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My question on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal for first day of Parliament on Monday has been kicked off to seven weeks later to Dec 3

My question on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal for the first day of the budget session of Parliament on Monday, 19th October 2009 has been kicked off to seven weeks later to December 3 at the tail-end of the meeting, as if the PKFZ scandal is a trivial and inconsequential matter.

DAP MP for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng, had also submitted a question on the PKFZ scandal for the first day of Parliament on Monday, and his question had also be knocked off to Dec. 1, 2009.

I had slated to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament on Monday “the outcome of 2007 Cabinet decision commissioning the Chief Secretary, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department to look into various aspects of irregularities in the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, including unlawful issue of four Letters of Support”.

Why is the Prime Minister not ready to answer this question on Monday?
Continue reading “My question on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal for first day of Parliament on Monday has been kicked off to seven weeks later to Dec 3”

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Major cover up of RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal at work?

I had posed a question on the “mother-of-all-scandals”, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the first day of the budget meeting of Parliament beginning on Monday, 19th October 2009.

I have just been informed that this question had disappeared altogether from the list of oral questions for Monday’s meeting of Parliament.

Signs of major cover-up of the PKFZ scandal at work?

DAP MP for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng’s question on the PKFZ scandal has also disappeared from the forthcoming parliamentary list of questions.

This is the question on the PKFZ scandal which I had submitted: Continue reading “Major cover up of RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal at work?”

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Open Letter to PAC Chairman Azmi Khalid that he should avoid conflict-of-interest as former Cabinet Minister in 2007 and disqualify himself from conducting the PAC inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal

YB Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid,
Chairman,
Public Accounts Committee,
Chairman
11th August 2009

YB Datuk Seri,

I take the liberty through this Open Letter to ask you to avoid conflict-of-interest as former Cabinet Minister in 2007 to disqualify yourself from conducting the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

I had earlier written to you in a letter dated 17th June 2009 asking you to step down as Chairman of the PAC inquiry into the PKFZ scandal as you were a Cabinet Minister from 2004 to 2008, a period when the previous Cabinet had made various decisions concerning PKFZ, including giving retrospective approval for the four Letters of Support unlawfully issued by the two previous Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy to guarantee the RM4 billion bonds issued by the PKFZ turnkey developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB) as well as the RM4.6 billion Cabinet decision to bail out PKFZ.
Continue reading “Open Letter to PAC Chairman Azmi Khalid that he should avoid conflict-of-interest as former Cabinet Minister in 2007 and disqualify himself from conducting the PAC inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal”

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As there is a clear and present conflict-of-interest, Azmi should belatedly stand down and disqualify himself from conducting the PAC inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will be guilty of gross incompetence if it should come to the conclusion that the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal is all due to the project being “managed by a group of incompetent people from day one” and nothing more.

This appears to be the present line of thinking of the PAC Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid who told the media after the PAC meeting on Wednesday, which was attended by former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy with his retinue of a lawyer and two aides, that “In general, the huge project was managed by a very incompetent group of people” from day one.

Could the ballooning of the PKFZ scandal from RM1.088 billion in 2002 when Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik was Transport Minister,quadrupling to RM4.63 billion in 2006 under Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy as Transport Minister, and now set to mushroom to become a RM12.5 billion scandal under Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat as Transport Minister all because of management by “a very incompetent group of people” from day one?
Continue reading “As there is a clear and present conflict-of-interest, Azmi should belatedly stand down and disqualify himself from conducting the PAC inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal”

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Parliamentary Roundtable on A New IGP for a Safe Malaysia

Resolutions unanimously passed at the Parliamentary Roundtable on A New IGP for a Safe Malaysia.

Resolution 1
Call on the current Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan, not to seek a further 2-year renewal of his tenure of service due to his failure in Key Performance Indicators (KPI) as IGP in the past three years in all the three core police functions to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and protect human rights.

Resolution 2
Call for appointment of a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new police leadership to roll back the tide of crime in the lat five years to ensure a safe Malaysia as well as to present a new image of democratic policing in Malaysia.

Resolution 3 Continue reading “Parliamentary Roundtable on A New IGP for a Safe Malaysia”

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Malaysia needs a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia and break away from colonial past by introducing democratic policing to protect the people and not the regime in power

On December 4, 2008, my motion to censure the Tan Sri Musa Hassan as Inspector-General of Police with a RM10-cut salary motion was defeated by a 48 to 30 votes.

I had moved the motion against Musa on two grounds, viz:

  • For being more of a lobbyist for police mega deals instead of being the police leader to keep crime down and the country safe for Malaysians, tourists and investors; and

  • For the “great lie” that the real crime problem in Malaysia was not worsening crime situation but a problem of misperception.

It is not my purpose to revisit the debate and the undeniable documentary evidence that I produced during the debate in Parliament about Musa lobbying for the RM20 billion Asiacopter proposal to rent out 34 helicopters to the police for 30 years and the RM4.2 billion “E-Police Force Solution” proposal.
Continue reading “Malaysia needs a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia and break away from colonial past by introducing democratic policing to protect the people and not the regime in power”

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Will the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in May 2005

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced the reduction of the crime rate on the streets by 20 per cent in 2010 as one of the KPIs (key performance indicators) of the six National Key Results Areas (NKRA).

Will the Parliamentary Roundtable for a new IGP to create a safe Malaysia support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in its report in May 2005?

When the Dzaiddin Royal Police Commission submitted its final report in May 2005, it said that Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country was “seriously dented” by the “dramatic increase” in the incidence of crime in the past few years and that “Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation”.

The Royal Commission warned that “if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia”.
Continue reading “Will the Parliamentary Roundtable tomorrow support Najib’s KPI for crime prevention to reduce street crime by 20% in 2010 as it is late by four years and should have covered all categories of crime as proposed by Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in May 2005”

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Home Ministry website that 97% of 2,947 Malaysians polled in last 24 hours feel unsafe new reason why Pakatan Rakyat convening Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia on Tuesday

The Home Ministry website yesterday started a poll to seek public feedback as to whether the government as delivered its most basic duty in any civilized and organized society – to look after the safety and security of the people.

As at 2.20 pm today, 97% of 2,947 Malaysians polled feel unsafe, with only 1% or 30 people feel safe while 2% or 71 people are “not sure”.

The poll has maintained a consistently high percentage of 97% of the respondents who feel unsafe since the start of the poll, with 96% of 903 respondents at midnight last night and 97% of 1,224 respondents at 7.40 am this morning in the category of “unsafe” while only 2% of the respondents at midnight last night and 1% of the respondents at 7.40 am this morning who feel “safe”.

What a crying shame for the Malaysian police force and the Home Ministry that as high as 96 – 97 per cent of Malaysians feel unsafe in the streets, public places and even in the privacy of their homes with the unchecked galloping crime in the past five years.

Who must bear responsibility for this shocking state of affairs, which is only new to the Barisan Nasional Cabinet Ministers and MPs – as DAP and Pakatan Rakyat MPs have over the years been raising in Parliament and outside the cries and demands of ordinary Malaysians for a Malaysia safe from endemic crime!

Undoubtedly, the Inspector-General of Police and the Home Minister must bear responsibility for this deplorable state of crime in the country.
Continue reading “Home Ministry website that 97% of 2,947 Malaysians polled in last 24 hours feel unsafe new reason why Pakatan Rakyat convening Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia on Tuesday”

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Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia to be convened in Parliament on Tuesday, July 28

Pakatan Rakyat is convening a Parliamentary Roundtable on a new Inspector-General of Police for a safe Malaysia in Parliament next Tuesday July 28, 2009 at 10 am.

The Parliamentary Roundtable, which is convened by the Pakatan Rakyat parliamentary leadership Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and myself, invites all Members of Parliament, whether Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional, from both houses, Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, as well as leaders of professional and human right organizations, NGOs, civic organizations and concerned stakeholders to jointly deliberate on how to restore to Malaysians two lost fundamental rights – to be free from crime and the fear of crime.

In recent years, the crime rate in the country has reached endemic proportion making the streets, public places and even the privacy of our homes unsafe to Malaysians, visitors and investors.

In its report in May 2005 commenting on the latest crime statistics available to it, i.e. 156,455 incidents of crime in 2004, which was an increase of 29 per cent from 121,176 cases in 1997, the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission said:

“The increase seriously dented Malaysia’s reputation as a safe country. Malaysians in general, the business sector and foreign investors grew increasingly concerned with the situation. The fear was that, if the trend continues, there would be major social and economic consequences for Malaysia. A survey of 575 respondents from the public carried out by the Commission clearly demonstrates the extremely widespread concern among all ethnic groups and foreign residents. Between 82.2 per cent and 90 per cent of the respondents, or 8 to 9 persons in every 10, were concerned with the occurrence of crime.” (3.1 p.108 Report)
Continue reading “Parliamentary Roundtable on a new IGP for a safe Malaysia to be convened in Parliament on Tuesday, July 28”

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Let Tee Keat tell PAC – which of the three Transport Ministers since 2002 must bear greatest responsibility for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

The Malaysiakini headline “Liong Sik’s memory lapse impairs PAC meeting” tells it all – and it was what I had anticipated.

In my statement dated 5th July, 200, I had cautioned Ling against competing with his old boss, Tun Dr. Mahathir in a contest of selective amnesia when appearing before probes into their dubious past – as Mahathir had said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry in January last year.

How many times did Ling say “I cannot remember” or its equivalent in his two-hour appearance before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal?

I understand that Ling beat Mahathir’s record of selective amnesia at the PAC inquiry yesterday. With his PAC testimony, Ling has formally inaugurated the Three Tuns for Selective Amnesia comprising Tun Mahathir, Tun Ling and Tun Eusuff Chin, the former Chief Justice who said “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 18 times in his testimony before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry last year.
Continue reading “Let Tee Keat tell PAC – which of the three Transport Ministers since 2002 must bear greatest responsibility for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

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The one question Ong Tee Keat must answer at the PAC inquiry into PKFZ scandal tomorrow – whether he, and not Port Klang Authority, gave final approval for the RM1.2 billion KDSB variation order after he became Transport Minister

When Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat appears before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal in Parliament tomorrow, he should clear the air whether he had given approval for the RM1.2 billion variation order by the PKFZ turnkey developer, Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd or he merely acted as postman of Port Klang Authority (PKA) to transmit the PKA approval to the Prime Minister for payment.

Ong had earlier confirmed the authenticity of his correspondence which appeared on Internet last month, showing that on 10th May 2008, he had written to the Prime Minister seeking approval for RM1.2 billion payment to KDSB as variation order for the PKFZ project.

In his initial response from Paris during his junket to France to escape parliamentary accountability and responsibility, Ong defended the letter saying that he was merely relaying the PKA board’s decision approving the RM1.2 billion variation order to the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri (now Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Ong said: “I was then into my ministerial job for less than two months and the PKA board’s decision was made even before my time. Besides, the PricewaterhouseCoopers had not even started their position review work.”
Continue reading “The one question Ong Tee Keat must answer at the PAC inquiry into PKFZ scandal tomorrow – whether he, and not Port Klang Authority, gave final approval for the RM1.2 billion KDSB variation order after he became Transport Minister”

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Parliamentary roundtable to be convened in fortnight on whether Malaysia should have a new IGP to roll back the tide of crime

A parliamentary roundtable of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs, NGOs, civic organisations and stakeholders will be convened in a fortnight on whether Malaysia should have a new Inspector-General of Police to provide new leadership to roll back the tide of crime in the last five years and present a new image of democratic policing as well as who among the serving top police officers should be handed the baton of IGP.

To lobby for a second renewal of his term as IGP, Tan Sri Musa Hassan is now talking about the police giving priority to stamping out street crimes, when he should be explaining what success he had done as IGP since his first appointment in September 2006 as well as his two-year extension from September 2007 in rolling back the tide of crime, especially street crimes, in the country!

In fact, street crimes became worse in the nation’s history during Musa’s tenure as IGP in the past three years and on each of the three core functions which the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission had outlined as the priority tasks of the police force – to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights – Musa failed in everyone of them!

When Musa was first appointed IGP, I publicly congratulated him in a statement dated 8th September 2006, stressing that “the question uppermost for Malaysians is whether Musa’s promotion would make any difference in the law-and-order situation in the country – whether they can look forward to a safe and low-crime Malaysia, which must be regarded as the most fundamental of all human rights of Malaysians but which will also affect Malaysia as a investment centre, tourist destination and international educational hub for foreign students”.
Continue reading “Parliamentary roundtable to be convened in fortnight on whether Malaysia should have a new IGP to roll back the tide of crime”

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MCA Senators owe nation and Malaysians fulsome apologies for turning Senate into a rubbish dump for political rejects and has-beens

In the shortened four-day Senate meeting this week, the only mark MCA Senators have made is their protest and demand that I apologise to the Senate for calling the House “a rubbish dump”.

MCA Senators, Datuk Wong Siong Hwee and Datuk Yip Kim Fook, staged a duet in the Senate last Wednesday in their protest at my remarks, with the former declaring in a floursh: “Lim has insulted us and is unfair to all of us. The Senate is not a market place. He is an irresponsible leader.”

Wong and Yip have only confirmed the lowly place the Senate has sunk 52 years after Merdeka as they insulted themselves by proving that the Senate had indeed become a “political rubbish dump”.

They even tried to drag the first DAP Senator, Tunku Abdul Aziz into the picture in their duet with Wong telling Tunku Aziz: “He has not only called us rubbish, but had also called you garbage”.

What a low and cheap shot which could only emanate from the rubbish dump!
Continue reading “MCA Senators owe nation and Malaysians fulsome apologies for turning Senate into a rubbish dump for political rejects and has-beens”

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Kong Choy should answer in the PAC the five questions I asked him in Parliament in November 2007 on the PKFZ scandal but which he had been evading for two years

An online MCA website, malaysianmirror.com, has reported on the willingness of former Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

Like his predecessor Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Chan should give clear-cut assurance that he will not emulate their former boss, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir in succumbing to a sudden attack of selective amnesia when appearing before the PAC in the way Mahathir succumbed to selective amnesia when appearing before the Lingam Videotape Royal Commission of Inquiry in January 2008, where he had to say “I cannot remember” or its equivalent 14 times during his 90-minute testimony.

In his appearance before the PAC, Kong Choy should answer the five questions I posed to him in Parliament in November 2007, but which he had been evading for two years, viz: Continue reading “Kong Choy should answer in the PAC the five questions I asked him in Parliament in November 2007 on the PKFZ scandal but which he had been evading for two years”

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Is MCA so short of talents it cannot find different persons to hold the posts of MCA Secretary-General and Senate President?

Tomorrow DAP National Vice Chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz will be sworn in as a Senator, the first DAP Senator in the party’s 43-year history.

Tomorrow is also the last day for Tan Sri Dr. Hamid Pawanteh as two terms for six years as Senate President.

He was Deputy Speaker from 1983-1986 and I found him a level-headed, fair and just political leader who could distinguish between right and wrong, what are national interests as distinct from party and personal interests – a rare quality among those who walk the corridors of power in Putrajaya.

Hamid, 65, will be a loss to Malaysian politics as he is retiring from Malaysian politics after 31 years, which have included two terms as Perlis Mentri Besar from 1985 to 1995.

Replacing Hamid as Senate President will be the Deputy Senate President, Datuk Wong Foon Meng, which is a surprise for three reasons: Continue reading “Is MCA so short of talents it cannot find different persons to hold the posts of MCA Secretary-General and Senate President?”

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When will Utusan Malaysia stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?

When will Utusan Malaysia, which had such a illustrious place in the history of Malaysian journalism, end its descent into the gutter and stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods, and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?

Utusan Malaysia today carried in its “Sorotan Parlimen” an article entitled “Kit Siang terus ‘panaskan’ Dewan Rakyat”, which among other slants and prejudices, wrote:

Pada minggu terakhir pula iaitu Selasa lalu, sekali lagi Kit Siang menunjukkan kehebatannya dengan menyerang peribadi Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein semasa sesi penggulungan Rang Undang-Undang Suruhanjaya Integriti Agensi Penguatkuasaan (SIAP) 2009 yang disampaikan oleh Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Sesi itu menjadi kecoh apabila Kit Siang bangun mencelah sambil menyifatkan Hishammuddin sebagai ‘menteri pondan’ kerana tidak hadir ketika sesi penggulungan rang undang-undang itu yang banyak menyentuh mengenai polis.
Continue reading “When will Utusan Malaysia stop being a racist newspaper of untruths and falsehoods and honour the journalistic maxim “Comment is free but facts are sacred”?”

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Is Ong Tee Keat prepared to get declassification to submit all Cabinet minutes, memo and official papers on PKFZ to the PAC for a “tell all” probe into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?

My three questions (No.103 to No. 105) on the 35th day in the current series to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

First Question. On Wednesday, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decided to summon Barisan Nasional big-wigs like the two former Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, and the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) Chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing to testify in its inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal.

We read in the press today the announcement by Tiong, who is also the CEO of Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd (KDSB), the turkey developer for PKFZ that he would not attend the PAC inquiry to give any testimony.

This is a most extraordinary turn of events. Yesterday, Parliament just bulldozed through the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee set up to investigate into the intimidation and obstruction of DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor, Karpal Singh from carrying out his parliamentary duties in the parliamentary precincts on February 26 by Umno Youth leaders but which went outside its terms of reference to recommend the punishment of Karpal, myself and six other Pakatan Rakyat MPs for not attending or participating in the Select Committee’s inquiry.
Continue reading “Is Ong Tee Keat prepared to get declassification to submit all Cabinet minutes, memo and official papers on PKFZ to the PAC for a “tell all” probe into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?”

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PAC decision to summon Liong Sik, Kong Choy, Attorney-General to testify on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal lauded though belated

My three questions (No.100 to No. 102) on the 34th day in the current series to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal today are:

Question No. 1 – This is the second day that I am starting my “three questions a day” with a welcome.

Yesterday I welcomed the Port Klang Authority (PKA) Board decision on the withholding of RM660 million in the next drawdown of the government’s soft loan of RM4.6 billion to pay the PKFZ turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn. Bhd. (KDSB) for the PKFZ land and construction.

Today I welcome the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decision yesterday to summon in a fortnight the two former Transport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy, as well as the Attorney-General, to testify over the PKFZ scandal. The PAC is also to summon the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) and MP for Bintulu Tiong King Sing, who is also the CEO of KDSB.
Continue reading “PAC decision to summon Liong Sik, Kong Choy, Attorney-General to testify on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal lauded though belated”