How the travel crackdown is affecting North American debate on Islam

ERASMUS

Economist

Feb 1st 2017

Why Muslim pundits feel let down

AMIR AHMAD NASR is about as pro-Western as anyone born deep inside the world of Islam could possibly be. Born to Sudanese parents whose professional lives took them to many countries, he is bilingual in Arabic and American English. He believes passionately in liberal democracy and the free exchange of ideas. He has no patience with those who think that authoritarian systems of government, whether secular or Islamist, are better suited to certain countries. The globe-trotting author and digital activist has recently settled, gratefully, in Canada.

Mr Nasr used his Western freedom to do something that he could not have managed if he were still living in the Islamic heartland. With disarming humour, he described his own spiritual path in a successful book with an almost self-explanatory title,
“My Islam: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind and Doubt Freed My Soul”
. This recounts how he went through a phase of believing not only in Islam’s literal truth but in the duty to despise people outside the tent of strict Sunni orthodoxy, and then his evolution through many stages into what he calls himself now: a cultural Muslim and spiritual humanist.

Until very recently, this 31-year-old public intellectual had every reason to expect that his home in western Canada would be a good vantage point for lectures and book tours in the United States. But thanks to President Donald Trump’s travel crackdown, that hope has for the forseeable future been dashed. He feels horribly let down: “I understand there are real security threats facing the US, but this sham of a ban will not do anything to make America safer. It will validate the vile and deceitful narrative peddled by ISIS: that America is waging a war against Islam.”

Elsewhere in the North American commentariat, and especially among those who study and teach Islam (including Islamic law, philosophy, history and so on) for a living, there is a similar level of frustration and disappointment. In campuses across the United States, promising young scholars doing doctoral or post-doctoral work face the prospect of having to interrupt their studies because they come from one of the seven affected countries. Within hours of the travel ban being announced, the Iranian wife of a doctoral student at Ohio State University was detained on arrival in New York, prompting a state senator and the college’s president to protest on her behalf. The American Academy of Religion, a learned society grouping 8,500 members, complained that the travel crackdown “strikes at the heart of its mission” which was to foster excellence in the study of religion and promote public understanding. The ban threatened to “poison…the public’s understanding of Islam in particular and religion in general,” it said in a statement.

As one immediate result, the travel crackdown is forcing the diversion of some academic events from America to the more liberal atmosphere of Canada, which seems not to have been dented by the killings at a mosque in Quebec City. An Ivy League law school is understood to be raising funds to switch a long-planned conference to a Canadian campus.

At least until recently, academia in Anglophone North America was a more-or-less seamless web, with scholars happily dividing their studies and careers between the two places. Certainly the reaction against the shutdown has been a continent-wide phenomenon, according to Mohammad Fadel, an associate law professor at the University of Toronto, whose early life and research were spent in the United States. (He ponders the compatibility of Western political philosophy with Islamic law and thought.) “North American universities have reacted quickly to defend their students and teaching staff who are nationals of the targeted states,” he reports. “Many departments in the United States stand to suffer directly from the exclusion of highly trained graduate students and faculty from those countries, and they will likely discover that their own academic work, such as lectures, workshops and seminars, is impoverished as they are prevented from inviting leading scholars.” Some non-American scholars who are still entitled to travel might boycott the United States, he adds.

However one eminent Sudanese-born scholar of Islamic law who is well-established in the United States said his strongest feeling was one of gratitude for the solidarity he has experienced among fellow members of the American academy, and society as a whole. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im read a statement to his students in Emory University which said in part: “Hard times are our best because our humanity evolves through challenge and hardship, not comfort and convenience. My initial anger…turned to into optimism and pride for the challenge that many Americans are raising against the primordial, primitive executive order. The humane and truly civilised challenge by the American public and professionals [has] confirmed my confidence in the universality of human rights.”

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 February 2017, 6:29 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes

By Luke Hunt

The Diplomat

January 31, 2017

The embattled premier’s cosmetic measures cannot conceal economic realities in the country.

The Malaysian economy has been put through the hoops. In spite of reassurances from the country’s beleaguered premier Najib Razak that the current economic turbulence is only a temporary affair caused by offshore factors, the evidence does point to the contrary.

Najib’s government knows this. It has side-stepped long-held promises to win Malaysia recognition as a developed country by 2020. And it has announced a string of statements and measures designed to either distract from these economic realities or aim to address them.

One revenue-raising initiative announced was charging Thai vehicles a fee for simply crossing their land border. That move has angered the Thai transport ministry which is now mulling a reciprocal tax.

Adding insult to injury is the loss of the annual Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix. Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz announced in November that Malaysia would no longer host the race in Sepang once the current agreement expires in 2018 because it had proven too costly.

Malaysian taxpayers had shelled out about $10 million a year to host the event since 1999, still a paltry sum when compared with eye-watering losses incurred by the fund One Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Much of ASEAN has suffered since the Shanghai stock market crashed in mid-2015, signaling a crunch in commodity prices and in the Chinese economy where growth, according to Beijing’s own numbers, has fallen to about half of what it enjoyed a few years back.

In Malaysia, export growth has suffered double-digit falls as a result and GDP growth for 2016 is expected to come in at just 4.2 percent, a dreadful number by local standards.

Jarryd de Hann, an analyst with Future Directions International, argues that a slowing economy, political corruption and social tensions were expected to hinder the government’s goal to become a developed country by 2020, announced 25 years ago by then premier Mahathir Mohamad.

He noted that in 2009, Najib said Malaysia must sustain economic growth at more than eight percent if it was to reach its fully industrialized target. However, GDP growth rates have fallen short of those expectations, averaging just 5.35 percent between 2010 and 2015.

The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research has also said the country is increasingly relying on domestic growth, which has its limits given the country’s small size, and that this was also holding back growth.

Because of this, Malaysia is now aiming to become a fully developed country by 2050 through Najib’s T50 Transformation plan, a replacement for Mahathir’s Vision 2020, announced in last year’s budget when the prime minister also claimed his country was now an upper-middle income country.

Najib is clinging to power after he suffered a reduced majority and lost the popular vote at elections in 2013, with controversy over 1MDB leading to mass protests and demands for his resignation. “There are concerns that democracy in Malaysia is deteriorating with the government tightening its control over the media following allegations of political corruption,” de Hann wrote.

Few leaders have faced the barrage of international headlines and allegations of corruption like Najib. But he does seem to have found some reprieve relatively speaking with the new data released from Transparency International – the organization charged with ranking countries by perceptions of corruption.

In its latest rankings, Malaysia dropped just one place in 2016, to 55th place out of 176 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) compared with 54th out of 168 countries a year earlier, an impressive performance given the extent of the allegations.

TI-Malaysia President Akhbar Sata, who holds a Datuk title, said the drop was not significant given the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had been effective in handling high profile cases after a management reshuffle.

His response beggars belief, as did TI’s Malaysian ranking.

Authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, and Hong Kong are also investigating the disappearance of more than $1 billion from 1MDB amid allegations it was stolen from people close to Najib. Reports say as much as $4 billion is missing.

Even foreign businessmen in Cambodia complain that Malaysian corruption is much worse than what they had experienced while working out of Phnom Penh. They are concerned that TI’s ranking of Cambodia in 156th place on the CPI was out of touch.

TI’s ranking aside, the bigger issues will continue to haunt the Malaysian economy and importantly act as a deterrent for much-needed foreign investment until they are resolved. In that light, Najib’s latest moves to cut spending and raise revenue should be seen as little more than minor window dressing.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 February 2017, 6:02 am and is filed under
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Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy

The Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state  on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary in Kuala Lumpur  next week is the best forum for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy.

This will make the Save Malaysia Roundtable  doubly significant, not only on the occasion of the114th birthday anniversary of Bapa Malaysia, but to send out the clear  message that the 2017  Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster will be the only  kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia and that in the next year, the Chinese New Year and other national festivities would not be celebrated under a cloud of global kleptocracy!

Almost everybody is saying that it is impossible that Najib will attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable.

I agree that it appears to be  quite inconceivable that Najib would attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as it would involve Najib’s preparedness – not seen up to now – to open up the international multi-billion dollar  1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal to national and international scrutiny to prove that it is not a scandal at all, although the 1MDB scandal is making international waves and world headlines almost every other day.

The issue is whether Najib and his Cabinet are prepared to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy, or whether they will go down in history as being responsible for Malaysia’s millstone of global kleptocracy and not prepared to do anything to remove such a millstone.

Just in the 31 days of  January 2017, a news portal carried more than 200 stories or report linked to the 1MDB scandal.

There was a multitude of news developments related to 1MDB scandal  in the past month, but the trio that stand out  were:

Firstly
, former US stockbroker, Jordan Belfort, the man whose biography the film ‘Wolf of Wall Street film’ is based on has come out with a stinging criticism of the movie’s producers, calling them “criminals”.

Belfont, who served 22 months of a four-year sentence in exchange for a plea deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for a US$200 million stock-broking scam, made  the disparaging remarks about Red Granite, the production firm, in an interview with Swiss financial news site finews.com last Thursday.

Belfort said: “The movie’s a huge success, and then it turns out the guys who financed it were criminals.”

As US Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said in July last year at the media conference following the filing of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit to  forfeit US$1.34 billion assets derived from US$3 billion  1MDB money-laundering, “this is a case where life imitated art”!

The Red Granite chief executive  is Riza Aziz – the stepson of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak. He  and Low are central figures in the US DOJ civil forfeiture suits involving 1MDB, claiming that the Red Granite received US$64 million (RM283.5 million at current rates) that was traced back to 1MDB.

Recalled Belfort: “They flew me to Cannes four or five months after they bought the movie and they wanted to announce it in Cannes. It hadn’t even gone into production yet, and they threw a launch party. They must have spent $3 million on a launch party. They flew in Kanye West, and I said to Anne, ‘this is a fucking scam. Anybody who does this has stolen money.’ You wouldn’t spend money you worked for like that.”

He added that once the film went into production, the producers had offered to give him US$500,000 to go to Las Vegas to spend time with Leonard DiCaprio, the star in the film.

However he said he refused and was thus sidelined from media coverage of the film.

The DOJ civil forfeiture suit claims that Low had used US$1.15 million of 1MDB funds to gamble with Riza and DiCaprio.

Secondly
, the jailing of the fourth former banker (fifth person to be prosecuted) in Singapore for crimes related to  1MDB money-laundering – Jens Fred Sturzenegger, a Swiss national and branch manager of Falcon Private Bank in Singapore.

Sturzenegger was sentenced to 28 weeks jail and fined S$128,000 after pleading guilty to six charges related to Singapore’s probe on 1MDB.

What is of particular relevance to Malaysia is that the charges Sturzenegger pleaded guilty substantiated the US DOJ case that the RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election in March 2013  came from 1MDB and not from any Arab prince as claimed by Najib and UMNO leaders.

Will the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and  Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali re-open investigations into Najib’s RM2.6 billion and 1MDB twin mega scandals?

Thirdly
, for the first time in Malaysian history, the 1MDB scandal has been cited by Transparency International (TI) as the reason for Malaysia’s continued fall in both  ranking and score in the TI Corruption Perception Index 2016, released a week ago.

For eight consecutive years,  the Najib premiership (2009 – 2016)  had registered a lower TI CPI ranking than under the two previous Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah as illustrated by the following chart of TI CPI 1995 – 2016:

Prime Minister	Best ranking	Best score	Worst ranking	Worst score

Mahathir	23(1995)	5.32/10 (1996)	37 (2003)	4.8/10 (2000)

Abdullah	39(2004)	5.1/10 (2005/7/8)	47 (2008)	5/10 (2004/6)

Najib	50 (2014)	52/100 (2014)	60 (2011)	4.3/10 (2011)

The  TI CPI 2016, where Malaysia is ranked No. 55 with a score of 4.9, below the midpoint,  is proof  that corruption is worse now than during Mahathir’s  22 years as Prime Minister and  Abdullah’s five years as Prime Minister.

These three new developments are potent  reasons why Najib and the Cabinet cannot behave like ostriches by digging their heads in the sand and pretend the 1MDB scandal is “fake news” and “false story” which do not exist in reality.

There is one other issue.  With Cabinet Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan saying that only an idiot does not know who is “MO1” referred to in the US DOJ kleptocratic lawsuit and admitting to the world that  “MOI” is none other than  Najib, why is the Prime Minister shying from admitting it and take action to clear himself of all kleptocratic associations?

What better forum for  Najib and his Cabinet to make a new start to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy than the Roundtable to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy, by proposing his strategy to liberate Malaysia from the millstone of the international appellation of a “global kleptocracy” as well as to  listen to political and civil society leaders as to what is the best way to get out of the trajectory of a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

I hope Najib and the Cabinet Ministers who are invited to the Save Malaysia Roundtable will have the courage and patriotism to turn up to fully participate in a “Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy” movement.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 February 2017, 8:48 am and is filed under
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In Penang State, UMNO is  losing support of  Malay voters while  DAP and Pakatan Harapan + Bersatu are gaining more support of Malay voters

This is an era not only of “fake news” and “false stories”, but also the dissemination of myths and false perceptions.

It was the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself who  kicked off the UMNO propaganda of Nazi-type Big Lies in his UMNO Presidential Speech on Nov. 30, claiming that

1.	That the 14th General Elections will be a contest between UMNO and DAP;

2.	That the DAP is anti-Malay and/or anti-Islam.

3.	The “nightmares” Malay will suffer if UMNO loses power in the next general elections.

If there is any basis to these three “Big Lies”, Najib would have jumped at the opportunity to expose and tear me to pieces when I challenged him to a live television debate, but Najib knew better than to accept my challenge to a live television debate for there is no way he could substantiate his Nazi-style Big Lies.

But the UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are also spreading myths and false perceptions, such as the Malays in Penang are being oppressed by the DAP-led Penang State Government and that the Malay voters in Penang have no confidence or support for the DAP-led Penang State Government.

One reason for my “Jelajah Desa” visits to Penang and Malaysia is to carry out a fact-finding tour to ascertain the feelings of the people on the ground.

In my “Jelajah Desa” visits to  Kampong Tok Subuh in Bukit Mertajam and Sungai Gelugor in Bukit Gelugor last week, I found no traction in  the myths that the Malays in Penang are being oppressed and that the Malays in Penang have lost confidence and support of the DAP-led Penang State Government.

On the contrary, I find that it is UMNO which is losing the support of Malay voters in Penang State while  DAP and Pakatan Harapan + Bersatu are gaining more support of Malay voters in the state – as the Malays on the ground in Penang know that the DAP-led Penang State Government has done more for Malays and Islam than previous Barisan Nasional administrations.

UMNO losing Malay support while the DAP-led Penang State Government increasing Malay support was actually reflected in the 2013 Penang state assembly general election results.

I recently had opportunity to analyse the 2013 General Election Results for the Penang State Assembly, as the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, had  implied that the DAP was losing voter support, particularly among Malay voters in Penang.

In the 2013 General Election, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat won 30 state assembly seats as compared to 29 seats in the 2008 general election.

DAP not only won all the 19 seats it won in the 2008 general elections, but with a bigger majority in everyone of the 19 seats, with majorities as big as more than 300 per cent as in the case of Chong Eng in the Padang Lalang seat where she won with a 14,930- vote majority as compared to the 4,242-vote DAP majority in 2008 general election; and of over 400% increase as in Padang Kota where Chow Kong Yeow won with 7,196-vote majority as compared to 1,661-vote majority in 2008;  in Pulau Tikus where Yap Soo Huey won with a 8,220-vote majority as compared to 1,714-vote majority in 2008 and in Seri Delima where RSN Rayer won with 9,227-vote majority as compared to 2,128-vote majority in 2008.

Equally interesting, UMNO suffered a loss of Malay votes to DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat in Penang, with UMNO losing one seat (Seberang Jaya) where former UMNO Assemblyman Arif Shah Omar Shah who had won the constituency with a majority of 533 votes in 2008 lost   to Afif Bahardin (PKR) who won with a thumping majority of 2,459 votes.

Five  of the 10 UMNO Penang Assemblymen had the 2008 UMNO  majorities slashed, and these five state assembly seats are Sungai Dua, Telok Ayer Tawar, Permatang Berangan, Pinang Tunggal and Bertam. Four other seats were won by UMNO with only three-figure majorities of less than a thousand, namely Teluk Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas and Sungai Acheh.

This means that nine of the ten UMNO incumbent seats are very marginal and vulnerable and UMNO could  be defeated in the next general election.

It is because UMNO is facing the  danger of losing more state assembly and parliamentary seats in Penang and throughout the country  that UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are  escalating their rhetoric and activities falsely alleging that the DAP and the DAP-led Penang State Government are   anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 February 2017, 12:04 pm and is filed under
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Jewish people give Muslims key to their synagogue after town’s mosque burns down

Jon Sharman

Independent

2nd Feb 2017

Donations to rebuild the Islamic centre are adding up

Jewish people in a small Texas city handed Muslim worshippers the keys to their synagogue after the town’s only mosque was destroyed in a fire.

The Victoria Islamic Centre burned down on Saturday and had previously been burgled — the cause is being investigated by federal officials.

But the town’s Muslim population will not be without a place to worship while their building is reconstructed, thanks to their Jewish neighbours.

Robert Loeb, the president of Temple Bnai Israel, told Forward: “Everyone knows everybody, I know several members of the mosque, and we felt for them. When a calamity like this happens, we have to stand together.

“We have probably 25 to 30 Jewish people in Victoria, and they probably have 100 Muslims. We got a lot of building for a small amount of Jews.”

One of the mosque’s founders, Shahid Hashmi, said: “Jewish community members walked into my home and gave me a key to the synagogue.”

The centre was built in 2000.

Donations and an online fundraising campaign have raised more than $900,000 (£717,000) for reconstruction.

The blaze was discovered at at about 2am on Saturday by a clerk at a convenience store, who called the fire department. It took around four hours to bring it under control and no injuries were reported.

The fire took place just hours after President Donald Trump announced he would ban citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US, and halted the country’s refugee program for 120 days.

Omar Rachid, who created the GoFundMe campaign, said: “Our hearts are filled with gratitude for the tremendous support we’ve received. The outpouring of love, kind words, hugs, helping hands and the financial contributions are examples of the true American spirit.”

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 February 2017, 9:53 am and is filed under
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Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB

Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore

Financial Times

3rd Feb 2017

Swiss financial supervisor sanctions bank over lapses linked to Malaysian fund

Swiss authorities have accused Coutts, the private bank, of repeatedly ignoring internal warnings over its dealings with a businessman who has been linked to a plot to loot billions of dollars from 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment fund.

Numerous “high-risk” transactions were processed through a Coutts account opened by the Malaysian businessman in Zurich, including the use of $35m for visits to casinos and the purchase of luxury services such as chartering yachts, according to the Swiss inquiry.

Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, ordered Coutts to pay back profits of SFr6.5m, which were allegedly generated unlawfully. It is also considering enforcement proceedings against bank employees.

The Swiss action is the latest step in a global regulatory crackdown against banks involved in the 1MDB scandal.

Switzerland’s attorney-general’s office has previously said that up to $4.8bn was diverted from companies linked to 1MDB, a fund set up by Najib Razak, Malaysia’s prime minister. Mr Najib denies any wrongdoing.

In total, 1MDB-related assets to the value of $2.4bn were transferred through Coutts accounts in Switzerland, according to Finma.

The details of the unnamed businessman in the Finma statement match those of Jho Low, a Malaysian dealmaker who opened a Coutts account in Zurich in 2009. Mr Low, who has previously denied any wrongdoing, has been accused by authorities in the US of purchasing luxury properties, art and a $35.4m private jet as part of a conspiracy to launder money stolen from 1MDB.

About $700m was transferred to the unnamed businessman’s account from 1MDB in the autumn of 2009, according to the Swiss regulator.

US investigators have previously alleged that Mr Low ordered the transfer of $700m of Malaysian public money to a Coutts account in Zurich that year.

Finma said that the reasons given for the transaction were “inconsistent” and some information was changed retrospectively, while the supporting documents contained “obvious mistakes”.

A member of the bank’s compliance unit raised concerns while legal services spoke of the risk of a “total fabrication”.

Subsequently, several high-risk transactions with a total value of $1.7bn were processed through the account, Finma said.

The bank failed to clarify the circumstances surrounding some unusually large and high-risk transactions, the regulator said.

“In addition, it did not follow up on relevant internal information and, despite the existence of substantive evidence, failed to report any suspicions to the Swiss authorities until the spring of 2015,” Finma said in a statement.

In December, Singapore’s regulator fined Coutts S$2.4m for breaches of anti-money-laundering regulations and failing to meet due diligence requirements for politically exposed persons.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is in the process of winding down its Coutts international wealth management business after selling the majority of its assets, said in a statement: “We regret any historic failings in our AML processes. Coutts has progressively and substantially strengthened its AML policies and controls.”

RBS is keeping the UK part of the bank, which includes Queen Elizabeth II among its clients.

Last month Mr Low and his family achieved a legal victory in New Zealand, winning control of several trusts set up for their benefit and paving the way for the family to contest a US effort to seize more than $1bn in allegedly 1MDB-related assets worldwide.

Mr Low could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2017, 10:06 am and is filed under
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First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue

The first step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end the “global pretence” that the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal had been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

This was what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had promised more than a year ago.

In his meeting with some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs on 14th June 2015, Najib gave an assurance that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1MDB will be resolved by year-end.

In his 2016 New Year message on 31st December 2015, Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, as illustrated by the decision yesterday of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordering Coutts & Co., which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB.

This is the first 1MDB-linked world headlines for the month of February 2017 and certainly, it will not be the last whether for this month or this year.

Just in the 31 days of  January 2017, a news portal carried more than 200 stories or reports linked to the 1MDB scandal.

There was a multitude of news developments related to 1MDB scandal  in the past month, but the three major 1MDB news developments that stood out in January 2017  were:

Firstly, former US stockbroker, Jordan Belfort, the man whose biography the film “Wolf of Wall Street”  is based on has come out with a stinging criticism of the movie’s producers in an interview with Swiss financial news site finews.com,  calling them “criminals”.

The production company of “Wolf in Wall Street” is Red Granite, whose chief executive is Riza Aziz – Najib’s stepson – with billionaire Jho Low as the financier of the film.

Both of them are central figures in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil forfeiture suits involving 1MDB, claiming that the Red Granite received US$64 million (RM283.5 million at current rates) that was traced back to 1MDB.

Secondly, the jailing of the fourth former banker (fifth person to be prosecuted) in Singapore for crimes related to  1MDB money-laundering – Jens Fred Sturzenegger, a Swiss national and branch manager of Falcon Private Bank in Singapore.

Sturzenegger was sentenced to 28 weeks jail and fined S$128,000 after pleading guilty to six charges related to Singapore’s probe on 1MDB.

What is of particular relevance to Malaysia is that the charges Sturzenegger pleaded guilty substantiated the US DOJ case that the RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election in March 2013  came from 1MDB and not from any Arab prince as claimed by Najib and UMNO leaders.

Will the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and  Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali re-open investigations into Najib’s RM2.6 billion and 1MDB twin mega scandals?

Thirdly, for the first time in Malaysian history, the 1MDB scandal has been cited by Transparency International (TI) as the reason for Malaysia’s continued fall in both  ranking and score in the TI Corruption Perception Index 2016, released ten days ago.

What better forum for Najib and his Cabinet to make a fresh start to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy than the Save Malaysia Roundtable of Political and Civil Society Leaders next Tuesday by ending the global pretence that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

At the “Save Malaysia” Roundtable, Najib can propose his strategy to liberate Malaysia from the millstone of the international appellation of a “global kleptocracy” and  to  listen to political and civil society leaders as to what is the best way to get out of the trajectory of a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

Invitations have been sent out by the Roundtable secretary Liew Chin Tong (MP for Kluang)  to Najib, political and civil society leaders for the Save Malaysia Roundtable Conference to be held at The Club @ Bukit Utama, Persiaran Surian, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor  next Tuesday, 7th February 2017 at 3 pm. (The Roundtable is brought a day earlier because of Thaipusam festivities.)

I hope Najib and the Cabinet Ministers who are invited to the Save Malaysia Roundtable will have the courage and patriotism to turn up to fully participate in the Roundtable to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2017, 11:03 am and is filed under
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POLL FINDS MAJORITY DISAPPROVE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS

BY MICHELE GORMAN

Newsweek

2/2/17

Disapproval of Trump’s recent executive orders ranged from 55 percent to 60 percent.

All three of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders have earned majority disapproval ratings among Americans, according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday afternoon.

Arguably the most controversial order came on January 27, when Trump banned Syrian refugees and immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. Since then, Americans in cities from coast to coast have gathered in airports and streets to protest the ban, while the White House defends the president’s actions. Even some fellow Republicans have publicly criticized the ban.

According to the poll, more than half — 55 percent — of Americans disapprove of the temporary travel ban, while 42 percent support the measure. And 58 percent disapprove of Trump indefinitely suspending the country’s Syrian refugee program.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of those polled said they opposed Trump’s ordering construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, while 38 percent approve of the idea. That executive order and a Trump tweet that followed it led Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel plans to meet with Trump.

The approval scores on the executive orders are just slightly below Trump’s overall job approval rating. Of those polled, 43 percent said they approve of how Trump is doing his job so far as president; 52 percent said they disapprove. More specifically, almost half—47 percent—say Trump is moving too fast in addressing the major problems facing the country.

Gallup based the poll on telephone interviews conducted among 1,018 adults. Surveyors asked questions related to Trump’s job approval from January 29 to 31, and about the executive orders from January 30 to 31.

When Gallup asked the same question in early 2009, during President Barack Obama’s second term in office, the public’s sentiment was significantly different on his six executive orders: 63 percent of Americans said Obama’s pace was about right, 22 percent said it was too fast and 10 percent said it wasn’t fast enough, according to Gallup.

Trump’s initial job approval rating of 45 percent last month was the lowest in Gallup history.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2017, 7:48 pm and is filed under
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Donald Trump Is Spreading Racism — Not Fighting Terrorism

Daniel Benjamin

TIME

3.2.2017

IDEAS

Benjamin was Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the U.S. State Department and is director of The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College

Counterterrorism may seem like a complicated, murky business. But practitioners agree on a few simple rules. Among them:

1. Be clear about who threatens you, and target them. Casting your net too widely creates new enemies.

2. Build strong alliances. Terrorism is a global problem that requires a global solution; you need capable, like-minded partners to collaborate on intelligence, law enforcement and military operations.

3. Counter and undermine your enemies’ narrative. Don’t confirm it.

4. Don’t drive away moderates; winning them over is key to defeating your enemies.

And, 5. Show efficiency and competence. Those qualities bolster deterrence.

In composing and implementing its executive order “Protecting the Nation From Terrorist Entry into the United States,” Donald Trump’s White House has shown a disregard for — or ignorance of — these precepts that is breathtaking. Despite claims by the White House that this is about making Americans safe from terrorism, less than two weeks into the new administration, the United States has:

1. Made the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims uncertain about the global superpower’s fundamental orientation toward them and their faith. This is a dramatic shift after successive Republican and Democratic administrations drew a clear line between a small group of extremists and ordinary believers.

2. Prompted the parliament of Iraq — our partner, whose army is the primary ground force fighting ISIS — to approve a reciprocal ban on Americans coming to Iraq and put Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in an impossible position.

3. Given ISIS propagandists a windfall to work with — which they are exulting about — just at the moment that the group is reeling from a series of major setbacks.

4. Profoundly unsettled patriotic American Muslims — who provide as many as 40% of the tips that domestic counterterrorism authorities receive — and undercut their efforts to work with U.S. law enforcement to prevent radicalization.

And, 5. Displayed perhaps the most shambolic performance of the Executive Branch since Hurricane Katrina. The White House blindsided the leadership of the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State by handing them an order that they had no time to evaluate or refine. Far less sweeping executive orders have historically required weeks or months of interagency consultation.

To put it bluntly: Trump’s Executive Order has nothing to do with counterterrorism.

The executive order was designed by people with no security background but a long history of being anti-immigrant: chief ideologist Steve Bannon, the former CEO of far-right conspiracy-theory mill Breitbart News, and policy adviser Stephen Miller. It aims to signal that Trump is not deviating from his Islamophobic, anti-immigration, pro-white campaign. So far, it’s working. The nation is following along.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that 49 percent of Americans support the executive order. Nearly a third think it will make them safer. At the heart of that group are Trump voters. Political scientist Michael Tesler observed early on that Republicans who backed Trump were 30% more likely to believe that Muslims threatened the United States and 35% more likely to believe that most Muslims support ISIS than other Republican voters. As the unprecedented elevation of Bannon to a seat on the National Security Council demonstrates also shows, the Trump administration is determined to enthrone ideology instead of pragmatism or expertise.

The executive order aims to reap more than a quick political bonus, though. It seeks to fuse the fears of jihadism with anxieties over America’s demographic trajectory. The Trump White House wants us all to believe that our security interests require both reversing the “browning” of America and curbing the influx of foreigners who will make white Americans a minority in the nation by 2050. Woven in this is a view of Islam as an unalterably hostile force — a perspective so ungrounded in history and theology that it mirrors the jihadi view of the U.S. and the West. Trump and Bannon are not promoting American security so much as fear and racism.

Recognizing the centrality of this anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim animus helps explain why the White House pushed the executive order in week one of the new administration, even though there was certainly no urgency from a counterterrorism perspective. Our immigration systems work about as well as anyone could hope. Since 9/11, not a single death has been caused by terrorists from the seven countries singled out the executive order — or anywhere else — entering the U.S. to carry out an attack. To get into the U.S., a visa applicant must be screened multiple times, including being checked against terabytes of intelligence and law-enforcement materials, biometric data and the like.

As for Syrian refugees, by the time they have finished their 18-24 month vetting process outside the country, we know more about them and their connections than we do about our President, his finances and his foreign partners and investors.

Throughout the campaign, Trump told Americans that our immigration system was failing to keep dangerous people out. On top of that falsehood, he has now piled another: The executive order, he says is “is not a Muslim ban… This is not about religion. This is about terror and keeping our country safe.” Nonsense.

Of course, not all Muslims are being banned. But consider this the thin edge of the wedge. The countries listed are on average 97 percent Muslim, and the sum of their populations is 219 million people. That amounts to the exclusion of a significant chunk of the Muslim world for a first step. Yes, it will be hard for Trump, Bannon and Co. to come up with a way to ban India’s 180 million Muslims. But it seems a good bet that if the executive order survives court challenges, other Muslim-majority countries will face similar treatment. Sebastian Gorka, a former Breitbart editor and now a deputy National Security Advisor, is already hinting as much.

Some will find this far-fetched. Perhaps it is. But making sense of a purported counterterrorism innovation that diminishes our security is no small challenge. Dealing with a cabal of conspiracy theorists requires us to master their dark arts and twisted thinking.

IDEAS

TIME Ideas hosts the world’s leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 February 2017, 9:07 am and is filed under
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Let all political leaders, including Najib and his Cabinet,  make a new start to stand united stand against corruption, regardless of party affiliation or political ideologies, at the Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tuesday

I endorse the call by the former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief, Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohaamed, that Malaysians must stand united against corruption, regardless of their political ideologies.

Speaking at a congregation at Masjid Al-Ikhlas in Shah Alam yesterday, Abu Kassim said that if corruption is used as the basis of politics, it will be difficult to resolve social issues.

More than anyone, Abu Kassim should know what he was talking about.

Abu Kassim became MACC Chief Commissioner on 1st January 2010  following the prolonged firestorm in a clear case of MACC political persecution resulting in the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock, falling from the 13th floor of the MACC premises in Shah Alam on 16th July 2009, in a MACC investigation over allegations about impropriety in a RM2,400 purchase of flags for Merdeka Day celebrations by DAP State Executive Councillor, Ean Yong Hian Wah.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry in July 2011  found that Beng Hock had been “driven to commit suicide” due to interrogation by three MACC officers in a manner that was “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous” – which was nothing but a euphemism for murder.

To his credit, Abu Kassim tried his utmost as MACC Chief Commissioner to  restore the professionalism and  credibility of the MACC in his seven-and-a-half years as head of the anti-corruption agency, but he failed as the murderers of Teoh Beng Hock had yet to be brought to justice.

But there were other weightier reasons for Abu Kassim’s failure.

Abu Kassim’s service contract as MACC chief commissioner, which was not to end until Dec. 4, 2018, was cut short and he “opted” for an early retirement as a result of a  greater and more prolonged  firestorm over the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal and  renewed attempt to make MACC a political tool of the powers-that-be against political opponents – even trying to  create a second “Teoh Beng Hock”.

Abu Kassim  yesterday drew parallels to how Malaysians came together to combat the communists.

“I remember during the time of (former prime minister) Abdul Razak Hussein when he outlined the dangers of three ‘Cs’ after independence.

“They were communists, communalism and corruption. Why people could unite at that time and speak of the evil of communism, but not against corruption?”

The Save Democracy Roundtable next Tuesday to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and a rogue state is probably the last chance for all political leaders regardless of party affiliation and political ideologies  to stand united against corruption.

Almost everybody is saying that it is impossible that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable.

I agree that it appears to be  quite inconceivable that Najib would attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as it would involve Najib’s preparedness – not seen up to now – to open up the international multi-billion dollar  1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal to national and international scrutiny to prove that it is not a scandal at all, although the 1MDB scandal is making international waves and world headlines almost every other day.

The issue is whether Najib and his Cabinet are prepared to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy, or whether they will go down in history as being responsible for Malaysia’s millstone of global kleptocracy and not prepared to do anything to remove such a millstone.

History will be the witness whether the last chance for all political leaders to stand united against corruption, regardless of their party affiliation and  political ideologies, will succeed or fail.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 February 2017, 10:48 am and is filed under
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UMNO’s Federal Territory proposal for  Penang is admission that UMNO/Barisan Nasional have no hope of  winning back  non-Malay support and   face prospect of losing more  Malay support and more UMNO seats in 14GE

We are celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster under the cloud of Malaysia regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

We hope that this is the only year national festivities in Malaysia are celebrated under a cloud of Malaysia as a global kleptocracy, as the 14th General Election should be held before the next Chinese New Year of the Dog on 16th February 2018.

For many months, Malaysians going overseas have been  faced with the embarrassing situation when asked which country they come from.

Once Malaysians had no problem in  proudly identifying themselves as coming from Malaysia, but now they hesitate whether to answer the question as they would be confronted with embarrassing questions about Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy, the infamous international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal involving the Prime Minister which have caused the closure of banks and imprisonment of bankers for money-laundering in other countries, MO1 and many other difficult questions.

There is however a reprieve for Penangites, for they can proudly identify themselves as from Penang, which will win admiration and plaudits for restoration of  Penang in the past eight years from “Garbage Dump of the Orient” back to  “the Pearl of the Orient”.

I am not surprised that UMNO leaders are so desperate about their political prospects in Penang that they are even thinking of turning Penang into a federal territory, doing away with Penang state elections, the  Penang Chief Minister, the Penang State Exco and the Penang State Assembly.

The Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor yesterday sought to justify such an undemocratic and  retrogressive step, claiming that that the idea to make Penang a federal territory is to ensure equal development in Penang, and that it  was not to extend authority over the state but to help the Malays.

Tengku Adnan then came out with the current propaganda diet of Nazi-style  Big Lies alleging that the  DAP is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, by making the accusation that the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan State Government does not care about the Malays.

These are the UMNO/BN staple politics of lies and hatred.

In our 51 years of political struggle, DAP had never been anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

This is why we have  Malay and Muslim Members of Parliament, both in Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara,  and State Assemblymen, as well as  the unprecedented example of Lim Guan Eng crossing the racial and religious divide to defend the honour of an underaged Malay and Muslim girl, going to jail in Kajang Prisons, forfeiting his position as Member of Parliament and disenfranchised from standing for elections for five years from his release from prison.

Has any UMNO leader sacrificed his political career for the honour and dignity of a Malay or Muslim, let alone crossing the racial and religious divide to defend the rights and honour  of a non-Malay or non-Muslim citizen?

After more than half a century of DAP political struggle demonstrating that DAP had always been pro-Malaysia, in full support of the diverse races, religions, languages, customs and civilisations meeting in confluence in Malaysia, I do not believe that the Malays and Muslims in the country are so gullible as to fall easy prey to  the politics of lies and hatred perpetrated by unethical and unprincipled UMNO politicians and their stooges, whether  UMNO or in  other parties.

As DAP MP for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng has rightly pointed out, if Tengku Adnan’s  proposal to turn Penang into a federal territory  is to help the Malays, then Tengku Adnan has chosen the wrong state as he should be looking at Kelantan and Terengganu – the poorest states in the country.

In fact, Tengku Adnan’s  Federal Territory proposal for  Penang is an  admission that UMNO/Barisan Nasional have no hope of  winning back  non-Malay support and is facing the  prospect of losing more  Malay support and more UMNO seats  in Penang in the 14GE.

In  my “Jelajah Desa” visits to  Kampong Tok Subuh in Bukit Mertajam and Sungai Gelugor in Bukit Gelugor last month, I found that  the politics of lies and hatred that the Malays in Penang are being oppressed and that the Malays in Penang have lost confidence and support of the DAP-led Penang State Government have no traction.

It is UMNO which is losing the support of Malay voters in Penang State while  DAP and Pakatan Harapan + Bersatu are gaining more support of Malay voters in the state.

This was in fact borne out by the 2013 General Election results, as the Malay voters in Penang know that the DAP-led Penang State Government has done more for Malays and Islam than previous Barisan Nasional administrations, whatever the politics of lies and hatred disseminated by UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers outside Penang.

In the 2013 General Election, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat won 30 state assembly seats as compared to 29 seats in the 2008 general election.

DAP not only won all the 19 seats it won in the 2008 general elections, but with a bigger majority in everyone of the 19 seats, with majorities as big as more than 300 per cent as in the case of Chong Eng in the Padang Lalang seat where she won with a 14,930- vote majority as compared to the 4,242-vote DAP majority in 2008 general election; and of over 400% increase as in Padang Kota where Chow Kong Yeow won with 7,196-vote majority as compared to 1,661-vote majority in 2008;  in Pulau Tikus where Yap Soo Huey won with a 8,220-vote majority as compared to 1,714-vote majority in 2008 and in Seri Delima where RSN Rayer won with 9,227-vote majority as compared to 2,128-vote majority in 2008.

Equally interesting, UMNO suffered a loss of Malay votes to DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat in Penang, with UMNO losing one seat (Seberang Jaya) where former UMNO Assemblyman Arif Shah Omar Shah who had won the constituency with a majority of 533 votes in 2008 lost   to Afif Bahardin (PKR) who won with a thumping majority of 2,459 votes.

Five  of the 10 UMNO Penang Assemblymen had the 2008 UMNO  majorities slashed, and these five state assembly seats are Sungai Dua, Telok Ayer Tawar, Permatang Berangan, Pinang Tunggal and Bertam. Four other seats were won by UMNO with only three-figure majorities of less than a thousand, namely Teluk Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas and Sungai Acheh.

Will UMNO be able to  win all these  nine marginal  UMNO incumbent seats in the next general elections?  This will be known in the 14GE.

What is clear is that UMNO is facing the  danger of losing more state assembly and parliamentary seats in Penang – but this is not only a phenomenon in Penang but throughout the country as well, which is UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are  escalating their politics of lies and hatred, like Tengku Adnan’s lies in trying to turn Penang into a Federal Territory.

In my 51 years in politics, I have not called anyone anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Buddhist, anti-Christian or anti-Hindu. I do not think we can raise the quality or standards of Malaysian politics by indulging in the politics of hatred and lies, as by hurling epithets and falsely attacking opponent of being “anti-Malay”, “anti-Muslim”, “anti-Chinese”, “anti-Indian”, “anti-Kadazan”, “anti- Dayak”, “anti-Buddhist”, “anti-Christian” or “anti-Hindu”.

I do not know whether I am being too Utopian to ask UMNO and Barisan Nasional politicians to join in inculcating  a new  culture of honest and ethical politics, which condemn in no uncertain terms all forms of politics of fear, hatred and falsehoods.

Before I end, let me touch on Tengku Adnan’s claim that making Penang a Federal Territory will benefit the state’s development, giving as example Labuan where he claims that the Federal Government had invested over RM5 billion since the date of take over.

Clearly, Harris Salleh, the man responsible for handling Labuan to the Federal Government when he was Sabah Chief Minister in 1984, does not think so.

Only last year, Harris openly called on the Federal Government to return the island to Sabah immediately.

Harris said his disappointment stemmed from the fact that the Federal Government had failed in its promise to make Labuan an economically viable island city.

He said:

“It is not right for the Federal Government to take over Labuan only to consign it to political and economic oblivion.

“The people of Labuan deserve better.

“I expected Federal to look after Labuan in a fitting manner and not to abandon it for whatever reasons.

“I have been watching, with great dismay, the declining interest of the Federal Government for some years now.

“I must be forthright and say that I am disappointed. If the Federal Government is not prepared to change direction with regards to the future of Labuan, then I would like to appeal for it to be returned to Sabah.”

May be the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should open an investigation as to what had happened to the RM5 billion which Tengku Adnan said had been spent on Labuan since its becoming a Federal Territory but to no purpose, as Harris said that the Federal Government had “abandoned Labuan to its own fate for a long time” – sacrificed in the “Game of Thrones”, which Harris should elaborate.

I hope this is not another case of the Sabah Water-gate scandal, where some 60 per cent of the development funds in the Sabah Water Department were siphoned off to corruption!

(Speech at the Penang DAP Chinese New Year Open House at  SJK© Shang Wu Hall, Penang)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 February 2017, 12:08 pm and is filed under
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Call for a new moral and ethical political culture involving Three Noes – No politics of fear, no politics of hate and no politics of lies

I said earlier today at the Penang DAP Chinese New Year Open House that in my  51 years in politics, I have not called anyone anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Dayak, anti-Buddhist, anti-Christian or anti-Hindu as  we cannot raise the quality or standards of Malaysian politics by indulging in the triple  politics of hatred, fear and lies, as by hurling epithets and falsely attacking opponent of being “anti-Malay” or “anti-non-Malay”,  “anti-Muslim” or “anti-non-Muslim”.

For this reason, I call for a new moral and ethical political culture involving Three Noes – No politics of fear, no politics of hate and no politics of lies.

The Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s proposal to make Penang a federal territory violates the “Three Noes” Rule.

Firslty, it violates the No Politics of Fear, as it is designed to create fear that if the people of Penang freely exercises their democratic right to choose the state government they want, they will lose the Penang state as one of the 13 states as provided in Article 1(2) of the Malaysian Constitution, losing the rights to free State Assembly elections, a Penang Chief Minister and a State Executive Council.

Secondly, it runs afoul of the No Politics of Hatred, as it is based on promoting animosities and distrust among the Malay and non-Malay voters in Penang.

Thirdly, it infringes the No Politics of Lies as the idea of making Penang as a Federal Territory is built on the  notion that the DAP-led Penang State Government is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and oppresses Malay and Islam in the state.

In actual fact, the 13th General Election results have shown that it is UMNO and Barisan Nasional which is losing out in the battle for the hearts and minds of the Malay voters in Penang; and that in the 14th General Election, the chances of UMNO/BN strengthening their support from Malay voters, not to mention non-Malay voters, are not bright at all.

This is because the Malay voters in Penang know better that UMNO propangandists and cybertroopers outside Penang that the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan State Government has done more for Malays and Islam than previosu adminstrations after the 12th General Elections in March 2008.

This borne out by the following two tables:

Parliament results for Penang

Party

% Vote

Change (2008 vs 2013)

GE2008

GE2013

UMNO

16.9%

16.3%

-0.6%

MCA

9.9%

8.7%

-1.2%

MIC

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

GER

9.6%

6.6%

-3.0%

BN TOTAL

36.3%

31.5%

-4.8%

PAS

5.1%

5.8%

0.7%

DAP

39.9%

43.9%

4.0%

Keadilan

17.1%

18.1%

1.0%

PR TOTAL

62.1%

67.8%

5.7%

State Assembly results for Penang

Party

% Vote

Change (2008 vs 2013)

GE2008

GE2013

UMNO

17.0%

16.7%

-0.3%

MCA

9.1%

6.0%

-3.1%

GERAKAN

12.9%

8.0%

-5.0%

MIC

1.3%

1.0%

-0.2%

BN TOTAL

40.3%

31.7%

-8.6%

PAS

6.1%

6.0%

-0.2%

DAP

31.7%

37.2%

5.5%

PKR

20.1%

23.4%

3.3%

PR Total

58.0%

66.6%

8.6%

In the 2013 General Election, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat won 30 state assembly seats as compared to 29 seats in the 2008 general election.

DAP not only won all the 19 seats it won in the 2008 general elections, but with a bigger majority in everyone of the 19 seats, with majorities as big as more than 300 per cent as in the case of Chong Eng in the Padang Lalang seat where she won with a 14,930- vote majority as compared to the 4,242-vote DAP majority in 2008 general election; and of over 400% increase as in Padang Kota where Chow Kong Yeow won with 7,196-vote majority as compared to 1,661-vote majority in 2008;  in Pulau Tikus where Yap Soo Huey won with a 8,220-vote majority as compared to 1,714-vote majority in 2008 and in Seri Delima where RSN Rayer won with 9,227-vote majority as compared to 2,128-vote majority in 2008.

Equally interesting, UMNO suffered a loss of Malay votes to DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat in Penang, with UMNO losing one seat (Seberang Jaya) where former UMNO Assemblyman Arif Shah Omar Shah who had won the constituency with a majority of 533 votes in 2008 lost   to Afif Bahardin (PKR) who won with a thumping majority of 2,459 votes.

Five  of the 10 UMNO Penang Assemblymen had the 2008 UMNO  majorities slashed, and these five state assembly seats are Sungai Dua, Telok Ayer Tawar, Permatang Berangan, Pinang Tunggal and Bertam. Four other seats were won by UMNO with only three-figure majorities of less than a thousand, namely Teluk Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas and Sungai Acheh.

Will UMNO be able to  win all these  nine marginal  UMNO incumbent seats in the next general elections?  This will be known in the 14GE.

Parliament is scheduled to meet thrice this year – the first meeting which will be opened by the new Yang di Pertuan Agong and last  for 20 days from 6th March to 6th  April; second meeting for 12 days from 24th July to 10th August; and the 2018 budget meeting for 25 days from 23rd October to 30th November 2017.

I expect the March meeting of Parliament to be held, but it is anybody’s guess whether the July meeting and the budget meeting of Parliament  in October will be held or whether the 14th General Elections will intervene first.

Recently, a PAS leader accused the DAP of confusing the “consensus” principle with the “majority rule” principle, leading to the break-up of Pakatan Rakyat.

This PAS leader did not appear to know what he is talking about and the DAP National Vice Chairman Teresa Kok had given a powerful rebuttal to which there had been no answer.

Teresa Kok  made the very pertinent point that as far as the DAP is concerned, our word is our bond as we stick by our commitments and undertakings.

Unfortunately, this was not the case with PAS under the leadership of its President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

The 13th General Election was meant to be a one-to-one fight between the Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.

But this was not the case in five state assembly constituencies, three in Terengganu – Bukit Besi, Seberang Takir and Kota Putera; one in Selangor (Kota Damansara) and one in Penang (Sungai Acheh). There was at least three-cornered fights in these five constituencies, involving both PAS and PKR candidates as the PAS leadership under Hadi reneged on its commitment that these five constituencies should be contested by PKR candidates and not from PAS.

[
Speech at the Air Puteh DAP Branch Chinese New Year Open House on Sunday, 5th February 2017 at 8 pm
]

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 February 2017, 10:52 am and is filed under
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Who is the  “master-mind”, Najib or “Rasputin”,  behind Adnan’s proposal to make Penang a federal territory – which is not only undemocratic, unconstitutional but downright unMalaysian

Four days ago, a Barisan Nasional leader issued a statement about “Disgusting, bankrupt Rasputins”, but it is obvious that this Barisan Nasional leader did not know what he was talking about.

But thanks to him, I thought of “Rasputin” in connection with the Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s shocking proposal to make Penang a federal territory – which is not only undemocratic, unconstitutional but downright unMalaysian!

Tengku Adnan has not been his usual self since he made the startling proposal to extinguish Penang as one of the 13 states in Malaysia by making Penang a federal territory – which would mean no Penang state elections, no Penang State Assembly, no Penang State Executive Council and no Penang Chief Minister!

Adnan created “shock and awe” not only by making such a preposterous proposal, but in the stubborn and  persistent manner he had been pushing for the idea in the past few days, as if his whole political career depended on its adoption and implementation.

Tengku Adnan made the proposal to make Penang a federal territory in an interview in conjunction with Federal Territories Day on Feb. 1.

When Adnan’s proposal encountered opposition and derision, he not only did not back off, but fortified his proposal by declaring the  idea to make Penang a federal territory is to help the Malays, repeating the canard that the DAP-led Penang state government does not care about the Malays.

When Adnan came under further criticism for his misconceived views coloured by a  most racialist mindset, the Federal Territories tried to salvage the situation and postured as a Malaysian leader by claiming that turning Penang into a federal territory can help make home ownership affordable to Penangites.

Quite remarkable political acrobatics for  Adnan of “kapchai ban and no-ban” infamy, as Adnan is not known for agility or nimbleness. But now, he could perform political gymnastics  in a matter of hours – giving Malaysians the right to ask who is the “master-mind” of the proposal to extinguish Penang as a state by making  Penang a federal territory.

Was the “master-mind” of Adnan’s proposal to make Penang a federal territory the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself or the “Rasputin” in the UMNO/Barisan Nasional regime who had been at the centre of so many UMNO/BN intrigues and conspiracies against  Opposition parties and leaders, apart from his role as  Najib’s Goebbels to perfect the Nazi “Big Lies”  propaganda doctrine to “tell a big lie, keep repeating it and eventually people will believe it”.

Adnan has now  found himself impaled on the stakes of two “Big Lies” – firstly, the idea of Penang as a federal territory was to help the neglected Malays when UMNO is losing Malay voter-support in Penang as shown in the 13th General Election results; and secondly, the change in matter of hours, claiming that Penangites could be able to own houses when the DAP-led Pakatan state government in Penang had built four times more affordable houses than the Barisan Nasional government did when it was in power in Penang and furthermore, when the BN itself  had failed to provide affordable housing in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

This piece today is not to examine how undemocratic, unconstitutional or even how downright unMalaysian is Adnan’s proposal to make Penang a federal territory, but to shout loud and clear that only a “mastermind” ala-Rasputin has the power and wherewithal to get a Cabinet Minister to articulate such a ridiculous idea and to mobilise political support from various political quarters in UMNO/BN for such an outrageous proposal.

When launching the World Inter-faith Harmony Week on Saturday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Malaysia will become a failed state if does not uphold the principles of unity and harmony.

Using the analogy of growing a tree, Najib said that “seeds of unity” planted by the country’s forefathers through the Federal Constitution 60 years ago must be nurtured and taking care of.

I hope that Najib would accept and attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable at Bandar Utama, Damansara tomorrow for the Roundtable would be an excellent forum for him to explain how the extinguishment of Penang as a state by making it a federal territory is not an act of sacrilege in destroying the bedrock principles agreed by our forefathers in the Federal Constitution  to ensure unity, harmony, integrity and success of the Malaysian nation.

Najib should not miss the opportunity of the Save Malaysia Roundtable tomorrow to let the nation and the world know how he as Prime Minister is contributing to the national effort to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 February 2017, 5:05 pm and is filed under
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If Najib government and Hadi’s PAS leadership are not prepared to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, then ordinary Malaysians, including UMNO and PAS members, must come forward to Save Malaysia

For many months, Malaysians going overseas have been faced with the embarrassing situation when asked which country they come from.

Once Malaysians had no problem in proudly identifying themselves as coming from Malaysia, but now they hesitate whether to answer the question as they would be confronted with embarrassing questions about Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy, the infamous international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal involving the Prime Minister which have caused the closure of banks and imprisonment of bankers for money-laundering in other countries, MO1 and many other difficult questions.

Do we have a national strategy, involving the full support of the government, to counter Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy?

The silence and indifference of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, leaders of other Barisan Nasional parties, as well as the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang to the invitation to this Save Malaysia Roundtable is loudest answer to this question.

Clearly, we have not even taken the  first step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy, which  is to end the “global pretence” that the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal had been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

This was what the Prime Minister had promised more than a year ago.

In his meeting with some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs on 14th June 2015, Najib gave an assurance that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1MDB will be resolved by year-end.

In his 2016 New Year message on 31st December 2015, Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, as illustrated by the first five weeks of 2017, when the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal continue to haunt and hound Malaysians, for example:

•	the decision of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordering Coutts & Co., which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB;

•	the jailing of the  fourth former banker in Singapore, Jens Fred Sturzenegger, former  branch manager of Falcon Private Bank in Singapore  for crimes related to  1MDB money-laundering;

•	the revelation in the Sturzenegger court case substantiating the US Department of Justice (DOJ) case that the RM2.6 billion donation in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13thGeneral Election in March 2013  came from 1MDB and not from any Arab prince as claimed by Najib and UMNO leaders;

•	the stinging criticism by former US stockbroker, Jordan Belfort, the man whose biography the film “Wolf of Wall Street”  is based,  calling  the movie’s producer Riza Aziz – Najib’s stepson – and financier billionaire Jho Low as “criminals”;

•	for the first time in Malaysian history, the 1MDB scandal has been cited by Transparency International (TI) as the reason for Malaysia’s continued fall in both ranking and score in the TI Corruption Perception Index 2016, released two weeks ago; and today,

•	whether Jho Low’s Bombadier Global 5000 jet has been impounded at a hangar at Singapore’s Seletar airport.

If the Najib government and Hadi’s PAS leadership are not prepared to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, then ordinary Malaysians, including UMNO and PAS members, must come forward to Save Malaysia.

This is why this Save Malaysia Roundtable has been convened.

We are holding this Save Malaysia Roundtable in commemoration of the 114th birthday anniversary of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister of Malaysia.

I have no doubt that Tunku would be horrified that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy and heading towards a failed and rogue state.

In fact, the second and third Prime Ministers, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, would have been horrified by the trajectory of the nation under the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I can speak from personal knowledge, as I had worked with Tunku during the last decade of his life and with Hussein during the last five years of his life.

We have with us today Tun Dr. Mahathir, the fourth Prime Minister and one of the two surviving former Prime Ministers,  who has already made his horror loud and clear about Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy and hurtling towards a failed and rogue state.

It is a strange experience to  find that what I said about the Bumiputera Finance Scandal and the Bank Negara foreign exchange scandal, in particular my speech in Parliament  on 11th March 1986 on the  6,000-page 13-volume Ahmad Nordin Report on the BMF scandal and my speech in Parliament on the Bank Negara forex scandal on April 11, 1994 have become  “cherished” material by UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers  – but not to demand a corruption-free Malaysia but to undermine and destroy attempts to Save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy.

I feel sad that it  should take UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists 30 years  – one and a half generation –  to realise that what I said in Parliament in March 1986 deserve serious national attention. And in the case of the Bank Negara forex scandal, UMNO/BN leaders need 22 years to realise that I said in Parliament was worthy of national attention.

I had called for Royal Commissions of Inquiry into the BMF scandal and the Bank Negara forex scandal, and I stand by every word what I had said in Parlaiment on both these issues.

But we are now faced with an even bigger scandal, the 1MDB scandal which had made Malaysia infamous worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

Yes, lets have RCIs on BMF and Bank Negara forex scandals, but even more pressing and urgent, let us have a RCI on the 1MDB global kleptocracy.

Let us have a “mother” of RCIs – which investigate not only the BMF and  Bank Negara forex scandals, but even more important, the 1MDB scandal.

This “mother” of all RCIs should give priority to the 1MDB scandal as we need to cleanse and purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy, so Malaysians can feel proud again as citizens of this country and break the trajectory towards a failed and rogue state.

The “mother” of RCIs should come out with a Report on 1MDB before it proceeds with inquiry into the BMF, Bank Negara forex  and other scandals.

If Najib is agreeable with the suggestion to establish a “mother”of RCIs, to investigate and report first on the 1MDB scandal, and then to investigate into the BMF, Bank Negara forex and other scandals, I am prepared to meet with Najib to discuss the details of this “mother” of all RCIs – the terms of reference,  composition, etc.

(Speech at the Save Malaysia Roundtable at Damansara on Tuesday, 7th February 2017 at 3 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 February 2017, 2:24 am and is filed under
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Salleh should remember the adage “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing” – he should seek proper schooling of the BMF, Bank Negara forex and 1MDB scandals from three tutors including Tony Pua and Chooi Mun Sou

The Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak should remember the adage “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing” when he blogged that the Bumiputera Finance Scandal in the 1980s is worse than the ongoing  1MDB scandal.

It is clear that Salleh’s knowledge of the BMF scandal and the Bank Negara forex scandal are most superficial, and I would recommend three tutors for Salleh to get full briefing about the BMF, Bank Negara forex and 1MDB scandals.

It is a pity that Salleh did not attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable in Damansara yesterday or he would have the benefit of DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua’s presentation on “1MDB – Kedudukan & Langkah Selanjutnya” and he would not have made the ludicrous claim that the 1MDB scandal was a minor scandal as compared to the BMF scandal.

For Salleh’s information, these are among the slides presented by Tony Pua at the Roundtable yesterday:

Apakah Jumlah yang diseleweng?

•	US$1.83 billion   – Pelaburan Petrosaudi

•	US$1.367 billion – “Cagaran” Aabar (BVI)

•	US$0.855 billion – “Cagaran Tambahan” Aabar (BVI)

•	US$1.56  billion  – Pelaburan 1MDB “Global Investment”

•	Total                   – US$5.612 billion (RM24.7 billion)*

*Tidak termasuk kerugian daripada activiti dan transaksi ‘rasmi’ seperti pengambilalihan syarikat penjanakusa, fi melampau kepada Goldman Sachs, diskaun bon luarbiasa, pelaburan hartanah dll

Apakah tanggungan rakyat Malaysia?

•	RM5.0 bn – Bon 30-tahun jaminan kerajaan (2009)

•	RM0.8 bn – Pinjaman 10-tahun SOCSO, dijamin kerajaan (2010)

•	US$3.5bn – Bon 10-tahun dijamin IPIC, ditanggung MOF Inc (2012)

•	US$3.0bn – Bon 10-tahun, “Surat sokongan” kerajaan (2013)

•	US$1.0bn – Pendahuluan IPIC, ditanggung by MOF Inc (2015)

•	US0.23j    –  Bayaran faedah oleh IPIC, ditanggung MOF Inc (2015/16)

•	Jumlah     = RM5.8 bn + US7.73 bn = ~RM39.8bn*

*Tanpa mengira pinjaman lain berkaitan dgn Bandar Malaysia, TRX dll

I have no doubt that Tony Pua would be ready to tutor Salleh about the intricacies and magnitude of the 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal and disabuse him of his notion that the government’s “real exposure” in 1MDB scandal is only RM1 million in the initial paid-up capital.

Salleh should seek proper schooling on the subjects of the BMF, Bank Negara forex and 1MDB scandals before he makes a fool of himself in his blogs.

I recommend three tutors for Salleh, one for  each of the three scandals.

Tony Pua will be a fitting tutor for Salleh for the 1MDB scandal, which has catapulted to the heights of global kleptocracy.

A tutor I will recommend to Salleh for the BMF scandal will be lawyer Chooi Mun Sou, who together with the then Auditor-General Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin and accountant Ramli Ibrahim formed the three-men BMF Inquiry Committee, which spent two years and produced the most complete picture of the RM2.5 billion BMF scandal – of the massive theft, fraud and criminal breach of trust of public monies by a conspiracy of public officials and corporate crooks.

The nation owes to  Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin, Chooi Mun Sou and Ramli Ibrahim a great debt of gratitude for their great work.

They have proved to be the best exemplars of the dedicated, true and patriotic Malaysian, who are guided solely by the dictates of truth and national good, and who would not compromise their principles  whatever the pressures or circumstances.

If in the sordid story of the BMF scandal, there had been one public official who had been prepared to take a principled stand for truth and the national interest, regardless of the displeasure or the wrath this would cause to powerful personalities or even the Government, the BMF scandal would not have reached its final magnitude and dimension.

Salleh should learn this lesson from the BMF scandal that if there  are more Ministers who are prepared to put the dictates of truth and national good above personal interests of political advancement, and have the courage to tell the Prime Minister to end the pretence that the 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal is not an issue but must be addressed frontally, Malaysia will never get out of the infamy and ignominy of a global kleptocracy.

Has Salleh learnt this lesson from the BMF scandal?

Clearly Salleh has not, or he would not have accepted Cabinet appointment while the Prime Minister was sacking the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail and overhauling the major national institutions like the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption commission, the Police and Bank Negara in a  major political gambit to sweep the 1MDB scandal under the carpet.

I have in mind an excellent tutor for Salleh for the Bank Negara forex scandal – a person whose knowledge of the scandal would be second to none.

If Salleh wants his name, I am prepared to name him.

Salleh should not be a living example of the adage “Little knowledge is a dangerous thing” and should learn more about the BMF, Bank Negara forex and 1MDB scandals before he blogs about them.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 February 2017, 2:51 pm and is filed under
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All Cabinet Ministers guilty of colossal negligence and irresponsibility of the first degree when they could discuss possibility of RCI for Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago but no mention of possible RCI into the current 1MDB kleptocratic scandal

All Cabinet Ministers are guilty of colossal negligence and irresponsibility of the first degree when they could discuss the possibility of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago but there is no mention or discussion of possible RCI into the current  1MDB kleptocratic scandal.

UMNO Youth Chief and Minister for Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin has said that the Cabinet will decide next week whether there should be an official inquiry into the Bank Negara forex losses in the early 1990s.

Khairy said the matter was discussed at the Cabinet yesterday and would be brought up again next Wednesday before a decision is made on the official probe.

Khairy has  forfeited the right to represent the youths of Malaysia if he cannot voice out the views of all youths in the country that they do not want Malaysia to be known worldwide as a global kleptocracy as a result of the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal.

All Ministers would have lost the right to claim that they are patriotic and love Malaysia if they are not prepared to do anything to clear Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of a global kleptocracy.

The Cabinet meeting yesterday was the lowest point ever plummeted by any Malaysian Cabinet in the nation’s 60-year history, when it discussed the possibility of a RCI into the Bank Negara forex scandal more than two decades ago while completely indifferent and uninterested in the 1MDB scandal which is making world headlines and news almost every other day.

Just in having such a colossal blind-spot, all Ministers are not fit to be in the Cabinet, for they seem more interested in exacting vendetta and personal vengeance instead of protecting the rights, interests and good name of Malaysia.

Malaysians must demand the Cabinet Ministers, whether from UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah/Sarawak BN parties, to explain why they dare not insist that a full and untrammeled investigation into the 1MDB and clearing Malaysia’s reputation as a global kleptocracy must the top priority agenda of the government.

Let every Cabinet stand up and declare why he or she is not prepared to do their utmost to show Malaysians and the world that Malaysia is not a global kleptocracy!

(Media Conference Statement after Thaipusam celebrations in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 9th February 2017 at 11 am)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 February 2017, 5:24 pm and is filed under
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Journalism a sacred duty to uphold truth, not a mere tool of the regime to perpetuate lies and falsehoods, nor a political implement to dumb down Malaysians in order to stay in power

I would like to acknowledge the statement issued by Geramm (Gerakan Media Marah), a loose coalition of media practitioners and journalists, entitled ‘Media is not the enemy’ in defence of a fellow journalist who had an altercation with me during a press conference welcoming Datuk Zaid Ibrahim into the DAP on Monday.

The journalist who identified himself as coming from TV3, had asked if I would be speaking about the BMF and forex scandals differently if former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not within the opposition ranks.

Mahathir, who was seated next to me at the presser was visibly amused at the question. The amusement increased as soon as the person said that he came from TV3, inviting jeers and laughter from the audience around him. Even other fellow journalists at the event did not voice out any protest against the so called altercation nor the jeering by the crowd later.

Perhaps because it is well understood that the DAP and the rest of the opposition has been the regular target of the traditional media owned and controlled by UMNO for as long as we can remember. TV3 in particular has become the main tool to paint the DAP as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, demonizing our leaders with every other lies and falsehoods you can think of, without ever giving a right of reply.

I agree with Geramm, that ‘the media is not the enemy’. But in this age of information, he who controls the media, holds power; and in this case, the traditional media is entirely controlled by the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak. As such, it does not do for the opposition to take the attacks and provocation by the Najib-controlled media, lying down.

The statement issued by Geramm has opened an avenue to discuss this question, of integrity in journalism and not being used as an apparatus and a tool of mere political propaganda. Journalism is a sacred duty to uphold truth, not a tool of the regime to perpetuate lies and falsehoods, nor a political implement to dumb down Malaysians in order to stay in power.

Geramm’s Facebook page had also shared an article written by R. Nadeswaran a.k.a. Citizen Nades, a respected journalist with 45 years of experience, with regards to the question at hand.

He writes, among others:

“If the news editor or editor asks you to ask a certain question, you can politely ask him or her: ‘Is there a specific reason why you want this question asked?’

“This is the type of danger reporters must avoid – making fools of themselves on the insistence of their bosses. If they are not happy doing it, don’t do it half-heartedly just to satisfy the bosses.

“Reporters must be able to stand up and tell their editors that such questions or statements are either redundant (in the case of LKS when he said he had never changed his stand); or stupid

“…each one of us has got pride and take pride in doing our jobs. At the end of the day, let us go home and sleep with a clear conscience that you did an honest day’s job.

“Finally, we journalists must get rid of the government mantra – saya yang menurut perintah.”

The last line of Nadeswaran’s article is most important, that a journalist is not a government servant and does not foolishly and blindly follow orders. Let Malaysia be able to bring about change, with the Fourth Estate free of political pressure and influence. Only then can we ensure that Malaysia can ever be great again.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 9th February 2017)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 February 2017, 11:15 am and is filed under
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Call for new political culture of honest, moral and ethical politics in Malaysia – No politics of fear, no politics of hate and no politics of lies

Thaipusam in Malaysia is a symbol of Malaysia’s multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious diversity, which is Malaysia’s greatest asset although there are people who wrongly regard this factor as one of the national ills in the country.

Malaysia can only build a great future and great Malaysian civilization if all races, religions, languages and cultures fully participate and contribute to the Malaysian vision.

In this sense, no one can claim to be a truly Malaysian if he is anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Dayak or anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu or anti-Sikh.

While a Malaysian is  a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Dayak, no one can claim  to be a Malaysian if he is anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan, anti-Dayak or anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, anti-Buddhist, anti-Hindu or anti-Sikh.

In my 51 years in Malaysian politics, I have never called anyone anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan or anti-Dayak, or anti-Muslim, anti-Buddhist, anti-Christian, anti-Hindu or anti-Sikh as I will in fact be challenging his or her  very core existence as a Malaysian!

For this reason, on the occasion of 2017 Thaipusam, I call for a new political culture of honest, moral and ethical politics in Malaysia, involving three Noes – No politics of fear, no politics of hate and no politics of lies.

This year is likely to be the election year – which may be why there has recently been  an upsurge and  escalation of the politics of fear, politics of hatred and politics of lies.

The Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was guilty of breaching the Three Noes Rule, when he proposed making Penang a federal territory, ruled directly by Putrajaya.

Firstly
, Adnan violated the No Politics of Fear, as his proposal was  designed to create fear that if the people of Penang freely exercises their democratic right to choose the state government they want, they will lose the Penang state as one of the 13 states as provided in Article 1(2) of the Malaysian Constitution, losing the rights to  State Assembly elections, a Penang Chief Minister and a State Executive Council.

Secondly
, it ran  afoul of the No Politics of Hatred, as it is based on promoting animosities and distrust among the Malay and non-Malay voters in Penang.

Thirdly
, it infringed the No Politics of Lies as the idea of making Penang as a Federal Territory is built on the  lies that the DAP-led Penang State Government is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and oppressed  Malays and Islam in the state.

In actual fact, it is UMNO and Barisan Nasional in Penang which are losing voter support, both Malay and non-Malay, as illustrated by the following 13th General Election results:

Parliament results for Penang

Party

% Vote

Change (2008 vs 2013)

GE2008

GE2013

UMNO

16.9%

16.3%

-0.6%

MCA

9.9%

8.7%

-1.2%

MIC

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

GER

9.6%

6.6%

-3.0%

BN TOTAL

36.3%

31.5%

-4.8%

PAS

5.1%

5.8%

0.7%

DAP

39.9%

43.9%

4.0%

Keadilan

17.1%

18.1%

1.0%

PR TOTAL

62.1%

67.8%

5.7%

State Assembly results for Penang

Party

% Vote

Change (2008 vs 2013)

GE2008

GE2013

UMNO

17.0%

16.7%

-0.3%

MCA

9.1%

6.0%

-3.1%

GERAKAN

12.9%

8.0%

-5.0%

MIC

1.3%

1.0%

-0.2%

BN TOTAL

40.3%

31.7%

-8.6%

PAS

6.1%

6.0%

-0.2%

DAP

31.7%

37.2%

5.5%

PKR

20.1%

23.4%

3.3%

PR Total

58.0%

66.6%

8.6%

Three features stand out in these Penang results in the 2008 and 2013 general elections:

Firstly
, all the Barisan Nasional parties of UMNO, Gerakan, MCA and MIC have been losing voter support, both Malay and non-Malay,  for the two consecutive 12th and 13th General Elections in 2008 and  2013.

In the 2004 GE, for the Penang State Assembly elections, UMNO secured 22% of the votes cast, Gerakan 21.3%, MCA 16.3% and MIC 2.3%, bringingt BN’s total to 61.9% of the total State Assembly votes cast.

In the 2008 and 2013 General Elections, there has been an unchecked decline for Barisan Nasional, with  UMNO’s percentage of voter support falling to  17% in 2008 GE to 16.7% in 2013 GE; Gerakan to 12.9% in 2009 and further  to 8% in 2013; MCA to 9.1% in 2008 and further down to 6% in 2013; MIC to 1.3% in 2008 and further down  to 1.0% in 2013.

Overall, BN’s percentage of voter support in Penang fell from 61.9% in the 2004 GE to 40.3% in 2008 GE to 31.7% in 2013 GE – or less than one third of the votes cast in 2013!

This means that from 2004 GE to 2013 GE, BN’s percentage of total votes cast in the Penang State Assembly elections have been halved, with Gerakan losing the most, forfeiting the support of over  62% of voter support in the 2013 GE as compared to 2004 GE.

In contrast, DAP’s votes cast in the Penang State Assembly elections had increased from 19.8% in 2004 GE to 31.7% in 2008 to  37.3% in 2013; while PKR had increased from 10.5% of the votes cast in 2004 GE to 20.1% in 2008 and 23.4% in 2013 GE.  The Opposition’s percentage of the total votes cast increased from 36% in the 2004 GE to 58% in the 2008 GE to 66.6% in 2013 GE.

Secondly,
 in the 2013 General Election, the DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat won 30 state assembly seats as compared to 29 seats in the 2008 general election.

DAP not only won all the 19 seats it won in the 2008 general elections, but with a bigger majority in everyone of the 19 seats, with majorities as big as more than 300 per cent as in the case of Chong Eng in the Padang Lalang seat where she won with a 14,930- vote majority as compared to the 4,242-vote DAP majority in 2008 general election; and of over 400% increase as in Padang Kota where Chow Kong Yeow won with 7,196-vote majority as compared to 1,661-vote majority in 2008;  in Pulau Tikus where Yap Soo Huey won with a 8,220-vote majority as compared to 1,714-vote majority in 2008 and in Seri Delima where RSN Rayer won with 9,227-vote majority as compared to 2,128-vote majority in 2008.

Thirdly
, in the 2013 GE State Assembly results in Penang, UMNO suffered a loss of Malay votes to DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat in Penang, with UMNO losing one seat (Seberang Jaya) where former UMNO Assemblyman Arif Shah Omar Shah who had won the constituency with a majority of 533 votes in 2008 lost   to Afif Bahardin (PKR) who won with a thumping majority of 2,459 votes.

Five  of the 10 UMNO Penang Assemblymen had the 2008 UMNO  majorities slashed, and these five state assembly seats are Sungai Dua, Telok Ayer Tawar, Permatang Berangan, Pinang Tunggal and Bertam. Four other seats were won by UMNO with only three-figure majorities of less than a thousand, namely Teluk Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas and Sungai Acheh.

If this trend continues in the 14th General Election, UMNO will lose more state assembly seats and votes, and the question would be  how many of the 10 UMNO State Assembly seats could be retained by UMNO in the next general election.

This is why UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are escalating their triple politics of fear, politics of hatred and politics of lies against the DAP.

The  voters in Penang, whether Malay or non-Malay voters,  know better than UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers outside Penang that the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan State Government had done more for  Malays and non-Malays,  Islam and other religions in the state after the 12th General Elections in March 2008 than previous administrations.

We have now the ludicrous situation of a double-faced Barisan Nasional in Penang, where UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are accusing the Penang-led Pakatan Harapan state government of oppressing the Malays, while Gerakan and MCA are making the very opposite accusation – falsely alleging that the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and his Penang State Government are favouring the Malays against the non-Malays.

Only one of the allegations  could be right  – is it UMNO or MCA/Gerakan?

In actual fact, both allegations are wrong – for the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan State Government helped everyone, regardless of race – and this is why UMNO/BN are continuing to lose voter support in Penang state, from both Malays and non-Malays.

For the sake of multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia, are Barisan Nasional leaders whether from UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the BN component parties from  Sabah and Sarawak prepared to agree to a new political culture of honest, moral and ethical politics of Three Noes – No politics of fear, no politics of hate and no politics of lies?

Let us see whether the UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and all Barisan Nasional party leaders dare to respond to this challenge or whether they will just dig deeper to hide their heads in the sand!

(Thaipusam Media Conference Statement after Thaipusam celebrations in Gelang Patah on Thursday, 9th February 2017)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 10 February 2017, 4:58 am and is filed under
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