Scotland Yard, Interpol, ICAC Boleh ...

Why MACC tak boleh? There must be a good reason why Scotland Yard, Hong Kong's ICAC and Interpol still stick to the practice of questioning withnesses after hours, right? If indeed they still do and according The Malay Mail this afternoon, that is the case.

The paper also says the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is going to use this to appeal last week's controversial High Court ruling that the commission could only question witnesses during office hours.

Read the report by The Paper That Cares h e r e.

On 19/11, the Attorney-General said he would appeal the ruling. The Cabinet is also expected to discuss the ruling, which has already inspired DAP stalwart Karpal Singh to also demand that police stop "interrogating" witnesses after office hours. The Inspector-General of Police has said the High Court ruling did not affect the police but Karpal thinks it did [Karpal wants IGP to stop after-hours interrogation, The Star 20 Nov].

Well, I agree with blogger Syed Akbar Ali that in this case, the Court has acted really weird.

Excerpts [lclick here to read his entire posting]:

Now the Court has again ruled that the MACC cannot question or interrogate suspects outside of office hours. This is a stupid decision. So lets play with the permutations. Is it Government office hours or the suspects' office hours? A suspect could be a shift worker somewhere and work from midnite to 8 am. That is the time the MACC sleeps. To interrogate such a person during the MACC’s office hours (9am – 5pm?) may violate the suspect’s sleep time. What if the MACC decides to operate 24 hours like the 7-11 or mamak nasi kandar outlets? And they get their new ‘Dibuka 24 Jam’ office hours gazetted too? Or does the Court’s decision make it impossible for the MACC (and by extension the whole security apparatus of the country) to set its own time to do things?

Raya Haji

Salam Aidil Adha to all my Muslim brothers and sisters, whether they have performed the haj or going to. And to my fellow Malaysians enjoying the holiday, especially those on the road, take care and have a great holiday.

I haven't performed the Haj but it is my dream to make that journey one day.

Anti-journalist Selproa

'Govt propaganda machine' journalist gets PKR boot

SHAH ALAM: A journalist with a local Malay daily was chased out of a press conference called by officers of Selangor’s Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives at the state secretariat building.

Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Elected Representatives Officers Associa­tion (Selproa) secretary Ng Yap Hwa chased out Utusan Malaysia journalist Yazid Alias yesterday, claiming that the daily was a “federal government agent.”

Although Selproa president Abdul Razak Ismail later told Ng to allow Yazid in, the latter was heard saying: “We can’t allow government propaganda machines into the press conference.”

This then irked the other reporters attending the function, who said they would bring up the matter to the National Union of Journalists Malaysia (NUJ).

Yazid, who is attached to the Shah Alam bureau, described Ng’s action as “uncouth”, adding that it was uncalled for as his office had received an invite to the function via e-mail.

He said if Selproa was afraid of their secrets being leaked out, it should state in their e-mails which media was barred from the event. (Full report h e r e)

I read the above report with utter disgust. Selproa secretary Ng Yap Hwa, clearly an uneducated person, is the kind that will suppress all and any kind of dissent. God forbids this kind of people from taking over the country. If they had more power, journalists may be executed for not writing things that agree with Ng Yap Hwa and his ilk.

I am waiting for the NUJ and the CIJ to make known their views.

And I urge other journalists, pro-Pakatan or pro-Barisan or pro-neither, to condemn this bully's arrogant act. The NST managing editor has blogged her views h e r e: "Wow. Talk about low tolerance threshold...".

Negri Sembilan prince sues paper for RM50 million

Tunku Naquiyuddin sues The Malay Mail. As I am The Editor of The Malay Mail, I shall furnish only the facts of the case:

Naquiyuddin (pic above), the eldest son of the late Yamtuan Negri Sembilan, says the paper has defamed him in an article we ran early last month. In his letter of demand, Naquiyuddin wants the paper to publish and apology and pay him RM50 million in damages. We have just replied to his letter of demand to say, in a nutshell, that the said article wasn't about him.

You can read the article Long Wait over at Seri Menanti (Oct 5, 2009). The writer, Rusdi Mustapha (pic, with the current Yamtuan), is our regular columnist and a son of Seri Menanti himself. After "Long Wait .." Rusdi Mustapha wrote two more articles on the palace: Daulat Tuanku, What it means (Oct 12, 2009) and Installation of the 11th Yamtuan (Oct 26, 2009). Both Naquiyuddin and Rusdi attended the installation of Tuanku Mukhriz.

DSAI not having tea with Chin "Butcher of Malaya" Peng

No invite. According to Salehuddin Hashim, the PKR sec-gen, there was never an invite for him, Anwar or PKR to attend the 20th anniversary celebration of the Haadyai Peace Agreement. The organisers said invites were sent to several people, including Najib and Anwar, and confirmed that Anwar had agreed to attend.

I'll take Salehuddin's word for it and am happy that the MM has made the clarification on his behalf here.

Read my original posting Tea with Chin Peng here. This Butcher of Malaya has no business wanting to have tea with any of us.

Read this 2003 letter to remind ourselves of who Chin Peng really is:

My father’s murderer

ON the night of Dec 19, 1948, my father, the headmaster of the Chinese school in Simpang Dua, Sitiawan, Perak, was resting with his pregnant wife, also a Chinese school teacher, and his seven children at home after dinner. Some people came and called my father, so he wore his shirt and stepped out of the house into the dark. According to my mother, a conversation took place followed by the sound of two gunshots.

Read MORE ..

In PAS' Kelantan, a powerful son-in-law is removed from office

23/11 Kelantan MB Nik Aziz announces that his son-in-law Abdul Ariffahmi has been removed as CEO of Kelantan Mentri Besar Inc/STAR

The PAS spiritual leader shouldn't have put his own son-in-law in that cushy position, in the first place. Let this be a lesson for other political leaders and sons-in-law.

If the removal is an admision of guilt, will Nik Aziz then reinstate blogger Sheih Kickdefella? I believe Sheih's marching orders (In Kelantan, PAS sacks blogger Nov 10) were signed by Ariffahmi as CEO of the Kelantan Menteri Besar Inc.

Blogger Apanama has promised updates on his blog, here.

Politicking, even as TBH's body was being exhumed

Updated to include at the end of this posting Dr Peter Vanezis' website and why (I think) we are in good hands.

Original Article:-
How much did the Govt pay Dr Peter Vanezis? That's what Ean Yong Hian Wah, Selangor exco member and Teoh Beng Hock's employer when he died, demanded to know as they exhumed the body this morning for the second postmortem tomorrow.

Excerpts of what he told Malaysian Insider:

Teoh’s former employer, Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, said at the cemetery: “I hope the second autopsy will reveal the truth.”

Yong also stated his desire to know how much the government spent hiring the UK pathologist Dr Peter Vanezis — one of two foreign pathologists, along with Dr Pornthip, who will be observing the second autopsy.

"Dr Vanezis, who serves as a director at the Cameron Centre for Forensic Medical Sciences in London, has handled over 2,000 autopsy cases involving sudden death, of which 1,500 were found to be homicides.

“The fact that they hired a foreign expert shows they have no confidence in the local pathologists,” Yong added.

Yong should stop politicizing TBH's death already. I don't know how much Dr Pornthip or Dr Vanezis are being paid to observe tomorrow's second post-mortem, but I don't care. If they are going to get to the bottom of things and bring justice to everyone involved in TBH's death, it'd be worth every single sen. I hope Yong can agree with that. He should also think before he talks. I don't think hiring Dr Vanezis means "they" had no confidence in the local pathologists. I have been campaigning for another foreign expert to accompany Dr Pornthip simply because "they" won't trust a local. And, by the way Yong, Dr Pornthip is Thai and Selangor government are hiring her. Does that mean the Selangor government have no confidence in local pathologists?

Read the rest at Kit Siang's blog, here.

I'll paste Dr Vanezis' bio here when I find it.

Updates
Thanks to commenter Alizul, you can go to Vanezis' website h e r e.
Some of the high-profiled cases he has been involved in:

• Investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Princess Diana
  
  
• Gave opinions for the Presidential Truth Commission in Korea on deaths in custody
  
  
• Investigate the medical evidence of the British Nurses in Saudi Arabia accused of the murder of one of their colleagues
  
  
• Investigate the Railway killer and his accomplice
  
  
• Gave evidence for the Truth and Reconcilliation Council of the Republic of South Africa.
  
  
• Identified the last victim of the Kings Cross fire
  
  
• Led investigation of the death of the Zviad Gamsakhurdia., former Georgian President, thought to have committed suicide.
  
  
• Advisor to the Russian authorities on the identification of the Romanovs.
  
  
• The Tyrolean Iceman

Tea with Chin Peng

An invite for Anwar's PKR. The picture is bad and we'll need to verify if an invitation has, indeed, be extended to PKR for the event. In the meantime, we can ask the question: Will Anwar Ibrahim accept the invitation to be guest-of-honour from Chin Peng, who killed thousands of Malaysian soldiers and civilians in atrocities sponsored by the Communists against a democratic and Merdeka Malaysia?

Can't wait ....

p.s. Journos following this up, please ask if there's an invite for Umno, too.

Art Haron vs The Lipas Man

Insider gets democratic over Dr M's remarks. Lawyer Art Haron's critic of Dr Mahathir's views on democracy has been answered by fellow columnist at The Malaysian Insider. Read Sinatra Z - An Answer, here. Art's piece was published in MI here but Zaidel aka Sinatra's response hasn't been published by the online news portal.

Sinatra's pro-M stance shines through like a crazy diamond. His concluding paras:

"There is such a thing as too much democracy, look at Pakistan, apart from cricket the national's favourite past time is politics and it is dominated by lawyers, look how screwed up it gets.

"On the other hand, China is being ruled by a group of Engineers and they are flying high.

"Dr M is a lousy philosopher yes I agree, and that's why people like him because Philosophers will only talk and do very little while technocrats (like Doctors) do more and talk less. Philosopher ini macam Anwar Ibrahim".

I don't think the Malaysian Insider would publish such a piece. Good try, though, Z. I do agree with you (and Dr M). We don't need to look so far, just across the Causeway. We are way more democratic than Singapore, and look at how many of us idolize the Republic for its progress and wealth. Given the choice, however, I'd stay put here, Z.

And what was it that Dr M say?

India too democratic, says former Malaysian PM
Herald Globe
Tuesday 17th November, 2009
(IANS)

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has singled out India as an Asian country that has 'made the mistake of being too democratic' and compared it unfavourably with China's authoritarian regime.

Mahathir said: 'India, of course, will grow, but more slowly than China. It has the numbers but is not making use of them well.'

He identified China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and, 'to a lesser extent', India as the countries which would lead the Asian charge, New Straits Times said Tuesday.

Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia for over two decades, told a seminar on Asia and 21st century that people 'do not understand the limits of democracy'.

'Democracy can be a hindrance to progress because you spend so much time politicking that you don't have time to develop your country.

'In China, there's not much politics. So, they can spend more time developing their country.'

He blamed the West for making democracy and freedom the cornerstone of progress.

It is the West's focus on democracy, civil rights and individual liberties - attributes flaunted by Western governments - that Mahathir identified as being the reason behind 'its economic flaccidity'.

'The British believe a lot in so-called freedom. Their workers must be allowed to go on strike all the time. So, they have the problem of being a very unproductive population.

'They must be free of everything. When you do that, productivity will drop. When productivity drops, you cannot compete.'

Talking about Asia, Mahathir ruled out a role for 'strife-torn' West Asia.

'They are not going to make much progress, unfortunately. They are not going to contribute to the Asia of the 21st century. But it doesn't matter because Asia is such a big place,' Mahathir said.

East Asia's emerging economic dominance over the West is due to its productivity and strong work ethic, he said.

However, the former premier warned of the increasing trend among young Asians to ape Western culture.

'Today, there are places in Tokyo where you see young people with multi-coloured hair. They look like Red Indians. These are the young Japanese who have adopted Western values,' said the octogenarian who continues to draw crowds six years after he quit office.

'They want to be free and be able to change the place they work, hop from one place to another and take marijuana. This is what the Europeans do. This is progress for those young people.'

Sandy

5oo lorries from home. Why are 500 lorries laden with sand entering Singapore from Malaysia every day?
Selling sand to Singapore still?
We all must know, y'see, because if we sell enough sand to Singapore (land in Iskandar not counted) they said they will help us build a straight bridge that will replace the Causeway.

Ku Li's loyalty

Oily politics. Loyalty, royalty? Play of words or silly mistake, it got me thinking of how much the Kelantan prince has lost since his disastrous attempt to come back to mainstream Umno politics and become its president and Prime Minister of the country.

Accepting DSAI's offer could rekindle that dream snuffed out so cruelly. Pakatan Rakyat is looking for a leader and Zaid Ibrahim, the man piecing together DAP, PKR and PAS into an official coalition very much like BN, has proposed Nik Aziz, which means it is not easy to find a Malay good enough (and acceptable to DAP and PKR) to be Chairman of Pakatan.

Zaid can't possibly nominate himself though I wonder why he didn't name DSAI! Ku Li would be a perfect candidate to be Chairman of Pakatan Rakyat, better than Tok Guru, Zaid or even DSAI. Been that, done there.

I don't expect the man who came closest to burying Dr Mahathir's political career to be too excited with Anwar's suggestion to make him chairman of a loyalty or oil royalty caucus. Quite beneath him. But in the unlikely event that Ku Li accepts the offer, it would be a start to another slippery ride in this oily business of Malaysian politics.

SPNB under scrutiny

MoF sets up Task Force. Remember my posting late last month about how the national housing board, SPNB, was said to have run out of money [Trouble bru-ing at SPNB? Oct 27] and then, just a couple of day later, the board said it was going to pay the RM500 owing to those poor 34 contractors [SPNB will pay Oct 30, The Malay Mail]?

Well, there was supposed to be a press conference at the SPNB headquarters at 2pm yesterday. We were very keen to hear what the SPNB wanted to report to the Press but the press conference was called off.

I'm not sure if the press conference was postponed because of what the latest development. This is what I heard: the Ministry of Finance has set up a special task force to investigate the RM500 million scandal/fiasco/claims.

Members of the task force will be interested to find answers to the following questions:

1. Why did SPNB go on dishing out contracts even when the property market was down?
2. Why didn'tthe board renegotiate downwards contracts when prices of materials were down?
3. Were the 34 contractors given 34 project worth between RM10 mil and RM15 mil each through a dodgy tender plan?
4. Is there need to review the tender process?

The SPNB issue was highlighted after Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi, who used to head the SPNB, alleged corrupt practices at the national housing board here. This blog later discovered about the RM500 mil (SPNB said it's less than RM300 mil). It was great news when SPNB said it was going to pay up BUT that, I think, would be too easy. The Government MUST investigate. It needs to STOP the leakage. Heads must roll.

Otherwise, this will just happen again.

Good news x2

First, the good news: Razeek Hussain, 51, has been made CEO of MRCB, ending speculation that the post could go to ex-4th floor exec Ahmad Zaki Zahid.

Now, the other good news: Ex-MRCB boss Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (pic), 39, will be made Deputy CEO of the Employees Provident Fund [not Chief Investment Officer as reported here] in charge of Investments, effective Dec 1.

Shahrir was sent to MRCB (together with Abdul Rahman Ahmad) to help revive the corporation after the end-90s currency crisis. Rahman went on to turn around Media Prima (and recently to Equinas) while Shahril stayed to lead MRCB. When Dr Mahathir, then the PM, sent the two young men out into the harsh business environment, one of his advices to them was, "Don't do side deals".

Media Run 2009

Run, Media Run! The National Press Club, Kuala Lumpur is organising a 5km run for journalists and friends of journalists this Sunday, 22 Nov. Pertama, the association of women journalists, is giving us a helping hand.

Click here for details.

Twelve million

Dear Visitors,

Some things haven't changed. The thrill of your visits, for example.
In A Million thanks, a posting I did on the occasion of my first 1 million visitors back in March 2007, I was "huddled with Jeff Ooi of Screenshots at the solicitors' office discussing the NSTP's lawsuit against us". Jeff is an MP now and I am back with the Malay Mail, and we are fighting that lawsuit still. Edmund Bon my lawyer and I met the other day. He said the trials may start in January 2010 and we'll need to meet again real soon.
Que Sera Sera, The thrill isn't gone, baby.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the 12 million visits.

Wee Choo Keong vs Shafie Abdullah

KL's de facto Mayor? The MP for Wangsa Maju (pic) is calling Shafie, Abdullah, the political secretary to the Prime Minister [not to be confused with the eminent lawyer], the de facto Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. Nothing complimentary in that, in case you didn't get the drift, not for Shafie nor for the real Datuk Bandar. Wee has actually accused Shafie of interfering with City Hall's daily activities and this, he said, is not in the interest of the PM (bertentangan dengan kepentingan PM).

Gerak the NGO smells jackpot and has immediately demanded that Wee goes to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to formally lodge a complaint of corrupt practices against the PM's pol sec [read here].

YB Wee, however, is not expected to do that immediately. He told aides he will raise the issue again at the parliamentary committees this week.

In his last statement implicating Shafie, the KL Mayor, and the FT Minister, WCK spoke of a "4th floor syndrome" that he says exists in Najib's administration. That alone will make Wee's next move worth the wait. Throw in talk that Shafie could be Wee's opponent in Wangsa Maju come PRU13, and the prospect of a duel now becomes mouth-watering.

Well, YB Wee, ball's in your court!

Pro-Umno bloggers fairer?

Investigative Blogging. The thing about pro-Umno bloggers like A Voice and Big Dog is they don't just go after PAS, PKR or DAP; eg [Nik Aziz Hipokrit, Nov 15] and [Is Khalid Ibrahim in another favor-for-cash with Lim Kin Hong? Nov 6] but half the time they blog against BN and Umno.

Their seemingly concerted effort re Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the Minister in the PM's Department, has raised eyebrows.

NEXT CHANGE: Revelation on Nor Mohd Yakcop's folly on Pantai by Another Brick on the Wall, Nov 13
PM Najib should cut NMY's pay by Zakhir Mohd, Nov 12

Something's bru-ing, I tell you.

p.s. And the "original" SIL is back in the news, vs Azmin Ali re RM9 million shares the PKR man allegedly bought.

General

November 14, 2009 21:50 PM

Khairy Wants Explanation From Azmin Over RM8 Million Shares Purchase

SEREMBAN, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said on Saturday Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali should explain an allegation over the purchase of RM8-million worth of shares raised by Malaysian Indian Youth Development Foundation chairman S.A. Vigneswaran. "It is not wrong to buy shares, but an explanation is necessary as to how the purchase was financed. He must have an answer and an explanation, and we are waiting for the explanation," he said. Khairy spoke to reporters after he had launched a consumer campaign to cultivate one's own vegetables to save cost, organised by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), at the Taman Tuanku Ja'afar community hall in Sungai Gadut near here. He was asked to comment on the allegation by Vigneswaran on the purchase of shares worth RM8 million involving three individuals, including Azmin, in the early 1990s as reported in several newspapers on Saturday. Khairy, who is the Member of Parliament for Rembau, said he hoped that Azmin would not remain silent as the matter was associated with his credibility. "The Barisan Nasional (BN) government has been accused of many things. As such, it is not wrong if we ask for the same form of accountability to be applied by the opposition leaders," he said. On Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim appointing PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the economic advisor to the state, Khairy said this showed the inability of the Selangor government to manage its own economy and having to appoint someone from outside. In KUALA LUMPUR, Azmin denied that he bought the shares saying that the statement by Vigneswaran was planned to tarnish his name. "It is baseless. I believe that the document claimed by Vigneswaran has been manipulated by certain quarters to link me and my wife. "The statement is slanderous, done with bad intention and politically motivated to destroy my reputation as Gombak Member of Parliament and PKR vice president," he said in an email to Bernama. Azmin said he had instructed his lawyer to take appropriate action against the statement. -- BERNAMA

The Bernama report made no mention of how Khairy's own purchase of ECM-Libra shares turned scandalous just a couple of years back. I found what I was looking for - A Voice's posting Khairy. Khairy on the Contrary [July 30, 2007] when bloggers were called monkeys - and a verse from his twisted and thwarted nursery rhyme:

Khairy, Khairy, quite contrary,
How does your politics grow?
With Nori belle and ECM Libra debacle
And monkey callings all in a row.

Many have not forgotten the ECM-LIbra shares purchase and the merger with Avenue a little later. Nor Mohamed Yakcob was the Minister of Finance 2 then. A Voice and Big Dog have stacks in their blog's archives about Khairy's shares in ECM-Libra. I give you two links Khairy Must first give penerangan on ECM-Avenue merger, Part 1 and Part 2. Yang lain tu, Google sendirilah.

Ah, Nudin Awang, the RM65k man!

With updates at the end of this article:-

Nik Aziz and Nudin Awang share more than just initials. It seems that Nudin was the guy who offered to pay the PAS' spiritual leader's VIP package to Mecca. Nik Aziz said there was no conflict of interest. But my sources said Nudin Awang (aka Nordin Mardi because he was a driver with Mardi before he got his riches) has benefited from the Kelantan state government that Nik Aziz's PAS administers. He's more than just a billboard operator.

Nudin is a director of Great Eastern Mills Bhd (GEM), which is a joint venture between Penang-based SEAL Inc Bhd and Kompleks Perkayuan Kelantan Sdn Bhd (KPK), a subsidiary of the Kelantan State Economic Development Corp. (SEDC).

Despite its timber concessions GEM, somehow, managed to stay an unprofitable venture. There are whispers about hiving off profits to SEAL Inc, but it's something that needs to be proven. But profitable or not, it hasn't stopped the Kelantan government from awarding generous concessions to GEM.

According to my sources, it is Nudin's task as director to ensure that the concessions keep coming from the Kelantan PAS government to GEM. And he's been doing quite a good job. In 2005 alone the unprofitable venture was given a timber concession area of some 4048 ha (about 10,000 acres) by the state government. The Kelantan SEDC signed the timber concessions on 14/3/2004, according to records. The concession is said to be worth easily in excess of RM20 million, which should make GEM a profitable company but it's somehow not.

During this time, Nik Aziz or Tok Guru was Chairman of the Kelantan SEDC and KPK. Which is why, I reckon, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency is investigating the PAS leader, and also why NA had to cancel his plan [here]to accept NA's offer to sponsor his trip to Mecca on that VIP package.

p.s. Now, a lot has been written about Nik Aziz and the RM65,000 f.o.c VIP haj package, but Syed Akbar Ali's Pakatan Riot Again does well to put everything in perspective.

Updates: And amidst the brouhaha over Nik Aziz's sponsored trip to Mecca, on-leave Zaid Ibrahim has proposed that the Tok Guru be made the ultimate leader of Pakatan Rakyat ....

Anwar open to Zaid’s ideal Pakatan chief

By Clara Chooi of The Malaysian Insider

IPOH, Nov 15 – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has kept an open mind over Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s suggestion for PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat to lead Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia but reminded the former Umno leader that for now, it was just his personal expression.

The PKR de facto leader took pains to stress in a press conference yesterday that if and when the PR gets registered as a formal coalition, the pro tem committee which Zaid chairs, would have to be surrendered to the leadership council.

Only then would the due process of determining the coalition’s leaders ensue, he added.