Jerantut the 95th parliamentary constituency I am visiting to get public feeback on “Mana RM2.6 billion?” and 304 Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia on 4th March 2016

Jerantut the 95th parliamentary constituency I am visiting to get public feeback on “Mana RM2.6 billion?” and 304 Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia on 4th March 2016

Jerantut is the 95th parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015.

I started off to get public feedback to the two greatest financial scandals in the country, which have brought shame and stain to the nation, hogging international news that  Malaysia is topping the world as among the most corrupt nations in the world.

However, since the past two weeks, I am also seeking public feeback on another important national development – the March 4 Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia, which was signed   and proclaimed by 45 politcial and civil society leaders, including former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and former Cabinet Ministers.

Many people had asked how Mahathir and I could sit on the same table in view of our past history and  the great differences between both of us down the decades.

I think this is proof that Malaysia has reached a historic watershed where Malaysians must rise above racial, religious, regional and political differences to take an united stad on a common national agenda – to save Malaysia from hurtling down the slippery slope of a failed and a rogue state.

There have been historic examples,  both international and in our country – from Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek forming a common front to fight a bigger common enemy, to the United States President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian dictator Stalin uniting to fight Germany’s Hitler in the Second World War, or the British colonialists teaming up with the Malayan communists under Chin Peng in the Malayan jungles  through Force 136 during the Japanese Occupation.

In all these examples, neither Mao Tse Tung nor Chiang Kai Shek; Roosevelt, Churchill nor Stalin; the British colonialists and the Malayan Communist Party under Chin Peng did not betray pr compromise  their interests or principles to further a common objective in the higher national interest.

What the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia sought to do is to spark off a national movement involving the unity all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to Save Malaysia – the highest form of patriotism at this time.

I can report that in my visits to 95 parliamentary constituencies in the past five months, and over  a dozen parliamentary constituencies in the past two weeks, there can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority want the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop running and hiding from the twin mega scandals and to take drastic action to ensure that Malaysia is not regarded as among the top 10 countries in the world for corruption; and secondly, support for the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia.

Najib must take heed of popular opinion on these two issues, if he is not to end up soon as “history” with a legacy which is regarded with shame and regret in the history of Malaysia.

(Speech at the DAP “Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah kopitiam at Jerantut on Monday, 21st March 2016 at 1 pm)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 March 2016, 5:05 pm and is filed under
General
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Federal and Pahang state governments must ensure that the existing pollution and environmental degradation is reversed and proper safeguards put in place before allowing even one kg of bauxite to be mined after the mining moratorium ends on the 15th of April, 2016

In addition to having 1MDB being named as the 3rd world corruption scandal of 2015 by Foreign Policy Magazine and appearing as one of the 5 countries named in TIME Magazine’s State of Global Corruption, Malaysia can add one more ‘achievement’ for 2015 – going from almost no production of bauxite in 2013 to producing 20 million tons in 2015 making the country the fourth largest bauxite producer in the world after Australia, China and Brazil!

The result of this uncontrolled exploitation of resources driven by greed is the serious pollution of rivers and other water bodies in and near Kuantan, the stripping of forests and earth at mining sites and the transformation of the roads and buildings in the area to various hues of red and orange. The total failure and inability of the state and federal government to control the bauxite mining activities led to the sea off the coast of Kuantan turning red earlier this year! The frustration of the people over this disaster was clearly evident when some residents set alight 5 lorries which were carrying bauxite through their areas.

There is now tremendous pressure on the state and federal governments to allow the bauxite mining operations to continue when the moratorium imposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment ends on the 15th of April, after a period of 3 months.

It is not sufficient for the Ministry to come up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) which must be followed by the bauxite miners. Untold environmental damage has been done as a result of 18 months of uncontrolled mining including water poisoning and possible exposure to high levels of mercury and other poisonous metals. The Malaysian Society of Marine Sciences chairman Dr. Harinder Rai Singh was reported to have said that the “red sea” of the coast of Kuantan could be a “dead sea” for up to 3 years!

I call upon the federal and Pahang state government to undertake an extensive impact assessment on the entire environment in and around Kuantan including health checks for the at risk populations such as the young and the infirm to document and evaluate the extent of the damage caused by the 18 months of uncontrolled bauxite mining. A detailed plan to clean up the affected areas – the rivers, the sea, the site of the mines – and to address the health issues faced by residents have to be given and explained to the public in a transparent manner.

Until these issues are addressed to the satisfaction of the residents of Kuantan and the nearby areas, not a single kg of bauxite should be allowed to be mined even after the ending of the moratorium on the 15th of April.  We cannot allow this ‘red sea’ disaster to drown the people of Kuantan by exposing them to untold and unknown health and environmental hazards.

(Media Statement on the Bauxite Mining Environmental Disaster in Kuantan on the 21st of March, 2016 during his one-day visit to Pahang when he would meet with Red2Green anti-bauxite walkers on the 17-day 254-km journey from Kuantan on March 12 to Parliament on March 28)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 March 2016, 6:24 am and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


‘Don’t think I am a crook’: Malaysia’s Najib Razak lashes out at critics

Lindsay Murdoch, South-East Asia correspondent

Sydney Morning Herald

March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak has declared he is not a crook despite refusing to explain how hundreds of millions of dollars turned up in his personal bank accounts.

“I will not take the people’s property, don’t think I am a crook … I am prime minister for the people,” he told a political rally in Kuantan, a city on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Facing a growing movement aiming to remove him from office, 62 year-old Mr Najib lashed out at his critics, saying they are trying to tarnish his image while he struggled to defend people’s welfare.

“You already know me, I am not like what is said by people over there … if I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago.”

Mr Najib has refused to clarify how almost $1 billion came to be deposited into his personal bank accounts in 2013 or to explain what happened to millions that remains unaccounted for.

Loyalists in his government have claimed the money was a legal donation from Saudi Arabia.

But The Wall Street Journal has reported the money flowed through a series of international transactions from the heavily indebted 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund, which Mr Najib set up in 2009 and oversees through an advisory board.

The newspaper has also claimed that more than $1.4 billion was sent into Mr Najib’s accounts since 2011 – millions more than previously identified.

Time highlights Malaysia corruption

Mr Najib, who has had close ties to successive Australian governments, made the comments as Time Magazine named Malaysia second on a list of five countries, after Brazil, where corruption scandals have engulfed governments.

He has made clear in recent weeks he intends to fight growing opposition and disappointment in his leadership while shoring up support among powerful division chiefs of his ruling United Malays National Organisation, who have benefited from decades of government largesse.

Mr Najib has cracked down on critics in UMNO and the media, strengthened the government’s relationship with conservative Islamic leaders and portrayed a Citizen’s Declaration signed by his foes as a conspiracy to topple to his government.

Despite declaring previous anti-Najib rallies illegal police in Kuala Lumpur, police say hundreds of protesters who rallied outside the office of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday would not be prosecuted.

Dr Mahathir, who led the country for 22 years, is one of Mr Najib’s fiercest critics.

“The thing is, when all the NGOs came together, it is not a protest, it is not an illegal gathering as they just wanted to pass a memorandum to (Dr Mahathir),” said deputy police chief Vijaya Rao.

The protest was led by an UMNO division chief.

Lawyers call for Attorney-General to step down

On Saturday more than 700 lawyers attending the Malaysian Bar’s Annual meeting called for Attorney-General Apandi Ali to step down for closing corruption investigations into 1MDB in January.

Investigations into the fund are underway in the US, Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland.

French investigators are also probing corruption allegations relating to Malaysia’s purchase of French/Spanish submarines when Mr Najib was defence minister.

The allegations are linked to the gruesome murder of a glamorous 28 year-old Mongolian translator by two of Mr Najib’s bodyguards in 2006.

Mr Najib denies any wrongdoing in that case that has dogged his seven years in power.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 7:10 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


GLCs The Problem, Not The Solution

Bakri Musa

22.3.2016

 Last of Six Parts

Malaysia is today paralyzed – and polarized – by the scandal of One Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a government-linked company (GLC). Rest assured that this debacle will not be the last. The other certainty is that future ones will carry even far greater costs.

            The only sure way to prevent this is to get rid of GLCs. Sell them, and use the proceeds to enhance the quality of our human capital. In the final analysis that is the only matrix that matters.

            GLCs are now very much part of if not the problem, as exemplified by 1MDB. They are not the solution, not even part of it.

            As massive as the price tag of the 1MDB fiasco is (and it’s still growing), far more consequential is the accompanying erosion of our institutions and degradation of our values. You cannot quantify those damages.

            We have ulamas now saying that we should tolerate corrupt leaders; to throw them out is haram or un-Islamic! The integrity of the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Attorney-General’s office, Bank Negara, and hosts of other key institutions is now shattered. They are less guardians of public trust, more enablers for a corrupt leader.

            Restoring our previous values will be no easy task. These corrupt acts are now viewed as otherwise; they are our new norms.

            Tun Razak introduced GLCs in the 1960s to achieve three objectives. First, he wanted to level the economic playing field by challenging and giving much-needed competition to the existing monopolies and monopsonies of large primarily colonial and a smattering of Chinese-owned companies. Doing so would pave the way for new entrants, in particular Malay entities. Only the government then had the might to take on those massive established enterprises.

            This is the same rationale China uses to justify its GLCs, to take on the giant global companies that are now entering the country as a result of Deng’s economic liberalization policies. China, being new to capitalism, has no domestic enterprises with the financial might or managerial expertise to compete with these global giants.

            Second, GLCs were to spearhead Malay entry into the private sector.

            These two objectives were integral to Razak’s larger scheme of “restructuring society to eradiate the identification of race with economic activities,” the foundation of his New Economic Policy.

            Third and last, Razak wanted to bypass the byzantine ways and sluggish pace of the civil service. The civil service of yore, despite the nostalgic memories to the contrary of its now-retired members, was never the paragon of efficiency or innovation. They, like their counterparts today, epitomized their motto, “Kami menurut perentah” (We follow orders!), only too well.

            Six decades later, those three objectives have yet to be accomplished. Worse, GLCs have created many new and even more serious problems as exemplified by 1MDB, quite apart from their being a drag on the Treasury and thus taxpayers.

            Consider Malay participation in the corporate sector. Today the figure is stuck at under 20 percent, stagnant if not declining, and far below our share of the population. GLCs have succeeded only in breeding an entrenched class of rent seekers and ersatz capitalists among Malays, while squeezing out the genuine variety. Far too often GLCs compete with genuine Bumiputra entrepreneurs.

            Of relevance here, how many Malay entrepreneurs have these GLCs spawned either in their supply chain or through the ranks of their employees?

            As for leveling the economic playing field, far from achieving that GLCs further distort it. These GLCs also suck in Malay talent that would otherwise be the initiators of their own enterprises, or find their way up in the private corporate sector. When these GLCs comprise 40 percent (by value) of the Stock Exchange (KLSE), they make a mockery of the free market dynamics.

            Nor have these GLCs succeeded in bypassing the inefficiencies of the lumbering civil service. On the contrary those non-productive practices of the civil service are now the norms in GLCs. What do you expect when the governing bodies and upper echelons of these GLCs have now become the cushy preserve of retired, compliant senior civil servants?

            The prospect of a lucrative post-retirement appointment in GLCs is a pernicious influence on the behaviors of top public servants. Be too critical of the stupid ideas of your political superiors and you blow your chances of such lucrative assignments. It is not hard to miss that those retired civil servants who are now so critical of the government are also the ones who had been denied their plump post-retirement appointments.

            At another level, what these former senior government officials now working in GLCs do not or refuse to acknowledge is that they are “double dipping.” They “retire” and draw their pensions from their old government job and then work in another government entity and accruing a fresh set of pension! If they have any sense of ethics or basic fairness they should not draw on their civil service pensions and instead consider themselves as continuing their employment but at another governmental entity. These selfish individuals are oblivious of the burden they impose on taxpayers. In fact, they are ripping off the taxpayers. This should stop.

            Sell these GLCs to the highest bidders. I could not care less whether they are Malays or non-Malays, Malaysians or foreigners. Focus on getting the best price.

            The first and immediate positive impact of such a move would be the removal of a major and continuing source of public corruption and political patronage. We would be spared of future 1MDBs. Political has-beens like Isa Samad (head of FELDA’s FGV) and retired senior civil servants like Sidek Hassan (Petronas) would now have to prove their executive talent to secure lucrative corporate jobs instead of banking on their loyalty to their political superiors.

             Have professional managers, local or foreign, manage those funds generated from the sales. Divest these GLCs slowly and deliberately to avoid a “fire-sale” psychology, like spreading it over a decade or two and selling only a portion of a company at a time. That was how Canada privatized its PetroCanada. The Canadian government received increasingly premium prices with each subsequent sale.

            Stipulate that the bulk of the funds be invested domestically. Apart from investing in our schools and colleges, part of that local investment should include funding individuals to start their own enterprises in a manner of a venture capitalist, as well as investing in physical infrastructures, from the lowly pasar minggu facilities to modern shopping plazas, to encourage trading among our people.

            When Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., started his community in Medinah, the first thing he did was build a marketplace where citizens could trade. He knew the importance of trade in promoting harmony among the then plural societies of Medinah, between the immigrant Muslims from Mecca and the host Muslims, and between Muslims and non-Muslims. To signal the importance of trade, the prophet did not charge for use of the facility, considering it a public good.

            Examples of venture capital investment could be the financing such low-ticket items like helping taxi drivers buy their own cabs or fishermen their outboard motors. Imagine the boost to their income if our taxi drivers owned their vehicles. Taxis in Malaysia should be owner-operated. We can do without another layer of unnecessary costs as with having non-operator owners skimming the profits off the drivers’ backs.

            However, instead of just giving the money and then see those dealers jack up their prices, negotiate on behalf of those taxi drivers and fishermen to get massive fleet discounts and then pass the savings on to them. Leverage the clout of the investment company to extract the best deals from the dealers.

            The recent example of Selangor’s religious department using zakat funds to buy food trucks for lease or sale to hawkers is an excellent example.

            From there venture on to bigger ticket items, like funding furloughed but enterprising MAS pilots to buy planes to start their own private jet or cargo services. Or an enterprising group of physicians or teachers wanting to build their own private hospitals or schools.

            What I would not do is start companies or in anyway resurrect the GLC concept. Doing that would only perpetuate the makan gaji (“salary man”) mentality of Malays. Instead actively seek out entrepreneurial Malays and fund them to start their own ventures. Governments should not start companies; only enterprising individuals should.

            We should instill in Malays the wisdom of our Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., that is, it is far more meritorious to be the dispensers rather than the recipients of salaries.

            When you fund these individuals, do not give them the total lump sum right away in the manner of the disbursement of the RM250 million to a minister’s spouse to start that infamous cattle ranch in Gemas. Instead make the disbursements contingent upon satisfactory performance or progress at every stage. Had that been done we would not have the expensive embarrassment of the National Cattle Feedlot scandal.

            As is apparent, there are many potential recipients of those investments funds. Think of the graduates of MARA catering school who could start their own restaurants, agricultural graduates who wish to start their own sheep ranch or durian dusun, and the hundreds of mechanics, plumbers and electricians, the products of our technical institutes, who wish to have their own workshops.

            Even if we do not spawn a class of entrepreneurial Malays from these funds, getting rid of these GLCs would at least achieve the major goals of removing a major and expensive source of embarrassment to the nation and the nidus for corrupt political patronages. We would also discourage the parasitic class of Malay economic rentiers. Those would be achievements enough.

Speech delivered at the launching by Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz of my book, Liberating The Malay Mind, on January 30, 2016, at Shah Alam.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 9:41 pm and is filed under
Bakri Musa
,
Malays
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Hadi hustles from hudud to hullabaloo

Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

21 Mar 2016

What a remarkable line-up of strange bedfellows. Has-beens. Wannabe Arabs. Back-stabbers. ‘Devout’ Muslims with plenty to say on hudud, but not a word about punishing corrupt politicians. Back-pedallers. Misoygynists.

This new political line-up hopes to become a formidable opposition force, the ‘third force’ of Malaysian politics; but it is more farcical than forceful. The combo is more of a vanity political coalition, than a serious political entity.

The Ikatan president and former tourism minister, Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, had a joint press conference (PC) with Hadi Awang, the PAS president, about the new pact.

The Malaysian equivalent of Donald Trump (physical attributes), and a wannabe Arab. How can anyone have any confidence in this duo? Their track record is not a glittering success.

Hadi flirts with anyone whom he thinks can serve his purpose, but does not seem to realise that he is being used. He ignored the wise words of PAS’ spiritual adviser, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, to be wary of Umno Baru, but like Adam in the Garden of Eden, he ate the forbidden fruit, and today, his party has been banished from Eden.

For years, Hadi denied having unity government talks with Umno Baru, and when it was finally revealed that he had been having secret discussions with them, he was unashamed about his role. Is this the behaviour of a trustworthy individual?

Hadi played a major role in destroying Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in the Kajang move and it took him a month to reveal that he did not want a woman as menteri besar.

During that time, he claimed that he could not disclose his reason for not supporting Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s candidacy, pretending it was top secret stuff. Nothing of the sort. He is a misogynist through and through.

Hadi uses hudud as a weapon against the parties and people that PAS wants to discredit. When PAS was aligned with Pakatan Rakyat, the hudud issue was made into a political hot-potato in the final lap towards GE13. It threw the opposition coalition into disarray. Coincidence or political treachery?

Today, Hadi and Abdul Kadir want us to believe that “there are more important issues than hudud”.

Abdul Kadir is either more dense than we thought or extremely optimistic, like a woman who marries a roué in the hope that she can change and tame him.

Hadi has a bad track record, and has confirmed that he is an Umno Baru stooge and a fifth columnist.

Abdul Kadir once served as tourism and information minister, and in 2011, climbed Mount Kinabalu and said, “If I had known the place was so beautiful, I would have done the necessary to develop and improve the areas around Mount Kinabalu.”

So, is he finally admitting that he was a useless tourism minister? The rakyat knows that ministers don’t normally take an interest, unless there is a financial incentive for them.

Abdul Kadir is a spent force who is trying to re-establish his relevance. In 2012, he claimed that he resigned from Umno Baru because he did not agree with money politics.

After 56 years in Umno and Umno Baru, did it suddenly dawn on him that corruption in the party was a new phenomenon?

A distant memory

Last year, at the official launch of his party, Ikatan, The Star reported that Abdul Kadir had said, “The country’s founding fathers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Dr Ismail, Tun VT Sambanthan are crying in their graves at the state of Malaysia.”

Today, Abdul Kadir’s remark about past Malaysian leaders, are a distant memory.

He struck a confused tone at the launch of Ikatan’s alignment with PAS when he said, “We want to be a pact that opposes the government, by advising them.”

Really? The rakyat and various NGOs like human rights groups and Bersih, have been giving plenty of free advice, but the government refused to listen. What makes Abdul Kadir think he can make a difference?

Abdul Kadir said that Najib need not resign because he has the rakyat’s support. How desperate is the Ikatan president?

The reality is that this combo will act as a political spoiler to confuse the fence-sitters, and try to prevent people from voting for Pakatan Harapan.

Hadi has gone down in history as the man who brought Malaysia to its knees when he betrayed Pakatan Rakyat. Abdul Kadir does not seem to want to learn from Pakatan Rakyat’s painful lesson.

Some conservative Malays like to claim that they often receive divine messages. So, what should we make of this incident?

At the start of the press conference of the PAS-Ikatan launch on March 16, a power cut plunged the PAS building into darkness. Was that a divine hint?

Or a portend that PAS-Ikatan would throw us into the dark ages?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 7:29 am and is filed under
Pakatan Rakyat
,
PAS
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


“I am not a crook!”

By Martin Jalleh

Will Najib Meet With Nixon’s Self-Inflicted Tragic End?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 12:07 pm and is filed under
Martin Jalleh
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Invitation to MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers to the People’s Congress on Save Malaysia Citizen Declaration in Shah Alam on Sunday to demonstrate their patriotism and love for Malaysia

Simpalek New Village has a special place in Malaysian political electoral history, because it was in Simpalek during the Raub by-election in May 1983, that a MCA Deputy Minister had a misstep and fell into a drain, but he tried to exploit it to political advantage by accusing the DAP of instigating DAP members and supporters to push him the drain.

But there were photographs on record to show that nobody pushed the Deputy Minister into the drain.

After the ‘longkang’ incident, the Deputy Minjster went around Raub limping on a tongkat, except that he forgot which foot should be injured, and he was photographed limping on a different foot when going in and coming out of Simpalek new village MCA premises.

The MCA Deputy Minister’s falling into a drain and limping around on the foot which was supposed to be injured in the fall became  the laughing stock in the by-election.

The DAP victory in the Raub by-election, which was one of the triple by-election victories after the Kepayang state assembly by-election in Perak and the Seremban parliamentary by-election in 18 months after the 1982 General Election marked the revival of DAP after a disastrous electoral performance in the  first five general elections under Mahathir’s 22-year premiership which had used the gleaming slogan of ABC, “amanah, bersih and cekap”.

Now, the fourth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr. Mahathir is on the same page with 44 other political and civil society leaders who collectively signed and proclaimed the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, 2016 to demand removal of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister and for meaningful democratic and institutional reforms.

This national campaign to Save Malaysia transcends race, religion, region or even political party.

A MCA Deputy Minister is slated to be a candidate in Raub in the next general election. She was defeated  in PJ Utara parliamentary constituency in 2008, and rightly, she should return to PJ Utara as she should pick herself up from where she fell down.

Recently, MCA leaders have been making a lot of comments about the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia.

I invite all the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers to attend the People’s Congress on the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration in Shah Alam on Sunday (27th March) to demonstrate their patriotism and love for Malaysia.

If the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers dare to attend the 27th March People’s Congress on the Save Malaysia People’s Declaration, the Congress convenor Datuk Zaid Ibrahim should have no problem in inviting one of their representatives to speak on their behalf at the Shah Alam event.

Do MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers have the courage and conviction to demonstrate that they are prepared to transcend all racial, religious, regional and even political party interests and subordinate them to  the larger national interest?

(Speech at the DAP Raub  ceramah kopitiam in Simpalek New Village on Monday, 21st March 2016 at 4 pm)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 6:02 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Malaysian Dream
,
MCA
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state

On 4th March 2016, an unprecedented and historic event took place in Kuala Lumpur –  the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia by 45 political and civil society leaders which bridged the political divide for the first time in 59 years of the nation’s history.

The Citizens’ Declaration called for the resignation of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister for  having embroiled Malaysia in the 1MDB scandal, the  worst  mega scandal in the nation’s history, and plunging the country to be  among the world’s worst countries in corruption.

For eight long months, Najib had not only refused to sue international news publications that have made serious allegations of corruption against him involving the 1MDB scandal, he had also undermined  full and independent investigation into the twin mega scandals which include the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, as well as subverted the independence, professionalism and integrity of national institutions which include the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Police.

Even more important, the Citizens’ Declaration recognized that the multiple crisis afflicting Malaysia is not just because of an individual but a systemic one, which is why it also called for “democratic and institutional reforms” to restore the important principle of the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary to ensure the independence, credibility, professionalism and integrity of national institutions.

I have visited 97 parliamentary constituencies since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for demanding answers to the simple questions as to the source, the donor or donors,  of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th  General Election in May 2013 and where the astronomical sums have gone to.

I wanted public feedback whether Malaysians agree that the Prime Minister should stop his tactics of procrastination and denial but should answer directly the teeming questions asked by the public and the world about Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

In the past two weeks since March 4, in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Pahang, I had also sought public feedback on the historic national development on March 4, the  Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia.

Many people had asked how Tun Dr.  Mahathir and I could sit on the same table in view of our past history and the great differences between both of us down the decades.

This is proof that Malaysia has reached a historic watershed where Malaysians must rise above racial, religious, regional and political differences to take an united stand on a common national agenda – to save Malaysia from hurtling down the slippery slope of a failed and a rogue state.

There have been historic examples, both international and in our country – from Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek forming a common front to fight a bigger common enemy; to the United States President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian dictator Stalin uniting to fight Germany’s Hitler in the Second World War; or the British colonialists teaming up with the Malayan communists under Chin Peng in the Malayan jungles through Force 136 during the Japanese Occupation.

The Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia seeks to spark off a national movement involving the unity all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to Save Malaysia – the highest form of patriotism at this time – through a peaceful, democratic and constitutional process.

I can report that in my visits to 97 parliamentary constituencies in the past five months, which includes 17 parliamentary constituencies in the past two weeks, there can be no doubt that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians want the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop running and hiding from the twin mega scandals and to take drastic action to ensure that Malaysia is not regarded as among the top 10 countries in the world for corruption.

Secondly, there is overwhelming popular  support for the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia.

Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state.

I am not surprised that one of the strongest opponents to the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia outside UMNO/BN  is none other than the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang.

He has formed what he called a “third force” with PAS teaming up with Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan), with a common stand that Najib need not resign as Prime Minister purportedly for having a “strong mandate to lead the country” – ignoring the fact that Najib is the first minority Prime Minister in Malaysia winning only 47% of the popular vote in the 13th GE.

Hadi is upset at my comment that “zero plus zero equals to zero”, when I was asked for my response to his “third force coalition”, asserting that PAS is not  “zero” as it had managed to wrest Kelantan, Kedah and Perak state governments in the 2008 general elections.

I agree that PAS was not “zero” in the 2008 and 2013 general elections, but the scenario had undergone a sea-change since the 2013 general election.

Can PAS maintain power in the Kelantan State on its own, as it had done for over two decades under the leadership under the then PAS Mursyidul Am and Kelantan Mentri Besar, Tok Guru Datuk Nik Aziz or has Hadi’s PAS now  to depend on the charity of UMNO to continue as the Kelantan State Government in the next general election?

Is PAS under Hadi now a “zero”?

Nobody apart from Hadi regards Ikatan as more than a “zero”. Isn’t this proof that Hadi himself is regarding PAS as a “zero” by putting PAS on the same pedestal as Ikatan!    Or does Hadi regards Ikatan as “one”?

Hadi said his party was not the reason why the Perak Pakatan Rakyat government fell in 2009, putting the blame on DAP and PKR whose state assemblypersons “jumped ship”.

It is very revealing that Hadi does not blame Najib, who was the mastermind who carried the coup d’tat in Perak in toppling the Pakatan Rakyat state government led by  Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, the PR Perak Mentri Besar.

Is Hadi, now in retrospect,  supporting Najib’s role in toppling the Perak Pakatan Rakyat state government of Datuk Seri Jizar Jamaluddin in 2009?

Can Hadi explain why even Nizar had left PAS to join Parti Amanah Negara?

Hadi’s actions in causing the death of Pakatan Rakyat is recent history and memories of Malaysians as to who had destroyed the Malaysian Dream embodied by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition is still too fresh for Hadi to distort and rewrite history.

Hadi wants to bring the PAS under his leadership after the PAS Muktamar last year to be the strongest defender and supporter of Najib as Prime Minister and is fully opposed to the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia, calling for Najib’s resignation as well as far-reaching democratic and institutional reforms.

Malaysians will have to decide whether they support Hadi’s latest political stance – out-UMNO UMNO in full support of Najib as Prime Minister of Malaysia, despite Najib’s twin mega scandals and serious subversion of democratic rights of Malaysians and the independence, credibility and professionalism of our national institutions.

(Speech at the DAP Felda  Lurah Bilut warong ceramah on Monday, 21st March 2016 at 6 pm)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 1:33 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Mahathir
,
Malaysian Dream
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak Says He Isn’t a ‘Crook’

By YANTOULTRA NGUI andCELINE FERNANDEZ

Wall Street Journal

March 21, 2016

Malaysia leader embroiled in 1MDB scandal seeks to assure his supporters

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Prime Minister Najib Razak has told supporters that he isn’t a “crook,” amid continuing fallout from investigations into state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.

Pressure has grown on Mr. Najib since The Wall Street Journal reported last year that government investigators had found that hundreds of millions of dollars had entered his personal bank accounts via banks, companies and other entities linked to 1MDB, whose advisory board he chairs.

The government probe didn’t name the source of the money or specify what happened to it. Global investigators said deposits totaling more than $1 billion—hundreds of millions more than identified by the Malaysian investigators—had flowed into Najib’s personal accounts, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

Mr. Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain, a stance he reiterated Saturday in a talk to more than 5,000 supporters and leaders of the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, in his home state of Pahang.

“If I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. “I didn’t even take an inch, I didn’t take a single tree in Pahang, I didn’t take the bauxite mine, I didn’t take anything.”.

“I have not changed my stand when I became prime minister,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying. “I will not take the people’s property. Don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property. I am the prime minister for the people.”

The 1MDB fund has denied wrongdoing and has said that it is cooperating with investigations. Malaysia’s Attorney GeneralMohamed Apandi Ali has said $681 million deposited to Najib’s account was a legal political donation from Saudi Arabia and that most of the money was returned. Investigators in two other countries agreed that most of the $681 million ultimately was returned, according to people familiar with the probes.

“This is a real distraction to governing the country,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, an independent think-tank. “At some stage a line has to be drawn on whether or not government resources can continuously be used to deal with questions surrounding personal integrity. This has to stop soon one way or another.”

The remarks come as opposition to Mr. Najib over his handling of the 1MDB scandal is building. The anti-Najib forces recently won a major adherent when Mahathir Mohamad,who was prime minister for 22 years, quit UMNO and lent his support to an alliance seeking unseat Mr. Najib.

Mr. Najib’s opponents plan a gathering Sunday at a convention center in Selangor state, which is adjacent to the country’s capital city Kuala Lumpur and the seat of government, Putrajaya. The organizer, Zaid Ibrahim, a former law minister, said that leaders of the movement will chart strategy to increase pressure on Mr. Najib.

Malaysian authorities last week deported two Australian reporters who were briefly detained after they attempted to question Mr. Najib about corruption allegations.

Earlier, the owner of a news site blocked in recent weeks by the government after critical coverage of 1MDB announced that he had decided to shut the portal for commercial reasons.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 5:58 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib Razak: ‘Don’t think I am a crook’

Jeevan Vasagar

Financial Times

March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak, mired in a growing international scandal over state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, urged a rally of supporters at the weekend not to think of him as a “crook” as he fights to retain control of the ruling party.

Mr Najib said that he had never misappropriated public property. Malaysia’s government is battling pressure from global regulators over allegations of corruption linked to 1MDB.

At home, leading figures from the governing United Malays National Organisation have combined with opposition parties to call for the prime minister’s removal.

Mohamed Apandi Ali, Malaysia’s attorney-general, has cleared Mr Najib of any wrongdoing over payments of $681m into his personal bank account. Critics allege the transfers were linked to 1MDB, which is denied by the prime minister and the fund.

At a rally in his home state of Pahang at the weekend, Mr Najib declared: “I haven’t changed my principles as a prime minister. I’ll never steal public property. Don’t think I’m a crook. Don’t believe that I’ve stolen public property. I’m the people’s prime minister.”

The remarks, reported by local media including the state news agency, indicate mounting concern that Mr Najib may be losing his grip on the grassroots of the party, which has dominated Malaysia’s politics since independence.

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s long-serving and influential former prime minister, recently quit Umno in protest at alleged “corruption” under Mr Najib’s leadership. He has allied with opposition leaders to call for Mr Najib’s removal.

Muhyiddin Yassin, Umno’s deputy president, who has been one of Mr Najib’s most prominent critics, was suspended from his position in the party last month. Mr Najib’s supporters say he has won the power struggle within the party and has never been more secure.

Friends of the prime minister said that he recently sang karaoke at a family gathering — performing a mix of Motown and Malay classics — which they said was evidence of a relaxed frame of mind.

However, some analysts say that Umno is fragmenting. Terence Gomez, a political economist at the University of Malaya, said the prime minister was losing the support of the grassroots.

Mr Gomez said: “He is in control of the [Umno] supreme council and division heads but numerous branch chairmen have come out and said we want an investigation in an open and transparent manner.”

He added that some ruling party supporters had been shocked by the scale of the flows into the prime minister’s account.

Malaysia’s attorney-general said in January that the $681m that came into the prime minister’s account was a donation from Saudi royals, and $620m had been returned.

Mr Apandi said investigations by the Malaysia anti-corruption commission had uncovered no evidence of any crimes committed by Mr Najib.

Mr Apandi was appointed last July when Abdul Gani Patail, who previously held the role, retired on health grounds.

At the weekend, the Malaysian bar council placed further pressure on the prime minister by calling on the attorney general to resign “for the good of Malaysia, to restore public confidence and perception of the rule of law”.

An official review of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation into the funds in the prime minister’s account has concluded that the anti-corruption agency’s inquiries are “still incomplete”, and should continue by seeking evidence from overseas financial institutions.

The bar council resolution accused the attorney-general of procrastinating in providing the necessary permission for obtaining evidence from overseas.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, 6:35 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Blocked Site’s Closure Underscores Malaysia’s Press Freedom Crisis

By Shawn W. Crispin

CPJ

March 22, 2016

Committee to Protect Journalists interviews Malaysian Insider editor

On March 14, The Malaysian Insider abruptly closed its editorial operations less than a month after the state media regulator, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, blocked local access to its news site.

The Edge Media Group, owner of The Malaysian Insider, said in a statement that despite the site’s “courageous news reporting” it “did not receive enough commercial support to keep it going.” In a statement posted on The Malaysian Insider website, editor-in-chief Jahabar Sadiq confirmed the site was closed for commercial reasons.

The closure of the English language portal comes amid a government clampdown on independent media, particularly outlets that have critically covered the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial scandal that has engulfed Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration. In recent months, CPJ has documented how authorities have censored, harassed and threatened individual journalists and media outlets in retaliation for their critical coverage.

In an email interview, Sadiq spoke about the government pressure his now-shuttered site experienced and the broad deterioration in press freedom in Malaysia.

CPJ: Last month, The Malaysian Insider’s website was blocked by the state’s media regulator. What article did authorities cite to justify the censorship and why did they consider it sensitive?

Sadiq: Until today there is no official explanation by way of a letter to The Malaysian Insider as to the reasons for the block. All we have is a minister saying we were blocked for an article that was confusing the people of Malaysia and a foreign ministry statement saying that the article was a threat to national peace and harmony.

The news related to an unidentified panel member in the local anti-graft authority saying they had prima facie evidence to back criminal charges against the prime minister over a huge sum of money found in his private bank accounts. The attorney-general had earlier said there was insufficient evidence for a charge.[EDITOR’S NOTE: Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.]

CPJ: Before the commission’s censorship order, did The Malaysian Insider face any official harassment, warnings or threats over its critical news coverage, including of the 1MDB scandal?

Sadiq: We faced investigations for another case last year, but not related to this. However, the Internet regulator issued a general warning to all news portals last July over news coverage, specifically the 1MDB scandal, and the need to avoid using “unverified” news from other sites. There has always been unofficial harassment and threats by supporters and activists linked to the government.

CPJ: How did the government’s blockage of your news site impact your readership? Were readers able to work around the block or was your site, in effect, blacked out?

Sadiq: Our news site saw traffic decline up to 30 percent after the block. Most readers were able to work around the block and traffic remained ahead of other news portals, but eventually it affected our earnings more as advertisers pulled out. In a sense, that loss of revenue led to a permanent blackout

CPJ: How did the censorship impact your news site’s financial situation? Do you think Najib’s government has a deliberate policy of using economic means to bring down independent online media?

Sadiq: The block led to the permanent blackout as revenue plunged. Only one advertiser insisted on putting advertisements despite the block and, ironically, it was a government agency. I have no proof that there is a deliberate policy to use economic means, but advertising agencies have told us that government-linked companies have been discouraged from advertising with us. In our time, only one bank, CIMB, which is owned by the state sovereign wealth fund Khazanah [Nasional Berhad,] has consistently advertised with us. The others did not.

CPJ: What role, if any, did government pressure play in the final decision to close The Malaysian Insider?

Sadiq: As far as I know, there is no government pressure in the decision to close down The Malaysian Insider. The shareholders had indicated from January that they wanted to sell the business and received several inquiries. But the continued block was a factor that affected the sale price of the news portal and perhaps pushed the decision [by the Edge Media Group] to shut it down rather than sell at a lower price.

CPJ: How has Malaysia’s independent online media’s reporting on the 1MDB scandal differed from the state-influenced mainstream media’s coverage?

Sadiq: Well, it is as clear as night and day between both mainly. Several mainstream print media have tried to be as comprehensive as the online media’s wall-to-wall coverage, but the threat of losing their license has curbed them. Most of them have been defending the government in the 1MDB scandal, while the online media has reported the issues and exposés reported by foreign media and whistleblower websites.

CPJ: The Malaysian attorney general has proposed intensifying penalties, including possible life in prison and judicial caning, for violations of the Official Secrets Act. What impact would such revisions, if implemented, have on journalists, whistleblowers and press freedom in general?

Sadiq: The proposals, if true, are chilling. No one would want to work as journalists or if they did, they would just censor themselves rather than run the risk of jail or caning for reporting something remotely seen as a secret. There are whistleblower laws but this seems to contradict the laws that seek to keep the government transparent and accountable. Such revisions, if passed, will just mean the death of professional journalism in Malaysia, and what a sad day that would be.

CPJ: What is your broad assessment of the press freedom situation in Malaysia? Is there still a future for independent journalism, or is the government effectively moving to outlaw its existence?

Sadiq: I have always maintained that there is press freedom in Malaysia and our existence was proof of it. But I guess I am wrong now – we don’t exist. There is a future, but it is under severe attack if people shy away from funding it or think that it is someone else’s problem to fund and run it. The government does not have to do much except ensure that there is enough sycophantic media to lavish praise at it while market forces and bureaucracy stops us from doing our job.

Today, news sites can only exist and do well if they don’t actually cover the real news of governance and scandals that plague Malaysia. The authorities would be happier if we covered entertainment, gossip and travel shows. Anything else threatens their well-being and, in turn, the media’s well-being.

Reprinted from the Committee to Protect Journalists website, CPJ Senior Southeast Asia Representative Shawn W. Crispin is based Bangkok in where he has worked as a journalist and editor for more than 15 years.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 7:38 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Media
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Goldman-1MDB Probe Zeroes In on Bond Deals

Bradley Hope, Justin Baer and Tom Wright

The Wall Street Journal

March 21, 2016

Investigation focuses on whether Wall Street firm misled investors when it sold securities issued by Malaysian fund

U.S. authorities are investigating whether Goldman Sachs Group Inc. misled bondholders when the firm sold securities issued by a Malaysian government-investment fund that is at the center of a corruption scandal, according to a person familiar with the matter.

As part of an inquiry being examined by a U.S. grand jury, investigators are trying to determine if Goldman’s employees had reason to believe that some of the proceeds from bond deals done for the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, weren’t being used for their intended purpose, the person said. Federal authorities also are exploring whether Goldman’s hiring practices in the region violated U.S. anticorruption laws, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Goldman was part of a broad probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department. The investigation remains in its early stages, and neither Goldman nor 1MDB has been accused of wrongdoing.

Investigators have subpoenaed Goldman’s former top banker in Southeast Asia, Tim Leissner, who left the firm last month after being suspended for allegedly violating firm policies. Mr. Leissner, who is cooperating with investigators, has been told by authorities that he isn’t the subject of the U.S. government investigation at this stage, said another person familiar with the matter. The grand jury is scheduled to meet again next month, this person said.

Mr. Leissner hasn’t been accused of wrongdoing in connection with the 1MDB deals.

Goldman profited handsomely from its dealings with 1MDB. Mr. Leissner helped counsel the fund from its inception, laying the foundation for a series of lucrative assignments. Goldman advised the fund on three acquisitions and arranged the sale of three bonds valued at a total of $6.5 billion that brought in $650 million for the firm.

Goldman’s biggest, and last, transaction with 1MDB came in early 2013 when it sold $3 billion in bonds that the fund said would finance a real-estate-development project in the center of Kuala Lumpur designed to spur economic development.

1MDB officials directed the Wall Street firm to wire the proceeds from the deal to the fund’s account at BSI SA, a small Swiss private bank, according to people familiar with the matter.

Private banks don’t typically receive transfers of that size, and the unusual step caught the attention of lawyers at Linklaters, Goldman’s legal counsel on the transactions. Kevin Wong, a partner at the law firm, sent a note to bankers at Goldman alerting them to the fact that the money was being sent to a private bank, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Goldman executives approved the transaction and believed they were contractually obligated to send the money to the account their client had specified, according to people familiar with the matter. Linklaters ultimately signed off on the transaction, said the person.

Goldman underwrote the entire offering, buying all $3 billion up front at a slight discount to the face value. It then resold the securities to other investors at higher prices. Goldman made nearly $300 million in fees from the bond sale, an outsize figure that raised eyebrows across Wall Street and compelled Goldman to tell its client how much it stood to earn on the deal ahead of time.

The bond ostensibly was meant to fund the construction of a new financial center in Kuala Lumpur to be named after the father of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, but little building has occurred. 1MDB moved half of the money raised into overseas mutual funds and used the remainder to pay down debt and for working capital, according to its financial accounts.

The Journal reported this month that global investigators believe at least $681 million—of a total of $1 billion deposited in the personal accounts of Mr. Najib—originated with 1MDB. Investigators in two of the countries probing 1MDB, while agreeing with Malaysia’s attorney general that most of the money transferred to Mr. Najib’s account ultimately was returned, believe the money was transferred from 1MDB through several intermediaries, according to people familiar with the probes.

Mr. Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking any money for personal gain. The 1MDB fund has said that it “has not paid any funds to the personal accounts of the prime minister.”

Malaysia’s attorney general said the money that went into Mr. Najib’s account was a legal donation from a member of Saudi Arabia’s royal family, and most was returned. The attorney general said there was nothing improper and that it was time to stop scrutinizing the deposits, a notion echoed by Mr. Najib.

U.S. investigators also are looking into Goldman’s hiring practices in relation to 1MDB. Goldman hired the daughter of a close aide to Mr. Najb and explored bringing the prime minister’s own daughter to the firm as well, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Leissner recommended Goldman hire both women, and when his Goldman colleagues shot down the idea of hiring the prime minister’s daughter, Mr. Leissner recommended Nooryana Najwa Najib to private-equity firm TPG, these people said. She went through a normal interview process and worked at TPG in a low-level marketing position from 2011 to 2014, in both London and Hong Kong, the people said.

—Ken Brown

contributed to this article.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 7:24 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


ISIS, Malaysia, and the Risks of Lost Moral Authority

By Amy Chew

Diplomat

March 22, 2016

The Malaysian government may have lost its moral authority, but that doesn’t mean ISIS threats aren’t real.

Kuala Lumpur — A plot to kidnap a head of state by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a serious and worrying event, one that should jolt citizens into extra vigilance – but not so in Malaysia.

When Malaysia’s Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamid told Parliament police had foiled a plot by ISIS to kidnap the country’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, it was greeted with disbelief and ridicule by large segments of the urban population.

“ISIS wants to kidnap Najib? OMG! By all means do,” tweeted Syedsigaraja.

“ISIS wants to kidnap Najib? Netizens don’t believe you, Zahid. We demand proof,” tweeted AmenoWorld.

Zahid, who is also the deputy prime minister, said the militants had additionally trained their sights on himself, as well as the defense minister.

“On January 30, 2015, there were plans by 13 people linked to Daesh [ISIS] to kidnap the country’s leaders including the prime minister, the home minister and the defense minister,” Zahid said in Parliament on March 8.

The militants had also planned to carry out attacks in the administrative capital, Putrajaya, where explosives had been prepared and tested, according to Zahid.

“I don’t believe any of this,” said a property researcher who declined to be named.

“This is just a red herring to divert attention from 1MDB,” she added, referring to state-investment firm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

The public’s skepticism, in a large part, reflects Najib’s loss of moral authority following allegations of corruption surrounding 1MDB, where he chairs the advisory board. 1MDB amassed USD$9.6 billion of debt in just five years.

Najib’s reputation took a further beating last year when the Wall Street Journal reported US$680 million made its way into his personal bank account through a complex web of banks, companies, and other entities linked to 1MDB.

Najib has denied all allegations, saying the money was a “political donation” from Saudi Arabia and the attorney general’s office cleared him of all wrongdoing in January.

“Diverting attention from 1MDB” has become a common refrain with Malaysians, frustrated and angry at the country’s state of political affairs at a time of economic downturn.

In the minds of urban, middle-class Malaysians, Najib is a tainted leader.

Their suspicions of him was further reinforced when he sacked his Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin last year for questioning him over 1MDB and the “political donation.”

A leader’s loss of moral authority leads to a loss of trust from the public. A distrusting public makes for an indifferent public. And indifference is the last thing that Malaysia needs in its fight against ISIS.

For one, the plot to kidnap Najib and his ministers is real. Thirteen men were arrested in connection with the plot, two of them air force soldiers. The arrest of military personnel should set off alarm bells as such people are trained, ready-made combatants for ISIS. Moreover, they have access to weapons. Add to that, four terror plans were foiled by police last year.

To date, a total of 160 ISIS suspects have been arrested since 2014, according to Malaysian police, while 46 have gone to Syria to join ISIS. Another 18 have been killed fighting for ISIS in Syria and Iraq; six of them died as suicide bombers.

One of the suicide bombers, 26-year-old Mohd Amirul Ahmad Rahim, blew himself up in ISIS’ capital Raqqa in northern Syria on December 26, 2015.

Before he died, Amirul wrote a will decreeing that his pregnant Malaysian wife and their two-year-old son remain in Syria to continue the “jihad,” according to his father-in-law in an earlier interview with The Diplomat.

Amirul’s 25-year-old wife gave a chilling testimony, that many Malaysians eagerly signed up to become suicide bombers.

“People queue up to register as a suicide bomber… and many Malaysians have registered themselves to become a suicide bomber, according to my daughter,” said Amirul’s father-in-law.

The willingness of Malaysians to become suicide bombers reflect ISIS success in recruiting and radicalizing people from the country.

The counterterrorism unit of Malaysian police intelligence arm, the co-called Special Branch, has done a tremendous job in preempting attacks, identifying and arresting ISIS returnees from Syria as well as blocking many from going to Syria in the first place.

Prior to the emergence of ISIS, Special Branch was instrumental in keeping Malaysia safe from terror attacks following 9/11, even as its close neighbor Indonesia suffered devastating attacks, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202, the 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing, 2004 Australian Embassy bombing and others.

Jemaah Islamiyah, Al-Qaeda’s Southeast Asia branch, was blamed for all the attacks.

Malaysians tend to forget that the mastermind for all the attacks in Indonesia were Malaysian fugitives Dr. Azahari Husin, an expert bomb-maker, and Noordin Moch Top, a charismatic recruiter and strategist. Both men have since been killed by Indonesian police.

To date, Malaysia has not suffered a single major terrorist attack, a situation which many in the country take for granted. ISIS is an issue that makes big headlines, but has little impact in people’s minds.

Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay, Special Branch’s counter-terrorism chief, who works tirelessly together with his team to track down ISIS suspects, constantly warn against the threat of lone wolf attacks.

“No one in this world can guarantee 100 percent that there will be no attacks,” said Ayub.

Against this background, it is crucial for the public to understand the dangers posed by ISIS. But in a country where the prime minister is perceived to be tainted, the people are indifferent to any dangerous schemes that ISIS may be plotting.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 7:09 am and is filed under
Islamic state
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


No one has made  any allegation against Najib on timber or bauxite mining but Najib has yet to give satisfactory accounting for the twin mega scandals which have plunged Malaysia to international infamy as one the world’s top corrupt countries

In his speech at the Support Najib Solidarity Gathering in Kuantan on Sunday yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared that he was not “a thief of the citizens’ property” which he alleged was the portrayal by certain quarters who he charged “deliberately wanted to tarnish his image”.

He told the 5,000-people gathering of UMNO and Barisan Nasional members and leaders from 14 divisions in Pahang:

 “You already know me. I am not like what is said by the people over there. I am not like that. I have looked after Pahang in the best possible manner.

“If I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago. I didn’t even take an inch, I didn’t take a single tree in Pahang, I didn’t take the bauxite mine, I didn’t take anything.

“I have not changed my stand when I became prime minister, I will not take the people’s property, don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property, I am the prime minister for the people.”

No one has made  allegations against Najib whether about timber or bauxite mine but there is no doubt that Najib had still to give a satisfactory accounting for the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.5 billion “political donation” twin mega scandals, despite these scandals swirling around the Prime Minister for more than year.

It is Najib’s twin mega scandals which have undermined and even destroyed public confidence in the independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions in the country and dogged and hounded the country’s international image in the past year until we  suffer the international notoriety of among the top corrupt nations in the world – whether by the international website, ForeignPolicy, the international magazine TIME or Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015.

Never before in the nation’s history as a mega scandal haunted and hounded the government and the country in Malaysia for so long and in so agonizing a fashion, with increasing intensity with the passage of time, because of two reasons:

Firstly, Najib refusal to come full and clean on the twin mega scandals; and

Secondly, the inability of the Najib government to sweep the twin mega scandals completely under the carpet, because both scandals are not just Malaysian scandals but also international scandals, crossing national boundaries and jurisdictions – with  at least seven different countries apart from Malaysia conducting separation investigations into the twin mega scandals, i.e. United Kingdom, Switzerland, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, United States and Australia.

Even more serious and humiliating, Najib’s twin mega scandals have  the subject of investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 – the first time any Malaysian political leader, whether Prime Minister or occupant of other high political office, becoming  the subject of investigation by the US authorities whether he is a “kleptocrat” whose assets in the United States derived from corrupt practices could be confiscated by the US authorities.

So far, the government has failed to account to Parliament about the US FBI investigations into the twin mega scandals.

Najib’s twin mega scandals are also the major cause for the unprecedented event in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, leading 45 political and civil society leaders to bridge the political divide for the first time in the nation’s history  to come together to sign and proclaim the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia – including personalities like former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, former Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Cabinet Ministers.

Thirteen of the 37 paragraphs in the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration  refer directly to Najib’s twin mega scandals while another 13 paragraphs focus on  how  the twin mega scandals have caused a multiple crisis of confidence in Malaysia – political, economic, institutional and good governance.

Can Najib answer the questions about the twin mega scandals in the Citizens’ Declaration, not the mention to many other teeming questions, about these two scandals  in Parliament this week?

(Speech at the DAP Raub  ceramah in Bentong new village on Monday, 21st March 2016 at 10 pm)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 12:17 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Financial Scandals
,
Najib Razak
,
Parliament
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Politics and business – fundamental differences between Dr M and Najib

By
Terence Gomez

Malaysiakini

Published 22 Mar 2016, 9:20 am

COMMENT These are unprecedented times in Malaysian politics. On March 4, when the Citizens’ Declaration was announced, its signatories comprised such a large number of longstanding political adversaries that the event was deemed the coming together of extremely strange bedfellows. These adversaries included former Umno president and prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former opposition leader and DAP secretary-general Lim Kit Siang.

What brought them together as joint signatories to this
37-point declaration
 was their similar goal to compel Najib Abdul Razak to resign as prime minister. Najib, according to this declaration, has refused to sue international news agencies that have made serious allegations of corruption against him involving 1MDB Bhd, a sovereign wealth fund he directly controls as finance minister, and he has curbed institutions from conducting an independent investigation into the charge that he has violated public office.

At the heart of these corruption allegations is the enduring nexus between politics and business that has contributed to numerous controversies. Mahathir’s critics, including Najib, contend that he too had to deal with allegations that he had benefited from political-business ties during his long tenure as prime minister. Political analysts have repeatedly stated that Najib is Mahathir’s protégé, groomed by him for high office and to continue his policy legacies.

Najib governs Malaysia through an unjust structure that Mahathir had created by undermining the autonomy of oversight institutions. There is merit to these criticisms. However, there are fundamental differences in the way Mahathir and Najib linked politics and business, including from a policy perspective. The table below illustrates the differences between these two leaders.

From the outset of his premiership, Mahathir’s focus was on instituting a system of government patronage to create what he hoped would be a new breed of bumiputera entrepreneurs. Mahathir’s nurturing of Malay corporate captains would eventually lead to allegations of unaccountable and non-transparent selective patronage, involving also his sons.

In Najib’s case, the allegations are not merely of selective patronage, but also of corruption and the channelling of public funds amounting to US$680 million into his personal bank accounts. If these allegations against Najib are true, this amounts to a form of kleptocracy.

In fact, comparisons have been made between Najib and the late Ferdinand Marcos, the former president of the Philippines who was ousted from office following a people’s power revolution in 1986. Najib himself has publicly stated:
“I am not a thief”
. Unprecedented times, indeed.

Mahathir, interestingly enough, has argued that if there is evidence of corruption involving him during his tenure as prime minister, he should be charged in court. Najib’s government has not moved to charge Mahathir of any criminal offence despite their serious feud, reinforcing the point that there is a difference between corruption, legally defined, and patronage, involving the distribution of government-generated concessions through policies such as the New Economic Policy (NEP) and the Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community (BCIC).

Umno’s slush fund

Mahathir and Najib, while serving as Umno president, have been critiqued over their access to political funds. Umno has a slush fund, created during the premiership of Tunku Abdul Rahman and used primarily to finance the party federal and state during elections. Senior party leaders have oversight of this account.

In Najib’s case, by his own admission, donations to help Umno contest the general election in 2013 flowed into his personal account. (Now suspended) deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin has stated that he had no knowledge of this donation. What has been exposed during this intra-Umno feud is that substantial funds were used during the last general election.

According to Idris Haron, Umno’s Malacca chief minister, the Barisan Nasional spent RM1.5 billion in the last election, a public admission that the coalition had violated election laws. The Election Commission has
not acted
 on this matter.

One crucial difference between the two men is that Umno under Mahathir had resorted to the use of the domestic market and companies to raise funds for its political activities. By Najib’s own admission, foreign individuals and firms have emerged as a major source of funding; he has not disclosed details about these funders, even to Umno members.

Mahathir and Najib fundamentally differ in terms of how they used government-linked companies (GLCs). Mahathir used GLCs to acquire foreign companies that had a huge interest in key sectors such as plantations, mining and banking. Najib’s 1MDB has been heavily criticised for the sale of assets, including strategically-located land in urban areas, to foreign firms.

Interestingly, the 11th Malaysia Plan, for the first time since these plans were published, did not release current corporate equity ownership and distribution patterns. The figures in the 10th Malaysia Plan indicate that foreign ownership of corporate equity had increased from an all-time low of 25.4% in 1990 to 37.9% in 2008.

As finance minister, Najib has direct control over Malaysia’s numerous GLCs, including savings-based institutions such as the Pilgrims Savings Fund (LUTH), the Armed Forces Savings Fund (LTAT) and the government’s Pensions Trust Fund (KWAP). These institutions were linked to 1MBD when they acquired assets belonging to this beleaguered sovereign wealth fund.

While Mahathir was most concerned about creating huge privately-owned conglomerates, Najib’s corporate-linked activities have involved the GLCs, particularly 1MDB which he took control of when he assumed office as prime minister in 2009. The way well-connected companies linked to Mahathir operated in the economy differed fundamentally from GLCs such as 1MDB. While Mahathir advocated the use of the stock market to develop conglomerates, 1MDB’s business deals have been linked to covert shell companies incorporated domestically and in foreign countries.

Unproductive corporate activities

In terms of business development, corporate ventures of well-connected companies in the Mahathir era were transactional and market-driven. Mahathir actively propagated the need for businessmen to be early movers in emerging sectors such as health services and logistics; many of these ventures failed because of selective patronage.

1MDB’s business deals are not similarly focused on developing vibrant entrepreneurial enterprises. Companies linked to the 1MDB controversy are involved in infrastructure and property development projects. Individuals associated with 1MDB are active in philanthropic activities including making donations to agencies in the United Nations, as well as ventures such as film-making and the acquisition of property in foreign countries, particularly in the United States that appear speculative in nature and now the
subject of probes
 by the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Mahathir’s corporate and policy strategies involving the NEP, BCIC and heavy industries were tightly linked to the nurturing of Malay enterprises, including SMEs. One of privatisation’s primary goals was to create Malaysian-owned conglomerates. In Najib’s case, there is no clear link between corporate and policy strategies. His numerous policy plans – the Government Transformation Plan (GTP), New Economic Model (NEM), Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) and market friendly affirmative action – appear detached from his desire to use GLCs to create a vibrant domestic enterprise base.

What the 1MDB controversy has revealed and the Citizens’ Declaration has captured is that political-business nexuses under Najib have evolved into extremely unproductive corporate activities that also deeply undermine free and fair electoral politics. Major institutional reforms are urgently required to ensure accountability and transparency in Malaysia’s system of governance. This is now imperative if the government is to inspire confidence in investors and allow the economy to function effectively.

Mahathir remains reluctant to acknowledge that he has to take responsibility for many of these problems. However, by signing the Citizens’ Declaration, which includes a call for major reforms, Mahathir has, whether he likes it or not, acknowledged responsibility for the problems that now have to be redressed.

However, Najib’s government will not institute major reforms, although he claimed in the NEM that he would deal with the problems of patronage, rent-seeking and corruption, as they must involve a devolution of power to independent oversight institutions such as Bank Negara, the Securities Commission, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission. Nor will Najib accept changes to how the attorney-general is appointed and to whom he should be made accountable.

This increasingly unproductive and extremely corrupt political-business nexus is an issue that is now also well-recognised by former Barisan Nasional leaders who have endorsed the Citizens’ Declaration. Civil society must similarly support the Citizens’ Declaration to ensure, at the very least, that these institutional reforms are enforced.

____

TERENCE GOMEZ is based at Universiti Malaya. His publications include
Umno’s Corporate Investments: Politics in Business
 (1990),
Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits
 (1999) and
The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, Equity and Reform
 (2004).

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 March 2016, 10:43 am and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Citizens’ Declaration is  “work in progress” by patriotic Malaysians to  Save Malaysia and it  is going to be long, grueling and arduous task which can only succeed with support from  overwhelming majority of Malaysians transcending race, religion, region or politics

After 27 years of imprisonment at Robbens Island, Pollsmoor and Victor Verster  Prisons, Nelson Mandela emerged from 10,000 days of incarceration urging that  “all those of us who are hostages of the past must transform ourselves into new men and women who shall be fitting instruments for the creation of the glorious new South Africa which is possible and necessary to realise”.

These words by Nelson Mandela bear pondering and reflection by Malaysians at this juncture of Malaysia’s national development.

Hishammuddin Rais said he had been talking for a year about the need for a United Front to combine all forces to bring about changes in the country.

I myself have been talking for over two years about the need to Save Malaysia, and in March last year, I had zeroed on the need for a Save Malaysia Coalition to bridge the racial, religious, regional and political divides in the country.

The ideas about the need to Save Malaysia have been in the air  for quite some time, for the country had been in serious straits after the 13th General Elections, with increasing complexity and intensity in the multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises building up in the country.

What made the March 4th gathering of 45 political and civil society leaders who signed and proclaimed the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration is that it was the first time that the political divide had been bridged, for previous efforts whether Gagasan Rakyat in 1990, Barisan Alternative in 1999, Pakatan Rakyat in 2008 and most recently, Pakatan Harapan, were completely opposition efforts without participation or involvement of political leaders from government parties.

This is what made the momentous difference between the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration of March 4, 2016 with all earlier similar efforts.

I have visited 97 parliamentary constituencies since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for demanding answers to the simple questions as to the source, the donor or donors,  of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th  General Election in May 2013 and where the astronomical sums have gone to.

I wanted public feedback whether Malaysians agree that the Prime Minister should stop his tactics of procrastination and denial but should answer directly the teeming questions asked by the public and the world about Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

In the past two weeks since March 4, in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Pahang, I had also sought public feedback on the historic national development on March 4, the  Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia.

I can report that in my visits to 17 parliamentary constituencies in the past two weeks, the overwhelming majority of Malaysians want firstly,  the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to give full and satisfactory accounting and  stop running and hiding from the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion political donation twin mega scandals; and secondly, strong support for the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration.

Malaysia is at the crossroads.

The Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration must not  stay as a campaign by 45 political and civil society leaders Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down as Prime Minister as well as meaningful democratic and institutional reforms, but must become a nation-wide campaign by Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender to save the country from hurtling down the slope towards a failed and a rogue state.

We want the early promises when the nation achieved Independence half a century ago that Malaysia could become a world-class nation with political, economic, educational, good governance and nation-building accomplishments  come to fruition.

The Citizens’ Declaration is a  “work in progress” by patriotic Malaysians to  Save Malaysia. It is  going to be long, grueling and arduous task which can only succeed with support from overwhelming majority of Malaysians transcending race, religion, region and  politics.

(Speech at the forum “Deklarasi Rakyat – Mengapa?” held at PJ Library on Wednesday, 23rd March 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 March 2016, 11:57 am and is filed under
Malaysian Dream
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


PAS, oppose a corrupt and oppressive gov’t, not DAP

by Syerleena Abdul Rashid

Malaysiakini

24th March 2016

COMMENT
 It is most unsettling that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang would continue to demonise DAP in such an uncouth manner by using religion and race to push through his party’s far right wing agenda.

Given the present stream of hateful rhetoric out there, it is only inevitable and expected that some politicians much like Hadi would exploit the conservative political agenda that only reinforces Umno’s ‘divide and rule’ tactic.

Recently, through Utusan Malaysia, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had called for the unification of Malays to oppose opposition party DAP, whom according to him, “has bigger plans, more than just controlling the economy” – insinuating that the Muslim Malays in this country will suffer great oppression in the hands of a ‘Chinese chauvinist’ party.

As slanderous as it sounds, remarks like this verify the intricacies of fear mongering by unscrupulous political leaders and this is extremely harmful.

Malaysians must understand that proponents of conservative views necessitate rational discourse based on facts that are absolutely free from emotions and pious fervor. Malaysia is in fact a multicultural country where Islam and Malay rights are protected in our federal constitution.

According to 2013 statistics, there are approximately 19.5 million Muslims which make up a little over 61 percent of the current population. Correspondingly to the Malaysian federal constitution, Article 3 declares that “Islam is the religion of the Federation but does not affect the other provisions of the Constitution” such as Article 4(3).

While Article 32 transparently points out that the Malaysian Head of State, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is a constitutional monarch, in addition to states like Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Johor and Negri Sembilan have constitutional Malay monarchs.

Both Articles 39 and 40 describe the executive powers that are vested in the Agong, whom everyone understands serves as the Head of Islamic Affairs.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned articles enshrined in our federal constitution, pursuing the secular, anti-Malay/Muslim agenda as asserted by Hadi Awang is fallacious and unsubstantiated.

Secular agenda

However, present day Malaysians (mostly from the urban and semi urban areas) are aware of how the centre left – in this case, DAP, are often demonised and vilified by mainstream media (where a majority of these outlets are owned by wealthy right wing factions) who often paint the party as being one that is horrendously Chinese dominated, ultra-chauvinist to boot and one that is bent on pursuing the secular agenda.

According to the far right, pushing through the secular agenda will see the absolute destruction of Islam and the corrosion of Malay rights in this country, which makes any sound minded Malaysian scoff at the irony of such pretext. Such assumptions are obviously based on lies and invented to create fear amongst gullible Malaysians.

But we are fully aware of how divided some Malaysian communities are – racial polarisation is, in fact, deeply embedded in our society and manifests itself through our local political landscape.

Such heavily skewed doctrines are made accessible through the use of media and to a larger extent the mainstream media, which is already controlled and heavily managed by the ruling party.

In a time where religious terrorism is at an all time high, religion should not be used as a tool to create more fear and instill hatred. The message that should have been presented was calling for a united front – irrespective of religion, ethnicity and gender, to put a cap on a government so corrupt and oppressive from orchestrating the destruction of our great nation.

Islam teaches tolerance not hatred and encourages universal brotherhood without hostility. It is a religion that promotes peace and condemns violence.

To Hadi Awang and the rest of the conservative far right – whatever happened to the spirit of PAS4All that was voluntarily embraced by non-Muslim members of our society?

After all, promoting the idea and the vision of diversity was the essence of the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat, a task taken up by the new coalition – Pakatan Harapan.

The former coalition had presented hopeful Malaysians a revelation of what our country ought to be like if religion wasn’t a barrier that stood in between us but the events that have unfolded since, proves that there are those who walk amongst us that are still uncomfortable with that vision.

Fact is, as our country and more so, our society, progress further into the 21st century, the message Malaysians are sending out is clear – racial politics simply has no place in our country and as a nation, we will chip away the divisional walls that stand in our way.

SYERLEENA ABDUL RASHID is DAP Wanita national assistant publicity secretary, Penang DAP assistant publicity secretary, Penang DAP Wanita political education director and MBPP councillor.

Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/335035#ixzz43mcIs0gB

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 March 2016, 10:25 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
DAP
,
Islam
,
PAS
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


DAP is now the target of a systematic attack by UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers – starting with Guan Eng and me

Serdang Parliamentary constituency, of which  Balakong is one of the three constituent state assembly seats, is the 98th Parliamentary constituency I am visiting since my six-month suspension from  Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for demanding answers to the simple questions as to the source, the donor or donors,  of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th  General Election in May 2013 and where the astronomical sums of monies have gone to.

I wanted public feedback whether Malaysians agree with me that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak must answer the teeming questions which multiply by the day about his RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals which are  now the subject of separate investigations by seven other countries as well as landed the country with the new infamy of being among the world’s ten most corrupt nations.

However, in the past 10 days since the historic event  in Kuala Lumpur on March 4 where 42 political and civil society leaders signed and proclaimed the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia, I have sought public feedback on a second issue in 18 of these 98 parliamentary constituencies I visited– whether the Malaysian public support the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia, and in particular my working with former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir to Save Malaysia despite our differences in the past, including his responsibility for my and Lim Guan Eng’s imprisonment.

However, since the past week, there is third issue grabbing public attention – allegation of corruption against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and insinuation in the government and UMNO/BN owned and controlled media that Guan Eng is like former Selangor Mentri Besar Khir Toyo.

There is no basis whatsoever in such a comparison.

Ditamas Sdn Bhd director Shamsuddin Hayroni told the High Court  during the fourth day of the corruption trial of Khir Toyo in June  2011 that he had sold two plots of land and a bungalow at a price of RM3.5 million to Khir Toyo for fear of jeopardizing his housing projects in Selangor.

He told the court that he had bought the property at RM5 million with renovation cost of RM1.5 million and the price should be RM6.5 million. He said he personally did not agree with the RM3.5 million price wanted by Khir Toyo because it was too low and he told Khir Toyo that it should be at least between RM5 million to RM5.5 million.

But Khir Toyo did not agree with the price, saying that he could only afford RM3.5 million.

In Guan Eng’s case, the  seller of the bungalow, Phang Li Koon has made a statutory declaration denying that she is involved in companies which deal with the Penang State Government.

Guan Eng has also been accused of sacrificing the housing interest of the people of Penang as even the Housing Minister claimed that the controversial Taman Manggis land in the state was initially meant for the development of low-cost housing.

This is far from the truth as the Penang State Government had found the one-acre  size of the Taman Manggis land  too small and had replaced it with an 11-acre plot on Jalan SP Chelliah, which is better placed than Taman Manggis.

I would have thought that this should deserve appreciation and commendation instead of condemnation and calumny.

As a result of Najib’s twin mega scandals, which cannot be swept under the carpet as there are increasingly new exposes in foreign countries and foreign newspapers which are not under Putrajaya’s control, and the historic March 4, 2016 gathering which bridged the racial, religious and political divides for the first time in the nation’s history to “Save Malaysia”, DAP is now the target of a systematic attack by UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers – starting with Guan Eng and me.

Today, the Police took a statement from me under the Sedition Act after more than a hundred police reports had been lodged against me for my comment that the Yang di Pertuan Agong’s Royal Address at the opening of Parliament on March 7 was prepared by the Government of the day.

I expect the next step would be to charge me under the Sedition Act and to get me disqualified as a Member of Parliament if I am convicted of sedition.

This is the time for Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, politics, age or gender to stand united to “Save Malaysia” from rampant corruption, repressive laws, widespread socio-economic injustices, growing racial and religious polarisation and the nation hurtling towards a failed and a rogue state as we are all patriots who want Malaysia to fulfill her early promise as a world-class nation which could fully realise the Malaysian Dream where Malaysians can excel in every field of human endeavour.

(Speech at the Balakong DAP ceramah kopitiam held on Thursday, 24th March 2016 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 March 2016, 8:55 am and is filed under
Corruption
,
DAP
,
Mahathir
,
Malaysian Dream
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.