UNSINKABLE FLOATING OBJECTS (update & repost)

Sim Kwang Yang has raised some very pertinent issues in his essay, "Whom should we trust?" Ultimately, we have to love and trust ourselves before we can love and trust anybody else. Otherwise we will end up behaving like the proverbial lemming, incapable of independent thought and action.

Every day I bump into people who continue to parrot well-worn clichés about Anwar Ibrahim being tainted during his long stint in Umno, his unrelenting political ambition, his connections with the Zionist banking fraternity - and, worst of all, the Islamic zeal that first shot him to prominence as a hot-headed leader of ABIM (the Muslim Missionary Movement). All these negative perceptions of the man are ultimately rooted in deep fear of individuals like Anwar Ibrahim whose lives seem like epics compared to most of us.

Every culture produces its own cult heroes - strangers who appear from out of nowhere, slay an ogre, marry a princess, and end up ruling the kingdom. Most of us are fascinated by heroes. After all, that's where our role models come from. However, in recent times, with the rise of the corporate superpower, heroes have become a manufactured product. The mass media conspires to transform ordinary folks into superstars - and then, almost inevitably, they commit deicide by ripping their icons to shreds through vicious gossip and slander.

Sim rightly advises us to reclaim the authority that resides within each of us, to embody within our own beings the noble qualities of the hero. This is the mark of a mature individual. As more of us become our own heroes, we shall no longer be in awe of other heroes. Instead we will befriend and cooperate with them to manifest our collective dream of the Promised Land.

During Mahathir's 22-year reign as PM, he effectively dismantled all the mechanisms by which citizens of a functional democracy can replace non-performing or misbehaving public servants. Without journalistic freedom, no real information reaches the ground, only corporate propaganda. Without academic, artistic and intellectual freedom there can be no open dialogue on values, perceptions and collective visions. Without a politically neutral civil service and police force, a climate of Orwellian absolutism prevails. And without an impartial and independent judiciary, no justice can exist, nor can serious wrongs be righted.

In effect, Malaysian politics under Mahathir was like a public toilet with no working flush mechanism. There's nothing more unpleasant than walking into the loo only to find Unsinkable Floating Objects in the bowl. With no flush - and no bucket and pail to perform the job manually - we had no choice but resign ourselves to the less-than-delightful odor and the disgusting sight of public servants, fattened on sleazy lucre, who simply refused to resign or retire even when they had long overstayed their welcome.

Rather than succumb to mistrust and fear, we would do much better to regard Anwar Ibrahim as a Master Plumber who will take on the unpleasant but absolutely necessary task of fixing the flush mechanism. Once that is accomplished, nobody will be reluctant to "get their hands dirty" by participating in local politics as every adult citizen should. The public bowels will be regularly moved and Malaysia's infamous stinky loos will become a nightmare of our collective past. In other words, let's get a grip on our conditioned reflexes. BN (now PN) has misruled us for far to long by playing on our fears. They fanned the flames of the non-Malays' Islamophobia even as they played up the Malays' anxieties about being overwhelmed by noisy platoons of pig-eating pagans.

In a fear-free atmosphere of open discussion - such as we were experiencing for a decade or so courtesy of the Internet (but even that has faded away, no thanks to MCMC and the globalist tech giants) - clarity, truth and wisdom did have a slim chance of prevailing over atavistic superstitions and taboos. 

When the public lavatories are clean and functional, people will be less likely to walk around full of their own crap - and public servants who become bloated with egotism and greed will find themselves unceremoniously flushed away.

[First published 14 April 2008, reposted 6 March 2013]

IT WASN’T JUST A TSUNAMI, IT WAS A TECTONIC SHIFT!

During the months leading up to Malaysia’s 14th General Election, I was often asked, “Who do you think will win, what’s going to happen?”

My response would be: “Anything is possible these days. I’m not a prophet.” Sometimes I would add: “If BN remains in power, your children will probably have to migrate. Najib will see to it that all opposition is systematically eliminated. Guan Eng will be found guilty and sent to jail, along with Rafizi, Tony Pua, and anyone who poses a threat or even asks too many questions. Kit Siang they will probably not dare imprison, but they might find a way to accelerate Mahathir’s demise. Najib and Rosmah have committed too many crimes to take any more chances, so this could be the final election.”

I felt, on the whole, emotionally disengaged from the political drama. I continued to monitor developments via online news portals (haven’t been subscribed to newspapers since the late 1980s or early 1990s) and was dumbfounded whenever I saw Najib’s paid apologists attempt to blinker voters to the serious damage his rogue regime had inflicted on the rule of law and all decent values. How could anyone possibly take on such a hideous task as to serve as a professional wormtongue to such a debauched, degenerate kakistocracy? Surely it can’t just be for the money, these people must be morally (or amorally) aligned with the power elite. They must all be suffering from Terminal Cynicitis with their unshakeable faith in Might as Right.

May 9th, 2018, was like any other day for me. I got out of bed in the late morning as usual, ignoring politicians’ pleas for voters to get to the polling stations early. Had a leisurely brunch then drove 13 minutes to the secondary school where I was registered to vote. It was a sunny blue-sky day and I felt totally at peace within and without. When I got to the polling station, there was hardly a crowd and  and when I entered the classroom for my voting stream, I was the only voter. I was in and out in less than 3 minutes. On my way out someone wearing an EC pass greeted me – a local guy helping with the logistics. He said something like, “What do you think?” I replied, “Things need to change!” – and he smiled.

When I got back to my car I remembered the BN flag I had impulsively ripped from its pole on my way out of the village. I had tucked it under my seat and wondered what I should do with it. I decided to stop by a public trashcan, stuff the flag inside and snap a photo. Back home I set fire to the BN flag, watching with grim satisfaction the plastic melt into a toxic looking residue. Just casting my one vote for Pakatan Harapan somehow didn’t feel like it was enough, so I was compelled to perform this private ritual and photograph it. Posted both images on my facebook timeline with the caption:

Sometime in the late afternoon, I heard a large tree crashing down in the distance. About an hour later my wife rushed into my study and broke the news that somebody had died. She was rather incoherent so I went out and checked with our neighbor Nuak from whom Anoora gets all the local gossip. “Anoora says there’s been a death in the village, what happened?” Nuak said it was Ali Juhri, the Indonesian contractor married to a local who lived up the hill. Apparently, the tree I had heard falling had killed him.

Amidst the excitement of Election Day, the freak accident that killed Ali didn’t fully register. I decided to go to his house and ascertain what had befallen him. As I approached the steep road leading to Ali’s house, I found the road blocked by police cars and an ambulance. Half the village was gathered there, including the Batin (headman). I recognized the ambulance attendant as the same guy who had removed the stitches from my son’s surgery wound last year. We had a chat and he told me Ali had recently bought a chainsaw and decided he would cut down a big tree and get some timber to build something around his huge compound. Too bad he ran in the wrong direction as the tree came tumbling to the ground and got pinned underneath. They were waiting for the police forensics team to arrive and photograph the body in situ before removing it. Not much I could do except go home and monitor the election results as they came trickling in.

Ali’s dramatic demise somehow felt like an omen. I had heard from another Indonesian guy married to a villager that Ali Juhri had been a covert agent of Jakim (the Islamic Missionary Institute), working through Jakoa (the Orang Asli Development Agency) who had over the years helped to recruit converts for which he was financially rewarded and given many perks. Since 2010 there had been a record number of Temuan converts to Islam. It was quite a contrast to see village kids gleefully frolicking naked in the river one day and demurely covered up the next on their way home from school.

These were some of the disturbing signs of an insidious psychic and cultural colonization of the down-to-earth indigenous soul that has been the primary focus of the Barisan Nasional government since the 1990s. In the words of an academic dissertation by Alice Nah published several years ago, the Umno-led government felt compelled to systematically assimilate all indigenous pagan tribes into mainstream Malay-Muslim culture, in order to legitimize their own spurious claim to indigeneity, at the same time reinforcing their demographic and political dominance.

On a macro scale this is pretty much what befell Barisan Nasional in the wee hours of May 10th as it became clear that their 61 years of political hegemony had finally ended. The very earth had cracked open and swallowed them up. Or, to return to my earlier metaphor, the monolithic tower they had erected to aggrandize and gratify their own inflated egos (not to mention their atavistic robber-baron ids) had collapsed on them, crushing their megalomaniacal dreams of Heute die Welt, morgens das Sonnensystem ("Today the world, tomorrow the solar system!").

[To be continued...]

Basiran Nasional? ... Embarisan Nazional? ... Barbarisan Nastianal? ... Borosan Nasikangkang?

Once again, with apologies to Malaysiakini, I just have to repost this classic from the indefatigable Dean Johns...

What BN really stands for
Dean Johns
14 March 2012 / Malaysiakini

On the face of it this is painfully obvious, at least to most Malaysians. BN stands for Barisan Nasional, the coalition that has ruled them increasingly crookedly and incompetently for the past half-century.

But as ‘Barisan Nasional’ means ‘National Front’, the question remains what and who BN is a front for, and how much longer it can get away with all the ugly realities it strives to hide behind its carefully-crafted facade.

How much longer, for example, can some apparently sentient Malaysians keep taking it seriously as ‘Barisan Nasional’, when, as I pointed-out in a column some months ago, BN is so evidently a front for what could justly be called ‘Basiran Nasional’?

I recall that at the time several readers complained of my calling BN ‘basi’, which I had discovered in my trusty pocket Malay-English dictionary to mean “stale, rotten, out-of-date”, on the grounds that it was abusive.

An accusation to which my response was and remains that, after 54 dreary years in power, BN has come to stand for so much that is basi, not to mention buruk and busuk, that it’s ridiculous.

And if this plainly evident fact strikes anyone as abusive, or even ABUsive, I’m delighted. BN has subjected Malaysia and Malaysians to such an intolerable burden of abuse, of everything from public funds to human rights and civil liberties that no amount of verbal abuse by me or anyone else can come close to restoring the balance.

Especially in view of the fact that the rot goes on unabated, so that Barisan/Basiran seems to be not just a false front or throwback to the dim, dark ages, but a veritable Barahsan Nasional.

Cancer mutated into conspiracy

A cancer that has grown from barely-detectable beginnings in a formerly apparently benign political coalition, and mutated and metastasised into a malignant criminal conspiracy that threatens the livelihoods and even the lives of Malaysian citizens.

If you think I’m exaggerating in the life-and-death department, take a look at the what BN expects Malaysians to Barinsanely stand for at the hands of their Nasional law-enforcement agencies.

Not only the unexplained, uninvestigated and of course unpunished homicide of ‘suspects’ in staged ‘shoot-outs’ and in custody, and charges and counter-charges between senior police and law officers allegedly in league with organised crime, but such dereliction of ordinary, everyday duties that communities have to pay private security organisations to ensure their own and their families’ safety, and the fatality rates on Malaysia’s pathetically-policed roads are 10 times of those in countries like the UK and Australia.

Then there’s BN’s legendary standing as Borosan Nasional, extravagantly spending and squandering so much public money on its members and their relatives and cronies as to threaten to reduce the rakyat to ruin.

The prime minister and his shopaholic consort spend fortunes jet-setting around the world and throwing glitzy parties using either public funds or mysteriously-amassed millions of their own. Billions disappear in ‘commissions’ on submarines, armoured personnel carriers and other ‘defence’ deals, and countless more billions go missing in ‘soft loans’, ‘bail-outs’ and ‘development’ schemes and scams.

And in case the poor suckers who pay for all this get wise to how wantonly they’re being cheated, short-changed, ripped-off, and thus take to complaining or - horror of horrors - avenging themselves at the ballot-box, there’s the ultimate expression of what BN stands for, Barisandiwara Nasional.

What a show of shows this is. What a dazzling display of deception, trickery, illusionism and sleight-of-hand. Roll up, roll up and see BN’s ‘world’s best democracy’, never mind BN’s world-class anti-democratic laws, phoney BN ‘reforms’, rigged BN electoral system and BN ‘transformations’ that turn out to be just more of the same old BN transfornications.

Tune-in to the BN show-trials of opposition leaders, and selected scapegoats in BN scandals where ‘justice’ has to be seen to be done by a hand-picked BN judiciary.

Sit through years of fraudulent BN ‘inquests’ and ‘royal commissions’ that eventually end but never come to any actual, actionable conclusions.

See, hear and read all the exciting, sordid details of BN allegations against its critics and opponents, and thrill to the thunderous silence about BN crimes and misdeeds in the BN-biased ‘news’ media.

Chorus of sectarian discord

Feel the peace, love and harmony of a BN-united 1Malaysia, and never mind the dreadful din of the BN-conducted chorus of racial and sectarian discord.

Barisan Nasional is no doubt a front for many more evils than those I’ve identified among those that BN stands for.

But I’m right on deadline for this column, so I haven’t much time to come up with any others. In any case, despite my ownership of the dictionary I mentioned up front, I’ve pretty well exhausted my store of BN-appropriate Malay words.

Or to put this another way, I’m monolingual or what I guess you could call homotextual in English, unlike many of you readers in Malaysia who, ‘homo’ being a no-no, are pretty well all heterolingual or even heteroliterate and thus far better-equipped to come up with some more ideas.

But whatever language we all manage to communicate in, I’m sure that the vast majority of us are on the same page when it comes to BN.

Only a 1Malaysiac, 1Malaysiaccomplice or 1Malaysiaccessory would stand for another minute of Barisan, Basiran, Barahsan, Barinsane, Borosan, Barisandiwara or any other kind of Nasional anyone can think of that BN stands for.

With the notable exception, of course, of the words that those of us who can’t stand BN for another minute would love to see come true: Burysan Nasional.

-------

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published books of his columns for Malaysiakini include Mad about Malaysia, Even Madder about Malaysia, Missing Malaysia and 1Malaysia.con.

[First posted 15 March 2012, reposted 3 December 2013]

Living on Fresh Air, Sunshine & Love (revisited)

As the year 2007 rolls to a bumpy conclusion I can't help but reflect on the events that have impacted on my attention over the preceding 13 moons. Since news first broke of the macabre murder of the pretty Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu, the national karma appears to have taken a dramatic dip into a deeper darkness, precipitating a groundswell of discontent and dissatisfaction with the BN government - which has been responsible for governing this country since 1957.

When times were good many turned a blind eye to the clear signs of misgovernance witnessed during Mahathir's 22-year reign as prime minister and president of Umno. While those who ought to know better commended him for his Vision 2020, I found myself diametrically opposed to Dr M's worldview and values. I saw my fellow Malaysians systematically seduced by the promise of western-style industrialization and consumerism ("Look East," Dr M exhorted us, conveniently forgetting that if you look far enough east you'll eventually find yourself looking up your own rear end).

I was totally opposed to his policy of "development" at the expense of our natural heritage and humanitarian qualities. Even as Malaysians became more engrossed with the trappings of material "success" they began to lose sight of humbler virtues. In a community of crooks, liars and hypocrites, an honest soul quickly gets left behind as one unfit to survive - such was the Zeitgeist of Dr M's Neo-Darwinian Malaysia.

We get the leaders we deserve, they say, and the truth of that seems to have been borne out by the disappointing results of the 1999 general election when BN managed to retain its two-thirds majority - despite its brutal, malicious and vindictive handling of Anwar Ibrahim's sacking and the massive Reformasi Movement that it triggered. The shameful manner in which the Anwar Ibrahim trial was misconducted made it crystal clear that the Malaysian Judiciary was abjectly beholden to the Executive - and that this had been so since the inauspicious and unceremonious sacking of Lord President Salleh Abas in 1988.

And yet the people voted BN back into power in 1999. In fact, it's common knowledge that Anwar Ibrahim wasn't very popular with the Chinese business community - and the Indian voter is easily swayed by anyone who appears to be a strongman - in this instance, Samy Vellu had proven his mettle as a vicious streetfighter over a very long career in the politics of pragmatism. Well, in retrospect, Malaysia would have done well to enter the new millennium on a clean political slate. Instead, the unresolved issues of the previous century continue to plague our overfed bureaucracy.

However, it's never too late for change. And going by the renewed resolve of many young Malaysians to continue pressing for a clean-up of the electoral and judicial machinery - without which no other reforms can be successfully implemented - I'm optimistic that a New Dawn is in the offing. Meanwhile, it's extremely depleting and depressing to keep harping on the obscene excesses and the insufferable arrogance of BN politicians. Besides, a few of my fellow Malaysian bloggers have already cornered the market on political scandal. And so I shall change subject completely and share with you a few images that bring genuine joy and a sense of celebration to my heart.

FOLKS, MEET EMMA & SUNSHINE!

Emma (14) and Sunshine (13) have been friends since kindergarten days.

Emma happens to be the only daughter of a very dear friend of mine, John Puracal, who was my classmate in 1967 (when I studied at the Muar High School for six months). Sunshine (whose actual name, Hsing Shan, I find impossible to spell or pronounce) is Emma's best buddy. They recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of their friendship at Magick River. They both passionately love the river and whenever Emma returns from Perth where she's enrolled in high school, she insists that her dad chauffeur them to visit their Uncle Antares.

My favorite bathing beauties in all the world!

I remember the first time Emma and Sunshine showed up at Magick River. Emma was initially apprehensive about playing in the strong currents and felt impeded by her spectacles - without them she was extremely insecure, and with them on she was constantly afraid the river might steal them. Sunshine was the complete opposite. Without a moment's hesitation she followed my example and jumped 15 feet into the Baby Fall (wonderful fun once you've overcome your fear, but for those who haven't, the prospect is nothing short of terrifying). I was so impressed with Sunshine's wild spirit and her natural ease in the water I immediately adopted her as my goddaughter.

The wetter the better!

With each river visit Emma began to release her fear. These days she confidently moves around in the water without her glasses - and as a consequence has so much more fun with the natural jacuzzis that abound. Recently she's even begun to leap into the rushing current holding her buddy Sunshine's hand. Believe me, there are few greater pleasures in life than seeing somebody transcend the self-imposed limitations of fear. There's a huge lesson there for all of us: the less fear we carry the more joy we'll feel.

Emma and her Daddy, my ancient classmate John Puracal.

Well, Sunshine called me last week from Bidor, where she's spending the year-end holidays with her aunt and uncle. She tried persuading me to visit her in Bidor - and I certainly would have driven up to see her; but her next SMS informed me that her aunt and uncle said they'd drive her over instead. And I just had a chat with Arif who announced that Emma is due back next week. Now that I know I'll soon be seeing my beloved undines, Emma and Sunshine, all I can ask for is a clear blue sky when they're here :-)

My golden boy, Mr Wong Beng Oi, loves Emma and Sunshine too.

[Happy photos by Antares; the rest pinched from various internet sources. First posted 6 December 2007]

WHO DA FUCK IS DIS GUY? NOW WE ALL KNOW...

But would you trust him with RM5 billion of your hard-earned pension funds... after he made RM30 billion disappear into thin air?


Like his former boss Daim Zainuddin, he stays clear of the spotlight, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes. As Mahathir's financial advisor in the 1980s Nor Mohamed Yakcop was implicated in a series of colossal disasters and largely responsible for the shocking loss of RM30 billion of the rakyat's money in forex speculation that ended in abysmal failure. Instead of losing his job, he gets promoted to Second Finance Minister. Only in Bolehland!

It now transpires that Daim Zainuddin, then finance minister, had in 1992 authorized Nor Mohamed Yakcop to gamble with our money in the forex casino, with the acquiescence of Bank Negara governor Jaffar Hussein and prime minister Mahathir Mohamed. They probably agreed to split the profits, if any - but any losses incurred would be quietly foisted on the public. Nice guys, huh?


From Malaysiakini (Vox Populi | 26 July 2008): "Recent developments have shown that Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop indeed played a pivotal role in Bank Negara's forex scandal between 1992 to 1994. It would now be embarrassing to Pak Lah's administration if he continues to serve as Malaysia's second finance minister after being responsible for such a colossal loss of up to RM30 billion of the people's money. The most honourable thing for him to do would be to step down and come clean on the enormous forex losses as a result of speculation in the international currency markets in the 90s."

The forex scandal is ‘plunder’ of the highest order. Pak Lah must not close one eye to this gross offence of misappropriation of funds, which had allegedly occurred. Pak Lah who serves under the BN government must carry through his pledge to clean up the country. The best way to do that is to start with all the alleged abuses and misappropriation of funds over the last 20 years of the BN rule. The Sabah immigration scandal, Perwaja, MAS, Miti share allocations and the use of the people’s EPF money. Until he does this and investigate the losses, BN will forever be haunted by the ghosts of the past. The people will not rest until we see the culprits brought to justice, and if not, BN must be held responsible.

THE RM700 MILLION BANK ISLAM SCANDAL (2005)

RM30 BILLION FOREX FIASCO (1992-94)

MORE ON THE RM30 BILLION FOREX FIASCO

IT'S A MAD, MAD WORLD


[First published 14 November 2008]

You've blown the budget. Now read the book (only RM20 mah!)

BUDGET 2010 will be released today, or so I'm told (yawn). Well, for someone like me who has never paid any attention to economics, it's just a load of dead boring gobbledygook. At this juncture a stale joke comes to mind...

How can you tell when the prime minister is lying?" That's right... when you see his pink lips moving.

But I'm really excited to hear that Teh Chi-Chang's new book on the Malaysian Budget will be out sometime this week. I've read parts of the draft and I think Teh has brilliantly achieved his objective of demystifying the subject for the layman.

The book is titled: The Budget - How the Government is spending OUR money.

I think we ought to make it our business to find out exactly how Barisan Nasional has been squandering the nation's wealth.

Another reason I'm promoting Teh's book is that I provided the illustrations, and it's always pleasurable to see one's work in print.

Priced at only RM20, Teh's book will soon be on the shelves of your favorite bookshop. Or you can order it online here. If that doesn't work for you, or you would like to negotiate a bulk purchase, please contact Teh via budgetbook@chichang.net - and I'm sure you'll get a really good deal!

Here are some advance notices from folks in the know:

“An excellent guide … so intelligently put together” - Tunku Abdul Aziz (before he quit DAP in a petulant huff and turned toxic)

"Simple language backed with solid statistics" = Prof. Rajah Rasiah of Universiti Malaya

"A straightforward, incisive approach to this normally dry subject" - Yeo Yang Poh, past president of the Malaysian Bar Council

Chi-Chang has given me the green light to publish a sneak preview of a few juicy excerpts from his book...
“Budget Day” is a very special day in our parliamentary calendar. It is the one day in a year that Parliament sits on a Friday. The eyes of the nation are focused on the Finance Minister as he delivers his Budget speech that Friday afternoon, which is broadcast ‘live’ by the major television and radio stations.

That speech is more theatre than substance. It is an opportunity to highlight government successes and provides populist sound-bites which government backbenchers can thump the tables in support of. There is often something for nearly everybody, and newspapers the next day tend to be full of complimentary comments along the lines of: “goodies for the rakyat”... “it’s a people’s budget”... “it’s people-friendly”... “it’s a growth budget”....

Income disparity among the bumiputras is the highest among the three major ethnic groups. Government policy has been focused on reducing the bumiputra income gap with the other ethnic groups. Hence, we have quotas and various bumiputra-only or bumiputra-preferred practices. The above data suggests the government should also be looking at how it implements its policies among bumiputras. It would appear that already-rich bumiputras are reaping the greatest benefits from the pro-bumiputra policies. This runs counter to the intention of raising the lot of disadvantaged bumiputras.

Should the CEO also be the CFO?

The two most powerful positions in corporate management are of chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO). The CEO is the boss and sets overall direction. The CFO controls the purse-strings. Quite often good CEOs and CFOs will disagree. CEOs by nature and expectation have to seek new growth opportunities to expand corporate profits. They would tend to emphasise the rewards over the risks. CFOs are entrusted with financial stewardship. And when it comes to stewardship, being conservative and risk-averse are the preferred traits.

So, that’s how it works in the corporate world. No reasonable board of directors would countenance the CEO also holding the CFO position. There is just too much at stake to have one person holding the two most senior positions.

That’s also how it’s supposed to work in government. The prime minister leads and the finance minister tells him what the government can afford. Perhaps the most celebrated such pair in recent history was telegenic British prime minister Tony Blair and dour Chancellor Gordon Brown. Over here in Malaysia though, no eyebrows are raised that the prime minister is also the finance minister. This practice began during prime minister Mahathir’s tenure, was continued by Abdullah Badawi, and now Najib has continued the practice.

This might explain the deteriorating state of government finances. By 2009, we would have run 12 consecutive years of budget deficits.Subsidies – literally burning cash

RM34bn was spent on subsidies in 2008. Subsidies are meant to help the poor. And yet, nearly 400,000 Malaysian households or about 2 million Malaysians still live in poverty.

RM34bn is equal to RM85,000 for each poor Malaysian household – sufficient to lift them well above the poverty line. In fact, it is sufficient to propel them to the middle-class!

So where did the money go? Mostly to fuel. Quite literally burnt to little effect.

Government must help the most disadvantaged and poorest in society. Subsidies are one method. However, something is clearly wrong given that there are still so many poor Malaysians in our midst despite the tens of billions being spent on subsidies.

Our subsidy policies actually benefit the rich more than the poor. For example, cheap petrol benefits the rich man driving a fuel-guzzling Porsche Cayenne far more than the average Malaysian in his Perodua Myvi. Similarly, cheap electricity helps the ex-Menteri Besar living in his multi-million ringgit beautifully-lit mansion far more than the poor family in a squatter home.

Cartoons by Antares © 2009

Teh Chi-Chang, 38, holds a first-class honours Bachelors’ degree from the University of Warwick, a Masters from the University of Cambridge and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He spent 14 years in the rat-race and was looking forward to spending more time with family and personal interests - until Tony Pua of the Democratic Action Party persuaded him to enlist in public service.

Chi-Chang looks forward to good, clean government in Malaysia which will enable him to then focus on his real ambitions, which are to produce a definitive English-language text on the art of tai-chi and to play the guitar like Julian Mokhtar. His corporate sector experience includes management, investment appraisal and corporate finance. He has headed Malaysia equity investment research teams as well as contributed to top-rated teams covering utilities and media companies regionally. Chi-Chang can be contacted via his blog, Analyst at Large.

Just received word that The Budget - How the Government is Spending OUR Money will be officially launched at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur at 8:00PM on 26 October 2009 - in conjunction with a public forum on Budget 2010. Panelists for the forum will include:


* Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister
* Tony Pua, MP for Petaling Jaya Utara
* Charles Santiago, MP for Klang
* Liew Chin Tong, MP for Bukit Bendera
* Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, MP for Kuala Selangor
* William Leong, MP for Selayang


All are welcome and attendance is free. Another book titled BUDGET STRATEGIES FOR ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION (published by the DAP Economic Bureau) will also be launched at this forum. Both books will be available at a special discount!

WHO DA FUCK IS DIS GUY?

Would you trust him with RM5 billion of your hard-earned pension funds?


He stays clear of the spotlight, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes. As Mahathir's financial advisor in the 1980s Nor Mohamed Yakcop was implicated in a series of colossal disasters and largely responsible for the shocking loss of RM30 billion of the rakyat's money in forex speculation that ended in abysmal failure. Instead of losing his job, he gets promoted to Second Finance Minister. Only in Bolehland!


From Malaysiakini (Vox Populi | 26 July 2008): "Recent developments have shown that Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop indeed played a pivotal role in Bank Negara's forex scandal between 1992 to 1994. It would now be embarrassing to Pak Lah's administration if he continues to serve as Malaysia's second finance minister after being responsible for such a colossal loss of up to RM30 billion of the people's money. The most honourable thing for him to do would be to step down and come clean on the enormous forex losses as a result of speculation in the international currency markets in the 90s."

The forex scandal is ‘plunder’ of the highest order. Pak Lah must not close one eye to this gross offence of misappropriation of funds, which had allegedly occurred. Pak Lah who serves under the BN government must carry through his pledge to clean up the country. The best way to do that is to start with all the alleged abuses and misappropriation of funds over the last 20 years of the BN rule. The Sabah immigration scandal, Perwaja, MAS, Miti share allocations and the use of the people’s EPF money. Until he does this and investigate the losses, BN will forever be haunted by the ghosts of the past. The people will not rest until we see the culprits brought to justice, and if not, BN must be held responsible.

THE RM700 MILLION BANK ISLAM SCANDAL (2005)

RM30 BILLION FOREX FIASCO (1992-94)

MORE ON THE RM30 BILLION FOREX FIASCO

IT'S A MAD, MAD WORLD

People of Sabah, KICK BN OUT, Thank You!

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

MAHATHIR'S INFAMOUS PROJECT IC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Project IC is the name used in Malaysia to describe the systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants (whether illegal or legal immigrants) by giving them identity documents known as IC (identity card), and subsequently, MyKad. The practice is centered in the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. The term is used mainly by the media as well as other political commentators and the general public.


Another term used is Project M, where "M" stood for Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia, owing to his being allegedly involved in the spearheading of this project. The object of Project IC was to alter the demographic pattern of Sabah to make it more favorable to the ruling government and certain political parties, especially with regards to changing the electoral patterns.

The project, in its widespread and intensive form, is suspected to have begun in the early 1990s after the entry of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) into Sabah politics. However, there were also allegations of mass immigration and naturalization of migrants in the 1970s under the United Sabah National Organization (USNO) government, and in the early 1980s under the BERJAYA government. On a nationwide scale, illegal immigration is a major social issue. The problem is linked with phantom voters, a phenomenon also noted in other parts of Malaysia during elections.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

PROJECT IC BOILS OVER IN SABAH

By Newmond Tibin
Malaysian National News Agency
January 19, 2007 22:12 PM

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 19 (Bernama) - Former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Hassnar Ebrahim shocked a lot of people, particularly the locals, when he exposed a Malaysian identification card (IC) scam or known as Project IC in Sabah, in a recent interview with a local newspaper.

The locals here are stunned as many of them who reside in the state's interiors have yet to own the sophisticated Malaysian IC or MyKad, but based on Hassnar's claims, it seems that the card was easily accessible to foreigners.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

While Project IC is not a new issue in Sabah, it continues to be debated by many who express concern as the matter is related to the issue of illegal immigrants in Sabah which is perceived as the mother of all social woes in the state.

Hassnar, an entreprenuer, confessed that he unknowingly became involved with others who made it possible for thousands of foreigners to secure Malaysian ICs.

The former Sandakan district chief, while refusing police's request to make a statement on the issue, however, is willing to give testimony in court.

Hassnar was detained under the ISA on Aug 9, 1998 for two months, and then placed under house arrest for two years in Sandakan from Sept 6, 1998. He was also among the material witnesses in the Likas election petition trial in 1999.

Meanwhile, Sabah Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy chairman Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan has claimed that currently there are 1.7 million foreigners in Sabah, including 600,000 who possess the ICs.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

Responding to the allegation, former Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak challenged Dr Jeffrey to list the names of the 1.7 million people but the latter has so far not done so.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the state government viewed the matter very seriously and was doing all it could to solve it.

He asked those who exposed the issue to come forward and cooperate with the police.

"Do not simply talk through the newspapers. Cooperate with the authorities," said Musa, who also directed the National Registration Department (NRD) and the Immigration Department to explain the issue to the public in the interest of all.

Following the expose, Sabah police commissioner Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Hassan had requested Hassnar to assist police in the investigation.

He said the police could not complete the investigation into Project IC without the cooperation of those with information.

As such, the police were putting Hassnar's statement on the issue on record to speed up the investigation, he added.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

Mohd Mokhtar said the police would not arrest Hassnar or anyone without sufficient proof to link them with the criminal activity.

Several residents here met by Bernama, however, admitted they were from the Philippines and had secured the Malaysian IC through the said project.

"True. Project IC exists. I secured my IC from the project in the early 1980's," said Fuad Arif from Tawi-Tawi island, the Philippines, who now resides in Kampung Sabang in Menggatal, near here, with his family.

According to him, he came to Sabah in the mid-1970's with his parents, and they had stayed at Pulau Mantanani before moving to the village.

"After living here for several years, I finally received my Malaysian IC in 1984. At that time, a middleman came to our village to distribute the cards.

"I still remember the middleman coming to every house in the village to fill up forms for the IC and collect the fee of about RM10 each for stamp duty.

"One of the documents used to support the IC application was the late birth certificate registration letter," he recalled.

Fuad said that once the ICs were ready, the middleman would return to the village to distribute the cards to the residents, who were immigrants and had lived there for a long time.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

In fluent Bahasa Melayu, he said that his family believed that they would have a better future in Sabah compared to Tawi-Tawi.

"There is no unrest here. We are free to roam anywhere we want. We can go to Tanjung Aru, Mount Kinabalu or Kota Kinabalu," said Fuad, who is the holder of the IC bearing registration number H0504933.

Earlier, Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) secretary-general Radin Malleh had questioned the authencity of ICs with numbers starting from H0288001 to H03840000, involving 96,000 holders; H0480001 to H05760000 (96,000); H0609601 to H0610000 (400); H0658001 to H0658200 (200); H0658401 to H0659000 (600); and H0666001 to H0666400 (400), saying he had taken up the matter in the Dewan Rakyat when he was the Member of Parliament for Tenom.

Another Kampung Sabang resident, Jamili Bungsu, 53, said the issuing of ICs under the project was rampant in the early 1980's until 1985.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

"Just imagine, in the early 1980's at Kampung Pondo in Pulau Gaya (near Kota Kinabalu), there were only about 10 houses there. But the number soon increased to almost 500 squatter homes whose occupants were immigrants from the Philippines.

"It was not their fault that there were locals who were willing to arrange getting the ICs for them. Not many knew who were the masterminds behind the operation. It might have been done by those with high ranks as it was not easy to make an IC," he said.

Jaidy Kamlun, 26, from Kampung Pulau Gaya, said most immigrants who secured the ICs through the project had been living in the country for a long time and were involved in the state's development projects.

He said in Pulau Gaya alone, there were now more than 10,000 immigrants from a neighbouring country and most of them were helped by 'locals' to get the ICs.

(Photo courtesy of Ian Macfarlane)

"Of course the immigrants would grab the golden opportunity as it required no documents. Furthermore, they wanted to stay here. Most of them now have MyKads and can vote. As far as I know, the project not only benefited Filipinos, but those from Indonesia, India and China. The modus operandi was the same, that was, through a middleman."

He said it was unfair to link immigrants holding the ICs with criminal activities in Sabah.

"Perhaps some of them are involved in criminal activities or social problems but not all. Society's perception is inaccurate as we came here to earn a living.

"Our parents have lived in Sabah for a long time, and as a new generation, we do not desire to return to the Philippines. We are like the locals who love and are loyal to Malaysia," he said.

Jaidy supported the government's efforts to send back illegal immigrants to their home countries and prevent them from re-entering Malaysia.

"Let bygones be bygones. There is no need to determine whose fault it was. Let's work together towards a better Sabah," said Jaidy, who received his education up to Form Five here.

His views were echoed by his village friend Tamskie Abdul Said, 36, who said that until now, nobody knew who were the masterminds of the IC project that involved Pulau Gaya residents.

"Project IC was different from those involving fake identification cards. The immigrants preferred Project IC as fake ICs did not allow voting rights and the holder would be repatriated if caught by the police," he said.

Several quarters including political parties and non-governmental organisations in Sabah have expressed concern over the existence of Project IC as it could threaten the country's security and deny genuine citizens employment opportunities as blue collar workers.

In this regard, they have appealed to the government to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to get to the bottom of the issue and ways to resolve it.

The state and federal governments are also aware of the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah.

Even the Barisan Nasional component parties including the PBS, United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) have been vocal in expressing their concern over Project IC. - BERNAMA

SABAHANS MAY PETITION BRITISH GOVERNMENT

A Sabah group is taking a page from Hindraf’s book - it is seriously considering petitioning the British government on the situation of illegal migrants in the state.

Having seen their proposal for a royal commission to probe the issue of illegal immigrants in the state rebuffed by BN lawmakers, the group is exploring the possibility of filing a petition to Britain through the Commonwealth office.

[Read the rest here.]

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