Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia to be convened in Parliament on Tuesday, July 28

Pakatan Rakyat is convening a Parliamentary Roundtable on a new Inspector-General of Police for a safe Malaysia in Parliament next Tuesday July 28, 2009 at 10 am.

The Parliamentary Roundtable, which is convened by the Pakatan Rakyat parliamentary leadership Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and myself, invites all Members of Parliament, whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, from both houses, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as leaders of professional and  human right organizations, NGOs, civic organizations and concerned stakeholders to jointly deliberate on how to restore to Malaysians two lost fundamental rights – to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

In recent years, the crime rate in the country has reached endemic proportion making the streets, public places and even the privacy of our homes unsafe to Malaysians, visitors and investors.

In its report in May 2005 commenting on the latest crime statistics available to it, i.e. 156,455 incidents of crime in 2004, which was an increase of 29 per cent from 121,176 cases in 1997, the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission said:

“The increase seriously dented Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country. Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation. The fear was that, if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia. A survey of 575 respondents from the public carried out by the Commission clearly demonstrates the extremely widespread concern among all ethnic groups and foreign residents. Between 82.2 per cent and 90 per cent of the respondents, or 8 to 9 persons in every 10, were concerned with the occurrence of crime.” (3.1 p.108 Report)

The Police Royal Commission recommended “As an immediate measure, PDRM should target a minimum of 20 per cent decrease in the number of crimes committed for each category within 12 months of this Report’s acceptance and implementation.”

Instead of achieving the Police Royal Commission’s target of reducing the intolerably high incidence of crime of 156,455 cases in 2004 by 20 per cent in 12 months (i.e. 125,164 cases), the reverse took place.

From the latest statistics given in Parliament, crime index have galloped to break the 200,000 mark, with the incidence of crime shooting up to 209,582 in 2007 and 211,645 in 2008.

In the seven years from 1997 to 2004, crime index increased by 29%, but in the four years from 2004 to 2008 crime index increased by 35.5%.

This is why Pakatan Rakyat is convening a Parliamentary Roundtable on a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new police leadership to roll back the tide of crime in the last five years to ensure a safe Malaysia as well as to present a new image of democratic policing in Malaysia.

The two-year renewed term of Tan Sri Musa Hassan as the current Inspector-General expires in September.

It cannot be denied that  during Musa’s tenure as IGP in the past three years, the national situation deteriorated in  each of the three core functions identified by  the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission as the priority tasks of the police force – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

In fact, street crimes became worse in the nation’s history during Musa’s tenure as IGP in the past three years and on each of the three core functions which the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission had outlined as the priority tasks of the police force – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights – Musa failed in everyone of them!

There are at least two primary reasons why the country needs a new IGP, viz:

Failure of Musa in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as IGP in the past three years in all the three core police functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that under Musa, Malaysians are even more unsafe from street crimes now than when he became IGP in September5 2006.

The re-appointment of Musa for another term of IGP cast an adverse aspersion on all the senior police officers, as if there is not a single one out of the eight top police officers occupying key police positions below the post of IGP who are qualified or competent enough to become the new IGP to provide a new police leadership and culture to roll back the tide of crime in the past five years.

In view of the shortness of time, all MPs whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, Dewan Rakyat or Dewan Negara, are hereby invited to the Parliamentary Roundtable at Bilik Taklimat, Parlimen on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 10 am (lunch at end of Roundtable) even if invitations are unable to reach everyone.

Those who wish to attend or confirm their attendance should contact the Roundtable organising secretariat (Shabrimi 016-4124735; Lim Swee Kuan 016-6266848; Boon Kia Meng 012-5180863).

Let the Parliamentary Roundtable on Tuesday will be a milestone in the journey to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service regarded as an international model for all polices forces in keeping crime low, eradicating corruption and protecting human rights.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 23 July 2009, 10:48 am and is filed under
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PR National Memorial Vigil for Teoh Beng Hock (Kuala Lumpur)

Live webcast :
http://tv.dapmalaysia.org

Date: 23rd July 2009 (Thursday) –
Tonight!

Time: 8pm

Venue: KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur.

Speakers:

DAP National Chairman, YB Karpal Singh

DAP National Vice Chairman, YB Tan Kok Wai

DAP Parliamentary Leader, YB Lim Kit Siang

Penang Chief Minister, YAB Lim Guan Eng

PAS MP for Kuala Selangor, YB Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad

PKR MP for Subang, YB Sivarasa Rasiah

SUARAM Coordinator, Tah Moon Hui

Enquiries: 03-79578022

Attire :
BLACK

View
DAP’s Point of Interest
 in a larger map

Teoh Beng Hock

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 23 July 2009, 4:23 pm and is filed under
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Teoh family rejects Cabinet decision and demands comprehensive RCI into TBH’s death

I have come to Alor Gajah for the media conference by the family of Teoh Beng Huat who has just announced that they reject the Cabinet decision yesterday on the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock, who went to the MACC Hqrs as a healthy, vigorous and idealistic political worker but ended up as a corpse.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet Ministers seem to be Malaysia’s David Copperfields, creating the illusion of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI)  in Teoh’s death when actually there is none.

Like Teoh’s family members, I had at first welcomed the Cabinet decision when there was at first news that it had decided on a RCI on Teoh’s death but when the details of the Cabinet decision became known, we were all dumb-founded, shocked and outraged.

What is the use having two inquiries, with an inquest into Teoh’s death but a Royal Commission of Inquiry strictly prevented from delving into the causes of Teoh death but only to probe into the MACC’s  investigative techniques?

I support the Teoh family’s stand to reject the Cabinet decision as it does not represent what is wanted by the family and the people – a RCI into the causes of Teoh’s unusual death.

The Teoh family has called on Najib to respect their wishes and those of the Malaysian public for a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death and to alter the Cabinet decision accordingly.

Najib has said that he wants “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about the causes of Teoh’s death, and if he serious and sincere, let him accede to the wishes of the Teoh family to have a comprehensive RCI into Teoh’s death.

Najib said he would meet with the Teoh family after the outcome of the inquest into Teoh’s death and the Royal Commission of Inquiry. What is the use of meeting the Teoh family when the damage had been done.

Najib should meet with the Teoh family to hear their wishes for a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry.

I will write to Najib conveying the Teoh family’s request for a meeting with Najib and I am prepared to accompany the Teoh family to a meeting with Najib.

(Media Conference Statement  at Alor Gajah press conference on Thursday, 23rd July 2009 at 12.30 pm)

Teoh Beng Hock

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 23 July 2009, 6:40 pm and is filed under
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Are the 10 MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers prepared collectively to lodge official reports with the police and the MACC to protect the life of Ong Tee Keat as well as to uphold the integrity of the Barisan Nasional government and Cabinet against the “dark forces” of corruption?

The joint statement of three MCA Ministers and seven deputy ministers pledging total allegiance to Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat as MCA President and Transport Minister is most extraordinary in more senses than one, including:

Nobody in MCA, Umno, Barisan Nasional or outside feels or believes that Ong Tee Keat is fighting a “life-and-death” crisis in preserving his positions as MCA President and Transport Minister.

Treated as minor news by the mass media, even by MCA-owned Star when it should be blazoned as front page headline news, with tertiary treatment in the Chinese media while totally ignored by the Bahasa Malaysia media;

Hardly a flicker of interest of the Malaysian public or even the one million MCA membership.

MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers are trying to stage a second “David Copperfield” performance in Malaysia in 24 hours.

The first “David Copperfield” – the world famous magician or illusionist – performance was  the Cabinet decision on Wednesday giving Malaysians the illusion that there will be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of the death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock at MACC headquarters on 16th July 2009 when actually there is no such RCI.

The second “David Copperfield” performance is by the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers in trying to create another illusion that there is a “life-and-death” political crisis for Ong Tee Keat when there is none!

Can the three MCA Ministers and seven MCA Deputy Ministers explain why they are trying to manufacture such a synthetic “life-and-death” political crisis for MCA President and Transport Minister, which had failed abysmally to convince or impress anyone?

The ten MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers would have made  greater public impression if they had dared to collectively issue a public statement pledging full support to Ong to demand that the Cabinet review and change its decision on Wednesday so as to establish a  comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of Teoh’s death, the MACC’s interrogation techniques as well as why the MACC had failed to act independently and professionally to declare war against corruption but instead acted as Umno and BN catspaw to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat and selectively persecute Pakatan Rakyat leaders to topple the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government!

At minimum, let the 10 MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers have the courage to name me or deny that they are referring  to me in their unusual statement of support for  Ong Tee Keat as MCA President and Transport Minister in  facing a “life-and-death”  political crisis.

In their statement, the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers said Ong is facing his “life-and-death” political crisis because of the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The joint statement condemned  those who “ create obstacles, make threats, suppress the truth and mislead the public ” in the unfolding PKFZ “mother of all scandals”.

If the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers are referring to me, say so. If they are not referring to me, say so as well.

I will respond accordingly if the MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers have the courage to name me as one of the targets of their extraordinary statement to try to save Ong’s political life.

One thing is for sure. Their joint statement will not save Ong from my continuing to question the MCA President why he had failed to honour his pledge when he became Transport Minister 16 months ago that he would “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, in particular how a RM1.088 billion scandal under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister in 2002 could quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2006 and now set to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

I had asked Ong 108 questions in my 36-day “three questions a day” on the PKFZ scandal and the MCA President had been running for cover for over a month, right from his scooting to France for the Paris Air Show when Parliament first met on June 15, 2009.

Ong’s failure and inability to answer the 108 questions is akin to his failure to pass as Transport Minister and MCA President like Shaolin disciples in “fighting stories” who could not pass the gauntlet of the 108 movements of Shaolin Wooden-men Lane and 18 Lohans to qualify leaving the Shaolin Mountain out into the world.

But all this sequel to demand full responsibility and accountability from Ong for the PKFZ scandal has to wait for another day, as the more immediate national concerns consuming my time and energy are to get justice over Teoh’s mysterious death, to bring down the crime rate to ensure that  Malaysians can be safe in the streets, public places and the privacy of their homes; as well as to demand a fair and just solution to the PPSMI controversy.

In his wide-ranging interview with Sin Chew Jit Poh last Thursday and in his speech at a MCA function on Sunday, Ong  made the most serious allegations ever about high-level corruption and abuses of power reaching all the way to the Cabinet, causing him to allege that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

Ong even claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interest in PKFZ, including some from within BN, revealing that he had  received death threats from underworld figures and whose influence have gone as high as the Cabinet level.

Imagine a Cabinet Minister receiving death threats for carrying out his Ministerial duties!

Are the 10 MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers prepared collectively to lodge official reports with the police and the MACC to protect the life of Ong as well as to uphold the integrity of the Barisan Nasional government and Cabinet against the “dark forces” of corruption?

If they are afraid to lodge such reports, I can do it for them!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 24 July 2009, 10:38 am and is filed under
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Home Ministry website that 97% of 2,947 Malaysians polled in last 24 hours feel unsafe new reason why Pakatan Rakyat convening Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia on Tuesday

The Home Ministry website yesterday started a poll to seek public feedback as to whether the government as delivered its most basic duty in any civilized and organized society – to look after the safety and security of the people.

As at 2.20 pm today, 97% of 2,947 Malaysians polled feel unsafe, with only 1% or 30 people feel safe while 2% or 71 people are “not sure”.

The poll has maintained a consistently high percentage of 97% of the respondents who feel unsafe since the start of the poll, with 96% of 903 respondents at midnight last night and 97% of 1,224 respondents at 7.40 am this morning in the category of “unsafe” while only 2% of the respondents at midnight last night and 1% of the respondents at 7.40 am this morning who feel “safe”.

What a crying shame for the Malaysian police force and the Home Ministry that as high as 96 – 97 per cent of Malaysians feel unsafe in the streets, public places and even in the privacy of their homes with the unchecked galloping crime in the past five years.

Who must bear responsibility for this shocking state of affairs, which is only new to the Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and MPs – as DAP and Pakatan Rakyat MPs have over the years been raising in Parliament and outside the cries and demands of ordinary Malaysians for a Malaysia safe from endemic crime!

Undoubtedly, the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister must bear responsibility for this deplorable state of crime in the country.

We can and must hold the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan responsible as Malaysians today feel even more unsafe because of endemic crime as compared to three years ago when he became the No. 1 Policeman in the country in September 2006.

The Home Minister must also bear full responsibility, but as Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is a new Home Minister, it would not be fair to hold him responsible for the failures of previous Home Ministers.

Malaysians must make it clear that this deplorable state of crime in the country cannot continue, and this is why Pakatan Rakyat is convening a Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia in Parliament on Tuesday at 10 am to demand that Malaysians must be restored their two fundamental rights  – to be free from crime and free from  the fear of crime.

The two-year renewed term of Tan Sri Musa Hassan as the current Inspector-General expires in September.

Let Malaysians speak up whether they want a new IGP.

During Musa’s tenure as IGP in the past three years, the national situation deteriorated in  each of the three core functions identified by  the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission as the priority tasks of the police force – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

There are at least two primary reasons why the country needs a new IGP, viz:

Failure of Musa in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as IGP in the past three years in all the three core police functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

The re-appointment of Musa for another term of IGP cast an adverse aspersion on all the senior police officers, as if there is not a single one out of the eight top police officers occupying key police positions below the post of IGP who are qualified or competent enough to become the new IGP to provide a new police leadership and culture to roll back the tide of crime in the past five years.

Those who wish to attend or confirm their attendance should contact the Roundtable organising secretariat (Shabrimi 016-4124735; Lim Swee Kuan 016-6266848; Boon Kia Meng 012-5180863).

Let the Parliamentary Roundtable on Tuesday be a milestone in the journey to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service regarded as an international model for all polices forces in keeping crime low, eradicating corruption and protecting human rights.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 24 July 2009, 3:09 pm and is filed under
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Proof of a “black blog” operation to defame TBH and 2 DAP Selangor excos

Update:

Malaysiakini —
Blog tries to pin graft claims on exco
.

Malaysian Insider —
Bizarre twist to Teoh case

Proof of a “black blog” operation to defame TBH and 2 DAP Selangor excos. Check:
http://tr.im/tPCn

Friday, July 24, 2009 19:01

Leave 4JB 4TBH Memorial 2nite@ Markaz PAS Taman U,JB Add speakers Hanifah Gobind  Dzulkefly Boo.Grief anger must become People Power 4change

Friday, July 24, 2009 15:45

Ronnie Liu 2hold media conference 2debunk “blackblog” defaming TBHn 2Excos purportedly on “DAP corruption modus operandi in Selangor”

Friday, July 24, 2009 15:35

Checking on a blog (
t4tbh.blogspot.com
) which has made serious allegations agnst 2 DAP State Excos purportedly abt “DAP corruption modus operandi” in Selangor

Friday, July 24, 2009 14:13

Check twitter.com/limkitsiang for up-to-the-minute updates

                This entry was posted on Friday, 24 July 2009, 7:36 pm and is filed under
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Inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s death on Wednesday should be halted to allow Cabinet to review and widen terms of reference of Royal Commission of Inquiry into causes of Teoh’s death to command public confidence in public institutions and the Prime Minister

The 15-day inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the MACC headquarters  on 16th July 2009 which is to begin on Wednesday, 29th July till August 12 should be halted to allow for the Cabinet to review and widen the terms of reference of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes of Teoh’s death to command public confidence in public institutions and the Prime Minister.

The contention by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail that an inquest by the magistrate under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) was the right recourse, as the CPC was a specific legislation that made provision for a death inquiry, and that “holding a similar inquiry by the royal commission would be duplicitous in such instance” is totally unpersuasive and unconvincing.

In the first place, the Attorney-General should brush up his command of the English language. “Duplicitous” is derived from “duplicity” described as “double-dealing, deceitfulness” (Oxford Compact English Dictionary) What Gani intends to say is “duplication”.

Gani referred to Section 2 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 to buttress his contention claiming that it  “clearly makes reference to the inquiry into the conduct and management of government officers and departments or for the public welfare”.

Section 2(1)  of Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 reads:

1) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may, where it appears to him to be expedient so to do, issue a Commission appointing one or more Commissioners and authorizing the Commissioners to enquire into—

(a) the conduct of any federal officer;

(b) the conduct or management of any department of the public service of Malaysia;

(c) the conduct or management of any public institution which is not solely maintained by State funds; or

(d) any other matter in which an enquiry would, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, be for the public welfare, not being—

(i) a matter involving any question relating to the Islamic religion or the Malay custom; or

(ii) in relation to Sabah or Sarawak, a matter specified in item 10 of the State List.

There is nothing in Section 2 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 to bar or prohibit the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the  series of events in the conduct of MACC officers leading to Teoh’s death, how a healthy, vibrant and idealistic young political activist, who is to register his marriage the following day with a two-month child, making active plans for his marriage just before summoned to MACC, should end up as a corpse after going to the MACC headquarters.

There is nothing  “duplicitous” in having a Royal Commission of Inquiry although there may be duplication if an inquest is also held. The solution is for the inquest to be held back until after completion of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into all the circumstances and  causes of Teoh’s death.

It is illogical and downright irresponsible to artificially chop the circumstances and causes of Teoh’s death into two parts, one to be investigated by an inquest and another by a Royal Commission of Inquiry – with the Royal Commission of Inquiry dealing with the portion of lesser importance, whether Teoh, who has died, had his human rights violated when the paramount question is how and why he died!

The reasons why the Cabinet should establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry are crushingly decisive, and includes:

A Royal Commission of Inquiry is more likely to command public confidence – depending on its terms of reference and composition – than an inquest.

An inquest is more limited in scope, tied to police investigations while a Royal Commission of Inquiry has wider-ranging powers to go well beyond the confines of police investigations to probe into the causes of Teoh’s death, which includes the MACC’s interrogation of Teoh;

An inquest will be conducted by a magistrate, the lowliest cog in the judicial system. After two decades of prolonged national and international crisis of confidence in the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary, particularly in high-profile political cases, Malaysian public have no confidence in High Court, Court of Appeal and Federal Court judges. How can the Cabinet expect public confidence to be vested in a magistrate, who will be even more vulnerable to pressures. In contrast, a Royal Commission is headed either by a former judge or former Chief Justice (like former Chief Judge of Malaya, Justice Anwar heading the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Anwar Ibrahim’s black-eye scandal in 1999 and former Chief Justice, Tun Dzaiddin heading the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the 2005 police nude ear-squat scandal). This is because former judges, former Chief Judge or former Chief Justice are perceived as less vulnerable to improper political pressures.

Furthermore, there are Commonwealth precedents of public inquiries into extraordininary deaths.

In 2004, the Ipperwash Inquiry was established by the Government of Ontario under the Public Inquiries Act. Its mandate was to inquire and report on events surrounding the death of Dudley George, who was shot in 1995 during a protest by First Nations representatives at Ipperwash Provincial Park and later died. The Inquiry was also mandated to make recommendations that would avoid violence in similar circumstances in the future.

Section 329 of the Criminal Procedure Code on “Duty of police officers to investigate death” states:

(1) Every officer in charge of a police station on receiving information –

(a) that a person has committed suicide;

(b) that a person has been killed by another, or by an animal, or by machinery, or by an accident;

(c) that a person has died under circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence;

(d) that the body of a dead person has been found, and it is not known how he came by his death; or

(e) that a person has died a sudden death,

shall with the least practical delay transmit such information to the officer in charge of the police district.

(2) On receipt of the information the officer in charge of the police district or some other police officer acting under his directions and being either the officer in charge of a police station or a police officer not below the rank of sergeant shall immediately proceed to the place where the body of the deceased person is and there shall make an investigation and draw up report of the apparent cause of death, describing the wounds, fractures, bruises and other marks of injury as may be found on the body, and such marks, objects and circumstances as, in his opinion, may relate to the cause of death or the person, if any, who caused the death, and stating in what manner or by what weapon or instrument, if any, the marks appear to have been inflicted.

Can the Police or Attorney-General explain why Teoh’s death was classified as “sudden death” under Section 329(1)(e) when it should more appropriately be classified under Section 329(1)(d) – “that the body of a dead person has been found, and it is not known how he came by his death”.

This question is pertinent and relevant as it raises the question whether the Police had right from the beginning tried to be protective of MACC instead of getting at “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”  over Teoh’s death?

Yesterday, on behalf of the Teoh family, I had faxed an urgent letter to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak conveying the family’s request for an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister, as their request for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death had not bee properly conveyed to the Cabinet by the MCA and Gerakan Ministers as well as Najib’s political secretary when they visited the Teoh family during Teoh’s wake.

I had not received any reply from Najib to my earlier fax asking for a meeting with him at the first available time when he returned from overseas on Teoh’s death. May be he had not received my earlier fax.

I hope Najib would set a good example to all Ministers and public servants and give a prompt response to my fax yesterday on behalf of the Teoh family.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 25 July 2009, 12:54 pm and is filed under
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Lifting and doctoring of Ronnie Liu’s disclosure of constituency allocations on his blog to make baseless allegation that he and Ean Yong Hian Wah are thieves of public funds are acts of desperadoes in  Umno or MACC to distract attention from Teoh’s unusual death at MACC

While the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO, MCA and Gerakan Ministers publicly speak against “politicizing” of Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the MACC Hqrs, the vicious campaign to politicize and character-assassinate DAP leaders over Teoh’s death has reached a new frenzy.

Two days ago, an
anonymous “black blog” surfaced
 purportedly listing proof that Selangor DAP State Excos Ronnie Liu and Ean Yong Hian Wah are corrupt and thieves of public funds who siphoned off constituency allocations to their own pockets.

The “black blog” with the misnomer Truth for Teoh Beng Hock purported to post documents to back its claims, including the allegation that 84 ‘projects’ amounting to more than RM200,000 in the Sungai Pelek constituency were awarded to one contractor Wong Chuan How.

Ronnie had rebutted the lies in his media conference, as the “black blog” had lifted and doctored
Ronnie’s disclosure of constituency disbursements on his blog in November last year
 to make baseless allegation that he and Ean Yong Hian Wah are thieves of public funds.

These are the acts of desperadoes in Umno or MACC to distract attention from Teoh’s unusual death at MACC and efforts to get to the causes and culprits for Teoh’s death.

There are also allegations, in the “block blog” and other Internet sites, accusing the DAP of hiring assassins to murder Teoh Beng Hock to “shut his mouth” allegedly because Teoh had evidence of these corrupt acts by Ronnie and Ean Yong.

Let Umno and MACC declare whether they are in any way behind these desperate acts.

If Teoh had died outside MACC, the lies that DAP had killed Teoh to shut him up may have greater traction. But to these liars and desperadoes, truth is the least important.

More lies, completely unbelievable ones, are in the pipeline. There are people who are mortally frightened of the truth and that is why the demands not only of the family, but all right-thinking and justice-loving Malaysians for a Royal Commission of Inquiry has been blocked.

Why are there powerful forces who do not want the truth of Teoh’s death to be unearthed and is blocking the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, to the extent  that the four MCA Ministers led by MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon and the MIC Minister Datuk Subramaniam have to publicly eat their words that they would demand a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death at last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting?

Teoh Beng Hock

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 25 July 2009, 1:17 pm and is filed under
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Offer of full co-operation with Hishammuddin to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights

The sustained 97% of those  who feel unsafe and 95% who hold that their security is not assured out of the respondents whether out of 903 at midnight on 23th July,  1,224  at 7.40 am and  2,947 at 2.20 pm on 24th July and 5,062 at 12.30 pm on the
Home Ministry website poll
 is a crying shame of the failure of the police to ensure that Malaysians, visitors and investors are safe and feel safe in the country.

A breakdown  of those who responded to the Home Ministry poll in the past 48 hours are as follows:

Feel unsafe

Security not assured

 23.7.09

12 midnight

96%(866)		95%(894)

24.7.09

7.40 am	97%(1,187)		95% (1,119)

2.20 pm         97%(2,846)		95% (2,619)

25.7.09

12.30 pm      97%(4,905)		95% (4,495)

Who should be responsible for this deplorable law and order situation in Malaysia in the past few years?

The two persons who should be held responsible are the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister.

It is of course not fair to hold Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein responsible for the failure of the police to perform its first duty to Malaysians – to keep crime low and protect the personal safety of all Malaysians – as he has only been the Home Minister in less than four months.

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, has no such excuse. He has been IGP for close to three years and Malaysians feel even more unsafe today than when he first became IGP in September 2006.

Malaysia must start off on  a new page to create new image for the Malaysian Police force to ensure that it  is capable of performing the three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

I am prepared to co-operate fully with Hishammuddin to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights but the first step for the Police to start a new page is to have a new IGP to provide new and effective leadership.

This is the purpose of the Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia in Parliament on Tuesday at 10 am – to set the Malaysian Police on a new course of direction under a new Prime Minister and a new Home Minister.

Musa Hassan’s renewed term as Inspector-General of Police expires in September.

I believe that there are enough senior police officers who could take over the position of IGP from Musa – in particular from the ranks of the eight top police officers occupying key police positions below the post of IGP instead of renewing Musa’s tenure of IGP for another two years into 2011.

.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 25 July 2009, 4:04 pm and is filed under
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Finding the truth behind the death of Teoh Beng Hock

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor

PM NAJIB RAZAK MUST FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO FIND THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DEATH OF TEOH BENG HOCK IN MACC HEADQUARTERS.

CORONER INQUEST NOT THE SOLUTION

The explanation by AG Abdul Gani Patail for a coroner inquest, is an insult to the intelligence of the people. his statement gave the reasons why there has to be a coroner’s inquest besides having a commission of inquiry into the death of TBH, a political aide to a selangor exco member.

Every educated person knows that an inquest is imperative in a case of sudden death from unknown causes in ordinary cases but the case of TBH is no ordinary case. The circumstances of his death in a government building with tight security, point to the conclusion that MACC officers are involved in one way or another.

MACC is a government institution. In such a situation an inhouse panel is out of the question. You can’t have a government officer or officers to be impartial, when investigating the death of TBH where high and topmost officialdom are implicated.

A coroner inquest panel is an inhouse panel with government officers and they are likely to be sympathetic to their own kind, and impossible to be impartial.

The investigating panel has got to be fully independent and free from government officers. The coroner and his panel therefore cannot qualify to investigate the case of TBH.

Immediately on his return from mecca, PM Najib promised there would be a royal commission to find out the truth relating to the death of TBH.

The royal commission with qualified independent persons will be transparent, accountable and competent to weed out the truth behind the death, and do a better more reliable job than a coroner’s inquest.

The AG Ghani Patail can quote the criminal procedure code as much as he wants, but this is irrelevant, because what is lacking with a coroner’s inquest, are independence and impartiality.

AS FOR THE ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY (RCI), AG GHANI PATAIL SAID “THAT THE RCI IS RIGHTLY AND LAWFULLY FORMED FOR THE PURPOSE OF INQUIRING INTO THE PROCEDURAL ASPECTS OF THE MALAYSIAN ANTI CORRUPTION COMMISSION IN CARRYING OUT THE INVESTIGATIONS.”

Here he is so wrong again. The RCI is not meant to study the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the MACC.

The RCI formed of prominent upright citizens with great experience will enquire into all aspects related to the death of TBH, which has evoked wide interest among the people in Malaysia and in Asean countries.

The mysterious circumstances of his death will be investigated. How is it possible that a healthy young man could enter the MACC headquarters alive, and alert for questioning at 5 pm, could end up dead and cold, when his body was found on the roof the 5th floor of MACC headquarter at 1.30pm the next day?

How did he die? Was the death due to a fall from the window of the 14th floor? Was the body alive at the time of the fall? Was he already dead before the fall?

Why did he die? He held the job of a political secretary. Why was the interrogation so long, sources say for 8 hours. What secrets did he have to warrant such a prolonged questioning?

What was the nature of questioning? Were the tactics similar as those employed by the Kempetai (Japanese secret police) during the Occupation?

Why were only opposition exco officials suspected and accused of corruption?  Why were Barisan excos left alone?

TBH was alleged to be involved in misuse of RM2400, and was grilled for 8 hours. He died because of RM2400?

Why did MACC not investigate the former MB of Selangor, although he owns and stays in a RM24 million mansion?

Is MACC involved in a grand conspiracy to destroy the reputation of the leaders of Party Rakyat with false allegations of corruption?

Who were the people behind this grand conspiracy? MACC was meant to be an independent body but is obviously obeying orders from some high source. Who are the masters of MACC?

These questions and many more are the reasons why the people are insisting on a Royal Commision of Enquiry, and not for problems of standard operation procedures (SOP) as alleged by the Attorney General.

The mysterious death of TBH has raised vital issues of the question of integrity, honesty and discipline of our institutions. MACC, the police and other institutions are supposed to be guardians and protectors of the people. If they fail to do so then the future of the country will follow the way banana republics.

Already there are signs of deterioration of the moral culture in the country. TBH died while in custody. There are many instances of detainees who also died while in police custody. Altantuya was blown to bits with C4 explosives.

These are disturbing signs, and unless there is a transformation, the culture of violence will spread and will bring down the nation.

A Royal Commision of Inquiry into the death of TBH and the circumstances related to it, might hopefully reveal truths that would guide the nation along the right path.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 July 2009, 10:09 am and is filed under
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I will lodge police report tomorrow to protect Ong Tee Keat’s life as well as to ensure that “dark forces” of politico-business underground do not extend their tentacles to compromise decision-making all the way to the Cabinet

I will lodge a police report tomorrow to protect MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s life as well as to ensure that “dark forces” of politico-business underground do not extend their tentacles to compromise decision-making all the way to the Cabinet.

In the past week, Ong had publicly alleged “politico-business forces” connected to the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and “certain quarters in the ruling coalition” who have threatened his personal safety.

In an interview with
Sin Chew Daily last Thursday
 and his various speeches at MCA functions since then, Ong had made the most serious allegations about corruption and abuses of power in the highest levels of government decision-making all the way to the Cabinet, that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

Ong even claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interests in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, including some from within BN, revealing that he had received death threat delivered him in a message through some “secret society brothers”.

The
MCA Sunday Star
 today reported that the death threat read: “If you’re wiped out from this world some day, you should know why this has happened.”

I had yesterday given him 48 hours to lodge police report about the death threat to a Cabinet Minister and the extension of underground forces in politico-business reaching all the way to the Cabinet, and that I will lodge a police report on his behalf if he dared not do so.

Unless Ong reports a report within the 48 hours deadline, I will lodge a police report to protect Ong’s life as well as to ensure that the dark forces of politico-business underground do not compromise the integrity of the government and Cabinet decision-making process.

I regret that Ong continues to imply that I am one of the “external forces” which has put him under siege in facing his “life-and-death” political crisis to avert a “Topple Ong” campaign.

Let me reiterate that I have no interest or role whatsoever in MCA politics, and I am in the least bothered whether there is a “Topple Ong” and there is no “Topple Ong” campaign in the MCA, aswhether Ong or Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek becomes the MCA President is utterly inconsequential to  Malaysians who do not see any difference between the two.

Ong wants to be a hero without heroism – which is why I had lambasted him for being a “hero outside, coward inside (Parliament and Cabinet)” – and there is a lengthening list of instances to substantiate this, the latest being the failure of MCA Ministers to ensure that the Cabinet sets up a comprehensive Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the MACC.

What Malaysians and I are interested are  the full facts, uncensored disclosures and no-holds-barred investigations into  the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – how a RM1.088 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik could quadruple to RM4.6 billion scandal under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in 2006 and now set to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

Although Liong Sik had appeared before the Public Accounts Committee inquiring into the PKFZ scandal, the former MCA President and Transport Minister had thrown no new light – preferring to emulate the example of his former boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir, claiming convenient selective amnesia!

The second MCA Transport Minister, Chan Kong Choy, will appear before the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday. Is he going to emulate Mahathir and Liong Sik and also become a candidate for “convenient selective amnesia”?

I am very disappointed with Ong because he had pledged to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, hiding nothing, when he became Transport Minister after the March 2008 general election, but he failed to honour his pledge.

Although he had made public the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report in the PKFZ, the PwC inquiry was not allowed to delve into the root causes of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

So far, Ong has revealed no more than 10% of the PKFZ scandal. Malaysians want the rest of the 90% of the PKFZ scandal to be made public – in particular who are the culprits responsible for the “mother of all scandals” in Malaysia and why no action has been taken against a single one of them all these years?

If Ong is going to be toppled as MCA President and Transport Minister for trying to reveal less than 10 per cent of the PKFZ scandal, why don’t he go the whole way to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal and  accept all consequences for such a principled and courageous act.

If Ong is prepared to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal and just be content with expose of less than 10% of the scandal, I am prepared to support him to the hilt, even if it means consolidating his position as MCA President and Transport Minister.

I am prepared to co-operate with Ong to uncover the full story of the PKFZ scandal. Dare Ong accept my offer of co-operation?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 July 2009, 10:10 am and is filed under
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MCA, Gerakan and MIC Ministers should stop tomorrow’s announcement of composition of Royal Commission of Inquiry on Teoh’s death so as not to jeopardize any effort to ask the Cabinet on Wednesday to widen the scope RCI to zero in on Teoh’s death

MCA, Gerakan and MIC Ministers should stop tomorrow’s announcement of the composition of Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Teoh Beng Hock’s death so as not to jeopardize any effort to ask the Cabinet on Wednesday to widen the scope of the RCI to zero in on Teoh’s death.

Cabinet Ministers, whether from Umno, MCA, Gerakan and MIC cannot be unaware that the Cabinet decision last Wednesday to refuse to set up a RCI to probe the causes of Teoh’s death had been greeted with consternation and condemnation, together with calls for a Cabinet review to expand the scope of the RCI into the MACC’s interrogation methods to include the causes of Teoh’s death.

The Cabinet decision to have an inquest headed by a magistrate is just not acceptable to the majority of Malaysians who want a completely independent inquiry into Teoh’s death which could command public confidence.

Ministers, especially from MCA and Gerakan, who had visited the Teoh  family during Teoh’s funeral wake in Alor Gajah and publicly pledged to get the Cabinet to set up a RCI into Teoh’s death, would be seriously remiss in their duties if they do not ask the Cabinet on Wednesday to review and expand the scope of the RCI to include inquiry into the causes of Teoh’s death.

MCA Ministers, its President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Vice President Datuk Liow Tiong Lai, and the Gerakan President, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon had disappointed the Teoh family and the larger Malaysian public once already in failing to get the Cabinet to set up a RCI into Teoh’s death.

They should not be guilty of disappointing the Teoh family and the Malaysian public a second time by failing to ask the Cabinet to widen the scope of the RCI to zero in on the causes of Teoh’s death.

However, if the members of the RCI are announced tomorrow, then it is tantamount to a second failure by these Ministers to get the Cabinet to do what is right for the family and the Malaysian people.

(Speech 2  at the lunch of Perak DAP MPs and State Assembly members at MP Steamboat Restaurant, Ipoh on Sunday, 26th July 2009 at 2 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 July 2009, 6:09 pm and is filed under
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Najib – act on Nik Aziz’s initiative and restore proper Federal-Kelantan State government relations starting with RM1 billion oil royalties payment to Kelantan

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should act on the initiative of the Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat’s initiative and restore proper and just Federal-Kelantan state government relations based on justice and fair play to the people of Kelantan uninfluenced by party differences between the Federal and state governments – and in line with Najib’s 1Malaysia motto.

Two days ago, the Kelantan Mentri Besar and the Minister for International Trade and Industry  and Kelantan Umno liaison chief, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad jointly kicked off a programme to promote tourism in Kelantan.

At the function,
Mustapa
said:

“We may be from different political parties, but there is no reason why we cannot come together on matters that benefit the Kelantan people.”

This is the proper and correct basis that should infuse and inform the relationship between the Federal government and all the state governments, even those which are ruled by Pakatan Rakyat state governments.

As a Malaysian, I will be the first to applaud the relationship between the Federal government and the state governments, especially those run by different political parties or coalitions, return to an even keel and healthy level as intended by the Federal Constitution and the founding fathers of the nation.

For a start, the Cabinet should on Wednesday acknowledge as a matter of principle that the Kelantan state government is owed RM1 billion in  oil royalties,  especially after the public admission by
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
, the founding chairman of Petronas and CEO who signed the vesting deed agreement in 1974 providing for Kelantan’s entitlement to five per cent of any revenue derived from hydrocarbon deposits found on or offshore of the state.

As Razaleigh told Malaysian Insider: “If I am chairman still of Petronas, I will pay without all the fuss. And I feel all the more it should be paid because I signed the agreement! There is no two ways about it. It must be paid.”

The Petronas vesting deed agreement was approved by Tun Razak in 1974 and it is only right that the present Prime Minister should restore the true meaning of his father’s legacy, with the Federal Government paying the Kelantan State Government RM1 billion worth of oil royalties due to them since 2004.

It is important that proper Federal-State government relations be maintained, uninfluenced by political differences arising from different parties and coalitions running them – or the greatest  casualty will be the Malaysian Constitution as well as the 1Malaysia concept advocated by Najib.

The problem with the five-month long Perak constitutional crisis arising from the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab is because this important principle of proper, correct, just and fair Federal-State government relationships between the Barisan Nasional at the national level and the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak had been violated.

This is why the immediate dissolution of the Perak state assembly to hold general elections is paramount to restore a constitutional, correct, just and proper Federal-state government relationship in Perak.

(Speech at the lunch of Perak DAP MPs and State Assembly members at MP Steamboat Restaurant, Ipoh on Sunday, 26th July 2009 at 2 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 July 2009, 5:34 pm and is filed under
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Some glimmer of hope that the campaign for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia may not be a totally lost cause

For the first time, I feel that there is some glimmer of hope that  the campaign for a new Inspector-General of Police to create a safe Malaysia may not be a totally lost cause.

This is the first time in the 52 year history of the nation that there is so much widespread public disaffection at the prospect of an incumbent being given a second extension of his service in a top public post – the second renewal of Tan Sri Musa Hassan as Inspector-General of Police in September.

Many have regarded the Parliamentary Roundtable for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia in Parliament on Tuesday as a Don Quixote “tilting against the windmill” lost cause – but even if it is a lost cause, it must be fought with every ounce of energy for we are talking about the safety of 27 Malaysian citizens as well as that of tourists and investors so that they can enjoy the two basic human fundamental liberties, to be free from crime and free from the fear of crime.

However, I feel that the tide for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia may be turning.

Firstly, I feel encouraged that we seem to have at last a Home Minister who has grasped what his first duty should be – to make Malaysia safe again for its citizens, tourists and investors by ensuring that the streets, public places and privacy of homes are safe like in the first three decades of Merdeka!

In the last three days, the Home Ministry website has sought feedback from the public as to whether they feel safe from crime in the country, a recognition that safety of citizens from crime must be the No. 1 job of a Home Minister.

For the past three days, there had been a sustained 97% of those  polled who feel unsafe and 95% who hold that their security is not assured, as illustrated from the following results which I had been tracking:

Feel unsafe

Security not assured

23.7.09

12 midnight

96%(866)

95%(894)

24.7.09

7.40 am

97%(1,187)

95% (1,119)

2.20 pm

97%(2,846)

95% (2,619)

25.7.09

12.30 pm

97%(4,905)

95% (4,495)

26.7.09

10 am

97% (6,058)

95% (5,549)

There can only be one conclusion from such statistics – an indictment of Musa as IGP in failing to perform the most fundamental duty of the No. 1 Policeman in the country and the need for a new IGP to liberate Malaysians from crime and the fear of crime.

I congratulate the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for being courageous in seeking public feed back about their views on the crime situation in the country, and Malaysians expect him to support the appointment of a new IGP to restore public confidence in the priority and ability of the Police to create a safe Malaysia.

I will contact Hishammuddin by phone tomorrow to ask whether he is prepared to attend the Parliamentary Roundtable on Tuesday.

The second silver lining is the speech by the Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Rosmah Mansor revealing that snatch theft cases had increased by 99 per cent from January to April this year as compared to the same period last year.

There were 1,206 snatch theft cases reported in the first four months of this year compared to 606 last year. Even the 1,206 statistics is a gross underestimate as the majority of victims in this category of crime do not report to the police, as there is simply no confidence in the police any more.

I commend Rosmah to add her voice to the national cry for action to end the endemic crime, particularly street crime,  in the country.

Malaysia must start off on  a new page to create a new image for the Malaysian Police force to ensure that it  is capable of performing the three core functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

I am prepared to co-operate fully with Hishammuddin to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights but the first step for the Police to start a new page is to have a new IGP to provide new and effective leadership.

This is the purpose of the Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia in Parliament on Tuesday at 10 am – to set the Malaysian Police on a new course of direction under a new Prime Minister and a new Home Minister.

I believe that there are enough senior police officers who could take over the position of IGP from Musa – in particular from the ranks of the eight top police officers occupying key police positions below the post of IGP instead of renewing Musa’s tenure of IGP for another two years into 2011.

I hope Barisan Nasional MPs will rise above party differences to attend the Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia, to demonstrate to the Police and the Malaysian public that MPs, whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, stand on a common platform to work for the safety of ordinary Malaysians.

Because of the shortness of time, it may not be able to send them individual invitation to the Parliamentary Roundtable. Let this statement serve as another Open Invitation to all MPs, whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, or well as to all concerned professional organisations, NGOs, civic bodies and stakeholders concerned about a new IGP for a safe Malaysia to attend.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 26 July 2009, 1:15 pm and is filed under
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I have lodged police report as Ong’s recent revelations revealed multiple serious crimes had been committed to protect Ong’s life because of death threat and the integrity of government and Cabinet decision-making from being coerced and suborned by underground forces outside the law

I have lodged a police report to protect MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s life as well as to ensure that “dark forces” of politico-business underground combined with certain Barisan Nasional elements do not extend their tentacles to suborn government  decision-making all the way to the Cabinet.

In the past week, Ong had alleged in interviews and speeches that “dark forces” of politico-business forces underground and in the Barisan Nasional have threatened his personal safety and tried to compromise the government decision-making process all the way to the Cabinet, especially over the
RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal
.

Ong had made the most serious allegations about corruption and abuses of power in the highest levels of government decision-making all the way to the Cabinet, that corruption had emerged under the Najib premiership from the “darkness” into the open to do their evil work.

Ong claimed that he was now “under siege” from people with vested interests in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, involving BN forces and underground, where  he had received death threat delivered him in a message through some “secret society brothers”.

The
MCA Sunday Star yesterday
 reported that the death threat read: “If you’re wiped out from this world some day, you should know why this has happened.”

These revelations by a Cabinet Minister demonstrate multiple serious crimes had been committed not only in the form of death threat to a Cabinet Minister, but the even more heinous crimes that “dark forces” of politico-business network involving the underground and certain elements in Barisan Nasional have compromised the integrity of government decision-making process all the way to the Cabinet, which is completely unacceptable in a country that upholds the rule of law and parliamentary democracy.

I had given Ong 48 hours to lodge police report about the death threat to him as a Cabinet Minister and the extension of dark forces in politico-business  network involving the underground and Barisan Nasional elements reaching all the way to the Cabinet, and as Ong has failed to do his public duty, I am  lodging  a police report to protect Ong’s life and the integrity of government and Cabinet decision-making from being coerced and manipulated by undemocratic and  unaccountable “dark forces” which act outside the pale of law and parliamentary democracy.

In my police report, I have also appended the Chinese and English-language media reports carrying Ong’s revelations.

It is Ong who should have lodged this police report, but as he dared not do so, I am performing my public duty to lodge it on his behalf to protect his life and the integrity of the Cabinet and public institutions.

Whatever our political differences, I do not want to see any harm to come to Ong because of his Ministerial actions, however misguided and wrong-headed they are, especially his failure to honour his pledge 15 months ago to “tell all” about the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – in particular how a RM1.088 billion scandal under Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister in 2002 could quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2006 and now set to balloon to a RM12.5 billion scandal under Ong.

Let me here extend my assistance and co-operation to Ong, if it is true that he is being victimised by the “dark forces” of politico-business network underground and Barisan Nasional elements.

Let us join forces to expose 100% of the PKFZ scandal instead of Ong trifling with less than 10% expose of the PKFZ scandal in the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report into the PKFZ.

DAP will give Ong 100% backing to expose 100% and not just less than 10% of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

I am prepared to meet Ong any time he is ready to meet me to work out this joining of forces to fully expose the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

Is Ong brave enough to accept this DAP offer of  assistance and co-operation, or has the threats, blackmail and death threat he had received from the dark  politico-business forces underground and Barisan Nasional have some effect?

Let me advise Ong that if wants to concoct a MCA leadership crisis, he should leave the DAP and me out of his tale of a grand conspiracy against him, as we are simply not interested in the MCA drama – with Ong and MCA Deputy President, Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek competing to claim who is really the real  “victim” of a conspiracy.

The tragedy is that the Malaysian public are the real victims of this synthetic MCA leadership crisis – with three MCA Ministers and seven deputy ministers issuing an unprecedented collective statement five days ago pledging single-minded support to Ong.

But support for what? One MCA Minister, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and one Deputy Minister, Dr. Wee Ka Siong (who is also MCA Youth chief) have subsequently been reported in the press that there is no whiff of a MCA leadership crisis.

If so, why the collective joint statement by the 10 MCA Ministers and Deputy Ministers pledging allegiance to Ong, if not to create the drama of a MCA President facing a “life-and-death” leadership crisis which does not exist?

This is another ploy of the MCA leadership, with MCA leaders very adept in becoming the David Copperfields of Malaysia, giving illusions that something exists when it does not, like:

Creating the illusion that Ong has honoured his pledge to “tell all” about the PKFZ scandal, when he has not done so despite the PwC report;

Creating the illusion that a Royal Commission of Inquiry has been established to probe into the causes and circumstances of Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death in the MACC, when there is no such RCI; and

Creating the illusion that there is a “life and death” leadership crisis for the MCA President when nobody whether inside MCA, Barisan Nasional or outside could get a whiff of such deadly crisis.

I hope Ong will fully co-operate with the police and substantiate with proper facts and evidence the serious allegations he had made about multiple serious crimes committed over the death threat to a Cabinet Minister and the suborning of the government and Cabinet decision-making process by the “dark forces” of underground-Barisan Nasional politico-business complex.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 July 2009, 4:25 pm and is filed under
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Leaders To Bring Us Together

by
M. Bakri Musa

In having to appoint a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) following the death of one of its witnesses, Prime Minister Najib clearly demonstrated his lack of leadership and inability to be in command of a rapidly evolving crisis.  Essentially, events forced Najib’s hand; he was reacting, not leading.

            Najib is not a leader, at least not the type Malaysia desperately needs today.  His meteoric rise in the party and government is less an expression of talent, more the gratitude his party has for his late father.  For his part, Najib has not shown any indication that he benefited from those splendid opportunities.  On the contrary, like a spoiled child, those amenities merely indulged him.

            Unfortunately for Najib, more so for the nation, there are no ‘training wheels’ to the Prime Minister’s office.

            Najib’s deputy Muhyyuddin is in the same kampong league.
Earlier, Muhyyuddin dismissed calls for a royal commission, insisting that the police and the MACC are quite capable of undertaking the investigations.  It reflected his low standing in the cabinet that many, including fellow UMNO minister Rais Yatim, pointedly pushed for the setting up of the commission.  Even the lowly UMNO Youth leader did not share Muhyyuddin’s faith in the police and MACC.

            Consider a different scenario.  If upon his return from his Middle East trip, Najib had summoned his Home Minister Hishammuddin and the Director of MACC for an immediate briefing.  They of course would not be able to give a coherent explanation.  Whereupon Najib would at a press conference announce his directing the MACC to put the involved officers on immediate administrative leave pending a full independent investigation.

            Had Najib done that, with his commanding baritone voice, he would have projected an image of a decisive leader who was on top of the situation.  He would also put an immediate end to the current ugly spectacle of an unfortunate death degenerating into a polarizing political and increasingly racial issue.

            As senior statesman Tengku Razaleigh noted, there have been too many deaths while under custody, and Teoh Beng Hock’s demise marks a watershed in the attitude of the public towards the government, setting a new low.  This essence is missed by many in the government.

            The ordering of a coroner’s inquest or Royal Commission should have been an executive decision; Najib does not need to involve his cabinet.  The cabinet should be deliberating substantive issues, like how to make our economy competitive or reform our rotting education system.

            Najib should have learned how his late father handled the national tragedy of the May 1969 race riot.  Tun Razak stood in front of the cameras and in a solemn voice and serious demeanor announced the immediate imposition of martial law and a “shoot to kill” order for the police and military.  He struck a reassuring and take-charge image, in stark contrast to the hapless weeping Tengku Abdul Rahman, who was then Prime Minister.

            The world may condemn him as a dictator or worse, but there was no disputing that Tun Razak established law and order quickly.  To put that in perspective, the modern flare up of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland began at about the same time as our 1969 riot.  Today, while to most Malaysians that nightmare is but a dim distant memory, the folks in Northern Ireland are still busy settling old scores.

            The evolving public furor over Teoh’s death shows every sign of continuing its destructive downward spiral, fed by racist opportunists of all flavors and colorations, with Najib on the sideline reacting and not leading.

            What stunned me were not the responses of the bigoted and uneducated; their chauvinistic views were expected and perhaps excusable because of their ignorance.  It would be too much to expect them to have a perspective beyond their clan or kampong.  To them this crisis is nothing more than yet another ethnic Chinese-Malaysian victimized by Malay officialdom, or the belligerent Chinese not missing an opportunity to mock Malays.

            What took me back instead were the responses of those ‘educated’ ministers and leaders.  They just could not comprehend the public outrage over the MACC’s interviewing a ‘friendly’ witness into the wee hours of the morning and who would later be found dead outside its premises.  Perhaps those civil servants were trying to impress the public on how diligent and hard working they were in attending to their duties!  If that was how MACC’s personnel treated their ‘friendly and cooperative’ witness, I shudder to think the reception a suspect would get.

            Far from expressing condolences to the poor bereaved family, these ministers went on to impute evil motives on the victim and those who were outraged by the needless tragedy.  How would these ministers feel if it was their son who had been victimized?  Don’t they have any empathy?

            To their credit Najib Razak and his Women’s Affairs Minister Sharizat Jalil did convey their condolences to the family of the deceased.  The two were the exceptions.  Najib was even thoughtful enough to send his personal representative to the funeral.  The vulgar behaviors of the others, especially Muhyyuddin, were eagerly picked up by the toadying commentators and columnists in the mainstream media.  They fueled the fire.

            In seeking answers and justice to this cruel death, we must refrain from injecting additional unnecessary and divisive elements.  The case is complicated enough; there is no need to inject or impute extraneous factors.  As The Star columnist and law professor Azmi Sharom rightly observed, people are angry over the needless death of a young Malaysian, not a young ethnic Chinese, and what they perceive as the abuse of power by MACC officers, not the abuse of power by Malay officers.

            We need to mobilize the masses to this injustice.  We are a democracy and public opinion matters.  Thus far public outrage has caused the cabinet to set up the Royal Commission, but that is not enough.  Without continued public pressure the commission’s findings would suffer the same fate as befell the Police Commission and the one investigating the so-called Lingam Tape.  Nothing happens.  We need continued public pressure so the coroner’s inquest and the Royal Commission would be conducted openly and transparently, their findings readily available.

            There is an art to mobilizing public opinion, and I am not attuned to its many subtleties.  However, I do know that many share my disappointment that at one public rally over Teoh’s death most of the speakers were unable to convey their outrage in our national language.  Many were young and presumably born and raised in Malaysia, yet they were unable, unwilling or uncomfortable to speak in our national language.  That is definitely not the way to go about seeking broad pubic support.

            I was similarly unimpressed with the rallying cry of HINDRAF, Makkal sakthi (People Power).  That would be fine to gain public support in Kerala, but if it is fellow Malaysians you wish to influence, then you had better articulate your arguments in our national language.  HINDRAF would have converted a few more to it cause had it substituted its slogan with Kuasa Rakyat.

            Being a plural society Malaysia faces many challenging and continuing centrifugal forces threatening to rip it apart.  We need leaders who must recognize this grim reality and then mobilize countervailing forces that would bring us together.  We need leaders who would view our diversity not as a liability but an asset, and a valuable one at that.

            Unfortunately his much-touted slogan of “1Malaysia” notwithstanding, Najib Razak is not that kind of a leader.  Neither is his deputy Muhyyuddin Yassin.  Instead, we need leaders the caliber of Tengku Razaleigh, Anwar Ibrahim and Zaid Ibrahim.  The challenge for Malaysia is to make sure that they prevail.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 July 2009, 7:01 am and is filed under
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Will the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow  support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by  four years and should have  covered all categories of crime as proposed by Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in May 2005

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced the reduction of the crime rate on the streets by 20 per cent in 2010 as one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRA).

Will the Parliamentary Roundtable  for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report in May 2005?

When the Dzaiddin Royal Police Commission submitted its final report in May 2005, it said  that Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country was “seriously dented” by the “dramatic increase” in the incidence of crime in the past few years and that “Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation”.

The Royal Commission warned that “if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia”.

The Royal Police Commission was referring to the “dramatic increase” in the crime index from 121,176 cases in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, which registered an increase of  29 per cent in eight years.

As a result, the Royal Police Commission proposed a sustained nation-wide drive against crime “until crime levels have reached a point considered no longer alarming”, with an immediate target of “a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes” in all categories of crime within the first 12 months after the Report.

Instead of achieving the Police Royal Commission’s target of reducing the intolerably high incidence of crime of 156,455 cases in 2004 by 20 per cent in 12 months (i.e. 125,164 cases), the reverse took place.

In the seven years from 1997 to 2004, crime index increased by 29%, but in the four years from 2004 to 2008 crime index increased by 35.5%.

From the latest statistics given in Parliament, crime index have galloped to break the 200,000 mark, with the incidence of crime shooting up to 209,582 in 2007 and 211,645 in 2008.

The endemic crime situation is  no surprise except to the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who have to learn of the severity and magnitude of the problem from public feedback that Malaysians have lost all confidence in the police force to carry out its most elementary duties, i.e. to keep the streets, public places and the privacy of homes safe for Malaysians, tourists and investors.

In the last four days, the Home Ministry website has sought feedback from the public as to whether they feel safe from crime in the country.

Right from the beginning, there had been a sustained 97% of those  polled who feel unsafe and 95% who hold that their security is not assured, as illustrated from the following results which I had been tracking:

Feel unsafe

Security not assured

23.7.09

12 midnight

96%(866)

95%(894)

24.7.09

7.40 am

97%(1,187)

95% (1,119)

2.20 pm

97%(2,846)

95% (2,619)

25.7.09

12.30 pm

97%(4,905)

95% (4,495)

26.7.09

10 am

97% (6,058)

95% (5,549)

27.7.09

3.10 pm

 97% (7,804)

95% (7,117)

Only 1% of Malaysians felt safe while 2% were uncertain.

As at 3.10 pm today, more than half of the respondents (i.e. 63% or 4,720) formed this opinion because they or their family members were victims of crime while 36% of the respondents (2743) were influenced by news about crime.

To a question whether the Government has done its best to ensure that the safety of the people was at the best level, 95% of 7,427 respondents replied in the negative. Only 3% felt that the government has taken the necessary measures to ensure public safety.

Najib’s KPI for street crime and the Home Ministry’s website poll with only 1% of Malaysians who felt safe while only 3% of Malaysians felt that the government has taken the necessary measures to ensure public safety are the most appropriate subjects for deliberation by tomorrow’s Parliamentary Roundtable for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia.

Among the organizations and Malaysians who will attend the Parliamentary Roundtable in Parliament at 10 am tomorrow are: Ragunathan Kesavan,  President, Bar Council; Dr. Lim Teck Ghee and Helen Ang from Centre for Policy Initiatives; representatives from SUARAM, Hakam, KLSCAH Youth and Datuk Seri Yuen Yuet Leng, retired CPO of Perak and Sarawak.

Those who wish to attend the Roundtable  can still contact the organising secretariat (Shabrimi 016-4124735; Lim Swee Kuan 016-6266848; Boon Kia Meng 012-5180863).

Let the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow be a milestone in the journey to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service regarded as an international model for all polices forces in keeping crime low, eradicating corruption and protecting human rights in Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 27 July 2009, 5:06 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia needs a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia and break away from colonial past by introducing democratic policing to protect the people and not the regime in power

On December 4, 2008, my motion to censure the Tan Sri Musa Hassan as Inspector-General of Police with a RM10-cut salary motion was defeated by a 48 to 30 votes.

I had moved the motion against Musa on two grounds, viz:

For being more of a lobbyist for police mega deals instead of being the police leader to keep crime down and the country safe for Malaysians, tourists and investors; and

For the “great lie” that the real crime problem in Malaysia was not worsening crime situation but a problem of misperception.

It is not my purpose to revisit the debate and the undeniable documentary evidence that I produced during the debate in Parliament about Musa lobbying for the RM20 billion Asiacopter proposal to rent out 34 helicopters to the police for 30 years and the RM4.2 billion “E-Police Force Solution” proposal.

In the letter on behalf of Pakatan Rakyat convening this Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia, I had given two grounds:

Failure of Musa in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as IGP in the past three years, in all the three core police functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that under Musa, Malaysians are even more unsafe from street crimes now than when he became IGP in September5 2006.

The re-appointment of Musa for another term of IGP cast an adverse aspersion on all the senior police officers, as if there is not a single one out of the eight top police officers occupying key police positions below the post of IGP who are qualified or competent enough to become the new IGP to provide a new police leadership and culture to roll back the tide of crime in the past five years.

There is an additional reason. After 52 years as an independent, sovereign parliamentary democracy,the time has come for the Malaysian police make a complete break from the colonial past mentality and embrace democratic  policing to protect the people and not the regime in power.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) 2005 report on “Police  Accountability: Too Important to Neglect, Too Urgent to Delay” has rightly stressed:

“Democratic nations need democratic policing. Democratic policing is based on the idea the police are protectors of the rights of citizens and the rule of law, while ensuring the safety and security of all equally. It rejects any resemblance to the regime policing of colonial times. Colonial style policing was based on the idea of police as protectors of a government foreign to the people.”

As the report said, “Increasingly, the fundamental of policing is seen as being the protection and vindication of the human rights of all.”

Such a concept is completely alien to Musa in his three years as IGP – which is why Malaysians, tourists and investors feel even more unsafe now than before he became IGP, losing the two most fundamental human rights in any civilized society – the right to be free from the crime and to be free from the fear of crime.

It is precisely because of the utter lack of understanding and commitment to the concept of democratic policing that there is a grave crisis of confidence in the efficiency, incorruptibility, professionalism of the Malaysian police force.

This has been confirmed by the Home Ministry website poll seeking public feedback as to whether they feel safe from crime in the country.

Right from the beginning, there had been a sustained 97% of those polled who feel unsafe and 95% who hold that their security is not assured.

As at 9.15 am this morning, 97% of 8,761 of 9,044 respondents felt unsafe while only 1% or 76 respondents felt safe. What an indictment of the utter failure of policing 52 years after Merdeka.

Out of 8,320 respondents, 94% or 7,861 felt that the government had not done its best to ensure the safety of the people, while only 2% or 162 felt the government had done its best.

On these two results alone, from the Home Ministry’s own website, any serving IGP should have resigned in ignominy!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s yesterday announced KPI for street crime, a reduction of the crime rate on the streets by 20 per cent in 2010 as one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRA).

Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report in May 2005?

When the Dzaiddin Royal Police Commission submitted its final report in May 2005, it said  that Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country was “seriously dented” by the “dramatic increase” in the incidence of crime in the past few years and that “Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation”.

The Royal Commission warned that “if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia”.

The Royal Police Commission was referring to the “dramatic increase” in the crime index from 121,176 cases in 1997 to 156,455 cases in 2004, which registered an increase of  29 per cent in eight years.

As a result, the Royal Police Commission proposed a sustained nation-wide drive against crime “until crime levels have reached a point considered no longer alarming”, with an immediate target of “a minimum 20 per cent decrease in crimes” in all categories of crime within the first 12 months after the Report.

Instead of achieving the Police Royal Commission’s target of reducing the intolerably high incidence of crime of 156,455 cases in 2004 by 20 per cent in 12 months (i.e. 125,164 cases), the reverse took place.

In the seven years from 1997 to 2004, crime index increased by 29%, but in the four years from 2004 to 2008 crime index increased by 35.5%.

From the latest statistics given in Parliament, crime index have galloped to break the 200,000 mark, with the incidence of crime shooting up to 209,582 in 2007 and 211,645 in 2008.

I had suggested at least five prerequisites for Najib to demonstrate he has the political will to break the back of the problem of endemic crime which has given Malaysia an international notoriety of a nation where citizens, tourists and investors are not safe from crime, viz:

Appoint a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new police leadership to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional police service to carry out the three core police functions identified by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Police Commission, viz to keep crime low, to eradicate corruption and to protect human rights.

Name the capitals of crime in Malaysia, which will include Johor Baru, Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, and the time-line to get rid of endemic crime in these capitals;

Ensure that the Home Minister is personally answerable to Parliament for the war against crime, with a progress report at every parliamentary meeting followed by a debate;

Revive and establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission, after suitable amendments; and

Establish an all-party Parliamentary Select Committee on Police and Crime to issue half-yearly reports on the police and crime situation in the country.

This Parliamentary Roundtable is the first step to ensure the arrival of democratic policing in Malaysia.

(Speech by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang at the Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia held in Parliament on Tuesday, 28th July 2009 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 July 2009, 10:56 am and is filed under
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Parliamentary Roundtable on A New IGP for a Safe Malaysia

Resolutions unanimously passed at the Parliamentary Roundtable on A New IGP for a Safe Malaysia.

Resolution 1

Call on the current Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, not to seek a further 2-year renewal of his tenure of service due to his failure in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as IGP in the past three years in all the three core police functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

Resolution 2

Call for appointment of a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new police leadership to roll back the tide of crime in the lat five years to ensure a safe Malaysia as well as to present a new image of democratic policing in Malaysia.

Resolution 3

Call on the Prime Minister to include in his KPI for crime prevention, not just the reduction in street crime by 20% in 2010 which was a good four years late, but also all categories of crime as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report in May 2005.

Resolution 4

Reaffirm the demands of the Malaysian public that the Prime Minister should set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommeded by Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission, so that public confidence in the police force can be restored.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 July 2009, 3:56 pm and is filed under
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TBH RCI – Has Gani Patail never known of the Hutton Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of  David Kelly’s death?

The inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s unusual death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) which begins tomorrow should be suspended until the Cabinet has taken full account of the overwhelming demands coming not only from the family but the Malaysian population regardless of race for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe into the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s death.

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail’s attempt to defend and justify the Cabinet decision last Wednesday to break the inquiry into Teoh’s death into two part, one an inquest into the causes of death and another, a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the MACC’s interrogation techniques had been a flop, convincing no reasonable Malaysian.

Gani said that there cannot be a RCI into Teoh’s death and that the right and proper thing to do is to establish an inquest as the Cabinet has done.

Has Gani never heard of the
 Hutton Inquiry
 into the causes and circumstances of David Kelly’s death in the United Kingdom in 2003?

David Kelly, a Ministry of Defence scientist
, was found dead after appearing before a parliamentary committee investigating the political scandal of British’s war against Iraq as he was accused of leaking sensitive information to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

A judicial inquiry headed by a judge, Justice Hutton was established to inquire into the causes and circumstances of Kelly’s death.

The inquest into Kelly’s death by the Oxfordshire Coroner had been adjourned while the inquiry proceeded. The inquiry reported on 28th January 2004 and the Oxfordshire Coroner announced in March 2004 that the inquest would not be reconvened.

Gani cannot be unaware of the David Kelly case, which is not the only one of its kind in the United Kingdom or other Commonwealth countries.

The question is why the Cabinet and the Attorney-General are not prepared to adopt these best international practices when public confidence in a comprehensive and untrammelled investigation into the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s death is at stake?

(Media Conference Statement  after the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council meeting in Parliament on Tuesday, 28th July 2009 at 4.30 pm)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 28 July 2009, 6:46 pm and is filed under
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A Government of the People?

By Hussein Hamid

As the Chinese say may you live in interesting time. And we do, we do – but what will Tunku, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn think of what is now happening to their country, our country?

Are there ‘external forces’ disrupting peace in the country?

No.

Are there anti social elements within the country trying to create fear in the mind of the Rakyat for their own selfish purposes?

No.

Are racial factions with vested interest fighting over petty issues that will disrupt peace and calm and create panic amongst the population in the country?

No.

And yet we seem to have a Government that see it itself to be under threat. And yet our people seem to be on the brink of despair abandoning any hope for a sense of justice, decency and hope in their daily life.

What we have now is a Government of the people but not for the people. We seem to have a government that operates without the need for the system of checks and balances that are fundamental to and demanded of by a modern state that Malaysia proclaims itself to be. We have a government that is very strong but with shaky foundations because it lacks the absolute mandate to govern as it does now and in continuing to do so has abused the trust placed upon it by the people. A government that seems ready to destroy the very foundation of a modern democratic state to save itself – nay its leaders, from losing power. A Government that time and time again abuses the instruments of states for its own selfish purposes. It will be hard to rid us of this abuse of the democratic process in place within our system because the abuse is not within the system but is the system itself. Or to be more exact the guardians of this system.

Now Najib is faced with too many questions that he cannot answer because he can’t. How is he to answer Razak Baginda’s hideous commission from MINDEF for work done? How is he to answer the questions about Altantuya? What is he prepared to do to put Anwar away again? What happened to Kugan? How many times can the Judiciary be manipulated? How many times will the AG take instructions from the PM? Will PDRM continue to allow itself to be used time and time again in return for the Government closing its eyes to their excesses – quid pro quo? How will he placate Mahathir ? ..and now MACC?

In the best of times Najib has not been known to be a Mahathir. In these trying times even Mahathir himself would be hard pressed to mount any decent rear guard action to protect his flank. Najib will be hard pressed to close the chasm that is opening between image and reality. We now have an UMNO that does not want to hear what the Rakyat is saying but instead is involve in a life and death struggle of its own and of its leader Najib. Every criticism is seen as a campaign and a plot by Pakatan Rakyat to outmaneuver them and create subversion that must be neutralized with the use of all arsenal at their disposal – PDRM, MACC and the Judiciary…and let us not forget money, lots of money!!.  And yet they know they are vulnerable. The crack has opened up since the last GE – and not for the first time UMNO/Barisan is on the defensive. This time it will be a life and death struggle that will have its nadir at the next General Election.

Let us hope that the democratic foundation put in place by our Tunku, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein will be able to withstand these assaults by the present. If it is not then our country will surely descend into chaos and trouble as  ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing’ …and there are enough good man left who will not do nothing and allow evil to triumph.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 July 2009, 7:44 am and is filed under
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Inquest into Teoh Beng Hock’s death begins

Twitter
Updates since 8.25am:

Coroner adjourns 1 wk to Aug 5

11.53am from TwitterBerry

Ct told on DNA checks – 1dna swap 2 males 1from TBH 1unknown male dna taken from 90 persons want dna from 12 others

11.51am from TwitterBerry

Ct resumes

11.41am from TwitterBerry

The 30 min adjrnmt of inquest has dragged out 4 more than an hour What is happening?

11:30am from TwitterBerry

79 witnesses summoned 4inquest why necessary 4so many most of whom cannot b relevant? TBH father brother sister fiancee also summoned

10:52am from TwitterBerry

Coroner adjourns inquest 2date 2b anncd in half hr

10:24am from TwitterBerry

Malek n Bar Council supports Gobind 4 adjournment

10:13am from TwitterBerry

Ct rules require minimum 2 wk notice of inquest b given 2deceased fmly n 4 1st mention max 3 wks b given 4 parties 2appear why now the rush?

10:08am from TwitterBerry

Gobind submission – Documents whether postmortem forensic dna rpts need 2be studied by ind experts why is govt in such hurry?

09:49am from TwitterBerry

Other reasons applying postponement – family counsel not given documents esp pathologist rpt

 09:43am from TwitterBerry

Substantive issue – gobind says TBH fmly participates inquest in protest as it wants PM seyt up RCI as cabinet meets 2day applies 4 postpone

09:40am from TwitterBerry

Coroner allows gobind appln 4lawyers rep family Sel govt. Arguments over status bar council lawyers coroner allws them 2hold watching brief

09:35am from TwitterBerry

Gobind applies 4 formal observer status 4 Karpal gobind sankaran 4 family malek 4 sel govt n 6 lawyers 4 bar council watching briefabout

09:28am from TwitterBerry

Inquest into TBH death begins

09:19am from TwitterBerry

Gobind 4TBH family Malek Imtiaz 4Sel govt Coroner Azmil Muntapha Bar Council watching brief by Hisham Tehh n others Bar President Ragu here

09:18am from TwitterBerry

But why the desperate hurry without giving adequate time 4deceased family lawyers 2prepare? Also 4family 2convince Najib 4RCI 2b formed?

09:06am from TwitterBerry

1st time in remembered history AG given fiat 2leading criminal lawyer Tan Hock Chuan 2lead inquest proceedings instead of by DPP

09:02am from TwitterBerry

Arriving ShahAlam ct 4 TeohBengHock inquest Still maintain inquest shd b adjourned 4Royal Commission Inquiry Public confidence requires it

08:37am from TwitterBerry

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 29 July 2009, 10:24 am and is filed under
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