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• 1MDB got prime land for a song, says DAP
• PAS may close Genting casino
• Reports lodged at 13 police stations against NFC
• Mismanagement galore irks PAC
• Call to reopen probe not politically motivated
• Rolling Stone names Hendrix best guitarist ever
• US tightens noose on Iran
• Sarawak DAP rep booted-out by Speaker
• French firm fined RM133m for bribery in Malaysia
• Tony Blair and George W Bush found guilty of ‘crimes against peace’
• Mukhriz justifies assembly law as investor draw
• DAP threatens to sic PAC, Auditor-General on KLIA2
• Penang wants EC pow-wow over joint polls date

1MDB got prime land for a song, says DAP Posted: 22 Nov 2011 05:12 PM PST Tony Pua dares Putrajaya to deny that it sold Sungai Besi land at a massive discount. (Free Malaysia Today) - DAP today demanded confirmation or denial from the Najib administration that it sold 495 acres of prime land to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at a "ridiculously low price". Speaking to reporters in Parliament, DAP publicity chief Tony Pua alleged that Putrajaya, without calling for tenders, sold the Sungai Besi land to 1MDB for RM74.20 per square foot, which he said was far below the market price. He disclosed that said the DAP-led Penang government recently conducted an open tender for 101 acres of land and sold it for RM1.07 billion. This means the land in Penang was sold at RM240 per square foot although it should be cheaper than land in Sungai Besi, which is part of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. "At RM240 a square foot, the Sungai Besi land should be worth a whopping RM5.2 billion," Pua said. "Despite its high potential valuation, the government has chosen to transfer the land to 1MDB for only RM1.6 billion, or RM3.6 billion less." Land in Kuala Lumpur is said to be selling at RM500 per square foot. Pua said the massive discount given to 1MDB was a major loss of revenue to the government. READ MORE HERE

PAS may close Genting casino Posted: 22 Nov 2011 04:28 PM PST Islamic party chief says this is possible if they win Pahang (The Malay Mail) - The nation's sole casino attraction may be forced to shut down if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wins Pahang in the next general election. State PAS chief Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told The Malay Mail the party may consider closing up Resorts World Genting's gambling operations if it wins the State. The party's information chief said PAS will need to first discuss with its coalition partners and relevant  stakeholders before a consensus is reached. "Genting is still on lease from the State government. We need to see how we perform during the next general election. But we will discuss with our component parties. This involves religious concerns. The discussion will also include all stakeholders." Tuan Ibrahim was responding to MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek's claims on Monday that Genting will become a victim if PR takes over Putrajaya. Dr Chua said PAS will try to assert its influence to force PR to implement similar policies in Kelantan where the State government has banned lottery outlets. "Therefore, the Opposition claim that hudud law will not affect the non-Muslims is not true." Tuan Ibrahim said Dr Chua was ignorant of hudud laws and should not make statements over subjects he is not well-informed. "He (Dr Chua) does not understand hudud, so he should not comment. Hudud is only for Muslims and not non- Muslims. He should not say anything because he does not see the whole picture. That shows how ignorant he is." Tuan Ibrahim's response is bound to further strain PR after both PAS and DAP agreed to disagree over the implementation of hudud laws in the country. The issue almost tore the coalition apart after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng threatened the party's entire central committee would resign if Islamic laws were forced into PR's Common Policy Framework. During the 2008 election, PR only managed to garner four from 42 state seats in Pahang with DAP and PAS holding two seats each.

Reports lodged at 13 police stations against NFC Posted: 22 Nov 2011 04:24 PM PST PKR women's wing chief Zuraida Kamaruddin said the reports were against five individuals including Najib Tun Razak and Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. (Free Malaysia Today) - All of PKR's women wings simultaneously lodged police reports this morning over the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) controversy, except Kelantan. The Kelantan women's wing will lodge a report in the afternoon because of the flood situation. Speaking at the Dang Wangi district police station, PKR's women wing chief Zuraida Kamaruddin said: "All the wings are lodging reports simultaneously except for those in Kelantan who would lodge reports in the afternoon," said Zuraida, who is also Ampang MP. Yesterday, Zuraida told the press that the police reports would be made against five individuals. They are Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin (who was Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry when the project was approved in 2008); current Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar; Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and NFC chairman Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail. Shahrizat's family has been accused of missuing a RM250 million government soft loan given for the NFC project. Salleh is Shahrizat's husband. The police reports were lodged at 13 police district headquarters. READ MORE HERE

Mismanagement galore irks PAC Posted: 22 Nov 2011 04:22 PM PST The committee is tired of the endless cases of mismanagement and wants to fix the problem. (Free Malaysia Today) - Cases of mismanagement of public funds and projects continue to pile up and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is peeved with this. To get to the botttom of the matter, PAC chairman Azmi Khalid said the committee would call in Finance Ministry officials and the chief secetary to the government Mohd Sidek Hassan in January. He was speaking to reporters in Parliament after meeting representatives from the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry regarding the latest scandal involving the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC). "The management system (of projects) needs to be re-looked at. Even when (the ministries) are telling the truth, people are fed-up (with their explanations)," said the Padang Besar MP. He said that NFC was on a long list of mismanaged projects which PAC had encountered since 2008. "Today, we talked about the management of NFC, the full amount of money given to a special account by 2009 but the deal was only signed in 2010. This is a recurring problem at all levels in the ministries. "Poor-management, changing of the goal post… poor planning and mis-coordination. Their intention for the project is good but the execution is problematic," he added. Azmi stressed that the problem must be fixed as Malaysia moved towards the status of a developed nation. READ MORE HERE

Call to reopen probe not politically motivated Posted: 22 Nov 2011 04:14 PM PST (WikiSabah) - Former Finance Minister Datuk Haji Mohammad Noor Mohammad Mansoor told the High Court here yesterday that the call for re-investigation into the plane crash that killed former chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens and all 10 others on board the Nomad aircraft onJune 6, 1976was not politically motivated. Mohammad Noor, who held the post during the Berjaya government, said the family members of those leaders who perished in the air crash have their right to say what they wanted to say and to do what they wanted to do but there are one or two million of Sabahans, including himself, who wanted to know what really happened on that day. Mohammad Noor was responding to counsel Trevor Maringking's suggestion during cross-examination. Trevor had earlier on said that from the press statement issued by some of the family members of the perished leaders, they wanted politicians to leave out the crash tragedy alone and just argue on the issue of oil royalty based on the statement of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and suggested that they were saying that this call for re-investigation is politically motivated. Mohammad Noor was testifying before justice Dato' Abdul Rahman Sebli in the ongoing hearing of a RM50 million suit brought by Tan Sri Harris Salleh against Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee and the party for allegedly insinuating that he (Harris) was involved in causing the plane crash. Mohammad Noor was the first witness called by the defendants who are represented by counsel Datuk Simon Shim and Flora Dius. Harris, 81, who filed the suit on June 6, last year, is claiming general damages, aggravated and exemplary damages of not less than RM50 million to be assessed separately against Yong and SAPP as the first and second defendants respectively. He is also seeking an injunction to restrain the defendants whether by themselves or their servants or employees or agents from printing and publishing further the statements and similar libel in any form or means. Harris is represented by leading counsel Yunof Maringking and Trevor. To another question from Trevor, Mohammad Noor said he was aware that some of the family members of the perished leaders were not in favour of re-investigating the air crash despite the purported new information by Tengku Razaleigh being reported in the newspapers. "Yes, I heard of that but that is their right and I also have my own right," he said, adding that as a Sabahan, he wanted to know what really happened and Sabahans also have their right to know what really happened. "Once the investigation is on and the real cause is known, probably those who perished can rest in peace and we, also as Sabahans, would have peace of mind," he said. He said that until now there was no proof of the cause of the incident otherwise all people have the benefit to read the report now. However, the witness said that he was not aware that sometime in 2009, the then Deputy Transport Minister had given the government an explanation concerning the cause of the aircraft incident in parliament. Mohammad Noor agreed that it was possible that Harris had given a briefing concerning the cause of the air crash during a cabinet meeting that he (witness) did not happen to be present. He agreed with Trevor's suggestion that if members of that cabinet were not satisfied with the cause of the incident, they could pass a motion in the state assembly or during a cabinet meeting to ask for the Federal Government to make further investigations into the air crash at that time. Meanwhile, when Yunof suggested that since Harris had contradicted Tengku Razaleigh's account of the event prior to air crash, it would be prudent and indeed obligatory for Yong to clarify with both the plaintiff and Tengku Razaleigh before making any further statement on the matter, Mohammad Noor said, "I think the first defendant is acting, just like me as a Sabahan, to know what really happened." To a further question from Yunof, Mohammad Noor disagreed that the most interested group to find out the real truth on the cause of the air crash tragedy were the family members of the air crash victims. "The victims were a chief minister and almost the entire State cabinet. As a Sabahan, I think I have the right to know what happened. The family members of those who perished have right to know. "We should not be deprived of this right to find out what really happened," he said. He also disagreed with Yunof's suggestion that since the second defendant is now out of Barisan Nasional, it has to create a new issue and no other than the double six tragedy for him to convince the people of Sabah to support him during the next general election. READ MORE HERE

Rolling Stone names Hendrix best guitarist ever Posted: 22 Nov 2011 03:54 PM PST (Reuters) - Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was named the greatest guitar player in history yesterday by Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music experts and top guitar players. "Jimi Hendrix exploded our idea of what rock music could be: He manipulated the guitar, the whammy bar, the studio and the stage," said Grammy-winning guitarist Tom Morello in the magazine, citing Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" as key tracks. Hendrix is joined by the likes of Eric Clapton, BB King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend among the top 10, in a list laden with rock 'n' roll icons spanning decades. The panel of experts recruited to vote for their favourite guitar players included musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen (who was voted No. 8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone's senior writers and editors. The experts also weighed in on their favourites, with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready calling Eddie Van Halen "a master of riffs" and Joe Perry praising Jimmy Page's "vision of how to transcend the stereotypes of what the guitar can do." The full list will be featured in a special issue with four special covers of Van Halen, Clapton, Hendrix and Page, and will be on newsstands and online at rollingstone.com on Friday. Rolling Stone's top 10 greatest guitarists follow: 1. Jimi Hendrix 2. Eric Clapton 3. Jimmy Page 4. Keith Richards 5. Jeff Beck 6. BB King 7. Chuck Berry 8. Eddie Van Halen 9. Duane Allman 10. Pete Townshend y99YM6nk04Q   6yJRtz_fhYE    gdt60qNAO2o

US tightens noose on Iran Posted: 22 Nov 2011 03:38 PM PST Washington targeting regime's energy sector directly for first time (AFP) - The United States announced fresh sanctions against Iran's energy sector Monday and warned firms against dealing with its banks as it pressed Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons drive. "The message is clear," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "If Iran's intransigence continues it will face increasing pressure and isolation. Today the United States is taking a series of steps to sharpen this choice." Clinton, unveiling what she called a "significant ratcheting up of pressure on Iran," said the United States was targeting Iran's energy sector directly for the first time. "Recent days have brought new evidence that Iran's leaders have continued to defy their international obligations," she said, referring to the strongest report yet from the UN's nuclear watchdog on Iran's nuclear ambitions. Detailing sanctions against goods, services and technologies for the vital petrochemical sector, Clinton said "there have to be consequences of such behaviour." Iran's energy sales are thought to account for around 70 percent of the government's budget and are crucial to the broader Iranian economy. In tandem, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner issued a warning that any firms doing business with Iran's banking sector could run the risk of funding illicit activities. The US government named Iran as "a primary money laundering concern," but stopped short of adopting fully blown sanctions against Iran's central bank. "Financial institutions around the world should think hard about the risks of doing business with Iran," said Geithner. Britain and Canada also rolled out new measures aimed at pressing Iran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program and Clinton said she expected more countries to follow suit. "We expect additional sanctions by other international partners in the days ahead," she said. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful.

Sarawak DAP rep booted-out by Speaker Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:49 PM PST By Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei was thrown out of the Sarawak assembly after a dramatic 10-minute verbal slug-out with Speaker Asfia Awang Nassar and other Barisan Nasional assemblymen. Asfia issued the Wong with marching orders after the later accused him of being biased. The drama unfolded just before the Minister in the Chief Minister's Office and Minister with Special Functions Adenan Satem began his winding up speech. Wong had informed the Speaker that his (Wong) speech in the debate had been tampered with. Asfia then told Wong to sit down. Asfia said the Dewan had not started the order of the day when Wong raised a point of order. Asfia said any member who wished to raise a privilege complaint was required to give a written notice to the speaker as soon as practicable. It was up to the speaker to decide whether or not the matter should have the precedence accorded to matters of privilege. "You drop me a note as soon as practicable then I will decide. This is under Erskine May," Asfia told Wong. 'Biased' Asfia But an unhappy Wong continued to talk despite the order by Asfia to sit down. Wong's microphone was also switched off. This then led to a war-of-words with Asfia and the BN reps on one side and the opposition members on the other side. During this time, someone was heard uttering that the 'speaker is biased', and this made the Asfia angrier. "Who uttered the word?" asked Asfia. When Wong admitted saying it, Asfia gave him the marching order. Wong however remained in the assembly and only left when security personnel were asked to escort him out of the dewan. Nevertheless, the drama continued for some time as the opposition members continued to 'attack' Asfia for his ruling. The opposition assemblymen only sat down when Asfia threatened to take action.   READ MORE HERE.

French firm fined RM133m for bribery in Malaysia Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:19 PM PST By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider French engineering group Alstom was fined RM133 million by Swiss authorities after its employees were found to have bribed civil servants in at least three cases including the award of contracts in Malaysia. It is the second French company in as many years to be fined for bribing government officials in Malaysia, after telco firm Alcatel-Lucent paid RM435 million to resolve US criminal and civil probes in December 2010. The four-year probe centred on payments made by Alstom Network Schweiz AG to middlemen — termed "commercial agents" by the company — in return for securing government contracts to build power stations in 15 countries since the 1990s. The Financial Times reported today that the Swiss Office of the Attorney-General said it had not found criminal wrongdoing by the French company and a Swiss affiliate, which, "as far as can be ascertained" did not know about the bribes. "But it accused Alstom of 'failing to meet the standards for an international group employing over 75,000 people', sanctioning the group for 'corporate negligence'," the international business daily said. The Washington Post also reported Alstom as saying it was satisfied with the outcome of the case as it concluded "the absence of any system or so called slush funds used for bribery of civil servants." Alstom supplied Malakoff's gas-fired power plant in Lumut. — industcards.com pic But the US daily also reported the French firm as acknowledging "that prosecutors had concluded that 'improper payments were made to civil servants in Latvia, Malaysia and Tunisia.'" "In two out of these three cases, Alstom itself would appear to be a victim of the actions of some of its employees, who would have benefited from kickbacks. In the third one, Alstom was simply a subcontractor of a consortium," the company said, according to Reuters. Alstom was awarded a RM2.8 billion contract by Tenaga Nasional earlier this year to provide key power generation equipment to Southeast Asia's first 1,000-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant Manjung, Malaysia. It also won turnkey contracts in 1994 and 2000 to build four power plants including the 1,300MW Lumut and the 670MW Kuala Langat plants and deals in 2003 and 2004 to install environmental control systems for the Tanjung Bin and Jimah coal-fired power plants. Alstom was also appointed by Tenaga to supply two 125MW hydro power turbines, a generator and ancillaries for the 250MW Hulu Terengganu hydro power plant in 2010.   READ MORE HERE.

Tony Blair and George W Bush found guilty of ‘crimes against peace’ Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:16 PM PST By Jeff Taylor, The Economic Voice Both the former UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and former President of the USA, George W Bush, have been found guilty by a court in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia of crimes against peace. The duo were found guilty after a four day hearing set up by the ex-Premier of Malaysia, Mahatmir Mohamad in 2007 when he called Blair and Bush 'child killers' and 'war criminals'. Mahatmir Mohamad has been a long standing critic of the Iraq war and had set up a peace organisation that established the Kuala Lumpar War Crimes Tribunal specifically so that it could judge Bush and Blair. "The Tribunal deliberated over the case and decided unanimously that the first accused George Bush and second accused Blair have been found guilty of crimes against peace." said a tribunal statement. The pair were tried in absentia by a panel chaired by the Malaysian ex-Federal Court Judge Abdul Kadir Sulaiman. Other members reportedly included peace activist Alfred Lambremont Webre of the United States and Mumbai-based lawyer Niloufer Bhagwat of India. Francis Boyle, an American international law professor based in Illinois was said to be among the prosecutors. The trial started on Saturday and was over by the end of Tuesday and the tribunal said "The evidence showed that the drums of wars were being beaten long before the invasion. The accused in their own memoirs have admitted their own intention to invade Iraq regardless of international law." This judgment by a seven member tribunal has absolutely no powers and is seen as a purely symbolic gesture. And it is thought that there will be further hearings regarding torture and war crimes charges laid against another seven people, including the former Vice President of the USA Dick Cheney and the former US Secretary of defence Donald Rumsfeld. According to reports details of the charges had been sent to both men but no reply had been forthcoming.

Mukhriz justifies assembly law as investor draw Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:09 PM PST By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir claimed today foreign investors "hardly" view governance as a problem in Malaysia and are more concerned with political stability, which he said was damaged in the July 9 Bersih street protest. The international trade and industry deputy minister gave this as a reason for his support of the prohibition of street protests under the new Peaceful Assembly Bill tabled in Parliament yesterday, dismissing criticisms that the law would only further erode civil freedom. Mukhriz said foreign investors were more likely to shy away from parking their businesses in Malaysia if street protests were rampant here, leading to the perception that the country is politically unstable. "When I talk to investors, they hardly ask me about governance and all that... they don't talk about it. "Look at the reports we have been getting, the World Economic Forum, World Bank... everyone is saying we are doing great. "So I wonder where this thought that, supposedly, because of our lack of governance, people are not coming to invest here... to me, that is rubbish," he told reporters when met on the sidelines of the National SME Development Council (NSDC) meeting here this morning. Mukhriz related a question posed to him recently by a potential Japanese investor during a trade and investment mission abroad on whether, in view of the chaotic Bersih 2.0 rally, the Malaysian government could guarantee the security of their investment. "This is a very critical factor for them, for them to commit money, to invest and create jobs and also, to have a lot of spin-offs for our own businesses here. "You can imagine how difficult it was for me to answer this question... but the point here is that political stability is the number one factor in the minds of investors when they are considering where to invest in," he said. Under the Peaceful Assembly Bill (2011) tabled yesterday, street protests would be outlawed along with assemblies taking place in or anywhere within a 50m radius of prohibited areas like schools, hospitals and places of worship. It also says there must be 30 days' advance notice for assemblies except for designated areas defined by the home minister. These assemblies can then proceed unless there is objection by the police. But the proposed law does not apply to election campaigns and labour disputes. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers quickly raised objections against the new law, complaining that it would further erode civil freedom and allow more power for the police to conduct arbitrary arrests on peaceful protestors. But in dismissing their concerns today, Mukhriz said street protests should not be held at the expense of the rights of others who were opposed to them, such as the traders whose businesses were affected by the July 9 chaos. He also spoke of recent "revelations" that outside forces were found to have been involved in street demonstrations in other countries and were said to be capitalising on the chaos to their benefit. "[T]here are foreign forces with ulterior motives using all sorts of methods, including street demos to subvert, to create a lot of chaos and in the end, they benefit.   READ MORE HERE.

DAP threatens to sic PAC, Auditor-General on KLIA2 Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:07 PM PST By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — DAP today demanded full disclosure of the new low-cost terminal's construction cost from the Transport Ministry, following a report that the project may have exceeded its budget. The party's national publicity secretary, Tony Pua, warned he would request probes by both the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the Auditor-General's office if Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha does not respond. "He must provide full clarification and justification as to why he has failed to manage and control the cost of the new airport, and why it has been delayed to April 2012, as announced by Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB) managing director, Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad," Pua told reporters here today. The Edge Financial Daily reported yesterday that the cost of the new low cost carrier terminal, dubbed KLIA2, is speculated to have increased significantly over its original estimate of RM2 to 2.5 billion. The report also quoted MAHB officials as saying that additional cost would not immediately mean higher airport fees as these were regulated by the Transport Ministry and MAHB could recoup the costs from non-aeronautical revenues such as airport retail. The official also said the airport charges are not based on the cost of building the airport and that the return on investment (ROI) for KLIA2 is based solely on non-aeronautical income. However, Pua today dismissed the MAHB official's reported remarks, saying that such an increase in cost would be injurious to the airport's eventual users. "The higher cost will either be translated into higher airport taxes and charges, hurting both domestic consumers and international passengers, and ultimately our tourism industry," said the Petaling Jaya Utara MP. MORE TO COME HERE.

Penang wants EC pow-wow over joint polls date Posted: 22 Nov 2011 02:04 PM PST By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 — The Election Commission (EC) should set up a meeting between the federal administration and all state governments to discuss an agreeable date for next general election, the Penang chief minister said today. In seeking the consultation, Lim Guan Eng said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states were now "unfairly" targeted and pressured by the EC towards accepting a concurrent election date with the federal government. "Why only PR states and not [Barisan Nasional]? If the EC is truly free, it should be discussed with all governments, state and federal," he told reporters here. EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof recently said he would meet the chief ministers and mentri besars of the four PR-held states — Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Selangor — to discuss the benefits of having simultaneous state and federal polls. He was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying that simultaneous polls would save monetary resources. "I do not see a problem with different elections.... it has not been an issue in the past. If Sarawak can have separate elections, why not other states?" Lim said today. Penang and Selangor have said they would not dissolve their respective state assemblies if an early general election is called. "But we are willing to discuss. Penang is willing to have a fruitful discussion if the EC moves for one," Lim added.

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