Day: August 30, 2007

Makna Merdeka 50

Merdeka negara! Merdeka bercita!

Bebas negara! Bebas bersuara!

Merdeka bukan hadiah penjajah

Kebebasan insan hasrat Allah.

Alam ku luas, borkat Illahi

Rezki ku Tuhan yang mengsukati.

Laut, gunung, sempadan tanpa ku segani

Gelombang dunia berani ku layari!

Kampong halaman bukan nya sauh

Ingin ku menghilir merantau jauh.

Di mana bumi ku pijak, di sana langit ku junjong

Selagi hati berhajat, cita ku jangan di kandong.

Hidup, bebas, bahagia, hasrat Allah

Pantang celaka lah jika di ubah.

Raja dan menteri mesti mempatuhi

Jangan kau mungkir perentah Illahi.

Rakyat negeri bukan nya kuli

Untok di kerah ka sana sini.

Zaman purba tak akan kembali

Mungkin menteri yang di buang negri!

Renungkan nasib si Idi Amin

Yang Shah Pahlavi pun tak terjamin.

Pemimpim negri mesti menginggati

Rakyat — bukan raja — yang di daulati.

Tidak ku sangka songsang

Anak dagang di negri orang.

Orang kita/orang sana, tidak bermakna.

Takkan Melayu hilang di dunia

Bukan kah itu gesa Laksmana?

Urat ku mendalam di bumi asing

Loghat ku pun ikut sama mengiring

Sambal belacan dah berasa lain

Teras ku tetap Melayu tulin! Continue reading “Makna Merdeka 50”

When Malaysians heard or read the news about the RM4.1 billion investment from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries for the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in Johore, their first thought would be that Malaysians themselves have this amount of money to spare if they do not have to be squandered in a bailout of the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PFZ) scandal.

Up to now, there has been no proper and full accountability as to how the PKFZ, touted as a feasible and self-financing project which would not require a single ringgit of public funds, has ended up as a RM4.6 billion burden of the taxpayers.

This is why the report today that the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy has gone on medical leave for health reasons attracted more than its usual share of attention.

His press secretary said Chan has to go abroad for a medical check-up and consultation.

I wish Chan speedy recovery, although two questions jostle for answer:

Firstly, is Chan another example of the present crop of Cabinet Ministers who have no confidence in Malaysian specialists and medical expertise that one after another has to go overseas for medical treatment and consultation. This question is particularly poignant when the Health Minister is another MCA leader, Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek.

Secondly, does this mean that for a fortnight, no one from the Transport Ministry need to be responsible to give full accountability for the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal.

Knowing that he had to go on medical leave for two weeks, Chan was being most irresponsible in failing to give a full and proper accounting of the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal in his written answer to my question in Parliament on Tuesday.

In his answer, apart from making a bald claim that there was no fraud, irregularity or malpractice, Chan failed to address the specific issues which I had highlighted in my urgent motion on the PKFZ bailout scandal on Monday but which was rejected by the Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah as not complying withy the three prequisite requirements of being urgent, definite public importance. Continue reading “RM4.6 bil PKFZ bailout scandal – nobody accountable for two weeks when Kong Choy on medical leave?”

The appointment of Datuk Alauddin Mohd Sheriff as the Chief Judge of Malaya is one up for the Conference of Rulers and one down for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi — as the debacle is a major setback to the prestige and authority of the Prime Minister as a result of the seven-month constitutional impasse and crisis.

The objection of the Conference of Rulers to the earlier nominee for the Chief Judge of Malaya resulting in the seven-month constitutional deadlock has proved to be fully justified and the Prime Minister most imprudent and ill-advised to give blind support to the proposal submitted by the Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim.

The question crying out for answer is why the Prime Minister placed himself in such an embarrassing and indefensible position and for such a protracted length of time.

Isn’t there a proper mechanism to vet candidates whether for judicial appointments or promotions?

The Chief Justice must bear great responsibility for the constitutional debacle but from the constitutional standpoint, the Prime Minister cannot shirk final responsibility as the buck must stop at his desk.

Fairuz now says that he is waiting for an explanation from a Federal Court judge on his failure to write the grounds of judgments in more than 35 civil and criminal cases. Continue reading “CJM debacle – one up for Conference of Rulers and one down for Pak Lah”

A handful of irresponsible Barisan Nasional MPs had disgraced Parliament and demeaned the 50th Merdeka anniversary by staging a farce of patriotism in Parliament yesterday just to score cheap political points to catch Opposition MPs off-guard.

Yesterday’s Parliamentary sitting started at 10 am with the Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah making a statement on the 50th Merdeka anniversary before the start of the question session, which was quite unusual as the Speaker represents all MPs, both government and opposition, and should only make pronouncements unrelated to the duties of his office after consultation and mandate of both sides of the House.

Opposition MPs were completely unaware that the Speaker was going to make any such announcement on behalf of Parliament, and that was why I was not in the House at the time. Not only the majority of Opposition MPs were not in the House, this applies to the majority of BN MPs — resulting in the Speaker making an important announcement to an empty House!

What was clearly out of order was that the Chairman of the Barisan Backbenchers Club Datuk Raja Ahmad Zainudin Raja Omar (BN — Larut) followed up with a speech which he read from a prepared text (proof of prior knowledge and pre-planning) ending up with his call to MPs to emulate Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman 50 years ago with seven shouts of Merdeka in Parliament.

The farce ended with the BN MP for Kinabatangan Datuk Bung Moktar Radin deriding the Opposition benches and asking offensively whether the two Opposition parties did not celebrate Merdeka. Continue reading “Farce of patriotism by handful of BN MPs – black chapter for Parliament and blot for 50th Merdeka anniversary”