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Shanty Chong filed class action for 856,484 acres of land promised to Sabahans but alienated to outsiders

Two days ago, Shanty Chong, who will contest the Sandakan parliamentary seat on the DAP ticket, was the lawyer who filed legal proceedings in the Tawau High Court over 856,484 acres of land promised to Sabahans but alienated to outsiders.

Shanty is the lawyer for the class action on behalf of three plaintiffs, Nasir Manaf and Wong Chaw Yen of Lahad Datu and Henry Apok from Menggatal.

Ex-PBS Cabinet sued
Daily Express
20 February, 2008

Tawau: Three land applicants filed a suit Tuesday against the entire State Cabinet Ministers under the tenure of the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Government (1985-1994).

The suit filed in the Tawau High Court registry was in connection with a New Land Alienation Policy (Smallholders Scheme) which was introduced by the then Berjaya Govenrment on Dec. 4, 1979.

The three plaintiffs claimed that when PBS came to power, the then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan (first defendant) and his eight Cabinet Ministers failed to implement the promised policy.

Three of them – Pairin, Dompok and Kurup are presidents of PBS, Upko and PBRS parties respectively while most of the others no longer hold key political positions.

Pairin is a Deputy Chief Minister-cum-ural Development Minister in the current State Government while Dompok is a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. Kurup is chairman of SLDB, a government agency.

The plaintiffs Nasir Manaf and Wong Chaw Yen of Lahad Datu and Henry Apok from Menggatal filed their writ of summons through the legal firm of Messrs Chee & Co of Tawau.

The other named as second to ninth defendants are Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup, Datuk Ahmad Bahrom Abu Bakar Titingan, Datuk Kadoh Agundong, Datuk Tan Kit Sher, Datuk Haji Nahalan Damsal and Datuk Chau Tet On.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiff stated that on Dec. 4, 1979 then Chief Minister Datuk Harris Mohd Salleh announced that the State Government had reserved a total of 906,330 acres of State land for landless Sabahans under a New Land Alienation Policy.

The lands were to be alienated directly or through Government agencies at 15 acres to each landless Sabahan. The landless were invited to register at the nearest Land Office throughout the State. The plaintiffs claimed that they had registered for the lands in the early 1980s and had each waited for the 15 acres land to be given to them as promised.

They claimed that the defendants, who were Ministers in the new PBS State Government that had just toppled Berjaya, had all the authority, power and obligation to fulfill the Berjaya State Government’s contracts and had even from time to time made statements assuring that every Sabahan would be given 15 acres to uplift the standard of living of the rural people. Continue reading “Shanty Chong filed class action for 856,484 acres of land promised to Sabahans but alienated to outsiders”

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Shanty Chong the new DAP MP for Sandakan?

Today, at the launching of the DAP Ipoh Timur election ops centre, I should be standing before you breathing with confidence, vim, vigour, vibrancy and vitality to plunge into the Electoral Battle of the Century.

In the past one week, I should be helping the DAP leaders to develop the great and critical issues facing the people and nation in the 12th general election when 11 million voters exercise their vote – but I feel a great sense of failure that I had not been able to do so as I had been “floored” by the Penang and Perak general election problems that had cropped up in the past several days.

In fact, for the first time I started my blog more than two years ago, there was not a single word from me in my blog yesterday!

With however heavy a heart and mind, I call on Party leaders, members and supporters to immediately and instantly re-focus and not to allow whatever heartaches and mental agonies to undermine their single-minded objective – to fulfill the potential and promise of the March 8 general election as the political watershed for the country, marking a major stride in striking down the ever-powerful Umno political hegemony and the marginalization of other Barisan Nasional component parties by denying two-thirds majority to the Barisan Nasional in Parliament, Perak and Penang.

I call on all party leaders, members and supporters to give the fullest support to the party in this general election particularly on candidate decisions by the party leadership, as sometimes very difficult decisions have to be made, with everyone rallying behind the DAP in the Electoral Battle of the Century.

At least yesterday there is uplifting news, this coming from Sabah – that our Parliamentary candidate for Sandakan will be a person whom I had the greatest respect and admiration, who had been Sessions Court judge in Tawau and Registrar of Borneo High Court – Shanty Chong Chui Lin, 57. Continue reading “Shanty Chong the new DAP MP for Sandakan?”

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Electoral Battle of the Century – hope or despair for the future

(Speech by Lim Kit Siang at the launching of the DAP Ipoh Timur general election operations centre at Jalan Kampar, Ipoh on Thursday, 21st February 2008 at 11.30 am)

This is the launching of the operations centre for the DAP Ipoh Timur parliamentary constituency for the 12th general election on March 8, 2008.

In another two days on Sunday, 24th February 2008, the curtain raises for what I would describe as the “Electoral Battle of the Century” as the March 8 election will decide not just the future of Malaysia for the next five years, but what Malaysia is going to be in 2020 and the next half-century of our nationhood.

It is going to be the most important general election not only in 51 years but 100 years of Malaysia – with many Malaysians waiting for the outcome of March 8 polls to decide whether there is still hope for change in Malaysia and to fully commit the rest of their lives to the building of a great Malaysian nation which can take its proud, proper and rightful place in the global arena in the face of the challenges of globalization or despair that there is no hope for the future in this land of our birth and spark another debilitating brain drain of the best and brightest to benefit foreign countries – which have already seen the exodus and brain-drain of one-to-two million Malaysian talents as a consequence of the New Economic Plan, causing Malaysia to rapidly fall behind not only Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea but in danger of being overtaken by Vietnam, Thailand and horror of horrors Indonesia.

In short, what the Electoral Battle of the Century is all about – Is there hope for change in Malaysia whether 2020 or next 50 years or one can only despair about the future of a great nation which has lost its way! Continue reading “Electoral Battle of the Century – hope or despair for the future”

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Greater Scrutiny Needed for UM/PPC-MINT-Glomac Venture

BY Bakri Musa

The proposal by the University of Malaya’s governing board to let a private entity, PPC-MINT-GLOMAC, develop 27 acres of campus land deserves greater scrutiny. The university’s press release of February 9, 2008 did not contain sufficient details for the public or government to make an informed decision.

I am supportive of our universities going into partnership with private entities to develop campus assets, real estate and others. That would conserve the universities’ limited financial and other resources which they could then focus on purely academic matters. Creatively and properly structured, such partnerships would benefit the university and its community, the government and thus the public, as well as the participating private companies. Handled less competently and it would result in the rapacious stripping of valuable public assets to benefit only the lucky few. God knows, Malaysia has plenty of such examples, with the boondoggle Port Klang Development Project being the latest and most expensive. Taxpayers will ultimately be left holding the multi billion ringgit tab; it is criminal that our leaders would let such scarce funds be squandered.

According to the press release, the university would stand to collect at least RM312M, or RM200M plus the profit from the project, whichever is higher. Profit figures are tricky; they can be subjected to highly “creative” accounting. Enron posted record profits the year before it filed for bankruptcy. At the other end, it is the job of smart accountants to “reduce” profits (at least on paper) especially when reporting to tax agencies. A quick and dirty maneuver would be to simply inflate your expenses by paying your executives, consultants and directors outrageous compensations. Another would be to “expense” what otherwise would be capital expenditures; meaning, charging the expense in one year instead of spreading them over many. Continue reading “Greater Scrutiny Needed for UM/PPC-MINT-Glomac Venture”