My Anthem

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Dr Mahathir is back as "flavour of the season"?

The "political" season refers here, as dominated by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), and hence determined mainly by its President, who is Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak since the last UMNO General Assembly in March 2009. For five long years under the Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi administration, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in the political wilderness. By a turn of fortune, his "obedient" subject-mentee Najib, with a little help from his friend-cum-mentor, retired the Mr "Nice Guy" prime minister aka Pak Lah, prematurely.

So now, Mahathir is riding high once again, a beneficiary of an adminstration under constant siege and hence, Najib can do with Mahathir on his side rather than needling him on the sides, a fate that befell a half-dazed Abdullah Badawi whom many dismissed as too weak a leader in the Internet age, and hence he rode into the sunset as a forgettable prime minister.


On the other hand, the Malaysian sun has never really set as far as Mahathir is concerned -- for the 84-year-old politician has as this main capital a "BIG mouth"-- in his own words spoken at the BUM2009 gathering in Subang Jaya on May 16, 2009. (LINK1: bum2009.wordpress.com). This maestro uses this capital to the hilt, and as an orator Mahathir, standing tall most times, can hold the audience spell bound for hours contrasted with Pak Lah who would put most people to sleep within minutes, standing up or sitting down. So fellow Malaysians must prepare themselves for more of Dr Mahathir on the PWTC Stage once again as long as the good doctor's actions and thinking aloud suit and feed the UMNO-dominated Barisan Nasional agenda, determined largely by UMNO President Najib of course.



The ex-PM's presence was only obscured for five years by Pak Lah in the national CEO's driver seat, and his famous son-in-law as co-driver manning the steering wheels, by more or less "blacking out" Mahathir from the mainstream media (MSM). But the new media offered Mahathir a new window of sunshine, and he found new friends in former foes in the Internet-based media (like malaysiakini.com who once flagged Mahathir as among the World's Top Enemies of the Press!). The new found allies have flourished from Dr Mahathir's entrenched Bill Of Guarantees embodied in the high-profile Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) which ensures "no censorship" of the Internet.

And playing a prominent role in putting Dr Mahathir again back under the spotlight is the media, both old and new, local and foreign. And in the past year, Mahathir has embraced the Fifth Estate like no other senior citizen -- he started a blog as a counter measure to the Fourth Estate "boycotting" him at the behest of Pak Lah's Fourth Floor boys at Putrajaya. The prolific writer in him achieved quite a feat unlikely to be repeatedin Malaysia -- in his first year of blogging from May 1 last year, at chedet.com, he registered 19million hits.



To me, Dr Mahatir is a natural newsmaker. With great intellect, he was among the few Malays who took up medical studies -- all his three predecessor-PMs were schooled in law, and if I am hinting that a doctor would indicate possession of higher IQ than arts-based minds, I do indeed plead guilty, but offer no apologies. Also, the man is witty -- some would say he's sarcastic most times, flashing his inimitable smirk! -- and provides many quotable quotes, which without fail would warm the cockles of any journalist's heart.


However, let me at this juncture summarise some points that I spotted from a letter to the Editor, NST from one P.C.A. LEE, Subang Jaya copied from the online edition dated 2008/06/18 which I mostly concur with:


The Mahathir record: Good, bad or plain ugly?


FROM 1981 to 2003, Malaysians in their assessment of Dr Mahathir's leadership and performance generally fell into two categories -- the Mahathir administration was either "God-sent" or "hell", with fence-sitters certainly in the minority. Admirers applaud Mahathir's "achievements like the national car project, highways, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Petronas Twin Towers, the KL Tower, the Formula 1 circuit in Sepang", and yes, many would add: "He put us on the world map".



The detractors, including me most times, was that Dr Mahathir did pronounce "a war against corruption", but there was not much to show. The cancer of corruption had gotten worse year by year under his watch, and the slide continued under his successor's guardianship too (much abetted by his son-in-law's adventurism in big business...?) and the "big C" is now diagnosed as "endemic". I would say another outstanding "failure" would surely be the erosion of the independence of the Judiciary, starting with the landmark 1988 sacking of the then Lord President, followed in quick succesion by the suspension of five senior judges, eventually resulting in the sacking of a few among them.


Other questins posed by the letter writer Lee showing the dark sides of Dr Mahathir's reign were:


*Money politics in Umno at its worst?


*Racial polarisation among students in schools and universities at its worst?


*The abuse of the Federal Constitution at its worst?


*The abuse of the law at its worst?


*The teaching of English as a second language in school and universities at its worst?



According to Lee's letter written a year ago, "Dr Mahathir is still in the news today; more often than not for the wrong reasons. There is also the added reason that until today, the alleged wrongdoings under the Mahathir administration have not been fully investigated, or are still being investigated by the enforcement agencies of the government."



I do not totally agree that Mahathir was/is/will be "in the news for the wrong reasons". Like it or not, his is a well-read and up-to-date voice, and as long as he utilises the channels available to him (cheered on by his legion of UMNO supporters and non-UMNO fans...), he will use his "big mouth" to the maximum. "Newsworthiness" depends very much on the subject and his/her "thinking aloud", i.e. the "contents" he/she dispenses or spews forth. And if Dr Mahathir makes himself "relevant and current", the news dogs will still hound him, something that "outsiders" beyond the media fraternity seldom grasp.


I remember Dr Mahathir had on occasions in his early minister's years shown disdain for members of the press by intimating that it didn't take much to be a journalist (I stand corrected on this recollection.) -- only the ability to write, and by virtue of the fact he himself had written a lot under the name of "chedet" even in his student days left an impression without doubt that he could have gone one to become a journalist if he had wanted to... It would have been "no big deal!" if I may take this liberty to postulate on his behalf. Of course, he wrote the famous "The Malay Dilemma" way back four decades -- or it should be described as "notorious" because it was banned by then Prime Minister Abdul Rahman? -- that later formed largely the blueprint for the New Economic Policy.



Fast forward to the present, Mahathir at BUM2009 stated that when he was Prime Minister, he never instructed the MSM Editors on what to write or what to omit by "censoring" negative reports of the Mahathir administration.

In a commentary on 20 May 2009 titled
"Editors should confirm or deny Dr M's allegation of self-censorship", LINK2: CPI director Dr. Lim Teck Ghee had asked pointedly
"Who Should the Finger of Blame Be Pointed Towards"? Quoting the first few paragraphs, viz:
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claims that actually it is the Press who self-censor. This allegation – repeated several times – was perhaps the most startling revelation made by the ex-premier in his speech at the Bloggers Universe Malaysia (BUM) dialogue in Subang Jaya on May 16, 2009.
"In Malaysia, usually censorship is something that the media itself carries out. You don't have to tell them, 'Look, don't do this, don't do that'. They somehow or other have got this ability to gauge what is it that the leadership wants. So during my time, you may have noticed that there was a good lot of praise for me. It was almost as if nothing I did was wrong,” Dr Mahathir said. (Quote ends here)


As far as I know, none of the MSM Editors had reacted or responded to Dr Lim's challenge to rebut the former PM's allegations. I had earlier observed about the "disdain" Dr Mahathir holds for the members of the Fourth Estate, and the "deafening" silence of the Editors did not help in diminishing their image as painted by Mahathir's revelation. In fact, with the advance of news online-- witness the growing popularity of The Malaysian Insider and The Nut Graph -- and blogs and aggregator webportals like malaysia-today.net, some analysts are already predicting the death of mainstream media like the daily newspaper.


We have seen how ascerbic Dr Mahathir's comments could be for the targets not to his liking -- a case in point was likening Singapore Mentor Minister Lee Kuan Yew as "the little emperor from a small Middle Kingdom" after Lee's recent eight-day visit of Malaysian with no courtesy call on his former PM-counterpart, as reported by The Malaysian Insider.


But here in a bit of digression, I quote how an opposition leader, LimKit Siang (DAP MP- Ipoh Timur" had been quoted in a post by "beritasemasa" titled Lee Kuan Yew keeps corruption at bay that "I (Kit Siang) am glad that Lee gave Mahathir a wide berth. It would have left a bad taste in the mouth if he had asked to meet the bitter old man of Malaysian politics. Mahathir could have been relied upon to be obnoxious and boorish as only Mahathir knows how. His reference to Lee as the little emperor from a small Middle Kingdom is vintage Mahathir, dripping with venom and uncharitable innuendoes..."

The above is extracted just to demonstrate the "extremes" of emotion people can harbour of Mahathir. But I did gain another insight into Mahathir when Ahirudin Attan aka Rockybru as go-between in his capacity as Interim President of National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs) managed to get Dr Mahathir as that "surprise speaker"at BUM2009. And at a tea-break later, I got the impression the ex-PM could be pretty "informal"; he sounded "truly sincere" when espousing Malaysian interests (in contending with other nations as rivals in the competitive world stage...). As a newsman and also as a diplomatic press liaison officer, I had interacted "officially" with Mahathir, but on those occasions, it was quite formal and observing from a distance.



Another reason for Mahathir's constancy as a media icon deserving coverage is the popular perception that Dr Mahathir indeed is and continues to be an UMNO power to contend with behind the scenes. This power was believed to have been brought to bear on the famous ex-PM's son-in-law Khairy Jamaludin, who won the UMNO Youth contest at the recent UMNO General Assembly but was bypassed for a Cabinet post by newly-minted UMNO President Najib. No eye-brows were raised when third-placed Mukhriz Mahathir instead got a deputy minister's portfolio -- of significance too! --the International Trade and Industry. I believe -- you can beg to differ, of course! -- that it was Dr Mahathir's not so subtle remarks about the Rembau MP's corrupt practices that "checkmated" the ambitious firebrand from being appointed a minister, which traditionally goes as a prize for winning the youth wing's number one post. Hence Khairy, who was touted as "the second-most important man in Malaysia" just five years ago by an international newspaper because of his relatinship with the then prime minister by marriage, is biding his time licking his wounds. The question bandied about much, and possibly fleeting sometimes through Mahathir's mind if I may conjecture, is this: would Khairy ally himself with former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in the future to prime himself as a possible "youngest" prime minister of Malaysia? This is in the spirit of the dictum that in politics, "There are no permanent enemies or friends. Only permanent interests."

Now, sometimes Mahathir can surprise his audience, as several recent statements he made might on the surface seem "unfavourable" to the Najib and his administration. First, like he did not agree with the way the Perak State government led by Nizar Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar was overthrown by BN headed by UMNO's replacement MB Zambry Kadir. This appears to be a "contradiction" in Mahathir's political stances which he could afford to take since he's merely an ordinary UMNO member -- sacked once by Tengku Abul Rahman, resigned not so long ago in protestation against Pak Lah as PM, then rejoined recently on Najib's ascension to the nation's political throne. Second, Mahathir also remarked that there were a few members allegedly tainted by corruption who made it into Najib's refurbished Cabinet.



As is of comon knowledge, Mahathir often has gone ballistic against Singapore's leaders, resulting in the "chilly" bilateral relations, manifested in his harping on Singapore getting water from Johore at ridiculously low rates, and that his "crooked" bridge proposal was not welcomed by Singapore nor his succesor Pak nethat the republic would be able to buy sand cheaply from Johore ... the litany of Singa "sins" could go on. Indeed, until the last five years or so, it was "taboo" for Malaysians in general to benchmark Malaysia's achievements or lack of in any field against the "little red dot" south of Johore. I guess the Internet's opening up of democratic space and a more liberal younger hgeneration of Malaysians have broken the barriers. Still, the "kiasu" republic is not to be openly lauded for any achievements, though the Opposition parties have continued to highlight the fact that Singapore' gross domestic product per capita is some four times Malaysia's when both countries were on par before their split in 1967.

But Mahathir would not hesitate to salute the other Asian countries, urging Malaysians to emulate them, starting with his early "Look East" (to Japan) policy and now speaking well of mainland China, which surely has had received a helping hand from Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his advisors.



In a recent MI-Bernama report, Mahathir was quoted as saying that "the decisions of political leaders also played an important role, especially in determining whether the country progressed or regressed. “A good example can be seen in the modern and very developed Japan after its political leaders decided to emulate the European countries. This also goes for China; how under Deng Xiao Ping the country had moved towards modernisation. “Now China is the world’s major manufacturing country and it can produce almost everything. Although some say the products are of low quality, I believe they can be improved eventually,” he said. This was stated in his keynote address titled “Asian Political Leader­ship: Disciplined Thinking For Change” at the 14th International Conference on Thinking (ICOT) 2009.

Another subject Mahathir touched on referred to a "drastic and innovative" measure he took in the 1997/98 financial crisis which many businessmen and corporations believed saved Malaysia from going "down under" financially. Mahathir claimed that "Malaysia’s ability in facing the economic crisis in 1997 was due to the disciplined thinking process conducted by the government then.
“It was able to produce a device to save the country from the economic crisis," he said. (The "devise" -- the emphasis is Desi's -- referred to consisted primarily of "capital controls" and pegging the ringgit at a fixed rate to the US dollar...and this devise has been adopted/adapted in some ways by the US and several European countries in the past year following the gigantic banking collapse in those countries consequent to the subprime property crisis in the US the year before.) Relevant here is to recall that Mahathir had accused George Soros as among the rogue currency traders who caused the Asian cfinancial cris starting with Thailand. The media had a field day when Mahathir called Soros a "moron" and the latter returned the compliment with "You are a 'menace' to your country." But just last year the two met up to make up, hugged but no, no kiss!


A current issue of national interest with a Cabinet review decision to be announced tomorrow (July 1) by the current deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin is on the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English, and Mahathir was that key decision maker of that policy. It must be remembered that Mahathir grew up in a generation that inherited the "English" language, acknowledged as one of the more positive of legacies from the colonial masters, and it was the switch in the language to Bahasa Malaysia used in teaching in schools policy that took place under Mahathir's premiership that saw the decline of the English language. The once Education Minister must have realised the setbacks in the education policies often used as "political football" and experimentation by each "new" Education Minister, and today, Malaysians lament that we cannot stand proudly at interntaional stage using the English language when we once stood tall alongside the Singaporean and the Indian nationals.

Today, Mahathir finally stressed that "Malaysians had to learn the language of knowledge in order to have access to the latest discoveries or theories in Science and Technology which used English as its main language."


So like him or hate him, Mahathir will continue to make himself "relevant and current" to the media with firm and well articulated, and mostly consistent, opinions on news and views that matter although one may not agree with him. The people know him as being decisive -- a trait shown to be so lacking in his immediate successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Will Najib prove himself a capable mentee who can make himself relevant to the current challenges and demands of Malaysia in a globalised setting?

Rest assured the media will continue to spotlight Dr Mahathir. On June 30, 2009 at 10.00AM, Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be bestowed the ttile of "The Father of VISION 2020" by The Asia Pacific Brands Foundation. Later at 3.00PM he is scheduled to launch a new kid on the news online block named "Malaysian Mirror".

Maybe Mentor Minister Lee can be encouraged to start a blog soon -- be a follower once in the sprightly-at-84 Malaysian leading blogger's footsteps. At least we can all learn to build cyber bridges in the spirit of ASEAN -- the question of water and sand does not arise. And I believe both Mr LKY and Dr M make good sparring partners --their intellectual capacities are well acknowledged internationally. Thinking aloud once more -- "Will Mr LKY do us an honour by coming over as a Keynote Speaker at BUM2010?" Of course, Dr M will also speak "afterword". And without fail, the organisers can assure grand mileage for all involved as the media -- local, regional and international -- will rush in. "Another tsunami, Rockybru?"

Monday, June 29, 2009

Great Food4Thought from an Editorial

And Desi ain't gonna add any Comments except say "Bravo" to whoever is responsible for penning this at the Malaysian Insider:


Malaysians are the real agents of change — The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — Malaysians should take a bow. If the administration of Datuk Seri Najib Razak is making some reform noises — merit-based national scholarships, talk of finally abandoning quotas — it is because of the political changes effected on March 8, 2008.
Do not for a minute think that the prime minister would even bother to tweak the system if the status quo had remained.
The likes of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin are not agents of change and never will be. It is Malaysians who are the agents of change.
And the message is that Umno and Barisan Nasional only becomes less arrogant when their political survival is being questioned.
Malaysians should not be so ready to throw their support behind BN yet. Remember the lessons gleaned from being under the administration of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Too much support too quickly leads to arrogance, inertia and apathy.
If any political party becomes too dominant anywhere in the world, chances are corruption, abuse of power and the tendency to take for granted the needs of the voters will set in.
Najib is expected to make some announcements this week on more liberalisations of the economy. And while these are probably steps in the right direction if Malaysia is to become more competitive, it is also coming about because the country has no choice.
Whether it is too little too late, remains to be seen. But really, Malaysia has little choice but to open up the economy, in the face of competition from around the region and pressure from trading partners.
The bloody nose inflicted on BN last year also left the ruling coalition with little choice but to respond to an unhappy electorate. That it took more than a year and a change of leadership to finally see some reform noises being made speaks volumes of the inertia that BN suffers from.
So far the signals also appear to be mixed.
The Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia continues to stoke racial sentiments. Umno’s own leaders continue to speak of what can only be described as outdated ideas about racial identity.
Instead of being progressive, Umno leaders continue to talk about the need for “protection.”
To his credit, Najib has refrained from making racially-sensitive remarks. He has been playing the statesman role, keeping himself above it all. But the prime minister will need to get his hands dirty, roll up his sleeves and make the change in his own party before he can talk about a 1 Malaysia.
And ordinary Malaysians should now also realise how effective the power of the vote is in their hands.

Great Food4Thought from a Statesman...

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who should have been PrimeMinister had there been no betrayals by some now "eminent" defaulters amongst Malaysian politicians well endowed with Datuk, Tan Sri and other nondescript -- and mostly decorative -- titles except many sly foxes used/use/will continue to use them for adding on to their piles of illgotten wealth. Well, you can beg to disagree -- many of them do some great Serbis Nasional -- Does a Tan Sri LLT ring a belle?


From the Malaysian Insider:


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Petronas again rejects Najib’s bid to put aide on board
Petronas contributed RM74b to government coffers
Petronas profit falls
Straight-shooter Bakke lined up as new Petronas boss
Najib’s bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag
Mahathir in the dark about new Petronas chief

Petronas governance, oil and talent

By Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

JUNE 29 — There are reports of a supposed tussle of wills between the prime minister and the board of Petronas over his choice of a non-executive, independent director for the board. I find the way this discussion is being framed in the press and on the blogs a little puzzling.

To begin with, the question of a tussle of wills, so to speak, between the board of Petronas and the prime minister does not arise. The Articles of Association governing Petronas give the prime minister the absolute power to appoint and remove every single member of the board and management. The prime minister has the right to appoint or remove anyone, from the president and chief executive officer down to the company drivers. In particular, every member of the board is an appointee of the prime minister, and represents him on the board.

Therefore it is puzzling that appeals are being made for the prime minister not to interfere in the composition of the board of Petronas, when it is in fact his duty and sole prerogative to appoint members of the board who will help him in his function of overseeing the running of this wholly state-owned enterprise and seeing to the disposal of the wealth that it generates. Let us not suddenly forget the extent to which previous prime ministers directed the decisions of Petronas in service of their conceptions of the national interest.

Many discussions which raise the issue of corporate governance refer to Petronas as a GLC, and refer to governance practices proper to GLCs. But these GLCs have multiple shareholders and indeed publicly traded stock. Petronas is unlike any other GLC. It has only one shareholder: the state. Almost unique among national oil companies the world over, the entire oil and gas wealth of Malaysia is vested in Petronas. It has supervisory power over the major oil companies operating in our territory. It was not formed to privatise our oil and gas reserves but to safeguard our national sovereignty over them and to manage them more effectively as the common inheritance of all Malaysians. It is charged with ensuring our energy security.
Petronas’ sole owner is ultimately the Malaysian people. The person charged with stewardship of the people’s ownership is the prime minister, and he is accountable to the people through a democratic political process. Every member of the board is appointed by him to help him discharge this stewardship. In that situation if, as reported, any member of the board disagrees on principle with the prime minister’s decision to appoint someone, he should resign. This is the proper way for board members all appointed by a sole shareholder to express strong objection to an appointment.

Those calls being made in the name of good governance for the prime minister “not to interfere” unwittingly advocate bad governance because they are framed on a misunderstanding about the nature of Petronas and therefore about who it is accountable to, and how it should be governed.
Because Petronas is charged with the stewardship of public assets we need to understand the governance of Petronas in terms of a public process; that is to say, the political process. The Petroleum Development Act that I had the privilege to help design did not envisage Petronas becoming a mega-corporation accountable only to privileged insiders. The real framework for understanding governance in Petronas is its accountability to the people of Malaysia through the prime minister of their elected government. This could hardly be otherwise for an organisation vested with such awesome resources and responsibilities.

On scholarships and talent

When we started Petronas we could not find enough local talent. The late Tun Abdul Razak said to me: “Let’s use foreign talent only as consultants. Let’s staff Petronas with Malaysians.” I started the Petronas scholarship programme in my first year as chairman. We set aside 3,000 scholarships a year. In that first year we only managed to give out 1,000. Our intention was to flood Malaysia with returning talent, for whatever industry or sector. The scholars were not bonded, except where they had skills essential to Petronas such as geophysics or petroleum engineering. Understanding our role as custodians of the greatest single source of the people’s wealth, we deliberately pursued a broad rather than narrow scholarship programme to serve the national interest by building its human capital. So we gave out scholarships in fields of study as far from Petronas’ direct interests as architecture and medicine.

We did not bond these scholars. I wonder if people understand the spirit of the Petronas scholarships when they are so quick to stigmatise a young person of ability with the title “scholarship defaulter.”

We should try to raise our level of public debate above the gutter of name-calling, racial slurs and the assumption of guilt by association. We should stop looking under our beds for ghosts and shadowy conspiracies. I’m disappointed to find such mean-spirited resentment of talent and of youth precisely when we desperately need those two ingredients in and around government. In our focus on the excesses of certain young people, we may have forgotten the excesses of the old and the decrepit.

I started by talking about the reported tussle between the PM and the board of Petronas. But this is a more real and consequential tussle involving a resource more valuable even than our oil and gas reserves: our people. There is now a generational struggle, in every political party, throughout the civil service, and wherever politics rather than merit governs promotions and appointments, between the young of this demographically very young country and self-interested incumbents blocking their rise with the Catch-22 argument that they are too inexperienced. How else will they gain that experience than by taking up those responsibilities?
We face a generational loss that will destroy our future if we continue to discourage talented and highly educated Malaysians in their thirties and forties from taking up key roles in our society.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Petronas profits rise, pump prices rise...

Petronas profits fall, pump prices also will rise soon...

Either way, you consumers are suckled. To the top people at the National Oil Corporation, the oil revenues/profits are for them to mainly enjoy, NOT for the Rakyat/citizens at large whose trust has been emplaced on these suckers and UMNO chieftains with the right cables who continue to plunder...

Does it really matter to the ordinary ciizen Joe like you and me whether Petronas achieved super huge profits like last Financial Year (and the immediate two years too?), and now currently reporting declining profits? Not one positive byte. When world oil pices rose, the Government lamented the subsidy element had risen, therefore pump prices had to be RAISED.

When world oil prices fell/are falling as now, the Government laments the Petronas' profits would fall, and therefore they might have to raise pump prices to make up for the shortfall in revenues accruing to the government's coffers.

"Heads you win, tails I lose." (This is my initial projection based on the previous lessons of Petronas-cum-Government followup actions after Petronas' annual announcement of financials. I will be happy to be proven wrong this time around, and God bless my fellow Malaysians it's the beginning of rolling good times ahead...This point was ADDED @6.25PM June 26, 2009 ~~ YLChong)

I am going to bed with a curse silently creeping stealthily onto my lips praying that those vultures in charge of my country's rich resourc would have just desserts after enjoying the free lunches on the tax-payers' behalf...
May God save us from these trustees,
I:
S:
A:
men.

From the Malaysian Inisder:



Petronas profit falls
UPDATED
By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — National oil company Petronas’s net profit declined by 13.9 per cent due to low oil prices and high production costs.
The group reported RM52.5 billion in net profit compared with RM61 billion the previous year.
Petronas CEO and president Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican does not expect oil prices, currently around US$50 a barrel compared with a high of over US$140 last year, to improve any time soon.
"Fundamentals do not justify the prospect of high prices," he told the media during a briefing on the group's financial results.
"Demand is down and spare capacity has increased. My own opinion is that the current prices are due to speculative trading and the depreciation of the US dollar. We are still in a low price and high-cost environment till the global economy improves."
The Petronas group's revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the previous year.
"Our performance is on par with other major and national oil companies," said Hassan.
Looking forward, the company, one of the most profitable in Asia, expects to invest about US$12 billion (RM42 billion) this year of which 60 per cent will be to develop domestic upstream and downstream capabilities and the rest to develop new international hydrocarbon reserves.
It will also look to bring down costs by as much as 30 per cent to help its bottom line.
"We will talk to our contractors to bring down costs," said Hassan.
He added that the company's cash position is "very comfortable" but does not rule out raising funds via borrowings due to attractive interest rates.

Related ArticlesPetronas contributed RM74b to government coffers Straight-shooter Bakke lined up as new Petronas boss Najib’s bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag Mahathir in the dark about new Petronas chief MIDF keeps ‘buy’ call on Kencana Petronas to buy LNG from Queensland Petronas partner Santos to lock in LNG sales deals by year end Malaysia’s oil output falls to 550,000 bpd

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UPDATEd @6.25PM, June 26, 2009~~~~~~~

From malaysia-today.net:

Time for Najib to come clean on Petronas, Omar Mustapha



Posted by admin
Friday, 26 June 2009 17:16

Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.

By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan

Pakatan Rakyat leader Lim Kit Siang has asked Prime Minister Najib Razak to issue a clarification to Parliament on various issues related to national oil firm Petronas, including his insistence on appointing “defaulter Omar Mustapha” as director.
The DAP veteran also called for the urgent installation of a transparent system of accountability so that oil wealth accumulated by the firm was protected for future generations and not looted nor lost through high-level corruption.
“Recently, what is making waves in Petronas and well-informed local circles and reported internationally, though completely swept under the carpet by the local mainstream media, is the repeated attempts by Najib to force the appointment of his aide Omar Mustapha as director of Petronas,” said Kit Siang in his blog.
“Najib should explain to Parliament why he is insisting on appointing a Petronas loan defaulter as a director of Petronas, as the widespread objections to Omar’s appointment to the Petronas, now taken up by the Board, is fully justified and valid.”
Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
“Earlier, the name of former Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar had been bruited as the likely new Petronas CEO. In the last few days, another name has emerged: Mohd Bakke Salleh, the Felda Holdings group managing director, and that he is to understudy Hassan until the present Petronas CEO’s retirement next February,” said Kit Siang, who is also the Ipoh Timur MP.
“Although the final decision of the new Petronas CEO rests with the Prime Minister, MPs from both sides of the divide should be given the opportunity to give their views on the possible candidates.”
Government increasingly dependent on Petronas, but how long will the oil last
Kit Siang also expressed concern about the drop in profit reported by the oil firm on the back of lower global crude prices and higher production costs.
“Petronas plays a critical and strategic role in the public finances of the country, as Petronas paid out to the government RM74 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2009 compared with RM61.6 billion the previous year, an increase of 20.1 per cent.
“Parliamentarians, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, must also be given regular updates of Malaysia’s only company on Fortune 500, especially as Petronas has just reported a net profit decline by 13.9 per cent,” he added.
On Thursday, Petronas had reported RM52.5 billion in net profit for the financial year ending March 31, 2009, compared with RM61 billion previously although revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the year before.
Its contributions to the government in the form of dividends, taxes and royalty had amounted to RM72.5 billion or 45 per cent of federal government revenue in the 2008 calendar year.
As such, Kit Siang said it was vital to set up a transparent system of reporting to ensure that wealth accumulated by Petronas was fully protected and accounted for to prevent funds from being siphoned out through corruption.
“This is a very high figure reflecting the government’s heavy dependence on oil revenue, a situation which may not be sustainable or ideal for a country trying to develop an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
“Petronas represents the biggest chink in the government’s armour in its claim of accountability, transparency and good governance as the national oil corporation as presently constituted is totally not accountable to Parliament! There is no annual Petronas report to Parliament.
“If Najib is sincere in his motto of “1Malaysia, People First. Performance Now”, he should present to Parliament on Monday his proposal for a new regime of Petronas accountability to Parliament.so that there is meaningful monitoring and accounting of the petro-ringgit in Parliament,” the veteran leader said.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

CSM: Calling Penang Bloggers...

Forum by eLawyer - Exabytes
Announcement: Penang Bloggers & Law Forum 2009


Conference/Seminar
Written by eLawyer
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 09:30

Date: 27 June 2009Time: 9.00am – 12.30pmFees: F.O.C.Venue: Dewan Kuliah G31, Pusat Pengajian Sains Komputer, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang Campus (Landmark Masjid USM).
Organiser: www.eLawyer.com.myThis event is exclusively sponsored by www.exabytes.com.my - the No.1 web hosting company in MalaysiaTopic 1: Bloggers & Copyrights LawsTopic 2: Bloggers & Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1998 (MCMC Act) and rules and guidelines of MCMCTopic 3: Bloggers & Defamation LawRegistration: The admission to this Forum is FREE. However, due to limited seat, please R.S.V.P by sending your details (Name, Tel, Email, Occupation and Company/School) to

forum@elawyer.com.my


before 24 June 2009 or call 03-2782 5399 for more information.This event is supported by USM and Penang Bar Committee. It is open to anyone. Please visit http://www.elawyer.com.my/blog/elawyer-exabytes-penang-bloggers-law-forum-2009/ for more information.
(Richard Loh)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Tun Dr Mahathir's "advisory" role in Petronas...

Here's another tongue-in-cheek ***comment which is truly trade-marked Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Who says the Malaysian ex-PM (for 22 years he was CEO of NegaraKu, a record unlikely to be surpassed...) only has "powers" to advise and not be listened to/obeyed? He has achieved a temporary victory -- let's see if the current PM has the guts/balls to reduce Dr Mahathir's role as a local adviser -- which implies only for formality sake, don't issue any orders-lah! --as opposed to the British residents of then Malaya pre-Independence, whose word was a general's command. (I heard this from the horse's mouth at a dialogue Dr Mahathir had with a large gathering of his supporters and Bloggers at Peradan Leadership Foundation, Putrajaya some timeback...).

So enjoy the latest bit/byte of Dr Mahathir's wit/sarcasm/humour...

From the Malaysian Insider, sourced from The Staits Times (Singapore... NOT Malaysian!:(


;">
Related Articles


Mahathir in the dark about new Petronas chief
Najib’s bid to put aide on Petronas board hits snag

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bid to appoint his key aide as a director of Petronas is being resisted by the board and could put the Premier at odds with the national oil corporation's influential adviser, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
According to senior government officials, the board of directors of Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) raised reservations over the proposal to appoint Omar Mustapha at its monthly meeting last month.
Omar is one of the premier's closest political confidants.
The reservations were made on the grounds that he had defaulted on his scholarship loan agreement with Petronas two decades ago.
Najib, however, is determined to have Omar appointed as a director. He ordered the Petronas board to review its position over the appointment at a meeting this week, the government officials said.
Petronas officials have declined comment, and Omar could not be reached.
Dr Mahathir, who government officials said has been briefed about the situation, told The Straits Times yesterday ***that it was Najib's prerogative as Premier to “appoint a man who failed to honour his obligation to Petronas when he was given a scholarship by it”.
“Generally, I would say that it is not a good thing to appoint such a person,” he said in a written response.
Najib's office did not respond to requests for comments.
Petronas, Malaysia's only company on the Fortune 500 listing of the world's most profitable companies, is considered to be the country's most efficiently managed state-owned corporation.
Incorporated in August 1974, the corporation has firmly established itself as a global energy player over the last two decades. It currently operates in over 30 countries, and its overseas operations, including exports, account for more than 75 per cent of its revenue.
Many oil industry experts and bankers credit the oil company's phenomenal growth to the government's hands-off approach to the running of the oil corporation.
Omar, 38, has emerged as one of the closest political confidants of Najib and is often tapped for advice on economic and financial matters.
+++“A politician in Petronas may have other agenda which may or may not be in keeping with the national interest,” Dr Mahathir said in his comments to The Straits Times.
He added: “I think it is far better if no politician is allowed to interfere with commercial decisions which may not be good for the corporation.”
Positions on the board of Petronas and its subsidiary companies have traditionally been reserved for very senior civil servants and prominent private sector personalities.
Omar graduated from Oxford on a scholarship from Petronas in the mid-1990s and worked briefly with the national oil corporation and another government-linked corporation.
He then joined McKinsey & Co, where he worked for the international consulting company in London and Malaysia.
He left McKinsey in early 2002 to set up his own consultancy firm called Ethos with several close friends. Two years later, he was tapped by Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister, to become his special officer.
Government officials familiar with Omar's proposed appointment to the board of Petronas said that the national oil corporation takes a firm view against scholarship defaulters.
Omar did not complete the required number of years of service with the oil corporation or a related government agency as stipulated in his scholarship agreement. — The Straits Times

DESIDERATA: Wrt +++“A politician in Petronas may have other agenda which may or may not be in keeping with the national interest,” Dr Mahathir said in his comments to The Straits Times...

Desi's Thinking Aloud is that the good doctor could be thinking aloud also about the rumours he heard, which I also heard, about a new person coming on board Petronas as Chairman to replace Tan Sri Hassan Merican. I had identified the guy as former minister Syed Hamid Albar but I am just a messenger, not an adviser -- local, British or otherVice. So take my sharing with a pinch of saly. Okay 2 pinches, since Dr Mahathir's eference was also what he had "heard"... sour grapes, anywan?

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Friends, Devils and Bustards...

This is both a fun and serious post mainly in Verse, humour yet terse
There's some DDC, which for newcomers hear/here, stands for Da Desi Code
An endearment bestowed on YL by the hoRst/host/hostess of allofhelen.blogspot.com
I refer to her enduring charm to the aweofhelen, BC or AD or DC, calm or storm
Come on board blogswagon, jest/just to record your thoughts while still aloud/allowed
Baddder/better steal/still, engage Desi if you can
You may yet become his/her/in-between fan:)

To be cuntinu'e/continued...

GLOSSARY: Some DDC cases or *near examples are italics and bolded thus, do you *C as Desi, even *wit' wan/one eye closed?

*near or close examples because C is mainly in the realm of SMS usage, wit' is short (desideratum as oposed to this writer's namenurse... for wit which Desi tries to b'hold)

SIDEdish:

Since none of you took up my standing/sitting offer to join Desi for CON BF just now, I'm ta-pau-ing a sideDISH as entree; as part of my altruistic mission in PR-ing Blogging, I often trumpet that one luxury to indulge in at Blogswagon is to DIGRESS as much/mush as the host wants... so indulge Desi, can? Can't/cu't you say? You think Desi cares?!

From The Star online kitchen~~

Sunday June 21, 2009
Dr M: I’ve heard talk of a new Petronas chief

IPOH: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad acknowledged that he had heard talk of Tan Sri Hassan Merican being replaced as Petronas chairman, but he did not know how far it was true.
As Petronas advisor, Dr Mahathir said he was without executive powers and such appointments came under the purview of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Asked for his opinion whether it was right to replace Hassan who had proven his capabilities, he said:
“Maybe the new candidate is better and is capable in reaping more profits for the company. How do we know?”
Speaking to reporters yesterday after opening the annual general meeting of Gagasan Melayu Perak, Dr Mahathir took a swipe at Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s recent eight-day visit to Malaysia.
“Why should we entertain him? Do you think he will entertain us when we go to Singapore?” he asked, adding that Lee could meet “two or three people by the roadside.”

DESIDERATA: At a forum irganised by Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya,Desi squuezed in a knotty Q to Tun Dr Mahathir about PETRONAS revenues/profits and whether there was a chance of them being syphoned off... In his usual wit/sarcasm/compliment, Dr Mahathir said he could not affirm or deny this was probable...ie billions being syphoned off Petronas, the nationaloil corporation held in trust on behalf of the Rakyat.

Dr Mahathir said he was just an adviser not of the olde Britsih Adviser whose position came along with power and authority while Dr M's humble post was merely "to advise" and NOT necessarily followed by the Petronas board contrasted with the colonialist resident's command was to be executed to the last letter or thy head be axed-steamed-rolled!

I was waiting for the vacancy of Chairman to be advertised since as a citizen of NegaraKu, I stand an even 1-26million chance in getting that humble job subservient to the Adviser. Anyone here can help Desi pull some tea?

Frankly, Dr Mahathir must have heard like Desi that former minister Syed Hamid Albar was ordained for the Chair. You don't know Hamid? Malaysians, mudah lupa eh? He of the "We put her under ISA detention for her own safety!" fame ona reporter from Penang telling the truth of a staryer UMNO chieftain... and of the "Hey, we closed down a police pondon in Chow Kit because the officers themselves were not sure of their own security!" fame2. Like my own fame3 -lah -- Desi was-lah for the mightier BUM07, 08 and 09 chairs because Zorro and Rocky didn't want the rickety 08 and 09's -- you can now send your resume to All-Blogs house for BUM2010 chair, Ican help wit' Three legs if you are desperate enough to buy Desi endless rounds of tehtarik. C U!-- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Bloggers must keep themselves informed of their domain's rights

Desiderata was sleepless in Seremban because Blogosphere was very much on his mind lately. Because the National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs) headed by Sdr Ahirudin Attan aka Rockybru has yet to obtain its registration since its first election of an Interim Committee two years ago, Desi had to take upon himself the initiative to organise Bloggers Universe Malaysia (BUM) annuals, namely BUM2008 and the recent BUM2009 events; the inaugural BUM2007 was already underway in the earlymonths of 2007 even as Rocky and Malaysian "pioneer" Jeff Ooi laid the grounds for All-Blogs' birth. (Of course, since March 8, 2008 MP for Jelutong Jeff has had less time for Blogging activities but he continued to lend firm support for BUM without hesitation.)

I had dared to proceed with organising BUM2009 because of a close knit group of Bloggers who met with me informally to attend what I had termed G7 Meetings, (named cheekily after the developed nations' conferences!) later supported by sevral All-Blogs interim committee members, especially Rockybru and his deputy Jeff Ooi, and we "enjoy" a mutual understanding that we will stand united because we are passionate about promoting Blogging and Bloggers' welfare in NegaraKu, across colour, creed, gender and age, and especially partisan political affiliations. This was/is/will be reflected as much as possible in most of the Speakers invited to take part as panel members I believe manisfested at all THREE BUM annual gatherings thus far -- within the constraints of time and resources we were working under, of course (and this I share as BUM Organising Committee chairman ...).

As I said at the beginning, I was "sleepless" in Seremban recent days because the last few times I communicated with Rockybru, he seemed intent on Desi sitting on the Chair of BUM2010 OC (Yes, the show will go on!...), but I told him I am reluctant. YL Chong must find more time for his journalism work, lending his hobby hours to Blogging and hopefully, help progress All-Blogs AFTER it obtains its registartion SOON, I assured Rockybru, adding that he has been doing a "fine" job, which many/few/ none of other SoPo Bloggers may agree/disagree with... it's a democratic universe at BUM. I am not inclined to "hog" the OC chair but assure I will lend my support to whoever takes over from next year (Yes, I did indicate to Sdr Bernard Khoo aka Zorro after BUM2008 that ideally he should chair BUM2009, but that was not to be ... it's another story to tell maybe at an campfire when we both are inclined to meet at Port Dickson sharing ghost stories...Zorro and his lovely "CathyZJones"...?)

I am initiating another G7 gathering of like-minded Sopo Bloggers to meet at the National Press Club, Jalan Tangsi, Kuala Lumpur from 8.30PM tomorrow Friday June 19, 2009 -- very informal, and even if you run late, I believe NPC President Rocky won't mind if you buy the next round of beers or tehtarik... (Frankly, the last time I stepped into the NPC clubhouse was some three years ago, I can't remmeber for the semi-life of me if they serve pulled (or pushed:( tea at NPC. Thinking Allowed and Aloud ala Jeff001 -- Maybe I'd tapau some from Lingam's, but it's not for the CJ, OK!

Meanwhile, till we meet again, I share this not-so-assuring item plucked from Malaysia Today:

Bloggers have no right to privacy says British court



Posted by admin
Thursday, 18 June 2009 06:53

(Yahoo! News UK) The High Court in London has ruled that bloggers have no right to privacy under British law since blogging is essentially a public rather than a private activity.

The case was brought by The Times newspaper after it discovered the identity of a blogger in the police service who wrote the popular NightJack web page, which was awarded the Orwell Prize for political writing in April.

The author, Richard Horton, a detective constable with Lancashire Constabulary, had sought an injunction to stop the paper from releasing his name but his application was denied.

It would seem to be quite legitimate for the public to be told who it was who was choosing to make, in some instances quite serious criticisms of police activities and, if it be the case, that frequent infringements of police discipline regulations were taking place, said Mr Justice Eady, The Times reports.

I do not accept that it is part of the courts function to protect police officers who are, or think they may be, acting in breach of police discipline regulations from coming to the attention of their superiors.

The NightJack blog was very popular with the reading public, getting up to half a million hits a week. Horton has now deleted the blog and received a written warning from his superiors.
The case will have a chilling effect on other workplace blogs, since the lack of any expectation of privacy will cause some to abandon their blogs.

Thousands of regular bloggers . . . would be horrified to think that the law would do nothing to protect their anonymity if someone carried out the necessary detective work and sought to unmask them, said Hugh Tomlinson, QC, for Mr Horton.

The police force has supplied a number of authors of popular blogs, so much so that the forces have intro duced guidelines on blogging aimed at limiting what can be said by officers on the beat.

CONTRAST the above report with the following at another workplace rcently undergoing some "reformasi"?...~~ YL, Desi

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Enter the Malay Mail bloggers
http://rockybru.com.my/2009/06/enter-malay-mail-bloggers.html

By Ahirudin Attan aka Rockybru

First day back at the Mail, first visitors. I had a meeting with the reporters and editors in the afternoon.
Gave them their first two assignments:
1. Buy a pair of jeansI'm allowing jeans in the office. The idea is for them to be relaxed. Feel free and liberated. But I also reminded the reporters that there are places, such as the Parliament and the courts, where jeans aren't allowed. Yes, we are going to promote free press but like jeans and everything else in life, there are limits to what we can do.
2. Start a blog
Only a handful of the reporters have blogs, I learnt during the meeting. So with great pleasure it was that I gave all the Malay Mail reporters, sub-editors, and editors one week to start their blogs. They can blog about anything at all - politics, football, cosmetics, pets, their work, their editors, etc.
Why blogs? I want them to feel the freedom of writing blogs. And the responsibility of moderating comments, testing the limits, and engaging others in useful discourse.And as the oldest newspaper in Malaysia goes on-line - which is what I plan to do with the 113-year old paper - the journalists working with the paper need to know what makes blogs and bloggers tick, and what the New Media is all about.
The Mail has about a hundred staff.After the meeting, I received my first visitors at the Malay Mail. These two young ladies are from India and in the country to do a film project on Internet censorship and blogging. They will also interview Nathaniel Tan and YB Elizabeth Wong for the project.
at 8:46 PM

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Blogswagon Interruptus -- Some Awakening...(3)

This report from The Malaysian Insider paints a classic picture of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at his best in delivering back-handed compliments; his strong command of the colonial master's language called English enables him to use the weapon sharper than a rapier to rip off some VVIP flesh in the raw plus more. I enjoy the wit, sarcasm and slingshots a lot, but none of the subjects who were the targets in the most current ex-PM's diatribes have returned the favours. Yes, sometimes, maybe, maintaining "elegant" silence is the best defence if no offence is taken. Of course the immediate past PM was trained in diplomacy having once served as Foreign Minister of Malaysia, and LKY is a "mentor" not for nothing. I would have enjoyed being one privileged "mentee", but IDesi ain't no VIP, what more double "V" eh!

Such colourful figures with a colourless one squeezed in between are a dying species. Maybe I have a suggestion: Sdr Pak Lah should start a blog ... if he can't riposte in similar style as his immediate predecessor, there is an army of mercenary writers waiting in th wings/shadows of the PWTC Stage. Desiderata may be hidden among the legion/legend.

Dr M rails against ‘little Emperor’ Kuan Yew
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/29570-dr-m-rails-against-little-emperor-kuan-yew-


If there is any subject, aside from his predecessor, guaranteed to set Dr Mahathir off on a rant, it's Lee Kuan Yew. - File picture by Choo Choy MayKUALA LUMPUR, June 15 – With no love lost between him and Lee Kuan Yew, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad pulled no punches today and called the Singapore leader “a little Emperor … of a tiny Middle Kingdom” lecturing Malaysian leaders on how to run the country in his recent “triumphant visit to Malaysia”.
The longest-serving Malaysian prime minister also took a swipe at his successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, calling him “the great 5th Prime Minister” who had decided not to build a new bridge or settle other outstanding issues with the island republic when Johoreans said they did not want to sell sand to Singapore for its reclamation works.
“During Lee Kuan Yew’s triumphant visit to Malaysia, he made it known to the Malaysian supplicants that Singapore regards the lands within 6,000 miles radius of Singapore as its hinterland. This includes Beijing and Tokyo and, of course, Malaysia,” Dr Mahathir said in posting at his popular www.chedet.cc.
He did not meet Kuan Yew, who is Singapore’s longest-serving prime minister, during the latter’s eight-day visit to Malaysia which ended today. The two leaders had an acrimonious relationship while in power.
“Of course this self-deluding perception places Singapore at the centre of a vast region. It is therefore the latter day Middle Kingdom. The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the interest of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom,” he added.
Dr Mahathir pointed out Kuan Yew’s explanation that Singapore Chinese would control the “Iskandar whatever” was not justified as Malays could work there, sarcastically saying “It is good to know that Malays can also work in their own country. I wonder as what? Maybe someone should make a study of the Malays of Singapore just to know what it is like to be a Malay minority in their own country”
He has been a long-term critic of the Iskandar development corridor launched by Abdullah three years ago, saying Singapore would dominate Malaysian territory, which is modelled on the fast-growing Shenzen region across Hong Kong.

Lee Kuan Yew meeting Perak's Sultan Azlan Shah while in Ipoh recently.Dr Mahathir also picked up his pet peeve about the price of raw water being sold to Singapore at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons under two agreements made in the 1960s.
“Lee says it was absurd for the former Prime Minister of hinterland Malaysia to ask to increase it to RM8 per 1,000 gallons. I don’t know where he got this. Some Malaysian officers did suggest this figure but we were ready to bargain and maybe settle for RM3.
“And why not? Johor sells raw water to Malacca for 30 sen, 1,000% higher than to Singapore. And Malacca is, I believe, a part of Malaysia! Some Malaysians may see the irony of this,” he added.
Reserving some vitriol for his favourite whipping boy, Abdullah, Dr Mahathir said, “The great 5th Prime Minister has decided that since the people of Johor did not want to sell sand to Singapore, Malaysia would not build any bridge, straight or crooked, or negotiate and settle the other issues like the Central Provident Fund, the Railway land.
“Maybe the 5th Prime Minister thinks he is punishing Singapore. Actually he is giving Singapore what its wants, including the 3 sen per 1,000 gallons water until 2060. Think of how many grains of nasi lemak we can buy with 3 sen in 2060. Imagine what 1,000 gallons will earn for Singapore at that time. Can’t think of a more astute PM for Malaysia,” he added
He also made a stinging observation about Kuan Yew’s visit to Kuala Lumpur, Seremban, Ipoh, Penang, Kota Bharu and Kuantan with his delegation in the past week.
“All those who met the great man from the little country were lectured on how Malaysia should be run. We should not have any more problems now. We have been told the direction to take. MCA must help Umno to win because Singapore does not want an Islamic party like PAS to win. We must ensure this.
“Sorry, PAS. Working with the DAP, the offspring of PAP has not endeared you to Mr Lee,” he wrote.
But he promised this was not the end of his diatribe against Kuan Yew.
“I have a lot more to say about this little Emperor but I will reserve it for later,” Dr Mahathir vowed.


*****************************************

UPDATEd: published by The Malaysian Insider

Soros praises HK for blocking his dollar ‘attacks’

HONG KONG, June 16 — Billionaire financier George Soros has praised the Hong Kong government for thwarting his attempts to undermine the local currency and stock market in 1998 but maintained he had every right to do so.
Soros, criticised as being a predatory speculator whose highly profitable currency attacks in 1997 were blamed for destroying the Thai and Malaysian economies, credited the Hong Kong administration for intervening in the local stock and futures markets during the Asian financial crisis. But he remained unapologetic about his actions.
The financier made his comments to China Central Television while in Shanghai on Sunday to give a speech at Fudan University.
"They actually did a very good job defending the Hong Kong dollar, so they deserve credit. And my attack, if you call it that, was without success.
"I don't feel any sense of guilt ... There is nothing wrong about it. This is a point people have difficulty understanding because, in speculating in the financial markets, I do so according to the rules that prevail."
Hungarian-born Soros' actions in 1997 led to him being described as "a villain and a moron" by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Soros' latest comments mirror those he made during a visit to Hong Kong in 2001, when he said local monetary authorities did "a very good job when they intervened to arrest the collapse of the Hong Kong market" and that the subsequent damage to the government's laissez-faire reputation was worth it.
The government was generally perceived to have won the battle with speculators after then-financial secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen went on an unprecedented HK$118 billion stock-buying spree to defend the currency peg in August 1998.
The administration justified its actions by saying hedge funds such as Soros' Quantum Fund were manipulating markets by dumping the Hong Kong dollar while taking short positions on the stock and futures markets.
Hedge funds profit in a falling market by shorting stocks, which allows them to sell borrowed stocks and buy them back at a lower price.
The Quantum Fund was set up in 1969 and started to experiment with currency manipulation. The fund made money from the devaluation of the Thai baht in July 1997 by betting on falling stock prices. The attack on the Hong Kong dollar raised fears the government would have to break the peg to the US dollar.
Sales of large quantities of the local currency flooded Hong Kong with cash and pushed up interest rates as investors sought a higher rate of return. This caused capital to flow from equities to interest-bearing investments and bank deposits as investors abandoned stocks.
Had the government failed to intervene or been unsuccessful in its buying spree, hedge funds that had bet on falling stock and futures markets would have reaped huge gains. — South China Morning Post

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Believe it or not-- I do believe

In small bundles of joy
Making me blissful again


In small tokens of appreciation
Making me see my true worthy self again

In small blessings
Making me realise they all add up

To make me almost wholesome
And I make new friends who extend
little doses of hospitality
at the least expected moments
And a helping hand makes me joyful again

A "thank you" whispered
By a sick friend in need
You hold out your hand
And it's a magic wand of appreciation
Ovecomes all misunderstandings
Because we reach out in appreciation

Of a human touch
In the clasp of hands
In quiet appreciation of a friendship
Tested by time and ageining hearts

We remain joyful
For little blessings
From one friend
Reciprocated
Appreciated
Blessed.


Desiderata At almost midnight
Sunday June 14, 2009

» Tom Jones

I believe for every drop of rain that falls
A flower grows,
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night
A candle glows,
I believe for everyone who goes astray,
Someone will come to show the way,
I believe, I believe.

I believe above the storm the smallest prayer
Will still be heard,
I believe that someone in the great somewhere
Hears every word,
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry,
Or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why,
I believe.

Every time I hear a newborn baby cry,
Or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why,
I believe.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Blogswagon Interruptus -- Some Awakening (2)

Another interruption because here's a Player on the International Stage who Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once called a "moron" to be riposted by an equally magnificent M-word,"Menace". It's relevant to my planned series on the former PM because whether one likes it or not, Dr Mahathir plummeted tiny Malaysia onto the world stage in his own ways. Yes, it was reported that one of Dr M's favourite numbers is Olde Blue Eyes' "MY WAY". It would have been fun-D raising if Dr M and Georgy boy Soros had duted in their version of MW when they hugged and made up. Normally "hug and kiss" go together in English usage metaphorically speaking, but it's potentially dangerous to use, however relevant, when there's yet another public figure involved in another scenario purportedly making him "unfit" for the post of prime minister, who would be another protagonist inevitably cropping up when discussing about Dr M. All the world's a stage...and the Players come in all sizes and of different hues and political faiths, often in a state of flux. As they say, the only constants in life are Change and Death.


*******************************
From The Malaysian Insider:

;">
George Soros on the attack
LONDON, June 13 — Credit default swaps are “instruments of destruction” that should be outlawed as the world looks to re-regulate the global financial system in the wake of last year’s credit crisis, the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros said yesterday.
Soros, the Hungarian-born US fund manager, said that the swaps were ‘truly toxic’, grossly distorting risk, encouraging speculation and with the potential bring ruin on financial institutions and companies. Citing the recent bankruptcy of General Motors in America, Soros said that some bondholders had stood to gain more from bankruptcy than re-organisation as a result of their CDS positions.
“It’s like buying life insurance on someone else’s life and owning a licence to kill him,” he said of the swaps, which pay the buyer face value if a borrower defaults, in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent.
In remarks to a meeting of international bankers and financiers in Beijing, Soros set out his vision for a new regulatory system for global finance that would require regulators to intervene to stop the kind of credit and asset bubbles which precipitated last year’s banking crisis.
The crisis had forced governments to put the global banking system on ‘life support’ in a crisis whose nearest parallel was the Great Depression of the 1930s, he told the Institute of International Finance, an association representing 370 international financial institutions.
Although warning against the tendency to over-regulate markets in the wake of the crisis, Soros proposed three principles that should guide regulators as they seek to build systems that will prevent a repetition of events.
Firstly, regulators must overcome their previous tendencies to what Soros called ‘market fundamentalism’ and take responsibility for identifying and correcting asset, credit and equity bubbles before they caused undue damage.
He acknowledged that regulators must accept this assignment “knowing full well that they are bound to get it wrong” but that once engaged in the process they would learn from their mistakes and get better through a ‘process of trial and error’.
Secondly Soros argued for flexible credit controls that would react to market mood-swings, requiring, for example, requiring mortgage lenders to adjust loan-to-value ratios on residential mortgages in order to forestall property bubbles.
Soros cited the 2001 dotcom equities bubble as an example of where, in his vision for a re-regulated global financial system, regulators would have stepped in to cool the market by freezing new share issues.
Lastly, Soros said that the practice of securitizing bank assets had greatly added to systemic risk and must now come under tighter controls, including requiring banks to limit proprietary trading to their own assets in order to protect depositors.
“Banks must use less leveraging and accept risk on their investments, they should not be allowed to speculate on their own account with other people’s money,” he added.
“This may push proprietary trading out of banks and into hedge funds which is probably where they belong.”
Earlier in the week while on a tour of Shanghai, Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, that he believed China would grow faster than many analysts were predicting.
“Generally speaking, I think that we have a bad market era. But I think China could be an exception. I am not in the position to say, but I think in some ways, China is better situated than most of the countries to have a last state recovery. So I have more optimism in China than about other markets.” – Daily Telegraph



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George Soros on the attack
LONDON, June 13 — Credit default swaps are “instruments of destruction” that should be outlawed as the world looks to re-regulate the global financial system in the wake of last year’s credit crisis, the billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros said yesterday.
Soros, the Hungarian-born US fund manager, said that the swaps were ‘truly toxic’, grossly distorting risk, encouraging speculation and with the potential bring ruin on financial institutions and companies. Citing the recent bankruptcy of General Motors in America, Soros said that some bondholders had stood to gain more from bankruptcy than re-organisation as a result of their CDS positions.
“It’s like buying life insurance on someone else’s life and owning a licence to kill him,” he said of the swaps, which pay the buyer face value if a borrower defaults, in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent.
In remarks to a meeting of international bankers and financiers in Beijing, Soros set out his vision for a new regulatory system for global finance that would require regulators to intervene to stop the kind of credit and asset bubbles which precipitated last year’s banking crisis.
The crisis had forced governments to put the global banking system on ‘life support’ in a crisis whose nearest parallel was the Great Depression of the 1930s, he told the Institute of International Finance, an association representing 370 international financial institutions.
Although warning against the tendency to over-regulate markets in the wake of the crisis, Soros proposed three principles that should guide regulators as they seek to build systems that will prevent a repetition of events.
Firstly, regulators must overcome their previous tendencies to what Soros called ‘market fundamentalism’ and take responsibility for identifying and correcting asset, credit and equity bubbles before they caused undue damage.
He acknowledged that regulators must accept this assignment “knowing full well that they are bound to get it wrong” but that once engaged in the process they would learn from their mistakes and get better through a ‘process of trial and error’.
Secondly Soros argued for flexible credit controls that would react to market mood-swings, requiring, for example, requiring mortgage lenders to adjust loan-to-value ratios on residential mortgages in order to forestall property bubbles.
Soros cited the 2001 dotcom equities bubble as an example of where, in his vision for a re-regulated global financial system, regulators would have stepped in to cool the market by freezing new share issues.
Lastly, Soros said that the practice of securitizing bank assets had greatly added to systemic risk and must now come under tighter controls, including requiring banks to limit proprietary trading to their own assets in order to protect depositors.
“Banks must use less leveraging and accept risk on their investments, they should not be allowed to speculate on their own account with other people’s money,” he added.
“This may push proprietary trading out of banks and into hedge funds which is probably where they belong.”
Earlier in the week while on a tour of Shanghai, Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, told the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, that he believed China would grow faster than many analysts were predicting.
“Generally speaking, I think that we have a bad market era. But I think China could be an exception. I am not in the position to say, but I think in some ways, China is better situated than most of the countries to have a last state recovery. So I have more optimism in China than about other markets.” – Daily Telegraph

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Blogswagon Interruptus -- Some Awakening...

Desiderata has been somewhat concerned, and seemed to be caught in a whirlwind of confusion and a form of paralysis in blogging -- yet educational on reflection -- that affects me personally in an emotional way because I do interact with some of the key players on the stage I call Blogswagon. In some ways the Players demonstrated by certain events in the infant world of Malaysian Bloggers show signs of parallelism with the world of Politics and Politicians quite often regarded with contempt (as revealed in a recent survey which in gist listed Politicians as deemed to be the "most corrupt" group in society and hence to be least trusted among the various "professions/professionals in the community...). I have indeed arrived at the conclusion that as in politics, the dictum that "There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, only permanent interests" holds true also in blogosphere in a "general" way. (Personally, I deem to have acquired some companions I deem as "friends" along the four-year-old Blogging journey.)

Today I am second time interrupting my much "postponed" two or three-parters on fromer Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the first "concerned" post a week ago, but the current one is more hopeful that I term an "awakening" among Malaysian bloggers that some measure of maturity has set in in the very public exchanges that have been "rocking" the cyberspace in NegaraKu showing the schisms dividing the Socio-political (SoPo) Bloggers into basically two main camps -- pro-UMNO led by Sdr Ahirudin Attan aka Rockybru and anti-Barisan Nasional or anti-Establishment led by Raja Petra Kamarudin aka popularly just called RPK.

Things came to a boil so much so my experience as Organising Committee chairman of the May 16 BUM2009 tells me that because Rockybru was the BUM2009 OC Co-chair, many of the RPK disciples stayed away from the "third" annual gathering of Malaysian SoPo Bloggers. I would have expected the Issues covered at BUM2009 relevant to Blogging and the esteemd Speakers taking part should be the focus, and the fact that even Desiderata has his own coterie of detractors should not factor in decisin-making in attending the BUM2009. The absence of RPK was completely for a different reason -- please note that there was an "automatic" invite to him to speak should he helicopter in (as in the previous two BUM gatherings...), but he was on self-exile from Selangor and the Lake View Club falls within this state of affairs.

Having painted the Blogospheric backdrop, I am reprising a composite picture from a current post by Rockybru which gives a good collation of the key Players/Issues of what essentially capture the Blogospheric splintering into the two camps, but I beleive there is also a "maturing" process going on which speaks well of both sides of the divide. Maybe Bloggers can learn to behave differently from Politicians to show that we can discern the trees from the forest and not let "extraneous" factors spoil the bloggers universe whcih can live with diverse citizens from different schools of thought and holding differing classes of viewpoints, still allowed, whether in writing or thinking aloud.


I end with a dictum I have often promoted in sometimes not so a humble way: "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend, to the death, your right to say it." ~~ Voltaire


***************** From rockybru.blogspot.com:


Monday, June 08, 2009

Something rotten in our blogosphere

With updates, 1pm June 9:
RPK's My apology to Rusdi.Original posting:"When they threaten your family ....".
There's a very sickening trend in Malaysian blogosphere, where some socio-political bloggers are exposing bloggers who are Anons or who use nicknames, especially if they are not politically like-minded.In the most recent attempt at exposing their enemies, some pro-Anwar bloggers, led by the self-exiled Raja Petra Kamaruddin himself, have published in their blogs the picture of a Najib aide whom they believe to be the provocative pro-Najib blogger, Pasquale.

RPK's Malaysia Today even published a photograph (see screenshot) of Rusdi Mustapha (the Najib aide) with his wife and only daughter, thus inviting hate comments against all three even in Rusdi's blog, Seri Menanti.Both Rusdi and Pasquale are on my blogroll: Rusdi's under Special Interest category and Pasquale under the Politics Anonymous category.Rusdi may or may not be Pasquale. But if Rusdi was, do you have to drag his family in?

Blogger Sakmongkol, who attempted to expose a couple of pro-Umno bloggers the other day, said Rusdi is Pasquale and Pasquale is Rusdi. But the two ladies in the photograph are not Pasquale. They are Rusdi's wife and daughter and they are not related to Pasquale at all.I thought we were all grown-ups who should understand where to draw the line, to separate the personal and the politics, and what should be kept private and made public.

Obvioulsy, some of us are still two-year olds.Now please read Rusdi Mustapha's "When they threaten your family, it's time to shut the blog" here. Rusdi told me he will keep it there for a few days, after which Seri Menanti will be accessible only to his friends and family members.p.s. Let me put on record here that when RPK's son was in the news, neither Pasquale not Rusdi Mustapha put up a post on the matter. I didn't to, either. That's his personal/family affair, man.Read also Big Dog's take here."Bloggers yang tak bertanggung-jawab", di sini.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Blogswagon Interruptus -- I am CONcerned...

when I belatedly have time to re-read Rockybru's post, quoting another Blogger matey I've grown to hold in high esteem RPK or Pete to his close buddies who unfortunately COULD NOT make it to the recent BUM2009 which I organised in my capacity as Chair (as also BUM2007 and BUM2008 which featured Raja Petra Kamarudin as highlight and helped pull in the numbers!).

I have to interrupt my promised series on "Dr Mahathir continues to beguile(III) ..." because there is a connection between what I'm belatedly featuring today with what I'm going to write about as a wrapup to the Dr Mahathir series.

Minus RPK, Tun Dr Mahathir became the last-minute confirmed HIGHLIGHT SPEAKER on May 16 BUM2009 OC claimed Bloggers' Event of the Year at the Lake View Club, Subang Jaya; this was a surprise Speaker who said Yes just 24 hours before the D-Day and could be swung because of the networking of Rockybru aka Ahirudin Attan, also Interim President of the National Alliance of Bloggers (All-Blogs)on which I think RPK had prematurely pronounced its "RIP". Be that as it may suggest these two principal players in Blogosphere seemed to have parted ways,IF I INFER FROM RPK'S POST quoted by Rockybru, and it tells me one lesson: In blogosphere, as in politics, THERE ARE NO PERMANENT FRIENDS OR PERMANENT ENEMIES, ONLY PERMANENT INTERESTS. And I'm sad to conclude, from RPK's obsefvation, (LOVE OF) MONEY IS THAT ROOT OF ALL EVIL as implied by the phrase he used: " ...Bloggers who were enticed by money and ‘sold out to the other side’"and "I asked the Datuk to inform Mahathir that JJ had offered to buy me off. "


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From rockybru's blog,reprised without his permission because isuch SHARING HAS IMPLICIT APPROVAL AMONG BLOGGERS OF GOOD FAITH:):

Monday, May 11, 2009

RPK the enemy?
A lot of growing up to do



Posted by admin
Monday, 11 May 2009 00:46
We carry no grudge against those Bloggers who were enticed by money and ‘sold out to the other side’. In that same spirit they should not grudge those of us who refuse to accept the money and chose, instead, to remain anti-establishment. That is no reason to declare war on us and to suggest that our life should be ended with a bullet in the head.

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Uthayakumar and YB BABI! Cancerous cells that will destroy the country!
Barking Magpie

I cannot help noticing the similar arrogant and defiant pose of Uthayakumar made to the public upon his release from detention, which is quite similar to that of YB BABI's!Like two cancerous cells that will destroy this once sanctified body called Malaysia, the only way for the country to prevent it from being totally terminally ill is to destroy such cancerous cells from the beginning. It appears as though the government is weak and giving in to an act of terrorism!May be we should follow the way of Sri Lanka in waging war against groups and individuals who are bent on trying to destroy the natural order of this country.To quote Chris Hedges in his book who said that "war sometimes is a force that gives us meaning". Yes, that meaning means peace from blackmail, threat and a disrespect to all things that made up this country to what it is today.May be we need that war in Malaysia just to show us again what is the true meaning of a peaceful co-existence. War to prevent anyone from trying to manipulate the people into doing something horrid such as disrespect to the existing institutions, may be we all need to be taught a lesson on the true meaning of the word peace! It appears in Malaysia that we need war to obtain it! When all else failed!What say you Brother Uthaya and YB BABI! Are you ready, really ready for it?
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Out-manoeuvred and ill-prepared, Perak DAP and PKR resort to tyranny
A Voice

In a nutshell, the fiasco in Perak was mainly due to the ever defiant and ungentlemenly conduct of Nizar, his puppetmaster Nger, Perak DAP and PKR, and Pakatan Rakyat as a whole.They defied all court orders, palace ruling and prerogative, and assembly conduct conventions. Worse still, they persistently lie and spin fact for their political expediency.
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Those are the comments from just two Umno Bloggers -- the first by Rusdi, Najib’s man, and the second by Salahuddin, Mukhriz Mahathir’s man.Actually, I know both quite well. I have gone out with them and even paid for their food and drinks more than once. The same also goes for Zakir, ‘Rocky’, Aspan, Ron, and many others -- all Umno people. These people, as far as I am concerned, are my friends -- fellow Bloggers. Unfortunately, to these people, I am the enemy.We became friends back in 2006 when Malaysia Today hosted the first dialogue with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the Kelab Century Paradise. I invited many PAS, DAP and PKR leaders and supporters to this event and the hall overflowed with guests. There was standing room only and many could not even get into the hall and had to stand outside.It was simply overwhelming and the turnout was far higher than expected. After the dialogue we had tea and cakes and the opposition leaders joined Mahathir in the VIP room. I had to stand outside to guard the door as so many were trying to push their way into the VIP room to shake hands with Mahathir. I was worried someone may try to harm him and it became a security nightmare for me.Finally, I told the guards to just block everyone from coming in and if anyone wants to get in then ask me first. I then stood guard near Mahathir, ready to dive forward in the event someone makes a move on him or something like that. Sheesh, I thought to myself, you mean I got to go like this; taking a bullet or knife on behalf of Mahathir?I suppose, since I had invited Mahathir, then it is my responsibility to guard his security. Unfortunately, I overlooked that point because I did not expect such a large crowd. I thought it was going to be a small and controlled affair. I did not expect so many people, in particular from the opposition -- and many leaders amongst them on top of that. And I did not expect that so many would try to push and shove their way into the VIP room to shake hands with Mahathir.Anyway, everything went fine that day in mid-2006 and nothing untoward happened, thank God. If not I would have probably been arrested as the mastermind behind the plot to assassinate Mahathir.After that first event I travelled to Kedah, Kelantan and Johor (twice) to attend functions where Mahathir was speaking. I even got sprayed with some chemical at the Kota Bharu airport the day that PPP Kelantan leader sprayed Mahathir. I also attended all the functions at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, one at University Malaya, plus a few more in hotels all over Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. I must have attended more than a dozen Mahathir functions all over Malaysia and video-recorded the entire lot.I also attended Mukhriz Mahathir’s and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s functions and video-recorded them as well. When Mukhriz launched a blood donation drive at the Kampong Baru mosque I contacted YB Ronnie Liu and asked him to arrange a group of DAP people to go there to donate blood. Although it was a last minute arrangement, and in spite of it being an Umno Youth and Mukhriz Mahathir event, Ronnie managed to mobilise a small group of DAP people (all Chinese of course) to go to the Kampong Baru mosque to donate blood. This is the way we do things. While they call Anwar Ibrahim BABI, we do not call Mahathir, Pak Lah, Najib or Muhyiddin the same. I might disagree with Umno but I am civil enough and know how to maintain protocol. Even whenever I meet Mukhriz, who is younger than me, I walk over to him and give a small but courteous bow when I shake his hand. I do not allow him to walk over to greet me. He stays put. I make the move.I have met Khairy Jamaluddin face-to-face only once. But when he walked in I stood up. He is younger than my daughter so I really need not have done that. But I stood up anyway when he walked in and offered him a chair. And I did not sit down until he sat down first.I am talking about how I treat my ‘enemies’. Am I being stupid here? Why do I waste my money buying dinner and drinks for people I oppose and then follow people like Mahathir all over Malaysia when he is the cause of all my problems and he was the one who ordered my arrest and later detained me without trial?When Rusdi phoned and said that Rosmah wants to meet me I agreed. My wife dropped Rusdi and me off in front of Najib’s house and came back two hours later to fetch us. But when Rusdi asked me to ‘name my price’ to stop writing about Najib and Altantuya, I went to meet Mahathir to complain about it and thereafter cut off all my links with Rusdi.Later, I received a phone call from Sufi, Mahathir’s aide, who said that JJ contacted his office to ask for my phone number. Sufi wanted to know whether I have any objections for my phone number to be given to JJ. I asked Sufi why JJ wants to contact me but he did not know. Anyway, I agreed and now, of course, we know why JJ wanted to contact me.I, again, complained to Mahathir through a certain Chinese Datuk. I asked the Datuk to inform Mahathir that JJ had offered to buy me off. He called back a few days later and told me to not have any more dealings with JJ. That, I was told, were my ‘instructions’.We may disagree with the government. We may even be bitterly opposed to the government and work relentlessly to bring it down. But we are also civil about it and will never regard ‘the other side’ as lepers whom we should distance ourselves from. All they need to do is phone and we will agree to meet up anytime, any place. That has been proven time and time again.But that is not how they treat us. Rusdi suggests, in his posting above, that we are cancerous cells. Cancerous cells need to be destroyed and that is basically what he means -- that we must be destroyed. There are other Umno Blogs and websites that suggest I should suffer a bullet in the head for what I wrote with regards to the 7 May 2009 skirmish in the Perak State Assembly. Others want my citizenship withdrawn and that I should be thrown out of the country. Yet others feel the court made a grievous mistake in freeing me from ISA detention in November last year and that I should be re-detained and locked away in Kamunting till the day I die.They want to put a bullet in my head while I stand guard over Mahathir to ensure that no one puts a bullet in his head. The fact that I invited Mahathir to the function, so I am therefore responsible for his safety, is not an issue. I am not head of security in this country. But I took it upon myself to be responsible for my ‘guest’. Hey, I even asked my wife to allow the Special Branch officers into the hall when she tried to deny them access. Never mind, I told my wife, they have a job to do, let them come in. You should have seen my wife’s ‘long face’. She was pissed with me.If I had written in Malaysia Today that a certain Umno leader or Blogger should be shot, within 24 hours there would be numerous police reports made against me. In fact, over the last two months, there have been about half a dozen new police reports made against me. The most recent was two days ago when I wrote about the Perak State Assembly fiasco.More than two years ago, these Umno Bloggers called for a meeting at the National Press Club (NPC). The purpose of the meeting was to form a Bloggers union or association. Amongst those who attended this maiden or ad hoc committee meeting were pro-Mahathir Umno Bloggers, pro-Najib Umno Bloggers, pro-Tengku Razaleigh Umno Bloggers, pro-Pakatan Rakyat Bloggers, and Bloggers in the civil society movement or Reformist category. I would like to believe I am in that last category.The idea was actually mooted by Dr Mahathir. He felt that Malaysian Bloggers should form an umbrella body so that the so many Bloggers from all sides of the political divide could unite under some sort of national organisation. That reminded me of how Umno was formed back in 1946 when the so many different Malay-based societies, associations, movements, and so on, formed a national body called the United Malays National Organisation.Sufi was also present as a sort of ‘representative’ of Dr Mahathir. It was proposed that I head this new union or association but I declined and proposed that Rocky should instead head it. I was, however, prepared to back him up and help with whatever needed to be done. The Bloggers union went on to set up the Blog House at Bukit Damansara.We were, of course, from different political leanings. But we thought that, as Bloggers, we could leave our political differences aside and come together under one umbrella in spite of our political differences. It puzzled most people how we, known opposition supporters or political activists, could play footsie with those hardcore Umno people.I suppose we were either naïve in thinking that the Umno Bloggers would be able to set aside our political differences for the common good of the Blogging community or we were suckers in not seeing that this move was not so much to unite the Bloggers as much as it was to ‘rope in’ the Bloggers.Anyway, we still maintained our ‘independence’. We never expected the Umno crowd to turn opposition. But they expected us to turn pro-government. Some, of course, who were initially anti-establishment, eventually turned pro-government. And, inevitably, the Bloggers union broke up with the pro-government crowd on one side and the anti-establishment Bloggers on the other. Then the pro-government Bloggers started attacking the anti-establishment Bloggers although we did not retaliate in kind.Today, there is no longer any Bloggers union. And the target of attack of the pro-government Bloggers is the anti-establishment Bloggers. They whack us to kingdom come every opportunity they can find.Rusdi wants to declare war on us. He wants the government to do to us what the Sri Lankan security forces are doing to the LTTE. But that is just it. We anti-establishment Bloggers are not like the LTTE. We do not bomb and shoot and burn. But they would like to bomb and shoot and burn us. And they would like to put a bullet in my head as suggested by one Umno Blog.These people have a lot of growing up to do. Have they not heard of freedom of expression and association? That is not a crime that warrants the issuing of a death sentence fatwah. That, in case many do not realise, is what the Federal Constitution of Malaysia guarantees us.We carry no grudge against those Bloggers who were enticed by money and ‘sold out to the other side’. In that same spirit they should not grudge those of us who refuse to accept the money and choose, instead, to remain anti-establishment. That is no reason to declare war on us and to suggest that our life should be ended with a bullet in the head.