Khairy Jamaluddin
KJ is an enigma representing the youngsters who clamour for change in Malaysia, under the stewardship of United Malays National Organization. His meteoric rise, notwithstanding the support and easy climb backed by his father-in-law, former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi has been the talk of town since his days of helming the Deputy UMNO Youth Leader. He is smart, witty, intelligent, Oxford-educated 'new Malay' who aspires to lead Malaysia in the very near future. While his fate within UMNO is much to be guessed, some say he will go far. Others say he will be doomed. One thing for sure, never dismiss this bright young star, as detailed by the Khairy Chronicles.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Mahathir, the grand old man of Malaysian politics is certainly here to stay. Love him or hate him, there is a certain acknowledge by all quarters that he was instrumental in the development of Malaysia to date, perhaps sacrificing some of the fundamentals enshrined in the Constitution. Mahathir is also a master of perception and hold dear to the Machiavellian philosophy. To be decisive, firm, accurate, concise and precise are his trademarks in executing state chores. This no-nonsense statesman still plays a role in the Malaysian political scene, often making headlines criticising governments, be it state or federal level. At 84 years old and still going strong, expect much more of 'Mahathirism' in the future.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
Anwar Ibrahim, for the right or wrong reasons, will always be the icon of charismatic leadership. His ability to influence the masses to rally for his Reformasi campaign proved that he has substantial support from quite a majority of Malaysians. Since falling out from UMNO, he has been advocating Ketuanan Rakyat and consistent in his struggle for a better Malaysia. His oratory skills are unmatched by any politician in Malaysia so far, dead or alive. The Anwar today may or may not be the Anwar yesterday. But it is imperative that he remains the opposition icon and hope to unite Pakatan Rakyat and mount a strong challenge to the ruling coalition.
Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak
By virtue of being the Prime Minister, we must acknowledge Najib of his achievement although one might think he has it all on the silver platter by virtue of his family. Najib may not be the brightest politician around, but he is certainly smart enough to be labelled a political genius. He has travelled a long way since his days of UMNO youth chief and Pahang Chief Minister, and yet he has not really been tested by open elections in his party, and yet, the people accepted and respected him. No doubt, he controls the cash cows currently, but ultimately, the 13th general election will be his performance yardstick. His genius flair will show if he can overturn the rakyat's anger against the Barisan Nasional.
Tuan Guru Nik Aziz Nik Mat
This Kelantan PAS CM and Spiritual Leader is what the Pope is to the Catholics, to his own people of Kelantan and PAS supporters. His words are powerful and combined with the religious credentials he has in his belt, it is no surprise that Nik Aziz will remain most influential in PAS.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The truth about the Universiti Malaya land scam
HARAPKAN PAGAR – PAGAR MAKAN PADI .. WHO WILL SAVE UNIVERSITY MALAYA? – malaysia-today
Thursday, 28 February 2008 ( arkib)
When Amin Jalaludin, UM’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor cum ENT surgeon turned developer announced on behalf of his boss, Rafiah Salim, lawyer turned banker cum UN Human Resources Manager cum Vice-Chancellor and currently jet-setting businesswoman, the proposal by the Universiti of Malaya’s governing board to let a suspicious private entity called PPC-MINT-GLOMAC develop 27 acres of irreplaceable campus land on February 9, 2008, Malaysians knew that it had all the makings of a major scam.
Amin announced that the successful completion of the development project is expected to provide UM with a minimum income of RM312 million or the land value of RM200 million plus a share of the developer's profit, whichever is higher.
All this money would presumably help the UM financially in its faltering attempts to redress its declining academic and research standards. One would truly love to buy UM’s efforts to create a giant multi-billion dollar endowment fund similar to that of Harvard or Yale until one realizes that the person who is announcing the deal is not a businessman but is a medical doctor, spent most of his life giving tutorials and power point presentations and works for a VC with a very shady banking past in tandem with the Prime Minister’s speech writer cum proxy, Anuar Zaini who has now made a name for himself as an underhanded lackey of the Prime Minister who uses governmental positions to rip off our institutions and tax payers money to fill up the coffers of UMNO and their personal Swiss accounts.
Since when did our academics decide to go into business? If their depressing role in helping plunge our University standards are anything to go by, we would then have to expect that these same greenhorns in business will in all likelihood sell off the University’s assets and realise later that they have lost not only their assets but will then have to apply for a bail-out using tax payers money or file for bankruptcy. But Rafiah, Amin, Anuar Zaini and all those other Emeritus Professors wouldn’t be sticking around to attend creditor’s meetings then would they? They would have gracefully retired to their homes in Australia leaving yet another institution in debt and Malaysians a lot poorer. Maybe Idris Jala would be made available to the University Malaya then, but it may be too late as, unlike MAS, there may be no more assets to sell for him to soup up the books and bring it back to black in a jiffy.
This country never learns. That little piece of land was provided for the University so that they produce the best brains that will help develop this country. The land was not meant to grow palm oil plantations, mine tin, grow skyscrapers or gated communities. But we cannot expect more from the likes of the University’s current administrators if past blunders are anything to go by.
Despite adequate land, the UM entered into a sweetheart deal to purchase the 25 storey Telekom Office building at Lembah Pantai for a consideration of RM70 million in April 2006. Whether Rafiah truly purchased it in good faith for its postgraduates or was told to utilise UM development money at the behest of Anuar Zaini is contentious. But why would they want to buy a building located right outside their gates when they seem to have abundant “prime” land right in the middle of KL and PJ inside the campus. A first-class postgraduate building on campus grounds would, you have thought, been more relevant than a clubhouse.
But there you are, welcome to the warped up thinking of Universiti Malaya’s top but spineless brass. For a university that cannot supply its students with enough water and provides patchy broadband connections when you are located right smack in the middle of the Klang Valley surrounded by world class infrastructure only shows that what requires selling is not the university’s land but whole sale eradication of the entire Universiti Malaya board of directors and its top administrative staff. Which makes you wonder if the Sultan of Perak is purview to these going ons?
Perhaps Universiti Malaya should first focus on giving students a first-rate education by having equitable policies in the intake of both students and lecturers. This simple measure may do a world of good in raising its dismal rankings. It should also perhaps focus on reducing wastage especially at its medical campus where reportedly its new tower block operates without a CF allegedly as a result of shoddy construction work sourced out to crony companies. It should perhaps also explain why it’s profitable and income generating private wing is to be remotely located at a new logistically improper location by its main gates far away from the rest of its clinical services at its main tower. The completed 25 million ringgit building remains underutilised till this day and appears to be degenerating into a white elephant. And maybe it would also be a good time to explain its foray into a botched 50 million ringgit Hospital Information deal all courtesy of the tax payer.
But Universiti Malaya wouldn’t be the first university that would have goofed up valuable public money. In 1995, two lecturers from its economic planning department at UiTM put up a paper about buying up PKNS’s underutilized condominiums at Section 7 Shah Alam. The idea was to convert it to a hotel resort to rival other similar resorts in the Klang Valley and make money while helping train students. The University authorities bought the story but didn’t have the money. No worries. EPF apparently lent RM55 million to buy up the property and refurbish it to resort status in the happening city of Shah Alam. In September 1997, the Intekma Resort & Convention Center opened to the public but response has been less then enthusiastic. It currently serves to train students and houses mainly university staff who are there for conferences. No one really knows if EPF got its money back.
In December 2002, UiTM formed its fledgling Medical Faculty and appointed a research based professor from UKM to run it. It’s students had no proper teaching hospital and this premier Bumiputra university had to virtually beg the Ministry of Health to use Selayang Hospital. The MOH allowed the usage of Selayang, albeit grudgingly. Till this day both the university’s local and expatriate lecturers have limited access to patients, clinics or operating theaters. No prizes for guessing how UiTM medical students are going to turn out as doctors. But UiTM has access to funds, and lots of it. They even have the political muscle. The Agong is their Chancellor. They could have bought off Selayang Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital or even both of them.
But that would not be UiTM. A grandiose money making scheme had to be connived for the benefit of all and sundry in typical Malaysia incorporated style. The Dean of the Medical Faculty, who entrenched himself by employing up to 70% expatriate lecturers, all of whom would positively appraise him annually so that there would be no complications when their contracts came up for renewal, proposed not one but twin medical cities to be located and built on the outskirts of Shah Alam by raising funds through PFI’s backed by PNB’s Golden Hope and more ominously pilgrim’s money at Tabung Haji.
This elaborate 1.2billion ringgit deal had apparently the approval of none other then the mother of all penghulus, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Scant attention was paid to how in God’s name cash flows are going to be matched through Malaysian patients used to paying RM1 for consultations at hospitals. Needless to say, the taxpayer will be called in to perform their solemn duty and baileth yet another cocked up project if this plot saw the light of day.
Our universities will need to stand on their own feet as surely as the sun rises the next day. The days of splurging are nearing an end as the country’s resources run out. But to ask a chemistry professor who has never run a corporation or even managed the local 7/11 to hop off his chair and start getting the billions to role into the university’s coffers would be a risky financial gamble. For that you need a highly experienced CEO and CFO who have been battle hardened in the private sector. You need to pay these guys well and monitor their performances like a hawk. Maybe all public universities who want to see money ought to have stints at HELP, INTI or Lim Kok Wing universities. But you certainly cannot use the same cooks who brought the university to their academic knees to go on another jaunt that requires razor sharp business acumen. To do so would be to invite a financial calamity to our already shaky public universities.
So who indeed will save Universiti Malaya? When the Tunku was down and out after 1969, students and student leaders went out to town running him down for Malaysia’s various ills including the loss of Singapore. Today, we have in our midst government sponsored nameless corporations who are threatening to swallow whole our universities and their heritage but yet not a whimper. What has happened to its students, its alumni and its famous sons and daughters this proud university once gave a future? Will they come back to save it or will they be part of the conspiracy to get a piece of its real estate?
EJB
Thursday, 28 February 2008 ( arkib)
When Amin Jalaludin, UM’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor cum ENT surgeon turned developer announced on behalf of his boss, Rafiah Salim, lawyer turned banker cum UN Human Resources Manager cum Vice-Chancellor and currently jet-setting businesswoman, the proposal by the Universiti of Malaya’s governing board to let a suspicious private entity called PPC-MINT-GLOMAC develop 27 acres of irreplaceable campus land on February 9, 2008, Malaysians knew that it had all the makings of a major scam.
Amin announced that the successful completion of the development project is expected to provide UM with a minimum income of RM312 million or the land value of RM200 million plus a share of the developer's profit, whichever is higher.
All this money would presumably help the UM financially in its faltering attempts to redress its declining academic and research standards. One would truly love to buy UM’s efforts to create a giant multi-billion dollar endowment fund similar to that of Harvard or Yale until one realizes that the person who is announcing the deal is not a businessman but is a medical doctor, spent most of his life giving tutorials and power point presentations and works for a VC with a very shady banking past in tandem with the Prime Minister’s speech writer cum proxy, Anuar Zaini who has now made a name for himself as an underhanded lackey of the Prime Minister who uses governmental positions to rip off our institutions and tax payers money to fill up the coffers of UMNO and their personal Swiss accounts.
Since when did our academics decide to go into business? If their depressing role in helping plunge our University standards are anything to go by, we would then have to expect that these same greenhorns in business will in all likelihood sell off the University’s assets and realise later that they have lost not only their assets but will then have to apply for a bail-out using tax payers money or file for bankruptcy. But Rafiah, Amin, Anuar Zaini and all those other Emeritus Professors wouldn’t be sticking around to attend creditor’s meetings then would they? They would have gracefully retired to their homes in Australia leaving yet another institution in debt and Malaysians a lot poorer. Maybe Idris Jala would be made available to the University Malaya then, but it may be too late as, unlike MAS, there may be no more assets to sell for him to soup up the books and bring it back to black in a jiffy.
This country never learns. That little piece of land was provided for the University so that they produce the best brains that will help develop this country. The land was not meant to grow palm oil plantations, mine tin, grow skyscrapers or gated communities. But we cannot expect more from the likes of the University’s current administrators if past blunders are anything to go by.
Despite adequate land, the UM entered into a sweetheart deal to purchase the 25 storey Telekom Office building at Lembah Pantai for a consideration of RM70 million in April 2006. Whether Rafiah truly purchased it in good faith for its postgraduates or was told to utilise UM development money at the behest of Anuar Zaini is contentious. But why would they want to buy a building located right outside their gates when they seem to have abundant “prime” land right in the middle of KL and PJ inside the campus. A first-class postgraduate building on campus grounds would, you have thought, been more relevant than a clubhouse.
But there you are, welcome to the warped up thinking of Universiti Malaya’s top but spineless brass. For a university that cannot supply its students with enough water and provides patchy broadband connections when you are located right smack in the middle of the Klang Valley surrounded by world class infrastructure only shows that what requires selling is not the university’s land but whole sale eradication of the entire Universiti Malaya board of directors and its top administrative staff. Which makes you wonder if the Sultan of Perak is purview to these going ons?
Perhaps Universiti Malaya should first focus on giving students a first-rate education by having equitable policies in the intake of both students and lecturers. This simple measure may do a world of good in raising its dismal rankings. It should also perhaps focus on reducing wastage especially at its medical campus where reportedly its new tower block operates without a CF allegedly as a result of shoddy construction work sourced out to crony companies. It should perhaps also explain why it’s profitable and income generating private wing is to be remotely located at a new logistically improper location by its main gates far away from the rest of its clinical services at its main tower. The completed 25 million ringgit building remains underutilised till this day and appears to be degenerating into a white elephant. And maybe it would also be a good time to explain its foray into a botched 50 million ringgit Hospital Information deal all courtesy of the tax payer.
But Universiti Malaya wouldn’t be the first university that would have goofed up valuable public money. In 1995, two lecturers from its economic planning department at UiTM put up a paper about buying up PKNS’s underutilized condominiums at Section 7 Shah Alam. The idea was to convert it to a hotel resort to rival other similar resorts in the Klang Valley and make money while helping train students. The University authorities bought the story but didn’t have the money. No worries. EPF apparently lent RM55 million to buy up the property and refurbish it to resort status in the happening city of Shah Alam. In September 1997, the Intekma Resort & Convention Center opened to the public but response has been less then enthusiastic. It currently serves to train students and houses mainly university staff who are there for conferences. No one really knows if EPF got its money back.
In December 2002, UiTM formed its fledgling Medical Faculty and appointed a research based professor from UKM to run it. It’s students had no proper teaching hospital and this premier Bumiputra university had to virtually beg the Ministry of Health to use Selayang Hospital. The MOH allowed the usage of Selayang, albeit grudgingly. Till this day both the university’s local and expatriate lecturers have limited access to patients, clinics or operating theaters. No prizes for guessing how UiTM medical students are going to turn out as doctors. But UiTM has access to funds, and lots of it. They even have the political muscle. The Agong is their Chancellor. They could have bought off Selayang Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital or even both of them.
But that would not be UiTM. A grandiose money making scheme had to be connived for the benefit of all and sundry in typical Malaysia incorporated style. The Dean of the Medical Faculty, who entrenched himself by employing up to 70% expatriate lecturers, all of whom would positively appraise him annually so that there would be no complications when their contracts came up for renewal, proposed not one but twin medical cities to be located and built on the outskirts of Shah Alam by raising funds through PFI’s backed by PNB’s Golden Hope and more ominously pilgrim’s money at Tabung Haji.
This elaborate 1.2billion ringgit deal had apparently the approval of none other then the mother of all penghulus, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Scant attention was paid to how in God’s name cash flows are going to be matched through Malaysian patients used to paying RM1 for consultations at hospitals. Needless to say, the taxpayer will be called in to perform their solemn duty and baileth yet another cocked up project if this plot saw the light of day.
Our universities will need to stand on their own feet as surely as the sun rises the next day. The days of splurging are nearing an end as the country’s resources run out. But to ask a chemistry professor who has never run a corporation or even managed the local 7/11 to hop off his chair and start getting the billions to role into the university’s coffers would be a risky financial gamble. For that you need a highly experienced CEO and CFO who have been battle hardened in the private sector. You need to pay these guys well and monitor their performances like a hawk. Maybe all public universities who want to see money ought to have stints at HELP, INTI or Lim Kok Wing universities. But you certainly cannot use the same cooks who brought the university to their academic knees to go on another jaunt that requires razor sharp business acumen. To do so would be to invite a financial calamity to our already shaky public universities.
So who indeed will save Universiti Malaya? When the Tunku was down and out after 1969, students and student leaders went out to town running him down for Malaysia’s various ills including the loss of Singapore. Today, we have in our midst government sponsored nameless corporations who are threatening to swallow whole our universities and their heritage but yet not a whimper. What has happened to its students, its alumni and its famous sons and daughters this proud university once gave a future? Will they come back to save it or will they be part of the conspiracy to get a piece of its real estate?
EJB
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
FREE GAZA MOVEMENT
An Appeal to Free Gaza - A Profile of Courage - The Free Gaza Movement - By Christopher and Matthias Chang (20/7/09)
By Christopher and Matthias Chang
Monday, 20 July 2009 00:35
Death creeps on you unexpectedly, sometimes like a thief in the night, sometimes it leaves a calling card, telling us that it is only weeks or months that we have left to make our arrangements and sometimes, it emerges as a savage disease that ravages your body.
The shock and pain lingers on and tried as hard as we can to feint composure and normality, the dark loneliness overwhelms us and we cry out in anger and in anguish - Why? Why now? Why in this way?
To love someone for so long and to see life slipping away is an unbearable burden. It is unfair. It is just not right. We turn back the pages of a life once shared. And it seems like only yesterday that the first word we learned to cherish, would forever linger in our lips – “mummy”.
We remind ourselves to be strong … there are just too many things to be said and yet cannot be said. We are lost for words. And as tears well in our eyes, we are consoled that at the very least, we have our time to say our goodbyes and to seek forgiveness. The final hour is yet to come.
But there are others who are less fortunate and we must not let our own grief and pain to cast a shadow over their plight and suffering – a lingering pain and anguish that seems never to go away, even after fifty long years.
We speak of death and crimes committed against the heroic Palestinian people.
The smell of blood, shed in vain lingers in the air everyday in Palestine.
A bullet splits the skull and a mother is left carrying a dead child in her arms.
An explosion flattens a tenement block but the mangled bodies of women and children beneath steel and rubble are mere statistics.
Homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship are destroyed with impunity with the latest weaponry supplied by the US to Israel but the world turns a blind eye to the atrocities. War Crimes Tribunals are quick to be established against third world tyrants but US and Israeli war criminals are beyond the reach of international law.
For over two years, the Palestinians in Gaza were starved of basic food and other necessities by a cruel and inhumane blockade imposed by Israel and tacitly supported by the US, the European Union and neighbouring countries of the Middle East.
Their cries for help and justice were rebuffed by the international community but the courage of two NGOs – Viva Palestina and The Free Gaza Movement have put to shame the double standards and hypocrisy of several leading member countries of the United Nations. Defying the brutal Israeli regime, the two organizations broke the siege and blockade of Gaza. But more need to be done, for the blockade of Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.
Viva Palestina succeeded in bringing two convoy of lorries laden with supplies through the Rafah Crossing, while the Free Gaza Movement since August 2008 and using only small boats and against all odds broke the sea blockade repeatedly.
Although the first five voyages successfully reached Gaza, the only international boats to do so since 1967, the last three attempts have been violently stopped by the Israeli military.
On one occasion their boat, Dignity was rammed by Israeli naval vessels and just recently on June 30, 2009 another boat, The Spirit of Humanity was illegally commandeered in international waters and the volunteers were forcefully arrested by Israeli commandos and incarcerated in prison for six days (some longer) for the alleged offence of intruding into Israel illegally!
Those unlawfully imprisoned included Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The cargo of medical supplies and children toys were confiscated.
Undeterred by these brutal actions of the Israeli military, the members of The Free Gaza Movement are determined to continue in their efforts to break the illegal siege of Gaza by sailing unarmed boats with human rights workers, journalists and parliamentarians, as well as much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies.
The courage and determination of the members of The Free Gaza Movement led by its chairperson, Huwaida Shapiro is exceptional and the only protection they have is the spotlight of world conscience and your unstinting support.
Last week, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and members of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation and the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War met with this incredible team of volunteers and pledge to assist them in their endeavours.
Their number one priority is to get more boats to break the siege of Gaza.
Without boats, supplies cannot get into Gaza.
Each boat costs €200,000 to €300,000 and they need to have at least 5 boats by yesterday.
Winter is coming soon and the Palestinians in Gaza need shelter, food and clothing. Time is of the essence.
We therefore appeal to all Malaysians to come forward to help the Palestinians.
You can help by:
1) Donating generously to acquire the boats to bring supplies to Gaza;
2) Be a volunteer to help the Free Gaza Movement;
3) Disseminate this appeal to as many people as possible;
4) To lobby your Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen and women to support this noble endeavour;
5) More importantly, to lobby the Malaysian Government, specifically the Prime Minister to finance the purchase, at the minimum one boat.
For further enquiries and clarification, contact the following:
Dr. Zulaiha Ismail at +6019-3843913
Mr. Ram Kathegesu at +6012-2270159
By Christopher and Matthias Chang
Monday, 20 July 2009 00:35
Death creeps on you unexpectedly, sometimes like a thief in the night, sometimes it leaves a calling card, telling us that it is only weeks or months that we have left to make our arrangements and sometimes, it emerges as a savage disease that ravages your body.
The shock and pain lingers on and tried as hard as we can to feint composure and normality, the dark loneliness overwhelms us and we cry out in anger and in anguish - Why? Why now? Why in this way?
To love someone for so long and to see life slipping away is an unbearable burden. It is unfair. It is just not right. We turn back the pages of a life once shared. And it seems like only yesterday that the first word we learned to cherish, would forever linger in our lips – “mummy”.
We remind ourselves to be strong … there are just too many things to be said and yet cannot be said. We are lost for words. And as tears well in our eyes, we are consoled that at the very least, we have our time to say our goodbyes and to seek forgiveness. The final hour is yet to come.
But there are others who are less fortunate and we must not let our own grief and pain to cast a shadow over their plight and suffering – a lingering pain and anguish that seems never to go away, even after fifty long years.
We speak of death and crimes committed against the heroic Palestinian people.
The smell of blood, shed in vain lingers in the air everyday in Palestine.
A bullet splits the skull and a mother is left carrying a dead child in her arms.
An explosion flattens a tenement block but the mangled bodies of women and children beneath steel and rubble are mere statistics.
Homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship are destroyed with impunity with the latest weaponry supplied by the US to Israel but the world turns a blind eye to the atrocities. War Crimes Tribunals are quick to be established against third world tyrants but US and Israeli war criminals are beyond the reach of international law.
For over two years, the Palestinians in Gaza were starved of basic food and other necessities by a cruel and inhumane blockade imposed by Israel and tacitly supported by the US, the European Union and neighbouring countries of the Middle East.
Their cries for help and justice were rebuffed by the international community but the courage of two NGOs – Viva Palestina and The Free Gaza Movement have put to shame the double standards and hypocrisy of several leading member countries of the United Nations. Defying the brutal Israeli regime, the two organizations broke the siege and blockade of Gaza. But more need to be done, for the blockade of Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.
Viva Palestina succeeded in bringing two convoy of lorries laden with supplies through the Rafah Crossing, while the Free Gaza Movement since August 2008 and using only small boats and against all odds broke the sea blockade repeatedly.
Although the first five voyages successfully reached Gaza, the only international boats to do so since 1967, the last three attempts have been violently stopped by the Israeli military.
On one occasion their boat, Dignity was rammed by Israeli naval vessels and just recently on June 30, 2009 another boat, The Spirit of Humanity was illegally commandeered in international waters and the volunteers were forcefully arrested by Israeli commandos and incarcerated in prison for six days (some longer) for the alleged offence of intruding into Israel illegally!
Those unlawfully imprisoned included Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The cargo of medical supplies and children toys were confiscated.
Undeterred by these brutal actions of the Israeli military, the members of The Free Gaza Movement are determined to continue in their efforts to break the illegal siege of Gaza by sailing unarmed boats with human rights workers, journalists and parliamentarians, as well as much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies.
The courage and determination of the members of The Free Gaza Movement led by its chairperson, Huwaida Shapiro is exceptional and the only protection they have is the spotlight of world conscience and your unstinting support.
Last week, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and members of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation and the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War met with this incredible team of volunteers and pledge to assist them in their endeavours.
Their number one priority is to get more boats to break the siege of Gaza.
Without boats, supplies cannot get into Gaza.
Each boat costs €200,000 to €300,000 and they need to have at least 5 boats by yesterday.
Winter is coming soon and the Palestinians in Gaza need shelter, food and clothing. Time is of the essence.
We therefore appeal to all Malaysians to come forward to help the Palestinians.
You can help by:
1) Donating generously to acquire the boats to bring supplies to Gaza;
2) Be a volunteer to help the Free Gaza Movement;
3) Disseminate this appeal to as many people as possible;
4) To lobby your Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen and women to support this noble endeavour;
5) More importantly, to lobby the Malaysian Government, specifically the Prime Minister to finance the purchase, at the minimum one boat.
For further enquiries and clarification, contact the following:
Dr. Zulaiha Ismail at +6019-3843913
Mr. Ram Kathegesu at +6012-2270159
Friday, August 07, 2009
Why is Malaysia a failed state and I am certainly not proud of it
Malaysia is a failed state - Raja Petra Kamarudin
Malaysia Today (22/1/2008): Over the last decade or so, since the Reformasi 'explosion' of 1998, I have met many Western journalists who passed this way in search of a story. Most of them wanted to meet me to talk about the goings-on in the local scene, in particular in relation to the opposition. Some imagine themselves as experts or authorities on human rights issues and of course countries like Malaysia are way at the bottom of their list of countries guilty of human rights abuses.
I actually get quite irritated when I speak to these Western journalists, those who imagine themselves as experts or authorities on matters concerning human rights. They are very patronising and speak with a high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou tone of voice. They always say they want to 'interview' me to get my views and thoughts on various issues. But when we meet it ends up with them lecturing me on what is wrong with this country and what 'people like us' should do to correct this sorry state of affairs.
Hey, you want my views, I will give it to you. I did not ask to meet you. You asked to meet me. But if you are meeting me to give me your views and to tell me what is wrong with this country and what 'we' should do about it, then I do not need to meet you. I have just too much work to do and am too busy to waste my valuable time to hear a sermon from people who think they are right because of the colour of their skin and we are wrong also for the same reason.
Yes, that's right, these Westerners harbour this impression that because they are Westerners they must be right and because we are Asians then we must be wrong. White is right (and some say might is also right), so we non-whites must sit through an hour of an 'interview' getting lectured on the Western perception of right and wrong. And they show this 'we know what we are talking about' streak in the way they write and talk. And they don't talk to you. They talk down at you.
If I were to write an article that the Jews are the cause of the Middle East crisis and it is because of their Zionist policy and their illegal occupation of Arab land that there is so much strife and killing I would be whacked to kingdom come. If I were to write that the so-called Holocaust did not happen and there is no evidence it did happen they would probably send a hit squad to bump me off. Running down the Jews is a no-no and no white-skin journalist would allow you to do this.
If I were to whack Islamic countries or Asian dictators, I would be viewed as a great person. And if I who whacks Islamic countries or Asian dictators am a Muslim on top of that, then I would be hailed as a great liberal Muslim or Asian. Westerners just love Muslims or Asians who whack their own kind. This sort of gives them the feeling that they are certainly right if the Muslims or Asians agree with what they have to say.
Sure, most Asian, African, Latin American and African countries are failed states. Not all failed states are Muslim countries of course but all Muslim countries are certainly failed states. And these countries deserve getting whacked. But who is the cause of this? These Western journalists who whack countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, etc., seem to overlook one thing. Many of these countries would not even exist if not for the Western powers. The Western powers created many of these countries after the two 'great' wars. And many of these failed states and dictatorships would have fallen a long time ago if not for the fact that the Western powers propped them up for their own self-interest.
Iran, for example, is not a failed state because it is non-white or because it is an Islamic country. It is a failed state because the West propped it up and closed its eyes to the human rights abuses under the Shah. Iran served the interest of the West so the West ignored the rampant and blatant human rights abuses and pretended it did not exist. Iraq was the same case. Whatever Saddam Hussein did was not something he did when he was opposed to the West but long before that while he still served the interest of the West. But the West closed its eyes to all this and pretended nothing was happening because Iraq was useful to Western interests.
Closer to home, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, etc., were all also led by dictators who not only had no respect for human rights but did not even understand the meaning of the term. So the dictators of Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, etc., were also tolerated and supported. Only when they could no longer serve the interest of the West were they condemned and allowed to fall in favour of 'popular peoples' movements'.
The West is a hypocrite. The West created all these monsters, these failed states. And those from the West now come here to preach to us about what is good and what is bad and about how bad Malaysia is. And we have to sit through hours of 'interviews' listening to them go on about what 'we' should be doing to correct this.
Do they not realise that their governments created these monsters? Do they not realise that many of these monsters did not exist until their governments carved out new countries from the spoils of the two 'great' wars and which they divided amongst them to serve as their colonies? Do they not realise that their governments propped up all these failed states because the dictators running these failed states served the interest of the West? Who are they to tell us what is right and what is wrong and what we should do about it? Why did they not scream, rant and rave 50 or 60 years ago before these failed states became failed states and before the dictators running these failed states had exterminated millions of their own citizens as well as citizens of their neighbouring countries?
It is now three generations or more since many of these failed states were created. Today, the grandchildren are condemning the failed states which were created by their grandfathers and which were propped up by their fathers. These present day Western journalists somehow feel they have earned the right to criticise countries like Malaysia and sermon us as to what we should be doing. And they adopt this high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou tone of voice when lecturing us.
Many do not really understand the term 'failed state' so I have extracted below what Weber and Wikipedia have to say on the matter. You will notice that Malaysia certainly fits the bill of a failed state as evident in the parts we have highlighted in bold. Yes, Malaysia is, by 'Western' standards, a failed state, and I do not quite disagree with their prognosis. My only beef is that countries like Malaysia became failed states because the West allowed them to become so and because they served the interest of the West to become so. Failed states need to be propped up so the West would be required to do this propping up. In this way failed states would continue to be beholden to the West. It is only when they no longer serve the interest of the West would failed states be allowed to fall at the detriment of the population as what we have seen in many countries where the dictators finally fell only to bring the country out of the frying pan and into the fire.
What is a failed state and how would we recognise one?
There are several indicators of a failed state. The declaration that a state has 'failed' is generally controversial since, when made authoritatively, this assessment may carry significant geopolitical consequences.
Indicators include:
1. a state whose central government is so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory (the level of control required to avoid being considered a failed state varies considerably amongst authorities),
2. legitimate authority to make collective decisions has been eroded,
3. reasonable public services can not be provided,
4. widespread corruption and criminality,
5. refugees and involuntary movement of populations,
6. sharp economic decline,
7. failed interaction with other states.
A state could be said to 'succeed' if it maintains a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within its borders. When this is broken (e.g., through the dominant presence of warlords, militias, or terrorism), the very existence of the state becomes dubious, and the state becomes a failed state. The difficulty of determining whether a government maintains 'a monopoly on the legitimate use of force' (which includes the problems of the definition of 'legitimate') means it is not clear precisely when a state can be said to have 'failed'. This problem of legitimacy can be solved by understanding what Weber intended by it. Weber clearly explains that only the state has the means of production necessary for physical violence (politics as vocation). This means that the state does not require legitimacy for achieving monopoly on the means of violence (de facto) but will need one if it needs to use it (de jure).
The term is also used in the sense of a state that has been rendered ineffective (i.e., has nominal military/police control over its territory only in the sense of having no armed opposition groups directly challenging state authority; in short, the 'no news is good news' approach) and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly because of high crime rates, extreme political corruption, an extensive informal market, impenetrable bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area but do not compete with the state, or a number of other factors.
Indicators of state vulnerability
The index's ranks are based on twelve indicators of state vulnerability - four social, two economic and six political. The indicators are not designed to forecast when states may experience violence or collapse. Instead, they are meant to measure a state's vulnerability to collapse or conflict.
Social indicators
1. Demographic pressures: including the pressures deriving from high population density relative to food supply and other life-sustaining resources. The pressure from a population's settlement patterns and physical settings, including border disputes, ownership or occupancy of land, access to transportation outlets, control of religious or historical sites, and proximity to environmental hazards.
2. Massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples: forced uprooting of large communities as a result of random or targeted violence and/or repression, causing food shortages, disease, lack of clean water, land competition, and turmoil that can spiral into larger humanitarian and security problems, both within and between countries.
3. Legacy of vengeance-seeking group grievance: based on recent or past injustices, which could date back centuries. Including atrocities committed with impunity against communal groups and/or specific groups singled out by state authorities, or by dominant groups, for persecution or repression. Institutionalized political exclusion. Public scapegoating of groups believed to have acquired wealth, status or power as evidenced in the emergence of 'hate' radio, pamphleteering and stereotypical or nationalistic political rhetoric.
4. Chronic and sustained human flight: both the 'brain drain' of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents and voluntary emigration of 'the middle class'. Growth of exile/expat communities are also used as part of this indicator.
Economic indicators
5. Uneven economic development along group lines: determined by group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status. Also measured by group-based poverty levels, infant mortality rates, education levels.
6. Sharp and/or severe economic decline: measured by a progressive economic decline of the society as a whole (using: per capita income, GNP, debt, child mortality rates, poverty levels, business failures.) A sudden drop in commodity prices, trade revenue, foreign investment or debt payments. Collapse or devaluation of the national currency and a growth of hidden economies, including the drug trade, smuggling, and capital flight. Failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.
Political Indicators
7. Criminalization and/or delegitimisation of the state: endemic corruption or profiteering by ruling elites and resistance to transparency, accountability and political representation. Includes any widespread loss of popular confidence in state institutions and processes.
8. Progressive deterioration of public services: a disappearance of basic state functions that serve the people, including failure to protect citizens from terrorism and violence and to provide essential services, such as health, education, sanitation, public transportation. Also using the state apparatus for agencies that serve the ruling elites, such as the security forces, presidential staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.
9. Widespread violation of human rights: an emergence of authoritarian, dictatorial or military rule in which constitutional and democratic institutions and processes are suspended or manipulated. Outbreaks of politically inspired (as opposed to criminal) violence against innocent civilians. A rising number of political prisoners or dissidents who are denied due process consistent with international norms and practices. Any widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights, including those of individuals, groups or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicisation of the judiciary, internal use of military for political ends, public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution.)
10. Security apparatus as ‘state within a state’: an emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity. Emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents, suspected 'enemies', or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition. An 'army within an army' that serves the interests of the dominant military or political clique. Emergence of rival militias, guerilla forces or private armies in an armed struggle or protracted violent campaigns against state security forces.
11. Rise of factionalised elites: a fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines. Any use of nationalistic political rhetoric by ruling elites, often in terms of communal irredentism or of communal solidarity (e.g., 'ethnic cleansing' or 'defending the faith'.)
12. Intervention of other states or external factors: military or Para-military engagement in the internal affairs of the state at risk by outside armies, states, identity groups or entities that affect the internal balance of power or resolution of the conflict. Intervention by donors, especially if there is a tendency towards over-dependence on foreign aid or peacekeeping missions.
Malaysia Today (22/1/2008): Over the last decade or so, since the Reformasi 'explosion' of 1998, I have met many Western journalists who passed this way in search of a story. Most of them wanted to meet me to talk about the goings-on in the local scene, in particular in relation to the opposition. Some imagine themselves as experts or authorities on human rights issues and of course countries like Malaysia are way at the bottom of their list of countries guilty of human rights abuses.
I actually get quite irritated when I speak to these Western journalists, those who imagine themselves as experts or authorities on matters concerning human rights. They are very patronising and speak with a high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou tone of voice. They always say they want to 'interview' me to get my views and thoughts on various issues. But when we meet it ends up with them lecturing me on what is wrong with this country and what 'people like us' should do to correct this sorry state of affairs.
Hey, you want my views, I will give it to you. I did not ask to meet you. You asked to meet me. But if you are meeting me to give me your views and to tell me what is wrong with this country and what 'we' should do about it, then I do not need to meet you. I have just too much work to do and am too busy to waste my valuable time to hear a sermon from people who think they are right because of the colour of their skin and we are wrong also for the same reason.
Yes, that's right, these Westerners harbour this impression that because they are Westerners they must be right and because we are Asians then we must be wrong. White is right (and some say might is also right), so we non-whites must sit through an hour of an 'interview' getting lectured on the Western perception of right and wrong. And they show this 'we know what we are talking about' streak in the way they write and talk. And they don't talk to you. They talk down at you.
If I were to write an article that the Jews are the cause of the Middle East crisis and it is because of their Zionist policy and their illegal occupation of Arab land that there is so much strife and killing I would be whacked to kingdom come. If I were to write that the so-called Holocaust did not happen and there is no evidence it did happen they would probably send a hit squad to bump me off. Running down the Jews is a no-no and no white-skin journalist would allow you to do this.
If I were to whack Islamic countries or Asian dictators, I would be viewed as a great person. And if I who whacks Islamic countries or Asian dictators am a Muslim on top of that, then I would be hailed as a great liberal Muslim or Asian. Westerners just love Muslims or Asians who whack their own kind. This sort of gives them the feeling that they are certainly right if the Muslims or Asians agree with what they have to say.
Sure, most Asian, African, Latin American and African countries are failed states. Not all failed states are Muslim countries of course but all Muslim countries are certainly failed states. And these countries deserve getting whacked. But who is the cause of this? These Western journalists who whack countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, etc., seem to overlook one thing. Many of these countries would not even exist if not for the Western powers. The Western powers created many of these countries after the two 'great' wars. And many of these failed states and dictatorships would have fallen a long time ago if not for the fact that the Western powers propped them up for their own self-interest.
Iran, for example, is not a failed state because it is non-white or because it is an Islamic country. It is a failed state because the West propped it up and closed its eyes to the human rights abuses under the Shah. Iran served the interest of the West so the West ignored the rampant and blatant human rights abuses and pretended it did not exist. Iraq was the same case. Whatever Saddam Hussein did was not something he did when he was opposed to the West but long before that while he still served the interest of the West. But the West closed its eyes to all this and pretended nothing was happening because Iraq was useful to Western interests.
Closer to home, Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, etc., were all also led by dictators who not only had no respect for human rights but did not even understand the meaning of the term. So the dictators of Vietnam, Korea, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, etc., were also tolerated and supported. Only when they could no longer serve the interest of the West were they condemned and allowed to fall in favour of 'popular peoples' movements'.
The West is a hypocrite. The West created all these monsters, these failed states. And those from the West now come here to preach to us about what is good and what is bad and about how bad Malaysia is. And we have to sit through hours of 'interviews' listening to them go on about what 'we' should be doing to correct this.
Do they not realise that their governments created these monsters? Do they not realise that many of these monsters did not exist until their governments carved out new countries from the spoils of the two 'great' wars and which they divided amongst them to serve as their colonies? Do they not realise that their governments propped up all these failed states because the dictators running these failed states served the interest of the West? Who are they to tell us what is right and what is wrong and what we should do about it? Why did they not scream, rant and rave 50 or 60 years ago before these failed states became failed states and before the dictators running these failed states had exterminated millions of their own citizens as well as citizens of their neighbouring countries?
It is now three generations or more since many of these failed states were created. Today, the grandchildren are condemning the failed states which were created by their grandfathers and which were propped up by their fathers. These present day Western journalists somehow feel they have earned the right to criticise countries like Malaysia and sermon us as to what we should be doing. And they adopt this high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou tone of voice when lecturing us.
Many do not really understand the term 'failed state' so I have extracted below what Weber and Wikipedia have to say on the matter. You will notice that Malaysia certainly fits the bill of a failed state as evident in the parts we have highlighted in bold. Yes, Malaysia is, by 'Western' standards, a failed state, and I do not quite disagree with their prognosis. My only beef is that countries like Malaysia became failed states because the West allowed them to become so and because they served the interest of the West to become so. Failed states need to be propped up so the West would be required to do this propping up. In this way failed states would continue to be beholden to the West. It is only when they no longer serve the interest of the West would failed states be allowed to fall at the detriment of the population as what we have seen in many countries where the dictators finally fell only to bring the country out of the frying pan and into the fire.
What is a failed state and how would we recognise one?
There are several indicators of a failed state. The declaration that a state has 'failed' is generally controversial since, when made authoritatively, this assessment may carry significant geopolitical consequences.
Indicators include:
1. a state whose central government is so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory (the level of control required to avoid being considered a failed state varies considerably amongst authorities),
2. legitimate authority to make collective decisions has been eroded,
3. reasonable public services can not be provided,
4. widespread corruption and criminality,
5. refugees and involuntary movement of populations,
6. sharp economic decline,
7. failed interaction with other states.
A state could be said to 'succeed' if it maintains a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within its borders. When this is broken (e.g., through the dominant presence of warlords, militias, or terrorism), the very existence of the state becomes dubious, and the state becomes a failed state. The difficulty of determining whether a government maintains 'a monopoly on the legitimate use of force' (which includes the problems of the definition of 'legitimate') means it is not clear precisely when a state can be said to have 'failed'. This problem of legitimacy can be solved by understanding what Weber intended by it. Weber clearly explains that only the state has the means of production necessary for physical violence (politics as vocation). This means that the state does not require legitimacy for achieving monopoly on the means of violence (de facto) but will need one if it needs to use it (de jure).
The term is also used in the sense of a state that has been rendered ineffective (i.e., has nominal military/police control over its territory only in the sense of having no armed opposition groups directly challenging state authority; in short, the 'no news is good news' approach) and is not able to enforce its laws uniformly because of high crime rates, extreme political corruption, an extensive informal market, impenetrable bureaucracy, judicial ineffectiveness, military interference in politics, cultural situations in which traditional leaders wield more power than the state over a certain area but do not compete with the state, or a number of other factors.
Indicators of state vulnerability
The index's ranks are based on twelve indicators of state vulnerability - four social, two economic and six political. The indicators are not designed to forecast when states may experience violence or collapse. Instead, they are meant to measure a state's vulnerability to collapse or conflict.
Social indicators
1. Demographic pressures: including the pressures deriving from high population density relative to food supply and other life-sustaining resources. The pressure from a population's settlement patterns and physical settings, including border disputes, ownership or occupancy of land, access to transportation outlets, control of religious or historical sites, and proximity to environmental hazards.
2. Massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples: forced uprooting of large communities as a result of random or targeted violence and/or repression, causing food shortages, disease, lack of clean water, land competition, and turmoil that can spiral into larger humanitarian and security problems, both within and between countries.
3. Legacy of vengeance-seeking group grievance: based on recent or past injustices, which could date back centuries. Including atrocities committed with impunity against communal groups and/or specific groups singled out by state authorities, or by dominant groups, for persecution or repression. Institutionalized political exclusion. Public scapegoating of groups believed to have acquired wealth, status or power as evidenced in the emergence of 'hate' radio, pamphleteering and stereotypical or nationalistic political rhetoric.
4. Chronic and sustained human flight: both the 'brain drain' of professionals, intellectuals and political dissidents and voluntary emigration of 'the middle class'. Growth of exile/expat communities are also used as part of this indicator.
Economic indicators
5. Uneven economic development along group lines: determined by group-based inequality, or perceived inequality, in education, jobs, and economic status. Also measured by group-based poverty levels, infant mortality rates, education levels.
6. Sharp and/or severe economic decline: measured by a progressive economic decline of the society as a whole (using: per capita income, GNP, debt, child mortality rates, poverty levels, business failures.) A sudden drop in commodity prices, trade revenue, foreign investment or debt payments. Collapse or devaluation of the national currency and a growth of hidden economies, including the drug trade, smuggling, and capital flight. Failure of the state to pay salaries of government employees and armed forces or to meet other financial obligations to its citizens, such as pension payments.
Political Indicators
7. Criminalization and/or delegitimisation of the state: endemic corruption or profiteering by ruling elites and resistance to transparency, accountability and political representation. Includes any widespread loss of popular confidence in state institutions and processes.
8. Progressive deterioration of public services: a disappearance of basic state functions that serve the people, including failure to protect citizens from terrorism and violence and to provide essential services, such as health, education, sanitation, public transportation. Also using the state apparatus for agencies that serve the ruling elites, such as the security forces, presidential staff, central bank, diplomatic service, customs and collection agencies.
9. Widespread violation of human rights: an emergence of authoritarian, dictatorial or military rule in which constitutional and democratic institutions and processes are suspended or manipulated. Outbreaks of politically inspired (as opposed to criminal) violence against innocent civilians. A rising number of political prisoners or dissidents who are denied due process consistent with international norms and practices. Any widespread abuse of legal, political and social rights, including those of individuals, groups or cultural institutions (e.g., harassment of the press, politicisation of the judiciary, internal use of military for political ends, public repression of political opponents, religious or cultural persecution.)
10. Security apparatus as ‘state within a state’: an emergence of elite or praetorian guards that operate with impunity. Emergence of state-sponsored or state-supported private militias that terrorize political opponents, suspected 'enemies', or civilians seen to be sympathetic to the opposition. An 'army within an army' that serves the interests of the dominant military or political clique. Emergence of rival militias, guerilla forces or private armies in an armed struggle or protracted violent campaigns against state security forces.
11. Rise of factionalised elites: a fragmentation of ruling elites and state institutions along group lines. Any use of nationalistic political rhetoric by ruling elites, often in terms of communal irredentism or of communal solidarity (e.g., 'ethnic cleansing' or 'defending the faith'.)
12. Intervention of other states or external factors: military or Para-military engagement in the internal affairs of the state at risk by outside armies, states, identity groups or entities that affect the internal balance of power or resolution of the conflict. Intervention by donors, especially if there is a tendency towards over-dependence on foreign aid or peacekeeping missions.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
MELIHAT KEMBALI
MEMBINA NEGARA BANGSA
Sebuah negara atau satu negara bangsa pada hakikatnya hanya wujud didalam fikrah warganya. Ianya hanya wujud didalam imijinasi. Negara dan bangsa wujud apabila ada imijinasi kolektif yang di kongsi bersama oleh warganya.
Imijinasi kolektif ini juga wajib di bantu dengan cita-cita, mimpi dan harapan bersama. Tanpa perkongsian imijinasi – tanpa mimpi dan harapan bersama - tidak mungkin negara bangsa boleh wujud dengan kompak.
Di negara kita ini pada hakikatnya masih belum wujud lagi satu negara bangsa yang boleh dipanggil Bangsa Malaysia. Ini bermakna identiti negara bangsa kita belum mengenap dan membatu.
Kita boleh memahami kenapa ini berlaku. Pertama - Malaysia ini adalah satu konsep yang baru. Malaysia wujud sebagai satu projek kolonial. Kedua - selama 50 tahun lebih ini upaya untuk membina negara bangsa telah gagal. Kegagalan ini adalah hasil dari falsafah dan pandangan dunia parti politik yang memerintah. Ketiga – patahnya pandangan dunia yang cuba melintasi konsep negara bangsa melalui takrifan agama dan kaum.
Sebagai sebuah projek kolonial – British telah memastikan kumpulan/parti politik yang menggantikan kuasa mereka tidak akan melihat penjajah sebagai musuh. Tidak dapat tidak badan politik yang dipilih oleh British untuk mengambila alih pentabiran Tanah Melayu dari British adalah badan politik yang akan terus bersetia dibawah payung British.
MCA, MIC dan United Malays National Organisation dipilih oleh British pada tahun 1956 bukan kerana mereka mendapat sokongan menyeluruh atau organisasi mereka kuat tersusun. Badan-badan politk ini diangkat, disokong dan didukung kerana kesetiaan mereka kepada British.
Kumpulan yang memanggil diri mereka Perikatan ini menggunakan kaum sebagai asas gerakan dan sokongan mereka. Sekali imbas memang dilihat amatlah lojik badan politik ini berpandukan kepentingan kaum masing-masing. Lojik ini bergerak untuk jangka masa pendek dalam usaha menyediakan ruang selamat ketika British berundur dari diserang oleh rakyat yang menuntut merdeka.
Untuk jangka panjangnya kita sedang melihat dan merasa musibah garis politik yang silap. Garis politik yang berasaskan perkauman ini mula dimunculkan dan dipupuk oleh British pada tahun 1946 dahulu. Garis politik inilah yang mengcengkam kita hingga ke hari ini.
Harus disedari bahawa tiga badan politik ini bukan protoganis awal yang bangun menentang British dan menuntut kemerdekaan. Mereka ini dalam istilah teater hanyalah pelakon tambahan dipermulaan pejuangan melawan British.
Kesatuan Melayu Muda, Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Parti Komunis Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, Angkatan Wanita Sedar, Hisbul Muslimin – adalah diantara protoganis awal. Protoganis-protoganis ini telah mengambil dasar melawan British dan telah mengajukan garis politik yang progresif.
Pandangan dunia yang progresif dari kumpulan ini telah cuba memandu warga Tanah Melayu pada ketika itu untuk lari dari asas kaum kepada asas kebangsaan. Ini terbukti dengan draf Perlembagaan Rakyat PUTERA/AMCAJA 1947 yang mentakrifkan sesiapa sahaja yang ingin bermastautin di Tanah Melayu pada ketika itu akan dipanggil Melayu.
Projek politik ini cukup radikal. Ianya bertujuan untuk memastikan kelahiran satu negara bangsa. Tanah Melayu yang berbagai-bagai bangsa tetapi satu warga negara bangsa. Projek ini telah digagalkan oleh British. British melihat projek meMelayukan semua bangsa ini amat merbahaya dan bertentangan dengan kepentingan ekonomi kuasa imperial Anglo pada ketika itu. Jika semua ditakrif sebagai Melayu maka strateji – pecah dan perintah – kantoi.
Apa yang berlaku pada 8 March tahun lalu adalah tanda jelas bahawa warga negara kita ini mahu menghidupkan kembali semangat yang terangkum dalam projek Perlembagaan Rakyat 1947. Selama lebih dari 50 tahun projek untuk mendirikan negara bangsa ini telah tergelincir dari landasan.
Lima puluh tahun dalam sejarah tamadun manusia hanyalah sedetik. Dalam pembinaan negara bangsa 50 tahun juga telalu singkat Tetapi dalam kehidupan seorang insan - 50 tahun mungkin lebih dari setengah hayatnya telah berlalu. Justeru kejayaan mengembalikan projek negara bangsa ini wajib dijaga dikawal rapi agar ianya tidak tergelincir sekali lagi.
Konsep yang diajukan oleh PUTERA/AMCJA pada tahun 1947 dahulu kalau diamati nyata asasnya masih kukuh dan boleh digunapakai walau pun Tanah Melayu telah menjadi Malaysia. Kalau dahulu cadangannya adalah untuk melahirkan Bangsa Melayu - hari ini kita berniat untuk melahirkan Bangsa Malaysia.
Jangan silap faham – Bangsa Melayu atau Bangsa Malaysia ini – hanyalah imijinasi yang dikonstruk. Ianya hanyalah konsep. Negara bangsa ini juga konsep yang boleh dikonstruk. Konsep ini wajib disepadukan dengan konsep Ketuanan Rakyat.
Ketuanan Rakyat adalah serampang dua mata. Pertama ianya bertujuan untuk membunuh konsep Ketuanan Melayu yang diwarwarkan oleh United Malays National Organisation. Kedua Ketuanan Rakyat sebagai satu sosial konstruk imijinasi dalam usaha kita bersama untuk melahirkan Bangsa Malaysia.
Sayugia diingati – membina negara bangsa bukan satu yang mudah. Manusia bukan batu bata yang boleh disusun dengan senang. Tetapi bukan satu yang mustahil jika pemimpin badan-badan politik dalam Pakatan Rakyat memiliki pandangan progresif berjangka panjang.
Kesilapan dan musibah durjana api perkauman yang kita hadapi selama 50 tahun ini wajib kita jadikan pedoman. Badan politik – malah badan atau kumpulan apa sahaja – yang berasaskan satu kaum telah dibuktikan sebagai jalan salah untuk melahirkan negara bangsa.
Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara majmuk – pelbagai suku bangsa, kaum , bahasa, agama – wajib menampilkan pemimpin politik dan pembuat pandangan yang memiliki pandangan dunia yang luas yang dapat melintasi batas-batas sempit.
Selama lebih dari 50 tahun yang lepas kita telah berada dalam kereta api yang gerabaknya bukan sahaja berkelas- kelas dan dipisah-pisah malah landasannya pun salah. Menuju entah ke mana.
Sesudah 8 March dahulu semua warga telah masuk kembali ke dalam gerabak kereta api Pakatan Rakyat. Sesiapa yang sedang berada di dalam gerabak kereta api ini tidak banyak memiliki pilihan melainkan belajar untuk kembali mengenali satu sama lain sekali lagi.
Kali ini kita tahu Pakatan Rakyat ini sedang bergerak untuk melahirkan projek negara bangsa yang telah disabotaj oleh British pada tahun 1947 dahulu. Di luar landasan kereta api pasti ada anjing yang akan terus menyalak tetapi kereta api ini akan terus meluncur mara.(TT)
Sebuah negara atau satu negara bangsa pada hakikatnya hanya wujud didalam fikrah warganya. Ianya hanya wujud didalam imijinasi. Negara dan bangsa wujud apabila ada imijinasi kolektif yang di kongsi bersama oleh warganya.
Imijinasi kolektif ini juga wajib di bantu dengan cita-cita, mimpi dan harapan bersama. Tanpa perkongsian imijinasi – tanpa mimpi dan harapan bersama - tidak mungkin negara bangsa boleh wujud dengan kompak.
Di negara kita ini pada hakikatnya masih belum wujud lagi satu negara bangsa yang boleh dipanggil Bangsa Malaysia. Ini bermakna identiti negara bangsa kita belum mengenap dan membatu.
Kita boleh memahami kenapa ini berlaku. Pertama - Malaysia ini adalah satu konsep yang baru. Malaysia wujud sebagai satu projek kolonial. Kedua - selama 50 tahun lebih ini upaya untuk membina negara bangsa telah gagal. Kegagalan ini adalah hasil dari falsafah dan pandangan dunia parti politik yang memerintah. Ketiga – patahnya pandangan dunia yang cuba melintasi konsep negara bangsa melalui takrifan agama dan kaum.
Sebagai sebuah projek kolonial – British telah memastikan kumpulan/parti politik yang menggantikan kuasa mereka tidak akan melihat penjajah sebagai musuh. Tidak dapat tidak badan politik yang dipilih oleh British untuk mengambila alih pentabiran Tanah Melayu dari British adalah badan politik yang akan terus bersetia dibawah payung British.
MCA, MIC dan United Malays National Organisation dipilih oleh British pada tahun 1956 bukan kerana mereka mendapat sokongan menyeluruh atau organisasi mereka kuat tersusun. Badan-badan politk ini diangkat, disokong dan didukung kerana kesetiaan mereka kepada British.
Kumpulan yang memanggil diri mereka Perikatan ini menggunakan kaum sebagai asas gerakan dan sokongan mereka. Sekali imbas memang dilihat amatlah lojik badan politik ini berpandukan kepentingan kaum masing-masing. Lojik ini bergerak untuk jangka masa pendek dalam usaha menyediakan ruang selamat ketika British berundur dari diserang oleh rakyat yang menuntut merdeka.
Untuk jangka panjangnya kita sedang melihat dan merasa musibah garis politik yang silap. Garis politik yang berasaskan perkauman ini mula dimunculkan dan dipupuk oleh British pada tahun 1946 dahulu. Garis politik inilah yang mengcengkam kita hingga ke hari ini.
Harus disedari bahawa tiga badan politik ini bukan protoganis awal yang bangun menentang British dan menuntut kemerdekaan. Mereka ini dalam istilah teater hanyalah pelakon tambahan dipermulaan pejuangan melawan British.
Kesatuan Melayu Muda, Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Parti Komunis Malaya, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, Angkatan Wanita Sedar, Hisbul Muslimin – adalah diantara protoganis awal. Protoganis-protoganis ini telah mengambil dasar melawan British dan telah mengajukan garis politik yang progresif.
Pandangan dunia yang progresif dari kumpulan ini telah cuba memandu warga Tanah Melayu pada ketika itu untuk lari dari asas kaum kepada asas kebangsaan. Ini terbukti dengan draf Perlembagaan Rakyat PUTERA/AMCAJA 1947 yang mentakrifkan sesiapa sahaja yang ingin bermastautin di Tanah Melayu pada ketika itu akan dipanggil Melayu.
Projek politik ini cukup radikal. Ianya bertujuan untuk memastikan kelahiran satu negara bangsa. Tanah Melayu yang berbagai-bagai bangsa tetapi satu warga negara bangsa. Projek ini telah digagalkan oleh British. British melihat projek meMelayukan semua bangsa ini amat merbahaya dan bertentangan dengan kepentingan ekonomi kuasa imperial Anglo pada ketika itu. Jika semua ditakrif sebagai Melayu maka strateji – pecah dan perintah – kantoi.
Apa yang berlaku pada 8 March tahun lalu adalah tanda jelas bahawa warga negara kita ini mahu menghidupkan kembali semangat yang terangkum dalam projek Perlembagaan Rakyat 1947. Selama lebih dari 50 tahun projek untuk mendirikan negara bangsa ini telah tergelincir dari landasan.
Lima puluh tahun dalam sejarah tamadun manusia hanyalah sedetik. Dalam pembinaan negara bangsa 50 tahun juga telalu singkat Tetapi dalam kehidupan seorang insan - 50 tahun mungkin lebih dari setengah hayatnya telah berlalu. Justeru kejayaan mengembalikan projek negara bangsa ini wajib dijaga dikawal rapi agar ianya tidak tergelincir sekali lagi.
Konsep yang diajukan oleh PUTERA/AMCJA pada tahun 1947 dahulu kalau diamati nyata asasnya masih kukuh dan boleh digunapakai walau pun Tanah Melayu telah menjadi Malaysia. Kalau dahulu cadangannya adalah untuk melahirkan Bangsa Melayu - hari ini kita berniat untuk melahirkan Bangsa Malaysia.
Jangan silap faham – Bangsa Melayu atau Bangsa Malaysia ini – hanyalah imijinasi yang dikonstruk. Ianya hanyalah konsep. Negara bangsa ini juga konsep yang boleh dikonstruk. Konsep ini wajib disepadukan dengan konsep Ketuanan Rakyat.
Ketuanan Rakyat adalah serampang dua mata. Pertama ianya bertujuan untuk membunuh konsep Ketuanan Melayu yang diwarwarkan oleh United Malays National Organisation. Kedua Ketuanan Rakyat sebagai satu sosial konstruk imijinasi dalam usaha kita bersama untuk melahirkan Bangsa Malaysia.
Sayugia diingati – membina negara bangsa bukan satu yang mudah. Manusia bukan batu bata yang boleh disusun dengan senang. Tetapi bukan satu yang mustahil jika pemimpin badan-badan politik dalam Pakatan Rakyat memiliki pandangan progresif berjangka panjang.
Kesilapan dan musibah durjana api perkauman yang kita hadapi selama 50 tahun ini wajib kita jadikan pedoman. Badan politik – malah badan atau kumpulan apa sahaja – yang berasaskan satu kaum telah dibuktikan sebagai jalan salah untuk melahirkan negara bangsa.
Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara majmuk – pelbagai suku bangsa, kaum , bahasa, agama – wajib menampilkan pemimpin politik dan pembuat pandangan yang memiliki pandangan dunia yang luas yang dapat melintasi batas-batas sempit.
Selama lebih dari 50 tahun yang lepas kita telah berada dalam kereta api yang gerabaknya bukan sahaja berkelas- kelas dan dipisah-pisah malah landasannya pun salah. Menuju entah ke mana.
Sesudah 8 March dahulu semua warga telah masuk kembali ke dalam gerabak kereta api Pakatan Rakyat. Sesiapa yang sedang berada di dalam gerabak kereta api ini tidak banyak memiliki pilihan melainkan belajar untuk kembali mengenali satu sama lain sekali lagi.
Kali ini kita tahu Pakatan Rakyat ini sedang bergerak untuk melahirkan projek negara bangsa yang telah disabotaj oleh British pada tahun 1947 dahulu. Di luar landasan kereta api pasti ada anjing yang akan terus menyalak tetapi kereta api ini akan terus meluncur mara.(TT)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
The reality of the Global Financial Tsunami
Matthias Chang had been right on the money so many times it’s not funny anymore. Who was it who sneered at him with “Even a broken clock will tell the correct time twice every day?” I think we now know who the ‘broken clock’ really is, don’t we?
Anyway it’s still not too late to give credit where it is due. Perfect timing is key, they say. But, first, get yourself a new clock. ;-)
Once again Mathias Chang proven right 100% — Dow closed below 7,000 today
By Matthias Chang
Tuesday, 03 March 2009, 08:16
In an article dated the 12th December 2008, entitled “Obama’s Last Gamble” which was posted to my website, I forecasted that at the earliest, by the end of December 2008 or at the latest by the end of the first quarter of 2009, the Dow will plunge below 7,000. I had also forecasted that just before the inauguration of Obama there will be a suckers’ rally that will continue for a short while soon after.
The Dow rallied some 800 points to reach 9,000 in the days leading to the inauguration of President Obama and since then it has swung back and forth but always downwards.
Today, the Dow has breached the critical level of 7,000!
Worst is yet to come.
Since 2006, I have been proven right time after time.
When the Dow was 14,000, I advised my friends that it will soon dive below 11,000. Further research showed that even at this level, it could not be sustained and I gave the call to short the Dow as it would plunge below 9,000. These facts can be verified in my books, The Shadow Money-Lenders and Will Barisan Nasional Survive Beyond 2010? published in early 2008 and the articles posted to this website!
Not one political / financial analyst in Malaysia dare make such calls. They were completely out of the loop, frolicking in La La land and telling fairy tales that a “new era of prosperity was on the horizon. Good times are here for good”. This was even after the collapse of Bear Stearns in 2007 and Lehman Bros in 2008. All these “famous” economists and feature writers of leading financial dailies could not see beyond their noses, and some of them even have a string of alphabets behind their names!
Many have asked me how I have been so accurate. I told them I have a crystal ball. And my crystal ball is MERE COMMON SENSE.
As I am not part of the vested-interest and have not indulged in frivolous gambling at the stock market and or the derivative casino, I could stand apart and look at the unfolding events objectively. Neither was I infected with the investment bankers’ virus – structured investment vehicles!
This is also a reflection of my legal training. As lawyers, we have to present objective truth to our clients and advise dispassionately the pros and cons of any situation.
The world’s financial system is in total disarray!
It is bankrupt!
It is the end of the era of Wall Street and City of London Global Ponzi Schemes.
And war is round the corner.
Who do you want to believe – the sleepy heads and blockheads on the 4th Floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, the so-called leading financial analysts or me?
All the statistics from Bank Negara are suspect. The Governor got it wrong so often it is an embarrassment. The same applies to the Treasury. I have stated that the GDP for 2009 will be zero or negative. The government has since revised its growth forecast downwards several times and will continue to do so in the future.
If you want to survive, continue to visit my website!
Anyway it’s still not too late to give credit where it is due. Perfect timing is key, they say. But, first, get yourself a new clock. ;-)
Once again Mathias Chang proven right 100% — Dow closed below 7,000 today
By Matthias Chang
Tuesday, 03 March 2009, 08:16
In an article dated the 12th December 2008, entitled “Obama’s Last Gamble” which was posted to my website, I forecasted that at the earliest, by the end of December 2008 or at the latest by the end of the first quarter of 2009, the Dow will plunge below 7,000. I had also forecasted that just before the inauguration of Obama there will be a suckers’ rally that will continue for a short while soon after.
The Dow rallied some 800 points to reach 9,000 in the days leading to the inauguration of President Obama and since then it has swung back and forth but always downwards.
Today, the Dow has breached the critical level of 7,000!
Worst is yet to come.
Since 2006, I have been proven right time after time.
When the Dow was 14,000, I advised my friends that it will soon dive below 11,000. Further research showed that even at this level, it could not be sustained and I gave the call to short the Dow as it would plunge below 9,000. These facts can be verified in my books, The Shadow Money-Lenders and Will Barisan Nasional Survive Beyond 2010? published in early 2008 and the articles posted to this website!
Not one political / financial analyst in Malaysia dare make such calls. They were completely out of the loop, frolicking in La La land and telling fairy tales that a “new era of prosperity was on the horizon. Good times are here for good”. This was even after the collapse of Bear Stearns in 2007 and Lehman Bros in 2008. All these “famous” economists and feature writers of leading financial dailies could not see beyond their noses, and some of them even have a string of alphabets behind their names!
Many have asked me how I have been so accurate. I told them I have a crystal ball. And my crystal ball is MERE COMMON SENSE.
As I am not part of the vested-interest and have not indulged in frivolous gambling at the stock market and or the derivative casino, I could stand apart and look at the unfolding events objectively. Neither was I infected with the investment bankers’ virus – structured investment vehicles!
This is also a reflection of my legal training. As lawyers, we have to present objective truth to our clients and advise dispassionately the pros and cons of any situation.
The world’s financial system is in total disarray!
It is bankrupt!
It is the end of the era of Wall Street and City of London Global Ponzi Schemes.
And war is round the corner.
Who do you want to believe – the sleepy heads and blockheads on the 4th Floor of the Prime Minister’s Office, the so-called leading financial analysts or me?
All the statistics from Bank Negara are suspect. The Governor got it wrong so often it is an embarrassment. The same applies to the Treasury. I have stated that the GDP for 2009 will be zero or negative. The government has since revised its growth forecast downwards several times and will continue to do so in the future.
If you want to survive, continue to visit my website!
Matthias Chang is a genius, an economic genius on top of that
This is probably the most gutsiest prediction on the Malaysia economy by the former aid to Tun Dr Mahathir, Matthias Chang.
Matthias Chang,18 November 2008
"Let´s put some money in our mouths. In the past I have challenged those who disagreed with me, that if they can prove me wrong, I would gladly pay them a RM5,000 cash reward. There were no takers. None could prove me wrong!
In the past few days, the mass media have gone out of the way to interview politicians and the Governor of Bank Negara to project a rosy picture that somehow our economy will overcome the severe pain and disruption from the on-going global financial tsunami.
I am willing to take on anyone from the Badawi regime and Bank Negara that by H1 of 2009, the KLCI will drop below 700. If I am wrong in my analysis, I will pay the first five individuals from the said Badawi regime and or Bank Negara the sum of RM5,000. These five individuals must within a week register at my website that they are willing to take me on in this challenge.
They have to provide their full name and address in accordance with their NRIC/MyKad and their designation.
If they lose to me, they must pay me the same amount!
Fellow citizens, don´t listen to the Badawi regime´s fairy tales. Prepare for the worst and the worst is yet to come. You owe it to your family. The best way to save our family and our country is to be prepared for all eventualities. We must tighten our belts, save for the stormy days that will surely come and not spend, spend as advocated by the Badawi regime´s ministers.
Use common sense. What do you tell your children as responsible parents when the family is going through hard times - spend, spend, spend or be thrifty, thrifty, thrifty?
Remember the flight safety rules when flying - when the oxygen mask falls from the overhead compartment, you are to wear the mask first before attending to your children. If you cannot save yourself, you are not in a position to save anyone. This is a fundamental principle of survival for everyone when a plane is about to crash!
Apply the same principle to economic woes and we will all be saved.
Here are my warnings for 2009:
By 2nd Half of next year, the automobile industry will go into a tailspin and suffer massive losses.
By 2nd Half of next year, credit card debts will soar, credit limits will be drastically reduced (worse than 1997/1998) and interest rates> on outstanding will increase sharply. It is already happening!
By 2nd Half of next year, shipping rates will drop drastically and this is also happening. Our ports and shipping companies will suffer.
By 2nd Half of next year, our housing market bubble will burst notwithstanding all the stimulus and pump-priming. Arab investors will not be coming. Dubai and Abu Dhabi is already in a financial / property gridlock! Why would they come here when they have to save their own asses?
By 2nd Half of next year, our exporters will be in tears, when Letters of Credit (L/Cs) will not be honoured and inventory stacks up at ports and in factory premises. Chinese exporters are already stipulating what LCs from which global banks will only be accepted.
By 2nd Half of next year, FELDA settlers will also be in tears. Having spent their windfall early this year (because of Badawi regime´s false optimism), their savings will be down and they will bleed.
By the 3rd Quarter of next year, corporate NPLs will shoot up! Relaxing mark-to-market rules will not help.
Malaysia will have a huge immigration problem when these hardworking people are thrown out of work and have to compete with the swelling ranks of Malaysian unemployed..
In the meantime capital outflows will continue.
Let´s see whether the statement that Malaysia has more than enough reserves (since according to Bank Negara, we need only have US$30 to US$40 billion reserves) will provide sufficient confidence to foreign investors to continue to invest in Malaysia ..
You can call the above observations - rubbish, pessimism, gloom and doom etc. but that won´t change reality.
Pause and think. In my previous warnings and alerts, I have stated that by the latest - the 1st quarter of 2009, things will get ugly and scary!
If I am not right, why did the leaders of the just concluded G-20 summit in Washington , in their so-called "Action Plan" stipulated that their policies, remedies etc. must be implemented by the end of the 1st Quarter 2009?
My articles were all written BEFORE THE SUMMIT and obviously I have no control over the leaders of G-20.
So ask yourself -"Why Oh Why Must the First Action Plan Be Implemented by the First Quarter of 2009?
This is only the first tentative steps by the G-20 leaders and there is no guarantee that the measures will work. The original Bretton Woods initiatives took almost two years to be formalised and put to work. There is no magic wand to be wielded by the leaders for instant cure. It will be a long hard grind. In the meantime, more shits will hit the ceiling fan. That is a given!
Matthias Chang,18 November 2008
"Let´s put some money in our mouths. In the past I have challenged those who disagreed with me, that if they can prove me wrong, I would gladly pay them a RM5,000 cash reward. There were no takers. None could prove me wrong!
In the past few days, the mass media have gone out of the way to interview politicians and the Governor of Bank Negara to project a rosy picture that somehow our economy will overcome the severe pain and disruption from the on-going global financial tsunami.
I am willing to take on anyone from the Badawi regime and Bank Negara that by H1 of 2009, the KLCI will drop below 700. If I am wrong in my analysis, I will pay the first five individuals from the said Badawi regime and or Bank Negara the sum of RM5,000. These five individuals must within a week register at my website that they are willing to take me on in this challenge.
They have to provide their full name and address in accordance with their NRIC/MyKad and their designation.
If they lose to me, they must pay me the same amount!
Fellow citizens, don´t listen to the Badawi regime´s fairy tales. Prepare for the worst and the worst is yet to come. You owe it to your family. The best way to save our family and our country is to be prepared for all eventualities. We must tighten our belts, save for the stormy days that will surely come and not spend, spend as advocated by the Badawi regime´s ministers.
Use common sense. What do you tell your children as responsible parents when the family is going through hard times - spend, spend, spend or be thrifty, thrifty, thrifty?
Remember the flight safety rules when flying - when the oxygen mask falls from the overhead compartment, you are to wear the mask first before attending to your children. If you cannot save yourself, you are not in a position to save anyone. This is a fundamental principle of survival for everyone when a plane is about to crash!
Apply the same principle to economic woes and we will all be saved.
Here are my warnings for 2009:
By 2nd Half of next year, the automobile industry will go into a tailspin and suffer massive losses.
By 2nd Half of next year, credit card debts will soar, credit limits will be drastically reduced (worse than 1997/1998) and interest rates> on outstanding will increase sharply. It is already happening!
By 2nd Half of next year, shipping rates will drop drastically and this is also happening. Our ports and shipping companies will suffer.
By 2nd Half of next year, our housing market bubble will burst notwithstanding all the stimulus and pump-priming. Arab investors will not be coming. Dubai and Abu Dhabi is already in a financial / property gridlock! Why would they come here when they have to save their own asses?
By 2nd Half of next year, our exporters will be in tears, when Letters of Credit (L/Cs) will not be honoured and inventory stacks up at ports and in factory premises. Chinese exporters are already stipulating what LCs from which global banks will only be accepted.
By 2nd Half of next year, FELDA settlers will also be in tears. Having spent their windfall early this year (because of Badawi regime´s false optimism), their savings will be down and they will bleed.
By the 3rd Quarter of next year, corporate NPLs will shoot up! Relaxing mark-to-market rules will not help.
Malaysia will have a huge immigration problem when these hardworking people are thrown out of work and have to compete with the swelling ranks of Malaysian unemployed..
In the meantime capital outflows will continue.
Let´s see whether the statement that Malaysia has more than enough reserves (since according to Bank Negara, we need only have US$30 to US$40 billion reserves) will provide sufficient confidence to foreign investors to continue to invest in Malaysia ..
You can call the above observations - rubbish, pessimism, gloom and doom etc. but that won´t change reality.
Pause and think. In my previous warnings and alerts, I have stated that by the latest - the 1st quarter of 2009, things will get ugly and scary!
If I am not right, why did the leaders of the just concluded G-20 summit in Washington , in their so-called "Action Plan" stipulated that their policies, remedies etc. must be implemented by the end of the 1st Quarter 2009?
My articles were all written BEFORE THE SUMMIT and obviously I have no control over the leaders of G-20.
So ask yourself -"Why Oh Why Must the First Action Plan Be Implemented by the First Quarter of 2009?
This is only the first tentative steps by the G-20 leaders and there is no guarantee that the measures will work. The original Bretton Woods initiatives took almost two years to be formalised and put to work. There is no magic wand to be wielded by the leaders for instant cure. It will be a long hard grind. In the meantime, more shits will hit the ceiling fan. That is a given!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Muhyiddin, make sure you mean what you say and please walk the talk, you are a better UMNO leader compared to some nincompoops
Umno plans to regain public confidence in two years
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
PUTAJAYA, July 23 — Umno has laid down a masterplan to regain public support in the next two years and will be organising a training and motivational programme to help strengthen the party‘s leadership next month.
Part deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the party is currently working on a detailed blueprint so that every level in the party leadership will be informed of their tasks and responsibilities.
“We want to see an impact in the near future, we have set a time frame of two years. If everything is executed well in the two years then we are confident of regaining the support of the people,” he said.
The programme will be held first for members of the supreme council before it is attended throughout the country by the party’s divisional and branch leaders.
“We are still waiting for Datuk Zahid on what programmes will be conducted in terms of the training module. I am confident this is an important first step in reforming the party,” he added.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, as the chairman of the training committee, will be in charge of determining the modules for the programme.
The deputy prime minister was attending a ministerial conference at Marriott Hotel in Putrajaya.
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
PUTAJAYA, July 23 — Umno has laid down a masterplan to regain public support in the next two years and will be organising a training and motivational programme to help strengthen the party‘s leadership next month.
Part deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the party is currently working on a detailed blueprint so that every level in the party leadership will be informed of their tasks and responsibilities.
“We want to see an impact in the near future, we have set a time frame of two years. If everything is executed well in the two years then we are confident of regaining the support of the people,” he said.
The programme will be held first for members of the supreme council before it is attended throughout the country by the party’s divisional and branch leaders.
“We are still waiting for Datuk Zahid on what programmes will be conducted in terms of the training module. I am confident this is an important first step in reforming the party,” he added.
Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, as the chairman of the training committee, will be in charge of determining the modules for the programme.
The deputy prime minister was attending a ministerial conference at Marriott Hotel in Putrajaya.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Matlamat menghalalkan cara -Falsafah Machiavellian
A crisis of credibility
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Let there be no misunderstanding about this. Politics is about the attainment of power, plain and simple. If anyone tells you otherwise, then he or she is either a bad politician (in that he or she does not understand politics) or a good politician (in that he or she is lying through his or her teeth).
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that lying is wrong. Okay, as far as religion and morals are concerned it is wrong. But lying, or what I would call ‘telling your version of the truth’, is very much part and parcel of the political game. A good politician, meaning Machiavellian politician, must master the art of ‘lying’, or spin doctoring (that is giving the masses your version of the truth).
But then you must know how to lie. ‘Zam’ is hopeless. He is such a novice that he trips over his own lies and digs a deeper hole than the one he is trying to cover up. President Clinton is however superb. He denied all along he told Monica to lie. When cornered, he said, it is true he did not tell her to lie. Okay, maybe he told her to bend a little, but never to lie (baring in Malay). Alright, maybe it did not quite happen like that. But then you must always have a fallback when your lies are discovered.
Anyway, back to the issue of the day. Firstly, politics is about the attainment of power. It is not as many politicians will tell you: to serve the people. But this is what politicians will tell you: “I want to serve the people”. Sure, that’s what they all say. And that is what I meant by ‘lying’. Secondly, politics is about perception. It is not what you are that is important. It is how people perceive you that counts (Of course, as far as religion and morality are concerned this is not honest. And that is why religious or moral people should not become politicians; because they have to mislead and fool the people with false perceptions).
You can be the biggest slime-ball, but if people perceive you as a saint, then that is all that matters. On the other hand, if you are a saint but people perceive you as a nut, then you would not go far in politics.
Anwar is perceived as an Islamic leader. In fact, until today, many non-Muslims still fear Anwar because of his fiery Islamic past. Many still refer to him as an ‘Islamic firebrand’. Whether this is true or not is not the issue. This is not important in politics. What is important is that he carries the image of an ‘Islamic leader’, and some view him as a radical Islamic leader.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Machiavellian. He recognised Anwar’s strong Islamic image and he knew that if Anwar had gone to PAS and eventually took over the leadership of the party, as the late Fadzil Nor had planned, this would be bad news for Umno. So he agreed, at Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s prodding, to allow Anwar into Umno.
Mahathir’s strategy was two-pronged. Firstly, he would deny PAS Anwar’s leadership. Next, he would assist Anwar to climb the Umno ladder, first as the Youth Leader and later as one of the Vice Presidents, so that he could use or ride on Anwar (‘kudakan Anwar’, as the Malays would say) for his own political gain. But by the time Anwar became the Deputy President -- again with Mahathir’s help who instructed Shahidan Kassim to lead a revolt of Umno Parliamentarians to pass an unofficial ‘vote of no confidence’ against Ghafar Baba in Parliament -- he became too big for his shoes. He thought that his meteoric rise up the Umno ladder was because of his ‘strength’ and he decided to pitch this strength against his ‘creator’. As they say, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. And Mahathir took back what he gave Anwar, his political career, and Anwar fell flat on his face.
For his ‘service’, Shahidan was rewarded with the appointment as the Perlis Menteri Besar and the takeover of the privatised Bernas, an extremely lucrative cash cow by virtue of the rice monopoly and rice import permits it holds (now you know why rice in Malaysia costs more than in Thailand).
No one had any reservations that Mahathir made Anwar. Anwar was not a self-made man as he visualised himself to be. Somehow, only Anwar did not seem to realise this. Or maybe he thought that that was all in the past and now he is already his own man -- like the Space Shuttle that scuttles its ‘mother ship’ and moves forward on its own steam once it reaches outer space. Mahathir gave one tug of the carpet below Anwar’s feet and that was the end of him. He never saw it coming. He never even felt it coming. It is like when a Samurai warrior’s sword lands on your neck. You can actually walk a few more steps before you fall down and die. You may have lost your head but your body takes a few seconds to realise you are dead before it plays the role of the deceased.
Everyone is clear what Mahathir is. Either you love him or you hate him. Either you perceive him as the most corrupted Prime Minister in Malaysian history or you perceive him as a giant amongst men who gave pride to this nation and placed Malaysia onto the world map. No longer is Malaysia ‘near Singapore’ or ‘south of Thailand’ like how one would have to explain where Malaysia is to the uninformed westerner in the days before Mahathir took over as Prime Minister. Whether for the right or wrong reasons, Mahathir made Malaysia famous.
But what is Anwar? Is he an Islamic firebrand? Is he a moderate Muslim? Is he a liberal ‘lover of the West’? Is he an educationist? Is he a capitalist? Is he the champion of farmers, fishermen and the homeless? Is he opposed to corruption, nepotism and cronyism? Is he the biggest benefactor of cronies and in his time many became filthy rich? Is he all the above? Or is he none of the above? Yes, which is the real Anwar? Will the real Anwar please stand up!
You can hate Mahathir or you can love him. One thing you are sure though, you know what he is. The problem with Anwar is; it is very difficult to decide whether to love him or hate him because you don’t really know what he is to be able to love him or hate him.
Anwar, for all intents and purposes, is suffering a crisis of credibility. He lacks credibility. In fact, he never did have any and he became popular and achieved great heights merely because he was Mahathir’s blue-eyed boy -- no different from the Khairy Jamaluddin situation today. Many do not actually love Khairy. But they know that he is the Prime Minister’s son-in-law and the most trusted adviser, so they all want to hang onto his coattails -- though they don’t like him.
Anwar has been released from prison almost 20 months now. But he is yet to make his move. And this is affecting his credibility. What in heaven’s name is holding him back? Simple! Money! You need money to play politics in Malaysia, or anywhere in the world for that matter. But money is something Anwar does not have yet. And the reason for this is because of the crisis of credibility that he and his party, Party Keadilan Rakyat, are suffering from.
It is not that they never had money in the beginning. They did. But the sources have all dried up. Generous donors who once used to give no longer want to do so. And this is because they no longer know whether the money is being put to good use and for the intended reason or whether the money ‘leaked’ along the way and has been ‘hijacked’.
This is not a new problem or something that cropped up only recently. It has been an inherent problem since the party was formed in 1999. Much money has flowed into the pockets of the party leaders. But it stayed in their pockets and never filtered down to the ground. In the meantime, those on the ground have had to sell off their assets to finance party activities. Some had to borrow from loan sharks (ah long) to finance the last election. Many went into debt and until today are still hocked up to the eyeballs. Some are facing bankruptcy. Some used up all their life savings and pension fund (EPF) and now have to face the remaining years of their life with no guarantee of how they are going to feed their families.
The horror stories are endless. Suffice to say, many sacrificed and suffered financial ruin because of their commitment to the cause and to ensure that the party moves forward.
As Hanafiah Man, one-time keADILan Youth executive secretary and chief editor of the party newspaper, said, “I don’t mind if we are all poor and suffering. But when we at the bottom suffer while those at the top live a life of luxury, then this hurts.”
Hanafiah and the acting youth leader (during the time Ezam Mohd Nor was in the Kajang Prison), Zahid Md Arip, took the party to task on this matter during the party’s annual general meeting in Sungai Petani. They took the floor to slam the leaders for not being sincere to those at the bottom who are struggling and sacrificing for the party. They pointed at the leaders assembled onstage and warned them that the party’s youth movement will not tolerate leaders who receive money in the name of the party but use it for personal purposes. If the money was collected in the name of the party and for party purposes, then the money should be filtered down to the ground to finance party activities.
Many donors were shocked when they learnt that the party was broke. Millions had been donated to the party, they said. How can the party be broke? The telephone bill went unpaid and the telephone line got cut numerous times. The water connection also got cut because of years of unpaid bills and for about two years those working in the party headquarters had to visit the public toilet in the car park to answer the call of nature. Suppliers’ bills were not paid and some even threatened to bankrupt the party if they did not receive their payments. No printers would take party jobs unless one of the leaders personally guaranteed the debt. Invariably, the guarantor would end up paying off the debt the party could not service.
Whenever the party president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was confronted with this and when it was pointed out that it is public knowledge that many had donated generous sums to the party, she replied that one must differentiate between ‘personal’ donations and party donations. No doubt some people had donated some money, but this was meant for the family and not for the party.
Eventually, Hanafiah, Zahid and ten other youth leaders got so exasperated they decided to resign from the party en bloc, as did the party information chief, Ruslan Kassim. Even publicly chiding the party leaders during the annual general assembly about the mismanagement of party funds did not seem to work. They wrote off the party entirely and called it a day. Of course, the official spin is that these are traitors who were bought over by Umno. But they -- and many others who shared their view but decided to still remain in the party nevertheless -- did not see it that way. If there was any betrayal, it was the party leaders who had betrayed the members in the way they mismanaged the money donated to the party.
One day, around August 2004, one of Anwar’s lawyers called me aside and asked me, “How much money has the Free Anwar Campaign (FAC) received from donors?” Not one cent, I replied. Okay, Wan Azizah did donate RM1,000 at the launch of the FAC in August 2000 and Anwar’s brother gave RM2,000 once in the five years that the FAC was in operation. Another supporter donated a notebook computer to replace the one that was confiscated by the police in March 2001. But that was about it.“
But there are those who claim to be directors of the FAC who have received a lot of donations from all over the world. Don’t tell me they did not give you anything.”
“With God as my witness, not a cent,” I replied.
“What the hell!” the lawyer said. “They are using FAC’s name to collect money. If they are not passing you any, then you might as well just close the FAC. Why let them use the FAC to make money?”
“I will close it the day Anwar walks free and not a day earlier,” I told the lawyer.
“What if Anwar remains in jail 15 years? Are you going to keep going for 15 years and allow these people to use you to make money?”
“I suppose so,” I replied.
“You are so stupid. People are using you. They are making money while you are suffering.”
I in fact already knew this even before the lawyer informed me about it. Earlier, one of the PAS leaders told me he met one of the FAC directors in the UK. He was with a Malaysian millionaire who now lives there -- a man who became a millionaire during the time Anwar was in power. The PAS leader mentioned the name of the FAC ‘director’ and the Malaysian millionaire, both whom I knew.
The so-called FAC ‘director’ is a member of Anwar’s inner circle and the man who runs Anwar’s propaganda unit plus his personal website, anwaribrahim.com.
“What were they talking about?” I asked the PAS leader without hinting that the FAC director was in no way representing FAC in that meeting with the Malaysian millionaire. “About some funding for FAC,” said the PAS leader. “That was what I managed to pick up as they did not speak openly in front of me.”
So I knew even before Anwar’s lawyer informed me about it that ‘certain people’ were collecting funds in the name of FAC. And I even knew who they and the donors were.
One day, I received a phone call from the United States asking me to confirm whether it is true that keADILan would need a lot of money to be able to win the next general election (which was held in 2004). “Of course,” I replied, quite surprised at this sudden question. “That goes without saying. But who told you this?” I asked the American chap at the other end of the line.
The American then informed me he just had a meeting with four keADILan party leaders to discuss funding for the party to face the next election. And he told me who the four were.
I was not upset about the party soliciting election funds. But the man who phoned me was a FAC contact, not a party contact (and I never asked for or received one cent from him in all the time I knew him). So clearly they were using the FAC network to collect funds for the party and I was being kept in the dark. But my FAC contact in the US would not consider any funding unless I confirmed that the four were legitimate and not fakes. I informed the American that the four are actually members of Anwar’s inner circle (not the one who met the Malaysian millionaire in the UK) and therefore extremely legitimate.
I knew only one man could have introduced these four to our US contact. And this would be my fellow FAC director in Australia. I immediately phoned Australia and asked the chap there whether he knew about the four party leaders who were now in the US to negotiate funding for the party. “Four?” he replied. “I know about the three. Who is the fourth?” I ran through the names of the four but did not question him any further on what was going on. From his reaction it was apparent that he was the one who had arranged the meeting.
These two incidences were those that were personally brought to my attention. There were of course many more such cases which were related to me through third party sources. And most know who these people are -- both donors and recipients -- but no one wants to rock the boat by talking about them. Those who know and could no longer tolerate the shenanigans quietly left the party without revealing the real reason for their resignations. And the party lost many of its leaders over the years from 1999 till recently when Datin Saidatul Badru Said Keruak also resigned.
At the last public rally (ceramah) Anwar addressed in Sungai Buloh recently, he lambasted those he said who expect money or payment before they would do any work. If you are not prepared to sacrifice but want to be paid before you will work, then we might as well all just go home and forget everything and allow the present government to rule till doomsday, argued Anwar.
Anwar just does not get it. It is not that people want to be paid before they will work for the party. They are quite prepared to struggle and sacrifice, even spend their own money for the good of the cause. What they do not want is to be made suckers. They hear about the money flowing into the party leaders’ pockets and remaining there. This is what they are fighting against, corruption. And then they find their own leaders no better than those they wish to replace. Why bother to replace them then? Might as well, as Anwar says, let them rule forever.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s future lies in it getting sufficient funding. As it stands now, that would be most difficult. Many who once gave now know that the money has been mismanaged and they no longer want to be suckers. This is the huge crisis of credibility that Anwar and his party are facing. How Anwar is going to overcome this is not known yet at this stage. Anwar is heading international agencies whose job is to ensure transparency and good governance. Charity, as they say, starts at home. Back at home, in Anwar’s own party, there is a need for transparency and good governance. How does one preach honesty when one’s own honesty is being questioned?
As what one of the party leaders said, Mao had his Gang of Four who brought about his downfall. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has his Gang of Four as well, also known as the Four-Ks (Khairy, Kamaluddin, Kalimullah and Kak Endon, now deceased), who may also bring about his downfall. And Anwar too has his own Gang of Four. And it is this Gang of Four which is causing much unhappiness and an exodus from the party. Anwar will have to choose between his Gang of Four and the future of the party. As it stands now, the Gang of Four seems to be Anwar’s favoured lot. And this could mean sayonara for Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
ARTIKEL KEDUA
Monday, July 03, 2006
Politics, politics, politics
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One of the previous Italian Ambassadors to Malaysia once said that Italian politics is very complex. I mean, just read Julius Caesar to understand what he means. It seems, according to the Ambassador, Italy has had 40 governments in almost as many years. That is how complex Italian politics is. Nevertheless, added the Ambassador, how complicating Italian politics may be, they still can’t beat Malaysia. Malaysian politics is even more complex. The Past-President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) told me once that Malay politics is very ‘matured’, not like Chinese politics. Chinese politics is ‘rough’, he explained, while Malay politics is very refined and polished.
I suppose both the Italian Ambassador and the MCA President are right. It is not easy to comprehend Malay politics as much as you may think you are able to read it correctly. What you see is not always what you get. But then maybe this is because the Chinese do Kungfu, which believes in a direct hit to the jugular with one strike to end the fight. Malay politics, however, is fashioned after Silat, which is plenty of dancing and circling before one moves in on the opponent. Even then, sometimes the strike never comes, especially if the Silat is done during a ceremony, which would be only ‘show Silat’.
One of my Chinese classmates from secondary school, Teh Yim Seng (don’t where he has disappeared to since), told me a joke back in 1966, the days before the race riots of May 1969 when ‘racial’ jokes were not yet considered ‘sensitive’.
“When you see one Chinaman,” said Yim Seng, “He would set up a business. When you see two Chinamen, they would set up an association. And when you see three Chinamen, they would set up a Mah Jong table and gamble.”
“When you see one Indian,” added Yim Seng, “He would drink. When you see two Indians, they would form a union. And when you see three Indians, they would fight.”
Then came Yim Seng’s punch-line: “When you see one Malay, he would play politics. When you see two Malays, they would play politics. And when you see three Malays, they would play politics.”
Yes, very racial indeed if you go by today’s standards. But in those days, whether you are Chinese, Indian or Malay, we would all roar with laughter at this very accurate reflection of Malaysian life 40 years ago. Hmm....come to think of it, has anything changed in 40 years?
Well, as my late mother was fond of saying, “Many a true word is said in jest.”
Malays need politics like a fish needs water. You can take the Malay out of the kampong, but you can’t take the kampong politics out of the Malay. If you want to kill the Malays it is very easy really; just ban politics and the Malays would wilt (layu) and die. Maybe that is why Malays are called Melayu (wilting).
During the early days of the Reformasi Movement in 1998, one of the chaps in our clandestine meeting that was plotting the demonstrations all over Kuala Lumpur said that since he and his wife got involved in Reformasi they have been having a better sex life. It seems they had become hornier. Well, who says one cannot get an orgasm through politics?
Yes, politics can act as an aphrodisiac. So those who face ‘problems’ should get involved in politics, in particular in movements out to topple the government, and become a stud again.
Okay, without revealing too much about my own sex life, can all those who are puzzled as to why I am so passionate about opposing the powers-that-be now understand what drives me? What? You thought it was all about human rights, free speech, justice, and all that crap? Well, that too I suppose. Anyway, I think I had better change the subject before I get a PG18 rating.
The expected happened. As soon as word broke that Malaysia Today was hosting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a dialogue, and even before the dialogue proper could happen, I received many phone calls from all and sundry. Many of these callers had either not phoned me in a long time or had never phoned me in my entire life. All of a sudden my phone would not stop ringing.
The Top Ten questions these callers asked were:
Who is paying for the event?
Who is sponsoring Malaysia Today?
Where do we get our money from?
Has Mahathir ‘bought’ me?
Why am I doing this?
Did they ‘turn me over’ during my ISA detention of 2001?
Do I now believe Anwar is guilty of sodomy?
Am I sulking (merajuk) because Anwar does not care about me anymore?
Is this a gimmick to promote Malaysia Today?
Is Mahathir using Malaysia Today or is Malaysia Today using Mahathir?
Notice that the top four questions all relate to money? These are the most ‘popular’ questions. The insinuation is: we must be doing this only because we are being paid a lot of money to do it.
How insulting. And I just fly off the handle when insulted. If there is one thing I cannot tolerate and will not compromise on is insolence. My wife can testify to the fact that I go berserk when confronted with biadap (insolent) individuals. I don’t know why, but somehow I can take most things in my stride, even solitary confinement. However, when someone is insolent towards me, I tend to retaliate with a most pompous and indignant stance. Okay, be warned, I did not start this, they did, and I am not about to let them off lightly -- even at the risk of being accused of being overly emotional.
I wonder why no one asked me these questions, or at least the ‘top four’ questions, back in 2000 when I launched and headed the Free Anwar Campaign (FAC). FAC was my fulltime job and I travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia, plus to the United States, in my campaign to spread the word. But no one was concerned then about where I got my money from, how I financed the FAC, or whether, since I had no income-generating job, I was able to feed my family.
I eventually had to send some of my kids to the UK because I could no longer afford to support them. Since I was born in the UK and therefore had Right of Abode to the UK for the next two generations, my kids could work in the UK plus get free education. Without Right of Abode they would not be allowed to work and it would cost them about RM100,000 a year each to enter university, living expenses included. And I have five kids mind you. Now, not only could they work in the UK and get to go to school free, but they can also enjoy benefits and receive all sorts of financial aid from the UK government.
It broke my wife’s heart to have to part with her kids but she realised it was for the better. Being ‘unemployed’ (since as the Director of the FAC I earned no salary), there was no way we could support them and send them to university. And it would be five years before I could get my hands on my EPF savings. Even then, my meagre EPF savings would only last a year if I used it to finance my kids’ education. As it is, according to the EPF, most retirees finish their savings within three years after they retire if they depend solely on their savings to finance their retirement. Your EPF savings is just not enough to last till you die if you live another ten or twenty years after you retire. But if I die before I reach 60, then the problem would solve itself, though that would mean I die broke and would leave nothing for my wife to continue her life with if she outlives me a few more years.
Anyway, that is my problem and no one else’s. But no one asked me all these questions then. It was of no concern to anyone whether my unemployed status and my fulltime non-income generating job as the Director of the FAC was a financial burden on me. In spite of that, I stayed on until the last day, 2 September 2004, when Anwar was finally released and saw freedom. Only then did I ‘officially’ relinquish my post as the Director of the FAC. And I never sent Anwar Ibrahim or his family a bill for the many years work I did. Even if I just calculate the ‘lost’ salary on the job my wife and I resigned from so that I can head the FAC fulltime, which was RM7,500 per month, Anwar owes me RM450,000. And I am not including the other expenses, such as travelling all over Malaysia, or else the bill would easily come to RM600,000.
When Anwar was finally released, and therefore my job as the Director of the FAC came to an end, no one from Anwar’s family phoned me to say thank you. Well, to be fair, Anwar did shake my hand at 5.30pm on 4 September 2004 and he did say thank you. His brother-in-law, Pak Lang, also told me that the FAC has done a great service to Anwar and he attributes Anwar’s release to the efforts of the FAC. I told him that even if the FAC did contribute in any way it was a small contribution and not the only contributor. Many other factors must also be taken into consideration such as Anwar would never have seen freedom if Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not wish for it to happen.
I promised my wife I would never bring this matter up as it goes against Malay culture to do so. We did this not for the money, argued my wife, but to see justice done. Yes, I agree, and I promised her the matter rests and we would never raise it ever. But now I have to break that promise to my wife. I toiled for years with no salary and without grumbling about it. But I host Mahathir to just ONE event and they raise the issue of money, suspect that I have been paid by Mahathir, ask who is financing me, and much more, right down to the allegation that I have been bought off, sold out, ‘turned’, etc.
Okay, if they want to talk about money, then let’s talk about money. And I now ask them: who paid me or financed me when I headed the FAC all those years?
Actually, that was supposed to have been the first and only event Malaysia Today organises for Mahathir. However, seeing that it has attracted so much controversy, I think I will organise a few more just to rub it in to the critics that I do what I want and no one is going to tell me what I can and cannot do. Hey, I am a loose cannon aren’t I and loose cannons are supposed to be like this are they not? And loose cannons just love a good fight and presently it appears like Mahathir is the only one giving the government a run for its money. The opposition, Anwar included, seems to have gone to sleep.
Do my comments sound too harsh? Hey, this column is called No Holds Barred and no holds barred must sound harsh. If not it will not be no holds barred.
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Let there be no misunderstanding about this. Politics is about the attainment of power, plain and simple. If anyone tells you otherwise, then he or she is either a bad politician (in that he or she does not understand politics) or a good politician (in that he or she is lying through his or her teeth).
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that lying is wrong. Okay, as far as religion and morals are concerned it is wrong. But lying, or what I would call ‘telling your version of the truth’, is very much part and parcel of the political game. A good politician, meaning Machiavellian politician, must master the art of ‘lying’, or spin doctoring (that is giving the masses your version of the truth).
But then you must know how to lie. ‘Zam’ is hopeless. He is such a novice that he trips over his own lies and digs a deeper hole than the one he is trying to cover up. President Clinton is however superb. He denied all along he told Monica to lie. When cornered, he said, it is true he did not tell her to lie. Okay, maybe he told her to bend a little, but never to lie (baring in Malay). Alright, maybe it did not quite happen like that. But then you must always have a fallback when your lies are discovered.
Anyway, back to the issue of the day. Firstly, politics is about the attainment of power. It is not as many politicians will tell you: to serve the people. But this is what politicians will tell you: “I want to serve the people”. Sure, that’s what they all say. And that is what I meant by ‘lying’. Secondly, politics is about perception. It is not what you are that is important. It is how people perceive you that counts (Of course, as far as religion and morality are concerned this is not honest. And that is why religious or moral people should not become politicians; because they have to mislead and fool the people with false perceptions).
You can be the biggest slime-ball, but if people perceive you as a saint, then that is all that matters. On the other hand, if you are a saint but people perceive you as a nut, then you would not go far in politics.
Anwar is perceived as an Islamic leader. In fact, until today, many non-Muslims still fear Anwar because of his fiery Islamic past. Many still refer to him as an ‘Islamic firebrand’. Whether this is true or not is not the issue. This is not important in politics. What is important is that he carries the image of an ‘Islamic leader’, and some view him as a radical Islamic leader.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Machiavellian. He recognised Anwar’s strong Islamic image and he knew that if Anwar had gone to PAS and eventually took over the leadership of the party, as the late Fadzil Nor had planned, this would be bad news for Umno. So he agreed, at Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s prodding, to allow Anwar into Umno.
Mahathir’s strategy was two-pronged. Firstly, he would deny PAS Anwar’s leadership. Next, he would assist Anwar to climb the Umno ladder, first as the Youth Leader and later as one of the Vice Presidents, so that he could use or ride on Anwar (‘kudakan Anwar’, as the Malays would say) for his own political gain. But by the time Anwar became the Deputy President -- again with Mahathir’s help who instructed Shahidan Kassim to lead a revolt of Umno Parliamentarians to pass an unofficial ‘vote of no confidence’ against Ghafar Baba in Parliament -- he became too big for his shoes. He thought that his meteoric rise up the Umno ladder was because of his ‘strength’ and he decided to pitch this strength against his ‘creator’. As they say, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. And Mahathir took back what he gave Anwar, his political career, and Anwar fell flat on his face.
For his ‘service’, Shahidan was rewarded with the appointment as the Perlis Menteri Besar and the takeover of the privatised Bernas, an extremely lucrative cash cow by virtue of the rice monopoly and rice import permits it holds (now you know why rice in Malaysia costs more than in Thailand).
No one had any reservations that Mahathir made Anwar. Anwar was not a self-made man as he visualised himself to be. Somehow, only Anwar did not seem to realise this. Or maybe he thought that that was all in the past and now he is already his own man -- like the Space Shuttle that scuttles its ‘mother ship’ and moves forward on its own steam once it reaches outer space. Mahathir gave one tug of the carpet below Anwar’s feet and that was the end of him. He never saw it coming. He never even felt it coming. It is like when a Samurai warrior’s sword lands on your neck. You can actually walk a few more steps before you fall down and die. You may have lost your head but your body takes a few seconds to realise you are dead before it plays the role of the deceased.
Everyone is clear what Mahathir is. Either you love him or you hate him. Either you perceive him as the most corrupted Prime Minister in Malaysian history or you perceive him as a giant amongst men who gave pride to this nation and placed Malaysia onto the world map. No longer is Malaysia ‘near Singapore’ or ‘south of Thailand’ like how one would have to explain where Malaysia is to the uninformed westerner in the days before Mahathir took over as Prime Minister. Whether for the right or wrong reasons, Mahathir made Malaysia famous.
But what is Anwar? Is he an Islamic firebrand? Is he a moderate Muslim? Is he a liberal ‘lover of the West’? Is he an educationist? Is he a capitalist? Is he the champion of farmers, fishermen and the homeless? Is he opposed to corruption, nepotism and cronyism? Is he the biggest benefactor of cronies and in his time many became filthy rich? Is he all the above? Or is he none of the above? Yes, which is the real Anwar? Will the real Anwar please stand up!
You can hate Mahathir or you can love him. One thing you are sure though, you know what he is. The problem with Anwar is; it is very difficult to decide whether to love him or hate him because you don’t really know what he is to be able to love him or hate him.
Anwar, for all intents and purposes, is suffering a crisis of credibility. He lacks credibility. In fact, he never did have any and he became popular and achieved great heights merely because he was Mahathir’s blue-eyed boy -- no different from the Khairy Jamaluddin situation today. Many do not actually love Khairy. But they know that he is the Prime Minister’s son-in-law and the most trusted adviser, so they all want to hang onto his coattails -- though they don’t like him.
Anwar has been released from prison almost 20 months now. But he is yet to make his move. And this is affecting his credibility. What in heaven’s name is holding him back? Simple! Money! You need money to play politics in Malaysia, or anywhere in the world for that matter. But money is something Anwar does not have yet. And the reason for this is because of the crisis of credibility that he and his party, Party Keadilan Rakyat, are suffering from.
It is not that they never had money in the beginning. They did. But the sources have all dried up. Generous donors who once used to give no longer want to do so. And this is because they no longer know whether the money is being put to good use and for the intended reason or whether the money ‘leaked’ along the way and has been ‘hijacked’.
This is not a new problem or something that cropped up only recently. It has been an inherent problem since the party was formed in 1999. Much money has flowed into the pockets of the party leaders. But it stayed in their pockets and never filtered down to the ground. In the meantime, those on the ground have had to sell off their assets to finance party activities. Some had to borrow from loan sharks (ah long) to finance the last election. Many went into debt and until today are still hocked up to the eyeballs. Some are facing bankruptcy. Some used up all their life savings and pension fund (EPF) and now have to face the remaining years of their life with no guarantee of how they are going to feed their families.
The horror stories are endless. Suffice to say, many sacrificed and suffered financial ruin because of their commitment to the cause and to ensure that the party moves forward.
As Hanafiah Man, one-time keADILan Youth executive secretary and chief editor of the party newspaper, said, “I don’t mind if we are all poor and suffering. But when we at the bottom suffer while those at the top live a life of luxury, then this hurts.”
Hanafiah and the acting youth leader (during the time Ezam Mohd Nor was in the Kajang Prison), Zahid Md Arip, took the party to task on this matter during the party’s annual general meeting in Sungai Petani. They took the floor to slam the leaders for not being sincere to those at the bottom who are struggling and sacrificing for the party. They pointed at the leaders assembled onstage and warned them that the party’s youth movement will not tolerate leaders who receive money in the name of the party but use it for personal purposes. If the money was collected in the name of the party and for party purposes, then the money should be filtered down to the ground to finance party activities.
Many donors were shocked when they learnt that the party was broke. Millions had been donated to the party, they said. How can the party be broke? The telephone bill went unpaid and the telephone line got cut numerous times. The water connection also got cut because of years of unpaid bills and for about two years those working in the party headquarters had to visit the public toilet in the car park to answer the call of nature. Suppliers’ bills were not paid and some even threatened to bankrupt the party if they did not receive their payments. No printers would take party jobs unless one of the leaders personally guaranteed the debt. Invariably, the guarantor would end up paying off the debt the party could not service.
Whenever the party president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was confronted with this and when it was pointed out that it is public knowledge that many had donated generous sums to the party, she replied that one must differentiate between ‘personal’ donations and party donations. No doubt some people had donated some money, but this was meant for the family and not for the party.
Eventually, Hanafiah, Zahid and ten other youth leaders got so exasperated they decided to resign from the party en bloc, as did the party information chief, Ruslan Kassim. Even publicly chiding the party leaders during the annual general assembly about the mismanagement of party funds did not seem to work. They wrote off the party entirely and called it a day. Of course, the official spin is that these are traitors who were bought over by Umno. But they -- and many others who shared their view but decided to still remain in the party nevertheless -- did not see it that way. If there was any betrayal, it was the party leaders who had betrayed the members in the way they mismanaged the money donated to the party.
One day, around August 2004, one of Anwar’s lawyers called me aside and asked me, “How much money has the Free Anwar Campaign (FAC) received from donors?” Not one cent, I replied. Okay, Wan Azizah did donate RM1,000 at the launch of the FAC in August 2000 and Anwar’s brother gave RM2,000 once in the five years that the FAC was in operation. Another supporter donated a notebook computer to replace the one that was confiscated by the police in March 2001. But that was about it.“
But there are those who claim to be directors of the FAC who have received a lot of donations from all over the world. Don’t tell me they did not give you anything.”
“With God as my witness, not a cent,” I replied.
“What the hell!” the lawyer said. “They are using FAC’s name to collect money. If they are not passing you any, then you might as well just close the FAC. Why let them use the FAC to make money?”
“I will close it the day Anwar walks free and not a day earlier,” I told the lawyer.
“What if Anwar remains in jail 15 years? Are you going to keep going for 15 years and allow these people to use you to make money?”
“I suppose so,” I replied.
“You are so stupid. People are using you. They are making money while you are suffering.”
I in fact already knew this even before the lawyer informed me about it. Earlier, one of the PAS leaders told me he met one of the FAC directors in the UK. He was with a Malaysian millionaire who now lives there -- a man who became a millionaire during the time Anwar was in power. The PAS leader mentioned the name of the FAC ‘director’ and the Malaysian millionaire, both whom I knew.
The so-called FAC ‘director’ is a member of Anwar’s inner circle and the man who runs Anwar’s propaganda unit plus his personal website, anwaribrahim.com.
“What were they talking about?” I asked the PAS leader without hinting that the FAC director was in no way representing FAC in that meeting with the Malaysian millionaire. “About some funding for FAC,” said the PAS leader. “That was what I managed to pick up as they did not speak openly in front of me.”
So I knew even before Anwar’s lawyer informed me about it that ‘certain people’ were collecting funds in the name of FAC. And I even knew who they and the donors were.
One day, I received a phone call from the United States asking me to confirm whether it is true that keADILan would need a lot of money to be able to win the next general election (which was held in 2004). “Of course,” I replied, quite surprised at this sudden question. “That goes without saying. But who told you this?” I asked the American chap at the other end of the line.
The American then informed me he just had a meeting with four keADILan party leaders to discuss funding for the party to face the next election. And he told me who the four were.
I was not upset about the party soliciting election funds. But the man who phoned me was a FAC contact, not a party contact (and I never asked for or received one cent from him in all the time I knew him). So clearly they were using the FAC network to collect funds for the party and I was being kept in the dark. But my FAC contact in the US would not consider any funding unless I confirmed that the four were legitimate and not fakes. I informed the American that the four are actually members of Anwar’s inner circle (not the one who met the Malaysian millionaire in the UK) and therefore extremely legitimate.
I knew only one man could have introduced these four to our US contact. And this would be my fellow FAC director in Australia. I immediately phoned Australia and asked the chap there whether he knew about the four party leaders who were now in the US to negotiate funding for the party. “Four?” he replied. “I know about the three. Who is the fourth?” I ran through the names of the four but did not question him any further on what was going on. From his reaction it was apparent that he was the one who had arranged the meeting.
These two incidences were those that were personally brought to my attention. There were of course many more such cases which were related to me through third party sources. And most know who these people are -- both donors and recipients -- but no one wants to rock the boat by talking about them. Those who know and could no longer tolerate the shenanigans quietly left the party without revealing the real reason for their resignations. And the party lost many of its leaders over the years from 1999 till recently when Datin Saidatul Badru Said Keruak also resigned.
At the last public rally (ceramah) Anwar addressed in Sungai Buloh recently, he lambasted those he said who expect money or payment before they would do any work. If you are not prepared to sacrifice but want to be paid before you will work, then we might as well all just go home and forget everything and allow the present government to rule till doomsday, argued Anwar.
Anwar just does not get it. It is not that people want to be paid before they will work for the party. They are quite prepared to struggle and sacrifice, even spend their own money for the good of the cause. What they do not want is to be made suckers. They hear about the money flowing into the party leaders’ pockets and remaining there. This is what they are fighting against, corruption. And then they find their own leaders no better than those they wish to replace. Why bother to replace them then? Might as well, as Anwar says, let them rule forever.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s future lies in it getting sufficient funding. As it stands now, that would be most difficult. Many who once gave now know that the money has been mismanaged and they no longer want to be suckers. This is the huge crisis of credibility that Anwar and his party are facing. How Anwar is going to overcome this is not known yet at this stage. Anwar is heading international agencies whose job is to ensure transparency and good governance. Charity, as they say, starts at home. Back at home, in Anwar’s own party, there is a need for transparency and good governance. How does one preach honesty when one’s own honesty is being questioned?
As what one of the party leaders said, Mao had his Gang of Four who brought about his downfall. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has his Gang of Four as well, also known as the Four-Ks (Khairy, Kamaluddin, Kalimullah and Kak Endon, now deceased), who may also bring about his downfall. And Anwar too has his own Gang of Four. And it is this Gang of Four which is causing much unhappiness and an exodus from the party. Anwar will have to choose between his Gang of Four and the future of the party. As it stands now, the Gang of Four seems to be Anwar’s favoured lot. And this could mean sayonara for Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
ARTIKEL KEDUA
Monday, July 03, 2006
Politics, politics, politics
Raja Petra Kamarudin
One of the previous Italian Ambassadors to Malaysia once said that Italian politics is very complex. I mean, just read Julius Caesar to understand what he means. It seems, according to the Ambassador, Italy has had 40 governments in almost as many years. That is how complex Italian politics is. Nevertheless, added the Ambassador, how complicating Italian politics may be, they still can’t beat Malaysia. Malaysian politics is even more complex. The Past-President of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) told me once that Malay politics is very ‘matured’, not like Chinese politics. Chinese politics is ‘rough’, he explained, while Malay politics is very refined and polished.
I suppose both the Italian Ambassador and the MCA President are right. It is not easy to comprehend Malay politics as much as you may think you are able to read it correctly. What you see is not always what you get. But then maybe this is because the Chinese do Kungfu, which believes in a direct hit to the jugular with one strike to end the fight. Malay politics, however, is fashioned after Silat, which is plenty of dancing and circling before one moves in on the opponent. Even then, sometimes the strike never comes, especially if the Silat is done during a ceremony, which would be only ‘show Silat’.
One of my Chinese classmates from secondary school, Teh Yim Seng (don’t where he has disappeared to since), told me a joke back in 1966, the days before the race riots of May 1969 when ‘racial’ jokes were not yet considered ‘sensitive’.
“When you see one Chinaman,” said Yim Seng, “He would set up a business. When you see two Chinamen, they would set up an association. And when you see three Chinamen, they would set up a Mah Jong table and gamble.”
“When you see one Indian,” added Yim Seng, “He would drink. When you see two Indians, they would form a union. And when you see three Indians, they would fight.”
Then came Yim Seng’s punch-line: “When you see one Malay, he would play politics. When you see two Malays, they would play politics. And when you see three Malays, they would play politics.”
Yes, very racial indeed if you go by today’s standards. But in those days, whether you are Chinese, Indian or Malay, we would all roar with laughter at this very accurate reflection of Malaysian life 40 years ago. Hmm....come to think of it, has anything changed in 40 years?
Well, as my late mother was fond of saying, “Many a true word is said in jest.”
Malays need politics like a fish needs water. You can take the Malay out of the kampong, but you can’t take the kampong politics out of the Malay. If you want to kill the Malays it is very easy really; just ban politics and the Malays would wilt (layu) and die. Maybe that is why Malays are called Melayu (wilting).
During the early days of the Reformasi Movement in 1998, one of the chaps in our clandestine meeting that was plotting the demonstrations all over Kuala Lumpur said that since he and his wife got involved in Reformasi they have been having a better sex life. It seems they had become hornier. Well, who says one cannot get an orgasm through politics?
Yes, politics can act as an aphrodisiac. So those who face ‘problems’ should get involved in politics, in particular in movements out to topple the government, and become a stud again.
Okay, without revealing too much about my own sex life, can all those who are puzzled as to why I am so passionate about opposing the powers-that-be now understand what drives me? What? You thought it was all about human rights, free speech, justice, and all that crap? Well, that too I suppose. Anyway, I think I had better change the subject before I get a PG18 rating.
The expected happened. As soon as word broke that Malaysia Today was hosting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a dialogue, and even before the dialogue proper could happen, I received many phone calls from all and sundry. Many of these callers had either not phoned me in a long time or had never phoned me in my entire life. All of a sudden my phone would not stop ringing.
The Top Ten questions these callers asked were:
Who is paying for the event?
Who is sponsoring Malaysia Today?
Where do we get our money from?
Has Mahathir ‘bought’ me?
Why am I doing this?
Did they ‘turn me over’ during my ISA detention of 2001?
Do I now believe Anwar is guilty of sodomy?
Am I sulking (merajuk) because Anwar does not care about me anymore?
Is this a gimmick to promote Malaysia Today?
Is Mahathir using Malaysia Today or is Malaysia Today using Mahathir?
Notice that the top four questions all relate to money? These are the most ‘popular’ questions. The insinuation is: we must be doing this only because we are being paid a lot of money to do it.
How insulting. And I just fly off the handle when insulted. If there is one thing I cannot tolerate and will not compromise on is insolence. My wife can testify to the fact that I go berserk when confronted with biadap (insolent) individuals. I don’t know why, but somehow I can take most things in my stride, even solitary confinement. However, when someone is insolent towards me, I tend to retaliate with a most pompous and indignant stance. Okay, be warned, I did not start this, they did, and I am not about to let them off lightly -- even at the risk of being accused of being overly emotional.
I wonder why no one asked me these questions, or at least the ‘top four’ questions, back in 2000 when I launched and headed the Free Anwar Campaign (FAC). FAC was my fulltime job and I travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia, plus to the United States, in my campaign to spread the word. But no one was concerned then about where I got my money from, how I financed the FAC, or whether, since I had no income-generating job, I was able to feed my family.
I eventually had to send some of my kids to the UK because I could no longer afford to support them. Since I was born in the UK and therefore had Right of Abode to the UK for the next two generations, my kids could work in the UK plus get free education. Without Right of Abode they would not be allowed to work and it would cost them about RM100,000 a year each to enter university, living expenses included. And I have five kids mind you. Now, not only could they work in the UK and get to go to school free, but they can also enjoy benefits and receive all sorts of financial aid from the UK government.
It broke my wife’s heart to have to part with her kids but she realised it was for the better. Being ‘unemployed’ (since as the Director of the FAC I earned no salary), there was no way we could support them and send them to university. And it would be five years before I could get my hands on my EPF savings. Even then, my meagre EPF savings would only last a year if I used it to finance my kids’ education. As it is, according to the EPF, most retirees finish their savings within three years after they retire if they depend solely on their savings to finance their retirement. Your EPF savings is just not enough to last till you die if you live another ten or twenty years after you retire. But if I die before I reach 60, then the problem would solve itself, though that would mean I die broke and would leave nothing for my wife to continue her life with if she outlives me a few more years.
Anyway, that is my problem and no one else’s. But no one asked me all these questions then. It was of no concern to anyone whether my unemployed status and my fulltime non-income generating job as the Director of the FAC was a financial burden on me. In spite of that, I stayed on until the last day, 2 September 2004, when Anwar was finally released and saw freedom. Only then did I ‘officially’ relinquish my post as the Director of the FAC. And I never sent Anwar Ibrahim or his family a bill for the many years work I did. Even if I just calculate the ‘lost’ salary on the job my wife and I resigned from so that I can head the FAC fulltime, which was RM7,500 per month, Anwar owes me RM450,000. And I am not including the other expenses, such as travelling all over Malaysia, or else the bill would easily come to RM600,000.
When Anwar was finally released, and therefore my job as the Director of the FAC came to an end, no one from Anwar’s family phoned me to say thank you. Well, to be fair, Anwar did shake my hand at 5.30pm on 4 September 2004 and he did say thank you. His brother-in-law, Pak Lang, also told me that the FAC has done a great service to Anwar and he attributes Anwar’s release to the efforts of the FAC. I told him that even if the FAC did contribute in any way it was a small contribution and not the only contributor. Many other factors must also be taken into consideration such as Anwar would never have seen freedom if Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not wish for it to happen.
I promised my wife I would never bring this matter up as it goes against Malay culture to do so. We did this not for the money, argued my wife, but to see justice done. Yes, I agree, and I promised her the matter rests and we would never raise it ever. But now I have to break that promise to my wife. I toiled for years with no salary and without grumbling about it. But I host Mahathir to just ONE event and they raise the issue of money, suspect that I have been paid by Mahathir, ask who is financing me, and much more, right down to the allegation that I have been bought off, sold out, ‘turned’, etc.
Okay, if they want to talk about money, then let’s talk about money. And I now ask them: who paid me or financed me when I headed the FAC all those years?
Actually, that was supposed to have been the first and only event Malaysia Today organises for Mahathir. However, seeing that it has attracted so much controversy, I think I will organise a few more just to rub it in to the critics that I do what I want and no one is going to tell me what I can and cannot do. Hey, I am a loose cannon aren’t I and loose cannons are supposed to be like this are they not? And loose cannons just love a good fight and presently it appears like Mahathir is the only one giving the government a run for its money. The opposition, Anwar included, seems to have gone to sleep.
Do my comments sound too harsh? Hey, this column is called No Holds Barred and no holds barred must sound harsh. If not it will not be no holds barred.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Dr M has shown to be of much quality be it in the government or 'opposition'
Dear Tun
Dear Tun M,
I hope that this open letter reaches you in the pink of health.
(I am writing this letter in a casual manner and I hope that you will excuse my ignorance of protocols here).
I have always, among my friends and relatives, openly declare that I am a ‘Tun supporter’. I may be but two fifth your age but I pride myself with the knowledge of your personal development from Lorong Kilang Ais to The Mines Resort. As an urban resident, without you Tun, there will not be the luxury and comfort that we are able to enjoy today. But many shallow Malaysians take this for granted.
Many do not agree with your actions and policies implemented during your tenure as our Prime Minister. They are wrong. They are ignorant. There are merits in your every policies. What the general public does not understand is that to move the country forward, there will have to be sacrifices.
I do not fault you for implementing policies that benefit the Malays. Anyone who calls you a racist is a nincompoop. They only need to look at your circle of friends and confidantes to know the truth. To carry the nation forward, the Malays being the largest population of our nation has to be made the catalysts. And hence your policies to improve the Malays financially, economically and socially. Fine by me.
But I know, and you know, that regardless of how noble your plans and policies are, they did not work. And this isn’t going to change. Instead, a group of monstrous, greedy and corrupted Malay elitists have been created. The true Malays, the general Malays, are falling further and further behind by the day.
The Malaysian Chinese will never be affected by whatever policies the government of the day implements - they are excellent survivors. And oh how you envy them.
The Indians have been poor and will continue to be poor. And so are the non-Malay bumiputeras.
Tun, it is now time to re-evaluate your Grand Plan.
UMNO is now an incurable disease. I know that you know that. And I know that you know that you are helpless in trying to rectify the situation. UMNO will not change from within - not with its spread of long evil tentacles springing from the top echelon down to the warlords and little ketua-ketua at the so-called grassroot level. Is there really such a thing as the ‘grassroot supporters’ of UMNO today anyway?
UMNO is killing the Malays. And along with that the rest of Malaysians. To help the Malays and all Malaysians, UMNO will now have to be the sacrifice.
Malaysia is now a failed state.
The people no longer trust the BN Government.
The people no longer trust the Police Force.
The people no longer trust this… apa nama… MACC.
Hope is a key component of life. Security or the very sense of it is a key component of life. I shudder to think what Malaysians who have lost these two elements of life are capable of doing. I was at the Kelana Jaya Stadium yesterday for the Justice for Teoh Beng Hock Solidarity Gathering. I am afraid that UMNO has awaken the ‘don’t get involved’ Chinese. I hope I am wrong for the Chinese have numbers. And the Chinese have the money to get much to be mobilised. And if that is true, then a perfect storm is brewing.
To top that, Malaysians know that the general election is not fair. Let’s add ‘The people no longer trust the Elections Commission’. UMNO via BN will continue to rule Malaysia because our elections are not fair. I hope Malaysia as a nation can survive until the next general elections. I fear that desperate Malaysians will do a Bangkok? I fear that Malaysia will end up being a Pakistan. A Bangladesh. A Myanmar. But if this does happen, can you really fault these fellow Malaysians?
Tun, you can help us red blooded Malaysians make a difference. Please help us return the country to us.
Will you help us topple UMNO, please?
Will you help us establish a two party system in Malaysia, please?
There is no need for you to be a part of Pakatan Rakyat. That will be quite a challenge. You will have your ways should you choose to.
The fall of UMNO today will not be the end of UMNO. It will be the beginning of a new UMNO. A real UMNO baru. One which you vision. And with that, we will put UMNO back in government again.
But Tun, we need you on the side of the rakyat now. You will make the difference. And that will be your ultimate legacy to Malaysia.
Warm regards,
Simon Templar of Salt, Pepper ANd a little Kicap
Dear Tun M,
I hope that this open letter reaches you in the pink of health.
(I am writing this letter in a casual manner and I hope that you will excuse my ignorance of protocols here).
I have always, among my friends and relatives, openly declare that I am a ‘Tun supporter’. I may be but two fifth your age but I pride myself with the knowledge of your personal development from Lorong Kilang Ais to The Mines Resort. As an urban resident, without you Tun, there will not be the luxury and comfort that we are able to enjoy today. But many shallow Malaysians take this for granted.
Many do not agree with your actions and policies implemented during your tenure as our Prime Minister. They are wrong. They are ignorant. There are merits in your every policies. What the general public does not understand is that to move the country forward, there will have to be sacrifices.
I do not fault you for implementing policies that benefit the Malays. Anyone who calls you a racist is a nincompoop. They only need to look at your circle of friends and confidantes to know the truth. To carry the nation forward, the Malays being the largest population of our nation has to be made the catalysts. And hence your policies to improve the Malays financially, economically and socially. Fine by me.
But I know, and you know, that regardless of how noble your plans and policies are, they did not work. And this isn’t going to change. Instead, a group of monstrous, greedy and corrupted Malay elitists have been created. The true Malays, the general Malays, are falling further and further behind by the day.
The Malaysian Chinese will never be affected by whatever policies the government of the day implements - they are excellent survivors. And oh how you envy them.
The Indians have been poor and will continue to be poor. And so are the non-Malay bumiputeras.
Tun, it is now time to re-evaluate your Grand Plan.
UMNO is now an incurable disease. I know that you know that. And I know that you know that you are helpless in trying to rectify the situation. UMNO will not change from within - not with its spread of long evil tentacles springing from the top echelon down to the warlords and little ketua-ketua at the so-called grassroot level. Is there really such a thing as the ‘grassroot supporters’ of UMNO today anyway?
UMNO is killing the Malays. And along with that the rest of Malaysians. To help the Malays and all Malaysians, UMNO will now have to be the sacrifice.
Malaysia is now a failed state.
The people no longer trust the BN Government.
The people no longer trust the Police Force.
The people no longer trust this… apa nama… MACC.
Hope is a key component of life. Security or the very sense of it is a key component of life. I shudder to think what Malaysians who have lost these two elements of life are capable of doing. I was at the Kelana Jaya Stadium yesterday for the Justice for Teoh Beng Hock Solidarity Gathering. I am afraid that UMNO has awaken the ‘don’t get involved’ Chinese. I hope I am wrong for the Chinese have numbers. And the Chinese have the money to get much to be mobilised. And if that is true, then a perfect storm is brewing.
To top that, Malaysians know that the general election is not fair. Let’s add ‘The people no longer trust the Elections Commission’. UMNO via BN will continue to rule Malaysia because our elections are not fair. I hope Malaysia as a nation can survive until the next general elections. I fear that desperate Malaysians will do a Bangkok? I fear that Malaysia will end up being a Pakistan. A Bangladesh. A Myanmar. But if this does happen, can you really fault these fellow Malaysians?
Tun, you can help us red blooded Malaysians make a difference. Please help us return the country to us.
Will you help us topple UMNO, please?
Will you help us establish a two party system in Malaysia, please?
There is no need for you to be a part of Pakatan Rakyat. That will be quite a challenge. You will have your ways should you choose to.
The fall of UMNO today will not be the end of UMNO. It will be the beginning of a new UMNO. A real UMNO baru. One which you vision. And with that, we will put UMNO back in government again.
But Tun, we need you on the side of the rakyat now. You will make the difference. And that will be your ultimate legacy to Malaysia.
Warm regards,
Simon Templar of Salt, Pepper ANd a little Kicap
Sunday, July 19, 2009
An Appeal to Free Gaza - A Profile of Courage - The Free Gaza Movement - By Christopher and Matthias Chang (20/7/09)
By Christopher and Matthias Chang
Monday, 20 July 2009 00:35
Death creeps on you unexpectedly, sometimes like a thief in the night, sometimes it leaves a calling card, telling us that it is only weeks or months that we have left to make our arrangements and sometimes, it emerges as a savage disease that ravages your body.
The shock and pain lingers on and tried as hard as we can to feint composure and normality, the dark loneliness overwhelms us and we cry out in anger and in anguish - Why? Why now? Why in this way?
To love someone for so long and to see life slipping away is an unbearable burden. It is unfair. It is just not right. We turn back the pages of a life once shared. And it seems like only yesterday that the first word we learned to cherish, would forever linger in our lips – “mummy”.
We remind ourselves to be strong … there are just too many things to be said and yet cannot be said. We are lost for words. And as tears well in our eyes, we are consoled that at the very least, we have our time to say our goodbyes and to seek forgiveness. The final hour is yet to come.
But there are others who are less fortunate and we must not let our own grief and pain to cast a shadow over their plight and suffering – a lingering pain and anguish that seems never to go away, even after fifty long years.
We speak of death and crimes committed against the heroic Palestinian people.
The smell of blood, shed in vain lingers in the air everyday in Palestine.
A bullet splits the skull and a mother is left carrying a dead child in her arms.
An explosion flattens a tenement block but the mangled bodies of women and children beneath steel and rubble are mere statistics.
Homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship are destroyed with impunity with the latest weaponry supplied by the US to Israel but the world turns a blind eye to the atrocities. War Crimes Tribunals are quick to be established against third world tyrants but US and Israeli war criminals are beyond the reach of international law.
For over two years, the Palestinians in Gaza were starved of basic food and other necessities by a cruel and inhumane blockade imposed by Israel and tacitly supported by the US, the European Union and neighbouring countries of the Middle East.
Their cries for help and justice were rebuffed by the international community but the courage of two NGOs – Viva Palestina and The Free Gaza Movement have put to shame the double standards and hypocrisy of several leading member countries of the United Nations. Defying the brutal Israeli regime, the two organizations broke the siege and blockade of Gaza. But more need to be done, for the blockade of Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.
Viva Palestina succeeded in bringing two convoy of lorries laden with supplies through the Rafah Crossing, while the Free Gaza Movement since August 2008 and using only small boats and against all odds broke the sea blockade repeatedly.
Although the first five voyages successfully reached Gaza, the only international boats to do so since 1967, the last three attempts have been violently stopped by the Israeli military.
On one occasion their boat, Dignity was rammed by Israeli naval vessels and just recently on June 30, 2009 another boat, The Spirit of Humanity was illegally commandeered in international waters and the volunteers were forcefully arrested by Israeli commandos and incarcerated in prison for six days (some longer) for the alleged offence of intruding into Israel illegally!
Those unlawfully imprisoned included Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The cargo of medical supplies and children toys were confiscated.
Undeterred by these brutal actions of the Israeli military, the members of The Free Gaza Movement are determined to continue in their efforts to break the illegal siege of Gaza by sailing unarmed boats with human rights workers, journalists and parliamentarians, as well as much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies.
The courage and determination of the members of The Free Gaza Movement led by its chairperson, Huwaida Shapiro is exceptional and the only protection they have is the spotlight of world conscience and your unstinting support.
Last week, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and members of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation and the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War met with this incredible team of volunteers and pledge to assist them in their endeavours.
Their number one priority is to get more boats to break the siege of Gaza.
Without boats, supplies cannot get into Gaza.
Each boat costs €200,000 to €300,000 and they need to have at least 5 boats by yesterday.
Winter is coming soon and the Palestinians in Gaza need shelter, food and clothing. Time is of the essence.
We therefore appeal to all Malaysians to come forward to help the Palestinians.
You can help by:
1) Donating generously to acquire the boats to bring supplies to Gaza;
2) Be a volunteer to help the Free Gaza Movement;
3) Disseminate this appeal to as many people as possible;
4) To lobby your Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen and women to support this noble endeavour;
5) More importantly, to lobby the Malaysian Government, specifically the Prime Minister to finance the purchase of at the minimum one boat.
By Christopher and Matthias Chang
Monday, 20 July 2009 00:35
Death creeps on you unexpectedly, sometimes like a thief in the night, sometimes it leaves a calling card, telling us that it is only weeks or months that we have left to make our arrangements and sometimes, it emerges as a savage disease that ravages your body.
The shock and pain lingers on and tried as hard as we can to feint composure and normality, the dark loneliness overwhelms us and we cry out in anger and in anguish - Why? Why now? Why in this way?
To love someone for so long and to see life slipping away is an unbearable burden. It is unfair. It is just not right. We turn back the pages of a life once shared. And it seems like only yesterday that the first word we learned to cherish, would forever linger in our lips – “mummy”.
We remind ourselves to be strong … there are just too many things to be said and yet cannot be said. We are lost for words. And as tears well in our eyes, we are consoled that at the very least, we have our time to say our goodbyes and to seek forgiveness. The final hour is yet to come.
But there are others who are less fortunate and we must not let our own grief and pain to cast a shadow over their plight and suffering – a lingering pain and anguish that seems never to go away, even after fifty long years.
We speak of death and crimes committed against the heroic Palestinian people.
The smell of blood, shed in vain lingers in the air everyday in Palestine.
A bullet splits the skull and a mother is left carrying a dead child in her arms.
An explosion flattens a tenement block but the mangled bodies of women and children beneath steel and rubble are mere statistics.
Homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship are destroyed with impunity with the latest weaponry supplied by the US to Israel but the world turns a blind eye to the atrocities. War Crimes Tribunals are quick to be established against third world tyrants but US and Israeli war criminals are beyond the reach of international law.
For over two years, the Palestinians in Gaza were starved of basic food and other necessities by a cruel and inhumane blockade imposed by Israel and tacitly supported by the US, the European Union and neighbouring countries of the Middle East.
Their cries for help and justice were rebuffed by the international community but the courage of two NGOs – Viva Palestina and The Free Gaza Movement have put to shame the double standards and hypocrisy of several leading member countries of the United Nations. Defying the brutal Israeli regime, the two organizations broke the siege and blockade of Gaza. But more need to be done, for the blockade of Gaza is a humanitarian catastrophe.
Viva Palestina succeeded in bringing two convoy of lorries laden with supplies through the Rafah Crossing, while the Free Gaza Movement since August 2008 and using only small boats and against all odds broke the sea blockade repeatedly.
Although the first five voyages successfully reached Gaza, the only international boats to do so since 1967, the last three attempts have been violently stopped by the Israeli military.
On one occasion their boat, Dignity was rammed by Israeli naval vessels and just recently on June 30, 2009 another boat, The Spirit of Humanity was illegally commandeered in international waters and the volunteers were forcefully arrested by Israeli commandos and incarcerated in prison for six days (some longer) for the alleged offence of intruding into Israel illegally!
Those unlawfully imprisoned included Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The cargo of medical supplies and children toys were confiscated.
Undeterred by these brutal actions of the Israeli military, the members of The Free Gaza Movement are determined to continue in their efforts to break the illegal siege of Gaza by sailing unarmed boats with human rights workers, journalists and parliamentarians, as well as much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies.
The courage and determination of the members of The Free Gaza Movement led by its chairperson, Huwaida Shapiro is exceptional and the only protection they have is the spotlight of world conscience and your unstinting support.
Last week, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and members of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation and the Kuala Lumpur Foundation To Criminalise War met with this incredible team of volunteers and pledge to assist them in their endeavours.
Their number one priority is to get more boats to break the siege of Gaza.
Without boats, supplies cannot get into Gaza.
Each boat costs €200,000 to €300,000 and they need to have at least 5 boats by yesterday.
Winter is coming soon and the Palestinians in Gaza need shelter, food and clothing. Time is of the essence.
We therefore appeal to all Malaysians to come forward to help the Palestinians.
You can help by:
1) Donating generously to acquire the boats to bring supplies to Gaza;
2) Be a volunteer to help the Free Gaza Movement;
3) Disseminate this appeal to as many people as possible;
4) To lobby your Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen and women to support this noble endeavour;
5) More importantly, to lobby the Malaysian Government, specifically the Prime Minister to finance the purchase of at the minimum one boat.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Death at MACC headquarters
Written by razaleighhamzah
With all Malaysians I am shocked and deeply dismayed at the death of Teoh Beng Huat, political secretary to a member of the Selangor state executive councillor, at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Shah Alam.
The circumstances surrounding Mr Teoh’s death put the credibility of the government and our investigative and law enforcement agencies under a microscope. The public will expect nothing less than a full and independent investigation into how something like this could have happened.
I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the late Mr Teoh’s family and to his fiancée.
July 17, 2009 at 6:10 am
With all Malaysians I am shocked and deeply dismayed at the death of Teoh Beng Huat, political secretary to a member of the Selangor state executive councillor, at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Shah Alam.
The circumstances surrounding Mr Teoh’s death put the credibility of the government and our investigative and law enforcement agencies under a microscope. The public will expect nothing less than a full and independent investigation into how something like this could have happened.
I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the late Mr Teoh’s family and to his fiancée.
July 17, 2009 at 6:10 am
Thursday, July 16, 2009
NAZRI AZIZ, UR THE BIGGEST IDIOT IN HISTORY, AFTER BEING RUDE TO TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, WHAT THE FUCK ARE U BULLSHITTING ABOUT?
PELIK… BERITA PELIK….JATUH CINTA PADA BANGUNAN
NAZRI : JANGAN TUDUH–TUNGGU SIASATAN -malaysiakini
Nazri Aziz meminta supaya pihak, termasuk DAP supaya menunggu selesai siasatan terhadap kematian setiausaha politik exco Selangor, Ean Yong Hian Wah, yang dipercayai jatuh bangunan pejabat SPRM Selangor di Shah Alam.
"Jangan tuduh-tuduh. Kalau tuduh, kenyataan mereka keluar nanti dekat laporan akhbar, menyebabkan masyarakat buat pandangan (sendiri) sebelum penyiasatan dibuat," tambahnya.
Mayat Teo Beng Hock, 30, ditemui di atas bumbung bangunan bersebelahan pejabat suruhanjaya tersebut.
Mengulas lanjut, Nazri berkata: "Saya dapat laporan awal dari SPRM mengatakan dia dah dilepaskan selesai soal siasat semalam.
"Jadi, dia patut balik rumah. Kita pun tak tahu dia nak terjun bangunan tu...," kata Nazri ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini.
"Kita kena tunggu dulu siasatan tu macam mana. Jangan terus membuat kesimpulan," tambahnya.
Dalam sidang media di pejabat SPRM negeri itu, Pengarah Siasatan SPRM Datuk Shukri Abdull berkata mayat ditemui jam 1.30 tengah hari ini.
Ditanya bagaimana mendiang ditemui, beliau berkata seorang pegawai suruhanjaya ke tempat kejadian selepas mendengar jeritan seseorang tentang mayat itu.
Menurutnya lagi, siasatan terhadap Teo - sebagai saksi kes - selesai kira-kira 3.45 pagi tadi tetapi dilihat masih berada di bangunan tersebut sekitar jam 6 pagi.
KAH KAH KAH… KAH KAH KAH…
Kah kah kah…. MUNKEE NI ADA LAGI…. kah kah kah…
Woit… PELIK…. SIASAT SAMPAI PAGI KE?.... kah kah kah..
Woit… PELIK…. LEPAS SIASAT TAK NAK BALIK BALIK…kah kah kah..
Woit… PELIK….PELIK… INI BERITA BETUL BETUL PELIK….ADA KE MANUSIA DALAM DUNIA INI LEPAS KENA SIASAT BERJAM JAM…. BILA BEBASKAN…. TERUS LEPAK DI SITU….TAK NAK BALIK KE RUMAH….kah kah kah..
NOTA: Mungkin Teo Beng Hock ini telah jatuh cinta dengan bangunan SPRM hingga tak nak balik balik. Pelik.
Tetapi – kenapa tak nak balik kerana esok nak pergi mendaftar diri kerana nak berkahwin. Cukup pelik.
Oooooh ..Mungkin teksi sudah tak ada waktu subuh? Pelik. Kereta dia ada di tempat letak kereta. Pelik juga.
Kalau tengok gambar dalam Malaysiakini seluar dia koyak dan nampak seluar dalam. Ini lagi pelik.
Kalau tengok gambar yang sama – ada pulak batu bata dekat dengan kakinya. Ini sudah tujuh kali pelik.
Kalau macam ini lebih baik lagi Badan Pencegah Rasuah yang dulu. BPR jarang menyiasat. Kalau menyiasat tak sampai mati kah kah kah.
NAZRI : JANGAN TUDUH–TUNGGU SIASATAN -malaysiakini
Nazri Aziz meminta supaya pihak, termasuk DAP supaya menunggu selesai siasatan terhadap kematian setiausaha politik exco Selangor, Ean Yong Hian Wah, yang dipercayai jatuh bangunan pejabat SPRM Selangor di Shah Alam.
"Jangan tuduh-tuduh. Kalau tuduh, kenyataan mereka keluar nanti dekat laporan akhbar, menyebabkan masyarakat buat pandangan (sendiri) sebelum penyiasatan dibuat," tambahnya.
Mayat Teo Beng Hock, 30, ditemui di atas bumbung bangunan bersebelahan pejabat suruhanjaya tersebut.
Mengulas lanjut, Nazri berkata: "Saya dapat laporan awal dari SPRM mengatakan dia dah dilepaskan selesai soal siasat semalam.
"Jadi, dia patut balik rumah. Kita pun tak tahu dia nak terjun bangunan tu...," kata Nazri ketika dihubungi Malaysiakini.
"Kita kena tunggu dulu siasatan tu macam mana. Jangan terus membuat kesimpulan," tambahnya.
Dalam sidang media di pejabat SPRM negeri itu, Pengarah Siasatan SPRM Datuk Shukri Abdull berkata mayat ditemui jam 1.30 tengah hari ini.
Ditanya bagaimana mendiang ditemui, beliau berkata seorang pegawai suruhanjaya ke tempat kejadian selepas mendengar jeritan seseorang tentang mayat itu.
Menurutnya lagi, siasatan terhadap Teo - sebagai saksi kes - selesai kira-kira 3.45 pagi tadi tetapi dilihat masih berada di bangunan tersebut sekitar jam 6 pagi.
KAH KAH KAH… KAH KAH KAH…
Kah kah kah…. MUNKEE NI ADA LAGI…. kah kah kah…
Woit… PELIK…. SIASAT SAMPAI PAGI KE?.... kah kah kah..
Woit… PELIK…. LEPAS SIASAT TAK NAK BALIK BALIK…kah kah kah..
Woit… PELIK….PELIK… INI BERITA BETUL BETUL PELIK….ADA KE MANUSIA DALAM DUNIA INI LEPAS KENA SIASAT BERJAM JAM…. BILA BEBASKAN…. TERUS LEPAK DI SITU….TAK NAK BALIK KE RUMAH….kah kah kah..
NOTA: Mungkin Teo Beng Hock ini telah jatuh cinta dengan bangunan SPRM hingga tak nak balik balik. Pelik.
Tetapi – kenapa tak nak balik kerana esok nak pergi mendaftar diri kerana nak berkahwin. Cukup pelik.
Oooooh ..Mungkin teksi sudah tak ada waktu subuh? Pelik. Kereta dia ada di tempat letak kereta. Pelik juga.
Kalau tengok gambar dalam Malaysiakini seluar dia koyak dan nampak seluar dalam. Ini lagi pelik.
Kalau tengok gambar yang sama – ada pulak batu bata dekat dengan kakinya. Ini sudah tujuh kali pelik.
Kalau macam ini lebih baik lagi Badan Pencegah Rasuah yang dulu. BPR jarang menyiasat. Kalau menyiasat tak sampai mati kah kah kah.
Open letter to Dato' Kadar Shah Tun Sulaiman Ninam Shah
Dear Dato'
Firstly, I want to congratulate you, Dato' Kadar for your sincerity in helping a damsel in distress, Manohara Odelia Pinot. Even your courageous acts got compliments from M. Bakri Musa, an UMNO critique. I just hope that you keep blogging now that you have been away for some time. Looking forward to your comments on the image and integrity of UMNO and especially MACC now that there is a death in the MACC building itself. I support your application for injunction from court so that all money politics cases in UMNO are investigated before the general assembly begins but looks like they obviously didn't heed or give two hoots about you or your comrade Dato' Mazlan Harun. I hope you will keep blogging about the current affairs as I am a loyal reader of your blog. It is good that you 'bocor' the writings on Datuk Shafee Abdullah's white board as RPK has revealed. Shake them abit. UMNO needs reform badly, or otherwise, they will lose badly and Sabah and Sarawak will not even be enough to be their 'fixed deposits' in the coming general elections.
Firstly, I want to congratulate you, Dato' Kadar for your sincerity in helping a damsel in distress, Manohara Odelia Pinot. Even your courageous acts got compliments from M. Bakri Musa, an UMNO critique. I just hope that you keep blogging now that you have been away for some time. Looking forward to your comments on the image and integrity of UMNO and especially MACC now that there is a death in the MACC building itself. I support your application for injunction from court so that all money politics cases in UMNO are investigated before the general assembly begins but looks like they obviously didn't heed or give two hoots about you or your comrade Dato' Mazlan Harun. I hope you will keep blogging about the current affairs as I am a loyal reader of your blog. It is good that you 'bocor' the writings on Datuk Shafee Abdullah's white board as RPK has revealed. Shake them abit. UMNO needs reform badly, or otherwise, they will lose badly and Sabah and Sarawak will not even be enough to be their 'fixed deposits' in the coming general elections.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The best brains to help the Prime Minister of Malaysia
Najib’s inner circle
KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The people in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s inner circle;
Tan Sri Peter Sondakh
Sondakh advises Najib on Indonesia.
He came into contact with Najib when he was negotiating to sell a controlling interest in his telecommunications group, Excelcomindo Pratama, to Malaysia’s national telecommunications company Telekom Malaysia in 2004.
Flush with cash from the sale of his telecommunications group, Sondakh, now 57, acquired hotels in Malaysia, including the Sheraton Imperial. The latter was owned by a financially troubled unit controlled by Telekom Malaysia’s parent company Khazanah Holdings, the country’s state-owned investment agency.
Since then, Sondakh has emerged as an informal personal adviser to Najib on matters related to Indonesia.
Omar Mustapha
Omar was Najib’s aide when he was DPM.
The one-time special assistant to Najib owns a business consultancy called Ethos & Co.
Omar, who is 38 years old, also has links with Sondakh.
The two struck up a relationship several years ago when Omar was assigned by Najib, then Deputy PM, to build a network in Indonesia, which was identified as a potential investment destination for Malaysian companies, particularly state controlled enterprises.
Businessmen who know Omar say that he is being tapped for strategic advice.
He is also said to be the architect of the Premier’s “1 Malaysia” slogan — a call for a more united Malaysia, which has become the central theme of Najib’s first 100 days in office.
But Omar, who graduated from Oxford, has been ensnared in a controversy in recent weeks after the board of the national oil corporation Petronas rebuffed a proposal by Najib to appoint his young aide as a director.
Bankers and lawyers familiar with the situation say that the board of directors of Petronas opposed Omar’s position because he failed to honour his scholarship agreement with the oil corporation after it financed his studies in Britain.
After graduating in the mid-1990s, he worked briefly in Petronas and another government-linked corporation before joining consultancy firm McKinsey.
He left it to set up Ethos in early 2002 with several friends, and two years later was appointed Najib’s special officer in the DPM’s Office.
Omar did not respond to requests for comment.
Siew Ka Wei
Siew controls several public-listed entities.
The businessman and Datuk Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, a senior politician from the ruling Umno, are said to be close to completing a takeover of a 70 per cent interest in a private company that owns the Malay Mail.
Political handovers in Malaysia often result in changes in the top positions in the country’s mainstream media organisations and this is one change on the cards.
The lanky, cigar-chomping Datuk Siew, 53, is a controlling shareholder of several public-listed entities such as Nylex and Ancom.
Al-Amin, who is also 53, is a board member of both firms.
Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock
Tan is said to be a golf buddy of the PM.
He is the low-profile controlling shareholder of Johan Holdings, a public-listed investment holding company, and said to be a golf buddy of Najib’s.
The Financial Times had reported that Tan, 61, was the owner of the 607ha Guiana Island, which is now at the centre of a fraud case brought by the United States authorities against Texan billionaire businessman Allen Stanford.
Joe Low
Another low-profile businessman, he was a key architect of a multibillion-ringgit sovereign wealth fund established by the state of Terengganu.
The fund, called the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), has sparked controversy because it will be created using borrowed money and not existing capital held by the state. It will raise capital from a RM5 billion bond issue, which will be guaranteed by the Malaysian government.
Little is known of Penang-born Low, who a TIA official said is an adviser to Malaysia’s King, Sultan Mizan, and has close ties with several Middle East investment funds. — The Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The people in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s inner circle;
Tan Sri Peter Sondakh
Sondakh advises Najib on Indonesia.
He came into contact with Najib when he was negotiating to sell a controlling interest in his telecommunications group, Excelcomindo Pratama, to Malaysia’s national telecommunications company Telekom Malaysia in 2004.
Flush with cash from the sale of his telecommunications group, Sondakh, now 57, acquired hotels in Malaysia, including the Sheraton Imperial. The latter was owned by a financially troubled unit controlled by Telekom Malaysia’s parent company Khazanah Holdings, the country’s state-owned investment agency.
Since then, Sondakh has emerged as an informal personal adviser to Najib on matters related to Indonesia.
Omar Mustapha
Omar was Najib’s aide when he was DPM.
The one-time special assistant to Najib owns a business consultancy called Ethos & Co.
Omar, who is 38 years old, also has links with Sondakh.
The two struck up a relationship several years ago when Omar was assigned by Najib, then Deputy PM, to build a network in Indonesia, which was identified as a potential investment destination for Malaysian companies, particularly state controlled enterprises.
Businessmen who know Omar say that he is being tapped for strategic advice.
He is also said to be the architect of the Premier’s “1 Malaysia” slogan — a call for a more united Malaysia, which has become the central theme of Najib’s first 100 days in office.
But Omar, who graduated from Oxford, has been ensnared in a controversy in recent weeks after the board of the national oil corporation Petronas rebuffed a proposal by Najib to appoint his young aide as a director.
Bankers and lawyers familiar with the situation say that the board of directors of Petronas opposed Omar’s position because he failed to honour his scholarship agreement with the oil corporation after it financed his studies in Britain.
After graduating in the mid-1990s, he worked briefly in Petronas and another government-linked corporation before joining consultancy firm McKinsey.
He left it to set up Ethos in early 2002 with several friends, and two years later was appointed Najib’s special officer in the DPM’s Office.
Omar did not respond to requests for comment.
Siew Ka Wei
Siew controls several public-listed entities.
The businessman and Datuk Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, a senior politician from the ruling Umno, are said to be close to completing a takeover of a 70 per cent interest in a private company that owns the Malay Mail.
Political handovers in Malaysia often result in changes in the top positions in the country’s mainstream media organisations and this is one change on the cards.
The lanky, cigar-chomping Datuk Siew, 53, is a controlling shareholder of several public-listed entities such as Nylex and Ancom.
Al-Amin, who is also 53, is a board member of both firms.
Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock
Tan is said to be a golf buddy of the PM.
He is the low-profile controlling shareholder of Johan Holdings, a public-listed investment holding company, and said to be a golf buddy of Najib’s.
The Financial Times had reported that Tan, 61, was the owner of the 607ha Guiana Island, which is now at the centre of a fraud case brought by the United States authorities against Texan billionaire businessman Allen Stanford.
Joe Low
Another low-profile businessman, he was a key architect of a multibillion-ringgit sovereign wealth fund established by the state of Terengganu.
The fund, called the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA), has sparked controversy because it will be created using borrowed money and not existing capital held by the state. It will raise capital from a RM5 billion bond issue, which will be guaranteed by the Malaysian government.
Little is known of Penang-born Low, who a TIA official said is an adviser to Malaysia’s King, Sultan Mizan, and has close ties with several Middle East investment funds. — The Straits Times
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