Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Guess who is Perkasa's guest of honour
- No chance for MPs to debate A-G’s Report
- University suspends Aziz Bari
- Anwar cries foul over delay in Najib-Rosmah subpoena appeal
- Penang touted as model for Pakatan to take Putrajaya
- Bishop hails trio for stand against Himpun rally
- MCA and hudud: Part 2
- Reforms lift Malaysia to 18th in doing business ranking
- Iskandar records RM78bil investment
- M’sia secures RM10bil Bangladesh jobs
- First Report On Review Of Education System To Be Ready By Year-End
- Losing the numbers game
- New line-up tailored to suit Taib’s agenda
- Umno distances itself from attacks on Guan Eng’s son
- UMNO blogs cropped photo of chess player to accuse Guan Eng's son
| Guess who is Perkasa's guest of honour Posted: 20 Oct 2011 01:21 AM PDT (Harakah Daily) - UMNO offshoot Perkasa will be having its annual assembly and Malaysians may finally be able to see its members gathering in large numbers, a sight many have been waiting for amid repeated yet-to-be-fulfilled claims of the group's wide following. But the large crowd is not the only attraction promised by Perkasa's incorrigible chief Ibrahim Ali. "Bapa anjing" Hours later, he was to tell the media that Anwar was "safe and sound" under police custody, only to be shockingly proven otherwise when the one-time acting prime minister appeared in public days later sporting a black eye. In comic exchanges with Anwar's counsel Karpal Singh at a Royal Commission of Inquiry set up amid public outrage over the 'black eye', Rahim claimed that he was provoked by Anwar who called him "bapa anjing" (father of dog). He claimed that he entered Anwar's cell and had wanted to remove Anwar's blindfold, but before he could do so, Anwar said "ni, bapa anjing" ("here comes the father of dogs"), at which point, he slapped Anwar on the right and left side of his face. Karpal then reminded that Anwar was blindfolded, and questioned if Anwar could have possibly made such remarks, unless he had smelt the canine.
Now 68, Rahim (pic) had largely been out of public view since then, until recently when he made a comeback after being recruited to counter PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu's revisionist view of Malaya's history of independence.
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| No chance for MPs to debate A-G’s Report Posted: 19 Oct 2011 04:02 PM PDT By Patrick Lee, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: With no sign of the Auditor-General's (A-G) Report in sight, Pakatan Rakyat MPs will not be able to effectively debate the 2012 Budget. According to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, it would be too late for MPs to scrutinise the budget, even if the report were to be tabled in Parliament next Monday. "Today is the last day that MPs have been given an opportunity to debate the budget, with the winding-up (of the budget) on Monday." "Going through the report would require a team to work, analyse and study…We will not have an opportunity with (the winding-up) on Monday at 10am. "It's not going to be easy… You must have the report tabled so that the MPs can debate. "I lost that opportunity because as opposition leader, I was not privy to the report," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here. Reflecting on his years as finance minister, Anwar said that ministries did not know the contents of the A-G Report until it was tabled in Parliament. He is worried that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's administration may try to tamper with the contents of the report. "I have no evidence to support that argument, but I have raised some concerns: why the inordinate delay, why there is no explanation," he said. In previous years, the A-G's Report – which details the country's current economic status – was usually presented before the annual budget was tabled. The report also highlights the country's many financial irregularities, which have come as an embarrassment to the government. However, this year's report has not been released to MPs and it has been more than one week since Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak unveiled Budget 2012. Last week, Sungai Petani MP (PKR) Johari Abdul claimed that he had called the A-G's Office, only to find out that the report had already been sent out.
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT By K Pragalath, FMT PETALING JAYA: Constitutional law professor Aziz Bari has been suspended until further notice by International Islamic University (IIUM). The suspension comes in the wake of his comments in an Oct 12 Malaysiakini article entitled "Aziz Bari: Tidak salah kritik Raja-raja' (Aziz Bari: Not wrong to criticise the Rulers)." Among others, Aziz offered the view that the Sedition Act 1948 doesn't criminalise an individual for comments made against a sultan. The law professor gave his views in relation to the Selangor Sultan's decree on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church's (DUMC) row with the Islamic Affairs Department (JAIS). Aside from suspension by the university, Aziz has also been issued a show-cause letter. "I have been given until next Tuesday to respond to the show-cause letter," said Aziz, who has been lecturing on law for the past 22 years. Aziz is represented by two lawyers in this case – Hanipa Maidin and Zulqarnain Luqman. According to Zulqarnain, the action against Aziz was taken in accordance with Rule 15(1) of the Staff Disciplinary Rules 2005 in IIUM.
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| Anwar cries foul over delay in Najib-Rosmah subpoena appeal Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:56 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim questioned today the Court of Appeal's delay in hearing his appeal to compel Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife to testify in the Sodomy II trial. The Opposition leader said the High Court has already set November 23 to hear closing statements before ruling on the sodomy charge levelled against him but that he was still asking for the prime minister and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to testify in the trial that began 18 months ago. "I don't want to delay the case any further but the Court of Appeal should hear my appeal (before closing statements). In other cases, appeals are disposed of quickly," he said. The PKR de facto leader said the matter raised questions over the judiciary's credibility, especially in light of allegations that Court of Appeal judge Datuk Abdul Malik Ishak plagiarised judgments in 2000 when he was still a High Court judge. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs have filed a motion in Parliament to refer Abdul Malik to a tribunal. "Now his career depends on Umno, so he will support his political masters all the way, compromising the independence of the judiciary," Anwar said. Judge Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled on October 6 that Anwar's lawyers had failed to prove "relevancy" in issuing a subpoena to the PM and his wife.
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| Penang touted as model for Pakatan to take Putrajaya Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:55 PM PDT By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — A report on US newswire Bloomberg today described what it called Lim Guan Eng's achievement of turning Penang into Malaysia's "biggest economic success" as a boost to Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) claim to be a viable alternative to the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government. The financial news and data service provider heaped praise on the first-term chief minister from DAP, saying that within two years of his tenure, the country's second smallest state had turned into Malaysia's top destination for foreign manufacturing and investment. This, it added, was achieved despite the fact the government, under Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had chosen to focus more federal support on states like Johor and Sarawak, where BN's influence is stronger. It pointed out that under Najib's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the federal government is promoting RM65.8 billion worth of private sector-led projects for Johor and only RM375 million for Penang. Without federal power, however, Bloomberg noted that Lim's hands are tied when it comes to offering tax breaks for investors or selling government bonds as both are controlled by the ruling administration. "So it plans to use revenue from local land levies to build more roads and a third bridge linking the island to its mainland territories," the report said, citing Lim. "Lim's speed in closing deals ... is helping Penang achieve what every Malaysian prime minister has sought since Mahathir Mohamad started his Multimedia Super Corridor technology zone...," the report said. "Lim, 50, the country's only ethnic-Chinese state leader, embodies the contrast between Penang's business transparency and the four-decade-old policies of the ruling party that favour Malays, which the World Bank says undermine competitiveness." The article also highlighted the observations made by Ooi Kee Beng, of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, that Malaysia's efforts at wooing investors may have been hampered by the government's affirmative action policies and "preferential treatment" of Bumiputeras in terms of jobs, contracts, education and cheaper housing. "We've been sleeping," the article quoted Ooi, the Penang-born author of "Era of Transition: Malaysia after Mahathir", as saying. "Penang now has a chance to show that if you have good governance, and if you put fairness and justice as your main qualities, free of race considerations, that is actually the way to go for Malaysia." The article also pointed to Malaysia's brain drain problem spurred by "racial policies", as highlighted recently by World Bank senior economic Philip Schellekens. In its latest Malaysia Economic Monitor report, the World Bank had said the migration of talent out of Malaysia undermines the country's aspiration to become a high-income nation. "Discontent with Malaysia's inclusiveness policies is a key factor," Bloomberg quoted the report as saying. "Productivity and inclusiveness lie at the heart of Malaysia's transformation programmes. Implementing these forcefully will go a long way towards turning the brain drain into a gain."
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| Bishop hails trio for stand against Himpun rally Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:09 PM PDT (FMT) - PETALING JAYA: Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing today hailed PAS, PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim and MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek for "taking sane stances in the face of deliberate attempts to stoke anti-Christian hysteria." The head of the Catholic Church for the Malacca-Johor diocese, reached in Bangkok where he is attending a meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference(FABC), said: "I've been following the developments in Malaysia on the internet and would like to salute PAS for declining to be involved in the upcoming rally in Shah Alam on Saturday," said the Jesuit-trained prelate who is concurrently president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia. "Further, I hail Anwar Ibrahim for having the courage to state there is no threat of Christianization of Muslims in Malaysia and salute Dr Chua Soi Lek for boldness in expressing the view that the rally would heighten tensions between Muslims and Christians and for that reason should be stopped." Bishop Tan said he was of the view that citizens wanting to gather together in a cause should not be prevented but "the Himpun rally appears headed towards stoking anti-Christian hysteria." "Judging from the campaign waged by some sections of the mainstream media and blogs you would think Muslims in Malaysia in droves are being covertly converted to Christianity," Bishop Tan said. "This is only true in the fevered imagination of the Harussani Zakarias' of this country and not anywhere else," added the bishop.
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:05 PM PDT By Stanley Koh, FMT What is the role of religions in politics? Is Islam compatible with democracy? How do we deal with the conflicts between the constitutional provisions for fundamental liberties and equality with religious laws and policies that may violate them? Should the state legislate on morality? Is it the duty of the state to bring about a more moral society? Can there be one truth and one final interpretation of Islam that must be legislated and govern the lives of every Muslim citizen of the country? These were some of the questions raised in 2001 at a MCA-organised forum attended by Dr Hamid Othman of the Prime Minister's Department, Shad Saleem Faruqi of Universiti Teknologi Mara, Zainah Anwar of Sisters in Islam and representatives of the Inter-Religious Council of Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. The forum came in the midst of public disquiet over then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's declaration, in September 2001, that Malaysia was an Islamic state. Many Malaysians were confused and quite a number were in fear that the country would eventually be run like a Taliban state. Hamid, whose job was to advise the PM's Department on religious matters, said he did not have answers to the questions raised. "I would like a dialogue to begin on these very important issues," he said. "This dialogue and debate have begun, particularly in Muslim countries like Iran and Indonesia. And the search for answers and solutions cannot be the exclusive preserve of the ulamas. "All citizens have the right to engage in this dialogue and in this debate because nothing less than the future of this nation is at stake. The peace, political stability and prosperity, the celebration of our rich, multiracial and multireligious heritage that we have enjoyed, must be the heritage that we leave to our children." Why did Mahathir make the surprising declaration? Veteran political observers interpreted it as purely and simply a move to outdo PAS in the completion for Malay voting support. They said Mahathir had no other considerations apart from the political. Some interpreted it as a desperate political manoeuvre occasioned by increasing support for PAS as that party pushed its own brand of Islamic Malaysia, one that would include hudud punishments under Islamic law. MCA's stand BN's major component parties, particularly MCA, were caught in a bind. To its credit, MCA organised the forum on short notice to seek clarification and answers to end the confusion and fears. What was the MCA president's own response to Mahathir's declaration? Dr Ling Liong Sik claimed that many non-Muslim leaders supported the prime minister's position. The following were the exact words he used at the forum, as recorded on tape: "Can I say my personal point of view? Now throughout the world, there's conflict, struggle, war between the moderates and the extremists. In any society, sometimes even within the religious society—you name them—fundamentalists, some moderates, some of them reasonables. "Now in Malaysia, we, in BN, are taking the moderate-centre stand. We try to discuss everything between races. That is why we have invited religious councils to give your views. Now we know, we know, the erosion of Malay support is serious. "It is serious. And in Selangor, previous election, let us say in Shah Alam, won by 41,000 votes. Last election (1999), dropped to 2,400 votes. In Gombak, previous election won by 30,000-over votes, but last election, kalah 800 votes.
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| Reforms lift Malaysia to 18th in doing business ranking Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT By Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — Malaysia jumped five spots to 18th from 23rd in the World Bank's ranking for 2012 in ease of doing business on the back of Putrajaya-led reforms, says Pemudah, government's business facilitation taskforce. Singapore topped the list, followed by Hong Kong, while Malaysia came in fifth among all East Asian economies after Korea and Thailand. This comes after the nation regained its 21st place ranking in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index this year after falling to 26th in 2010. Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, co-chair of Pemudah and chief secretary to the government, said the World Bank rankings showed that the reform measures implemented by the Najib administration was starting to show results. He urged public and private sectors to be mindful of competition and to keep improving. "There are new entrants into the ranking and the existing ones are advancing in leaps and bounds in their improvements," he said in a media statement. "We need to not only augment our services, but to do so in giant steps." RAM Ratings chief economist Yeah Kim Leng said the rise in the widely followed rankings showed that Malaysia's reforms were showing tangible results. "It will boost sentiment and lead to further impetus for transformation," he said. "It is good that within a year or two the government has achieved significant strides." Yeah cautioned, however, that the challenge now was to ensure that the improved rankings translated to higher foreign and domestic investment as well as to also improve Malaysia's ranking in Transparency International's corruption perception index. "If we can do that, then it will trigger a deluge of investment and the first world, high income status would be within reach," he said. "We have the infrastructure and the resources; we now need to enhance the operating environment and combine it with the right policies." Malaysia ranked 56th on Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index in 2010, which was unchanged from its 2009 ranking. The 2012 Ease of Doing Business report highlighted Malaysia's initiative in introducing electronic filing in its courts, setting up specialised civil and commercial courts in Kuala Lumpur, and merging company, tax, social security and employment fund registrations at a one-stop centre for business start-ups. Malaysia was also cited for being one of 24 countries that have established regulatory reform committees reporting directly to a prime minister or president. Pemudah said Malaysia had improved in six categories, remained unchanged in two, and had a marginal deterioration in two areas: principally in Dealing with Construction Permits and Paying Taxes. Sidek said the private sector should look at simplifying procedures to improve efficiency in order to realise the full effect of government reforms. On categories where Malaysia did not score well — such as construction permits (rank 113) and enforcing contracts (31) — business associations and the legal professions needed to look at their work systems and procedures and identify bottlenecks.
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| Iskandar records RM78bil investment Posted: 19 Oct 2011 10:11 AM PDT (Bernama) SINGAPORE: As of September this year, Iskandar Malaysia recorded a total cumulative committed investment of RM77.82bil from various sectors. Iskandar Regional Development Authority chief executive Ismail Ibrahim said of this total, 60% (RM46.63bil) was domestic investments with the remaining 40% (RM31.19bil) coming from overseas. This is indicative of the gradual shift from a dependence on foreign investors to being a domestic enterprise driven metropolis as well as a reflection of the confidence that domestic investors have in Iskandar Malaysia. |
| M’sia secures RM10bil Bangladesh jobs Posted: 19 Oct 2011 10:09 AM PDT By Chong En Han, The Star PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has secured infrastructure projects worth about RM10bil in Bangladesh, to be implemented beginning early next year. Spanning a period of two to five years, the projects include housing, satellite townships, a flyover and water as well as sewerage treatment plants. The first project, commencing early next year, involves the construction of 161 blocs of 16-storey apartments worth almost RM3bil in Uttara, Dhaka. "Both governments sealed the memorandum after more than six months of negotiations," Malaysia's special envoy, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. Another project that would take off next year would be the 10.8km four-lane Poltan-Mawa Road flyover project worth RM1bil.Other projects include the construction of affordable housing for squatters and a new satellite township on a 400 ha piece of land at Kamrangichar and another similar development in Mohammadpur. Malaysia and Bangladesh inked a memorandum of understanding in Dhaka on Tuesday, with the document to be handed over to the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today. The signatories from the Bangladesh government were State Minister for Housing and Public Works, Abdul Mannan Khan, and the State Minister for Local Government, Rural Government and Cooperatives, Jahangir Kabir Nanok. "Malaysia will also construct the Dhalla-Jamirta well field to supply clean water to Dhaka," Samy Vellu said, adding that several Malaysian companies had shown interest to participate in the RM10bil project. The local Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) will monitor and act as the executing agency for the projects, which will be jointly undertaken with the respective departments in Bangladesh. Samy Vellu said the next step would be to finalise the costing and other aspects of the projects and then seal agreements between CIDB and the respective departments in Bangladesh. |
| First Report On Review Of Education System To Be Ready By Year-End Posted: 19 Oct 2011 10:01 AM PDT (Bernama) PUTRAJAYA -- The first report on the review process of Malaysia's existing education system is expected to be ready by year-end, said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. He said the report will be submitted to the cabinet which will study and endorse a special team to look into the whole process, including the implementation of the country's education policies. "We will look at what we have been doing so far in terms of implementing our education policies and what need to be done looking forward for the next 10 to 20 years. But this will take time," Muhyiddin said. He was speaking at a press conference after the 23rd Implementation Council Meeting and 14th MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel, here yesterday. Both meetings were chaired by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Education was among the focus areas under the Digital Transformation Programme or called Digital Malaysia, which will be led by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). Among the initiatives of the Digital Malaysia is to inject greater creativity and promote thinking skills throughout the education system. Asked on incentives for converting companies to e-commerce, which was among the initiatives under the Digital Malaysia, Muhyiddin said some initiatives were being carried out especially among the small and medium enterprises. "There are no real specific incentives as at the moment aside from support in terms of making easy access to financing and loans to start-up business via SME Bank and SME Corporation Malaysia to facilitate the processes," he said.
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| Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:56 AM PDT By Selena Tay, FMT It is a sad but true fact that for the past five years or so Malaysia has constantly been losing out in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI). Either our regional competitors have caught up with us or we have stalled. In any case, at the end of the day we have lost out. This is in no small part due to the lack of political will by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government in the areas of policy-making and political expediency. Where numbers are concerned, the salient point to note is in the area of FDI wherein those of our neighbours which used to be trailing us have now surpassed us. The 2010 World Investment Report (WIR) issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed up some ugly truths about Malaysia, wherein it has made "great achievements" for the first time in financial history. Listed below are three historical events: Losing out in FDI to neighbouring countries In 1998, for the first time, Thailand overtook Malaysia in attracting more FDI, and in 2005 it was the turn of Indonesia. Vietnam defeated us for the first time in 2008 and the Philippines followed suit in 2009. In the 2010 UNCTAD World Investment Report, Singapore is way ahead in the stratosphere, hovering close to the US$17 billion mark, Thailand at a distant second with US$5.9 billion, Indonesia nearing US$5 billion and Vietnam with more than US$4 billion, the Philippines at US1.95 billion and Malaysia standing at US$1.38 billion. Malaysia only succeeded in defeating Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Laos and Timor-Leste. It looks like Malaysia is now in the Little League. Malaysia's position in the FDI world ranking was 62nd in 2006 but it suffered a tremendous drop to 123rd in 2009, which is such a massive decline in the space of just three years. Biggest drop in FDI in 2009 Thailand is considered to have done better than Malaysia as there was a year-long political turmoil caused by the Red Shirts organising sit-ins in the capital city of Bangkok. Despite that, their decline was not as great as ours. Singapore, Brunei, Philippines and Myanmar chalked up an increase in FDI. Another first for Malaysia: FDI outflow more than inflow in 2009 This negative FDI indicates that Malaysia is fast becoming an unattractive investment destination despite what the federal government claims. This can be attributed to the investors' (local as well as foreign) lack of confidence in the existing government policies as well as the lack of robust economic growth that will generate healthy returns for their investments. Malaysian FDI flows has been in the negative since declining from US$1.09 billion in 2005 to a net negative of US$0.02 billion in 2006 to a net negative US$2.7 billion in 2007 and a net negative of US$7.67 billion in 2008. The year 2009 was also the first time Malaysia obtained less than US$2 billion in FDI with the figure of US$1.38 billion. In 1996, Thailand's FDI was around US$2 billion while Malaysia raked in US$7.3 billion. Fast forward a decade later to 2006 and Malaysia obtained US$6 billion while Thailand attracted US$9.5 billion. And in 2009 Malaysia's FDI was a miserable US$1.38 billion while for Thailand, it was US$5.9 billion. In 1996, too, Malaysia's FDI at US$7.3 billion was not too distant from Singapore's FDI at US$9.68 billion. But now Singapore, at close to US$17 billion, has forged ahead leaving us to bite the dust and compete with countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. All these are due to Malaysia having a number of issues such as troublesome bureaucratic red tape, flip-flop decision-making such as omission of the Equal Opportunities Commission due to pressure from certain quarters, unclear policies (where is the New Economic Model – NEM Part 2 – which was supposed to be rolled out in June 2010 and then postponed to the later part of 2010 only to be abandoned altogether?) and a lack of skilled labour. These factors contributed to Malaysia's lack of attractiveness as an investment destination. Weak institutions However, Malaysia survived all these setbacks due to the revenue from oil and gas. Otherwise, it would have gone bankrupt long ago. Another issue is the weak judiciary which has an indirect effect on the FDI. A logging company by the name of Seruan Gemilang Makmur Sdn Bhd had on May 25, 2007 obtained a judgment from the Kuantan High Court against the Pahang government and the Pahang director of forestry (the defendants) for the sum of RM37,127,471.60 with the interest thereon at 8% per annum to be paid from Dec 31, 2000, till the date of settlement.
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| New line-up tailored to suit Taib’s agenda Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:54 AM PDT By Awang Abdillah, FMT The results of the April 16, 2011 state election have forced Chief Minister Taib Mahmud to reset his political power game to maintain the Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu's (PBB) – in particular the Bumiputera wing of PBB – grip on the state government to ensure his succession plan works. After a long wait of more than five months, Taib had on Sept 28, 2011 unveiled his new Cabinet line-up. He claimed the new line-up would enable the government to get closer to the people at the grassroots level and that the three senior ministers would be able to groom new leaders. In essence the new line-up is very carefully tailored to suit Taib's personal agenda. Why have only one deputy chief minister (DCM)? Prior to the April 16 polls, the state cabinet had two DCMs. But this time Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) was not offered the DCM slot because the party had failed miserably in the election, losing 13 out of 19 seats contested. By right, the post of the other vacant DCM should be filled by another component party that had won the most seats after PBB. That party would be James Masing's Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS). PRS retained seven of the eight seats it contested. It lost its Pelagus seat to independent George Lagong. Appeasing Masing, Mawan However should PRS get the second DCM post, this will spell big trouble for Taib. He would then have to tackle two potential candidates – from the Pesaka wing of PBB and PR – both of whom are vying for the CM's post. To appease PRS, Masing is promoted to senior minister, which means that Taib has to tackle only one DCM aspirant and this would be in the person of Alfred Jabu Numpang from PBB's Pesaka wing in order to execute his hidden agenda. For whom is the other DCM post reserved for and why the need for three senior ministers? The trio – Jabu (who is also deputy PBB president) , Masing and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) president Willliam Mawan – have their own plans. The trio are applying pressure to block Taib's succession plan which has made the latter to cave in. Hence to appease all parties, Taib decided that the Pesaka component retains the one and only DCM post. He then went on to create a senior minister's post each for PRS,SPDP and SUPP. These posts are only "senior" in name but in terms of duties and responsibilities, there is little change. Hence, there is no administrative justification except the political agenda to appease these parties and their presidents. Taib's strategy Meanwhile, we wonder why there is no Malay senior minister or DCM. Obviously this would be the last appointment Taib would do or else it would invite a rebellion from within his own party, PBB. Furthermore, to continue the family dynasty rule, a member of his family has to climb through the PBB ladder. At this stage if he promotes a Malay from the Bumiputera wing of PBB to the post of a senior minister, it will raise suspicion and create tension among the leaders of the component parties. Hence, no Malay PBB minister is promoted to senior minister yet. Obviously the strategy at this stage is to please PRS , SPDP and SUPP for different reasons. Who then is the de facto DCM? The minister in the new line-up who has been given important and critical portfolios similar to that of the chief minister himself is none other than Awang Tengah Ali Hassan. Awang Tengah has also been given the task of breaking up SPDP. He has been tasked with roping in the five SPDP rebels (four assemblymen and one parliamentarian) and align them with PBB's Bumiputera wing. He has also been tasked with keeping the six SUPP assemblymen (two Chinese and four Dayaks) under PBB control. As a temporary measure, the four SPDP turncoat assemblymen – Peter Nansian (Tasik Biru), Sylvester Entri (Marudi), Rosey Yunus (Berkenu) and Paulus Gumbang (Batu Danau) – would anchor themselves as "independents" Awang Tengah strengthening position With the four SPDP and six SUPP assemblymen pledging loyalty to PBB, Taib is in a very strong position to make another change in a future Cabinet line-up favouring the Bumiputera wing of the PBB. The new formula would include the 26 seats of the Bumiputera wing of PBB, plus the 10 seats from SPDP and SUPP.
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| Umno distances itself from attacks on Guan Eng’s son Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:47 AM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider Umno leaders have insisted that the accusations of sexual harassment levelled against Lim Guan Eng's son have nothing to do with the party despite the claims being highlighted on a party division chief's blog. Lawmakers from the senior partner in Barisan Nasional (BN) were quick to distance themselves from the allegations as public anger grows over the claims made in pro-Umno blogs that the Penang chief minister's son assaulted a classmate and tried to escape punishment by using his father's name. While some MPs from the ruling party told The Malaysian Insider that the allegations "are only the personal view" of Bukit Gelugor chief Dr Novandri Hasan Basri, others who declined to be quoted admitted they were appalled that a 16-year-old boy had been subjected to such public humiliation. "The police should investigate the claim as it involves bribery by a public figure. But if it is not true, then police must take action against the bloggers. The party should also take action against Dr Novandri," said Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin. Lim had denied the allegations two days ago, saying he was furious with the "barbaric lies" made about his teenage son by "pro-Umno ferocious beasts." His colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have come out strongly in support of the DAP secretary general against what they call "the lowest gutter politics" seen in decades. The principal of SMK Heng Ee in George Town also moved yesterday to put an end to the accusations, calling them "completely untrue." DAP held a press conference yesterday claiming the photograph of the purported "victim" used by Umno bloggers was that of 21-year-old chess Grandmaster Anya Sun Corke who is studying at Wellesley College in the United States.
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| UMNO blogs cropped photo of chess player to accuse Guan Eng's son Posted: 19 Oct 2011 09:22 AM PDT (Harakah Daily) - UMNO bloggers have used a photo belonging to an international chess champion in accusing the son of Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng of sexual misconduct at school which they said led to a transfer from his current school. (LEFT)
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Rahim (left) of course is best remembered for the infamous Black Eye incident involving former deputy prime minister-turned-parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. 
Karpal then disputed Rahim's claim that the incident lasted several seconds, saying he could not have hit Anwar seven times in such a short time. 
Anya's image as appeared on Gelombang Wangsa Maju, a pro-UMNO political blog containing pornographic images, and (RIGHT) the original image| 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 |
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