"abenchas" was a word -- which I still like to use as it creates EXCITEMENT of the boyish kind! Ad Desi wants to remain Forever Young!:) -- I learnt from ENID BLYTON in the good,honourable schoolboy days, when life was uncomplicated by dollars and scents.
Now I have been a avid follower of The Malaysian Insider since its birth less than a year ago -- it gives us free reading of many EXCLUSIVE reports. Plus critical Commentaries. I know it has its own AGENDA. Which is OK with Desi -- DON"T WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN AGENDAS?
Here are tow/two takes from the MI, without any usual witty or byting comments from Desi at the moment,not momentarily. Maybe if you buy me tehtari' and kambing at Lingam', I'll give thee 3sen's worth.
Take1
Najib faces more allegations
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — The attacks over the Internet on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continue to mount.
Just days after allegations surfaced on jailed blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin’s website Malaysia Today over alleged interference in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder investigations, more claims have surfaced on the same website over allegedly shady defence deals.
In the latest posting entitled “Eurocopter”, a letter purportedly from Datuk Zahar Hashim, the chairman of Mentari Services Sdn Bhd, the local representatives for a Russian helicopter company, alleges irregularities in the recent award to Eurocopter for the supply of 12 new aircraft to replace the ageing Nuri fleet of the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
The letter claims the award was given to Eurocopter even though it was the most expensive of all the companies which submitted tenders. Eurocopter’s bid, it is claimed, is said to be more than RM1.4 billion over that of the lowest bidder.
The letter also claims no proper evaluation was conducted by the Defence Ministry.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed by a mid-ranking officer in the ministry just two days before Najib switched portfolios and moved from the Defence Ministry to the Finance Ministry last month.
It was announced last month that Eurocopter had been awarded the contract to replace the RMAF fleet with 12 new Cougar EC 725 at a cost of RM2.317 billion.
The writer of the letter posted on Malaysia Today claimed his company represents Kelowna Flightcraft Limited of Canada, which offered the RMAF the Kazan MI-172 KF at a cost of RM898 million for 12 aircraft.
The letter alleged only documentary evaluation was made before the LOI was awarded to Eurocopter.
Neither Zahar nor Mentari Services could be reached for comment.
Najib has not spoken to the press since allegations against him started surfacing on the Malaysia Today website.
Malaysia Today carried a report last Saturday detailing what it alleged was an exchange of text messages between Najib and Datuk Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda before he was charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of the Mongolian model Altantuya.
These SMSes — if true — have raised some questions over the handling of the case and suggest that Najib took a strong interest in the investigation from the beginning.
The SMS exchange, which went on from Nov 8 to Dec 2, 2006, has become great fodder for the opposition, especially since Najib is a cusp away from becoming the president of Umno and the prime minister of Malaysia.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for a thorough investigation into all of the allegations.
Anwar and the opposition have been trying to link Najib and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor with the murder since it happened in October 2006.
Najib has furiously denied any involvement with the case, and has even sworn in a mosque that he did not know the woman.
Their nemesis has been Raja Petra. He published many reports and commentaries alleging a cover-up in the investigation of the murder. He was detained under the Internal Security Act for allegedly publishing articles which were blasphemous.
Take2
Najib denies allegations of abuse, says SMS was private
By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 - Datuk Seri Najib Razak has denied any abuse of power in relation to the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder investigations and the government's acquisition of 12 Eurocopter helicopters.
But he did not deny the text message exchanges between him and a lawyer at the heart of the allegations were genuine. He said the SMS exchanges were a private matter.
"Why do I need to comment? There is no abuse of power," the deputy prime minister said.
Malaysia Today carried a report detailing what it alleged was an exchange of text messages between Najib and Datuk Shafee Abdullah, the prominent lawyer who represented Abdul Razak Baginda, the close associate of Najib who was eventually charged with abetting two police officers in the murder of Altantuya in 2006.
In one SMS, Najib allegedly tells the lawyer that Razak — his advisor — "will face a tentative charge but all is not lost".
Malaysia Today said this message raises some questions about Najib's role in the case. "Why did he mention "tentative" charge and that "all is not lost" for RB (Razak Baginda)? How would Najib know this before Razak was charged? These are important questions which will have ramifications, not just on this case but far beyond," a posting on the website said.
However, Najib would neither confirm nor deny that the supposed SMS exchange between him and Shafee were genuine.
"It doesn't really matter. The important thing is there is no abuse of power," he said.
"No need, no need, it is private. Whatever it is, the prime minister has said enough," he continued in the same tone.
"Why should it be of major concern? The important thing is if there is abuse of power and, if you read it carefully, there is no abuse of power, period," Najib reasoned .
On the issue of the RM2.3 billion Eurocopter deal claimed by the opposition to cost more than other tenders, he merely stated that a full explanation would be given in Parliament.
"Whatever the opposition said is not true," he said dismissively. "We will give you the facts later."
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