The Truth Revealed

Thursday, May 10, 2007

RM32 millions Kickbacks: 1.1 billion Yen Questions

by YES MINISTER

Tony Thien reported on May 10, in Malaysiakini.com that Sarawak ACA has received the go-ahead from their headquarters in Putrajaya to investigate the Japan Times report implicating Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and his family with the alleged RM32 million kickbacks paid by Japanese shipping companies for transporting Sarawak logs to Japan.

This is what most people are eagerly waiting for. Hope that the ACA will also investigate other corruptions allegations against Taib.

BE BRAVE: Taib stressing a point when opening the
Parliamentary Seminar for Government Backbenchers 2007.
— Photo by Jeffery Mostapa, The Borneo Post

Perhaps knowing what is forthcoming, Taib had this to say when opening the Parliamentary Seminar for Government Backbenchers 2007 here in Pantai Damai, Sarawak, "Our (legal) system is good enough to fight it out and I will show the example to you. You should not be afraid”.

This is so much sound like a person who is apparently trying psychic himself knowing his fate would be sealed or someone who is in panicked. This is the result of the psychological warfare inflicted upon him by the people. And he added, "government backbenchers not to cower in the face of accusations but to make full use of the country’s legal system to “fight it out”. Building a self-confident and trying to instill comradeship in the backbenchers, meaning let's us fight it together and indirectly saying, "please help me, I'm in troubled". Absolutely compunction. "Bird of a feather float together" hmmm... what a saying.

It is a well known secret that Dewaniaga is a state-affiliated concern in charge of lumber export control and is headed by the Sarawak chief minister's younger brother Onn bin Mahmud, the centre of the RM32 million kickbacks allegation against the Chief Minister Taib Mahmud that was reported in the Japan Times.

Dewaniaga Sarawak (DNS), a company affiliated with the Malaysian state of Sarawak, instructed NFA members to pay so-called intermediation fees to the Hong Kong agent, Regent Star (RS). The Chief Minister's brother Onn bin Mahmud also sits on the board of CMS. Not only is Abdul Taib Mahmud Chief Minister, he's also the Resource Management and Planning Minister. That means he's also the Forestry Minister.

Trying to justify his action on the related matter Taib said: “If you base this by Western standards, of course, there must be something wrong with this country, where a small group of people are sometimes related … as brothers, cousins, classmates … you can’t avoid these things (people being related to one another).

Well, it might still be alright if it is just one or two projects that is given to family members. But one too many and almost everthing is monopolised given to the same family, then there must be something wrong. Rightly so, the Rakyat should question? There would be other members of the community who also would like to have a share in the economic pie of the State. Afterall no one should have the right to deny other people from making a decent living.

And he added, “If you avoid them, you are going to push most of the jobs of developing the State to people who are not connected to the administration, not connected to politics and who can’t implement. They can’t implement your dreams of achieving prosperity". What is wrong if they're not connected to the administration or politically connected? Evereyone should be given a chance to participate in developing the state as long they're capable. As Raja Dr Nazrin correctly said in his keynotes address NATIONAL UNITY AND DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR NATION BUILDING; "First, Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun. Only when each citizen believes that he or she has a common home and is working towards a common destiny, will he or she make the sacrifices needed for the long haul". When people are feeling neglected, of course they will becomes dismayed with the government. In order achieve prosperity, it should not be confined to a single family or community, but to all the Rakyats. That must be the objectives of the government.

“Prosperity is not only about investing in the economy. It depends also on having enough good people to translate your dreams into commercial reality” Taib said.

Wow... is this the thrust of the Barisan Nasional government of which Taib is the state BN head how to develop Sarawak, encouraging cronyism and nepotism? Meaning to say, there are no other Sarawakian capable of implementing any state government projects other than his own family members? This is really absurd! It has been proven that his family members had failed miserably in running a financial Institution, that it had to be sold to the other party? And what's else are the other Sarawakian not capable of other his family members?

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