Month: June 2009

The Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin today rejected my emergency motion in Parliament to debate the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry as not urgent on three spurious grounds that:

(i) the Port Klang Authority (PKA) has set up a task force and two committees as follow-up to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report on the PKFZ;

(ii) a copy of the PwC report has been submitted to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC); and

(iii) the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is conducting investigations on the PKFZ.

My motion read:

“That the House gives leave to MP for Ipoh Timor YB Lim Kit Siang to adjourn the House under S.O. 18 (1) to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance – the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal. Continue reading “PKFZ scandal – Speaker rejects urgent motion for Royal Commission of Inquiry”

by M. Bakri Musa

I am heartened that UMNO Youth supports the proposal that a pass in English be mandatory in securing the SPM certificate. I commend the organization in going further then merely supporting the proposition. Among others, UMNO Youth suggests increasing the number of English teachers in rural schools and hiring foreign native-speaking English teachers as well as those retired teachers trained under the old system and thus fluent in English.

I wish that UMNO Youth would be more daring and follow the example of its sister wing, UMNO Puteri, and support the continuation of the teaching of science and mathematics in English. I would also prefer that they would support the proposal making a pass in MUET be mandatory for university entrance. That notwithstanding, the stand taken by these two junior UMNO organizations is in stark contrast to that taken by Pakatan Rakyat partners. Continue reading “Something Sensible From UMNO Youth”

This is from @limkitsiang (twitter).

06/15/2009 02:02 PM
7 pr mps suspended 4 2days- nizar ngeh koo ham nga kor ming mahfuz mohd hatta dzulkifli gopalakrishnan 4 bubar dun band

06/15/2009 12:47 PM
Press conference Parliament lobby with Anwar, Seng Giaw, Dzulkifli n PR MPs: 3 more PKFZ questions 2OTK, Suspension of Nizar n 6 PR MPs etc

06/15/2009 12:20 PM
speaker pandikar rejects my urgent motion on pkfz scandal on ground it is not urgent n pwc rept submitted 2macc/pac
Continue reading “Pandemonium in the house”

My three questions (No.49 to No. 51 on the 17th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

No. 1. – Did Ong get specific approval from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be on the run from Parliament this week to avoid parliamentary accounting on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, when everybody knows that this will be top on the parliamentary agenda?

Furthermore, Ong should know that last Thursday I had given notice to the Speaker of Parliament, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin that I will move a motion of urgent definite public importance when Parliament reconvenes today on the PKFZ scandal calling for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Or was Ong so cocksure that my motion for an urgent debate on the PKFZ scandal today would be rejected by the Speaker that he could just go off overseas, when his first duty as Transport Minister is to be accountable to Parliament for his Ministerial duties and not to scoot off overseas under one pretext or another, like his predecessor Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in November 2007! Continue reading “Did Ong Tee Keat get specific approval from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be on the run from Parliament this week to avoid parliamentary accounting on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

Letters
by Tan Hao Chong

I am a 2008 SPM student ranked top 7th in a premier school at Johor Bahru (S.M.K. Sultan Ismail) .I scored 11A1 and 1A2 in Chinese in SPM. I applied for JPA and was rejected after appeal. I was not even offered for local institutions. I am active in co-curricular activities and I believe I have done well in my interview.

The rejects had brought many sleepless nights for me and my parents. What is most sad is that students of poorer results were randomly selected in an attempt to confuse the public. My mum took the matter to the Sin Chew Press and Nanyang Press. Thanks to the papers the matter was brought to the attention of many.

I am writing to you as going to Mr. Lim is our only and last hope for justice now. Continue reading “PSD scholarships – MCA has again failed to give justice”

This is from @limkitsiang (twitter).

06/14/2009 09:06 PM
Latest info – My urgent motion tmr 2debate PKFZ scandal in Parliament tmr will be rejected. Reason? MACC investigating! Totally outrageous!

06/14/2009 07:01 PM
Will Ong Tee Keat appear in Parliament tmr? Will the PwC audit report together with all appendices be tabled 4all MPs tmr or more delays?

06/14/2009 06:58 PM
1st item of Parliament business tmr – my emergency motion for Royal Commission Inquiry into RM12.5b PKFZ scandal – will Speaker allow it?
Continue reading “Twitter history in Parliament tomorrow”

Letters
by ABJ

Here we go again. DG Merican laments yet again that the source of Malaysia’s entire healthcare problems lie with private clinics and hospitals as reported by Annie Freeda Cruez, the New Straits Times’ healthcare correspondent “extraordinaire”.

Incredible as it may seem, DG Merican with all the healthcare resources of the Malaysian government at his beck and call, has chosen to blame, yet again, private clinics and hospitals as the main cause for the rising death toll of dengue in Malaysia. Why are we not surprised? What next? Blame the H1N1 on airlines or the virus itself?

Merican appears to have forgotten, that the government’s own understaffed, overcrowded health and rural clinics conveniently close their doors at 4.30pm on the dot driving the hapless population to private clinics, if there is still one that has not closed, in that locality. Continue reading “Dengue – shouldn’t Health DG be sacked?”

My three questions (No.46 to No. 48 on the 16th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

No. 1. – I commend Ong for the prompt answer to my third question yesterday, viz: “As Parliament is periodically asked to approve allocations for the multi-billion ringgit bailout of PKFZ, is Ong ensuring that every MP gets a copy of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report of PKFZ, together with the appendices, to ensure that there could be an informed debate and discussion of the issue in Parliament?”

The government portal on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal, www.pkfznews.com.my, announced today that “All MPs to have a copy of the PwC report, including the appendices”.

I am glad that Ong had changed his mind. At the two-day Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 10/11), Ong had refused to revoke his directive to the Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng restricting the access of PAC members to the four-inch high appendices only during the PAC meeting.

This is a most ridiculous and unacceptable directive totally contrary to all concept of accountability and transparency as well as the important principle of responsibility to Parliament. Continue reading “Will Ong Tee Keat drop everything in France and take the first flight back to discharge his paramount duty as Minister – to fully account to Parliament on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is nearing his first two-and-a-half months as the new Prime Minister in Malaysia, but he does not seem to be able to do anything right, as he is still dogged by a deepening crisis of credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership.

This is why Najib should be brave enough to cut the Gordian Knot of this crisis of confidence and ask for a vote of confidence as the first item of parliamentary agenda when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.
Whether on the political, economic, educational or nation-building front, Najib has still to deliver his first accomplishment.

Politically, Najib inflicted on himself a deep and grievous wound in orchestrating the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

Economically, Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures as evident by the downward revision of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 in the first RM7 billion package last November to the current estimate that Malaysian economy will shrink by 4-5 per cent. Continue reading “Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures – forecast of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 ending up in Malaysian economy shrinking by 4-5 per cent”

By Dr. Chen Man Hin

PM NAJIB MUST INTENSIFY HIS EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMY QUICKLY OR THE PEOPLE WILL SUFFER MORE WITH INCREASING UNEMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF POORER BUSINESS ACTIVITY, CLOSURE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOWER INCOME TO BUY FOOD AND ESSENTIALS FOR THE FAMILY

The world economic credit crunch and economic downturn has begun to create havoc for the malaysian economy, and this despite the announcement of two stimulus financial packages and liberalisation of services.

On becoming Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak proudly announced his 1 Malaysia, People First and Performance Now program. He was quite sure that the economy would not be affected by the global crunch.

However, with the fanfare and the shouting over, the economy has not shown signs of getting better. On the contrary it is getting worse. Continue reading “Najib’s indecision to introduce genuine liberalisation major cause of present calamitous economic situation”

by Augustine Anthony
[email protected]

How much more should the Sri Lankan Tamils suffer before the Malaysian government responds decisively, consistent with its previous efforts in condemning the practices of human rights violations such as :-

1. Apartheid discriminating blacks and coloured in South Africa,

2. Genocide of Muslim population in Bosnia,

3. Atrocities against the Palestinians in the Middle East fighting for their homeland.

Almost three decades of civil war coupled with the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami that displaced more than 500,000 people, the Sri Lankan Tamils had suffered unimaginable hardship.

But what awaits the Sri Lankan Tamils and the world in the aftermath of the Armed Forces perceived victory against the LTTE is about to explode into a major international crisis unless sooner averted. Continue reading “Sri Lankan Humanitarian Crisis Deepens. What can ordinary Malaysians do?”

The instant removal of the poll “Should MCA leave BN” on the blog of the MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat where 78.1 per cent or 2,409 out of 3,084 persons polled want MCA out of the Barisan Nasional reminds me of last October’s MCA General Assembly.

In his opening speech, the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi denied that UMNO was a “bully” party in the Barisan Nasional.

Abdullah’s denial, responding to the earlier speech of the outgoing MCA President, Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting’s “Umno is bully in Barisan Nasional”, made the newspaper frontpage headlines like “UMNO IS NO BULLY” (New Sunday Times 19.10.08) and “Umno bukan pembuli: PM” (Berita Minggu).

If UMNO is no bully in BN, then why the instant removal of the poll “Should MCA leave BN” on MCA President’s blog immediately after the UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed his displeasure at such a poll in the MCA President’s blog? Continue reading “UMNO is no bully in BN? Then why instant removal of poll on MCA President’s blog where 78.1 per cent or 2409 out of 3084 persons want MCA out of Barisan Nasional!”

Public forum : “RM12 billion PKFZ scandal : In BN we trust?”

Date : 16th June 2009, Tuesday
Time : 8:00pm
Venue : Dewan Hamzah, Majlis Perbandaran Klang (MAP)
Speakers :

• Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader, MP for Ipoh Timur
• Tunku Abdul Aziz, DAP Vice Chairman, Senator
• Charles Santiago, DAP Selangor Vice Chairman, MP for Klang
• R. Nadeswaran, The Sun – Citizen Nades columnist
• Terence Fernandez, The Sun – Down 2 Earth columnist

Continue reading “Public forum – RM12 billion PKFZ scandal : In BN we trust?”

My three questions (No.43 to No. 45 on the 15th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

No. 1. – Will Ong cancel his overseas trip to be in Parliament to account for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal instead of emulating his predecessor as Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy who ran away overseas to avoid parliamentary accounting on the PKFZ in November 2007?

No. 2 – Former MCA President and Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik has said he is prepared to be summoned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to assist in the investigations into the PKFZ scandal. Does he agree that Liong Sik should not only co-operate with the MACC but also the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal? Continue reading “PwC report on RM12.5b PKFZ and appencices – OTK should ensure every MP gets a set”

By Tunku Abdul Aziz | MySinchew

PRIME MINISTER Najib Abdul Razak has done it again. His high income vision for Malaysia, following so closely on the heels of his yet to be fully charted 1Malaysia has caught the nation off guard.

Najib, while remaining largely uninspiring as a leader, is at least aspirational. Nothing wrong with indulging in a little fantasy from time to time, but Najib has to learn to control his propensity for grandstanding. I don’t suppose it is too rude to ask Najib to spell out in the clearest possible terms what precisely he has in mind when he talks about 1Malaysia. Is it fair to ask us to support a concept that he has difficulty in articulating to our satisfaction?

Najib cannot be so naïve that he cannot see what the inherent problems are in the way of turning Malaysia into a high income nation. For starters, a country such as ours which has been so mismanaged these last thirty years in all the important areas of governance is a most unlikely candidate for the High Income Country Stake.

That does not mean that we have not the potential; indeed we have but, I am afraid we have squandered it beyond belief by putting in place investment, trade and industrialisation policies that have tended towards excessive, crippling control rather than encouragement to compete globally.
Continue reading “Najib must deal with corruption”

On Thursday, I gave notice to Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin that I will move an emergency motion in Parliament on Monday to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The notice under S.O. (18)(2) to move a motion of urgent definite public importance in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, 15th June 2009, is as follows:

“That the House gives leave to MP for Ipoh Timor YB Lim Kit Siang to adjourn the House under S.O. 18 (1) to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance – the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) audit report into the PKFZ made public on May 28, 2009 was most unsatisfactory as its terms of reference were restricted to “a position review” instead of wide-ranging inquiry as to how a RM1.1 billion scandal in 2002 under Tun Ling Liong Sik as Transport Minister, could more than quadruple to RM4.6 billion under Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister in 2007 and now further doubled to RM7.453 billion and heading towards the figure of RM12.5 billion under the present Transport Minister!

“Although the Prime Minister had on 29th May publicly directed the Transport Minister to answer every question raised by any party on the PwC report on PKFZ, and I had been posing three questions a day on the PKFZ since 30th May, no satisfactory answers had been forthcoming from the Transport Minister.
Continue reading “PKFZ scandal – OTK should cancel overseas trip and not emulate Kong Choy to run overseas to avoid parliamentary accounting”

My three questions (No.40 to No. 42 on the 14th day in the current series) to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

No. 1. Does Ong agree that Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself and step aside in the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal because of conflict of interest as Azmi was Minister in the Cabinet which decided on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout in July 2007 and that the entire PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal should be conducted under the leadership of the PAC Deputy Chairman, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw?

No. 2. I have given notice to the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin to move an urgent motion of definite public importance when Parliament reconvenes on Monday on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the PKFZ scandal.

Does Ong agree that Parliament should have a special urgent debate on the PKFZ scandal on Monday?

No. 3. Speaking at the DAP Public Forum “The RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal – Will Heads Roll?” in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday and commenting on the special task force and two committees which Ong had set up as a follow-up to the PwC report on the PKFZ, I had described the PKFZ scandal not just “a can of worms” but “a swamp of crocodiles”. I added:
Continue reading “Will OTK clip the wings and tie the hands of Paul Low and his corporate governance committee to prevent them from conducting a full probe into past PKFZ misdeeds, corrupt practices and abuses of power?”

“Kit Siang ‘misled community’” – New Straits Times

“What’s your stand, Kit Siang asked” – The Star

Screaming headlines attacking me are back in the Barisan Nasional-controlled mainstream media.

Suddenly the MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat himself has led a ferocious political charge against me, challenging me to state my stand on the resolutions tabled by PAS at its muktamar last week and wanting me to apologise for misleading and betraying the Chinese community for supporting Pas.

This is the New Straits Times report:

He (Ong) said in the run-up to the general election, DAP had appealed to the Chinese community to support Pas by claiming that the Islamic party was harmless and only interested in setting up a welfare state. Continue reading “OTK on the run from 3-questions-a-day on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal”

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid announced after the PAC meeting this morning that the PAC would not summon four key personalities in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, viz: the two former Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, former Port Klang Authority (PKA) Chairman and currently Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung and the former PKFZ general manager O.C.Phang.

This is a most extraordinary decision despite requests by Pakatan Rakyat MPs on the PAC for the four to be summoned to appear before the PAC.

Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself and step aside in the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal because of conflict of interest as he was Minister in the Cabinet which decided on the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout in July 2007. Continue reading “PAC inquiry into PKFZ scandal – Azmi Khalid should disqualify himself”

Since yesterday, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) audit report on RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) has been taken off the Port Klang Authority (PKA) website.

As a national service, the PwC report on the PKFZ scandal is hereby restored online and available here (Malaysia-mirror).

As I said, the PwC report is most unsatisfactory with its very narrow and restricted terms of reference, as noted by the PwC in its “Important Notice”, viz:

“The report is limited in scope. It is restricted to a position review of Port Klang Free Zone and Port Klang Free Zone Sdn. Bhd as set out in our Letter of Engagement dated 8th October 2008. We were not asked to and we have not advised on any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement. No investigation to detect any wrongdoing or audit to form an opinion on any financial information, including any forecasts and projections, has been undertaken.” (p.1)

Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has not been able to explain why he had decided on such a limited and restricted term of reference for the PwC study, deliberately excluding from inquiry the conduct or misconduct of previous Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy in the PKFZ scandal, as well as not asking PwC to detect any wrong doing or render advice on “any strategy, valuation, legal implications, tax, operational effectiveness, staff competencies or process improvement”?
Continue reading “The PwC report on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal which PKA has taken off the Internet”