Month: October 2013

– Murray Hunter
The Malaysian Insider/Asia Sentinel
October 08, 2013

Since Malaysia’s general election last May, Umno has been attempting to redefine its electoral base to include Bumiputera or native groups across the country, most of them in East Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak, and not just ethnic Malays.

Malays and Muslim Bumiputera today account for 59.7% of the population, with non-Muslim Bumiputeras comprising another 7.6%. That is expected to rise to 67.9% by the next election. Umno strategists believe that if the party can successfully capture this constituency, it would garner enough votes for the party to continue governing Malaysia into the foreseeable future, simply continuing to disregard the votes of Chinese and Indian voters on the Malaysian peninsula, who turned soundly against the Barisan Nasional, or national ruling coalition in the May election.

A recent statement by Sabah Mulfti Bungsu @Aziz Jaafar calling for the government to classify all Muslim indigenous people as “Malays” seems to support this view. This has attracted criticism from some local components of the ruling state Barisan Nasional coalition, as it ignores the differing histories and elements of cultural identities of peoples of the peninsula and Borneo, and creates many complications around native land ownership because of provisions in state constitutions.

However, this strategy faces problems, with rising discontent in Sabah and Sarawak becoming more and more public. On the eve of a conference organized by the Borneo Heritage Foundation (BHF), former Sabah Chief Minister Harris Salleh personally entered the debate through the local media, saying all Sabah leaders are responsible for the current situation. Continue reading “Winds of discontent over Borneo”

More and more questions are being asked about the high-level Chief Secretary’s Special Committee to study and scrutinise the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report announced by the Chief Secretary Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa on Saturday.

According to Ali, who will chair the Special Committee, other members are the Public Services director-general, attorney-general as well as representatives from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Finance Ministry and the Royal Malaysian Police.

The first question is whether the Najib government is serious to ensure the highest standards of integrity and accountability in the public service and that the Chief Secretary’s Special Committee on the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report is not just a “public relations” exercise to circumvent and distract attention from the avalanche of adverse publicity following the publication of the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report!

Has the first meeting of the Chief Secretary’s Special Committee on the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report been held, and will Najib, as the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister be able to present a White Paper when Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on October 21 reporting on the initial actions and decisions of the Special Committee? Continue reading “IGP Khalid should be hauled before the Chief Secretary’s Special Committee on 2012 Auditor-General’s Report for the missing firearms and police assets instead being represented on the committee”

Liew Chin Tong
DAP MP for Kluang
The Malaysian Insider
October 08, 2013

Falsehoods and pseudo-logic are being fed to Utusan Malaysia readers and the TV3 audience just to prevent the Malays from truly understanding the DAP. Here are some of the things that Umno, Utusan and TV3 ought to know about DAP.

First, is Umno’s electoral system superior to DAP’s?

It is comical to see Utusan and TV3’s recent tirade against DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for not winning the top spot in the re-election of its central executive committee and why I, being the candidate who received the highest number of votes, should be handed the secretary-general’s post immediately.

Underlying this is the notion that DAP’s party electoral system is faulty and undemocratic. Systems that are dissimilar to Umno’s are not necessarily faulty. Each type of electoral system comes with its own reasoning which requires deeper analysis. Continue reading “What Utusan doesn’t know about DAP”

NEWS ANALYSIS
The Malaysian Insider
October 08, 2013

If Malaysians are offended by the vile garbage being spewed by the likes of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam and other Umno politicians auditioning for the Umno party polls on October 19, there is more distressing news.

A recent poll of 600 Umno party members and their supporters by the respected Merdeka Center has revealed a disturbing picture of a party contented with itself and angry with just about everyone else.

A clutch of questions was asked to gauge the current perception about the ruling party by its own cadres. Continue reading “Why Umno leaders are singing such a vile tune these days”

After a week of intense adverse publicity, including ludicrous pronouncements by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi about missing guns “falling into the sea”, Malaysians are no nearer to finding out what has happened to the loss of RMRM1.55 million worth of police assets, including 44 firearms, 156 handcuffs and 29 vehicles, between 2010 and 2012 as revealed by the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report – whether and how many of such police assets have really “fallen into the sea”!

Yesterday, the Malaysian Insider in its report “One down, 43 to go. One of my men reported his gun was stolen, says police task force director” quoted the Federal Special Task Force (Operations and Counter-Terrorism) director Datuk Seri Mohamad Fuzi Harun as saying that one of the 44 missing guns was stolen from a policeman by a snatch thief.

Although this would account for one of the 44 missing guns, the immediate question that arises is why the policeman had taken more than a year to report that his gun was stolen by a snatch thief!
Continue reading “Let Najib’s White Paper on 2012 Auditor-General’s Report tell Malaysians what has happened to the loss of RM1.33 million worth of police assets, including 44 firearms”

NEWS ANALYSIS
The Malaysian Insider
October 07, 2013

The police are looking into five reports against DAP publicity chief Tony Pua for calling the Registrar of Societies and Utusan Malaysia Umno’s running dogs.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin reportedly said they want to decide whether Pua should be investigated under criminal law or the Sedition Act.

This is where it gets farcical. Why investigate a man for calling someone else a lackey?

Do the police, Utusan Malaysia, the five groups that lodged the reports or even Umno understand what running dogs even means? It’s an English translation of the Mandarin word that refers to lackeys or lapdogs. Continue reading “Of running dogs, misunderstanding and proving the phrase”

– CL Tang
The Malaysian Insider
October 06, 2013

Monday blues again. I dragged myself out of bed, for yet another day of traffic jams, mundane work and greasy lunches. As I arrived at my office barely on time, I noticed it is just the first week of the month. Yet another 3 weeks to go before that next paycheck.

It is an important day today – the company is due to sign a huge contract with the government. The company chairman will get to buy a new Rolls Royce, and I may get a promotion with a big pay rise. I buzzed my assistant to bring in the contract that we have spent the last month putting together.

She walked in, looking rather perplexed, and muttered,” Sorry boss, I lost my briefcase that contains the contract, including my laptop and the back-up disk”. I sank into my chair. “What?! How can you lose such an important document?” I yelled. She blinked her thick eyelashes and whimpered,” Boss, if the police can lose 44 guns and their boss is not even cross with them, why are you so harsh with me?” I did not know how to respond to that as she stormed out, lips pouting. Continue reading “I work hard so my government can afford RM4,000 clocks”

The Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should present a White Paper to the Dewan Rakyat when it reconvenes in a fortnight’s time on Oct. 21 on the initial actions and decisions taken by the Special Committee set up to scrutinize the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report.

The Special Committee was announced yesterday by the Chief Secretary Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, who will chair the special committee which will comprise the director-general of the Public Service, the Attorney-General as well as representatives from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Finance Ministry and Royal Malaysian Police.

There is widespread skepticism that the Special Committee will be able to make any difference to end the annual tale of horrors in the Auditor-General’s Reports about rampant corruption, wastage of public funds and abuses of power in the public service.

If the government is serious about wanting to stamp out corruption, waste, extravagance and abuses of power running into billions of ringgit of public funds every year, such a high-level government committee should have been formed immediately after the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang submitted the 2012 Report to the government in July, and not now – only after the spate of adverse publicity in the past week following the tabling of the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report in Parliament on Oct. 1. Continue reading “Najib should present White Paper to Dewan Rakyat when it reconvenes in a fortnight on the initial decisions and actions taken by Special Committee on Auditor-General’s 2012 Report”

P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Oct 4, 2013

QUESTION TIME In the wee hours of yesterday as most of Malaysia slept, the amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act were pushed through. This brought back the dreaded provision of detention without trial that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had rolled back when he dismantled the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance.

With that, out through the window went Najib’s self-proclaimed programme to promote civil society and get rid of legislation which curtailed human rights in order to restore the same to all Malaysians.

Najib had made this loosening up of tight legislation a part of his election campaign to try and capture some of the more liberal minded, non-bumiputera, and urban voters by at least giving the impression that the nation was moving towards greater freedom.

Along with this Najib sought to become a prime minister for all Malaysians with his 1Malaysia programmes and efforts to get the non-Malay votes by targeting them specifically in ad campaigns and through the English mainstream media.

But post the elections, the tone of changes has taken a completely different complexion. The moves have been to help bumiputeras almost exclusively and to reverse the changes towards greater liberalisation. Continue reading “Will Najib lead BN into GE14?”

– Ravinder Singh
The Malaysian Insider
October 05, 2013

One told Malaysians that the guns might have fallen into the sea and the other confirmed it. This type of ‘explanation’ is what is termed in the Malay language as an attempt to “memperbodohkan” the public, to make fools of the public.

Even a bullet lost by a member of the police force is supposed to be reported, what more when weapons are lost. Thus there must be a report by each of the persons who lost their weapons and ammunition. Or has this practice been long discarded?

Losing weapons is a very serious matter. But to the Inspector General of Police and to Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, it is child’s play, as if the guns lost were mere toy guns. They are arrogantly telling the public “to mind your own business” and that asking the police about the lost weapons is none of their business.

This cockiness stems from the fact that they are the ones in power and whatever they do or say must be meekly accepted as the truth which is final and binding. In other words, do not question those in authority. This is the culture of “ketuanan”, the master must not be questioned. But isn’t the public the master as the public elects the politicians into office and civil servants are the servants of civil society? So by the theory of “ketuanan”, the public are the tuans of the politicians and the civil servants. So why can’t the public question the politicians and public servants? Continue reading “Lost guns: IGP’s and Zahid’s cocky “explanation””

By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
3rd October 2013

Let me be upfront about this. I’ve never been in favour of our National Service (NS) programme, and I think it should be scrapped immediately.

From the day it was implemented in December 2003 – in fact, even when it was first proposed about two years before that – I had thought of it as nothing but a propaganda opportunity for the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government, as another medium it could exploit to pollute young minds with its warped ideas about nationalism and patriotism. And goodness knows what else.

In fact, one of its declared objectives is – brace yourself for it – developing a generation that is obedient and loyal to the Government. Continue reading “Kill National Service Before It Kills Again”

– Bob Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
October 04, 2013

My Malay buddy texted me: “Would you comment as a non-Malay, in particular Chinese, how you see future of non-Malays, especially Chinese, with the likes of Perkasa, Jati, Jimm around and even Umno becoming more rightist. Also with country appearing to becoming more Malay as well as Malay population increasing while non-Malay population decreasing? Will not name you, of course.”

He’s a columnist just like me and he needed my response to help him put together a piece on the sorry state of race relations in the country. So I rang him up and offered him my opinion.

“Must be a hard time you Chinese are facing eh?” he said before assuring me he would not use my name in his column. Continue reading “Time to say no to racism”

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
5th October 2013

The Auditor-General’s report for 2012 is alarming. And this is so not only because it exposed huge wastage committed by government departments last year, but also because nothing seems to have changed all these many years.

Year after year, the A-G tells us of cases of improper payment; of purchases made at astronomical prices; of unreasonable project delays; of poor asset management; of non-adherence to procedures, etc, etc. But year after year, nothing is done to address the shortcomings.

It seems as if our civil service just continues to plod on, continues to waste, continues to be inefficient, continues to make corrupt transactions. And the overriding controller – i.e. the Government – just lets it be.

The Government knows from the A-G’s reports that corruption is rife in the civil service, but it probably realises it doesn’t have the moral standing to haul in the culprits. After all, the civil servants are following the example of the country’s leadership. And since the Government has also not shown itself to be accountable for a lot of things, how can we stop the rot? Continue reading “A-G Spot-on, IGP All at Sea”

Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
October 4, 2013

Oct 4 — Most Malays would like to think that their race is one that is proud and as old as time, and thus will remain pure and noble until the end of it all.

“Takkan Melayu hilang di dunia,” (Malays will never become extinct) they would repeat ad nauseam, parroting the words allegedly spoken by the icon of that noble Malay man: Hang Tuah.

Bereft of achievements that they can be immensely proud of as Malaysians, numerous Malays have retreated into a cocoon, where race and religion have become their defining marks.

I had the most interesting opportunity to immerse myself in this mentality last weekend as I sat in on a symposium called “Mendepani Agenda Asing” (Facing foreign agenda), or MEGA, co-organised by the Islamist NGO Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA). Continue reading “Malays: The oppressed ‘master race’”

by Eileen Ng and Mobhd Farhan Darwis
The Malaysian Insider
October 04, 2013

Umno incumbent vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appears to be gaining ground among the party’s 191 divisions in the run-up to the October 19 party polls, say Umno insiders.

However, the Home Minister’s two running mates, incumbents Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, are believed to be trailing in the six-man race.

The trio is facing a stiff challenge from Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, Felda chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad and former Malacca chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam.

The Malaysian Insider understands Ahmad Zahid has garnered pledges of support from about 130 divisions as he travels across the country in his quest to keep his party post. Some 146,000 grassroots delegates will vote for their leaders in the polls, as opposed to the 2,500 delegates that previously voted in the triennial elections. Continue reading “Zahid leads the pack in Umno vice-presidential race”

The Malay Mail Online
October 4, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — The chief minister of the rural Malaysian state of Kedah has a familiar face, even if he lacks the charisma, provocative rhetoric and razor-sharp political skills of his famous father.

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir is the youngest son of Malaysia’s longest-serving leader, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, whose often authoritarian rule transformed the economy into a developing powerhouse while winning a reputation for cronyism and dubious “mega-projects”.

Ten years after his father stepped down, Mukhriz has stepped into a battle for the soul of the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in a test of 88-year-old Mahathir senior’s still-powerful influence over the party.

If Mukhriz succeeds in snaring a coveted Umno vice presidential post later this month, unseating one of three seasoned cabinet ministers, it would be seen as a further blow to the flagging reform agenda of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The ruling coalition’s weak election victory in May undermined Najib’s attempts to forge more inclusive policies in racially diverse Malaysia, empowering Umno conservatives who want to strengthen policies favouring majority ethnic Malays.

The elder Mahathir remains a potent figure through his towering reputation and leverage within Umno. Victory in the party elections for the son would give rise to suspicion that he would act as a proxy for his father.

Both father, who has previously scorned political dynasties, and son have denied that. Neither responded to Reuters’ requests for interviews.

Nevertheless, Mukhriz Mahathir’s election to a top party post would be seen as bolstering the conservative wing of the party. Continue reading “In Malaysia, Mahathir’s rising son signals conservative shift”

By Ida Lim
The Malay Mail Online
October 4, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek refused last night to confirm or deny reports that former port boss Datuk Lee Hwa Beng had been sacked from MCA for inviting DAP political foe Lim Kit Siang to the launch of his whistleblowing book on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Last night the MCA president ran the gauntlet of reporters who had door-stopped him after an event in Petaling Jaya, and stayed silent amid a barrage of questions thrown at him over the reported sacking of Lee.

Lee, who was last week elected to be a national delegate to the Chinese party’s polls later this year, had taken to Twitter to broadcast his sacking earlier yesterday afternoon while the MCA central committee was holding a news conference.

“Just heard @drchuaSL just sacked me as an MCA member. Am honored as he see me as a threat once I was voted in as a national delegate,” the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman wrote on his Twitter account @hwabeng.

“Was told I was sacked as MCA member 4 inviting @limkitsiang 2 launch my PKFZ bk.But why now?Must b when I was elected a nat delegate last wk,” he added in a series of tweets in reply to a bombardment of questions.

However, when contacted by The Malay Mail Online over the phone, Lee said there was “no letter, no notice” informing him of the sacking.

He declined to comment further until he found out the reason behind his sacking from the political party. Continue reading “Soi Lek stays silent as party roiled by sacking of former port chief”

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
October 03, 2013

Although Putrajaya continues to spend billions on education, Malaysian universities are not benefitting from it. If it’s any indication, for the third year running Malaysian universities have failed to feature in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Meanwhile, universities in Thailand and Singapore continue to track higher as shown in the 2013-14 Times survey.

Last year alone Putrajaya allocated RM38.7 billion in its budget for education, with emphasis on improving quality and standards.

One of Putrajaya’s goals is also to make Malaysia an education hub for the region and attract some 200,000 students to local universities by 2020.

But these latest rankings show that for all the money spent and all of Putrajaya’s efforts, Malaysia’s institutions of higher learning are falling behind. Continue reading “While Putrajaya spends, now Malaysian universities not even in Times rankings”

Auditor-General’s 2012 Report (18)
The Malaysian Insider
October 03, 2013

A day after Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin admitted that his ministry had paid RM1.6 million to bring three K-pop groups to Malaysia for a youth concert last year, his predecessor is insisting that the money did come from sponsors.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, in direct contradiction to Khairy’s statement, claimed the ministry had received RM20 million from domestic and foreign corporate sponsors for the event.

He said the money was banked into the National Sports Council’s account by the sponsors, which the auditor-general’s department had failed to take into account.

“The auditors only looked at the amount that came out of the ministry’s account,” he reportedly wrote in his Facebook posting, and called the department “culas” (not diligent).

“It was not taxpayers’ money that was wasted as alleged by the opposition based on the summary contained in the auditor-general’s report,” Ahmad Shabery added. Continue reading “Former sports minister denies Khairy’s statement, says concert fee came from sponsors”

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
October 01, 2013

Kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng bahawa sokongan pengundi Melayu kepada Umno/BN dalam PRU yang lalu telah merosot di empat negeri, memberi makna yang besar kepada dinamika politik negara ini di masa depan.

Dalam ucapannya di Kongres Khas Kebangsaan DAP bagi pemilihan semula pucuk pimpinan parti itu di Petaling Jaya kelmarin, Lim menyatakan bahawa sokongan undi Melayu kepada Umno/BN telah merosot, iaitu lebih dari 3% di Terengganu dan Perlis sementara 1% di Pahang dan Pulau Pinang.

Ini berlaku, kata Lim, walaupun Umno/BN mempunyai sumber kewangan yang banyak, mengawal media, meniupkan semangat perkauman dan lain-lain, tetapi undinya tetap merosot.

Kenyataannya ini yang tentunya datang dari hasil kajian partinya membuktikan bahawa politik di negara ini sangat dinamik sifatnya. Ia tidak statis atau beku, tetapi pantas berubah. Oleh itu, siapapun, baik pemimpin dan pendukung parti politik dalam Pakatan Rakyat serta individu yang berminat politik memikirkan dinamika politik ini.

Walaupun perubahan di empat negeri itu kecil saja kelihatannya seperti yang disebut oleh Lim, tetapi sudah ada “gegaran” di kalangan pengundi Melayu walaupun bersekala kecil. Boleh jadi dalam PRU akan datang, “gegaran” itu akan bertambah besar. Continue reading “Memugar sokongan di negeri Melayu”