Controversial online Malaysia Today Website Blocked
A search by Malaysia Alternative Voices on 10.00 am 28 August 2008 shows that Malaysia Today Website is unaccessable.
However, a link http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/ , which seem to mirror of the Malaysia Today Website is found to be available.
Malaysia Alternative Voices found this link to Malaysia Today Portal via Wikipedia search on Malaysia Today.
Reader could click to http://mt.harapanmalaysia.com/2008/ to continue reading news from Malaysia Today
(Malaysiakini) - Controversial online portal Malaysia Today had its access blocked by the country’s largest internet service provider (ISP) TMnet.
Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi confirmed that the block was ordered by the commission. "It is being blocked because we found that some of the comments on the website were insensitive, bordering on incitement," he told Malaysiakini.
The curb however does not appear to be enforced by other ISPs and users are able to access Malaysia Today.As at 4pm, a check by Malaysiakini showed users can still access Malaysia Today through three other major ISPs - Jaring, Maxis and Time.
This is believed to be the first time the government-linked telecommunications giant has imposed such curbs against a website, posing questions as to whether the government is reneging on its no-Internet censorship pledge. Under the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia 10 Point Bill of Guarantees, the Malaysian government promises to ensure no internet censorship. The domain name - http://www.malaysia-today.net/ - has been unaccessible to TMnet subscribers since yesterday evening as a result of the blockage - known technically as 'DNS blackhole list'.
TMnet subscribers however can still access the website by typing in Malaysia Today's IP address or an alternative web address in their web browsers.
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
NEP Abused : Dr.M and What Non-Bumi Wants : M'sia Blogger
Tun Dr Mahathir on New Economy Policy :
NEP abused, Affirmative Action, Discrimination as privileges, Merit Systems Interpretated Wrongly,
Malaysia Alternative Voices :-
Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera views on New Economic Policy-
(1) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera want a society that is fair to all - namely Malaysia Malaysian.
(2) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera acknowledge that there is a need for privileges to be given to the Bumiputera to creates a Balanced Society. However, the privileges shall not be taken for granted and be eventually be reduced to an equal playing field. (Dr Mahathir acknowledge this). Then again, specific timeframe shall be given. This will make the Bumiputera eventually wake-up and realise that eventually they will need to be able to compete in equal playing field and the Non-Bumiputera to be assure that eventually they will be an equal playying field and a Malaysia Malaysian society will eventually be achieved, where everyone will be able to call themself Malaysian
(3) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera acknowledge that is need for handicap to be given to Bumiputera or some forms of discrimination in the entrance to the Universities. Non-Bumiputeras are willing to compromise and compete in a non-level playing field if the handicap is properly spelled out (as in golf) and the entries requirement is transparent, as well as fair to all qualified students. However, it is sad to see Non-Bumiputeras denied entries in Universities even though the have obtained good results, this kill of the hopes of the students, and it is a very sad, when HOPE IS KILLED. What resulted from this is that the Non-Bumiputera that can afford has been sending their children oversea, and those Non-Bumiputera that cannot afford, has been denied opportunity to further thier education.
(4) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera doesnt want much, we want assurance of an opportunity to enter Universities if we are qualified for it. It we are denied that, parents whom can afford will send their children oversea, and these students might not come back to Malaysia to serve. As the remunation in Malaysia could not cover the high cost of education oversea, and this will results in Brain Drain to the country. Malaysia is spending a lot of money to attract the best brain to come back to serve in our country why not preserve them at the first place.
(5) But what happening in our country, many qualified students are denied a place in the Public Universities or denied the opportunity to study in the course the desired. Years after years, we still hear stories that the top students in Malaysia is denied opportunity to enter Public Universities or Top Students denied the course they preferred. Why cant the government listen, and admit all the Top Students into the Universities. These are our country assets. Then we take aways all the complaints, if you couldn't reach a certain criteria you couldn't enter Public Universities else if you work hard and manage to obtain a certain pre-set qualification or results, you should be assured a place in Public Universities. Relaxation or Handicap can be given to Bumiputera with Transparent Guidelines and Criteria.
(6) In awarding of Contracts via NEP, Non-Bumiputera doesnt mind sharing the Technologies and Joint Venture with its fellow Bumiputera to bid for government contract. Non-Bumiputera are willing to oblige to the 30% Bumiputera requirement, but most of the time, these Non-Bumiputera has been even denied the right to bid for the projects in the first place. The contact is often awarded to pre-determined parties. This is the UNFAIRNESS that both Bumiputera and Non-Bumiputera is unhappy about. The cake is not distributed but only allocated to a particular parties.
Before making these criticisms against the affirmative action of the NEP, why not make a real study. Are most of the Malays getting the scholarships and entries into the universities the children of UMNO people? If they are, why was it necessary to have the Universities and University College Act to stop students from demonstrations against the UMNO-led Government? How did the doctors and lawyers in PAS get their education? Are the students all from rich families with connections?
I will be the first to admit that there have been abuses in the promotion of business among the bumiputeras. Given opportunities, given licenses, permits, contracts etc, they disposed these for immediate gains. This frustrates the efforts to help them. Some degree of abuses may be excused but the degree of abuse of the opportunities created by the NEP is far too much. They cannot all be excused.31. I also admit that there has been unfairness in the award of scholarships and Government jobs.32. I will not try to defend these abuses. We must try to reduce them. But affirmation is about discrimination. And those discriminated against will never understand the big picture, the benefits of an increasingly egalitarian society
The Malays must accept that this discrimination cannot be forever. If they fail to respond properly to what is being done for them, they should accept this policy would be taken away.
When Malay youngsters, especially boys, failed to study and qualify for university education, when they preferred to play and not study, we cannot expect the non-Malays to patiently wait and give up their opportunities until the Malays decide to become serious and study. That would not be fair.
That was why we introduced merit in the selection of students for the universities. Unfortunately, the implementers of Government decisions chose to interpret it differently. By requiring Bumiputeras to sit for the matriculation and the non-Bumiputeras to sit for higher school certificates, they managed to give the impression that the Bumiputeras were actually better qualified than the non-Bumiputeras. With this, the intention of the Government to make the Bumiputeras become more serious about their education failed.
There is a tendency among Malays to regard the discrimination in their favour as a privilege, as a recognition of their superior status. I think this is wrong. The discrimination is in order to give them a kind of headstart so that they can catch up with other races. To me, it is shameful to have to be protected because we do not have the capacity to compete. We are not Red Indians to live on reserves. We should regard it as a temporary expedient to be done away with once we have achieved the capacity to compete on our own.
However, we must give time for ending the NEP and it should be done in stages. I hope that the time will not be too long. In the meantime, serious efforts by the Bumiputeras must be made to avail themselves of the opportunities. If this is obviously not being done, then, as with entrance into the universities, the discrimination must end.
By Tun Dr.Mahathir
To read the full article please refer to http://www.test.chedet.com/
NEP abused, Affirmative Action, Discrimination as privileges, Merit Systems Interpretated Wrongly,
Malaysia Alternative Voices :-
Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera views on New Economic Policy-
(1) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera want a society that is fair to all - namely Malaysia Malaysian.
(2) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera acknowledge that there is a need for privileges to be given to the Bumiputera to creates a Balanced Society. However, the privileges shall not be taken for granted and be eventually be reduced to an equal playing field. (Dr Mahathir acknowledge this). Then again, specific timeframe shall be given. This will make the Bumiputera eventually wake-up and realise that eventually they will need to be able to compete in equal playing field and the Non-Bumiputera to be assure that eventually they will be an equal playying field and a Malaysia Malaysian society will eventually be achieved, where everyone will be able to call themself Malaysian
(3) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera acknowledge that is need for handicap to be given to Bumiputera or some forms of discrimination in the entrance to the Universities. Non-Bumiputeras are willing to compromise and compete in a non-level playing field if the handicap is properly spelled out (as in golf) and the entries requirement is transparent, as well as fair to all qualified students. However, it is sad to see Non-Bumiputeras denied entries in Universities even though the have obtained good results, this kill of the hopes of the students, and it is a very sad, when HOPE IS KILLED. What resulted from this is that the Non-Bumiputera that can afford has been sending their children oversea, and those Non-Bumiputera that cannot afford, has been denied opportunity to further thier education.
(4) Malaysian or Non-Bumiputera doesnt want much, we want assurance of an opportunity to enter Universities if we are qualified for it. It we are denied that, parents whom can afford will send their children oversea, and these students might not come back to Malaysia to serve. As the remunation in Malaysia could not cover the high cost of education oversea, and this will results in Brain Drain to the country. Malaysia is spending a lot of money to attract the best brain to come back to serve in our country why not preserve them at the first place.
(5) But what happening in our country, many qualified students are denied a place in the Public Universities or denied the opportunity to study in the course the desired. Years after years, we still hear stories that the top students in Malaysia is denied opportunity to enter Public Universities or Top Students denied the course they preferred. Why cant the government listen, and admit all the Top Students into the Universities. These are our country assets. Then we take aways all the complaints, if you couldn't reach a certain criteria you couldn't enter Public Universities else if you work hard and manage to obtain a certain pre-set qualification or results, you should be assured a place in Public Universities. Relaxation or Handicap can be given to Bumiputera with Transparent Guidelines and Criteria.
(6) In awarding of Contracts via NEP, Non-Bumiputera doesnt mind sharing the Technologies and Joint Venture with its fellow Bumiputera to bid for government contract. Non-Bumiputera are willing to oblige to the 30% Bumiputera requirement, but most of the time, these Non-Bumiputera has been even denied the right to bid for the projects in the first place. The contact is often awarded to pre-determined parties. This is the UNFAIRNESS that both Bumiputera and Non-Bumiputera is unhappy about. The cake is not distributed but only allocated to a particular parties.
The above are personal views of Malaysia Blogger and does not represent any other communities or organisation. However reader are free to comments on the views.
Malaysia Blogger
The following was extracted from Tun Dr. Mahathir blog titled "Affirmative Action" which touches on Dr. Mahathir view on NEP :
I will readily admit that the NEP had been abused. But we are so ready to blame that we pick on the wrong target. Of course the way the affirmative action was carried out, and the abuses, were picked on by the opposition to condemn the whole policy.
UMNOputra, like cronyism, was a word invented by politicians and the detractors of this brash country which dared to thumb its nose at the powers that be. Unable to condemn blatant corruption as they do to other countries, they came up with cronyism and UMNOputra. When there is real cronyism and corruption they deliberately ignore them because these are committed by their favourite people.
Before making these criticisms against the affirmative action of the NEP, why not make a real study. Are most of the Malays getting the scholarships and entries into the universities the children of UMNO people? If they are, why was it necessary to have the Universities and University College Act to stop students from demonstrations against the UMNO-led Government? How did the doctors and lawyers in PAS get their education? Are the students all from rich families with connections?
I will be the first to admit that there have been abuses in the promotion of business among the bumiputeras. Given opportunities, given licenses, permits, contracts etc, they disposed these for immediate gains. This frustrates the efforts to help them. Some degree of abuses may be excused but the degree of abuse of the opportunities created by the NEP is far too much. They cannot all be excused.31. I also admit that there has been unfairness in the award of scholarships and Government jobs.32. I will not try to defend these abuses. We must try to reduce them. But affirmation is about discrimination. And those discriminated against will never understand the big picture, the benefits of an increasingly egalitarian society
The Malays must accept that this discrimination cannot be forever. If they fail to respond properly to what is being done for them, they should accept this policy would be taken away.
When Malay youngsters, especially boys, failed to study and qualify for university education, when they preferred to play and not study, we cannot expect the non-Malays to patiently wait and give up their opportunities until the Malays decide to become serious and study. That would not be fair.
That was why we introduced merit in the selection of students for the universities. Unfortunately, the implementers of Government decisions chose to interpret it differently. By requiring Bumiputeras to sit for the matriculation and the non-Bumiputeras to sit for higher school certificates, they managed to give the impression that the Bumiputeras were actually better qualified than the non-Bumiputeras. With this, the intention of the Government to make the Bumiputeras become more serious about their education failed.
There is a tendency among Malays to regard the discrimination in their favour as a privilege, as a recognition of their superior status. I think this is wrong. The discrimination is in order to give them a kind of headstart so that they can catch up with other races. To me, it is shameful to have to be protected because we do not have the capacity to compete. We are not Red Indians to live on reserves. We should regard it as a temporary expedient to be done away with once we have achieved the capacity to compete on our own.
However, we must give time for ending the NEP and it should be done in stages. I hope that the time will not be too long. In the meantime, serious efforts by the Bumiputeras must be made to avail themselves of the opportunities. If this is obviously not being done, then, as with entrance into the universities, the discrimination must end.
By Tun Dr.Mahathir
To read the full article please refer to http://www.test.chedet.com/
Friday, 22 August 2008
Approaching 2020 - Dr.Mahathir
Tun Dr. Mahathir - "Approaching 2020 – Major Trends that will Impact Malaysian Business"
Are we on track?
The following are an extract and summary of Speech by Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad at the Perdana Leadership Foundation Forum at Sime Darby Convention Centre on 8 August, 2008.
The article has been editted and only the Key Points and Key Ideas is highlighted below. For the full article can be view at the link below :-
Approaching 2020 – Major Trends that will Impact Malaysian Business
Trends
2020 is only 12 years away – not a very long period of time. So it should not be too difficult to predict what would happen on the way, and when we reach there.
Trends are things that you can observe happening now but can be expected to progress into the future.
But we can to a certain degree be fairly sure that certain things would happen. Malaysia has, for example a high rate of population growth – some 2.1 percent or 21 per thousand heads of population per annum. Based on this and our knowledge that presently our population is 27 million. By 2020 our population should be around 35 million.
Bigger Market
Population growth is a trend that we can take into account its effects. There would be a bigger market even if per capita does not increase. But the likelihood is that per capita and GDP would increase in tandem. We have seen this in Malaysia’s growth in the past.
A mass consumer market will make local manufacturing more viable. And there are many things that we can produce. Like Korea and Taiwan we would learn to design and manufacture many things not just for our markets but for export as well.
Increase Competitiveness
Against this, expect increased and less restricted imports. We must be more competitive. We must develop skills in hi-tech products and we must pay higher wages. The days of low labour costs would have been over before 2020.
Our workers must be highly qualified and be trained in higher skills. The workers we would need must be able to handle and service automatic machines, not just assemble things. We will learn to design and produce some of these machines.
What all these means is the business of specialised education and training would become big business. The training centres would also cater for foreign students if we use English as a teaching medium.
Malaysia cannot any longer offer itself as a cheap labour country. But the chances are our highly trained workers would still cost less than similarly trained workers in the developed countries. This may mean a shifting of some middle range
hi-tech industries to Malaysia.
Our Advantages
Our advantage today is still the ability to take instructions in simple English.
But there will be a spread of English language capabilities in China, Vietnam and
other competitors of ours.
Accordingly our advantages seem likely to be eroded not only because others are acquiring working knowledge of English but we ourselves would probably downgrade learning of English.
I hope that the teaching of science and mathematics in English would continue. But I am not sure. If the decision is made not to, then the hi-tech industries are going to bypass us.
Development Foresight - Mistake not to be repeated
When we decided to build KLIA, we looked at the demand in a hundred years’ time. Getting a piece of land near the city for a large enough airport capable of future expansion is not easy. When we built Subang we projected 400,000 passengers per annum. But by 1990 it was handling 11.0 million passengers. There was no way we could expand there. We started looking around but we were handling 18.0 million passengers before we found a suitable piece of land.
We never wanted to make the same mistake again, not with airports nor with other infrastructure.
Malaysia Transportation
Malaysia has the best system of expressways and roads in south East Asia.
But still they are clogged. We need to build more and more.
I think we need to change our approach. Instead of building roads we should improve mass public transportation. It is unfortunate that the government decided not to implement the project for double-tracking and electrification of the north-south railways. Had this been implemented we can take off much of the heavy traffic from the highways and there would be less cars clogging the roads as more people travel on medium speed express trains. Now the government may be forced to reconsider this railway project but the cost would be more than double. The longer we delay the higher the cost. Worse still the greater would be the need.
We are putting some half a million motor vehicles on the road every year. The decisions to reduce the price of cars lead to more vehicles clogging the roads, stuck in traffic jams and going nowhere.
Building more roads is not the answer. We should see more railway lines.
Business depends a lot on ground transportation. Road transport will become more and more costly as the price of oil will never go back to the old levels.
Look at it in whatever way, the answer would still be improved and more extensive network of railway lines. Presently our railway lines run north / south. We need to have more east / west lines also.
Oil Price
We have been able to enjoy cheap oil because we have a relatively small population to match our small production. By 2013-2015 we would be producing as much oil as we consume. There would be no excess oil for export at world prices. so there will not be oil export earnings to subsidise local consumption.
We can continue to sell at low prices but Petronas will have to bear the losses as it does now with gas. The other oil companies would need to be compensated if they are forced to sell at low prices. But there would be no revenue from oil exports to pay to the foreign companies. After 2015 production in the country will be less than consumption. Then we will have to import oil at world prices. Again oil prices must creep up steadily.
Petronas has gone abroad to produce oil and gas. Costs of investment for these have shot up threefold. If government takes over all the profits from Petronas to subsidise oil and pay for development. It will not be able to invest in exploration and production abroad. This would be disastrous for Petronas and for the country.
US Currency
After the hedge funds attacked the U.S. Dollar they have been forced to regularise their activities. But the current fall in the value of the US dollar is more due to the intemperate spending by the American government, although there is a currency trading element as well. Loose lending practices involving risky housing financing has created huge losses by banks, funds and institutions.
The United States is bankrupt. It has a debt of 14 trillion dollars and it consistently suffers from twin deficits in its balance of payment and government expenditure. The US dollar is backed by nothing, no gold, no foreign reserves. The only reason why it has not collapsed completely is because people still accept payment in US dollars, especially for oil. If the countries of the world cease to buy US bonds, stop paying for imports in US dollars, then the US will have no money to pay for its imports. The greenbacks would be just useless pieces of paper.
Unfortunately if the US Dollar has no value and its economy collapses, the repercussions will be felt by everyone, including Malaysia which carries 30% of its reserves in USD and sells 20 per cent of its products to the US. The resultant worldwide depression will be worse than in 1929-30. Everyone believes the United States would do something to save itself from bankruptcy. But do not rely on it toomuch. We have to think and act for ourselves. We need to prepare ourselves for a world in deep depression.
Increases in demand by two awakening giants
Today’s oil prices are far too high and will damage the economies of the poor as well as the rich.
Accompanying the rise in oil prices is the increase in the prices of raw materials such as steel, copper, aluminium and some rare minerals. This is due simply to increases in demand by two awakening giants; China and India. China’s and India’s per capita is lower than us at the moment. Imagine the purchasing power of their 2.3 billion people when their per capita doubles for example. They will suck in everything the world produces.
Standard of Living
There are in the world today high cost countries and low cost countries.
Generally the developed countries are high cost countries. Still they are competitive and their standards of living are without exception higher than in low-cost countries.
If we care to remember, we must acknowledge that relative to the past, our own costs are much higher now. I remember the days in my boyhood when 1 sen could buy two items of spices. A plate of noodles (mee) would cost 5 sen.
Today we do not talk of sen anymore. We pay for everything in Ringgit and in multiples of Ringgit
Yet we must know that despite this higher cost of goods and services our standard of living is far higher than in pre-war Malaya. Even in the early years of independence the prices of goods and services were much lower than now.
In 1967, 10 years after independence our population was 10.0 million. Today it is 27.0 million. The per capita in 1967 was 950 USD. Today it is 6,000 USD. Obviously our income growth is higher than population growth.
That is why, despite there being more of us, despite our higher cost of living,
our standard of living has actually improved.
There is something to be learnt here. Can we speed up the process of increasing income, increasing our cost of production and yet remain competitive? I
think we can.
Increasing wages
We talk of the wage price spiral and we are afraid that this might happen to us if we raise wages. We fear that cost of production would increase as wages increase and we would not be competitive. We would not be able to attract investments whether from domestic sources or foreign. But let us work out the percentage that wages constitute in the total cost.
Supposing it is 20% of total costs. If you raise it by 25% it will increase your total cost by only 5%. You can do this once a year or every two years while improving your productivity by other means, by better machines or automation for example.
Think. Malaysian costs are already higher than 30 years ago, higher than those in other ASEAN countries except Singapore. Still we are attractive. One of thegreatest assets we had was political stability and consistency in governmentpolicies. There were other things which made Malaysia attractive. If we improve on these assets, the increase in costs (not just of labour but transport and materials) will not make us any less attractive or our products less competitive.
We must also remember that the pressure of increasing prices will be felt by our competing neighbours as well. They too will have to increase their cost of production. So our cost will not be, comparatively speaking, so high as to make us totally uncompetitive.
But consider the effect of increased income all round. There will be more money to purchase goods and services. However unions must not increase their demands when wages are already being increased. Instead they should cooperate in improving productivity. In the end they will gain more.
I never liked the low wages paid our wage-earners. It restricts their purchase of goods and services. If their purchasing power is increased then retail businesses especially, would enjoy greater sale. More would be spent on leisure. Other businesses such as transportation would prosper. And government would earn more income also.
I don’t often admire Singapore or what it does. But when Singapore gained independence it carried out a programme of steadily increasing wages every year.
Some businesses and industries left Singapore but the efficiency of Singapore’s authoritarian government retained many of the investors and industries. We sometimes wonder why investors go to Singapore when they could come to low-cost Malaysia. I think you know why.
Conclusion
When people generally earn more money, they spend more money and somebody will make a profit and the government will collect more taxes. The so called mega projects contributed much towards the growth of Malaysia’s economy and increased living standards all round.
There is a lot of talk today about the increasing cost of doing business but no
talk about managing and adjusting to a high cost economy. Certainly there is no talk
about deliberately increasing and managing cost. Yet unconsciously this was what
we have been doing all these years. And we have been successful at it. Otherwise
with our higher cost we would be poorer than our low-cost competitors. But we know
we are more prosperous than them.
The world trend today is towards higher cost of everything. Our cost must
increase anyway.
We can just rise with the tide.
But since high cost goes with prosperity, why not rise above the tide by actually creating and managing a higher cost economy.
That way we can achieve our 2020 target.
Thank you.
Tun Dr. Mahathir
Are we on track?
The following are an extract and summary of Speech by Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad at the Perdana Leadership Foundation Forum at Sime Darby Convention Centre on 8 August, 2008.
The article has been editted and only the Key Points and Key Ideas is highlighted below. For the full article can be view at the link below :-
Approaching 2020 – Major Trends that will Impact Malaysian Business
Trends
2020 is only 12 years away – not a very long period of time. So it should not be too difficult to predict what would happen on the way, and when we reach there.
Trends are things that you can observe happening now but can be expected to progress into the future.
But we can to a certain degree be fairly sure that certain things would happen. Malaysia has, for example a high rate of population growth – some 2.1 percent or 21 per thousand heads of population per annum. Based on this and our knowledge that presently our population is 27 million. By 2020 our population should be around 35 million.
Bigger Market
Population growth is a trend that we can take into account its effects. There would be a bigger market even if per capita does not increase. But the likelihood is that per capita and GDP would increase in tandem. We have seen this in Malaysia’s growth in the past.
A mass consumer market will make local manufacturing more viable. And there are many things that we can produce. Like Korea and Taiwan we would learn to design and manufacture many things not just for our markets but for export as well.
Increase Competitiveness
Against this, expect increased and less restricted imports. We must be more competitive. We must develop skills in hi-tech products and we must pay higher wages. The days of low labour costs would have been over before 2020.
Our workers must be highly qualified and be trained in higher skills. The workers we would need must be able to handle and service automatic machines, not just assemble things. We will learn to design and produce some of these machines.
What all these means is the business of specialised education and training would become big business. The training centres would also cater for foreign students if we use English as a teaching medium.
Malaysia cannot any longer offer itself as a cheap labour country. But the chances are our highly trained workers would still cost less than similarly trained workers in the developed countries. This may mean a shifting of some middle range
hi-tech industries to Malaysia.
Our Advantages
Our advantage today is still the ability to take instructions in simple English.
But there will be a spread of English language capabilities in China, Vietnam and
other competitors of ours.
Accordingly our advantages seem likely to be eroded not only because others are acquiring working knowledge of English but we ourselves would probably downgrade learning of English.
I hope that the teaching of science and mathematics in English would continue. But I am not sure. If the decision is made not to, then the hi-tech industries are going to bypass us.
Development Foresight - Mistake not to be repeated
When we decided to build KLIA, we looked at the demand in a hundred years’ time. Getting a piece of land near the city for a large enough airport capable of future expansion is not easy. When we built Subang we projected 400,000 passengers per annum. But by 1990 it was handling 11.0 million passengers. There was no way we could expand there. We started looking around but we were handling 18.0 million passengers before we found a suitable piece of land.
We never wanted to make the same mistake again, not with airports nor with other infrastructure.
Malaysia Transportation
Malaysia has the best system of expressways and roads in south East Asia.
But still they are clogged. We need to build more and more.
I think we need to change our approach. Instead of building roads we should improve mass public transportation. It is unfortunate that the government decided not to implement the project for double-tracking and electrification of the north-south railways. Had this been implemented we can take off much of the heavy traffic from the highways and there would be less cars clogging the roads as more people travel on medium speed express trains. Now the government may be forced to reconsider this railway project but the cost would be more than double. The longer we delay the higher the cost. Worse still the greater would be the need.
We are putting some half a million motor vehicles on the road every year. The decisions to reduce the price of cars lead to more vehicles clogging the roads, stuck in traffic jams and going nowhere.
Building more roads is not the answer. We should see more railway lines.
Business depends a lot on ground transportation. Road transport will become more and more costly as the price of oil will never go back to the old levels.
Look at it in whatever way, the answer would still be improved and more extensive network of railway lines. Presently our railway lines run north / south. We need to have more east / west lines also.
Oil Price
We have been able to enjoy cheap oil because we have a relatively small population to match our small production. By 2013-2015 we would be producing as much oil as we consume. There would be no excess oil for export at world prices. so there will not be oil export earnings to subsidise local consumption.
We can continue to sell at low prices but Petronas will have to bear the losses as it does now with gas. The other oil companies would need to be compensated if they are forced to sell at low prices. But there would be no revenue from oil exports to pay to the foreign companies. After 2015 production in the country will be less than consumption. Then we will have to import oil at world prices. Again oil prices must creep up steadily.
Petronas has gone abroad to produce oil and gas. Costs of investment for these have shot up threefold. If government takes over all the profits from Petronas to subsidise oil and pay for development. It will not be able to invest in exploration and production abroad. This would be disastrous for Petronas and for the country.
US Currency
After the hedge funds attacked the U.S. Dollar they have been forced to regularise their activities. But the current fall in the value of the US dollar is more due to the intemperate spending by the American government, although there is a currency trading element as well. Loose lending practices involving risky housing financing has created huge losses by banks, funds and institutions.
The United States is bankrupt. It has a debt of 14 trillion dollars and it consistently suffers from twin deficits in its balance of payment and government expenditure. The US dollar is backed by nothing, no gold, no foreign reserves. The only reason why it has not collapsed completely is because people still accept payment in US dollars, especially for oil. If the countries of the world cease to buy US bonds, stop paying for imports in US dollars, then the US will have no money to pay for its imports. The greenbacks would be just useless pieces of paper.
Unfortunately if the US Dollar has no value and its economy collapses, the repercussions will be felt by everyone, including Malaysia which carries 30% of its reserves in USD and sells 20 per cent of its products to the US. The resultant worldwide depression will be worse than in 1929-30. Everyone believes the United States would do something to save itself from bankruptcy. But do not rely on it toomuch. We have to think and act for ourselves. We need to prepare ourselves for a world in deep depression.
Increases in demand by two awakening giants
Today’s oil prices are far too high and will damage the economies of the poor as well as the rich.
Accompanying the rise in oil prices is the increase in the prices of raw materials such as steel, copper, aluminium and some rare minerals. This is due simply to increases in demand by two awakening giants; China and India. China’s and India’s per capita is lower than us at the moment. Imagine the purchasing power of their 2.3 billion people when their per capita doubles for example. They will suck in everything the world produces.
Standard of Living
There are in the world today high cost countries and low cost countries.
Generally the developed countries are high cost countries. Still they are competitive and their standards of living are without exception higher than in low-cost countries.
If we care to remember, we must acknowledge that relative to the past, our own costs are much higher now. I remember the days in my boyhood when 1 sen could buy two items of spices. A plate of noodles (mee) would cost 5 sen.
Today we do not talk of sen anymore. We pay for everything in Ringgit and in multiples of Ringgit
Yet we must know that despite this higher cost of goods and services our standard of living is far higher than in pre-war Malaya. Even in the early years of independence the prices of goods and services were much lower than now.
In 1967, 10 years after independence our population was 10.0 million. Today it is 27.0 million. The per capita in 1967 was 950 USD. Today it is 6,000 USD. Obviously our income growth is higher than population growth.
That is why, despite there being more of us, despite our higher cost of living,
our standard of living has actually improved.
There is something to be learnt here. Can we speed up the process of increasing income, increasing our cost of production and yet remain competitive? I
think we can.
Increasing wages
We talk of the wage price spiral and we are afraid that this might happen to us if we raise wages. We fear that cost of production would increase as wages increase and we would not be competitive. We would not be able to attract investments whether from domestic sources or foreign. But let us work out the percentage that wages constitute in the total cost.
Supposing it is 20% of total costs. If you raise it by 25% it will increase your total cost by only 5%. You can do this once a year or every two years while improving your productivity by other means, by better machines or automation for example.
Think. Malaysian costs are already higher than 30 years ago, higher than those in other ASEAN countries except Singapore. Still we are attractive. One of thegreatest assets we had was political stability and consistency in governmentpolicies. There were other things which made Malaysia attractive. If we improve on these assets, the increase in costs (not just of labour but transport and materials) will not make us any less attractive or our products less competitive.
We must also remember that the pressure of increasing prices will be felt by our competing neighbours as well. They too will have to increase their cost of production. So our cost will not be, comparatively speaking, so high as to make us totally uncompetitive.
But consider the effect of increased income all round. There will be more money to purchase goods and services. However unions must not increase their demands when wages are already being increased. Instead they should cooperate in improving productivity. In the end they will gain more.
I never liked the low wages paid our wage-earners. It restricts their purchase of goods and services. If their purchasing power is increased then retail businesses especially, would enjoy greater sale. More would be spent on leisure. Other businesses such as transportation would prosper. And government would earn more income also.
I don’t often admire Singapore or what it does. But when Singapore gained independence it carried out a programme of steadily increasing wages every year.
Some businesses and industries left Singapore but the efficiency of Singapore’s authoritarian government retained many of the investors and industries. We sometimes wonder why investors go to Singapore when they could come to low-cost Malaysia. I think you know why.
Conclusion
When people generally earn more money, they spend more money and somebody will make a profit and the government will collect more taxes. The so called mega projects contributed much towards the growth of Malaysia’s economy and increased living standards all round.
There is a lot of talk today about the increasing cost of doing business but no
talk about managing and adjusting to a high cost economy. Certainly there is no talk
about deliberately increasing and managing cost. Yet unconsciously this was what
we have been doing all these years. And we have been successful at it. Otherwise
with our higher cost we would be poorer than our low-cost competitors. But we know
we are more prosperous than them.
The world trend today is towards higher cost of everything. Our cost must
increase anyway.
We can just rise with the tide.
But since high cost goes with prosperity, why not rise above the tide by actually creating and managing a higher cost economy.
That way we can achieve our 2020 target.
Thank you.
Tun Dr. Mahathir
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Why Voter Will NOT VOTE BN. - Koh Tsu Koon
Exclusive Interview (by SinChew Daily) With The acting Gerakan President: Woman Thanks Koh But Will Not Vote For The BN
Gerakan Acting President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon told the following example in the 10 Mar BN meeting. The example is very simple, but the BN top management felt very shocked and thinks that it is indeed unreasonable.
This is the story:
During the elections campaign, Koh went to campaign in Batu Lanchang market.
A woman took the initiative to approach him and thank him for helping her daughter for an interview opportunity for the Public Service Department scholarship.
“That's good. You should then vote for us!” Koh was pleased and said.
However, the woman answered him that “I will not vote for you!”.
Koh was really shocked and asked her the reason.
The woman explained that even though she would like to thank Koh for his help in fighting for an interview opportunity for her daughter, but when her daughter went for the interview and waited outside the room, the registration official told her that: “You are wasting your time for coming here. You will not get it, because we have designated the recipients.”
The woman said angrily that her daughter was almost fainted, and couldn't say a word during the interview session. Her daughter cried when she came back. Then, the woman and her daughter told the people everywhere about the experience.
Koh said that he was speechless. How he is going to answer that?
“This frustrated example highlights the actions of hegemony and extreme racism. It can be seen at every level, including the government, politicians and officials.
“In such circumstances, how can we get the support from the people? The people will put all blames on the government and the BN component parties of the attitude of the officials and the way they speak.
He said that, particularly in the enforcement process, once the law enforcement officers are of other races, the people would regard it as racial bias. This is the matter over many years and the BN must reform comprehensively, from its thinking, policies and style.
He said that the BN should truly reflect the multiracial concept and return to its original spirit, while fully implement its four major purposes.
Therefore, Koh said the BN's reform should start from the BN itself and all its members. The largest component party must take the greatest responsibility. Of course, each component party should assume some responsibility.
“Secondly, the BN should be on a level playing field. The sign of the BN is a scale. A scale should be fair, and not a distortion.”
Koh said it should be co-responsibility, instead of power-sharing in the BN.
“I do not like to share political power, because it gives the feeling of greediness. However, in the past, the people indeed feel the unfairness of this BN scale. The word “negotiation” has also give a negative impression.”
Nevertheless, Koh said that they have been internally addressing a lot of policy bias, but maybe it is “not enough”. After all, everyone is very busy with their government affairs.
“In the past, the problems would be left aside once they have been solved. It is just like firefighter, where they put out fire at the place it occurs. They are lacking of systematic as well as do not have a strong and effective policy implementation. Therefore, the recent election results have given a great shock to the BN.”
He said he was surprised that the Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mamud has strongly emphasised the importance of multiracial during the BN Supreme Council meeting. He is very much in agreement with the suggestion, as it is consistent with Gerakan's concept.
The following article was extracted from:-
(Sin Chew Daily)
MySinchew 2008.05.07
Gerakan Acting President Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon told the following example in the 10 Mar BN meeting. The example is very simple, but the BN top management felt very shocked and thinks that it is indeed unreasonable.
This is the story:
During the elections campaign, Koh went to campaign in Batu Lanchang market.
A woman took the initiative to approach him and thank him for helping her daughter for an interview opportunity for the Public Service Department scholarship.
“That's good. You should then vote for us!” Koh was pleased and said.
However, the woman answered him that “I will not vote for you!”.
Koh was really shocked and asked her the reason.
The woman explained that even though she would like to thank Koh for his help in fighting for an interview opportunity for her daughter, but when her daughter went for the interview and waited outside the room, the registration official told her that: “You are wasting your time for coming here. You will not get it, because we have designated the recipients.”
The woman said angrily that her daughter was almost fainted, and couldn't say a word during the interview session. Her daughter cried when she came back. Then, the woman and her daughter told the people everywhere about the experience.
Koh said that he was speechless. How he is going to answer that?
“This frustrated example highlights the actions of hegemony and extreme racism. It can be seen at every level, including the government, politicians and officials.
“In such circumstances, how can we get the support from the people? The people will put all blames on the government and the BN component parties of the attitude of the officials and the way they speak.
He said that, particularly in the enforcement process, once the law enforcement officers are of other races, the people would regard it as racial bias. This is the matter over many years and the BN must reform comprehensively, from its thinking, policies and style.
He said that the BN should truly reflect the multiracial concept and return to its original spirit, while fully implement its four major purposes.
Therefore, Koh said the BN's reform should start from the BN itself and all its members. The largest component party must take the greatest responsibility. Of course, each component party should assume some responsibility.
“Secondly, the BN should be on a level playing field. The sign of the BN is a scale. A scale should be fair, and not a distortion.”
Koh said it should be co-responsibility, instead of power-sharing in the BN.
“I do not like to share political power, because it gives the feeling of greediness. However, in the past, the people indeed feel the unfairness of this BN scale. The word “negotiation” has also give a negative impression.”
Nevertheless, Koh said that they have been internally addressing a lot of policy bias, but maybe it is “not enough”. After all, everyone is very busy with their government affairs.
“In the past, the problems would be left aside once they have been solved. It is just like firefighter, where they put out fire at the place it occurs. They are lacking of systematic as well as do not have a strong and effective policy implementation. Therefore, the recent election results have given a great shock to the BN.”
He said he was surprised that the Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mamud has strongly emphasised the importance of multiracial during the BN Supreme Council meeting. He is very much in agreement with the suggestion, as it is consistent with Gerakan's concept.
The following article was extracted from:-
(Sin Chew Daily)
MySinchew 2008.05.07
Friday, 8 August 2008
Lim Guan Eng - MV Agusta Scandal : Proton to Explain
Proton RM 800 Million Question.
CLICK HERE - For MV Agusta and PROTON : The Story (My previous post)
Press Statement by Lim Guan Eng in Penang on Thursday, 7th August 2008:
The failure by Proton to find a foreign partner is a warning signal that it is no longer a competitive and economically viable entity with declining market share and questionable management decisions that causes Proton to lose money when other finds profits
The admission by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently that Proton Holdings Bhd needs to consider a foreign partnership to further improve on its quality and service to the buyers is an admission of failure of Proton despite producing Proton's three-millionth car. Despite a long desperate search, the failure by Proton to find a foreign partner is a warning signal that it is no longer a competitive and economically viable entity with declining market share and questionable management decisions that causes Proton to lose money when other finds profits.
Abdullah may urge the 25-year-old national car maker to produce more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly cars. But the reality is that sales fell 40% from 183,824 units to 110,358 units last year, a drop in market share to 32 per cent from more than 60 per cent in 2000.
How can Proton expect to survive with such poor sales when its overseas market is a loss-making operation? Such a steep loss in market share is almost irretrievable.
Of greater concern is the refusal for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM 800 million ringgit MV Agusta scandal to fully disclose mismanagement and financial misjudgments by Proton Holdings Bhd, action against those responsible and new measures to be implemented against such weaknesses.
This follows the shocking announcement by Harley Davidson Inc that it will purchase Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta, once owned by Proton Holdings Bhd, for US$109 million (RM352 million), making the total sale proceeds of RM 800 million. Proton Holdings had bought MV Agusta in 2006 for RM368 million which it had then sold for only one euro (RM5) to an unknown company in Italy - Gevi SpA.
In justifying the sale for one euro Proton had said here were no operational, engineering, and technological synergies between Agusta, the motorcycle maker, and Proton as a carmaker. Proton bought a 57.75 percent stake in MV Agusta in December 2004 for 70 million euro (RM367.6 million), which was treated as goodwill and written off. However Proton lost more than RM 500 million in the sale for one euro because it had to assume the additional provisions relating to MV Agusta in the accounts of the Proton group for the financial year ended March 31, 2006, amounting to RM136.2 million.
After MV Agusta was sold off for one euro(RM5), Gevi SpA sold Husqvarna, a division of MV Agusta which manufactures scrambler sporty off-road motorcycles, to a German company BMW for 90 million euro (RM450 million). Now MV Agusta has been bought by Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles of the United States for RM350 million.
Public interest therefore requires a full accounting from Proton on how it went so terribly until BMW can pay RM450 million for one third of MV Augusta and Harley Davidson pay RM 352 million for the remaining stake which Proton sold only one euro at a loss of more than RM 500 million.Tun Dr Mahathir is correct to state that Proton appears to have lost approximately RM800 million by selling Agusta for only RM5 stating that the buyer of MV Agusta “invested one euro and made 160 million euro,".
Malaysians have a right to know what type of management can makes such a decision that allows other foreign companies to benefit at our expense. Instead of losing RM 500 million, Proton could have earned RM 300 million if it had sold to BMW and Harley-Davidson. Proton has refused to anwer despite Khazanah Malaysia, the Malaysian government's investment arm, holding about 42.74 %t of Proton.
Public interest requires full accountability and transparency.
Unfortunately Proton’s refusal to give full disclosure leaves requires an establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into this RM 800 million MV Agusta scandal in the interests of good corporate governance and social responsibility.
Malaysians wants answers to this RM 800 million question.
* Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister & DAP Secretary-General
CLICK HERE - For MV Agusta and PROTON : The Story (My previous post)
Press Statement by Lim Guan Eng in Penang on Thursday, 7th August 2008:
The failure by Proton to find a foreign partner is a warning signal that it is no longer a competitive and economically viable entity with declining market share and questionable management decisions that causes Proton to lose money when other finds profits
The admission by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi recently that Proton Holdings Bhd needs to consider a foreign partnership to further improve on its quality and service to the buyers is an admission of failure of Proton despite producing Proton's three-millionth car. Despite a long desperate search, the failure by Proton to find a foreign partner is a warning signal that it is no longer a competitive and economically viable entity with declining market share and questionable management decisions that causes Proton to lose money when other finds profits.
Abdullah may urge the 25-year-old national car maker to produce more fuel efficient and environmentally-friendly cars. But the reality is that sales fell 40% from 183,824 units to 110,358 units last year, a drop in market share to 32 per cent from more than 60 per cent in 2000.
How can Proton expect to survive with such poor sales when its overseas market is a loss-making operation? Such a steep loss in market share is almost irretrievable.
Of greater concern is the refusal for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM 800 million ringgit MV Agusta scandal to fully disclose mismanagement and financial misjudgments by Proton Holdings Bhd, action against those responsible and new measures to be implemented against such weaknesses.
This follows the shocking announcement by Harley Davidson Inc that it will purchase Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta, once owned by Proton Holdings Bhd, for US$109 million (RM352 million), making the total sale proceeds of RM 800 million. Proton Holdings had bought MV Agusta in 2006 for RM368 million which it had then sold for only one euro (RM5) to an unknown company in Italy - Gevi SpA.
In justifying the sale for one euro Proton had said here were no operational, engineering, and technological synergies between Agusta, the motorcycle maker, and Proton as a carmaker. Proton bought a 57.75 percent stake in MV Agusta in December 2004 for 70 million euro (RM367.6 million), which was treated as goodwill and written off. However Proton lost more than RM 500 million in the sale for one euro because it had to assume the additional provisions relating to MV Agusta in the accounts of the Proton group for the financial year ended March 31, 2006, amounting to RM136.2 million.
After MV Agusta was sold off for one euro(RM5), Gevi SpA sold Husqvarna, a division of MV Agusta which manufactures scrambler sporty off-road motorcycles, to a German company BMW for 90 million euro (RM450 million). Now MV Agusta has been bought by Harley-Davidson Motor Cycles of the United States for RM350 million.
Public interest therefore requires a full accounting from Proton on how it went so terribly until BMW can pay RM450 million for one third of MV Augusta and Harley Davidson pay RM 352 million for the remaining stake which Proton sold only one euro at a loss of more than RM 500 million.Tun Dr Mahathir is correct to state that Proton appears to have lost approximately RM800 million by selling Agusta for only RM5 stating that the buyer of MV Agusta “invested one euro and made 160 million euro,".
Malaysians have a right to know what type of management can makes such a decision that allows other foreign companies to benefit at our expense. Instead of losing RM 500 million, Proton could have earned RM 300 million if it had sold to BMW and Harley-Davidson. Proton has refused to anwer despite Khazanah Malaysia, the Malaysian government's investment arm, holding about 42.74 %t of Proton.
Public interest requires full accountability and transparency.
Unfortunately Proton’s refusal to give full disclosure leaves requires an establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into this RM 800 million MV Agusta scandal in the interests of good corporate governance and social responsibility.
Malaysians wants answers to this RM 800 million question.
* Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister & DAP Secretary-General
Interview wt Dr. Chua Soi Lek.
Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek : 'I had moral courage to admit it'
Despite his DVD sex scandal, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek is being touted as one of the top contenders for the presidency in the upcoming MCA elections. Fresh from winning the Batu Pahat MCA division seat uncontested, he tells TAN CHOE CHOE that MCA members have to decide whether to judge him by his public performance or his private actions.
Q: Speculation is rife that you're gunning for the No 1 post.
A: I thank the people for their confidence in me. I'm still gauging the support of the central delegates and MCA members.
When I resigned (his government and party positions after the sex DVD on him surfaced), I was only a party vice-president.
I can stand for vice-president, deputy or president.
The thing I have to take into consideration is my ability, whether I can contribute to the reformation of MCA.
Q: There's talk about Team A-Team B factions in MCA led by shadow generals.
A: This Team A-Team B thing has existed from Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik's time. After he retired, Team A and Team B were represented by (Datuk Seri) Ong Ka Ting and (Datuk Seri) Chan Kong Choy respectively. But over the years, (the line of division) has become blurred.
The remnants of Team A and B still exist, but the demarcation is not that clear.
Some Team A people have gone over to Team B and vice versa.
Q: There's a totally new Team A and Team B now led by former presidents.
A: I don't think it's true. To get Tun Dr Ling involved is grossly unfair.
He has said many times that he doesn't want to get involved.
It's pure speculation that he's involved.Of course, in the case of Ka Ting, he's still an MP. \
There is speculation that he would continue to exercise some influence as a former president, an MP and through his brother (Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan).
We don't know what happens between these two brothers and I don't think we will ever know. So, it will always remain as speculation. But the possibility is there and people will talk about it.
Q: Many people believe Dr Ling's influence is still very strong and that he favours you for the top post.
A: You cannot prevent people from having this perception because he was the president for 17 years and he has been very easy-going, very friendly and he keeps in touch with MCA members.How influential he is, I really don't know.
A: You cannot prevent people from having this perception because he was the president for 17 years and he has been very easy-going, very friendly and he keeps in touch with MCA members.How influential he is, I really don't know.
Whether his personal touch will influence people in their choice of candidates, is still a question mark.
Q: Has he had talks with you?
A: I do contact him over the phone, but more on a social basis.
A: I do contact him over the phone, but more on a social basis.
Q: Has he given any advice or indicated his support?
A: No, not really.
A: No, not really.
Q: You said the grassroots have forgiven you after the divisional election. Are they ready to accept you if you contest the party presidency?
A: I have considerable support throughout the country. Whether that support is strong enough for me to contest any post, I'm not sure.
There's been a lot of calls that I should stand for one of the senior posts in view of my public performance.
They say Johor is a good example (of strong MCA showing) and I've been the state chairman.
In the 2004 general election, we (Johor MCA) scored 100 per cent.
This year -- I resigned in January and the election was in March, so Johor MCA was still under me at the time -- despite the political tsunami, Johor MCA candidates scored about 90 per cent (success), compared with a lot of other states where we got zero.
They always say Johor MCA is slightly different from the rest and there's a need to share whatever experience and knowledge that I have to rebuild MCA.
Q: So why is Johor MCA different?
A: One, Johor MCA has always been united, compared with the other states. We have a more solid organisation.
Two, we have very good relationship with other Barisan Nasional component parties.
Three, we have had excellent relationship with the state government. We worked together to solve a lot of Chinese problems, from allocation for Chinese schools -- which no other state has -- to Chinese temples and allocation for MCA divisions.
It's the only state where we have a lot of reserve land for Chinese schools. It's the only state that allocates land for temples and (Hindu) kuil.
Q: All these are contributed by MCA's strong standing in Johor?
A: These came about because of the long, continuous interaction between MCA and the state government.In this respect, I must thank the menteris besar of Johor -- Tan Sri Muhyiddin (Yassin), when I was in the state exco, and the close cooperation which has continued with (Datuk Abdul) Ghani (Othman). So, we don't have incidents of temples being demolished.
Q: How big an obstacle is your sex scandal to your political aspirations?
A: There are two schools of thought on this.
A: There are two schools of thought on this.
One is that when you're a public figure, you're evaluated on your public performance.
They feel that I should be evaluated on my public performance.
The other says that when you're a public figure, your private life is also of their concern.I had the moral courage to admit, apologise and resign from all posts. I could have indulged in self-pity and bitterness and lived a life of bitterness.Or I could choose to serve the party and the community, which I've been doing for the last 23 years.Now I'm starting (political career) all over. It's like a rebirth -- from an ordinary MCA member from the branch to division to national.
After I resigned, there were many indications to give me encouragement to continue to serve and optimise whatever strengths I have. From the general election until now, I continue to receive a lot of invitations to officiate at functions.
Q: From within and without MCA?
A: Yes, even non-governmental organisations. I try not to accept too many invitations because I don't want too much public exposure.
Q: The reason being?
A: People (might) say, "this person doesn't seem to regret. He's showing his face everywhere".
Q: So you're repentant now?
A: I have admitted my guilt. I've resigned -- that is like a form of punishment.I'm willing to start all over again, which means I leave it to the delegates to decide my political destiny, whether my private life is more important than my public performance.I've publicly admitted my weaknesses. At no time did I try to deny it. At no time did I say it "looks like me and sounds like me but it's not me".
Q: There's talk that there'll be a new (sex) DVD on you should you decide to contest.
A: Every time I criticise the leadership, every time I talk about contesting, this threat of a new DVD comes up.You can see the connection between my political career and the move to destroy me. It's what we call character assassination. You don't need rocket science to establish this.
Whether it's a new DVD or an old DVD, it's the same. I'm the same Dr Chua, with the same weaknesses, same strengths.So, I leave it to the delegates to decide if they are willing to allow character assassination to bring down the leaders.If you look at the country now, people are no more talking about performance. People are talking about character assassination. People are not concerned about what you do, but are more concerned about what you do in your privacy.
Q: But as a public figure and a leader, your private and public actions both reflect you and your integrity.
A: Oh yes, I'm the first to admit it. I never say that it looks like me and sounds like me (but isn't me). I'm the first to come out and tell people what I am.It is up to the delegates to decide whether to accept my weaknesses and strengths.
Q: Have you overcome any of the weaknesses you admitted to?
A: No, this is my girlfriend of nearly 12 years. My wife is aware of it. She has openly said, "I married my husband. I know he's not a saint. But he's a good husband, a good family man."
Q: Are you still seeing this girlfriend?
A: No.
Q: Some say this year's MCA election is between young guns and veterans.
A: I think these are the terminologies given by the press. People have forgotten that when Dr Ling became president, he was much younger than Ka Ting -- he was 43. Ka Ting became president at the age of 48.It isn't about young guns and veterans. MCA has a large membership. Most of the members who are active are between the ages of 35 and 60. What's the difference between 53 and 58 years old when the average lifespan of Malaysians is about 75?
Q: What kind of president does MCA need right now?
A: We need an MCA leader who has the support of the members, who is aware of what's happening to the party and the Chinese community.We cannot have one who is aloof and out of touch with what's happening with the Chinese community. We cannot have an MCA leader who is weak.We cannot have an MCA leader who tries classifying every issue confronting the Chinese community as "sensitive" and so says there is no need to discuss it.In the last three years, we had an image problem (because of this).
A: We need an MCA leader who has the support of the members, who is aware of what's happening to the party and the Chinese community.We cannot have one who is aloof and out of touch with what's happening with the Chinese community. We cannot have an MCA leader who is weak.We cannot have an MCA leader who tries classifying every issue confronting the Chinese community as "sensitive" and so says there is no need to discuss it.In the last three years, we had an image problem (because of this).
Q: Just in the last three years?
A: In the last three or four years, it got worse. They feel that the leadership is weak, unable to articulate the frustrations of the community and unable to stand up for the rights of the community.There was also a significant shift from MCA being a political party to as if it was an NGO, doing more social work.
A: In the last three or four years, it got worse. They feel that the leadership is weak, unable to articulate the frustrations of the community and unable to stand up for the rights of the community.There was also a significant shift from MCA being a political party to as if it was an NGO, doing more social work.
Q: Like Cupid Club and life-long learning?
A: Cupid Club, crisis-relief squad, tuition centre ... rather than doing political work. That's the truth. My president hates me for telling the truth. I call a spade a spade and I dare to debate on it.If MCA wants to change, it has to be a real political party focusing on politics, economics and education.These are the three core issues that affect every Malaysian, more so the Chinese who are worried about their position in the country, their political rights, their sharing of the economic cake and educational opportunities.The other issues are equally important, but they can be done by NGOs. We can co-operate with NGOs. We can support them, fund them, advise them.MCA should regain its traditional role as a political party. It must not only be vocal.However vocal MCA becomes, it can never be more vocal than Lim Kit Siang because he has been in this business for the last 30 years.It is not a question of being vocal. It's a question of how effective you are in solving problems.
Q: But even after the March general election, MCA has not changed any of its problem-solving tactics.
A: To say that there is no change is not true. There were attempts but I would put it as too little and too late. After the election, there was a lot of scepticism.
Q: Does the new president have to be seen to be able to stand up to Umno?
A: The new president must be able to articulate the frustrations of the Chinese community, its needs and the three core issues that I've listed --- politics, economics and education.The Chinese know that we (MCA) are not the know-all; that we do not have a magical wand that can solve all problems.Even Umno has a lot of problems confronting the Malay community. But as long as you champion their rights, I think they're more than happy.But if you keep quiet in the name of sensitivity, then people cannot accept MCA any more.
A: The new president must be able to articulate the frustrations of the Chinese community, its needs and the three core issues that I've listed --- politics, economics and education.The Chinese know that we (MCA) are not the know-all; that we do not have a magical wand that can solve all problems.Even Umno has a lot of problems confronting the Malay community. But as long as you champion their rights, I think they're more than happy.But if you keep quiet in the name of sensitivity, then people cannot accept MCA any more.
Q: What do you think you have to offer to MCA members if you were to go for any of the top posts?
A: If we want to rebrand or reform MCA, you must have a leadership which is not out of touch with the members and the community.It must not be based on empty slogans -- beautiful Chinese slogans which you and I may not be able to understand.
For your information, they're all taken from Taiwan.
Two, we cannot sing the old tune anymore, which is "you vote us, you get political stability". We got whacked (on March 8) but there's still political stability.You vote us, you have power- sharing. There's no need to have MCA for power-sharing. They can go through DAP and Pakatan Rakyat for power-sharing.And we offer good services by looking after roads and drains and garbage.The people want more from us. They want to see us as a real political party in power; a party that can solve most, if not all, of their problems.
And we cannot be all Chinese any more. We have to be more multiracial in our outlook and approach in solving problems.
While we can champion the rights of the Chinese community, we should make our stand very clear on other issues in this country.
When you talk about the judiciary, the Lingam tape and Hindraf, MCA kept quiet.This is something which the Chinese community was not happy about.
We cannot continue to move forward by talking only all Chinese and the rest have nothing to do with us. We are a component, a unit in a multiracial country.
So while we continue to be a mono-ethnic party, we have to be more multiracial in our outlook and in our response to solving problems.
Q: How can MCA achieve that?
A: It's with the leadership. If the leadership tries to ignore a problem by saying that it is sensitive...When Pas and Umno are having talks, MCA should make its stand clear.One MCA minister says something, another minister says it's no go, but another minister says if you don't infringe on our rights, it's okay.A strong leadership will clearly state MCA's stand. Whether you like it or not, this is our stand. This is what leadership is all about. But because there's no leadership, everybody talks.How we interact with Umno leaders, how we bring up our problems to Umno in the cabinet are important.
A: It's with the leadership. If the leadership tries to ignore a problem by saying that it is sensitive...When Pas and Umno are having talks, MCA should make its stand clear.One MCA minister says something, another minister says it's no go, but another minister says if you don't infringe on our rights, it's okay.A strong leadership will clearly state MCA's stand. Whether you like it or not, this is our stand. This is what leadership is all about. But because there's no leadership, everybody talks.How we interact with Umno leaders, how we bring up our problems to Umno in the cabinet are important.
Q: There is talk that Malaysians, or Malaysian Chinese, are not really concerned about MCA elections because ultimately MCA will still play second fiddle to big brother Umno.
A: Yes. That's why MCA must be more assertive and play its role as a party in government.
Q: So there's a need to review how MCA works within BN?
A: We have to convince Umno that if we are unable to articulate and solve Chinese problems, please do not expect us to deliver the Chinese votes to BN come the 13th general election.
A: We have to convince Umno that if we are unable to articulate and solve Chinese problems, please do not expect us to deliver the Chinese votes to BN come the 13th general election.
Q: MCA has always been ready to condemn DAP over its alliance with Pas. How do you view the Umno-Pas talks and Perak Umno's invitation to Pas?
A: I've always held the view that if Malay political power is threatened, you'll see Umno and Pas working together. I've said that many times.I'm not very optimistic about politics being non-racial in this country. That is the political reality of things.
A: I've always held the view that if Malay political power is threatened, you'll see Umno and Pas working together. I've said that many times.I'm not very optimistic about politics being non-racial in this country. That is the political reality of things.
Q: Datin Paduka Tan Yee Kew (who is crossing over to Pakatan Rakyat) said, "We get elected MCA leaders who are not true leaders because they don't have popular support." What is your comment on the phantom voters that she alluded to?
A: The MCA membership list is always a contentious issue.
The process of setting up a branch and becoming a member is long and tedious, not transparent, not democratic and sometimes not fair.If you look at the number of members in an MCA division, it's always the same as the number of Chinese voters in that area.
A: The MCA membership list is always a contentious issue.
The process of setting up a branch and becoming a member is long and tedious, not transparent, not democratic and sometimes not fair.If you look at the number of members in an MCA division, it's always the same as the number of Chinese voters in that area.
Do you believe it?
I find it unbelievable. In other words, there's padding by some leaders who need the phantom support. So in that sense, Dr Tan is correct.
If we want a list that is good, we should do an audit and verification exercise after the election.
BY TAN CHOE CHOE, NEW STRAITS TIMES
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Saiful Doctor Declaration : Saiful Not Sodomised ; Police make him to sign BM Statement (Full Report Updated)
The Statutory Declaration of Dr Mohamed Osman is available in Malaysia Today Website.
http://us2.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/10901/84/
CLICK HERE for Full STATOTORY DECLARATION OF DR. MOHAMED OSMAN IN PDF FORMAT
Full Statutory Declaration of Dr. Mohamed Osman
I, Dr. Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid PR Card No.[A 358617] having a status as a Malaysian Permanent Resident of full age and having my residential address at B 24-3, Manara City One Condominium, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, do solemly and sincerely declare as follows:
1. I am making this Statutory declaration in full knowledge and awareness that the matters relating to the police report by one Mohd Saiful Bukhari B Azlan (the Patient) that he has been sodomised by someone and that the medical report relating thereto attended by me has been widely circulated in the media.
2. I make this declaration to the best of my knowledge and recollection to present the true picture as far as my involvement is concerned.
3. I graduated from Institute of Medicine 2 University of Rangoon, Mayanmar in 1977. Immediately after graduation I worked as a Medical Officer with several public and private medical institutions in Myanmar until 1990. In 1991 I migrated to Malaysia and worked with RISEAP as Medical Officer until 1995. I later worked with HIKMAH (Harakah Islamiah) in Sarawak as a Medical Officer until 1999. I was later employed by the University Hospital in Petaling Jaya from 2000 to 2007 as Medical Officer and I joined Hospital PUSRAWI at the beginning of 2008 until now also as a Medical Officer. In total I have accumulated more than 30 years valuable experiences in the medical field.
4. Some time at the end of June 2008 while on duty in PUSRAWI, I was referred with a patient now widely known as Mohd Saiful Bukhari B. Azlan. He was initially attended to by another female doctor but subsequently referred to me as the Patient requested to be examined by a male doctor.
5. Through my experience I have encountered many similar complaint as the said Patient and I have thereupon proceeded with the appropriate examination on the Patient i.e. Per rectal examination and I have recorded my findings in the Hospital's standard medical examination folder.
6. I later learned that the examination folder was widely circulated in the media and internet and I was shocked and surprised to find out that the exact medical examination folder with its exact content without amendment or addition has found its way into the media.
7. The circulation of the medical report came to my knowledge after I went on leave. For record, however, I would like to confirm that I strongly stand firm on my findings.
8. In normal practice in the Hospital, at the end of the examination, the Patient's folder will be forwarded to the record office by the nurse or staff on duty together with the folders of other patients and I, or any other attending doctor for that matter, should have never handled patients record personally. I have never seen the Patient's medical record ever since until it was widely circulated by the media. I would like also to stress that I have no knowledge of the person responsible leaking the report to any third party.
9.Two days after I attended the examination on the patient, I came to know that the Patient's name appeared in the newspaper. I checked with hospital's computer and find out that the said Mohd Saiful Bukhari B Azlan was my patient. I had immediately informed Dr Kamarudin, the Hospital's director of the matter and was accordingly advised to refer the matter to the Hospital's administration which I duly complied.
10.Some time in early July 2008, I was visited by a police officer in uniform who introduced himself as ASP Rosmi Mat Derus from IPD Brickfield, Cawangan Jenayah. He informed me that the Patient has made police report and he is investigating the case. I was later interviewed and questioned on matters related to the Patient's medical examination which I have cooperated fully with him.
11. ASP Rosmi recorded my statement in his own handwriting in Bahasa Malaysia. He prepared 9 to 10 pages of hand written statement and asked me to sign and stamp every page with my official rubber stamp.
12. As the statements was handwritten and in Bahasa Malaysia, I did not understand most of it as I am not proficient in Bahasa Malaysia.
13.The following week, the same officer came to see me in plain cloths bringing along with him a prepared, typed and printed statement in Bahasa Malaysia which he asked me to read and sign.The Officer informed me that I have to re-signature the statements as the previous statements were handwritten and he needed the statements to be properly typed.
14.I read few paragraphs and made few amendments to the statements with the officer's assistance. I also pointed out to him those certain facts which has not been discussed in the previous meeting but was introduced in the typed statements. The facts queried was why the name of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim appeared in several paragraphs when it was never brought up during the first interview and neither did the Patient ever confided in me with the identity of the alleged perpetrator. He replied that Dato' Seri Anwar is the accused and as I already came to know that Dato' Seri was the accused after reading the newspaper.
15. The Officer later inserted few additional paragraphs in the last page in his own handwriting and in Bahasa Malaysia. I also explained that in order to conduct the required examination procedure on the Patient and to utilize the instrument I have to apply lubricant on that instrument.
16.Even though I hesitated I signed the typed statements as I did not want to have any issues with the police. The second meeting lasted for about 45 minutes to one hour.
17. Approximately one week after the second meeting with ASP Rosmi, I was visited by another police officer in plain cloth who introduced herself as DSP Choo from Jalan Hang Tuah, Bahagian Jenayah. She asked me to explain all over again and I have complied by explaining everything that I knew in detail the whole procedures in relation to the examination on the Patient.
18.We conversed in English and she recorded in her own hand writing in Bahasa Malaysia. The written statement was later translated to me in English and I was later asked to sign the 4 to 5 pages statements.
19.On the onset of the interview she impressed on me that I will be charged if I refused to cooperate with the police. The meeting lasted for about an hour.
20. The seemingly constant and unending police investigation and being aware of the high profile nature of the case has disturbed me tremendously and I become worried of my safety and that of my family. Approximately one week after the third visit by the Police I decided to apply for leave and left Malaysia with my family.
AND I made this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue o the provisions of the Statutory Declaration Act, 1960
Subscribed and solemly declared
By the above named
Dr Mohd Osman Abdul Hamid
This 1st day of August 2008
(signed before COMMISSIONER for Oath, Mohd Annuar bin Mohd Salleh)
TheStar Online
Thursday August 7, 2008 MYT 4:18:39 PM
Doc who examined Saiful stands by his report (Update 2)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Myanmar doctor who had examined Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan is standing by his medical report that the former aide to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was not sodomised.
In a statutory declaration dated Aug 1, Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid @ Than Aung, reiterated that he stood by 'his findings'.
"For the record I would like to confirm that I strongly stand firm on my findings," he said in his statutory declaration.
Dr Mohamed Osman also said he had no knowledge of how his medical examination report on Mohd Saiful was circulated to the media and Internet. "I would like to stress that I have no knowledge of the person responsible for leaking the report to any third party," he added.
Dr Mohamed Osman said that some time in early July, he was visited by an officer from the Brickfields district police's criminal division, ASP Rosmi Mat Derus, who interviewed him about the medical examination on Mohd Saiful.
He said ASP Rosmi recorded the statement in Bahasa Malaysia, in his own handwriting, which he did not understand.
The following week the same officer returned with a typed statement in Bahasa Malaysia for him to read and sign.
However, Dr Mohamed Osman said certain facts that were not discussed in the previous meeting had been introduced in the typed statement, namely Anwar's name.
Dr Mohamed Osman claimed Anwar's name was never brought up during the first interview and Mohd Saiful also never confided to him about the identity of the alleged perpetrator.
"About a week later I was visited by a plainclothes police officer by the name of DSP Choo from the criminal division of the Jalan Hang Tuah district police, who impressed on me that I would be charged if I refused to cooperate with the police," he added.
Dr Mohamed Osman said he then decided to flee the country with his family as he feared for his and their safety.
Saiful was examined by Dr Mohamed Osman at Hospital Pusrawi before he lodged a police report alleging he had been sodomised by Anwar.
The Myanmar national was put into the centre of the sodomy allegation controversy, when the report was leaked and posted on blogs on July 29.
The hospital has since stated that Dr Mohamed Osman had not carried out a sodomy related examination on Saiful.
http://us2.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/10901/84/
CLICK HERE for Full STATOTORY DECLARATION OF DR. MOHAMED OSMAN IN PDF FORMAT
Full Statutory Declaration of Dr. Mohamed Osman
I, Dr. Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid PR Card No.[A 358617] having a status as a Malaysian Permanent Resident of full age and having my residential address at B 24-3, Manara City One Condominium, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, do solemly and sincerely declare as follows:
1. I am making this Statutory declaration in full knowledge and awareness that the matters relating to the police report by one Mohd Saiful Bukhari B Azlan (the Patient) that he has been sodomised by someone and that the medical report relating thereto attended by me has been widely circulated in the media.
2. I make this declaration to the best of my knowledge and recollection to present the true picture as far as my involvement is concerned.
3. I graduated from Institute of Medicine 2 University of Rangoon, Mayanmar in 1977. Immediately after graduation I worked as a Medical Officer with several public and private medical institutions in Myanmar until 1990. In 1991 I migrated to Malaysia and worked with RISEAP as Medical Officer until 1995. I later worked with HIKMAH (Harakah Islamiah) in Sarawak as a Medical Officer until 1999. I was later employed by the University Hospital in Petaling Jaya from 2000 to 2007 as Medical Officer and I joined Hospital PUSRAWI at the beginning of 2008 until now also as a Medical Officer. In total I have accumulated more than 30 years valuable experiences in the medical field.
4. Some time at the end of June 2008 while on duty in PUSRAWI, I was referred with a patient now widely known as Mohd Saiful Bukhari B. Azlan. He was initially attended to by another female doctor but subsequently referred to me as the Patient requested to be examined by a male doctor.
5. Through my experience I have encountered many similar complaint as the said Patient and I have thereupon proceeded with the appropriate examination on the Patient i.e. Per rectal examination and I have recorded my findings in the Hospital's standard medical examination folder.
6. I later learned that the examination folder was widely circulated in the media and internet and I was shocked and surprised to find out that the exact medical examination folder with its exact content without amendment or addition has found its way into the media.
7. The circulation of the medical report came to my knowledge after I went on leave. For record, however, I would like to confirm that I strongly stand firm on my findings.
8. In normal practice in the Hospital, at the end of the examination, the Patient's folder will be forwarded to the record office by the nurse or staff on duty together with the folders of other patients and I, or any other attending doctor for that matter, should have never handled patients record personally. I have never seen the Patient's medical record ever since until it was widely circulated by the media. I would like also to stress that I have no knowledge of the person responsible leaking the report to any third party.
9.Two days after I attended the examination on the patient, I came to know that the Patient's name appeared in the newspaper. I checked with hospital's computer and find out that the said Mohd Saiful Bukhari B Azlan was my patient. I had immediately informed Dr Kamarudin, the Hospital's director of the matter and was accordingly advised to refer the matter to the Hospital's administration which I duly complied.
10.Some time in early July 2008, I was visited by a police officer in uniform who introduced himself as ASP Rosmi Mat Derus from IPD Brickfield, Cawangan Jenayah. He informed me that the Patient has made police report and he is investigating the case. I was later interviewed and questioned on matters related to the Patient's medical examination which I have cooperated fully with him.
11. ASP Rosmi recorded my statement in his own handwriting in Bahasa Malaysia. He prepared 9 to 10 pages of hand written statement and asked me to sign and stamp every page with my official rubber stamp.
12. As the statements was handwritten and in Bahasa Malaysia, I did not understand most of it as I am not proficient in Bahasa Malaysia.
13.The following week, the same officer came to see me in plain cloths bringing along with him a prepared, typed and printed statement in Bahasa Malaysia which he asked me to read and sign.The Officer informed me that I have to re-signature the statements as the previous statements were handwritten and he needed the statements to be properly typed.
14.I read few paragraphs and made few amendments to the statements with the officer's assistance. I also pointed out to him those certain facts which has not been discussed in the previous meeting but was introduced in the typed statements. The facts queried was why the name of Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim appeared in several paragraphs when it was never brought up during the first interview and neither did the Patient ever confided in me with the identity of the alleged perpetrator. He replied that Dato' Seri Anwar is the accused and as I already came to know that Dato' Seri was the accused after reading the newspaper.
15. The Officer later inserted few additional paragraphs in the last page in his own handwriting and in Bahasa Malaysia. I also explained that in order to conduct the required examination procedure on the Patient and to utilize the instrument I have to apply lubricant on that instrument.
16.Even though I hesitated I signed the typed statements as I did not want to have any issues with the police. The second meeting lasted for about 45 minutes to one hour.
17. Approximately one week after the second meeting with ASP Rosmi, I was visited by another police officer in plain cloth who introduced herself as DSP Choo from Jalan Hang Tuah, Bahagian Jenayah. She asked me to explain all over again and I have complied by explaining everything that I knew in detail the whole procedures in relation to the examination on the Patient.
18.We conversed in English and she recorded in her own hand writing in Bahasa Malaysia. The written statement was later translated to me in English and I was later asked to sign the 4 to 5 pages statements.
19.On the onset of the interview she impressed on me that I will be charged if I refused to cooperate with the police. The meeting lasted for about an hour.
20. The seemingly constant and unending police investigation and being aware of the high profile nature of the case has disturbed me tremendously and I become worried of my safety and that of my family. Approximately one week after the third visit by the Police I decided to apply for leave and left Malaysia with my family.
AND I made this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue o the provisions of the Statutory Declaration Act, 1960
Subscribed and solemly declared
By the above named
Dr Mohd Osman Abdul Hamid
This 1st day of August 2008
(signed before COMMISSIONER for Oath, Mohd Annuar bin Mohd Salleh)
TheStar Online
Thursday August 7, 2008 MYT 4:18:39 PM
Doc who examined Saiful stands by his report (Update 2)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Myanmar doctor who had examined Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan is standing by his medical report that the former aide to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was not sodomised.
In a statutory declaration dated Aug 1, Dr Mohamed Osman Abdul Hamid @ Than Aung, reiterated that he stood by 'his findings'.
"For the record I would like to confirm that I strongly stand firm on my findings," he said in his statutory declaration.
Dr Mohamed Osman also said he had no knowledge of how his medical examination report on Mohd Saiful was circulated to the media and Internet. "I would like to stress that I have no knowledge of the person responsible for leaking the report to any third party," he added.
Dr Mohamed Osman said that some time in early July, he was visited by an officer from the Brickfields district police's criminal division, ASP Rosmi Mat Derus, who interviewed him about the medical examination on Mohd Saiful.
He said ASP Rosmi recorded the statement in Bahasa Malaysia, in his own handwriting, which he did not understand.
The following week the same officer returned with a typed statement in Bahasa Malaysia for him to read and sign.
However, Dr Mohamed Osman said certain facts that were not discussed in the previous meeting had been introduced in the typed statement, namely Anwar's name.
Dr Mohamed Osman claimed Anwar's name was never brought up during the first interview and Mohd Saiful also never confided to him about the identity of the alleged perpetrator.
"About a week later I was visited by a plainclothes police officer by the name of DSP Choo from the criminal division of the Jalan Hang Tuah district police, who impressed on me that I would be charged if I refused to cooperate with the police," he added.
Dr Mohamed Osman said he then decided to flee the country with his family as he feared for his and their safety.
Saiful was examined by Dr Mohamed Osman at Hospital Pusrawi before he lodged a police report alleging he had been sodomised by Anwar.
The Myanmar national was put into the centre of the sodomy allegation controversy, when the report was leaked and posted on blogs on July 29.
The hospital has since stated that Dr Mohamed Osman had not carried out a sodomy related examination on Saiful.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Anwar Legal Persuit Destroying Malaysia Reputation.
From John Berthelsen: Malaysia’s legal pursuit of Anwar Ibrahim is destroying the country’s reputation
source: Asia Sentinel Consultingby John Berthelsen
July 21, 2008
Malaysia Alternative Voices Highlights :-
The following articles Highlight some major issues of :Malaysia Double Standard Prosecution / Justice System i.e -
(1) There are many unanswered question in the Link of Deputy Prime Minister , Najib to the muder of Mongolian Altantuya . Najib could Answer
(2) Different priorties in Malaysia Justise System in handling the cases i.e
(a) Anwar Sodomy Case of a 23 years old aides
(b) Finding true perparators of an execution murder of defendless Mongolian Lady
It is about time for Malaysia to drop the charade. Attempting to convict opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of forcible sodomy is an embarrassment in contrast with the completely ignored and much more serious allegations linking the deputy prime minister to the execution-style murder of his reputed former girlfriend.
As has been reported widely, two sworn declarations have been filed that raise reasonable suspicions that the October 2006 murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu is tied directly to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. Yet instead of this high profile politician being in the dock to explain himself,
one of those who filed a sworn declaration about his actions is about to go on trial for criminal libel.
The other was dragooned into recanting his statement before he fled the country.
The courts and the legal system have deliberately overlooked allegations of Najib’s complicity in the Mongolian woman’s murder, and considerable related evidence of massive corruption on his part in the purchase of three French submarines for the Malaysian military - a purchase that Altantuya apparently participated in as a translator. This has been pushed under the carpet repeatedly and now the nation is being distracted by accusations of Anwar’s peccadilloes, real or fabricated.
Mahathir Mohammad, the long-serving prime minister who quit in 2002, had a single ambition - to reach developed-nation status by 2020.
But you cannot be a first-world country with a legal system whose main characteristics are shared by the likes of Zimbabwe, Burma and North Korea. Mahathir, of course, bears a major part of the blame for the legal system, starting from his destruction of the judiciary in the 1980s. But what is going on now, six years after he was succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is nothing more than the United Malays National Organisation’s manipulation of the system a la Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
This has nothing to do with ideology but with the dubious necessity of maintaining a political party in power.
When the legendary American bank robber Willie Sutton once was asked why he robbed banks, he famously replied: “That’s where the money is.” Government in Malaysia is where the money is, and that is where UMNO intends to stay despite its disastrous March 8 election results, which cost the national ruling coalition the two-thirds hold on parliament it has enjoyed for half a century. There is no better example of this than the submarine and its ties to the murder of Altantuya.
As Asia Sentinel has repeated frequently, according to testimony in the trial of Altantuya’s accused murderer Abdul Razak Baginda, her then-lover and one of the three men accused of killing her, the murdered woman accompanied him to Paris at a time when Malaysia’s defense ministry, headed by Najib, was negotiating through a Malaysian company, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, to buy two Scorpene submarines and a used Agosta submarine produced by the French government under a French-Spanish joint venture, Armaris.
Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called Ombak Laut, which was wholly owned by Abdul Razak.
The contract was not competitive.
The Malaysian ministry of defense paid €1 billion (RM4.5 billion) to Amaris for the three submarines, for which Perimekar received a commission of €114 million (RM510 million). Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abdidin Zin told the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s parliament, that the money was paid for “coordination and support services” although the fee amounted to a whopping 11 percent of the sales price for the submarines.
Altantuya, by her own admission in the last letter she wrote before her murder, had been blackmailing Razak, pressuring him for US$500,000. She did not say how she was blackmailing him, leaving open lots of questions.
Myriad questions have been raised by the year-long trial of Razak and two of Najib’s bodyguards for Altantuya’s murder.
At every turn, those questions could have been answered by calling Najib to the stand.
How could Razak, a civilian and Najib’s closest friend, get the two bodyguards to kill Altantuya without Najib’s knowledge? Najib could answer.
How could the record of the victim being in the country disappear completely from Immigration Department records, as was sworn in court? Najib could answer.
How could the murderers get their hands on the plastic explosives available only to the military used to blow up her body? Najib could answer.
Why did neither the prosecution nor the defense push to investigate a statement made by Altantuya’s cousin on the stand that she had seen a picture of Najib, Razak and Altantuya together at a dinner? Najib could answer.
The statutory declaration of P Balasubramaniam, the private detective hired by Razak to keep Altantuya away from him after their relationship had ended, is so closely detailed that it beggars disbelief that it was fabricated. It makes Najib an integral part of the case, something most of Malaysia’s top government and judicial officials have been seeking to avoid ever since the trial began.
Balsasubramaniam released his sworn statement in the company of his lawyer, which makes it difficult to believe he was coerced. But immediately afterward he was summoned to a meeting with an assistant superintendant of police in Jalan Brickfields, where he was convinced - outside the presence of his lawyer that his memory was faulty. He then signed a statement that his original one had been compelled, and left the country.
In the original declaration Balasubramaniam said Razak told him he had been introduced to Altantuya “by a VIP…who asked him to look after her financially.” Najib, the declaration said, had introduced Razak to Altantuya at a diamond exhibition in Singapore and that Najib had had a sexual relationship with her in the past. Razak was to look after the woman because Najib “did not want her to harass him since he was now the Deputy Prime Minister.”
Is that true? Najib could answer.
Interestingly, according to the document, Razak told Balasubramaniam that Altantuya liked anal sex, which is illegal in Malaysia whether performed with men or women. Anwar might like to make that point to the authorities.
Balasubramaniam also detailed cell phone calls between Najib and Razak in the period after Altantuya’s murder. Did the police check Razak’s phone? Najib could answer.
Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the influential internet journalist, is expected to go on trial for criminal defamation for saying that Najib’s wife was present at the murder. Rather than bringing in Najib and Rosmah to answer questions, they have gone after Raja Petra, who has threatened his own time bombs during his trial. Asked by Asia Sentinel what those revelations might be, he said he would prefer to save them for testimony under oath.
The one truly sad dupe in all this is the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who in all of his sorry reign as prime minister has largely preserved his reputation for integrity despite his fecklessness. Badawi has defended his deputy’s reputation in the face of the fact that virtually all of Kuala Lumpur’s chattering classes have long since become convinced of the couple’s complicity.
Unleashing two thoroughly corrupt law enforcement officials to go after Anwar - Abdul Ghani Patail, the head of the anti-corruption agency, and Musa Hassan, the head of the police, who plainly fabricated evidence in Anwar’s 10-year-old conviction on the same offense, is particularly egregious.
This isn’t to say Anwar is innocent. The jury, to use a newly valid cliché, is still out.
But compare the two. What kind of priorities does this government have in going after a 61-year-old opposition leader with a bad back who presumably would have had a hard time chasing down a mobile 23-year-old aide,
when there is the possibility of finding the true perpetrators of an execution murder of a defenseless 28-year-old mother?
This is the behavior of a despotic system with an eye only to its own preservation.
The Malaysian people deserve better.
source: Asia Sentinel Consultingby John Berthelsen
July 21, 2008
Malaysia Alternative Voices Highlights :-
The following articles Highlight some major issues of :Malaysia Double Standard Prosecution / Justice System i.e -
(1) There are many unanswered question in the Link of Deputy Prime Minister , Najib to the muder of Mongolian Altantuya . Najib could Answer
(2) Different priorties in Malaysia Justise System in handling the cases i.e
(a) Anwar Sodomy Case of a 23 years old aides
(b) Finding true perparators of an execution murder of defendless Mongolian Lady
It is about time for Malaysia to drop the charade. Attempting to convict opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim of forcible sodomy is an embarrassment in contrast with the completely ignored and much more serious allegations linking the deputy prime minister to the execution-style murder of his reputed former girlfriend.
As has been reported widely, two sworn declarations have been filed that raise reasonable suspicions that the October 2006 murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu is tied directly to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor. Yet instead of this high profile politician being in the dock to explain himself,
one of those who filed a sworn declaration about his actions is about to go on trial for criminal libel.
The other was dragooned into recanting his statement before he fled the country.
The courts and the legal system have deliberately overlooked allegations of Najib’s complicity in the Mongolian woman’s murder, and considerable related evidence of massive corruption on his part in the purchase of three French submarines for the Malaysian military - a purchase that Altantuya apparently participated in as a translator. This has been pushed under the carpet repeatedly and now the nation is being distracted by accusations of Anwar’s peccadilloes, real or fabricated.
Mahathir Mohammad, the long-serving prime minister who quit in 2002, had a single ambition - to reach developed-nation status by 2020.
But you cannot be a first-world country with a legal system whose main characteristics are shared by the likes of Zimbabwe, Burma and North Korea. Mahathir, of course, bears a major part of the blame for the legal system, starting from his destruction of the judiciary in the 1980s. But what is going on now, six years after he was succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is nothing more than the United Malays National Organisation’s manipulation of the system a la Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.
This has nothing to do with ideology but with the dubious necessity of maintaining a political party in power.
When the legendary American bank robber Willie Sutton once was asked why he robbed banks, he famously replied: “That’s where the money is.” Government in Malaysia is where the money is, and that is where UMNO intends to stay despite its disastrous March 8 election results, which cost the national ruling coalition the two-thirds hold on parliament it has enjoyed for half a century. There is no better example of this than the submarine and its ties to the murder of Altantuya.
As Asia Sentinel has repeated frequently, according to testimony in the trial of Altantuya’s accused murderer Abdul Razak Baginda, her then-lover and one of the three men accused of killing her, the murdered woman accompanied him to Paris at a time when Malaysia’s defense ministry, headed by Najib, was negotiating through a Malaysian company, Perimekar Sdn Bhd, to buy two Scorpene submarines and a used Agosta submarine produced by the French government under a French-Spanish joint venture, Armaris.
Perimekar at the time was owned by a company called Ombak Laut, which was wholly owned by Abdul Razak.
The contract was not competitive.
The Malaysian ministry of defense paid €1 billion (RM4.5 billion) to Amaris for the three submarines, for which Perimekar received a commission of €114 million (RM510 million). Deputy Defense Minister Zainal Abdidin Zin told the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s parliament, that the money was paid for “coordination and support services” although the fee amounted to a whopping 11 percent of the sales price for the submarines.
Altantuya, by her own admission in the last letter she wrote before her murder, had been blackmailing Razak, pressuring him for US$500,000. She did not say how she was blackmailing him, leaving open lots of questions.
Myriad questions have been raised by the year-long trial of Razak and two of Najib’s bodyguards for Altantuya’s murder.
At every turn, those questions could have been answered by calling Najib to the stand.
How could Razak, a civilian and Najib’s closest friend, get the two bodyguards to kill Altantuya without Najib’s knowledge? Najib could answer.
How could the record of the victim being in the country disappear completely from Immigration Department records, as was sworn in court? Najib could answer.
How could the murderers get their hands on the plastic explosives available only to the military used to blow up her body? Najib could answer.
Why did neither the prosecution nor the defense push to investigate a statement made by Altantuya’s cousin on the stand that she had seen a picture of Najib, Razak and Altantuya together at a dinner? Najib could answer.
The statutory declaration of P Balasubramaniam, the private detective hired by Razak to keep Altantuya away from him after their relationship had ended, is so closely detailed that it beggars disbelief that it was fabricated. It makes Najib an integral part of the case, something most of Malaysia’s top government and judicial officials have been seeking to avoid ever since the trial began.
Balsasubramaniam released his sworn statement in the company of his lawyer, which makes it difficult to believe he was coerced. But immediately afterward he was summoned to a meeting with an assistant superintendant of police in Jalan Brickfields, where he was convinced - outside the presence of his lawyer that his memory was faulty. He then signed a statement that his original one had been compelled, and left the country.
In the original declaration Balasubramaniam said Razak told him he had been introduced to Altantuya “by a VIP…who asked him to look after her financially.” Najib, the declaration said, had introduced Razak to Altantuya at a diamond exhibition in Singapore and that Najib had had a sexual relationship with her in the past. Razak was to look after the woman because Najib “did not want her to harass him since he was now the Deputy Prime Minister.”
Is that true? Najib could answer.
Interestingly, according to the document, Razak told Balasubramaniam that Altantuya liked anal sex, which is illegal in Malaysia whether performed with men or women. Anwar might like to make that point to the authorities.
Balasubramaniam also detailed cell phone calls between Najib and Razak in the period after Altantuya’s murder. Did the police check Razak’s phone? Najib could answer.
Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the influential internet journalist, is expected to go on trial for criminal defamation for saying that Najib’s wife was present at the murder. Rather than bringing in Najib and Rosmah to answer questions, they have gone after Raja Petra, who has threatened his own time bombs during his trial. Asked by Asia Sentinel what those revelations might be, he said he would prefer to save them for testimony under oath.
The one truly sad dupe in all this is the prime minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who in all of his sorry reign as prime minister has largely preserved his reputation for integrity despite his fecklessness. Badawi has defended his deputy’s reputation in the face of the fact that virtually all of Kuala Lumpur’s chattering classes have long since become convinced of the couple’s complicity.
Unleashing two thoroughly corrupt law enforcement officials to go after Anwar - Abdul Ghani Patail, the head of the anti-corruption agency, and Musa Hassan, the head of the police, who plainly fabricated evidence in Anwar’s 10-year-old conviction on the same offense, is particularly egregious.
This isn’t to say Anwar is innocent. The jury, to use a newly valid cliché, is still out.
But compare the two. What kind of priorities does this government have in going after a 61-year-old opposition leader with a bad back who presumably would have had a hard time chasing down a mobile 23-year-old aide,
when there is the possibility of finding the true perpetrators of an execution murder of a defenseless 28-year-old mother?
This is the behavior of a despotic system with an eye only to its own preservation.
The Malaysian people deserve better.
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