Jessie Ooi: Vindictive or Victim?

Much has been made over the Selangor MCA Beliawanis Chief Jessie Ooi in light of her outburst against the Penang Chief Minister during the televised Chua-Lim Debate on Saturday last week. Although the debate is now history, her one-minute of fame has now given more her more notoriety than all of her previous public appearances put together.

She was not the only culprit for that evening, especially when MCA members began throwing highly charged and loaded questions against YAB Lim Guan Eng, who remained calm despite receiving tirade after tirade from the floor. However, Jessie Ooi received the spotlight not just by the aggressive nature of the question, but the content of it. The question remains as to whether it was a legitimate question out of genuine concern for the rakyat or was it completely senseless and she should have done better by keeping quiet?

"I am half a penangnite"

When one introduces oneself as half a penangnite, would one reasonably imply from that statement that she wanted to bring up an issue concerning Penang state? I do not want to go into how she is "half a penangnite", but Jessie Ooi in her own defence said that her question was misinterpreted by the public and the press. She wanted to question Lim Guan Eng as to why the Selangor State government had not reduced assessment rates (cukai pintu) when they have promised to do so. This is indeed a legitimate question, albeit posed to the wrong person and off-topic, but if it were in fact the crux of the question, why do you want bring up an irrelevant issue?

Furthermore, she would know that there are many other people who would want to ask questions and her time would most certainly be limited. If she wanted to give a ceramah and bring up all these issues, that would be perfectly fine in her own time. But to basically spend her time to ask about the MPPP towing cars after 10:30pm in Lebuh Pantai in Penang, can we reasonably expect to believe she intended to talk about assessment rates?

It is fine to be passionate about issues and it is fantastic that as a member of the Selangor state opposition, she should ask about the lack of follow-through in the policies of the state government. However, to go on a "shiok-sendiri" rant about an unrelated issue hardly does her justice. In all fairness, does that mean that Pakatan Rakyat representatives do not rant when they ask questions? Of course they do, and they do so often. However, if you want to prove to the people that you are more capable of governing, do not use the "they can do it, so why can't I?" excuse to justify raging and ranting on national television.

So let me rephrase and pose the question she failed to ask, to the Pakatan Rakyat State Government:

"The Selangor State Government has made a manifesto promise to lower assessment rates in the state in order to reduce the Rakyat's burden. However, despite these promises, the MCA is concerned with the lack of implementation of this promise. How does the Selangor State Government intend to address this issue?" 

Is this alright, Jessie?

Lack of Parking

Now let us come back to the question she did ask. Here is the transcript of her question below:

"CM Lim Guan Eng, I am half a penangnite. You just said that you want to reduce the people's burdens. Secondly, you have earned a lot of money. I want to say that you have been misleading the people. Cukai Pintu is going up and the cost of living is going up. Also at 10:30pm, I witnessed it twice. Despite there being no cars on the road, you have asked your enforcement officers to tow cars away, causing bloody fights. How do you intend to solve these kind of problems? Is this what you call reducing the people's burden?"

Yes, she had mentioned assessment rates. But why did she make an issue out of cars being towed in Penang? Of course every government wants to reduce the burden on the people, but the rule of law must be upheld. So what if it is 10:30pm at night? It is not uncommon in KL to receive summons for illegal parking at night! If it is Barisan Nasional policy to issues summons and tow cars only during the day, why not put it in their manifesto? Or is this Jessie Ooi's personal opinion? 

The MPPP has reacted by issuing a statement that they were merely carrying out their duties. When the question regarding the lack of parking was raised, this was somewhat puzzling as there are more than 1000 parking spaces in the Lebuh Pantai Area. As Jessie Ooi had already said, there were no cars around. So would it be reasonable to assume that there was ample parking available as well? 

Secondly, the brawl in question has been clarified by the MPPP to have been started by the individual, who assaulted the officer on duty. A police report has been filed and an investigation is under way. How can we equate a hot-headed individual's attack on an enforcement officer to the state government being unable to handle social ills? Incidents like these do happen, but we have laws in this country which deals with these kind of things. The government's responsibility is to ensure that the law is enforced. 

I would like to ask Ms Jessie Ooi, can she tell me how it would reduce social ills and the rakyat's burden if we allow social responsibility to be diminished? In other words, it is alright to sin, just do it after hours? Despite her moral high ground, the complete lack of respect for the rule of law is concerning and she came crashing down as a result of this. 

Deeper Problems

It would be unfair to blame Jessie Ooi's outburst solely on her. The MCA has been languishing in the doldrums and unfamiliarity of being an opposition party for the first time in history in the state of Selangor. Wanita MCA Beliawanis Chief Tee Hooi Ling has also jumped to Ooi's defence saying that netizens and bloggers have been overly obsessed about the "tow-truck" issue and should instead focus on the debate itself. 

This is a good point from Tee, but only if the MCA that day would follow their own advice. Despite the persistent, off-topic, personal attacks toward the DAP and the Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng did not level a single personal attack at his opponent or the floor. It is essential that Pakatan MPs do not get sucked into gutter politics which the Barisan Nasional government is so fond of. 

MCA Youth Secretary General Chai Kim Sen also attacked Lim Guan Eng by saying the latter side-stepped a lot of issues raised including the lack of a socio-economic plan to be implemented. He went on to say that Pakatan lacked ideas as to how to govern. I say to him, all evidence points to the contrary. 

The Pakatan run states of Penang and Selangor are the top two investment destinations in Malaysia despite having their federal allocations severely cut by the Federal Government. Local developers and businessmen can testify to the incredible changes under the Lim Guan Eng government in contrast to the Koh Tsu Koon government. Singaporeans are now flocking to Penang which is now cleaner and greener than before, and the international accolades continue to pour in. 

Naturally the Federal Government downplay the statistics by saying that Penang topped the foreign direct investment list due to the hard work of the Ministry in promoting the state. Well indeed, but in that case how about the increased allocations into Johor but still the under-par performance? Why then reduce the federal allocation to Pakatan states if you want to flourish? The Barisan Nasional government are good at giving excuses and taking credit for things they do not do, and are shamed when others can prove that they are incompetent. 

The Rule of Law 

A final point to ponder would be whether or not Malaysia has gotten to the point of moral bankruptcy that flouting the law is allowable as it is now ingrained in our culture? Coffee shop conversations can revolve around the amount of the bribe one has to prepare when stopped by a traffic cop: RM20 for a Kancil, RM30 for a Saga or Myvi, RM50 for a Vios and RM100 for a BMW. 

Tony Pua has already publicly declared that he is no longer interested in corruption scandals amounting to less than one billion ringgit as he is already so busy dealing with the billion ringgit scandals! No wonder people like Jessie Ooi believes that the law is there to be flouted, because it is not just that the Barisan Nasional government believes that it is alright to flout the law, but it has become an ingrained habit!

Take Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia as an example. The oyster sauce was proven to have no oyster extract in it, the ice cream did not have enough milk fat to qualify as ice cream and the milk was ridden by E. Coli bacteria. This was all proven by the Ministry of Health to be true. 

So what action was taking against Mydin? None whatsoever. No fine, no trial, no investigation. Why? Because the Ministry felt that since Mydin decided to recall the product, and no harm was done, it is all ok. How can we accept this or stand by this? What happens if there was an outbreak of E. Coli and people suffer and die from it? Or we have a repeat of the China Melamine scandal in Malaysia? The Health Ministry and Liow Tiong Lai would sweep it under the carpet simply because Mydin is an Umno crony? 

Because of the millions of ringgit in contribution which Ali Ameer Mydin gives to Umno-BN, he gets free publicity, a RM40 million subsidy and ensures that the Umno politicians are in his pocket to prevent free market competition in the hypermarket industry. In short, we get screwed while he lines his pockets. Who's interests do they have at heart? Their own! 

When Jessie Ooi's boss Liow Tiong Lai is as impotent as any other MCA minister to uphold the rule of law, how can we possibly give our trust back to them? They are not even consistent or constructive with their criticism! 

My message to the MCA is to pull yourselves together, uphold the rule of law, develop a work ethic and get back to work in restoring the people's trust. As for Jessie, please get comfortable being the opposition as I fear you and your colleagues would soon be sitting on the other side of the fence come the general elections.

Published in the Malaysia Chronicle (23rd February 2012) and Free Malaysia Today (24th February 2012)
(http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=28601:jessie-ooi-victim-or-vindictive?&Itemid=2)
(http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/02/24/jessie-ooi-vindictive-or-a-just-victim/)

I am not Anti-Government

It has been a while since I have written a piece. Yes, there have been plenty issues of issues cropping up over the political landscape since Chinese New Year. There was the Sharizat leave of absence, Dr Chua Soi Lek saying that the Chinese owe their prosperity to BN, Ibrahim Ali handing out 'pak kam' as ang pows to elderly folk, 1Care and the epic debate between Dr Chua and Lim Guan Eng. Despite all of these juicy topics, I did not feel the inclination to write, and I'm sure that my fellow colleagues in the online media world have done a brilliant job.

However, I want to tackle an issue which has been bugging me since I began writing as a columnist, and also campaigning actively for the Opposition, and in particular, the DAP. I have been frequently asked why many young people and myself are so anti-government, and so intent in causing trouble and instability. I believe that is a fair question which deserves a fair explanation.

"Evangelis DAP" 

I make no secrets of my political affiliation. I am proudly and unashamedly an active member of the DAP and I believe in what the party does and in their plans for our nation, where every citizen is treated fairly regardless of race, language or creed. Does this mean by any stretch of the imagination that I believe the DAP is perfect? Certainly not. No political party can claim to be free from corruption, cronyism or favouritism. However, the concern would be the severity of these political vices and whether it would severely impact the ability to govern a nation effectively.

When I wrote on the DAP National Convention, I was roundly criticized by Helen Ang who accused me of being an "Evangelis DAP" (Evangelist for the DAP) and also condemned me for my faith. She wrote that people like me spew out an extremely one-sided and unbalanced view and that our country would descend into Nazism and Communist dictatorship if left unchecked.

Despite finding her article to be generally offensive, I could not help but laugh at the irony of her comments. I did not respond initially as I did not believe that I should dignify her comments with a response. But I would like to make a point that the reason why I think and write this way is because I have intimately seen both sides of the coin and formed my own conclusion.

Justified bias?

Was I biased when I wrote my article on the DAP National Convention? Of course I was. Was it one-sided? Most definitely. Why did I do this? The reason is simple. Politics is perception. Journalists are supposed to frame up the truth in a manner which is supposed to be even-handed and impartial. The fact of the matter is that we are human. We would tend to favour one side over another. Is this correct? In an ideal world, perhaps not, but we do not live in an ideal world.

In the world of the free press, differing opinions of political events offer the reader a variety of view points and allows the individual to make up their own mind on the matter. In the United Kingdom, The Guardian is a well known conservative paper, The Times is more politically in the centre and The Daily Mail is unabashedly right-wing.

How does this compare to our situation here in Malaysia? The Star is the mouthpiece of the MCA, and the New Straits Times is so blatantly pro-UMNO it has to be given away to schools and hospitals for free! Then there is the blatantly divisive Utusan Malaysia and the Metro Harian carries their opinions derived from Bernama. The only semblance of favourable reporting towards the Opposition parties come from the Chinese press including the China Press and Sin Chew. But even then, the political leaning would always be more towards BN.

So how about The Rocket, Harakah Daily, Suara Keadilan, Malaysia Today, Malaysiakini, Free Malaysia Today, The Malaysian Insider and Malaysia Chronicle? As party newspapers and online news portals, do they even attempt to offer a balanced point of view? Or is our desire for free media driven to the extent that it would appear that we have to write articles to the other extreme? Is this necessarily in order for opposing viewpoints to meet in the middle in the mind of the reader?

Anti-government rhetoric?

The fact of the matter is that in the arena of press and broadcast media, it is simply not fair. The Opposition's only saving grace is the Internet for the dissemination of information. Despite all of this, and despite the argument for a fair media, is the Opposition and pro-Opposition journalists like myself guilty of disseminating misinformation? To a certain extent, yes we are all guilty of this.

Does this make us anti-government at all? No it does not. Until today, as the UMNO-BN government has been in power coming to 55 years, Malaysians are unable to distinguish between the Barisan Nasional party and the government. We cannot really be blamed for saying things like "The Opposition control Penang, Kelantan, Kedah and Selangor." As a matter of fact, this statement is fundamentally wrong. When the Opposition becomes a state-government, they are no longer the opposition, but the ruling coalition.

This idea is incredibly difficult to grasp, as Malaysia, like Singapore, is an example of an extremely successful pseudo-democratic system. The reason behind this is that no other party or coalition has ever governed these countries in their short histories. Furthermore, UMNO-BN holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest serving party or coalition in any country which calls itself a democracy. This is not necessarily a bad thing in itself, but it throws up serious questions of accountability.

My Government, My Country

I sincerely believe that not a single citizen of this beautiful country wants anything but the best for our country. When we have a government that does the right thing, and operates efficiency and professionally for the betterment of our lives, why would we not have any reason to support this? At the end of the day, it is the goal, not the political party, which is the ultimate concern of the Rakyat.

Though there are indeed anarchists, hardcore Perkasa supports and die-hard DAP supporters, the vast majority of the country wants a government which puts our collective interests first, before the interests of any individual groups, lobbies or parties.

What we want is a sincere, accountable and transparent government that implements policies without favour which would stimulate a more competitive, market-driven economic environment, eradicate poverty and ensure sustainable and practical social advancement. Barisan Nasional was incredibly successful in doing all these things for many years, but with mounting financial scandals, unchecked spending, a ballooning subsidy bill, mounting government debt, immeasurable capital outflow and excruciating inflation, I would now call their governing ability into question.

Can the Opposition govern? They have been incredibly successful in Penang, moderately successful in Selangor and consistent in Kedah and Kelantan. Does this mean that they can take the reins of power at the Federal Government? No, it is not an automatic entitlement. Running a country is dramatically different from running a state.

Many members of the public are driven to political apathy by the sheer volume of politicking and finger pointing both sides engage in. Pakatan Rakyat, need to take the manifesto promises and resolutions they have made and actively put it into action now. Wakil Rakyat have to eat, drink and sleep around the interests of the Rakyat. With all the anti-Opposition propaganda being expounded, the final resort is roll up their sleeps and tie up their sarongs and get to work with the personal touch.

Would I vote for Barisan Nasional if they truly had the people's interests at heart? Absolutely 100%. I am not anti-government, nor shall I ever be anti-government. But I do think it's time for a change, don't you?


Published in The Malaysian Chronicle (20th February 2012)
(http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=28403:i-am-not-anti-government&Itemid=2)
Free Malaysia Today (3rd March 2012) 
(http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2012/03/05/i-am-not-anti-government/)
Malaysiakini (23rd February 2012)
(http://malaysiakini.com/letters/190040)
Malaysia Today (5th March 2012)
(http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/guest-columnists/47812-i-am-not-anti-government)

Pakatan Rakyat Needs To Buck Up

Although I am a DAP member and a huge supporter of Pakatan Rakyat, I must declare that I am a little disappointed as to how they have been conducting themselves of late. When it comes to seat allocations during the General Elections is it obvious that many people want their say, and the expression "washing dirty linen in public" could be very aptly used.

After an atrocious showing by Umno at their General Assembly which basically comprised of fear-mongering  the loss of Malay power, disrespect to the royal institution by the opposition and DAP bashing, I would have thought that Pakatan Rakyat, especially the DAP would capitalise on this hatred. However what has transpired since from the opposition parties have been extremely disappointing.

It is already very clear that the BN government is corrupt and racist. Umno are unapologetic in their slanderous onslaught which is dripping with racial venom and blatant lies. The MCA continues to flog the hudud horse, pitting PAS against the DAP and Gerakan offering nuggets of sense in support of electoral reform. The party missing from this equation happens to be the MIC, who have done the most intelligent thing by keeping silent.

The same cannot be said of the opposition parties. The DAP have failed to capitalise on Umno's divisiveness but have instead descended into a war of words over the "Godfather" issue. Johor DAP have also aired their grievances publicly about the state leadership, and there truly seems to be a lack of leadership.

PKR are too busy hounding Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family, and PAS are now keeping mum on Selangor State Exco Hasan Ali on one hand but on the other hand says they would close the Genting casino if they take over as the state government of Pahang. Who is the one showing leadership at the moment?

Having just attended a Strategic Advisor training, I realised that the most successful companies have inspirational leaders with a clear vision and mission. It is the belief their own vision and mission which would perpetuated through the company to the employees. Companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook have built up their own unique identities amongst their staff, and in turn, their staff become walking advertisements for their organisations.

So what is Pakatan Rakyat's vision and mission? Lim Guan Eng has been very proficient at purporting the DAP vision of a Competent, Accountable and Transparent (CAT) government. To a large extent, he has been successful at implementing this principle in Penang, and the state has the distinction of bringing in the most amount of foreign investment out of any state.

The same cannot truly be said of the other PR states especially Kedah. Although Selangor has done better under PR under the leadership of Khalid Ibrahim as compared to the Khir Toyo administration, corruption is still rampant within the state. Kedah has been subject to unnecessary controversy by trying to clamp down on 'vice' businesses during Ramadhan which would be considered to be an infringement of non-Muslim rights.

It is clear that the current BN government would continue spending ourselves into further debt and worsen the capital outflow which has already amounted to RM896 billion over the past 10 years. The corruption, croynism, and blatant plundering of the nation's coffers as well as Petronas profits would increase rather than being stemmed, and another mandate at the next general elections would simply encourage them further.

But is PR truly the answer? Could we in good conscience vote for them? The most recent surveys show that 88%-90% of newly registered ethnically Chinese youth would vote for the opposition but only 23%-26% of Malay Youth would vote for PR.

Why is there such a massive discrepancy? One could argue that the Chinese media is fairer to the opposition, and the complete capitulation of the MCA would result in a huge shift towards PR, especially the DAP. However, the Malay Youth would ultimately be influenced by the mainstream media, and Umno has made a pretty good case of protecting Malay rights.

Have PKR and PAS failed to be sufficiently Malay in this respect? Truthfully, the reality that PKR and PAS are both majority Malay parties are irrelevant. Umno have been very successful at branding their party as the "Defender of Malay Rights". This is perpetuated from the top leadership all the way to the bottom, and unlike the MCA, Umno still holds a large amount of sway with the rural folk.

Right now what PKR, PAS and the DAP have to do is plan a united front and the same message must be proclaimed from every member of each component party. There is no doubt that PR is able to govern. They have been able to do so in four states with varying degrees of success. This is the time to step up, so please do not give the Rakyat an excuse to stay at home come polling day.

The next general election is looming and perhaps this is a good time for PR leaders to reflect on their values and plan a combined mounted offensive come the New Year. It is no use waving the Buku Jingga in our faces or pointing to the superior FDI figures any longer. We need strong, confident leaders who would be united in one voice and with one vision for the nation.

There is a simple reason why Najib's "1Malaysia" failed whereas the Umno "Ketuanan Melayu" succeeds. When it is written in the hearts and minds of their members, they make others believe. This is the season for miracles.

Pakatan Rakyat, make us believe.

Published in:

Free Malaysia Today ('Tis the season for miracles) http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/12/22/tis-the-season-for-miracles/

Malaysia Chronicle (To guarantee victory, Pakatan too needs to buck up) http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=24911:to-guarantee-victory-pakatan-too-needs-to-buck-up&Itemid=2

Najib's Orwellian doublespeak on reforms

Najib's Orwellian doublespeak on reforms

Terence Netto 7:43AM Nov 26, 2011

COMMENT Orwellian doublespeak is alive and well.

Its present-day nabob is Najib Razak, Malaysia’s reform seeking but repression augmenting prime minister.

He said in mid-September he wanted that abomination - the Internal Security Act 1960 - pared down to nothing so that the country becomes the “best” democracy.

It was hard to fathom what the contours of that superlative democracy would be when some members of his praetorian guard were saying things that were at odds with the seemingly liberal spirit of the PM’s Malaysia Day serenade. 

The public had fair reason to wonder over what to expect because ministers - the wacky Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and the gauche Hishammuddin Hussein - had let on that detention without trial will ever be part of the warp and woof of Malaysia’s security laws.

Detention without trial is the resort of countries which face adversaries who wage asymmetrical warfare.

Planes commandeered by sharp object-wielding passengers who then crash them into skyscrapers, and detonating bombs in underground trains, are some of the dangers.    
Malaysia does not face such existential dangers.

Just about the only threats to national tranquility emanate from slightly comic fire breathing types who threaten selected ethnic groups to stay indoors when major demonstrations are being planned, or warn of mass conversions from the country’s official religion.

Even so the police do not take these types too seriously.

Mimicking Singapore

When not focusing their energies on beating up suspects - some even unto death - or chasing and shooting to death underage drivers out on a lark, they prefer to tackle epigones of an ideology that has all but disappeared in the world after the collapse of a wall in Europe more than two decades ago - and that, too, seeing to it if the pitiable lot could be charged for rebellion against the king!

Now, the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 proposes that discontented types among the population apply to give the same force 30 days’ notice of intent to engage in symbolic expression of their disgruntlement in public places barring a slew of venues - notably, places of worship - where people tend to congregate.

In eerie imitation of measures used south of the Causeway to stifle dissent, this Act allows of fines for up to RM20,000 for offenders against the 30-day requirement notice to the police. Hit offenders in the pocket a la Lee Kuan Yew may be the idea here.

The PM describes the proposed legislation as “revolutionary” and a “giant leap” for the betterment of Malaysian democracy.

If Kim Jong-il of North Korea were to allow his son to succeed him and then describe his country’s succession system as the perfection of a democratic people’s choice - that would be par for the course, given hallowed practice in nations of that ilk.

But approximations of this sort of dictatorial behaviour from scions of former prime ministers of ostensibly democratic countries are quite beyond the pale.                

To say one thing intently, but mean the opposite delusively - that was George Orwell’s warning in the late 1940s on where political discourse was heading in places where leaders are more interested in gaining and holding power than in the proper ordering of public affairs.

Pak Lah, too, wanted to reform

Najib’s careen into Orwellian doublespeak territory comes after two-and-a-half years of dropped hints that he intends to do things differently from predecessor Abdullah Badawi.

Well, Abdullah, too, wanted to reform - the police force, especially - when he took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but then got cold feet and backed off.

But at least he did not cover his retreat in the jargon of doublespeak: he just kept quiet.

Najib, however, professes to reform, announces to fanfare areas he intends reforming and then unveils a farce and calls it “revolutionary.”

The Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 is confirmation, if that be needed, the administration of Najib Razak is headed nowhere, perhaps the final confirmation of the evident bankruptcy of Umno-BN after 54 years of rule, its balances overdrawn and its credibility cashiered.

It only awaits the electorate’s recognition of this reality at the 13th general election.

---

TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.

From Malaysiakini.com (http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/182464)

NFC: No cow sense at all!

One of my father's favourite expressions is "use some cow sense!" which basically means "use your brain!". As a result, I found it highly appropriate for me to use in this article. It is remarkable to see how Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family utterly capitulated under the tirade of dirt dug up against them.

First we hear of the RM250 million National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) project awarded to the family of the Women, Family and Community Minister Shahrizat, who had no experience of breeding cows at all. Then there is a damning report from the Auditor General who reported that since 2010, the NFC has fallen short of its breeding target by 41%.

The public outcry was predictably loudest coming from the opposition, PKR in particular. They demanded to know how they got into this mess in the first place and proceeded to dig further. That is when they realised that they struck political gold and at the same time, opened a massive can of worms for the Barisan Nasional government.

Inexcusable scandals

PKR obviously wanted to dig deep for evidence of cronyism and fund misappropriation. It was simple logic. When so much money is dispensed for a project which the Auditor General (AG) declared to be "a mess", where did the money go actually? They followed the trail to Bangsar, and the purchase of a RM10 million condominium using NFC funds. Cue the beginning of the "Cowgate" scandal.

The deathly silence on the part of Shahrizat and family further compounded the feeling that this was tantamount to an admission of guilt. Naturally Sharizat crying out that she was victimised as the former head of Wanita Umno did not earn her many supporters, as it was clear that she was using the tactic as a scapegoat.

Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin wading into the debate with another insanely far-fetched explanation that the purchase of the condominium was a good investment just did not help. But we have to ask, why did he get involved at all in the first place? What's in it for him?

For a man who is embroiled in controversy over "Kampung Buah Dada", you would have thought that he would have kept silent! Obviously, Khairy can take even more of a public bashing. Is this an act of self-sacrifice for the party? Only time will tell.

After this the second condominium unit surfaces. Where does it end?

The cover up

What was remarkable about this incident was that it turned into a bipartisan affair. BN backbencher Bung Mokhtar called for Shahrizat to hand in her resignation, which was met with a chorus of approval from the opposition MPs.

However, the cabinet members stepped up to the plate to say that it was not fair. Leading the defence of his cabinet colleague is Muhyiddin Yassin, who said that there was no need for her to step down as she was not directly involved with the NFC itself.

This should not come as a surprise to us, as BN are always so good at avoiding issues, passing blame around and use less popular members as scapegoats so they are able to continue plundering and pillaging. Only crooks protect other crooks. When all else fails, hire a lawyer.

The press conference

The belated press conference called by NFC director Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is also Sharizat's husband, created suspicion from the offset, when all alternative media and Chinese language press were barred from participating. Is it the inability to handle probing questions or fear of his words being twisted? Perhaps. Nevertheless the exclusion only worsens the

He explained to the BN friendly papers that the NFC was on track and that they need more time to deliver results. There were a couple of issues with the answers provided. The government target of 8,000 heads of cattle is not a breeding target but a slaughter target.

Although they did raise 8,016 heads of cattle, the issue the AG raised was that only 3,289 heads were delivered, which is well short of the target. The entire premise of the NFC project in the first place was to supply beef to the market. As a result, the Key Performance Indicator should obviously be the number slaughtered not raised.

Additionally, he tried to claim that they were receiving RM70,000 a month for the condominiums. When I asked a couple of developers and real estate agents, they scoffed at the possibility of being able to obtain such a high rental.

The income they get may be in the form of guaranteed yield over 2 or 3 years in which most developers offer as an incentive to purchase the property. However, this turns out to be no more than a glorified discount. Anyone who can pay RM70,000 a month would we well within their means to purchase their own property!

The logic of it all

After all of the articles in the online and print media about the scandal, I doubt I need to venture further into all of its sordid details. Wanita PKR has launched a national wide campaign to file police reports against five individuals considered to be instrumental to the epic failure of the NFC including the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Najib has been accused about lying to parliament, and Muhyiddin apparently does not see anything wrong with using public funds to purchase property.

However, let us take a look deeper into to the whole issue and the futility of it all. The question has to be asked as to why we needed the feedlot in the first place. The government would claim that it is to supply more halal beef into the Malaysian market. Nevertheless there are a couple of important questions that need to be asked:

1.     Farms in Western Australia already supplied beef which have received international halal certification to many countries in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. However, Jakim has not approved this. Is Malaysia truly more Islamic than Saudi Arabia so as not to recognise the Halal certificate? If not, why are we unable to accept the beef?

2.     What is the point in importing Australian cows at great expense and import the feed as well? There is a massive difference in the quality of Australian beef and the so-called Gemas 'Gold' cattle, and I would presume that this is down to the massive change in climate and environment. Why short change the Malaysia public with sub-standard beef which costs more than 

3.     If this is an issue of sovereignty, why can’t the government just acquire a farm in Australia and send people from Malaysia to run it? The NFC ran losses of RM7 million in 2009 and RM11 million in 2010. This amount would have comfortably paid for the living and lifestyle expenses of the staff required, as last time I checked, cows pretty much take care of themselves.

4.     If this is an issue about slaughtering the cows according to Jakim’s standards, why not just import the cows and slaughter them locally to Jakim’s satisfaction? This would be far most cost effective than the current method as we still have to import cattle anyway!

5.     Was this project to stimulate the national economy or the agricultural sector? If so, why are local farmers not benefiting from this project instead of awarding this to a company with Ministerial connections that has never bred cattle before? 

Grab and run

What we are seeing now is nothing short of a day-light robbery. We can see the system is rotten to the core, with scandal after scandal surfacing. However, the NFC saga may be the straw that finally broke the camel's back.

It is clear that Najib is not interested in reforms but more interested in making cosmetic changes to policies just to retain power. His alphabet soup including the NRKAs, NEMs and the ETPs count for nothing if he allows his cabinet ministers to run wild with the nation's money, and gives his deputy license to display arrogance in telling off the public for not believing their version of the story.

With the MACC and the police silent about this, there is a definite reluctance in the air to probe this issue. The difficult questions are now being asked, and this is the greatest benefit of the strong Opposition we have today. It is clear that despite suffering the worse electoral defeat in history back in 2008, BN have not learnt a single thing. In fact they got worse, and expected to get away with it.

Pakatan Rakyat has a golden opportunity now to frame themselves as a credible government. Public sentiment and anger is high, and another season of protest votes may favour PR in the coming election. However, they must work hard and work fast. Malaysian politics is fickle and the landscape changes quickly. If they miss the boat now, it may be a long time for it to come around again.

An FMT Exclusive
(http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/23/nfc-makes-no-cow-sense/)

Koh Tsu Koon: He's hot and he's cold

After the March 2008 General Elections which all but eliminated Gerakan from the Penang political scene, the party has failed to find its feet since then. One could not think of a more demoralising or resounding rejection of their mandate, which gave the DAP a shock win, and being cast out into oblivion. 

Brains but no brawn

Party chairman Koh Tsu Koon, with all his brains and his doctorate should have seen this coming from miles away. After helming Penang for 18 years, he fell with a mighty thump onto a massive pile of discontent, along with the rest of the Gerakan leaders who have helmed Penang along with him. 

Serving under the legendary Lim Chong Eu as political secretary and then his chief aide, one would have thought that Koh was groomed for greatness when he took the reins as Chief Minister. However, Penang never again reached the spectacular heights that his predecessor achieved. 

Though progress did come to Penang, it came slowly. Koh Tsu Koon can tout that the building of the PISA indoor arena and the registration of Penang as an UNESCO World Heritage site as achievements during his tenure. However, his government was very much in the Barisan Nasional fold, practising closed tenders, cronyism, widespread corruption and graft. 

The Thinker

Katy Perry sums up Koh quite nicely. As a man known as "The Thinker", his indecisiveness and notoriety for changing his mind like a girl changes clothes has become folklore, both amongst Penangnites and his own party. Despite being fully tri-lingual in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin, talk is all he appeared to be capable of doing. 

A member of Penang's economic research unit told me once that the former Chief Minister used to get only 3 hours of sleep a night as he was always deep in thought. "Unfortunately, that's all he seemed able to do," she quipped to me with a smile. 

After becoming Gerakan President in 2008, the image of the party has sharply declined, mostly thanks to him. Gerakan was seen increasingly as Umno's lapdog, just like the MCA and MIC. Koh appears physically frail, and that has translated to Gerakan's fall from grace as they had no voice or intention to affect real change. 

Senator Koh

After losing his parliamentary bid, the new Najib administration took pity on him and appointed him as a Senator and a Minister in the Prime Minister's department. This obviously was met with clear indignation with from the people. This man had lost the trust of the electorate which led him to be rejected in the polls, and yet the Prime Minister had the temerity not just make him a senator, but a Minister?!

To add salt to wound, the role given to a man famous for being unable to make decisions was to take charge of the National Key Result Areas. It was so ironic. If he had done such a good job as Chief Minister of Penang, why did Gerakan lose so badly? 

Obviously he was not very good at his new job, and soon he was replaced by the more capable Idris Jala. He has just been floating about, making occasional appearances for his token existence in what is an already over-bloated cabinet. 

Internal dissent

Calls for him to step down and dissenters within Gerakan started to rear their heads. He was undoubtedly considered a liability and represents everything is wrong with the party. In order to stop the rot, they had to cut of their head so to speak. 

Wanita Gerakan Chief Tan Lian Hoe made clear her gripes against his leadership at their national delegates conference only last month, calling on him to be brave and "make decisions or step aside". Koh stepped up to say that he would make the tough decisions and lead the party through the next election. 

How things can change so quickly. 

Stepping aside best for Gerakan

With Koh announcing that he will not contest in the next general elections for either the state or parliamentary seats, I anticipate that many opposition politicians would be disappointed that he is no longer a target, nor a candidate which they could have an easy win over. 

I would venture to speculate that the Prime Minister obviously feels that Koh is not a 'winnable' candidate, and made this clear to him during the meeting in Putrajaya with the BN heads on Tuesday. Koh himself, should have seen this coming. 

By stepping aside, this has also led to his successor, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to enter the debate by saying that Umno wanted to sideline Koh. Although speculation was rife that Koh's 'sacrifice' would be to contest in the next GE against the incredibly popular Lim Guan Eng, but it appears that what he meant was 'self-sacrifice'. 

No wonder Muyhiddin Yassin was so keen to accept the decision. Obviously this administration has no faith in this Gerakan leader or his ability to stir the hearts and minds of the grassroots. Koh stepping aside gives the party a chance to reinvent themselves. 

Uphill climb

However, it would be unfair to say that Koh is solely responsible for tarnishing the image of the once-opposition party. Other contributors to the decline of Gerakan's popularity has to be the Penang duo of Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, otherwise known as Thor Teong Ghee and Baljit Singh, made infamous for giving the Penang state government an 'F' for performance. The public reaction and scorn against this statement forced them to retreat back into a hole, after being branded as having taken the people to 'Holland'. 

Recent surveys show that Malays living in Penang view the state government as a 'Chinese' government, not one of Pakatan Rakyat. Gerakan is viewed as better representative of Barisan Nasional, therefore better equipped to protect their rights. However, before Gerakan and Umno jump for joy, public perception can very quickly change. 

Gerakan will be all but eliminated in the next General Election, and even Umno would struggle in Penang which has turned into a DAP stronghold. Nevertheless, with Koh moving on, they will have a couple of years to take the time to elevate the image of the party.

Unfortunately the biggest obstacle would be voicing out dissent against Umno, so perhaps the best thing to do for themselves and the people, is to withdraw from the Barisan Nasional coalition. As long as they remain in BN, they shall continue to be an impotent party.

MCA: Empty vessels makes the most noise

Do we remember the rule that silence is golden? I am sure many parents teach their children that if you do not have anything nice to say, you should keep quiet. However in politics nowadays, we have mud slinging from both sides of the political divide, It appears that the less you have done, and the less relevant you have become, the more you have to shout at the top of your lungs.

For the MCA, they are able to see that they are disappearing fast off the political scene just like Gerakan. They have been criticised over the years for being gutless and pandering to the demands of Umno, just to ensure that they still get a slice of the pie.

"Chinese Interests"


They shout that they are charged with the divine duty of representing and fighting for Chinese interests in Malaysia. Are we still under the illusion that we need elected representatives of the same ethnicity? If Barisan Nasional component parties still believe this after having the '1Malaysia' concept shoved down their throats and pinned on their lapels, it quickly becomes clear that they are only interested in serving themselves.

The Malaysian Chinese community is a diaspora of clans which include the Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainanese, Hakka, Foochow, Teochew amongst others. From the beginning, they settled in this country and worked hard to get to where they are today.

What has the community asked for? Just freedom to do business, educate our children well and be allowed to prosper. However, even going back to the days when Umno pushed forward the NEP, did the MCA speak up at all?


Bashing the DAP

Nowadays, the MCA have resorted to attacking the DAP at every opportunity that they have. Not a day goes by without Chua Soi Lek or Wee Ka Siong making a press statement in the Star and the Chinese language press about the "short-comings" of the DAP, with their favourite targets being Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh.

Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh have been a constant thorn in the side of the MCA. Due to the consistency of the DAP as both a party and a state government, the MCA have struggled to find issues to harp on. So they bring up old issues or flog dead issues.

Wee Ka Siong has just hit out at Karpal Singh, after the latter has expressed his support to Anwar Ibrahim to be the next Prime Minister. Going back to the September 16th 2008 fiasco, Karpal was not impressed that Anwar wanted to form a government with frogs coming over from BN. This issue has been long resolved as the event has already taken place.

When you have dissenting voices within a coalition, this is normal and healthy as a form of public debate. Throughout this entire episode, not once did the DAP say that they would abandon Pakatan Rakyat. Wee Ka Siong represents a party who has no say, so expressing their own views on national issues is an alien concept.

Hudud again?

Not stopping there, Wee Ka Siong then continues to flog the hudud horse and how it would infringe on the rights of non-Muslims. After discussing the matter with several Malay friends and colleagues, it is clear that the principle of hudud is seriously misunderstood.

The MCA is guilty propagating misinformation in order to make their position look better. Although opposition parties are not immune from doing this, at the very least the MCA could be creative about it apart from their "No to Hudud" and "No to DAP" campaign.

The DAP and PAS have already reached a consensus about the issue. Constitutionally, it has been clearly established hudud law cannot be implemented. Despite this, the debate rages on, fuelled by the irresponsibility of the BN component parties, especially the MCA, to spook the non-Muslim community.

Looking like Fools


It is evident that when DAP and PAS do something, the MCA is the first one on their case. But for issues of national importance, such as the irregularities found by Auditor General report, the scandals overseen by several ministries and Sharizat's RM10 million condominium in Bangsar, the MCA remains as quiet as a mouse.

If you want to debate about integrity, why not show some? This is because they know if they voice out any dissent against their Umno masters, they would be cast out to the side of the road. They have shown that they are completely incapable of voicing out issues which are important to everyday Malaysians, but are more interested in engaging in politicking.

When Ei Kim Hock mentioned that overseas Malaysians do not deserve to vote because they are out of touch with the real issues, it is clear that they are the ones out of touch. The earned the ire of the NGO Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia Australia (SABMoz) as well as other groups, all saying that it is a basic right enshrined within our constitution.

It is clear that the move is purely political, as the MCA know that overseas voters are more likely to vote against them. As a result, it is far more important to preserve their political position than uphold the constitution.

Chua Soi Lek was too late with the damage control and conjures up an absurd notion that the logistics would be impractical. All we have to do is to take a leaf out of the book of the Australians, British or Americans who regularly vote at foreign missions.

If it is anyone who would find it a logistics nightmare, it would be the Americans by the sheer size and population of the country, but they cope just fine. If a country of 300 million people can do it, handling 28 million citizens should be a piece of cake right?

The MCA are brilliant con artists, having deceived the people for so many years that they are a credible force. One would sincerely hope we have woken up, and no longer stand for their hollow talk so in order for them to stand to gain and we stand to lose. It is for the better. Goodbye, MCA. Thank you for the music.

Published exclusively for Free Malaysia Today.
(http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/18/empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise/)

Also appeared on:
Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/guest-columnists/45056-empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise)
Lim Kit Siang's Blog (http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/11/18/empty-vessels-make-the-most-noise/)
Malaysia Indian1blog (http://malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/2011/11/empty-vessels-make-most-noise.html)

The Ministerial Comedy of Errors

Politics has always been a topic of conversation in your average coffee shop, and even more so after the 2008 General Elections. As of late, the centre of attention would definitely be on the part of government expenditure. We need not write more comedy material, as our Ministers invariably oblige by providing us gems when questioned inside and outside Parliament, by Members of Parliament and reporters alike. 

I have compared our ministerial question-time to the play entitled "Comedy of Errors" by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote of two brothers who were identical twins, and mistaken as one another by their friends. They went round and round in circles and no one quite knew what was going on, least of all themselves. In many ways, we can draw parallels to our Ministers who try taking us on a ride, but end up thoroughly befuddling themselves. I would like to draw on three examples to illustrate my point. 

Coal Power Plant

Let's take the case of the coal-fire power plant contract which was awarded in June 2011 from the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water to Tanjung Bin Power, a subsidiary of Malakoff Bhd to commence operations in 2016. There was only one other company called for the closed tender, which was Jimah Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd. 

When Tony Pua stood up and asked as to why there was no open tender, Peter Chin replied that it was because time is of the essence. So then because we needed it quickly, there was no need for an open and competitive quote? 

Let us look at the contract. What are the Power Purchase Agreement, and the expected tariffs which would be sold back to Tenaga Nasional? The Minister replies that the terms will be finalised at the end of the year although the agreement has been signed. So, the Minister reasons that political expediency justifies sacrificing of common sense? 

MRT

The Kuala Lumpur Mass Rapid Transit is the biggest project in our nation's history at RM43 billion. Although the Prime Minister happily announced that the projects would be awarded by open tender, the project was immediately given to a Gamuda-MMC joint venture, both with are Government Linked Companies (GLCs). 

Najib was reported on the Malaysian Insider on October 26 to have said that the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) would practice public tenders. However, when confronted with the MRT tender by reporters, he said sheepishly, "There are some contracts that you just cannot tender out." 

At this juncture, one would cue the sound of a collective slapping of foreheads across the nation. Our Prime Minister has blatantly contradicted himself without even giving a reason as to why. Will this project exceed the amount budgeted? You bet. Even Idris Jala himself was proud to say so. 

Defence spending

Tony Pua has clearly been busy doing his homework when he came across a Ministry of Defence requisition for AV8 Aviation Ground Support Vehicles (AGSVs), which are basically armoured people carriers. The contract size was RM7.55 billion for 257 units which translates to RM29.4 million per unit. Hardly petty cash. 

Who was awarded the supply contract? Deftech Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom. How many AGSVs has Deftech manufactured before the contract was awarded? Zero. Was there an open tender? No. 

The news then came out that Deftech proceeded to purchase RM1.7 billion worth of product from a Turkish company called FNSS Defence Systems. What did they purchase? AGSVs. How many units did they purchase? 257 units. Does this sound familiar to you?

Can the Minister explain the discrepancy between the RM7.55 billion price tag the rakyat is paying for and the RM1.7 billion purchase price? The Defence Minister, Zahid Hamidi made no attempt answered the question and proceeded to accuse the federal opposition for threatening the security of the country by trying to block necessary military purchases. I'll let you make up your own minds. 

Parliament live

Are we amused by all of this, or saddened or both? For how much longer are we going to allow this government to abuse public funds and enrich cronies? They use hudud law and sekualiti merdeka as scapegoats to try to pull wool over our eyes as to what the real issues are. 

When confronted, our Ministers either try to dodge the question, keep quiet, make another accusation or in the case of the National Feedlot Centre, offer it to the Opposition to try it out. This does not reflect well on the government’s ability to account or even justify their actions.

The 2010 Auditor's General report is testament to the blatant corruption and financial mismanagement of this government. Year on year it is getting worse and we are paying for it. Although BN is pleading with the people to trust in their experience, all signs point for us to do anything but. 

As for parliament being broadcast live in future, I would doubt that we would be given such a privilege. I believe that BN would feel that if they have to humiliate themselves by giving such lame answers to MP questions, at least the delay between their answers and press time would provide them with temporary respite, and allow the mainstream media to paint a pretty picture before publication. 


Published in:


Malaysia Chronicle (http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=22586:ministerial-comedy-of-errors&Itemid=2)
Free Malaysia Today  (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/09/ministerial-comedy-of-errors/)
Malaysia Today (http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/from-around-the-blogs/44826-the-ministerial-comedy-of-errors-)