Why I shall vote in GE13

Philip Yeoh

I shall vote to give Malaysia a better chance of stemming the bleeding of our public finances and downward spiral in our standard of living.

I shall vote to protect our land and people from policies, practices and businesses that threaten our ecological safety and integrity.

I shall vote to open the door for reforms in our institutions of governance particularly the judiciary, MACC, police and the central bank.

I shall vote to introduce mechanisms to ensure proper behaviour and professionalism in civil servants and institutions of public order. These will include the long-awaited IPCMC that should be under the direct oversight of the Parliament, not a Cabinet minister.

Sack Taib or abolish MACC, Pakatan tells Najib

SYED JAYMAL ZAHIID AND MOHD FARHAN DARWIS 

Datuk Seri Najib Razak must force Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to resign for refusing to cooperate with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or dissolve the agency, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers said today. 

The leaders pointed out that the MACC would be rendered pointless if politicians accused of graft could enjoy legal immunity and refuse to cooperate with the anti-graft authority at their whim.

“Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak should show his commitment towards fighting corruption by either demanding the resignation of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud or else abolish the MACC.

Civil society in two minds over RCI on Taib and kin

Hazlan Zakaria

Civil society NGOs were in two minds over the call for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to investigate documented claims of abuse of power and graft by Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and extended family members.

The CM (left in photo) and those close to him were allegedly linked to land grabs involving native lands, later disposed for logging and palm oil plantations at huge profit.

One group supported the call for the RCI as being the only way the matter may be investigated, expressing a total lack of confidence in the independence and impartiality of the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in handling it.

MACC’s ‘endorsement’ of vote-buying alarming

Kim Quek

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) heretical interpretation of the Election Offences Act 1954 (the Act) on corruption is most alarming and warrants an emphatic rebuttal.

In the front-page headline story of Sin Chew Daily on Feb 13, MACC’s deputy chief commissioner (prevention) Sutinah Sutan was quoted as saying that for corruption offences committed during an election, our laws only deal with individuals, not political parties. As such, money or gifts given to electorate to induce votes for a political party is not an offence. It is an offence only when the gift is given to induce votes for a specific candidate.

Zahida-Shafie sex scandal flares up again as infighting in Sabah Umno rises ahead of GE13

Maria Begum

A free-for-all seems to have broken out among Sabah Umno leaders with political rivals of Zuhairie DaEngine suspected of instigating the sudden revival of a sex scandal involving starlet Zahida Rafik to embarrass the federal minister for rural and regional development.

“We are surprised to hear that the MACC has finally agreed to guestion Zahida’s driver. Why now?” Zuraida Kamaruddin, the PKR MP for Ampang, who had exposed the scandal last year.

“In the past, we had lodged so many reports but these were ignored and swept under the carpet by the authorities, so the question remains – why now? And who is behind the MACC’s sudden decision to take action, who is so powerful who can make the MACC respond with such sudden speed.”

Transformation in mindset, values and work culture needed

Lim Sue Goan

Malaysia has been moving up and down in international rankings since Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak introduced the transformation plans. Improvements are mainly made to administration and efficiency, while the spiritual and thinking dimensions are left to decline.

In the 2011 Forbes Best States for Business, Malaysia jumped three spots to 31st while Kuala Lumpur is the second-best shopping city in Asia Pacific, according to the latest Globe Shopper Index.

Malaysia scored worst in the 2012 Bribe Payers Survey while the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) report ranked Malaysia as world’s second with up to RM196.8 billion of black money having flowed out from the country in 2010.

Rewards should be linked to performance

 Lim Sue Goan

 The Royal Malaysian Customs is a lucky government department. Why? Some 12,500 Customs officials will be rewarded with a special half-month salary as an incentive for achieving a record revenue collection. However, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), which has also performed well, has not been rewarded.

The Customs created a new revenue collection record with RM32.318 billion last year, while the IRB also broke its tax revenue record with RM124.692 billion as of December 28 last year, which was a 13.76 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Beng Hock, his killers & the MACC forever captured in landmark documentary of his death

Steve Oh

 Teoh Beng Hock was the man who died while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam.

We read about him, we saw his photo in the news, and we remember the emotive images of his sobbing sister.

We knew him as a political worker.

He was law-abiding and trusting of the MACC, a government anti-corruption agency – the good guys who go after the bad guys.

What’s the status on Taib, MACC?

Joseph Tawie

With Swiss MPs pushing for their government to freeze Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s assets, eyes are now on MACC’s as yet undisclosed investigations.

Sarawak DAP today demanded to know the progress of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigations into Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s properties allegedly worth billions of ringgit.

State party secretary Chong Chieng Jen said it has been two years since MACC opened a file on Taib.

“But until today, I have not seen any progress of the investigation. MACC should speed up its investigation.

Desperation in December

Rom Nain

At least for some.Desperation evidently does strange things to God’s creatures, including some already-anxious Malaysian politicians and their minions. And nowhere has this been more obvious than during the recent month of December; a period often hyped as the season of cheer and plenty, but this time around coming across as the season of fear and stupidity.

If pushed for a time frame, I’d say it all began barely a week before Christmas. Perhaps inspired by a previously silent (though certainly not holy) night and the medically recommended seven hours of sleep, not one, but two prominent individuals came up in the mainstream media on Dec 20 with what they must have thought were brilliant suggestions.

Panel: Review loopholes that hinder probe on Taib

Mkini

The current loopholes in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 need to be plugged to strengthen the capability of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in fighting graft, said Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad, chairperson of the parliamentary special committee (PSC) on corruption.

The loophole in Section 23 of the Act has been cited by MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull as a hindrance to investigating Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, despite his son having allegedly benefited from state contracts.

Najib’s joke for Christmas : Candidates screened by MACC.

Stephen Ng

I look with the disgust the proposal that candidates from all political parties should be screened through by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) before the 13th General Election.

On the surface such a proposal looks good, until one starts to peel the skin and see how rotten the idea is at the core.

First, the MACC is under the prime minister himself. For this same reason, despite evidence that came out of the French judiciary that Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could be involved in a high-profile corruption case in the Scorpene deal, no investigation has been carried out by the MACC.

MACC seeks AG’s review of decision on Musa

Hafiz Yatim

This was disclosed by one of the panel members at a public forum held by the Bar Council and MACC today.The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Operations Review Panel has requested the attorney-general to review its decision on the RM40 million allegedly channeled from timber trader Michael Chia to Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

Bar Council vice-president Chris Leong had posed questions on the disclosure made in Parliament that the controversial case was closed.

‘HK chief prosecutor’s statement damning’

Teoh El Sen

Kevin Zervos has indicated that there was a conspiracy to cover up the RM40 million “political donations” case by Malaysian authorities, says PKR’s strategic director.

The statement yesterday by Hong Kong’s chief public prosecutor points to a conspiracy by Malaysian authorities to cover up and halt investigations against Sabah chief minister Musa Aman and timber tycoon Michael Chia over the RM40 million “political donations” case, claimed PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli today.

Rafizi said it also gives an impression that the Malaysian authorities – either the Attorney-General’s chambers, the MACC or both – had supplied inaccurate information to Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), and in turn had tarnished the investigations.

Monster Gift! – Michael Chia Handed Huge Hummer To Son Of ‘Friend’ Nazri Abdul Aziz

Sarawak Report

Member of Mohammed Nedim’s protection team and the half million ringgit status symbol, Hummer H2, that has ended up in the hands of the Nazri family, but which is still registered under the name of its purchaser, Michael Chia!

This big black beast of a car is an American Hummer 2 SUV, one of the most expensive vehicles in the world, costing around half a million ringgit on the Malaysian market.

For well over a year one of these models, registration number WNX9776, has been driven around KL by Mohamad Nedim Nazri, the son of a key Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Amangate – will Najib clean up Nazri’s mess?

Kim Quek

 Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department cum de dacto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz’s attempt to disown responsibilities for his contradictory statements in parliament on the grounds that he was only the reader – not the author – of those statements has brought serious concern to the soundness of the Barisan Nasional political leadership.

The senior minister was confronted with evidence of his son Nedim (left) using a luxurious vehicle registered in Michael Chia’s name, who together with Musa Aman (Sabah chief minister), were cleared by Nazri of corruption in parliament earlier.

MACC panelist under fire for defending Musa

Calvin Kabaron

MACC panelist Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s credibility is now under question after he openly defended Musa Aman over the RM40 million political donation.

Kota Belud MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan has been reminded that he sits on a Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) panel and should not be too quick to jump and openly defend his Umno colleagues who are subject to corruption investigations.

Abdul Rahman sits on a MACC’s Special Committee on Anti-Corruption.

Last week he jumped to Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s defence over the RM40 million issue.

Amangate: Umno sinks into deeper quagmire

Kim Quek

Parliament should consider censuring Minister Nazri Aziz for giving completely contradictory answers in the House within the short interval of one week in respect of the contraband S$16 million (RM40 mil) cash seized in Hong Kong International Airport which both Nazri and Prime Minister Najib Razak denied that it was Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman’s money, claiming it was donation to Sabah Umno.

It should also consider rebuking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for having irresponsibly denying that the illegal attempt by Michael Chia Tien Foh to board the plane with the contraband cash was not an act of smuggling cash in breach of the law, simply because Nazri has made some dubious statements in parliament.

What’s the tit-for-tat for RM40m?

CT Ali

It is simply no longer funny when you see what they are doing to our country, its economy and its future.

“Every political party has the right to receive political donations” so said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. I agree that it is the right of any political party and any Barisan Nasional politicians (you must not forget to say that) to accept donations.

You received RM4,000? Okay lah!

What about RM40,000? Still okay.

Reveal sources of RM40mil ‘contribution’, gov’t told

Transparency International-Malaysiakini

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) is calling for authorities to reveal the sources of the RM40 million “political contribution” to Sabah Umno, that a Sabah businessman was caught trying to smuggle into the country from Hong Kong.

Referring to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz’s parliamentarywritten reply to Batu MP Tian Chua, its secretary-general Josie M Fernandez said TI-M was “appalled” that Nazri has stated “no elements of corruption was proven” in the case.

Umno MP’s sentence upheld, stay granted

Malaysiakini 

The Shah Alam High Court has upheld a six year jail sentence and a RM400,000 fine handed to Sabak Bernam MP Abdul Rahman Bakri and his aide Rosli Busro for making false claims.

Judge Akhtar Tahir initially ordered for the sentence to be carried out immediately, but the defence team managed to argue for a stay of execution late this evening.

However, the bail amount for Abdul Rahman has been increased from RM50,000 to RM80,000.

The accused will have a final chance to argue for their freedom at the Court of Appeal leve.

On March 1, Sessions Court Judge Azhaniz Teh Azman Teh had handed down the sentence after finding Abdul Rahman and Rosli guilty of eight charges of making false claims for programmes which never took place, amounting to RM80,000.

Experts say MACC’s procedures flawed, not the law

Hafiz Yatim

Legal experts have disagreed with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) assessment that some laws should be amended before it can be more effective in nabbing top corrupt politicians.

On Wednesday, Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub, a member of the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on corruption, revealed that the MACC had argued it was hampered by “archaic provisions” in existing laws.

Salahuddin (left) had cited a case raised by the MACC to the PSC in which a wealthy state leader could not be prosecuted because of flaws in the law, despite six investigation papers being opened on the said individual.

Kit Siang: Is Najib telling MACC to hands off Taib?

Malaysiakini

DAP has asked if Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s call not to entertain allegations about  Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s alleged billions in wealth was a signal to enforcement agencies not to probe or question the matter.

“I have no doubt that without Najib’s pre-emptive strike today, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) would have taken the completely neutral but meaningless stand that it was prepared to investigate into the BMF report about Taib and his family’s gargantuan wealth and asset accumulated from 31 years of Taib’s chief ministership of Sarawak.

“But with the stern signal from Najib today, would MACC dare to initiate investigations into Taib … and would there be any BN MP who would dare to endorse or support a full MACC investigation into the BMF report?” asked Lim in a statement today.

More shocking AIMST exposé on the way

FMT Staff

PKR promises to reveal ‘financial mismanagement’ involving top MIC leaders next week.

The MIC-run AIMST University mismanagement exposé by PKR has rattled the largest Indian political party in the country, enough to warrant two conflicting statements from two MIC leaders within the last two days.

PKR national strategy and policy bureau secretary S Gobi Krishnan said similar to how the university had outsourced its cafeteria contract, MIC president, G Palanivel, seems to have outsourced his decision-making to a mere vice-president and central working committee members in regard to the issues raised.

Rural Sarawak haulier scam uncovered

Hafiz Yatim

The Sarawak Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has uncovered a multi-million ringgit scam by transporters involved with the transportation of vital goods to rural and interior areas in the vast state.

State MACC chief Bahri Md Zin told Malaysiakini that the transporters were found to make false claims amounting to hundreds of thousands over the goods that they transported to the rural areas.

“On top of that, when we posed as officers from the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry late last year, they tried to bribe our officials.

“Hence, on top of making false claims, some of them will face charges of trying to bribe our officers. We are hauling them up from today until the end of next month to charge them in court,” he said.

Bahri said the transporters are registered under the National Price Control council and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Cowgate: Talk straight please, MACC!

Kim Quek

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) defended its position on December 16 with regards to the National Feedlot Centre scandal on two fronts: through the issue of a statement and at a press conference given by MACC chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed after the closing ceremony of a MACC programme at the Anti-Corruption Academy .

In the statement quoted by Bernama, the MACC denied that it had not taken any action. It said that it did scrutinise the complaint from NGOs regarding the abuse of a government loan to purchase luxurious condominiums by National Feedlot Corporation, and found no corruption element, and hence passed the case to the police.

Atn the press conference, Abu Kassim said that since the scandal was exposed in the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report in October, the MACC had already started studying it from the corruption point of view., The issue of whether the MACC is or is not probing the case does not arise, since the MACC’s earlier measure to pass the case to police was only a response specifically directed at the particular complaint of irregularity in using the loan to purchase the condos. Since it was a case of misuse of public loan, it was forwarded to police for further investigation.

MACC keeps mum on Taib Mahmud graft probe

S Pathmawathy

Ironically, the officer – MACC investigation division deputy commission Azmi Mohd – did so at a forum organised by graft watchdog Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) to discuss corruption in forest management and sustainable development.A senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer yesterday refused to comment on the status of its investigations into graft allegations against Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Asked by Malaysiakini about the status of MACC’s investigation against Taib during the question-and-answer session of the public forum, Azmi appeared taken aback and said he had informed the forum organisers that he would not take questions that were “too detailed”.

“I told the organisers that I will not be answering certain questions, and these are questions I will not be able to answer,” he said.

Hornbill case: Whistleblowers on the line

By Hafiz Yatim

Case of allegedly unlawful dismissal, which usually does not attract much attention, has caught the eye not only of the media, but the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as well.

All eyes are now now focused on questions of possibly inappropriate practices in a Sarawak government-owned firm, Hornbill Skyways Sdn Bhd, over its purchase of an aircraft.

The MACC is now monitoring closely the legal battle between Horbill Skyways and its former GM.

UMNO and MACC strangling each other

By Pak Bui

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) head prosecutor Abdul Razak Musa made a humiliating spectacle of himself in front of the coroner’s court during the hearing into the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

His self-abasement is a terrible setback for UMNO’s efforts to regain votes in the next general election. The MACC has plumbed the depths of public mistrust, and in so doing has reflected badly on its masters in UMNO.

Public anger towards the MACC will also be directed against UMNO, since Malaysians of all races understand that the MACC behaves as a political weapon, wielded by UMNO and its allies against their opponents.

The MACC’s move to attack celebrated Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand appears to have backfired. Abdul Razak Musa was ill-prepared, and cracked under the intense pressure on him to cast doubt on the Thai doctor’s findings that Teoh’s death was no suicide.

Malaysia’s democracy on trial

Chris Wright, The Australian Financial Review

Anwar Ibrahim’s trial will be a crucial moment not only for his opposition party, but also the government, writes CHRIS WRIGHT from The Australian Financial Review

But while Anwar is under pressure in court, it’s the government, and in particular the  UMNO party at its heart, that is struggling, and not just with election results. Even in a country with a largely compliant mainstream press (but a vibrant alternative media), the government and the country’s other key institutions have found themselves mired in scandal.

When Anwar Ibrahim walks into the Kuala Lumpur High Court today,

The Council of Najib

By Dreamweaver

Angry grey clouds scudded across the sky over the huge green onion dome rising above the magnificent mock Moghul splendour of the prime minister’s office in Putrajaya. Thunder boomed as the howling wind whipped up the fluttering flags bringing with it the promise of rain. A late afternoon thunderstorm was about to unleash its fury on the land below but deep in the bowels of the building insulated from the capricious weather, a secret high level meeting was in progress.

Its seven participants are among the most powerful people in this nation of 28 million people.

Corruption – the Malaysian pestilence!

By Sim Kwang Yang

Eleven public officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as some businessmen have been charged in court for alleged corrupt practices as reported in the Auditor General’s report.

Visibly pleased during an official visit to the Anti-Corruption Agency HQ, the PM praised the management and men of the agency for their good work, and encouraged them to go after the corrupt, no matter what their rank and status.

Have these high-profile anti-graft cases restored the confidence of the ordinary street-wise citizens, especially those who live and work in large urban centres? Has the BN government therefore displayed their political will to rid the nation of this crippling scourge forever? The answer must be an emphatic “no”!

Even the very pro-government national daily, the New Straits Times, shares my scepticism. In an editorial that appeared on 25.10.2007 under the title “Delivering the goods”, the paper has this to say:

“As it is, while there has been a very conspicuous campaign to curb corruption, this has not been matched by public progress reports in terms of proven cases, litigations, and court hearings. In the fight against corruption, the bureaucratic preference for washing the dirty linen behind closed doors should not apply. When the seeming reluctance to do anything which can be construed as undermining the morale of the civil service is taken as an indication of the weakness of enforcement and the lack of political will, it can only reinforce the perception the anti-corruption drive has been long on rhetoric and short on delivery.”

New! Improved UMNO! Washes whiter than white!

By Bunga Pakma

What a week!  Though I have faithfully been following doctor’s orders and not getting my knickers in a twist, it is impossible for me completely to avoid the whirlpool-in-a-septic-tank that is public political life.

Among political pundits and commentators, honoured Reader, you will find no more superficial observer in the country than Yours Truly here.  My contact with newspapers amounts to no more than reading the headlines at the local newsstand. I don’t have a TV and I don’t listen to the radio.  Yes, I do have a look at Malaysiakini in the morning over the cornflakes, and I do read what my brethren post on HU. But I’ve got a job to attend to and trolling the Net for lurid outrages does not raise a thrill in me.  Superficiality is in a sense my strength.  Heaven knows that what’s on the surface is frightening enough.

The earliest thing my memory can drag up from the mists of time is that UMNO seems to have held a general meeting last week.  Specks of glitter-dust left over from the razzmatazz remain among the dust and tattered banners in the dark, deserted PWTC.  I remember the “image” of that event as I’d remember some quasi-carnival event in the Mall—a canopy, stage, and display with balloons, flags, music and lights to launch a brand of soap.  “And now, the, New! Improved UMNO! Washes whiter than white! [In more ways than one.] Now suitable for dirty laundry of ALL races!” and so forth.

To be fair to the makers of Trojan, Omo, and Daia, I must say that I’ve always thought the detergent section of the supermarket a cheery one. It’s kinda nice to see shelves of excited coloured sacks and boxes enthusiastically standing up for the virtues of cleanliness and transparency, taking dirt and filth of all kinds to daily account for their never-ending evil.

Newspapers smear Teoh Beng Hock and “foreign instigators”

By Pak Bui

It’s confirmed! The newspapers are full of propaganda and they stink to high heaven!

Malaysian newspapers have been falling over themselves to fawn over Umno and the Sarawak BN.

The mainstream media in KL have published endless claims of Teoh Beng Hock’s “likely suicide” and his being “on the take.” The whitewash has vacillated between trying to bury the story on the inside pages, and trying to publish the MACC’s version of events, at the same time.

The MACC officers seem to be convinced they can smear Teoh Beng Hock’s name without fear, because they are playing for the side that controls the ball and the referee. They do not see any injustice in accusing a dead man, who cannot defend himself, or sue the MACC – as long as the MACC get off the hook.

Questions over “tip-off” regarding MACC and Teoh Beng Hock

By Pak Bui

The anonymous letter written by “MACC Officers” in Officialese (mind-numbing bureaucratic language) has stirred up a swarm of questions. RPK, as usual, has done Malaysians a favour, by stimulating debate, and publishing the anonymous letter in full on the Malaysia Today website.

Could it be true?

One obvious question is: are the allegations against a senior Selangor MACC official true? We should adhere to the age-old tenet that any indicted person is innocent until proven guilty. But the Selangor MACC’s record speaks for itself.

The Selangor MACC launched a rabid attack on the PR government, “probing” allocations of funds of less than RM2500. It appears unlikely that Umno can unseat PR’s Selangor government by fair means, because Khalid’s administration has performed well overall, as Nizar’s did in Perak.