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Budget 2013: Tussle of the titans

— Kim Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2012

SEPT 30 — Barisan Nasional’s election-orientated budget 2013 is disappointing because it concentrates on raining one-off cash on the electorate to ease their pain, while forgetting to address the ills that necessitate such profuse dosage of pain-relievers in the first place.

If the people are affluent and contended, do they need to be showered with such pacifiers; or alternatively, would the feeding of such sweeteners sway their decision on whom they are going to vote for?

Obviously there are vast masses of disgruntled electorate who are not happy with the current living conditions. They are unhappy because they find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet; and they are also worried about the worsening safety of their environment.

The common people are simply overwhelmed by a cost of living that forever is speeding far ahead of their slow moving income increment. Needless to say, our economy is in trouble. What’s wrong with our economy? Continue reading “Budget 2013: Tussle of the titans”

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Di antara bajet BN dan bajet Pakatan Rakyat

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 27, 2012

27 SEPT — BN dan Pakatan Rakyat memperagakan bajet 2013 masing-masing. Pihak Pakatan Rakyat telah membentangkan bajet bayangannya dua hari sebelum Najib membentangkan bajet pihak BN. Najib akan membentangkan bajetnya pada Jumaat ini dan dijangka bajet itu adalah bajet pilihanraya. Tanda-tanda bajet itu akan memasukkan banyak peruntukan pemberian tunai kepada rakyat itu adalah jelas dan telah pun diakui oleh beberapa orang pemimpin-pemimpin BN.

Itu tidak memeranjatkan sesiapa kerana Najib begitu popular dengan membeli hati dan jiwa rakyat dengan wang ringgit. Bagi Najib bayar sana, bayar sini adalah cara yang beliau selalu lakukan baik dalam kerajaan mahu pun didalam kegiatan parti. Najib mentadbir kerajaan seperti beliau mentadbir Umno bahagiannya di Pekan.

Dalam pada itu PR juga mengemukakan bajet pihaknya untuk membezakannya diantara bajet yang selalu di bentangkan oleh BN. Beberapa pemimpin kerajaan termasuk menteri-menterinya telah mengkritik bajet Pakatan Rakyat dan menuduh PR sedang cuba untuk menarik undi dan bajet anjuran PR itu adalah bajet yang tidak realistik.

Saya hanya hendak memberi komen tentang isu realistik atau tidaknya bajet PR yang di katakan oleh pemimpin samseng BN seperti Nazri Aziz dan beberapa “hulubalang” BN itu sebagai bahan lawak itu. Nazri membuat komen yang tidak beretika sehinggakan dia mengatakan bajet anjuran PR itu adalah bajet bodoh. Bagi saya hanya orang bodoh sahaja yang mengenali si bodoh yang lain. Continue reading “Di antara bajet BN dan bajet Pakatan Rakyat”

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Lim Guan Eng corrupt? What a joke

— Penang Man
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012

SEPT 25 — Gerakan and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) mudslinging jokers should just give up because their relentless attempts at portraying Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as corrupt only allows voters to see them for what they are.

And what they are, are a bunch of hypocritical jokers with no integrity that my fellow Penangites threw out of power in 2008.

I urge Penangites, Malaysians and the Penang CM to not take Gerakan seriously. Continue reading “Lim Guan Eng corrupt? What a joke”

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Listen, Malaysians

— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012

SEPT 25 — I don’t know about you but I am disgusted with Umno and its sycophants, MCA and Gerakan, and I believe that we have to reject them wholesale for:

1) The culture of idiocy they nurture. There is a difference between BN and Pakatan Rakyat.

Whenever Lim Guan Eng or Khalid Ibrahim is accused of wrongdoing, they don’t hide. They come out with proof, sue to clear their name and even engage international audit firms. In contrast, till today no one knows how Altantuya Shaariibuu’s immigration records were erased or why the RM250 million sweet deal was given to Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family or how Cabinet ministers are able to live a life of luxury on RM18,000 a month.

Till today, there has been no rebuttal of the fact that millions of ringgit were paid in kickbacks to the highest offices in Putrajaya from a submarine deal. Continue reading “Listen, Malaysians”

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Bruno Manser Fund asking for global bank freeze on Taib assets

— CPI
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012

SEPT 25 — The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) is a well-connected international organisation “committed to maintaining the threatened tropical rainforests with their rich plant and animal life, and to campaigning, in particular, for the rights of the peoples who inhabit the rainforests” with an especial focus on Sarawak.

One of the BMF principals — its eponymous founder Bruno Manser — was a Swiss activist who lived in Sarawak with the Penan between 1984 and 1990. He famously disappeared without trace in May 2000 after his last journey to the state.

The rich and infamous

BMF recently conducted an investigation into the wealth of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud and his family. These family members include: Continue reading “Bruno Manser Fund asking for global bank freeze on Taib assets”

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Suaram, Scorpene, Altantuya dan dana asing

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 24, 2012

24 SEPT — Isu Suaram dengan tuduhan terhadapnya mendapat bantuan dana asing hebat dimainkan oleh pihak BN. Selepas ini tidak tahu apa pula yang akan dihadapi oleh Suaram dan NGO-NGO yang lain yang tidak sebulu dengan pihak yang berkuasa. Najib berkata biarkan pihak yang berkuasa melakukan penyiasatan. Katanya, lagi kurang kita bercakap lagi baik.

Tindakan berkuasa terhadap Suaram bukanlah satu isu mengejutkan kerana Suaram membuatkan ada pihak yang “mandi tak basah dan tidur tidak lena” dibuatnya. Suaram ada isu yang besar yang diketengahkannya dan ia melibatkan pemimpin-pemimpin dan kroninya dalam isu komisyen pembelian Scorpene yang besar itu. Isu komisyen itu menghasilkan pembunuhan Altantuya Shaariibuu, seorang wanita jelita yang dikatakan berkaitan dengan pemimpin besar negara kita.

Isu Altantuya tidak dapat tidak terpaksa dibongkar. Isu pembayaran komisyen Scorpene dan Altantuya itu kait mengait dan kedua-dua isu itu tidak dapat dipisahkan jika kita mahu menyiasat salah satu darinya. Siasat satu akan melibatkan lagi satu isu dan kedua-dua isu itu merupakan isu yang akan membabitkan tindakan jenayah pihak-pihak tertentu yang berada di atas persada kuasa negara kita. Continue reading “Suaram, Scorpene, Altantuya dan dana asing”

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Nice words, but not good enough, Umno

― Othman Wahab
The Malaysian Insider
Sept 22, 2012

SEPT 22 ― Thank you to The Malaysian Insider for being upfront about the fact that Saifuddin Abdullah is a minority and that his views, no matter how enlightened, do not represent that which prevails in Umno.

In fact, let us not get carried away with nice words and intelligent discourse or even the occasional Oxford-speak. I only ask Malaysians to ponder about these questions. Continue reading “Nice words, but not good enough, Umno”

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Najib has completely discredited MACC when he dismissed latest allegations that Sarawak CM Taib Mahmud had amassed billions in wealth as it signaled a clear “hands off” directive by the PM to MACC not to initiate any investigations

Sad and tragic. The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak single-handedly demolishing the credibility, integrity and professionalism of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

And this happening just 48 hours after the MACC’s latest artificial but carefully-crafted publicity blitzkrieg to present itself as a fiercely independent, intrepid and professional anti-graft body comparable to Hong Kong’s world-famous Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – with government-paper New Straits Times front page report “MACC gains in graft war” on Thursday and a special editorial on MACC on Friday – all collapsing like a house of cards.

MACC claims that it had seized “a whopping RM66 million worth of properties, including bungalows and luxury cars” and arrested more than 900 individuals in its “war against graft over the past two years” paled into insignificance when Najib dismissed allegations that Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has amassed billions in wealth.

Najib told a press conference this morning after the launching of the Urban Transformation Centre (UTC) – new name for Pudu Sentral: “There are all kinds of allegations, don’t bothered about it (jangan kita layan)”.

This is a most disappointing and even irresponsible response by the Prime Minister to a ground-breaking but explosive report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) which estimated the assets of Taib Mahmud’s family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion), with the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia’s richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion. Continue reading “Najib has completely discredited MACC when he dismissed latest allegations that Sarawak CM Taib Mahmud had amassed billions in wealth as it signaled a clear “hands off” directive by the PM to MACC not to initiate any investigations”

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Speaking up for Suaram

by Rom Nain
Malaysiakini
Sep 20, 2012

When there is no transparency, when everything is evidently opaque, when regime credibility is at all-time low, perception – often based on rumour, kopitiam gossip and the alternative media – becomes all.

Just look at crime. At a time when the people started feeling terribly anxious about their personal welfare and security, the regime started to boast about record crime prevention statistics and the purported reduction in crime.

When these statistics were questioned, when contradictory figures were highlighted, excuses rather than valid explanations were offered.

And then, quickly, the matter was dropped, certainly by the sycophantic mainstream media, in the hope that the people will forget.

But, of course, they haven’t. Their daily experiences of increasing crime make them view official explanations with scepticism.

It’s been the same, too, with the recent detention of young Malaysians for, at worst, petulant, impertinent acts, like the mooning of photographs and for stamping on these photographs. And then being threatened, without much explanation, with charges under the odious Sedition Act. Continue reading “Speaking up for Suaram”

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Topless photos save Najib

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Sep 17, 2012

Since the day Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak got embroiled in the Scorpene scandal, the stench of corruption has clung to him like a cheap, musky perfume.

Last week, on the first day of the Jubilee trip for Prince William and Kate Middleton, Najib was basking in the expectant pleasure of playing host to the royal couple. In an article in the Huffington Post, Najib was effusive about Malaysian-British ties.

By the second day, the world reverberated with news about a magazine which intended to publish topless photos of Kate. Instead of reporters writing positive things about Malaysia, all focus was on the the couple’s next move.

Najib’s chance to improve his reputation, both locally and abroad, were scuppered. In the run-up to GE13, political interference, religious strife and institutional violence were playing havoc with Najib’s image. How ironic that the publishers responsible for the attack on the Duchess of Cambridge were French. The pictures were of Kate on holiday, in France.

It must have been galling for the PM that the French magazine is called ‘Closer’. Najib might have felt the French are getting too close for comfort, for he has already been unsettled by the French investigators into Scorpene. Continue reading “Topless photos save Najib”

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Call on all Sarawak and Sabah MPs, whether BN or PR, to give unanimous support in Parliament to proposal for a RCI to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sarawakians and Sabahans in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in past five decades

This is the third year Malaysia Day is celebrated as a national public holiday – as it has taken 47 years before Malaysia Day on September 16 was accorded proper recognition as a national public holiday by the Barisan Nasional federal government, starting from 2010.

This was thanks to two events: Firstly, the public pledge by Pakatan Rakyat that a PR government in Putrajaya would do what the Barisan Nasional had failed to do, i.e. declare September 16 as a national public holiday.

Secondly, the “political tsunami” of the March 8, 2008 general election which caused the belated realisation by the Prime Minister and the BN leaders in Sarawak and Sabah that the BN MPs in the two states occupy a strategic “kingmaker” role determining the survival of UMNO hegemony and Barisan Nasional federal government.

The BN suffered a severe thrashing in the 2008 general election, winning 140 seats against the Pakatan Rakyat’s 82. However, 54 of these BN parliamentary seats come from Sarawak and Sabah – Sarawak 30 and Sabah 24.

Without these 54 BN MPs from Sarawak and Sabah, BN would be reduced to 86 seats out of 222 MPs in Parliament, a reversal of the political demography in Parliament and evicting B N from Putrajaya into the Opposition ranks.

Although PR and the 2008 “political tsunami’ have combined to force UMNO/Barisan Nasional to concede in according Sept. 16 as a national holiday, this is a half-hearted gesture and not really meaningful as Malaysia Day is treated as a mere Sarawak and Sabah event instead of a national celebration by UMNO/Barisan Nasional – making a full mockery of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan and policy. Continue reading “Call on all Sarawak and Sabah MPs, whether BN or PR, to give unanimous support in Parliament to proposal for a RCI to assess whether the dreams and aspirations of Sarawakians and Sabahans in forming Malaysia had been fulfilled or betrayed in past five decades”

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Umno’s unscrupulous vendetta against Suaram

by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
Monday 10 September 2012

Media Monitor

CPI foreword

During the past few months, Umno and its hatchet organizations and supporters have launched a concerted series of attacks on Suaram, the human rights organization. The latest of these attacks have involved the despicable use of what should be politically neutral state authorities such as the Companies Commission, social security agency Perkeso and the Department of Inland Revenue to investigate allegations of irregularities in the management of the organization.

Clearly these allegations have been concocted by politically partisan parties but are given legitimacy by the use of state bodies to pursue selective and unwarranted prosecution of targeted individuals and organizations. This modus operandi of state-sanctioned prosecution has been repeatedly used by Umno and is one main reasons for the ruling party’s stranglehold on power over the past 50-odd years.

In the case of Suaram, the objective of such attacks is to discredit and ultimately destroy this leading NGO which has been pushing for truth and transparency in the multi-billion ringgit procurement of materiel, specifically Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene submarines.

Suaram’s probe are connected with the massive bribes and kickbacks allegedly paid by the French naval defence company DCNS.
Only the Umno version of the case against Suaram has so far been permitted to appear in our national and other mainstream media. It is a version that needs to be dissected and subjected to public scrutiny to uncover its odious political agenda. Not to do so is to fail in our civic duty.

In the article below, we are linking a recent article in the Asia Sentinel which traces the roots of the covert ‘war’ against Suaram and explains why Umno is so determined and anxious to take the NGO down.
Umno’s underhanded vendetta against Suaram must be challenged, resisted and not allowed to succeed.

The Centre for Policy Initiatives calls on Malaysians of conscience to voice their concern and opposition to this Umno attempt to kill off a patriotic Malaysian NGO that has consistently fought for justice, democracy and human rights in the country. Continue reading “Umno’s unscrupulous vendetta against Suaram”

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Cocky BN needs to repent

Jeswan Kaur | September 3, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Before fingers are pointed at Pakatan for doing a bad job, it will do BN good to take a good look at itself and realise how how bad a track record it has.

COMMENT

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s former longest-serving prime minister, wants the rakyat to vote for Barisan Nasional come the 13th general election. His reason is that the federal government under the Barisan Nasional was all ears and had changed many laws and policies to bring a better future for the people.

Thanks but no thanks, Mahathir; had BN been listening, there would have been no reason for the “Bersih” saga to take place.

If all was well at the polls, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections or Bersih, would not have taken to the streets, not one or twice but thrice.

And did the BN government listen then? No!

Why then must the rakyat vote BN back into power, if all BN does is to “monopolise” its existence and hoodwink the people into believing that it cares? Continue reading “Cocky BN needs to repent”

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Choosing sides

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 03, 2012

SEPT 3 —Malaysians will indeed have to choose. Stand on the side of the oppressors or the oppressed. Support the deceiver or the deceived. Support the corrupt and endorse the looting and the pillage of this country. All done in the name of Agama, Bangsa dan Negara. Everything is justifiable because the perpetrators are Malays and forgetting the victims are in the majority also Malays. Pardon the government in shortchanging the FELDA settlers, giving them a measly 2.5 per cent of the FGVH shares while the bulk of the shares are hijacked by people who have no connection at all with FELDA. Pardon Umno because even though it allocates 2.5 per cent to settlers and 3 per cent to FELDA employees, all is done in the name of the Malays.

Ignore the fact that the LCCT is going to cost close to RM6 billion instead of RM500 million if facilities for a low-cost airline are built northwards of the current KLIA instead of agreeing that the facilities be built on soft ground as proposed by the MAB? Are people in the MAB making hay while the sun shines?

We keep quiet because it’s done by the current government which fights for Agama, Bangsa dan Negara.

Then, does that mean the agama of Umno endorses corruption, pillage and looting? Does that also mean that bangsa permits Umno to do all the transgressions? And does that mean agama and bangsa of the Malays excuse the murder of a Mongolian because she is after all just a prostitute? And finally because it is done in the name and on behalf of negara which Umno claims absolute ownership of, all of the above are excusable?

The recent spate of advertisements where various people say I chose Malaysia and I choose to vote are nothing more than the vilest self-serving propaganda. They are also self-congratulating. They seem to suggest that those who support the government choose to show the support through the voting process and those who do not appear to be shown as people who want to change government through undemocratic means. Continue reading “Choosing sides”

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Defections raise Anwar election chances

By Anil Netto
Asia Times
August 24, 2012

PENANG – The defection of two key ruling coalition parliamentarians to the political opposition has shifted Malaysia’s pre-election equation and highlighted the importance of the crucial swing states of Sabah and Sarawak in what is expected to be a neck and neck contest.

Historically a “fixed deposit” of votes for the Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition that has ruled the country consecutively since independence from colonial rule, Sabah and Sarawak are expected to play a prominent role in the coming general election pitting Prime Minister Najib Razak versus opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

BN won 140 of 222 federal parliament seats at the 2008 elections, a result that saw the Pakatan Rakyat opposition win control of five of 13 federal states. After the recent defections, BN holds 20 of 25 federal parliament seats allocated to Sabah and 29 of 31 in Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

If the recent defections signal a gathering trend away from BN, as some political analysts suggest, the two states have the potential to swing the next general election in favor of the opposition. The present parliamentary term expires in April 2013 and general elections must be held by October, although Najib has the prerogative of calling a snap election at any time. Continue reading “Defections raise Anwar election chances”

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Call on Najib to establish tribunal to probe many serious allegations of corruption and abuses of power against Attorney-General Gani Patail by Mat Zain and Robert Phang

Malaysiakini reported today that outspoken former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) panel member Tan Sri Robert Phang has been cleared of the corruption allegations made against him.

This follows the confirmation by the MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali in an SMS in response to a query from Malaysiakini.

Phang had been issued with a letter from Mustafar, dated November last year, clearing him of the allegation made by an anonymous blogger.

However, the letter from the MACC that cleared Phang also stated that it cannot be used for the purpose of publication by the media.

The MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed should be censured in Parliament if he cannot give satisfactory explanation why MACC suppressed information for some 15 months that Phang had been cleared of corruption allegations made against him.

In this connection, the Chairman of the MACC’s Operations Review Panel, Tan Sri Hadenan Abdul Jalil should also explain why he withheld information about Phang being cleared of corruption allegations some 15 months ago in May last year. Continue reading “Call on Najib to establish tribunal to probe many serious allegations of corruption and abuses of power against Attorney-General Gani Patail by Mat Zain and Robert Phang”

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BN’s promise: Tribespeople, idiots or citizens?

— Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
August 05, 2012

AUG 5 — Why am I so disgusted with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government?

I take my citizenship seriously. I was born in Malaysia. My siblings were born in Malaysia. My mother spoke only two languages: her mother tongue, Tamil and Malay. My father was a civil servant for decades. I’m a Malaysian.

My school friends are in Malaysia. My parents were cremated here, their ashes loosed in the waters off Port Dickson. My siblings, my wife’s siblings and most of our friends live in Malaysia. I desire to live nowhere else. I am entrenched.

My upbringing and my beliefs cause me to think of everyone as my neighbour. I take seriously God’s command to love Him with my every breath, thought and action, and that I should love my neighbour as myself. I’m a citizen.

I remember daily the story the Messiah told in answer to the question: Who is my neighbour? In the story of the Good Samaritan, the neighbour is the one in need, the downtrodden everyman, to whom I am to show mercy.

I recognise that government and leadership are necessary. Without “people in charge,” such as police, lawmakers and government officials, we’ll have anarchy: bandits will reign; our cities will be like Baghdad, Beirut, or Bogota.

Those cities exemplify what happens in the absence of good government: the strong, the well-funded, and the bigots will suppress the unarmed. Mubarak did it in Tahrir Square. Najib did it in Merdeka Square.

The purpose of a government is to create, maintain and promote conditions of equity, harmony and equality through the right use of authority. A government is judged by how it treats the weak. How shall we judge the BN government? Continue reading “BN’s promise: Tribespeople, idiots or citizens?”

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Too late for justification

— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 03, 2012

AUG 3 — It is too late, Najib Razak. Just too late to try and justify your government’s actions in charging whistleblower Rafizi Ramli under the BAFIA.

Most discerning Malaysians know that the PKR politician has been a major problem for Barisan Nasional since he started exposing the National Feedlot Corporation scandal and he became an even bigger problem when he told us about the shennanigans behind the award of the Ampang LRT to George Kent, a company controlled by an associate of the PM.

It was only a matter of time that Rafizi was hauled up but the government is trying to intimidate other whistleblowers. Still, the government looks clumsy and on the backfoot in going after Rafizi. So today, Mr BRIM, has come out to explain that Rafizi should have handed over confidential info on the NFC to the MACC. Continue reading “Too late for justification”

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Rafizi Ramli arrested

Tweets @limkitsiang :

Rafizi Ramli PKR director of strategy arrested this morning under BAFIA 4exposing RM250 million National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal
9:05am

Najib’s iron fist coming out of velvet glove. Greatest crime in UMNO/BN Msia is not corruption but expose of corruption. Janji Ditepati
9:13am

@rafiziramli Country n good/sensible Msians behind you. You have put Najib in national/international dock. GTP ETP etc in tatters.
9:39am