Abu Kassim Responds: Syabas For Being Transparent

May 11, 2011

by Din Merican

On Labour Day ( May 1), I posted an article – ” MACC: The Destroyer of Public Institutions”.  In my usual style, I dealt with current issues of public interest and also touched upon a public account of encountering Dato’ Sri Abu Kassim in Kota Damansara on Sunday April, 17, 2011. I invited Dato Sri Abu Kassim to explain what he was doing there, see link here

On  May 5, I received a seemingly innocent email from Puan Nurhasmah Mohamed Kassim of the Corporate Communication Unit MACC seeking for my house address and other particulars. I was encouraged that the MACC was making an effort to engage bloggers and alternative media practitoners to become Frenz of MACC (FoMACC). Reproduced below is the email exchange between us:

On May 5, 2011, at 4:31 PM, Nurhasmah Binti Mohamed Kassimwrote:

Subject: Re: PERMOHONAN MENDAPATKAN ALAMAT SURAT-MENYURAT DAN NOMBOR TELEFON

Assalamualaikum wbt & Salam Sejahtera.

Y.Bhg. Dato’,

Dengan segala hormatnya saya merujuk kepada perkara di atas.

Unit Komunikasi Korporat (UKK) Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) sedang dalam proses mengumpul data para blogger di Malaysia bagi disenaraikan dalam sistem Frenz of MACC (FoMACC). Untuk makluman Y.Bhg. Dato’, FoMACC ini merupakan sebuah medium yang dirangka sebagai satu agen komunikasi SPRM dengan masyarakat di mana emel dan Khidmat Pesanan Ringkas (SMS) digunakan dalam menyalurkan maklumat terkini, tepat dan benar kepada semua Key Communicators yang berdaftar dengan FoMACC. Profil key-communicators ini akan disegmentasikan supaya hanya mesej, berita atau informasi yang relevan sahaja dihantar kepada kategori key-communicators yang berkenaan. Ini memudahkan maklumat disampaikan dengan tepat kepada target audience.

Sehubungan itu, UKK SPRM berharap supaya pihak kami boleh mendapatkan alamat surat-menyurat serta nombor telefon Y.Bhg. Dato’ bagi tujuan tersebut di atas serta bagi tujuan perkongsian idea dan pendapat dalam usaha memerangi jenayah rasuah di Malaysia.

Sekiranya Y.Bhg. Dato’ mempunyai sebarang pertanyaan ataupun memerlukan penjelasan lanjut berhubung perkara ini, Y.Bhg. Dato’ boleh menghubungi En. Muhammad Salim Sundar (Ketua Unit Komunikasi Korporat SPRM) di talian 03-8886 7142 atau 019-6758585 atau boleh juga di e-melkan kepada komunikasi@sprm.gov.my.

Kerjasama dan perhatian Y.Bhg. Dato’ berhubung perkara ini adalah amat dihargai.

Sekian, terima kasih.

Anda Boleh Lakukan Perubahan

PERANGI Rasuah

Saya yang menurut perintah,

NURHASMAH BINTI MOHAMED KASSIM

Penguasa

b/p: Ketua

Unit Komunikasi Korporat, Aras 7

Ibu Pejabat SPRM, Blok D6, Kompleks D

Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62007 Putrajaya.
Tel: 03-8886 7000(GL)
03-8886 7131(DL)
019-6996902
No. Faks: 03-8888 9528
hasmah.kassim@sprm.gov.my
komunikasi@sprm.gov.my

From: dmerican2@gmail.com
Date: Thu, 5 May 2011 19:24:53 +0800
To: Nurhasmah Binti Mohamed Kassim
Subject: Re: PERMOHONAN MENDAPATKAN ALAMAT SURAT-MENYURAT DAN NOMBOR TELEFON

No Telefon saya: 017 XXX XXXX.
Alamat: XX, Jalan SSXX/XX, Damansara Jaya, 47400 PJ.
Saya harap maklumat ini tidak disalahgunakan.

Salam
Din Merican
http://dinmerican.wordpress .com/

2011/5/5 <hasmah.kassim@sprm.gov.my>

Assalamualaikum wbt & Selamat Sejahtera.

Y.Bhg. Dato’,

Terima kasih di atas maklum-balas segera daripada Y.Bhg. Dato’ berhubung perkara yang dinyatakan.

Alamat surat-menyurat berserta nombor telefon Y.Bhg. Dato’ akan dimasukkan sebagai key-communicators bagi kategori Bloggers dalam senarai Frenz of MACC (FoMACC) kami dan TIDAK AKAN didedahkan dengan sewenangnya.

Selain itu, Ketua Komunikasi Korporat SPRM, Tn. Muhammad Salim Sundar akan menghubungi Y.Bhg. Dato’ sekiranya terdapat sebarang keperluan bagi mendapatkan pendapat/penjelasan/komen berhubung sesuatu isu.

Kerjasama dan maklum-balas segera yang diterima daripada Y.Bhg. Dato’ amatlah dihargai.

Sekian,terima kasih.

Saya yang menurut perintah,
NURHASMAH BINTI MOHAMED KASSIM
Penguasa,
b/p: Ketua
Unit Komunikasi Korporat
SPRM
No. Tel: 03-8886 7131 / 019-699 XXXX.

2011/5/6 Din Merican

Hasmah,

Terima Kasih. I sentiasa sanggup bekerjasama dengan rakan rakan dalam kerajaan demi kepentingan negara. Sungguhpun saya adalah sa-orang kritik dasar dan pentadbiran kadang kadang, saya bukan ahli politik. Saya harap kritikan saya adalah konstruktif.

salam
din merican

Ahirudin Attan aka Rocky's Bru,Editor of The Malay Mail, President of the National Press Club and President of the National Alliance of Bloggers

I considered this approach by the MACC to be very refreshing and my elation could not be more obvious when I stated that I was prepared to work for the betterment of the country despite being a critic of the administration and that I hope to always be constructive.

On Sunday May 8, Rocky Bru fired a warning shot that the MACC may be going after me for my May Day article, go to Rockybru/ Batu Api /Agent Provocator. Rockybru couldn’t be more spot on or he must have been given the lead of the impending actions by MACC.

On  May 10,  I received a hand delivered letter in an officious white envelope marked “Urusan Sri Paduka Baginda” with an SPRM stamp. That stern white envelope would have made anyone shudder, see below:

Picture of Envelope

In that envelope was a letter titled ” MACC RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE ENTITLED “ABU KASSIM’S PERSONAL CONDUCT IN DINMERICAN. WORDPRESS.COM. For the benefit of my readers, I reproduce the letter in its entirety, see letter below:

Page 2

Upon initially reading the letter, I was offended that the MACC had used a very cunning method to obtain my address. It appeared to me that having invited me to be placed on the MACC’s database, they have abused that information to serve me with a Warning or Demand Letter as can be seen above. However, upon reflection, I decided to take this Demand Letter positively.

Indeed, I had asked Dato Sri Abu Kassim several questions that would appear to touch on his integrity. Indeed, any less mortal would feel disturbed by what is perceived as an attack against his personality. But Dato Sri Abu Kassim is not any mere mortal. He is the Chief Commissioner of the MACC, that omnipotent agency mandated to eradicate corruption in our country. Thus, he should not feel slighted by my questions.

As a public official who is always in the limelight as a crusader against corruption, he should welcome my questions. He should welcome public scrutiny on his official and personal conduct. He should not feel offended nor challenged by these questions if he has nothing to hide or if he has done nothing wrong. That, Dato Sri Abu Kassim is what is expected from a public official like you.

To his credit, Dato Sri Abu Kassim can now claim that he is indeed transparent. He can take pride that he walked the talk. He can now claim that he walked through a baptism of fire and is not scorched. He can claim that he has answered to all the questions and passed the challenge with flying colours. That much I must commend Abu Kassim. Instead of merely denying that he was at the place he was seen that fateful Sunday  April 17, Abu Kassim admitted that:

a) he was in Kota Damansara;
b) he was accompanied by his 3 men;
c) he met an unnamed and unknown individual;
d) the premise where he met that individual was just beside Chee Chah Cafe;
e) while he was meeting that individual, his men took time for lunch at the Chee Chah Cafe.

For all that, I say Syabas Dato Sri Abu Kassim!

However, I would have heaped more praises and congratulations on Dato Sri Abu Kassim if the MACC Demand Letter did not threaten me in the way that it did. The MACC’s Demand Letter called my previous posting “baseless, bias and defamatory”.  How could it be baseless, when I was merely asking questions based on public eyewitness account? How could it be baseless when there is now an admission of the five factors that I have outlined above? As to what is the business premise beside the Chee Chah Cafe in Kota Damansara, my readers can visit that place, and tell me if it is not a wellness centre.

Perhaps, it is my perception that the last paragraph of the MACC Demand Letter was a threat. Perhaps, I too have become jumpy like the MACC. Therefore, I remind myself that I owe it to Dato Sri Abu Kassim the right to be heard, the right for him to defend himself against any negative public perceptions. Thus, Dato’ Sri Abu Kassim this is my way to show to you that I am objective. This is my way of answering to Rockybru that I have no vendetta against the MACC nor Dato Sri Abu Kassim. As to whether Dato Sri Abu Kassim is one of the good guys, it is for the public to judge him, not me.

After all the good and transparent things that Dato Sri Abu Kassim had attempted to do by his explanation, the MACC Demand Letter signed by its Assistant Head of Corporate Communication Unit, Puan Salwa Binti Muharam, had to spoil all that. Instead of being an explanatory letter or an attempt to clear any negative public perceptions on the matter, she chose to threaten me. The MACC Corporate Communication Unit should know better than to make threats in such ways. The MACC should win over critics rather than to threaten to silence these critics. That is the most basic rule in public relations. No wonder the MACC is in the state that it is today.

The MACC Corporate Communication Unit should also know that in today’s cyberworld, it is primitive and archaic to demand for removal of any posted article. If the MACC demand that of me, then the MACC should come down harder on Rockybru because he extracted only a part of my article and chose to give prominence to the part that he said constituted as defamatory of Dato Sri Abu Kassim. It was Rockybru who sensationalised the whole thing. So Rockybru, my friend, join the bandwagon!

To my mind, it is more meaningful to give a person the right to be heard. That is the rule of natural justice and that is what I intend by this article – to give Dato Sri Abu Kassim the opportunity to explain himself, which he did. I have always done that in the interest of fairplay. And Justice For all!

Advertisement