The real issues

Okay, we will give you some breathing space. We will give you your 100 days. But come 19 June 2008 we are going to do your 100-day report card. And if you have nothing to show for those 100 days we are going to whack you hard, harder than how we whack Barisan Nasional.


Raja Petra Kamarudin

Some of you may have noticed that I have changed my phone number -- as well as that of my wife and daughter. The three of us used to own 012/017 numbers, which is Maxis. Well, I changed our phone numbers for two reasons.

First of all Maxis is owned by Ananda Krishnan, an Umno crony. And I was told that in the recent general election he contributed hundreds of millions of Ringgit to Umno. That makes him an enemy of the people. The people wanted a change and that was the reason for the 8 March 2008 ‘winds of change’ Tsunami. But Ananda ‘resisted’ this change by donating hundreds of millions of Ringgit to Umno in an attempt to frustrate the people’s effort to bring about this change.

While on this subject, the mainstream media, which are mainly Barisan Nasional owned, have been spinning stories in an attempt to mislead the people. Barisan Rakyat has launched a ‘boycott BN media’ campaign. Actually this boycott was already launched in 2000 and since then many of us no longer buy these newspapers. The boycott must extend beyond just the newspapers though. We must also boycott all those products that advertise in these newspapers. Don’t buy any products which are advertised in the Barisan Nasional newspapers.

This is the only way to hurt them, where it hurts most, in their pockets. And this is what civil disobedience is all about. Boycott food, services, and products owned by Barisan Nasional cronies or people and companies that support Barisan Nasional with hundreds of millions in political funds. They make money from us and then give it to Barisan Nasional. Why help them make money, which is then used to fight the Rakyat? Start the boycott now. Let civil disobedience reign supreme.

Just before the recent elections, one ‘high-up’ Umno man asked me whether I know how much money Barisan Nasional collected for the election. I replied that in the previous elections they spent about RM1.5 billion so I guess for this election it should be closer to RM2-2.5 billion. The Umno kingpin laughed and asked me to guess again.

“You mean it’s lower or higher?” I asked him.

“Higher!”

“What? Don’t tell me it’s RM5 billion!”

“RM22 billion!” he replied, pleased that for once I did not know something.

“RM22 billion? No way. It can’t be RM22 billion. RM22 billion is a lot of money…..too much money. It can’t be that high. Where is that money? You can’t see it. Even the posters, banners and flags this time around are not that much compared to previous elections. In fact, the Umno boys on the ground are complaining that they are not receiving much money. You just can’t see the RM22 billion. It’s not getting down to the ground.”

“Hey, I did not say they spent RM22 billion. I said they collected RM22 billion.”

“Oh, now I get it. Even then, RM22 billion is a lot of money. Where would they get their hands on that much money?”

“How much do the many ‘corridors’ come to?” the Umno warlord asked me.

“About RM1.2 trillion,” I replied, quoting the figure that the government announced.

“Well, what is RM22 billion compared to RM1.2 trillion? That comes to only how many percent? And why do you think Pak Lah rushed into launching all these corridors just before the elections? And why do you think they rushed into building the infrastructure even though they still don’t know yet whether anyone is going to invest in these corridors? And all the infrastructure contracts are negotiated without tender, mind you. So it is very easy to inflate the prices.”

Hmm….now it began to make sense. And against RM1.2 trillion I suppose RM22 billion is not that much. But the money was certainly not spent to finance the recent election. Most Umno people complained that they did not receive much money and had to depend on their own ‘internal’ resources. Normally, elections are a very ‘profitable’ exercise for the Umno workers. For example, in the Ijok by-election, they spent RM96 million, RM60 million of it in cash. And that was just a state seat, not even a Parliament seat. The 8 March 2008 general election was probably the ‘cheapest’ election in 20 years with only about RM1 billion spent. So someone, somewhere, has pocketed a cool RM21 billion. Wow!

The second reason I changed my phone number is because as soon as the election results were announced I began receiving phone calls from all and sundry, some who had not phoned me for years. These calls were mostly from businessmen and contractors who wanted to ‘discuss business’. “Don’t worry, you will be ‘covered’,” they assured me.

“Hey, I am not in the government,” I replied. “There is nothing I can do to help you get business.”

“Never mind. Surely you can help influence the state governments.”

These people disgust me. We fought for change so that we could get rid of the corruption, not so that we could take over the scams and make money for ourselves. No, I will not be going out for dinner and drinks with businessmen and contractors to discuss business deals in the five states under the control of Barisan Rakyat. And I will be watching all those in government, whether in Barisan Nasional- or Barisan Rakyat-controlled states, to make sure that our leaders do not frolic with businessmen and contractors. Justice must not only be dispensed; it must also be seen as having been dispensed as well. In that same spirit, transparency must not only be the order of the day; the people must also see that there is transparency. It is not enough we run a clean government. The people must also see that we run a clean government. It must be visible.

By tomorrow, it will be three weeks since the opposition took control of Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. What has Barisan Rakyat shown for these three weeks? Granted, the PAS Menteri Besar of Perak has asked us to give him 100 days. Sure, we are prepared to give them 100 days. But 20 days have gone by and you have only 80 days left. And 80 days is not long. Before you know it, it will be 19 June 2008 and your 100 days will be up.

Okay, we will give you some breathing space. We will give you your 100 days. But come 19 June 2008 we are going to do your 100-day report card. And if you have nothing to show for those 100 days we are going to whack you hard, harder than how we whack Barisan Nasional.

There appears to be still too much politicking. The elections are over so the politicking should now come to an end. Barisan Rakyat may be the opposition in Parliament but in the five states it is the ruling government. It must therefore think, talk and act like a ruling government. Thus far, all we are hearing are trivial statements and window dressing. There also appears to be a certain level of witch-hunting and vengeance against the previous government. This is going to bog down the state administrations. All this must come to an immediate stop.

Okay, the voters who voted you into office want blood. They also want some heads on a platter. They kicked out Barisan Nasional because of the mismanagement and corruption. And they are not prepared to grant an amnesty or pardon to the criminals from the previous administration. In that case, set up an Ombudsman to look into the past transgressions and violations. The Ombudsman will also be tasked with the job of monitoring the present governments to ensure that history is not repeated.

For three weeks we have been asking for the Ombudsman to be set up but thus far we have received no response or signal from any of the five state governments. Why so quiet? Do they intend to set one up or not? It appears like Barisan Rakyat is not too concerned with the people’s wishes. Sure, you run the state governments, not us, and we have no business ‘interfering’ with the way you run the states. After all, we are ‘outsiders’. But that is exactly what Barisan Nasional used to say and see what happened to them.

There need not be five Ombudsmen, one for each state. There should be only one to monitor all five states. The five states should ‘merge’ their resources into a ‘regional’ Corridor Rakyat of sorts to rival the other ‘corridors’ set up by Barisan Nasional. This Corridor Rakyat can also become the economic grouping to coordinate and streamline investments in the five states.

The five states must stop thinking as ‘independent’ states and instead adopt a new ‘culture’ of regional cooperation. When we think, talk and act, we should not do so as Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor but as a one, united Corridor Rakyat. This not only offers consistency but will also help reduce cost. Why do we need five doing the same job, which will involve five times the cost, when all five can share the cost plus achieve a standardising of policies as well?

The last thing we want is for investors to discover that the ‘rules of engagement’ differ from state to state. They want to see one policy for all states so that life becomes less complicating. Trying to understand Malaysian ‘culture’ is bad enough. And we can’t deny that Malaysia is certainly a weird place and Malaysians even weirder. On top of that they have to understand how things work differently in the states because each state is different from the other.

If I am an investor and if I want to invest RM1 billion in one of the five states whom do I go and see? In case I have a problem whom do I talk to? Say I want to make a suggestion or I want to lodge a complaint, whom is the person in-charge? Do I talk to one person, whoever that person is, or do I have to talk to each of the five states separately? Is there a one-stop agency I can liaise with or do I need to refer to 65 different government agencies and departments in each state and multiply that by five if I need to talk to all the five states?

Okay, questions, questions and yet more questions. But do we have the answers? Do we know what is wrong? Do we know what needs to be done to set things right? Fine, I know that the 100 days are not up yet and we need to give these governments time to get their acts together. Other than Kelantan, the other four are all ‘virgin’ governments. And prior to 8 March 2008 they never suspected they would be setting up these state governments. Not only Barisan Nasional, Barisan Rakyat is also still in shock.

Tell you what, Malaysia Today will volunteer its services to organise a one-day seminar for the key policy-makers in these five Barisan Rakyat states. The states need not pay anything. Malaysia Today will look for sponsors to pay for the whole thing. We shall then invite investors to talk to these policy-makers so that they can better-understand what are the problems investors face when trying to set up businesses in Kelantan, Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. Hopefully, at the end of that seminar, the states would understand the problems investors face when dealing with the states and what needs to be done to smoothen things out and to make it easier and more pleasant when dealing with state governments.

Over to you Barisan Rakyat -- the ball is at your feet. At least you can’t complain that Malaysia Today only knows how to complain but does not help in any way. In the meantime, while we wait for Barisan Rakyat to respond, read the following piece, which has been circulating in the internet the last few days. I don’t know who wrote it but this could easily apply to Barisan Rakyat as it does to Barisan Nasional.

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From: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Dear fellow Malaysians,

Thank you for voting Barisan Nasional back into power. It is with great honour that I will serve you for another term. I want to share with you what I plan to do in the next four or five years to fulfil your aspirations for the country.

You used your votes to send me a message – a message that I didn't hear earlier, but which I hear now, loud and clear. Yes, it was a wake up call for a rude awakening and me for all of us at BN. We must never take the Malaysian public for granted.

One of the loudest things I hear from you is 'No more arrogant, inflammatory and racist rhetoric'. I admit several of my outspoken ministers and yes, even my own son-in-law, have said things that hurt the feelings of many segments of our society, especially the non-Malays. I should have rebuked them immediately but I didn't.

I didn't share their views, I'm sure you know that, but I was complacent in thinking such comments would eventually blow over. Little did I realize that many of you had actually taken them to heart. As a prime minister for all Malaysians, I should have been more sensitive. The next time any Umno leaders say things that are out of line, I guarantee you I will slap them down straight away. And if they don't apologise for the hurt they cause, I will ask them to resign whatever posts they hold in the party or the government. That is how seriously I take the matter.

I was mistaken in thinking that Malaysians would be content and grateful just to have peace and security in this country. But after 50 years, Malaysia has grown up. We are becoming a developed nation. Peace and security is not enough. Economic development is not enough. The people want and deserve civil liberties.

As such, I am going to take steps to honour not just the law but also the spirit of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. That means getting rid of the Printing Presses and Publications Act. In addition, all government parties will be required to divest itself of ownership in news media companies. I know this means opening myself and my government to critical articles by journalists, but that's what free speech is all about. And I accept that.

People will no longer need to apply for a permit from the police to peacefully assemble and even to protest. Of course if they make a nuisance of themselves or become rowdy, law enforcement officers will have to do their job to ensure public safety. But your right to peacefully assemble will be respected.

I am going to get rid of the dreaded Internal Security Act and the Kamunting detention facility will be torn down and converted into some new commercial development. To be honest with you, I didn't want to detain those five Hindraf guys without trial. It's against my nature to do such things. But alas, I listened to advisors who been giving me wrong advice. They will be freed, as will other ISA detainees, but if there is evidence against any of them, they will be charged and have their day in court.

Speaking of courts, I will be asking the King to set up a new Royal Commission of Inquiry and this time, the terms of reference will extend all the way back to the controversial sacking of Salleh Abbas. Many learned lawyers have highlighted that it was that incident which started the rot in our judiciary. I know we might be opening a can of worms but let the law take its course. I am determined to repair our judiciary.

The Official Secrets Act will also be removed and replaced by the Freedom of Information Act. People rightly view the OSA as an impediment to catching crooks within the government. In contrast, a Freedom of Information Act will help us catch those crooks. When you first elected me, I was known as Mr Clean. Nobody calls me that now but by the time my second term ends, that's what you'll be calling me again. Just wait and see.

Last but not least – and I've really saved the best for last – I am going to initiate something that will end communal politics once and for all. Umno will soon stand for the United Malaysian National Organisation and all component parties in the BN will be invited to merge with the old Umno that we can become one big multiracial party. Also, the NEP will stand for Newest Economic Policy that will help all Malaysians regardless of race. Take that, Anwar!

None of the things I've mentioned is going to be easy to implement. There will be resistance like you wouldn't believe. But if I am going to regain the trust you first gave to me four years ago, I will have to earn it the hard way – by not just talking the talk but walking the walk. Last time around I asked you to work with me. This time, watch me work for you, to build a better Malaysia that you deserve.

Humbly,

Pak Lah