The Truth Of Malaysia

Qantas cancels overseas check-ups

2008-08-09T01:47:00.001-07:00

(The Sydney Morning Herald) - QANTAS has shelved plans to send two 737 planes to Malaysia for heavy maintenance checks.

The decision was made while the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) investigated the airline over a series of incidents in recent weeks, including the emergency landing of a Melbourne-bound jumbo in Manila when a two-metre by four-metre hole was blown in its fuselage.

The airline faced another maintenance problem yesterday. Flight QF107 was prevented from flying to Los Angeles because a screw needed to be replaced.

The airline's decision to send its 737s to Malaysia for maintenance checks has come under intense scrutiny after the first plane sent there two months ago came back with 95 defects. It was grounded in Melbourne on Thursday because of noise from an air-conditioning fault.

Malaysia Airlines issued a statement yesterday defending its checks and calling Australian reports on defects unsubstantiated.

Two other planes were earmarked for heavy "C" checks - a regular procedure lasting more than a week, in which engineers have to check most of the airplane's parts - in Malaysia.

But the airline's monthly maintenance schedule put out last week showed the planes were rescheduled to be checked at Tullamarine in Melbourne.

As a result, checks on two other planes that were to take place at Tullamarine will now take place at Avalon in Victoria, and two planes that were to be checked at Avalon will be sent to a third party, John Holland Aviation Services, in Tullamarine.

"We don't know why it changed, but it's likely tied to the fact that CASA are yet to finish their investigation [into maintenance procedures]," a source said.

The executive general manager of engineering at Qantas, David Cox, confirmed the maintenance work will now be done in Australia. "We only have overflow heavy maintenance work undertaken overseas," he said. "We explored options for checks on two 737-400 aircraft. Once space became available at our Tullamarine facility, the decision was taken to have the work done there."

A CASA spokesman said the decision was made by the airline and was not the result of an order made by the authority. He confirmed that the airline has regulatory approval to conduct maintenance checks at the Malaysian base but investigations into the aircraft that returned from that facility earlier this year were continuing.

"It's too early to say whether [the aircraft's grounding in Melbourne] was related to the maintenance check in Malaysia or not," the spokesman said.

The senior general manager of Malaysia Airlines, Mohammed Roslan Ismail, defended the checks in a statement yesterday, saying Qantas had 12 personnel attached to its maintenance team.

"All the highlights were rectified, to the satisfaction of the Qantas team, before aircraft delivery to Australia," he said.

"With regards to the 'string of faults' that were reported in the media, [Malaysia Airlines] investigated and established that these were unsubstantiated.

"This is based on the fact that all these aspects were originally checked and found to be free from defect during the maintenance check and test flight, with the concurrence from the Qantas team."

Anwar Ibrahim: "Shouldn't Saiful be charged too?"

2008-08-09T01:46:00.001-07:00

There may be a number of possibilities arising from this damning challenge, namely if the charge has been Section 377B (consensual sex), then why hasn’t Saiful Bukhari Azlan been charged too for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature?

http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/

But before they [the angels] lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know [have sex with] them.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. - (Genesis 19:4-11)

The above paragraphs are from the Biblical Book of genesis which talks about Sodom and Gomorrah, where the inhabitants were so depraved they would rather ‘know’ two strangers (jambu-looking angels) than Lot’s two virgin daughters. The sin (and Malaysian crime) of sodomy has its origin in those biblical cities.

Fast forward 4 thousand years to 07 August 2008 - 'If consensual, why charge me only?', the damning query from Anwar Ibrahim was published by Malaysiakini to the embarrassment of the Attorney-General who gave the instruction for the PKR’s de facto leader to be charged for an alleged offence of sodomy.

In the charge the prosecution had quoted Section 377B of the Penal, namely 'committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature' which means the sex was consensual, because the more sinister Section 377C says 'committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature without consent', meaning rape.

Malaysiakini reported that the DPP argued that "the interpretation of section 377B is open on whether the offence was done with or without consent as the provision is silent on the word ‘consent’."

Even as a legal layperson I would say that’s bullsh*t argument by the DPP because where Section 377C exists, the prosecution cannot and should not charge a person under Section 377B and insist on alluding to the possibility or existence of sex ‘without consent’.

Obviously, the prosecution has opted for Section 377B instead of 377C of the penal Code because it’s far more difficult to prove rape unless the police can come up with supporting evidence of physical force or even non-physical coercion.

There may be a number of possibilities arising from this damning challenge, namely if the charge has been Section 377B (consensual sex), then why hasn’t Saiful Bukhari Azlan been charged too for committing carnal intercourse against the order of nature?

Possibility 1
The prosecution may well charge Saiful tomorrow under the same Penal Code Section. This may be done to neutralize Anwar’s very legitimate query. I imagine the prosecution saying: "Now, who said that we weren't going to charge Saiful? C'mon lah, man man lai mah."

But if Saiful was party to the government’s plot to condemn Anwar, then Saiful may well not accept being ‘shafted’ again (excuse the pun) with a criminal charge, and possibly spill the beans.

Possibility No 2
The prosecution may revise the charge to Section 377C but the difficulties then would be in proving Anwar had raped Saiful.

Possibility No 3
The prosecution may bulldoze its way along the DPP's argument that "the interpretation of section 377B is open on whether the offence was done with or without consent as the provision is silent on the word ‘consent’."

A bloody poor and weak approach.

Possibility No 4
Assuming there is a plot to screw Anwar politically, then it may well be that the plan has never been to jail him (either because of the difficulties of gathering the evidence or the adverse diplomatic as well as domestic political repercussions), but to drag him slowly and excruciatingly through a public court case and expose his intimate liaison with Saiful. In other words, use the court case to smear sh*t all over his reputation.

Possibility No 4 will be the most damaging to Anwar where he will win the legal case but lose the political one (with respect to the ‘heartland’).

OK, another issue that jumps to my mind has been the accusation that the alleged sodomy was either an UMNO plot (as described above) or a consequence of a falling out between two erstwhile ‘lovers’ (if the latter, as far as I am concerned, it's none of our business).

If it has been an UMNO plot to screw up Anwar, with Saiful as the alleged accomplice (as he has been accused by PKR), then for him to seek a medical examination with Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid at Pusrawi was lazy plotting or sheer stupidity.

Then, some have accused Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid of being an Islamic brethren of Anwar Ibrahim in some Islamic organization, thus his medical report or notes or whatever has been alleged as favourable to Anwar, but I won’t go into that for now.

By the way, there’s also a Dr Raffick who raised some doubts as to Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid’s assertion that there was no sodomy perpetrated on Saiful – see Malaysiakini Doc stands by 'no sodomy' findings where Dr Mohd Osman has asserted this by resorting to our well-known Statutory Declaration - the stock of Stat Dec forms must be running low by now.

I had blogged on one of Dr Raffick’s earlier analyses on Dr Mohd Osman’s medical report – see my post Dr Raffick dismissed RPK's intepretation of doctor's report. Since then I heard he has written another or perhaps even a couple more, but I leave that to you readers to go find out.

If it has been an UMNO plot, could UMNO’s implementation of the scheme against Anwar be so piss-poor as to have Saiful medically checked by a doctor of ‘unknown allegiance’, and faced the inevitable report that there was no forced banging? Couldn't the UMNO mastermind nominate a doctor out of a host of 'more reliable' doctors?

This has been the most puzzling item in the entire drama. Because of this, there is a strong argument to believe that Saiful went on his own accord to Pusrawi.

One could be easily led to believe that if there was any sex at all as alleged, it would have been consensual, where the aftermath had turned emotionally sour for the pair. What made Saiful believe he was ‘raped’ or sodomised without consent remains open for conjecture and salacious dissections.

Though I am not a Muslim, I've also thought Anwar’s refusal to swear an oath on the Qu’ran that he didn’t do it, hasn't done him much good. This is not so much a legal requirement but more of a socially-moral expectation. I believe Anwar should have taken the oath.

In other countries, consensual sodomy is not a crime but an issue protected from hoteyes and ears by the laws of Privacy. In Malaysia it’s not only a legal crime but a religious and socially-moral sin. The latter is the more damning of the two.

Maybe Anwar’s enemies seek moral rather than legal prosecution and persecution against him. By doing so, they could be avoiding the martyr-ising of Anwar Ibrahim, but instead advocating the muddying of Anwar Ibrahim’s name.

Anwar: Sodomy charges — again

2008-08-09T01:45:00.002-07:00

"It will have no impact whatsoever on the by-election. There will be no legal bar against contesting, and we will proceed to focus on the key issues of the campaign," says Sivarasa, who is also vice-president of Anwar's PKR. "It is a matter of time before he becomes the next Prime Minister."

BusinessWeek.com
History is repeating itself in politically embattled Malaysia.

"This is malicious slander, and I'm not guilty," declared former Deputy Prime Minister and current opposition politician Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, 60, on Aug 7 in court after being formally charged for allegedly sodomising a former male aide, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Anwar, who spent more than five years in jail before a court threw out earlier charges in 2004, helped power a strong performance by the three main opposition parties in national elections last February. The leader of a new opposition alliance, he recently announced his intention to run in a by-election on Aug. 26 for a seat in Parliament that had been held by his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, who resigned to pave the way for his formal return to politics.

Although current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has repeatedly denied being behind the charges, many analysts see the allegations as politically motivated. (While homosexuality is not illegal in Malaysia, it is against sharia law that applies to the country's majority Muslim population.)

Anwar denies any wrongdoing, and his legal team has released a medical report issued by a hospital in Kuala Lumpur stating that the alleged victim showed no sign of being assaulted. R. Sivarasa, a lawyer representing Anwar, is confident of winning the case. "It will have no impact whatsoever on the by-election. There will be no legal bar against contesting, and we will proceed to focus on the key issues of the campaign," says Sivarasa, who is also vice-president of Anwar's PKR. "It is a matter of time before he becomes the next Prime Minister."

The ruling coalition has reason to worry about Anwar, who despite the latest charges is free on personal bond and can run in the by-election. Should he win, he will be well-positioned to lead the opposition alliance consisting of the PKR, Pas and the multiracial DAP.

"This will be the mother of all by-elections," says Tricia Yeoh, director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies in Kuala Lumpur, who believes that the international community will be watching closely what happens.

Political analysts say Malaysia is seeing for the first time a two-party system with a strong opposition. That could force the ruling coalition, led by Umno, to fight corruption and reform economic policies that have long given an advantage to the country's majority Malays, says Steven Gan, editor-in-chief of independent news website Malaysiakini.com.

The controversial New Economic Policy, launched by Umno in 1971 as an affirmative action programme for Malays, is often seen by its critics as a discriminatory economic policy against the minority Chinese and Indians.

Gan thinks that the implications of Anwar's return would extend beyond Malaysia. "If he wins, Anwar would provide a very moderate version of Islam, much more so than current Prime Minister Abdullah," he says. Although his opposition alliance includes the Muslim fundamentalist party Pas, Gan argues, Anwar has tempered the extreme Islamic rhetoric of the party's leaders since taking the helm of the coalition.

Long before the latest twist in this political saga, Malaysia's financial markets were in disarray. Two months ago bond markets were roiled when independent power producers defaulted on covenants attached to their bonds because of an unpopular windfall tax policy by the government. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Index has dropped 22% this year, while the ringgit is trading at a six-month low against the US dollar.

Protest stops Bar Council conversions forum

2008-08-09T01:45:00.001-07:00

Several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the Bar Council forum on conversions to Islam this morning, with some forcing their way into the hall as police called on the organisers to wrap up proceedings by 10am.

Witnesses said several protesters entered the building escorted by police, stood in the middle of the hall and stared at the several hundred participants attending the "Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini & Shamala Revisited" forum.

The protesters had gathered since 8am and brought out banners criticising and condemning the forum which has received objections from both government and opposition leaders.

At 9.25am, Bar Council president Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan interrupted the forum to say the police have advised them to wrap it up by 10am as protest still going on outside the building. The forum began at 8.45am.

Ambiga closed the forum 3 minutes before 10am deadline. Protesters still trying to barge in. Pas Unit Amal members standing between them and the police, trying to stop them.

Protesters are leaving but some are trying to chase and harass participants coming out. Bar Council members are seen seeking the help of the police to prevent this.

The Mundane Face of the Global Caliphate

2008-08-09T01:44:00.000-07:00

There are, presently, a plethora of Islamist organisations and mass movements who have taken the notion of the global Caliphate as their goal.

Farish A. Noor

Today there is much talk, accompanied by some degree of unnecessary speculation and fear-mongering, about the claims and ambitions of Islamists who seek to create a global Caliphate as the panacea for the ills of Muslim society worldwide. That such talk of a pan-Islamic global project would spook the spooks of the international anti-terror industry is, of course, not entirely surprising for nothing seems to agitate the public more these days than the idea of a couple of Muslims getting together and plotting the imminent take-over of the universe.

There are, presently, a plethora of Islamist organisations and mass movements who have taken the notion of the global Caliphate as their goal. Groups like the Hizb'ut Tahrir openly proclaim their vision of a pan-Islamic world; while mainstream Islamist parties ranging from the Ikhwan'ul Muslimin of Egypt and the Arab world to the Jama'at-e Islami of South Asia to the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party of Malaysia have also spread their networks and contacts beyond the host countries where they first emerged. International conferences bring together Islamists from all corners of the globe with the frequency we associate more with international governmental or business conferences; and the internet has already created a virtual Islamoscape where Islamists from every country on the planet may interact simultaneously in real time. In many respects, such a global pan-Islamic universe already exists, and it can be said that the pan-Islamic world is a virtual empire where the sun never sets.

Yet looking beyond the narrow concerns of securocrats obsessed with the threat of Islamic terrorism, we need to peer beneath the discursive carapace of this grand project and understand its true import and what it hopes to achieve.

In my discussions with Islamists from Pakistan to Indonesia, I have been struck by the common appeal of them all: They long to create a global pan-Islamic space where belonging to the same faith community is the only passport one needs to travel across the Muslim world unrestricted. In many respects, this is reminiscent of the travels of Ibn Battuta, the celebrated Muslim traveller whose journeys took him across Africa and all the way to Southeast Asia and beyond. Ibn Battuta was, of course a bad traveller and a fussy tourist who insisted all the time that he be served halal food and live in comfortable familiar surroundings that did not offend or contradict his Muslim sensibilities. What he sought then, and what Islamists today seek, are the same: The freedom to travel across the globe while remaining comfortable in the safe confines of a Muslim universe.

The global Islamist project can and should be seen in this light as well, for this is yet another aspect of its ambitions. Though it is sometimes couched in somewhat aggressive, if not militarist, terms of conquest and expansion, the yearning is fundamentally a mundane one.

What is it that these global Islamists seek? On one hand the project is restorative in nature: It seeks to restore to the Muslim world the cosmopolitanism and universalism that it once professed but lost with the coming of European imperialism. The Muslim world, we should remember, was global in outlook and its outreach, and Muslim merchants, scholars, diplomats and mystics travelled across the world with ease and regularity that was guaranteed by the presence of long-established networks, itineraries and a communicative infrastructure that were the sinews of this global system.

On the other hand the pan-Islamist vision is also one that is guided by the longing for safety and comfort, where itinerant Muslims feel the need to belong to a globalised world that is safe, or at least not hostile to them. In the same way that itinerant merchants and scholars of the past depended on letters of introduction and guarantees of safe passage that would allow them to travel with ease, likewise the global Islamists today seek the same assurances from an international order that ought to be protecting them. Hence the appeal to Muslim identity and a common faith and value system as the guarantee that their mobility would not be restricted.

This yearning for mobility, freedom of movement, the right to live and settle anywhere, all happen to be pragmatic, mundane and material concerns that are in fact universal and are symptoms of the globalised age we live in. The longing for an extended Islamoscape with an unbroken frontier that extents and expands continuously can and should be seen as part of the evolution of a Muslim consciousness and sensibility that is global in its scope and outlook, the pining for a global Muslim citizenship so to speak.

Already we see the first real material evidence of such a global network in the making around us: Talk of a global Muslim currency (the so-called golden Dinar) that was dismissed as pseudo-economic froth not too long ago has gained momentum and is being taken seriously by some of the more developed Muslim countries in the world. Likewise the idea of a common Muslim trading bloc, to demonstrate the combined purchasing power of the so-called 'Muslim dollar' and its market. The landscape of the Muslim world today is littered with hundreds of 'Muslim hotels' and resorts that cater to the culturally-specific needs of Muslims, whatever they might be. And there is even talk of the world's first 'Islamic car' – a project mooted by the governments of Iran and Malaysia – to help Muslims travel around the world in the comfort of a Muslim environment, albeit confined within the four doors of the passengers' cabin.

In many respects it is not surprising nor unexpected that Muslims today would have such global ambitions for we do live, after all, in a global age and where the very idea of global citizenship – underpinned by the values of cosmopolitanism and universalism – are in common currency. How does this global Islamic vision differ from that of other faith communities, who likewise wish to create a safe space for its adherents the world over; and crucially, how does this global outlook differ from the universalist claims and ambitions of global capital, that has brought us a host of safe spaces and safe networks of communication and movement from the ubiquitous Hilton hotels that are universally uniform to the phenomenon of a McWorld where the staple diet of urban denizens in many countries today happens to be Cheese Burgers with French Fries (or Freedom Fries, as they re-christened recently)?

Looking closer at some of the global Islamist networks that span the globe today, such as the Tablighi Jama'at (the world's biggest Muslim missionary movement), the network of Islamist parties with transnational or supra-national ambitions, Muslim guilds and trading groups, Sufi mystical networks and the like, we can see that they all share family resemblances with the more mainstream modes of globalisation that is capital-driven. This is not to say that Islamist networks can be likened to Mc Donalds or cast as a franchise business with branches to be opened around every street corner. But it does mean that much of the talk of pan-Islamism and the creation of global Islamist networks we have seen the world over thus far is not as alien or exotic as we might think. Fundamentally, the fundamentalists are concerned with something far more mundane and ordinary, which is to provide a service that meets a need that has become all the more prevalent in the late-Capitalist globalised age we live in: This is the sense of global citizenship and the feeling of belonging to a globalised world where one is no longer a stranger to the other. (By FARISH A. NOOR/ MySinchew)

Farish A. Noor is a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and one of the founders of the www.othermalaysia.org research site.

Some seriously troubling questions in Malaysia

2008-08-09T01:41:00.002-07:00

On Day 10 of the trial, Altantuya's cousin Burmaa Oyunchimeg testified that after Altantuya returned from France, she went to Hong Kong to meet Burmaa, and showed her a photograph of Altantuya and her lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, who is accused of conspiring in her murder, and "a government official" taking a meal together.

Kim Quek, Asia Sentinel (3 July 2007)

An unbelievable spectacle took place in the bizarre murder trial of Mongolian beauty Altantuya Shaaribuu on June 29. Karpal Singh, the lawyer for the victim’s family, attempted to ask a question about a “government official" allegedly seen in a photograph with the victim. At that point, both the prosecutor and the defense lawyer sprang to their feet in unison to block the question.

This resulted in a shouting match, with Singh on one side, the victim’s cousin on the stand, and the combined forces of the prosecution and defense blocking the line of questioning.

Earlier, a similar division of forces occurred when a Mongolian witness – a girlfriend of the victim told the court that immigration entry computer records of the deceased and her two Mongolian companions, including the witness, had been mysteriously erased. When Singh asked the court to take proper note of this highly irregular event, both the prosecution and defense objected to the evidence as irrelevant, and insisted that it be expunged.

Now, isn't that a strange phenomenon? A prosecutor is supposed to seek justice for the deceased victim's family against the murderers, so how come the prosecutor is now ganging up with defense lawyers to oppose the victim's family lawyer? Is this a case of prosecutor vs. defense or a case of prosecutor plus defense vs. victim's family? Obviously, the prosecution and defense seem to have plenty of common interests. What are those common interests?

The answer may lie in the identity of that "government official" that allegedly appeared in the photograph with Altantuya that both prosecution and defense tried so hard not to allow into court.

The picture

On Day 10 of the trial, Altantuya's cousin Burmaa Oyunchimeg testified that after Altantuya returned from France, she went to Hong Kong to meet Burmaa, and showed her a photograph of Altantuya and her lover, Abdul Razak Baginda, who is accused of conspiring in her murder, and "a government official" taking a meal together. Answering Singh later, after the shouting match in the court had subsided, she said this "government official" was Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

She could distinctly remember the name, she said, because it bears a similarity to Altantuya’s acknowledged lover's name, and she even asked Altantuya whether they were brothers. Burmaa further added that the photo had also been shown to Altantuya's father.

Now, the revelation of Najib in the photo would not have caused such a sensation if not for the deputy prime minister's oft-repeated denial of any knowledge of Altantuya, including a public denial during a recent by-election, when even the name of Allah was invoked.

What does Najib have to say now that his denial is directly contradicted by the witness Burmaa? His press secretary Tengku Sarifuddin Tengku Ahmad issued a brief statement on June 30 saying that the deputy prime minister had declined to comment for two reasons. One, any comment might be sub judice, since the case is in court, and, two, Najib had already repeatedly denied an acquaintance with the girl in the past, "as such, the issue over the picture does not arise,” the spokesman said.

Sub judice? That’s ridiculous. How could a simple statement like "I have never had my photo taken with Altantuya" be sub judice? In fact, being the number-two leader in the government, Najib is absolutely duty-bound to say outright whether he was ever photographed with Altantuya, in view of the serious implications of Burmaa's allegation.

The issue over the picture does not arise? Equally ridiculous. In fact, the opposite is true. Precisely because of Najib's past denials, it is all the more imperative that Najib must stand up now to clarify.

Guilty conscience?

There is only one explanation for Najib's past denials and his present silence: A guilty conscience. If Najib's conduct with respect to the case had been above-board, there would be no reason for him to deny an acquaintance with his friend Abdul Razak’s friend Altantuya. Similarly, if the allegation of the picture is false, it is inconceivable and totally incomprehensible that Najib should have chosen not to refute Burmaa's allegation.

In fact, Najib seems so worried about the publicity of the picture that his secretary called editors in the local press and requested them not to blow up the issue. This resulted in the explosive story being absent from the local headlines the next day. (In one Chinese paper – Guang Ming – the Najib story hit the front page in the evening edition, but disappeared completely by the next morning). And of course, Anwar Ibrahim's criticism of the trial and his specific call on Najib to clarify the issue of the picture during a press conference was generally blacked out.

However, despite such new suppression, irreversible damage is done. There is little doubt that Najib is deeply troubled and his political position seriously weakened.

Manipulation

That this murder case has been subjected to serious political manipulation has been obvious from the very start, when the police commenced their highly questionable investigation, right through to the present trial when the conduct of lawyers for both sides appear increasingly dubious. Instead of the prosecutor seeking the truth and the defense lawyer fighting for the accused, both seem preoccupied with an overriding mission – to prevent the whole truth from emerging. Their combined efforts to cover up the issue of the immigration record and the identity of Najib Razak in the picture are just two examples of such conduct.

The highly irregular nature of this case was also marked by frequent and mysterious changes of legal personnel, resulting in a complete change-over of the defense team, the prosecutors and the judge even before the hearings began. These weird phenomena were crowned by the shock appearance of a new team of prosecutors who were appointed only hours before the hearing was supposed to begin, thus necessitating an impromptu postponement of the trial for two weeks. None of these changes of legal personnel has been properly explained, except for the resignation of Abdul Razak’s first lawyer; Zulkifli Noordin, quit, he said, because of "serious interference by third parties".

Under these circumstances, the public must brace itself for more aberrant scenarios from this court, while Najib and his supporters may have to keep their fingers crossed in the days ahead when many more witnesses have yet to walk through what must appear to Najib as a minefield.

On a more serious note, this unseemly trial does not exactly add credit to Malaysia’s system, whose already wretched image has just been further mauled by the shameful finale of another sham trial – that of Eric Chia of Perwaja Steel fame. After seven long years of investigations and three years of court hearings, that case was thrown out due to lack of prima facie evidence. With that, the long-drawn out Perwaja Steel saga ended without finding any culprit for the mountain of losses (more than RM 10 billion) suffered by taxpayers.

There has been a spate of criminal cases being dismissed of late due to inadequate investigations and poor prosecution, indicating that the downward slide of our criminal justice system, which began in the Mahathir era, has gotten worse under Abdullah Badawi's leadership. With the criminal justice system in a shambles, the rule of law is in jeopardy. And that is an important benchmark to judge the efficacy of Abdullah's administration vis-à-vis his reform agenda.

Kim Quek is a Malaysia-based commentator.

2 notorious cases challenge Malaysia's modesty

2008-08-09T01:41:00.001-07:00

This is not the first time that sex and politics have publicly collided in Malaysia. The trial of Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, for sodomy in the 1990s featured, among other highlights, a blood-stained mattress being hauled into the courtroom.

Thomas Fuller

Government censors in this majority Muslim nation uphold an ethos of modesty by snipping sex scenes from films and ordering entertainers to avoid outfits that reveal too much on Malaysian stages - bare belly buttons and figure-hugging outfits are off limits.

But these days Malaysians looking to avoid R-rated content might be advised to read past news reports about their own leaders. Top politicians are embroiled in two scandals involving accusations of sodomy and the gruesome murder of a Mongolian mistress.

Reports on the finer points of a rectal examination and revelations about the sexual preferences of the dead mistress make other sex scandals that once shocked people here - such as Monica Lewinsky and her blue dress - seem almost Victorian.

This is not the first time that sex and politics have publicly collided in Malaysia. The trial of Anwar Ibrahim, a former deputy prime minister, for sodomy in the 1990s featured, among other highlights, a blood-stained mattress being hauled into the courtroom.

This time, wider use of the Internet has helped disseminate documents, facts and rumors that would otherwise have been filtered out of mainstream news media tightly controlled by the government.

The two scandals encompass much more than just sex. They are part of a broader clash between two men vying for power: Anwar is facing new allegations of sodomy at a time when he is vowing to unseat the governing party, while the other scandal involves Anwar's principal political rival, Najib Razak, the deputy prime minister and anointed heir to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

What is worrying for many Malaysians is that the gloves appear to have come off in the high-stakes fight between Anwar and Najib.

Testimony in the murder trial revealed that immigration records of the Mongolian woman and her friend had been deleted.

Malaysia's political opposition says the case highlights the impunity of the police and high officials in government as well as a lack of independence in the judiciary. A police officer took the stand and said she was tortured by police investigators - her own colleagues.

Witnesses in both cases have dropped from sight, including a private investigator, Balasubramaniam Perumal, who alleged in a sworn statement issued shortly before disappearing that the dead Mongolian woman was Najib's mistress.

The statement by Balasubramaniam, which has been widely circulated online, contradicted Najib's repeated assertions that he never met the Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam spent two months writing and revising a 16-page declaration about the case, based on conversations he had with the murdered woman and Abdul Razak Baginda, an aide to Najib. Balasubramaniam retracted the allegations in a hastily convened press conference and then disappeared.

"It's obvious what has happened here. You don't need to be a rocket scientist," said Americk Sidhu, the private investigator's lawyer. "Somebody needed him to shut up."

Balasubramaniam's wife and three children are also missing. The family's two Rottweilers were left behind in their cages.

"A lot of very dark things are happening now," said Raja Petra Kamarudin, one of the most influential and prolific Malaysian bloggers. Raja Petra was formerly a political associate of Anwar's wife, Azizah Ismail, in her National Justice Party.

Although a number of gruesome facts in the Mongolian case have emerged in court over the past year - Altantuya, for example, was shot and her body obliterated with explosives in the jungle outside Kuala Lumpur - Raja Petra asserts that only a fraction of what happened is being admitted into court.

Citing sources in military intelligence, he issued a sworn declaration in June alleging that Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, was present at Altantuya's killing. Government prosecutors say Altantuya was killed by two commandos who also served as bodyguards to Malaysia's top leaders.

"I don't think Malaysia can afford to have a prime minister who has a huge question mark hanging over his head: Is he, or not, involved in the murder of this girl?" Raja Petra said in an interview.

Najib has called the allegation in the declaration "total lies, fabrication and total garbage" and a "desperate and pathetic attempt to discredit and taint my political image."

The government charged Raja Petra with criminal libel, a law that lawyers say has not been used in recent memory in Malaysia and which, unlike civil defamation, can carry a two-year prison term. Separately, Raja Petra has been charged with sedition and his house raided several times.

Raja Petra was also responsible for leaking a medical report last week relating to the sodomy case. Anwar's accuser, Mohamed Saiful Bukhari Azlan, a 23-year-old former campaign volunteer, went to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur hours before lodging a police report charging that Anwar had sodomized him. But the medical report, which also circulated widely on the Internet, says he complained of a piece of plastic being inserted into his anus. The doctor who wrote the report, Mohamed Osman, said he found "no active bleeding, no pus, tear or scar."

Since then, Osman also has disappeared, although the hospital says he will be back Monday.

Anwar, who on Thursday announced that he would run for Parliament in his quest to unseat the government and become prime minister, said in an interview that he expected to be arrested soon. He has refused to give a DNA sample because he believes it will be used against him. "There's nothing stopping them from fabricating evidence again," Anwar said.

Although Malaysians enthusiastically share the latest developments in both cases, some have grown tired of the graphic details.

"A good word is disgust - whether it's sodomy or blowing up the Mongolian lady," said the Reverend Wong Kim Kong, executive adviser of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, an umbrella organization of protestant churches. A narrow majority of Malaysians are Muslim but the country has sizeable Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh minorities.

Wong said the constant barrage of allegations made by bloggers, paired with the government's steady denials, have left Malaysians pining for clarity.

"People just cannot trust the word of any of these people," Wong said. "They cannot distinguish who is telling the truth."

The scandals come at a time of great political uncertainty in Malaysia. The governing party of Abdullah and Najib and the ethnic-based system of politics that it represents is in disarray. There is simmering resentment between the majority Malays and the minority Chinese and Indians, and corruption within government is rampant, despite promises by Abdullah to clean up the system.

Anwar has vowed to remake the country's politics and revoke the authoritarian laws that, among other things, ban students from protesting, keep the media controlled and allow the government to lock up dissidents without trial. But Anwar remains a polarizing figure who is not trusted by many in the elite.

"I think there will at some point be a crisis of legitimacy," said Ibrahim Suffian, the head of the Merdeka Center, a polling agency. "'The leaders seem to feel that they can get away with a lot of things so long as the masses are satisfied with the economic opportunities given to them.

"But the economy is so bad that people are losing faith. There is a feeling that maybe it's time for major changes."

Anwar is arrested and brought to Bukit Aman

2008-08-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

The Malaysian government first said that Anwar Ibrahim was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 20 September 1998 - the day he led the biggest demonstration in Malaysia’s history - because he was a threat to national security.

Dato Yaacob Md Amin, the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), testified in the Royal Commission of Inquiry that sat from 22 February to 4 March 1999 to investigate Anwar’s beating that the decision to arrest Anwar was made one week before 20 September. He also testified that Anwar was arrested, not under the ISA, but under Section 377 of the Penal Code, and that this decision came from the AG’s Chambers’ office.

Today, we will go through Dato Yaacob’s testimony on the events the night of Anwar’s arrest.

“On 20 September 1998, at around 6.45pm, I received information from the Bukit Aman Control Centre regarding demonstrations at Masjid Negara (National Mosque) and Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square).”

“At 8.30pm, I went to the 30th floor Police Headquarters, Bukit Aman.”

“When I reached the 30th floor, there were many officers there. They were talking to each other, among themselves, in the hall.”

“I knew that the situation in KL was bad and I went to the 30th floor to give assistance, if needed. I was not instructed to go to the 30th floor.”

“When I arrived at the hall, I saw Tan Sri Rahim Noor, the former IGP, Dato Ghazali Yaacob, and other officers.”

“While I was talking to the officers present, I came to know that action to arrest Dato Seri Anwar was in progress. I knew of this fact at about 9.30pm.”

“At 10.00pm, I came to know that Dato Seri Anwar had been arrested by police officers and he would be brought back to Bukit Aman.”

“I went downstairs to the foyer because I wanted to see Dato Seri Anwar being brought in to Bukit Aman. I did not inform Tan Sri Rahim that I wanted to go downstairs. I did not inform anyone on the 30th floor that I wanted to go down to see the arrival of Dato Seri Anwar.”

“I saw the arrival of the vehicle. Dato Seri Anwar was helped out of the vehicle and was led by two police officers into the foyer. He was blindfolded. He was not handcuffed.”

“As he passed me I said something, “Treat him like a normal criminal. Why is he not handcuffed?” This statement was directed to the officers who affected the arrest.”

“The normal practice is, when a person is arrested, he would be handcuffed. It is not normal to blindfold a person who is arrested.”

“When a criminal is arrested he is handcuffed. At that time I knew that Dato Seri Anwar was arrested under Section 377 of the Penal Code which is a criminal offence.”

“He was taken straight to the lockup. I followed him from behind into the lockup area.”

“Not long after that, Dato Ramli arrived. When Dato Ramli arrived at the counter, I left the lockup. When I left the lockup area, Dato Seri Anwar was not taken into the cell yet.”

“I left the lockup and went to the CID office. There were other officers and I had general conversations with these officers. While I was talking to these officers, I got to know that Tan Sri Rahim would be visiting the lockup.”

“After I knew about this, I went to the lift and waited for Tan Sri Rahim. Shortly after that, Tan Sri Rahim came out from the lift. Tan Sri Rahim was alone at that time.”

“I received Tan Sri Rahim and he uttered, “Come!” My understanding of that is to follow him. Apart from that, he did not say anything else to me.”

Tomorrow, we will continue with Dato Yaacob’s testimony on what happened in the lockup.

Najib: The truth will prevail

2008-07-06T02:18:00.001-07:00

PEKAN: Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday pledged he would carry out his responsibilities as an Umno member, elected representative and deputy prime minister to the letter, irrespective of the challenges that come his way.

He said he would not let challenges, including slander, keep him from his responsibilities.

"My wife and I will face these challenges.

"The truth will prevail," he said at the joint opening of the meetings of the 139 branches of the Pekan Umno division yesterday.

Najib also said that he would not shy away from helping anyone who sought his help.

"I will continue to receive people at my home to help them in whatever way that I can, including signing a letter of assistance and giving allocations."

He called on party members and leaders of the division to continue helping the people and strengthen the party.

He also told them not to just seek positions in the upcoming party elections.

"The struggle does not end with you gaining positions, but what you do with that position."

Party members, Najib said, should not be satisfied with whatever they achieved, but must continue to help the people.

Party members must accept the way the political pendulum swung, Najib added.

At an earlier function, he described P. Balasubramaniam's initial statutory declaration which linked him with Altantuya Shaariibuu as a "political ploy".

Najib acknowledged the allegations could have a negative impact on him, but said he had to face the fallout from the statutory declaration.

"I have to accept the fact that politics in the country has become dirty. "

Najib added there were people willing to do anything to achieve their aims.

He said he would not seek an injunction to prevent issues relating to the statutory declaration.

"I will not hide behind an injunction.

"All this was done not to find out the truth, but to influence public opinion against our leaders.

"That is why I had to reply to it (initially) in a political manner."

Private investigator Balasubramaniam had, in a statutory declaration on Tuesday and announced in a press conference two days later, stated Najib had introduced murdered Mongolian Altantuya to Abdul Razak Baginda.

He claimed that Najib had told Abdul Razak that he (Najib) was in a sexual relationship with Altantuya and that she was to be "looked after" so that she did not harass him now that he was the deputy prime minister.

Balasubramaniam, who was employed by Abdul Razak at the time of Altantuya's death, had, alleged that Abdul Razak had told him that Najib had sent him (Abdul Razak) a text message saying the deputy prime minister would meet with the inspector-general of police to resolve the matter.

However, the day after the press conference, which was called by Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Balasubramaniam called another session with the media where copies of another statutory declaration retracting the previous one were distributed.

In the second declaration, Balasubramaniam claimed he had been under duress when he had made the first declaration.

Najib, who said he did not know why Balasubramaniam had revoked the original declaration, added that he would not take any legal action against him.

"Even before I could think of the next step, he has withdrawn it.

"I leave it to the authorities to take action," he said.

Najib also said that he was disappointed that an opposition leader was involved in the press conference involving the first statutory declaration.

"This is something which should not have arisen as it involves three people facing serious charges in the courts.

"Why is there a need to involve a political aspect?

"This not a question of politics. This is about the law which we have to respect."

He said laws, regulations and legal institutions should be respected.

"Whether they are government or opposition leaders, all should follow the laws."

Najib said although defamation had always been around in the form of poison pen letters, these days it was more widespread through information and communication technology.

He said the government had the option of imposing censorship instead of leaving it to the people to evaluate.

However, he said, this would lead to the belief that the government was not democratic nor open.

"Therefore, it is better for the people to be left to decide on the various issues."

On whether the issue would affect the Umno branch meetings and elections to begin this month, he said: "Umno members understand what is happening.

"They can evaluate. Umno members have become smarter."

Crowds swelling at Kelana Jaya stadium

2008-07-06T02:06:00.001-07:00

PETALING JAYA: Thousands of protestors, led by several NGOs and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, have thronged the Kelana Jaya stadium here to protest against the fuel hike.

Many of them were wearing red shirts, emblazoned with the word "protest" to voice their dissent.

Despite the huge crowd, there has been no heavy police presence.

Only policemen in a few patrol cars have been seen monitoring the area.

The rally has a carnival like atmosphere with traders doing brisk business selling food and drinks, T-shirts and souvenirs.

Since Sunday morning, several PKR and Hindraf leaders rallied the crowd with speeches and shouts of Reformasi! and Minyak turun!.

Crowd had been increasing since 10am.

Among those expected to speak later are PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat , vice president Mohamad Sabu, Nik Aziz, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar rallies support against sodomy claims

2008-07-06T02:03:00.002-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (CNN) -- Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim reacted strongly to sodomy accusations Tuesday, filing a complaint against the police chief and the attorney general and planning a public rally.
Anwar, a former deputy prime minister who spent six years in prison on sodomy and corruption charges before a historic return to politics in elections in March, said the new allegations are designed to usurp his political gains. The complaint he filed Tuesday is about the charges leveled against him 10 years ago.

Anwar said the evidence used in that case was fabricated. At the time, the current police chief was the investigating officer in the case. The attorney general was the then prosecutor.

"Do you expect me to have full trust in the Inspector General of Police ... who has been involved for 10 years in the personal vendetta and battle against me? Who is fearing for his own position?" Anwar told CNN. His supporters are also expected to hold a public rally Tuesday night, because Anwar said he did not "trust the system."

"So what do we do now? We go to the people," he told CNN. "I believe Malaysians are sick and fed up of these desperate maneuvers by the government."

Anwar was the heir apparent to former premier Mahatir Mohamad until 1998, when he was sacked and convicted of corruption and of sodomizing his driver.

He spent six years in jail until the nation's highest court overturned the sex conviction. But the corruption verdict was never lifted and it barred him from running for office.

Then came the national elections in March. Anwar helmed a loose coalition of opposition parties that won control of five of the country's 13 states. The coalition also won 82 of 222 parliamentary seats -- making it only the second time in the southeast Asian country's history that the ruling party failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to amend the constitution.

Anwar, 60, is now eligible to run for parliament. And he has claimed that he has the numbers to form a new government with the help of lawmakers who want to defect from the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) coalition of current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Anwar said the latest allegations are meant to sideline him again. Sodomy, even if consensual, is punishable by 20 years in prison in the Muslim-majority country.

"We are almost there with the crossover of support, with the huge uncertainties politically within the (ruling) party," he said. "So this is the last attempt to frustrate and derail the process." Prime Minister Abdullah told reporters he leaving it up to the police to determine the authenticity of the accusations.

"It is the police who should take appropriate action," Abdullah was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. "What Anwar has said is not for us to decide. He will surely deny... The accused will normally deny the allegation."

Anwar has filed a suit against the 23-year-old male aide who is accusing him of sodomy. The aide said the incident occurred in a luxury apartment on June 26. Anwar also took refuge briefly in the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur because he said he feared being assassinated.

The government denies the claims.

"Anwar's life has never been in danger," Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters Monday. "We have never taken any action that can endanger his life or his family. Why should we do that?"

Nevertheless, Anwar said he leaving little to chance.

ACA interrogated me for three hours: Dr Mahathir

2008-07-06T02:01:00.000-07:00

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he has been interrogated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for three hours in relation to the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V K Lingam video clip.

"I am sure I will be questioned in court also because of a possibility that I was lobbied on the appointment of judges," he said in his blog www.chedet.com yesterday.

Dr Mahathir's special officer Sufi Yusoff, in an SMS reply to Bernama, said the ACA had interviewed Dr Mahathir on June 25 relating to the Lingam video clip investigation.

Dr Mahathir referred to the issue of the commission in his comments on his relationship with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, which among others claimed that Anwar's interest in the proper appointment of judges was actually "to seek revenge against me".

"Now, the Royal Commission has named me as one of those to be investigated although I had nothing to do with Lingam and his activities," he said.

Dr Mahathir said he only came to know Lingam because he was successful in some litigation cases and decided to engage him as his lawyer in the case brought by Anwar.

"But the Royal Commission concluded that if it is possible that I was involved then I must be involved. It is almost like saying if it is possible I had murdered a person then I must have murdered the person. Proof beyond reasonable doubt is not necessary here," he said.

He said he was aware of efforts to find out if he had committed offences during his 22 years as prime minister.

"So far they haven't found anything. But now they have found an indirect way of getting at me," he said and added that he was not seeking sympathy from anyone.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry, in its report, had said that there was sufficient cause to invoke the Prevention of Corruption Act 1961, the Sedition Act 1961, the Legal Profession Act 1976, the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Penal Code against Dr Mahathir, lawyer V K Lingam, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan and former chief justices Tun Mohd Eusoff Chin and Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim.

Dr Mahathir was the only one who had not filed for a judicial review following the report, saying he was prepared to go to court.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set July 16 to hear the preliminary objection to the applications for a judicial review by the five others.

Meanwhile, on May 16, the Cabinet ordered Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to immediately direct agencies to investigate allegations levelled at the six of them.

— Bernama

And the winner is………..

2008-07-06T02:00:00.000-07:00

Yes, this looks bad for Najib, as well as for Anwar. And it certainly looks like Najib is behind the second SD as well as the sodomy allegation against Anwar -- while Anwar, in turn, is seen as behind the first SD that links Najib to Altantuya.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I said in an earlier article in this same column that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should be out of office by Christmas. And his successor, I predicted, could either be Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, aspirant Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, or opposition head honcho Anwar Ibrahim. I have also always said that seven days is a long time in politics. What more seven months. And the fact that political fortunes change, subject to both internal as well as external factors beyond your control, means that the situation is always very fluid indeed.

Soon after the 12th General Election of 8 March 2008, the pressure mounted, not only for Abdullah to resign, but also for him to confirm his exit plan with details such as his resignation date and the name of his successor. The pressure, in fact, started in mid-2006 when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad first launched his salvo against Abdullah at a dialogue session in Kelab Century Paradise jointly-organised by Malaysia Today and a couple of NGOs. For almost two years Mahathir continued his attacks on Abdullah, interrupted in between by a couple of heart attacks and a heart operation.

Abdullah was up against two fronts -- internally from the Najib and Tengku Razaleigh forces and externally from Pakatan Rakyat led by Anwar Ibrahim. Of course, Pakatan Rakyat did not really pose that much a threat until after the general election when it managed to grab five states and 82 Parliament seats -- which resulted, for the first time, in Barisan Nasional losing its two-thirds majority in Parliament. It did happen once before, of course. But, then, it was the Alliance Party of Umno, MCA and MIC that lost its two-thirds majority -- but they managed to regain their majority when Barisan Nasional was formed and all the opposition parties except DAP joined the new coalition (although PAS left the coalition almost three years later and has remained in the opposition ever since).

There is another internal force, a fifth column, which is headed by Muhyiddin Yassin. But Muhyiddin has been very cautious in not openly siding with any of the three factions of Abdullah, Najib and Tengku Razaleigh. He is very cleverly building up his support base, which can later swing to any of the three factions depending on who has the best chance of winning. In that sense, Muhyiddin can play the role of kingmaker if he so wishes and in the event he feels he can never make it on his own unless he joins forces with Abdullah, Najib or Tengku Razaleigh.

Muhyiddin is no direct threat. He will only become a threat if he manages to build up enough support and then throws this support behind one of the three contenders. And that contender will most certainly be the candidate who has the best chance of winning. But then, who is it the contender that has the best chance of winning? That is something that is very fluid and keeps changing week to week.

By mid-June 2008, it appeared like Najib and Anwar were the two hot favourites. When Najib visited the Umno divisions, the grass-root members cheered him and ‘proclaimed’ him the new Umno President cum Prime Minister. This even happened in Abdullah’s own division. And Muhyiddin, who was there by his side, was cheered as the new Umno Deputy President -- although he feigned ‘shyness’ in typical Malay fashion. It looked like Najib was set to become the new Umno President with Muhyiddin as his running mate, which means they will be Malaysia’s new Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively.

But then this will only happen if Anwar does not pull a coup. Anwar had boldly proclaimed many times that he will form the new federal government by Malaysia Day, 16 September 2008, and that at least 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament are waiting in the wings and ready to cross over. The race was on. Either Najib pushes Abdullah out before 16 September or else he will be pushing Abdullah out just to become the opposition leader in Parliament and not the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

It was now either Najib or Anwar. And there was also Tengku Razaleigh and Muhyiddin to contend with, though not as potent as Najib and Anwar. Tengku Razaleigh and Muhyiddin are not too serious a problem, though problems nevertheless. It was Najib and Anwar who have to be dealt with, and dealt with before the Umno branch elections start this month and the division elections in August.

Suddenly, Najib and Anwar are facing controversy -- Najib with his Altantuya murder controversy and Anwar in a new sodomy allegation. Now Najib and Anwar have their hands full. They are busy clearing their names and have no time to worry about taking over the Prime Ministership. The issue is no longer which of the two can become the next Prime Minister but whether they can even stay out of jail. That is a more pressing problem. The job of Prime Minister will have to wait.

Saiful, the man who alleged that Anwar had sodomised him met Najib just before he lodged that police report against Anwar. At first Najib denied meeting the young man. Then, later, he admits that he did meet the chap after all, but only to discuss the young man’s career and future and to help him obtain a scholarship.

The earlier denial followed by the later admission does not augur well for Najib. The fact that a very busy Deputy Prime Minister has all the time in the world to meet a school dropout so that he can act as the latter’s career guidance counsellor is also a story many find hard to buy. Events and statements point to the fact that Najib is behind this latest sodomy allegation against Anwar.

That, at least, is what we are being led to believe. But what we have not been told is that Saiful was trained by the BTN (Biro Tata Negara), Malaysia’s propaganda outfit and an outfit headed by Abdullah loyalists. We are told that Saiful first surfaced a week or so before the 8 March 2008 general election when he reported to PKR’s party HQ as an election volunteer. Where did he come from and who brought him into the party HQ?

Yes, that is the most crucial question. Saiful did not just turn up on the doorstep of the party HQ from nowhere. He was brought in by his very close friend, the son of the late Dato Nasaruddin Jalil and an Anwar aide. That’s right. According to Dato Nasaruddin’s wife, her son and Saiful are bosom buddies. Then, something strange happened. Dato Nasaruddin’s son was mysteriously killed by a hit-and-run driver. No one knows how it happened or who killed him. But, after that most tragic ‘accident’, Saiful stayed on to become one of the temporary staff of the party.

Was Dato Nasaruddin’s son’s death an accident? Is there something more sinister than just an unsolved hit-and-run accident? I suppose we shall never know the answer to that one and it may forever remain in the books as an accident or a victim of a hit-and-run. But what we do know is that the young man whom Dato Nasaruddin’s son brought into the party got elevated from a volunteer to a temporary staff of the party.

The Muftis of Perlis and Perak have suggested that Anwar come out and swear an oath that he is innocent of the allegation of sodomising Saiful. That would be the only way he can clear his name. It is not known yet if he will do that but, if he does not, then the dark cloud hanging over his head will remain there. There would be no other way that Anwar can clear his name.

Anwar also has to explain what he was doing at that upmarket condo. Yes, I too have clandestine meetings with my many Deep Throats at secret locations such as hotel rooms and apartments. But then I always bring along witnesses to ensure that I have an alibi in the event someone spots me and accuse me of having secret rendezvous for purposes of sex.

But Anwar’s case is more complex. I was told they have photographs of Anwar and Saiful going into one of the rooms of the One World hotel escorted by another man. If these photographs surface and Anwar cannot explain what is going on, then he may cease to be a threat to Abdullah. Abdullah then has only to take care of Najib.

The Statutory Declaration (SD) by the private investigator, Bala, has hurt Najib a lot. But the retraction or second SD the following day, which deletes all references to Najib, is even more damaging than the first one. If anyone had any doubts and thought that maybe Bala was fixing Najib up with his first SD, the second SD removed those doubts. Now, people are even more convinced that Najib is guilty. If not then why amend the first SD but only as far as Najib’s name is concerned whereas all the other allegations remain the same?

Bala’s first SD was not done in a hurry. It took numerous meetings over two months to finalise the SD. Bala had plenty of time to change his mind over those two months. And how can you say that you signed the SD under duress when it was done over many meetings over two months?

But the second SD was done only a few hours after the first one surfaced. And it was done after his visit to the police station. That gives an appearance of duress. And the fact he does not say that the entire SD is false but only as far as Najib’s name is concerned gives an impression that Najib is behind the second SD and that it was done to clear his name. Why would Najib go to all this trouble if he were innocent?

I met Bala on 2 July 2008 and was with him for about six hours from 6.30pm. He was jovial and chatty and joked that my SD two weeks earlier had stolen the thunder from his. Now, his has become the second SD instead of the first as he had hoped. After the press conference of 3 July 2008 we had lunch and he was still as jovial and chatty as the night before. He was now the superstar and he was relishing every minute of it. We agreed to meet on Saturday night (tonight) to party and celebrate the ‘success’ of his SD. Then, yesterday, the bombshell.

Yes, this looks bad for Najib, as well as for Anwar. And it certainly looks like Najib is behind the second SD as well as the sodomy allegation against Anwar -- while Anwar, in turn, is seen as behind the first SD that links Najib to Altantuya. In one swoop, both Najib and Anwar are brought down. And this means Abdullah has now rid himself of two serious problems. And with these two serious threats neutralised Abdullah can now take care of the lesser threats of Tengku Razaleigh and Muhyiddin.

I might not like Abdullah but I must certainly admire his skills. He looks stupid, he talks stupid, he acts stupid, but a man who can make you think he is stupid is actually cleverer than you.

Yes, it looks like Abdullah will still be Umno President and Prime Minister of Malaysia come Christmas. I would not have said this three weeks ago but today I say this with confidence. And while Najib and Anwar finish each other off, Abdullah is giggling in the background and choosing the Christmas tree that he will erect in Putrajaya come December.

Well done, Pak Lah. Brilliant moves. Now let’s see how Najib and Anwar extricate themselves from the mess they are currently in.

The Oil-for-Food scandal revisited

2008-07-06T01:59:00.000-07:00

One of the names that cropped up in the final report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-For-Food Programme was the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Malaysia was the fourth highest purchaser of oil - RM1.8 billion.

Malaysia Today

On Sunday, the BBC reported as follows:

The Iraqi government has said it will file lawsuits in US courts against firms and people suspected of illegally profiting from a UN programme. The UN oil-for-food programme allowed Saddam Hussein's government to sell oil in order to buy humanitarian supplies during UN sanctions from 1996-2003. An inquiry found that 2,200 firms paid $1.8bn in bribes to Iraqi officials.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that the legal action was to recover damages and hold those who benefited from the illegal activity accountable for their actions. "The oil-for-food programme was subject to huge financial scandals by companies and others [who] conspired with Saddam Hussein to embezzle large sums of money through kickbacks, inflated prices and the supply of shoddy goods," he said.

A UN-commissioned inquiry headed by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker found that 2,200 companies in 66 countries had paid kickbacks to Iraqi officials to win supply contracts under the $60bn (£30bn) programme. The Iraqi statement did not name the firms or people the legal action will target nor when and in which courts the suits will be filed.

Two years ago, this was what the BBC said:

More than 2,000 firms linked to the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq were involved in making illicit payments to the Iraqi government, a report says. It found Saddam Hussein received $1.8bn (£1bn) from firms including Daimler Chrysler and Volvo, and it also named individuals said to have benefited.

More than half of the 4,500 companies - from 60 countries - involved in the oil-for-food programme paid kickbacks or surcharges to the Iraqi government, Mr Volcker reported. The single largest bribe came from a Malaysian trading company, Mastek, which paid Iraq $10bn over a prolonged period, the report found.

****************************************

PM & The Oil for Food Scandal
The Oil-for-Food Programme was established to allow Iraq to sell oil in exchange for food, medicine and other vital supplies. It did not take long however for the Iraqi government to abuse the programme by demanding kickbacks from companies. Several investigations were launched and voluminous reports written.

One of the names that cropped up in the final report of the Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-For-Food Programme was the Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Studying Chapter Two of the report, Malaysia was the fourth highest purchaser of oil under Phase IX of the programme (circa 2000 and above). This amounted to a figure of US$500 million or RM1.8 billion.

The report names Mastek Sdn Bhd as one of the companies that paid bribes to Iraqi officials amounting to US$10 million. The Prime Minister publicly denied any involvement in the scandal. He only recommended several people to participate in the Oil-for-Food Programme in his capacity as (then) Deputy Prime Minister. Malaysiakini was threatened by government officials for reporting on Abdullah Badawi's involvement.

The current Foreign Minister Syed Hamid issued a statement saying that the Prime Minister had nothing to gain from obtaining oil in Iraq. The Iraq Survey Group that prepared the report concluded that a person in the programme could profit by US$0.65 per barrel of oil obtained.

Returning to Mastek Sdn Bhd, it is listed as a saw timber company. Mastek Sdn Bhd was at that time a dormant company which was revived by three persons, namely:

Noor Asiah Dato' Mahmood (Abdullah Badawi's sister-in-law)
Faek Ahmad Shareef (Noor Asiah's ex-husband)
Jaya Sudhir (businessman)
After it's revival it became a crude oil company, participating in Phase VII to Phase IX of the Oil-for-Food Programme. Currently Mastek Sdn Bhd is listed as a computer software develpoment company.

Prior to Phase IX, Mastek Sdn Bhd received roughly 7.5 million barrels of oil. During Phase IX however, Mastek Sdn Bhd's oil allocation rose to 39.5 million barrels. This coincided with the time when Abdullah Badawi cemented his position as the Deputy Prime Minister, after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim. In fact, this was the single largest allocation of oil during the entire Oil-for-Food Programme.

The report specifically stated that Iraqi officials gave such a large allocation to Faek Ahmad because of his relationship to Abdullah Badawi. In written documents, Iraqi officials referred to Faek Ahmad as "Mr. Faek Ahmad Shareef/for the benefit of Abdullah". According to the definition of corruption as defined by the Anti-Corruption Agency, translated as below:

“Any officer of the civil service using his/her position or post in the service to obtain bribes/benefits regarding any decision made by the person or making a decision regarding any matter, in which he/her, his/her family members, friends or partners have a stake in the matter, whether direct or indirect.”

Abdullah Badawi's role in the scandal skirts dangerously close to the definition of corruption. Besides Mastek Sdn Bhd, another Malaysian company implicated in the report is Tradeyear Sdn Bhd. Listed as it's non-contractual beneficiaries are Faek Ahmad as well as a certain "Mr. Abdullah Badawi".

Tradeyear Sdn Bhd was allocated 9.2 million barrels of oil, after paying surcharges (aka bribes) of US$116,000. 9.2 million barrels of oil translates to a profit of US$6 million. Looks like a certain "Mr. Abdullah Badawi" is laughing all the way to the bank.

A simple search of the report turns out another two Malaysian companies that implicated in kickbacks, Jawala Corp Sdn Bhd of Dato Majid Khan (US$1 million) and Petma Oil of Dato Paduka L.M.N Affendi (US$110,000). To it's credit, Petronas was charged with surcharges but refused to pay.

As far back as June 2006, Teresa Kok (MP for Seputeh) had raised the issue in Parliament. Now it is May 2007 and no action has been taken against the companies mentioned nor has any satisfactory explanation been given. It's no wonder that Parliament leaks. The report can be found here. (By Goldenhub)

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In September 2006, Malaysia Today published this piece by Matthias Chang:

THE FATHER OF ALL SCAMS
CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Mastek Sdn Bhd: Owned By Noor Asiah Mahmood Supported By Pak Lah Made Obscene Commissions & Gave Kickbacks At The Expense Of Iraqis Suffering Under 12 Brutal Years of Sanctions

An Entire Family In The Cesspool of Corruption

Scomi
ECM Libra
UN Oil-for-Food Programme

The Dirty Little Secret Of Pak Lah: “Mr Clean”

Reading the headlines in the New Straits Times and the spin churned out by Pak Lah’s spin doctors, we were led to believe that Pak Lah personifies integrity and honesty.

But is Pak Lah really “clean?”

Pak Lah did launch a campaign against corruption and some patsies, politicians and businessmen who were no longer useful in his agenda were put on show trials, orchestrated to project his “Teflon” image.

Only just recently, Mr. Clean called on Muslim countries “to step up efforts to fight corruption.” He was quoted as saying that, “the current condition that Muslim countries find themselves in is deeply alarming and distressing. I am saddened when we consider Islam’s glorious legacy of culturally and scientifically advanced civilisations, all built on solid foundation of ethics and moral values.”

Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Pak Lah has a façade of Cleanliness but hides a rotten core!

What do you make of a person who preaches ethics and morality to fellow Muslims but in practice commits the most blatant corrupt practices?

This is a US$800 million question.

This is the scam committed by a Malaysian company supported by our Mr. Clean, Pak Lah in the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme.

An international correspondent described it well when he said that:

“It was meant to be the “Mother of all Humanitarian Programs”, but has turned out to be the Father of all Scams!”

And a Malaysian company was right in the middle of this cesspool.

This is the DIRTY SECRET of Pak Lah!

READ ON.

Let me explain the Dark Side of Mr. Clean.

There are two reports on the Iraq Oil for Food scandal, namely:

1) Charles Duelfer - Comprehensive Report of the Special Adviser to the Director of the Central Intelligence on Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, September 30, 2004 (the “Duelfer Report” in short); and

2) Paul A. Volcker – Independent Enquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-for Food Programme (Manipulation of the Oil-for-Food Programme by the Iraqi Regime) October 27, 2005 (the “Volcker Report” in short).

Both reports have named Pak Lah’s connection to the Oil-for-Food Programme via Malaysian companies.

The relevant companies are:

1) Mastek Sdn Bhd (50717-A)

Shareholders: Obata-Ambak Holdings Sdn Bhd - 379,200 shares Noor Asiah Binti Mahmood - 100,800 shares (Sister-in-Law of Pak Lah)

2) Tradeyear Sdn Bhd (361316-K)

Shareholders: Tradeyear Ltd - 2 shares

The Volcker Report specifically named Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as a “Non-Contractual Beneficiary.”

The Report defines such a beneficiary as “The name of the individuals and entities other than the named contracting party that were named in the Ministry of Oil records as the intended beneficiary of the oil allocation. In some instances, the named beneficiary is an official of the contracting party.”

The Volcker Report indicated that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had written a letter to Taha Yassin Ramadan on November 13, 2000 recommending a delegation headed by Mr. Faek Ahmad Shareef and Noor Asiah Mahmood (the sister-in-law of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) for the purposes of obtaining oil allocation.

The question that needs to be asked of Pak Lah is – “Why did you make those recommendations when the two companies referred to above were merely acting as middleman?”

Petronas, our the national oil company was already involved legitimately in the Oil-for-Food programme, and as the Volcker Report showed clearly that when the Saddam Government demanded kickbacks, Petronas refused to give kickbacks!

In the Volcker Report, it is clearly stated that a kickback of US$10,916,241 were demanded of Mastek Sdn Bhd, of which US$9,803,960 were paid, leaving a balance of US$1,112,281 unpaid.

In the case of Tradeyear Sdn Bhd, the sum of US$116,870 of kickback was demanded and the amount was paid in full.

The amount of moneys involved in the transactions was staggering. We can only imagine the amount of commissions earned by Mastek Sdn Bhd, owned by Noor Asiah Mahmod, the sister-in-law of Pak Lah.

While Petronas took up only 13,276,782 barrels of oil valued at US$264,111,195 from an allocation of 14,100,000 barrels, the above two stated companies in comparison took the following:

Mastek Sdn Bhd: Allocated: 45,000,000 barrels of oil
Took : 43,614,685 barrels of oil
Value : US$884,919,027

Tradeyear Sdn Bhd: Allocated : 9,200,000 barrels of oil
Took : 9,094,996
Value : US$171,771,487

When we add the two values, the amount earned exceeds US$1 billion!!

From interviews conducted with one Mr. Jaya Sudir (August 19, 2005) the Volcker Report states that Mr. Faek Ahmad Shareef had leveraged his connection with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. A review of Iraqi documents confirms that Iraqi officials associated Mr. Faek Ahmad Shareef with Mr. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as references to Mr. Shareef’s oil allocation in SOMO (State Oil Marketing Organisation) documents appear in some instances as “Mr. Faek Ahmad Shareef/for the benefit of Abdullah.”

In the case of Mastek Sdn Bhd, Pak Lah’s sister-in-law was directly involved in the payment of kickbacks. Pak Lah who was then the Deputy Prime Minister had admitted writing the letter of recommendation in support of the company’s application of oil allocation under the Oil-for-Food programme. There is therefore a “conflict of interest” when Pak Lah as the Deputy Prime Minister made the said recommendation.

Additionally, while serving as Deputy Prime Minister and without the knowledge of the then Prime Minister and or the Cabinet, Pak Lah placed himself in a situation whereby his personal as well as the government’s integrity have been brought into question.

What Action Must Be Taken?

In a similar situation that obtained in India, where the then foreign minister, Mr Natwar Singh was alleged to have benefited from the Oil-for-Food programme, the said minister was removed from the highest decision making body of the ruling party (the Indian Congress Party). Mr. Natwar Singh subsequently resigned from the government, notwithstanding his protests of innocence. The scandal was also alleged to have implicated Mr. Natwar Singh’s son.

It is inconceivable that Pak Lah having called upon all Muslim countries to fight corruption should be allowed to continue with his charade and to remain in office as the Prime Minister of Malaysia and President of Umno.

Pak Lah by any measure is tainted by the corrupt practice of his sister-in-law, Ms Noor Asiah Mahmood who has admitted making kickbacks in the Volcker Report.

When the scandal first broke out, Pak Lah pretended not to know anything about it. Pak Lah did not inform the government and the Malaysian people that his sister-in-law was a key figure in the scandal. It was only after the publication of the Volcker and Duelfer Reports, that he “claimed” that he was not involved in the scandal. In such scandals, it is often difficult to establish the money trail.

But what is important is that Pak Lah is tainted by his recommendation of his sister-in-law for the oil allocation and the kickbacks.

If it was not right for Pak Lah to approve the ECM Libra-Avenue merger because of a conflict of interest, as his son-in-law was the beneficiary, likewise it is not right for Pak Lah when he was the Deputy Prime Minister, to recommend his sister-in-law. They made obscene profits at the expense of fellow Muslims who were suffering from 12 years of brutal economic sanctions! 500,000 children died as a result of the sanctions. This is Blood Money!

We demand a Judicial Inquiry into this sordid affair!

Pak Lah must resign as President of Umno and Prime Minister of Malaysia!

Pakatan Rakyat is losing the plot

2008-07-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

The latest controversy involving Yahya Shahri, added to the MIA Port Kelang State Assemblyman, does not augur well for PKR. PKR already has to run twice as fast just to stay in pace with PAS and DAP. Falling behind PAS and DAP certainly does not help PKR one bit.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Selangor MB’s suspended aide quits

(The Malaysian Insider) – Last night, Yahya Shahri, the suspended special officer to Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, resigned in a huff. Yahya told an impromptu gathering of supporters in Shah Alam that he quit with immediate effect from the MB’s office as well as Selangor secretary of Parti Keadilan Rakyat in reaction to his two-month suspension announced a day earlier.

His reputation is under a cloud following the action taken by the menteri besar to facilitate investigations into alleged corrupt practices by the Anti-Corruption Agency. Khalid said Yahya had been informed of the action through short messaging service in order “spare the officer the shock when the (suspension) letter is delivered".

Obviously, Yahya is unhappy with his suspension, declaring that he had lost confidence in the menteri besar. He also called for Khalid to step down as the PKR boss for Selangor and wants party advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take over. He told Malaysiakini that he would be meeting Anwar this afternoon after speaking to and conveying his quit decision to PKR president and Anwar’s wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday.

Khalid had told reporters the decision to suspend Yahya was made following allegations of improper conduct. Yahya was said to have issued recommendations for four companies to obtain contracts from local authorities in Selangor. The Selangor MB explained that he had to maintain transparency and integrity in agreement with PKR’s partners in Pakatan Rakyat – PAS and DAP.

"We are sincere. We want to do it right. If the officer is not guilty, he will be called back to work. We will take appropriate action if the officer is found guilty," he added. He had instructed his political secretary to obtain more information from PKR members who made the allegations.

Yahya's supporters had gathered in protest against the suspension at Khalid's official Shah Alam residence yesterday but left after a short while, proceeding to Yahya's house also in Shah Alam.

**************************************************************

There appears to be a lot of grumblings and unhappiness in the way PKR is managing things. This is a far departure from the way PAS is running Perak or DAP, Penang, which has received mostly praises. From Day One, many sceptics have expressed reservations about PKR and Tan Sri Khalid. They point out to the fact that PKR has inherited ‘Umno culture’ while Khalid, ‘a product of Umno cronyism’, has a lot of ‘baggage’ to his name.

Of course, there are many ex-Umno personalities in PKR, Anwar Ibrahim included. But PKR is not all ex-Umno, I would argue in reply to the critics. And Khalid may be a product of Umno cronyism during his corporate days. But we must not judge him by his Umno past. We have to look at his present track record to come to a conclusion as to whether he has shed his ‘evil ways’ or whether the old habits are still very strongly entrenched in the way he does things.

While no one appears to have any misgivings about the PAS or DAP Chief Minister/Menteri Besar or State EXCO Members, the jury is out on the PKR crowd. People would rather treat the PKR personalities with suspicion until they prove themselves otherwise. In other words, they are assumed guilty until proven innocent. And this is most unfortunate indeed because there are many PKR Members of Parliament, State Assemblymen and office bearers who are not only NOT ex-Umno but are sincerely doing a good job, if not comparable, better than the PAS and DAP people -- in particular the women of PKR who not only work hard but have gone through a lot of sacrifices in pursuit of their ideals.

But is there not a Malay proverb that goes: one buffalo brings mud and the entire herd gets muddy? So all it needs is one muddy buffalo to muddy the entire herd. And this is the dilemma facing PKR. And the actions of people such as the PKR State Assemblyman for Port Kelang only adds fuel to the fire and make things worse.

This particular PKR State Assemblyman from Port Kelang is MIA (missing in action). He has of course been seen all over the place but it is mostly when he is frolicking with the Umno people, eating and drinking at various expensive restaurants. While the DAP Member of Parliament for Port Kelang, Charles Santiago, and the DAP State Assemblyman for Pandamaran (also under the Port Kelang Parliamentary constituency), Ronnie Liu, work their butts off, the PKR State Assemblyman for Port Kelang parties with Umno people all night long.

Yes, one PKR buffalo from Port Kelang muddies the entire PKR herd of buffaloes. Never mind that the other 30 PKR Selangor buffaloes are clean and are doing a great job. It is what this one delinquent buffalo does that gets noticed, not what the other 30 good buffaloes do that matters.

And this is what PKR must guard against. As it stands now, public opinion is not in PKR’s favour. It has to work doubly-hard and stay doubly-clean compared to PAS and DAP. In spite of that, people will still look at PKR with suspicion in their eyes and reservations in their hearts. And one muddy buffalo is all it needs for people to say, “Ah, I told you, the PKR people are all crooks!”

The latest controversy involving Yahya Shahri, added to the MIA Port Kelang State Assemblyman, does not augur well for PKR. PKR already has to run twice as fast just to stay in pace with PAS and DAP. Falling behind PAS and DAP certainly does not help PKR one bit.

And why has the Port Kelang State Assemblyman not been taken to task? And why must Yahya resign in protest and instigate his supporters to demonstrate? Yahya should have welcomed the move to suspend him for two months until his name is cleared. This will give an impression that he is not taking things personally and has nothing to hide and that he only has the interest of the party’s image at heart. Now it appears like he only cares about himself and not about the party, like a true ex-Umno person.

Khalid, too, appears to be running around in circles. He makes snap announcements in a popularity exercise and then retracts them later when he discovers that it can’t be done after all due to legislation limitations or contractual obligations. This only strengthens the perception that PKR has absolutely no experience in running governments and that their policies are not thought through carefully before the announcements are made. Are a bunch of amateurs in charge of the Selangor government? We would like to believe not, but it is getting harder and harder to believe that this is not so.

PAS is also compounding the problem. They forget that they are just a member of the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, and are not the federal government or the absolute government in the states, in particular Selangor. What’s with this protest against the ‘sexy’ singers? If aurat is such a big issue, then they should also protest against the football match. The 22 footballers will be wearing shorts, which means that their aurat is uncovered. Why protest against two female singers who reveal too much flesh but ignore the 22 male footballers who also reveal too much?

It appears like these PAS people are discriminating against women. If women reveal too much flesh, then PAS gets all excited. But men are allowed to violate the Islamic rule by revealing too much flesh. That is not a problem. Should not rules apply to everyone, men as well as women? Why are only women targeted for reprisals whereas men get away with whatever they want to do?

Two days ago, a policeman at Putra Heights raped an underage girl. The girl was not sexily dressed. She was not even a criminal but a mere pillion rider. But she was detained and taken to the police station and raped. Why has PAS kept silent on this matter? Where is that massive demonstration to protest police officers raping underage girls? Is fighting with the Sultan of Selangor over whether female singers not dressed like Arabian Bedouins should be permitted to sing in public more important than an underage girl being raped by a policeman?

And all this talk about Islamising the country is frightening the voters. Pakatan Rakyat did not come into office because of just PAS members’ votes. Many non-PAS members -- Malays, Chinese and Indians included -- voted for Pakatan Rakyat. But they did not vote in favour of an Islamic State. They voted in favour of seeing a strong opposition and possibly a two-party system finally emerging in Malaysia after 51 years of Umno domination.

Yes, the voters voted in favour of Pakatan Rakyat, not in favour of PAS. PAS just happens to be a member of Pakatan Rakyat, that’s all. So PAS must do things with the interest of Pakatan Rakyat at heart, not in the interest of its own party. Is this something so hard to understand? Five years is not that long. See what happened in 2004 compared to 1999. 2012/2013 may see a reversal of the 2008 success, just like 2004 was the reversal of 1999, if PAS and PKR are not careful. And thus far PAS and PKR have not offered the voters any reason to vote them back into office come the next election.

Malaysia’s two systems of justice

2008-06-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Last month, Umno Johor said that the greatest mistake they made was in giving the non-Malay immigrants citizenship in August 1957. Now that they have been given citizenship they show their ingratitude by voting for the opposition.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Verse 13, chapter Al-Hujurat of the Quran, can be translated to read: "O Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you in the sight of Allah is he who has most righteous (taqwa) among of you. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware."

With this verse from the Quran, Islam declares equality for all mankind. Islam respects a human for being a human and not for any other reason. Islam does not distinguish between the different races, different groups of people, or different ‘colours’.

The Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) addressed the people signifying that concept during his last pilgrimage, saying: "O People! Your God is one; your father is one; no preference of an Arab neither over non-Arab nor of a non-Arab over an Arab or red over black or black over red except for the most righteous. Verily the most honoured of you is the most righteous."

This is to assert that, in Islam, no nation (community) is created above other nations and therefore no nation can be placed above another. Man's worth in the eyes of men and in the eyes of God is determined by his skills, by the good he does, and by his obedience to God.

In another tradition, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, was asked, "Who among men is most favoured by God?”

The Prophet replied, "A man who does the most good to people."

Excerpts of a speech by Imam Mohamed Baianonie at the Islamic Center of Raleigh, N.C.

ABIM is upset that I have used coarse or abrasive language when whacking them. They don’t mind being whacked as long as I do it politely. Okay, let us humour them then. If they like it gentle then let us give it to them gently. After all, not everyone likes their sex wild so I suppose that goes for how they get whacked as well, in and out of bed.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that 90% of the tax is paid by the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese. Tun Dr Mahathir cried during one Umno general assembly because, he said, he had failed to change the attitude and mentality of the Malays. When asked, after he had retired on 1 November 2003, what was his greatest regret; Tun Dr Mahathir replied that his greatest regret is not being able to change the Malays in the 22 years that he was Prime Minister of Malaysia. Tun Dr Mahathir once lamented: why can’t the Malays be more like the Chinese?

Yes, I know, many Malaysia Today readers hate Tun Dr Mahathir. Nevertheless, as much as you may hate the Tun, we should not overlook the good things he has done or said even though you may hold the opinion that he did more bad than good. After all, the British were colonialists and there can be nothing good about colonialism. However, when the British left, they left behind a good education, administrative and legal system.

Unfortunately, after we took over the running of this country, we Malayans messed the entire thing up beyond recognition. Notwithstanding all that, we still need to recognise the good the British did amongst all that bad, as much as we may dislike the British. Imagine if the Portuguese, Dutch or Spanish had been our masters until 31 August 1957. Malaysia, today, would be an absolute mess and we would not need Umno to mess the county up any further.

Okay, back to the issue of the day: whacking ABIM, Umno and the Malays-Muslims as gentle as I can. Read what Imam Mohamed Baianonie said. The message is clear. And it is the message of the Quran and of the Prophet Muhammad. Do I really need to explain things further or is what Imam Mohamed Baianonie said self-explanatory enough?

What is Islam? Is Islam just about rituals? What would rituals be without akidah? And what is the foundation of Islam? The foundation of Islam is justice. Islam is all about justice and nothing but justice. Without justice there would be no Islam. Muslims talk about the syariah and about the hudud legal system. Is not the syariah and hudud about justice? Are Muslims not taught that they must subscribe to the syariah and hudud because these are God’s laws and God deals with justice?

You just can’t separate justice from Islam. Without justice there would be no Islam. Islam would not exist without justice. Islam, with mere rituals minus the justice, would not be Islam. Saddam Hussein performed the rituals of Islam. But Saddam was not just. So Saddam was ousted and hanged by the neck until he died because he just performed the rituals of Islam minus the justice that Islam makes mandatory. Justice, justice, justice. That is what Islam decrees. And a ‘good’ Muslim who performs the rituals of Islam but is not just is put to death. That is Islam and that is how Islam dispenses justice.

ABIM says we should not whack the Muslims. And since, by law, Malays are Muslims then we should not whack the Malays as well. But is it okay for Malays to whack the non-Malays and non-Muslims?

What if the non-Muslims were to say they do not recognise Islam or the Quran because Islam and the Quran have been distorted over the last 1,400 years? What if the non-Muslims were to say that Islam and the Quran have been changed and are no longer the original Islam and Quran that Prophet Muhammad introduced 1,400 years ago? If the non-Muslims say this then they would be committing a crime under the Sedition Act. The non-Muslims would face punishment because they are not sensitive to the feelings of the Muslims.

But Muslims are permitted to say they do not recognise Christianity and the Bible because Christianity and the Bible have changed and have been distorted over the last 2,000 years and are no longer the original Christianity and Bible which Jesus introduced 2,000 years ago. Muslims can openly say this in the Friday prayer sermons and it is not seditious, even if this is not sensitive to the feelings of the Christians.

And why can Muslims say this but Christians can’t? Because Islam is the official religion of Malaysia and Christianity is ‘tolerated’ as long as it stays out of the way of Islam.

Sure, there are certain beliefs in Islam and certain beliefs in Christianity and both are entitled to their own beliefs. But while Muslims can openly express their beliefs, Christians may not. And Christians may not because Islam is the official religion of Malaysia. And Muslims say that Islam is a tolerant religion and that Islam believes in justice.

Muslims do not understand the meaning of the word justice. Justice, to the Muslims, is only what is good for the Muslims. And what is not good for the Muslims is unjust. And justice to the non-Muslims does not matter. Being unjust to the non-Muslims is not being unjust. This is because non-Muslims do not have equal rights to Muslims. Non-Muslims are immigrants and immigrants are second-class citizens.

Last month, Umno Johor said that the greatest mistake they made was in giving the non-Malay immigrants citizenship in August 1957. Now that they have been given citizenship they show their ingratitude by voting for the opposition. Yes, non-Malays, even those born in Malaysia, are immigrants. And, being immigrants, they must vote Barisan Nasional. And if they do not vote for Barisan Nasional then they are ungrateful.

Yes, voting is your right. This is your right according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. Malays can vote for whomsoever they would like to vote for because the Constitution allows them to do so. Malays, therefore, can vote for the opposition. But, if you are non-Malay, then you must vote for Barisan Nasional because you are an immigrant. If you vote for the opposition then you are a traitor, you are ungrateful, and it was a great mistake giving you citizenship in 1957.

Tun Dr Mahathir’s father was born in India. But Tun Dr Mahathir can vote opposition. He can even oppose Umno like he is doing so now. In fact, he can even become the Prime Minister. He is not an ungrateful immigrant who should be sent back to India. Tian Chua, however, can’t oppose Umno. Tian Chua, whose family settled in Malaya long before the Portuguese came in 1511, is an immigrant. And if he is not happy and if he opposes Umno then he should go back to China. And Umno Johor regrets giving Tian Chua citizenship in 1957 but does not regret giving Tun Dr Mahathir citizenship.

Why? Because Tun Dr Mahathir is Muslim while Tian Chua is not. But if Tian Chua circumcises and takes on the Muslim name of Musa Bin Susah and marries a Malay woman, then he need not go back to China and Umno does not regret giving him citizenship in 1957.

The Malays have a very warped view of justice. Malays practice two standards of justice. There is one standard for the Malays and another for the non-Malays. And 90% of the tax is paid by the non-Malays and 10% by the Malays, says Tun Dr Mahathir. But 10% of the scholarships must go to the non-Malays and 90% to the Malays. And when they propose to change this to 40% for the non-Malays and 60% for the Malays, the Malays raise a hue and cry. And they call this justice. And they say Islam is about justice.

If this is an example of Islamic justice then I just shudder to think what would happen if Muslims start becoming unjust.

Bullshit Islam from bullshit Muslims

2008-06-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

Umno and ABIM are enemies of the community. Umno and ABIM are enemies of Islam. Umno and ABIM serve the party and their own race. Umno and ABIM are not true Muslims. Umno and ABIM are bullshit Muslims. Umno and ABIM are practicing bullshit Islam.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

“Umno's interests come first, says Najib,” reported the New Straits Times today. The New Straits Times then went on to report Najib as saying, “We should always consider the party's interests above all else.”

Another New Straits Times report about the Pakatan Rakyat government offering Umno State Assemblymen positions in the Penang State Government, which of course they turned down, goes as follows:

The Pakatan Rakyat state government has again offered posts in several state committees to five Umno assemblymen. The assemblymen, who had turned down similar offers before, received offer letters from the state government last week.

They are Sungai Acheh assemblyman Datuk Mahmud Zakaria, Datuk Ariff Shah Omar Shah (Seberang Jaya), Muhammad Farid Saad (Pulau Betong), Datuk Azhar Ibrahim (Penaga) and Shabudin Yahaya (Permatang Berangan).

Azhar, the state opposition chief, said he received a letter offering him a place in the state Price Control Committee. The state Umno secretary said he was also asked to attend the committee's inaugural meeting.

"I will not accept their offer no matter what. It is against my principles. The truth is they are not sincere. All this is politically motivated."

Azhar said he had expected other Umno assemblymen to receive similar offers. "They can make us the offer as many times as they want but we will not accept them. We will continue to remain loyal to the party," he said.

And this is what Bernama reported today:

The Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) has called on the government to clarify the necessity for the Public Service Department (PSD) to increase the ratio of scholarships for non-Bumiputeras from 10 percent to 45 percent.

Abim secretary-general, Khairul Arifin Mohd Munir, said in view that the education quota issue was closely related to provisions in the federal constitution like Articles 153(2) and 153(3) it was therefore necessary that Malaysians be given an explanation for the move.

Sura Al-Fatiha is the first chapter of the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an. Its seven verses are a prayer for God's guidance and stress the lordship and mercy of God. This chapter has a special role in the Muslims' daily prayers (Salat), being recited at the start of each unit of prayer, or rak'ah.

Verse five of this sura says: You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.

There is also a verse that goes as follows: innasalati, wanusuki, wamahyaya, wamamati, Lillahi Rabbil Alamin. This means all my actions and deeds (salat or prayers included), my life and my death, are only for the God of the entire world.

Najib, however, says that Umno’s interest should be above all other interests. So Najib is not a true Muslim.

And the Umno State Assemblymen say they only serve the party. So these Umno State Assemblymen are also not true Muslims.

Meanwhile, the Islamic youth movement, ABIM, is upset that the government is not upholding racial discrimination. So the ABIM people too are not true Muslims.

Yes, that’s right; don’t get too impressed and awed by any Arab look-alike, Bin Ladin wannabe. They may dress like Muslims from the Arabian desert. They may talk like Muslims. They may sujud (prostrate) on the ground with their backsides pointing to the sky five times a day. They may go to Mekah twice a year whereas others go only once in their entire life. Their wives and daughters may be ‘properly’ covered with a tudung or headscarf. They may even let loose from their lips a few Arabic words from time to time. But they are not true Muslims. They are munafik and fasik Muslims.

True Muslims practice amar maaruf, nahi munkar. True Muslims treat fardu ‘ain as one aspect of Islam and fardu kifayah as an even more important aspect. This means you uphold good and oppose evil. This also means you serve your community in the name of God while sacrificing your own interest (plus, in particular, party interests) for the good of the community. This means you uphold the teachings of Prophet Muhammad by opposing racism and the Umnoputera ‘caste system’ that exists in Malaysia.

But Umno and ABIM do the opposite to all this. They serve the party and uphold racism. They don’t care about the community. Party interests come first even if the community suffers. They oppose and violate everything that Islam stands for. They are munafik and fasik. Remember these two words: munafik and fasik. That is what Umno and ABIM are. Yet the pretend they are true Muslims. Bullshit! This is bullshit Islam practiced by bullshit Muslims. What they uphold and practice is everything that Islam opposes.

Uphold good and oppose evil: says Islam. Do not discriminate: says Islam. Race does not count: says Islam. Serve only God and your community: says Islam. But Umno and ABIM do the opposite of this. Umno and ABIM violate what Islam stipulates. Umno and ABIM are enemies of the community. Umno and ABIM are enemies of Islam. Umno and ABIM serve the party and their own race. Umno and ABIM are not true Muslims. Umno and ABIM are bullshit Muslims. Umno and ABIM are practicing bullshit Islam. True Islam practiced by true Muslims prohibits the serving of any other than the community and God. True Islam practiced by true Muslims prohibits racism and discrimination.

How ironical. The kafir (infidel) Chinese from Barisan Nasional are prepared to work with Pakatan Rakyat for the good of the people. These kafirs that Muslims say are all going to go to hell think of the people. On the other hand, the Muslims from Barisan Nasional sabotage Pakatan Rakyat even if the people have to suffer. These Muslims that Muslims say will be guaranteed heaven do not care about the people. How ironical that the kafirs practice amar maaruf, nahi munkar, and fardu kifayah, whereas Muslims violate these Islamic requirements. How ironical that the kafirs are better Muslims than Muslims. How ironical indeed.

Oh, by the way, I challenge any of the State Muftis to dispute what I wrote and declare me ‘sesat’ or misguided. I will take on any Mufti worth his salt. Speak now or forever hold your tongue.

Separating the Malay from Islam

2008-06-03T17:40:00.000-07:00

According to Islam, God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There is an ongoing debate about Malays having lost their political power in the 8 March 2008 general election, about Malay states falling into the hands of non-Malays, and about if this continues then Malays will lose their preferential status and special rights and privileges -- which will probably also see the end of the New Economic Policy. Some (Umno-types) have accused those of us (Malays) in Pakatan Rakyat of being traitors to our Malay race and of not loving the Malays enough.

Malays are automatically Muslims, according to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, and Muslims are prohibited from leaving Islam and converting to other religions. By law, Malays become Muslims, whether they like it or not, and once a Muslim always a Muslim.

But that is not the issue here. Let us not argue about whether it is fair to ‘constitutionalise’ Malays and ‘trap’ them in Islam for the rest of their lives. This is for the Malays to sort out if they are not happy about it. And just as Malays do not ‘teach’ Christians what it means to be a Christian, neither should others do the same to the Malays. What we want to discuss here is, since Malays are Muslims, can we separate being a Malay from being a Muslim? Certainly not! Since Malays are automatically Muslims, then Malays should be more Muslim than Malay because Islam overrides race. In short, you are Muslim first and Malay second. That is the Islamic way. Therefore Malays should not talk about ‘Malay interest’ but about what is required to become a Muslim, as required by Islam.

Umno is Malay. Therefore, according to the Constitution, Umno is Muslim. And since Umno is Muslim then it is forbidden to talk about the Malay race or uphold the ‘struggle’ of racism. Islam is clear about this and there is no ambiguity in the matter. To do otherwise is haram, as haram as all the other forbidden things in Islam -- be it pork, liquor, gambling, usury, extra-marital sex or whatever.

This is what http://www.islamicity.com/ has to say about Islam:

What is Islam?

Islam is not a new religion but the same truth that God revealed through all His prophets to every people. For a fifth of the world's population, Islam is both a religion and a complete way of life. Muslims follow a religion of peace, mercy, and forgiveness, and the majority have nothing to do with the extremely grave events that have come to be associated with their faith.

How does Islam guarantee human rights?

Freedom of conscience is laid down by the Quran itself: 'There is no compulsion in religion'. (Quran; 2:256)

The life and property of all citizens are considered sacred whether a person is Muslim or not.

Racism is incomprehensible to Muslims, for the Quran speaks of human equality in the following terms:

O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. Truly, the most honoured of you in God's sight is the greatest of you in piety. God is All-Knowing, All Aware (Quran; 49:13)

(from: http://www.islamicity.com/ )

Equality of Human Beings

Islam not only recognises absolute equality between men, irrespective of any distinction of colour, race or nationality, but also makes it an important and significant principle, a reality. The Almighty God has laid down in the Holy Quran: "O mankind, we have created you from a male and female." In other words all human beings are brothers to one another. They all are the descendants from one father and one mother. "And we set you up as nations and tribes so that you may be able to recognise each other" (Quran; 49:13).

This means that the division of human beings into nations, races, groups and tribes is for the sake of distinction, so that people of one race or tribe may meet and be acquainted with the people belonging to another race or tribe and cooperate with one another. This division of the human race is neither meant for one nation to take pride in its superiority over others nor is it meant for one nation to treat another with contempt or disgrace, or regard them as a mean and degraded race and usurp their rights. "Indeed, the noblest among you before God are the most heedful of you" (Quran; 49:13).

In other words, the superiority of one man over another is only on the basis of God-consciousness, purity of character and high morals, and not on the basis of colour, race, language or nationality, and even this superiority based on piety and pure conduct does not justify that such people should play lord or assume airs of superiority over other human beings. Assuming airs of superiority is in itself a reprehensible vice which no God-fearing and pious man can ever dream of perpetrating. Nor does the righteous have more privileged rights over others, because this runs counter to human equality, which has been laid down in the beginning of this verse as a general principle. From the moral point of view, goodness and virtue is in all cases better than vice and evil.

This has been exemplified by the Prophet in one of his sayings thus: "No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over an Arab. Nor does a white man have any superiority over a black man, or the black man any superiority over the white man. You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay" (al-Bayhaqi and al-Bazzaz).

In this manner, Islam established equality for the entire human race and struck at the very root of all distinctions based on colour, race, language or nationality. According to Islam, God has given man this right of equality as a birthright. Therefore no man should be discriminated against on the ground of the colour of his skin, his place of birth, the race or the nation in which he was born.

(from: http://www.witness-pioneer.org/ )

“Thank You ALL” for your Donation And Support

2008-05-07T00:27:00.007-07:00

Dear Supporters,Readers and Members of Malaysia Today,

On behalf of Malaysia Today, I would like to thank each one of you who donated and who could not donate due to various reasons . Each one of yours support in various forms was the demonstration of the peoples will and the trust on RPK. Your commitment to helping raise the money which exceeded the purpose requirement is sincerely appreciated.

I don't know how to describe your support so far, but I could only quote what Robert F Kennedy said

“ Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or act to improve lot of others,or strike out against injustice,he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope. Those ripples built a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance “

Each one of you stood up in one form or other and are still standing....

Thanks again for your generous support for RPK and the success of Malaysia Today.

Money matters

updates 09.09am 7th May 2008 - Total Donation after we call off the campaign

From CIMB bank account : RM24,500.00

From Paypal account : $4,330.10 USD

Also please Note that we have CALLED OFF this donation drive as we already collected enough fund to bail out our dearest YM RPK and that was the purpose of this donation drive.

We will publish the details of the amounts collected and spend with proper records very soon.

As the donation still keep coming in even after we deleted the account number from MT,makes it tough to close the account .

Excess Money

We are receiving few different suggestions from many of you in terms of the excess money collected

To hold the money for future scenarios as it was a politically motivated donation

Go ahead with donation to charity.

Buy laptop and maintain/improve the webpage.

This matter will be discussed with RPK ,once he is back. We also like to thank you for writing in requesting to continue donation drive and to reinstate Paypal Logo back.,but we would like to stop it here for time being. RPK has agreed for this drive only after much of persuasion. Lets not divert from the purpose at this point of time.

Site Administration

We would like to apologize to the everybody who emailed to our administrator and to which we have not responded so far. Please take this posting as my personal reply to many of yours views,suggestions and concerns.

Administrator mail box is flooded with 100's of mails and still coming in. There will be delays in membership registrations and letter to editor postings. Bear with me. It will take at least 1-2 days to recover.

We assure you that we will update you on the latest events on RPK,as and when it happens.

All the necessary actions are taken together with his family members to secure his release.

Malaysia Today Continues...

Best wishes,

Vineeth Menon

On Behalf of Malaysia Today Team & RPK's Family

BAPA, RAKYAT BANGSA MALAYSIA

2008-05-07T00:27:00.005-07:00

You must come out of Sungei Buloh Detention!

Daulat YM RPK,

We acknowledge your principles. If not for the principles you would not be what the people are looking for in a leader. You have everything that is needed to be a leader. You are one of the "Greatest Spiritual Leaders", I have personally mixed with. You follow the Holy Koran. You don't pretend to be holy. You are not a show-off. You are never greedy nor ever desired to accumulate wealth. You hate a person who steals and tells lies. You do not mix with people who are corrupt and lustful. You are a prince but your friends are mostly the middle class man on the road. These are perhaps some of the least of the traits I am stating here, and these are more than enough for great people to admire you. The people who admire you are even from the upper echelon. More than 60% of us Bangsa Malaysians are your friends. Even MPs and State Assemblymen came to say a few words to you at the Jalan Duta Court despite their call for duty at the Parliament and State Assemblies. I heard a policeman talking outside on the road to his friend that most of them are not happy of what is happening but they are just carrying on with their duties.

We all know that your writings, touch the feelings of us the common folks. People from the Kampongs, New villages and Estates traveled many miles to hear your Ceramahs. The Malays with a cry of Reformasi, The Chinese and again The Indians with the cry of Makkal Sakti, are with a hope that someday you will lead this Nation as its Prime Minister.

Umno, who themselves are divided in camps have today lost face due to their arrogance, pride, corruption, and unfair rulings. Even the Non-Malays who were their greatest supporters voted against them in the 8 March polls. They know that you are the cause because you highlighted all these Umno crunchies in Malaysia-Today. We the Bangsa Malaysia are aware and are supportive of your fair approach. The Royalties too are aware of your cries and pleadings in support of not only the marginalised but of the depressed from the Peninsula Heartland. Their silence should not surprise us for I believe that silence is consent.

You are our leader and you are not greedy for power. We know that you were offered seats to contest but declined. You know that if you had contested you would have won hands down. We understand that you had to answer your inner calls. Today we know, this was that call. Many of my Indian friends are calling you as the Malaysian Mahatma Gandhi in the making. They are not wrong. They are not wrong because you are still fighting for the Independence of Malaysia, though not from the British but from the UMNO/BN of Malaysia. You are fighting for the independence of the Judiciary; you are fighting for the independence of PDRM; you are fighting for the independence of the ACA; you are fighting for the independence of the Attorney General's Chambers; you are fighting for the independence of the Election Commission; you are fighting for the independence of the Main Stream Media (MSM); you are fighting for the independence of the Malays from the strangle-hold of UMNO; you are fighting for the Muslims also from the strangle-hold of UMNO, yet you are fighting for the rights of the marginalised Indians, the Malays who are depressed and deprived and for the rights of the Chinese.

Your leadership is needed. Come out from the detention. Please!

It is my call that you be declared as our:

"BAPA, RAKYAT BANGSA MALAYSIA"

By Mijoan

Wife: RPK refusing to meet anyone

2008-05-07T00:27:00.004-07:00

(Malaysiakini) Malaysia Today webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin - presently in jail for refusing to pay bail - has refused to have any contact with anyone including his own wife, Marina Lee Abdullah.

Marina when contacted this morning said she had gone to the Kuala Lumpur Remand Centre to meet Raja Petra and to ask him if he would want to post bail today.

"The officer at the registration counter (of the remand centre) have informed me that my husband has refused to see anyone including me," she told Malaysiakini.

She then said that she has demanded to see the deputy warden of the remand centre to get further information and is still waiting for the meeting.

Raja Petra was charged yesterday with sedition at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court over an article which he wrote in his website.

The article allegedly implied that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife of being involved in the killing of a young Mongolian woman.

Raja Petra claimed trial to the charge. He was charged under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act for publishing seditious article on April 25 on Malaysia Today.

Hearing has been fixed from Oct 6 to 10 and Raja Petra was granted a bail of RM5,000, which he refused to post, deciding instead to remain in custody until the hearing date five months from today.

'What makes you think I don't have proof?'

2008-05-07T00:27:00.003-07:00

"What makes you think I don't have proof? What makes you think I don't have documents?
"If I do submit the proof behind my writing, they will arrest me under the OSA. You think I'm stupid?" he asked the assembled journalists.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin was a celebrity at the Jalan Duta court complex here yesterday.

The 58-year-old arrived at 9.06am, accompanied by his wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, a battery of lawyers and a throng of supporters.

His well-wishers read like a who's who of Pakatan Rakyat notables, including Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, Teluk Kemang MP Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Abbas, Batu MP Tian Chua, Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong, PAS Youth chief Salahudin Ayub and Pandamaran state assemblyman Ronnie Liu.

Defiant as ever, Raja Petra challenged the government to repeal the Official Secrets Act (OSA) so that he could reveal what he claimed was evidence against his charge of sedition.

"What makes you think I don't have proof? What makes you think I don't have documents?
"If I do submit the proof behind my writing, they will arrest me under the OSA. You think I'm stupid?" he asked the assembled journalists.

Declaring war on the government, Raja Petra said the government should be afraid of bloggers.

Clad in a yellow shirt and blue jeans, the Internet-based political commentator said he was not informed of the charge against him until the last minute.

When it was suggested that it seemed as if he was courting prosecution by his repeated run-ins with the law, he replied that he did not want to be charged but had been expecting it.

He refused to concede that his website's contents were seditious in nature, insisting that it was not wrong to incite the people against a "dishonest government".

Part of Raja Petra's disgruntlement was understandable. He was asked to be at court by 9.30am, but was not attended to until an hour later when he was told to go to the Petaling Jaya court instead.

Lim described the charge as harassment.

"I think this is a disgraceful and atrocious development," the opposition stalwart said.

Sedition charge on blogger Raja Petra raises more questions

2008-05-07T00:27:00.002-07:00

Charter 2000-Aliran is appalled by the Malaysian authorities' action in charging prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin with sedition for allegedly implying that deputy prime minister Najib Razak was involved in the sensational killing of a young Mongolian woman.

The sedition charge stems from a 25 April article, titled "Let's Send the Altantuya Murderers to Hell", that Raja Petra posted on his popular Malaysia Today website.

We, like many other concerned Malaysians, are shocked that such a sedition charged has been used against Raja Petra as opposed to a more appropriate action that could have been taken by the aggrieved party (i.e. Najib and wife), which is to sue Raja Petra for supposed defamation. Raja Petra now sits in remand in Sungai Buloh Prison after refusing bail, and he will remain there until 6 October, when his trial begins. If found guilty, he could be jailed for up to three years and/or face a fine of up to RM5,000.

Under the Sedition Act, a “seditious tendency” implies, among other things, “a tendency to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government”. Are we to conclude that alleging complicity in a murder case on the part of a government leader is tantamount to causing the Malaysian public to go against the entire (federal) government? Would one supposedly rotten apple spoil the whole tree?

The authorities’ action only raises more questions. It raises suspicion that it is meant not only to politically bludgeon Raja Petra but also to make an example of him for the rest of the blogging fraternity and civil society.

Many Malaysians are clearly not impressed with the latest turn of events. In a sense, it reveals just how out of touch the authorities are with the new political realities after 8 March especially in dealing with an electorate that now demands greater respect for freedom of the media and of expression.

Malaysia’s folk hero Raja Petra opts for jail to prove a point

2008-05-07T00:27:00.001-07:00

Spent the evening working with Mus on a press statement in response to the action taken against Raja Petra.

it is just three days after we marked World Press Freedom Day.

Not good. And downright depressing.

But mind you, this move could backfire. It is high stakes poker, and I guess they didn’t anticipate that Raja Petra would refuse bail. Now he is in jail and the glare of the international media will focus even more on him, the Malaysian government, the judiciary and the Altantuya trial.

Certain people are going to be shifting in their seats rather uncomfortably - or maybe having sleepless nights. They have no idea what Raja Petra is going to say in court, come October.

As Malaysiakini observes, hauling Raja Petra to court has only turned him into a legend - if he is not already one. For it was Raja Petra and his Malaysia Today website that played a not insignificant role in the fall of five states to Pakatan Rakyat.

V. David, the man who made ‘May Day’ possible

2008-05-01T01:34:00.005-07:00

V. David is a Malaysian trade unionist who was fearless and vocal in raising issues concerning the Indian community in Malaysia. In 1958, he was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance and detained under the Internal Security Act in 1964, 1969 (after May 13 racial riots) and 1987.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Many Malaysians probably take the 1st May holiday for granted. It is a day to stay home or for going out with the family. Or maybe it is a day to sleep in late.

Whatever today may mean to you, did you know that Malaysia did not always celebrate May Day or declare 1st May a holiday? This was because Malaysia was still at ‘war’ with the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and anything ‘labour’ or ‘socialist’ was regarded as ‘communist’. Malays were led to believe that anything ‘left wing’ is ‘budaya kominis’ and therefore an imported ideology from Mainland China and Russia, the two superpowers of those days that were sympathetic to the CPM cause. And Malays believed that communism is opposed to Islamic teachings.

Malays have of course come a long way since then, though they still have a longer way to go, and the perception of May Day is no longer one of an un-Islamic holiday associated with communism. But many probably do not know that getting Malaysia to endorse May Day as a workers’ holiday, and not a communist holiday, plus getting 1st May gazetted as a holiday, has to be credited to the renowned workers’ hero, V. David, who fought for many long years to get the Malaysian government to change its stand.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about V. David:

David V. (born 26 August 1932 - died 10 July 2005) is a Malaysian trade unionist and former opposition politician. He won a seat in the Malaysian parliament twice, representing the constituencies of Bangsar and Damansara. While in parliament, he was known to be fearless and vocal in raising issues concerning the Indian community in Malaysia.

David was a founding member and secretary of Selangor Factories Association, which he started in 1953. He was elected a Kuala Lumpur town councillor and became Transport Union secretary in 1958. In 1959, he was elected the Member of Parliament for Bangsar. In 1978, David defeated the Malaysian Indian Congress strongman, Deputy Minister S. Subramaniam, and became the Damansara Member of Parliament.

David was arrested under the Emergency Ordinance in 1958. He was also arrested under the Internal Security Act in 1964, 1969 (after May 13 racial riots) and 1987. In 1984, he became the Chairman of World Tamil Association.

To help you get a better insight into this unsung and forgotten hero called V. David, I would like to reproduced a 7 March 2004 article from the New Straits Times:

YBs (Yang Berharap) gearing up for the big day

By Ahmad A. Talib
The New Straits Times

Many years ago, when well-known labour leader V. David stood as a candidate in the general election, I would meet him and wish him luck. With his balding pate and the trademark thick spectacles and midriff, David would pace up and down the main hall of the Transport Workers Union and bark instructions to his supporters.

"Hurry up, we must get the manifesto distributed first thing in the morning. I don't have the whole day, you know!"

In 1978, David contested as a DAP candidate and won the Damansara parliamentary seat defeating the Barisan Nasional's Datuk S. Subramaniam, much to the delight of his party and supporters. As a fulltime trade unionist, David was a popular figure. It was difficult not to notice his bulk as he went from one meeting to another to get the best possible deal for his TWU members. With David at the helm of the union and Datuk Zainal Rampak as his running mate in the movement, members were generally happy with their collective agreements.

I would often drop in at the bilik gerakan of candidates I knew just to wish them good luck, and David was one of them. It was quite common to have the bilik gerakan manned by tough looking men or youths. I understand this was necessary as part of the security measures.

So, I was naturally quizzed by these toughies when I walked in to see David. In the elections of the `70s and part of the `80s, fistfights were not uncommon, forcing candidates to opt for their own security arrangement.

David's helpers were mostly Indians and they eyed me suspiciously as I looked around the hall trying to locate him. They must have been wondering why this young non-union like, skinny fellow wanted to see David. Is this fellow from the Special Branch? Or worse still, from the other political party trying to cause trouble! As they later found out, I was none of the above - just a reporter on his rounds to seek out bits and pieces for some political commentaries and news reports.

Well, that's that. The election is here again. March 21 has been set as polling day and March 13 fixed for nomination. These are days when every single member of any political party and every political leader waits for. This is D-Day! Every day in the last few months has been geared for the day when the ballot boxes are taken out, dusted and put to use again. All the homework they have done, the strategy they have formed, the plans and counter plans - they are being put to the big test.

The candidates and their supporters work just as hard to ensure victory. The adrenalin never stops pumping between the time when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced to his colleagues and the nation that the Dewan Rakyat would be dissolved to pave the way for the 11th general election. In any general election, the Prime Minister calls the shot, and Pak Lah just did, setting in motion a series of events that will climax on March 21.

On another occasion I recall the formation of a new political party, Nasma, which seemingly had the support of social activists, some intellectuals and leaders from non-governmental organisations. Nasma's introduction to the media was held at one of the city's leading hotels. What attracted much attention then was the party had a woman as president, Zainab Yang, who was then more known as the `Lorry Woman' because she was head of the Pan Malaysian Lorry Operators' Association.

There was considerable attraction to the formation of Nasma. Its proponents had high hopes but this was not backed by real political acumen and, within a few years, Nasma receded into the political wilderness, never to engage in serious battles after a brief and disastrous encounter on the Malaysian scene. The simple lesson for Nasma and other like-minded proponents - don't go into politics if you are short on resources. Politics is not a romantic journey, neither is it a trip to test one's grandiose plans and vague images of undying loyalty and worship.

Bob, an American acquaintance, asked me a few days ago how the campaign was going to be like now that the polling date had been set. "What campaign?" I asked. He looked puzzled. "Bob, in places like Kelantan the campaign has never stopped. It's like a football match - the players never take off their jerseys, and that being so, treat everyday as match day!"

House calls are known to be more personal and popular these days, partly because political rallies, in the traditional sense of the word, is a thing of the past. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, this stopping of political rallies. As a schoolboy in 1969, I saw political rallies being turned into a stage for racial name-calling and bad-mouthing with bloody consequences. It is best forgotten, really...

Personal schedules, family gatherings and even business decisions have been put on the back-burner in these couple of weeks. It's politics, morning, day and night. At the Tanglin nasi lemak stall behind the National Mosque, customers were discussing who would be dropped, and whether new Menteris Besar would emerge from some States. Isa, in between sips of teh tarik, gave his theory why Pak Lah, and the BN, would win handsomely, echoed by his friend Shah, a pensioner.

Well, we'll soon know. In the meantime, make sure you know where you are voting. Every vote counts, your candidate will tell you. All the best YBs. That's Yang Berharap, mind you, not Yang Berhormat...

CHAMPION FOR THE DOWNTRODDEN

From village hero, V David rose to become a pillar of the Malaysian workers’ movement
by K George
Aliran Monthly Vol 25 (2005): Issue 6

All his life he committed himself to the struggle for workers’ rights, social justice, freedom and democracy.

K George

Born on 26 August 1932 in a squatter settlement at the 3rd mile, Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur, V David started his life in abject poverty. His father, S Vethamuthu, had a small farm and a herd of cattle for survival. As he grew older, David had to help his father by going to houses around the area delivering milk daily. Despite this, he managed to complete his Senior Cambridge. As the years rolled by, his mother became a widow, burdened with the task of bringing up her only son.

Under the circumstances, it was only natural that mother and son became inseparably close. Even after his mother’s demise, she remained close to his heart until the last day of his life. It is no exaggeration to say that David used to visit his mother’s grave very often — not only every year on the occasion of her birthday, death anniversary, etc but whenever he stood for election, started a union, contested for leadership position and even before embarking on other important event. To him, she was a saint whose blessing he sought before undertaking any venture.

In 1954, he enrolled with the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA for a course in Economics, Political Science and Industrial Relations. At the same time, he also attended a course on Labour Unions organised by the AFL-CIO, the American National Trade Union Centre. Even when he was deeply involved in trade union and political activities, he continued his tertiary education. In 1980, he obtained a Masters in Commerce degree from the University of New Delhi. A few years later his thesis on international relations was accepted by Pacific Western University, California, USA, which awarded him a doctorate.

Compassion for the downtrodden

Even when David was in his teens, he was a hero in his village. The villagers often sought his advice and guidance. David’s compassion for the poor and downtrodden was natural, simply because of the condition in which he grew up. His first venture in 1953 was to form a trade union known as the Selangor Mill Workers Union (SMWU), which integrated with the Selangor Factory Workers Union. In 1955, the union’s name was changed to the National Union of Factory and General Workers (NUFGW). It was one of the “General Unions” that was recognised by the British colonial rulers.

On 31 August 1957, Malaya became independent. The NUFGW became so strong and popular under the leadership of the youthful V David that even the workers in the plantation industry preferred to be members of the new union. The Alliance government of independent Malaya detained David and amended the labour law to ensure the automatic deregistration of all existing general unions at that time. Since then, our 'democratic' government has never granted registration of general unions! David was subsequently released.

He became even more popular - loved by the working masses and disliked by the capitalists. Soon, he was approached by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) to be its executive secretary. He travelled by truck and enrolled thousands and thousands of workers in the transport industry. Soon he was elected the General Secretary of the TWU and held on to that position unchallenged even after he had suffered two strokes.

Youngest MP at 26

In the 1959 General Election, David, already a member of the Labour Party, which formed a coalition with other opposition parties known as the Socialist Front, contested and won, becoming a Member of Parliament for Bangsar as well as Selangor State Assembly member. At 26, he was the youngest Member of Parliament – bold, vigorous and committed.

By mid 1960s, the registration of the Labour Party was cancelled. Its leaders like Dr Tan Chee Khoon, Veerappan, Tan Pock Kin, David and others decided to seek the registration of another party. I was then the General Secretary of the Federation of Armed Forces Civilian Staff Union as well as Vice-President of the MTUC and of CUEPACS. Like David, I too believed that trade unions had to involve themselves in politics. It was not an unusual phenomenon but a fact that was visible all over the world.

I was invited by the group to join and help with the formation of Gerakan. It was during this period that I grew closer to David. I am proud to claim that both of us knew what poverty was and that our commitment to struggle for the welfare of workers became a passion. David stood on a Gerakan ticket in the General Elections in 1969 and was elected to Parliament as MP for Datuk Keramat in Penang. However, being a civil servant and father of three young children, I decided to carry on with my job and union activity.

Gerakan became a very popular party and received multiracial support. In the May 1969 General Election, the party captured the state of Penang and formed the government with Dr Lim Chong Eu as Chief Minister. But within two years, it was embroiled in a leadership crisis, resulting in Dr Lim taking full control of Gerakan. Professor Alatas, Dr Tan Chee Khoon, David and other leaders left Gerakan and formed Pekemas, which contested in the 1974 General Election. Out of over 90 candidates, only Dr Tan Chee Khoon retained his seat as the MP for Kepong constituency. Pekemas did not last long. Subsequently, David joined the DAP.

He was elected to parliament on the DAP ticket in 1978 for Damansara and was successfully returned in 1986 and 1990 for Puchong. But in 1995, David did not contest because of health reasons.

Indomitable spirit

While holding the post of TWU General Secretary, he represented the union in the Executive Council and the Working Committee of the MTUC. He was elected as one of its Vice-Presidents in 1971 - a position he held until 1976. Two years later, he was elected the Secretary General of the MTUC. In 1979, he was elected to the governing body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). He held on to this prestigious position and the post of Secretary General of the MTUC until 1992.
Apart from the above positions, he was also a Council Member of the International Transport Federation and President of the World Tamil Federation for some time.

David became the “guest” of the government for the fourth time in October 1987 along with 105 others - innocent victims of Operation Lalang under the obnoxious Internal Security Act. This time he had to spend 222 days in the Kamunting Detention Camp. It could not break his indomitable spirit which remained intact. All his life he committed himself to the struggle for workers’ rights, social justice, freedom and democracy. He had been a persistent critic of the government’s capitalistic policies and its unjust refusal to grant citizenship to the Indian plantation workers who were born in this country in spite of their pioneering economic contribution to this nation.

In his final three years, he became bed-ridden. His wife, Grace Sivapakiam, took special care of her husband until the last day on July 10, 2005. Their only son, Norman David 22, who is studying medicine in Bangalore, India, was present at the time of his father’s demise.

V David will be remembered as a pillar of the Malaysian workers’ movement for many years to come. His memory will be cherished and recalled with fondness as someone who had given his best for the workers and who had sacrificed the best part of his life in the struggle to uplift the poor and the downtrodden.

Is DAP showing its true colours?

2008-05-01T01:34:00.004-07:00

Aiyah, bilalah orang DAP nak buang otak Cina dan tukar kepada otak Malaysia? Patutlah orang Umno suruh orang DAP balek Cina. Aku dah lama nak masuk DAP tapi meluat tengok perangai Chinese Chauvinist DAP ni.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Karpal Appeals To PM For Hindraf Leaders' Release

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 (Bernama) -- DAP Chairman Karpal Singh today appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to instruct Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to revoke the detention order on the five Hindraf leaders detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Karpal said that despite the detention orders by the King, Syed Hamid could at any time under the law revoke the orders on the five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf).

The King had on March 26 ordered for the leaders two-year detention, effective Dec 13 last year, be continued until completion.

"I would have thought, in line with the reconciliatory stance of the government in bringing about reforms, including setting up of a judicial commission for the appointment and promotion of judges, the five leaders would have been set free to rejoin their families.

"In fact, the Government should, in line with this approach, repeal the ISA," said Karpal, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, in a statement tonight.

On Dec 13 last year, the authorities detained M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar for organising a mass rally in the federal capital and making demands for the rights of Indians in the country.

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Nik Aziz’s son was detained for more than five years. Do you know the name of this son? There are about 90 or so ‘Muslim terrorists’ who are in their seventh year of detention. Okay, we have five Hindraf activitists, now popularly known as the HINDRAF 5, who have been under detention for the last four months. And their names are M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar. Yes, that’s right, five Indians going by the name of M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar have been under detention without trial since the last four months and we want them freed without any further delay.

That’s work with me. I am all for it. Now, can be list down the names of the other 90 or so Malaysians who have been detained for up to six to seven years? The five Indians are called M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar. I want to know the names of the other 90 Malaysians -- Malays, Chinese, Indians, and other ‘natives’. Can we also list their names down? Who are they? Where are they from? The five Indians have been under detention since Christmas last year. Some of the other 90 have been under detention for six or seven Christmases.

I believe in FIFO (first in, first out) not LIFO (last in, first out). Okay, we know that the HINDRAF 5 -- M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar -- have been detained for the ‘crime’ of organising a massive demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on 25 November 2007. What are the crimes of the other 90 -- whom no one cares what their names are?

According to the government, the HINDRAF 5 are under detention because they have links with international terrorists and had planned to create chaos in Malaysia. Of course, that is a government lie and we certainly don’t believe that lie. Also according to the government, the other 90 have been detained because they too have links with international terrorists and they too had planned to create chaos in Malaysia. The government could be correct on this one because most of these 90 or so are Muslims and, according to America, all Muslims are terrorists.

Okay, maybe not all 1.2 billion or so Muslims are terrorists. Maybe only 0.1% of Muslims are terrorists. But that means we have to be careful about the balance 99.9% because they could also be terrorists since they share the same religion.

Hmm…is not the government using this same argument to detain the HINDRAF 5? Since 0.1% Indians in Sri Lanka are terrorists then M. Manoharan, P. Uthayakumar, V. Ganabatirau, R. Kenghadharan and K. Vasanthakumar must also be terrorists since they share the same skin colour and religion.

As I said in my earlier piece, yes, let us fight for the release of the HINDRAF 5. I agree that they are victims of political persecution. But if you do not want to also fight for the release of the other 90 at least mention their names to show that you know who they are.

In fact, there are also some Chinese amongst those 90. Yes, and I bet you did not know that. I bet you do not know how many of them are Chinese. And I further bet you do not know what their names are. And I dare bet my last dollar that you don’t know why they were detained and how long they have been under detention.

Do you know, 20 years ago, a young Chinese girl from Kuala Terengganu was detained because she spoke about Jesus Christ to some Malays. The Malays reported her and the unfortunate girl was detained under ISA. Don’t you Chinese, in particular you Christians, feel outraged? Or is it you don’t dare express outrage or else you will also have to express outrage about the Muslims who have been detained for more than six or seven years?

One of my schoolmates, Hilmi, was also detained under ISA. He was detained because he left Islam to become a Christian and eventually went up to become a senior priest in the church. I bet you will now express outrage about Hilmi’s detention because he is a Malay who became a Christian. But if he was a Malay who remained a Muslim then you probably would not be interested to know why he was detained.

I met one Chinese woman while she was still under ISA detention who told the Suhakam Commission of Inquiry that she was asked to strip naked so that her Malay jailors could feast their eyes on her naked body. Still not outraged yet? Okay, I also met a Chinese chap who was beaten senseless. He no longer knew how long he had been detained. He just sat there and cried and was not able to utter a word. They had beaten him so bad that he had lost his mind. The Suhakam Commissioners were speechless and did not know what to say. I hope, now, you are outraged and can see the ‘logic’ of broadening your focus beyond just the HINDRAF 5.

DAP is not a Chinese party. No doubt 30 Indians contested under DAP’s banner on 8 March 2008 and Hindraf was certainly a factor that swung the election results. But we must not just ‘bodek’ the Indians. If DAP wants to be perceived as a ‘Malaysian’ party, rather than a Chinese party that is merely exploiting the Indian issue, then it has to broaden its ‘perjuangan’. PAS is currently debating whether to admit non-Muslims into the party. If they vote in favour of that move, and Chinese Christians and Indian Hindus join PAS, then DAP may become irrelevant. And there are Indians and Chinese waiting to jump into PAS the instant it opens it doors to the non-Muslims.

The new Speaker of the Selangor State Assembly finally wore a songkok when he went before the palace to take his oath of office. Earlier, this Chinese State Assemblyman from DAP wrote in his Blog that he will never wear a songkok and that he will boycott any function that requires him to wear one.

Kurang ajar sungguh! He has been a State Assemblyman for many terms and is now the Speaker of the Selangor State Assembly and he still does not know that one must never mengadap Tuanku with a ‘kepala gondol’ (naked head). Even if you mengadap the Queen of England or the Emperor of Japan you can’t do so with a naked head. This is called ‘dress code’.

I remember once when Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, the Sixth Sultan of Selangor, was denied entry into the Lake Club. He was actually the guest of honour of the Club President and was being escorted there by my grandfather, Raja Sir Tun Uda. But they were both denied entry into the Lake Club, so the Sultan and my grandfather just turned around and went home without a fuss.

Even a Sultan can be denied entry. And he did not say anything or protest even though he was a Sultan and wielded immense power in those pre-Merdeka days. Do you think it is unfair if the Sultan denies someone entry into the palace if that person refuses to observe the proper dress code? Anyway, some were in fact not properly attired when they mengadap the Sultan recently but Tuanku did not make an issue out of it. Tuanku was very accommodating and chatted with everyone in a very friendly manner even though some were ‘disrespectful’ or, in palace lingo, tidak beradat.

Let us grow up and move ahead (even the Sultan was prepared to close his eyes to the DAP ‘protest’). We need to rise above the ‘I refuse to wear anything that is Malay’ tantrum. And Karpal Singh should stop whacking those DAP leaders who wore the songkok during the recent swearing-in ceremony because this will just make these people suffer from songkok phobia. And to throw up the excuse that they refuse to wear the songkok because ‘it is something Malay’ does not go down well with the Malay grassroots who are already being poisoned by Umno that ‘Malay land is falling into the hands of the Chinese’. Why make it easier for Umno to convince the Malays that this is so?

Okay, the very stubborn State Assemblyman who would rather get sent to hell than wear a songkok finally relented and wore one. Of course, wearing a songkok is a small sacrifice when the prize is the position of Speaker of the Selangor State Assembly. DAP had earlier decided that they will leave it to each state to decide whether to wear one or not. And Selangor decided that they will wear one when they mengadap Tuanku in keeping with proper adat istiadat istana. So can Karpal please now leave them alone and stop whacking them for ‘becoming like Malays’.

And if these Wakil Rakyat, both Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen, do a good job, the Rulers may want to reward them. I know Karpal is not happy if any of the DAP leaders become Datuk or Tan Sri or, heaven forbid, Tun. Hey, this is the way the Rulers reward dedicated, hardworking, loyal and faithful servants of the people. So please stop warning the DAP leaders that if the Rulers offer them any award, decoration or title they should reject them like how Lim Kit Siang did so some years back.

Would you rather they buy them from Umno like all those other Chinese towkays and tycoons? For RM100,000 to RM250,000, depending on the state, the Chinese and Indians tycoons can get a datukship. Fortunately, though, those are not states that are under Pakatan Rakyat control. If the Rulers feel that some DAP leaders have done a great job and Their Highnesses would like to decorate them, then let it be. Hey, maybe not a single DAP leader will get a datukship until the day he or she dies. But in the event the Rulers decide they would like to dish some out, then stop getting in the way. Just allow the DAP leaders to accept these awards. After all, if they have done a good job then they deserve these awards.

It is very discouraging to hear that warnings have already been given that DAP leaders should not accept these awards. Why embarrass the Rulers? Better Karpal or Kit Siang just issue an official Press Release, today, that DAP leaders are forbidden (diharamkan) from accepting decorations and awards from the Rulers. Then DAP leaders can be excluded from the awards list and the Rulers can be spared the embarrassment of offering them to the DAP leaders only to have the DAP leaders tell Tuanku, “Thank you Tuanku, but no thank you, not interested in your stupid awards and decorations!”

Aiyah, bilalah orang DAP nak buang otak Cina dan tukar kepada otak Malaysia? Patutlah orang Umno suruh orang DAP balek Cina. Aku dah lama nak masuk DAP tapi meluat tengok perangai Chinese Chauvinist DAP ni.

The true JIHAD

2008-05-01T01:34:00.003-07:00

IKIM must stress that jihad is your personal war. It is a war against your own heart. It is a war to resist all forms of temptation. It is a war to evict ego, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, vanity and all forms of diseases of the heart. It is a war very few win.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is what IKIM wrote in The Star today in its article called Peace or war, it is our choice:

Jihad with its multitude of branches has very strict rules, especially when it relates to confrontation with an enemy.

ONE cannot find words strong enough to condemn the Sept 11, 2001 tragedy. It is not human if one does not share the pain and suffering that the affected families are going through and will endure for a long, long time to come.

Those who choose to define this violent act as jihad or “holy war” need to know that Islam is such a structured and comprehensive guidance that even the procedure to attend to the call of nature is explicitly taught to us by the Messenger of Allah. If one follows those rules while going to the bathroom, it becomes an act of worship.

Islam had nothing to do with this action (Sept 11), even if, after a thorough investigation, those that perpetrated it turned out to have Muslim names or had come from Muslim lands.

Islam does not permit violence. Unfortunately many ignorant Muslims and non-Muslims are not fully aware of this fact, or choose not to acknowledge it.

Jihad with its multitude of branches has very strict rules, especially when it relates to confrontation with an enemy. Indiscriminate killing or harming of women, children, old men, people who take refuge in their houses, animals and even plants, especially those of economic value, is forbidden at all cost.

War is permitted in Islam, just as it is permitted in many other religions, provided it is a pure act of defending the religion, life and state.

(READ MORE HERE: http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/6803/84/ )

While I am very careful about disputing or debating the opinions of religious scholars (because many view me as a ‘deviant’ Muslim not worthy of commenting on matters related to Islam), I cannot allow the above piece to pass without some form of ‘engagement’.

If you were to carefully note the gist of the article, it is apparent that the term ‘jihad’ has been taken only in the context of war, in particular a holy war in defence of Islam. No doubt IKIM has taken pains to mention that war is allowed by Islam, a necessary evil of sorts, but it must be waged only in defence of one’s life, limb, property and religion and not as an act of aggression. This can be interpreted as war is not only allowed, but becomes necessary, when one is the victim.

There is nothing Islamic about this at all. Whether one is a Muslim or not, this same concept would apply. You have a right to defend your property and your territory, your life and that of your family, your country and the freedom of your nation, your religion plus the freedom to practice your religion, and so on. Oppression and persecution must be opposed and it is the duty of mankind, Muslims not excluded, to come to the aid of others, even if they are not Muslims, who suffer oppression and persecution. This means, if a Muslim nation is acting unjustly towards non-Muslims, then Muslims must oppose their Muslim ‘brothers’ in defence of the oppressed non-Muslims.

Opposition to oppression and persecution must cut across religious lines. The oppressors must be opposed at all costs. It does not matter who is the oppressor and who is the oppressed. Muslims must fight the oppressing Muslims even if those oppressed are not of the Islamic faith. This is something the IKIM article did not mention.

Most importantly though, what the IKIM article did not mention is that jihad has nothing to do with war. There are many renowned Muslim scholars who disagree that jihad means war. Others would argue that there are two forms of jihad, one being war. Then, of course, there are those who equate jihad to war. Which of the three schools of thought is correct is up to one’s interpretation of Islam. The jury is still out on which is the correct interpretation. And rest assured that there are many interpretations of Islam and everyone believes that his or her interpretation is correct while the others are all wrong.

This not only holds true for Islam. All religions suffer from this and that is why we have many sects in most religions. And the different sects of the same religion would solve their differences by going to war and by killing each other. And, until today, the wars are still going on and millions die just because they have interpreted their holy book differently.

Anyway, the jihad that I am talking about -- which many scholars view as the correct interpretation and which IKIM did not elaborate -- is the ‘war’ against oneself. “Get thee behind me Satan,” some would say. The three ‘religions of the book’ believe that when Satan was evicted from Heaven, he made a ‘deal’ with God that he would mislead mankind to prove that humans, who are made from clay, are weak compared to Satan, who is made from fire. God agreed and challenged Satan to do his worst.

Since that day on, Satan has been attempting to inflict mankind with the ‘disease’ of greed, lust, vanity, jealousy, and much more. And this is the greatest penyakit (sickness) facing mankind. And God wants mankind to fight all forms of temptation that lurk in our heart.

Bearing arms in defence of God, King and Country is easy. Defending your life, family and property is also not that difficult when push comes to shove. But fighting against oneself is the true test of the pudding. We all have egos. We all feel lust. We all suffer from greed. Everyone is vain to a certain extent. And who does not get jealous? In some countries, crimes of passion are not a crime since it is very difficult to fight emotions, in particular jealousy.

So the greatest jihad is the war against your own heart. Some say that this is the only ‘war’ while others says that this is the greater jihad and armed conflict the smaller jihad. Nevertheless, this is the most difficult jihad and many lose this war, miserably.

Just look at what is going on in Malaysia. Just look at all those mosque-going, church-going and temple-going Malaysians. Many ‘religious’ people are the most corrupt. Rape, murder, corruption, abuse of power, oppression, persecution, etc., are committed by not only those who profess a religion but also by those who practice their religion to a fault (in particular leaders in government cum heads of religion). But some of these people are the worst people on the face of this earth. And the perfect gentleman appears to be those atheists and agnostics who are good because they are good at heart and not because they want to go to Heaven -- in fact they do not even believe that there is a Heaven and Hell.

IKIM must stress that jihad is your personal war. It is a war against your own heart. It is a war to resist all forms of temptation. It is a war to evict ego, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, vanity and all forms of diseases of the heart. It is a war very few win. It is a war that even the most religious Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. fall victim to in the battle against Satan.

The new de facto Minister of Law has many enemies, especially in Umno. His critics call him a drunk and an apostate (at least they don’t call him a womeniser, as what most Umno people are). But then I too have been accused by Umno people of the same ‘crime’; so it is no surprise. When Malays want to discredit you, they use these arguments against you. But Zaid is more Islamic than most Malays. At least Zaid opposes ‘un-Islamic’ laws, which most Malays support and defend as necessary.

Syeds are supposed to be descendants of the Prophet -- at least this is what Malays believe. But Syed Hamid Albar says that the ISA shall stay while the ‘drunkard apostate’ Minister is opposed to it. Who is more Islamic? Who is the better follower of Islamic teachings? Give me a ‘dunk apostate’ over the ‘Prophet’s descendant’ anytime. They are certainly better people.

This was what The Sun reported yesterday:

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim says he finds the Internal Security Act (ISA), which has been regarded as draconian by the Opposition and the legal fraternity, unacceptable.

"I am against any unjust and harsh law, and ISA and OSA (Official Secrets Act) are unacceptable to me," the de facto law minister said of his stand on the two Acts during an interview with Nanyang Siang Pau.

"In fact, I have stated my stand (on these laws) in my books," he said.

Umno’s really losing the plot

2008-05-01T01:34:00.002-07:00

They decided that the only way to grab back Selangor and ensure that Selangor remains in Malay hands would be to isolate the non-Malays. And this would be done by kicking out Kuala Lumpur from Selangor and then by creating a new ‘Malay city’ called Shah Alam.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I have been attending quite a few Umno brainstorm sessions, organised for the specific purpose of conducting a postmortem on the 8 March 2008 general elections. Of course, not all were open forums like the Hotel Singgahsana and Holiday Villa ones. Many were closed-door sessions. Nevertheless, there is no such thing as ‘closed-door’ to Malaysia Today. We not only have our tentacles in the meeting rooms and boardrooms but in the bedrooms as well.

For example, one closed-door session chaired by Muhammad son of Muhammad, the ‘expired’ politician who managed to convince an Australian court that he speekee no Ingleesh, and handpicked by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to head the ‘Grab Back Selangor from the Opposition’ campaign, came to the conclusion that Malaysia Today was a contributing factor in Barisan Nasional’s disastrous performance.

And what should they do about it? The Vice-Youth Chief of Umno PJ Utara came out with the perfect solution. “Arrest Raja Petra!” suggested the sorry excuse for a Melayu Baru. Yes, why are the Chinese making so much noise about the high Malay and low non-Malay quota in local universities? Can’t the non-Malays see that education is wasted on the Malays? The more you educate the Malays, the more stupid they become. The Melayu Lama like Tun Ghaffar Baba, who only received a Standard Six education, have proven to be cleverer than these Melayu Baru. It is better that the Chinese and Indians are denied places in local universities than they become stupid like the ‘educated’ Malays -- especially if they receive an education in universities headed by BTN operatives like Nordin Kardi.

And why do these ‘highly-educated’ Umno people want me arrested? Because the voters exercised their democratic right in a general election. It seems it is a crime for the voters to vote for any other than Umno and Barisan Nasional. Why then hold the elections? Why not Umno and Barisan Nasional just abolish the elections and the government rule perpetually? Then no crime can be committed because no one would then be able to vote and therefore they will not be able to vote against Umno and Barisan Nasional.

Has it not occurred to these Melayu Baru that not only is voting your right but voting for whomsoever you like is also your right? There has been no crime committed here. So why must I be arrested when what the voters did was merely to exercise their democratic right as enshrined in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia? Read the Constitution properly. It says that elections will be held after three years and before five years from the last election and all eligible citizens may register as voters and exercise their right to vote. It does not say anywhere in the Constitution that the voters must vote for Umno or Barisan Nasional.

As I said, education is wasted on these Melayu Baru from Umno and the Chinese and Indians should thank Umno for the biased New Economic Policy and the manipulation of racial quotas in local universities. I, for one, do not wish for my children or grandchildren to receive a local university education if the end product would be graduates with the narrow and outdated mentality the likes of these Umno Melayu Baru.

Anyway, back to the Umno brainstorm sessions I attended. The latest one was yesterday at the Holiday Villa in Subang and the guest of honour was Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (see photographs here ). First of all, Muhammad son of Muhammad instructed the Umno branch and division heads and committee members to boycott the event, so the hall was not full in spite of it being quite a small hall (they actually announced this in the gathering). Most of the key people were absent save for those such as Tamrin Ghaffar, Mazlan Harun, Fahmi Ibrahim, Kadar Shah, etc. -- who most of you have probably never heard of. I would not go so far as to classify them as ‘expired goods’ but they would certainly not be in the same league as the powerbrokers, kingpins and warlords.

The theme of the entire session was that the Malays have lost political power. In 2004 there were 119 Malay Members of Parliament if the number of seats that Umno and PAS won are combined. This time around the number of Malay Parliamentarians were reduced to 101. They very cleverly left out the 20 Malay Members of Parliament from PKR which would bring the 2008 total to 121, which is higher than in 2004.

Maybe Umno considers PAS a Malay party. Therefore the 23 PAS Parliamentarians are included in the head count -- while PKR is considered a Chinese-Indian party so the 20 Malay Parliamentarians from PKR are considered ‘non-Malays’. Anyway, the bottom-line is: there was an increase in Malay Members of Parliament this time around, so this ‘Malays have lost their political power’ argument is an outright lie. The figures speak for themselves. We have more Malay Parliamentarians now than in 2004. Period.

But does it really matter what race these Members of Parliament are? What is important is that they do their job, serve the people, and run this country well. I would rather have a sincere, dedicated, honest, hardworking, and God-fearing Chinese, Indian, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist Wakil Rakyat than a slimeball, scumbag, crooked, hypocritical, manipulative, Malay-Muslim whose sole purpose in life is to cheat, rob, rape, plunder and murder people who get in their way and interfere with their plans. And is this not what we have witnessed over 50 years, in particular the last 40 years or so since they ousted the perfect Malay gentleman called Tunku Abdul Rahman?

While on the subject of the Tunku, allow me to talk about what was revealed at yesterday’s session in Holiday Villa. Other than Tengku Razaleigh, who read out his speech from a prepared text, the other two speakers were Mazlan Harun and Fahmi Ibrahim. Mazlan is the son of the infamous Datuk Harun Idris, the engineer and architect of the equally infamous ‘May 13’ race riots in 1969. Fahmi Ibrahim was Datuk Harun’s political secretary.

The MC had a very strange way of introducing Tengku Razaleigh. The MC, who spoke too much and spoke more than what he should, introduced Tengku Razaleigh as a very short man and short men, said the MC, are known to be very smart. Now, what has a man’s height got to do with how smart he is? Next, the MC said that Tengku Razaleigh may be considered too old at 71, but that does not mean he still does not have a few good years left in him.

I was beginning to wonder whether the MC was trying to promote Tengku Razaleigh or whether Muhammad son of Muhammad had slipped him a few Australian Dollars with instructions to sabotage the event by running down Tengku Razaleigh.

Fahmi Ibrahim then spoke about how the Malays once lost political power in 1969 and Tun Razak, who had ousted the Tunku and had taken over as Prime Minister, summoned Datuk Harun and told him to come out with a plan on how the Malays can grab back political power and prevent this fiasco ever happening again.

They decided that the only way to grab back Selangor and ensure that Selangor remains in Malay hands would be to isolate the non-Malays. And this would be done by kicking out Kuala Lumpur from Selangor and then by creating a new ‘Malay city’ called Shah Alam. They sat down to redraw the Kuala Lumpur boundary and two weeks later they submitted the new Kuala Lumpur master plan to Tun Razak.

The federal government then annexed Kuala Lumpur and in the same process the non-Malays were ‘kicked out’ of Selangor. Shah Alam was then developed and flooded with Malays to dilute whatever non-Malays left in Selangor. In fact, constituencies like Bangsar-Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur, which had a majority Chinese-Indian population and which the opposition always won, were also diluted when Malay areas like Pantai, Sungai Pancala (near Kepong), Segambut Dalam (near Jalan Ipoh) and Kampong Pasir (in Old Kelang Road), were merged with Bangsar-Brickfields to become Lembah Pantai.

But now, lamented Fahmi Ibrahim, the Malays are also voting opposition, so these ‘Malay-majority’ areas have fallen to the opposition. This plan works well when the non-Malays vote opposition while the Malays vote government. But when the Malays also vote opposition then the result would be like what we saw on 8 March 2008.

The Umno ‘masterminds’ appear lost. They faced this same problem in 1969 and they solved it then by redrawing the constituencies so that there would be no non-Malay majority areas. And where they can’t do much, like in Kuala Lumpur, they then remove Kuala Lumpur from Selangor. Selangor would then remain in Malay hands while Kuala Lumpur, which will fall into the hands of the non-Malays, can still be controlled through Dewan Bandaraya, the Datuk Bandar, the Minister of Federal Territory, etc. This means, even if all the seats in Kuala Lumpur fall to the opposition, the government will still be able to retain control -- like what is happening now even though 10 out of 11 seats are under opposition control.

Another revelation of Fahmi Ibrahim was that the late Agong, who was then the Sultan of Selangor, cried as he signed over Kuala Lumpur to the federal government. This is actually true and most Malaysians saw this live on TV. The Sultan was terribly unhappy at having to hand over a big chunk of very valuable Selangor territory to the federal government. But there was really nothing much His Majesty could do. The federal government of Tun Razak and the Selangor State Government of Datuk Harun wanted to get rid of Kuala Lumpur so that Selangor could be ‘saved’. Almost 40 years on and they have discovered, much to their horror, that this plan worked for only one generation. One generation later and this senjata sudah makan tuan.

So, now, they are conducting postmortems all over the country to figure out what went wrong. But what they are saying gives an impression that they do not yet have their fingers on the pulse. They are going around in circles like headless chickens trying to figure out what to do. And they keep reflecting on May 1969 when, according to them, the same thing happened. But they had solved the problem in 1969. How come, now, the problem has cropped up again, after almost 40 years or one generation?

Yes, that is how Umno does its postmortems and how it is taking corrective measures to restore the ‘lost Malay political power’. And Hishammuddin Hussein ‘apologises’ that the Chinese misunderstood his keris drama when he was only demonstrating ‘Malay culture’ and which the Chinese should get used to because it may happen again in December this year. And Umno talks about how to grab back the 'Malay states lost to Chinese hands' like how it happened once before in 1969. And Umno tries to sabotage the five opposition-led state governments by squeezing their finances so that the states can be brought to the brink of bankruptcy.

Yes, the more Umno talks, the more damage they create. And the more Umno steals the fives states’ money, the deeper the hole becomes with which we can bury Umno for eternity. Keep talking, Umno. Keep sabotaging the five states. But don’t forget to also look out the window at the very severe economic Tsunami, the extremely high inflation, and the serious food shortage that is coming fast to our shores. By the time Umno wakes up it will be like the morning after Boxing Day when the Tsunami hit this region. There will be nothing left to save amongst those thousands of bodies floating in the flooded fields and rivers. By then it will not matter who is running this country because there may not be any country left to run. And when that happens, the new four-letter word on every Malaysian’s lips will be U-M-N-O.

Spin machine spinning out of control

2008-05-01T01:34:00.001-07:00

The Agong is not the only victim of this spin machine. There is a book called ‘100 DALIL MENGAPA NAJIB TAK BOLEH JADI PM’ that Malaysia Today has received from an anonymous source.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

‘Malaysia’s Exim Bank: A Morass of Bad Loans’ said Asia Sentinel, an online newspaper. The Asia Sentinel report went on to say:

Bank Negara sits on a report that a government-owned bank has lost millions on loans to politicians and royalty

An explosive auditor’s report on the government-owned Malaysia Export-Import Bank that details tens of millions of dollars in politically tinged nonperforming loans and possible illegalities has been hidden away in a central bank file for more than four years without being acted upon.

The report, by auditors from Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, probes borrowers closely tied to the United Malays National Organisation, the leading party in the country’s ruling coalition, as well as companies tied to the Sultan of Terengganu, the current Malaysian king. The report into the bank’s lending activities details inadequate risk management on projects amounting to RM116 million (US$37 million).

Among other shortcomings, according to the Bank Negara report, was a RM13 million (US$4.13 million at today’s exchange rate) loan to companies related to BTM Resources Group Bhd ‑ Besut Tsuda Wood Products Sdn Bhd, Besut Tsuda Industries Sdn Bhd and Gimzan Plywood Sdn Bhd. The name of Besut Tsuda Wood was earlier changed from Mizan Timber Industries Sdn Bhd to BTM Timber Industries Sdn Bhd.

Mizan Zainal Abidin is the name of the current Malaysian king. Sources within the Exim Bank and other Malaysian financial industry sources say the group is headed by Mizan, who is also the Sultan of Terengganu.

Besut Tsuda Wood Products, according to the Bank Negara audit report, “suffered repeated losses, tight liquidity and was technically insolvent" and "appeared less efficient than the market because its competitors were making profit despite lower sales." The report described the firm as a "loss making company, (that) resulted to declining shareholders funds."

(http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1162&Itemid=32 )

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The Asia Sentinel report certainly looks bad for Malaysia’s Agong if you do not know the real story behind this whole thing. It makes one wonder who is behind this ‘leaked information’ and whether it was done to intentionally embarrass the Agong as punishment for throwing a spanner in the works. Last month, the Agong rejected Umno’s choice of Terengganu Menteri Besar and it is an open secret that His Majesty’s displeasure resulted from the siphoning out of RM1 billion a year in oil royalty since 2000.

It all started in November 1999 when the opposition kicked Umno out of Terengganu. A few months later, the federal government cancelled the 5% oil royalty that the state had been enjoying for more than two decades. They then handed the money over to Idris Jusoh, the Umno state chief, to manage. To circumvent the law, they reclassified the oil royalty as wang ehsan.

In the first place, Terengganu should have been allowed to retain 100% of the oil revenue under the terms of the Federation Agreement which stipulates that all state resources belong to the state. However, in 1974, they passed the Petroleum Development Act, which allowed the federal government to ‘rampas’ the state’s oil resources and nationalise it. This in itself was a breach of the Federation Agreement. The federal government then gave back 5% of this revenue to the state in the form of ‘royalty’. But in 2000 even this was rampas from the state when it fell to the opposition.

The misappropriation of this wang ehsan and how Idris Jusoh, Patrick Lim, Wan Farid, and their friends in Umno, siphoned out the money through various projects such as the Monsoon Cup is well-documented and has been discussed in great length in this same column so we do not need to repeat the details here. Suffice to say that The Agong saw more than RM7 billion of Terengganu’s money, from more than RM150 billion that the federal government pumped out of the ground since 2000, disappear and His Majesty decided that enough is enough.

The new Menteri Besar, who was handpicked by His Majesty, has now demanded that the RM1 billion a year be paid direct to the state and that it should no longer be handed over Idris Jusoh, Patrick Lim, Wan Farid, and his gang of thieves. And this has upset Umno who now wants to hit back at The Agong. And this was why the ‘secret’ about the EXIM Bank was leaked. Of course, those who do not know what is going on behind the scenes would quickly jump to the conclusion that The Agong is a slimeball just like all those others who have been robbing this country blind. But there is certainly more than meets the eye as far as this case is concerned.

Mizan Sawmill was a company set up more than 35 years ago by the then Menteri Besar, Wan Mokhtar Ahmad, and his business partners, Dato Yong, Dato Azhar and Dato Yusoff. Dato Yong was a gangster who had been banished to Terengganu under the Prevention of Crime Ordinance (PCO). Dato Azhar later became the Terengganu State Secretary while Dato Yusof was the then Sultan of Terengganu’s Private Secretary. The Sultan then was the present Agong’s grandfather.

The present Agong was still in primary school and not at all involved in the business of these very notorious plunderers infamously known as ‘The Gang of Four’. Even back then the Terengganu Malay Chamber of Commerce was very upset with how ‘The Gang of Four’ raped and plundered the state’s resources but no one could do anything about it since the four were the Menteri Besar, a Chinese gangster, the State Secretary and the Sultan’s Private Secretary.

About 25 years ago, the Terengganu Malay Chambers of Commerce raised the matter with the Parliament Back Benchers’ Club (BBC) Chairman, Shahidan Kassim, who then brought it to the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister, Ghaffar Baba. There was a huge brouhaha, which made the front pages of the mainstream newspapers, in particular the Malay language newspapers, but because of the Constitutional Crisis that had just blown up, they decided to play up the issue and slant it as if it was the Sultan himself who was behind all this.

Mizan Sawmill then applied for huge tracts of forestry land in the Kenyir Lake under the guise of ‘tourism’ project. But what they really wanted to do was to cut down the trees, not to embark on any tourism project, and no one dared take any action to stop them, mainly because of the powerful people behind the company. This upset many members of the Terengganu Royal Family, the present Agong included, but then Umno and not the palace called the shots -- and in the 1980s, at the height of the Constituational Crisis, who dared challenge Umno? Even the palace kept mum lest they incur the wrath of the Umno warlords and kingpins.

Besut Tsuda, the company that was mentioned in the Asia Sentinel report, was a joint venture between Japanese interests and the Terengganu State Economic Development Corporation (SEC). This was set up about 35 years ago and was the cashcow to siphon out money to fill up Umno’s war chest. The head of Besut Tsuda was an Umno man appointed by the Menteri Besar. Besut Tsuda and Mizan were two separate entities. Besut Tsuda was for purposes of financing Umno Terengganu while Mizan was for the personal coffers of the Umno Menteri Besar of Terengganu.

Both these companies that were set up 35 years ago by those who walk in the Terengganu corridors of power when the Agong was still in primary school are now being linked to The Agong. This is clearly a spin machine that is spinning out of control. Maybe they think that this ‘revelation’ will frighten The Agong and will probably make His Majesty ease up on the demand that the RM1 billion a year wang ehsan be taken back from Umno and handed over to the state as what had been decided by Parliament in 1974.

The Agong is not the only victim of this spin machine. There is a book called ‘100 DALIL MENGAPA NAJIB TAK BOLEH JADI PM’ that Malaysia Today has received from an anonymous source. Of course, the party that gave us this book wants Malaysia Today to publish it, maybe a dalil a day for 100 days. We are still studying the contents of this book to assess whether the 100 dalils are mere innuendoes and insinuations or are really points of substance. No, contrary to what the government says, Malaysia Today does not publish innuendoes and insinuations.

Those close to the Deputy Prime Minister are not being spared either. Malaysia Today was given the name of the ex-Minister who has been accused of molesting the cigar girl in the Havana Club in a five-start hotel in KL Sentral. Malaysia Today’s initial investigation points to a smearing campaign aimed at bringing down all those close to the Deputy Prime Minister and it seems the incident has been denied by the girl concerned.

On Sunday, Najib sealed a secret pact with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Yes, Najib has thrown his forces behind Abdullah and has sworn to sink or swim with his boss. This has riled the Team B forces and they now want Najib and his boys brought down as fast as possible so that Abdullah can be isolated and brought down as well in due time. And this is probably the reason for the smear campaign that suddenly intensified the last few days.

Hmm…everyone is trying to bring down everyone so maybe we should just sit back and watch who is going to be the last man standing. Then, maybe, we can leisurely stroll in and pick up the pieces, if there is anything left to pick up after this.

Cheated not once, but thrice

2008-04-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Tun Razak also said he wants Tengku Razaleigh as the number two. Tun Razak had great confidence in his disciple, Tengku Razaleigh, because this Prince from Kelantan was practically the architect and engineer of Malaysia’s economic program.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Najib pledges loyalty as Abdullah names him as successor
The Straits Times, 8 April 2008

DEPUTY Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday thanked Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi for backing him as his political successor and promised to stay loyal. The endorsement by Datuk Seri Abdullah was made on Sunday as he launched attacks against his political foes and answered questions about their relationship after the shock results of the March 8 general election.

Speaking at a closed-door briefing for about 1,000 Umno chiefs and grassroots leaders on Sunday, PM Abdullah said there had never been any problems between him and Datuk Seri Najib. 'I assure you there are no problems between us, and he is the one who will be succeeding me,' the 68-year-old Premier said. He did not say when he would step down, the New Straits Times reported yesterday. 'I will know when to go, but give me a chance to implement what I have promised,' he said.

He repeated the remarks while in Sabah yesterday, telling reporters that he would not stay longer than he should as premier. 'I would retire one day but I could not leave in this kind of political scenario. I will retire one day, of course. I'm not going to stay longer than I should. But there are certain things that I would like to do now. I cannot leave at a time when the party is in this condition. I cannot leave at a time when we are preparing for the implementation of development projects. We have already promised the people. We will do it. I'm not going to stay on for years. Certainly not,' he said.

He was responding to a question on whether he had a date in mind for his retirement since he had named Datuk Seri Najib, 54, as his successor. Datuk Seri Najib, reacting to the Prime Minister's comments on Sunday, said he valued the trust and confidence of Datuk Seri Abdullah. 'I am thankful and touched by the Prime Minister's trust and confidence in me,' he told reporters.

He said Datuk Seri Abdullah had told him about the succession plan in front of a few senior officials, but Sunday's comments were the first time the issue had been made known to many people. 'I appreciate very much the Prime Minister's trust in me and I will honour Abdullah's request to me to continue cooperating with him as the Prime Minister,' Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

The succession issue was aired at a time when former premier Mahathir Mohamad and veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah have been asking for Datuk Seri Abdullah to step down. Former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh is offering himself as Datuk Seri Abdullah's replacement.

The Prime Minister on Sunday lashed out at both his predecessor as well as Tengku Razaleigh. Among other things, Datuk Seri Abdullah said Tun Dr Mahathir had eroded public confidence in the judiciary, especially by sacking the No. 1 judge in 1988, Tun Salleh Abas. He also said the former premier had maintained a tight grip over the media, instructing the press to black out news of his opponents, and launched a crackdown in 1988 which saw the detention of 106 people, including politicians, under the Internal Security Act. Turning to Tengku Razaleigh, the Prime Minister said the former finance minister was responsible for Umno losing Kelantan in 1996.

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That was what The Straits Times (Singapore) reported this morning, which was similarly reported by all the Malaysian mainstream newspapers. Finally Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is fighting back. And this will certainly make the next eight months very interesting indeed, at least as far as the political scenario is concerned -- though we can’t say the same for the economic scenario, which will for sure react to these uncertainties in a most negative manner.

It is worth noting, and maybe to dissect as well, what Abdullah uttered at that so-called Sunday gathering with 1,000 Umno members at the PWTC. We will talk more about that Sunday ‘gathering’, maybe in another piece, and reveal the gathering that never was. Yes, there was no gathering as such. What it was, basically, was a show with many ‘props’ or ‘extras’, as they say in the movie business, to give an impression of a large crowd. But, as I said, we shall touch on that later once we get the full report from our ‘deep throat’ in Umno.

First of all, Abdullah talks about Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah losing Kelantan in 1996. 1996? Why 1996? Anyway, before we talk about that, let us take a step back and trace the steps that led to this so-called 1996 when Tengku Razaleigh lost Kelantan.

Umno (lama) was deregistered in 1988 and a new party called Umno Baru was created to replace it. Tengku Razaleigh plus the entire ‘Team B’ gang, Abdullah included, were not invited to join the new Umno. Now, let us take a step even further back. Why was Tengku Razaleigh and his Team B, Abdullah included, not invited to join Umno Baru?

The whole drama actually started a few years before 1998. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (then only ‘Datuk Seri’) had just taken over as the new Prime Minister after successfully pressuring Tun Hussein Onn into resigning. But Mahathir refused to appoint a Deputy Prime Minister and instead left it to the party to decide, in ‘true democratic fashion’, whom it wanted as its number two.

The result was a head-on clash between Tengku Razaleigh and Musa Hitam for what was, at that time, a vacant post. Mahathir then dropped hints that he needs a number two whom he can work with and Musa appears to be the candidate he can work with. Although Tengku Razaleigh was clearly the favourite of the Umno delegates, that ‘signal’ from Mahathir helped swing the votes over to Musa.

So it was not really a ‘let the members decide in true democratic fashion’ sort of situation. It was an appearance of that and some ‘pulling’ behind the scenes to help influence the result. And so Musa won instead of Tengku Razaleigh.

Invariably, Tengku Razaleigh felt cheated. No doubt it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative to choose his number two. But Tengku Razaleigh felt that Mahathir ‘owed’ him the post. And, to understand this, we have to take yet another step back to the time when Tun Razak was on his deathbed in a private London hospital.

Tun Razak knew he had to ensure that there would be a smooth succession once he was gone so he explicitly anointed Hussein Onn as his successor. He also said he wants Tengku Razaleigh as the number two. Tun Razak had great confidence in his disciple, Tengku Razaleigh, because this Prince from Kelantan was practically the architect and engineer of Malaysia’s economic program. Felda, Petronas, Bank Bumiputera, Bank Pambangunan, UIA, and many more, were the brainchild of Tengku Razaleigh. In fact, the PSA that Petronas made Exxon sign is, today, the model that all oil-producing countries use as the basis of their contract with oil exploration companies.

In that sense, Malaysia led the way in the oil industry and Tengku Razaleigh was the man who started it all. Many may also not even realise that Tengku Razaleigh owns the land that the PWTC-Umno headquarters sits on. He donated the land to the party and undertook the construction of the building, plus fully-furnished it, at no cost to Umno.

When Tun Razak died, Hussein Onn took over but he refused to follow Tun Razak’s advice on number two and instead wanted to choose Ghazali Shafie. When Ghaffar Baba, Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh found out, the three of them confronted Hussein and made him choose from amongst one of them, all Vice Presidents of Umno.

Ghaffar Baba, who did not possess the basic educational qualifications, was out -- so it had to be either Mahathir or Tengku Razaleigh. But Ghazali bitterly opposed the idea of Mahathir becoming number two as he considered the latter a communist, anti-royalist republican. In fact, Ghazali had been trying to pin something on Mahathir for some time. Ghazali even detained Syed Hussin Ali under the ISA so that he could be ‘persuaded’ to squeal on Mahathir. Instead of ‘confessing’ that Mahathir was his communist boss, Syed Hussin chose to spend the next seven years in the Kamunting Detention Centre.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was also opposed to Mahathir. The Tunku said that the day Mahathir becomes Prime Minister would be the day that Umno will be destroyed. The Tunku went to his grave a mortal enemy of Mahathir and he never joined Umno Baru but died a member of the opposition Semangat 46.

Taking this cue, Hussein wanted Tengku Razaleigh as his number two but the Kelantan Prince politely turned down the offer as, he explained, he still had so many things to do for the country. Tengku Razaleigh then proposed that Mahathir be appointed the number two and then, when Mahathir goes on to become Prime Minister, he will come in as Mahathir’s number two. By then he would be ready for the job.

Well, Mahathir did eventually go on to become Prime Minister but he did not appoint Tengku Razaleigh as his number two. Instead, he let the party decide. But because of the hint that he favoured Musa Hitam, the party decided to follow the Prime Minister’s ‘advice’ and Tengku Razaleigh lost out.

Three years later, Tengku Razaleigh decided to try a second time. But this time it was no longer a ‘race for a vacant post’. Musa was already the Deputy Prime Minister so it was cleverly ‘painted’ as Tengku Razaleigh trying to ‘topple’ the number two. Toppling is negative, so Tengku Razaleigh did not get the support and lost.

Musa then asked Mahathir to sack Tengku Razaleigh but the Old Man of Malaysian politics was too smart for that. Without Tengku Razaleigh around, Musa would become too powerful. If he retained Tengku Razaleigh, then Musa can be checked. It was basically a very clever divide-and rule, checks and balance game that Mahathir is so fond of playing and is very good at.

Mahathir did not sack Tengku Razaleigh as what Musa wanted. He just ‘demoted’ him from Finance Minister to Trade and Industry Minister. And this made Musa mad as hell. Musa eventually resigned in a huff and, instead of appointing Tengku Razaleigh as the replacement, Mahathir ‘recycled’ Ghaffar and appointed him the new Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia. And this time it was Tengku Razaleigh’s turn to become mad as hell.

Later on, Tengku Razaleigh invited Musa to his Gua Musang division meeting in Kelantan and, in his speech, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister announced that Tengku Razaleigh would be contesting against Mahathir while he will be doing the same against Ghaffar. Tengku Razaleigh, caught off-guard and clearly embarrassed, said nothing.

Musa then invited Tengku Razaleigh to his division meeting in Johor and the same stunt was repeated. Again Tengku Razaleigh said nothing. Either Tengku Razaleigh was ‘testing the market’ or Musa was trying to ‘batu api’ Tengku Razaleigh. Anyway, at the third division meeting organised by Manan Othman in Gong Kapas, Kuala Terengganu, Tengku Razaleigh responded when Musa announced that he would be going against Ghaffar while the Kelantan Prince will be challenging Mahathir.

The challenge eventually took place and both Tengku Razaleigh and Musa lost, though some say they won but were cheated of their win. Following that, Umno was deregistered when it was proven that one of the delegates to the assembly was an un-discharged bankrupt. Now, who was the man behind the move to get Umno deregistered and how did they do it? Well, maybe this posting from an Umno website can clear the air on that one:

Sebenarnya diketahui ramai dikalangan mereka yang terbabit dalam Parti Semangat 46 bahawa usaha menyaman UMNO adalah dirancang oleh Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi sendiri. Mesyuarat pertama untuk membincang usaha ini dilakukan di rumahnya di Jalan Medan Kapas, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Antara yang hadhir adalah Marina Yusof, Dato Radzi Shiekh Ahmad, Zawawi Zin, dan lain-lain.

Di dalam mesyaurat itu yang dihadhiri oleh mereka-mereka yang boleh digelar sebagai orang-orang Musa (Hitam) dan orang-orang Dolah, Abdullah sendiri yang membuat keputusan untuk menyaman UMNO di mahkamah dan dipersetujui oleh mereka yang hadhir. Berikutan mesyuarat pertama, mesyuarat kedua diadakan di rumah Puan Marina Yusof di Ampang Hilir.

Penggerak utama rancangan ini adalah mantan terbaru Setiausaha Agong UMNO, Radzi Sheikh Ahmad sendiri. Sepanjang penyediaan kes dan setiap hari perbicaraan, kesebelasan mereka yang menyaman UMNO berkumpul dan berbincang di rumah Radzi.

Mengikut sumber-sumber terdekat Tengku Razaleigh, Ku Li tidak dilibatkan langsung dan sedang berada di luar negara selama dua bulan semasa perancangan tersebut. (http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/2008/04/fikir-fikirkan-abdullah-perancang.html )

Okay, there you have it -- and from an Umno man himself. Following this deregistration of Umno, Tunku Abdul Rahman and Hussein Onn quickly submitted an application to register Umno Malaysia. When Ghaffar found out, he also quickly submitted an application to register Umno Baru -- though this took place three days later.

As can be expected, the Umno Malaysia registration was rejected on grounds that the Umno name ‘had already been taken’ -- although the Umno Baru application was submitted three days AFTER Umno Malaysia’s application. As they say, the rest is now history. Umno Baru took off and Tengku Razaleigh and his gang of merry men were persona non grata in the new party, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi included.

Not left with much of a choice, and since Umno Malaysia had been rejected and he and his boys and girls were not welcome in Umno Baru, Tengku Razaleigh was forced to form his own party. And he did and this party was called Parti Semangat 46. In the 1990 general election, Semangat 46 teamed up with DAP under Gagasan Rakyat in the west coast, with PAS under Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah in the east coast, and with PBS in Sabah.

And that was when Kelantan fell, in 1990, when they would not allow Tengku Razaleigh back into Umno and he had to form his own party and remain in the opposition. So what is this talk about Tengku Razaleigh losing Kelantan in 1996? If anyone is losing it, that would be Abdullah.

Now, on the judiciary issue -- which Abdullah accuses Mahathir of destroying. Okay, let us say he did. The new de facto Minister of Law, Zaid Ibrahim, proposed that the government apologise to Tun Salleh Abbas for the injustice done to him. At the first Cabinet meeting that Zaid attended, he was whacked good and proper and had to reverse his stand and explain that that was just his ‘personal opinion’. Barely a couple of weeks into his new job and Zaid was made to eat his words. But why? Had not Tun Salleh Abbas been treated unjustly (dizalimi)? If Mahathir did what they say he did then the government should and must apologise, not only to Tun Salleh, but to the entire nation.

Then there is the issue of the Lingam Tapes and the judge fixing scandal that Mahathir has been accused of being involved in. This would mean that the recently-retired Chief Justice is tainted and should have been allowed to retire when he was due for retirement even if he can’t be sacked.

But Abdullah would not allow him to retire even though almost the entire country was up in arms. Then the Bar Council organised a march from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister’s office and 2,000 people took part in that march to hand over a protest note to the Prime Minister. But still Abdullah wanted to extend the Chief Justice’s term of office.

Finally, the Agong had to intervene and when Abdullah told His Majesty that he would like to extend the Chief Justice’s term of office, His Majesty put his foot down and said that the people are not happy with the idea and therefore His Majesty can’t agree to it. However, just when we thought all had been resolved, Abdullah appoints Umno’s lawyer to the post of President of the Court of Appeal -- whereby that puts him next inline as the Chief Justice of Malaysia. Umno’s lawyer as Chief Justice? And is Mahathir now to be blamed for this as well?

Let’s make one thing very clear. This is not a Mahathir-apology piece. Sure, he has done much of what they say he has done, plus probably more. What we want to focus on is the wrongdoings of this present administration, which they are conveniently trying to blame Mahathir for in an attempt to throw us off the scent.

Anyway, let us stop here for now though there is much to talk about. Maybe we can continue this later. Oh, by the way, before I leave, can you see how cleverly Abdullah names Najib as his successor so that we all throw up our arms and say, “What the hell, if Najib is next inline, then we had better just keep Abdullah around. He may not be the best, but at least he is not as bad as Najib.”

And we all assume Abdullah is not playing with a full deck of cards. Actually he is cleverer than many of us give him credit for.

Like Siamese twins

2008-04-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

It is like two people in a lifeboat. The ship has sunk and you and your enemy both end up in the same lifeboat. You would like to throw your enemy over the side, especially, in the first place, since it is his fault that the ship sank. But then the lifeboat needs two people to row to reach dry land.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My first face-to-face experience with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was soon after he became Prime Minister. That was about 26 years or so ago and Anwar Ibrahim had just joined Umno and had hardly one year under his belt as a Member of Parliament.

I must admit my ‘relationship’ with Mahathir can be classified as love-hate. By then I was already ‘moving’ with PAS so Mahathir would have to be considered ‘the enemy’. But he was also Prime Minister. So while I may have ‘rejected’ him as the Umno President, I still had to give him due respect as the Prime Minister. That was how I had been ‘indoctrinated’ from young.

This was probably the ‘Malay palace protocol’ acting up on me. Malays are indoctrinated with the dogma that authority must be respected, regardless of whether the authority is just or cruel. That is why for generations Malays looked up to Hang Tuah as the hero and Hang Jebat as the villain. Of course, much of that has now changed, especially since the internet and globalisation has shrunk the world to one small borderless village. But it was not until quite recent, say 25 years or so ago, when leaders like Musa Hitam declared that Malays must now become kurang ajar before they dared face an unjust authority with defiance.

If I had said what Musa said I would have been showered with verbal diarrhoea. But because it was the Deputy Prime Minister who made this statement, then it has to be the gospel and nothing short of that. Musa, however, did not clarify what he meant by kurang ajar or whether he meant this literally or metaphorically speaking.

Kurang ajar is something Malays can never tolerate. The May 13 disaster, though many believe was the result of the ruling party losing some states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament in the 11 May 1969 general election, was actually because of what happened on 12 May rather than 11 May.

On 12 May, a group of Chinese and Indians paraded in convoys in the predominantly Malay sections of Kuala Lumpur and started taunting the Malays. It was bad enough the Malays felt that the Chinese and Indians had defeated them and had ‘taken over Malay territory’. But to add insult to injury by calling the Malays names and then shouting at the Malays to get out of Kuala Lumpur and go back to the kampongs because Kuala Lumpur is now owned by the Chinese and Indians was pushing it a bit too far.

The Malays decided to balas dendam (get revenge) and a counter-parade was planned for the following day. The rest, as they say, is now history and water under the bridge. There is probably not a single Malaysian who does not know what happened the following day on 13 May 1969 so I really need not go on further.

As much as many may believe that May 13 was the result of the bad performance of the Alliance Party in the 11 May 1969 general election, the truth of the matter is the Malays were outraged by the insults from the Chinese and Indians on 12 May 1969. No doubt the Malays were still in shock. But the shock of the 11 May 1969 humiliation was overshadowed by the insults of 12 May 1969. And that was the main reason for the following day’s retaliation, though of course there are other ‘hidden’ reasons, which I have already talked about at great length in the past and do not really need to repeat here.

The Malays are not really that poor a sport. Sure, Malays understand defeat and can accept defeat just like any other race. But what Malays can’t accept, which probably differentiates Malays from other races, are insults. You insult a Malay and he will run amok. And is not amok a Malay word that is not found in any other language?

Anyway, enough digressing. Allow me to get back to the subject of my first face-to-face with Mahathir. This was a meeting cum dinner held at the Equatorial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Mahathir was the host and the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce were the guests.

It was a Chinese dinner, a normal table for ten, but each table was marked with five Malay Chamber members and five Chinese Chamber members and we had to sit selang-seli (alternate). It was not free seating and we had to sit where we had been slotted to sit. So each Chinese ended up with Malays on his left and right and vice versa for the Malays. This was to ensure that the Malays do not all sit on one table or bunch up on one side of the table, the same for the Chinese of course. It never occurred to me, then, that the Indians were not included in this whole thing. Or could it be because the Indians were not as organised as the Malays and Chinese and the government did not know which Indian business grouping to contact?

Mahathir, who was Prime Minister for only a year or so, kicked off by saying that the New Economic Policy was already more than halfway through. As we had promised the non-Malays, said Mahahir, the NEP must end in 1990 as scheduled. It would be unfair and a breach of ‘agreement’ to extend the NEP beyond 1990. So the Malays must be prepared to see it end, come eight years or so. Mahathir then whacked the Malays and the bad attitude they had, right there and then, in front of the Chinese. But then he is the Prime Minister and he could get away with something like that.

Mahathir then turned to the Chinese. It is the moral duty of the Chinese to help the Malays, argued Mahathir. The Malays can’t be left to die. The Malays are the majority race in Malaysia and any race that is unhappy is not good for the peace and stability of the nation, especially if they form the majority race in that country.

Mahathir then insulted the Malays further. Malays like to spend money, said Mahathir. If they have money they spend. Even if they don’t have money they will still spend and end up heavily in debt. So what is wrong if the Chinese help the Malays become rich? Invariably, the Malays will spend all their money and it will be spent in Chinese shops since it is the Chinese and not Malays who own all these shops.

Therefore, said Mahathir, in his usual Mahanomics manner, rich Malays would ensure that the Chinese become even richer -- because at the end of the day the Malays would spend all their money and it would end up in the pockets of the Chinese.

Hmm….this does not say much for the Malays. And they were being insulted in front of the Chinese. In short, Mahathir was telling the Chinese to help make the Malays ‘fat’ so that the Chinese can ‘slaughter’ the Malays later. And does it not make sense that you fatten the animal before slaughtering it?

As I said, Mahathir was ‘the enemy’. I was PAS and he was Umno. But he is still my Prime Minister. So I gave him due respect because he was Prime Minister and not because he was my party President. And I listened to what the Prime Minister said. That would be very hard for many to reconcile, especially if you are non-Malay. ‘Old’ Chinese culture would be, if you oppose the Emperor, then not only you but your entire family for seven levels would be put to death -- wife, children, parents, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, in-laws, cousins, second-cousins, third-cousins, cousins-in-law, plus your chickens, pigs, dogs and cats included.

My next meeting was a private meeting in his office. I was there to suggest that Mahathir abandon the Bakun hydro power plant and instead embark upon a gas powered one. This would certainly save much valuable forest. Furthermore, Malaysia has ample gas so it would not be that costly to run -- plus gas turbine plants would be cheaper to build than a hydro plant.

I could see from the look on Mahathir’s face that he was not too pleased with my unsolicited advice. He mumbled something about water costs nothing and you never run out of water like you would gas -- so in the long run a hydro plant is better and cheaper. I may not be that smart but I was smart enough to know when to drop the subject and we moved on to talk about the weather and all such mundane stuff.

The third meeting was a closed-door session to discuss what to do with the Malays. This was at the height of the 1985-1987 recession when Malays, Chinese and Indians were losing their pants due to the worldwide economic downturn. Our mission was to explore how to solve the ‘new Malay dilemma’.

The Chinese are in worse trouble than the Malays, argued Mahathir. But the Chinese sort out their problems on their own. They do not come running to the government. The Malays, however, throw the problem to the government and expect the government to bail them out. Maybe we should just allow the weak Malays to die so that the strong can survive.

We reminded Mahathir that this is not just about race or the economy. The backbone of Umno are the Malays. If Umno allows the Malays to die, then Umno too would die. The Malays would abandon Umno and would swing to the opposition. So this is not just about helping the Malays ride out the bad economic patch. This is also about ensuring that Umno would remain in power. I was PAS so why the hell do I care if Umno dies? Would that not be better for PAS? No, not from where I was sitting. An Umno in trouble would mean the country in trouble, at least until one day when an alternative to Umno emerges.

Mahathir sighed and asked why can’t the Malays be like the Chinese. We knew the answer to that one but did not think Mahathir would like to hear it. So we just kept quiet. Mahathir gave us an ‘aiyah’ look and said, “Okaylah, I will set up a Tabung Pemulihan Usahawan (TPU) and will put aside RM500 million for it.”

RM500 million is not enough. We want RM1 billion. “Aiyah, if I give you RM1 billion what will the Chinese say? We have to be fair to the Chinese as well. Work with RM500 million first and if it is not enough I will consider more later.”

In the end the tabung touched RM560 million and many a Malay businessman was salvaged out of his financial dilemma (some women as well). They have mostly all paid the money back by now and some I met are still in business. One chap I met a year ago rushed up to me and hugged me.

“Can you remember me?” he asked. “Twenty years ago you helped me with my RM1.3 million TPU application.”

Yes, I remembered him. He was Semangat 46 and they had rejected his application on grounds of politics but I ‘banged table’ and managed to get it approved. In fact, I got quite a few applications approved -- which were rejected because the applicants were Semangat 46 -- and that got me labelled as ‘Tengku Razaleigh’s man’. Subsequently, Wan Mokhtar and Umno Terengganu blacklisted me and life became hell thereafter, resulting in me leaving the state and migrating back to Kuala Lumpur in 1994.

“Oh, okay, have you paid back all the money?” I asked.

“Dah bayar lama dah.”

He was about 75 or so but looked younger than me. Could it be because of his three wives? I pointed him out to my wife and asked her to guess his age. I then tried convincing my wife that he looked 20 years younger than his age because he had three wives but my wife was not convinced that that was the reason. Sigh…….

Well, there were a couple of other face-to-face meetings I had with the Grand Old Man of Malaysian politics which I do not need to go into. Suffice to say, the ‘private’ Mahathir and the ‘public’ Mahathir are two different animals. You can’t really get to know Mahathir by observing him in public. Ten public appearances will still not reveal the true Mahathir. But one private meeting reveals a lot.

My love-hate relationship with Mahathir lasted only about ten years or so. After that I began to despise him mainly because he had been around too long. I felt that a prime minister should stay in office for only two terms or ten years, never mind how good he may be. More than that and he would have overstayed his welcome.

But now Mahathir has retired and I no longer despise him as such. I give him due respect as a retired Prime Minister, as a Tun (Sir), and as a man who is 83 or 84 years old. I am 57 and I must give due respect to a man much senior to me. Doing otherwise would make me ‘un-Malay’. Even at the height of the Reformasi Movement I whacked Mahathir for what he had done to Anwar and to the country. But I did not label him as Mamak, Keling, Mahazalim, Mahafiraun, and all those other names that the Reformasi websites were so fond of calling him.

During my ISA detention I was made to write a thesis on why I oppose Mahathir. I ‘spoke’ from my heart and told it as it is, no holds barred. My Special Branch minders were quite surprised. They had assumed that my opposition to Mahathir was all about Anwar. They did not think that it was the principle of a prime minister should not hold office for more than ten years and then leave the scene, even if he is the best Prime Minister Malaysia ever had.

On Mahathir’s misdeeds as Prime Minister, I listed them down in detail and offered my reasons as to why I thought Mahathir was wrong and therefore why I should oppose him. I spoke as the Rakyat and argued about the loss to the Rakyat if these misdeeds were not checked. It was nothing personal. If Mahahir resigns and then repents and then takes steps to rectify his mistakes, I could forgive him for what he had done, even what he had done to me personally. The Special Branch officers responded by saying that if they were me, instead of Special Branch officers, they would not disagree with my opinions.

All the great religions, in particular the religions of the book, speak about repentance, forgiveness and redemption. Even God possesses forgiving qualities. But forgiveness can only be forthcoming with repentance and redemption. Yes, there is much Mahathir must redeem before forgiveness can be given. And has Mahathir truly repented? For if he has not then forgiving would be impossible.

But first things first. Let us first solve the problem of the burning house before we talk about who started the fire. Standing around arguing about whose fault it is that the house is burning would not save the house. We will still be arguing long after the house has burned to the ground and still not settle the blaming and finger-pointing.

The foreign fund managers are pulling out of Malaysia. The Chinese investors are moving their money to Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Thailand. The Singaporeans are adopting a wait-and-see stance. Qualified Malaysians are queuing up in front of the foreign embassies to apply for PR status in other countries -- a serious brain drain for this country.

The question is not whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat will be the federal government come Christmas Day. It is whether there will still be a country, as we know it, in existence by then. This is the dilemma ahead of us and which is the house burning down I am talking about. The impending collapse of the world economy expected later this year adds to the problem and this is no less a doomsday scenario in the making.

The political uncertainty is of course one reason, in particular the internal war in Umno. But the overriding reason is the loss of confidence in the Abdullah Ahmad Badawi government.

The President of MIC, MCA, Gerakan, etc., is not our concern. That is the concern of the members of each respective party. But the President of Umno is our concern and not just the concern of the party members. Whomsoever becomes the Umno President becomes the Prime Minister. So while the Umno President is merely the leader of that party, the Prime Minister will decide the fate of the entire country and of 26 million or 27 million Malaysians.

It is like two people in a lifeboat. The ship has sunk and you and your enemy both end up in the same lifeboat. You would like to throw your enemy over the side, especially, in the first place, since it is his fault that the ship sank. But then the lifeboat needs two people to row to reach dry land. You can throw your enemy into the sea and, with glee, watch him drown -- after which the lifeboat would drift aimlessly and you would be dead in a week as well. Then again, you can make a deal with your enemy and the both of you row the lifeboat in the direction that you suspect dry land would be waiting for you.

Yes, Umno is the Prime Minister. Umno can choose to retain the present Prime Minister or it can choose to change the Prime Minister. Umno’s decision will decide what happens to all of us. If they retain the Prime Minister, will that be the best thing for Malaysia? Or would the better alternative be to change the Prime Minister? And what happens if Umno makes the wrong choice? What happens if they change for the worse rather than for the better? Yes, those are questions that should trouble us because Umno’s decision is about our future.

Umno politics, therefore, does not belong to Umno. Umno politics belongs to all Malaysians. And we have a right to know who is going to be the Prime Minister for the next five years or so until the next general election. And if the present Prime Minister is wrong, then Mahathir committed that wrong and he should therefore be the one to put it right. Forgiveness, redemption and repentance must go hand-in-hand.

But Mahathir must not decide who the next Prime Minister should be. He already made a mistake with Abdullah. Let us not allow him to make a second mistake with Abdullah’s successor. Unfortunately, the choice of successor lies in the hands of Umno and its members and we are not Umno members. But that does not prevent us from urging our friends and comrades in Umno to think of all 26 million or 27 million Malaysians in making that choice and not just the interest of three million or so Umno members.

And to those of us not in Umno and who have no say in the matter, let us assure our Umno friends and comrades that if they change the Prime Minister then we shall ‘suspend’ all opposition for the next two years. We shall give the new Prime Minister time to sort out the country’s problems. If he fails to do so, like how Abdullah failed to do so, then come two years we will re-launch opposition with the fury of a lover scorned.

Maybe a form of ‘unity government’ can be proposed. The opposition will support the federal government for a period of two years. The opposition will help the federal government sort out the mess left by the previous administrations. But if the ruling party demonstrates insincerity and reverts to the abuses and excesses of the previous administrations, rest assured we will return to the opposition with a fierce vengeance never before experienced in the history of this country.

But the opposition must remain an opposition. Pakatan Rakyat must not only be retained but must also be strengthened. PKR, DAP, PAS, MDP, PSM, PRM and PASOK must not join Barisan Nasional. But it can be part of the federal government while remaining an opposition in the states in the interest of pulling this country out of the economic quagmire the present and previous administrations have got us into.

That should be the game plan until the next general election.

Smokescreens and disinformation: a distraction of issues

2008-04-08T21:03:00.000-07:00

Forget about Mahathir. He is history. The future is not with Mahathir. Mahathir is about the past. The future lies in the hands of the present Prime Minister. Whether Abdullah stays in office or gets ousted will be what will decide our future. So let’s stay focused. Let’s see how to kick Abdullah out.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Information Minister cautions Mahathir

On Friday, 4 April 2008, Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek cautioned former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be careful with his words lest they do more damage to Umno. He also said many of the things that Mahathir is now criticising were actually introduced by him when he was party president.

He said the tragedy that saw Umno being declared illegal in 1988 during the leadership of former prime minister and former Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should not be allowed to be repeated. Therefore, Dr Mahathir should be careful when making public statements, added Shabery. He said Umno was previously deregistered because of the various statements that were made openly and now it could be destroyed in other ways.

"I feel it would be appropriate that Tun (Dr Mahathir) exercises more caution in making statements because we don't want the demise of Umno, the destruction of Umno, and the deregistration of Umno that occurred during his leadership to be repeated in another form," he told reporters after attending for the first time the Information Ministry Monthly Assembly at Wisma Radio, Angkasapuri in Kuala Lumpur Friday.

"I fear that Umno will sink further after it first began to sink during Tun Dr Mahathir's reign when Umno was deregistered," Shabery said. He was commenting on the criticism made by Dr Mahathir who claimed that members of the Umno Supreme Council now were afraid to voice their opinions to convey a message to the top leadership.

Responding to Dr Mahathir's criticism that the present breed of supreme council members dare not speak up to convey a message to the party leadership, Ahmad Shabery said during the former prime minister's leadership many regulations were imposed including a resolution passed at the Umno General Assembly that there should be no contest for the president and deputy president's posts and several other "difficult" regulations.

"There was no contest (for president and deputy president's posts) after 1987 but now he is saying it is undemocratic. The Malays have not forgotten all these things but maybe Dr Mahathir has forgotten. "I am sad to talk about all these things but the openness in Pak Lah's era should not be taken advantage," he said.

Bernama reported that at one time, he said, Umno supreme council members cannot be challenged in their divisions and they also cannot contest. Division chiefs in Kelantan cannot be opposed when Dr Mahathir was the state Umno liaison head, he said.

Ahmad Shabery said the former Umno president had also reminded delegates to the Umno General Assembly in 1997 that any criticism about the party and its leadership can only be made through the party channel, via branches, divisions and the supreme council and not outside the party. (MySinchew)

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Yes, the first act by the newly installed Minister of Information is to embark on a campaign of smokescreen and disinformation. This is a typical strategy of distraction, which an accomplished strategist like Mahathir himself normally uses. When you have a pain in your leg, get someone to hit your head with a hammer. The pain in your head would distract you from the pain in your leg. It is not that the pain in your leg has gone away. It is just that the pain in your head is greater than the pain in your leg so you focus on the pain in your head and you get distracted from the pain in your leg.

Okay, for purposes of argument, let us agree that it was Mahathir who was instrumental in introducing the ‘no contest for number one and number two’ rule. And to make sure it would be difficult for anyone to mount a challenge, it was also Mahathir who introduced the ‘30% nominations from Umno divisions’ quota. This would mean Mahathir is guilty as hell and was the culprit who ‘killed’ democracy in Umno.

Then, let us put Mahathir on ‘trial by public opinion’ (because there has been no Registrar of Society laws broken and you can’t actually get the police to arrest him or the Attorney-General to charge him for this ‘crime’) and pronounce him guilty. So we now find Mahathir guilty as charged. But then there are a few things wrong here.

First of all, after Mahathir left the scene, Umno refused to reverse his ‘violation’ or ‘crime’ of ‘killing’ democracy in Umno. In fact, Umno upheld the ‘no contest for number one and number two’ rule plus also upheld the ruling of the ‘30% nominations from Umno divisions’ quota. Why did Umno not wipe the slate clean and erase the Mahathir ‘legacy’ so that democracy could be restored in Umno?

Secondly, Umno always defends its President cum Malaysia’s Prime Minister by arguing that one man does not make the decisions either in Umno or the government. All decisions made are made on a collective and unanimous basis by the Umno Supreme Council and/or the Cabinet, they keep telling us. In that case, why is Mahathir now blamed for all the ills and wrongs in Umno and the government? Many a time we have heard Ministers and political leaders argue that the party President and/or the Prime Minister should not be taken to task for any shortcomings because the entire ‘team’ came to a particular decision and supported that decision.

Are they now saying that what we alleged all this time is true -- that one man and not the entire Supreme Council or Cabinet made all these wrong and unpopular decisions? You can’t one day defend your leader-in-office by saying that the decisions were collectively and unanimously made and then, once he is out of office, you turn around and say that he and he alone made all the decisions. Are we therefore also right in accusing Abdullah -- on the advice of his family -- of making the decisions in Umno and the government all by himself? Or will this allegation only be true once Abdullah is out of office and not be true while he is still in office?

Okay, let us assume that Mahathir is the dictator everyone makes him out to be and that he ruled the Umno Supreme Council and the Cabinet with an iron first and single-handedly made all the decisions -- while everyone else in the Supreme Council and Cabinet actually disagreed with these decisions. Did anyone protest? Did anyone resign? Did anyone speak out against these decisions? Did anyone wash his/her hands and distant himself/herself from the decisions? In fact, what everyone did was to speak up in support of Mahathir’s decisions and publicly and openly state that they support the decisions and that the decisions were unanimous and got the support of the entire Supreme Council and/or Cabinet. The fact that everyone stood behind Mahathir and publicly endorsed him and declared that the decisions were collectively and unanimously made makes everyone, and not just Mahathir alone, guilty of everything that Mahathir is alleged to have done.

Soon after Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over from Mahathir on 1 November 2003, they proclaimed a new era of clean, transparent and democratic governance. Abdullah even led the congregation in prayer to demonstrate that he is the true imam that they claim him to be. No Prime Minister before this has ever led the congregation in prayer. And to ensure that no one misses this wonderful scene, they splashed photos and video-clips of Abdullah leading the congregation in prayer all over the newspapers and TV. This perception of a ‘New Deal’ resulted in Barisan Nasional garnering almost 92% of the seats in Parliament in the 21 March 2004 general election.

Malaysians were promised sweeping changes. After 22 years of Mahathir’s less than transparent regime and rule with an iron first, Abdullah was a breath of fresh air. But the sweeping changes never came. What happened instead was that a new set of cronies was created and they ‘swept’ in a mere two years what took Mahathir 22 years to achieve. They set themselves on turbo-charge, overdrive mode and did more damage in a mere two years what took Mahathir 22 years to do.

Then, also in 2004, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah announced that he was going to make a bid for the Umno Presidency and Umno, in turn, announced the ‘no contest for number one and number two’ rule. Umno also upheld the ‘30% nominations from Umno divisions’ quota. Sure, Mahathir may have been the culprit who had introduced these rules but Umno refused to abolish or amend them but instead defended them to the hilt. Why can’t these ‘undemocratic’ rules be removed? Why can’t they undo all the ‘damage’ that Mahathir had created? Why can’t they restore democracy in Umno, which had been eroded by Mahathir? Why use all those iron-fisted rules, which had been introduced by Mahathir, instead of reforming the party by discarding all those things Mahathir had done which is damaging the party and which makes a mockery of democracy?

Forget about Mahathir. Forget about what Mahahir did. Mahathir is no longer in power. Those currently in power must prove that Mahathir is everything they say he is by dismantling Mahahir’s ‘legacy’ and by restoring what Mahathir had eroded. But they are not doing this. They blame everything on Mahathir. After declaring that it was a collective decision, they now blame the entire thing solely on Mahathir. But they refuse to undo what Mahahir did. They still uphold the rules that Mahathir introduced, which were meant to deny any challenge to the Umno Presidency and Deputy Presidency. And they use these same ‘undemocratic’ rules of Mahathir to prevent anyone from challenging Abdullah and Najib Tun Razak.

Okay, so Mahathir is a slime-ball and scumbag. Mahathir is a dictator and undemocratic. Then remove what Mahathir introduced. Restore Umno to what it was before Mahathir ‘destroyed’ it. By upholding Mahathir’s policies, it only gives an impression that Mahathir is right and did no wrong.

Yes, there is currently a smokescreen and disinformation campaign going on. They are hitting us on the head to make us forget the pain in our leg. This is nothing but an exercise in distraction. And the new Minister of Disinformation is the man tasked with the job of distracting us and with the job of leading us up the garden path of disinformation. And if you don’t believe me then take at a look at these two issues, which have captured the attention of the entire mainstream and ‘alternative’ media.

First let us look at the Director of ACA issue. It is being alleged that Mahathir blocked an investigation by the Director of the ACA. Was this so? The then Director of the ACA was investigation the Secretary-General of the Economic Planning Unit, which comes under the Prime Minister’s Department. The Sec-Gen of the EPU complained to his boss, who also happens to be the Prime Minister, that the ACA was rude and abusive and that the so-called investigation was actually a witch-hunt and political persecution.

Now, this may sound hard to believe, but I have a lawyer friend who was representing the Director of the Commercial Crime Division and they arrested him on the eve of Hari Raya, manhandled him in his office in front of his staff, handcuffed him in a very rough manner until they injured his wrist, and threw him into the lockup for the night. And the whole thing was on trumped-up charges of not replying to a letter whereas he had replied, but not the way the ACA wanted.

So, yes, the ACA is capable of doing such things and it appears like they still do that until today. Anyway, since the Sec-Gen of the EPU comes directly under the PM’s Department, Mahathir called the ACA Director to enquire into the allegation that the investigation was mala fide.

Mahathir, in fact, did the same thing many times in the past. For example, in the Abdullah Ang case, Mahathir summoned the IGP, Tun Haniff Omar, to ask whether Abdullah Ang is really guilty. Haniff confirmed he is. Mahathir asked whether the police had the evidence. When Haniff also confirmed that the evidence was overwhelming, Mahathir replied, then do what must be done.

Abdullah Ang went to see Mahathir and, down on his knees, cried and grabbed Mahathir’s leg and asked for help. Mahathir replied that it is now a police case and they have evidence of wrongdoing so he is not able to lift a finger. This was Mahathir’s ‘best friend’ but still Mahathir would not intervene and Abdullah Ang went to jail (though there is another story of what happened after he was sent to jail).

Anyway, back to the Sec-Gen of EPU story. The ACA Director, who was summoned to explain the facts of the case, shouted at Mahathir and stormed out of the room in a huff. Mahathir was shocked and totally speechless. This was the Prime Minister and yet the ACA Director had the gall to scream at him. Mahathir did nothing though. He did not demand the ACA Director’s resignation. The Director, however, dropped the investigation although Mahathir did not demand that he do so. Why did he drop the investigation if there was evidence that the Sec-Gen of the EPU had committed a corrupt act?

Okay, let us look at another case. This one involves the sacking of Tun Salleh Abbas, the Chief Justice. The story being spun is that Mahathir ordered his sacking and Zaid Ibrahim, the new ‘Minister of Law’, wants to resurrect the case and make an issue out of it. But did Mahathir really sack the Chief Justice?

What happened was that the Chief Justice had a home next door to the Agong’s and His Majesty’s house was under renovation. The Chief Justice was displeased with the noise and pollution and he wrote a letter to the Agong with copies to all the Rulers complaining about the matter. The Agong was upset with this insolence on the part of the Chief Justice. Writing a complaint letter is one thing and could be forgiven since this was a genuine grievance -- though an audience would have been the correct protocol instead of a complaint letter -- but to copy the letter to all the Rulers smacks of pressure.

The Agong was outraged and demanded that Mahathir sack the Chief Justice for this insolence that tantamount to misconduct. Mahathir, however, replied that he does not have the authority to sack the Chief Justice and that this can only be done through a Tribunal. The Agong then commanded (titah) that a Tribunal be set up, which was to report direct to His Majesty. The Tribunal found the Chief Justice guilty of misconduct and sent its recommendation to the Agong, who then removed the Chief Justice.

Hey, Mahathir is guilty of many things. One thing he is guilty of is for detaining me under the ISA, arresting me under the Sedition Act, arresting and handcuffing my wife, and the beating I received in the Dang Wangi Police Station at the hands of Bakri Zinin in front of my wife. I would certainly like Mahathir to pay for these crimes. But I am not about to make him pay for crimes he did not commit. And if he is guilty of destroying democracy in Umno, then the present leaders should dismantle everything that Mahathir did. But they refuse to do this. They accuse Mahathir of many breaches and violations and accuse him of destroying democracy but they still uphold all those rules imposed by Mahathir, such as no contest for number one and number two and the 30% nominations ruling.

Umno is embarking on a smokescreen and disinformation campaign. They want to distract us from the real issue, the impending hot contest in Umno to oust Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. They want us to focus on Mahathir’s wrongdoings so that we do not look at what is about to happen in Umno. Forget about Mahathir. He is history. The future is not with Mahathir. Mahathir is about the past. The future lies in the hands of the present Prime Minister. Whether Abdullah stays in office or gets ousted will be what will decide our future. So let’s stay focused. Let’s see how to kick Abdullah out. We can deal with Mahathir later. And let us also not forget that Abdullah is using all those undemocratic and iron-fisted rules imposed by Mahathir to cling to power and to prevent Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from challenging him later this year.

That is the real issue.

Guan Eng advised to be careful when making statements

2008-04-03T16:46:00.001-07:00

(NST) PUTRAJAYA, THURS: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today advised Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to be careful in making statements, as he is now a leader of a state government.

He should not be a populist, Abdullah told Bernama after he had a 30-minute meeting with Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general, at his office here.

Abdullah said: “I told him that we have been observing closely what is happening in Penang. I advised him that he is now the leader of the government there and that he should be careful in making statements.”

Referring to Guan Eng’s recent comments on the New Economic Policy (NEP), the prime minister said he should not be making sweeping statements that equated the NEP with corruption.

Abdullah said he could not accept such a sweeping statement as it would cause anger and misunderstanding that would be hard to undo.

The prime minister asked Guan Eng to eradicate poverty and ensure that there was growth with equity in Penang.

Abdullah said he also told Lim that the federal government would honour all its commitments, including several big projects, as planned in Penang.

“These are not show-off or mega projects. These are projects with specific objectives based on the needs of the people,” he said.

On the construction of the Second Penang Bridge, Abdullah said national oil corporation, Petronas, would not fund it because all its revenue was passed to the federal government for development expenditure and subsidies.

Abdullah said he also asked Lim to expedite the acquisition and alienation of land for the construction of the bridge.

Referring to the open tender system based on a level-playing field proposed by Guan Eng, Abdullah reiterated that it may not be fair to groups that were disadvantaged.

The prime minister stressed that the tender process must be equitable.

Meanwhile, Guan Eng told reporters after the meeting that the federal government had assured that all major projects in Penang, including the Second Bridge, would continue as scheduled.

“It is the hope of all parties involved that the bridge would be completed on the scheduled time frame which is Jan 1, 2011,” he said.

Guan Eng said the Penang state government would do whatever it could to ensure that the construction of the bridge did not hit any glitch.

However, he said, the federal government would not fund the construction of the second bridge using funds from Petronas.

“I of course made that suggestion, even if cannot fully, at least partialy (utilise Petronas funds), but he (Abdullah) said it is not possible. Even though I feel that Petronas should fund it, he told me due to the subsidies and other commitments, it is not possible at the moment as much as they would like to.

“The Prime Minister has given his assurance that the project will not face any problems. I also handed over a letter to him outlining several proposals stressing the need for continued development of the state.

“We have also asked that the allocation for Penang by the federal government be increased to the original level. Penang got a reduced federal government allocation last year. I hope to get a favourable reply to the letter soon,” he added.

Guan Eng said he also raised a few political issues with Abdullah “but I don’t want to mention about it here.”
“On the New Economic Policy, we exchanged views and clarification of what was said and what was not said. Certain things are claimed to be said by me which was not said at all but certain things which I said was not published at all.

“But what is important is that we accept the new political situation. He is the PM of the country and I represent the people of Penang,” he added.

Guan Eng also said the Penang state government wanted to have cordial working relations with the federal government so that all the development projects that have been planned could be continued for the people’s benefit.

“The people have made the decision to support a new government in Penang and also support the federal government. It is crucial that we together fulfil the mandate given to continue with the projects identified,” he said.

Guan Eng also expressed the hope that the federal government ministries would maintain their previous relations with the state government and not discriminate the state government just because it was Opposition-based.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water

2008-04-03T16:45:00.003-07:00

No, we should not abolish the NEP. We need the NEP. And we need the NEP because many Malays, Chinese and Indians, as well as Natives of Sabah and Sarawak, still need help. But the NEP needs to be revamped while the implementation of the NEP needs to be improved.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This was what NancyL wrote in the blog under my article in this same column, ‘Elementary, my dear Watson ’:

RPK......AUWWWWWWWWWWW.....how could you did that to your baby.....giving her plain water bottle so that she didn’t ask anymore milk at nite ....her stomach was too small then to indulge bigger amount of milk.....babies get full and hungry quickly.....you are cruel!!!!...HUH!!!...MAN!!!...THAT REMIND ME I WILL NEVER EVER AGAIN LET MY HUB LOOK AFTER MY BABY!!!... Since I had my first baby 6 yrs. ago until my third baby which is 3 now...I had....not even once slept for a one whole full nite...not once....well....

There was a story....when a man approached Prophet Muhammad...asking him..."Who does he have to answer first when both his parents call him?"...then Prophet replied...."Your Mum"....and he asked again...."After that?"....answer was again.... "Your Mum"....and he asked again.....for the 3rd time...and it was still his Mum...until the 4th time...then Prophet said..."Your Dad"....
And the love of a mother is soo high in Islam that it said...."Heaven is under the feet of your mother"......mum loves is different from dad's love...the bond is too strong....only women will understand this!!

A mother will only try to stop her baby from crying for milk at nite ..only when she realised that she is big enuff....that is when she start proper weaning....that is when the time is right...she will wake up at nite no matter what until her child no longer need her to...that’s the love and sacrifice of a mother....

I understand why ur mum didn’t give you the bottle but to agree why you didn’t give ur baby the milk that’s a different issue......

I know that the main point you want to make here is that "Your love for Malays is like the love of a father"...that’s what you want the Malays to know ...and that no matter how bad you said of them is actually just like an act of a father to his child....

written by NancyL, April 02, 2008 20:21:53

NancyL was referring to my act of feeding plain water to my first-born, my daughter, the first week after she was born. Within three days she no longer woke up at 3.00am for her milk feed and I got a good night’s sleep thereafter.

All this talk about my first-born brings back memories of my younger days. They say if you keep reflecting on the ‘good old days’ this is a sign that age has crept up on you. I suppose, at 57 going on 58, I would certainly qualify to be in the category of dunia kata pergi, kubur kata mari, or, as the English would say: having one foot in the grave.

I was 23 and my wife was 19 when we got our first child within one year after we got married. Our daughter was actually due slightly later but my wife was extremely large because the baby was quite ‘over-weight’ so the doctor told us that there was no danger to the baby if my wife underwent an induced birth. It was already past Christmas and if she were not induced then the baby would have been born in January. We decided that December 30th would be better so that she could enter school a year early. Malaysian schools calculate your birthday as at 1st January so even if my daughter were two days old on 1st January it would still be considered as one year. Therefore, just because of two days, my daughter could enter school a year earlier. And of course my income tax for that year would enjoy a deduction though she was born two days before the year was out.

My daughter spent her entire school years in Terengganu until she completed her form five after which she went to MSM in Cheras for her matriculation. Unfortunately though, after her two years matriculation, all her friends were offered scholarships to the UK while my daughter was not.

Naturally my daughter was devastated. She worked hard but she was not offered a scholarship to go to the UK. Her friends, children of Tan Sris and Datuks, were. My wife and I tried explaining to our daughter that her friends’ parents are rich and people of power and position. Even without scholarships they could afford to send their children to the UK, what more with scholarships. We could certainly not afford to do the same.

Our daughter was in tears at the prospect of having to either take a course in one of the local private colleges or go out and work for a living. My wife is the tough one in our family who takes no shit from the children. As for me, however, I am softer, especially as far as my two daughters are concerned. The irony of the whole thing is, my wife ‘spoils’ our sons while I do the same to our daughters, until today. My wife was very firm about the matter and she told our daughter that we can’t afford to send her to the UK, and that was that.

It broke my heart to see my daughter shattered by the realisation that all her hard work for the last 13 years will eventually come to nought. She saw all her friends happily go off to the UK, US, Australia, etc., while she had to suffer the ‘shame‘ of staying home. Yes, peer pressure does this to you. When all get to go except you that is an embarrassment that is hard to endure.

The argument that all her friends are able to go because they have money, plus they obtained government help, is hard to comprehend for someone who has built up her expectations and worked very hard at trying to meet them. Here you are looking ‘failure’ in the face. How can you explain failure? How can you justify failure? How can any argument be acceptable if it means you have to accept failure as the final option? My daughter could not accept the fact that she will have to be denied her university education in the UK. She looked at it as a failure on the part of her parents. Parents are supposed to guarantee their children an education. Why are her parents not able to do that?

I relented and told my wife we will send our daughter to the UK even if it kills us. I spoke to a friend who was also our family doctor in Terengganu, Dr Menon, and he advised my daughter to take up medicine. But my daughter can’t stand the sight of blood and when she dissects a frog she feels geli and closes her eyes. No way can she perform brain surgery with her eyes closed. The second option then, Dr Menon advised, would be to do biochemistry.

I told my daughter to go to the British Council and speak to the career guidance counsellor for advise as to which university she can go to which offers biochemistry. She had to do this entirely on her own with no help from me. I was not going to get involved and she would have to make her own decision on the matter.

She finally decided on the University of Kent at Canterbury, which was able to offer the course she wanted to do and which had vacancies for overseas students. My wife and I scrounged every cent we could get our hands on. We also sold the few lots of Amanah Saham that, thankfully, we had and gave the money to our daughter. That would pay for her tuition fees and lodging, at least for the first year. We shall worry about the second year when the second year is upon us. We then bought her a one-way plane ticket and dropped her off at the Subang Airport.

That was it. She now had a university to go to and a plane ticket with which to get there. From hereon she was on her own. We will not be able to bring her back every year for her school holidays nor will we be able to escort her to the UK or attend her graduation. We just did not have the money for all that. We will see her back in Malaysia three years later, after she graduates.

We said goodbye at the Subang Airport, told her to take care of herself, and promised to be at the Subang Airport in three years time when she returns. She would be the only student whose parents did not proudly witness their children's graduation. I could see the worry in my wife’s face. “We should have sent her to the UK to make sure she is alright. How is she going to manage?” We then went home and had a good cry. It was the most irresponsible thing any parent could have done. All we could do was pray that divine intervention will ensure our daughter will be okay.

I told my wife that our daughter is a tough girl. She will be okay. She will find her way to Canterbury and in three years’ time she will come home, a biochemist. Her toughness was demonstrated during my ISA detention when she counselled my wife, who was in desperation and at the point of a mental breakdown, to psychologically prepare for the possibility that it may be a long time before I get to come home.

Well, that was a lifetime ago and is all water under the bridge now. At that time I just wanted to mend my daughter’s broken heart and allow her to live her dream of going to the UK for her university education. It was financially painful for my wife and me but is that not what parents are for, to take the pain so that their children can be assured a bright future? And that was what kept me going during my ISA detention when I did not know whether it would be a mere two months or many years. I am doing this and am suffering for the future of my children, I kept telling myself. It makes the unbearable bearable when you can convince yourself that this is so.

I did not think, in all that time, that if the children of Tan Sris and Datuks could get government help to go to the UK then my daughter should have been allowed the same. I did not think, in all that time, that since I could not afford to send my daughter to the UK then the government is obligated to extend help to me. I did not think, in all that time, that since I am Malay then my daughter is entitled to government help to go to the UK. I did not think, in all that time, that the NEP is supposed to help all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion, as long as they are deserving of help. I did not think, in all that time, that political leaning does not count, and even if you are on the opposite political divide to the powers-that-be this does not disqualify you from government assistance. I did not think, in all that time, that the NEP is merely a weapon to ensure that you support the ruling party or else you face discrimination from the powers-that-be. The only thing I was thinking, the only thing on my mind, was that I was going to send my daughter to the UK come hell or high water.

Yes, I would be the worst candidate to convince that the NEP in its present form works. Yes, I would be the worst candidate to convince that the NEP has not been abused. Yes, I would be the worst candidate to convince that we do not need some form of NEP. Yes, I would be the worst candidate to convince that the NEP does not need a major overhaul to ensure that Malays, Chinese, Indians and the Natives of Sabah and Sarawak will get assistance if they are deserving of assistance.

No, we should not abolish the NEP. We need the NEP. And we need the NEP because many Malays, Chinese and Indians, as well as Natives of Sabah and Sarawak, still need help. But the NEP needs to be revamped while the implementation of the NEP needs to be improved. And this needs to be done to ensure that others do not break out into tears like my daughter when they are told they cannot go to university because they have the ‘wrong ‘skin colour or support the ‘wrong’ political party. This also needs to be done to ensure that others like me do not need to pawn everything they own to be able to grant their children a university education.

Throwing the baby out with the bath water

2008-04-03T16:45:00.001-07:00

The significance of the Monarchy and the two-thirds majority in Parliament

2008-04-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

It must further be noted that, according to Shad Saleem Faruqi, as at 2005, the Constitution has been amended 42 times over the 48 years since independence. However, as several amendments were made each time, he estimates the true number of individual amendments at around 650.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

For some time now, Malaysians, Malays included, have been talking about abolishing the Monarchy so that Malaysia can be turned into a Republic. Others question the purpose of maintaining a Monarchy that costs money but is of no use to the majority of Malaysians -- other than maybe members of the Royal Family. Others want to retain the Monarchy but they want the Rulers to get off their backs and earn their salary by doing some work. However, when the Rulers actually do some work, these same people will complain that the Rulers should not ‘interfere’ in the running of the country but should instead sit quietly and don’t get involved in matters of state.

Lately, since the 8 March 2008 general election, Malaysians have been talking about the two-thirds majority in Parliament (which Barisan Nasional has lost), though many do not really comprehend the significance of winning or losing this two-thirds majority. And they also fail to understand how this two-thirds majority works alongside the Monarchy.

Why is the Monarchy crucial? Can Malaysia function without a Monarchy? Is a two-thirds majority in Parliament crucial? Can the government function without its two-thirds majority in Parliament? Hey, why ask me? I am not a lawyer. Even lawyers are sometimes lost unless he or she is a constitutional lawyer.

Okay, let’s get serious. Let’s, today, try to understand these issues so that when you post comments in Malaysia Today’s blogs you will not put your foot in your mouth and make a fool of yourself. First of all, Malaysia has a law called the Sedition Act and to make a statement asking for the abolishment of the Monarchy is seditious and a crime under the Sedition Act.

Of course, the Sedition Act can be amended or repealed so that it is no longer a crime to propose the abolishment of the Monarchy. But only a government with a two-thirds majority can do this unless the ‘other side’ will support the bill tabled by a government that does not have a two-thirds majority in Parliament. So, until then, be very careful with what you say because asking for Malaysia to be turned into a Republic can get you sent to jail.

Let us first review the history of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. From 18 January to 6 February 1956, a conference was held in London to look into the task of drawing up a Malayan Constitution. Britain itself, the host country, did not have a written constitution so it is quite ironical that our colonial master would want to recommend one for us.

The Rulers supported the move to come out with a written constitution and they sent four of their representatives to participate in the conference. The Chief Minister of the Federation, Tunku Abdul Rahman, together with four Ministers also participated in the conference, as did the British High Commissioner to Malaya plus his advisers.

The conference proposed that an independent commission be set up and be given the task of coming out with a constitution for a fully self-governing and independent Federation of Malaya. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as well as the Malay Rulers agreed to this move and with that the Reid Commission was set up and headed by Lord William Reid. The Queen, with the agreement of the Malay Rulers, also appointed constitutional experts from fellow Commonwealth countries to sit in the Reid Commission.

The Federal Constitution of Malaya came into force on 27 August 1957, four days before independence or Merdeka. In drawing up this new constitutional, various factors were taken into consideration.

1) The Federation of Malaya Independence Act 1957, together with the Orders in Council made under it.
2) The Federation of Malaya Agreement 1957 between the government of the United Kingdom and the government of the Federation of Malaya.
3) The Federal Constitution Ordinance 1957 passed by the Malayan Parliament.
4) The State Enactments of each of the Malay States, approving and giving force of law to the Federal Constitution of Malaya.

Invariably, the Federal Constitution of Malaya, with significant amendments included, was used as the basis for the Federal Constitution of Malaysia when Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore merged to form Malaysia in 1963.

Now, it must be noted that Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore did not join Malaysia. Malaysia did not exist yet, then. What existed was Malaya -- and Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore merged with Malaya to form Malaysia. This means, Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore are of the same status as Malaya, not of the same status as one of the states of Malaya such as Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Perlis, Penang, etc. Today, Sabah and Sarawak are treated as just another of the Malaysian states and that is the bone of contention of these two East Malaysian states.

This was also one of the sore points in the Singapore-Malaysia relationship that resulted in Singapore leaving the Federation. Tunku Abdul Rahman did not agree that Lee Kuan Yew call himself Prime Minister of Singapore as the Tunku did not see how Malaysia could have two Prime Ministers. Lee Kuan Yew, on the other hand, did not agree to being ‘downgraded’ to a Chief Minister like Penang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak. Actually, Lee Kuan Yew was right and the Tunku wrong as far as I am concerned, though 99% of the Malays would disagree with me on this point.

The Federal Constitution of Malaysia can, of course, be amended and has, in fact, been amended many times. The Constitution itself has provisions under Articles 159 and 161E on how it may be amended. And the amendments can be made by federal law and in the following ways:

1. Some Articles may be amended only by a two-thirds majority in each House of Parliament but only if the Conference of Rulers consents to it. This means, even if you have a two-thirds majority in Parliament, you can’t amend these Articles in the Constitution unless the Rulers agree to the amendments. This would be with regards to the following:

* Amendments pertaining to the powers of sultans and their respective states
* The status of Islam in the Federation
* The special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak
* The status of the Malay language as the official language

2. Some Articles in the Constitution related to Sabah and Sarawak may be amended by a two-thirds majority in each House of Parliament but only if the Governors of the two East Malaysian states concurs. This would be with regards to the following:

* Citizenship of persons born before Malaysia Day
* The constitution and jurisdiction of the High Court of Borneo
* The matters with respect to which the legislature of the state may or may not make laws, the executive authority of the state in those matters and financial arrangement between the Federal government and the state.
* Special treatment of natives of the state

3. Then there are some Articles in the Constitution that may be amended by a two-thirds majority in each House of Parliament. These amendments do not require the consent of anybody outside Parliament. (The extension of the tenure of the Chairman of the Elections Commission is one case in point).

4. Some Articles, which are not that important, may be amended by Parliament with just a simple majority. You, therefore, do not need a two-thirds majority in Parliament in some cases. (Not sure what these are until I get elected into Parliament and find out what they are).

It must further be noted that, according to Shad Saleem Faruqi, as at 2005, the Constitution has been amended 42 times over the 48 years since independence. However, as several amendments were made each time, he estimates the true number of individual amendments at around 650. Shad argued that there is no doubt that the spirit of the original document has been diluted. This sentiment has been echoed by other legal scholars who argue that important parts of the original Constitution, such as jus soli (right of birth) citizenship, a limitation on the variation of the number of electors in constituencies, and Parliamentary control of emergency powers, have been so modified or altered by amendments that the present Federal Constitution bears only a superficial resemblance to its original model. It has been estimated that between 1957 and 2003, almost thirty Articles have been added and repealed as a consequence of the frequent amendments.

Okay, that is the history of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the role the two-thirds majority and the Monarchy play in upholding this Constitution. If further discussion is required we can always come up with parts 2 and 3 of this piece so that, hopefully, in the end, all Malaysians can become experts on the issue and we no longer require lawyers to tell us how the system works.

But before I sign off, can you now see the logic in not allowing any one group, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, in having a two-thirds majority in Parliament? Giving them two-thirds is like having no opposition at all. Better they rule without the two-thirds and the ‘other side’ supports any bills that deserve supporting while they can oppose anything that should be opposed. If this were the case then the Chairman of the Elections Commission would have never seen his tenure extended and the recent general election would not have been rife with fraud.

Elementary, my dear Watson

2008-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Why can’t we build more universities? We spent RM100 million to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Merdeka last August. That is one university complete with equipment, fittings, libraries, and whatnot. We spend RM300 million a year on the Terengganu Monsoon Cup. That would be another three universities a year.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

More than 50 years or so ago, when I was still a baby, my mother weaned me off my bottle in quite a shattering manner, literally-speaking of course. After I finished drinking my milk, I would hurl the bottle over the cot and it would go crashing to the floor and shatter into a million pieces. In those days, milk bottles were made of glass, not of plastic like nowadays. Plastic technology, then, was not as advanced as today so bottles were made of glass -- and tins from tin, tyres from rubber, car dashboards from wood, and so on. Today, of course, nothing is original any longer and most products are manufactured from synthetic materials. Even ‘wooden’ car dashboards and faces of certain Menteri Besar are made from plastic.

The cost to replace my bottles was certainly pretty exorbitant and eventually it became cheaper to carpet the entire room to cushion the bottles when they came crashing to the floor. One day, however, my mother removed the carpet and when I threw my bottle out of my cot it hit the floor and smashed into smithereens. My mother stormed into the room and raised quite a ruckus. “That’s it,” she said, “now you have no more bottle. You will have to drink from a cup from now on.”

When it came time for my next milk routine, my mother brought my drink in a cup and I of course refused to drink it out of a cup. I wanted my bottle. My mother then reminded me that I had just smashed my bottle that very morning so I would now have to drink out of a cup or else no milk for me. It was either a cup or no milk so I reluctantly agreed to the cup. It was I, after all, who had smashed my bottle so I really had no one else to blame except myself. Eventually the cup became second nature until I discovered that there are certain drinks that are best drunk straight from a bottle. But that would be another story for another time though.

When my wife and I got our first baby, the deal was: she had carried our daughter for nine long months so it was now my turn to suffer -- I had to wake up at 3.00am to feed the baby. The first week was very tiring and I went to office the following day feeling very groggy. The second week, however, I filled the bottle with plain water and after three days or so my daughter no longer woke up in the middle of the night. She probably did not find it remunerating enough to wake up just for a drink of plain water.

There is currently quite a bit of brouhaha about the continuation of the New Economic Policy or NEP. Even ‘progressive’ Malays like Shahrir Samad, surprisingly, are of the opinion that the NEP must be retained because the Malays are not yet ready for the removal of their ‘security blanket’. I suppose, as long as you still bottle-feed the Malays, they would continue to demand it. But once the bottle is smashed or you feed them plain water, they may decide to move on and not keep clinging to their baby ways.

There are two things about the NEP. One concerns education and the other business opportunities. The education part is actually not as complex as what some make it out to be. Sure, there are certain quotas allocated to Malays while non-Malays are given a token quota. And because of the limited places in local universities, the non-Malays have to pay for their own education, in particular at overseas universities.

But does this need to be so? China has more than 1,000 universities with more than 100 in Beijing alone. Malaysia, which has only twice the population of Beijing, does not even come close to the number of Beijing universities. Based on the Beijing population to number of universities ratio, Malaysia should have at least 250 universities as opposed to less than 10% that at the present moment.

Why can’t we build more universities? We spent RM100 million to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Merdeka last August. That is one university complete with equipment, fittings, libraries, and whatnot. We spend RM300 million a year on the Terengganu Monsoon Cup. That would be another three universities a year. We are spending more than RM3 billion on the second Penang bridge. That would be about 35 universities. With savings from this, that and the other, we could have 100 new universities built over 10 years.

Yes, we do have money. It is only that the money is spent on the wrong things. According to Umno circles, Daim Zainuddin has transferred RM42 billion of our taxpayers’ money out of the country and has sunk this colossal amount into about ten banks that he owns in Africa and Eastern Europe. That RM42 billion plus all the other money that has disappeared into the pockets of Umno cronies could have built 1,000 universities, as many as they have in China though our population is just twice that of Beijing.

If our money had been well-managed and better-spent, today we would have more universities than students. We would be begging Malaysians to go to university because most of the lecture halls would be empty. Who would need the NEP? There would be no need for racial quotas. Our problem would not be about limiting places in universities so that these places could be reserved for Malays. Our problem would be about how to convince non-Malays to stop going overseas and instead go to local universities because there are just not enough students for the too many universities.

But the reality of the situation is, our money has been wasted. Billions have disappeared into the pockets of Umno warlords and their cronies. Billions have been spent on the wrong things. I have estimated that, over 30 years, Petronas has earned about RM1 trillion. One Petronas consultant tells me that I am wrong. The figure should be RM2 trillion, he says. RM1 trillion or RM2 trillion what’s the difference? Both figures are equally exorbitant.

If just part of that money had gone into building one new university a year, today Malaysia would have no less than 50 universities. They could have even built 100 universities over 30 years with RM2 trillion. And we would then no longer need to reserve places in these universities. We would no longer require racial quotas. And this means we would no longer need the NEP.

The NEP started in 1970 and has gone on for 38 years now. We started earning petroleum revenue in 1974 and have continued earning for 34 years now. But the petroleum money did not go into addressing what ails this country. And soon this petroleum money will dry up but what ails us will remain. We missed a golden opportunity to resolve our race problems with the income from the black gold. But we did not. And because of that we still need the NEP because, without the NEP, Malays would not have places in local universities.

The NEP is not just about education or places in universities, some would say. It is also about business opportunities. Sure, but is that an excuse not to solve at least half the problem; racial quotas in universities. If we solve one problem then we will have only one problem left to solve. Now, after 38 years, we still have two unresolved problems, and both involve race and racial quotas.

Okay, say that the government had solved the problem of racial quotas in local universities by building so many universities that there are no longer enough students, Malays or otherwise, to fill them up. This would still not solve the second problem of creating more business opportunities for Malays, many would argue. Actually this is not quite true. Malays have been in business since before 1969 and these Malays were actually very successful in their time.

Take Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s ex-father-in-law as one example. Mahmud Ambak was a very successful businessman, as were his peers such as Safuan, Mat Jan, HM Shah, and so on. No doubt there was only a handful of such people and you could count them on your fingers of one hand. But the numbers were beginning to grow and, in the East Coast, the Malays were involved in all types of businesses and were even beating the non-Malays on top of that.

Then came the NEP and with it came the quotas and Umnoputeras. Eventually the rent-seekers and commission agents monopolised the scene. Furthermore, you had to be an Umno warlord to obtain businesses, contracts and quotas -- so eventually your Umno membership and not your business acumen decided whether you got ahead or not. The genuine businessmen soon folded up and the Ali Babas; Umno Malays backed by Chinese towkays; took over. And what we see today are products of the NEP rather than genuine businessmen who made it because they are good in business.

The NEP killed the ‘real’ Malays. In their place emerged the Umnoputeras. Without the NEP and with a level playing field, Malays would have made it -- but only the good Malays, not the commission agents. Granted, without the NEP, there would have been fewer Malays in business. But these few Malays would have been the quality Malays. Now we have the ‘low-class’ Malays who made it only because they are Umnoputeras and for no other reason. Why play the numbers game? Why go for quantity without quality? Would it not have been better to see the birth of the Robert Kuoks, Queks and Tan Chin Tuans of the Malay community, people we could be proud of?

To say that the Malays would never reach the level of the Robert Kuoks, Queks and Tan Chin Tuans without the help of the NEP is an insult to the Malays. I, for one, believe I can make it with or without the NEP. To say I am who I am because of the NEP and that I would be nothing if not for the NEP is a great insult and I take it as an insult. I believe that without the NEP and without the unfair advantage given to the Umnoputeras there would be no ‘ceiling’ above my head and the sky would be my limit.

But alas, I need to be Umno to get ahead and I need to be an Umnoputera to get my hands on quotas, contracts and permits to make it in the business world. It is not a level playing field and unless I am prepared to play the game according to the rules of the game then I had better not bother to play at all.

The NEP is our milk bottle. But eventually we need to grow up and discard the bottle. We are now 38 years old so surely we should stop drinking from the bottle by now. But we are still being given the bottle. And the bottle is in the form of the NEP. And because of that we are still babies even at 38 years old. And our ‘mother’ tells us that we are still going to be given the bottle over the next 50 years. I will not live another 50 years. I may not even live another ten. But I shall still be offered the bottle till the day I go to my grave.

Yes, we Malays are going to die as babies. We shall never be allowed to grow up. We shall never see that bottle go crashing to the ground and getting smashed into a million pieces. And because we have never be weaned out of the bottle we shall know no other way in which to drink our milk. And we will never learn how to eat rice because we do not know how to grow and cook rice. But one day, when the ‘mother’ dies, we shall cry and cry, asking for our milk that will never come. And the baby will die when the mother dies because the baby knows no other way in which to feed itself other than waiting for the mother to bring the bottle.

That is the sad future for the Malays. Do you now know why the baby does not want the mother known as Umno to die? This is because the baby needs its daily dose of milk which only the mother can provide.

The real issues

2008-04-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

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

Back to the future: the fall of Saigon revisited

2008-04-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

30 April 1975 was the day that Saigon fell. And it fell because the government did not have its fingers on the pulse of the nation. 30 April 2008 may be the day that Barisan Nasional -- and therefore Umno as well -- falls after getting a beating on 8 March 2008.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Saigon finally fell on 30 April 1975 after a protracted war that saw countless lives lost. The fall of Saigon was not about superior firepower because that is exactly what the Vietcong did not possess. If anyone had superior firepower it was the vanquished, not the victor. But in a mere three days the superior Americans were sent packing back to Washington with their tails between their legs.

The fall of Saigon and eventually that of the entire Vietnam can be attributed to one fundamental problem. The government was in denial mode. They did not understand what the real problem was and they failed to recognise that the army no longer had any will to win. The war against communism can’t be won with guns alone. The people must also have the desire to reject communism. This was the secret of the British success in its war against the Communist Party of Malaya.

The British realised that the government cannot win the war against communism or communist terrorism. It has to be the people themselves who must want to reject communism. To achieve this, the British embarked on a campaign to win the hearts and minds of the people. It can’t be a war of guns or of superior firepower. It has to be a ‘war’ of winning over the support of the people.

This was what the British saw. But this was not what the Americans saw. So Malaya sustained while Vietnam fell. And the Malaysian government took the route of the Americans rather than that of the British in the recent general election. And the 8 March 2008 general election proved what a disastrous route this can be. Barisan Nasional thought it had superior firepower and it threw everything it had at the opposition. But where the opposition lacked in money and media control it more than made up for in strategy. And where the government failed, the opposition succeeded. And where the opposition lacked in ‘firepower’, it compensated for by winning the hearts and minds of the voters.

This morning, Umno organised a forum at the Singgahsana Hotel in Petaling Jaya to conduct a post-mortem on the recent general election. The purpose of the forum was to explore what went wrong and where Umno should go from here. But judging by the rhetoric and statements that came out of that forum today, it is clear that Umno still does not get it. They still do not have their fingers on the pulse. They still fail to understand what went wrong on 8 March 2008 and what needs to be done to restore the lost fortunes of the party that is the lead partner in the ruling coalition.

30 April 1975 was the day that Saigon fell. And it fell because the government did not have its fingers on the pulse of the nation. 30 April 2008 may be the day that Barisan Nasional -- and therefore Umno as well -- falls after getting a beating on 8 March 2008. The reasons are clear, though it may not be clear to Umno. But what is more of interest is not the reason for the 8 March 2008 ‘disaster’ but what is happening behind the scenes to cushion the fall of those who walk in the corridors of power.

Those who walk in the corridors of power no longer have any doubts that 30 April 2008 may be the day the newly-formed opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, takes the reins of power. With its 82 seats in Parliament it is already more than halfway there. All it needs is another 30 seats to give it a simple majority in Parliament. If it gets more than that, even better, but 30 seats will do the trick for the meantime. Once the Barisan Nasional government falls, the stragglers will swing over easily enough because politicians always like to associate themselves with the winner, never with the loser.

Patrick Lim tried his best to salvage whatever little left he could salvage. As soon as the results of the election became known, his fortune started dwindling at a rapid pace. When the stock market opened the Monday following the elections, he saw more than a quarter billion Ringgit disappear from his books. It was the most painful Monday in his entire life -- as it was for the rest of the fourth floor cronies who were left holding paper that was no longer worth what it was just two days before that.

Seeing that Penang was now an opposition state, his flagship project, Penang Global City Centre, was doomed to become history; and the market reacted. When it was announced that approval for the project had never been given in the first place, that nailed his plans to change the entire landscape of Penang Island and turn into a New York skyline; and the market reacted even more. He had only Terengganu left, which thankfully was still a Barisan Nasional state. And if he could convince his bankers that Terengganu was still on, then maybe they will ease up on the margin calls.

But it was still too early to pop Champagne. Terengganu may be a Barisan Nasional state but it appears that His Majesty, The Agong, had other plans as to who should be the new Menteri Besar. The Agong knows about the RM1.2 billion a year oil royalty that has now been changed to wang ehsan and which comes under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister’s Department. The Agong also knows that ever since Idris Jusoh was appointed the manager of the wang ehsan in 2000, more than RM8 billion has disappeared into the pockets of Patrick Lim and his retinue of cronies. And The Agong said, enough is enough; the pilferage must come to an end!

Patrick Lim broke out into cold sweat when it was announced that The Agong has his own ideas on who should be the Menteri Besar of Terengganu and that it is not going to be Idris Jusoh. Patrick Lim sent The Agong a SMS with an offer of RM300 million if His Majesty would maintain status quo. The gall of this uncouth, uncultured, crossbreed of a Chinaman. Sending The Agong a SMS is bad enough. Not even The Agong’s uncle would do such a biadap thing. But to attempt to bribe The Agong on top of that is the height of insolence that tantamount to treason.

When The Agong did not respond, Patrick Lim made a beeline for Terengganu in an attempt to have a personal audience with His Majesty to pursue the RM300 million offer. The Agong made Patrick Lim sit in the waiting room the entire afternoon and at 5.00pm His Majesty sent his ‘guest’ off in tears with the message that he is persona non grata in the palace.

Patrick Lim was now desperate. He needed to save his Terengganu operation. With Penang now in shambles, Terengganu is all he has left with which to convince his bankers that he is still bankable. He went to meet Ahmad Said and offered the new Menteri Besar RM40 million if he would agree to turn down the offer for the top post and instead settle for the post of Deputy Menteri Besar. This would allow Idris Jusoh the top post, which would then enable Patrick Lim to retain Terengganu as his playground. But Ahmad Said refused the offer of RM40 million and Patrick Lim’s hope of getting his hands on the RM1.2 billion a year shattered.

Yes, 30 April 2008 may yet become like Saigon of 30 April 1975. Parliament is expected to convene on 28 April 2008 and if Anwar can convince another 30 Parliamentarians from Barisan Nasional to swing to his side then, with the 82 he already controls, he can form the new federal government. But can he do that?

Sabah and Sarawak have 54 Parliament seats, all Barisan Nasional, while only 14 are Umno. Without Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional will have only 86 Parliament seats in Peninsular Malaysia, a majority of just four seats over the opposition’s 82. And without Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional cannot form the government, not even with a simple majority.

Sabah and Sarawak know that Barisan Nasional needs their seats. Yet, they gave Sabah and Sarawak just five Deputy Minister posts and ‘worthless’ ministries on top of that. Their 54 Parliament seats are not going to come cheap. They can decide to throw their seats behind the 86 Barisan Nasional seats or behind the 82 opposition seats. Whomsoever gets their 54 seats will form the government. And the one who will get their 54 seats will be the one who comes up with the best offer.

Sabah and Sarawak are each earning about RM600 million a year from the oil royalty. If the 5% oil royalty is increased to 20%, this will be close to RM2.5 billion a year, RM5 billion for both states combined. And if two Deputy Prime Minister posts are created and Second Deputy Prime Minister is rotated between Sabah and Sarawak, then that will complete the package. And the opposition has agreed to grant Sabah and Sarawak all this while Barisan Nasional, over the last two decades, will not even honour the Twenty-Point Agreement that was the basis for the formation of this nation called Malaysia.

Yes, 30 April 2008. Will that be the date of the fall of Barisan Nasional as was the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975? Saigon fell because the government lost touch with the ground. If Barisan Nasional falls it will also be because the government has lost touch with the ground. Umno, today, in its forum at the Singgahsana Hotel, talked about Malay nationalism and Islam. Barisan Nasional got a thrashing on 8 March 2008 because the people are tired of all this talk about Malay nationalism and Islam. And this continued talk about Malay nationalism and Islam will be what will seal the Barisan Nasional coffin for good on 30 April 2008.

For further reading, on 28 March 2008, The Malaysian Insider ran an article called ‘Patrick Lim - jetsetter with a bulls-eye on his back’. Considering that The Malaysian Insider is owned by Kalimullah Masheerul Hassan and Brendon Pereira, it makes one wonder what their game plan is. After all, Kalimullah and Brendon are known fourth floor cronies. Is this a sign that even the fourth floor is jettisoning Patrick Lim and leaving him to flounder in his massive bank debts?

Of special interest is the New Straits Times report below about Maybank buying over Temasek’s interest in an Indonesian bank at RM3 billion more than what they should be paying. The interesting part, of course, is about who brokered this deal with Singapore and why Maybank was made to pay RM3 billion over-value.

Yes, the rats are deserting the sinking ship. And they are cashing out quickly so that they can take with them as much money as they can when they desert the ship. If the ship sinks on 30 April 2008, as may be the case….well, never mind, because by then billions will have been transferred out of the country.

Daim took RM42 billion with him when he bailed out just before Tun Dr Mahathir left the scene. Expect the present figure to be close to that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi leaves the scene. RM21 billion has already been moved just before the last general election. They only need another RM21 billion to match Daim’s RM42 billion. And the Maybank deal just reduced that RM21 billion to RM18 billion so there is not that far to go. If the new government is formed on 30 April 2008 there may be nothing left in the kitty. I, for one, would not want to be in that new government.

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Patrick Lim - jetsetter with a bulls-eye on his back’
The Malaysian Insider, 28 March 2008

His jet set days seem a lifetime ago. The days of hopping onto a helicopter for a trip to Penang or a quick turnaround to Paris on his private jet. Or a power breakfast with Ferrari's Kimi Raikonnen. Or cocktails with Oracle's Larry Ellison at the America's Cup in Valencia. Those days must seem a long time ago for Datuk Patrick Lim Soo Kit.

Today, he must feel like a man with a bulls-eye on his back. The suave and well-turned out businessman has retreated to the background, hoping that the changing political structure will not leave him on the sidelines as it has many prominent Malaysian corporate figures over the year. Think of Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng, Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, Datuk Nazri Abdullah and others who paid for their close association with either Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah or Anwar Ibrahim.

What was once a powerful calling card is now a liability for the man christened Patrick Badawi by his enemies. And make no mistake now that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's hold on power is tenuous, Patrick Lim's enemies are coming out in droves. Leading the charge is Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In his column in The Sun today, the former prime minister implies that the former Terengganu mentri besar Idris Jusoh and the first family may have benefited from various mega-projects. He does not name the conduit. He does not have to.

It was Dr Mahathir who publicly accused Lim and Khairy Jamaluddin of running Terengganu at the height of his public spat with Abdullah. By referring to him today, Mahathir is merely drawing on a reservoir of disdain, envy and anger against Patrick among Umno members. His critics say that Patrick dropped Abdullah's name at every turn, and that helped propel him into the big league and pages of society magazines. He hit the Malaysian corporate scene in the 1990s when - with the help of some financial backing from his wealthy father-in-law - his company started Equine Park, a housing development in Selangor.

As with many businessmen in Malaysia, he hitched his fortunes to the political master of the day. In the waning days of the Mahathir administration, he hung out with Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, and they became thick friends. After Abdullah became the PM in October 2003, Lim started getting closer to Kamaluddin, Abdullah's only son. Within a short time, he made himself part of the inner circle, showing up when Abdullah and family members went on holidays. By now, there was speculation that he was a nominee for Kamaluddin. Within some government departments and states, there was little doubt that he had the ear of the PM, or at least he gave the impression he had.

He began to attract disdain and envy after he was selected by Abdullah to develop Pulau Duyong near Kuala Terengganu and organise the Monsoon Cup. In a short time, the Monsoon Cup has become a popular warm-up for teams planning an assault on the America's Cup. In the same time, rumblings started on the ground that Lim and Abdullah's family were the main beneficiaries of the major infrastructure projects in the state. This was one of the sticky points between Idris Jusoh and the royal household in the recent battle over the Mentri Besar's position. Lim was aware of the growing noise and attempted to hush it by pointing out of the many economic benefits which the Monsoon Cup brought to the state.

What he failed to realise was that the criticism had little to do with the race itself but was aimed at its promoter and benefactor in Putrajaya. Within Umno circles, they were peeved that a businessman, not one of their own, could wield so much influence and do it so openly.

If there was any doubt about Lim's close ties with Abdullah it was swept away when the Prime Minister launched the Penang Global City Centre last year. The project – an ambitious plan to turn a tiny neighborhood into a sprawling metropolis – was fast tracked as a high-impact project under the National Implementation Task Force and put under the Northern Corridor. Critics said that the project, to be developed on a 104-ha site now occupied by the Penang Turf Club, will create traffic jams, damage lush green areas and will be unsustainable. The new state government under Lim Guan Eng is not likely to approve the project unless it is scaled down.

Lim knows that his days of being in the frontline are over. He will be collateral damage even if Abdullah survives this choppy period. It is the price that businessmen in Malaysia pay for being associated with certain political leaders. Tan Sri Halim Saad of the Renong Group and Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli were the poster boys of the Mahathir era and paid for the excesses associated with that time.

Only a handful of corporate figures have been able to be close to different political masters. Among them is Berjaya's Vincent Tan. He has remained loyal to Dr Mahathir but managed to win the trust of Abdullah. But the publication of Dr Mahathir's long and piercing attack on Abdullah on the front page of a newspaper closely associated with Tan suggests that he is hedging his bets.

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Maybank wins bid for Indonesia's BII
By Adeline Paul Raj
New Straits Times, 27 March 2008

MALAYSIA'S biggest bank, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), has won a bid to take control of Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) for US$1.5 billion (about RM4.8 billion), a major step for the lender to expand in the region. BII is Indonesia's sixth largest bank in terms of assets, with over 230 branches.

"This acquisition will transform our growth prospects in Indonesia and significantly enhance our regional presence," Maybank acting chief executive officer Datuk Aminuddin Md Desa told reporters at a briefing yesterday in Kuala Lumpur.

To comply with takeover rules, Maybank will also offer to buy the remaining 44 per cent of BII, which could push its total bill to US$2.7 billion (RM8.6 billion). It plans to fund this internally. The deal comes just days after it agreed to buy a 15 per cent stake in Vietnam's An Binh Bank for RM430 million.

Maybank's bid for BII, at 4.6 times book value, appears steep, an indication of the stiff fight from bigger rivals and limited opportunities in the region. Analysts said that it was probably the most expensive bank purchase ever in Indonesia. Research firms like Citigroup had expected it to pay US$1.8 billion (RM5.7 billion) for all of BII.

Aminuddin, however, believes it is worth paying the hefty premium to get a controlling stake in a crucial market like Indonesia. The country has no foreign shareholding limits and offers one of the highest growth potential in the region. "It's an opportunity we couldn't afford to miss," he said.

A Reuters report said Maybank had beaten Bank of China for BII, after Europe's biggest lender, HSBC, dropped out in the last leg of the race. According to Aminuddin, BII will start contributing profits in the third year after the deal is completed. Maybank's strategy is to tap the remittance business and, later, trade finance. With BII, revenue contribution from Maybank's international operations will jump to 30 per cent in the next one or two years from about 19 per cent currently, he said.

In the first stage of the BII deal, which could take three months to complete, Maybank will pay RM4.8 billion to buy all of Sorak Financial Holdings Pte Ltd, which holds 56 per cent of BII. Sorak is owned by Singapore investment arm Temasek (75 per cent) and South Korea's Kookmin Bank (25 per cent). Maybank will then make a RM3.8 billion offer to buy out BII's minority shareholders.

On whether Maybank intends to take BII private, Aminuddin said it was still too early to say as it would depend on how minority shareholders respond to the offer. He pointed out, however, that Indonesian law states that as long as there are at least 3,000 public shareholders, a company can be kept listed no matter what the public shareholding spread is. Maybank, whose shares traded at RM8.95 yesterday before being suspended for the announcement, expects to complete the entire deal in six months. Temasek is selling its stake in BII to comply with Indonesian laws that forbid a foreign investor from owning more than one bank.

Anwar or Ku Li? The race is on

2008-04-03T16:37:00.001-07:00

Yes, it is certainly going to be a close race. Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah will make his move on 4 April while Anwar Ibrahim can make his only after 14 April. Then, Anwar can make his second move after 7 May while Tengku Razaleigh will make his on 11 May.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

TAWAU, March 27 (Bernama) -- Kalabakan Member of Parliament Datuk Ghapur Salleh relinquished his post as Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister effective yesterday. He told Bernama today that he submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Putrajaya last night. Dismissing talk that he would hop over to the opposition, which is said to be trying to lure several MPs from Sabah and Sarawak, Ghapur, who won the seat unopposed in the March 8 general election, said he would continue to be an elected representative and Kalabakan Umno division head. He is the second MP from Sabah and the third person to resign as a federal deputy minister since the election.

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Umno elections could be postponed

Needing time to 'regroup' after GE, party may defer polls till next March

By S JAYASANKARAN, Business Times, 26 March 2008

ELECTIONS in the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), Malaysia's dominant political party that leads the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, are likely to be postponed because of the political uncertainty gripping the country. Umno officials say this was the impression they got after meeting Umno president and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday. Mr Abdullah also told them the party needs to stamp out 'money politics' because that would only make the people angrier.

On March 8, the Barisan Nasional (BN) was given a hiding at a general election, losing control of five states and its two-thirds majority in Parliament. Originally, Umno was supposed to hold its elections in August. The party's constitution stipulates elections every three years for all posts from the president down, but also allows for deferment. In this case, elections must be held by March next year. Umno officials openly admit they never expected such a drubbing at the GE, at which voters from all the country's races, including the majority Malays, rebuffed the BN.

'The feeling now is that we have to unite and avoid any in-fighting because that could split the party,' an official told BT. 'For that, we need to time to regroup.' Whether this will happen is uncertain. Waiting in the wings is Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, 71, who is offering himself as an alternative to Mr Abdullah as leader of Umno and the government.

Tengku Razaleigh is a prince from Kelantan, founder-president of national oil corporation Petronas and a former finance minister under two prime ministers - Hussein Onn and Mahathir Mohamad. In 1987, he challenged Dr Mahathir for the Umno presidency and lost by a narrow 43 votes. Ironically, at the time, Mr Abdullah was on the Tengku's side and was one of the few on his team who made the cut as one of Umno's three vice-presidents.

Whether the Tengku will be allowed to challenge Mr Abdullah is the big question. After the 1987 elections, the rules were changed to make a presidential bid against the incumbent all but impossible. The rules now demand that a presidential challenger obtain nominations from 30 per cent of Umno's divisions - or 58 nominations. Asked recently about Tengku Razaleigh's chances, Dr Mahathir said he did not think there would be divisions 'brave' enough to support him openly against an incumbent prime minister. But in the present climate, Dr Mahathir could be wrong.

Political analysts say it would take only a few brave souls to speak up for a stampede to begin. And a trickle of support has begun. Over the weekend, 80 Umno branches in Muar, Johor, spoke up in support of the Tengku, who has asked for an extraordinary meeting of Umno to be convened to discuss the election debacle. Indeed, the postponement of the Umno polls could help the Tengku's cause, giving him time to canvass divisions across the country. That would help get his message directly to his audience, given his inaccessibility to the mainstream media which is resolutely pro-Mr Abdullah.

The Tengku could also be helped by repeated mis-steps on Mr Abdullah's part that suggest weak leadership. For example, the impasse over the Terengganu crisis could be resolved soon, but only with damage inflicted on Mr Abdullah.

Last Saturday, the state's Sultan (who is also Malaysia's King) appointed Umno assemblyman Ahmad Said as chief minister over Idris Jusoh, Mr Abdullah's nominee, who was also supported by 22 other state assemblymen. The appointment triggered a constitutional crisis. If Mr Abdullah's numbers were right, the Sultan acted unconstitutionally - a word Mr Abdullah himself used.

Yesterday, however, Mr Abdullah seemed to back down. He said he was seeking an audience with the King. And at a news conference, Mr Idris apologised to the King for 'everything' that had angered him. While Mr Idris maintained that Mr Ahmad does not deserve the chief minister's position, he seemed to throw in the towel, saying he would accept any position given to him.

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Ghapur Salleh actually wanted to resign from Umno Sabah just before the 8 March 2008 general elections so that he could contest the election on a PKR ticket. Anwar Ibrahim, however, would not allow him to do so. Ghapur grumbled to his friends that all Anwar needed to do was to give the word and he, plus a few other close associates in Umno Sabah, would cross-over and contest the election under the PKR banner. Anwar, of course, had his reasons. He wanted Sabah and Sarawak to be the 'reserve team' in the event the opposition wins enough seats to form the federal government.

As it now stands, the opposition has won 82 seats in Parliament and all it needs is another 30 to give it a two-seat majority over Barisan Nasional. 30 seats would make the score 112:110, all that is needed for His Majesty to do what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia requires him to do. And what His Majesty the Agong would have to do would be to appoint a new Prime Minister from amongst any of the 222 Members of the House who, in His Majesty's opinion, commands the confidence of the majority of the Member of the House. It is certainly very 'loose' though clearly worded but the way it has been written gives enormous powers to His Majesty the Agong to interpret 'opinion', 'commands' and 'confidence' the way His Majesty sees it. Most important of all, though, is that His Majesty need not 'seek advice from the Prime Minister' but instead can exercise his 'own discretion' in arriving at 'his opinion'.

Isn't the English language just lovely? And that is what it all boils down to, so the legal eagles can just stay out of this whole thing and allow the English teachers to step in to help properly interpret what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia says -- which is written in the Queen's English anyway. And 'Queen' here refers to Elizabeth II and not Freddie Mercury who died of AIDS.

So, does Anwar have 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament safely tucked away? No, he does not have 30. Instead, he has thus far 38, the majority from Sabah and Sarawak. Did you not notice Anwar flying off to Sarawak the morning of 9 March and to Sabah the following day? And rest assured it was not to buy some Iban or Dayak hats. It was to conference with the Barisan Nasional leaders from these two East Malaysian states.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi knew all this of course, as did his advisers on the fourth floor. However, instead of trying to win the hearts and minds of the East Malaysians, he antagonised them further when he offered the East Malaysian warlords just five Deputy Minister posts, and in very unimportant ministries on top of that.

Sabah and Sarawak brought in 54 Parliament seats to match the 86 from Peninsular Malaysia. Without these 54 Parliament seats from Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional would be having a mere four-seat majority over the opposition coalition of PKR, DAP and PAS -- while the popular votes garnered by Barisan Nasional would be less than half. It became slightly over half only when the Sabah and Sarawak votes were included.

20 of the 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament from Sarawak have agreed to cross-over to the opposition while 16 of the 24 from Sabah will follow suit if Sarawak first takes the plunge. To start the ball rolling, Anifah Aman, brother to the Sabah Chief Minister, rejected the offer for the post of Deputy Minister and with about half a dozen or so other Sabah warlords flew off to Melbourne to meet the other warlords from Sarawak. They have been there since last week; planning, plotting and scheming their moves, which they will make when the time is right. Rest assured Anifah would not act without the consent of his brother, Musa Aman.

They will of course not make their move now. They are waiting for May 2008. By midnight of 14 April 2008, Anwar will be eligible to contest the elections and probably Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim will resign his Bandar Tun Razak seat or Zulkilfi Nordin his Kulim seat. A by-election will then be called and Anwar will of course be that PKR candidate to contest the by-election. On 5 May 2008, Parliament will be convened with Anwar now a Member of Parliament. From 7 May 2008 onwards, 82 opposition Members of Parliament will be able to table a motion of no confidence against Abdullah, supported by no less than 38 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament, as it now stands. The 38 Members of Parliament from Barisan Nasional is of course the latest tally taken this morning. 7 May 2008 is still more than a month away and one day is a long time in politics, what more 40 days. So expect this 38 to grow further and it should not come as a surprise if the final tally is no longer just a simple majority but a resounding two-thirds majority. Will we see, therefore, Anwar finally taking office as the Sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia?

Nevertheless, while all this is going on, another candidate for the post of the Sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia is also moving very rapidly in the background. And this man is the resident of that very imposing White House-like abode along Langgak Golf.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has not been sleeping. He has been aggressively meeting hundreds of people from all over Malaysia. Even as you read this Tengku Razaleigh is hosting more than 100 Umno division and branch leaders to a sumptuous feast in his office cum home behind the United States Embassy.

Tengku Razaleigh is going a slightly different route though. While Anwar is working on a 'no confidence' vote in Parliament, Tengku Razaleigh is working on the 193 Umno divisions. And he, thus far, has 74 Umno divisions with him. He needs at least 58 nominations to be able to contest against the party President cum Prime Minister. But that is only if he wishes to contest the August 2008 party elections, which Abdullah is trying to postpone till 2009.

August 2008 is too late. 2009 even later. By then Anwar may already be Prime Minister. So Tengku Razaleigh can't afford to wait till August. He must move now. And, on 4 April 2008, Tengku Razaleigh is organising a rally at his home base in Gua Musang. If he can get more than 100 Umno divisions to attend his rally, then he can push for an EGM on 11 May 2008 whereby the party constitution can be amended to allow the 'normal' two-nomination-only to contest, just like what it is for all the other positions -- plus he probably can get a vote of no confidence against the party president passed as well.

Yes, it is certainly going to be a close race. Tengku Razaleigh will make his move on 4 April while Anwar can make his only after 14 April. Then, Anwar can make his second move after 7 May while Tengku Razaleigh will make his on 11 May.

It will be a photo-finish and a win by the nose. But whose nose will it be that will cross the finishing line first? Hey, I can't reveal all just yet. Khairy Jamaluddin and his boys are reading this too, you know. Let's first of all see if they succeed in postponing the August 2008 Umno party elections to 2009. If they fail, then Tengku Razaleigh is well-poised to become the next Prime Minister. If they succeed in postponing the party elections, well, then I suppose my money will have to be on Anwar. Did I not tell you that Malaysia is an exciting country?

Oh, and one more thing, observe what the Rulers have been doing these last three weeks since 8 March 2008 and what they will be doing these next few weeks. That should give you a good hint as to what's in store for us. In the meantime, read the following piece by Mathias Chang, which also gives us an insight into what's in store for us in the not too distant future.

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Barisan Nasional is finished if Pak Lah is not replaced by end April 2008

Matthias Chang

I just could not believe my eyes, when I read in the New Strait Times newspaper, business section – Business Times – that Bank Negara projects 5.6 pc growth this year. Bank Negara Governor, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz was quoted as saying:

“We have done several simulations of different packages which can be implemented in the event of any significant slowdown, which we do not see on the horizon at this point in time.”

I am sure that the “simulations were all done and tested prior to the 12th General Elections of March 8, 2008. So they are no longer valid as they failed to take into account the post-election reality.

Bank Negara must be wearing blinkers or under directions from Pak Lah and his spin-doctors to spin a story that all is well and good. The observation that no significant slowdown can be seen on the horizon at this point of time can be tested by reviewing some independent observations.

Spiegel reported on Wednesday, March 26 2008 that:

“Germany and other industrialised countries are desperately trying to brace themselves against the threat of a collapse of the global financial system. The crisis has now taken its toll on the German economy, where the weak dollar is putting jobs in jeopardy and the credit crunch is paralyzing many businesses.”

Why is the Governor of Bank Negara playing down this acknowledged global financial meltdown – the financial tsunami? Is there a conspiracy of silence among the world’s central bankers?

Spiegel has let the cat out of the bag when it reported further that:

“For some time, there has been a tacit agreement among central bankers and the financial ministers of key economies not to allow any bank large enough to jeopardise the system to go under – no matter what the cost. But on Sunday, the question arose whether this agreement should be formalised and made public. The central bankers decided against the idea, reasoning that it would practically be an invitation to speculators and large hedge funds to take advantage of this government guarantee. Everyone involved knows how explosive the agreement is. It essentially means that while the profits of banks are privatised, society bears the costs of their losses. In a world in which the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, that is political dynamite.”

There you have it - the global conspiracy of silence by central bankers and finance ministers. Yet, it is I that has been accused of being a conspiracy theorist.

The Malaysian Ticking Time Bomb

Besides the impending global financial tsunami hitting our shores in the very near future, Malaysia is waiting for a ticking time bomb to explode that will leave our country totally defenceless.

No one has even given a thought to this time bomb. What is this time bomb? It is the total dislocation and disruption of the entire 9th Malaysian Plan.

How can this be? Simple! The informal Barisan Rakyat has captured four critical states, more precisely the four critical economic states of Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kedah (part of the rice bowl of Malaysia) and retained Kelantan. There used to be a MIMALAND (Mini Malaysia) in Gombak. But that was a mere tourist attraction. These five states is the real deal, the Real Mini Malaysia, without which the BN government is useless, a toothless tiger.

The 9th Malaysia Plan (and all previous Five Year Plans) envisages that a substantial portion of the RM200 billion budget spread over five years will be allocated to the “state economic engines” of the Malaysian economy, namely Selangor and Penang – the crown jewels. When combined with Perak and Kedah, these states provide the crucial infrastructure, human resources and more importantly the critical mass for the massive investments needed to prepare the economy to meet the impending threat of the global tsunami and at the minimum, to enable the country to float just above the water till the tsunami rolls back to deeper waters.

Just a few days ago, Pak Lah acknowledged this stark reality and conceded that some of the mega-projects will have to be scaled back. Pak Lah and the corrupt and greedy politicians of the Barisan Nasional cannot bear the thought that they will not be in control of these massive investments in the states of Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah.

The 9th Malaysian Plan cannot be implemented successfully without the close cooperation between the central Federal Authority and the state counter-parts. This is a given the BN state partners-in-crime to loot the national treasury is absent. Pak Lah and his family have the money but the same cannot be diverted to the coffers of cronies at the state level, when they are no longer in power and control of the state governments.

The nightmare for the Barisan Nasional is not that they lost their 2/3 majority in Parliament and the massive reduction in the popular votes, but that they can no longer enrich themselves as before.

The whole system of patronage that confers absolute power to the President of UMNO and Prime Minister has been rendered ineffective and the rewards for a subservient power hierarchy cannot be guaranteed. Pak Lah and his goons will no longer be able to wield the threat that should the leaders of the political multi-level organisation fail to toe the line, the gravy train will not stop at their stations.

The gravy train stations are now in control of Barisan Rakyat!

So long as Pak Lah and his family are control of the levers of power and the treasury, the economy will be in a grid lock and the entire system will come to a standstill. Checkmate! There are enough reasons to remove Pak Lah as demanded by the electorate in the just concluded elections. But the nail that hammers in the lid of the coffin is the consequences of this stark economic reality.

The Prime Minister who replaces Pak Lah must be one who is without controversy, baggage and more importantly must be acceptable to the leaders of the Barisan Rakyat. This will provide the minimum basis for cooperation between the two “Barisans”. And such a leader will then be able to reform the present system and save the economy from dislocation and disruption and the unimaginable consequences that will assuredly flow from the present gridlock.

Time is against us.

Pak Lah must be removed when Parliament convenes, if the Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament have the interest of the country at heart and not their warped interest for power and self-enrichment.

No one to date has the guts and the convictions to take on Pak Lah and his goons except Tengku Razaleigh. He has offered to serve the country. He should be given a chance.

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has also called for Pak Lah’s removal. Members of Barisan Nasional must heed their call to remove Pak Lah. The nation must ensure that the momentum generated by the results of the General Election must gather speed and force to sweep away the political debris of Pak Lah, his family and his goons!

And God help us and Malaysia should we fail!

Puteri Umno supports party election postponement...then retracts it four hours later

2008-03-26T10:01:00.003-07:00

Four hours after supporting calls for the Umno elections to be postponed to next year, Puteri Umno made a complete u-turn and called for party polls to be held as scheduled.

Reporters who covered the Malaysia Career and Training Fair Press conference in the morning had asked Puteri Umno chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad whether the movement agreed with calls within Umno for a postponement of the election.

“Yes, because Umno needs time to address both it’s internal and external problems first. These problems can be resolved but not necessarily through party elections,” the Deputy Minister of Human Resources said . “The party needs time to adjust, especially since the dust from general election had not really settled. There is no urgency. Once we are back to normal, then only we should hold the party elections.”

However, four hours later, Noraini not only retracted her statement but called for party elections to be held as scheduled.

“Although the party has until June next year to hold the elections, Puteri Umno is of the opinion that party elections should be held by this year,” she said in a faxed statement.

Noraini said if at all the elections could not be held by August as originally scheduled, then it should take place by December at the latest.

Throughout the afternoon, Noraini did not answer calls to her handphone but later sent a text message to a Berita Harian reporter explaining the sudden change of stand.

“No need to prolong. Better to hold the meeting early. Please look at the constitution,” the text message read.

Others, not you, decide what you are

2008-03-26T10:01:00.002-07:00

Then Nordin Kardi made his statement and he went on and on about how blogs have smeared the reputation of intellectuals such as himself. Hello.......since when is he an intellectual? If he is an intellectual then Madonna is a virgin.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Nordin Kardi, the VC of UUM, finally obtained judgement against me. When they first served the Writ of Summons on me it was for an amount of RM85 million. I was actually quite offended that it was a mere RM85 million and not a 'round figure' of RM100 million. I thought I was 'worth' more than that. However, when the court arrived at its decision, the amount was reduced to just RM4 million (RM2 million for him and RM2 million for UUM). So whether he sues me for RM100 million or RM85 million did not matter that much anyway.

The court's decision, however, is not based on what I am worth. It is based on what Nordin Kardi and UUM are worth, or rather what their reputations are worth. I was alleged to have smeared Nordin's reputation as well as that of all Malaysian universities plus the intellectuals who are heading them. In a way, Nordin filed a sort of 'class action suit' against me to defend not only his reputation, and not only UUM's reputation, but that of all Malaysian universities and all Malaysian intellectuals who are heading these universities. And the court has valued these combined reputations as a mere RM4 million.

The court has spoken and the court said that all these people's reputations are worth a mere RM4 million. I rest my case.

Actually, Nordin did not win his case. It was the other way around. I 'threw' the case. When his lawyer sent me a Letter of Demand I did not respond to it. I threw it into the dustbin. Then they served me the Writ of Summons and, again, I did not respond to it but threw it into the dustbin. Then I was ordered to defend myself in court and, yet again, I ignored the order and threw it into the dustbin. I, of course, also did not make an appearance in court so they obtained judgement in default. Soon they will serve the Judgement on me and rest assured I will do what I do best, I will throw it into the dustbin. Then they will of course file for bankruptcy against me and I will, in time, receive the Bankruptcy Notice and guess what, yes, I will throw that into the dustbin as well. That is the 'value' I place on all their Letters of Demand, Writs of Summons, and whatever else they have chosen to serve on me and will continue to do so as we play this little charade of justice in Malaysia.

The only reason Nordin was able to 'get me' was because some stupid person in Suara Keadilan (hope it was not Zunar or Tian Chua), Party Keadilan Rakyat's newspaper, made the silly mistake of 'stealing' something from Malaysia Today and then went and published it in their party newspaper without first seeking my permission. I was not even aware they had lifted this item from Malaysia Today until I received the Letter of Demand from Nordin's lawyer. It was actually very stupid of them to do that and for that reason they got me into trouble. But I did not lose any sleep over the matter. Maybe now they will be more careful about stealing my stuff without first getting my permission.

Anyway, what tickled me pink was the fact that I was the first news item on TV3 tonight. Normally, the first news item would be about the Prime Minister, the second about the Deputy Prime Minister, then something about the crisis in Terengganu, followed by some propaganda about the opposition such as the crisis in Selangor or Perak or Penang, or something like that. But tonight all these took second billing while I was the first item on the news. And it was not a mere 30 seconds mind you like what most news items would be. It was quite a few minutes -- not bad, I would say.

Then Nordin Kardi made his statement and he went on and on about how blogs have smeared the reputation of intellectuals such as himself. Hello.......since when is he an intellectual? If he is an intellectual then Madonna is a virgin. Nordin is just the psy-war man of BTN, the agency that brainwashes government servants and students into believing that this country is a Malay country and that Chinese and Indians are pendatang who should be put in their right place and be constantly reminded that they are immigrants. And for rubbing Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the right spot, wherever that right spot may be, he was made the VC of UUM. The real intellectuals should sue him for RM100 million for giving all real intellectuals a bad name.

I hope Nordin spent a lot of money on legal fees to sue me because he is certainly not going to get me to pay him back his legal costs. But I suppose if you happen to hold the right post in government you can always get some Chinese contractor, somewhere, to pay your bills. Oops, did I just say something that will give him grounds to sue me again? Well, I might as well go all the way with this scumbag and slime-ball of a Malay who makes me very ashamed to call myself Malay.

Till we talk again, folks, take care, and do try to stay out of court.

You forgot who voted for you?

2008-03-26T10:01:00.001-07:00

Every candidate, irrespective of political party and race, won because of the votes from all the races. So the Malay, Chinese and Indian in government DOES NOT represent his or her community. He or she did not get into government because of the votes from his or her own community. So, once in government, why do they now talk about representing their community?

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This was what one mainstream newspaper reported on Monday:

NGOs 'concerned over fate' of Perak Malays

By HAH FOONG LIAN

IPOH: A group of some 20 Perak Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has voiced its concern over the fate of Malays under the new DAP-PKR-PAS government in the state. The group, which held a special meeting at Tambun Heights here on Sunday, will submit a memorandum to the Sultan of Perak.

Among those who attended the meeting were leaders of the Perak Malay Teachers Association, Perak Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS), Perak Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim), Perak Association of Muslim Students, Perak 4B Youth movement, Perak Council of Former Barisan Elected Representatives (Mubarak), Perak Malay Traders Association and Perak Wanita NGO.

Nonee Ashirin Mohd Radzi, who chaired the meeting, said they could not accept the six-three-one formula to be used in the make-up of the state executive council. Nonee Ashirin, one of the founder members of Perak Pertubuhan Profesional dan Pewaris Bangsa (Prowaris), said the formula did not reflect the composition of the state population where Malays are the majority.

The formula agreed upon by the new state government would see the DAP taking up six exco posts, PKR three and PAS one. “There should be more Malays in the exco line-up,” Nonee Ashirin said, adding that the exco should instead have six Malays and four non-Malays, like the representation under the Barisan Nasional rule.

She said the NGOs also rejected the creation of two Deputy Mentri Besar posts because it was not provided for in the state Constitution. “The two positions are there just to fulfil the DAP's political interest,” she claimed.

Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim, who represented Perak Wanita NGO, said the popular votes showed that more voters supported the Barisan instead of the Opposition. She said the Barisan garnered some 333,000 votes compared to 282,000 that went to the opposition front. Based on this, she said Barisan had a simple majority and should be allowed to form a minority government.

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These 20 Malay NGOs and movements are talking with their heads up their ass. Based on their arguments, considering that the three opposition parties garnered more than half the popular votes in Peninsular Malaysia, would it not therefore be correct to say that the opposition should form the Federal Government in West Malaysia while Barisan Nasional should only form the ‘Regional’ Government in East Malaysia?

Since when is the number of votes the factor to decide who gets to form the government? Malaysia practices the first-past-the-post system. Over 50 years since Merdeka, the opposition has been winning a higher number of votes in some states, but because it is seats and not votes that count, it always ends up with Barisan Nasional instead of the opposition that forms the government.

The issue as to who won more votes than whom can be laid to rest. It is pointless to argue this point as every man and his dog knows that the opposition garnered more votes than Barisan Nasional. There were an additional one million votes that were stuffed into the ballot boxes, about a quarter of those in the form of postal votes. If the postal votes system had been abolished, as what the opposition had been clamouring for all these many years, and if the electoral roll had been cleaned up and purged of phantom voters, today the opposition would no longer be an opposition because it would have formed the federal government and the Prime Minister would probably be Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. And let us admit that Wan Azizah is, by far, more attractive than Abdullah Ahmad Badawi – or even compared to Rafidah and Sharizat.

Let us make one thing very clear. There is only this Houdini and David Copperfield type perception that Barisan Nasional won more votes than the opposition. Barisan Nasional actually won less votes but their votes were padded with one million ‘additional’ votes. That is how they created this perception of ‘win’. And in spite of all that and in spite of the gerrymandering and in spite of the many other transgressions and violations like threatening another ‘May 13’ if Barisan Nasional loses its two-thirds majority, they still got their ass kicked real hard. Imagine what would have happened if it had been a level playing field. Let me repeat that: the opposition and not Barisan Nasional won the 8 March 2008 general election.

And do you know what was one of the key reasons why the opposition won? Okay, there were the rampant and blatant corruption, the arrogance of the Barisan Nasional leaders, the keris-waving, the ‘go back to China’ shouting matches in Parliament, and much, much more, that made most Malaysians just plain nauseous But what really moved the voters was the ‘we-are-one’ campaign of the opposition. The opposition did not talk as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. They talked in a ‘we are Malaysians’ tone of voice.

Malaysians have just about had it with all this racial slur and rhetoric. Not only the Chinese and Indians have had their fill with racism but a fair percentage of Malays as well can no longer stomach the race politics, which is the hallmark of Barisan Nasional. These people just don’t get it. They still have not woken up to the realisation that it was race that lost them the election. They blame the blogs and the internet. They say it was the blogs and the internet which caused the Barisan Nasional defeat. No, the blogs and internet just played the role of providing an alternative source of news to the voters. The blogs and internet could not manufacture the news. The news had to be there in the first place. The blogs and the internet were just the medium to deliver this news to the voters which would not have been available to them otherwise.

And today they still scream about race and racial quotas. Just read what these 20 Malay NGOs and movements said on Sunday. It is still about racial quotas. Why stop at this? Why not just demand that 100% of the positions be reserved for Malays? After all, this is a Malay country, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, and the Chinese and Indians are pendatang, as Umno constantly reminds us. So would not 100% of the positions be given to Malays be more apt? Furthermore, the Chinese and Indian parties got wiped out in the last election. The Chinese and Indian parties did not deliver the votes. Without the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, Barisan Nasional would have been totally wiped out. So it makes more sense that 100% of the positions go to the Malays with none at all for the Chinese and Indians.

Barisan Nasional has to be rudely woken up if it has not already done so. The more they harp on race and racial quotas the deeper into the rut they will go. What’s so wrong if the Chinese or Indians get an extra seat, or vice versa? This is not a number’s game anyway. And, unfortunately, even those in the opposition appear to have fallen for the Barisan Nasional trap by echoing the same sentiments about racial quotas in the government. This is a Barisan Nasional game. If the opposition also tries to play this same game they will lose their pants. Barisan Nasional is an expert at race politics and this is their cup of tea. The opposition enters this gelanggang at its own peril. Rest assured the opposition will lose the race game if it tries to engage Barisan Nasional in its arena.

The opposition has to fight in a different arena. They have to create a new arena and force Barisan Nasional to come engage them in this new arena. And this new arena is non-race-based politics. This is what the opposition is good at and this is where Barisan Nasional will be like a fish out of water.

Hey, I don’t care how many Malays, Chinese and Indians sit in the EXCO. Let it be 100% Malays or 100% Chinese or 100% Indians or whatever. If it has to be 100% Chinese just so that Malaysia can be like Singapore, an extremely successful country that is run by almost 100% Chinese, then so be it. I care a damn about what race is running this country. I just want to see the emergence of the best country on earth. And if we have to go to Mars to find these people then so be it.

Whoever sit as Menteri Besar/Chief Minister and whoever happen to be their ten EXCO Members is not important. What is would be that these people look after the interests of all the races. If we need five Malays in the EXCO to ensure that the Malays are looked after and three Chinese and two Indians to sit in the EXCO to ensure that the Chinese and Indians are also looked after then something must be terribly wrong with this government.

Why must it be Malays look after the Malay interest and Chinese after Chinese interest and Indians after Indian interest? We have only one Prime Minister, a Malay, and is he the Prime Minister of only the Malays who will only look after the interests of only the Malays or is he a Prime Minister for all Malaysians? The Malay candidate did not win this election on just Malay votes while the Chinese won on Chinese votes and the Indian on Indian votes. All candidates, never mind of which race and whether from the opposition or Barisan Nasional, won on a combined Malay-Chinese-Indian votes.

Every candidate, irrespective of party and race, won because of the votes from all the races. So the Malay, Chinese and Indian in government DOES NOT represent his or her community. He or she did not get into government because of the votes from his or her own community. So, once in government, why do they now talk about representing their community? Is this not a violation of the vote that we gave you? We did not vote for you so that you could get into government to serve, represent or protect your community. We voted for you so that you can serve Malaysia. So do just that and enough with this 5:3:2, 4:4:2, 4:3:3, 6:2:2 argument. Even if it is 10:0:0 also never mind as long as you Malay, Chinese and Indian in government know that you serve me and the country and not your own race or community.

Aiyah, itu pun kena ajar ke? Kayu sungguh!

Monsoon (Cup) winds of change

2008-03-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Guano pulok puak-puak Amno ni bekeng sangat? Dah Tuanku amboh, amboh lah! Mende nak main paksa-paksa pulok? Bila menatang Cheena buat kacau kat Perak, bising. Ni, menatang Amno pulok nak tunjuk bekeng. Beso kemaluang Ganu kite.

That is probably what the Kuala Terengganu folks at the Pasar Payang wet market are lamenting. When the Rulers keep quiet, the rakyat complain and question the purpose of retaining the Monarchy if the Rulers do not earn their salary. However, when they do act, the raykat complain and accuse the Rulers of getting involved in politics. The Rulers must work for the people, argue the rakyat. The bottom line is, the rakyat don't really know what they want.

In the 1990s, a well-known Malaysian business magazine reported that Terengganu is the second richest state after Selangor but its rakyat are the second poorest after Perlis. The Kelantan Menteri Besar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat, retorted that Kelantan may be poor compared to Terengganu, but its people are rich. “Kekayaan Kelantan di tangan rakyat,” said Nik Aziz. Kelantenese, Nik Aziz stressed, do not need to depend on the government. They will travel far and wide, even to Singapore, to earn their living. And they will send money back to the state to help prop up its economy.

This is true. You can find a Kampong Kelantan in Singapore but not a Kampong Terengganu or Kampong Kedah or whatever. And Kelantanese will go back to Kelantan to pay their zakat (tithe) so that the money can go to the state and not to the federal government. And that is why the federal government attempted to nationalise the zakat collection -- they wanted to deny the state the money. But Kelantanese are stubborn and they are in fact proud that they can survive without federal funding and in spite of being squeezed of federal funding.

Take their water supply as one example. Kelantanese are being denied clean water because the federal government will not give the state the money it needs to improve its water supply. Because of this many have died of cholera over the last two decades but the Kelantanese refuse to hand the state back to Barisan Nasional although by doing so they could then get clean water and would no longer suffer so many deaths. Kelantanese treat the high number of deaths and the loss of their loved ones as 'collateral damage' which one has to endure when opposing the federal government. Yes, they are sad that many have to die, but in any struggle people die and the struggle against the tyranny of the federal government overrides all other considerations.

Terengganu, however, is not like Kelantan. The people of Terengganu are not so stubborn or resilient. 'Ganu' means rainbow and 'terang' means bright. Kelantanese used to refer to the land south of their state as 'bright rainbow' and that is how the state eventually became known as Terengganu. Terengganu, of course, has gold and the English say that at the end of the rainbow you will find gold. But there is not that much gold really. Sure you can find some, although it may not be that economically viable to mine it on a large-scale or commercial basis. But what it lacks in yellow gold it more than makes up for in 'black gold'.

And that is why Terengganu is the second richest state, because of its black gold. But in spite of its black gold and in spite of it being the second richest state, its citizens are the second poorest and even Sabah, Sarawak and Kelantan are far ahead. That is what the popular Malaysian business magazine reported in the 1990s.

In 1999, the Terengganu voters decided to give the state to the opposition for a change. A few months later, the federal government punished Terengganu by withdrawing its 5% oil royalty that it was entitled to under the Petroleum Development Act 1974. The money, which at that time came to RM800 million a year, was handed over to Idris Jusoh, the head of Umno Terengganu, to manage; and from 2000 to 2004 he managed the money as his personal petty cash.

The Terengganu voters realised that they could get their hands on what had now grown to RM1 billion a year only if they gave the state back to Umno. And they did just that in March 2004 and Idris Jusoh was installed as the new Menteri Besar. But while the state went back to Umno, the RM1 billion a year did not go back to the state. The money remained in the hands of the Prime Minister's Department and control of the money shifted from Idris Jusoh to Wan Farid Wan Salleh, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's Political Secretary, and Patrick Lim, whom Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls Patrick Badawi.

So it was no different then. Whether Umno or the opposition rules the state, the RM1 billion a year will still not go to the state but would instead be in the hands of two or three individuals, to be used and abused as they see fit. On 8 March 2008, the Terengganu people wanted to hand the state back to the opposition. Umno knew this and what was at stake was not just control of the state but control of the RM1 billion a year that came with it. So thousands of Bangladeshi voters were 'imported' into Terengganu to ensure that Umno would be able to make a clean sweep of the state. And the hundreds of bus-loads of voters were escorted into Terengganu by police and army trucks to ensure that the opposition supporters would not be able to make any 'citizens' arrest' of phantom voters. And so Umno, yet again, swept the state like it did four years before that in March 2004.

But one thing that Umno could not control is His Majesty the Agong who is also the Sultan of Terengganu. Tuanku knows what is going on and Tuanku also knows how the cheating is being done to perpetuate Umno's rule in the state just so that the RM1 billion a year can continue to be manipulated, exploited, and abused. And Tuanku sought legal advice on what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia and the Terengganu State Constitution have to say about the appointment of the political head of the state government. And so Tuanku rejected Abdullah's choice of Menteri Besar, Idris Jusoh, and instead made his own choice, Ahmad Said. And a few well-known lawyers are ready to spring into action to defend Tuanku if the federal government decides to challenge Mat Said's appointment in court.

Mat Said is no pushover. When Eric Chia was heading Perwaja, he embarked on a housing project and started building the houses even before the Kemaman local council could approve the project. Mat Said stepped in and issued a stop-work order. Eric Chia was outraged. He complained to Menteri Besar Wan Mokhtar Wan Ahmad and said that he reported direct to the Prime Minister and has carte blanche to do what he likes.

But Mat Said would not back down, Prime Minister or no Prime Minister. He even went against his own direct boss, Wan Mokhtar. The law is the law and even the CEO of Perwaja, the Menteri Besar of Terengganu, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia are not exempted from obeying the law. This was just a YDP of the Kemaman local council but he took on the giants and refused to back down and finally won when the all-powerful Eric Chia was forced to halt construction until all his papers are in order.

Mat Said is a fighter. And even as a 'nobody' he stood his ground against an outraged Eric Chia who was foaming at the mouth while screaming the Prime Minister's name. No Chinese gangster or Menteri Besar or even the most powerful Prime Minister could shake him. And that is the kind of Menteri Besar His Majesty the Agong would like as head of his state government.

Terengganu has only about four years left. According to Petronas, after 2012 there will be no more oil in Terengganu. Four years at RM1 billion a year is merely RM4 billion. This RM4 billion will disappear in four years if Idris Jusoh is installed as Menteri Besar. And, in 2013, Terengganu will revert to being just a fishing village like what it was in 1973 before they discovered oil.

Yes, it was a great 40 years. But the 40 years which started in 1973 will end before 2013 is out. Terengganu can choose to allow Idris Jusoh to run the state and therefore allow the RM4 billion to finish by 2012 or they can instead ask Mat Said to run the state and ensure that the RM4 billion will last till 2020. His Majesty would rather choose the latter.

Seven of the eight Umno divisions in Terengganu support Mat Said. Thus far, 20 of the 32 State Assemblymen have confessed that they also support His Majesty's choice of Menteri Besar. Why then did 23 of them declare that they support Idris Jusoh? They allege that they were 'locked up' and forced to sign the letter of support so they had no choice but to do so. Since seven of the eight Umno divisions want Mat Said and since more than half the State Assemblymen also support His Majesty's choice, then it is in compliance with the State Constitution that Idris Jusoh be rejected in favour of Mat Said.

The same thing happened in the State of Perlis. When two of the three Umno divisions and ten of the fifteen State Assemblymen rejected Shahidan Kassim, Abdullah's choice of Menteri Besar, the Raja of Perlis acted within his Constitutional right by rejecting Shahidan. Anyway, this so-called 'Constitutional Crisis' was expected and had been looming over the horizon for quite some time now. Malaysia Today had in fact addressed this awhile back but, as Tun Dr Mahathir is fond of saying, Melayu mudah lupa. To those who have already lupa, allow us to refresh your memory. We re-publish below an article which was published before this and which addresses what the real issue is really about, the 'crisis' which the mainstream newspapers are trying to pass off as, kononnya, a 'Constitutional Crisis'.

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One thing that Malaysia Today would like to raise is the matter of Terengganu's oil royalty which we hope Mahathir will address on 28 July. Since the mid-1970s, Terengganu had been enjoying a 5% royalty on all the oil and gas extracted in the state. That is what is provided for under the Petroleum Development Act. In fact, not only Terengganu, but any state in Malaysia where oil and gas is extracted they would enjoy the same. However, in 2000, this royalty was withdrawn and converted to Wang Ehsan (goodwill money). Suddenly, the RM800 million or so a year that Terengganu was supposed to get as its 5% share of the oil and gas revenue was transferred out of the state and into the hands of one man, Idris Jusoh.

Malaysia was then already suffering from an outbreak of JE. But in Terengganu it was JE of another kind, Jusoh Enterprise, Idris Jusoh's family business. Jusoh Enterprise or JE was suddenly flush with funds, RM800 million a year to be exact. Then, in 2004, Umno, under the stewardship of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won back the state from the opposition. But the state did not win back its 5% oil royalty. The Wang Ehsan continued and Idris Jusoh, who now became the Chief Minister, continued to single-handedly manage the fund. Even the State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Terengganu State Economic Planning Unit (UPENT) were left totally in the dark. One man, Idris Jusoh, decided how the money was spent, and it is a lot of money.

But the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would not tolerate one man managing the state's coffers. He wanted Idris Jusoh's hands out of the RM800 million a year cash box. However, to revert to the 5% royalty only meant that the money would come directly under state control. That would not serve their purpose. They wanted direct control of the RM800 million. Now it is under the control of the Prime Minister's Department but passed down to Idris Jusoh's hands. What they needed to do was to get Idris Jusoh's hands out of the equation.

Then Khairy Jamaluddin, Abdullah's son-in-law cum adviser, came out with a fantastic new 'umbrella concept', better than even Mahathir's. They wanted control of the RM800 million a year. But they did not want to get it out of Idris Jusoh's hands by putting it into the hands of the state. That would merely be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. They wanted direct control of the money without Idris Jusoh deciding on how the money is spent.

And this is how they did it. First they appointed Wan Farid, Khairy's 'running dog', as Abdullah's Political Secretary. Then they appointed Wan Hisham, Wan Farid's brother, as the State Exco Member in-charge of tourism. Then they gave Patrick Lim, Khairy's business partner, the sole monopoly of all state tourism projects. Now the network is intact and Idris Jusoh has been cut off.

Patrick Lim's job is to create all sorts of state tourism projects at hugely inflated prices. He would then propose these projects to Wan Hisham, the man in-charge of tourism. Wan Hisham would then pass them on to his brother, Wan Farid. Wan Farid would then pass them on to Khairy. Idris Jusoh would of course be left out of the loop and he would only know about them when it was a fait accompli -- as the Malays would say, "Nasi sudah jadi bubur."

They built 30 houses at RM1 million each on an island in the Trengganu River . They launched a RM300 million a year yacht race called the Monsoon Cup. Hundreds of millions a year is being spent to 'attract tourists to Terengganu'. It seems this year the amount of Wang Ehsan has shot up from RM800 million to RM1 billion -- so there is even more money to play around with.

To ensure that Idris Jusoh keeps his hands out of the cash box, Abdullah himself chairs the state meetings though he is the Prime Minister and not the Terengganu Chief Minister. Of course, Idris Jusoh, being the Chief Minister, is allowed to sit in on these meetings though he has no say on what they propose. Patrick Lim, though he is not in the government, is also allowed to attend these meetings.

Abdullah would then propose all sorts of tourism projects conjured by Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Khairy. Details are of course not discussed; only the gist of things and the amounts involved. Whenever Idris Jusoh raises any questions, he would be told to 'leave it all to Patrick Lim who knows what to do'. Idris Jusoh is not to involve himself in the details.

After awhile Idris Jusoh got quite pissed and tried to resist. One project that he knew nothing about was placed before him and he was told by Patrick Lim to sign the papers. But how could he sign the papers when he knew nothing about it and would eventually have to bear responsibility for it?

Patrick Lim walked out of Idris Jusoh's office and phoned Wan Farid who complained to Khairy. Within an hour Idris Jusoh received a phone call from Abdullah who ordered him to sign the papers, which he of course did straight away.

Patrick Lim's hold on Abdullah was apparent to all but somehow not to Idris Jusoh. One day Abdullah visited Terengganu to chair the regular meetings on how to spend Terengganu's RM800 million (which is now RM1 billion because of the increase in oil prices). Idris Jusoh fetched Abdullah from the airport but before his car could move Patrick Lim's car cut in front of Idris Jusoh's car and Abdullah got out of Idris Jusoh's car and got into Patrick Lim's car. Idris Jusoh should have realised then who really runs Terengganu.

Yes, RM1 billion a year is a lot of money. This money, which should belong to Terengganu, is not going to the state. It is going to Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy. And Abdullah chairs the state meetings to decide how the money is spent. And Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy help spend the money. And they spend it all. And Idris Jusoh has no say in how it is spent. And if he refuses to sign the papers he will get a phone call from Abdullah.

Now do you know who runs this country? Abdullah says he and not his son-in-law runs this country. Idris Jusoh however will tell you that Khairy runs this country. And Khairy also runs Terengganu and manages its RM1 billion a year through Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Patrick Lim. And Abdullah chairs the Terengganu State meetings on behalf of Khairy and according to the plan on how Patrick Lim wishes to spend the RM1 billion a year.

And now do you know why Mahathir is so pissed? And he has every reason to be pissed. In fact, I too am pissed. And that is why I agree that Mahathir stays pissed with Abdullah and his son-in-law. The Terengganu issue alone is enough for me to get pissed. And rest assured that Terengganu is but the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, it is nice being able to walk in the corridors of power. And much can you do when you walk in the corridors of power. And RM1 billion a year is nice to manage if you have that power to do so. And when you walk in the corridors of power you would of course have that power.

The Ugly Malaysian

2008-03-22T10:59:00.004-07:00

My wife and I voted in Subang USJ and we both voted for an Indian man and a Chinese girl. We did not vote for them because they happen to be an Indian man and a Chinese girl. We also did not refuse to vote for them because they happen to not be Malay and Muslim.

Raja Petra Kamarudin

In the old days it used to be called The Ugly American. Today, it is The Ugly Malaysian, at least as far as this country is concerned.

Malaysians, just like Americans, are racists; there is no doubt about that. But while Americans will accept the fact that they are racists, Malaysians will deny it and instead will claim to be very tolerant of the other race or races.

You can always tell when a person is a racist from the opening statement when a Chinese says “I have a lot of Indian friends”, or a Malay says “I used to mix with Chinese at school”, or an Indian says “Actually, Malays in the kampong are very nice people”, and so on. This is the Malay, Chinese and Indian way of giving their 'stamp of approval' to the other race. Why do you need to emphasis the word 'Malay', 'Chinese' or 'Indian'? Is this your way of showing tolerance? Does the emphasis on race mean you are 'tolerant' of those not of your race? Is this to give an appearance of magnanimity or generosity on your part? See what a great guy I am. I tolerate the other races. Sheesh.....as if I need anyone to 'tolerate' me.

Look at Malaysiakini's latest report on the Selangor State EXCO line-up. Malaysiakini reported that out of the ten EXCO Members, six are going to be non-Malays and four of them women. Who the hell cares whether six are non-Malays and four are women? Are these people being chosen to run the state because of their race and gender? Should they not be chosen because of their qualifications and capabilities? Who are these six non-Malays and four women anyway? Are they the best of the lot? Will they outperform and outshine the previous Khir Toyo administration? Are we going to see Selangor grow and prosper by leaps and bounds? Is Selangor going to be paradise on earth?

Who cares? What matters is that six are going to be non-Malays and four are going to be women. That is what matters and that is what is going to guarantee a great future ahead of us. The calibre of the ten EXCO members was buried in the consideration of race and gender. That is the main focus and that is what appears to be the deciding factor. Woe to this country when race and gender override all other factors.

Are Malaysians ready for an all-women EXCO line-up? What if all ten EXCO Members are women? If all these ten women are the most capable of the lot and none of the men can better their credentials would this be so bad? Should not that be what matters? What if all ten EXCO Members are Chinese, or all ten Indians, or all ten Malays? Would this be so bad as well? No, Selangor is 52% Malay and 48% non-Malay. Furthermore, 52% of the voters are women and 48% of the voters men. So the ten-member EXCO line-up must reflect this racial and gender breakdown. Oh? Is that so? Well, since 40% of Malaysians are non-Malays and 51% are women, how can we have just one Prime Minister who is a Malay man? What about the 40% non-Malay Malaysians and the 51% women Malaysians? A Malay man Prime Minister means that the 40% non-Malays and 51% women are 'not represented'.

This argument of 'equal' representation according to race and gender is ridiculous. This means gays and lesbians plus Portuguese, Ibans, Dayaks, Kadazan, Sikhs, Ceylonese, Siamese, Javanese, Bugis, Burmese, Vietnamese, etc. can demand and should also be given 'representation' in the government since they too are Malaysian citizens. If men and women are a criteria, then gays and lesbians should equally be a criteria. And if Malay, Chinese and Indian are considerations, then 'others' not Malay, Chinese and Indian should also be considerations. Or are the minorities not important, as Nazri Aziz said a few months ago?

It is most upsetting to read news reports, even by those 'alternative' and more progressive sources like Malaysiakini, play the racial card. It would have sufficed if Malaysiakini had reported that ten EXCO Members (though it was wrong as it is actually nine) had been decided without stressing on the six non-Malays and four Malays (which is again wrong). What is the purpose of bringing to the readers' attention the race of the EXCO Members and stress on the fact that six are non-Malays and four Malays (which in the first place is wrong)?

This has been what has delayed the swearing-in of the EXCO members although the elections were held two weeks ago. It was because of how many Malays and how many non-Malays should be in the EXCO line-up. Furthermore, the three opposition parties that had agreed to form the new coalition government in the state could not agree on a 4:4:2 or 5:3:2 or 4:3:2 formula. That one extra EXCO seat resulted in a 'deadlock' of sorts. Who cares who gets that one extra seat? I don't! Most of the voters don't! But the three opposition parties do and what the political parties want count, not what the voters want?

You see, the state is 'owned' by the political parties, not by the rakyat. It is the political parties that won the election, not the rakyat. The rakyat do not matter. What the political parties want does. When the political parties came before the rakyat during the election campaign, they spoke about Barisan Nasional's racist policies. They asked the rakyat to reject Barisan Nasional because Barisan Nasional stands for racism.

The opposition parties campaigned on a platform of non-race-based politics. They argued that we are all Malaysians, one nation of Malaysians, not a nation divided by race. Malays, Chinese and Indians are one, they screamed. Let us unite. Let us look at each other as brothers and sisters. Never mind who you vote for. Never mind if the candidate is Malay, Chinese or Indian. Never mind if the political party the candidates represent is DAP, PKR or PAS. Just vote opposition. Just vote any race. Just vote any political party. But after they win they argue about which race, which political party, which gender, and what the sexual preferences of each candidate is in deciding how to form the government.

When the rakyat chose the government, race, religion, gender, and whatever else, were furthest from their minds. They did not care which party you were from. They did not care which religion you believed in. They did not care whether you are Malay, Chinese or Indian. They voted for you regardless whether you are man, woman, or gay man/woman. Do you think they now want to split hairs over just one seat because the politicians want a Malay, Chinese, Indian, man, woman, etc., majority?

Just form the government and form it quick. While you haggle, valuable information and crucial evidence are disappearing. So what if we get an extra Malay, or extra Chinese, or extra Indian, or extra man, or extra woman, or whether that extra seat is Siamese and gay to boot? Did not DAP, PKR and PAS scream that it does not matter whether it is a white cat or a black cat, the most important thing is that the cat can catch the mouse? Now that you won our votes, you forget about this black cat and white cat crap. Now that you are in power, you are fussy about the colour of the cat and argue about what God that cat believes in and whether this cat comes with a pussy or a dick.

Aiyoh, what is wrong with these politicians? Barisan Nasional and Barisan Rakyat are both the same. At the end of the day, party interest comes first. At the end of the day, your race and religion matter. The 'one-Malaysian' and 'all are brothers and sisters' is only raised during the election campaign and when they want our votes. After that, they put that all away into the closet, to be raised only during the next election campaign.

My wife and I voted in Subang USJ and we both voted for an Indian man and a Chinese girl. We did not vote for them because they happen to be an Indian man and a Chinese girl. We also did not refuse to vote for them because they happen to not be Malay and Muslim. We voted for them because we support the opposition. And their race, religion and gender did not matter one bit when we voted for them. Why, then, should it suddenly matter now? That is what baffles me about the Malaysian mind.

MIC Will Sink Or Swim With BN, Says Subramaniam

2008-03-22T10:59:00.003-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) -- The MIC will sink or swim with the Barisan Nasional (BN), said Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam.

"As far as the MIC is concerned we are very clearly with the BN. Live or die, sink or swim, MIC stands with BN. We have been together for so many years and we have the strength to go through this struggle," he told reporters after launching the Temple of Fine Arts' "Pesta Ria" here Saturday.

He said that he expected BN politcians to have principles and not be easily swayed to cross over to opposition parties especially with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de factor leader openly inviting them to jump ship.

On his new post as Human Resource Minister, he said that he looked forward to solve problems pertaining unemployment especially amongst the Indian community.

"Through the Ministry, I plan to ensure that Indian youths get the right kind of training so that they will be in high demand in the market place," he said.

As for human rights issues concerning foreign workers voiced by Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and the Malaysian International Federation For Human Rights (FIDH), the minister said he was aware of their recommendations made on Friday.

"We will be looking into this issue. For these workers, it is our responsibility to give them good and fair working conditions and ensure that they get their due rights," he said.

Dr Subramaniam added that with regard to India's concern about the welfare of its foreign workers within the country, a memorandum he was preparing on the matter was in the final stages.

Investors find Opposition open for business

2008-03-22T10:59:00.002-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 – For the past week, businessmen from government-linked chiefs to those who run the country’s small-and-medium sized industries have been making a beeline for the 26th storey of the Komtar building in the heart of Georgetown.

Their date was with Penang’s new chief minister Lim Guan Eng and they wore anxiety on their sleeves. Anxiety because they were moving into unfamiliar territory, dealing with a greenhorn chief executive of a loose alliance with little experience in governing a state, let alone the country’s manufacturing hot spot. Halfway into the meetings and the fear is replaced by hope.

Lim Guan Eng, they found out, is hungry for investments.

He wants the Federal Government to fast-track the Second Penang Bridge, continue with plans to build the monorail and pump more money into the state. He promises businessmen that tenders will be more transparent and that as long as their projects bring benefit to Penang, they will be given the red carpet treatment.

Says an executive of a government-linked company: “There was no hesitation on the CM’s part to listen to our ideas for development.’’ Similarly, another businessman who met Kedah’s PAS Menteri Besar last week said that the 60-minute session was spent on discussing projects and not on religious do’s and dont’s.

It is still early days but there is less trepidation that the Malaysian economy will grind to a halt now that 5 states are under the control of PKR-DAP-PAS.

To be sure, investment banks are still taking a wait-and-see approach, wondering how the BN-controlled federal government will deal with the states, especially with daily stories of potential defections and questions on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s longevity in the top job.

But there are several reasons why it could be business as usual around Malaysia.

The federal government will not shut off the pipeline to these states. Selangor alone contributes 30% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Abdullah cannot hope to get 6% national growth this year if they stop infrastructure projects or choke off investments to the state.

As S. Jayasankaran of the Singapore Business Times wrote: “Even if Mr Abdullah was pushed aside, no new prime minister would dare exclude the 5 Opposition-held states from development… cutting them off would imperil the national economy.’’

For the Opposition, keeping investors happy and the wheels of the economy moving will decide if their stay in power is going to be a touch and go affair, or something more permanent. There is little doubt that Malaysians are excited by the prospect of a 2-party system developing but all ideals will be junked if talk is the only currency flowing in Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

That is why PAS’ Husam Musa has been telling his party men to go easy on strident talk and focus on making things easy for businessmen. The PKR-DAP-PAS alliance hope that if they reduce opportunities for corruption and remove administrative humps, even the doubters will be won over by the time the next polls are held.

Another lubricant for business as usual is the royalty.

The royal households in Selangor and Perak are business-friendly and have interests in a wide range of areas. They would frown on any move by the new governments to allow politics to bring trade to a halt in their states. For example, the new Selangor MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has signaled that the water transfer project from Pahang to Selangor will go on unimpeded.

Still, a few curveballs could throw off even the best-laid plans. A slowing world economy would be bad news for one of the world’s leading trading nations. Also, some of the biggest problems with Malaysia’s delivery system have been linked to its 1 million civil servants. No doubt that there are different political masters in 5 states but the same public servants who were impediments to change are still occupying the same places.

How Lim Guan Eng, Khalid Ibrahim and friends deal with these little Napoleons will be interesting. For the time being, though, even some of the country’s best-known businessmen are willing to give the new boys in power the benefit of doubt.

One of Malaysia’s most prominent businessmen has been telling friends this week that it had become impossible to deal with avaricious Umno politicians in the last few years. They demanded a bigger slice of any project and had become so arrogant.

He is looking forward to dealing with less “demanding’’ politicians in the 5 states. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

Ku Li's plan unfolds, Mahathir weighs in, 60 divisions needed, Anwar watches

2008-03-22T10:59:00.001-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 – A few days after the March 8 election, a group of writers were invited to a meeting attended by several Umno veterans. Top of the agenda was a discussion on the performance of Umno and the Barisan Nasional. The main conclusion reached was the need to force Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to stand down as president of Umno and Prime Minister of Malaysia.

They knew that the Umno Supreme Council would stand by their leader and would shoot down any plan to change horses mid-stream. They know that the longer Abdullah stays in the job, the more difficult it will be to set a timetable for his departure. So they opted for appealing straight to the small man on the ground, a strategy that worked well for the Opposition in the run-up to the election.

The strategy: To ride on the anti-Abdullah sentiment in the party, create a wave of discontent within the rank-and-file and make it untenable for him to stay on.

The veterans were united by their disdain for Abdullah’s leadership of the party; by their view that he and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin should be blamed for allowing Anwar Ibrahim back onto the main stage of Malaysian politics and for a bunch of other personal motivations.

This plan is unfolding right now, led off by a letter which Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah wrote to all divisions and branches. In that letter, the Gua Musang MP sketched the changed political landscape, the unprecedented gains by the Opposition. He did not blame Abdullah directly for the polls debacle, but made it clear that the job of making important decisions affecting the party did not fall on the shoulders of a few.

He urged party members to push for a special meeting on May 11 where the electoral performance and the future of Malays would be discussed. As expected, the plan has been shot down by many of the power brokers in the party, including many of the Mentris Besar, Wanita Umno, Supreme Council members. They are not in favour of a special meeting so soon after the polls, knowing that with nerves so raw and anger ripe any discussion could turn into a bloodletting session. Some of them also smell a ruse.

They believe that Ku Li and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad are taking advantage of the anxiety in the party to weave themselves back into the main picture.

So it was of little surprise when Dr Mahathir threw his support behind Ku Li’s proposal for a special meeting. Within party circles, they know that the battle lines are drawn – on one side will be Ku Li, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and other veterans and on the other side will be Abdullah, Najib and the Supreme Council.

The challengers know that they have no chance with a head-on clash or conventional battle with the council. That is why they have to whip up ground sentiment through the Internet and create so much hate and anger against Abdullah that the will of the rank-and-file will be unstoppable.

But why is the special meeting on May 11 so important for Ku Li and friends?

One, it will allow party members to state the reasons for Umno’s poor performance and say what they feel about the leadership. It would be untenable for Abdullah to remain at the top if the anger against him is overpowering.

Two, and perhaps more importantly, the gathering could pave the way for some landmark changes to the party constitution, including removing a requirement that anyone wanting to contest the position of the party president obtain at least 60 nominations. This clause was inserted during Dr Mahathir’s time to combat money politics.

If this requirement is removed, Ku Li and others will throw their hat into the ring and challenge Abdullah.

If the status quo remains, anyone with an eye on the presidency will have a gargantuan task obtaining close to 60 nominations from the 210 divisions. Dr Mahathir said as much yesterday after a book launch in Kuala Lumpur. “You need about 60 brave divisions, ‘’ he said. In 2004 when Ku Li challenged Abdullah, he only received one nomination.

Dr Mahathir also said that he would support the idea of a limited term for the Umno president, provided it did not mean passing on the job from president to son-in- law, referring to his nemesis, Khairy. For Ku Li, Mahathir and friends to get their way, they will have to crank up the anti-Abdullah campaign and isolate him from the rest of the party structure.

It is a high-stakes gamble which will put Umno in a tailspin for some time. Watching and savouring this battle is the Opposition. Anwar Ibrahim knows that as long as Umno is in infighting mode, the party will not be able to chart any plans to stop his advance. – THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

In The Name Of Security

2008-03-21T14:24:00.002-07:00

Counterterrorism and Human Rights Abuses Under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act

Summary

To bring these terrorists through normal court procedures would have entailed adducing proper evidence, which would have been difficult to obtain.
—Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir, October 2001

Nearly one hundred men currently languish in Malaysia’s Kamunting detention center—some have been there for more than two years—without being charged with a crime or any prospect of a trial. Almost all are accused of being involved with organizations implicated in terrorist activity.

While in detention, detainees report that they have been mistreated, some subjected to sexual humiliation, others slapped and kicked. All were held incommunicado for several weeks after they were first detained. Family members report that detainees showed signs of more extensive physical abuse when they first were able to meet with them.

These men are being held under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA), a form of administrative detention that permits the government to detain individuals without charge or trial, denying them even the most basic due process rights. The ISA allows the government to hold detainees for two years after arrest, and then renew this period indefinitely without meaningful judicial approval or scrutiny.

The ISA has long been used as a blunt tool to stifle political opposition to the government. In 1987, then Prime Minister Mahathir used the ISA to save his own political career, ordering the arrests of scores of politicians in the wake of a vote-rigging scandal that had placed his continued tenure as prime minister in serious jeopardy. In 1998, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim initially was held under the ISA after his falling out with Mahathir. In 2001, the government detained under the ISA ten prominent political activists who planned protests over the continued detention of Anwar, who by that time was serving a fifteen-year sentence after trials marred by serious rights violations.

The very existence of the ISA and its draconian provisions has acted as a crude form of censorship of political activities and expression. Its past use as a political weapon by the government casts doubt on the Malaysian government’s claim that the ISA is now being used as a necessary measure in the “war on terror” and not for political purposes.

Malaysian human rights advocates have for many years campaigned for the repeal of the ISA. In the past they could rely on support from the United States to challenge the government’s use of the ISA. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, however, the U.S government has not only been conspicuously quiet about the ISA, but has even expressed support for its use against terrorist suspects.

As made clear by the scandal surrounding abuse of detainees by United States forces in Iraq, a story that was breaking as this report was being finalized, abuses flourish in detention facilities where strong pressure on interrogators to come up with information is coupled with weak or nonexistent oversight mechanisms. Malaysia’s ISA, a law that allows individuals to disappear into a legal black hole and emerge only at the whim of those in power, invites such abuse.

This report—based largely on interviews with recently released ISA detainees, family members of detainees, lawyers, and aid providers, as well as affidavits written by detainees and smuggled out of Kamunting—documents violations of the rights of alleged militants held under the ISA since August 2001.1 Because access is severely limited, the extent of abuse is unknown. It is clear, however, that detainees have been abused during interrogation, that they have been subjected to prolonged detention without trial, and that they have been regularly denied access to counsel.

This report also details attempts by authorities to manipulate detainees and their families so that they do not avail themselves of what limited judicial remedies are available. Detainees were able to meet with lawyers and family members only under constrained circumstances. Prior to the meetings, detainees were told to urge their wives and children not to get a lawyer or to talk to the press or human rights groups. They and their families were warned that making legal challenges to their detention would result in longer and harsher sentences and conditions of detention. When they ignored these warnings, prison officials either hindered or completely blocked meetings between detainees and their lawyers. Fearful of damaging their prospects for an early release, many detainees did not contact lawyers, delaying by several months any legal challenge to their own detention.

Neither the men nor their families have any idea when they will be released. While the detainees fight for their day in court, they have already been tried and convicted in the press. Because much of the Malaysian media is heavily controlled by the government, Malaysian newspapers have, almost without exception, reported on the detentions as though all of the allegations made by the government have already been proven, and have often failed to print information or allegations that cast doubt on the cases or present government actions in a negative light.

Who They Are{mosgoogle right}

The current wave of ISA arrests began in August 2001, when the Malaysian government detained a group of ten alleged militants. The Malaysian government claimed that the detainees were members of a group it called Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM, or Malaysian Militant Group), which according to the Malaysian authorities wants to overthrow the government and set up an Islamic state. Eight of the ten men arrested were members of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS, or Islamic Party of Malaysia), Malaysia’s largest Islamist opposition party. Those arrested included Nik Adli, a PAS member and the son of senior PAS cleric Nik Aziz, PAS youth wing leader Noorashid Sakip, and PAS Youth committee member Mohamed Lothfi Ariffin. The detainees were held without charge and, under the ISA, were denied access to counsel. Domestic and international observers criticized the arrests as politically motivated. They were seen as the latest attempt by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed to weaken the surging PAS in the lead-up to regional elections in 2002 by linking it to radical Islam. In the wake of the arrests, the U.S. government criticized the Malaysian government for once again detaining individuals without trial under the ISA. But the U.S. stance changed after September 11, 2001, when it became supportive of the use of the ISA against alleged militants.

The pace of arrests increased after the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. In October 2001, the Malaysian government detained an additional six individuals, five of whom were teachers in religious schools, on the grounds that they too were members of KMM.

Ultimately, more than one hundred individuals have been detained on terror-related grounds under the ISA. A handful have been released, leaving a total of roughly ninety in custody at the time of writing. Of these, approximately seventy are alleged to be members of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI, or Islamic Community), a militant group purportedly seeking to create an Islamic state encompassing Malaysia, Indonesia, and parts of the southern Philippines. JI has been accused of carrying out the bombings in Bali and Jakarta in Indonesia in 2002 and 2003, which killed more than two hundred people. Seventeen other detainees are alleged to be members of KMM. One alleged member of the Filipino group Abu Sayyaf, implicated in bombings in the Philippines, is being held at Kamunting as well.

Five detainees are members of the “Karachi 13.” Pakistani authorities detained thirteen young men and boys, the youngest of whom were under sixteen at the time of arrest, in Karachi, Pakistan, in September 2003. They were not alleged to have engaged in any illegal activity, but were arrested on the claim that they were being trained to engage in future terrorist activities. They were arrested by Pakistani security forces, held incommunicado and interrogated by Pakistani and U.S. security personnel, and then shipped to Malaysia. No charges have been brought against any of them. Without judicial recourse, the future of these young men, like the other ISA detainees, is now subject to the whims of the executive branch of the Malaysian government.

Human Rights Watch recognizes the obligations of the Malaysian government to protect its population from terrorist attack and to bring those responsible for engaging in such attacks to justice. There are serious and credible allegations that some of the September 11th hijackers used Malaysia as a transit point and that some of the alleged perpetrators of the bomb attacks in Bali and Jakarta spent considerable time in the country.

But the Malaysian government has yet to demonstrate that any of the individuals it has detained have actually engaged in any illegal activity. More importantly, it has not shown that the investigation, arrest, and detention of alleged militants could not be handled through normal criminal procedures that include proper procedural safeguards to protect the rights of the accused. Without these safeguards, the Malaysian government cannot be sure that all of the men it has captured are in fact dangerous individuals planning to carry out attacks, or whether it has locked up men whose only crime was an interest in a small group of charismatic Muslim clerics.

Human rights protections can be harmonized with state security, but there is no indication that Malaysia has made any efforts to do so. A cornerstone of international human rights law is the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial before one’s liberty is taken away. With its broad use of the ISA and its refusal to bring these cases to trial, Malaysia has turned these principles on their head.

The Impact of the Guantanamo Bay Detentions

Although literally halfway around the world, the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay looms over the men held under the ISA—not so much the facility itself, but its symbolic value expressing a new acceptance of human rights violations in the name of fighting terrorism. Some ISA detainees have been told that they would be sent to Guantanamo if they failed to cooperate. Others were told that they shouldn’t complain about their detention under the ISA because, if they were released, U.S. authorities would pick them up and take them to Guantanamo, where they would face an uncertain future far from home.

Guantanamo and the U.S.-led “war on terror” influence ISA detainees in other ways. For decades the ISA has been regularly and harshly criticized by the U.S. for being part of a larger apparatus of repression. That the United States has not challenged the detention of these men under the ISA is a testament to the significant erosions in respect for international human rights norms since the attacks of September 11th. Discussing the ISA, a senior State Department official told Human Rights Watch that the U.S. government would take up cases such as those described in this report if the level of treatment was “worse than Guantanamo.”

The refusal of the U.S. to speak out against the ISA’s provisions and the detention of individuals without charge or trial reflects the reality of international relations in the post-September 11th era: the United States is reluctant to speak out on human rights violations that occur as a putative part of the U.S.-led “war on terror,” while many governments use the threat of terrorism to justify their own, longstanding practices of systematically violating basic human rights norms.

Recommendations

Human Rights Watch calls on the Malaysian government to immediately charge or release all ISA detainees and to thoroughly investigate widespread reports of threats, coercion, and abuse in detention. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who won election in March 2004 and has expressed interest in improving Malaysia’s human rights situation, should take urgent steps to abolish or amend the ISA to bring it into conformity with international human rights standards. Indefinite detention without trial cannot meet such standards. It has no place in the legal system of a country that in so many other fields has made gigantic strides in recent years.

Human Rights Watch calls on the governments of the United States, the European Union, Japan, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to press for the elimination of the ISA in Malaysia.

As a crucial step, the U.S. should stop overlooking or even supporting the Malaysian government’s use of the ISA on the ostensible grounds that it is cooperating with the U.S. in the “war on terror.” Cooperation between the U.S. and Malaysian governments on counter-terrorism must only be carried out in accordance with the basic human rights obligations of both countries. Malaysia has cooperated closely with the U.S. over the past two years, sharing information gleaned from interrogations of ISA detainees with U.S. government officials and, on at least two occasions, allowing U.S. government interrogators direct access to ISA detainees.

The U.S. has rewarded Malaysia’s cooperation on anti-terrorism handsomely: bilateral relations, which suffered as a result of Malaysia’s lackluster human rights record, have dramatically improved, and U.S. criticism of Malaysia’s human rights record, once highly vocal, has been muted. The United States should publicly and privately resume the principled position it has historically taken with Malaysia over the use of a law that is anathema to human rights principles.

[1]This report does not address the handful of individuals detained under the ISA on allegations of involvement with Shi’a Muslim religious groups, smuggling, or counterfeiting, all cause for ISA detentions in recent years. Given the consistency of treatment of individuals detained under the ISA, however, many of the concerns raised in this report would also apply to these other cases. Because of concerns for the safety and liberty of individuals who cooperated with Human Rights Watch, we have withheld the names of some interviewees.