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First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue

The first step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end the “global pretence” that the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB money-laundering scandal had been resolved and ceased to be an issue.

This was what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had promised more than a year ago.

In his meeting with some 1,000 UMNO divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs on 14th June 2015, Najib gave an assurance that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1MDB will be resolved by year-end.

In his 2016 New Year message on 31st December 2015, Najib told Malaysians that his RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation twin mega scandals had been resolved and were no more issues.

Najib could not be more wrong, as illustrated by the decision yesterday of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) ordering Coutts & Co., which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland, to surrender 6.5 million francs (RM29.1 million) in illegal profits from transactions linked to 1MDB. Continue reading “First step to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy is to end “global pretence” that 1MDB scandal has been resolved and ceased to be an issue”

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Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB

Jeevan Vasagar in Singapore
Financial Times
3rd Feb 2017

Swiss financial supervisor sanctions bank over lapses linked to Malaysian fund

Swiss authorities have accused Coutts, the private bank, of repeatedly ignoring internal warnings over its dealings with a businessman who has been linked to a plot to loot billions of dollars from 1MDB, the Malaysian state investment fund.

Numerous “high-risk” transactions were processed through a Coutts account opened by the Malaysian businessman in Zurich, including the use of $35m for visits to casinos and the purchase of luxury services such as chartering yachts, according to the Swiss inquiry.

Finma, the Swiss financial regulator, ordered Coutts to pay back profits of SFr6.5m, which were allegedly generated unlawfully. It is also considering enforcement proceedings against bank employees.

The Swiss action is the latest step in a global regulatory crackdown against banks involved in the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Coutts ordered to pay back SFr6.5m of profits over 1MDB”

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In Penang State, UMNO is losing support of Malay voters while DAP and Pakatan Harapan + Bersatu are gaining more support of Malay voters

This is an era not only of “fake news” and “false stories”, but also the dissemination of myths and false perceptions.

It was the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself who kicked off the UMNO propaganda of Nazi-type Big Lies in his UMNO Presidential Speech on Nov. 30, claiming that

1. That the 14th General Elections will be a contest between UMNO and DAP;

2. That the DAP is anti-Malay and/or anti-Islam.

3. The “nightmares” Malay will suffer if UMNO loses power in the next general elections.

If there is any basis to these three “Big Lies”, Najib would have jumped at the opportunity to expose and tear me to pieces when I challenged him to a live television debate, but Najib knew better than to accept my challenge to a live television debate for there is no way he could substantiate his Nazi-style Big Lies.

But the UMNO leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers are also spreading myths and false perceptions, such as the Malays in Penang are being oppressed by the DAP-led Penang State Government and that the Malay voters in Penang have no confidence or support for the DAP-led Penang State Government. Continue reading “In Penang State, UMNO is losing support of Malay voters while DAP and Pakatan Harapan + Bersatu are gaining more support of Malay voters”

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Jewish people give Muslims key to their synagogue after town’s mosque burns down

Jon Sharman
Independent
2nd Feb 2017

Donations to rebuild the Islamic centre are adding up

Jewish people in a small Texas city handed Muslim worshippers the keys to their synagogue after the town’s only mosque was destroyed in a fire.

The Victoria Islamic Centre burned down on Saturday and had previously been burgled — the cause is being investigated by federal officials.

But the town’s Muslim population will not be without a place to worship while their building is reconstructed, thanks to their Jewish neighbours. Continue reading “Jewish people give Muslims key to their synagogue after town’s mosque burns down”

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How the travel crackdown is affecting North American debate on Islam

ERASMUS
Economist
Feb 1st 2017

Why Muslim pundits feel let down

AMIR AHMAD NASR is about as pro-Western as anyone born deep inside the world of Islam could possibly be. Born to Sudanese parents whose professional lives took them to many countries, he is bilingual in Arabic and American English. He believes passionately in liberal democracy and the free exchange of ideas. He has no patience with those who think that authoritarian systems of government, whether secular or Islamist, are better suited to certain countries. The globe-trotting author and digital activist has recently settled, gratefully, in Canada.

Mr Nasr used his Western freedom to do something that he could not have managed if he were still living in the Islamic heartland. With disarming humour, he described his own spiritual path in a successful book with an almost self-explanatory title, “My Islam: How Fundamentalism Stole My Mind and Doubt Freed My Soul”. This recounts how he went through a phase of believing not only in Islam’s literal truth but in the duty to despise people outside the tent of strict Sunni orthodoxy, and then his evolution through many stages into what he calls himself now: a cultural Muslim and spiritual humanist. Continue reading “How the travel crackdown is affecting North American debate on Islam”

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Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy

The Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary in Kuala Lumpur next week is the best forum for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy.

This will make the Save Malaysia Roundtable doubly significant, not only on the occasion of the114th birthday anniversary of Bapa Malaysia, but to send out the clear message that the 2017 Chinese New Year of the Fire Rooster will be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia and that in the next year, the Chinese New Year and other national festivities would not be celebrated under a cloud of global kleptocracy!

Almost everybody is saying that it is impossible that Najib will attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable.

I agree that it appears to be quite inconceivable that Najib would attend the Save Malaysia Roundtable to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state, as it would involve Najib’s preparedness – not seen up to now – to open up the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal to national and international scrutiny to prove that it is not a scandal at all, although the 1MDB scandal is making international waves and world headlines almost every other day.

The issue is whether Najib and his Cabinet are prepared to start the process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy, or whether they will go down in history as being responsible for Malaysia’s millstone of global kleptocracy and not prepared to do anything to remove such a millstone. Continue reading “Save Malaysia Roundtable on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary next week best forum for Najib to start process to free Malaysia from the millstone of global kleptocracy”

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Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes

By Luke Hunt
The Diplomat
January 31, 2017

The embattled premier’s cosmetic measures cannot conceal economic realities in the country.

The Malaysian economy has been put through the hoops. In spite of reassurances from the country’s beleaguered premier Najib Razak that the current economic turbulence is only a temporary affair caused by offshore factors, the evidence does point to the contrary.

Najib’s government knows this. It has side-stepped long-held promises to win Malaysia recognition as a developed country by 2020. And it has announced a string of statements and measures designed to either distract from these economic realities or aim to address them.

One revenue-raising initiative announced was charging Thai vehicles a fee for simply crossing their land border. That move has angered the Thai transport ministry which is now mulling a reciprocal tax. Continue reading “Najib’s Window Dressing Can’t Hide Malaysia’s Woes”

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Who Hasn’t Trump Banned? People From Places Where He’s Done Business

By RICHARD W. PAINTER and NORMAN L. EISEN
New York Times
JAN. 29, 2017

President Trump’s executive order banning travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries is being rightly challenged in the courts for, among other things, its unconstitutional interference with free exercise of religion and denial of due process. Overlooked in the furor is another troubling aspect of the situation: President Trump omitted from his ban a number of other predominantly Muslim nations where his company has done business. This adds further illegitimacy to one of the most arbitrary executive actions in our recent history, and raises significant constitutional questions.

The seven countries whose citizens are subject to the ban are relatively poor. Some, such as Syria, are torn by civil war; others are only now emerging from war. One thing these countries have in common is that they are places where the Trump organization does little to no business. Continue reading “Who Hasn’t Trump Banned? People From Places Where He’s Done Business”

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U.S. Travel Restrictions Put Saudi Arabia in a Bind

By MARGHERITA STANCATI in Dubai and AHMED AL OMRAN in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Wall Street Journal
Jan. 30, 2017

Monarchy’s desire to cultivate good relations with Trump administration run counter to outcry in Muslim world over ban

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to the religion’s two holiest sites, has long used its religious clout to project its role as a regional leader. Now that same clout has caught the kingdom in a prickly dilemma.

The monarchy’s desire to cultivate a better relationship with the Trump administration than it had with the U.S. under Barack Obama is exposing Saudi Arabia to criticism that it is unwilling to stand up for its Muslim allies, particularly those caught in an executive order that restricts entry to the U.S. for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries.

“The ban puts Saudi Arabia in an awkward position,” said Ibrahim Fraihat, a professor of conflict resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. “Saudi Arabia will be expected to take a position against it because some of the countries included in the ban like Sudan and Yemen are key allies and because it projects itself as leader of the Muslim world.” Continue reading “U.S. Travel Restrictions Put Saudi Arabia in a Bind”

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There must be no Islamophobia or non-Islamophobia if Malaysia is to succeed as a nation to achieve her full potentials benefiting from her diversity and confluence of the world’s great religions, cultures and civilisations in Malaysia

It is the right of the PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to talk about his aim for PAS to win at least 40 Parliamentary seats in the next general election, but it is the height of irresponsibility in a plural society for any political leader to pander to either Islamophobia or non-Islamophobia.

This is because there must be no Islamophobia or non-Islamophobia if Malaysia is to succeed as a nation to achieve her full potentials benefitting from the diversity and confluence of the world’s great religions, cultures and civilisations in Malaysia.

Hadi has the right to talk of his expectation that PAS will win 40 parliamentary seats, just as it is the right of others who prognosticate that PAS may even lose the Kelantan state government which PAS had ruled for five consecutive general elections since 1990 under the late Tok Guru Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who was both Kelantan Mentri Besar in all the five general election battles and PAS Mursidul Am.

Not only that, there is also the forecast that PAS would possibly face the worst electoral defeat in the next general elections in the 14GE under Hadi’s leadership.

It is regrettable that Hadi seems to be promoting a form of non-Islamophobia when he said in a special address in Kedah that the PAS’ previous political consensus with Pakatan Rakyat allies PKR and DAP had achieved the best result so far for the Opposition, but had resulted in a political imbalance.

He said: “Do you realise how the situation was with the seats? Unknowing, the 89 Opposition seats were 21 seats for PAS, 30 for PKR, and 38 for DAP.”

He asked: “Is it fair for this country, the government is governed by Muslims in 39 seats, with non-Muslims having a larger share? This is not right.” Continue reading “There must be no Islamophobia or non-Islamophobia if Malaysia is to succeed as a nation to achieve her full potentials benefiting from her diversity and confluence of the world’s great religions, cultures and civilisations in Malaysia”

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Najib is consigning his initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates to the grave if he is not prepared to be part of the global outrage at US President Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive order against refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries

It is now more than 58 hours since US President Trump, at 4.42 pm Friday Washington time, with a stroke of a pen signed the cruel and inhumane Executive Order against refugees and immigrants, creating world-wide turmoil and reverberations, with chaos and confusion in US airports and capital cities all over the world.

What is disturbing is that the Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government are not part of this global outrage at the inhumanity and insensitivity of Trump’s executive order.

It cannot be that Najib and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry had been overtaken by complete surprise by such an executive order, as Trump had in fact been talking about such an inhumane measure since the GOP primary campaign last year, and Trump’s executive order against refugees and immigrants had in fact been leaked to the media several days before Trump signed the executive order.

Najib cannot blame anyone for asking why he acted with such alacrity when he lashed out at Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rohingya issue but is so tame and tardy when the Muslim world is revolted and outraged by Trump’s executive order against refugees and the 130 million people from seven Muslim-majority countries, viz: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

As a sign of growing political intimacy and collaboration between Najib and the PAS President, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, there is also conspicuous silence from the PAS leadership on Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive, completely out of character of PAS leadership which would have been the first to denounce Trump’s executive order.

Is this a sign of growing maturity and responsibility of the Hadi PAS leadership or just of closer political collaboration with Najib’s UMNO leadership? Continue reading “Najib is consigning his initiative of a Global Movement of Moderates to the grave if he is not prepared to be part of the global outrage at US President Trump’s cruel and inhumane executive order against refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries”

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The Most (And Least) Corrupt Countries In The Middle East

Dominic Dudley
Forbes
JAN 26, 2017

Transparency International has released its latest rankings of corruption around the world and, as ever, there is little to cheer about in the Middle East, with five of the world’s ten most corrupt countries coming from the region.

The worst performer is Syria, which is ranked 173rd out of 176 countries, followed by Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Iraq. It is no coincidence that all of these countries are poor and war-ravaged, but even in the wealthier and more peaceful corners of the region the problem of corruption is generally getting worse rather than better. Continue reading “The Most (And Least) Corrupt Countries In The Middle East”

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Stand Firm Against PAS Under Hadi

Koon Yew Yin
29th Jan 2017

Long before the setting up of Amanah, the progressive Islamic party, in 2015, I had called on Malaysians to reject PAS under its hardline leader, Abdul Hadi Awang. Today with the drums of an early election beating louder, I am directing this call again to the opposition parties to stand firm and to reject PAS if it insists on the hard line condition of support for RUU 355 before any kind of opposition electoral understanding is arrived at.

I do not understand why the BN and Pakatan are courting PAS which under its present leadership is in such a hurry to promote the establishment of an Islamic state.

Most Malaysians can understand it – the promotion of an Islamic state – if the advocate is a fundamentalist or opportunist such as those from UMNO. But does anyone that is sensible and practical and who is not power hungry see this as a desirable vision?

How the establishment of an Islamic state can resolve the problems of our complex economy and society has never been spelled out by PAS since the beginning of its existence in 1951. Continue reading “Stand Firm Against PAS Under Hadi”

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Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?

Indonesia has spoken. The Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has said that Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, deeply regrets US President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban more than 130 million people from seven countries from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees.

Why is Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who mooted the proposal for a global movement of moderates, still silent about Trump’s executive order which had caused world-wide reverberations, with chaos and confusion in US airports and capital cities all over the world.

Trump’s seismic ban was enacted with a stroke of a pen at 4.42 pm Friday Washington time. More than 38 hours have elapsed, as it is now past 6.42 a.m. Sunday Washington time. Why is Najib still keep silent?

It is not that Najib and the Foreign Ministry had been overtaken by complete surprise by such an executive order, as Trump had in fact been talking about such an inhumane measure since the GOP primary campaign last year.

Has Najib’s dilatory response anything to do with US Department of Justice (DOJ)’s largest kleptocratic lawsuit relating to the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal? Continue reading “Indonesia has spoken. Why is Najib still silent more than 38 hours after Trump signed the executive order banning 130 million people from seven countries from United States?”

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Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state

Wednesday, February 8, 2017 is the 114th birthday anniversary of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister of the country.
I believe Tunku would be horrified that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy and heading towards a failed and rogue state.

In fact, the second and third Prime Ministers, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein, would have been horrified by the trajectory of the nation under the sixth Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, one of the two surviving former Prime Ministers, has already made his horror about Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy and hurtling towards a failed and rogue state clear and obvious to all Malaysians.

I think there can be no better way to commemorate Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary than to convene a roundtable of political and civil society leaders to save Malaysia from a global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state.

All political and civil society leaders will be invited to attend this Roundtable to Save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state. Continue reading “Save Malaysia Roundtable of political and civil society leaders on Tunku’s 114th birthday anniversary to save Malaysia from global kleptocracy and a failed and rogue state”

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Najib should call for an emergency OIC meeting to demand that Trump rescind the anti-Muslim executive order to bar people from at least seven Muslim countries from entry into United States

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should call for an emergency Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) meeting to demand that President Triump rescind the anti-Muslim executive order to bar refugees and people from at least seven Muslim countries from entry into United States for 90 days.

Trump’s executive order, which temporarily halts admissions for all refugees while barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, also temporarily bans the entry of visa holders from at least seven Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. Continue reading “Najib should call for an emergency OIC meeting to demand that Trump rescind the anti-Muslim executive order to bar people from at least seven Muslim countries from entry into United States”

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My lawyers instructed to consider whether Hadi’s insinuation that I am anti-Islam is defamatory and cause for legal proceedings

What a haughty, arrogant but misconceived and misinformed response from Hadi.

It is PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s prerogative to dismiss any possibility of working with DAP, but he has no right to turn and twist facts to justify his position.

It is not the DAP but Hadi as PAS President who violated the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework and the Pakatan Rakyat consensus principle that all decisions in Pakatan Rakyat coalition should be reached by consensus of all the three component parties.

But the last straw that broke the camel’s back was when Hadi vetoed what had been agreed by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership council with PAS represented by its Deputy President and Secretary-General, demonstrating that Hadi not only wanted to be a dictator in PAS but also in Pakatan Rakyat.

Hadi should look into the mirror when he alleged that the DAP has failed to look after the interest of the people of Penang, although it had one term to do so.

Lest Hadi forgets, DAP-led Pakatan Rakyat won 30 state assembly seats in the 2013 general elections as compared to 29 seats in the 2008 general election.

In the 2013 general election, DAP not only won all the 19 seats it won in the 2008 general elections, but with a bigger majority in everyone of the 19 seats, with majority as big as more than 300 per cent as in the case of Chong Eng in the Padang Lalang seat where she won with a 14,930- vote majority as compared to the 4,242-vote DAP majority in 2008 general election and of over 400% increase as in Padang Kota where Chow Kong Yeow won with 7,196-vote majority as compared to 1,661-vote majority in 2008; and in Pulau Tikus where Yap Soo Huey won with a 8,220-vote majority as compared to 1,714-vote majority in 2008 and in Seri Delima where RSN Ryer won with 9,227-vote majority as compared to 2,128-vote majority in 2008.

In contrast, Hadi was thrown out of the Terengganu state government after one term as Mentri Besar. In the 1999 Terengganu state general elections, thanks to the Anwar “reformasi” wave, Hadi became Terengganu Mentri Besar with PAS winning 28 out of the 32 state assembly seats, winning 87.5% of the popular vote in the state.

In the 2004 general elections, an astounding reverse took place, with Hadi thrown out as Mentri Besar when UMNO won 28 out of the 32 state assembly seats, leaving PAS with only 4 seats but its popular vote crashed from 87.5% in 1999 to 12.5%.

Can Hadi explain such a great contrast in popular support for the DAP-led state government in Penang as compared to his ignominious one term as Teregganu Mentri Besar? Continue reading “My lawyers instructed to consider whether Hadi’s insinuation that I am anti-Islam is defamatory and cause for legal proceedings”

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Let’s keep our focus on things that matter

By TK Chua
Free Malaysia Today
January 27, 2017

We should stay focused on the big picture and, instead of harping on past problems, be more realistic and practical about issues such as racism, graft, and massive development projects.

There are just too many incongruous arguments going on in Malaysia today. I consider all these deliberate distractions and diversions from the more fundamental problems confronting us.

The first distraction is the assertion that Lim Kit Siang will become deputy prime minister should the opposition take federal power. There is nothing wrong in Lim Kit Siang becoming DPM if the situation warrants it. Why would the race of a person become an issue unless it is the embedded racism being voiced? Has racism become so entrenched in Malaysia today that even the racists are not consciously aware of their own behaviour?

We must not get distracted; fight we must against racism and bigotry before it is too late. Continue reading “Let’s keep our focus on things that matter”

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Ketika Harakah umpama kapal bocor, Pas lagi menyedihkan, kata Lutfi

Malaysia Dateline
24 Januari 2017 | BORHAN AHMAD

Bekas ketua pengarang Harakah, Ahmad Lutfi Othman menyifatkan akhbar milik Pas itu kini umpama ‘kapal yang bocor menunggu masa untuk tenggelam’ manakala nasib partinya pula, Pas, lagi menyedihkan.

Dalam tulisan pertamanya selepas 26 bulan tidak menulis, Lutfi dalam tulisan pertamanya di Malaysia Dateline berkata, “Gugatan media baru memang satu faktor besar tetapi kurangnya persiapan untuk mencabar ancaman baru itu, bagi saya, lebih berperanan untuk menjatuhkan lagi jumlah cetakan akhbar.”

Lutfi yang tidak sihat sejak beberapa tahun lalu tamat perkhidmatannya secara rasmi dengan Harakah akhir Disember tahun 2016 lalu.

Kini beliau menyertai akhbar mingguan Amanah yang dimiliki oleh parti pecahan dari Pas itu sebagai Penasihat Editorial mula menulis dengan Malaysia Dateline mulai hari ini. Continue reading “Ketika Harakah umpama kapal bocor, Pas lagi menyedihkan, kata Lutfi”

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Let 2017 be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia

Chinese New Year Message
27th January 2017

The Chinese New Year of the Rooster in 2017, like all the national festivities in the country, will be celebrated under the cloud of Malaysia as a global kleptocracy.

The appellation of “global kleptocracy” is a stain and slur on the reputation and integrity of Malaysia and 30 million Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, gender or age, and it must be the common resolve of all self-respecting and patriotic Malaysians in the coming year to purge and cleanse Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.

I wish all Malaysians, and just not confined to Malaysian Chinese, a Happy Chinese New Year with the resolution that 2017 is the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia. Continue reading “Let 2017 be the only kleptocratic Chinese New Year in the history of Malaysia”