Mayor Nir Barkat asked the city's municipal planning committee on Monday to give initial approval to the controversial plan that Palestinians describe as "forced displacement". Barkat, however, insists the plan would revitalise tourism in the neighbourhood. Barkat first proposed the demolition months ago, but he shelved the plan in March under pressure from Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu asked Barkat to consult with the Palestinian families who would lose their homes. A spokesman for Barkat said on Monday that the municipality had finished those consultations. "Now, after fine-tuning the plan and seeking more co-operation with the residents... the municipality is ready to submit the plans for the first stage of approval," Stephan Miller, Barkat's spokesman, said. 'Fast-track Judaisation' Activists in Silwan denounced the latest move as another step in the "fast-track Judaisation" of East Jerusalem. Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland last year interviewed Silwan families with homes slated for demolition It pre-empts "the possibility of Jerusalem ever being a shared city, or indeed capital of a Palestinian state," they said in a statement. "This in itself precludes peace."Several members of Meretz, a left-wing Israeli political party, threatened to resign their seats on Jerusalem's city council over the announcement. Netanyahu's office issued a statement that expressed his hope "that the dialogue can continue". Barkat's plan has also been criticised in the past by the Palestinian Authority, the United States and the UN. Muhammad Ishtayeh, a PA cabinet minister, said after the plan was announced in March that there was "no way" Palestinians could accept it. The PA, US and UN have yet to respond to Barkat's latest announcement. The 'King’s Garden' The Palestinian homes targeted for demolition are in Silwan’s al-Bustan quarter, which Israel calls Gan Hamelech - the "King's Garden" - because the biblical King David supposedly wrote his psalms in the neighbourhood. The homes would be razed and replaced with a collection of shops, restaurants, art galleries and a large community centre. Israeli officials say the displaced families would be allowed to build new homes elsewhere in the neighbourhood - but haven’t said whether they will compensate those families for their losses. Israeli officials say that all of the 88 Palestinian homes in Silwan are built illegally. It is extremely difficult for Palestinians to obtain construction permits in East Jerusalem, so many families build their homes without the required paperwork. Barkat's proposal would allow residents of the other 66 Silwan homes - the ones not slated for demolition - to retroactively apply for construction permits, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. |
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Mayor backs Jerusalem eviction plan
PKR’s Unisel University refuses to advertise in the four Tamil newspapers. PKR does not want Indian students?
Nik Aziz ‘like Mahatma Ghandhi’ But Mahatma Ghandi would’t have ordered the demolishment of the Ladang Batu Pekaka Hindu cemetery in Kuala Ketil Kedah.
(See SH 13/6/10 at page N4).
We can only feel sorry for thus PAS Indian mandores harboring false hopes and cheating themselves in the meantime until after the 2012/2013 general elections or when they get to Putrajaya, when they will realize that the only thing PAS wanted from the Indians was their votes and not their problems, even critical ones.
By going for Pas, it is clear that the Indians are running from pillar to post.
S. Jayathas
APs’ for Malay muslims only in One Malay-sia
There are almost zero Malay-sian Indian car importers and dealers.
The UMNO led Malay-sian regime will tell us that the Indians are not interested but the reality is almost zero Indians have given these APs’.
50,000 APs was approved (for Malay muslims) in 2007 says deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Hasri (UM 14/11/08 at page 9).
There are 100 over companies which imports cars says Trade and Industry Minister Muhyiddin Yasin and asks all these companies and all bumis to prepare for APs being phased out in 10 years time (UM 11/6/08 page 5).
Why should APs’ be given to only Malay muslims? (See BH 17/6/10 at page 10).
And why is the multi-racial PKR, DAP and PAS not questioning this UMNO racism?
For DAP, MCA, Gerakan and the Chinese businessmen who control 70% of Malaysia’s economy they are okay as they get to do the Ali Baba business with the AP holders.
What about the small time Indian car dealers. Who speaks for them? PKR? DAP? PAS? MIC? Indian elite?
P. Uthayakumar
Institut Kemajuan Desa (infra), MARA & MRSM excluded to Indians
YTL’s RM 16 billion yearly profits. Indians excluded
YTL, a Chinese conglomerate, was allowed to grow and prosper by UMNO on condition that up to 45% of malay muslim equity is given out so the Malays with the Chinese financial standing business know how and expertise takes off to grow with the country’s mainstream development.
But the Indians have over the last 53 years been kept out by UMNO from these big businesses, mega contracts and projects and conglomerates, however capable or meritious their credentials are.
Instead to cheat the Indians UMNO creates pseudo Indian tycoons like Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, Tan Sri Gnanalingam, etc who are actually UMNO proxies.
Karunai Nithi @ Compassionate Justice
Tian Chua might appeal court decision
The wily politician, however, insists that if he were indeed to appeal the sentence, it would be to prove his innocence, and not to settle the dispute over his validity as an MP.
In a late press conference in Parliament tonight, the former civil rights activist insisted to the media that despite reports to the contrary, he was still the Batu MP.
“I think let us leave the matter to rest because today, we have received the judge’s assurance on my status so I think... leave it at that.
“However, I still maintain that despite the fact there is no disqualification, it was still an unfair judgment (to find me guilty) because I am innocent from any wrongdoing,” he said.
Chua (picture) was found guilty of biting a police constable on the arm outside the Parliament building in 2007.
He was initially slapped with a RM3,000 fine in default six months’ jail sentence by a magistrate but the sentence was reduced to RM2,000 in default two months’ jail by High Court Justice Datuk Ghazali Cha last week.
Despite the reduction of the sentence and the reason given by the judge that his decision was to avoid a by-election, questions still hang over whether the RM2,000 fine is enough to disqualify Chua as an MP.
Article 48 of the Constitution states that an MP should be disqualified from his seat if he is fined not less than RM2,000 or sentenced to not less than a one-year jail term for an offence.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh has continued to insist that the RM2,000 punishment was enough to disqualify Chua as an MP.
“The issue here is not on my status. It is on the fact that I am innocent. I regret that the High Court had not looked into the evidence that there was no biting,” Chua insisted.
Although he had earlier indicated that he would not appeal Ghazali’s ruling, the first-term MP said tonight that he would discuss the issue with his lawyers.
“I want to return my innocence. I did not commit any crime. I will wait for my lawyers to advise me on this issue... not on my status as an MP, but on my innocence.
“My MP status no longer arises because there is no threat that my seat has been declared vacant,” he said.
On Karpal’s persistence in saying that he should be disqualified, Chua said he understood the veteran lawyer’s point of view and bore no grudges against him.
“I understand what Karpal is doing. Basically, he is insisting that as long as such an unjust law exists, we will all continue to be victims of such laws,” he said.
Chua added that a RM2,000 fine or RM2,500 fine in such cases was not a justifiable amount to disqualify an MP from his seat.
“The law should not be there. It should not include people who engage in activities like peaceful assemblies or those who speak out for the people.
“MPs should enjoy the immunity of being allowed to carry out their duties as the people’s voice. Laws that are draconian and that threaten the freedom of representatives to speak out and to act in defence of the people should be scrapped,” he said.
Umno will emerge as the biggest Islamic party
Umno claims to be the largest Islamic party in the world. Soon, about 100 ulama, the ex-Perlis Mufti included, are expected to join Umno, which will make the party more Islamic than PAS. Below is The Star report on the matter.
(The Star) - Speculation is rife that former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin will be among 100 highly-educated ulama to join Umno soon.
It was reported in the Umno website that the controversial mufti would join the Dataran Merdeka Umno branch on Friday.
Umno sources said the ulama were keen to make their debut in politics, and they were believed to have expressed a preference to join Umno.
The sources denied that Umno was trying to create an ulama faction in the party to compete with PAS’ ulama wing.
“We do not practice such segregation in the party. Anyway, this has nothing to do with PAS. We are not pinching any ulama from PAS,” the sources said.
If the mass entry of ulama takes place, it would boost Umno’s image as a party acceptable to all, including professionals and ulamas, they added.
Former Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim was quoted in the Umno website as saying that PAS leaders would have sleepless nights if such a large number of ulama joined Umno.
In the report, Shahidan said he had long-time ulama friends, but he had never succeeded in enticing them to join Umno.
Dr Asri, in his blog, said he had not made a decision about joining any political party.
“I hope people will not make assumptions based on statements by individuals on this issue,’’ he wrote in his blog.
DNBN Kuburkan BN : Launch of Friends of Pakatan Rakyat
Friends of Pakatan Rakyat (FPR) is being officially launched as an organisation to rally the support of Malaysians who share the vision of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition for a better Malaysia.
The launch will be held Sunday, 4th of July, 2010, in London, and officiated by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, the Pakatan Rakyat Secretariat Co-ordinator. Speakers at the event will also include the ineffable Raja Petra Kamarudin as well as a a number of civil society activists sharing their experiences in shaping the agenda of change in Malaysia.
This event will represent the largest gathering of overseas Malaysians to demand a nation that we can all be proud of and call home.
Do bring along your entire family. For those with young children, provision will be made for a playroom and creche.
To join this momentous occasion, please indicate your interest by registering online at http://fprlaunch.eventbrite.com
Do register early as seats are limited and please pass this invitation to your Malaysian friends.
Be part of the torch that lights the spirit of hope for Malaysia.
Indonesian Sex Videos May Trigger Internet Crackdown
(Asia Sentinel) President Backs Web Curbs After 'Peterporn' Goes Viral With millions of Indonesian absolutely transfixed for almost a month over the widespread distribution of homemade videotapes involving three popular local celebrities involved in hardcore sex, the matter has started to take on more ominous overtones. Friday President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would lend his support for a filter to block pornography on the Internet.
Given Indonesia's uncertain flirtation with a more conservative Islamic society, the videotapes are raising concerns among liberals that the pace will pick up. An Anti-Pornography Act was pushed through in 2008 more because Yudhoyono and his nominal allies believed they needed the conservative Islamic vote in 2009 elections than because of any public outrage.
Prosecutors, the judiciary and the police largely ignored the law, saying it was too vague to enforce in a variegated country made up of a vast collection of ethnic groups and religious groupings ranging from largely Hindu Bali, where village traditions remain strong, to Papua, where penis gourds are still common in the hinterlands; to Jakarta, with its nightclubs, malls and glitz; and to liberal, largely Christian north Sulawesi.
Today, however, in the House of Representatives lawmakers now are lining up behind plans by Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring of the conservative Islamist Prosperous Justice Party to use the scandal to revive a move to filter the Web for content deemed "negative" and immoral. Sembirang said he would promulgate a decree by the end of the year to "save the young" from Internet porn. Religious leaders, parents and others have been lining up to support controlling the Web as well. On Sunday, Megawati Sukarnoputri, the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, added her voice, saying the law should be enforced in the video case.
"This case has caused many women concern, including me. Why do the public and the younger generations consume this kind of thing?" Megawati told reporters.
Even China has backed away from an Internet filter. But Indonesia, 86 percent of whose 243 million residents are Muslim, has been alternatively scandalized and titillated by the online release of the films, which allegedly featured Nazril Ilham, 28, an Indonesian rock star known as Ariel, and television personalities Luna Maya, 26, and Cut Tari, 32. All have denied being in the films, saying those filmed were someone else. Because Ariel sings with a group called Peterpan, the films have inevitably been dubbed Peterporn.
The ubiquity of the films, in three episodes, is astonishing. They have seemingly been watched by half the country, with whole offices in Jakarta watching them together in the days since they apparently were uploaded for the first time on May 22. Some 40 million Indonesians have access to the Internet. Schools have been searching students' pockets to confiscate DVDs. They have appeared not only on the Web but on cellphones and emails, spreading to social networking sites and local Internet forums, where links to downloads of the video were widely shared. The videos began appearing on BlackBerries, Twitter and Facebook.
The three celebrities have been hauled in for questioning, the latest last Friday, to emerge again before the television cameras, looking alternatively remorseful and intimidated. Police had said they planned to physically examine Ariel and Luna, presumably to try to match distinguishing body features with those seen in the clips.
None of the three have confessed to being in the films and police have declined to say who the actors in the videos are. "Ariel and Luna still have not admitted that the videos are theirs," said Brig. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution, the director of transnational crime, adding that the police will not push them to confess. They could face up to 12 years in jail.
Six other individuals, however, have been hauled in for questioning. "The six have not been arrested," Saud said. "They are being questioned until we find out who was the first person to upload the videos. We are assisted by six experts and we are applying scientific methods."
Yudhoyono had so far been careful to steer away from the scandal. But on Friday, cornered by reporters, he said he supports the steps taken by the police.
"They have investigated who duplicated the videos and distributed them," Yudhoyono said. "Whoever did it, the law must be upheld. I will keep supporting it." Then he went on to say that "In relation to an open society, an information society, we have increasingly realized that the country should not stay naked and be steamrolled by an information technology frenzy, as the stakes are huge. Other countries have already have regulations on this ... The incident has made us think about the best thing that should be done. Negative impacts on our society should be avoided."
The fact is that in Indonesia, supposedly a conservative Islamic country, amazing numbers of teenagers not only regularly watch pornography but engage in sex regularly. Indonesian Child Protection Commission vice chairwoman Masnah Sari reported in May that a survey of 4,500 teenagers aged between 14 and 18 in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya, found that 93 percent had engaged in oral sex and 21.2 percent of the girls had had an abortion.
The survey was almost immediately disowned by Hadi Supeno, the head of the child protection commission, who said no such survey had been conducted. Nonetheless, Supeno told reporters, a much smaller survey found that 32 percent of teenagers in several cities claimed to have had sexual intercourse and that they had easy access to pornography through either the Internet or DVD sellers. Teenagers from upper middle class families told the survey they had learned about sex from their nightlife, going to night clubs. Certainly anecdotal evidence indicates that pornography is available right down to the lowest village level and is watched by everybody – boys and girls as well.
Tenth Malaysia Plan: Long Live NEP – RIP NEM
by Lim Kit Siang,
The signature theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak on his accession as Prime Minister in April last year was the national transformation of Malaysia, which is anchored on four critical pillars:
*
1st pillar: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” concept to unite Malaysians.
*
2nd pillar: the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to deliver the outcomes defined under the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).
*
3rd pillar: the New Economic Model (NEM) resulting from the ambitious Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to transform Malaysia by 2020 into a developed, competitive and high income economy with inclusivity and sustainability.
*
4th pillar; the 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015 as the first policy operationalisation of both the government and economic transformation programme.
The Prime Minister unveiled the New Economic Model on 30th March and the presented the Tenth Malaysia Plan in Parliament on 10th June. A sea-change took place in the intervening two months, with Najib retreating from his national transformation programme when he succumbed to pressures from extremist groups making baseless and incendiary claims such as that the Malays are under siege and that the Chinese would take over the economy and country.
As a result, instead of the first policy operationalisation of the NEM, the Tenth Malaysia Plan is a funeral requiem for the NEM.
The NEM admission that “the excessive focus on ethnicity-based distribution of resources has contributed to growing separateness and dissension” is completely absent in the Prime Minister’s presentation of the Tenth Malaysia Plan.
This prepared the way for the Tenth Malaysia Plan’s abandonment of the most important of the eight Strategic Reform Initiative (SRI) – described as “fundamental to achieving the NEM – on “Transparent and market-friendly affirmative action”.
As stated in Chapter 6 of NEM (p. 117):
“Existing affirmative action programme and institutions will continue in NEM but, in line with views of the main stakeholders, will be revamped to remove the rent seeking and market distorting features which have blemished the effectiveness of the programme. Affirmative action will consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of the households. Affirmative action action programmes would be based on market-friendly and market-based criteria together taking into consideration the need and merits of the applicants. An Equal Opportunities Commission will be established to ensure fairness and address undue discrimination when occasional abuses by dominant groups are encountered.”
The promises of the NEM of a needs-and-merit based transformation of the affirmative programme, to promote building of capacity and capability, which will mean a dismanting of ethnic quotas, preferences, APs, closed tenders and other non-competitive processes, were very short-lived – all because of failure of political will and leadership.
I call on the Prime Minister, all MPs and all stakeholders in the country to revisit the warning of NEM on the dire consequences of failure of political will and leadership to carry out far-reaching national political, economic, social and government transformation.
As Chapter 7 of NEM warned: “The time for change is now – Malaysia deserves no less.”
The NEM rightly identified the most important enablers of the NEM are political will and leadership to break the log-jam of resistance by vested interest groups and preparing the rakyat to support deep-seated changes in policy directions.
It called for political will and leadership to put emphasis on coherent explanation of the vision and agenda of the NEM and transformation process and “to put in place a critical mass of bold measures” to “create an unstoppable wave of support from all segments of society for this vision”.
It warned:
“The government must take prompt action when resistance is encountered and stay the course”.
This is where the Najib administration has failed for when it faced resistance to the NEM proposals, it failed to stay the course.
Cabinet Ministers should explain why they fail to ensure that the NEM is adopted as official policy if the government is serious that it should be the third critical pillar of the far-reaching national transformation programme?
As it is, the message of the Tenth Malaysia Plan is – Long live NEP. Rest in Peace (RIP) NEM!
In fact, the lack of the political will and leadership to defend the NEP and to stay the course when encountering any resistance is manifestly clear when the Bahasa Malaysia version of the NEM is still not available online up to now. In fact, is there a Bahasa Malaysia version of the full NEM report?
When the NEM was unveiled just some two months ago, the country was warned of the dire consequences of the failure to undertake a major economic transformation.
The NEM said:
“Our shortcoming are preventing us from getting out of the middle income trap. Almost all economies of South East Asia are poised to achieve high economic growth in this decade. But Malaysia runs the imminent risk of a downward spiral and faces the painful possibility of stagnation.”
The NEM warning and the sense of urgency that “There is a serious risk that the economy may regress if fundamental changes are not made” is still to be discerned in the introductory chapter of the Tenth Malaysia Plan when it was distributed under embargo to MPs on the first day of the present meeting of Parliament on 7th June 2009.
It stressed: “We need to see the reality for what it is: we are on a burning platform.”
But this dire warning that Malaysia is on “a burning platform” was conspicuously omitted in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Tenth Malaysia Plan and by the time of Najib’s presentation of the Tenth Malaysia Plan speech, the sense of urgency that Malaysia has no choice but to opt for a New Economic Model has disappeared.
1Malaysia and GTP – Great deficit between proclamation and reality
In a matter of two months, one of the four pillars of the Najib national transformation programme had been removed. But the other two pillars are not in better shape.
For instance, 1Malaysia concept. Many have forgotten as to the overriding objective of National Economic Policy – which is to promote national unity.
There is one rare admission of the dismal failure of the NEP in the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap, of the “unintended outcome of the NEP” – a sense of deprivation, discrimination and even resentment felt by the non-Bumiputeras. (This was accompanied by the admission of “a widening of the income gap within the Bumiputera community “leading to rising discontent amongst certain segments of that community”).
It is sad and tragic that 53 years after Merdeka and 47 years after the formation of Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak, the country is even further away from the 1Malaysia objective than ever.
I had posed a question on 1Malaysia on the first day of Parliament on 7th June – ‘minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan berapa Menteri (dengan nama-nama mereka) dalam Jemaah Menteri yang menganggap dirinya rakyat Malaysia dahulu dan kaum masing-masing kemudian, selaras dengan dasar 1Malaysia.”
I asked this question because the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap released in January by the Prime Minister had defined the goal of 1Malaysia ultimately a greater nation – a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or heself as Malaysian first and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second.
But this question was disallowed on the ground of running afoul of Standing Order 23(1) (h) in seeking an expression of opinion, the solution fo an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition.
What credibility and legitimacy can there be for the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia objective when he is unable and unwilling to answer such a simple and straightforward question as to how many and who are the Cabinet Ministers who regard themselves as Malaysian first and their race second?
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has declared that he is Malay first and Malaysian second, while no other Cabinet Minister whether from Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah and Sarawak BN parties had dared to declare his or her position.
This goes to the very root of credibility and legitimacy of the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia signature theme – for if after 53 years of nationhood and 47 years of formation of Malaysia, there is not a single Minister who regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race second, what is this 1Malaysia campaign which is the centerpiece of the Najib premiership?
Is it just an empty slogan?
As for the GTP, NKRAs and PKIs, the government has claimed success although with little credibility.
This is another illustration of the great deficit between proclamations and slogans of the Najib administration and reality.
How can the government convince Malaysians that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has turned the tide against corruption, in particular in the war against “grand corruption”:
*
When Malaysia’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index has been undergoing a free-fall – from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 in 2003 and No. 56 in 2009;
*
when the MACC is more obsessed with declaring war against Pakatan Rakyat than against corruption, to the extent of causing the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock (whose death anniversary will be less than a month away on July 16) in the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam involving constituency allocations amounting to RM2,000 while oblivious of how a former Selangor Mentri Besar could afford to build a RM24 million palatial home; and up to now, there is no closure for Teoh’s family as to the cause of Teoh’s death;
*
When there has been no prosecutions of “big fish” in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal despite assurances by the Big Three last December, Attorney-General, Inspector General of Police and MACC Chief Commissioner, that the charging of four executives for PKFZ scandal were only “tip of the iceberg” and “big fishes” would be arrested;
*
The total failure of MACC to nab “big fishes”. MACC was not shy to go public about the “car and cows” investigations against the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Mentri Besar, but why are they so reticent about corruption investigations involving Barisan Nasional leaders – in particular about blog postings that MACC has detained Christopher Barnes, senior lawyer and confidante of Sabah Chief Chief Minister Musa Aman and several others related to the Sabah Chief Minister, in particular involving the RM16 million money laundering case in Hong Kong and whether it is true that Musa Aman has been served with notice with MACC to declare all his assets.
The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Inspector-General of Police have all claimed success for the police in the NKRA to reduce crime index and street crime, but are they aware that the Malaysian public do not feel that they are comparatively safer from crime or from the fear of crime as more guarded-and-gated communities are mushrooming in the country rather than the reverse. Coupled with the inability of the police to keep the streets, public places and homes free from crime and free Malaysians from the fear of crime, there is the grave problem of police accountability and integrity highlighted by the high rate of deaths caused by police, like the cases of Kugan and 14-year-old Form II student Aminulrashid Amzah shot to death near his Shah Alam home in April.
DAP MP for Sibu Wong Ho Leng in his maiden speech last Tuesday had spoken not only for people of Sibu, but also Sarawak and Sabah about their grievances and feelings of being treated like colonies by West Malaysia 47 years with their complaints of development neglect and not being given rightful place under the Malaysian sun, despite the Inter-Government Committee (IGC) and London Agreements providing equality to Sabah and Sarawak with the states of Malaya in the formation of the nation.
Do the Barisan Nasional MPs from Sabah and Sarawak agree with the MP for Sibu and the MP for Kota Kinabalu, who had also spoken during the debate?
I just visited Labuan, Pitas and Kota Marudu and such sense of frustration and alienation which are prevalent in Sabah and Sarawak must be given serious attention if the 1Malaysia concept is to have any real meaning.
There should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry on 1Malaysia, which should not only investigate as to why 53 years after nationhood, no Minister is prepared to declare that he or she is Malaysian first and race second; progress in building a united nation after 53 years of Merdeka; and thirdly, specifically address the sense of alienation and discontent of the people of Sabah and Sarawak at not being given a rightful place under the Malaysian sun in the past 47 years.
Umno and Barisan Nasional have taken Sabah and Sarawak for granted, regarding them as “fixed deposit” states, for too long.
The political tsunami of the 2008 general elections, which saw the fall of another four states apart from Kelantan to Pakatan Rakyat in Peninsular Malaysia, and the end of the Barisan Nasional two-thirds parliamentary majority, did not really cross South China Sea.
Thanks to the support of the parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, Najib is today the Prime Minister or he will be the Parliamentary Opposition Leader.
It was only then that Umno and Barisan Nasional woke up to the critical importance of Sabah and Sarawak in holding on to power in Putrajaya.
This is why there is a Foreign Minister from Sabah. The Parliament Speaker and a deputy speaker is from Sabah while another deputy speaker is from Sarawak. The Barisan Nasional BBC Chairman is from Sarawak and deputy chairman from Sabah.
This state of affairs would have unthinkable before the March 8, 2008 general elections.
Undoubtedly, in the past two years, Barisan Nasional leaders have benefited considerably from this new awareness of the importance of Sabah and Sarawak to Umno/BN hold to power in Putrajaya. But have the people of Sabah and Sarawak really benefited.
Sabah was even promised RM1 billion special allocation by the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, after the 2008 general election but has this allocation been released to Sabah and directly benefited the people of Sabah?
In Pitas and Kota Marudu during the weekend, the native customary rights of some 23,000 people were trampled upon in a land grab involving a state government crony company.
A 1Malaysia Royal Commission of Inquiry should hear these issues as this was not the purpose for which Sabah and Sarawak joined 47 years ago to form Malaysia.
[Speech prepared for Parliament on the 10th Malaysia Plan on Monday, 21st June 2010 but partly delivered in view of 10 minute limit]
The signature theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak on his accession as Prime Minister in April last year was the national transformation of Malaysia, which is anchored on four critical pillars:
*
1st pillar: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” concept to unite Malaysians.
*
2nd pillar: the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to deliver the outcomes defined under the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).
*
3rd pillar: the New Economic Model (NEM) resulting from the ambitious Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to transform Malaysia by 2020 into a developed, competitive and high income economy with inclusivity and sustainability.
*
4th pillar; the 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015 as the first policy operationalisation of both the government and economic transformation programme.
The Prime Minister unveiled the New Economic Model on 30th March and the presented the Tenth Malaysia Plan in Parliament on 10th June. A sea-change took place in the intervening two months, with Najib retreating from his national transformation programme when he succumbed to pressures from extremist groups making baseless and incendiary claims such as that the Malays are under siege and that the Chinese would take over the economy and country.
As a result, instead of the first policy operationalisation of the NEM, the Tenth Malaysia Plan is a funeral requiem for the NEM.
The NEM admission that “the excessive focus on ethnicity-based distribution of resources has contributed to growing separateness and dissension” is completely absent in the Prime Minister’s presentation of the Tenth Malaysia Plan.
This prepared the way for the Tenth Malaysia Plan’s abandonment of the most important of the eight Strategic Reform Initiative (SRI) – described as “fundamental to achieving the NEM – on “Transparent and market-friendly affirmative action”.
As stated in Chapter 6 of NEM (p. 117):
“Existing affirmative action programme and institutions will continue in NEM but, in line with views of the main stakeholders, will be revamped to remove the rent seeking and market distorting features which have blemished the effectiveness of the programme. Affirmative action will consider all ethnic groups fairly and equally as long as they are in the low income 40% of the households. Affirmative action action programmes would be based on market-friendly and market-based criteria together taking into consideration the need and merits of the applicants. An Equal Opportunities Commission will be established to ensure fairness and address undue discrimination when occasional abuses by dominant groups are encountered.”
The promises of the NEM of a needs-and-merit based transformation of the affirmative programme, to promote building of capacity and capability, which will mean a dismanting of ethnic quotas, preferences, APs, closed tenders and other non-competitive processes, were very short-lived – all because of failure of political will and leadership.
I call on the Prime Minister, all MPs and all stakeholders in the country to revisit the warning of NEM on the dire consequences of failure of political will and leadership to carry out far-reaching national political, economic, social and government transformation.
As Chapter 7 of NEM warned: “The time for change is now – Malaysia deserves no less.”
The NEM rightly identified the most important enablers of the NEM are political will and leadership to break the log-jam of resistance by vested interest groups and preparing the rakyat to support deep-seated changes in policy directions.
It called for political will and leadership to put emphasis on coherent explanation of the vision and agenda of the NEM and transformation process and “to put in place a critical mass of bold measures” to “create an unstoppable wave of support from all segments of society for this vision”.
It warned:
“The government must take prompt action when resistance is encountered and stay the course”.
This is where the Najib administration has failed for when it faced resistance to the NEM proposals, it failed to stay the course.
Cabinet Ministers should explain why they fail to ensure that the NEM is adopted as official policy if the government is serious that it should be the third critical pillar of the far-reaching national transformation programme?
As it is, the message of the Tenth Malaysia Plan is – Long live NEP. Rest in Peace (RIP) NEM!
In fact, the lack of the political will and leadership to defend the NEP and to stay the course when encountering any resistance is manifestly clear when the Bahasa Malaysia version of the NEM is still not available online up to now. In fact, is there a Bahasa Malaysia version of the full NEM report?
When the NEM was unveiled just some two months ago, the country was warned of the dire consequences of the failure to undertake a major economic transformation.
The NEM said:
“Our shortcoming are preventing us from getting out of the middle income trap. Almost all economies of South East Asia are poised to achieve high economic growth in this decade. But Malaysia runs the imminent risk of a downward spiral and faces the painful possibility of stagnation.”
The NEM warning and the sense of urgency that “There is a serious risk that the economy may regress if fundamental changes are not made” is still to be discerned in the introductory chapter of the Tenth Malaysia Plan when it was distributed under embargo to MPs on the first day of the present meeting of Parliament on 7th June 2009.
It stressed: “We need to see the reality for what it is: we are on a burning platform.”
But this dire warning that Malaysia is on “a burning platform” was conspicuously omitted in the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Tenth Malaysia Plan and by the time of Najib’s presentation of the Tenth Malaysia Plan speech, the sense of urgency that Malaysia has no choice but to opt for a New Economic Model has disappeared.
1Malaysia and GTP – Great deficit between proclamation and reality
In a matter of two months, one of the four pillars of the Najib national transformation programme had been removed. But the other two pillars are not in better shape.
For instance, 1Malaysia concept. Many have forgotten as to the overriding objective of National Economic Policy – which is to promote national unity.
There is one rare admission of the dismal failure of the NEP in the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap, of the “unintended outcome of the NEP” – a sense of deprivation, discrimination and even resentment felt by the non-Bumiputeras. (This was accompanied by the admission of “a widening of the income gap within the Bumiputera community “leading to rising discontent amongst certain segments of that community”).
It is sad and tragic that 53 years after Merdeka and 47 years after the formation of Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak, the country is even further away from the 1Malaysia objective than ever.
I had posed a question on 1Malaysia on the first day of Parliament on 7th June – ‘minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan berapa Menteri (dengan nama-nama mereka) dalam Jemaah Menteri yang menganggap dirinya rakyat Malaysia dahulu dan kaum masing-masing kemudian, selaras dengan dasar 1Malaysia.”
I asked this question because the 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap released in January by the Prime Minister had defined the goal of 1Malaysia ultimately a greater nation – a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or heself as Malaysian first and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second.
But this question was disallowed on the ground of running afoul of Standing Order 23(1) (h) in seeking an expression of opinion, the solution fo an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition.
What credibility and legitimacy can there be for the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia objective when he is unable and unwilling to answer such a simple and straightforward question as to how many and who are the Cabinet Ministers who regard themselves as Malaysian first and their race second?
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has declared that he is Malay first and Malaysian second, while no other Cabinet Minister whether from Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah and Sarawak BN parties had dared to declare his or her position.
This goes to the very root of credibility and legitimacy of the Prime Minister’s 1Malaysia signature theme – for if after 53 years of nationhood and 47 years of formation of Malaysia, there is not a single Minister who regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race second, what is this 1Malaysia campaign which is the centerpiece of the Najib premiership?
Is it just an empty slogan?
As for the GTP, NKRAs and PKIs, the government has claimed success although with little credibility.
This is another illustration of the great deficit between proclamations and slogans of the Najib administration and reality.
How can the government convince Malaysians that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has turned the tide against corruption, in particular in the war against “grand corruption”:
*
When Malaysia’s ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index has been undergoing a free-fall – from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 37 in 2003 and No. 56 in 2009;
*
when the MACC is more obsessed with declaring war against Pakatan Rakyat than against corruption, to the extent of causing the death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock (whose death anniversary will be less than a month away on July 16) in the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam involving constituency allocations amounting to RM2,000 while oblivious of how a former Selangor Mentri Besar could afford to build a RM24 million palatial home; and up to now, there is no closure for Teoh’s family as to the cause of Teoh’s death;
*
When there has been no prosecutions of “big fish” in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone scandal despite assurances by the Big Three last December, Attorney-General, Inspector General of Police and MACC Chief Commissioner, that the charging of four executives for PKFZ scandal were only “tip of the iceberg” and “big fishes” would be arrested;
*
The total failure of MACC to nab “big fishes”. MACC was not shy to go public about the “car and cows” investigations against the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Mentri Besar, but why are they so reticent about corruption investigations involving Barisan Nasional leaders – in particular about blog postings that MACC has detained Christopher Barnes, senior lawyer and confidante of Sabah Chief Chief Minister Musa Aman and several others related to the Sabah Chief Minister, in particular involving the RM16 million money laundering case in Hong Kong and whether it is true that Musa Aman has been served with notice with MACC to declare all his assets.
The Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Inspector-General of Police have all claimed success for the police in the NKRA to reduce crime index and street crime, but are they aware that the Malaysian public do not feel that they are comparatively safer from crime or from the fear of crime as more guarded-and-gated communities are mushrooming in the country rather than the reverse. Coupled with the inability of the police to keep the streets, public places and homes free from crime and free Malaysians from the fear of crime, there is the grave problem of police accountability and integrity highlighted by the high rate of deaths caused by police, like the cases of Kugan and 14-year-old Form II student Aminulrashid Amzah shot to death near his Shah Alam home in April.
DAP MP for Sibu Wong Ho Leng in his maiden speech last Tuesday had spoken not only for people of Sibu, but also Sarawak and Sabah about their grievances and feelings of being treated like colonies by West Malaysia 47 years with their complaints of development neglect and not being given rightful place under the Malaysian sun, despite the Inter-Government Committee (IGC) and London Agreements providing equality to Sabah and Sarawak with the states of Malaya in the formation of the nation.
Do the Barisan Nasional MPs from Sabah and Sarawak agree with the MP for Sibu and the MP for Kota Kinabalu, who had also spoken during the debate?
I just visited Labuan, Pitas and Kota Marudu and such sense of frustration and alienation which are prevalent in Sabah and Sarawak must be given serious attention if the 1Malaysia concept is to have any real meaning.
There should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry on 1Malaysia, which should not only investigate as to why 53 years after nationhood, no Minister is prepared to declare that he or she is Malaysian first and race second; progress in building a united nation after 53 years of Merdeka; and thirdly, specifically address the sense of alienation and discontent of the people of Sabah and Sarawak at not being given a rightful place under the Malaysian sun in the past 47 years.
Umno and Barisan Nasional have taken Sabah and Sarawak for granted, regarding them as “fixed deposit” states, for too long.
The political tsunami of the 2008 general elections, which saw the fall of another four states apart from Kelantan to Pakatan Rakyat in Peninsular Malaysia, and the end of the Barisan Nasional two-thirds parliamentary majority, did not really cross South China Sea.
Thanks to the support of the parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, Najib is today the Prime Minister or he will be the Parliamentary Opposition Leader.
It was only then that Umno and Barisan Nasional woke up to the critical importance of Sabah and Sarawak in holding on to power in Putrajaya.
This is why there is a Foreign Minister from Sabah. The Parliament Speaker and a deputy speaker is from Sabah while another deputy speaker is from Sarawak. The Barisan Nasional BBC Chairman is from Sarawak and deputy chairman from Sabah.
This state of affairs would have unthinkable before the March 8, 2008 general elections.
Undoubtedly, in the past two years, Barisan Nasional leaders have benefited considerably from this new awareness of the importance of Sabah and Sarawak to Umno/BN hold to power in Putrajaya. But have the people of Sabah and Sarawak really benefited.
Sabah was even promised RM1 billion special allocation by the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, after the 2008 general election but has this allocation been released to Sabah and directly benefited the people of Sabah?
In Pitas and Kota Marudu during the weekend, the native customary rights of some 23,000 people were trampled upon in a land grab involving a state government crony company.
A 1Malaysia Royal Commission of Inquiry should hear these issues as this was not the purpose for which Sabah and Sarawak joined 47 years ago to form Malaysia.
[Speech prepared for Parliament on the 10th Malaysia Plan on Monday, 21st June 2010 but partly delivered in view of 10 minute limit]
Abolishing UPSR/PMR: Views Of Teachers, Parents To Be Considered
Director-general of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the proposed abolishment of the two public examinations as announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday was a positive step for educational development in the country.
However, the views of all concerned parties must be considered and their agreement sought before coming to a decision, he added.
"We will gather the views of parents and teachers through the media before they are forwarded to Tan Sri Muhyiddin for further action," he said when contacted, here Monday.
Alimuddin also agrees with many that the country's education system has been too examination-oriented and change should thus be made, in line with the current education philosophy that places importance on human capital development.
He said with the new move, students' performance for entry into secondary school would be based on the year-end school examination instead of the UPSR like presently.
Meanwhile, secretary of the Peninsular Malaysia College-Trained Teachers Union, Nasir Othman, said he supported in principle the government's proposal so that education in Malaysia would not be so exam-oriented.
"But at the same time, we should not make a hasty decision as it requires an in-depth study, especially from the aspects of administration and so on," he said when contacted.
He added that scheduled evaluation must be carried out to ensure what was taught in the classroom would have an impact on the students' level of knowledge.
Parent Action Group for Education president Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, however, disagreed with the government's proposal as she is concerned that there would be no proper yardstick for the students' performance and schools' ranking.
She instead suggested that the Education Ministry abolish the internal term examinations and the likes, as "they do not teach students to think and solve problems which are important to prospective employers".
More details needed on Sg Juru land sale deal
More details are required on the Penang state government’s sale of 8.1ha of land near one of the most polluted rivers in the country, the 8km-long Sungai Juru.
The land was sold to Juru Auto-City, which will now have to rehabilitate the river.
Under the arrangement with the state government (reported in the Sunday Star on 13 June), Juru Auto-City would revive the river and its banks for activities such as fishing, boating and the breeding of prawns and crabs.
Are they going to throw some mud balls in and hope for the best? See here and here too.
More images here.
What I would like to know are the terms of the deal with Juru Auto-City.
The land was sold to Juru Auto-City, which will now have to rehabilitate the river.
Under the arrangement with the state government (reported in the Sunday Star on 13 June), Juru Auto-City would revive the river and its banks for activities such as fishing, boating and the breeding of prawns and crabs.
Are they going to throw some mud balls in and hope for the best? See here and here too.
More images here.
What I would like to know are the terms of the deal with Juru Auto-City.
- How much did they pay the state government for the land? Was it sold at market value?
- What exactly is expected of Juru Auto-City in return?
- Will the public be allowed free access to the river and its banks after it has been cleaned up?
- Why isn’t the DID/JPS handling the cleaning up of the river? Isn’t that its role?
- How exactly is Juru Auto-City going to clean up the river?
- How is Juru Auto-City going to tackle the sources of pollution of the river?
Monday, 21 June 2010
A year after Neda's death, Iran movement continues
(CNN) -- A year ago Sunday, Neda Agha-Soltan died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Her last moments -- captured on a cell phone camera and shown around the world-- catapulted her into the symbol of the postelection reform movement in Iran.
Today, the Iranian regime's crackdown seems to have driven protesters off the streets. But the movement is not weakening, some analysts say. Instead, it's evolved into an online underground civil rights struggle, they say.
"I think they're going to continue to move forward, whether in the form of a green movement or another type of movement," said Karim Sadjadpour, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It's just, basically, this march of history."
Agha-Soltan, 26, was at an anti-government demonstration in Tehran when she was felled by a single bullet to the chest.
"She has been shot! Someone, come and take her!" shouts one man in the shaky cell phone video that has since been seen around the world.
The video then shows blood streaming from her mouth, then from her nose. Her eyes roll to her right; her body is limp.
A man, who had accompanied her to the rally, is then heard pleading with her by name.
"Neda, do not be afraid, do not be afraid," he repeats.
Agha-Soltan was taken to a nearby hospital and, within a day, she was buried at Behesht Zahra, the city's largest Muslim cemetery, on the outskirts of the capital.
Immediately afterward, she emerged as the face of the anti-government movement.
Even world leaders took notice.
"We've seen courageous women stand up to the brutality and threats and we've experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets," said President Barack Obama.
Eight days before Agha-Soltan's death, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide election victory unleashed massive demonstrations in the country.
Thousands of green-clad protesters took to the streets, accusing the government of rigging the elections.
Iran's leaders called the uprising a foreign-led plot to overthrow the regime. It cracked down on the protesters -- with many killed and even more jailed.
Images of the bloody crackdown fueled worldwide outrage. Agha-Soltan's pictures are still carried on placards at rallies outside Iran.
"She will become the image of this brutality, and of the role -- the truly significant role -- that women have played in fighting this regime," said Abbas Milani of Stanford University in California. "I think that women are the unsung heroes of the last few years. They are the ones who began chipping away at the authority, the absolute dictatorship of the mullahs."
Iranian authorities continue to deny that security forces were responsible for killing Agha-Soltan.
Instead, they have offered at least three separate explanations. They have blamed the CIA, terrorists and supporters of the opposition movement themselves.
One year after Agha-Soltan's death, Iranian officials have yet to announce a single arrest in connection with her killing.
Parliament has final say on Tian Chua, says deputy speaker
KUALA LUMPUR, (The Malaysian Insider) — Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar maintained today that the House has final say over PKR’s Chua Tian Chang’s status as the Batu MP.Grab a Celcom Blue Bear(TM) and stand to walk away with RM10,000!
Wan Junaidi said, however, that the decision can only be made after the House receives the official sealed judgment from the High Court.
Additionally, he pointed out that Chua still has a 14-day window period to appeal his case, which means that the House cannot make a decision until the period expires.
“We need to take into account several things — including what the judge had in mind when he meted out the decision.
“Once we receive the judgment, a proper study will be done on the documents, perhaps we will speak with some lawyers and even the Attorney-General himself,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
He added that following that, a decision would be made on whether the matter should be brought before the House to be decided on.
“The decision that I am speaking of here is not on whether Chua is disqualified but on whether the judgment should be brought to Parliament; whether Parliament has to be informed that someone has been constitutionally disqualified and if Parliament wants to debate on it, they can go ahead,” he said.
Wan Junaidi declared that the Speaker does not have the jurisdiction to summarily declare a seat vacant without first bringing the matter up to the House to decide.
“Even in cases when the representative does not attend Parliament for six months... the Speaker has no authority to give a disqualification. It has to be brought to the House and the MPs will decide,” he said.
Wan Junaidi, however , said that all angles would first be considered in Chua’s case before the decision on whether the issue should be brought before the House is decided on.
“Do not forget that prior to the RM2,000 fine, Chua was initially fined RM3,000. That decision was reviewed.
“So we need to look at the previous judgment and the appeal judgment before we decide,” he said.
He admitted that the situation was a tricky one due to the dispute on whether the RM2,000 fine was enough to disqualify Chua from his Batu seat.
“We are not talking about RM1,999 or RM2,001 here. This is RM2,000.. . it is just there, not above or below.
“However, I suspect that the judge who decided to review the original fine did so with the excuse that he wanted to avoid a by-election,” he said.
Chua’s MP status was hotly-debated last week following the ruling after several allies from his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc noted that Chua was automatically disqualified from being a federal lawmaker by virtue of the RM2,000 fine.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh, a veteran lawyer, noted Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, which states that any person sentenced to jail for not less than one year or to a fine of not less than RM2,000 and has not received a royal pardon is disqualified from being a member of Parliament.
Karpal also said his party was ready to face fresh polls in Batu. He was backed by PAS, which part of the PR alliance.
The Election Commission had initially considered calling a by-election for Batu but has since decided to wait for the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s official notice.
But Karpal, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, highlighted Article 53 of the Constitution saying the disqualification did not require an official notice from the Speaker.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said, however, that there was no need for the Parliament to decide on Chua’s status as the judge’s decision should be final.
Wan Junaidi said, however, that the decision can only be made after the House receives the official sealed judgment from the High Court.
Additionally, he pointed out that Chua still has a 14-day window period to appeal his case, which means that the House cannot make a decision until the period expires.
“We need to take into account several things — including what the judge had in mind when he meted out the decision.
“Once we receive the judgment, a proper study will be done on the documents, perhaps we will speak with some lawyers and even the Attorney-General himself,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
He added that following that, a decision would be made on whether the matter should be brought before the House to be decided on.
“The decision that I am speaking of here is not on whether Chua is disqualified but on whether the judgment should be brought to Parliament; whether Parliament has to be informed that someone has been constitutionally disqualified and if Parliament wants to debate on it, they can go ahead,” he said.
Wan Junaidi declared that the Speaker does not have the jurisdiction to summarily declare a seat vacant without first bringing the matter up to the House to decide.
“Even in cases when the representative does not attend Parliament for six months... the Speaker has no authority to give a disqualification. It has to be brought to the House and the MPs will decide,” he said.
Wan Junaidi, however , said that all angles would first be considered in Chua’s case before the decision on whether the issue should be brought before the House is decided on.
“Do not forget that prior to the RM2,000 fine, Chua was initially fined RM3,000. That decision was reviewed.
“So we need to look at the previous judgment and the appeal judgment before we decide,” he said.
He admitted that the situation was a tricky one due to the dispute on whether the RM2,000 fine was enough to disqualify Chua from his Batu seat.
“We are not talking about RM1,999 or RM2,001 here. This is RM2,000.. . it is just there, not above or below.
“However, I suspect that the judge who decided to review the original fine did so with the excuse that he wanted to avoid a by-election,” he said.
Chua’s MP status was hotly-debated last week following the ruling after several allies from his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc noted that Chua was automatically disqualified from being a federal lawmaker by virtue of the RM2,000 fine.
DAP chairman Karpal Singh, a veteran lawyer, noted Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, which states that any person sentenced to jail for not less than one year or to a fine of not less than RM2,000 and has not received a royal pardon is disqualified from being a member of Parliament.
Karpal also said his party was ready to face fresh polls in Batu. He was backed by PAS, which part of the PR alliance.
The Election Commission had initially considered calling a by-election for Batu but has since decided to wait for the Dewan Rakyat Speaker’s official notice.
But Karpal, who is also Bukit Gelugor MP, highlighted Article 53 of the Constitution saying the disqualification did not require an official notice from the Speaker.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said, however, that there was no need for the Parliament to decide on Chua’s status as the judge’s decision should be final.
Khairy to Pakatan: Give us a shadow Cabinet
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said that he will endorse any institutional reform to support allocation of funds to a structured Pakatan Rakyat shadow Cabinet, if it was formed.
“If Pakatan can actually commit to coming up with a shadow Cabinet, I will personally support the structural reform to attend to Pakatan’s call for more resources in various ministries.
“People right now want to know what is the readiness of Pakatan, if they were to actually win the next general election” he said.
Khairy was responding to questions at a forum organised by The Nutgraph last night in Bangsar near here.
Earlier in the forum, PJ Utara MP Tony Pua had dismissed the idea of a shadow Cabinet within Pakatan, citing lack of organised funding.
“Unlike the United Kingdom Cabinet, there is no such position in our Parliament. The thing which makes the UK so effective is the amount of research funds allocated to them,” said Pua.
“For Pakatan, we have no civil service behind us to help us with the policy papers and we simply do not have enough funds to employ them.
“That is why we chose to have one elected representative from each party in the coalition to helm a particular portfolio.”
Pua said the only way a shadow Cabinet could be formed was if there was institutional support.
In rebutting Pua’s claims, Khairy said these were merely “excuses” and that funding was secondary to a commitment to appointing an individual from the coalition to a particular portfolio.
“Even if the excuse is the lack of civil service support, we actually want to see who is your shadow minister.
“It just goes to show that Pakatan is not as solid a coalition if you cannot even come together and appoint a shadow cabinet,” Khairy said.
Umno needs a transformational reform
Posed with a question on Umno’s refusal to change despite the shocking outcome 2008 general election, Khairy said: “Umno members have an endemic DNA of Ketuanan Melayu deeply engrained in them.
“A lot of these members have to be sent back to political school and re-educated thus putting an end to the BTN (Biro Tata Negara) style of thinking.”
Touching on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s response to Perkasa over the 10th MalaysiaPlan, Khairy said: “The PM has to spend quality time with right wing group within the party, like Perkasa.
“He cannot just appeal to one group of people. The last thing I want to happen is for the PM to be outflanked by members in the same party.”
Drawing a comparison, Khairy said former prime minister Abdullah Badawi was outflanked by the “patron of Perkasa” and his predecessor, Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“As a result Abdullah was kicked out of power and I don’t want a similar scenario being repeated under the helm of Najib,” he said.
Khairy also dismissed suggestions that Umno needs to lose power in order to change, stating that 2008 was enough of a wake up call for them to respond to the people’s needs.
“What Umno needs right now is serious transformational reforms within the party just like how Britian’s Labour Party dropped Clause 4 in their constitution which promoted socialism in their community.
“I don't care if I stick out like a sore thumb by sounding different from the party’s stand.
“I have absolutely nothing lose. I’m just a youth chief and have no ministerial portfolio.
“What matters to me most however is that within my term as Umno Youth chief, I make the necessary changes I deem important within the party,” he added. The forum was attended by about 80 people. The other speaker at the forum was Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Hindraf to help track down Sarawak's assets abroad
KOTA KINABALU: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi is prepared to help civic action groups in Sarawak to trace, claim and bring back any ill-gotten gains salted away abroad by local politicians. This includes making forensic accountants available from London and other key western financial capitals for the institution of class action suits.
The ad hoc apolitical human rights movement made the offer in the wake of a website report last week that shed light on some of the assets allegedly accumulated by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud in Canada and other countries.
The assets, as the accusations go, do not commensurate with Taib’s known sources of lawful income as the chief minister since 1981. Taib currently draws a monthly salary of RM 20,000 as chief minister.
“Since 9/11, the international laws against money laundering and terrorism have become extremely tough,” said the London-based Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy in a telephone call last Friday before leaving for Singapore. “There are also laws in western and many other countries against Third World or other dictators parking their ill-gotten gains in their places.”
Ill-gotten gains abroad, said Waythamoorthy, can be frozen by the courts pending the disposal of class action suits.
He said that as far back as the post-Marcos era in the Philippines, civic action groups have successfully persuaded various courts abroad to freeze and return ill-gotten assets.
“Our (Hindraf) role is to study and advise civic action groups on the various international options to bring Taib to justice and return what belongs to the people of Sarawak,” said Waythamoorthy, a British-trained lawyer. “This is not just about Taib but anyone in Sarawak who needs to be brought to justice.”
Third force
Asked what possible benefits that Hindraf could derive from being involved in the pursuit of the Sarawak chief minister in the courts, Waythamoorthy said the movement stood for the solidarity of the emerging “third force” in Malaysian politics.
“Our involvement in the pursuit of Taib must be seen as part of this solidarity of the Third Force,” said Waythamoorthy. “We don’t know whether the journey will end in the destination that we have envisaged. The main concern at the moment is to at least begin the process.”
Hindraf has commenced a trillion-dollar class action suit as well in London against the British and Malaysian governments “for centuries of criminal exploitation” of Malaysians of Indian-origin, especially those in the estate sector.
The Hindraf chief sees the Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA), an ad hoc apolitical human rights movement, as its chief ally in the pursuit of Taib “to the ends of the Earth”.
Besides CigMA, chairman Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan, who is based in Kota Kinabalu, Waythamoorthy identified other possible allies such as former Sarawak deputy chief minister Daniel Tajem Anak Miri, green activist and lawyer Harrison Ngau Laing, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) senior activist Nicholas Bawin and native land rights activist Baru Bian. Baru is also the Sarawa PKR chief.
One other possible ally is Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen, said Waythamoorthy.
He said the Sarawak DAP MP has queried Taib many times in the State Legislative Assembly over the lawfulness of his business dealing while in public office.
Waythamoorthy is confident that Chong would like to join forces with the other Sarawak activists and him “to force Taib and his family out of public office and seek the speedy return of the people’s wealth”.
Facilitator role
Jeffrey, in a response late yesterday, said he would have to study how the people of Sarawak would respond to their continuing dilemma over Taib.
“The names mentioned by Waythamoorthy are probably the best ones to work with, for a start,” said Jeffrey. “My role is to act as the facilitator between Hindraf and Sarawak activists.”
Jeffrey, also a PKR vice-president with special responsibility for Sabah and Sarawak, plans to broach the subject of Taib’s multi-billion dollar assets abroad at a meeting of the party’s political bureau in Kuala Lumpur soon.
Baru said he was "shocked" to hear that Taib's family had amassed such a huge amount of wealth while the rural population in the state remained poor. "I really hope that the Canadian authorities will investigate this case and determine if Sakto Development Corporation is in breach of the Canadian laws,” Baru said.
He added that he was currently trying to get hold of the evidence behind the news report in order to lodge a complaint with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Taib and his office were not immediately available for comment.
One political secretary requested that a copy of the website report be e-mailed to him.
Another close aide said last night that the Sarawak Barisan Nasional strongman was considering his legal options against the website.
“These reports will not have any effect on the performance of the BN in the rural areas,” said the close aide. “Taib remains strong and will be able to ride out this storm as on previous occasions. All this is the work of jealous people who can’t see the good that he has done so far for the state.”
He said that Taib “had correctly read the political temperature in rural Sarawak” when he stressed recently that the people are poor and depend on the government to help them.
Taib’s predictable response in previous instances where impropriety was imputed to him was a blanket denial of any wrong-doing.
Parliament has final say on Tian Chua, says deputy speaker
KUALA LUMPUR, June 21 — Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar maintained today that the House would have the final say over PKR’s Chua Tian Chang’s status as the Batu MP.
Grab a Celcom Blue Bear(TM) and stand to walk away with RM10,000!
Wan Junaidi said however that the decision would only be made after the House received the official sealed judgment from the High Court.
“We need to take into account several things — including what the judge had in mind when he meted out the decision.
“Once we receive the judgement, a proper study will be done on the documents, perhaps we will speak with some lawyers and even the Attorney-General himself,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
He added that following that, a decision would be made on whether the matter should be brought before the House to be decided on.
“The decision that I am speaking of here is not on whether Chua is disqualified but on whether the judgment should be brought to Parliament; whether Parliament has to be informed that someone has been constitutionally disqualified and if Parliament wants to debate on it, they can go ahead,” he said.
Grab a Celcom Blue Bear(TM) and stand to walk away with RM10,000!
Wan Junaidi said however that the decision would only be made after the House received the official sealed judgment from the High Court.
“We need to take into account several things — including what the judge had in mind when he meted out the decision.
“Once we receive the judgement, a proper study will be done on the documents, perhaps we will speak with some lawyers and even the Attorney-General himself,” he told reporters in Parliament today.
He added that following that, a decision would be made on whether the matter should be brought before the House to be decided on.
“The decision that I am speaking of here is not on whether Chua is disqualified but on whether the judgment should be brought to Parliament; whether Parliament has to be informed that someone has been constitutionally disqualified and if Parliament wants to debate on it, they can go ahead,” he said.
Hindraf briefs Downing Street on Indian woes
Hindraf supremo P Waythamoorthy briefed the British government recently on alleged serious violations of human rights in Malaysia, especially on minority Indian community.
He highlighted the Malaysian government's alleged deliberate attempts to deny Indian students their right to public university education despite attaining top results in qualifying examinations.
Waythamoorthy said he also submitted a copy of Hindraf’s Human Rights Report to Prime Minister David Cameron’s representatives during a 20-minute deliberation at 10 Downing Street in London.
The report touched on perceived violations of human rights and the marginalisation of the Indian community by the government, especially the Umno-led Putrajaya administration.
According to Waythamoorthy, he had pointed out to the UK government that the discrimination and marginalisation of Indian Malaysians on all fronts have been systematically carried out by the Umno-dominated federal government for past 53 years.
The British government was told that the Indian community here had been victimised by ethnic-centric and racist policies since the British colonialists left in 1957.
Complaint lodged with the UN too
Waythamoorthy urged the British premier to make an urgent representation to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s government on the issues of human rights violations.
Waythamoorthy was accompanied by Hindraf UK member Anusiya Aparao and two others.
Anusiya, an active Hindraf member, stressed to Cameron’s officials that the UK government must seriously view and take up human rights violations in Malaysia.
The meeting was arranged upon Hindraf's request on an urgent basis in the wake of recent denial of educational rights to Indian Malaysian students.
On June 7, Hindraf lodged an official complaint to Geneva-based Githu Muigai - the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, on alleged discrimination against Indian Malaysian students.
Waythamoorthy has accused the federal government of denying deserving students any form of financial assistance to continue tertiary education.
He claimed that numerous deserving Indian students who achieved excellent results in STPM were denied government sponsorships or scholarships to further their education in public universities.
M'sian 'detained' in Egypt for alleged terrorist link
By Rahmah GhazaliVIDEO INSIDE KLANG: It was supposed to be a family homecoming from Egypt, but little did she expect that she would be returning home with her two sons but without the company of her husband.
In an exlusive interview with FMT here, the 33-year-old housewife, who only wanted to be known as Hidayah, said that it has been more than two weeks since she was in contact with her husband, Muhamad Zulkifli Mohamad Zakaria or affectionately known as “Ustaz Ibrahim” (green baju Melayu) , 41, after they were seperated at the airport.
Holding back her tears, Hidayah recalled that her husband was detained by the Egyptian immigration soon after they received their boarding passes to Malaysia at Cairo International Airport on July 13.
She said her family spent about one month in Egypt as Zulkifli was to sit for Syariah examinations in Zamalek University for his Master's degree.
According to her, she and their two sons, both four and two, had no problem with their documentation and they were let through to the boarding room to wait for their husband.
"But we waited for him for quite some time, and we almost missed the flight. A lady, maybe an officer, approached me, saying that my husband could not board the plane because of some immigration problem.
"She then told me that I should board on the plane without my husband. I was hesitant initially, but soon after that my husband sent me a text message saying that we should proceed without him. He also told me he didn't know why he was detained," said Hidayah.
And that was the last text message he received from her husband, she said.
A cover-up by Malaysian authorities?
It has now been more than a week since she has lost contact with her husband. She has sought help from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry, the Malaysian Embassy and the police but to no avail.
Hidayah now suspects that it must have something to do with Zulkifli's background as a former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee for allegedly having links with Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) back in 2001.However, she said this could not be the case as her husband was released years later without any conditions.
"And what puzzles me the most is, if he was a terrorist, why was he let go on the first day we arrived in Egypt? Besides, when we went to Indonesia three years ago, there was no problem at all," said Hidayah.
She also revealed that she received "wrong information" of her husband's whereabouts from the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and police headquarters in Bukit Aman.
"What surprised me the most is that the ambassador did not even know about my husband's status," she said.
"Some of the Special Branch officers told me that my husband would be on the next flight on Kuwait Airways the next day... When we called Malaysian Foreign Ministry, we were told the same thing.
"But when we checked the passengers' list, his name was not on it," she said.
However, with the help of Malaysian students in Egypt, Hidayah was told that it was confirmed that Zulkifli was put in a police lock-up, but the location was not made known.
"We don't know what he was detained for and if there are any charges. Usually, it would take only a few days for the investigation to complete. Now it has been more than a week. I am just scared that the police over there have refused to believe his statements," she said.
Jumping to her husband's defence, she said there was no way that her husband would be involved in terrorist acts as "he was with us all the time".
"If he was not at the university, he would be at home with us. Whenever we wanted to go out, we always went out in groups," said teary-eyed Hidayah.
"I hope the government can get involved in this matter and help us. We are powerless," she added.
A 'terrorist' face?
Speaking to FMT later, Zulkifli's friend, Nazri Din, said he was on the phone with the former two minutes before the flight was boarding.
"He didn't tell me why he was detained. He only said that his wife was going home without him," said Nazri.
He also said he was told by one of the Malaysian students that Zulkifli could be detained because of his "terrorist look".
"They said Zulkifli had a face similiar to a terrorist's, as he was of Pakistani ancestry. But if that is the case, why didn't they arrest him when he first touched down in Egypt?" he asked.
He also suspected that this could be well linked with Zulkifli's ISA background that came to the knowledge of the Egyptian authorities.
According to him, Egypt has been "careful" with passengers coming in and out of the country now that it was forced to open up its border on Gaza Strip following a deadly attack on a humanitarian flotilla by the Israeli military early this month.
"It (the flotilla attack) happened when Zulkifli was already in Egypt. I think Egypt is now scared that many Muslim fighters would enter Gaza through its border," said Nazri.
He also did not rule out the possibility that it might have something to do with Malaysia's recent call to tighten security in educational institutions due to Jemaah Islamiah's (JI) terrorist network.
"We don't know the real reason behind it. The Malaysian Embassy should pressure the Egyptian government to find out why he was detained. It seems like even the police in Malaysia are hiding something.
"We want the government to be responsible as I am very scared that he will be brought to a third party (the United States) under Israel's pressure," Nazri said, adding that the government "has done nothing" to help.
‘Don’t abandon BN because you don’t like me’
BALINGIAN: In his home constituency here, Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud urged his constituents not to abandon the Barisan Nasional just because they disliked him.
“I am not saying that I am the best leader. I am an ordinary human being.
“But if I was not good to the state, people and party, do you think I would have remained the CM until now?” he asked, referring to rumours of widespread dissatisfaction over his administration of the state and family encashment of Sarawak’s natural wealth.
Citing an old Malay adage which mirrored the English saying “don’t cut your nose to spite your face”, he said if need be, he would play politics to “safeguard and defend BN”.
“Whether I contest or not in the coming state election is not the issue.
“But I am prepared to play politics to defend and safeguard the BN government, which is good,” he said, touching on sentiments which he has brought to the fore since BN lost its seat in last month’s Sibu by-election.
The shocking defeat stunned the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) which had fielded candidate Robert Lau, but more importantly, it also reinforced growing views that the opposition was making inroads into Sarawak.
While SUPP has openly accepted DAP as a legitimate and lethal threat to its political longevity, other BN component parties have remained silent over the infiltration into the state by peninsular-based opposition parties under the Pakatan Sarawak banner.
Promises of development
Last week in, Sibu Taib said he was confident that Bumiputera would continue to support the government because "they are humble”.
“They (Bumiputera) know they are poor and in difficulty. So they place high hopes on the government to help them out," he said.
His admission that the Bumiputeras were poor was the first in political history.
Sarawak has an abundance of natural resources and is considered the richest state, yet 40 years on, it has the poorest population.
Taib and his team have made many pledges of projects and developments but delivery has been poor.
Launching the Bederun festival over the weekend, his promise of development was a reminder of earlier pledges.
This time, Taib told residents in Balingian that he had big plans for the small district, leaving them with the impression that the big plans included well-paying jobs for the locals by 2030.
Where is the NEM in the 10th Plan?
COMMENT The 10th Malaysia Plan was heavily advertised as the plan that would usher in a new economic era for all Malaysians built on a New Economic Model.
The key features of the NEM were:
- Merit and excellence criteria for all implementation decisions and processes,
- Transparency, accountability and integrity as part of normal business practice,
- Dismantling of quotas, preferences, APs, closed tenders and other non-competitive processes.
Some of the rhetoric remains in the document. There has been a tweaking of strategy here and there. But at the heart of the 10th Plan is still the same model of state-dominated development, and ethnic and crony preference that has driven all the other Malaysia Plans.
The New Economic Model had promised that there would be a focus on raising income levels of all disadvantaged and marginalized groups, irrespective of race. The policy would be “market friendly”, “merit-based”, “transparent” and “needs-based”, and would emphasize the bottom 40% of Malaysia’s income strata, whether individually or regionally, according to the Prime Minister when he first publicly unveiled NEM.
Clearly, the Prime Minister has beaten a hasty retreat from the paradigm shift that was promised. What we have with the latest Malaysia Plan is not NEM but the same old economic model.
30 percent unmoving target
Consider for example the 30% Bumiputera corporate equity ownership target which has been the centrepiece of eight previous plans and which resulted in the wrong emphasis on allocation of scarce resources to a privileged and wealthy Malay class and non-Malay cronies. Not only does this target remain but it is being reinforced beyond corporate equity to other properties and business assets.
The mind boggles at the new wealth opportunities created for the Malay – now extended to other bumiputera and non-Malay elite. Under the earlier NEP dominated model, much of public monies and resources have ended up in the hands of various distributional coalitions tied up with trusteeship of the NEP and related programmes; namely, political, bureaucratic, military and aristocratic.
These coalitions, although dominated by Umno, the No 1 in the ruling coalition, is to some extent multi-racial, has overlapping membership and is built on an intricate network of convergent interests arising from kinship, business and professional relationships (extending even to multi-racial marriages!)
Trusteeship and control of decision-making has resulted in a very rapid process of wealth accumulation under the control of the Malay elite trustees and managers. These consequences follow from biased decision-making in which private and public brokers and facilitators collude behind the scenes.
Taking advantage of their positions and freed from the rigorous checks and balances necessary to ensure that genuine bumiputera and the public interests are fully safeguarded, these groups have been given license to engage in self-enrichment through rent-seeking behavior, exaction of high transaction costs and other forms of non-competitive bargains. These coalitions have emerged as the fatal deadweight burden on the Malaysian economy, augmenting its non-competitive aspects.
No evidence has been presented in the 10th Plan that it will not be business as usual for the distributional coalitions. Instead, the highly lucrative divestment, outsourcing and public-private projects that comprise a key component of the plan promise a new bonanza.
It is significant that the normally taciturn Yong Poh Kon, the co-chair of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business, has seen it fit to warn that “open tenders [are] necessary to get the best deals for the nation or Malaysia would be saddled with high tariffs and fares for many years to come, making it burdensome to users and affecting the competitiveness of the economy.
Enter Ibrahim Ali …
The scope for abuse by the distributional coalitions led by Umno and the bureaucracy is compounded by the continuation of the overall ethnic approach to development.
The proponents of the NEM had advocated for the cessation of ethnically driven policies. They failed to take into consideration the political clout of the Malay hardliners. Led by Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa and his patron Dr Mahathir Mohamad, these extremists have reduced the non-ethnic approach largely to platitudes.
When Ibrahim told reporters in Parliament after the unveiling of the 10th Plan that “it was really worth our effort [put into the Bumiputera Economic Congress that voiced their public objection to NEM] and it shows that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak paid heed to the needs of the bumiputera”, he was not boasting. He was merely stating the truth.
Except that Ibrahim Ali missed out mentioning the needs of the bumiputera he was allegedly safeguarding were in fact the elite interests.
In an earlier setting when he first floated NEM, our chameleon Prime Minister had said: “We risk losing our competitive edge altogether if we do not act quickly to address structural barriers to growth that stand in the way of an effective response to the changing economic environment.”
I guess we will have to wait for the 11th Plan to see if this dismantling of structural barriers will finally take place. By then, it may be too late to recover from the tailspin in our economic development.
Lim Teck Ghee is the director of Centre for Policy Initiatives. An early version of this article appeared in the Chinese paper, ‘The Red Tomato’.
Kg Baru re-development possible without Malays losing land right
By FMT StaffSHAH ALAM: Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has urged Kampung Baru residents to revisit a re-development proposal which he had presented to them 15 years ago.
He said his suggestions offered an alternative development plan to that which has been proposed by Putrajaya.
Last Monday, owners and inheritors of properties in Kampung Baru had firmly rejected Putrajaya’s proposed redevelopment plans, saying that any work on Kampung Baru must ensure that Malay-Bumiputeras land owners retain 100% of their land rights.
“Since there are many ‘fans’ who want to be guardians of the land in Kampung Baru, I suggest the new project be abandoned,” said Khalid.
“I urge the residents to revisit and re-evaluate the suggestions I made about 15-20 years ago.
‘At that time I was asked by the government to structure Kampung Baru’s redevelopment. I had presented an alternative plan. Redevelopment can be done without the Malay’s losing their land rights.”
When reminded that Kampung Baru was now within the boundaries of the Federal Territories, Khalid said that Selangor still had an administrative responsibility to resolve the issue.
Kampung Baru was once a part of Selangor before the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur was formed. Before this PKNS (Perbadanan Kemajuan Negri Selangor) as an entity was responsible for the development in Kampung Baru.
But according to Khalid the laws which governed administrative rights were still in the hands of the Selangor Menteri Besar.
“It’s not that I want to interfere in the matters of Kampung Baru folk but I would like an opportunity to recap my earlier suggestions. This is so that Kampung Baru residents can experience development without losing their rights over their land,” he said, adding that he would meet with the residents next month to recap his earlier proposal.
“I will meet the residents in July, only to offer an alternative view. It doesn’t mean I can resolve their problems,” he said.
As public interest rises, French prosecutors intensify subs probe
Amid growing public disquiet, French prosecutors are intensifying their probe into a series of corruption scandals involving state-controlled arms makers DCNS and Thales – vendors of naval ships to several Asian countries including two Scorpene submarines sold to the Malaysian government.
“The French people are getting very interested in the scandals and they are questioning why their politicians and firms are getting involved in unsavory activities just so that they can sell ships to a bunch of third world countries,” PKR strategic director Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
“The questions of morality and ethics are being asked by the French NGOs, who have been campaigning against the rich helping themselves to more riches and benefiting at the expenses of the masses and the poor - especially those in the developing countries.”
Tian was in Paris last week together with several other prominent Malaysian activists. Kuala Lumpur-based NGO Suaram had lodged a complaint with the French authorities earlier this year.
They sought an update from the French police, who two weeks ago had raided the offices of DCNS and Thales, confiscating some documents to help in their probe of a RM5 billion submarines deal sealed between the two French firms and the Malaysian government in 2002.
Since then, allegations have erupted that the two firms may have paid some kick-backs to Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was the Defense Minister sanctioning the purchase at that time. The commission is believed to have been in the region of at least 114 million euros or RM540 million.The submarines were delivered last year.
Greed and murder
Like a similar case involving Taiwan, the Malaysian deal has been marred by a mysterious murder – that of a beautiful Mongolian translator Altantuyaa Shaaribuu. She had threatened to blow the whistle if she did not get her share of the commission from Najib’s close associate Razak Baginda. Altantuya, who could speak four languages including Russian, was believed to have acted as a go-between for the French firms and Baginda.
In Taiwan, as many as eight people are believed to have been murdered to stop them from exposing their case and even today, the current French government is unhappy with MaYing-Jeou’s administration for insisting on a full clean-up and has retaliated by withdrawing defense personnel from the island.
“That is not a wise move because more and more French people see these as despicable acts that their government should distance themselves from. The French taxpayers are also starting to wise up to the fact that they may end up footing the bill for the misdeeds of certain of their own political leaders, their naval firms and even the culprits in the foreign governments that got special deals from them,” Tian said.
Taxpayers demand compensation
The Taiwanese Navy took their case to court and won a massive US$861 million payment from the defense giant Thales, which is 27 percent owned by the French government, for sanctioning the payment of kickbacks to Taiwanese, Chinese and French officials in the purchase of the Lafayette-class stealth frigates in the 1990s.
The Taiwanese Navy filed the case in 2001, alleging it violated Article 18 of the contract signed with Thales, which banned the payment of commissions that are seen as thinly veiled kickbacks.
Taiwan bought 60 of the aircraft from France, along with missiles, at a cost of US$5.2 billion. France has since had to deliver more than US$3 million in compensation for parts and maintenance for the planes, some of which developed engine problems.
Apart from Malaysia and Taiwan, civil rights groups in India and Pakistan are also demanding similar compensation for kick-backs allegedly paid out by the French firms to corrupt government officials, forcing Indian and Pakistani taxpayers - just like those in Malaysia - to foot an inflated price for the arms ordered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)