Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- The Doomed Quest
- Barisan Nasional Saving MAS or Killing It?
- KENYATAAN MEDIA SUA: Rundingan Kerusi PRU 13 PR negeri Johor
- Collusion And Price Fixing?
| Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:37 PM PDT By Hakim Joe The MCP's quest to turn Malaya into a communist nation after the Japanese surrendered in 1945 was doomed from the very beginning for within its ranks lies an ultimate turncoat who effectively used his position to advance his own agenda. Lai Teck aka Huang Shao Dong aka Hoang A Nhac was the child of a Vietnamese father and a Chinese mother growing up in French controlled Indochina during the turn of the last century. From the very foundation of his career, Lai Teck has shown a tendency electing to side with the enemy against his own people. This trait was exhibited early as a young man when he served the French colonial government as a spy but turned out to be a brief stint as he was soon discovered by his own people early on and had to flee Indochina in a hurry. Lai Teck was then recruited by the British security services with the intent to infiltrate the MCP. He was brought to Singapore for special training before being sent back to Malaya with forged papers (presumably from Third Communist International) in 1934 and within 5 short years, he rapidly rose through the MCP's complicated hierarchy to become the Party's Secretary General in April 1939. This was achieved with the help of the Malayan British security forces as all potential rivals within the party ranks were either arrested or When the Japanese invasion army landed in Kota Bharu on 8 December 1941, Lai Teck has already cemented his position as the undisputed numero uno in the MCP. Those who objected his views and actions soon found themselves in British jails or "Missing In Action". Anyone who suspected something was amiss faced similar fates and soon after, all opposition were either incarcerated or obliterated. Lai Teck was also the Commander in Chief of the MPAJA (Malayan Peoples' Anti-Japanese Army), the military wing of the MCP, which was formed when the British agreed to cooperate with the MCP against the Japanese a week after the Imperial Forces landed in Kota Bharu. This was only possible with Lai Teck being an agent for the British. It must also be especially noted that not all members of the MPAJA were members of the MCP as a large majority of these fighters who survived the Onishi Kempeitei left the MPAJA to rejoin the Malayan community after the war. However the vast majority of MPAJA personnel were Malayan Chinese. With the Japanese Army rapidly advancing south towards the British colonial HQ in Singapore, all MCP detainees were released from British prisons and a few chosen cadre were sent down to Singapore to undergo a crash course in guerilla warfare at the Special Operations Executive (SOE) 101 Special Training School in Singapore and re-disbursed back into the Malayan countryside to recruit and develop an effective underground resistance force against the Japanese invasion force. The small initial force of only 165 MPAJA personnel that received minimal guerilla warfare training were owing to the fact that Japanese were swiftly taking over Malaya and even the last batch of trainees (Johor MCP platoon) did not manage to leave Singapore when it fell on 15 February 1942. They remained and joined the Dalforce (the largest group of volunteers) participating in the defense of Singapore, fighting alongside the British armed forces. These MPAJA personnel formed the core the Dalley's Desperadoes (Dalforce was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley) and were noted for their ferocity when fighting the Japanese Army. When the Japanese invaded Malaya in 1941, Dalforce numbered approximately 4,000 resistance fighters. Initially planned to be equipped with modern armaments, most of these personnel were only issued with a Lee Enfield rifle, a bayonet together with between 7 to 20 bullets each after the liner SS Empress of Asia, carrying vital war supplies for Dalforce were sunk by Japanese aircrafts on its way from Bombay to Singapore on 4 February 1942 just 8km from Singapore. The MPAJA personnel that were able to escape Singapore for Malaya before February 1942 were directly under the command of Lai Teck and proved ineffective against the Japanese war machine. Lai Teck was himself arrested by the Japanese in Singapore after the Sook Ching screening (18 February to 4 March 1942) where between 50,000 to 100,000 Chinese men between the ages of 18 and 50 were systematically executed at various sites including Changi Beach Park, Punggol Beach and Berhala Reping at Sentosa Beach. However, Lai Teck was one of the few "lucky" ones and was released by the Onishi Kempeitei two weeks later in late March 1942. (Onishi Satoru, the interrogating officer who questioned Lai Teck could not confirm exactly when Lai Teck was arrested but thought the date could be the 8 March 1942). He soon left Singapore to rejoin the MCP and MPAJA in Malaya after his travel passes were approved by the Japanese Army. The first thing Onishi Satoru obtained from Lai Teck during this two-week incarceration was the confirmation of the MCP hierarchy chart as prepared by the Japanese invasion force. This was extremely vital to the Japanese as the MPAJA was the only credible resistance forces that opposed Japanese rule in Malaya and Singapore. From hereon, Lai Teck was turned into a double agent and exclusively managed by the Kempeitei. In April 1942, hardly a few weeks from his release, Lai Teck betrayed Huang Cheng and his wife, Li Ming to the Kempeitei. Huang Chen was then a MCP Central Committee member and the MCP's Political Bureau's Chairman of the Central Propaganda Department. He died on 9 August in prison while his wife was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Also in April 1942, A Nian, MCP's liaison officer with the CCP, Ng Yeh Lu (Singapore Town Committee member) and Lim Kang Sek (leader of the Singapore Overseas Chinese Volunteer Corps) were betrayed by Lai Teck to the Kempeitei. A Nian and Ng Yeh Lu were both sentenced to ten years imprisonment while Lim Kang Sek managed to escape on the day of his arrest. Further information provided by Lai Teck led to the recapture of Lim Kang Sek together with Lin Ya Dang (Singapore Town Committee member) and Ya Qiu (MCP Executive Committee member) in mid April 1942. A Nian was subsequently released from prison on 1 April 1943 but re-arrested in 1944 on recommendation by Lai Teck after he witnessed a clandestine meeting between Lai Teck and his Kempeitei liaison officer, Sargeant Shimomura Yuhei. A Nian was executed in April 1944 in Johor Bharu. Lin Ya Dang committed suicide in prison on 31 July 1942 by cutting his wrist with broken glass without revealing any details to the Kempeitei during intense interrogation. Ya Qiu died the following day. Lim Kang Sek died in prison on 18 July 1942. A Nian's elder brother, Lin Yi-ping was arrested in July 1942 and executed by hanging on 13 May 1943. His younger brother A Chuan was also apprehended in July 1942 and died in prison in July 1944. Both were betrayed by Lai Teck to the Kempeitei. Information and whereabouts of many other MCP and MPAJA personnel were divulged by Lai Teck to the Onishi Kempeitei including Xiao Hei (Executive Committee member) who was shot to death in April 1942, Huang Shi Rui (Chairman of the Propganda Department of MCP's Selangor Local Committee) who was arrested on April 1942 and died in prison on 19 July 1942, Xue Feng (Central Committee member) who was arrested on April 1942 but soon died during Japanese interrogation, Lao Zhang (Singapore Town Committee member) who was arrested on April 1942 and executed in November 1942, Xiao Luo (MCP member) who was arrested on April 1942 and executed on 1 August 1942, Ya Wen (MCP Central Military Committee member) who was arrested on May 1942 and executed by hanging in 1944 in Taiping jail and Ke Min (Central Committee member) who was arrested on 10 April 1943 and duly executed. However these piecemeal betrayals pale in comparison when Lai Teck tipped off the Kempeitei of MCP's executive committee meeting (Conference of Party cadre and military personnel) at a rubber plantation near Batu Caves on 1 September 1942 whereby nearly the entire MCP and MPAJA top hierarchy were either killed in the Japanese ambush or captured. Only two Executive Committee members survived the massacre – Lai Teck (he did not attend the meeting citing that his car broke down on the way there) and Xiao Ping (who escaped the ambush barely alive). Those killed in this ambush include Zhu Lao @ Chu Ler Kwong (MPAJA 4th Independent Regiment Party representative and MCP Central Committee member), Xu Qing Biao @ See Ching Piaw (MPAJA 1st Independent Regiment Party representative), Chen Shu @ Chen Soo (MPAJA 3rd Independent Regiment Despite this setback, the MPAJA reconstructed its organization and here is when Ong Boon Hwa @ Chin Peng rose up the Party hierarchy while Lai Teck remained the Party Chief and continued betraying those who opposed him to the Japanese. When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, a few hundred Japanese soldiers and civilians, for reasons unknown, decided to enlist with the MCP-MPAJA. This became a perilous situation for Lai Teck as some of these Japanese were privy to his covert collaboration with the Onishi Kempeitei. Faint rumors regarding Lai Teck as a Japanese collaborator began to surface in 1946 and by 6 March 1947, a special party meeting at During this time, the Vietnamese communists came down to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok looking for Lai Teck but he was already gone. During their discussion with Chin Peng, the Vietnamese communists revealed that they have suspected Lai Teck to be a Japanese collaborator from information obtained from the Vietnamese community in Singapore during the war. It was evinced that Lai Teck was frequently seen in the company of Japanese officers in Singapore and that he had two Vietnamese wives there as well. An official report was then prepared by the Vietnamese communist and submitted to Chin Peng and thereafter all evidence were compiled and resubmitted to the MCP Central Plenum in May 1947. With these evidences, Lai Teck was finally expelled from the party. Chin Peng was then elected to be the Secretary General of the MCP, replacing Lai Teck. Lai Teck was strangled to death by the Thai communist in Bangkok and his body tossed into the Chao Phraya River late in 1947. When the British declared the MCP to be an illegal organization in June 1948 and with the onset of the State of Emergency in Malaya, the quest to turn Malaya into a communist nation became a doomed quest. |
| Barisan Nasional Saving MAS or Killing It? Posted: 12 Sep 2011 10:17 PM PDT Now we are seeing the true "masterplan" of Tony on how to wipe out MAS totally. By Mat UMNO Reported By Forbes.com, "The collaboration won't work. We believe it only benefits AirAsia, which will get (the advantage of) a free hand in the low-cost segment," union secretary-general Abdul Malek Arif told The Associated Press. Abdul Malek said staff were told at a briefing last month that a new premium carrier called Sapphire Air would be set up to handle regional and domestic routes. The fate of Firefly, the current Reported By The Star, "MAS is the oldest airline in Malaysia. There is no reason for not making a lasting profit," Ab Malek said, adding that the Government should revamp the entire management." Reported By YB Wee Choo Keong, "Updated 06-09-2011 @ 11:30 pm: It was a known fact that MAS set up Firefly to provide an alternative to AirAsia and AirAsia X Sdn Bhd previously known as Fly Asian Express Sdn Bhd aka as FAX. Remember in 2006/2007 FAX snatched Rural Air Services (RAS) from MAS during Tun Abdullah Badawi's administration and received about RM65 million from the government as subsidy. However, in a short span of 8 months or so it dumped seven un-airworthy aircrafts to MAS with a total bill of RM35 million. On 12-11-2010, Firefly said in The Star that "it would fly commercial jets for domestic routes and begin with crossover routes, e.g. Kota Kinabalu and Kuching, on Jan 15. Asean will be its next stop". So it was crystal clear from the decisions of the new management of MAS consisting of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun (both of AirAsia and AirAsia X Sdn Bhd/FAX), Tan Sri Md Nor MD Yusof, Datuk Azman Perhaps we can now see a bit clearer whether MAS needed AirAsia to survive as made out to be the case in a news portal and mainstream media or the other way around. I have been informed that during the Hari Raya season several full load flights of Firefly have been cancelled at the eleventh hours. The cancellations have caused enormous inconveniences to members of the public, who were on their balik kampung back to see their families. Why cancel full load flights during a festive season? Where is the business sense of MAS current management? Even if you want to help your close friend like Tan Sri Tony Fernandes/AirAsia, please don't do it at the expense of the public. This is not the way to kill Firefly, indirectly MAS. Surely with all your top financial qualifications and famous credentials under BinaFikir you should know of better ways to skin a cow! Why are you in such a rush to kill Firefly in such a desperate manner? I am sure that Datuk Omar Ong will advise you against such ill thought out decisions.
Greetings from Firefly! We regret to inform you we will no longer operate JB – Kuching V V & JB – Kota Kinabalu V V route from September 15 onwards. We don't advise a re-routing of flights because we don't want to inconvenience you further. A re-route through a third destination such as KLIA will double the length of your travel time if not more. To minimize disruption to your time, we strongly suggest the solution of a refund. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and wish to offer you a refund in the form of credit shell. Please allow 8 weeks for the refund to be processed. Due to our network rationalizing exercise, and we're very sorry that this has inconvenienced you. We at Firefly are more than obliged to work hand in hand with you on other routes and will do our very best to see the production grow for both our parties.
After the signing ceremony of the said share swap between Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes on 8-8-2011, it was immediately announced that Firefly will soon change its business model. Presumably, what the economic genius in Khazanah and Tan Sri Tony Fernandes meant was Firefly will stop competing with other low cost airlines, in particular AirAsia. Instead of chasing after huge debts owed by Alwafeer Air, which involved non-payment of leasing rentals for three jumbo jets amounting to ten of millions of ringgit, En Mohamed Rashdan Yusof, the Khazanah's representative in MAS management was more interested in how to disrupt and/or stifle Firefly for the benefit of the competitor of MAS. Guess who? If the stopping of Firefly's profitable routes to East Malaysia was part of the said secret share swap exercise by YB Nor Mohamad Yacop, the former Minister of Finance II under Tun Abdullah's administration now Minister in charge of EPU, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and En Mohamed Rashdan Yusof, both of whom are former business partners in BinaFikir Sdn Bhd, then Firefly is as good as dead! The future of MAS is not hard to determine. The time has come for the rakyat, bloggers and, most of all, the MAS Union to join hands to stop the rot. Well done YB Wee! Few bloggers and parties had tried to warn the government and people about what will happen when the MAS/AA share swap deal is sealed. You can refer to my older posting on "MAS AA Share Swap" does anyone listen or even think about it? Now we are seeing the true "masterplan" of Tony on how to wipe out MAS totally. Don't believe me? In my previous writing, I've already explained the financial benefit and how AA can use MAS as a scapegoat in burdening them with debts and abusing the advantage of MAS capabilities. What slips my mind was the fate of Firefly. MAS set up Firefly with the intention to compete with AA despite MAS' hands being tied by the government as Ministry of Transport favors AA much more. It is said that the Ministry of Transport has a few bucks going in their pocket from AA. When I said "few bucks going in their pocket from AA", I don't mean AA is donating the money directly to the "Ministry of Transport" itself. It is more directly to those high ranking in the ministry AA will skin and poison Firefly and MAS slowly. They already managed to be in MAS so now they have the opportunity to shut down Firefly. But why shut down Firefly and create a new airline such as Sapphire Airline? Here are a couple of reasons; Firefly is seen as a direct competitor to AA's business locally and internationally. Firefly has already made good ground in giving AA a run for their money as it offers better service, competitive prices and departure convenience. This has been noted a few years back by AA and they needed to do something about it after all, there are more benefits to AA with the closure of Firefly. Recently, it was announced that Tony had just bought over the Queen Park Ranger football team. I have no issues with his passion for football but when you start sponsoring your own football team with the money from MAS, it becomes totally wrong. First of all, MAS reported a loss recently and AA made profits. So how could a losing company pay for the sponsorship? The reason MAS and AA decided to sponsor QPR was for better market exposure. Hmm, why sponsor a football club? How much is the sponsorship? Which target market do they target? What is the ROI from the sponsorship? With the sponsorship of QPR happening without a glitch and without consultation from Khazanah, what will stop AA from sponsoring their F1 racing team? MAS will be again used to pay for Tony's hobby and the saddest part of it is no one will stop him because he has "political' strings. I cannot emphasise how dangerous this man is to MAS. His cunning business ways are only suitable for him and not for others. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing! The fates of 15,000 MAS staff too, hang in danger with the opening of Sapphire Air. The union cannot do anything without help from the government. Why is it the government willing to lose 15,000 votes in this coming election? These 15,000 vote can quadruple as they have family and friends that will listen to them! When Sapphire Air emerges, no one can stop AA from permanently destroying MAS! The union will be helpless. I can give you the scenario how AA will systematically kill off MAS: 1. Sapphire Air is born. They will offer the current MAS staff to "migrate" with lower pay and lesser benefits. 2. If Sapphire Air does not have enough staff, this will be better for AA as they can now hire cheaper labour thus cut their operational costs. 3. Those who choose to stay can stay, but sooner or later, MAS downsizing will take effect, which means the company will offer VSS. 4. Khazanah will use the rakyat's money to pay MAS staff "Voluntary Separation Scheme". Why Khazanah? Well, Khazanah is still the majority shareholder and with money. AA is just the biggest individual shareholder but they don't have money. 5. Those who decide to take the VSS can retire, start their own business or have enough money to last them for a few months while searching for a new job with lower pay. When this happens, whatever their current commitment, eg. house loan repayment etc will be jeorpadized! 6. Once they have fully transferred all the local routes to Sapphire Air, where can MAS or Firefly go? Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, please open your eyes and heart regarding this matter. It is a matter of the rakyats' welfare and pride of Malaysia. We can turn MAS around if given a fair chance. Given a free hand to do business as it is supposed to be, without hands being tied behind our backs by Khazanah! I dare say that BN will lose terribly should you allow this annihilation of MAS by AA! More to come! ... Mark my words! |
| KENYATAAN MEDIA SUA: Rundingan Kerusi PRU 13 PR negeri Johor Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:56 PM PDT
Akhir-akhir ini, beberapa kenyataan-kenyataan dan pandangan-pandangan telah dikeluarkan melalui media oleh pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Johor, termasuklah dari Parti KEADILAN Rakyat sendiri berhubung hal rundingan kerusi pilihanraya umum ke-13 di antara parti-parti sekutu Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Johor. Kenyataan dan pandangan yang diutarakan walaubagaimanapun, telah mengundang spekulasi dan persepsi yang pelbagai. Saya ingin menyebut bahawa Majlis Presiden Pakatan Rakyat telah pun membuat suatu ketetapan dan mengeluarkan arahan kepada kesemua pimpinan-pimpinan parti masing-masing supaya hal ehwal rundingan kerusi tidak dibincang mahupun dihebah secara terbuka. Proses rundingan kerusi di antara parti-parti sekutu Pakatan Rakyat merupakan suatu proses yang berterusan yang menjadi tanggungjawab bersama pimpinan KEADILAN, PAS dan DAP bagi mencapai satu matlamat yang khusus - iaitu bagi menumbangkan kerajaan Barisan Nasional dalam pilihanraya umum ke-13 ini, yang kian terserlah kegagalan mereka untuk membela nasib rakyat serta cara dan keputusan pentadbiran mereka yang kini terus dipersoalkan ketelusannya. Tentunya dalam mana-mana proses perundingan, akan ada wujudnya keadaan yang menduga kesefahaman semua pihak yang berunding. Saya dengan ini menasihatkan kesemua ahli-ahli pimpinan KEADILAN, PAS dan DAP Johor, dan juga di lain-lain negeri untuk mematuhi ketetapan dan arahan yang dikeluarkan oleh Majlis Presiden Pakatan Rakyat serta menghormati dan menerima konsep kerjasama Pakatan Rakyat yang menekankan rasa hormat-menghormati sesama kita dalam ertikata yang sebenarnya. Saya juga menggesa kesemua ahli-ahli pimpinan KEADILAN, PAS dan DAP untuk terus memberi tumpuan terhadap keperluan dan persediaan kerja jentera pilihanraya masing-masing bagi terus menyerlahkan peluang Pakatan Rakyat untuk membentuk kerajaan dalam Pilihanraya Umum ke-13 nanti. Bagi pihak Parti KEADILAN Rakyat, saya ingin menyatakan keyakinan dan sokongan Parti kepada Pengerusi Majlis Pimpinan Negeri Johor, Datuk Chua Jui Meng dalam meneruskan rundingan bagi mencapai persetujuan hakiki dalam urusan rundingan kerusi ini.
SAIFUDDIN NASUTION ISMAIL Setiausaha Agung Parti KEADILAN Rakyat
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| Posted: 12 Sep 2011 12:00 PM PDT By Tony Pua Recently the local telecommunications companies incurred the wrath of Malaysians by attempting to pass on the services tax to the prepaid users. The service tax which was increased by the Government from 5% to 6% this year was absorbed by these companies since 1998. While the backlash from the public, and pressure from political parties have resulted in a temporary reprieve for the prepaid users, pending further consultations with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the real issue at hand is the blatant and coordinated attempt by the telecommunication companies to raise prices concurrently, contemptuous of the competitive spirit. Last Thursday, the companies said in a joint statement that purchases of prepaid reloads and prepaid starter/SIM packs would be charged a six percent service tax, effective Sept 15. While the telecommunication providers had every right to decide as to whether to absorb or pass on the service tax to consumers, the fact that the statement was issued jointly meant these companies – Maxis, Digi, Celcom and U-Mobile were colluding to increasing the prices of their services concurrently, to increase the profits for all parties, without fear of any of the companies keeping lower prices to eat into the customer base of the others. The Competition Act 2010 states that "the object of the Act is to promote economic development by protecting the process of competition, and thereby protecting the interest of consumers". The Bill specifically bans anti-competitive agreements including price fixing, import cartel, bid rigging, territorial allocation, limiting production, market sharing. The anti-competitive agreements will be subject to financial penalties of up to 10 per cent of the worldwide turnover of the enterprise over the period during which the infringement occurred. There is no question that the joint statement and attempt by the four telecommunication companies to raise prices by the same percentage concurrently is illegal because they are colluding to form a cartel for the purposes of price-fixing. While the Act has been passed in Parliament and gazette in June 2010, due to an 18 month grace period, it will only take full effect from 1 February 2012 onwards. However, regardless of the grace period, the Government, particularly, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs must take a stern position and warn the telecommunication companies in no uncertain terms that their anti-competitive behavior will not be tolerated. The Government must act to prove that the Competition Act will have teeth to protect the ordinary consumers and not be trampled upon at will by the Malaysian corporate giants.
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