Sabtu, 27 Ogos 2011

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The MAS loss discrepancy

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:37 PM PDT

Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysia Today has written a series of articles (which have been republished a number of times) about what happened to Malaysia's national airline, MAS, from 1994 to 2001.

Basically, the gist of the articles was that there were some criminal goings-on and shenanigans in MAS during the seven years that Tajudin Ramli was managing MAS, which resulted in massive losses for the airline company.

The Malaysian Insider also carried the story and Tajudin has since sued the online portal for reporting that MAS lost RM8 billion when it was in the hands of Tajudin.

(Read more here: Former MAS chairman sues news portal for RM200mil).

The pro-Umno blogs have pooh-poohed this story of the RM8 billion losses. They have even published the annual reports of the airline company to prove that the losses were not RM8 billion but only RM1 billion.

The investigation by the CCID of the Malaysian Police (PDRM), however, revealed a different figure. In fact, the Director of the CCID wrote to the Prime Minister to inform the PM of this matter and the figure quoted was RM8 billion.

(Read more here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/24192-the-untold-mas-story-part-8)

This can only mean that someone is not telling the truth. If the losses were only RM1 billion, then the police must have been lying. And would the Malaysian police dare lie? Have we ever known it to lie?

Is the CCID of the Malaysian Police prepared to defend its reputation (if it has any left to defend) by standing by its reported RM8 billion losses? Or has the CCID been misleading us (which is what most Malaysians suspect of the police anyway)?

The CCID of the PDRM is the same department that investigated me and came to the conclusion that I had committed various crimes. I was not only arrested and made to face four charges. I was further detained without trial under the Internal Security Act.

Now, this is the novelty here. My detention without trial under the Internal Security Act was for the same so-called crimes that I had been charged with and for which I was facing trial. This means I was being punished twice for the same alleged crimes, which is wrong in law. You just cannot be punished twice for the same crime.

Nevertheless, they still punished me twice for the same alleged crimes and yet they still expected me to stay back in Malaysia and face trial for alleged crimes I had already been punished for.

Now you know why I decided to walk off and tell the court to go fuck itself. If they do not respect the law then why should I?

Anyway, we now have a situation where the police say one thing and the auditors for MAS say another thing. And Tajudin is suing The Malaysian Insider for what he considers a blatant lie. And the Umno Bloggers are also saying that the police lied.

Can you just see the irony here? We, the opposition Bloggers, are saying that the police told the truth and that we believe the allegation of the RM8 billion loss. The Umno Bloggers, however, are saying that the police lied.

Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you.

If the police lied about the MAS matter this would mean the police are capable of lying about other things as well. And this would mean they lied about me and they also lied about Anwar Ibrahim.

As they say: once a liar, always a liar. And the MAS matter is a not a small thing, mind you. It involves Umno as well.

Now, let us not forget what Tajudin said in his Affidavit. He said he is only the front and that other people are behind him. Most believe that he is the front for Umno.

Parts 6 and 7 of his Affidavit says it very clearly: At all material times, I was a nominee and agent of the Government…..

(Read more here: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/34253-umnos-hands-in-every-pie)

So, if Tajudin is being protected and no action was taken against him because of this, then it can only mean that Umno is the real criminal in this exercise to bleed MAS.

Can you see how this can spin out of control? This is not only about whether the police lied or not. If they did not, then someone else higher up is lying instead. And if they did, then this means we can't trust the police.

Either way someone's balls are going to get whacked good and proper.

So now it is the Malaysian Police-Opposition Bloggers versus Umno-Umno Bloggers. We take the side of the police while the Umno Bloggers are on the other side.

Let us see who is lying and who is telling the truth. Either way it does not concern me one bit. Either way we would have proved our point.

Now do you see why we are better at this game than Umno is? And now do you see why Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should sack all this so-called advisers, PR companies and spin-doctors and employ us instead?

Yes, it is because we are better at this game than his people are. Oh, and sorry if I sound boastful. If you are good, you are good. What more can I say?

 
Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

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I would hold the election after Raya

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:58 AM PDT

Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy 2 trial is going just like Sodomy 1.

Anwar's team of lawyers are smarter than the prosecutors. They have managed to turn the trial into political grandstanding.

The issue is no longer whether Anwar did or did not commit the act of sodomy. The issue is whether the prosecution can prove that he did so. So they are fighting on technicalities. And the technicalities appear focused on the matter of fabrication of evidence.

That was what happened in the Sodomy 1 trial. And that is what is also happening in the Sodomy 2 trial.

If Najib Tun Razak hopes to convict Anwar and send him to jail, that will happen, of course. That happened in Sodomy 1 and it will happen in Sodomy 2 as well. However, just like what happened in Sodomy 1, the people will not believe that Anwar received a fair trial.

So, if Najib plans to hold the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail, in the hope that Anwar would be discredited and Pakatan Rakyat would lose the moral high ground, that is not going to happen. Instead, Anwar's credibility would be enhanced and Pakatan Rakyat would gain more ground.

So, it is no point in holding the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail. Pakatan Rakyat would, in fact, benefit from that. Najib would be doing Pakatan Rakyat a favour by sending Anwar to jail on what most would consider a sham trial on trumped-up charges and fabricated evidence.

Yes, things are not going well for Najib. Anwar's team has skilfully refocused attention not to the whether Anwar did or did not commit sodomy but to whether he is or is not getting a fair trial. The bungling fools in the prosecution are convincing everyone that the evidence is being fabricated to gain a conviction.

Anwar is going to jail. But he is not going to jail as a disgraced criminal. He is not going to jail because he committed sodomy. He is going to jail because they are giving him a sham jail.

Never mind whether Anwar is really guilty of sodomy. It matters not whether he did or did not commit the crime. What does matter is they can't prove it and they fabricated the evidence to justify sending him to jail.

Things are indeed not going well for Najib. The Sodomy 2 trial is a foregone conclusion. But it is going to hurt Najib more than it is going to hurt Anwar. It is going to damage Barisan Nasional more than it is going to damage Pakatan Rakyat.

So, holding the general election after they send Anwar to jail will do more harm than good to Barisan Nasional. So they had better hold the election now, after Hari Raya.

The economy is not doing well. The UK and the US are bracing themselves for a crash landing.

In October, Najib will be presenting his budget for 2012. It was supposed to be an election budget. But no amount of window-dressing is going to convince anyone that everything is peachy rosy and honky dory.

Najib's budget is going to be torn to pieces. They will strip it naked and it will be seen for what it is: rhetoric with no substance. So, holding the election after the budget, which means after Anwar's trial as well, is going to be a double whammy for Barisan Nasional.

Umno is imploding. Najib is going to face what Dr Mahathir Mohamad faced in mid-2002. In 2002, Umno closed in on Dr Mahathir and forced his hand. In an emotional moment of weakness, Dr Mahathir announced his resignation and handed power to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 1 November 2003.

Najib is fighting on three fronts. On one front is Anwar. On the second front is the doomed economy. More importantly, however, on the third front is Umno that wants Najib's head on a silver platter.

Rosmah Mansor has been very silent of late. She has been told that a Prime Minister's wife must be seen, not heard. In Rosmah's case, it is better that she is not seen as well.

Rosmah is Najib's Khairy. She is to Najib what Khairy was to Abdullah Badawi. And for that same reason Najib has Dr Mahathir breathing down his neck.

Yes, the world is crumbling around Najib. Time is ticking away and is getting shorter. Time is not on Najib's side. Time is a luxury he can't afford.

Najib must call for the general election after Hari Raya if he wants to make it till Christmas. If not, he would go down in history as Malaysia's Prime Minister who ruled the shortest.

Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya.

That is what I would do if I were Najib. I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. Then I would catch Pakatan Rakyat unprepared.

Pakatan Rakyat is not yet ready for the elections. They still have not sorted out the seat allocations. In fact, they have not even started talking yet. And they are far from even sorting out the list of candidates.

Pakatan Rakyat is still sleeping. If the general election is held after Hari Raya, Pakatan Rakyat will be caught with its pants down. Pakatan Rakyat will be like the Americans at Pearl Harbour. They would be bombed and sunk just like at Pearl Harbour.

Yes, call the election after Hari Raya and watch Pakatan Rakyat scramble like cockroaches when the light is switched on. That is what will happen if the election is called after Hari Raya.

If I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya and solve all my problems. It then matters not what type of trial Anwar is subjected to. It then matters not what happens to the economy. It then matters not what Umno is trying to do to me.

By the time it does matter the general election would be over and I would be installed as the legitimate Prime Minister. Then that would give me five years to solve all my problems. And in five years all my problems today would no longer be problems.

That is why I would hold the general election after Hari Raya if I were Najib. But then I am not Najib. And that is why Najib will fall, because he is not me and he would not do what I would do if I were him.

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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Anti-Chinese sentiment gaining ground in Malaysia

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 11:24 AM PDT

By China.org.cn

Recently, a racial incident again took place in a Malaysian school. A middle school history teacher in Johor told a student of Chinese descent to "go back to China." The incident came mere months after another case of schoolyard racism when a middle school principal insulted his Chinese students with similar remarks at the end of last year.

Although racial remarks and activities are often punished firmly by the Malaysian authorities, these discordant voices continue to drum in schools in attempts of clearing out Chinese descendants.

For the middle school principal, however, the only consequence for his behavior last year was being reassigned from his post. This did not appease the anger of the Chinese community. Moreover, it was shown to be a tacit approval for anti-Chinese sentiment by the government.

This time, it is a history teacher who made such improper remarks. The saying goes: Take history as a mirror, and we can see the rise and fall of dynasties. Obviously, this history teacher does not measure up to his supposed expertise, and his ignorance is on clear display as he stirs up racial disputes. Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural nation with Malays, Chinese and Indians as its three major ethnicities. All three settled on the islands almost at the same time; none is technically aborigines in Malaysia.

However, the anti-Chinese sentiment has been deeply rooted. Malays account for 60 percent of the population, Chinese 26 percent and Indians 8 percent. The current administration implements preferential policies to Malays, which has further deepened the racial discrimination in the society.

Chinese descendents in Southeast Asian countries constitute the majority of the foreign Chinese. Minorities in all, the Chinese descendents have still played important roles in the social and economical developments of these countries. Even in the hardest time, they did not leave the countries but stuck to their businesses there. As citizens, they made contribution to the social and economical restorations to the countries where they reside. This was especially the case in Malaysia.

Therefore, "Go back to China" is no small thing. It reflects a lack of sensitivity to racism in Malaysia, as well as the lack of understanding for the local Chinese. The Chinese descendents do not want the government to simply adopt measures to deal with improper remarks or activities as a formality. They want a deeper, intrinsic kind of respect for their community. And instead of fanning the flames of racism and condoning anti-Chinese behaviors, they hope government would take on a meaningful role in maintaining the unity of the ethnicities.

A politician once pointed out this of the Malaysian government: "If you knock it, it will shake. But if you knock harder, it will break. It looks well on the outside, but ill on the inside."

Moreover, a Malaysian congressman confronted the government, saying it was a great shame that although his party had won an overwhelming 91 percent of parliament seats in the election in March, 2004, the prime minister did not take this chance to promote a national unity. On the contrary, ethnic separatists are more influential than ever, bringing a new crisis to the country.

'Lowering requirements may affect residential schools'

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:57 AM PDT

By Rahmah Ghazali, NST

KUALA LUMPUR: Revising the minimum admission requirements to residential schools for less fortunate pupils may cause a drop in the schools' performances, said an educational non-governmental organisation.

 

Parents Action Group for Education president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said pupils in residential schools obtained stellar results in their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).

"(Some of them) achieve 5As. This is why residential schools are always oversubscribed.


"Therefore, I don't see why the standards should be lowered.

"We should encourage these students to do better, instead of coming up with mediocre work," she told the New Sunday Times.

Yesterday, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his ministry had revised the minimum admission requirement to fully residential schools for Form One students.

He said the new requirements would see students from low-income families needing to score only a minimum of 3As and 2Bs in their UPSR, whereas students from rural areas needed to achieve a minimum of 4As and 1B.

Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said the ministry made the decision as many poor pupils lagged behind because of financial woes.

Noor Azimah said those factors would not necessarily impact students' achievements.


"We must not underestimate these pupils because their parents are aware of the importance of education.

"They may not be able to afford tuition classes, but teachers play a very important role in educating these children."

She added that residential schools rejected even students with 5As.

"More than 20,000 applied for admission, and these are students with 5As or 4As. So, I don't think we need to lower the schools' standards."

National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council president Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan said although it was important to help pupils from low-income families or those from rural areas, the government had to ensure that no one took advantage of the new policy.

"This new policy has to be scrutinised so that people can't claim that they belong to the two groups."

He said the government could provide extra classes for English or extra coaching to ensure students could acclimatise themselves to the environment in fully residential schools.

"(This is to avoid) culture shock when they meet urban students with excellent academic backgrounds.

"But, at the same time, they should not be pampered.

"We have to discipline them so they can work hard to overcome their deficiencies."

National Union of the Teaching Profession president Hashim Adnan lauded the move and described it as a golden opportunity for students whose academic progress was hampered because of financial constraints.

"I suggest that the government assist them until they get into university. This will help them get good jobs.

"They can then return to serve in their hometowns. This will break the cycle of poverty."


Muhyiddin: Mohamad’s communist remarks insulting

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:47 AM PDT

 

(The Malaysian Insider) - KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu saying the communists who attacked Bukit Kepong police station were heroes insults those who fought for the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.

During the Emergency (1958-1960), communist insurgents attacked the police station in the 1950s, while the country was still under British rule.

Muhyiddin said he was extremely disappointed with Mohamad who is more popularly known as Mat Sabu, for his August 21 remarks made at a Tasek Gelugot political gathering, as reported by a local daily.

The report also stated that the PAS leader said the country's first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj and Umno's first president Datuk Onn Jaafar were not freedom fighters, Muhyiddin pointed out.

In his statement released to Bernama Online, Muhyiddin said Mohamad was ignorant of the contribution made by past Malay leaders to lead the country to independence.

He wants Mohamad to now apologise to all Malaysians for his remarks.

Muhyiddin explained further that the Malay leaders Mohamad derided who ended up inspired Malays to oppose British rule and the Malayan Union.

He said that they led to the formation of Umno and have always defended Malay rulers, Malay rights, Malay language and Islam.

 

READ MORE HERE.

Politics, politics after Raya

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:39 AM PDT

By Wong Chun Wai, The Star

THE word in Putrajaya is that immediately after the Hari Raya celebrations, it will be just politics, politics and politics. In short, campaigning for the general election will be in full mode.

The Prime Minister, it appears, has served notice that a large part of his weekly schedule will be devoted to meeting the people and getting their feedback: that is, hitting the ground ahead of the elections.

It is unlikely that the polls would be called in November. The likelihood is that the earliest date would be in March.

There are those who like to think that polls have been fixed for Nov 11, 2011, simply because they believe that the number 11 is Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's favourite. But this deduction has little political logic.

It has been reported that his schedule would soon be Monday to Friday in the office, Thursday for political work and Friday to Sunday on the ground.

The focus after the Hari Raya break will be to fine-tune his address on Sept 16; National Day celebrations on Aug 31 have now been moved to Malaysia Day instead.

His call for greater democratic space, including doing away with censorship laws and setting up a Parliamentary Select Committee to review electoral laws, is just a prelude to his address on Sept 16.

It is almost certain that he will expand on democratic reforms with an outline of the changes he wants to implement in Malaysia. It won't be promises but changes that would be set out in black and white.

The fresh democratic reforms will surprise even his critics, particularly those who are pushing for a greater civil society.

In short, the new democracy that he wants to see would recognise the calls by Malaysians. It is the Middle Malaysia that he wants to address. He will say that yes, he hears these voices.

The next priority will be the Budget speech scheduled for Oct 7. The attention will be on affordable housing for low and middle income families and possibly even financial support for books and school transport.

Granted that this could be the last Budget before the elections, no one would be surprised if he tables a practical and yet balanced populist one aimed at winning votes. Given a chance, his political opponents would have done the same if there is a need to win popularity.

Obviously Najib needs to recognise that coping with the rising cost of living is the biggest concern of ordinary Malaysians.

People are worried about whether they will have enough to buy food, pay their mortgage, settle electricity bills, car loan instalments and children's tuition fees and still have some left for savings.

His Budget speech, where he is expected to expand on his Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and the New Economic Model (NEM), will re-emphasise the point that he has an economic plan to develop Malaysia.

He will have this chance to convince the fence sitters and even those who dislike the Barisan Nasional that he should be given a chance to transform Malaysia.

After all, he has only been in office for about two years.

In short, he would challenge his opponents to show Malaysians what economic plans they have and, for that matter, who would be the Prime Minister if they form the next federal government.

Given the negative reaction towards the Government's handling of Bersih 2.0, which has dented its image, Najib would want to seize back the political momentum.

So, enjoy the break while you still can because the political roller coaster ride is about to begin.

To all Muslim readers, I wish to take this opportunity to wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir batin.

PSC: A tactic to delay, deny and confuse?

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:33 AM PDT

 

By P Ramakrishnan, Aliran President

When the Prime Minister announced the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee on 15 August 2011, a friend rang up to ask me what I thought of it. My immediate response was, "It is a tactic to delay, deny and confuse Malaysians!"

What has transpired since then only seems to confirm this observation.

The onus is with the government now to dispel this notion. And the only way to do it is to give a public pledge to the nation that parliament will not be dissolved any time before the PSC completes its work and presents its findings to parliament to put in place the reformation that is urgently required to ensure free and fair elections.

This undertaking is absolutely necessary to convince Malaysians that there was sincerity and commitment on the part of the PM in setting up this PSC. We need to be assured that the Barisan Nasional government will go all the way to implement the reforms that are demanded by the people.

But what was confusing to Malaysians was the statement made by the PM nine days later that the next general election can be held anytime and will not be bound by the findings of the PSC on electoral reforms. This is perplexing!

In order to call for elections, parliament has to be dissolved and when that is done the PSC lapses. He would have effectively scuttled the PSC and sent it into oblivion. The truth of the matter is that the life of the PSC doesn't go beyond the life span of the current parliament. When that is the case, then what is the purpose in setting up the PSC to look at the necessary electoral reforms?

By dissolving parliament before the PSC completes its duties entrusted to it, the PM will immediately deny all Malaysians the electoral reforms that were promised by setting up the PSC. Not only that, he will inevitably delay the promised reforms indefinitely.

History would suggest that the BN has no intention of introducing any meaningful reforms. Since the last Bersih Rally in 2007, the BN had two years to rectify this problem. The four demands of Bersih in 2007 were:

  • The use of indelible ink (which was already been agreed to by the Electoral Commission, but later scrapped);
  • A clean-up of the registered voters' roll;
  • Abolition of postal votes; and
  • Access to the government-controlled print and broadcast media for opposition parties.

The BN government did nothing to address these issues. And these four demands have now become part of the eight demands of Bersih 2.0.

In reality there were only four new demands in 2011:

 

READ MORE HERE.

Take Responsibility, Rais!

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:29 AM PDT

By Tony Pua

TV1 last night reported in its 8pm prime-time news on the existence of "Murtads in Malaysia & Singapore" Facebook group. What is most despicable and sickening is TV1 highlighting the alleged association of DAP leaders such as Tan Kok Wai, Charles Santiago, Dr Boo Cheng Hau, Ean Yong Hian Wah with the Group. TV1 even placed the spotlight on the chairman of Parti Socialis Malaysia (PSM) and ADUN for Kota Damansara Dr Nasir Hashim insinuating the betrayal of his own faith.

The "news" report is obviously calculated to inflame sentiments and anger among Malays and Muslims in the country, especially towards Pakatan Rakyat whose leaders' names were "found" to be part of the group.

The problem is those responsible in TV1 obviously did not bother to find the truth to the story but went ahead to make the baseless insinuations above. TV1 either were too ignorant to know, or did not want to know the fact that the "add to group" function in Facebook is such that you cannot prevent a group administrator from adding you to any group. There is no requirement to secure one's permission or approval for adding a Facebook member to a Group.

Therefore all of the accused "supporters" of the Facebook page did not intend to, or never knew they had "joined" the Group. TV1 was completely unethical in its reporting by not first verifying the above information with the relevant people who were "implicated" by the Facebook page, especially since they were Pakatan Rakyat leaders who were easily accessible.

Hence instead of making a news report to cite the existence of the "Murtads in Malaysia & Singapore" Facebook page and criticising the administrators for wantonly adding Pakatan Rakyat leaders to the page and to cause anger among the people, TV1 chose to emphasize the supposed support shown by these leaders to the page. TV1 must be charged for making and disseminating false news to incite hatred among ordinary Malaysians.

The false TV1 news report follows closely another fake news aired by TV3 on 21 August which claimed the proselytization by a tuition centre in Old Klang Road after complaints by a non-existent "Surau Al-Musyrikin".

It is absolutely clear that the above incendiary and seditious false news reports by the Government-owned and UMNO-associated media organisations are part of a systematic and orchestrated campaign to divide the people and retain power for Barisan Nasional in the next general elections. The desperation of the Najib administration is so deep that "to win at all cost", BN is willing to not only spread false news, but also to use the highly-charged religious sentiments to tear the country apart.

We condemn the actions of the TV stations in the strongest possible terms and demand that the Minister of Information, Communications and Culture Dr Rais Yatim apologise on behalf of the TV stations for making false and seditious news reports. Dr Rais must also conduct an immediate investigation into the completely lack of professionalism in both TV1 and TV3 and insist that the responsible parties are removed from the posts.

Penang BN to focus on 18 ‘critical seats’, says Koh

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:21 AM PDT

 

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) is focused on regaining and retaining 18 "critical" state seats in the next polls, as state coalition chief Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon believes they are crucial to winning back the state.

Koh was chief minister from 1990 until the political tsunami of March 2008 — when Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won 29 out of the total 40 state seats in the state. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng replaced him.

"Of the 11 seats BN has won in March 2008, there are six seats which we won by less than the 600 vote margin. We have to first defend this.

Then there are seven seats which we lost by less than 2000 vote margin, have to try and win back these seats. We also have five seats which we lost less than the 3000 majority margin.

"So we are talking about critical seats altogether of 18 that we have to work very hard on. That's our target we are working on this.18 critical seats," Koh told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview.

The six seats won by BN by less than a 600 vote margin are Telok Bahang, Pulau Betong, Bayan Lepas, Sungai Acheh, Seberang Jaya and Sungai Dua. The seven seats BN lost by less than a 2000 vote margin are Bukit Tengah, Tanjung Bungah, Pulau Tikus, Padang Kota, Datuk Keramat, Batu Uban and Pantai Jerejak. The five seats BN lost by less than a 3000 vote margin are Penanti, Sungai Bakap, Sungai Pinang, Seri Delima and Air Itam.

"I'm not going to claim that we will win. Neither am I going to claim that we will lose because a lot depends on what happens between now and the GE. After March 2008, any politician with the right sense will not make claims after another... In politics there's no absolute surety. (But) we have to try our very best," added the Gerakan president.

The DAP won 19 state seats in the last polls, PKR won 9 and PAS won 1, while Umno won 11 seats. BN coalition partners Gerakan, MCA and MIC however were completely wiped out.

Koh is also facing heat as state BN chief, as there have been calls from within the coalition demanding that the mild-mannered politician step down. BN leaders have said this was necessary if the coalition is to have any chance of wresting back Penang from PR.

The Princeton graduate has been viewed as indecisive and a symbol of the BN leadership that was rejected by the voters in 2008.

BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has spoken behind closed doors on the need to rejuvenate the Gerakan leadership with younger talent and acknowledges that BN component parties need new blood if inroads are to be made in Penang, where DAP's Lim  is a formidable opponent.

Najib is due to pay a visit and speak at the Han Chiang High School in Penang on Sept 29 in what is seen as an attempt to woo the majority Chinese voters on the island. The school field was the site of a massive PR rally on March 6, 2008, two days before Lim swept to power in the state.

The visit is seen as part of Najib's latest strategy to go to the ground every weekend before calling elections ahead of the BN mandate expiring in 2013.

 

READ MORE HERE.

Election Commission should fine-tune voting options list

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 10:10 AM PDT

(The Star) - FOR nearly one million Malaysians based abroad, postal voting will soon become a reality.

The Elections Commission (EC) has rightly been commended for this move, which respects the right of voters to vote even when based overseas, makes it convenient for them to do so, and helps them maintain ties with their home country.

So far, only full-time Malaysian students as well as civil servants and their spouses abroad may cast postal ballots, with many others employed in the private sector left out.

Widening the option of postal voting is definitely an improvement, but the EC should go further.

The procedure for postal voting takes time, is circuitous, and thus may raise doubts about the security and confidentiality of the ballots.

Each Malaysian embassy abroad would hand out the ballots for marking by voters, who then return them to the embassies, which then send them back to Malaysia where they are transported to the respective polling centres of the voters' Malaysian addresses.

Current technology evident in the biometric system being considered for all polling centres suggests that we can do better.

Can the EC devise a practical and secure means of voting online from abroad? It would be good to know that the EC has at least explored the options to see what is possible.

For now, Malaysians based abroad who had not been able to vote but are now hoping to do so must first register for postal balloting. This is only reasonable as they must first be on record as postal voters.

It is also only fair, since voters should show their interest in casting their votes by registering before being given postal ballots.

The EC has still to decide whether to recommend indelible ink, biometrics or both to Parliament to help secure the integrity of voting in the coming general election.

The decision should result from a thorough consideration of what is best, not from any pressure from critics or interested parties.

Only then can the EC earn the respect of all.

I would hold the election after Raya

Posted: 27 Aug 2011 06:58 AM PDT

Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Anwar Ibrahim's Sodomy 2 trial is going just like Sodomy 1.

Anwar's team of lawyers are smarter than the prosecutors. They have managed to turn the trial into political grandstanding.

The issue is no longer whether Anwar did or did not commit the act of sodomy. The issue is whether the prosecution can prove that he did so. So they are fighting on technicalities. And the technicalities appear focused on the matter of fabrication of evidence.

That was what happened in the Sodomy 1 trial. And that is what is also happening in the Sodomy 2 trial.

If Najib Tun Razak hopes to convict Anwar and send him to jail, that will happen, of course. That happened in Sodomy 1 and it will happen in Sodomy 2 as well. However, just like what happened in Sodomy 1, the people will not believe that Anwar received a fair trial.

So, if Najib plans to hold the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail, in the hope that Anwar would be discredited and Pakatan Rakyat would lose the moral high ground, that is not going to happen. Instead, Anwar's credibility would be enhanced and Pakatan Rakyat would gain more ground.

So, it is no point in holding the general election after they convict Anwar and send him to jail. Pakatan Rakyat would, in fact, benefit from that. Najib would be doing Pakatan Rakyat a favour by sending Anwar to jail on what most would consider a sham trial on trumped-up charges and fabricated evidence.

Yes, things are not going well for Najib. Anwar's team has skilfully refocused attention not to the whether Anwar did or did not commit sodomy but to whether he is or is not getting a fair trial. The bungling fools in the prosecution are convincing everyone that the evidence is being fabricated to gain a conviction.

Anwar is going to jail. But he is not going to jail as a disgraced criminal. He is not going to jail because he committed sodomy. He is going to jail because they are giving him a sham jail.

Never mind whether Anwar is really guilty of sodomy. It matters not whether he did or did not commit the crime. What does matter is they can't prove it and they fabricated the evidence to justify sending him to jail.

Things are indeed not going well for Najib. The Sodomy 2 trial is a foregone conclusion. But it is going to hurt Najib more than it is going to hurt Anwar. It is going to damage Barisan Nasional more than it is going to damage Pakatan Rakyat.

So, holding the general election after they send Anwar to jail will do more harm than good to Barisan Nasional. So they had better hold the election now, after Hari Raya.

The economy is not doing well. The UK and the US are bracing themselves for a crash landing.

In October, Najib will be presenting his budget for 2012. It was supposed to be an election budget. But no amount of window-dressing is going to convince anyone that everything is peachy rosy and honky dory.

Najib's budget is going to be torn to pieces. They will strip it naked and it will be seen for what it is: rhetoric with no substance. So, holding the election after the budget, which means after Anwar's trial as well, is going to be a double whammy for Barisan Nasional.

Umno is imploding. Najib is going to face what Dr Mahathir Mohamad faced in mid-2002. In 2002, Umno closed in on Dr Mahathir and forced his hand. In an emotional moment of weakness, Dr Mahathir announced his resignation and handed power to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on 1 November 2003.

Najib is fighting on three fronts. On one front is Anwar. On the second front is the doomed economy. More importantly, however, on the third front is Umno that wants Najib's head on a silver platter.

Rosmah Mansor has been very silent of late. She has been told that a Prime Minister's wife must be seen, not heard. In Rosmah's case, it is better that she is not seen as well.

Rosmah is Najib's Khairy. She is to Najib what Khairy was to Abdullah Badawi. And for that same reason Najib has Dr Mahathir breathing down his neck.

Yes, the world is crumbling around Najib. Time is ticking away and is getting shorter. Time is not on Najib's side. Time is a luxury he can't afford.

Najib must call for the general election after Hari Raya if he wants to make it till Christmas. If not, he would go down in history as Malaysia's Prime Minister who ruled the shortest.

Yes, if I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. If not, then this would be the last Hari Raya with him as Prime Minister. If not, then next Hari Raya we would be visiting either Anwar or Muhyiddin Yassin at Putrajaya.

That is what I would do if I were Najib. I would hold the general election after Hari Raya. Then I would catch Pakatan Rakyat unprepared.

Pakatan Rakyat is not yet ready for the elections. They still have not sorted out the seat allocations. In fact, they have not even started talking yet. And they are far from even sorting out the list of candidates.

Pakatan Rakyat is still sleeping. If the general election is held after Hari Raya, Pakatan Rakyat will be caught with its pants down. Pakatan Rakyat will be like the Americans at Pearl Harbour. They would be bombed and sunk just like at Pearl Harbour.

Yes, call the election after Hari Raya and watch Pakatan Rakyat scramble like cockroaches when the light is switched on. That is what will happen if the election is called after Hari Raya.

If I were Najib, I would hold the general election after Hari Raya and solve all my problems. It then matters not what type of trial Anwar is subjected to. It then matters not what happens to the economy. It then matters not what Umno is trying to do to me.

By the time it does matter the general election would be over and I would be installed as the legitimate Prime Minister. Then that would give me five years to solve all my problems. And in five years all my problems today would no longer be problems.

That is why I would hold the general election after Hari Raya if I were Najib. But then I am not Najib. And that is why Najib will fall, because he is not me and he would not do what I would do if I were him.

 

A-G denies Raja Petra’s bribe claims

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 08:08 PM PDT

(The Malaysian Insider) - Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has denied claims by blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin that he was being bribed by former Ho Hup Bhd deputy executive chairman Datuk Vincent Lye in exchange for help in a boardroom tussle.

Raja Petra had alleged on his blog Malaysia-Today on August 23 that Lye had "bribed" Gani and used Ho Hup funds to pay for renovation work at Gani Patail's second wife's house in Negeri Sembilan.

(Read more here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/42988-now-lets-see-what-the-macc-is-going-to-do)

In his first response to Raja Petra's claims, Abdul Gani told The Malaysian Insider that he had never accepted any money from the construction company.

"I didn't take a single cent from Ho Hup. I have a rule; I don't take money," he said.

When asked whether he owned a house in Seremban, he replied: "I don't have a house in Seremban or anywhere in Negri Sembilan."

"I don't know what to say … all these things happened in 2009 but the case was from 2010, so it doesn't make sense," he added, apparently referring to the charges filed against Low.

Raja Petra had insinuated that the A-G used his influence on behalf of Lye to have his boardroom rival Datuk TC Low charged in court in January this year for non-timely disclosure of his interests in the company.

The blogger had also posted pictures on the website of what appears to be a computer-generated invoice dated July 13 2009 from a company in Petaling Jaya to Ho Hup for installation of lighting fixtures for "AG's Bungalow at Seremban 2 — Sri Carcosa"; a handwritten invoice dated July 13 to Lye for renovation work for Sri Carcosa in Seremban 2; a cash payment voucher from Ho Hup dated August 12 for work done for "AG Tan Sri Ghani Patail Bangalow at Seremban 2 — Sri Carcosa" worth RM18,000; and a cheque made out to the renovation supplier for RM18,000.

READ MORE HERE

 

The MAS loss discrepancy

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 07:37 PM PDT

Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysia Today has written a series of articles (which have been republished a number of times) about what happened to Malaysia's national airline, MAS, from 1994 to 2001.

Basically, the gist of the articles was that there were some criminal goings-on and shenanigans in MAS during the seven years that Tajudin Ramli was managing MAS, which resulted in massive losses for the airline company.

The Malaysian Insider also carried the story and Tajudin has since sued the online portal for reporting that MAS lost RM8 billion when it was in the hands of Tajudin.

(Read more here: Former MAS chairman sues news portal for RM200mil).

The pro-Umno blogs have pooh-poohed this story of the RM8 billion losses. They have even published the annual reports of the airline company to prove that the losses were not RM8 billion but only RM1 billion.

The investigation by the CCID of the Malaysian Police (PDRM), however, revealed a different figure. In fact, the Director of the CCID wrote to the Prime Minister to inform the PM of this matter and the figure quoted was RM8 billion.

(Read more here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/24192-the-untold-mas-story-part-8)

This can only mean that someone is not telling the truth. If the losses were only RM1 billion, then the police must have been lying. And would the Malaysian police dare lie? Have we ever known it to lie?

Is the CCID of the Malaysian Police prepared to defend its reputation (if it has any left to defend) by standing by its reported RM8 billion losses? Or has the CCID been misleading us (which is what most Malaysians suspect of the police anyway)?

The CCID of the PDRM is the same department that investigated me and came to the conclusion that I had committed various crimes. I was not only arrested and made to face four charges. I was further detained without trial under the Internal Security Act.

Now, this is the novelty here. My detention without trial under the Internal Security Act was for the same so-called crimes that I had been charged with and for which I was facing trial. This means I was being punished twice for the same alleged crimes, which is wrong in law. You just cannot be punished twice for the same crime.

Nevertheless, they still punished me twice for the same alleged crimes and yet they still expected me to stay back in Malaysia and face trial for alleged crimes I had already been punished for.

Now you know why I decided to walk off and tell the court to go fuck itself. If they do not respect the law then why should I?

Anyway, we now have a situation where the police say one thing and the auditors for MAS say another thing. And Tajudin is suing The Malaysian Insider for what he considers a blatant lie. And the Umno Bloggers are also saying that the police lied.

Can you just see the irony here? We, the opposition Bloggers, are saying that the police told the truth and that we believe the allegation of the RM8 billion loss. The Umno Bloggers, however, are saying that the police lied.

Did you ever dream you would see the day when the opposition Bloggers would say that they trust the police while the Umno Bloggers are calling the police a bunch of liars? And this is the same police who arrested me and accused me of various crimes and detained me without trial for the very same so-called crimes, mind you.

If the police lied about the MAS matter this would mean the police are capable of lying about other things as well. And this would mean they lied about me and they also lied about Anwar Ibrahim.

As they say: once a liar, always a liar. And the MAS matter is a not a small thing, mind you. It involves Umno as well.

Now, let us not forget what Tajudin said in his Affidavit. He said he is only the front and that other people are behind him. Most believe that he is the front for Umno.

Parts 6 and 7 of his Affidavit says it very clearly: At all material times, I was a nominee and agent of the Government…..

(Read more here: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/34253-umnos-hands-in-every-pie)

So, if Tajudin is being protected and no action was taken against him because of this, then it can only mean that Umno is the real criminal in this exercise to bleed MAS.

Can you see how this can spin out of control? This is not only about whether the police lied or not. If they did not, then someone else higher up is lying instead. And if they did, then this means we can't trust the police.

Either way someone's balls are going to get whacked good and proper.

So now it is the Malaysian Police-Opposition Bloggers versus Umno-Umno Bloggers. We take the side of the police while the Umno Bloggers are on the other side.

Let us see who is lying and who is telling the truth. Either way it does not concern me one bit. Either way we would have proved our point.

Now do you see why we are better at this game than Umno is? And now do you see why Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should sack all this so-called advisers, PR companies and spin-doctors and employ us instead?

Yes, it is because we are better at this game than his people are. Oh, and sorry if I sound boastful. If you are good, you are good. What more can I say?

 

Sodomy II: Sperm sample not taken properly, says expert

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:20 PM PDT

(THE STAR) - A DNA expert told the High Court yesterday that sperm samples taken from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's rectum had not been properly extracted by a chemist.

Dr Brian Leslie McDonald said the differential extraction process (DEP) carried out by the chemist was not properly conducted due to the presence of Mohd Saiful's DNA.

Describing the chemist's findings as speculative, he said a detailed process was necessary to ensure the sperm was isolated from other cells belonging to the complainant.

He said that in order to get the proper results, the samples had "to be cleaned a couple of times."

Dr McDonald pointed out that the report prepared by the chemist did not indicate where the swabs came from.

He said doctors at Hospital Kuala Lumpur did not use the same numbering system for the samples as used by the chemist.

"We have to assume where the swabs came from as this was not reflected in the chemist's report," said Dr McDonald.

He said samples must be verified whether they came from the anal and rectum areas in sodomy cases.

Giving his opinion on the results of the samples taken from Mohd Saiful, Dr McDonald said the two swabs - taken from Mohd Saiful's high rectum and one from the low rectum - showed no degradation despite being examined after more than 90 hours.

"The evidence found was pristine as there was no evidence of degradation, and this is inconsistent with its history." he said.

He explained that in the low rectum swab, there was a mixture of two samples, which included Male Y.

"The second high rectal swab had a mixture of Male Y and the complainant," he said, adding that the "dominance is by the complainant."

"And the one from the low rectal was inconclusive," said Dr McDonald.

On Thursday, Dr McDonald said the samples should have been smeared onto a glass slide, air-dried and immediately frozen at -20C to stop the growth of bacteria from destroying the sperm cells.

The hearing was adjourned to Sept 19.

 

RM8bil joy for bumiputra contractors

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:18 PM PDT

(THE STAR) - More than RM8bil worth of projects will be awarded to bumiputra companies as part of the MY Rapid Transit (MRT) project, according to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said several packages in the RM20bil project had been specially allocated to bumiputra contractors.

The packages are civil and infrastructure works, Tenaga Nasional Bhd power supply, centralised procurement, tunnel and underground works, and MRT systems, he said after chairing the fifth Bumiputra Agenda action council meeting yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Bumiputra Agenda Coordinating Unit (Teraju) in the Prime Minister's Department said procurement strategies for the MRT project had been approved by the one-stop procurement committee headed by Najib, who is also finance minister.

Since its inception, Teraju has been working to increase bumiputra participation in the mega project by securing opportunities for bumiputra contractors under Class D, E, and F and ensure "economies of scale" in the centralised procurement.

Teraju said packages worth RM200mil had been set aside for contractors in Class D, E and F to undertake civil and infrastructure works.

Meanwhile, at a breaking of fast at the Foreign Ministry, Najib said the Government would ensure democracy flourished in the country and would not tolerate anarchy.

The Prime Minister said the Government would provide space for dissent but would not allow riots and disturbances to public order.

"We have always championed democracy from day one but will not tolerate anarchy and riots.

"We know the way forward is for us to allow room and space for dissent but at the same time to uphold the rules and laws," he said.

Also present were Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and members of foreign missions, including ambassadors and high commissioners.

Najib said the Government would review many things, including censorship laws and ensure that there would be space for society to show dissent in an orderly manner.

He said events happening around the world showed that law and order could not be taken for granted.

"Who would have imagined the event (riots) in London, a cradle of democracy.

"If such a homogeneous society can break down, what more a diverse society like Malaysia which is very plural.

"I am not saying that everything is perfect in Malaysia ... we are far from it but are working on it," he said.

 

Sand and Singapore

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:13 PM PDT

THE DIPLOMAT

The politics of sand is a dirty business, and there's plenty of it around – particularly in the tiny island-state of Singapore. Its voracious appetite for constructing mega-buildings and expanding its borders by filling in the sea has led to widespread ecological damage around the region.

Indonesia has complained bitterly about its disappearing islands and banned the export of sand. So has Vietnam. Malaysia uses dealings over sand as a political bargaining chip when negotiating with Singapore, and countries further afield are also thinking twice about selling it sand.

This was the case with Cambodia, which acted on a report by environmental activists Global Witness that was released in May. It has announced that it has ordered a suspension of sand dredging while it assesses alleged damage to fish stocks and the ecology of the Tatai River.

However, all the indications are that private business in Cambodia is thumbing their nose at the government and continuing to dredge the Tatai River. This is despite pleas from impoverished villagers, who live hand to mouth and who have had their livelihoods affected and seen widespread damage to their local environment.

According to the report, Singapore expanded its surface area by 22 percent, from 582 square kilometres in the 1960s to 710 square kilometres in 2008 – and it wants to go much further.

Ho Mak, director of Rivers at the Ministry of Water resources, told The Diplomat the companies dredging the Tatai had been ordered to stop while an environmental impact study is made. Piech Siyon, a provincial director of the Department of Industry, Mines and Energy, insists this has happened.

However, the reports to the contrary are many, something supported by Chum Sok Korb, who told The Diplomat that villagers wanted all sand dredging – big and small – stopped now.

There's no shortage of smugglers in Southeast Asia and the Singapore land developers are well aware of this, prompting accusations by Greenpeace they have launched a 'war' for the commodity.

READ MORE HERE

 

Letter to Tan Sri William Cheng

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:04 PM PDT

By Datuk Seri Idris Jala via The Malaysian Insider

Pemandu is arguing that a report by The Malaysian Insider, "Pemandu admits land acquisition only way to recoup MRT cost", is misleading. 

YBhg Tan Sri,

I refer to your letter entitled "Unfair Rail plus Property Model for MRT Development" dated August 8m 2011. YBhg Tan Sri has raised some concerns regarding the rail and property model including the acquisition of the Jalan Sultan shoplots.

The "rail and property model" is a business model that has been successfully applied by the Hong Kong MTR Corporation in developing the HK MRT rail network. The rationale behind this concept is to ensure effective synergies between rail and property development to optimise catchment and passenger flows for the MRT and provide an effective means of recouping the vast sums spent on developing the MRT. For Hong Kong, this approach also serves as a planning tool for urban spatial development by establishing new communities along the routes of its railway lines.

HK MTR revenues are currently based on 35 per cent fare box revenues, with the remainder being derived from property development. By relying solely on fare box revenue itself, Hong Kong will not be able to successfully finance both the capex and opex costs for its rail network.

In the case of Singapore, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) develops the MRT lines but does not get involved in property development along MRT routes. Instead, this role rests with the Urban Redevelopment Authority and its Housing and Development Board.

The exception is the Dhoby Ghaut station (a five-storey high-rise) undertaken by LTA. Singapore's MRT operators rely heavily on fare box revenues and contribution from commercial activities is minimal but this approach is considered an exception rather than the norm.

It is difficult to replicate fully HK's property value management model in Malaysia as we have to put in play a model that is best suited to our specific needs. HK MTR Corporation has the benefit of access to several tracts of land (mainly from reclamation) that allows integrated station and property/residential development in a country where land is scarce. At the same time, the high density in Hong Kong allows maximum optimization of returns from such property development.

However, in the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley area, most of the area is already built-up and the Sungai Buloh-Kajang alignment runs mainly along a corridor where there are existing developments and hence the need for some amount of land acquisition.

The developments referred to by YBhg Tan Sri in respect of Sungai Buloh-RRI and Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) sites are developed by GLCs and to be totally clear, the revenue from these developments do not go directly towards offsetting the MRT capex.

For the government to manage the project efficiently and sustainably, fare-box revenue will not be sufficient to finance the high CAPEX and OPEX for the MRT network. Increasing the fares is not an option as the government wants to act responsibly by providing the rakyat with affordable transport. Instead, the government is adopting a prudent approach towards a sustainable financial model for the MRT through a modified rail-plus-property model.

The government through the MRT Co will develop properties above the underground station box and the park-and-ride facilities to ensure optimisation of MRT assets and the associated facilities (park and drop-off/bus/taxis areas).

In addition, where there is injurious land (part of the remaining lot not compulsorily acquired) and the property owner is willing to dispose to the government on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis or where the property owner approaches the MRT Co for joint development, the government is willing to consider such options that would allow some returns to balance the heavy investment in rail infrastructure.

The government is thus not acquiring land banks for the MRT Co nor abusing the Land Acquisition Act for this purpose. In respect of the Jalan Sultan shoplots and several other buildings such as UDA Ocean and Plaza Warisan, I will let the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) respond to your concerns as I understand that YBhg Tan Sri has sent a similar letter to SPAD.

READ MORE HERE

 

RCI, not 5P biometric registration, the only answer to illegals problem

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 05:00 PM PDT

On the long-proposed RCI on illegals, I would like to ask why is Umno against it, or pretend to be deaf about it, while all the other political parties, including BN components, have been demanding for it? Doesn't Umno agree that the RCI is the only way to clean up the whole mess with the illegals? What is it trying to hide?

Daniel John Jambun

It is laughable that the Barisan Nasional parties are not even in agreement about the real figures involving the most important issue in Sabah – the problem of the illegal immigrants. The LDP said that according to the 2010 census "of the 2,330,779 non-Malaysians in the country are in Sabah." And frighteningly, LDP reminded us that "the non-Malaysian citizens which stand at 27.75 per cent is now THE LARGEST GROUP OF PEOPLE in Sabah… If we combine their figure with the other Bumiputera, they form 48.33 percent of the population. WE HAVE NOT EVEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT THOSE ILLEGALS NOT INCLUDED IN THE CENSUS"!

This statement reminds us that they are a lot more foreigners out there than we have on records, and that the natives are already overwhelmed by them! But the Sabah Immigration Director, Mohd bin Mentek, responded on behalf of the government almost a week later saying there are only 200,000 illegals, citing convenient statistics as if official statistics were accurate and reliable. Wikipedia says that the common saying about "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is "a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments." The immigration Director argued to dismiss LDP concern by breaking down the figure stated by LDP and reasoning that some of them were legal workers, expatriates and foreigners, while 200,000 were illegal workers. Another source says that in every four Sabahans, there is one illegal immigrant, meaning 25 percent of Sabahans are illegals! But what are the real figures? On August 2, the local papers reported that there are more illegal immigrants in Sabah than originally thought, so the 5P registration had to be extended. This again shows that even the authorities don't know how many illegals there are around us. They can make officials announcements about official figures but it is all official nonsense because it is all lies, damn lies, and statistics. It so easy to ally fears by giving nice statistics, and to give reassurance as if everything is alright. Mohd even told reporters that "we registered 161,370 in just 24 days. Thus the registration rate for 5P was better than (those in 2008 and 2009)" as if there is some kind of success we should be happy about.

The other frightening reality is that the government now takes huge figures like 1,000,000, 800,000 and even 200,000 as if they are small figures that we don't have to worry about. We have forgotten that even 10,000 illegals is something that calls for a national emergency action. So one day we will be talking about 2,000,000 illegals and we still behave as if it is NORMAL?  

Let's bear in mind the hidden truths behind all these statements: (1) We are not told that the higher and faster registration rate this time is possibly because the number of illegals has increased by leaps and bounds! (2) Nobody on earth even really knows how many illegals are out there who are purposely avoiding this registration for fear of having to go back to their countries, (3) Nobody knows how many are arriving to Sabah behind the backdoors everyday because our borders are so porous, (4) We don't know how many of them are being given IMM13 documents, (5) Nobody has any idea how many illegals in Sabah who are already holding genuine Mykads and think of themselves as real Sabahans and not as illegals! Can the Directors of the State Immigration Department and National Registration Department inform us how many foreigners have been given the many types of documents at all their offices in Sabah in the last few years. I am asking this because the number of foreigners jamming the space at the waiting area of the NRD office in the Federal Government Administration Centre everyday is quite incredible. I remember that sometime back the number of immigrants seeking IMM13 documents at the Wisma Budaya near Kampung Air looked like there was a festival there everyday!
 
Taking all these and many other realities which we have no space to mention here, we can conclude with confidence that there a lot more we don't know out there than what the government officials are willing to tell us. The current 5P exercise seems like a convenient escape for the government in its effort to make the people forget about their demand to have a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the illegals. The opposition parties have accused the BN of having a secret mechanism to make this 5P exercise to increase the BN votes in the next general election. What if the registration is designed to record the illegals to enable them to get documents to vote?

What we need is an RCI, not the 5P registration exercise. Tan Sri Bernard Dompok himself had said on Friday that the semi-permanent ink is a better method to prevent multiple voting than the biometric records because biometric verification is impossible where there is no electricity. Also I believe biometric records can be manipulated so that what should be shown are not shown during checking, and the illegals or the phantom voters can still vote – several times. And in such cases we in the opposition would be in no position to substantiate our complaints. TSB is right, and I stand behind him on the use of indelible ink.

On the long-proposed RCI on illegals, I would like to ask why is Umno against it, or pretend to be deaf about it, while all the other political parties, including BN components, have been demanding for it? Doesn't Umno agree that the RCI is the only way to clean up the whole mess with the illegals? What is it trying to hide?

Even the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI) is useless as a means to monitor the problem of illegals via the NRD. Tan Sri Bernard resigned as its chairman in 2007 due to lack of co-operation from the NRD. The obvious question is "Why?" If the NRD has nothing to hide, why did it refuse to attend the PSCI meetings? Lim Kit Siang had then commented in his blog: "Bernard's resignation as PSCI chairman is not a matter which merely concerns him, because of his invidious and unenviable position of chairing the parliamentary select committee on integrity while being a Cabinet Minister. This mix-up of the separate executive and parliamentary roles undermining the doctrine of the separation of powers of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary has created complex and grave conflict situations, as the role of parliamentary select committees is to present viewpoints and proposals which are independent and distinct from those of the Executive for consideration and adoption by the Cabinet. This is why the situation of Cabinet Ministers chairing parliamentary select committees is completely unheard-of in other Commonwealth parliaments, as it creates inherent conflicts and contradictions which has resulted in situations like Bernard's resignation and statement: 'I feel that as a member of the Cabinet I may not be able to do justice to the tasks assigned to the committee by Parliament'."

Again, the only solution is an RCI. We don't have to prove to the government anymore the serious threats of the illegals, and how grave the situation is. Patriotic leaders in Sabah have talked about the dangers of reverse takeover, they had sent documents, Mutalib M.D. and Dr. Chong Eng Leong have published books about it, Datuk Wilfred Bumburing had sent a thick memorandum, Prof. Kamal Sadiq of University of California - Irvine had produced an academic paper about it (search online for Kamal Sadiq, "When States Prefer Non-Citizens Over Citizens: Conflict Over Illegal Immigration into Malaysia"). What else are we going to do to make the federal government listen to our pleas and fears? Do we have to go to the streets like Bersih before Kuala Lumpur listens? Won't we then be told to present our grievance "through the proper channel"? But the government doesn't respond to proper channels, so what else are we to do?

 

‘Sabah getting a raw deal from Petronas’

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 01:56 PM PDT

By Queville To, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Petronas,which gets a major portion of their wealth from Sabah, was taken to task for  spending on luxury projects such as the Sepang F1 racing circuit and a '5-star' hospital for the rich .

PKR Sabah secretary Dr Roland Chia said  Petronas gets a major portion of its wealth from Sabah,but it is spending money millions on lavish peojects in the Peninsula while Sabah is right at the bottom in the country's poverty index.

Chia said Petronas had neglected its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to Sabah and has instead indulged in unnecessary projects.

He said Petronas should be using its billions of ringgit following the oil price hike for more meaningful causes, rather than sponsoring sports cars to participate in the F1 Circuit, or continue to finance the accumulated losses incurred by the Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur.

Sabah, the largest gas producer and the fourth largest crude oil producer in the country, has been short – changed and many feel Petronas should do more for the state.

"I urge Petronas to channel their CSR funds for more meaningful causes rather than building a half-a-billion ringgit elite hospital in Kuala Lumpur and continuing to finance the Prince Court Medical Centre.

"The money can  be used by sponsoring community buses for rural school children who needed to walk for 10-20 km to reach their schools in Sabah and Sarawak," he said.

Critics have complained that Petronas spent RM544 million on PCMC and this contrasts with the  RM47 million the company spent over the last 36 years from 1975 to 2011 on its Education Sponsorship Programme (PESP) in Sabah, which works out to RM1.3 million a year.

"This is utterly ridiculous. Sabahans are living in poverty … their overty index is among the highest in the country and Petronas under the BN government has got their priorities absolutely wrong."

On losses incurred by PCMC, Chia noted that in its most recent annual financial report ended April 2010, the hospital, wholly owned by Petronas, suffered a net loss of RM451 million on the back of a RM82 million revenue.

According to records, the luxury healthcare facility had liabilities and current liabilities of RM749.4 million while its reserves were RM178.3 million.

The hospital which was launched in 2007, made a loss of RM203 million on revenue of RM24 million in 2009 to put its accumulated losses over the two years at RM654 million.

 

READ MORE HERE.

Walk The Talk

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:27 PM PDT

By Christian Federation Malaysia

Together with all Malaysians we join hands in celebrating and rejoicing over Merdeka Day and Malaysia Day this year. Let us offer our prayers in thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings showered upon us and for His kind mercies over these past 54 years of celebrating Merdeka Day and over the past 48 years in auspiciously marking Malaysia Day.

We must continue to uphold the constitutional framework which embodies the principles of democratic freedoms and institutions first set down by our Founding Fathers irrespective of race, religion or creed so that each generation will be able to advance and progress as Malaysians.

We have also embraced the principles of the Rukunegara and the fundamental liberties including the Freedom of Religion which allows us freedom to believe and personal liberty to ensure we live in peace and harmony and for us to seek the welfare and well-being of all who dwell in Malaysia.

The diversity of faiths expressed in the many places of worship throughout Malaysia is a testimony to the spiritual vitality of all our peoples and their desire to be connected to the Almighty God. Therefore, we must hold to the sanctity of all our places of worship and also our freedom to believe and not allow such to be violated in any way.

As Malaysians we must continue in the sharing of our religious traditions, spiritualities and festivities with one another in the spirit of mutual respect. We must not allow actions which are insensitive, arrogant and disrespectful to prevail nor to derail us from our living in harmony and love amongst all religions and communities in Malaysia.

Malaysians value justice and righteousness and therefore expect such values to be exhibited and practiced by the leaders of our nation and by one and all.

Malaysians desire that our leaders act justly, do rightly and to love mercy. This spirit will help us build a great nation for ourselves, our children and our children's children.

Therefore, we expect and call our nation's leaders to show consistent and sustainable leadership in the Prime Minister's unifying theme of 1Malaysia : People First, Performance Now to the end that the theme will not be just more talk than action but become a concrete reality so that we can all enjoy its fruits.

As our nation grows we need to build stronger democratic institutions which will give Malaysians a greater say in the affairs of state. Today, Malaysians as concerned citizens want our voices to be heard and wish to speak on the issues of the nation and how it is administered. Many Malaysians desire electoral reforms to ensure a fair and equitable electoral system and the government's response of a parliamentary select committee to look into this crucial matter is a step forward in the right direction.

As Malaysians we need to build on the positives that we have in our land rather than the negatives that divide us on the basis of race, religion or creed.
Malaysians need to come together to reject all extremisms as they were never what our Founding Fathers saw and desired for Malaysia. In particular, we reject extremist speeches and statements and irresponsible reporting in the media.

We call on every Malaysian to contribute towards the process of nation-building without thought of reward. Churches and Christians should continue freely to do works of charity to contribute towards nation-building in diverse ways so that the benefits can be reaped by the poor and the needy, irrespective of race, religion or creed.

As Malaysians, let us pledge to work for the betterment of all Malaysians, to further the cause of national unity, to promote mutual respect of all peoples and religions, to foster a caring and compassionate society, to maintain democracy, to enable a vibrant economy for the well-being of all, to see to the good of all Malaysians and to ensure that our public institutions are transparent, accountable and serving the people.

The churches join all Malaysians in praying for the good health and well-being of our beloved King and Queen, the Rulers, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the Mentris Besar and Chief Ministers of the states, our parliamentarians, all members of the state assemblies, the police and those who defend our nation.

It is our desire to see continued prosperity with peace, justice and righteousness and the strengthening of our common bonds of friendship and harmony amongst all peoples and religions in Malaysia.

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
- BISHOP NG MOON HING (Chairman)
- BISHOP ANTONY SELVANAYAGAM (Vice-Chairman)
- BISHOP DR THOMAS TSEN (Vice-Chairman)
- REV EU HONG SENG (Vice-Chairman)

Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Q1 net profit 737mn ringgit

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:24 PM PDT

By Business Recorder

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals: Net profit 737 million ringgit ($247 million) for the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

The Company had on March 2 2011, announced the change of financial year end from March 31 to Dec. 31 beginning from April 2011. As a result, there is no equivalent comparative quarter.

Results driven by strong prices seen across most petrochemical products and partially offset by a stronger Malaysian ringgit against the US Dollar.

Malaysia Petronas 1Q Net Profit MYR19.35 Billion Vs MYR12.32 Billion

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:21 PM PDT

By Jason Ng, Dow Jones Newswires

KUALA LUMPUR -(Dow Jones)- Malaysia's state-owned oil-and-gas firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd. Friday reported a 57% rise in its first-quarter net profit, but said growth is likely to slow from the second quarter, and may continue to be sluggish going into 2012.

Malaysia's only Fortune 500 company and the country's most profitable firm, also known as Petronas, said net profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose to MYR19.35 billion, compared with MYR12.32 billion in the year-earlier period. Revenue was higher at MYR72.97 billion from MYR58.56 billion.

Petronas President and Chief Executive Shamsul Azhar Abbas said higher product prices across the board helped the performance. Net profit was also boosted by a one-time gain of MYR2.60 billion from a stake sale in Cairn India Ltd. (532792.BY). In April, Petronas exited Cairn India, selling its entire 14.94% stake in the oil-and-gas explorer for about $2.1 billion.

"Based on July numbers, we are definitely moving towards a slowdown in the second quarter which will continue into next year," Shamsul told reporters at an earnings conference.

Shamsul said the company realized an average weighted crude oil price of $ 122.26 a barrel compared with $76.14 a barrel during the January-March period. However, he cautioned that any slowdown in the U.S. and Europe will likely cause demand destruction and lead to lower product prices.

"Our main worry is the demand destruction" due to economic slowdown in US and Europe, he added.

Petronas projects an average crude oil price of $80-$85 a barrel into 2012 based on fundamentals, Shamsul said.

Shamsul also said the company will be open to acquiring more discovered oil- and-gas assets, as well as unconventional assets, globally.

In June, Petronas bought half of Progress Energy Resources Corp.'s (PRQ.T) certain shale assets in northeastern British Columbia for $1.10 billion.

Shamsul earlier said that Petronas will be also open to buying more shale assets.

Petronas plans to partner U.S.-based Hess Corp. (HES ) in the MYR15.00 billionNorth Malay Basin project that it announced earlier this week. The project is to develop a marginal gas field off peninsular Malaysia to cater to growing domestic demand.

Pakatan: MRT rail, property model is land grab

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:17 PM PDT

 

By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has accused Putrajaya of using the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) as an excuse to acquire prime land after it was revealed that the government will rely on property development to foot project costs.

DAP international secretary Liew Chin Tong said the modified rail-and-property model was just "land grab by another name" and accused the Land Public Transport Authority (SPAD) of putting revenue considerations before the needs of the public.

He told The Malaysian Insider that the regulator's focus on how to maximise returns through property redevelopment rather than public transport requirements was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and called an example of "worst planning practices".

"You should look at transport needs and how to cater for that before anything else," Liew said, adding that this called into question whether the alignment of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line had been determined by property development propositions rather than demand.

"The most important thing is to think how to get people to work (riding the MRT)... The number one priority is to ensure this is the easiest way to work so you don't have a peak hour (congestion) problem."

PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the viability of the entire MRT project was now suspect given the risky nature of property developments, especially since the government will incur "huge public debt" financing them.

He pointed out that returns from such developments were not guaranteed as the outlook for the high-end property market was "quite gloomy" and there was already a property glut in the Klang Valley.

"This is the danger of the MRT project if it's not managed properly," he said.

Rafizi also questioned the timeline for property development on the acquired land and whether it would take place before or after the MRT is scheduled to begin service in 2016.

"When is this so-called redevelopment for [capital expenditure] and [operating expenditure] going to take place? 2017? 2018? In the meantime, the public has to fork out more money while waiting for the returns," he added.

PAS central committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said there was a need for the Najib administration to open up the project to parliamentary scrutiny as the reliance on property development showed that not enough thought had gone into how to finance the MRT.

"If this an afterthought? Have they not said it was a PFI (privately financed initiative) in the first place?" he said.

The Kuala Selangor MP said that the RM50 billion bill for the project would "go through the roof" now as the original estimate had not taken into consideration the massive cost of redeveloping properties the government plans to acquire.

Dzulkefly added that if land acquisition was the single most dominant factor that determines the success of the MRT, Putrajaya should be "humble" enough to engage the Selangor state government on land acquisition matters cordially.

 

READ MORE HERE.

 

Pakatan confident of ‘mission impossible’

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 12:06 PM PDT

By B Nantha Kumar, FMT

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Rakyat is gearing to launch a powerful offensive in Malacca, which is considered a Barisan Nasional stronghold, in the next general election.

Although political pundits predict that BN would retain power, PKR and PAS were aiming to win more seats in the state assembly.

Sources revealed that the two opposition parties alongside DAP would bank on "Umno's arrogance" in running the state to pull in the votes.

In the 2008 general election, BN won 23 seats while the opposition won five – all by DAP.

DAP contested eight but won the Bachang, Ayer Keroh, Kesidang, Kota Laksamana and Bandar Hilir state seats. PAS contested 13 seats while PKR fielded seven candidates.

Time time around, a Malacca DAP leader said Pakatan was confident of capturing at least 14 of the 28 state seats up for grabs.

While political analysts dismissed this as "mission impossible", the opposition believes that with the right campaign strategy, it could turn the tide against BN.

In the next general election, DAP plans to increase its tally to six while PAS and PKR were aiming to seize four seats each.

"DAP is confident of retaining five seats. They are also eyeing the Duyong seat, it is the only state seat they lost in the Kota Melaka parliamentary constituency in the last general election," a party insider told FMT.

The Duyong seat was won by BN candidate Gan Tian Loo with a slim 806 vote majority defeating DAP's Damian Yeo Shen Li.

Extra seat for PKR

However, there were several issues which needed to be ironed out before DAP could contest the seat.

Speculation was rife that PKR wanted the seat as part of a swap plan. DAP leaders on the other hand were adamant about contesting in Duyong.


READ MORE HERE.

Biometric System Would Do More Harm Than Good?

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 11:36 AM PDT

By Syed Zahar. Malaysian Digest  

This whole fuss over the final decision on whether to use the biometric system or indelible ink reminds me of an old tale about the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Russian Federal Space Agency (RESA).

As the story goes, during the height of the space race in the 1960s, NASA scientists realized that pens could not function in space since there's no gravity to make the ink flow down to the ball of the pen. They needed to figure out another way for the astronauts to write things down. So they spent years and millions of taxpayer dollars to develop a pen that could put ink to paper in a weightless environment. Meanwhile, their crafty Soviet counterparts at RESA simply equipped their cosmonauts with pencils.

Though this story is just a myth (but a space pen was really invented by a US company which patented it in 1965) it carries a message of simplicity and thrift – not to mention a failure of common sense in a bureaucracy. So why implement the complicated and expensive biometric voting system when a much simpler and cheaper indelible ink would do the trick?
 
Biometric System vs Indelible Ink

Many Malaysians, especially the opposition-leaning rakyat had sensed that something mischievous was going on when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced recently that biometric system will be used in the coming parliamentary election. It took no time for Pakatan Rakyat to voice out against the idea saying it's a sham as, according to them, the biometric voting system can be manipulated by the Election Commission (EC). They also feel that it's too costly since the EC will need to have thumbprint readers in every stream and every polling station.

Meanwhile, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof yesterday said the committee is seriously considering the use of indelible ink. Then he also said in a typical flip-flop manner that they might decide on using indelible ink as well as the biometric system or just biometrics entirely. Defending the biometric system, Abdul Aziz said the decision will put an end to allegations of "phantom voters". He said phantom voters will no longer exist in the electoral lists once the biometric system is used to verify registered voters. He also urged people to have faith in the biometric system by pointing out that the system is currently used by the Home Ministry, national anti-drugs agency, the Immigration and the police.

Abdul Aziz's announcement was confusing, unconvincing, inconsistent and rather blindsided to say the least. For one, the EC first agreed to use indelible ink in 2008 only to change its mind at the last minute. The EC had bought RM2.9 million worth of ink from Thailand but at the eleventh hour, it decided not to use it due to "security reasons". Then, following the Bersih 2.0 episode, the EC denounced indelible ink saying that it's unfeasible while endorsing the biometric system, only to make yet another U-turn later on.

Meanwhile, in response to the widespread use of biometrics in various authorities, apparently, there are already reports on a certain glitch to biometric data recently. On Aug 11, news came out on the tampering of 600 biometric equipments that were used to record the data of foreign workers in the ongoing amnesty program. According to the Home Ministry, the tampering had caused damage to the biometric system and, as a result, the data of the foreigners could not be uploaded to the Immigration Department's main server. This proved that the biometric system does have flaws where it could be manipulated. 

Inconsistencies: Now the EC chief is contradicting his deputy. He said that in 2008, even when word came about that someone was illegally bringing in indelible ink from Thailand, it wouldn't have mattered

Trust More of An Issue Than Efficient Technology

If the idea to use the biometric system goes through we will be the first to implement the system for voting, unless another country beats us to it. Ghana, which have also been disputing over the same issue, would be the other country that will enforce the biometric voting system in their next election in 2012.

READ MORE HERE

 

Harapan Komuniti receives death threat

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:59 AM PDT

 

By Stephanie Sta Maria, FMT

PETALING JAYA: Harapan Komuniti, the organisers of the thanksgiving dinner raided by the Selangor Religious Islamic Department (JAIS) on Aug 3, received a death threat yesterday morning.

The source who informed FMT of the incident was unable to provide any details except that the handwritten note was written in Malay and contained a warning to Christians that Muslims would not "lose".

Harapan Komuniti lodged a police report at the Sea Park police station at about 10pm last night.
The police officer in charge confirmed this but said that details of the report were confidential.

When contacted Harapan Komuniti's management appeared upset that the news had reached the media and declined to comment.

The source told FMT that the NGO was remaining tight-lipped over the incident as it was "devastated" that the home had now become an innocent target of irresponsible individuals.

"They are fearing for the lives of those under their care, especially the children," the source said. "And the last thing they want is for this incident to be spun by media with agenda which could worsen the situation."

Being harrassed

JAIS raided the dinner held in the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on Aug 3 after allegedly receiving a complaint that proselytising activities were being carried out there.

Harapan Komuniti has denied this and inisted that the dinner was held for HIV/AIDS supporters. JAIS has since summoned the 12 Muslims present at the dinner for questioning earlier this week.

 

READ MORE HERE.

ACCIM claims MRT abused as front for land grab

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:49 AM PDT

By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 — The country's largest Chinese business association has accused the regulator and the owner of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) of abusing the Land Acquisition Act to acquire a prime land bank for property development by "favoured parties".

In a no-holds barred letter sighted by The Malaysian Insider, the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) told the transport minister that the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (Prasarana) should stop the abuse and focus on developing an efficient public transport system instead.

"Since SPAD/Prasarana announced the 'rail plus property' model to develop the MRT, the private sector was already apprehensive that they will abuse the Land Acquisition Act to compulsorily acquire large tracts of land under the guise of MRT station needs with the true underlying purpose of parcelling out to favoured parties to develop in unfair competition with the private sector.

"This abuse must be stopped. The private sector does not have any objections if SPAD/Prasarana develops properties around the MRT stations on state land, e.g. RRI land in Sungai Buloh, Malaysia Financial Centre in Sungai Besi, Cochrane Road, etc," ACCCIM president Tan Sri William Cheng said in a letter to Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha dated this August 22.

The multi-billion project is 51km-long, including 9.5 km of underground tunnels, and stretches from Sungai Buloh to Kajang. Putrajaya has also reserved 43 per cent of the works bill, or RM8 billion in value, for Bumiputera contractors in the country's most expensive infrastructure project.

Property owners protest against the proposed acquisition of land in Chinatown for the MRT project, in Kuala Lumpur August 9, 2011. — Picture by Jack Ooi
In his letter, Cheng said the private sector was in effect subsidising the MRT, citing the "incredulous" proposal mooted by SPAD and Prasarana to acquire prime land in Bandar Utama after one of ACCCIM's members, Bandar Utama Development, refused to foot the bill for the proposed station there without compensation.

"The MRT station appears to [have been] surreptitiously moved away from the operating 1 Utama Integrated Transportation Hub and the developer was given the choice to have the station reverted back to its original ideal position if the developer acquiesced to build and surrender the station plus 500 Park & Ride [parking lots], forego any land acquisition compensation and to also build a commercial building.

"Arising from the developer declining to acquiesce to these onerous and unfair demands, an acquisition of five acres of prime Bandar Utama commercial land worth at least RM150 million has been proposed under the guise of building car parks for Park & Ride facilities, which is incredulous," he said, adding that such tactics could not be condoned.

 

READ MORE HERE.

RBA briefed on bribery, deputy governor admits

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:41 AM PDT

By Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie, The Age

Federal police last month charged NPA and sister firm Securency with Australia's first foreign bribery offences, alleging that millions of dollars paid to the companies' agents in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia were used to bribe officials. Eight former NPA and Securency senior executives have also been charged.

THE Reserve Bank of Australia board was briefed twice in 2007 on information implicating subsidiary Note Printing Australia in overseas bribery, deputy governor Ric Battellino (pictured) admitted yesterday.

Mr Battellino's admission came as he and RBA governor Glenn Stevens faced questions from the House of Representatives' economics committee on the bribery scandal involving the bank's currency printing firms NPA and Securency.

At the committee's meeting in February, Mr Stevens said it was unlikely any RBA officials knew of bribery allegations involving its banknote businesses prior to The Age revealing corruption concerns about Securency in May 2009.

Under questioning from Liberal MP Kelly O'Dwyer and Greens MP Adam Bandt, Mr Battellino confirmed the details of a report by The Age this month, which revealed the board of NPA and senior RBA officials were, in May 2007, presented with strong evidence implicating the company and two of its agents in the bribery of officials in Malaysia and Nepal in return for contracts.

The 2007 information included an admission from an NPA agent that he had paid bribes and requests from another agent to be paid excessive commissions into a third-party bank account.

Mr Battellino said the information presented to the NPA board raised issues ''about bad business practices in relation to agents and, as a result of that, they took some very hard decisions''.

But instead of referring the bribery evidence to the Australian Federal Police for investigation, the RBA and the NPA board decided to handle the matter internally by sacking the agents, calling in the Reserve Bank's audit team and later contracting law firm Freehills to conduct an inquiry.

Mr Battellino said the RBA board was briefed on the internal inquiries into the NPA bribery matters in July and August 2007. The RBA board was told Freehills had been unable to find any breach of Australian laws, he said.

Asked by Ms O'Dwyer why neither the NPA board nor the RBA called the police in 2007, Mr Battellino said: ''There was no basis to. This was an investigation that was started by the NPA board as part of an ongoing control around the way the business was being run. They pursued that to its logical conclusion. You have to accept it is a very serious matter for any organisation to call in police to have staff investigated and my guess is that most organisations would not do that.''

Freehills did not have the AFP's powers to formally question people, issue search warrants to seize evidence or seek co-operation from overseas police. The RBA has twice refused freedom-of-information requests from The Age for the Freehills report.

Federal police last month charged NPA and sister firm Securency with Australia's first foreign bribery offences, alleging that millions of dollars paid to the companies' agents in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia were used to bribe officials. Eight former NPA and Securency senior executives have also been charged.

Mr Battellino confirmed to the committee yesterday that Abdul Kayum, the Malaysian agent specifically referred to in the 2007 bribery information, had also last month been charged with corruption offences by Malaysian authorities investigating NPA's 2004 central bank contract. A former assistant governor of Malaysia's central bank was also charged with accepting a bribe from NPA.

The alleged kickbacks paid by NPA's Nepal agent, Himalaya Pande, to secure a 2002 central bank contract are still being investigated by the AFP and by Nepal's anti-corruption agency.

The NPA board in 2007 was chaired by former RBA deputy governor and former Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chief Graeme Thompson.



Malaysia Airlines' short-term outlook bleak despite new alliance with AirAsia

Posted: 26 Aug 2011 10:33 AM PDT

By Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported a heavy loss in 2Q2011 (three months to 30-Jun-2011) as soaring costs, led by fuel, weighed on the result. The 2Q2011 loss is MAS' second-consecutive quarterly loss and the carrier expects to remain in the red for the rest of the year.

MAS reported a net loss of MYR525.8 million (USD177.7 million) in the second quarter, seasonally its weakest. Aggressive capacity deployment, under-performance from its revenue management and sales teams and increasing competition from regional and Gulf-based rivals also hurt the 2Q2011 result. The net result was a slight year-on-year improvement, but the airline's operating loss swelled to MYR412.5 million (USD139 million) from MYR285.6 million (USD95 million) in the same period last year.

The deteriorating operating performance reflects the sharp increase in operating costs, led chiefly by fuel, which surged 41% in the period, and a weaker cargo performance, which pushed the airline deeply into the red. MAS' operating margin for the quarter was -12.0%.

Various initiatives will be undertaken to reverse MAS' woes. Most notably, MAS has announced a tie-up with Malaysian LCC powerhouse AirAsia and its long-haul offshoot AirAsia X, the airline grouping largely responsible for MAS' struggles over the past decade.

MAS said its board "has identified immediate priorities to focus on in the short-term", aimed at stemming losses. "Working with the new executive committee…recovery initiatives will be implemented to turn the company's fortunes around and to start rebuilding cash reserves," which have fallen sharply in 2011. Immediate initiatives will include, among others, more prudent capacity management, implementing new dynamic pricing to improve yields and revenues and a review of products and brand positioning.

Revenue up, but costs neutralise gains
MAS recorded an 8.5% increase in top-line revenue to MYR3,429 million (USD1.17 billion). Revenue gains were, however, neutralised by soaring costs, which increased 11.4% in the period to MYR3,897 million (USD1.31 billion), which pushed the airline deeply into the red for the quarter.

MAS revenue and operating expenses (MYR million) and growth (% change): 2Q2007 to 2Q2011
 
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and MAS
MAS net profit (MYR million): 2Q2007-2Q2011
 
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation and MAS
Passenger revenue increased 9.1% to MYR2,086 million (USD698 million) and revenue from fuel and administration surcharges rose 45.2% to MYR495 million (USD166 million).

Cargo revenue however was much weaker in the period, reflecting the lower year-on-year trade volumes seen in the region, which was skewed by the replenishing of global restocking of inventories in early 1H2010 following the global financial crisis. Total cargo revenue fell 16%, led by a 24% fall in belly and freighter revenue. The cargo segment's fuel surcharge, which increased 6.6% to MYR145 million (USD48.5 million), helped mitigate the sharp fall in cargo revenue.

But spiralling costs significantly outweighed revenue growth. Operating costs increased 11.5% to MYR3,987 million (USD1.31 billion). Fuel, unsurprisingly, led the rise in costs. Fuel costs surged 41% in 2Q to MYR1,550 million (USD519 million), to account for 40% of total operating costs, up from 30% in 2Q2010. The sharp fuel price rise masks what would otherwise have been an impressive cost performance in 2Q2011, with non-fuel operating costs down 2%, reflecting MAS' aggressive and consistent cost control measures.

ASKs increased 10% and RPKs increased 12%, pushing average loads up 1.5ppts to 75.5%. The stronger load factors and other various yield-supportive measures, such as fare increases and fuel surcharges, saw yields increase 1% to 24.2 sen (USD8.16 cents), with RASK up 3% to 18.2 sen (USD6.14 cents).

Strategic shake-up aimed at ending MAS' woes
Since the end of 2Q2011, a major strategic development has taken place as MAS forged earlier this month a tie-up with rival AirAsia, which has moved aggressively into MAS' short-haul, regional, and more recently, its long-haul markets. Khazanah, a national investment vehicle and majority shareholder in MAS, purchased a 10% stake in AirAsia from Tune Air, as part of a cross-equity deal. Khazanah will also purchase a 10% stake in AirAsia X. Tune Air, the largest shareholder in AirAsia and the investment vehicle of CEO Tony Fernandes, acquired a 20% stake in MAS from Khazanah.

See related report: Turning the industry on its head: AirAsia joins Malaysia Airlines

A Joint Collaboration Committee (JCC) was formed on 09-Aug-2011, which will look into key areas for collaboration to realise synergies and cost efforts, MAS says. MAS and AirAsia aim to cooperate in areas such as engineering and ground support, aircraft purchasing, catering and training and cargo services.

The Malaysian government said the agreement would end cut-throat competition between the airline groups, allowing them to grow together and more profitably than would otherwise be the case. Mr Fernandes said the deal allows his airline to focus on growing the business, "as opposed to spending a lot of time on politics and fighting unnecessary battles". The collaboration should also boost yields for both airlines.

Better market segmentation should also be achieved under the deal, with one partner targeting the low-cost, leisure market and the other, the higher-yielding and premium market. Firefly, MAS' LCC subsidiary, also recorded heavy losses in 1H2011 and will be re-structured to focus on the short-haul premium travel space using turboprop equipment. MAS said a longer-term solution for Firefly would be developed by the management team to put the airline on course for sustained profitability.

While Firefly will retain its ATR-72s, the carrier's B737 fleet is expected to be transferred to the new regional, full-service airline, Sapphire. But it remains unclear how MAS, which also has a regional carrier unit in east Malaysia with ATR-72 operator MASwings, will juggle so many brands. Of particular interest will be how the Sapphire unit differs from MAS' existing regional narrowbody services.

MAS, in releasing its 2Q2011 earnings, also said its multi-year re-fleeting programme will be accelerated. As of mid-Aug-2011, the airline has taken delivery this year of five new B737-800s and five new A330-300s. Over the next four months, MAS will take delivery of six more aircraft – two B737-800s, two A330-200Fs and two ATR-72s. Excluding these aircraft, MAS' order book comprises 38 B737-800s, ten A330s, six A380s and two A330-200Fs. The airline said its fleet delivery schedule would be accelerated in the next few years, adding that all required financing activities for 2012 have been completed.

Weak result matched by gloomy outlook
MAS expects a weak second-half due to elevated fuel prices and sovereign debt fears in key markets which will continue to weigh on consumer confidence and economic growth. The airline's forward bookings indicate challenges in the European, US and Japanese markets, with "normal" trends for other regions. The third quarter will be soft owing to the month of Ramadan, when travel is seasonally slow.

In response to the challenging outlook, MAS will moderate its capacity growth in 2H2011. The airline will also review its route network and adjust capacity accordingly. MAS will retire two B747-200Fs, one B747-400 and three B737-400s by Oct-2011.

The airline will also have a heavier focus on yield management, with new revenue systems to be introduced in 2H2011. MAS aims to enhance its yield performance through front-end business class initiatives, implementation of fuel surcharges and step up its yield/revenue management.

A loss in 2H2011 is still expected, though MAS said it would be less severe than 1H2011, due to these initiatives.

MAS' most significant turn in fortunes is likely to come from its tie-up with AirAsia, a deal that effectively neutralises a major competitor and a leading cause of losses in recent years. Under the agreement, MAS also gains two successful and experienced aviation executives on its board, in Tony Fernandes and AirAsia deputy CEO Kamarudin Meranun. This expertise at senior management level should help MAS overhaul its network, alliance and fleet strategies and navigate the flag carrier through some more desperate times.

Isn’t the Transport Minister from MCA?

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:14 PM PDT

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_k6h1DIEhlt8/SdHKN1sW-uI/AAAAAAAABR8/MPCzA41xKa8/Kong%20cho%20ha_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg

Kong is keeping mum because his useless ministerial position is more important than the Chinese community. If he objects, he will be removed by Umno, just like what happened to former MCA president Ong Tee Keat in the multi-billion-ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKF) financial scandal.

By Lee Kee

Who is MCA trying to kid in the controversial acquisition of Petaling "Chinatown" Street land for the construction of the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT)?

The sex-scandal-tainted president Dr Chua Soi Lek had on Wednesday (Aug 24, 2011) so proudly announced and promised that the 31 landowners on Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Sultan would be able to hold on to their property — after the government agreed to reinforce their buildings — and return upon completion of the tunnelling beneath their shops.

In less than 24 hours, Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Syed Hamid Albar said the compulsory acquisition of the Jalan Sultan lots — where the KVMRT would run underground — was necessary because under land law, landowners also owned the land that lies below ground.

"We have to do compulsory acquisition of the land. It means that subsequently, they have to alienate the land above," Syed Hamid told reporters after a memorandum of understanding signing with Puspakom Sdn Bhd on Thursday.

Syed Hamid added that although they were currently working on a solution to allow the traders to return to Chinatown "there is no guarantee that it would eventually be returned to the owners".

This again, as in the past, shows what MCA leaders say are meaningless and just a "damage control exercise" whenever controversial issues afflicting the Chinese community arise.

In particular, can anyone really trust Dr Chua the wife cheater to represent us?

In dealing with such issues since Merdeka, the MCA continues to dish out crap, never sticking its neck out for the Chinese community.

The biggest joke in this Chinatown issue is this: "Why is the Transport Minister Kong Cho Ha keeping mum?" Isn't he from MCA? Is the SPAD chairman more powerful than Kong?

Of course the Umno SPAD chairman is more powerful.

Kong is keeping mum because his useless ministerial position (Kong is making it useless with his inaction) is more important than the Chinese community.

If he objects, he will be removed by Umno, just like what happened to former MCA president Ong Tee Keat who foolishly knocked his head on the brickwall in the multi-billion-ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKF) financial scandal.

Kong, after taking office, displayed his 101% loyalty to the powers that be by immediately sweeping the PKFZ probe under the carpet, thus comnsolidating his ministerial position.

Under such circumstances, do you really expect the dumbbell Kong or the MCA to defend the interests of the Chinese community or care a damn for a Chinese heritage zone?

It is really appalling to note that, of late, the non-Umno ministers have been reduced to just puppets, toothless leaders who are completely subservient to Umno and the powers that be.

Non-Umno ministers are just puppets and powerless to Umno-formed and Umno-linked commissions, committees, boards, etc.

So Malaysians, isn't it crystal clear that it does not really make any difference whether there are MCA, Gerakan or MIC ministers after the next general election?

As for the Malays, only the cronies of Umno Malays will continue to prosper while the majority of Malays continue to struggle in poverty.

 

Lynas: an injustice most taxing

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:09 PM PDT

http://mynewshub.my/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Lynas-gebeng.jpg

The 12-year tax exemption given to Lynas may prove to be the biggest blunder ever. Lynas is projected to make about AUD 6.2 billion in pre-tax profit in 2012 and 2013 and in exchange, we allow them to contaminate our land for free. 

By Lee Wee Tak and Soo Jin Hou

Malaysians are no strangers to skewed agreements. From IPP subsidies to guaranteed profits for highway concessionaires, the public has on numerous times endured the consequences of sheer governmental incompetence. Yet, the 12-year tax exemption given to Lynas may prove to be the biggest blunder ever. Lynas is projected to make about AUD 6.2 billion in pre-tax profit in 2012 and 2013 and in exchange, we allow them to contaminate our land for free.

The graph below shows the spectacular rise in rare earth price since Q3 2010. While gold's bull run has been getting plenty of attention of late, the real star is rare earth, which has taken off to astronomical heights. For Lynas, the price of the rare earths from Mount Weld may increase 15.7 times from JP Morgan's estimate by the time the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) begins production in 2012.


JP Morgan published their stock analysis on 24 June 2010, just prior to the price break out. They have predicted a ridiculously conservative average price of USD 17.69/kg in 2012. At that price, they have expected Lynas to be breaking even in making AUD 4.8 million in net tax profit in 2012. The price has since shot up to USD 201.35/kg on 22 Aug 2011. Based on linear regression calculated from 3Q10 to 22 August 2011, and extrapolated to 1 January 2012, the price may even surge up to USD278.14.

The following table shows our revised estimates based on JP Morgan's research. We predict Lynas will make AUD 2.2 billion in 2012 and AUD 4.1 billion in 2013 before tax based on the above linear regression estimation (if the 22 August price of USD 201.35/kg is used, 2012 and 2013 profits would be AUD1.5 billion and AUD 2.9 billion respectively).

No matter what the price would be, Lynas will be able to repay their entire setup cost of AUD 807 million and still be able to make super normal windfall profit within the first year. The profit is expected to double up in 2013 when production from Phase 2 commences.



Certain important assumptions are made in this deduction, and they are:

a) The revenue is directly proportional to the increase in rare earth price.

b) Rare earth prices are able to sustain at an average of USD 278.14.13/kg. This is justified by assuming that the downside risk of new supply sources is balanced by the upside risk of China's continual pull back in production.

c) Production of Phase 2, which will double LAMP's capacity to commence production by 2013. Construction of Phase 2 is scheduled for completion by Q4 2012.

d) In 2012 and 2013, the AUD/USD rates are 0.95 (rate at 25/8/2011) and 0.9 respectively.

e) Exchange rate has impact on revenue (since rare earths are priced in USD) and operating cost (25% of total operating cost to run the Mount Weld concentration plant is denominated in AUD).

JP Morgan has estimated that the internal transfer price of the semi-refined ores from the Mount Weld concentration plant to its Malaysian subsidiary to be approximately 30% of the finished product price. Consequently, from the AUD 6.2 billion pre-tax profit for 2012-2013, only AUD 1.9 billion will be subjected to Australian tax.

Read more at: http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/08/lynas-injustice-most-taxing.html

Giving out Free Lunches!

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 11:05 PM PDT

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But pray tell me Najib how much more of OUR money are you going to give away for YOUR political survival? There is no such thing as a free lunch….well maybe not for most of us but there seems to be an endless supply of free lunches for Najib to give away…

By steadyaku47

Politics is not an exact science. It is the art of the impossible. Do you not wonder sometimes what the outcome of the 13th General Election will be? Or do you consider yourself amongst the growing number of skeptics that resigns themselves to the inevitability of being saddled with bad politicians no matter who wins the election?

Sometimes I despair at the diversity of it all.

·      I support DSAI.
·      I am for Najib Tun Razak. 

·      Anything but UMNO!
·      Pakatan Rakyat will only do worse then BN when in government!

·      Satu lagi Projek BN.
·      PR will stop waste in government spending!

And so the battle rages while we stand on the sidelines and watch. Watch and ponder where our country will be after the 13th general elections!

For me I see no glimmer of light shining through any cracks in the amour of BN or PR within which they all hide from us. To both these antagonists what matters is winning because in Malaysian politics the winner takes it all.

Yes I can see great things happening in Penang with Guan Eng there but already money is being made by party cronies. When big business comes into Penang, big money stands to be made. Not that there is anything wrong in that…nothing glaring wrong as yet…but big business has a way of corrupting those who are within their ambit! Politicians included…especially politicians!   

Najib launches initiatives after initiatives – today it is KARISMA as part of Gagasan 1 Malaysia "pillars…in upholding social justice!".

Just imagine a Rm1.4 billion welfare program that will help 500,000 people. If only 10% of that 500,000 people are persuaded to thank Najib by voting BN at the next general election – that is 50,000 additional votes for BN. 50,000 additional votes at a costs of RM1.4 billion ringgit is acceptable to a desperate government fighting for its political survival but (it would seem) still concerned enough to uphold the pillars of social justice"….just as long as they are doing the holding up of the pillars of social justice with OUR money!

What it does to a country already in hock right up to its neck is to be debated AFTER the 13th general elections.    

The picture opportunity of Najib, Muhyiddin and Sharizat with that one finger salute is collateral "win win" for UMNO that costs the people RM1.4 billion. That headline of NST "FULL OF KARISMA" should really be "FULL OF S#*T" (to quote that Son of Ali).

Now that Din guy in the Rumah Ministry had a live bullet sent to him  - which according to KL CID chief is a threat under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation – and this brave Din guy is not at all intimidated about it. It only strengthens his resolve to discharge his duties and responsibilities to maintain the country's peace and security. Well said Din! I do wish that whoever sent that live bullet to Din will now stop laughing and get a hold of himself. He has had his fun. Din has made all the right noises about "not being intimidated…and national security" and that PDRM CID chief in KL has had his 15-second of fame. Now can we get back to OUR security and maintaining OUR peace?    

A quick look through of who Najib is "helping" today is quiet impressive:

Taxi Drivers (our unsung heroes according to NST) gets RM$612,8000 at the Masjid Putra in Putrajaya from Najib & company. According to Najib he knows that these taxi drivers struggle to make ends meet as they earned only RM1,000 a month. Does he knows that half their takings each day are paid out to UMNO cronies that own these Taxi companies? Hell even the uniformed veterans have a Taxi Company that does the same thing! The Taxi companies make the big money – the taxi drivers are not unsung heroes – they are the people who do their daily grind of 12 to 15 hours of work to take home RM1,000 per month while UMNO cronies rake in the big bucks! And were the money distributed to taxi drivers of all races or was it only for the "priceless contributions" of Bumiputra taxi drivers?

And women too! In addressing 5000 women attending the National Women's Day celebration Najib declared women as significant partners in the country's transformation plan…explaining that the having of 30 per cent key position in the corporate sector to be held by women is a target, not a quota. Phew! For a moment there those corporate big wigs listening must have almost had a coronary! 

And the financial give away continues with RM9.75 million presented to 127 non-governmental organizations to enable them to carry out their programme!

Through all this I can see that all knowing gaze of Rosmah nodding along with what Najib was saying. In as far as she was concerned she had achieved her 30 per cent quota in her household – 30per cent for Najib and 70 per cent for her!

That about covers it all – from taxi drivers to armed veteran and across the gender divide too. A good day at the office for our Prime Minister.

Read more at: http://steadyaku-steadyaku-husseinhamid.blogspot.com/2011/08/giving-out-free-lunches.html

FBI Pressured to Stop Backing Malaysian Potentate

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 07:30 PM PDT

By World-Wire

Western NGOs are increasing the pressure on the United States' federal police for its ties with Malaysian potentate Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib"), one of South-East Asia's longest-serving and most corrupt politicians

BASEL, SWITZERLAND/SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, D.C., August 25, 2011 –-/WORLD-WIRE/– In a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller, the Swiss Bruno Manser Fund and the San-Francisco-based Borneo Project are calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to cut ties with Wallysons Inc., a US company controlled by the Malaysian Taib family.

The NGOs are asking the American federal police to suspend the rental contracts for the Abraham Lincoln Building in Seattle, which is owned by Wallysons Inc., and houses the FBI's Seattle Division headquarters. FBI Director Mueller is also asked to ascertain if the Taib family's US investments are in line with the country's anti-money-laundering legislation, and to freeze all Taib family assets in the United States.

"While the the fight against public corruption should be one of the FBI's top priorities, it is renting premises from the Taib family, one of South East Asia's largest corruption networks. We are seriously concerned that the FBI appears to be unduly backing the Taib family and its illicit foreign assets," the Bruno Manser Fund wrote in a statement.

Copies of the letter have been sent to a number of US government agencies and top politicians, including the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, the Secretary for the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, the Attorney General, Eric Holder, and the Judiciary Committees of congress who oversee the FBI.

In March 2011, the NGOs had approached the American federal police on the matter and organized a street protest in front of the FBI's Seattle Division Headquarters. The FBI had left their complaints unanswered and refused to receive a NGO delegation.

Wallysons Inc. is one out of five US companies blacklisted by the Bruno Manser Fund for their close association with the Taib family.

75-year old Abdul Taib Mahmud ("Taib") has been governing Malaysia's largest state, Sarawak, since 1981, a position which he has abused to amass a fortune estimated at several billion US dollars. Most of Taib's wealth is believed to stem from the destructive logging of Borneo's tropical rainforests.

In June 2011, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission announced it had opened a corruption investigation against Abdul Taib Mahmud.

For more information contact:

Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel / Switzerland

 

 

 

Rise of strict Islam exposes tensions in Malaysia

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 07:20 PM PDT

Analysts say this emphasis on Islamic practice is superficial. They blame it on the competition for Malay-Muslim voters between the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), both of which are trying to position themselves as defenders of Islam.

By Jennifer Pak, BBC News 

Muslim women without headscarves are a common sight on the streets of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

But engaging them in a discussion about the hijab is difficult.

Norhayati Kaprawi is a Malaysian activist whose recent documentary Aku Siapa (Who Am I) deals with the issue of how women in Malaysia should dress. She found some women unwilling to show their faces in her film - not on religious grounds, but becasue they feared reprisals.

This is a damning reflection on Malaysia's Muslim society, says Ms Norhayati.

"It's full of fear. If you don't follow the mainstream you will be lynched."

According to the activist, the pressure to wear the hijab grew after the Iranian revolution in 1979, and it is now the most visible sign of Malaysia's rising Islamic fundmentalism.

Muslims account for over half the population of 28 million people and are mainly ethnic Malays. Malaysia often prides itself on being a moderate Muslim nation, which allows other religions freedom of worship.

And while there are no laws forcing women to wear the hijab, Ms Norhayati says many Muslims feel compelled.

Crime and punishment

Increasingly, there is a greater emphasis on Islamic codes of conduct.

For the first time last year, Malaysian authorities caned women under Sharia law. The three women sentenced were found guilty of having sex outside of marriage.

And a part-time Muslim model was sentenced to the same punishment in 2009 for drinking beer in public. Islamic authorities eventually reduced Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno's sentence to community service last year after the story made international headlines.

Analysts say this emphasis on Islamic practice is superficial. They blame it on the competition for Malay-Muslim voters between the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), both of which are trying to position themselves as defenders of Islam.

The youth wing of the PAS has often lobbied the government to ban Western pop artists from perfoming in Malaysia, deeming them to be un-Islamic.

Since 2008, when elections delivered a record number of seats to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, of which the PAS is a member, the party has tried to moderate its stance.

Although the PAS has not abandoned the goal of making Malaysia into an Islamic state, PAS Member of Parliament Khalid Samad says non-Muslims have nothing to fear.

"We do not think Islam is all about cutting off hands and stoning adulterers," he says.

"That's a very minute aspect of the Islamic law. What's more important is the question of good governance."

In a move to show it can work with non-Muslims, the PAS is planning to open up membership to them.

"Nobody can say if we come to power, [that] we cannot govern a multi-religious and multi-racial nation," says Mr Khalid.

Cause for concern?

But a resurgence in Islam has many non-Muslims concerned.

Islamic officials in Selangor state entered a Methodist church without a warrant in early August, breaking up a fundraising dinner. They recorded the details of several Muslims who attended the function.

The Islamic authorities have said they acted on a tip-off, but have refused to reveal the nature of the complaint.

Religious officials are wary about Muslims attending church-organised events. There are fears these are attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity - something that is illegal in Malaysia.

"This action sets a dangerous precedent and makes a mockery of the sanctity and inviolability of all religious places in our beloved country," said the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hindusim, Sikhism and Taoism in a statement.

Ongoing row

The fear of conversion has already strained relations between Muslims and the Christian minority, who make up around nine per cent of the country's population and are typically ethnic Chinese and Indians.

Over the last two years, churches have been firebombed and Bibles have been seized in an ongoing row between Christians and Muslims over the use of the word 'Allah'.

The religious minority insists that they have been using the term for centuries in the Malay language to refer to the Christian god.

But in 1986, the government banned non-Muslim from using the word 'Allah' in publications. This ban was not usually enforced until recently when the government began to act upon it at the behest of some Muslim groups.

In a move seen as a bid to win Malay-Muslim votes, the government argued that for non-Muslims, calling their gods 'Allah' would be confusing to the Muslim-majority and threaten national security.

As a result, Malay-language Bibles have been impounded by customs officials. Some Muslim activists fear that Christians are using the Bibles to convert Muslims.

Attacks on places of worship came after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled in December 2009 that the word 'Allah' is not exclusive to Islam. The government has appealed against the decision but no hearing date has been set yet.

In the meantime the prime minister's department has made some concessions in recent months and released some 35,000 seized Bibles. The cabinet has also set up a committee for religious leaders from all faiths to resolve the "Allah" issue.

Reverend Dr Thomas Philips is one of the committee members. He says the meetings have been sporadic but he is optimistic they can reach an understanding.

"I'm convinced Malaysia is a moderate Muslim country," he says.

Norhayati Kaprawi agrees, but fears that the mainstream opinion has been silenced.

"People who hold more progressive or alternative views," she says, "don't dare to speak up in public."

 

DNA samples from Saiful’s anus ‘pristine’

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 05:40 PM PDT

There is absolutely no evidence that Saiful's DNA samples had degraded, according to Australian expert

McDonald said the sample – taken from the higher rectum which was predominantly from "Male Y", while another which was predominantly Saiful's – was inconclusive. However, the DNA expert said that all three had no evidence that degradation had occurred and were "pristine DNA".

Teoh El Sen, Free Malaysia Today

The DNA samples extracted from Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan's anus, which were supposed to have degraded, appeared to be in "pristine" condition, the High Court here heard today.

"There is absolutely no evidence of degradation… " said Australian consultant molecular geneticist, Dr Brian Leslie McDonald, at the Sodomy II trial.

McDonald agreed with defence counsel Ramkarpal Singh that the DNA test results were "inconsistent with the history (of the case)".

Yesterday, McDonald had testified that the DNA samples – which were extracted from Saiful's anus 56 hours after the alleged sodomy, and later kept in a drawer for 43 hours – would have degraded.

Australian forensic expert Dr David Lawrence Noel Wells, the head of forensic medicine at the Victoria Institute of Medicine, had also testified that the poorly kept samples were unlikely to have returned a positive result.

The defence team claimed the testimony today supports its argument that the evidence was tampered with.

"This is a very important issue. How could we have a new sample when the sample was supposed to have degraded with bacteria? Where did they get the sample from?" Anwar told reporters outside the court.

Earlier, Ramkarpal asked McDonald to give his opinion on the chemist report done on three DNA samples (B7, B8, B9) which were taken from Saiful's higher and lower rectum.

Mere guesswork

McDonald said the sample – taken from the higher rectum which was predominantly from "Male Y", while another which was predominantly Saiful's – was inconclusive.

However, the DNA expert said that all three had no evidence that degradation had occurred and were "pristine DNA".

McDonald also criticised the way government chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong had conducted the tests on the samples.

According to him, Seah did not identify where the swab samples were taken from and had merely labelled them as numbers in her chemist report.

"One is left not knowing – and have to assume – where the samples were swabbed from…" said McDonald.

During the prosecution's case, the DNA samples from Saiful's anus had been identified by chemists as that belonging to one "Male Y", which were matched to samples taken from several items in Anwar's lock-up.

Earlier, McDonald said Seah's conclusions in her chemistry report, which subsequently enabled the prosecution to allege that Anwar's sperm was found in Saiful's anus, were based on mere guesswork.

He said Seah's report was not "scientifically objective".

Yesterday, he said that in sexual assault cases, it was critical to be able identify that a DNA sample is derived from the sperm cells.

In order to conclusively say that a DNA profile comes from the sperm cells, as opposed to other types of cells, a chemist needs to separate sperm cells from the other types of cells by conducting a "differential extraction process".

"This process was not done properly (by Dr Seah)," McDonald told the court when questioned by Ramkarpal.

He said this was evident in her own "guess" that there were still other types of cells present after the separation process.

"If she maintained that the DNA (identified as belonging to Saiful) comes from epithelial cells (non-sperm cells), then she should have done the separation process again," he said.

READ MORE HERE

 

WikiLeaks Releases Tens of Thousands More Classified Cables

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:52 PM PDT

(Malaysian Digest) - WASHINGTON: The WikiLeaks organization said on Thursday it was releasing tens of thousands of previously unpublished US diplomatic cables, some of which are still classified, reported Reuters.

"We will have released over 100,000 US embassy cables from around the world by the end of today," said a message on WikiLeaks' Twitter feed. The Twitter page is believed to be controlled by Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' controversial Australian-born founder and chief.

According to the report, the cables which the website said it is dumping onto the public record appear to be from a cache of more than 250,000 State Department reports leaked to the group. WikiLeaks began releasing the cables in smaller batches late last year, but until now had made them public in piecemeal fashion.

Several news organizations around the world, including Reuters, have had complete sets of the cables for months. But for the most part, media outlets have only cited or published cables when publishing specific news or investigative stories based on them.

By late afternoon on Thursday, the WikiLeaks website said it had published 97,115 of the 251,287 cables it possesses. It did not specify its motives for releasing such a large amount of material at once.

A person in contact with Assange's inner circle told Reuters the rationale behind the mass release of documents was dismay among WikiLeaks activists that media organizations had lost interest in publishing stories based on the material.

The source described Assange and his associates as "frustrated" at the lack of media interest.

The document release began hours after WikiLeaks revealed on Twitter that Dynadot, a California internet registrar which had hosted WikiLeaks, had received an order, generated by federal prosecutors in Alexandria, Virginia, requiring it to produce "information on Julian Assange."

WikiLeaks said Dynadot had complied with the order.

According to a copy of the document published by WikiLeaks, US investigators want any "customer or subscriber account information" held by Dynadot since November 1 that relates to Assange, WikiLeaks or the domain name wikileaks.org.

Dynadot and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

It is unclear when or how WikiLeaks acquired a copy of the government order to Dynadot, which was dated January 4, 2011. A US official indicated that the document, which was sealed by court order, had not been officially unsealed.

US officials have indicated that prosecutors and a grand jury in Alexandria, have a long-running investigation into WikiLeaks, Assange and others associated with the website.

A few weeks earlier, the same prosecutors sent a similar request to Twitter seeking records of accounts held by Assange, WikiLeaks, and others. They include Bradley Manning, a US Army private being detained for alleged unauthorized disclosures of classified information which was believed to have gone to WikiLeaks.

Last year WikiLeaks and Assange were celebrated after their release of State Department cables, tens of thousands of other secret US files, and a classified video of a contested American military operation in Iraq.

Since then public interest in WikiLeaks has waned. It may have suffered from publicity related to Assange's flight to Britain after sexual misconduct charges were filed against him in Sweden and a subsequent protracted extradition fight. Assange has also publicly fueded with former collaborators.

A person close to Assange said a British appeals court is due to rule early next month on his appeal against Sweden's extradition request. The source was unaware of any link between the latest document dump and the anticipated court decision.

 

TV3 Kantoi! Surau Al-Musyrikin tidak wujud!

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:42 PM PDT

Milo Suam

SEBELUM ini media propaganda, TV3 ada menyiarkan berita kononnya ada sebuah kelas tuisyen di Jalan Klang lama yang menyebarkan agama Kristian kepada pelajarnya.
Tambah melucukan bercampur hairan, TV3 mendakwa sekumpulan Qariah Surau Al-Musyrikin (kafir) telah berhimpun di hadapan kelas tuisyen berkenaan kerana membantah tindakan kelas tuisyen itu yang didakwa kononnya menyebarkan agama Kristian kepada pelajar yang beragama Islam.

Saksikan video laporan media propaganda TV3 di bawah ini.

READ MORE HERE

 

AG GANI PATAIL: MACC MUST SHOW INDEPENDENCE AND NOT IMPOTENCE

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:30 PM PDT

Straight Talk

 1. AG Gani Patail is again courting controversy by the revelation in Malaysia Today, which appeared on the 24th August 2011. If the allegation is not thoroughly investigated, it will be perceived badly by the Rakyat. Malaysia Today produced documentary evidence of what appears to be AG Gani Patail receiving gratification to take sides in a corporate boardroom tussle in Ho Hup Construction Berhad. Previously, photographs had already surfaced in various blogs of AG Gani Patail with that company's previous Managing Director, Dato Vincent Lye.

2. This revelation would surely destroy any residual credibility left about the AG Chambers. It appears that criminal prosecution is instituted at the whims and fancies of AG Gani Patail not on the basis of right or wrong but on might is right.

3. I have previously criticized AG Gani Patail over his Haj Trip with Tajudin Ramli's proxy, one Shahidan Shafies. Instead of taking action against AG Gani Patail, alarmingly I was subjected to an immediate investigation by the MACC based on just a false allegation in an anonymous blog. I was then publicly humiliated when the MACC Operations Evaluation Panel (OEP) Chairman, Tan Sri Dr. Hadenan Abdul Jalil only conditionally cleared me. My demands for an unconditional and unequivocal clearance have yet to receive any response from the MACC.


4. The invoices, receipts and cheque shown in Malaysia Today do not require complex forensic accounting. These documents paint a thousand words of the alleged renovation works done for AG Tan Sri Ghani Patail's bungalow at Seremban 2 - Sri Carcosa.


5. These documents constitute clear evidence of corrupt gratification. The MACC must show independence and courage by acting swiftly to investigate this matter. To facilitate such an investigation, AG Gani Patail MUST immediately step down. These are clear steps that must be taken to preserve the integrity of the AG Chamber and the Government. Otherwise, the MACC will be regarded as impotent and dare not take action against those in the corridors of power.

READ MORE HERE

 

Against the tide

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:14 PM PDT

Faced with the menace of the internet, Asia's censors are not yet giving up the ghost.

The unwitting instrument of Mr Najib's epiphany was The Economist. An article in our July 16th issue covered the government's crackdown on a huge demonstration organised by civic groups calling for electoral reform. In the copies of The Economist that reached Malaysians, the article was disfigured by black ink.

By The Economist

TAKING arms against a sea of troubles, many governments in Asia have long resisted the tide of unfiltered news, rumour and comment washing over their citizens via the internet. On August 15th one prime minister, Najib Razak of Malaysia, appeared to admit defeat. "In today's borderless, interconnected world," he said, "censoring newspapers and magazines is increasingly outdated, ineffective and unjustifiable." Noting that the internet in Malaysia has always been uncensored, Mr Najib announced a "review" of print censorship laws. Yet what it comes up with is unlikely to be a free-for-all. Across Asia, governments find it hard to cede their power to control flows of information.

The unwitting instrument of Mr Najib's epiphany was The Economist. An article in our July 16th issue covered the government's crackdown on a huge demonstration organised by civic groups calling for electoral reform. In the copies of The Economist that reached Malaysians, the article was disfigured by black ink. Three passages—concerning the death of a man (from a heart attack), the banning of the protest march and "heavy-handed police tactics"—were censored. However, they could still be read on our website, or indeed on a number of Malaysian news sites and blogs. As Mr Najib noted, the act of censorship created far more of a fuss than the offending passages. Besides being "outdated, ineffective and unjustifiable", the censorship was also very bad public relations.

His general point is plainly true all over the world. Strict controls over "old" media, foreign and domestic, are increasingly anachronistic since ever more citizens have access to the bottomless shallows of the internet. In both Malaysia and Singapore, where mainstream media have been largely servile in their treatment of the powers-that-be, the internet has changed the political landscape. It was one reason why the opposition did better than ever in Malaysia's most recent parliamentary election, in March 2008. In Singapore, in the run-up to May's general election, candidates were for the first time allowed to campaign on social-networking sites; once again, the opposition did better than ever. Opposition politicians in both places also credit online competition with gingering up the mainstream press a bit.

Mr Najib said that, instead of censorship, Malaysia could use "legal means" in the event of defamatory coverage. That for a long time has also been Singapore's strategy. "Right-to-reply" rules oblige foreign publications that circulate in Singapore to carry government rebuttals. Settling contempt-of-court actions and defamation suits from leading politicians is costly. All of this deters critical foreign reporting.

Elsewhere in Asia, some governments still use the trusted old slash-and-blotch methods. The Chinese authorities simply rip out pages with articles they don't like; or, if there are too many of them, they block the issue altogether. India tolerates most of what is written about the country, perhaps believing, as a member of the present cabinet put it when in opposition, that "this is India. You can never be wrong." But officialdom draws the line, stamps the stamp, or confiscates the consignment when it comes to maps showing the India-Pakistan border as it is, rather than as it would be were all of Kashmir under Indian control.

In Sri Lanka, the government never "bans" The Economist. But customs officers spend a hell of a long time enjoying issues with Sri Lankan coverage. In Thailand, again, the government never issues a formal ban. But, in fear of the country's fierce lèse-majesté laws, no distributor will touch a publication carrying coverage that might be construed as remotely critical of the monarchy.

Online distributors, however, are less easy to cow. The logic of monarchism also compels Thailand's government to intervene directly on the internet. According to Freedom Against Censorship Thailand, an NGO, it has blocked hundreds of thousands of web pages. Thailand's efforts to curb unpalatable online material, however, are no more than a picket fence when compared with the great firewall of China. China has more users of the internet than any other country, yet its censors battle the medium, convinced that they can win. The foreign press is the easy part. There are ways around the blockage of websites that the censors do not like. But relatively few people have the will, time or money to bother finding them.

The domestic internet poses more of a challenge, however. Deleted postings on social-networking sites immediately pop up elsewhere; banned internet-search terms morph into bizarre homonyms; small incidents such as hit-and-run road accidents become national scandals. And national scandals, such as the high-speed train crash on July 23rd, news of which the authorities would have liked quietly to bury along with the wreckage, suddenly become enormous political problems.

Hoping to reboot the world

The battle between the Chinese Communist Party and the internet seems fairly evenly matched. When Urumqi, in the western region of Xinjiang, was racked by ethnic violence in 2009, the authorities simply switched the internet off in Xinjiang for ten months. A strange new phenomenon, the internet-café border town, sprang up along the railway line to the east to cater for Xinjiang residents who wanted to get online. China, further alarmed by the alleged role of social networks in the recent riots in Britain, might well counter renewed regional unrest with another local internet shutdown.

But this is hardly an option for China as a whole. Not only might Hong Kong struggle to cope with an influx of more than 450m Chinese internet users needing to check their e-mails; China cannot, in effect, resign from the global economy. Asian governments are stuck with the internet which, worryingly for the dictatorships among them, seems as integral to the future as black blotches on newsprint seem to the past.

 

Sodomy II: Trial postponed to Sept 19-23

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 04:14 PM PDT

(The Star) - The sodomy trial of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been postponed, and will be held from Sept 19 to 23.

Earlier Friday, DNA expert Dr Brian Leslie McDonald told the High Court that the process used by a chemist did not ensure that the sperm extracted from the rectum of complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan was pure and not mixed with other cells.

During examination in chief by counsel Ram Karpal Singh, Dr Mcdonald told the court, in his opinion, the differential extraction process (DEP) carried out by Dr Seah Lay Hong, who was the prosecution witness, was speculative.

He added that the sperm examined by Dr Seah did not comprise purely sperm heads and there was the existence of other cells there.

McDonald, the fourth defence witness, had testified Thursday that Dr Seah's testing procedure did not follow international standards.

Anwar, 63, is charged with sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful, 26, at Desa Damansara Condominium in Bukit Damansara, between 3.01pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

 

MRT Jalan Sultan land acquisition – who is telling the truth: Chua Soi Lek, Hamid Albar or ...

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:51 PM PDT

Lim Kit Siang

"Flip flop in a matter of days" has become the byword for the present Najib government, whether on its mishandling of the Bersih 2.0 peacefull rally for free and fair elections on July 9 or the parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms.

There is now the latest addition to the Najib government's "Flip Flop List" – the controversy over the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (KVMRT) land acquisition of Jalan Sultan properties.

Only three days ago, the MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek had announced that the government had backtracked from its decision to acquire the land and 31 buildings around Jalan Sultan in Kuala Lumpur to make way for the MRT mega project.

Chua said that after discussion with Land Public Transport Commission (SPAN) chairperson Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, "an understanding and agreement" had been reached whereby as a "compromise", the government will only acquire the strata title for the property 100 feet below ground required for the MRT tunnel, while the buildings, many of which are nearly a hundred years old, and land above ground will remain in the current owners' hands.

However, the residents may have to vacate their property during the six months or so of tunnelling works, while the government will also be required to strengthen the heritage buildings should they be affected by the works underground.

"The cost of the strengthening and the compensation to the owners will be detailed later," Chua said.

Chua's announcement of government backtracking on MRT's Jalan Sultan land acquisition did not survive 24 hours as the very next day, Hamid not only rubbished Chua's talk of government strata title for the property 100 feet below ground but reiterated compulsory acquisition of Jalan Sultan's land and 31 buildings.

Hamid delivered a greater shocker when he declared that there was no guarantee that the acquired Jalan Sultan properties would eventually be returned to the owners although the authorities were working on a solution to allow traders to return to their Chinatown lots being acquired for the KVMRT.

The Jalan Sultan traders were delivered another shock when it is revealed today that the Pemandu chief Datuk Idris Jalan had written to the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCIM) president Tan Sri William Chen to justify the government pursuing a "rail-and-property" model as it would not be able to recover the cost of the first KVMRT line between Sungai Buloh and Kajang through fares alone.

The affected Jalan Sultan traders and the Malaysian public are entitled to askWho is telling the truth about the MRT Jalan Sultan land acquisition: Chua Soi Lek, Hamid Albar or Idris Jala.

The Najib administration must be reminded of its grandiose promises of various transformation programmes to act with transparency and integrity, and that it bears the onus to satisfy the affected Jalan Sultan traders and owners as well as the Malaysian public the responsibility to establish that the MRT project owner Prasana Nasional Bhd is not attempting to hijack prime land in Jalan Sultan, Kuala Lumpur affecting heritage shoplots for the ulterior motive of profit as the 1990 amendment to the National Land Code had specifically provided for the MRT needs of "underground railways" development.

 

‘Upholding Malay unity’ … or ‘deconstructing’ a tired cliché?

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:42 PM PDT

Specifically, the day is long overdue for all Malaysians to begin to differentiate, fastidiously and consistently, in all contexts — when they render into English the Malay word "bangsa", with its very broad range of meanings and denotations — between "race", on the one hand, and "people", "nation", "stock", "descent" and "kind", to note but a few of its various referents, on the other.

Clive Kessler, The Malaysian Insider 


The Mufti of Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, is reported as insisting "that the Umno president must find a way to unite the Malays" ("Perak mufti says Malays must defend race", Syed Mu'az Syed Putra, The Malaysian Insider, 25 August 2011).

"We must defend our race and Najib must find a way to reunite Malays," Harussani is quoted as saying.

On this matter, it is timely to make four points.

First, it is more than time for political actors and commentators in Malaysia to be careful in their use of words, including technical terms.

Specifically, the day is long overdue for all Malaysians to begin to differentiate, fastidiously and consistently, in all contexts — when they render into English the Malay word "bangsa", with its very broad range of meanings and denotations — between "race", on the one hand, and "people", "nation", "stock", "descent" and "kind", to note but a few of its various referents, on the other.

Any inability to recognise the differences between these perhaps related yet quite distinct notions would be a routine cause of failure in the introductory social science courses (including anthropology, sociology and political science) in any internationally reputable university.

It remains an anomaly, and one about whose origins and persistence one may speculate, that — for all its great work in linguistic engineering and technical lexicographic innovation over half a century — the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka has never focused its attention upon the clarification, in Malay usage, of the semantic overlap and confusion that characterize this one very general, all-purpose term "bangsa".  

Second, why must Malays, the entire Malay people of the peninsula and Malaysia as a whole, be "united"?

That they should be united, the idea that the unity of "the Malays" is a natural condition that has been disrupted and now needs to be restored, is the implicit underlying presupposition of the call recently made by the Tan Sri Harussani, and so often voiced by other leading political and public personalities on the national stage.

Is the call for "the Malays" to be united politically any more reasonable and acceptable, one must ask — and constructive, in the national interest — than a call for all Chinese or Indians or non-Malays generally to be united politically?  

Where does such an approach inescapably lead? That does not bear thinking about. Yet it is a matter that must be recognized and addressed, urgently.

It leads not to the formation of a united Malaysian nation but, headlong, to inter-ethnic antagonism and communalistic Armageddon.

Is that a desirable future, a scenario that is in the interest of either the vast majority of Malays and non-Malays alike?  
Third, why must people speak in these contexts of "the Malays"? Where does the word "the" come from here, and how is its use justified?

To use that word "the" (the so-called "definite article") is to suggest that what follows, whatever it is that this "the" refers to, is a unified and undifferentiated entity.

So its use here simply begs the entire question that has to be carefully considered. The very terms in which the question is posed, using this homogenising "the", presupposes a certain answer.

It smuggles its own conclusion into the posing of question. It "builds in" from the start the notion of Malay unity, as a normal and established fact, as a desirable and supposedly natural state of affairs.  

In this way "Malay unity" is normalised, and any departure from it is, by implication, rendered pathological, an undesirable departure from healthy normality.

Fourth, and most important, why are "the Malays" of Malaysia not united?  This is the situation that so troubles the mufti of Perak and those who think along similar lines.

The historic reason for the present lack of Malay unity is clear. The Malays of Malaysia are now irreversibly divided, as they never were in the past, by the NEP.

Not by current debates about the NEP — whether it is good or bad, whether it should be extended or phased out, whether it should give way to reward on the basis of merit and proven achievement — but by the long accumulating effects of the NEP over the last 40 years.

What the NEP sought to do, and succeeded triumphantly in doing, was to promote a rapid and far-reaching diversification of the Malay people of Malaysia: economically, socially, culturally and intellectually, in their orienting everyday attitudes and personalities.

READ MORE HERE

 

Fuziah takes on TV3; PAS wants action against rogue MP

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:39 PM PDT

(The Malaysian Insider) - Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders in Pahang are baying for blood after TV3 featured PAS's Hulu Langat MP Che Rosli Che Mat in a primetime news segment supporting the controversial rare earth plant currently being built near Kuantan.

PKR vice president Fuziah Salleh, who has led calls against the RM700 million refinery being built by Australian miner Lynas Corp, has demanded a retraction and an apology from the Umno-owned broadcaster and also local rival Datuk Ti Lian Ker, who is Kuantan MCA chief, for alleged defamatory remarks made against her.

Pahang PAS has also called for its federal leadership to haul up Che Rosli to explain his sudden outburst that was televised on Wednesday night.

Kuantan MP Fuziah said the clip "is just a concerted plot by the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration to continue their agenda of protecting Lynas for their own benefit and not for the rakyat."

PAS state information chief Suhaimi Md Saad told The Malaysian Insider that Che Rosli's actions were unacceptable as the nuclear scientist could have used party channels or even voiced his support for the plant in party organ, Harakah.

"We know he supported the plant when we first discussed the issue in 2009. But after consulting other experts, PAS's stand was to oppose the project. But now he has gone into the enemy's camp to attack his own party," he said.

TV3 ran a news piece by environmental journalist Karam Singh Walia quoting radiology safety and health expert Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli and Che Rosli claiming that Fuziah had been misleading the public by comparing the project with nuclear facilities.

Che Rosli went on to accused PKR of spinning the issue for their own benefit, and that he was "ashamed" that they would resort to arguments that have no scientific or academic basis.

But Fuziah said in a statement today that Che Rosli was only speaking in terms of radiological hazards whereas she and the residents living around the plant in the Gebeng industrial zone have consulted at least half a dozen experts in fields such as public health, chemical engineering, nuclear physics and environmental law.

READ MORE HERE

 

Former MAS chairman sues news portal for RM200mil

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 03:33 PM PDT

(Bernama) - Former executive chairman of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli has filed a RM200mil suit against a news portal over the publication of a article on the airline suffering losses of RM8bil.

He named The Malaysian Insider Sdn Bhd, its chief executive officer Jahabar Sadiq and journalist Shazwan Mustafa Kamal as defendants.

Tajudin, who was the MAS executive chairman between 1994 and 2001, filed the suit last Aug 18 at the Civil High Court registry here through the legal firm of Lim Kian Leong & Co.

The case has been set for case management before judge Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal on Sept 19.

In the statement of claims, Tajudin stated that the portal had published defamatory words in an article, with the title "MACC clear A-G of graft allegations", on May 31, 2011.

He claimed that the article was published after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) revealed the outcome of its graft probe against Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

Tajudin claimed that the article was published with the intention of reflecting that he was implicated in the investigation against the Attorney-General.

Tajudin claimed that the portal also repeated the defamatory words in other articles, despite a letter sent to it to not do so.

He said The Malaysian Insider, when responding to his letter, stated that the words in the article were not defamatory and that they had obtained the information from multiple sources.

Besides general damages of RM200mil, Tajudin is also seeking aggravated damages and interests.

 

Pemandu admits land acquisition only way to recoup MRT cost

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 09:19 AM PDT

By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Putrajaya's powerful efficiency unit has admitted that the Najib administration needs to acquire and develop land along the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) route as it cannot afford the multi-billion ringgit project otherwise.

In a letter sighted by The Malaysian Insider, Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive Datuk Seri Idris Jala told Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) president Tan Sri William Cheng that the government was pursuing a "rail-and-property" model as it would not be able to recover the cost of the first line between Sungai Buloh and Kajang through fares alone.

"For the government to manage the project efficiently and sustainably, fare box revenue will not be sufficient to finance the high capex and opex for the MRT network," Idris said in the letter dated August 23, written in response to Cheng's queries about the acquisition of Jalan Sultan land.

"Increasing the fares is not an option as the government wants to act responsibly by providing the rakyat with an affordable means of transport. Instead, the government is adopting a prudent approach towards a sustainable financial model for the MRT through a modified rail-plus-property model."

The government has said a Ministry of Finance unit called Dana Infra will raise funds for the MRT, which is the country's most expensive infrastructure project to date, but has yet to give any details of the funding apart from saying it will develop the land along the route.

The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department pointed out that Hong Kong's MTR Corporation, which has successfully applied the model to its Mass Transit Railway (MTR) network, would not have an "effective means of recouping the vast sums spent on developing the MRT" without revenue from property development as earnings from fares only made up 35 per cent of total revenue.

He stressed that Singapore's MRT operators, who rely heavily on fare box revenues with minimal contribution from commercial activities, were considered an exception rather than the norm.

But Malaysia would be using a modified version of the rail-and-property model with "some amount of land acquisition" as the Sungai Buloh-Kajang (SBK) line would traverse built-up areas unlike Hong Kong, which had access to several tracts of mainly reclaimed land that allowed for integrated station and property development, Idris said.

"The government is thus not acquiring land banks for the MRT Co. nor abusing the Land Acquisition Act for this purpose," he assured, referring to the new project owner effective September 1.

However, Idris also revealed that land along the SBK corridor that will be developed by government-linked companies (GLCs), including the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) and Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLIFD) sites, would not go directly towards offsetting the capital expenditure for the MRT.

The minister added that he would let the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) respond to Cheng's concerns over the land acquisition on Jalan Sultan in Chinatown, which traders there see as a threat to the historic enclave.

"These involve technical details such as the design of the alignment, constructibility, the need for station integration and so forth and why land above ground is acquired (in respect to the National Land Code) even if the MRT tunnels are below for safety and security concerns," he said.

"On this score, perhaps we may also see a more positive development from the proximity of the MRT line to Chinatown where opportunities for revitalisation and restoration of the area would benefit the Chinese community in this part of Kuala Lumpur."

 

READ MORE HERE.

 



Hisham defends decision to deport Uighurs

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 09:16 AM PDT

By Husna Yusop, The Sun

The decision to send back 11 Chinese Uighur Muslim refugees to China last week was justified as they were involved in criminal activities, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Commenting on international human rights groups criticising Malaysia for repatriating the Uighurs to China on Aug 18, he told a press conference today that there were still five others detained on suspicion of human trafficking.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' office in Kuala Lumpur has reportedly voiced regret that the deportation was done without allowing them access to UN officials.

"We get condemnations all around in anything we do. But, these people were wanted by the China government. We have to be on the side of justice and, at the end of the day, what is most important to me is the safety and stability of our people and our country," he told reporters after the ministry's monthly
assembly, here.

Speaking after attending the ministry's monthly assembly, Hishammuddin said it is best to leave the matter to the authorities as they were still under investigation.

"We can argue and debate the whole day. Those with views can come and engage us, we can discuss. The rights of the press to report must not come in the way of investigations that are on-going," he said.

In another development, Hishammuddin denied reports that the ministry has ordered for UNHCR cardholders to register under the 6P Programme on Monday.

"It was not ordered by the ministry. That's not true. From what I've discovered, it was the decision of all those refugees to register at that particular time.

It was reported that about 10,000 refugees and asylum seekers flooded the Immigration Department in Putrajaya when they were given an 11th hour notice to register themselves under the programme.

Overwhelmed and ill prepared, immigration officials reportedly had little choice but to turn back a large number of the refugees and asked them to return the next day.

Hishammuddin said the ministry officers have been instructed to engage UNHCR to come up with proper planning for the refugees so that there will not be any bottlenecks.

"If they tell us in advance they want to come in big numbers, we can make the necessary arrangement," he said adding the original decision was for the registration to be in staggered.

 

New investigation into film maker that took millions from Malaysia

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 09:13 AM PDT

By Ian Burrell, The Independent

Press corps in Kuala Lumpur all knew FBC had close links to the Malaysian government with special access.

One of America's most prestigious magazines, the 154-year-old The Atlantic, has become the latest high-profile news organisation to launch an investigation into its relationship with a media company that was allocated millions of pounds by the Malaysian government.

The Washington-based magazine and website is "reviewing all transactions" it had with FBC, a media company that also produced television programmes for the BBC and the business channel CNBC. The Independent revealed this month that FBC had been hired by Malaysia in a "global strategic communications campaign".

The FBC programmes broadcast on BBC World News dealt with contentious issues including Malaysia's treatment of its indigenous peoples, its management of rainforests and its controversial palm-oil industry. The BBC said: "FBC has now admitted to the BBC that it has worked for the Malaysian government. That information was not disclosed to the BBC as we believe it should have been when the BBC contracted programming from FBC. Given this, the BBC has decided to transmit no more programming from FBC while it reviews its relationship with the company."

The Atlantic has ordered a "full review" into its own relationship with FBC. Justin Smith, president of Atlantic Media Co, publisher of the magazine, has resigned from the board of FBC. FBC's founder Alan Friedman, a long-term friend of Mr Smith's, blogged for The Atlantic from this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr Friedman also encouraged The Atlantic to host an event in March in which the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was interviewed by a correspondent of The Atlantic.

Natalie Raabe, director of communications for The Atlantic, said Mr Smith's role at FBC was unpaid and "largely nominal". She said that the magazine was "reviewing all interactions it has had with FBC and its chairman," including blogs Mr Friedman wrote about Indonesia. "We have found several instances in which Friedman wrote positively about the Indonesian government and its representatives. Our internal process will seek to determine whether Friedman was representing Indonesia at the time he wrote for TheAtlantic.com."

She said the company was also examining blog comments made by Mr Friedman on Malaysia and had now attached an online reference to inform readers that he was working for the Malaysian government "at or around the time he wrote them".

FBC also made a half-hourly weekly programme for CNBC, part of the American NBC network. Many of its episodes featured Malaysia. CNBC has withdrawn the programme "indefinitely" and "immediately initiated an examination of FBC and its business practices". Since publication of The Independent's investigation, the newspaper has been contacted by numerous correspondents based in Kuala Lumpur, who complained that the broadcasters should have taken action earlier.

One senior international journalist with a decade of experience in Malaysia, said FBC's relationship with the Malaysian government was "common knowledge among the press corps in KL". He said: "The real scandal is the failure by BBC and CNBC to police the outsourcing of their programmes. They need to answer some hard questions."

The BBC said it had "acted swiftly to suspend the broadcasting from FBC" and pointed out that "all independent TV companies who produce programmes for BBC World News have to sign strict agreements".

A former correspondent for a prominent US magazine said that correspondents became accustomed to seeing FBC granted access to "notoriously press-shy" senior political and business figures who would not speak to other sections of the media. "Knowing FBC and their modus operandi, it was pretty clear how it happened," he said. The Independent has established that FBC also hired the Washington-based American lobbying company APCO Worldwide for the purpose of "raising awareness of the importance of policies in Malaysia that are pro-business and pro-investment as well as the significance of reform and anti-terrorism efforts in that country".

FBC denies impropriety in any of its programme-making. Its lawyers said in a letter that "at no time have the television programmes made for the BBC ever been influenced or affected by our client's commercial activities". It said that FBC ran production and commercial divisions, which "are and always have been quite separate and distinct". The BBC, CNBC and the media regulator Ofcom continue to investigate.

Refugee unrest in Malaysia after deportation bungle

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 01:42 AM PDT

 

By Kirsty Needham, The Sydney Morning Herald

THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia has admitted thousands of refugees have been incorrectly issued letters by the Malaysian government marked ''return to home country'', raising widespread fears of deportation.

The Refugee Convention principle of ''non-refoulement'', and Malaysia's commitment that 800 refugees from Australia would not be returned to the country from which they fled, underpin the federal government's defence to a High Court challenge to the Malaysia deal.

Up to 10,000 refugees descended on an immigration office in Putrajaya, a suburb of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday after the UNHCR was told, at late notice by the Malaysian government, that refugees must immediately register under a new biometric system designed to record illegal and legal migrant workers. Witnesses who spoke to the Herald said RELA - the vigilante force that was banished from Malaysian streets this year because of human rights concerns - was then called in by the immigration department as chaos erupted.

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A co-ordinator of the Malaysian human rights group Suaram, Andika Wahab, told the Herald that the situation was shocking and he saw RELA members carrying sticks. ''I didn't see RELA beat individuals, but I saw RELA hit the wall and push people. The situation was very overcrowded,'' he said.

The refugees became alarmed at about 4pm when it was realised that, after having their fingerprints taken, some were being issued letters stamped: ''Return to home country''.

''They feared they would be deported to Burma,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Malaysia, Yante Ismail, said the document should have been given only to migrant workers, and not refugees.

''When the UNHCR learnt about this yesterday, we immediately raised this matter with the government, who will now rectify the document for all UNHCR-registered refugees and asylum seekers,'' she said.

''Understandably this has created confusion among refugees and asylum seekers, and this has created great anxiety among this population,'' Ms Ismail said.

She said the force used by Malaysian police was proportionate. She said the police had taken women, children and the elderly to the front of the line to avoid physical danger.

Because ''overwhelming numbers'' turned up on Tuesday, refugees would now be processed in batches instead, she said.

Refugee groups said yesterday they still had not received an explanation for the letters.

Dr Irene Fernandez, the executive director of the refugee group, Tenaganita, said it was ''problematic'' that refugees were given the wrong letters.

Dr Fernandez said RELA ''became quite abusive, started pushing them and not treating them well''.

The opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, was kicked out of Federal Parliament yesterday after questioning the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, over a Malaysian website report that RELA had beaten ''children, mothers and the elderly'' in the queue. He later said, ''the beatings that have been reported and the fact that refugees have gone to be registered and received papers that say: 'Return to home country','' were serious issues for the Malaysia swap.

The Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, said: ''there is no guarantee people who are found by the UNHCR to be refugees in need of protection will not be returned to their home country at the whim of the Malaysian government.''



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/refugee-unrest-in-malaysia-after-deportation-bungle-20110825-1jcj2.html#ixzz1W3lLrv54

WIKILEAKS: IRAN SANCTIONS ACT: EMBASSY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER REPORTED IRAN/MALAYSIA GAS DEAL

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 01:00 AM PDT

Observers attribute his later rise to Syed's close connections with former Prime Minister Mahathir. Syed's business interests include plantations, property development, construction, engineering, power generation, mining, seaport construction and operation, airport management, railways, hotels, manufacturing, retail, and defense technologies. Syed Mokhtar has been the recipient of countless Malaysian government contracts and coveted licenses. According to press reports, in 2006 Saudi Arabia awarded a $30 billion contract to one of Syed's companies for development and management of "Jizan economic city," together with the Bin Laden Group.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000061

 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR EB/ESC AND EAP/MTS

 

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREL, ENRG, EPET, ETTC, EFIN, IR, MY

SUBJECT: IRAN SANCTIONS ACT: EMBASSY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER REPORTED IRAN/MALAYSIA GAS DEAL

REF: EB-ESC AND EAP-MTS EMAILS OF 8 JAN 07

1.  (SBU) Summary: Embassy raised concerns with the Malaysian Government regarding a reported $16 billion gas development deal between a Malaysian firm, SKS Ventures, and Iran, noting possible implications under the Iran Sanctions Act and pointing out the particularly poor timing given recent UN sanctions against Iran. 

Foreign Ministry officers highlighted Malaysia's more benign view of Iran, growing trade relations with Teheran, and the difficulty of acting against a private firm based on another country's law.  They reiterated, however, Malaysia's intention to abide by UNSCR 1737 sanctions against Iran. 

A representative from the Ministry of International Trade and Industryresponded that he only knew what he had read in the press about the deal.

SKS Ventures is owned by Syed Moktar Al-Bukhary, one of the country's wealthiest ethnic Malay businessmen with connections to former Prime Minister Mahathir.  End Summary.

2. (SBU) A/DCM called on desk officers in the Malaysian Foreign Ministry's Americas and Multilateral Affairs divisions on January 10 to express concern over press reports of the signing of a $16 billion Memorandum of Understanding between Malaysia's SKS Ventures and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). 

According to press accounts, SKS Ventures' upstream project would help to develop the Golshan and Ferdos gas fields, including building LNG production units, based on a buyback contract.  NOIC expects this to be followed by another contract for downstream cooperation over a period of 25 years. 

The volume of the Golshan and Ferdows gas fields is estimated at 50 trillion and ten trillion cubic feet, respectively, making them the largest gas fields outside of Russia.  Production is expected to yield 70 million and 25 million cubic meters daily from the Golshan and Ferdows fields. 

3.  (SBU) A/DCM noted that the US continues to have deep concerns about Iranian policies and actions, in particular, at this time, Iran's nuclear activities, which we believe are aimed at establishing a nuclear weapons capability.  In light of Iran's policies and actions, we have long opposed investment in Iran's petroleum sector, and our Iran Sanctions Act, with provisions that were recently reauthorized by Congress, provides for sanctions for certain such investments. 

Against the backdrop of recently-imposed UNSC sanctions on Iran, this was a particularly unfortunate time to be entering into agreements for gas development projects in Iran, even if these were not directly related to Iran's nuclear and missile programs. 

A/DCM urged the Malaysian Government to weigh in with SKSV to reconsider plans to move forward with its reported agreement on the Ferdos and Golshan gas fields, particularly at this sensitive time.

4.  (SBU) Foreign Ministry desk officers, unfamiliar with the reported SKSV deal, expressed appreciation for the information and the background on the Iran Sanctions Act. They explained that Malaysia had a different perception of Iran's nuclear development program and did not share the U.S. view of Iran's program as a security threat. 

Malaysia and Iran enjoyed a strengthening trade relationship.  The Malaysian Government, even if it were so inclined, would have a difficult time restricting private Malaysian investment in Iran on the basis of another country's law.  UNSC sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programs, however, constituted another matter. 

The GOM would respect and implement UNSCR 1737 sanctions.  The desk officers note that the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) would play an important role in such issues.  The desk officers said they would share our concerns with senior Ministry officials, who were unavailable to meet at short notice.

5.  (SBU) EconOff contacted Dato Ooi Say Chuan at MITI who responded that he only knew what he had read in the press, but that the Ministry would look into the matter.

6.  (SBU) SKS Ventures is owned by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, a Malaysian businessman considered to be one of the richest ethnic Malay corporate figures.  Syed built his original fortune through rice trading, land deals and state government contracts. 

Observers attribute his later rise to Syed's close connections with former Prime Minister Mahathir.

Syed's business interests include plantations, property development, construction, engineering, power generation, mining, seaport construction and operation, airport management, railways, hotels, manufacturing, retail, and defense technologies. 

Syed Mokhtar has been the recipient of countless Malaysian government contracts and coveted licenses.  According to press reports, in 2006 Saudi Arabia awarded a $30 billion contract to one of Syed's companies for development and management of "Jizan economic city," together with the Bin Laden Group.

7. (U) Press reports quote an unnamed source close to Syed Mokhtar as saying, "We don't worry about the sanctions. There's so much liquidity, you don't have to go to New York," and pointing out that funds can be raised in the Middle East or in Iran itself.

8.  (SBU) Comment:  In light of Malaysia's friendly relations with Iran and its strong opposition to sanctions in general, we should not expect a supportive response from the GOM. Also, with Syed Mokhtar's broad holdings both within and outside of Malaysia, it is not clear to us that U.S. sanctions against SKS Ventures would have significant impact on his bottom line.

SHEAR

 

Malaysia Prepares For Ageing Nation As World Population Reaches Seven Billion

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 10:53 PM PDT

Based upon the projection rate and current trend, the Malaysian population is expected to reach 35 million by 2020, with 3.4 million being senior citizens.

(Bernama) -- Although mankind is some two million years old, the world's population has grown slowly during most of human history.

It took until 1850 for the population to hit 1 billion and by 1925 it just touched, two billion.

However, the world population jumped drastically in the past 50 years, from three billion to a projected seven billion this October.

This is due to advancements in health sciences, such as improved vaccines and antibiotics, which have successfully extended life expectancy.

Another factor is the development of medical facilities, especially in developing countries, where population increases seems to be concentrated.

According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund Malaysia (UNFPA), in this year alone approximately 135 million people will be born and 57 million will die, a net increase of 78 million people.

This includes babies who will be born in Uttar Pradesh, a northern Indian state that is known for the highest birth rate in the world.

The report by Harvard University's Economic and Demography Professor David Bloom says the "demographic centre of gravity" for the population trend has shifted from the developed countries to the developing ones.

He concluded that over the next 40 years nearly all of the 2.3 billion projected increase will be in the less developed regions, with nearly half in Africa.

"The projected population growth is due to the advancements in economies, security and health. But because they are already strained, many developing countries will likely face tremendous difficulties in supplying food, water, housing, and energy to their growing populations, with repercussions for health, security, and economic growth," said Bloom in the world's most cited scientific journal, Science.

By contrast, the populations of more developed countries will remain flat, but will age, with fewer working-age adults to support retirees living on social pensions.

On the one side, it would seem that achieving a world population of seven billion is a testament to good healthcare and improved life expectancy.

But it also comes hand in hand with issues like poverty, famine and high mortality rates.

In fact, conflicts between the earth and humans, such as global warming, depleting natural resources and the destruction of the environment, is set to become the world's largest challenge in preserving life and improving humanity's well-being.

THE ASIAN POPULATION ISSUE


The "World at 7 Billion" event brings about seven important issues involving the future of the world's population: the younger generation, the ageing population, women's empowerment, reducing poverty and social injustice, reproductive health, maintaining a sustainable environment and urbanisation.

Asia accounts for 60 per cent of the world population, thus the stress-load of the continent is expected to be greater. At the same time, it is also undergoing the fastest rate of urbanization, with 14 of 20 of the world's largest cities located in Asia.

In fact, five of the world's most densely-populated cities are in India.

Further, many Asian countries continue to struggle with similar issues such as congestion, pollution and social and economic issues. This forces them to come up with strategies to tackle these issues early.

THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY

In Malaysia, the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) carried out the Second Population Strategic Plan Study to assess the performance of the national population programme in conjunction with current policies.

The findings will also help in the formulation of a strategic action plan for the future.

One of the main issues is migration. It is estimated that nearly a million highly qualified Malaysians have left Malaysia to work in countries such as Singapore, Australia and Europe.

The study also found states like Selangor, Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Penang have better job opportunities due to economic development and population density to the extent of resulting in a high rate of internal migration.

LPPKN Director-General Datuk Aminah Abdul Rahman said this happened because of the uneven economic development between the states.

Beside that, she noted that the influx of immigrants also contributed to the issue, especially in terms of social problems and crime.

Today, seven percent of the Malaysian population are foreigners and about one-fifth of the job market is filled by foreign workers.

"Many enter Malaysia using student visas, riding on our effort to turn this nation into an education hub. However, they've contributed to many social issues that clash with our eastern culture," she said.

AN AGEING NATION BY 2030

Aminah expects Malaysia to reach the status of an ageing nation by 2030, when those aged 60 and above make up 15 per cent of the population.

Today, senior citizens number 2.1 million, representing 7.3 per cent of the Malaysian population of 28 million.

Based upon the projection rate and current trend, the Malaysian population is expected to reach 35 million by 2020, with 3.4 million being senior citizens.

Also expected in the same year is for the population's life expectancy to increase to 74.2 years for men and 79.1 years for women, compared with 72.6 and 77.5 years, respectively, in 2010.

THE NEED TO LOOK AHEAD

The trend clearly shows a need for the nation to prepare in advance, especially in providing adequate facilities, infrastructure and healthcare for senior citizens.

As a country that looks ahead, Aminah said, Malaysia would be making strategic plans using senior citizens as a resource in the course of preparing for the eventuality of an ageing nation.

"We have lined up various policies and programmes, such as the Senior Citizens Action Plan and Policy, which received the government's nod last January," said Aminah.

The plan states, among others, of the need for 700 geriatric specialists by 2020. The country currently has only 21 local geriatric specialists.

Meanwhile, LPPKN will work with the Health Ministry to increase the number of specialist doctors for senior citizens in the country.

DECREASING FAMILY SIZE

LPPKN is also focusing on several family issue trends, such as fewer senior citizens opting to live with their children, more people marrying late or not at all, and the tendency to keep family sizes to a minimum.

Aminah said, on the one hand smaller family sizes was a good trend as heads of the families can ensure a better quality of life for each family member.

On the other hand, a smaller number of children may result in a smaller number of care-givers and, subsequently, making support services such as day care for senior citizens and children more important.

"Quality service is expected to be imperative in overcoming the issue of too many highly-educated women giving up their jobs to take care of their children," said Aminah.

She noted that the vacuum left by women in the workforce was around 56 per cent, a figure which would definitely leave an impact on the country's economy.

To tackle the issue, LPPKN is planning an upgrade of the policies that could help career women balance family life and work. This includes reviewing current regulations to help ensure both parents can continue working.

-- BERNAMA

Bar Council Asked To State Views On Anwar's Action In Court

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 10:45 PM PDT

(Bernama) -- The Bar Council was today asked to state its views on the action of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who has chosen to give his evidence from the dock in his ongoing sodomy trial.

Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin told Bernama he was curious to know what was the Bar Council's stand on the matter.

Anwar chose to give his evidence from the dock as his defence on the charge of sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, began on Monday.

High Court judge Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah said Anwar had three options -- to give his evidence from the witness stand which means he can be cross-examined by the prosecution, to give his evidence from the dock which means he cannot be cross-examined by the prosecution but in coming up with a decision the court takes into account the fact that the prosecution has not cross-examined the accused, or to elect to remain silent.

Puteri Umno chief Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin said Anwar should have the courage to give a sworn testimony and allow himself to be cross-examined by the prosecution.

"If it is true that he is being victimised, why should he be scared?" she said.

 

On being detained at Kuala Lumpur airport

Posted: 24 Aug 2011 10:42 PM PDT

 

By Imran Khan, Guardian

Malaysia didn't want me to enter the country to gather evidence about how ethnic Indians were treated by colonial Britain.

In the Hollywood film The Terminal Tom Hanks plays (with obligatory mangled foreign accent) a character who is trapped in New York's JFK airport. Last week, I had a similar experience at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia. Whereas Tom Hanks's character spends years trapped, I was only there for a few hours. The episode was both humiliating and enlightening. I had been engaged by a Malaysian lawyer, Waytha Moorthy, to look into taking action against the British government for its role in the exploitation of Indian Hindus during Malaysia's period as a colony, and its failure to protect their rights when independence was declared in 1957.

Ethnic Indians make up just over 6% of Malaysia's 28.3 million people, while Muslim Malays account for just over 61% and ethnic Chinese some 25%. A coalition led by the United Malays National Organisation has ruled since independence, which, according to Moorthy, had led to widespread human rights violations and discrimination of the Indian Malaysian population. About 70% live in abject poverty and one in six are effectively stateless as they are denied a birth certificate. Moorthy originally lodged his action on the 31 August 2007, the 50th anniversary of Malaysia's independence.

However, the claim stalled following the arrest of the lawyers involved under a draconian piece of legislation called the Internal Security Act. Moorthy had demanded compensation for Indian Malaysians whose ancestors were brought in by the British government as indentured labour. The claim was that, after granting independence, the British had left the Indians without representation and at the mercy of the Malays.

So, the plan was to visit Malaysia and gather evidence and claims that would form the foundation of the case. A recent case involving individuals tortured by British soldiers in colonial Kenya gave fresh impetus to the proceedings. My pending arrival in Malaysia had receivedadvance publicity from local police who had sought to intimidate organisers of the venue where I was expected to meet potential claimants. There was, therefore, some trepidation when I presented myself to the immigration desk on arrival at KLIA.

As soon as my passport was handed over at the immigration desk, the slow cogs of government bureaucracy moved into action. Without explanation I was taken to the immigration office. KLIA is an impressive building; made of polished steel and glass it has a central hub with four long offshoots. It is populated by the ubiquitous outlets that make most airports seem identical. However,, the immigration office was a more spartan affair. Teams of immigration officers sat behind desks shouting the names of those refused entry to come forward and explain their reasons for trying to enter.

Handing my passport over to one of them I noticed the large sign on the back wall of the office – "Service with a smile" it said. True to their motto a pleasant immigration officer smiled while she told me that I had been refused entry. I asked for an explanation and was told that the immigration department had no problem with me – the decision to refuse me entry had come from the very top. I asked for written reasons. The officer agreed that I should be given them but none were given. It was not until I was in transit in Dubai that I found out that I had been classed as a "prohibited immigrant".

I still have no idea what that means and despite the involvement of the British consulate and the British government cabinet office, I found myself stranded, waiting for my return flight. It was clear that the decision was a political one – I had been refused entry to stop me doing work that the government of Malaysia did not want to take place. Thousands were expected to attend meetings that had been organised. I was to see the ways in which government policies had affected the lives of Indian Malaysians in all parts of the country. Yet, like many governments which seek to stifle opposition, its actions are often irrational because, while refusing me entry into the country, it had allowed my colleague who had been travelling with me to do so. He is now meeting all those potential claimants and collecting evidence to progress the claim.

Meanwhile, sitting in the immigration office at KLIA gave me a glimpse of how differently people are treated in Malaysia. Sitting beside me awaiting interrogation were men – predominantly young, on their own and originating from Pakistan, India or sub-Saharan Africa. They would be summoned to their meeting with an immigration officer via an intermediary – always a Malaysian of Chinese origin wearing a coloured paper bracelet to signify that he had clearance to come into the airport. He would order his charge in terms which reminded me of a master/servant relationship – a click of the fingers, a terse command, the use of their surname only. These men appeared to be workers entering the country through the patronage of their Chinese bosses. It didn't take much imagination to work out how they would be treated once they left the airport terminal.

These were the lucky ones. Those sharing my predicament were marched off to a detention centre before being sent back to their country of origin. Thankfully, I was told that I had been spared such a fate. Nevertheless, the experience was a humiliating one. Without a passport or able to leave the terminal I could not check in; I was escorted to the aircraft to be seated; my passport was handed over to the aircraft crew who viewed me with suspicion and contempt.

I have often thought that lawyers, as well as doctors, should consider what it is like to be in their clients' position so that it can inform their approach. This was one occasion when I truly felt what it must be like for detainees all over the world – coming up against foreign jurisdiction; facing a decision which may be wrong and unjust; being treated without dignity; occupying a twilight world of ever-changing time zones and feeling utterly powerless.

Having returned to the UK, I am even more determined to ensure that the issues raised by the case are highlighted beyond the borders of Malaysia. Like many in Britain, I had only thought of Malaysia as the country advertised in brochures. Every day, buses pass my office window in central London emblazoned with adverts encouraging us to visit Malaysia, illustrated with montages of sun and sea. Few people are likely look beyond that image or get to see the reality that exists underneath. For me, a country that, on the face of it, is engaged in widespread, institutional discrimination and human rights abuses should rightly be condemned. Even more so when it refuses its citizens access to legal representation.


 

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