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Confidence motion in Parliament – Is Najib afraid that he will not get 100% support from Umno/BN MPs?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Beijing yesterday he would not emulate his father Tun Razak and dissolve Parliament on his return to Malaysia after his China visit.

Tun Razak returned from his historic six-day visit to China in 1974 and dissolved Parliament the next month and the fourth general elections were held on 24.8.1974.

The climax of Tun Razak’s visit to China was the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China on 31st May 1974, an objective the DAP had been advocating for eight years since the founding of the party in 1966.

For instance, I just came across a speech I made at the National Day reception of the Muar DAP Branch on 2nd Sept. 1973, where the subject of my speech was: “DAP calls for full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China”.

In saying that he would not follow his father’s example 35 years ago and return home to dissolve Parliament, Najib was fully aware that he is in a completely different political position from that of his father. Continue reading “Confidence motion in Parliament – Is Najib afraid that he will not get 100% support from Umno/BN MPs?”

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PAS finding its way still : Some Observations on the Speech by PAS President Ustaz Hadi Awang

By Farish A. Noor

The opening speech to the 55th Muktamar of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS should be read closely and given the consideration that is due to it, particularly as it comes from the party President himself, Ustaz Hadi Awang, and in some respects gives an accurate reflection of the state of the party and the mindset of its senior leadership. Having said that, the speech of Hadi Awang that was delivered during the opening session of the Muktamar was both rich and complex, and should be read closely by those of us who are interested in the political fortunes of PAS and the future of the party in Malaysia.

Perhaps the most salient feature of the speech was the straightforward declaration of PAS’s oppositional stand vis a vis UMNO, which was described by Hadi in his speech in rather negative terms. The tone of Ustaz Hadi’s speech would resonate with the members of PAS who were worried about any possible compromise on the part of their own Islamist party and the possibility of a PAS-UMNO tie-up in the near future. After describing UMNO as a party that was materialist, corrupt and a lackey to the British colonial powers in the past, one can safely assume that any notion of a PAS-UMNO marriage of convenience has been put on the shelf for the moment at least…
Continue reading “PAS finding its way still : Some Observations on the Speech by PAS President Ustaz Hadi Awang”

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“Unity talk” for PR-BN government – never arose or discussed at any PR leadership meeting

I attended the 15th PAS Muktamar opening ceremony at Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam this morning and left after lunch.

The media have been chasing after me to comment on what PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang said in a media conference after his presidential address.

I do not know what Hadi actually said, but in view of the public interest on the question of “unity talks”, I have two comments while making the general observation that political parties and political leaders must be prepared to talk to anyone on any issue concerning public interest, viz:
Continue reading ““Unity talk” for PR-BN government – never arose or discussed at any PR leadership meeting”

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Question No. 21 to OTK – what would have been the fate of MCA/BN leaders responsible for creating the RM12.5 billion PKFZ Rip-Off if this had happened in China?

This is the seventh day of my “three questions a day” to the Transport Minister and MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-off.

Question No. 1 (No. 19 in series):
Last Saturday’s New Straits Times (30.5.09) carried the following report headlined: “Port Klang Free Zone Scandal: Najib tells Ong to provide the answers”:

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has directed Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to respond to queries involving the audit report on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ).

He said Ong would provide the necessary information on the report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that was released on Thursday.

“I have asked Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat to provide answers on every question raised by any party on the audit report. You can refer to him.

“He will provide the explanation,” Najib said after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting here yesterday.

In his blog on the same day, Ong said: Continue reading “Question No. 21 to OTK – what would have been the fate of MCA/BN leaders responsible for creating the RM12.5 billion PKFZ Rip-Off if this had happened in China?”

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Dear Sabah BN leaders…

Dear

Maximus Ongkili, Bernard Dompok, Shafie Apdal, Anifah Aman, Joseph Kurup, V.K. Liew, Abdul Rahim Bakri, Lajim Ukin, Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, (Liow Tiong Lai-dissapointedly excluded)

This again is to highlight to you , in the midst of basking in glory of having more Sabahan cabinet Minister and Dep. Minister and being so proud representing Sabah. I would like to remind you people regarding the true and sad state of affairs in the Land below the wind and of course hope you can do something.

We often discuss regarding the poverty rate and how poor is sabah even until the cow comes home, but below is a best and glaring example of how ill is the whole condition! Continue reading “Dear Sabah BN leaders…”

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Time for PAS to Demonstrate Its Ability to be a National Party

By Farish A Noor

This week will witness the fifty-fifth General Assembly of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), that has been on the political landscape of Malaysia since 1951, though its actual historical presence in Malaysia dates back even further, to the country’s first Islamic party Hizbul Muslimin, in 1948. Malaysia-watchers and analysts are looking very closely at PAS today, and there has been ample speculation about the fate and future of key PAS ideologues and leaders, notably the representatives of the two camps in the party otherwise known as the conservatives and progressives.

Distinctions such as ‘conservatives’ and ‘progressives’ are not very useful in cases such as these however, for they tell us little about the goings-on in PAS and they lend the mistaken impression that the differences within the party can be essentially reduced to such simple binary opposites. Needless to say PAS’s opponents are likewise tempted to use such dichotomies in their own lame efforts to divide and weaken the party, and such divisive tactics are long familiar to those who have studied Malaysian politics over the past half a century or so…
Continue reading “Time for PAS to Demonstrate Its Ability to be a National Party”

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Ong Tee Keat’s “roadmap to recovery of PKFZ” reminds me eerily of Myanmar military junta’s “seven-step roadmap to democracy” which leads to nowhere!

Transport Minister and MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat blogged a response from Beijing to my 15 questions (three per day) on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-Off but he was forced to camouflage his failure to honour the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s directive and promise of a question-by-question reply as well as very weak and insipid contents by very harsh language and distractions.

“…a knee jerk reaction which spells of political agenda and defeatist attitude”.

“It will save people a lot of time not to repeat ourselves for the benefit of self-serving politicians”.

“I see no reason to waste valuable time to engage in fruitless public debates of any form that does not help to solve the problems”.

“… public debates are the opposition’s obvious idea of resolving all the country’s ills”.

Just four quotes from his short statement. What character of the man, at least for this moment, do they reveal?

Pompous. Arrogant. Quite insufferable. Worse than Najib on all three scores!
Continue reading “Ong Tee Keat’s “roadmap to recovery of PKFZ” reminds me eerily of Myanmar military junta’s “seven-step roadmap to democracy” which leads to nowhere!”

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Signs of Malaysia on the verge of vicious cycle of a failed state spreading to more aspects of national life

Yesterday, I said that the collapse of the roof of the RM300 million 50,000-capacity Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak within a year of completion is symptomatic of a society in serious disrepair and Malaysia at the verge of a vicious cycle of a failed state.

Five years ago, when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, he struck a national chord of resonance when he spoke of the goal to transform Malaysia from a nation of “first-world infrastructure, third-world mentality” to one which is “first-world infrastructure, first-world mentality”.

Under another Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Malaysia is now in danger of regressing to become a nation of “Third-World Infrastructure, Fourth-World Mentality”!

Such signs of a grave breakdown of Malaysia threatening to reduce the country to a fourth-world status instead of the Vision 2020 aspiration of a fully developed nation is everywhere to be seen, almost every day, not only in the maintenance culture but in the attitudes and commitments to the fundamental principles and values which distinguishes a country from a fully-developed one and from those that are not.
Continue reading “Signs of Malaysia on the verge of vicious cycle of a failed state spreading to more aspects of national life”

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Cabinet meeting yesterday a double-disappointment on university education – PSD S’ships and USM Apex Uni fiasco

The Cabinet meeting yesterday was a double disappointment on university education particularly to the young generation of Malaysians which must be rectified in a special Cabinet meeting on university intake as well as PSD scholarships for SPM students with 12As.

I am very disappointed that my call for a colour-blind JPA scholarship system has not been heeded by the Cabinet. Clearly, the Cabinet Ministers themselves have yet to fully understand the meaning of 1Malaysia which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has adopted as the slogan of his administration.

Furthermore, my specific proposal to resolve this year’s public ruckus over the unfair and discriminatory award of JPA selection of foreign degree scholarships has also not been acted upon.

I had proposed that all students with SPM 9A1s and above should be awarded PSD scholarships – which would mean an increased allocation of RM300 million for JPA scholarships budget from RM700 million to RM1 billion this year.
Continue reading “Cabinet meeting yesterday a double-disappointment on university education – PSD S’ships and USM Apex Uni fiasco”

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Has Malaysia lost the battle to become a developed nation and entered the cycle to become a failed state?

The collapse of the roof of the RM300 million 50,000-capacity Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak within a year of completion provoked disbelief, shock and outrage with a whole spectrum of unflattering comments and reactions.

One reaction is that the shocking collapse of the RM300 million stadium within a year of completion is a disaster waiting to happen. An engineer, A. Mohamed who often jogged in the area, has told the media that he had noticed that the space frame which held the roof was getting bent out of shape but his efforts to warn government agencies and the media of the stadium defects were ignored.

Another is that the collapse is the inevitable consequence of a system which gives premium to “know who” than “know how”, the curse of Umno cronyism hiding under the guise of New Economic Policy. Will the Umno cronies responsible for the infamous collapse of the RM300 million stadium roof within a year of completion be exposed and fully penalized?

I was told this morning that the collapse of the Gong Badak Stadium symbolizes the collapse of the “1Malaysia” slogan of Datuk Seri Najib Razak marking his second month as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Continue reading “Has Malaysia lost the battle to become a developed nation and entered the cycle to become a failed state?”

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PKFZ – submission of PwC report to MACC just OTK’s PR gimmick?

This is the fifth consecutive day of three daily questions to the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-off, in response to the public announcement and invitation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that he had directed Ong “to provide answers on every question raised by any party” on the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC)’s audit report on the PKFZ.

Although Ong had responded valiantly to Najib’s directive with the bravado statement that he was honoured with Najib’s trust in him, the MCA President had let down the Prime Minister badly in failing to answer adequately and satisfactorily a single one of the 12 questions I had posed in the past four days on the PKFZ.

I do not know whether Najib will have to end Ong’s misery by coming out publicly to withdraw his public invitation and directive to Ong to “provide answers on every question raised by any party” on the PwC’s report on PKFZ, but until then I propose to continue with the three daily questions to Ong on the PKFZ.

When the PwC audit report on the PKFZ was released publicly last Thursday, Ong secured a lot of publicity by directing the Port Klang Authority Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng to submit a copy of the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC).

My first question to Ong today is whether the submission of PwC PKFZ audit report to MACC wasn’t just PR (public relations) gimmick when Ong knew that the four previous police/ACA reports by Selangor DAP leader Ronnie Liu on PKFZ had come to nothing and when he himself as MCA President was not prepared to take action against the MCA deputy finance minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung? Continue reading “PKFZ – submission of PwC report to MACC just OTK’s PR gimmick?”

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Axe MARA and JPA scholarships for ACCA abroad

Letters
by a Malay accountant in London

Dear Uncle Lim

I am called to write to you following your post (Have MARA run out of funds…) on your blog.

First of all, I admit that the whole scholarship system is flawed and needs to be overhauled. Scholarships should be awarded on merit, and if at all, certainly not to rich students. However, asking for such a radical change from a half-past-six administration with no balls is almost futile, or as we Malays say, ‘anjing menyalak bukit’.

My letter today is to focus in prioritisation of issues within the existing framework. Today, I would like to focus on MARA and JPA scholarship for professional courses.

http://www.jpa.gov.my/perkhidmatan-teras/latihantajaan/pinjaman-luar-negara/
http://www.mara.gov.my/web/guest/kursus_ditaja

With all due respect, I firmly believe that these schemes are a total waste of taxpayers’ money, especially in the recession. I will outline my reasons, with focus on the ACCA programme. Continue reading “Axe MARA and JPA scholarships for ACCA abroad”

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Have MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

Has MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?

I have received the following email from a Malay student in a private college:

“I am 21. My father left the family in 1995 and since then my mother has been taking care of the family by herself. I have two other elder sisters, all of whom are working now. My mother was a teacher but now she is retired. She is taking care of the family by herself with the pension she receives every month.

“I studied in … School and later at International Islamic College (IPTS), taking a diploma in computer science. I was a self-sponsored student in IIC.

“I was supported by my mother since she could afford it back then but I had to keep to a really tight budget. Although we were in a quite a difficult financial situation back then, I didn’t waste any time and studied hard.
Continue reading “Have MARA run out of funds leaving hundreds stranded without their bumiputera student loans – and how can such a financial scandal happen?”

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Najib should seek a vote of confidence as the first item of June meeting of Parliament starting on June 15

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s win in the Penanti by-election is nothing to boast about as it cannot be used as a yardstick to gauge the popularity of any political parties.

He told reporters at the 20th Asean-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit on Jeju Island that Mansor Othman’s win was “not exciting” as the voter turnout was less than 50 per cent and “a win against independent candidates is not an absolute win…something that one can be proud of”.

This is really sour grapes by Najib, who should be ashamed of himself that the UMNO and Barisan Nasional that he leads dare not contest in Penanti, for fear that it would be his third consecutive by-election defeat in the Peninsular since becoming Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional’s fifth consecutive defeat since the March 8 political tsunami in last year’s general election.

The Penanti by-election results are very telling. Although Umno sponsored one independent candidate and Gerakan sponsored another Independent candidate, all three independent candidates lost their deposits – although the Gerakan-sponsored candidate beat the Umno-sponsored candidate by 102 votes!
Continue reading “Najib should seek a vote of confidence as the first item of June meeting of Parliament starting on June 15”

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Cabinet assurance needed – all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities

From the statement of the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Khaled from Yemen and my discussion with the Higher Education Department director-general Datuk Prof Radin Umar Radin Sohadi, no concrete assurance is forthcoming that the 4,574 student-victims of USM Apex University student intake fiasco will definitely be given places in other public universities.

Although Khaled described the foul-up by the country’s only apex university as serious and directed that an independent committee be set up to investigate the matter, he has no assurances for the 4,574 student victims.

All Khaled said was that students who were rejected by USM will get another bite of the cherry, as they will be considered for placements in other public universities by the University Admissions Unit (UPU).

This is scarce consolation for the 4,574 students who went through emotional havoc over the USM foul-up.
Continue reading “Cabinet assurance needed – all 4,574 student-victims of USM foul-up will be given places in other public universities”

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Why was Ong Tee Keat so irresponsible to talk about PKFZ may cost less than RM4.6 billion when PwC reported that the PKFZ “white elephant” had escalated to RM7.5 billion and may cost another RM5 billion to total RM12.5 billion?

Silence, sense-surround silence, thundering silence from Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, MCA President and Transport Minister, to my daily three questions on the PricewaterhouseCoopers audit report on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-Off despite the open and public directive by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Ong “to provide answers on every question raised by any party” on PwC’s PKFZ report.

Am I surprised? I am not.

However, as there is standing instruction by the Prime Minister to Ong to answer every question on the PKFZ “mother of all scandals” by anyone, I will continue with my daily three question to the Transport Minister, this being the fourth consecutive “3 questions a day”.

My first question today to Ong is why he was being downright irresponsible when he said in Penang yesterday that “outlays for the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project could end up being less than RM4.6 billion” (“PKFZ could cost less than RM4.6b” – New Straits Times June 2, 2009) by engaging legal experts and consultants to recover the “overcharging” reported by PcW.
Continue reading “Why was Ong Tee Keat so irresponsible to talk about PKFZ may cost less than RM4.6 billion when PwC reported that the PKFZ “white elephant” had escalated to RM7.5 billion and may cost another RM5 billion to total RM12.5 billion?”

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‘Political Crisis . . . What’s next?’

DAP Ipoh Barat proudly present English Speaking Dinner on “Political Crisis . . . What’s next?”

Date : 11 June 2009, Thursday
Time : 7pm – 11pm
Venue : Florex Restaurant Ipoh
Ticket : RM 100
For tickets kindly contact : P. Sugumaran 017-5677276

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Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks

On Saturday, I blogged “Streamyx in Penang sucks. What do you say?”

There were 32 responses.

Conclusion – Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks.

Until recently, Streamyx service in Green Lane area in Penang had been fairly reliable. But not now, as disruptions have become quite common.

What do you say when not only Streamyx went down, Maxis 3G and Celcom 3G were also down, all at the same time, in the same place and for quite a period!

I do not know how often this happens in Penang as I am all over the country most of the time.

But from responses, Malaysians have universal internet complaints rather than universal internet service.

Other countries are leapfrogging into super-fast broadband networks while Malaysia is still bogged down with super-slow broadband service. Continue reading “Streamyx in Malaysia really sucks”

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Policy changes to be made to expand and strengthen Malaysian-China relationship

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life advisor

From a poor communist country has been transformed into the fourth richest country in the world after USA, Japan and Germany, the man who started the phenomenal change was Deng Xiao Peng who introduced liberal and modernisation policies.

Although it still keep its communist ideology, China now intend to be friends with the whole world. She has won friends with the West, the developed countries and has given large financial handouts to the poor countries of the world. Her diplomacy offensive as a friend of the world has won tremendous appeal.

Malaysia ostensibly also adopt a policy of being a friend to the whole world, and PM Najib’s visit to China tomorrow is meant to expand and strengthen Malaysia-China relationship.
Continue reading “Policy changes to be made to expand and strengthen Malaysian-China relationship”

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Higher Education Minister should ensure that new university intake by UPU to be announced on June 19 provide places for the 4,574 student-victims of the USM Apex University fiasco

The fiasco of 4,574 students being wrongly informed that they had obtained places at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) cannot be a worse start for USM as the Apex University – a bungle and blunder which should not have happened at all and completely inexcusable.

In keeping with its status as an Apex University, USM was for the first time exercising the freedom to choose the best students before the University Admission Unit’s (UPU) selection of students for the other public universities.

But the USM chancellory yesterday was the venue for emotional havoc for hundreds of students and their parents when they found that they had been wrongly informed about being accepted as students in USM, with lost tempers and heart-rending scenes of tears and frustration.
Continue reading “Higher Education Minister should ensure that new university intake by UPU to be announced on June 19 provide places for the 4,574 student-victims of the USM Apex University fiasco”