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A new dawn?

— May Chee
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 31, 2012

AUG 31 — Woke up around 7am today, after about five hours of sleep. By the way, “Selamat Hari Merdeka” folks!

My husband and I went for the Janji Demokrasi Merdeka Countdown at the clock tower in Malacca last night. Again, it was another heartwarming experience. Syabas to all those who gathered there and elsewhere for the Janji Demokrasi!

This time around, no untoward incidents, I hear. That’s good, really good. See, if we have everyone’s good intentions in mind, all would be swell.

We left our house at 9pm. There was ample parking around the designated area. As we walked towards the clock tower, we could see cops and Rela personnel already in position. Since we were early, we walked towards Jonker, hoping to join some people at the stage. Along the way, we met some friends, so we headed for the stage together. Some yellow shirts were walking in the opposite direction. They were heading towards the clock tower. All youths. Good, I thought!

At the stage, there was a handful of yellow shirts and a group of around 15 members from the Unit Amal PAS. By 9.30pm the group had swelled to quite a huge number. After taking a group photograph at the foot of the stage, our Unit Amal youngsters led us to the clock tower. Before that, we were told to be at our best behaviour, not to provoke nor hamper the traffic. We walked on the pavement and at all times, the Unit Amal boys made sure traffic for the public was smooth. Though the folks along Jonker were burning incense and some other stuff (Ghost Month?), the Unit Amal boys admirably braved the ashes (some flying into their faces) to guide us. Continue reading “A new dawn?”

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So, has crime rate gone up or down?

― Soo Lim Chee
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 31, 2012

AUG 31 ―I refer to the former and incumbent IGP’s differing opinions over PDRM’s crime statistics.

So, who is to say crime rate has gone up or come down ?

A decreasing number of police reports does not indicate a lower crime rate. A large number of crimes committed went unreported. Therefore any compilation of statistics is unreliable.

Statistics are useful but to attach a great deal of meaning to them is to bark up the wrong tree.

What may be important and should be of concern is encapsulated in the IGP ‘s statement to the media.

“I am aware that people are afraid and there are crimes everywhere. We are working on it and if the people do not believe in statistics then stop looking at them. Let’s work together to reduce crime.”

Yes, we are afraid. Yes, we know there are crimes everywhere. Yes, let’s work together to reduce them. Continue reading “So, has crime rate gone up or down?”

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PAS dan Umno, hudud dan perlaksanaan: Realiti semasa

— Pak Sako
CPI
Aug 31, 2012

Mahathir Mohamad telah mempelawa PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud di bawah payung Barisan Nasional (BN).

Nyata bahawa pelawaan ini cuma sebuah taktik politik yang kecil.

Namun begitu, satu pertimbangan yang ringkas boleh dilakukan mengenai kemungkinan PAS bersekutu dengan Umno, sama ada untuk tujuan melaksanakan hukum hudud atau untuk sebarang sebab yang lain.

Kesimpulannya perpaduan atau kerjasama seperti itu tidak realistik dan ditakdirkan gagal kerana tiga faktor yang fundamental. Continue reading “PAS dan Umno, hudud dan perlaksanaan: Realiti semasa”

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With the approach of 13GE, BN mainstream media are throwing journalistic ethics to the winds and resorting to more lies and falsehoods in their attacks on Pakatan Rakyat leaders

With the approach of 13th General Election, which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Kedah yesterday would determine UMNO and Barisan Nasional’s survival (or to be more exact, Najib’s own political survival), the UMNO/Barisan Nasional mainstream media are throwing journalistic ethics to the winds and resorting to more lies and falsehoods in their attacks on Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

It is a measure of the increasing desperation felt by UMNO/BN leaders that the next general elections could result in a change of federal government in Putrajaya that the next polls in shaping up to the dirtiest elections in the nation’s 55-year history – with blatant and flagrant lies and falsehoods recklessly spread by UMNO/BN cybertroopers about individual Pakatan Rakyat leaders like the accusation that I had urinated at the flagpole in the Kuala Lumpur residence of the former Selangor Mentri Besar, Datuk Harun Idris sparking off the May 13 riots in 1969, when I was never in Kuala Lumpur on May 10, 11, 12 or 13, 1969 or the ludicrous allegation that the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had provoked the May 13 riots in his capacity as DAP Youth leader when Guan Eng was only eight years old at the time!

The latest lie and falsehood by UMNO mainstream media is today’s New Straits Times report entitled “’Anti-hopping law unfair and impractical’” on Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s call to introduce a law against party-hopping, which among other things, said:

“The critics pointed out that Lim’s father, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, had even praised members of parliament Datuk Seri Wilfred Mojilip Bumburing of Tuaran and Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin of Beaufort when the duo left Barisan Nasional to support the opposition coalition.”

This is pure concoction for up to now, I have not said anything about the actions of Wilfred Bumburing and Lajim Ukiin in leaving Barisan Nasional to support the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Continue reading “With the approach of 13GE, BN mainstream media are throwing journalistic ethics to the winds and resorting to more lies and falsehoods in their attacks on Pakatan Rakyat leaders”

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Regime change looms in Malaysia

— Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 30, 2012

AUG 30 — A very young demographic profile, a high urbanisation rate, ever increasing access to the Internet and extreme longevity in power, among other factors, will be working against the ruling coalition in Malaysia’s coming election.

There are many reasons for the international community to be deeply cognisant of this fact, and to prepare for a regime change in that country for the first time since it gained independence in 1957.

Soon after the government suffered severe setbacks in elections held on March 8, 2008, the country went into a permanent campaign mode, and has remained that way ever since.

A general election have to be called soon, since the Malaysian Constitution requires that Parliament be dissolved by 28th April 2013 upon the completion of its five-year mandate. Continue reading “Regime change looms in Malaysia”

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Merdeka!

by Allan Goh

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

The voices that reverberated,

Rousted the birth of a new Nation,

Unshackled, no more subjugated.

It was a new dawn, a new era,

For people’s hope and aspiration,

To build a shared common destiny,

With one soul and one inspiration.

Mereka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

That call united all the races,

In the pursuit of independence,

Free from the forced colonial braces.

People wanted to live their own lives,

And form their own common destiny.

They eschewed any exploitations,

Hoped for a nation of harmony.

Continue reading “Merdeka!”

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Let all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics, celebrate 55th Merdeka Day as one Malaysian people

55th Merdeka Day Message

Merdeka Day should be an overarching national celebration uniting Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation in a common purpose to develop a more democratic, just, competitive and prosperous nation – and any partisan attempt to hijack the Merdeka Day which can only result in greater division, dissension and disunity must be deplored.

It is sad many Malaysians feel depressed by this year’s 55th Merdeka Day not only because they have never felt so unsafe in public places and the privacy of their homes, but also because of the increasingly negative and discordant voices sowing distrust and hatred in our plural society and seeking to polarise and divide Malaysians particularly along race and religious lines.

Merdeka Day is a national celebration not just for any individual, group, community or political party. It is not for Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. It is for all Malaysians.

Let all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation rise above their differences to celebrate the 55th Merdeka Day as one Malaysian people to forge a common national destiny where freedom, justice, integrity and good governance flourish in our land and enjoyed by all our citizens.

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Police response failed to explain vast double disconnect as safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate yet with worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in nation’s 55-year history

While the weeklong belated reply by the PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) public relations officer ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf refuting the “whistleblower” expose “Crime statistics: Let the truth be told” on doctoring of crime statistics is being studied, the bleak and undeniable fact is that the police response failed to explain the vast double disconnect of Malaysia as the safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reduction in crime rate yet with the worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in the nation’s 55 year history.

Recently, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysians should be proud of the country’s position as the safest country in Southeast Asia in the Global Peace Index.

This was echoed in the 2011 Government Transformation Programme (GTP) Annual Report on Reducing Crime NKRA, which said:

“In the fifth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) released in May 2011, Malaysia was declared the most peaceful country in Southeast Asia and the 4th safest in the Asia Pacific region behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia. The country rose three spots to 19th place, supplanting Singapore as the highest-ranked Southeast Asian nation. In its GPI rankings, the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace also placed Malaysia as the 19th safest and most peaceful country out of 153 nations worldwide. This is the fifth successive year that Malaysia has improved on its GPI score.” (p 55)

In his foreword to the 2011 GTP Annual Report, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein wrote:
Continue reading “Police response failed to explain vast double disconnect as safest country in Southeast Asia with double-digit reductions in crime rate yet with worst fear of crime suffered by Malaysians in nation’s 55-year history”

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Police response to ‘Crime statistics: Let the truth be told’

— Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 28, 2012

AUG 28 — In response to the article “Crime statistics: Let the truth be told” first published on August 22 via http://liewchintong.com blogsite and subsequently published by several online portals, we would like to state that any public feedback is welcomed and will be given due consideration.

As we all know it, crime reduction is everybody’s business. PDRM believe that all kind of feedback will enable us to improve our services to the rakyat, in line with the call for the public sector to enhance their effectiveness, efficiency and productivity. Hence, we appreciate the concerns brought about by the letter from “Veteran Policeman”. We would, however, like to register our regret and utmost disappointment that the respective publications including the blog owner did not see fit to verify and check with PDRM on the facts of the allegations before presenting the letter to their readers.

Multiple factual inaccuracies

First and foremost, we would like to highlight multiple factual inaccuracies upon which the conclusions of the article were drawn.

These corrections and clarifications are necessary to enable the public to make an informed assessment of the situation. Continue reading “Police response to ‘Crime statistics: Let the truth be told’”

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Cabinet tomorrow should direct Hishammuddin, Idris and Koh to respond to fake crime stats allegations in post-Cabinet media conference as continued silence would rubbish all GTP and ETP claims of success and “Big Fast Results”

The Cabinet tomorrow must place on top of its agenda the very serious allegations of fake crime statistics to give the false and misleading picture of “Big Wins” and “Big Fast Results” milestones in the Reducing Crime NKRA, claiming a dramatic reduction of 35% in Street Crime and 15% in Index Crime in 2010, followed by a further drop of 39.7% in Street Crime and 11.1%drop in Index Crime in 2011 – hailed as “the highest drop ever since Independence”.

Yet Malaysians have never been more afflicted with the debilitating “fear of crime” – whether the fear of taking a neighbourhood stroll with the family or the fear of going out at night!

I hope there are courageous and fearless Ministers who dare to speak up at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow to point out that the week-long deafening silence to the very credible expose by the “whistleblower” 30-year police officer of how crime statistics have been doctored to give the false picture of “Big Wins” and “Big Fast Results” in the Reducing Crime NKRA in the past two years is the greatest disservice to the present administration.

The Cabinet must take full cognizance of the inescapable fact that continued silence on the part of the authorities concerned and failure to rebut the very credible account of fake crime statistics by the “whistleblower” police officer would rubbish all the Government Transformation Programmes (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) claims of success and “Big Fast Results”.
Continue reading “Cabinet tomorrow should direct Hishammuddin, Idris and Koh to respond to fake crime stats allegations in post-Cabinet media conference as continued silence would rubbish all GTP and ETP claims of success and “Big Fast Results””

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Merdeka Day bash at Bukit Jalil Stadium a set-back for nation-building by 55 years when Malaysian public excluded from the 100,000-seat capacity stadium which is reserved for “BN invites” only

Last night, in response to the Malaysiakini report “Bukit Jalil Merdeka Day bash for invites only”, I penned five tweets, viz:

  1. Scandalous! Outrageous! What Merdeka D bash is this? http://goo.gl/H1IpV Bukit Jalil Merdeka Day bash is invite only- Sara Ghazie(Mkini)

  2. “Got like that one meh?” exclamation will be heard throughout country when Malaysians read “Bukit Jalil Merdeka Day bash is invite only”

  3. No better proof of BN hijacking Merdeka Day celebrations – 1st BN election slogan of “Janji Ditepati” n now 100k Stadium largely BN invites

  4. With MerdekaDay bash BtJalil Stadium hijacked by BN pumped up by rent-MerdekaDay-crowds, all pretence of 1Malaysia inclusive thrown 2winds

  5. What irony 4Najib’s 1Msia signature slogan! “Bukit Jalil Merdeka Day bash is invite only” has set back nation-building in Msia by 55 years!

Continue reading “Merdeka Day bash at Bukit Jalil Stadium a set-back for nation-building by 55 years when Malaysian public excluded from the 100,000-seat capacity stadium which is reserved for “BN invites” only”

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Tweaked crime statistics: Who should respond

Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI

Below we are reproducing views from several CPI columnists and regular contributors on the whistleblower’s letter detailing the way in which crime statistics have been processed to provide the misleading conclusion that crime is on the decline in the country.

We await with interest the official response – whether from Hishamuddin Hussein, the Home Minister or Koh Tsu Koon and Idris Jala, the two ministers concerned in the Prime Minister’s Department or from Ismail Omar, the Inspector General of Police.

We had earlier published the letter of explanation on the collection and recording of crime statistics by ACP Razali Mohamad Yoosuf in response to the initial article by myself on why our police are impotent against the tide of rising crime.

We look forward to publishing any further response from ACP Razali and his colleagues in the PDRM or from any other of the alleged implicated stake players on the latest developments on this subject which is of so much concern to our citizenry.

It is important that some official response be forthcoming because at risk is not simply the public’s confidence in crime statistics and the police but at risk is also the public’s confidence in the other officially generated statistics on the country’s development as well as the public’s perception of the professionalism, independence and integrity of the civil service.

Few Malaysians will ever again look at official statistics without wondering how they have been fudged and manipulated by the government for political advantage. Continue reading “Tweaked crime statistics: Who should respond”

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Is Malaysia’s IPO Boom Overhyped?

– By Dhara Ranasinghe
CNBC
27 Aug 2012

Malaysia is marking itself out as the IPO destination to beat this year with a string of billion-dollar-plus deals. Impressive, for sure, but don’t take the booming IPO market as a sign that Malaysia is poised to become a regional financial hub, experts say.

The reasons for this, they add, are simple: once the slew of big Malaysian companies seeking new listings runs out there is likely to be a dearth of initial public offerings (IPOs) in Malaysia. Because Malaysia is still developing open and liquid capital markets, foreign firms looking to list in the region are likely to pick Singapore and Hong Kong over Kuala Lumpur.

All the big companies listed in Malaysia this year are local firms. To really develop itself as a centre for IPOs, Malaysia needs to attract new listings from big foreign firms in the way Singapore and Hong Kong have done in the past, analysts add.

“Part of the boom in the Malaysian IPO market can be explained by the well-developed pension system in Malaysia, which has allowed for growth in domestic demand for equities,” said Herald Van Der Linde, Head of Equity Strategy, Asia-Pacific at HSBC in Hong Kong.

“However, when it comes to comparing Malaysia with Singapore and Hong Kong, these markets are much larger, more diversified and much better developed. As such, they can compete for global IPOs. This is unlikely to happen in Malaysia yet,” Van Der Linde said. Continue reading “Is Malaysia’s IPO Boom Overhyped?”

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Let the truth be upheld

— Mooreyameen Mohamad
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 27, 2012

AUG 27 — The recent article by Anonymous Policeman that claimed crime statistics are being massaged listed serious allegations about police conduct, and clearly raised questions about the veracity of the crime statistics itself. PEMANDU has repeatedly said that it depends on the police to present the data for reporting and that the data from the police were never massaged by PEMANDU.

However, if what is claimed by the article is true, then there are serious questions that need to be asked: is the police force under undue political pressure to perform their duties and therefore dispensed with their charter of being “Mesra, Cepat dan Betul” (friendly, fast and correct)? And, most importantly, keeping our eyes on the real goal of all this, how to deal with the situation?

First and foremost, in order to manage any situation properly, PEMANDU and the police must work with real data to size up the problem properly and to deal with the problem in the most appropriate manner.

If data has been massaged for whatever reason, the real depth and scale of the problem would be unknown, and resources may be misdirected accordingly due to the false data. So, data integrity is, needless to say but still important to remember, of the utmost importance. Continue reading “Let the truth be upheld”

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Why Join Politics?

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin on joining the Democratic Action Party on Monday 27 August 2012 in Kuala Lumpur:

My mom has rightly asked, “you can have a decent and comfortable life now already, why choose such a hard life?” The reason is because I love this nation and desire to see a better Malaysia.

I have met just so many young and bright Malaysians who left home for better opportunities abroad. If all of these continue, we’ll soon reach a point of no return.

Therefore I decided to join DAP to make a change. I do not want to be a bystander as my country is going through one of the most important turning points of history, either for the better or worse future. I do not want to regret at the latter part of my life, seeing my country at peril, just because people of my generation have not done enough and have chosen comfort over sacrifice. To quote Edmund Burke (埃德蒙·伯克), “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

I believe that Malaysian youths can make a difference, and am always encouraged by Apostle Paul who wrote in a letter to his spiritual son, Timothy, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, faith and purity.” Continue reading “Why Join Politics?”

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Was Najib aware of doctored crime statistics which caused him to single out a “safe Malaysia” as the theme of his Hari Raya message last week?

When in his Hari Raya message last week the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged “a safe Malaysia” by assuring that all agencies responsible will be more effective in tackling crime to enhance security in the country, it raised eyebrows and queries among thinking Malaysians for two reasons:

Firstly, the assurance of a safe country is the most basic and fundamental duty of any functioning and successful government. The Barisan Nasional Government has claimed to be a very successful government, even making the Barisan Nasional election theme “Janji Ditepati” the 55th Merdeka Day/49th Malaysia Day theme! Why then the need to make such a pledge after 55 years of governing the country, unless Malaysia is no more as safe a country for its citizens, investors and tourists as in the past decades?

Secondly, the “safe Malaysia” theme of Najib’s Hari Raya message is even more baffling when his government has been trumpeting its extraordinary success and “Big Wins” in its Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and National Key Result Area (NKRA) in reducing crime – i.e. in 2011, drop in street crime by 39.7% and drop in overall crime index by 11.1% although Malaysians have never felt so unsafe in public places or even in the privacy of their homes!

Now, Malaysians are beginning to understand why Najib has made “a safe Malaysia” the main theme of his Hari Raya message last week. Continue reading “Was Najib aware of doctored crime statistics which caused him to single out a “safe Malaysia” as the theme of his Hari Raya message last week?”

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Why I joined the DAP

By Dr Ong Kian Ming
The Malaysian Insider

AUG 27 — Before joining the DAP, I have never been a member of any other political party despite having worked for two think-tanks that were linked to the MCA and Gerakan. Why am I making the decision to join a political party now and why did I choose the DAP?

I believe that our country is at a critical juncture in its history where for the first time since achieving our independence, we have a credible and strong opposition capable of governing at the federal level. This has been most clearly demonstrated in the state governments in Penang and Selangor which have vastly outperformed their predecessors in terms of delivering transparent, accountable, responsiveness and caring governments.

At the same time, despite the various transformation initiatives which have been rolled out by our Prime Minister Najib Razak, there is still a glaring absence of fundamental structural reforms that are necessary to spark a genuine process of transformation. Not only is there the business-as-usual way of ill-conceived and murky deals being done — via the various 1MDB-linked land and asset acquisitions, just to name one — we also see a disturbing ramp-up in fear-mongering attempts by the BN-linked papers such as Utusan in order to raise feelings of ethnic insecurity.

Things seem to be getting worse for the country as a desperate regime clings to power, seemingly at all costs. As such, the time for sitting on the academic sidelines and commentating as an analyst is over. It is time, at least for me, to take the plunge and to play a more active role to bring about a necessary regime change in the country. Continue reading “Why I joined the DAP”

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BN: Stop creating illusionary fear

— CL Tang
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 26, 2012

AUG 26 — Day in day out, Umno and MCA have been frightening the people with their doomsday scenario should Pakatan Rakyat wrestle power from their clutches.

MCA leaders keep harping to the Chinese electorate that a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS. Should Pakatan come to power, MCA suggests, rather ludicrously that DAP will bow down to PAS’ demands for the implementation of hudud law.

Never mind that PAS would not have the numbers to push this through parliament since their Pakatan partners, DAP and PKR, would never accede to it. In fact, PAS would have to rely on the other sole dominant Muslim political party, Umno, to have any chance of making hudud law a reality. Can MCA President Chua Soi Lek secure a promise from big brother Umno that it will never consider such a political alliance? If it is not able to do so, then it should refrain from lambasting DAP for its alleged subservience to PAS, when MCA dare not even stand up to Umno when it is being bullied. More importantly, MCA must stop using the threat of hudud law as its main political weapon against DAP, as it raises unnecessary fear and unease among the main races in Malaysia.

Umno leaders have been painting a picture of apocalypse should Pakatan win power. “Don’t take Malaysia’s peace and harmony for granted”, they exclaim over and over again, suggesting that Malaysia’s stability and race relations are so fragile that a change of power in a fair election could throw the entire country into chaos and mayhem. The May 13th incident is being cited again and again. Continue reading “BN: Stop creating illusionary fear”

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Kick them out

— Sam Peh
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 26, 2012

AUG 26 — There are two options that the BN government relies on: deny even in the face of evidence or keep silent.

The first option was used by Koh Tsu Koon (can anyone explain to me why he is still around? Didn’t he get trounced?) when he told the MCA newsletter that he was unaware that a circular had been sent out by the National Unity Department of the Prime Minister’s Department asking Chinese and Indian students to make up the numbers for the National Day Parade. For their troubles, they would get some cash and a T-shirt.

Koh said no such was needed. But the problem with that bare denial is that circular has been sent to several institutions of higher learning and that it appears that The Malaysian Insider has got its hands on one such circular. Of course, the MCA newsletter will publish anything without checking. Instead of taking the word of a Cabinet minister (who trusts these chaps?), their reporters should have called up the Department of National Unity or even checked with a few private institutions but I suppose that would involve doing some real journalism.

The second BN option is silence when faced with a troublesome issue. Sometimes, the silence is because Putrajaya believes that the issue will blow over. (That is why Putrajaya kept quiet for months while PKR lifted the veil of the NFC scam). Continue reading “Kick them out”