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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Taib’s Timber Connections – More Business Links To Top Tycoons
- UMNO- dari Modal Insan ke Modal Lembu dan kemaraan Fascime UMNO
- Malaysia’s Militant Headache
- Mahathir Wrong on India
- Umno will never change: A blessing M’sia now has a two-party system
- Are you sure Malaysia is still a democracy?
| Taib’s Timber Connections – More Business Links To Top Tycoons Posted: 03 Dec 2011 11:19 AM PST Instead they are helping the loggers tear down Penan blockades to protect their native lands. "The whole world should know that we have given the logging companies four warnings already", Penan leaders (above) announced last week, after their blockade had been ripped down by the logging companies, backed by the police for the 4th time in a week.
Mental illness of greed Why are these gentle people being forced into such a perilous stand by this assault on their very existence and the remaining few trees left standing in Sarawak's Borneo Jungle? The reason lies with the terrible sickness of mind that now afflicts the Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. As we have demonstrated time and again on this site, Taib has run all the logging, plantations and exports from the state purely for his own enrichment. The land has been destroyed and the people are far worse off than before. Extremely valuable trees and resources have been plundered with the excuse of a 'development' that has never happened. Now Taib promises that his latest mega-project, SCORE, will provide the promised wealth to his people that logging and oil palm have failed to do. It will not. In fact, it can already be demonstrated that this entire project is also purely designed to push more public money (or worse, borrowed money) through companies run by his own family mafia. WTK – criminal conflicts of interest
Sarawak Report has already demonstrated the extensive links between Samling and Taib family concerns. All the crony timber tycoons have had to bribe heavily for their favoured status and permits from Taib to continue their psychopathic destruction of the jungle. We can now reveal how WTK's own shareholder lists expose the extensive and corrupted Taib family interests in that company. As major shareholders this means the Taibs benefit every time WTK cuts down a tree thanks to a permit from Taib. This is why it is a criminal conflict of interest for Taib to issue such permits (without tender) to companies where his close family are major shareholders. Marjaharta again To begin with the company Marjaharta, the main shareholder in CMS, which we demonstrated is controlled and to all purposes owned by Taib himself, has also been a major shareholder in WTK. Marjaharta started out 'belonging' to Taib's brother Onn Mahmud, but was then handed to Taib's sons in 2003 when Taib and Onn quarrelled. It has now been handed on again and put in the hands of Taib's daughters Jamilah and Hannifah! Jamilah has stated that she is just "a passive investor in Sarawak", yet Majaharta is investing in WTK which is actively destroying the rainforest. Another of the main shareholders in WTK has been Taib's other brother Tufail. Tufail remains the Director of one of WTK's subsidiaries Song Logging Company. We have already exposed how Tufail Mahmud was given shares in another major logging company Sanyan, which he attempted to conceal under proxies at the time that huge timber concessions were being granted by Taib to the company.
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| UMNO- dari Modal Insan ke Modal Lembu dan kemaraan Fascime UMNO Posted: 03 Dec 2011 09:48 AM PST Sebaliknya, ucapan yang berapi api dari pemimpin biasa sehinga pemimpin besar UMNO di dengar sebagai jeritan nyaring dan kasar pemimpin2 dari sebuah parti yang lebih mirip kepada kumpulan yang di pimpin oleh Benito Mussolini. Ini suara dari parti fasis! Ini pandangan saya mengenai PAU 2011. Ramai sudah pulang ke kampong halaman. Peniaga pun buat cheap sale saat akhir. Mungkin ada yang masih tingal di Kuala Lumpur sebab pemimpin mereka sudah bayar bilik dan beri duit belanja. Ini kelaziman para perwakilan. Apa sebetulnya yang mahu di cerna selama PAU 2011? Fikiran besar dan pengucapan yang bertanggung jawab? Pengucapan yang mengutamakan kesejahteraan negara keseluruhan nya? Tidak ada benda2 ini. Yang ada yang di cernakan ialah perkara perkara yang menyeramkan orang Melayu. Para perwakilan UMNO yang di sifatkan sebagai askar barisan depan UMNO di tanam dengan rasa cemas dan ketakutan. Orang Melayu terancam, mereka tidak selamat, harta benda mereka akan di rampas, kuasa mereka akan hilang, lambang2 budaya Melayu seperti insitusi raja akan di basmikan dan seumpamanya. Apa objektif cara ini? Pengawalan dan pengekangan keatas minda bangsa Melayu melalui cerita seram dan takut adalah cara sebuah parti yang fasis ( fascist) mengekalkan sokongan dan kuasa. Ia bukan amalan parti yang demokratik. Inilah yang sekarang terjadi keatas UMNO. The rise of UMNO fascism. Perkara yang paling di fikirkan oleh pimpinan UMNO ialah sama ada para perwakilan yang bermukim selama 4-5 hari di KL akan membawa api semangat yang di nyalakan selama mereka berkampung disini. Bolehkah rasa cemas yang di cipta selama 4-5 hari tersebut dan cerita2 yang menyeramkan mengenai ancaman terhadap bangsa Melayu, agama mereka dan rasa benci yang di di tanam, dapat mengekalkan momentum askar2 barisan depan UMNO tersebut? Pengekalan rangsangan emosi tersebut amat penting kepada pimpinan UMNO. Jika api rasa cemas, terancam dan marah jadi pudar, UMNO akan berada dalam bahaya. Jika perasaan itu terus membuak buak, maka UMNO ada peluang terus hidup.
Apakah yang akan di lakukan supaya perasaan tersebut di kekalkan? UMNO ada Ahmad Maslan untuk menentukan program menanam rasa benci dan sieged mentality Melayu berterusan. Maslan akan menjaja kesana sini bagaimana Islam terancam, orang Melayu berduyun duyun di kristiankan.
Kesemua alatan media pandang dengar dan penulisan akan di gembelingkan untuk menanam rasa benci , cemas dan ketakutan di kalangan orang Melayu. Dalam bulan2 yang akan datang, kita akan lihat pimpinan UMNO akan menjadi lebih bingung, bernada bermusushan dan rasis. Semua pemimpin UMNO akan mengatakan orang Melayu berada dalam bahaya dan terancam. Musuh orang Melayu, bangsa bangsa lain di ketuai oleh komrad Guang Eng and Kit Siang, di sokong oleh Mulla Hadi dan Ayatullah Nik dengan kerjasama dari gayboy Anwar Ibrahim semua sedang berkonspirasi mengambil alih kuasa orang Melayu, merampas segala hak, menghapuskan budaya Melayu dan memurtadkan orang Melayu. Semua wanita akan di paksa membeli coli RM 26 ribu, lembu2 di hantar mendiami One Menerung, atau the Troika di ibu kota. Untuk mengelak ini semua, UMNO mesti mengekalkan kuasa mutlak bagi pihak orang Melayu!. Kita akan lancarkan projek2 raksasa untuk meningkatkan kemajuan ekonomi. Kita akan agihkan projek2 tersebut sesame sendiri supaya ianya kekal di kalangan baka UMNO yang tulin. Apa ini semua? Ini cara kuasa fasis mengekalkan kuasa dan bukan cara negara yang bercakap besar mengenai mengujudkan demokrasi yang terbaik di dunia. Tapi apa sebenarnya bermain di benak para perwakilan dan para penyokong UMNO yang datang berkelana dan bermukim di ibu kota seminggu yang lalu? Ada mereka fikirkan dan kisahkan apa yang di bahas dalam dewan? Rasa nya mereka tak kisah pun. Beli belah saat akhir lagi penting. Malam akhir di ibu kota, mesti di manfaatkan semaksima mungkin. Tahun depan, kalau ada rezeki, boleh jadi perwakilan lagi. Kalau UMNO tidak jadi kerajaan, PAU mesti di adakan. Masa itu perwakilan akan korbankan mereka yang di anggap telah menyebabkan kekalahan UMNO.
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| Posted: 03 Dec 2011 06:28 AM PST It's also a favorite stop over for pirates, smugglers, mercenaries, illegal workers and the Darul Islam movement, whose roots can be traced back to Indonesia's independence almost 65 years ago. Since then, Darul Islam has spawned a litany of Muslim militant groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Most who pass through continue on, but some stay to stock-up on supplies, reload and plan for another day as authorities found out when 13 suspected terrorists were arrested in Tawau last month under the Internal Security Act. Among them were seven Malaysians, five Indonesians and a Filipino, all of whom were initially labeled as suspected members of JI and alleged to be gathering weapons and bomb making material from The Philippines to be used against the Singaporean Embassy in Jakarta. "The arrests…raise fresh concerns over the threat of a terrorist attack utilizing small arms and targeting foreigners," says Todd Elliott, a security analyst with Jakarta-based Concord Consulting. He also says that according to his sources, it was likely not the first time the Umar group had attempted to smuggle firearms into Indonesia from the southern Philippines, allegedly with the assistance of corrupt Philippines police officers and Umar's son, who is said to be a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group. Other plans included a plot to kidnap a police officer to exchange for other militants under detention and to "start activities that would be harmful to the country." The arrests and pending prosecutions have landed the authorities in an unwanted political mess.Local journalists and analysts have been warned not to speculate, and religious parties like PAS have been urged not politicize the arrests. Rights groups, meanwhile, are disturbed the police used the ISA to make the arrests after Prime Minister Najib Razak announced he would repeal the widely loathed law. The Sabah branch of the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) reacted strongly, saying all 13 were members or supporters and called on police to either release or charge them.Under the ISA, police can detain indefinitely without reason. PAS was rebuked for admitting foreigners to a Malaysian political party with Chai Kim Sen, Youth Secretary General of the Chinese dominated MCA, saying it "should be left to the police to decide whether the persons arrested are missionaries or terrorists." "The security of our country is at stake here…PAS and its allies in Pakatan Rakyat should not politicize the issue further by making up lies and distorting the truth," he added, referring to opposition groups.
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| Posted: 03 Dec 2011 06:26 AM PST There's little question that under his authoritarian tutelage, Malaysia was transformed from a largely plantation economy to an Asian "tiger" economy. His rule also saw a substantial reduction in overall poverty and through an affirmative action program on behalf of the majority Malay population, a significant improvement in their economic lot. There's no gainsaying his achievements in Malaysia. However, India's policymakers can safely ignore his advice about the need for placing constraints on democracy to boost economic growth. First, while authoritarianism may have worked well in Malaysia, it has produced rather unhappy results in many other parts of the world including in various resource-rich states. For example, Nigeria is awash in petroleum and other natural resources. However, authoritarian regimes have neither promoted growth or equity. Second, Malaysia has a total population under 30 million. Only a small handful of Indian states have a population less than that of Malaysia. Consequently, someone needs to remind him that scale does matter. Third, India did briefly experiment with authoritarianism under Indira Gandhi. The results were far from exemplary and resulted in her ouster the moment she chose to hold elections. Contrary to Mr. Mahathir, democracy isn't India's problem. The problem that plagues India is the inefficacy of its institutions. India's policymakers would be wise to safely ignore his counsel and instead focus their attention on making India's existing institutions more responsive to the vast and crying needs of its citizenry. http://the-diplomat.com/indian-decade/2011/12/03/mahathir-wrong-on-india/
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| Umno will never change: A blessing M’sia now has a two-party system Posted: 03 Dec 2011 06:06 AM PST This is a big letdown on their part. They are obviously on a defensive mode –- shielding the many issues affecting their leaders – personal, corruption and incompetency –- thinking that the delegates are 'village fools' who have come to listen to their side of the stories. They have under-rated the intelligence of the delegates and the people at large. One delegate from Johore snapped: "We are talking the same old stories. We want to be defensive on everything even though we have done many wrongs. We are not admitting all our wrongdoings. We just don't want to admit our mistakes. This is not the way for UMNO to win the Malay hearts. The people are not happy with many things going on in the country." The unpopular Youth leader To most of the delegates, the present UMNO AGM is more of the usual rhetoric – race, religion and the perceived or tenuous 'threats' of other races to the Malays and their rights and privileges. They forget that like the Malays, the non-Malays too have their rights and privileges in this country. The AGM seems to imprudently use the race platform to sock the Opposition on personal issues that their own leaders are worse at. They choose to deny interpolating on their leaders' wrongdoings but act like spotless saints preaching on the stage to 'mesmerize' the delegates into thinking that UMNO is 'God' and others are devils. Many in the audience though are not convinced with their daft rhetoric. The unpopular Youth leader and his team, as customary, had all the uncouth words for the Opposition and the marginalized 'social groups' in society. The people just could not understand why they should despise others using lexis like 'pondan', 'anak haram' and 'bapok'. What have these 'socially ostracised' people done to harm UMNO Youth? Could this be the product of ill breeding on UMNO Youth's part? The dim-witted Chief himself is trying hard to impress the top leadership but, unfortunately, in a very rough and ready manner. Little does he realise that his future and his chance of climbing up the political ladder in UMNO is already bleak. A delegate from Kedah had this to say of him: "If he were to contest for the same post again, he would lose." They yap on Malay survival thinking that only UMNO could represent the Malays. They fail to realise that PAS has become a more popular party among the young and educated Malays. They woof at the Chinese considering them as a big threat to the Malays when they themselves are working with MCA and Gerakan Chinese parties. Just because a Chinese from DAP is helming a thriving Penang they try to bilk the delegates into thinking that soon a Chinese will eye for the prime minister's post. UMNO will never underscore the fact that Penang never had a chief minister other than a Chinese since Merdeka. Thus, all the hue and cry at the AGM is just a hypocrisy. Helps make the Opposition stronger The delegates at the AGM will prefer not to touch on money politics, corruption, financial leakages at all levels of governance and management, the poor state of the country's economy, the feudal mindset of the Malays and the many social problems faced by the Malay race. These, startlingly, are not central to party leaders and delegates. They prefer to adopt to worthless rhetoric tinged with emotions and hatred for others. By bashing the Opposition is not going to drag UMNO out from quicksand. It only helps make the Opposition stronger. The rhetoric on Chinese threats on Malay power is not going to sell either. Malaysians in general realise that no Chinese or Indian is interested in becoming the prime minister of the country. It is not the solemn ambition of any non-Malay in this country to become the prime Minister. Their heartfelt aspiration is to see a serene Malaysia for all the people to cherish. Let an accomplished and righteous Malay lead them. A delegate from Melaka had this to say: " We should have spent more time debating on how to resolve the many social problems facing the Malays rather than condemning the Opposition or the Chinese. By attacking the Opposition we are actually giving credits and more sympathy for them using our platform." Only one state headed by Chinese UMNO AGM is again used to offend the non-Malays. An Indian Muslim Youth leader of UMNO from Penang bleated with hot air, despising the Chief Minister (CM) of Penang with all the disparaging words he has picked up from his parents. He must have forgotten that Penang was also under a Chinese CM since Merdeka and there has not been a slightest whinge on this issue before this. Why the yelping and bellowing now when the majority Muslims in Penang are comfortable with the present State Government? UMNO is indeed giving the wrong impression to the people that the Chinese will take over the country if UMNO is weak This is a weird and unfounded theory by UMNO rumour mongers and it has offended the Chinese who MCA and Gerakan are trying hard to woo for UMNO. UMNO is bound to lose more votes in the coming general election for this irrational statement by its nutty leaders. UMNO is ignoring the fact that Malaysia is what it is now in terms of economic development hugely due to the diligent Chinese. The illustrious city landscapes in the country are Chinese contributions to the nation. The economy of the country is flourishing immeasurably due to the assiduous Chinese. The Chinese do not disguise themselves to become 'Malays' or UMNO members to achieve economic progress. This is unlike what the people on the ground observe is happening within UMNO. UMNO is now taken over by pseudo-Malays disguising themselves as the 'Indigenous' people. This, supposedly, is more of a threat to the real Malays and the Indigenous than the unpretentious Chinese or Indians. The next general election will most probably see the Opposition taking over the government with a simple majority. UMNO or the Malays have nothing to fret about. The country will still see only one state headed by a Chinese CM and that is in Penang. Penang has been traditionally headed by a Chinese and the progress of the state goes well without saying. All other Malaysian states – in all probability – will be headed by Malay CMs or Menteri Besar. So in this circumstances, will there be any difference between Barisan and the Opposition political status quo in the country? The only difference will be that the Opposition would, by all accounts, be more competent, responsible and transparent in governance of the country, as already seen in the present four states controlled by them. The modern Malays are aware of this. Thus UMNO's inane rhetoric on the Chinese or DAP threat does not carry weight at all. This publicity stunt by UMNO will make them lose more votes to the Opposition in the next general election. They have failed to grasp the fact that DAP to PAS and PKR is more or less analogous to what MCA and Gerakan are to UMNO; PAS and PKR will be akin to UMNO –- representing the majority Malays. A delegate from Sabah rightly said: "When we are politically wrong we need to have it corrected and diligently find solutions to ensure that the other races are not offended. A two-party system augurs well for the country. This is a wake-up call for all parties. The best party will be the people's choice."
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| Are you sure Malaysia is still a democracy? Posted: 03 Dec 2011 06:04 AM PST To measure success, there has to be a bench mark or a comparison to a similar situation elsewhere; we cannot compare Malaysia with Malaysia, it will prove nothing. However today, Malaysia is at crossroads in almost every aspect of our daily lives and activities; social, religious, economy, education and politics. Which nation should be compared to Malaysia at this point of time as the situation is much worse than that expected? Lest, readers should jump on Singapore – it is in a league in a league of its own. A popular 'dictatorship' is indeed a real rarity. So, let's compare Malaysia with Russia, which has just only experienced democracy in 1990. Russia has also experienced turmoil, upheavals, revolutions and has also been bailed out twice – once by the USA to the tune of about USD1 billion to stabilize the rouble in 1996, and another by the IMF and Japan amounting to USD 22.6 billion in 1998 under President Boris Yeltsin. These bailouts were necessary to prevent the Russian economic meltdown which would have affected the world's economy. Snap shots of early post perestroika Russia compared with Malaysia today Immediately after communism was rejected by the Russians with the fall and disintegration of the USSR in 1990 under Mikhail Gorbachev with his perestroika, the country turned chaotic without a coherent system of running the country. But it is a norm during the transition period for any mass changes or revolution. Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak too has his own version of change – the Economic Transformation Program. In Gorbachev's Russia, those in power were the same people from the Communist party but in different clothes. The most peculiar aspect of the Russian problem was the mafiya who got things done for the authorities; in fact they controlled the authorities. They are the big criminals, the ones called vory v zakone – thieves in law! They have their mafiya lieutenants, the brodyagi – pit bulls – to harass any stubborn citizens. Our Polis Di Raja Malaysia and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission have apparently been acting that way too. Anyway, the pitbulls and the mafiya had the most advanced weapons, cars and all the good things in life that money could buy. The local government was so corrupt that fake items sold by street vendors were often of better quality then those supplied by government outlets. By the way, this has some similarity to Najib's Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia or KR1M products! Still, capitalism had arrived in Russia, wrapped in hope and glory. At that time though, it didn't seem as if it had come to save Russia, but to finish it off instead. The word "demokrad" grew to have two meanings; the first was obvious, the second was thief. Russia was then from its own citizens' point of view the vorovskoi mir – or thieves' world, and in which runs the krugovye poruki or family circle. This sounds quite familiar to the Shahrizat Jalil-family run NFC in Gemas but more so in terms of what the UMNO-BN government has done with our funds and resources thus far as one big family, helping themselves without being invited and often without permission. With capitalism, more foreigners continued to come to Russia and to be Russian is to be suspicious of foreigners. Look at what has happened in Malaysia – forreign workers fare better than many of the poorer Malaysians! The ordinary Russian citizens lamented, "It is one thing to be poor when you are building something. It is another thing to be poor so that some rich thief can get richer". Isn't the situation in Malaysia the same as this? Present day Russia Anyhow, that was before. The present day Russia has been able to get back its greatness, well at least it is much better off anyway, so much so that the Russian president was recently able to tell NATO-US that Russia would boost its strike nuclear capabilities if NATO refuses to cooperate with Moscow in the European missiles defense project. Contrast with Malaysia, who cannot even fire a single missile used by the RMAF fighter jets unless the US gave the password. This fact was admitted to by Mahathir not too long ago. We can't even control our borders against the tide of illegal immigrants marching in. A report in EUobserver in September this year that Russia is also in a position to help bail out another Eurozone economy. Eurozone member Cyprus is set to join Greece, Ireland and Portugal by seeking external aid to prop up its finances. But unlike the EU and IMF bail-out packages, its loans are to come from Russia with "no strings attached". In November, Reuters reported that Russia led a second USD 440 million bailout fund for Belarus part of a USD 3.0 billion package. Malaysia, on the other hand, may soon also be on the list of those who need bailing out. But by whom, is the question? The IMF? Won't it impose the strictest conditions with so many strings attached? Russia has also been able to tap its natural resources for development and its oil and gas are being supplied to almost all of the east European countries and many other natural resources are still waiting to be tapped. As for Malaysia's own natural resources – well, put it this way. We can't even get some decent discount although the country is a net exporter of oil!
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