Similar Scandals, Different Treatment

by Dr. M. Bakri Musa
Morgan-Hill, California

To assert that the Malaysian mass media is nothing more than propaganda arm of the ruling Barisan coalition is no revelation. The personnel in the mainstream dailies, the national news agency BERNAMA, and the government broadcasting channel RTM are less journalists and editors, more political hacks and spinmeisters. They are, to borrow National Laureate Samad Ismail’s word, the carma (contraction for cari makan, seeking a livelihood) variety.

Less appreciated is the fact that they are hired hands not of the Barisan government but of whatever faction in it that is currently dominant, or trying to be so. Thus one can surmise the tensions and the dynamics of the current swing of the political pendulum within Barisan, specifically UMNO, from perusing the headlines. Perusing is exactly the right word, for there is nothing much worth reading in those dailies.

Consider the contrasting treatment in the mainstream media of the two currently unfolding financial scandals. The first is the National Feedlot Corporation mess (“cow-gate”) that is now ensnaring the husband and family of Women’s Minister Shahrizat Jalil; it had also led to her resignation from her cabinet post. The other is the nearly half-a-million ringgit engagement party for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s daughter and an equally expensive birthday bash for himself that he allegedly tried to on to Treasury, and thus the taxpayers.

Both scandals were first exposed in the Internet through the diligent investigations of Rafizi Ramli, the chief strategist for Pakatan Rakyat. With the first scandal, the mainstream media were quick to pick up on and embellish the story; on the second, there was no mention at all. One can safely conclude that the respective primary players in both scandals, Shahrizat with the first and Najib for the second, are from different factions within UMNO. No marks for guessing which side is on the ascendance.

Rafizi is no rabble rouser throwing off wild accusations here and there. His first exposé of the “cow-gate” was initially dismissed by no less than the Deputy Chief of Police; today the principal player, Shahrizat’s husband, is charged with criminal breach of trust and she was caught in the ensuing wake.

With Rafizi’s track record, you would think that those investigative journalists in the mainstream media would be eager to pursue his leads. At the very least their curiosity should have been piqued. Thus for them to completely ignore the story of the alleged publicly-paid engagement and birthday parties meant that they are journalists only in name, and that they are told what to do.

In terms of monetary value, Najib’s birthday bash and his daughter’s engagement party, both totaling at about “just” half a million ringgit, are but a small change compared to the cow-gate’s RM250 million price tag; cow-gate in turn pales in comparison to the multi billion ringgit Port Kang Free Zone Development debacle or the “commission” paid on acquiring the second-hand French submarines that would not submerge.

While the price tag may vary, the underlying mindset of contempt for taxpayers’ money remains. To these leaders the concept of integrity or the diligent exercise of fiduciary responsibility is foreign. At best they are but slogans uttered during election campaigns and then conveniently ignored.

To be sure, this is not a weakness unique only unto Malaysian politicians. In some countries these wayward politicians are caught and brought to justice; in others, well, they continue on business as well, their greed feeding on itself. There is no limit to their avarice. Their “success” would then be celebrated, and they would then become the new role models. Unfortunately that is where Malaysia is today.

What struck me most about this latest scandal, the one involving Najib’s birthday party in particular, was the utter lack of class. Najib has made more than a few UMNOPutras rich through his giving away many lucrative contracts. Surely at least one of them would be generous or grateful enough to host the party for him.

Alas that is the problem with greed; there is literally no boundary to it. Najib’s many rich friends are still expecting to sponge off him! Likewise with Shahrizat’s husband; if he had spread the bounty around just a wee bit as, for example, to include the head of Utusan Malaysia, BERNAMA or The New Straits Times to be on the board of directors of his Feedlot Corporation, Rafizi’s accusation would never have gone beyond cyberspace.

Greedy and unscrupulous politicians alone would and could not do in Malaysia. It would take more. There would have to be a general failure of our institutions to allow such abuses and corruption to go on and be tolerated. Toleration soon degenerates into encouragement, and a new cultural norm is established.

This is what happens when the institutions of our society have been let to deteriorate. They are no longer able to function as effective defenders of citizens’ interests. We expect members of the fourth estate to be aware of their awesome responsibility to keep citizens informed. We expect these journalists to be on the vanguard of this sacred task. Alas they too have been taken in; they have prostituted themselves to those in power.

There is an honorable place in this world for cheerleaders, spinmeisters, or even court jesters and others who see themselves doing the bidding of those who hired them, but reporters and journalists they are not. If those in the mainstream media feel that they have to cari makan, then I suggest that they join the advertising and pubic relations industry. If they are talented enough in that endeavor there will get plenty of rewards. They do not need to soil and degrade the hallowed traditions and functions of the fourth estate.

This degradation of our mainstream media is of course not a recent phenomenon, nor is it a subtle. RTM has only a few hundred followers on its Twitter. As for The New Straits Times, if not for its highly subsidized distributions and subscriptions, its circulation would down in the dumps. And if not for the government-paid announcements and advertisements and paid press releases of government-linked corporations, so too would be the paper’s revenue.

Just as the shifts in fortune among the politically powerful are reflected in the coverage of the mainstream media, so too is the dysfunctional leadership among them. We saw this played out during the early days of barely-under-the-surface rivalry between Mahathir and his then deputy, Anwar Ibrahim. Their supporters take their cue from how their patrons were covered in the mainstream media. The New Straits Times rivaled Pravda in this regard. This was repeated when Abdullah Badawi took over; then it was Mahathir’s turn to be at the receiving end.

There is no honor among UMNO leaders. Theirs is a world of hyenas; a world of winner takes all, right to last bit of morsel of their prey. Mahathir did it to Tengku Razaleigh when the latter lost a closely contested leadership contest back in the 1980s. Mahathir did it again later, this time at a more vicious level, with Anwar Ibrahim. Then Abdullah Badawi tried to do it to Mahathir, and learned to regret it.

You would expect the women of UMNO to show some gentleness. Yet there was Shahrizat and Rafidah still at it with their cat fight, now more openly and much uglier.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the present pathetic state in Malaysia. Our callous acceptance of wrong doing among our leaders did not develop overnight. We have been taught, and taught well, to accept these misdeeds as anything but that, aided by those cheerleaders and spinmeisters in the mainstream media.

Remove the A-G and Reform

by Din Merican

GE 13 is just around the corner. Everyone can feel it. If not, why would PM Najib Tun Razak go around the country making apologies for the past sins of Barisan Nasional. Why would he scrap the Public Service New Remuneration Scheme (SBPA) which had caused much anger to most civil servants except those who would benefit from it like the mediocre Ketua Setiausaha Negara (KSN-Chief Secretary) Tan Sri Sidek Hassan who mooted that stupid scheme.

It is worrisome that the “UMNO Culture” to reap personal benefits has permeated into the once respected Malaysian Civil Service in such brazen manner that top civil servants would dare to create compensation schemes to benefit themselves instead of the lowly paid civil servants who they are supposed to care for.

Fortunately, Prime Minister Najib has now seen the light and scrapped the SBPA. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister did so only after this issue had been strongly highlighted for months by the Opposition. Sidek Hassan’s contract of service should be immediately terminated for making the government look so bad in this flip-flop policy. He must be held fully accountable for this guff.

GE 13 is also the reason why Shahrizat Jalil had to finally step down as Minister. But it is laughable that Wanita UMNO should hail that as her noble act of being a “sacrifical cow’’ over the NFC scandal. It is ridiculous that the rest of the UMNO top leadership should try to make her resignation look like a heroic act to the extent that yesterday TV3 carried interviews showing support for her.

Let’s get our facts right. Shahrizat’s ministerial post depended on her term as a Senator. She was made a senator because she had lost in GE12 in 2008. So, the then PM, Abdullah Badawi, smuggled her into the Senate (Dewan Negara) in order to make her qualify to be a minister. That explained her smugness in shrugging off the NFC scandal as nothing to do with her despite the fact that the shareholders and directors are her children and husband. She must have felt that she owed her office not to the electorate but solely to the Prime Minister. That is what happens when you cheat in elections and appoint losers as cabinet ministers when they feel they are not accountable to the electorate.

The truth is now revealed. Shahrizat’s "resignation" on Sunday (March 11) is to avoid the embarrassment of her from being seen walking hand in hand along the court corridors with her husband, the NFC Executive Chairman Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Salleh Ismail (right), who was charged in court yesterday for Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) and other offences.

It would be embarrassing for her, as a sitting minister, and for UMNO which had defended her and the NFC Board. They had previously blasted the Director CCID Dato Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan for going public to say that the Police had already recommended that the NFC Directors be charged but the decision to prosecute is the prerogative of A-G Gani Patail.

"UMNO Culture" of Arrogance

That “UMNO Culture” of arrogance can be seen repeatedly in the examples of Dr. Awang Adek (left) and Azalina Othman who shamelessly admitted that they had received money, not less than RM300,000- in their private accounts, but made it look as if it was for a noble cause.

It is repulsive that the MACC can accept such explanations without doing anything, whereas Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini were detained, subjected to intense interrogation and subsequently died in the hands of the MACC over mere allegations of petty change. In the case of Ahmad Sarbaini and others, their assets were frozen pending investigations. Are the assets of Shahrizat’s family, Awang Adek’s and Azalina’s frozen pending investigations? What is apparent to the public is that when UMNO strongmen and strong women openly admit receiving bribes and justify their acts of gratification, the MACC seems powerless to act.

Gratification Culture ala UMNO

The “UMNO Culture” of gratification can be seen in the Kidex RM2.2 billion project awarded to Emrail Sdn Bhd and Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd, two companies owned by UMNO lawyer Hafarizam Harun(right) and UMNO former Chief Justice Zaki Azmi, as a reward for their efforts to oust the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Perak.

GE 13 is very near when you see Tun Ling Liong Sik’s defence being called in the trial over the PKFZ scandal. That is a lesson they learned from the Altantuya’s murder by C4 case when they released Razak Baginda without calling for his defence whereas it was Razak who hired the Police UTK boys to help him out of that problem. In the end, Razak is a free man enjoying himself in London from the Scorpene submarine multi-million ringgit commission while the UTK boys are in prison on death row. Sadly, that is the Malaysian story where the big and powerful go scot free and the small people become scapegoats and are left to pick the pieces.

The Fate of DSP Baharin, DSP Hong et.al

That was also the fate suffered by DSP Baharin, DSP Hong and those other policemen who were victimised in 2007. For 4 long years they had to suffer being suspended from work and ostracised by the Police Force that they had loyally served. Thus, I was very happy when Dato Ramli Yusuff paid tribute to these fearless rank and file officers during his 60th Birthday on February 29, 2012.

Many friends asked me why I was not there at that birthday celebration. I told them that I do not mix socially with Dato Ramli even though I may have made him the cause celebre’ of my writings. I have been writing about Dato Ramli and his lawyer Rosli Dahlan, not because they are my friends but because they have become a just cause for us to fight for.

A Witness to MACC's manipulation of facts

I did not know them when I first started writing about their cases. I came to know them when I attended the many court sessions and saw how the MACC manipulated facts and the MACC DPPs like Kevin Morais, Zulqarnain and even its Director of Prosecution Razak Musa (infamous for strangulating himself in the Teoh Beng Hock Inquest) aided and abetted such manipulations especially when Kevin the Faggot lied in court while giving evidence under solemn oath to tell the truth, nothing but the whole truth.

So, when Dato Ramli called to invite me to his birthday, I told him that he need not invite me just out of gratitude and that we need not socialise or be seen together just because he feels somewhat indebted to me. What happened to him and Rosli Dahlan could happen to anyone of us. Thus, I have to tell their story so that it will never be repeated. It is to prevent this country from descending into a failed state.

It was brave of Dato ' Ramli to finally break his 4 years of silence to expose what happened to him, Rosli Dahlan and the other innocent Policemen. And all these point to the abuses of the people helming PDRM, the MACC and the post of the A-G.

In that sense, I agree with Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) that there is no point in making new or additional laws, rules and regulations for better governance if the people we appoint to lead such institutions are unworthy of our trust. What we need to wipe off is the “UMNO Culture” which is not exclusive to UMNO or BN. That culture could also develop in the Pakatan Rakyat government and we, the people, whose votes can put the right people into power, must guard against such abuses.

That brings me to the public revelation made by Dato Ramli (posted by Hafiz Yatim of Malayskini reproduced below) of the abuses of power and of the system by the then IGP Musa Hassan, the MACC and AG Gani Patail to fix Dato Ramli and the other innocent officers. Click: Hafiz Yatim 's Article

With Musa Hassan’s retirement, the new leadership of Tan Sri Ismail Omar has managed the crime index to show great improvement; street crimes are reduced; and the Along menace has subsided. There is also a display of independence by the Police when the current Director CCID Dato Wira Syed Ismail Syed Azizan went public about the Police recommendation to charge the NFC Directors.

Syed Ismail was for many years Dato Ramli’s direct subordinate and had learned well from the misfortune that befell Dato Ramli by making his recommendation public. In a way, Syed Ismail checkmated A-G Gani Patail from manipulating the NFC case the way he did with the MAS case.

Readers will remember that in March 2007, Dato Ramli had made a confidential recommendation to then Prime Minister (Tun) Abdullah Badawi that MAS Chairman, Tajuddin Ramli, should be charged. Dato Ramli even suggested that if A-G Gani Patail declined to do so, his CCID prosecution officers are legally qualified to prosecute the case.

This confidential report had angered A-G Gani Patail, but it was also a time bomb for UMNO. That was when A-G Gani Patail refused to prepare affidavits for the CCID leading to the release of the underworld figure, Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku Goh, and instead charged the rank and file Policemen.

A-G Gani and Musa Hassan also conspired with the MACC, headed then by Ahmad Said Hamdan, to fix up Dato Ramli by false investigations and leaked to the Ppress to make up a story about the “RM 27 Million Cop”. This RM 27 million story immediately fizzled out once Dato Ramli was charged because all these were just fabrications and lies. I have previously written extensively on that and will not repeat the story again.

The point is that if Dato Ramli’s recommendation on the MAS-Tajuddin Ramli scandal had been made public like how Dato Syed Ismail makes public his recommendations on the NFC scandal, there would be little room for A-G Gani Patail to manipulate the case. In any event, Dato Ramli’s victimisation arising from the MAS scandal was just another of UMNO’s project as is evidenced now by the settlement ordered by de facto Minister Dato Seri Nazri Aziz in his letter dated August 8, 2011 that all the GLCs should settle their cases with Tajuddin.

Abu Kassim and the MACC

The MACC is now headed by Dato Seri Abu Kassim. Despite all my criticisms of the MACC, I am told that he is a decent man. Malaysians should be prepared to give Abu Kassim a chance to reform the MACC. If he can do what Ismail Omar is now achieving with the PDRM, then there is still some hope left for the MACC because I am told there is a covert move to oust Abu Kassim. Obviously, some one there is hungry to succeed Abu Kassim. It would be unfortunate if Abu Kassim’s ousting leads to the resurrection of the “Unholy Trinity” where the PDRM and the MACC merely follow orders from A-G Gani Patail.

As for A-G Gani Patail, I am astounded that the Home Minister Dato Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn has demanded for evidence of A-G Gani Patail’s abuses. There is already so much evidence in the public domain. In RPK’s most recent postings “ Reality & Fallacy” and “ Denial Syndrome”, there is posted a Statutory Declaration (SD) of Musa Hassan’s former ADC and referred to nine other SDs. It is pathetic that Hishamuddin should answer in that evasive way. As the Home Minister, he has at his disposal the extensive resources of the whole Police force, especially the Special Branch.

We, Malaysians, do not need to teach the Home Minister how to do his job or how to obtain intelligence. In any event, let me help the Home Minister by reproducing below just two links, photographs and documents that had been previously written of the abuses and suspicious dealings of A-G Gani Patail:

a) A-G Gani Patail’s Haj trip with Shahidan Shafie –A-G Gani's Haj Trip with Shahidan Shafie Why is AG Gani Patail consorting with Tajuddin Ramli’s proxy? Is that why the A-G Chambers refused to take action against Tajuddin despite the recommendations by CCID? and

b) A-G Gani Patail’s involvement in the Ho Hup corporate tussle -Gani Patail and the Ho Hup Connection

Are these not suspicious conduct on the part of A-G Gani Patail that makes him unfit for that august office? Let the Home Minister answer that question.

As for Prime Minister Najib, there is no point to just apologise. The Prime Minister talks about goood governance. Now is the time to show real political will. Now is the time to remove A-G Gani Patail and reform!

Rafizi on Maju Holdings Deal

by Rafizi Ramli@www.malaysia-chronicle.com

I follow very closely the sale of Kuala Lumpur-Putrajaya highway concessions by Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd to EP Manufacturing Berhad, with reported transactions worth RM1.7 billion.

This immediately raised my suspicions as the highway was constructed using large amounts of public funds through government grants worth RM976.7 million. The overall cost of the expressway is estimated at RM1.32 billion and was mostly funded by the people through the RM976.7 million grant given by the government to Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd.

In addition to these grants, I estimate the injection of funds made by Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd was only about RM60 million (i.e 4.5% of overall costs) as they also borrowed RM370 million from financial institutions.

As a result, the sale proceeds of RM1.7 billion will provide a windfall to Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd if the government grants amounting to RM976.6 million is not refunded and paid back. If this happens, after paying their RM370 million debt to financial institutions, this means that Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd will still make a profit of about RM1.33 billion from the estimated investment capital of RM60 million.

Return the Rakyat's money

I urge the Prime Minister in his role as the Minister of Finance to confirm whether Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd will refund the total of RM976.7 million to the people, because if not, it will raise more questions that will continue to provoke people’s fury.

If the RM1.33 billion profit is kept by Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, what are the details regarding the terms of the agreement between the Prime Minister with the owner of Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd, who are known to be supporters of UMNO? Was there an agreement that the profits, which were made from public funds, are to be channeled back to UMNO as 'elections funds'?

Lately, it has become the habit of the Prime Minister to approve transactions involving the cronies of UMNO-Barisan Nasional which are worth billions of ringgit, and this in turn has strengthened the people's fears that the high prices will boomerang to hurt them. To make it worse, the secrecy in which the transactions were all shrouded and the utter lack of transparency only adds to the people's suspicions.

2nd suspicious deal in a single month

This highway concessions sale is the second transaction this month alone involving the use of public fund. 1MDB bought the power utility assets and businesses of BN crony Ananda Krishnan. 1MDB is of course controlled by the Prime Minister, and the purchase of the Ananda assets amounted to RM8 billion. Why was Najib willing to spend such a huge sum when 1MDB clearly lacks experience in the power generation industry?

The amount of funds involved here is RM976.6 million, which is four times higher than that of NFC. The Prime Minister may think that he can get away with the NFC debacle, but surely this highway deal involving such a huge amount of public funds will require greater scrutiny and he better be ready to give some answers.

Malaysians must note that the buck for the Maju Holdings deal stops with Najib because the transactions could never go through without his consent as the Finance Minister.

Mohamed Rafizi Ramli is the Strategy Director of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Translated by Huzainah A Rani of Malaysia Chronicle)

No Place for Corrupt Politicians

by Ahmad Abdillah@www.freemalaysiatoday.com

Every national leader be he in the government or the opposition has to deal with the different kinds of challenges to his leadership.

The nature of his challenges is consequent to whose rights he upholds or usurps and whose needs he serves and deprives accordingly.

A national leader who wants to live up to the standard mark must have the right understanding about the concept of national leadership.

National leadership is about one’s responsibility to the country and people, meaning he upholds the respective rights of the people and serves the needs of the nation.

The justification for serving the people and nation first, is because the rights and needs of those who form the majority should take precedence over the minority, and the rights of the minority will take precedence over those of individuals, in that order.

Secondly the requirements of the people and nation are enormous and manifold – land , education, employment, infrastructure, health care, housing ,share in economic and commercial opportunities, wealth and incomes, racial harmony and security.

This explains why the government has established many ministries, departments and agencies which are manned by civil servants and security personnel.

These groups execute the government’s responses to the needs and problems of the nation.

No place for personal pursuits

Hence these major national needs will become the main challenges to a responsible government.The best approach for a capable and wise leader to take in tackling these challenges is to view each by way of a multi-dimensional analysis, thereby enabling him to choose the best alternative solution to each particular problem in terms of costs,time, priority, and success.

Thus the concept of good governance is best interpreted as the responsibility of government leaders to recognise and give priority to the national interest.Wise leaders should also seek the best solution to the national issues through the multi-dimensional approach geared towards nation-building.

In contrast individual politicians are specific and confined to personal needs only.Anything more than this is considered as an abuse of one’s position and abuses of position is an abuse of power.

If those in the corridors of power believe that the rights and needs of himself, his family and cronies take precedence over that of the people then they have violated the rights of the office, deprived the needs of the majority, broken the Rule of Law and thereby have strayed from the rules of good governance.

Such acts can be construed as crimes against the people and country, not to mention the breaching of religious teachings, universal values and the democratic principles, and dishonoring human dignity.

Therefore individual politicians who are busy serving their own interests have no place in a country where the people want a responsible government to manage its’ wealth and resources towards nation-building.

Self-serving politicians

For political leaders who give priority to self-interests above national interests, such acts will give rise to conflicts of interests between the people/majority rights versus the individual rights of politicians.

Such conflicts of interests will then turn into major national issues that leave them with two options – to deal with or to ignore.If a leader is prepared to tackle these crucial issues, then he has to follow the standard procedures of good governance and Rule of Law.

The first option gives him the second chance to be back on track as a responsible leader for his country. However history has taught us that most power abusers the likes of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,Taib Mahmud and Najib Tun Razak have chosen the second option which is to ignore the critical issues.

When this happens, the issues that are created by their own wrongdoings will not go away but will hit hard on the economic well-being and welfare of the people, independence of the legislature , the judiciary and the media, free elections, nation’s revenue and expenditure.

Once these detrimental effects continue to hit the nation hard, those deprived and oppressed will look for the perpetrators.

Political survival

This is how the rise of the opposition against a government comes about. The rise of the opposition in turn presents a direct challenge to these politicians’ own survival and government.

Consequently they have no choice but to tackle them not according to the standard procedures of good governance and the rule of law but in whatever ways necessary to save their own positions and maintain their power grip.

With such kind of tense confrontation, all forms of counter challenges from the people and the opposition such as the voters, opposition parties, the media , intellectuals and others will be suppressed.

How they try to save themselves depends on each individual power abuser.Mahathir, Taib and Najib, each have their own ways and means to continue to hold on to power and deceive the people.

They have used a range of strategies involving undemocratic policy and malpractices, deception tactics, unethical methods, psy-war such as the on-going distribution of all kinds of goodies, illegal and unlawful acts and declare a state of emergency.

The more their power is under threat, the greater will be their acts of suppression. Such acts are their last line of defence.

Awang Abdillah is a political analyst, writer and FMT columnist.

The NFC Saga continues: Whistleblower gives MACC the evidence

Teoh El Sen | March 7, 2012-www.freemalaysiatoday.com

Businessman Shamsubahrin Ismail says the evidence will prove that NFC Corp chairman Mohamad Salleh had asked him to bribe the Police.

PUTRAJAYA: Businessman Shamsubahrin Ismail handed over evidence that allegedly proves that National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) chairman Mohamad Salleh Ismail asked him to bribe the Police to “close” the controversial National Feedlot Centre case.

He arrived at the Putrajaya Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters around 12.15pm accompanied by four lawyers, including PKR vice-president N Surendran and PKR legal bureau head Latheefa Koya.

He came out at around 3.10p.m. and spoke to reporters. He had handed over to MACC a handphone, some documents including transcripts of SMSes and had a brief statement recorded as well.

“The reason I came to MACC is just to hand over the evidence of what transpired between me and Mohamad Salleh. The evidence will show that I have not cheated him. So now I will leave it to MACC to do a fair and good investigation,” Shamsubahrin, sporting a shaved head, said.

“I am innocent. If not, I will not reveal all the evidence (today),” he added.Asked if he could reveal more details of what happened, such as whether money was actually handed to the Police, Shamsubahrin replied:”I think you wait for MACC’s investigation. I don’t want to say things here while they work on the case.”

Meanwhile, Surendran said that the evidence surrendered today was “clear and solid proof of attempts to bribe the police” and supported his client’s earlier police report made in Klang.

Surendran said the case, which he considered as an attempt to give gratification, should be swiftly acted upon, and MACC should not drag its feet.

“They actually had the phone with them previously. Why instead of taking action then, the whistleblower, Shamsubahrin was slapped with not one but three charges?

“This shows the continuous abuse of prosecution and enforcement powers in this country. The whistleblower is penalised, the real culprits walk free,” he said.

Lawyers barred when statement recorded

Surendran also complained that MACC had prevented lawyers from sitting with Shamsubahrin while his statement was taken, resulting in a “stand-off” lasting 45 minutes.

“This shows the high-handed manner of MACC work. They have no respect for the law, no respect for his right to have lawyers present,” he said, adding that he would bring this up with the Bar Council.

Surendran said the lawyers had, under protest, agreed to stand beyond ear-shot but within view of their client.

“But we say these are unnecessary technicalities as we didn’t want to allow our client such risk after the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbaini. We must remember that Teoh would still be alive today if his lawyer was allowed in,” Latheefa had said.

Shamsubahrin was also represented by lawyers Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi and Siti Maspuah Maulan.

On December 30, Shamsubahrin, 45, was charged with two counts of cheating Mohamad Salleh of RM1.76 million for “negotiation and consultation services” that which he did not deliver.

Mohamad Salleh is the husband of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. The “services”, while not specified in court, were widely speculated to be for the closing of the NFC case.

Shamsubahrin was also charged, while he was warded at the Klang Hospital, with two separate counts of cheating not related to the NFCorp.

On Jan 30, PKR disclosed a police report lodged by Shamsubahrin in which he claimed that Mohamad Salleh had pressured him to bribe police investigators to close the case on NFCorp.

Scapegoat

Shamsubahrin had claimed in the report that he actually had refused to do so as his job scope was only as a consultant. However, he had told Mohamad Salleh he would settle the matter.

Shamsubahrin’s report also claimed that he had been used as a “scapegoat to save Mohamad, his wife Shahrizat and NFCorp’s reputation.”

Shamsubahrin claimed that investigations against him and the charges he was facing were “politically motivated” as they were without basis.

“I am making a report against Mohamad Salleh for cheating me by appointing me as a ‘corporate adviser and consultant’ for NFCorp on Nov 24, 2011 and Nov 28, 2011, but at the same time had made me to believe that the appointment was true, genuine and sincere,” Shamsubahrin stated in the report.

“However, I received instruction and pressure to close the NFCorp case with the police… Mohamad Salleh had, via SMSes and phone, asked me to bribe the police,” stated Shamsubahrin, who claimed he had proof of the conversation.

“Then I was charged with cheating Mohamad Salleh. That’s not true at all because the RM1.755 million which was paid in stages was for my consultation services,” he added.Shamsubahrin would be tried in the Sessions Court on April 4.

The NFCorp issue came to light in October last year after the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report revealed that the RM250-million cattle breeding project had failed to fulfil the objectives of its formation, which was to reduce beef imports.

While Mohamad Salleh headed NFCorp, his three children were directors in the company. Opposition parties, particularly PKR, had made a series of documented exposés linking Shahrizat to allegations of abusing state funds meant for the project.

NFCorp had been accused of misusing parts of the RM250million government soft loan to purchase high-class condominiums, premium land and a luxury car as well as expenses unrelated to cattle farming.

Police are investigating if NFCorp had committed criminal breach of trust, and the MACC, too, is looking into the possibility of “abuse of power” in the corporation.

The A-G and the Former Inspector-General of Police, and an Underworld Boss and the Law

by Hafiz Yatim@www.malaysiakini.com

EXCLUSIVE New information shedding more light on a bizarre five-year-old case allegedly involving the country's most powerful police officer, the attorney-general and an underworld figure has emerged.

Malaysiakini has possession of documents revealing the history of how a number of whistleblowers - whose information lead to the arrest of Johor crime kingpin, Goh Cheng Poh aka Tengku Goh in 2007 - were forced to implicate six police officers investigating the case.

The whistleblowers signed sworn statements claiming that they were turned over by a team of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers. The ACA has since morphed into the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in 2009.

The six Police Officers were subsequently charged with fabricating evidence against Tengku Goh - an alleged gambling and money-laundering kingpin - only to be eventually acquitted, the last of them in mid-2011.Their four-year ordeal began when they, on the orders of then Deputy Home Minister Johari Baharum, began investigating Tengku Goh (For his role in this convoluted scandal, Johari himself was accused of corruption and was investigated by ACA - see 'Tit for tat' chart below).

He had instructed then Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID) chief Ramli Yusuff, previously Pahang police chief, to take on the menace.

Ramli assembled a team of half a dozen men which and during the course of their work unearthed the role of Musa Hassan (left), the former Johor police chief who in 2006 was tapped as the Inspector-General of Police.

The CCID probe revealed that while Musa - during his stint in Johor - had closed down most of the gambling and money-lending syndicates in the southern state, he however helped to "reorganise" the remainder few to operate under an "umbrella" syndicate controlled by Tengku Goh.

Armed with information from underworld informants, the CCID arrested Tengku Goh and he was dispatched to remote Jeli, Kelantan, and placed under restricted residence.

The confidential 'cicero' files

But then, events took a strange twist. Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail (right) stepped in and he was alleged to have used the ACA to access highly confidential files (dubbed the "cicero") on the case.

It is understood that no one, including the IGP and AG, was allowed to have access to the ‘cicero' files since a particular handling officer had been entrusted with them.

The move to use the ACA to intervene in the case sparked a huge uproar in the CCID as this amounted to interference in police work.

Nevertheless, the CCID was ordered to hand over the confidential files to the A-G's Chambers, and as a result the cicero papers landed on the ACA's desk.

With the information from the confidential files, the ACA hunted down the whistleblowers whose information led to Tengku Goh's arrest. The ACA used intimidation, fear tactics and days of interrogation to force the whistleblowers to change their previous statements.

Court documents in Tengku Goh's habeas corpus application also state that the kingpin's arrest and detention were not in accordance with the law as the action had been taken without the prior approval of IGP Musa.

With the informants changing their statements, Tengku Goh was eventually released from his restricted residence in Kelantan and he was allowed to return to Johor.

Malaysiakini had in 2007 published a special report on the scandal, piecing together information in the strange conflict within the very top echelon of the Police Force.

Last month, Ramli in his 60^th birthday speech accused the A-G's Chambers of reneging on its duty to draft affidavits in reply to Tengku Goh's habeas corpus application, resulting in Johari and Ramli having to seek lawyer Rosli Dahlan's help.

How ACA turned over the whistleblowers

A number of statutory declarations obtained by Malaysiakini, dated September 2007, relate how the ACA had coerced the whistleblowers to change their testimony .According to one informant, the ACA officers visited his home and told him that it was "a pity for Tengku Goh to be thrown in a Malay kampong, and this was discriminatory (aniaya) to Tengku".

"The officer also asked whether I knew Tengku was betrayed because he is a friend of IGP Musa. I did not know whether this was a serious or funny question. This got me worried.

"The officer also said the ACA was on Musa's side. I did not know what he meant and I was given a warning not to lie as the real thing was known by the ACA given that ‘all the secrets had been revealed'.

"I did not protest at what he said, but this made me even more worried," says the informant in the statutory declaration.

The whistleblower added that the ACA officers wanted him to "cooperate" with the anti-graft body so the matter could be closed.

He eventually succumbed to the ACA's request after five straight days of interrogation, and he was shown photographs to identify the police officers who took his statement.

"I made this statutory declaration (on the turnover) voluntarily as I fear for my family and my safety given that the information which I had given (earlier to the police) had been leaked.

"Others will now be scared to give information as they will be afraid that their identities can be compromised," laments the informant in the sworn statement.

Identities of Police Informants exposed

Another individual said in his statutory declaration that he was neither afraid of the police or ACA but feared that the frequency of having the anti-graft body contact him would make it more likely for word to get out to the underworld that he was a possible informant leading to Goh's arrest.

This, he said, would endanger his and his family's lives. Yet another whistleblower who made a statutory declaration said he had asked the ACA officer interrogating him whether Tengku Goh's men knew about the matter and the response was "yes".

"I inquired that if Tengku Goh was released, can the ACA protect me and he replied that if I cooperate with the ACA, I will be given protection. I told him I was not afraid of the police or ACA, but the gangsters hired by the kingpin.

"Before leaving the interrogation room, an ACA officer showed his pistol and said the ACA is as strong as the police. The police are more afraid of the ACA and you should not be afraid of the police.

"I am more confused over the ACA officer's remark, which seemed to come across to me like a form of intimidation," says the informant in his sworn statement.

Ramli volunteers to testify in tribunal

Malaysiakini has asked Musa to respond to the accusation that he and A-G Abdul Gani had fixed Ramli and his men, and allegedly protected an underworld figure. He gave a curt response: "That you have to ask the A-G." Ramli (right), when contacted by Malaysiakini to verify the facts and allegations in the statutory declarations, said he was willing to testify should there be a tribunal set up by Parliament against the former Police Chief and the A-G..

He added that he has new evidence regarding Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's black-eye incident and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) chairperson Tajuddin Ramli - the two incidences which he was personally involved in when he was in the Police Force.

Ramli, in his birthday speech last February 29, revealed how the ACA was used by Abdul Gani to help Musa nail him and his men, where they were charged of wrongdoing but were eventually acquitted by the court.

The former CCID Chief had also in 2007 said that he suspected something was amiss in the ACA probe in which, he alleged, he and his officers had been victimised.Both Ipoh Timur MP Lim Kit Siang and Pokok Sena MP Dato' Mahfuz Omar have previously called for a tribunal to be set up by the Parliament to put Abdul Gani and Musa on trial.

Najib will debate with "responsible leaders" and why

by Mansor Rehman (03-05-12) @www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Prime Minister may make light of the survey findings which indicate that most Malaysians want him to debate with Anwar Ibrahim but the sad fact is that this man has too many skeletons and question marks next to his name to risk a debate even with Jelapang Hu.

Therefore the best he can do via his blog (again a safe option so he will not have to answer tough questions from the alternative media) is to talk about only debating with responsible leaders and not those prone to conspiracy theories.

This is diversion 101: when you are stuck, blame the other party. In truth, Najib Razak will not debate with anyone and these are the reasons:

1) He will be asked questions about his deafening silence in the wake of the campaign of violence by his party and their storm troopers, Perkasa, against the Opposition.

2) He will be asked about the ballooning national debt and the irresponsible manner in which his government is spending money to buy votes.

3) He will be asked to justify the unholy haste in which the government is pushing through the listing of FELDA.

4) He will be asked to answer questions on the death of Mongolian model Altantuya Shariibuu, the infamous sms exchange between him and lawyer Shafee Abdullah and the hefty commission paid to a company linked to his confidant in relation to the submarine deal.

5) He will be asked to define his moving 1 Malaysia concept in the wake of his adoption of Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali, Zulkifli Noordin and Hasan Ali.

6) He will be asked to debate the NEP and its love affair with cronies.

7) He will have to discuss the foot-dragging surrounding the National Feedlot Corporation and the reluctance to investigate the Attorney-General Gani Patail over a box full of serious allegations, not to mention the settlement with Tajuddin Ramli (ex-Chairman of Malaysia Airlines).

8) He will have to talk about the government’s embarrassing use of taxpayers money to pay FBC Media and buy good publicity abroad.

9) He will have to talk about his half-baked apology for the past sins of UMNO.

10) He will have to talk about Sodomy II.

A debate will be too onerous for Najib and that is why he will not share the stage with Anwar Ibrahim or anyone. That is the plain truth and it hurts.

Courted Today, Cheated Tomorrow.

by sakmongkol AK47

Courted Today, Cheated Again Tomorrow.
This is an abbreviated version of Walla’s comments. I have chosen the above title.

The second episode of Lord Of The Rings may come on (if Rais allows after reading this).
Watch the flip-flopping schizoid creature Gollum in action. One minute sweet-talking, next minute venomous and scheming. Gollum (aka Preciousss) only wants the Ring. Because the Ring confers power to protect the Evil One.

As Umno president, Najib has been flip-flopping from day one. His party has no winnable candidates.

That will explain all the forthcoming cheating at the polls of GE13. It will also explain all past moves and present maneuverings. If a party has to monopolize the mainstream media to obfuscate the rakyat and make use of a psych-op warfare unit to try and turn voters, you already know it is finished.

The Ring is to make sure Umno is returned to power so that we can get more cheap meat for the next five years?

Or for Felda settlers to sign off their fields, hearing sweet promises that those fields will never be taken away? After all, how can one move a fixed place? But never tell them that the ownership of the fixed place will change hands - for once in the market, who will own what will always be fleeting. That’s what markets are supposed to do.

Last but not least. Voters must stay focused from now on. Remember only one thing. Everything dispensed to you is but a small fraction of the bigger amount skimmed off for a few.
Shahrizat and Toyo are small fries useful as door-stoppers, respectively to lead Umno Wanita and Umno Selangor. The big ones are elsewhere. So too the bigger sums of the rakyats’ money siphoned. It’s all about corruption of rakyat money using federal organizations by a combination of proxy process and coerced suppress.

If Umno tells you the Opposition only makes empty promises, hold Umno to it. Tell Umno to distribute more federal funds to Pakatan-run states so that the voters can see if those state governments will be doing any less than Umno-held state governments for the rakyat. Then come talk.

In fact, the Umno general members should vote for the Opposition wherever they be so that Umno can be put to sit in the opposition bench for one term in order to finalise the list of mistakes it should be apologizing for.

With what it has been showing all this while, it is only pretending to be sincere, or worse, it doesn't seem to know.

How else can one explain why the MOE is asking for feedback from the rakyat after half a century spending gruesome amounts of their money to create an education system only best for attracting toxic waste foreign investments and producing BTN-zombies who having been given british-best seats over others more deserving are now only good at badmouthing non-Malays behind their backs?

The Lynas Project is now a Political Hot Potato

by Maclean Patrick, Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

The Lynas rare-earth refinery has become a hotbed of controversy. Prime Minister Najib Razak has gone to great lengths to justify the need to have the RM700 million refinery operate at a small town in his home-state.

According to Najib, the government has already reviewed Lynas Corp’s operations and the firm has been given strict guidelines to follow. “We would not give an operating license unless we are satisfied that the local community can accept that this project is safe,” he told the press in the wake of the 20,000-strong Himpunan Jijau 2.0 protest held last weekend.

The PM also noted that one of the conditions attached to Lynas Corp’s Temporary Operating Licence is that the disposal of toxic waste materials must be done at a remote location away from the local community. But this does not in any way appease or help to assure Malaysians especially the residents in Gebeng, Pahang, where the plant is sited.

“If the rare earth processed by Lynas is not toxic, it would require a different method of disposal. But toxicity is a subjective matter and should not be taken lightly," Robert Phang, an executive council member of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation and a former member of the MACC Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel, said in a statement.

"Australia is many time larger than Malaysia but how come it does not allow such a facility on its land? The reason is very obvious. As such Malaysia should not and cannot allow itself to be used by Australia as a toxic rare earth dumping ground. If the government approves the Lynas facility at all risks, it will inevitably arouse suspicion of corruption in the project.”

Corruption most foul

Indeed, cries of corruption - ever present in the Malaysian scenario - are beginning to grow louder given the lengths that the Najib administration is going through to ensure the project is not scrapped.

Meanwhile, minister in the PM's department, Koh Tsu Koon, insists the hunt for a suitable storage site for waste material from the Lynas operation will involve as many as four ministries. But even if it involved a hundred ministries, it will not reduce the risks of contamination by a single decimal place.

So far, the ongoing discussions have included the Science, Technology and Innovation; Health; International Trade and Industry; and Natural Resources and Environment ministries. “I have also spoken up on this issue within the Cabinet, and my colleagues in the Cabinet have already made a statement to ask Lynas to move their waste material away,” Koh said.

Critics of the Lynas refinery want the government to halt its construction and direct the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) to reverse a decision to grant Lynas a temporary operating licence (TOL), which will allow it to embark on a two-year trial run. They allege that the Australian miner has not given enough assurances on how it will handle the low-level radioactive waste that will be produced at the refinery. They further assert that plans for an off-site storage location for the refinery’s waste material “is totally senseless” and reflected “a shallow understanding of the ecological system and blatant disrespect of natural environment.”

Things done in reverse - why?

Indeed, the Najib administration seems to be doing things in reverse. Facilities have been built before a TOL was issued and even though Najib assured that the local community must be satisfied the project was safe before giving the green light. A sign that the discontent is not only strong but rising is the overwhelming show of support from across the nation at last weekend's anti-Lynas campaign in Kuantan. Thousands turned up at the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rally organized by Gebeng residents, activists and PKR MP Fuziah Salleh to protest the Lynas plant.

Without doubt, there is fear something is seriously wrong with Lynas and it is not just about the environmental impact the radioactive waste material may leave,but there is also deep concern at why the Najib administration could allow such a “dirty” industry to come into Malaysia.

Firstly, by allowing a rare-earth refinery on local shores, does this open the door for Malaysia to take in other “dirty” industries unwanted by the more prudent nations in the world? Is Malaysia that far sunk in its economic deterioration that it has no choice but to literally be the "toilet" of the world so to speak in order to avert recession?

Remember, Aussie-based Lynas could not get a permit from its own home government to set up its refinery plant and Australia is a continent with vast tracts of remote and un-peopled interiors. While the Australian government shuns the headache of having to potentially deal with radioactive waste, a gullible Najib not only accepts the offer hook, line and sinker but event plants the refinery in his home state.

There are also plans for an aluminium smelting plant to be built in Bintulu, Sarawak. Again a sign that Malaysia is positioning itself as a safe-haven for "dirty" industries with hazardous waste products that no-one else wants to harbor.

Now only looking for dumping ground? How can that be?

Secondly, why is the Najib government, only now looking for a means of disposing the Lynas waste products? This need to search for a safe dumping ground comes after issuance of a TOL. Should not the dumping site be identified first before issuing any TOL? Should not due notice be given to residents living nearby to the dumping site? Why are things being done in such an incompetent and unprofessional manner that clearly suggest a plan to hide and to deceive the residents and the Malaysian public?

Again, a sign that things are being done in reverse by the Najib administration and deliberately so. But is this not the modus-operandi of the Najib administration and how it to-date has gone about its business. Whether Najib realizes it or not, it is like he is conjuring up a project, dumping it onto the community and forcing the residents to accept the plans. And when mishaps happen - like in the Bukit Merah rare earth refinery where radioactive contamination had killed several people and injured dozens - the BN government acts as if no such negative occurrence had ever taken place before.

Determined to reprise the Bukit Merah tragedy

The Bukit Merah case is little known even in Malaysia, and virtually unknown in the West because the plant-operator, Mitsubishi Chemical, quietly agreed to fix the problem without any legal order to do so. Local protesters had contacted Japanese environmentalists and politicians, who in turn helped persuade the image-conscious company to close the refinery in 1992 and subsequently spend an estimated USD100 million to clean up the site.

Workers in protective gear have already removed over 11,000 truckloads of radioactively contaminated material, hauling away every trace of the old refinery and even tainted soil from beneath it, down to the bedrock as much as 25 feet below, To dispose off the radioactive material, engineers had to cut off the top of a hill located three miles deep in a forest reserve, bury the material inside the hill’s core and then entombed it under more than 20 feet of clay and granite. So far, Bukit Merah residents - 11,000 in number, have suffered eight leukemia cases within a five year period. Seven of the leukemia victims have since died.

The people must rise before such an uncaring government

The pressure to close the Bukit Merah refinery came from local and Japanese protesters and not due to the BN government, then led by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, which had approved the project.

Fast forward to 2012. Instead of learning the bitter lessons of past decades, the BN government now headed by Najib seems to be determined to reprise history. For sure, once the 13th general election is over and if the BN retains the federal government, the Lynas project will be bulldozed through.

Once again, it is up to the people of Malaysia to rise up before it is too late to put a stop to an act destined to harm this generation and those that come after it.

Malaysia Chronicle