Politics: Corruption in BN & PR - A Historical Perspective - RPK

[pywong]

What happened in 1974? The Federal Govt robbed the states of their oil and gas.

EPISODE 1: How East Malaysia and Terengganu were robbed of their wealth (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47092-episode-1-how-east-malaysia-and-terengganu-were-robbed-of-their-wealth)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Tuesday, 07 February 2012 Super Admin http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL21hbGF5c2lhLXRvZGF5Lm5ldC9tdGNvbHVtb nMvNDcwOTItZXBpc29kZS0xLWhvdy1lYXN0LW1hbGF5c2lhLWF uZC10ZXJlbmdnYW51LXdlcmUtcm9iYmVkLW9mLXRoZWlyLXdlY Wx0aA%3D%3D)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47092-episode-1-how-east-malaysia-and-terengganu-were-robbed-of-their-wealth?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47092-episode-1-how-east-malaysia-and-terengganu-were-robbed-of-their-wealth?format=pdf)

http://www.malaysia-today.net/images/stories/corridors/corridors.gif
In 1973, Barisan Nasional was launched and PAS became part of the federal government. In 1974, the new ruling coalition in Parliament (where all the opposition parties except DAP were now members of) passed the Petroleum Development Act and the oil and gas were transferred from the states to the federal government, meaning Petronas.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Give or take, give and take, they are both four letter words, just as Umno is (pun intended). Nevertheless, we can expect Umno to be confused about when to use the word ‘give’ and when to use ‘take’. However, Pakatan Rakyat too?

As Julius Caesar said, “Et tu Brute?”

I am talking about the 5% Oil Royalty ‘given’ to Sabah and Sarawak (and, of course, to Terengganu -- as to all the other states as well: in the event that they too have oil and gas).
Yes, both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are currently discussing how much Oil Royalty should be ‘given’ to those states that have oil and gas. How do you ‘give’ them something that already belongs to them in the first place? Should not the word we use be ‘take’? We should instead be discussing how much we should ‘take’ from them, not how much we should ‘give’ them.

Let me explain the history of this entire thing.

The oil and gas already belongs to the states. This is what the Malaysian Agreement and the earlier Federation Agreement was all about. And, in that Agreement, it was agreed that all natural resources would be the property of the states.

No doubt, some things such as defence, security, foreign policy, etc., were federalised. But religion and natural resources are supposed to be the prerogative and property of the states.

Water, timber, land, sand, minerals, etc., all belong to the states. As do oil and gas. These are what we call natural resources. Hence they belong 100% to the states, not 5% or 20% or 50% or whatever.

Now, Umno is, of course, misleading us. They are talking as if all natural resources, except oil and gas, belong to the states and that oil and gas belong to the federal government. That is not true. And to suggest otherwise is a violation of the Malaysian Agreement. And I would expect better from the opposition. Why is the opposition sounding like Barisan Nasional and talking about how much Oil Royalty to ‘give’ to the states?

Oil was first rumoured to have been discovered in Terengganu even before 1972, during the time when Dato' Nik Hassan bin Wan Abdul Rahman was the Menteri Besar of Terengganu and Tun Abdul Razak Dato' Hussein the Prime Minister of Malaysia. And I said rumoured because the discovery of oil was never officially announced but was something that was being whispered in the corridors of power.

Why the hush-hush? Well, because the government had to first sort out some ‘loose ends’ before announcing the discovery of oil. So they did not want anyone to know about it until the federal government could ensure that the oil was ‘transferred’ to the federal government. If not, 100% of the oil revenue would go to the state of Terengganu.

In the meantime, they secretly sold the oil to foreign buyers. The oil was transferred from the oil rigs to the ships in the middle of the sea and was exported. Only some people knew about it, the Petronas officers being some of those people.

Lim Kit Siang came to find out about this secret arrangement and there was a hue and cry when he revealed that the oil was being stolen from Terengganu. It seems a Deep Throat in Petronas had told him about it. Exxon, in collaboration with Petronas, were fingered as the chief conspirators.

A crisis was about to explode. There were rumours that all the documents in the Exxon office in Kuala Lumpur suddenly disappeared and reappeared in Singapore the following day. Then, suddenly, the whole thing mysteriously died down and nothing more was said about the matter. No denial or rebuttal was ever issued.

Soon after that, the Menteri Besar went into conflict with the Sultan and was forced to resign. He was also exiled from Terengganu and was not allowed to ever set foot on Terengganu soil again as long as the Sultan was still alive. He never returned to Terengganu until the Sultan died.

The tense moment in that entire episode was when the Sultan’s brother stormed into the Menteri Besar’s office and pointed a gun at the Menteri Besar’s head. The Sultan’s brother too was exiled to Pahang and only returned to Terengganu to attend the Sultan’s funeral.
Meanwhile, Tun Razak came out with a plan on how to bring PAS into the federal government. PAS had to be neutralised if the federal government wanted to grab Terengganu’s oil. The idea to form Barisan Nasional was mooted and all the opposition parties such as PAS, PPP, Gerakan, etc., were invited to join Barisan Nasional.

In 1973, Barisan Nasional was launched and PAS became part of the federal government. In 1974, the new ruling coalition in Parliament (where all the opposition parties except DAP were now members of) passed the Petroleum Development Act and the oil and gas were transferred from the states to the federal government, meaning Petronas.

To keep the states quiet, they were given 5% as a token ‘Oil Royalty’.

This was like the whites taking away the Native American lands (then called Red Indians) by giving them worthless beads as payment.

Now, if the federal government had power over oil and gas, why the need to pass the Petroleum Development Act in Parliament? Just take it! But they couldn’t just take it. Oil and gas are the property of the states. So they needed to pass an Act of Parliament to legalise the illegal takeover of state property.

There was of course some resistance to this move, in particular from Sabah. But all resistance was silenced when the dissenters died in a mysterious plane crash that has never been properly explained until today.

Pakatan Rakyat should stop talking about how much Oil Royalty to ‘give’ the states and whether it should be increased from the current 5% to 20% or 50% or whatever. That is Barisan Nasional type of talk.

The federal government is actually taking what belongs to the states. Therefore, you should be talking about how much you should take: whether 95% like now, or whether you reduce what you take down to 80% or 50%.

If we go by the spirit of the Federation Agreement, then you should take nothing. You should return 100% to the states. The most you can do is to levy a tax, like the timber export tax, palm oil tax, etc. That is all the federal government can earn. Even if the tax is 35% or 45% never mind. But it has to be a tax on the profit of the sales or a form of export tax or sales tax, whether you make a profit on the sale or not.

We always talk about Rule of Law and not Rule by Law. The Petroleum Development Act is a classic example of Rule by Law. They passed a law to legalise something illegal: meaning, nationalising state property.

We must now correct this injustice and call a spade a spade. The federal government has been robbing the states of their oil for the last 40 years and has been giving them a mere 5% of the proceeds when it should be 100%. That is the reality of the situation.

Lim Kit Siang of DAP knows about this. He was the one who revealed what was going on even before most people knew that oil was being extracted from Terengganu. And Tun Salleh Abas of PAS also knows about this. He was the ‘architect’ who drafted the Petroleum Development Act. So no more talk about how much to give the states. We must now talk about what we are taking from the states.

[pywong]

EPISODE 2: The murder of a whistleblower (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47120-episode-2-the-murder-of-a-whistleblower)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Wednesday, 08 February 2012 Super Admin






The doctor’s report says that the cause of Dato’ Patrick’s death was a ‘blunt force trauma to the head with compression of the neck’. That was what the medical report says. My Deep Throats told me that Dato’ Patrick was strangled and then THROWN off the balcony. The police say he accidentally fell while trying to escape. How do they then account for the ‘compression of the neck’ (meaning strangled) if he accidentally fell from the balcony and was not murdered?


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER


Raja Petra Kamarudin



This whole episode started in October 2009. Dato’ Patrick Wong and his wife were on a short visit to the UK to do a tour of England and Scotland. They spent some time with my wife and me where we managed to talk quite a bit about the state of affairs in Malaysia and how matters in Selangor are certainly a cause for concern.


One of the issues that Dato’ Patrick brought up was regarding the sand mining scandal in Selangor (which had yet to explode: it exploded the following year). The sand mining business is a multi-million Ringgit industry -- and which was one of the many cash cows of the previous Barisan Nasional government.

However, instead of putting this cash cow to sleep, it appears that some people in Pakatan Rakyat (meaning PKR, of course) have taken over the sand mining syndicate and are milking this cash cow till its tits run dry.


I had, in fact, heard about this matter even before that, at the time when I was still back in Malaysia (Anwar Ibrahim and Khalid Ibrahim also know about this). But I would need the tangible evidence, I told Dato’ Patrick. I can’t run an expose based just on ‘coffee-shop-talk’ (in spite of many thinking that this is exactly what I do). I need to see the hard evidence.


Whether I keep the evidence to myself -- just to convince myself that the story is kosher -- or whether I publish the evidence and make it public is another matter. Sometimes I do not publish the evidence but just keep it in the event I am challenged. Then, if I am challenged to reveal the evidence, I might just do that.


It is like playing a cat-and-mouse game or a game of poker. If you think I have an empty hand then let us raise the stakes. Place your bets and challenge me to show my hand. I can assure you that you will lose each and every time because I never enter a gunfight without bullets in my gun.


Dato’ Patrick agreed to become my whistleblower and work on getting me the evidence. As soon as he returns to Malaysia, he promised me, he was going to gather all the evidence and pass it on to me. He asked me to give him a month and probably by the end of November I would have a complete dossier revealing those in the Pakatan Rakyat state government of Selangor who are involved in the sand mining syndicate.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/tindakmalaysia/politics/patrickwong.jpg
The last photograph I took of Dato' Patrick Wong just months before he was murdered


Sad to say, that never happened. A couple of weeks later, Dato’ Patrick was murdered. His family (and all his friends, I included) believes it was an assassination carried out by hired killers. The police say it was an ‘innocent’ robbery. The medical evidence shows he was strangled and beaten to death (he was in a coma for a while before he died). The police say he died ‘accidentally’ when he fell off the balcony while trying to escape the ‘robbers’.
When I received a phone call telling me that Dato’ Patrick had died, I phoned some of my Deep Throats in the police as well as those in the underworld (yes, I do have underworld contacts). My Deep Throats confirmed that the assassins who murdered Dato’ Patrick were hired killers. It was not a robbery; it was an assassination ‘related to some business matters’, my contacts told me.


I trust my Deep Throats in the police and the underworld more than I trust the government. And if they say that Dato’ Patrick was murdered by hired killers, then that is the story I am going to believe. I do not believe the story that it was a robbery gone awry and that Dato’ Patrick’s death was accidental, the result of him falling off the balcony while trying to escape.


It took me almost three years to get to the truth. But I am one stubborn *******. A good friend of mine has been murdered and I want to know the reason why. And now, after almost three years, I am in possession of the tangible evidence that reveals the ‘official’ story behind Dato’ Patrick’s death.


And this official story is full of holes.


The doctor’s report says that the cause of Dato’ Patrick’s death was a ‘blunt force trauma to the head with compression of the neck’. That was what the medical report says. My Deep Throats told me that Dato’ Patrick was strangled and then THROWN off the balcony. The police say he accidentally fell while trying to escape. How do they then account for the ‘compression of the neck’ (meaning strangled) if he accidentally fell from the balcony and was not murdered?


YB Nurul Izzah Anwar attended Dato’ Patrick’s funeral. And when Dato’ Patrick’s widow went to meet the police regarding her husband’s murder, the police commented that Dato’ Patrick was a Pakatan Rakyat supporter (because Nurul Izzah attended the funeral). Dato’ Patrick’s widow was then given the cold shoulder and ignored by the police.


This got me real pissed. Does this mean that the police are not interested to properly investigate Dato’ Patrick’s murder since he was a Pakatan Rakyat supporter? Actually, Dato’ Patrick was NOT a Pakatan Rakyat supporter. He was a Malaysia Today supporter. In fact, he was not too happy with what was going on in Selangor under the Pakatan Rakyat government. And that was why he wanted me to do something about it: such as expose the sand mining syndicate in Selangor.


Dato’ Patrick was murdered by three Chinese men. The police arrested three Chinese men: Chin Wee Siong (IC number 621106-04-5867), Kek Kim Ling (IC number 610809-10-5885) and Lee Thai Kean (IC number 800925-09-5087).


One was charged and the other two were released for ‘lack of evidence’. The police investigation revealed that there were two other men involved: one man named Robert and another named Pei Yau. These two were not arrested because they ‘cannot be traced’. According to the police, Robert is an underworld gambling syndicate boss. The police know his background but they can’t trace him.


Now we know why Robert ‘cannot be traced’. Guess who is the ULTIMATE boss of the underworld gambling syndicate? And no prize for the right guess! Hint: he shares the same name as the Prophet Moses.


Hello…IGP…what’s going on here? How come Raja Petra Kamarudin knows more about Dato’ Patrick’s murder than the entire Malaysian Police Force? Or is there a cover-up going on here? And what is the CID chief, Bakri Zinin, doing? Too busy beating up people in handcuffs to worry about a ‘minor’ murder case?


There is no way I can get justice for Dato’ Patrick. He is already dead and his murderers are going to get away unpunished -- other than the one man, the sacrificial lamb that has been cited for robbery and will quietly ‘disappear’ once the brouhaha blows away.


But it was not a robbery. It was an assassination by hired killers. And although I can never get the police to rectify this injustice, I can at least get justice for Dato’ Patrick by doing the last thing that he wanted me so much to do just before he died: and that is to expose the sand mining syndicate in Selangor.


I really don’t know whether Dato’ Patrick was murdered because he was getting too close to the truth about what is going on in Selangor, or even if his murder had anything to do with the sand mining syndicate in the first place. But I am a person with a very suspicious mind. The fact that he was murdered (and that the police are covering up this fact) at the time he was working on getting the evidence I needed makes me want to suspect that a lot of money has changed hands to make this murder appear like an ‘innocent’ robbery gone wrong.


In the next episode I will reveal the details behind the Selangor sand mining syndicate with names and evidence of payments made to certain Pakatan Rakyat leaders. So stay tuned for the next episode of this report.


By the way, I was warned that I should not make this revelation because the Chinese Boss of those who murdered Dato’ Patrick is a very powerful underworld figure who has the police in his pocket. I was also warned that the underworld is very much involved in the sand mining syndicate and that even the local council officers fear them because the Chinese underworld has strong links to those in the Selangor state government.


Well, let me put it this way: if what happened to Dato’ Patrick also happens to me, then it will just confirm what I am saying even more. So bring it on. I live in Manchester in case you need to look for me.

[pywong]

EPISODE 3: Ku Li talks about the mysterious plane crash in Sabah (http://malaysia-today.net/component/content/article/58-video/47126-ku-li-talks-about-the-mysterious-plane-crash-in-sabah)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bClJK6Ke620&feature=player_embedded

[pywong]

EPISODE 4: The Selangor sand-mining scandal (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47137-episode-4-the-selangor-sand-mining-scandal)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Thursday, 09 February 2012 Super Admin

On 18th January 2010, Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd, submitted an application to mine sand in Dengkil (Sepang, Selangor), an area of 45 acres. The letter was copied to Mat Suhaimi Shafiei and Amirudin Shari. Amirudin Shari supported the application and signed the ‘letter of support’. An important point to note is that Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin were both registered as Directors of Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd on that same day, 18th January 2010. And this is no coincidence.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

This story involves Mat Suhaimi Shafiei, the State Assemblyman for Sri Muda, and Amirudin Shari, the State Assemblyman for Batu Caves (photos below).
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/tindakmalaysia/politics/amiruddinshuhaimi.jpg

On 23rd May 2009, at around 5.00pm, a meeting was held between a sand contractor (hereinafter referred to as ‘SC’) and Mat Suhaimi Shafiei in the Sunway Hotel in Seberang Prai, mainland Penang. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss sand-mining in Selangor.

Mat Suhaimi asked SC to submit an application to mine sand to Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd with a copy to him (Mat Suhaimi). Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd is a Selangor state owned company involved in the mining and selling of sand in Selangor.

On 2nd July 2009, at around noon, a meeting was held in Mat Suhaimi’s office where he instructed SC to incorporate a company called Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd (company number 308078W).

The Directors of the company are:

1. Adnan Bin Abd Mokhtar (IC number 691119-10-5105)
2. Siti Rosmaliza Binti Meo Rasli (IC number 751115-08-5026)
3. Marzaniyah Binti Arshad (IC number 721127-08-5444)
4. Mat Suhaimi Bin Shafiei (IC number 680227-08-5275)
5. Amirudin Bin Shari (IC number 800208-01-6059)

The Director’s fees for Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin was agreed at RM5,000 per month.

On 18th January 2010, Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd, submitted an application to mine sand in Dengkil (Sepang, Selangor), an area of 45 acres. The letter was copied to Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin Shari. Amirudin Shari supported the application and signed the ‘letter of support’. (See the letter below).

An important point to note is that Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin were both registered as Directors of Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd on that same day, 18th January 2010. And this is no coincidence. (See the copy of the Form 49 from the Registrar of Companies below).

Before that, however, let us trace what happened prior to 18th January 2010.

On 15th August 2009, at around 10.00pm, Mat Suhaimi contacted SC and asked him for RM3,000 in cash as election campaign funds. At 2.30pm the next day, SC went over to Mat Suhaimi’s office to hand over the cash.

At about 10.30am on 25th August 2009, SC handed over another RM2,000 in cash to Mat Suhaimi. The meeting was held in room 1514 of the Pearl View Hotel in Seberang Prai, Penang.

On 9th September 2009, Mat Suhaimi contacted SC and asked for RM35,000 as ‘Ramadhan expenses’. The next night, at about 11.25pm, they met at the Restoran Nasi Kandar in USJ12 where SC handed Mat Suhaimi the cash.

It was clearly stated that all this money was payment to assist Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd in getting approval from Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd on its application to mine sand in Selangor. Mat Suhaimi told SC that they would need to pay off certain people in Kumpulan Semesta.

On 16th September 2009, Mat Suhaimi contacted SC and told him that he wanted to organise a ‘majlis berbuka puasa’. Mat Suhaimi asked SC to organise it and, of course, pay the cost. Mat Suhaimi also asked SC for his RM5,000 monthly Director’s fees.

On 17th September 2009, the majlis berbuka puasa (breaking fast) was held in the coffeehouse of the Legend Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. That same night, around 8.45pm, SC paid Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin Shari their Director’s fees of RM5,000 each.

A few days later, Mat Suhaimi contacted SC and asked for RM10,000 to pay for the cost of a ‘jamuan Hari Raya’. On 30th September 2009, SC met Mat Suhaimi at the Jaya Jusco in Kelang to hand over the money.

On 5th January 2010, Mat Suhaimi contacted SC and asked for RM50,000. This time the amount was not paid in cash like all the previous amounts before this but was paid directly into the bank account of Syarikat A&L Norash Enterprise (account number 100070023904) at Affin Bank in Kelang. The transaction was made on 11th January 2010 (see below).

Norash Enterprise is a company owned by Ashmali Bin Osman and his wife, Norlela Binti Ahmad, close friends of Mat Suhaimi.

RM10,000 was taken out in cash, RM12,500 was paid to Farahsyamsyawati Bt Sulaiman (banker’s cheque number 0070210000117), and RM27,500 was paid to Smart Renovators Sdn Bhd (banker’s cheque number 0070210000118) on the instructions of Mat Suhaimi.

As follows is the tapped telephone conversation between Mat Suhaimi (telephone number 019-6185239) and SC (telephone number 019-3958888) on 6th January 2010.

SC: …itulah…pasal yang YB mintak 50 ribu nak ape…nak pakai 50 ribu boleh takde masalah…dalam minggu depan boleh?

Mat Suhaimi: Dalam minggu depan ye…

SC: Pasal saya nak setelkan akaun sikit…

Mat Suhaimi: Okay…

SC: Lepas tu takde masalah lah…

Mat Suhaimi: okay, okay, okay, hari Isnin boleh?

SC: Hari Isnin boleh…lagi satu YB…say mintak tolong satu…saya di Batang Kali ada tanah…geran…nak keluar pasir…pasir banyak lagi tu…

Mat Suhaimi: Berapa besar tanah tu?

SC: Dia 100 lebih ekar…

Mat Suhaimi: Nanti saya bincang dengan Azmin….tapi kena bayarlah…Azmin sedang collect duit untuk pilehanraya…

SC: ah, okay, okay…nanti kita bincang.

On 11th January 2010, SC phoned Mat Suhaimi and the conversation was as follows:

SC: Konfirm ye nombor ini?....Affin Bank ni?...

Mat Suhaimi: Confirm, confirm, confirm…

SC: Ni company…company siapa ni YB?

Mat Suhaimi: Ini….company…yang supply….yang buat event….

SC: okay, okay, okay, okay…confirm ye boleh masuk ye?

Mat Suhaimi: Ya, ya…

SC: Takut lah…nanti tak sampai kepada YB…

Mat Suhaimi: Jangan risau…okay…

SC: Nanti kalau boleh saya contact YB lah…so ini saya masukkan 50 ribu dalam akaun ini…confirm ye…

Mat Suhaimi: ha, okay, okay…yang Amir punya ada dengan Amir…

And then the whole thing exploded (see the Bernama report below). However, the MACC can’t seem to proceed with the investigation and, two years on, this case is still ‘under investigation’. Malaysia Today has all the evidence, including the tapped telephone conversation on tape, while the MACC does not appear able to proceed with the investigation.


Why is this? Is this because they have made a ‘deal’ with Mat Suhaimi and Amirudin, like they did with those two PKR state assemblymen from Perak (Jamaluddin Mat Radzi and Osman Jailu) who were also caught with their pants down and then jumped ship to escape going to jail? (Read more here: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/2/1/nation/3172334&sec=nation)

I suppose it is more useful to keep the investigation open and leave these two as Trojan horses in Pakatan Rakyat Selangor. A Trojan horse is certainly worth many times more than a man in jail. This is the kind of stuff Sun Tzu is made of.

Yes, the same thing happened in Perak. And that brought the Pakatan Rakyat government down when the two PKR state assemblymen caught red-handed in a criminal act were ‘persuaded’ to change sides. Now, again, we have another two PKR state assemblymen in Selangor who are also caught in a criminal act.

But Pakatan Rakyat has too many seats in Selangor compared to Perak. So even if these two are made to jump that will still not allow Umno to take back the state. So better just leave them there, but on a tight leash, and get them to work as termites, gnawing from the inside to do as much damage as they can.

I remember His Highness the Sultan saying that he can work with any party as long as the state is well run and is corruption free. His Highness also said that he will not tolerate corruption and wants the culprits exposed.

Well Tuanku, as a loyal subject and kerabat of Selangor, I am just doing what Tuanku titah, revealing corruption, never mind which side of the political divide that perpetuates it.

Oh, and for those who are about to say, ”Why now?” Well, then when? After Nomination Day and just before Polling Day when by then it would be too late -- as Umno would probably go to town on the matter? At least, now, Pakatan Rakyat still has time to do something about it and convince the voters it is running a clean and transparent government. Or are they not running a clean and transparent government?

Anyway, stay tuned for more as Malaysia Today reveals more shenanigans in the State of Selangor. Yes, there is more, much more to come. And you better believe it because I have just started.


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

MACC still investigating Selangor sand-mining scandal: Nazri

(Bernama, 24 June 2010) -- The Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) will continue investigations into the alleged graft in the Selangor sand-mining scandal against state sand-mining concession Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said MACC would investigate the allegations thoroughly and not leave any stones unturned during the course of investigations.

"Once investigations are completed, the investigation papers will be handed over to the Deputy Public Prosecutor," he told Wee Choo Keong (Bebas-Wangsa Maju) in a written reply at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

Wee had wanted to know whether any action had been taken or would be taken by MACC over a report made by Kapar Member of Parliament S. Manikavasagam (PKR) with regard to the alleged sand-mining graft involving Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd.

Mohamed Nazri said MACC had already taken action on illegal sand-mining syndicates in a number of states, including Selangor.

"So far, 42 offenders have been detained and 22 cases have been filed in court," he said.

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/tindakmalaysia/politics/amiruddinsuhaimi1doubledignity.jpg

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[pywong]

Isu pasir: 2 Adun PKR tolak dakwaan RPK (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/10/isu-pasir-2-adun-pkr-tolak-dakwaan-rpk/)

Fazy Sahir (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/author/sahir/)
| February 10, 2012
Mereka juga menafikan bahawa Timbalan Presiden Azmin Ali terlibat dalam isu ini.
UPDATED
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PETALING JAYA: Dua ahli dewan negeri (Adun) Selangor dari PKR, Shuhaimi Shafiei (Sri Muda) dan Amiruddin Shari (Batu Caves) menolak dakwaan pengendali blog Malaysia Today Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) bahawa mereka terlibat dalam skandal perlombongan pasir di negeri itu.

Mereka juga menafikan dakwaan bahawa Timbalan Presiden PKR Mohamad Azmin Ali turut terlibat dalam skandal ini dan sebaliknya menyifatkannya sebagai fitnah terbaru daripada blogger mesra Umno itu.

RPK dalam blognya semalam mendakwa dua Adun PKR itu terlibat dalam skandal perlombongan pasir dan mereka adalah ahli lembaga pengarah sebuah syarikat yang membuat permohonan untuk melombong pasir di Dengkil.

“RPK terkeliru di antara dua personaliti yang mempunyai nama yang sama iaitu Azmin Ali dan Azmin Mohd Karim iaitu pegawai di Pusat Khidmat saya,” kata Shuhaimi dalam sidang media di ibu pejabat PKR di sini hari ini yang turut dihadiri rakan sejawatnya Amiruddin.

Shuhaimi mendakwa tulisan RPK yang turut menyentuh mengenai rakaman perbualan telefon antara lain menyebut beliau akan berbincang dengan individu dikenali sebagai Azmin hanyalah rekaan putar belit dialog yang diselang seli dengan perbuatan sebenar dan mungkin dirakam.

“Kami mengecam sekeras-kerasnya cubaan untuk mengaitkan fitnah ini dengan Azmin Ali kerana beliau langsung tidak terbabit dalam perkara ini. Beliau (Azmin Ali) tiada kena mengena dengan hal ini,” tegasnya.

Shuhaimi menafikan sekeras-kerasnya dakwaan RPK kononnya syarikat Double Dignity (M) Sdn Bhd mendapat kontrak melombong pasir termasuk beberapa bayaran yang dibuat berhubung dengan perkara ini.

Syarikat tidak berdaftar dengan Kumpulan Semesta

RPK dalam tulisannya juga mendakwa, Shuhaimi beberapa kali meminta wang daripada seorang kontraktor antara 15 Ogos 2009 hingga 5 Januari 2010; di antaranya, RM5,000 untuk perbelanjaan kempen pilihan raya, RM35,000 perbelanjaan bulan Ramadhan, RM10,000 jamuan Hari Raya dan RM50,000 dimasukkan dalam akaun bank sebuah syarikat untuk kegunaan pilihan raya.http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Shuhaimi_Azmin-300x199.jpg (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/10/isu-pasir-2-adun-pkr-tolak-dakwaan-rpk/shuhaimi_azmin/)
Menjelaskan pelbagai dakwaan itu, Shuhaimi berkata beliau mengenali Adnan yang juga pemilik Double Dignity sejak 2009 melalui pegawai peribadi seorang ahli parlimen di Perak.

Katanya, Double Dignity ditubuhkan sebagai sebuah syarikat yang menjalankan aktiviti perladangan kelapa sawit di Sabah malah beliau memberi persetujuan dilantik sebagai pengarah bermula Jun 2009.
“Saya tidak dimaklumkan oleh Double Dignity bahawa pelantikan saya sebagai ahli lembaga pengarah hanya disempurnakan pada 18 Januari 2010 seperti dalam rekod Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia bertepatan tarikh 18 Januari 2010 dalam surat sokongan disiarkan Raja Petra,” katanya.

Malah ujar beliau Double Dignity tidak pernah berdaftar dengan Kumpulan Semesta sehingga hari ini maka sebarang permohonan projek pembersihan pasir tidak timbul dan tidak benar.

Menyentuh mengenai wang RM50,000, Shuhaimi berkata ia adalah pinjaman yang diberi oleh Adnan kepada rakannya yang dikenali sebagai ‘A’ untuk membuka pusat Smartreader di Kota Damansara.

Beliau hanya bertindak menjadi orang tengah membantu rakan dikenali ‘A’ itu, malah ujarnya wang RM50,000 itu kini disimpan dalam akaun Azmin Mohd Karim memandangkan Adnan sehingga kini masih gagal ditemui.

Shuhaimi masih ahli lembaga

Walau bagaimanapun, Shuhaimi mengakui bahawa beliau masih ahli lembaga pengarah Double Dignity dengan menerima enam kali bayaran elaun sebanyak RM5,000 dari Jun hingga Disember 2009 manakala Amiruddin pula menerima tiga kali bayaran elaun untuk tempoh Oktober hingga Disember 2009.

Ketika diasak pertanyaan pemberita mengenai pengekalan jawatan sebagai ahli lembaga pengarah, Shuhaimi menjelaskan perkara itu perlu dibawa dalam mesyuarat syarikat.

Dalam pada itu, Amiruddin pula berkata beliau telah menyerahkan surat perletakan jawatan pada 18 Januari 2010 namun tiada sebarang jawapan berhubung hal tersebut.

Shuhaimi menjelaskan beliau dan Amiruddin telah memperjelaskan hal ini sejak 2010 lagi kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM), malah individu yang terlibat juga dipanggil berhubung hal sama.

Kertas siasatan SPRM kepada panel bebas

Sementara itu SPRM memberitahu bahawa kes siasatan isu penyelewengan and sindikit kecurian pasir di Selangor akan dibentangkan kepada Panel Penilaian Operasi (PPO) pada 23 Februari untuk tindakan lanjut.

SPRM memberitahu dalam satu kenyataan media hari ini bahawa siasatan terhadap Amirudin dan Shuhaimi telah pun lengkap and sudah pun dikaji and diteliti oleh Pejabat Peguam Negara.

“Kes tersebut kini telah diterima semula oleh SPRM and seterusnya akan mengemukakan kertas tersebut kepada PPO untuk mengkaji, meneliti and mengesyorkan hasil daripada keputusan yang diperolehi daripada JPN,” kata SPRM dalam kenyataannya.

PPO adalah satu mekanisme bebas yang telah dibentuk oleh kerajaan bagi memastikan SPRM menjalankan tugas dengan bebas and telus.

Selain daripada kes sindikit pasir, SPRM akan turun membincangkan berhubung kes Pusat Fidlot Nasional (NFC).

[pywong]

EPISODE 5: The Raja Nong Chik Saga (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47156-episode-5-the-raja-nong-chik-saga)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Friday, 10 February 2012 Super Admin http://www.malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tYWxheXNpYS10b2RheS5uZXQvbXRjb 2x1bW5zLzQ3MTU2LWVwaXNvZGUtNS10aGUtcmFqYS1ub25nLWN oaWstc2FnYQ%3D%3D)http://www.malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47156-episode-5-the-raja-nong-chik-saga?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=)http://www.malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47156-episode-5-the-raja-nong-chik-saga?format=pdf)


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With Shahrizat out of the way, Raja Nong Chik has a clear field to bring down Nurul Izzah. With Shahrizat still around, Nurul Izzah would be more secure (because even Umno people will support Nurul Izzah rather than Shahrizat). Hence, Shahrizat’s downfall does not augur well for Nurul Izzah. The Umno people will return to Umno if the choice is Nurul Izzah or Raja Nong Chik.


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER


Raja Petra Kamarudin



Today, let us talk about the Raja Nong Chik's RM1.5 billion ‘EPF money for houses saga’ (or rather the ‘houses for votes saga’, if you prefer). And, yes, in this story we shall also touch on the RM250 million Shahrizat Jajil Cow Saga, or Cowgate, and how these two issues eventually merge with negative implications to YB Nurul Izzah Anwar’s political career.


Remember, last week, when Shahrizat came home from her Mekah trip and she said that there are hidden hands at work to bring her down (meaning, of course, within Umno)? Actually, that was what I wrote about earlier, which some of you probably missed. Now the lady herself is confirming it, a month after I said it.


The hidden hand she was referring to is Raja Nong Chik, the Federal Territory Minister. You can read more here in the article ‘Calling Muhyiddin's bluff: Shahrizat vs Raja Nong Chik’ (http://wargamarhaen.blogspot.com/2012/01/calling-muhyiddins-bluff-shahrizat-vs.html).


How did the opposition come into possession of the evidence against Shahrizat? Everyone in Umno knows it was Raja Nong Chik who is the dalang (hidden hand). And he leaked the evidence to the opposition so that Shahrizat can be ousted from Lembah Pantai and then he would be able to contest that seat.


Actually, Raja Nong Chik wanted Lembah Pantai back in March 2008: which is why his people crossed over to campaign for Nurul Izzah when Shahrizat got that seat instead. Bangsar Bala (not PI Bala) can confirm this. He and I discussed the crossovers, of course, with some financial considerations. YB Ronnie Liu also knows about this because he too helped ‘accommodate’ some of them.


Anyway, this was what Malaysiakini reported yesterday in the interview they did with Rafizi Ramli called ‘Inside job? How PKR got information on NFC’:


This is the beauty of NFC. Perhaps never before did we realise the importance of whistleblowers. We started off not knowing anything, I have to admit that. We took the risk when we came forward to say we have evidence. Because if you want to have complete documents, I don’t think you will ever get everything.


But as you keep doing exposes, one after the other, there was no objection. In fact (NFC) admitted some of the things. I think that really confirmed that the cashbook that the whistleblower gave to us is genuine. After that, it was just a question of picking out big items. The ones we can corroborate, we’ll expose. If we don’t have second or third documentary evidence, then we can’t do anything about it.


Yes, someone dropped a piece of paper, which said a lot of things. For example, they bought houses there, they did this. But then again, a lot of (the information) when we did the follow-up... we were not confident.


Again, all these anonymous emails coming in. I was informed that NFC are doing lots of things behind the scenes to shuffle assets to cover their tracks. There could be transfer of assets, there could be corporate restructuring.


I think it's luck more than anything. But I think this is what is most interesting about all this. Put aside the jokes about 'lembu' (cow) and so on. I think people come forward more readily, and offer information more readily. So far all the exposes that we have done prove the information is genuine, but (the whistleblowers) will remain anonymous.


There are certain things I cannot disclose here, and I know the police and MACC are investigating on all angles. And NFC are hell-bent to find out who are the whistleblowers because they don't want any more exposes.


But the way the emails are written tells me it is neither the cartel (laughs) nor disgruntled employees. But I think it's best I keep it to myself.


So there you have it. The main man behind the NFC expose himself admits that they were working on information leaked by anonymous whistleblowers or deep throats from inside. But what Rafizi does not know is that sometimes whistleblowers or deep throats have ‘handlers’. And I should know. I do this kind of thing for a living.
And the ‘handler’ here, of course, is Raja Nong Chik. And Shahrizat is pissed big time because she too knows it is Raja Nong Chik who supplied the knife to cut her throat.


However, winning the Lembah Pantai seat is not as simple as A-B-C. Raja Nong Chik can shove Shahrizat aside -- which is easy since she is dirty -- but how does he also shove Nurul Izzah Anwar aside, the current Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai?


Lembah Pantai, which used to be called the Parliament seat of Bangsar, was once an opposition stronghold. To oust the opposition, Umno imported Malay voters into Bangsar. This diluted the large non-Malay voter population.


These Malays were then allowed to set up squatter houses on government land while the government ‘closed two eyes’. In other words, the government just looked the other way. In fact, they did more than just look the other way or close two eyes. Umno even gave financial support to help the squatters build their houses (exactly like what they did in Kampong Congo in Cheras).


However, as the Malays would say: senjata makan tuan (you get stabbed by your own weapon). This strategy would work as long as the Malays vote Umno and the non-Malays vote opposition. But when the Malays also vote opposition, like what happened in March 2008, then Umno would lose the seat, like it did in March 2008.


So, Raja Nong Chik had two tasks to perform. First was to bring down Shahrizat, and then to bring down Nurul Izzah. Bringing down Shahrizat is very easy. Just let the opposition do that. Just leak the Cowgate evidence to the opposition and let them do the job for you.


You can read more here in the article ‘Lembah Pantai: Raja Nong Chik lawan Nurul Izzah?’ (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/special-reports/45145-lembah-pantai-raja-nong-chik-lawan-nurul-izzah).


Unwittingly, the opposition was assisting Raja Nong Chik with his plot. And, also unwittingly, the opposition has exposed Nurul Izzah to danger. (Now do you know why I am not so ‘hot’ about the Cowgate Saga?)


With Shahrizat out of the way, Raja Nong Chik has a clear field to bring down Nurul Izzah. With Shahrizat still around, Nurul Izzah would be more secure (because even Umno people will support Nurul Izzah rather than Shahrizat). Hence, Shahrizat’s downfall does not augur well for Nurul Izzah. The Umno people will return to Umno if the choice is Nurul Izzah or Raja Nong Chik.


Raja Nong Chik has now moved into Phase 2 of his plan. As far as he is concerned, Phase 1 has succeeded. Shahrizat is history. And Phase 2 would be to get the Malays in Lembah Pantai to swing back to Umno.


What is it that the Malays in Lembah Pantai want? You can talk to the Malays in Lembah Pantai and nine out of ten would reply the same thing: financial support, mainly housing.


Raja Nong Chik then came out with a brilliant plan. Why not use EPF’s money for this? Build houses for the Malays and since the Malays do not have money to pay for these houses (and they do not qualify in getting loans from the bank) get EPF to pay instead?


Of course, Raja Nong Chik can’t announce that it is a housing scheme for Lembah Pantai Malays. He has to disguise what he is doing by announcing that it is an ‘overall’ plan. But with RM1.5 billion at his disposal, he can more than cover the needs of the Malays in Lembah Pantai.


Remember this, Raja Nong Chik is the Federal Territory Minister. So his focus is the Federal Territory Malays, not the poor Malays in Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, etc.


“It is hence extremely odd that the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Nong Raja Zainal Abidin announced that the EPF would be extending RM1.5 billion in loans directly to those who failed to secure commercial loans to purchase their houses. The fact that the government could have easily circumvented the entire controversy... arouses suspicion that something is amiss,” Tony Pua and Nurul Izzah said on 6th February 2012.
It was revealed in Parliament recently that, over the last two years, Raja Nong Chik’s Ministry has given out almost RM5 million in grants. About RM1.5 million went to Putrajaya and only RM140,000 to Labuan. Where do you think the balance of the RM5 million went to? No prize for the right guess.


And the fact that Raja Nong Chik refused to tell Parliament where the balance of the RM5 million went to only strengthens the suspicion that he is using government money as his personal funds. And now he wants to do the same with RM1.5 billion of our EPF money.


Raja Nong Chik denies that he is using government money for his political shenanigans. Well, how does he explain the RM2,000 payment made to the National Union of Journalists using DBKL’s money (see below)? And is he not giving them financial support to ensure that the mainstream media continues to play up the Shahrizat Cowgate story so that it never becomes stale news?

http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/tindakmalaysia/politics/RPK51slipbankindbklf.jpg


Now can you see why the mainstream media is acting just like the alternative media by focusing on the Shahrizat Cowgate Saga? Normally, the mainstream media will downplay, not play up, scandals involving government ministers.


Ask the journalists from the mainstream media and they will tell you that they always receive instructions from ‘the top’ to embargo news regarding scandals involving government people. But in the Shahrizat issue, the reverse is happening. It is being given star billing.


One very crucial question to now ask is: and why the hurry? Why are they pushing this RM1.5 billion EPF money-for-housing plan superfast?


The answer is obvious. Umno suspects that the four Pakatan Rakyat states are going to dissolve their state assemblies in June this year. This means that Umno may also have to dissolve Parliament around that same time. So there is not much time left, only about four months or so to go.


It is rumoured that Umno wants to try to neutralise Anwar Ibrahim with a Sodomy 3 charge. Sigh…yes…yet another sodomy scandal is going to hit the front pages. And it is also rumoured that Sodomy 3 is going to hit Anwar in June, around the time of the coming election.


This means that Nurul Izzah must be defeated. If she wins the Lembah Pantai seat and Anwar is brought down, then Nurul Izzah may have to take the reins of the party leadership. That would be disastrous for Umno. So, not only must Anwar be brought down, Nurul Izzah will have to be brought down as well. And with both Anwar and Nurul Izzah out of the way, Umno can then very easily bring down the rest of Pakatan Rakyat.


Nevertheless, Nurul Izzah faces an uphill battle against Raja Nong Chik who is being financially backed by a very powerful Chinese towkay by the name of Lim Kang Hoo, a business partner of the Johor MB. But then that is another story for another time and a story that will make Shahrizat’s RM250 million Cowgate Scandal look like child’s play by comparison. As I always say: behind every Malay politician look for the Chinaman.


There is more to come so stay tuned as we reveal the untold stories di belakang tabir (behind the scenes).

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Raja Nong Chik and Lim Kang Hoo (right): billions at stake


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And Lim Kang Hoo with the Johor MB: again, billions at stake

​http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/tindakmalaysia/politics/RPK54picma.jpg

[pywong]

EPISODE 6: How Malaysia Today ‘lied’ three years ago (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47248-episode-6-how-malaysia-today-lied-three-years-ago)THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Monday, 13 February 2012 Super Admin http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL21hbGF5c2lhLXRvZGF5Lm5ldC9tdGNvbHVtb nMvNDcyNDgtZXBpc29kZS02LWhvdy1tYWxheXNpYS10b2RheS1 saWVkLXRocmVlLXllYXJzLWFnbw%3D%3D)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47248-episode-6-how-malaysia-today-lied-three-years-ago?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47248-episode-6-how-malaysia-today-lied-three-years-ago?format=pdf)


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Over the last three years, Malaysia Today has been harping on the inner workings and shenanigans in the corridors of power regarding the multi-billion MAS fiasco. My friends from the other side -- the Umno Bloggers -- then whacked me and called me a liar. My friends from the opposition totally ignored the issue. Today, the truth has finally emerged, as it always does in the end, although sometimes many years later.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tajudin Ramli, Danaharta in the process of finalising settlement

(Bernama) - Former Malaysia Airlines (MAS) executive chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli is in the process of finalising an out-of-court settlement with Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd and two of its subsidiaries concerning a civil suit involving debts of RM589 million.

His lawyer, Lim Kian Leong, told a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal here Monday that his client and Danaharta, however, required time to resolve a "last minute hiccup" on procedural matters regarding the implementation of the settlement.

"My client (Tajudin) believes that this matter (the case) can be settled," said Lim, who had requested the court to adjourn the case until Tuesday to enable them to iron out some procedural matters.

Lim told the court that his client (Tajudin) also expressed confidence that the "last minute matter" could be resolved.

Consequently, the panel, comprising Justices Datuk Seri Abu Samah Nordin, Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad and Datuk Alizatul Khair Osman Khairuddin, allowed Lim's request for the appeal to be stood down until Tuesday.

Justice Abu Samah said the court would give a chance to Tajudin and Danaharta to settle and "hoped for the best".

Meanwhile, counsel Ganesan Nethi, representing Pengurusan Danaharta, agreed to the adjournment, saying he received instructions from his client about the settlement but both parties wanted to iron out the terms of the settlement.

The other 38 parties named in the RM13.46 billion counter-claim brought by Tajudin including Naluri Corporation Bhd special administrators Mohamad Raslan Abdul Rahman, Ooi Woon Chee and Gan Ah Tee, Telekom Malaysia Berhad, Telekom Enterprise Sdn Bhd. Technology Resources Industries Berhad, Celcom (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad (CIMB), Atlan Holdings Bhd and Atlan Properties Sdn Bhd, objected to the adjournment.
Lawyers representing the respective parties supported a request by Telekom and Celcom's lawyer, Lambert Rasaratnam, for Lim to give an assurance that the counter-claim against them would be withdrawn.

Lim responded by saying: "If I could give some assurance I’ll be more than happy to do so but the most I can give is that my client (Tajudin) believes that this matter can be settled."

Senior Federal Counsel Azizan Arshad, representing the Government of Malaysia, which was also named in Tajudin's counter-claim, however, did not object to the adjournment.

The court was scheduled to hear the appeal brought by Tajudin for three days beginning Monday against the decision of a Kuala Lumpur High Court in 2009 ordering Tajudin to pay RM589 million to Pengurusan Danaharta which manages the unpaid loans following the debts he (Tajudin) had incurred in the purchase of MAS shares.
He was ordered to pay Pengurusan Danaharta and its two subsidiaries the principal sum owed at Dec 31, 2005, of RM589,143,205.57, plus interest at two percent above Malayan Banking Bhd's base lending rate from Jan 1, 2006, until realisation.

In his statement of claim, Tajudin had stated that then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instructed him to acquire a 32 percent stake in MAS (Malaysian Airlines) to bail out Bank Negara, which had experienced losses in foreign exchange.
ADDENDUMS

1. The Untold MAS story: Part 1 http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/23997/84/
2. The Untold MAS story: Part 2 http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24040/84/
3. The Untold MAS story: Part 3 http://malaysia-today.net/archives/24085-the-untold-mas-story-part-3
4. The Untold MAS story: Part 4 http://malaysia-today.net/archives/24137-the-untold-mas-story-part-4
5. The Untold MAS story: Part 5 http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/24183-the-untold-mas-story-part-5
6. The Untold MAS story: Part 6 http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24190/84/
7. The Untold MAS story: Part 7 http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/24191/84/
8. The Untold MAS story: Part 8 http://malaysia-today.net/archives/24192-the-untold-mas-story-part-8
9. The Ramli Yusuff story: the real reason why he was brought down http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/33666-the-ramli-yusuff-story-the-real-reason-why-he-was-brought-down
10. The billions that MAS lost: the shit is finally hitting the fan http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/29091-the-billions-that-mas-lost-the-shit-is-finally-hitting-the-fan
11. The MAS loss discrepancy http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/43092-the-mas-loss-discrepancy
12. Time for IGP Ismail Omar to act against A-G Gani Patail and former IGP Musa Hassan http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/36701-time-for-igp-ismail-omar-to-act-against-a-g-gani-patail-and-former-igp-musa-hassan

[pywong]

EPISODE 7: The man behind PKR (Part 1) (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47286-episode-7-the-man-behind-pkr-part-1)THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

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The motive of Soh's entry into the party has been mysterious. A former stockbroker-businessman, Soh's emergence in PKR has raised eyebrows because of his past links to former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, ex-MCA president Ling Liong Sik and his son Hee Leong. Nonetheless, he surprised many business people and those in the MCA circles, when after the 2008 general election, he openly declared his financial support for Anwar and the PKR. -- Wong Choon Mei, Harakah

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin
There’s too much in being No 2

(The Star, 10 October 2010) - Zaid’s side had reportedly campaigned along this line during the early stage of the race - that if Anwar had to go to jail again, the No 2 would have to be a capable man who could run the show.

It was what everybody was thinking, but when said out loud, it was, well, not very tasteful.

A great deal of Zaid’s woes are of his own making. After the nasty experience in the Hulu Selangor by-election, he thought it best to pre-empt certain thorny issues before they could erupt in the open.

But a party election is quite different from a by-election. Issues are rarely aired openly in a party campaign but are discussed in a low-key manner.

Few people were aware he is close to millionaire-strategist Datuk John Soh Chee Wen or that John Soh is supposedly associated with Tun Daim Zainuddin, until he went public with it.

He would fare much better if he were a little less thin-skinned about what his opponents say.

He is obviously hurt that after being welcomed into the party like a hero, his ambitions are now being questioned.

Soh: The millionaire-strategist businessman who became an issue in Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s campaign.

*******************************
Business tycoon has nothing to do with party, say PKR leaders and Zaid

(The Star, 17 November 2010) - Maverick businessmen Datuk Soh Chee Wen has been dragged into the PKR chaos.

However, PKR leaders and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim have distanced themselves from allegations in political circles that Soh was behind the mess that was happening in the party.

“The allegations are nothing but political trash talk,” said PKR strategic director Tian Chua, adding that propagating the point that financiers could control the party by sponsoring certain politicians was an insult to the members’ intelligence.

“Only really stupid politicians can be used as puppets,” he said, commenting on recent speculation that Zaid’s campaign for the deputy president’s post in PKR was sponsored by Soh.

“We can gain cheap publicity by talking about it in the blogs but it serves no purpose, as in reality, it is almost impossible to execute such plans (that enable sponsors to control the party),” he said.

In a previous blog posting, Zaid denied any involvement with Soh and also questioned if the attempt to link him to Soh was part of a smear campaign aimed at labelling him as a traitor and a greenhorn.

Zaid said that as far as he knew, Soh was a close friend of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and that he had been of assistance to PKR.

Zaid’s aides also denied Soh’s involvement in internal party campaigns.

Since early this year, there had been talk in cyberspace that Soh was the banker for PKR and had also helped to organise the party’s strategies.

Soh was also said to have financed the Malaysia Today news portal and allegedly supported its editor Raja Petra Kamarudin’s stay in London.

He was also believed to have played a big part in the Permatang Pauh by-election that returned Anwar to Parliament.

*******************************
Wong Choon Mei, Tian Chua’s ‘partner’, wrote in Harakah, the official party organ of PAS, the following (which is the opposite to what The Star reported above):

The emergence of John Soh

The motive of Soh's entry into the party has been mysterious. A former stockbroker-businessman, Soh's emergence in PKR has raised eyebrows because of his past links to former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, ex-MCA president Ling Liong Sik and his son Hee Leong.

In 2002, Soh was arrested on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport after having fled the country in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to two charges of securities fraud and was fined a total of RM6 million, or 30 months jail for each charge in default of payment.
Nonetheless, he surprised many business people and those in the MCA circles, when after the 2008 general election, he openly declared his financial support for Anwar and the PKR. Soh has often been seen operating from the party headquarters in Tropicana when Salehuddin was still the secretary-general.
***********************************
On 1st May 2010, Perak Today came out with this report:

Dato John Soh Chee Wen adalah banker kepada Parti Keadilan Rakyat dan juga bantu PKR susun strategi. Soh Chee Wen juga bayar memberi sumbangan duit untuk membiayai aktiviti laman web Malaysia Today dan Malaysiakini dan juga untuk membantu Raja Petra Kamarudin hidup mewah sebagai banduan di London.

Soh Chee Wen adalah seorang taukeh China yang telah jadi kaya dengan bantuan Anwar Ibrahim sewaktu Anwar menjadi Menteri Kewangan dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Dia kroni Anwar. John Soh Chee Wen sekarang memiliki 118 syarikat berdaftar.

Selaku Ketua Perancangan dan Pembangunan Sumber PKR, dia merangka strategi parti dan mempunyai akses secara langsung dengan Anwar Ibrahim. John Soh terlibat dalam strategi perang propaganda PKR.

Soh Chee Wen juga telah mengupah Private Investigator untuk menyiasat latar belakang Saiful Bukhari Azlan untuk tujuan bantu Anwar menghadapi tuduhan liwat.

John bertanggungjawab membawa masuk Chua Jui Meng menyertai PKR. Dia masih mempunyai pertalian rapat dengan beberapa pemimpin MCA. John masih mendapat maklumat sulit daripada pemimpin tinggi MCA berkenaan kedudukan MCA di lapangan untuk manfaatkan PKR.

***********************************
There are, of course, many more such reports on the Internet as well as in the mainstream newspapers. Nevertheless, the above gives you a fair enough idea as to what is being said.

Who is John Soh and who is he to Anwar Ibrahim and PKR?

John Soh has been an enigma in both the business and political scenes. You either love him or you hate him. His name arouses admiration, awe, envy and dislike, all at the same time. It is said that many fear and dislike him and yet there are many who admire and respect him. But one thing both supporters and detractors alike would have to agree on is that he is one brilliant strategist and planner.

He has been openly supportive of Anwar since 1998. Anwar had such high regards for him that he created a special position for him as head of the Party Planning and Development Committee. This committee was quietly tasked with the job of overhauling the party, the set-up of the party building and computer systems which was non-existent, change of the party constitution, strategy planning, and even covert ops.

It was whispered in the corridors of power that John Soh was the person tasked with handling the Rahimi, Rashid, Fairuz, Helmi, Munawar, etc., explosive issues and to keep them under control for as long as possible. An open secret was his role in the turning point in the Permatang Pauh by-election where his group managed to roll out the Federal Territory Mosque Iman just in time to ensure an impressive win for Anwar.

He was the person of the last resort sent in when all other attempts failed. As seen in the Sabah peace accord, he liaised with Jeffrey Kitingan and Christina Liew after the crisis first exploded. Likewise, he was instrumental in Zaid joining the party. He was also instrumental in establishing the media team at Suara Keadilan and in setting up a team of cyber-troopers and bloggers.

He planned for and pushed the appointment of Anwar as the Economic Adviser for Selangor, even writing out the powerful terms of reference and scope akin to the British Resident’s style. He even set out the first hundred days rollout programmes for Anwar as Economic Adviser. He was responsible for the major milestone events, major speeches and major appointments in the party.

He has maintained a stoic silence despite all the rumours and attacks on him by party troopers. These are unlikely to faze him though. He fought Ling Liong Sik in a very public battle, then with all the might of Dr Mahathir behind the MCA President, and took whatever they threw at him, even the three years exile he had to endure.

It is rumoured that John Soh is held in high regard and is a personal friend of top triad leaders in the region. When his father passed away in 1997, the number of regional triad leaders who turned out in full force to pay their respects in Batu Pahat surprised many. A Chinese newspaper once speculated about his continued influence in PKR and went as far as to opine that whoever he threw his weight behind would emerge victorious in the next party polls.

In the next episode we shall talk about the man who ‘made’ PKR into what it is today and how he nearly gave the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, the federal government on 16th September 2008, and the events that eventually led to the falling about between John Soh and Anwar Ibrahim.

[pywong]

EPISODE 8: The man behind PKR (Part 2) (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47326-episode-8-the-man-behind-pkr-part-2) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

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John Soh refused to fork out the RM300 million and that ended the September 16th dream to march into Putrajaya. And that also meant Anwar would have to face trial for Sodomy 2. The only way to escape Sodomy 2 would be for Anwar to become the Prime Minister, which was not going to happen now.


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER


Raja Petra Kamarudin


Let us continue the story regarding Datuk John Soh Chee Wen.


After the euphoria of the March 2008 general election, which for the first time since May 1969 saw the opposition make impressive inroads into creating a two-party system in Malaysia, there was a need to get down to the business of governing.
As what John Soh tried to emphasis and to make the opposition understand: winning the election is not the hard part. That is only the beginning of your problems, not the end of it. Your problems really start after you win the election because running a government is more difficult than winning it.


John Soh realised that the first thing to do was to get proper premises for PKR plus furnish and equip it so that it can function as a proper nerve centre, not only for PKR but for the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, as well. More importantly, there was a need to establish a strategic plan on how to govern effectively with the objective of winning the next general election expected in 2012-2013.
That only gave them four or five years, which is not really that much time to do everything that needed to be done to become a credible and viable federal government.


What was unknown to many, except to those within Anwar Ibrahim’s inner circle, John Soh was not just PKR’s financier. He was the master strategist who focused on how to win the federal government in the next general election. However, to be able to do that, you must first demonstrate that you know how to govern. Only this will give you the federal government.


There are no short cuts. It was going to be a long and winding road over the next four or five years. And that journey starts today. But it was not going to be just a long and winding road. It was going to be a rocky road as well. And almost from the word ‘go’, John Soh and Anwar could not see eye-to-eye on many issues.


John Soh kept reminding Anwar that his sentiments and emotions must not get in the way of the agenda, which was to form the next federal government. But that warning did not go down well with Anwar. Anwar felt that John Soh was trying to ‘control’ him just because PKR depended on his financial support to realise its aspiration.


Very early in the day, John Soh argued that there was a need to groom a new generation of leaders, given the lack of quality among the present crop that were voted in on March 2008. Even Anwar admitted openly that many who had won the 2008 election were not expected to have won and that it was a mistake to field these people as candidates.


Nevertheless, Anwar would not act on this matter -- even when the Elizabeth Wong fiasco exploded and John Son insisted that something be done about it. John Soh told Anwar that the Elizabeth Wong matter was more serious than many people know and it may be better to nip the whole issue in the bud before it comes back later to haunt the party.


That did not go down well with Anwar who felt that John Soh was overreacting and that they can always cross the bridge when they come to it and embark on damage control later only when the need arises. John Soh told Anwar that pre-emption is always better than damage control but he could not get Anwar to make the move.


Another focus of John Soh was the Malay heartland. John Soh stressed that it would be impossible to win the election unless one had the support of the Malay Diaspora. It was very crucial, therefore, that Anwar focused on the Malay heartland. This too was not done because Anwar preferred to concentrate on his overseas audience rather that waste time in the villages.


It was already apparent even at that very early stage that John Soh and Anwar had conflicting ways in handling matters and different priorities. John Soh chose the ‘strike first’ route while Anwar preferred the ‘wait until it happens and then cover our arses’ route.


Actually, the falling out between John Soh and Anwar started earlier than that, although it did not peak until much later. The first signs of ‘incompatibility’ revealed itself when Anwar announced his 16th of September plan.


September the 16th of 2008 was supposed to be the day that Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government. But to do that Anwar has to first persuade at least 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament to cross over.


Getting 30 Barisan National Members of Parliament to cross over was not that much of a problem. All it needs is money, RM300 million to be exact -- to pay each Member of Parliament RM10 million as an ‘inducement’ to cross over. The problem would be: after paying them the RM300 million, which would have to be in advance, of course, how can they be assured that Umno would not up the figure by RM15 million and buy them back?


The bottom line would be: Pakatan Rakyat pays them RM10 million each and Umno also pays them RM15 million. They would receive in total RM25 million each and remain in Barisan Nasional. If they can be bought, then others can also buy them for a higher price. And they will take the higher price without returning the RM10 million you gave them.


John Soh’s bone of contention was that he would be the one who has to pay the RM300 million. If it works, well and fine. But what if it fails, as it did in Perak, and Umno counter-offers these 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament a higher figure? The RM300 million would be money down the drain.


John Soh did not agree to fund the RM300 million take-over-exercise unless Anwar could ensure success. But how could Anwar guarantee success? These were 30 ‘for sale’ Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament they were talking about. If they can sell themselves to one side then they can sell themselves to the other side as well.


John Soh refused to fork out the RM300 million and that ended the September 16th dream to march into Putrajaya. And that also meant Anwar would have to face trial for Sodomy 2. The only way to escape Sodomy 2 would be for Anwar to become the Prime Minister, which was not going to happen now.


For weeks Anwar refused to talk to John Soh. He put the failure of September the 16th squarely on John Soh’s shoulders. When they finally met, Anwar and John Soh had a heated exchange of words. When Anwar said that John Soh was to be blamed for the September 16th failure, John Soh retorted, “If you are so confident it was going to work then why not fund it yourself? Bring back some of the billions you have stashed overseas and pay the RM300 million from your own pocket!”


That was more or less the beginning of the end of their relationship. With that one retort, John Soh destroyed any possibility of a compatible ‘marriage’. From then on it was downhill all the way and they disagreed on almost every issue thereafter. Anwar never forgave John Soh for the 16th September failure.


One issue after another cropped up that widened the gap even further. John Soh was propagating reforms but all his plans to push for reforms were always met with resistance. Only then did John Soh realise the influence Azmin Ali had over Anwar. If John Soh wanted Anwar to agree to anything, he must first get Azmin Ali to agree to it. Only then would he be able to get Anwar to go along with the proposal.


The PKR supreme council was a lame duck council because Anwar was constantly referring to his old Umno mafia on how to run the party. What upset John Soh the most was the party-within-a-party structure where within the official party circle was another unofficial all-Malay circle comprising of ex-Umno cronies. In fact, this second inner circle would hold its own separate meetings further to the main meetings.


When Zaid Ibrahim joined the party, John Soh immediately sensed an opportunity to push through the much-needed reforms with Zaid leading the charge. John Soh saw the opportunity offer itself during the Jeffrey Kitingan crisis and he asked Zaid to help calm the situation. John then engineered Zaid’s meteoric rise in Sabah and Sarawak.


John Soh hit the roof when Anwar did a U-turn and rejected the Sabah Peace Plan after having agreeing to it earlier. John Soh had worked hard on this peace plan so he was furious when he found out that the person who had torpedoed the whole thing was Azmin Ali.


In another incident, John Soh supported Zaid’s bid for the Deputy Presidency and was disgusted at the level of cheating that took place. In his own words he said, “I did not think Anwar and Azmin would sink to such low levels.” That was yet another blow and only made things worse.


When things came to a head and it became impossible for any reconciliation, John Soh and Anwar parted company. The final straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, was the Sarawak State Election disaster almost a year ago.


The PKR headquarters building actually belongs to John Soh and PKR has been squatting there all this while free of charge. Before that, since early 1999, PKR was squatting in Datuk Ravi’s building in Phileo Damansara, also free of charge. (Incidentally, Datuk Ravi is a Samy Vellu nominee).


PKR, of course, denies this. Saifuddin Nasution, PKR’s Secretary General, told the press that PKR is paying rent. But Saifuddin said he is not clear who the owner of the building is and how much rent the party is paying.


PKR’s Treasurer, William Leong, on the other hand, has refused to comment about whom PKR is renting the building from. William Leong added that PKR was renting the premises at RM20,000 a month and that rental was paid promptly. However, reports have emerged claiming that PKR had not paid any rental since November 2008, bringing the arrears to RM600,000. (The Star, 10 June 2010).


If this were true, then the accumulated unpaid rental since the beginning would come to about RM1 million or so.


It is being speculated that John Soh may be claiming back that unpaid rental of RM1 million. He has already spent RM20-RM30 million to fund Anwar, and then PKR, since 1998. If he had gone along with Anwar’s 16th September plan then it would be RM330 million rather than RM30 million. Whether that would mean Pakatan Rakyat would now be the federal government and Anwar Malaysia’s new Prime Minister, or whether it would just mean money down the drain, is, of course, not something we can determine.


Anwar needs to raise at least RM600 million (versus Barisan Nasional’s RM1.5 billion) for the coming general election if we really want to see a change of federal government. If not, then we may see Barisan Nasional still in power for a long time to come. And that money was supposed to have come from John Soh. But Anwar has already burned his bridges with John Soh. Will Anwar kiss and make up or will the divorce be absolute and final?


PAS and DAP have no problems. They can scrape through with a shoestring budget. In fact, they always have, for half a century. But PKR cannot. It needs money to move its machinery and to get its people to work (basically, Umno culture). Without RM600 million, PKR is dead in the water and DAP or PAS is going to emerge the taiko in the next election with the most number of seats. PKR will then be relegated to the younger brother in Pakatan Rakyat with hardly enough seats to claim the post of Opposition Leader, let alone Prime Minister of Malaysia.


Yes, at the end of the day, Malays ‘play politics’ but would be nowhere without money, mainly Chinese money. As I said: look for the Chinese behind the Malay politician, on both sides of the political divide. That is the story of the lives of Umno, Semangat 46 and now PKR. Luckily PAS has people committed to Islam who are prepared to do God’s work free of charge. With Allah as their calling card they do not need money. In fact, their supporters give the party money instead, something PKR wishes it could see as well.


The 100-million-dollar question now is: have PKR’s legs been cut off from under it? The answer to that question would reveal itself around dinnertime on Polling Day of the 13th General Election. Meanwhile, don’t hold your breath. You might turn blue, the colour of Barisan Nasional.

[pywong]

EPISODE 9: The reward for giving Perak back to Umno (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47350-episode-9-the-reward-for-giving-perak-back-to-umno)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)

Monday, 20 February 2012 Super Admin http://www.malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://www.malaysia-today.net/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tYWxheXNpYS10b2RheS5uZXQvbXRjb 2x1bW5zLzQ3MzUwLWVwaXNvZGUtOS10aGUtcmV3YXJkLWZvci1 naXZpbmctcGVyYWstYmFjay10by11bW5v)


Tun Zaki Tun Azmi retired as the Sixth Chief Justice of Malaysia on 9th September 2011. And how will we remember him? As the Umno Legal Advisor and Disciplinary Committee Deputy Chairperson who became Malaysia’s top Judge? As the man who gave Perak back to Umno? Or as the retired ‘Umno’ Chief Justice who got a RM2.2 billion-highway concession as his retirement present for helping Umno to get Perak back?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Former CJ Zaki disclaims role in Perak Constitutional Crisis

(Malaysiakini, 21 September 2011) - The former Chief Justice claims to have played no role in cases involving the Perak Constitutional Crisis or those which involved political parties during his tenure.

Tun Zaki Tun Azmi, who was once the Umno Legal Advisor and Disciplinary Committee Deputy Chairperson, said this was necessary to avoid allegations of bias.
One case that was closely watched was the suit filed by Pakatan Rakyat’s Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin against the BN’s Zambry Abd Kadir, to determine the legitimate Menteri Besar of Perak.

In an interview, Zaki insisted that he had no role in this case and that the bench at the Court of Appeal and Federal Court had been decided by his deputy - Court of Appeal President, Alauddin Md Sheriff.

“I did not sit on any cases which are not only political, but have a flavour of politics. I did not even constitute the panel. I told my Number Two: ‘You go to constitute (form) the panel. I don't want’.”

(Read more here: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/176406 )

Tun Zaki Tun Azmi (picture above) retired as the Sixth Chief Justice of Malaysia on 9th September 2011. And how will we remember him? As the Umno Legal Advisor and Disciplinary Committee Deputy Chairperson who became Malaysia’s top Judge? As the man who gave Perak back to Umno? Or as the retired ‘Umno’ Chief Justice who got a RM2.2 billion-highway concession as his retirement present for helping Umno to get Perak back?
I don’t know about you but I would remember him for the latter.

Last week, the government announced a tender for the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (or KIDEX). The announcement mentioned that seven companies are bidding for the job, which includes Bina Puri, Mudajaya, and Pesona Metro Sdn Bhd. "The tenders are just out and it is not certain yet on the tenure of the concession as the CA has not been finalised," said a source.

The highway will link Kinrara and Pusat Bandar Damansara and will divert traffic on the LDP (see the map below). The concession was suppose to be awarded to PLUS Expressways but may not proceed as planned. Talks are that Pesona Metro might be the front-runner for some of the major components. This highway is the latest tendered-out, out of the six new highways planned under Budget 2011. (Financial Daily, 17 February 2012)

That was what was announced last week. Now, while they did give some details as to the contractors bidding for the construction job, there were no details as to the CA (Concession Agreement).

"The tenders are just out and it is not certain yet on the tenure of the concession as the CA has not been finalised," said the Financial Daily news report. It further said, “The concession was suppose to be awarded to PLUS Expressways but may not proceed as planned.”

Actually, what the government is telling us is not true, as usual. What they did not want us to know is that Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering and Construction Sdn Bhd have already been awarded the concession for this RM2.2 billion-expressway project, the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (KIDEX). The letter has already been issued but this will only be announced AFTER the next general election, for obvious reasons.

And who are the people behind Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering and Construction Sdn Bhd? Why is the government trying to hush this matter up and is hiding the fact that these two companies have already been awarded the concession and that the letter has already been issued?

Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Bin Harun, Umno’s present Legal Advisor -- who represented Umno against Pakatan Rakyat in the Perak Constitutional Crisis mentioned in the Malaysiakini news report above -- is the common Director and Shareholder of BOTH companies.

(See here: http://puu-umno.blogspot.com/)

Incidentally, did you notice one very crucial matter in this whole thing? Yes, you got it, the current Umno Legal Advisor represented Umno in the Perak Constitutional Crisis while the previous Umno Legal Advisor (the Chief Justice) made the decision of ‘ordering his number two to sit on the bench in his place’. And guess who won the case? Talk about ‘all in the family’!

Now, who are the other directors of Emrail?

One is Toh Puan Nik Sazlina Mohd Zain, Tun Zaki Azmi’s wife. Yes, the same man we are talking about above, the recently retired Chief Justice. And the other is Tan Sri Dato’ Hari Narayanan Govindasamy, Samy Vellu’s proxy.

And do you want to know what is very interesting about Hari Narayanan? Not only is he Samy Vellu’s proxy, but Hari Narayanan is also the Director of Lembaga Lebuhraya Malaysia (the Malaysian Highway Authority).

Now, before you start screaming ‘conflict of interest’, let me assure you that this is a mere coincidence. This is not quite putting the fox in charge of the henhouse (or ‘suruh kambing jaga sireh’, as the Malays would say). And if you believe this then you probably believe in the tooth fairy as well.

Hari Narayanan is the Deputy Chairman of Emrail Sdn Bhd. He also sits on the Board of SP Setia Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad, IEV Group (Malaysia), Noblemax Resources Sdn Bhd, Premier Nalfin Berhad (also known as Premium Nutrients Berhad), Antara Consolidated, Noblemax Resources Sdn Bhd and Bridgecon Holdings Bhd.

Yes, all government-linked and Umno crony-companies in case you did not know.

Actually, this expressway concession was supposed to have gone to PLUS, as the Financial Daily news report above confirmed. This was originally PLUS’s proposal. It was their idea. However, it was hijacked and given to all those lawyers and judges who helped Umno get back Perak.

Nevertheless, I will believe that this, again, is a mere coincidence and not a reward for them giving Perak back to Umno if you also believe that.

Of course, they are keeping the matter regarding the concessionaire very quiet at the moment. No announcement has been made and no one is supposed to talk about it. They want the next general election to be over first before they make the announcement. If not, this may cost Barisan Nasional quite a number of votes.

Anyway, just look at the documents below and form your own opinion.

Is this corruption? No!

Is this conflict of interest? No!

Is it merely a coincidence that all those people involved in giving Perak back to Umno happen to be business partners in a RM2.2 billion-expressway project?

That is what they would like us to believe.

381

[pywong]

EPISODE 10: How to milk a cash cow (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47457-episode-10-how-to-milk-a-cash-cow)

http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/showthread.php/3974-FELDA-Harapkan-Pagar-Pagar-Makan-Padi?p=12213#post12213 (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/showthread.php/3974-FELDA-Harapkan-Pagar-Pagar-Makan-Padi?p=12213#post12213)

[pywong]

EPISODE 11: A Tale of Two Tan Sris (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47481-episode-11-a-tale-of-two-tan-sris) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns)



Wednesday, 22 February 2012 Super Adminhttp://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://malaysia-today.net/component/mailto/?tmpl=component&link=aHR0cDovL21hbGF5c2lhLXRvZGF5Lm5ldC9tdGNvbHVtb nMvNDc0ODEtZXBpc29kZS0xMS1hLXRhbGUtb2YtdHdvLXRhbi1 zcmlz)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47481-episode-11-a-tale-of-two-tan-sris?tmpl=component&print=1&layout=default&page=)http://malaysia-today.net/images/blank.png (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47481-episode-11-a-tale-of-two-tan-sris?format=pdf)




The PAS leaders in Selangor know about this but they do not dare raise the matter for the sake of Pakatan Rakyat solidarity. With their internal party problems and Hassan Ali barking like a dog in heat, they can ill-afford another controversy. But they are quietly lobbying in the background for PKR to drop Khalid in the next election lest this matter becomes an election issue.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Azmin Ali is up in arms. He is grumbling that Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is bypassing the ‘correct channels’ in making decisions. He means, of course, that the ‘correct channel’ is Anwar Ibrahim, the Economic Advisor of Selangor who himself has complained that most times he is kept in the dark about what is going on in Selangor.

I can believe this because this was exactly what Anwar told me when we met in London in 2010. In fact, Anwar was even more blunt in his criticism of the Menteri Besar. He said that Khalid was stubborn and had a huge ego and would not ‘listen to advice’. My retort was: you created the monster so why can’t you just un-create what you created? (In fact, I wrote about this before).

Anyway, there appears to be a showdown between Azmin and Khalid looming over the horizon -- reminiscent of a similar showdown cum power struggle and turf war that he had with Ezam Mohd Noor, which resulted in the latter leaving PKR in a huff to join Umno.

Whisperings are spreading through the corridors of power of the Selangor State Secretariat. And what is being whispered is that Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong is a man in a hurry. He is not sure whether Pakatan Rakyat will still be in power in Selangor come Christmas Day. So he wants to seal all his deals before then.
France had its ‘Tale of Two Cities’, which tore France apart. Selangor has its ‘Tale of Two Tan Sris’. And this is also threatening to tear Selangor apart.
People have been talking about the relationship between Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for some time now. It is not a secret that their relationship goes back a long time to 1994 when Khalid first picked up his stake in Guthrie.

Khalid initially bought 5% of Guthrie for RM125 million, according to The Asian Wall Street Journal on 17 June 1994 (read the news item below). To partly fund this purchase, Khalid borrowed about RM66 million from Bank Islam. Bank Islam later sued Khalid for recovery of the unpaid loan.

The question being asked is: where did Khalid get the difference from? According to Azmin, Lim Kim Hong was the person who funded Khalid and now, as payback time, Lim is being given lucrative jobs in Selangor.

These jobs run into the billions and Azmin is pissed big time. Well, we have Lim Kang Hoo doing multi-billion jobs in the Federal Territory with the backing of the Federal Territory Minister, Raja Nong Chik (READ MORE HERE: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47156-episode-5-the-raja-nong-chik-saga). And then we have Lim Kim Hong doing the same in neighbouring Selangor with the backing of Khalid Ibrahim (READ ALL THE REPORTS BELOW).

The PAS leaders in Selangor know about this but they do not dare raise the matter for the sake of Pakatan Rakyat solidarity. With their internal party problems and Hassan Ali barking like a dog in heat, they can ill-afford another controversy. But they are quietly lobbying in the background for PKR to drop Khalid in the next election lest this matter becomes an election issue.

As the Malays would say: Melayu berkuasa, Cina yang kaya. It is very nice being a Chinese, especially if your surname is Lim. Hmm..is that why Lim Goh Tong made it big? And wasn’t it another Malay politician, Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was backing that now dead Lim?
Well, if you need to be born a Chinese just make sure you carry the surname Lim.

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PNB Chief Moves to Guthrie With Lucrative Share Deal

(The Asian Wall Street Journal, 17 June 1994) -- The chief executive of Malaysia’s huge national investment corporation will leave his post with a hefty golden handshake and the promise of more gains to come.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd. said Thursday that Abdul Khalid Ibrahim will acquire up to 20% of its publicly listed subsidiary, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd., when he leaves his post as PNB chief executive on July 1 to become Guthrie‘s deputy chairman and chief executive officer. Datuk Khalid will initially buy a 5% stake in Guthrie, or 50 million shares, for 125 million ringgit or 2.50 ringgit a share. He will also have a three-year option to buy an additional 15% of Guthrie at a price to be determined.

Guthrie stock closed Thursday at 3.96 ringgit per share, up 24 sen. That means Datuk Khalid will enjoy an immediate windfall, on paper, of about 73 million ringgit. But Datuk Khalid said at a press conference that he intends to hold his Guthrie stake as a long-term investment, and plans to expand the company. “PNB wants Guthrie to be a corporation that could challenge . . . other multinationals in Malaysia and elsewhere,” he said.

Guthrie, one of Malaysia’s biggest plantation concerns, last year made a pre-tax profit of 101.4 million ringgit on revenue of 1.05 billion ringgit. The company currently is 90% owned by PNB, a government-created investment holding company that manages a portfolio valued at about 20 billion ringgit, the bulk of it in the form of unit trusts owned by more than three million Malaysians.

Datuk Khalid will be replaced at PNB by Mohamed Hilmey Mohamed Taib, a 41-year-old former banker and accountant who is currently PNB’s deputy chief executive.

Datuk Khalid, a 47-year-old former university lecturer and merchant banker, joined PNB in 1978 and helped direct the then-fledgling investment company’s growth into a mammoth stock-holding concern for Malaysia’s “bumiputra,” or indigenous, citizens. He also helped create a unit trust scheme whereby bumiputras, mainly ethnic Malays, can purchase shares in PNB’s underlying stock portfolio and reap hefty dividends. PNB’s after-tax profit rose 17.5% in 1993 to 736.9 million ringgit.

PNB made an international splash in 1981, when it wrested control of Guthrie from the company’s British shareholders through a one-billion-ringgit “dawn raid” on the London Stock Exchange. PNB’s other long-term investments include stakes in Malaysian Mining Corp. Bhd. and UMW Holdings Bhd.

Although Datuk Khalid‘s shift to Guthrie was expected, some Malaysian securities analysts were surprised at the heavily discounted 2.50 ringgit price for Guthrie shares that PNB offered its departing chief. When PNB floated 10% of Guthrie on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1989, the company pledged to offer an additional 20% of Guthrie‘s equity to the public. The prospective sale to Datuk Khalid fulfills that promise, but it means PNB is passing up the chance to seek a higher price for Guthrie stock from other bidders or the public.

“It really looks like PNB is paying (Datuk Khalid) off,” says one securities research manager, who believes Guthrie stock would sell readily. “They’re forgoing a higher price on the market by offering such a discount.”

Datuk Khalid says he regards the arrangement “not as a monetary reward, but as an opportunity because the risk is being taken by me.” He adds that he is financing the acquisition largely through bank borrowings secured by the Guthrie shares. “I’ve not taken this much liability in my career,” he says. “None of my family assets could cover this liability.”

The PNB chief adds that the arrangement has the support of PNB chairman Ismail Mohamed Ali, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Dr. Mahathir and Datuk Anwar head Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, a government-backed foundation that is PNB’s ultimate holding company.

Datuk Khalid says he decided to leave his PNB post for the challenge of owning and running a large company. “A portfolio manager is very different from an operational manager,” he says, though he declines to outline his plans for Guthrie. The company’s earnings have grown only slowly in recent years and Guthrie has begun seeking ways to expand into fields such as property development.

Mr. Hilmey, who replaces Datuk Khalid at PNB, has spent 13 years with the investment company, serving as assistant general manager of one of PNB’s unit trusts and general manager for finance before becoming deputy chief executive in 1990.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9827/nst250496.jpg
New Straits Times, 25 April 1996

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Khalid ordered to pay RM66.67 million to Bank Islam

(Bernama, 21 August 2009) - Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was ordered by the High Court here Friday to pay RM66.67 million to Bank Islam Malaysia for a loan he took to purchase Guthrie shares in 2001 when he was the company's chief executive officer.

Justice Datuk Rohana Yusuf, who made the order in chambers, however, granted Khalid's application for an interim stay of execution pending a formal application on Sept 16.

Khalid's counsel, Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, told reporters that Rohana allowed Bank Islam's application for a summary judgment on grounds that the case need not enter into a full trial as there were no triable issues.

A summary judgment is a final decision by a judge which resolves a lawsuit in favour of one of the parties.

A motion for summary judgment is made after discovery is completed but before the case goes to full trial.

Malik Imtiaz said an appeal would be lodged with the Court of Appeal against Friday's outcome as he felt the matter should go before a full trial.
He said he would file a proper stay application by next week.

The court fixed Sept 16 to hear the formal stay application and to mention Khalid's suit against Bank Islam.

The bank counter-sued Khalid on May 24, 2007, claiming that Khalid had breached its contract in the Al Bai-Bithaman Ajil (BBA) loan agreement in the purchase of Guthrie shares.

Khalid initiated a suit against the bank on May 18, 2007, seeking damages and a declaration that there existed a collateral contract between him and bank with the said loan agreement dated April 30, 2001.

He also wanted a declaration that the BBA facility, in isolation and without the collateral contract, is null and void and that Bank Islam had breached the collateral contract and the BBA facility.

Khalid was not present in court while Bank Islam was represented by senior counsel Tommy Thomas.

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Is Khalid Ibrahim in another favour-for-cash with Lim Kim Hong?

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2752/khalidv.jpg

(Another Brick in the Wall, 6 November 2009) - When Khalid was asked by reporters on his link with Lim Kim Hong written in this blog on June 9th, 2008, the above was his response.

This blog has been in pursuit of the Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim's past corruption trail since early 2007. The claim is that Khalid had a history of favour-for-cash arrangement with Lim Kim Hong.

With Khalid currently under financial difficulty to repay the balance loan of RM66 million with Bank Islam, there is suspicion that he had done another favour-for-cash arrangement.

This blog made its first revelation of the link between Khalid Ibrahim and Lim Kim Hong during the Ijok by-election. A set of questions for candidate Khalid Ibrahim was posted on April 26th, 2007. The questions were partly answered by the first expose made by Dato Desa Pachi at the campaign trail in the presence of Najib.

In June 2008, another series of posting was made on the opening of Lim Kin Hong I Berhad's I-City.

The first probe was on June 9th with a piece entitled Hubungan Rahsia Khalid Ibrahim dan Lim Kin Hong. That posting received much publicity with Rocky Bru's link to the posting here. Sinar Harian published in their Dari Blog ke Blog section.

Reporters asked Khalid about the posting and he denied. It was reported by The Star, The Edge and Bernama. Comments to news report was posted on June 12th that day itself in Khalid Ibrahim Menjawab Blog ini.

READ MORE HERE: http://anotherbrickinwall.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-khalid-ibrahim-in-another-favour-for.html

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Khalid wins appeal against Bank Islam case

(Bernama, 3 March 2010) - Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim need not pay RM66.67 million to Bank Islam Malaysia (BIMB) as the Court of Appeal here today set aside the summary judgment obtained by the bank against him for failure to settle an Islamic loan facility that he took to buy shares.
Justices Datuk Zainun Ali, Datuk Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha and Datuk Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad unanimously allowed Abdul Khalid's appeal with costs.
The case is sent back to the High Court as the quorum ruled that the issues in the case must be ventilated at full trial.

In setting aside the summary judgment, Zainun said the court was of the view that under Islamic banking principles, opinion from Islamic jurists on the precepts of Islam on the legality of the transaction, was required.
There are two suits filed relating to the matter, one by Abdul Khalid against the bank and the second is the bank's counter-suit against Abdul Khalid.
On Aug 21 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court, granted the bank's application to enter summary judgment against Abdul Khalid and ordered him to pay RM66.67 million.

READ MORE HERE: http://archive.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/news/general/2812-khalid-wins-appeal-against-bank-islam-case
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I-Berhad plans mixed REIT

(NST, 11 March 2011) -- I-BERHAD, an integrated ICT developer, aims to launch a mixed real estate investment trust (REIT) worth more than RM1 billion in four to five years.

The idea is to unlock the value of investments at i-City, the company's 29ha knowledge and tourism hub in Shah Alam, Selangor.

I-Berhad chief executive officer Datuk Eu Hong Chew said the REIT will comprise data centres, an office tower, hotel, mall and carpark block.

"We are growing our property portfolio. When we have developed 30 to 40 per cent of i-City, we will launch the REIT," Lee told Business Times recently.
I-City, the first private initiative to be awarded the Malaysian Super Corridor Cybercentre status, is currently 20 per cent developed. The project started in 2005.

The company has so far built cybercentre office suites, data-centres and innovation centre with a combined 500,000 sq ft of space.

Al Rajhi Banking Group owns 200,000 sq ft of the space and the rest have been leased to multi national firms and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Lee said I-Berhad will double the existing 1,000-bay carpark block within the next two years to enhance its value.

It has RM50 million in cash to fund the construction of new properties for the next three years.

Lee added that the company will not borrow from banks at this point. It plans to plough back future profits for its investments in i-City.

The company, helm by its executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, aims to be profitable in fiscal 2011 with expected growth in all its three divisions - property development, property investment and tourism.

For the nine months ended September 30 2010, I-Berhad posted a net loss of RM1.73 million on revenues of RM6.4 million.

State-owned investment fund Permodalan Nasional Bhd holds 20 per cent of I-Berhad.

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Selangor to clean up Klang River

(The Star, 20 March 2010) -- The Klang River rehabilitation project, an initiative under Selangor’s economic stimulus package, offers many opportunities including new commercial, tourism and property development ventures.

According to project masterplanner DPZ Asia Sdn Bhd principal Kamal Zaharin, there are various components in the project – river cleaning, new source of drinking water, environmental protection, flood mitigation, commercial, tourism and land development activities.

The state government has gazetted the riverbank and no development can take place without its permission.

“The draft master plan for the project is scheduled to be ready before the end of the month,” Kamal said.

One of the companies appointed to undertake the project is Wessex Water I-Bhd Consortium, a 50:50 joint venture between Wessex Water, a UK-based water and sewerage treatment company owned by YTL Corp Bhd, and I-Bhd.

Wessex Water managing director Gareth Jones said the state government’s plan to rehabilitate and clean up the Klang River was very visionary because “in any country, a river is the people’s lifeline.”

“The status of the Klang River now lies between critical and bad. There is a lot of trash that needs to be weeded out but the river can be saved and improved,” he said, adding that the company would start work next year.

Jones said various parts of the country were now suffering from water shortage and the cleaned water would come in handy.

“We are looking at tapping the water at the lower end of the middle stretch of the Klang River between Puchong and Shah Alam that is not affected by sea water. The physio-chemical treatment process will leave no chemical residue and the process of improving the water quality so it can be drunk is very economical and commercially viable,” he told StarBiz.

On its development potential, I-Bhd CEO Eu Hong Chew said: “We expect more new developments and redevelopment projects along the river bank going forward.”

Eu said the project would enhance the asset value of the riverfront land and open a new growth corridor for Selangor.

“The property fraternity should be excited about the prospects ahead as the river rehabilitation project will open new development options within established municipalities in Selangor,” he added.

For a start, I-Bhd’s i-City project which has some riverfront development (along Rasau River that flows into Klang River) can look forward to some value enhancement when the river water is cleaned.

The 72-acre project, with a gross development value of RM2bil, is already 20% completed. It will take a further five to eight years to complete.

Last Saturday, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim announced that four companies – Wessex Water I-Bhd Consortium, TSS-Mako Engineering Sdn Bhd, GJA Engineering and Construction and DPZ Asia Sdn Bhd – had been appointed to carry out the river rehabilitation project.

Apart from DPZ Asia, which was appointed by Khalid, the three were appointed from among 37 companies that had submitted their proposals last October after the project was advertised by the state government.

TSS-Mako combines local talents with three of South Korea’s biggest engineering firms while GJA Engineering is a 100% bumiputra-owned company.

Khalid said the entire project would take 15 years and was expected to attract some RM50bil worth of investments to clean, rehabilitate and develop the river.
Phase one comprising the building of a RM1bil water treatment plant and development along the riverbank, also estimated at RM1bil, will take two to three years.

The 120km river stretches from Klang to Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and Ampang Jaya.

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DPZ only involved in planning of Klang River project

(Bernama, 14 April 2010) -- Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim today clarified that DPZ Asia Sdn Bhd was not directly involved in rehabilitation and cleaning up of the Klang River project.

"DPZ do not carry out the project but rather involved in providing advise and planning," he said when answering a question by Amirudin Shari (PKR-Batu Caves) who wanted to know the status of the company's appointment in the project.

Abdul Khalid said DPZ was picked because it was managed by a local who had the expertise in rural and city town planning and had worked as a town planner in Florida, United States.

He said the Malaysian, through his company had successfully carried out a number of project planning works in United States, China, New Zealand and Australia.

Abdul Khalid said it was also part of his efforts to bring back the expertise of an international consultant to the country for a small cost and contribute for the development of the country.

Yesterday, acting opposition leader Datuk Mohamad Satim Diman (BN-Seri Serdang) had wanted the Menteri Besar to clarify the appointment of DPZ Asia, which was done without an open tender.

As for the appointment of three other companies through a tender exercise, Abdul Khalid said GJA Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd was a professional Bumiputera company involved in the development along rivers.

The second company, TSS Mako Engineering Sdn Bhd is a consortium made up of local companies and a number of companies from south Korea that have vast knowledge in rehabilitation and cleaning of rivers in South Korea.

He added that Wessex Water I Bhd Consortium was a joint venture between Wessex Water company which has expertise in environment like managing the Thames in London and I-Bhd, a developer of high technology cities like the I-City.

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http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1461/m08icity.jpg

I-Bhd’s decision to leverage on digital technology has borne fruit in the form of i-City

(The Star, 7 January 2012) -- When I-Bhd first ventured into property development about six years ago, the company decided to leverage on its digital technology prowess to undertake the construction of the first digital city in the country, i-City in Section 7, Shah Alam.

That decision has proved to be a worthwhile proposition.

The state-of-the-art information and communications technology (ICT) urban centre is located on a freehold plot along the Federal Highway Route II fronting the Sungai Rasau toll plaza.

According to I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, the strategy has helped the group to establish itself as a unique property developer with a unique development that I-Berhad can be proud of.

“i-City is today one of the leading technology cities in the country – from being the first to provide fibre to the unit to having the whole 72-acres of development as a Cisco network.

“Being a MSC Cybercity with complete information communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, the development is provided with dual source power supply, multi-telco environment and super broadband accessibility of 200mbps,” Lim relates to StarBizWeek in an interview.

Chief executive officer Datuk Eu Hong Chew says i-City is the first gated and guarded mixed development that has been accorded the status as an International Park in Shah Alam.

The 10-year development will feature some 12 million sq ft of gross lettable area (GLA) for a total gross development value (GDV) of RM4.5bil.

Of this, about 35% will comprise residences, and the balance will be offices, commercial and retail space, hotel and service apartments, a convention complex, an intelligent school and a technology hub.

Since construction took off in 2007, some 500,000 sq ft or 366 offices suites as well as a 70,000 sq ft Tier 4 data centre have been completed.

Eu says Al-Rajhi Bank (Malaysia) had in 2009 invested RM95mil to purchase 250,000 sq ft of the office suites for investment purposes, adding that another institutional investor is expected to buy up the balance 50% of the office suites in the next three months.

He adds that i-City is promoting a cosmopolitan lifestyle living in line with the Selangor state government’s initiative last July of according i-City an international community.

“With this status, the plot ratio for the development has been raised to five times from three times previously which raises its GLA to 12 million sq ft from 7.5 million sq ft.

“We are taking advantage of this higher plot ratio to increase the residential component to 35% of the GLA from 5% previously. This means some 3 million sq ft will be the residential component,” Eu says.

The first residential project in i-City will be i-Residence comprising a 33-storey block of 346 service residences and an adjacent double-storey block of 20 duplex suites.

I-Bhd director Monica Ong says the service residences with built-up from 715 sq ft to 1358 sq ft are priced in the region of RM450 per sq ft, while the duplex suites of up to 3,500 sq ft will be at around RM550 per sq ft. They will be fitted with air conditioners, water heating system and kitchen appliances.

“The i-Residence design is also in line with our master planner Jon Jerde’s concept of having luscious we well as pedestrian friendly environment,” adds Ong.

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/8209/b05limboon.jpg

Lim Boon Siong posing with a model of the RM2bil I-City ICT-based commercial development in Shah Alam

Intelligent city

Being part of the MSC Cybercity, the residences get to enjoy dual source power supply, a multi-telco environment and super broadband accessibility of 200mbps.

According to Eu, since its inception, i-City has what it takes to become a success story.

“Its location within the vibrant city of Shah Alam has opened up the opportunity for I-Berhad to get the full support of the state government, which has formed the i-City Selangor Steering Committee to facilitate its development,” he explains.

Being the maiden private sector-led ICT urban centre development in the country, the project has been designated as Selangor’s International City by the state government.

The state government will build a flyover from the Sungai Rasau toll plaza along Federal Highway cutting into Section 7 Shah Alam to i-City which is slated to be ready in 2013.

“This interchange plans include providing an exclusive access to i-Residence as well as from both KL and Klang,” explains Ong.

Under the light rail transit (LRT) blueprint, the extension of the LRT system from Kelana Jaya to Klang will also serve i-City.

Leveraging on these advantages, Eu says it will not be far fetched for i-City to realise its goal as a vibrant ICT urban centre where “work, play and entertainment come together.”

“i-City’s business plan involves not only developing properties for sale as well as for long term investments, but also to build up its leisure business based on i-City’s vision of being both a knowledge hub as well as a tourism destination.

“We started i-City with the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre development.

“Then in December 2009, we opened ‘The City of Digital Lights’ as it’s first leisure component. This year, we are launching our first residential component,” adds Eu.

Midas touch

The other decision to engage renowned American architect Jon A. Jerde of the Jerde Partnership as the master planner for i-City has also given the project its “winning streak.” Jerde has brought his Midas touch of “place-making” to turn i-City into the city of digital lights and a tourism destination that has become quite a hit among Klang Valley folks.
“We believe the relationship with The Jerde Partnership has resulted in the planning
for the right products in line with the famous Jerde hallmark of place-making to make a positive impact here.

“Over the years, Jerde has built a strong network of retailers, mall operators and investors. Its name alone has become a premium brand that sells,” Lim says.
He says projects that bear the Jerde hallmark in the US include Universal Citywalk in Los Angeles, which has redefined the urban village as an intricate weave of uses and services, and the internationally acclaimed Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada, that is now a dynamic destination for a new form of urban theatre.

Jerde is also behind the iconic 4.2 million square feet Mall of America in Minnesota, the largest mall in the US, and one of the most vibrant shopping complexes in the world with 520 shops, theme parks and a university.

In Asia, Jerde’s architectural landmarks include Canal City Hakata in Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyushu, Japan, and the famous Roppongi Hills in Tokyo. In Hong Kong, his signature can been seen in the Arcade @ Cyberport, an ICT-based residential, office and retail development.

“The first leisure element in i-City, dubbed the City of Digital Lights with its 1 million LED lights is Jerde-inspired from the Fremont Street Experience. We just adapted the lightscape concept to be in-line with our digital technology approach and hence the LED lights,” comments Lim.

Growth catalyst

Eu says for the next phase of the company’s growth, I-Bhd will be leveraging on Lim’s business and entrepreneurial expertise to further add value to the development.

The first step in this direction is the establishment of a strategic alliance between Everbright International of China and I-Bhd in December last year to co-develop 30 acres of land in i-City.

He says the 30 acres represent all the undeveloped land in i-City and will ensure that the whole development can be completed by 2020.

“The strategic alliance with Everbright International is made possible by Lim’s “guanxi” or special relationship that he has established with the various parties in China since venturing into China in 1984,” Eu says.

He points out that the joint venture with Everbright International is an important milestone for I-Bhd as it will enable the company to continue with its strategy of “selling upon completion as well as to hold part of the property as long-term investments.”

Furthermore, it will also enable I-Berhad to tap into China’s demand for investment of properties in Malaysia.

With Everbright International holding 70% share, the Chinese counterpart will drive the joint venture and thus free I-Berhad to pursue other development activities.

“For the next phase of i-City’s development, I-Berhad will be tapping into its branding expertise to brand it’s upcoming residential projects,” Eu adds.

I-Berhad has a few niche residential property projects in the Klang Valley for launch these one to two years.

The first residential project, i-Residence in i-City, is schedule for launch in March.

The 33-storey i-Residence will be the third building block in i-City after the MSC Malaysia Cybercentre and the tourism component.

The second will be a luxurious condominium project in Changkat Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur.

The slightly more than an acre land in the city’s Golden Triangle is set to mark I-Berhad’s move into the high-end residential market.

The parcel was acquired by Lim about 20 years ago and is today a valuable prime land located within 5 minutes walking distance to KLCC. Also on the card is i-City South, a 7-acre development to the south of the current i-City site

[pywong]

Links to Episodes 2, 3, 4:

‘KSSB accounting in disarray’ (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/21/kssb-accounting-in-disarray/)Tarani Palani (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/author/tarani/)
| February 21, 2012


Lapses in book keeping coupled with a new 'top-up' system for buyers provides a breeding ground for corruption, says a former employee.


http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/sand-mining11.jpg (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/12/21/sand-mining-making-residents-jittery/sand-mining1/)

PETALING JAYA: Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), the Selangor state-owned company at the heart of a sand mining scandal, did not maintain its books properly, claimed an ex-employee.


The whistleblower who refused to be identified also provided FMT with documents showing accounts poorly kept by KSSB or had inexplicable balances added on.


He claimed that such cases had affected numerous companies. “It is not merely limited to not maintaining the books but a new “top-up” system that came into place in 2010-early 2011.


“Under this new system, a purchaser cannot gain access to the sand mine unless he has paid up first. When he has “topped-up” his account, than he could take sand from the mine.


“The problem is many of the accounts are in disarray…at the last-minute the purchaser gets a call demanding payment, failing which they cannot gain access to the sand.


“If the accounts are not well-maintained, they can randomly demand money at anytime. Whether or not this money goes into to KSSB’s accounts is anyone’s guess,” he said.


The whistleblower was an former employer with KSSB who was dismissed from his duties last September.


When FMT contacted one the companies which had dealings with KSSB to double check, the accountant there was absolutely irritated by the top up system that was in place.


“I have been chasing them for months now just to inquire about the outstanding balance in our accounts since last year. They said that I needed to produce slips.


“So I got proof of payment and when I called them back, they said that they have to check with their banks as well. It’s been seven to eight months now,” she said.


KSSB: No cases of account manipulation


She added that KSSB would always make last minute calls for payments due to the top-up system.


“They (KSSB) will always call at last minute after my (company’s) lorry drivers call and say they can’t enter the mine. What sort of attitude is this?


“We don’t even know if they are keeping the accounts properly. We stopped taking sand for a couple of months. Since last month we started our own checklist,” she said.


She said that even if KSSB was a new company, training must be provided to the staff in order for them to be more professional.
“They are a state-government agency, surely they can do better than this,” she said.


KSSB CEO, Wan Abdul Halim, however, rubbished allegations of possible corruption, saying that there were no cases of account manipulation.


“I have not heard of cases of manipulation of accounts for personal gains. There may have been some confusion previously but that is not the situation now.


There is no dispute as to how much balance there is in any company’s account as the accounts department oversees all accounts. There is only one source,” he told FMT.


He also took the whistleblower to task, arguing that it will be unlikely for KSSB’s accounts to be audited if it was not kept well.
It was reported that KSSB has been steadily increasing its revenue and profit margin.


In 2008, KSSB raked in RM 8.17 million in revenue. In 2009, it took in RM 13.76 million. In 2010, it made RM 15.3 million and by May last year, the company had RM60 million in revenue.


Also read:


KSSB boss defends sand-mining ops (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/20/kssb-boss-defends-sandi-mining-ops/)

[pywong]

EPISODE 12: Pak Lah was ousted because of 16th September (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/47514-episode-12-pak-lah-was-ousted-because-of-16th-september)
(http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47514-episode-12-pak-lah-was-ousted-because-of-16th-september)
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Thursday, 23 February 2012 Super Admin
Anwar Ibrahim, on September 18th, only hours before the UMNO meeting, urged the Prime Minister to call a special session of Parliament by September 23rd in order to hold a vote of no-confidence against the PM. Abdullah's detractors, led by UMNO VP Muhyiddin Yassin, asked Abdullah to step down so that UMNO can be under Najib's stronger leadership when it faces Anwar and the threat of a no-confidence vote after Parliament reconvenes. - US Embassy, KL

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

The issue of 16th September 2008, the day when Pakatan Rakyat was supposed to have formed the new federal government after at least 30 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament cross over to join the opposition ranks, is still clouded in intrigue.
In Episodes 7 and 8 of this series of reports, Malaysia Today revealed how John Soh was supposed to fund the RM300 million take-over exercise. In short, the 30 BN MPs were supposed to be paid RM10 million each as an inducement for them to cross over.

John Soh, however, refused to fork out the money seeing that the exercise was very risky since there was no guarantee they would cross over after receiving the money. Furthermore, Umno would have enough financial resources to counter-offer these 30 defectors a bigger sum of money and that would thwart the whole attempt.

Nevertheless, while the 16th September exercise may have ended in a fiasco for the opposition, it actually worked in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s favour. The ex-Prime Minister was able to use this as leverage to force Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) into retirement, as what he had been relentlessly trying to do for two years since 2006.

Anwar’s 16th September, which eventually was a non-event, was postponed to 1st October. Anwar was supposed to meet His Majesty the Agong to impress upon His Majesty that the opposition had the numbers. And although this may represent a narrow majority, once Pakatan Rakyat takes over they are confident that more BN MPs will cross over.

Umno was not that confident that it might not happen. After all, anything is possible in politics. That was why they flew as many MPs as possible to Taiwan for an agricultural ‘study tour’. The main issue was Pak Lah -- at least that was what Dr Mahathir argued. Hence, to ensure that Anwar fails to get the 30 BN MPs that he needs, Pak Lah must be ousted and replaced with his 'stronger' Deputy, Najib.

Meanwhile, Anwar already knew that 16th September was not going to happen. And he knew because the RM300 million was not forthcoming. John Soh made that point very clear. But Anwar still created the impression that it was going to happen as planned, maybe with just a few days or a couple of weeks delay.
And that accelerated Pak Lah’s exit and ensured a regime change with Najib Tun Razak as the new Prime Minister and Dr Mahathir as the de facto Prime Minister.
Maybe Pak Lah would still have been ousted, eventually, and Najib would have taken over, eventually. But the 16th September panic only made it happen earlier. And this was the gist of the Secret Report from the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to Washington on 19th September 2008, as revealed by Wikileaks, which you can read below:

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi failed to quell dissent or gain consensus support for his 2010 transition plan during a very heated September 18th UMNO Supreme Council meeting, which featured calls for Abdullah to step down led by UMNO VP Muhyiddin Yassin. Following the meeting, Muhyiddin and other advocates of Abdullah's early exit reiterated their positions in public, while Abdullah and his camp appeared defensive.

The Prime Minister hinted he could leave sooner than the 2010 handover, but affirmed that the decision on when to step down in favour of Deputy Prime Minister Najib was his (Abdullah's) alone.

Continuing his psychological warfare, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim called for a special session of Parliament on September 23rd to hold a vote of no-confidence against the PM, a suggestion immediately shot down by PM Abdullah. Over the next two weeks, Anwar is focused on gaining the King's approval and recognition of his would-be new majority, according to a senior opposition source. The Opposition reportedly welcomed Abdullah's removal of Najib as Defense Minister, but remains concerned that Najib could become Prime Minister.

This is a low point for Abdullah. The Prime Minister's failure to quell dissent in the UMNO Supreme Council is a serious, though not yet fatal, blow to his hopes of remaining in power and gaining re-election in the December party polls. Two dates in early October will serve to push UMNO elites toward a decision point on the leadership issue, namely the October 9th start of the UMNO divisional elections and the October 13th reconvening of Parliament.

Abdullah's party critics already are arguing that they cannot sell Abdullah's re-election to the UMNO divisions come October 9th. Abdullah's detractors may also urge that UMNO be under Najib's stronger leadership when it faces Anwar and threat of a no-confidence vote after Parliament reconvenes. Under these circumstances, Anwar has more incentive to move as aggressively as he can in the coming weeks, though doubts remain over Anwar's crossover support, and the possibility of a government crackdown against Anwar and the Opposition cannot be dismissed.

The United Malays National Organization (UMNO) Supreme Council met on September 18th in a session intended to address PM Abdullah's plan to seek re-election as party president in December and remain power until 2010, when Abdullah would step down in favour of DPM Najib Tun Razak. Abdullah sought to regain the Supreme Council's endorsement of the plan and thereby quell calls for his speedy resignation, which have resurfaced over the past few weeks.
Prior to the meeting, Embassy sources as well as various media accounts stated that UMNO leaders opposed to Abdullah's continuation in power, including UMNO VP Muhyiddin and possibly DPM Najib himself would use the meeting to reject the 2010 transition plan and seek Abdullah's removal. Former PM Mahathir reportedly lent renewed support to the effort to remove Abdullah.

The closed-door meeting ended after only two hours. Immediately afterward, PM Abdullah spoke to reporters, but focused his comments on dismissing Anwar Ibrahim's call for an emergency parliamentary session. In response to questions, Abdullah said he had not used the Supreme Council meeting to explain again his transition plan. Sounding beleaguered, Abdullah told reporters: "Because the (UMNO division) meetings have not started, and whatever things that I need to do, whatever action that I will take, it's all up to me. I will talk to Najib (regarding future decisions), there's no need to repeat."

The Prime Minister added that, "I did not explain again. I just said that I'm aware, I'm putting my ears close to the ground." Abdullah did not offer a strong reaffirmation of the transition plan to the public, as he did earlier in the week after meeting with Najib. Likewise, the UMNO-affiliated media, such as the dailies Utusan and New Straits Times, that had trumpeted the transition as a fait accompli and already in train only several days, took this issue off the front page and also carried criticisms from Abdullah's rivals.

In the clearest public signal that the meeting went poorly for Abdullah, UMNO VP Muhyiddin met reporters afterward and confidently explained that he had reiterated his stance to the Supreme Council, namely that Abdullah should step down soon, adding that "none of my colleagues criticised me over the remarks...." Apparently pressed for details on when Abdullah should hand over to Najib, Muhyiddin replied, "No specific date, we just gave our views and that of the grassroots who want it to be done as soon as possible. We gave space for the president (Abdullah) to discuss it with Najib."

A major daily, The Star, reported on September 19th that Supreme Council members had endorsed a "speedier transition," quoting one unidentified council member as saying, "Let's just say this time the president got the message." According to on-line reports, including that of Malaysia Insider, Foreign Minister Rais Yatim, UMNO women's wing leader Rafidah Aziz and Culture Minister Shafie Apdal supported Muhyiddin in the meeting. Najib and several others reportedly spoke in defense of Abdullah.

A local press source, with close links to UMNO leaders who has reported accurately in the past, provided us with his second-hand account of the UMNO meeting. He described the discussion as "very heated." In addition to those UMNO leaders noted in press accounts, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad, who has appeared loyal in the past, urged Abdullah not to run for party re-election because it was "untenable" with UMNO grassroots, and Abdullah's nomination could not to presented to the UMNO divisions in October.

Rafidah Aziz was more strident and told the PM who he "would not get even 10 nominations (from the hundreds of UMNO divisions)." After hearing this criticism, Abdullah reportedly became emotional, at which point DPM Najib intervened to stop the discussion.

DPM Najib carried out good-bye ceremonies at the Defense Ministry on September 19th, two days after PM Abdullah decided with "immediate effect" to take on the Defense Minister role himself in a swap with Najib taking the Finance
Minister I portfolio. Meanwhile, the Malaysian military appears uncertain of its civilian chain of command. A top Malaysian military official told Embassy DAO on September 19 that he did not know who was overseeing the armed forces at this moment, but it would be worked out.

Press announced on September 19th that Najib had cancelled his plans to visit the Middle East, a trip originally scheduled to begin today, and will delay his arrival in New York for the UN General Assembly. Najib's office informed polchief that the DPM will be in New York November 25th-29th, and in Washington from September 30th until October 2nd.

Continuing his psychological warfare, Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on September 18th, only hours before the UMNO meeting, urged the Prime Minister to call a special session of Parliament by September 23rd in order to hold a vote of no-confidence against the PM. Abdullah immediately and predictably dismissed Anwar's request after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting.
Tian Chua (protect), the PKR information chief and close aide to Anwar, told polchief September 19th that Anwar's call for an emergency session of Parliament and the earlier request to meet with PM Abdullah to convince him the Opposition now has the majority were merely "diversions." Instead, Anwar was focused on bringing down the government before October 1st by making an approach to the King (who has the constitutional authority to determine who commands the majority in Parliament).

Tian Chua claimed Anwar had already provided the King with information on those government MPs who intended to defect, but that Anwar believed he would need to present these MPs physically before the King and that was a practical obstacle. Tian Chua said the number of immediate crossovers would not provide a comfortable majority in Parliament, and that some but "not enough" ethnic Malay/Muslim MPs would be among those defecting.

However, the Opposition hoped that once Anwar had a slim majority more ethnic Malay MPs from UMNO would jump to Anwar's side. Tian Chua said that UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had not agreed to switch to the Opposition, contradicting public pronouncements from others in Anwar's circle.

Tian Chua concluded that the uproar over the government's recent use of the Internal Security Act to arrest three people, and the immediate release of one detainee, significantly reduced the chance Abdullah could invoke the ISA to detain more opposition figures. Nevertheless, Anwar had decided to tone down his messages over the next few days to avoid giving the BN government a pretext for a crackdown.

Tian Chua stated that the Opposition was benefiting from the disarray in Abdullah's government, and was pleased that Najib was no longer Defense Minister. He added that if he became Prime Minister, Najib would be much more difficult opponent and more likely to use harsh measures to stop the Opposition, a view we have heard consistently from Anwar and senior Opposition leaders.

[pywong]

EPISODE 13: One disaster to cover another disaster (part 1) (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47615-episode-13-one-disaster-to-cover-another-disaster-part-1-)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Monday, 27 February 2012 Super Admin

In the RM13.46 billion Statement of Claim that former MAS Executive Chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli brought against Danaharta, he declared that the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instructed him to acquire a 32% stake in MAS to bail out Bank Negara, which had experienced massive losses in foreign exchange.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Najib must give a frank and honest answer whether the RM589 million out-of-court settlement of Tajudin Ramli’s debts is proof that Malaysians today are still paying for the RM100 billion Mahathir financial scandals
Lim Kit Siang (25 February 2012)

Malaysians are entitled to a frank and honest answer from the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whether the RM580 million out-of-court settlement of Tajudin Ramli’s debts is proof that Malaysians today are still paying for the RM100 billion financial scandals perpetrated in the 22 years Tun Dr. Mahathir was the Prime Minister. And if so, they want to know of other such instances.
More and more Malaysians are asking this question as there is total lack of transparency, accounting, explanation, or details for the RM580 million out-of-court settlement with government-linked corporations (GLCS), raising the question whether the Barisan Nasional government has achieved another entry in the Guinness Book of Records in being the first government in the world to surrender a court judgment for RM580 million.

One big controversy among Malaysians today is who is to be believed, Mahathir or Tajudin Ramli about the “double bail-out” of MAS.

Tajudin had claimed through his affidavits that former premier Mahathir had made him buy MAS to help bail out Bank Negara after the central bank suffered massive foreign exchange losses due partly to speculation in foreign currency markets as a “national service” with an "Overriding Agreement" to indemnify him against any losses suffered. This has been denied by Mahathir.

Four reasons have been advanced by those who believe that Tajudin’s claims are more credible, viz:

(1) Tajudin would be out of his mind to buy at RM8.00 something trading at RM3.50 then.
(2) Tajudin would do so if he were protected by an overriding agreement as he claimed.
(3) The overriding claim appears credible because the government did subsequently buy back from him at twice market price which the government was not otherwise obliged to do so.
(4) Affidavits are sworn statements to court and false statements constitute perjury, a punishable offence.

As Prime Minister, Najib would know what actually transpired and Malaysians want him to tell the country the truth, whether it is Mahathir or Tajudin who is lying and whether criminal action would be instituted against Tajudin if he had committed perjury in his affidavits.

*************************
That was what Lim Kit Siang said on 25 February 2012.

Two weeks ago, on 13 February 2012, Malaysia Today came out with EPISODE 6: How Malaysia Today ‘lied’ three years ago (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47248-episode-6-how-malaysia-today-lied-three-years-ago).

I had anticipated that Lim Kit Siang would jump and go for the jugular. This is because in 1994, almost 18 years ago, Lim Kit Siang was the very person who exposed a massive financial scandal that still holds the Malaysian Book of Records -- or the Guinness Book of Records, as Lim Kit Siang would say.

The financial scandal, which Lim Kit Siang was referring to, happened in 1992 and 1993. And no one except for a handful of those who walked in the corridors of power knew about this well-guarded secret until Lim Kit Sang raised the matter in Parliament. Hence we must revisit this 20-year old scandal because that particular matter is connected to the MAS (Malaysian Airlines) fiasco, which two weeks ago reached an ‘out-of-court settlement’ at a great loss to the Malaysian taxpayers.

Most Malaysians have forgotten the earlier episode of two decades ago -- or somehow do not see the link between that old episode and the current MAS scandal. Some I spoke to were not even aware of this scandal because at that time there was no Internet. Well, allow Malaysia Today to refresh your memory and explain how the issue of February 2012 is linked to the issue of 1992.
Today, we will first talk about the MAS issue.

In the RM13.46 billion Statement of Claim that former MAS Executive Chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli brought against Danaharta, he declared that the then Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had instructed him to acquire a 32% stake in MAS to bail out Bank Negara, which had experienced massive losses in foreign exchange.

In other words, Tajudin was just doing ‘national service’ on the instructions of Dr Mahathir. And the whole objective of this exercise, said Tajudin, was to cover Malaysia’s massive forex losses. Hence, you can’t look at this MAS multi-billion disaster in isolation. You need to look at it in the context of the earlier scandal, the forex disaster, which the MAS exercise is supposed to cover.

The Chinese call this digging a hole to get the earth to cover another hole. Only that each new hole you dig gets bigger than the earlier hole you are trying to cover. (Don’t you just love Chinese sayings?)

Nevertheless, the MAS exercise itself was a disaster. Hence, the MAS exercise was not a solution to a problem but a problem as well. So now we had two problems, both running into billions of losses of hard-earned taxpayers’ money.
But that was merely the civil matter, which has now been settled out of court and is money down the drain. There is still the criminal matter, which the powers-that-be has filed under NFA (no further action). It appears like the criminal case too has been ‘settled out of court’.

According to the police investigation, there is certainly something criminal that went on in MAS resulting in, according to the police, a RM8.8 billion liability for the airline company. This means there are TWO losses involved here. First was the loss on the government buy-back of the MAS shares at DOUBLE the market price and second was the operational loss suffered by MAS itself.

Now, what many may not be clear about is that the civil suit was on the shares while the criminal investigation was on the shenanigans in MAS that resulted in the RM8.8 billion fiasco. So they are actually two separate issues but both involving massive losses to the Malaysian government -- meaning, of course, the Malaysian taxpayers.

What is even more interesting and which is the main issue here, the police investigation also revealed that there was collusion between the Police and the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to not prosecute Tajudin and to NFA the case.

Now, this is the Director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) who is alleging that the Police and the AGC are colluding to cover up a crime -- a crime, according to Tajudin in his Affidavit to the court, done on the instructions of Dr Mahathir.

Was this why they had to NFA the criminal case in 2007 and seek an out-of-court settlement on the civil case two weeks ago? Was it to ensure that the real purpose of the MAS exercise would not become public knowledge? Was it so that Malaysians would never find out that the RM8.8 billion MAS hole was to cover an even bigger RM30 billion forex hole that was created back in 1992 and 1993?

And remember one thing: RM30 billion 20 years ago is equivalent to RM100-RM150 billion today.

This was what the Director of the CCID said in his investigation report:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8013/report9.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/9379/report10.jpg
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5448/report11c.jpg
And this was what he said in his letter to the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/777/ramli1.jpg
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/9194/ramli2.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/7235/ramli3.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5779/ramli4.jpg
http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/4765/ramli5.jpg
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/3508/ramli6.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/6852/ramli7.jpg
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/605/ramli8.jpg

[pywong]

Somebody must pay for this fiasco!

EPISODE 14: One disaster to cover another disaster (part 2) (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47645-episode-14-one-disaster-to-cover-another-disaster-part-2-)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Tuesday, 28 February 2012 Super Admin


Consequently Soros, who took the loan from the British banks, repaid it in Pounds which was then cheaper and pocketed the difference of more than US$1 billion while the Malaysian gambler, Mahathir, lost about US$4 billion. Later in 1993, Bank Negara again lost another US$2.2 billion in speculative activities. Malaysia’s total loss by this time stood at US$6.2 billion equivalent to RM15.5 billion. However, the actual figure for Bank Negara losses were never revealed. Instead, the central bank, when put under scrutiny for its dubious activities, gave conflicting and confusing data to make it difficult for the opposition to get to the bottom of the mess.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Recalling RM15.5 billion loss in Foreign Exchange Speculation: Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad gambled away Malaysia’s foreign reserves in 1992-1993

Awang Abdillah

Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is an ambitious man who believes in the theory of mega economics.

He believed and still believes that by adopting a mega-based economic model, Malaysia not only could become a developed country by 2020 but would also become a strong nation at par with the Western powers economically and politically.

Hence, he was prepared to go international and take on the Western powers. One of the fields that he was keen on was the global foreign exchange (forex) market where there is big money.

In fact Bank Negara, during the Mahathir administration, was involved in covert global speculative activities as early as in the 1980s possibly to test the waters. Throughout the period (1990 to 1992), Britain’s economy was in recession where national output began to slide and unemployment rose.

Domestic demand fell including demand for imports. In 1992, the exchange rate of the British pound sterling was fixed under the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).

Unlike the Asian economic crisis of 1997-1998 where their (Asian) currencies were weak or vulnerable, in the case of the British Pound, despite the economic slump, the currency still commanded a comparatively strong exchange rate.

Greedy politician

However, pressure was mounting from many quarters for Britain to float its currency in line with the current (at the time) market situation. Many quarters wanted Britain to adjust the value of the pound accordingly because the European countries believed the pound was overvalued.

Britain’s forex market appeared to be the focus of many speculators who wanted to profit from the market instability. Speculators would make or lose in a “free-for-all” market situation.

A very greedy politician would think this opportunity was too good to be missed. Mahathir, the then prime minister of Malaysia-cum-mega speculator, ordered Bank Negara to speculate on the British pound sterling.

George Soros, the global forex player, was also speculating on the same currency but for different reasons. But both shared a common desire. They went for the kill. The battleground was the London foreign exchange market.

Both believed that they were going to make money from the British. One believed he could make fast and big money, the other wanted to profit from the expected fall of the pound.

Smart Soros

The one that believed the Pound would appreciate took billions of US currency from Bank Negara foreign reserves fund (actual figure unknown).

The “wiser” speculator who believed the British Pound would fall was not using his own funds. He borrowed from British banks to the tune of 10 billon pounds and changed the money to German Mark.

The moment of truth came when on Sept 16, 1992, Britain left the ERM. Unable to stand the economic and market pressure on its overvalued Pound, Britain, instead of floating the pound, officially devalued its currency causing the pound to fall.

It was not what the European countries and Mahathir had expected. Luckily for Mahathir the currency did not crash.

The British government had a two-pronged strategy – firstly to devalue the Pound to stimulate the economy through cheaper and hence higher exports and more costly imports thereby reducing imports in order to regulate the country’s general economic fundamentals.

Secondly after the devaluation, the sterling was automatically floated to regulate the market fundamentals.

Had Britain directly floated the pound, the erratic rise and fall would disrupt Britain’s plan to stimulate the economy although it may have helped the pound to appreciate which speculator Mahathir had expected.

Bank Negara losses never revealed

Consequently Soros, who took the loan from the British banks, repaid it in Pounds which was then cheaper and pocketed the difference of more than US$1 billion while the Malaysian gambler, Mahathir, lost about US$4 billion. Later in 1993, Bank Negara again lost another US$2.2 billion in speculative activities. Malaysia’s total loss by this time stood at US$6.2 billion equivalent to RM15.5 billion (based on the exchange rate as at Sept 1992. US$1=RM2.5).

However, the actual figure for Bank Negara losses were never revealed. Instead, the central bank, when put under scrutiny for its dubious activities, gave conflicting and confusing data to make it difficult for the opposition to get to the bottom of the mess.

Bank Negara had abused the foreign reserves which were meant to finance imports, stabilise the ringgit and pay off foreign debts. The British government made the right decision. The devaluation made the pound cheaper thereby stimulating exports and made imports expensive.

Mahathir gambled away nation’s money

The fall based on devaluation is different from a fall by floating. The former is an economic adjustment to regulate the macro-economic fundamentals such as national output, employment, among others, while the latter is a market adjustment to regulate market forces such as the exchange rate of a local currency vis-a-vis foreign currencies and the share prices in the stock market.

Hence, once the nation’s currency has been devalued, it can be floated without the possibility of a currency crash because the effect of devaluation has already stabilised the country’s general economic fundamentals.

Mega gambler Mahathir had committed a serious crime by secretly compelling Bank Negara to use its scarce foreign reserves for unethical and unauthorised purposes.

What was more serious was that he had gambled away the nation’s hard-earned money worth billions of ringgit in high-risk global speculative activities.

He should be held accountable for this squandering. Malaysia did not have the expertise in global forex speculation the likes of global forex player Soros. What should Malaysians do to this mega crook who always denies any wrongdoing? Bank Negara, in this case, was in cahoots with Mahathir.

Mahathir must pay

Bank Negara is supposed to be the regulator of the financial market, not player/speculator. It can use its own foreign reserves to go into the forex market in Malaysia in order to regulate and stabilise the ringgit, but it should not speculate in forex markets. As such, its action was unethical. Foreign reserves of a country is a crucial item to service imports, regulate the country’s currency value and to pay off foreign debts.

The Bank Negara governor at that time was Jaffar Hussein and the head of the forex trading unit was Nor Mohamed Yakcop. Both resigned after the speculation fiasco.

The golden rule is if any Malaysian wants to bet in any foreign exchange market he should use his own funds, not that of the nation. Mahathir must be held accountable for his action.

Awang Abdillah is a political analyst, writer and FMT columnist.

[pywong]

EPISODE 15: One disaster to cover another disaster (part 3) (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47668-episode-15-one-disaster-to-cover-another-disaster-part-3-)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Wednesday, 29 February 2012 Super Admin

Nor Mohamed Yakcop’s first job is to issue a White Paper to “exorcise the ghost” of the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses a decade ago to establish his suitability as the Second Finance Minister – apart from professionalism, a full commitment to accountability, transparency and good democratic governance -- Lim Kit Siang, 2004

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop was sworn in as senator yesterday to pave the way for him to take his oath as Finance Minister II at Istana Negara before the Yang di Pertuan Agong on Monday.

Nor Mohamed said his task is to assist the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, in carrying out the policies of the Treasury and that he will serve as a professional. This is an inadequate understanding or definition of his Ministerial duties – as apart as being a “professional”, he is not exempted from the Ministerial duties of responsibility and accountability. Nor Mohamed cannot only be responsible and accountable to the Prime Minister himself – when he is also responsible and accountable for his actions and decisions to Parliament, the people and country.

If Nor Mohamed is not prepared to accept the principles and responsibilities of public accountability, then he should remain as Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister and decline the political appointment as Finance Minister II.

Nor Mohamed’s first job as Finance Minister II should be to issue a White Paper to “exorcise the ghost” of the RM30 billion Bank Negara foreign exchange (forex) losses a decade ago, which he had played such a pivotal role, to establish his suitability as the Second Finance Minister – that apart from professionalism, he is fully committed to the principles of accountability, transparency and good democratic governance.

Up to now, the government has failed to “come clean” on the colossal Bank Negara forex losses as a result of speculation in the international currency markets from 1992-1994, with the losses cited as ranging from RM10 billion to RM30 billion.

In Parliament in 1994, I had given reasons as to why the Bank Negara’s forex losses as a result of its forex speculation operations could have amounted to as high as RM30 billion, which had not been seriously rebutted by any top government leader or Bank Negara official.

The reasons which I had advanced in Parliament in 1994 for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the colossal Bank Negara forex losses remain valid today, and should be the terms of reference of the White Paper which Nor Mohamed should present publicly as his first Ministerial duty, viz:

1. To determine the actual extent of the colossal forex losses suffered by Bank Negara 1992-1994;

2. Whether there had been any financial malpractices and abuses in view of the inconsistencies and conflicting explanations about the colossal forex losses; and
3. Establish how Bank Negara could incur such colossal losses.

One question which I raised in Parliament on May 3, 1994 in my speech on the 1993 and 1994 Supplementary Estimates had remained unanswered in the past decade and continues to haunt the corridors of power – whether Bank Negara’s maximum exposure at the height of its forward foreign exchange speculation was in the region of RM270 billion, which was three times the country’s GDP and more than five times the country’s foreign reserves at the time!

Before the RM30 billion forex losses scandal 1992-1994, Bank Negara had come under scathing international criticism. In 1989, Bank Negara was criticised by Western monetary officials for speculating in the yen and the US dollar at a time when the Group of Seven industrialised countries were trying to stabilise the currency markets.

In April 1991, a Reuters news agency report from London described Bank Negara as “a dominant force on the foreign exchange scene for some years” and it was accused by some forex operators as “a market bully”.
The 1991 Reuters report states:

“Over the past two years it has stepped up its trading volume, and this year it has started dealing in what dealer described as ‘really massive amounts’…

“Typically, Bank Negara operates in US$50 million lots, compared with the market norm of US$5 million or US$10 million and deals with maybe six major banks in Europe and six in New York, dealers said.

“One trader said the only dealers rivaling Bank Negara would be the Japanese funds. But while these funds enter the market no more than once or twice a year, Bank Negara is coming in and doing yards (billions) of dollars a day.

“”Its recent technique has been to hit major banks for US50 million each, then his them 10 minutes later," dealers said.

“Then it changes centre, and does it all over again.”

The April 1994 issue of Malaysian Business – one of the publications in the New Straits Times stable – reported that Bank Negara’s maximum exposure in the foreign exchange markets reached as high as RM270 billion – three times the country’s GDP and more than five times the country’s foreign reserves at the time!

Some Government leaders were wise after the event, and one of them was none other than Tun Daim Zainuddin, under whose first tenure as Finance Minister from 1984-1991 the Bank Negara’s unorthodox forex speculation started, who said on April 4, 1994 that while those responsible for the huge forex losses of Bank Negara had accounted for their mistakes by resigning, central banks should never “play with fire” with such forex speculation.

Daim, who was then the Economic Adviser to the Government, said:
“Central banks must not play with fire by venturing into speculative money markets where the risks or losses are high.

It is wrong to think that you cannot lose when you play in money markets. You see, if you make, someone else has to lose. When you have limited funds, you do not speculate.

You must not go into this. It is different if you are pursuing long-term investments but if you are speculating, do not go into this unless you are prepared to face losses.

Central banks have a certain role to play and this (speculative venture) is a dangerous area where the risks are high. You should not play with fire.”

In 1995, a book on international high finance, The Vandal’s Crown by Gregory J. Millman had this to say about the Bank Negara forex scandal:

"Using all the resources a central bank commands - privileged information, unlimited credit, regulatory power, and more - Malaysia’s Bank Negara became the most feared trader in the currency markets. By trading for profit, Bank Negara committed apostasy against the creed of central banking. Instead of working to ensure global financial stability, Bank Negara repeatedly shoved huge sums of money into the most vulnerable market situations in order to destabilize exchange rates for its own profit" (p.226)

"(Bank) Negara operated behind a thick veil of secrecy. The bank seldom spoke publicly about its controversial trading activities. Yet it was increasingly clear to foreign exchange traders that Bank Negara’s operations in the foreign exchange markets went far beyond simple self-defense. It became the most awesome currency trader in the world. (p. 227)

(Bank) Negara’s market manipulation was so egregrious that one American central banker said, ‘If they tried this on any organized exchange in the world, they’d go to jail.’ However, in the unregulated international currency markets, there were neither police nor jailers. The only rule was the rough justice of the vandals, and it was this rule that eventually brought (Bank) Negara down.

In 1992, (Bank) Negara took on a large pound sterling position, apparently expecting Britain to maintain the discipline required by the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. It was a bad economic and political judgement. (Bank) Negara lost approximately $3.6 billion when Britain withdrew from the ERM, letting sterling collapse. The next year, (Bank) Negara lost an additional $2.2 billion. By 1994, Bank Negara was technically insolvent and had to be bailed out by an infusion of fresh money from Malaysia’s finance ministry." (p.229

[pywong]

EPISODE 16: One disaster to cover another disaster (part 4)
(http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47691-episode-16-one-disaster-to-cover-another-disaster-part-4)
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Thursday, 01 March 2012 Super Admin


The RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses scandal still remains largely a mystery as the government has refused up to date to allow a full public investigation as to how Bank Negara could speculate with such vast sums of public funds in the international forex markets and incur such colossal losses. It will be a sad day for public integrity and democratic accountability in Malaysia if the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses scandal is treated as if it is a minor ‘get-rich-quick’ swindle of RM30,000! - Lim Kit Siang, 1994

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Press Conference Statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, when launching the book ‘The Bank Negara RM30 Billion Forex Losses Scandal’ in Penang on Thursday, August 11, 1994 at 12 noon

PAC should investigate into the RM30 billion Bank Negara Forex Losses Scandal and present a full report to Parliament in October of Bank Negara’s speculative forays into the foreign exchange markets and losses

The RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses scandal still remains largely a mystery as the government has refused up to date to allow a full public investigation as to how Bank Negara could speculate with such vast sums of public funds in the international forex markets and incur such colossal losses.

RM30 billion is a colossal sum. If a person is to strike a RM2 million lottery every day, it would take him 41 years to reach RM30 billion!

If RM30 billion is divided among the 19 million Malaysians, including a new-born babe, everyone will he entitled to RM1,578!

Or alternatively, it could mean a tax holiday for all Malaysians where no individual income tax need be paid by all Malaysians for eight years!

Or it could be used to build 1.2 million low-cost houses at RM25,000 per unit, and resolve Penang’s long-standing low-cost housing problem overnight as well as that of the whole country; or build 45 universities, five North-South Highways or four Kuala Lumpur International Airports like the one being built in Sepang!
RM30 billion is equal to 120 times the annual supply and development estimates for the entire Penang State Government!

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee should investigate into Bank Negara’s RM30 billion forex losses scandal and present a full report of Bank Negara’s speculative forays into the international forex markets to Parliament when it meets in October.

Parliament appointed a new PAC Chiarman, Datuk Dr. jamaluddin Jarjis in May and I hope Dr. Jamaluddin will not disappoint parliament by not daring to inquire into Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses, or he would have to justify his suitability to contimue as PAC Chairman in Parliament in October.

It will be a sad day for public integrity and democratic accountability in Malaysia if the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses scandal is treated as if it is a minor ‘get-rich-quick’ swindle of RM30,000!

It is to raise public consciousness for the need for greater accountability by the Bank Negara and the Government over the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex losses scandal that the DAP has published this booklet, ‘The Bank Negara RM30 billion Forex Losses Scandal’.

This booklet is available in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Chinese, and the Tamil edition will be published shortly.

Call on Anwar Ibrahim to issue a White Paper and explain why the Government has not taken action against a senior Barisan Nasional leader and a top community leader involved in the Rakyat Merchant Bankers Sdn. Bhd. scandal of 110 fictitious accounts involving RM330 million?

Recently, the Police arrested 10 senior executive officers of the Rakyat Merchant Bankers Berhad (RMBB) in connection with a RM180 million loan fraud.

In today’s press, it was reported that the remand order against a senior executive officer of Rakyat Merchant Bankers Berhad had been extended to August 15.

I do not want to refer to the arrest of these 10 senior executive officers, but want to question the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, why he has not kept his pledge in Parliament in April this year that the Government would take action against those responsible for the colossal Rakyat Merchant Bankers Bhd. losses, regardless of their political connections’.

Bank Negara took over the day-to-day operations of Rakyat Merchant Bankers Sdn. Bhd. in March this year, following investigations into irregularities in the bank’s loan approvals last December.

Bank Negara and the Police should explain why they had not taken action against a senior Barisan Nasional leader and a top community leader involved in the Rakyat Merchant bankers Sdn Bhd. scandal 110 fictitious accounts involving RM330 million!

Bank Negara had publicly revealed that Rakyat Merchant Bankers Bhd. had approved loans totaling RM150 million to 50 “fictitious” individuals and another RM180 million to 60 companies.

There was an avoidance of a single customer limit of RM3 million by creating 50 individual loan applicants.

Bank Negara found that there were only two beneficiaries to the RM150 million loans.

In the April meeting of Parliament, Anwar Ibrahim confirmed that Rakyat Merchant Bankers Bhd. had become insolvent after suffering estimated losses of RM624.1 million as at Feb. 28 and that the losses were due to loans to certain individuals.

He pledged that the government would take action against those responsible for the bank’s insolvency, including those with possible ‘political connections’.
Anwar should issue a White Paper on the Rakyat Merchants Bankers Bhd. losses and explain why the Government had not acted on his pledge to Parliament to take action against all individuals responsible for the bank’s losses, regardless of their ‘political connections'

[pywong]

EPISODE 17: One disaster to cover another disaster (part 5) (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47722-episode-17-one-disaster-to-cover-another-disaster-part-5-) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Friday, 02 March 2012 Super Admin

However, the person who must also bear responsibility for the colossal Bank Negara forex losses, apart from Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein, must be the Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, himself. Jaffar should be made a Tun instead of having to resign in ignominy if it could be shown that over the years, Bank Negara had cumulatively made more profits from forex speculation despite the colossal losses in the past two years. Anwar Ibrahim had misled Parliament last July when I questioned him whether Bank Negara had suffered more forex losses. Anwar said that this was not true as he had been monitoring the Bank Negara’s forex dealings weekly. - Lim Kit Siang, 1994

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong, Lim Kit Siang, in the Dewan Rakyat (Malaysian Parliament) on the Royal Address debate on Monday, April 11, 1994

The colossal forex losses in the last two years have knocked out a big hole’ in Bank Negara, not only making it insolvent but destroying it credibility and authority as the ‘banker’ and guardian of banks in Malaysia

Parliament is debating Bank Negara’s colossal foreign exchange losses for the second consecutive year and it is apt that we start with the story told by Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein at a lecture in New Delhi in December 1988 on the topic, “Central Banking in an Era of Change”, which was also used as the book title for Bank Negara’s “landmark speeches from 1959-1988”.

Tan Sri Hussein’s story was about a captain of a super-oil-tanker at the bridge, who was called up at the middle of the night by his number two, who said,
“Captain, Captain, I have bad news and good news for you.”
The captain said, ”You might as well tell me the bad news first.”
“Well, ” the officer reported, “we had struck a reef and are taking in lots of water.”
“And what is the good news?” asked the Captain.
“Captain, sir, the hole is at the other end of the ship.”

The colossal forex losses of Bank Negara in the last two years have knocked out a big black hole in Bank Negara, not only making it, insolvent but destroying its credibility and authority as a ‘banker and guardian of banks’ in Malaysia.

When Bank Negara’s 1992 Report was released last year, however, Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein, denied there was any ‘hole’ in Bank Negara, asserting that the RM9.3 billion forex losses which it was prepared to admit were mere “paper losses” and that “Bank Negara’s loss is the nation’s gain”!

When Bank Negara’s 1993 report was released two weeks ago, there was another exercise to deny that the ‘hole’ at all, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed declaring that the RM5.7 billion forex losses last year came from “profits made in forex dealings in preceding years”!

Bank Negara’s forex losses in the past two years could total as high as RM30 billion, making it the biggest financial scandal in Malaysia as well as a world-class financial scandal.

There was in fact a conspiracy of disinformation and misinformation to ‘cover up’ the real nature, cause and magnitude of Bank Negara forex losses in the past two years which I will show in the course of my speech could total as high as RM30 billion. It is not only the greatest financial scandal in Malaysia, but has reached the standing to be a world-class financial scandal!

In the special DAP motion on the Bank Negara forex losses in Parliament last April, the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim strenuously denied that Bank Negara had “speculated” or “gambled” in foreign exchange.

Anwar said that as Finance Minister, he was “fully satisfied with the reasons” goven by Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein for the Bank Negara’s forex losses.

However, truth cannot be concealed forever, as it would always find some way of declaring itself.

This time, it is the Economic Adviser to the Government, Tun Daim Zainuddin, who had got the ‘cat out of the bag’. On Monday, April 4, 1994, Daim Zainuddin was reported in the press as saying that “Central bank s must not play with the risks or losses are high”.

The Daim said that while those responsible for the huge forex losses of Bank Negara had accounted for their mistake by resigning, central banks should never go into such ventures.

He said: ”It is wrong to think that you cannot lose when you play in money markets. You see, if you make, someone else has to lose. When you have limited funds, you do not speculate.

“You must not go into this. It is different if you are pursuing long-term investments but if you are speculating, do not go into this unless you are prepared to face losses.

“Central banks have a certain role to play and this (speculative venture) is a dangerous area where the risks are high. You should not play with fire.

“But now that the central bank has suspended such trading, I think it is all right.”
Daim may know even more than Anwar about Bank Negara’s forex losses as Bank Negara’s forex ‘speculation’ was started when Daim was Finance Minister.
What more authoritative admission can Parliament or the country get that Bank Negara’s colossal losses stemmed from imprudent foreign exchange speculation, as Tun Daim cannot be accused like the Opposition of ‘speculating’ about the causes of Bank Negara’s forex losses?

Apart from the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, there is no other person in the country who could speak with greater knowledge and authority about the real cause of Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses. In fact, Tun Daim may know even more than Anwar Ibrahim because it was under Daim’s tenure as Finance Minister that Bank Negara ventured into speculative foreign exchange trading- at that time with some minor success!

It is most unfortunate that when he was Finance Minister, Daim did not warn and direct Bank Negara to stop ‘playing with fire’, and for this reason, Tun Daim must also bear responsibility for the colossal forex losses suffered by Bank Negara.
Tun Daim praised Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein for resigning as Bank Negara Governor and praising such ‘culture of accountability’.

Is Tun Daim prepared to accept such ‘culture of accountability’ himself for his failure to stop such speculative foreign exchange trading by Bank Negara when he was Finance Minister, as such speculative forex trading during his tenure?

Anwar must also bear responsibility for the colossal Bank Negara forex losses.

However, the person who must also bear responsibility for the colossal Bank Negara forex losses, apart from Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein, must be the Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, himself.

As Anwar had assured Parliament last April that he was ‘satisfied’ with Tan Sri Jaffar’s explanation for the 1992 Bank Negara forex losses, why had Tan Sri Jaffar done differently in 1993 with regard to the 1993 Bank Negara forex losses to require his resignation?

In Fact, if the Prime Minister is right that the Bank Negara’s RM5.7 billion forex losses last year are from profits made in forex dealings made in preceding years, there is no need for Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein to resign at all.

Jaffar should be made a Tun instead of having to resign in ignominy if it could be shown that over the years, Bank Negara had cumulatively made more profits from forex speculation despite the colossal losses in the past two years.

If it could be shown that since it ventured into speculative forex trading under his Governorship, Bank Negara had cumulatively made more profits from such speculative forward forex trading despite the colossal losses in the past two years, Jaffar should be rewarded with a Tun instead of having to resign in ignominy!

Dr. Mahathir said last year that there was no need for him to take action against any Bank Negara official, and that “it would not be fair as no one made any compliment when Bank Negara would not be fair as no one made any compliment when Bank Negara made large profits from its foray into the forex markets earlier”.

Dr. Mahathir was being unfair himself, as Malaysians had not known that Bank Negara had been an active forex speculator.

This is why the DAP had called on the Government to present a White Paper to give full details of its annual profits or losses from forex dealings in the preceding years, so that Malaysians can know whether the cumulative profits from Bank Negara forward forex dealings are able to absorb the RM5.7 billion forex losses- let alone the RM30 billion which could be the total forex losses in the past two years!

There are two other reasons why Anwar Ibrahim must bear personal responsibility for Bank Negara’s forex losses.

Anwar Ibrahim said last week that he had directed Bank Negara to stop forward foreign exchange trading when he discovered its forex losses 18 months ago. If Bank Negara had followed his instructions to stop forward forex trading in 1992, then how could Bank Negara suffer RM5.7 billion losses in 1993, on top of the RM10.1 billion to RM13.1 billion losses in 1992?

Furthermore, Anwar Ibrahim had misled Parliament last July when I questioned him whether Bank Negara had suffered more forex losses. Anwar said that this was not true as he had been monitoring the Bank Negara’s forex dealings weekly.

On July 19, 1993, I asked Anwar Ibrahim a supplementary question during question time as to whether at that date, Bank Negara’s provision of Rm2.7 billion contingent liability for forward forex trading in the 1992 Bank Negara accounts had not only been confirmed, but even more forex losses had been incurred.

This is Anwar’s reply, from the Hansard of 19th July 1993(p. 28):
“Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim: Tua Yang di-Pertua, dukacita saya memaklumkan ini satu berita yang kurang baik bagi Yang Berhormat dari Tanjong. Kerugian yang dimaksudkan itu tidak berlaku dan tidak bertambah. Yang Berhormat mahu percaya atau tidak, tetapi saya ada maklumat yang sebenar tentang keadaan tersebut. Saya juga meneliti tiap-tiap minggu perkembangan kerana masalah yang dihadapi sebelum ini…. Saya ingin member jaminan kepada Yang Berhormat bagi Tanjong bahawa perkara ini kita teliti lebih dekat dan kita lebih waspada kerana pengalaman yang lalu.”

In this one short answer, Anwar Ibrahim had misled Parliament and the nation on three matters:

* that by July 1993, the provision in the 1992 Bank Negara accounts for RM2.7 billion contingent liability for forward forex trading had not been confirmed;
* that Bank Negara had not suffered more forex losses; and
* that his weekly monitoring of Bank Negara’s forex dealings would prevent further colossal losses arising from Bank Negara’s forward forex trading.

If Anwar Ibrahim claims that he had directed Bank Negara to stop forward forex trading 18 months ago, and that “there are no new trading arrangements” last year as the central bank unwound its forward positions in the market last year (Business Times April 6, 1994), then Bank Negara should not have incurred RM5.7 billion when its contingent liability provision for such forward forex trading in end- 1992 was RM2.7 billion.
Furthermore, there should not be another provision of RM1.4 billion as contingent Liability for forward forex trading for 1994 in its end-1993 Account.
As forward forex deals are usually for three or six months, this must mean that Bank Negara was still dealing in new forward forex trades at least until June 1993.

Anwar’s claim that there were no new forward forex trading by Bank Negara in 1993 had been contradicted by Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein, who said in his press conference on March 31 as well in his foreword to the 1993 Bank Negara report:

“In the Bank’s 1993 accounts, a net deficiency in foreign exchange transactions of RM5.7 billion is reported, an amount which will be written off against the Bank’s future profits. This loss reflected errors in judgement involving commitments made with the best of intentions to protect the national interest prior to the publication of the Bank’s 1992 accounts towards the end of March 1993. As these forward transactions were unwound, losses unfolded in the course of 1993. In this regard, global developments over the past year had not been easy for the Bank; indeed, they made it increasingly difficult for the Bank to unwind these positions without some losses. For the most part, time was not on the Bank’s side. Nevertheless, this exercise is now complete- there is at this time, no more contingent liability on the Bank’s forward foreign exchange transactions on this account. An unfortunate chapter in the Bank’s history is now closed. ”

This is an admission that until late March 1993, Bank Negara was still dabbling in new forward foreign exchange transactions, with the suggestion that after March, all these forward transactions were unwound.

But the provision of RM1.4 billion contingent liability for forward forex trading in the end-1993 account (Note 12) shows that new forex trading were still being entered into well after March 1993.

Clearly Datuk Seri Anwar and Tan Sri Jaffar are not telling the truth as to when Bank Negara ceased new forward forex trading.

Only a full and independent investigation into the Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses can establish the truth about its forex activities, as well as other important aspects of the Bank Negara forex losses scandal.

Dishonest and unethical accounting is treating the RM5.7 billion in forex losses as an asset item in the 1993 Balance Sheet.

Bank Negara has used dishonest and unethical accounting to manipulate the 1993 Balance Sheet to hide the RM5.7 billion in forex losses so that the losses will not be fully reflected in the accounts. This is done by including the RM5.7 billion forex losses as an Asset item under Deferred Expenditure.

Such treatment of extraordinary forex losses as an asset is most shocking, unacceptable and violates generally accepted accounting principles.

Under any international accounting standards, including Malaysia, such huge forex losses should be treated as an extraordinary ;loss item in the Profit and Loss Account.

Under no circumstances should such forex losses be capitalised and treated as an asset item in the Balance Sheet! How can such losses be treated as an asset item when it is not an asset that benefits Bank Negara but is a huge loss to Bank Negara.

As a charted accountant, Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein should know that it is unethical and dishonest to treat such huge forex losses as an asset to Bank Negara! It is a shame not only to Bank Negara but to all Malaysians for Bank Negara to try to hide the red ink by resorting to such silly methods that any accounting student will spot immediately.

Bank Negara is insolvent - where its liabilities exceed its assets - by RM20.1 billion, and it would have been taken over if it had been a commercial bank.
It is clear that the intention of such malpractices is to hide the fact that Bank Negara is technically insolvent or bankrupt. In accounting terms, the Net Assets is used as a rough indicator of a company long-term solvency, value and financial performance. According to the Bank Negara Annual Reports the net worth or net assets since 1990 are as follows:-
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9520/chart1i.jpg
Bank Negara’s net worth only dropped by RM712 million in 1993 to RM3, 697 million because it only took into account the net operating loss of RM712 million suffered by Bank Negara, not the RM5.7 billion in forex losses. If the RM5.7 billion in forex losses were thaken into account, Bank Negara would have a negative net worth of -RM2, 010 million or is technically insolvent.

Bank Negara is therefore insolvent - which means its liabilities exceed its assets- by RM2, 010 billion, and the Governor and its Board would have been suspended and the bank taken over if it had been a commercial bank!
If Bank Negara is bankrupt, then where is its authority morally or ethically to regulate commercial and merchant banks to ensure that they are solvent and maintains sufficient capital adequacy ratio. What difference is Bank Negara now from Rakyat Merchant Bankers (RMB) which it took over on 3.3.94 because it breached its capital adequacy ratio requirements and was technically insolvent? In fact what difference is Bank Negara now from the 24 Deposit-Taking Co-operatives which collapsed in 1986 or from the other collapsed banks and finance companies which it took over in the past?

Bank Negara has always acted as the lender of last resort and the rescuer of troubled financial institutions. Who is there now to rescue the rescuer that is now in severe financial trouble? And why does Bank Negara not come out cleanly and openly recognize the RM5.7 billion forex losses for what they were as losses in their financial accounts instead of trying to disgrace themselves by trying to package it and dress it up as an asset!

Government should ‘top up’ Bank Negara’s deficiency in net worth so that Ahmad Mohamad Don would not be humiliated in international monetary circles as a Governor of an insolvent Bank Negara.

Bank Negara Malaysia had always been held in high esteem by the international banking community, but this esteem had been lost as a result of Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses in 1992, I understand that at the recent International Monetary Fund meeting, the Bank Negara officials were treated like pariahs by the other central bankers.

With Bank Negara insolvent, how could the new Bank Negara Governor, Ahmad Mohamed Don, stand tall in international conferences with central bankers from other countries?

The Government should ‘top up’ Bank Negara’s deficiency in net worth so that Ahmad Mohamed Don would not be humiliated in international monetary circles as a Governor of an insolvent Bank Negara. Let us remember that the humiliation of the Bank Negara Governor is a humiliation of all Malaysians!

The proper thing for the Government to do is to recognise the insolvency of Bank Negara and to inject RM3 billion in capital into Bank Negara to overcome the RM2.01 billion in deficiency in net worth, give sufficient capital funds for Bank Negara to operate as well as restore the credibility and image of the Bank Negara Governor and other officials with their peers in international conferences.
Or is the Finance Ministry itself out of funds that it could not ‘top up’ Bank Negara’s deficiency in net worth?

Has Bank Negara concealed RM6.1 billion forex losses by revaluation of the quoted investments.

This is not the only accounting malpractice to be found in the 1993 Bank Negara accounts. The revaluation of Bank Negara’s quoted investments are also not taken into account leading to the likelihood that these revaluation gains have been used to conceal even greater forex losses last year than the RM5.7 billion that have been admitted.

Under Notes 1(a) to the 1993 accounts, it is started that the Bank Negara has “now consistently applied” the current cost accounting method for all quoted investments – extending the 1992 change of valuation of gold to mark-to-market basis.

Usually in such a revaluation exercise, there is a revaluation gain because these investments were valued at the original cost they were bought years ago, which was very much lower compared to current prices. This is shown by Other Assets jumping up by RM6.1 billion from Rm3.64 billion in 1992 to RM9.75 billion I n1993 because of the revaluation exercise.

However, this revaluation gain of RM6.1 billion is not recognized or taken into account in the 1993 Balance Sheet as would be required under generally accounting principles. There is no RM6.1 billion increase in either Other or General Reverses Account nor any RM6.1 billion gain in the Bank’s Net Worth.
It is likely that the revaluation gain of Rm6.1 billion has been completely offset by further hidden and secret forex losses. In other words, the 1993 forex losses do not amount only to RM5.7 billion but may be as high as RM12.8 billion!
This is another area which calls for full and independent investigations, as to whether the Bank Negara had concealed RM6.1 billion forex losses by the revaluation of its quoted investments like MAS and MISC.

In my speech on the Bank Negara forex losses in Parliament last year, I had drawn attention to various accounting malpractices in the 1992 Bank Negara Balance Sheet to deceive the public about the extent of Bank Negara’s forex losses.

For instance, Bank Negara and the Government had tried to mislead the public by claiming that Bank Negara had suffered ‘paper losses’. According to Bank Negara’s own 1992 Balance Sheets, its losses were not RM9.3 billion but RM10.1 billion as reflected by the drop in the Other Reserves Account of RM9.3 billion after having transferred in RM800 million. This RM10.1 billion loss can also be double-checked and confirmed by calculating the true drop in its not worth.
In accounting terms, retained profits will increase the net worth of a company and reduce it if losses are incurred. Bank Negara recorded a profit of RM1, 398 million in 1992, of which only RM898 million was retained because the remaining RM500 million was paid to the Government. This is shown as follows:-
http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/3296/chart2.jpg
In other words, assuming no forex losses or gains, Bank Negara should have increased its net worth by RM898 million in profits, its net worth dropped by RM9, 202 million because of forex losses instead of increasing. This means that the true fall in the Bank’s net worth positions is Rm10.1 billion, caused by forex losses of RM10.1 billion. This is an example where Snwar and Tan Sri Jaffar have tried mislead the public by understanding the 1992 Bank Negara’s losses as RM9.3 billion when it should be RM10.1 billion.

Furthermore, there was also the failure by the 1992 Bank Negara’s accountants to take into account the revaluation gain from gold. BNM had changed its accounting practice in 1992 by revaluing gold which they had bought at a low price in the past 20 years ago at current prices. Since the current price is higher than the purchases price, the amount gained would have been included in the Other Reserves Account.

It had been estimated that gold was US$100 an ounce in 1984 just before Tan Sri Jaffar became Bank Negara Governor, but by the end of 1992 its price had now risen to more than US$300. With the further estimate that BNM had Rm1.5 billion at that time, and that this $1.5 billion worth of gold had still been retained, the gold revalued at current prices will be worth more than RM4.5 billion. This gain of more than RM3 billion from such revaluation of gold in 1992 must be reflected in the 1992 Balance Sheet and put in the Other Reserves Account.
The fact that this Rm3 billion gain in revaluation of gold was not taken into account shows that even the gain from gold revaluation was also lost. Just like the missing RM6.1 billion revaluation gain of quoted investments in 1993, it is likely that the 1992 gold revaluation gain was again offset by additional secret hidden forex losses.

In other words, the 1992 forex losses suffered by Bank Negara is not RM10.1 billion not likely to be RM13.1 billion. In 1993, Bank Negara suffered RM5.7 billion for forex losses and RM711 million for net operating loss. Taking into account the RM6.1 billion loss that could be hidden by the revaluation of quoted investments, Bank Negara could range from RM6.4 billion to RM12.5 billion.
Taking both years together, Bank Negara could have suffered forex losses ranging from RM16.5 billion to RM25.6 billion.

How Did RM10.1 billion In Forex Losses Suffered By Bank Negara In 1992 Change From Paper Losses To Realised Losses Within A Year?

In a statement by Tan Sri Jaffar to the press on 20th April 1993, Tan Sri Jaffar denied that Bank Negara lost RM9.3 billion in forex losses and insisted that they were only beek losses- or paper losses. Tan Sri Jaffar even said that such paper losses could even turn out to be a profit. Datuk Seri Anwar confirmed this in Parliament on 27th April 1993 that the RM9.3 billion in forex losses were not real losses but merely paper losses.

The issue is what have occurred in the space of one year for the Government and Bank Negara to now admit that the RM10.1 billion forex losses in 1992 were not paper losses but actually real losses? Such blatant accounting malpractices not only show that the Bank Negara’s financial reports do not represent a true and fair view but that Bank Negara could have suffered more losses and is hiding the real extent of such forex losses.

It is shocking that the Auditor-General Tan Sri Ishak Tadin could still continue to approve Bank Negara’s Accounts that it represents a true and fair view when it is misleading and dishonest and can only harm our international reputation.

Assets Alone Do Not Determine Financial Viability.

Anwar should not be misled by Bank Negara officials that Bank Negara can afford up to RM25.6 billion losses in two years because its assets exceed to RM100 billion. It is such wrong advice that caused Datuk Seri Anwar to come out openly to state last year that the RM10.1 billion in foreign exchange (forex) losses suffered by Bank Negara in 1992 were “paper losses”.

The additional RM6.4 billion to RM12.5 billion losses suffered by Bank Negara in 1993 has proven Datuk Seri Anwar to be embarrassingly wrong that the RM10.1 billion losses were not the same mistake by saying that the country’s financial position will not be affected because Bank Negara’s strong reserves and assets exceeded RM100 billion.

It is true that has reserves and assets of RM100 billion as stated in its 1993 Balance Sheet. But to only concentrate on the assets portion of the Balance Sheet is to miss correctly interpreting the real situation. This is because the Balance Sheet also contains a Liabilities portion that also exceeds RM100 billion.
To fully understand the Balance Sheet to obtain the financial health of an institution is to make a simple calculation of its net worth or net assets. From my explanation just now, Bank Negara’s actual position is not as good as Datuk Seri Anwar said because it does not have assets exceeding RM100 billion but is actually insolvent with a negative net worth of (RM2, 010) million.

It is therefore also wrong for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed to say that the country’s financial positions is not threatened because the forex losses are from profits made in forex dealings in the past. Which ASEAN country’s economy can avoid suffering losses ranging from RM6.4 to RM12.5 billion by its Central Bank in a year without any adverse impact?

Making profits in the past is no justification for losing Rm16.5 billion to RM25.6 billion in two years, especially when as a result of such huge losses Bank Negara’s net worth is now insolvent with a negative net worth of (RM2, 010) million.

How can Bank Negara lose RM712 million as a result of combating inflation in 1993 if it can successfully combat inflation in 1992 and yet also record profits in excess of RM1 billion? Why is 1993 so unusual that when combating inflation Bank Negara has to lose RM712 million?

Why Does A Weaker Ringgit Not Bring About Reserves Gain?

Tan Sri Jaffar said on 20th April 1993 that the RM10.1 billion forex “paper losses” was due to a stronger ringgit because a stronger ringgit would bring about losses in its international reserves. The ringgit appreciated by RM5.63% in terms of the composite basket in 1992. Tan Sri Jaffar said such appreciation was the reason why the forex losses were incurred.

We should therefore expect Bank Negara to make forex gains if the ringgit depreciates. According to the 1993 Bank Negara’s Report the ringgit depreciated or declined by 5.22% in terms of the composite basket in 1993. However instead of recording forex gains, Bank Negara suffered a total loss of RM6.4 billion to RM12.5 billion.

This only shows that massive speculation or gambling in the forex market has resulted in losses which has wiped out any gains from a weaker ringgit.

How much are the forward forex positions? They must be RM30 billion or RM40 billion to be able to incur losses of up to Bank Negara’s admitted forex losses of RM5.7 billion in 1993. What gives the right to one or two persons to have the authority to gamble so much money in the forex market?

Bank Negara forex traders operate in huge lots in the foreign exchange markets. While the market norm is to deal with US$1 million, US$5 million or US$10 million lots, Bank Negara operates in a very aggressive manner, operating in US$50 million lots. I understand that there had also been occasions when Bank Negara operated with US$500 million in one call!

Malaysians are entitled to the full facts of the Bank Negara forex losses scandal. I had last year called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry and I repeat this call.

Royal Commission of Inquiry should inquire whether the total Bank Negara forex losses since 1992 could exceed RM30 billion.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry should first determine the actual extent of the forex losses suffered by Bank Negara since 1992.

I had said that for the two years of 1992 and 1993, Bank Negara’s forex losses could range from RM16.5 billion to RM25.6 billion. The total forex losses could be more when we take into account the RM1.4 billion contingent liability for 1994 arising from forward forex commitments.

Could there be other hidden and secret forex losses in the 1992 and 1993 Bank Negara accounts apart from those who had discussed?

There could be. I will just give one possibility. Bank Negara had been accused for instance of dumping large amounts of ringgit into the market in the closing days of 1993 to buy U.S. dollars, causing the ringgit to fall steeply. That manoeuvre improved Bank Negara’s year-end financial position by raising the value of its currency and gold reserves in ringgit terms.

It is interesting to note that as of November 30, 1993, Bank Negara’s Gold and Foreign Exchange and Other Reserves including SDRs stood at RM60 billion, but within a month by December 31, 1993, it had shot up by RM16.4 billion to RM76.4 billion – and hefty increase of 26 per cent in one month.

Bank Negara’s Gold and Foreign Exchange and Other Reserves including SDRs stood at RM46.2 billion. If it had increased at 26 per cent per month, as happened in the one month of December 1993, Bank Negara’s Gold and Foreign Exchange and Other Reserves would have multiplied to the impossible figure of RM587 billion!

It is therefore possible that the RM16.4 billion increase of Gold and Foreign Exchange and Other Reserves could conceal forex losses, bringing total forex losses to over RM30 billion since 1992.

The first task of the Royal Commission of Inquiry is to ascertain whether Bank Negara’s forex losses since 1992 could exceed RM30 billion.

The second task of the Royal Commission of Inquiry is to ascertain whether there had been any financial` malpractices and abuses in view of the inconsistencies and conflicting explanations about the colossal forex losses.

It is ridiculous for Bank Negara to blame the late delivery of sophisticated computers for causing such huge forex losses. After all, how is it that Bank Negara can not only not lose money but make profits in the past without these sophisticated computers? And how is it that unsophisticated Central Banks of other countries which do not have sophisticated computers do not incur such colossal losses from forward forex operations?

Thirdly, the Royal Commission of Inquiry should establish as to how the Bank Negara could incur such colossal losses.

In fact, Anwar Ibrahim should be able to tell Parliament the size and details of Bank Negara’s foreign exchange losses, by releasing details on Bank Negara’s foreign trans actions, the composition of its reserves, aspects of its intervention operations and its forward commitments in the various currencies.

Last April, Jaffar said that to give details would be “show my hand to the market”, and that “There should be no problems disclosing such information if the bank is no longer in the foreign exchange business.”

Anwar Ibrahim said the same thing in Parliament during question time on July 19.

Now that Bank Negara had announced that it has ceased all forward forex transacyions and that all positions had been unwound, Anwar Ibrahim should have no reason to refuse to furnish all these details about the Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses to Parliament.

What intrigues me is the position of Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the man with direct oversight of the bank’s forex dealings and therefore directly responsible for the colossal Bank Negara forex losses.

Although Nor Mohamed has also submitted his resignation, which takes effect on July 10 after a three-month leave, the talk is that Nor Mohamed would be transferred to a very responsible government-connected position, and the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport has been mentioned.

After the Banks Negara Report on the RM10.1 billion to RM13.1 billion forex losses was made public , Nor Mohamed was appointed senior Adviser to Bank Negara, and he was conferred Darjah Johan Setia Mahkota(JMN) on the birthday of the Yang diPertuan Agong on June 5, 1993.

Malaysians must wonder whether the ‘culture of accountability’ which Daim talks about following the resignation of Jaffar Hussein is a force.

The BN Government must realize that Bank Negara is owned by all Malaysians and these losses cannot just be ignored as irrelevant and unimportant. As shareholders, all Malysians are entitled to demand full accountability and responsibility by all those responsible for the losses to our international financial credibility and funds built up over 37 years- whether he be Bank Negara Government or even Finance Minister.

Tan Sri Jaffar said in his New Delhi lecture in 1989 that when he joined Bank Negara in 1985 from the private sector, he was informed that the main thrust of reserves management in Ban k Negara was to preserve the value of what we have and the main consideration were safety and liquidity. He said he had added a third and fourth dimension: profit optimization and market expertise.

It is finally the failure of these two new dimensions that have led to Bank Negara’s colossal forex losses and the ignominious departure of Tan Sri Jaffar Hussein.

RM30 billion losses would be tantamount to seven or eight years of tax holiday for all Malaysians from having to pay individual income taxes.

The Government has still to convince the people that it is serious about the colossal Bank Negara forex losses which could exceed RM30 billion since 1992.
With RM30 billion, the4 Government can declare a ‘holiday’ for all Malaysians from having to pay individual income tax for seven to eight years!

Let the Government prove its seriousness by establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate into the biggest financial scandal in Malaysia, and for all concerned, starting bear his responsibility fir the colossal Bank Negara forex losses scandal.

Call for urgent appointment. Of PAC Chairman, who should be an Opposition MP, to inquire into the 1993 forex losses of Bank Negara.

I had told Parliament last July that in Mongolia, two former central bank governors and three of their staff were charged in court for negligence and over-stepping their authority in gambling for two disastrous years on the world’s foreign exchange markets, causing a loss of US$90 million.

This is a puny figure compared to the RM30 billion losses that could have been lost by Bank Negara since 1992.

It is most regrettable that the Federal Government has not supported the proposal for the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the colossal Bank Negara forex losses. In fact, the Finance Ministry and the Bank Negara had refused to allow the Public Accounts Committee to conduct a full investigation into the colossal forex losses, and Tan Sri Jaffar did not attend the PAC meeting in July last year to discuss the forex losses.

Now, with a second consecutive year of colossal forex losses, the PAC is unable to operate and meet because it has no chairman as its former chairman, Datuk Dr. Affifudin Omar had been appointed a Parliamentary Secretary.

I call on the Deputy Prime Minister to introduce a motion to appoint a new PAC Chairman without any further delay so that the PAC could meet urgently over Bank Negara’s 1993 forex losses.

The Cabinet and Parliament should accept the established parliamentary convention in Commanwealth Parliaments by appointing an Opposition MP to head the PAC.

This will also show that the Government and Bank Negara have nothing to hide and are not afraid of a full and thorough investigation into the forex losses by the PAC.

[pywong]

EPISODE 18: Selangor government still to end negotiated contracts (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47791-episode-18-selangor-government-still-to-end-negotiated-contracts)


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Monday, 05 March 2012 Super Admin



In August 2008, Khalid Ibrahim announced that Selangor is also going to end the practice of negotiated contracts, just like Penang. But that same year, RM79 million worth of contracts were awarded on a negotiated basis. In 2009 it was RM27 million and in 2010 RM143 million. I do not have the figures for last year but looking at the trend we can safely assume it was in the region of RM100 million.


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER


Raja Petra Kamarudin


Lim Guan Eng in Penang is already practicing the open tender system, so much so that a number of contracts ended up in the hands of Umno people. I suppose that is what transparency is all about. Contracts go to those who are qualified, not to those who belong to your political party.

In August 2008, Khalid Ibrahim announced that Selangor is also going to end the practice of negotiated contracts, just like Penang. But that same year, RM79 million worth of contracts were awarded on a negotiated basis. In 2009 it was RM27 million and in 2010 RM143 million. I do not have the figures for last year but looking at the trend we can safely assume it was in the region of RM100 million.

Okay, so that comes to only RM350 million or so, you may say. That’s not as bad as Barisan Nasional’s billions of Ringgit, you may argue. Well, if you murder one person you are a murderer. 100 people and you are still a murderer. There is no such thing as a small murderer and a big murderer. Murder is murder.

The same goes for the legal work in Selangor. Those who support Pakatan Rakyat or are leaders of Pakatan Rakyat get all the legal work. The legal work does not go to those who offer the cheapest price. Hence the state has to pay a much higher price for its legal work.

Many lawyers who are not Pakatan Rakyat leaders or are not cronies of these leaders are grumbling that they can do the legal work much cheaper or at half the price but they do not get any work. Only those in the ‘circle’ get the work.

Yes, I know, Pakatan Rakyat denies this allegation. Even those Pakatan Rakyat lawyers who do get the legal work say that they did not make the decision to award their own companies the work. ‘Other people’, employees and not partners of their firm, made that decision. Hence there is no conflict of interest since they only work for the firm and are not partners of the firm.

Rafidah Aziz also did not make the decision to award her children shares in public companies. The committee made that decision. She did not even vote on the matter. She abstained from voting.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad also did not make the decision to award his son a quota for car import permits (APs). It was a Ministry of Trade decision. It was a decision made by the AP committee. Rafidah just happened to have headed the committee but then she is only one vote amongst many in that committee.

Shahrizat Jalil also did not make the decision to give her husband and children RM250 million of taxpayers’ money for the NFC project. She is also not involved in the day-to-day running of the business. The officers in her Ministry made that decision. She only happens to be the wife of the person who got the RM250 million.

So why are we screaming about Rafidah, Dr Mahathir and Shahrizat? They are playing by the same rules as Pakatan Rakyat. Other people made the decision, not them, just like other people made the decision to give the Pakatan Rakyat lawyers the legal work.

If the Pakatan Rakyat lawyers are so clean then why are they afraid of making public the list of lawyers who got legal work from the Selangor state government and its agencies? How much have these lawyers been paid so far? And were the jobs tendered out or did they get the legal work based on ‘negotiated’, and at a higher price than what others could do it for?

I remember what Dr Mahathir replied when he was asked as to why he appointed Daim Zainuddin as the Finance Minister of Malaysia. Daim is my friend, he replied. Surely I will appoint my friend, someone I trust, as my Finance Minister. Who in his right mind is going to appoint his enemy?

Yes, and when Dr Mahathir appointed his friend and crony Daim as the Finance Minister we screamed. Now these same people are arguing that surely Selangor will give the legal work to Pakatan Rakyat crony lawyers. When Umno was in power they gave the legal work to Umno crony lawyers. So now it is the turn of the Pakatan Rakyat crony lawyers to get the legal work, and at a higher price. Surely Selangor is not going to give the legal work to Umno lawyers?

Yes, two wrongs always make it right. Cut the crap. Just publish the list of names of the lawyers and reveal whom they are and how much they have been paid thus far. Stop all this nonsense of ‘since you made the allegation then you prove it’.

When Barisan Nasional says the same thing we whack them. When Barisan Nasional simply denies any wrongdoing we get angry. Denial is no defence, we say. When Barisan Nasional asks us to prove that there is wrongdoing we scream.

Okay, prove that Rosmah spent millions shopping in Australia.

Prove that Rosmah ordered that multi-million-dollar diamond ring.

Prove that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had dinner with Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Prove that Dr Mahathir and not Anwar Ibrahim was behind the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex fiasco. After all, in 1992 and 1993, Anwar and not Dr Mahathir was the Finance Minister -- he became the Finance Minister in 1991.

When we say something about the opposition you scream, “Prove it!” But when you make an allegation against Umno or Barisan Nasiional no need to prove it. Must be 100% truth!

Well, I say that in 2008, 2009 and 2010 Selangor gave out RM250 million worth of contracts (same figure as the NFC) on a negotiated and non-tender basis. And the details are below. And if the Selangor government denies this, the next step will be to publish the details of these contracts such as the contract numbers, names of companies and the dates of the contracts. Or maybe I will send them to the MACC instead. Hmm….yes, I think that is what I will do.

*************************
‘No open tenders’: MCA files report Selangor government contracts amounting to RM143 million were not awarded through open tenders, claims MCA.


(Free Malaysia Today, 6 July 2011) - MCA has lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against the Selangor government for alleged discrepancies in the awarding of state contracts.

Selangor MCA public complaints bureau chairman Theng Book said that 44 contracts given out in 2010 amounting to RM143 million were not given through open tenders.
Some of these contracts, he said, were even given out twice.

“After we studied the contracts, we found that there are many, many discrepancies, including contracts that were awarded twice. When given out again, they tendered them again,” he told reporters here.

He added that the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government had also supplied fertiliser above market value.

Theng said MCA raised the matter with Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim on June 22.


He added that Khalid would provide an answer for MCA’s queries at the Selangor state assembly next week.

Theng claimed that the state government tried to convince him that these contracts were awarded before Pakatan took over the state in 2008.

“He (Khalid) is responsible for it. He cannot push everything to the previous state government and leave it open,” he added.

Theng also said that he did not want to wait for Khalid to give an answer at the Selangor State Legislative Assembly next week, and therefore filed the report.

Asked on the nature of these contracts, he said that he could not reveal the details as the MACC report had already been lodged, and they were not allowed to talk about the case.

“If we talk too much, they will know how to cover (up),” he said.

MCA attacked the state government for allegedly reneging on its promise of transparency and accountability in awarding of contracts.

Theng’s deputy Kelvin Chong Seng Foo zeroed in on DAP’s PJ Utara MP Tony Puu, asking him to file a report with the MACC if there were abuses of power.

“As for MCA, we dare to talk, we dare to do it,” he said.
http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/9114/directnego.jpg

[pywong]

Episode 19: Reality and fallacy (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47952-episode-19-reality-and-fallacy)


THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Sunday, 11 March 2012 Super Admin

In a related incident, Deputy Home Minister Johari Baharum was hauled in for interrogation over allegations that he had received a bribe of RM5.5 million to release three underworld bosses. The allegation was made in a one-page website that was later traced to a senior Chinese police officer named Christopher Wan, the Director of the CID.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Lim Kit Siang is up in arms (see his press statement below) about an expose by Malaysiakini today (READ HERE: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/special-reports/47947-bizarre-case-of-ex-igp-ag-and-an-underworld-boss (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/special-reports/47947-bizarre-case-of-ex-igp-ag-and-an-underworld-boss)), which is a rehash of a series of more than a dozen exposes made by Malaysia Today back in 2007.

Yes, that’s right. Malaysia Today had already exposed this matter five years ago. However, no one was prepared to whack the IGP, Musa Hassan, then. Now that he has retired and is a ‘nobody’ they want to whack him. One-time Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam calls this ‘tendang bolah yang sudah kempis’.

Read the Affidavit signed by the IGP’s ADC, Noor Azizul Rahim Taharim, in 2009. This was further to the Affidavits signed earlier by six other police officers and the two signed by underworld figures. In all these nine Affidavits, they pointed to Musa Hassan as the Chinese underworld syndicate boss -- the loan sharking, prostitution, gambling and drugs syndicate.

Do you remember another report about a police officer found shot dead in his car in Melaka? What happened to that case? Why the hush up? And what happened to the police report made by a police officer in Pahang that the MACC had kidnapped his wife and child and forced him to sign an Affidavit to fix up certain police officers who were clamping down on the Chinese underworld syndicate?
At that time Musa Hassan was still the IGP and he wanted to release the underworld bosses who were literally his partners-in-crime. Hence they forced this police officer to say in an Affidavit that the allegations against the underworld bosses were false. When the police officer refused, the MACC kidnapped his wife and child and held them to ransom. Both the police officer and his wife made police reports but no action was taken. Instead, the underworld bosses were released.

Malaysia Today had published copies of those police reports but there was absolute silence from both the government and the opposition (the police officer was not charged for making a false police report either, which means the incident is true). Instead, the police raided my house and confiscated my computer and various documents and I was brought in to the police station for interrogation, one of many such incidences over 2007 and 2008.

In a related incident, Deputy Home Minister Johari Baharum was hauled in for interrogation over allegations that he had received a bribe of RM5.5 million to release three underworld bosses. The allegation was made in a one-page website that was later traced to a senior Chinese police officer named Christopher Wan, the Director of the CID.

Yes, a very senior police officer set up that website -- or rather he paid a Blogger to do it for him. And they suspected that this Blogger was Nathaniel Tan. Do you remember Nat Tan who was working for PKR and Anwar Ibrahim and who was arrested back in 2007? (READ MORE HERE: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/14/nation/20070714182404&sec=nation)

Nat Tan was arrested on suspicion that he was the Blogger who set up that website in collaboration with Musa Hassan and Christopher Wan who wanted to fix up their own Minister. Of course, they never revealed the real reason for his arrest. And the man who arrested him was the same Commercial Crimes Investigation Department Chief, Ramli Yusuff, whom Lim Kit Siang mentioned in his press statement below.

Investigations later proved that the RM5.5 million was not paid to Johari Baharum but to the then Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It was supposed to be election funds for the 2008 general election and it was paid in cash. Johari Baharum was merely the fall guy so that the blame for the release of the three underworld bosses would point to him and hence deflect suspicion from the Prime Minister and the IGP.

Yes, all this and much, much more were revealed by Malaysia Today five years ago. But, of course, many thought it was all just a figment of my imagination. Even when we published the nine Affidavits all these exposes were ignored. It is nice to see everyone now jumping on to the bandwagon to reveal ‘exclusive stories’. I suppose better late than never. Or is it a case of trying to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted?

Anyway, just so that you know, Umno is depending on a huge donation from the Chinese underworld and the Chinese tycoons and businessmen. Yes, even in Sabah and Sarawak the Chinese there have been told to get their cheque books ready. Umno needs RM1.5 billion to finance the coming general election.

Isn’t it ironical? The Chinese readers of Malaysia Today are foaming at the mouth while ranting and raving about Ketuanan Melayu, Pekida, Perkasa, and whatnot. The Chinese readers of Malaysia Today are foaming at the mouth and screaming ABU. Then the Chinese underworld syndicate, business tycoons and millionaires are raising RM1.5 billion to help Umno win the next general election.

And you Chinese got the cheek to call Umno Malays ‘bodoh’! Hah! How can the Umno Malays be bodoh when they can perpetuate institutionalised racism and get the Chinese to fork out RM1.5 billion to help perpetuate it? Aren’t some of you very embarrassed that you were born Chinese?

As I said: what racism are you talking about? The Chinese and Umno Malays need each other. They are like Siamese twins. One can’t survive without the other. The Chinese need the Umno Malays and the Umno Malays need the Chinese. That’s how it works.

By the way, don’t get too disheartened. In all this bad news there is still some good news. And the good news is the Chinese underworld syndicate and business tycoons and millionaires are also financing the opposition. Maybe it won’t be RM1.5 billion like in Umno’s case. But they are going to give at least a few hundred million to the opposition.

This is called ‘hedging your bets’, which the Chinese are very good at. You bet on both horses so that if the second-best horse wins you still get something back and you will not lose all your money. Who knows? Pakatan Rakyat might actually win so this would mean if the government changes you will still have friends in Putrajaya.

As Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said: the Chinese are more pragmatic and not emotional like the Malays. And I believe that.

Anyway, who will the Chinese vote for? Well, it all depends on the underworld Chinese bookies, the illegal gambling syndicate. Yes, you better believe it. The bookies can influence the swing in Chinese votes. If there is money to be made in a Barisan Nasional win then rest assured many Chinese will vote Barisan Nasional so that they can collect their winnings the following day.

That is how it is going to be. This is something the Malays have not learned yet. But trust me, the Malays are beginning to wise up to the fact that there is money to be made in betting on the outcome of the general elections.

Hah! ABU konon! The war cry should be changed to SHOW ME THE MONEY!

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

Media Statement by DAP Parliamentary Leader and MP for Ipoh Timor Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday March 11, 2012:

Are Najib and Cabinet Ministers going to keep quiet about the serious allegations of corruption and subversion of the rule of law in 2007 involving the three topmost officers of the land, the AG, IGP and DG of ACA?

Today, Malaysiakini followed up on the revelations and serious allegations by former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) Chief Datuk Ramli Yusuf during his 60th Leap Year birthday celebrations last month that he was a victim of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail's abuse of his constitutional powers with new information on the “bizarre five-year-old case allegedly involving the country's most powerful police officer, the attorney-general and an underworld figure”.

The question now is whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and Cabinet Ministers are going to keep quiet about the serious allegations of corruption and subversion of the rule of law with regard to the case in 2007 involving the three topmost officers of the land, the Attorney-General, the Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Agency (before it later became Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency).

Malaysiakini reporter Hafiz Yatim said Malaysiakin has possession of documents revealing the history of how a number of whistleblowers - whose information led to the arrest of the underworld figure in 2007 - were forced to implicate six police officers investigating the case.

The whistleblowers signed sworn statements claiming that they were turned over by a team of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers.

The six police officers were subsequently charged with fabricating evidence against the underworld kingpin, but were all eventually acquitted, the last of them in mid-2011.

Najib should not only initiate proceedings for the establishment of a judicial tribunal into the serious allegations by the former CCID director that the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Gani Patail had grossly abused his powers in victimising him and other police officers concerned, but also into several bizarre train of events in 2007, including separate corruption reports being lodged against then Deputy Home Minister, Datuk Johari Baharum (who had by-passed the then Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan and instructed Ramli to conduct investigations into the underworld kingpin), Musa himself as well as the then ACA director-general Datuk Seri Zulkipli Mat Noor – with police investigating the ACA director-general while ACA investigated the IGP, clearing each other!

Ramli has told Malaysiakini that he has new evidence regarding Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's black-eye incident and Malaysian Airlines (MAS) chairperson Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli, who is the beneficiary of another recent RM840 million government bailout.

Public interests demand that there should be a no-holds-barred judicial inquiry not only to get to the bottom of the several bizarre train of events in 2007 at the topmost levels of government, including the serious allegations of abuse of power by the Attorney-General in undermining the rule of law and victimising Ramli and other police officers, but also into the new evidence regarding Anwar's black-eye and Tajudin.
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[pywong]

EPISODE 20: The USD10 million kickback (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48002-episode-20-the-usd10-million-kickback)
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Thursday, 15 March 2012 Super Admin

AASB was told that the matter can be resolved if they agreed to donate USD10 million to PKR as ‘election funds’. AASB was also asked to submit a ‘statement of claim’ for RM70 million for the construction cost of the market in the first phase, which the state will approve. The RM70 million will also include 'compensation' to AASB for the loss it will incur for forgoing the second and third phases.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

This matter involves a privatisation project between the Selangor state government (Selangor) and a company called Azam dan Azan Sdn Bhd (AASB). The facts of the case are as follows:

AASB entered into an agreement with Selangor to relocate the old Selayang market plus a workshop and a multipurpose office owned by Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS). The Agreement between Selangor and AASB was signed on 29th April 1997 with Supplementary Agreements signed on 18th August 1998, 23rd August 1999 and 7th March 2001.

This project is to be implemented in three phases. The first phase comprises of a block of shops, apartments and a modern market with a 30-year concession for the developer (AASB). The second phase has been earmarked for a 10-storey apartment block, while the third phase is a development of 23 units of shop-lots adjacent to the said land. The total land area is 9.8 acres.

The first phase was completed in 2009 with a condition that the road and the widening of the drainage system will be done in the second phase. This area is flood-prone but the drainage system can only be widened in the second phase of development, as the work will involve the relocation of the hawkers to the new site. Hence the removal of the hawkers from that location to the completed first phase is crucial to be able to proceed with the next phase of the development.

As per the Agreement, the Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri (UPEN), with the coordination of MPS, would relocate the hawkers currently occupying the land to the newly constructed market so that the second phase of development can proceed. Once that is done, AASB has three months to pay the premium for the second and third phases of the development. In fact, AASB attempted to pay the premium even before the eviction of the illegal hawkers but it was rejected by the state.

The hawkers refused to move based on the argument that the rental is expensive. The rental AASB is charging is RM200 to RM360 per month depending on the floor area. In fact, this matter had already been agreed by the Hawkers’ Association during their negotiation with MPS and UPEN.

Various alternative options were then proposed to solve the impasse. However, Selangor rejected all of them. The construction cost for the market was RM18 million. Based on a 30-year concession, AASB can recoup around RM9 million at the most. This loss was supposed to have been absorbed in the next phases of development.
Since 2009, nothing much has happened and it remained a deadlock. AASB’s lawyers made numerous attempts to resolve this matter with the state but with little success. It appeared like the state was trying to avoid solving the issue.

Finally, AASB had no choice but to try to seek a ‘political solution’ to their problems. Through one of the PKR Sarawak leaders, Baru Bian, AASB was introduced to the PKR Treasurer and Member of Parliament for Selayang, William Leong. After a few meetings, it was suggested that the matter be brought to the attention of the Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim.

Baru Bian then introduced AASB to Tian Chua, the Member of Parliament for Batu, who is said to have the ears of the Menteri Besar. Tian Chua then took over the handling of this matter from William Leong.

AASB was told that the matter can be resolved if they agreed to donate USD10 million to PKR as ‘election funds’. AASB was also asked to submit a ‘statement of claim’ for RM70 million for the construction cost of the market in the first phase, which the state will approve. The RM70 million will also include 'compensation' to AASB for the loss it will incur for forgoing the second and third phases.

AASB was asked to not pursue the matter of the second and third phases of development any longer but to be contented with the RM70 million ‘compensation’ they will receive -- less, of course, the USD10 million ‘donation’ -- because the land is going to be given to a PKR leader to take over.

Hence, accept the RM70 million ‘compensation’, pay the USD10 million ‘donation’, forgo phases two and three so that the PKR leader can take over, or else receive nothing and make a loss.

Once AASB receives the RM70 million from the state, they are to pay the USD10 million donation as stipulated. AASB's response was: go to hell! They are prepared to sit it out and wait until after the next general election when Pakatan Rakyat will be kicked out of Selangor and the state falls back to Umno.

ADDENDUMS
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[pywong]

Things you didn’t suspect (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48122-things-you-didnt-suspect) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Monday, 19 March 2012 admin-s



There are many unsavory things happening inside PKR that are seldom heard outside the circle of intimates and the next few paragraphs shall attempt to address these issues.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Parlimen Selangor

One. PKR is divided into two factions; one that is only reserved for the Malays and the other the non-Malays. Each will hold their “unofficial” council meetings separately before voting en bloc during the official supreme council meetings. The majority of the time the Malay faction wins, as DSAI is the only one holding veto powers but not all the time as this is done to retain some semblance of democracy within the party.
Two. Who did you guys think set Eli Wong up? BN? Think again. Those photos did not materialise from nowhere and that somewhere points to Gombak and Ampang. Don’t believe this? Well, if you have a close friend high up in the DAP, PAS or PKR hierarchy, ask them and they will confirm the truth about it. Why the Hell do you people think Eli wanted to quit politics? It is definitely not because of what everybody thought happened (that BN set her up) but because everybody (who is anybody) knew where the setup originated from. If BN wanted to set her up, Eli would have been be set up right.

Three. No one denies what Azmin Ali wants and that includes DSAI and Wan Azizah. When Azmin was discovered to have set up Zaid Ibrahim with a photo-shopped picture during the last PKR Party Elections, he got off scot-free. No inquiry and no nothing. Likewise, when Azmin’s name was implicated in the illegal sand mining activities in Selangor, no investigations were initiated, merely a statement stating that the “Azmin” in the taped conversation is not the Azmin Ali but some other Azmin who incidentally wields the same political power as this Azmin Ali. Once again no inquiry and no nothing.

Four. Azmin Ali and Zuraida Kamaruddin are a team and that means that no one can touch Zuraida as well as she is “protected” by Azmin Ali. When the RM18,000 collections went unaccounted for in the Pasar Larut Malam @Jelatek incident, the MPAJ did not dare ask for it even though this amount rightfully belongs to them. When illegal structures were permanently erected around Spectrum Shopping Mall in Ampang as part of “Ampang Walk”, once again MPAJ did not dare dismantle them even when these structures did not possess the necessary municipal permits during the construction stage (or even now). Hell, the YDP of MPAJ doesn’t even dare mention it during the council meetings.

Five. Zuraida used former MPAJ councilor Tan Hua Meng (Ketua Zon Lapan) as her proxy to do her dirty work. It was only when the residents of Ampang forced their way to confront DSAI during one of his ceramahs in Kampung Pandan to express their displeasure and to handover a protest note that Tan Hua Meng was dismissed from being a MPAJ councilor. However, what Zuraida wants, Zuraida gets and Tan Hua Meng was reinstated as a MPAJ councilor less than a year later. Tan Hua Meng is now replaced by Fong Teck Keong (current Ketua Zon Lapan) the building contractor nominated by Tan Hua Meng and Zuraida to erect the illegal Ampang Walk. Coincidence? I think not. Well, at least Tan Hua Meng got his get-out-of-jail card and was able to walk away. Not so lucky for Zakaria Rahim, Zuraida’s former proxy before Tan Hua Meng. Got caught manipulating the books for a mere RM5,000.

Six. The PKR party election scam. Two members register rolls. Zero appeal in the event of a tie (party makes the decision then). Photo-shopped picture of Zaid holding an alcoholic drink. No inquiry performed later when allegations of corruption arose. Anyone backing any candidates against Azmin’s and Zuraida’s chosen ones to be ostracized. Hell, who chose DSAI to lead PKR anyway? Self elected?

Seven. When the proposal for a shadow cabinet was mulled over by Pakatan Rakyat, PKR immediately shot it down. Zaid was the sole individual from PKR supporting it and perhaps here lies the foundation for the breakup between Zaid and DSAI. Why go against the formation of a shadow cabinet? One must first consider who from PKR will be selected. Azmin? Zuraida? And what shadow ministries will they occupy? Azmin wanted to be one of the DPMs but that is not possible, as Tok Guru (PAS) and Karpal Singh or Lim Kit Siang (DAP) will occupy these positions. Zuraida wants Wanita and DAP wants it as well and since DSAI will become the shadow PM, both Azmin and Zuraida may end up shadowing minor ministries (quid pro quo), something they do not want happening. Zaid could possibly end up in a higher position than Azmin and the latter isn’t amused. Remember, what Azmin wants, Azmin gets.

Eight. The criteria for selection as a candidate for both state and parliamentary seats are loyalty (not to the party but strictly to either DSAI and/or Azmin). Qualifications do not matter. Corruption-free is not mandatory. Popularity is not a prerequisite. Potential frogs formally from Umno are welcomed. Any existing Member of Parliament and Member of State Assemblies who do not answer “how high” when asked to jump by DSAI or Azmin are to be dropped in the next GE, no matter what the winning majority was in the previous election (except a few untouchables). To be assured as a parliamentary candidate, one must be nationally accepted (Tian Chua, Michael Jeyakumar, Khalid Ibrahim), a son of a very close family friend to DSAI (Loh Gwo Burne), a family member of the self elected so called Ketua Umum PKR (Nurul Izzah Anwar, Wan Azizah) or belonging to DSAI’s inner sanctum (Azmin Ali, Zuraida Kamaruddin, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Johari Abdul). Do not be surprised that Rafizi Ramli, Dato' Dr. Mansor Othman, Shamsul Iskandar, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Khalid Jaafar, Abd Rahman Yusof, Haniza Talha, Fariz Musa, Zakaria Hamid and Ismail Yusop all get to contest parliamentary seats (notice anything weird in that list?) in the next GE.

Nine. The Azmin Ali long-term plan is to usurp the leadership of PKR and to turn it into another quasi-Umno with the sprinkling of Chinese and Indian representation for show. Zuraida’s long-term plan is to take over as the Timbalan, and along the way collect sufficient funds via proxies to have an “enriched” retirement. What she does not suspect is that Rafizi is also having the same thoughts.

Ten. RPK will never come home to Malaysia regardless of who wins the next GE, both DSAI and Azmin will see to that (should Pakatan reach Putrajaya).

Conclusion: The state of affairs in PKR is like shit. Sorry, it is worse than shit because manure can’t hold a candle to it. If one were to be stuck in it and desires to get out, one would have to look way up to the level of shit and hope one is in it instead of being in the lower-than-dung level one is presently in.

[pywong]

EPISODE 21: On the road to Hajj (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48134-episode-21-on-the-road-to-hajj) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Tuesday, 20 March 2012 Super Admin

Is this how the Barisan Nasional government uses the rakyat’s money? By buying luxury apartments for personal use? It looks like the NFC is not the only case of such abuse of power. KDEB appears to have done the same. And why has MB Khalid kept quiet?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin

In 2007, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) bought two units of luxury apartments in Mecca for a total sum of RM9 million. What is odd about this purchase is that the two units were bought under the name of the then Menteri Besar of Selangor, Khir Toyo, and not under the name of KDEB, even though the purchase price was paid by KDEB and not by Khir Toyo.

What this Javanese MB did not know back in 2007 is that his government was about to be kicked out of office. In fact, he was even so bold as to promise Umno that Selangor would see ‘Zero Opposition’. Bad luck for him. It was more like ‘Umno Becomes Opposition’.

When Pakatan Rakyat took over Selangor in March 2008, they instructed the then KDEB President, Dato Karim Munisar, to transfer the units over to KDEB. For three bloody years, Dato Karim and the Manager of KDEB’s Legal Department, Puan Maziyah, gave so many excuses as to why they are not able to transfer the properties -- such as a foreign company cannot own properties in Mecca, that it is easier to transfer them after selling them to a third party, that the annual maintenance charges have not been paid, hence the developer will not transfer them, and so on.

Only after Dato Karim was replaced with the current President, Encik Suhaimi, and Raja Idris Kamarudin was added to the Board of KDEB, did things start to move. Nevertheless, even after a year, Puan Maziyah still dragged her feet and refused to complete the transfer.

A few weeks ago, Puan Maziyah was removed and almost immediately the transfer of the properties to KDEB were perfected.

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It has now been discovered that the properties could have been registered under KDEB’s name from the very start, as foreign companies can own properties in Mecca, as long as they are meant for personal use and not for rental.

During those five years that the properties were under the name of Khir Toyo, KDEB did not see a single sen in rental, not even during the last fasting month season when the units were fully occupied. The rental went to Khir Toyo, the registered owner of the property.

Why were these two units bought at a price of RM9 million and who has been using them over the last five years? More importantly, who has been collecting the rentals over those five years?

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, the Chairman of KDEB, should launch an investigation on all those involved in the purchase of these units five years ago and report the matter to the MACC.

Is this how the Barisan Nasional government uses the rakyat’s money? By buying luxury apartments for personal use? It looks like the NFC is not the only case of such abuse of power. KDEB appears to have done the same. And why has MB Khalid kept quiet?

If I were to reveal abuses of power in Selangor under the Pakatan Rakyat government, they will foam at the mouth and scream that I am targeting the opposition, that I am unfair to the opposition, that I am trying to bring down Pakatan Rakyat, that I am an Umno agent, that I have turned, that I have been bought, and all that bullshit.

Now I am revealing abuses of power by the Umno government back in 2007, before the opposition took over Selangor. And I am revealing that over the last four years Pakatan Rakyat kept quiet and did not reveal what was going on.

So, what do you want me to now say? That this is all Umno’s fault? Barisan Nasional is to be blamed? This all happened under the previous government?

If I did not expose this would we all know about it? Would they have told us?

Yes, these are the sorts of transactions that are being uncovered by KDEB. No doubt, Pakatan Rakyat is not to be blamed since it happened in 2007. No doubt, this was a crime perpetuated by the previous government.

I don’t care whether this was done by the previous government or the current government. A crime is a crime. And now the shit is floating to the top. When are we going to see the shit hit the fan?

[pywong]

EPISODE 22: After the horse has bolted (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48250-episode-22-after-the-horse-has-bolted) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Saturday, 24 March 2012 Super Admin

Today, Azmin Ali and every man and his dog are whacking Hasan Ali. What do you achieve by whacking Hasan Ali now? I whacked Hasan Ali before the 2008 general election. I whacked him soon after the 2008 general election. But at that time he was the darling of the opposition. So it was sacrilegious to whack someone who is the darling of the opposition. Opposition leaders are sacred cows and are beyond criticism. We must wait until they betray the cause and they abandon the opposition before we are allowed to whack them.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hasan turns to dark side after Selangor victory: His former aide reveals that the axed PAS strongman's demeanour changed when Pakatan Rakyat seized Selangor in 2008. (READ MORE HERE (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/03/24/hasan-turns-to-darkside-after-sgor-victory/))
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Azmin: Hasan Ali spent RM300,000 to spruce up office
(The Malaysian Insider) - Sacked Selangor exco member Datuk Hasan Ali spent hundreds of thousands of ringgit while in office, including some RM300,000 on office renovations, Azmin Ali said today.

Hasan also forked out RM550,000 for a Selangor Malay Customs and Heritage Corp (Padat) conference when he was chairman of the state body, the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman said.

(READ MORE HERE (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/azmin-hasan-ali-spent-rm300000-to-spruce-up-office/))
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Today, Hasan Ali’s former aid revealed that his boss had ‘turned to the dark side’ soon after the 2008 general election. Yesterday, Azmin Ali revealed that Hassan Ali had misappropriated or misused RM850,000 of the government’s money.
I call this: trying to close the barn door after the horse had bolted.

Now, why are Azmin Ali and Hasan Ali’s former aid screaming? Is it because Hasan Ali is wicked, evil, corrupted, etc? Or is it because Hasan Ali is now no longer in Pakatan Rakyat and has gone over to the other side?

No prize for the right answer. It is not because Hasan Ali is wicked, evil, corrupted, etc. It is because Hasan Ali is now no longer in Pakatan Rakyat and has gone over to the other side. If Hasan Ali were still with Pakatan Rakyat there would not have been a single negative word said about him. They would cover up all his misdeeds and if I were to expose him it will be me instead of Hasan Ali who would get whacked.

Those who have been reading Malaysia Today since 2004 and/or have been following the Free Anwar Campaign from 2000 to 2004 would know that I have been pointing at quite a number of personalities over the last 12 years. And I am still doing that till today.

The only problem is, when I point at these personalities while they are still members or leaders of the opposition, many would huff and puff and would get hot around the collar. They will not tolerate any expose of people who are in the opposition. And if I do not whack those who have since left the opposition (or are no longer in power), they would also huff and puff and will get hot around the collar. They will want to know why I am not whacking these people.

Malaysians are a hard bunch to please. They demand that you whack those on the other side. And they demand that you remain silent about those on their same side. That is the issue. It is not about exposing wrongdoing. It is about whacking the enemy and about covering up all the deeds or misdeeds of your friends.

This is not what I signed up for. I signed up to expose misdeeds, never mind who may be the one who perpetuates them. I did not sign up to expose the enemy and to cover up friends. That is dishonest. That is not amar makruf, nahi munkar, the duty of each and every Muslim without exception.

Why scream about Islamic law? Why foam at the mouth regarding a Muslim’s duty to uphold and implement Hudud? Why get upset about respecting Islam and about complying with the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad? At the end of the day, if you can’t do even a simple and fundamental thing like practice amar makruf, nahi munkar, your Islam has just flown out the window.

Those who have been reading Malaysia Today since 2004 and/or have been following the Free Anwar Campaign from 2000 to 2004 would know that I had already exposed Hasan Ali way before the 2008 general election.

What I wrote then was that in the event the opposition (at that time a loose electoral pact since Pakatan Rakyat did not exist until 2008) manages to take over Selangor in the 2004 general election, Hasan Ali wants to become the Menteri Besar.

The problem with this was: Azmin Ali also wanted to become the Menteri Besar. So we would be seeing a battle of the two sons of Ali, Azmin and Hasan. But the opposition failed to take over Selangor in 2004. In fact, the opposition got whacked good and proper, the worse electoral performance ever for the opposition.

And that solved a major problem that was facing Anwar Ibrahim, who was still in jail then. If he allowed Hasan Ali to become the Menteri Besar then Azmin Ali would sulk. And if Azmin Ali became the Menteri Besar then Hasan Ali would sulk instead. Hence, in 2008, when the opposition did take over Selangor, Anwar was forced to appoint Khalid Ibrahim as the Menteri Besar to avoid one of the two sons of Ali throwing a tantrum.

Then, when it became clear that Khalid Ibrahim, and not one of the two sons of Ali, was going to become Menteri Besar, Hasan Ali engaged in secret negotiations with Umno about the possibility of PAS Selangor forming a unity government with Umno Selangor. And if that unity government did happen then Hasan Ali would be appointed the Menteri Besar.

When I exposed this secret negotiation that was going on behind the scenes, and even indulged in a little mischievous devil’s advocacy by suggesting that maybe Pakatan Rakyat should consider a unity government with Barisan Nasional, all hell broke loose. You should have seen the nasty things they said about me.
Actually, Hasan Ali was not the only PAS leader guilty of this secret unity government negotiation. There were other people involved as well. The bottom line is, it was going to be a Malay-based unity government. This would deny the Chinese power in Selangor.

The most important thing though is that the unity government issue was met with an extremely violent opposition. The response was downright vicious. (I should know. I was on the receiving end of these attacks). Many considered the idea itself as downright blasphemous. But do you know that Selangor was brought to the very brink of such a possibility just like the Cuban Missile Crisis in the days of President Kennedy?

Back in early 2000, about six months or so before I launched the Free Anwar Campaign, I decided to call it quits. At that time I had already 23 years of political activism under my belt and I thought that it was probably time to move on. When Marina Yussof offered me a job, I accepted and went to work for her.
A friend by the name of PY Wong phoned me and requested a meeting. He came over to my office and asked me what was the reason I left the party and decided to go back to the corporate world.

I gave him my reasons and he sighed. He told me that he had come to exactly the same conclusion but wanted to hear it from my own mouth. He too felt that Parti Keadilan Nasional had lost its way and, in a mere year, racism and Ketuanan Melayu appeared to be the main agenda of the party.

Anyway, I spent just a few months with Marina Yussof before some friends of Anwar called me and asked me whether I was prepared to launch and manage the Free Anwar Campaign. I agreed and in mid-2000 left Marina Yusoff to manage the Free Anwar Campaign. The fact that the Free Anwar Campaign would operate outside and independent of the party appealed to me. I would never have agreed if the Free Anwar Campaign had been a branch of the party.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Free Anwar Campaign was secretly used by many personalities in the party for the purpose of raising funds. It is illegal for many international organisations to donate to or fund political parties. But they can donate to or fund NGOs, movements, societies, associations, etc., especially if they are human rights or freedom of speech, etc., related.

One of Anwar’s lawyers, Pawanchik Merican -- who was instrumental in the creation of the Free Anwar Campaign, and hence can be considered as one of the ‘founding fathers’ -- asked me in 2004 how much money the Free Anwar Campaign had received. He spoke to me in the presence of my wife.

I told him that over the four years from 2000 to 2004 I had received just RM3,000 -- RM1,000 from Dr Wan Azizah and RM2,000 from Anwar’s brother, Rosli. He shook his head and said that he was under the impression that the Free Anwar Campaign was well funded.

I assured him that RM3,000 was all that I had received and that the Free Anwar Campaign was being funded from my own pocket. I was not being paid any salary either. My wife supports the family by baking cookies and curry puffs, which I go around on my motorcycle to sell.

Pawanchik told me that many personalities in Parti Keadilan Nasional had been raising money in the name of the Free Anwar Campaign. He was shocked that nothing had come to me to help fund the Free Anwar Campaign. He then asked me to just close down the Free Anwar Campaign.

He also told me he had reported this matter to Anwar and that Anwar was aware of the issue. I asked him as to what Anwar’s response was and he replied that Anwar just kept quiet and did not say anything. That was why he was asking me and was also why he wanted me to close down the Free Anwar Campaign.

I replied that I would close down the Free Anwar Campaign in two weeks time and then focus full-time on Malaysia Today. He asked me why two weeks and not immediately. I replied that because in two weeks Anwar will be free from jail. He laughed and said that none of Anwar’s lawyers believe that he would be freed from jail until at least April 2009. I told him Anwar would be freed from jail on a two-one decision on 2nd September 2004.

Now, at this point you may be asking me: what is the point of all this long story and the weekend walk down memory lane? Well, simple really. I knew that some personalities in Parti Keadilan Nasional were using the Free Anwar Campaign to raise money and that the money went into their own pockets. I wanted to expose these people way before 2004 but was told not to.

This is not the time to expose them, was the reply. Why now, so close to the next general election? If I were to speak bad about these Parti Keadilan Nasional leaders then I would be accused of being an Umno agent, a turncoat, a Trojan horse, etc. People will say I have been brought or that I was in Barisan Nasional’s pocket. No one will believe what I say. No one will believe any allegation against Parti Keadilan Nasional leaders. Instead, I will be whacked good and proper. So better I just keep quiet and not ‘rock the boat’.

So I did as advised. I kept quiet. I did not expose them. I kept on going with the Free Anwar Campaign until the day of Anwar’s release on 2nd September 2004. Then, I just quietly moved on to Malaysia Today without a word regarding what I knew.

Then these darlings of the opposition and blue-eyed boys of Anwar Ibrahim betrayed the cause. In March 2004, the ‘Dirty Dozen’ from the party’s Youth Movement, led by Parti Keadilan Nasional’s Information Chief, Ruslan Kassim, left the party to join (or rather rejoin Umno). Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak received them with open arms in a public ceremony. And Ruslan Kassim and the Dirty Dozen condemned Anwar and the party and promised that the opposition was going to get wiped out in the 2004 general election.

And wiped out they almost were, especially Party Keadilan Nasional.

So, this culture of not speaking ill about the opposition leaders and not exposing their wrongdoings and misdeeds is not a new phenomenon. It is a 12-year old culture. And, today, many of these darlings of the opposition and blue-eyed boys of Anwar Ibrahim have turned and are now condemning Anwar.

S. Nallakarupan, Ezam Mohd Nor, Ruslan Kassim, Lokman Noor Adam, Anuar Shaari, Ghani Harun, Hanafiah Man, Zahid Md Arip, Zahrin Hashim, Zulkifli Noordin, N Gobalakrishnan, Zainur Zakaria, and many, many more are now Anwar’s greatest critics. Many more such as Datin Saidatul Keruak, Neil Onn, Marina Yusoff, etc., left without a word.

When Parti Keadilan Nasional was launched on 4th April 1999, it had 20,000 leaders and members. I know because my son, Raja Azman, was put in charge of keying in their names and IC numbers into the computer. So I had a copy of that membership list.

Let’s look at all the states. Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territory. All these 14 regions had leaders and members who signed up in April 1999. How many remain?

Let’s not bother with those who have already left. The list will be just too damn long. It is easier to list down those who still remain. This list is much shorter. Okay, there is Azmin Ali, Tian Chua, Khalid Jaafar, Saifuddin Nasution, Johari Abdul, Dr Xavier Jayakumar, Fuziah Salleh, Haniza Talha, Zuraidah Kamaruddin, Saiful Hizam Ramli….that’s about all the names I can remember from the original 20,000 (maybe I have left out some names so please feel free to add those names to the comments section below).

I have never had much regard for many of these people even back in 1999 when I first started working for the party. And I told PY Wong this when he came to meet me exactly 12 years ago in Marina Yussof’s office. However, instead of exposing them and revealing what these people really are like, I kept quiet and moved on and just did my own thing.

I was ABU back in 1999. In fact, I was already ABU way back in the late 1970s, 35 years ago. And I am still ABU today in spite of what many may be thinking. But it must be the right type of ABU. 12 years of experience with the Parti Keadilan Nasional (now Parti Keadilan Rakyat) leaders have taught me that to keep quiet and cover up the misdeeds of these leaders can be disastrous to the cause. The cause has to be above personalities.

Why close the barn door after the horse has bolted? What will we achieve then? When would be THE RIGHT TIME to expose them? After the damage is done? If after the damage is done, we will merely be able to embark upon damage control. Preemption is always the best strategy.

Today, Azmin Ali and every man and his dog are whacking Hasan Ali. What do you achieve by whacking Hasan Ali now? I whacked Hasan Ali before the 2008 general election. I whacked him soon after the 2008 general election. But at that time he was the darling of the opposition. So it was sacrilegious to whack someone who is the darling of the opposition. Opposition leaders are sacred cows and are beyond criticism. We must wait until they betray the cause and they abandon the opposition before we are allowed to whack them.

Opposition supporters are a pathetic lot. They suffer from a serious case of denial syndrome. They consider opposition leaders as incapable of doing wrong. Only when these people have turned and when they damage the opposition cause can we whack them good and proper. And that is why it is going to be an uphill battle to take over the federal government -- because we live in a make-believe world.

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Ezam is back in Umno

(The Star, 29 May 2008) - Former Parti Keadilan Rakyat Youth leader Ezam Mohd Nor is back in Umno.

Umno president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he welcomed Ezam’s return to the party but he (Ezam) was not promised any party position or privileges.

He said Ezam did not ask for any, but he believed Ezam was only interested in continuing with the party’s struggles.

He also did not join Umno with any condition imposed on him, added Abdullah.
“He wants to come back to Umno and he will continue with the struggles of Umno according to the party’s goal and direction, and not Parti Keadilan.

“So I accepted him,” Abdullah said at a press conference after holding a brief meeting with Ezam at Parliament, here, yesterday.

Ezam also handed his registration form and RM100 for his party’s lifetime membership fee to Abdullah.

Abdullah said what was special about Ezam was that he had left Umno to lead another party but returned after learning that Umno was a better party.

He said he did not hold any discussion with Umno Youth before accepting Ezam back into the party.

He added that any new membership in the party, including Ezam’s return, would boost the party’s strength.

On whether Ezam would be allowed to contest in the party’s election end of the year, he said it would depend on the party’s constitution.

Asked if Ezam’s return would cause internal conflicts or enemies within the party since he was former political secretary to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Abdullah said “no’’.

He also said Ezam had changed his mind now although he used to criticise Umno when he was in PKR.

However, Abdullah said if there were other PKR members who wanted to join Umno, the party had to “look at who the person is first”.

[pywong]

EPISODE 23: The Anwar Ibrahim-Quek Leng Chan Saga (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48288-episode-23-the-anwar-ibrahim-quek-leng-chan-saga)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Tuesday, 27 March 2012 Super Admin

The purpose of the loan was for the purchase of Inchcape Timuran shares and to purchase Kewangan Bersatu Berhad KBB, which had a finance licence. KBB was owned by Ishak Ismail, an Anwar crony and the Umno Penang Treasurer who controlled Idris Hydraulic, another Umno company. Anwar was then the Umno Penang chief. The RM420 million was dispersed but the KBB acquisition never took place. So what happened to the money? Where was it siphoned? Who hijacked it? That is what the court case this week will establish.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin

In May 1982, the MUI Group, which is headed by Tan Sri Dato Khoo Kay Peng, acquired Kwong Lee Bank Berhad. Khoo Kay Peng was a strong ally of Tengku Tan Sri Razaleigh Hamzah (Ku Li), Malaysia’s Finance Minister from 1976 to 1984. On 2nd February 1983, Kwong Lee Bank Berhad was renamed Malayan United Bank Berhad (MUI Bank).

Those in the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM) were extremely unhappy about what they viewed as a close relationship between the Finance Minister and this Chinese business tycoon. For this reason, most members/leaders of the MCCM, who invariably were also Umno members and/or leaders, supported Musa Hitam in the tussle between Ku Li and Musa for the Umno Deputy Presidency.

The joke around town at that time was that Ku Li and ‘Ku’ Kay were brothers from different mothers and separate fathers. Because of this perception, that Ku Li was a ‘tool’ of the Chinese, in particular of Khoo Kay Peng, Ku Li twice failed in his bid for the Umno Deputy Presidency. His ‘Chinese sympathies’ lost him the Deputy Prime Ministership of Malaysia at a time when the New Economic Policy (NEP) was on its final leg and the future of the Malays was in question. Hence a more ‘Malay’ Musa Hitam was preferred over a ‘Chinese tool’. The anti-Ku Li campaign was: kalau Anak Raja naik, maka Cina akan bermaharaja di Malaysia.
Such is how business is done in Malaysia. Chinese business tycoons need Umno Malay benefactors to get things done. And in very ‘sensitive’ cases, such as banking licences, in particular ‘backdoor’ banking licences like in the case of the MUI Bank, your relationship with the Finance Minister and/or Prime Minister is extremely crucial.

None of the MCCM or Umno members/leaders had any reservations that Khoo Kay Peng’s success in his backdoor banking licence was because of his link to Ku Li. They would swear on their mother’s grave that know-who and not know-how is the key to success in Malaysia’s highly political environment. And for that Ku Li had to pay, and pay dearly, with his political career. As they say, perception is everything and the MUI Bank episode was the ‘evidence’ required to create this perception of Ku Li’s ‘Chineseness’. What was most puzzling is that Ibrahim Ali, the PERKASA head, was Ku Li’s campaign manager in the 1987 tussle that would follow.

In 1987, Ku Li challenged Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the Umno Presidency, and thus also for the Prime Ministership of Malaysia, and lost. Soon after, he left Umno (or rather Umno left him when Umno Baru was formed) to form his new party, Semangat 46. That was the end of Ku Li’s political career and of his hope of reaching the pinnacle of power. And this too meant the end of Khoo Kay Peng. His link to the ‘right’ political masters took a nosedive and it was only a matter of time before he would lose his flagship, his MUI Bank.

In Malaysia, one can’t own a bank and be on the wrong side of the political divide, as many a banker has since learned -- and the list is endless.

In 1991, Anwar Ibrahim became Malaysia’s Finance Minister. The whisperings in the corridors of power was that this was the wish of Tun Daim Zainuddin who wanted to retire to focus on his many business interests but wanted ‘his man’ to take over so that he would not expose himself to any risk with the appointment of a ‘hostile’ Finance Minister.

Everyone in the MCCM at that time knew that Anwar was Daim’s proxy and that Daim was still the de facto Finance Minister. There was many an occasion when the MCCM met up with Anwar to try to resolve issues affecting the Malay business community and Anwar would reply that he would have to check with Daim first. No one doubted that Anwar was Daim’s kuda (horse), as he was infamously labelled then.

In 1993, Anwar took over the post of Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister after ousting Ghafar Baba in what many say was one of Umno’s dirtiest party elections ever. Some say as much as RM200 million was spent to oust Ghafar -- the beginning of Umno’s scourge of ‘money politics’, the ‘black culture’ that Umno has to grapple with today. Others put the figure as much higher.

Nevertheless, whatever the figure may have been, it was in the hundreds of millions. What many did not know, and which was the main bone of contention: where did Anwar get his hands on such a large sum of money?

On 3rd January 1994, the Hong Leong Group Malaysia, which is controlled by another Chinese business tycoon, Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, acquired MUI Bank Berhad through Hong Leong Credit Berhad. MUI Bank was renamed Hong Leong Bank Berhad (HLBB).

Initially, another Chinese business tycoon, Tan Sri Dato Vincent Tan Chee Yioun, through his vehicle Berjaya Corporation, made a bid for the bank. It was rumoured that Khoo Kay Peng did not really want to sell his bank but was under pressure to do so. His link to Ku Li, the Semangat 46 leader, had cost him his bank. Chinese business tycoons rise and fall alongside their Umno political bosses. It is the hazards of doing business using Umno leaders as your benefactor.

The whisperings in the corridors of power at that time was that Vincent Tan was told to “back off because Anwar wanted the bank”. Being the obedient servant that he always is, Vincent Tan backed off so that Quek Leng Chan could have the bank instead.

But Vincent Tan did not walk away empty-handed though. As compensation, he was allowed his Sports Toto ‘special draw’, a project which Anwar crony and tennis partner, S. Nallakaruppan, was in charge of. The Sports Toto special draw was a very lucrative cash cow that made enough money for some of it to filter back to Umno as ‘election funds’. It is said that this was the basis of the relationship between Anwar and Nalla, the special draw cash cow.

HLBB was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange on 17th October 1994 with its total paid up capital enlarged to RM470 million.

Again, just like Khoo Kay Peng could not get his hands on a bank without his link to the then Finance Minister, Ku Li, Quek Leng Chan also needed the good office of the Finance Minister to finally realise his dream of owning a bank -- something he had been attempting to do in Singapore for quite some time but which Lee Kuan Yew violently opposed. Yes, in Singapore too your links to the political masters is crucial in getting things done -- hence so much for the fallacy of Singapore being ‘squeaky-clean’.

But there is a dark secret behind the Quek Leng Chan-Anwar Ibrahim relationship. And that dark secret is about to come out of the closet. Tomorrow, on Wednesday, 28th March 2012, a case is going to be heard in court. And this case involves conflict of interest and the siphoning out of money of an amount of RM445 million. The issue of how the bank’s money was siphoned out is not the most interesting part of the story. What is would be where the money went to and what it was used for.

And this is how the story goes.

On 24th March 1997, a syndicated loan of RM420 million was obtained under the names of eight people, all who were acting as nominees for certain people -- RM420 million was the original loan amount with an additional RM25 million given to Faiz Abdullah to cover the outstanding interest. The syndicate lenders were Hong Leong Finance, Sime Bank Berhad, BSN Commercial Bank (Malaysia) Berhad and DCB Bank Berhad. The arrangers of the loan were Hong Leong Finance Berhad and HLG Capital Markets Sdn Bhd.

The purpose of the loan was for the purchase of Inchcape Timuran shares and to purchase Kewangan Bersatu Berhad KBB, which had a finance licence. KBB was owned by Ishak Ismail, an Anwar crony and the Umno Penang Treasurer who controlled Idris Hydraulic, another Umno company. Anwar was then the Umno Penang chief. The RM420 million was dispersed but the KBB acquisition never took place. So what happened to the money? Where was it siphoned? Who hijacked it? That is what the court case this week will establish.

Anwar was about to make his move on Dr Mahahir so he needed to fatten his war chest. It cost him RM200 million to bring down Ghafar. It would cost him much more than that if he wanted to bring down Dr Mahathir. Hence, it was important for Anwar to control the financial institutions, his intended source of cash, as he did with the Umno media group when his boys did the RM600 million MBO.

Anwar realised that to oust Dr Mahathir he would need to surround himself with powerful ‘money people’ who would have the financial resources to fund the exercise. While Dr Mahathir had people like Ananda Krishnan, Francis Yeoh, Vincent Tan, Daim, etc., to finance his political moves, all Anwar had were people like Tong Kooi Ong, Chan Ah Chye, TK Lim, Kamaruddin Jaafar, Ishak Ismail, etc., and to a lesser extent Rashid Hussein and Azman Hashim. Halim Saad and Tajuddin Ramli were also beginning to get close to Anwar who they viewed as the heir apparent.

The joke that Anwar’s people told then was that you must first fatten the cow before you can milk it. However, while Dr Mahathir had fat cows, Anwar’s cows were pretty thin so they needed to be fattened a bit.

One person, who decided to place a huge bet on Anwar becoming the next Prime Minister, after ousting Dr Mahathir of course, was Quek Leng Chan. This was the same man who got his bank under Anwar’s watch. While both Anwar and Quek handled the planning of their manoeuvres, the actual implementation was left to Nazri Abdullah, Anwar’s warlord currently living in London (and one of the beneficiaries of the RM600 million media MBO), and Seow Lun Hoo, Quek’s warlord.

To pull this off, it would require creating shell companies with trusted persons to front it and act as nominees. And access to large amounts of funds would be required. This was where Quek Leng Chan’s and Hong Leong’s financial clout were very crucial. And the Mister Fixit was Seow Lun Hoo.

The Inchcape Timuran deal was executed by Seow, together with Faiz Abdullah, an Anwar crony and lawyer -- who was also one of Anwar’s speechwriters, just like Dr Munawar Anees who was later jailed for six months on charges that he had allowed Anwar to bugger him.

The plan was to use the RM420 million syndicated loan facility to acquire Inchcape Timuran and KBB. KBB, which had a finance licence, would then borrow from another financial institution to repay the original loan from Hong Leong. And the beautiful part about this whole thing is: KBB was already owned by Ishak Ismail, Anwar’s Treasurer from Penang. So it would be merely transferring money from one pocket to the other.

To fatten the cow further, they planned to inject into the company 2,500 acres of RRI land in Sungai Buloh that would be privatised at RM250,000 per acre. This land, which would have been a RM625 million deal, was practically a goldmine and in the middle of a massive development. This would be the new ‘Golden Triangle’ in the Kelang Valley.

It is most ironical that Anwar protested recently when Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak talked about this same privatisation proposal. Anwar is objecting to something he was going to do and would have done had he not been ousted in September 1998.

Anwar successfully ousted Ghafar by using Sabah. If he can do it once then he can do it again. The money from the loan was supposed to ensure that he had the support of key Umno players in Sabah and elsewhere. However, everything fell apart when the Asian Financial Crisis hit soon after and Anwar was subsequently ousted and arrested in September 1998.

And now the case has come to court. And in this court hearing a lot of shit is going to hit the fan. We are going to hear about nominees, front men, fall guys, beneficiaries, benefactors, and a lot of conspiracies and counter-conspiracies that are going to make your head spin.

The end game was to take over the seat of the Prime Minister. The game plan was to raise as much money as possible to finance this exercise. The vehicle was Hong Leong. The financial planner was Rashid Hussein. The fixer was Quek Leng Chan. The executor was Seow Lun Hoo. The face of the deal was Faiz Abdullah. The fall guys were eight nominees under whose names the loan was obtained. The sweetener was the ‘gold mine’ RM625 million RRI land in Sungai Buloh.

It was supposed to have been a win-win situation whereby all would live happily ever after. But, as usual, there must always be a spoiler. And the spoiler was Dr Mahathir who refused to roll over and play dead but chose instead to fight back.
If you have some free time, do attend the hearing tomorrow and witness what is going to be revealed in court. This is probably going to be a more exciting case than Anwar’s Sodomy 2 trial.

As I have always said: behind every Malay Umno politician is a Chinese business tycoon. The Chinese need the Malays to get ahead. The Malays also need the Chinese to get ahead. The Malays have political power and know how to abuse this power. The Chinese have economic power and know how to invest their money in the right politician.

But sometimes the Malay Umno politicians do miscalculate their political moves. And sometimes the Chinese business tycoons do make a bad investment. And in this case about to be heard in court, we shall be told how Anwar Ibrahim and Quek Leng Chan bit of more than they can chew and are now suffering the pains of indigestion.

But why is Hong Leong suddenly resurrecting an old case from 1997 that had long disappeared from the radar screen? Why not let sleeping dogs lie? After all, a massive loan of RM445 million was given to eight nominees who in the first place were not qualified to get a loan of that amount and certainly do not have the means to pay back the loan even if you win the case.

Well, Quek Leng Chan is now in the government’s bad books and he is worried. He knows that Anwar will never become Prime Minister unless Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government. But Quek Leng Chan has written off any possibility of Pakatan Rakyat taking over the federal government -- hence also the chances of Anwar becoming Prime Minister. So, Quek Leng Chan is washing his hands of Anwar and is hoping that by taking this case to court it will be revealed that Anwar is the person behind this whole thing. This is Quek Leng Chan’s way of wiping the slate clean and proving to the government that he is no crony of Anwar (if not why would he take this case to court?).

But the court case may backfire on Quek Leng Chan. Not only will Anwar be exposed but Quek Leng Chan’s role will be revealed as well. And this case will be an albatross around both Anwar’s and Quek’s neck. Don’t we live in most interesting times?
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[pywong]

EPISODE 24: Don’t talk about Kelantan, look at Selangor (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48567-episode-24-dont-talk-about-kelantan-look-at-selangor)





THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Monday, 09 April 2012 Super Admin



The Current Assets for 2011 was RM1,739,983,000. The Current Liabilities for 2011 was RM2,388,970,000. All these indicate that Puncak Niaga is a bankrupt company (PN17) and should not be allowed to continue managing the water resources in Selangor and that the Privatisation and Concession Agreement should be terminated.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kelantan rapped for not providing clean water

PROLONGED ISSUE: Supply to 39 schools in state at critical level, warns deputy minister

THE Pas-led Kelantan government needs to do more in providing cleaner water to the rakyat in the state, especially in schools, the house was told yesterday.

Deputy Education Minister Dr Puad Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) said his ministry was working with the Health Ministry to look into improving the water quality in Kelantan. However, Puad said efforts should not be done only by the Federal Government. He added that the state government must also step in and look at the problem seriously.

"We are urging the state government to take the issue seriously as it has been prolonged. Perhaps, the state government would want to consider setting up a steering committee to look into possible solutions to solve the water problem."

Puad was replying to a question by Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Ind-Pasir Mas) on whether the Education Ministry intended to implement water supply projects in the state as the students have long been supplied with contaminated water that affects their health. Puad said the education ministry had identified 39 out of 77 schools in Kelantan which were at a critical level of water supply.

"Several initiatives have been taken by the ministry to improve the situation. The Health Ministry has sent their officers to monitor the water condition in Kelantan and the ministry is trying to look for alternative water sources for the schools."

Puad also urged the state water management company, Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd, to increase the quality of water to the schools.

In 2009, the Auditor-General's Report stated that the quality of water supply in Kelantan did not meet the standards set by the Health Ministry. The report had stated that Air Kelantan did not place priority in cleaning its water pipes. Kelantan has 28 water treatment plants.

Puad said the government had allocated RM27.3 million since 2008 for the construction of 91 tube wells. Of that number, 83 have been completed while the remaining eight are still under construction, he added. -- New Straits Times

*************************************That was what the New Straits Times reported on 27th March 2012 regarding the water problem in Kelantan. Actually, I had already written about this 12 years ago on 28th September 2000 in an article called: Killing the Kelantanese with no water. I again wrote about it last year on 23rd November 2011 in an article called: You first have to know the meaning of the word (read the article here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/45210-you-first-have-to-know-the-meaning-of-the-word (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/45210-you-first-have-to-know-the-meaning-of-the-word))

Okay, while Umno and Barisan Nasional scream about the water problem in Kelantan, allow me to also scream: but this time about the water problem in Selangor. Both states, incidentally, are under Pakatan Rakyat administration, but the problem in Selangor is different from that in Kelantan.

The Selangor State Government has been having a long-running battle with the Barisan Nasional Federal Government regarding the consolidation of the water industry in Selangor -- to place it under a company 100% owned by Selangor and to dismantle the privatisation of the water industry currently under the control of water concessionaires.

The main obstacle in getting the Federal Government to agree to this plan is, of course, because of the involvement of Umno cronies in the Selangor water industry, namely Tan Sri Rozali Ismail (picture below) through Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd (PNSB) and PNSB's subsidiary, SYABAS.
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Tan Sri Rozali Ismail, shareholder and Chairman/Director of Punck Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd.

Through the consolidation of the water industry, Rozali will stand to lose a colossal amount of money as he has over-extended himself and will only agree to a pricing that recognises his "future loss of business and profits".

Selangor, understandably, will not agree to compensate him for future profits as the State Government’s contention is that the pricing must be based on the assets to be taken back from the concessionaires, which they had earlier acquired from Selangor.

A closer look at the financials of PNSB will tell the story as to why Rozali needs to cover “future profits”. His companies are more or less bankrupt so he wants to make money the quick way at the expense of Selangor and the Malaysian taxpayers.

Please note that when Rozali was given the water concession and the privatisation rights, he was then the Treasurer of Umno Selangor. And do you have to be a genius to figure out where the bulk of the "funds" derived from the privatisation went to?

In short, as in most of these cases, Rozali was acting as a front for Umno and the money went into Umno’s pocket. Now do you know how general elections are reduced to BUY-elections?
Just like in the Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli and MAS case, I suppose, Rozali must be saying to himself: why should I carry the loss alone since this scheme was to enrich Umno and I was merely Umno's nominee?

To further understand the numbers, please read the following documents:
1) Puncak Niaga Financial Statement FYE 2011 (http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/Puncak-Niaga-FYE-2011.pdf (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/files/Puncak-Niaga-FYE-2011.pdf)).
2) Puncak Niaga Announcement on PN17 Waiver (http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/Puncak-Niaga-PN17-Waiver.pdf (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/files/Puncak-Niaga-PN17-Waiver.pdf)).
3) Puncak Niaga Financial Statement FYE 2010 (http://www.malaysia-today.net/files/Puncak-Niaga-FYE-2010.pdf (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/files/Puncak-Niaga-FYE-2010.pdf)).

1) From Puncak Niaga’s Financial Statement FYE 2011, in particular the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Financial Position on page 4, you will see that:
a) The Current Assets for 2011 was RM1,739,983,000
b) The Current Liabilities for 2011 was RM2,388,970,000
(This gives the company a Nett Current Liability position of RM648,987,000)
c) The total equities is in deficit to the tune of RM16,053,000
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All these indicate that Puncak Niaga is a bankrupt company (PN17) and should not be allowed to continue managing the water resources in Selangor and that the Privatisation and Concession Agreement should be terminated.

2) From the Puncak Niaga Financial Statement FYE 2010 on page 259, you will see that:
i) The Executive Directors’ Remunerations amount to RM15,580,872
ii) One of them earned between RM6,800,000 to RM6,900.000

Given the above and also:

1) That PNSB/SYABAS has not been able to reduce the Non-Revenue Water -- which currently is above 30% (when it should be not more than 20%) -- due to non-replacement of pipes, as provided in the Concession Agreement.

2) That SYABAS has been paying the water treatment companies only about 40% of their bills since Pakatan Rakyat took over the state government. (The companies are now suing SYABAS for about RM2 billion in unpaid bills).

3) That SYABAS has also refused to approve the water supply for new development projects in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, thus jeopardising the Selangor as well as the Federal Government's ‘Transformation Plan’ -- as no new development projects, residential, commercial and industrial, will be approved by SYABAS.

The relevant questions that we now need to ask are:

1) Why is it that the Federal Government will not allow Selangor to terminate the Concession Agreement with PNSB and SYABAS?

2) Why is it that the Bursa has given PNSB a waiver when clearly it is already a bankrupt company?

3) Why is it that the Federal Government will not insist that SYABAS approve water supplies for new development projects in Selangor?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is going around Selangor telling the business community that all these water issues will be resolved once and if Barisan Nasional were to win back Selangor, just like they are telling the Kelantanese that they will get better quality water once and if Umno wins back Kelantan -- in the meantime you can die of Cholera, which many are.

Of course, this will be at the expense of the rakyat, as SYABAS has been asking for a 37% increase in the rates since 2009 -- as provided for in the Concession Agreement -- and another 25% increase, supposed to be in 2012.

So, if Barisan Nasional were to win back Selangor, all the government needs to do is to approve the rates increase, as requested by SYABAS, and pay them back the amount of "short-fall" in their billings for the last few years since Pakatan Rakyat took over the state in March 2008.
In short, it will be a windfall for SYABAS if Umno takes back the state -- just like how the government has promised the FELDA settlers and every man and his dog a “windfall” if Barisan Nasional wins the coming general election.

The bottom line is: Umno just can’t afford NOT to win back Selangor. There is just too much money involved here. And that money is our money, money belonging to the Malaysian taxpayers.

Do you need one reason why Pakatan Rakyat must not lose Selangor? I can give you many billions of reasons. And those billions are tied to just one issue: the water privatisation in Selangor and the billions, which have gone, and which will continue to go, into Umno’s pockets.

[pywong]

EPISODE 25: The invisible web (of deceit) - part 1 (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/48640-episode-25-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-1) THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48640-episode-25-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-1

Thursday, 12 April 2012 Super Admin


MMC-Gamuda JV (MGJV) belongs to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and the Perak Royalty. Gamuda, on the other hand, is owned by the Perak Royalty. Hence, looking at the players alone, you will realise that this is no ordinary case. But why are these people, being the power scions of the country, quarrelling publicly? What is the real story? Why are all the Umno-aligned newspapers so reluctant to report this case? Why is The Star reporting it in such a coy fashion, quite unlike the way it reports on other controversial cases?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin

No, when Malaysia Today tells a story, it is never a short story. It is always a long story, or what the Chinese would call cheong hei. And it is not only always cheong hei. It is also normally linked to other stories. Yes, that’s right. You may have read many of these stories before. But what you probably did not notice was that many of these stories are actually connected to one another.
Hence the title of today’s story: The invisible web (of deceit).

Last week, Malaysiakini and The Star reported about the on-going trial before Judge Rosilah Yop in the Kuala Lumpur High Court where NR Sistem Sdn Bhd and three others are suing the MMC-Gamuda JV (MGJV). The amount under dispute is RM360 million for services rendered to revive the National Double Tracking Rail Project.

Many of you who still read the government-controlled mainstream media (MSM) -- while complaining that the MSM cannot be trusted and yet you still believe what it says (talk about the height of stupidity) -- may have noticed that there was a media blackout on this case. Even the report by The Star made this issue appear like it was just an ordinary case of breach of contract.

Well, as I have said before and I will say it again: Malaysia Today is not concerned about ‘normal stories’. Malaysia Today focuses on the untold stories. What Malaysia Today wants to talk about is the political intrigue and the behind-the-scenes goings-on about those who walk in the corridors of power. So let us now talk about what many of you thought was a mere civil case between two groups of people involving a dispute regarding money. There is actually more than meets the eye here.

So sit back, take your shoes off, put you feet up, bring out the popcorn, and read on.

First of all, if you were to look at who is the suer and who is the suee -- okay, I invented those words, so sue me -- you will realise that this case is far from being an ‘ordinary’ case of breach of contract. You need to take note of the personalities behind this case. As they say: it is the singer, not the song. So let us look at the ‘singers’ involved in this case, in particular those who are singing like a canary.

The three co-plaintiffs together with NR Sistem Sdn Bhd are Seow Lun Hoo, Shah Hakim Zain and Mansur Ghazali. And the defendant is the powerful MMC belonging to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, the Arab Bumiputera whom Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad nurtured as the new Corporate Czar of Malaysia, plus Gamuda, the flagship of the Perak Royal Family -- infamous for unconstitutionally giving that state back to Barisan Nasional.
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Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary

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The Perak Royal Family

Seow was formerly the President and CEO of Hong Leong Credit and Leasing Bhd. Only two weeks ago, he was the centre of another controversial case involving businessman Low Thiam Hoe who alleged that Seow masterminded the syndicated loan of RM445 million given to Anwar Ibrahim’s cronies back in 1997 -- and which was later sabotaged on the instructions of Hong Leong’s Executive Chairman, Quek Leng Chan.

Like most Chinese business tycoons, Quek was hedging his bets on both Anwar and Dr Mahathir during the fallout between the two in 1997. That’s right, these slime-ball and scumbag Chinese always put their money on both horses so that whoever wins they would still benefit. Hence, when Dr Mahathir sacked Anwar, Quek quickly washed his hands clean by immediately cancelling and recalling the loan, thus bankrupting Anwar’s boys.

(Read EPISODE 23: The Anwar Ibrahim-Quek Leng Chan Saga here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48288-episode-23-the-anwar-ibrahim-quek-leng-chan-saga (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/48288-episode-23-the-anwar-ibrahim-quek-leng-chan-saga))
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Shah Hakim Zain
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Kamaluddin and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Shah Hakim of Scomi Group Bhd is widely known as the close associate and former schoolmate of Kamaluddin Badawi, son of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah). Back in 2006, during Pak Lah’s era as Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir lamented that all the country’s major businesses, contracts and projects were being channelled to his son, Kamaluddin.
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Dr Mahathir in 2006 complaining about ‘the corrupt acts’ of Pak Lah, Khairy Jamaluddin and Kamal Badawi

Hence, to stay below the radar screen and not attract too much attention to the ‘First Family’, Kamaluddin played the behind-the-scenes role and kept his hands hidden. Shah Hakim would emerge as the gatekeeper and toll-collector for the ‘First Family’ while Kamaluddin quietly pulled all the strings, or rather the big cables, in the background.

Did I not say that in Malaysia it is know-who and now know-how that is the secret to success?

(Read Partners through thick and thin by The Star dated 7 August 2010 here:
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/7/business/6813021&sec=business)

In the controversy involving another of Scomi’s shareholder, BSA Tahir, the United States implicated Scomi in the crime of smuggling uranium-enriching equipment to Libya. This was another issue that angered Dr Mahathir, together with the Oil-For-Food scandal, which Dr Mahathir felt Pak Lah should take responsibility for and resign as Prime Minister since his named was cited in the United Nations report.

(Read The BSA Tahir and PI Bala sagas here: http://malaysia-today.net/archives/archives-2010/30465-the-bsa-tahir-and-pi-bala-sagas)

In response, Pak Lah told Dr Mahathir to go to hell and that he was not going to be just a one-term Prime Minister. That meant the end of Pak Lah. There was no way Dr Mahathir was going to allow Pak Lah to continue even if that meant Najib Tun Razak would be taking over as the new Prime Minister. You see, Dr Mahathir shares the same ideology as many Pakatan Rakyat people: that is, work with the lesser of the two evils. Hence, since Najib too may have his baggage, at least Najib can be controlled while Pak Lah was now out of control.

Meanwhile, the former IGP, Musa Hassan, declared that the Police investigation had cleared Shah Hakim and other Scomi officials of any wrongdoing, a slap in Dr Mahathir’s face. When the US sanctions on him and Scomi were lifted, Shah Hakim issued a statement saying: "I am grateful to all who have helped, guided and supported Scomi Group and I for the past few years, in particular to the Government of Malaysia and all the agencies”.

As a reward for clearing the 'First Family' of any wrongdoing, Musa Hassan’s contract as IGP was extended -- despite all the allegations of abuse of power and the controversy of his links to the Chinese underworld that controlled the drugs, prostitution, loan shark and gambling syndicate.

MMC-Gamuda JV (MGJV) belongs to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and the Perak Royalty. In fact, name any major business and project in the country and it would probably be owned by the Syed Mokhtar group. Gamuda, on the other hand, is owned by the Perak Royalty. Hence, looking at the players alone, you will realise that this is no ordinary case.

But why are these people, being the power scions of the country, quarrelling publicly? What is the real story? Why are all the Umno-aligned newspapers so reluctant to report this case? Why is The Star reporting it in such a coy fashion, quite unlike the way it reports on other controversial cases?

Malaysia Today will reveal all in part two of this series. So stay tuned.

[pywong]

EPISODE 26: The invisible web (of deceit) - part 2 (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/48643-episode-26-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-2)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48643-episode-26-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-2

Thursday, 12 April 2012 Super Admin


The story would be incomplete without explaining that the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure at that time was, coincidentally, Najib himself. Najib endorsed the revival of the project not just because Pak Lah was already happy that his son, Kamaluddin, had a share in the pie, but also because Syed Mokhtar had agreed for Najib’s brothers to also take a cut in various parts of this revived project.



THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin


Read EPISODE 25: The invisible web (of deceit) - part 1 here (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48640-episode-25-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-1)

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad awarded the Double Tracking Project to MMC-Gamuda on 21st October 2003, just nine days before he stepped down as Prime Minister. On 1st November 2003, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, fondly known as Pak Lah, took over as Prime Minister.

Now, it must be remember that Dr Mahathir had actually officially resigned as Prime Minister in the middle of 2002 during the Umno general assembly. Halfway through his address, Dr Mahathir shocked the entire world by breaking down and announcing his resignation.


Rafidah Aziz reacted almost immediately by breaking her shoe in her rush to get to Dr Mahathir to ask the most important question: what is going to happen to all of us? It took a few minutes for Pak Lah to grasp what was going on though. When it finally dawned on him as to what had happened, Pak Lah broke into a smile rather than broke his shoe; the most politically incorrect thing to do.

The first thing that Pak Lah did when he took over as Prime Minister was to cancel Dr Mahathir’s pet projects. The Crooked Bridge to Singapore was one and the Double Tracking Project was the other, which Pak Lah shelved the following month in December 2003.
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The Crooked Bridge to Singapore
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The electrified double-track project


Dr Mahathir was furious, to put it mildly. He had spent more than a year from mid-2002 to late 2003 discussing with Pak Lah as to what he can and cannot do once he took over as Prime Minister. Whether Pak Lah just forgot or whether he did a dirty on Dr Mahathir is not too clear. But the long and short of it, Pak Lah did everything he promised he would not do and did not do everything he promised he would do. And cancelling Dr Mahathir’s pet projects was clearly one of the do-not-does.


Actually, Pak Lah had a great dislike for Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary who had shunned him when he was the Deputy Prime Minister. I really can’t blame him though. Dr Mahathir had appointed and discarded three Deputy Prime Minister’s before that. So what would the chances be for Pak Lah actually taking over as Prime Minister in the end? Most people put their money on Najib Tun Razak rather than Pak Lah taking over as Prime Minister.

Hence, within just a month of taking over as Prime Minister, Pak Lah did the unthinkable. He cancelled the Double Tracking Project, the Crooked Bridge Project, and all those other projects that Dr Mahathir had given to his cronies. Did anyone not bother to tell Pak Lah that one just does not slaughter sacred cows, in particular Dr Mahathir’s sacred cows?

Pak Lah explained that the government’s ‘poor finances’ did not permit such grandiose projects -- hence the need to cancel them. This caused Dr Mahathir to flip. It gave the impression that Dr Mahathir’s mismanagement has bled the country’s finances dry -- hence there is no more money. It also gave the impression that Dr Mahathir’s projects are a total waste of money -- hence the need to cancel them.

In short, Dr Mahathir is a bungling idiot, according to Pak Lah in not so many words.

Try as he may, Syed Mokhtar could not get Pak Lah to agree to revive the Double Tracking Project. By 2006, Syed Mokhtar became very desperate. To get the project, he had already paid out ‘commission’ and under-table-money to various parties during Dr Mahathir’s time. Syed Mokhtar realised that the only way to get this project back on track would be to work through the gatekeepers and toll-collectors. It can only be sorted out through the back door.

Syed Mokhtar asked the CEO of Gamuda, Dato Lin Yun Ling, to approach Seow Lun Hoo to mastermind the penetration of Pak Lah’s inner circle. That was how Seow first involved Khairy Jamaludin, Pak Lah’s son-in-law, and later Shah Hakim, the close associate of Kamaluddin, Pak Lah’s son.


And by a wave of the magical wand of Shah Hakim and Kamaluddin Badawi, the project began to be revived.

All these facts have now been revealed in court when Seow and Shah Hakim admitted that they “provided technical expertise and networking capabilities to help revive the once-shelved RM12.4 billion double-tracking railway project….It was through our efforts that the project was revived.”

The ‘networking capabilities’ and revival efforts included opening doors for Lin to present the revival ideas to then Minister-in-Charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Effendi Norwawi.
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Effendi Norwawi with new wife, actress Tiara Jacquelina



Effendi initially told Lin that given Pak Lah’s grim description of the country’s finances it would be difficult for the government to be seen as reviving it from government funding. Effendi, the Sarawak financial wizard, then coined this fanciful term for Lin to use when presenting the proposal to the government as a way in getting the project revived -- Private Finance Initiatives (PFI).

The idea was: the private sector can include all their additional financial costs and risks into the PFI proposal to make the project costs higher. Effendi also advised that after approval has been obtained, the PFI project could then revert to a design-and-build project fully shouldered by the government.

And that was exactly how MMC-Gamuda conned the Malaysian public into believing that the PFI projects were fully funded by the private sector whereas in the end the taxpayers would be footing the bill.
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Tiara as the mythical princess, Puteri Gunung Ledang


For his wonderful advice and support, Effendi also asked Lin to sponsor his new wife’s hobby in extravagant stage productions. That explained how Effendi’s wife, Tiara Jacqueline, could have the finances to mount the most glamorous and expensive Malay stage play to date -- Puteri Gunung Ledang. Lin and Syed Mokhtar were also made to sponsor Pak Lah’s wife’s pet project in the Pride Foundation and the Datin Paduka Seri Endon Award for Performing Arts Excellence scholarship fund.

You see, Pak Lah, his family, and his friends in the cabinet, wanted to teach Syed Mokhtar and his sidekick, Lin, a good lesson for shunning them during Dr Mahathir’s time. So they were going to make MMC-Gamuda pay for every single one of their whimsical pleasures.

In truth, what Pak Lah did was not new. The same thing had been done during Dr Mahathir’s time by appeasing Dr Siti Hasmah. And now, all the corporate giants in the country are outdoing each other to appease Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s wife, Rosmah Mansor. The mainstream media will give prominence to the generous donations by these corporate giants to Rosmah’s pet project, Permata. What is unseen is that they also donate more generously to Rosmah’s fetish for Hermes Birkin handbags and jewellery.

The story would be incomplete without explaining that the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure at that time was, coincidentally, Najib himself. Najib endorsed the revival of the project not just because Pak Lah was already happy that his son, Kamaluddin, had a share in the pie, but also because Syed Mokhtar had agreed for Najib’s brothers to also take a cut in various parts of this revived project.

Nazim Razak (Jim) was the architect who will design the various railway stations, Nazir Razak (Jay) of CIMB will be the merchant banker for the PFI, Nizam Razak will be providing financial and share advisory, while Najib’s job is to approve its revival.

That is why the Plaintiff’s company is called NR Sistem, which are the initials of the Razak band of brothers.

So why the quarrel now if everyone in Umno and the Umno cronies were going to benefit?


Shah Hakim had a deep distrust for Syed Mokhtar. So he had convinced Effendi that the project should be divided into two parts – the Infrastructure Works to be awarded directly to MGJV for RM10 billion and the Systems Work for RM2.38 billion which will be given to a contractor of the government’s choice. The Systems Work was supposed to be sub-contracted by MGJV to NR Sistem.

When Syed Mokhtar realised that the 30% margin that the Shah Hakim group was going to make from the RM2.38 billion System Work contract amounted to RM600 million, Syed Mokhtar got upset. He complained to Dr Mahathir about how Pak Lah had cancelled the project and forced him to use the services of Shah Hakim who will now make RM600 million ‘atas angin’. Dr Mahathir advised Syed Mokhtar to stall signing any contract with NR Sistem for the Systems Work.

At that time, Najib decided to play the neutral game in the open confrontation between Dr Mahathir and Pak Lah. As far as Najib was concerned, he had already secured all the contracts for his brothers. Dr Mahathir was still very powerful and his attacks could damage Najib’s political career. On the other hand, if Dr Mahathir’s vicious attacks against Pak Lah succeeded, Najib could unseat Pak Lah as the PM without having to challenge him as Umno President.

That was why, in 2007, Dr Mahathir mounted vicious attacks against Pak Lah and mocked him about being Mr Clean. Dr Mahathir now had concrete proof of the exorbitant profit margins that would be made by Pak Lah’s son from this contract alone - an astounding RM600 million. Meantime, Syed Mokhtar directed Lin to force Seow and Shah Hakim to accept a reduced profit margin RM360 million instead of RM600 million.

This infuriated Shah Hakim and Kamaluddin because they thought they had already agreed to the 30% margin, which was equivalent to RM600 million. That money was needed not just for them personally but also to partly fund Pak Lah’s 2008 elections campaign. Syed Mokhtar held back the money and refused to give Pak Lah what he needed for the 12th general election campaign. Dr Mahathir had advised Syed Mokhtar to hang on and not to commit to any figure as Dr Mahathir was convinced that Pak Lah would perform badly in the election and would subsequently be ousted.

Without enough funds, Dr Mahathir’s prediction came true. BN and Umno fared poorly in the March 2008 GE -- which was regarded as Pak Lah losing not just the elections but also losing face as well when Bumiputera businessmen whom had benefitted from Umno’s patronage dare renege on their promise of providing funding.

This was worrisome to the Umno inner circle. The March 2008 GE was regarded as Pak Lah’s personal defeat and Dr Mahathir unleashed the Umno warlords to cry for Pak Lah’s blood.

Post-March 2008, it was imminent that Pak Lah would have to give way to Najib. Syed Mokhtar, being the shrewd businessman that he is, then directed Lin not to sign anything with Shah Hakim’s NR Sistem -- even for the agreed price of RM360 million -- as Pak Lah could no longer pose any threat to the project. Syed Mokhtar’s mentor, Dr Mahathir, also wanted to ridicule Pak Lah’s son, Kamaludidn, and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaludin (that they are nothing without Abdullah Badawi in power). Syed Mokhtar also wanted Kamaludin and Shah Hakim to beg him for the RM360 million that Lin had promised them.

Syed Mokhtar never intended to pay Kamaluddin and Shah Hakim the RM600 million nor the 33% or RM3.3 billion from the RM10 billion Infrastructure Works. All in all, Syed Mokhtar would make RM3.7 billion from the combined value of RM12.4 billion for the Double Tracking Rail Project.

Now that Scomi has been sidelined from most government businesses and projects, Kamaluddin Badawi and Shah Hakim were forced to go for broke by suing MGJV and expose in court that this is how BN/Umno raise funds for the elections. This explains Najib’s Economic Transformation Plan where the government will again undertake gargantuan projects on the pretext of injecting a revival of the economy.

In truth, it is just further acts of plundering the nation.


As an illustration, just imagine how much money Syed Mokhtar will make from the MRT Project, which is valued at RM50 billion. If the margin that these Umno cronies expect to make is 30%, that would be a cool RM15 billion! Now, add that to the recent KIDEX project awarded to companies owned by Umno Lawyer, Hafarizam Harun, and former Chief Justice, Tun Zaki Tun Azmi. Consider also the sale of the 26 kilometre Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya Highway, better known as the Maju Expressway (MEX), to EP Manufacturing Berhad for RM 1.7 billion -- where the original construction cost of RM976.6 million was by way of a government grant, i.e. taxpayers’ money. Include the NFC scandal and the 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s suspicious purchase of tycoon Ananda Krishan’s power business at RM8 billion. One can see the frantic pace at which the Umno big guns are raising funds for the election as well as plundering the nation in a big way one last time.

You see: that is how Umno operates. It is Umno culture. They will milk the country until its tits runs dry. So, whichever prime minister you have, it will still be the same until you get rid of this Umno culture. But what is also untold is that all these will have to be paid by hiking the project costs many-folds and it is the country and the public that will pay for such highly inflated costs.


This is what makes this NR Sistem matter a most interesting case study -- because for the first time the manner in which the Umno scions do business is exposed in a court trial. Projects are awarded, then shelved, then revived at a much higher cost, then given a new name or rebranded, and then passed back to the government to shoulder. It also reveals the huge profit margins that are made to line the pockets of the Umno scions and cronies.

Yes, Malaysia Today focuses on the untold stories and the behind-the scenes political intrigue of those who walk in the corridors of power. So let the criminals from both sides of the political divide beware.

[pywong]

EPISODE 27: PKR’s secret ‘succession plan’ (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48826-episode-27-pkrs-secret-succession-plan)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Monday, 23 April 2012 Super Admin


The move to cut short Nurul Izzah’s career and all those others (such as Zaid Ibrahim) who can prove a threat to the ‘succession plan’ was mooted during the PKR party elections. They managed to destroy Zaid Ibrahim but failed to also bring down Nurul Izzah. So they will need to bring down Nurul Izzah in the coming general election.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin

There are those who want to know why Malaysia Today is not playing up the Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate issue. It is actually quite tiring when you have to keep replying to the same questions. I think I have already said it before: Malaysia Today wants to tell the untold story. Malaysia Today wants to reveal the behind-the-scenes goings-on about those who walk in the corridors of power.

Furthermore, the Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate matter is already well covered by both the mainstream as well as alternative media. So does Malaysia Today really have to also report about a matter that is already suffering from a case of information overload? There is such a thing called overkill, you know. And when you overkill, the people either get lethargic with this information overload or they might become immune to it. Hence too much is also counter-productive. There is no shock-and-awe in carpet-bombing. This, the strategists can’t seem to grasp.

Take the sodomy matter as one example. Back in 1998, there was shock-and-awe in the issue when it first exploded onto the scene. Today, almost 14 years on, people have become immune to the issue. Some have become meluat (nauseous). Hence this issue does not really earn any extra votes for Umno or Barisan Nasional. In fact, the reverse might happen.

The same applies to the Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate issue. We are beginning to see an overkill situation. By the time the next general election is upon us, there will no longer be any shock-and-awe value in the issue. People will become immune and will just shrug their shoulders. In fact, we are already seeing that happening. The Russians explained this aptly in 1983 during the aftermath of the Korean Air Lines flight 007 tragedy. The people have a memory of only 100 days, said the Russians. After 100 days, the matter will be forgotten.

In the early days of the Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate issue, I did write about it. But I wrote about it from a different angle. And that angle was not so much about the damage to Shahrizat Jalil but the benefit to Raja Nong Chik and how this is also going to hurt Nurul Izzah Anwar.

You see, when someone loses, someone else will gain, and when someone gains, another person loses. That is the angle I wrote about. In this Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate issue, the loser is Shahrizat Jalil and the winner is Raja Nong Chik. And the gain to Raja Nong Chik will also mean a loss to Nurul Izzah.

In March 2008, one of the factors for Nurul Izzah’s win was that the Umno supporters did not want Shahrizat Jalil as the Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai. They wanted Raja Nong Chik. And when Shahrizat Jalil instead of Raja Nong Chik was selected to contest Lembah Pantai, many Umno supporters actually supported Nurul Izzah to punish Umno for fielding the ‘wrong’ candidate. I know because I personally met some of them.

So, to these Umno people, the formula is simple. If it is Shahrizat Jalil versus Nurul Izzah, then vote Nurul Izzah. However, if it is Raja Nong Chik versus Nurul Izzah, then vote Raja Nong Chik.

And that is why I was not too excited about the Shahrizat Jalil Cowgate issue. My worry was not that this would mean the death of Shahrizat Jalil. My worry was that it might spell the doom of Nurul Izzah.

Raja Nong Chik is not banking just on a popularity contest to win the Parliament seat of Lembah Pantai. People change and feelings change. How they felt four years ago might not quite be how they still feel today. So Raja Nong Chik is ‘adjusting’ the electoral roll in his favour.

We must remember that Nurul Izzah’s win was with not that too great a margin. It was only a 7% majority. Hence a 4% swing would have been enough for her to lose the election in 2008. And if 5% of the opposition supporters are to be removed (transferred) from the Lembah Pantain electoral roll and 10%-15% ‘new’ voters (meaning government supporters) were to be added to the list, Nurul Izzah could lose the coming election by a larger majority than the one she won in 2008.

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Further to that, Raja Nong Chik is throwing in a few ‘incentives’ to win the voters over. One of these incentives is housing for the homeless or squatters. EPF will be funding these houses to the tune of RM1.5 billion. And in June, around the date when the next general election is expected to be called, 7,000 houses will be given to those homeless or squatters -- mostly Malays, mainly those living in the Federal Territory, and in particular those from Lembah Pantai.

In short, Raja Nong Chik has a war chest of RM1.5 billion. What does Nurul Izah have? And Raja Nong Chik is going to give out 7,000 houses. What is Nurul Izzah going to give out? That itself is already working with a handicap. Added to ‘we prefer Raja Nong Chik to Shahrizat Jalil’ and the padded voters list, how is Nurul Izzah going to fare in Lembah Pantai come the next general election?
Now, it is not that PKR does not know about this. They do. The question is: what is PKR doing about it? And the answer is: nothing! Yes, that’s right, nothing! The PKR people are standing by and twiddling their thumbs and are just watching Nurul Izzah fight tooth and nail to try to survive.

The reason is simple. PKR does not expect to form the federal government this general election. In fact, they are only confident of retaining Penang. Kelantan, Kedah and Selangor are touch-and-go. That is why Pakatan Rakyat may not dissolve the four State Assemblies at the same time when Parliament is dissolved. They know that there is a genuine danger they may lose those states.
This means they will have to wait for another general election, the 14th General Election, to make a bid for the federal government. By then Anwar Ibrahim will be around 70 and thus too old. It will be time for the next generation to take over. And this ‘next generation’ will be people from Nurul Izzah’s generation.

However, if Nurul Izzah loses this next election and becomes a one-term MP, then the door would close for her. She needs to first win this coming general election. Or else she can more or less retire.

And this would work in favour of certain PKR leaders who want to eliminate Nurul Izzah from the race, just like they did Zaid Ibrahim earlier. In fact, they tried to eliminate Nurul Izzah as well at the same time when they eliminated Zaid Ibrahim. But somehow Nurul Izzah managed to just scrape through.

Many people are asking whether I have done a U-turn. In fact, many do think I have done a U-turn and are quite puzzled as to why. Yes, I did do a U-turn, I confess, but not quite the U-turn that you think. And, if you can remember, my U-turn was around the time of the PKR party elections, which can be considered a fiasco and a farce.

The move to cut short Nurul Izzah’s career and all those others (such as Zaid Ibrahim) who can prove a threat to the ‘succession plan’ was mooted during the PKR party elections. They managed to destroy Zaid Ibrahim but failed to also bring down Nurul Izzah. So they will need to bring down Nurul Izzah in the coming general election.

Now, if this was just ‘certain people’, I can live with that and would regard it as ‘normal’ politics. After all, is this not what politics is all about? (Yes, I know, you thought it was about serving the rakyat). But these are not just the hands of ‘certain people’. This goes all the way to the top, in fact, to the very top.

So, yes, I have done a U-turn. I have done a U-turn against the top leadership of PKR. And I have done a U-turn against the top leadership of PKR because of their ‘succession plan’. And this ‘succession plan’ includes the assassination of Nurul Izzah.

So you can go fight for ABU if you wish. My fight is another fight. My fight is to expose those Umno-minded people and people in the opposition with Umno culture who are dirtier than even Umno people.

Some of you do not eat pork. Some of you do not eat beef. And some of you do not eat goat’s meat. At the end of the day, you eat what you want to eat and don’t force others to also eat what you eat.

And the same philosophy applies here. You swallow what you want to swallow and I will swallow what I want to swallow. Just as I will not force you to swallow what I swallow, you too better not force me to swallow what you swallow. And what I will not swallow is this song-and-dance routine that the opposition is trying to sell us while secretly hatching plans to assassinate Nurul Izzah because she is an obstacle to the ‘succession plan’ that does not include her.

ADDENDUM
1. EPF to provide RM1.5 bil (http://www.thesundaily.my/news/279749)
2. Offers of cheap homes (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/16/nation/11112902&sec=nation)
3. EPISODE 5: The Raja Nong Chik Saga (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/47156-episode-5-the-raja-nong-chik-saga)
4. Raja Nong Chik denies he is the 'hidden hand' behind Cowgate leak (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/47203-raja-nong-chik-denies-he-is-the-hiidden-hand-behind-cowgate-leak)

[pywong]

28 http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48902-episode-28-corporate-raiding-par-excellence-part-1

What I do want to talk about is regarding two people in the Bursa -- Wong Kay Yong, the Head of Corporate Surveillance & Governance, and Ho Kwok Piow, the Head of Corporate Surveillance Department Regulation -- and how they are ripping off the public. Wong and Ho could best be described as corporate blackmailers and hijackers. What they do is to look for companies in distress and hold them to ransom. The owners of these companies are then squeezed and forced to sell off their interests at fire-sale prices.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin

HK regulator looking at criminal liability for IPO sponsors

(Free Malaysia Today/Reuters) - The head of Hong Kong’s market watchdog said today that it is considering making investment bankers face the prospect of jail if they are found to have been negligent in their listing work. Securities and Futures Commission chief executive Ashley Alder told Reuters that a forthcoming consultation paper on initial public offering sponsors would look at making them hold criminal and civil liability for the contents of listing prospectuses. “We are looking at both,” Alder told Reuters on the sidelines of the APREA Property Leaders Forum in Hong Kong.

Reuters reported last week that the SFC would consider making sponsors liable for the contents of listing prospectuses, but it was not known whether this would include making them criminally culpable for rule breaches. IPO sponsors, typically banks or corporate finance houses, prepare a company’s listing documents and perform due diligence to ensure they comply with Hong Kong’s listing rules. The SFC wants them to face tougher rules after a number of mainland Chinese companies that listed in Hong Kong ran into trouble shortly after going public.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2012/04/25/hk-regulator-looking-at-criminal-liability-for-ipo-sponsors/

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Securities and Futures Commission

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong is the independent statutory body charged with regulating the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong. The SFC is responsible for fostering an orderly securities and futures market, to protect investors and to help promote Hong Kong as an international financial centre and a key financial market in China. Even though it is consider as a branch of the government, it is run independently under the authorisation of the laws relating to Securities and Futures.

SFC: History

The SFC was created in 1989 in response to the stock market crash of October 1987. In 1997, following the Asian financial crisis, the regulatory framework was further improved. A comprehensive Securities and Futures Ordinance (SFO) was implemented in 2003, which expanded the SFC's regulatory functions and powers.

The SFC is one of four regulatory organisations that make up financial regulators in Hong Kong, one of the major financial centres in the world. The others are the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. The SFC is responsible for securities and futures markets including the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the seventh largest Stock Exchange in the world.
*************************************

Bursa Malaysia: History

Bursa Malaysia, previously known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE, Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur in Malay) dates back to 1930 when the Singapore Stockbrokers' Association was set up as a formal organisation dealing in securities in Malaya. The first formal securities business organisation in Malaysia was the Singapore Stockbrokers' Association, established in 1930. It was re-registered as the Malayan Stockbrokers' Association in 1937. The Malayan Stock Exchange was established in 1960 and the public trading of shares commenced. The board system had trading rooms in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, linked by direct telephone lines.

In 1964, the Stock Exchange of Malaysia was established. With the secession of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965, the Stock Exchange of Malaysia became known as the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore. In 1973, currency inter-changeability between Malaysia and Singapore ceased, and the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore was divided into the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Berhad and the Stock Exchange of Singapore. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, which was incorporated on 14 December 1976 as a company limited by guarantee, took over the operations of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Berhad in the same year.

On 14 April 2004, following the demutualisation exercise, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange was renamed Bursa Malaysia Berhad, the purpose of which was to enhance competitive position and to respond to global trends in the exchange sector by making themselves more customer-driven and market-oriented. It consisted of a Main Board, a Second Board and MESDAQ with total market capitalisation of MYR700 billion (US$189 billion).

Bursa Malaysia has since then focused on various initiatives aimed at improving its product and service offerings, increasing the liquidity and velocity of its markets, improving the efficiency of its businesses and achieving economies of scale in its operations. On 18 March 2005, Bursa Malaysia was listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad with a 17% or RM0.50 premium over its retail price of RM3.00.
Source: Bursa Malaysia's History Page - Data updated as at 9 March 2010
*************************************

Bursa Malaysia: Structure

The wholly owned subsidiaries of Bursa Malaysia own and operate the various businesses, as set out below:
1. Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain securities exchange.
2. Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain a futures and options exchange.
3. Labuan International Financial Exchange Inc. - Provide, operate and maintain offshore financial exchange.
4. Bursa Malaysia Bonds Sdn Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain registered electronic facility for secondary bond market.
5. Bursa Malaysia Securities Clearing Sdn Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain a clearing house for the securities exchange.
6. Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Clearing Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain a clearing house for the futures and options exchange.
7. Bursa Malaysia Depository Sdn Bhd - Provide, operate and maintain a central depository.
8. Bursa Malaysia Depository Nominees Sdn Bhd - Act as a nominee for the central depository and receive securities on deposit for safe-custody or management.
9. Bursa Malaysia Information Sdn Bhd - Provide and disseminate prices and other information relating to securities quoted on exchanges within the group.
10. Bursa Malaysia Islamic Services Sdn Bhd - Operate all Islamic Markets businesses and activities initiated under Bursa Malaysia.

*************************************
I thought I would start part 1 of this expose by giving you a bit of background and history regarding Bursa Malaysia and Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission so that you can see the difference between the two. As you may have noticed, the Bursa started as a stockbrokers’ association in 1930 and eventually transformed into a stock exchange in 1960 and, today, it is a profit-motivated listed company.


In Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) supervises the securities industry. The day-to-day supervision of the market is left to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) though. In Hong Kong, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) plays this role. The question is: is Malaysia’s Bursa the same as the SFC in Hong Kong and the MAS-SGX in Singapore, that plays a regulatory role and keeps the ‘market players’ in line, or is the Bursa about making money and is itself a market player?


But that is not really what I want to talk about. What I do want to talk about is regarding two people in the Bursa -- Wong Kay Yong, the Head of Corporate Surveillance & Governance, and Ho Kwok Piow, the Head of Corporate Surveillance Department Regulation -- and how they are ripping off the public.


Wong and Ho could best be described as corporate blackmailers and hijackers. What they do is to look for companies in distress and hold them to ransom. The owners of these companies are then squeezed and forced to sell off their interests at fire-sale prices.


A ‘white knight’ then waltzes in and picks up these shares at below market value. Of course, in the same process, they would make tons of money, with a huge kickback to Wong and Ho.


Many have become victims to these ‘corporate raiders’ and in part 2 we will go into the details -- so stayed tuned.

[pywong]

29 http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/49004-episode-29-the-hidden-betrayals


So, Ong Tee Keat and Lee Hwa Beng are not as innocent as they pretend to be. Ong Tee Keat and Lee Hwa Bang are being portrayed as angels while the real devils are supposed to be the ex-leaders of MCA. And Umno is helping to cover up their misdeeds because the money that they scammed from the PKFZ project was supposed to have gone to help MCA in financing the general elections.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin

In Malaysia, things are not always what they appear to be. What you see is not what you get, contrary to what Flip Wilson a.k.a. ‘Geraldine’ used to say. And if you do not know who Flip Wilson is, then you must have been born after the 1960s. Those of us born before Merdeka would know whom I am talking about.

Readers will recall that EPISODE 25: The invisible web (of deceit) - part 1 and EPISODE 26: The invisible web (of deceit) - part 2 (read HERE (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/48640-episode-25-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-1) and HERE (http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48643-episode-26-the-invisible-web-of-deceit-part-2)) was about things not always being what they appear to be. Those two episodes showed how Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was demonised as being reckless for the various grandiose infrastructure projects which his successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had to shelve because the country had no more money to spend due to the way the nation’s coffer was squandered by Dr Mahathir.

The mastermind of all these smear campaigns against Dr Mahathir was none other than the man who once headed the NST group, Dato Kalimullah Hassan, the man Dr Mahathir called ‘Hindu God, Muslim priest’. When Dr Mahathir first mentioned the name ‘Hindu God, Muslim priest’, even those in the ex-Prime Minister’s close circle did not know whom he was referring to. It took many days for them to finally figure out whom Dr Mahathir meant.

In an interview later, Kalimullah said he felt very hurt and his family was extremely sad that he had been besmirched in that matter. Anyway, is not Malaysian politics about besmirching one another rather than about discussing matters such as good governance? So what else is new? Malaysian politicians make a living besmirching one another. And those are the people we want to vote into office? Pleeeeezzzzz!

Abdullah Badawi also scrapped the national petroleum and sugar subsidies because the country was said to be on the brink of bankruptcy. This thing about the country going bankrupt is not what I say but what Idris Jala had said when he first became Minister-in-Charge of Pemandu. Idris Jala had graduated from being the Managing Director of MAS to being a Minister in Abdullah Badawi’s cabinet. In doing so, he affected a coup d’etat on Koh Tsu Koon who until then had headed Pemandu.

Yes, that lembik Gerakan ex-Chief Minister who lost the PM’s home state of Penang to DAP’s Lim Guan Eng was still given a minister’s post because Abdullah Badawi was fond of him. Koh Tsu Koon gave a new meaning to the term running dog. And are not all Chinese in Barisan Nasional running dogs of the Umno Malays? So, siapa lebih pandai, Melayu or Cina?

Idris Jala is an amazing man. He is supposed to be a turn-around expert. I don’t think anyone can dispute that by just looking at his achievements. Idris Jala was Managing Director of the national airlines and the man who accused Tajudin Ramli of causing MAS to suffer losses of RM8 billion. Since Tajudin was the creation of Dr Mahathir, Dr Mahathir was again blamed for these losses (READ EPISODE 6: How Malaysia Today ‘lied’ three years ago HERE (http://malaysia-today.net/archives/archives-2012/47248-episode-6-how-malaysia-today-lied-three-years-ago)).

It was Idris Jala who urged the head of the CCID, Dato Ramli Yusuff, to make a presentation to Abdullah Badawi with a recommendation to prosecute Tajudin. However, instead of taking action against Tajudin, Abdullah Badawi and the Attorney General, Gani Patail, closed the MAS case. This was because Tajudin had threatened to reveal that Abdullah Badawi’s brother, Ibrahim Badawi, had also benefitted from the MAS Catering contracts.

To end all investigations into the MAS scandal, the AG decided to charge Dato Ramli and the MAS lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, instead. That resulted in the MAS case getting classified as NFA (no further action). In the next episode, we will reveal more regarding AG Gani Patail, the courts, and the government’s continuing cover-ups of the Tajudin Ramli-MAS scandal. So stay tuned. We have not finished with that issue. There is more to come.

Idris Jala then did a U-turn as if nothing had happened and was instantly promoted into Abdullah Badawi’s Cabinet as Minister for economic and other recoveries -- the NKRAs. One of the first few things Idris Jala said was that the country was headed for bankruptcy and then he provided the many reasons as to why Abdullah Badawi needed to scrap the various projects that Dr Mahathir had given to his crony -- that self proclaimed Arab who is actually a Mamak, the rice-trader Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary. In Episode 26, Malaysia Today revealed that these projects were rebranded as Private Finance Initiatives (PFI), when in fact they were not, just in order to hike up the project costs so that Abdullah Badawi’s family and cronies can make some money.

Having said that the country was on the brink of bankruptcy during Abdullah Badawi’s time, it is amazing how now, under Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Idris Jala turns around and says that the country’s economy is peachy-rosy and honky-dory so that Najib can squander so much in so short a time as the GE13 approaches. This native from the highlands of Bario truly deserves to be called ‘the turn-around expert’.

Now, before I digress too far, as I usually do, you will wonder why I started by saying that things are not always what they appear to be and why the title of this episode is The Hidden Betrayals. I have always said that we will attack those who try to make themselves look like goody-two-shoes, both sides of the political divide, when in reality they are the scumbags and slime-balls that the public have yet to discover. Malaysia Today focuses on the untold stories and the shenanigans by those who walk in the corridors of power. So let us talk about that.

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/1242/pkfz2.jpg
I would like to refer to Datuk Lee Hwa Beng who recently launched his "tell-all" book 'PKFZ: A Nation's Trust Betrayed' where the former Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman chronicled the nation's supposedly biggest financial scandal -- the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco. The book was launched by Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the former Transport Minister who had appointed Lee as the PKA chairman in 2008 to oversee the unravelling of the scandal.
http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7449/leehwabeng13april17540x.jpg
Lee Hwa Beng and Ong Tee Kiat are trying to portray themselves as heroes of the nation while others are portrayed as crooks and scoundrels. Basically, Lee Hwa Beng and Ong Tee Keat are disenchanted politicians. They both need a new political lifeline. It is rumoured that they are attempting to cross over to DAP in the hope that they will be rewarded in the event the Barisan Nasional government falls come GE13.

In Malaysia, when you need to reinvent yourself, all you need to do is to distance yourself from the old corrupted regime and be seen as crusaders of truth, justice, good governance, civil liberties, democracy, anti-corruption, anti-abuse of power, etc. To do that, you just have to run down your former party, sensationalise the abuses that will excite the public, and presto, you become sinless from all your past deeds just like a Born Again Christian.

That’s an old script that politicians recycle over and over again. Anwar Ibrahim did that. Now you see the bow-tied Mamak, Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, doing that successfully as well -- so much so that he can even take centre-stage with Mat Sabu in various ceramah. If PAS, PKR or DAP fall for that cheap trick, then they only have themselves to blame when these people later turn around and become turncoats. Examples are aplenty -- Datuk Seri Zahrin Hashim, Zulkifli Noordin, Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali, Ezam Mohd Nor, Ruslan Kassim, and many, many more. Do we not learn from all these mistakes?

Anyway, back to Lee Hwa Beng’s book. Lee has given the impression that all the evils were done before his time as PKA Chairman. Lee also gave the impression that all these were also before Ong Tee Keat’s time as Transport Minister and that Ong had no involvement whatsoever in the matter. Lee then ran down the Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) CEO and Bintulu MP, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, as if he had no involvement with Tiong or KDSB in fixing the project cost.
But Lee Hwa Beng is telling a lie. It is just like one of Ali Baba’s 40 thieves calling All Baba a thief. They are all thieves.

Malaysia Today will now reveal the truth because Malaysia Today knows better. Malaysia Today has eyes and ears everywhere. Malaysia Today has access to the darkest secrets of the known scumbags and slime-balls of society and those who portray themselves as saints. Malaysia Today will now show you the letter dated 10 May 2008 that Ong Tee Keat as Transport Minister sent to then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (see letter below).

Paragraph 2 of that letter states that the project costing was done by a quantity surveyor appointed by the government itself -- QS4 Consortium. Paragraph 3(i) of that letter clearly shows that PKA considered the project costing as reasonable and acceptable. Paragraphs 4 and 6 emphasised that PKA considers KDSB’s requests as valid and recommends that the Prime Minister accept all of KDSB’s costing proposals.

In a second letter dated 14 May 2008, the TKSU of the Prime Minister accepts Ong’s proposals (see letter below).

The author of the letter was clearly Ong Tee Keat. The PKA Chairman was Lee Hwa Beng. So, why did Lee so blatantly lie in his book that neither he nor Ong had anything to do with KDSB?

Malaysia Today will tell you why.

Look at the two letters again. All government letters normally have a file or project reference. The Prime Minister’s letter dated 14 May 2008 has a reference. Now look at Ong Tee Keat’s letter dated 10 May 2008. Do you see any file reference to the subject matter? None!

Ong Tee Keat and Lee Hwa Beng have conveniently made this letter disappear from the file without trace, just like how Altantuya Shaariibuu’s immigration records disappeared. They dared to so boldly do this because, to their mind, there is no way of tracing this letter. That is why Lee Hwa Beng dared to lie in his book. But Lee forgets that Malaysia Today has archives that go much deeper and much farther than the National Archives of Malaysia.

So, to all you political haves-been and aspiring politicians, don’t throw stones if you live in a glass house. Don’t malign others if you have skeletons in your own closet. Malaysia Today is here to reveal the truth and to level the playing field for all!

So, Ong Tee Keat and Lee Hwa Beng are not as innocent as they pretend to be. Ong Tee Keat and Lee Hwa Bang are being portrayed as angels while the real devils are supposed to be the ex-leaders of MCA. And Umno is helping to cover up their misdeeds because the money that they scammed from the PKFZ project was supposed to have gone to help MCA in financing the general elections.

The deal is simple: Umno will take some projects, MCA will take some projects, MIC will take some projects, Gerakan will take some projects, and so on. And the money they make from these projects will help finance the elections. But in reality, the money very seldom goes to the political parties they are supposed to go to. Instead, they go into the pockets of certain people. And because everyone is guilty of the same crime, they need to cover each other’s back.

Hence, MCA did not really get the money from the PKFZ deal. Instead, the money went into the pockets of the MCA leaders. And, since so many people are involved, they are not able to spill the beans. They have to cover up these misdeeds because revealing it would mean that many would fall, including those whistle-blowers who sing like a canary.
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7443/otkm.jpg
The novelty here is: when one Barisan Nasional leader points his of her finger at another Barisan Nasional leader, he or she is not wrong. The crime really did happen. The only point is, those pointing their fingers at others themselves have dirty fingers.

As I said, this is not just an MCA dilemma. It happens in Umno, MIC, Gerakan and all the other members of Barisan Nasional as well. Take the Lynas and NFC issues, the two latest ‘hot issues’, as examples. Najib is nursing a huge migraine regarding these issues. With Bersih, Lynas and the NFC combined, Najib may not be able to call for the next general election in June after all. It may have to be delayed till the end of this year or maybe even early next year if he can’t resolve all these issues.

But we shall talk about the Lynas and NFC issues in the next episode. There is more than meets the eye regarding these two issues as well. And in the next episode Malaysia Today will reveal the untold story and the behind the scenes goings-on about those who walk in the corridors of power. So stay tuned for more. Yes, there is more than meets the eye regarding the Lynas and NFC issues.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/1618/mot1d.jpg
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[pywong]

30

EPISODE 30: A declaration of war (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/49169-episode-30-a-declaration-of-war)

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns)

Sunday, 06 May 2012 Super Admin



So, as I said, I knew all this. But in spite of my six episodes in my series of articles called Now that Bersih is over I did not reveal the presence of anarchists. And I did not reveal it because I felt it would hurt PKR if the public found out that amongst those 100,000 or 150,000 or 250,000 or whatever who took to the streets on Saturday, 28th April 2012, were a bunch of anarchists who had been trained in Korea on how to turn a peaceful march into hand-to-hand combat with the police.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWERRaja Petra Kamarudin

People have been asking me about my response to the article in Malaysia Chronicle called RPK, admit it: You're lying through your teeth to help Nong Chik beat Nurul in GE-13.

Aiyoh! I have been relatively quiet for quite a while and have been focusing my attacks on the government the last couple of months. This is already EPISODE 30 and about 90% or so of my articles have been about the transgressions by those in the government. Why won’t they just let sleeping dogs lie?
Don’t forget, I was born in 1950, which is the Year of the Golden Tiger, according to the Chinese calendar. So you should let sleeping golden tigers lie. Don’t wake them up. Well, you have just woken up this sleeping tiger and now I am thirsty for blood.

Actually, I am not as ruthless as what many allege me to be. I make sure that I expose about 10% of the transgressions of the opposition while 90% are about those in the government. It is not that I do not have enough shit involving the opposition. It is just that I am very sparing with my exposes on the opposition.

I whack the government because I am trying to bring the government down. But I whack the opposition because I want them to become a better opposition and, hopefully, if the opposition does become the government, that it will not be the type of government that we have now.

So I keep quite a bit of shit that I have on the opposition. I do not bring everything out. But I do not do the same with that involving the government, though. I not only throw out all the shit that I have on the government but I even throw the toilet paper, chamber pot, kitchen sink, etc., as well.
Anyway, let it be on record that I did not start this war. The declaration of war came from Malaysia Chronicle, a pro-Pakatan Rakyat website.

Malaysia Chronicle, a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua, is basically Desi YL Chong, Wong Choon Mei and Tian Chua. This is the Chinese mafia in PKR that I talked about in an earlier article. Even DAP does not like this Chinese gang and many a conflict between DAP and PKR since 1999 was because of this PKR Chinese mafia. In fact, the DAP people just hate the PKR Chinese mafia and would rather negotiate with the Malays in PKR than with this Chinese gang.

To demonstrate that I have not been entirely honest and have been covering up quite a bit of shit in PKR, allow me to bring your attention to an earlier article that I wrote regarding the Selayang market.

Do you remember the article called EPISODE 20: The USD10 million kickback? If you do not or you have not read it yet then you can read it here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/48002-episode-20-the-usd10-million-kickback (http://www.tindakmalaysia.com/mtcolumns/48002-episode-20-the-usd10-million-kickback)

The personalities involved no doubt denied this allegation. They called me a liar and demanded that I show the evidence. However, I decided to just drop the matter and did not pursue the issue any further because I did not want to hurt PKR. I just wanted them to know that we are aware of what they are doing so that they will stop doing it because, if they do not, then the voters may punish them in the next general election.

However, since war has now been declared, I am going to reveal what further documents I have and which I have been keeping and did not reveal earlier. And you can see them below in the section called THE SELAYANG MARKET SCAM.

Yes, Tian Chua and William Leong did meet the developers to squeeze some money from them under the excuse of ‘election funds’. And the developer did submit that letter concerning the RM70 million ‘claim for compensation’, as I had earlier revealed in EPISODE 20. And that letter is reproduced below.
But what Tian Chua and William Leong did not know is that the meeting with the developer was recorded on the security camera of the premises where they met. And the developer very cleverly retrieved a copy of that recording in case they are subjected to a defamation suit and would need the evidence to prove that the meeting did take place.

So, yes, I stopped at just one report in EPISODE 20. I knew more but I did not reveal the more that I knew because I felt that the message had clearly been delivered and it serves no purpose to come out with a part two that may hurt PKR. After all, I just want PKR to know that we know so that they will not continue with their nonsense. But now I have been forced to show the more that I have and which I did not reveal -- since we are now at war, a war which they declared on me.

And do you think that is all I have? And do you think that is all that I kept hidden and did not reveal? By no means that is all. See the two letters below in the section called THE KELANG LAND SCAM.

Actually, I have about 50 pages of documents on this particular issue. Nevertheless, I am revealing only two pages of those 50 pages, at least for now. Treat this as a teaser if you want. I just want to show you a sample of what I have. Hence just these two pages are sufficient for the meantime.

What will happen next is: if any of the PKR people or Malaysian Chronicle a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua calls me a liar, then I will come out with a special report about what happened and all the pages will be published. Then PKR can be damned for all I care.

Hey, I never said I am 100% honest! Even though I have a lot of shit on PKR I just reveal a little bit. I do not reveal everything. That, in a way, makes me quite dishonest. I know about the transgressions and misconduct of some of these opposition leaders and yet I hide this from the public and do not reveal the whole truth. I just show you the tip of the iceberg. I don’t show you the entire iceberg.

So, Malaysia Chronicle a.k.a. Suara Tian Chua, do we continue? What more shall we talk about? Shall we talk about how Desi YL Chong was rejected by Malaysiakini and Free Malaysia Today before he joined Malaysia Chronicle to become a member of Tian Chua’s team? Shall we talk about how Wong Choon Mei was sacked from Malaysiakini for misconduct before she joined Malaysia Chronicle to become a member of Tian Chua’s team?
Yes, what more shall be talk about?

Shall we talk about that Malay girl, the daughter of an opposition leader, who Tian Chua made pregnant and later had to have an abortion to get rid of the unwanted baby? I do not want to mention her name so as not to shame the girl or her father. Dr Syed Husin Ali knows about this matter so he is aware of what I am talking about. So let’s leave it at that, at least for the meantime, unless Tian Chua or Malaysia Chronicle a.k.a Suara Tian Chua wants to take this to the next level.

Shall we talk about the people Tian Chua sent to Korea for training on how to organise demonstrations so that the Bersih rallies can be turned into violent demonstrations like in Korea?
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7361/southkoreaprotest200951.jpg
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You see, in Malaysia, as we all know, the police beat up peaceful demonstrators. In Korea, it is the other way around. Hence Tian Chua wanted to train Malaysians on how to organise demonstrations like they do in Korea.

The problem is, the Malaysian police knew about this. Hence they would act extremely brutal towards demonstrators, like they did to the Bersih 3.0 demonstrators who pulled down the barricades two Saturdays ago -- because, in the opinion of the police, these were the people Tian Chua sent to Korea for training.

So, as I said, I knew all this. But in spite of my six episodes in my series of articles called Now that Bersih is over I did not reveal the presence of anarchists. And I did not reveal it because I felt it would hurt PKR if the public found out that amongst those 100,000 or 150,000 or 250,000 or whatever who took to the streets on Saturday, 28th April 2012, were a bunch of anarchists who had been trained in Korea on how to turn a peaceful march into hand-to-hand combat with the police.

Never call me a liar. Do not mock me either. Doing so is an act of war. And all is fair in love and war. And expect me to respond with both guns blazing. Ask no quarter and give no quarter. In this war we take no prisoners.
THE SELAYANG MARKET SCAM

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http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/4659/aasb2.jpg
THE KELANG LAND SCAM

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http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2706/klang6.jpg