Day: August 11, 2012

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has finally announced the terms of reference of the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry on Illegal Immigrants.

My initial tweet comments on Najib’s announcement are as follows:

(1) No RCI as Sabah RCIII (Illegal Immigrants) assailed with such ocean of public skepticism/doubt it is bona fide solution 2 four-decade problem

(2) 1st impressions – (i) too little, too late, too limited in powers

(ii) I/C 4votes no more Sabah problem but nation-wide. Y no national probe

(iii)Estimates of illegal immigrants in Sabah range from 1.5 mil to 2 mil. RCI capable of dealing with this number?

(iv) Do’s/don’ts of RCI?

(v) Can RCI probe Project M n call up Mahathir as star-witness?

(vi) Can RCI probe those responsible for massive issue of false documents?

(vii) why PM taken six months to finalise eight RCI terms of reference.

(viii) BN rejected my Sabah RCI motion in Parliament in 2008. Why? Continue reading “Ocean of doubt/skepticism greets Sabah RCIII”

This is the fourth consecutive day that the UMNO newspaper Utusan Malaysia has conducted its despicable, seditious and anti-national “Haram Sokong DAP” campaign falsely betraying the DAP as anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers to create racial and religious hatred and undermine national unity.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should explain whether he had authorized or approved the Utusan Malaysia’s four-day despicable, seditious and anti-national “Haram Sokong DAP” campaign when it could be extended to accuse the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, his father Tun Razak and his uncle Tun Hussein Onn as enemies of Islam?

This is because the stand of the DAP in accordance with the Malaysian Constitution, that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion of Malaysia, is no different from that of the first three Prime Ministers from 1957 to 1981, and in fact for the next two decades from 1981 to 2001 during the first 20 years of the premiership of Tun Dr. Mahathir until the fourth Prime Minister made the unilateral, arbitrary and unconstitutional declaration at the Gerakan national delegates conference on Sept. 21, 2001 that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

This is why Mahathir could blithely respond yesterday that he could not be equated to the DAP under the Utusan Malaysia “Haram Sokong DAP” campaign, as he had declared Malaysia an Islamic state when in power although he had not implemented hudud.

Does Najib agree with the clear implication of Mahathir’s response that the fourth Prime Minister could escape the strictures of Utusan Malaysia’s “Haram Sokong DAP” campaign, but not the first three Prime Ministers, including his father Tun Razak and uncle Tun Hussein? Continue reading “Najib should explain why he authorised Utusan’s 4-day despicable/seditious “Haram Sokong DAP”campaign when it could be extended to accuse first 3 PMs, including his father and uncle, as enemies of Islam?”

— Ong Kian Ming and Teh Chi-Chang | August 09, 2012
REFSA (Research for Social Advancement)

At PEMANDU, perception trumps reality. This very powerful government agency values perception and spin above genuine transformation. Starting with the headlines, its rosy communiqués trumpeted strong economic numbers in 2011 rather than admit that real gross national income (GNI) growth was below target, let alone explain the causes or articulate measures to close the gap.

PEMANDU lied in its annual report. It took “100 per cent” credit for the construction of a RM1.9 billion wafer fab plant that was never built. Malaysian official statistics have, until now, been accepted as reliable. This is crucial for investor and public confidence. We hope PEMANDU is not pressuring other government agencies and EPP owners to also dress up their numbers, which will ultimately lead to a catastrophic collapse in confidence in Malaysia.

Agreed-upon-Procedures (AUP) are not worth much. Contrary to general public perception, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) did not conduct a full audit. It conducted AUP, the ambit of which was so loose that PwC failed to detect a huge RM1.9 billion wafer fab plant that was never built. How many other less audacious lies slipped through the net?

PEMANDU is driving a delusion. The very foundations of the ETP are doubtful now that PEMANDU has confessed to errors that slashed 45 per cent off the incremental GNI claimed. Also, some so-called transformative EPPs were chosen based on exaggerated numbers. However, PEMANDU’s biggest “success” is manipulating Malaysians into believing that the ETP is transformational, when in fact, workers will take a mere 21 per cent of the incremental income the ETP promises to create, down from their 28 per cent share currently. Continue reading “Dissecting the ETP Annual Report (Part 7): Perception Manipulation and Deception Unit”