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Malaysia: Do the Umno grassroots believe that corruption is non-existent?

By Zan Azlee | 12th December 2016
Asian Correspondent

UMNO (United Malays National Organisation), the political party that leads the government in Malaysia, has in the recent years been facing numerous accusations and allegations of corruption.

One of the highest profile scandals is the world-famous 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy that many have tied to Prime Minister Najib Razak and his family.

Several international authorities have already kicked off investigations into the scandal because it involves the misappropriation of funds in the banks of multiple countries. The biggest of these in the headlines right now is the one being conducted by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). In Malaysia, however, the attorney-general has already absolved Najib of any criminal wrongdoing in the matter.

Umno, which Najib heads, still appears to have strong support from the Malaysian grassroots. Earlier this month, the party held their annual meeting of delegates across the country and since I’ve never once missed a meeting in over a decade, I did not want this year’s event to be any different. I also had a burning desire to find out if any of Umno’s grassroots members really believed that corruption wasn’t happening right below their very noses.

So I went. And there, I spoke to several assembly delegates and observers, all of whom had come to listen to their leaders discuss issues involving the party and the nation. It also needs to be said that the party is a Malay race-based party. So their main mission, really, is to protect the rights and interests of the Malays, who form the bulk of the Malaysian electorate. Continue reading “Malaysia: Do the Umno grassroots believe that corruption is non-existent?”

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Call on Federal and Kelantan State Governments to set up a joint Commission of Inquiry to ensure just and equitable solution to the anti-logging grievances of the Orang Asli Temiars in Gua Musang

The Orang Asli Temiar in Gua Musang are rebuilding their anti-logging blockades at the Balah Forest Reserve less than a fortnight after the destruction of the anti-logging blockades by the Kelantan State Forestry Department and the Police, which also saw the arrest of 54 protestors.

In my visit to the area and discussion with Orang Asli Temiars affected and Orang Asli NGO representatives, it is clear that the grievances of the Orang Asli Temiar kampongs in the area over the destruction of their resources and water source, which caused them to first set up the blockades in September, have not been taken seriously by the authorities.

I call on the Federal Government and the Kelantan State Government to set up a joint Commission of Inquiry to ensure that there is just and equitable solution to the anti-logging grievances of the Orang Asli Temiars in Gua Musang. Continue reading “Call on Federal and Kelantan State Governments to set up a joint Commission of Inquiry to ensure just and equitable solution to the anti-logging grievances of the Orang Asli Temiars in Gua Musang”

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Call on Najib to convene a special meeting of Parliament before end of year to refute ignominy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” or cleanse Malaysia’s reputation to show the world Malaysians cherish reputation of Malaysia as an upright nation of integrity

Five recent events have given Malaysians a lot of food for thought and deliberation for the last three weeks of this year, viz:

1. The resounding impeachment of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye by a 234-56 votes by South Korean Parliament over a corruption scandal which had brought millions onto the streets in protest against her.

2. The unceasing international shame and embarrassment to Malaysians with the unending reverberrations of the global multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic scandal in various foreign countries, creating a spate of adverse publicity like the closure of banks and imprisonment of bankers, Malaysians becoming international corruption fugitives and the mystery of “MO1”, which is impossible to hide from Malaysians in the era of information society – although the 1MDB scandal is strictly kept under the lid by repressive and autocratic laws.

3. A purported letter dated Dec 9 in Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s name addressed to BN MPS and Senators urging them to pressure Najib to step down as Prime Minister, together with a replacement Cabinet with Zahid as Prime Minister and Khairy Jamaluddin as Deputy Prime Minister.

I believe this is a fake letter, but did it originate from within UMNO ranks or outside. In any event, Malaysia is heading for an unprecedented era of political dirty tricks, for didn’t the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself ushered in such disgusting politics of hate and “Big Lies” in his opening and closing speeches at the UMNO General Assembly, with three “Big Lies” Nazi-style:

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

*That the DAP is anti-Malay or anti-Islam.

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

Continue reading “Call on Najib to convene a special meeting of Parliament before end of year to refute ignominy of Malaysia as “global kleptocracy” or cleanse Malaysia’s reputation to show the world Malaysians cherish reputation of Malaysia as an upright nation of integrity”

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Call for amendment of the Malaysian Constitution to put Orang Asli on par with the Malay and Bumiputeras in terms of constitutional privileges

DAP will continue to support the special position of the Malays and Bumiputeras while protecting the rights of other ethnic groups as enshrined in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution. This means we also want help to be extended to all communities who are in need.

The special position is for the Bumiputeras who are in need, and not for the rich Umnoputras. It also means that the non-Malays who are backward and who need help must have access to the affirmative action programmes.

In this respect, I would like to point out that Malaysia’s first and original Bumiputeras – the Orang Asli – have long been neglected since Merdeka in 1957 – nearly 60 years ago.

They have been here for thousands of years, yet they were and are still being treated unfairly by the authorities. In terms of privileges, that no one is more deserving than the Orang Asli communities to be given such a special position. Continue reading “Call for amendment of the Malaysian Constitution to put Orang Asli on par with the Malay and Bumiputeras in terms of constitutional privileges”

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Can the Malaysian Parliament Move Against Prime Minister Najib Razak?

Koon Yew Yin
10th Dec 2016

Friends who watch the foreign TV news channel have asked me whether Malaysia will be able to follow the example of South Korea in the current leadership crisis found in that country.

In the case of South Korea, their lawmakers recently voted overwhelmingly in Parliament to impeach President Park Geun-hye over an influence-peddling and corruption scandal. If successful, it will set the stage for her to become the country’s first elected leader to be expelled from office in disgrace.

The impeachment motion was carried by a 234-56 margin in a secret ballot in parliament, meaning that at least more than 60 of Park’s own conservative Saenuri Party members backed removing her.

The votes of at least 200 members of the 300-seat chamber were needed for the motion to pass.

The Constitutional Court must now decide whether to uphold the motion, a process that could take up to 180 days. Continue reading “Can the Malaysian Parliament Move Against Prime Minister Najib Razak?”

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If authorities are not out on a “witch-hunt”, Najib should be the first person who should be probed for “foreign funding” and not Ambiga or Bersih

If the authorities are not out on a “witch-hunt”, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should be the first person who should be probed by the police for “foreign funding” and not Ambiga Sreenivasan or Bersih, for three reasons:

Firstly, the quantum. The amount of “foreign funding” which went into Najib’s personal banking accounts boggles the imagination – at first it was the gargantuan figure of RM2.6 billion and later it was expanded to an even more astronomical figure of RM4.2 billion.

No sane person would dispute the claim by Ambiga, who headed Bersih from 2010 to 2013, that Bersih had at all times been transparent about its finding and accounts, and had never hidden the fact that it had received US$25,000 from Open Society Institute (OSI) and US$9,690 from National Democracy Institute (NDI) in 2011 which were used in election-related projects.

But what is US$34,690 compared to the over US$1 billion foreign funding which had been deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts – as the “foreign funding” that was deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts was 30 million times larger than the puny figures which Bersih had received from OSI and NDI in 2011. Continue reading “If authorities are not out on a “witch-hunt”, Najib should be the first person who should be probed for “foreign funding” and not Ambiga or Bersih”

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Malaysia PM opens thorny debate in accusing Myanmar of genocide

By Praveen Menon | KUALA LUMPUR
Reuters
Fri Dec 9, 2016

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s stern rebuke to Myanmar for a military-led crackdown on Muslim Rohingyas was a rarity among Southeast Asian nations, who adhere to a policy of non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs.

Critics saw the beleaguered Najib reaching for the moral high ground with his criticism over the weekend of Myanmar in order to pander to Malay Muslim voters after a series of protests calling for him to resign over a corruption scandal.

Najib is eyeing elections in the second half of 2017, nearly a year ahead of the 2018 deadline, a government source told Reuters.

At a rally on Sunday, Najib called for foreign intervention to stop the “genocide” of Rohingya Muslims and lashed out at Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for her inaction. Continue reading “Malaysia PM opens thorny debate in accusing Myanmar of genocide”

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Is Malaysian Education Blueprint target for Malaysia to be above global average and be in top one-third of countries in international educational standards by 2025 realistic and achievable – or whether it should be lowered and amended

The Education Ministry is setting a bad moral example to the young generation of Malaysians as it is not even telling a white lie, but a downright lie, on Malaysia’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 results.

It is indeed shocking that a Ministry which is responsible for the moral upbringing of a young generation of Malaysians should be guilty of such immorality as to try to lie its way out of the shame and ignominy of Malaysia’s exclusion from the results and rankings for mathematics, science and reading in the PISA 2015 Report.

Lets get down to the brass tacks – is the Education deputy director-general Datuk Dr. Amin Senin seriously claiming that the Malaysian government’s assertion that Malaysia’s PISA 2015 results for all three subjects have improved from those of PISA 2012 – i.e. mathematics from 404 to 421, Science from 420 to 422 and Reading from 398 to 414 – is recognised by PISA authorities in OECD?

The answer is an unequivocal “NO”, or Malaysia would not have been excluded from the rankings for mathematics, reading and science in PISA 2015, which appears on Page 44 of the PISA 2015 Results Volume 1 (Excellence and Equity in Education). Continue reading “Is Malaysian Education Blueprint target for Malaysia to be above global average and be in top one-third of countries in international educational standards by 2025 realistic and achievable – or whether it should be lowered and amended”

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Malaysians underestimate the damage caused by the 1MDB scandal

Economist
Nov 26th 2016

But the opposition has to do more to win over rural Malays

FORTY thousand people wearing yellow shirts gathered in Malaysia’s capital on November 19th, to protest against corruption and impunity in government. The rally was orderly and restrained; the response of the authorities was not. On the eve of the protest, police arrested Maria Chin Abdullah, leader of a coalition of human-rights groups that organised the event. She was placed in solitary confinement, and can be held there for 28 days. Even by Malaysia’s dismal recent standards this marked a fresh low. Ordinary Malaysians should not stand by while their leaders undermine the rule of law so casually. Continue reading “Malaysians underestimate the damage caused by the 1MDB scandal”

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Jho Low family dealt setback in move to claim assets in 1MDB probe

Reuters
8th December 2016

Relatives of a Malaysian financier at the center of the 1MDB fund scandal were dealt a setback in their efforts to claim assets seized by the U.S. government when a federal judge denied a motion that would have given them time to try their luck in overseas courts.

Earlier this week four relatives of Low Taek Jho filed a motion to delay the Dec. 12 hearing to Jan. 23 so they could go to courts in New Zealand and the Cayman Islands to try and get real estate and other assets transferred to a new trustee.

In a one-sentence ruling, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer denied both the motion to postpone the hearing and a separate request to extend the deadline for filing a claim. No reason was given in the filing, dated Wednesday. Continue reading “Jho Low family dealt setback in move to claim assets in 1MDB probe”

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Good wishes to Harith Iskander to become the world’s funniest person in the final of the international competition, Laugh Factory Funniest Person in the World, in Helsinki tonight

Malaysians send good wishes to the country’s stand-up comedian Harith Iskander to become the world’s funniest person in the final of the international competition, Laugh Factory Funniest Person in the World, in Helsinki tonight.

Although Harith, 50, will be facing stiff challenge from four others, Katerina Vrana (Greece), Mino Van Nassau (India), David Kilimnick (Israel) and Alex Calleja (Philippines), he stands a good chance of winning the final as he topped the chart among the 20 semi-finalists last Sunday.

It is fortunate that last year Harith survived the threat posed by UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers and Deputy Ministers to stand-up comedians, as UMNO/BN Ministers and Deputy Ministers at the time like Ahmad Maslan, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Paul Low and even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, were competing with them to run them out of their jobs with their own comic and clownish statements and actions.

This was why I had occasion to remark last December that very soon, comedians like Harith would have to call it a day because Ministers and Deputy Ministers like Ahmad Maslan, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Paul Low and even Najib would have taken over their jobs; leaving the professional comedians probably with the option of venturing into politics to encroach into the protected domains of the Ministers and deputy ministers! Continue reading “Good wishes to Harith Iskander to become the world’s funniest person in the final of the international competition, Laugh Factory Funniest Person in the World, in Helsinki tonight”

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HAS CHINA OFFERED TO BAIL OUT MALAYSIA’S 1MDB? AT WHAT COST?

BY BHAVAN JAIPRAGAS
South China Morning Post
7 DEC 2016

China’s economic largesse to Malaysia was back in the spotlight on Wednesday following an apparent renewed effort by Beijing to bail out the Southeast Asian country’s beleaguered 1MDB state investment fund.

Political observers say such multibillion-dollar favours are likely to continue unabated as China seeks to bring a key trading partner closer into its strategic orbit and as Prime Minister Najib Razak turns away from the West, where he is accused of running a kleptocracy.

The Financial Times newspaper in a report on Wednesday said China “had been approached” to help 1MDB – embattled by a long-running money laundering scandal linked to Najib – pay off a US$6.5 billion (HK$50.4 billion) debt to an Abu Dhabi state investment arm. Continue reading “HAS CHINA OFFERED TO BAIL OUT MALAYSIA’S 1MDB? AT WHAT COST?”

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PISA 2015 a major setback for Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to achieve above global average and be in top one-third of countries in international educational standards in less than a decade by 2025

The PISA 2015 results were supposed to be the coming-of-age of the Najib premiership, both nationally and internationally – to provide evidence that under Najib’s premiership, with his string of National Transformation Programmes, the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025, and most important of all, his forthcoming and most ambitious 2050 National Transformation (TN50) Plan to replace Vision 2020, Malaysia would not only be able to become a RM2 trillion economy in seven to eight years, but to become the Top 20 nation in the world.

But the PISA 2015 results were a major setback to Najib’s towering ambitions, in particular the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 objective to achieve above global average and be in top one-third of countries in international educational standards in less than a decade by 2025.

This was why the Malaysian government was so quick off-the-mark to claim credit for good improvement in the OECD-organised PISA 2015 tests – announcing that Malaysia scored 446 in Mathematics, 431 in Reading and 443 in Science as compared to Malaysia’s PISA 2012 results of 421 in Mathematics, 414 in Reading and 422 in Science.

This will be quite creditable improvement if true, as the three sets of PISA results for Malaysia since 2009 would be as follows:

PISA Score (Rank)
2009 2012 2015
Maths 404(57) 421(52) 446(45)
Science 422(52) 420(53) 443(47)
Reading 414(55) 398(59) 431(50)

Continue reading “PISA 2015 a major setback for Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to achieve above global average and be in top one-third of countries in international educational standards in less than a decade by 2025”

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Why Australia’s PISA results are a catastrophe

by Jennifer Buckingham
Australian Financial Review
December 7, 2016

Problem-based learning is a problem if children don’t have the basic skills to apply.

Two sets of independent international test results released in the past week show Australia’s education system has serious deficiencies.

The results of the Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 showed no change in maths and science scores for Australian students since 1995 while other countries improved, leading to a slide in our international rankings.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 results are even worse – the performance of Australian students in reading, maths and science has significantly decreased over the past 15 years.

There has been a corresponding slide in our international rankings because other countries have either maintained their performance or improved. Continue reading “Why Australia’s PISA results are a catastrophe”

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Jho Low Family Digs in to Stop 1MDB Asset Seizure by U.S.

by Edvard Pettersson
Bloomberg
December 6, 2016

Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho’s family is reaching far and wide to stop the U.S. from seizing $650 million in real estate and business investments the government claims were acquired with funds stolen from his home country.

The family of the businessman known as Jho Low claims the Swiss trustees holding their assets are afraid to fight back against the U.S. for fear of being prosecuted in the global game of investment hide and seek set off by the alleged disappearance of more than $3.5 billion of the $8 billion raised by 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

Four relatives of Low, including his father and brother, now say they will ask courts in the Cayman Islands and New Zealand to replace the Swiss trustees — so they can avoid having their possessions go to the U.S. by default. Continue reading “Jho Low Family Digs in to Stop 1MDB Asset Seizure by U.S.”

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1MDB: The Abu Dhabi Connection

Katharina Bart
finews.asia
6 December 2016

Investigators are probing what they believe is a billion-dollar graft scandal at Malaysian state fund 1MDB. What is the role of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth executives?

As investigators in at least five countries probe an alleged billion-dollar corruption scheme, Abu Dhabi has been largely silent about its association with the Malaysian state fund.

Khadem al-Qubais–, who previously ran IPIC, one of Abu Dhabi’s largest sovereign wealth funds, until last year was responsible for billions in investments for the ruling family of Abu Dhabi – including stakes in Barclays, Daimler and Glencore.

He is also believed to have run a lucrative embezzlement and money-laundering racket which brought millions to his personal account, «The Wall Street Journal» reported. Former BSI private bankers have admitted running similarly lucrative side gigs in Singapore. Continue reading “1MDB: The Abu Dhabi Connection”

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China to help 1MDB settle multibillion-dollar legal dispute

Jeevan Vasagar in Kuala Lumpur, Caroline Binham in London and Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Financial Times
Dec 7, 2016

Troubled Malaysian state investment fund ready to make repayment to Abu Dhabi’s Ipic

Malaysia’s troubled state investment fund 1MDB is preparing to make a repayment, with Chinese assistance, to Abu Dhabi’s state-owned International Petroleum Investment Company, as it seeks to settle a dispute in which the Emirati fund is claiming about $6.5bn.

The move to begin repaying what the Malaysian fund owes, confirmed by two people familiar with the matter, marks a step forward in efforts to resolve the financial position of the heavily indebted state fund.

The two funds reached an impasse earlier this year, with 1MDB insisting it had fulfilled its obligations and Ipic taking the dispute to arbitration in London.

The relationship between the two funds — once hailed as a “strategic partnership” between Abu Dhabi and Malaysia — has gone sour amid allegations that Emirati officials were involved in a plot to siphon more than $1bn from 1MDB.

Khadem al-Qubaisi, former head of Ipic, has been detained over his suspected role in the affair. He has not been charged with any offence.

China has been approached as a source of funds for 1MDB, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, one of whom said Malaysia would swap assets for financing. Continue reading “China to help 1MDB settle multibillion-dollar legal dispute”

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The Global Search for Education: Everything You Need to Know About PISA

C. M. Rubin
Huffington Post
12/06/2016

“If we look at countries like Singapore, Canada, Estonia, Japan and Finland, who have combined excellence and equity over a number of PISA cycles, we can see what they do: they have high and universal expectations for all students, an unwavering focus on outstanding teaching and they target resources on schools and students that are struggling.” — Andreas Schleicher

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey that evaluates education systems. Once a country is approved for participation by PISA, individual schools are chosen based on stringent criteria to represent all 15 year-olds in that country. In 2015, over half a million 15-year-olds in 72 countries and economies took the two-hour test. Students were assessed in science, mathematics, reading, collaborative problem solving and financial literacy, although the major emphasis of the 2015 test was science literacy. The results were published today.

Some fascinating highlights: Just four provinces in China now provide 13% of the world’s top-performing students; Singapore, Canada, Estonia, Japan and Finland have combined excellence and equity over a number of PISA tests, and interestingly these countries have a steadfast commitment to outstanding teaching and to supporting schools and students that are struggling. While socio-economic status accounts for 13% of the variation in science, maths and reading, the 10% most disadvantaged students in Macao (China) and Vietnam outperformed the 10% most advantaged students in 20 PISA participating countries. Continue reading “The Global Search for Education: Everything You Need to Know About PISA”

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The Guardian view on the Pisa tests: slicing them up

Editorial
The Guardian
6 December 2016

Tony Blair wanted to be remembered for his education reforms, and the latest results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment – Pisa – the triennial survey of the skills of 15-year-olds suggest that if only he had concentrated on his domestic agenda, he probably would have been.

The Pisa scores are notorious for revealing no consistent message, but it is striking that England’s 15-year-olds are performing about as well as three years ago, where Scotland and Wales, where reform was rebuffed, are in decline.

Overall, the UK’s performance is almost unchanged: a little above the OECD average, still a long way behind Singapore, Japan and Estonia, but well ahead of Italy, Israel and Iceland. There is a marginal improvement in the UK’s ranking, despite a slight decline in scores. Continue reading “The Guardian view on the Pisa tests: slicing them up”

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In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past all the others

Jenny Anderson/Amy X. Wang
Quartz
December 06, 2016

Every three years the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tests 15-year-olds around the world on their math, science and reading abilities.

Then, countries around the world celebrate, or panic.

For example, in 2000, the world learned Finland was a global education superpower (that was news to many in Finland too, according to some). Somehow the country managed to start kids in school at 7, have short school days, assign little homework, test kids infrequently, and still eke out amazing results.

Finland’s schools became a top tourist attraction, as educators around the globe flocked to understand their secret (basically, stringent selection of teachers, who are given autonomy to teach).

But what goes up sometimes comes down. In the OECD’s latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranking, for 2015, Finland has fallen from its perch (though it remains a very high performer), and Singapore trounced the rest of the world on math, reading and science.

PISA 2015 includes data from 72 countries and economies, including all 35 OECD members and 37 other countries and economies. In some cases, regions stand in for countries: Taiwan’s results are based on testing in Taipei, in Argentina only the city of Buenos Aires participates, and in mainland China, four provinces — Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong (B-S-J-G) participate.

In addition, some countries paid to have subnational regions tested separately; the US, for instance, asked for rankings for Massachusetts and North Carolina. Approximately 540,000 students took the test, which aims to capture what students know toward the end of their formal schooling, and how well they can apply that knowledge more broadly. Continue reading “In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past all the others”