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From greatest hope to scandal-ridden, a look at Najib’s 40 years in active politics

by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
21 February 2016

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak commemorates 40 years in politics today but the milestone comes at the toughest period in a career, which has seen him go from being the hope of Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) to one now besieged with allegations of financial scandals.

Besides a growing rebellion among ordinary Umno members demanding he resign, the party’s sixth president is running a country where in the last general election, 52% of voters rejected the coalition he leads.

Najib’s own ambitions of being a reformer or “transformer” is in tatters after becoming embroiled in two financial scandals – 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) “political donation” that flowed into his personal accounts. Continue reading “From greatest hope to scandal-ridden, a look at Najib’s 40 years in active politics”

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Class of ’59, High School, Batu Pahat grieves the loss of another classmate with the passing Dr. Hee Tien Lai in Penang early this morning after attending my 75th birthday reunion last night

(Condolence Message at the death of former Deputy Speaker (MP for Ayer Itam), Datuk Dr. Hee Tien Lai at Lam Wah Ee Hospital on Sunday, 21st February 2016)

The Class of ’59, High School, Batu Pahat grieves the loss of another classmate Datuk Dr.Hee Tien Lai from heart attack in Penang early this morning, after attending my 75th birthday reunion last night.

Tien Lai was former Deputy Speaker of Malaysian Parliament in 1982 and three-term Barisan Nasional MP for Ayer Hitam in Johore.

The Class of ’59 produced three Members of Parliament, Tien Lai, Datuk Mustapha Mohamad former Minister, Ambassador and MP for Sri Gading and myself. Continue reading “Class of ’59, High School, Batu Pahat grieves the loss of another classmate with the passing Dr. Hee Tien Lai in Penang early this morning after attending my 75th birthday reunion last night”

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On my 75th birthday, my only wish is to see a realignment of progressive political forces to save Malaysia and to keep faith with the Malaysian Dream of an united, inclusive, moderate, democratic and prosperous Malaysia.

Dear classmates, comrades, relatives and friends,

I thank all of you who have come from far and wide to do me honour on the occasion of my 75th birthday.

My classmate Michael Ong emailed from Canberra his apologies for not being able to be with us.

He said: “The spirit is willing but the body is weak. With increasing painful left knee joint and painful feet, not to mention forgetful ‘Seniors moments’ I am not confident in my ability to travel alone. Judith too is getting frail.”

A timely reminder in particular to all my classmates of the frailty and brevity of life.

Michael continued:

”Anyway woke up early and composed the following acrostic for the occasion. If I may say so, it seems to me that your political struggle is like a love affair with the country and reminds me of a love poem learnt during schooldays – “Life In a Love” by Robert Browning.”

This is the acrostic – i.e. a series of lines or verses in which the first letters when taken in order spell out a word – “LKS Duty Before Self” which Michael penned: Continue reading “On my 75th birthday, my only wish is to see a realignment of progressive political forces to save Malaysia and to keep faith with the Malaysian Dream of an united, inclusive, moderate, democratic and prosperous Malaysia.”

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Lim Kit Siang (In Honour Of His 75th Birthday)

by Allan Goh Chay Foo
Class of ’59

When you answer the country’s urgent call
To help build a nation for one and all,
You dedicate your whole life for the quest
Of making Malaysia the very best!
You have never flinched from this steadfastness
In your tireless crusade for righteousness.
Though threatened endlessly with dark prisons,
And bedeviled with crude verbal poisons,
You soldier on for the best Malaysia,
Full of real fairness and sweet ambrosia,
With none standing as a diminished son,
Under Malaysia’s benevolent sun. Continue reading “Lim Kit Siang (In Honour Of His 75th Birthday)”

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DAP at 50: Where do we go from here?

― Lim Kit Siang
Malay Mail Online
February 19, 2016

FEBRUARY 19 ― I don’t think anybody ever asserted that the DAP should sacrifice its principles for justice, freedom and democracy. What we need to change is our modus operandi to enable us move on to become a more inclusive party in Malaysia, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, for all Malays, Ibans and Kadazans ― in keeping with our founding vision to be a Malaysian party for all Malaysians by all Malaysians.

Let’s examine where we are today. When we were formed 50 years ago ― and I’m one of the few who can talk about the DAP 50 years ago ― none of us ever thought about becoming a Member of Parliament or a State Assemblyperson or even forming a government. We believed in the ideals of social democracy, justice, freedom, good governance, and we were for all races to come together.

All these 50 years ago. Now the question is: Quo vadis, DAP? Where do we go from here? Continue reading “DAP at 50: Where do we go from here?”

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I never said Muhyiddin is my “latest recruit – “University of UMNO graduates” who are UMNO cybertroopers should polish up their English and general comprehension

Late last night, I was quite tickled by a flurry of headlines in news portals like “Muhyiddin says not Kit Siang’s latest recruit in ‘Save Malaysia’ campaign” (MMO); “I’m my own man, not your recruit, Muhyiddin tells Kit Siang” (Malaysiakini); “I’m nobody’s recruit, says Muhyiddin” (TMI) and “‘I am not Kit Siang’s recruit’, says Muhyiddin” (FMT).

I never said that the former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin was my “latest recruit” in my speech at the Johor Pakatan Harapan Chinese New Year Open House on Sunday night.

Let me reproduce the relevant part of my speech about the three messages the Johore Pakatan Harapan wanted to send out from the Chinese New Year Open House in Muar: Continue reading “I never said Muhyiddin is my “latest recruit – “University of UMNO graduates” who are UMNO cybertroopers should polish up their English and general comprehension”

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Missing Malaysia Jet MH370 Weeks Away From Keeping Secrets Forever

Angus Whitley
Bloomberg
February 16, 2016

The man leading the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is showing the strain after almost two years of fruitless toil.

Martin Dolan, head of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, said he struggles to sleep at times, gnawed by thoughts that wreckage from the Boeing Co. 777 may have slipped through the sonar net scanning 120,000 square kilometers (46,330 square miles) of the southern Indian Ocean.

MH370 is weeks away from becoming aviation’s biggest unsolved mystery since Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937. Of the 3 million components in the jet, only one has turned up — a barnacle-encrusted wing flap — on Reunion Island, thousands of miles from the search. There have been no traces of the 239 people on board, their luggage or even the life jackets that were supposed to float.

“There’s always this question: Have we missed something?” Dolan, 58, said at his office in Canberra. “That’s the sort of thing that will occasionally keep me awake at night.” Continue reading “Missing Malaysia Jet MH370 Weeks Away From Keeping Secrets Forever”

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Malaysia: The 1MDB money trail

Michael Peel and Jeevan Vasagar
Financial Times
February 15, 2016

The chief executive of BSI, the Swiss private bank, was jubilant about its foray into Asia. So much so that he wrote to a star employee in Singapore who had helped lead the effort. “I wanted to personally thank you for your immense contribution not only to the growth of our new Asia business, but to BSI Group as a whole,” enthused the December 2011 letter from Alfredo Gysi, who is now BSI’s honorary chairman.

What a difference four years makes. Today that same bank official in Singapore, Yak Yew Chee, is battling a criminal investigation by the city-state’s authorities on suspicion that he benefited “from criminal conduct”. Continue reading “Malaysia: The 1MDB money trail”

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Is the TPP really a leap forward for Malaysia?

Shankaran Nambiar
East Asia Forum
13 February 2016

Malaysia’s leadership must be extremely satisfied on two counts: their success in negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and the parliament’s favourable position on the agreement.

It is amazing that Malaysia has negotiated to preserve the Bumiputera agenda, obtain a minimum five-year grace period to reform state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and gain exemption for Khazanah from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions for two years after the deal comes into force.

There were fears that the TPP would necessitate the dismantling of SOEs, prise open the government procurement market and cause the whittling down of the Bumiputera agenda. Those anxieties are unfounded. The TPP has turned out to be an agreement where the Malaysian government can have its cake and eat it too.

While maintaining the Bumiputera agenda may be a victory of sorts in the short term, it reduces the impetus for drastic economic reforms. The push towards greater private sector participation, in particular, will be further postponed. Economic efficiency may have been sacrificed in an effort to appease a significant domestic political constituency. The TPP negotiations presented a trade-off between obtaining political support for the agreement and striving to achieve efficiency and greater social welfare gains. It seems that the end result tilted in favour of the former. Continue reading “Is the TPP really a leap forward for Malaysia?”

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Mismanagement, waste, and corruption in Malaysia’s public universities

by Murray Hunter | 15th February 2016
Asian Correspondent

MALAYSIAN public universities have dropped in the Times Higher Education University Rankings over the last few years. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) made 87th position in 2013, but as of 2015, no Malaysian university made the top 100 Asian rankings.

Malaysian public universities have also shown mixed results in other rankings like the QS rankings, where three Malaysian universities had slight rises in their rankings, while Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), International Islamic Universiti Malaysia (IIUM), and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), all slipped in rankings from previous years. No Malaysian university made the top 100. According to the QS ranking profiles, Malaysian universities have lost significant ground in academic reputation and tend to be weak in research, where no Malaysian university reached the top 400.

Public Universities Vice-Chancellor/Rector Committee chairman Dr. Kamarudin Hussin, who is also vice chancellor of Universiti Malaysia Perlis (Unimap) claims that the ranking methodologies favour older, more established universities. Yet many universities within the THES top 100 Asian universities were established relatively recently. Hong Kong University of Science and technology, ranked 7th, was established in 1980, Nanyang Technological University, ranked 10th, was set up in 1981, and Pohang University of Science and Technology, ranked 11th, was established in 1986.

When comparing performance to Malaysia’s neighbour, Thailand, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, established in 1960 made 55th place, and Mahidol University came in with a 91st placing.

In addition, a number of universities from countries which are not democratically governed like Sharif University of Technology (43, Iran), Isfahan University of Technology (61, Iran), Iran University of Science and Technology (69), King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (71, Saudi Arabia), and King Saud University (72, Saudi Arabia), all made the THES top 100 Asian university rankings last year.

Dr Kamarudin accepts that Malaysian universities have “many issues that must be resolved….(and) there are plenty of oversights that must be fixed”. However, unfortunately, he didn’t mention what they are, or offer any solutions. Continue reading “Mismanagement, waste, and corruption in Malaysia’s public universities”

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What other intellectual and mental prowess and feats are University of UMNO “graduates” capable of?

In the last two days, “graduates” of University of UMNO have been showing off their intellectual and mental prowess and feats.

The first was the new UMNO information chief, Tan Sri Annuar Musa who declared that the RM2.6 billion donation deposited into Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking account is “not a big sum” to face one general election.

Can Annuar share with ordinary Malaysians who do not have benefit of being ”graduates” of University of UMNO what would be “a big sum” to face one general election in Malaysia – RM50 billion, RM100 billion or RM200 billion?

Malaysia’s election laws stipulate that the maximum expenditure legally permissible for a parliamentary candidate is RM200,000 while the maximum legal expenditure for a State Assembly candidate is RM100,000.

With 222 Parliamentary seats and 505 State Assembly seats contested in the 13th General Elections, this meant that the maximum election expenditures permitted by Malaysian election laws came to RM44.4 million by all UMNO/BN’s 222 Parliamentary candidates and RM50.5 million by the 505 UMNO/BN State Assembly candidates, or a total of RM94.9 million – just short of RM100 million!

The RM2.6 billion “donation” to Najib is 26 times more than the legally permissible election expenditures for all the 222 Parliamentary and 505 State Assembly candidates from UMNO/Barisan Nasional.

But this is clearly only “chicken-feed” for fighting one general election as far as the new UMNO Information chief is concerned. Continue reading “What other intellectual and mental prowess and feats are University of UMNO “graduates” capable of?”

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Pakatan Harapan Johor ready to co-operate with Muhyiddin and UMNO, MCA, Barisan Nasional leaders at all levels in the state on a programme to “Save Malaysia”

The most important messages Johore Pakatan Harapan wants to send out from tonight’s Chinese New Year Open House in Muar is firstly, the three constituent Pakatan Harapan political parties of DAP, PKR and AMANAH are determined to ensure that Johor will be the front-line state in the battle for political change culminating in the 14th General Election by 2018.

Until the 12th General Election in 2008, UMNO and Barisan Nasional were so cocky and arrogant about their political stranglehold in Johor that they campaigned for a “Zero-Opposition” Johor in the election campaign.

But the political tables have been turned and there has been such a sea-change in politics in Johor that in the 14th General Election, the great challenge in Johor is whether Pakatan Harapan can succeed in toppling the UMNO-BN government in Johor.

The second message is that if UMNO/BN falls in Johor in the 14th General Election, there is no way UMNO/BN can continue to have the parliamentary majority to form the Federal Government in Putrajaya.

The road to Putrajaya in the 14th General Election must be traversed therefore through the road to victory in Johor!

Thirdly, the message we want to send out to Johorians and Malaysians is that the greatest objective in the 14th General Election is not whether Pakatan Harapan can replace UMNO/BN in Johore State and Putrajaya Federal Governments, but whether Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region and even politics are capable of uniting on a common national platform to “Save Malaysia” from becoming a failed state because of rampant corruption and widespread socio-economic justices and a “rogue state” where there is no Rule of Law and those in power can abuse their powers with impunity.

“Save Malaysia” from becoming a failed and rogue state must now be the rallying cry for all Malaysians, starting from Johor, and I am glad that more and more Malaysians are taking up this patriotic call before it is too late. Continue reading “Pakatan Harapan Johor ready to co-operate with Muhyiddin and UMNO, MCA, Barisan Nasional leaders at all levels in the state on a programme to “Save Malaysia””

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At ASEAN Summit, Malaysia’s PM Is Foremost Among Crowd of Repressive Dictators

Jared Genser
Huffington Post
02/12/2016

On Feb. 15 in Southern California, President Obama will host the leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations. While the Sunnylands estate, surrounded by acres of lush green desert gardens, is no stranger to more informal diplomatic meetings, one can only imagine how many of the assembled leaders will enjoy trading stories about how to maintain their grip on power.

Among those attending will be Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has ruled his country for 30 years with little tolerance for dissent; Thailand’s military junta leader; and the prime minister of Vietnam, president of Laos and Sultan of Brunei, all of whom rule their states with a heavy-handed authoritarian grip.

And yet, ironically, it is Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia, whose country is viewed as an erstwhile and even pseudo-democratic ally of the United States, who stands alone this year among the sordid lot. Continue reading “At ASEAN Summit, Malaysia’s PM Is Foremost Among Crowd of Repressive Dictators”

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Withdrawal of sedition charge against Azmi Sharom only silver lining in gathering of dark clouds following Apandi’s appointment – call for dropping of all sedition charges

The only good news in the past six months is the withdrawal of the sedition charge against Universiti Malaya law professor Azmi Sharom, following on the earlier withdrawal of the sedition charge against DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok over a Chinese New Year video “’Onederful’ Malaysia CNY 2014”.

The withdrawal of sedition charge against Azmi, and the earlier withdrawal of the sedition charge against Teresa Kok, are the only silver lining in the gathering of dark clouds following the sudden and shocking sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General and the appointment of Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali as the Public Prosecutor of the land six months ago.

But this is not adequate, as both Teresa and Azmin should not have been charged in the first place.
I fully agree with Azmi that Malaysians are relieved that common sense had prevailed, but this must apply not only in the two cases of Azmi and Teresa, but also in all the other cases where the Sedition Act been used to stifle legitimate dissent and criticism.

For this reason, I call on Apandi to drop all charges under the Sedition Act against Opposition MPs, civil society activists, lawyers and cartoonist including Zunar. Continue reading “Withdrawal of sedition charge against Azmi Sharom only silver lining in gathering of dark clouds following Apandi’s appointment – call for dropping of all sedition charges”

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Hasan Arifin should resign as PAC Chairman if he dare not summon Jho Low to appear before the PAC investigations into 1MDB

One of the greatest sins of omission of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigations into the RM55 billion 1MDB is the rescindment of its earlier decision to summon Jho Low to testify before it.

The Malaysian public are still waiting for a cogent and reasonable explanation from the new PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin why he rescinded the decision of the earlier PAC Chairman, Datuk Seri Nur Jazlan Mohamad, who announced on July 24 last year that Low Taek Jho would be summoned to appear before the PAC on Sept. 8 to testify on the 1MDB scandal.

But Nur Jazlan was “kicked upstairs” to become Deputy Home Minister in the “purges” launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on July 28 last year, which saw the sacking of the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Senior Minister for Rural and Regional Development Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, the dissolution of the high-powered multi-agency Special Task Force to investigate 1MDB and the four-month sabotage of the PAC investigations into 1MDB.

Najib’s world-class RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals have proved to be more intriguing than any long-running television series, having more complicated plots and sub-plots – and we have not seen the end of these plots and sub-plots yet – making the audience wonder who is the Samaritan and who is the real crook.

At times, there is even the “Alice in Wonderland” quality – bordering on the surreal. Continue reading “Hasan Arifin should resign as PAC Chairman if he dare not summon Jho Low to appear before the PAC investigations into 1MDB”

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“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting” – Milan Kundera’s quote befits Keningau Batu Sumpah Movement

From Tweets
___________

First achievement of DAP Batu Sumpah movement http://goo.gl/ELlVqW Oath stone in Keningau to be gazetted as national heritage site (MMO)

I first visited Keningau Oath Stone in March 2010 with KK MP Jimmy Wong (then Sri Tanjong Assemblyman) and DAP MPs Teo Nie Ching/Lim Lip Eng.

I am first MP to raise issue of Keningau Batu Sumpah in Parliament in March 2010, and called for Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on Sabah/Swak in Msia & Batu Sumpah’s Three Pledges.

This led to DAP Batu Sumpah Awareness Campaign – replica of Batu Sumpah in every Sabah village! Kudos to DAP Sabah SA Edwin Bosi and Peter Saili.

Although Keningau Batu Sumpah has come in from the cold – after 53 yrs – more important is fulfilment of Three Pledges of Batu Sumpah. Continue reading ““The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting” – Milan Kundera’s quote befits Keningau Batu Sumpah Movement”

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Hasan Arifin is solely to blame for public doubts about the PAC report on 1MDB as there was no such doubt when Nur Jazlan was the PAC Chairman

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin said yesterday that the public should not doubt the PAC report on 1MDB as the committee members were made up of parliamentarians from both sides of the House, and the public must be confident of the transparency of the report to be tabled in Parliament.

Hasan is solely to blame for public doubts about the independence, transparency and professionalism of the PAC report on 1MDB, as there was no such doubt when Datuk Seri Nur Jazlan Mohamad was Chairman of the PAC.

Hasan should ask himself why the sea-change in the public attitude to the PAC after he was appointed PAC Chairman in October? Continue reading “Hasan Arifin is solely to blame for public doubts about the PAC report on 1MDB as there was no such doubt when Nur Jazlan was the PAC Chairman”

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Apa dah jadi dengan Negara kita?

Oleh Yunus Tasim
Free Malaysia Today
February 10, 2016

Harapkan pegar, padi dimakan semua. Bila bapak borek, rakyat kan rintik melata!

Apa dah jadi dengan Negara kita?
Bila wang berbillion di katakan derma
Masuk akaun peribadi bukan satu tapi dua
Setelah sekian lama mengarang cerita
Semuanya serba tak kena
Apa lagi untuk diterima dan dipercaya
Tiba-tiba wang dipulang semula
Kepada penderma yang tak tahusiapa
Katanya Arab yang dah kaya raya
Kan lebih baik diberi kepada rakyat yang melara Continue reading “Apa dah jadi dengan Negara kita?”

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Malaysia’s sovereignty lies somewhere between A-G and IGP

– Sir Wenger Khairy
The Malaysian Insider
11 February 2016

For the last 58 years, brave men in uniform fought and died to protect the sovereignty of the country. By the term “sovereignty”, I mean the power or authority of the country.

If the country is invaded by the Royal Sulu Army, or if the communists attack and set fire to villages and plantations, it is quite clear to see that those two agents were engaged in acts that challenge the sovereignty of the country.

The same is true if a political leader engages in corrupt acts and there is no action taken against the leader. This is because the leader breaks the laws of the land and challenges the power and authority of the Parliament and the Yang DiPertuan Agong, as the supreme authority in the country. Continue reading “Malaysia’s sovereignty lies somewhere between A-G and IGP”

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Raped and plundered

Azrul Mohd Khalib
Malay Mail Online
February 11, 2016

FEBRUARY 11 ― Those were the two words which came to my mind when I first saw and heard what had happened. I wish it was an exaggeration. But it really wasn’t.

The Lynas debacle was a picnic compared to the fallout from uncontrolled and unregulated bauxite mining. You have to see it with your own eyes and listen to the stories from those living there to know, to understand and to even believe what the hell is going on in Kuantan.

I was recently in Pahang to participate in a discussion on the issue of corruption in the country. It was apt that the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) forum was in the one place where the dire consequences of widespread corruption and the failure of regulations and enforcement of laws could be visibly seen, breathed in, and even drank.

Despite a three-month moratorium on bauxite mining currently in place since January 15, it is clear that massive damage to the environment and to the long-term wellbeing of the surrounding communities had already been done. Continue reading “Raped and plundered”