Kuching Conference Threatens Image Of International Hydropower Association

Sarawak Report

Millionaire Tostein Sjotveit poses with the kids he plans to wash out of their homes.

The Chief Executive of Taib’s closely controlled Sarawak Energy Board, the Norwegian Torstein Dale Sjotveit, has been working hard to merit his extraordinary four million dollar a year salary.

His principle job is to push through SCORE, which is the Chief Minister’s monstrous plan to build up to 50 dams in the state.

It is also to make sure that all the plum Sarawak Energy contracts go to Taib’s own family in the process.

Building ‘respectability’

Najib’s feckless and uninspiring cabinet

Mariam Mokhtar

Najib is impotent when tackling corruption, or defusing racial and religious tensions. His weakness as a leader is reflected in the Cabinet line-up

Najib Tun Razak’s defence of the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia which displayed a provocative headline, “What more do the Chinese want?” does nothing for national reconciliation, something which Najib promised to address, after GE-13.

Trying his best to placate an increasingly cynical public, Najib vowed to be a prime minister for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, state or political views.

He said, “I love my country …… We will also continue to promote moderation among multiracial

JUSTICE FOR ALL MALAYSIANS ?

J. D. Lovrenciear

It is very telling that the onslaught of racists slurs and demands for ‘Malays’ rights is all geared to distract the rakyat from the core issue that needs to be addressed affirmatively. Thank God too that the honorable citizens – Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans and others have not fallen for the UMNO bait or the BN poison.

UMNO and its BN coalition are shrouding the electoral results that are being questioned by the rakyat. Their tactics so far is not fooling the rakyat who are determined to return the honor and glory to the nation and restore its dignity and pride in the eyes of the global community of citizens who are watching Malaysia very closely.

But it won’t work

I will not retire, says Anwar

Athi Shankar

‘But why should I retire? We won. Are Umno people stupid? We won and we will fight together with the people against this robbery, says Anwar at a Penang rally.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim will not retire from active politics any time soon, hinting that he would still be around come the next general election.

The Permatang Pauh MP defied calls for him to retire by claiming that Pakatan Rakyat had actually “won” the 13th general election, only to be robbed by electoral frauds.

He said Pakatan’s popular votes, which were more than Barisan Nasional’s, proved that majority Malaysians have voted for a change of federal government.

BN’s transformation agenda is a sham

Azmin Ali

Well done, Zahid! By taking this high and mighty position as your first proclamation of ministerial power, you’ve shown both arrogance and stupidity.

Since the 13th general election, the nation is once again being treated to an endless dose of racist rhetoric that seemed to have died down just days before.

After Najib’s first ‘Chinese tsunami’ outburst, Perkasa and other self-proclaimed ‘champions’ of Malay rights have come out of the woodwork to do their ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ service.

Right on cue to Utusan Malaysia’s “What more do the Chinese want?” front page headline, former Court of Appeal judge, Mohd Noor Abdullah, raged about how this country is being economically colonised by the Chinese.

What Tsunami? It was a political awakening

P Dev Anand Pillai

Umno is up its tricks to ensure that future generations remain firmly in its grasp by keeping them intellectually challenged and incapable of thinking

I had always participated in the workings of general elections since the time I was a staff in the Suruhanjaya PilihanRaya Selangor in the early 90s. Being a Polling and Counting Agent (PACA) in 1999 and 2004 general elections gave me the insight as to how it all worked at the end of the day. But this time, it was different, what I witnessed was a coming together of the whole country with a motive to change the federal government for the first time in history, friends from overseas whom had almost given up on their country of birth had made time to return to try to make the change happen. It would have, had it not been for massive fraud by the custodians of the elections themselves, the Election Commission, who were in cahoots with the  police.

‘Open up Petronas’ books’

Queville To

Prime Minister Najib must move to amendment the Petroleum Development Act 1974, says a Sabah state rep from DAP.

A Sabah state legislative assembly representative has called for greater  transparency, accountability and creditability in the shadowy world of the nation’s oil wealth that is now only privy to the Prime Minister.

Luyang representative Hiew King Cheu said the need to amend the Petroleum Development Act 1974 is in line with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s declared intentions of creating a more responsible government.

Racism and a blueprint for rebuilding M’sia

Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi

Although many things remain uncertain after the GE13 result, one thing is unarguably clear…Malaysia is in trouble.

Who is in trouble? Not Pakatan, not BN to my mind…we are. We…the rakyat.

Our children are in trouble and yes, theirs too, in the distant future if we do not stop this juggernaut called…racism.

I would like to outline my basic blueprint for rebuilding this country with the special focus of eliminating racism as its main objective.

Sidelined Sarawak reps demand seats in Najib’s Cabinet

DEBRA CHONG

Najib speaks during the announcement of his new Cabinet line-up at his office in Putrajaya May 15, 2013.

Overlooked lawmakers in the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) East Malaysian vote bank say they should also be aboard Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet, believing they had earned full ministerial positions after their victorious run in the May 5 polls.

Some 40 branches of Sarawak’s SPDP said they will petition the prime minister to consider allocating to them at least one ministerial seat and one deputy minister post, believing Najib’s decision to have been an oversight as the party had netted four federal seats for the Barisan Nasional (BN).

Chinese businessmen say boycott on community’s products “racist”, will hurt economy

BOO SU-LYN 

The Chinese community is being vilified for Barisan Nasional’s poor showing in Election 2013.

 The call by pro-Umno bloggers and Muslim groups for a boycott of Chinese businesses is racist and will harm the country’s economic growth, according to businessmen from the community.

Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of the year as a result of weaker exports and slower growth in public spending, compared to 4.7 per cent in the same quarter in 2012 and 6.4 per cent in the last quarter of 2012.

“How can you say boycott? Who loses? The government and Malaysia are the ones that will lose out,” Chen Kien Keong, chairman of the Tea Trade Association of Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

10 things Anwar must do

P Gunasegaram

By now the cabinet has been appointed and while there are fresh faces, no one I have spoken to expects any drastic changes from the norm especially as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is bound to face pressure from Umno delegates at the forthcoming Umno general assembly.

We seem to be going from one election to another and delaying much needed change accordingly. And as everyone knows by now, Umno delegates don’t at all represent the common voice of the Malays but posture to make it appear as if they do.

Thus it was that when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi got a massive mandate from the people in the 2004 elections, obtaining over 90 percent of parliamentary seats, he refrained from taking measures he promised because his advisers told him there will be a backlash from Umno delegates.

Discontent in BN parties over Cabinet posts

TMI

File photo of Najib announcing his new Cabinet line-up in Putrajaya on May 15, 2013. BN parties are not happy with some of his choices.

All is not well among Barisan Nasional (BN) parties over the distribution of Cabinet posts as Sarawak’s PRS has decided to reject its appointments while SPDP is also upset its four federal wins did not get the party anything.

Several senior Sabah Umno MPs are also grumbling that they were overlooked in the Cabinet appointments while other Umno lawmakers are disputing Hindraf’s P. Waythamoorthy’s selection despite him running down the government previously.

‘They welcome Bangladeshis, but tell us to balik Cina’

Ahmad Fadli KC

Anger at new home minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who had told those dissatisfied with the 13th general election to leave the country, is fuelling the crowds at the Black 505 rally in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Participant Karen Ngoo, 46 (right), when met at the 30,000-strong rally last night said Zahid’s comment did not make sense, as there were many allegations of foreigners being allegedly brought in to vote.

“He wants to drive away us Malaysians, but Bangladeshis are being brought in to the country.

“He should show us respect. The Bangladeshi phantom voters are the ones who need to be sent away,” she said.

The downside of BN’s victory

Selena Tay

Najib’s new cabinet has been labelled as the “same old thing”. Let us also hope that the petrol price will stay the same too.

For the low-wage earner and the average man-in-the-street trying to make ends meet, the worst thing about Barisan Nasional emerging victorious in the 13th general election is that there is no reduction in the petrol price.

Although the low-income group look forward to the annual BR1M handout at the beginning of the year, that is a pittance compared to the daily rising cost of living.

BN leaders have mentioned that the RM500 cash aid will be gradually increased to RM1,200 but there is silence on this matter now.

Please get your facts right, home minister

Andrew Khoo

Like many Malaysiakini readers, I was appalled at the remarks made by the new Minister of Home Affairs, Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, vice president of Umno with regard to those who questioned the fact that Barisan Nasional lost the popular vote but still won a majority of the seats in the Dewan Rakyat. 

He basically told them that if they didn’t like the result, they could leave.

His clear disrespect for the right of Malaysians to freedom of expression, coming as it does as he takes up his new position, is a negative harbinger of things to come.

However, a careful study of his article published in Utusan Malaysia on May 16, 2013 reveals more egregious remarks which are unbefitting a minister of government.

NGOs condemns IHA for supporting Taib

Joseph Tawie

SAVE Rivers, a coalition of NGOs, want the International Hydropower Association (IHA) to cancel its global conference in Kuching.

Save Sarawak Rivers Network (SAVE Rivers) is demanding that the International Hydropower Association (IHA) withdraw its support for Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s plans to build 12 additional mega-dams.

The call was also made to state-owned Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), the main contractors of the project. SAVE Rivers wants the state government scrap its plans to build the dams.

Its secretary, Mark Bujang, said: “We want IHA to cancel SEB’s membership in the association as it has not yet addressed the outstanding issues affecting the indigenous people in Batang Ai, Bakun and Murum dams.

GE13: We are already the winners!

M.M. Pereira

A few days before the historic 505, the then caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said: “The victor or loser of this 13th general election will not be BN or PR. It will be Malaysia, its people and our children.” Immediately after the official results were announced, he blamed the loss of BN seats on a “Chinese tsunami”.

In my view, these statements not only reflect Najib’s arrogance but also his shallow understanding of the democratic process and how disconnected he is with what is happening at the grassroots. And he continues to insult our intelligence!

Today we see Malaysians from diverse ethnic backgrounds manifesting their unity of purpose with so much pride, confidence and optimism, taking ownership of their country and their destiny. They are ready to take risks to secure the future they desire.

Is a forgiven Husam on course for rehab?

Terence Netto

In the Malay political chess game of feint-and-manoeuvre, whose Kelantanese variant is more complex than its peers, former PAS state executive councillor Husam Musa has made what has traditionally been known to be the prelude to a concatenation of moves.

Surprisingly not included in the list of executive councillors announced last week by newly-installed Menteri Besar Ahmad Yacob, a development attributed to his being deliberately excluded by design of his compatriots or at the behest of the sultan, Husam earlier this week left for Mecca to perform the umrah.

Though there is no precise dictionary by which to interpret gestures in the Malay political chess game, since every nonverbal expression depends for meaning on the variants of both the individual using it and the culture in which it takes place, there was no mistaking the import of the letter emanating from the palace a day or two after Husam left for the holy land and addressed to Husam.

Najib, BN fight for political survival: Nik Nazmi charged in bid to stop Black505 rallies

Maria Begum

In a bid to suppress massive public support for the Black505 rallies kicked off by Anwar Ibrahim, it looks like Prime Minister Najib Razak has reverted to scare tactics and draconian measures just days after unveiling a new “transformational” Cabinet and promised to practise “the best democracy”.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the PKR state assemblyman for Seri Setia, was charged in the Petaling Jaya Sessions court on Friday morning over the recently-held Kelana Jaya rally to protest fraud and irregularities in the May 5 general election.

According to his lawyer Eric Paulsen, Nik was charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act for allegedly failing to give 10 days notice to the police before the Suara Rakyat Suara Keramat or Black505 rally was held on May 8.

PRS tired of being ‘flower girls’

Joseph Tawie

Parti Rakyat Sarawak says Prime Minister Najib ‘should be smart enough and well-advised to know what the Dayaks need and where they can fit in’.

Parti Rakyat Sarawak vice-president Joseph Salang said the party’s supreme council took a firm stand on the cabinet posts because they were tired of “begging” and being treated like “flower arrangements”

Said Salang: “Najib offered us only two deputy ministers…Only after the president (James Masing) protested and some begging, only then the Prime Minister agreed for (Joseph) Entulu to be made a full minister in the Prime Minister’s Department

“Is that the way to treat PRS which has six seats, while a certain party which delivered only one seat is given a full minister?

SEREMBAN rushes for a slice of Anwar, PR:Who are you to tell us to get out – Zahid scolded

Wong Choon Mei

Yes, it was another easy victory for Anwar Ibrahim and his Pakatan Rakyat team. The 50,000-odd crowd at the Seremban Blackout 505 rally on Friday night was only too happy to lap up their speeches, and Prime Minister Najib Razak should take note that when Anwar asked, “should we give BN another 5 years”, the crowd roared back “NO WAY!”‘

So great is Anwar’s and Pakatan’s hold on the people that they have become superstars. On arrival, they are mobbed and at the end of the ceramah (rally), the crowd rushes up to the stage to take photos with their favourite Pakatan leaders and to get their autographs.

Tonight, apart from Anwar who as always got the loudest cheers, it was Nik Nazmi, the PKR assemblyman for Seri Setia, who got the hero’s welcome, while stealing the show was Johari Abdul, the PKR MP for Sungei Petani.

Sarawak dams will flood 2,300 sq km, warns BMF

BMF

VIDEO | 1.32 min The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has warned of possible degradation of the environment and social effects on the Sarawak indigenous people, following the proposed flooding of 11 dams which may cover an area of 2,300 square km of rainforests or one-and-a-half times the area of Greater London.

BMF, which released a map of the possible repercussions, said it is concerned over this fact following Sarawak’s hosting of the International Hydro-power Association’s (IHA) World Congress in Kuching for three days beginning May 21.

It said Sarawak Energy, the state’s power monopoly, is planning to realise the dams by 2020. 

What do Chinese want?

Koon Yew Yin

The most important concern of the Chinese is fairness in the system – especially in education, business and the civil service.

Even before the elections took place, various Umno leaders led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Utusan Malaysia have led the onslaught against the Chinese in the country.

Now the results are in, they are taking to a new level the politics of suspicion, hatred and revenge in the Malay masses for what they say as a betrayal by the Chinese voters.

There are several undeniable contrary facts to their thinking. Firstly, as others have pointed out, the so-called Chinese tsunami was actually a Malaysian tsunami which accounted for the largest ever proportion of total votes – in fact the majority – going to the opposition.

Stop the racist politics of suspicion and hate

Koon Yew Yin

Even before the elections took place, various Umno leaders led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Utusan Malaysia have led the onslaught against the Chinese in the country. Now that the results are in, they are taking to a new level the politics of suspicion, hatred and revenge in the Malay masses for what they say as a betrayal by the Chinese voters.

There are several undeniable contrary facts to their thinking.

Firstly, as others have pointed out, the so-called Chinese tsunami was actually a Malaysian tsunami which accounted for the largest ever proportion of total votes — in fact the majority — going to the opposition. Simple arithmetic explains why the Chinese who comprise less than 30 per cent of the total population can barely account for at most half the total votes cast against BN even if all Chinese had voted against BN.

Angry SPDP members : Why did you drop us, Najib?

Joseph Tawie

Angry SPDP members have called for the party leaders to pull out of BN over its exclusion from the federal cabinet despite delivering four parliamentary seats.

Angry Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) members across the state have been advised to stay calm and allow its party leaders to query Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to drop them from the federal cabinet.

Najib had, on Wednesday, excluded the party from his cabinet list.

SPDP won all its four parliamentary seats – Anthony Nogeh (Mas Gading), William Mawan Ikom (Saratok), Anyi Ngau (Baram) and Tiong King Sing (Bintulu) – and was expecting to be amply rewarded with one full minister and a deputy or at least two deputies.

Time for BN to walk the talk

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

The holiday is over and BN must start implementing the promises in its manifesto before it loses all credibility with the people.

Pakatan Rakyat won 52% of the popular vote compared to 48% by BN despite MEF (Massive Electoral Fraud). It doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that Pakatan deserves to be the government of the day.

Not only has it come as a rude shock to Barisan Nasional, it is also a terrible shame for BN to comprehend it has lost the popularity vote count.

Fifty two percent of Malaysians actually believed in Pakatan Rakyat’s vision of a democratic nation, free from tyranny and corruption. It is a stunning vision that embraces racial unity, meritocracy, equal rights and individual freedoms.

Silver nitrate’s not carcinogenic, voter tells EC

Mkini

A voter is taking Election Commission (EC) chairperson Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof to task for a recent statement that silver nitrate content of more than 1 percent in indelible ink could cause cancer or kidney damage, which the former claimed is untrue.

Disputing this, Stephen Ng, who claims to be a chemist by training, said such serious health effects are not even listed on the material safety data sheet (MSDS) of the AgNO3 compound, or silver nitrate, which instead states there is no available evidence of carcinogenic, mutanic or teratonic effects.

The MSDS is a document which denotes health and safety information pertaining to the properties of a particular substance of chemical.

Reject GE13 results before it is TOO LATE!

Wong Choon Mei

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim called on his countrymen to reject the results of the recently-concluded 13th general election, urging them to defend their rights and “save Malaysia” from a bleak future where corruption and political tyranny would dominate.

His call comes as pressure mounts from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government to accept the outcome of the May 5 polls, which has been marred by allegations of vote-rigging, phantom voters and even the use of illegal foreign workers to slip into the polling booths and vote for Najib’s Umno-BN coalition in return for which they would be given permanent residency.

The 64-year-old Anwar is disputing Najib’s claim of a 133-seats victory in Malaysia’s 222-seats Parliament. His Pakatan Rakyat coalition, which won the popular vote, sweeping 52% of all ballots cast, wants a re-election in 27 seats where they say they have evidence of highly irregular procedures. Anwar has refused to concede defeat, and has kicked off a nationwide tour to take his case to the people.

TI divided over Taib’s dam congress

Keruah Usit

The anti-corruption NGO Transparency International, or TI, faces an internal split over its support for the World Congress of the International Hydropower Association (IHA), to be held in Kuching, Sarawak from May 21 to 24.

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) secretary general Josie Fernandez (right) toldMalaysiakini that she and other Malaysian members were “disappointed and embarrassed that TI is a sponsor of the World Congress hosted by Sarawak Energy Berhad (SEB), a public company controlled by Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Sarawak chief minister who is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on allegations of grand corruption.”

It’s Najib’s ‘thank you’ to Taib

Joseph Tawie

Opposition PKR claims that MPs from Sabah and Sarawak are nothing more than ‘window dressing’ in the new federal cabinet.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s allocation of seven ministers from Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) is an act of gratitude and a bid to “establish a foothold in Umno” in preparation for the October Umno assembly, claims Sarawak PKR.

Said PKR vice-president See Chee How: “Giving PBB the lion’s share is probably to please Taib (state BN chairman) for winning 25 seats, including 14 from PBB.”

Najib’s legitimacy deficit

Josh Hong

I am surprised that there are voices from within the opposition saying that it is time to move on and get on with business, ie. acknowledging BN’s victory and continuing the fight within the current system that we have.

Perhaps this is understandable, given that many candidates, especially those from DAP, have now won a seat and do not want to betray the trust that their voters have put in them.

But what is often overlooked is that GE13 was not contested on a level-playing field. The following points can help illustrate this:

Another May 13 in the offing?

Ong Kar Jin

For the sake of this country, the writer hopes his entire analysis is rubbish, and that he will be proven absolutely wrong and a pessimistic idiot.

May 13 has arrived and passed with no major incidents. For many Malaysians who sit uneasily with the date, there is a culpable sense of relief. However, is the threat of a nationwide disturbance over?

Is it possible still in this day and age for something on the scale of the May 13 riots to reoccur?

Before moving on let me just clarify that this analysis is not meant to monger fear or accuse the government of anything. It is a hypothesis based on my historical analysis of post-election trends in Malaysia, and as with all hypotheses, is unproven and certainly not set in stone.

Sorry NAJIB: A leopard cannot change its spots – neither can you or Umno!

J. D. Lovrenciear

A leopard cannot change its spots. Now, will this hold true for BN and especially UMNO?

There is talk among some UMNO-BN power brokers that BN needs to “re-brand”. One notion is that that it should mint a new name to replace the “BN” and to even have a new logo to reflect that change.

The idea being mooted is to disband race-based UMNO, MIC and MCA with a single tag to represent a sort of multiracial coalition of sorts.

But let us take a leave from that age-old wisdom – let truth be told!

Having a new logo is not going to change the spots of the leopard. A leopard is a leopard. Having a new name to describe a leopard is not going to make the leopard into a cuddly cat.

Class, gender divide seen in GE13 voting trends, says Merdeka Center

ZURAIRI AR

Women and poorer Malaysians voted for Barisan Nasional (BN) while men and the middle- and upper-class voters leaned towards Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties in Election 2013.

Ibrahim Suffian, the director of independent pollster Merdeka Center, also said today that 55 per cent of respondents in a recent survey stated that they depended on the Internet and social media as their main source of political information.

“We see women generally leaned towards BN compared to men who leaned towards PR,” Ibrahim (picture) said at a forum organised by Universiti Malaya Centre of Democracy and Election (UMCEDEL).

Dayaks bitter over cabinet choices

FMT Staff

The Sabah Kadazandusun Murut Welfare and Education Association however described “as historic” the appointment of three full ministers from the community.

The much anticipated “stronger” representations by Sarawak’s loyal Dayak community in the new federal cabinet turned out to be a major disappointment.

In fact local Dayak majority parties Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Democratic Party (SPDP) have questioned the rationale behind Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to handover a large chunk of cabinet positions to Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB).