‘Cattlegate’: For BN, business as usual

By
Mariam Mokhtar
 | Nov 14, 2011

Malaysiakini

Hey diddle diddle,

The MP on the fiddle

The cow jumped over the moon

Khairy laughed to see such sport,

And Noh cow-ed like a buffoon

‘Cattlegate’ has exposed the Women Family and Community Development Minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s ill-advised foray into the cattle business.

Shahrizat and her family are alleged to have misappropriated the taxpayers’ money; with RM250 million for the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), an RM800,000 overseas junket and a further RM10 million to purchase a luxury condominium in Bangsar.

Shahrizat’s husband operates the NFC and her three children, Izran, 27, Izmir, 31, and Izzana, 25 are chief executive and executive directors.

Malaysians who believe that either she or Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, would accept responsibility and resign over this sordid affair, can moo till the cows come home. At least President Nixon was more honourable in Watergate.

Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Najib refuted allegations that the NFC had misused public funds. On his return, the PM swopped his desert whites for more casual beach gear as he headed for Hawaii to attend the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit.

The opposition accuses Najib of spending too much time abroad and neglecting business at home. With such criticism, is it any wonder that he prefers to be overseas? His next stop is Bali for the East Asia Conference.

The onerous task of calming public outrage was handed to Najib’s deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin (left).

Perhaps Najib thought that this would distract Muhyiddin from plotting to oust him in GE-13.

Muhyiddin  was the Agriculture Minister when the NFC project was first approved and he found “nothing unusual” about the controversial project.

He is right. He confirmed our long-held suspicions that BN politicians think there is “nothing unusual” when they and their cronies misuse public funds for their own ends.

‘NFC a success’

But BN ministers also excel in passing the buck. Muhyiddin deflected further criticism by redirecting questions to the current Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister, Noh Omar.

The hapless agriculture minister, cowed by the burden of having to massage the truth, declared in Parliament that the NFC project was a success and had achieved its target of producing 8,000 head of cattle by 2010. Perhaps he was suffering from foot and mouth disease.

If Ministers actually read any of the reports in their in-tray or paid attention in Parliament, they might be more knowledgeable.

The Auditor-General’s Report, released the previous week, criticised the NFC project for being “in a mess” and for failing in its objective.

Land grabs are Umno/BN’s speciality. So, if the Menteri Besar of Negri Sembilan had been forced to recover 3,000 acres of the 5,000 acres allocated for the NFC, then this project must have been a total disaster.

The ‘udder’ failure of Najib’s administration to instill public confidence is possibly because it has not ‘herd’ about responsibility or accountability.

With our long list of political scandals, the MACC should have had ample experience ruminating over the ease with which BN politicians treat the treasury as their personal cash cow. Not so. MACC is still chewing the cud.

Perhaps, MACC staff are like tired cows who are all milked out.

Mysterious cases of people flying out of buildings have gone over their heads, just like the nursery rhyme in which the cow jumped over the moon.

Shahrizat’s NFC debacle is not the first, nor last, misuse of the public purse. The taxpayer is owed billions but Shahrizat’s case is probably the tip of the iceberg and her amounts, mere cattle-fodder.

Most of us would balk at stealing, but BN ministers and their cronies act like the other farm animal, with its nose constantly in the trough.

Stampede of allegations

With the stampede of allegations coming from the opposition, Shahrizat tried to distract the public by turning on Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin: “I see it as a political agenda, an attempt by the Opposition to weaken the spirit of Wanita Umno. We are not that easy to be destroyed (sic) nor are we that soft”.

For BN, when all else fails, use sex or sexist remarks.

BN is like a family-run business and outsiders are not allowed. Shahrizat may recall that she lost her seat in the 2008 elections when she was trounced by political newcomer, the 27-year-old Nurul Izzah Anwar (right).

The PM at the time, Badawi, appointed Shahrizat as special adviser. Najib later reinstated her as minister, using a loophole, by making her a senator the day before. In other words, Shahrizat’s ministerialship was via the back door.

There seems to be a lot of “back-door-action” in Umno.

Last week, Idris Jala, yet another unelected minister, announced that Malaysia would achieve high-income status by 2020. He said: “Malaysia is doing everything it can to transform itself into a high-income nation. With the programmes and policy measures (Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), I am sure we will not go bankrupt.”

Only last year, Jala warned us that we would go bankrupt if we did not curb our spending.

He may be beefing up our confidence but why make himself a laughing stock? Is he suffering from mad-cow disease?

Malaysia would not go through a recession because of the financial turmoil in Europe, he said: “…..our government will not allow that to happen……..We should borrow money provided the money is spent as investment rather than as operating expenditure”.

Shahrizat took his advice.

She bought a RM10 million condominium for her family because Jala had said: “…. make sure our borrowing is in proportion to investment”.

Herd mentality

The herd mentality is remarkable in the BN Cabinet. They have been relatively and collectively silent about this fiasco.

Only Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has been strangely vocal, acting as Shahrizat’s unofficial spokesman. But he appeared to be like a bull in a china shop.

He charged that the NFC’s account was strictly monitored by a technical committee and instead of the money “lying idle”, had the right to “invest” the funds in a condominium. He blamed the government for various delays, for failing to build a slaughterhouse and for allocating insufficient funds to operate the satellite farms.

He said, “When these delays happened, the NFC management was faced with an important decision.

“Were they to let the funds given to the National Livestock and Meat Corporation (NLMC is NFC’s subsidiary) just sit in a current account which does not give big dividends while waiting for the satellite farms and the abattoirs?

“Or should they invest the money to get returns while waiting for the delay to be resolved?”

Khairy’s explanation is as illogical as Noh’s statement which said that the government was powerless to act: “If the money has been paid to NFC…….. the government cannot control what NFC does with it, including purchasing the said condominium, because it is then considered the company’s money.”

It is ironic that Khairy (right) refuted Pakatan’s allegations in his blog entry titled, “PKR’s load of bull”. Khairy subconsciously failed to note the simile in his statements.

A few days ago, former PM Mahathir Mohamad said that people should adopt the Japanese work ethos, and feel ashamed if they were unable to carry out their job properly.

He said: “This sense of shame is so strong that they (Japanese) cannot accept failure and they are ashamed of it”.

BN and their cronies do not know the meaning of shame. If they did, they would do the honourable thing, just like the Japanese. Then, Putrajaya would be awash with blood and guts, just like an abattoir.

Khairy acts like he has a vested interest in Shahrizat’s NFC project or at least her condominium. Shahrizat is nonplussed and protective of her family members, whom she felt had been wrongly accused.

She didn’t mince her words when she said, “I don’t think they deserve it. They work very hard”.

The rakyat are bewildered. The people at the centre of these allegations, namely Shahrizat’s spouse and offspring, have been strangely silent about the whole fiasco. Cow-ed into silence perhaps?

________

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 November 2011, 11:50 am and is filed under
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Minister changes testimony, says Liong Sik’s letter not government guarantee

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop changed his testimony today, reversing his assertion made a day earlier that Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s support letter in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project amounted to a government guarantee.

The former second finance minister testified yesterday that only the Finance Ministry could issue a letter of support with the Cabinet’s approval, and that every time such a letter was issued, the government would have to bear the responsibility if anything went wrong.

Nor Yakcop also said that Dr Ling’s letter of support was actually a “guarantee letter” as it helped secure a top-tier rating for bonds raised for the construction of the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and was sold for a profit of RM40 million.

But the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department also stressed that the support letter from the transport minister had not received the approval of the Finance Ministry or the Cabinet.

“I got the impression that his (Nor Yakcop) evidence yesterday showed that the support letter is a guarantee letter,” said defence lawyer Wong Kian Kheong.

Wong proceeded to read out excerpts from the testimony given by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail in 2009 during a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the PKFZ project.

According to the lawyer, the A-G had said that Dr Ling’s support letter was “not a government guarantee” as it did not give any assurance as to whether the government would ensure PKA would make any repayment on the project loan.

“I have shown the A-G’s opinion. You still hold to your view that P148 (Dr Ling’s support letter) is a guarantee letter?” asked Wong to which Nor Yakcop hesitantly answered “no”.

But the minister sought to explain himself later during the prosecution’s re-examination, saying that the reason why he viewed the support letter as a government guarantee was due to Malaysian Rating Corporation (MARC)’s triple A rating for the bonds issued after the support letters had been given by the Transport Ministry.

“Because we saw MARC had given the triple A rating for the bonds … MARC saw the letters as a guarantee. When we looked at the support letters, generally we considered it as a letter of guarantee.”

Nor Yakcop also said that although the government listened to and often followed the A-G’s views, it was not “bound” to always abide by them.

Critics allege that the letter of support penned by the then-transport minister on May 28, 2003 — which coincided with his last day in office — and three others by his successor, Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, were seen by the market as government guarantees to fulfil PKA’s obligations to landowner Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB).

Dr Ling was charged in July last year with knowingly deceiving the Cabinet into approving the land purchase for the PKFZ, which resulted in wrongful losses for the government.

The prosecution has argued that the additional interest of 7.5 per cent per annum, amounting to some RM720 million, had pushed Port Klang Authority’s (PKA) land purchase from RM1.09 billion to RM1.88 billion for the port project.

The former MCA president also faces two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the purchase at RM25 psf and the 7.5 per cent interest rate were acknowledged and agreed to by the government’s Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH) despite knowing that there was no such agreement.

Dr Ling faces up to seven years’ jail and a fine if convicted of the principal charge under Section 418 of the Penal Code.

The trial resumes tomorrow morning.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 November 2011, 8:42 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan says will back constitutional changes to allow indelible ink

By Shannon Teoh

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — The federal Opposition said today it will support amendments to the Constitution to allow the use of indelible ink in future elections.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told reporters today that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will back such a proposal if it is tabled in Parliament during the current session.

“The Attorney-General (AG) has said it cannot be done without amendments. This is just a trick to delay.

“But PR agrees to support the amendments if they are done immediately and tabled within this sitting,” the opposition leader said.

The Malaysian Insider reported last week that the parliamentary select committee on electoral reform summoned Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to explain why the government cannot use indelible ink — a key demand by polls reform movement Bersih — in a general election expected soon.

A source said the nine-man committee unanimously agreed that marking voters to avoid multiple voting could be implemented.

However, the source said the country’s top lawyer has insisted the Federal Constitution does not allow the authorities to force a voter to be marked with permanent ink.

Amendments to the Constitution require a two-thirds majority or 148 members out of the 222-member Parliament.

The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) currently has 137 MPs while PR has 76.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang also stressed that PR’s stand is that the use of indelible ink does not require a constitutional amendment “but if the AG insists, we are willing to give our support.”

The EC had initially planned to use indelible ink, bought at a cost of RM2.4 million, for the 2008 general election but backed out at the last minute, citing public order and security issues.

PKR de facto leader Anwar has claimed that the last-minute change cost his coalition 15 federal seats.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 November 2011, 4:38 pm and is filed under
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Why indecent hassle to distribute RM100 to schoolchildren?

By D.C

14 November 2011

My wife and her colleagues were called for an emergency meeting at about 12.30pm ! The school will be dismiss at 1pm! The Headmistress just came back from a meeting with the Officers at the Gombak District Education Department (GDED). She wanted to pass some instructions to all the teachers. It was regarding the RM100 to be given to the pupils.

The teachers have to fill in the names of the class pupils, their parent or guardian’s name( who ever come to take the money) and their IC number. It must be completed tomorrow! Because the ADUN from Taman Templer YB Dato’ Subahan bin Kamal will be coming on Wednesday at 10.00 – 11.30am to hand over the money to the parent/guardian! The school must get ready about 100 pupils for the occasion. The rest of the pupils will be given by the class teachers to their parent/guardian. The parent/guardian must bring along a photocopy of their IC before they can sign and take the money. The GDED already have a schedule for YB to visit a few schools on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Some school teachers will be ask to go back in the afternoon for this  purpose, if their school is given the afternoon schedule!  Her school was lucky to be given in the morning!

Now, she has a big problem. She has to withdraw about RM150,000 cash from the bank, rush back to school for the occasion. The bank will only open at 9.00 am! Moreover she said there might be other school as well at the bank. So she need some men teachers to go along with her. Each male teacher will be given about RM10,000 to be taken back to school and distribute to the class teachers! She doesn’t want to be responsible if anything happen! My God!

The pupils will be given a letter tomorrow, asking their parent/guardian to come on Wednesday at 10.00am.to collect the money. Why the rush? Why can’t the school just  take their time to do it. Moreover the teachers are very busy getting ready the report cards, collecting back the school text books, the class party, the rehearsal for the prize giving day on Friday. All because to let the YB to make use of this opportunity to campaign for the coming election !!!! Please do something. It is not right, the money doesn’t belong to BN. It belongs to the rakyat. So what the hell need this YB to hand over the money to the parents.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 November 2011, 12:53 pm and is filed under
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Kenapa Yang Berhormat dan bukan Yang Berkhidmat?

By
Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos (loyarburok.com)
 | November 16, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

Saya kerap bertanya soalan tersebut selama hampir 20 tahun: Kenapa dipilih untuk mengelar wakil-wakil rakyat dengan istilah “Yang Berhormat” dan bukan dengan istilah “Yang Berkhidmat”?

Semalam, saya ditanya oleh seorang pemuda aktivis soalan yang sama! Katanya ramai pemuda-pemudi hari ini kurang senang dengan isitlah “Yang Berhormat” kerana mereka merasakan ia tidak tepat menjelaskan kedudukan wakil-wakil rakyat. Saya setuju.

Pertama, pada faktanya, wakil-wakil rakyat diundi oleh rakyat jelata untuk berkhidmat kepada pengundi-pengundi yang berada didalam kawasan Dewan undangan negeri atau dalam kawasan Parlimen mereka. Mereka tidaklah diundi untuk bermegah atau untuk mencapai kejayaan peribadi sebagai seorang wakil rakyat atau untuk memperkayakan diri. Maka jika mereka menawarkan diri sebagai calon dan diundi untuk berkhidmat, bukankah lebih tepat mereka digelar sebagai “Yang Berkhidmat”?

Kedua, tugas seorang wakil rakyat amat jelas sekali — mereka diundi oleh rakyat untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat melalui mewakili rakyat didalam Dewan undangan negeri ataupun didalam Parlimen. Poin penting yang harus ditegaskan dan difahami dengan jelas disini ialah peranan mereka sebagai WAKIL kepada rakyat.

Jika mereka mewakili rakyat ini bermakna rakyatlah “boss” ataupun mereka harus mengikuti arahan daripada rakyat. Seorang wakil tidak membuat sesuka hati dengan mengenepikan kebajikan atau kehendak pihak yang membenarkan mereka menjadi wakil. Dalam konteks ini juga amat anih apabila wakil dianugerah sebagai “Yang Berhormat” dan rakyat yang melantik mereka sebagai wakil diletakkan dikedudukan yang lebih “inferior” melalui pengistilahan!

Ketiga, perincian juga harus dibuat terhadap kesan saikologi serta impak diatas wakil rakyat apabila mereka digelar sebagai “Yang Berhormat” dan bukannya sebagai “Yang Berkhidmat”. “Yang Berhormat” merupakan satu istilah yang cukup “presumptuous” dimana wakil itu dianggap bersikap berhormat walhal tempoh perkhidmatannya belum bermula ataupun sedang berjalan.

Seharusnya dan secara logik, prestasi seorang wakil hanya dapat dinilai selepas selesainya tempoh perkhidmatannya. Selepas selesai tempoh perkhidmatannya, baru rakyat lah dapat menilai samada ia telah menjalankan amanahnya dengan sebaik mungkin, adakah ia telah cuba mendapatkan pandangan daripada pengundi-pengundinya sebelum suatu polisi ataupun undang-undang diguabl dan sebagainya.

Jika ianya merupakan satu wakil yang tidak efisien, malas atau telah menggunakan kedudukanya untuk kepentingan peribadinya, maka ia menjadi satu wakil yang gagal dan tidak harus dihormati. Maka mana logiknya seorang itu terus dipanggil sebagai “yang Berhormat” selepas menang menjadi menjadi wakil?

Keempat, istilah “Yang Berhormat” ini lebih menjurus kepada penggekalan pemikiran dan budaya feudalistik dimana pertalian diantara wakil rakyat dan rakyat menjadi seolah pertalian pembesar dan hamba atau marhain.

Mungkin inilah sebabnya rakyat jelata telah membudayakan sikap cuim tangan pemimpin-pemimpin politik, terlalu membongkokkan badan apabila berjabat tangan dengan wakil rakyat, gembira setakat dapat bersalam walaupun tidak sempat menluahkan apa-apa kepada pemimpin tersebut dan pelbagai perbuatan lain sedemikian.

Seorang yang digelar “Yang Berkhidmat” secara saikoloji lebih mudah dihampiri daripada seorang “Yang Berhormat’. Isitlah “Yang Berhormat” juga meletakkan mereka ditahap yang lebih “suci” daripada rakyat jelata.

Kelimanya, saya percaya istilah “Yang Berkhidmat” adalah istilah yang mempunyai kesan “suggestive” yang lebih positif daripada istilah “Yang Berhormat”. Istilah “Yang berkhidmat” sentiasa mengingati wakil rakyat bahawa tugas mereka ialah untuk berkhidmat kepada rakyat manakala istilah “Yang Berhormat” “suggests bahawa mereka tergolong dalam kumpulan elitis atau kumpulan yang jauh diatas daripada rakyat biasa. Istilah “Yang Berkhidmat” adalah lebih “down to earth” dan mampu mendekatkan wakil rakyat kepada rakyat jelata.

Saya percaya penggunaan bahasa dan isitilah-isitilah tepat mempunyai peranan yang amat penting didalam mempertingkatkan penglibatan rakyat jelata dalam demokrasi yang berkembang. Kita harus mahu berkembang kearah merakyatkan kepimpinan didalam Negara bagi menghindarkan kepimpinan Negara dikuasai oleh golongan bangsawan untuk golongan bangsawan. — loyarburok.com

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 November 2011, 3:40 pm and is filed under
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The 2012 Budget for a class of seven-year-olds… and voters

By
Shern Ren
 | November 16, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

NOV 16 — Tomorrow my younger brother is going to school to collect the RM100 that the government has promised him as a school-goer. It’s all well and good for him to get a bit more spending money, but what difference does it make in our national Budget? Here’s an imaginary conversation that will take place tomorrow in a school far too close to home…

Hi, and welcome to Class 1 Malaysia in SJK Pelancar(1). As you’re all aware, our class president (who’s also the class treasurer) has magnanimously decided to give RM100 to all schoolchildren — that’s you and me! But before you all line up to receive his magnificent gift, he’s asked me to make a little speech about how far we’ve come as a class.

There are fifty of us in this class, 1 Malaysia. Who’s bringing in the dough? Well, 21 of us are employed, but only six of us will have any qualification higher than the SPM. Only three working people earn enough to pay any class fees at all to the class fund, which makes it all the more interesting that two of you guys are actually working for the class and earning your living from that same class fund. Don’t get too comfortable in your job though — there are eight fellows from other classes like 1 Donesia willing to do our jobs for half the price, or two of them for every five of us.

Now the poorest 20 of you, on average, know what it’s like to live on only RM11.50 a day, or a monthly household income of RM1,500 — which you must stretch to cover your rent, loans, and utilities as well as the lousy canteen food.

The next 20 of you, on average, are a bit luckier to be getting by on RM27 a day, or a monthly household income of RM3,500 a month. But the richest 10 of you have RM73 a day to burn, or a monthly household income of RM9,500.

Among yourselves, you ten have concentrated 49 per cent of our class’s total income in the top 20 per cent of our class; the lowest 40 per cent have got only 15 per cent of our class’s total income. Good job, capitalists!

But the total household debt between you all is just over a million ringgit, while the total disposable income you’re hauling in is only about RM730,000, so you’d all better tighten your belts just the same

How’s the class fund doing, you ask? Oh, it’s in amazing shape. Our class currently owes various debtors something like RM773,800. Last year it was only RM720,500 — you really have to hand it to our class president to know how to spend.

Remember that there’s only three lucky guys earning enough to pay tax, and our current debt is going to be RM257,900 for each of them to fork up. Well, we’ve got a bit of time to pay off our debts I guess. but you three had better keep paying your class fees like there’s no tomorrow. After all, the interest repayments alone are costing us about RM40,000, or 10 per cent of our expenditure this year.

That’s right, the class president has promised us that we’ll spend about RM400,000 as a class this year. Good news is, that’s about as much as we’ve actually spent as a class last year. Bad news is, he promised us that we’d only spend RM373,000 the year before.

So if we keep spending more than our president says we’ll spend, we’re looking at something actually closer to RM440,000 of spending money for his pet projects this year. I guess you know now why our class owes so much money, don’t you?

It’s okay, the president promised that the class fund will rake in RM330,000 of revenue this year — a third of which will come out of a hole in the ground that his father’s Patronus managed to dig about thirty-five years ago.

Look, there’s only three guys paying about RM11,000 each in class fees — you seriously can’t expect us to actually earn the money we’re making, do you? Us spending more money than we’re making is business as usual by now, you know; we’ve been doing it for thirteen years now and our class is still here. It’s not like our debt is going to reach a million ringgit or anything. And even if it does, we’ll be a developed class by then! I’m sure we’ll think of some way to pay it off.

I guess you would have realised by now that we still have a long way to go as a class. With 15 of our 21 working people unqualified for anything more than filing papers and driving lorries, and eight fit strong 1 Donesians waiting at the door to undercut us, I’m sure you can imagine why the guy at the back is waving his hand and suggesting that we decrease our class fund spending and focus it on upgrading the workforce and reducing foreign labour. But don’t listen to him. (I hear he poked his pencil up his best friend’s nose, or something.)

But, you know, our class president has the perfect solution! He’ll start all kinds of magnificent construction projects so that you can all get paid by your own class fund to pour concrete in the hot sun if you can’t find a job on your own — and just to prove that he cares about education, he’ll even build schools too!

And even though you may each have a household debt of RM20,000 and a class debt of RM15,500 to pay off on only RM900 income per capita per month, I’m sure our class president will find a way to settle all our problems — as long as you give him another five years to do it.

That’s right, he’s going to need a bit more time. I’m sure you’ll give it to him, right? Think of the RM100 you’re getting today. And with that, can I get you all to line up for your money? That’s my good little boys and girls. Remember to kiss his hand!

This is what our workforce and Budget would look like if Malaysia were a class of fifty students. To find the real figures, simply divide by fifty and multiply by 28.25 million where applicable, which is the population of Malaysia as at 2010. (The World Bank estimates it to be currently 28.4 million; this is an upward adjustment of about half a percent.)

The size of an average household in Malaysia is 4.3 people. Both of these numbers come from Malaysia’s Department of Statistics here; the other budget figures come from insightful analysis by REFSA, especially its Budget and pre-Budget focus papers.

Also, SJK stands for “Sekolah Jenaka Kelakar”, which indicates that this is a work of parody.

To those who may take offense at the class’s president allegedly resembling a certain gentleman in power, I can only say that a bitten chilli is the surest cause of a burning tongue.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 16 November 2011, 7:05 pm and is filed under
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Bantuan Khas Awal Persekolahan RM100

By P.P.

The purpose of this note is to share my thoughts with you.

Today my daughters received a notice from their teachers at school. My younger daughter studies at SK Taman Perling 1 and my elder daughter studies at SMK Dato Usman Awang (Perling 2). This notice was in reference to Bantuan Khas Awal Persekolahan where my daughters are entitled to RM100 each.

My younger daughter only received the note today and my elder daughter did not even receive a note but a mere announcement of the same.

This exercise requires the parents to be present with the child when the monies need to be collected. This is hardly fair given that the notice only comes the day before the event. What then happens to parents who cannot come, the school will not give the monies to the children alone.

My point is that due notice must be given to parents knowing that almost every household on the average has both parents working to support their families. This being so when due notice is given, parents can take time off to be with their children to collect these monies which can be useful.

Moreover, these events should be taking place during weekends where it would be easier for parents to attend. Most open days are held on weekends, I don’t see why this should be any different.

As for me, I have the privilege of taking time off to be at the event tomorrow but I feel sorry for those who will not get this opportunity because of the lack of time in notifying the parents.

I am very disappointed in the way the Education Department is handling this matter and I sincerely hope that change will be implemented soon for the benefit of all.

P.S might I suggest that when this exercise takes place again, the Education Ministry can give all student due notice to have an account set up under their names and have this information submitted with the ministry so that these funds can be credited into their accounts responsibly.

Yours Sincerely,

A Conerned Parent and would most probably set up a political party himself if the existing parties don’t buck up anytime soon to bring change to this Country.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 5:07 pm and is filed under
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DAP says toll extension punishes Penang folk

By
Shannon Teoh
 | November 17, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — The DAP said today PLUS Expressways is “cheating” the public especially Penang folk by extending toll collection on three highways as part of a deal that sees the highway concessionaire waive RM6.5 billion in compensation from the government.

Secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the 17-year toll extension on the Penang Bridge to 2038 was “in fact a toll increase.”

“What waiver? They are cheating. I thought only my children will pay the toll but now even my grandchildren will pay. This deal punishes Penangites,” the island’s chief minister told a press conference.

Publicity chief Tony Pua also said that with two of the three extensions affecting Penang specifically, “most of the burden of covering the waiver falls on Penangites.”

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP noted that toll on the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway will also be extended by 12 years to 2038, while that on the NSE Central Link would be extended by eight years.

Lim (picture), who is also Bagan MP, said that PLUS should stop collecting toll after collecting over RM24 billion from the North-South Expressway alone.

“The construction cost is only RM6 billion, so they’ve made over three times their cost,” he said.

UEM Group Berhad and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the new owners of the assets of PLUS Expressways, announced yesterday they had waived their right to some RM6.5 billion in compensation in exchange for extensions to the concession periods up to 2038 for the three highways.

UEM and EPF also said that toll increases for the North-South Expressway (NSE), the crown jewel of PLUS, will be lowered from 10 per cent every three years to five per cent at the same intervals, while the Penang Bridge will see no increase.

The government owed PLUS billions in compensation due to the decision to freeze unpopular toll hikes that were stipulated in the original concession agreement, until 2015.

Following the signing of the new agreements with the government last week, the revised concession agreements and assets will be placed under Project Lebuhraya Usahasama Berhad (PLUS Berhad), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PLUS Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

PLUS Malaysia is the investment vehicle owned 51 per cent by Khazanah subsidiary UEM Group and 49 per cent by EPF.

EPF and UEM had last November proposed to privatise PLUS Expressways for RM23 billion but with the condition that the toll concessions be revised.

With the revised concessions now agreed upon with the government, PLUS Malaysia will proceed to complete the acquisition of assets and liabilities of PLUS Expressways by next month, after which the latter will be delisted.

PLUS Expressways currently has about RM33 billion in outstanding loans.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 5:48 pm and is filed under
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Koh’s sacrifice, BN’s future

The Malaysian Insider

November 17, 2011

Fact is, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon’s fate was sealed the day Gerakan lost all its state seats and the government in Penang on March 8, 2008. It took him more than three years to realise that.

The Gerakan president’s announcement today that he will not contest in the next general election has been a foregone conclusion in Barisan Nasional (BN) circles for some time now. Both the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia and MCA-owned The Star have been harping on the party’s poor leadership and performance over the past few months that there is nothing shocking about Koh’s decision.

So what use is it to hold on to his political posts? Why remain Penang BN chief and state Gerakan boss?

In explaining his “ultimate sacrifice” today, Koh said he meant that he would continue devoting his time and energy to campaign for his party’s candidates in the coming polls. “When I talk about sacrifice, I am talking about time and energy for the party,” he said.

“I want to campaign for our candidates to win, instead of focusing on winning a seat just for myself.”

Koh also dismissed a suggestion that his decision today meant he was giving up without fight, pointedly reminding reporters of his years of sacrifice in Gerakan.

“Eh, I have fought seven elections you know… most of them were very tough fights. Go back to history and read about 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995… what happened. I am perhaps the only one who has fought Lim Kit Siang twice,” he said.

All well and good. But the reality is his decision will not have any impact on Gerakan’s or BN’s fortunes in the next polls. The ruling federal coalition needs to show it has transformed into a pact that serves the people rather than itself. Hanging on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s popularity will not help it regain the seats lost in Penang or elsewhere.

BN allowed Koh more than three years to see the light, that he shouldn’t contest any more in any election. There are a few other politicians in BN who need to face that reality too. BN needs to renew itself, find younger and more capable candidates or lose to a more nimble rival in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

It can’t be sentimental or rest on its laurels like Koh has done in declaring he has fought twice against Kit Siang. That was well and good in the past. Fact is, he lost in 2008. And not likely to win in the next elections.

The question now is, who does Gerakan or BN have to face the likes of Lim Guan Eng, Nurul Izzah Anwar or Khalid Samad? The only bright spark is the likes of Khairy Jamaluddin who recently tripped over cow poo.

This is Najib’s dilemma. Koh is out. A few more need to get out. And if he can get the young ones to stop tripping, perhaps BN will have a set of capable leaders for the next round. Perhaps.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 5:14 pm and is filed under
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Malays feel Penang under Chinese rule, survey shows

By
G. Manimaran, Bahasa Malaysia Editor
 | November 17, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Malay voters in Penang say the state is being run by the Chinese despite backing Lim Guan Eng over other leaders.

A survey of 720 Malay voters by researchers Ilham Centre found that when the island was under a Gerakan-led administration until 2008, Malays saw the Barisan Nasional (BN) government as being led by Umno.

“Lim Guan Eng (picture) is popular and respected for being humble, approachable and being on the ground. But because of the sentiment and prejudice from Umno, he is seen as a Chinese who is threatening Malays,” said the study on perceptions of Malay voters towards Penang and its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government.

It said this showed the media has indoctrinated Malays to see the current administration as “a Chinese or DAP government.”

“It is seen as a DAP, not a Pakatan Rakyat government,” the study concluded, despite nearly 30 per cent of respondents picking current Chief Minister Lim as the most popular and respected leader in the state.

The Malaysian Insider reported last month that a survey commissioned by the DAP showed that less than a third of Malays now back the party, down from nearly 50 per cent just a few months after Lim took office in 2008.

The DAP made a clean sweep of all seats it contested in the island and obliterated Gerakan in the process.

But Umno has eroded Malay support for PR with repeated claims that the coalition is anti-Malay.

Its newspaper Utusan Malaysia also claimed earlier this year that the DAP had conspired with the church to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.

The DAP has tried to reach out to Malays by recruiting Malay leaders such as Transparency International Malaysia founder Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim and Zairil Khir Johari.

Tunku Abdul Aziz is now a vice-chairman while Zairil, son of former Education Minister Tan Sri Khir Johari, is Lim’s political secretary.

The DAP secretary-general is followed by Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Mansor Othman, state Opposition Leader Datuk Azhar Ibrahim and Penang Umno chief Datuk Zainal Osman in popularity.

The study was conducted from October 7 to 9 and polled voters in the Kepala Batas and Tasek Gelugor federal constituencies and the Bayan Lepas state seat, all currently held by Umno.

Of the total, 43 per cent said they were Umno supporters while the rest were fencesitters.

The study also found that PAS was not seen as a champion for Malay-Muslims as its state leaders were not as popular as Umno’s.

“PAS under (state chief) Salleh Man is too weak and has failed to make PAS popular and respected whether in terms of welfare, community and sermons. PAS is seen as DAP’s puppets,” Ilham said.

The researchers also said two of the party’s top leaders who hail from Penang, deputy president Mohamad Sabu and central committee member Mujahid Yusof, are seen to be removed from Penang politics and not interested in helping Penang Malays.

It also said respondents did not see PKR as capable of helping the Malays as it is a multiracial party.

“(PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim is not seen as influential over the majority of Malay voters in Penang, just certain areas such as Permatang Pauh,” the study said.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 5:16 pm and is filed under
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NFC boss says twin cattle condos are rental cash cows

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 17, 2011

GEMAS, Nov 17 — Dogged by claims of irregularity, the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) finally broke its silence today to defend its purchase of  multi-million luxury condominum units in Bangsar as a “good business decision”.

In a press briefing opened to selected mainstream media organisations, its chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh reasoned that the investment had helped yield better returns for the NFC project compared to keeping the money in a bank.

It was also revealed then that the NFC owns two units at the upmarket condominium, as opposed to one as previously reported.

According to Berita Harian Online, however, Mohamad said the condominium units had cost over RM6 million each, instead of the RM9.8 million originally alleged by PKR.

Mohamad reportedly claimed that the money, if held in a bank, would have only yielded 2.6 per cent in annual returns.

“[Real estate investment] can generate annual profits of up to 12.9 per cent as well as cash rebates and rental yield of RM900,000 for the first year, which is channelled to the company and not to any individual,” the Malay daily quoted Mohamad as saying during the briefing.

The Berita Harian report, however, did not state if Mohamad, the husband of Cabinet Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, had explained whether the federally-funded National Feedlot Centre had been allowed to make such alternative investments.

“There are still many projects under the NFC that are yet to be carried out.

“As such, while waiting for their implementation, I figured the grant money that was yet to be used should be invested so we can generate profits,” he said.

Despite disputing PKR’s allegations of corruption against his company, Mohamad said he was yet to decide if he should take legal action against his accusers, particularly PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli.

“The whole family must sit together and discuss this before deciding further what action we should take,” the daily quoted him as saying.

PKR was first to expose details of the now-scandalised NFC project and recently revealed that Mohamad’s company had spent a whopping RM9.8 million to purchase the condominium unit.

Its secretary-general, Saifuddin Nasution, said the luxury apartment at One Menerung, Bangsar, was recorded by NFC, a cattle farming project managed by the minister’s family, as part of a RM83 million “loan” to NMLC.

But Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin savaged the party for the allegations, claiming the condo was bought as an investment when the NMLC found itself with excess funds when the government ran out of funds to develop satellite cattle farms.

Khairy has also claimed the condo had appreciated in value since it was purchased. He did not, however, specify the rental yield.

Many real estate experts have concluded that Kuala Lumpur is facing a glut of luxury properties, with rental yields falling as much as 50 per cent in some cases.

The Auditor-General’s Report released last month had criticised the NFC, pointing out that it was now “in a mess”. The report said production in 2010 was only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.

Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar, however, responded on October 31 that the project is a success and had met its targets.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 11:55 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan Rakyat MPs are the real heroes fighting for the interest of Malays and poor Malaysians

By Tony Pua

Pakatan Rakyat members of parliament have over the past 2 weeks exposed the fact that many of the goods sold in Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) were not only substandard, illegal and unhealthy, many of these products were also not cheaper than products sold in existing hypermarkets.

We were criticised by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister, Dato’ Ismail Sabri as being unfair by not comparing “apple to apple”, that is we should not be comparing 1Malaysia products with house-branded products from Tesco, Giant or Carrefour.

However, we have proven that the comparison was indeed not “apple to apple” for products such as the “oyster sauce” because the sauce from Tesco contained real oyster extracts, the 1Malaysia product had only flavouring and no oysters.

At the same time, the comparison of 1Malaysia milk powder with that of Nestlé’s Nespray 1+ demonstrated not only that the former is a far inferior product but also the fact that the latter was 24% cheaper.  The 1Malaysia milk powder was short of at least 15 legally required vitamins and minerals, deficient in calcium and iron and provided a 802% overdose of Vitamin A, putting at real risk our very young children.

Instead of facing up to the problems, Dato’ Ismail Sabri has chosen to go on an inflammatory rant calling Pakatan Rakyat MPs, DAP and myself racists for allegedly being anti-Malay in our exposés.

Dato’ Ismail Sabri said on his Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1631334090) and Twitter on Tuesday 15th November 2011 that

“tony phua DAP ni masih tk habis2 menfitnah KRIM. kini dgn tuduhan tdk berkualiti. semlm isu ini tlh dijwb oleh Mydin & pembekal IKS. jelas agenda DAP yg ingin menguburkan KRIM yg rata2 supplier nya terdiri dari IKS bumiputra. Rata2 pembeli nya terdiri dari gol berpendapatan rendah bumiputra. Mydin pun bumiputra. malangnya ada bumiputra spt nurul izah & zulkifli ‘menyalak’ bagi pihak DAP..”

The racist accusations made by the Minister is not only completely baseless, it is the complete opposite of what the Pakatan Rakyat MPs are trying to achieve.  By exposing the list of poor quality and illegal products which do not meet the minimum legal standards set out in the Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985, it is Pakatan Rakyat that is truly fighting for the interest of the mostly Malay consumers at KR1M as well as other poor Malaysians.

If not for our exposés, many Malays and poor Malaysians will still be consuming poor quality oyster sauce, evaporated millk, ice-cream, sardines and fruit jam sold at KR1M.  What is worse, if not for Pakatan Rakyat highlighting the shocking deficiencies of the 1Malaysia children’s milk powder which resulted in the product’s withdrawal yesterday, a whole generation of Malay and poor Malaysian children might end up suffering from malnutrition, disease and poor physical development.

It is the BN Ministers like Dato’ Ismail Sabri who are more than willing to sacrifice the interest of ordinary Malays and Malaysians by giving unsubstantiated “guarantees” on the quality of KR1M products and pander to the monetary and vested interest of certain businessmen.

The fact that Dato’ Ismail Sabri’s ministry is going to subsidize the KR1M stores to the tune of RM40 million in 2012 to sell some of these products to ordinary Malaysians without first ensuring strict quality control over the products shows that BN Ministers are only keep to score political goals with KR1M.  They are not at all interested in the welfare of Malaysians, especially the Malays, who will suffer the most.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011, 5:11 pm and is filed under
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Asia must safeguard its growth by protecting its people

By
Noeleen Heyzer
 | November 18, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

NOV 18 — While European and North American leaders struggle to regain fiscal credibility by cutting back social entitlements, those of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Bali this week at a historic turning point, an economic coming of age for their region, which may require them to move in the opposite direction.

Asia remains by far the most dynamic region in the world and the locomotive of global growth. Its growth rate is one and a half times that of any other region. But this growth has been accompanied by growing inequalities, and remains fragile.

The region’s recovery has come under pressure in recent months from multiple crises — increases in food and energy prices, the continuing global financial crisis, and severe disruptions in Japan and six ASEAN countries caused by adverse climate conditions and natural disasters. Because of these multiple shocks 42 million additional people will fall into poverty by the end of 2011, according to estimates by the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Governments in the region have tried to insure against volatility and shocks by building up huge foreign reserves, investing in infrastructure and improving regional connectivity. But this is not enough.

The fundamental challenge for the Asian economies is to quickly find new drivers of growth by creating a region-wide market which can replace the loss of demand from the debt-fuelled consumption of Western economies. In other words, Asia must rebalance its own growth and become more self-sustaining by investing in itself.

No longer able to depend on rapidly expanding exports to the rest of the world, Asia will have to rely instead on meeting more of the needs and security of its own citizens.

Indeed, this represents a historic opportunity for the region to invest in its own future. If development in Asia is more inclusive, and if many more people can escape from poverty, those people’s consumption can create vibrant new markets to drive national and regional socio-economic progress.

The cost of not investing in inclusive development is high. No country in the region can fulfil its potential or remain stable if it jeopardises the life chances of its people by failing to protect them from external risks.

The financial crisis attacking the real economy has highlighted the damage and risks of rapid unequal growth, particularly when this is not accompanied by investment in basic social infrastructure and redistributive policies.

The damage can be redressed only by investing in social protection systems and social policies that are not only directed at reducing poverty and vulnerability but also focused on developing resilient and productive societies capable of adapting creatively to the changes induced by globalisation, natural disasters and other external shocks.

These issues were discussed last week at the Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, at a session that I chaired on “Economic Growth and Social Protection in Asia”.

The participants, mainly experts and young leaders representing a wide range of Asian countries — from Afghanistan to Indonesia, from South Korea to Singapore — agreed that social protection must include the following: social insurance, to protect individuals against shocks or events that are likely to lower their living standards (such as ill-health, disability, unemployment, ageing); conditional or unconditional social assistance programmes to deliver certain benefits to selected vulnerable groups; and measures to ensure that individuals have access to labour markets and adequately remunerated employment.

An effective social protection system needs to be anchored within a well-articulated social policy framework, technically sound and politically supported. It must also be carefully crafted so as to avoid the unsustainable fiscal burden that many western economies have incurred.

By building its social foundation as an integral part of sustaining its economic dynamism, Asia has a historic opportunity to rebalance its development and truly become the anchor of stability in the twenty-first century. At the Summit, ASEAN leaders could begin this vital process.

________

* Noeleen Heyzer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 5:14 pm and is filed under
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Empty vessels make the most noise

By
Douglas Tan
 | November 18, 2011

Free Malaysia Today

Remember the adage: silence is golden? I’m sure many parents have taught their children that if you do not have anything nice to say, you should keep quiet.

However in politics these days, we have mud-slinging from both sides of the political divide.

It appears that the less relevant you have become, the more you have to shout at the top of your lungs.

For the MCA, it is able to see that it is fast disappearing off the political scene just like Gerakan.

The party has been criticised over the years for being gutless and pandering to the demands of Umno, just to ensure that it still gets a slice of the pie.

It arrogates to itself the divine duty of representing and fighting for Chinese interests in Malaysia. Are we still under the illusion that we need elected representatives of the same ethnicity?

If Barisan Nasional component parties still believe this after having the “1Malaysia” concept shoved down their throats and pinned on their lapels, it quickly becomes clear that they are only interested in serving themselves.

The Malaysian Chinese diaspora in Malaysia is made up of clans which include the Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Foochow, Teochew, among others. From the beginning, they settled in this country and worked hard to get to where they are today.

What has the community asked for? Just freedom to do business, educate their children well and be allowed to live and prosper.

However, even going back to the days when Umno pushed forward the NEP (New Economic Policy), did the MCA speak up at all?

Bashing the DAP

Nowadays, the MCA has resorted to attacking the DAP at every opportunity it gets.

Not a day goes by without Dr Chua Soi Lek or Wee Ka Siong making a press statement in The Star and the Chinese language press about the “shortcomings” of the DAP, with their favourite targets being Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh.

Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have been a constant thorn in the side of the MCA. Due to the consistency of the DAP as both a party and a state government, the MCA has struggled to find issues to harp on. So it brings up old issues or flogs dead ones.

Wee has just hit out at Karpal, after the latter expressed his support for Anwar Ibrahim to be the next prime minister.

Going back to the Sept 16, 2008 fiasco, Karpal was not impressed that Anwar wanted to form a government with frogs coming over from the Barisan Nasional. This issue has been long resolved as the event has already taken place.

When you have dissenting voices within a coalition, this is normal and healthy as a form of public debate. Throughout this entire episode, not once did the DAP say that it would abandon Pakatan Rakyat.

Wee represents a party which has no say, so expressing its own views on national issues is an alien concept.

Hudud again?

Not stopping there, Wee then continues to flog the hudud horse and how it would infringe on the rights of non-Muslims.

After discussing the matter with several Malay friends and colleagues, it is clear that the principle of hudud is seriously misunderstood.

The MCA is guilty of propagating misinformation in order to make its position look better.

Although opposition parties are not immune from doing this, at the very least the MCA could be creative about it, apart from its “No to Hudud” and “No to DAP” campaign.

The DAP and PAS have already reached a consensus about the issue. Constitutionally, it has been clearly established that hudud cannot be implemented.

Despite this, the debate rages on, fuelled by the irresponsibility of BN component parties, especially the MCA, to spook the non-Muslim community.

Looking like fools

It is evident that when DAP and PAS do something, the MCA will be the first one to jump on them. But on issues of national importance, such as the irregularities exposed by the Auditor-General in his report, the scandals overseen by several ministries and Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s RM10 million condominium in Bangsar, the MCA remains as quiet as a mouse.

If you want to debate about integrity, why not show some? This is because MCA knows that if it voices out any dissent against its Umno masters, it would be cast out to the side of the road.

MCA has shown that it is completely incapable of voicing out on issues which are important to ordinary Malaysians, but is more interested in engaging in politicking.

When MCA central committee member Ei Kim Hock mentioned that overseas Malaysians do not deserve to vote because they are out of touch with the real issues, it became obvious that the party itself is out of touch.

The party earned the ire of the NGO Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Australia (SABMoz) as well as other groups, all saying that it (voting) is a basic right enshrined in our Federal Constitution.

It is clear that the move is purely political, as the MCA knows that overseas voters are more likely to vote against them. As a result, it is far more important to preserve its political position than uphold the constitution.

Chua was too late with damage control and conjures up an absurd notion that the logistics would be impractical.

All we have to do is to take a leaf out of the book of the Australians, British or Americans who regularly vote at foreign missions.

If it is anyone who would find it a logistics nightmare, it would be the Americans by the sheer size and population of the country, but they cope just fine. If a country of 300 million people can do it, handling 28 million citizens should be a piece of cake, right?

MCA leaders are brilliant con artists, having deceived the people for so many years that they are a credible force.

One would sincerely hope we have woken up, and no longer tolerate their hollow talk. It is for the better. Goodbye, MCA. Thank you for the music.

Douglas Tan obtained his law degree from the University of Nottingham and currently works in the manufacturing industry. He is an FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 12:03 pm and is filed under
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It’s a mad, mad world

By
Zairil Khir Johari
 | November 18, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.
 So goes the ancient phrase that has, throughout the millennia, remained an appropriate and relevant dictum to this very day.

The systemic trait of madness has been an inherent hallmark of declining autocratic regimes since time immemorial. Take, for example, the story of the Roman emperor Caligula, whose reign began with much promise and great popularity, but who quickly succumbed to the luxuries of power and who, towards the end of his short-lived rule, attempted to appoint his favourite horse as a consul of the Roman Senate.

And then of course there is the late totalitarian President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan who, apart from styling himself Turkmenbashi (Leader of Turkmens), also deigned to rename calendar months after members of his own family, in addition to outlawing long hair and beards for Turkmen men and advising the citizenry to gnaw on bones in order to strengthen their teeth, because apparently it works for dogs.

History is rife with more examples of self-aggrandising eccentricities and excesses by leaders inebriated by power. Of the African and Middle Eastern variety, we have colourful characters such as the tyrannical Ugandan President Idi Amin, who insisted on being called the King of Scotland and Conqueror of the British Empire, and of course the recently-deceased erratic demagogue Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his coterie of 40 virgin Amazon bodyguards.

Closer to home, who can forget the epitome of public extravagance, Imelda Marcos? The Filipino Iron Butterfly was the pillar supporting her husband’s iron-fisted rule, while making headlines for her multi-million dollar shopping sprees and famed collection of 2,700 pairs of shoes.

The lesson to bear in mind, however, is the fact that every single one of the above megalomaniacal regimes eventually found themselves pulled, almost willingly, into an inescapable whirlpool of self-destruction. Truly, delusion and egomania are signs of a waning regime.

In our own country, 54 years of single-party incumbency is now unravelling and showing similar symptoms. After many failed attempts, a scheme to construct a monolithic dam in Bakun, Sarawak was put into motion, with the outlandish idea of sending hydroelectricity to the peninsula via 670 kilometres of undersea cables.

A decade later, after billions of ringgit in cost overruns and the successful displacement of 10,000 indigenous people, we have a spectacular white mammoth (an elephant in this case an unbefitting term) that can produce 2,400 MW of electricity for a state that would be hard-pressed to consume even half that amount.

At the very least, the untenable idea of sending electricity through cables on the seabed has been safely buried, along with a crooked bridge that an infamous prime minister wanted to build halfway to Singapore. Remember that one?

Another rampant scam involving public funds is the Port Klang Free Zone fiasco, where at least RM12.5 billion of public funds has been squandered in an elaborate scheme that involves a trail of prominent characters leading all the way to the federal Cabinet. False claims, payments for imaginary works and ministerial “support letters” are all part of the unfolding drama.

Daylight robbery in this country is also often accompanied by grandiose acts of personal extravagance, such as a late Selangor state assemblyman who (illegally) built a 16-bedroom palatial mansion in the midst of a low-income working-class neighbourhood, complete with a tower that loomed condescendingly over his fiefdom.

But he was really only trying to emulate his boss the former mentri besar who, besides constructing an even larger palace, also spent millions of state funds on purported “study trips” to Europe, Hawaii and Disneyland with his family.

With the very public exposure of such brazen acts of abuse of power and shameless showboating of ill-gotten wealth, one would think that there would at least be an attempt to exercise more caution and stealth. But of course, madness is necessarily irrational.

And so we come to the latest mind-boggling scandal, in which public money in the form of a RM250 million soft loan and a large expanse of state land have been directly awarded to a Cabinet minister’s family for the purpose of developing a mega cattle-rearing project.

Lurid details emerging from this scandal are shocking to say the least. Not only has the Auditor-General’s Report exposed the failure of the company to achieve its targets and, at the very least, to upkeep its land and facilities, it now appears that money has instead been used to purchase a premium condominium in the city.

Allegations also abound of numerous personal transactions and even family holidays at the company’s expense. Indeed, the term “family business” in this case also takes on a wholly literal meaning, with the minister’s husband sitting as chairman, her eldest son as CEO and the rest of her kids as executive directors.

Yet the issue at hand is not so much the gross mishandling of public funds, which is standard fare, but the blatant manner in which it has been carried out and the unabashed audacity of the minister’s response, having been quoted as saying that her family “deserves it because they work very hard.”

The wanton madness of power is now taking its course on the rulers of our country. Purchasing luxury condos with money meant for cattle may not quite compare to appointing a horse to the Senate, but the symptoms are veritably obvious.

In Barisan Nasional’s mad, mad world, it would seem that the end is nigh.

________

Zairil Khir Johari is a chocolate purveyor, chicken rice enthusiast and noodle lover. When he’s not preoccupied with any of the above, he is also a politician.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 11:07 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s economy likely to slow despite earlier boom

By
Debra Chong
 | November 18, 2011

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Malaysia should brace for a protracted economic slump despite the expected announcement today that its economy has grown by up to 4.8 per cent in the past three months, analysts have warned, as the mushrooming debt cloud from the US and Europe spreads eastwards.

As the country heads into the last six weeks of the year, Bloomberg News reported today that most Asian currencies have been falling in the past three months on concern the nations that led the recovery from the 2009 global recession will falter.

“It’s part of monetary easing if they let their currencies weaken,” the business news agency reported United Overseas Bank economist Ho Woei Chen as saying.

The ringgit has fallen more than five per cent in the past three months while the Thai baht has weakened 3.3 per cent but neither countries have cut their rates even as Indonesia and Australia lowered borrowing costs in this last quarter.

“Probably they are not cutting interest rates that aggressively but letting their currency depreciate,” Ho said, adding he expects Malaysia and Thailand to highlight the risks to growth going forward.

Citing United Overseas Bank Ltd, Bloomberg reported that policymakers throughout the region may allow more weakening to support non-oil exports to Europe and the US, which have been crashing across the board in Singapore.

The republic’s main electronics sector has been battered and dropped by 31 per cent last month compared to the same period last year due to poor demand for disk drives and integrated circuits which plunged more than 50 per cent.

Analysts observed that Malaysia’s growth spurt in the last quarter was due to its strong domestic demand and export before the sovereign debt-crisis deepened in Europe.

Investment experienced a sprint in Southeast Asia’s third- largest economy since the Najib administration last year identified US$444 billion (RM1.37 trillion) worth of private sector-led projects to spur growth, Bloomberg reported.

International Business Machines Corp (IBM), Toshiba Corp and Agilent Technologies Inc are among the companies that have pledged new investments here.

Exports grew at the fastest pace in more than a year in September as companies shipped abroad more electronics and commodities.

But the analysts also warned that the growth could be stunted if the external sectors spilled over into the domestic economy.

“Supply chain disruptions stemming from Thai floods may depress industrial production in the short run,” reported Bloomberg, quoting Daniel Wilson, an analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 5:11 pm and is filed under
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Muhyiddin’s folly

—
Ali Kadir

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 18, 2011

NOV 18 — Now I know why Najib Razak is always out of the country: the prime minister wants to show us what he also knows — that he has a pretty mediocre deputy.

Muhyiddin Yassin is at best of mentri besar quality, but unfortunately because of the dysfunctional system of Umno’s president and deputy president being given the number one and number two leadership posts in Malaysia, Muhyiddin is one position away from being the PM.

His handling of the National Feedlot Corporation scandal has been ridiculous and shifty. From the beginning he has tried to shift the responsibility of explaining the project to Noh Omar and others but he was the man who helmed the Agriculture Ministry which promoted and endorsed this project!!!

Today, he is quoted as saying that he leaves it to the public to accept or reject the explanation put forward by Mohamed Salleh of the National Feedlot Corporation but quickly says that as far as the government is concerned, these are all stories created by the Opposition.

Really? But the failure of the feedlot project was highlighted by the Auditor General, not Anwar Ibrahim or Lim Kit Siang.

And the last time I checked, it was Mohamed Salleh and family who bought that plush condominium in Bangsar.

In addition, it was not Anwar or Nik Aziz who paid RM26,000 to cover the expenses of their spouses but rather the NFC which paid the expenses of Shahrizat Jalil, the Cabinet minister.

The sad fact is that Muhyiddin has stopped representing the people and has abdicated his role as guardian of public finances.

He can’t even acknowledge wrongdoing and mismanagement when it stares him in the face.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 11:49 pm and is filed under
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NFC beat target, says Shahrizat’s husband

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 17, 2011

GEMAS, Nov 17 — The controversial national cattle farming project went beyond its set target, chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail said today, disputing a federal audit describing the scheme as being “in a mess”.

“In fact, [National Feedlot Corporation (NFC)] has raised 8,016 head of cattle in 2010, surpassing its target of 8,000 head of cattle. We are importing cattle from Australia and we have to feed them for between four and six months.

“We do not slaughter them soon after arrival,” Mohamad Salleh, husband to Cabinet Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil, was reported saying in a Bernama Online report today.

Today was the first time Mohamad had spoken up on the brewing scandal that began after the RM250 million federally-funded project made it into the pages of the Auditor-General’s Report for 2010.

The report released last month had criticised the NFC, pointing out that it was now “in a mess”. It further said production in 2010 was only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.

Mohamad’s figures today echoed Agriculture Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar’s interpretation of the project’s objectives

Noh previously informed the Auditor-General “the total number of cattle brought into the farm was 8,016 between 2008 and 2010.”

“Of that total, 5,742 were slaughtered up to November 2010. Therefore, the target of 8,000 cattle by 2010 was met. It (the NFC project) is a success,” Noh told Parliament on October 31.

The project operated by Mohamad and his two children ran into further controversy when PKR revealed that RM9.8 million from government loans to the corporation was used to buy a luxury condominium unit in Bangsar.

During a press conference today, Shahrizat’s husband disputed PKR’s numbers and said the project had purchased not one but two units of the condominium, adding that these had cost over RM6 million each.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin earlier defended the condominium purchase as an investment when the project found itself with excess liquidity after the government ran out of funds to develop satellite cattle farms.

Mohamad today called the decision to purchase the two condo units “a good business decision” that reportedly yielded a claimed RM900,000 in rental and developer rebates during the first year.

Despite clamour for the project to be investigated for irregularities, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has passed the case to the police by saying the matter should be probed under the Penal Code.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar today said, however, that he has yet to receive anything on the matter from the MACC.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 18 November 2011, 12:00 am and is filed under
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Its Muhyiddin and not Noh Omar who should answer whether the decision to award NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings

The Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Seri Noh Omar  has denied that the decision to award the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project was discussed during Cabinet meetings.

He said: “I can confirm that NFC is under the High-Impact Projects Committee and at the time of the loan approval to NFC, that was not under the Cabinet, not (mentioned) in the meetings.”

It’s the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the Agriculture Minister in 2006 and who was responsible for the approval of the NFC project, who should answer whether the decision to award the NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings as Noh Omar only became Minister after the March 2008 general elections – and  whether it gave rise to “conflict-of-interest” situations involving the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family responsible for the NFC project.

Muhyiddin should also explain whether he and his Ministry were aware of the involvement of Shahrizat’s family when his Ministry made the NFC award.

As pointed out by the Auditor-General’s Report 2010, approval of  the NFC, which the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFCorp) website described as “a High-Impact Project under the Ninth Malaysia Plan….instrumental in attaining the 40% self-sufficiency for beef production by 2010”, was approved way back in 2006.

The NFC has lived up to its reputation as a “high impact project” although in a very perverse manner, not in terms of fulfilling its objective to attain 40% self-sufficiency for beef production by 2010 but in raising the hosts of issues about government efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, transparency and integrity in the past month since the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report focussed spotlight on its operations.

The controversial RM250 million “soft loan” to NFCorp, leading to the highly questionable purchase of two luxury condominiums completely at variance with the objective of NFC, is not the only public expenditure on the NFC project.

From 2007 to 2010, the government had spent RM48.71 million to develop the project.  The government has also given a RM13 million launching grant to NFCorp.

This means that the  total public outlay in the controversial NFC project exceeded RM300 million.

Two days ago, the NFCorp executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail finally broke the 23-day silence of NFCorp but instead of being the last word to end the raging RM300 million NFC scandal, Salleh has opened up a Pandora’s Box raising even more questions waiting to be answered.

For instance, although Salleh claimed that NFCorp started in 2009,  in actual fact it was offered to be the NFC Integrator on 27th October 2006 and as stated by the website of  Real Food Company (one of the subsidiaries of NFCorp) on the launching of Gemas Gold Meats as Malaysia’s “premium brand of quality meats”

“A range of chilled beef products wholly produced by National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), Gemas Gold Meats has been penetrating into the market since 2008 under the house brand of NFC. This was done while building operations integrity, gain consumer confidence and establish a larger customer base.”

Salleh disputed the Auditor General’s 2010 Report which criticised the NFC as “a mess”, pointing out that it had failed to achieve the 2010 production target of 8,000 head of cattle – with only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.

It is not surprising that Salleh contested this but what is astonishing is that the NFCorp executive chairman seems to have the support of the Muhyiddin and Noh Omar, with the latter even claiming that the NFC was a “success” despite the strictures of the Auditor-General’s 2010 Report.

Malaysians would like to know from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak whether his slogan of “People First, Performance Now” has real meaning and whether he is on the same wavelength with the majority of people who are shocked by the RM300 million NFC scandal and want the Prime Minister to sternly and unequivocally dissociate himself from the “mess”, whether on government efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, transparency or integrity questions.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 November 2011, 3:54 pm and is filed under
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Spain struggles to find lenders, despite high interest rates

By
Michael Birnbaum,

Washington Post

November 17, 2011

MADRID — As Europe’s debt crisis escalates, investor fears are also rising, making it increasingly difficult for some countries to raise money to pay their bills. That dying demand, despite the record-high interest rates they are being forced to pay, is raising concern that those nations could face a credit freeze similar to the one that brought the world’s economy to its knees in 2008.

Spain is the latest country to try to borrow, only to find few takers. In an auction of its bonds on Thursday, Spain fell $600 million short of its goal. Demand was the lowest since the depths of the 2008 recession — even though the nation’s bonds are paying the highest interest rates since it joined the euro more than a decade ago. An earlier auction this week also raised less money than the nation had hoped.

The situation in Spain raised new alarms about the European debt crisis and helped drive U.S. stocks lower Thursday. By mid-afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index were down nearly 2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was off more than 2.2 percent.

The lack of willing lenders could send countries into bankruptcy faster than the high interest rates alone, analysts say, because countries can typically withstand a temporary spike in borrowing costs. But if they can’t find anyone to lend to them at any price, that’s a sign of more dire straits, because unlike most countries that can print money in an emergency, they have no lender of last resort.

Fewer investors lining up for Spanish bonds “is worrying,” said Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics. “That does suggest that even though the government is paying out a quite high interest rate, there’s still limited demand,” though he noted that the timing of when Spain’s big debts come due means it can probably hold out against the market for months.

An election Sunday will likely bring a tidal wave of support for a new conservative Spanish government that analysts expect will impose economic reforms — so long as worries in the rest of the euro zone don’t sweep across its border first.

Germany and France, the countries at Europe’s core, have been having an increasingly public debate over whether to have the European Central Bank guarantee that it would buy the debt of troubled euro zone countries — thus cutting the liquidity risk that countries like Spain are trying to contain.

France, facing a spike in borrowing costs despite being one of the euro zone’s two heavyweights, desperately wants to give the central bank sweeping new powers to intervene in the crisis.

“We consider that the best way to avoid contagion is to have a solid firewall” provided by the bank, said French Finance Minister Francois Baroin in a speech in Paris late Wednesday, Bloomberg reported. “We haven’t won the argument.”

In Germany, where deep fears of inflation have prompted more fiscal conservatism than in neighboring countries, Chancellor Angela Merkel held firm in a speech Thursday against the rising demands from the rest of Europe. Condemning Europe’s focus on “one quick solution after another,” Merkel said that if the bank were to step in now, it would provide short-term calm at the expense of long-term competitiveness, the Associated Press reported.

She even went so far as to compare the prospect of central bank intervention to her native communist East Germany, saying that when the Iron Curtain fell in 1990, she “saw the chance . . . to switch to more competitive surroundings — which I’ve found good for 21 years now.”

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 November 2011, 12:06 am and is filed under
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Unscrupulous actions, unethical behaviour

by
P Ramakrishnan

19 November 2011

Wild tales are being told and blatant lies are being spread with impunity. What is being done is to deliberately create uneasiness, anger and hatred against the Christians and their faith in order to undo our peace and unity.

Christian bashing has become a way of life for some unscrupulous people that their conduct seriously threatens to undermine our harmony. It would appear that these people are intent on causing chaos to promote their evil political agenda on behalf of the Barisan Nasional and Umno.

All kinds of absurd rumours have been spread to suggest that there is a conspiracy to turn Malaysia into a Christian state. Accusations have been levelled that rampant attempts are underway to convert Muslims to Christianity.

On 5 November 2006, the mufti of Perak, Harussani Zakaria, spread a malicious and vicious rumour that a church in Ipoh was conducting a baptism ceremony for Muslims. As a result, about 300 Muslims gathered at the Ipoh church in Jalan Silibin to protest against the ‘conversion’, forcing the police to be called in. This incident could have led to an ugly religious clash.

According to Sisters in Islam (SIS) programme manager Norhayati Kaprawi, “this is not the first time the mufti has made careless statements and allegations.” She cited a number of previous statements made by the mufti, including in February where Harussani claimed that between 100000 and 250000 Muslims had renounced Islam.

To date he has not been able to furnish any proof for his outlandish claim, which had the potential to outrage Muslim sensibilities. He did not even do the decent thing that is expected of a person who had genuinely committed an error. There was no remorse; there was no apology.

The latest claims by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) – that it had found that eight ways by which Christian missionaries are spreading the Gospel, one of which is by means of a high-tech device called a ‘Solar-Powered Handheld Talking Bible’ – is ridiculous and appalling.

Selangor state exco member in charge of Islamic affairs Hassan Ali revealed that the other ways in which the ‘Good Word’ is being spread to convert Muslims include setting up welfare groups to extend financial and other forms of assistance to single mothers, the poor, the elderly and others.

He further stated that, in addition to cash, inducements by Christians to the target groups also come in the form of the provision of daily necessities, capital for business purposes and other aid.

If Hassan has so much irrefutable evidence, then he should make a police report. It is a moral responsibility that he should exercise immediately. Very likely, the police will spring into action. In matters of this nature, we can expect the police to be super efficient.

If indeed there was evidence, then the culprits attempting to convert the Muslims should be prosecuted. Aliran very strongly supports such prosecution for any violations of the law.

The very fact that no one has been charged so far would mean that Hassan and the others of his ilk should stop talking nonsense and behave in a reverential manner befitting their religious personage. They bring shame to their office and lose their dignity and they can never be looked upon as respected religious leaders.

This unverified wild claim of conversions to Christianity raises a very pertinent question. Is the faith of the Muslims so weak and superficial that Muslims can be so easily swayed, induced and bribed to renounce their faith in spite of the fact “the al-Quran is disseminated through loud speakers, television, radio and at government functions,” as pointed out by former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin?

Doesn’t this situation call for some soul searching as to why – in spite of great efforts made and billions of ringgit spent on building mosques, suraus, madrasahs, religious instructions, al-Quran reading competitions – all this had failed to strengthen the faith of the Muslims? Does this suggest that the method of religious teachings undertaken to instil the Islamic faith among the Muslims is either totally wrong or utterly ineffective.

The Attorney-General should have instituted action against those for spreading false information. Their act was blatant, unscrupulous and demeaning to Islam. Wasn’t Lim Guan Eng made to serve 18 months of imprisonment for ‘spreading false information’? Why didn’t he deserve the tolerance that these people seem to be enjoying and benefiting from?

The Prime Minister should take to task these people who spread false information so that others will not be reckless in stating things that are far removed from truth. He has a moral responsibility to safeguard truth and justice in the national interest and preserve our peace and harmony.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 November 2011, 4:44 pm and is filed under
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Something is rotten in the state of Malaysia

—
CL Tang

The Malaysian Insider

Nov 19, 2011

NOV 19 — The line “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, expressed by Marcellus to Hamlet, was in response to the former’s disgust at the moral decay and political corruption in the little kingdom.

In Malaysia, even as the foul stench of the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) financial shenanigans permeates throughout the country, our leaders fail to smell anything fishy, leading to the question: “Do our leaders have any ounce of ethics left?”

This NFC fiasco has all the ingredients of cronyism, nepotism, corruption, incompetence and fraud.

Yet, there is no Marcellus in our government who thought it stank.
 Could this be because this is the normal practice in our government ministries? That it is OK to award a RM250 million cattle project to a company with no experience whatsoever, in which the Auditor-General slammed as “in a mess”, whose owners happen to be the family members of a federal minister, and in which the board diverted national funds to purchase luxury condominiums against the mandate in which it was given?

To these damning revelations, our government says: “What’s the problem? These are hardworking people! Stop complaining and smell the roses!”

As we ordinary Malaysians struggle to maintain our real incomes and spending power in the face of rising prices, we look at despair at the cavalier “tidak-apa” response by the government when hundreds of millions of our money are being misused, squandered and wasted.

The average Malaysian taxpayer can expect swift, punitive and legal consequences when he underpays, yet when tens of millions of our hard-earned money is so blatantly abused, we see a game of musical chairs as the institutions that are supposed to protect our tax money scurry from their responsibilities, as if they were afraid of offending the perpetrator.

To be sure, we do not begrudge those who made their wealth through hard work, and those who took risks with their capital. But this NFC episode surely takes the cake. Is it any wonder that the average urban taxpayer has the perception that in Malaysia business is rigged in favour of the political elite? That one can attain great riches not because of competency or intellect, but because your wife happens to be a federal minister or that your father is an Umno or MCA bigwig?

Indeed, incompetency and failure by these cronies are bizarrely rewarded with bailouts. And when the rakyat questions this, the standard modus operandi is first deny that it is a failure — “mana ada masalah?” (the Auditor-General is mistaken because he does not know how to count cows); then decry it as a (take your pick) sexist, racist or religious slander by the opposition.

The way the BN politicians are behaving, it would seem they believe the adage that “Malaysians easily forget”. Don’t comment on it, let the issue die by itself.

We cannot allow them to take us for fools for even a minute longer. Despite all this talk about transformation and transparency, it is business as usual for these political masters and their cronies. The lack of action by the government in response to this NFC saga aptly reveals that the government we have is nothing more than a private, cosy club that dishes out lucrative contracts and concessions to their family members, relatives and cronies.

It is time those politicians who plunder our treasury at will without fear of repercussions were held accountable.

Something sure stinks in the state of Malaysia, and Malaysians must stop putting up with these bull shit. It is time to harness all our anger, despair and sheer frustration, and send a loud message to these inept BN politicians that their time is over in the next general election.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 November 2011, 9:28 am and is filed under
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Would Muhyiddin have said in 2006 that it was legally, morally and ethically proper for NFC to use 2%-interest RM250 million  soft-loan to buy condos?

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said that it was up to the public whether they wanted to accept the explanation given for the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) “cattle condo” scandal.

Saying that the government “already knows the facts”,  Muhyiddin had this to say  after the NFC executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail had broken his three-week silence on the “cattle condo” scandal:

“We will leave that to the people to decide whether to accept the NFC’s explanation or not because the NFC has explained each issue that has surfaced.

“For us, the government, we know the truth. We don’t buy stories made up by the Opposition.”

Muhyiddin cannot be more wrong.

Malaysians not only want to hear what the NFC has got to say, but also what the government and in particular the Ministers directly involved in the RM300 million NFC scandal have got to say.

For instance, Muhyiddin was the  Agriculture Minister who approved the RM300 million NFC project in 2006.

Would Muhyiddin have said in 2006 when approving the NFC project in 2006 that it was legally, morally and ethically proper for NFC to use 2%=interest RM250 million  soft-loan to buy condos?

In fact, that is a question every Cabinet Minister must now answer, especially as Muhyiddin claims that the government “know the truth” –  whether they think it is proper for NFC to use a 2%-interest soft loan meant to promote cattle production to achieve greater beef self-sufficiency to buy two  luxury  condominiums, whether this is not criminal breach of trust and a gross abuse of powers and public funds?

Muhyiddin should realise that it is not just the NFC executive chairman Salleh and his wife, the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who are in the dock, Muhyiddin and the entire present Cabinet are also in the dock over the NFC  “cattle condo” scandal!

It is clear that the Auditor-General was unaware of the NFC’s “cattle condo” scandals when conducting audit  of the National Feedlot Centre project from January to March 2011 or his strictures would be more scathing than describing it as a “mess” and having failed to achieve the 2010 production target of 8,000 head of cattle,  with only 3,289 head of cattle or 41.1 per cent of the target set.

As Salleh has said that NFC has nothing to hide, he should volunteer to appear before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) which is meeting on Wednesday on the NFC issue, to put to rest all questions of impropriety, accountability and integrity swirling about the National Feedlot Centre and the NFC.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 November 2011, 11:22 am and is filed under
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Let Muhyiddin explain to PAC why the RM300 million NFC project he approved in 2006 has become such a mess and scandal

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidddin Yassin is the current Cabinet Minister  most responsible for the RM300 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project, as he approved it in 2006 as the then Agriculture Minister.

Muhyiddin should appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)on Wednesday when it examines the issue to explain why the cattle production project has become such a mess and scandal, beyond the worst fears of the Auditor-General’s Report 2010 as it is  snowballing everyday to expose layer after layer of scandalous transactions.

The Auditor-General Report 2010 on the continuing horror stories about  misappropriation and  waste of public funds,  criminal breach of trust, negligence and gross abuses of power is a damning indictment on the first full-year Najib premiership demonstrating that nothing has really  changed despite grandiloquent sloganeering of “1Malaysia, People’s First, Performance Now” in terms of government efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, transparency and integrity.

However, it is an even greater indictment on the Deputy Prime Minister as it exposes his personal and direct Ministerial responsibility for the RM300 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) and National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandals as it was during his tenure as Agriculture Minister that the troubled and  controversial project was approved.

Who  else apart from Muhyiddin  should bear the full and final responsibility for the NFC “mess”  where the objective of the project on cattle production to boost the nation’s beef self-sufficiency could go so wrong as  NFC not only failed to meet this target,  the RM250 million 2%-interest soft loan had been  diverted not only to buy two luxury condominiums in Bangsar but also for other dubious transactions  as exposed by PKR Secretary-General and MP Saifuddin Nasution and PKR chief of strategy Rafizi Ramli.

NFCorp was awarded the NFC project on 27th October 2006 and the RM250 million 2%-interest soft loan for NFCorp was signed on 6th December 2007 – both falling within the period when  Muhyiddin was the Agriculture Minister.

Undoubtedly, Muhyiddin is more responsible for the NFC scandal than the current Agriculture Minister, Datuk Noh Omar.

As Minister directly responsible for the NFC scandals, Muhyiddin should have explained in the past month of deepening controversy over the NFC scandal  why government scrutiny, supervision and monitoring of the project and in particular the RM250 million soft loan was so lax or even non-existent  as to allow such gross breach of trust and abuse of public funds to take place?

Instead, Muhyiddin kept a discreet silence, leaving to others like Noh Omar and the NFCorp executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail, the husband of Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, to do all the explaining.

But only Muhyiddin himself can explain his Ministerial lapses which have resulted in the RM300 million NFC project becoming such a mess and scandal today!

Let Muhyiddin  appear before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC)  to explain his sins of commission or omission as Agriculture Minister  before the 2008 general elections resulting in the NFC scandals – and let him explain the extent of Cabinet involvement or  approval for the NFC project.

There is one preliminary matter on conflict-of-interest which the PAC would have to address before it proceeds to deal with the NFC scandals:  whether the PAC Chairman, Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid should excuse himself from the PAC examination of the NFC scandals, as Azmi  was  a Cabinet Minister in the operative time of the approval of the NFC project – making him to a party to any Cabinet decision on the NFC project.

Can Azmi categorically declare that he was not involved in any way in any Cabinet approval or discussion of the NFC project before he was dropped from the Cabinet after the March 2008 general election when he was not re-appointed to the  Cabinet?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 November 2011, 4:18 pm and is filed under
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