Sabah DAP withdraws suit against SESB

By Charlie Rudai

KOTA KINABALU: The suit initiated by Sabah DAP against Sabah Electricity Sabah Sdn Bhd (SESB) has been withdrawn after the would-be plaintiff pulled out at the 11th hour.

Sri Tanjung assemblyman, Jimmy Wong, said the plaintiff was chosen in March from the hundreds of complaints from SESB consumers in a campaign initiated by Sabah DAP last year in the Sandakan High Court in March, but had decided not to pursue the matter.

Declining to name the plaintiff and his company in the suit, Wong said Sabah DAP chose the individual as the plaintiff because his company had a three-month record of power interruption and the cost incurred.

The cost was calculated based on fuel prices for its generator set, overtime for labour and damages to the machines, among others.

Wong told a press conference today that Sabah DAP had already paid the deposit to engage lawyers through Goh and Associates. A writ of summons was also issued in Sandakan.

But before we can serve the summons on SESB, we need to get a letter of consent from the plaintiff. Unfortunately, this company then asked who was going to pay the legal fee if it lost the case, said Wong, who is Sabah DAP deputy chief. Also present was Sabah DAP chief, Dr Hiew King Cheu.

We are confident of winning the case... (if it had gone ahead) we will be able expose SESBs negligence so I personally signed a letter of undertaking to the company that in case we lost, I will be responsible for the cost of the legal fee, he said.

However, if we won the case, I requested that the company divide equally the amount that it got from the proceeding, which would be given back to the people, he said.

But the plaintiff said no and did not want to proceed, he said.

'I won't give up'

As such, Wong said he had the responsibility to inform the people about the matter because he had promised that Sabah DAP would pursue the matter.

Wong nonetheless assured this would no! t be the end of the story.

SESB should not be laughing because the summons could be served again. I will never give up, he said, adding that in Sandakan, there are many companies, especially saw millers in the Seguntor industrial area, which are losing millions due to the frequent power outages.

On why only one complainant was chosen as plaintiff in the suit, Wong recalled that in the Sabindo open-space case, the 10 plaintiffs in the suit were deemed too many.

(In 2005, the 10 plaintiffs sued the Tawau Municipal Council and a company to stop them from developing five lots of open spaces in Sabindo town into a commercial project.)

The judge presiding the case said one plaintiff was sufficient to represent the interests of the people, he said.

Wong called on the people who felt they have been victimised by SESB to come forward and volunteer to become plaintiffs in the suit against the SESB.

He said those who wanted to do so should have detailed records of the power interruption as well as the cost incurred by them during the three-month period.

We hope the people will be with us because we dont want to die standing, he said.

Meanwhile, Hiew, who is also Kota Kinabalu MP, said he had been raising the matter in Parliament but Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, Peter Chin Fah Kui, continued to give weak replies.

Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Putrajaya wont revive crooked bridge.

Putrajaya wont revive crooked bridge, says Nazri

by Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
July 03, 2010

The crooked bridge will not be built. There have been no talks to revive the project.

Che Det's Bengkok Bridge won't be built, says Nazri

The Najib administration has no intentions of reviving the crooked bridge project proposed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed to replace the Johor Causeway, according to Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz. The Minister in the Prime Ministers department said the government will stick to the decision reached during Datuk Seri Najib Razaks predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawis administration.

The decision of the current government administration stands and follows the decision made by the previous administration, under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The crooked bridge will not be built. There have been no talks to revive the project, Nazri told The Malaysian Insider.

He pointed out bluntly that the government cannot simply react to news reports on individuals pushing for its renewal, and stressed that agreements and requests from various parties still needed to be considered before the project could be revived. We cannot simply react to reports on the news media. There has to be an official request from the Johor state government (for the revival of the bridge) and Singapore has to also first agree to this. The Singaporean government has not agreed to this. So its difficult on so many levels to go ahead with the project, said the law minister.

During his time, Dr Mahathir had wanted the bridge to be built to ease the congestion of the Causeway. But Singapore did not agree to it (even) back then, explained the Padang Rengas MP. The governments decision comes amid calls by Dr Mahathir and the Sultan of Johor to revive the abandoned project. The form! er prime minister has questioned Najibs reluctance in continuing the project despite a request by the Sultan of Johor for Putrajaya for to revive the replacement for the Causeway that was built in 1923.

The question that many have asked me, and I am convinced that this is also being asked by a majority of people, is why Datuk Seri Najib as the powerful prime minister is not willing to continue building this bridge? asked Dr Mahathir in a posting on his popular blog two days ago. Is Najib tied in a deal with the fifth prime minister? What is the status of this deal? he added, referring to former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi who had cancelled the crooked bridge project.

The proposal to build a crooked bridge to replace the ageing Causeway, linking peninsular Malaysia to the island republic, was mooted by Dr Mahathir when he was the prime minister. However, relations between the two countries were often chilly during his administration, causing Singapore to shoot down his idea which was eventually cancelled by his successor Abdullah.

Besides easing traffic congestion between Johor Baru and Singapore, the proposed bridge would also facilitate the free flow of water in the Tebrau Straits in addition to allowing ships heading to East Asia to bypass Singapore.

In response to the Sultan of Johors call for the bridge project to be revived, Najib had said that his administration would look into the matter but did not elaborate further.

Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed claimed that Dr Mahathir was nit-picking and that the real reason why he had brought the matter up was because he was unhappy with the latest agreements made between Malaysia and Singapore. Dr Mahathir is just not happy with the latest Singapore deal. What is the real value of the (crooked) bridge? On a cost basis it wont make sense to revive the project, Nur Jazlan told The Malaysian Insider.

The Umno man claimed that even if an alternative bridge were to be built, it would not solve the traffic congestion in the J! ohor cau seway. There will still be traffic jams on peak hours at the Causeway, the crooked bridge wont change that, he said.

The Pulai MP said the government was already making adjustments to the Causeway to allow more cars and smalls boat, ferries to travel from Johor to Singapore. They are already digging a channel to connect the left side of the Causeway to the right side, this will allow cars, boats, ferries to utilise this channel, said Nur Jazlan.

At Najibs recent meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a month ago, both leaders had decided to reduce toll charges at the Second Link, one of two bridges linking Malaysia and Singapore, by 30 per cent starting next August 1.

Aside from the toll rate announcement, the two prime ministers had also agreed to move the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) station from Tanjong Pagar to the Woodlands Train Checkpoint (WTCP) by July 1, 2011, as well as setting up a joint venture company called M-S Pte Ltd, to develop the land that is left behind.

However, the issue of the crooked bridge or third bridge was not discussed in their meeting.

Najib had mooted the idea of a third bridge linking the republic to Malaysia in June last year, which he said could enable the development of the eastern side of Johor and districts like Mersing and Desaru.

See What Barisan Nasional Gotta Say?

Mitch Kapor named adviser to Selangor government

by uppercaise

June 03, 2010

Mitch Kapor, a legend of the personal computer industry, has agreed to be an adviser to the Selangor state government. His appointment was announced by the states economic adviser Anwar Ibrahim after Kapor gave a talk on innovation and entrepreneurship in Shah Alam this afternoon.

Anwar said Kapor, an old friend, was one of several corporate and industrial giants that he and Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim had approached to help with Selangors development plans. Security does not come from secrecy. Security comes from openness and transparency.

Mitch Kapor on open-source softwares strength using a principle equally applicable in other fields.

Like Mitch Kapor and his wife Frieda, who are involved in many worthy causes, they are willing to help not for power or money, but because they care, Anwar said, to applause. Obviously anticipating criticism from opposition politicians, Anwar announced that Kapor had agreed to take up the advisory position at an honorarium of RM1 a month. He also thanked Kapoor (as many frequently addressed him) for taking the time to give the talk while the couple were on holiday in Malaysia

Kapors talk on innovation and entrepreneurship held the interest of an appreciative audience made up of Selangor officials, university students and academic staff and members of the IT industry, keen to obtain the insights of a pioneer of the personal computer industry.

He is most well-known as the designer of Lotus 1-2-3 (now owned by IBM), the spreadsheet, graphics and database program of 1982 that was the first killer software application and which led to businesses taking the personal computer seriously.

Kapor is now a director of the Mozilla Foundation, the organisation behind the open-source Firef! ox inter net browser, Wikimedia, the foundation behind the Wikipedia encyclopedia, and of Linden Lab, creators of Second Life, a worldwide virtual reality sensation in which people live virtual lives and take part in activities that mirror the physical world.

Kapor said a pro-innovation society would be built on:

• Opportunities for economic and social mobility
• STEM education (science, technology, engineeering and mathematics
• Ubiquitous, afforable broadband
• entrepreneur-friendly culture, tolerant of risk-taking and forgiving of failure
• free sharing of information

Kapor pointed out how calculated risk-taking (not foolhardiness) by a few individuals in the computing industry led to innovations that spread widely causing disruptions and upheavals through the industry at successive stages of its growth, thereby creating opportunities for others.

Failure should not be regarded as shameful but part of the learning experience. Failure is not binary, in his words: some things worked, others didnt, and the successful entrepreneur would pick up on the things that worked and move on, he observed.

Venturing a peek into future, Kapor pointed to the worldwide success of the virtual reality games World of Warcraft and Second Life, in which people willingly devoted thousands of hours of their time collaboratively, and the success of the open-source software movement, on which much of the Internet survives.

There were now opportunities for social entrepreneurship in which people would come together through the Internet for the common good. Online peer-to-peer lending was one example, in which small donations by individuals all over the world were helping to finance many in poor countries with small projects. Similarly, individuals were raising education loans through the Internet for post-secondary education.

The Internet was making possible efficient flows of! capital , helping to change lives.

We can succeed, on merit, says Anwar

In his closing remarks, Anwar said the Pakatan Rakyat stood firmly behind meritocracy: those with the capacity to succeed must be encouraged, he said. He rejected the Barisan Nasionals politics of fear which believed that the changing paradigm would be at the expense of the Malay people.

Meritocracy was a policy that was timely, he said. Innovation transcends racial boundaries, he said. Malaysia had the capacity to succeed the challenge lay in governance, rather. We will support those who can succeed, he said, while an affirmative action policy based on needs would ensure that the poor and the marginalised would not be left behind.

We must be brave enough to take these opportunities by transcending racial animosities, he said. The current massive Barisan Nasional campaign based on race and religion was irrelevant. We will fight them, through the Internet, he said, to which the audience responded with cheers and loud applause.

Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

The 5 possible outcomes of Malaysia's 13th General Election

Kenny Gan, Malaysia Chronicle

Although the much awaited 13th general election may not be so immediate, it is time to look beyond this coming watershed event and take a cautious glimpse at what the future holds for Malaysia. What could possibly happen and what lies in store for the country and its citizens?

There are five possible outcomes of the next general election a landslide BN victory, a strong BN victory, a strong PR victory, a slim BN victory or a slim PR victory.

A landslide BN victory would mean BN regaining its two-thirds majority in parliament and PR losing all the states under them except Kelantan. Such an outcome would be disastrous for Malaysia as it means reverting to the status quo before the 2008 political tsunami where BN was free to plunder national resources and abuse the citizens unchecked. The PR coalition would probably not survive a strong BN victory just as the Barisan Alternatif broke up less than a year after the 1999 general election. Lets hope Malaysian voters never allow this to happen.

A strong BN victory means essentially the status quo in parliament as existing now with the opposition keeping the states under them but with Perak reverting back to PR. BN fails to regain its two-thirds majority but as we can see it does not need such a majority to continue its corruption, abuses and oppression of democratic rights. The result would be just as disastrous for Malaysia although BN will be more sensitive to the voice of the people with a strong opposition which it fears losing power to.

A strong PR victory would mean PR winning a robust majority such as what BN enjoys now. However winning two-thirds majority would be far-fetched given the unlevel playing field. PR will retain all the states under them plus win back Perak and a few other states such as Negri Sembilan and Terengganu. This is the best possible outcome for Malaysia as ! a strong PR government will have a free hand in reforming corrupted institutions, repealing unjust laws and putting the country back on a growth path to reverse the laggard it has become. Better things are in store for the people including a better standard of living and more democratic rights.

A slim BN victory will result in initial political instability but BN will quickly shore up its position by buying over elected opposition MPs with no scruples or principles to impede it. We can expect some PR elected representatives to jump ship for a one time shot at being a millionaire even if their political careers die quietly.

A slim PR victory would be extremely dangerous for PR as BN tries its level best to topple it and reclaim the crown by enticing elected MPs over with loads of money and arm twisting. BN will have the aid of corrupted institutions such as the police, MACC and judiciary headed by tainted men whom it placed there, a friendly civil service and even the royalty. PR cannot stoop to BNs methods of buying elected representatives over as it contests on a platform of higher moral principles and the public expects PR to be better than BN. We could say that PR must choose good quality candidates but its really hard to look into the hearts of men and women.

The most likely outcome
So which of the four possibilities will be the most likely outcome? Fortunately a landslide BN victory is unlikely given the changed political landscape after the 2008 tsunami. Pandoras box has been opened, mindsets have changed and political awareness once gained cannot be stuffed back into the bottle.

A strong BN victory which preserves the status quo is more likely than a landslide victory but not the most likely outcome. It is hard to believe that neither side has been able to progress in the political battlefield after years of sniping at each other. It would mean a more or less stagnant situation but our politics has been far from stagnant. Politically we live in interesting times.

! A strong PR victory is possible but the chances are not high given the highly tilted playing field where BN controls the media, machinery and money and exercise great powers of incumbency.

So we are left with the other two possibilities a slim victory for either side which represent the most likely outcomes in the present political scenario. At this stage it is hard to predict which way it will go, all we can say is that it can go either way. A couple of years to the 13th general election represent a long time in politics where anything can happen. Will people still remember the in-fighting in PKR a year from now? Probably not any more than the unity talks between PAS and Umno which created waves last year.

What happens next?
If BN wins the 13th general election with a slim majority we can expect it to embark on a sustained campaign to destroy the opposition to make sure it is never given such a scare again. A regime which fears losing power is at its most dangerous. BN will try to break up the PR coalition and opposition MPs will be bought over or harassed and dragged to court on frivolous charges. Democratic rights for citizens will be strongly suppressed.

Unfortunately a PR victory with a slim margin may be pulled down and revert to a weak BN government. BN has no qualms about enticing elected representatives over to topple a legitimately elected government. We already have the precedence of the Perak government changing hands merely by defections without even convening the State Assembly. What happened to Perak can be applied to the country and the decision of the Federal Court effectively means that a prime minister can be sacked by the King without going through parliament. PRs only chance of survival may be to persuade some parties in East Malaysia to join its coalition.

Hence we can expect political instability if the victory for either coalition is slim. More time will be spent on politicking than governing. There may be civil unrest if the people refuse to accept a ! BN power grab. Eventually BN will assert control as it is more Machiavellian, unprincipled and ruthless than PR.

We can expect a weak BN government to be more sensitive to the people but this will only last as long as there is a strong united opposition. For example a strong opposition now has protected the people from arbitrary hikes in oil, toll, diesel and essential goods while implementation of GST has been stalled and an immoral sports betting license withdrawn. Minorities have also been treated better. But once the PR coalition is broken up BN has nothing to fear and will revert to its old ways.

With BN in control we can expect migration to increase as skilled people stampede for the exit. The economy will continue to decline under BN as there is no way for it to get better if structural issues such as racial policies, corruption, rent seeking, wastage and democratic abuses are not fixed. They cannot be fixed without reforming Umno and Umno has no reason to reform as long as it wields power.

What this means is that the country will spiral down to poverty under the twin blows of stagnated incomes and increasing cost of living. Peoples lives will get harder and a maid exporting country like present day Philippines and Indonesia is on the cards. When it is time for the 14th general election BN will be universally hated, even by the rural Malays from whom Umno derives its political power.

Does this mean that PR will have another crack at political power at the 14th general election? Yes, but only if they can hold together despite BNs oppression and they would stand an even better chance than the 13th general election. But if the opposition has been beaten down to a shadow of its former self and BN hangs on by force and trickery it can continue to rule.

What happens next can be summarized by the words of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States that those who make peaceful political change impossible make revolution inevitable. There will come a time when th! e econom ic pain is so great that BN will be kicked out by force as what happened to Marcos and Suharto but by then Malaysia would have been reduced to a dried husk.

Of course we can avoid such a grim future if voters give a strong mandate to PR at the 13th general election. Anything else and we look towards an uncertain future while we will remember the 2008 tsunami achingly as a Prague Spring.
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Where to Cross The Border..........

Got this in my mail............



If You Cross The North Korean Border Illegally
You get 12 years Hard Labour.



If You Cross The Afghan/Iranian Border
You Are Detained Indefinitely, or You Get Shot.



If You Cross The Saudi Arabian Border Illegally You Will Be Jailed.



If You Cross The Chinese Border Illegally
You May Never Be Heard Again.


If You Cross The Venezuelan Border Illegally
You Will Be Branded A Spy And Your Fate Will Be Sealed.


If You Cross The Cuban Border Illegally
You Will Be Thrown Into Political Prison To Rot.



If You Cross The USA Border Illegally
You Will Put In Prison And Deported.



If You Enter Britain Illegally
You Will be Arrested, Prosec! uted And Sent To Prison And Deported.



If You Are An Indonesian or Bangala AND ILLEGALLY CROSS THE
MALAYSIAN BORDER

YOU WILL GET........
a. MyPR (Permanent Residence / Pemastautin Tetap)
b. MyCard,
c. A Driving License,
d. Voting Rights
e. Job Reservation,
f. Special Privilege to be Consider as Bumi,
g. Credit Cards,
h. Subsidized Rent Or A Loan To Buy A House,
i. Free Education,
j. Free Health Care,
k. PTPTN loan for Higher Education,
l. Subsidies, etc...etc...

Oh Malaysia , what a great country!!!



No wonder Pak Jib call it 1Malaysia!!!!!


cheers.
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Khairy faham globalisasi?

by Husin Lempoyang

Cadangan Ibrahim Ali:

“Saya cadangkan kepada kerajaan supaya melantik Ahli Parlimen Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin sebagai wakil tetap negara ke Pertubuhan Bangsa- Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) bertaraf menteri kerana dia sahaja yang faham globalisasi.”

Ibrahim Ali tidak tersentuh dengan panggilan 'jaguh kampung' yang dilemparkan oleh Khairy. Malahan Ibrahim Ali berbangga kerana dia berasal dari kampung dan ramai orang Melayu yang susah adalah di kampung. Ini bermakna dia telah membela orang Melayu terbanyak.

Bila sudah tersilap panggil, baru Khairy mahu membetul dengan menukar panggilan. Dalam perang panggil memanggil, bila dah silap panggil dan dijawab, mana ada aci tukar-tukar panggilan. Kira kalahlah.

Untuk Khairy panggil orang tua samseng, siapa boleh lupa Khairy yang macam samseng di Ijok pada tahun 2007? Tiada siapa yang boleh lupa perangai Khairy yang angkuh sepanjang pentadbiran Tun Abdullah. Umur tidak setahun jagung tapi sudah sombong, berlagak dan samseng.

Lagi ramai tidak sedar, Khairy tidak ada satu pun jasa melainkan yang boleh pengikutnya mengaku, menang emas untuk bola di Sukan SEA. Setiap langkah Khairy gagal dan menjadikan rakyat benci kepada UMNO dan kerajaan.

Tak akan Khairy yang dikatakan genius, intelligent dan hebat boleh salah dan silap dalam hampir semua tindak tanduknya? Tak akan Khairyyang dikatakan pandai dan digelar Chief oleh penyokongnya tidak tahu orang benci padanya, maka dia perlu cuba perbaiki dirinya?

Ini bermakna ia telah diatur untuk gagal supaya UMNO dan Melayu dibenci. Kalau begitu, Khairy bukan faham globalisasi seperti dikatakan Ibrahim Ali. Khairy mebantu musuh dan penjajah menjajah kembali. Dia hanya faham goblok-sasi

Godfather of Gambling

WRITten BY DR LIM TECK GHEE

SUNDAY, 27 JUNE 2010 18:40

Gambling: It’s in Malaysia’s genes Life as a gamble The cabinet decision not to issue a sports betting licence to Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd is the right one but it was made for the wrong reasons. According to prime minister Najib Razak, the reason for not legalizing sports betting was “the impact it will have from the perspective of religion and politics.” To get a proper perspective of the issue, it is necessary to get off the religious and political high horse and acknowledge that we are a nation that loves the occasional flutter. And also let us admit that there’s nothing wrong with gambling so long as it is not taken to extreme lengths and becomes a pathological, compulsive or destructive habit. In a sense, all of life and the various decisions that we make are gambles. Although it may be too much to say that we all have gambling in our genes, scientists have been debating on the extent to which gambling is a manifestation of human behavior for a long time – at least during the last 200 years or so. In an article, ‘Human Behavior and the Efficiency of the Financial System’ (February 1998) Robert Schiller, the noted financial economist, wrote that “a tendency to gamble, to play games that bring on unnecessary risks, has been found to pervade widely divergent human cultures around the world and appears to be indicative of a basic human trait.” Further he pointed to studies that estimated that 61% of the adult population in the United States participated in some form of gambling or betting in 1974. They estimated that 1.1% of men and 0.5% of women are “probably compulsive gamblers,” while an additional 2.7% of men and 1% of women are “potential compulsive gamblers.” These figures are probably much higher today. Similar numbers are recorded in all the highly developed countries whose status the country aspires to. All the countries that our elite regard as role models whether in the East or West, North or South take a liberal position on gambling or gaming as it is sometimes referred to. Dr Mahathir: Nation’s No. 1 gambler Even if we do not view gambling as part of normal human behaviour, it has certainly been part of Malaysian culture and politics – not only of the Chinese or non-Malay communities but for the majority of the country’s inhabitants, especially amongst the elite and leaders. When Dr Mahathir Mohamad stated that he would have approved the sports betting licence for his long-time buddy Vincent Tan, he was being unduly coy and modest in leaving out his own addiction to trying to beat the odds. In fact, gambling has long been a part of Dr Mahathir’s strategy to make Malaysia a developed nation. It is well known that Mahathir in his first year as prime minister gambled in the tin market with disastrous results. Speculating in tin caused Malaysia – then the world’s leading tin producer – about RM660.5 million in losses. This staggering loss does not appear to have cooled off the gambling habit of our prime minister at that time. Using Bank Negara money, Mahathir speculated in currency, principally on the British pound which resulted in an even bigger multi-billion ringgit loss when the sterling collapsed in 1992. Estimates of this loss have placed it at over RM30 billion. The details of Mahathir’s super high stakes betting which went dreadfully wrong have been given some attention in Barry Wain’s book, ‘Malaysian Maverick’. It could be that it was this content rather than any other part that led the Malaysian authorities to think twice about permitting the book’s distribution in the country. In Dr Mahathir’s defence In the former prime minister’s defence, it may be pointed out that some analysts see his ill-timed gambles as part of his attempt to take on Western economic dominance. On a more personal note, it should also be pointed out that he was not betting his own money – only the nation’s money. Also that whatever gains that could have been made would have gone into the national treasury – or at least one expects that was the honorable intention. Finally, as part of the mitigating factors, it may be noted that Dr Mahathir was engaging in a national pastime. Gambling takes place everywhere in the country – as raffles where prizes are given in the form of goods, services or cash; on golf courses as friendly bets between fellow golfers; as part of sales promotional services where you make a purchase on your credit card in the hope that you may end up with a free vacation; and in the stock market where it is glorified as speculation. In short, it is part of our national culture though it has not yet been enshrined into our national cultural policy. Future policy on gambling licences Despite the poor track record of our former prime minister in gambling and this latest decision by the current prime minister, let us approach the subject rationally. It is important that this refusal to grant the gambling licence is not a precedent leading to religious norms being further imposed on the population – not only on the larger gambling issue but also on other facets of life and behaviour targeted by killjoys and hard-line religious zealots who are determined to show off their lily white credentials. Also, by closing the door on sports betting (temporarily, I hope), let’s hope it does not open the Pandora’s box of religious and political taboos to extend to other aspects of entertainment, relaxation and culture that are part of the life of modern society everywhere in the world – everywhere that is except for a few nations that continue to deny their nationals their full freedoms and rights in the name of ‘piety’ and ‘moral virtue’. The right way for the prime Minister and his Cabinet to handle this – and all future gambling issues – is not to deny Malaysians the right to spend their money as they please but to ensure that lucrative gaming licences such as the sports betting one are given to recognized charities and non-profit organizations and not to cronies. Gambling Good Practice The Hong Kong Jockey Club It is a non-profit organisation providing horseracing, sporting and betting entertainment in Hong Kong. It holds a government-granted monopoly in providing pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, the Mark Six lottery, and fixed odds betting on overseas football events. The organization is the largest taxpayer in Hong Kong, as well as the largest private donor of charity funds, contributing an average of over HK$1 billion (approximately US$130 million) annually over the past ten years. In 1959, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd, was formed to administer donations. This company became the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 1993. The trust serves four principal areas of civic and social need: sports, recreation and culture, education and training, community services and medical and health. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Jockey_Club Various religious or ethnic groups are of the view that they should not partake of such “tainted” money. These groups are of course entitled to this view and should refrain from sharing or taking any part in the “dirty” profits associated with gambling. But there is no reason why the other communities that make up 1Malaysia should be made to toe the strict religious line. In fact, given the limited resources of the government and the perennial financial constraints in funding schools and other projects for minorities, it makes sound economic sense to tap this source for the national good. There are many good practices that we can emulate such as the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s non-profit gambling operations (see insert) and the casinos in the United States that are operated by the native Indian communities on Indian reservation lands and where the employment opportunities and profits accrue to the marginalized communities. For a start though, let’s not show the red card to legalized sports betting prematurely.

Popout

“Hubris feeds the tyrant”

from Hornbill Unleashed

By Bunge Palma

Last week’s piece I began to write at hazard. On looking at it again as I sit down to the keyboard this Friday, I feel surprised at myself as I read the conclusion, in which I voiced my sense that some terrible destiny was waiting to be born in Sarawak. What can I call this but a prophecy? And I have no idea where this idea first came from. I didn’t intend to think it out, yet as I wrote along I was led to a strong and uncanny foreboding.

In that fortuitous insight—if insight it be; we can call a prophecy a prophecy only after it has been fulfilled—I described the direction I felt events were taking as a “Greek tragedy” whose protagonist and author was our Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud.

I was mistaken to say that Taib was the playwright of his own drama. I dare say, though, that Taib thinks he is in perfect control of his script. Our Chief Minister clearly is a histrionic personality who loves acting, and revels in the limelight of centre-stage and in the spectacle all around him. I have seen him ham it up on several occasions. Jabu, like a good straight-man in a vaudeville act, warms up for him. Then Taib comes on. He can talk for hours, on any topic, in two languages together. But, in fact, Taib is merely the chief actor. In a tragedy, it is the Gods who devise the plot. The mortal characters merely act out what the Gods know must be. A tragic hero may think he acts of his free will but in fact he cannot deviate one inch from the fate established for him. There comes a moment—in theatre terms precisely “catastrophe”—when the anguished hero understands that he has not after all been in the play he thought he was in. If Mr Taib were forced to look at the role he has been playing these many decades, he might acknowledge that the reality does not match the theatrical illusion.

Taib’s career has been represented as a miraculous triumph of talent and determination gaining deserved recognition. He was lucky enough to come under the protection of his uncle, Abdul Rahman Ya’kub, who was the first Sarawak native to qualify as a lawyer under the British system. This opened a sure path to golden opportunities during unrepeatable historical conditions. In the late 50s, the British were anxious to rid themselves of their colonies as quickly as possible. There were then very few Sarawakians indeed who understood law and administration. A law-degree, therefore, was a guaranteed ticket of entrance into the political élite.

Taib followed his uncle’s lead and gained a Bachelor of Law degree at the University of Adelaide in 1960. By the time Taib was 31 he was on the Legislative Council and State Minister of Development and Forestry. Four years later Taib was Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and shortly after that he was made Natural Resources Minister at Federal level. As we all know, in 1981 Taib became Chief Minister of Sarawak and his uncle took the post of Governor.

It would be all too easy to take this bare biography and spin it into the tale of a devoted public servant who, though low born, worked his way up the rungs of government toiling in the public good. The facts suggest something entirely different to me. One lesson that Taib learned from his uncle Ya’kub was where the money was in Sarawak, namely, in timber. The positions that Taib took in government—in development and forestry, in natural resources—show that he steadily worked his way into complete control of logging. We can conjecture that logging provided the “seed money” (a very big seed) for Taib to expand business ventures under the security of his own rule, enabling him to draw all of Sarawak’s resources to himself.

If we look at Taib’s script this way, he shows himself remarkable for an uncontrolled ambition and appetite to collect as much money to himself as possible, by all means possible. Political power was and remains a mean to this one end, although Taib hugely enjoys yielding power beyond the dreams—and desires—of the former rajahs. Since he is what he is, we Sarawakians can take one consolation from our inclusion in Malaysia: if Taib were the sole ruler of Sarawak, there would be no check on him. In such a case how far would he go to force us to obey him and pay him tribute?

Appetite is a very primitive and largely unconscious drive in living creatures. What kind of life is that whose primary activity is merely piling up more and more? How is such a life justified? Instinct is a great source of motivation and energy, but a very bad manager of life. Instinct is blind; it moves ahead against everything solely obeying the command of the one thing it can do. Instinct doesn’t think.

What has Taib gained except money? He can claim to have polluted many rivers, destroyed much forest, and destroyed both cultures and individual lives over the past 30 years. Is that an accomplishment? Taib has infected Sarawak with corruption from the pinnacle where he sits down to the kampong level. He has stripped Sarawak of her wealth, and in his entire tenure has made no effort at all to create wealth for the people of Sarawak. Not one person feels any affection for him as a benefactor to Sarawak. To say he is unloved is an understatement.

To return to tragedy. Well into Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King, the chorus sings, “Hubris breeds and nurtures the tyrant.” We have some strange words here. Where I put “King” in the title of the play the original is “tyrant.” A tyrant in ancient Greece was an absolute ruler, no necessarily evil. Oedipus himself shows exemplary care for his people.

“Hubris” will be familiar to everyone in the concept, if not in the name. Hubris is wanton violence, arising from strength of pride or of passion. Or you can call it “insolence,” or “lust.” In ancient law hubris was the term for injury to a person. To consider hubris as Sophocles uses the word, he means that a tyrant feels justified in doing whatever he does, satisfying his pleasure, appetite, pride, revenge, because he can, and because he does not have to fear paying for his acts.

Shameless public self-glorification also come under the head of hubris. The obscenely ugly Thing that sits where Kpg. Astana used to be is an outrageous example. We did not need a new DUN building. This erection is solely a monument to the greatness of Taib Mahmud, and in its insolence, its domination of the skyline, its unavoidability, a boast that the rest of us are dust, nothing. A Melanau hat serves as roof, just so no one forgets who’s in charge. The cost of this building could have provided electricity and water to every village in Sarawak. But Taib doesn’t want to be remembered for making life better. He wants to be remembered like Pharaoh.

When the Greek playwrights punished hubris in their tragedies, they did not think of it as “poetic justice,” that is, somebody comes to a sticky end because he deserves it. No, they felt they were illustrating a natural law that also happens to be a moral law. Hubris brings destruction. We have all seen that in effect. I watch how hubris is operating in Sarawak and Malaysia with concern.

Grossian Perspective: Deflation Nation

July 3, 2010

Deflation Nation: Whats so bad about falling prices?

by Daniel Gross (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/02/deflation-nation.html)

The talk about the economy in recent weeks has been somewhat deflating. Theres the ongoing crisis in Europe, disappointing jobs numbers, a falling stock marketand the prospect of deflation itself.

Deflationthe evil twin of inflationrears his ugly head with great infrequency. He hasnt been seen around these parts for nearly 80 years, and theres no committee that convenes to declare his return, as the National Bureau of Economic Researchs Recession Dating Committee does for economic contractions.

Economists generally agree that deflation is a widespread fall in prices, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI). I dont know if there is a textbook definition, but I would want to see a full year of falling consumer prices before I announced that deflation was in process, says Brad DeLong, professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley. The CPI, up 2 percent in the past 12 months, fell in both April (-0.1 percent) and May (-0.2 percent) and has been basically flat for the first five months of 2010.

Whats so bad about deflation? After all, its a pleasant surprise when prices of many items fall. Generations of Econ 101 students and central banks have been schooled to think that inflation is the great bogeyman, since it erodes the value of savings. And for much of our lifetimes, moderate inflation has been the norm. Well, it turns out theres good deflation and bad deflation.

Bad deflation is the kind we had in the Great Depression. The last time we really had significant deflation in the U.S. was in the 1930! s, note s Michael Bordo, professor of economics at Rutgers University. Between 1929 and 1933, prices fell on average by 15 percent. This deflation was driven by a decline in output, demand, and credittoo little money and wages chasing too many goods and workers. The Depression-era cratering of wages and prices was disastrous because it rendered companies and consumers less able to pay their debts.

But there have been periods of good deflation, in which prices fell even as the economy boomed. In the 1920s, known to this day as the roaring 20s because of the decades economic vibrancy, prices fell about 1 percent per year. Between 1870 and 1896, prices fell consistently amid rapid economic growthwith plenty of booms and busts along the way. The reason: innovations like the railroad, the telegraph, electricity, and the assembly line helped farmers, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers to produce and ship their goods more cheaply and efficiently.

Making a value judgment about deflation depends in part on which side of the balance sheet you sit on, and on whats going on in the broader economy. Borrowers with fixed-rate loanslike the government, many companies, and homeownerswill cheer for inflation and worry about deflation. When wages and prices grow modestly each year, its easier to stay current with existing debt. And when theres lots of unused economic capacityshuttered factories, large numbers of unemployed peoplea little inflation can be just what the doctor ordered.

Continually falling prices act as a disincentive to investment and risk taking. Moreover, many economists and most central bankers believe the ideal rate of inflation is slightly above zero. Experience shows that a rate of inflation around 2 or 3 percent helps the economy to perform at full potential with maximum sustainable employment, says Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. In fact, the Federal Reserve, the nations chief inflation fighter, actually wants pric! es to ri se. One of the Feds mandates is to provide price stability, which means a consistent, reliable annual inflation rate. Without saying it in so many words, the Fed designs monetary policy to target inflation of between 1.5 and 2.0 percent per year.

The next reading of the CPI comes out in mid-July. A negative number will mark the third straight decline and will surely inflate the volume of talk about deflation. (We havent seen four straight monthly declines in the CPI since the 1930s.) But when considering the risks of deflation, we shouldnt look at the CPI in isolation. The phenomenon of prices falling modestly at a time when the economy at large is growing at a 3 percent click, as it is today, isnt much to worry about. The combination of slow growth or stagnation and deflation is the thing thats scary, says Michael Bordo. In other words, look out for stagflation.

Daniel Gross is also the author of Dumb Money: How Our Greatest Financial Minds Bankrupted the Nation and Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great For The Economy.

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Worth ruminating over...an art from cpiasia.net:)

from desiderata-ylchong

Chinese are Jews: A Malaysian syllogism for Ketuanan

Written by ShuZheng
Thursday, 01 July 2010 15:35


Morality of this tale: You were right to emigrate; it’s still safer elsewhere.

Ng Wei Aik (left) is state assemblyman and aide to Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng. This fact is of no fundamental political consequence until, one day soon after Israel’s military operation against the Gaza flotilla, he saw that his party, the DAP, had beaten Najib Razak to the clock. The prime minister was being tardy, Ng complained. “He took 12 hours to register his anger,” a news portal quoted Ng on Najib’s remarks (the prime minister had twitted his response).

In another way of saying the same thing, the DAP was quicker on the draw. If Najib is slower, then by inference, his heart may not be with the Palestinians, that is, Muslims. If not with Muslims, who with? Conversely, DAP people like Ng cast the impression that they think of Muslims every moment of their waking hours. So touching….

Now it seems domestic politics is beginning to be measured in terms of hours taken to react and to issue a condemnation. And that over an ancient, Jewish-Muslim conflict nearly half a world away and reignited more than half a century ago, it having sparked when Malaysia was not even in existence.

Ng’s posturing is sign that the country is off on yet another trajectory in demonizing Chinese and in Sino-Malay relations. Anti-Chinese racism in Malaysia has this historic, lasting quality in varied forms: before, in stereotypical portrayal of Chinese as gangsters, prostitutes, towkays, usurious money-lenders (‘Ah Longs’); today, gamblers and Jews.

Most tellingly it is DAP’s scathing attacks on Israel that beat even the usual hate mongering coming from Umno and PAS/PKR.

This is to the credit of the Gaza flotilla, which offered a window of opportunity to propel Malaysia into arriving at the milestone in Chinese-Malay relations – a milestone reaffirmed on the streets earlier this month in demonstrations against Israel (against Jews really), and almost simultaneously in the Ketuanan Melayu propaganda papers: Jews equal Chinese.

He who started it

Mahathir Mohamad has been one of the earliest to bed the Chinese and the Jewish diaspora – his two pet hate projects. His most recent rants against both Jews and Chinese are today preambled and chorused by other Malaysians, notably Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (left), and Muslims and Chinese Christians who are staunchly anti-Jew.

From a lone Mahathir project before, it’s gone truly Malaysian. DAP, PKR, Chinese, everybody appears to have unanimously jumped on the bandwagon, or should we say the flotilla?

Equating Jew and Chinese, Ridhuan Tee says upfront: “the Jews are already right in front of our eyes”. To rub it in for the Chinese, he praises Hilter and fascism.

Ng, of course, did not equate Jew and Chinese. In suggesting that Najib was slow on the Palestinian, Muslim side, he has to mean, equally, the man was hesitant to stand against the Israeli Jews (recall the Apco episode).

It isn’t just the religious undertone. More pertinently, Ng invokes the default moral position – Jews are oppressors, Muslims oppressed – that puts him, on parallel in point of principle to Ridhuan Tee: one side oppressors, the other side oppressed. This requires little imagination to name the two sides.

In consequence, Ng contributes to feather the very bed made by Mahathir – Jews equal Chinese – and which Ridhuan Tee now repeats to no end.

Drive Chinese into the sea?

The device Mahathir employs (and in whose hallowed footsteps Ridhuan follows) is a form of logic technically called syllogism, using two inter-related or parallel concepts, and tying them up to forge a third – the conclusion.

Because it is so easily mistaken as truth, syllogism is used everywhere in the English speaking world, as in Malaysia by individuals who otherwise cannot make a convincing case from empirical evidence.

From one of the latter editions of The Malay Dilemma, below is a sample of terms, all Mahathir’s, and note they are entirely of a subjective, adjectival kind because in syllogism no objective facts are required – just say it.

First Parallelism (P.1):

* Jews: hook-nosed, stinginess, financial wizardry, commercial control, understand money instinctively.
* Chinese: almond-eyed, unscrupulous, manipulative, monopoly wholesale trade, defer to riches.


Second Parallelism (P.2):

* Palestine: whole country was taken (sic!) and handed to the Jews
* Malaya: predatory immigrants, Sinocization (sic!) of the country


The examples above pile syllogism on syllogism. The conclusions in each of them automatically pull together to create a third: (P.1) Jews = Chinese; (P.2) Palestine = Malaya; therefore, (P.3) Chinese illegally occupied Malaya. Extrapolate P.3, hence, drive the Chinese into the South China Sea as Mahathir did to the Vietnamese boat people? (Arabs say the same of Israel’s Jews.)

These conclusions need not be made plain; they become intuitive just reading the stuff.

The Chinese profile being constructed for hate has evolved so far along these lines (and note the same syllogism at work):

* Chinese are Jews.
* Chinese are infidels and the heathen.
* Jews killed Jesus.
* Jews kill Palestinians.
* Therefore Chinese are anti-Palestinians
* Palestinians are Muslims.
* Malays are Muslims.
* Therefore Chinese oppress Muslims.
* Chinese won’t become Muslims or Christians (neither will Jews).
* Therefore Chinese are anti-Muslims and anti-Christians.


Taken far enough in this reconstructed profile of racial hate, as Mahathir did in the Dilemma, is a recipe for a future pogrom.

Adopting the Mahathiristic ‘logic’

Although a little tilted, but equally insidious, sinister and purposeful, the Anglophile Chinese, virtually all Christians – Goh Keat Peng, Josh Hong, Thomas Lee, KTemoc – feather the Mahathir racism and anti-Semitism along an angled plane. They don’t go after the Chinese directly but are equally nuanced, like it is with Mahathiristic logic.

For example, the Malay gangs who in the days of May 13 had killed Chinese are today made to look like victims of the Chinese instead. This seems to defy belief but, then, belief was never necessary to work a logical tool; only assertion is needed because syllogism requires no proof to buttress a claim. The conclusion is like the topping in the pudding – very enticing.

Hence, Thomas Lee [journalist] says Malays cannot be at fault for hacking to death hundreds of Chinese. Well, if there is ever another riot, it won’t be the children of the media and political elites who’ll be hacked with a parang but some poor sod of a noodle hawker riding his old sputtering Honda Cub to collect his daughter from school or a 18-year-old boy dashing off to a stand in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman for a nasi lemak takeaway.

And KTemoc [blogger] says Jews are fascists for acting distinctive, different – and murderous in a sea of suffering (caused by Arabs to begin with) – and he said elsewhere the Chinese have the same insularity, therefore also acting distinct, refusing to be Malaysian. Josh Hong [columnist] labels outright the Chinese as racist. And Goh Keat Peng? This Christian missionary says of those who disagree with his pro-Palestinian views: “But your knowledge of the situation on the ground is appalling and so is your theology.”

The propaganda doesn’t stop there: praising the anti-Semitism, opposition politicians fawning after the Muslim vote are locked hand-in-hand with the Muslim fundamentalism they once denounced.

The greatest Malaysian achievement in the ‘Peace Flotilla’ to Gaza is, therefore, not concern for Palestinians. It is doesn’t even unify the local political divide, a cooperation that many online commentators have extolled as virtuous since domestic political enemies have gotten together to found a common offshore enemy.

More than all that, the Turkish flotilla electrifies a domestic, Malaysian, hate-Chinese project by transforming and giving it an international character, supported even by local Chinese, Lim Kit Siang et al.

From Mahathir, anti-Semitism as a way to drum up Chinese hatred is to be expected. But how could the opposition, one might ask, be so callous in their politics?

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A fishy tale about Bank Negara's 10k limit and something doggy

MAILBAG I've hardly had time to go through the mailbag, so my apologies for being tardy. But here are two letters - unplugged - that I would like to share with you all. The first is from Johan and he has pointed out a very pertinent issue about how much cash we can carry out of the country. The second is from an animal lover who wants to be known only as Satu-Bumi - hers is absolutely the cutest letter ever ... enjoy ...



From Johan Iskandar

Dear MC,

The Star Newspaper recently carried a report in it's business section
that Bank Negara Malaysia is planning to review it's current RM10k
limit that can be carried out of the border. Now,supposedly this is to
facilitate traders for their business purposes.

However knowing this administration and all it's shenanigans I
sincerely believe it's just another lame excuse or smokescreen to
actually allow their cronies to carry out their bundles of cash
overseas before the next GE. firstly,the timing of this policy review
from BNM is suspect to say the least,secondly with State Elections
coming up in Sarawak anytime soon it just adds to my speculation. I
hope you will highlight this matter to the general public so that they
are aware of what might happen soon when as we know the policy will
either be scrapped or it will be soon be easier to carry suitcases of
cash overseas...

Thank you.

From Satu-Bumi

Dear Malaysia chronicle ,
I am so sad and angry .
I am a french citizen , soon married with a Malaysian .
Last week, an employee of the Ipoh city council ( MBI Snipers) shot dead our dog , in front of our house , just beside the gate . I came out my house at the same time the guy shot .....gosh

A very useful dog that kept our house (neighbourhood ) s! afer . W e always tight the dog but this morning , the chain was broken and ...the dog escaped and was waiting outside for us to open ...then the "snipers" of MBI ( this is the title they gave themselves) shot it ....
I know...the law says that out of the compound they can be shot ...but it was terrible ...and I m still very shocked .Our kid run after the lorry , the guy even scolded him ...
We even cannot get the body of our dog , sure the guy is payed upon merit and cannot let go few ringgits ...Merit when kill??? I want to vomit ...If you could see his proud face to do this shitty job !!!

Other country ,other habits , I agree . but as human beings we must be fair with animals ,dogs included. Many of my french friends asked me to contact french press, I dont want to give a bad image of Malaysia , there are here more good people than bad and as I hear about a new plan for Malaysia, I am sure that things will change on this matter ( I hope so...)
I've promised my family that ; even I cannot reborn our dog ; I will make my best for the things to change in this matter ... I do ...

The Ipoh City Council already agreed on no shooting dead the dogs in 2006 but they still doing it.
They got all the material and manpower to do it : Normally, The stray dogs are tranquillized first and then taken to a safe place to decide the next course of action . Of course , it may be lethal afterwards ...

My family here is malaysian chinese and you can guess what were their first reaction of anger ...
I explained them that stray dogs in our towns is a big safety problem and that there are many ways to solve it.
But , WE, as human beings should give a chance to family dogs , guard dogs to come back home if their family lost them ...
I explained that religions and beliefs are out of this .In some states of USA , they blindly shot dead stray dogs too ...

It could be a strong sign to all malaysians if one day "suddenly" the government take legal actions to prohibits the dogs shootin! gs in ho using areas in whole Malaysia .
I guess that the majority of Malaysians are thinking that this issue is a sad and unfair part of their life
A Dog means caring and loyalty for them .
Even almost all my muslim friends said so , they will never touch or get a dog at home but they are happy that non-bumis neighbourgs got one to guard the neighborhood ...

I dont use my name , I dont want silly people to harm my children because Ive voice out ...

Best regards
JFB

Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

No Joke: Flying Cars May Be Just Around The Corner

WASHINGTON, July 2 - If cars had wings, they could fly - and that just might happen, beginning next year.

The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Mass., says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011. It recently cleared a major hurdle when the Federal Aviation Administration granted a special weight limit exemption to the Transition.

"It's the next 'wow' vehicle," said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. "Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don't fly."

The Transition is a long way from cartoon dad George Jetson's flying car zooming above traffic, or even the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

"There is no launch button on the (instrument) panel," Gersh noted.

Rather, the car-plane has wings that unfold for flying - a process the company says takes one minute - and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to takeoff and land.

The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations

The company is pitching the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient - and cheaper - way to fly. They say it eliminates the hassle trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive hangar fees because you don't have to store it at an airport - you park it in the garage at home.

The plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Gas mileage on the road is about 30 mpg.

Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accid! ent by a llowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal conditions.

The Transition's price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.

"If you get into a very dire situation, it's the ultimate safety option," Gersh said.

So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits, he said.

Terrafugia is Latin for "escape from the land." The company was founded in 2006 by five Massachusetts Institute of Technology grad students who were also pilots. They received some seed money from the school.

The concept of a car-plane has been around since at least the 1950s, but it's possible that Terrafugia may become the first company to mass-produce one, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

"We're working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps," Brown said.


- AP
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public

Tunjuk akaun pembelian kapal selam kepada umum

Viktor Wong, Malaysia Chronicle
Isu pembelian kapal selam Scorpene tidak perlu dibawa kepada Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) untuk siasatan, kata Menteri Pertahanan dan naib presiden Umno Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Adalah difahamkan bahawa kerajaan pusat telah membayar sejumlah RM6.7 bilion untuk membeli kapal selam buatan Perancis itu, sementara RM574.8 juta telah disalurkan kepada Perimekar Sdn Bhd, syarikat milik penuh Abdul Razak Baginda , seorang teman karib Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang ketika itu menjawat jawatan Menteri Pertahanan.

Dan jika sekiranya Datuk Ahmad Zahid mengatakan pembelian kapal selam tersebut telah dilakukan mengikut peraturan yang telah ditetapkan, buktikan kepada umum yang proses tersebut telah dilaksanakan secara telus dan tidak ada satu sen pun yang disalurkan kepada pihak ketiga.

Dan kalau ianya dilakukan dengan cara yang telus dan jujur, kenapa takutkan SPRM dan tidak membenarkan mereka menyiasat?

Jikalau kerajaan pusat tidak mahu SPRM menyiasat dan mendakwa dirinya telus dan jujur, siapakah akan percaya? Manakah buktinya yang menunjukkan segala-galanya berjalan dengan teratur dan mengikut undang-undang.

Kami ingin menegaskan bahawa jika sekiranya kerajaan pusat BN ingin membuktikan bahawa pembeliam kapal selam tersebut benar-benar telus, tunjuk kepada umum akaun pembelian kapal selam tersebut dan segala proses tersebut perlulah diaudit oleh satu badan bebas atau jawatankuasa peringkat parlimen.

Akan tetapi, kami yakin mereka tidak akan berbuat demikian dan akan terus bersembunyi di sebalik Akta Rahsia Rasmi bagi mengelakkan perbuatan keji mereka diketahui umum.
Letter & Opinion From Joe Public