed as MARA Chairman when he was not withdrawing from public life as he continued to be very active as UMNO Information Chief?

Fifth,
 was his nation-wide roadshow to attack and demonise DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders in his capacity as UMNO Information Chief one of the terms of agreement between him and the Prime Minister, so that he could relinquish the post of MARA Chairman but continue as UMNO Information Chief?

If Annuar dare not even answer these five questions on the curse of kleptocracy, how can he put on the mantle of a “warrior for Islam” in Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 15 October 2017, 6:32 pm and is filed under
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DAP and Pakatan Harapan government will make Malaysia a model for the world of how people of diverse races, religions, cultures and languages can unite and create a harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous nation and not to allow a Taliban state as advocated by a few

The UMNO Information Chief, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said in an UMNO “Dialogue Perjuangan For All” in Kota Bharu on Friday night that Pakatan Harapan will not be able to uphold and defend Islam in the country because the opposition coalition has been dominated by DAP.

Annuar cannot be more wrong.

DAP will uphold and defend the real values and true teachings of Islam and those of other great religions whether Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or Sikkhism which are to promote peace,  honesty, justice, freedom and solidarity.

A DAP and Pakatan Harapan Federal Government  will make Malaysia a model for the world of how people of diverse races, religions, cultures and languages can unite and create a peaceful, harmonious, democratic, progressive and prosperous nation and not to allow  a Taliban state as advocated by a few.

It is an indictment of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s nation-building policies that moderation and inclusiveness are suffering attacks and setbacks with the rise of extremism, bigotry and intolerance, to the extent that the Sultan of Johore had to declare publicly that Johore is not a Taliban state.

It is a supreme irony that while Najib  promotes the initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates in international forums, he has done nothing as Prime Minister inside the countryt to speak out against  the voices and forces of  distrust, hatred, extremism, bigotry and intolerance in our plural society.

There was great relief and national support  when the Sultan of Johore spoke out against rising extremism, bigotry and intolerance when Najib as Prime Minister should have spoken up loud and clear well before the Sultan of Johor.

Why did Najib abdicate from his responsibility as Prime Minister of plural Malaysia?

The “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptocrasi” rally organized by Pakatan Harapan in Petaling Jaya yesterday is a case in point – in support of Islam and other great religions, whether Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or Sikkhism, which teach moral uprightness and honesty, avoidance of corruption and abuses of powers for personal gain, and justice for all.

However, there are some in Malaysia who want to equate support for  Islam as equivalent to  support for corruption and kleptocracy.

We must  expose the dishonesty and chicanery of these dishonest politicians who want to distort the true teachings of Islam by equating support for Islam as support for kleptocracy.

(Speech at the DAP Kopitiam Dialogue at Taman Impian Ehsan, Balakong  on Sunday, 15th October 2017 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 15 October 2017, 3:15 pm and is filed under
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Is Annuar Musa accusing the first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Razak and Hussein Onn as anti-Islam because they upheld secularism as the bedrock principles of Malaysian Constitution and nation-building?

Is the UMNO Information Chief, Tan Sri Annuar Musa accusing the first three Prime Ministers of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn as anti-Islam because they upheld secularism as the bedrock principles of the Malaysian Constitution and Malaysian nation-building?

In his misnomer  campaign of “Dialogue for All” in Kota Bahru on Saturday, Annuar launched a ferocious attack on the DAP, accusing DAP of being anti-Islam   because the DAP constitution “clearly stated” that DAP was fighting for secularism, and  secondly, alleging that the DAP feared an UMNO-PAS pact because the party did not want to see Malays and Muslims united.

I said Annuar’s national roadshow “Dialogue for All”  is a misnomer as it would be more properly named as “Fake News for All”!

For Annuar’s edification, the DAP Constitution referred to the Merdeka Constitution 1957 as “a secular document, instilled with the principles of democracy, freedom, rule of law and respect of human rights; and imbibed with the ideals of accountability, equality, justice and human dignity” – a stand which had been taken by the nation’s first three Prime Ministers.

In accusing the DAP as  being anti-Islam for taking such a stand, let Annuar declare whether he is also launching an attack on the first three Prime Ministers who were also UMNO Presidents for three decades  from 1951 to 1981?

Or could Annuar differentiate the stand of the first three Prime Ministers from that of the DAP with regard to the Merdeka and Malaysian Constitution as a “secular document” laying down the bedrock principles of the Constitution and nation-building in Malaysia?

Not only the UMNO Supreme Council, but the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council, should convene emergency meetings to demand an explanation why the UMNO Information Chief is launching a nation-wide campaign under the misnomer of “Dialogue for All” attacking the first three Prime Minsters of Malaysia and UMNO Presidents from 1951-1981 as anti-Islam, including Tun Razak, the father of the present Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Annuar is guilty of fake news and false information when he accused the DAP of fearing an UMNO-PAS pact because DAP did not want to see Malays and Muslims united.

For Annuar’s edification, again, there are Malays and Muslims in the DAP, as the DAP represents all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, class, age or gender.

Before the UMNO Information Chief continues with his nonsensical tirades and lies about the DAP being anti-Islam, he should ask himself whether he is worthy to be a “warrior of Islam” when he is a walking example of the “curse of kleptocracy” in Malaysia?

The most egregious example of this curse of kleptocratic culture, which has resulted in international infamy and ignominy for Malaysia as a global kleptocracy,   is undoubtedly the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

Although not as egregious as the 1MDB scandal, the MARA and Felda/FGV scandals rank high on the list of corruption scandals constituting the “curse of kleptocratic culture”  in the country which will be the subject of root-and-branch investigations by a Pakatan Harapan Federal Government if Pakatan Harapan can topple UMNO/BN in the 14th General Election.

But the 1MDB. MARA and FELDA/FGV scandals  are not the only examples of the curse of the culture of kleptocracy which has permeated into all aspects of national life, which is why Malaysia’s 2016 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of Transparency International (TI), both in ranking and score, are even worse than 22 years ago, when TI CPI first made its annual appearance in 1995.

Other countries like China, India and Indonesia have made impressive strides in the anti-corruption campaign in the past two decades, but Malaysia’s ranking and score of the annual TI CPI are even worse than two decades ago.

“Tigers” are being caught, jailed and even executed for corruption in China, “crocodiles” are being brought to justice in Indonesia, but “sharks” in Malaysia are swimming freely and merrily in the South China Sea.

Can Annuar explain why?

Now Annuar fancies himself as a “warrior for Islam”.

Does the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang acknowledge and recognize the UMNO Information Chief as a “warrior for Islam”, although Annuar has not been able to resolve the kleptocratic cloud under which he was suspended as MARA Chairman till the end of his tenure as head of MARA?

Let Annuar first  answer my five questions to him a week  ago concerning his credibility and integrity before he goes on his  latest frolic pretending to be a “warrior for Islam” in Malaysia, viz:

First
, how many cases of corruption and abuses of power in his capacity as MARA Chairman and other MARA portfolios had he been investigated by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the outcome of these investigations.

Second
, does the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has to give the green light before the MACC could arrest and prosecute him for corruption as MARA Chairman and other MARA responsibilities.

Third
, Annuar was suspended as Chairman of MARA as well as Chairman of Pelaburan Mara Bhd (PMB) at an emergency MARA Board meeting on 31st January 2017 when he was visiting New Zealand as MARA Chairman. Why did he submit to such shabby indignity, and what did he do in the ensuing six months to establish his innocence and honesty as well as the injustice of his suspension as MARA Chairman?

Fourth
, Annuar said in early August that he had no plan to continue being the MARA Chairman after holding the post for four years (omitting reference that he was suspended for more than six months at the end of his appointment as MARA Chairman) and that he had personally sent a letter to the Prime Minister about it. Why did he take the stand that he did not want to be re-appointed as MARA Chairman when he was not withdrawing from public life as he continued to be very active as UMNO Information Chief?

Fifth
, was his nation-wide misnomer roadshow to attack and demonise DAP and Pakatan Harapan leaders in his capacity as UMNO Information Chief one of the terms of agreement between him and the Prime Minister, so that he could relinquish the post of MARA Chairman but continue as UMNO Information Chief?

If Annuar dare not even answer these five questions on the curse of kleptocracy, how can he put on the mantle of a “warrior for Islam” in Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 16 October 2017, 12:01 pm and is filed under
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