Are Malaysia’s law-enforcing
institutions paralysed?
By Kim Quek
09.01.2013
The total
impotency of law-enforcing institutions across the full spectrum of the Malaysian
polity to deal with high corruption and criminal activities of the ruling elite
is mercilessly exposed in through the serial unfolding of scandals by Deepak Jaikishan
– one time close associate of the Prime Minister’s wife.
First, it
was the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) and the Attorney
General who have remained steadfastly silent despite a series of swirling
expose’ for more than one month of Prime Minister Najib Razak family’s alleged acts
to cover up the PM’s alleged link to the murder of Mongolian beauty
Altantuya. In addition to accusing the
family for committing bribery and criminal coercion in order to come up with a
false statutory declaration to protect the PM, Deepak also accused the family
for having accepted bribery from him for facilitating his participation in a
scandalous Defence Ministry (Mindef) project – the construction of the RM100
million National Defence Education Center (Puspahanas). The PM and his family have also remained strangely
and inexplicably silent.
Now, even
the Securities Commission, watchdog of the securities market, is also found
wanting in protecting the integrity of the Malaysian Stock Exchange when it
fails to haul up a Defence Ministry linked company embarking on a dubious deal,
which was apparently designed to quell the politically explosive Deepak-Najib
scandal. Listed company Boustead
Holdings Bhd, an investment arm of the military pension fund entity (LTAT) under
Mindef, is playing the Santa Claus to dish out millions of ringgit in cash to silence
whistle-blower Deepak and the Mindef project recipient, Selangor Umno women
wing’s chief Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, who was sued by Deepak over alleged breach
of trust in their ill-fated partnership in the project.
MINDEF
TO THE PM’S RESCUE
Boustead is buying
up Deepak’s company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd for RM30 million, and at the same time also
buying the disputed 200 acres of land from Ropiaah’s company Awan Megah (M) Sdn
for RM130 million. Upon this
announcement by Boustead, Deepak instantly withdrew his law suit against the
Umno leader, presumably appeased and refrained from further blowing his trumpet.
However, behind
the Boustead maneuver that resulted in this lightning development are facts that
are perhaps stranger than fiction – the goods that Boustead are chasing after
are in truth illusionary to its
shareholders. For Astacanggih is but an
asset-less shell company that has never filed its accounts with the Companies
Commission, and the 200 acre land, which was intended as Mindef’s part payment
to Awan Megah for undertaking in 2005 to complete the Mindef project, is still vested
with the government, as the project is never constructed. Furthermore, the 200
acre land is designated for building military camp, and Awan Megah is prohibited
from conveying it to any third party. In addition, the Selangor State
government, which is the administrator of all lands in the state, has also
declared that it will not approve any transfer of the said land unless it is
used to build military camp. Hence, Boustead is effectively barred by law to
acquire the land.
With this
land transaction being a castle in the air, Boustead is, in truth, paying out
RM160 million, for which it gains nothing.
So shouldn’t
the Securities Commission as well as the MACC have stepped in to probe the
directors of Boustead and LTAT respectively over this outrageous fraud and betrayal
of the welfare of military personnel and veterans, who have obviously become
sacrificial lambs at the altar of political expediency of the political masters?
And
shouldn’t the Defence Minister, who has apparently initiated such a political
move to save Najib’s skin, be also investigated by MACC over such abuse of
power, corruption and bribery on his part?
PM
ABUSED POWER TO GRANT PROJECT
As a further
blow to the image of PM Najib, he happened to be the Defence Minister who
approved in 2005 the award of the project to Awan Megah, which is now found to
be a company that has remained dormant since 2003, certainly without the wherewithal
to design and construct the RM100 million Mindef facilities. This is clearly an act of abuse of power and
corruption.
In any
democratic country where the government is popularly elected, the prime
minister would have stood up to face these serious and unyielding allegations by
either denying or acting to reclaim his dignity; and the law-enforcing
institutions would also have swung into action – one after another – to uphold
the law. But in Malaysia, we have only
eerie silence, save the noises made by the opposition, mainly through the
Internet, as the relative news are blacked out in the mainstream media.
Obviously,
our institutions, including the mainstream media (all newspapers and TV
channels), have either being neutered or reduced to serving as lapdog of the
political masters; and unless these institutions are thoroughly reformed, the
plundering and breach of law by the ruling elite with impunity will only get
worse – a path that will lead eventually to state bankruptcy and national
catastrophe.
For peace-loving Malaysians who yearn for the
restoration of rule of law, what alternative do they have other than to seek a
change of government by granting a new mandate – through the coming election –
to the opposition alliance, whose corruption-free leadership has demonstrated the ability to administer
the state governments under its control with integrity and prudent financial
management?
Kim Quek
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