So when tourists cometh down to Furong
The guide would show you the bees dan burung-burung
And being such good hosts we'll take thee to Seremban General Hospital
Where the horstpitality is superb and capital
Should you have need to go under the knife
Don't bring thy mistress, bring your wife
It's rumoured the women hear are fierce
If you have appendicitis, with their fingers thy tummy they pierce
And for good measure they remove thy intestine for free
Which they fry with mamak mee dan makan-makan in glee:(
Jest so that you think Desi's alone so risque with sarcasm,
Here cometh mGf Stu wit' wit and Hali Laya rumourtism.
Ancient mariner's matey is knot olde et al,
Even in a hospitality ward they wanna have a ball!
"Spatial GreAtings of Selamat Hari Raya to FurongKnights Kapt Abdul Karim dan Kapt Yusof Ahmad dan families!" ~~ Desi
"Hi Desi,Thought that this, Scottish Hospital thingy, (please see below) may appeal to you.
Your latest blog notes, you do me proud, and prompt me to verse, for better or worse!
"The different limb of the tree will be after "V"!
After his exposure in the blog sphere
Bloody foreigners interfering in Mys internal affairs
They'd like to sweep under the stairs
But I have no fear
I'll just open another can of liquid cheer
All the best, Stu"
A Scottish Hospital An English doctor is being shown around a Scottish hospital. At the end of his visit, he is shown into a ward with a number of patients who show no obvious signs of injury.
He goes to examine the first patient he sees, and the man proclaims: "Fair fa' yer honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin' race!"
The English doctor, somewhat taken aback, goes to the next patient, and immediately the patient launches into: "Some hae meat and canna eat, And some wad eat that want it."
This continues with the next patient: "Wee sleekit cow'rin tim'rous beastie, O what a panic's in thy breastie!"
"Well," the English doctor mutters to his Scottish colleague, "I see you saved the psychiatric ward for the last."
"Oh no," the Scottish doctor corrected him, "this is the serious Burns unit."
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri
To All Muslim REaders to Desi's Place.
May each celebration be held in moderation
Show we care for the less privileged in our beloved nation
What we save from excesses therefore share with the more needy
That the Lord's blessings will multiply for awe caring Malaysians
Especially whom I can call myGOoDfriend among thee!
~~ Desiderata will offer thee Tehtarik anytime
If you careth to bump into me
Yes, I still can spare a dime
Adding some cheer at Lingam's or Men Kee.
1.09am, First and foremost a peaceful day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri
May each celebration be held in moderation
Show we care for the less privileged in our beloved nation
What we save from excesses therefore share with the more needy
That the Lord's blessings will multiply for awe caring Malaysians
Especially whom I can call myGOoDfriend among thee!
~~ Desiderata will offer thee Tehtarik anytime
If you careth to bump into me
Yes, I still can spare a dime
Adding some cheer at Lingam's or Men Kee.
1.09am, First and foremost a peaceful day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri
Friday, October 12, 2007
Indecent celebrations in two "Houses"
There is something rotten in the House of Denmark.
This Shakespeare's quote from Hamlet was brought into Malaysians' consciousness by former Prime Minister Tun DR Mahathir Mohamad at a recent dialogue at Putrajaya with Bloggers, and I was happy to have listened to a The Bard's fan. The good doctor substituted Denmark with Malaysia, and you who missed Desi's writeup can now guess what the occasion was all about.
BTW, which is Bloggers' acronym for "By the way", not wayside, Mahathir's erswhile deputy DS Anwar Ibrahim now like his former mentor is trying to replace Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, is also an ardent Shakespeare's fan and often spiced his speeches with the most admired writer's quotes. I apologise for my digression/aggression to come, but's that's a spice I throw to get more Malaysians to borad the Bloggers' wago so they enjoy a privilege to abuse at whim, wit and fancy.
Okay, back to serious mode, which is really not Desi's habit in blogging as he believes a Blogger's journey is to be enjoyed -- I know some nutties would give up a night of bedroom ecstasy for s'x hours of Hi at the PC terminal. For elaboration, please visit maverickysm.BC and/or allofhelen.BC; BC stands for service provider blogpsot.com for the cyber ignoramuses which are many in NegaraKu, hence my sharing this "indecent" post.
First, extract from a rival newspaper to the "celebrating parties" -- NST page 20
headlined:
Zakaria moving into ‘palace’ soon
Assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros’ 16-bedroom, 21-bathroom home. —Picture courtesy of Sin Chew Daily
Desi's note: I feel it's indecent to show the "opulent" small house, whcih is a contracdiction of sorts, sp I exercised the right to censor it lest I be accused of being anaccessory to the "crime".
KLANG: Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros will be moving into his palatial mansion, which boasts 16 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms, after the Hari Raya celebrations.
The mansion is built on 43,000 sq feet of land in Kampung Idaman, while the size of his current home can only be described as an extensively renovated low-cost house.The 21/2-storey mansion has a large fish pond and swimming pool. The main hall's flooring is marble-tiled with many chandeliers. There is also a mini golf course and a large garage. The size of the master bedroom could only be compared to an apartment and its attached bathroom comes with a jacuzzi.In preparation for his move from his current home, which lies just a stone's throw away from the mansion, he hosted about 500 orphans to a prayer session and dinner on Tuesday night.
About 100 of them stayed at the mansion, dubbed "Istana Zakaria", for the night.When contacted yesterday, Zakaria said 30 orphans slept in the master bedroom and the rest in other rooms.He said he wanted to honour the children and also to allow them the opportunity to stay in luxury.
"When and where else will they get such a chance?" he said, adding that the children were from Baling, Kedah. He handed out duit Raya, kain pelikat and batik to the children.He said there would be a Hari Raya open house at the mansion on Nov 10 and he expected about 60,000 people.
About a year ago, Zakaria became a household name after it was reported that he was building the mansion without planning permission from the Klang Municipal Council (MPK).He had been a Klang councillor for 27 years and was slated for another two-year term when the issue was highlighted.
After a public outcry and intervention by the Sultan of Selangor, the state and the Umno supreme council, Zakaria declined his nomination as councillor.Only after this controversy did Zakaria submit the building plans for his mansion. It was subsequently approved.
It was also revealed then that he was running a popular satay shop opposite the mansion without a permit, occupying government land. It was later demolished by MPK.
DESIDERATA continues with commentary, can?
Now invest RM0.60 on a second-hand copy of The Star (it must surely go for 1/2 price at 4.11pm yes!) to enjoy to your heart's delight the heart-warming coverage with rich pictures that leave no room for imagination about Zakaria's exquisite tastes, -- small marbles, small chandeliers, small masterbedroom -- I hear a loud voice whisper that among the 60,000 people expected to attend the Zakaria's bighearted open house will be some DanSi, Latuk and Latin dancers. Desi will try bring you some pix if I can gain entranz. But this mousey writHer doesn't even own a handphone with camera function. Will Zakaria borrow me wan?
There is indeed indecency in two Houses -- Starhub and Zakaria's 'palace' -- when the newspaper instead of chastising a law-breaker deemed it "fit" and proper (while others like me are getting the fits reading it) to celebrate Zakaria's elevation to being a "King" of the small house towering only 2-1/2-storeys in the Royal city of Klang. (I thought it was supposed to be 4 or 4-1/2 storeys, HOWsy?)
Indecent may not be the right word -- something incestuous is going on mayhaps because in the early days when the story broke about Zakaria having broken the buildings bylaws,, the People's Paper headed by a Datuk even great to great length to call on its Indian feng shui expert to write a PR shit -- oops, mind your language, sheet! -- about Zakaria's misfortune as being due to his mansion's locational bad fengshui. So it's not improbable that one Datuk is rubbing the other Datuk's back and each getting a high in their orifices where the sun don't shine, Yes/NO/Maybe... your democratic objective test, my EsteenmedReaders.
You missed that one? Oh, how about Zakaria and wife going great guns about promoting healthy environment -- planting flowering plants amidst the rubble and bubble that is Klang well served by a subservient local council who obliged with post-erection "approval' as the NST duly reported "It was subsequently approved." (The highlights, thus BOLDED, are all knotty Desi's.)
Wrt "...Zakaria said 30 orphans slept in the master bedroom and the rest in other rooms.He said he wanted to honour the children and also to allow them the opportunity to stay in luxury." -- Mayhaps the now law-abiding and charitable State Assemblyman should give these orphans permanent residence in the 'palace'? Anyway, it's only a "small" house what!
So my dear ER, if you have a terraced house and need more kitchen space with erecting an awning lengthening the fire place, and more concrete to put more stoves to make more kuih for Raya or New Year, please relocate your house to Klang. The considerate local council will approve your building/extension plans post-erection. Make sure you have the recpomendation from a Datuk, preferable from strongarm UMNO! Also, please don't show your DAP or PKR or PAS membership card unless you are Din Merican or YL Chong or Kim Quek.
This Shakespeare's quote from Hamlet was brought into Malaysians' consciousness by former Prime Minister Tun DR Mahathir Mohamad at a recent dialogue at Putrajaya with Bloggers, and I was happy to have listened to a The Bard's fan. The good doctor substituted Denmark with Malaysia, and you who missed Desi's writeup can now guess what the occasion was all about.
BTW, which is Bloggers' acronym for "By the way", not wayside, Mahathir's erswhile deputy DS Anwar Ibrahim now like his former mentor is trying to replace Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, is also an ardent Shakespeare's fan and often spiced his speeches with the most admired writer's quotes. I apologise for my digression/aggression to come, but's that's a spice I throw to get more Malaysians to borad the Bloggers' wago so they enjoy a privilege to abuse at whim, wit and fancy.
Okay, back to serious mode, which is really not Desi's habit in blogging as he believes a Blogger's journey is to be enjoyed -- I know some nutties would give up a night of bedroom ecstasy for s'x hours of Hi at the PC terminal. For elaboration, please visit maverickysm.BC and/or allofhelen.BC; BC stands for service provider blogpsot.com for the cyber ignoramuses which are many in NegaraKu, hence my sharing this "indecent" post.
First, extract from a rival newspaper to the "celebrating parties" -- NST page 20
headlined:
Zakaria moving into ‘palace’ soon
Assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros’ 16-bedroom, 21-bathroom home. —Picture courtesy of Sin Chew Daily
Desi's note: I feel it's indecent to show the "opulent" small house, whcih is a contracdiction of sorts, sp I exercised the right to censor it lest I be accused of being anaccessory to the "crime".
KLANG: Port Klang state assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros will be moving into his palatial mansion, which boasts 16 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms, after the Hari Raya celebrations.
The mansion is built on 43,000 sq feet of land in Kampung Idaman, while the size of his current home can only be described as an extensively renovated low-cost house.The 21/2-storey mansion has a large fish pond and swimming pool. The main hall's flooring is marble-tiled with many chandeliers. There is also a mini golf course and a large garage. The size of the master bedroom could only be compared to an apartment and its attached bathroom comes with a jacuzzi.In preparation for his move from his current home, which lies just a stone's throw away from the mansion, he hosted about 500 orphans to a prayer session and dinner on Tuesday night.
About 100 of them stayed at the mansion, dubbed "Istana Zakaria", for the night.When contacted yesterday, Zakaria said 30 orphans slept in the master bedroom and the rest in other rooms.He said he wanted to honour the children and also to allow them the opportunity to stay in luxury.
"When and where else will they get such a chance?" he said, adding that the children were from Baling, Kedah. He handed out duit Raya, kain pelikat and batik to the children.He said there would be a Hari Raya open house at the mansion on Nov 10 and he expected about 60,000 people.
About a year ago, Zakaria became a household name after it was reported that he was building the mansion without planning permission from the Klang Municipal Council (MPK).He had been a Klang councillor for 27 years and was slated for another two-year term when the issue was highlighted.
After a public outcry and intervention by the Sultan of Selangor, the state and the Umno supreme council, Zakaria declined his nomination as councillor.Only after this controversy did Zakaria submit the building plans for his mansion. It was subsequently approved.
It was also revealed then that he was running a popular satay shop opposite the mansion without a permit, occupying government land. It was later demolished by MPK.
DESIDERATA continues with commentary, can?
Now invest RM0.60 on a second-hand copy of The Star (it must surely go for 1/2 price at 4.11pm yes!) to enjoy to your heart's delight the heart-warming coverage with rich pictures that leave no room for imagination about Zakaria's exquisite tastes, -- small marbles, small chandeliers, small masterbedroom -- I hear a loud voice whisper that among the 60,000 people expected to attend the Zakaria's bighearted open house will be some DanSi, Latuk and Latin dancers. Desi will try bring you some pix if I can gain entranz. But this mousey writHer doesn't even own a handphone with camera function. Will Zakaria borrow me wan?
There is indeed indecency in two Houses -- Starhub and Zakaria's 'palace' -- when the newspaper instead of chastising a law-breaker deemed it "fit" and proper (while others like me are getting the fits reading it) to celebrate Zakaria's elevation to being a "King" of the small house towering only 2-1/2-storeys in the Royal city of Klang. (I thought it was supposed to be 4 or 4-1/2 storeys, HOWsy?)
Indecent may not be the right word -- something incestuous is going on mayhaps because in the early days when the story broke about Zakaria having broken the buildings bylaws,, the People's Paper headed by a Datuk even great to great length to call on its Indian feng shui expert to write a PR shit -- oops, mind your language, sheet! -- about Zakaria's misfortune as being due to his mansion's locational bad fengshui. So it's not improbable that one Datuk is rubbing the other Datuk's back and each getting a high in their orifices where the sun don't shine, Yes/NO/Maybe... your democratic objective test, my EsteenmedReaders.
You missed that one? Oh, how about Zakaria and wife going great guns about promoting healthy environment -- planting flowering plants amidst the rubble and bubble that is Klang well served by a subservient local council who obliged with post-erection "approval' as the NST duly reported "It was subsequently approved." (The highlights, thus BOLDED, are all knotty Desi's.)
Wrt "...Zakaria said 30 orphans slept in the master bedroom and the rest in other rooms.He said he wanted to honour the children and also to allow them the opportunity to stay in luxury." -- Mayhaps the now law-abiding and charitable State Assemblyman should give these orphans permanent residence in the 'palace'? Anyway, it's only a "small" house what!
So my dear ER, if you have a terraced house and need more kitchen space with erecting an awning lengthening the fire place, and more concrete to put more stoves to make more kuih for Raya or New Year, please relocate your house to Klang. The considerate local council will approve your building/extension plans post-erection. Make sure you have the recpomendation from a Datuk, preferable from strongarm UMNO! Also, please don't show your DAP or PKR or PAS membership card unless you are Din Merican or YL Chong or Kim Quek.
Like minds, blogosphere and terrestrial
Today I'm privileged to run a peace of a like mind from a Blogospheric soul mate who less than six months ago graduated to becoming Desi's terrestrial tehtarik pardner, in Peyton Place of Malaysia! FurongKnight Stu Russell, I found out later, also spins many modern tales with his sailor buddy of the Hi seas called the Ancient Mariner.
In a case of Like Minds Think Alike, Stu helms a chorus comprising midnight voices like Desi's singing "Veni, Vidi, Vici" in an humble effort to move for change in Malaysian society so that we truly graduate into "developed"nation league in both mindset -- think Einstein and Gandhi -- and physical infrastucture development -- think the Egyptian Pyramids, Great Wall of China and Taj Mahal, and yeah, Malaysia's very own Petronas Twin Towers...
In a case of Like Minds Think Alike, Stu helms a chorus comprising midnight voices like Desi's singing "Veni, Vidi, Vici" in an humble effort to move for change in Malaysian society so that we truly graduate into "developed"nation league in both mindset -- think Einstein and Gandhi -- and physical infrastucture development -- think the Egyptian Pyramids, Great Wall of China and Taj Mahal, and yeah, Malaysia's very own Petronas Twin Towers...
Meanwhile, what gladdens Desi's heart is that Stu, along with family, is also a lover of poetry, and Desi's obsession with achieving that 20million-mark is much nearer achievement if only there were aMore repeat customers like Stu. Thanks, matey!:)
It's my tremendous pleasure to hoRst with two goblets of Lingam's Curry House tehtarik plus kambing rendang:
GUEST BLOGGER:
Capt. Abdul Karim Stuart Russell
(The following appeared, slightly edited, also as
Letter to the Editor in The Sun, on Oct 11, 2007)
"Dear Sir,
In the media we have recently been told by the Prime Minister that, the Iskandar Development Region and Northern Corridor Economic Region, the East Coast Economic Region and similar corridors are being planned for Sabah and Sarawak , have been greeted with great excitement.
The PM has been quoted as saying “There is excitement when they hear we are going to bring development to the corridor areas.”
One can but speculate who ‘they’ who have expressed excitement are, but it is certainly not the disabled, the elderly, families with babies and children, the infirm or pregnant ladies, since these sections of the ‘rakyat’ have been, and will no doubt continue to be marginalized, discriminated against, if not entirely ignored.
All new transportation systems, such as the soon to be awarded Penang Monorail project, and other new monorail and LRT systems being proposed for Kuala Lumpur , Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya and Johor Bahru, as well as all buses, trains and other forms of transport must, without exception, be universally designed so as to make them accessible to all.
Even if these ‘Economic Region’ projects are supposed to create many new job opportunities for the people such as in tourism, agriculture and small and medium industries, these job opportunities will not be available to those who are excluded from travelling because the public transport infrastructure is inaccessible to them.
The disabled, the elderly and others who have mobility difficulties must be included in every aspect of life, and until that time, they are certainly not at all excited about being excluded.
Thank you.
Capt. Abdul Karim Stuart Russell
Secretary,
Support Group Society for the Blind of Malaysia"
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Whistle Down The Wind?
OBSESSION WITH WHISTLE-BLOWERS INDICATES AUTHENTICITY OF LINGAM TAPE.
GUEST BLOGGER: KIM QUEK
The government’s obsession at pursuing the whistle-blowers while meticulously avoiding mention of the two principal alleged culprits – lawyer V K Lingam and present Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz – is the surest tell-tale sign that the Lingam video clip is not only authentic, but is also known to the government to be authentic.
Significantly, three full weeks after the exposure of this explosive video clip (on Sept 19) which revealed political manipulation and illicit fixing of senior judicial posts, both alleged culprits have not openly denied the serious charges, and have also steadfastly remained incommunicado and invisible to the public.
Instead of going after the alleged culprits, de-facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz made a desperate attempt to dig at the whistle-blowers. Quoting a non-existent “Witness Protection Act”, he went to the extreme of offering a face change through plastic surgery as the ultimate protection to lure the anonymous source behind the video to come forward to the government.
Nazri warned that “a probe into the clip will come to nothing if the whistleblower does not come forward to verify its authencity.” He added that if the witness failed to appear, “we can conclude that they are lying”.
Nazri’s stipulation of the whistleblower’s appearance as pre-condition to this investigation defies all logic.
The evidence is the video clip. Authenticity should be built primarily upon a technical analysis of the clip -- whether the person that appears in the video is actually Lingam himself or an actor impersonating Lingam, or whether the voice in the clip belongs to Lingam or dubbed from another person. These can be ascertained by analyzing Lingam’s mannerism, voice, tone, accent, linguistic expressions and vocabulary, and compare these with those found in the clip. Unless Lingam claims that the clip is a fake, there is even no necessity to go into these exhaustive technical details.
SOURCE OF WHISTLE-BLOWER IRRELEVANT
In the absence of a challenge from Lingam, Nazri’s insistence in hinging the whole investigations on the appearance of the video maker is all the more unreasonable, for there is still the question of credibility of any self-claimed video maker that may emerge. If a person emerges to claim he films the video, can we take his word as proof that the clip is authentic? Of course not, we still have to go through the technical analysis, if Lingam insists it is a fake. Finality is rested with the technical analysis, in case of dispute. Then why turn the video maker’s appearance into an absolute pre-requisite for the entire investigation?
That the original whistle-blower’s identity is not even relevant to the uncovering of a major scandal was amply illustrated in the Watergate scandal in US in the early seventies when the scandal was finally resolved with the resignation of former President Richard Nixon. Throughout the lengthy investigations, the identity of the mysterious whistle-blower codenamed “Deep Throat” was never revealed, and yet this non-revelation of the source did not prevent a fruitful conclusion of the entire investigations. Incidentally, the two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who first exposed the scandal, were honoured by the award of the nation’s top literary prize - the Pulitzer - to the newspaper, in recognition of their journalistic achievement. This is of course in contrast with the treatment received by our poor whistle-blowers – PKR vice-president R Sivarasa and Anwar Ibrahim’s political aide Sim Tze Tzin - who have been hounded by our Anti-Corruption Agency. They were served with notice under Section 29 (c) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 to reveal the source of the video clip to ACA within seven days from Oct 4, failing which they are liable to be jailed for two years and fined RM 10,000.
What a contrast in the way a genuine democracy handles a major government scandal with that adopted by a corrupted pseudo democracy like Malaysia! The former honours its whistle-blowers and punishes the culprits (even the chief executive of the nation), while the latter punishes its whistle-blowers, and protects the culprits.
VIDEO IS GENUINE
Why did I say earlier that the video clip is genuine and that the government knows that it is so? The answer is apparent from the conduct of the alleged culprits and from the government, elaborated as follows.
- The alleged culprits have chosen to be in hiding and refused to publicly declare their denial or admittance on the serious allegation of illicitly “fixing” top judicial appointments, even three weeks after the eruption of scandal. If this prolonged silence is not prompted by guilt, then what causes the silence?
- All the top political leaders including PM, DPM, Nazri and other ministers, ACA, police, and even the newly appointed three-men panel have meticulously avoided the mention of Lingam and Fairuz. Why? Shouldn’t these two alleged players be the first target of enquiry – unless everyone already knows the answer?
- Nazri’s earnestness in seeking the video maker to the extent of offering plastic surgery reveals his subconscious acknowledgement that the source is a genuine video maker capturing the Lingam conversation, otherwise, how could Nazri in his wildest imagination have expected a criminal making a fake video to be so foolish as to appear himself just because there is assurance of full protection including face change?
- Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi joined the chorus of support to seek out the source of this video clip. He was quoted in Penang on Oct 7 to have said that the video maker should know a lot more about this video clip which could enable the authorities to secure more comprehensive information and evidences for a fair investigation. Pak Lah appealed to the whistle-blowers and photographer to co-operate with the authorities. (Sin Chew Press, Oct 8). Now, if that is not an acknowledgement that the clip is genuine, then what is? Or is it conceivable that Pak Lah was persuading a con video producer to tell the truth to the government? Hadn’t Pak Lah already pre-supposed the authenticity of the video clip?
Since in reality no one is in doubt of the video, then why appoint an “independent” three-men panel to investigate the authenticity of the clip, if it is not an exercise to cover up the ugly truth?
LAME-DUCK PANEL SUPERFLUOUS
The lame-duck, morally deficient panel hardly concealed its role as a stooge of the ruling power UMNO on its first meeting with the press on Oct 3. Apart from confirming the panel’s total lack of legal power to carry out its task properly such as compelling evidences, panel leader Haidar Mohd Noor emphatically rejected the suggestion to call Lingam to testify. When pressed further, he said: “If he wants to come …….I don’t know”. Isn’t that amazing -- the investigator fighting shy to call Lingam when the latter should have been the most urgently sought witness to answer the prime question of whether he (Lingam) did or did not make that incriminating phone call? Haidar’s telling answer to the reporters leaves one with no room for imagination as to whether he already knows the answer.
In the same press conference, Haidar invited the public who have knowledge of the video clip to come forward to give evidence. But that invitation was swiftly slammed down by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who appointed the panel a few days earlier, with the directive that the panel was not to interview anyone other than receiving reports from the ACA, police or other government agencies. With no power to investigate and no access to witnesses, the panel’s superfluous function is self-evident.
With Najib deliberately setting up a dummy panel on one end and Nazri frantically and irrationally pursuing an elusive whistle-blower at the other, we are left with no alternative but to conclude that the entire government strategy in dealing with the present crisis is imbued with dishonourable intentions – to cover up the scandal at all costs to preserve the status quo.
If that is not the case, an honourable government would otherwise have set up a fully empowered royal commission of inquiry in the first instance so as to get to the bottom of our judicial scourge, as a prelude to full judicial reforms.
And that is what all patriotic Malaysians must fight for, if we are serious about restoring independence and integrity to our fallen judiciary.
Kim Quek.
PS. You may make history by being signatories to the petition to Yang di-Pertuan Agong to set up a royal commission of enquiry. All you need to do is to email your name and IC number to: savethejudiciary@gmail.com. The full text of the petition can be read at: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Mondae sings Malaysian blues:(
The Malaysian stage today is dark, dank and mainly like Mondae blues
For more lifting colours, wait for evening showers to welcome the occasional rainbow hues
Desi planned a HI-atus in Hait or jest Hi-Tea
But soon disrupted by myGOoDfriend DIN MERICAN's sirprise PKR's entry
He said he is fedup with the Barisan Nasional all-talk-and-no-action policy
He's also confused by the leaders' claims we're OK, but the common folks don't agree
Now it's the time for All Goode Men To Rise, says Din
If NegaraKu is to survive the sleepy-eyed, premier BN's dream
Big mouth Nazri maketh Malaysia a laughing stock with his Got Eyes No See
2,000 lwayers in B&W suits march to PM's Department, and he 'hole-ars'ed:
Is there a crisis with our Judiciary?
Where got crisis?
You Opposition guys are all a-miss!
Empty vessels make the most noise, an English saw goes
But a half-baked lawyer's brain proveth he's got more holes
Tonight Malaysians better sleep with both eyes closed
Tomorrow you may wake up to more MPs and Ministers
Shooting off their mouths either ether- or dada'-overdosed?
Since I'm withdrawing to Half-HI-atus because of bread and butter
I'm doing a Cut&Paste from maverickysm.BC and my verse you no long-er suffer
______________ Thanks Dr Yeoh SM matey, in return for thiefing my Pome! ______________
A Nation decomposing. A Nation treading disaster?
It's damn scary...
When a good citizen gave information of a crime, the alleged criminal is holidaying with the investigators and the system administrators. And the source of the complain was investigated and possibly castigated.
When a child was murdered, the murderer could not be found, and the crimebusters' solutions is to indict the parents for the crime of negligence.
When a girl is raped, the lawmakers blamed her for having a sexy look or being scantily dressed which invites crime.
When the bloggers exposed corruption, they were arrested for some other reasons other than that exposure and the corruptors smiled.
It is far safer and luxurious to be the corrupt, the crime and the perpetrator than to be a good, honest citizen. This land is or has become the land for the Vikings and Tartans.
They can sent man to the Moon or Mars. We are more concerned on how to play batu sembilan, eat roti canai, and make teh tarik while in the space. they are not in the space for any other reason.
They are more interested to debate the women's dress in the parliament. They are more interested in debating about women comes once a month. They are more interested in debating monkeys and calling bloggers monkeys.
Now we are debating whether Rasa Sayang is Malaysian folk song or is it Indonesian. It looks like the government is prepared to forego a relationship in order to claim the rights to sing the song during the Merdeka parade.
We don't catch thieves, for we can't. We don't catch corruptors, for we are friends and partners. We do what the Auditor-general said we do, for we had being doing that all the time and all the years; so why are you complaining? There is nothing wrong, isn't it? So, what's wrong?
For more lifting colours, wait for evening showers to welcome the occasional rainbow hues
Desi planned a HI-atus in Hait or jest Hi-Tea
But soon disrupted by myGOoDfriend DIN MERICAN's sirprise PKR's entry
He said he is fedup with the Barisan Nasional all-talk-and-no-action policy
He's also confused by the leaders' claims we're OK, but the common folks don't agree
Now it's the time for All Goode Men To Rise, says Din
If NegaraKu is to survive the sleepy-eyed, premier BN's dream
Big mouth Nazri maketh Malaysia a laughing stock with his Got Eyes No See
2,000 lwayers in B&W suits march to PM's Department, and he 'hole-ars'ed:
Is there a crisis with our Judiciary?
Where got crisis?
You Opposition guys are all a-miss!
Empty vessels make the most noise, an English saw goes
But a half-baked lawyer's brain proveth he's got more holes
Tonight Malaysians better sleep with both eyes closed
Tomorrow you may wake up to more MPs and Ministers
Shooting off their mouths either ether- or dada'-overdosed?
Since I'm withdrawing to Half-HI-atus because of bread and butter
I'm doing a Cut&Paste from maverickysm.BC and my verse you no long-er suffer
______________ Thanks Dr Yeoh SM matey, in return for thiefing my Pome! ______________
What has become of Malaysia?
A Nation decomposing. A Nation treading disaster?It's damn scary...
When a good citizen gave information of a crime, the alleged criminal is holidaying with the investigators and the system administrators. And the source of the complain was investigated and possibly castigated.
When a child was murdered, the murderer could not be found, and the crimebusters' solutions is to indict the parents for the crime of negligence.
When a girl is raped, the lawmakers blamed her for having a sexy look or being scantily dressed which invites crime.
When the bloggers exposed corruption, they were arrested for some other reasons other than that exposure and the corruptors smiled.
It is far safer and luxurious to be the corrupt, the crime and the perpetrator than to be a good, honest citizen. This land is or has become the land for the Vikings and Tartans.
They can sent man to the Moon or Mars. We are more concerned on how to play batu sembilan, eat roti canai, and make teh tarik while in the space. they are not in the space for any other reason.
They are more interested to debate the women's dress in the parliament. They are more interested in debating about women comes once a month. They are more interested in debating monkeys and calling bloggers monkeys.
Now we are debating whether Rasa Sayang is Malaysian folk song or is it Indonesian. It looks like the government is prepared to forego a relationship in order to claim the rights to sing the song during the Merdeka parade.
We don't catch thieves, for we can't. We don't catch corruptors, for we are friends and partners. We do what the Auditor-general said we do, for we had being doing that all the time and all the years; so why are you complaining? There is nothing wrong, isn't it? So, what's wrong?
Sunday, October 07, 2007
V: for .......
Here are two meaningful quotes from 'V for Vendetta'
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It".
I promised our Malaysian "V" who left the mystic Commento yesterday at Desi's Place I would return the flavour with two other quotes:
(i) Ideas are bullet-proof.
(ii) Truth through unity, Unity through faith.
I self-praised, of course to "V" 2, saying that we "Great minds think alike" as Desi on his way from B'g, B'd Wolfish koala lumpuh last Thursday twilight hours to goode, safe Furong, the same "V" movie flashed across this knotty mind maybe our beloved NegaraKu could do with another do-able "V". We leave the other half of the saying "Fools seldom differ" to the likes/ilks of Nazri mouthing "There is no judiciary crisis! What crisis?" when more than 2,000 B&W suited lawyers marched for Justice to the PM's Office from the Palace of KeADILan in Putrajaya. And of course, the now famous -- mayhaps even trade-marked? -- response "I dunno" from that numero uno.
A slight "spoiler" for those who missed this great movie, I have no choice but state that towards the undying minutes of the film, the protagonist was "fired" by endless rounds of bullets, and having sent off not less than two dozens "regimented/regime's soldiers" into oblivion with his V: for Vicious daggers, and his Nemesis in a close face-to-face unbelieving voice asked of "V": "How did you survive all these bullets?"
The slowly expiring protagonist's smiling reply: "Ideas are bullet-proof."
I have pondered hard and long last night about what else "V" can stand for in the current Malaysian context...
V: for VOte;
Yes, VOting Opposition;
V: for Victory;
Yes, when Malaysians rise up and claim their citizens' rights;
and finally, from a Poet-asspirant's heart:
V: for Voices:
Yes, More sane, thinking and determined "Midnight Voices" rising up and saying: IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE!
Here I reprise my prized Commenter's summary of the movie's plot.
"Greetings Desi, another excellent post. The content reminded me a 2006 film, entitled 'V for Vendetta', this is an action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. The film follows the 'V', a freedom fighter seeking to effect socio-political change while simultaneously pursuing his own personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel 'V for Vendetta' by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.The film is well worth a watch, and is an eye opener to how governments manipulate / suppress the truth. This always happens here in Malaysia, and in other countries too.Of course Malaysia still has a little way to go before it reaches the stage of the fictional England depicted in 'V for Vendetta'.
Here are two meaningful quotes from 'V for Vendetta'
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It"
This film should be seen by everyone as it is a real wake-up call to each and every thinking person.
By 'V', at 2:51 PM "
Oh, fellow Malaysians, we can do with such a plot, don't we? And it need not be carried out on November 5! That day is the all important defining day when the Prime Minister fixes the polling day of the impending General Elections. Remember, it's only one idea that can spawn a revolution, that can change the populace's mindset from despair to optimism. That idea is Reformation. The Bahasa Malaysia word is Reformasi. And Ideas Are Bullet-Proof!
Can I reprise one of my fave poems from eon light years ago? That's a rhetorical Q! "V" thinkers don't wait for an answer:
They Seek, Then They Find.
Art Thou With Desi?
Cheers, it's just Adieu, and knot Goodbye.
Where there is darkness,
A candle shineth brightest.
Where there is despondency,
People must seek HOPE
From within the deepest recesses of their
Heart, their unique mind
and Fellow Malysians' Inherent Sense of
Justice and Humanity.
~~~~~~~ Desi's inspired 'rite thanks to that mysterious visitor "V" ~~~~~~~
An olde poem reprised, or should it read Reprisal? Desi must CONsult an ex/axed Selangor MB on exquisite English up to that HI-level I can go Down Down after feeling up/down the Emigressi forma!
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It".
I promised our Malaysian "V" who left the mystic Commento yesterday at Desi's Place I would return the flavour with two other quotes:
(i) Ideas are bullet-proof.
(ii) Truth through unity, Unity through faith.
I self-praised, of course to "V" 2, saying that we "Great minds think alike" as Desi on his way from B'g, B'd Wolfish koala lumpuh last Thursday twilight hours to goode, safe Furong, the same "V" movie flashed across this knotty mind maybe our beloved NegaraKu could do with another do-able "V". We leave the other half of the saying "Fools seldom differ" to the likes/ilks of Nazri mouthing "There is no judiciary crisis! What crisis?" when more than 2,000 B&W suited lawyers marched for Justice to the PM's Office from the Palace of KeADILan in Putrajaya. And of course, the now famous -- mayhaps even trade-marked? -- response "I dunno" from that numero uno.
A slight "spoiler" for those who missed this great movie, I have no choice but state that towards the undying minutes of the film, the protagonist was "fired" by endless rounds of bullets, and having sent off not less than two dozens "regimented/regime's soldiers" into oblivion with his V: for Vicious daggers, and his Nemesis in a close face-to-face unbelieving voice asked of "V": "How did you survive all these bullets?"
The slowly expiring protagonist's smiling reply: "Ideas are bullet-proof."
I have pondered hard and long last night about what else "V" can stand for in the current Malaysian context...
V: for VOte;
Yes, VOting Opposition;
V: for Victory;
Yes, when Malaysians rise up and claim their citizens' rights;
and finally, from a Poet-asspirant's heart:
V: for Voices:
Yes, More sane, thinking and determined "Midnight Voices" rising up and saying: IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE!
Here I reprise my prized Commenter's summary of the movie's plot.
"Greetings Desi, another excellent post. The content reminded me a 2006 film, entitled 'V for Vendetta', this is an action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. The film follows the 'V', a freedom fighter seeking to effect socio-political change while simultaneously pursuing his own personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel 'V for Vendetta' by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.The film is well worth a watch, and is an eye opener to how governments manipulate / suppress the truth. This always happens here in Malaysia, and in other countries too.Of course Malaysia still has a little way to go before it reaches the stage of the fictional England depicted in 'V for Vendetta'.
Here are two meaningful quotes from 'V for Vendetta'
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It"
This film should be seen by everyone as it is a real wake-up call to each and every thinking person.
By 'V', at 2:51 PM "
Oh, fellow Malaysians, we can do with such a plot, don't we? And it need not be carried out on November 5! That day is the all important defining day when the Prime Minister fixes the polling day of the impending General Elections. Remember, it's only one idea that can spawn a revolution, that can change the populace's mindset from despair to optimism. That idea is Reformation. The Bahasa Malaysia word is Reformasi. And Ideas Are Bullet-Proof!
Can I reprise one of my fave poems from eon light years ago? That's a rhetorical Q! "V" thinkers don't wait for an answer:
They Seek, Then They Find.
Art Thou With Desi?
Cheers, it's just Adieu, and knot Goodbye.
Where there is darkness,
A candle shineth brightest.
Where there is despondency,
People must seek HOPE
From within the deepest recesses of their
Heart, their unique mind
and Fellow Malysians' Inherent Sense of
Justice and Humanity.
~~~~~~~ Desi's inspired 'rite thanks to that mysterious visitor "V" ~~~~~~~
An olde poem reprised, or should it read Reprisal? Desi must CONsult an ex/axed Selangor MB on exquisite English up to that HI-level I can go Down Down after feeling up/down the Emigressi forma!
It Gets Curiouser and Curiouser
When I was young I was told
Spinning a story you must be bold
But it still must have a beginning
And an ending, and somethin’ in between
But lately my motherland
Gave birth to very strange events
The cycle was like a record
Being played out from the end
Remember Michael Jackson’s video clip
When uprooted trees regained their standing stature
Dried up safari land became green pastures
And elephant carcasses stood majestically alive again
It gets curiouser and curiouser
As was observed in Alice in Wonderland
And events in Malaysia the past decade
Closely mirror Lewis Carroll’s rich imaginings
The story purportedly started in September 1998
As many Anwarists would want you to believe
That Reformasi was galvanized
When the deputy PM was excised from the head
But my friends, be reminded
It was way back on a May Day in ‘88
When the court sat on a holy day
A panel of junior judges sacked their chief
Salleh Abas Lord President was dismissed in a jiffy
But then DPM Anwar Ibrahim held his tongue
A decade later with one fell swoop
Anwar became a lauded victim in the vicious loop
Refomrasi Anwar started, his loyalists proclaim
They forgot Salleh and his Brave Ones
Who stood their ground for justice
They indeed were the unheralded Originals
Reformation is not only taking to the streets
It’s changing of the mindset
What became of the Judiciary following Salleh?
It was downhill all the way…
It led the country’s leading judicious mind
The late Tun Suffian Hashim to lament in 2000:
“I wouldn’t like to be tried by today’s judges,
Especially if I am innocent.”*
*Quoted from a speech on March 10, 2000 that the former Lord President delivered at a Bar commemoration for the late Justice Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman.
UPDATEd on Bluesy Monday,
when my buddies awe steal wanna play:)
If ASS of poet-2B Desi can't sing his own praise
NahMind, I'll call on two sidekicks
I'll three tehtarik in goblets raise
For "V" and Sabbie's promo tarry not in haste
Gentlemen and all sweet ladies
Sound the desiBELLES for lifting ditties
"Come blow thy trumpet and your horn
The cow's in the meadow, the blardy politikus are eating our corn!"
2 comment(s):
"Venerable Virtuoso that you are,ViVe ut ViVas and a sincere thank you for your greetings and appreciation. Your inVentive mind's thoughts and mine must have Veered together in a Virtual perigee, 'V' for Victory and "V' for Vindication. All should use their "V' for Vote, and Vigorously Vote Valiantly for Victory. Veni, Vidi, Vici
By 'V', at 1:53 PM "
""heya desi;just to drop you a note about sumthin' ;) i brought your midnight poems book to a church book sharing session last nite.. and i must say you have received revving compliments and admiration for the wonderful words! people were like.. who is this guy!! so there you are.. perhaps someday might break into the market abroad?? anyway cheerios and take care, my friend
By pavlova, at 4:25 AM ""
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Malaysia's Economy -- Heading...?
Slow and Steady ascending skywards if you believe the BN-led Government.
Yes, listening to the team led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the last four years, the story is rosey, with GDP growth rocking at 5.5% to 6.0% annually, and Vision 2020 is still within the UMNOputra leaders' sight. The MCA and MIC and other minor players within the 14-member ruling coalition remain dumb and deaf. The "elegant silence" malaise has taken deep roots, thanks to the CEO!
But feel the pulse of the comon folks in the street, vocalised by the Opposition, especially the nine-year-old born-out-of-Reformasi Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the country's economy is continuing a downwards slide. In Desi's vocab, Towards the Abyss.
A highly respected economist, who is non-partisan by the way in the sense he's not a member of a government or Opposition party and who raised quite a controversy in releasing data some time ago on behalf of ASLI which clearly showed the Bumi share equities of the national wealth had exceeded the 30% target, stated that the Government leaders are in s state of "denial". They under-state the inflation rate -- wow, just 2.0% to 3.0% -- when the Joe and Jane public could hardly survive with RM10 for two square meals a day!
Okay, Desi won't like to remian in pessimistic mode for now, let's cut to the chase and hear some remedies being bandied about. I call these little candle of light glimmering athe end of the nation's tunnel,erhaps we emerge seeing some pocketfuls of rainbow?
_____________________ FORUM REPORT ____________________________
Reprising his journalism modus operandi, YL Chong reports from the scene (belatedly, a newshound's unmitigated sin!) with a thousand AP (non-RM20k-generating kind!)-ologies:
Organiser: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre
Topic: MALAYSIA'S ECONOMIC DIRECTION:
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
PKR Secretary-General Sdr Khalid Ibrahim and Treasurer Sdr William JK Leong made official presentations based largely on the party's Malaysian Economic Agenda, first revealed by party President Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail when she launched an alternative Budget Day recently at Parliament House a few days before the Government's Budget 2008 was tabled. In gist, this blueprint also called "The New Deal", spelt out a NEEDS-BASED economic agenda to replace the out-dated National Economic Policy much maligned because of rampant abuse and exploitation by the elite and well-connected politicians in UMNO.
In other words, while the concept and objectives of the NEP -- planned to run only for 20 years from 1970 -- were good and noble, the implementation was defective, ending with disastrous results.
Desipte being an affirmative action instrument, the NEP has failed to redistribute wealth equally in order to improve life for the middle and lower-income groups in Malaysia. Instead, a disproportionate amount of wealth is in the hands of the politically well-connected and elite high-income group.
Khalid -- a corporate involved in initiatives such as Permodalan Nasional Berhad as well as that famous Londonraid eons ago in taking control of Guthrie Bhd and of course who recently contested the Ijok by-election -- stressed that the battle is against Class Warfare, not across Racial Lines. Under PKR's New Deal, affirmative action must be needs-based, not race-based.
PKR's ultimate goal is to restructure society's wealth distribution to create a large middle-class and smaller upper and lower classes for a politically stable and harmonious society.
Khalid lamented: "Unfortunately, the country (after gaining Independence from British colonialists' yoke) was then hijacked by economic imperialists in the name of affirmative action under the guise of the NEP and its successors. Today, the poor are getting poorer, while the middle classes are stagnant, and the reins of the economy are held fast by the elite."
He cited the cases of Terengganu and Sabah, who have the most income-generating resource, petroleum, yet they rmain the lowest per capital-earning states among Malaysia's 13 states.
Leong, a successful lawyer who has established a name in company restructuring and MBOs, in a simple-to-undersatnd slide presentation, had these salient points to share:
+ 20% of the population control51.3% of the nation's wealth,
40% control 35.2% of the nation's wealth, and
40% control merely 13.5% of the nation's wealth.
These huge disparities show the dismal failues of the National Economic Policy after 37 years, and that's why PKR has come up with this New Economic Agenda to address the most urgent issue facing the nation -- the present "economy heading south very quickly" that spells doom for the country if not checked now!
+ GDP Per Capita of Malaysia in the 1960s was on par with other Tiger econies like Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea;
but by the year 2004, Singapore's Per Capita outranked Malaysia's more than 5 times;
Taiwan's and South Korea's outranked Malaysia's by more than 3 times.
So Malaysia -- Quo Vadis?
Leong reported that the adverse effects of the NEP and its subsequent re-modelled policies still very race- and quota-based had resulted in, and will continue to result in:
* BRAIN DRAIN
* INCOMPETENCE
* INEFFICIENCIES
* CORRUPTION.
Examples of corruption, leakage and wastage scandals Leong cited include:
+ Consultant fees and additional work have pushed up the cost of repairing the RM120mil Middle Ring Road Two by almost four times, incurring additional cost of RM70mil.
+ The Maltrade building was supposed to cost RM167mil eventually cost RM287mil.
+ Compensation to Gerbang Perdana Selatan Bersepadu Bhd following cancellation of the Johor bridge project had ballooned, according to the Works Ministry, from RM100mil to RM360mil.
(YL Chong stoopping here to catch some breath:)* CORRUPTION -- never-ending policy?
RESUMEd @10.50pm after CONSUMing nice dinner in the open to enjoy the enervating evening breeze. But meanwhile, in a cas of GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, I was already thinking about "V" when he paid me a visit vvia Comments:)
"2 comment(s):
Greetings Desi, another excellent post. The content reminded me a 2006 film, entitled 'V for Vendetta', this is an action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. The film follows the 'V', a freedom fighter seeking to effect socio-political change while simultaneously pursuing his own personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel 'V for Vendetta' by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.The film is well worth a watch, and is an eye opener to how governments manipulate / suppress the truth. This always happens here in Malaysia, and in other countries too.Of course Malaysia still has a little way to go before it reaches the stage of the fictional England depicted in 'V for Vendetta'.Here are two meaningful quotes from 'V for Vendetta'
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It"This film should be seen by everyone as it is a real wake-up call to each and every thinking person.
By 'V', at 2:51 PM "
For aMore on "V", come back tomorrow for a Sundae Inter-nude:)
Dear "V", if thou track Desi down tomorrow at mazy hazy Furong call me a 012-9702285, don't bring SpecialBrunch!and we'll tehtarik over CON BF? Give me a yellar Midnight Voiz via chongyl2000@yahoo.com also cun!:)
Okay, back to Forum-ing.
Leong also lamented about the PKFZ fiaisco whose price shot up from about RM1bilto RM4.6bil, and the Government in a matter of weeks gave the "cronies" it a "soft-loan" to overcome the sand-duned project, and again tax-payers were made suckers to bail out these marine vultures.
Of course, we all have heard about the six-year-old delay in the Mindef's order for six Patrol Boats, whose costs had ballooned to RM6.75billion and no sight of all the boats (scheduled delivery was April 2007 for the finalone!) except for two half-past six jobs!
Leong wants the DPM-cum-Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak to explain the naval scandal, noting that:
PV1 was planned for delivery March 2004; actual delivery June 2005.
PV2 planned for delivery January 2005; actual July 2006.
I think the songs of lament for PV3, PV4, PV5 and PV6 are best left for the Deputy Prime Minister's children to sing. Desi and chorus are bowing ouch!
Leong warned fellow Malaysians to wake up from their slumber and do something about the status of the country's economy before we graduate into the fantastic league of Somalia and Zimbabwe.
He opined that the BN Government had been siphoning off Petronas huge profits to bail out one mega disaster after another, but what happens when the oil monies run out.
Desi adds that The National Oil Corporation already has warned that NegaraKu would become a net importer of oil in a few years, and oil reserves would dry out come 2015.or is it 2025? I seem to hear different years beng mentioned, or are the Petronas figures just the figment of some smartaleck's imagination? (Just like we don't know if its stated revenue and profit figures were real!)
Three comenters, Sdr Din Merican (Visiting Fellow at Uni versity of Cambodia), Prof Rajah Rasiah (University of Malaya), and Dr Lim Teck Ghee (Researcher-consultant -- yes, he was once head of ASLI's thinktank and proud deliverer of that famous NEP equities report showing that the 30% Bumi target was far exceeded years ago, but the powers-that-be at ASLI dissociated themselves form the good economist's fine work, and was Desi surprised?:(x) -- later picked the Presenters' brains with interesting observatons and questions.
Let me start with Dr Lim, who commended PKR for its courage to come up with what he termed as a new "Social" economic agenda to address the ails of the country's when the incumbent government leaders were mostly in a "denial mode".
Lim said it was a "breakthrough" document when Parti Keadilan Rakyat presented its blueprint as it dared "bite the bullet". For the first time, an Opposition party chose to face head on the realities brought about by New Economic Policy, especially its negativities much publicised recently by outcgoing EU Commissioner Thierrry Romnel as indeed, the NEP has exacted high social and economic costs to Malaysia, resulting in problems well enunciated by Leong -- corruption, business patronage, and wealth concentration in a small, elitist group with much manipulation of its implementation that resulted in the irony of the fact that only 10% of the Malays actually benefited from the NEP in the last 37 years.
"It is refreshing to find a redominant Malay group finally come out with an economic blueprint that does not impose racial quotas and targets. This courageous effort deserves all concerned citizens' support," Lim added.
The programmes outlined y Khalid Ibrahim and William Leong are "do-able", and Lim hoped the party leaders will continue to hold dialogues with the pblic to "flesh" out the programmes' objectives and action plans in detail to truly address the citizens' many concerns and at least provide some hope of checking the economic slide faced by the country.
Prof Rajah Rasiah said too often, the government and the controlled mass media have been "spinning" on the "real situation" with respect to information pertaining to the workforce skills, the wastages and seepages of government's funds as well as mismanagement and misallocation of resources and funding.
As for Din Merican's off-the-cuff's statements, I must AP(non-RM20k-generating-kind!)ologise I was nodding my head most times and failed in taking notes, and one Bogger-mate Bernard Khoo forgot to oblige Desi's request to bring along his secretary despite my lure of never-ending privately-funded tehtarik.
But I remember one quote which Din did reprise, quoting his mentor (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, curent, ex-, or ever-shall-be mentor?) the former PM's quoting of The Bard at a recent dialogue with Bloggers at Putrajaya: " There is something rotten in the House of Denmark/Malaysia."
PS: I promised Din more lineage if he should seduce me with more kopi lau at Silva's, Subang Jaya while I pledged I'll return the flavour with Haridas' besta tehtarik laced with ... no,not arsenic, but Miss Sunthi.:) By the way, Sunthi's not a lady, it's scientific name for halia. If you need to ask Desi what that is, my answer is "Thou art Malaysian, HA!":(
Yes, listening to the team led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the last four years, the story is rosey, with GDP growth rocking at 5.5% to 6.0% annually, and Vision 2020 is still within the UMNOputra leaders' sight. The MCA and MIC and other minor players within the 14-member ruling coalition remain dumb and deaf. The "elegant silence" malaise has taken deep roots, thanks to the CEO!
But feel the pulse of the comon folks in the street, vocalised by the Opposition, especially the nine-year-old born-out-of-Reformasi Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the country's economy is continuing a downwards slide. In Desi's vocab, Towards the Abyss.
A highly respected economist, who is non-partisan by the way in the sense he's not a member of a government or Opposition party and who raised quite a controversy in releasing data some time ago on behalf of ASLI which clearly showed the Bumi share equities of the national wealth had exceeded the 30% target, stated that the Government leaders are in s state of "denial". They under-state the inflation rate -- wow, just 2.0% to 3.0% -- when the Joe and Jane public could hardly survive with RM10 for two square meals a day!
Okay, Desi won't like to remian in pessimistic mode for now, let's cut to the chase and hear some remedies being bandied about. I call these little candle of light glimmering athe end of the nation's tunnel,erhaps we emerge seeing some pocketfuls of rainbow?
_____________________ FORUM REPORT ____________________________
Reprising his journalism modus operandi, YL Chong reports from the scene (belatedly, a newshound's unmitigated sin!) with a thousand AP (non-RM20k-generating kind!)-ologies:
Organiser: Strategic Information and Research Development Centre
Topic: MALAYSIA'S ECONOMIC DIRECTION:
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
PKR Secretary-General Sdr Khalid Ibrahim and Treasurer Sdr William JK Leong made official presentations based largely on the party's Malaysian Economic Agenda, first revealed by party President Datin Seri Wan Azizah Ismail when she launched an alternative Budget Day recently at Parliament House a few days before the Government's Budget 2008 was tabled. In gist, this blueprint also called "The New Deal", spelt out a NEEDS-BASED economic agenda to replace the out-dated National Economic Policy much maligned because of rampant abuse and exploitation by the elite and well-connected politicians in UMNO.
In other words, while the concept and objectives of the NEP -- planned to run only for 20 years from 1970 -- were good and noble, the implementation was defective, ending with disastrous results.
Desipte being an affirmative action instrument, the NEP has failed to redistribute wealth equally in order to improve life for the middle and lower-income groups in Malaysia. Instead, a disproportionate amount of wealth is in the hands of the politically well-connected and elite high-income group.
Khalid -- a corporate involved in initiatives such as Permodalan Nasional Berhad as well as that famous Londonraid eons ago in taking control of Guthrie Bhd and of course who recently contested the Ijok by-election -- stressed that the battle is against Class Warfare, not across Racial Lines. Under PKR's New Deal, affirmative action must be needs-based, not race-based.
PKR's ultimate goal is to restructure society's wealth distribution to create a large middle-class and smaller upper and lower classes for a politically stable and harmonious society.
Khalid lamented: "Unfortunately, the country (after gaining Independence from British colonialists' yoke) was then hijacked by economic imperialists in the name of affirmative action under the guise of the NEP and its successors. Today, the poor are getting poorer, while the middle classes are stagnant, and the reins of the economy are held fast by the elite."
He cited the cases of Terengganu and Sabah, who have the most income-generating resource, petroleum, yet they rmain the lowest per capital-earning states among Malaysia's 13 states.
Leong, a successful lawyer who has established a name in company restructuring and MBOs, in a simple-to-undersatnd slide presentation, had these salient points to share:
+ 20% of the population control51.3% of the nation's wealth,
40% control 35.2% of the nation's wealth, and
40% control merely 13.5% of the nation's wealth.
These huge disparities show the dismal failues of the National Economic Policy after 37 years, and that's why PKR has come up with this New Economic Agenda to address the most urgent issue facing the nation -- the present "economy heading south very quickly" that spells doom for the country if not checked now!
+ GDP Per Capita of Malaysia in the 1960s was on par with other Tiger econies like Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea;
but by the year 2004, Singapore's Per Capita outranked Malaysia's more than 5 times;
Taiwan's and South Korea's outranked Malaysia's by more than 3 times.
So Malaysia -- Quo Vadis?
Leong reported that the adverse effects of the NEP and its subsequent re-modelled policies still very race- and quota-based had resulted in, and will continue to result in:
* BRAIN DRAIN
* INCOMPETENCE
* INEFFICIENCIES
* CORRUPTION.
Examples of corruption, leakage and wastage scandals Leong cited include:
+ Consultant fees and additional work have pushed up the cost of repairing the RM120mil Middle Ring Road Two by almost four times, incurring additional cost of RM70mil.
+ The Maltrade building was supposed to cost RM167mil eventually cost RM287mil.
+ Compensation to Gerbang Perdana Selatan Bersepadu Bhd following cancellation of the Johor bridge project had ballooned, according to the Works Ministry, from RM100mil to RM360mil.
(YL Chong stoopping here to catch some breath:)* CORRUPTION -- never-ending policy?
RESUMEd @10.50pm after CONSUMing nice dinner in the open to enjoy the enervating evening breeze. But meanwhile, in a cas of GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE, I was already thinking about "V" when he paid me a visit vvia Comments:)
"2 comment(s):
Greetings Desi, another excellent post. The content reminded me a 2006 film, entitled 'V for Vendetta', this is an action-thriller film set in London, England in a near-future dystopian society. The film follows the 'V', a freedom fighter seeking to effect socio-political change while simultaneously pursuing his own personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel 'V for Vendetta' by Alan Moore and David Lloyd.The film is well worth a watch, and is an eye opener to how governments manipulate / suppress the truth. This always happens here in Malaysia, and in other countries too.Of course Malaysia still has a little way to go before it reaches the stage of the fictional England depicted in 'V for Vendetta'.Here are two meaningful quotes from 'V for Vendetta'
1. "People shouldn't be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people"
2. "Artists Use Lies to Tell the Truth; Politicians Use Lies to Cover It"This film should be seen by everyone as it is a real wake-up call to each and every thinking person.
By 'V', at 2:51 PM "
For aMore on "V", come back tomorrow for a Sundae Inter-nude:)
Dear "V", if thou track Desi down tomorrow at mazy hazy Furong call me a 012-9702285, don't bring SpecialBrunch!and we'll tehtarik over CON BF? Give me a yellar Midnight Voiz via chongyl2000@yahoo.com also cun!:)
Okay, back to Forum-ing.
Leong also lamented about the PKFZ fiaisco whose price shot up from about RM1bilto RM4.6bil, and the Government in a matter of weeks gave the "cronies" it a "soft-loan" to overcome the sand-duned project, and again tax-payers were made suckers to bail out these marine vultures.
Of course, we all have heard about the six-year-old delay in the Mindef's order for six Patrol Boats, whose costs had ballooned to RM6.75billion and no sight of all the boats (scheduled delivery was April 2007 for the finalone!) except for two half-past six jobs!
Leong wants the DPM-cum-Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak to explain the naval scandal, noting that:
PV1 was planned for delivery March 2004; actual delivery June 2005.
PV2 planned for delivery January 2005; actual July 2006.
I think the songs of lament for PV3, PV4, PV5 and PV6 are best left for the Deputy Prime Minister's children to sing. Desi and chorus are bowing ouch!
Leong warned fellow Malaysians to wake up from their slumber and do something about the status of the country's economy before we graduate into the fantastic league of Somalia and Zimbabwe.
He opined that the BN Government had been siphoning off Petronas huge profits to bail out one mega disaster after another, but what happens when the oil monies run out.
Desi adds that The National Oil Corporation already has warned that NegaraKu would become a net importer of oil in a few years, and oil reserves would dry out come 2015.or is it 2025? I seem to hear different years beng mentioned, or are the Petronas figures just the figment of some smartaleck's imagination? (Just like we don't know if its stated revenue and profit figures were real!)
Three comenters, Sdr Din Merican (Visiting Fellow at Uni versity of Cambodia), Prof Rajah Rasiah (University of Malaya), and Dr Lim Teck Ghee (Researcher-consultant -- yes, he was once head of ASLI's thinktank and proud deliverer of that famous NEP equities report showing that the 30% Bumi target was far exceeded years ago, but the powers-that-be at ASLI dissociated themselves form the good economist's fine work, and was Desi surprised?:(x) -- later picked the Presenters' brains with interesting observatons and questions.
Let me start with Dr Lim, who commended PKR for its courage to come up with what he termed as a new "Social" economic agenda to address the ails of the country's when the incumbent government leaders were mostly in a "denial mode".
Lim said it was a "breakthrough" document when Parti Keadilan Rakyat presented its blueprint as it dared "bite the bullet". For the first time, an Opposition party chose to face head on the realities brought about by New Economic Policy, especially its negativities much publicised recently by outcgoing EU Commissioner Thierrry Romnel as indeed, the NEP has exacted high social and economic costs to Malaysia, resulting in problems well enunciated by Leong -- corruption, business patronage, and wealth concentration in a small, elitist group with much manipulation of its implementation that resulted in the irony of the fact that only 10% of the Malays actually benefited from the NEP in the last 37 years.
"It is refreshing to find a redominant Malay group finally come out with an economic blueprint that does not impose racial quotas and targets. This courageous effort deserves all concerned citizens' support," Lim added.
The programmes outlined y Khalid Ibrahim and William Leong are "do-able", and Lim hoped the party leaders will continue to hold dialogues with the pblic to "flesh" out the programmes' objectives and action plans in detail to truly address the citizens' many concerns and at least provide some hope of checking the economic slide faced by the country.
Prof Rajah Rasiah said too often, the government and the controlled mass media have been "spinning" on the "real situation" with respect to information pertaining to the workforce skills, the wastages and seepages of government's funds as well as mismanagement and misallocation of resources and funding.
As for Din Merican's off-the-cuff's statements, I must AP(non-RM20k-generating-kind!)ologise I was nodding my head most times and failed in taking notes, and one Bogger-mate Bernard Khoo forgot to oblige Desi's request to bring along his secretary despite my lure of never-ending privately-funded tehtarik.
But I remember one quote which Din did reprise, quoting his mentor (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, curent, ex-, or ever-shall-be mentor?) the former PM's quoting of The Bard at a recent dialogue with Bloggers at Putrajaya: " There is something rotten in the House of Denmark/Malaysia."
PS: I promised Din more lineage if he should seduce me with more kopi lau at Silva's, Subang Jaya while I pledged I'll return the flavour with Haridas' besta tehtarik laced with ... no,not arsenic, but Miss Sunthi.:) By the way, Sunthi's not a lady, it's scientific name for halia. If you need to ask Desi what that is, my answer is "Thou art Malaysian, HA!":(
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Aussie sentiments regarding USA -- No surprise
to Desi!
I don't know about my fellow Malaysians. I think British and Aussie leaders in the past few years must have regretted throwing their weight behind the American President who went into Iraq on "false premises". It's alway s a hgh price to pay when the "truth" is out, and people do get tired when the US marshall corral the chief and deputy sheriffs from Britain and Ozland to do an "impossible" job.
Another year to "live" out for George Bush Junior before his final hurrah, and citizens of the world better pray he does not escalate the war into another "Iranian" abencha. That would translate into a double whammy "clean-up" mission for whoever had the misfortune of succeeding Bush November next year.
Maybe it would be "interesting" if our closest neighour Singapore - know to be a close US ally -- were to conduct a similar survey, and we would obtain an "Asian" perspective?
I would even sugest it would do Malaysia some good to conduct such a survey, adapted of course to the stance that we are one country that is generally pro-US but not so "upfront" as Australia and Singapore.
From "NEWS.com.au":
Aussies lose confidence in the US and George W. Bush
By John Lyons
October 03, 2007 12:00am
Survey finds Aussie confidence in US has plummeted
Almost 75 per cent say war on terror makes us target
Most say Bush is the factor they dislike the most
AUSTRALIANS have suffered a dramatic loss of confidence in the ability of the US to manage international affairs amid growing dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and his conduct of the Iraq war.
The first survey of attitudes by a centre set up by the Howard Government to improve relations between Australia and the US has found a significant deterioration in the way Australians feel towards the US.
That level of confidence has almost halved in just six years - from 66 per cent in 2001 to 37 per cent today, coinciding with the Iraq war.
And almost three-quarters said Australia's involvement in the war on terror had made it a terrorist target, a view at odds with that asserted by John Howard.
The survey of 1213 Australians in July was carried out by the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. The centre was set up this year with $25 million from the Howard Government to be "the prime Australian source of information and commentary on the US".
While the Iraq war has damaged Australians' view of the Bush administration more than anything else, the survey found continuing support for the US alliance: 92 per cent expected the US to continue to be a close security partner and 79 per cent considered the alliance important to Australia's protection.
But 48 per cent said it would be better for Australia if a more independent stance were taken.
This contrasted with an opinion poll from 1975 showing only 26 per cent wanted a more independent relationship.
Because of the Iraq war and Mr Bush's performance, Australians' opinion of the US has hit a 30-year low. Asked to name something they disliked about the US, the largest response was about the President himself.
The large number who believed Australia had become a terrorist target due to involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan reflects the view expressed three years ago by Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty that the nation is now a greater target - a view which almost cost him his job. Mr Keelty's view on another subject is also endorsed - he told a conference two weeks ago global warming was the No.1 threat to Australia's security.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents viewed global warming as "equally serious" or "more serious" than Islamic fundamentalism and 69 per cent wanted Australia and the US to set clear targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
A large number also believed the threat of Islamic fundamentalism had been exaggerated.
The US Studies Centre seeks to have bipartisan representation on its board.
Former Labor leader Kim Beazley and former Liberal frontbencher Michael Baume are members.
Last night Mr Beazley said confidence in the US had suffered because of the war in Iraq. "When you have a bad, failed policy, that is the result you get," he said.
"It's no coincidence that the last time Australians had this level of confidence (in the US) was in the early 1970s with another war (Vietnam)."
The acting chief executive of the US Studies Centre, Alan Dupont, said the "dramatic falling away" of confidence in the US in handling international affairs was due not just to Iraq but "the way the Bush administration generally plays here in Australia".
While 64 per cent opposed the war in Iraq, 50 per cent were opposed to Australian involvement in Afghanistan, posing a problem for Labor should they come to power as Kevin Rudd has said he would maintain support for troops in Afghanistan.
Professor Dupont agreed many of the results were at odds with public statements by Mr Howard but "you can see that a vast majority of Australians do believe we've become more of a target because of our involvement in the war on terror, but notwithstanding that they still register strong support for the security relationship with the US".
I don't know about my fellow Malaysians. I think British and Aussie leaders in the past few years must have regretted throwing their weight behind the American President who went into Iraq on "false premises". It's alway s a hgh price to pay when the "truth" is out, and people do get tired when the US marshall corral the chief and deputy sheriffs from Britain and Ozland to do an "impossible" job.
Another year to "live" out for George Bush Junior before his final hurrah, and citizens of the world better pray he does not escalate the war into another "Iranian" abencha. That would translate into a double whammy "clean-up" mission for whoever had the misfortune of succeeding Bush November next year.
Maybe it would be "interesting" if our closest neighour Singapore - know to be a close US ally -- were to conduct a similar survey, and we would obtain an "Asian" perspective?
I would even sugest it would do Malaysia some good to conduct such a survey, adapted of course to the stance that we are one country that is generally pro-US but not so "upfront" as Australia and Singapore.
From "NEWS.com.au":
Aussies lose confidence in the US and George W. Bush
By John Lyons
October 03, 2007 12:00am
Survey finds Aussie confidence in US has plummeted
Almost 75 per cent say war on terror makes us target
Most say Bush is the factor they dislike the most
AUSTRALIANS have suffered a dramatic loss of confidence in the ability of the US to manage international affairs amid growing dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush and his conduct of the Iraq war.
The first survey of attitudes by a centre set up by the Howard Government to improve relations between Australia and the US has found a significant deterioration in the way Australians feel towards the US.
That level of confidence has almost halved in just six years - from 66 per cent in 2001 to 37 per cent today, coinciding with the Iraq war.
And almost three-quarters said Australia's involvement in the war on terror had made it a terrorist target, a view at odds with that asserted by John Howard.
The survey of 1213 Australians in July was carried out by the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. The centre was set up this year with $25 million from the Howard Government to be "the prime Australian source of information and commentary on the US".
While the Iraq war has damaged Australians' view of the Bush administration more than anything else, the survey found continuing support for the US alliance: 92 per cent expected the US to continue to be a close security partner and 79 per cent considered the alliance important to Australia's protection.
But 48 per cent said it would be better for Australia if a more independent stance were taken.
This contrasted with an opinion poll from 1975 showing only 26 per cent wanted a more independent relationship.
Because of the Iraq war and Mr Bush's performance, Australians' opinion of the US has hit a 30-year low. Asked to name something they disliked about the US, the largest response was about the President himself.
The large number who believed Australia had become a terrorist target due to involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan reflects the view expressed three years ago by Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty that the nation is now a greater target - a view which almost cost him his job. Mr Keelty's view on another subject is also endorsed - he told a conference two weeks ago global warming was the No.1 threat to Australia's security.
Seventy-six per cent of respondents viewed global warming as "equally serious" or "more serious" than Islamic fundamentalism and 69 per cent wanted Australia and the US to set clear targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
A large number also believed the threat of Islamic fundamentalism had been exaggerated.
The US Studies Centre seeks to have bipartisan representation on its board.
Former Labor leader Kim Beazley and former Liberal frontbencher Michael Baume are members.
Last night Mr Beazley said confidence in the US had suffered because of the war in Iraq. "When you have a bad, failed policy, that is the result you get," he said.
"It's no coincidence that the last time Australians had this level of confidence (in the US) was in the early 1970s with another war (Vietnam)."
The acting chief executive of the US Studies Centre, Alan Dupont, said the "dramatic falling away" of confidence in the US in handling international affairs was due not just to Iraq but "the way the Bush administration generally plays here in Australia".
While 64 per cent opposed the war in Iraq, 50 per cent were opposed to Australian involvement in Afghanistan, posing a problem for Labor should they come to power as Kevin Rudd has said he would maintain support for troops in Afghanistan.
Professor Dupont agreed many of the results were at odds with public statements by Mr Howard but "you can see that a vast majority of Australians do believe we've become more of a target because of our involvement in the war on terror, but notwithstanding that they still register strong support for the security relationship with the US".
Din Merican Speaks at PKR Forum Tomorrow
Sdr DIN MERICAN marks his "induction" into Parti Keadilan Rakyat today by joining a panel to discuss an important national issue at a forum to be held tomorrow (October 4, 2007 at 2.30pm).
Received an sms from PKR William Leong advising on the Forum:
Topic: Malaysia's Economic Direction as Alternative to the NEP?
Speakers:
Professor Raja Rasiah,
Prof Din Merican,
Prof Lim Teck Ghee,
PKR Secretary-General Khalid Ibrahim
Venue: CORUS HOTEL, Kuala Lumpur.
"ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE CORDIALLY INVITED", says William Leong.
Received an sms from PKR William Leong advising on the Forum:
Topic: Malaysia's Economic Direction as Alternative to the NEP?
Speakers:
Professor Raja Rasiah,
Prof Din Merican,
Prof Lim Teck Ghee,
PKR Secretary-General Khalid Ibrahim
Venue: CORUS HOTEL, Kuala Lumpur.
"ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE CORDIALLY INVITED", says William Leong.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Din Merican's Best Hari Raya Gift to Desi!
mGf DIN MERICAN, who has been a GUEST BLOGGER at Desi's Place as well at bakrimusa.com's where I first bantered with him and the host -- and we trio often have a clash of dissenting views, quite expected coming from Din, a confessed UMNO veteran, and Desi a professed Opposition vet! -- called me this morning at 8.30am. I thought he wanted to treat Desi to his fave Kopi in exchange for my French toast with two helpings of "kaya"! But no, physically it was impossible to exchange such BF goodies as he's in Subang Jaya and me in Furong, quite an hour's fast travel apart unless he could borrow the PM's executive Air Force Pet1?
But Sdr Din gave me an even better gift -- I told him it was the best Hari Raya present a buddy could give me! -- the news that he's officially joining Parti Keadilan Raykat! Let the man speak for himself,via latest Post at mutually close Malaysian writer @bakrimusa.com:
"Din Merican Says:
DESIDERATA: For the moment, I say Syabas to Sdr Din Merican , who graduated from blogosphere "conversationist" to protagonist activist-buddy with Desi, and now a party comrade, and we shall look forward to challenging, even "interesting", times ahead as we try our individual and collective bests to move NegaraKu away from sliding towards the Abyss.
For now, I'll take a break for a BF sojourn with another buddy -- not so political but matey for the soul yet unsold-- and I will be back to elaborate on my interactions with Sdr Din. Chow for meantime, which means "Seya later" or "Come Eat With Me" if you can track me down at Men Kee, Seremban:)
UPDATEd @about 11am: My EsteemedReaders, can I urge thee to later surf to bakrimusa.com to read in full the good doctor's latest on the Three-man Panel written much about by Sdr Kim Quek -- another recent entry into PKR! -- yesterday. I'll just entice with opening paragraphs and Sdr Din's initial comment at the moment and take another break (earning bread&butter, throw some kaya on when the money rolls in! -- doing urgent editing work!).
"Deal With The Rot, Not The Tape
If Chief Justice Ahmad Feiruz has any sense of personal honor and professional integrity left, he should resign immediately.
If Prime Minister Abdullah has even the slightest responsibility for leadership and moral duty to the citizens, he should not extend the Chief Justice’s contract due to expire this October.
If the Malaysian Bar Council has any credible principle of societal obligation and self-policing ethics of a profession, it would disbar the lawyer making that phone call shown in the infamous video clip exposed by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Alas, judging from past performances, expect none of these. That is the unfortunate reality of Malaysia today. What remains then would be for the King to withhold consent for extending Feiruz’s contract, thereby precipitating an unnecessary and distracting constitutional crisis the nation could ill bear..."
The Bar Council had an Emergency Meeting on the issue, but instead of initiating the necessary disciplinary proceedings on the involved lawyer (which would definitely be within its power) it decided instead to march at Putrajaya and hand a petition to the Prime Minister demanding for a Royal Commission. Next those lawyers would be demonstrating on the streets. So Third World, a la Pakistan! I would have thought that those smart lawyers would have concocted some novel legal theory on which to sue the government into action.
Meanwhile Abdullah Badawi was “disappointed,” not at the explosive contents of the video but the fact that it was released. Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister! The rot is the Malaysian judiciary, not the taping. If Abdullah does perk up from his slumber, he would probably order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim!..."
: :
:
:
: :
"Din Merican Says: September 30th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Dear Dr. Bakri,
I am glad you have joined a lot of us in Malaysia in expressing horror at the state of our judiciary. Nothing short of a Royal Commission of Inquiry can begin the process to stop the rot that had set in and restore public confidence in this important institution.
The 3-man panel headed by Tan Sri Haidar which was set up recently by the Deputy Prime Minister will not do. It is at best “political damage” control, whereas what the country needs is a root and branch reform of our Courts and the administration of justice.
Political interference in the judiciary must cease and safeguards must be put in place to prevent it from ever happening again. We must respect the Constitution and uphold the Rule of Law. The Prime Minister must act with firmness on this issue and I hope he does so with utmost urgency when he returns home from the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
I agree with you that Ahmad Fairuz must step down before new revelations about him become public knowledge.
We can return the days of glory when Tun Suffian Hashim, Tuanku Sultan Azlan Shah, and Tun Salleh Abbas were Lord Presidents. But there must be the political will to fix it."
DESI: The highlights in Dr Bakri Musa's article plus Din's comment (thus BOLDED) are mine. I'll write more on some personal experiences interacting with Din over cuppas that not only warm the body but also the spirits, and the intellectual-yet-down-to-earth discourse often turns the whitening cells back into grey. Thank you matey!
3.00pm FINAL UPDATE
Sdr Din had served in the private sector for most of his career before enlightening himself at an academic sojourn on lifelong learning quest and sharing his vast corporate experience. Though never a newshound,one "bad"habit he shared with Desi is pushing deadlines to their limits as wouldmost goode, or baddder ones, journos, normally do. Apparently in the field of journalism, exquisite writings come on tap at the last minute when the adrenaline floweth smooth. Or is that a myth?
So when last December I requested Sdr Din to write a short FOREWORD for my Anthology of Poems scheduled for publicatin in April 2007, the pseudo-journo burnt the midnight oil only on the eve of April 17 to pen that two-page thingy, and also only after I promised him an extra kopi kau with each telephone call. The response came dated Aril 18,2007 after se&en kopi-kaus were extended (Pulling thy short legs, mGf -- I plucked that magic number since 7 is my fave!).
Okay, I am extracting some relevant HI-points -- especially ego-lifting ones, mine, not Din's! -- to mark here for posterity:
"Desi is a vey uassuming man and it is easy to underestimate his considerable talent as a journalist, a poet and public intellectual........ He speaks gently and reassuringly, and makes his points succinctly and lucidly."
Hey, the context to this was he came to such iferences after we had had several "animatedly" exchanges over cyberspace, mainly at bakrimusa.com, focused often on former Prime MinisterTun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 22-year reign at CEO of NegaraKu. Sdr Din mostly sang Dr Mahatir's praises, which I shared only up to a point. I said Dr Mahathir's first decade in office was without doubt admirable and progressive, but the latter half was marre by escalating "scandals" involving his UMNO and MCA businessmen-lackeys. And this was compounded by his children's involvement in BIG business.
I had reason to believe I also listened to Din's defence of Dr Mahathir's achievements, which I acknowledge -- the huge infrastructure development, putting Malaysia on the international map with well-articulated foreign policies not tid to any big power's coattails, etc -- so we truly bantered in the spirit advocated by VOLTAIRE's "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend,to the death, you right to say it."
I'd like to believe our engagement over some two years, first via blogosphere, later over tea and dinner, did result in Desi's dilution of some more "extremist" (negative) assessment of Dr Mahathir, and concommitantly, I trust Din similarly was malleable in accepting that the Opposition cause does have a positive role to play in nation-building, -- not just BN dominated by UMNO! --especially with a former DPM sacked under very disturbing circumstances extracting a high price on the independence of and people's confidence in Malaysia's judiciary. (And we now confront a judiciary crisis of gargantuan proportions whose script is still being written...)
One issue we both agree on after reviewing on Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration after three years is that the successor to Dr Mahathir had been beautifully high on promise but short, pretty short, on delivery. Borrowing Din's words, we both lament "the fact that despite our progress (economically) since our Independence fifty years ago, we lack social capital (truts, loyalty, honour and interity)." Din added: "Like Desi, I believe that we must restore morality and compassion to our Malaysian way of life."
"We talk of establishing a 'caring society' by 2020, but we have yet to begin the first small steps in that direction. We pursue economic growth. We want progress but we forget that progress also has a morality dimension, and it must include our concern fr the less fortunate among us."
The last quoted point is in tandem with PKR's main plank in its New Economic Agenda which stresses policies based on needs, never on race, religion or colour. I urge other fellow Malaysians to join Din and me on this ship captained by former DPM Sdr Anwar Ibrahim which we believe is the only viable vehicle that can steer the Malaysia we love back onto the right path of building a united nation -- with a society which is fair, equitable and humane, without the racials blinds that have been clouding us for the past five decades and with no sign of amelioration under the present government.
But Sdr Din gave me an even better gift -- I told him it was the best Hari Raya present a buddy could give me! -- the news that he's officially joining Parti Keadilan Raykat! Let the man speak for himself,via latest Post at mutually close Malaysian writer @bakrimusa.com:
"Din Merican Says:
DESIDERATA: For the moment, I say Syabas to Sdr Din Merican , who graduated from blogosphere "conversationist" to protagonist activist-buddy with Desi, and now a party comrade, and we shall look forward to challenging, even "interesting", times ahead as we try our individual and collective bests to move NegaraKu away from sliding towards the Abyss.
For now, I'll take a break for a BF sojourn with another buddy -- not so political but matey for the soul yet unsold-- and I will be back to elaborate on my interactions with Sdr Din. Chow for meantime, which means "Seya later" or "Come Eat With Me" if you can track me down at Men Kee, Seremban:)
UPDATEd @about 11am: My EsteemedReaders, can I urge thee to later surf to bakrimusa.com to read in full the good doctor's latest on the Three-man Panel written much about by Sdr Kim Quek -- another recent entry into PKR! -- yesterday. I'll just entice with opening paragraphs and Sdr Din's initial comment at the moment and take another break (earning bread&butter, throw some kaya on when the money rolls in! -- doing urgent editing work!).
"Deal With The Rot, Not The Tape
If Chief Justice Ahmad Feiruz has any sense of personal honor and professional integrity left, he should resign immediately.
If Prime Minister Abdullah has even the slightest responsibility for leadership and moral duty to the citizens, he should not extend the Chief Justice’s contract due to expire this October.
If the Malaysian Bar Council has any credible principle of societal obligation and self-policing ethics of a profession, it would disbar the lawyer making that phone call shown in the infamous video clip exposed by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Alas, judging from past performances, expect none of these. That is the unfortunate reality of Malaysia today. What remains then would be for the King to withhold consent for extending Feiruz’s contract, thereby precipitating an unnecessary and distracting constitutional crisis the nation could ill bear..."
The Bar Council had an Emergency Meeting on the issue, but instead of initiating the necessary disciplinary proceedings on the involved lawyer (which would definitely be within its power) it decided instead to march at Putrajaya and hand a petition to the Prime Minister demanding for a Royal Commission. Next those lawyers would be demonstrating on the streets. So Third World, a la Pakistan! I would have thought that those smart lawyers would have concocted some novel legal theory on which to sue the government into action.
Meanwhile Abdullah Badawi was “disappointed,” not at the explosive contents of the video but the fact that it was released. Wake up, Mr. Prime Minister! The rot is the Malaysian judiciary, not the taping. If Abdullah does perk up from his slumber, he would probably order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim!..."
: :
:
:
: :
"Din Merican Says: September 30th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Dear Dr. Bakri,
I am glad you have joined a lot of us in Malaysia in expressing horror at the state of our judiciary. Nothing short of a Royal Commission of Inquiry can begin the process to stop the rot that had set in and restore public confidence in this important institution.
The 3-man panel headed by Tan Sri Haidar which was set up recently by the Deputy Prime Minister will not do. It is at best “political damage” control, whereas what the country needs is a root and branch reform of our Courts and the administration of justice.
Political interference in the judiciary must cease and safeguards must be put in place to prevent it from ever happening again. We must respect the Constitution and uphold the Rule of Law. The Prime Minister must act with firmness on this issue and I hope he does so with utmost urgency when he returns home from the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.
I agree with you that Ahmad Fairuz must step down before new revelations about him become public knowledge.
We can return the days of glory when Tun Suffian Hashim, Tuanku Sultan Azlan Shah, and Tun Salleh Abbas were Lord Presidents. But there must be the political will to fix it."
DESI: The highlights in Dr Bakri Musa's article plus Din's comment (thus BOLDED) are mine. I'll write more on some personal experiences interacting with Din over cuppas that not only warm the body but also the spirits, and the intellectual-yet-down-to-earth discourse often turns the whitening cells back into grey. Thank you matey!
3.00pm FINAL UPDATE
Sdr Din had served in the private sector for most of his career before enlightening himself at an academic sojourn on lifelong learning quest and sharing his vast corporate experience. Though never a newshound,one "bad"habit he shared with Desi is pushing deadlines to their limits as wouldmost goode, or baddder ones, journos, normally do. Apparently in the field of journalism, exquisite writings come on tap at the last minute when the adrenaline floweth smooth. Or is that a myth?
So when last December I requested Sdr Din to write a short FOREWORD for my Anthology of Poems scheduled for publicatin in April 2007, the pseudo-journo burnt the midnight oil only on the eve of April 17 to pen that two-page thingy, and also only after I promised him an extra kopi kau with each telephone call. The response came dated Aril 18,2007 after se&en kopi-kaus were extended (Pulling thy short legs, mGf -- I plucked that magic number since 7 is my fave!).
Okay, I am extracting some relevant HI-points -- especially ego-lifting ones, mine, not Din's! -- to mark here for posterity:
"Desi is a vey uassuming man and it is easy to underestimate his considerable talent as a journalist, a poet and public intellectual........ He speaks gently and reassuringly, and makes his points succinctly and lucidly."
Hey, the context to this was he came to such iferences after we had had several "animatedly" exchanges over cyberspace, mainly at bakrimusa.com, focused often on former Prime MinisterTun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 22-year reign at CEO of NegaraKu. Sdr Din mostly sang Dr Mahatir's praises, which I shared only up to a point. I said Dr Mahathir's first decade in office was without doubt admirable and progressive, but the latter half was marre by escalating "scandals" involving his UMNO and MCA businessmen-lackeys. And this was compounded by his children's involvement in BIG business.
I had reason to believe I also listened to Din's defence of Dr Mahathir's achievements, which I acknowledge -- the huge infrastructure development, putting Malaysia on the international map with well-articulated foreign policies not tid to any big power's coattails, etc -- so we truly bantered in the spirit advocated by VOLTAIRE's "I may disagree with what you say but I will defend,to the death, you right to say it."
I'd like to believe our engagement over some two years, first via blogosphere, later over tea and dinner, did result in Desi's dilution of some more "extremist" (negative) assessment of Dr Mahathir, and concommitantly, I trust Din similarly was malleable in accepting that the Opposition cause does have a positive role to play in nation-building, -- not just BN dominated by UMNO! --especially with a former DPM sacked under very disturbing circumstances extracting a high price on the independence of and people's confidence in Malaysia's judiciary. (And we now confront a judiciary crisis of gargantuan proportions whose script is still being written...)
One issue we both agree on after reviewing on Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration after three years is that the successor to Dr Mahathir had been beautifully high on promise but short, pretty short, on delivery. Borrowing Din's words, we both lament "the fact that despite our progress (economically) since our Independence fifty years ago, we lack social capital (truts, loyalty, honour and interity)." Din added: "Like Desi, I believe that we must restore morality and compassion to our Malaysian way of life."
"We talk of establishing a 'caring society' by 2020, but we have yet to begin the first small steps in that direction. We pursue economic growth. We want progress but we forget that progress also has a morality dimension, and it must include our concern fr the less fortunate among us."
The last quoted point is in tandem with PKR's main plank in its New Economic Agenda which stresses policies based on needs, never on race, religion or colour. I urge other fellow Malaysians to join Din and me on this ship captained by former DPM Sdr Anwar Ibrahim which we believe is the only viable vehicle that can steer the Malaysia we love back onto the right path of building a united nation -- with a society which is fair, equitable and humane, without the racials blinds that have been clouding us for the past five decades and with no sign of amelioration under the present government.
Another Antz' Tail
- It waz a dark and stormy night. The wind howled, the cats meowed, the cowz moo-ed and the nightingales galed, and Someone woo-ed, and another One awe the way from Ipoh coo-ed.
(
As Desi is still away on HI-atus, and you people steal LO-tus, hear's Cut&Paste&Dry from allofhelen.blogspot.com with her message Have a GOoD Weekend post Sept 28, 2007.)
- desiderata said...
-
helen, you mean WICKEDend, didnt you. Hey, cowgal, say what you mean lah instead of being suggestive!
I enjoy Chris Christoffersen's version -- witch one were you humming to your Sig Other? It's a Rhetorical Q!:)
Now I tell you an anecdote, from Peacnuts I think!
An hungry ant crept into the chink one night, cold and dank.
It crawled and crawled and was wondering why it didnt meet any "potential" titbits it could byte into, as the long journey wore on.
After feeling the dank dark and cold surface, it dawned on the litle ant it had entered into an armour via the noseand now heading downwards assisted by gravity!
It started to hum: "Help me get through the Knight!"
DESI: When one mispronounced HI-atus, it means this writHer speaks from a High=Status point of view, like King Solomon speaketh to all his slaves and haram/harem maids.
Sig Other refers to "Spouse".Actually Sig is short for Significant, not "sick". Just share with you when you say something orally, it can mislead your listeners. Compared when it's writen down lie this. In Kantonis when you wanted to eat crabs: "Hey, yau hai-moh ah?" to the auntie who stares at you in the I-I! you wanna drop dead or alive:)
I think for past se7en years -- not the past wan as docs warned me it would take another tail off my Cat's nine tales -- I ate too much/many crabs, so muzh so I not only walk sideways, but also talk sideways.
For someone on HI-atus, I think I rode two mush o'lady!
Because I heard the Ipoh lady sing and the Antz hum-ming steal with no sign of arriving at its morsel, let's do the choruz togather!
Take the ribbon from your hair,
Shake it loose and let it fall,
Layin' soft upon my skin.
Like the shadows on the wall.
Come and lay down by my side
'till the early morning light
All I'm takin' is your time.
Help me make it through the night.
I don't care what's right or wrong,
I don't try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow.
Lord, tonight I need a friend.
Yesterday is dead and gone
And tomorrow's out of sight
And tonight I'll be alone
Help me get it through the (K)night.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Reject Najib's three-man panel now!
Sdr KIM QUEK gives an UPDATE on an issue which will not go away just because the Government has appointed a Three-Man Panel -- many of us believe the panel with a very limited "scope" of operation just to verify te "authenticity of the video tape" is merely an "eyewash". Further, two out of the three members' credentials are not what one would say of "impeccable character" as ascribed by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak when announcing the appointments.
01.10.2007
No sooner had the spirit of the nation been elated by the historical “Walk for Justice” held in Putrajaya on Sept 26 than it was doused by the Malaysian Bar President’s hasty acceptance (on the same day) of the three-man “independent” panel hurriedly announced by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on the previous day Sept 25.
Najib’s so called independent panel is a ploy designed to deflect the real target of cleansing our corrupt judiciary, which has been crippled by dictates of the executive.
By accepting the panel, the Bar has placed its own request for a royal commission of enquiry in abeyance, weakened the positions of other petitioners to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the same commission of enquiry, and dampened the fervour for change that has rapidly gathered momentum across a wide spectrum society since the exposure of the Lingam video clip by Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 19.
Najib’s panel is a complete nonsense, for it not only misses the forest for the tree in its scope, it is also totally inadequate in respect of moral authority, legal power and impartiality of panelists. Let me elaborate.
SCOPE OF ENQUIRY
The panel’s term of reference is limited to ascertaining the authenticity of the video clip. But the nation is more interested in the hanky-panky that is going on between the prime minister and top judges as indicated in the Lingam – Fairuz telephone conversation. Lingam has given us a lead as to how judicial appointments and promotions (especially in top positions) are made based on personal loyalty to the political and financial interests of the prime minister as brokered by business and political cronies. We want to know the extent of political control exerted on the judges and how it has caused miscarriages of justice in the past. Only by finding out the truth can we rectify the wrong.
Authenticity is of course a pre-requisite to any enquiry, but in this case, it is almost a foregone conclusion as both Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz and lawyer V K Lingam have not openly denied such serious allegations two weeks after the video’s exposure .
Is it conceivable that in this day of instant communication and revolutionary technology that the government, having access to the video for two weeks just like the rest of the world, is so ignorant of the authenticity of the tape, that it has to appoint an “independent” panel to ascertain it while refusing to consider anything else? What conclusion can we draw other than it is a government tactic to diffuse public pressure and to buy time to wiggle its way out of this damning scandal?
MORAL AUTHORITY
This panel is appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister and presumably reporting to the same. But don’t forget that this video is about the prime minister manipulating the judiciary for personal and political gains – a serious breach of the Constitution by the head of the Executive, and by extension, the ruling party who stands to gain politically in this illicit relationship. So wouldn’t there by a conflict of interests if the deputy head of the Executive were to appoint a panel responsible to him to uncover the sins committed by the Executive? How would an administrative panel under the jurisdiction of the deputy prime minister be able to command the kind of moral authority required of it?
LEGAL POWER
This Najib panel is only an administrative body without the legal power to summon witnesses and compel evidences. It cannot even directly interview those implicated to obtain details from them. So its findings have to be based on those from the police, Anti-Corruption Agency and other government bodies.
So we do not expect the panel’s conclusion to differ from those of the police or ACA, and we don’t see how call such investigations “independent”.
IMPARTIALITY OF PANELISTS
The leader of the panel is Haider Mohd Noor, (correction on speling by Desi: Haidar)a former chief judge of Malaya , now chairman of Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Bhd, which is controlled by DPM Najib’s brother Nasir. Haidar is also a trustee of Perdana Leadership Foundation, which is used by former premier Mahathir as his base to continue his political activities after he stepped down as premier. And as then prime minister, Mahathir is seen as the ultimate manipulator of the judiciary when the Lingam video was recorded in early 2002, and as such Mahathir should eventually be the prime target of investigation in the present scandal.
With these connections to the interested parties, Haider is already ill-suited to participate in this panel. However, Haidar’s worst problem comes from his dubious role in the infamous judicial crisis in 1998, when Mahathir unjustly sacked then Lord President Salleh Abas and two other Supreme Court judges, resulting in the subjugation of the institution of judiciary to executive control until this very day. Haidar, as Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court then, ordered the court seal and doors to the Supreme Court be locked, in defiance of Supreme Court Judge Wan Suleiman’s request, so as to prevent an emergency court hearing, which would otherwise have issued an injunction to stop the Tribunal that led to Salleh’s dismissal.
Panelist Lee Lam Thye is chairman of the National Service Council and reports directly to Najib who is also Minister of Defence. Lee is also a director of Media Prima Bhd which is UMNO’s media flagship that controls its vast media empire of newspapers, TV, radios, etc. It is mainly through Media Prima that UMNO exercises its stranglehold on information dissemination that has kept vast sections of the populace in the darkness with regards to the real crises confronting the nation precipitated by UMNO’s serious misrule. And UMNO, as the real political power controlling the country, is of course the beneficiary of the unholy politician-judiciary nexus, and therefore a hugely interested party in the present investigation of the Lingam video clip.
In addition to these questionable links to the interested parties, Lee is suffering from an image problem arising from his sudden and mysterious resignation as No.2 leader in DAP that caused a party crisis on the eve of 1990 election. Many continue to hold Lee in suspicion, citing his move against his party in 1990 as part of a plot that enabled then Prime Minister Mahathir to call a snap election at the enemy’s weakest moment. And of course, Lee’s subsequent elevation in social status (a Tan Sri now) and wealth (directorship of many companies), much of which through goodwill of the ruling power, does not help to shed his image as some one deeply beholden to the ruling party.
An important purpose of the enquiry is to restore confidence to the judiciary in particular and the government in general, whose image has been much tattered by a series of grave scandals in recent days. The appointment of a panel with such questionable backgrounds can only deepen the people’s mistrust of the entire establishment.
ROYAL COMMISSION
It will be seen that all the above weaknesses can be overcome, if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong exercises his power under the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 to appoint a royal commission of reputable individuals to probe the video clip. This commission, which will be vested with legal power to summon witnesses, compel evidences and provide protection to witnesses, will ascertain the extent of decadence of our judiciary and recommend appropriate remedies. The report will be submitted to the Agong for deliberation by Parliament.
There is of course no guarantee that a good royal commission report will lead to the salvation of the judiciary, as shown in the case of Royal Commission Report on the Police completed several years ago. Though the report on police is excellent, but our police force continues to deteriorate as reflected by continuing scandals and mounting crime rates, despite huge fortunes being spent in upgrading facilities and increasing manpower. This is due to the lack of political will to eradicate the root causes of rampant corruption and wanton human right abuses.
Nevertheless, a royal commission is an important first step, as effective exposure by a dedicated commission will open the eyes of the people to the gravity of our weaknesses, thereby giving impetus to the mass movement that will compel the hands of the government to initiate the necessary changes.
Allowing the status quo to continue is not an option, as a deteriorating judicial system will hasten the slide in investors’ confidence that was set in since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. The consequential damage to our economy and national well being will only accelerate under the intensifying pressure of globalization. These mounting economic challenges in an ambience of worsening racial and religious tensions as has been taking place now under UMNO’s leadership will surely drive this nation towards disintegration.
It is therefore vital that all Malaysians treat the present judicial crisis as reflected by the Lingam video clip as a life-or-death issue that must be tackled with full force until it is resolved. In this respect, it is heartening to see that Parti Keadilan Rakyat already submitted its petition to the Agong for a royal commission on Sept 28, and there are indications that other bodies will follow suit. This is the time when the people must unequivocally exert their collective will to make this commission a reality.
Finally, it is hoped that the Malaysian Bar would urgently review its position with regards to Najib’s panel, and once again take the lead role, as natural guardians of law should, in a renewed charge towards thorough cleansing of our judiciary. And that means Najib’s panel must be rejected forthwith.
Kim Quek
Desiderata: The highlights (thus BOLDED) are all Desi's. My EsteemedReaders are invited to address their views, even dissenting ones, to Sdr Kim who will now feature quite regularly as GUEST BLOGGER at Desi's Place. It helps to fill the vacuum when the hoRst goes galloping during a mispronounced HI-atus!
01.10.2007
No sooner had the spirit of the nation been elated by the historical “Walk for Justice” held in Putrajaya on Sept 26 than it was doused by the Malaysian Bar President’s hasty acceptance (on the same day) of the three-man “independent” panel hurriedly announced by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on the previous day Sept 25.
Najib’s so called independent panel is a ploy designed to deflect the real target of cleansing our corrupt judiciary, which has been crippled by dictates of the executive.
By accepting the panel, the Bar has placed its own request for a royal commission of enquiry in abeyance, weakened the positions of other petitioners to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the same commission of enquiry, and dampened the fervour for change that has rapidly gathered momentum across a wide spectrum society since the exposure of the Lingam video clip by Anwar Ibrahim on Sept 19.
Najib’s panel is a complete nonsense, for it not only misses the forest for the tree in its scope, it is also totally inadequate in respect of moral authority, legal power and impartiality of panelists. Let me elaborate.
SCOPE OF ENQUIRY
The panel’s term of reference is limited to ascertaining the authenticity of the video clip. But the nation is more interested in the hanky-panky that is going on between the prime minister and top judges as indicated in the Lingam – Fairuz telephone conversation. Lingam has given us a lead as to how judicial appointments and promotions (especially in top positions) are made based on personal loyalty to the political and financial interests of the prime minister as brokered by business and political cronies. We want to know the extent of political control exerted on the judges and how it has caused miscarriages of justice in the past. Only by finding out the truth can we rectify the wrong.
Authenticity is of course a pre-requisite to any enquiry, but in this case, it is almost a foregone conclusion as both Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz and lawyer V K Lingam have not openly denied such serious allegations two weeks after the video’s exposure .
Is it conceivable that in this day of instant communication and revolutionary technology that the government, having access to the video for two weeks just like the rest of the world, is so ignorant of the authenticity of the tape, that it has to appoint an “independent” panel to ascertain it while refusing to consider anything else? What conclusion can we draw other than it is a government tactic to diffuse public pressure and to buy time to wiggle its way out of this damning scandal?
MORAL AUTHORITY
This panel is appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister and presumably reporting to the same. But don’t forget that this video is about the prime minister manipulating the judiciary for personal and political gains – a serious breach of the Constitution by the head of the Executive, and by extension, the ruling party who stands to gain politically in this illicit relationship. So wouldn’t there by a conflict of interests if the deputy head of the Executive were to appoint a panel responsible to him to uncover the sins committed by the Executive? How would an administrative panel under the jurisdiction of the deputy prime minister be able to command the kind of moral authority required of it?
LEGAL POWER
This Najib panel is only an administrative body without the legal power to summon witnesses and compel evidences. It cannot even directly interview those implicated to obtain details from them. So its findings have to be based on those from the police, Anti-Corruption Agency and other government bodies.
So we do not expect the panel’s conclusion to differ from those of the police or ACA, and we don’t see how call such investigations “independent”.
IMPARTIALITY OF PANELISTS
The leader of the panel is Haider Mohd Noor, (correction on speling by Desi: Haidar)a former chief judge of Malaya , now chairman of Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Bhd, which is controlled by DPM Najib’s brother Nasir. Haidar is also a trustee of Perdana Leadership Foundation, which is used by former premier Mahathir as his base to continue his political activities after he stepped down as premier. And as then prime minister, Mahathir is seen as the ultimate manipulator of the judiciary when the Lingam video was recorded in early 2002, and as such Mahathir should eventually be the prime target of investigation in the present scandal.
With these connections to the interested parties, Haider is already ill-suited to participate in this panel. However, Haidar’s worst problem comes from his dubious role in the infamous judicial crisis in 1998, when Mahathir unjustly sacked then Lord President Salleh Abas and two other Supreme Court judges, resulting in the subjugation of the institution of judiciary to executive control until this very day. Haidar, as Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court then, ordered the court seal and doors to the Supreme Court be locked, in defiance of Supreme Court Judge Wan Suleiman’s request, so as to prevent an emergency court hearing, which would otherwise have issued an injunction to stop the Tribunal that led to Salleh’s dismissal.
Panelist Lee Lam Thye is chairman of the National Service Council and reports directly to Najib who is also Minister of Defence. Lee is also a director of Media Prima Bhd which is UMNO’s media flagship that controls its vast media empire of newspapers, TV, radios, etc. It is mainly through Media Prima that UMNO exercises its stranglehold on information dissemination that has kept vast sections of the populace in the darkness with regards to the real crises confronting the nation precipitated by UMNO’s serious misrule. And UMNO, as the real political power controlling the country, is of course the beneficiary of the unholy politician-judiciary nexus, and therefore a hugely interested party in the present investigation of the Lingam video clip.
In addition to these questionable links to the interested parties, Lee is suffering from an image problem arising from his sudden and mysterious resignation as No.2 leader in DAP that caused a party crisis on the eve of 1990 election. Many continue to hold Lee in suspicion, citing his move against his party in 1990 as part of a plot that enabled then Prime Minister Mahathir to call a snap election at the enemy’s weakest moment. And of course, Lee’s subsequent elevation in social status (a Tan Sri now) and wealth (directorship of many companies), much of which through goodwill of the ruling power, does not help to shed his image as some one deeply beholden to the ruling party.
An important purpose of the enquiry is to restore confidence to the judiciary in particular and the government in general, whose image has been much tattered by a series of grave scandals in recent days. The appointment of a panel with such questionable backgrounds can only deepen the people’s mistrust of the entire establishment.
ROYAL COMMISSION
It will be seen that all the above weaknesses can be overcome, if the Yang di-Pertuan Agong exercises his power under the Commissions of Enquiry Act 1950 to appoint a royal commission of reputable individuals to probe the video clip. This commission, which will be vested with legal power to summon witnesses, compel evidences and provide protection to witnesses, will ascertain the extent of decadence of our judiciary and recommend appropriate remedies. The report will be submitted to the Agong for deliberation by Parliament.
There is of course no guarantee that a good royal commission report will lead to the salvation of the judiciary, as shown in the case of Royal Commission Report on the Police completed several years ago. Though the report on police is excellent, but our police force continues to deteriorate as reflected by continuing scandals and mounting crime rates, despite huge fortunes being spent in upgrading facilities and increasing manpower. This is due to the lack of political will to eradicate the root causes of rampant corruption and wanton human right abuses.
Nevertheless, a royal commission is an important first step, as effective exposure by a dedicated commission will open the eyes of the people to the gravity of our weaknesses, thereby giving impetus to the mass movement that will compel the hands of the government to initiate the necessary changes.
Allowing the status quo to continue is not an option, as a deteriorating judicial system will hasten the slide in investors’ confidence that was set in since the Asian financial crisis a decade ago. The consequential damage to our economy and national well being will only accelerate under the intensifying pressure of globalization. These mounting economic challenges in an ambience of worsening racial and religious tensions as has been taking place now under UMNO’s leadership will surely drive this nation towards disintegration.
It is therefore vital that all Malaysians treat the present judicial crisis as reflected by the Lingam video clip as a life-or-death issue that must be tackled with full force until it is resolved. In this respect, it is heartening to see that Parti Keadilan Rakyat already submitted its petition to the Agong for a royal commission on Sept 28, and there are indications that other bodies will follow suit. This is the time when the people must unequivocally exert their collective will to make this commission a reality.
Finally, it is hoped that the Malaysian Bar would urgently review its position with regards to Najib’s panel, and once again take the lead role, as natural guardians of law should, in a renewed charge towards thorough cleansing of our judiciary. And that means Najib’s panel must be rejected forthwith.
Kim Quek
Desiderata: The highlights (thus BOLDED) are all Desi's. My EsteemedReaders are invited to address their views, even dissenting ones, to Sdr Kim who will now feature quite regularly as GUEST BLOGGER at Desi's Place. It helps to fill the vacuum when the hoRst goes galloping during a mispronounced HI-atus!
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My dear colleagues, friends and critics in the blogger community,
On October 3, that is tomorrow, I will be formally be inducted into the KeADILan party. The time has come to see what I can do as a political activist rather than a analyst, commentator and critic of the Badawi Administration. I will, however, not be holding a formal position in the party, nor will I seek an elected office.
I am happy to be in the “boiler room” of the party as “Program Director”, so to speak, with a very young outstanding team of talented ivy leaguers of all nationalities that make up the rich fabric of our great country.
We have a job to do. We welcome volunteers and your support for a cause for change via democratic and constitutional means. You can reach me at dmerican@yahoo.com or din.merican@gmail.com. Please write to me about your concerns and suggestions.
The decision I have taken is a long considered one. It is a difficult one because I will no longer be strictly impartial in my views. More importantly, I could be losing some of my old friends in UMNO, MCA and MIC. But that is a small price to pay.
KeADILan ably led by Sdr. Anwar Ibrahim best represents my own position regarding the present Administration and what we can do for a better and more competitive Malaysia and a less corrupt one.
We can no longer be behind Singapore, Hongkong, Taiwan or South Korea. Even Botswana and Slovenia are better than us in terms of ranking on Berlin-based Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index!!
Remember, Prime Minister Badawi rode to power in 2004 on election promises of transparency and accountability. All that “work with me, not for me” stuff followed. As we all now realise, his Administation has been neither transparent nor accountable. In stead, its actions seek to reinforce the prevailing culture of opacity and mediocrity. I will say no more.
Dr. Bakri who is my intellectual sparring partner, friend and colleague over many years knows my reasons for making this decision at a rather late stage of my life (68 years old). Maybe, he will have some comments to make.
For me, it is time to be in the political arena, and work hard for change.
We can no longer–I certainly can’t– afford to stay on the sidelines. We have to register to vote and be active in the affairs of our country. We must end this culture of impunity, and hold our government to high standards of ethics and public accountability.
I believe that we can in our own little ways make a difference. If we do not anything, we deserve the government we get.
Cheers and thanks for your understanding and support, Din"