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Grand plan or grand illusion?

by Thomas Lee Seng Hock
Mysinchew.com
June 13, 2010

Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that to ensure Malaysia could compete globally, it needs proper implementation, co-ordination and execution.

He said that to achieve that, all Malaysians must be united and work together while embracing the 1 Malaysia concept, where people are given priority in any of the government’s programmes.

The prime minister said this when opening the Seri Murugan Centre (SMC) at the Vivekananda Secondary School in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday. Continue reading “Grand plan or grand illusion?”

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PM dispels fears of possible bankruptcy

Malaysian Insider
By Clara Chooi
June 08, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today moved to quell fears raised by a minister that Malaysia would one day go the way of Greece and Iceland and become a bankrupt nation.

In a written response to a question by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) in Parliament, the premier gave an assurance that the government was taking steps to ensure that Malaysia’s debts would be reduced and maintained at a manageable level.

“Malaysia will not face problems like what is happening at present in Greece and Iceland. Continue reading “PM dispels fears of possible bankruptcy”

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Question on 1Malaysia rejected

Twitter @limkitsiang :

My Q 2PM how many Ministers regard themselves Msian 1st race 2nd rejected 4offending rule agnst asking 4opinion abstract hypothetical matter
Monday, June 07, 2010 9:40 AM

How sad. Despite all publicity abt 1Malaysia PM dare not answer Q how many Ministers believe in it as 2rgd themselves as Msians 1st race 2nd
Monday, June 07, 2010 9:45 AM

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Reshuffling the same dog-eared pack of cards

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

I am told on good authority that you cannot make good china with poor clay, and it is so obvious that we should know it instinctively. By the same token, I expect you cannot form an effective cabinet with general election rejects. Appointing them to cabinet posts in such large numbers through the Senate is not illegal, but is it ethical? Jesse Jackson in a speech to the 1992 National Democratic Convention reminded his audience that what was morally wrong would never be politically right. Najib, as our Prime Minister, would do well to ponder and reflect on the wisdom of this self-evident truth so that he would feel encouraged and inspired to bring moral and ethical principles to bear on the governance of this nation. I naturally hope that in the process, and with God’s help, he will find some time to dwell upon his many grave lapses that have brought his fitness for the highest political office in the land into serious question.

Some months ago I had occasion to allude to the fact that no prime minister in our country’s history had come into office, bent over not with the burden of leadership which would have been understandable, but in Najib’s case, it was his oversize baggage comprising a mix of potent allegations of impropriety ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous. While some may be nothing more than coffee morning tittle-tattle among the leisure classes, and, therefore, to be treated with the contempt they deserve, one worrying aspect of Najib the man that refuses to evaporate into thin air is corruption.
Continue reading “Reshuffling the same dog-eared pack of cards”

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With 2 out 5 civil servants deemed corrupt by CUEPACS, the MACC is a big flop as it did not even arrest 0.1 per cent of the corrupt civil servants last year

Cuepacs President Omar Osman said in Temerloh last night that a total of 418,200 or 41 per cent of the 1.2 million civil servants in the country were suspected to be involved in corruption last year.

This is the Bernama report last night:

41 Per Cent Of Civil Servants Suspected Involved In Graft Last Year – Cuepacs

TEMERLOH, June 2 (Bernama) — A total of 418,200 or 41 per cent of the 1.2 million civil servants in the country were suspected to be involved in corruption last year, said Cuepacs president Omar Osman.

He said this was worrying and needed to be tackled urgently.

“To combat the scourge, Cuepacs will work closely with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission so that civil servants involved in corrupt activities can be brought to book,” he told reporters after opening the triennial general meeting of one of the affiliates of the umbrella union, here Wednesday.
Continue reading “With 2 out 5 civil servants deemed corrupt by CUEPACS, the MACC is a big flop as it did not even arrest 0.1 per cent of the corrupt civil servants last year”

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Two parliamentary questions on Najib’s three strategic initiatives to transform Malaysia but which have run aground

In the forthcoming parliamentary meeting beginning on Monday, I have given notice to pose two questions to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on his three strategic initiatives to transform Malaysia but which have run aground because of strong opposition mostly from Umno and its outsourced organizations like Perkasa.

These three initiatives of Najib are his three strategic pillars which make up his roadmap to achieving Vision 2020 – an high-income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability by 2020:

  • 1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now;

  • Government Transformation Programme; and

  • New Economic Model.

My two questions are to ask the Prime Minister:

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Rebuking Idris show Umno’s distaste for subsidy cuts

By Debra Chong
Malaysian Insider
June 03, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Datuk Seri Idris Jala’s plan to save Malaysia from going broke appears to be stillborn, as Umno’s constant attacks on the minister show that the Najib administration has no appetite for subsidy cuts.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also appears to have distanced himself from Idris’ proposal, after he told the Perkasa-led Malay Consultative Council meeting last week that proposals to save RM103 billion in subsidies were not yet finalised.

“Idris’ proposal is stillborn. I don’t think the Najib administration has the courage to carry out the cuts… not across the board and not as Idris planned it,” DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said.

Analysts contacted by The Malaysian Insider agreed. Continue reading “Rebuking Idris show Umno’s distaste for subsidy cuts”

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Najib’s most difficult question in the forthcoming five-week parliamentary meeting – how many Cabinet Ministers are Malaysian first, race second in keeping with 1Malaysia policy?

I have posed what is probably the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s most difficult question in the forthcoming 22-day parliamentary meeting:

“How many Ministers in his Cabinet, naming them, regard himself/herself as Malaysian first, race second in keeping with the 1Malaysia policy”.

It will test Najib to the limit of his intellectual prowess and political acumen to answer this question, as he will have to be a David Copperfield political magician to try to “square the circle” in view of two diametrically polar positions:

  • The declaration of the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme Roadmap that the goal of 1Malaysia is to create “a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second”; and

  • The declaration by the Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in December last year that he is Malay first, Malaysian second!

Continue reading “Najib’s most difficult question in the forthcoming five-week parliamentary meeting – how many Cabinet Ministers are Malaysian first, race second in keeping with 1Malaysia policy?”

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Najib Cabinet2 not only the most unrepresentative in nation’s history, but also very backward and inward-looking which does not inspire confidence that 1Malaysia and NEM are more than slogans

The Najib Cabinet2 is not only the most unrepresentative Cabinet in the nation’s history with the most number of unelected and unelectable Senators, but also very backward and inward-looking which does not inspire confidence that 1Malaysia and New Economic Model (NEM) are more than slogans.

The minor Cabinet reshuffle yesterday is the second blow in a week to Najib’s claims to reformist credentials – the first being the public humiliation and slap-in-the face the Prime Minister endured when he attended the congress of the Perkasa-led Malay Consultative Council on Saturday to be told of its rejection of NEM.

After the Prime Minister had talked so much about national political, economic, social and government transformation if Malaysia is not to miss the boat to escape the two-decade middle income trap and take the quantum leap to become a high-income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability by 2020, one would have expected the Najib Cabinet2 to send out the message: “We are capable of change”!

But this is not the case. Instead of change and a breath of fresh air, Najib’s Cabinet2 is another game of musical chairs with old, tired and discredited political faces.
Continue reading “Najib Cabinet2 not only the most unrepresentative in nation’s history, but also very backward and inward-looking which does not inspire confidence that 1Malaysia and NEM are more than slogans”

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Malay Nationalists Trash Premier’s Economic Plan

Asia Sentinel
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak gets a cold reception

Just how difficult it will be to modify Malaysia’s affirmative action program for its majority ethnic Malays came clear over the weekend when some 1,500 members of the Malay Consultative Council summarily rejected Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s plans to replace it with what the premier calls the New Economic Model.

Najib was due to unveil his NEM, as he calls it, on June 10 in conjunction with the publication of the 10th Malaysia Plan. But so far no details have been released, with less than two weeks to go before its publication, and it is questionable what will be in it. The consultative council turned it down without bothering with the details.

Since he came into office as premier in April of 2009, Najib has been attempting to get Malays, who make up roughly 60 percent of the country’s 27 million people, to give up some of the perks that they have enjoyed since the New Economic Policy was promulgated in the wake of bloody 1969 riots that took the lives of hundreds of Malays and Chinese alike. Modifying the NEP, originally designed to remain in place only until 1990, has become the third rail of Malay politics.
Continue reading “Malay Nationalists Trash Premier’s Economic Plan”

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Pakatan invites PM to roundtable talk on Israeli attacks

By Clara Chooi | The Malaysian Insider | June 01, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has invited Datuk Seri Najib Razak and all parties across the political divide for a roundtable talk this Friday to jointly condemning Israel’s attack on the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla.

PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today issued the invitation to the prime minister, all Barisan Nasional and PR parties and all Islamic and non-Islamic NGOs to attend the talk, set to be held in Kampung Baru at 11.30am on Friday.

“We need to take a more serious stand in this issue and condemn this continuing violence,” he said after attending the PR secretariat meeting at the PKR headquarters here today.

Anwar added that following the roundtable talks, all invited parties would then march to the US embassy and submit a memorandum on behalf of all Malaysians, calling for an end to the violence.
Continue reading “Pakatan invites PM to roundtable talk on Israeli attacks”

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Kit Siang: A cabinet chock-full of senators

Kit Siang: A cabinet chock-full of senators
Malaysiakini | Jun 1, 10 7:59pm

Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for “setting the dubious record” of leading a cabinet with the most unelected representatives.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang challenged the Najib to compel the new senators-turned-deputy ministers to stand for elections to prove their level of support.

“Ask these new senators to stand for election so that they have the mandate of the people,” he told reporters after the Pakatan Rakyat supreme council meeting in Petaling Jaya today.

“We will have more by-elections and it will be good for the people, as in Sibu where the (federal government) poured tens of millions of ringgit and the PM visited twice in 10 days,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
Continue reading “Kit Siang: A cabinet chock-full of senators”

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No Kaamatan promotion at airports — Kit Siang

By Chok Sim Yee | The Borneo Post

KOTA KINABALU: Pesta Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) is one of the highlights in the Sabah annual calendar of events, but sadly, not much effort has been made to promote the cultural event, even at the main gateways to the state — the airports.

At least this was what Democratic Action Party (DAP) advisor Lim Kit Siang noticed when he arrived yesterday.

Claiming that there was not much effort done by the federal government to recognise and promote Pesta Kaamatan, he said this defeats the whole meaning of the 1Malaysia concept, which was the brainchild of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“Pesta Kaamatan is the most important celebration in Sabah but sadly, I do not see any Pesta Kaamatan-related decorations when I arrived at the airport,” he said, pointing out that it was the best place to promote the event as it is the first place to welcome incoming tourists, be it domestic or foreign.

He also questioned why Najib could not even spare some time to attend such an important programme.
Continue reading “No Kaamatan promotion at airports — Kit Siang”

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Malaysians are now at the crossroads – an advanced high-income country in 2020 or a bankrupt nation in 2019

Malaysians are now at the crossroads and must choose to take the road towards an advanced high-income country in 2020 or a bankrupt nation in 2019.

The New Economic Model (NEM) launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on March 30 promised a new development path encompassing economic, social and government transformation to catapult Malaysia from two-decade-long middle income trap to become an advanced high-income nation by 2020.

The NEM is however predicated on one basic assumption – the existence of “political will and leadership to break the logjam of resistance by vested interest groups and preparing the rakyat to support deep-seated changes in policy directions”.

One alternative to a high-income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability by 2020 is the spectre of a bankrupt nation by 2019 so vividly spelt out by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, last Thursday.
Continue reading “Malaysians are now at the crossroads – an advanced high-income country in 2020 or a bankrupt nation in 2019”

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Is Najib backing off from support for NEM to become an even bigger Flip-Flop PM than Abdullah?

The meek and timid response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the ferocious and incendiary rejection of the New Economic Model by the Perkasa-led Malay Consultative Council raises the question whether Najib is backing off from the NEM to become an even bigger Flip-Flop PM than his predecessor Tun Abdullah.

Najib’s statement that the NEM is not the Government’s “final stand” but merely the “trial balloons” of a group of experts making suggestions from the global market’s perspective is a greater commentary on Najib’s leadership qualities than on the NEM proposals.

The NEM was launched by Najib two months ago with great fanfare as a defining moment in the nation’s development path, to take the quantum leap from the nation’s decade-long economic stagnation and escape from the two-decade middle-income trap to become a developed high-income country – but it appears that it may end up more as a defining moment in the grave failings of the year-old Najib premiership.

Right from the very beginning, the NEM courageouslty admitted that Vision 2020 is not possible without economic, social and government transformation – and the NEM was presented as one of the four key pillars to unleash Malaysia’s growth potential, drive change, propel Malaysia to become a high income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability and achieve Vision 2020.
Continue reading “Is Najib backing off from support for NEM to become an even bigger Flip-Flop PM than Abdullah?”

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Najib’s qualification instead of endorsement of Idris Jala’s warning that Malaysia could become next Greece and go bankrupt unless it saves RM103 billion in next five years to reduce the nation’s huge debt proof of lack of political will to address subsidy syndrome

Four things stand out in yesterday’s Subsidy Rationalisation Lab Open Day of the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) where the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Datuk Seri Idris Jala made his presentation on the country’s proposed five-year subsidy rationalization roadmap.

Firstly, the absence of Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the Minister in charge of the 1Malaysia GTP and Chairman of Pemandu. Why is he on leave in the United States on such an important event in the Government Transformation Programme or is he seriously considering, according to reports quoting Gerakan sources, relinquishing the post as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department after the humiliation in the last meeting of Parliament where he dared not stand up to vouch for what 1Malaysia stands for – that he is Malaysian first and Chinese second?

Secondly, Idris’ failure to address the root causes of the national economic crisis instead of just dealing with its symptoms.

Idris warned that unless Malaysians bite the bullet and wean off subsidies to save the government RM103 billion in five years to reduce the nation’s deficit and huge debt, Malaysia could become another Greece and go bankrupt in nine years.

Although Idris said the government would focus on big ticket items such as fuel, electricity and toll to achieve the savings, he failed to focus on the biggest ticket items – corruption, mismanagement, extravagance and lack and accountability.

When corruption, mismanagement, extravagance and lack of accountability cost the government from RM10 billion to RM28 billion a year, what credibility has the government to talk about slashing subsidies affecting the rakyat when it has nothing to show to end the rampant and worsening state of corruption, the gross abuses of power and public funds like indiscriminate issue of APs and various forms of “piratisation” in the name of privatization? Continue reading “Najib’s qualification instead of endorsement of Idris Jala’s warning that Malaysia could become next Greece and go bankrupt unless it saves RM103 billion in next five years to reduce the nation’s huge debt proof of lack of political will to address subsidy syndrome”

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Educational absurdity in Hulu Selangor

by Azly Rahman

“If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.” – Najib Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia

If these words quoted in Lim Kit Siang’s blog were uttered and they were true, we have reached the highest level of idiocy in charting the future of Malaysian education. How much shame must we parade in our desperation to win this or that election that is a theater of the absurd anyway?

The essential question is, how dare we use education – the only means for social and economic progress for ALL races – to bribe voters!

We hear all too often now that education is being prostitutionalized in the name of political gains. That gentle profession and a noble enterprise, from the Latin educare (drawing out the potentials) have been overused in election campaigns. From rice to roads, credit cards to cruises, youth facilities to new universities – all these have been used as political baits throughout our history. Continue reading “Educational absurdity in Hulu Selangor”

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Najib should haul up and reprimand SUPP President George Chan for his “barbarians at the gate” speech which makes a total mockery of the Prime Minister’s year-old 1Malaysia Policy

I am shocked to read today’s Sunday Star whose Sarawak edition carried the screaming front-page headline “Miri target” and report:

Miri target
By Stephen then

MIRI: “Outsiders” who have infiltrated the state to stir up problems among the people are now targeting Miri, said Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr. George Chan.

He warned the people yesterday that these “outsiders” with ulterior motives were trying to destroy Sarawakian values by planting the seeds of hatred and anger among the people.

The president of the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) said the “outsiders” had already infiltrated the state and were trying to make inroads into Miri.

“These outsiders with their street culture have come to spoil the good nature of Sarawakians,” he said.

“They want to introduce their culture in Miri now. We Sarawakians are nice and peaceful people, but we are also very protective of our way of life. We will fight these ‘outsiders’ if we have to. I am warning them. Don’t make me angry.” Continue reading “Najib should haul up and reprimand SUPP President George Chan for his “barbarians at the gate” speech which makes a total mockery of the Prime Minister’s year-old 1Malaysia Policy”

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Why MACC “may” and not “shall” call Najib in for investigation over his infamous RM5 million “let’s make a deal” speech in the Sibu by-election?

At the Cheras DAP Solidarity Dinner in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night, I had posed the question – Why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) dare not announce it will probe Datuk Seri Najib Razak if corruption is suspected in the Prime Minister’s infamous RM5million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election polling?

I posed this question as the New Straits Times had on Thursday carried the headline: “MACC; Sime probe if graft suspected” following nation-wide furore over the latest financial scandal in the country – the RM964 million Sime Darby losses from cost overruns from four projects in its Energy and Utilities Unit, in particular the Bakun Dam project.

I asked the MACC, why the double-standards in its reaction to these two cases, especially when there is ample evidence for investigation whether the Prime Minister had been guilty of corrupt practices in the recent Sibu by-election campaign particularly in his infamous RM5 million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election.

The YouTube video of Najib’s Rejang Park’s “let’s make a deal” speech, promising to allocate RM5 million for flood-mitigation in Rejang Park provided the BN candidate was elected, had been the hottest site for the past week.

Outrage and disbelief are the common reactions of Malaysians and even foreigners who saw the YouTube video, with Najib declaring in his own words: “If Robert Lau becomes the MP on Sunday, on Monday I will ask [for] the cheque to be prepared. Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win.” Continue reading “Why MACC “may” and not “shall” call Najib in for investigation over his infamous RM5 million “let’s make a deal” speech in the Sibu by-election?”

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Why MACC dare not announce it will probe Najib if corruption is suspected in the Prime Minister’s infamous RM5million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election polling?

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) does not want to be left out in the nation-wide furore over the latest financial scandal in the country – the RM964 million Sime Darby losses from cost overruns from four projects in its Energy and Utilities Unit, in particular the Bakun Dam project.

Thursday’s New Straits Times carried this headline: “MACC; Sime probe if graft suspected”.

My instant thought is when there is going to be a newspaper headline: “MACC: PM probe if graft suspected”.

Not that there is not enough cause. The recent Sibu by-election provides the MACC ample evidence for investigation against the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whether he had been guilty of corrupt practices particularly in the infamous RM5 million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election – which is on YouTube for all to see.

Has the MACC the guts, commitment and professionalism to investigate the Prime Minister for corruption?

I am not even talking about arresting and charging the Prime Minister for corruption – just to open a probe on the Prime Minister.
Continue reading “Why MACC dare not announce it will probe Najib if corruption is suspected in the Prime Minister’s infamous RM5million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election polling?”