Month: November 2015

On the first day of the current budget parliamentary meeting on Oct. 19, Parliament elected the UMNO/BN MP for Rompin, Datuk Hasan Arifin as the new Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which had been derailed for three months from continuing its 1MDB investigations because of the promotion of the previous PAC Chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad and three other PAC members as Minister and Deputy Ministers.

However, in the 17 days that he had become PAC Chairman, Hasan seemed more interested in shutting up the DAP MP for PJ Utara and PAC member, Tony Pua, from speaking about the 1MDB scandal both inside and outside Parliament, than about completing the derailed PAC investigations and getting to the bottom of the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB twin mega scandals.

Was this the “brief” that was given to Hasan before his name was proposed as the PAC Chairman in Parliament – his KPI (Key Performance Indicator) as PAC Chairman being to stop Tony Pua from continuing to speak about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB twin mega scandals, both inside and outside Parliament?

Hasan has insisted that the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia has imposed a blanket gag on Pua from commenting on the 1MDB, including debating about 1MDB in Parliament.

Quoting Pandikar as having said that it was “difficult to differentiate between the chilli from the spice or the sweet and the sugar”, Hasan said that he would advise the PAC and Pandikar if Pua makes any remark about the 1MDB.

Hasan is clearly twisting the Speaker’s words, as Pandikar had told Pua in Parliament yesterday morning that he could talk on 1MDB if he did not touch on the PAC’s 1MDB probe and Pua had repeated umpteenth times that he had never made use of any classified information which he had obtained as a member of PAC. Continue reading “New PAC Chairman Hasan Arifin is more concerned about shutting up Tony Pua on 1MDB than about completing PAC investigations and getting to the bottom of the RM2.6 billion “donation” and 1MDB twin mega scandals”

Continue reading “Penang’s “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang – Mana RM2.6 billion” (photos)”

I thank Penang DAP under the chairmanship of Sdr. Chow Kon Yeow for organising this “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang and Where have RM2.6 billion gone?” ceramah, and the participation of the Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, the head of Pakatan Harapan secretariat, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Parti Amanah Negara Deputy Chairman Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, Nobel Laureate Pak Samad, DAP Members of Parliament Zairil Khir Johari and Ram Karpal Singh.

I am a victim of the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals which have wrought such economic and political devastation in the country.

But I am not the only one. In fact, the 30 million Malaysians, including the three million UMNO members, are also victims of the twin mega scandals of the country, for we are suffer from their damaging consequences, like the fall in the value of the Malaysian ringgit, the collapse of the Malaysian stock market, the plunge in international reserves, the exit of foreign capital and our inability to sell Malaysia to foreign investors as a haven for foreign investment. Continue reading “Its not just me, suspended from Parliament for six months, but the 30 million Malaysians including the three million UMNO members, who are victims of RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal”

When Parliament resumes on Monday November 16 after the Deepavali holidays, it will be the last day of three-day Ministerial winding-up of the debate on the 2016 Budget.

Will the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak appear in person to wind up the debate and answer the various pertinent issues raised by Members of Parliament from both sides of the House in the six-day debate by the parliamentary backbenchers or will Najib again play truant from Parliament?

The new Minister for the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman Said has already set the stage for Najib to play truant from Parliament on Nov. 16, when she told the media yesterday that the government would reply on the controversial RM2.6 billion “donation” that went into Najib’s personal bank accounts on the last day of the 25-day budget meeting on Dec. 3, although she could not yet say whether it would be Najib or another Minister who would be nominated to do the answering.

This is the height of contempt of Parliament, treating Parliament like a classroom of recalcitrant students, with the Speaker given the role of a mere school principal but the Prime Minister like the education supervisor whose word and action is law!

Azalina who is Minister in the PM’s Department in charge of parliamentary affairs should understand the doctrine of separation of powers in a parliamentary democracy and the principle of parliamentary control of the Executive where the Prime Minister must also comply with the Parliamentary tradition, conventions, procedures and practices and cannot act as he likes in Parliament. Continue reading “Call on Najib not to condone Azalina’s unparliamentary schedule but to be in Parliament on Nov. 16 to give full accountability on the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals”

What I had predicted last week is coming to pass – that the UMNO/BN government would flout parliamentary tradition and conventions to stack all parliamentary questions about Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion “donation” in the current 25-day budget meeting of Parliament and answer them in “one go”, not allowing the subject to be pursued further even if MPs are completely dissatisfied with a “tai chi” non-answer.

This was my reaction to the bad, undesirable and unacceptable parliamentary precedent set by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman, on the first day of the current meeting on Oct. 19, refusing to answer questions on the RM2.6 billion “donation” issue by DAP MPs Lim Guan Eng (Bagan) and Lim Lip Eng (Segambut) on the ground that the government will answer questions about the RM2.6 billion “donation” and other relations questions on an undetermined date of the present meeting.

Deploring such a new-fangled practice as undermining an important principle of parliamentary control over the Executive, I asked whether this would mean that the question would be answered on the last day of the 25-day parliamentary meeting on Dec. 3, allowing MPs no room or opportunity to pursue the question if the answer was totally unsatisfactory?

Furthermore, whether the “bad, undesirable and unacceptable” parliamentary practice would be “set a disastrous precedent for Ministers to evade and avoid answering parliamentary questions posed by Members of Parliament by pushing the questions to the very last day with totally unsatisfactory and unacceptable answers”? Continue reading “What I had predicted is coming to pass – flouting of parliamentary tradition and conventions to stack and answer all parliamentary questions about Najib’s RM2.6 billion “donation” on the last day”

Parliamentary and national attention had been focused in the past few days on the debate between DAP PJ Utara MP and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Tony Pua and the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy on the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal and the threat by the Speaker, Tan Sri Padikar Amin Mulia’s of resignation by Monday if the debate is held and televised live by RTM tomorrow on Friday.

Pandikar defended his ruling on the ground that he is upholding the integrity of Parliament.

Wouldn’t Parliament’s credibility and integrity suffer greater damage if there is protracted and inordinate delays in PAC investigations into the 1MDB scandal, particularly if there is no PAC report on the 1MDB scandal when the current meeting of the Dewan Rakyat ends on December 3?

Pandikar asked what was wrong for the proposed debate to be conducted after the PAC had submitted its report to Parliament?

There is nothing wrong, but it would be academic. Continue reading “With protracted and inordinate delays in PAC investigations on 1MDB, would’nt Parliament’s credibility and integrity be undermined if there is no PAC report on 1MDB when Dewan Rakyat adjourns on Dec 3?”

Malaysiakini
5th November 2015

Netizens may be venting their anger over the unresolved issue of RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank accounts, but singer Amirudin Hizadin has instead chosen to express his concern through music.

His sombre song, which describes the RM2.6 billion as “missing stars” that has made his world dark, has quickly gone viral after less than half a day in the cyberspace.

The Malay music video titled ‘Mana Hilang 2.6 Bintang’ (Where have the 2.6 stars disappeared) uploaded on Facebook garnered over 80,000 views with more than 3,300 shares at writing time.

In the lyrics, Amirudin reminisced about the likelihood if he had not come to Kuala Lumpur as he thought about the hardships. Continue reading “Song on missing 2.6 billion goes viral”

— Lee Yew Meng
Malay Mail Online
November 4, 2015

NOV 4 — On Oct 27, 1987, The Star managing director Datuk Steven Tan told his top management that the newspaper’s publishing permit had been withdrawn with immediate effect. The letter was hand-delivered earlier during a downpour.

The front page on that day read: “DETAINED — 19 picked up in swoop”. The masthead was in black, dramatising the events of the previous day.

I have no recollection of what was discussed during that meeting. Stuck in my head was: “Hey, this is ridiculous. Our chairman is Tunku Abdul Rahman (our first prime minister) and we are owned by MCA, a senior coalition partner in the government.”

All employees were on a quarter-month’s pay henceforth. It was a double whammy for couples on The Star’s payroll. Continue reading “Twenty-eight years and eight days ago…”

Leslie Shaffer
CNBC.com
4th November 2015

Malaysia’s hard-hit stock market is getting a less-than-ringing endorsement with one of the world’s leading lenders telling investors that things aren’t likely to get any worse.

“There have been numerous globally attention-grabbing headlines on Malaysia this year, which we believe have increased political uncertainty and risk in investing in Malaysia,” analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note Monday.

“However, going forward, we do not expect this to increase.” Continue reading “Why Malaysia may have hit bottom”

M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
4th November 2015

It is human nature that when things go well we pay little attention to them; we take them in stride as if they are meant to be, the natural consequences. When we assume such an attitude, we miss some significant learning opportunities. We can learn so much more from our success than we could ever from our failures. For that to happen however, we first must recognize our successes. Contrary to common belief, this can sometimes be no easy task.

One way would be to undertake a mental exercise, to imagine if things had taken a different path. What if Malays had not embraced Islam but fought and rejected it? Likewise, what would be our fate had we enthusiastically embraced the Europeans and adopted their ways? As for our pursuit of independence, imagine had we bowed to the wishes our sultans and their British “advisers” and accepted our fate to be under permanent British domination, as the Malayan Union Treaty would have it? Lastly, assume we had let those rabble rousers be our leaders fighting for our independence, and they took to fighting the British literally and seriously.

In all of these instances there are ready examples of societies and cultures that had indeed chosen precisely those paths that I just outlined, and we can readily see the consequences today of their collective decisions then. Continue reading “Pondering Our Fate – Imagining Otherwise”

Yesterday was a double whammy for the long, difficult and windy mission to establish accountability and transparency for the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega-scandals afflicting the country.

There was firstly the morning episode where Parliament was reduced to a theatre of the absurd – with Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia ruling that DAP PJ Utara Member of Parliament Tony Pua should either resign from the Public Accounts Committee or abstain from the committee’s probe on 1MDB if he wants to debate with 1MDB CEO, Arul Kanda and that Arul can no longer be a witness in the PAC probe if the debate goes on.

The Speaker’s ruling was quickly followed up with the announcement by the PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin’s ruling that Pua must cease and desist from making any statements on 1MDB, whether in Parliament or outside!

It is no surprise that the following comment was one of the public reactions to all these parliamentary calisthenics over the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega-scandals:

“I was wondering why Arul was so quick to drop his condition. Now I know. He has someone else to impose the condition for him.” Continue reading “If Arul Kanda cannot testify before the PAC investigations on 1MDB, will Najib appear before PAC to testify on 1MDB’s behalf as everybody knows that an investigation into 1MDB is in fact an investigation into Najib?”

– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
3 November 2015

Lately the Internet has been filled with stories of how Prime Minister Najib Razak is losing ground in Umno and likely to resign soon.

Much speculation is going on about what is happening behind the scenes in the Umno Supreme Council and the party’s divisional leaders.

There is also a lot of chatter about the infighting and horse trading that is taking place among the supporters of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah – all seen as contenders to succeed Najib should he be toppled.

In my view this is all sound and fury which signify nothing. Also that it will not amount to much. Continue reading “Deal with reality, Najib is staying in power”

Parliament has been reduced to a theatre of the absurd with the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin wearing the dunce’s head as the most absurd Parliamentarian with his absurd edict banning Tony Pua from speaking about 1MDB in public.

At the rate of such absurdity in Parliament and the higher echelons of government leadership, it appears to be just a matter of time before “1MDB” joins the select group of subjects where mere criticism will be criminalized and construed as an act of sedition!

It is clear that the Najib leadership had been brainstorming for quite some time to find a way to criminalise and ban public debate on the twin1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin scandals, starting with Parliament before the ban is extended to all public spaces in the country, especially with the two scandals acquiring lives of their own, exploding every few days with new revelations completely beyond the control or ken of Najib’s PR handlers – to the extent that more than half a dozen countries have initiated their own separate investigations into the twin mega scandals.

Worst of all, the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been pinpointed by the United States media as being the target of a FBI probe under the United States Department of Justice Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative 2010 with neither Najib nor the Government able to deny or clarify such a damning report of Najib being investigated as a kleptocrat although more than a month had elapsed since the United States media report. Continue reading “Parliament has been reduced to a theatre of the absurd with the PAC Chairman wearing the dunce’s cap as the most absurd Parliamentarian with his absurd edict banning Tony Pua from speaking about 1MDB in public”

The first meeting of the newly reconstituted Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under a new Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin is a great national let-down, as after three-month derailment, the PAC is dragging its feet and procrastinating on 1MDB investigations with no sense of urgency or priority and making a total mockery of the concern of the Malay Rulers, the 30 million Malaysians and the majority of the three million UMNO members.

I suggest that the PAC Chairman Datuk Arifin and the newly-appointed PAC members should be provided with a copy of the Malay Ruler’s unprecedented statement of Oct. 6 calling for the 1MDB investigations to be completed “as soon as possible” and for “appropriate stern action” to be taken against all found to be implicated.

The Malay Rulers’ statement should be compulsory reading for Arifin and the new PAC members for it articulated not only the concern of the Malay Rulers, but the 30 million Malaysians including the majority of the three million UMNO members on the inordinate procrastination of 1MDB investigations. Continue reading “After three-month derailment, PAC under new Chairman is dragging its feet on 1MDB investigations with no sense of urgency or priority – making total mockery of the concern of the Malay Rulers, 30 million Malaysians and the majority of three million UMNO members”

Tony Pua
DAP MP for PJ Utara
3rd November 2015

1MDB President, Arul Kanda has during his press conference on Saturday, informed Malaysians that “I will meet YB Tony Pua for live discussion, or talk show, or debate, without any condition.”

I would like to announce that the Members of Parliament for Kulai and Serdang, Teo Nie Ching and Dr Ong Kian Ming will be representing me to conduct the necessary discussions with the team from 1MDB to finalise the format and details of the proposed “live discussion, or talk show, or debate” between the 1MDB President, Arul Kanda and myself.

While we wait for the much anticipated face-off, I would like to offer Arul Kanda the heads up, so that he can prepare the necessary answers whether during replies or debate speech. This way, Arul cannot feign ignorance or pretend that the documents were unavailable with him to provide the necessary answers. Therefore, let me disclose here the 10 questions which I will ask during the “live discussion, or talk show, or debate”: Continue reading “10 questions I would pose to 1MDB President, Arul Kanda during the “live discussion, talk show or debate””

Bakri Musa
[email protected]
Oct 28 2015

Malays actively shunned and refused to participate in the various colonial endeavors even those that could potentially benefit us. Instead we undertook a form of passive resistance, utilizing what John C Scott refers to as “weapons of the weak.”

While these everyday forms of passive resistance may not grab headlines, nonetheless they are akin to the cumulative accumulation of the coral reefs. In the aggregate and over time they exert a profound impact. When the ship of state runs aground on such reefs, attention is directed to the shipwreck and not to the aggregations of petty acts that made those treacherous reefs possible.

So was the Malayan Union initiative shipwrecked upon a reef of resentment and resistance that had quietly been building up and concretized over time. Continue reading “Malay Schizophrenic Response to British Colonialism”

M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
October 20 2016

The coming of Islam, European colonization, and the pursuit of independence – these were transformational events in our culture that resulted in the toppling of the Malay collective coconut shell. In all three instances our culture had served us well in guiding us through uncharted waters.

Yet, and this seems perverse, in our current tribulations we are far too inclined to blame our culture. I suggest that instead of forever berating and blaming the presumed inadequacies of our culture, it would be far more meaningful and productive if we were to analyze and learn how our culture had dealt with the major events of the past, and apply those insights to our current challenges.

If I were to grade the performance of our culture to the three transformational events in our history, I would give an exemplary A-plus for the path we chose towards independence, an A-minus for our reception to the coming of Islam, and a respectable B for our performance during colonization. Continue reading “Lessons From The Past”

M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
13th October 2015

The third defining moment in Malay culture was the peaceful path we chose towards independence. The Malay world was turned upside down with colonization; it altered the physical as well as social landscape. The latter was even more profound and threatening.

Despite that, and defying the trend of the time, we opted for this peaceful path through negotiations and collaborations in pursuit of our independence.

If one were to stroll along the countryside of pre-colonial Malaysia, there would of course be no paved roads. One would have to literally cut a swath through the thick jungle. The only practical route for travel was by rivers and waterways.

The British built roads and replaced the thick jungle with neat rows of identical, boring but highly productive rubber trees. As for the rivers, once teeming with fish, they were now like kopi susu (cafe au lait) from the contamination of brown sediments from the ubiquitous tin mines. Continue reading “The Peaceful Path We Chose Towards Independence”

M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
Oct. 6, 2015

The Japanese Occupation briefly interrupted British colonial rule. Japanese troops landed in Kota Baru in the early morning of December 8, 1941, and surrendered some 43 months later. That was only a blink in our history but to those who suffered through that terrible period, it was eternity. As brutal as it was, Malays as a culture and community survived.

There was one significant but not widely noted disruption and humiliation of Malay culture during that period. The Japanese, despite their reverence for their own Sun God Emperor, had little use or respect for Malay sultans. At least the British maintained the facade of respect even though those sultans were essentially colonial puppets.

The colonials saw in the institution of Malay sultans an effective means of indirect rule. The British knew full well the reverence Malays had for our sultans. The British must have learned a thing or two from observing kampong boys herding their kerbaus (water buffaloes). Pierce a ring through the lead buffalo’s nose and then even a toddler could effectively control the herd by pulling on the rope tied to that lead beast’s ring.

That essentially was the British approach to controlling the Malay herd; pierce a ring through their sultan’s nose. The rope may be of silk and the ring of gold, but the underlying dynamics are the same. Continue reading “No “Lazy Malays” During The Japanese Occupation”

The infusion of the cream of Dayak community into DAP at the signing of the DAP Dayak Blueprint ceremony at the Sarawak DAP headquarters in Kuching yesterday marked a major and historic development in DAP’s 50-year mission to be an inclusive all-Malaysian political party representing all ethnic groups and regions in Malaysia.

Right from beginning from our formation half a century ago, DAP founding members and leaders have dedicated themselves to the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream.

DAP founding leaders and members had pledged to transcend ethnic, religious, cultural, linguistic and socio-economic differences among Malaysians to build a Malaysia where democracy, good governance and socio-economic justice could flourish allowing every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or region to achieve his or her fullest potential for the collective good and greatness of the nation.

This was why from the beginning of the first DAP general election contest in 1969, DAP had fielded a multi-racial slate of candidates for parliamentary and state assembly seats in Peninsular Malaysia, with Chinese, Malay and Indians elected as Members of Parliament or State Assembly representatives in Peninsula Malaysia.

The DAP is also the first Pan-Malaysian political party, with branches and members not only in Peninsular Malaysia also in Sarawak and Sabah.

In the 2013 General Election, the first DAP Kadazan elected representative was elected to the Sabah State Assembly, and it is our hope that the first DAP Dayak elected representative will be elected to the Sarawak State Assembly in the forthcoming Sarawak state general elections expected to held in the first quarter of next year. Continue reading “The infusion of the cream of Dayak community into DAP a major and historic development in DAP’s 50 year mission to be an inclusive all-Malaysian political party representing all ethnic groups and regions in Malaysia”