Posted on

NEP and brain-drain of accountants

Letters
by C H Tan

Can you also address the brain drain within the accounting profession?

We witness in recent years unprecedented outflow of qualified accountants to cities such as New York, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, San Francisco, etc. This has exarcebated the already-bad-enough exodus across the Causeway. My take is that the main pull factor is the remuneration within the profession in these cities, but I can’t help to think that these opportunities to venture abroad and leave Malaysia (plus the NEP of course) are too good to turn down.

I know most of these beancounters, myself included, have to foresake family and friends in Malaysia for a better career prospect, not only for themselves, but for their children, and children’s children.

Personally, I have lived through the system myself. STPM, fighting for a place in the accounting faculty in University of Malaya, racial polarisation in residential colleges, etc. I have witnessed that at least a good 50% of my fellow coursemates who have packed their backs and moved abroad for a better pay package and hopefully a better quality of life too.

Nonetheless, there is a general consensus amongst us that we still long for a place call home. Being born and bred this country, there is no other cities and country closer to our hearts than our respective hometowns and Malaysia herself. Continue reading “NEP and brain-drain of accountants”

Posted on

Mustapha – international marketing officer or Higher Education Minister?

Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad seems to have lost his proper focus and responsibility, regarding his job more as international marketing officer for Malaysian universities instead of ensuring that Malaysian universities win international recognition as world-class institutions.

Mustapha, on a week-long visit to China to market Malaysian universities, said in Shanghai yesterday that he wants to see at least 15,000 Chinese students coming to Malaysia in three years’ time — more than double the present number.

He said the trend now was for more Chinese students to enrol in the Malaysian public and private universities for post-graduate programmes.

He also announced that his Ministry “will be going around China to market Malaysia as an education hub”.

The Higher Education Ministry has set up an education office in Beijing to promote Malaysia as a market for foreign students. A fifth overseas office besides Jakarta, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City and Beijing would be set up in Africa “due to the promising market in the continent”.

There is something very wrong with the spectacle of the Higher Education Minister leading a delegation to China to market Malaysian universities to Chinese students at a time when the latest world’s Top 200 Universities Rankings released ten days ago showed a continuing “free fall” of Malaysian universities. Continue reading “Mustapha – international marketing officer or Higher Education Minister?”

Posted on

RCI on Lingam Tape – grave concerns as no consultation whatsoever and indications of restricted terms of reference

Although the Cabinet last week decided on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape scandal, and it is to decide on its terms of reference on Wednesday, I am very concerned that there had been no consultation process whatsoever on its terms of reference and composition in the past five days.

This is a matter of grave concern as all indications point to a very restricted terms of reference which is going to spark a new outcry, as Ministers are still in thick denial of the need for far-reaching judicial reforms to check the rot in the past two decades to restore national and international confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary.

This could be fathomed from the statements of two of the three Ministers who had been appointed to study the Haider Report on the authenticity of the Lingam Tape.

Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad gave very clear indication that the terms of reference will be a very restricted one when he said that the royal commission would have the power to call anyone to assist in its inquiry. Continue reading “RCI on Lingam Tape – grave concerns as no consultation whatsoever and indications of restricted terms of reference”

Posted on

Citizens’ Low Expectations of Their Government

by M. Bakri Musa

It is a sad reflection of the citizens’ low expectations of their government and public institutions that the recent collapse of the Perak State Park Corporation’s building in Tasik Banding, Gerik, no longer provokes an outrage. The general reaction seems to be, “What’s new?” At this rate, soon only the buildings that stand would make the headlines!

Yes, Works Minister Samy Vellu feigned shock and anger, while Mentri Besar Tajol Roslin promised a “full investigation” of this latest disaster. We have heard those promises and reassurances too often before. Yet these new buildings keep collapsing or leaking, and half-baked projects like the crooked bridge to replace the causeway have to be scrapped.

From yet another perspective, or to “spin” it differently, it was indeed a blessing that such government facilities as the new Kuching Prison were not completed. With such shoddy constructions, it would have been a massive and tragic human trap, not a prison.

Only a few years ago there was a serious breach of security at the nearby Grik Army Base. The heist was perpetrated not by a gang of superbly trained infiltrators rather a rag tag bunch of sarong-clad village bums. Then too there was the promise by Defense Minister Najib Razak of a White Paper to get to “the bottom of the issue.” There was only one problem: It was only a promise. Continue reading “Citizens’ Low Expectations of Their Government”

Posted on

Kee Thuan Chye on Kerismuddin and “spaceman”

(Thanks Kee Thuan Chye for drawing my attention to his excellent conversation with Malaysiakini columnist Helen Ang, which I had missed. It is so good that I am putting it up on this blog as I believe many had missed it too – including his brain-storming theory that Malaysian sports have started going downhill from the 70s because of the NEP and Helen’s provocative nudges.)


Kee to deciphering Umno semiotics

Helen Ang
Nov 15, 07 12:51pm

Kee Thuan Chye is an author, actor-director and dramatist. He has written four major political plays: ‘1984 Here and Now’, ‘The Big Purge’ [read at the Soho Theatre in London, 2005], ‘We Could ****You Mr Birch’ and ‘The Swordfish, Then the Concubine’ [adjudged one of the top 5 entries to the International Playwriting Festival 2006 organised by the Warehouse Theatre in the UK.

He’s also a journalist of 30 years’ standing, beginning his career at The National Echo in 1977.

Q & A follows: (The views expressed here are strictly the interviewee’s own and do not reflect the stand of any organisation that he is with)

Helen: You’re someone who works intimately with language and having broad experience of the mass media — which in Malaysia is the channel for communicating the dominant narrative. As such, I’d like to get your reading on the ideas behind some of the things said and done at the recently concluded Umno general assembly.

Let’s start with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi saying: “The act of unsheathing and kissing a keris is part of our cultural heritage but its meaning has been twisted to spread fear among non-Malays, and the image of Umno and Malaysia has been smeared overseas.”

The PM was referring to Youth chief Hishamuddin Hussein who at the wing’s assembly in 2005 started his so-called ‘tradition’ of brandishing the keris. He has since said he expects non-Malays to eventually become “de-sensitised” to his waving this ‘symbol’, and in fact pronounced that naysayers should get used to it.

Deputy PM Najib Abdul Razak believes the act should be celebrated by all races. What do you make of the semiotics of the Umno keris? Is it a “symbol of protection for everyone” as Hisham and the local media would have us think?

Kee: I certainly don’t think it is a symbol of protection for everyone. This kind of talk is typical of Umno politicians who often twist semantics for the purpose of fooling the people. Well, it can fool those who are easily swayed by superficialities but not the intelligent public. Many Umno politicians appear to be pretty superficial themselves and therefore tend to misperceive that the thinking of the rakyat is mainly of the lowest common denominator.

The keris is a striking visual image. When it was first brandished in 2005, it naturally sent fear waves among the non-Malays. The body language of the person wielding it and the words uttered in accompaniment and, more significantly, the tone in which they were uttered combined to even more dramatic effect.

In 2006, the second time it made its appearance, the event looked choreographed — with Hishammuddin raising the unsheathed keris heavenwards and his Umno Youth brethren raising their fists in unison alongside him, in rows of solidarity. It was fearsome, like a military phalanx. All the signs pointed to aggression. Continue reading “Kee Thuan Chye on Kerismuddin and “spaceman””

Posted on

End NEP in universities – why Malaysia has fallen out of Top 200 Ranking

Just as Vice Chancellors must be held responsible for the poor rankings of their universities, the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad must bear personal responsibility for the dismal international ranking of Malaysian universities – particularly for Malaysia falling completely out of the list of the world’s Top 200 Universities this year in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings.

I find it scandalous that the shocking fall of the ranking of Malaysian universities THES-QS 2007 world Top 200 Universities was totally ignored by last week’s Umno General Assembly, whether by Umno delegates or leaders, although the 2007 THES-QS rankings were revealed when the Umno General Assembly was in session.

This shows the superficiality of the commitment of Umno leaders to the slogan of “Cemerlang, Gemilang and Terbilang” and to transform Malaysia into a knowledge-based innovative economy marked by a world-class university system.

Further details and studies have shown that Malaysian universities have suffered a very serious drop in the international league of the world’s best universities, virtually undergoing a free fall when compared to other Top Universities.

For the first time, there is not a single university in the op 200 Universities list.

Both Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) had fell out of the Top 200 Universities ranking, with UKM plunging from 185th slot last year to 309th while University fo Malaya plunged from 89th in 2004 to 169th in 2005, 192nd in 2006 to 246th in 2007. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), which was ranked as the only “outstanding” five-star university in a recent government survey, fell to 307th spot from 277 last year. In 2005, USM was in the 326th spot.

But this is not the only dismal result for Malaysian universities in the THES-QS 2007 ranking. Also for the first time, there is not a single Malaysian university in the separate listing of Top 100 Universities for five subject areas — Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities; Life Sciences and Biomedicine; and Engineering and Information Technology. Continue reading “End NEP in universities – why Malaysia has fallen out of Top 200 Ranking”

Posted on

Rashid knows when is next general election – why Chua Soi Lek so angry as to call him a “liar”

Election Commission Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahmat has made many Barisan Nasional leaders hot under the collar with his claim in Malacca on Thursday that he knew when the general election would be held — but he would not tell.

Even Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak says he is clueless, though he would like to know.

However, nobody could be as incensed as the MCA Ministers and leaders as it must be a tremendous loss of face for them to be caught on the wrong footing, unable to answer what must be asked them umpteenth times everyday by their supporters as to when is the next general election when a lowly government functionary like the Election Commission Chairman is fully privy to.

Such manifest ignorance could not be more embarrassing at this time as it drives home what all MCA Ministers are most sensitive about — their continued irrelevance, impotence and marginalization in government!

This explains the Cabinet rage (like road-rage of Mat Rempits) of the Health Minister and MCA National Vice President, Datuk Chua Soi Lek who as good as called Rashid a “liar” (China Press) in making such a “preposterous claim”. Continue reading “Rashid knows when is next general election – why Chua Soi Lek so angry as to call him a “liar””

Posted on

RM4.5 m Belum complex collapse – pass-the-buck begins as Tajol blames Ramli Ngah

The “passing-the-buck” game over the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation complex in the Royal Belum State Park, Perak has begun, with the Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Tajol Rosli Ghazali blaming his predecessor Tan Sri Ramli Ngah for the debacle.

Who is really responsible for the collapse of the RM4.5 million Belum complex — Tajol or Ramli?

After visiting the Pulau Banding site of the collapsed structure in Grik yesterday, Tajol described the complex as a project that had never been viable and had been problematic from the start.

This is what he said in the New Straits Times report today:

“How can you spend RM4.5 million for a complex that has only 14 rooms?

“I am really frustrated (with the whole project). As an accountant, I knew that it would be a problem to manage due to the limited number of rooms. You need at least 50 rooms for such a place to be economically viable.”

Tajol said there were developers in Ipoh who could build a complex or resort with 100 rooms on a budget of only RM8 million. Continue reading “RM4.5 m Belum complex collapse – pass-the-buck begins as Tajol blames Ramli Ngah”

Posted on

RCI on Lingam Tape – hold your welcome with disturbing indication it will be very restricted inquiry

The welcome for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s announcement of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Lingam Tape scandal will have to be conditional as there is disturbing indication that it will be a very restricted and circumscribed inquiry denied the task to resolve the long-standing national and international crisis of confidence in the independence and integrity of the judiciary which had gone from bad to worse for nearly two decades.

It is most unusual and not a very good sign that Abdullah’s announcement of a royal commission came solely from a Bernama report instead of a proper media conference before a battery of local and foreign journalists.

Abdullah had stumbled from one faux pax to another in the mishandling of the Lingam Tape scandal, taking two full months to arrive at the decision to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry, when such a decision should have been made right from the very beginning when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made public the first eight minutes of the 14-minute Lingam Tape if the Prime Minister had been serious with his pledges of integrity and a trustworthy government, two of the ten principles of Islam Hadhari.

Abdullah said in the Bernama report that the Cabinet had decided at its last meeting on Wednesday to set up the royal commission and the Cabinet will decide next Wednesday on the commission’s terms of reference. The members of the royal commission will be determined after its terms of reference were finalized.

Something is clearly amiss, which does not reflect well on the Cabinet with regard to the professionalism, competence or high standards of the Cabinet decision-making process. Continue reading “RCI on Lingam Tape – hold your welcome with disturbing indication it will be very restricted inquiry”

Posted on

Emergency Parliament debate – collapse of RM4.5 million Perak State Park complex in Belum

I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah for an emergency motion in Parliament on Monday on the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation complex in the Royal Belum State Park, Perak.

Only two days ago, in his visit to Sarawak, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was calling on state governments to contribute positively to his campaign to improve the government delivery system.

The Perak State Government seems to have delivered a response with the collapse of the complex in Belum Park.

It is unfortunate but true that in his four years as Prime Minister, there are increasing evidence of Malaysia degenerating from “First-World Infrastructure, Third-World Mentality” to “Third-World Infrastructure, Fourth-rate Mentality” where there are not only cracks galore in public buildings, but we seem to have entered into a new phase of collapsing buildings!

Never before in the 50-year history of the nation has the public service been seen as more inept and incompetent — with the unending list of “crack-ups” of new government buildings and public construction projects, whether the brand-new administrative capital of Putrajaya, the RM270 million world’s second largest court complex in Jalan Duta, Kuala Lumpur, the repeated leaks in the Parliament Building after RM100 million renovation, the safety of the 15-storey Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry in Precinct 4, Putrajaya and the latest, the “implosion” and collapse of the RM4.5 million Royal Belum State Park administrative complex.

Who is going to be responsible for the RM4.5 million losses following the collapse of the Royal Belum State Park complex? Will it be the long-suffering taxpayers who will have to be the suckers again to foot the bill — while everyone else, whether the contractor, the government supervisor and those in authority who had a cut in the RM4.5 million project, enjoy impunity with some laughing all the way to the bank with their profits? Continue reading “Emergency Parliament debate – collapse of RM4.5 million Perak State Park complex in Belum”

Posted on

Rehabilitation for whom?

By Farish A. Noor

He’s trying to make me go to rehab;
I said no, no, no.
I ain’t got the time
And if my daddy thinks Im fine…
He’s trying to make me go to rehab;
I said no, no,no.

– Amy Winehouse, ‘Rehab’ (2007)

So now its ‘political rehabilitation’, is it? As a corrective measure for kids who go to demonstrations and who have been ‘bad’ in the eyes of the government? That Malaysia’s leaders can even suggest such a thing speaks volumes about the extent to which the space of alienation between the state and the nation has grown over the years, and points to the lack of contact, communication and understanding between the powers-that-be and the real Malaysian nation made up of the rest of us. (1)

But are we surprised? After all this is the same country whose geography is now cluttered with a smattering of ‘faith rehabilitation centres’ that have been set up under the auspices of an Islamist project said to promote some skewered vision of a modern, pluralist, democratic Islam that is benevolent and accommodative: So accommodative in fact that it can accommodate dozens, if not hundreds, of Malaysian citizens deemed ‘immoral’, ‘deviant’, ‘apostate’ and out of the ordinary according to the norms set by an invisible and unaccountable cabal of Islamic experts in the pay of the state. We already have rehabilitation centres whose job it is to ‘turn over’ these alleged deviants and misfits and force them to conform to the normative praxis of Islam that is deemed correct by the state, so should we be surprised if the leaders of UMNO and the government can go one step further and call for the rehabilitation of children as well?

From the viewpoint of an academic who studies the development of modern postcolonial states, Malaysia seems to be a textbook example of postcolonial development turned awry. What began as a country with so much promise — its plural racial and ethnic composition, blessed with plentiful resources that was also strategically located at the cross-roads between East and West –has been squandered for the sake of one ruling party that seems to cater primarily to the needs and demands of one specific ethnic-religious constituency. Continue reading “Rehabilitation for whom?”

Posted on

RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted

Now that the British East Herts Council had rejected the Malaysian government’s application to establish a RM70 million Sports High-Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury outside London, the siren proposal to appeal against the decision must be decisively resisted and struck down.

The Cabinet next Wednesday should just bury the idea of the RM70 million Brickendonbury Sports HPTC and establish an inquiry to ascertain who were responsible for the folly of wasting RM2 million in pursuing the project and who had really benefited.

The Council had publicly said that the Malaysian government had been consistently advised of the constraints in developing the Brickendonbury site due to the Green Belt policy, the site’s remoteness, the listed mansion and the historic park land. The Council had been doubtful about how outdoor sports facilities would assimilate satisfactorily and be accommodated within the historic garden landscape.

Why then was the Sports Minister, Datuk Azalina Othman and the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Sports, so stubborn in ignoring these objections to the extent of throwing RM2 million of public funds down the drain, when good governance and good sense would have advised against it? Continue reading “RM70 m Brickendonbury Sports complex – bury idea and probe why RM2 million wasted”

Posted on

Raja Nazrain very good choice as Chairman of RCI to restore confidence in judiciary

From the statement by the Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim that the government was open to the possibility of setting up a royal commission on the “Lingam” videoclip, it is evident that there is a significant momentum which will make any failure to establish such a Royal Commission of Inquiry a direct, personal and major crisis of confidence for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Early this month, when I told Parliament that I had seen and vouched for the existence of the second part of the 14-minute Lingam Tape, before Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim released another 10 seconds of the six-minute portion which had been withheld from the public so far, there was no surprise, astonishment or demand from the government or Haidar Panel that I reveal the details or the source.

This could only mean that by that time, all those involved in authority knew that the Lingam Tape was genuine and that any attempt to deny or ignore it would be at their grave personal peril in terms of public credibility and integrity. Continue reading “Raja Nazrain very good choice as Chairman of RCI to restore confidence in judiciary”

Posted on

Recognition of universities – Mustapha’s very strange request to Chinese govt

The request by the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamed, currently on a seven-day visit to China to promote Malaysia as an educational hub and to strengthen ties with some of the top Chinese universities, makes for strange reading.

Mustapha wants the Chinese government to recognize more Malaysian universities and colleges.

At present, China only recognizes 50 institutions in the public and private sector in Malaysia when their total numbers more than 500.

Mustapha wants more of our educational institutions to be recognized by the Chinese government for obvious reasons. Students from China form the second largest number of foreign students in the country after Indonesia and the Higher Education Ministry is marketing Malaysia aggressively to lure more Chinese students to Malaysia.

There is nothing wrong with such objective or marketing but Mustapha’s request is nonetheless very strange and extraordinary.

Firstly, it has come as news as well as shocker too to Malaysians that the Chinese government has recognized 7 IPTAs (public institutions of higher learning) and 43 IPTSs (private institutions) for two reasons:

  • The Chinese government recognizing more Malaysian universities and colleges than the Chinese universities and colleges recognized by the Malaysian government, although many Chinese universities are internationally recognized for their academic merit and excellence while Malaysian universities have disappeared from the international radar of academic excellence as well as the vast difference in numbers of educational institutions between the two countries.
  • When China recognizes 43 IPTS and only 7 IPTAs, it is a clear and indisputable sign that the IPTAs, despite their head-starts and public funding, have been overtaken bhy IPTSs in terms of international recognition of academic excellence and repute.

In the recently-released World’s 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES)-Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World Top 200 University Rankings, six Chinese universities made into the Top 200 list while Malaysian universities had been suffering free fall in international rankings in recent years, with not a single one making into the prestigious 200 Top ranking. Continue reading “Recognition of universities – Mustapha’s very strange request to Chinese govt”

Posted on

Yet another book banned

Letters
by Zainah Anwar

We have just been alerted to another round of book bannings by the Book Censhorhip DIvision of the INternal Security Ministry.

This time it includes a very important book by a very progressive religious scholar from Indonesia, Kyai Hussein Muhammad who runs a pesantren in Cirebon and sits on the Women’s Commission, appointed by the President of Indonesia.

This is really disgraceful as the govt is sending out the message that anything written about equality and justice for women in Islam is considered a threat to national security!

And yet the PM goes on and on talking about a rational and progressive Islam that is open to reinterpretation to meet the challenge of change; the 9th Malaysia Plan and the cabinet committee on gender equality has set a minimum quota of 30%women in decision making positions, Islam Hadhari promises to eliminate injustice agianst women – are these all empty words?

SIS has translated Kyai Hussein’s book into BM as we find it most useful to help Muslims understand that Islam stands for justice and equality and there is much within the tradition that is progressive and supportive of women’s rights.

The version banned is the original Indonesian version. I do hope you and your colleagues would be able to raise this issue in Parliament

Posted on

Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No”

Breaking News

Malaysia’s Application To Set Up HPTC In Brickendonbury Rejected

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 (Bernama) — The East Herts Council Development Control Committee has rejected the Malaysian government’s application to set up a High Performance Training Centre (HPTC) at the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC) in Brickendonbury, Britain.

The National Sports Institute director-general, Datuk Dr Ramlan Abdul Aziz, said the decision was made at the council meeting in Bishops Startford, Herts, on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Malaysia).

“With the decision, we now have to prepare a report to be submitted to the Cabinet Committee on Sports headed by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak for their guidance on the next course of action,” he said in a statement. Continue reading “Brickendonbury Sports Complex – British local authority says “No””

Posted on

Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion”

On Tuesday, Malaysians saw on CNN the spectacle of the implosion of the 16-storey 1,000-room New Frontier casino-hotel, collapsing the second resort that opened on the Las Vegas Strip half-a-century ago with 1,000 pounds of explosives.

It was a spectacular engineering feat to behold, the precisely-planned and delicately-balanced demolition operation — to give way to a US$2 billion, 3,000-room megaresort Las Vegas Plaza, featuring a 500-ft tall Ferris Wheel similar in size to the famous London Eye, set to open in 2011.

Malaysia has also our own implosion on the same day, but it was a most shameful and ignominous one – the collapse of the RM4.5 million Perak State Park Corporation’s two-storey administration building on a hillslope on the edge of Tasik Banding in Gerik.

Star said the structure “collapsed like a house of cards” while New Straits Times said the complex “collapsed into a heap of rubble”.

Malaysia’s very own implosion was no spectacular engineering feat but spectacular building failure and government negligence. Continue reading “Malaysia “implosion” very different from Las Vegas “implosion””

Posted on

LingamGate – Give Rais’ book “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia” to all Cabinet Ministers

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz announced yesterday that three senior ministers have been appointed to study the three-man Haidar Panel report on the Lingam Tape on the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and court judgments.

Nazri said that the three Ministers, i.e. Home Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, Culture and Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim and he himself, were given the task by the Cabinet due to their legal background and because all three had been in charge of law affairs in their ministerial portfolios and to make recommendations on the appropriate action to be taken at the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The Cabinet had also decided that each minister be given a copy of the report.

Two questions immediately come to mind.

Firstly, why wasn’t the Haider Report made public immediately? Why must Cabinet Ministers read the Haider Report first, to find out whether it is good or bad for the government, before deciding whether it should be made public?

We should follow the best international practices of countries which fully practice accountability, transparency and integrity where such inquiry reports, whether by Royal Commission or inquiry committees, are made public at the same time they are submitted to the appointing authorities — to show that the government has nothing to hide, regardless of the findings.

Secondly, why should there be another three-man Ministerial Committee to study the Report of the three-man Haider Panel on the Lingam Tape? One does not need to have any legal background or experience in Cabinet in charge of law affairs to decide what is right and proper to be done on a question of accountability, transparency and integrity, not only about the Lingam Tape revelations about the perversion of the course of justice on fixing of judicial appointments and judicial decisions but the urgent need for judicial reforms. Continue reading “LingamGate – Give Rais’ book “Freedom under Executive Power in Malaysia” to all Cabinet Ministers”

Posted on

Lingam Tape – all three members of Haidar Panel unanimous in separately recommending Royal Commission of Inquiry?

Sin Chew Daily today reported from its sources that all the three members of the Haidar Panel established to determine the authenticity of the Lingam Tape had one common recommendation — to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

If this is true, then the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would have no option but to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry or he would be facing his greatest crisis of confidence in his four years as Prime Minister.

Then the questions are the terms of reference and composition of the Royal Commission of Inquiry.

In such circumstances, the Prime Minister should undertake a proper and meaningful consultation with representative personalities and groups to ensure that the Royal Commission of Inquiry when established would not become another divisive issue, either because of its restricted terms of reference, controversial composition or procrastination.

Such a Royal Commission must have full and untrammeled powers to inquire into the deep-seated causes for the series of crisis of confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary which have tainted Malaysia’s system of justice to one held in high international esteem and regard two decades ago to one looked askance nationally and internationally by all respectable jurists, legal and civic organizations.

Posted on

Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister

by Martin Jalleh

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz has trouble in understanding why 40,000 people took to the streets recently to submit a memorandum calling for electoral reforms, to the King.

The Minister is actually quite consistent in his lack of understanding especially when it comes to the right of assembly. Well, he had found it difficult to comprehend why 2,000 lawyers walked to Putrajaya to submit a memorandum on judicial reform to the PM.

Nazri displayed his sterling ignorance when he asked in parliament recently: “The opposition has won seats in the previous elections, especially in Kelantan, why are they calling for the Election Commission (EC) to be freer and fairer?”

The answer is rather simple — if they do not press for an electoral reform, they may even lose all their seats in the next coming general elections due to the farce, flaws and fraud that has been and still is increasingly evident in the electoral system.

Nazri told parliament: “… it would be pointless to try and understand the reason behind the rally as the brains of opposition members do not function well… the wires in their heads are severed. I don’t understand why they claim that the EC is unfair.”

Nazri was over-confident of the “wiring” in his own brains, for it was only recently that he had in fact quite loudly told opposition MPs “not to get over-excited about the ‘independence’ of the EC, when it does not exist” (Malaysiakini, 23.10.07)!

Nazri had added: “We all know that we have the EC Act. If you take that into account, the EC is bound to the legislature and it is also tied to what we would approve… So, don’t get too excited when discussing the EC’s independence because it cannot act freely — it is tied to the legislature.”

Contrary to what Nazri had claimed, the EC is established and given a specific mandate by the Constitution. It is not answerable to the Executive nor to the Legislature. In other words, Nazri’s brains are not functioning as well as he would like us to believe.

Nazri should not confine himself in the comfort of his air-conditioned office in Putrajaya. He should join the rakyat in the next walk for justice or electoral reform — get a feel of reality. It would enhance his short memory and prevent his thinking faculties from short-circuiting. Continue reading “Of Public Protests, Pondans and a Pea-Brained Minister”