Didn't We Warn You Zaid?

I only saw Zaid once while he was the NPC club on the printing problems in June 2008. But most of the time, I would meet those who are connected to him, the closest being his aides. We knew that the problem that Zaid would end up is already knocking at the door and even if he joins a party like PKR, his maverick style and antics would not last him long in a party.

And look what he got into right now. 

It was about 2 years ago that over a cup of coffee in Bangsar that one of the guys joining a group of us for a round of drinks told us about how he was with Zaid in Permatang Pauh during that by-election campaign. Said about considering to join PKR and hope to change things better. In fact the book, "I Too Am Malay" has a one section that shows of thoughts that justifies his decision. The man cautioned Zaid of joining because once in, he has to toe with the party line and to sum things up, he has to play with their rules or do not play the game at all. But Zaid was all game and went in, but when he tries get the party to dance to his tune, that's where the problem kicks in.

Both Anwar and Zaid are ex-UMNO no doubt and still to this day, the perception is that PKR is still sharing the same spotlight and shadow as in UMNO, albeit modified here and there. But the catch is Zaid is only 18 months plus int the party, while Anwar has founded the party for already 12 years or so. So who's really more in control, Zaid or Anwar? Comparing to Zaid and Azmin, Azmin is more wily in nature, (double degree), has been Anwar's political secretary since his DPM days and their relationship is quite that bosom and close, so surely they have been going through hell and back to put PKR as in its position right now. This is the key point that Zaid failed to understand until today. What Zaid did is attempting to rock the boat and rearranging things that create more complications rather than solutions, though Zaid wants to generate more solutions. 

PKR has a much more important agenda right now, which is their ultimate dream: winning Putrajaya and GE-13. This means that Anwar, Azmin and even Azizah can't be paying too much to Zaid's rants and his announcement to quit but instead focusing on going back to the drawing board and plan a strategy to fight BN. 

Someone suggested to him not to join PKR but instead help to lead the "Third Force" thing that some people have been advocating about. His rants, in style will not get any much benefits if being in a party but not running on, so I'd keep crossing my fingers until Friday. This morning, when I saw the news that Zaid wants to leave, I asked his associate, whether if he wants to leave the party since he's a Zaid's kaki. The answer was an obvious yes, since the system, tested for the first time went disastrous over alleged fraud and manipulation.

Didn't we warn you on this, pal?

Letter from Jonson to Kak Wan

Again, Zaid's aide has sent me this open letter from Jonson to Kak Wan via e-mail:

I reproduce the following below:

Dear Madam President,
Please allow me to make one final plea to you for the sake of our Party’s future.

KEADILAN’s current state of affairs, to say the least, is profoundly disturbing and sad. Indeed, not only party members but all our supporters are extremely disappointed by the manner in which our party election is conducted.

No doubt, we had very good intentions when we first mooted the idea of direct elections, where each and every member will be given the democratic right to vote for their leaders.

However, we must remember that we are not judged by our intentions but by the results of what we set out to do. We must do the right thing the right way.

Now, whether we like it or not, the credibility and image of KEADILAN is at an all-time low. This is nothing less than a crisis for the Party.

I understand that it is difficult for you to suspend the ongoing party election. However, no matter who wins the contest, we are all losers in the end. Hence, after some serious thought, I would like to make a humble suggestion to you.

Currently, there are many doubts about the integrity of our Party’s electoral process. I believe that if we can show the public that we are sincere in rectifying whatever irregularities, perceived or otherwise, then we will have taken the first step to salvage KEADILAN’s tattered reputation.

Hence, I humbly suggest that we take the most dubious incident as a litmus test to show, once and for all, that our Party election is free from irregularities. I am referring to the Libaran results, which shows an impressive but incredulous 60 percent turnout of voters.

If agreed by you, Madam President, I will personally help raise the necessary funds to engage an independent and professional audit firm to scrutinise the polling results of Libaran. With the large number of generous KEADILAN supporters who are still hoping that we will do the right thing, I am confident that resources can be arranged to carry out this important task.

If the Libaran results are certified to be free from irregularities, then I will unequivocally accept the Party’s overall election results. I believe all other contestants will do the same. However, if the audit results show otherwise, then a resolution must be passed at the upcoming National Congress to nullify the results of the Party election.

We are now at a critical point in our Party’s history. We must show that KEADILAN is true to its own name. Not only must justice be done but it must also be seen to be done.

Madam President, right now, the Party needs you to take charge and lead us through this challenging period.

Thank you.

Humbly yours,
JONSON CHONG
Member No. B130001542

King Kong Ain't Got Shit!

The line "King Kong ain't got shit on me!" spoken by Denzel Washington in Training Day was the line that earned him the Best Actor award for that year itself. Somewhat, it reminded me of the ego that King Kong portrays, particularly in its standoff against the biplanes at the Empire State Building climax. 

Last month in the UMNO general assembly, Najib, in the tune of the real Ketuanan Melayu rhetoric said that "they need to defend Putrajaya" at all costs, even if there are strewn of broken bodies along the way. Can you imagine that like in King Kong's last stand against the opponent? I think Mr. Zunar's cartoons can be interesting and humorous. But I don't see the reason why idiots in the Home Ministry, particularly Hishamuddin Hussein and Mahmood Adam would say Zunar's cartoons are a mockery and disrespect of the law. 

But that would be another issue of that. It seems that UMNO's ego on not letting Putrajaya fallen to others is somewhat like behaving like a 6 year old school kid. Just like in Perak now, they are now showing primary school boy mentality. They think anything other than themselves means capitulation to the enemy. No more than what the IRA used to be about Northern Ireland. 

Below here is the famous ranting in Training Day. Notice that how the scene plays out as in real life. A critic in 2003 used this video as a metaphor as to how Saddam Hussein was deposed by his own people. If the people starts to ignore tyrants, this how most things would play out. But only if that is if people are smart on the inside to know how sometimes political leaders in BN can be when they are arrogant and go above the law.

BERSIH 2.0 Launch

Bersih 2.0 was launched yesterday and I happened to hear what PAS' Dr. Dzulkefly said that of 1.0 transitioning to 2.0 is like being from a opposition party face to a more civil society, NGO face type. And during that launch, the chairperson, Ambiga said that most proposals are welcomed by the EC, with objections to automatic voting, indelible ink and the right to vote reduced to 18 years old.

Of course, in order to get more people to vote (as we're reminded of the alarming 4.2 million unregistered but eligible voters) the UUCA amendment that Mahathir pushed for will have to be reversed. AUKU (as in Malay) will have to be taken off. But of course Mahathir would definitely objected to it because, as his remarks said that a person in a uni should concentrate more on studies instead of politicking! And it seems things have backfired to for him for his perception might not work any longer.

There were a few MPs from the opposition there and most of those who were there were civil society activists and so forth. The crowd was estimated to be around 1000 as one online news portal said about. There were a few shows including a stand-up show that my friend Hisham Rais put up, coupled with speeches from few people about elections, and how dirty postal votes can be so forth though.

I won't elaborate much except to get you guys to read the supplement news item from Free Malaysia Today

Memories of BERSIH and BERSIH 2.0

10 November 2007 was the BERSIH rally in KL in which the police and former PM Abdullah Badawi called it as a "perhimpunan haram". But nobody gave a damn about the warning and braved the streets despite roadblocks put up by police to prevent more people coming in. Although it rained heavily that day, people still come into the streets and marched up to the Palace to make a statement to the government that "the election process is still dirty and needs clean-up".

There are still memories of me witnessing those events while walking through the streets of KL that very Saturday afternoon. It was bad weather, police have been in many places including sealing off Dataran Merdeka, and there's Unit Amal from PAS to cover people up and the march to the palace. And of course in the evening news, being covered by Al-Jazeera in which the whole world was laughing over what former Information Minister Zam Maidin was saying over to the news anchor that Malaysia kena malu over it.

Well, we can check those things back on Google - that's what the search engine for or you can refer. Or you can check out my account on Bersih in two parts (Part 1 link here) and (Part 2 Link here)

Anyhow, despite the protest, the Election commission withdrew the idea of indellible ink at the very last minute. And as to say total ignorance to the demands, the retirement age of the EC chairman was extended to 66. 

What caught my attention here is that on the voting of the proposal above.

There are a few BN MPs who once said during 2004 GE campaign that they really represent the people's voice in the Parliament. Say they got voted into Parliament by the people, in other words receiving the mandate. There is an upcoming proposal of approving A. The MP asked the people whether to approve A or not. People said no. But the whip demands you vote to approve A otherwise disciplinary action is taken. The MP has no other choice but to follow the whip. Then what does that make you? A real MP representing Parliament carrying people's mandate or a mere UMNO machai?

Note: See the pre-Batu Sapi by-election posting by Haris to Linda Tsen.

It seems that no matter how much demands and calls for improving the election system, with improved measures including automatic registration, constant check of electoral roll, indelible ink, dealing with phantom voters, the EC still remains yet to show signs to follow the calls of improvement. This gives the picture that EC is an unofficial component party of the BN mob group. 

So it seems that the message is not drilled into their heads hard enough.

 

INVITATION TO THE LAUNCH OF BERSIH 2.0

UNITE AND ADVANCE ELECTORAL REFORM

We, the BERSIH 2.0 steering committee, invite your organisation to join and unite with us to advance clean and fair elections in Malaysia. Much still needs to be done and Bersih 2.0 needs your support and help to make the mission come true for a democratic Malaysia.

BERSIH 2.0 believes that it is only when elections are clean and fair, can citizens determine their own destiny and expect holders of public office to act accountably and effectively. The road to electoral reform is part and parcel of the democratic process to put into place the rule of law, human rights protection, good governance and sustainable development in Malaysia. As citizens we can make this our reality.

The key issues of electoral reform include

1. A complete revision of the electoral roll to ensure that the existing irregularities are removed and a roll with full integrity is in place.

2. The use of indelible ink (as is done in Indonesia and India) to prevent multiple voting.

3. The reform of postal voting to abolish the existing separate electoral roll for postal voters and to make it flexible for all voters, at home or abroad, with valid reasons to opt for postal voting.

4. Free and fair media access for all contesting parties, which should include: (a) free access to state-owned media especially television and radio; (b) fair paid access (political advertisement) to private media; and (c) provision of the right of reply for all contesting parties and personalities who are covered negatively in news reports.

5. A meaningful minimum campaign period of 21 days.

6. Fair and professional practices in constituency redelineation exercises to minimise malapportionment, gerrymandering and consequent disproportionality in seats and votes.

7. Automatic registration of all eligible voters.

8. Reduction of the voting eligibility age from 21 to 18 years old.

9. Reform in electoral financing to ensure transparency and limit the influence of money politics.

10. Administrative neutrality of all levels of governments before, during and after general and by-elections for the federal and state legislatures.

11. Affirming the right of all students of 18 years and above, to participate in politics inside and outside campus.

Bersih 2.0, whilst acknowledging the importance of the reform agenda of Bersih, is now relaunched as a fully non-partisan coalition of civil society groups. It is a movement of ordinary citizens asserting the right of all, to clean and fair elections as guaranteed by law. We must ensure our votes and voices count.

We, therefore, warmly invite you and your organisations to join us and extend your full support to ensure that the next election and future ones will be clean, fair and democratic.

The details of the launch are as follows:

Date: 10 November 2010 (Wednesday)
Time: 8.30 p.m. – 10.30 p.m.
Venue: PJ Civic Hall, Jalan Yong Shook Lin, Petaling Jaya.

Please bring your members and friends to the launch. You can contact Nurul at 03-77844977 for more information. If you have not joined BERSIH 2.0 as a member, we have enclosed a membership form for your action.

Yours sincerely,
Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan
Chairperson

The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:
Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan, (Chairperson), Andrew Khoo, Arumugam K., Dr Farouk Musa, Haris Ibrahim, Liau Koh Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Yeoh Yang Poh and Zaid Kamaruddin.

Yep, I want to come and watch this out. There's no way that thing can be ignored at this time though.

Zaid Withdraws From PKR Contest

I received an SMS yesterday from one of Zaid's assistants asking me to wait for a press statement from him.

Having read that statement, maybe, what Pete said in his No Holds Barred posting about play or don't play makes sense at all.

Below is the full text statement:

**********

I wish to announce my withdrawal as a candidate from the contest of Deputy President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and my resignation from all posts held in the party.

I was offered to join this party under the belief that I could promote enlightened and progressive politics; nurture and develop principled political values and culture that I consider indispensable to the development of democracy and good governance in this country. I was mistaken.

Over the course of the party elections, events have shown that the leadership actively condones malpractices and electoral fraud to achieve its designed objectives. I am certain that any political party with such hypocritical and false values will not be able to offer meaningful reforms to the people of this country.

I have made this decision because there is no attempt on the part of the party leadership to address the various issues of manipulation and unfair electoral practices, although these issues were raised repeatedly.

I wish to thank all the members who have supported me and placed their faith in the cause of reform. It is of utmost disappointment that I am unable to continue in this flawed election process. I remain committed to the Opposition’s cause and will continue to speak about the issues of the common people. Together, we will continue our unabated struggle towards a better government for the people.

Finally, I hope those adoring fans of Anwar Ibrahim will no longer regard me as a “spoiler” standing in the way of their march to Putrajaya. I wish them well.

ZAID IBRAHIM
MONDAY, 8 NOVEMBER 2010

Happy Deepavali!

To my Indian friends and colleagues, I would like to wish you all a Happy Deepavali.

Man, my office also had a Deepavali festival as well, as CSR initiative, and apart from exchanging gives, we had a round of samosas for lunch and teatime, with photos, dressing and etc..

Pretty fun day.

Selvachandran's Detention: Protest at Bukit Aman

Selvachandran's wife, still dark over his whereabouts.

 

A few days ago, K. Selvachandran, who testified against a corporal believed to have caused harm Gunasegaran while in custody, was arrested in Wangsa Maju by a few policemen led by a "Inspector Suresh". As of until yesterday, the family, including the wife still remains dark over his wheareabouts, after Selva was beaten and handcuffed in front of his family. 

Angered, fearful of another beat down as a result of testimony against cops and demanding to know his whereabouts, civil societies, a few MPs (present there were Sivarasa, Dr. Dzul Ahmad, Khalid Samad and Charles Santiago), NGOs and the Bar Council marched up to Bukit Aman police headquaters to hand a memo directly to the IGP Ismail Omar.

Handling the talks between the group and the police where Selva's lawyer, Surendran and Latheefa Koya. It took 90 minutes to meet up and awaiting for their answer. Eventually, it turned out that Selva's case was similar to Benji, where the Narcotics department put him in detention with no trial for 60 days at the KL police headquarters in Pudu.

Afterthought:

According to eyewitness accounts on the night of the arrest, the man who led the arrest carries the name of "Inspector Suresh". The name Suresh seems very familiar and the name is mentioned in prominent cases like the man being involved with dealing with PI Balasubramaniam, and was also mentioned in the Sosilawati murder. A question arises whether this man is the one and the same. 

Free Malaysia Today carries the full account here.

Additional pictures covered in this event at this Picasa album.

 

There are tears in Selva's wife's face. Next to Dr Dzul is Rawang's ADUN, Gan Pei Nee.

Surendran handling talks with Ismail Omar's rep.

Done: Selva is held in Pudu by the Narcotics department, allowed to be visited on Monday.

"Halt PKR 2010 Election Immediately"

Zaid Ibrahim's political aide, Christopher, sent me this e-mail (circulated to other press as well) to be revealed.

*************

We are gravely concerned about the manner in which the Parti Keadilan Rakyat election is being conducted by the Central Election Committee (JPP) and the party secretariat.

Today is the first day of polling where thousands of party members are eligible to vote at the polling centres in several Kedah and Kelantan divisions, which should have begun at 10:00 am. However, we have received numerous reports that members were unable to vote at several divisions this morning and many have left in frustration.

From the information we have received, the following problems were faced by local members at the respective divisions:

1. Kota Bharu, Kelantan: Although the ballot papers for the other positions were available, the polling did not proceed because the ballot papers for the position of Vice Chief of the Women’s Wing were not available.
2. Tumpat, Kelantan: The ballot papers have not arrived as at 12:00 noon and the ballot boxes were also not ready. Thus, many members left for Friday prayers.
3. Langkawi, Kedah: The ballot papers arrived very late and registration of new members is taking place whilst the polls are ongoing, and it seems that some of these new members are being allowed to vote.
4. Alor Setar, Kedah: The ballot papers have not arrived as at 12:00 noon and many members left for Friday prayers without voting.

Three out of the four divisions mentioned above nominated Datuk Zaid Ibrahim for the position of Deputy President, and a sizeable number of members were mobilised to vote for him at the fourth division in Langkawi.

In light of these alarming logistical problems on the very first day of polling, we expect more serious problems ahead; especially considering that there are only 10 divisions polling today and there will be 79 more divisions polling during this weekend.

Although the JPP and party secretariat assured us that the election will be conducted professionally to ensure a free and fair election, the above problems have cast serious doubts on the entire election process.

After discussing these problems with Dr Molly Cheah (the Chairperson of the JPP) this morning, we are now even more disturbed as she claims that she is no longer involved in the management of the election process. Indeed, she said that she has no knowledge of the briefing of the candidates and/or their election agents that was conducted at the eleventh hour last night by the party secretariat. She also said that she regrets the problems faced by voters at the divisions mentioned above but she is unable to do anything about it.

In light of these serious concerns, the party election should be halted immediately and resumed only after all these logistical problems have been remedied. If the JPP and/or the secretariat proceeds without resolving these basic but fundamental issues, the party will lose the trust of its members and also damage its reputation as a party that fights for democracy and justice for all Malaysians.

Moreover, if the Chairperson of the JPP claims that she is no longer in control of the election process, then she should no longer hold on to the position and resign immediately. Similarly, if the party secretariat, which is under the responsibility of the Secretary General, is unable to perform their duties properly, then the responsibility for the conduct of the party election should be entrusted to others who can do the job.

Rashid Azad Khan
Election Agent, Zaid Ibrahim
Candidate for Deputy President

Muhammad Firdaus Christopher
Political Aide, Zaid Ibrahim
Candidate for Deputy President

*****

Update: As of this time, neither MSMs like The Star / NST carried this news. All other online media, FMT, MI, Malaysiakini carried them.

Update 2: According to Jonson via his Tweeter post, the unofficial tally for the contest between Zaid vs Azmin vs Mustaffa stands at 575 vs 386 vs 64.

"Kita Tidak Perlu Undi Cina dan India"

* This short post is part 3 of my two cents on the UMNO Assembly.

Do you notice that what this man, Johari Abdul Ghani said is pretty similar to what Ali Rustam said sometime back then? "We can handle without the Chinese and Indians" is the indirect message that is conveyed out.

At this time, there are 116000 people viewing this video. And Soi Lek is shaking his head in disgust. But it's likely going to be a "shut up I don't care" response.

And this was taken from the UMNO assembly!

TO BE CONTINUED

Why Not On Public Baths in KL?

A few days ago, Malaysiakini reported on one of the agendas of the ETP ( Najib's Economic Transformation Program) is to turn KL into a entertainment hub as to boost tourism. This means more nightclubs in the key parts of town, in addition to Bukit Bintang already. And of course this has met with objection by PAS because they claim that having more of these things can "corrupt the mind of the young".

Excerpts from Harakah:

1. "Apakah Perdana Menteri dan kerajaan tidak sedar bahawa pengaruh kelab malam dalam merancakkan industri maksiat yang mendorong perlakuan zina, sumbang mahram, rogol, minum arak, dadah, pelacuran, rogol dan lain-lain lagi?” 

2. The government was bankrupt and had no qualms of gambling with the people's moral values, adding that it wanted to 'drug' them into forgetting the mess that the country was in.

"This plan is to drug the people with the opium of entertainment so that they forget about the calamity of corruption which befell us and pushed us to the 56th position in the corruption index," said Idris, referring to the latest Corruption Perception Index prepared by Transparency International. - Idris Ahmad, PAS

Hmm... if having more entertainment centres can sometimes give excuses for PAS to say it's no good for the young and so forth, I might as well suggest DBKL or the Federal Territories Ministry to open many public baths around KL. Sounds crazy? No, this is not crazy. In fact in Japan, there are many public baths in each of the major megalopolises around Japan. You name it, Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, you can find hundreds in each of the megalopolis there.

Well, you have a bulk of the population in KL working from 8.30 to 6.30 p.m at most where after work, many would go and have dinner or perhaps go home to spend time with their families. I think, isn't it better to use that money to build public baths around the city? Surely, people after work would need of a very good soothing bath (a.l.a Japanese concept) . For a reasonable fee per person, a person can go in, go for a bath, do a bath scrub and then come out fresh for dinner and then back home. But if the government or a local council should be running just to make sure to mean that ETP program is running!

How to get the resources? That's the next question. Well, the government already has money a.k.a startup money to do so, that they only need to identify certain places, get ready with lockers, bathing facilities, hey even abandoned shops that can be renovated and turned it into public baths with the facilities. Since water comes from SYABAS, the money they pay for the water goes back to Selangor state government resources. Electricity, of course back to TNB and then running a public bath requires less than 10 people to run it. Four operators on shifts, Four on maintenance work and another two on housekeeping maximum. Of course, they need to look for a bigger space to run because when this is open to business, expect hundreds of working men and women coming in for the bath.

But the 10 people running a public bath cannot afford to be slack or else they would be thrashed left and right for their slackness.

Isn't this much better to use the money as in the ETP? Just maybe one or two more entertainment centres while the rest on public baths that DBKL or FT Ministry runs it? In fact it can be a worthwhile investment as more people swamp in that could even offset the upkeeping! Weird idea, right? Well, check out a Sento model here!! That's what the human brain is for! To think!

Paul: Gone So Soon?

Aww....that cute little octopus. Paul's already called for the day, permanently. And gone so soon.

Story here.

Living In The World of Red Margin a.k.a Deficit

The Auditor-General's report for 2009 was critical lashing. The country deficit as of last year was at RM363 billion, which is 53% GDP. I recalled that the Central Bank's estimate amount of national financial reserves (gold, USD, international currency reserves) as of June 2010 was at close to RM 400 billion. This means that if we decide to settle all debts for 2009, we can scarcely have about RM 30 billion of reserves, which we could go bust earlier than expected, as what Idris Jala said sometime back (he said bust by 2019).

The projected debts for 2010 is estimated to be at around RM 410 billion. As of 30 September, the amount of reserves recorded by BNM was at RM 310 billion, largely due to the strengthening of the Ringgit against the dollar (when converted to the present rate). If the amount is used to pay up, this means we are already in the red zone of -RM100 billion, twice the amount owed if the present amount of reserves are used vs 2009's deficit. Based on the current deficit, each of the 28 million citizens (even a child and old citizens) will have to pay RM 14000 to balance the country's account books.

The two things that the Auditor-General was critical about:

1. How a chunk of the stimulus money was spent on things that are not justified as of the original purpose.

2. Delays and red tapes in projects resulted in cost overruns

I don't really know department heads or civil heads are entrusted the stimulus money but instead used it to buy lavishly. I am still scratching my head wondering why a department would pay RM 224 for a tool kit whereas you can get one outside for a quarter of a price. Is it possible that  the additional money (outside actual cost and set amount of profit) is a kickback and patronage money to those who demand a share but has no active involvement in it?

Secondly, there's some unrealistic planning there, as highlighted in the 8 abandoned projects in Perak (as an example). Now this is the downside of direct negotiations because, you may never know that the contractor (if you take the direct negotiation approach) could be slack in approach. One thing good about the open tender as what the opposition has been screaming about is that on the psychological side, it encourages vendors to compete with one another (demands strong physical, methodology, work ethics, and etc..) as to see who comes the best of the lot. The spirit of competition, as like in sports is already there in the working world.

Haven't we learned things from what ex-economic hitman John Perkin's said of those having mega projects is actually a way to con a country of monies and making it bankrupt? Didn't I mention that the slew of projects under the ETP is a dangerous double-edge sword, like a house of cards? If the projects get abandoned halfway, given the fact that the total amount required of ETP is RM 1.4 trillion, then do we realize that Malaysia could go bust here?

The American credit crisis is all for us to see and it is fortunate that we get caught in the later stages (consider it as sneeze that spreads to other people later). The old idea of spending more might not work anymore (the Keynes approach). At this time of uncertainty, why would banks keep promoting their products when people are having trouble with money? It clearly shows that they already have a lot of money in hand and they want to wave to people about taking up loans that they are willing? This is right now living in the world of red margin. I thought for a moment..since big banks have a lot of money to give away (a.k.a loans), why not give an amount to the government to finance the ETP? After all, top banks (non-GLC related) are being among the 62 percent (private sector) to finance the program, right?

At this time, we noticed that the government is not handling the finances well. Too much corruption has slipped from its fingers. And as according to Malaysiakini, corruption has screwed the targets related t o this under the GTP program. But BN says, only they can run the country given of the past record. But look at what is happening around us, and you still expect them to carry on? Come on, get real. Use your common sense when the situation, not when the party demands it! 

We should be forewarned that Malaysia's bankruptcy is happening sooner than the projected 2019 because nothing can go according to the estimations.

Their Version of History or The Real Version?

* This post is part 2 of my two cents on the UMNO assembly

HISTORY will be made a must-pass subject in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) beginning 2013, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Muhyiddin said that beginning 2014, History would be made a core subject in primary schools, too.

He said putting more emphasis on history would create a deeper appreciation of the concept of “negara bangsa”.

“In view of this, the content of the subject would be improved with more emphasis on understanding the Federal Constitution.

“Beginning 2013, History, like Bahasa Malaysia will be a must-pass subject to obtain the SPM certificate,” the Umno deputy president said in his winding-up speech.

The call to place more importance on the subject was raised by several delegates including delegates from Perak and Kedah. - (Excerpt from The Star 24 October)

**********

Talking about History subject is something to be interested with here. Of course, History was one of the subjects in the PMR exams as well as being one of the five core subjects in SPM exam The only difference until now is that to pass SPM you need just to pass Bahasa Melayu of course. Having gone through secondary school, I can remember portions of what was taught in history. And of course my favorite part of history is not about the Malacca sultanate period but instead period depicted during the English residency period. You talk about Swettenham, Maxwell, Hugh Low, etc... well that's the part. And then of course the pre-Merdeka period, if you take merely the face value, you only hear one side of the thing, which we will come back to that shortly.

Before KBSR (primary school curriculum) was introduced, history was taught in the old syllabus. And then it became a subject in the secondary level. For those of you who have kids in school, do have some time to ask them for their textbooks, just to skim through what are the historical subjects covered. There are a few points that can be found from going through the syllabus. The first one is obviously you would notice that the spread of historical subjects, particularly int he upper secondary school levels seems to be a little unfair and partisan.

As a multi-cultural society, the spread of history should be even. Besides covering the usual Malacca sultanate, the after Malacca sultanate, the English colonial times, there seems to be too much leanings towards Islamic history. Waking up to reality, I noticed that many of my schoolmates previously when we studied history had a distaste of this sub-level not because of religion bashing, but from first glance, it is too difficult to know who's doing this and that. In school exams or even SPM exams, most would avoid answering any question that is related to Islamic history due to its complexity. One whole sub-section solely for that is a little biased and is more for the Malay students, sad to speak. There wasn't much of coverage of the European history, particularly during the Renaissance and the French Revolution because events that happened in the Revolution, revealed new thinking methods, philosophy and advocation of Enlightenism.

It's true that some political parties have complained that the Malaysian history is distorted. True. They students to learn from the UMNO version of history, not both sides. As like the saying, "History is written by the winner.",  which means, when the English gave a 1948 Constitution, it was considered a moral victory for UMNO because they were the ones who pressured against the Malayan Union concept. I can list down several pieces of history that actually existed but you can't see in text books:

1. The original date of independence was 17 August 1945, which the Japanese have promised to Malaya prior to their departure. Unfortunately the plan never took off because of the A-Bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

2.The term "Merdeka" was first uttered by KMM, a left-wing Malay group by. The Left-wing groups like KMM, API, SEDAR and etc.. were actually the first ones who would campaign for that. They even have submitted a "People's Declaration" to the English to be adopted (because it was people, on the ground oriented). But the English ignored it and when for the right-wing idea.

3. Hartal was first witnessed prior to the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu foundation. And then there was a witchhunt against all left-wing leaders including Ibrahim Yaacob.

4. We were told that the Singapore riots in 1964 occurred because of Indonesian and Communist provocateurs. But in truth, it was started from agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and several ultra-nationalist factions of UMNO (as noted by Lee Kuan Yew and Australian High Commissioner W.B Pritchett)

5. The 1969 riots happened because UMNO is not happy over losing their customary 2/3rds in Parliament. In an interview with Tunku in his later years, he said that "if Razak really wanted my job, he could come straight away to me and ask me for it.", which means that Tun Razak and several people instigated the riots as a coup de tat against Tunku.

Note: These above are based on several witness testimonies and some papers covering the two periods of history.

MCA and DAP have been asking for a review and fix on the syllabus. A significant excerpt (full article here):

MCA deputy publicity chief Loh Seng Kok also noted that newspapers had reported the subject would soon be taught from the primary level onwards — at present it is a core subject only in secondary schools — and would incorporate Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which touches on the “special position” of the Bumiputeras.

“There are also anxieties of the possibility of misinterpretation where ‘special position’ i.e. a ‘privilege’ maybe taken to read as an ‘automatic right’,” Loh said.

Again, to stress the statement above:

According to the original constitution Malay rights never existed. "Rights" as opposed to "privileges". 

If we say "Rights" it means you have the power and the ability to do whatever it is permitted.

If we say "Privileges" (keistimewaan is actually privileges), it means say if you are Malay, you stand to gain something additional as guaranteed by law.

Unfortunately, this has already deliberately been made an issue by UMNO themselves. Other parties didn't make a fuss out of it. Parent groups are starting to get angry over it, even the MCA and DAP have been asking for review. But the inferior motive is almost similar to BTN, instead of brainwashing people, it would be school children instead if neither opponents raised the issue of concern. But Muhyiddin is doing this because the UMNO grassroots have been asking for it, which PAGE has alleged of the reason behind the decision.

I think that English is more important than History because I have noticed that there are still people out working who don't even know English, in which in fact I noticed that some of my managers expressed frustration over their inability to understand a universal language. Bahasa Melayu is still not yet a universal language, unlike English. I mean, let's face it, we are seeing half-baked people outside who claimed to be very good in studies but could not convey in English properly since it's used prominently in business.

TO BE CONTINUED

Echoes of 13 May and Operasi Lalang

* This post is part 1 of my two cents on the UMNO assembly.

Before we go on, let's briefly go back to the past to establish the connection. 

In 1969, for the first time ever, the then Alliance party lost for the first time the customary 2/3rds majority of Parliament. And then, the riots instigated as a retaliation against the Chinese by the late Harun Idris in Kampung Baru, and subsequently many things happen like the NEP and so forth (for a run through of this refer to this Wikipedia entry here.) If you have read the book May 13 declassified, you would find that the riots was not instigated by the Chinese as what many claim but instead was planned by a select cell, with Tun Razak and Harun as head of it as a coup de'tat to topple Tunku.

In 1987, prior to Operasi Lalang, Najib (then UMNO Youth Chief) declared in Kampung Baru of "soaking the dagger with Chinese Blood". (Read supplement here and the government white paper here.)

Fast forward to this time, Najib said in the assembly that..."Are we willing to give our beloved Malaysia to this traitor of race and nation?" Does this mean that one party of 3.5 million members (being 1/8th of the country's population) is afraid of one man ex-UMNO turned opposition man? Does this mean that because of Anwar Ibrahim, things are not so rosy for the country? Does that mean that UMNO must look for many excuses to whack Anwar? One instance of Anwar called traitor was prominently seen in an article that former NSTP deputy editor Rose Ismail wrote (subsequently sued successfully for defamation)

It's a common cliche now to say to people that "if UMNO loses, Malay representation will be lost, country will not be stable...bla bla bla.". The cliche line is used to spook people out of nothing whereas in actual truth there is nothing to be seen from that line of utter bullshit.

Najib also said: "Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya," bears similarity to his 1987 line "bath dagger with Chinese blood". It is just a ghost story to scare people out. There is nothing disastrous if they lose out, except what it shows that UMNO is behaving like a spoilt child.

Something not right, is it? A week before the UMNO general assembly, Najib was quoted saying: "We cannot assume the Chinese as pendatang. The Chinese are also people of this country and needs to be respected." At the UMNO assembly, he said: "If UMNO cannot rule the country, you can forget about everybody else." Strange. Was that speech in the MCA gathering was written by him personally or is it prepared in advanced by a copywriter? But wait, aren't the Chinese always being accused bythem as the hantu / the one that "jajah ekonomi" as to scare the Malay people out of nothing?

In fact the statements that Najib mentioned in the speech brings echoes from the past. In 1969, riots happen simply because UMNO cannot accept defeat by the opposition in the fair fight (elections) and deliberately planned out to start a fight against the other races as an excuse to retain power. All because the fear of loss of power. Same as in his claim that problem will happen to Malaysia if they lose. It also show shades of Operasi Lalang in 1987.

No doubt the conclusion is that the thinly veiled speech by those people in UMNO shows that anytime now another Operasi Lalang is looming over people's heads. Alternative media is considered a problem to them. They called it badmouthing the country (Rais Yatim would say that) Another May 13 can happen if they lose badly in the next General Elections, but RPK said that people are now aware of such threats and declared that UMNO will be fighting only other Malays protecting other races instead (read here) Excerpt:

The Indians and Chinese need not fear anything. Dr Hatta Ramli has already issued a challenge. PAS will form a human shield. The Malays from PAS will emerge in great numbers to face those Umno Malays who want Indian and Chinese blood. As Dr Hatta said, “Over our dead bodies.” The Umno Malays would first have to slaughter all the PAS Malays before they can reach the Indians and Chinese.

The message sent out by that thinly-veiled speech simply tells (we can intepret by ourselves since we're educated people):

1. The party doesn't care whether you elect us or not, UMNO will run Putrajaya forever and there's nothing you can do about it. Which of course is violating the democracy concept since it's the people that decide which party to rule as the government of the day. 

2. Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat cannot touch Putrajaya at all in which they are willing to use violence ("crushed bodies") and intimidation to stay in power. They want to have war vs people.

3. Like what George Bush said for the introduction of the Patriot Act 2002: "Either you're with us or against us."

The problem of getting people to wake up to this problem is that people, those in heartland in particular may not believe of the reality and still in the dream that nothing is happening. This is wrong and they need some shake up to wake up.

UMNO people claims themselves to be representing all Malays, pious to God and so forth. But their antics speak for themselves and otherwise. Most of them do the daylight robbing (take lands from the poor, corruption) but still claim themselves to be pious. But it commits one of the greatest sacrilege in God's law of nature: Nothing lasts forever. (The party motto seems to say the other way round) It is the party themselves that started to speak such delusions above, not others. In fact it's situation is like an elderly person that is having dementia (a common problem)

Can't understand? Have you seen Hishamuddin Rais' video on "Bonsification of Malay Mind?"

See also Zaid's video on this:

TO BE CONTINUED

Tak Mahu Ganti Ah, Hisham?

 Government says no to abolishing Sedition Act

So soon after saying no to a Race Relations Act to combat racial crimes, the government announced today that it had no plans to abolish the Sedition Act 1948.

In a written reply to Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) in Parliament today, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein asserted that this was because the Sedition Act was needed to help curb racial issues.

In her question, Chong had pointed out that Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim himself had suggested that the piece of legislation should be abolished and replaced with a Race Relations Act.

In his interview with English daily The Sun in September, Rais had called the Sedition Act “outdated”, pointing out that a new Race Relations Act should be put in place to properly spell out what is acceptable and what is not when it came to racial matters.

He had said this was to avoid a repeat of incidents such as the recent cases of the racist school principals.

Despite his suggestion, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of unity affairs Senator Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon announced in his written reply in Parliament last week that the government would not enact the Race Relations Act.

He said that this was because the country had enough laws to govern race relation issues.
Today, Hishammuddin echoed Koh’s view and said that the Sedition Act was still “relevant” based on the country’s atmosphere and landscape as a diverse nation with different races, cultures and religion.

“It is needed to uphold national security and the peace and harmony of the country,” he said.
He pointed out that at present, the government was taking action under the law in 10 cases involving racial issues.

“Although there are only 10 cases, the law is still needed to curb racial issues and stop it from becoming more serious,” he said.

Hishammuddin explained that the Sedition Act was enacted in 2008 to allow the government to charge any individual, group or association that have a tendency towards instigating racial hatred through their actions, speech, words, publications or others.

Calls for review of the country’s preventive laws on racial issues cropped up recently following a spate of racially-charged issues.

The government has been accused of dragging its feet in the cases involving two school principals in Kedah and Johor who were accused of uttering racial slurs.

It was announced yesterday that the Kedah principal had already been punished with a heavy warning and a transfer.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had claimed that the government has done its part by issuing a stern warning to the Kedah principal, and it was the “heaviest” form of punishment the government could dish out to a civil servant.

Last week Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin refused to allow a debate in Parliament over the alleged racial slurs made by two school principals, claiming that action had already been taken against them.

Pandikar did not, however, provide any details on the supposed action taken against the two.

 The Malaysian Insider - 19 October 2010

********************

I didn't say any other word other than replace. I'd say replacing, not abolishing the so called 62 year old Sedition Act with a new better act, e.g Race Relations Act that Karpal Singh spoke about recently.

In Australia, there is this 1975 Racial Discrimination Act which makes it an offense for whomsoever commits acts that shows a clear discrimination to the other person in all forms - employment, rendering services, access to facilities, and so forth. An offense under that act can land a guilty person a maximum of 6 years in jail. A supplement act, the 1995 Racial Hatred (inserted after part II of RDA Act) makes it a criminal offense for a person to be in an offensive behavior because of race, religion and so forth.

If this act is used in Malaysia, then the two principals involved in the racism remarks problem could have been jailed for up to six years! And even those bigots like Ahmad Ismail previously would end up in Kajang or Sungai Buloh prison for that offense. Sadly, in this case, Malaysia, with UMNO in the lead are still practicing the divide and conquer tactics in addition the race-based politics. If we are to take that law into the context, don't you think that UMNO leaders could be sent to jail over this offense thing, particularly those who were caught by the press of saying racial related matters?

Speaking of application of law, the Race Relations Act is better in these times rather than using a pre-Independence law against the 21st century. Those who are well-educated or think far ahead would wonder why such old law is used in a new age where not many people use old methods anymore whereas if new ones can do things much better how? Of course, the problem would pose is whether the new solution is is still the same as what the present law would do or so, as what the government would argue.

Hishamuddin Hussein is not the first person to say no to abolishing Sedition Act. Koh Tsu Koon previously said no to Race Relations Act, even though it is already high time for one act like that. But Koh's statement is the same as Hisham's but just two differences between two men: Koh is old fossil, since he's already 60 but Hishamuddin is not even 60. And secondly, Hisham is a legit MP but Koh is merely a senator appointed despite losing in a general election! From that statement above, do you think that what he said is equivalent to what old men would say, or in other words thinking like an old fossil?

 

Sigh...Tak mahu ganti ah, Hisham? I didn't say abolish but replacing it, lest I'd get misquoted!

The PLUS Bidding Battle

1. In the last two weeks, we have noticed of a much publicized and intensed bidding battle for Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (being the operator of the North South Expressway) and a few other highways as well. One party consists of Asas Serba (run by ex-Renong man Halim Saad and partner of for Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin), another is MMC (Syed Mokhtar Bulkhary) in partnership of the EPF. To get PLUS, either one must do a complete buyout of UEM (United Engineers Malaysia).

2. Recalling the proposals: MMC's proposal is a $15.6 billion ringgit deal with 10% cut on all toll rates with no increments until the end of the extended concessionaire period in 2038. Asas Serba's deal is similar to MMC but $50 billion on all 25 highways in the Peninsular and a 20% toll rate cut across the board. Khazanah / EPF's $23 billion offer never mention what sweetener that they can put except that EPF members stand to get additional dividends from the revenues generated by PLUS.

3. Khazanah is very much against the proposals from Mahathir's business partners. They believe that it leaves the toll concessionaire at the mercy of government demands to cut toll rates. The problem for the other two tycoons, (S.M and H.S) the business connections with the government is not as great as when Mahathir was in charge. Another reason, as quoted by a government official is that "Keeping it public will ensure that the government will not simply ask to cut toll rates as that can affect share price and the bottomline. Taking it private will open it up to pressure as there is no share price to affect.”

4. Once Khazanah / EPF completes the buyover of UEM, as per what Najib announced in last Friday's budget that there will be no toll increase for the next 5 years, the government could be seeing a freeze bill of $7.5 billion ringgit by 2015. In other words, there is no compensation paid to PLUS over the 10 year period. The last increase of toll was in 2005.

The current rate per kilometer in the NSE is 13.60 sen.
The 2002-2005 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 12.36 sen (10% hike announced on 16 Dec 2004)
The 1999-2002 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 11.24 sen (10% hike announced end of 2001)
The 1996-1999 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 10.

Based on the present agreement, the next increase would be another 30% as to compensate 10 years of unpaid compensations to PLUS by the government. In other words,it would be 17.68 sen by 2016. And what's more, at that time, there will be another 22 years more to go before the concessionaire period ends.

5. The concessionaire period was extended twice due to the "Decade Bubble" - the economic bubble that bursts every 10 years. In 1997, it's the Asian Financial Crisis. In 2007, it's the global sub-prime crisis. As the result, because of the A.F.C, the first concessionaire period was extended by another 12 years (to 2030). Another extension resulted in the period extended by another 8 more years to its present agreement. Now that we notice that the Decade Bubble happens every 10 years, the next can happen within 2017. If it happens, is the concessionaire period going to be extended again?

Again, this is based on the present concessionaire agreement.

6. If we take this events in face value, surely we would go for the MMC / Asas Serba deal if the option is given to the public because of the big carrot is being a 10-20% reduction of toll across the board and no toll increase until the end of the concessionaire period. Also, with the immediate reduction, we can see a investment recuperation in a shorter than expected period of ROI. That's because the reduction of the toll would see higher volume of people travelling on the expressways, NSE in particular. The one that stands to smile more would be the businessmen and transportation carrier operators (including those transporting essential goods).

I find that scenario is the classic case of picking the lesser of two evils. Between evil one that allows space in and out despite a bad scenario against a bad scenario with no way out in the long run, which one would you take?

7.  Khazanah, is the one who decides who goes or not. Why it rejects the other two offers outright in that kind of wheel-dealing is something I find it not right and "sinister". We all know that the one who calls the shot is the head himself Azman Mokhtar (A.P King). But of course another key-figure whose hand is part of the wheel-dealing is obviously Nazir, Najib's younger brother. I remembered someone quoting Azman saying something like, "Ini semua kepentingan rakyat dan negara. Tak boleh jual sewenang-wenangnya." (It's all important for the people and country. Can't be sold that simply!).

But what is at stake here is that if S.M or H.S gets it, Nazir would have the trouble of getting more projects and money in the pocket. The MRT project due to start next year is already in the pocket. One reason of rejecting would be to give the picture that CIMB is bankrolling majority of projects. EPF, (since he's a member of the investment panel) is pushed into projects with Nazir's clients.

Many are unhappy, from people in Finance Ministry, EPF and a few, of Nazir's wheel-dealing tactics. The one who is the worst of it would be the outgoing EPF chairman himself.

I saw something interesting from this blog (setup not that long ago). The below excerpt caught interest:

10. Worse still Nazir feels slighted by Dr Mahathir and has started a campaign to discredit the former pm and block any investments from Mahathir's cronies like Syed Mokhtar and Daim Zainuddin.
 
11. To go to war with Dr Mahathir, he has the help of his good friend Khazanah boss Azman Mokhtar. 

12. Azman will block Syed Mokhtar's bid for UEM and has also blocked Daim's move to privatise PLUS.

13. Nazir is upset Dr Mahathir blasted him for questioning the NEP. 

14. He is also upset that mahathir has started digging up info on the billions in fees cimb has made in pushing deals at the expense of the country. 


Perhaps this would backup the idea why S.M and H.S's bids got turned down outright.


8.If the proposal goes public, which one would you agree most? Is it a worthwhile investment as what many business analysts claim to be or otherwise? You be the judge, and have your say below.