Malaysia needs more heroes like Tony Pua to help expose scandals like this!

Najib's greatest Scandal that will bankrupt Malaysia!??

BN Ministers are Idiots! (Penan Issue)

Keruah Usit 12:14PM Jul 27, 2013

ANTIDOTE The first-term Sarawak state assembly representative for Telang Usan in Baram, Dennis Ngau, has spread ripples of disbelief and laughter in the social media following his remarks on the rape of Penan women and schoolgirls.

Ngau made his remarks in response to a PKR accusation that Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim, had misled a regional forum by making a verifiably incorrect claim. The minister had said that the recommendations of her ministry's Task Force Report, on sexual violence by loggers in Baram, had already been carried out. 

Rohani (left)said this at the Seventh Meeting of the Asean Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, which was held in Kuala Lumpur from July 22 to 24.

Dennis Ngau rode to the minister's rescue, but stumbled. "I did not read the Task Force Report, but I'm sure the government took it seriously and at times may have to adjust to suit the local environment," he was quoted as saying by the Borneo Post. 

Instead of saving the minister, Ngau appears to have trampled her underfoot. His verbal slapstick has drawn even greater attention to the minister's controversial claim.

Sarawak PKR vice-chairperson and state assemblyperson for Batu Lintang See Chee How had on July 23 challenged the minister for trying to paper over the scandal surrounding the loggers' sexual assaults. 

"I am disappointed with the minister as she did not speak the truth at the international forum," See, a human rights lawyer, told the press.

"I regret the minister was misguided and wrongly advised into making an embarrassing statement that most of the recommendations listed in the National Task Force Report were executed," he went on.

"Someone commented that BN ministers lie to the Malaysian public on a daily basis. They do. But misleading an international or regional audience is serious."

Task Force's shocking findings

Loggers in Baram have raped girls as young as 10 years old. These crimes were uncovered by a federal Cabinet Task Force in September 2009. 

The ministry's Task Force was unanimous in the finding that "sexual abuse of Penan girls and women by outsiders dealing with the Penan, including logging company employees and traders, had indeed taken place." Their brief visit, over four days, documented eight cases of sexual abuse.

According to the Task Force, the roots of this sexual violence included poverty, isolation, excessive dependency on logging companies for transportation to clinics and schools, mistrust of the authorities among the Penan and prejudice towards the Penan. 

The Task Force had recommended far-reaching improvements in transportation of schoolchildren, infrastructure, birth and citizenship registration, healthcare and education, and in the self-determination of the Penan.

These findings were then broadened in July 2010 by another investigation by the Penan Support Group, a coalition of NGOs. The PSG uncovered seven new instances of sexual violence, and tied these in with the wider socio-economic deprivation of rural communities. 

Logging companies offer powerful support and generous donations to the ruling political elite. They own newspapers, infrastructure and even politicians.

‘No further action' by government

Five years later, the Penan face exactly the same challenges, and are as vulnerable as ever to sexual abuse. Not a single rapist has been brought to justice: the police blame a lack of funds for their failure.

"The complaints lodged with the police on sexual assault against Penan women have been classified as ‘NFA' (no further action)," See said.

"Until today, there has not been any arrangement done to ferry Penan children to their boarding schools and back to their settlements."

Penan settlements in Baram Tengah have had to rely on a single four-wheel-drive vehicle, purchased for them by the Selangor and Penang state governments, to have access to distant schools and hospitals.

See (left) noted that the Sarawak government had gone as far as sponsoring a women's empowerment workshop in Baram, conducted by a local NGO, Sarawak Women for Women Society. But, he added, there was no additional effort put into the health services, national registration and pre-school classes in Baram, as recommended by the Task Force.

"However, I welcome the commitment by the federal minister to visit the Penan community in Sarawak to review the implementation of the recommendations made in the report, and I hope she will make full and frank disclosure of her report later," he said.

See was more direct in calling Dennis Ngau's outburst "the confession and proof of a failed assemblyman" in a social media remark.

"This is the single most important cabinet report affecting the people of Ngau's constituency, he didn't bother to read (it) but quickly jumped up to defend the mediocre minister, and is making it worse for her now," See observed.

Ngau had told the Borneo Post that the BN government had engaged with the Penan in dialogues and meetings "to make them understand why they must accept development".

He also appeared to doubt the findings of rape by the ministry's Task Force, telling the Borneo Post that "the Penan that I met and asked even denied that such thing [sic] even occurred". 

---

KERUAH USIT is a human rights activist - ‘anak Sarawak, bangsa Malaysia'. This weekly column is an effort to provide a voice for marginalised Malaysians. Keruah Usit can be contacted at keruah_usit@yahoo.com

Janji di tepati!! TNB increase tariff!

FROM MALAYSIAKINI

Kua Kia Soong 10:37AM Jul 27, 2013

COMMENT In my recent article ‘Damned Dams & Noxious Nukes: Questioning Malaysia's Energy Policy' (Suaram 2013, p 2), I had warned that the government would surely raise electricity tariffs after the 13th general election.

Right on cue, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has just announced that there will be an upward review of the electricity tariff. TNB is justifying this increase by claiming that domestic consumers have been subsidised long enough.

However, who have been the main beneficiaries of the government subsidies?

The energy industry in Malaysia has become a mega business and the government has been subsidising private businesses handsomely for at least two decades, even as it announces attempts to remove subsidies for domestic consumers.

In the mid-Nineties when the IPPs first came into the energy production scene, the industrial sector was TNB's largest consumer, with 60 percent of electricity consumption, but it was paying the lowest rates averaging 15.98 sen per kilowatt hour. On the other hand, the domestic and commercial sectors were paying 21.5 sen per unit and 23.3 sen per unit respectively. (New Straits Times, Jan 17, 1996)

But any privatisation exercise can only be called a success if the businessmen who bid for the projects succeed in raising financing from the banks through their own credentials. What is evident in the privatisation contracts in the energy industry of Malaysia is that many of the crony capitalists (who are, strictly speaking, failed businessmen) rely on the Malaysian workers' pension fund, the EPF, through their links with the government.

Thus, then-energy minister S Samy Vellu justified the EPF as the single biggest source of financing for the Bakun Dam project:

"Bakun, you see, they need some government help... They need government help to borrow money. About RM15 billion to generate 2,400MW of electricity, which means Ekran needs to borrow from the EPF," Samy Vellu said. (Business Times, Feb 23, 1995)

Well-connected IPPs

TNB used to be the sole electricity provider in the country but after the blackouts and brownouts in 1992, independent power producers (IPPs) were allowed into the industry.

They were politically well-connected but devoid of any electric power engineering or generating experience, and the power purchase agreements they signed with TNB allowed them highly favourable terms with take-or-pay arrangements for power generation, i.e. if there was no uptake, the IPPs were paid a capacity charge to offset this.

Furthermore, they could pass their cost increases, such as any fuel price increases, to TNB. But TNB itself does not enjoy such a cost-pass-through formula to help it recover any increases in costs.

In 1995, a single IPP made RM800 million in profits - about half of what Tenaga made with all its national plants! Furthermore, the IPPs do not have to invest in transmission or distribution - the expensive parts of the business. (Sunday Star, Sept 1, 1996)

If we compare the generation costs of TNB and the IPPs, we will have an idea of TNB's problems. In 1997, TNB was paying between 11.8 sen and 15.5 sen per unit of electricity to the five IPPs while its cost of generating electricity was less than 10 sen per unit. (The Star, April 20, 1997)

To solve these contradictions, TNB saw the only way out as raising electricity tariffs and to urge consumers to use more electricity, including drying their clothes with electrical appliances! Either way, Malaysian consumers lost out and the need for energy conservation was put off once again despite the pious declarations at the Rio conference.

Apart from the dice being loaded in favour of the IPPs, they also built power stations at sites of their own choice, not where they were needed. Thus, YTL built a station at Paka, Terengganu, (where the gas supply comes in) although electric power was desperately needed in the north and central regions.

The admission of the IPPs into the energy industry and subsequent flip-flopping policies reflect the total lack of planning and well-thought out energy policy.

The costs of excess capacity

TNB has been keeping a reserve margin in excess of 30 percent over the nation's total demand. In fact, this reserve margin was boosted to 42 percent after the commissioning of two new power plants in 2003. With rising operational costs, including that of excess capacity maintenance, TNB was forced to cut its reserve margin to just below 25 percent. This move was estimated to save the corporation RM1 billion in maintenance cost a year:

"Tenaga has to bear the cost of managing excess capacity on its own. It pays independent power producers about RM500,000 for every megawatt a year and normally draws less than four-fifths of that power... Imagine how much Tenaga spends to manage about 1,500MW of excess capacity from the IPPs!" (New Straits Times, Aug 30, 2003)

There is thus no justification for the Bakun Dam which harnesses 2,400MW electricity when the demand for energy in the whole of Sarawak state was only around 400MW in 1997. The original intention was for the electricity produced to be transmitted 665km to the west coast of Sarawak and a further 670km to Peninsular Malaysia, through high-voltage undersea cables that have never been tested through this distance anywhere in the world!

The current total energy demand in the whole of Sarawak is only 1,000MW, so the government has been trying to attract the biggest energy guzzlers, such as aluminium smelters that happen to be the most toxic as well. These environmentally polluting industries are then touted as part of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score).

In fact, hydro-electric power dams and toxic aluminium smelters are all industries rejected by developed countries. None of these countries, especially Australia, wants to have toxic industries in their own backyard. Lynas is but the most recent example.

But the Sarawak state government is willing to have these mega projects for rather dubious purposes. The desperate chase for investments to take up the excess Bakun energy after the dam has been built shows a total lack of economic feasibility studies which should have been done long before the dam was built. Is it surprising therefore that many Score contracts have been given to companies owned by members of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's family?

As long as the full eight-turbine capacity of the Bakun dam is not being fully utilised, it will not be economical as the same amount of water is required to run one or all the turbines. It is comical to see the same vacillating suggestion being made every time the government is faced with this conundrum, namely, to resurrect the submarine cables to transmit the surplus power to the peninsula!

The recent blackout throughout Sarawak has been attributed to a glitch at the Bakun dam which triggered the state-wide blackout. Has the cost of the blackout been worked out yet?

The Bakun dam project cost has ballooned to well over RM8 billion. At the end of the day, the project will be a yoke around Malaysian consumers' necks and we will have to pay high tariffs to cover the losses incurred by the developer and/or TNB.

More mega-dams for us to subsidise

But the monstrous Bakun dam is not all that has been dreamed up by the Sarawak state government. The 944MW Murum dam is soon to be impounded. Like Bakun, this latter dam project is in violation of international standards on indigenous rights as guaranteed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), of which Malaysia is a signatory.

As with the Bakun dam, none of the studies related to the projects have been transparent. The affected Penan and Kenyah have stated that they have never been asked for their consent, as demanded by the UNDRIP.

The project developer, Sarawak's state-owned electricity generating company, Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) has not provided indigenous communities with an opportunity to grant or withhold their "free, prior and informed consent" for the project as required by UNDRIP. Even in cases where there was agreement, the resettlement plan was not made known to the indigenous peoples prior to the start of the construction, and they were not informed about the project's impacts.

The social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA) for the Murum project is seriously flawed. International standards - including the World Bank IFC Performance Standards - universally require that the SEIA must be completed during the design phase, before the government approves the project and before construction begins.

This was not the case with the Murum Dam Project. The SEIA process only began after construction of the project was already under way.

When the 944MW Murum Dam costing RM3.5 billion comes on stream, the total installed capacity of the two dams will be 3,344MW. The combined cost of the two dams is RM10.8 billion. There are also plans to build more dams - 1,400MW in Balleh, 1,000MW in Baram, 150MW in Limbang and 300MW in Metjawah, among others.

Sarawak's existing capacity to generate electricity (viz. 1,300MW) without the Bakun dam already exceeds the peak demand of 1,100MW. Electricity generated cannot be stored. Unused power will be wasted. The government hopes that energy guzzling industries such as aluminium smelters will come and take up this surplus of energy...

In such a state of affairs, who is subsidising whom? Don't even mention building noxious nuclear plants!

---

KUA KIA SOONG, a former MP, is adviser to human rights NGO Suaram.

How does he amass such indecent amount of wealth?

Malaysian seek answers and justice for this issue!!



Watch the videos! If you love justice and hate corruption, you will surely get angry and make sure BN gets kick out in Sarawak!





How does Taib response to all this?!?!

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud has today accused the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation of himself for graft as “victimisation”, reserving his cooperation as he believes that they have been “naughty and dishonest”.

“They (MACC) don’t deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest,” he said when met after attending the BN supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.

Malaysian Govt endangering sovereignty of Malaysia!

Blanket deportation' as good as ceding sovereignty

Mat Zain Ibrahim 12:39PM Feb 25, 2013

COMMENT I am referring to the statement by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein that he has left it to Wisma Putra on the Phillipine’s government request of an extension on the deportation of the Lahad Datu intruders.This gives Foreign Minister Anifah Aman an absolute authority to decide on the matter.

I am not questioning the noble and sincere intention of any party to have this standoff brought to an immediate end and free of bloodshed as long as they are done within the framework of our laws.

Neither would I at this juncture question the wisdom of the prime minister to hand over authority to Anifah Aman (left), who hails from Sabah,who happens to be a younger brother to Musa Aman, the Sabah CM and who in turn is related to Manuel Amalilio, to decide on this crucial matter.

What is important, is for Anifah to be advised by none other than the attorney-general that he has no right or power whatsoever to indemnify any one of the armed intruders or the other members of the group from each of their criminal culpabilities.

Anifah must realise that limitation. It is not like he is given a free hand to make his own decision anyway he likes or he is a law unto himself.

Even the prime minister or the attorney-general themselves have no power to strike a deal with anyone facing criminal charges or being caught in a sticky political situation. This has been explained by the de facto law minister, Nazri Aziz in Parliament on March 30, 2011, in answer to a question on this issue.

Regardless of their status, ethnicity, ideology or purpose, the Sulu intruders have committed  serious criminal acts ranging from attempting or waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, besides serious violations of the Penal Code, Firearms Act, Immigration Act, etcetera, etcetera.

I beg to differ with Home Minister Hishammuddin when he says that the Lahad Datu standoff is different from several previous incidents such as those involving Al-Maunah, Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah Malaysia.

Even a lay person knows that killing a person by strangulation, or by stabbing or by blowing that person into bits using explosives, is still murder as defined in the Penal Code and the punishment is still death by hanging, when the killer is found guilty regardless of the motive of the murder or how it was done.

The difference here is only in the manner the murder was executed.The end result is the same, that a person is dead.

A standoff is still a standoff

A standoff is still a standoff whether it is an Al-Maunah standoff or a Lahad Datu standoff. It cannot be dealth with differently. The weapons smuggled in by the Sulu invaders are no less lethal than the weapons stolen from the 304 army camp by the Al-Maunah group.

The Al-Maunah group’s members are no less Muslims than the Sulu invaders if religion is to be considered.

If the Al-Maunah gang members who surrendered were charged with waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and a few of them hanged, so must the same charges be preferred against the Sulu intruders when they surrender.

As such Anifah must be advised that he has no powers to promise or agree with the Phillipines government to deport all those intruders whether individually armed or not, without all of them being brought to face the full brunt of our laws, first.

With due respect to Anifah, it is not within his purview to decide whether an act is criminal in nature or otherwise or whether the intruders should be charged in court or just let them go scot-free. Neither it is Hishammuddin’s.

In the event Anifah is adamant in conceding to the Phillipines a “blanket deportation” of all the armed intruders to their homeland with the concurrence of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, for any reasons whatsoever, without going through the due process of our laws and constitution, then not only both of them have made a landmark decision arbitrarily but they will be setting a very dangerous and vicious precedent.

That decision would effectively implies that armed invasion or incursion or anything of that sort into any part of our country whether for temporary or permanent occupation, are no longer prohibited but rather most welcome. Smuggling of any types of weapons and firearms into the country are no longer considered as crimes.

Deporting the Sulu invaders lock stock and barrel and exempting them from criminal prosecution is as good as surrendering our sovereignty.

Our beautiful Malaysia can then be proudly proclaimed to have been transformed into a lame duck nation.

---

MAT ZAIN IBRAHIM is former chief of the Criminal Investigation Department, Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent.

Lie Tiong Lie lies again!??

First it was lying about the Bersih 2.0 incident about the Police not shooting into the Hospital
Then it was about the Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia scandal.

Now he top it off with paying RM20,000.00 for a number plate!
Just when I thought BN Minister (such as this guy!) couldn't get any dumber!

His President comes in to defend him with an even dumber ("left hand to the right hand") defense.
Someone should teach him about simple economic principal such a "opportunity cost".
If left hand gives right hand, that means the govt does not earn the potential RM20,000.00 lah!

From Malaysiakini

Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai was today overwhelmed by a barrage of questions over his RM24,200 bid for the WWW15 vehicle number-plate, which at times left him fumbling for answers.
At a press conference at the MCA headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Liow said he was unsure who had forked out the money, but was certain that his ministry did not foot the bill.

While claiming that he did not place importance on specific digits, he struggled for answers when asked why such large sum of money was spent for the number-plate.

He skirted the question and said he did not know what the cost was when the bid was made.

Liow repeatedly stressed his "eligibility" as a minister to obtain such number-plates and that his officers and Road Transport Department (JPJ) officers had handled the matter.

Occasionally, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had to step in to assist his deputy, explaining that the money was just going "from the left hand to the right hand" as all the money goes to a government consolidated fund from all ministries.

Liow yesterday defended the bid, saying his ministry was replacing his official car and there was a need for a new number-plate.
Earlier today, Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily had quoted an unnamed officer as saying that the Treasury has never allocated any funds for ministers to submit bids for a number-plate for their official cars.

Excerpts follow of the dialogue between Liow and reporters; these have been edited for language and brevity:
Journalist: Who paid the bid for the number-plate?

Liow: I mentioned yesterday that this is a government official car, and so ministers are eligible to have one number-plate, so the process is official.

We are just going through the office and applying to the JPJ. JPJ is the one which processes the application.

Journalist: Is the ministry paying the bill? Who paid for this?

Liow: No. No. It’s all up to JPJ to handle this, we leave it to JPJ ..

Journalist: But who paid the cost, I know the process is handled by JPJ but who paid the cost?

Liow: I got to check, I’m not sure, it’s under JPJ.

Journalist: That means you didn’t pay to bid for that particular...

Liow: Like I said, ministers are eligible for one number, so I didn’t exercise the option earlier, so since my ministry is changing the car, so they just changed it.

Journalist: So you are saying your officer handled this?

Liow: Yes.

Chua: Usually this option is given to members of the administration both at state and federal (levels). So when you are in exco, you are entitled to officially bid for a number, or the state government will give you a number.

Journalist: Does that mean that when you are allowed to bid, you have to use your own money?

Chua: No, the government allows you to allocate a number, you can ask for a number. Of course, you cannot go and bid (for) number one lah.

Journalist: I’m referring to a Sin Chew report today, they interviewed an official from the Ministry of Finance, they said there is no such allocation for (any) ministry...
Liow: There’s no need for allocation, it’s the eligibility of the minister [sic]. There’s no need for allocation at all.

But numbers to me are not important, I think most important is the service to people. For us, it is more important to carry out work efficiently.

Any number, I’m using (words inaudible) my car is using any number ... it’s not important to me. So doesn’t matter whether I get the 15, or 200 or 1,000. It doesn’t matter to me. More important thing is the official car and we can use the car to serve the people.

Journalist: Why use your own name to bid?

Liow: Well I’m the minister of health...
Journalist: Is that a normal practice?

Liow: It’s a normal practice, yes, maybe it creates a lot of confusion; it’s better that I clarify and let the public know.

Journalist: Was it worth it to (spend) RM20,000 for a number-plate?

Liow: No, because we do not know the cost. For me, when I applied we did not know the cost. It just happened that I need the numbers, I need the car that’s all. I did not know the cost.

Journalist: But normally when we bid we need to pay to bid, right?

Liow: No, as explained earlier, this is the eligibility of a minister [sic], official car, that’s all. Even Lim Guan Eng has one of this kind of official car. So every… either state or federal as explained by my (MCA) president just now…

Chua: At the state level, the excos are also entitled to one car, err, to a number.

Journalist: Does the number 15 mean anything special to you?

Liow: (Pauses) Well, just because my grandfather is using this number (on his car). Nothing special, there’s no special meaning to this number. It is just a number. That’s why I said ... to this number, it’s nothing special.

Journalist: But if it's nothing special, then no need to bid for the number-plate ..
Liow: Nothing special, I just need a number.

Journalist: Can be any number what ...
Liow: [word inaudible] That’s why I said, it can be any number, it can be any number, so I just choose the number and that’s it.

Journalist: But you don’t have to spend so much money on this number if any (number) is okay.

Liow: I’m okay with any number, yes.

Journalist: But then, why spend RM24,000 on this particular bid?
Liow: No, just because it just happens that I need to change the car, that’s why I need a number.

Journalist: Why not retain the number-plate from the previous car?

Liow: No, they’ve changed (to) the new car, the old car is still there, I cannot change the number.

Chua: Those are official cars, those numbers don’t belong to him actually.

Journalist: What happens to those old official cars?

Chua: Another person will use it, he cannot just transfer the number just like that.

[Questions shift to the recent Merdeka Centre poll which revealed that the approval rating for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had dipped, because of a plunge in Chinese support]

Journalist: Back to the car number-plate - some processes to clarify. What you are trying to say is if you buy a new car, you must bid for a new number-plate, you cannot use an old number-plate for a new car...

Liow: Because that’s old official car, I... umm, I’m, I’m…

Chua: You must understand, when it’s a ministry car, the car does not belong to him, you understand or not?

Journalist: Now that the number has been allocated, the RM24,200 comes from the ministry?

Liow: No, no, no, not allocated by ministry.

Journalist:Then where does it come from?

Chua: This is a question of the money from the left hand going to the right hand. Because all money goes to the government consolidated fund from any ministry.

Journalist: So you’re saying its just one ministry to another department?

Chua: Ahh... it’s just left hand to right, to be honest.

Journalist: Can I say number 15 is your favourite number?

Liow: I said earlier any number will do, I have no specific numbers. It just happened that I chose 15 - it doesn’t mean that it’s the favourite number.

If Najib and the Defence Minister has nothing to hide....

15 May 2012: Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi insisted that the French courts have no jurisdiction to summon Malaysians to testify in the ongoing inquiry into the Malaysian purchase of French submarines.

“Who are they to issue a warrant of arrest? We are not subjected to French laws,” he said at a press conference after an official visit by the Thai army chief at the Defence Ministry, aired in full by Mob.tv. 

Ahmad Zahid (right) was asked to comment on the statement made by French lawyer Joseph Breham, who is representing human rights NGO Suaram in the civil case on the submarine buys at the French courts.

Breham had said that the presiding judge has the power to issue an international arrest warrant if a subpeona is rejected, including putting out a “red alert” with Interpol.

Ahmad Zahid, who previously said he was willing to testify, later said that neither he or anyone from his ministry will cooperate with the inquiry.

 The next day, Lawyer Joseph Brehem, rebutted Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement that the French courts have no jurisdiction over Malaysians.
“French courts have jurisdiction on anyone, being French or not, as soon as they are involved in a matter the courts are inquiring on. To say otherwise is either misleading or erroneous,” Brehem (right in photo) said in a statement issued by Suaram

 If the witness refuses to abide by the subpoena, the court can issue a notice mandat d'amener, compelling the witness to appear before it. If the witness (still) fails to oblige, a warrant of arrest may be issued.

“The warrant of arrest is applicable within the French territory, and may be internationalised if the judge deems it necessary,” said Brehem.

 PM Najib Razak and Zahid should just cooperate if they are subpoenaed by the inquiry to save the country from further embarrassment, especially if they have nothing to hide.

 In fact, Zahid and Najib should voluntarily come forward to clear matters up and uphold truth and justice as exemplary ministers and senior leaders of the country.

Otherwise this will be seen as a clear sign of guilt!

French prosecutors: Najib sought US$1bil for Perimekar

From Malaysiakini

French public prosecutors probing shoddy deals in French-Malaysian arms deals found evidence that then-defence minister Najib Abdul Razak had sought US$1 billion (RM3 billion) for local company Perimekar from French shipmaker DCN's subsidiary DCNI.

According to prosecution papers revealed by NGO Suaram today, a fax shows that Najib had asked for the amount for Perimekar as a condition for a meeting with him on July 14, 2001.

The fax,dated June 1, 2001 was from Francois Dupont, the Malaysian representative for private company Thales Asia International, to one D Arnaud.

The document, one of 153 shown to Suaram, was seized by French police from the office of Henri Gide, an officer with Thales.

However, no copy of the fax was provided to media at the press conference today as Suaram said it is not allowed to take the documents out of France.

Instead, the NGO, which is pursuing a civil complaint against state-owned DCN for allegedly paying 114 million euros in defence kickbacks to Perimekar, provided media with notes from its French interpreter.

According to the notes, Dupont had in the fax detailed out the chronology of visits and future actions during a visit to Malaysia, including details of “negotiation meetings with the Ministry of Defence and the management members of Perimekar”.

“(In the negotiations) two contract proposals would be mentioned (from DCNI to Perimekar as well as between Perimekar and the Malaysian government).

“(Dupont) finally indicated a meeting with Datuk Seri Najib in France on July 14, 2001 with the condition that DCNI offers a maximum sum of US$1 billion for Perimekar’s stay (in France),” it reads.

Malaysia purchased two Scorpene class submarines in 2002.

Perimekar is owned by Najib’s associate Abdul Razak Baginda, who was acquitted on a charge of abetting in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuuyaa Shariibuu, without his defence being called.

Razak Baginda’s company paid 360,000 euros

According to Suaram, another document obtained by the prosecutors revealed that Terasasi Sdn Bhd, a company owned by Abdul Razak and his father, was also linked to the scandal.

Suaram's interpreter noted that prosecutors had on Aug 22, 2011, obtained an invoice faxed to Terasasi Sdn Bhd on Sept 19, 2004, to the then-chief executive officer of Thales, Bernard Baiocco, for the purpose of “success fees”.

The invoice states that 359,450 euros (RM1.43 million) was to be paid into a bank in Petaling Jaya, while a handwritten note on the fax reads:

“Razak demande si ce SF peut etre pris en compte assez vite. Le Support Fee suit avec un rapport (Razak is asking whether the SF can be paid into the account quite urgently. The support fee follows with a report.)”

However, Suaram director Cynthia Gabriel said the prosecutors were still trying to determine whether the ‘Razak’ stated in the note refers to Najib or Abdul Razak.

‘The Great Malaysian Robbery’

Referring to the case as “the Great Malaysian Robbery”, Gabriel said the prosecutors also found “a slew of companies” had been formed to muddy the money trail.

“More retro-commissions have surfaced, allowing the misuse of bodies such as a pilgrimage fund (Lembaga Tabung Haji) and the military pension fund (Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera).

“The Malaysian and French people have clearly been misled, cheated and robbed of their monies through blatant corruption and mismanagement of funds in the name of national safety and security,” Gabriel (right) said.

As such, Suaram demanded that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission open investigation papers on these new revelations and for the Malaysian government to cooperate with the French inquiry.

It also demands that the Defence Ministry lists out to Parliament the companies involved in the procurement process involving DCN and the commissions paid.

As long as U are connected to powerful people, U can get away with anything in Malaysia!

No! I am not talking about Abdul Razak Baginda and Najib with regards to the murder of Altuntuya case.

Today (as reported in Malaysiakini) is about our country's ambassador and a Minister's son!

1. Foreign Minister Anifah Aman has been a secret beneficiary of lucrative timber licences in Sabah thanks to his elder brother, Chief Minister Musa Aman, said Sarawak Report.

The whistleblower website said it has in its possession leaked Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) documents showing its investigators had concluded that the Sabah chief minister had corruptly issued timber licences to his brother worth tens of millions of ringgit.

According to Sarawak Report, the documents form part of a major investigation by the MACC into timber corruption after an agent and nominee for Musa Aman, Michael Chia, was caught attempting to smuggle RM16 million out of Hong Kong in 2008.

“However, the investigation has been blocked at the highest levels and its findings kept secret, until now.

“Our informants say that the brothers’ relative and fellow Sabahan, attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, has refused to allow charges to be brought and PM Najib Razak has scandalously turned a blind eye to the affair.”

Sarawak Report claimed that Abdul Gani (right), who is closely connected to the Aman family, has refused to pursue the case.

“Indeed the attorney-general has forced the MACC to shelve its entire investigation in Sabah, which was one of the largest and most extensive ever undertaken by that body, and involved sums amounting to billions of ringgit siphoned out of the state by corruption at the highest level.”

Last week, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull lamented that Attorney-General's Chambers had refused to bring many “valid cases” the commission had investigated to court due to “insufficient evidence”.

2. Brickfields police have in their possession the closed-circuit television recording of the "affray" involving the son of a cabinet minister, his bodyguard and a security guard supervisor at a posh condominium in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Sources revealed that the CCTV recording involving Mohamad Nedim (right), a son of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, Nedim's bodyguard and the security supervisor was now in the possession of the investigating officer.

People familiar with the matter also confirmed withMalaysiakini that the case was still being investigated despite earlier claims by the Brickfields OCPD (Officer in Charge of Police District) that it had been wrapped up.

Sources familiar with the incident said the police were surprised to find in the video footage that "more than two persons", including Nedim, were involved in holding and assaulting the 50-year-old security supervisor.

This may create complications in the police's classification of the case as a minor offence - ‘causing affray' under section 160 of the Penal Code.

Under this section, anyone found guilty faces a punishment of up to six months' jail or a fine of RM1,000, or both.

Malaysiakini reported on March 23 that the security supervisor of the high-end condominium in Mont Kiara was allegedly assaultedby Nedim and his bodyguard.

Nedim drove a Porsche sports car to the condominium, followed by a luxury MPV driven by his bodyguard.

The bodyguard alighted from his car to have personal particulars recorded on behalf of both drivers, but the condominium guards insisted that they did so separately.

An argument ensued, resulting in the supervisor being called in to mediate.

Argument and fracas at condo entrance

The bodyguard claimed that the person in the Porsche was a 'Tengku' (a member of the royalty), but the supervisor explained that condo management required the registration of drivers of all vehicles entering the compound.

This resulted in the VIP's son alighting from his Porsche, while the bodyguard and his friends assaulted the 50-year-old security supervisor, according to sources who had viewed the video footage. It is learnt that Nazri's son also struck the supervisor.

A police report was subsequently made by the supervisor, who was slightly injured during the altercation.

Mohamad Nedim's bodyguard had lodged a counter police report alleging that the security supervisor was rude and started the fracas.

A day after Malaysiakini reported the incident, Brickfields OCPD Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid denied that Nazri's son was involved in the fist-fight, with The Star quoting him as saying that the case involved just the bodyguard and a security guard.

Wan Abdul Bari also said then that the police have already completed their probe into the matter and that the investigation papers were sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers on whether charges would be laid.

PKR vice-president N Surendran and Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin had urged the police to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the case.

Shamsul Iskandar went further to claim that Nedim was also allegedly involved in an incident resulting in the death of a young man, Darren Kang, in 2004.

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo has also called on Nazri to cease issuing any statement on matters pertaining to the law, especially if it involved the attorney-general or the AG's Chambers.

"It could be interpreted as a clear case of conflict," said Gobind, who is DAP legal bureau chairperson.

Shocking revelation of Najib now comes with proofs!

By JOHN BERTHELSEN (Editor of Asia Sentinel.)

French investigating magistrates probing the US$1.2 billion (RM3.7 billion) sale of submarines to the Malaysian Defence Ministry are targeting, among other things, a Hong Kong-based company called Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd, whose key principal officer is Prime Minister Najib Razak's confidant Abdul Razak Baginda.

Investigators believe that at least some of the 36 million euro (RM144 million) funneled through Terasasi ended up in the pockets of Najib, who was defence minister and deputy prime minister when the two Scorpene submarines were purchased from Thales International or Thint Asia.

The state-owned defence giant DCN, later known as DCNS, and Thales established a joint company named Armaris to manufacture the submarines in 2002.

The two Armaris Scorpenes, named after the first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and Najib's father, Tun Abdul Razak, are on duty in Malaysian waters.

Razak Baginda, the former head of a Malaysian think-tank who was at the centre of a 2006 investigation into the death of Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu, is listed as one of the two directors of the company, which was previously incorporated on June 28, 2002 as Kinabalu Advisory and Support Services Ltd, according to the Hong Kong Companies Registry.

The other director is Razak Baginda's father, Abdul Malim Baginda.

The Terasasi offices are located on the 19th floor of an office at 3 Lockhart Road in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong.

There is no indication in Hong Kong government records of what Terasasi's business is. It is only listed as a "local company." However, French authorities say Terasasi apparently received regular payments from Thint Asia.

One payment was for 360,000 euro (RM1.44 million) accompanied with a handwritten note saying "Razak wants it to be paid quickly."

The magistrates have documents that show that the money was funneled from Thint Asia to Terasasi - 3 million euro (RM12 million) of it when Terasasi was still domiciled in Malaysia, and 33 million euro (RM132 million) after it was incorporated in Hong Kong.

Money may have gone to Umno

There is no indication at this point where the money went. French investigators, however, theorise that it was part of 146 million euro (RM585 million) that may have been funneled to Umno officials and Najib, who traveled with Razak Baginda several times to France as defence minister at the time the Malaysians purchased the submarines from DCNS.

On at least one trip in 2004, Altantuya (right), then Razak Baginda's lover, accompanied him to France as a translator. He later jilted her, impelling her to come to Kuala Lumpur to demand US$500,000 (RM1.5 million) from him.

In a handwritten letter found after her death, she wrote that she was attempting to blackmail him, although she didn't say why. Two of Najib's bodyguards were convicted of shooting her in the head and blowing up her body with plastic explosives in September 2006, possibly to hide the fact that she was pregnant when she was killed.

Because her killing does not appear to be connected to the scandal, French investigators are not looking into the causes of her death or the reasons behind it.

Although Razak Baginda was charged with abetting her murder, he was released without having to put up a defence and left for the UK, where he remains. Najib's former bodyguards remain on death row in Malaysia. Their appeal against the death penalty has been delayed, presumably until after national elections expected in May or June this year.

It was previously revealed on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia's parliament, that Perimekar received 114 million euro (RM457 million) as "support services" on the sale of the vessels.

Perimekar at the time was wholly owned by another company, KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which in turn was also controlled by Razak Baginda and his wife, Mazalinda (left). Perimekar is now 20 percent each owned by the military retirement fund LTAT (Malaysian Armed Forces Fund) and Boustead Holdings.

Two years of police investigation at the behest of human rights NGO Suaram into the sale of the submarines culminated recently with the appointment of investigating magistrates Roger Le Loire and Serge Tournaire at the Paris Tribunal de Grande Instance, according toAgence France Press, which said the probe involves three contracts for the submarines which were signed on June 5, 2002.

According to the documents, the contracts had two components: the sale of two submarines built by Thint and the Spanish shipbuilding firm Izar, for 920 million euro (RM3.7 billion); and the delivery of "logistical support" from Perimekar Bhd - the 114 million euro (RM457 million) - to train the first 200 Royal Malaysian Navy personnel although there is no indication that the company had the wherewithal to train them.

Unexplained costs

Under the bribery conventions of the 32-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the French defence contractors could be liable for criminal sanctions if it is proven that no real services were delivered by the companies. Under French law, violators are liable for up to 10 years in prison.

Joseph Breham (left), a lawyer with Solicitors International Human Rights Group which was engaged by Suaram, said in October last year that DCNS often budgeted as much as 8 to 12 percent of its total receipts as "commissions" to grease sales of armaments in third world countries.

Breham said Perimekar had received the commission for "supporting the contract," which he said was a euphemism for unexplained costs, and also for "housing the crew" of the submarines in France.

In France, before 2002, any money used to bribe foreign officials was tax deductible. When the former finance director of DCN made a claim for 31 million euro (RM124 million) allegedly used to bribe the Malaysians for the purchase of the Scorpenes, Breham said, the budget minister questioned such a large bribe, although he did eventually authorise the tax break.

The contracts cited by AFP included the 114 million euro (RM457 million) one paid by the Malaysian government to Perimekar.

The second, called "C5 contract of engineering business," was concluded in August 2000 between DCNI, a subsidiary of DCN, and Thales International Asia worth some 30 million euro (RM120 million). The third was the "consulting agreement" signed in October 2000 between Thint Asia and Terasasi.

The French investigators are also studying one of the invoices issued by Terasasi in August 2004 for 359,450 euro (RM1.4 million) sent to Thint Asia. For investigators, "it appears that... the amounts paid to Terasasi ultimately benefited Najib, the defence minister, or his adviser Razak Baginda."

Olivier Metzner, a lawyer for Thales, told the French daily Le Parisienthat "we have already demonstrated to investigators that there was no corruption in this case."

However, a confidential memorandum made available to Asia Sentinel and Free Malaysia Today states that: "The beneficiaries of these funds are not difficult to imagine: the family clan and Razak Baginda relations. In addition, these funds will find their way to the dominant political party (Umno)."

THE COPGATE SCANDAL!

A MALAYSIAKINI EXCLUSIVE Could underworld figures have influence over the promotion and transfer of police personnel when the force was under the leadership of inspector-general of police Musa Hassan?

In another bizarre twist to the ‘Copgate' scandal, new allegations that another shadowy figure identified as BK Tan - who was suspected to have links with Johor underworld figure Tengku Goh - had advised Musa on several occasions relating to the promotion and transfer of senior police officers.

Musa (far right), along with attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and the then Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), were earlier alleged to have framed rival top cop, former Commercial Crimes Investigation Department director Ramli Yusuff, and six of his men. The seven police officers were arrested and charged in court five years ago.

In the latest allegation, sources told Malaysiakini that Musa would call Tan for "advice" and at times the latter visited Musa's house in Petaling Jaya for discussions on key appointments and transfers in the police force.

According to the sources, Musa when asked had explained that Tan's participation came with the blessings of the then Internal Security Ministry because his underworld links would help identify the "good" from "bad" cops.

One source claimed that he had seen Musa's aide carrying a blue document containing the confidential list of officers to be transferred or promoted. Musa was alleged to have provided a copy of the top secret document to Tan.

Home Ministry informed

It is learnt that Musa's former aide de camp, ASP Noor Azizul Rahim Taharim, had brought this troubling matter to the attention of then minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad and deputy internal security minister Johari Baharum.

Another informant told Malaysiakini that Tengku Goh, whose real name is Goh Cheng Poh, had met Musa at his hotel room in Johor Baru sometime in 2005 or 2006, and this was confirmed by Noor Azizul.

Musa was accused to have promoted officers who were loyal to him as well as those who tacitly support his close cooperation with the alleged underworld figures.

The line of succession was allegedly orchestrated to ensure Musa could continue his tenure as the country's police chief. Musa held the post for four years, from 2006 to 2010.

He was reported to have been upset when his term was not extended further, and at one time describing his potential successor, Ismail Omar, as not ready to occupy his seat.

Ramli (centre) told Malaysiakini yesterday that Musa's aide Noor Azizul had informed him about his boss' alleged underworld links.

"ASP Noor Azizul Rahim told me about this, and this confirmed my suspicion of Musa that he together with the AG was out to fix me. This was to ensure I would be eliminated from the police hierarchy," he said.

"All my fears and suspicions have been proven true by the flimsy charges laid against me. Musa even went to the extent of appearing as the 75th witness in my Sabah case.

"In the end, Musa was regarded an untruthful witness when he tried to contradict the evidence of all the other police witnesses," he said.

Ramli also recalled how Noor Azizul had met several senior police officers, including Musa's deputy Mohd Najib Abdul Aziz and two members of the Police Force Commission, for help but to no avail.

Following this, the frustrated Noor Azizul, who was Musa's personal aide from 2005 to 2007, made a statutory declaration on the matter sometime in 2009, said Ramli.

A copy of Noor Azizul's SD eventually found itself in the public domain, including blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin's Malaysia Today website.

In his SD, Noor Azizul said he was aware of the sworn declarations of several police officers and police informants and their actions in revealing Musa's links with Tengku Goh and Tan.

"Based on my personal knowledge and involvement as the ADC (aide de camp) to the IGP, I can confirm the statements made by these deponents concerning Musa are true and do correctly reflect the events as described by them...

"I have personal knowledge and involvement in that I was asked as ADC to compile and co- ordinate such posting orders based on the drafts and proposals made by Tan.

"A copy of the draft was subsequently implemented as police posting orders," he said in his statutory declaration.

Orders to frame police officers

Noor Azizul said the transfers were justified as part of a campaign to root out corruption in the force. It included entrapment to make the affected officers appear guilty of wrongdoings.

"This gave the impression that Musa was eradicating corruption and abuses within the force whereas it is the farthest from the truth.

"The credibility of these officers would be demolished to such an extent that whatever information they had gathered about the IGP would be discredited.

"These officers would suffer hardships, like being transferred away from their family and home base," he said.

"Some of the other agonies inflicted on them were being by-passed for promotions, subjected to disciplinary action minus due process; subordinates with unproven records promoted over them and victimised officers serving as visible warnings of the consequences of defying the 'established' order."

The former ADC said the ‘mencantas' (trimming the opposition) campaign had led to low moral in the force, resulting in the crime rate soaring during Musa's time.

"Not long after that the AG ordered Tengku Goh's release. Many in PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police) became demoralised seeing how a criminal was released by resorting to legal niceties whereas our own brother officers were dragged to court," he lamented.

"I hope the minister and the government give me protection for this disclosure as it is made with the hope of improving the force in expectation of a new leadership era under Ismail Omar (the present IGP)," he said in his SD.

Former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission panel member Robert Phang (left), when contacted by Malaysiakini, confirmed that Noor Azizul had approached him when he was Musa's aide de camp, and together they met a former IGP, seeking his help on the matter.

Noor Azizul ready to tell all

In 2009, Musa turned down a Malaysiakini request for a response to Noor Azizul's SD, and there has been no reply from him over the past few days in relation to this new allegation.

In recent weeks, Malaysiakini has managed to contact Noor Azizul, who is now attached to a ministry, to verify the contents of his SD, which he did.

But he declined to comment about the issue further, saying that he would prefer to testify before a tribunal should there be one.

Malaysiakini had reported that a number of former and serving police officers were willing to testify against Abdul Gani, Musa and the ACA if a tribunal was called.

The Copgate affair appears to be akin to the Lingam tape scandal where a senior lawyer was alleged to have brokered the appointment of judges. It resulted in the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry.

The new allegation made in the Copgate affair is no less damaging as it involves, among others, the claim of an underworld figure exerting influence over the promotion and transfer of police officers.

However, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had last Friday dismissed calls for a tribunal.

"This is an allegation which has to be substantiated," he said.

HINDRAF Orange, TBH Black, BERSIH Yellow and now Anti Lynas Green is banned in Malaysia!

A prediction that came true! Check out the Video below!

First the BN govt banned Orange for its association with HINDRAF then Black for Teoh Beng Hock, then Yellow for BERSIH and now Green for the anti Lynas movement!

Taken from Malaysiakini

Kajang municipal councillor Lee Kee Hiong said today she and her entourage of some 20 former and current municipal councillors and residents, wearing green shirts, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new school in Bandar Sungai Long yesterday as guests.

"We were not ‘samseng’ (hooligans) as accused by an Umno minister," she said.

Lee denied that the group was there to make trouble and had trespassed into BN’s ceremony, as claimed by Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar.

According to the Minister, ".... They came like ‘samseng’ (hooligans) and trespassed on a BN event,....

To prove her point, Lee showed a copy of BN’s invitation leaflet which she had received at her house in Sungai Long, which is very close to the function venue.

As such, it was her belief that she was also invited as a guest, and her attendance at the function was to share the joy with other residents at a long-awaited new Chinese school for Bandar Sungai Long.

“This is the SRJK(C) we had fought for over a period of 12 years. We have waited patiently, no way (were we going to) mess up the ceremony,” Lee (left in picture) said.

“We were assaultedby a group of people, and then Noh showed up to accuse us of making trouble... I was very surprised by this,” she told a press conference in Bandar Mahkota Cheras today.

“In fact, I regretted that he didn’t apologise for the incident. We were prevented from entering and were beaten up,” she said, adding that Noh, as Selangor BN deputy chief, should have invited them in.

‘Please write only BN supporters are welcome’

“Next time, please write (on the leaflets) that the function is only meant for BN supporters,” Lee said.

Also present at the press conference were several others who claimed to have been assaulted yesterday, including fellow Kajang municipal councillors Cheong Siow Foon and Ng Tien Chee; Chen Fandao, an aide to the Serdang MP; and a DAP member, Chan Huan Guan.

Cheong (right in picture), said his choice to dress in green was a sign of a silent protest.

He said his intention was to show the prime minister (Najib Abdul Razak) that the rakyat opposed the Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.

Cheong also said that the man who assaulted him had also tried to snatch his cellphone, and he fought back.

“I use the cellphone to store photos of my little daughter, from the day she was born until she was 15 months old. I don’t have other copies,” he said.

“I am very angry ....they are not onlysamseng, but robbers, too. All this happened while the police were around,” he added.

However, Chan (left in picture) wasn’t so lucky. He claimed that his gold necklace, with a Buddha relic pendant, which was a gift from his mother 20 years ago, was snatched away during the chaos.

Chan estimated that the necklace was worth about RM5,000.

Meanwhile MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong has slammed the DAP for "trying to create uneasiness" during the the same event.

He said, while the prime minister was sincere in bringing good tidings to the Chinese community, there were still some quarters who were reluctant to accept the goodwill and resorted to creating all types of insensible acts "to hamper the entire event" from proceeding smoothly.

"The actions by DAP’s entourage of present and past municipal councillors has tarnished the image of the opposition as the ruling coalition in Selangor.

"It should be pointed out that the DAP had never delivered on their promises pertaining to Chinese education.

"When they cannot debunk the fact that BN has delivered on our promises on Chinese education, DAP became unhappy and deemed BN’s contributions as a threat.

"This could be one of the reasons why they tried to cause unease at the ceremony," Wee (right) said in a statement issued today.

1. Either Wee is ignorant and stupid or he is outright lying to all Malaysian as Teresa Kok has already proven that Selangor indeed tried to allocate land for Chinese School but it was his ministry which rejected the proposal! See Documents here.

2. Where was Wee when UMNO created havoc in Penang over the Lynas issue?!?

3. Someone should tell that idiot Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Noh Omar that the groundbreaking ceremony for a new school is a government event and not an exclusive BN event! But that is the problem! We currently have a bunch of idiots running the government as if it is their own piggy bank! Its no wonder that we have scandal like the NFC issue where according to DAP's Tony Pua, (NFC) have transferred close to RM81.4 million from the company account to private companies under the directors without any guarantee that the sum would be returned to NFC.

4. I think to save any more colours from being banned but those idiots in power,we should only banned 1 colour! That is the Blue colour of BN!!!! Say no to IDIOT!

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