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1Malay(sian) Armed Forces

Letters
by Zairil Khir Johari

Being Defence Minister must sit well with Zahid Hamidi, for it has turned him into a trigger-happy man. Now, if only he could move his aim away from his own foot.

In my last post I highlighted his jingoistic call to stand up against the ‘neo-colonial’ government of Penang. And just when you think that such a marvelous statement could not be outdone in asininity, he follows it up with this classic piece of pronouncement:

“The reasons (for the low participation of non-Malays in the armed forces) could be because of a fear towards a tight discipline. It could be because of a low spirit of patriotism. It could be because certain ethnic groups had a negative perception of the armed forces and did not encourage participation,” said the minister.

Bravo. As expected, a commotion soon ensued, with denouncements and debates from both sides of the fence. Certainly, such a statement is nothing less than a stinging insult to the countless deeds and sacrifices made by non-Malay servicemen over the course of our country’s history.

Yet at the same time, it does raise a pertinent question. Why does there seem to be such dismal interest in the armed services amongst the non-Malay community (recruitment of non-Malay personnel from 2008-2009 is a paltry 1.2%)? Continue reading “1Malay(sian) Armed Forces”

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Ex-servicemen launch broadside at Zahid Hamidi

By Joseph Sipalan
Nov 18, 10

When Admiral (rtd) K Thanabalasingam ascended to the position of the nation’s first ever local chief of Navy,it would have never crossed his mind that his loyalty to the country would be questioned.

Having spearheaded the navy’s mission to protect Malaysia from numerous threats that arose in the 1960s-1970s period, the former naval chief spoke in disbelief at Defence Minister Zahid Hamid’s recent statement that patriotism among non-Malays was “not strong enough” for being reluctant to sign up with the Armed Forces.

“I don’t understand how such a statement came about… I’ve been through a lot, and I don’t care who says it, it hurts me. I am a Malaysian born and bred, and I intend to die here,” Thanabalasingam (left) said when contacted by Malaysiakini.
Continue reading “Ex-servicemen launch broadside at Zahid Hamidi”

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Patriotism & the Little Napoleans

By Damian Denis

In 1995/6 after my STPM exams I went to the Penang Police HQ (Penang Rd) to apply for the post of Police Inspector. The requirement was a STPM qualification at that time.

Once there we were given a physical routine check up and those who were qualified were given the application form. Simple as that!

But went it came to my turn the officer in charge refuse to hand-over the application form to me on the basis that my STPM results were good. My physical check up was fine.

He said “kamu tak payahlah masuk polis. Buang masa aje dengan result yg bagus cam tu”. (You don’t need to enter the Police Force. Just a waste of time since you have a good STPM results.)
Continue reading “Patriotism & the Little Napoleans”

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Non-Malay patriotism: what is the truth

By Dr Lim Teck Ghee | CPI

Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be commended for stating in Parliament that the reason Chinese and Indians made up only a tiny proportion of Army recruits was because their “patriotism spirit is not high enough”. This is because he has inadvertently brought out into the open a perception which is shared by the majority of Malay leaders and also possibly by a very large proportion of the Malay population. It is a perception that should not be suppressed – on the contrary, it needs to be fully aired and dissected so that rational thinking and fact-based policy formulation shall prevail.

What has been criticized as a “racially biased, shallow and chauvinistic” statement questioning the loyalty of young Malaysians may in fact be correct. Non-Malays may be much less patriotic than Malays which accounts for their low enrolment in the military and civil service, as well as for their lack of participation in other national activities when patriotism and loyalty to the country are showcased. But it could also be wrong as it ignores other factors that may be instrumental in explaining the low number of recruits.
Continue reading “Non-Malay patriotism: what is the truth”

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Traitors – A Trademark & Tradition of Umno!

By Martin Jalleh

The Umno-dominated government stubbornly sticks to the same old tricks to try to sink the Opposition. One such stale attempt is to label as “traitors” those who refuse to suck up to its spent elite leaders.

And so Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid (AZ) who apparently ran out of steam to shut the Opposition up on the Scorpene submarines scandal, resorted to calling Nurul Izzah a “traitor”.

It seems that the Member of Parliament (MP) has stained the nation’s image by revealing on 4 Aug. 2010 in an interview with Kompas, a newspaper in Indonesia, that the country’s first submarine cannot dive.

Below are his comments (in bold) followed by a response which when added up points to the ironic conclusion that it is the Defence Minister and Umno who could be the real traitors after all!
Continue reading “Traitors – A Trademark & Tradition of Umno!”

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Can Najib guarantee safety of ex-RMAF sergeant Thamendran while awaiting trial of theft of two jet-fighter engines?

It is another international infamy for Malaysia that former RMAF sergeant N. Tharmendran, 42, feels comparatively safer in Sungai Buloh prison while he awaits trial for the theft of two jet-fighter engines than to be out of jail.

It was only 11 days ago he was freed when he and his family successfully waged a six-month battle to reduce his RM150,000 bail to RM50,000.

It is a terrible indictment on the system of governance in Malaysia that a person should feel safer in prison custody than to be out as a free man, for fear of being abducted and tortured again by military intelligence officers, as Tharmendran had alleged that he had been previously detained and tortured by military intelligence for three weeks and the “favourite torture” was to make him wear a crash helmet where he was repeatedly hit as hard as possible.

Thamendran’s personal safety and welfare while he awaits trial for theft of two jet-fighter engines has again put national and international focus on “institutional degradation” which the New Economic Model had identified as one of the causes of Malaysia’s economic stagnation and “declining growth trajectory”.
Continue reading “Can Najib guarantee safety of ex-RMAF sergeant Thamendran while awaiting trial of theft of two jet-fighter engines?”

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Another international infamy for Malaysia

Tweets:
Another international infamy for Malaysia http://bit.ly/bREG7C Ex-airman back to jail after losing protection bid
07/19/2010 06:31 PM

Where othr civilized countries a person safer in prison than outside? http://bit.ly/c2PFs6 No protection order, so ex-airman chooses jail
07/19/2010 06:38 PM

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Ex-airman back to jail after losing protection bid
By Boo Su-Lyn | The Malaysian Insider

PETALING JAYA, July 19 — Former air force sergeant N. Tharmendran is returning to prison today after losing his bid for a court protection order against Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officers he claims intend to abduct him.
Continue reading “Another international infamy for Malaysia”

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Ku Li on corruption and Exocet missiles

Below is an extract of the speech by Umno veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at the launch of ‘The Shafee Yahaya Story – Estate Boy to ACA Chief’, a book written by Shafee’s wife Kalsom Taib.

The word ‘corruption’ comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to break’ or ‘to destroy’. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust.

Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources.

It is time we recognise corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of. There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.
Continue reading “Ku Li on corruption and Exocet missiles”

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Dad: Son ‘beaten like a cow,’ framed of engine theft

By Joseph Sipalan and Gavaskar Brian Raj | Malaysiakini

The father of Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant N Tharmendran today alleged that his son was tortured and forced to confess to the theft of two jet engines while under remand.

“They beat him like a cow,” said N Nagarajah, 71, after lodging a police report on the matter at the Brickfields police headquarters today.

Nagarajah was accompanied by human rights lawyer N Surendran and three PR members of parliament – DAP’s M Manogaran (Teluk Intan) and PKR’s S Manikavasagam (Kapar) and Low Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya).

Nagarajah claimed that two RMAF officers, a Major Azam and a Major Ismail, had beaten and mistreated his son over a period of nearly three weeks from July 2 to 17 last year.
Continue reading “Dad: Son ‘beaten like a cow,’ framed of engine theft”

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Malaysian Submarine Scandal Continues

Asia Sentinel
by Hamish McKenzie
28 April 2010

French Lawyer Looks for Answers for Scandal in Kuala Lumpur

Joseph Breham, one of a team of lawyers looking into allegations of corruption in a Malaysian submarine purchase from a French defense conglomerate, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday that he had filed a 10-page inquiry with the French courts that calls into question the actions of a company with close ties to the Malaysian Prime Minister’s best friend and aide, Abdul Razak Baginda.

Breham is also expected to question several witnesses in Kuala Lumpur about the case, which has broken into the open after years of silence in Malaysia. The inquiry, which now rests with independent French prosecutors, is directed at a €114 million (US$151.1 million) commission paid to a company called Perimekar, which Breham’s legal team suggests was established in 2001 purely for the purpose of receiving the kickback. Najib Tun Razak, then Malaysia’s defense minister, led the negotiations with the French government to buy the two Scorpene-class submarines, build by Armaris, a subsidary of the French defense giant DCN, and to lease a third a few months later, in 2002.

Political reformers in Malaysia say they are placing their hopes on the French investigation to get to the bottom of the payment to Perimekar and its implications because, they say, there is little hope that the Malaysian justice system will bring the truth to light. Despite repeated requests for information by opposition leaders in Malaysia’s parliament, Najib and other top members of the government have refused to answer. Continue reading “Malaysian Submarine Scandal Continues”

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Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid should give comprehensive ministerial statement on the scandal of the two missing jet engines when Parliament meets on March 16

It will be not be easy to pick the five top topics which dominated conversations and discussions among Malaysians during the Golden Tiger Chinese New Year celebrations as there are so many issues contending for a place among the top spots.

Undoubtedly, those contending for placing among the top five topics would include the following:

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Why top Defence Ministry officials, including Defence Ministers, did not know for 18 months that the two missing F5E jet engines cost RM300,000 and not RM50 million each?

There are many questions about the scandal of the two missing F5E jet engines, which had made Malaysia the international laughing-stock.

The first question I want to ask when Parliament meets on March 15 is why top Defence Ministry officials, including the Defence Ministers – Datuk Ahmad Zahid the incumbent and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was Defence Minister when the theft took place in December 2007 – did not know for 18 months that the two missing jet engines cost RM300,000 and not RM50 million each.

Who was the first to say that the missing jet engine cost RM50 million each? It was Ahmad Zahid when the news about the theft first broke in the media on December 19 last year.

Who was the first to say that the RM50 million figure for the cost of the jet engine was wrong and that it cost only RM303,570? Again, it was Ahmad Zahid, in the press on January 8, 2010 – a day after two persons were charged in the Petaling Jaya sessions court with the theft of the two F5E jet engines.
Continue reading “Why top Defence Ministry officials, including Defence Ministers, did not know for 18 months that the two missing F5E jet engines cost RM300,000 and not RM50 million each?”

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Missing jet engines spark crisis in Malaysia

By Kevin Brown in Singapore | Financial Times
Published: December 22 2009 13:58 | Last updated: December 22 2009 13:58

The Malaysian government is facing a fresh corruption crisis after officials admitted that two US-made fighter jet engines had disappeared from an air force base after apparently being illicitly sold by military officers to a South American arms dealer.

Najib Razak, prime minister, said there would be a full investigation of the thefts, which happened in 2007 and 2008, when he was defence minister. However, opposition parties accused the government of covering up the incidents.

Lim Kit Siang, parliamentary leader of the opposition Democratic Action party, said the authorities had been “super slow” and claimed that the prime minister’s response had painted “a frightening picture of a government of thieves”.
Continue reading “Missing jet engines spark crisis in Malaysia”

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What a way to end 2009 – the missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines which exposes high-level thievery, government topsy-turvydom and sheer lack of professionalism in defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers casting long shadow on Najib’s GTP

What a way to end 2009 and the first uncompleted year of the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak – two missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines which exposes high-level thievery, government topsy-turvydom and sheer lack of professionalism in defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers, casting a long shadow on Najib’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Many questions cry out for answer on the scandal of the missing jet engines as they are not an unobtrusive object that could be easily squirrelled away, with each explanatory statement by the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the air force and the police raising more questions.

Najib gave the assurance that action would be taken against those responsible for the missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) jet engines – the powerplants to the F-5E Tiger II fighter and RF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance jets – saying: “Let us investigate. Whoever is in the wrong will be held responsible.”

Why is the Prime Minister still talking in the future tense, when the action for the missing RMAF jet engines took place in May last year, and RMAF had lodged a report with the police on Aug 4 last year?
Continue reading “What a way to end 2009 – the missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines which exposes high-level thievery, government topsy-turvydom and sheer lack of professionalism in defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers casting long shadow on Najib’s GTP”

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The demise of KD Seri Inderapura

From Friend in Navy
Through Hussein Hamid

KD Seri Inderapura

Surprised? Shocked?

No I am not surprised because a ship sustained fire damage. Fire on board is indeed a normal thing. What I am surprised at is that it took a time-consuming eight-hours before the fire was brought under control! Eight hours! Surprised because the ability to fight and control any fire on board a Navy Vessel is ingrained and drummed into sailors on a daily basis. And I am shocked that despite this the destruction of KD Inderapura is so severe that the ship is categorized as ‘beyond economical repair’ (BER).
Continue reading “The demise of KD Seri Inderapura”

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5-minute debate for RM13 billion Defence Ministry budget 2009

I was stunned when I stood up late last night to debate the 2009 Budgetary estimates for the Defence Ministry to be told by the Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee, that MPs are limited to five minutes each!

The Defence Ministry has a budget of RM13 billion for next year and is one of the six big-spending Ministries marred by mega scandals of multi-billion ringgit defence procurements.

Speaking in protest under the five-minute limit, I touched on two issues.

One is on the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter helicopter scandal – expressing concern that unless the Public Accounts Committee report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter deal is tabled in Parliament by today, Parliament would be denied of an opportunity to have a debate in the current meeting on the PAC findings and recommendations, making the PAC report quite academic and even useless.

I stressed that the PAC report should be made public in advance of any parliamentary debate so that aviation experts and even aircraft manufacturers could review the evaluation process followed in the Eurocopter deal as so far no independent experts apart from the RMAF/Mindef had been invited to provide expert opinion on the various aspects of the decision-making process. Continue reading “5-minute debate for RM13 billion Defence Ministry budget 2009”

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Still no PAC report on Eurocopter inquiry – will Azmi emulate Indian Home Minister and resign?

On November 11, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid had promised that the PAC report on its inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter deal would be tabled in Parliament “in two or three days”.

How can Azmi’s interpretation of “two or three days” be so elastic as to stretch to three weeks, and there are still no signs of the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter deal although it is now close to 50 days since Azmi first made the public announcement that the PAC would investigate into three scandals which had shook Parliament and the country – the Eurocopter helicopter, Bank International Indonesia (BII) and the high speed broadband (HSBB) deals?

I had intended to table a motion to debate the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter deal with Parliament having to make the final decision whether to accept or reject the PAC report and recommendations, but this PAC report must be tabled in Parliament latest by Wednesday, 3rd December 2008 so that I could give the necessary 14-day notice required for a motion to be debated on the last parliamentary sitting of the current budget meeting on December 18.

It is useless for Azmi to table the PAC report on the Eurocopter inquiry after December 3 because it would not be possible for MPs to give the requisite notice to debate it as a specific motion. Continue reading “Still no PAC report on Eurocopter inquiry – will Azmi emulate Indian Home Minister and resign?”

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No PAC report on Eurocopter and no PAC investigation into HSBB and BII scandals after more than a month

No Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on its inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter deal has been tabled in Parliament today although the PAC Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid had promised last Wednesday that the PAC report would be ready to be tabled in two or three days.

More than a month had passed since Azmi announced on Oct. 14 that the PAC would investigate into three scandals which had shook Parliament and the country – the Eurcopter helicopter, Bank International Indonesia (BII) and the high speed broadband (HSBB) deals but there has been no inquiry into the latter two apart from a most unsatisfactory inquiry into the first.

This does not reflect well on the chairmanship of PAC by Azmi.

Why is the PAC reluctant to go full-steam to conduct investigations into the propriety, accountability and integrity of the HSBB and BII deals? Continue reading “No PAC report on Eurocopter and no PAC investigation into HSBB and BII scandals after more than a month”

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Eurocopter answers PAC must give in its report

I thank Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid for committing a grave parliamentary impropriety yesterday in compromising his position as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman and trying to hit out at me in Parliament for my earlier criticisms of him in mishandling the PAC inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Eurocopter helicopter deal, resulting in our joint appearance before the media at yesterday’s lunch-break.

This has refocused parliamentary and national attention on the RM1.6 billion Cougar EC725 Eurocopter deal and the PAC inquiry, which I had described as the most important and high-profile PAC inquiry in the 51-year history of Malaysian Parliament.

Azmi gave a public undertaking yesterday that the PAC report into the Eurocopter inquiry would be ready to be tabled in two or three days.

I therefore expect the PAC report on its inquiry into the Eurocopter ideal to be tabled in Parliament by next Monday or Azmi should explain why he has broken his solemn undertaking both inside and outside the House. Continue reading “Eurocopter answers PAC must give in its report”

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Why Azmi should resign as PAC Chairman

Yesterday, the Star carried a letter by an ex-airman contending that “We don’t need the Eurocopter”.

He wrote:

“AS an ex-RMAF serviceman for 22 years, I believe I am qualified to comment on our government’s insistence on purchasing the Eurocopters. Worse still, without any physical tests.

“Buying the Eurocopter for use in Malaysia is like buying an F1 for use in Petaling Jaya; or a Rolls Royce for use in a remote kampung.

“This chopper is such a sophiscated machine, it is not meant for the normal role of a helicopter. I still see the Aloutte and Nuri (Sea King) in service in other countries.

“Eurocopter is more a combat helicopter. Who do we want to fight anyway? Why use it for search and rescue or during flood relief operations? Other choppers can do that just as well or even better!

“The Eurocopter is expensive. So are the training, spare-parts, servicing, accessories or role changes and armoury. Can we afford the subsequent costs of parts and modern armoury?

“You don’t buy such a sophisticated machine without evaluation. By first going through its built-in purpose, the subsequent cost of training for pilots and ground crews, availability and cost of spare parts, etc.

“Saying that the Alouettes and Nuris are old and obsolete is no justification for buying a machine that will not be fully utilised.

“Just buying the armoury to go with the machine will cost a bomb! Buying the Eurocopter just to show off is downright arrogant!”

As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had concluded its “rush” inquiry into the RM1.6 billion Cougar EC725 Eurocopter helicopters, can the PAC Chairman Datuk Azmi Khalid answer the questions posed by this former RMAF personnel? Continue reading “Why Azmi should resign as PAC Chairman”