Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Did the Budget 2011 address the widening income gap?
Senator Dr. S Ramakrishnan,
The much awaited budget 2011 was tabled in parliament on Friday 15th Oct, 2010 with the promise that we are on the path of transformation. Earlier the 10th Malaysian 5 years plan was launched with specific target of attaining high income economy. With all the high growth from 1990 to 2007, the middle 40% and the bottom 40% of household’s income level recorded only a moderate growth.
A World Bank study found that the wage trend in Malaysia has recorded only an annual 2.6% growth during the past 10 years. A study on wages initiated by the Human Resources Ministry reveals that almost 34% of about 1.3 million workers in the country still earn less than RM700 a month. Malaysia’s gini coefficient grew marginally from .456 in 1987 to .459 in 1997 but dropped slightly to .441 in 2007. Malaysia is 101th out of 127 countries in terms of gini coefficient. Looks like Malaysians are caught in the low income trap unless some drastic step is taken.
Did the budget 2011 outline any strategies to uplift the lower income group to higher? Minimum wages is once again postponed and left with the wages consultative council. Looks like the government really dragging its feet on minimum wages. No political will due to the pressure from Malaysian employer’s federation not to yield to workers demand. Only security guards got a confirmation of minimum wages between RM 500 to RM700 that is below hardcore poverty limit of RM720. How to increase productivity of lower wage earners?
As for education, funds are allotted to principals of high performance schools. How is high performance measured when UPSR and PMR are converted to school based examinations? The prime minister has pleased his wife with his generous allocation of RM111 million to PERMATA, his wife’s pet project. How inclusive is PERMATA in recruiting staffs and students of all races be in estates, squatters, new villages or kampong is yet to know. RM250 million for Chinese, Tamil, missionary and Religious school but no details are given. The devil is in the details. RM576 allocated to develop teachers competency. Billions were spent to teach mathematics and science in English. But after 7 years the whole project shelved. A further RM 213 million allocated to enhance BM proficiency and recruit 375 UK and Australian teachers to teach English. All these measures will upgrade the quality of education is yet to be seen.
Talent attraction measures are all about increasing the number of PhDs and upgrading lecturers and implementing skill programs. All these initiatives must be market driven to meet the market needs. It is important to reevaluate the effectiveness and results of all the various programs implemented and conducted in the past years. Lots of money was already spent on training programs. Graduates upon completing university studies need retraining. We need state of art training, forward looking attitudes and proactive initiatives. Real quality researches are not promoted in Budget 2011. Why not develop and nurture local talents. If only the government remove the racially colored glasses they can see talents within the country in estates, urban squatters and new villages. 50% of engineers and doctors in Singapore are from Malaysia. All the government has to do is provide scholarships to all students who excel in their public examinations. Gave them equal opportunity and promoted them fairly while in government service. There will be abundant of talent.
Having said all these, this budget is like any other earlier budget about awarding projects. Construction industry as usual is the main beneficiary. Tallest building and many more projects awarded to GLCs and cronies but nothing to ordinary SMEs and small time businesses. No innovative ideas to reduce traffic jams besides MRTs to be completed in 10 years time. This budget doesn’t seem to be transformational and evolutionary nor is it 1Malaysia in character. It’s all rhetoric with little substance to reduce the income gap.
One held over teen's rape and murder
TELUK INTAN: A 21-year-old man has been arrested over the rape and murder of teenager M. Divya Barathi, whose body was found in a drain in the Rubana oil palm plantation, 8km from here, last Friday.
Hilir Perak district police chief Assistant Commissioner Goh Kok Liang said the suspect, who was picked up from his house at the same estate early yesterday, has been remanded for a week to facilitate investigations.
Goh said police had also released a 16-year-old student from SMK Horley Methodist (ACS) here, who was allegedly the victim's former boyfriend.
"We recorded his statement and initial investigations revealed that he was not connected to the case."
As investigations intensified, family and friends of 16-year-old Divya Barathi were still coming to terms with her murder.
They felt that Divya Barathi would have been alive today if she had only listened to advice and not used the shortcut through the plantation.
Her mother, P. Letchumany, 35, said her husband would usually pick up Divya Barathi when the bus dropped her off at the guardhouse at the entrance to the estate.
"The guard would call and inform my husband and he would pick her up on his motorcycle," she said.
On Thursday, the day before she was murdered, Divya Barathi had walked from the guardhouse by herself until someone spotted her and informed her father.
Her father, K. Murali, 43, a security guard at the estate, immediately got on his motorcycle and picked her up.
"She didn't like to trouble her father, and now she is gone."
Murali, who was holding on to his daughter's biodata book when met at their house, said he wished he had known his daughter better.
"I didn't even know her favourite colours... now I know it's black and red."
Recounting the day his daughter went missing, Murali said he had been up all night looking for her since 7.30pm.
"I called her best friend, Miena, and she told me that she had reached home by 5pm. I quickly got my friends and family together to look for my daughter. We also lodged a police report."
He said the search party had passed by the place where her body was eventually found several times.
"We shouted out her name all around the estate but she was eventually found just 100m away from my front door.
"I saw her mud-covered body and the way her killers tried to hide it with leaves. It just broke my heart and I collapsed," he said, adding that his friends carried him home.
"If she had fulfilled her dream to be a teacher, she would be have been a role model to her sisters.
Murali has three other daughters, aged 3, 6 and 12, and an 18-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Divya Barathi's classmate and best friend, R. Miena Lochani, 16, said she was the last person to be with her before she was murdered.
The two girls had attended a study session to revise for a Bahasa Malaysia paper on Monday. The two took the bus home around 4.30pm.
"When the bus reached my stop, I asked Divya Barathi to come with me as her father could pick her up from my house. That's what she usually did if we had to stay back at school.
"Divya Barathi refused. She said her father had just received a bonus and she wanted him to buy a gown which we had been eyeing. We had planned to get matching gowns for Deepavali," Miena said when met at her house in Taman Maju Indah here yesterday.
Miena, who broke down during the interview, said she should have tried harder to make Divya Barathi come home with her.
"I couldn't concentrate on my exams. I keep seeing her face. I just can't believe that my best friend is dead."
Muhyiddin: End race debates now
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin tonight called for an end to racial debates and warned parties not to question Malay and Bumiputera special rights, as laid out in the Federal Constitution.
“Racial debates must stop, not tomorrow or the day after, but now. Let there be no groups that question Malay and Bumiputera special rights,” Muhyiddin (picture) told some 2,400 Umno Wanita, Umno Youth and Umno Puteri delegates at Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) here.
“Debates about racial issues without limits can incite provocation that will ignite racial sentiments. Surely we do not want a spark of anger to set off an explosion that destroys all the peace, prosperity and unity we have built.”
“Umno’s reluctance to openly condemn allegedly racist statements by two school principals and a National Civics Bureau (BTN) official have sparked intense public debate in recent months over the party’s commitment to the prime minister’s inclusive 1 Malaysia concept.
Reprising his role as defender of Malay rights in Umno’s two-faced strategy to appease Malay and non-Malay voters alike, Muhyiddin stressed that Malaysia’s rapid progress owed much to the “social contract” hammered out by the country’s founding fathers.
However, the party deputy president denied that Umno’s fight to uphold this “inclusive” social contract agreed upon by Umno, MCA and MIC following independence was racist, as detractors have claimed, arguing that the social contract guaranteed minority rights as much as it did Malay rights.
“Racial rights... are fought for within the framework of understanding that all races are guaranteed rights and equal treatment,” he said.
“In this context, the race-based politics practised by Umno is not a form of racist politics. Racist politics means we only place importance on our own race and oppress other races.”
Muhyiddin said that, while the Malay ruling party has never lost sight of its struggle to uplift the Malays, it also understood that sharing political power and economic spoils between races was the best way to ensure peace and prosperity in multi-racial Malaysia.
Cashing in on Umno’s track record at the helm of Barisan Nasional (BN), Muhyiddin said the party’s success in steering the country away from the violent racial conflict which marked other nations as proof that it was as pragmatic as it was idealistic when it came to fighting for Malay rights.
“History bears witness that, when Umno leads, not only Malays benefit, but other races as well,” he said.
The Pagoh MP hit out at Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for not being equally principled, claiming the power-hungry opposition coalition was “like a chameleon” that only knew how to play to the gallery for short-term political gain.
Zaid says ‘unworthy’ to focus solely on saving Anwar
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – Datuk Zaid Ibrahim asserted today that securing justice for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should not be PKR’s sole struggle as it was “unworthy” to become a “one-issue party”.
The maverick politician, in what appears to be a part of his campaign strategy for the PKR deputy presidency race, wrote in his blog today that the party needed first to fix itself before thinking about fixing the nation.“Our coalition partners deserve better from us. While we need to secure justice for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, there are so many more injustices facing the people of this nation that require our attention,” he charged.
He added that the party needed to pay attention to those they sought to represent, reminding members that the people were clamouring for economic and social justice and the right to be treated with respect and dignity.
“It is unworthy of us to reduce this party to a one-issue party. It is unworthy for those we seek to represent.
“We are not merely the party of reformasi but also of reform. My interest is in that future,” he said.
The former Umno minister’s latest dig at PKR is one of many criticisms he has been slinging at the party of late.
Zaid (picture) had once warned that PKR would turn into a second Umno if its present pool of leaders were not changed.
He also rejected outright Anwar’s warning to bypass Umno-owned media like Utusan Malaysia and insisted that the paper’s relentless attacks against the PKR de facto leader could have stemmed from the boycott.
He has also made explicit insinuations that supporters of Azmin Ali, his leading contender in the three-way deputy presidency race, were responsible for the hurdles he was facing in his tilt for the number two post.
Already, Zaid has been seen as entering the deputy presidency race alone but his latest judgement on PKR may further widen the growing chasm between himself and the party’s top leadership.
Despite this, Zaid continued to hold his ground today and insisted that his bid for the deputy president’s post was not about positions or power play.
“It isn’t about who is next. It is about what is next,” he said. He reminded members that the party was the first in the country to hold direct elections, pointing out that this meant that every member’s vote counted.
This, Zaid stressed, allowed them to elect leaders based on principles and not just “blind loyalty”.
“While other candidates harp on their ability to protect Anwar, I believe he has mustered the best legal team to protect him.
“I, too, care about him and his family but above all, it is the struggle and interests of the people that is paramount.
“And I know that the party members will be able to make that distinction,” he said.
Waiting for a social budget
COMMENT What is it about budgets that seem so not right?
Probably because we all come up with one, yet keeping to it seems almost close to impossible. A budget also reveals how much money we are willing to spend and especially in a government budget, no figure is good enough to satisfy all the demands from the voting public.
The yeas and nays will prevail long into the night; often times it seems we talk too long and too much about the budget than in actually carrying out the plans the money was set apart for. This we leave to the wise August House, as the voting public wait and watch to see if the money allocated ever reaches the masses.
And this is the problem I see in this budget. How much will actually reach the masses?
With all emphasis that Budget 2011 is a people’s budget, it is still, at the root of it, a development budget.
Huge amounts of taxpayers' money is allocated to build and create industrial areas, holiday resorts in remote areas, even a 100-storey mysterious “Warisan Merdeka” costing RM5 billion, to name a few.
A large part of the money is to be channelled into brick-and-mortar projects and vaguely named ideas intended to lift the income of the public. Money in the pocket is always a good thing for a select few who corral the bulk of the building projects in Sarawak.
What is needed, for Sarawak and the nation in general, is a social budget.
A budget that is weighted towards uplifting the general public and creating opportunities for all to excel. Though Budget 2011 has glimpses of a social budget, some areas are left to the imagination of lay people like us to cipher.
For example, the implementation of the 1Malaysia Training Programme by Community Colleges, National Youth Training Institutes, Giat Mara and Industrial Training Institutes to commence in January 2011 with an allocation of RM500 million.
It sounds like money well spent with emphasis on training and education, yet the biggest question is, what is the 1Malaysia Training Programme?
The mysterious project
And then, there is this mysterious 100-storey Warisan Merdeka costing RM5 billion. Is this a landmark to show-case Malaysia or a mere attempt at leaving behind a monument to one’s own name? Because, RM5 billion can be put to better use, building basic infrastructure in the interior of Sarawak. What or how would Project Warisan Merdeka benefit the people? A radical idea would be to take RM27 million and turn the roughly 27 million Malaysians into millionaires by giving each and every Malaysian a million ringgit. And RM27 million is a small fraction of the RM5 billion allocated to create a landmark. Are not the Petronas Twin Towers good enough?
And if Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's ultimate goal is to increase the income bracket per Malaysian, then why was minimum wage left out?
No doubt it will increase the over-head for the government in terms of basic wages for its civil servants but in the long run, it puts money directly into the hands of working Malaysians. It would encourage Malaysians to seek employment, since the benefits of working are clearly visible in the form of ringgit notes in their wallets.
But putting money into the hands of everyday working Malaysians is not enough, when the cost of living is on a continuous rise. This in itself is pushing more and more Malaysians into a state of financial inadequacy. Rural folks in Sarawak feel this pinch the most, as the cost of products rises the further inland you go. Looking through the budget, there was no mention of the fuel subsidy. And no news is bad news indeed.
So what good is a people-friendly budget when it leads to a higher cost of living? The budget may create an atmosphere for better living but at a price few Malaysians will ever be able to afford. And this is the irony hitting those living in Sarawak.
We may have the best-looking buildings or cheapest tolls, but they are only confined to Peninsular Malaysia while those living in the longhouses of rural Sarawak struggle to keep their native lands from being raped by timber companies making a quick buck.
For right now, try explaining the need to spend RM5 billion on a new landmark when seven longhouses in the Sebangan/Sebuyau area are fighting for dear life to keep their lands from being plundered by a company with ties to the current establishment.
What use is a people-friendly budget when the Land and Survey Department and the Forestry Department seem to contradict each other on the status of the Sebangan/Sebuyau native customary lands?
What is really needed is not a people-friendly budget, which is friendly to people in the construction business but rather a social budget that puts taxpayers' money back into the hands of taxpayers.
It is too soon to rejoice over the fact that Malaysians can now own more than one handphone, but I would rejoice at the end of 2011 when I can clearly see in actual numbers and figures that Malaysians are truly high-income earners.
Maclean Patrick is a webmaster in Sarawak
Muhyiddin: Umno will not be apologetic on Malay rights
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin told delegates at the party's annual general assembly today that there is no need for his party to be apologetic when defending Malay and Bumiputera rights but insisted such posturing is not racist.
The rallying call was made amid strong words by party president Najib Tun Razak earlier today that the party must strive to reclaim its "centrist roots" as it struggles to fend off accusations that Umno, which has helmed power since independence in 1957, thrives on communal politicking.
Calling it "inclusive Malay politics", Muhyiddin said facts have shown that the country and non-Bumiputeras have prospered under Umno's leadership which he claimed is based on the principle of fairness and justice.
"We don't have to be apologetic when we fight for the rights and interests of the Malays and the Bumiputeras," he said when opening the assemblies of Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings simultaneously .
"History has shown that when Umno leads, not only the Malays prosper, but all races too. It is also not necessary for us to be apologetic to defend the identity of the Malays, to be proud as Malays... as long as we are fair to all races," he added.
Extremism and 1Malaysia
Umno is currently forced to work hard in regaining the non-Malay votes after its dismal electoral performance in the 2008 general election when the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition with the Malay party as its lynchpin, lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time in decades while four states fell into the opposition's hands.
A major outcome of the historic election two years ago was the exodus of non-Malay votes towards the opposition. It also witnessed the crash in investor confidence in the economy. Shoddy fiscal discipline and Umno-encouraged Malay patronage have been blamed for the slow erosion of Malaysia's once competitive edge in the global economy.
Najib has been on the offensive charm ever since he took office in April 2009, crafting themes to appease the non-Malay votes like 1Malaysia and vowed to play fair by opening up the economy for more non-Malay participation.
But observers say the stumbling block to his reform efforts -- for Umno and the government -- remains within his own camp. Hawks within his own party and right-wing groups like Perkasa have raised doubts if Najib can see through the implementation of his reform efforts.
Muhyiddin blamed Umno's difficulty to regain lost non-Malay support on the extremism of "certain quarters" who are growing louder in questioning the special position and rights of the Malays. The swipe is believed to be targeted towards not just the opposition, but right-wing groups like Perkasa.
"Even though generally the race relations in this country remains good, there are still some voices who question the special rights of the Malays, the Bumiputeras and the rights of other races. If this is not managed well, it will create a situation in a multi-racial society that their rights which are protected by the Federal Constitution are corroding".
He then blamed the ongoing open debate on race as the reason behind the difficulty in achieving national unity.
"The distrust between the races must be contained immediately. The racial debate must be stopped, not tomorrow, not the day after but now. No one should question the special rights of the Malays and Bumiputeras or the rights of other races," he said.
Protecting the rights of other races will not in anyway affect Umno's struggle for the Malays, Muhyiddin said.
In a move seemingly aimed at appeasing the delegates, he reiterated that Umno will not abandon its clarion call to protect and defend the special rights of the Malays.
Race-based policy to continue under NEM
The heated debate on special Malay rights has taken centre-stage recently when Najib announced his intentions to open the economy amid widespread admission by government leaders that the race-based affirmative action under the New Economic Policy has failed.
This will be carried out under Najib's supposedly neo-liberal New Economic Model (NEM). The Malay electorate, however, has not swallowed the proposition well, especially among Umno members who have benefited from the old economic regime.
Fear of losing its Malay votes which form Umno's power base has prompted Najib to maintain the race-based affirmative policy albeit at the expense of investor confidence, which has been shaken by fear that Najib lacks the political will to carry out reforms.
The hardest battle remains to convince his own party members that the Malays will not be forsaken under the NEM. This was echoed by Muhyiddin who assured Umno members that the race-based affirmative action will continue under the new model.
"Affirmative action will continue under the NEM. Umno will never back away from its founding principle to enhance Malay and Bumiputera economy. We will not be apologetic to fight for a fair economic distribution to the Malays and the Bumiputeras."
Battle of will keeps Hulu Selangor PKR on edge
PETALING JAYA: The status of the Hulu Selangor PKR division continues to be mired in uncertainty following a battle of will between the winner of the divisional elections and the party leadership.
Party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail is insisting that fresh elections be held in the division, claiming that the polls conducted last month was invalid due to discrepancies in the total number of votes cast.
However, Nazar Yakin, who won the divisional chief post last month, is against the idea. He argues that the party's decision to declare his victory invalid was mooted in “a ploy to ensure someone else who is close to the leadership wins”.
“I agree that there were some discrepancies in the number of cast votes but that could have been solved on the day of the divisional election itself. The election officers knew there were extra number of votes but they still counted.
“Would they have declared the process to be invalid if someone else apart from me had won?” he asked.
In the contest, Nazar defeated six other candidates, including his closest rivals Radzali Mokhtar and Khalid Jaafar, a loyalist of deputy president aspirant Azmin Ali. Nazar had won by a slim 37 votes.
Nazar's team had then backed Zaid Ibrahim for the deputy president post. However, their victory was shortlived as Saifuddin announced that fresh elections should be held, even before the party's election committee could rule on Nazar's appeal.
Pact among rivals
To counter the decision to hold fresh elections, Nazar, working on the advice of certain election committee members, sought to gain the cooperation of all the contenders for the division's chief post to agree to abide by the results of the original election.
Last night, Nazar and his two closest rivals signed a pact to allow the former to be the divisional chief.
“However this morning, one of the signatories has indicated that he wants to pull out so that he can contest and win the divisional chief post,” a source close to the deal told FMT.
When contacted, Nazar said that the pact was signed and it was not possible for anyone to pull out now.
He added that he would be submitting the agreement to PKR headquarters soon so that fresh election need not be held.
“This is also what the PKR members in this division want. Let's not hassle them further by asking them to come out again to vote. They have done their democratic duty and I don't see any major issues with the conduct of the election. Let the results stand and let us concentrate on winning this seat back in the next general election,” said Nazar.
Another contender who fared badly in the last round is also hoping for fresh election so that he can win this time around. This contender also refused to be part of the pact.
“He is making his visits to the estates in particular, urging the Indian party members to vote for him. He is playing the race card,” a local community leader told FMT.
State exco's unseen hand
The community leader, who openly supports Nazar, said the Indian contender seemed to have the backing of Selangor state exco member Dr Xavier Jeyakumar.
“It looks like Jeyakumar wants to take advantage of the uncertainty in Hulu Selangor to strenghten his own base. As state exco in charge of estates, he carries weight among the party members in the estates,” the community leader added.
When asked for comment, Nazar said he was surprised by the move of the contender to play up the race cards to win fish for votes.
“He performed terribly last month. He had no support. Now he wants a re-election because of the so-called support from Jeyakumar. The party should not allow this. Enough of politicking. Let me and my team get on with our work,” he said.
FMT also learnt that Nazar's appeal to let the results stand, especially with the agreement he has inked with his rivals, will be decided by the election committee headed by Molly Cheah.
“However, the question remains if the committee is independent, especially when two of its members are close relatives of Jeyakumar.
“Will Cheah be able to decide without being influenced by party leaders who have their self-interest (to take care)? And will the party agree with Cheah's decision?” asked an aide to Nazar.
Hulu Selangor is seen as a prized division as it has the largest number of members – almost close to 8,000.
Forget Manmohan, let Najib open Little India
IPOH: The Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party (MMSP) Youth wing does not want Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to open the “Little India” in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
According to MMSP Youth, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak or the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin was more qualified for the task.
The wing's chief N Ramu said Manmohan was not the right person because of his government's failure to protect the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
“We feel the New Delhi administration virtually did nothing to protect Sri Lankan Tamils. He just folded his hands and watched thousands of Tamils being killed.
“His government’s non-action has seriously hurt the sentiments of Malaysian Tamils, who make up 85% of Malaysia's Indian population,” he added in a statement.
Urgent action
Ramu pointed out that even though numerous reports from the United Nations and independent human rights groups called for urgent action to save the Tamils, “Manmohan was voiceless, action-less and care-less to save the besieged community”.
“He simply ignored and neglected his duties to intervene and stop serious violations of human rights taking place right at his doorstep.
“Until today, thousands of Tamils are suffering without shelter, food and safety but India’s political leadership remains deaf, dumb and blind,” he said.
The Youth wing plans to submit a protest memorandum to the Indian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.
Given Brickfields' strong link with the Tamil diaspora, Ramu said Manmohan opening the township would draw condemnation from Tamils around the world.
“We hope Manmohan would self-restrain from officially opening Little India to avoid hurting Malaysian Tamils' sentiments,” he added.
Where is Sulaiman?
Annointed successor no longer? Sulaiman Rahman Abdul Taib had received his father's blessing to take over his seat
Sulaiman, who was elected to his father’s old seat in 2008, resigned from his post as Deputy Tourism Minister back in December last year for what were described as ‘personal reasons’. The speculation at the time was that he wished to return to Sarawak to begin taking over as Chief Minister, which is clearly his father’s keen desire, if only to protect the family fortunes.
Disappeared!
101 Harrison Street, San Francisco - Rahman lost this whole office block through early mis-management of the property company Sakti
Indeed, far from coming back to Sarawak to take over, Sulaiman has now disappeared entirely from public view. Opposition MPs point out that he is in fact the only MP who has not put one foot inside the Federal Parliament building for the entire past parliamentary session and they are criticising him, quite rightly, for failing to perform the job he is paid by the public purse to do, which is to represent his constituents.
The DAP member Charles Santiago has told Sarawak Report that he will be raising a question in Parliament shortly if an announcement explaining Taib’s absence is not made.
Is Sulaiman suffering from a life-style related disease?
Sulaiman Taib - famously fun-loving
This brings Sarawak Report back to the rumours. Why not announce it if he is ill, when people would surely sympathise? The failure to explain the situation is giving unfortunate credence to the widespread and powerful rumours that the MP may be suffering from a self-inflicted, lifestyle disease.
This would indeed be tragic for the Taib family, but in their public position they cannot conceal it if he is no longer able to carry out his duties. Neither should a party like BN, which whips women who have a drink and bans homosexual activity on the pain of decades of imprisonment, seek to hypocritically conceal matters when one of its favoured sons falls foul of its own prohibitions.
So, if Sulaiman is not ill could the family please retrieve this previously high-profile dilettante back out of the closet? Conversely, if he is ill and being treated in Canada (as insiders suggest) it is their duty to tell us that he is and what for.History of debauchery has fuelled rumours
Come and join the young Taibs and their cool friends for a party! - A facebook invitation
In fact, thrown at a young person in unlimited quantities money is a very dangerous commodity and Taib’s largesse towards his own family may very well have sown the seeds of their destruction.
The Chinese wisdom that it is the first generation that makes the money; the second generation that enjoys it and the third that destroys it (along with themselves), appears to have skipped a generation in this extreme case, straight to the final scenario.
The next generation - this is how Taib nephew, Yakub Tufail promotes himself on facebook.
For it is not just Rahman Taib who has been raising eyebrows. Other younger family members have also clearly been failing to provide the example of ‘good muslim behaviour’ so strictly demanded of others by their parents, as photographs on this page bear out.
Spoilt?
‘Rahman’, as he was known in the United States, seems to have picked up his ’brat pack’ lifestyle during his college years when he lived unsupervised in San Francisco (North America’s liberal, ‘gay capital’). The recently deceased Ross Boyert, who was brought in to manage the family’s US properties, which the young Taib had proved spectacularly unable to do, testified to Sarawak Report that the boy was an unconstrained consumer with hedonistic tastes.
At least it's her husband! Is Taib niece Anita Tufail a good Muslim wife?
He informed Taib how Sean Murray’s brother-in-law, a contractor, had looked in Rahman’s bank book and spotted a balance of US $4 million, even though the boy had said that his father had provided nothing to pay for much needed renovations to a key office block. Managers were forced to find loans instead.
“Previously, Nicholas, in an attempt to allay my fears about our dire financial condition, had offered that while staying at the Presidio residence he peeked in Rahman’s check book noting a balance somewhat over $4,000,000. I relayed this breach of confidence to Rahman.” (excerpt from Boyert letter to Chief Minister Nov. 2006)Leaving under a cloud
Boyert also told Sarawak Report that the young Taib had left San Francisco under a cloud. Unseemly photographs and an ‘extortion attempt’ had been involved, he alleged. The incident had provoked such a furious row with his wife Anisa, the daughter of Deputy Chief Minister George Chan, that Rahman had picked up a fire extinguisher and smashed it into his hundred thousand dollar Bugatti. Ross had to take the car to have it fixed and after this episode he rarely communicated with Rahman who left the United States.
TV Presenter, Avaa Vanja Ramli - Sulaiman 'punched, pushed and strangled' her when she complained about another mistress
Is even the Chief Minister now ignoring the existence of Sulaiman?
Guests celebrate in style at a Taib family wedding - the divorce was 3 months later!
In August, when the DAP’s Chong Chieng Jen exposed the scandal of Taib’s offer of cut-price development land near Kuching Airport to a company owned by his own children, he revealed the purchase had been conducted by the company Monarda SDN BHD.
This leaves us to wonder whether even the Chief Minister has finally also come to the conclusion that his son is no longer able to run his own family’s corrupt affairs, let alone those of the State of Sarawak?
Backlash over mega-tower
(AFP) - THE Malaysian government's proposal to build a 100-storey mega tower in the capital has triggered a backlash from the opposition and on a fast-expanding Facebook petition.
Plans for the tower, to be built by 2020 at a cost of US$1.6 billion (RM5 billion), were unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak during last week's budget speech, which included a number of major infrastructure projects.
The building, named 'Warisan Merdeka' or 'Heritage of Independence', would be the tallest in Malaysia, dwarfing the iconic Petronas Twin Towers which were the world's tallest buildings at 88 storeys when completed in 1998.
Mr Najib said that such projects exemplify the spirit of 'Malaysia Boleh' or 'Malaysia Can!', a national campaign conceived by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, a huge advocate of mega projects.
Mr Mahathir, whose own schemes included the Proton national car and the multi-billion-dollar administrative capital Putrajaya - both of which have failed to thrive - has warmly endorsed the new skyscraper.
But a Facebook page created last Saturday, to which more than 9,600 people had signed up by Tuesday afternoon, has seen an outpouring of criticism from Malaysians who say the money would be better spent elsewhere.
Angry comments
A sampling of angry comments from Malaysians:
'Malaysia needs better education, better health care, better public transportation, safer neighbourhoods, cleaner water, but not a taller building.
'We don't need another white elephant!' said the page, which about 600 people were joining each hour.
'I will support this project if you give me the contract!' - Facebook user named Chee Chuan Tat, referring to endemic crony capitalism linked to the Barisan Nasional coalition.
'It's taxpayers' money, and taxpayers say NO.' - Adrian Matthew Yee.
'What the building will do is to destroy the character of the area while creating a traffic nightmare for all.
There are more than enough office spaces in downtown KL and this will cause a glut of office space, becoming a white elephant like many of the other government projects.' - Opposition lawmaker Fong Kui Lun, in whose constituency the building would be located near the city's chaotic Chinatown, said it would be an eyesore and totally unsuited to the crowded downtown district.
'The country does not need another mega project as the era of mega projects is gone and most Malaysians are not impressed by them any more.' - Tony Pua, also from the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance, said. -- AFP
Madam, may I be excused from jury duty? I’m related to the…
By Haris Ibrahim,
In a PKR divisional election in Selangor, things got so bad that some people had to be hospitalised with broken bones.
As it turned out, those in hospital lost the election.
Police reports were lodged.
Complaints were lodged by the vanquished with the central election committee under the stewardship of Dr Molly Cheah.
The complaints, it would seem, were considered,whereafter the committee upheld the results of that election.
A decision well within the purview of that committee, you would think, and all perfectly in order.
Things, though, are not always as they seem.
A man and his wife sit on that committee, I am reliably informed.
The man, I am given to undertsand, is related by marriage to the victor in that rowdy election.
Was this nexus disclosed to Molly and the rest of the committee?
Was it disclosed to the complainants?
Did man and wife recuse themselves from the deliberations and the decision by the committee on the validity or otherwise of the election results?
Until these questions are adequately answered by Molly so as to put to rest any reservations about the propriety of the decision of her committee, can someone please remind me what the ‘K’ in PKR stands for?
And, for the avoidance of any doubts on the part of the central election committee, I am referring to the Kota Raja divisional elections
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)