CORRUPTION KILLS!

British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon oil rig goes up in flames on 20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico (pic by Reuters)



Dick Cheney responsible for biggest oil spill in history?

The explosion that destroyed BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico on 20 April 2010. killing at least 11, has resulted in what has been described as the worst oil spill in history.

Just to save $500,000 on a safety feature called the acoustic switch, BP is now being held accountable for a massive environmental hazard that might eventually cost more than $14 billion in losses. No cash value can measure the distress to humans and the ecosystem this avoidable oil spill will cause.

This catastrophe graphically illustrates the long-term dangers of shooting for short-term gains in a climate of entrenched corporate and bureaucratic corruption.


America is now suffering the grievous effects of having tolerated George W. Bush as president for eight years and allowing his vice-president, Dick Cheney, free rein as Wheeler-Dealer-in-Chief.

Malaysians, be warned! Endemic environmental ruin and operational inefficiency resulting from 53 years of Umno/BN mismanagement will most certainly devastate our fragile economy and burden our descendants with a very hefty national debt.

Read the hard-hitting article below by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr and you will reassess your support for the corrupt status quo!

Sex, Lies and Oil Spills

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A common spin in the right wing coverage of BP's oil spill is a gleeful suggestion that the gulf blowout is Obama's Katrina.

In truth, culpability for the disaster can more accurately be laid at the Bush Administration's doorstep. For eight years, George Bush's presidency infected the oil industry's oversight agency, the Minerals Management Service, with a septic culture of corruption from which it has yet to recover. Oil patch alumnae in the White House encouraged agency personnel to engineer weakened safeguards that directly contributed to the gulf catastrophe.

The absence of an acoustical regulator - a remotely triggered dead man's switch that might have closed off BP's gushing pipe at its sea floor wellhead when the manual switch failed (the fire and explosion on the drilling platform may have prevented the dying workers from pushing the button) - was directly attributable to industry pandering by the Bush team.

Acoustic switches are required by law for all offshore rigs off Brazil and in Norway's North Sea operations. BP uses the devise voluntarily in Britain's North Sea and elsewhere in the world as do other big players like Holland's Shell and France's Total.



In 2000, the Minerals Management Service while weighing a comprehensive rulemaking for drilling safety, deemed the acoustic mechanism "essential" and proposed to mandate the mechanism on all gulf rigs. Then, between January and March of 2001, incoming Vice President Dick Cheney conducted secret meetings with over 100 oil industry officials allowing them to draft a wish list of industry demands to be implemented by the oil friendly administration. Cheney also used that time to re-staff the Minerals Management Service with oil industry toadies including a cabal of his Wyoming carbon cronies.

In 2003, newly reconstituted Minerals Management Service genuflected to the oil cartel by recommending the removal of the proposed requirement for acoustic switches. The Minerals Management Service's 2003 study concluded that "acoustic systems are not recommended because they tend to be very costly." The acoustic trigger costs about $500,000. Estimated costs of the oil spill to Gulf Coast residents are now upward of $14 billion to gulf state communities.

Bush's 2005 energy bill officially dropped the requirement for the acoustic switch off devices explaining that the industry's existing practices are "failsafe." Bending over for Big Oil became the ideological posture of the Bush White House, and, under Cheney's cruel whip, the practice trickled down through the regulatory bureaucracy. The Minerals Management Service - the poster child for "agency capture phenomena" - hopped into bed with the regulated industry - literally.

A 2009 investigation of the Minerals Management Service found that agency officials "frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana and had sexual relationships with oil and gas company representatives." Three reports by the Inspector General describe an open bazaar of payoffs, bribes and kickbacks spiced with scenes of female employees providing sexual favors to industry big wigs who in turn rewarded government workers with illegal contracts.

In one incident reported by the Inspector General, agency employees got so drunk at a Shell sponsored golf event that they could not drive home and had to sleep in hotel rooms paid for by Shell. Pervasive intercourse also characterized their financial relations. Industry lobbyists underwrote lavish parties and showered agency employees with illegal gifts, and lucrative personal contracts and treated them to regular golf, ski, and paintball outings, trips to rock concerts and professional sports events. The Inspector General characterized this orgy of wheeling and dealing as "a culture of ethical failure" that cost taxpayers millions in royalty fees and produced reams of bad science to justify unregulated deep water drilling in the gulf.

[Read the whole sordid story here.]

US government assumes control of clean-up in Gulf of Mexico as £13bn wiped off BP's value

I have a 14-year-old son too...

And that's why I have a personal stake in ensuring that never again must the police force be allowed to deteriorate into a goon squad serving the petty interests of a rogue regime. Below are two important items lifted from Free Malaysia Today (which is fast gaining credibility and stature as an alternative news portal)...

The arrogance of police power
Wed, 05 May 2010 15:08

A week after schoolboy Aminulrasyid Amzah's death by police shooting, Malaysians have been treated to the ghastly spectacle of a government withdrawing into itself in the face of public outrage, and seemingly intent only on finding grounds for justifying its actions.

Left in abeyance is the fact that governments exist in democratic nations to ensure the safety of all its citizens, and to ensure equal justice for all, no matter what their station in life.

Aminul is dead, at the age of 15, after a late-night caper. Under normal circumstances, he would have faced punishment from his parents. Instead he was, in effect, served the death penalty in appallingly suspicious circumstances.

The Malaysian public is justifiably angry and upset. Justice must be served in dealing with how Aminul died — not just for his sake, but also for the sake of all citizens who need reassurance, in no uncertain terms, that they are safe from their own guardians.

It is at times like these that a democratically-elected government rises to the occasion and acts in the larger interests of everyone.

Instead, for the past week, the image that emerged is of an uncaring police force intent on protecting its reputation and its manliless, aggressively demanding that its word is accepted at face value without question.

If that is not the image they sought to build, the Inspector-General of Police and the Selangor police chief only have themselves to blame.

Musa Hassan (above, right) made a childish threat to keep the police force in barracks, aggressively showed he expected unquestioning acceptance of the policemen's own accounts, then tried to pin on a dead boy and his family any responsibility for the circumstances that led to his death, in between keeping up a plaintive pleading for the public to be fair to his men.

It is no wonder that many demanded that he leave immediately and not wait for his contract to expire.

Khalid Abu Bakar (left) also insisted that the public should believe his policemen's story and showed a callous willingness to label a schoolboy a criminal on the unproven assertion that a parang was found in his car, and arrogantly threatened politicians who took up the issue and questioned police accounts.

It is no wonder that questions are asked whether he considers himself a policeman, an officer of the law, or is really a politician.

[Read the whole of this superb editorial here.]

PM Paper Doll by Sharon Chin (ink on paper)

Open letter to Najib
Thu, 06 May 2010 12:11

Below is an open letter to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, penned by Amnesty International Canada's coordinator for Malaysia and Singapore, Margaret John. She expresses concern over Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy trial.

Dear Prime Minister,

I write with respect in order to inform you about high-level concern in Canada regarding Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and to request your urgent intervention.

As you must be aware, there is worldwide concern about events relating to this prominent opposition leader’s current situation, thus putting a critical spotlight on Malaysia. As prime minister, you are undoubtedly concerned, for example, that the respected Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) recently declared that Anwar’s current trial on a charge of sodomy is riddled with defects.

The IPU has now made a decision to send an observer to the coming court hearings. The United States of America expressed its intention to continue to scrutinise this controversial trial.

Hundreds of participants, including former Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell, at the World Movement for Democracy, signed a petition calling for a fair trial as well as for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar . Further, some 50 Australian parliamentarians recently signed a letter calling for an end to the ongoing sodomy trial.

Joining the international outcry, concern is increasingly expressed at a high level in Canada . Please see enclosed documents. In brief:

Officers of the Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur remain in private and public contact with Anwar and have observed the trial proceedings with great interest.

In a Globe and Mail article, former Canadian Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin called for the charges to be dropped to enable Anwar Ibrahim to “pursue his vision of a democratic Malaysia, properly respectful of human rights.”

Opposition Liberal Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Bob Rae MP, called on Canada’s Parliament to take note of continuing political and legal harassment of Anwar, who has “long been a compelling spokesperson for democracy and for human rights in his country, and despite an unjustified prison sentence continues to speak out with courage and with determination.”

[Read the rest here.]

DINOSAUR DYNASTIES & THE DINOSAUR TECHNOLOGIES THEY FOIST ON US (reprise)

I read this letter in Malaysiakini from "Malaysian with Children" with profound disgust and outrage at the way Barisan Nasional is leading the nation straight to hell with their myopic, greed-driven, environmentally and morally ruinous schemes...

MALAYSIA GOING NUCLEAR FRAUGHT WITH DANGER
Malaysian with Children
Aug 24, 2009 3:31pm

The sun has been the main energy source for all life on the planet for billions of years. In Malaysia, we are blessed with a bounty of sunlight.

Yet, our Malaysian government is pushing for nuclear energy as though it is the best and only option for Malaysia's future energy needs.

The government seems to be brushing aside the dangers relating to nuclear power plants, as if they were issues that didn't exist or could easily be remedied in the near future.

Developed countries are having serious difficulties with their own nuclear programmes. In the US, there are problems disposing of nuclear reactor waste.

In Finland, construction of nuclear power plants have been delayed and gone way over cost due to shoddy work on the concrete foundations.

What more of the situation in Malaysia, where we tend to have even less oversight in commercial dealings? Where is the safety or economic sense in all that?

From what I have seen, there is no detailed information available to the public on Malaysia's nuclear plans. Where will the reactor be located - maybe in Ipoh, or maybe Putrajaya?

What type of reactor will it be? Who will we buy the uranium to run the reactor from? How much will it all cost and who is paying for it?

If those weren't enough questions, what about the waste generated from our nuclear power plant - where and how Malaysia will be dealing with its own nuclear reactor waste - waste that remains highly radioactive for thousands of years?

Will we dump it in deep geological recesses off our coasts? Will we bury it in the jungles of Sarawak, Sabah or Pahang? Will we be reprocessing it in factories in Miri or in Kota Baru?

The world got into the mess of climate change and global warming because we went the quick, easy and convenient way.

We did not look at the long-term consequences of burning fossil fuels, perhaps because in the beginning, we didn't really know the consequences.

Our oceans and rivers are now choking on plastic pollution, because we needed cheap and lightweight material for packaging.

But we do know, right now, that nuclear energy will produce highly radioactive waste, even if it is in small amounts, every day a nuclear plant is open.

We do know, right now, that this highly radioactive waste must be disposed of somewhere on our finite planet. We do know, right now, that we have no technology to make this waste safe.

And as more countries build nuclear power plants, more of this waste is dumped into our Earth, the planet that sustains our lives.

It is unforgivable that we, as governments and responsible adults, knowingly create such dangerous waste without a concern for tomorrow.

We are already leaving our children with our legacy of global warming, and choking pollution.

And now we wish to leave this massive mess of nuclear waste and closed reactor sites to our grandchildren, leaving them with the burden of trying to figure out how to solve the problem that we ourselves have no idea how to solve.

I know I'm afraid, very afraid.


Here's an eminently sensible letter in response...

SOLAR ENERGY A BETTER ALTERNATIVE

Hai Hiung
Aug 26, 2009 4:03pm

I'm writing in regards to the following letter: "Malaysia going nuclear fraught with danger." I agree with the author, Malaysian with Children.

For reasons unbeknownst to most of us ordinary folk, TNB is pushing hard for the use of nuclear energy for generating electricity. The studies they used to justify going nuclear is biased.

First, they used South Korea as their case in point. South Korea is nothing like Malaysia in terms of the availability of solar energy.

In a year, South Korea would probably enjoy less than six months of effective sunlight for solar energy generation, compared to Malaysia's year-round sunshine.

Secondly, the cost cited by nuclear experts is inaccurate at best. In my opinion, TNB has been ill-advised on the cost of security.

The cost of guarding the nuclear plant itself could easily outweigh the cost of operation and the cost of nuclear waste disposal.

Even though Malaysia is relatively safe from terror attacks, there is no guarantee that terrorists would not target Malaysia in the future.

Having a nuclear plant sitting on Malaysian soil makes us that much more vulnerable to terrorism.

Third, the justification that by the time the plant is opened, we should have proper maintainance procedures in place.

We still don't have a good track record where that is concerned if you see how TNB and our public trains are concerned.

Fourth, First Solar recently opened a RM2bil plant in Kulim. So, we actually have a solar panel manufacturer here on our shore.

Yet, it never occurred to TNB to approach First Solar to setup a solar power plant.

If France, a Mediterranean country, finds using solar energy good enough to be part of its energy-generation needs, then we must ask TNB - why can't Malaysia do the same?

MY COMMENT: Ask TNB? Ha ha ha. The world is plagued with dinosaur technologies because it is secretly run by dinosaur dynasties. Whether the family name happens to be Rameses, Thutmose, Amunhotep, Ming, Han, Sung, Borgia, Medici, Hapsburg, Plantagenet, Rothschild, Rockefeller, Morgan, Bush, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Windsor, Razak, Taib or Mahathir... we're dealing with powerful bloodlines that absolutely believe they are entitled to ownership and exploitation of the Earth and all her inhabitants.

These are the so-called Master Bloodlines that have utterly misunderstood the meaning of Mastery. They measure the power of a Master by the number of Slaves at his command. Little do they realize that a TRUE MASTER is master only of his own destiny and the way he responds to his environment.

Because they are so reliant on other people's weakness for their own sense of power, they are terrified of technologies that liberate rather than enslave. That's why they are invariably drawn to colossal and expensive methods - especially capital-intensive schemes that can further enslave the human race and ensure that traditional power hierarchies are perpetuated ad infinitum.

The Serbian supergenius, Nikola Tesla, produced a host of breakthrough inventions that might have freed humanity from drudgery and enslavement and enabled real wealth to spread throughout the social spectrum. Of course, he was thwarted at every turn by avaricious and cynical capitalist elites who understood and cared for nothing but profits, profits, and always fatter profits.

We have to stop these desperate dinosaur bloodlines from foisting their destructive technologies on an ignorant and unsuspecting population. Educate yourself now... before it's too late!

[Originally published in this blog on 27 August 2009]

Nuke plant jolts environmentalists

So you're having your first nuclear power plant...

Does this boy deserve a bullet in the head?

Aminulrasyid Amzah (15 January 1995 - 26 April 2010)

Shot dead in a hail of bullets by the cops after a latenight car chase...

Aminulrasyid was a good-looking kid and he knew it

Form 3 student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seksyen 9 Shah Alam 

A typical teenager, really...

Fond of fooling around with his pals, playing air guitar...

Posing for Facebook photos...

Making monkey faces for the album...

AMINULRASYID AMZAH WAS A FUN-LOVING 14-YEAR-OLD, 

LOVED BY HIS FRIENDS AND FULL OF BEANS...

HE "BORROWED" HIS SISTER'S PROTON ISWARA AND WENT OUT AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH HIS 15-YEAR-OLD BUDDY, AZAMUDDIN OMAR. THEY HAD A SNACK AND WATCHED SOME FOOTBALL AT A MAMAK STALL.

AS THEY WERE LEAVING FOR HOME, AMINULRASYID ACCIDENTALLY HIT A PARKED CAR BUT DECIDED TO DRIVE OFF. SOON THE BOYS FOUND THEMSELVES PURSUED BY MOTORCYCLISTS.

THEY WERE SPOTTED BY A POLICE PATROL CAR, WHCH RADIOED FOR REINFORCEMENTS BEFORE GIVING CHASE. SHOTS WERE FIRED. AMINULRASYID LOST CONTROL OF THE CAR AND RAMMED INTO A TREE NEAR HIS HOME. ACCORDING TO AZAMUDDIN, THE COPS KEPT FIRING AND ONE BULLET CAUGHT AMINULRASYID IN THE BACK OF HIS HEAD. AZAMUDDIN SAYS HE GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND TRIED TO SURRENDER BUT WAS SAVAGELY ASSAULTED BY THE COPS. SOMEHOW HE MANAGED TO STRUGGLE FREE AND ESCAPED...

Norsiah Mohamad, Aminulrasyid's mother, with his elder sister Norazura. 

I USED TO GET UP TO MISCHIEF LIKE THAT WHEN I WAS FIFTEEN.

BUT BACK THEN, THE COPS WEREN'T SO TRIGGER-HAPPY.

AND THEY DIDN'T HAVE KHALID ABU BAKAR AS THEIR BOSS.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. 

WE WANT SOME JUSTICE. 

WE DEMAND THE IGP's RESIGNATION.

WE DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN
A POLICE STATE!

Musa, you're disgraceful! ~ Lim Kit Siang

"The country cannot wait until September when Musa [Hassan]’s tenure expires. Malaysians need a new IGP who can inspire public confidence in the professionalism of the police force to fight crime and restore to Malaysians their two fundamental rights — to be free from crime and the fear of crime." ~ Lim Kit Siang

Musa, you're disgraceful! Kit Siang returns fire

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang fires a verbal salvo against Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan, accusing him of “gross insubordination.”

This afternoon, Musa had threatened not to enforce the law in response to the criticisms over the fatal shooting of 15-year-old schoolboy Aminul Rasyid Amzah.

“This is a most disgraceful statement from the IGP as it tantamounts to an open and public insubordination against the Malaysian people who pay his salary,” Lim said in a statement.

The DAP veteran noted that it was not the first time Musa has done this.

“Musa was involved in the public challenge of the previous prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), threatening a police revolt if the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission was implemented,” he said.

All over the world, Lim added, developed nations are graduating to the concept of democratic policing, subjecting police forces to principles of public responsibility and accountability.

“But this is clearly very alien to Musa,” he said, adding that the IGP has overstayed his welcome.

MUSA HASSAN ISN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS TO GO...

Who will police our policemen?

ALTANTUYA RESURFACES TO HAUNT NAJIB

French Legal Team in Malaysia to Probe Sub Deal

Written by John Berthelsen | Asia Sentinel
Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Massive corruption suspected in billion-dollar deal tied to Prime Minister Najib

Joseph Breham, a member of a French legal team that filed complaints in a Paris court in connection with a potentially explosive scandal over the billion-dollar purchase of French submarines by Malaysia is due to land in Kuala Lumpur today (April 28) to seek further information on the case and to speak with their clients, the Malaysia human rights organization Suaram.

As Asia Sentinel has reported at length, the deal was engineered by then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak (right), now Malaysia's Prime Minister, in 2002 and resulted in a massive €114 million (US$151.1 million at current exchange rates) commission for one of Najib's closest associates, Abdul Razak Baginda. The purchase price included two Scorpene-class diesel submarines built by Armaris, a subsidiary of the French defense giant DCN (formerly Direction des Constructions Navales) and the lease of a third retired submarine manufactured by a joint venture between DCN and Spanish company Agosta.

Breham, one of the three lawyers who filed the case with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of Suaram, told Asia Sentinel the French court has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter and that he would be advising his clients on the next steps. Breham said he will also hold a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today to give some details to local reporters. Breham, Renaud Semerdjian and William Bourdon, the lead lawyer, filed the request to investigate bribery and kickback allegations against DCN first in December and filed additional documents in February.

The case has been making headlines in Malaysia - although few in the mainstream media, which are owned by the country's leading political parties -- since the gruesome October 2006 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian translator and spurned lover of Razak Baginda who had accompanied him to France on some of the transactions over the submarines. Altantuya was shot in the head and her body was blown up with military explosives in a patch of jungle outside of Kuala Lumpur. Two of Najib's bodyguards, who were directed to intercede with her by Musa Safri, Najib's chief of staff, have been convicted of the killing. Neither Najib nor Musa has ever been questioned by law enforcement officials about the case.

Although records showed Najib was in France at the same time as Altantuya and Razak Baginda, he has repeatedly sworn to Allah that he had never known the beauteous Mongolian. One report filed by a private detective hired by Razak Baginda said she had been Najib's lover first. After she was killed, authorities discovered a letter she had written saying she was blackmailing Razak Altantuya for US$500,000, although she did not say why.

In addition to the cost of the submarines and the whopping "commission" fee, it has now emerged that under the terms of the original contract, the vessels were basically bare of armaments and detection devices. The Malaysian military must pay an additional €130 million to equip them.

"You mean we bought bare metal?" wrote one incredulous and anonymous military official in an email to Asia Sentinel.

The charges go well beyond the Malaysian purchase. Judges in the Paris Prosecution Office have been probing a wide range of corruption charges involving similar submarine sales and the possibility of bribery and kickbacks to top officials in France, Pakistan and other countries. The Malaysian piece of the puzzle was added in two filings, on Dec. 4, 2009 and Feb. 23 this year.

French politicians seem to have a knack for backhanders. On October 26, in a trial that centered on illegal arms sales to Angola, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of the late president Francois Mitterand, was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay a €375,000 fine for receiving embezzled funds. The court ruled that he had accepted millions of euros in "consultant fees" on the arms deals between 1993 and 1998. In the dock with him were 42 people accused of selling weapons to Angola in defiance of a UN arms embargo, or of taking payments from the arms dealers and using their influence to facilitate the sales.

The trial, it was said, shined a light into a murky world of secret payments made in cash and discreet deals linking Parisian high society with one of Africa's longest-running wars. But it hasn't shined a light on what happened elsewhere with contracts concluded by the representatives of France, and particularly by DCN.

For instance, 11 French engineers employed by DCN, which peddled subs to Pakistan, were blown up in a bus bombing in 2002 which was first thought to have been perpetrated by Islamic militants. The 11 were in Karachi to work on three Agosta 90 B submarines that the Pakistani military had bought in 1994, with payment to be spread over a decade. According to Reuters, commissions were promised to middlemen including Pakistani and Saudi Arabian nationals. Agosta is a subsidiary of DCN. It is believed that Pakistani military officials blew up the bus in retaliation for the cancellation of the payments.


In the Taiwan case, the French company Thales, formerly Thompson-CSF sold six DCN-built La Fayette-class 'stealth' frigates to Taiwan in 1992 for US$2.8 billion. At least six people connected with the case have died under suspicious circumstances including a Taiwanese naval captain named Yin Ching-feng, who was believed to have been killed because he planned to go to the authorities about fraud connected with the case. His nephew, who was also pursuing the case, a Thomson employee in Taiwan and a French intelligence agent were also among the dead. It gradually emerged that some $600 million in commissions had been paid into various Swiss accounts set up by Andrew Wang Chuan-pu, the Taiwan agent for Thomson-CSF. In October 2008 a French judge finally ruled that no one could be prosecuted because of lack of evidence.

The Malaysian allegations revolve around the €114 million payment to a Malaysia-based company called Perimekar for support services surrounding the sale of the submarines. Perimekar was wholly owned by another company, KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which in turn was controlled by Najib's best friend, Razak Baginda (left), whose wife Mazalinda, a lawyer and former magistrate, was the principal shareholder, according to the French lawyers.

In the complaints filed in Paris, the issue revolves around what, if anything, Razak Baginda's Perimekar company did to deserve €114 million. Zainal Abidin, the deputy defense minister at the time of the sale, told parliament that Perimekar had received the amount - 11 percent of the sale price of the submarines - for "coordination and support services." The Paris filing alleges that there were neither support nor services.

Perimekar was registered in 2001, a few months before the signing of the contracts for the sale, the Paris complaint states. The company, it said flatly, "did not have the financial resources to complete the contract." A review of the accounts in 2001 and 2002, the complaint said, "makes it an obvious fact that this corporation had absolutely no capacity, or legal means or financial ability and/or expertise to support such a contract."


"None of the directors and shareholders of Perimekar has the slightest experience in the construction, maintenance or submarine logistics," the complaint adds. "Under the terms of the contract, €114 million were related to the different stages of construction of the submarines." The apparent consideration, supposedly on the part of Perimekar, "would be per diem and Malaysian crews and accommodation costs during their training. There is therefore no link between billing steps and stages of completion of the consideration."

How can we allow THIS to happen???

Human trafficking can only happen where corruption is rife. Malaysia is an authoritarian country managed by spin-doctors and slick slogans. Everything is just for show. In reality we are still a benighted feudal country infested with pirates masquerading as rulers.

Nobility, integrity and honorable conduct cannot be faked. All the billion-dollar infrastructure in the world cannot conceal the moral decadence of the hypocritical, self-serving ruling elite.

This documentary reveals the shadow side of a rogue regime fueled by corruption. Do we want our children to grow up in such an environment? It's our moral duty to ensure that corrupt government is banished once and for all from Malaysia.

Najib Razak has inherited Umno's legacy of monolithic corruption left behind by Mahathir Mohamad. His is the most morally tainted regime in Malaysian history. The home minister and prime minister must be held personally accountable for this disgraceful state of affairs.

May all decent souls resolve here and now to throw out this decadent bunch of white-collar criminals through non-violent means.

Kim Quek on Najib's "hollow victory"

Kim Quek's is by far the most lucid and eloquent analysis of the intense battle for Ulu Selangor which ended yesterday at 5:00PM...

The Malaysian Insider

WAS IT REALLY WORTH THE EFFORT, NAJIB?

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak might have won the electoral battle at Hulu Selangor, but he sure has taken a giant step backwards in defending Putrajaya against the relentless advance of Pakatan Rakyat.

The orgy of election bribery indulged over those few days leading up to polling day on April 25 would have put any other pseudo-democracy to shame when comparing election excesses.

To induce votes, Najib and his colleagues made innumerable on-the-spot grants of cash and promises of goodies (many were conditional upon a BN win) that ran easily to hundreds of million of ringgit during that compact campaign period.

These include the construction of a university and several schools, an expressway interchange and many other infrastructures, several low cost housing projects, upgrading of mosques and temples, grants to community guilds and associations, and cash payments to individuals.

These election goodies were so many and so large that I doubt Najib and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin can keep track of the number or total cost.

The single event that impacted most on the electoral outcome was perhaps the occasion of Najib himself handing over RM5 million cash to 100 Felda settlers in a highly trumpeted ceremony two days before polling. These settlers were among victims of a failed project committed to a private developer 15 years ago.

The greatest irony was that, amidst this spree, Najib made an impassioned last-minute plea to the electorate through an open letter bearing his signature, asking for another chance to institute 'change' in his administration so as to redeem BN's mistakes.

Was Najib not aware that this endless stream of impromptu election goodies constitutes a serious offence under Section 10 of the Election Offences Act 1954?

By committing these acts of corruption to such an unprecedented scale while simultaneously articulating his 'change' agenda, he was in effect telling the world: "This is what I mean by 'change' - I will not hesitate to escalate corrupt activities, and damn the laws, if my political interests so demand."

Reflecting on Najib's tenure since early last year, this philosophy of 'the end justifies the means' as exemplified by his conduct in the Hulu Selangor by-election seems to aptly explain the series of scandals that illustrate the ruling power's contempt for the constitution and the rule of law.

These include the unconstitutional power grab in Perak, the continuing persecution of Anwar Ibrahim via the Sodomy II trial, the awkward attempt to hide the real culprits in the show trial of Altantuya Shaariibuu's grisly murder and the tragic death of Teoh Beng Hock while in the custody of MACC and the subsequent inquest.

Disgraceful victory

In the aftermath of this sordid by-election, Najib and his cohorts have, as expected, hailed this disgraceful victory as the nation's endorsement of Najib's new policy and the shifting of support to BN.

However, removing the thin veneer of this pyrrhic victory, we find that the contrary is true. In fact, a cursory review of this by-election (many prefer to call it 'buy-election') has revealed trends and phenomena that should cause BN to be worried, very worried.

First, winning by 1,700 votes does not necessarily indicate an increase of support. On the contrary, it could mean a substantial drop of support, if we consider the fact that in the last general election in March 2008, BN's combined majority of the three state constituencies that made up the parliamentary constituency of Hulu Selangor was 6,300 votes.

If Umno can secure only a marginal victory (24,997 vs 23,272) after such heavy abuses of public funds and politically manipulated institutions, there is not the slightest chance that the same can be repeated in a general election, during which, Hulu Selangor will surely fall back to Pakatan, just as Ijok did previously.

Second, judging from the response of the electorate during the election campaign, Najib's 'lMalaysia' advocacy has failed to take root among BN supporters. This was prominently reflected in the respective finale of the two protagonists' election campaign on the eve of polling.

While the BN rally, estimated at 3,000, was attended almost exclusively by Malays, with a sprinkling of Indians; the 15,000 strong Pakatan rally was a colourful display of multi-racialism with a healthy proportion of the three races. It left one with the unmistakable impression that the coalition that has really succeeded in realising '1Malaysia' is Pakatan, not BN.

Third, the Chinese support to BN has dwindled to an even smaller minority (less than one third) despite the many carrots dangled before the community - particularly Najib's personal promise to grant a RM3 million grant to a Chinese school the very next day after polling, conditioned upon a BN win.

This indicates that the Chinese electorate has politically matured to the point that they are relatively immune to BN's election bribery. For them, nothing short of real reforms would do.

As Umno is not capable of instituting real reforms, this naturally spells the end of the political lifespan of the Chinese racial party MCA, and by corollary, that of Gerakan. With the Indian racial party MIC also having lost the support of Indians, the isolation of Umno in Peninsular Malaysia is complete.

Considering that they had been the bulwark of support to Umno in past elections, their eclipse means that Umno's political wings in the peninsula are clipped.

Eyes elsewhere

Hence, Umno's final grasp at power is now hinged to its relationship with the BN component parties in Sabah and Sarawak, which unfortunately are not in the best of terms with the Umno-dominated federal government.

Known for their strong regionalism and thrust to their king-maker position by the political tsunami of the 2008 general election, Sabah and Sarawak are now a hive of discontent and resentment against the exploitation and short-changing of their autonomous rights under the autocratic Umno-dominated BN leadership.

With a maimed Umno in the peninsula, and a resurgent Pakatan offering a just deal and restoration of autonomy to these two states, the people there for the first time have the real option of clinching the best political deal since the formation of Malaysia almost five decades ago.

Since the people in Sabah and Sarawak are less race-conscious than their peninsular counterparts and in fact rather irritated by the heavy racism practiced by Umno, for how long can Umno's race politics withstand the challenge for influence by the multi-racial Pakatan in these two territories, and by extension the political power over the entire country?

The Hulu Selangor by-election has given us a pointer, and it ain't looking good for Umno.

KIM QUEK is a retired accountant and PKR member.

It's enough to make heaven weep....

RESULTS OF THE ULU SELANGOR BY-ELECTION:

NAJIB = 1
MALAYSIA = 0

That's right, it has been a brutal loss for all justice-loving Malaysians - not just for Pakatan Rakyat. Once again, the wicked BN has triumphed with its blatant money politics and its obvious control of the Election Commission. What's worse, it would appear that a sudden surge in pro-BN votes late in the afternoon may have been the secret trump card up Najib's sleeve. Which might explain why he seemed so cocksure of a BN win this time.

Whatever the case, everybody (especially Zaid) is pretty much exhausted by now - emotionally and physically - and deserves a well-earned rest. We shall get to the bottom of whatever hanky-panky went down during the by-election and if there's suffiient evidence that the EC was in collusion with BN to win this seat for Najib "at all costs" - that alone would be grounds for BERSIH to revive its call for a clean-up of the EC. There may even be cause to take legal action against Najib for the shameless way he induced voters in Ulu Selangor to vote for BN through the offer of huge sums of cash.

We haven't forgotten how BN wriggled out of having to use indelible ink during the last general election. The campaign to reclaim our beloved nation from the clutches of BN proceeds apace.

To Zaid Ibrahim: all decent souls share your sadness and disappointment and we thank you for taking up the battle on our behalf. It was indeed a magnificent fight you put up and we continue to steadfastly back you up in all your political endeavors.


To the beloved leaders of Pakatan Rakyat: we fully appreciate your courage, determination and will to win this country back through peaceful means. We thank you sincerely for continuing to inspire and lead us against all odds.

Another skirmish lost - but the war has only just begun!

Here's to a walloping victory, Zaid!

Going to cast my vote in a few minutes... for ZAID IBRAHIM!

Thuggery on the eve of the by-election

We were at Pakatan Rakyat's closing ceramah at the KKB mini-stadium where at least 20,000 were gathered to mark the end of the intense campaign for the Ulu Selangor parliamentary seat. It was a heady, jubilant atmosphere charged with positive feelings about the outcome of this massively significant "referendum" on the nation's political future.

Because of the immense crowd, me and my friends opted to leave the stadium before Anwar had finished his fiery speech. When we got back to Kg Pertak, we were shocked to find the entrance blocked by a group of men who had parked a couple of motorbikes across the road.

A couple of Temuan youth had been assigned RELA T-shirts and flashlights and instructed to stop people from entering the village. A group of imported Umno heavies (some from Pekida it appears) stood around to provide additional muscle power.

They had no choice but to let me in since I live in Kg Pertak but friends in another car were prevented from entering. I got home and immediately informed Elizabeth Wong about the illegal blockade. Then I accompanied a few other friends back to the village entrance to persuade these idiots to stop their silly fascist game and let my overnighting guests through.

One of my friends started snapping photos of the situation and that riled up a white-haired guy wearing a silk batik shirt. He tried to punch him but his fist hit the camera instead.

Umno must be more desperate than ever to win this by-election if they can be bothered to encamp themselves in an Orang Asli village with no more than 62 registered voters.

What's utterly sickening is the vicious and violent energy Najib's goons have brought to Malaysian politics. Never have I witnessed such despicable strategies, born of abject fear of losing power.

All the more reason why voters in Ulu Selangor have little alternative but to whack BN good and proper at the polls. Let's give Zaid Ibrahim a whopping victory with at least a 3,000-vote majority!

EPILOG

Thanks to Elizabeth Wong's swift response, Umno's pathetic attempt to barricade the entrance to Kg Pertak was abandoned without a fight. Shortly after I posted the above report, Eli arrived at Kg Pertak escorted by three police cars and about 40 Pakatan Rakyat campaign staff. The Umno thugs disappeared into the darkness from which they had crawled out. Beautifully accomplished, Eli!

Primitive Pork-Barrel Politics & Mr Pink Lips

Courtesy of The Malaysian Insider

With Najib’s giveaways, BN must win big in Hulu Selangor

KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Barisan Nasional (BN) must win big in tomorrow’s Hulu Selangor by-election to justify Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal involvement in what he has called a referendum of his year-long administration.

In an unprecedented move, the prime minister himself has led the campaign to ensure MIC information chief, P. Kamalanathan, defeats PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim when night falls on Hulu Selangor tomorrow.

BN lost the seat for the first time in its electoral history by a razor-thin 198 votes in Election 2008, which saw the ruling federal coalition humbled in four states and 81 other federal seats.

BN has consistently won the seat with at least 8,500 votes majority since 1990, when Datuk G. Palanivel began the first of his four terms in the constituency the size of Malacca.

For the current campaign, BN has given close to RM60 million in a combination of projects and cash awards to win over the majority of the 64,500 voters in the traditionally pro-BN constituency, which comprises three state seats won by BN in Election 2008.

Anything less than a 3,000-vote majority, ironically predicted by independent Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali, will be a slap in the face for Najib and BN.

[Read the rest here.]

Friends on the ground report that they found themselves within a few yards of Mr Pink Lips today in Kuala Kubu Bharu. The crime minister was emerging from the BN media center and walking towards his car. They were astounded at how low-key the unexpected encounter turned out to be. No jeers, but no cheers either for Mr Pink Lips. Truth is, his energy is DEADLY DULL... just like the entire BN campaign.

Guess who dropped by for a chat last night?

That's right... Nurul Izzah, Anwar's feisty princess, surprised everyone by showing up unannounced at an outdoor ceramah in Kg Pertak. The event was sponsored by a Pakatan Rakyat supporter to neutralize the vile and pernicious influence of the Jabatan Hal Ehwal Orang Asli - which has been used as a weapon to bludgeon the Temuan of Ulu Selangor into submission to more misrule under BN.

Izzah's enchanting presence at the Orang Asli ceramah was a poignant reminder to everyone present that the campaign was ultimately all about putting an end to gross injustice and abuse of power.

The Batin of Pertak, Bidar Chik, was visibly thrilled to be introduced to Izzah. "I greatly admire your father," he told Izzah. He had earlier had a long conversation with Selangor exco for environment and tourism, Elizabeth Wong, who spoke last in the program.

The event at Kg Pertak was notable for the spirit of fun and freedom that permeated the ceramah. A band from Pos Iskandar, Pahang, was on hand to provide lively joget numbers between political speeches. Jenita Engi, a young Temuan girl from Parit Gong, Negri Sembilan, was the emcee for the evening and she put everyone at ease with her easyflowing banter. An observer noted that many of the Asli tend to hang back in the shadows at ceramah hosted by the JHEOA. I guess they instinctively know better than to get too close to the density and darkness symbolized by the Dacing.

Many Orang Asli from other tribes were present to lend support to the Pakatan Rakyat campaign. They voiced their frustrations against the deeply entrenched arrogance, insensitivity and greed of the Umno/BN government and exhorted their fellow Orang Asli to awaken from slumber and vote them out.