Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Kit Siang: Shouldn’t someone go to jail in cattle farm scandal?
- Ambiga seeks RCI into citizenship-for-votes claims
- Overseas M’sians indignant with MCA
- Najib has ‘forfeited his right to govern’
- Sabah BN needs ‘phantom voters’ to win
- Europe-Malaysia, partners in difficult times
- Malaysia needs to boost marketing efforts to further attract FDIs
- Malaysian states to punish homosexuality
| Kit Siang: Shouldn’t someone go to jail in cattle farm scandal? Posted: 11 Nov 2011 07:26 PM PST By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider DAP's Lim Kit Siang asked today if anyone will be jailed over the alleged financial abuse in a publicly-funded cattle farm owned and run by a federal minister's family. The opposition leader's comments come in the wake of last week's public debate on the National Feedlot Centre (NFC), operated by Women, Family and Community Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil's husband and children. Allegations of financial impropriety have dogged the project after the Auditor-General revealed last month that the NFC had failed to meet production targets for 2010, despite benefiting from a RM134.72 million soft loan from the government. "The prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak or his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was agriculture minister when the NFC project was first mooted and approved, should answer this question in the minds of most Malaysians: 'Shouldn't someone go to jail?'" Lim said in a statement today. He said the question was uppermost in the minds of Malaysians after Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin defended the NFC's purchase of a RM10 million upscale Bangsar condominium as a "strategic" investment. Lim also questioned the inaction of the national anti-graft agency in probing claims that millions in federal funds meant for the cattle farm had been used for other purposes, in violation of strict loan conditions. "If the cast of personalities involved in the NFC scandal had all involved Pakatan Rakyat leaders and their family members... there is no doubt that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) would have swooped in on the case from day one," he said. Shahrizat's husband and children should come forward to clear the air given the numerous contradicting statements issued in defence of the NFC by Umno leaders like Khairy, Lim added. "It is time that her husband Mohamad Salleh Ismail, her children Wan Shahimur Izran, Wan Shahimur Izmir and Wan Izzana Fatimah, break their silence," he said.
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| Ambiga seeks RCI into citizenship-for-votes claims Posted: 11 Nov 2011 07:23 PM PST By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan today pushed for the establishment of a royal panel to investigate claims the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) has been fast-tracking citizenship applications for foreigners in return for their votes. The prominent lawyer and civil rights activist noted the federal government has been plagued by such claims recently and that the allegations persist despite repeated denials by its officials. "I'm sorry but to me that's the highest treason to this country, that we are registering foreigners as citizens for the purposes of voting," the prominent civil rights activist told a bipartisan parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reform. "If that is the case and if there is evidence, then we must have a Royal Commission to examine this," she proposed to the nine-man panel on Day Two of its public hearing. A unit of the Bangladesh Prime Minister's Office had allegedly posted on its official website last September 17 that its citizens who are working in Malaysia had been asked to vote for the ruling BN coalition in exchange for fast-tracked citizenship requests. The allegation triggered a public uproar prompting an Opposition MP to moot the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the issue. Both Putrajaya and Dhaka — the latter through its High Commission here — have denied the claims. The controversial webpage has since disappeared from the Bangladesh NGO Affairs' Bureau's official website. |
| Overseas M’sians indignant with MCA Posted: 11 Nov 2011 04:26 PM PST Malaysians abroad are insulted over MCA's claim that they are ignorant about current affairs in the country. (Free Malaysia Today) - MCA president, Chua Soi Lek, swiftness in clarifying the party's stand on overseas voting came a little too late. Word had already reached Malaysians abroad and they have taken the party to task for it. MCA central committee member, Ei Kim Hock, told the parliamentary election reform panel yesterday morning that Malaysians living abroad were unqualified to vote as they were "out of touch" with the country's current affairs. He added that MCA's research had shown that most of these Malaysians only received information from dubious sources which may not paint a true picture of the situation here. Within a few hours Chua chastised Ei for his improper explanation and clarified that MCA opposed overseas voting because of the "logistical nightmare" and resources needed for its success. But by this morning FMT had received emails from Malaysians mostly residing in the US and UK expressing indignance over Ei's statement. Slamming Ei's comments as "ludicrous", "rhetorical" and "patronizing", these Malaysians stated that they made an extra effort to keep abreast of Malaysia's current affairs because of the very fact that they live abroad. They also emphasized that their news sources comprised mainstream and alternative news portals, TV channels and blogs including Buletin Utama, Harian Metro, The Star, FMT, Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and NST. Juliana Zulkifli, an academic in Essex, said that Ei's statement 'is expected' from a Barisan Nasional (BN) component party that stands to lose the most when Malaysians abroad vote. She also noted its irony given the amount of effort and money spent by BN over the past decade in coming to "talk and update" the overseas Malaysian community of matters back home. "The statement also seems counter-intuitive to movements such as the overseas Umno, MCA and MIC clubs sprouting here which are not exclusively helmed by students," Juliana said. "If BN is actively engaging members of the Malaysian community abroad then why deny them the right to vote?" she added. MCA 'clueless' Ken Vin Lek, a student in Warwick, pointed out that overseas Malaysians encompass thousands of students sponsored by the Public Service Department and other government-linked companies who would one day return to Malaysia. "So if they're trying to say prospective employees don't know Malaysia merely because they reside abroad then they've not kept up with times and are not apt to lead a nation. "News sources on Malaysia are easily accessible via the internet and scholars are more than able to afford smartphones and laptops to keep up with such information," he said. Susan Abrahm, an author in Dublin, added that MCA has a "very narrow view" of how the digital word works and is in danger of forgetting the monumental power of sharing sites like Twitter and Facebook. Aaron Nair, a student in Boston, further flayed MCA for "patronizing the intellect of overseas Malaysians" and wondered if the party was more clueless about the situation back home than "us far-flung Malaysians". "I have a keen objective view of ongoings back home and I give wind to both alternative and mainstream media although we all know who are the soothsayers and who are the real deal," he said.
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| Najib has ‘forfeited his right to govern’ Posted: 11 Nov 2011 04:24 PM PST Former de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim is of the opinion that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has made a mistake in dismissing the National Feedlot issue. (Free Malaysia Today) - Kita chief, Zaid Ibrahim believes that Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak's, defence of the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) fiasco is an indication that his time is up. "Najib should have done the sensible thing and admitted that the whole NFC issue was a mistake. "That's how a reformist government would react." "You don't give a project worth a few hundred million ringgit to a minister and say its because no one wants it. If no one wants it then don't start the project," Zaid said during an interview with FMT yesterday. The NFC project is being run by the husband and children of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. The recent Auditor-General's Report described the NFC project as a "mess" and since then PKR has exposed details of alleged business and financial mismanagement within NFC. Najib however has dismissed allegations of abuse of power in the federal government's RM250 million soft loan to NFC. 'Gives govt a bad image' But Zaid stressed the irrelevance of debating business technicalities when very act of awarding the project to a federal minister's family was in itself unprincipled. "If you can give RM200 million or RM300 million to one minister, you could have probably given the same to other ministers as well… "It gives the government a bad image and Najib made a mistake by saying it is above board because it is not," said Zaid. Zaid added that even if the minister was the most capable and the project was objectively evaluated no one would have believed it. He said Najib's failure to respond to the issue has as such given the opposition its ammunition. "And this issue would last quite awhile," he warned. "People cannot tolerate case after case of blatant abuse." "When you give a minister a project like this and say nothing is wrong, then your time is up because you can no longer differentiate between what is right and wrong. "And so you forfeit your right to govern," Zaid said But he emphasized that the project was done via a tender process and not through direct negotiations. "Six companies submitted a bid and two were ultimately chosen – NFC and Australia's Lambert Corporation. "When Lambert withdrew halfway (through) it affected the project timeline hence why NFC couldn't meet the production target," he said. Rahman also shot down the opposition's allegation of mismanagement within NFC and insisted that everything had been done in order. "The government and backbenchers have provided constant and dependable replies. "And (Rembau MP) Khairy (Jamaluddin) has provided a very good explanation on his blog regarding the condo," he said refering to the controversial RM9.8 million condominium in Bangsar.
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| Sabah BN needs ‘phantom voters’ to win Posted: 11 Nov 2011 02:14 PM PST By Queville To, FMT KOTA KINABALU: After years of timid pleas for an investigation into the overwhelming presence of illegal immigrants in Sabah by state government leaders, the calls are becoming shriller as the countdown to the 13th general election takes shape. Sounding panicky and even hysterical over the last couple of weeks almost all the state Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition partners have trotted out one after the other to 'demand' the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI). Joining the list of parties demanding an RCI on the issue which would invariably expose a host of illegal activities by past and present high-level government figures, is newly-empowered Gerakan. Gerakan in Sabah is a controversy in itself because it gained power in the state through the back door. But the notable absentee from the alphabet soup of acronyms which is the roll-call of BN partners – PBS, UPKO, PBRS, LDP, MCA, Gerakan and MIC – is however the party that calls the shots in Sabah – Umno. Umno is the overlord in Sabah's ruling regime. The outspoken demands have also, however, raised the long-held suspicions that support for such parties is fading in the state and they are acting in desperation to fend off a backlash by the electorate if elections are called. Former BN supporter, the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) which is now in the opposition ranks believes the various state BN component parties are desperate. Weary electorate Its information chief Chong Pit Fah pointed out that despite all their calls for an RCI in the newspapers, none of the government MPs had made any move to file a motion in the Parliament to ensure such a body is formed. "Anything less is an insult to the people of Sabah," said Chong who sees the latest round of public demands by the BN components as being toothless. "The 13th general election is just around the corners," he explains, emphasizing the view held by a weary electorate who understand the various nuances of BN party 'demands'. Chong was commenting on a local MCA division leader joining the RCI chorus, when the party's top leadership has denied that there is anything illegal in how thousands of illegal immigrants in Sabah gained citizenship documents and become voters. Lee Chee Liong, the Deputy Home Minister and the party's MP for Kampar during a visit to Sabah astonishingly dismissed the existence of 'Project IC' as the secretive scheme to register illegal immigrants as citizens and use them as a BN vote bank in any election is known. Chong said that given Lee's stand, the turnaround by the local MCA leader was nonsense. Sabah MCA leadership did not refute what Lee said and "apologize to the people of Sabah for his insulting remarks", said Chong. 'Fixed deposit' of immigrants He said it was now a well-known fact that all BN components had used such "new Malaysians" or "phantom voters" to sway past elections and would likely do so again in the coming polls. But BN now can ill-afford to disenfranchise this "fixed deposit" of BN voters.
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| Europe-Malaysia, partners in difficult times Posted: 11 Nov 2011 02:11 PM PST By Vincent Piket, Ambassador, head of delegation of the European Union to Malaysia via The Star THESE are difficult times for the global economy. People are following the debate about the economic and financial challenges facing Greece and some other members of the euro area. Economic growth is forecast to slow in Europe as well as in the United States. But the wilder speculation is wrong. The European Union (EU) is responding forcefully to the crisis and the euro is here to stay. The EU remains the world's largest economy, and the EU and Malaysia enjoy a strong and growing economic relationship. |
| Malaysia needs to boost marketing efforts to further attract FDIs Posted: 11 Nov 2011 01:55 PM PST By Jasmine Chin, The Borneo Post KUCHING: Instead of speculating on uncertain conditions surrounding the macro-environment, Malaysia needs to place a deeper emphasis into marketing its local corporations as this will weather its economy through tough times. Commenting on this was director and head of research of OSK Research Sdn Bhd (OSK Research) Chris Eng, who observed that Malaysia had remain attractive in the eyes of foreign investors, as seen through positive responses received from the recent 'Invest Malaysia Hong Kong 2011'. "The event proved to be a success with a 27-per cent increase in the number of corporates showcased as well as the number of fund managers attending compared with the previous year. "We believe there is a substantial interest in Malaysian investment stories among Hong Kong investors. A lot of them were keen to identify good buys from among the participating corporate, with many new investors seeking to be briefed on the background of these corporations," he told The Borneo Post in a recent phone interview. In view of this, Eng was aware that although Malaysia was increasingly active in its pursuit to attract more foreign investments, the country's marketing efforts must be sustained and be improved. This was to ensure that longer term transformation plans in the country would appeal to the longer term investors in Hong Kong. "We are already gaining traction in terms of inflow of investments from Singapore and participants in Europe are confident of our country in light of the progress of our Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). "Hong Kong by itself is an ideal market and therefore we hope to change the perspective of Hong Kong investors towards Malaysia. This will be done by further highlighting the tenacity of Malaysian companies in achieving sustainable long-term growth beyond the country's borders," he said. 'I can see that we have a lot of potential companies out there and the participating groups during the event have drawn out some impressive plans for the coming year. Defensive companies like Aeon Co (M) Bhd, KPJ Healthcare Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, QL Resources Bhd and SEG International Bhd have highlighted their respective niches which should see them through challenging periods. "While Hong Kong investors, especially those with Asean funds are generally familiar with bigger caps in Malaysia, continued marketing of our mid and small cap companies should be done to ensure as well as sustain interest in this rewarding segment of the Malaysian market," he explained. Despite noting his concerns for the country's marketing endeavours, Eng was confident of the nation's prospects. This was premised on the announcement made by government-backed Performance Management and Delivery Unit's (Pemandu) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala in its 'One-Year Report Card'. In line with the theme 'Change Perspective' fitting the ETP, the 14 corporates which participated during the event were either from sectors that would see long term transformation over the next nine years to 2020 were shorter term beneficiaries of the ETP, or regional and global champions in their respective sector. |
| Malaysian states to punish homosexuality Posted: 11 Nov 2011 01:52 PM PST The Guardian Two Malaysian states are set to change their Islamic laws to punish Muslims who engage in homosexuality, increasing the prospect of gay Muslims being punished under both federal and state religious laws and adding to concerns about rising intolerance. In Malaysia, homosexuality is punishable by law by caning and up to 20 years in prison, but the amendments planned by the Pahang and Malacca religious authorities would give the state governments additional powers. If the proposed changes come into force, jail terms could run consecutively if a gay Muslim person is punished under both laws. Malacca's chief minister, Mohd Ali Rustam, said the state would review its Islamic law provisions to allow Muslim gay men and lesbians to be tried in court and punished by a prison sentence or a fine to "deter" homosexuality. "So many people like to promote human rights, even up to the point they want to allow lesbian activities and homosexuality," Ali told Reuters. "In Islam, we cannot do all this. It is against Islamic law," he said, adding that gay Muslim people would also be required to attend counselling. Ali, who is also the Malacca Islamic religious department chairman, said the proposed penalties would also apply to those who "supported" homosexuality. "We want to put it in the enactment so that we can enforce it and bring them to our sharia court. Then we can charge them for promoting or supporting these illegal activities," he said. On Thursday, the leading cleric of central Pahang state was quoted in the Star newspaper as saying it would also amend its Islamic laws to allow for action against homosexuality. "Islam prohibits deviant sexual orientation or behaviour," Abdul Rahman Osman was quoted as saying. "Appropriate action should be taken to address these problems. We fear that this abnormal behaviour will be regarded as a norm." In Malaysia, religion is within the respective states' purview and the authorities do not need federal government approval to effect legislative changes. Last week, organisers were forced to cancel an annual sexuality rights festival in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, after police threatened to crack down on the event, claiming it could create unease and public disorder. About 60% of the country's 28 million population are Muslims, and Islamic law tenets are used as an official yardstick for the behaviour of followers. Nevertheless, Muslims often throng Kuala Lumpur bars that serve alcohol. Extramarital sex is frowned upon and same-gender relationships often draw criticism, although the rise of alternative media channels has resulted in a greater openness in debates about homosexuality. But public discussions involving sexuality often assume a conservative veneer. Films and music are also heavily censored to remove explicit content, and gay people and transvestites complain of professional and social discrimination. |
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