UMNO seems caught in a bit of bind. It is beginning to look like the punter who lost a flutter on the football match and then a fortune on the action replay. Its original mistake was a misconception; its contemporary error is a misperceptionWhy have we become defeatists just because PKR has done such a brilliant job of exposing this strangely gut-wrenching but simultaneously hilarious loot of our wealth in the name of NFC ? Why are we so depressed merely because the new media has turned NAJIB’s image into a toilet seat, thereby fulfilling Malay’s dream first sketched in “An Area of Darkness” ?You don’t need to summon Agatha Christie to solve the plot. Most of our roads are constructed for annual destruction, since there is more money to be made in rebuilding than in building. Governments are not merely hand-in-glove with contractors; they are hand-in-pocket. Shared loot is safe loot.In our country, corruption has become mainstream; honesty is a rivulet, which is why the System has developed such sophisticated expertise at deflecting street anger. The game is played out in full public view, and we do not see hypocrisy trapping us in slow motion.Malaysian democracy is in danger of subversion by a self-confident,aggressive, articulate, patriotic and well-meaning force, the oligarchy of the successful. It might be a mild exaggeration to suggest that its principal characteristics are aftershave and English.Many of them possibly disdain aftershave or perfume, and would not be crass enough to be preceded by five yards of Axe effect, to name the most advertised aftershave of the moment. But they are loyal to the English language, the proven mantra to worldly success. This new class of thirty-somethings (terribly reluctant to turn 40) is a product of consistent high growth since economic liberalization began in 1991. They bring with them a fresh mindset, a happy sense of purpose, a professional approach to governance and a welcome lack of social baggage.So why should they be considered a potential hidden danger? Their assets dominate contemporary business, media and politics; their liabilities are buried in a general reluctance to see beyond their celebrity status. Politicians have always been celebrated, and rightly so; if you are in public life, you will be under public scrutiny. But they have not been celebrities. The difference is being squeezed by a squeal culture that is another dominant trait of a substantial and growing elite.
Danger lies in the fact that this creamy layer of 20% at the top has no interest in involving the froth of 80% in decision-making. It recognizes the problem of poverty, of course, and is even concerned enough to address it at policy level. It would much prefer an Malays in which beggars do not stare through the window panes of its cars; unfortunately, beggars can’t be screened out by black film for reasons to do with public security. But it treats the poor as both the cause and the consequence of poverty, and therefore unworthy of more than a token presence on the table. In a sense this is the old Race system in a modern manifestation; it is a karmic view of government, propagated by the New UMNO, readmore http://themalaybusinesstribune.blogspot.com

without which there no way her family’s  very cheap loan
fact 1Illegal, unlawful
“The loan agreement signed in 2007 covers a loan period of 20 years with a grace period of three years. The repayment scheme is to commence from the first day after the end of the grace period by way of annual instalments over 17 years at 2.0% per annum.

Can a country have a split personality? Can a nation be a Dr Jekyll and a Mr Hyde, as in R L Stevenson’s classic tale about the good and the evil that coexists within the individual?

The de facto chief of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bloc told the daily he will propel privatisation and do more to free up markets to operate more efficiently by making government contracts more transparent.

In the article, the 64-year-old pushed his series of economic reform policies to promote transparency and accountability, especially in the award of government contracts and end widespread corruption under the current Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Najib.

Anwar told the WSJ that he was not just “anti-Umno” but wanted to ensure that Malaysia would emerge on top as it competed with neighbouring countries like Indonesia and Vietnam that was pulling in foreign investments.

“We must always compare Malaysia to Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan,” he told theWSJ.

He told the daily that he would push for more privatisation programmes and free up the markets to run business more efficiently.

Malaysia, once among the top economic magnets in Asia, has been criticised for continuing with economic policies that benefit only one race to get in the way of trade and investments.
UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN) have failed to uplift the standard of living among all the marginalised ethnic groups in the country and this includes the Indians, Malays, Chinese and the Indigenous. The gulf of disparity between the rich and the poor is ceaselessly widening. This poverty gap has made many poor Malaysians become tangential to the national economic pie.

About 70 percent of ethnic Indians in the country are in the poor or hardcore-poor cohort but receives the least attention from the UMNO-led government, as the poor Indians do not have much political clout in a country of about 28.5  million people.  UMNO-friendly political parties representing the minority Indians in BN have not achieved much in trying to help this marginalised group of Indians.

They may have enriched a few cronies among them for the past six decades but the downtrodden among the Indians are left to live on crumbs. The norm has always been that Barisan Nasional (BN) with UMNO as its backbone party would make ostentatious promises before elections to help the marginalised Indians. All these syrupy  promises would, more often than not, conk out just after the elections.

Those political parties in BN and other Indian-based political parties friendly to BN espoused to help the poor Indians would be quietened down by UMNO with all the ‘bullying’ tactics. Nevertheless, UMNO leaders have never been short of grandiose rhetorical phrases to ‘mesmerise’ the timorous and poor ethnic Indians:

These are only a few of the many superfluous and flamboyant rhetorical phrases used to lull the poor ethnic Indians. All these gimmicks, however, have remained rhetorical and hollow in substance. Nothing much has got off the ground since the country’s independence to sincerely help the poor Indians and they have not benefitted much from any of these bare promises. In fact, not even 2 percent of the poor ethnic Indians have benefited from all these ‘grand  plans’ for them. These are mere political publicity stunt to dupe the poor Indians. It has only given the poor Indians in the country a false hope in life.

Malaysia’s affirmative social and economic policies favour a single ethnic group more than the poor among other races. The poor Indians, Chinese and the Indigenous are far left behind since the implementation of the NEP (New Economic Policy) in 1971 even when a prong of the economic policy clearly indicates that the eradication of poverty is irrespective of race. Apparently, poor ethnic Indians are among the most neglected since the implementation of the NEP.

The Indian community is still trapped in the trough of poverty when the NEP was not extended to help those in the estates and those displaced after the estates were taken over for development. While the NEP helped the Malays and the Indigenous out of poverty and managed to create a group of middle class among them, it obviously ignored the needs of the displaced poor ethnic Indians. In reality, this composite of Indians are as poor as the Malays and the Indigenous, if not more. The failure of the NEP to support the Indians below the poverty line has attributed to the community being marginalised until today. MIC and other Indian leaders politically aligned to UMNO have done little to resolve the problem of poverty among ethnic Indians despite helming the nation under the former Alliance and later the BN coalition for almost six decades.

About 20 percent of ethnic Indian families are earning a meagre RM 516 and below per month. Another 20 percent earn less than RM1000 and below per month.  Ninety percent of this ethnic group do not own any land or shelter of their own. Many in the urban areas live in squalid slums and they form 60 percent of urban squatters. They are among those having the lowest per capita income – earning only about 8 percent of the national average.

When plantation lands  were developed into other viable projects after the nation’s independence this had resulted in the plantation workers being displaced and forced to become squatters in urban areas. With no proper education and financial means, they left for the urban areas in search of a new life. They lived in squatter colonies that were gradually demolished to make way for development with no or little alternative housing for them. Depriving of everything from income and permanent shelter they have become urban ‘nomads’  who are continuously being forced to live under squalid conditions and constantly being evicted or harassed by the authorities.

Thirty percent of them are squatters or live on TOL (Temporary Occupation Licence Land). Poverty has made their life acutely miserable. Suicides became too common among desperate parents and the meagre bread winners among them. Poverty has forced many of these poor Indians to commit suicide and 40 percent of all suicide cases in the country involve poor Indians. The majority of orphanages and old folks homes are also filled up with members of this minority ethnic Indian community.

Education opportunities for this community has been decreasing since. Only about 1 percent of intakes by government education institutes in the country and opportunities overseas funded by the government are allocated for ethnic Indians. There was a 10 percent quota for ethnic Indians before 1970 and this was reduced to about 5 percent in the 80s and further reduced to less than 3 percent in the past decade. The so-called ‘meritocracy’ system introduced in 2004 shrivelled the percentage of ethnic Indians’ opportunity for tertiary education.

The double-standard examinations used for university entrance – matriculation and STPM – deprived many ethnic Indians making it to tertiary education in government universities and the chances of getting scholarships for overseas’ education. The poor ethnic Indians were those who were affected most because of this politically twisted system. The poor Indians are naturally discriminated against by a lopsided education system.

The over 500 Tamil schools in the country is no remedy to the plight of this ethnic group. Most of this schools are dilapidated and not fully-aided government schools. Over 80 percent of ethnic Indian children end up becoming dropouts at the primary school level, when they enter secondary schools and before they have finished 11 years of education. They are ill-equipped with literacy skills to cope with studies beyond the elementary stage.  Access to even the lowest level skills training Institutions are deprived for this community resulting in most of them remaining unemployed or unskilled workers

After about six decades years of independence, there are thousands of ethnic minority Indians left being undocumented – without birth certificates, identity cards or marriage certificates. This has deprived them of even basic education. Without these legal documents they cannot go to school, obtain licences to do business or secure employment.

Indian participation in the civil service has been reduced to less than 2 percent in 2010. Seventy percent (70%) of ethnic Indians have been doomed into becoming labourers, IMG (Industrial Manual Group workers, office boys, security guards, public toilet cleaners, general workers and road sweepers.  Sixty percent (60%) of ethnic Indians are lower income earners and 85 percent of Indian workers in the manufacturing sector are low level workers. Sixty percent (65%) of Malaysian Indians work as plantation or urban underpaid labourers

Despair, poverty and lack of opportunities and UMNO-led BN lopsided policies have led to high Indian involvement in crime arising out of poverty. beggars, squatters, criminals and gangsters. A significant number of Indian youth have become social delinquents due to their low sense of worth.

Beyond that, ethnic Indians have been deprived of business licenses permits, business loans and opportunities for small businesses or commercial licenses for them to run businesses – resulting in less than 1 percent Indian participation in the country’s economic wealth.

UMNO-led BN have been promising the poor ethnic Indians heaven when they cannot even deliver scraps to them.Disappointingly, the government  has not kept to their promises. The poor Indians are still languishing in poverty with not much hope in sight for a better life under the present government.

UMNO-led BN has failed to honour their ‘gracious pledge’ to help the poor Indians but have craftily made use of their hollow rhetoric to win votes and stay in power. A few ringgit doled out to the poor just before elections is not going to bring votes to UMNO or BN. What’s more, the poor on their part are not too ambitious to become filthy rich. Neither are they interested in going for a multi-thousand ringgit shopping spree or spending nights in posh hotels at the expense of tax-payers’ money. They are only seeking for the basic needs in life – food on the table, education for their children, a reasonable  income to make ends meet and a decent shelter to live in.

In this country of opportunity not only the poor Indians who are marginalised. The poor Malays, Chinese and the Indigenous of this country – who have by design or default made this country their home – are equally been marginalised under the UMNO-led BN government. A responsible government has to see the rights and positions of all citizens irrespective of race, creed or religion honoured. This is clearly ordained in the constitution.

Since those who are marginalised are not confined to one community alone, it is time for every Malaysian to rise above racial politics, thrust aside racial parties, liberate this nation from endemic corruption and injustice at every level and cherish together for a Malaysia where the people can perceive themselves as less Malay, Chinese, Indian or Indigenous. The people should long for a government that is ‘colour blind’ – that helps all the poor irrespective of their race, creed or religion.

The voting pattern will swing when there are ethnic groups that are deprived of these basic needs and have come to understand that they are being discriminated against. Mere rhetoric and promises to win elections are not going to influence the enlightened poor to vote for the incumbent government. The voting trend will definitely change in the coming general election.

But Malaysia also has another face, another persona.

First, that there is something very rotten about the RM336.64 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC)/National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) “cattle condo” scandal – what with a RM250 million soft loan at 2% interest to promote cattle production used to buy two units of luxury condominiums in Kuala Lumpur and another condominium in Singapore, purchase of land in Precinct 10 Putrajaya, close to a million ringgit expenditures on overseas trips and extraordinarily high salaries for the family members of Datuk Seri Shahrizat, Minister for Women, Family and Community Development.

Second, that very high-level personalities are involved whether in the scandal or in the decision-making process resulting in the scandal, and that the personalities who must clear themselves include not only Shahrizat but also the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was then Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on High Impact Projects which approved the NFC project in 2006, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was then the Minister for Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries, Datuk Seri Nor Omar, current Minister for Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries, even the former Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah as well as the entire former Cabinet before the 12th General Elections on March 8, 2008.

Third, the initial reactions of the various authorities unanimously trying to avoid touching the NFC/NF Corp scandal with a “barge pole”, although the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ambrin Buang signed off the Auditor-General’s Report 2010 on 8th July 2011 with copies sent to the various relevant authorities, including the Cabinet – which probably explains the irresponsible inactions for more than six months, the delayed presentation of the Auditor-General’s Report in Parliament on October 25 when it should have been tabled in Parliament more than three weeks earlier on the first day of the Budget Parliament on 3rd October; the initial five-month refusal of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the scandal; the refusal of the Public Accounts Committee Chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid to allow the PAC to conduct immediate and urgent investigations into the scandal although the PAC may cease to exist any time with the imminent dissolution of Parliament for the 13th General Elections and the continued refusal of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister to agree to a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the scandal.

Fourth, latest efforts by various personalities in a “cover up” and to wriggle out of responsibility for the “cattle condo” scandal – whether by using semantics claiming that the Auditor-General had never used the word “mess” in his report (when the facts that have emerged reveal that it was more than a “mess” and was indeed a “terrible mess”) and that the Auditor-General had mixed up the two entities of NFC and NFCorp.

All in all, the building block for a grand conspiracy to cover up the NFC/NFCorp “cattle condo” scandal.

Such a conspiracy must not be allowed to succeed, as the NFC/NFCorp “cattle condo” scandal has become a symbol of the utter lack of seriousness of the Najib administration to combat corruption and head an accountable and transparent government, making nonsense of all the alphabet soup of GTP, NKRAs, MKRAs, etc as all propaganda with little real meaning.

Even without the RM336.64 million NFC/NFCorp “cattle condo” scandal, Malaysia has plunged to the worst ranking of 60th place and lowest score of 4.3 in 17 years in the 2011 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

With the continued obstruction and impediment placed in the way of a no-holds-barred investigation and full public accounting into the NFC/NFCorp “cattle condo” scandal, Malaysia can expect an even worse ranking and score in the 2012 Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

Patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation should unite as one to demand in a loud and clear voice for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the NFC/NFCorp “cattle condo” scandal.

RELATED ARTICLE http://themalaybusinesstribune.blogspot.com/2012/01/corruption-umno-and-shahrizat-abdul.html

 

The politically-charged appeal of two elite Malaysian police bodyguards who were sentenced to death two years and nine months ago for the 2006 murder-for-hire of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaaribuu is due on Feb. 10 in Malaysia’s Court of Appeal.The High Court trial, in which everything appeared to have been done ignore the question of who hired the two killers, stands in vivid contrast to the appeal filed by prosecutors on Jan. 19 in the case of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, in which everything appeared to have been done to bend the evidence to try to put the 64-year-old Anwar behind bars. As Judge Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah pointed out in his not-guilty verdict, “the court cannot be 100 percent certain that the DNA evidence against Anwar was not contaminated.”The two bodyguards, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, were to be paid RM50,000 to RM00,000 to kill Altantuya, according to a confession by Sirul which was never produced in court. 

Although the three-judge court is expected to hear arguments, it is unsure if the verdict on the appeal by the two will be concluded on that date. Even if it is, according to criminal defense lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon, that is unlikely to be the end of the case. If the two are found guilty once more, they have the right of appeal to the Federal Court, Malaysia’s highest tribunal. That could take as long as another 2-1/2 years, Dhillon said in an interview.

Although the Malaysian court system has been working to shorten the length of time appeals take, delays remain. However, the length of time this particular case is taking is extraordinary, Dhillon said. Indeed, however, he said, the appeal in Anwar’s case could take a similar amount of time. As with the Sirul-Azilah case, Anwar’s appeal to the Federal Court could also take another two and a half years after the appellate verdict.

The murder case been linked to the fortunes of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Azilah and Sirul served as bodyguards in an elite police unit supervised by Najib, then the country’s deputy prime minister. It has continued to dog him as bloggers and journalists from France and other countries have continued to question his involvement. Also on trial with the two, but acquitted without having to put on a defense, was Altantuya’s jilted lover and one of Najib’s best friends, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

From the start of the year-long trial, during which prosecutors and the judge were hurriedly switched without warning, to the end, when the verdict was delayed since February 2008 until after the United Malays National Organization convention that named Najib party leader and thus prime minister, the case has appeared more about suppressing evidence than determining the guilt or innocence of the accused.

Asked about the failure of investigative agencies to attempt to discover why no attempt had been made to ascertain who had hired the two to kill the woman, Dhillon responded: “Frankly, that is ridiculous. It clearly shows the intention of the investigative agency. If you are a hired killer, someone has hired you, and he is a far greater criminal, whoever it is. If I am the head of the investigative agency, I would want to know who the mastermind is. Everybody wants to sweep this under the carpet.”

The murder was one of the most gruesome in recent Malaysian memory. It is a tale worth repeating. By several accounts, the then-28 year-old woman, who was executed with two bullets to the head in a jungle clearing near the suburban city of Shah Alam and whose body was blown up with military explosives, was at the center of a massive scandal over the purchase by Malaysia of two French submarines and the lease of a third.

The sale of the submarines and other vessels by the French government-linked military contactor DCN to Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan. India and other countries have been investigated sporadically by prosecutors who have alleged it involves a string of murders and kickbacks paid to some of France’s top political figures.

Altantuya, then Razak Baginda’s lover according to Razak Baginda’s testimony to police, reportedly was a translator in the purchase, which cost Malaysian taxpayers €1 billion (US$329.1 billion in current dollars). The purchase netted a company controlled by Razak Baginda €114 million in “commissions,” according to testimony in Malaysia’s parliament.

By Razak Baginda’s own cautioned statement to the police, he grew tired of Altantuya and broke up with her after a year-long affair in which he gifted her thousands of dollars. However, she flew to Malaysia to demand as much as US$500,000, according a letter found after her death. Other reports alleged the payment was for her part in the purchase of the submarines.

As she stood in front of Razak Baginda’s house, demanding that he come out, the two policemen, accompanied by a policewoman, swooped down on her, tossed her into the back of a car, and she was never seen alive again.

In a cautioned statement that was never introduced in court, Sirul testified that in her last moments, Altantuya begged for her life, saying she was pregnant. Sirul said he and Azilah had attached explosives to the woman’s legs up to her abdomen and her head, raising questions why they had sought to destroy her abdomen rather, for instance, than her hands, which could identify the body. Presumably the explosives would have destroyed any DNA samples of whose baby was inside her, if any.

P. Balasubramaniam, a private detective hired by Razak Baginda to keep the woman away from him, swore in an intensively detailed statutory declaration that he was told by Razak Baginda that Altantuya had been the lover of Najib as well, that she liked anal sex, and that she had been passed on to the analyst because Najib intended to become prime minister and didn’t want a sex scandal hanging over his head.

In the declaration, Balasubramaniam said he had seen text messages from Najib after Altantuya disappeared, telling him to “be cool” and that he would take care of the matter. After delivering his statutory declaration, Balasubramaniam was summoned to a Kuala Lumpur police station, where he was forced into a total recantation of the document. He and his entire family disappeared. There apparently was never an attempt made by the court trying the three men to find him and ask him to testify as to the accuracy of the statement.

Other questions remain. In Sirul’s cautioned statement, the police constable said Azhar told him Najib’s chief of staff, Musa Safri, had ordered them to pick up the young woman. Azhar first suggested going to the Hotel Malaya, where Altantuya and two friends were staying, to kill them all, but decided not to because of the presence of closed-circuit cameras. Neither of the two was ever asked in court about Musa’s involvement in the matter, nor about their relationship to Najib.

Burmaa Oyunchimeg, Altantuya’s cousin who accompanied her to Kuala Lumpur and one of the two women whom Sirul and Azhar presumably intended to kill in the hotel, testified in the trial that she had seen a picture of Najib together with Razak Baginda and Altantuya. Najib has sworn on the Quran that he had never met the woman.

Both the prosecution and the defense leapt to their feet and asked that her testimony be stricken and she was never asked about it again. She also testified that when she attempted to leave the country, there was no indication that she had ever arrived there, leading to questions of how her records had disappeared from the immigration department. No questions were ever asked about how that could have happened either.

When Razak Baginda was first brought into court in June of 2007, his wife, Mazlina, angrily shouted, asking why he was being brought to trial when he had no ambition to become prime minister, which could have been construed as a reference to the allegation of Najib’s relationship to Altantuya that was described by Balasubramaniam. Mazlina has never been asked to explain her statement.

Nor has Najib, along with Musa Safri, ever been asked to appear in court or been questioned about the case. It appears unlikely that they ever will be.

faced honorary consul of mongolia: altantuya’s father gave all the pictures, notebooks, films, computer files – to the double faced syed rahman After the murder of Altantuya, a charitable soul contacted Shaaribuu Setev, the father of the young woman : Datuk Syed, honorary consul of Mongolia in Malaysia. “I am ready to do everything to … Read more NAJIB WHY DID ALTANTUYA HAVE TO DIE? CORRUPT POLITICAL LEADERSHIP DOES NOT ATTRACTIVE MEN OF OUTSTANDING INTEGRITY; NEITHER CAN IT BE EXPECTED

This means that Umno has given “tacit approval” to MCA to talk bad about Islam. Umno has left MCA to its own devices but yet it has to continue helping MCA to woo the Chinese. It is really laughable that Umno has failed to see through this simple ploy.

Umno is now MCA’s lackey. MCA has made a fool of Umno while Umno continues to think that MCA needs its assistance.

MCA can continue to do its part in the attacks on hudud to get Chinese support but if the Malays reject MCA, then it is Umno’s fault.

Umno does all the work but if things go wrong, Umno gets the blame. However, if the Chinese and Malays vote for MCA, MCA gets the credit for the “hard work put in”. Brilliant!

 OWC president Fauziah Ariffin (left) and international vice-president Dr Rohaya Mohamad. —

The sun, in all likelihood, rises in the east and sets in the west. Glory be to god(s) who is/are, may or may not be. Long live democracy!

 

a sizzling romance had erupted like a volcano between Najib and Rosmah