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Why Najib’s good Vesak Day message fell flat

I commend the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak for a great Vesak Day message, when he called on Malaysians not to focus on differences between one another, but to look for similarities and common ground,

Although Najib invoked the call “In the spirit of human progress, in the spirit of developing this great country, in the spirit of 1Malaysia”, it unfortunately fell flat because the actions of his government in his first month as Prime Minister failed to match his slogan of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.”

Despite his attendance at the Vesak celebrations at the Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Buddhist Temple in Jenjarom yesterday, Najib had not been able to evoke the electrifying effect his predecessor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi created in his first Christmas message as Prime Minister in his second month in office in December 2003, and when he was guest-of-honour at the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM)’s Christmas reception in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur six years ago.

Najib and his think-tank should give deep and serious study as to why his premiership has not been able to launch off successfully despite various goodies and promises of more to come. Continue reading “Why Najib’s good Vesak Day message fell flat”

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RM12 billion PKFZ scandal – six times bigger than RM2.5 billion BMF scandal of Mahathir

MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat should stop running from the question why he had failed to honour his repeated public undertakings to “tell all” and make public the full report of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit into the mega-billion ringgit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal. Malaysians want to know what he is hiding.

The PwC audit report into the PKFZ scandal has been described in the media as “a damning disclosure of mismanagement, clandestine deals, conflicts of interest and a total disregard for transparency and accountability” for a project which was supposed to cost RM1.845 billion in 2002 under the then MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik but ended up at RM4.6 billion under MCA Deputy President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy.

Now, horror of horrors, it is reported that the final cost of the PKFZ scandal under MCA President and the third MCA Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat is the frightening figure of RM12 billion, which would have to be borne by the Malaysian taxpayers although the Cabinet had been assured in 2002 that the PKFZ project was a feasible, self-financing project that would not require a single sen of government financing!

If the PKFZ scandal had ballooned from RM1.8 billion in 2002 to RM12 billion in seven years under three MCA Ministers, it will be six times bigger than the first Mahathir mega financial scandal – RM2.5 billion BMF scandal! Continue reading “RM12 billion PKFZ scandal – six times bigger than RM2.5 billion BMF scandal of Mahathir”

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Hold fresh elections to end the Perak constitutional impasse

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Prime Minister Najib Razak was reported in the press to have cautioned elected Perak state representatives to follow the rule of jaw, as the pandemonium on Thursday 7th May and that unruly behaviour of elected leaders followed the law of the jungle instead of the rule of law.

Well said, except that the party that begun the law of the jungle was none other than UMNO, the party of the Prime Minister because he master-minded and executed the take-over of the Perak state government by using unconstitutional means. Continue reading “Hold fresh elections to end the Perak constitutional impasse”

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Preamble to a Penanti proclamation

by Azly Rahman

Two scores and ten years ago, our forefathers and foremothers brought forth in this kampong the plan for a just republic that never materialised. We argued and waged peace for a republic of virtue but instead were given a warmongering State of Denial.

We toiled to establish a kingdom of peace and tolerance but saw instead the evolution of a dictatorship of plutocracy and totalitarianism. We have become ‘It’ in our journey towards the ‘Thou’. The “I” in us has gone astray, intoxicated by the “it-ness” of things.

Two scores and ten years ago, we thought we had Independence – given on a silver platter by a dying imperial power. But what we got was a state that evolved out of ketuanan Melayu. We wanted Liberty but we got Plutocracy.

Two scores and ten years later we are seeing a country divided, sub-divided, and further sub-divided into tribes and post-industrial tribes. The politics of race have strengthened and inspired the few to plunder and patronise the many. We are seeing chaos disguised in the name of consensus. Continue reading “Preamble to a Penanti proclamation”