Thursday, December 22, 2011

MACC Probe on NFC: Another Political Sandiwara in the Making?

Duuh!! MACC might as well bury their heads in cow dung… no one expected them to act from the word go and now with this about turn – is like telling Malaysians since you guys are adamant on digging the whole scam up onto the surface, you leave us with little choice but to come out with more damage control measures… This is why I have said earlier , a massive street protest would be a better solution.
______________
danildaud,
Soon the Peaceful Assembly which has been approved by Dewan Rakyat and endorsed by Dewan Negara will be become law after Royal Accent. That option is going to be difficult as protestors will be violating the law.–Din Merican
 

“Anti-Corruption Commission has announced that a special team will be formed to investigate claims that UMNO Minister Shahrizat Jalil’s family had squandered public funds allocated to the RM250 million NFC cattle livestock project on personal items and luxurious assets.”

Squandered is the key word here… tell me does this MACC-chief knows what he is saying?

Yea , the rakyat have been short change big time with the promised of a cheaper source of venison meat … Nay , the funds were never squandered since its release. Embezzled if you like but not squandered..
If there is any truth of Sayalazat’s alleged promiscuous past…spreading her legs this time round will not be such a good idea no-more . The flesh has turned from raw , fresh to rotten..

 
Yup! Dato , thanks for the reminder…but then again the protest could be leveled at this bill as well.
 

Danildaud,
I don’t know if anybody in MACC knows what they are doing but I do know that the language used suggests that Sharizat is being set up for a ‘no case to answer’ before the issue even gets to our courts.

‘Squander” is not part of any legal language to refer to crimes committed under the country’s Penal Code.


Soon the Peaceful Assembly which has been approved by Dewan Rakyat and endorsed by Dewan Negara will be become law after Royal Accent. That option is going to be difficult as protestors will be violating the law.–Din Merican
Dato,
Has Malaysia changed so much after I left that even our Agong talks with an accent?

 
Haha! cant help picking on the Dato eeh…. yup! Bean , precise interpretation of the language used and the hidden motives…

MACC Probe on NFC


December 22, 2011

MACC Probe on NFC: Another Political Sandiwara in the Making?

by  Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle
Amid signs that Prime Minister Najib Razak’s UMNO is fast unraveling, hit by massive graft and infighting amongst its top leadership, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has announced that a special team will be formed to investigate claims that UMNO Minister Shahrizat Jalil’s family had squandered public funds allocated to the RM250 million NFC cattle livestock project on personal items and luxurious assets.
However, instead of appeasing public anger, all eyes are now on the drama at play in UMNO. While Shahrizat has hinted she was ready to quit, it is unlikely that she will allow herself to be railroaded or be made an easy scapegoat of by her own party mates.
All eyes are now on how Najib, himself the subject of a probe by the French government over allegations of having taken a 114 million euros or RM570 million kickback from French naval giant DCN for the purchase of 2 Scorpene submarines, will deal with the issue. Najib is also the UMNO President.
“Tell me, which UMNO leader does not have problem?” was Shahrizat’s sharp retort when asked to comment whether she would heed the growing calls to resign, as reported in the Sin Chew newspaper a few days ago.
Lip service expected from the MACC
Indeed, public cynicism is inevitable given that the MACC had previously passed the buck to the police despite receiving reports from Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
The Najib administration lost further credibility when Deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Bakar publicly declared there were no elements of criminal breach of trust during the recent UMNO General Assembly. Khalid, often called a stooge for the UMNO-led government, was accused of ‘play-acting’ in a bid to save the UMNO leaders embarrassment.
“We have acted accordingly by collecting evidence and statements since the issue was reported in the Auditor-General’s Report. A large part of the issues brought up in the latest complaint (against NFC) had already been acted upon,” a defensive-sounding MACC investigations director Mustafar Ali said in a statement released on Thursday.
The MACC was also quick to stress it could not divulge details of investigations as stipulated under Section 29(4) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009. “We call on the parties to give their full co-operation by not politicising the issues which could affect our investigation,” Mustafar added.
Given the tone of the statement, it was clear to political watchers that the MACC was not going to do much to uncover the dirt in NFC or National Feedlot Centre, a project aimed to raise local supply of beef to up to 40% of consumption and keep prices affordable.
The project was awarded to Shahrizat’s husband, Salleh Ismail, and her children in 2006 by then then Agriculture minister Muhyiddin Yassin on the prodding of UMNO Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin, the son-in-law of former premier Abdullah Badawi. Najib also played a part in approving the project to Shahrizat’s family.
Another shameless sandiwara
Cynicism is high that this was the latest ‘sandiwara’ or drama enacted by UMNO to tell Shahrizat to quit her Cabinet post and take responsibility before general elections are held next year.
No one is expecting any major change in the attitude of the top UMNO leaders, who are renowned for their corruption-tainted records – as Shahrizat herself alluded to.
“Both Shahrizat and UMNO are shameless. The issue is why such a loan was given to her family when she was holding the position of a Cabinet minister. It is impossible they could have got the loan if she were not a minister. She and her family have deprived needy and hardworking Malaysians from the benefit of the fund (meant to supply everyday Malaysians with a cheap source of beef),” PKR vice president N Surendran told Malaysia Chronicle.
“It is also pointless to blame Shahrizat alone. UMNO bears the biggest blame. Benefiting cronies and families from public funds is a central part of UMNO’s political culture.”
Victim of the Mahathir legacy of corruption?
Furthermore, those who have called on her to quit before she is “chased out” include former premier Mahathir Mohamad, notorious for defining and expanding UMNO’s feudal system of politics where the ruling elite have carte blanche over almost every aspect of economic and political life in Malaysia.
In the recently released Global Financial Integrity report, Malaysia was identified to be the 4th most corrupt nation in the world, racking up a total of US$338 billion (RM1.08 trillion) in illicit outflows over the first decade of the century.
GFI also said the Malaysian increase was “at a scale seen in few Asian countries.” In January, it had reported that RM930 billion flowed out of Malaysia from 2000 to 2008, growing to RM218 billion per year from an initial RM71 billion in that period.
“This report should be a wake-up call to world leaders that more must be done to address these harmful outflows,” GFI director Raymond Baker said in a press release.
Upon release of the GFI’s report in January, it was telling that one of the first UMNO leaders to cast doubt on the renowned Washington-based body was Mukhriz Mahathir, the youngest son of the former PM. Now 86, Mahathir had ruled Malaysia for 22 years and is widely believed to be the one who has salted away the biggest fortune at taxpayers’ expense.
Malaysia Chronicle

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Open Letter from India to Mahathir and UMNO

Madir qualifies to be a villain in Bollywood movies.. he has all what it takes…this is what is being said…no need to read in between the lines.

Okay..no qualms over his point of view of how far democracy ought be adhered to before arm-twisting tactics is administered..this , he has acclaimed -” set a bench mark” already …now it is up to the present and future generation of Malaysians to charter where they wanna go from here…

What strikes most people or irks them is not his over zealousness in preaching his view on righteousness and a just society which he has done countless of times every opportunity that came his way….some even construed this as a voice of dissent that came from a leader of a miniature nation who was bold enough to throw a challenged at the big boys gracing the world stage but the years he was in office , tainted by the introduction of cronyism…nepotism… were detestable especially at the local front and forever synonym whenever his name creeps-up …

Of late…isolated as he is…has acquired another aspect of his hidden talent that of a hatemonger-er…all for the sake of preserving his legacy and for what?

Open Letter  from India to Mahathir and UMNO

by Siddharthya Swapan Roy (12-14-11)

14 December, 2011
Dear Mr Mahathir,

A couple of days back I woke up to Indian newspaper reports which quoted you as saying that India’s democracy is a hindrance to its development and if we did away with the nuisance of democracy we will be become developed (1).
Well Sir, it is heartening to see your concern about India’s future. Especially now that our own elected government has orphaned us, someone from the outside caring about our development sounds so very nice. But you see Sir, your (apparently) good intentions notwithstanding, your advice to Indians is, well how should I put it…ill-advised. I’m not really sure if you know much about the history of our nation. Don’t get me wrong.
Know Your Facts
Going by facts like the general absence of news from Malaysia’s newspapers; the absence of anything but song and dance in your electronic media; the absence of bookstores that sell knowledgeable books (for example, the ones from which you can learn about history and not how to get rich in six steps); the abundance of malls and the stark absence of libraries; the abundance of coaching centers that can make masseurs, air hostesses and a host of quick fix technicians and the relative absence of centres of higher learning especially in the social sciences; and above all the fact that this insanely consumerist and hedonist Malaysia was made under your tutelage, makes me doubt your knowledge of the history of India or any nation for that matter.
Understand the Story of Indian Independence
So allow me to apprise you of the story of our Independence. We won Independence from colonial rulers waging a long and torturous battle. A battle that sought to replace a discriminatory, unjust and violent regime that had enslaved huge populations with one which was based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity.
India was home then, as is now and as will always be, to an immense diversity of people who spoke different tongues, prayed to different Gods, wore different clothes and had different political beliefs. These diverse people said to each other that – we, despite our differences, will strive to live and flourish together and make a sovereign nation which will be democratic, socialist and secular. We did not anywhere say that we want to be Malaysia or for that matter China or the USA.
India treats all its citizen as equal
We want to become a nation with a system that treats all its citizens as equal unlike your country that officially accords special rights to Malay Muslims calling them first class citizens while relegating thousands of people of Tamil, Chinese and other ethnic origins. Despite the fact that they have known no other land other than Malaysia as their own, you denigrate them with the tag of being second class citizens.
Meritocracy and Hard Work, Not Identity-based Cartelisation
We try to work towards having a system wherein a person will grow according to his merit and hard work earning what he has rightfully earned. You may be surprised to know that here in India making cartels based on identity, even if under the name of bumiputra or son-of-the-soil, is called cartelisation and is looked down upon by most of us.
Here promoting the selective interests of one’s self or that of his kin is called corruption and nepotism and not, as you call it, development. We are in fact fighting tooth and nail to arrest the scourge of corruption and (you’ll be shocked to know) get the guilty punished.
In India, No One is Above the Law
Here in India no one is above the law and many a times powerful public figures go to jail for being corrupt or subverting the law. Now that we are at it, Sir, I’m sure it would be interesting to know what the minorities of you countries have to say – especially the jailed and beaten ones – about the development-democracy debate.
In fact Sir, your idea of development is largely at odds with many of us here. What you did to the tropical forests and water-bodies of Malaysia (that is raze vast acres of them into oblivion making way for big bucks palm oil plantations and piggeries and so on) would cause huge outrage amongst many of us who are looking for sustainable development.
We are yet to be unanimously convinced that making cemented roads – however broad, lining them with buildings – even if glass covered and glossy, putting cars on them – however fast they are– is a substitute for our valued bio-diversity. Many of us are very convinced that displacing huge populations of native people for useless things like racing tracks is a blot on the word ‘development’.
There are many of us who find it a shameful and cruel hypocrisy that in your country can have abundant openly advertised sex tourism and still whip women for being licentious! Thanks to the culture of reading here, many of us know of your penchant for cruelty in your personal career. A career during which you enacted despotic and violent acts at times in the name of (your contorted version of Islam) and at  times in the name of security and national interest.
Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, 1960
We could recount how you rose to power annihilating huge numbers of your opponents and stayed there for over two decades continuing your devious rule using tactics and schemes which are far beyond Machiavelli. Many of us know about your vile Internal Security Act 1960, which you used to crush political opposition jailing and killing them with impunity and putting in place a frail and near sham democracy placing the entire nation under a one man rule of the UNMO for over two decades.
You will note that in the essay above I have used words like “most of us” “many of us” and have tried to stay away form absolute claims. Besides the age old Indian practice of accommodating different opinions, it is meant to recognise that there are people in this country too who think like you and will have applauded you for saying what you did.
They too think that roads are all that are important and not the humans which walk on them or the ones that sleep beside them. They have misconstrued the word development as development of personal wealth and that this ‘development’ is a holy cow and everything including the rights and lives of fellow humans is a lesser priority. Their money power helps them buy a lot of print space and electronic bandwidth so they may appear like the majority, but thankfully the truth is they aren’t.
Development through Increasing Democracy
The majority of us recognise and are willing to admit – and even discuss at length – that there are problems in our nation – including bad roads. But they’ll quickly add that we intend to solve those not by lessening democracy but by increasing it.
1. Speech on December 2 Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi
The author is a freelance writer and activist based in Maharashtra. siddharthyaroy@gmail.com

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