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Umno is never wrong, others are

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | December 2, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

Where are the Umno screamers and banshees when government-linked businesses are slowly dismembered to enrich a few people?

COMMENT

Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan is grossly and perilously misreading the ground swell.

Today, Malays attach blame to Umno for allowing the pillage and plunder of the country. Malays attach blame to Umno for the lot the Malays are now in.

We would like to ask Ahmad: when Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil) facilitated the giving of the government grant of only RM250 million to Dr Salleh (Ismail), did she and her husband think of all those downtrodden Malays? They didn’t, right?

Even after that, they didn’t think it was necessary to create other cattle breeders.

After almost a month, the issue finally blew up in her face, and she suddenly recovered from the mad cow disease to disavow any connections to the National Feedlot Corpoartion (NFC) scandal.

Similarly, when we paid an excess of RM6 billion for the purchase of the armoured personnel carriers (APCs), was the RM6 billion meant for the ordinary Malays?

Where are the Umno screamers and banshees when MAS was slowly dismembered to enrich a few people? And when we were caught out, what did we do?

We screamed this is a conspiracy by opposition politicians! It’s never us – always others. Continue reading “Umno is never wrong, others are”

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Pemandu blames new measurement method for poorer graft score

By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Malaysia’s corruption score would have improved to 4.5 if Transparency International (TI) had not included a new measure which dragged down overall performance, the government’s efficiency unit said today.

“TI’s Bribe Payer Index (BPI) was conducted only in 28 countries. This is the 1st time this has been introduced into the CPI,” the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) said on its @gtp_roadmap Twitter account for its Government Transformation Programme (GTP) section that covers anti-graft programmes.

“BPI is a new survey conducted to measure the propensity of Msians paying bribe to parties outside of Msia. If BPI was not taken into account, Msia’s score would jump to 4.5 and the country ranking would remain at 56.”

Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score has worsened for the third consecutive year to 4.3 from 4.4 in 2010, according to a report released by TI’s Malaysian chapter today.

Malaysia’s country ranking also fell to 60 out of 183 countries — between Saudi Arabia and Cuba — from 56 out of 178 last year. Continue reading “Pemandu blames new measurement method for poorer graft score”

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A party that celebrates wrongdoing

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2011

DEC 1 — I am truly dumbfounded; how did we reach this stage where wrongdoing, abuse of power is ignored and even celebrated.

What was the trigger point or epochal moment when corruption, abuse of public funds and plain padding up bank accounts stopped being an issue for Umno.

This was supposed to be Umno’s show of unity and transformation, an audition of sorts before the coming election. But instead we have seen a party from the top — Muhyiddin Yassin to the rank and file — celebrating the National Feedlot Corporation scandal.

Umno Youth says it is on reform mode but that it just shallow speak given the movement’s pledge to defend Messrs Shahrizat Jalil’s family’s scandalous use of public funds. Just to recap, her husband and children were given a softloan of RM250 million to develop the feedlot programme in Gemas.

But the Auditor-General reported that the project was a mess and digging by the Opposition showed that money was used to buy condominiums, umrah packages, a Mercedes Benz, etc. Basically, they treated my money and yours like their own. Continue reading “A party that celebrates wrongdoing”

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My invitation list to Umno’s assembly

— Spencer Gan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 30, 2011

NOV 30 — I can predict how this week’s Umno assembly will go: Some bit players will play the Malay card (this includes Ahmad Maslan and Muhyiddin Yassin) but then the man of the hour — Najib Razak — will saunter in and make this grand speech of how Umno cares for everyone, etc.

He will talk about how Umno needs to unite and win the coming general election because only Umno can guarantee the future of Malaysians. It will be one big party over the next few days.

All this is boring. To spice things up a bit, and since this will be the party of the year, I think we should also invite:

1) The MACC. This organisation has been talking tough about tackling corruption and how it needs more manpower. But here is the deal of the year: The biggest collection of miscreants is in town and all of them are situated in one hall. There are big fish (ministers, division chiefs) and ikan bilis (branch officials). All the MACC officials have to do is check out the cars many of these “unemployed” officials arrive in. Continue reading “My invitation list to Umno’s assembly”

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Why are you frustrated?

— Shanker
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 24, 2011

NOV 24 — PAC Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid was reported to be frustrated, when giving his comments on the National Feedlot Centre controversy. “The public is fed up”, he told reporters.

Firstly, I would like to ask Datuk Seri Azmi: why are YOU frustrated? How could you lament at the inefficiencies, wastages and corruption which have become ingrained in our civil service’s DNA, when the nation’s CEO (who by extension, happens to be your boss) went to a by-election with his “I help you, you help me” tag proudly on display? Here’s a management lesson 101 then:- down-liners apply the same principles and work culture that the top adopts. The down-liners are also good at doing going to sleep with their eyes open, when the same top delivers speeches peppered with virtuous sounding jargons, because most of them could pick out a “do as I say, but don’t do as I do” type, when they hear one.

In fact Datuk Seri, I wish to ask you, is feeling frustrated ALL that you could muster? Pardon me, but frustrated sounds a little polite for me in the light of what is revealed, year in-year out, by the Auditor General’s report. Frustrated sounds muted when considering Barry Wain’s revelation that the Mahathir years have wasted approximately USD100 billion of our money. Continue reading “Why are you frustrated?”

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Values?

— Black Swan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 22, 2011

NOV 22 — With the debacle that is the NFC and many other issues being hotly debated in Malaysia at the moment, a thought suddenly came to me.

The underlying and pervading issue here seems to be an issue of values. Let me qualify this: I am no psychologist with textbook definitions of values; I am a professional and mother who is increasingly aghast at what is going on in Malaysia.

Values to me are simply our personal guidelines that enable us to distinguish between right and wrong. We would do something that is right because our personal values guide so and we wouldn’t do something because the same values would, again, make us hesitate from doing it.

As the NFC debacle looms larger and politician after politician (from the highest offices of the government) come out and say that this was right and make it all sound very convincing, one then realises that they are saying so because they believe they are right. Why? Their personal values are guiding them.

Which brings to question the entire value system that is being practised. It has nothing to do with religion or race. These people’s values are guiding them to believe that they are right.

When you have politicians saying, “we want to do something because of its political dividend” or “we cannot afford to be ‘picky’” about which groups to align themselves with, and that everything must be done with only one goal in mind — winning the next election — the value system, to me, again comes into question. Isn’t public office about serving the people and doesn’t it require a certain degree of selflessness and humility? Continue reading “Values?”

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Let Muhyiddin explain to PAC why the RM300 million NFC project he approved in 2006 has become such a mess and scandal

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyidddin Yassin is the current Cabinet Minister most responsible for the RM300 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project, as he approved it in 2006 as the then Agriculture Minister.

Muhyiddin should appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)on Wednesday when it examines the issue to explain why the cattle production project has become such a mess and scandal, beyond the worst fears of the Auditor-General’s Report 2010 as it is snowballing everyday to expose layer after layer of scandalous transactions.

The Auditor-General Report 2010 on the continuing horror stories about misappropriation and waste of public funds, criminal breach of trust, negligence and gross abuses of power is a damning indictment on the first full-year Najib premiership demonstrating that nothing has really changed despite grandiloquent sloganeering of “1Malaysia, People’s First, Performance Now” in terms of government efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, transparency and integrity.

However, it is an even greater indictment on the Deputy Prime Minister as it exposes his personal and direct Ministerial responsibility for the RM300 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) and National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) scandals as it was during his tenure as Agriculture Minister that the troubled and controversial project was approved. Continue reading “Let Muhyiddin explain to PAC why the RM300 million NFC project he approved in 2006 has become such a mess and scandal”

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Let the people judge

— by Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 20, 2011

NOV 20 — There is a new mantra in Putrajaya: when they are caught in a tricky or difficult situation, they say “Let the People Decide”.

There is a reason why Muhyiddin Yassin and Hishammuddin Hussein have suddenly become lovers of the public opinion. It is because they hope to end whatever debate is going on, to recoup their position and then hope that Malaysians forget about the particularly embarrassing event.

Muhyiddin caught at the centre of National Feedlot Corporation (let us not be mistaken: he is a central figure in this scandal because he approved the project), says that the public upon reading Shahrizat Jalil husband’s porous defence will not swallow the lies of the Opposition.

The DPM just wants to end the debate on an issue which can embroil himself.

Now Hishammuddin Hussein, the man who denied the will of the people for free elections, is also keen for the people to judge the government’s actions in using the ISA to arrest 13 alleged terrorists. Continue reading “Let the people judge”

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Would Muhyiddin have said in 2006 that it was legally, morally and ethically proper for NFC to use 2%-interest RM250 million soft-loan to buy condos?

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said that it was up to the public whether they wanted to accept the explanation given for the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) “cattle condo” scandal.

Saying that the government “already knows the facts”, Muhyiddin had this to say after the NFC executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr. Mohamad Salleh Ismail had broken his three-week silence on the “cattle condo” scandal:

“We will leave that to the people to decide whether to accept the NFC’s explanation or not because the NFC has explained each issue that has surfaced.

“For us, the government, we know the truth. We don’t buy stories made up by the Opposition.”

Muhyiddin cannot be more wrong. Continue reading “Would Muhyiddin have said in 2006 that it was legally, morally and ethically proper for NFC to use 2%-interest RM250 million soft-loan to buy condos?”

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Something is rotten in the state of Malaysia

— CL Tang
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 19, 2011

NOV 19 — The line “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, expressed by Marcellus to Hamlet, was in response to the former’s disgust at the moral decay and political corruption in the little kingdom.

In Malaysia, even as the foul stench of the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) financial shenanigans permeates throughout the country, our leaders fail to smell anything fishy, leading to the question: “Do our leaders have any ounce of ethics left?”

This NFC fiasco has all the ingredients of cronyism, nepotism, corruption, incompetence and fraud.

Yet, there is no Marcellus in our government who thought it stank. Continue reading “Something is rotten in the state of Malaysia”

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Its Muhyiddin and not Noh Omar who should answer whether the decision to award NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings

The Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Seri Noh Omar has denied that the decision to award the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project was discussed during Cabinet meetings.

He said: “I can confirm that NFC is under the High-Impact Projects Committee and at the time of the loan approval to NFC, that was not under the Cabinet, not (mentioned) in the meetings.”

It’s the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the Agriculture Minister in 2006 and who was responsible for the approval of the NFC project, who should answer whether the decision to award the NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings as Noh Omar only became Minister after the March 2008 general elections – and whether it gave rise to “conflict-of-interest” situations involving the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family responsible for the NFC project.

Muhyiddin should also explain whether he and his Ministry were aware of the involvement of Shahrizat’s family when his Ministry made the NFC award. Continue reading “Its Muhyiddin and not Noh Omar who should answer whether the decision to award NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings”

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Muhyiddin’s folly

— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 18, 2011

NOV 18 — Now I know why Najib Razak is always out of the country: the prime minister wants to show us what he also knows — that he has a pretty mediocre deputy.

Muhyiddin Yassin is at best of mentri besar quality, but unfortunately because of the dysfunctional system of Umno’s president and deputy president being given the number one and number two leadership posts in Malaysia, Muhyiddin is one position away from being the PM.

His handling of the National Feedlot Corporation scandal has been ridiculous and shifty. From the beginning he has tried to shift the responsibility of explaining the project to Noh Omar and others but he was the man who helmed the Agriculture Ministry which promoted and endorsed this project!!!

Today, he is quoted as saying that he leaves it to the public to accept or reject the explanation put forward by Mohamed Salleh of the National Feedlot Corporation but quickly says that as far as the government is concerned, these are all stories created by the Opposition.

Really? But the failure of the feedlot project was highlighted by the Auditor General, not Anwar Ibrahim or Lim Kit Siang. Continue reading “Muhyiddin’s folly”

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It’s a mad, mad world

By Zairil Khir Johari | November 18, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. So goes the ancient phrase that has, throughout the millennia, remained an appropriate and relevant dictum to this very day.

The systemic trait of madness has been an inherent hallmark of declining autocratic regimes since time immemorial. Take, for example, the story of the Roman emperor Caligula, whose reign began with much promise and great popularity, but who quickly succumbed to the luxuries of power and who, towards the end of his short-lived rule, attempted to appoint his favourite horse as a consul of the Roman Senate.

And then of course there is the late totalitarian President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan who, apart from styling himself Turkmenbashi (Leader of Turkmens), also deigned to rename calendar months after members of his own family, in addition to outlawing long hair and beards for Turkmen men and advising the citizenry to gnaw on bones in order to strengthen their teeth, because apparently it works for dogs.
Continue reading “It’s a mad, mad world”

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NFC beat target, says Shahrizat’s husband

The Malaysian Insider
Nov 17, 2011

GEMAS, Nov 17 — The controversial national cattle farming project went beyond its set target, chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail said today, disputing a federal audit describing the scheme as being “in a mess”.

“In fact, [National Feedlot Corporation (NFC)] has raised 8,016 head of cattle in 2010, surpassing its target of 8,000 head of cattle. We are importing cattle from Australia and we have to feed them for between four and six months. Continue reading “NFC beat target, says Shahrizat’s husband”

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NFC boss says twin cattle condos are rental cash cows

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 17, 2011

GEMAS, Nov 17 — Dogged by claims of irregularity, the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) finally broke its silence today to defend its purchase of multi-million luxury condominum units in Bangsar as a “good business decision”.

In a press briefing opened to selected mainstream media organisations, its chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh reasoned that the investment had helped yield better returns for the NFC project compared to keeping the money in a bank.

It was also revealed then that the NFC owns two units at the upmarket condominium, as opposed to one as previously reported.

According to Berita Harian Online, however, Mohamad said the condominium units had cost over RM6 million each, instead of the RM9.8 million originally alleged by PKR.

Mohamad reportedly claimed that the money, if held in a bank, would have only yielded 2.6 per cent in annual returns. Continue reading “NFC boss says twin cattle condos are rental cash cows”

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Minister changes testimony, says Liong Sik’s letter not government guarantee

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 15, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop changed his testimony today, reversing his assertion made a day earlier that Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik’s support letter in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project amounted to a government guarantee.

The former second finance minister testified yesterday that only the Finance Ministry could issue a letter of support with the Cabinet’s approval, and that every time such a letter was issued, the government would have to bear the responsibility if anything went wrong.

Nor Yakcop also said that Dr Ling’s letter of support was actually a “guarantee letter” as it helped secure a top-tier rating for bonds raised for the construction of the scandal-hit Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and was sold for a profit of RM40 million.

But the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department also stressed that the support letter from the transport minister had not received the approval of the Finance Ministry or the Cabinet. Continue reading “Minister changes testimony, says Liong Sik’s letter not government guarantee”

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‘Cattlegate’: For BN, business as usual

By Mariam Mokhtar | Nov 14, 2011
Malaysiakini

Hey diddle diddle,
The MP on the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
Khairy laughed to see such sport,
And Noh cow-ed like a buffoon

‘Cattlegate’ has exposed the Women Family and Community Development Minister, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s ill-advised foray into the cattle business.

Shahrizat and her family are alleged to have misappropriated the taxpayers’ money; with RM250 million for the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), an RM800,000 overseas junket and a further RM10 million to purchase a luxury condominium in Bangsar.

Shahrizat’s husband operates the NFC and her three children, Izran, 27, Izmir, 31, and Izzana, 25 are chief executive and executive directors.
Continue reading “‘Cattlegate’: For BN, business as usual”

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Writing on the wall and the perils of procrastination

— Nawawi Mohamad
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2011

NOV 13 — Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant, scandalous media billionaire who practically jumped into Italian politics by organising the People of Freedom party, reigned for seventeen years. He has now resigned. He left Italy with about €1.9 trillion in national debt.

After being so preoccupied with his scandals, both creating them and defending himself from the repercussions, he had procrastinated in dealing with Italy’s troubled economy and serious financial problems.

Berlusconi only agreed to the proposal to reduce the deficit in June, when in March his advisers had already literally shouted at him to start taking action.

His government managed to get everything in order only by September this year and got the vote of final approval in the Italian Senate by a margin of 156 to 12 just before his resignation; too little too late.

The final straw is not his scandalous life but the neglected state of the economy and finance in Italy.

With our own version of scandals, mismanagement, complacency, wastage, extravagance and callous spending by the Umno/BN government, Malaysia is not much different from Italy.

Unfortunately the Umno/BN government seems to be oblivious to the so many writings on the wall pertaining to our economy, financial status, deficits, national debts and the road that Malaysia is now on. Continue reading “Writing on the wall and the perils of procrastination”

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Najib should intervene in the RM10 million “condominium for cattle” scandal by recalling RM181 million loan to NFC not used for purpose of cattle production

As shocking as the revelation about the RM10 million “cattle for condominium” scandal is the self-righteous statement by the Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Datuk Noh Omar aiding and abetting a gross misappropriation of public funds.

Claiming that the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) had not used government funds for the purchase of the RM9.8 million Bangsar luxury condominium, Noh said that once NFC received money from the government, it was thereafter considered the company’s private funds and the government had no say as to how it would be used.

Noh said the government had loaned NFC RM250 million made into a special loan account (SLA) in Maybank that was controlled by the Finance Ministry.

Noh said RM181 million from that account had been disbursed to NFC based on the latter’s claims.

The government only had control of funds that were in the SLA, but had none over how the company spends the money once it has been disbursed, said the minister.

“If the money has been paid to NFC after fulfilling set conditions, the government cannot control what NFC does with it, including purchasing the said condominium, because it is then considered the company’s money. Continue reading “Najib should intervene in the RM10 million “condominium for cattle” scandal by recalling RM181 million loan to NFC not used for purpose of cattle production”

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Should we settle for this nonsense?

— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2011

NOV 13 — It is left to us, ordinary Malaysians, to show outrage at the thievery, corruption, mismanagement and subterfuge that is happening in our country.

Let us just ponder at what has happened since the Auditor-General noted that the National Feedlot project was a failure or on the verge of being a failure. First, you have the deputy prime minister downwards trying to convince Malaysians that the project was a success, with arguments that defy logic.

Then you had Noh Omar and Khairy Jamaluddin speaking up and defending the track record of the project and the main beneficiaries of the RM250 million soft loan: Shahrizat Jalil’s family.

Their defence of the incredible — the squandering of public funds — indicated that the old and new of Umno are joined at the hip by ignorance, stupidity and a seemingly endless acceptance of bad practices. Continue reading “Should we settle for this nonsense?”