Sincerely,

The Undersigned                                                                                                                                                            Website – http://www.petitiononline.com/MYBaru/                                                                                                              

Equal Opportunities in Land of Plenty for All Malaysians?

Target:

All Malaysians Who Care , Irrespective of Race , Gender , Religion ,  Culture or

Created by:

Malaysia Baru – Malaysia Kini – Malaysia Today

Contact Us

Office Address
Malaysiakini.com
48, Jalan Kemuja
Bangsar Utama
59000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Phone
(603) 2284 3367 (Subscriptions, Business, Marketing, Tech)

(603) 2283 5567 (Editorial)

Fax
(603) 2289 2579Subscription & Payment
Email: subscribe@malaysiakini.com

SMS, News Services, Newswatch & Email Digest
Email: techsupport@malaysiakini.com

Report News Developments
Email: newseditor@malaysiakini.com

Letter For Publication
Email: editor@malaysiakini.com

Advertise
Email: advertise@malaysiakini.com

Corporate Affairs & Business Opportunities
Email: prem@malaysiakini.com

Feedback & General Enquiry
Email: enquires@malaysiakini.comEditorial
Editor in chief
Steven
mailto:steven@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 2283 5567 ext 141

Editor
K. Kabilan
kabilan@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 2283 5567 ext 136

Subscriptions & Accounts
Subscriptions Support
Priah
subscribe@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 03-2284 3367 ext 105

Advertising
Business Manager
Meera Thuraivel
meera@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 03-2284 3367 ext 106

Business
Chief Executive Officer
Premesh Chandran
prem@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 03-2284 3367 ext 110

Technology
Systems Manager
Danny Hong
danny@malaysiakini.com
Tel: 03-2284 3367 ext 114

Contact Us:
Please call 03-2284 3367 between 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday or email us at subscribe@malaysiakini.com

SMS Us:
SMS us at 017-323 0707 for your subscription needs. All SMS will be returned with a phone call.

Website – http://www.malaysiakini.com/pages/general/contact.htm                                                                                                Website –    http://www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/983608455

posted by Malaysian Unplug @ Link to This Post 0 comments   

Links to this post                                                                                                                                                            Website – http://malaysianunplug.blogspot.com/2007/08/mr-prime-minister-are-these-not.html

Monday, July 23, 2007

Raja Petra Kamaruddin: News, Petition & Event

Latest on Police Report & Investigation on RPK, read Malaysia Today and latest on RPK at Google Blog Search.
Express your solidarity, sign Citizens In Solidarity with Raja Petra and Freedom of Speech! petition at Petition Online and Investigate Malaysia Today Allegations On Muhammad Muhammad Taib petition at Petition Online.
Sepetang Bersama Raja Petra
UNDANGAN KEPADA PENULIS BLOGGER
Jawatankuasa Ad-Hoc Warga Prihatin Malaysia (PRIMA) menganjurkan ‘Sepetang Bersama Raja Petra’, 5 Ogos 2007 ini di Serambi Nelayan, Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur jam 4.00 petang.

Penulis-penulis blogger dijemput hadir bagi memberi sokongan moral kepada Raja Petra Kamaruddin yang berhadapan dengan ancaman pihak yang berkuasa, lagi berkuasa dan mahu terus berkuasa.

Jurucakap PRIMA, Dato’ Kamal Amir Kamal Hijaz berkata, sokongan moral kepada Raja Petra bukan bermakna mencabar kepimpinan negara, tetapi mempertahankan ‘kebebasan intelektual’ bagi menentang ‘perhambaan minda manusia kepada manusia’ bagi menjana masyarakat yang tak menerima ‘robot bernyawa’.

Dipetik dari blog Jawatankuasa Ad Hoc Prima sini.

Sepetang bersama Raja Petra telah dibatalkan atas sebab-sebab keselamatan. Sila baca di Malaysia Today di sini. – August 1st, 2007

Posted by A Voice at 8:44 AM  

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

SOPO Sentral of Malaysia

SoPo is a blog lingo to mean Socio-Political Blogs. This Blog is (an attempt to create) a Directory of Blogs on Society, Politics, and Economy of Malaysia. If your Blog is one, leave a note for up-dating.

Blog, Malaysia’s 4th Estate

“…seek the truth. …correct misinformation of other media.” – Tun Dr Mahathir, April 18th, 2007

Freedom of Speech

“Media for human development … freedom (is) abuse by people that damage society” – Tun Dr Mahathir, April 18th, 2007

Download Your Rights Here

• Malaysian Bar Council

Blog Archive

• ▼ 2008 (3)
  • ▼ April (3)
    • Update
    • SOPO Directory
    • p-SOPO Directory (Under Construction)

• ► 2007 (8)
  • ► August (1)
    • Khazanah Global Lecture Series
  • ► July (3)
    • Film Documentary Visit Palestine
    • Raja Petra Kamaruddin: News, Petition & Event
    • Blogger Buff 2007
  • ► May (2)
    • Rocky’s Saga In Pursuit Of Truth
    • World Press Freedom Day 2007 May 3rd
  • ► April (2)
    • Perdana Discourse Series: Media & National Develop…
    • Event: Bloggers United – Gathering Malaysia 2007

In George Orwell’s 1984

All Blog

• Protem President
• Protem V President – 1st Msian Blogger
• Protem Secretary
• Protem Treasurer

Blog Directory

• Singapore SOPO
• Malaysian Chinese Bloggers Directory
• MyKMU
• Malaysia Today
• Sentral Station

Blog Aggregator & Search

• Global Voice (SEA – Malaysia)
• Bloglines
• Yahoo Blog Search
• Pingoat
• SpyMy
• Bloh!ah
• Planet Malaysia
• Google Blog Search
• Blogarama
• Project Petaling Street
• SARA – South-East Asian RSS Aggregator
• Sarawho

Blog on Bloggers’ Posting

• MalaysiaKita – Malay
• MalaysiaKita – English

Blog on Blogging

• RedesignMalaysia.com
• Make$ Money$ – Truth No Scam
• Blog Giggs
• Bloggers Open School

OSA?

Blog Platform

• Blogsome
• Blogspot
• Multiply
• T-Blog
• TypePad
• Vox
• WordPress

Blog Tools

• Alexa
• AOL Video
• BlingJam
• BlogFlux
• Blogpatrol
• Blogshares
• CBox
• Clock Link
• Create Survey
• Feed Digest
• Filehippo
• Freewebs
• Image Dump
• InternetSeer
• iWebMusic
• LeapFish
• Nuffnang
• OneStat
• OpinionPower.com
• Photobucket
• RockYou!
• RSS Micro
• Savefile
• Sharepic
• ShinyStat
• Site Meter
• Store & Serve
• Technorati
• Top YouTube Videos
• UmmYeah
• Vizu
• WhoLinks2Me
• WorldIPTV
• YouTube

Malaysiana

• Constitution of Malaysia
• Links to M’sian Econ. Stat.
• Links to M’sian Political Parties, Medias, NGO, & Edu. Institutes
• Malaysia Central
• MyGovernment Directory
• Parlimen Malaysia
• Prime Ministers of Malaysia
• World Bank’s Malaysian Socio-Economic Data

50 Years Merdeka

Rukunegara

Rukunegara #1

I Promote A Spiritual Malaysia

Unity in Diversity

Hanya Untuk Mu Malaysia

Stop WW4

Expose War Crimes

No To Child Abuse

About Me

A Voice

View my complete profile  

Website – http://sopo-sentral.blogspot.com/2007/08/raja-petra-kamaruddin-news-petition.html 

31/07: Another ‘Constitutional Crisis’ over the horizon?

Category: General

Posted by: Raja Petra

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Umno versus the Rulers Round One: Winner Umno (early 1980s)
Umno versus the Rulers Round Two: Winner Umno (late 1980s)
Umno versus the Rulers Round Three: Results not out yet (2007)

Today, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was summoned for an audience before HRH the Sultan of Perak. The Sultan of Perak is representing his fellow Rulers — the other six Sultans, the Raja of Perlis, the Yamtuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, plus our Supreme Ruler or Agong (Malaysia does not have a King as many mistakenly refer him as). We must remember that the Sultan of Perak used to be the top judge of Malaysia and certainly his grasp of the law and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia would be above that of the average man, even some lawyers themselves.

The Rulers just held their Rulers’ Conference last week but the Prime Minister absented himself without any valid reason. In fact, he suddenly left the country late at night on 16 July 2007 and many within his own Cabinet were puzzled as to why their boss had to sneak out of the country unscheduled and unannounced. If Malaysia Today, a website that is reputed to dabble in lies, had not mentioned it then not many would have been aware that the Prime Minister was no longer in the country.

The chief of the Royal Malaysian Police plus the head of the Special Branch were asked to join Abdullah in Australia and amongst the subject matters discussed were what to do with Malaysia Today. The conclusion they arrived at was simple, or so they thought. Arrest Raja Petra Kamarudin and put him in jail. The Prime Minister’s Political Secretary was of course also in this meeting.

They all then returned to Malaysia, leaving the Prime Minister in Australia to continue with whatever mysterious mission he was there to take care of. Some say it was an international crisis involving the illegal export of banned products from the US to Iran using Malaysia as the transit point. Some say it was a domestic crisis involving his wife’s divorce from her previous husband where no official papers had been filed so she would therefore be considered still married to the previous husband. Some say Patrick Lim (or Patrick Badawi if you go what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calls him) was arranging to transfer his assets to Australia ahead of impending trouble in Malaysia. And then some even say that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was worried about a move to oust him, so he wanted to sneak off to safety before anything happens and come back only when Malaysia’s top cops assure him that it is safe to do so.

Nevertheless, whatever the reason Abdullah Ahmad Badawi sneaked off to Australia may have been, the fact that he made a sudden, unscheduled and unannounced trip to Australia and even those who should know about it did not means that this is a recipe for tongues to wag and for speculation to spread like wildfire throughout the land.

Today, the Rulers have summoned the Prime Minister like a school headmaster summoning a naughty schoolboy for breaching some school rule or another. But will the ‘headmaster’ merely scold his student who goes by the name of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi? Or will the student be told to write 1,000 lines “I will not do this again”? Or will the student face caning instead? Of course, if the crime committed is serious enough, the headmaster can always sack the student. And yes, the Federal Constitution of Malaysia does have provisions for someone who has misbehaved to face sacking.

Whatever it may be, the question that now comes to mind is: are we seeing a new Constitutional Crisis looming over the horizon? The first two were in the early and late 1980s. Okay, we have heard and read in the mainstream newspapers about the cause of the two crises twenty years or so ago. We read about a certain Ruler hitting a caddy with his golf club and about a certain hockey coach getting slapped, and so on and so forth. In the effort to run down the Rulers, the Umno-controlled mainstream media made sure that Malaysians received full reports about the transgressions and crimes of the Rulers.

Of course, not all were true. Some stories were planted to try to create an impression that Malaysia has amongst the worst Rulers in this whole wide world. For example, they spun the story that Rumah Kedah along Northram Road in Penang was the Sultan of Kedah’s lavish bungalow by the sea built at great expense using the taxpayers’ money. Actually, it was a very old and rundown house built before WWII that belongs to the state and which any Kedah State Government officer can use whenever he or she has to travel to Penang on business.

Then, they showed shots on TV of the Sultan of Selangor’s so-called bungalow on a hill overlooking the sea on the other side of Penang Island facing the Indian Ocean. It was actually the home of a Chinese businessman and had nothing at all to do with the Sultan who was then still just the Raja Muda of Selangor. But the Raja Muda was not able to set the record straight as Rulers are ‘barred’ from making public statements — though the public is allowed to whack them in the newspapers and on TV.

Yes, Umno really dragged the Rulers into the mud and smeared ‘shit’ on their faces resulting, until today, in many Malaysians no longer having any respect for the Rulers. This is no fault of the rakyat of course. This is what the newspapers and TV stations revealed 20 years ago during a special campaign to bring down the image of the Rulers. What many Malaysians do not know until today is that much of these so-called ‘revelations’ such as the Sultan of Kedah’s and Sultan of Selangor’s lavish bungalows in Penang did not exist and were mere figments of Umno’s imagination.

But what was the real issue? Why did Umno go to war with the Rulers? Why was Umno so bent on attacking the Rulers and turn Malaysians against the Rulers until they became subjects of ridicule? It was partly because of the action of the then Menteri Besar of Selangor, the present Umno Information Chief with two Muhamads in his name.

You see, this ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name had secretly married the Sultan of Selangor’s daughter on 17 July 1987. The marriage was solemnised in Thailand, which is against the law. (See the copy of the Thai marriage certificate below).

The Sultan soon found out and asked this ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name whether it is true that the latter had married the former’s daughter. The ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name of course denied it and on 11 February 1988 he sent the Sultan a letter saying that he regrets the ‘rumours’ being circulated about him marrying the Sultan’s daughter.

Nevertheless, the Sultan of Selangor eventually found out that the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name had in fact married his daughter and that he had lied about it. On 30 August 1989, the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name sent the Sultan another letter expressing regret, appealing for forgiveness, and blaming God (Allah) for the whole thing. All these letters plus the newspaper coverage of the issue can be seen below in case Umno would like to, again, say that Malaysia Today is lying and therefore Raja Petra Kamarudin should be detained under the Internal Security Act because he is a threat to national security.

The Sultan felt slighted (murka). His Chief Minister had secretly and illegally married his daughter in another country, had lied about it, and had the gall to send him a letter saying that they are malicious rumours. (Luckily Malaysia Today was not around yet at that time or else they would have come to detain me under the Internal Security Act way back in 1987).

The ex-Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name then went running to Umno Youth with his tail between his legs. His father-in-law was now very angry with him and he knew his goose is cooked unless he can take on the Sultan. Umno Youth then organised an anti-Sultan protest and the Rulers were warned that their days are numbered and the Monarchy may have to be abolished if the Rulers challenged Umno.

This further made the Sultan angry. Umno was now openly challenging the Monarchy and threatening its very existence. The following year, the Sultan rejected the birthday awards list prepared by the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name. The Sultan said he would prepare his own list and not use the Umno list.

This again sent the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name running, but this time to Deputy Prime Minister Gaffar Baba. Gaffar then made a statement which was carried on all the front pages of the newspapers that Umno and not the Rulers decide who gets birthday awards. The job of the Rulers is just to dish them out to people whom Umno decides should get these awards. The Sultan retaliated by cancelling the birthday celebrations and asked instead that the money saved be donated to orphans as well as the poor. That year no one received any Selangor Datukships, which of course one has to pay Umno for before one can get it.

The Constitutional Crisis peaked in 1991 when Berita Harian of 10 November carried this statement from Gaffar Baba, which basically said the Rulers can be challenged (which means it is NOT seditious to challenge the Rulers).

“Kalau rakyat yakin dan tahu apa yang diperkatakan mereka wajar berbuat demikian tanpa rasa bimbang dan takut. Apa yang dilarang Perlembagaan (under the Sedition Act) ialah jika seorang cuba menghapuskan Sistem Raja Berperlembagaan yang di amalkan di negara ini.”

That same day, Zainal Abidin Sakom tabled a four-point Resolution in the Umno General Assembly on behalf of Umno Selangor that said as follows:

1. Menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa untuk menyiasat dan menyenaraikan semua harta, tanah dan projek yang telah diluluskan kepada Raja secara langsung atau melalui ‘Kapitan China’.

2. Meminta Presiden UMNO supaya bertindak tegas atau memecat mana-mana ahli Exco atau wakil rakyat yang hipokrit dan bermuka-muka – yang terlibat menghasut Raja-Raja untuk kepentingan diri sendiri.

3. Meminda perlembagaan 1957 (Merdeka Constitution) supaya kuasa mutlak melantik Menteri Besar, ahli mesyuarat kerajaan negeri (EXCO), setiausaha kerajaan , penasihat undang-undang dan pegawai kewangan negeri adalah bidang kuasa pucuk pimpinan parti yang memerintah.

4. Supaya Perhimpunan Agung UMNO memberi mandat penuh kepada Dato Seri Dr Mahathir dalam menghadapi dan mengatasi isu Raja ini secara umumnya sama ada menerusi pindaan pelembagaan dan segala langkah yang perlu.

Yes, most Malaysians know about the Constitutional Crisis of the 1980s. But they know only what they have been told by the government-controlled mainstream media. School textbooks do not reveal much of what actually happened. Most Malaysians also know about the horny reputation of the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name. But they do not know about the behind-the-scenes clash between His Hornyness and His Highness regarding the secret marriage of the Sultan’s daughter and the denial that followed it.

Now, this same ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name wants to cite me for sedition. And, just like during his clash with the Sultan of Selangor 20 years ago, this same ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name is again using Umno Youth. But this time he wants to try to get me under the Internal Security Act. So be it. I am ready.

Malaysia Today reveals much of what happens in the corridors of power. Malaysia Today reveals the untold story. And this makes Umno uneasy. So Malaysia Today must be silenced. And if legally Malaysia Today cannot be silenced because it is a foreign-based website, then the Editor has to be put away in a place he can no longer write articles and reports for Malaysia Today.

Umno will stop at nothing to ensure that its authority is not challenged. The Rulers found this out the hard way 20 years ago and until today the Rulers are still licking their wounds inflicted in the 1980s Constitutional Crisis. But in ensuring that it is the absolute and unchallengeable power in Malaysia, Umno destroyed the image and reputation of the Malay Rulers.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah spoke out against this move back in the late 1980s. Ku Li felt that by destroying the dignity of the Rulers, Umno would be destroying the dignity of the institution of the Monarchy itself. This is to cut the nose to spite the face or, as the Malays would say, marah nyamuk, bakar kelambu. The Malays talk about Ketuanan Melayu and Kedaulatan. This exists only because the Malays have their Raja-Raja Melayu. If Umno were to undermine the Rulers, then everything else that comes with the institution of the Monarchy would be undermined alongside it.

But they would not listen to Ku Li. Ku Li is opposition and anything opposition cannot be accepted even if true. Today, when people speak ill of the Rulers, the Malays would get upset, especially if it is the non-Malays who ‘insult’ the Rulers. But it is no fault of the non-Malays. The non-Malays were taught by the Umno Malays that the Rulers can and should be insulted.

However, all is not lost. Today, the ex-Selangor Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name has publicly declared that he is prepared to die for the Sultans. He is prepared even if his body is blown up with C4 into millions of pieces. I almost cried when I read what he declared. It nearly moved me to tears. Finally, the ex-Menteri Besar with two Muhamads in his name is brave enough to die for his Sultan when 20 years ago he did not even dare admit he had run away with the Sultan’s daughter to marry her illegally in Thailand. Maybe there is still hope yet for Umno. Or is this, as usual, nothing but a load of hogwash by those who walk in the corridors of power?

Website – http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/corridors.php?itemid=6901

04/08: Putrajaya under attack

Category: General

Posted by: Raja Petra

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is what the New Straits Times reported today:

Shaariibuu’s RM100m suit against govt served

The RM100 million suit by Shaariibuu Setev against the government over the murder of his daughter, Altantuya, was served on Thursday. The originating summons and statement of claim filed on June 6, was delivered to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

A copy of the nine-page suit was also served yesterday on law firm RM Abdullah, Kwan and Associates, which is representing political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda. Lawyer Karpal Singh, representing Shaariibuu, said yesterday the defendants had between eight and 12 days to enter an appearance. They also had 14 days to file their defence.

Shaariibuu, his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and Altantuya’s two children, Mungunshagai Bayarjargal and Altanshagai Munkhtulga, from Mongolia are the plaintiffs. They named Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, Razak and the government as defendants.

In their statement of claim, the four alleged that Altantuya was the sole breadwinner for Mungunshagai, 9, and Altanshagai, 3, while the first two defendants were from the Special Action Squad awaiting the outcome of the murder trial. They alleged that Azilah, 31, and Sirul Azhar, 36, had murdered Altantuya at Lot 12843 and Lot 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year.

Azilah and Sirul, they claimed, were acting as agents for the government and hence, the fourth defendant was vicariously liable. They also claimed that Razak, 46, was the political analyst to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and headed the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre.

All four alleged that Altantuya was shot twice and her body blown up by Azilah and Sirul, while Razak abetted them.They claimed that the explosives were available in the Defence Ministry and the Royal Malaysian Police force and that Azilah and Sirul had acted in a high-handed, oppressive and arbitrary manner, resulting in Altantuya’s death.

They claimed that the acts of the three had resulted in loss and damages to them. They are seeking RM6,000 a month for loss of dependency and RM36,000 annually for treatment for Altanshagai, who is mentally disabled.

This is what The Straits Times (Singapore) reported today:

Prosecutors’ early retirement sets tongues wagging
Move by two top officials to seek optional retirement reflects unhappiness in A-G Chambers

Datuk Yusof and Mr Sallehuddin have yet to disclose why they intend to seek optional retirement. But lawyers say the duo’s planned exit from government service is linked to the handling of the ongoing high-profile trial for a Mongolian woman’s murder, as well as widespread dissatisfaction over the goings-on within the A-G’s Chambers.

ORDINARILY, the planned early retirements of two senior Malaysian civil servants would not stir any public interest. But the move this week by two of Malaysia’s most senior criminal prosecutors, namely Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden and Mr Sallehuddin Saidin, to seek optional retirement reopened a long-simmering debate over the health of the country’s judicial establishment.

Datuk Yusof, 52, is the chief of criminal prosecution at the Attorney-General’s Chambers and Mr Sallehuddin, his 44-year-old deputy, holds the post of chief of the classified cases unit. The two men were principal players in preparing the government’s case against three men charged with the gruesome murder of a 28-year-old Mongolian woman last October.

Mr Sallehuddin was originally slated to lead the prosecution in the case. But Malaysia’s Attorney-General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, removed him from that role a day before the trial was initially set to begin on June 3. The reason: Mr Sallehuddin had been seen playing badminton with the trial’s judge, Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin. This view is largely anchored on the dynamics of the government’s legal service.

Typically, lawyers stay with the A-G’s Chambers for about 10 years before they move into the private sector, where financial returns are far more attractive. Those who stay on in the civil service do so for two reasons. Some believe they have a shot at two of the most coveted positions in the Malaysian legal system – the posts of Attorney-General and Solicitor-General. Others stay on because of their ambitions to be elevated to the Bench as judges.

Being in the judiciary not only accords them higher prestige and better perks, but also secures them longer employment. Judges retire only when they hit the age of 66, compared to public prosecutors, who must leave the legal service 10 years earlier. Against such realities, several lawyers say the move by Datuk Yusof and Mr Sallehuddin to take optional retirement appears to be motivated by underlying frustration.

“Taking optional retirement under these circumstances can be viewed as a sign of protest in the civil service,” said a senior KL constitutional lawyer, who is closely tracking developments. The ruckus kicked up by the two senior criminal prosecutors comes at a time when the A-G’s Chambers is under attack from judges and the public for its poor handling of several high-profile cases.

These include the acquittal of persons charged with the murder of nightclub guest relations officer Norita Samsudin in 2003 and the murder of a 14-year-old Chinese national in 2005. More recently, the A-G’s Chambers was ticked off by the presiding judge in the corruption trial of Datuk Eric Chia, the former managing director of Malaysia’s scandal-ridden steel company Perwaja Steel, who was also acquitted in the end.

Now, its prosecutors are getting flak for their conduct of the ongoing trial for the murder of the Mongolian woman, Ms Altantuya Shaariibuu, which is being watched closely locally and globally because of its strong political overtones. The government has charged two commando specialists previously assigned to Deputy Premier Najib Tun Nazak’s security detail with the murder. Abdul Razak Baginda, Datuk Seri Najib’s close associate and former political adviser, has been charged with abetting the killing of Ms Altantuya, whose body was blown up with C4 explosives issued to crack commando units.

Since the murder trial began on June 18, the prosecution’s case has suffered a string of setbacks. The most glaring has been the prosecution’s failure to adduce statements made by the accused relating to the crime. Lawyers and opposition leaders have also questioned the prosecution’s reluctance to pursue issues such as the apparent deletion of immigration records that would have removed any proof that Ms Altantuya had ever arrived in Malaysia.

Disquiet over the A-G’s Chambers is also spreading to the judiciary. Malaysia’s Bar Council and prominent members among the country’s royalty have raised questions about the odd state of affairs where the country’s top judge, Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, also holds a second position, that of Chief Judge of Malaya. The latter position, which is the third most senior position in the judiciary, became vacant when Tan Sri Siti Norma Yaakob retired in January this year.

Senior government sources said that candidates whom Tun Ahmad Fairuz nominated had been shot down by the Conference of Rulers, made up of the country’s nine Sultans who have veto powers over key government appointments.

The problems in Malaysia’s judicial establishment could pose serious problems for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s administration, which is hoping to call for snap elections as early as the first quarter of next year. Unless Datuk Seri Abdullah moves to quell quickly the growing disquiet surrounding the judiciary and the A-G’s Chambers, the country’s opposition will be given fresh ammunition to attack the Premier’s increasingly patchy reform agenda.

And this is what Malaysia Today wrote on 13 April 2007:

Mexican stand-off

A play of Shakespearean proportions
One Episode, many Scenes

Tun Daim Zainuddin was sitting impatiently waiting for Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to make his appearance. What is keeping the man? He should have been here ages ago, Daim mumbled and grumbled under his breath to no one in particular. Daim should have anticipated this. After all, is not the Malaysian Prime Minister infamous for one who is never on time for his meetings and appointments? He is even late for official functions like dinner events and by the time he arrives the dinner guests are all almost doubled up with hunger. One sometimes wonders whether he will even be late for his own funeral.

Daim was in Putrajaya at the behest of Abdullah who phoned him earlier in London and requested that he come back to Malaysia for a powwow. “What can Abdullah want?” thought Daim as he twiddled his thumbs waiting for Abdullah to wake up from sleep. Abdullah is never to be awoken even though someone important is waiting to see him. That is the golden rule everyone who walks through the corridors of power or who squats on the fourth floor of the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya are well familiar with. This is of course not uncommon of Abdullah. What would surprise most would be when one day he actually does turn up on time.

Anyway, we will allow Daim to wait awhile longer while we cut to another scene in this episode. One day, Najib Tun Razak’s aides, who met him at the airport on his arrival home from an overseas trip, told the Deputy Prime Minister that Abdullah had called for a Cabinet meeting. It was a Friday and Cabinet meetings since the time of Merdeka were always held on Wednesdays, never on Fridays. But they had missed the Wednesday Cabinet meeting that week because both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister were out of the country.

This is something else that never used to happen in the old days. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister never both leave the country at the same time. But nowadays this appears to be a regular feature. What happens if there is a crisis or emergency at that time? Who will make that most important decision that may result in the future of this country or the security of the nation?

Najib did not even bother to go home to change but went straight to the Cabinet meeting. When he arrived he found all the Cabinet Ministers assembled waiting for the meeting to start. But Abdullah was not to be seen. After an hour, and still no appearance of the Prime Minister, Najib asked what happened to Abdullah and he was told that the old man is still in bed.

Well, wake him up, replied Najib. That is not possible, came back the reply. The Prime Minister is not to be disturbed when he is sleeping. That is the golden rule. Not being one to break the golden rule, and not knowing what else they could do about the situation, Najib and the rest of the Cabinet members just sat there looking at each other while waiting for Abdullah.

Okay, and while Najib and Malaysia’s entire Cabinet are ‘locked up’ in the Cabinet meeting that was not actually meeting when they should instead be running this country, let us cut to yet another scene. Khairy Jamaluddin, the Prime Minister’s son-in-law, had a meeting with the man who has the ultimate authority and power to decide which judge gets promoted and which judge gets posted to which court. The top dog of all judges showed Khairy a list of three names. Khairy wanted to know which of the three can be ‘controlled’ and could be told what to do. The power-that-be of Malaysia’s judicial system pointed to one name on the list and said that this particular man is ambitious and can be told what to do since he wants to make a lucrative career for himself.

So it was decided. This man who is not even a judge but only a judicial commissioner would be given Abdul Razak Baginda’s case to hear. And he would be told how the case is to be decided. And it could be decided either way. Najib can be implicated in the case or he can be spared. The outcome will not be the court’s decision. It will not even be Khairy’s decision. It will be Najib’s decision. His future will be in his own hands. He decides his own fate. And how he plays ball will be that deciding factor.

And, with that in place, Khairy had successfully laid the groundwork for Najib’s downfall. One of Najib’s supporters who had smelled a rat went to meet him to inform him about this very troubling turn of events. Najib was also told that Razak’s lawyers had negotiated a ‘settlement’ with the Attorney-General. They will amend the charges against Razak if he turns crown witness. He will be spared the gallows but he will have to sing like a canary.

Najib did not demonstrate shock at this piece of information. He had already read the writing on the wall and had seen this coming. He did not even dispute the prognosis that his goose may finally be cooked. He only replied that if this is his fate then this is his fate. He will leave it to God. He offered no resistance whatsoever. He has resigned himself to the fact that his days may be numbered and that his future may no longer be his to decide.

Meanwhile, back in scene one, Daim could not imagine what in heaven’s name Abdullah wanted to see him for. But since he had flown all the way back from London at the behest of the Prime Minister he might as well wait. After all, he was curious as to what Abdullah wanted and though curiosity does sometimes kill the cat one can never resist satisfying curiosity. Finally Abdullah appeared, and quite surprised to see Daim sitting there, asked what he could do for the one-time top money man of Malaysia. There is nothing you can do for me, replied Daim. It is you who asked me to come see you, Daim reminded the Prime Minister.

Abdullah could not quite remember what it was that he wanted to meet Daim about. So they both sat there chatting about mundane stuff while Abdullah tried very hard to recollect what it was that he wanted to talk to Daim about. Finally he remembered. He wanted to talk to Daim about Najib.

Najib has been implicated in the Mongolian girl’s murder, Abdullah told Daim. According to what transpired, Razak was being hounded by the Mongolian girl for her share of the commission on the purchase of the submarines. It seems her share is RM50 million but the money does not belong to her. It belongs to the other party involved in the deal and this party is pressing her for the money. But Razak no longer had the money.

This girl was worried that the other party may do something to her if she does not hand them the RM50 million so she was chasing Razak for it. She went to Razak’s office but was not allowed in. She then went to Razak’s house and squatted outside waiting for him to come home.

Razak panicked. His wife was on the way back from Kota Bharu and he did not want her to find out what was going on. So he rushed to Najib’s house and asked for help. Razak’s ‘boss’ said she is prepared to pay the Mongolian girl only RM10 million. But the Mongolian girl was not prepared to accept RM10 million because the other party wanted RM50 million and that is the exact amount she has to deliver to them.

Razak’s boss then summoned a man named Musa and asked this Musa to help Razak out of his predicament. Musa in turn summoned two police SWAT team officers. Razak was a bit worried that other parties were now getting involved in the whole matter. “Can they be trusted?” he asked. He was given an assurance that they are very trustworthy. In fact, he has already killed six people, one of the police officers boasted. “And what do you want me to do about the girl?” the SWAT team officer asked. Get rid of her, came the reply from Razak’s boss.

And they did just that. And Razak’s wife has this testimony on a signed Affidavit which she showed Abdullah. But they have not filed this Affidavit yet. This is the second Affidavit, which Razak’s wife is keeping as a bargaining tool. The first Affidavit was filed during the bail application in front of Justice Segera which revealed only part of what is in the second Affidavit.

Abdullah is not sure though whether he can use this piece of evidence to get rid of Najib because this whole episode involves the police. Will the police swing to the side of the current Prime Minister or do their loyalty lie with the previous Prime Minister? Officially, the police serve the government of the day. This is how it has always been and how it should be. But things are not normal anymore. Malaysia is not what it used to be. So there is no way of knowing which way the police will swing. After all, was it not the IGP who was behind the Anwar Ibrahim case and did not his loyalty then lie with Mahathir? How can Abdullah know whether this has now changed or whether the IGP is still with Mahathir?

Maybe the best thing would be to push the IGP into retirement. With him out of the way the nagging question of with who the IGP is no longer needs to be addressed. So the Deputy Minister of Internal Security, the same man who fixed Mahathir up in his Kubang Pasu division election, was tasked with the job of raising all sorts of issues like the high crime rate in Kuala Lumpur and how it has increased multi-fold. They also raised the issue of gangsters in Sarawak and how the police are partners-in-crime with these gangsters. This resulted in the Sarawak police chief being immediately summoned back to Bukit Aman and which sent the IGP rushing to Sarawak to look into the matter.

Now, over to the next scene, in another turn of events, a website mysteriously appears alleging that this same Deputy Minister received RM5.5 million in bribes as an inducement to release three Chinese underworld bosses from detention in Sungai Renggam. Who created this website? No one knows. It was certainly not one of the normal webmasters who created it. In fact, most did not even know about the existence of this website. No one even noticed it or was aware of its address. But somehow the police noticed it. They were aware of it. They knew the website address. They were in fact the only one who did.

The police now have to investigate the Deputy Minister since it has been revealed on this website that he took RM5.5 million in bribes to release three underworld bosses under detention. In the past, as is the normal tradition in Malaysia, the police do not launch an investigation unless a police report has been lodged. This is the procedure and the police have said so many times. The Prime Minister too has repeated this time and again. And they never investigate what is on the internet unless it is to investigate those running the website with intent to take action against the webmaster or writer. And an anonymous website, like the one that revealed the Deputy Minister’s corrupt act, is never given the time of day, let alone taken seriously.

But in this particular case they are taking it seriously, notwithstanding the fact it is an anonymous website and no police report has been lodged. The Deputy Minister suspects that the website was set up by the police themselves and he is boiling mad. But no one really knows who set it up so one can only suspect. The Anti-Corruption Agency then called the Deputy Minister in for interrogation. But he is not scared. In fact he is very angry, especially because the Prime Minister did not protect him and allowed this to happen. No doubt the ACA can always announce that they have not found any evidence that the Deputy Minister had committed a crime. But the fact that he is being investigated and interrogated is bad enough to cast doubt on his innocence.

The Deputy Minister then turned the tables on the ACA interrogators. If they pursue the corruption case against him then he is going to reveal that Kalimullah and Khairy gave him RM1 million to fix up Mahathir in the Kubang Pasu division election. If he goes down he is not going to go down alone. He will take Abdullah with him. He will reveal that Abdullah was behind the effort to sabotage Mahathir. This is a breach of the party Constitution and the party Code of Ethics. Abdullah can be suspended or sacked from the party. And Abdullah will then have to resign or would automatically lose his job as Prime Minister of Malaysia.

But the worst is not over. There is still more. Cold sweat broke out on the foreheads of those who initially thought the Deputy Minister was headed for doom when he revealed that the amount was actually not RM5.5 million but more than that. The RM5.5 million was only for the three Chinese underworld bosses in Sungai Renggam. There was another amount of RM7 million which was the bribe to release an even bigger underworld boss, the boss of bosses. This underworld boss, Datuk K, is well known in Kuala Lumpur and is the owner of ‘S’. He controls all the prostitution, illegal gambling, loan sharking, and much, much more.

The trouble with Datuk K is he likes to boast to all and sundry, especially when he has had a bit too much to drink. In the 2004 General Election he personally met the Prime Minister to hand over a RM20 million cash donation to help fund the election. So he now has immunity. He bought his immunity for RM20 million cash. And the man who brought him to meet the Prime Minister was the one-time MCA Youth leader, another Datuk K. And we all know that the MCA has links with the underworld, as do Umno and the MIC. So he is not scared of the police. He has the Prime Minister and the MCA in his pocket.

Soon enough the IGP got to hear about Datuk K boasting to all and sundry that he is untouchable and that the police cannot do a thing about him. So the IGP showed him who is the boss and arrested him. And this made Datuk K mad as hell. He had bought protection. How come they now arrest him? No sooner was he behind bars and even before they could lock the cell door his underworld empire breaks out into a power struggle. One of his young lieutenants gets assassinated in the fashion of Al Capone’s Chicago. Datuk K cannot remain behind bars. Every day off the streets is costing him millions. And if his empire breaks up beyond repair he will never be able to put it back together again. He needs to get out, and get out fast.

Datuk K sends an emissary to meet the Prime Minister’s son, Kamal. A price is negotiated. The figure of RM7 million is agreed upon. Kamal gets his brother-in-law, Khairy, to get the job done. The Deputy Minister is summoned. It is a three-way deal. The money will be shared equally three ways. Datuk K is allowed back on the street. And the Deputy Minister informs his executioners that this is the story that will emerge. Do they still want to hang him out to dry? He will not go down alone. The Prime Minister will go down with him. They will now have to declare that there is no case. Case closed.

Abdullah now has a knife at Najib’s throat. Mahathir in turn has a knife at Abdullah’s throat. It is a Mexican stand-off. Najib’s throat can get slit any time. But Abdullah too will have his throat slit in the process.

Whatever it may be, while we wait to see who makes the first move, Najib may have to go as early as July if he wants to stay a free man. For sure he cannot stay on as Deputy Prime Minister. But Abdullah too may not be able to stay on as Prime Minister in light of the crimes he committed. Thus far the only evidence against Abdullah is that he chaired the Umno Supreme Council meeting that made the decision to sabotage Mahathir and that the Minutes of the meeting was doctored with three pages expunged to erase the evidence. But if the Deputy Minister of Internal Security testifies that Kalimullah and Khairy paid him RM1 million to fix Mahathir up then Abdullah is dead meat. Then there is the matter of the bribes to release the underworld bosses and the RM20 million Abdullah received from the underworld boss of bosses in 2004.

All the ACA and police need to do now is pressure the Deputy Minister on the corruption case involving the Chinese underworld bosses. If he can’t take the heat he will turn on Abdullah and reveal the episode of the RM1 million, the RM5.5 million, the RM7 million and the RM20 million. That will end Abdullah’s career and Malaysia will see a new Prime Minister. And who will this new Prime Minister be? Will it be Najib? Well, maybe not Najib. Malaysia Today knows who this new Prime Minister might be. But then why should we tell. We may, I repeat, may reveal this in time. But then again we may not. Anyway, stay tuned. You might get lucky.                                                                                                                                                              Website – http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/corridors.php?itemid=7012

Category: General

Posted by: Raja Petra

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi left the country quietly and in a hurry early on the night of 16 July 2007. He is due back on 27 July 2007; or so they say. Where he went and why he went there was never explained and no one is being told why the Prime Minister needs to sneak out of the country and stay away for ten days. The mainstream media imposed a total news blackout on the matter and only a few would have known had Malaysia Today not written about it. What was puzzling is the fact that the Prime Minister of New Zealand was still in the country and Pak Lah was scheduled to meet her the day she was supposed to leave for home. Needless to say, Pak Lah stood her up. Other engagements Pak Lah was supposed to attend or officiate had to suffer the disappointment of not being able to witness the spectacle of our Prime Minister fast asleep the entire duration of the event. They were just told by telephone that Pak Lah would not be able to attend without any explanation as to why.

It makes one wonder when Pak Lah leaves the country every time there is a tragedy and lives are lost. Remember the Johor floods late last year? Now it is the Nuri helicopter crash. By the way, the government will be using these Nuris for another three years but will install beacons in them to enable the authorities to find them faster when all the balance crash. The pilots in fact call them flying coffins. Sheesh! What kind of insensitive and irresponsible government do we have anyway?

Anyway, that is not the most perplexing part of this whole issue. The day Pak Lah left, his most trusted secretary resigned in a huff. He just threw his resignation onto the table and flew off to London, not wanting to have anything more to do with his boss who has been most difficult of late. If there was one man who the late Endon liked and trusted very much it is this man. And this man is now gone.

But no, that is still not yet the most perplexing part of this whole issue. The next day, the IGP, Musa Hassan, the Director of the Special Branch, and according to some reports, the Sabah Chief Minister, Musa Aman, flew to Australia to meet Pak Lah. (Others, however, say Musa Aman went earlier and missed Pak Lah while even others say he actually went to Singapore and not to Australia — without Pak Lah’s knowledge and permission of course).

Now, there are many theories as to why they all suddenly joined Pak Lah in Australia. One theory is that Pak Lah wanted their feedback on whether he can call for a general election in August. The boys on the ‘Fourth Floor’ led by his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, want the elections over and done with by the third week of August so that the 50th Anniversary of Merdeka on the night of 30 August 2007 can also be a celebration of Pak Lah’s landslide victory, a repeat of the 2004 General Elections of sorts. Of course, the Elections Commission (SPR) has announced that they will only be ready for an election by September so the August theory may not be correct. On the other hand, the SPR announcement could be a Red Herring to fool the opposition into thinking that the elections cannot be called before September, and then suddenly, in August, they call for an election and catch the opposition with its pants down.

I, however, would discount this first theory because such a discussion can easily be held in Putrajaya or Kuala Lumpur and the entire top guns need not fly to Australia just to discuss this. Furthermore, Khairy was not in the discussion so certainly Pak Lah would not want to discuss the matter of the general election without his son-in-law being present — unless he now wants to exclude Khairy from the equation like he is telling some people whom he is trying to persuade to swing over to his side.

The second theory — and this is what the people in the intelligence community tell me — is that Musa Aman and Musa Hassan wanted to discuss Malaysia Today, plus get Pak Lah’s blessing and permission to close Malaysia Today down and arrest me. The reason the Director of the Special Branch was asked to tag along is so that he can brief Pak Lah on the intelligence reports they have obtained as to the damage Malaysia Today has inflicted on the image of Sabah, the Royal Malaysian Police, and Pak Lah personally.

Musa Aman recently announced that Barisan Nasional Sabah is confident of sweeping all the 60 state seats and all the 25 parliament seats in Sabah and in that same process will wipe the opposition off the face of Sabah. But he is not really sure that this can be done as Malaysia Today is quite popular and is widely read in many parts of Sabah, even in some of the rural areas. Musa Aman feels that Malaysia Today needs to be silenced as fast as possible if they want to realise their dream of pembangkang sifar (zero opposition) in Sabah.

Other theorists say that Musa Aman did not really go to Australia to meet Pak Lah but instead just used this as an excuse to go visit his mistress, Jennifer Marcos, who they say lives in Perth not far from Pak Lah’s house. I personally don’t buy this theory of course as I don’t think Musa Aman would be so rash as to squeeze some sex in on the side with our most righteous and most virtuous Prime Minister in town. Surely Pak Lah would not tolerate such pussy-footing from one of his ministers. I mean, would Pak Lah allow one of his ministers to do what he would never do himself? No, I don’t think so.

Musa Hassan, in turn, say my Deep Throats, wanted to cry on Pak Lah’s shoulder about the second ‘Black Eye’ the Royal Malaysian Police is suffering after the first one on 20 September 1998, the night that the then IGP beat up Anwar Ibrahim to a pulp. The Police Force is rapidly losing its credibility and they are worried that with five more Statutory Declarations of police officers that Malaysia Today has promised to reveal, the damage to the Royal Malaysian Police may be beyond repair. Musa Hassan too feels that Malaysia Today must be silenced, and as fast as possible.

The police is now looking into how it can silence Malaysia Today. One possibility would be to arrest me and charge me for sedition. The other would be to get the ISPs to block Malaysia Today like they did recently with the get-rich-quick websites. But blocking Malaysia Today may not work as there are always ways around this ‘road-block’. Furthermore, Malaysia Today is not located in Malaysia so the long arm of the Malaysian law cannot reach beyond our shores. The fast-track and sure-fire way would be to arrest me and charge me for sedition. And they are now studying the articles I wrote plus the comments from readers and bloggers to see what seditious laws we have broken and use this to come get me. (So expect me to start deleting your ‘offensive’ postings and maybe even bar you at the same time if you don’t behave).

Well, let them try. They will certainly be very surprised. It is not that easy to pin down an Anak Raja Bugis. Not even the mighty Dutch could do that and in the end they were forced to make a treaty with the Bugis and share everything they plundered in the Straits of Malacca 50:50. Anyhow, I doubt this was the purpose of Musa Aman’s, Musa Hassan’s, and the Director of Special Branch’s trip to Australia to meet Pak Lah. That is if we go by what the third theorists tell me.

As I said earlier, Pak Lah made this sudden and unplanned trip to Australia while dropping all his appointments in the process, including the meeting with the Prime Minister of New Zealand who was left hanging in her hotel room. This is not only unbecoming of a Prime Minister but highly unusual as well. Now, according to some other Deep Throats, Pak Lah was advised to leave the country and to take his family with him for his own good. It seems, according to what I have been told, if Pak Lah does not leave, then he may suffer arrest. And the reason he summoned the two topmost policemen to Australia is so that they could brief him about the security situation and whether it is true that there are moves to arrest him.

Now, what is not clear is: why should Pak Lah be arrested and who would be the one who will arrest him? After all, Pak Lah is clean and has committed no crime — well, other than the Scomi government contracts, the ECM Libra insider trading, the Oil-for-Food scam, the RM600 million bribe to 191 Umno divisions, sabotaging Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in Kubang Pasu, mismanagement of the RM1 billion a year Terengganu Oil Royalty, etc., etc., etc. This, I cannot comprehend, and unless this is made clear then I find this theory difficult to accept as well.

There is another theory which I find even more far-fetched, although some of my Deep Throats swear on their mothers’ graves they are telling me the truth (they never told me whether their mothers are dead or still alive though). According to these people, Pak Lah’s wife, Jeanne Danker, was actually married a second time after her divorce from Endon’s brother and that Pak Lah is actually the third husband. However, say my Deep Throats, with an extremely strong conviction to boot, Jeanne is not yet divorced from the second husband. My Deep Throats further testify that Pak Lah’s people are now looking for this second husband somewhere on planet earth to get him to testify that he has in fact verbally divorced Jeanne although there are no documents to this affect. Have you heard the saying that a verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on?

No, this theory is even more difficult to fathom. Even if this is true, which, as I said, I am inclined to believe is not, why did the entire family have to leave Malaysia in a hurry, and unplanned on top of that? Are they telling me that his matter of Jeanne’s second, missing husband cannot be settled in Malaysia but can in Australia? Can you see how this does not make sense? I know they say that Jeanne’s second husband is a foreigner but surely he couldn’t have been an Aborigine!

Anyway, let us forget about all these theories and let us instead speculate on what might be the real reason. But this is mere speculation mind you. And speculation is just that, speculation. Okay, Pak Lah and his family left Malaysia in a hurry, just like the previous Thai Prime Minister. Was Pak Lah; just like the previous Thai Prime Minister; under extreme pressure and that is why he left the country? Hmm…..interesting…..wasn’t the previous Thai Prime Minister ousted. Nah, it can’t be, not in Malaysia.

Well, Pak Lah is due back on 27 July 2007. I am sure he will return all safe and sound; and as sleepy as usual. And I am sure that was what Malaysia’s two topmost policemen went to Australia for; to assure Pak Lah that all is honky-dory and peachy-rosy back in Malaysia. In the meantime, I will half-believe the theory that the purpose the IGP, the Sabah Chief Minister, and the Director of the Special Branch went to meet Pak Lah in Australia was to discuss how to close down Malaysia Today. And, since I half-believe that, I am going to fire another shot at Musa Aman and Musa Hassan; you know, a sort of cat and mouse game.

I am going to recap what I previously wrote about the raping of Sabah’s forest reserves and how Musa Aman is going to make RM4.8 billion from this scam. This time, however, I am supporting my allegation with documents in the form of Agreements. Please read what I previously wrote as follows (click the headings to access the full articles):

Raping of Sabah’s forests
How to make RM4.8 billion in just a couple of years

Monday, July 31, 2006

The Ulu Segama Reserve (203,080ha), Malua Forest Reserve (33,969ha) and Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve (51,118ha) cover an area the size of Rhode Island or four times the size of Singapore.

Based on government valuation, the value of these three forest reserves is RM4.8 billion. The open market price would of course be many, many times that.

Large-scale timber harvesting would end by 2007 and will be replaced with sustainable forest management practices. To beat this deadline, the Sabah government is allowing fast-track logging in these forest reserves so that they can clear the area of trees within the next year or so.

This is genocide of the highest degree.

The pictures can be viewed here

PROPOSAL FOR TAKE-OVER OF TIMBER EXTRACTION & SALE OF TIMBER OF SABAH FOUNDATION TIMBER CONCESSION AREA IN SABAH

1. Background of the concession

i. Locality : Gunung Rara, Kalabakan, Tawau, Sabah bordering to Maliau Basin.

ii. Coupe No. : YT 3/04 (NFM)

iii. Acreage : 61,217 acres (24,774 hactares)

v. Ownership : Yayasan Sabah conession area managed by a wholly-owned subsidiary company of Sabah Foundation.

2. Current Status

i. Approval : The said concession has been approved for assignment by the Board of Directors of Innoprise Corporation Sdn. Bhd.

ii. Value of concession : The inventory report estimates that the proceed from the sales of timber amounts to RM400 million.

The total destruction of Sabah’s rainforests: genocide of alarming proportions

In 1800, there were 2.9 billion hectares of tropical forests worldwide. However, over these last 200 years since 1800, mankind has been rapidly destroying this valuable forest area that took thousands of years to develop. Since 1950 alone, half of all tropical rainforests have disappeared, leaving just 2.5 million square miles (647 million hectares) of forests remaining and, every year, we continue to lose an estimated 93,000 square miles more.

The RM11 billion silap mata (sleight of hand)

On a conservative calculation of RM42,000 per hectare, the market value of 250,000 hectares of virgin rainforest is roughly 11 billion Ringgit. Yes, that’s right, RM11,000,000,000; more than you can count in your lifetime. The perplexing part about this whole deal is, logging started as far back as the 1990s though the project was only supposed to kick off in 2005. This means they started extracting the logs almost ten years before the commencement of the paper mill — starting from Yong Teck Lee’s tenure as Chief Minister, right through to Bernard Dompok, Osu Sukam, Chong Kah Kiat and now Musa Aman.

Musa Aman’s hidden hand

For almost ten years now, Benta Wawasan Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, which is in turn owned by the Sabah Foundation (Yayasan Sabah), has been reaping, or should I instead say raping, Sabah’s rich forest resources. They did this under the pretext of servicing their pulp and paper mill project, which actually never took off. In fact, it appears like there was no intention to embark on the project in the first place. They just wanted the RM11 billion worth of logs.

Sabah’s Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves about to be plundered

Two Sabah forest reserves, to be bequeathed as Malaysia’s biodiversity gift to the world by the end of 2007, are set to be logged in a month or two – endangering countless species of plants and wildlife. A race against time is underway to log the Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves, covering a total of 236,825ha, which is three times the size of Singapore, before the deadline. The state-owned Yayasan Sabah holds logging rights in the forest reserves and recently appointed at least three companies to log in the area.

EIA sought over logging plan

Show us the EIA report. This is the call by environmentalists concerned over the proposed logging in the Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves covering 236,825ha in east Sabah. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) report, they said, was necessary for such a massive project and should be put to public scrutiny if it existed.

Logging at Sabah reserves to go ahead

Sabah will go ahead to log at two forest reserves bequeathed as Malaysia’s biodiversity gift to the world once the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report is approved. The EIA report for logging at the Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves in the state’s east coast has been completed. Whether it would be made public will depend on the Department of Environment (DOE).

State Govt unlikely to back down on Malua, Ulu Segama

It is very unlikely that the State Government will withdraw its plan to allow logging in the Malua and Ulu Segama forest reserves, home to various endangered species, including wild orang-utans. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman also continued to insist that felling of timber in the two areas would not damage the environment.

Okay, that takes care of Musa Aman. And this is only a fraction of what I have written over the last three years mind you. If I compile everything I have written thus far, I can fill the pages upon pages of an entire book. Anyway, for more details, please see the Chronology, Notes and Addendums in the section below. Now, for Musa Hassan, I will just reveal some brief excerpts of what I have in my possession. Trust me; this is also a mere fraction of the whole thing and I am keeping the rest for when they come for me.

AKUAN BERKANUN DEEP THROAT TWO

2. Pada Mac 2005 jam 0030, saya bersama PPKG C/Insp. Mohd Shah Bin Kamaluddin dan anggota telah melaksanakan tangkapan WTT terhadap Ah Chai. Ketika itu saya nampak Ah Chai menelefon seseorang (panggilan Dato’) dan bercakap dalam keadaan gelisah. Kemudian saya telah menyemak nombor telefon orang yang bergelar Dato’ tersebut dan saya dapati nombor telefon tersebut adalah kepunyaan YDH Tan Sri Ketua Polis Negara yang ketika itu adalah Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara.

3. Pada Mac 2005 jam 0200, ketika sedang menguruskan tangkapan terhadap Ah Chai di pejabat D7, IPD Kluang PPKG, C/Insp. Mohd Shah ada beritahu kepada saya bahawa seorang pegawai dari IPK Johor, DSP Tukiman ada menelefonnya dan mengatakan YDH Timbalan KPN meminta supaya Ah Chai dibebaskan pada malam itu juga dan meminta pendapat saya. Saya memberitahu kepada PPKG bahawa kita tidak boleh berbuat demikian kerana repot tangkapan telah dibuat. Semasa dalam perjalanan untuk menghantar Ah Chai ke penjara Air Molek, Ah Chai ada beritahu kepada saya yang beliau hanya akan menjalani sekatan selama 6 bulan sahaja. Saya dapati Ah Chai kelihatan tidak puas hati dengan saya kerana membuka kes fail keatasnya.

4. Pada 08/03/2006, saya menyertai pasukan serbuan terhadap premis bersama ASP Md. Yusof dan anggota dan telah berjaya menangkap 4 orang termasuk isteri kedua Ah Chai nama Than Lee Poey dan merampas peralatan perjudian ekor haram.

5. Pada 30/03/2007 jam 0100, Ah Chai bersama isteri keduanya serta PR nama Ah Chin telah ditangkap dibawah Sek 3(1) Ordinan Darurat oleh pegawai D7 IPK Johor, ASP Mior Fahim Bin Ahmad dan dibawa balik ke IPK Johor untuk ditahan di sama selama 60 hari bagi meneruskan siasatan.

6. Pada 08/04/2007, saya dihubungi oleh sumber memberitahu Ah Chai terlalu marah pada saya dengan menuduh saya membuka kes fail keatasnya. Sumber memberitahu bahawa group Ah Chai akan menukarkan saya ketempat lain.

7. Pada 07/05/2007, saya mendapat tahu melalui E-siar yang saya ditukarkan ke Bahagian D4, JSJ Bukit Aman.

AKUAN BERKANUN DEEP THROAT THREE

2. Diantara Ogos dan September 2004, saya terima arahan dari KPP D7, Bukit Aman melalui semboyan mengarahkan supaya kes fail AKT terhadap salah seorang penganjur judi ekor haram di Kluang bernama Chai Ngew atau nama panggilan Ah Chai. Saya arahkan D/Sjn Yassin untuk membawa kes fail tersebut ke D7, Bukit Aman untuk tatapan YDH KPP D7, Bukit Aman. YDH KPP D7 mengarahkan supaya kes fail tersebut dikemaskini dengan segera.

3. Pada Mac 2005, Waran Tangkap dan Tahanan (WTT) terhadap Ah Chai dikeluarkan oleh KKDN. WTT telah disempurnakan oleh PPKG Kluang, C/Insp. Mohd. Shah Bin Kamaluddin dan Ah Chai kemudian dikenakan tindakan buang daerah selama satu tahun setengah di bandaran Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. Selepas 6 bulan dalam buangan, Ah Chai kemudian telah dibebaskan setelah memenangi kes habeas corpus.

4. Pada September 2005, setelah dibebaskan Ah Chai dapati masih meneruskan aktivitinya sebagai penganjur perjudian ekor haram di kawasan Kluang. Pada 08/03/2006, hasil maklumat yang diberikan oleh YDH Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara pada masa itu Dato’ Musa bin Hassan, saya bersama sepasukan anggota D7, IPD Kluang telah menyerbu sebuah ‘Counting Center’ kepunyaan Ah Chai dan berjaya menangkap 4 orang termasuk isteri kepada Ah Chai serta merampas peralatan penganjuran judi ekor haram. Kemudian pada 18/03/2006, satu serbuan lagi telah dibuat oleh D7, IPK Johor terhadap sebuah lagi ‘Counting Center’ juga kepunyaan Ah Chai dan berjaya menangkap 5 orang pekerja dan merampas peralatan judi ekor haram. Intelligent statement 9 tangkapan tersebut telah diambil oleh PPKG dan anggota D7 saya dan kesemuanya menjurus kepada aktiviti yang dijalankan oleh Ah Chai.

5. Pada 30/03/2007 jam 0100, Ah Chai bersama isteri keduanya serta PR nama Ah Chin telah ditangkap dibawah Sek 3(1) Ordinan Darurat oleh pegawai D7 IPK Johor, ASP Mior Fahim Bin Ahmad dan dibawa balik ke IPK Johor untuk ditahan di sana selama 60 hari bagi meneruskan siasatan (soal siasat). Saya berasa hairan kerana pihak JSJ, IPD Kluang belum membuka kes fail yang baru terhadap sabjek yang ditangkap dan percakapan risikan yang ada hanya berdasarkan 2 serbuan terhadap counting center. Pihak D7, IPK Johor juga ada meminta kersemua percakapan risikan sabjek yang dirakam oleh IPD Kluang supaya dihantar ke D7, IPK Johor pada bulan Feb 2007. Saya juga berasa hairan kenapa masih ada lagi tindakan terhadap Ah Chai sedangkan dia baru saja dibebaskan dari sekatan di bawah AKT.

6. Pada 07/04/2007, saya terima panggilan telefon dari D7 Johor, DSP Ng Fook Long bertanyakan kepada saya adakah Ah Chai, isterinya dan Ah Chin dari group MIMI (salah satu penganjur judi ekor haram di kawasan Kluang). Saya beritahu kepada DSP Ng, mereka bukan dari group MIMI tetapi group Ah Chai sendiri.

7. Pada 08/04/2007, sehari selepas mereka dibebaskan saya telah berjumpa Ah Chai di bandar Kluang dan telah berbual berkaitan pembebasannya. Ah Chai berkata kepada saya yang dia tidak berpuas hati terhadap saya kerana telah menganiayakannya. Saya bertanya kepadanya bagaimana dia boleh bebas. Ah Chai beritahu ada seorang kawannya (nama tidak diberitahu) baik dengan IGP sekarang. Saya bertanya lagi kepada Ah Chai, adakah orang itu bernama Tengku, Ah Chai hanya tersenyum sahaja. Sejak dari itu, saya merasakan bahawa group Ah Chai mungkin bernaung dibawah group Tengku.

8. Pada Mei 2006, saya dipanggil oleh Supt. Navamany untuk berjumpa beliau dan membawa 2 Kertas Siasatan berkaitan serbuan tersebut, statistik serbuan dan kes fail. Dalam temuduga, soalan yang diajukan kepada saya menjurus kepada percakapan risikan keatas sabjek-sabjek yang ditangkap keatas 2 serbuan tersebut serta 3 kes fail terhadap Ah Chai, isterinya dah Ah Chin. Saya merasakan persoalan yang diajukan kepada saya mempertikaikan kesahihan percakapan risikan yang telah diambil. Semasa itu, saya telah diarahkan bertukar ke IPD Kajang, Selangor Sebagai KBLD. Pertukaran ini adalah merupakan sesuatu yang tidak adil bagi saya kerana saya tidak pernah melakukan kesalahan tatatertib mahupun prestasi tugas berdasarkan kejayaan-kejayaan yang telah saya capai sepanjang tempoh saya bertugas sebagai KBSJD Kluang dan saya rasa saya masih lagi berupaya dan mampu menyumbangkan tenaga saya dalam JSJ. Dengan pertukaran saya ke bahagian Logistik saya tidak dapat memberi kesinambungan dalam tugas saya untuk memerangi jenayah.

MORE ON THE MUSA AMAN STORY

CHRONOLOGY

1) On 22 December 1994, Raykat Berjaya Sdn Bhd signed Re-logging Agreements with four companies — Kemudi Teguh Sdn Bhd, Nisbah Yakin Sdn Bhd, Kurnia Pulangan Sdn Bhd and Perwira Harmoni (M) Sdn Bhd — giving each company 17,000 hectares of logging concession (17,000 hectares X 4 companies) in the Gunung Rara/Kalabakan/Ulu Segama Forest Reserve at a way below market price of RM50.00 per cubic meter of logs extracted (See items ‘1’ to ‘4’ in the ADDENDUMS below).

2) On 15 February 1999, Raykat Berjaya Sdn Bhd signed Deeds of Cancellation of Agreements with the same four companies — Kemudi Teguh Sdn Bhd, Nisbah Yakin Sdn Bhd, Kurnia Pulangan Sdn Bhd and Perwira Harmoni (M) Sdn Bhd (See items ‘5’ and ‘6’ in the ADDENDUMS below).

3) That same day, 15 February 1999, Sabah Softwoods Sdn Bhd signed a Log Extraction Agreement with Sabavital Sdn Bhd giving it 129,500 hectares of logging concession in the Gunung Rara/Kalabakan/Ulu Segama Forest Reserve with NO PRICE SPECIFIED.

4) That same day, 15 February 1999, Sabah Melale Sdn Bhd, Rintisan Bumi Sdn Bhd, Sabah Softwoods Sdn Bhd and Sabavital Sdn Bhd signed a Log Extraction Agreement involving 306,310 hectares of logging concession in the Gunung Rara/Kalabakan/Ulu Segama Forest Reserve at a price of RM145.00 per cubic meter.

NOTES

1) Tun Sakaran Dandai was the Sabah Chief Minister until 27 December 1994. Therefore, the first Agreements were signed in a hurry just five (5) days before his term of office expired.

2) Tun Sri Bernard Dompok was the Sabah Chief Minister until 14 March 1999 so the cancellation of the Agreements and the new Agreements were signed one month before his term of office expired.

3) Musa Aman, the present Sabah Chief Minister, was the Director of the Sabah Foundation, Treasurer of Umno Sabah, and later Minister in charge of the Sabah Foundation.

ADDENDUMS

1) Pages 1 to 8 of the Relogging Agreement dated 22 December 1994 between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and Kemudi Teguh Sdn Bhd

2) Pages 1 and 8 of the Relogging Agreement dated 22 December 1994 between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and Nisbah Yakin Sdn Bhd (pages 2 to 6 are the same as in item ‘1’ above)

3) Pages 1 and 8 of the Relogging Agreement dated 22 December 1994 between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and Kurnia Pulangan Sdn Bhd (pages 2 to 6 are the same as in item ‘1’ above)

4) Pages 1 and 8 of the Relogging Agreement dated 22 December 1994 between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and Perwira Harmoni (M) Sdn Bhd (pages 2 to 6 are the same as in item ‘1’ above)

5) Pages 1 to 3 of the Cancellation Agreement signed between Rakyat Berjaya Sdn Bhd and the four companies (Kemudi Teguh And Bhd, Nisbah Yakin Sdn Bhd, Kurnia Pulangan Sdn Bhd and Perwira Harmoni (M) Sdn Bhd)

6) Schedule of companies involved in the Agreements

Websites – http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/corridors.php?itemid=6689 , http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/corridors.php?itemid=6773 ,  http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/holds.php?itemid=6854 ,

Nathaniel (Nat) Tan was taken by the Malaysian police on Friday the 13th July 2007 and later remanded for an investigation over an offence said to be committed under the Official Secrets Act.

However his lawyers say it’s politically motivated as the ‘document’ in question, available on the Net, exposes corruption involving a deputy Minister for Internal Security — who was later cleared by the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Attorney-General for lack of evidence and key witnesses — in an alleged ‘fee-for-freedom’ scandal.

July 17, Nat was released on police bail but he was ordered to report back to the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) in Kuala Lumpur, on July 31. In other words, Nat is still not out of the woods.

It’s still opaque as to the real reasons for Nat’s arrest.

One stark fact remains: The Police had gone for Nat, instead of going after the original perpetrator of the anonymous website that exposed the Minister!                                                                                                                                                  

Nat: Spirited away by UFOs… ended up in orange T-shirt, police cell

The UFOs here are to be taken to mean Unidentified Flippant Operatives.

In the free land of Malaysia, the whereabout of Nathaniel Tan, 27, could not be accounted for for almost six hours after he was spirit away by three plainclothes police officers around 4.45pm, July 13.

Within the span of time, there were reports that the policemen had asked that Nat bring his notebook computer with him before was taken away. The police had also earlier gone to Tan’s house to seize his desktop computer, Malaysiakini reported.

According to Malaysiakini which quoted witnesses, the policemen did not provide any reasons as to why Nat — I joined others by calling him Nat since December 2004 — was asked to go with them.

The witness said the policemen entered Nat’s office in Phileo Damansara and wanted him to follow them to the Bukit Aman police headquarters for questioning on “matters relating to certain postings on the Internet”.

Nat’s employers and lawyers were alerted, and police station hopping round was mounted to look for Nat, and to ensure his wellbeing as Nat’s health has not been good lately.

Lawyer Latheefa Koya (Lat) told malaysiakini that, according to a special branch officer known only as inspector William, there were no records of Nat being brought to Bukit Aman, Malaysia’s national police headquaters.

She said her team had also checked with Malaysian Control Centre (MCC), which is under the Bukit Aman. but to no avail. “Instead, they advised us to make a police report,” she said.

At 10pm, close to six hours after Nat’s disappearance, the police finally confirmed that he was indeed being held at Bukit Aman, according to an update on Malaysiakini.

Prison orange

However, by 11.25pm. Tan’s family members confirmed that Nat was actually being held at the Dang Wangi police station.

Nat was seen in the orange prison shirt. But he appeared in high spirit.

This is the latest update on Malaysiakini before the day’s final edition was put to sleep:

In the meantime, Lat had received information that the Investigating Officer is DSP Victor (016 304 4669). When she finally got through to him, we found out he had just gotten off the plane from Sydney. Victor said, they were investigating under the Penal Code.Lat then found out another fella from the Cyber-crime Division, Bukit Aman, ACP Tn Mohd Kamaruddin (019 6000 135), was in charge. At 10 pm, we were informed that they were holding him after all, and that he was being investigated under the Officials Secrets Act. [...]

The police at the (Dang Wangi police) station said, Section 420 of the Penal Code. Yep, another change.

Elizabeth also recorded that Nat was denied access to his legal counsel. Neither was he fed a single grain of rice since his arrest earlier in the day.

By midnight, former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim issued a statement, which I copied as follows:

Statement on the detention of
secretary to the President of the Foundation for the Future
July 13, 2007
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Today, Nathaniel Tan, who is my secretary as Chairman of the Foundation for the Future, was detained by three plain-clothes individuals. The officers did not identify themselves or their designation but merely mentioned that they were part of the Special Branch and requested Nathaniel to follow them and bring along his laptop.I strongly condemn the detention of Nathaniel by the Malaysian police. Nathaniel, 27, a graduate of Harvard and resident of Kuala Lumpur, has been actively involved in humanitarian and volunteer efforts in Aceh, Indonesia and Sierra Leone as well as with human rights groups in Malaysia.I want the Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan to take this matter to his immediate attention and confirm where and on what grounds is Nathaniel being detained. I request that his lawyers and family members obtain immediate access to Nathaniel to ensure his well-being and safety.

ANWAR IBRAHIM
Chairman
Foundation for the Future

For those uninitiated, Anwar is world renowned for being the victim of the ‘Black Eye’ in police hands.

Whereas, Nat is a graduate from Harvard University, Massachusetts, in ‘Peace and Conflicts’, a unique field of study which he drew up with his academic supervisor. He brought me around Cambridge in Masachusetts when I last visited the JFK School of Government during the winter of 2004. That made one feel warmth in the cold.

It was only a day before when Nobel Peace Price laureate Kofi Annan reminded Malaysia, a small country that aspired to become a major global player, that it has to subscribe to the doctrine of ‘Responsibility to Protect’.

They care for Malaysia.

Besides his official duty, Nat also blogs on jelas.info besides maintaining bangkit.net which he founded earlier.

Elizabeth, who was part of the team searching for Nat, has chronicled the ordeal in first-person account of what she called ‘incommunicado arrests’, and that all international human rights groups including the UN and World Organisation Against Torture had been alerted –here.

Another very young Malaysian whom I admire, John Lee, has provided a context to Nat’s arrest. It set me thinking and staying awake to blog this entry around 3.00am.

Posted by Jeff Ooi on July 14, 2007 02:51 AM                                                      Websites – http://www.jeffooi.com/2007/07/nat_spirited_away_by_ufos_ende.php  ,  http://jelas.info/ ,         

Category: General

Posted by: Raja Petra

Marina Mahathir

A few years ago, the TV programme that Lina Tan and I co-produce, 3R-Respect, relax and Respond, had one episode banned from being broadcast by the Censor Board. That particular episode was about young women who were being discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. It wasn’t so much the fact that we were talking about lesbians that got the censors’ knickers in a twist but that in interviews with two women, they both mentioned that their families continued to give them love and support. Apparently, telling the world that families continue to love their children or siblings despite them being gay was a truly radical notion, one which, in the words of our wise scissor-happy people, ‘would bring down society’.

My colleagues at 3R and I were truly astounded by this. For one thing, nobody who had seen the episode could find much that was controversial. Secondly, the idea that families should discard their own kin seemed to go completely against the whole family-values thing. And thirdly, we never knew that a 30-minute TV programme for young women could have so much power that it could actually bring down the whole of Malaysian society. Perhaps I should thank the Censor Board for bestowing on us that power!

The furore over bloggers these days reminded me very much of that 3R incident. So much noise and angst over three or four blogs, albeit hugely popular ones. On the one hand, blogs are supposed to be ‘not that popular’ read only by the urban elite while the rural masses are completely oblivious to it. What’s more, all they do is,apparently, lie. So if they are a bunch of liars who are only read by a small number of people sipping vanilla lattes, why worry?

But worry they do, to the extent of making police reports and calling for all sorts of bolts of legal lightning to be rained down on their heads, accusing them of ‘cyber’ crimes. And what are these ? Saying nasty things about people. Giving the country a bad image. Tut-tutting the government and its leaders. Gee whiz, these are the sorts of things that bring down our society? Give me a break!

I never knew that a handful of bloggers could be so powerful. So okay, they are writing about people in positions of authority, such as cops, doing things they shouldn’t, like take money for um…services rendered. Or, they are reminding people who read blogs that there are a heck of a lot of pots in Parliament calling kettles black. Some are just reporting on the truly imbecilic things that our allegedly esteemed leaders insist on saying. Some of these, especially the idiocies, are in the mainstream media anyway. While others are noticeably absent, or are, shall we say, spun in such a way that they sound better than they are.

But just because some bloggers talk about these, life the Malaysian way will go down the tubes? Such faith we have in ourselves! If this was true, Raja Petra would be the most powerful man in Malaysia.

Unless of course, among those alleged ‘lies’, there is the tiniest grain of truth. And when people are feeling guilty, not even such tiny grains can be allowed to come out. Siapa makan cili and all that. So let’s bring the mother of all hammers down on that tiny grain because otherwise, oh lor’, it might just grow!

I don’t have to reiterate it here but if we do have to worry about our image in the eyes of the world, it is the politicians we should be pointing accusing fingers at. Idiots like Bung Mokhtar and his ‘bocor’ remarks, Badaruddin Whatshisface and Jo B, both unfortunately from my home state, Zam, our Minister of Propaganda and of course , our ‘favourite’ nazi Nazri. Yes it’s all politics but does politics have to be so stupid? (Did anyone see the US Democratic Presidential candidate debate the other night? Can you imagine any of our lunkheads doing that?)

And this is the thing…how did we get to a point when we are embarassed by our own leaders, when we feel ashamed to own up to them? Can we even name one of them that we even admire these days? Even if we don’t agree with them but we can still admire them for their principles at least? What examples do they set for our children, for God’s sake? Is it any wonder that in that survey not too long ago, our politicians came out last when people were asked who they trusted? Who in their right minds would trust Nazri?

(Lest anyone think I only consider Government politicians untrustworthy, let me state that I wouldn’t lend money to any of the rest either.)

And we wonder why our young are disinterested in politics? Who can blame them? Rockstars and actors sound far more intelligent than our politicians any time. I’d rather tune in to Bono than Bung , no contest.

Maybe that’s it. They know they have nothing to offer. They know they’re skating on thin ice in the brain stakes. They know we can see through them. They don’t mind us thinking it but they sure as hell would rather we didn’t say it. Or worse still, say it and then give a cynical laugh. They think we’re making them look like idiots, without once thinking that they’re doing a pretty good job of it themselves. That’s what they find unforgiveable.

Hey you know, if any little thing I say makes Nazri foam at the mouth and gives him ulcers, well I don’t mind that. If Zam’s eyes pop out every time I call him out on any of his nonsense, that would give me a real kick. I could really get off on making any of these guys (and the occasional girl) burst a vessel or two.

In fact, I might start thinking I do have some power after all.
Websites – http://malaysia-today.net/blog2006/index.php?itemid=6858 , http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/ ,