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Admission speech for Abdul Gani Patail — Christopher Leong

The Malay Mail Online
December 23, 2016

DECEMBER 23 — Dengan izin Yang Arif,

Saya, Christopher Leong hadir bagi pihak Pempetisyen, Abdul Gani Patail.

Rakan-rakan yang bijaksana saya Rozielawaty Ab Ghani mewakili pihak Peguam Negara Malaysia, Hendon Mohamed, 20th President of Malaysia Bar, mewakili pihak Majlis Peguam Malaysia dan Lim Chee Wee, 29th President of Malaysian Bar, mewakili pihak Jawatankuasa Peguam Kuala Lumpur.

Yang Arif, saya dengan rendah diri memohon kebenaran untuk berhujah berkenaan Pempetisyen dalam Bahasa Inggeris.

My Lord,

As the days count down towards the end of what has been a challenging year for some of us and as the sun sets on 2016, we may look back to a few momentous or memorable events. I would include this morning’s proceedings as one of them.

It is my pleasure to rise this morning to move this petition for call to the Bar of my friend Abdul Gani Patail. As is the etiquette and long standing convention, we stand before the court shorn of titles, honourific and adornments save for the sombre attire reflective of the formal business at hand.

The Petitioner is no stranger to most of us. He has been a member of the legal fraternity in another life in another guise, in a manner of speaking. I will have more to say on this and will come back to it shortly.

Please permit me to present the Petitioner as a fit and proper person for admission and enrolment by saying a few words on his background. Continue reading “Admission speech for Abdul Gani Patail — Christopher Leong”

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Lawyers instructed to look into possibility of instituting legal action against New Straits Times for its lies in its report today: “DAP’s ploy to secure DPM post”

I have instructed my lawyers to look into the possibility of instituting legal action against New Straits Times (NST) for its lies in its report today: “DAP’s ploy to secure DPM post”.

Among other things, the NST report said that I met Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on Dec. 3 and “sealed a deal that Mukhriz would become prime minister with Kit Siang as his deputy”.

This is total figment of imagination, as I never met Mahathir, whether on Dec. 3 or before to “seal a deal” on the question of PM or DPM if UMNO/Barisan Nasional is ousted from Putrajaya in the 14th General Election. In fact, I had never at any time discussed such a question with Mahathir.

The report “DAP’s ploy to secure DPM post” is pure fantasy. Continue reading “Lawyers instructed to look into possibility of instituting legal action against New Straits Times for its lies in its report today: “DAP’s ploy to secure DPM post””

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Law Firms’ Accounts Pose Money-Laundering Risk

By RACHEL LOUISE ENSIGN and SERENA NG
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Dec. 26, 2016

Hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly siphoned from Malaysian state fund 1MDB passed through firms’ pooled accounts in U.S., prosecutors say

Tens of billions of dollars every year move through opaque law-firm bank accounts that create a gap in U.S. money-laundering defenses, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

These accounts were used by suspects in a multibillion-dollar scandal involving a Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB, according to a Justice Department description of events. They also played a part in a Florida Ponzi scheme, in a case related to an official of Equatorial Guinea and in a dozen other U.S. money-laundering cases over the past decade, case records show.

Law firms lump together client money they are holding for short periods, such as while real-estate sales are pending, into pooled bank accounts, and the law firms face no requirement to disclose whose cash is in the accounts. Banks say they generally see only a law firm’s name.

Money often stays in the accounts for only a few days or weeks. At the request of law firms’ clients, funds can be sent from the accounts to other parties, with scant transparency.

While banks and other firms that move money across borders face heavy pressure to alert regulators to suspicious activity, U.S. law firms protect the confidentiality of their pooled accounts in the name of attorney-client privilege. Continue reading “Law Firms’ Accounts Pose Money-Laundering Risk”

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Why was Najib absent from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas High-tea for three consecutive years in a row?

Why was the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, absent from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas high-tea on Christmas Day on Sunday – as it was the Prime Minister’s absence from the CFM Christmas high-tea for three consecutive years in a row.

Najib had said that he did not want to be Prime Minister for only a particular section of the community, but a Prime Minister for all Malaysians.

Najib must be more assiduous to honour his pledge to be a Prime Minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and region.

This is one of the issues which Najib should clarify, particularly at the last Cabinet meeting of the year tomorrow – for Malaysians would like to what was the more important function which prevented the Prime Minister from attending the CFM Christmas high-tea for three consecutive years in a row. Continue reading “Why was Najib absent from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas High-tea for three consecutive years in a row?”

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Poor Liow Tiong Lai, he does not know he is making a fool of himself claiming that Christmas messages should be meaningless “sweet nothings” – a reflection of his political naivette and the political party he represents

Poor MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. He does not know he is making a fool of himself claiming that Christmas messages should be meaningless “sweet nothings” –a reflection of his political naivette and the political party he represents.

Is Liow aware what is topmost in the minds of Malaysian Christians this Christmas?

Pay attention to the Sabah Council of Churches which prayed this Christmas for truth to prevail in Malaysia, especially among those in power.

Council president Rev Jerry Dusing said truth must be established on the issues concerning 1MDB and the “hudud bill”.

He said: “What is the truth of 1MDB? As Malaysians are left in the dark, we find ourselves frustratingly waiting for foreign nations to expose the truth about this mystery”.

Dusing also asked for the truth about PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, which UMNO Ministers have announced will be taken over by the government although there is pin-drop silence from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the Sabah and Sarawak component parties of Barisan Nasional.

Is there consensus by all the 14 Barisan Nasional parties for the BN government take-over of Hadi’s private member’s bill motion, or is UMNO hegemony so fully established in Barisan Nasional that what UMNO wants, UMNO gets?

The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Julian Leow Beng Kim, who is also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, fully endorsed Dusing and the Sabah Council of Churches in their concerns for the truth to prevail. Continue reading “Poor Liow Tiong Lai, he does not know he is making a fool of himself claiming that Christmas messages should be meaningless “sweet nothings” – a reflection of his political naivette and the political party he represents”