Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Stop lying!
- Profusion of Ah Longs a sign of economic woes
- What happened to the RM29 million health clinic probe?
| Posted: 13 Aug 2011 10:43 AM PDT
By Tan Sri Robert Phang 1. The public outrage over Nazri Aziz's letter dated 8th August is justified. It is unprecedented and wrong for the Minister in the Prime Minister's Office to direct all Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) to withdraw their civil suits against former MAS Chairman, Tajuddin Ramli. I find it very appalling that a Minister of Nazri's seniority and status can direct GLCs to withdraw their claims against Tajuddin Ramli which means allowing him to get away with billions of ringgit in debt or RAKYAT MONEY. 2. Nazri's immediate back pedaling by attempting to say that his letter was only an "advice" and not a"directive" or "instruction" by itself shows that Nazri knew that he had made a grave error. Now that Malaysia Today has posted Nazri's letter, it clearly shows that Nazri had lied. To make a mistake is one thing, but to lie in order to cover up for that mistake makes it worse. 23. (1) Any officer of a public body who uses his office or position for any gratification, whether for himself, his relative or associate, commits an offence. (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an officer of a public body shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to use his office or position for any gratification, whether for himself, his relative or associate, when he makes any decision, or takes any action, in relation to any matter in which such officer, or any relative or associate of his, has an interest, whether directly or indirectly.
|
| Profusion of Ah Longs a sign of economic woes Posted: 12 Aug 2011 10:32 PM PDT All so-called anti-poverty actions are just ad-hoc programs. Solve this and this, and wait for the next one to surface! The government is confused because it doesn't have the financial capability to solve the problem and it doesn't understand all the factors affecting the economy. By Daniel John Jambun The decision by the Government Employees Co-operative Society Berhad (Kopeks) recently to settle debts owed by its members to Ah Longs to the hefty tune of RM500,000 made one wonder if Kopeks is not actually encouraging its members to go into debt, because it could easily bail them out anytime when the situation becomes critical. The bailout was a precedent that set a bad example of co-operative fund management. It also reminded us how bad the economic situation in the Sabah is right now. If government servants can go into serious debt in spite of earning salaries, imagine the situation for those without jobs, and those in the rural areas who have to live off the land just to keep body and soul together. In this period of high inflation even those with salaries are in fact living below the poverty line. If we still need to be convinced about the dire situation the people are facing, just let's note that the recent job fair organized by the BN got a surprising response of 30,000! And these only involved those who could afford to come. Many didn't even bother to come because they knew it was not worth the effort and cost to go. Part of the reasons for the state's poverty is the high unemployment rate among young school leavers and graduates. Many graduates actually survive by opening and operating kueh stalls, even taking on odd jobs. So the repeated advice to youths not to be choosy with jobs is actually a lot of nonsense knowing these young people, out of sheer desperation, are even going by the tens of thousands to Kuala Lumpur, Johore and Singapore to earn money. High unemployment in Sabah has also caused the existence of sandwich families, which the government has admitted to be very high in number. The term "sandwich family" can be defined, from my own observation, as the case of parents who have to house and feed their children who are already married and have their own children because of joblessness. Many families are not even having any celebration when their children get married because they are so cash-strapped! There is an ongoing, hidden depression going on in Sabah. They have suffered so long but have partly resigned to their fate knowing they is nothing they can do. The government has simply failed them. A fifty-ringgit note doesn't last very long, doesn't buy a lot these days. People have very little savings and for those who struggle to make ends meet, the money runs out long before payday. What is more depressing is that we all know the government has not an iota of a plan to solve the problem; all so-called anti-poverty actions are just ad-hoc programs. Solve this and this, and wait for the next one to surface! The government is confused because it doesn't have the financial capability to solve the problem and it doesn't understand all the factors affecting the economy - globally or locally. So they have become experts in coming up with lame explanations and playing the blame game, like they blame youths for being unemployed because "they are choosy". What a load of nonsense! So in desperation, the people who need to settle their financial problems have to resort to Ah Longs, or loan sharks. And loan sharks come to fill up the market because there is a huge need for their service. A profusion of loan sharks, the rise of MLMs, get-rich-quick schemes and gambling businesses are a clear indication of serious economic problems in any country. People need a way out to escape financial pitfalls and hope to fulfill their dreams by buying lottery tickets as a way to comfort their troubled souls. The latest way to become rich overnight today is to find the tokek lizard and make millions overnight! I would challenge the BN government to undertake a statistical survey of the situation and give us the accurate figures for unemployed secondary school leavers and graduates, the number of sandwich families and the grand total of amounts they spend from their parents' income, the number of Sabahans who are working in the Peninsular and Singapore, and most importantly to give an economic blueprint for Sabah to solve unemployment and poverty in the short term. Or is the government itself too cash-strapped to undertake these surveys? How much does it cost to pay IDS to do them compared to providing for some road buildings in which the cost are doubled of tripled for the benefit of some political bosses? How much money has been stashed overseas, robbing us of economic trickle-down effects? We can only imagine the terrible losses we have suffered and our children will suffer in the future because of our government's corruption and mismanagement! |
| What happened to the RM29 million health clinic probe? Posted: 12 Aug 2011 10:26 PM PDT The probe was completed last year but little birds in MCA have revealed that the probe papers, with about 28 letters and documents attached, had found the way to the MACC. Why is the MACC sitting pretty on the case with such mounting evidence is anyone's guess. But we don't really need a genius to tell us why. By Lee Kee No amount of money spent on public relations will regain the public's confidence in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) until it displays true justice and independence from the powers that be. The MACC's selective persecution and prosecution is so glaring to the public that only a mongoloid will believe it is a truly anti-graft agency. And, please don't rate its administration with Hong Kong's ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption). It's insulting. The Teoh Beng Hock tragedy continues to hog the limelight and public anguish had yet to die down after more than two Teoh's death was caused by the MACC. Whether its officers were directly or indirectly responsible, it is still unclear because of the cover ups. The public cannot stomach the fact that the MACC found it just to grill Teoh aggressively as a witness against his boss, a Selangor DAP executive councillor, over the purchase of Malaysian flags costing about RM2,000 plus for the Merdeka celebration. However, there are many cases which have resulted in millions, if not billions, of ringgit in losses to the government (read taxpayers). The infamous Port Klang Free Zone financial scandal is the biggest, running into billions of ringgit. Unfortunately, there is also another case involving MCA bigwigs running into millions but the MACC is just sitting on it. Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai had in 2009 ordered a probe into the purchase of land for Klinik Kesihatan Taman Ungku Aminah in Johor Baru (on Lot 44148, PTD71027 HS (D) 239701 Mukim Pulai, Johor Bahtu – about 7.448 acres). Until today, Liow has evaded and refused to clarify what has happened to the probe? Why the silence? Is Liow covering his MCA porn president Chua Soi Lek's arse? Or are there other reasons? The probe was completed last year but little birds in MCA have revealed that the probe papers, with about 28 letters and Why is the MACC sitting pretty on the case with such mounting evidence is anyone's guess. But we don't really need a genius to tell us why. A special purpose vehicle for the scam, Kurnia Heights Sdn Bhd, was set up to buy the land at about RM8 million plus and The directors and shareholders of Kurnia Heights have family ties to a Dato' Tee Siew Keong, the political secretary to the The probe papers revealed highly suspicious circumstances surrounding the transactions. Consider the following: Kurnia Heights shareholders included a Phua Tai Kiang, a brother-in-law of Dato' Tee Siew Keong's wife, Datin Lee Choon Guek, the political secretary of then Health Minister Dato' Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek; Kurnia Heights acquired a power-of-attorney after it signed a sale and purchase agreement with the original land owners, the Lee family of Maha Global Sdn Bhd for a sum of about RM8 million plus. The documents show a redemption sum of about RM4.065 million paid to the charge bank, RHB Bank Bhd, and about RM3.048 million paid to Maha Global directly with the usual Kurnia Heights is clearly a special purpose vehicle set up for the purpose of the land transaction as it did not have the cash reserve and assets to be able to transact such a large amount. No bank loans were taken by Kurnia Heights to finance the purchase. The company merely relied on the power-of-attorney to deal on behalf of Maha Global as against the BN government; Kurnia Heights obviously had prior and inside knowledge of the intended acquisition of land by the Government before the power-of-attorney and land purchase from Maha Global took place. The timing of the transactions i.e between the date of the purchase of land, which happened in October 2005, and the date of the gazette of land acquisition (and change from private There is no reason for an "investment holding" company such as Kurnia Heights to purchase the land which is restricted to private school use, before the gazette by the Government, unless it has prior and inside information that the Government had already decided to buy the land; The person by the name of Tee Yok Ong, who is a relative but is not a director or shareholder of Kurnia Heights was authorised to collect the cheque from the Government on behalf of the company; There were suspicious reports from Jabatan Penilaian dan Perkhidmatan Harta (JPPH) that indicated the land was over-valued; and Despite objections raised, the instruction to pay Kurnia Heights was given, as documented. Malaysia will surely be bankrupted in no time by the corrupt if the BN government is allowed to continue with such practices. Ultimately, the rakyat or taxpayers will have to bear the consequences. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan