— by Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 20, 2011
NOV 20 — There is a new mantra in Putrajaya: when they are caught in a tricky or difficult situation, they say “Let the People Decide”.
There is a reason why Muhyiddin Yassin and Hishammuddin Hussein have suddenly become lovers of the public opinion. It is because they hope to end whatever debate is going on, to recoup their position and then hope that Malaysians forget about the particularly embarrassing event.
Muhyiddin caught at the centre of National Feedlot Corporation (let us not be mistaken: he is a central figure in this scandal because he approved the project), says that the public upon reading Shahrizat Jalil husband’s porous defence will not swallow the lies of the Opposition.
The DPM just wants to end the debate on an issue which can embroil himself.
Now Hishammuddin Hussein, the man who denied the will of the people for free elections, is also keen for the people to judge the government’s actions in using the ISA to arrest 13 alleged terrorists.
So since we are all being supporters of public opinion, why don’t Malaysians also judge:
1) Why the rich and political elite in Malaysia are getting richer but not from productive industries but from inflated contracts, sudden market activity and sweet deals.
The talk of the town has been how Harvest Court Industries shares soared 27 times from a low of eight sen to 2.14 before Bursa Malaysia made it a designated stock.
Of some interest perhaps is news that the 28-year-old son of Najib Razak, Nazifuddin Najib, bought a 2.2 per cent stake in Harvest at RM1.50. Wow, a 28-year-old genius with cash to throw.
Maybe the people should judge how the political elite seem to have the most brilliant offspring. I mean the top executives of NFC are Shahrizat’s young children.
2) Why don’t Malaysians also judge why defence spending is not subject to scrutiny by Parliament.
According to a report by Transparency International, Bangladesh, Liberia, Papua New Guinea is more transparent in defence spending than Malaysia.
Maybe that is why the patrol boats and aircraft and submarines we buy are so many times higher than what other countries pay.
Zahid Hamidi is on a spending spree and not many people know how much he is paying or what he is buying.
3) Why don’t Malaysians also judge why the son-in-law of the DPM is involved in the lucrative biometric scanning project for foreign labour?
This is an interesting question to ponder because isn’t Muhyiddin head of some cabinet committee which overlooks foreign workers.
4) Malaysians should also judge how the political elite are able to send their sons and daughter’s to expensive boarding schools in the UK and Australia on their government salaries.
5) Malaysians should also judge how it is that young Umno politicians seem to have well-tailored clothes, luxury cars and entourage of hangers on but no regular employment.
What exactly does Khairy Jamaluddin do for a living?
I agree wholeheartedly with Muhyiddin and Hishammuddin that Malaysians should exercise their powers of judgement but don’t depend on the mainstream media.
Read the online media and devour rumours because in Malaysia, the unofficial stuff is often true.