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So, what’s the solution then? Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:08 PM PST   And not all these property buyers in the UK are Malays or Malays from Umno. Many are Chinese and many are Chinese who support Pakatan Rakyat (I know because I am acting for some of them as their property agent). So in what way can we blame the government? And will all these people be happy if the Malaysian government demonetises the Ringgit and make it worthless outside Malaysia? THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin RM200b outflow Najib's best achievement as Finance minister, says PAS Youth chief (Harakah) - The high ranking recently given to Malaysia among developing countries suffering illicit funds outflow means the country's Finance minister Najib Razak has broken a records of sorts, according to PAS Youth leader Nasrudin Hassan. "It is something which has surprised many. What is not surprising is the fact that mainstream media do not report it," he said, adding that the public would eventually come to know details of the damning report issued by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity. Nasrudin reminded that Najib himself had admitted during UMNO's recent congress that young Malaysians were now more equipped with information due to information technology. In its latest report on illicit funds outflow released on Tuesday, GFI ranked Malaysia second only to China among other Asian economies in terms illicit funds outflow, while it is placed third globally. Noting that some 80 percent of illicit financial flows were due to trade mispricing and 20 per cent due to corruption, GFI said that between 2001 and 2010, a total of US$285 billion was transferred out of Malaysia illegally. Nasrudin compared the figure for illicit funds outflow provided by Najib last year - RM135.4 billion between 2000 to 2009 - with GFI's figure of RM662.6 billion for the same period. He added that one should not be surprised if the government denies the figure by GFI. He also said the revelation reflected badly on giant government-linked companies such as Khazanah Nasional and Petronas. "It proves the existence of illegal acts to avoid taxes and siphoning out the country's revenue through property investment, foreign bank accounts and others to shore up personal wealth," said Nasrudin, who cited the recent revelation of unusual wealth owned by the family of Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, when some RM100 million was demanded for a divorce settlement involving the latter's son. Nasrudin also reiterated the urgency for public office bearers to declare their assets. Earlier today, Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he would write to Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar to participate in a discussion on how to weed out illicit funds outflow. "Urgent steps must be taken to finalise an action plan, not by avoiding the issue as the case has been so far with Najib Razak," said Anwar. **************************************************** While it is good that we reveal the transgressions and excesses of the government, plus the mistakes it makes, we should also be prepared to offer a solution to the problems. If we just point out that the government is no good and that we must change the government without mentioning in what way it is no good and what we need to do to make it a better government it is no bloody good. I mean most Malaysians know that the government is no good but they do not really understand in what way it is no good. Then they think that the solution to this is to just change the government without a second thought on whether by changing the government we shall be a getting a new government or the same type of government, sort of like old wine in a new bottle. That is why I sometimes shy away from writing these types of articles. As much as I try to take the middle road and not be seen as propagating one side or the other, because I do not scream ABU that is interpreted as I am pro-government. If I do not support the 'death to Israel' war cry does that mean I am a Zionist? Not all Muslims believe that the Middle East solution is to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel. Do you know that many Muslims danced on the streets in November 2001 when the New York Twin Towers was brought down? They openly celebrated the destruction of the Twin Towers, a symbol of American capitalism. But how many Muslims died in that tragedy? And how many Zionists died? It was like the discussion on the social problems amongst Malaysian youths (I think it was two years or so ago). Invariably, how strict Islam may be, the biggest social problem is amongst the Muslims. So who has failed here? Has Islam failed? Or have the parents failed? If Islam has failed then in what way has Islam failed? Islam is strict enough as it is so it must be the implementation that is the problem then. Okay, just for the sake of this discussion, let us say that the implementation or the enforcement of Islam has failed. And that is why we have a big social problem amongst Muslim youths. Can we then solve the social problem amongst Muslim youths by tightening the rules? And let us look at some examples from other Muslim countries. To start of with, no female can leave her home un-chaperoned. When a girl or woman leaves her home she must be chaperoned by a male member of her family. If she leaves her home alone she will be arrested and jailed. She also cannot drive or work. It is easy to scream about the social problems amongst youths and then blame Islam, Umno, the government, or their parents. But what is the solution to this problem? That, no one is talking about. And most times the solution may be worse than the problem. Let us not blame Islam. Let us blame the government. Why is the government not doing anything about the problem? Let's therefore change the government. So a new government takes over. But what is the new government going to now do? Can the new government impose a curfew on kids? All those below 18 must be at home by 7.00pm. If after 7.00pm they are still outside their home they will be rounded up and then their parents will be arrested and will be jailed up to a maximum of three years. Is this too draconian? If that is not done then how to solve the problem? And if the problem is not solved you will blame the government, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. Hence screaming about the problem and blaming the government is not going to solve anything. Are you prepared to suffer the consequences of the solution? Take the bad driving habits of Malaysians and the extremely high death rate on Malaysian roads as one more example. How do we solve that problem other than blame the government for it? Can we ban those under 21 from driving? Then can we install number plate recognition cameras all over Malaysia and on every street and every street corner of Malaysia like in the UK? And when drivers commit a traffic offence their driving licence is endorsed and they get banned from driving for two years the first time, five years the second time, and for life for the third time? All this would be done by computer (the number plate recognition cameras all over Malaysia are computerised), which means we can eliminate the human element (no policemen involved). This means we will also eliminate corruption since the entire process is fully computerised like in the UK. Probably more than half Malaysian drivers will lose their right to drive. That will for sure reduce the problem. It will also reduce the number of drivers and the number of car owners. It will also mean half of Malaysians will need to hop onto a bus to move around. No doubt this will make life very difficult for most Malaysians but at least the government can no longer be blamed for the problem. Okay, now what about the problem of funds outflow? Who is to blame for that and how would the government solve that problem? Anwar Ibrahim wants to meet the Bank Negara Governor to suggest a solution. That is good but maybe Anwar can give us an insight into what his solution is going to be. Pakatan Rakyat makes it sound like the entire problem should be blamed on the government and that the opposition has a solution to this. Okay, say Pakatan Rakyat was the government and Anwar was the Prime Minister, how would he solve the problem? Trust me, never mind who forms the government and who becomes the Prime Minister the solution is not as easy as they try to make it sound. So what are they going to do? Are they going to demonetise the Ringgit? That would mean the Ringgit cannot be exchanged for any other currency and will only be worth in Malaysia. Outside Malaysia the Ringgit would be worthless. How would Malaysia trade? We can't exchange Ringgit for any other currency. Zambia did this by delinking its currency. In turn inflation increased like crazy and the country's economy collapsed. But at least their money stayed in the country. One of the strongest economies in the world is the US. And there are more US Dollars floating outside America than in America. Do you know that property prices in Australia are higher than in the UK? And that is because the Chinese are buying up property there, mostly in cash. The Australian property market is benefiting from the huge outflow of funds from China. But local Australians are suffering because property prices are beyond their reach. Malaysians are the second largest buyers of property in London. Because of that I live in Manchester. London property prices are too expensive for my taste. I can buy three or more houses in Manchester for the price of one in London. And not all these property buyers in the UK are Malays or Malays from Umno. Many are Chinese and many are Chinese who support Pakatan Rakyat (I know because I am acting for some of them as their property agent). So in what way can we blame the government? And will all these people be happy if the Malaysian government demonetises the Ringgit and make it worthless outside Malaysia? Janganlah semua salahkan kerajaan! In some of those things we are talking about we are actually the culprits. And if they government was to act against us we will get angry. But when the government does not act we also scream. Susahlah rakyat Malaysia! Ini pun salah. Itu pun salah.

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Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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• Diam saja tentang hudud
• Mayan calendar, Malaysian quagmire?
• So, what’s the solution then?
• ‎#Justice4Oma solidarity Vigil tonight at 8pm, in front of Kajang Prison
• Legal action threat over oil, gas rights
• Mustafa: Pakatan seat talks at tail-end
• Perak Speaker Ganesan: I am not involved in any sex scandal
• ‘PKR got it all wrong on power rates’
• ‘Probe the five involved in Deepak’s claims’
• Najib is too proud to bow before the people
• Malaysia's Elections: Down to the wire

Diam saja tentang hudud Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:08 AM PST Subky Latif, Harakah Eloknya PAS dan pemimpinnya diamkan saja  tentang hudud dan ada lebih baik tumpukan dalam lain-lain isu yang perlu masyarakat ketahui. Jangan layan sangat sakatan UMNO mengenainya yang tujuannya adalah demi mengelirukan orang ramai dan memerangkap PAS. Hudud adalah program PAS bagi mengabdikan diri kepada Allah dan agamanya. Ia tidak mungkin dilaksanakan selagi PAS tidak berada dalam kerajaan baik ia memerintah sendiri atau kerajaan yang disekutuinya. Sudah  cukup setakat ini dengan pendiriannya yang sudah diketahui umum. Bahawa hudud itu sebahagian dari cita-cita politik. PAS sudah nyatakan cita-citanya dan sebagai tanda  kesungguhannya dengan cita-cita itu ia sudah meluluskan enakmen mengenainya di Kelantan dan Terengganu. Kedudukannya sekarang ialah seperti kenderaan yang berada  di simpang lampu trafik. Ia berhenti kerana isyarat lampu merah. Ingin kenderaan tidak dihenti. Ia menunggu lampu hijau. Bila datang lampu hijau, ia boleh berjalan. Oleh itu jika ada orang menyakat PAS tentang hudud itu, kerana kononnya PAS munafik dengannya dan  sudah melupakannya, maka tidak perlu dilayan dan dijawab. Politik menuju ke Putrajaya boleh celaru dan keliru sama sendiri apabila ia dipolemikkan. Cita-cita PAS itu sudah  diketahui oleh semua sama ada ia diulang atau didiamkan. Tidak perlu dinyatakan lagi. Semuanya  tahu jika PAS bersama memerintah negara, ia akan berusaha sedaya mungkin untuk menyempurnakannya. Tidak ada makhluk yang percaya PAS melupakannya. Kalau dasar PAS berketul dapat dilihat dengan mata, kiranya perut iblis dapat dibelah, nescaya kita dapat lihat ketul itu ada dalam hatinya. Ia tahu PAS tidak melupakannya hinggalah ia dapat menjadikan  PAS sama seperti lawannya iaitu UMNO. Selama 66 tahun usia UMNO, sudah 55 tahun ia memacu negara merdeka, jika dibelah perut, ketul hudud tidak ada dalam hatinya. Yang ada dalam hatinya hudud PAS. Akan iblis tadi, kurus kering ia kerana dalam hatinya ada ketul hudud yang tersimpan rapi dalam cita-cita politik PAS. Baik PAS bercakap tentangnya atau PAS berdiam saja, ia lihat dan ia rasa ketul itu ada. Ia seperti kanser baginya. Lalu ia berusaha untuk memadamkannya, menghasut PAS supaya melupakananya. Kesnernya itu akan sembuh apabila dapat menjadikan PAS sama dengan seteru politiknya. Walaupun UMNO sudah menyakat PAS, dikatakannya cita-cita hudud PAS itu sudah jadi cacamarba apabila ia bersekongkol dengan DAP dan PKR, dan DAP terang-terang menyatakan ia menolak hudud, tetapi tetap MCA, Yahudi, Amerika dan lain-lain, jika perut masing-masing dibelah, ada dilihat ketul cita-cita PAS dalam hati mereka. Dan katakanlah ketika menunggu 100 haru PRU13 ini tiba-tiba PAS membuat pengumuman betapa ia tidak lagi menyimpan  cita-cita politiknya, tidak lagi ia mahu meneruskan ibadatnya itu, ia tidak bercadang untuk meneruskan hudud, tiada ahli MCA yang percaya, tiada seekor Yahudi dan Amerika yang percaya. Jika selepas ia mengumumkan mahu melupakan hudud, dibelah perut MCA dan perut  Yahudi, tetap ketul hudud itu dijumpa dalam hati mereka. Mereka tidak  akan percaya PAS sudah melupakannya sekalipun PAS betul-betul melupakannya. Begitu juga iblis. Ia pun tak percaya PAS melupakannya. Sekalipun PAS betul-betul melupakannya, ia tetap curiga bahawa PAS mungkin taubat  dan kembali kepada cita-citanya. Selagi PAS tidak mati, ia tidak percaya PAS benar-benar melupakannya. Atas kedudukan itu PAS tidak perlu lagi melenting atas isu hudud itu. Buat saja kerja yang patut hingga sampai ke Putrajaya.

Mayan calendar, Malaysian quagmire? Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:01 AM PST Back to the Malaysian quagmire. What is this "new politics" many have been talking about, whether understood or not? Old Mayan deadly concoction in a new bottle? Or a bottle of spirit brewed to perfection from the warm springs of the meadows of a new Malaysian hope? A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE Dr Azly Rahman "The centre cannot hold." - WB Yeats. At the eleventh hour of the Mayan prediction of an Armageddon, what has the world been experiencing? Tsunami, hurricanes, earthquakes, Arab Spring, Gaza invasion and a world that still goes round and round in circles of misfortune - as if it is created to let Evil triumph over Good. But then again, one can make any interpretation of what the Mayans were up to and, if indeed it is all a hoax. Closer to home, what have Malaysians seen these last few decades - triumph of Evil versus Good as well? Rallies after rallies in colours of rainbow of multicoloured hues, a Malaysian Spring that some are calling a Hibiscus Revolution; increasing structural violence, as if orchestrated by some divine hands baptised in a fountain of Evil; a human being blown into smithereens over what many say is a dispute over the sale of a submarine; increasing authoritarianism of the state that is said to be robbing and bribing its people all at once; the rise of state-sanctioned fascist-ethnic groups; society praying to neon and material gods that the Greek sage Socrates would curse - all these, and more, point to the Mayan period of the Malaysian pathos. We are seeing an apocalypse of our own making. As I was writing this I was also listening to Jim Morrison's 'The End', a 60s cult classic of a song aptly used in Francis Ford Coppola's anti-war Vietnam era movie 'Apocalypse Now' - a haunting Doors-composition indeed, which brought me to memories of the scenes of the movie. Coincidentally, I had on my bookshelf Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness', a masterpiece of a novel about the nature of the human self when possessed by the need for greed, and the instinct to kill, and to reason through this via the belief in the morality of war, or the "moral force of it" some might say, and the inevitability of capitalism and the march of it. Malaysians live in a world of dread and despair I see rupture in Malaysian politics, of the one perhaps emblematic of a Kafkaesque world - of that character Gregor Samsa of 'The Metamorphosis', in which dread and despair had become a comfortable numbness (as the rock group Pink Floyd would say); in which in the novel, a man suddenly turns into a vermin, a cockroach-looking insect and the powerful theme of existentialism sets in. How does the family deal with the metamorphosis? Malaysians seem to have been living in a world of dread and despair, and are yet unaware of the changes and transformations that further alienate, marginalise, and even humiliate them - all because that world is created by those who own the means to manipulate the lives of others by building this facade of "progress", in which circuses come to town often and bread (crumbs, these may be) are given on a daily basis... to make those enslaved happy - as happy as Albert Camus' Sisyphus in a world in which, as the great Afrikanist Chinua Achebe would say, "Things (Have Fallen) Apart," in which the centre can no longer hold. A matrix of politics commonly called "neo-feudalism cemented by Mahathirism". In a world of dread and in a place wherein the industrialised man - our post-modern man "Hank" of Henry Miller's 'The Hairy Ape', gets caged and ultimately frustrated when his labour is exploited, his spirit caged, and his body consumed by industrial fumes, the only way to get out of all these is to dream and to hope for a saviour to translate that dream of being free... into a revolution that will bring back human dignity. 'A renewal of life-force ahead?' That Mayan prediction is perhaps not about the end of hope and of everything (it is midnight in New York City as I write this...) but about the renewal of hope. Will the world see a better way of living, doing things, or even thinking about new and peaceful ways of solving conflicts? It is for those living in this generation to teach those of the next on what their world ought to look like; beyond the dread and despair of the Kafkaesque metamorphosis or a world wherein things have fallen apart and beyond repair. Back to the Malaysian quagmire. What is this "new politics" many have been talking about, whether understood or not? Old Mayan deadly concoction in a new bottle? Or a bottle of spirit brewed to perfection from the warm springs of the meadows of a new Malaysian hope? I don't know. Our Mayan calendar is ending. The priests are tired of predicting. But where is the Messiah? ********************************** OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS: While the opinion in the article/writing is mine, the comments are strictly, respectfully, and responsibly yours; present them rationally, clearly,  politely, and ethically.   AND - VOTE WISELY!

So, what’s the solution then? Posted: 20 Dec 2012 08:08 PM PST   And not all these property buyers in the UK are Malays or Malays from Umno. Many are Chinese and many are Chinese who support Pakatan Rakyat (I know because I am acting for some of them as their property agent). So in what way can we blame the government? And will all these people be happy if the Malaysian government demonetises the Ringgit and make it worthless outside Malaysia? THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin RM200b outflow Najib's best achievement as Finance minister, says PAS Youth chief (Harakah) - The high ranking recently given to Malaysia among developing countries suffering illicit funds outflow means the country's Finance minister Najib Razak has broken a records of sorts, according to PAS Youth leader Nasrudin Hassan. "It is something which has surprised many. What is not surprising is the fact that mainstream media do not report it," he said, adding that the public would eventually come to know details of the damning report issued by Washington-based Global Financial Integrity. Nasrudin reminded that Najib himself had admitted during UMNO's recent congress that young Malaysians were now more equipped with information due to information technology. In its latest report on illicit funds outflow released on Tuesday, GFI ranked Malaysia second only to China among other Asian economies in terms illicit funds outflow, while it is placed third globally. Noting that some 80 percent of illicit financial flows were due to trade mispricing and 20 per cent due to corruption, GFI said that between 2001 and 2010, a total of US$285 billion was transferred out of Malaysia illegally. Nasrudin compared the figure for illicit funds outflow provided by Najib last year - RM135.4 billion between 2000 to 2009 - with GFI's figure of RM662.6 billion for the same period. He added that one should not be surprised if the government denies the figure by GFI. He also said the revelation reflected badly on giant government-linked companies such as Khazanah Nasional and Petronas. "It proves the existence of illegal acts to avoid taxes and siphoning out the country's revenue through property investment, foreign bank accounts and others to shore up personal wealth," said Nasrudin, who cited the recent revelation of unusual wealth owned by the family of Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, when some RM100 million was demanded for a divorce settlement involving the latter's son. Nasrudin also reiterated the urgency for public office bearers to declare their assets. Earlier today, Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said he would write to Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar to participate in a discussion on how to weed out illicit funds outflow. "Urgent steps must be taken to finalise an action plan, not by avoiding the issue as the case has been so far with Najib Razak," said Anwar. **************************************************** While it is good that we reveal the transgressions and excesses of the government, plus the mistakes it makes, we should also be prepared to offer a solution to the problems. If we just point out that the government is no good and that we must change the government without mentioning in what way it is no good and what we need to do to make it a better government it is no bloody good. I mean most Malaysians know that the government is no good but they do not really understand in what way it is no good. Then they think that the solution to this is to just change the government without a second thought on whether by changing the government we shall be a getting a new government or the same type of government, sort of like old wine in a new bottle. That is why I sometimes shy away from writing these types of articles. As much as I try to take the middle road and not be seen as propagating one side or the other, because I do not scream ABU that is interpreted as I am pro-government. If I do not support the 'death to Israel' war cry does that mean I am a Zionist? Not all Muslims believe that the Middle East solution is to drop a nuclear bomb on Israel. Do you know that many Muslims danced on the streets in November 2001 when the New York Twin Towers was brought down? They openly celebrated the destruction of the Twin Towers, a symbol of American capitalism. But how many Muslims died in that tragedy? And how many Zionists died? It was like the discussion on the social problems amongst Malaysian youths (I think it was two years or so ago). Invariably, how strict Islam may be, the biggest social problem is amongst the Muslims. So who has failed here? Has Islam failed? Or have the parents failed? If Islam has failed then in what way has Islam failed? Islam is strict enough as it is so it must be the implementation that is the problem then. Okay, just for the sake of this discussion, let us say that the implementation or the enforcement of Islam has failed. And that is why we have a big social problem amongst Muslim youths. Can we then solve the social problem amongst Muslim youths by tightening the rules? And let us look at some examples from other Muslim countries. To start of with, no female can leave her home un-chaperoned. When a girl or woman leaves her home she must be chaperoned by a male member of her family. If she leaves her home alone she will be arrested and jailed. She also cannot drive or work. It is easy to scream about the social problems amongst youths and then blame Islam, Umno, the government, or their parents. But what is the solution to this problem? That, no one is talking about. And most times the solution may be worse than the problem. Let us not blame Islam. Let us blame the government. Why is the government not doing anything about the problem? Let's therefore change the government. So a new government takes over. But what is the new government going to now do? Can the new government impose a curfew on kids? All those below 18 must be at home by 7.00pm. If after 7.00pm they are still outside their home they will be rounded up and then their parents will be arrested and will be jailed up to a maximum of three years. Is this too draconian? If that is not done then how to solve the problem? And if the problem is not solved you will blame the government, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. Hence screaming about the problem and blaming the government is not going to solve anything. Are you prepared to suffer the consequences of the solution? Take the bad driving habits of Malaysians and the extremely high death rate on Malaysian roads as one more example. How do we solve that problem other than blame the government for it? Can we ban those under 21 from driving? Then can we install number plate recognition cameras all over Malaysia and on every street and every street corner of Malaysia like in the UK? And when drivers commit a traffic offence their driving licence is endorsed and they get banned from driving for two years the first time, five years the second time, and for life for the third time? All this would be done by computer (the number plate recognition cameras all over Malaysia are computerised), which means we can eliminate the human element (no policemen involved). This means we will also eliminate corruption since the entire process is fully computerised like in the UK. Probably more than half Malaysian drivers will lose their right to drive. That will for sure reduce the problem. It will also reduce the number of drivers and the number of car owners. It will also mean half of Malaysians will need to hop onto a bus to move around. No doubt this will make life very difficult for most Malaysians but at least the government can no longer be blamed for the problem. Okay, now what about the problem of funds outflow? Who is to blame for that and how would the government solve that problem? Anwar Ibrahim wants to meet the Bank Negara Governor to suggest a solution. That is good but maybe Anwar can give us an insight into what his solution is going to be. Pakatan Rakyat makes it sound like the entire problem should be blamed on the government and that the opposition has a solution to this. Okay, say Pakatan Rakyat was the government and Anwar was the Prime Minister, how would he solve the problem? Trust me, never mind who forms the government and who becomes the Prime Minister the solution is not as easy as they try to make it sound. So what are they going to do? Are they going to demonetise the Ringgit? That would mean the Ringgit cannot be exchanged for any other currency and will only be worth in Malaysia. Outside Malaysia the Ringgit would be worthless. How would Malaysia trade? We can't exchange Ringgit for any other currency. Zambia did this by delinking its currency. In turn inflation increased like crazy and the country's economy collapsed. But at least their money stayed in the country. One of the strongest economies in the world is the US. And there are more US Dollars floating outside America than in America. Do you know that property prices in Australia are higher than in the UK? And that is because the Chinese are buying up property there, mostly in cash. The Australian property market is benefiting from the huge outflow of funds from China. But local Australians are suffering because property prices are beyond their reach. Malaysians are the second largest buyers of property in London. Because of that I live in Manchester. London property prices are too expensive for my taste. I can buy three or more houses in Manchester for the price of one in London. And not all these property buyers in the UK are Malays or Malays from Umno. Many are Chinese and many are Chinese who support Pakatan Rakyat (I know because I am acting for some of them as their property agent). So in what way can we blame the government? And will all these people be happy if the Malaysian government demonetises the Ringgit and make it worthless outside Malaysia? Janganlah semua salahkan kerajaan! In some of those things we are talking about we are actually the culprits. And if they government was to act against us we will get angry. But when the government does not act we also scream. Susahlah rakyat Malaysia! Ini pun salah. Itu pun salah.

‎#Justice4Oma solidarity Vigil tonight at 8pm, in front of Kajang Prison Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:30 PM PST   Students/Mahasiswa groups have decided to #OccupyKajangPrison from 8pm tonight until Monday morning, when hopefully Umar will get his appeal hearing at the High Ct. Umar was sentenced to 1 month jail & RM1,000 fine for 'obstructing DBKL officer from carrying out his duty', during the lead-up to BERSIH 3.0 in Dataran Merdeka in protesting for free education. #OccupyDataran ‎#OD Update terkini: Saudara Umar akan dibawa ke Penjara Kajang. Sila berkumpul dan berkhemah di hadapan Penjara Kajang pada pukul 8 malam hari ini. Kumpulan2 Mahasiswa akan berada di sana. Sila sebarkan dan bawakan khemah sebagai tanda solidariti dengan Umar. Terima kasih.    Student sent to jail for obstructing public servant from discharging duty (The Star) - A final year student of a private college was sentenced to a month's jail and fined RM1,000, in default a month's jail, by the Magistrate's Court here on Friday for obstructing a public servant from discharging his public functions. Magistrate Zaki Asyraf Zubir ordered Umar Mohamad Azmi to serve the sentence from Friday. Umar, 23, was charged with obstructing a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) enforcement officer, Mohd Masran Mamat, 34, from discharging his duty by arresting a man at Dataran Merdeka, Jalan Raja here. The offence was committed at 8.05am on April 23 this year. Deputy public prosecutor Wong Chai Sia prosecuted, while Umar was represented by lawyer Syahredzan Johan.

Legal action threat over oil, gas rights Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:28 PM PST   (Borneo Post) - State Reform Party (Star) Sabah is giving the State Government six weeks to restore ownership rights of Sabah's oil and gas resources, or the people would proceed with legal action, according to its chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan. He told a press conference at TNGC Beverly Hills yesterday that Petronas missed the point when it acted as if it was the sole custodian of Malaysia's oil and gas.   He was responding to the statement by Petronas that it could not afford to increase the cash payment to 20 per cent to the oil-producing states as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat.   "The Federal Government is also irresponsible in using Petronas as its mouthpiece to reject the claims of the oil-producing states for increases in the cash payment from the current five per cent.   "The Federal Government and Petronas have totally ignored the fact that oil and gas resources belong to Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak, in the first place. It did not belong to the Federal Government and definitely not Petronas," Jeffrey asserted.   He said from Sabah and Sarawak's point of view, it should not be trapped into discussing the increase of the five per cent cash payment. In fact, he said, many of Sabah's leaders were still confused with the five per cent cash payment.   "It is not royalty as in the 1976 Oil Agreement; the State Government was pressured to reject or waive its right to collect royalty.   The real issue now, said Jeffrey, was not the amount of cash payment but the validity of Tun Abdul Razak's Vesting Order to Petronas as the oil and gas belonged to Sabah and Sarawak.   "Such vesting to Petronas has to be unconstitutional and invalid," he said.   "Therefore, Petronas and the Federal Government, and Pakatan Rakyat as the alternative front, and their leaders should be talking, firstly about restoring and returning the ownership of the oil rights to Sabah and Sarawak and then, secondly re-negotiate for the state to contribute a portion of the oil revenue to the Federal Government or Petronas.   He said Star Sabah would be handing over a memorandum to the Chief Minister's office by Monday or Tuesday, calling for restoration of the ownership of the oil and gas, otherwise the people of Sabah, with the support of Star Sabah, would bring the issue to court, including the issue of Blocks L and M.

Mustafa: Pakatan seat talks at tail-end Posted: 20 Dec 2012 06:20 PM PST Tarani Palani, fz.com With seat negotiations between Opposition allies at its tail end, any party which demands for additional seats at this juncture would have to bear in mind whether there is a supply of additional seats left to be distributed. PAS Secretary General Datuk Mustafa Ali said this in response to his DAP counterpart Lim Guan Eng's announcement during the weekend party congress that the party would like three more parliamentary seats and 10 more state seats.   However, the PAS party veteran was quick to add that Lim's request was nothing to be jittery about as it was understood that he was playing to party supporters.   "There is nothing wrong with asking for seats because every political party is seeking for more seats. But (if there are) seats left to be distributed (is something to bear in mind)," he said in an interview with fz.com recently.   For Mustafa, who was present at the congress in Penang to hear Lim's speech, the DAP leader's announcement was neither suprising nor the opposite.   "I was there, I heard what he said, but I didn't ask him," said Mustafa chuckling. "I feel (the announcement) was more to pacify (party) grassroots who are looking for a seat increase".   Mustafa who heads the PAS team in the Pakatan Rakyat election consultative council on seat negotiations, said that talks usually took place in the committee and that there was "not much" left to negotiate. He was mostly tight lipped on the matter, merely saying that most of the negotiations had already taken place this year.   DAP Deputy Chairperson Tan Kok Wai and PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali are the heads of the other parties in the committee.   Mustafa repeated what many Pakatan leaders had said on the criteria for seat allocations. For the coalition, which will face its first general election as a formal alliance, the formula would be to more or less stick to its status quo in 2008.   "Each party forwards its suggestions. But we mostly use as one of our guidelines the 2008 status quo. We know what the status quo is, so it's plus or minus that. (That will be the basis) for exchange of seats or discussions similar to that," he said.   He added that despite of announcements made by party leaders, the final outcome would depend on negotiations between the parties.   Mustafa also said that he did not foresee any difficulty in finalising Pakatan's list of candidates as it could be settled at the committee stage.   He said that in case one particular candidate cannot be agreed upon, then the matter will be brought up to the party Presidents. He however said that it may not come to that extent as most of the negotiations have gone on smoothly.

Perak Speaker Ganesan: I am not involved in any sex scandal Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:25 PM PST Ganesan speaks to reporters denying any involvement in a sex scandal outside the state assembly on Friday.  (The Star) - Perak Assembly Speaker Datuk R. Ganesan has denied any involvement in a sex scandal and will lodge a police report on the claim. "I will ask the police to investigate the claim. I'm not shocked because they are only made-up stories," he told reporters here on Friday. "I am also extremely sad that my family has to face such allegations," he said, adding that he viewed this as an Opposition tactic to attack him. He was commenting on the envelopes which Opposition assemblymen V.Sivakumar and A. Sivasubramaniam received outside the assembly earlier in the day. The envelopes contained a printed online article and a compact disc (CD) with a lewd picture, Ganesan's portrait and a woman's portrait on the cover. Sivakumar said he would be lodging a police report on the matter.

‘PKR got it all wrong on power rates’ Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:22 PM PST Several IPP managers say that forcing IPPs to renegotiate their PPAs will have serious implications. Zainal Epi, FMT PKR has gone off the mark when it said that it would slash the power rates if it comes to power, say independent power producers (IPPs). They were commenting on PKR investment and trade bureau chief Wong Chen's statement on Dec 7 that Pakatan would reduce the independent power producers' (IPP) return of investment (ROI) from 19% to 10% if it forms the next government. Wong has said even if the return of investment (ROI) was at 10%, which is the global benchmark, it was still a lot of money for them (IPPs). (The ROI measures the profitability on an investment and can help in making investment decisions.) "What we want is to cut their [IPPs'] obscene profit," Wong has said. He said under the current contracts, the IPPs' return of investment stood at a whopping 19% and a Pakatan government would reduce it to 10%. However, IPP players said Wong's notion that renegotiating the PPAs (power purchase agreements) with the IPPs was a silver bullet to ensure power prices remain at current rates in the future was wrong and off the mark. They said his analysis was probably driven by poor understanding of the power industry. "It is incorrect, for example, to use take Tenaga Nasional Bhd's 2011 capacity payment as a proxy for IPP earnings and dividing it by IPPs' total capital expenditure, resulting in a ROI of 19%," said a senior IPP manager who did not want to be named. (Capacity payment is payment received in exchange for making electrical capacity available.) He said this is because capacity payment is a composition of revenue and not profit, "so it is wrong to treat it as earnings". "Capacity payment is primarily used to service debt obligations of the power plant developer, so earnings is derived only after deducting debt servicing payments and other fixed costs such as insurance and taxes. "The time value of money, which is basic in financial economics, is ignored in his [Wong's] analysis – there is a need to consider capital investment made in a year and also the annual earning streams recurring for 21 years, to work out the true ROI, and not just taking into account one payment in one particular year…," said one IPP senior manager. Another IPP manager said Pakatan's proposal to force IPPs to take a 50% cut on revenues – primarily used to service their debt obligations – has the following serious implications: It will trigger defaults in the IPP bonds, causing substantial uncertainty in the capital markets; It will send negative signals to investors and raise the cost of doing business for the entire economy of the country; and It is also result in capacity shortages and supply interruptions. 'Tariffs need to go up' On PKR's Wong contention that power tariff need not be increased, an IPP manager said: "Tariffs do need to go up. This is due to increasing fuel cost and the capital-intensive nature of the industry. Globally, fuel cost has also been increasing substantially. "For example, oil has increased from below US$30 per barrel in 2000 to currently above US$90 per barrel [over 200% increase for the period]. "To get an inkling of the capital-intensive nature of the industry, just look up the TNB website and discover the capital expenditure of TNB each year [in the range of RM4 billion to RM7 billion]. "If the opportunity cost of gas were to be added to the present gas price, that alone will raise TNB's fuel cost by more than RM10 billion annually," he said. READ MORE HERE

‘Probe the five involved in Deepak’s claims’ Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:16 PM PST PKR piles pressure on the authorities to investigate Cecil Abraham, Arulampalam, Nazim, Deepak and Balasubramaniam.  Leven Woon, FMT The police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have been urged to investigate the five individuals allegedly involved in the preparation of private investigator P Balasubramaniam's second statutory declaration (SD). PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the authorities should probe lawyer Cecil Abraham who was allegedly said to have prepared the second SD and Arulampalam, who has appeared with Balasubramaniam at the press conference to issue the second SD on July 4, 2008. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's brother Nazim Tun Razak, Balasubramaniam and businessman Deepak Jaikishan must also be called up for questioning, Chua added. "Malaysian laws stipulate that conspiracy to falsify or subvert sworn statement is a criminal offence. "Those involved in abetment and conspiracy can be charged under Section 107 of the Penal Code, or Section 120a for criminal conspiracy, and Section 191 for false evidence under Statutory Declaration Act 1960," he said at a press conference here today. Nazim allegedly met Balasubramaniam on behalf of the prime minister and provided the latter with the money to retract the explosive first SD linking Najib to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuyaa Shariibuu. Chua said since both Balasubramaniam and Deepak had concurred that the second SD was prepared under intimidation and enticement, it is the duty of the enforcement authorities to verify the allegations with the other three individuals. He pointed out that the authorities have shown they are capable of carrying out swift investigations when six federal agencies targeted NGO Suaram over allegations of receiving foreign funding lately. "Unless the MACC and police act immediately, their [already] tainted reputation and image will be tarnished further," he said. Second defamation The Batu MP also ticked off MACC over its clarification yesterday that Cecil, who is a member of the MACC's operation review panel, was not involved in the decision to halt investigation of Balasubramaniam's second SD. Describing the statement as an "utter disappointment", he said MACC is more concerned with defending its decision to stop the investigation than to discharge its duties properly. Meanwhile, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul said the allegation that Najib had asked his brother to offer money to Balasubramaniam could be considered as a second defamation on the premier after Deepak's claims that Najib was involved in the murder of Altantuyaa. "If what Deepak said is true, then there are elements of corruption and MACC should investigate. Don't drag the matter anymore," he said. Chua also challenged the MACC to find out whether PKR was involved in paying Deepak to defame Najib. When asked whether the enforcement authorities should also probe Najib, since the premier was directly implicated in the allegations, Chua said the focus now should be on the five individuals first. "To be fair to [Najib and Rosmah], they are not materially present at the meeting. Let's leave them alone first. But if Deepak's allegations are proven to be true, then they must follow the lead and investigate further," he said.

Najib is too proud to bow before the people Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:08 PM PST Hell would freeze over before the prime minister would apologise for his wrongdoings.  Mariam Mokhtar, FMT Last July, the New York Times (NYT) carried a report on the apology by the outgoing South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, for the various corruption scandals said to have undermined his government. Several close colleagues and relatives of the president had been prosecuted and jailed. Many of them had influenced the workings of the government. In recent weeks, Malaysians have noticed a succession of people who have come forward to implicate Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor, his brother Nazim Abdul Razak as well as those in positions of responsibility, such as Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein. These people, whose reputations are tarnished, appear to have no desire to clear their names, nor deny the allegations. Have they complete disregard for the rakyat? Was it pure coincidence that Rosmah has announced the publication of her biography, which she and her "publishing adviser", Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Ahmad Maslan, claim will address the various allegations made against her? Had she been prepared for a day of revelations by disgruntled former associates? The pre-launch is most unusual. JK Rowling did not have a pre-launch for her books. Most authors launch their books with a promotional tour. What is significant about president Lee's humiliating apology and the NYT claim that "he could hardly lift his face", was that when he came to office, Lee described his government as "morally perfect". During his television appearance, Lee said, "The more I think about it, the more it crushes my heart. But whom can I blame now? It's all because of my negligence. I bow before the people in apology". Hours after Lee concluded his nationwide apology, two of his colleagues were arrested for corruption. In all, three of Lee's relatives, four senior presidential aides and several former senior officials in the Cabinet and government-run companies had been implicated. Corruption menace Malaysian leaders don't apologise and hell would freeze over before Najib would bow before the rakyat and apologise for his wrongdoings or the various scandals which have hit his government. In September 2010, a year and a half after becoming prime minister, Najib told Malaysians that "combating corruption is not only a moral imperative but a prerequisite for national survival". In a speech that was delivered by his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, at the Asian Development Bank/Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (ADB/OECD) Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific's 10th Regional Seminar: Criminalisation of Bribery, Najib said that three organisations would fight the corruption menace – the police for investigating the criminal acts, the Attorney-General's Chambers for dealing with prosecutions and the Prime Minister's Department for "crafting the preventive eco-system". Najib stressed that "prevention and education should be given equal attention alongside enforcement in the fight against corruption". He praised the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for receiving an increased amount of information from the public which led to investigations, arrests and prosecutions. This, Najib concluded, was a reflection of the public's confidence in the government. Despite the recent revelations by carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan and former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, the rakyat has yet to see an investigation being initiated by the police or the MACC. The Attorney-General's Chambers has also remained silent. In 2010, Najib claimed that "…studies reveal that corruptors tend to hide themselves or their ill-gotten gains in foreign jurisdictions. The denial of a safe haven for corruptors and their proceeds of crime is vital in any strategy to combat corruption". READ MORE HERE

Malaysia's Elections: Down to the wire Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:18 PM PST   With so much at stake, every vote counts…but only if every vote is counted.  Now, with the end of the year in sight and no further announcements, it seems that Mr Najib will take this down to the wire. Given that he can only go to the country after Chinese New Year next February, most people expect him to plump for the latest date he can in the electoral calendar, which would be about late March or early April. The Economist ALL year, it seems, Malaysia has been on a war footing. For elections, that is—and thankfully, rather than anything more martial. The country operates on a Westminster-style parliamentary system, so the prime ministers' five-year term does not officially end until early next summer. Nonetheless, Najib Razak and his people have been talking up the chances of going to the polls before then pretty well continuously over the past 18 months or so, which keeps everyone guessing. Now, with the end of the year in sight and no further announcements, it seems that Mr Najib will take this down to the wire. Given that he can only go to the country after Chinese New Year next February, most people expect him to plump for the latest date he can in the electoral calendar, which would be about late March or early April. His supporters say, why rush? With a generally favourable economic outlook, tame state media and all the advantages of incumbency, there is no reason why Mr Najib can't enjoy the rest of his term of office without worrying about the 13th general election. After all, he has a bit of history on his side, to put it mildly—the ruling political alliance, Barisan Nasional (BN), has never lost a general election since independence in 1957. His critics, however, detect signs of nervousness about the outcome—mainly, the endless indecision about when to go to the polls. Indeed, all the evidence suggests that this will be the closest race in Malaysia's history, even more so than the last general election in 2008. On that occasion, the BN lost its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time, thus losing its powers to make changes to the constitution. Just as bad, five of the 12 contested state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the previous election. Mr Najib knows that to placate his hardline critics within the BN he has to not only win, but win big. They want the BN to claw back most of what the party lost last time. It's a tall order. With so much at stake, every vote counts…but only if every vote is counted. Democracy activists and other election-watchers are concerned that many of the criteria for a free and fair election have not been met by the government and the government-appointed Election Commission. Over the past few years the campaign for open and fair elections has been led by Bersih (meaning "clean" in Malay), a loose coalition of civil-rights and human-rights NGOs and others. The head of Bersih, Ambiga Sreenevasan, sounded gloomy last week about the prospects for this election. "It will be the dirtiest election we have seen for a long time", she warned. She points to the more overt signs of this, such as "increasing political violence" (at political rallies, for example) and more subtle signs such as "constant reports of discrepancies on the electoral roll in west Malaysia." Read more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/12/malaysia%E2%80%99s-elections

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Malaysia's Elections: Down to the wire Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:18 PM PST   With so much at stake, every vote counts…but only if every vote is counted.  Now, with the end of the year in sight and no further announcements, it seems that Mr Najib will take this down to the wire. Given that he can only go to the country after Chinese New Year next February, most people expect him to plump for the latest date he can in the electoral calendar, which would be about late March or early April. The Economist ALL year, it seems, Malaysia has been on a war footing. For elections, that is—and thankfully, rather than anything more martial. The country operates on a Westminster-style parliamentary system, so the prime ministers' five-year term does not officially end until early next summer. Nonetheless, Najib Razak and his people have been talking up the chances of going to the polls before then pretty well continuously over the past 18 months or so, which keeps everyone guessing. Now, with the end of the year in sight and no further announcements, it seems that Mr Najib will take this down to the wire. Given that he can only go to the country after Chinese New Year next February, most people expect him to plump for the latest date he can in the electoral calendar, which would be about late March or early April. His supporters say, why rush? With a generally favourable economic outlook, tame state media and all the advantages of incumbency, there is no reason why Mr Najib can't enjoy the rest of his term of office without worrying about the 13th general election. After all, he has a bit of history on his side, to put it mildly—the ruling political alliance, Barisan Nasional (BN), has never lost a general election since independence in 1957. His critics, however, detect signs of nervousness about the outcome—mainly, the endless indecision about when to go to the polls. Indeed, all the evidence suggests that this will be the closest race in Malaysia's history, even more so than the last general election in 2008. On that occasion, the BN lost its two-thirds majority in parliament for the first time, thus losing its powers to make changes to the constitution. Just as bad, five of the 12 contested state legislatures were won by the opposition, compared with only one in the previous election. Mr Najib knows that to placate his hardline critics within the BN he has to not only win, but win big. They want the BN to claw back most of what the party lost last time. It's a tall order. With so much at stake, every vote counts…but only if every vote is counted. Democracy activists and other election-watchers are concerned that many of the criteria for a free and fair election have not been met by the government and the government-appointed Election Commission. Over the past few years the campaign for open and fair elections has been led by Bersih (meaning "clean" in Malay), a loose coalition of civil-rights and human-rights NGOs and others. The head of Bersih, Ambiga Sreenevasan, sounded gloomy last week about the prospects for this election. "It will be the dirtiest election we have seen for a long time", she warned. She points to the more overt signs of this, such as "increasing political violence" (at political rallies, for example) and more subtle signs such as "constant reports of discrepancies on the electoral roll in west Malaysia." Read more at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/12/malaysia%E2%80%99s-elections

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• Legal action threat over oil, gas rights
• Mustafa: Pakatan seat talks at tail-end
• Perak Speaker Ganesan: I am not involved in any sex scandal
• ‘PKR got it all wrong on power rates’
• ‘Probe the five involved in Deepak’s claims’
• Bentong villagers want DAP to explain

Legal action threat over oil, gas rights Posted: 20 Dec 2012 07:28 PM PST   (Borneo Post) - State Reform Party (Star) Sabah is giving the State Government six weeks to restore ownership rights of Sabah's oil and gas resources, or the people would proceed with legal action, according to its chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan. He told a press conference at TNGC Beverly Hills yesterday that Petronas missed the point when it acted as if it was the sole custodian of Malaysia's oil and gas.   He was responding to the statement by Petronas that it could not afford to increase the cash payment to 20 per cent to the oil-producing states as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat.   "The Federal Government is also irresponsible in using Petronas as its mouthpiece to reject the claims of the oil-producing states for increases in the cash payment from the current five per cent.   "The Federal Government and Petronas have totally ignored the fact that oil and gas resources belong to Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak, in the first place. It did not belong to the Federal Government and definitely not Petronas," Jeffrey asserted.   He said from Sabah and Sarawak's point of view, it should not be trapped into discussing the increase of the five per cent cash payment. In fact, he said, many of Sabah's leaders were still confused with the five per cent cash payment.   "It is not royalty as in the 1976 Oil Agreement; the State Government was pressured to reject or waive its right to collect royalty.   The real issue now, said Jeffrey, was not the amount of cash payment but the validity of Tun Abdul Razak's Vesting Order to Petronas as the oil and gas belonged to Sabah and Sarawak.   "Such vesting to Petronas has to be unconstitutional and invalid," he said.   "Therefore, Petronas and the Federal Government, and Pakatan Rakyat as the alternative front, and their leaders should be talking, firstly about restoring and returning the ownership of the oil rights to Sabah and Sarawak and then, secondly re-negotiate for the state to contribute a portion of the oil revenue to the Federal Government or Petronas.   He said Star Sabah would be handing over a memorandum to the Chief Minister's office by Monday or Tuesday, calling for restoration of the ownership of the oil and gas, otherwise the people of Sabah, with the support of Star Sabah, would bring the issue to court, including the issue of Blocks L and M.

Mustafa: Pakatan seat talks at tail-end Posted: 20 Dec 2012 06:20 PM PST Tarani Palani, fz.com With seat negotiations between Opposition allies at its tail end, any party which demands for additional seats at this juncture would have to bear in mind whether there is a supply of additional seats left to be distributed. PAS Secretary General Datuk Mustafa Ali said this in response to his DAP counterpart Lim Guan Eng's announcement during the weekend party congress that the party would like three more parliamentary seats and 10 more state seats.   However, the PAS party veteran was quick to add that Lim's request was nothing to be jittery about as it was understood that he was playing to party supporters.   "There is nothing wrong with asking for seats because every political party is seeking for more seats. But (if there are) seats left to be distributed (is something to bear in mind)," he said in an interview with fz.com recently.   For Mustafa, who was present at the congress in Penang to hear Lim's speech, the DAP leader's announcement was neither suprising nor the opposite.   "I was there, I heard what he said, but I didn't ask him," said Mustafa chuckling. "I feel (the announcement) was more to pacify (party) grassroots who are looking for a seat increase".   Mustafa who heads the PAS team in the Pakatan Rakyat election consultative council on seat negotiations, said that talks usually took place in the committee and that there was "not much" left to negotiate. He was mostly tight lipped on the matter, merely saying that most of the negotiations had already taken place this year.   DAP Deputy Chairperson Tan Kok Wai and PKR Deputy President Azmin Ali are the heads of the other parties in the committee.   Mustafa repeated what many Pakatan leaders had said on the criteria for seat allocations. For the coalition, which will face its first general election as a formal alliance, the formula would be to more or less stick to its status quo in 2008.   "Each party forwards its suggestions. But we mostly use as one of our guidelines the 2008 status quo. We know what the status quo is, so it's plus or minus that. (That will be the basis) for exchange of seats or discussions similar to that," he said.   He added that despite of announcements made by party leaders, the final outcome would depend on negotiations between the parties.   Mustafa also said that he did not foresee any difficulty in finalising Pakatan's list of candidates as it could be settled at the committee stage.   He said that in case one particular candidate cannot be agreed upon, then the matter will be brought up to the party Presidents. He however said that it may not come to that extent as most of the negotiations have gone on smoothly.

Perak Speaker Ganesan: I am not involved in any sex scandal Posted: 20 Dec 2012 05:25 PM PST Ganesan speaks to reporters denying any involvement in a sex scandal outside the state assembly on Friday.  (The Star) - Perak Assembly Speaker Datuk R. Ganesan has denied any involvement in a sex scandal and will lodge a police report on the claim. "I will ask the police to investigate the claim. I'm not shocked because they are only made-up stories," he told reporters here on Friday. "I am also extremely sad that my family has to face such allegations," he said, adding that he viewed this as an Opposition tactic to attack him. He was commenting on the envelopes which Opposition assemblymen V.Sivakumar and A. Sivasubramaniam received outside the assembly earlier in the day. The envelopes contained a printed online article and a compact disc (CD) with a lewd picture, Ganesan's portrait and a woman's portrait on the cover. Sivakumar said he would be lodging a police report on the matter.

‘PKR got it all wrong on power rates’ Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:22 PM PST Several IPP managers say that forcing IPPs to renegotiate their PPAs will have serious implications. Zainal Epi, FMT PKR has gone off the mark when it said that it would slash the power rates if it comes to power, say independent power producers (IPPs). They were commenting on PKR investment and trade bureau chief Wong Chen's statement on Dec 7 that Pakatan would reduce the independent power producers' (IPP) return of investment (ROI) from 19% to 10% if it forms the next government. Wong has said even if the return of investment (ROI) was at 10%, which is the global benchmark, it was still a lot of money for them (IPPs). (The ROI measures the profitability on an investment and can help in making investment decisions.) "What we want is to cut their [IPPs'] obscene profit," Wong has said. He said under the current contracts, the IPPs' return of investment stood at a whopping 19% and a Pakatan government would reduce it to 10%. However, IPP players said Wong's notion that renegotiating the PPAs (power purchase agreements) with the IPPs was a silver bullet to ensure power prices remain at current rates in the future was wrong and off the mark. They said his analysis was probably driven by poor understanding of the power industry. "It is incorrect, for example, to use take Tenaga Nasional Bhd's 2011 capacity payment as a proxy for IPP earnings and dividing it by IPPs' total capital expenditure, resulting in a ROI of 19%," said a senior IPP manager who did not want to be named. (Capacity payment is payment received in exchange for making electrical capacity available.) He said this is because capacity payment is a composition of revenue and not profit, "so it is wrong to treat it as earnings". "Capacity payment is primarily used to service debt obligations of the power plant developer, so earnings is derived only after deducting debt servicing payments and other fixed costs such as insurance and taxes. "The time value of money, which is basic in financial economics, is ignored in his [Wong's] analysis – there is a need to consider capital investment made in a year and also the annual earning streams recurring for 21 years, to work out the true ROI, and not just taking into account one payment in one particular year…," said one IPP senior manager. Another IPP manager said Pakatan's proposal to force IPPs to take a 50% cut on revenues – primarily used to service their debt obligations – has the following serious implications: It will trigger defaults in the IPP bonds, causing substantial uncertainty in the capital markets; It will send negative signals to investors and raise the cost of doing business for the entire economy of the country; and It is also result in capacity shortages and supply interruptions. 'Tariffs need to go up' On PKR's Wong contention that power tariff need not be increased, an IPP manager said: "Tariffs do need to go up. This is due to increasing fuel cost and the capital-intensive nature of the industry. Globally, fuel cost has also been increasing substantially. "For example, oil has increased from below US$30 per barrel in 2000 to currently above US$90 per barrel [over 200% increase for the period]. "To get an inkling of the capital-intensive nature of the industry, just look up the TNB website and discover the capital expenditure of TNB each year [in the range of RM4 billion to RM7 billion]. "If the opportunity cost of gas were to be added to the present gas price, that alone will raise TNB's fuel cost by more than RM10 billion annually," he said. READ MORE HERE

‘Probe the five involved in Deepak’s claims’ Posted: 20 Dec 2012 04:16 PM PST PKR piles pressure on the authorities to investigate Cecil Abraham, Arulampalam, Nazim, Deepak and Balasubramaniam.  Leven Woon, FMT The police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) have been urged to investigate the five individuals allegedly involved in the preparation of private investigator P Balasubramaniam's second statutory declaration (SD). PKR vice-president Tian Chua said the authorities should probe lawyer Cecil Abraham who was allegedly said to have prepared the second SD and Arulampalam, who has appeared with Balasubramaniam at the press conference to issue the second SD on July 4, 2008. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's brother Nazim Tun Razak, Balasubramaniam and businessman Deepak Jaikishan must also be called up for questioning, Chua added. "Malaysian laws stipulate that conspiracy to falsify or subvert sworn statement is a criminal offence. "Those involved in abetment and conspiracy can be charged under Section 107 of the Penal Code, or Section 120a for criminal conspiracy, and Section 191 for false evidence under Statutory Declaration Act 1960," he said at a press conference here today. Nazim allegedly met Balasubramaniam on behalf of the prime minister and provided the latter with the money to retract the explosive first SD linking Najib to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuyaa Shariibuu. Chua said since both Balasubramaniam and Deepak had concurred that the second SD was prepared under intimidation and enticement, it is the duty of the enforcement authorities to verify the allegations with the other three individuals. He pointed out that the authorities have shown they are capable of carrying out swift investigations when six federal agencies targeted NGO Suaram over allegations of receiving foreign funding lately. "Unless the MACC and police act immediately, their [already] tainted reputation and image will be tarnished further," he said. Second defamation The Batu MP also ticked off MACC over its clarification yesterday that Cecil, who is a member of the MACC's operation review panel, was not involved in the decision to halt investigation of Balasubramaniam's second SD. Describing the statement as an "utter disappointment", he said MACC is more concerned with defending its decision to stop the investigation than to discharge its duties properly. Meanwhile, Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul said the allegation that Najib had asked his brother to offer money to Balasubramaniam could be considered as a second defamation on the premier after Deepak's claims that Najib was involved in the murder of Altantuyaa. "If what Deepak said is true, then there are elements of corruption and MACC should investigate. Don't drag the matter anymore," he said. Chua also challenged the MACC to find out whether PKR was involved in paying Deepak to defame Najib. When asked whether the enforcement authorities should also probe Najib, since the premier was directly implicated in the allegations, Chua said the focus now should be on the five individuals first. "To be fair to [Najib and Rosmah], they are not materially present at the meeting. Let's leave them alone first. But if Deepak's allegations are proven to be true, then they must follow the lead and investigate further," he said.

Bentong villagers want DAP to explain Posted: 20 Dec 2012 12:09 PM PST   (The Star) - BENTONG villagers have given a date for DAP to explain its decision to abruptly stop a singing show during a dinner, reported China Press. They had challenged Bentong Dapsy chairman Chow Yu Hui to cut the head of a cockerel and perform a vow at Guan Di Temple in Kampung Telemong at 1pm tomorrow. The act of cutting a cockerel's head at a temple is a Chinese tradition to prove one's innocence in settling disputes. In a statement signed by 15 village heads and Bentong MCA deputy chief Woong Choo Yak, the group urged Chow to show his bravery in politics and not be a "deserter". "Come to the temple on time and tell us everything. Many villagers know the show was halted because DAP bowed to pressure from PAS and used many tactics to cover this up. "In fact, the incident on Nov 17 should not have happened because DAP was the organiser of the event, which was mostly attended by the Chinese. DAP did not have to follow the orders of PAS members," said the group, adding that this proved that the party had no status in Pakatan Rakyat. During the incident, PAS guests had reportedly demanded that the performance be stopped because they were apparently disturbed by a singer's dressing, which was "too revealing". Villagers, who had raised thousands of ringgit to hire the singers, were furious.

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