The Economic Corridors should have gone together with Abdullah Badawi

Economic Corridors and Our Fatal Conceit

by SakmongkolAK47 (November 19, 2009)

The luster of the economic corridors is fading as the hard evidence about their success is very sparse. The Singaporeans are not coming in droves into Iskandar region. In the other corridors, the economy hasn’t taken off beyond the pyrotechnics and dry ice smokes.In Pahang, for example, there was much spectacle about planting 8000 acres with a new species of pineapples. Also in the show, was the rearing of Boer and Jamnapari goats. These two ventures could easily be handled by the state’s own agencies. We don’t need ECER to tell us that. The goats too were brought in from goat farms so that the PM, the MBs of Pahang and Kelantan can enjoy stroking the kids.

Other than that, what is the public’s perception of ECER? It’s just another extraneous institution coming into existence to supersede and duplicate what can be done by the state. They have money all right, which will in due time degenerate into avenues for streaming money into a few selected beneficiaries. The ECER, for example, is headed by PETRONAS people. They may be good in the oil and gas industry, but that is not transferable into general business ventures such as rearing goats and planting pineapples.

There are now doubts as to whether the economic drive assumed to be inherent in the creation of the various corridors is there or not. The problem is, the boys advising on the economy think, everything can be micromanaged. In some ways I blame our senior civil servants for not arguing the case against setting up these behemoths with more substantive reasoning and even probably pointing out to the unsoundness of such projects. Now almost 70% of the country is enveloped by these corridors thereby making the various economic development agencies in each state, seem superfluous.

If what I hear about MOF officers spending time yik-yaking eating potato chips while serious meetings about the economy are in session is true, then no wonder the text-book young guns occupying the 4th Floor can bulldoze through with their plans.

But I want to talk about the philosophical underpinnings of such esoteric ideas as these economic corridors. To me they are essentially extensions of the mind of central planner. Someone out there think they can micromanage our economic lives.

Last week I wrote several articles about the parallel economy and the lessons we can learn from it. The parallel economy is a live lab for studying the principles behind economic vibrancy to distinguish them from the formal economy so loved by our central economic planners. You have people still wetting their underpants impressed you with some economic models that they think are answers to break beyond the thresholds.

Look at the driving principles behind the parallel economy and our own formal economy. I am not asking you to look at the declaration that the parallel economy is the answer to the BN’s NEP or something along those lines. That’s a stupid way of engaging in a fruitful discourse. What’s more meaningful is to realize that the vibrancy in the parallel economy is the result of relative de-regulation and economic freedom. The less vibrancy in the formal economy is probably the result of excessive government intervention and meddling by officious napoleons.

People are still besotted with the idea of centralization and concentration of power. They think they can substitute the spontaneous order of human economic cooperation with a detailed input output tables and plan every single minutiae of economic urges. The facts are they can’t. We don’t have to produce those elegant rebuttals against the attractions of centralized economic planning. It is sufficient for our practical purposes to see the principles behind the parallel economy.

The underlying principle driving the parallel economy is this:

The great advances of civilization, in the industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. Columbus did not set out to seek a new route to China is response to a majority directive of a parliament, though he was [partly financed by an absolute monarch. Newton and Leibnitz, Einstein and Bohr, Shakespeare, Milton and Pasternak….; no one of these opened new frontiers in human knowledge and understanding, in literature, in technical possibilities, or in the relief of human misery in response to governmental directives. Their achievements were the product of individual genius, of strongly held minority views, of a social climate permitting variety and diversity.[Friedman in Capitalism and Freedom]

I doubt whether those people behind Saville, Wisma Shun Li, Pearl Point and Elken Convention Centre did what they did in response to directives from government officers. Harun Johari or Ikmal or whoever could have accomplished more if a social climate permitting variety and diversity is provided.

November 20, 2009

Trouble in Iskandar Regional Development

All is not well in Iskandar Malaysia, the country’s showpiece economic corridor project. Two chief executive officers of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) have not lasted two years on the job and there are now rumblings from Middle East investors over the slow pace of progress. Apart from that, the relationship between some of the main players — the Johor Civil Service (JCS), Khazanah Nasional, Iskandar Investment Board (IIB) — leaves much to be desired.

He wants State Control of Iskandar Regional Development

Unwilling for the situation to unravel further, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman is signalling his intention to Putrajaya for the state government to take more control of the mammoth project billed as Malaysia’s Shenzen to the developed Singapore across the Johor Straits.

He wants IRDA to come directly under the purview of the state government, and rely less on instructions from Khazanah Nasional, the federal sovereign wealth fund tasked with developing the economic zone named after the state Ruler.

The IRDA board is now jointly chaired by the Prime Minister and the MB but The Malaysian Insider understands that the Johor MB could be assigned full chairmanship, giving him control of the regional authority. Ghani has already started exerting his authority, much to the chagrin of the top brass in Khazanah Nasional. Late last month, he demanded the resignation of the incumbent CEO Harun Johari.

Officials at Khazanah Nasional wanted Harun to be given six more months on the job but last week, the IRDA board quickly accepted Harun’s resignation. He will leave in January 2010 for IRDA to have another fresh start. Harun, an ex-Shell stalwart, was hand-picked by Khazanah Nasional for the top position. He quickly brought in several of his former Shell colleagues to fill senior executive positions, and the organisation ballooned to over 150 staff under his charge.

His critics charged that he lacked charisma but his supporters argued that he is a process-driven individual who was effective behind the scenes. Harun replaced Datuk Ikmal Hijaz, the former Pos Malaysia CEO. The latter was also hand-picked by Khazanah Nasional to drive IRDA and make it a world-class, one-stop centre for investors.

After being appointed, Ikmal also surrounded himself with several former colleagues from Pos Malaysia or the now defunct Renong Group, in which he oversaw the construction of the Gelang Patah crossing and massive land acquisition in Nusajaya.

The Malaysian Insider has learnt the new CEO of IRDA is Ismail Ibrahim. He is currently director of the National Physical Planning Division under the Urban and Rural Planning Department. The Muar-born career public servant, who is a British-trained town planner, was among the pioneers assembled by Khazanah Nasional back in 2006 to draw up the Comprehensive Development Plan for the south Johor Economic Region (now known as Iskandar).

He later served as senior vice-president (Planning & Compliance) and became Johor’s Federal Commissioner, but quit suddenly to return to the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

Ghani has already told Ismail that he expects an overhaul of the top management of IRDA, wanting him to rid the authority of deadwood.At least four senior personnel are expected to be removed. The JCS — a body whose support is necessary if any project is to take off in the southern state — has welcomed the appointment of Ismail.Relations between the JCS and Khazanah Nasional have been uneasy since the inception of the project in 2006, with Johor civil servants complaining of being sidelined from the decision-making process. They have resented the fact that important decisions regarding Iskandar were being made in Kuala Lumpur.

The shortcomings in IRDA, and to a lesser extend IIB, come at a time when several of the Middle East investors are exhibiting signs of restlessness at the pace of the project.

Government officials told The Malaysian Insider that Khazanah Nasional was forced to buy back some land in Node 1 of Iskandar which it sold to a consortium of Middle East investors. This happened after some disagreement over responsibilities and obligations.

1Malaysia Business A-Team

November 20, 2009

http://ckcounterpunch.wordpress.com

1Malaysia Corporate and Business Team: A Formidable Force behind Najib Tun Razak

Everyone knows whenever there’s a change to the premiership not only political landscape changes but also the stock-market landscape. When Mahathir called it a day in 2003 almost immediately his cronies listed companies were affected. The same goes to Badawi although his departure doesn’t have the same impact  And now with Najib Razak as the new Prime Minister naturally his cronies, or rather those who are closely linked to him are instantly on investors or punters’ radar.

Malaysia politics and business model is rather unique because you will see both scratching each other for survival and prosperity. This is something that foreign investors find rather hard though amused to accept or understand, not to mention their frustration due to escalating business operating costs.

Dow Jones went crazily above the psychological-level of 8,000-points before profit-taking trimmed the gains and closed at 7,978.08, thanks mostly to G20’s pledge of over $1 trillion to combat global economic crisis. However, the KLCI was marginally down following the release of the external trade data by the statistics department. Malaysia’s exports for February 2009 fell 15.9% year-on-year, while imports were 27.3% lower. Total trade in February was 21% lower at RM67.2bilionl, with trade surplus of RM11.97billion.

If Badawi’s circle of businessmen included Equine Capital Berhad’s Patrick Lim, ECM Libra Group’s Kalimullah Hassan and Scomi Group’s Kamaluddin Abdullah (his own son), Najib’s circle of businessmen is many times larger. So who are the people (and companies) closely linked to the new Prime Minister Najib Razak who could see their fortunes rising?

1) Top on the list is none other than his youngest brother Nazir Razak, CEO of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad (KLSE: COMMERZ, stock-code 1023). Perhaps the most business-savvy within the family members Nazir was known for his infamous controversial acquisition of Southern Bank from owner Tan Teong Hean.

After failed the initial attempt Nazir turned to Chua Ma Yu who engineered the downfall of  Tan’s Southern Bank ultimately. With the largest lender Malayan Banking Berhad’s (KLSE: MAYBANK, stock-code 1155) in its bad shape would we see Bumiputra-Commerce acquire Maybank to become the largest bank instead?

2) Johari Razak, the second eldest who read law from University of Kent is one of the senior partners since August 2007 at Shearn Delamore & Co , a law firm located at Wisma Hamzah-Kwong Hing. He also holds the following positions:

• Ancom Berhad (KLSE: ANCOM, stock-code 4758): Non-Executive Chairman
• Nylex (Malaysia) Berhad (KLSE: NYLEX, stock-code 4944): Non-Executive Deputy Chairman
• Hong Leong Industries Berhad (KLSE: HLIND, stock-code 3301): Non-Executive Director
• Daiman Development Berhad (KLSE: DAIMAN, stock-code 5355): Non-Executive Chairman
• Tower Real Estate Investment Trust (KLSE: TWRREIT, stock-code 5111): Non-Executive Director
• Deutsche Bank (M) Berhad: Director

3) Mohamed Nizam Razak, the middle brother, studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University in the UK and was a stockbroker, being CEO of PB Securities Sdn Bhd in the 1990s. He also holds the following positions:

• Hiap Teck Venture Berhad (KLSE: HIAPTEK, stock-code 5072): Non-Executive Director
• Delloyd Ventures Berhad (KLSE: DELLOYD, stock-code 6505): Non-Executive Director
• Mamee Double-Decker (M) Berhad (KLSE: MAMEE, stock-code 5282): Non-Executive Director
• Yeo Hiap Seng (M) Berhad (KLSE: YHS, stock-code 4642): Non-Executive Director
• Deutsche Bank (M) Berhad: Director

Nizam Razak together with Syed Mokhtar were once eyeing for the 19.4% stake in DRB-HICOM held by the family trust of late Yahaya Ahmad.

4) Mohamed Nazim Razak, the fourth brother, is an architect who married former host of TV3’s Nona show, Norjuma Habib Mohamed. He also holds the following positions:

• Hong Leong Bank Berhad (KLSE: HLBANK, stock-code 5819): Non-Executive Director
• Hong Leong Capital Berhad (KLSE: HLCAP, stock-code 5274): Non-Executive Director

Nazim is also the Chairman of Meru Utama Sdn Bhd which won a seven-year advertising concession from Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad in late 2007. Besides, Nazim is also a director of Eng Wah Organization Limited, a Singapore-based business involved in cinema operations, film distribution and rental of retail and office space. But of course the multi-billion dollar question is would Quek’s Hong Leong Bank leverage on this latest political landscape to acquire Public Bank?

5) Tan Kay Hock, chairman of Johan Holdings Berhad (KLSE: JOHAN, stock-code 3441) and George Kent (M) Berhad (KLSE: GKENT, stock-code 3204). Both Najib and Tan Kay Hock are golfing buddies and have known each other for a long time. Tan is also a member of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) and owns 49.59% stake in George Kent. Interestingly, Malayan United Industries Berhad (KLSE: MUIIND, stock-code 3891), controlled by Khoo Kay Peng owns 9.3% stake in George Kent and 7% stake in Johan Holdings.

6) Robert Kuok, second PM Abdul Razak and third PM Hussen Onn were childhood friends and their friendship going back to their school days at Raffles School Singapore. Another of their classmate was Lee Kuan Yew, the first PM of Singapore.

Razak juniors used to visit their “Uncle Kuok” and although the Malaysia’s richest man’s businesses are mainly based in Hong Kong, he still has leftovers such as Transmile Group Berhad (KLSE: TRANMIL, stock-code 7000), PPB Oil Palms Bhd (KLSE: PPB, stock-code 4065) and Malaysian Bulk Carriers Berhad (KLSE: MAYBULK, stock-code 5077).

7) Shahril Shamsuddin, owner of Sapura Group is said to have close family relationship with Najib. Companies related included SapuraCrest Petroleum Berhad (KLSE: SAPCRES, stock-code 8575), Sapura Industrial Berhad (KLSE: SAPIND, stock-code 7811) and Sapura Resources Berhad (KLSE: SAPRES, stock-code 4596). He is one of the six trusted individuals personally picked by Najib for ideas on issues ranging from economy, capital markets and general business soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister.

8 ) Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, the tycoon whose empire is said to be the most comprehensive and includes almost every sector. He also enjoys good relationship with former PM Mahathir and his DRB-HICOM’s assembly plant provides huge employment in Pekan, Najib’s political base. Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd or Deftech, a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM, is the country’s leading supplier of land-based defence vehicles to the Defence Ministry, Najib’s favorite ministry. Stocks related to Mokhtar Albukhary includes:

• MMC Corporation Berhad (KLSE: MMCCORP, stock-code 2194)
• Padiberas Nasional Berhad (KLSE: BERNAS, stock-code 6866)
• Kramat Tin Dredging Berhad (KLSE: KRAMAT, stock-code 2151)
• Amtek Holdings Berhad (KLSE: AMTEK, stock-code 7051)
• Integrated Rubber Corporation Berhad (KLSE: IRCB, stock-code 2127)
• Tradewinds Corporation Berhad (KLSE: TWSCORP, stock-code 4804)
• Tradewinds Plantation Berhad (KLSE: TWSPLNT, stock-code 6327)
• Zelan Berhad (KLSE: ZELAN, stock-code 2283)

Mokhtar also is very close with Muhyiddin Yassin, the Deputy PM and should Muhyiddin become the next PM, Mokhtar is definitely the businessman to benefits the most. Their relationship started when Muhyiddin was the Johor Chief Minister and Mokhtar was building his empire in the state then.

9) Mohamed Azman Yahya, director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad (KNB) and founder and group chief executive of outsourcing firm Symphony House Berhad (KLSE: SYMPHNY, stock-code 0016) as well as ex-CEO of Pengurusan Danaharta Berhad. He is one of the six trusted individuals personally picked by Najib for ideas on issues ranging from economy, capital markets and general business soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister.Listed companies related to Azman includes:

• Bolton Berhad (KLSE: BOLTON, stock-code 1538): Executive Chairman
• Malaysian Airline System Berhad (KLSE: MAS, stock-code 3786): Non-Executive Director
• PLUS Expressway Berhad (KLSE: PLUS, stock-code 5052): Non-Executive Director
• Pharmaniaga Berhad (KLSE: PHARMA, stock-code 7081): Chairman
• Scomi Group Berhad (KLSE: SCOMI, stock-code 7158): Non-Executive Director

10) Rohana Mahmood, Najib’s milieu and chairman and partner of Ethos Capital, a RM200mil private equity firm. Rohana and Omar Mutapha Ong, a former special assistant to Najib, are co-founders of the boutique advisory firm Ethos & Co. She and another close aide of Najib, Abdul Razak Baginda, are co-founders of the independent think-tank, Malaysian Strategic Research Centre. Najib was chairman of the think-tank, now disbanded. Listed companies related to Rohana includes:

• Paramount Corporation Berhad (KLSE: PARAMON, stock-code 1724)
• TH Group Berhad (KLSE: THGROUP, stock-code 8109)
• Dijaya Corporation Berhad (KLSE: DIJACOR, stock-code 5401)

11) Azman Mokhtar – the managing director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad. He is one of the six trusted individuals personally picked by Najib for ideas on issues ranging from economy, capital markets and general business soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister.

12) Md Nor Yusof – an ex-banker who was the former managing director of Malaysia Airlines and past chairman of the Securities Commission. He is currently director and chairman of Khazanah’s executive committee. He is one of the six trusted individuals personally picked by Najib for ideas on issues ranging from economy, capital markets and general business soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister.

13) Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh – chairman and MD of express bus operator, Konsortium Transnational Bhd. The former Proton boss was called upon by the Government in 1996 to revive the ailing public transport company. He is one of the six trusted individuals personally picked by Najib for ideas on issues ranging from economy, capital markets and general business soon after Najib was appointed Finance Minister.

14) Bakke Salleh – Felda Holdings Bhd CEO

15) Lodin Wok Kamarudin – Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera chief

16) Politicians closely related to Najib – Jamaludin Jarjis, Shafie Apdal, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean the old cronies during the Mahathir era would not shine again since the former premier is expected to play important roles in Najib’s Administration to ensure that Najib behaves accordingly.

Source: Stocktube

PI Bala: Part 5

November 20, 2009

PI Bala Part 5: ” I was told Rosmah was happy with my retraction”

In the fifth and final part of the mystery interview with private eye P Balasubramaniam published in Malaysia Today, he tells that prime minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor was “very happy” with him for retracting his first statutory declaration which implicated her and Najib Razak in Altantuya’s murder.

He added that Rosmah had wanted to have breakfast with him.Balasubramaniam, a central figure in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, also revealed that he had met Najib’s younger brother Nazim the night before signing the second declaration which exonerated Najib and Rosmah.

He added that he was only paid RM750,000 of the promised RM5 million for the retraction.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

How long had you known ASP Suresh before this incident?

I have known him for about 10 years. I met him when he was a senior investigation officer at the IPK Kuala Lumpur. I was a private investigator then.

ASP Suresh used to ask me to assist him in obtaining fast traces and details on mobile phones as I had contacts in the phone companies and was able to get the information required faster than the police who had to go through official channels.

At one stage, I was working for ASP Suresh as a bouncer at his pub in Jalan Imbi. He had been suspended from his duties as a police officer sometime in 2006 as he was being investigated for corruption by the ACA.

Had you met Deepak before this incident?

No. But I had done some PI work for his brother Dinesh in the past. I knew Deepak was Dinesh’s brother.

You have said that you met a Malay VIP Datuk outside the Volkswagen showroom at The Curve on the night of July 3rd 2008. Who was this gentleman?

He was Datuk Nazim Razak, the younger brother of Najib. He was there with his pregnant wife. Although I did not speak to her, I recognised her as being a TV personality. I think she was the host on the ‘Nona’ programme. Deepak was the one who brought them there to meet me. That is why ASP Suresh did not want us to meet in a place where there would have been a CCTV camera.

When you were in the Hilton Hotel at KL Sentral with Deepak, Dinesh and ASP Suresh and after you had signed the second statutory declaration, was there anything said to you which you consider to be significant?

Yes, there were two things which Deepak told me. He informed me that Rosmah was very happy with me for retracting my first statutory declaration and wanted to have breakfast with me.

When I enquired from Deepak how long I was expected to leave the country for, he informed me it would be until Najib became the next prime minister and that I could return after that.

When did you contact your lawyer Americk Sidhu?

I called him in the middle of July 2009. I was still in India then. I wanted to arrange a meeting with him to inform him what had happened to me and to apologise for all the trouble I had caused. Americk was in the UK when I called him so we arranged to meet in Kuala Lumpur when he returned at the beginning of August.

Did you meet him?

Yes. We met in early August. At the meeting were two other senior lawyers whom Americk had arranged to be present. I told them everything that had happened to me from the time I left Americk’s office in the evening of the July 3, 2008.

Did you realise that this meeting had been secretly videoed?

I did not realise I was being filmed. I was, however, subsequently informed that a recording had been made and this video is safekeeping. I understand this was done to protect me in the event something untoward happened to me again.

How did you manage to survive financially all the time you were away?

Deepak arranged intermittent payments to be made to me. Some payments were made to my wife directly into her account with the EON Bank in KL.

Other payments were made to ASP Suresh who then arranged payment to me directly or through a friend of mine in Malaysia. I have copies of some of the cheques issued by Deepak Jaikishan and from his company, Carpet Raya Sdn Bhd.

I also have copies of my wife’s bank statements showing the deposits which were made. I also have copies of my HSBC account in Chennai.

How much money did you receive from Deepak from the time you left Malaysia in July 2008 till now?

All together, approximately RM750,000.

Do you have any money left?

Yes, I have invested approximately RM250,000 for my future as I am not sure what will happen to me. I also spent some money on renovations to my house in Rawang as my wife and youngest child were there. These renovations were in respect of the security of my home only.

The rest of the money was spent on renting accommodation in Chennai, paying for my children’s schooling and for daily expenses.

Didn’t Deepak promise you RM5 million?

The negotiations were all conducted by ASP Suresh at the Bak Kut Teh stall in Rawang on the night of the July 3, 2008. I was not involved in these negotiations as I was not concerned about money but the safety of my family.

I have subsequently come to realise that ASP Suresh had a vested interest in all this as I know he has received about the same amount of money from Deepak as I have. His job was to keep me under control. This is why he is annoyed with me for not following his instructions because his income from Deepak would be affected.

Why did you wait so long before revealing all this?

When I was at the Hilton Hotel at KL Sentral, I had asked Deepak how long I would have to stay out of the country. He told me it would have to be until Najib became the prime minister. I could not return to Malaysia before February 2009 as one Kumar had my passport in his possession in India for five months.

I only got my passport back after I complained to Deepak when he visited me in India with ASP Suresh. Deepak called his brother Rajesh to find out what had happened to my passport and within two days Kumar asked me to pick it up from him. I was at this time in India illegally as my visa had expired on September 5, 2008.

In order to get my visa extended I had to seek assistance from my wife’s uncle who is a state exco member in Tamil Nadu who managed to get it extended for one year. Only after this was I able to travel back to Malaysia.

What happened when you arrived back in Malaysia in February 2009?

When I landed in KL, I called Dinesh to inform him I was back in Malaysia. I was summoned to Deepak’s office in Sungai Besi at 11.45 pm the same night and was told in no uncertain terms to leave the country immediately, but I stayed a little longer as I wanted to be with my children and my wife. They didn’t know I had not left immediately.

Why did you come back to Malaysia in April 2009?

Just to see my wife and children. This time I did not tell anyone I was back and so I was not harassed.

Why have you now decided to reveal everything?

Because I want to stop all harassments and so that I can return to my normal life.

Were the contents of your first statutory declaration true?

Yes.

Were you forced to sign the first statutory declaration under duress?

Absolutely not.

Were you forced to sign the second statutory declaration under duress?

Yes, because I was fearful for the safety of my family and I did not read the contents of the second statutory declaration before I was asked to sign it.

PI Bala: Part 4

PI Bala Part 4: From Bangkok to Kathmandu to New Delhi

November 19, 2009

In the fourth part of the mystery interview with private investigator P Balasubramaniam published in Malaysia Today, he tells of the hardships he faced being forced to live away from home.

Balasubramaniam, a central figure in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case, also revealed that he had returned to Malaysia several times this year without going through immigration.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

Why did you not tell them the truth about the way the second statutory declaration was made since you had your family with you and they were all safe?

I was still in a state of confusion and was concerned for the safety of my family. I was made aware that Deepak had some very powerful connections, especially after meeting the Malay VIP Datuk at The Curve a few nights previously and his advice was still in my mind.

I was also surprised at how far Deepak’s connections reached as he seemed capable of organising things in different countries and had even arranged a Thai woman to apply for our Indian visas in Bangkok.

At that time, I had no idea what to expect so I felt I should follow their advice until I could think more clearly as I had my family to consider as I did not want them to be harmed. My family and I were also in a foreign country with no access to finances.

Did you communicate with anyone after this?

Yes. ASP Suresh called me from KL and advised me to change hotels so that the police officers from KL would not be able to contact me again if they required a further statement.

He also informed me to call my nephew in KL and ask him to stop talking to the press and to avoid holding any more candlelight vigils as this was making Deepak feel uneasy. I then called my nephew and told him to stop all activities of this nature and he agreed.

Did you change hotels?

Yes, we moved to the Beverly Hills hotel. It was while we were at this new hotel that I received news from Rajesh that our visas could not be done in time as it would take at least five working days to process.

Deepak then arranged for a moneychanger, to whom he was acquainted, to pay me 100,000 Thai baht for my expenses. I then waited for further instructions at this hotel.

What happened after that?

At about 2.30pm on July 11, Rajesh called me to tell me to go to the airport to collect some e-tickets he had arranged for my family and I to fly to Kathmandu, so we packed our bags and headed to the airport.

However, when we reached the airport, Rajesh called and told me the flight had only been arranged for the next morning at 10am. We then took a taxi back into town and checked into another hotel.

The next morning we returned to the airport, picked up our tickets and flew on a Thai Airways flight to Kathmandu.

What happened when you landed in Kathmandu?

We were met at the airport by a representative of the Yak & Yeti hotel who drove us to that hotel.

Why was it necessary for you to fly to Kathmandu?

Before we could enter India we needed to apply for our Indian visas, which we had not been able to get in Bangkok.

ASP Suresh told me Deepak did not want us to stay in Bangkok any longer as the police knew we were there and that is why he wanted us to leave to Kathmandu so we could apply for our visas there.

How long did you spend in Kathmandu?

We had applied to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for our Indian visas. After we managed to obtain one-month visas for India, we left Kathmandu for New Delhi. This was on July 22. We had spent approximately 10 days in Kathmandu.

How long did you spend in New Delhi?

We stayed in a hotel in Delhi for two nights before flying to Madurai en-route to Madras.

How did you manage to extend your one-month visas?

Our visas expired on Aug 21, 2008. Deepak’s people had promised to get an extension for one year but nothing was done. So I had to get a one-month extension for myself and my family till Sept 20, 2008.

I then sent my wife and children back to KL to stay with my mother-in-law in Segambut without Deepak’s knowledge. I remained in Madras trying to get my visa extended. Deepak’s agent called Kumar tried to help me but after five months nothing happened. I complained about this to Deepak and ASP Suresh when they visited me in Chennai.

Deepak called Kumar who returned the passport to me with a sick certificate saying I could not leave the country due to an illness. This had to be done as I was then in India illegally as my visa had expired.

I then asked for help from my wife’s uncle who is a state exco member for Karaikal district. He managed to get my visa extended until September 5, 2009.

Did you return to Malaysia during this period?

Yes, I returned a few times to sort out some of my personal affairs. Each time I returned, I entered the country via Thailand across the Malaysia-Thai border at Bukit Kayu Hitam and left the same way. I did not go through Malaysian immigration.

I did not contact anyone each time I returned as I was afraid Deepak would find out. The only person who knew I had returned to Malaysia was ASP Suresh but he did not let Deepak know.

He was upset with me for allowing my wife and children to return to Malaysia but I explained to him that my children needed to be educated and they could not get into a local school in Chennai. Whenever I returned to Malaysia, I used to stay with my wife and mother-in-law in Segambut.

Where did your wife stay all the time she was in Malaysia?

She stayed with my mother-in-law in Segambut and managed to get my children into a school in Sentul. She did come to Chennai a few times with the children to visit me.

Where are your wife and children now?

They are presently in Chennai. I managed to enrol my two eldest children into a school there. My wife may return to KL so that my youngest child can receive his schooling there. I will have to stay with my eldest two children in Chennai.

Can you remember the dates you returned to Malaysia?

Yes, I was in KL from February 16 to March 5 this year. During this period, I met Deepak at his office in Sungai Besi. He was very worried I had returned to Malaysia and asked me to go back to Chennai immediately. He warned me that my life would be in danger if I stayed any longer.

The second time I returned to Malaysia was from the April 11 to May 2. The third time I returned to Malaysia was at the end of July 2009.

What did you do when you returned at the end of July?

I decided to contact my lawyer Americk Sidhu and explain to him exactly what had happened to me over the past one year as I was very unhappy with the situation I was in.

PI Bala: Part 3

PI Bala Part 3: Cops grill PI Bala in Bangkok, praise his courage

Npvember 18, 2009

In the third part of the ‘mystery interview’ with private investigator P Balasubramaniam which appeared on Malaysia Today, he revealed how the Malaysian police questioned him in Bangkok.

The focus was on the first statutory declaration. He said the police had asked him which of the two statutory declarations was true and when he replied the first, one of the officers shook his hand and commended Balasubramaniam on his courage.

Below are excerpts from the interview:

Where did you go once you landed in Bangkok?

Deepak was supposed to arrange for someone to meet us at the airport but there was no one there. As I was feeling very tired, I hired a taxi to take me and my family to the Shangri La hotel. We checked into the hotel and we went to sleep.

Did anyone contact you while you were at the Shangri La Hotel?

No, because no one knew where we were and I did not have a Thai SIM card so I could not use my handphone to call anyone.

What did you do the next day? (July 15)

I took my wife and children shopping to buy some clothes as we did not have much with us. I also managed to buy a Thai SIM card and communicated with ASP Suresh to inform him where I was.

Deepak had told me that all communication should be through ASP Suresh and that his brother, Rajesh, would be handling everything for me from now on.

What did you the day after that? (July 6)

The Shangri La management informed me the hotel was full that night due to a pre-booked wedding function so we had to leave. I then left and checked into the Hilton hotel nearby with my wife and children.

Rajesh had arranged for one of his contacts in Bangkok to assist me and my family in obtaining Indian visas. This contact was a Thai woman who came to the hotel to collect all our passports and the visa fees from me.

What happended on July 7?

I received a call in my room from a Special Branch officer. He was calling from the lobby and asked to see me. I then went down to meet him. I recognised him as he used to be a colleague of mine when I was with the Special Branch. He was the liaison officer from the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok.

What did you both discuss?

He asked me whether I would give permission for the Malaysian police to record a statement from me and if I was agreeable, he would inform KL about this. I asked him to wait while I called ASP Suresh to inform him about this development.

Did you call ASP Suresh?

Yes. ASP Suresh told me exactly what to tell the police interviewers. He wanted me to avoid any mention of the involvement of Deepak, Dinesh and himself.

So what did he tell you?

In short, he basically told me to tell the police that after I had made public my first statutory declaration, I felt remorse and wanted to retract it so I decided to call a lawyer called Arunampalam, whom I was supposed to have met through my PI work, and arranged to meet him at the Lotus restaurant next to the Nikko Hotel along Jalan Binjai.

When I met up with him at this restaurant he advised me to retract the first statutory declaration and that he would draft a second one for me to that effect. I was supposed to say that I went to his office with him where he prepared the second statutory declaration which I signed and that I went to the Prince Hotel the next day with him to release this statutory declaration to the press. This is what I was told to say to the police when they recorded my statement, according to ASP Suresh.

What did you do next?

After discussing this with ASP Suresh, I informed the Special Branch officer from the Malaysian embassy that I was agreeable to my statement being recorded, so this officer informed KL and told me he would come and pick me up from my hotel the next morning and take me to the Malaysian embassy. In fact, we went out for a meal together that evening.

Were you picked up the next morning?

Yes, this SB officer came to the hotel the next morning and drove me to the Malaysian embassy where we arrived at about 9.00am.

At about 9.30am, three police officers arrived. They had apparently flown to Bangkok from KL the evening before once they had received confirmation that I was prepared to allow them to record a statement from me.

Did you recognise any of these Police officer?

Yes, there was ASP Muniandy from the Commercial Crimes Division of Bukit Aman, another Indian officer and a Malay officer, whose names escape me at the moment.

How did they greet you?

They were all very pleasant to me. ASP Muniandy asked me which of the two statutory declarations was true and I said the first one. He then shook my hand and told me I was a very brave man.

Did they record your statement?

Yes. They questioned me for about six hours. They did not seem to be interested in my second statutory declaration and concentrated their questions in relation to my first statutory declaration. They wanted to know who was involved in it and how I was led into making it.

I explained everything to them from the time I met my lawyer Americk Sidhu in a pub one night with ASP Suresh, M Puravalen and Sivarasa Rasiah in April or May 2008 up to the time of my first press release. ASP Muniandy was the officer asking all the questions while his colleague recorded my statement.

Did they comment o anything you told them?

No. I just repeated what ASP Suresh had told me to tell them about the circumstances which prompted me into affirming the second statutory declaration and they recorded all of it.

PI Bala Part 2

Malaysiakini (November 17)

PI Bala Part 2: Last Hours in Malaysia

In the second installment of a ‘mystery interview’ with private investigator P Balasubramaniam which appeared on Malaysia Today, he purportedly tells of how he was made to sign a second statutory declaration and bundled out of the country.

He reveals how after a press conference, he and his family were allegedly taken to Bangkok and then to Singapore and finally Chennai, India. Below are the excerpts from the interview:

What happened next?

Balasubramaniam: Deepak gave instructions to Dinesh to book a room at the Hilton Hotel, KL Sentral. I left with ASP Suresh to my house in Rawang to see my wife and explain to her what was happening. I was concerned for the safety of my family.

Deepak had informed me he wanted me to retract my first statutory declaration and then to immediately leave the country with my family.

I was in a state of shock as to what was happening. I had anticipated that I would be arrested and interrogated after releasing my first statutory declaration but I did not anticipate my family would be threatened so I was not prepared for this.

As this VIP Datuk was also involved, I realised the situation was very serious.

What time did you arrive home after leaving The Curve?

ASP Suresh and I arrived at my house at about 2am that morning. I explained everything to my wife and told her we had to pack up and leave Malaysia that very day as I had been instructed. I also told her to get ready to go to the immigration department that morning to apply for my children’s passports and to renew hers.

I had arranged with a friend of mine called Christopher to pick them all up at 8.30am and to drive them to the Pusat Damansara immigration department that morning with all their luggage.

Where did you go next?

ASP Suresh then drove me to the site at which he was burning wires where he organised his workers to do the loading onto some three-tonne trucks. We then left for the Hilton Hotel in KL Sentral.

What time did you arrive at the Hilton Hotel?

We reached the hotel about 3am. ASP Suresh called Dinesh to find out the room number. Both Deepak and Dinesh met us in the lobby and we all went up to the room. I had been told earlier that my family and I would be sent to Hong Kong. I said I was not happy about being sent to Hong Kong and I would prefer to go to Chennai. Deepak agreed to this.

He then tried to arrange a private jet for us. This had to be cancelled when it was realised we would have to go through immigration at the airport. Deepak then suggested we go through Singapore by road, then fly to Bangkok en route to Chennai. I agreed.

They continued talking to me about the seriousness of my first statutory declaration and that I would have to retract it. Otherwise they could not guarantee anything if the deal failed. Eventually Dinesh left for home to take a nap.

What else did you discuss while in the hotel room?

Deepak was telling me how he had become very good friends with Rosmah (Mansor) from the time she used to visit his shop in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. He wouldn’t let me sleep as he was talking all the time.

Did anything else happen that morning?

Dinesh returned to the hotel looking refreshed. At about 7.45am, someone delivered a draft copy of the second statutory declaration to the hotel. Deepak went down to the lobby to collect it after receiving a call on his handphone.

Sometime later a commissioner of oaths arrived. He was a Malay man. I was asked to sign this statutory declaration in front of this commissioner of oaths and he attested my signature. He asked me if I knew where his office was and I said I did not.

He then told Deepak to make sure he showed me where his office was on the way to the Prince hotel. I was never given an opportunity to read the contents of this statutory declaration.

Did you know at this stage that you would be taken to the Prince Hotel?

Yes. Deepak had informed me that he would be organising a press conference at the Prince hotel later that morning and that he would make sure a lawyer represented me. He told me not to worry and that I would not have to say anything, just leave it to the lawyer to talk to the press.

What time did you leave Hilton Hotel?

About 8.45am. Deepak, Dinesh and I left together. I went with Dinesh in his BMW while Deepak went on his own. Dinesh did not show me where the commissioner of oaths’ office was.

What time did you reach Prince hotel?

We arrived at the Prince Hotel at about 9.15am and drove up the ramp to the car park where we waited for further instructions from Deepak who was apparently downstairs by that time. Eventually Dinesh received a call on his handphone and he escorted me to a lift which took us down to what looked like a type of lobby on an upper level.

Did you meet anyone in this lobby area?

Yes. Deepak was waiting in this lobby with another Indian man. This Indian man was introduced to me as one Mr Arunampalam (photo, right), a lawyer.

This lawyer spoke to me and told me to just keep quiet in the press conference arranged for us in the main lobby. He told me not to talk to any of the reporters under any circumstances and that he would do all the talking.

Deepak then told Arunampalam to answer not more than three questions from the reporters waiting downstairs and handed him a few copies of the second statutory declaration to distribute to the reporters.

What happened next?

At about 10am, Mr Arunampalam and myself took the lift down to the main lobby where we met about four or five reporters. Mr Arunampalam talked to them and gave each of them a copy of the second statutory declaration.

He told the reporters that I had been forced to sign the first statutory declaration under duress and that I now wanted to retract the contents. He would not answer any of the questions the reporters asked him.

Where were Deepak and Dinesh during the press conference?

I think they left the hotel as they did not join us in the press conference.

What happened after the press conference?

Mr Arunampalam then drove me back to the Hilton Hotel in his own car. He dropped me off at the lower lobby and I never saw him again.

Did you at any time engage Mr Arunampalam as your lawyer to appear in the press conference?

No. I have never met this lawyer before. Deepak was the one who arranged for him to represent me at the press conference. I never told him what to say. All this was arranged by Deepak and not myself.

What did you do once you had been dropped off at Hilton Hotel?

I went back to the room and knocked on the door. Deepak and ASP Suresh were there. I waited in the room while Deepak was making phone calls to a Ms Wong who I think was his secretary. She was apparently with my wife and children at the Pusat Damansara immigration centre helping my wife with the passport applications and renewal.

During this period, Deepak gave me RM20,000 in Hong Kong dollars for my expenditure. He told me he had arranged a tourist van to drive me and my family to Singapore where we were to catch a flight to Bangkok.

What time did you leave Hilton Hotel?

At about 1pm, Deepak received a phone call from Ms Wong informing him the passports had all been done and so I left the Hilton Hotel in the van with an Indian driver. This van then drove me to the Pusat Damansara immigration centre. The driver was talking to Ms Wong during the journey and was receiving instructions where to meet my wife and children.

When we arrived at the Pusat Damansara immigration centre, I met my wife and children and we loaded all the luggage into the van and proceeded on our journey to Singapore.

What happened when you arrived in Singapore?

The driver stopped at the Malaysian immigration at the Causeway and we all had to get out of the van to present our passports at the counter. None of our passports were stamped. We then proceeded across the Causeway to the Singapore immigration who did stamp our passports. After clearing immigration, we were driven straight to Changi airport.

What happened at Changi Airport?

I changed some money to get Singapore coins so I could call Deepak to find out about our flight to Bangkok. Deepak told me our tickets were waiting for us at the Silkair counter. I proceeded to this ticket counter and collected our tickets. We all caught the evening flight to Bangkok which left Singapore at about 8pm.

Related reports

Part 4: PI Bala – from Bangkok to Kathmandu to Delhi
Part 3: Cops grill PI Bala in Bangkok, praise his courage
More questions on PI Bala’s ‘immunity

10 Years and More to come: Congrats, Malaysiakini.com

November 20, 2009

Today is Malaysiakini.com’s 10th Anniversary. What a decade it was for Prem Chandran, Steven Gan and their young, idealistic, resourceful and talented team of web-journalists. They went through great lengths to bring us timely and accurate reports on political, economic, social and cultural developments in our country. Despite  incessant harassment by the authorities, especially Musa Hassan’s men and women in Blue-Black uniform and Special Branch, Malaysiakini.com remained true to its purpose and mission.

That decade (1999-2009), when Malaysiakini.com was trying to find its place in the world of journalism, covered the last days of the authoritarian Mahathir Administration, the 2003-2009 period of the weak and do nothing administration of Abdullah Badawi and the political tsumani of March 8, 2008 that ensued, and the ushering of Najib’s 1Malaysia government with the possible  return of Mahathirism.

From today, Malaysiakini.com enters a new decade. Exciting times ahead as Najib struggles to seek legitimacy and faces the challenge of Pakatan Rakyat in what, I hope, will be a two-party democracy. No matter what happens, we  all can be assured that Malaysiakini.com will be there to bring us news, and reports on a timely basis.

This web-paper has found its own niche– by serving intelligent and knowledgeable readers( subscribers)–and its readership will increase in the years to come because it has demonstrated that it will not wilt under pressure from the 1Malaysia government.

I admire and respect the Malaysiakini team for their idealism, courage and integrity. My wife and I join thousands of your subscribers and Malaysians of goodwill  in congratulating and wishing Malaysiakini.com and its brave men and women  all the best for the coming decade.

May you all set new journalistic standards for Malaysia, one founded on balanced, accurate and responsible reporting. We must together beat the pro-1Malaysia government mainstream media to a pulp by providing news and information, not propaganda to an increasingly discerning community of readers.–Din Merican

Jazz at its best: That of a Bygone Era

Friends,

How quickly time flies these days. It is time again to post some entertaining jazz. For this purpose, my co-host drkam and I have decided to pick some classic numbers from the Haider-Merican jazz collection. It  features in our view some of the greatest jazz exponents– Lee Morgan, CannonBall Adderley, Ornette Coleman, and  Charlie Mingus. Eddie Higgins appears too in the company of Ken Peplowski (the clarinetist) and Scott Hamilton (tenor saxaphonist) this week.

We hope for jazz fans in particular find our choice acceptable. I believe they bring back memories of a bygone era when jazz was at its pristine best. They don’t play music they used to. Jazz of that bygone era was pure and soothing to the human soul. Devoid of modern technology and gadgetry, jazz men had to create sounds from their instruments with all their limitations.It’s Magic, sheer brilliant talent in improvisation. Have another great weekend.—drkam and DJ Din Merican

Lee Morgan Classic–The Sidewinder

Cannonball Adderley–Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy–An Alternative Take (Fusion Jazz Version)

Tribute to its composer, Joe Zawinul

Ornette Coleman–Dancing in Your Head

Eddie Higgins et.al–It’s Magic

Charles Mingus–Take the A Train

Malaysia’s too dependent on oil and gas revenues, says The World Bank

November 19, 2009

Malaysia must broaden its revenue base

by Yip Ai Tsin

The World Bank said that Malaysia is too dependent on revenues from oil and gas and should instead broaden its revenue base.

“With proven oil reserves at 4 billion barrels as of early 2009 and production rate in 2008 at 727 thousand barrels a day, expanding the revenue base helps prepare for the day when the reserves deplete,” said the body in its report released yesterday.

The report entitled “Malaysia Economic Monitor: Repositioning for Growth” pointed out that oil-and-gas revenue presently account for about 40 percent of the country’s total revenue.

It added that proposals under the 2010 Budget, unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak last month, compelled PETRONAS to pay an additional RM4 billion in tax annually over the next five years.

“This is following the proposal to carry forward the tax assessment basis for upstream petroleum companies from preceding-year to current-year assessment. Under the budget, the additional tax burden that this implies will be spread out over a period of five years,” stated the report.

The Bank also noted that excessive incentives and exemptions offered to the various industries and companies have eroded the country’s tax base.

“The World Bank concludes that Malaysia’s tax and incentive structure is overly generous and complex, and may leave room for tax abuse.

“Measures that are initially designed to be temporary run the risk of becoming easily entrenched,” stated the report.

Government needs to reassess domestic borrowing

Due to the improving economic outlook, the body pointed out that the government would be competing with the private sector for funds from financial institutions. Most of the country’s fiscal imbalance is currently financed domestically. As private investment demand drops, the government was able to expand domestic borrowing without potentially crowding-out private investment.

“However, as the economy recovers, large borrowing requirements may dampen the prospects for private investment financing,” stated the report.

The body said that it welcomes the government’s move to gradually reduce its involvement in economic activities where it competes with the private sector.

The World Bank also said that the social safety net system in Malaysia is “weakly targeted and fragmented across government agencies and levels of government”.

It was suggested that the government re-assess the extent to which these safety net programmes are achieving their intended targets and objectives.

The World Bank forecast that Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) would decline 2.3 percent this year, before growing 4.1 percent in 2010.

“Both the decline and rebound are attributed to conditions in the country’s manufacturing sector, which accounts for some 30 percent of the GDP,” said the World Bank in a statement yesterday.

The Passing of a Friend to the Blogging Community

November 19, 2009

Dato Patrick Wong

The untimely demise of this friend of bloggers and freedom lovers is a great loss to many of us who are dedicated to freedom, democracy and justice. My wife Dr. Kamsiah G. Haider and I extend to the family of Dato Patrick Wong our sincere condolences in their bereavement. Let us hope the Police will investigate  into this murder, and apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice.–Din Merican

Haris Ibrahim (http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/) remembers Dato’ Patrick Wong:

“I got to know Patrick Wong through RPK. Although I did not have the chance to get to know him really well, I knew enough to know that he was a staunch supporter of the numerous efforts to bring about the necessary changes in our country in the hope that, one day, we would truly be a free people.

I received the sad news that in the early hours of this morning, intruders entered Patrick’s home and inflicted such horrific injuries that finally proved to be fatal. Patrick has passed on.”

1Malaysia makeovers won’t do

November 19, 2009

Comment: That 1Malaysia is a makeover of the old and tired UMNO-BN is now confirmed by this piece by the Malaysian Insider. Gimmicks won’t work and the best public relations team in the world now in the Prime Minister’ s Department cannot help Najib  if he is not prepared to make fundamental changes within his own party and execute concrete plans to restore the independence of the judiciary, instill investor confidence in his management of the Malaysian economy, fight rampant corruption and abuse  of power, and respect our freedom of worship, assembly, speech and expression.

The Biro Tata Negara was used by previous administrations to propagate “hate  the other and love thyself” interpretation of Malaysian History. Now Najib advisors want to overhaul it.  A tall order, indeed because such a change would involve removing people who have been willing instruments to spread discord and bitterness among  Malaysians. In addition, they want to create to a “mediation council” which is capable of handing disputes over race and religion. This  won’t to do as hegemonic UMNO is still about “Hidup UMNO, Hidup Melayu”,and the “divide and rule” politics of this country is based on race and religion .

I think Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala is serious about his job and  very determined to get the job done. I got this impression when I met the former SHELL  man and MAS Managing Director at Parliament House last week. During our brief conversation, he informed me that he was starting a series of labs to train civil servants on KPIs and modern management practices.

As a former senior corporate executive, I had no difficulty in understanding what Senator Jala, a soft spoken and intelligent man, was trying to do. He has a difficult job because the civil service is a hard nut to crack.  He will also, in my view, encounter resistance from his Cabinet colleagues. They want  the civil service and other institutions of governance to remain under political control. Thinking civil servants are hazardous to the health of government ministers.

There is no political will right now to institute reforms. That is true.  Real change is required; cosmetics and public relations spin  won’t do. —Din Merican

1Malaysia makeovers

Some of the most robust discussions about the future of Malaysia have been taking place in Putrajaya over the past several weeks. And if some suggestions are actually implemented, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could actually pull the rug from under his political foes.

This includes the idea to overhaul the controversial Biro Tata Negara or National Civics Bureau that has been seen to be more of a propaganda unit, the possibility of a mediation council to handle disputes among different religions and making the government procurement process more transparent.

Government officials told The Malaysian Insider that these proposals are part of initiatives being pushed by Datuk Seri Idris Jala and a task force set up to promote 1 Malaysia, Najib’s concept announced when he took the top job on April 3.

1 Malaysia is one of several laboratories set up to push through ideas on Key Performance Index (KPI) and National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) that Najib knows will be the tipping point in the general election.

His ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was badly beaten in Election 2008 under the leadership of former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when it lost four more states and 82 federal seats to give up its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.

But Najib’s recent appointment of Idris, the former Malaysia Airlines managing director, to the Cabinet as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department to take charge of KPIs could help make the difference.

Idris has started his work by setting up labs outside the government administrative complex with select people to test out ideas and strategies to move Najib’s 1 Malaysia concept

Arguably the 1 Malaysia lab is the most important now because Idris and his team are incubating ideas which touch on race, religion and other stumbling blocks to better race relations which have deteriorated over the years.

Last week, Najib and several key ministers were given a briefing on some of the ideas and many of the Cabinet ministers appeared supportive of some of the initiatives. Among the ministers in the visit were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin and Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.

It is understood that the lab felt the Biro Tata Negara needed a complete makeover to promote inclusiveness. Several young Pakatan Rakyat leaders have complained it was “brainwashing” students who were taught to hate opposition parties.

What is clear is that Najib remains Idris’ strongest ally and is willing to push the envelope for changes in the government. Several UMNO ministers are also more supportive of change than before, government officials said.

“Idris and his team’s biggest task will be presenting their ideas at a Cabinet retreat next month. If there is buy-in, some of the biggest bugbears in our country will finally be addressed,” one government official told The Malaysian Insider.

An analyst with knowledge of the 1 Malaysia lab activities concurred.”If these initiatives are endorsed by the Najib administration and implemented, they could pull the carpet from under the Pakatan Rakyat,” the analyst told The Malaysian Insider. He said the key would remain in the implementation and also acceptance by the civil service.

Anwar shifts gear

November 18, 2009

Anwar goes into high gear

by Terence Netto

From rarified leader to raring to go, from distracted observer to ready-for-the-trenches battler – that was PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim’s transformation in the space of a week.

A kinetic week for him began with a stern reminder to a PKR convention in Penang that state bosses can dissent within the party but once a decision is made, all hands must be on deck with a sense of collective responsibility.

He reasserted the theme at another meeting of party stalwarts in Kota Bharu, calling on PKR’s elected representatives to get down to brass tacks and respond to the needs of the people.

Anwar renewed his call for elected representatives for tighter party discipline and greater rapport with the people in Ipoh when opening the new headquarters for the Perak chapter of PKR.

The hyper week for Anwar reached a climax of sorts with the announcement that he was taking a frontal role in the PKR-led government in Selangor with his appointment as its economic adviser.

The week’s cymbals-clashing crescendo was achieved in Selangor when he told a party convention that it was at battle stations to repel the purported attempt by BN to topple the PKR-led state government.

In a matter of a week, Anwar shifted from Hamlet-like captive of indecision to a general sounding the bugle and leading the charge.

It was a pro-active shift PKR barons were wanting from him for the better part of a year when troubles stemming from the failure 14 months ago to trigger, as touted, a change in the federal government through crossovers of government backbenchers spawned incipient doubts about his leadership mettle.

Anwar’s triumphant return to Parliament from his bailiwick of Permatang Pauh in late August 2008 had brought to a crest his stature as Malaysia’s inevitable prime minster, after being primarily responsible the previous March for the opposition’s success at denying the BN its hitherto impregnable two-thirds majority.

However, the luster began to pall when the much-touted crossovers did not take place. The following February, matters really boomeranged on him and Pakatan Rakyat, the opposition coalition he leads, when three Pakatan legislators bolted the stable in Perak and caused a change of government whose status is mired in a legal battle. No less than DAP’s Karpal Singh angrily called for Pakatan to look for another majordomo.

The goings-on in Perak and his personal predicament arising from an accusation of sodomy leveled by a former aide contributed to an air of distraction about the PKR supremo, which he made worse by a seeming reluctance to take action within the party against mavericks and recalcitrants.

Strained intra-Pakatan relations

Meanwhile, among PKR’s 31 MPs in Parliament, there grew cracks and resentments, a consequence of the elitist airs shed by a gang of eight MPs affecting to have the inside track to cabinet appointments should a Pakatan government take power at the federal level.

This grated on PKR MPs not so favoured. They vented their spleen recently on Sivarasa Rasiah – a member of the reportedly smug elite – after he publicly divined who Anwar was actually targeting when the party supremo had warned of action against recalcitrant MPs.

In Selangor, PKR Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim appears to forget that politics is also about jobs, incentives and rewards for the party faithful, particularly those who had endured deprivation for their fidelity to PKR during the 10-year period of its existence prior to its sudden eminence in March 2008.

Understandably, Khalid is not quite sensitive to this reality, having been an UMNO-favoured poster boy for the lush benefits of the NEP.

Naturally, Khalid became the target of snide remarks and sneers from PKR underlings who regard him as an epitome of unreformed UMNO within PKR. It was only a matter of time before his faults, imagined and real, was bandied about.

Furthermore, Khalid did his cause no favours by being maladroit in coping with the machinations of Dr Hassan Ali, the maverick PAS executive councilor, whose flagrant acts of grandstanding strained intra-Pakatan relations.

The discord within PKR, coupled with the latest allegations of wealth amassing on the part of party bigwig Azmin Ali, provide the backdrop against which a refulgent Anwar Ibrahim has to act.

He has to show he means what he says by backing it up with matching deeds. He has banged the gavel and called the party to readiness for battle. Not much gravity would be accorded that act without he himself demonstrably cracking down on PKR’s mavericks and recalcitrants. That way they would know he means business, alas.

Worst Ranking for Malaysia on TI’s Corruption Perception Index

November 17, 2009

Malaysia is No.56 in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI)

Malaysia suffered a major blow in terms of combating corruption today when it fell to its worst ranking and score in 15 years in Transparency International’s corruption perception index for 2009. In the ranking which was revealed today Malaysia plunged nine places from last year’s 47th CPI ranking to 56th position.

At the same time, Malaysia’s CPI index score plunged to the lowest in 15 years to 4.5. It previous worst scores below 5 were 4.8 in 2000 and 4.9 in 2002. Malaysia has been continuously sliding down in the TI index since it best ever placing of 33 in 2002.

In 2003, when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took office, Malaysia was ranked 37. It dropped to 39 in 2005 and 43 in 2007. Last year it was ranked 48. [see chart]

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, in an immediate reaction, said while he had expected a poor result, he did not anticipate such a grave fall. “This is a national shame and major blow for Najib’s premiership,” he said.

“I have no doubt that the mysterious death of DAP political aide Teoh Beng Hock on July 16 and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s role as UMNO’s catspaw to declare war on Pakatan Rakyat instead of declaring war on corruption were major factors for Malaysia’s worst-ever TI CPI ranking and score,” he said.

He questioned if Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will react to the embarrassing fall suffered by Malaysia.

The Berlin-based Transparency International is the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption.

TI-M backs Najib’s initiatives

Meanwhile Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has acknowledged Malaysia’s efforts to deal with corruption although the country’s ranking on the corruption perception index (CPI) this year has declined.TI-M president Paul Low said Najib’s moves to initiate reforms in some institutions, especially the judiciary, and the setting up of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, to make them more independent, transparent and accountable, was the way forward for the country.

He said this at a press conference to announce Malaysia’s position in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2009.

Low also said Transparency International Malaysia believed that the way forward for the country was to seriously combat corruption and to make government decisions and transactions more visible and transparent. He, however, suggested that the government should be more transparent in its procurement process by implementing “integrity agreement” with vendors to act as preventive measures to curb corruption.

He also said that Malaysia’s decline in ranking in CPI 2009 of 0.6, from 5.1 in 2008 to 4.5 this year, “may be attributed to the perception of little progress in combating corruption, and lack of political will in implementing effective anti-corruption measures”.

Examples giving rise to the concern were the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco and the auditor-general’s annual report highlighting extraordinary public procurement abuses, he said. “However, there are positive signs. The PKFZ fiasco is being actively and vigorously investigated, police reports have been made and suits have been taken against certain parties, and corrective measures have been taken.

Singapore on the top tier

In announcing its latest CPI in Berlin today, TI said that no region of the world was immune to the perils of corruption.
“At a time when massive stimulus packages, fast-track disbursements of public funds and attempts to secure peace are being implemented around the world, it is essential to identify where corruption blocks good governance and accountability, in order to break its corrosive cycle” said Transparency International chairperson Huguette Labelle in a statement.

He added that most of the 180 countries included in the 2009 index scored below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption) – Malaysia scored 4.5. He also said that the CPI measured the perceived levels of public sector corruption in a given country and was a composite index, drawing on 13 different expert and business surveys.

The 2009 edition scored 180 countries, the same number as the 2008 CPI. The 2009 had placed states that were scarred by war and ongoing conflict at the bottom of the index. These were Somalia, with a score of 1.1, Afghanistan at 1.3, Myanmar at 1.4 and Sudan tied with Iraq at 1.5.

Highest scorers in the 2009 CPI were New Zealand at 9.4, Denmark at 9.3, Singapore and Sweden tied at 9.2 and Switzerland at 9.0. “These scores reflect political stability, long-established conflict of interest regulations and solid, functioning public institutions,” said Labelle.

He added that overall results in the 2009 index were of great concern because corruption continued to lurk where opacity ruled, where institutions still needed strengthening and where governments had not implemented anti-corruption legal framework.

A Bit of History: Mahathir-Anwar Ibrahim Feud

posted by din merican–November 17, 2009

Malaysia: The Feud

How Mahathir and Anwar became embroiled in a clash that threatens to send Malaysia into upheaval

by Sheri Prasso and Mark Clifford in Kuala Lumpur, with Joyce Barnathan in Hong Kong.

To Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has a passion for flying and sailing, Malaysia’s annual air and boat show on the island of Langkawi was an event he hated to miss–even as his nation stumbled through an economic crisis. So Mahathir decided to hold the December 3, 1997, meeting of the Malaysian Cabinet on the island, instead of in the capital of Kuala Lumpur.

But by the time he arrived at the elegant Gunung Raya hilltop retreat, Mahathir was in for a jolt. His next-in-command–Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim–had virtually concluded business without him, according to sources knowledgeable about the meeting. In what amounted to an economic coup, the cabinet had decided to adopt an austerity plan similar to those imposed on neighboring Thailand and Indonesia by the International Monetary Fund. The plan would slash public spending and halt infrastructure projects championed by Mahathir.

The new policy was a stunning rebuke to Mahathir. Since the onset of the Asian crisis five months earlier, he had been railing against a perceived Western conspiracy and insisting Malaysia could maintain its breakneck growth. Mahathir’s reaction: He humbly agreed to go along with his Cabinet’s decision–but on the very next day undermined it by announcing Malaysia would proceed with a controversial $2.7 billion rail and pipeline project. Alarmed investors immediately sent the ringgit to a new low.

Those intrigue-filled days in December were a prelude to what has become Malaysia’s worst political crisis in nearly three decades. Although Mahathir and Anwar had long had differences over economic stewardship and management of political spoils, that rift widened as Asia’s financial crisis wore on and the two leaders worked increasingly at cross purposes. Ultimately, the dispute led Mahathir to clamp controls on the currency and jail his deputy, casting himself as an international rogue.

Today, the clash threatens to send Malaysia into upheaval. Anwar, a central player in the old patronage system, has now emerged as a hero of the swelling reformasi movement, which advocates a more open society and economy. He goes on trial November 2 on 10 charges of sodomy and corruption. A conviction could turn the protests into an ugly confrontation.

How did the two men end up so militantly opposed to each other? Over the past month, BUSINESS WEEK interviewed dozens of Malaysians from both camps, including Anwar prior to his arrest, prominent pro-Mahathir businessmen, informed academics, and Anwar associates. Together, they draw portraits of the one-time allies and their battle to control the future of Malaysia Inc., an economic model that uses patronage to speed economic development.

HEIR APPARENT. It is a tragic spectacle. Just a few years ago, Mahathir was poised to retire from politics as the prickly but nonetheless brilliant and erudite architect of a model developing nation. And Anwar, the anointed successor, would smoothly take the helm of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and lead a modern, politically stable 21st-century economy. Former Islamic radical Anwar, 51, was the more Western-friendly of the two, often quoting Shakespeare and hobnobbing with the moguls of international finance. Mahathir, 72, has long taken a confrontational stance toward the West. But like Anwar, he viewed foreign investment as key to Malaysia’s economy and advocated freer trade within Asia.

Both also were savvy politicians who steered choice deals to their allies in the business community. Just last year, foreign investors criticized the government’s handling of insider deals by Malaysian Resources Corp., a media and infrastructure company controlled by Anwar allies.

Still, Anwar had a reform agenda. In recent years, he increasingly advocated the rule of law and more transparency. But until the crisis erupted, he was willing to bide his time until it was his turn to run the country. ”He was that close to power,” says Anwar’s wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, holding her thumb and forefinger close together. ”He was tolerating a lot.”

Perhaps the key difference between the two leaders was their outlook on the world. Anwar quickly realized that the meltdowns of Thailand and Indonesia were caused by excessive borrowing, overbuilding, and big trade imbalances–and that Malaysia’s situation was similar. Malaysia didn’t yet need an IMF bailout, but he feared its economy would implode without swift action. While this surely would hurt his business allies, Anwar was willing to have Malaysia absorb economic pain first and rebuild for the future.

Mahathir looked at it differently. Unlike the ascendant Anwar, he was in the twilight of his career–and feared for his legacy. While Anwar hinted he wanted to end patronage, Mahathir genuinely thought the system he proudly calls ”Malaysia Incorporated” was a legitimate model for developing nations. A handful of wealthy businessmen are singled out for privileges and given the role of creating jobs, implementing big projects, and keeping the economy and the ruling party humming. Then wealth trickles down from Mahathir’s chosen few to the many.

”We view Malaysia as a corporation, and the shareholders in the government are companies,’’says Mustapha Mohamed, the new No.2 at the Finance Ministry. ”To the extent you help the bigger guys, the smaller guys benefit.” When Western agencies attacked his system as institutionalized corruption, Mahathir ”was quite angry,” says Francis Yeoh, managing director of YTL Corp. and a longtime Mahathir ally. ”He found it incredibly ! ! hypocritical and unfair.” Mahathir declined to be interviewed.

When Malaysia was growing 8% to 10% annually, the uneasy alliance worked. But the crisis in Malaysia’s financial markets provoked a fury in Mahathir toward the outside world. The feud broke out two days after Mahathir returned from a two-month globe-trotting sabbatical in July, 1997, just as the crisis hit. He began blasting foreigners–and he kept it up for months. He blamed ”international manipulators” such as financier George Soros and Jewish traders for trying to undo the success of the Muslim Malaysians.

Malaysian officials grew weary of the Mahathir effect on the currency and stock markets. The central bank, Bank Negara tracked the plunges in the ringgit every time Mahathir lashed out, and officials showed him the data. If Mahathir would tone it down, they suggested, the ringgit might stabilize. For a while, he complied.

Meanwhile, Anwar tightened up on money and began urging Mahathir to suspend big infrastructure projects. When Mahathir agreed on September 5 to postpone the $5.3 billion Bakun Dam, a new airport, and plans to build the world’s longest building, the market enjoyed the largest one-day surge in over three years. But it fizzled as the crisis deepened.

Mahathir’s patience ran out. On November 21, he set up the National Economic Action Council to devise remedies. It included Mahathir, Anwar, economic adviser Daim Zainuddin, and prominent economists and business leaders. Council members quickly squared off over the best cure for the crisis: the IMF’s austerity medicine or the easy money and massive government spending Mahathir preferred. ”We argued back and forth, back and forth,” recalls Zainal Aznam Yusof, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic & International Studies, a government think tank. But as the months wore on, ”we became convinced that you cannot go on with tightening monetary policy. You might push the economy over the edge.”

Then came a move that rocked market confidence and drove a deeper wedge between Anwar and Mahathir: the bailout of big infrastructure developer Renong. Headed by longtime Mahathir associate Halim Saad, it was precisely the sort of company Mahathir was determined to save. Renong had built some of Malaysia’s biggest projects but was choking under a pile of debt. In a complex transaction that left minority shareholders in the cold, Renong subsidiary United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) paid a stiff premium to buy out the parent company. Analysts suspected that Mahathir allies benefited, a charge Renong denied.

Anwar, miffed at the way the bailout was handled, ordered regulators to investigate. UEM was found to have broken disclosure rules, but the punishment was light. ”Within two weeks of the Renong-UEM deal being announced, it was all over” for Malaysia’s stock market, says a local securities trader.

Five days after the Renong bailout came the meeting on Langkawi. Anwar, having just met with IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus and acting on the advice of his central bank governor, Ahmad Don, had concluded that the IMF formula of tight monetary policy and government austerity was right. The Cabinet agreed. When Mahathir arrived, the virtual IMF program was a fait accompli.

”MORAL OBJECTION.” But local business leaders were growing unhappy with the effects of Anwar’s policies. So was Mahathir. ”The intensity of business collapses and bank collapses was like tenpins falling every day,” says YTL’s Yeoh. ”He couldn’t stand it.” Adds another prominent businessman: ”He doesn’t believe in bankruptcies.He has a moral objection to them.”

The attempts to get around Anwar’s IMF-style budget grew. According to Anwar associates, Daim called the CEO of Bank Bumiputra, Abdul Aziz Othman, and asked him to lend $20 million to a company in trouble. After checking with Anwar, these sources say, Aziz told Daim no. Tensions between Daim and Anwar rose. Daim declines to comment on the allegation or other matters related to Anwar. Bank Bumi did not respond to requests for comment.

By February, Mahathir was pushing for more bailouts. Anwar aides contend that the Prime Minister had broached the idea of using Petroliam Nasional (PETRONAS) to bail out his son Mirzan Mahathir’s shipping company, Konsortium Perkapalan (KP), which had trouble servicing its $490 million debt. Both Mirzan and PETRONAS deny the Prime Minister had anything to do with the $220 million purchase of KP’s assets by a PETRONAS unit. ‘

‘I didn’t ask him to intervene. I just told him that any businessman faced with this situation will have to sell and pay down the debt,” says Mirzan, who holds a Wharton MBA.’We believe we are a viable company.”But the deal reminded many Malaysians of Indonesia’s Suharto, who fell partly because of his family’s greed. In 1994, opposition politicians criticized the stakes Mahathir’s sons had in over 200 companies. Now, those concerns were resurfacing. Comparisons with Suharto ”must have upset Dr. Mahathir, even though there are important differences between the two,” says University of Malaya economist  Professor K.S. Jomo.

In April, the Anwar-Mahathir rift grew wider. Speaking in New York at the elite Council on Foreign Relations, Anwar lauded the virtues of ”creative destruction.” Mahathir would deride that term time and again in speeches months later. Anwar later told Mahathir he was trying to push Malaysia’s agenda by calling for reform of the international monetary system. But he did not mince his words in New York about what was going on back home. ”What are meant to be mere crutches often become permanent appendages, spawning a dependency mentality and rendering the public purse a rich feeding ground for all kinds of parasites,” he said to applause.

Yet while he was away, Anwar got wind of another attempted bailout, this time for Daim pal Tajudin Ramli at Malaysia Airlines. ”The moment my back is turned, they push through this nonsense,” he told his aides. ”How am I supposed to explain this over here?” Mahathir denied he was involved. Anwar suggested the Finance Ministry would veto the deal, and it was never done.

Shortly after Anwar returned home, Suharto fell. Mahathir had met with the aging strongman in Cairo on May 14 at the G-15 summit. Mahathir left the meeting speaking of ”foreign parties trying to unseat us both.” The new Indonesian President, B.J. Habibie, was a friend of Anwar.

ESPIONAGE CHARGES. So was Indonesian newspaper editor Nasir Tamara, who caused a flap on June 2 when he addressed Malaysian scholars, businessmen, and social activists assembled by Anwar’s think tank. While he didn’t mention Malaysia, Nasir spoke of cronyism and explained how the reformasi movement toppled Suharto. An Anwar aide says Mahathir questioned his deputy about the speech.

By the time the UMNO General Assembly meeting began on June 20, Mahathir had decided to get rid of Anwar–and the open battle began. Information packets given to the 1,900 conference attendees all contained a book alleging homosexual and heterosexual affairs by Anwar. The book, Fifty Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Be Prime Minister, also charged him with spying for a foreign power. Diplomats and other sources say the book could not have been distributed without Mahathir’s knowledge.

Anwar’s camp returned fire. The leader of the UMNO Youth league, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, criticized the government for ”corruption, collusion, and nepotism.” Mahathir blasted back the next day, saying that everyone, including Anwar and his allies, had benefited from the state’s largesse. Days later, Mahathir announced that Daim would take over management of the economy. Anwar’s role was sharply curtailed. At a mention of Daim during an interview with BUSINESS WEEK on June 30, Anwar crossed his arms and visibly stiffened.

By the end of August, Malaysian stocks were down 80% from the previous year. On September 1, Mahathir shocked the world by imposing currency controls. He told Anwar to resign by 5:30 p.m. the following day ”or I’ll humiliate you tomorrow,” according to former Anwar aides. He refused. ”I told him, ‘If you resign it’s like an admission of guilt,”’ Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah recalls saying the next day over a lunch where the food went uneaten. Anwar then went to his Finance Ministry office. At 5:30, the power went off at his official residence. At 7, Anwar received a letter from Mahathir saying he had been dismissed.

”I tried to work within the system,” Anwar told BUSINESS WEEK three days after his ouster. But now, Anwar acted like the outsider. He organized the biggest protest in Malaysia’s history on September 20, attended by up to 50,000 people, to call for reform. That day, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was in town for the Commonwealth Games. Mahathir ordered Anwar’s arrest that night. A week later, Anwar appeared in court, bruised from what he said was a police beating.

Whatever the verdict in Anwar’s trial, it is unlikely to end the momentum for reform kindled by his ouster. Clearly Malaysia’s reform movement has legs, although no one wants a repeat of the violence that devastated Indonesia during Suharto’s fall. It looks like the transition won’t be easy. Mahathir seems intent on staying in power to safeguard the economic structure he spent 17 years building. But even if Anwar vanishes from power, the questions he posed in this turbulent year will haunt his stern mentor for years to come.

Published  November 6, 1998

http://www.c2o.org/malaysia/democracy/articles/981106_feud.htm

Mahathir Attacks Anwar Ibrahim on His Blog

November 17, 2009

Maggie Thatcher on Anwar Ibrahim as Malaysia’s Finance Minister:

“…the Government’s policy has been to build a framework within which enterprise flourishes and foreign capital is attracted to invest in Malaysia. Particular praise is due to Dr Anwar Ibrahim, the Finance Minister, for the prudent monetary and fiscal policies which he has pursued, and indeed for making Malaysia such an open financial centre. If Finance Ministers could be transferred like star football players, I could think of several very much larger countries who would pay astronomic transfer fees to get him!”– Margaret Thatcher’s Speech to Citibank in Kuala Lumpur ( September 3, 1993)

Comment: I have deliberately quoted Margaret Thatcher’s comments on Anwar Ibrahim to show that Mahathir’s comment tastes like sour grapes.

The Iron Lady of Great Britain is unafraid to call a spade a spade. I remember the Late Tun Tan Siew Sin once remarked to the former National Westminster Bank Chairman–and later Bank of England Governor– Robin Leigh-Pemberton in my presence that (Baroness) “Mrs. Thatcher is the Only Man in the British Cabinet”. Tun Tan admired her for taking on and taming the Trade Unions, empowering the private sector, and dismantling the system of “milk and butter” socialism of Labour Prime Ministers, Clement Attlee and James Callaghan.

For your information, Prime Minister Thatcher was a disciple of Friedrich August von Hayek (author of “The Road to Serfdom”) and the economic soulmate of President Ronald Wilson Reagan who was influenced by Milton Friedman and his University of Chicago economists.

Thatcher’s comments on Anwar Ibrahim is a compliment since she herself had the brilliant and strong willed (Lord) Nigel Lawson as her Chancellor of the Exchequer and LSE’s urbane don Sir Alan Walters as her Economic Advisor. —Din Merican

Mahathir’s Bitterness Against Economic Advisor Anwar Spills Over To His Blog

More than a decade has passed since Anwar Ibrahim was sacked but it appears that time has stood still for Dr Mahathir Mohamad at least in terms of his dislike for his former deputy. Yesterday, Mahathir ridiculed Anwar’s appointment as Selangor economic advisor, telling reporters at the sidelines of an event that the latter would bankrupt the Pakatan Rakyat-ruled state.

Not contented with this, Mahathir continued his vitriolic attack on his blog. With his trademark sarcasm, the former premier commenced his latest posting by congratulating the Selangor government for securing the services of Anwar for a mere RM1 per year salary.

However, he also wondered if the state government was aware of their advisor’s far from impressive performance as finance minister during the 1997 financial crisis.

“He was obsessed with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to the point that without a shred of doubt, he accepted the advice of Michael Camdessus (IMF managing director) and James Wolfensohn (his good friend and world bank president) for Malaysia to reduce government expenditure to achieve surplus.

“(They also suggested) that bank interest rates be hiked up so that businessman lack the modal and cannot do business, to shorten the repayment rate for bank loans from six months to three to turn those who owe money into bankrupts and let the banks be burdened with non-performing loans, so that banks cannot function and would require financial injection,” he said.

“So many other actions were proposed to weaken and worsen the country’s economy so that it would be forced to seek the help of IMF and the World Bank on the condition that Malaysia’s economy be surrendered to these institutions,” he added.

He does not understand economics

Mahathir said if Malaysia’s economy was handed over to the IMF and World Bank, it would have marked the end of the New Economic Policy (NEP). “Anwar’s action was known in the papers as practicing IMF policies without IMF – that is without any financial aid from IMF. With this policy introduced by Anwar, the economy worsened and the ringgit’s value depreciated further,” he added.

Mahathir, who had appointed the PKR leader as finance minister during his tenure, said that Anwar does not understand financial management and national economies.  In view of this, he said Anwar’s powers over financial and economic matters had to be transferred to the National Economic Action Council (NEAC).

“NEAC invented currency control and prevented CLOB (Central Limit Order Book – an illegal share market formed in Singapore) so that currency trading of the ringgit by currency speculators and the selling of Malaysian shares in CLOB ended. It was the NEAC that managed to recover the economy and finance of the nation,” he said.

“Maybe the actions of the Bank Negara  Governor and his Deputy (at that time) who attempted to derail the currency control had nothing to do with Anwar. But the fact is, both these officers were under the Finance Ministry’s jurisdiction,” he added.

Ending his posting on a sarcastic note, Mahathir said he prays that Selangor would not be ’shortchanged’ by its Economic Advisor.

Education: Go Back To Basics Before We Talk About the New Economic Model

November 17, 2009

Go Back To Basics

by Hafiz Noor Shams

One simply cannot underestimate the power of education in shaping society. It has an awesome capability in influencing a person’s perspective towards the world, by impressing certain mind frames on those minds still naively free of scepticism.

A liberal society will require an education system that removes that naiveté and develops critically minded, sceptical individuals. In an ideal world, that is the function of early formal education. Our world — and certainly our society — is less than ideal, where the agenda of individual empowerment gradually yields its space to other agenda that does not empower individuals but rather seeks to cow them into certain moulds that erode individuality.

Scepticism here does not mean a society full of cynics, where each person deep in his or her heart holds on to extremely pessimistic views of human nature and in doing so, distrusting other people in all places and at all times. Instead, scepticism refers to an independent mind that is capable of evaluating a proposition critically, and not merely accepting it blindly. This is the truest and the greatest agenda of individual empowerment. Without this agenda, the path towards liberty is an overly arduous one.

It is for this reason that I prefer for primary and, to some extent, secondary levels of formal education to focus primarily on aspects that encourage scepticism. These aspects hark back to the foundation of all knowledge: grammar, logic and rhetoric. It is a demand for a person to think for his or herself by demanding proof for all propositions. It is a culture of questioning without fear of tradition and its biases. Only when the young truly grasp the basic tools of an independent mind will they then be free to explore areas that may interest them, and effectively at that.

Even if one speaks of holistic formal education that seeks to formalise everything to the point of suffocation, thereby robbing the space for informal education, it is impossible to deny that the focus on grammar, logic and rhetoric is the base of any education worth going through. Any person that is unable to write intelligibly, think critically and speak clearly up to some acceptable degree likely has failed in their education.

Admittedly, so basic a goal is hardly inspiring. Many are not impressed with such an uninspiring goal. And so, they suggest additional roles for schools and, therefore, formal education to take up.

One that has been proposed from time to time is the inculcation of the entrepreneurial spirit. For the religious, they want an education system with spiritual aspect tags included in multiple areas of education and probably to have the fairy tale of creationism taught as part of science, too.

Another popular suggestion is to stress on unity. This are not merely weasel words; Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Murugiah Thopasamy has proposed for a course called “1 Malaysia” to replace moral studies, where the new course would impart unity and encourage patriotism among Malaysians.

We live in a world of constraints, and the introduction of additional items to the school syllabus will necessarily mean less time for the foundation of knowledge found in vital courses such as language and mathematics. This concern of constraints is true at any level of education, as well as within and without the realm of education.

One has to understand that formal education can only do so much. Entrepreneurial spirit, spiritualism and unity for instance cannot be taught through textbooks. Many of these additional goals necessarily belong to the realm of informal education. It is something acquired through interactions outside of schools and out of pure interest.

Granted, schools can play a huge role in prodding students toward whatever goals that one may desire, especially through after-school activities. Any effort at that should not, however, turn the syllabus into a hodgepodge of additional goals that eventually dilute the agenda of individual empowerment that seeks to set a strong foundation of knowledge.

Really, many of these additional goals are not of educational value, but more likely than not appear to impress on young student’’ psyche to accept certain ideas. It is really propaganda. Such impressions would likely have successful impact on a young student who has yet to acquire the the foundation of knowledge. Unable to think for himself and access any proposition effectively, a young student may become sad victims of propaganda.

Advocates of holistic education especially miss and, worse, ignore the importance of informal education. UMNO Youth for instance has proposed to lengthen school hours to enable implementation of holistic education. It is exactly this kind of so-called holistic education that considerably expands the possibility of the role of formal education to include items of little or no educational value at all. The odds are that these items are only trying to influence students to accept certain things that might not survive the inspection of a critical mind.

Even if the proposal of holistic education is purely innocent in its motives and aimed at producing well-rounded individuals without having the potential of diluting the focus on foundational knowledge, it robs students of their time to explore not what the state wants them to have interest in, but of their own interest.

Such holistic education robs these students of the opportunity to undergo informal education. In fact, it robs them from living their lives, to trap them within school compounds and obliviousness to a whole wide world full of adventure that no formal education can provide. It robs them of a chance to practise their senses and deciding their own destiny.

The oft-repeated complaint that employers have against far too many fresh graduates is a lack of quality. I dare say the employability of these graduates is low because their foundation is not strong. Weak foundation affects how knowledge is received. When it is received uncritically, one will have trouble applying knowledge obtained through books and blackboard into practice.

One is tempted to solve the problem at the tertiary level but it may well be too late. Tertiary level is the place where specialisation is supposed to begin. While foundation may further be expanded and strengthened as liberal arts try to do, this kind foundation will itself crumble without the foundation involving solid competency in grammar, logic and rhetoric that accommodate thinking process.

The problem of such employability can be solved by returning to basics and doing away with all unnecessarily fluff. Focus on the grammar, logic and rhetoric as formal education and give the young the liberty to explore their life as part of their informal education. Through this, not only we will have a competent individual, but also a free individual making up part of a free society.

Random Historical Thoughts of a “Shaman”

November 16,2009

Random Historical Thoughts of a “Shaman” from Magick River: Antares M

Like millions of other Malaysians I was looking forward gleefully to witnessing a Pakatan Rakyat government installed in Putrajaya after September 16, 2008 – with Anwar Ibrahim as our sixth prime minister. Sixth… or seventh… it doesn’t matter. I remain convinced that Anwar has the necessary experience to steer the nation clear of some treacherous reefs looming ahead.

Some of my friends say they would rather see Zaid Ibrahim as PM. I’m a great admirer of Zaid Ibrahim and have no problem seeing him become prime minister one of these days. For that matter, Nizar Jamaluddin has also been described as prime minister material – but before he stands a chance of being appointed to the nation’s highest office, his political party will have to shed some of the theological deadwood it is currently burdened with.

In any case, so long as Anwar Ibrahim is in good health and willing to take on the responsibility, I would still prefer that the PM’s job go to him. Not only does he have 16 years’ experience under his belt as part of the UMNO-BN regime under Mahathir, but he has also been initiated into the shadow side of power. Anwar has an intimate understanding of how precarious and illusory worldly power and status can be, having been at the receiving end of Mahathir’s gross abuse of power back in 1998. I’m convinced that anyone who has survived such a nightmarish ordeal would have learned to cherish the true meaning of freedom and justice.

Apart from Anwar’s phenomenal charisma as an orator and political reformer, he is supported by the magnificent Wan Azizah whose compassion, dignity and strength stand her in excellent stead as a prime minister’s wife the entire nation can wholeheartedly love and respect. Not only that, their beautiful daughter Nurul Izzah has proven her mettle as an articulate, intelligent and plucky leader and has all the qualities necessary to someday become Malaysia’s first female PM. (Not that I’m in favor of political dynasties – but being born into a political family does provide a strong foundation for handling the stresses and strains of leadership.)

More than a year after Anwar’s abortive 916 plan to take over the reins of government, the political situation is totally bogged down in sinister intrigue while outrageous shenanigans continue to be perpetrated with impunity by the UMNO-BN regime under Mr Pink Lips.

A few of my moneyed friends have expressed their reservations about having Anwar Ibrahim as PM. Some parrot Mahathir and Daim Zainuddin’s heavy hints about Anwar’s cozy ties with key agents of the New World Order cabal and their Zionist banker connections. They are wary of the fact that Anwar is respected by well-known Neocons like Paul Wolfowitz and William Cohen and has access to a global network of influential names in academia and the mass media. Unlike Najib, Anwar Ibrahim does not have to pay millions to some Jewish PR agency to have the international media paint a rosy image of him as a leader.

UMNO  apologists just don’t get it. These so-called Zionist plutocrats – men like George Soros , the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers – admire intelligence and statesmanship and, of course, they are constantly trying to recruit new blood into their ranks. If they have indeed been courting Anwar, it simply means they believe Anwar is well worth luring into their inner circles – just as they at one time invited the likes of Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir Mohamad to participate in closed-doors Bilderberg conferences.

In the geopolitical arena one has to acknowledge that power has been jealously guarded for countless centuries by a secretive elite via interlocking fraternities like the Freemasons, Knights of Malta, and the Rotarians. The heads of these fraternities are members of even more exclusive and secretive mystical orders with names like the Priory of Sion, the Bavarian Illuminati, and Ordo Templi Orientis.

Their deadly grip on power appears indomitable and absolute. But that’s merely an illusion. Truth is, the cracks have become huge enough for new reality options to hatch from within these occult power centers.As always their own descendants – the children and grandchildren of Evelyn Rothschild and David Rockefeller, for example, will break the family mold and mutate in ways unforeseen. Like a tower struck by lightning, the entire edifice of hereditary power and wealth will quickly crumble as the New World Order manifests as something its original planners would never in a million years have imagined possible.

As a brilliant and charming deputy prime minister cum finance minister with a few prestigious awards (by  AsiaMoney and Newsweek International under his collar), Anwar had apparently attracted the attention of these global powerbrokers. Perhaps he had been emboldened by their tacit support to make his power play against the recalcitrant Mahathir in mid-1997 – which triggered a vindictive and violent reaction from both Daim Zainuddin and Mahathir who represented the vested interests of the UMNOputra elite that had burgeoned during Mahathir’s 22-year premiership.

Those who had grown fat in the mid-1980s and early 1990s from Mahathir’s largesse were naturally incensed by what they perceived as Anwar Ibrahim’s impatience and impertinence. He had to be forcefully put down as an example to other would-be upstarts within the ranks of UMNO. This explains the ferocity and sheer viciousness of their attack against Anwar in 1998.

It was nothing less than a political crucifixion. Just as two thousand years ago the entrenched Jewish priesthood and the obese merchants in Palestine were terrified of the master Yeshua’s populist message of reform and renewal – the feudal power establishment in Malaysia was severely rattled by the close proximity of the same groundswell of massive rebellion that swept Suharto and his dynasty from power right next door in Indonesia.

The UMNO old guard isn’t quite dead yet. Mahathir still growls as he paces in growing frustration, watching UMNO warlords repeatedly shoot themselves in the foot and dig themselves deeper and deeper into their own graves. Quietly monitoring the political shifts since 8 March 2008 from his invisible vantage point, former finance minister Daim Zainuddin makes hardly a sound – but he has been busy behind the scenes, doing whatever he can and must to thwart Anwar’s ambitions to become Prime Minister.

As for the Malay rulers, they have been compromised – particularly since the mid-1980s – by their immersion in entrepreneurial pursuits – an unhealthy trend that escalated following Mahathir’s usurpation of their traditional authority. Few of them have any head for business, so they are largely dependent on a shadowy cadre of UMNOoputra tycoons and the fly-by-night financial adventurers who serve as their advisors and proxies.

This is certainly an untenable and unwholesome situation. The royal houses must decide very soon whether to throw their lot in with the collapsing UMNOputra house of cards – or to discreetly extricate themselves from further involvement in the sordid world of business – a realm where their royal stature is susceptible to being irreversibly tarnished and brought into severe disrepute. They cannot carry on dabbling in business, getting entangled in constant conflicts of interest or risking legal actions when their enterprises go bust – and yet expect the public to shut up and taxpayers to keep paying their royal allowances.

I was telling some friends recently that the political atmosphere during the Mahathir Era was horribly stifling, especially after 1986 when his power faced serious challenges. But, strangely, things feel even worse today – not necessarily because Najib is crueler and more ruthless than his cynical puppetmaster – but simply because the Internet can now reveal the full extent of UMNO-BN’s criminal mismanagement, complete with charts and tables and long lists of figures.

Thanks to the emergence in Cyberspace of loose cannon maverick royals like Raja Petra Kamarudin – whose access to “official secrets” and whose ability to expose and destroy the rogue regime we call UMNO-BN (along with all who stubbornly cling to their ill-gotten gains and their obscene privileges) should never be underestimated – those of us who genuinely love this country still have many strategic options apart from migrating.

As RPK has so admirably shown by positioning himself out of harm’s way and continuing to fire salvo after salvo at the fortress of the Wicked Queen, it’s futile trying to scare bloggers into silence. You can haul up and question a few – but at what cost to your expensively tailored international image? And for every Malaysian-based blogger who gets intimidated into silence, a hundred outspoken bloggers based abroad will emerge to carry on the information war.

One of the perks of amassing a vast fortune is to be admired and applauded wherever you go. However, if your reputation sinks to the level of infamous rogues like Robert Mugabe, Augusto Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, Slobodan Milošević, General Than Shwe, Kim Jong-Il, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney… you’d probably be wishing you could have been half as talented as Michael Jackson instead… or twice as dead.