A bill was read for the very first time on Tuesday, the 22nd of November with all Members of Parliament being given the FIRST chance to read it on that very same day. That very bill is set to be passed by a BN majority Parliament this coming Tuesday, 29th November 2011. Have you heard about it? Do you know of any of its details other than the word "peaceful"? It is known as the PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY BILL 2011 (PA 2011). Why is this Bill being rushed by BN through the Parliamentary process? Here's why. If Bersih 2.0 were to have happened after this Bill was passed by a BN majority Parliament…
1. The r ally would not have been allowed to have been held on any street – S4(1)(c)
2. Your international Press such as Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Reuters, or any news agency with a foreign anchor or correspondent will not have been allowed at the assembly – S4(1)(a)
3. The rally would not have been allowed to be held within fifty meters of places such as Tung Shin Hospital, the Masjid Jamek Mosque or any place of worship, Fire Stations, Petrol Stations, etc – S4(1)(b) – or any place/area that the Minister may declare as "protected" as and when he deems it necessary i.e. possibly places/areas like Dataran Merdeka, KLCC, Stadium Merdeka, Istana Negara, Putrajaya, Parliament, etc – S4 & S5 of the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act 1959.
If you were present, assembling at one of these "protected" places/areas, the Police may have ordered that the assembly be dispersed* – S21(1)(a) and ANYONE assembling in such places may have been fined up to RM20,000– S21(3).
4. If Ambiga, or anyone of the organizers were below 21 years of age, she would have been fined up to RM10,! 000 for organizing the rally – S4(2)(d) & S4(3).
5. If your child was present at the rally, he/she would have been fined up to RM10,000 – S4(2)(e) & S4(3).
You, as a parent who brought your child along would have been fined up to RM20,000 – S4(2)(f) & S4(4).
6. Those men and women who support other assembly participants/rakyat by way of words spoken through a hailer/microphone to inspire and motivate; if deemed to have made any statement which would have had a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will, discontent or hostility amongst the public at large – as all-encompassing as that is – grants the Police the authority to order the assembly to disperse* – S21(1)(c) – and expose those with the hailers/microphones to a RM20,000 fine – S21(3).
7. A Police Officer may have used tear gas, chemical-laced water, batons and shields as well as arbitrary arrests on participants IF the officer deemed such measures to have been necessary in ensuring the orderly conduct of the assembly in accordance with the new Bill/soon to be law – S8.
8. In order to legally conduct the rally, consent would have had to have been obtained from the owners of Petaling Street, the Masjid Jamek area, the Chow Kit area, Dataran Merdeka, and Stadium Merdeka – S11. Who owns these places, and how feasible would it be to obtain such consent?
9. The Police would have been able to stipulate where, when, for how long, and in what manner the assembly was to be held through enforceable restrictions and conditions – S15(2).
Failure to adhere to these restrictions and conditions in S15(2) would have resulted in arrests without ! the need of warrants – S20(1)(a) – or a fine of up to RM10,000 – S15(3).
The Police may have also ordered that the assembly be dispersed* – S21(1)(e).
10. Media representatives would be given reasonable access (whatever "reasonable" may mean) but media representatives does not include your international Press such as Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, Reuters, or any news agency with a foreign anchor or correspondent – S4(1)(a).
*For every instance where the Police are granted power to order the assembly to disperse, they may use ALL REASONABLE FORCE – S21(2). – NO clear definition of "all reasonable force" is to be found in the Bill.
If you are wondering why this Bill is being RUSHED in Parliament and why there isn't any proper discussion or information being disseminated regarding this Bill, it is probably because the provisions of this new Bill are WHOLLY INCONSISTENT with the words and promises our PM uttered on Sept 16 2011, Malaysia Day.
The Act expressly protects the right to peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions, the right to freedom of movement, the right to enjoy the natural environment, and the right to carry on business BUT IGNORES the right to free speech and expression, and the right to assemble peaceably without arms.
What can you do about this?
This blog shows the various ways we can contact our MP and express our views (via fax, email, SMS, photos, video, etc.).
There is also a Facebook page calling on Malaysians to reject the Peaceful Assembly Bill.
So, please do help to spread the word far and wide! We only have till Tuesday to really drum up suppor
See you on Tuesday for the Walk4Freedom to Parliament!
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In September 27, 2007, the Lawyers and the Rakyat walked for JUSTICE.
Four years down the road, at 11am on the 29th November 2011, at the Lake Garden Club (Kuala Lumpur) the Lawyers and the Rakyat will walk together again to stop the passing of the Peaceful Assembly Bill.
So if you are not already dead, carry that butt of yours and be there to tell the Government to fuck the Peaceful Assembly Bill. THIS BILL CANNOT BE PASS AT ALL COST.
People have to be united and strong against the WAR THAT NAJIB HAD DECLARED ON US. The Government has the money, weapons, machinery, the EC, the army, the police, the AG, the MACC, the ! judges, the civil servants and the dogs in the Royal Household. We only have ourselves and with that we MUST show them OUR POWER TO CHANGE.
Lim Guan Eng menolak ura-ura untuk meminda Perlembagaan pusat untuk memberi jaminan hanya orang Melayu boleh menjadi Perdana Menteri kerana realiti politik sudah jadi bukti penyandang jawatan harus kalangan komuniti Melayu. Setiausaha Agung DAP ini berkata, dalam politik negara, Perdana Menteri dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri merupakan orang Melayu, sebagaimana menjadi amalan sejak lima dekad lalu.
"Semua Menteri Besar dan Ketua Menteri juga Melayu kecuali di Pulau Pinang," kata beliau sambil menegaskan, tidak pernah ada seorang pun pemimpin bukan Melayu yang bercita-cita menjadi Perdana Menteri kerana rakyat Malaysia menerima realiti politik di mana Perdana Menteri Malaysia seharusnya dari kaum Melayu.
"Oleh itu, ura-ura untuk meminda Perlembagaan Persekutuan untuk membenarkan orang Melayu hanya untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri bukan sahaja tidak diperlukan, malah bersifat perkauman kerana menganggap rakyat bukan Melayu sebagai rakyat kelas kedua," kata beliau yang juga Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang.
Semalam, Ketua Umum Pakatan Rakyat Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menegaskan Pakatan Rakyat tidak akan menyokong sebarang usaha Umno jika mahu meminda Perlembagaan Persekutuan bagi semata-mata menjamin hanya orang Melayu boleh menjadi perdana menteri.
DAP merupakan salah satu komponen dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Dua anggota lain ialah PAS dan PKR.
Ketua Pembangkang itu menjelaskan cabaran Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin agar Umno meminda Perlembagaan hanya satu strategi sayap pemuda itu, bukannya pendirian PKR ataupun Pakatan Rakyat.
"Ia satu cabaran sebab Umno terus berkata Melayu, Melayu, Melayu. Jika Umno benar-benar komited, maka kami hendak tahu jika mereka berani lakukan apa yang mereka (terus) perkatakan di kampung-kampung orang Melayu," kata Anwar menjawab ucapan Shamsul Iskandar.
Dalam ucapan dasarnya kelmarin, Shamsul Iskandar mencabar Umno agar meminda Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan menetapkan jaminan jawatan Perdana Menteri hanya boleh disandang oleh seorang Melayu jika benar parti teras BN itu mendakwa hanya Umno yang mampu melindungi kaum Melayu.
Kata Shamsul Iskandar, alasan jawatan tersebut dipegang oleh seorang Melayu hanya semata-mata kerana Umno berkuasa tidak boleh diterima.
Jelas beliau, perkara itu tidak asing di Malaysia kerana hampir semua negeri di Malaysia mensyaratkan ketua kerajaan negeri mesti seorang Melayu.
Pertengahan tahun ini, media pro-Umno pernah menyiarkan muka depan bahawa ada usaha di kalangan pemimpin DAP mahu menjadikan orang Kristian sebagai Perdana Menteri. Bagaimanapun laporan itu terbukti tidak benar.
Dalam kenyataannya, Lim menambah, jawatan politik tertinggi yang boleh disandang bukan Melayu sekarang adalah setakat anggota Kabinet persekutuan dan juga Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang.
"Malah jawatan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, satu-satunya jawatan yang dipegang bukan Melayu, mungkin akan jatuh ke tangan Umno kerana Umno bertanding kerusi yang paling banyak di kalangan parti komponen BN di P! ulau Pin ang," katanya.
Daripada 40 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) di Pulau Pinang, Umno bertanding 15 di kawasan, Gerakan 13, MCA 10 dan MIC dua.
"Kalau BN membentuk kerajaan dan selagi Umno bertanding kerusi yang paling banyak, mana-mana Ketua Menteri BN akan menjadi boneka Umno sampailah seorang calon Umno menjadi Ketua Menteri," katanya.
Walaupun masyarakat Melayu mempunyai kawalan yang hebat dalam sektor-sektor politik, awam dan swasta, kata Lim, DAP tidak pernah pun menggunakan isu-isu itu untuk menakutkan rakyat bukan Melayu.
"DAP tidak pernah berlaku begitu kerana kita menganggap semua orang Melayu mempunyai hak dan peluang yang sama dengan rakyat Malaysia yang lain dalam sektor-sektor tersebut.
"Ini jelas dibuktikan apabila 70 peratus daripada kontrak kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang telah dimenangi oleh kontrak Melayu, lantas membuktikan bahawa kontraktor Melayu mampu berdaya saing," katanya lagi sambil menambah, "hanya kontraktor kroni Umno yang tidak mampu bersaing."
Tambahan pula, kata beliau, kerajaan negeri Pulau Pinang telah melantik penjawat-penjawat awam yang tertinggi berdasarkan kebolehan mereka.
Jelas beliau, secara kebetulan mereka juga Melayu dan ini termasuk Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri, Pegawai Kewangan Negeri dan juga ketua kedua-dua Majlis Perbandaran di Pulau Pinang dan Seberang Perai.
Oleh itu kata Lim, sudah tiba masa untuk menolak dasar perkauman Umno kerajan orang Melayu tidak lemah dan tidak perlu kepada parti yang rasuah dan rasis seperti Umno untuk mempertahankan mereka.
"Sudah tiba masa untuk kita bersatu atas dasar-dasar bersama seperti keadilan, kebenaran, kebebasan, kebajikan awam dan demokrasi," katanya lagi.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has probably created world history in the speed with which a Bill which he described as "revolutionary" became reactionary within 24 hours as to require at least eight amendments.
On Thursday, Najib told Parliament that the Peaceful Assembly Bill was "revolutionary" and "a giant leap" in the political transformation of Malaysia. But in less than 24 hours, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was directed by the Prime Minister at Friday's Cabinet meeting to review and amend the "revolutionary" Bill!
This is the latest proof of the haphazard, insincere and irresponsible manner in which Najib is trying to implement his "political transformation" programme – totally at variance with his pledge that under his premiership, the era of "government knows best" is over and that he would fully consult with all relevant stakeholders and the civil society on major reform measures for the country.
The amendments to the Peaceful Assembly Bill, primarily on and consequential to the reduction of the requirement of 30 days to 10 days for notification to the police for any assembly, are not acceptable to give approval to the Bill as they are not wide-ranging enough as there are also other provisions in the bill which strike at the constitutional rights to freedom of assembly.
Apart from the 30-day notice requirement, other objectionable provisions include the arbitrary powers given to the police to impose restrictive and unreasonable conditions for the holding of assemblies, the role of the Home Minister in cases of appeal, the unconstitutional ban on street protests, the list of prohibited areas or 50-metre vicinity disallowing the holding of assemblies, the ban on underaged children and the onerous and crippling fines for offences under the Bill, etc.
The test of whether the Peaceful Assembly Bill is "revolutionary" and "a giant leap" in the political transformation and democratisation of Malaysia is whether the civil society, human rights activists and the political opposition feel freer and more liberated to exercise the fundamental constitutional right of Article 10 on "freedom of assembly" under the new law or they feel more suppressed, restricted and conscribed than even under the regime of Section 27 of the Police Act 1967.
The Prime Minister must take full cognisance that a former Lord President and the country's most outstanding and longest-serving Inspector-General of Police had both regarded Section 27 of the Police Act as unconstitutional and undemocratic in violating Article 10 on the fundamental liberty of freedom of assembly – expressed in the Police Royal Commission Report of 2005 of which Tun Dzaiddin was Chairman and Tun Hanif Omar Deputy Chairman.
The Police Royal Commission 2005 had recommended far-reaching amendments to Section 27 to uphold "one of the most basic and indispensable of the fundamental freedoms necessary for the functioning of a democratic society and is provided for in the Federal Constitution" but this recommendation of the Police Royal commission was ignored by the Barisan Nasional government for more than six years.
Now we have the Peaceful Assembly Bill with provisions which are even more inimical to the nurturing of a democratic environment fully respecting the human rights of Malaysians to freedom of speech, expression, association and assembly.
Najib has only one option when Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday if he is serious about his latest slogan of "political transformation" and democratisation – to withdraw the Bill or refer it to a Parliamentary Select Committee to engage all stakeholders, the civil society, human rights groups and the political opposition in a meaningful consultation and full engagement.
PUTRAJAYA: Tokoh Maal Hijrah Antarabangsa dan Tokoh Maal Hijrah Kebangsaan tahun ini, dipilih kerana perkhidmatan dan sumbangan besar mereka kepada dunia Islam, kata Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.
Kedua-dua penerima anugerah itu, Menteri Haji Arab Saudi Dr Fouad Abdul Salam, 65 menerima anugerah Tokoh Maal Hijrah Antarabangsa dan Pengerusi Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan dan juga bekas Naib Canselor Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) Prof
Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, 69 menerima anugerah Tokoh Maal Hijrah Kebangsaan.
Mereka masing-masing menerima wang tunai RM100,000 daripada kerajaan, RM10,000 sumbangan daripada Yayasan Ubadi, pingat Tokoh Maal Hijrah, pelak, sijil penghargaan.
Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin menyampaikan anugerah itu kepada Abdul Shukur pada majlis sambutan Maal Hijrah peringkat kebangsaan di Pusat Konvensyen Antarabangsa Putrajaya (PICC) di sini hari ini.
Anugerah kepada Dr Fouad akan disampaikan kemudian kelak.
Jamil Khir berkata Dr Fouad dipilih kerana beliau dilihat sebagai reformasi dan transformasi untuk haji di Mekah dan Madinah serta menyediakan kemudahan infrastruktur di sana seperti monorel dan laluan kereta api bawah tanah untuk memudahkan jemaah haji mengerjakan haji.
Beliau berkata usaha-usaha menteri Arab Saudi itu wajar diiktiraf.
Abdul Shukor pula dipilih kerana perkhidmatan lama dan sumbangan yang banyak kepada negara sehingga sekarang, kata Jamil Khir.
Sementara itu Abdul Shukor ketika ditemui pemberita berkata anugerah tokoh itu yang diterima beliau, akan dijadikan sebagai perangsang bagi dirinya untuk terus berkhidmat dan memberi sumbangan kepada masyarakat.
"Saya tidak menyangka dipilih untuk menerima anugerah ini dan ia akan dijadikan sebagai perangsang untuk saya terus berkhidmat kepada dunia Islam dan masyarakat," katanya.
Beliau yang lahirkan pada 1942 di Jerantut, Pahang, memperoleh Ijazah Ph.D dalam bidang Akidah dan Falsafah Islam dari Universiti Al-Azhar, Mesir pada 1984.
Abdul Shukor pernah menjadi Ketua Jabatan Usuluddin dan Falsafah di Fakulti Pengajian Islam Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) pada tahun 1980 hingga 1981.
- Bernama
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Sama seperti sebelum ini, setiap kali menjelang pilihan raya, pelbagai janji-jani ditaburkan bagi memancing undi pengundi di negara ini.
Menaburkan janji dalam politik Malaysia bukanlah sesuatu yang baharu, ia telah lama diamalkan khususnya bagi pihak yang memiliki kuasa lantaran merasakan dengan kuasa yang adalah yang memberi mereka keupayaan untuk melaksanakan janji.
Adakala janji-janji yang ditaburkan ini akhirnya berjaya memberikan pulangan dan tidak kurang juga janji yang akhirnya memakan diri sendiri.
Bagi sesetengah pihak pula, ada yang menganggap janji-janji yang ditawarkan ini lebih merupakan janji golongan terdesak untuk mendapatkan sokongan rakyat dalam pilihan raya.
Lazimnya janji-janji yang ditaburkan ini turut memberi persepsi sebagai satu rasuah politik dan juga ugutan terhadap pengundi.
Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) sebagai sebuah parti politik yang paling berkuasa dalam negara turut tidak ketinggalan dalam menaburkan janji setiap kali musim pilihan raya berlangsung samada pilihan raya kecil atau pun umum.
Analisa janji TiPU selesaikan masalah air
Kali ini, giliran Timbalan Presiden Umno (TiPU), Muhyiddin Yassin pula mengambil giliran berjanji rakyat Kelantan agar memberikan kemenangan BN di Kelantan jika mahukan masalah air di Kelantan diselesaikan.
Bagaimanapun, bagi rakyat Kelantan yang mungkin cepat tersinar dengan janji-janji TiPU ini, adalah amat wajar terlebih dahulu melakukan analisa prestasi BN dalam menguruskan bekalan air di negeri-negeri yang mereka kuasai.
Di Sabah contohnya yang merupakan kubu kuat BN sehingga dianggap sebagai negeri simpanan tetap yang sentiasa tidak menghampakan untuk BN menjamin kemenangan mereka, adakah pengurusan airnya berada di tahap nombor satu terbaik?
Sekiranya, analisa mendapati rakyat negeri Sabah menikmati bekalan air bersih paling sempurna, tiada pencemaran dan liputan bekalan air mencapai sehingga 99 peratus dari keseluruhan Sabah, maka pengundi Kelantan amat wajar untuk memegang janji TiPU itu.
Kesimpulannya, sekiranya bekalan air di Sabah seperti yang dinyatakan di atas, maka rakyat Kelantan dianggap tidak wajar sekiranya masih teragak-agak untuk memberi undi kepada BN.
Bagaimana pula sekiranya analisa dibuat didapati dalam Audit Air menyatakan bekalan air di Sabah hanya mampu meliputi 75 peratus sahaja dari keseluruhan negeri di bawah bayu itu?
Adakah sekiranya BN menjadikan faktor geografi sebagai alasan, ianya boleh diterima sedangkan pada masa yang sama berbilion ringgit boleh dibazirkan setiap tahun bagi projek mega lain.
Faktor geografi sebagai alasan
Bolehkah alasan geografi diterima apabila kemajuan teknologi masa kini menyaksikan banyak projek merentasi hutan, bukit-bukau, kawasan pergunungan dengan jarak beratus-ratus kilometer berjaya dilaksanakan bukan sahaja di negara luar malah di Semenanjung Malaysia.
Kalau projek yang melibatkan struktur yang besar boleh dilakukan mengapa tidak projek yang hanya melibatkan sambungan paip bagi menyalurkan kepentingan asasi rakyat tidak boleh.
Bagaimana pula sekiranya dari 75 peratus itu juga didapati, kualiti air mentahnya buruk, loji rawatan air tidak dilengkapi peralatan, makmal dan kakitangan yang berkelayakan seperti sepatutnya?
Bagaimana lagi sekiranya dari 75 peratus kawasan yang menerima bekalan air itu juga didapati amat jauh dari mematuhi standarad piawaian pengurusan air?
Bagaimana sekiranya didapati pemfloridaan tidak mencukupi, dan pembersihan tangki-tangki atau kolam di loji tidak dijalankan dengan sempurna dan terancang?
Bagaimana sekiranya di Sabah tiada stesen percontohan air yang sempurna, program jaminan kualiti air Sabah tidak memuaskan seperti komen yang dinyatakan dalam Audit Air 2008?
Bagaimana pula sekiranya 75 peratus pengguna di kawasan penerima bekalan air yang kualitinya tidak terjamin itu terpaksa membayar tarif air tertinggi di Malaysia iaitu 90 sen?
Cuba periksa pula, berapakah tarif purata bagi 35 meter padu air bagi sebuah lagi negeri yang juga sama seperti Sabah, kubu kuat BN iaitu Johor dengan purata 93 sen untuk satu liter padu.
Untuk menilai samada janji TiPU ini boleh diguna pakai dalam menentukan undian rakyat Kelantan, mereka juga harus mengetahui di Sabah masih banyak kawasan yang masih bergantung bekalan air dari sumber air paip graviti yang tidak dirawat?
Mereka juga harus mengetahui bahawa terdapat sumber air paip graviti ini datangnya dari kawasan yang telah dijadikan ladang kelapa sawit, keruh, kemungkinan telah tercemar dengan baja, racun rumput, keladak pasir dan tanah.
Tahukah pengundi di Kelantan bahawa masyarakat kampung-kampung di Sabah yang bergantung sumber air dari paip graviti yang dimulakan semenjak 70an dahulu terpaksa mengeluarkan wang sendiri untuk membiayai kos penyelenggaraan.
Wajar juga rakyat Kelantan memikirkan adakah kerajaan pusat tidak boleh berbuat apa-apa atau sekurang-kurangnya membantu kerajaan negeri disebabkan tidak mempunyai kuasa untuk mengatasi masalah air di Kelantan.
Berapa PRU BN janji nak selesai masalah air di Sabah?
Satu perkara yang tidak kurang juga pentingnya, rakyat Kelantan wajiblah bertanyakan kepada rakan-rakan di Sabah, pernahkah atau sudah berapa banyak pilihan raya umum (PRU) BN berjanji untuk menyelesaikan masalah air bagi membeli undi pengundi Sabah sebelum ini.
Setelah pengundi-pengundi di Kelantan selesai membuat analisa persoalan-persoalan di atas, tentunya mereka mampu menilai dan mendapat jawapan samada janji TiPU ini boleh dipercayai atau sebaliknya sekaligus menentukan lambang mana yang mahu dipangkah nanti.
Penulis tidaklah maksudkan janji yang dilafazkan oleh TiPU ini adalah tipu, sebaliknya penulis hanya cuba mengajak pengundi Kelantan sama-sama menganalisa samada janji ini mempunyai nilai kredibilitinya atau sebaliknya.
Negeri Kelantan, rakyat Kelantan punya, maka rakyat Kelantan berhak menentukan pilihan mereka samada BN atau PAS dan saya hanya cuba membantu mereka membuat sedikit analisa janji-janji TiPU ini. Tepuk dada tanya selera!
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On Tuesday, 29th November, 2011, at 11.30am, as many of us meet at the Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur to walk to defend our right to assemble peaceably, our brothers and sisters in Kota Kinabalu will gather at the same time around the monument built in remembrance of the fallen Golden son of the Kadazans, Peter Mojuntin, who perished with others in the highly controversial and much unexplained plane crash on 6th June, 1976.
Date : 29th November, 2011
Time : 11.30am
Venue : The square behind the Long Mall, around the monument, in Doggongon.
Wear yellow if you can. If you don't have yellow, just be there.
Good people of Sabah, will you allow UMNO and BN to continue to rob you of your rights and your dignity?
Is it not enough that they have taken your land and your wealth?
I will be in KL to join the Walk for Freedom to say "No to the Peaceful Assembly Act", but my spirit will be with my brothers and sisters in Kota Kinabalu who will join us now to rise and defend the our rights and our dignity.
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The article asks a question which the Sabah and Sarawak people have been asking for 48 years about why the cost of living suddenly rose not long after coming under UMNO rule in 1963.
While there were and are external and internal economic factors causing inflation, the major reason began with the British colonial enforced creation of "Malaysia" in 1963.
The North Bornean/Kalimantan independence movement had denounced "Malaysia" as a neo-colonial scheme which would see more plunder of our resources. Since 1963 the intensified plunder by UMNO and the local ruling elites of our oil and timber and this plunder has been a major contributing factor to local poverty and the high cost of living.
Superimposed on the neo-colonial structure is UMNO's creation of the 1969 NEP/Apartheid system. Corruption has been grossly magnified as a result of having to sustain the UMNO patronage/crony system which operates in Malaya and the Borneo colonies.
We are paying a high price to be re-colonized.
The then Singapore leadership had more or less willingly "joined Malaysia" bearing in mind that Lee Kuan Yew had pushed matters along with the suppression and imprisonment of the Singapore opposition to "Malaysia". This had largely to do with the Opposition support of the Malayan national liberation war fought against British rule of Malaya since 1948.
The opposition in Malaya and Singapore had also opposed the British/UMMNO political Malaysia machination as purely to consolidate their colonial interests and demanded real independence without foreign control. The British did just the opposite in Malaya by installing their puppet UMNO regime in power in 1957.
The North Kalimantan opposition to "Malaysia" erupted into the anti-Malaysia Brunei Independence Uprising in December 1962 and ensuing people's guerrilla independence war till 1990.
"Malaysia" was incorporated in September 1963 with Malaya Singapore Sabah and Sarawak after suppression of the Brunei Uprising. Brunei was left out. Almost immediately what was in reality a "shot gun marriage" broke down.
Singapore leaders realised that their imprisoned Opposition was correct in saying that "Malaysia" was a re-colonization scheme. UMNO tried to dominate the Singapore government and people instead of treating them as "equals" as agreed. It was no good for them. The most positive thing Singaporeans did was to "get out of Malaysia".
Today we can all see independent Singapore a tiny territory with practically no natural resources other then hard working people marching past "Malaysia" in social-economic progress.
True the PAP regime was and is still as politically repressive as UMNO in its effort to monopolise state power.
But having to operate in very confined space with a big population the Singapore solution was "reverse socialism". No matter how fiercely their leaders opposed and sought to defeat socialist ideals, they actually had to re-construct Singapore society into a "corporate system" with semi "socialistic" aspects and Singapore characteristics.
By skilful economic management Singapore somehow re-invented itself and "prospered" while across the causeway UMNO re-invented and undermined the whole country on the steep downhill road with its rampant corruption.
In democratic Malaysia "Corruption" is the key word to understanding why Malayans and the Sabah and Sarawak colonies are facing crazy inflation and high cost of living.
For example Sabahans have been paying for this corruption with high costs of living whereby they have been charged 4 times the cost of everything transported from Malaya. It is buried in a word called "cabotage". Malayan UMNO controlled transport companies are charging more than double for cabotage and the Borneo colonies are paying for it.
This is called "creaming or milking the system".
The plundering of Sabah and Sarawak resources such as timber and oil has immensely compounded the employment and poverty situation with thousands of landless ulu people in the 2 colonies. Land robberies by local ruling elites and oil thefts by UMNO are the major causes of poverty and "high cost of living". When you are poor everything is "costly"!
The high cost of fuel is another major complain of the people.
Since the 1970s UMNO has seized control of the Borneo oil fields and taken all the profits. Fuel became ridiculously expensive. The people should have cheap petrol and fuel etc. like the Bruneians.
Both Sabah and Sarawak are big oil producers and therefore should be self-sufficient in oil. But the people have to pay high fuel prices.
In addition, dams have mushroomed in both colonies at the expense of ulu landowners robbed of their land. But the poor do not get cheap electricity. So the high price of say domestic power supply etc is unnecessarily hiked up by those who own the means of power production while industries controlled by them get cheaper rates!
Such issues have been frequently raised by both Sabah and Sarawak political commentators.
A paper called the "Root causes of Poverty in Sabah and Sarawak by Daniel J. Jambun has been widely published (on the internet)
The writer said in his article: "The poverty figures should come as no surprise since both Sabah and Sarawak are actually colonies of Peninsular Malaysia. More on that shortly."
This colonization has stirred Sabahans to call for independence. Sabah website "The Spirit of Sabahans" calls on Sabahans and Sarawakians to "Keluar Malaysia". "Get out of Malaysia".
In looking at why we suffer from a high cost of living we not only take into account of the current ongoing world recession but must look at the internal factors that are EXACERBATING this situation.
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The reforms help distract and reduce the rakyat's worries about electoral fraud and the National Feedlot Corporation's alleged misuse of RM250 million of taxpayers' money.
With dizzying speed, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak tabled several new laws to fulfill an earlier pledge to give Malaysians the "best democracy in the world".
Meanwhile, political pundits criticise Najib's "rash of reforms" saying that they were an over-reaction to public sentiment in the run-up to GE-13.
Their skepticism stems from the action of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who promised envoys from the UN Security Council, that he was "committed to the reform process." The Syrian uprising has left 3,500 dead, scores injured and thousands detained.
Other cynics said, "Najib is not capable of a rash reform. The only rash he knows is when he was hospitalised with (chicken) pox last year."
Perhaps "better late than never" could be another Barisan Nasional slogan. BN has taken four decades to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 and should be praised for being receptive to the mood of the nation.
Nevertheless, reforms help distract and reduce the rakyat's worries about electoral fraud and the National Feedlot Corporation's alleged misuse of RM250 million of taxpayers' money.
At the weekend, BN confirmed that they were wooing young voters. Foreign PR consultants, which cost the Malaysian taxpayer millions, are finally proving they are value for money. They gave BN leaders some useful advice. They confirmed our long-held belief that our youth is well versed in the use of digital media.
As a result, Najib and his home minister have their own version of the mobile phone and music shop sales pitch: "Trade in your old law for two new ones". Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, earlier announced two new laws to replace the ISA.
The students were promised an amendment to the Universities and University Colleges Act 1974 (UUCA) so that they could join political parties at 21. The PM said he valued "the maturity and wisdom of undergraduates".
Like any other wise parent, Najib exercises caution by ensuring that our youth is not troubled by too many liberties. He barred them from bringing partisan politics onto campuses. He cherishes the old-fashioned view that students cannot make sound judgements without consulting their parents, the university's governing body or the authorities.
Maybe he is worried that studies would be disrupted. He probably read about UK students wreaking havoc in the centre of London, whilst increasing public awareness about cuts in education.
It is probable he didn't want copy-cat acts similar to the Tunisian street vendor, an allegedly unemployed student, who immolated himself, when he was harassed by the police.
As expected, the home minister reiterated that the two new laws to replace the ISA would still include detention without trial.
Najib's giant step
But many political observers were surprised when Hishammuddin stressed that the process of replacing the ISA had begun two years ago.
Someone who had been arrested during the ISA protest at Amcorp Mall in August 2010 said, "I suppose we were so busy protesting, that we failed to notice that the government had started dismantling the ISA."
A "Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA" protester based in England, known to religiously attend every Saturday afternoon protest outside the Malaysian Tourist Office in Trafalgar Square said: "Perhaps it's for the best. Protesting in summer is like a day out. What could be better than downing ale whilst watching pretty girls walk past? But winter is depressing. When it's wet and cold, I can easily imagine what it feels like to be in a damp cell in Kamunting."
Hishammuddin's justification for Malaysia's detention without trial is centred on the United States Patriot Act and the Anti-Terrorism Acts in the United Kingdom and Australia.
BN supporters are afraid that in trying to be like the UK and US, Malaysia might also have to curb its human rights abuses.
They disagree with the western emphasis on human rights: "See what happens when you are soft on people. They riot. Then they rob you. We should be thankful that BN does not riot."
In contrast, a pro-government party member believed that the new laws should make it easier for the authorities to stifle political dissenters. "The ISA was a burden. They (the authorities) had to plant Che Guevara T-shirts or Mao propaganda leaflets in bags of people who were potential trouble-makers. Arrests are only possible when national security is threatened."
Last week, Najib announced the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011, which he termed a "revolutionary" law and a "giant step" towards improving individual freedom. He denied claims that the Act choked the freedom to assemble. He assured protesters of a fine and spared them time behind bars.
A political observer said, "BN is desperate for money. They need to buy votes in GE-13 and the coffers are empty. Taxpayers' money has been directed into emergency funds overseas, in case the BN leaders need to escape."
Najib said that gatherings were only prohibited in, or near, selected sites. He rambled on whilst reading his short list which included hospitals, schools, petrol stations, fire stations, airports, railways, land public transport terminals, ports, canals, docks, bridges, places of worship, kindergartens, schools, dams, reservoirs and streets.
He rubbished claims that assemblies were banned "anywhere and everywhere".
Interests of rakyat
Unlike the opposition, several people were content. The local Mat Rempit groups, when contacted, were grateful that highways were exempt. Funeral parlours also breathed a sigh of relief that they were free of the 30 days' advance warning before the funeral cortège.
They had been worried about space constraints and deterioration of the bodies.
The PM spared parents the embarrassment of refusing to participate in a march by giving them a ready-made excuse. He knows that baby-sitters are difficult to find and he advised would-be marchers to tell the organisers that the police could arrest anyone who brought or recruited children to rallies.
Former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has disagreed with Najib on almost every subject, offered Najib the olive branch by saying he approved of the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011. This cementing of ties cannot have come at a worse time for the opposition.
Nevertheless, both Mahathir and Najib only have the interests of the rakyat at heart. They did not want protesters to succumb to the temptation of looting shops. They were worried that roads which were free of traffic meant that tolls could not collect revenue.
BN supporters rejected opposition claims that shopkeepers who remained open during the Bersih 2.0 rally enjoyed brisk trading.
They also dismissed footage by foreign news media, that showed the police firing tear-gas at peaceful protesters. They refuted claims that water cannons were deployed for crowd-control and condemned the "western conspiracy" to undermine Najib's administration.
A pro-government activist said, "Protesters should be thankful only a little violence was used. Tear gas and water jets are preferable to rubber bullets. The police must preserve the peace."
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Written by Dr Lim Teck Ghee Friday, 25 November 2011 14:15
Commentary
To most of the country's independent political observers, it is very clear now. With the unveiling of the new proposed law restricting our right to pea! ceful as sembly and protest, the Malaysian public has been taken for a ride on the promise of political liberalization and reform made by the Prime Minister on the eve of Malaysia Day this year.
What is the explanation for the apparent turnaround in Najib Razak's initial plan unveiled on 15 September this year to abandon earlier draconian and repressive legislation and to improve our civil liberties?
Is it that there was really no enlightened plan but in fact a calculated and cynical move aimed at strangling the right to peaceful assembly – a potential game changer in the country's political dynamics – whilst holding out crumbs of comfort that the government is being sincere about political liberalization on less important fronts?
If so, the Prime Minister must be congratulated on producing academy award performances not on just one occasion but for an entire two-month period in which he consistently extolled the merit of the Barisan Nasional moves to advance civil liberties and good governance in the country when plotting the exact opposite.
Even as late as today the Prime Minister continues to praise the new bill on Peaceful Assembly as a "revolutionary" law and a "giant leap" towards improving individual freedom. He must be the only person in the country to believe that the country will experience a quantum improvement in our basic freedom of assembly with the passing of the new law.
If he is deaf to the overwhelming opposition to the proposed new law coming from all quarters, this coming year's international assessments on the country's civil liberties record will be salutary in reminding the Prime Minister that the country's ranking on civil liberties and his own reputation for honesty have taken an enormous beating from this cynical attempt to kill off political dissent under the guise of improving the law pertaining to the right to assembly.
Were there other forces at work that may have compelled the Prime Minister to en! gage in this astonishing political turnaround?
If the Prime Minister is not the main actor of this political deception, is it the work of right wing Umno leaders such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his son Mukhriz, the Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Ibrahim Ali as well as Najib's ambitious cousin, the Home Affairs Minister who have pushed him to this unprecedented flip- flopping on political liberalization?
Whichever hands finally prevailed on this obnoxious bill now being debated in Parliament, their mission is clear: to prevent the same exercise of the freedom of peaceful assembly and dissent that are toppling similar authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world in the hope that they can buy for themselves a longer lease of authoritarian rule and unchecked power in Malaysia.
DESIDERATA:
Worldwide we learn a few lessons from the Spring time that galvanised a regime change -- or in some countries, still in the process of regime change -- in the African continent -- Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and in their train, several other neighbouring countries ripe for sping-cleaning.
Even in the normally stable developed countries like the UNited States, Greece and Germany, there's some gathering of stormy clouds crying out for reforms, leading to the Occupy Walk Street campaign and similar infant movements in other countries. It's really early days yet to talk about Springtime in emerging Asian democracies like Singapore and Malaysia.
You get a few hundred demostrators gathering for a peaceful assembly in front of the landmarks like KLCC as a symbol fronting for the Stock Exchange ala Wall Street, it doesn't translate into the dying days of winter cold.
Until the days when Malaysians still can eke out a daily living working their hearts out on more than one job for the main breadwinner, NegaraKu is safe from any Springtime dawning soon. Not in the forseeeable future like the next five years.
Until the Gove! rnment b ankrupts the country by doubling their voracious appetite for the country's wealth created by the Black gold, until the UMNO Wanita chief past and present, and also the UMNO Youth past and present, creates more clones and cronies, the Rakyat will remain passive, just watchng the daylight robbery going one with disbelief.
Okay, just mention one example: If there is a Malaysian spring, Minister Sharizat Jalil and her husband now chief of Animal Farm Malaysia helping hiself and family to the nation's coffer like it's a birthright, would have been besieged at their residence -- bungalow, condos -- and they would have been driven out of their animal farm consisting of humble cowsheds ala Port Klang's late Zakaria-style palatial "small" house that in big part caused the Selangor state government to change hands from BN-UMNO to PR-PKR to GE12.
Malaysians must be smart and vote ABU cometh GE13 because we really don't deserve any spingtime to do spring-cleaning of the UMNO mess. Yes, just vote Anyone But UMNO, mates. Terima Kasih for being so obedient. Thank you. Xie xie. God bless Malaysia, land of plenty and we really don't need a spring, we continue to ENJOY summer awe-year-long. Amen.
Sarawak Barisan Nasional leaders have expressed concern over the effects of the sacking of Sylvester Entri, the Marudi assemblyman from SPDP.
The SPDP vice-president and assistant minister of public utilities was sacked last Friday after he was found guilty of leading a group of eight leaders to rebel against the party leadership in January last year.
Among the first to react to the sacking was Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud who said that he would discuss the matter with SPDP leaders.
"Let things cool down first. I will meet the party leaders," added the state BN chairman, who had earlier described the issue as a "family problem" and not a crisis.
State BN secretary-general Stephen Rundi said Entri was still a member of BN.
"Entri is not partyless. Whatever it is, we all are still BN men. We will solve the problem," he said.
Commenting on the same issue, PRS president James Masing wanted Entri and the other four elected representatives to remain with BN at all costs to prevent them from joining the opposition.
BN leaders held an emergency meeting on Friday night at the residence of the chief minister after news of the sacking broke.
Entri is no ordinary assemblyman; he was not only hand-picked by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) leaders to contest in Marudi in the 1996 state election donning the SPDP shirt but he was now a Muslim after marrying a woman related to Taib.
'Saddest day of my political career'
In announcing the sacking, SPDP president William Mawan said: "Today is the saddest day of my political career. After due process and consultation with the supreme council, with regret I announce that YB Sylvester Entri is no longer a member of SPDP with immediate effect. But the seat of Marudi which Entri is representing remains with the party."
Mawan recalled the incident in January last year when Entri staged a walkout, followed by Peter Nansian, senior vice-president and Tasik Biru assemblyman, Dr Tiki Lafe, vice-president and MP for Mas Gading, Rosey Yunus, vice-president and Bekenu assemblywoman, Paulus Gumbang, information chief and Batu Danau assemblyman, supreme council members Peter Gani, George Garai and Cr Eda Egar.
"I have consistently maintained that SPDP's door was always open for them. Instead, Entri and his group continuously distanced themselves from the party by not attending supreme council meetings and made sustained attacks on me, challenging and ridiculing my leadership through one press statement after another.
"These acts created unnecessary tension and anxiety amongst our party members and can even threaten the existence of our party," he said.
Mawan said that through a recent press statement Nansian, claiming to be the spokesman of the group, publicly declared that the show-cause letter issued by the disciplinary board to Entri was no longer relevant.
"By ignoring the party's constitutional process, Entri has effectively chosen to burn his bridges with the party. In the interest of BN and the up-coming general election, I consider this sad episode closed and the party needs to move on.
"SPDP's immediate agenda is towards a focused and united effort to ensure BN's victory in the coming general election," he said.
Show-cause letters for others
Mawan was reluctant to inform the press regarding the fate of the other four elected representatives who challenged the president to sack them.
However, sources from the party said Nansian's show-cause letter was sent a couple of weeks ago. He was given 30 days to reply.
The show-cause letters for the others would be sent later, the sources added.
Mawan said that since they had been absent from supreme council meetings, they chose this fate for themselves.
"We didn't burn their bridges; they themselves burnt their bridges," he said.
Mawan made it clear that SPDP was going to oppose if the five joined any of the BN component parties or form a new party with the intention to apply to join BN.
"Once you are out of SPDP, you are out of BN," he said, citing Larry Sng's case as an example.
(Sng was sacked from PRS and has remained partyless).
On Tiki Lafe, Mawan said SPDP would not re-nominate him to defend the Mas Gading seat, pointing out that the party had identified more than one winnable candidate to contest the seat.
"The supreme council made a decision based on the fact that Tiki has lost communication with the party and we have also got information that he cannot win in the constituency," he said.
Mawan refused to comment when asked if the reason for dropping Tiki was due to the fact that he was a member of the SPDP 5 which wanted to topple the president.
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Sarawak Report
"Not me Govenor!" – Taib is finding himself in the dock time and again as he comes to the DUN to deny corruption!
Taib Mahmud is betraying big weaknesses with his useless attempts to shut up questions in Parliament about his family corruption and then to have those questions removed from the official records.
The first thing it shows is how dangerous he knows such questions are. To sell a huge area of valuable state land worth RM225 million to a company owned by his own kids for just RM2 million is plain, dirty corruption for all to see.
This is exactly what YB Wong King Wei most recently revealed in the State Assembly with his question about the scandal of Shoreline Development Sdn Bhd.
As we know, there have been plenty of similar thefts linked to other scandals, such as Monarda Sd Bhd and the land round Kuching airport; the handouts to Naim Cendara; the World Heritage site of Borsamulu given to his sister and of course the scandal of the contracts and plantation licences given to Taib's son Abu Bekir's Titanium Management, which YB Chong also drew attention to in a series of separate parliamentary questions last week.
The Chief Minister is already suffering the indignity of a public investigation by the MACC, as well as questions over money laundering in Germany, Switzerland, the UK and Canada. Those investigators are not going to have to work very hard with such evidence as the Shoreline Development deal revealed in broad daylight!
Voter power
I voted BN and all they ever gave me was this lousy t-shirt!
And what are voters to think with an election just round the corner? Remember, it has just been announced that Taib's administration has only been able to allocate a tiny RM3.47million to help alleviate the hard core rural poverty that afflicts so many Dayaks in Malaysia's richest state.
It is now easy to see why there is no money to help the starving poor, since Taib has just stolen land that could have raised RM222 million and given it to his own mega-rich children instead!
The second great weakness that Taib's behaviour reveals is that he clearly has not realised how times have changed. He now faces a real and strong opposition in the State Assembly and in his appearances there he is looking increasingly like an old man in the dock!
He can no longer control the opposition by simply trying to silence it. Furthermore, his old tactics for suppressing embarrassing information can no longer work. Because, whatever the tame Speaker tries to do in the way of altering parliamentary records and shutting up speakers, the Chief Minister and his cronies can not wipe this information off the internet!
The Samling connection
YB Wong pointed out that the lucky owners of Shoreline Development Sdn Bhd, who were able to walk off with a RM 225 million plot of 90 acres for just RM 2 million, were two companies, Plieran Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Land Sdn Bhd.
Behind closed doors. Deals involving State Lands should be open and everyone should be allowed to bid. Then it would not end up going cheap to Taib's family!
Company information plainly shows that Plieran Sdn Bhd is fully owned by KBE Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is 60% owned by Daya Syukra Sdn Bhd, which in turn is owned by Taib's kids Jamilah, Abu Bekir, Sulaiman and Hanifah!
So, who are the other shareholders of KBE Malaysia Sdn Bhd? They turn out to be the logging tycoon Yaw Teck Seng of Samling and Wan Morshidi bin Tuanku Abdul Rahman, a close proxy for Taib's own uncle and predecessor, Abdul Rahman Ya'kub.
My people are poor because they are stupid!
At this point it is surely right to remember Taib's own statement just before the election, made in a recorded interview and released on his own website, in which he claimed that he and his family "never do business in Sarawak", because if they did they would be "hounded by accusations of conflict of interest".
"If I do business inside the country people will say I use my influence to enrich myself. So, we did it outside" [Taib Mahmud March 2011]
Sarawak Report duly accuses Taib Mahmud of gross conflict of interest and of lying. He has abused his influence by engaging in a secretive land deal, handing his wealthy children a huge area of state land for almost nothing. This and numerous other similar corrupt deals have deprived his people of money that could have made their lives better.
Tap Tap – "If people haven't got it up there, then there is nothing we can do!" – Taib claims his people are poor because they are stupid!
Taib added insult to injury in his interview by saying that his children were rich only because they were so "clever" compared to others.
He claimed that "anyone" who is clever could make themselves rich over 30 years, whereas (tapping his head) he explained that the thousands of desperate people in Sarawak remain poor because they, by contrast, are stupid!:
"for those who haven't got it up here (taps his head)there is nothing we can do!".
So, there we have it. Taib believes there is nothing he can do to help the poverty of his people because they "haven't got it up here (tap, tap)"!
Poor – so you must be stupid !
Sarawak's Chief Minister clearly thinks money is wasted on his people, since they are stupid. This must be why he could only find RM3.45 million to help all the rural poor and yet gave his own rich ('clever') children over RM200 million in a corrupt land deal.
With such an open statement it would indeed be stupid for any of his people who have heard such heartless and lying insults to willingly vote for BN.
It is no wonder, therefore, that Taib had to blackmail, bully, bribe and cheat to produce a so-called 'win' at the last election. No wonder either that his tactics were so dirty that tens of thousands of people came out on the streets of KL a few weeks later to protest in the Bersih 2 rally for clean and fair elections. And no wonder that even BN Malaysia are desperate to get rid of the corrupt and arrogant 'White Rajah' of Sarawak.
More on Samling
From Samling to Taibs – US mansion
Meanwhile, the connection with Samling goes much further. Its timber tycoon boss, Yaw Teck Seng, has turned his company into a massive global empire thanks to the many, many logging concessions that he managed to obtain from Taib Mahmud and before that his uncle, the same Abdul Rahman Ya'Kub whose associate has such a big interest in KBE Malaysia, Plieran and therefore the Shoreline Development deal.
Time and again the Taib family and Samling pop up together in joint business ventures and the Taib family, time and again, can be shown to enjoy large shareholdings in Samling companies.
Given what we already know of Taib's corrupt practices, who is willing to believe that he and his uncle distributed all those favours on Samling for nothing?
Joint Ventures
So is it any surprise that the second company in Shoreline Development (see above) is Sarawak Land Sdn Bhd. Sarawak Land Sdn Bhd also belongs to Samling's Yaw Tech Sing?
Plieran (owned by Yaw/Taib's children) and Sarawak Land are also major shareholders of Borsamulu, the controversial World Heritage site snatched by Raziah Taib from the Berawan and Penan people.
The Taibs and the Yaws are the major shareholders in Mulu.
Plieran is likewise involved in family ventures with the Raziah and her husband Robert Geneid in numerous property deals in Miri, made possible by land grants from Taib's government. These include Miri Properties and the Marriott Hotel Miri development.
Meanwhile, Plieran is also one of the largest shareholders in Samling's key logging subsidiary Lingui. Once again this raises the very conflict of interest that Taib was admitting he would be accused of.
Taib family Plieran's interest in Samling's Lingui
And, of course, as Sarawak Report has previously pointed out, Taib's cousin and proxy Hamed Sepawi, his Bomoh Ahmed Suiit and the same Wan Morshidi bin Tuanku Abdul Rahman, who is so close to Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, are the three largest shareholders of Samling's main company, Samling Global, apart from the Yaw family themselves!
No money from BN for 'stupid' poor people in Sarawak
How did Taib's black magic man, his cousin and his uncle's proxy manage to gain 5% each of one of the world's largest logging companies? Was it because they are so clever, or because of Taib's misuse of his influence as he handed out logging licences behind closed doors to the Yaw family and Samling?
Likewise, how is it that two large mansions in Seattle, North America, so conveniently slipped from the ownership of the Yaw family into the possession of the Taib family for the apparent transaction of just $ 1 dollar?
Taib puts the success of himself and all his family members down to their cleverness and the stupidity of other Sarawakians. But he has lied about not doing business in Sarawak. To the contrary, thanks to his influence the Taib family do almost all the business there is in Sarawak.
The rest of the country are not stupid… they just aren't related to the Chief Minister. Taib may not like it, but his corruption is being exposed and he can no longer stop it from happening.
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