KJ John
Malaysiakini
Sep 22, 09
I cannot agree with bloggers Art Harun and Lim Kit Siang more. Both have basically argued a similar concern; why is the government acting as if they privately own the country.
Yes, to their minds the chief secretary to the government and chief justice are both CEO appointments – one for the executive branch of the public services, and the other for the judicial services. Both are accused of “doing things as they like”, as if they are in a private corporation and answerable to no one outside of the “cabinet” as their board of directors.
Allow me to repeat their arguments for those who did not follow them.
Art Harun, a lawyer in his own right, and a very articulate one at that, argues that the chief justice has basically over-stepped his bounds if he asked the two errant judges to resign privately, without being charged officially and publicly. He has basically no authority to ask them to leave privately; as this is neither a private appointment nor a private matter. This is not Government of Malaysia Private Limited!
If these two senior judges have in fact not carried out their oath to public office diligently and dutifully, as per their code of conduct; they must he charged and due process followed as per the constitutional provisions for the sacking of judges. I cannot agree more with Art Harun. We must move away for the so-called privatisation of the Malaysian government.
Now, for Lim Kit Siang’s argument about the secretary to the cabinet and the only cabinet rank chief public servant and the executor of the cabinet decisions.
The question asked by LKS (Lim Kit Siang) is why chief secretary Mohd Sidek Hassan did not oversee the previous decisions of the cabinet. LKS wrote: “I see it as a major step backwards in public accountability and good governance, as it smacks of being a super ‘cover up’ task force for the PKFZ (Port Klang Free Zone) scandal.”
He continues, “he (Sidek) should explain to the Malaysian public why he had failed in the past two years to carry out the cabinet decision in July 2007 when it resolved on the RM4.6 billion bailout of PKFZ, including giving retrospective approval to the four illegal Letters of Support unlawfully given by the two previous transport ministers, Dr Ling Liong Sik and Chan Kong Choy, that the chief secretary should conduct an inquiry as to how the four Letters of Support could have issued unlawfully and to take the necessary disciplinary actions against the culprits who have now landed the country with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.”
As an ex-public servant of 30 years service, and a senior of Sidek, I fully agree with LKS: The chief secretary to the government and the secretary to the cabinet must answer LKS’ query as to why there was no serious follow-up to the relevant cabinet decisions, if they were in fact actual cabinet decisions.
If there was wrongdoing who was really responsible for that ‘close-one-eye culture’ in this instance?
Public service morally bankrupt
In fact, for the public that does not know, I visited the Prime Minister’s Department website and found out that there is a whole division called, ‘The Cabinet, Constitution, and Inter-Governmental Relations Division’ under the chief secretary headed by another deputy chief secretary-general with five secretaries to divisions, eight chief assistant secretaries, two system analysts, and eight whole units – all to service the cabinet.
In my calculation, that should be about at least 30 officers, if not 50, in that cabinet division headed by a very senior officer.
What were they doing to follow-up and follow-through the cabinet decisions? If my memory does not fail me, every other week we used to get reminders from this division about follow-up matters of cabinet meeting decisions and we were required to give updates, failing which we could be hauled up.
When such an elaborate and excellent system of follow-up and follow-through exists, why were these decisions not followed up and adequately reported in a timely matter?
Now that even the former finance minister who oversaw much of the privatisation which became ‘piratisation” has spoken up too, maybe it is time for the chief secretary to come clean and speak up for the truth on all such matters. There really is no reason for anymore cover-up; let the whole truth and nothing but the truth be known.
For a fact, on Jan 13, 2006, I did make an official complaint to the Parliamentary Special Committee on Integrity that the whole cabinet system of government was collapsing because ‘information papers’ were being passed off as cabinet decision papers when in fact they were only ‘information papers’ or ‘kertas maklumat’.
It looks to me like no one took the compliant seriously, and even more seriously, that the Parliamentary Special Committee Report has not yet even been tabled to the Parliament yet after more than three years. So much for People First, Performance Now!
The public services of Malaysia, like the judicial services, were excellent at one time. Today, they are morally corrupt, if not reeking with incompetence at absolutely all the wrong places. For example, every other week I hear that the Economic Planning Unit is requesting and putting pressure on government departments to “under declare and sell government land to private entities for a song”.
Why would the EPU be involved in such land transactions and transfers? Why is EPU now becoming an enforcement agency when its name suggests that it should be planning for the nation? Is it the dismal failure of EPU as a strategic planning outfit which caused the formation of new National Economic Council with a chairman of cabinet rank and developed by a non-public servant as secretary general?
Is it also the failure of the “privatisation agenda” of the EPU that is daily revealing all the “piratisation projects” and many failures of the government like the PKFZ? Was not the then minister of finance also the minister of the EPU?
A personal message to my friend
My dear friend, Mohd Sidek Hassan, you have always been a straight forward and truth-seeking person, whether in Washington DC, or in Miti (Ministry of Trade and Industry) or as the KSN (Chief Secretary to the Government) now.
Please carry on with such a straightforward performance driven agenda. But, please also be as firm and forthright with the prime minister and his cabinet; please do not cover up for their weaknesses, even if in the past.
Please tell the truth as it is, at least to the cabinet and tell the PM how rotten the public services have truly become over the years. My friend, I can only speak and write like this now because, as I told then Minister Rafidah Aziz, I was bailing out of the PTD (Adminstrative and Diplomatic Service) because it was beginning to stink even then.
As I wrote to you when you took office, you can make a difference to change the course of this nation vide your public policy defining role. You have done well so far, but I am equally concerned that you finish well. Therefore please do not compromise on any truth; speak the truth to the best of your ability, speak it in honest but true love; speak it also full of grace and hope.
Recently, in a bible study I am doing, I read about how the prophet Moses did not enter the promised land because he failed to obey God in the last years of his 120 year life.
Therefore my friend, please stay focused on finishing well for the sake of your children and our grandchildren.
Unfortunately for our senior colleague who was the ex-general manager of Port Klang Authority, her name is now dragged in the mud only because she may have given in to political interests, and may be self-interest, rather than to serve the public interest. May the Lord God Almighty help you finish well instead!
In Malaysia, the inconceivables are conceivable.
The impossibles are possibles.
The unqualified are qualified.
Malaysia boleh !!! untuk Agama, Bangsa dan Negara !!!
It is now clear that we the people of Malaysia have to do the spring cleaning. Bersih
To get this bunch of Umnoputras and the Utusans out of the corridor of power as soon as possible through the democratic rights and power of the people.
BerPakatan untuk negara
So what would be his reply?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk0GzKSYNRk
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/38336-mcas-real-crisis-is-the-chinese-no-longer-care-
In the not too distant future, the Malays will no longer care for umno in the same way as the Chinese who wouldn’t give a fart to whoever win in the coming mca EGM. Between a freeloader and a porn actor, the delegates would be better off by boycotting that EGM altogether. As for the Indians, I believe they wouldn’t blink an eye if Samy Vel commit hara kiri tomorrow in Batu Caves.
Well be prepared that the other side (Govt) can always rebut Art Harun’s and YB Lim Kit Siang (“LKS)’s contentions with the following arguments:
In Art Harun’s case, he assumes that because judges are public appointments the CJ must adopt one of the two constitutional processes of charging the errant judges and having a tribunal try publicly the allegations/suspicions, and in not doing so and by asking the two errant judges to resign privately the constitutional process is impliedly thwarted.
This conveniently ignores the fact that the judge’s right to resign on his own accord (when faced with allegations) is also expressly provided for as the other constitutional option under article 125(2) of the Constitution; that the right to a Tribunal (to facilitate public understanding of what happened) is one that the judges only, rather than the CJ, can invoke as a condition before they are dismissed/sacked….which does not arise if they quietly accept the allegations and resign. To say that the CJ must proceed to Tribunal is equivalent to saying that the CJ has no discretion and must sack a judge (whether for incompetence or something more serious) even though the errant judges have the other option under the constitution to resign, if asked to. Is it not true that the errant judges have a constitutional option to resign which is deprived if the CJ proceeds straightaway to invoke a tribunal based on premises that he is sacking them, thereby giving them no object to resign? If there were any suspicions of matters graver than incompetence (say corruption) then that task is properly left to that of MACC, not CJ.
LKS’s main case against chief secretary is why he did not oversee and conduct an inquiry as to how the four Letters of Support could have been issued unlawfully by two previous transport ministers, and to take the necessary disciplinary actions against them.
The main assumption here is that the Letters of Support were actually guarantees, and being so, their issuances without Treasury/MOF’s prior approval prescribed by the Financial Procedure Act (“FPA”) were unlawful.
The reply to him will be this:
· Mention is made to “govt giving retrospective approval to the four illegal Letters of Support” which were guarantees. If they were in fact “illegal” guarantees (masquerading under the titles of letters of “support”) in the sense of contravening FPA, then they were void right from beginning which raises question whether they could be retrospectively ratified. Here the retrospective ractification is just a confirmation to honour letters of support as expected by the market in respect of such support letters.
· The letters of support were (in AG’s words) “tantamount” to guarantee (in effects in the sense the government would, on a moral obligation, honour them as it would in parallel case of a guarantee issued grounded on legal obligation) : tantamount to a guarantee is not the same as being by nature a guarantee. (I have extensively discussed this in postings #34, 37, 39, 40 2nd page of earlier thread “ Why didn’t AG Gani prosecute previous Transport Ministers Ling and Chan for unlawfully issuing 4 Letters of Support causing the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?” and will not repeat them here.
If the Letters of Support, though “tantamount” to guarantees (in effects) were not, (by nature), guarantees and FPA not contravened, then their issuance would NOT be unlawful and LKS’s charge against the chief secretary based on assumption of their unlawful issuances will necessary lose its cogency.
You are perfectly right. UMNO now feels that the country belongs to them. Whats worse, they have become arrogant too. And because no this attitude, their government link companies have also behaved the same, answerable to the government, they no longer care about the rakyat. The whole system stings. We need a change. We need a good alternative.Absolute power does corrupt absolutely.
The government can give all sorts of excuses regarding the ‘forced resignation’ of the two judges. But the fact remains that the shareholders (a.k.a. the Rakyat) are in the dark as to the reasons of the sacking of these judges.
If this was a well run company, the leadership would have sought to explain the exact reasons why the 2 judges were dismissed clearly to the shareholders so that the shareholders can judge for themselves whether the decision was correct. This will allow the shareholders to decide whether to keep employing the current stable of leaders or maybe to even move their investments out of Malaysia Inc.
Just to recap instead of sounding like a parrot. The ordinary people want certain people to represent them who later become the leaders who have a lot of power. The leaders have to be conscious of the chances and opportunities open to them. It is men who elect them and they are accountable to these men and women. Even if it is not these men and women who elect them, they have to be conscious that life’s chances do not appear just like that or they just got lucky. Ordinary Malaysians are very nice. They just allow their leaders to behave as they like. That is why they think that they can get away with anything. Remember. Malaysians and it is Malaysians who are just too nice…too nice…
Whats worst, the 2 judges were ‘sacked’ due to performance issues. What kinds of performance issues were those? Were they negligent in any cases they were presiding over? Shouldn’t there be a review of any cases that these 2 judges presided over to ensure justice was actually properly dispensed?
If not what were the issues? And why no apology to the public by chief justice for not taking action earlier? This smacks or arrogance and a complete lack of sense of duty to the public.
The CJ is acting exactly like it is nothing more than his own personal law firm and feels no need to be answerable to the public. It is completely irresponsible for the chief justice to act like this is their own personal business and that the public has no right to be informed clearly on such matters.
Some have no guts.
Some have taken favors from UMNO…therefore obligated to do what UMNO wants.
Some are racialists…and take UMNO as the Savior of Malays.
Some have no ethics nor principles in life. No matter how you talk…they will not confront UMNO…to do the right things for country and people…to safeguard personal benefits..such as keeping the job…not getting UMNO make life difficult for them.
Some are have easy life with the job…..in good books of UMNO….why go against UMNO?..which means the will vote UMNO to govern forever.
Impossible for such professionals…unable to understand simple logic to perform without fear nor favor.
There must be strings attached…and Tunku Ritthauddin have said…”UMNO is corrupted to the core”
When that is true…all logics means nothing.
So don’t waste time..just prepare to vote UMNO out…end of story….and give final warning to these “yes men”……change…or prepare to go to Timbuktu or resign…..thousands of them.
New government need to take bold steps to make Malaysia work.
Under UMNO…nothing said by Malaysians or Oppositions get into their thick skulls.
Corruptions have made them to be a band of gangsters …..protecting each other.
So sinful…trying to buy up the country by buying up souls….UMNO politics is dirtiest from a developed world.
I believe two Parliaments’ Select Committees on National Unity and National Service and Integrity have yet ready with their respective Reports.
So why are Koh and Jala going to do similar dramas on same indicators wasting public fund?
Enough is enough with the rotten system of Be eNd.
Go for Interim Government for Good Governance – IGGG with Joshua Kong at the helm.
pw: sacking independent
I don’t get much points of Mr John, except Sidek was his friend and a personal message for his dear friend.
Mr. John, Sidek was a straighforward friend of yours. With the power, the seductions around him and the public accountability standard today, moral value probably take the back seat. That is typical Malaysian moral strandard, seriously Mr John, today if you are in Sidek’s position, what would be your priority!
Remember Fear Factor, it concluded ordinary people has a price. So, forget Sidek, who cares who is Sidek?. We need a system to scrutinise the performance of public system and that system can only be developed by anything except BN. You can not have a check and ballance system by the same mentality that created the problem. That bring us to doom! before BN was thrown out from Putrajaya, you should not expect something right from govermen. By the same virtue, you should not even expect anything from a human named Sidek in the goverment.
Anyhow, I agree with your conclusion, pray to god, pray harder! you can’t do more than praying for M’sia. After all, those powerfull malaysian in cabinet, they probably consider them as the lord, they always play god, but don’t pray to them, curse them.
Mr John,
The Biblical Standard of obedience to God is not a convincing argument which you can talk Sidek into compliance with your description of the will of God.
Sidek can simply make use of the same reason “obedience to God” to tell you off that transparency and accountability do not come as his top priority but “obedience to God” does. His top priority is to obey to the instruction of his BIG BOSS PM Najib, no matter whether it is something good or something bad, because Najib is the authority being appointed by God for all the subjects to offer their loyalty and obedience. Therefore, if Sidek is to do something disobedient to his BIG BOSS, then his disobedient personal behaviour will tantamount to disobedient to God because his BIG BOSS is being appointed by God to rule over all the subjects of Malaysia!
Indeed what you need to say to Sidek is to simply tell him boldly, “Come on, my friend! Stand up tall and be brave to serve as an untouchable in PKFZ investigation! Take the culprits to court and let the judicial system bring wrath unto the wrongdoers so that the justice and righteousness of God may prevail in the name of God!”
According to Anifah, “DPM is a lucrative post”.
He should have said, “All the ministerial posts ahighly lucrative, especially the transport ministry”.
//….chief secretary should conduct an inquiry as to how the four Letters of Support could have issued unlawfully and to take the necessary disciplinary actions against the culprits who have now landed the country with a RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal….” – YB Kit
Sidik will reply by just saying that the four Letters of Support were not in legal sense guarantees and hence question of their being issued unlawfully without Treasury’s prior approval does not arise. In fact Chan Kong Choy has sought Queen Counsel’s Opinion to confirm this point which appears to be not inconsistent with AG’s opinion when he made clear to PAC, that these letters of support only ‘tantamount’ to the effects of guarantees in the sense that whether based on ‘support’ or ‘guarantee’, the government, in maintenance of its debt sovereign ratings and credibility, will honour them equally, without conceding at any time that the letters of support were techically in fact guarantees for their issuances by former ministers of transport to be in contravention of or unlawful by the Financial Procedure Act.
On the charge that there was “no serious follow-up to the relevant cabinet decisions, if they were in fact actual cabinet decisions”, only guarantees need prior cabinet’s or Treasury/MOF’s approval by the FPA whilst this may not be legally imperative in the case of letters of support.
As to the cabinet’s taking the subsequent decision (in the aftermath of the PKFZ scandal exploding in public realm) to treat the letters of support as morally binding and assume financial obligation thereof as if they tantamount to guarantees (ostensibly to maintain govt’s credibility with financiers and financial/bonds markets), would it be fair to reasonably expect Sidik, in his rank and position as chief secretary, to countermand or exercise oversight against and challenge the wisdom or unwisdom of such a decision made by the cabinet, ie. the govt employing him?
The main party responsible is the government itself (not its underlings) against which to raise this grievance – why commit so much public funds, honouring letters of support which are not conceded guarantees though treated as tantamount to guarantees on a project such as PKFZ that has already lost its raison de etre of commercial viability.
To respond to that one has to answer first what KDSB deputy chief executive officer Faizal Abdullah said about PKA’s suit KDSB to seek a refund of RM720 million in allegedly overcharged interest. “Is this a new leadership under PKA chairperson Lee Hwa Beng (who) tramples and revokes the laws of contract or agreement in Malaysia when necessary?…If so, who dares to take the risk to invest or to be appointed as contractor of PKA in future as the authority can anytime terminated the project or refusing to pay accordingly to agreement?” (Considering PKA is government agency Faizal Abdullah’s challenge is directed obliquely at the Government of Malaysia – who would dare do business with its agency.) Reference – Malaysiakini’s report titled “ Kuala Dimensi: Is PKA reneging on its contract?” uploaded on Sep 19, 09 7:22pm.
Don’t expect any action to arise out of the so-called high-powered committee.
The government has operated for too long on the “collective decision” system which means that no big decisions were made without approval from the top.
That creates major problems when a scandal like the PKFZ breaks for in some truly democratic countries, the PM will tender his resignation and that of his Cabinet.
In Malaysia, they will hang in there at all costs.
http://malaysiawatch4.blogspot.com/2009/09/malaysiakini-relates-pkfz-to-iron-law.html
There are broader issues involved here – “why is the government acting as if they privately own the country” per KL John. It is because of the concept of Malaysia Inc (started in TDM’s era) and raises broader but critical issues (relevant not only here but elsewhere) of the extent by which government should itself involve in business; the clear and present dangers of abuses happening with mega projects of questionable viability being awarded without open tender to incompetent cronies, of opportunities being deliberately created to help raise political funds and also personal enrichment of politicians in power, of how under feudal patronage system, assets and resources of a nation are harnessed to help finance the ruling parties/politicians to maintain power and perpetuate themselves indefinitely, no matter that they lost majority votes, and so and so on. Until these critical issues relating to the system are addressed, taking to task individual players like ministers or chief secretary is peripheral, and offers no solution, and the problem of depleting/wasting public finances and concomitant political corruption will continue unabated.
Even a division head is a lucrative post.
KJ John has just highlighted the unenviable dilemma of civil servants, senior ones to boot, who suffer under the yoke of their political masters. How many would be brave and forthright like Joseph who rose to be the PM of Egypt because of his unwavering faith and accountability to his God even in the swirling murky political world of Pharaoh’s time. Joseph stood the test and survived because he did not count the riches of Egypt something to be grasped, choosing to honour God’s name above everything else. History records that Joseph spent time languishing in Egytian jail on account of his integrity.
Well, John, maybe Sidek needs more personal encouragement rather than via LKS’s blog to stand for the truth against the might of the UMNO machine. It’s tough to be under the public’s glare and there is a price to pay. Many, like yourself, couldn’t take the stench, and decided to quit – and I understand there were many of such forthright, sincere men and women of integrity. But now that the salt has left the government, the rot will hasten faster.
As the Chief, Sidek can choose to be different. Can he really? ONLY GOD can give him the fibre and moral courage to resist the avalanche of UMNO decadence.
I hope the UMNO guy go and watch the movie…..”A man for all Seasons” about Sir Thomas Moore who defied the rules of man and supports the rules of God…without fear…and got beheaded by the laws of men.
He is so truthful and righteous…the evil men had to come out with twisted facts… and false witness to get him found guilty in court.
This is a true story about the evil times of British Empire.I
I am sure Mahathir learn alot of the evil sides of the British……but that cannot beat the art of warfare of China…mastered by Oppositions…which takes alot of intelligences to understand the art. Therefore..China’s history of warfare is too difficult for UMNO idiots to master.
But in USA….China’s ..”Three Kingdom” is a must for all generals to understand,
Similarly….watch makers of welknown brands..learn the movements and constructions by studying “Zenith” watch movement diagrams.
Ummmm…. noooooo, how can they be Arab descendants? Are they now claiming to be pendatangs to Malaysia too?
//I hope that the Malaysia Inc. Concept can be revived, that is, if it is now dormant. It is a good concept.// – Tun Dr Mahathir (TDM).
The idea of Malaysia Incorporated was copied by TDM from Japan. (“I was a great plagiarist when I was in the Government. Many of my ideas came from stealing other people’s ideas”, he admitted).
Reference – http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2009/06/malaysia-incorporated.html
When Japan reconstructed itself after World War II, its performance was remarkable in part due to close collaboration between the Government and the private sector.
The Western Press coined the word Japan Incorporated and implied that this was something improper and unprincipled.
There is a reason for this.
Although its probably true that world wide governments and politicians are susceptible to political corruption manifested in different forms whether downright bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and embezzlement, it is exacerbated when government extensively involves itself in business treating the country as a “corporation”. Whilst its true one cannot have a government not playing a significant role in business in management of the economy, however such involvement in a political culture and milieu steeped in feudal culture and outlook (which looks up to the ruling elites as having the prerogative and privilege to do what they like in exchange for protection patronage and largese filtered down to the loyal subjects), without institutional check and balance, independent anti corruption agency, security services and judiciary, and especially no defined institutionalised way prescribing how political campaign funds may be raised only spell disaster! We see it since the first major case of collapse of BMF leading all the way to the present PKFZ Scandal. It is a big problem of moral hazard and political corruption when politicians deliberately create business projects and opportunities in the name of projects of national importance and public good without concern for feasibility and viability, with the costs inflated to cover much needed “distributions” and contracts farmed out to “friendly” parties without competitive bidding/open tender or any concern for track record and bsuiness reputation of the contract beneficiaries.
Elsewhere too we see the same modus operandi but there are intermittently some high level casualties . Hence in Taiwan, former president Chen Shui-bian was sentenced to life in prison for graft; in South Korea, Ex-President Roh Tae Woo and youngest son of South Korean’s President, Kim Dae-jung were jailed for graft; under Japan Incorporated, the incumbent Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei was forced to step down in 1974 after accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the Lockheed Corporation; Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto had admitted he received $760,000 in political donations and so and so on.
The difference – and amazing thing here in Malaysia Incorporated – is that except for the case against Selangor MB Harun way back under Tun Hussein Onn’s watch, we don’t commonly hear of high level officials or ministers and their ilk implicated or charged for corruption to showcase the government’s fight against corruption.. In recent memory the only high level cabinet minister charged for corruption was the former Land and Cooperative Development Minister Kasitah Gaddam but as it turned out he too was acquitted by appellate Malaysian court in August this year. ….Our high level officials must be comparatively “clean”. Wonder why that is so.
There are all perdatangs….just like us…ekompute.
Their roots are Chinese and Indians….which they never want to admit…play religion in politics…..must rooted themselves to Allah’s closet relatives.
That’s how they keep fooling the Malays….one of the many devilish idea.
Samy Vellu declared that he loved TDM. Samy might just join Islamic faith. He would then be UMNO member rather than MIC chief. Would he then make it to be UMNO leader? Possibly Samy gained more as MIC Chief rather than a minor umnoputras. While he is still in charge, he should make MIC members adopt Islamic faith to become UMNO members. CSL might join get his supporters to do the same. UMNO then grows from strength to strength.
Samy said “Mahathir is like a father”…then knowing how old he is…changed to …”like a big brother”…..and I said..Indians are trained to listen and with respect father or big brother.
You cannot believe such a low class hypocrite…big time liar can be MIC President for more years than anyone in any party.
Glad so many Indians left MIC…and in MIC itself..it is jackals and hyenas fighting..for position.
It all started with TDM’s stupid trailer on TV – “Bayangkan Malaysia sebagai sebuah syarikat…….” that we ended up as what we are today. How can this senile old man come up with such a stupid idea, taking a nation as a company? In other words, is he implying that one can become the PM is one hold sufficient “shares” just like how one can become the MD of a company?
He was not stupid. He was cunning. The country, unlike the company belongs equally to all citizens, but the company belongs to the shareholders and the most powerful can do what they please. So Mahathir did as he pleased, after announcing Malaysia as his company.
So he could decide what price Petronas should pay for the land where the twin towers is to the person who bought it earlier from the Selangor Race Course, not unlike PKFZ bought the land from Kuala Dimensi at RM 1,064 million from the “Fishery cooperative” for RM 64 million, and the cooperative might have got the land form the Selangor state government for free. So the Selangor state government actually put RM 64 million into the hands of the Cooperative, and with that the Federal government had to pay RM 1,064 million to Kuala Dimensi. In other words the UMNO controlled Selangor state government made the UMNO controlled Federal government pay RM 1,064 million by alienating a piece of land which it ought to have known had been designated as the site for PKFZ. That is insider trading to milk the federal government.
Why should the Selangor state government alienate land of up to a thousand acres to a cooperative society whose members have their activities in the sea? How then can the cooperative society achieve its objectives to serve its members after the land had been sold? Did they just share the proceeds on land sale and forget about the project envisaged by the Society? Should not the Governments requisite the land to be allotted to PKFZ to serve the interests of more Malaysians than the number of members of the Society? The state government could reallocate an equivalent land somewhere else to the Society, if needed and justifiable? But the PKA with the approval of the Finance Ministry decided that those who traded with inside information should be rewarded at the asking of Kuala Dimensi. Who knows who had the say on the distribution of profits? How can PKA justify spending 1064 millions out of a total budget of 1088 millions on land and leaving only 24 million for putting up the infrastructures needed to make it a Free trade zone? PKA should obviously have been aware that it would need to borrow almost the entire amount allotted of 1,088 million to put up the required construction works. The high gearing would certainly result in PKA having to seek additional funding from the government rather than to operate within the allotted budget. Thus PKA knew that it went against cabinet directive when it decided to buy for the land at the ‘agreed price’. But then cabinet meetings are procedure to put government funds in private hands.
The RM 1,064 million land cost has gone up to many more million with interest. Had the Selangor state government allotted the land to PKFZ, the RM 1,088 million budget would have been sufficient for PKFZ to assign JKR to conduct all the construction and building work. Samy Vellu should have been involved in PKFZ!
That was the beauty of Malaysia incorporated; we see talents in swindling government funds on display.
Whatever Samy Vellu has were given to him by his father, so he treats TDM as father. In that way, even Najib could be his father if he got back into the Cabinet.
Why did Samy change his tone after declaring that TDM destroyed his three DPMs? Samy did not know how to count because AAB was also his DPM who got destroyed after becoming PM. In the past Samy Vellu only claimed that he respected TDM. It is now love, and all emotion from the heart, rather than respect out of conscious thinking, as if Samy had a clear mind. Dogs are men’s greatest friends because they believe their master ill treat them out of love. Samy thought like a dog claiming he loved TDM to reciprocate TDM’s ill treatment against him.