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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Explain Tajuddin Ramli ‘bailout’, TI-M chief tells Putrajaya
- Tajuddin Ramli’s cases pushed to Sept 29, Umno lawyer stays mum
- Jeyakumar: Detention was horrible
- Putrajaya directs GLCs, Danaharta to drop all claims against Tajuddin Ramli
- Questions raised over RM388m govt complex
- Workers to ‘sweat’ to reduce govt power bills
- Mat Zain claims A-G interfered with forensic experts
- As economic crisis hits, election to be delayed - Dzulkefly
- It’s time for us to stop the rot
- ‘Mystery’ shrouded deal to save AirAsia?
- Living costs soaring globally, but Najib vows help to Malaysians
| Explain Tajuddin Ramli ‘bailout’, TI-M chief tells Putrajaya Posted: 11 Aug 2011 01:57 AM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Transparency-International Malaysia (TI-M) president Datuk Paul Low questioned the Najib administration's decision to settle all out-of-court suits between government-linked-companies (GLCs) and Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli, saying today Putrajaya has a duty to protect the public's interest. He was responding to The Malaysian Insider's report earlier today, citing de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's directive to all GLCs, including Danaharta and Malaysian Airlines (MAS), to drop all claims against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's poster boy for Bumiputera entrepreneurs as the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has agreed to settle the payment. "When they say settle something, exactly what does it mean? Nobody knows how it's to be settled or how much, on what basis and justification? Is the government paying on behalf of the GLCs? Is it a bailout? Who are parties involved? "Who instructed Nazri? Was it the Finance Ministry, the Cabinet or the prime minister? We don't know," Low told The Malaysian Insider when contacted. He reminded the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government that it was accountable for spending taxpayers' money. He said the government could not simply step into a legal dispute that involved a public-listed company, even if it had government ties; and added the government must show how the country and the public benefitted from such a decision. "This arrangement does not reflect well on the government. In good governance, the buck stops at the CEO, or the board of directors. The government has to answer," he added. The head of the local anti-graft watchdog urged Putrajaya to come clean on the decision, noting that it was a "test of good governance" for the ruling political coalition.
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| Tajuddin Ramli’s cases pushed to Sept 29, Umno lawyer stays mum Posted: 10 Aug 2011 07:02 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - The slew of multi-million ringgit suits and counter-suits involving Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli and government-linked companies (GLCs) has been postponed to September 29 following a controversial directive from Putrajaya for all parties to settle out of court. Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun has declined to discuss the issue although the Putrajaya directive by de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz mentioned that the former will represent all the GLCs. "In meeting (Sibu). Let it fizzle down 1st before we talk ... Sorry. Tqvm," he replied via text message this morning. Hafarizam also declined to confirm or deny if his firm was involved in the federal government deal, but pointed out that the name of his firm was misspelled. "I'm only guided by what is written in The Malaysian Insider," Hafarizam said later, before adding: "For this, I've to remain non-committal. Hope you understand. Let the lawyers acting for the GLCS and Tajuddin Ramli sort it out first. Anything I say now will have an impact". The Malaysian Insider reported this morning that Putrajaya has directed all GLCs, including Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and the national debt restructuring company Danaharta, to cease all civil suits against Tajuddin (picture), the former chairman of the national carrier and protégé of Tun Daim Zainuddin. Nazri, a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had agreed to settle all outstanding claims against Tajuddin, a poster boy of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's plan to groom Bumiputera entrepreneurs. "This is to inform you that the government of Malaysia and the Finance Ministry have agreed to settle all civil claims against Tan Sri Datuk Tajuddin Ramli and others to be withdrawn immediately in view of the fact that the government and the Finance Ministry have agreed that the said cases will be settled out of court. "For your information, the government has given me the mandate to act for the government in this matter," Nazri said in the letter sighted by The Malaysian Insider. But the minister made no mention of the terms of settlement with Tajuddin.
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| Jeyakumar: Detention was horrible Posted: 10 Aug 2011 04:19 PM PDT
The PSM leader recalls his 28-day ordeal and speaks about his party's plans for the next election and its relationship with Pakatan Rakyat. (Free Malaysia Today) - Despite the grassroots popularity that he and his party enjoy, Dr Michael D Jeyakumar does not want Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) to scramble for seats to contest in the coming general election. "It is important for the opposition to be united," he told FMT. "We do not want to split votes or cause three-cornered fights. We also don't want to be the cause of any fights within the opposition." He said PSM fully supported Pakatan Rakyat when it came to fighting Barisan Nasional (BN). But he added that this did not mean it agreed with all of the opposition alliance's policies. "For example, when it comes to trade agreements, some opposition parties are always enthusiastic, but PSM feels we should be more discerning." The Sungai Siput MP also spoke about his recent 28-day incarceration at the Batu Caves detention centre, describing it as "horrible". "Nobody beat us up," he clarified, "but being deprived of freedom, being unsure as to when they'd release us or allow us to see our families, not being allowed reading material, wondering who they'd arrest next… It was horrible." During the detention, the police allowed his family to visit him only three times, and each of those visits lasted only about 15 minutes. Jeyakumar was one of the six detainees who became known collectively as EO6. They were arrested on June 25 with 24 other PSM members and remanded for seven days, accused of trying to wage war against the King and to revive communism. Upon their release from remand on July 2, police rearrested the six under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), which allows for the detention of suspects for up to 60 days. The public quickly rallied around them, making heavy use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to voice disapproval of the government action. A shock Jeyakumar said he and his fellow detainees were interrogated daily during their incarceration and he found the process "frustrating" because the police were apparently not interested in finding out the truth. They seemed more interested in making the detention serve as a warning to anti-BN groups, he added. The six are now facing charges under the Internal Security Act and the Societies Act. They are accused of supporting an illegal society – Bersih 2.0 – and disseminating propaganda on its behalf. Jeyakumar called this turn of events "quite a shock" and said the bail set – RM8,000 – was punitive, considering PSM's lack of financial resources. He accused the government of trying to scare the people from voicing out dissenting opinions. "Making us a scapegoat just stemmed from wanting to repress the public," he said. "A sensible government would have engaged us instead of using scare tactics." During their detention, the EO6 were separated from each other. Jeyakumar said a normal day started with fingers of light creeping through a frosted glass window high above his head. "It was very warm," he said. Breakfast was a bun and teh-O. This was followed by a visit to the medical assistant, who would check his blood pressure and other vital signs. He would then be cuffed and blindfolded and interrogated about Bersih 2.0, PSM's funding and its alleged links to communist parties. "They didn't want to listen," said Jeyakumar. "They just wanted to try and make links." A brief lunch of rice, vegetables and meat would follow, after which questioning would usually begin again. He was interrogated for between three and six hours a day.
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| Putrajaya directs GLCs, Danaharta to drop all claims against Tajuddin Ramli Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:34 PM PDT
By Leslie Lau, The Malaysian Insider Putrajaya has directed all government-linked companies, including Malaysia Airlines and the national debt restructuring company Danaharta, to cease all civil suits against Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli, the former chairman of the national carrier and protege of Tun Daim Zainuddin, according to documents obtained by The Malaysian Insider. In a letter sent this month to the GLCs and Danaharta by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the GLCs and Danaharta were informed that the Finance Ministry had agreed to settle all outstanding civil suits against Tajuddin, a poster boy of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's plan to groom Bumiputera entrepreneurs. "This is to inform you that the government of Malaysia and the Finance Ministry has agreed to settle all civil claims against Tan Sri Dato Tajuddin Ramli and others to be withdrawn immediately in view of the fact that the government and the Finance Ministry have agreed that the said cases will be settled out of court. "For your information the government has given me the mandate to act for the government in this matter," Nazri said in the letter sighted by The Malaysian Insider. At least one government agency is expected to withdraw its claims against Tajudin in court today. Nazri's letter also directs the lawyers acting for the GLCs and Danaharta to hand over their cases to the firm of Hasfarizam Wan and Aisha Mubarak, a known Umno lawyer. But the minister made no mention of the terms of settlement with Tajuddin. Tajuddin was a protege of Daim, the close friend of Dr Mahathir and ex-finance minister who was the architect of the now discredited policy of nurturing a class of Malay corporate captains on government largesse. Individuals such as Tajuddin, Tan Sri Halim Saad and others flew high in the 1990s but their true mettle was tested during the Asian financial crisis. Nearly all of them fared poorly. The Najib government's move to settle all outstanding claims against Tajuddin appears to be an attempt to wipe the slate clean in a financial saga that goes back decades to the height of Dr Mahathir's administration. First police report in 2002 MAS had first lodged a police report against Tajuddin in 2002 for allegedly causing the flag carrier to suffer losses in excess of RM8 billion. Tajuddin was the executive chairman of the airline from 1994 to 2001. According to a report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), a major contributor to the record losses under Tajuddin was the relocation of MAS's cargo operation in Amsterdam and Frankfurt to a single hub in Hahn, Germany, where the airline was forced to enter into a disadvantageous aircraft lease contract with a company, which was later linked to Tajuddin's family. The new cargo hub operation had caused MAS to suffer losses of between RM10 million and RM16 million a month before the project was terminated after the government regained control of MAS in 2001. The termination resulted in a RM300 million arbitration claim against MAS by the company. MAS has had a turbulent past decade after the government bought back the airline from the former corporate high-flyer at RM8 per share or about double the market price at the time. The airline was at the time saddled with a debt reported to be RM9.5 billion.
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| Questions raised over RM388m govt complex Posted: 10 Aug 2011 03:14 PM PDT By Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: The state government has been urged to explain the urgency and lack of transparency in awarding a RM388 million contract to build a Sabah State Administrative Centre (Phase 1) at Likas Bay. Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) information chief Chong Pit Fah said this was only appropriate since Sabah, which has been declared the poorest state in the country, has more pressing matters to solve. "What real benefit does it bring to the rakyat of Sabah? Certainly the funds of such magnitude could be put to better use to eradicate poverty and to improve the infrastructure in the state, rather than for a lavish office for the ministers," he said. The decision to go ahead with the mega project has raised questions over the true financial status of the state government given that it had issued a RM544 million bond in 2009 to raise capital for the Sabah Development Bank, a clear testimony that the government was cash-strapped. The state Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition government under Chief Minister Musa Aman has however claimed it has RM2 billion in reserves. According to local Chinese vernacular newspapers, Assistant Local Government and Housing Minister, Edward Yong has also questioned the timing of the project. Chong agreed with the assistant minister's assessment. "Why now? Is it because this project is being used to channel political funds for the BN?" he asked in a statement issued here yesterday. He said the state government should be more prudent in spending public money. |
| Workers to ‘sweat’ to reduce govt power bills Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:57 PM PDT By Syed Jaymal Zahiid, FMT PUTRAJAYA: The government is seeking to slash its hefty power bills by reducing the use air conditioners in all its buildings. It is also mulling to stretch the policy to the private sector. Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui today said the move would see the government's utility costs slashed in an estimated four to seven percent for every degree of temperature reduced from the total amount spent on air-conditioning in federal buildings. Roughly about 40% of Putrajaya's electricity bill goes to air-conditioning, revealed Chin further. |
| Mat Zain claims A-G interfered with forensic experts Posted: 10 Aug 2011 02:00 PM PDT
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim has continued his attacks on Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, claiming today that the Attorney-General has caused the public to lose faith in government inquests and inquiries due to his alleged interference in testimony made by forensic experts.
The former city criminal investigation chief said today that Dr Abdul Rahman Yusof, the forensic expert in former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's black-eye probe that Mat Zain had headed, "was willing to prepare three false reports according to orders by Gani Patail." "We cannot blame the public if they have lost confidence in government pathology and forensic experts... ridiculing and abusing their opinions in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest and royal commission of inquiry (RCI) and also the inquest of Ahmad Sarbaini Mohamad," he wrote in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police. Doubts have been raised over testimony by experts from government hospitals and the Chemistry Department in the recent cases of Teoh and Ahmad Sarbaini, a former DAP aide and senior Customs officer respectively, who both plunged to their deaths at different Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) offices. Early this year, a coroner's inquest into Teoh's death had returned an open verdict ruling out both suicide and homicide some 18 months after his fatal fall at the Selangor MACC office. The Najib administration was forced to form an RCI, which also found that Teoh had committed suicide. Mat Zain said today that Dr Abdul Rahman had prepared three "expert reports", all of which contradicted one other "without making any physical examination on the patient." "This means Dr Abdul Rahman prepared those reports using his imagination and based on just photos and reports of other experts, without any discussing with them or the investigating officer of the case," he wrote. He claimed the first and second reports had been presented to the RCI on Anwar's assault, but that the first report later "disappeared" when the final report was presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. "Maybe Gani Patail or Dr Abdul Rahman themselves can explain this disappearance given that they both are interested parties in this report," he said. Mat Zain also called on police chief Tan Sri Ismail Omar to open investigations into this case since the police force has said it is investigating false reports of police brutality in the July 9 Bersih rally. He added that "various parties (including himself), the loudest being the Bar Council, are also pressing for authorities to take action against MACC officers who gave false testimony" in the Teoh Beng Hock RCI.
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| As economic crisis hits, election to be delayed - Dzulkefly Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:52 PM PDT
(Harakah Daily) - Prime Minister Najib Razak will delay the 13th general election due to current global economic turmoil, according to PAS's Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad. "I find it hard to accept that Najib will be bold enough to hold snap elections in September. The global demand will shrink and the national growth will also be affected as a result. So, I am confident that prime minister will not call for general election this year," he said. |
| It’s time for us to stop the rot Posted: 10 Aug 2011 01:13 PM PDT (The Star) - Five push one equals four. Mix A with B, then disturb the solution. Don't get it? Replace "push" (tolak) with "subtract" and "disturb" (kacau) with "stir". That's how far English has deteriorated in schools. And that is just scratching the surface. Hence, the Deputy Prime Minister's recent call for solutions to the poor mastery of English among students despite 13 years of learning it in school is a cry after the hearts of many. It's been the perennial lament of parents, institutions of learning, employers – and teachers. We have all seen, heard and suffered the decline of English proficiency for years now, three decades to be precise – after the switching of the medium of instruction from Bahasa Malaysia to English. Countless proposals, blueprints and programmes, including flip-flop policies, have been implemented to rectify the problem but the malignancy seems to have spread far and wide. Is it too late to get our act together and put our money where our mouth is? Is the Government – and politicians – willing to put our children's English proficiency ahead of our insecurity about our national language Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue? We must strive to keep politics out of the classroom, though we know it is easier said than done. We need proficient teachers to build the students' language foundation at primary level and develop it further at secondary level. Unfortunately, we have a huge cohort of English teachers who themselves need lessons, what more teach. Are they to blame? No, they are the products of our policy change and the adoption of the Communi-cative English syllabus which stresses that it's fine as long as the "meaning comes through". We need to keep and reward teachers who are skilled and can make the difference so that the vicious cycle doesn't keep repeating. The rot has to stop or our low proficiency students will continue to beget low proficiency teachers. Singapore, on the other hand, works to attract some of its best brains into the teaching profession by paying them competitive salaries and keeping them through incentives like fast track promotions, leadership allowances, performance-based bonus and work attachments. As for our exam-oriented society, our students need to be challenged. Make it compulsory to pass English to obtain the SPM certificate – as is the case for Bahasa Malaysia – and they'll flock to tuition centres for extra classes. It works with Bahasa, it'll work with English. Students in rural schools who do not see the economic value of English in securing jobs or fear using the language need to be tackled differently. Unfortunately, the Government has largely adopted a one size fits all policy, which holds back the high achievers to prevent the gap from growing too wide between them and the laggards. The PPSMI is a case in point. Give autonomy to schools to teach the subjects in English if their teachers are proficient and the students capable. Why make everyone learn Maths and Science in Bahasa to keep the rural schools on the same page? Be innovative, allow bilingualism for as long as it takes for schools to find their respective levels. There is no need to rush the weak, but instead, let the proficient move forward, not backwards. Perhaps, the Government should consider holding a referendum on whether we should bring back English-medium schools – a place where unity thrived. Let parents and other stakeholders have a bigger say in their children's education. Be less prescriptive, allow schools to decide if there should be more contact time or teaching periods for English in the timetable. Send the best teachers to schools where they are sorely needed, instead of assigning three Guru Cemerlang for English to a premier school! There are many factors that contribute to our low proficiency but we should stop using piecemeal measures. It's time to get down to the serious business of making our schoolchildren masters of the English language. |
| ‘Mystery’ shrouded deal to save AirAsia? Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:58 PM PDT By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, FMT The boss of Khazanah Nasional says that the MAS-AirAsia deal is, among other things, "not a bail-out" of MAS. Well, we have questions for him. Firstly, why was this deal worked out in the first place? Why AirAsia? Isn't AirAsia operating at some 40 times its price earning (PE) ratio? Looking at its numbers and the fundamentals, the high PE could mean that AirAsia stocks are overpriced. That may mean some boys are cooking up the numbers to set up the market and make killings. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said MAS "can learn" from AirAsia on ways to cut costs. Does that mean all those damned exercise carried out by former MAS chief Idris Jala wasn't enough? Why don't we learn from Singapore Airlines or Qatar Airlines? Oh… we want to learn from our home-grown talent will be the likely answer. Commissions, commissions So what can we learn from AirAsia? Let's look at the home-grown talent's (AirAsia) records. As of the first quarter of 2011, AirAsia debts amounted to RM7.7 billion with cash balances amounting to RM1.7 billion. This part doesn't require teaching for MAS. Its executives are renowned masters. Let's see further. In August 2010, AirAsia announced a deferment of its proposed aircraft purchases but sometime in June 2011 it reversed its decision and proceeded to place an order for an additional 200 new aircraft at the Paris Air Show. No big deal, we can order as many as we want. Possibly the commissions earned from the purchases dwarfed the one earned from the Scorpene submarines. As of March 31, 2011 (first quarter report), AirAsia's capital commitments stood at RM19 billion. With the latest announcement, an additional RM54 billion will be added as capital commitments. The proposed capital commitments of about RM74 billion will be spread over a 15-year period ending 2026. In other words, AirAsia has to increase its earnings to an average of RM5 billion per annum to meet its future dues. From 2006 to 2010, AirAsia's revenue grew by ten-fold from RM110 million to roughly RM1.1 billion. This is an average growth of RM 200 million per annum. Now how will it reach RM5 billion? This, we will see in the coming months when AirAsia rationalises all its routes and what not. AirAsia's cash reserves rose six-fold from approximately RM300 million to RM1.7 billion. But its debts skyrocketed from RM1.05 billion in 2006 to RM7.7 billion in 2010, an increase of 700%. Surely this looks like a debt burden that is spiralling out of control. Scheming Fernandes This AirAsia-MAS deal is signed, sealed and delivered at an onerous and ominous time. The world economy, including Asia's, will be heading into another maelstrom and air travel will invariably be hit. So what can be done? One, AirAsia can cancel orders but contract penalties will be onerous. AirAsia wouldn't want to pay penalties, would it? The debt with Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAB) too, it dragged on for what seemed to be forever. That option is no go. But then why would anyone want to forfeit commissions (from the purchase of new planes)? Also, AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes is probably thinking along what economist John Keynes said: "When you are a big borrower, the banks are scared of you." So as a big borrower, Fernandes feels that size does matter after all! He thinks it will shield him from foreclosure as banks will be wary of bearing heavy losses! But also, a sizeable chunk of those loans are being held by Malaysian banks and in the worst-case scenario, the government and the taxpayers will have to pick the tab to avert a financial meltdown cascading down the AirAsia slope. Now let's take a look at MAS, currently the whipping boy but which is instrumental to further the game being played by Khazanah boss Azman Mokhtar and gang. MAS has a paid-up capital of RM3.384 billion and has a fixed asset value of RM8.4 billion. Its net asset is at RM 6.962 billion, where cash constitutes RM 2.086 billion. Compare that to the position of AirAsia, which we have pointed out above. AirAsia has borrowings of up to RM7.7 billion and its cash position is RM1.7 billion. In an earlier article, we pointed out that AirAsia has a record of being a bad debtor. It once owed MAB over RM65 million and whenever actions were taken against them, AirAsia would run to their chief counsel, former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. |
| Living costs soaring globally, but Najib vows help to Malaysians Posted: 10 Aug 2011 12:49 PM PDT
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider Datuk Seri Najib Razak has told Malaysians to "face the fact" that rising cost of living is a global trend as the country continues to grapple with surging inflation. Although the prime minister promised to help ease the burden of rising prices on the public, he said "Malaysians must face the fact that world prices are unlikely to return to the levels of five years ago." "We are not the only ones faced with this problem, and we are certainly not the worst affected. We will devise the best strategies to ease the rakyat's burden while managing the country's economic development," he wrote on his blog in the 1 Malaysia website. Promising to continue subsidies which are already among the highest in the world, Najib said that Budget 2012, to be tabled in October, would focus on managing inflation as per the administration's new National Key Results Area on cost of living. "The government will continue to provide subsidies for daily travel, meals and health bills," he wrote. Public concern over price hikes has been heightened further as Putrajaya raised the price of fuel, sugar and electricity in June, a move it said was necessary to avoid the subsidy bill from doubling to RM21 billion. The Najib administration has committed itself to trim 2009's two-decade high budget deficit of 7 per cent but is under pressure to contain inflation which hit a two-year peak in March of 3 per cent before continuing to rise to 3.5 per cent in June.
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