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Corruption allegations against Zulkipli and Johari – table White Paper in Parliament

The inability of the Prime Minister to announce the new Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general is proof that Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor would have been given a fourth extension as ACA chief if not for the serious corruption allegations made against him by former Sabah ACA director and whistleblower Mohamad Ramli Abdul Manan.

I would have been the first to welcome Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s statement that the new ACA director-general would be announced as soon as possible if the delay to immediately fill the vacancy following the termination of Zulkipli’s contract last Saturday is because the Prime Minister is adopting a new and more consultative process for the appointment of key posts like the ACA chief such as consulting the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity and representative stakeholder organizations and NGOs concerned about national integrity..

However, there are no signs that the delay in the appointment of a new ACA chief is because the Prime Minister is adopting a more transparent and consultative process in the appointment process but because he was caught totally off-guard and unprepared to fill the post as it has become completely untenable to extend Zulkipli’s term when Zulkipli had plunged the ACA and the country into the greatest integrity crisis in the nation’s history.

Although Zulkipli had claimed that his appointment on secondment as ACA director-general and extension of his contract three times showed that the Prime Minister had confidence in him, Zulkipli’s repeated extension as ACA chief will probably go down as one of the biggest failures of Abdullah’s premiership — when a new ACA director-general should have been selected when Zulkipli’s appointment first ended under his premiership on March 31, 2004.

How could Abdullah be serious about his pledge when he became Prime Minister and during the 2004 general election to make anti-corruption the top priority of his administration and a major difference with the previous Mahathir administration when he leaves untouched the person who had headed the ACA with such lacklustre record for the last two years of the 22-year Mahathir premiership? Continue reading “Corruption allegations against Zulkipli and Johari – table White Paper in Parliament”

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Machap by-election – Abdullah/Najib must clear their name over integrity charges by former PM/DPM

Deputy Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said that the Information Ministry would counter all issues, including personal matters of national, state and local leaders, raised by the Opposition in the run-up to the Machap by-election.

In the past few decades, Barisan Nasional had been guilty of blatantly abusing government machinery, resources and funds for political party and personal gain but they had always denied it, trying to camouflage such abuses and political corruption under a fig-leaf of propriety and legitimacy.

But another unhealthy and dangerous precedent has been set, when the Deputy Information Minister blatantly flaunt the abuses of the Information Ministry to serve the Barisan Nasional campaign needs in the Machap by-election — bringing the integrity and morality of the ruling government to a new low at a time when the nation is celebrating 50 years of independence.

However, I agree with Zahid that serious allegations which had been made about abuses of power, malpractices and integrity against top government leaders should be answered in the Machap by-election.

In this connection, I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to clear their name over the charges made separately by the former Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister affecting their integrity in the Machap by-election.

At the public forum organised by Umno Kulai Besar branch on Thursday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad raised the issue of integrity of his successor when he said: “Some leaders, they boast, oh my son is rich… They talk about their AUD25 million home. That’s RM60 million. So strange, to have such a big house ..”

There can be no doubt that Mahathir was referring to Abdullah who must fully clarify the former Prime Minister’s questions about his integrity. Continue reading “Machap by-election – Abdullah/Najib must clear their name over integrity charges by former PM/DPM”

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Scrapped Klang Private Hospital

SCRAPPED KLANG PRIVATE HOSPITAL
Z. IBRAHIM

I read with interest Datuk Seri Mohamad Khir Toyo’s decision to stop the construction by an international conglomerate to build a RM400 million hospital in Teluk Gadung Klang. “Plans for Klang hospital scrapped” (NST March 30, 2007).

Apparently the MB was “advised” to do so by his political comrade in arms and Klang Municipal Council (MPK) councilor Datuk Teh Kim Poo on questionable scientific grounds that “”It would be bad feng shui for his neighborhood, himself included and that they feel the value of their homes will drop.”

Because of this superstition and without a proper debate by the MPK itself, yet again Mr. Teh Kim Poh appears to have single-handedly, this time shooed away a significant portion of this country’s FDI which would have given many Malaysians in the Klang area work in the proposed 14-storey hospital on a 2.5hectare area. The cowboyish antics of Klang Municipal councilors never seem to amaze Malaysians.

His belief in the supernatural forces apart, Mr Teh Kim Poh had no such coyness when he bulldozed his way into building a “Perpaduan” building with open air pit toilets on a children’s playground right in front of residents’ house at Southern Park, Klang three years ago despite all protests by residents affected with these plans. Continue reading “Scrapped Klang Private Hospital”

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First by-election job for Malacca CM — extend Kampung Permai Machap Umboo NV leasehold titles from 60 to 99 yrs

I made my first visit to Machap – which is to have a by-election – yesterday and spoke to enthusiastic villagers at the DAP dinner-ceramah at Kampong Permai Machap Umboo New Village.

Before my trip, I had received an email from “anak permai” writing on behalf of “The Villagers of Kampung Permai Machap Umboo” asking me to raise a long-standing injustice to the people in the new village — the issue of 60-year leasehold titles when it should be for 99 years.

As I had promised to “anak permai” in my email reply, I raised the issue at my first opportunity when during my visit yesterday, calling on the Malacca Chief Minister, Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam to resolve the issue before by-election polling day on April 12. This is the email from “anak permai”: Continue reading “First by-election job for Malacca CM — extend Kampung Permai Machap Umboo NV leasehold titles from 60 to 99 yrs”

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Machap by-election – suspend Zahid as deputy information minister for violating NIP

Machap by-election - suspend Zahid as deputy information minister

My first reaction to the Bernama report yesterday, “Info Ministry To Counter All Issues Raised In Machap Polls”, quoting the Deputy Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the Information Ministry will counter all issues, including personal matters of national, state and local leaders, raised by the Opposition in the run-up to the Machap by-election was whether it was an April Fool’s joke.

Zahid said it was the ministry’s responsibility to explain the truth to the voters on issues highlighted so that they would not be swayed by the baseless allegations.

“Personal issues and allegations on certain leaders are disheartening. I advise Machap voters not to be taken in by DAP speakers harping on personal and private matters,” Zahid told reporters after chairing a meeting on the by-election in Alor Gajah yesterday.

I had wondered whether Zahid was playing an April Fool’s joke on the voters of Machap and the people of Malaysia because no minister or deputy minister had ever been so blatant in 50 years of Malaysian independence in declaring or admitting about the misuse of government machinery, resources and funds in a general election or by-election to support the candidates of the ruling coalition.

For the first time, a deputy information minister had openly confessed that the Information Ministry is part of the election or by-election machinery of the Barisan Nasional, with the entire resources of the Information Ministry commandeered in the campaign of misinformation and disinformation against the Opposition candidate.

This is most shocking, for it marks another low point in the deterioration of public integrity and morality of the Abdullah premiership — where the distinctions between government, political party and personal interests are completely blurred and destroyed, which is the root cause of the galloping corruption and power abuses in the country. Continue reading “Machap by-election – suspend Zahid as deputy information minister for violating NIP”

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Consult PSCI on appointment of new ACA DG

An hour before midnight, Bernama released the news from the Prime Minister’s Office “Zulkipli’s Contract As ACA Chief Not Extended”.

The decision not to renew Zulkipli’s contract as Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general, which ends today, has saved the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from a “firestorm” of nation-wide protest and international ridicule which would have immediately exploded in his face if Zulkipli’s contract as ACA chief had been further extended — a grave consequence which I had taken pains to serve public warning in my media statement yesterday morning.

In fact, no ACA director-general apart from Zulkipli had brought greater disrepute and odium to the anti-corruption agency in its 40-year history — with Malaysians questioning for the first time its very integrity apart from its ineffectiveness and impotence when dealing with corruption involving the “big political fishes”.

It reflects poorly on the lack of political will of the Prime Minister in his pledge to give top priority in his administration to the campaign against corruption that Zulkipli was allowed in the past month to continue to helm the ACA in the face of serious corruption allegations made against him by former Sabah ACA director Mohamad Ramli Manan when he should have been asked to go on leave to protect the public image and integrity of ACA.

Zulkipli’s credibility and integrity suffered a serious dent when he backed out of his earlier public commitment to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Integrity (PSCI) as he had nothing to hide, raising questions as to what are the things he could not say and reveal to the PSCI about ACA’s integrity, commitment and sense of purpose to wipe out corruption.

The close-to-midnight statement from the Prime Minister’s Office is however a great disappointment. Continue reading “Consult PSCI on appointment of new ACA DG”

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Sleaze and crime – cleaning up?

Sleaze saps the prime minister’s election prospects
The Economist
22nd March 2007

CHEERY statements on the economy by Malaysian ministers and the pro-government press are prompting speculation that the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, will call an election this year, even though he need not do so until 2009. The economy is doing fairly well–although economists think growth will be perhaps 5.5% this year, not 6% as the government predicts. However, hanging over Mr Badawi is his failure to keep his promise to curb official corruption. Two surveys out this month suggest that little progress is being made on this front. Worse, some big sleaze scandals have broken, suggesting that the rot reaches close to the top.

The man who is supposed to lead the clean-up, Zulkipli Mat Noor, the head of the country’s Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), has himself been accused of illicit enrichment by a former underling. In a separate case, a deputy police minister is accused of taking bribes to set criminal suspects free. Mr Badawi has rejected calls to suspend the two officials while the allegations, which both deny, are investigated.

If all this were not disturbing enough, a gruesome murder case involving a government adviser, due in court in June, may prove even more incendiary. Two members of an elite police unit are accused of killing a Mongolian fashion model, whose corpse was apparently blown up with explosives. Abdul Razak Baginda, a political analyst, is accused of abetting them. Mr Razak Baginda is close to Mr Badawi’s deputy as prime minister, Najib Razak, who also oversees the police unit in question. Though Mr Najib has not been accused of any wrongdoing, there is speculation that the trial could force his resignation. Continue reading “Sleaze and crime – cleaning up?”

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Is IGP heading police investigation into Zulkipli by “remote control”?

The announcement by the Inspector-General, Tan Sri Musa Hassan that he has directed his officers to record Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor’s statement, with New Straits Times front-page headline “IGP: GRILL ZULKIPLI” – which is reminiscent of a similar NST front-page headline eight days ago, “Johari grilled by ACA – deputy minister’s statement taken IN: 10 am OUT: 10 pm” — has caused many Malaysians to ask whether all this “grilling publicity” is just for the media and news bytes or for real.

Who is heading the 10-member police team to investigate Zulkipli? Is Musa himself personally heading the investigation into Zulkipli? If so, is the IGP leading the operation by “remote control”?

This is because Musa said he had issued the directive on Tuesday when he “instructed Federal CID director Datuk Christopher Wan to have his officers call Zulkipli and record his statement”.

However, Musa declined to say whether this had been done. Reason? “I have not yet been briefed on the progress by my officers.”

It is clear that if Musa is heading the investigation into Zulkipli, he is doing so by “remote control” as he is clearly not conducting a “hands on” operation with him directing all aspects of the investigation.

Is Christopher Wan heading the police investigation into Zulkipli, and if so, why is Musa interfering with the police investigation team which should independently make such a decision (and should have done so already without any “directive” or “green light” from anyone above), and if Wan is not heading the investigation team, why is Musa instructing Wan to interfere with the police investigation?

If neither Musa nor Wan is heading the police investigation into Zulkipli, who is this mysterious police officer spearheading the police investigation that his identity cannot be revealed?

All this hush-hush and strange goings-on only highlight the grave problem of credibility which the police investigation into the serious corruption allegations against Zulkipli is belabouring under, when an independent and impeccable commission must be empanelled to clear the name of the ACA director-general. Continue reading “Is IGP heading police investigation into Zulkipli by “remote control”?”

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Corruption of our history books

(Thanks S.L. for the following write-up by JA)

Knowledge of our roots will benefit us

IN very recent times, the starting date for the study of Malaysian history in the schools has been conveniently fixed around 1400 C.E. It probably coincides with the founding of the Sultanate of Malacca by Parameswara.

Today, Malaysian school children only learn a little bit about the early Proto Malays and then are conveniently taken on a historical quantum leap to the founding of Malacca.

Early Indian works speak of a fantastically wealthy place called Savarnadvipa, which meant “land of gold”. This mystical place was said to lie far away, and legend holds that this was probably the most valid reason why the first Indians ventured across the Bay of Bengal and arrived in Kedah around 100 B.C.

Apart from trade, the early Indians brought a pervasive culture, with Hinduism and Buddhism sweeping through the Indo-Chinese and Malay archipelago lands bringing temples and Indian cultural traditions. The local chiefs began to refer to themselves as “rajahs” and also integrated what they considered the best of Indian governmental traditions with the existing structure.

I learnt Malayan history in the 1950s and taught it in the 1960s and 1970s in secondary schools. All the history textbooks at the time had the early Indian connection specifically mentioned in them. Teachers of that period taught about the early Indianised kingdoms of Langkasuka, Sri Vijaya and Majapahit that existed from as early as 100 C.E. Continue reading “Corruption of our history books”

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Adorna, post-Adorna, Adorna-like injustices and malpractices in Land Offices

Injustices and malpractices in Land Offices?

Two days ago, I had issued a statement calling on the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid to stop sleeping on his job as he had neither done nor said a single word in his three years as Minister in charge of the land portfolio about the gross injustice of the land law which allowed forgery and fraudulent issue and fraudulent transfer of land titles, with hundreds of landowners who have become victims running into tens or even hundreds of millions of ringgit.

It is common sense that an innocent purchaser cannot obtain good title from an impostor, impersonator or forger. Very importantly, a forger cannot pass title by using a fraudulently procured document of title so that even a subsequent innocent purchaser does not get any good title.

However, in land law, as a result of the 2001 Federal Court decision in Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd v Boonsom Bunyanit, there is now a shocking exception — with Section 340 of the National Land Code (NLC) interpreted to favour innocent buyers of land transferred through forgery or fraud, which has destroyed the integrity of land titles and the sanctity of property, leaving the original owners without any means to recover their land.

When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, he issued a “wake up call” to all land offices telling them to buck up to do justice to the rightful landowners.

Why has Azmi as the Minister in charge of the land office in the past three years failed to take any action to end the gross injustice in the Adorna case, at least to stop any post-Adorna development with hundreds of landowners falling victim to fraudsters, forgers, impostors and impersonators becoming the “new Adornas” by amending the National Land Code?

I have today another batch of cases involving gross injustices in land administration — involving some 280 plots of land, both residential and agricultural, which changed hands without the knowledge of the landowners in Ulu Yam, Selangor. Continue reading “Adorna, post-Adorna, Adorna-like injustices and malpractices in Land Offices”

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New Police Vision re-branding – proof of pudding in the eating

New Police Vision re-branding - proof of pudding in the eating

The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan should declare whether the Police would accept the Suhakam inquiry findings that excessive police force was used against protesters at the KLCC demo on May 28 last year on petrol and power price hikes and whether disciplinary action would be taken against the errant police personnel.

The findings of the Suhakam public inquiry, which was made public last Friday, will be an acid test as to whether Musa is serious and not just indulging in a publicity stunt when he announced during the 200th Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) anniversary celebrations that the police is being rebranded with a new vision and mission to implement the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, incorruptible, accountable, trustworthy, professional world-class police service.

The deadline for Recommendation 2 of the Royal Police Commission to “Review and refine the Vision Statement” was August 2005 — which means that the RMP has lagged nearly 20 months behind this time-line.

Among the proposals by the Royal Police Commission for the review and refinement of the Police Vision are “to reflect the need for police personnel to respect and uphold human rights in view of the allegations of abuse of human rights”.

Musa should tell Malaysians whether in the rebranded police Vision, the Royal Police Commission’s specific proposal that it expressly incorporate the principle “Respecting and upholding human rights as provided for in the Federal Constitution and the laws of Malaysia” has been accepted.

As the proof of the pudding is in the eating, Musa should declare whether he is serious about a new rebranded Police Vision which respects and upholds human rights by accepting the Suhakam public inquiry findings that excessive force was used against a group of protesters at the KLCC last year, resulting in 10 people being injured. Continue reading “New Police Vision re-branding – proof of pudding in the eating”

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With MUST regarded as success, what hope for future of quality higher education?

In response to my query during the 2007 budget debate on the Higher Education Ministry in Parliament on December 5 last year, Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Muhamad held up Malaysia University of Science and Technology (MUST) as an example of a successful “smart partnership” with an “international centre of excellence in research”, i.e. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Mustapha was clearly misinformed or he had misled Parliament, for a week later, he was reported as saying that the government was taking a hard look at the future of MUST, as the enrolemnt of the post-graduate university had dwindled and was operating with about 10 students left. MUST boasted research tie-ups with the world-renowned MIT when it opened in 2002.

I could not believe my eyes this morning when I read Mustapha’s reply to my question asking for the reasons for the failure of MUST despite government support, to the tune of at least RM100 million, and its “smart partnership” with MIT.

Mustapha’s reply raises the larger question as to what hope is there for the future of quality higher education in Malaysia when the Higher Education Minister is still stuck in denial – continuing to regard MUST as a successful example of international “smart partnership” when it is a major flop with MIT washing its hands of any “collaboration”!

This is Mustapha’s reply: Continue reading “With MUST regarded as success, what hope for future of quality higher education?”

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IRB, It’s time to “think out of the box”

Tam Yeng Siang copied his letter to New Straits Times, as follows:

I wish to refer to the letter by Ong Wai Leong, again on the issue of the Income Tax’s inability to repay taxpayers’ tax refunds promptly. So many letters have been published by you on the matter that this proves that something is seriously wrong with the delivery system of the IRB. In spite of the Director General’s recent TV interview, in which she promises such refunds to be made within three months, I would like to say that it’s an impossible dream, as long as the current procedures are not changed, and with it, the concept of Tax refunds at source. Allow me to elaborate.

*First the IRB is vigorously promoting e-filing which is a good thing. But in encouraging e-filing, has the IRB considered those who never use computers and ICT in their daily business?

*Second, in order for the IRB to effect refunds arising from dividends paid to individuals, the IRB requires the original dividend vouchers to be sent BY POST to Pandan Indah. These vouchers must be original, and must be verified individually by assessment officers, either against the E-forms, or the BE forms submitted manually together with the original vouchers. As long as the manual process of verification and authorisation is required, it is near impossible for the IRB to do this onerous task within a three month period, year in and year out.

*So, the way out of this mess is to re-think the issue of tax on individual dividends completely. Many years ago, the IRB made a very good decision to resolve the problem of taxpayers not declaring fixed deposit incomes in their yearly forms. They made the banks deduct a fixed rate of tax from the Interest incomes, and the banks then sent the taxes to the IRB directly. This decision had 2 positive effects. Moneys formerly hidden under pillows found their way to the banks, and the IRB found a relatively straightforward way of collecting tax from Interest income.

*For Dividend payments made to the individuals, the IRB can instruct the corporations to collect, say, just 5-10% of tax, remit the tax to the IRB, and refund the balance to the Individual taxpayer. The refunds can be easily made by the corporations at the same time the dividends are paid. Continue reading “IRB, It’s time to “think out of the box””

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10 recommendations of Royal Police Commission, like IPCMC, disappeared into a “black hole”?

As part of the flurry of publicity in conjunction with the 200th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Police, the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan launched an intensive media campaign to present the police in the best possible light, including announcement of the creation of a new mission and vision in line with the recommendations made by the Royal Police Commission, culminating in a call for a new and better scheme of service for the police which is 20% more in basic salary than any government servant.

In the media blitz, Musa told Bernama on Saturday that about 90 per cent of the recommendations of the Police Royal Commission “have been put into action while another four are in the process of being enforced”.

This is at variance with the answer given by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Internal Security Minister, to my question in Parliament on Thursday on the status of the implementation of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission.

Abdullah said that out of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, 102 or 82 per cent have been implemented while 23 or 18 per cent are still under detailed consideration.

There is a big difference between the 82 per cent of 125 recommendations cited by the Prime Minister in Parliament and the 90 per cent claimed by the Inspector-General of Police, which works out to a difference of 10 recommendations out of 125 recommendations.

Have these 10 recommendations of Royal Police Commission like the IPCMC proposal disappeared into a “black hole” without accountability whatsoever? Continue reading “10 recommendations of Royal Police Commission, like IPCMC, disappeared into a “black hole”?”

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Dark Darker Darkest

Dark Darker Darkest

Just got this email from LLC:

“I read this on your website – Why Iskandar Development Region will fail by Richard Teo

“How can the IDR attract Singaporeans if this type of news keeps getting published in newspapers in Singapore?

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136, 125523-1174773540,00.html
JB NIGHTMARE FOR S’POREAN

DARK DARKER DARKEST

DARK: Tinted car windows, cops stop him

DARKER: He fears they are carjackers & resist arrest

DARKEST: He has to strip, sleep sitting up in crowded cell

By Crystal Chan

March 24, 2007

CONFUSION over tinted windows, coupled with his fears of car-jacking landed Singaporean LWSim in a Johor Baru jail.

His is a shocking lesson for Singapore drivers who may not know that tinted windows which meet with the Land Transport Authority’s requirements could get you into trouble in Malaysia.

This is because Malaysia has stricter laws on the amount of light that must be able to pass through tinted car windows.

Mr Sim, 29, found this out the hard way when he refused to let JB police impound his car for further checks. He was arrested and placed in a police lock-up.

The sub-contractor was later charged in court with obstructing justice and jailed a day. Continue reading “Dark Darker Darkest”

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Azmi Khalid, end 3-yr sleeping – gross injustice of Adorna case of forgery and fraudulent land transfer

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid should stop his three-year “sleeping” on the gross injustice of the land law in the country allowing forgery of land titles and fraudulent land transfers and should get Cabinet approval tomorrow to introduce a bill to amend the National Land Code in the current parliamentary meeting to overrule the Federal Court decision on Adorna case.

Last week, the Director-General of Lands and Mines Department, Datuk Zoal Azha Yusof, who was promoted to the post last August from his previous position as Selangor’s Land and Mines Director, said there is a need to amend the National Land Code (NLC) to restore property owners’ rights which have been affected by Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd v Boonsom Bunyanit.

Zoal Azha said he would bring up the matter with the Attorney-General.

How long would this process take? Another two, three or five years?

Such procrastination and insensitivity to the gross injustice created by the Federal Court’s 2001 decision in Adorna case, which interpreted Section 340 of the NLC to favour innocent buyers of land transferred through forgery or fraud, has destroyed the integrity of land titles, leaving the original owners without any means to recover their land. It reflects very poorly on a government which claims to be efficient, just and pro-active in allowing a gross injustice in the land law to stay unchallenged for the past seven years.

The Adorna case is a heart-rending tale which took more than a decade before it finally ended with gross injustice to the rightful owner. Continue reading “Azmi Khalid, end 3-yr sleeping – gross injustice of Adorna case of forgery and fraudulent land transfer”

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Harvard University task force to improve public service delivery – waste of public funds?

The answer by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Health Ministry, Datuk Lee Kah Choon during question time today that the government does not have statistics about the number of patients nationwide who died in ambulance on their way to hospital is the latest evidence not only of deteriorating medical and health services in the country, but of the larger issue of the macro problem of the worsening public delivery system despite all the promises of reform.

I find the indifference and insensitivity demonstrated by Lee’s answer most unacceptable as it was only on Friday that the country was shocked by the news report of the totally unnecessary death of Yusnita Abas, 31, wife of factory worker, Ghafur Mohd Ibrahim because the ambulances at Kepala Batas Hospital were “all out of petrol” and could not send her in time for emergency surgery at the Penang Hospital.

In the 50-year independent history of Malaysia, this is the first time a person had died because all the ambulances at a hospital had run out of petrol — tragic proof that public service delivery system and ethos have been getting from bad to worse.

Such a shameful episode had not happened when the country achieved independence in 1957 and the ensuing 49 years. Why is it happening now?

Developed countries are aiming at ambulance emergency response time within eight minutes, but the Health Minister, Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek seemed quite happy with an ambulance response time of more than 30 minutes in his response to public criticisms over businesswoman Zara Davies Abdul Rahman’s traumatic experience in trying to get accident and emergency help from Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Klang to save an accident victim’s life near the Batu Tiga toll booth on Dec. 13 last year, but in vain. Continue reading “Harvard University task force to improve public service delivery – waste of public funds?”

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Tun Ismail: No Ordinary Politician

Review by Bakri Musa

Tun Ismail: No Ordinary Politician
The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr. Ismail and His Time
Ooi Kee Beng

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2006
338 pp RM55.00

Reading Ooi Kee Beng’s biography of the late Tun Ismail is akin to eating at a buffet in a cheap Chinese restaurant. The offering was generous and you gorged yourself. However, an hour later you were hungry again; worse you could not even recall what was so special about the menu. Then it dawned on you that the food tasted good simply because you were so darn hungry.

With the present pathetic state of leadership in Malaysia, there is a yearning for the kind of leaders like the late Tun Ismail, men of
strong convictions and who did not hesitate acting on them. Ooi quoted Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who bore the wrath of Ismail’s anger over Tunku’s sudden policy change towards China. Ismail was so incensed that he tendered his resignation immediately. You would never see that kind of bravery among today’s leaders; they are more adept at toadying and ingratiating themselves.

Ooi worked hard for his book, interviewing scores of people and reviewing many documents locally and abroad. There is no shortage of quotes and anecdotes from those who knew Ismail, and Ooi added many details of Tun’s life. Therein lies the problem. The essence of the man gets buried in the avalanche of factoid overload. It does not enlighten us to know that he was awarded the National Order of Vietnam, or that he was president of the American Malaysian Society.

Ooi did not have to quote every interview. The book could do without the many “He was tough, brilliant, blunt, … ” type of general comments. They added nothing and took up valuable space.

Two interviewees, Lee Kuan Yew and Ghaffar Baba, stood out; they illuminated well Ismail’s character. Lee was expounding in his usual erudite and logical manner on a particular issue. At the end he asked Ismail what he thought about it, and the Tun simply replied, “I disagree!” Flabbergasted, Lee asked Ismail for his reasons, at which point Ismail remarked that since Lee had so brilliantly enumerated all the salient points there was nothing more for him (Ismail) to add. That reflected supreme self-confidence. By not trying to “out lawyer” the lawyerly Lee, Ismail stumped him. Continue reading “Tun Ismail: No Ordinary Politician”

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IRD should not harass or bar defaulters from bona fide foreign trips

tax defaulters barred from leaving

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in his capacity as Finance Minister should direct the Inland Revenue Board to stop invoking Income Tax Act Section 104 barring Malaysians from leaving the country for failing to pay income tax for business, tours and holidays when they have every intention of returning and not absconding from the country, and to seek the advice of the Attorney-General.

In her interview with New Sunday Times, the Chief Executive Officer and Director-General of Inland Revenue Board, Hasmah Abdullah advised 39,867 people who had been blacklisted as tax defaulters that they are barred from leaving the country for failing to pay income tax.

Holiday-makers who bought tickets at the recent Matta fair to go overseas are advised to visit the Inland Revenue Board before they board the plane.

This is most ludicrous and smacks of harassment and even blackmail — something which should not be associated with the public service.

Hasmah pointed out that under Section 104 of Income Tax 1967 (see below), individuals — locals or foreigners — would not be allowed to leave the country if they had not settled their income tax.

I believe that when Parliament passed Section 104 of Income Tax Act 1967 forty years ago, the intention was to prevent individuals, whether locals or foreigners, from evading income tax by absconding from the country — rather than to restrict their business or spoil their holidays plan.

I do not believe Parliament ever intended to prevent Malaysians with income tax problems from going to Singapore, Thailand or other overseas country whether for holidays or business. Continue reading “IRD should not harass or bar defaulters from bona fide foreign trips”

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Ambulances run out of petrol – Yusnita Abas another avoidable death

Ambulances Run Out of Petrol

With the latest scandal of ambulances running out of petrol resulting in another avoidable death, the Health Minister, Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek should inform Parliament tomorrow what shake-up he had initiated to end the mounting public criticism of outrageous ambulance emergency services and response time to give top priority to saving lives.

Friday’s New Straits Times reported the scandal-cum-tragedy of Yusnita Abas, 31, wife of a factory worker, Ghafur Mohd Ibrahim who said his wife would be alive today had she received prompt medical treatment, including efficient ambulance service.

Although on the fateful day, she went to the Kepala Batas Hospital at 1 pm after being advised by a private doctor, she was not attended to until she lapsed into a semi-consciousness state around 6 pm.

Doctors later realized that Yusnita was suffering from a ruptured blood vessel and ordered that she undergo a CT scan at the Seberang Jaya Hospital. Ghafur was told that that Yusnita would have to undergo emergency surgery at the Penang Hospital if the CT scan showed there was a blood clot in her brain.

This is Ghafur’s harrowing tale: Continue reading “Ambulances run out of petrol – Yusnita Abas another avoidable death”