My Anthem

Sunday, October 30, 2011

RUMINATIONS: Fight The System

Because the Malaysian system sucks!

How to fight a rotting system?

By "V"oting ABU at the next general elections due to be held anytime now.

What is ABU?

It stands for Anyone (party) but UMNO!

SO LET'S GET STARTED.

Why do I say the system sucks?

Because here everything is POLITICISED.
The incumbent government wants to maintain the STATUS QUO at all costs!
And you are doomed if you allow them to continue:

* To commit daylight robbery -- WHERE DID ALL OUR PETROLEUM PROFITS -- tens of billion every year -- GO?

* They are caring government, the BN government led by UMNO -- claim to be a CARING GOVERNMENT, are they?

NO, an emphatic No!
When they hand out any Special Bumi Share allocations, the poor man-in-the-street like you and me don't figure. No, not even for a few thousand shares. The daughter or son-in-law of a Minister gets priority. You don't remember De Fat Lady at MITI?
If you have to ask Desi what is MITI, my short answer is: Get The Here Out of Hell!:(

Meanwile -- yes, I am mean, and full of wile! -- I'm going for my Sundae BF that is truly capitalistic, so will continue my Ruminations after a CON meal. And con is not mispelling for corn OK! It is for capitalistic CONtinental -- picture lamb chop, beef stick, rendang chick and nazi lemak KNOT PREP by minister Nazri for I value my life. I don't wanna be downing arseNIC; give me AU anyDIME!:)

Chow,

which can mean

Seeya later, Allygater

OR

Come, let's makan:)

**************************** After a GOoD meal:) Desi cuntinues wit' a half-delirious state of real;ity and bliss like encountering h'aven on earth!

Lust night I could sleep ruinating about the stae of affairs in NegaraKU-kuciao, as wee MengChee would describe dear olde Malaysia. I guess 54 years old qualifies for OLD? but dear is a matter of the individual, ala Beauty lies in the eyes of the Beholder. C, Desi can quote Shakespeare!:(

I recall that a few years ago, the science mi9nistry then went on missions abroad to attract Malaysians with talent to "come home" to serve negaraKu. About one hundred answered the clarion call -- mostly scientists, some economists and maybe some aspiring poets? -- came home, tasted some Malaysiaana after a few decades absence. Then ALL but ONE/wan miserable soul upped in just one year, packed their everything but underwear, that the PM can keep, back to where they returned from a year ago.

Now the current PM set up a top-notche unit packed with highly-paid executives called TALENT CORPORATION with same mission -- launched recently with much fanfare and a HUGE budget.

You know what? Desi can tell yoy HISTOIRY WILL REPEAT ITSELF. Maybe a few more hundred will return and after the honeymoon of 365 days, the majority but a few countable on the fingers on one's hands, will pack up and go. Again, after millions have gone down the talents drain.

You know why?

BECAUSE THE WHOILE BLOODY SYSTEM REMAINS ROTTEN, OR GOTTEN WORSE WITH EACH PASS/PISSing year!

Okay, here's that olde article I linked to after being alerted via email by my rich buddy named WONG -- Ong inCantonese means FORTUNE! :) --


Side Views

Anything But Umno — Ali Kadir

September 10, 2011

SEPT 10 — Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK), the blogger, is right. We don’t know if Pakatan Rakyat will be able to govern our beloved country responsibly or walk the talk.

But we do know that they will not be worse than the plundering and blundering hordes of Umno. I say Umno and not BN because in reality the BN component parties such as the MCA, MIC, etc are subsidiaries of Umno. They may have a different flag, motto and even president but their mission statement is to be subservient to Umno.

The elections are around the corner. How do we know that? Simple, the clamour for allocations and funds is getting louder in Umno. Soon, we will be asked to make a choice and by my reckoning the choice is clear: Anything But Umno.

Just let us examine what these Umno types have done to our country. I have no doubt that the likes of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Dr Ismail, Hussein Onn, Tan Siew Sin were men of integrity and served the rakyat.

But from the Mahathir era onwards it has been looting, corruption and using race and religion to divide Malaysians. We are sliding down a slippery slope in this country and we have a choice to either go with the flow and do nothing or change the direction of this country.

Please don’t expect Najib Razak and Umno to do anything. Najib is too weak-willed to ever be a reformer, and plus he seems to be caught by institutional paralysis. What he or any Umno president of late is doing is governing the country for the party and its crony capitalists.

It is an open secret that the biometric scanning system deal benefited an Umno minister, the son-in-law of a top Umno leader and businessmen close to Putrajaya.

And now we are told of the secret plan to privatise IWK by 1MDB and Puncak Niaga. So secret that even the minister in charge did not know about it.

As reported in The Malaysian Insider, this deal was given the greenlight by the Economic Council. Then you have the PM saying that a good portion of MRT contracts will be set aside for Bumiputera contractors.

This is an euphemism for Umno warlords and contractors connected to the party.

The plundering does not stop there. National Service camps are given to Umno politicians and their supporters and smaller contracts are farmed out to Class F contractors, nearly 90 per cent of them Umno members.

The government-sanctioned looting has reached such a crazy stage that members of the inner circle of PM and supporters linked to Muhyiddin Yassin are fighting over the economic largesse.

I have not even touched on the notoriety of the First Family and their friends and hangers-on. Some people may think that excesses are okay as long as the economy is growing.

Well, it is not and nothing can justify expensive shopping trips or diamond rings in a country where many still find it hard to make ends meet.

Malaysia must be the only country in the world besides Zimbabwe where a top government official can remain in his job despite facing countless allegations which strike at the core of the man’s honesty. The man in question is the Attorney-General Gani Patail.

He has been accused of fabricating evidence, of hiding corruption cases involving Umno politicians and every dastardly act by a former senior police officer.

The correct thing for the government to do would be to set up an inquiry and examine if the allegations are true. This man is after all the top legal officer. Instead the Najib administration just keeps silent and ignores all this incriminating evidence.

We can only surmise that Gani Patail has enough to sink Umno dulu, kini dan selamanya. Just like probably VK Lingam knew too much that he could not be charged with subverting justice by trying to influence in the appointing of judges and just like how Tajudin Ramli knows enough about the backroom deals to warrant the government asking GLCs to stop litigation against him.

Honestly, I can’t think of a period when race relations have been worse than now and a large part of blame has to be directed at Umno for its divide-and-rule policy.

When it feels threatened as it does now, it plays the Malay race card, warning of some imaginary threat to Malay political power. When the party is in this mode, everyone who is not of the same thinking and religion is an enemy. How do you build a united country with this thinking?

Like a number of Malaysians, I always thought that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was a decent chap but who was ill-equipped to lead Malaysia. But the Wikileaks exposure on his sister-in-law’s US$400 million (RM1.2 billion) cargo aircraft deal and the report that Umno guys get 30 per cent commission on defence deals just tell us how systemic the rot is.

Given this track record, it has to be Anything But Umno. ~~ Malaysian Insider

* Ali Kadir reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Monday, October 24, 2011

More on Karpal and his friendly judge...

From sun2surf.com:

Karpal: Judge's action was a spontaneous act of compassion

PETALING JAYA (Oct 23, 2011): DAP chairman Karpal Singh says sessions court Judge Chan Jit Lee should not be punished for hugging him after awarding him RM2 million in compensation for an 2005 accident which left him wheelchair-bound.

"It was not a bear hug. Her action was a spontaneous one from one human being to another who is disabled. What she did was an act of compassion in open court for which she should not be defaulted in any way," he said.

Karpal had issued a statement on Saturday in response to Malaysian Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee's call for an investigation into Chan's conduct.

He had reportedly said Chan's hug and the admission of knowing the Bukit Gelugor MP raised questions as to whether Chan should have recused herself from hearing the case.

In response, Karpal said he was saddened at the position taken, as Chan was acting as a human being.

"I am very sad the position has come to this. I hope all concerned will view the position from a compassionate and humanitarian angle. Chan should not be punished for having acted as a human being," he said.

He said Chan had mentioned in the course of proceedings that she knew Karpal, and no objection was raised by opposing counsel Bala Mahesan.

Karpal explained his relationship with Chan.

"I knew the judge's uncle when I commenced practice in Alor Star 42 years ago. I came to know her then when she was an 11-year old school girl.

"I only came to know she was a senior assistant registrar at the Ipoh High Court in the 1990s, later a sessions court judge," he said.


DESIDERATA: My first reaction to Karpal's rection and comment about Ms Chan, wrt the Bar Council's call for an investigation, esp this line: " What she did was an act of compassion in open court for which she should not be defaulted in any way" -- REALLY?


What if in a similar case and the winning side was an UMNO or MCA litigant, and Karpal was representing his client who lost the suit and ordered to pay RM2million, wouldd Karpal be so "compassionate"?


COMPASSION in open court and demonstrating it with an a socalled sponstaneous hug is NO EXCUSE for unprofessional conduct as a judge must be seen to be objective and NOT PARTIAL to any contesting parties. So Karpal, in this case, Ms Chan's behaviour was totally unacceptable as such show of sympathy to you by your friend of a judge showed she was "prejudiced" in your favour. (WHY COULDN'T SHE WAIT TILL AFTER SHE WENT HOME AND THEN LATER PAY YOU A VISIT, then nobody including Desi cares a hoot!) I hope the opposing party will file an appeal or even apply for a High Court ruling there was a "mistrial"!


IF there is one case of double standards from Malaysia, esp wrt to l;awyers who are also politicians, it is always OKAY if the judge found in favour of their client. But when the decision is against them, hey, cry "FOUL" or the other "F" word. I won't spell it out...because tens of thousand of 16-year-olds visit Midnight Voice, and the host must not be guilty of corrupting youngsters on their high moral values taught them by their parents.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Bar Council calls for investigation into Judge's "outrageous" behaviour

Read at the mole.my on an incident which Desi reported here some time ago:).

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Blogger welcomes Bar Council's call

AddThis

Blogger welcomes Bar Council's call


Friday, October 21, 2011
  • Lady Justice2
Will the Lady Justice in Penang Sessions court be investigated?

KUALA LUMPUR: Blogger Desiderata-ylchong, probably the first to question the conduct of Penang's Sessions Court judge Chan Jit Li, welcomed Malaysian Bar Council's call for her to be investigated.

Chong's issue with Chan was over reports that the latter went to shake hands and hug prominent lawyer Karpal Singh after she had earlier made a judgement to award Karpal RM2.018 million.

The judgement was made in favour of Karpal's lawsuit against bank manager Lau Yee Fuat over a car accident in 2005 that left Karpal wheelchair bound.

It was reported that Chan "committed" the act during her Oct 7 judgement.

In his posting Chong wrote, “clearly the action of Judge Ms Chan was uncalled for -- going to an interested party in the court case and shaking his hand and embracing him, going by the NST (New Straits Times) report.”

“Going up to someone in court to shake his hands and embrace him is unacceptable," Chong added.

Yesterday the Malaysian Bar had called for investigation against Chan over her purported conduct as reported in the media.

Its president Lim Chee Wee in a statement yesterday said, “recent media articles that reported judge Chan Jit Li as having hugged Karpal Singh – the plaintiff to whom she had just awarded over RM2 million in compensation – are also troubling.”

“In addition, the Judge reportedly remarked that she knew the plaintiff personally, which raises the question of whether the judge should have recused herself from hearing the matter. “

Contated by The Mole today, Chong said: “Though it is belated, the call by the Bar to have the matter investigated is very much welcomed.”

“Any cases that kill the public confidence in the court must be followed up. As we know a judge should be impartial regardless to anyone thus Chan’s actions could leave the public guessing,” he said.

Chong added the defendant in the lawsuit should appeal the decision on grounds that Chan were biased and prejudiced towards the case.

Malaysiakini today reported Karpal defending Chan for her conduct, saying that her act was an act of compassion.

"In the process she gave me a slight hug. It was not a bear hug. Her action was spontaneous, coming from one human being to another who is disabled," he said.

Karpal won the lawsuit for the injuries he sustained in the 2005 accident which happened in front of his house at Jalan Utama in Penang.

DESIDERATA: From mkini, I extract the following attributed to lawyer Karpal Singh:-



UPDATEd on Monday 12.50PM with MSG:) bukan aji-NOmoto lah!:( -- MINTA MAAF IA! Pls see post on MOnday 24 October 2011 for my Comment, Cheers, YL, Desi


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I comend Ali Kadir's write in the Malaysian Insider today...

I wish there are and will be more progressive minded Malaysians like Ali who writes bravely and conviction, with no hint of any racist or NEP influence on Bumiputras. There is HOPE yet for NegaraKu. I agree 100% that the majority of the present Cabinet have pretty but low IQs, so much so a once-upon-a-time Rais Yahim whom I respected for intelligent articulation has been "copulted" into the slimy world of UMNO politics and the Negeri Sembilan politician is a pale shadow of himself in his heyday about two decades ago. Many past-shell-life Ministers like one Chin ....(so inconsequential that Desi can't remember his nama! aaf ia, you guess it right I'll buy ye dinner at Lingam's, but gift me a buzz first, K! OR TRY CHECKING TEMIANG CORNER in FURONG for I more or less squat there at night!:() from East Malaysia have been around for four decades (?) -- is Malaysia so short of new brains? Or have the best of brains migrated elsewhere, like small dot Singapore, middling Australia which doesn't know if it should align East or West, and the great USA now no more so great with China emerging with a vengeance? Sorry I digress -- but as I say often, that's a privilege of a BUMmer to abuse. So climb on board the bloggers' wagon...--YL, Desi

Side Views

Wake up, Malaysians — Ali Kadir

October 19, 2011

OCT 19 — I find it incredulous that so much angst and disbelief has been exhibited by Opposition politicians, pundits and readers of news portals, including The Malaysian Insider, over the lies that Lim Guan Eng’s son had behaved inappropriately towards a girl in his school and the matter was hushed up.

This is Umno. Should any of us be surprised with politicians from that party?

It has been my point for a while that the only hope for Umno is for the party to lose it all at the next polls, and do a major overhaul while in the wilderness, find new leaders, rediscover a moral core and come back.

The party is tired, bankrupt of ideas or people of integrity. It is a fallacy to believe that the second line of politicians such as Khairy or that Kota Belud MP will be any different from the corrupt batch of ministers and MPs who sad to say are leaders of Malaysia.

They have been cut from the same cloth as the likes of Ibrahim Ali and only know about patronage politics and benefiting from the government largesse of contracts.

At a time when the world economy is slumping and every responsible government is thinking about doing its best to prepare its country for a soft landing, Umno has been doing the only thing it knows what to do — indulge in lies.

No one believes Najib Razak’s growth estimates of 5 and 6 per cent next year, not even the MIER or banks.

But in Parliament, it is business as usual as Umno/BN MPs have been in denial mode (I don’t believe 99 per cent of them even know what they are talking about when they speak about the economy).

So my advice to Lim Guan Eng and the rest of his supporters is stop wasting time by reacting with shock and indignation at the tactics being employed by your opponents. Leopards can’t change their stripes, nor devils change their ways.

The last line is a message that all of us Malaysians should keep in our hearts and ponder.

* Ali Kadir reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Breach of ethics and you are liable to be sued for defamation!

MMKTT reproduced a post which it claimed to have been tweeted by one "PISAU" in May 2011 -- about that 16-year-o;d schoolboy who was reported to have allegedly "fondled" a fellow schoolmate of about same age at a school in Penang.

The report also claimed the parents of the culprit had paid RM200,000 to the girl's family to hush up the matter.

The story also implicated none other than the son of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who yesterday issued a strong rebuke at whoever was/were behind the character assasination. (SEE ++++ below) In fact, Lim the day before had challenged a local newspaper to publish the report linking his son to the alleged molest incident and he promised that he would take follow-up action against the paper.

I won't reprise the full knotty post here/hear BUT here's the LINK:


"http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com/2011/10/rm200-thousand-for-squeezing-and.html"

In the unearthly hours of Oct 19, 2011 Desi posted the following, solitary comment (with typos and all/awe:) -- hey, I am sleepy and groggy from overdose of charKUAIteow and tehtari'! -- at MalaysiansMustKnowTheTruth blog aggregator.

*********************************************
I hope you take note it's an offfence from the point of ETHICS -- if not law -- to have printed the two pictures as the subjects aged 16 are below the age of consent (18 I believe unless they have changed this?


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


++++From malaysia-chronicle.com:

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 14:47

Guan Eng slams Umno for trying wreck his son's life with "cruel, barbaric" lies

Written by Lim Guan Eng
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(23 votes)

Umno should act against those trying to wreck the life of my young son with cruel and barbaric lies just to finish me off politically. This way, Umno can prove that it is not a 3-D party that employs Desperate, Dangerous and Dirty tactics.

Prime Minister Najib Razak had declared during the Gerakan National Delegates Conference two days ago that BN had not given up on Penang and will go all out to recapture the state from Pakatan Rakyat. Following those Najib’s declaration of intent, we see pro-UMNO blogs and some UMNO leaders carrying out a serial campaign in the internet to systematically not only character assasinate me but also cruelly dragging in my young 16 year old son with their lies.

My wife and I are furious that pro-UMNO blogs and some UMNO leaders have made or perpetuated false allegations against my young son of criminal wrongdoing. My family and I deplore these lies and fabrications against my young son as morally despicable and barbaric. UMNO should act against those trying to wreck the life of my young son with cruel and barbaric lies just to finish me off politically to prove that UMNO is not a 3D party that employs desperate, dangerous and dirty tactics just to cling on and retain power at any cost.

My son had transferred to St Xavier Institution in Penang from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Cina Heng Yee because I had promised him that he could transfer to the school of his choice if he scored at least 6As in his PMR. When he achieved that, he was transferred at the beginning of the school term this year in January 2011. My son wanted to go to St Xavier because he did not want to have a crew-cut hairstyle that is required for Heng Yee students but wanted to keep his hair longer.

In this modern world, it is difficult for a young kid growing up, especially so when his father is a Chief Minister targeted daily by the pro-BN media. For a young kid growing up, to be maligned in such a beastly and cruel fashion publicly is unacceptable and inhumane.

My son is very shaken up by these lies. He has also not gone back to school for two days. I feel sad and that I am not able to protect my young son from these pro-UMNO ferocious beasts.

I urge these ferocious pro-UMNO beasts not to prey on the innocence of my young children. If you want to finish me off, do your worst to me but leave my innocent children alone. UMNO politicians have children too and DAP have never gone for their children and do not intend to so.

Amongst some UMNO leaders who highligted this shameful episode in the blogs is Bukit Gelugor(Penang) UMNO Division vice-chairman Dr Novandri Hasan Basri. He was then followed by many UMNO leaders rehashing the lies. Sadly even UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaludin joined in these shameful lies by poking fun at my son with this tweet:-

@Khairykj Khairy Jamaluddin

@PapaGomo Mungkin dia roboh Kampung Buah Pala sebab nak ganti dengan Kampung Buah Dada.

http://twitter.com/#!/Khairykj/status/125841671102529536

I hope those poking fun and spreading lies at my young son can look at themselves in the mirror as a father and ask whether they want their own child to suffer the trauma of such lies. My family and I reserve the right to take any further action to protect my family. In the meantime, my wife and I will try to heal my young son and pray that he will recover from having his innocence so cruelly destroyed by these pro-UMNO beasts.

Lim Guan Eng is the DAP secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister

Related Story: Guan Eng on molest by VVIP'son: Let Umno newspapers print first, then I'll act


DESIDERATA: The case for defamation against the party/parties involved in spreading the alleged molest story would even be STRONGER if finally it's proven there was no such case of molestation! Even if there was such a case, and the two whose pictures were published could be the "wrong persons" identified to have been involved also builds a STRONG CASE for a defamation suit! So bloggers/BUMmers, beware oif what you write and what you Copy&Pastry! -- Desi, knottyaSsusual

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

KimQ has something to say about Delay of the AG Annual Report!

AG report delay: PM must come clean

By Kim Quek

18 October 2011

The unexplained delay in submitting the Auditor-General’s annual report to parliament is shaping up to be a major scandal.

Sin Chew Daily reported today that when asked when the AG’s report will be presented in parliament, an official from the AG’s office casually replied that it will be on the first of December, which is the last day of the current parliamentary session.

When the reporter finally managed to contact the deputy AG, he said he was not at liberty to answer any question, including whether the report is completed or when it will be presented to Parliament. He suggested that questions be directed at Minister in the PM’s Department, Nazri Aziz.

And Nazri Aziz, who is in charge of parliamentary affairs, was reported by Sin Chew to have said on Oct 10 that he was uncertain of the time of presentation of such report to Parliament, as such function falls under the finance ministry. Nazri was further reported in the Internet on Oct 11 to have said that he expected the report to be released two weeks after the cabinet has gone through it in the cabinet meeting on Oct 14.

Now, is the report completed?

PKR member of Parliament Johari Abdul provided the answer when he told reporters in parliament on Oct 13 that he personally called the AG’s office the previous day and was told that “the report was completed much earlier than last year, and the officers there were proud because they had done a better job”. In fact, the officers were shocked when told that the report had not reached the MPs.

It has been the tradition for the AG’s report to reach parliamentarians in time for the annual budget debate, and this year’s long delay (10 days after the budget was presented on Oct 7) despite persisting battering by opposition MPs is most unusual. From utterances of Nazri and AG officials, there is little doubt that the current year’s report is ready but has been hijacked somewhere between the AG and parliament.

Tampering with the AG’s function is a serious breach of the constitution, as the AG is an independent institution enjoying the same degree of independence as the judiciary and the election commission.

Apart from being appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the AG’s remunerations and terms of service are determined by Parliament, and he may not be dismissed from service other than through a tribunal as that accorded to the judges (Article 105 of the federal constitution). The AG’s reports go directly to the Agong, who shall cause them to be laid before parliament (Article 107).

It is obvious that such meticulously devised provisions in the constitution to accord independence to the AG are to ensure that the he can operate freely as a neutral body to check on the financial management of the government without any interference from the Executive. Note the channel of communication has been designed to by-pass the Executive. It is from the AG to the Agong, and from the Agong to Parliament.

It is clear that the Executive has no role to play in the formulation of AG’s reports or its presentation to parliament.

So it is of great concern that we should be told that the report has to be deliberated by the cabinet and its release up to the ministry of finance.

And with the latest revelation that the report will only be released on the last day of the current parliamentary session and the deputy AG gagged to divulge any information, the picture is now clear.

The Auditor General, who has been much lauded in the past for having provided independent appraisals of the government’s financial management, has become the latest victim to Barisan Nasional’s ubiquitous tentacles which have subjugated the independent roles of virtually every other institution in this country.

To save the institution from being completely subsumed as a BN-controlled agency, Auditor General Ambrin Buang must now stand up to speak courageously to inform the nation when and to whom he has submitted his annual report, and whether there has been any attempt from the Executive to alter the content or delay the release of the report.

And Prime Minister Najib Razak must come clean with what actions the Executive has taken with respect to the AG’s report.

Failing which, parliamentarians must immediately move a motion to censure the Prime Minister for such breach of the constitution.

Kim Quek

Monday, October 17, 2011

Hear it from Joe Frenandez on Mkini-MChronicle spat

Yes, YL Chong is revising his decision NOT TO DO A FOLLOWUP to his first story which created a buzz when Malaysia Chronilce picked it up (for free, I add). This decision was motivated by TWO FRESH ARTICLES I JUST SPIED at MChronicle -- one by Helen Ang, and the other by Sabah/Sarawak journalist Joe Frenandez. So there seems to be more than YL Chong's peering into once idealistic malaysiakini in its pioneering days. Since 2000-early 2001, there was real enthusiasm from a team of some seven to eight pioneering reporting staff(many first jobbers whom I was proud to train and guide...****)when I worked there as News Editor. Then somehow MONEY got in the way -- BIG money the handling of which had/has not been transparent from its CEO, Premesh Chandran. Yes, he admitted to Media Development Loan Fund buying into Mkini, almost a YEAR from the breaking of the story by Far Eastern Economic Review.

He wanted to show he was generous saying that staff members were/have been/are being given shares. I can vouch here that indeed both EIC Steven Gan and Premesh at several staff meetings said all staffers would be given shares in Mkini (in lieu of taking below market salaries). But to date, I had not been informed of my share allocation.

**** Dear former colleagues -- Aini (sorry, I couldn't recall your full name!) , Ng Boon Hooi, Ajinder Kaur, Lee Kar Yean (errata: should be LEONG Kar Yean, abbreviated LKY, and you know the comparison is with the gant figure in THE LI'l Dot:) or :( --, and Kevin Tan -- can contact me via email chongyl2000@yahoo.com about your share or non-share allocations please.

Premesh again told half lies that no political parties owned shares in MKini. I know of one lawyer who did -- I'm not sure if he still holds the original shares he injected into the portal on starting up.

************************* ends YL Chong's new sharing*************

NOW, HEAR IT FROM ANOTHER VETERAN JOURNALIST!


Monday, 17 October 2011 16:24

Malaysiakini, shooting itself in the foot!

Written by Joe Fernandez
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(2 votes)

COMMENT The brickbats in the alternative media directed so far against the malaysiakini online news portal in the wake of its purported tie-up with the “neither dead nor alive” paper, the Malay Mail, is getting increasingly intense. So far, the reaction from MK has been one of mere denials and/or to imply that these critics have an axe to grind with it.

Still, having said that, it will all be over very soon for malaysiakini if it doesn’t stop in its tracks and bravely pull back from where it has been heading especially since Aug last year.

This is around the time when the online news portal decided that it must become “very selective in the kind of news stories and comment pieces” it wanted to upload. News stories, henceforth, had to contain “new and exciting elements”, instead of the “same old faces”. Comments, for another, had to “go beyond ventilating on one’s favourite topic and add to the debate on issues”.

Instead, double standards came into play.

In short, Sabah, Sarawak, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi, Jeffrey Kitingan and the 3rd Force, among others, are to be avoided like the plague. Some small amends were made late in the day when many subscribers began querying the new direction that malaysiakini was taking but it was a case of too little too late as the cancellations continued to pour in.

Non-stories continue to hog the limelight in malaysiakini, as in the dying mainstream media. We can clearly see what’s happening here. This is the kind of coverage which will not help make a difference for the better, only perhaps for the worse.

The result of malaysiakini running non-news stories helps distract the people’s attention from the more pressing issues of the day.

For others like Umno, Perkasa and the mad mullahs – throw in an unknown ustazah or two with an overheated brain -- it’s part of the divide-and-rule tactics of the powers-that-be. Such division, based on playing to the gallery, sows the seeds of racial hatred and keeps the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) perpetually in power.

We can understand the mainstream media naively playing this game because their Special Branch advisors stand behind them.

The question is why malaysiakini is following suit as well in a bid to outdo the mainstream media on such coverage? This makes it all the more difficult for them to live up to their pledge to make a difference for the better.

No one needs an alternative media which appears more and more like an online version of the mainstream media. If the idea is to rile the people in the chase for an ever greater number of hits, it’s a bad strategy.

Among non-news items, we have regular doses of poison from Perkasa and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Whatever Mahathir and his pet poodle, Perkasa, have to say will not make it in history even as a footnote.

It beats comprehension why malaysiakini must imitate the mainstream media and adopt the position that anything from Perkasa or Mahathir must be headline news. Again, the deliberate riling of the non-Malays will not endear malaysiakini to them.

Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali is even getting the five star treatment as the “intellectual” from whom we can only get pearls of wisdom. In any other country, he would have been flushed down the toilet by responsible media.

Perkasa and Mahathir are not about the politics of bringing everyone together as one people and one nation. They are all about what should separate us and continue to separate us.

If Perkasa and Mahathir can drive a wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims, they would have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

Their next step would be to scare the Malays into circling the wagons against non-Malays and uniting under one political platform – read Umno – so that a handful of leaders can live it up like latter-day oil sheikhs at the expense of the nation. This is an old recipe very much treasured by the opportunists masquerading as politicians and using divisive issues to fuel their agenda.

It can be seen from on-going developments that behind 1Malaysia, the hidden agenda is to twist and turn every issue in Malaysia – the government’s take on Interlok being one - into a racial issue.

Distraction and disruption is part of the game to hoodwink the masses away from issues of abuse of power, exercise of absolute power and corruption.

The people are definitely not interested in the New Straits Times and the other outlets in the mainstream media like Utusan Malaysia.

Their concern is the alternative media, the new media like malaysiakini, not degenerating into an online version of the mainstream media.

The focus of malaysiakini should be brought back to the pressing issues of the day, the big ones, which will help make a difference for the better and pave the way for the agenda for change and reform.

When the last rites are being recited for malaysiakini, its ever-dwindling number of subscribers can point fingers in two directions.

Firstly, the ever increasing influx of ex-New Straits Times sub-editors who have since invaded the Editorial Department of the online news portal and successfully imposed the failed model that has since driven their previous employer to the ground. These diehard losers don’t hesitate to take a perfectly good news story and butcher it beyond recognition, thus inviting any number of lawsuits. When hauled to Court they hang their journalists out to dry.

Patently, many of the malaysiakini sub-editors are frustrated writers who can’t string even two words together to form a decent sentence. But the power that they wield is unimaginable. They can not only mutilate a piece beyond recognition, giving words meanings which were not there in the first place but try to turn someone’s else hard work into their very own piece through sheer plagiarism.

Secondly, and as a result or perhaps out of the sheer force of old habits which die hard, malaysiakini’s Subscription Department waits for the mountain to come to Mohamad.

It’s difficult to believe that the “great malaysiakini” cannot find 50,000 readers who are willing to fork out a measly RM 30 per month in subscription fees to sustain it indefinitely.

Subscriptions are not going to come in if the entire Subscription Department continues to “main wayang” in air-conditioned comfort, busy being busy. By right, they should be out in the streets, selling subscriptions to perfect strangers. The law of statistical averages holds that the more rejections one faces, the nearer one gets to one’s target.

Joe Fernandez is a well-known writer from East Malaysia and a former contributor to Malaysiakini

Hear it from Helen Ang on Mkini-MChronicle spat

and in the media Gunfight at the OK or KO Corral, somehow YL gets caught in the crossfire, but that's occupatioonal hazard.

I completely agree with former colleague at CPI's write..I said I am taking a HI-ATUS, but Cut&Pastry doesn't count! :):) -- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual

M’sian Insider report sparked Malaysiakini tiff with M’sia Chronicle

Oktober 15, 2011

A Battle of the Online Media erupted recently with a flurry of speculation, allegations and hurried denials by their respective editors.

The still unfolding saga started with the two English online media – both which Umno senator Ezam Mohd Noor once threatened to ‘burn’ (read here) – with one, The Malaysian Insider, reporting that the other, Malaysiakini, was in talks to give its news to The Malay Mail in exchange for shares in the newspaper.

The Insider article by editor Jahabar Sadiq titled ‘Umno realigns media units with eye towards polls‘ prompted Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran to issue an immediate denial and editor-in-chief Steven Gan to write a rebuttal the next day.

Premesh’s statement was headlined ‘No truth in M’kini-Malay Mail share swap claim’ while Steven’s was ‘M’kini selling out to Umno? Over our dead bodies‘.

The melodramatic ‘langkah mayat kami’ is in response to Malaysia Chronicle which carried the following articles:

For the record, Chronicle editor Wong Choon Mei was formerly an editor with Malaysiakini.

Yup, lots of editors tripping all over each other. Another former one is Chuah Siew Eng (click) who wrote a defence of Malaysiakini.

Insider and Malaysiakini’s Cina Bangsar readers

This blog previously did a short posting on the Malaysian Insider readers giving 729 thumbs down to a guy ‘Ahmad’ who made a critical comment about Namewee (read here).

But let’s now take a look at the Malaysiakini readership.

Premesh in his statement had said:

“There is no truth in the allegations that Malaysiakini will be sold to Umno-backed interests.”

He also added that the news portal [Chronicle] made no attempt to contact Malaysiakini for verification.

I had put in a comment in response to Premesh (screenshot below).

Please allow me to explain:

Premesh had complained about his rival on the very same thing that his own media company is doing, that is, making no attempt to ascertain the veracity of a report by first contacting the person (badmouthed in their Malaysiakini articles) to seek clarification.

For example, would Ummi Hafilda Ali have filed her RM100 million defamation lawsuit against Malaysiakini as second defendant if the reporter had made an attempt to get her side of the story?

What I said about Malaysiakini allowing its readers to simply post vile abuse and libelous slurs plucked from thin air — without an ounce of substantiation — can be easily glimpsed in the Comments section to the Ummi article, or indeed in any one of their articles feedback where the person(s) targetted are disdained by the Pakatan supporters.

Below is a screenshot of personal attacks made by Malaysiakini readers on Chua Soi Lek’s son, with one of the Anonymice even asking Chua Tee Yong to do a DNA check to determine his paternity — an insult which implies that Mrs Chua had cheated on her husband.

(Taken from Malaysiakini 25 Jan 2011 article, ‘Tee Yong’s U-turn on alcohol row’/Credit: HartalMSM)

Do the readers possess an iota of proof to back up all their vicious and wild accusations that get published in Malaysiakini?

Thus I believe that my comment yesterday directed at Malaysiakini CEO Premesh about allowing his readers “to post accusations by the truckloads that have ‘no truth’ in them” is a valid rebuke.

And guess what?

Plus more of the same. So there you go — the Bangsar Malaysia readership. Malaysiakini is after all the favourite hangout of the Malaysian First crowd because being the most supportive of their idols. The second favourite watering hole is the Malaysian Insider.

The last time Ezam mengamok and made threats against the Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini. This time around, he’s learned to control himself and made a police report instead, requesting the authorities to probe the latter portal for its “sikap biadap, kurang ajar, dan melampaui batas” .

Away from sickening sniper-commenters like witsO...

who can't write a decent rebuttal in engaging with Bloggers but take potshots to character-assasinate the writer/s instead.

I'm again taking a HI-ATUS from the Malaysian blogosphere which, under the great influence of once- the GREAT RPK -- we see a generation of Malaysian spoiled brats who enter your house and want to burn it down because the dishes you serve are not up to their taste and mark.

I remember once it was politicians like Zaid Ibrahim who didn't like the house he just entered -- like less than two years -- and he began a vicious attack on Parti Keadilan Rakyat --likewise his worshippers like Haris Ibrahim, Zollo and all their MCLM junkies.

Now less than half a year in KITA, Zaid not only got a taste of his own medicine evidenced by an internal party revolt. He's preparing the grounds for an eventual return to UMNO-oh-NO! But not a squeak from the likes of Haris and Zollo -- these dogs lost their balls along with their train of ratty worshippers like the whisperer, hawkeye, angel 001, et al ad nauseum. And these were the same bitches who accused then PM Abdllah Badawi as sleeping on the job and maintaining elegant silence.


Now they are training their vicious bytes at other blogsites and portals not of their masters' liking..

Hey, looking for a fight eh, witsO? GO BACK TO YOUR MOM'S ORIFICE WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE and you can rave, rant and play each other's back, front and any other sides.

Just don't bother to come into Midnight Voice's abode because I know have no time for scums like thee:( -- Desi

Sunday, October 16, 2011

MI-MM-Mkini and Malaysia Chronicle Saga III

I had planned to do a follow-up article to the first on this controversial subject incubated by the Malaysian INsider. But after reading some comments at the Malaysia Chronicle, I have decided to out the next article "ON HOLD" indefinitely for the following reasons:-

Some commenters do NOT know how to engage in civil discourse.

On named witsO, whom I don't know in blogosphere on in person, just sent in one-liners at MC Comments column to disparage the writer, without a single word on the subject under the spotlight.

This guy is clearly wasting everybody's time and sopace, and I categorise them as worshippers of their idols -- Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran, who are demi-gods to them and can therefore DO NO WRONG.

Earlier I too had written a series of articles in a FACE-OFF with RPK, and similarly encountered such scums( like the current witso) who worship RPK as another demi-god, likewise RPK's sidekick Haris Ibrahim too, with a band of cybertroopers who would come into any webportal just to hammer the writer, and not discussing the subject in question... (If you don't know who RPK is,*** get the here out of hell!)


More disappointing is a fellow journalist named SiewEng who launched a long personal attack of me in her comment. Yes, she can write for all I care, but I DID NOT SEE A SINGLE LINE pertaining to the subject, which in gist, was about Mkini CEO Premesh Chandran's predisposition to telling lies and half-truths. A decade ago, when I served as News Editor at MKini, I saw it at firsthand pertaining to George Soros' unit Open Society Insititute via the Media Development Loan Fund taking an equity share in the less-than-one-year-old MKini. As I narrated in my blog post which MChronicle reproduced (FOR THE RECORD: no fee or payment was paid for this article, and for all the previous articles written by me and published at MChronicle......This is also true when The Mole at mole.my reproduced my posts via a LINK...), Far Eastern Economic first reported about George Soros investing in Mkini but the vehicle mentioned South East Asis Press Alliance was wrong; I had described it as FEE was barking up the right tree but the wrong branch.) Yet Premesh vehementky denied any deal involving George Soros, " directly or indirectly".

Now some 10 years later, Premesh again ws caught tellling lies with a complete denial of the Malaysian Insider and Malaysia Chronicle that MKini was indeed holding talks with the Malay Mail. But soon fater Mkini editor-in-chief Steven Gan publicly admitted that indeed Mkini and Malay Mail were holding talks.


Now cybertroopers who worship the top two guns at MKini are just behaving like scums -- taking personal potshots with one-liners (snipers like Witso) with no care for a decent and civil discourse that we Bloggers/BUMmers subscribe to (and also the unstated agreement to share our Posts in mutual respect of an exchange with proper attribution.) Then I ask of such idiots, WHY BOTHER TO WASTE YOUR ENERGY AND TIME; Go back to that orifice where you originated from where the sun don't shine -- it's a mistake that you ever exited from that black hole!

As for journalists who should know better like Siew Eng, here's giving you good notice that I am consulting my lawyer to see IF THERE IS A CASE TO SUE YOU FOR DEFAMATION.


YL Chong, journalist; Desi, the Blogger


PS: The **** above is a phrase involving wordplay, which one esteemed reader of mine termed DDC, and was thus written in lieu of "get the hell out of here!"

Friday, October 14, 2011

MI-MM-Mkini and Malaysia Chronicle Saga II

Just FOR THE RECORD:)

To help "lazy" yet esteemed readers hear follow the BAKGROUBD to my first story, here's MChronicle report in full:)
Desi tru;ly pampers his ER:( like babies:)

Friday, 14 October 2011 14:18

Malaysiakini owns up

Written by Ismail Dahlan, Malaysia Chronicle
Rate this item
(8 votes)

Despite his vociferous denials of our report on the 13th of October, Malaysiakini’s Premesh Chandran failed to come clean and admit that Malaysiakini is in fact in discussion with the Malay Mail.

This was admitted to by Steven Gan under the melodramatic headline that he would sell out of Malaysiakini over his ‘dead body’. But Gan is not Kapal Singh.

Towards the bottom of his article, Gan admitted that Malaysiakini is in fact in discussions with The Malay Mail.

It is not clear whether the infamous ‘Rocky Bru’, who moved from criticizing the BN to supporting it overnight (to the horror and disgust of his many supporters), was part of the discussions.

Gan then noted that while he may end up selling his news to The Malay Mail, this would not affect editorial policy. He neglected to explain why the pro-government Malay Mail would want to run any news which is positive to the opposition.

Economic imperative

After having offered to die rather than sell Malaysiakini, Gan then pleaded that everyone should understand the ‘economic imperative’ involved in selling news to The Malay Mail.

The thing is that once The Malay Mail becomes one of his larger customers, the economic imperative would be for him to give them what they want, story-wise and policy-wise.

With 'economic imperatives’ a snare rather than not, it would be better that Steven Gan does not differentiate between right and wrong.

The battle that is going on in Malaysia today is a stark one, good vs. evil, black vs. white. There is little room to dabble in grey. Those who enter the grey zones, good intentions or not, may soon find themselves turned into gollums.

Malaysia Chronicle

Related Stories:

No retraction at all: Malaysiakini selling out to Umno?

Confirmed, Jalil to take charge at NST

M'kini selling out to Umno? Over our dead bodies

When we launched Malaysiakini 11 years ago, we knew it would be difficult for a neophyte website to make a political impact. After all, netizens were few and far in between, and their laborious 56k modem didn't help matters either.

We were wrong.

Making a political impact was the easy part. Few journalists at that time dared to thumb their noses at Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and we stood out like a sore thumb.

Indeed, the hard part was keeping Malaysiakini financially afloat. When the dotcom bust came in 2001 - two years after we went live - the writing was on the wall: Malaysiakini cannot survive on advertising alone.

Our decision to go subscription was a difficult one. Everyone said we would fail. True, who would want to pay for Internet content? We were alone. There was no one to help us. We had to build the payment technology from scratch.

But there was no choice. On Aug 16, 2002 - the day Malaysiakini went subscription - we made this appeal:

"No online news site has proved to be sustainable. The most successful ones are offshoots of their print cousins, and are invariably bankrolled by them. Few are truly online outfits. Most of these are in dire straits.

"Which is why we are now forced to face a Hobson's choice: Lock up the website and stand to lose our readers - and there is no guarantee we can still survive - or continue to keep Malaysiakini free until we bite the dust in the coming months.

"The journalists in Malaysiakini have made our choice. We now leave it to our readers to make theirs."

And our readers did make their choice. Many supported Malaysiakini by contributing a small sum every month to enable us to continue to cover - and in a small way, influence - the tumultuous events that eventually took place in our country.

Competing with global giants

Content is not king. Technology is.

Content providers - newspapers, television and radio stations - are facing problems everywhere. It's technology and telecommunication companies that are reaping the rewards of the Internet.

While online advertising continues to rise, cyberspace provides a very different challenge for content providers.

Advertisers no longer rely exclusively on journalism to deliver eyeballs the way they once did with old media, and they need not depend on local websites to do the job. Our competitors for the advertising dollar include, among others, top global giants.

Indeed, none of the top four online companies - Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo - are media companies. They and 45 others control over 95 percent of the global online advertising market.

Anyone outside this elite group faces intense competition for a relatively small pot of money. Malaysiakini, whether we like it or not, is competing with the likes of Google for advertising.

As such, the harsh reality is that subscription is one way - and for now, perhaps the only way - to support independent media.

Which is why independent Chinese online daily Merdeka Review, with the help of Malaysiakini, went subscription this month. Without this, Merdeka Review will inevitably face problems of long-term sustainability.

And to provide a level-playing field, Malaysiakini Chinese website - which had been free since its launch in 2005 - too went subscription.

Diversified sources of income

We have said time and again - independent media need independent financing. Make no mistake - we are embarking on a project that will determine the fate of independent media.

If we fail to make subscription work, then the future of independent online media will be a lot bleaker.

But to be truly independent, a news website needs diversified sources of income. Given this, Malaysiakini is looking beyond subscription and advertising to fund our operation.

Increasingly, an additional source of income is through selling our content. Early this year, we signed a deal with Yahoo, where the search engine is given the right to use some Malaysiakini content on its website in return for a fee.

It is public knowledge that The Malay Mail will soon be relaunching as a paid morning daily as opposed to a free afternoon paper. And it has approached several online players, blogs and international news agencies for content, Malaysiakini included.

So it came as a rude shock to us that a simple content proposal - and a deal that is far from being concluded - has been spun by a couple of news sites into a content-for-share swap.

Let us make it clear - we have no intention of owning a single share of The Malay Mail or to surrender the ownership of Malaysiakini.

But content syndication - which provides funds for Malaysiakini to serve our readers better, as well as an avenue to reach even more readers - makes good business, and journalism, sense.

Moreover, selling our content does not affect our editorial stance. Those using our content have no say in it - they have a choice to either take it or leave it. They are not even allowed to alter the content.

We are surprised that our online competitors failed to understand this economic imperative. But then again, perhaps they don't need to worry about money, since they are getting it from somewhere.

So, is Malaysiakini selling out to Umno? Over our dead bodies.

And we say that not only to Umno, but also to MCA, MIC, PAS, PKR and DAP. Political parties have no business in owning media, and journalists have no business making such deals with politicians.

It is a principle that we hold dear in Malaysiakini, and one which we have painstakingly worked to protect over the past one decade. We are not going to abandon it for anything. Even cold hard cash. - Malaysiakini - ENDS


DESIDERATA: I have taken the liberty to also reproduce the COMMENT I like best (by Paul) at MChronicle:



  • Comment Link Paul Friday, 14 October 2011 16:56 posted by Paul

    The point is one must declare and be transparent and honest about it. But Premesh lied and Gan is spinning. Frankly Malaysiakini has been a pale shadow of its former self. The aritcles are so badly written, it is no loss they go to MM. The deterioration began after receiving new injection of funds from stupid George Soros. Once the money in, quality OUT! No wonder, subscriptions cannot sustain. They no longer do it for the passion of journalism but for making even more money than before. They are now little tycoons of their own fiefdoms.

MI-MM-Mkini and Malaysia Chronicle Saga

An EXCLUSIVE insider report by YL Chong, aka Desiderata

(IF thou knoweth not who YL, Desi is, please quickly get the here our of hel!:)

The saga has its incubation a few days ago in a Malaysian Insider story about impending changes at the top editorial and management levels of New Straits Times Press, an UMNO-controlled propaganda machine if you don't know (you haven't come out of the cave ah?)

In a by the way mention, MI reported that 12-year-old pioneer news portal Malaysiakini is holding talks with Malay Mail, perceived as yet another UMNO -- if not UMNO, then an Establishment -- newspaper. (A fellow Blogger named Rockybru was helming this "free" paper until very recently, and the Datuk Ahirudin Attan started a blog-newspaper The Mole on September 16, 2011, but that's another story...Why I mentioned this name was because it was speculated by MC maybe, just maybe, Rocky has a role to play in the MM-Mkini deal...)

The Malaysia Chronicle under a former Mkini editor Ms Wong Choon Mei picked up MI report, expanded on it by a follow-up with an implication that the Mkini-MM deal might involve a share-swap.

As expected (by those who kniow Mkini CEO Premesh Chandran well (like this writer for YL Chong is also a former Mkini News Editor in 2000!) in a press statement vehemently denied about a Mkini-MM deal, even asked Ms Wong CM to retract her portal's story. I think it was a case of big brother in Internet news trying to bully a young sister -- but having interacted with Wong CM, Premesh in pres world is just a mouse compared with a cat.

WHY DO I SAY THIS?
Back Story

Okay, just bear with me while I narrate a BACK STORY.

Some time in early 2001, the Far Eastern Review ran a short report saying that Mkini was receiving money from "purported" rogue trader (as alleged by several Malaysian leaders including the then Prime Minister), George Soros. FEER claimed the money was channeled through South East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA). Yes, Premesh denied this report of George Soros funding, whether "direct of indirect".

I later found at a company meeting that Premesh was not being truthful. I wrote later that while FEER was barking up the right tree, it was standing on the wrong branch. The investment money came NOT from SEAPA but from the Media Development Loan Fund (MIDF), via a George Soros unit called the Open Society Institute which has many offices outside of the United States.

I was then News Editor, and hence privy to information raised at Mkini's meetings, and I had learned that indeed Mkini had received an initial 10percent down payment of RM188,000 for a 10percent interest in Mkini. At a weekend meeting I told the top two guns--Steven Gan and Premesh Chandran-- they had better come clean by telling the "full story" and not half-truths. I saidf how the investment money came through from George Soros -- direct or indirect -- was not important. The truth was indeed that RM188,000 came as initial investment from MDLF, a Soros unit.

I told them since Mkini flagged itself as promoting transparency and openness, it was not right to hide the fact. I said I had no problem with funding from Soros into the news portal -- as long as we practised ethical journalism.
Since the top two guns did not agree with me -- in fact Steven Gan said it would be the death of Malaysiakini if they admitted to receiving this Soros funding! -- I was given Hobson's choice but told them I would hand in my resignation the following Monday (two days later).


Premesh in a following press statement kept on insisting it was NOT truewhen I said indeed, the FEER story was correct in essence -- barking up the right tree but wrong branch was my metaphoric narrative! --disclosed when I went public on why I resigned. Premesh still vehemently denied the story of Mkini having received money from George Soros, and defamed me by saying I resigned over dissatisfaction over my "pay"!

I believe it was some 10 to 11 months later, MDLF paid the remaining 90percent of its investme, or more than the 1.88million initially indicated at the time of my resignation) or MORE for a 30percent (? I stand corrected on this poiint on the numbers). I drew the NST attention to this development and it ran an update story on this development.


___________________________________ ends Back Story

Now this back story is important to show that Premesh has always been a consistent liar or telling half-truths. He had initially vehementy denied on reaction the MI breaking the story on MM-Mkini holding negotiations.

But today, with tails between his legs, Steven Gan admitted that indeed in gist the MI story and subsequent follow-up reports by Malaysia Chronicle was true in essence. I reproduce the initial paras in MC's latest report below++++. The differences are only on the details. Refer the following ****LINK at the original site at malaysia-chronicle.com:

****
http://malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=21171:malaysiakini-owns-up&Itemid=2


++++
riday, 14 October 2011 14:18

Malaysiakini owns up

Written by Ismail Dahlan, Malaysia Chronicle
Rate this item
(8 votes)

Despite his vociferous denials of our report on the 13th of October, Malaysiakini’s Premesh Chandran failed to come clean and admit that Malaysiakini is in fact in discussion with the Malay Mail.

This was admitted to by Steven Gan under the melodramatic headline that he would sell out of Malaysiakini over his ‘dead body’. But Gan is not Kapal Singh.

Towards the bottom of his article, Gan admitted that Malaysiakini is in fact in discussions with The Malay Mail.

It is not clear whether the infamous ‘Rocky Bru’, who moved from criticizing the BN to supporting it overnight (to the horror and disgust of his many supporters), was part of the discussions.

Gan then noted that while he may end up selling his news to The Malay Mail, this would not affect editorial policy. He neglected to explain why the pro-government Malay Mail would want to run any news which is positive to the opposition.




POSTSCRIPT: I may have another "followup" report come midnight if my writHer's spirits are up, steal. -- YL, Desi, knottyaSsusual

Thursday, October 13, 2011

The GE13 Propaganda MSM Is Being Pepped Up...

and the Malaysian Insider has the story:) It marks another changing of the guards if BN-UMNO retaoin Putrajaya admin. But politics since March 8, 2008 has become so unpredictable -- especially with how the average VOTER thinks and acts -- that PKR chioef Sdr Anwar Ibrahim, despite all the odds stacked against him by UMNO, may yet triumph and become Malaysia's CEO at the ripe age of 65. Then Desi will sigh that tremendous sigh of relief that NegaraKu may yet have a life, after awe! -- YL, newhound, Desi, blogger knottyaSsusual:)

Umno realigns media units with eye towards polls

October 13, 2011
Umno-liked English newspapers have fallen behind their Malay counterparts. — File pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s media strategist, Abdul Jalil Hamid, is expected to head newspaper publisher New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad (NSTP) from Monday as Umno realigns its media units ahead of the next general election expected by early 2012.

The Malaysian Insider also understands that apart from changes in NSTP, another Umno-linked newspaper, The Malay Mail, is in talks to take news from the MalaysiaKini web portal in exchange for shares in the tabloid. MalaysiaKini, which began in 1999, has been interested in the print media for some time and is suing the Home Affairs Ministry for a publishing permit.

Both media companies have planned for a relaunch on November 11 with The Malay Mail returning as a paid morning tabloid while the NSTP’s flagship New Straits Times will sport a new design. It is learnt that NSTP’s current group managing director, Datuk Zainul Ariffin Mohammed Isa, will return to lead the company’s e-Media unit that focuses on putting more content online.

It is also understood that the publisher’s Umno-linked parent, Media Prima Berhad (MPB), have agreed to a “mutual separation” with NSTP chief executive officer Datuk Anthony @ Firdauz Bujang. His post has been re-designated as chief operating officer and is expected to be filled by Mohammad Azlan Abdullah, the current chief executive officer of MPB’s Big Tree Outdoor Sdn Bhd.

“The decision was made at a board meeting yesterday. Both MPB and Anthony have agreed that he can leave but the real surprise is moving Zainul Arifin out effective this Saturday,” a source told The Malaysian Insider.

Several other sources confirmed the new appointments, with one saying that NSTP was abuzz with news that Jalil would take over the newspaper company, which is now a subsidiary of MPB.

“What we hear in Balai Berita is Jalil Hamid, ex-Reuters and ex Securities Commission, will be the new group managing editor,” one newspaper editor told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the NSTP headquarters in Jalan Riong here.

Another source confirmed that only two changes were made in the board meeting yesterday and MPB group managing director Datuk Amrin Awaluddin is expected to brief NSTP staff later today on the changes in the top posts. Anthony took up his post in November 2008 while Zainul Arifin has led the editorial team since July 2009.

Jalil is a widely-respected journalist who had only worked with national news agency Bernama and international newswire Reuters Ltd before it became ThomsonReuters PLC. He was seconded to head Najib’s National Communications Team in September 2010 from the Securities Commission (SC), which he joined as its senior general manager in the Corporate Affairs Department in 2009.

Apart from serving twice in the Reuters Kuala Lumpur bureau, Jalil has also worked in Reuters’ offices in Singapore and London, specialising in commodities, equities and political news.

He was in the news in July when criticised over a leaked note to Umno informationc chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan advising local media on coverage of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally calling for free and fair elections. Several newspapers demonised the rally and its organisers while the government cracked down on the rally which is now subject of a public inquiry by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam).

New COO Mohammad Azlan has been with Big Tree since 2001 and will continue to report to Amrin. He holds a Bachelor Business Degree (Accountancy) from University of Tasmania, Australia and is a full member of the Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Australia and Chartered Accountant, Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).

Media executives say the NSTP stable of newspapers remains profitable and will benefit from increased advertising expenditure in 2012 due to campaigns related to the London Olympics and Euro 2012 football competition. But it is understood the owners are unhappy with the English-language New Straits Times’ editorial coverage and shrinking circulation.

“It is making money but readership is falling off for the NST. Only the Bahasa Malaysia papers are doing well,” an executive told The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity. He added that Umno officials had expressed concern and had recommended personnel changes recently.

The Malay Mail, which first began in publishing in 1896, is now under the Redberry Media group that bought a 75 per cent stake of the tabloid from the NSTP group in 2009. It became a free afternoon newspaper in May 2008 but has recently announced plans to revert to being a paid daily.

Both media groups are supportive of Najib, who last month announced that newspapers will not be subject to annual licensing under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 as part of a wider liberalisation package that his political foes say is linked to snap polls next year.