Sarawak Headhunter

The Facts About Sarawak

2012-01-07T16:17:00.000+08:00

The Facts About Sarawak

ABU People's Rally Tonight At PAS HQ Taman Melewar

2011-12-15T16:43:00.000+08:00

Shahrizat's Beef

2011-12-08T03:01:00.002+08:00

Courtesy of the New Straight Times Malaysia

Is Taib's Family Fortune Actually Worth 5 or 10 Times More Than This?

2011-12-07T17:34:00.000+08:00

Taib family fortune 'RM4.6bil in Malaysia alone'

Keruah Usit
11:56AM Dec 7, 2011

Sarawak's Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud famously boasted that he has more money than he can ever spend.

A Swiss NGO campaigning against corruption in Sarawak, the Bruno Manser Fund, has now fleshed out this assertion. The BMF reports that Taib's family owns US$1.46 billion (RM4.6 billion) in corporate assets in 14 wealthy companies - in Malaysia alone.

According to the BMF, Taib himself, his four children, eight siblings and his first cousin, Abdul Hamed Sepawi, have a stake in 332 Malaysian companies. In the three largest of these companies, the BMF contends, the Taib family owns substantial shares in Cahya Mata Sarawak or CMS (84 percent of net assets of RM2.4 billion), Custodev Sdn Bhd (25 percent of RM1.6 billion) and Ta Ann Holdings Bhd (at least 35 percent of RM1.4 billion).

CMS, popularly known by its nickname ‘Chief Minister's Sons', is a listed conglomerate with construction, cement, steel, property, private education and stockbroking interests. Custodev is a property development company. Ta Ann is a logging and oil palm giant. The BMF also says Taib's family are sole owners of Achi Jaya Holdings, a monopoly holder over log exports, with assets of RM550 million.

These findings contradict Taib's claim that his relatives have grown rich only outside Sarawak, using their entrepreneurship talent.

Taib denied using his family members as his proxies, claiming instead that his relatives are rich because they are "good" and "clever".

"We consider these corporate interests of the Taib family to be illicit assets. There are many clear indications that Taib has abused his public office to build a corruption and fraud-based billion-dollar empire," BMF director Lukas Straumann alleged in a press statement released internationally last weekend.

"We are shocked to see that the Taib family has so shamelessly enriched itself while the people of Sarawak have to struggle with widespread poverty and an appalling lack of infrastructure and government services."

As a yardstick, Taib's recently announced budget estimated a total state revenue of RM4.04 billion in 2012.

The BMF readily admits that the RM4.6 billion figure is an underestimate, saying there are likely to be hidden Malaysian assets, as well as enormous capital flight.

The NGO says its research shows Taib's inner family circle has a stake in 85 companies in 24 countries and offshore jurisdictions worldwide, including Australia, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jersey, Saudi Arabia, Labuan, New Zealand, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, the US and Vietnam, and holds "illicit assets worth several billion US dollars".

The BMF has been a constant gadfly in the side of Taib's family, one of Malaysia's richest. It has collaborated with investigative journalists in the anti-graft website Sarawak Report to trace the financial trail of Taib's self-proclaimed fortune. These human rights campaigners have unearthed astonishing statistics from publicly available corporate and stock exchange documents.

Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown, during an interview on Family Trees, a Canadian prime-time television programme screened last Saturday on Global News, pointed out that investigating Taib's financial network is highly workable, because Taib family members openly own so many companies and such a huge chunk of international real estate.

Despite the wealth of accumulated information available, numerous reports by local human rights actvists to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Malaysian police have been futile. However, the governments of Switzerland and Germany have begun graft investigations into Taib's family, and Canada and the United Kingdom have expressed concern.

Rewcastle-Brown alleges that Taib, as state minister in charge of land and forestry for some four decades, dealt out vast land parcels and logging licences to family members and cronies. Ta Ann, for instance, has been awarded over 675,000 ha of logging and plantation concessions, an area the size of Negri Sembilan, in three decades.

"I've seen that most of the companies that have received the lands have been companies owned by his siblings and his children and political allies that he needs to keep sweet... mainly, his own family. I've painstakingly researched what I can of many of these contracts," she said.

"It has been possible for me, sitting in London, to go through the company records online and to trace how this money has gone from Sarawak in the early 1980s to Canada."

Taib has admitted giving ‘seed money' to his eldest daughter Jamilah to finance her Canadian property business, Sakto, said to be worth more than US$100 million (RM310 million).

Her Canadian husband and business partner, Sean Murray (left in photo), wrote a letter to the Global News programme, complaining that "Jamilah and I find these statements about ourselves and our business false, highly defamatory and very damaging".

Curiously, though, Taib and his family have all resisted taking the BMF or Sarawak Report to court. Tactics appear to have changed since the lawsuit brought by Taib against Malaysiakini in 2007, after the news portal reported a scandal in alleged kickbacks during timber exports.

The recent flurry of global news items on his family's ostentatious wealth seems to have overwhelmed Taib's lawyers.

Locally, Sarawakian lawmakers attempting to ask questions in Parliament have been stonewalled. Worse still, opposition representatives in the state legislative assembly have had their microphones silenced, and have seen parts of their speeches deleted from the Hansard.

Even so, Taib's family must not place much hope on being able to silence all their growing critics, throughout the world. They may speak softly and carry a big stick, but they may already have drawn too much attention to their wealth.

The BMF concluded its press statement by calling on anti-corruption and anti-money laundering authorities to investigate Taib's family, and urging international companies to shun doing business with the family, for "legal reasons" as well as to protect their reputations.

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

Taib Mahmud The Great Kleptocrat Of Sarawak

2011-12-07T17:03:00.000+08:00

20 years on, NGO vows to fight corruption

The lifestyle of the Penan is endangered (AFP)

by Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch

After two decades of environmental campaigning for Malaysia’s Penan tribe, the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) is stepping up its fight against local political corruption.

BMF remains one of the few non-Malaysian organisations still campaigning on behalf of the Penan, an indigenous people living in some of the world’s most biodiverse forests in Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Two-thirds of its forests have been destroyed in recent years for logging or to build palm oil plantations. Now the BMF is targeting the political powers behind these developments.

The Basel-based BMF has spent the past 11 years carrying on the fight launched by its charismatic founder Bruno Manser, a Swiss activist who lived among the Penan for six years and introduced peaceful road blocks in a bid to stop logging.

He set up the BMF on December 7, 1990, but disappeared on a trip back to Sarawak in 2000. A Basel court declared him missing and presumed dead in 2005.

The BMF says it has been making progress in the past 20 years despite most of the primeval forests being cut down.

“We have been successful in Sarawak in keeping the campaign going, keeping resistance against logging going, in terms of helping the local indigenous communities to get organised and to empower them to do the right things themselves, and to know also that they have rights to their land, that they have a right to have a say about their livelihood,” BMF director Lukas Straumann told swissinfo.ch.

As well as land mapping and setting up a pre-school and healthcare facilities, BMF have also helped the Penan take several land right cases to local courts and raised awareness of the situation elsewhere in Europe.

But faced with Sarawak’s “dictatorship-like rule”, it hasn’t been enough to make a significant change, the organisation says.

“Kleptocratic” rule

“Our biggest concern today is that the same government is still in place in Sarawak, as it has been for the past three decades, and the same family rules that state of Malaysia and it’s a kleptocratic form of governance,” Straumann said.

The family in question is that of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, who Straumann says controls politics, the economy and the media. Taib is also the minister in charge of finance and planning.

The BMF website regularly reports on allegations of corruption in Sarawak. In February it launched an online campaign against Taib and 48 “blacklisted” companies, and this week the campaign stepped up a notch when BMF published a list of 332 companies in Malaysia with ties to Taib’s relatives, many of whom are directors or shareholders. Another 101 such companies are located elsewhere in the world.

BMF gathered the information from company records and registers and tried to find patterns. Dissecting the data further they found that Taib’s four children were involved in 342 firms worldwide.

“It’s really unbelievable. They are basically controlling the whole state,” Straumann said.

The BMF also alleges that the Taib family is hiding assets abroad. Probes into alleged illegally gained assets are being carried out in Switzerland and Britain.

Bruno Manser in 1993 (Keystone)

Rooting out corruption

Straumann said the time had come to widen their approach.

“We think corruption is one of the main drivers of environmental destruction in Borneo and I think it is also true in other countries. So I think it’s really important for us as an environmental and human rights group to see the broader picture,” he said.

“In a way after having run campaigns for 20 years we had to ask ourselves why these campaigns at a local level are not successful. The Malaysian government and Sarawak government in particular have not given in at all. And then we found out it’s all about corruption.”

Taib has denied taking any kickbacks or hiding assets abroad. He maintains deforestation is being done in the name of much needed development.

Straumann said Bruno Manser himself had tried to take on Taib but became depressed when he realised Taib was too powerful.

Role of NGOs

As well as its anti-corruption campaign, over the next year the BMF will also be looking closely at 12 dam projects in Sarawak which it says would flood villages and be “devastating” to the Penans’ livelihood.

In 2010, at the ten-year commemoration of Manser’s disappearance, forestry campaigner Saskia Ozinga bemoaned the lack of organisations supporting the Penan people – a cause that attracted a lot of attention in the 1980s and 1990s but which had waned due to Malaysian NGO disunity and possibly a wrong focus by European NGO on timber instead of human rights.

She told swissinfo.ch: “As the problems in Sarawak are caused by incompetent or corrupt government, I think it is wise of BMF to focus on the corruption charges.”

The Swiss branch of the Society for Threatened People says organisations like the BMF are “extremely important” to indigenous people who are often marginalised or ignored.

“Without Bruno Manser, I am quite sure, nobody would know about the destiny of the Penan people,” branch director Christoph Wiedmer told swissinfo.ch.

He added: “It is very important that support is done in a positive way that does not risk becoming contrary to the interest of the indigenous peoples.”

BMF and other organisations have a role to play in raising issues at the United Nations level, putting pressure on governments and companies, helping with legal defence and in carrying out socio-economic projects on the ground, Wiedmer said.

Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch

The 18 Or 20 Point Agreement Between Sarawak, Sabah & Malaya

2011-12-07T03:43:00.000+08:00

The 18/20 Point Agreement

Point 1: Religion

While there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should be no State religion in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah), and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to Borneo.

Point 2: Language

* a. Malay should be the national language of the Federation
* b. English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day
* c. English should be an official language of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for all purposes, State or Federal, without limitation of time.

Point 3: Constitution

Whilst accepting that the present Constitution of the Federation of Malaya should form the basis of the Constitution of Malaysia, the Constitution of Malaysia should be a completely new document drafted and agreed in the light of a free association of states and should not be a series of amendments to a Constitution drafted and agreed by different states in totally different circumstances. A new Constitution for Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) was of course essential.

Point 4: Head of Federation

The Head of State in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should not be eligible for election as Head of the Federation.

Point 5: Name of Federation

“Malaysia” but not “Melayu Raya”

Point 6: Immigration

Control over immigration into any part of Malaysia from outside should rest with the Central Government but entry into Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should also require the approval of the State Government. The Federal Government should not be able to veto the entry of persons into Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for State Government purposes except on strictly security grounds. Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should have unfettered control over the movements of persons other than those in Federal Government employ from other parts of Malaysia Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah).

Point 7: Right of Secession

There should be no right to secede from the Federation

Point 8: Borneanisation

Borneanisation of the public service should proceed as quickly as possible.

Point 9: British Officers

Every effort should be made to encourage British Officers to remain in the public service until their places can be taken by suitably qualified people from Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah)

Point 10: Citizenship

The recommendation in paragraph 148(k) of the Report of the Cobbold Commission should govern the citizenship rights in the Federation of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) subject to the following amendments:

* a) sub-paragraph (i) should not contain the proviso as to five years residence
* b) in order to tie up with our law, sub-paragraph (ii)(a) should read “7 out of 10 years” instead of “8 out of 10 years”
* c) sub-paragraph (iii) should not contain any restriction tied to the citizenship of parents – a person born in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) after Malaysia must be federal citizen.

Point 11: Tariffs and Finance

Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should retain control of its own finance, development and tariff, and should have the right to work up its own taxation and to raise loans on its own credit.

Point 12: Special position of indigenous races

In principle, the indigenous races of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should enjoy special rights analogous to those enjoyed by Malays in Malaya, but the present Malays’ formula in this regard is not necessarily applicable in Borneo(Sarawak & Sabah).

Point 13: State Government

* a) the Prime Minister should be elected by unofficial members of Legislative Council
* b) There should be a proper Ministerial system in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah).

Point 14: Transitional period

This should be seven years and during such period legislative power must be left with the State of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) by the Constitution and not be merely delegated to the State Government by the Federal Government.

Point 15: Education

The existing educational system of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should be maintained and for this reason it should be under state control.

Point 16: Constitutional safeguards

No amendment modification or withdrawal of any special safeguard granted to Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should be made by the Central Government without the positive concurrence of the Government of the State of North Borneo

The power of amending the Constitution of the State of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should belong exclusively to the people in the state. (Note: The United Party, The Democratic Party and the Pasok Momogun Party considered that a three-fourth majority would be required in order to effect any amendment to the Federal and State Constitutions whereas the UNKO and USNO considered a two-thirds majority would be sufficient).

Point 17: Representation in Federal Parliament

This should take account not only of the population of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) but also of its size and potentialities and in any case should not be less than that of Singapore.

Point 18: Name of Head of State

Yang di-Pertua Negara.

Point 19: Name of State

Sarawak or Sabah.

Point 20: Land, Forests, Local Government, etc.

The provisions in the Constitution of the Federation in respect of the powers of the National Land Council should not apply in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah). Likewise, the National Council for Local Government should not apply in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah).

Cutting Down Taib's Family Trees

2011-12-06T20:32:00.000+08:00

UMNO-BN From One Scandal To Another

2011-12-03T04:05:00.001+08:00

NFC caps a long string of scandals

COMMENT For weeks, just in time for Umno's annual general assembly which opened yesterday, the party has been embroiled in an embarrassing scandal involving a 2007 government decision to spend RM300 million to establish a national feedlot corporation to slaughter as many as 60,000 cattle annually under Islamic halal dietary requirements.

The scandal seems emblematic of a long series of such situations that imperil Prime Minister Najib Razak's vow in April 2010 that the government "can no longer tolerate practices that support the behaviour of rent-seeking and patronage, which have long tarnished the altruistic aims of the New Economic Policy."

The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), as it is known, has never slaughtered 10 percent of the projected total and has since scaled back its target to 8,000 head but hasn't been able to meet that target either.

Worse, the company has been losing millions of dollars every year - while pouring funds into RM10 million into two condominiums in Kuala Lumpur, among other things, and spending RM800,000 for overseas travel and entertainment.

The scandal is doubly embarrassing because the agreement to establish the NFC, made when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister, went to the family of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (right), the
minister of women, welfare and community development and head of the women's wing of Umno.

Her husband, Mohamad Salleh Ismail, is the chairman. Her three children are respectively the chief executive officer and executive directors of the company. None had any experience in cattle production or beef supply prior to the establishment of the company.

The report of the NFC's operations was contained in the 2010 report of the auditor-general, which was delayed for weeks before it was finally released. The scandal has generated tensions inside Umno, with some reformers demanding that Shahrizat be forced out of her job as minister.

However, the leadership has circled the wagons to protect her. In particular, Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister, has said there was no case to be brought against her. Muhyiddin was the agriculture minister in 2006 when the project was approved. Others who have come to her defence are Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, the head of the Umno Youth Wing.

The NFC scandal is said to have the potential reformers worried because party operatives thought they had the Selangor electorate turned around and that they could take the state back from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat in national elections expected to be called early next year.

However, Asia Sentinel has been told, the refusal to hold anybody to account in the feedlot scandal could well turn the tide back against them, especially as other patronage scandals continue to bubble up.

Mahathir's cadre of 100 super-rich bumis

The depth and breadth of the scandals also calls into question moves earlier this year with Najib launching a series of programmes to develop bumiputera, including allocating an RM2 billion fund for development.

In the 2012 budget, Najib also announced the government would allocate RM200 million to guide 1,100 high-performing bumi companies with the potential for listing on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Critics are concerned that the patronage system will continue unabated.

The current Umno general assembly was hoped to provide a dramatic backdrop for Najib to win back disaffected Malay voters.

For decades, this patronage has involved highway construction and defence contracts and a variety of other government arrangements with Umno cronies in a plan formulated by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

His ambition was to create a cadre of 100 super-rich bumis who in turn would help rural Malays into prosperity under a ‘konsep payung', or umbrella concept routed through Umno, much the way he envisioned driving the country into industrialisation through massive
projects.

However, many of the companies eventually collapsed and are being supported by government institutions such as Kazanah Nasional, the country's sovereign investment fund, or the Employee Provident Fund.

Contained in the same 2010 auditor general's report, for instance, is a passage on the decision to privatise a 77-km stretch of highway from Senai to Desaru in Johor.

The land acquisition turned out to have doubled - from RM385 million to RM740.6 million - with the road surface described as "undulating." The project completion "was not in accordance with specifications, causing damage to the road surface and endangering road users."

The company failed to complete construction within the stipulated period of the contract. However, the construction agreement didn't specify damages in the event it wasn't completed. Required maintenance is described as "unsatisfactory."

The company that won the RM1.7 billion contract is Ranhill Corp Sdn Bhd, which has long been described as Umno-linked. It is partly owned by Lambang Optimia Sdn Bhd. Both are headed by Hamdan Mohamad, described as Malaysia's ‘water baron', who operates several utilities and power companies.

He was one of several ethnic Malay businessmen who followed former PM Mahathir's vow to take Malaysian companies overseas. Another shareholder is YPJ Corp Sdn Bhd, an arm of the Johor state government, and yet another appears to be Umno itself, which owns a minority share through an account at Public Bank Bhd, according to records.

Ranhill has had a lackluster two to three years, capped by disaster earlier in 2011 when its Libyan operations were caught between the Muammar Qaddafi forces and those of the Libyan rebels aided by Nato air strikes.

Overpriced defence hardware

Also, earlier this year, Deftech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DRB-Hicom, won a contract without an open tender to produce and deliver 237 eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers to the Defence Ministry.

DRB-Hicom is 55 percent owned by Etika Strategi Sdn Bhd, which is wholly owned by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, one of Mahathir's targeted bumiputeras and a man who is extremely tight with Umno.

Opposition member Tony Pua (left) complained on the floor of Parliament that the average price of RM29.4 million for each unit compared unfavourably with a Portuguese Army purchase of 363 similar vehicles for the equivalent of RM4.4 million each from the Swiss MOWAG CmBH Corp, Malaysia is paying a 6.6-fold increase over the Portguese purchase.

Saudi Arabia, he said, bought 724 such vehicles for the equivalent of RM9.9 million from General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, with Malaysia paying almost three times as much government officials said the contracts don't compare with each other and that the government is getting more equipment, maintenance, etc. for its money.

"Further research has revealed that DRB-Hicom will be acquiring the AWC technology from a Turkish company - FNSS Defence Systems Inc which manufactures the Pars 8x8 AWV models," Pua said.

"With this deal, Malaysia will be its first foreign customer for this vehicle. What is perhaps of greater alarm is the fact that FNSS has announced that they have sold 257 units of Pars 8x8 AWVs to Malaysia for approximately US$600 million or RM1.83 billion or only RM7.1 million per unit," Pua said in a prepared statement - considerably different from what the Malaysians said they bought the vehicles for.

Pua also complained about the cost of six offshore patrol vessels from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd at RM1 billion each in the aftermath of another total fiasco.

The auditor-general, in a 2007 report tabled in Parliament, alleged that a contract to build naval vessels given to PSC-Naval Dockyard, a subsidiary of Penang Shipbuilding & Construction Sdn Bhd, which was owned by another Umno crony, Amin Shah Omar Shah (right).

PSC-Naval Dockyard, which was taken over by Boustead, contracted to deliver six patrol boats for the Malaysian Navy in 2004 and complete the delivery in 2007. Those were supposed to be the first of 27 offshore vessels ultimately to cost RM24 billion plus the right to maintain and repair all of the country's naval craft.

But only two of the barely operational patrol boats had been delivered by mid-2006. There were 298 recorded complaints about the two boats, which were also found to have 100 and 383 uncompleted items aboard them respectively.

The original RM5.35 billion contract ballooned to RM6.75 billion by January 2007. The auditor also reported that the ministry had paid out RM4.26 billion to PSC up to December 2006 although only RM2.87 billion of work had been done, an overpayment of RM1.39 billion, or 48 percent. In addition, the cabinet waived late penalties of RM214 million.

Between December 1999, according to the auditor-general, 14 "progress payments" amounting to RM943 million despite the fact that the auditor-general could find no payment vouchers or relevant documents dealing with the payments.

AG: Serious financial mismanagement

The auditor-general attributed the failure to serious financial mismanagement and technical incompetence stemming from the fact that PSC had never built anything but trawlers or police boats before being given the contract.

Once called ‘Malaysia's Onassis' by Daim Zainuddin, Amin Shah was in trouble almost from the start, according to a report in Singapore's Business Times in 2005.

Eventually Boustead PSC was born out of the Royal Malaysian Navy's dockyard facilities which were to provide ship repairs and maintenance services. Under the corporatisation programme advocated by the Malaysian government, the dockyard was set up as Limbungan TLDM, a wholly-owned government company.

It has modern facilities to meet the maintenance requirements of the Royal Malaysian Navy fleet, from hull repairs to major overhauls and from radar refitting to weapon systems refurbishment.

The six patrol boats have now cost five times what the Royal New Zealand Navy paid for its patrol vessels, bought at only RM210 million each from BAE Systems, the second largest global defence company.

The irrepressible Raja Petra Kamarudin in early November found that the Philippines was buying Hamilton-class patrol ships from the US that would be deployed to the West Philippine Sea area to secure the country's natural resources.

The latest one is to be transferred by the first or second quarter of next year, to guard energy projects in Malampaya off Palawan.

"Malaysia is going to buy six patrol boats at a total cost of RM6 billion or RM1 billion per patrol boat. Of course, Malaysia's patrol boats are going to be far advanced and more sophisticated than those of the Philippines who paid only RM31.5 million for theirs," he wrote.

"The Philippines's patrol boats can only patrol the waters. Malaysia's patrol boats can...well...patrol the waters."

- Asia Sentinel

Muka-Muka Melayu UMNO Haram Jadah Munafiq Laknat

2011-12-02T11:30:00.000+08:00

UMNO The Real 6 Jahanam

2011-12-01T17:43:00.004+08:00

I refer to Six hooligans to avoid (Sun Dec1) and see that UMNO Youth Chief, Mr. Khairy Jamlauddin is determined to carry on in the same ethnocentric disingenuous vein that characterizes the ruling UMNO led coalition. What follows is a brief opinion on the “Enam Jahanam” that Mr. Khairy points to as understood by an average member of the voting public.

(1) Destroying the democratic system. Mr. Khairy points to the fact that Pakatan Rakyat’s inability to reach a consensus on the hudud law somehow destroys the democratic and administrative system led by the Barisan National. However the reality is that only if UMNO and PAS join forces will the implementation of hudud become a reality. Non-Muslim interest both in BN and Pakatan ensures that this reality never comes to fruition. As it is at this very moment PAS wants to implement hudud law but its ambitions are thwarted by the Barisan National, its component parties and certain Opposition parties. Has the democratic system been destroyed? How would it be any different under a Pakatan-led government?

If anything under the BN, the democratic system be it the courts, law enforcement, the right to peaceful assembly, have been eroded to the point of farce. Disparity of treatment between two opposing voices also destroys the democratic system of this country. For example, when we have a law professor who is demonized and sanctioned by the establishment for pointing out the factual errors in the administration of the country and a lecturer who teaches at a military college advocating that hudud law be forcefully implemented, his virulent racist rhetoric unchecked and not to mention his anti-Semitic posting on his blog going unsanctioned, this destroys the democratic system.

(2) Destroying the system of administration. All Pakatan has done is point to the systemic corruption that plagues the current administration as evidenced by the Auditor General's reports year in year out. If anything pointing out the shortcomings of any system of administration strengthens the system, not weakens it. This is something that any ruling coalition should desire, not fear.

(3) Destroying the country’s dignity. Every time racists groups like Perkasa demonstrate (which is their God given right) in the name of Malay supremacy the country’s dignity is destroyed. Every time a government official misbehaves badly in a foreign country, the country’s dignity is destroyed. Every time a government official is charged with mismanagement of public funds, the country’s dignity is destroyed. Pointing out these facts does not destroy a country’s dignity, in fact it strengthens it.

(4) Destroying the country’s history. As has been pointed out numerous times, the ruling coalition has distorted our history to fit its ethnocentric agenda. Numerous non-partisan scholars have pointed to the sinister diminishment of the role non-Malays have played in the formation of this country. Less we forget that it is from the ruling coalition (Deputy Prime Minister) that this absurd notion that we were never colonized emanates from. If anyone has destroyed the country’s history perhaps Mr.Khairy should look to his own party. “Bogus history fuels present day national delusion”, as Polly Toynbee often reminds us.

(5) Destroying the ethnic identity. Whose identity has the opposition been destroying? We are told that we are 1Malaysia and the multiethnic Pakatan seems to symbolize this spirit. The only party who sees their ethnic identity under threat is UMNO. The only party which coddles racist groups like Perkasa and Perkida is UMNO. And now a new addition, The Crazy Squad. The only party that instead of engaging in open dialogue but resorts to the race card is UMNO. I put it to Mr.Khairy that it is not an ethnic identity which is at stake but a culture cultivated by the Ruling coalition.

A culture which has had a deleterious effect on this country. One only has to refer to the sad history of Utusan Melayu and the great Said Zahari, perhaps the most overt symbols of ethnic identity, to understand how the establishment has battered asunder any form of honest intellectual dialogue. History was repeated when Hata Wahari, was ingloriously kicked from his tenure by the once great newspaper.

(6) Destroying the country’s economic prosperity. As far as the Auditor General is concerned opposition states are being run very effectively with Penang taking pride of place. Perhaps what is destroying this country is the culture of corruption that has been uninvestigated for years. Perhaps what is destroying this country are the ethnic divisions perpetuated by a political system bent on dividing the population not embracing it. Perhaps what is destroying this country are the policies that favor one ethnic group over all others.

Mr.Khairy’s response to his Pakatan counterpart about amending the constitution that only a Malay can be prime minister is both feeble and dishonest. As it is, it was Mr.Khairy who not too long ago was publicly pondering the change of Ketuanan Melayu to Kepimpinan Melayu. The Honorable gentleman from Rembau should have the courage of his convictions and push for the necessary amendments to the constitution. Unless of course he has had a change of heart and believes anyone who is qualified should be able to be prime minister?

I’ll end with an appropriate G.K Chesterton quote. “Cruelty is perhaps the worst kind of sin. Intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty.”

S.Thayaparan
Commander (R)
Royal Malaysian Navy

When Will We See The Fall Of These Idiots?

2011-12-01T12:57:00.000+08:00

Idiocy still rules, ok

Dean Johns

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad has told a gathering of diplomats and other foreigners that, due to scholarships and higher education, “there are hardly any idiots left in Malaysia” and that “this gives the government a headache”.

But from all the symptoms I see, the vast majority of Malaysians are as “slightly less intelligent” as Dr M and his Umno/BN colleagues could possibly wish them to be, and gibbering idiots are as plentiful as ever.

In fact Malaysia’s perennial epidemic of political idiocy continues to rage unchecked, with millions of apparently sentient adults still so intellectually or ideologically-impaired as to be somehow unable or unwilling to register to vote.

And even more Malaysians are so stupid or at least naive as to still swallow the overdoses of lies perpetually prescribed by Dr M and the rest of Umno/BN’s teams of spin-doctors, and forced down their throats day after day by the editors (ediots?) of the mainstream media.

Then there are those political figures who are ever ready to resort to idiocy, whether genuine or cunningly simulated to disguise rat-cunning, in attempts to dupe anyone feeble-minded enough to take them seriously.

Like Hasan Ali in his recent support of the claim by the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department that Christians are proselytising Muslims using “solar-powered hand-held talking bibles”.

Like Deputy Sports Minister Razali Ibrahim in his statement last week that the hostile reception given by Indonesian fans to Malaysian teams at the SEA Games in Jakarta was because “opposition leaders have been making a beeline for Indonesia to bad mouth our country”.

Like that serial offender in the idiocy stakes, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who recently outrageously proclaimed that “homosexuality goes against Islam, the religion of the federation of Malaysia, and its practice in the country is therefore unconstitutional”.

Like dimwit Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, who welcomed the government’s retrograde Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 as a “positive move”, adding that “after 54 years we have come to this stage. Maybe in the next 25 years people will be educated and can enjoy full freedom, but for the moment Malaysia still needs time to educate its citizens.”

Or like the allegedly educated Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin with his warning the other day to his junior Umno idiots against stupidly hurting their corrupt party’s “more progressive and liberal” image at its annual general assembly.

And the most idiotic performer of all, of course, is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who seems to be operating under the delusion that the whole world is full of dummies just dying to be deceived by his lying words and devious deeds.

Witness his promised ‘reforms’. The Printing Presses and Publications Act, for example, the very legislation designed to keep the Malaysian electorate as idiotic and ignorant as possible, will remain utterly unchanged save for the need to apply annually for a government licence.

Then there is the ‘Improvement’ of Malaysia’s grossly unjust, unfair and outright corrupt electoral system to be ‘studied’ by a committee until, if possible, after the next general election.

Malaysia’s detested and disgraceful Internal Security Act is supposed to be ‘abolished’, but in practice seems set to be rendered an Eternal Security Act by new provisions for detention without charge or trial.

Tops and bottoms

And the lifting of current prohibitions against public assembly, only to replace them with a piece of legislation that puts so many fresh obstacles in the way of public expression, and gives so many discretionary powers to the police, that rather than the Peaceful Assembly Bill it should rightly be dubbed the Policeful Assembly Bill.

So many far-from-idiotic and even formerly idiotic Malaysians have vented their outrage at all this chicanery, however, that Najib was recently moved to “implore” his Umno colleagues to “accept reform efforts or face an Arab Spring-style revolt”.

“When you have been in power for such a long uninterrupted period, you have a sense of political invincibility; you may think that whatever happens you will be in power,” he said.

So far so accurate, I guess, but soon he slipped back into tell-Malaysian-idiots-anything mode, claiming that “what has happened in the context of the Arab Spring and many other countries, change is coming from the bottom up. In Malaysia, change is coming from top to bottom.”

Then he proceeded to get his tops and bottoms mixed up, so that he felt the need to explain that he meant “top down in the sense that we are listening to the people. I started by saying that the day of government knows best is over...we must feel the pulse of the people.”

Feeling the pulse of the people would surely be an improvement on Umno’s long-standing practice of stealing from the purse of the people.

But apparently undaunted by the fact that government largesse and outright loot is precisely what attracts so many snouts to the Umno trough, in another speech he attempted to pretend otherwise.

In a brazen bid to win the sympathies of any citizens so idiotic as to have forgotten such Umno/BN thefts as the Scorpene submarine, PKFZ, NFC and countless other daylight robberies by Umno/BN and its cronies, not to mention his own and his wife’s jet-setting lifestyles, he staged a press conference in which he called on Umno members to “put party above self interest”.

But lest such a clarion call for idealism lose him masses of the rent-seekers and commission-hungry contractors planning to attend the then imminent and now ongoing annual Umno general assembly, he quickly explained that “we are not asking them to sacrifice their wealth for the party or take personal risks”.

Of course there will be loads more Umnonsense like this over the next few days as one ass after another addresses the appropriately-named assembly.

And every asinine word will give the lie to Najib’s claim that the programme is “not primed for the general election, but a vehicle to highlight the party’s intellectual value.

Umno? Intellectual?? Unelectable, more like it. Except, of course, by a bunch of utter idiots. Of whom, despite Mahathir’s regrets that there are hardly any left, there are evidently still millions of them either supporting the Umno/BN regime, or too dumb or nit-witted to oppose it.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published books of his columns for Malaysiakini include ‘Mad about Malaysia’, ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’, ‘Missing Malaysia’ and ‘1Malaysia.con’.

Final Verdict on Najib: Just 1Snake

2011-10-27T21:03:00.001+08:00

1Ular, lah

Dean Johns
1:31PM Oct 27, 2011

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak speaks with such a forked tongue that he’s almost as deadly a snake-in-the-grass as Malaysia’s most notoriously venomous lurker in the lalang, Mahathir Mohamad.

There he was in China the other day, slithering around the international stage in his role of moderate Muslim statesman, urging the people of Libya to “unite to create a new era for the country” following the death of Muammar Gaddafi.

“What is important after this is for the people of Libya to open a new era which can promise prosperity to the people, seeing Libya is rich in oil while its population is small,” he continued.

Such ‘support’ of the Libyans in their freedom from the 40-year rule of an oil-funded dictatorship was a bit rich, I thought, coming from the current head of a 54-year kleptocracy that has so generously supported itself on the proceeds of its own nation’s oil-producer, Petronas.

Despite the Malaysian government’s and thus the Malaysian people’s ownership of Petronas, its finances have been kept so shrouded in secrecy, and thus so prone to pilferage by the powers-that-be, that it has long served as the Umno/BN regime’s prime cash-cow, or, as it’s more popularly called, piggy bank.

But despite this breathtaking hypocrisy in his oily remarks about Libya, Najib’s subsequent comment that he had “expected the ending for Gaddafi” as the late Libyan leader “had stated that he would defend his rule to the last and was prepared to face any possibilities” came as the real killer for me.

Because at last year’s Umno general assembly Najib loudly and proudly declared to his supporters and cronies in chillingly similar Gaddafian terms that “even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya.”

A statement that, in light of the Mad Dog of Libya’s recent demise, must surely now have Najib and his fellow Unmo/BN low-lifes in Putrajaya, or more aptly Putridjaya, nervously scouting around for convenient concrete storm-water pipes in which to take refuge when their day of reckoning finally and inevitably arrives.

Meanwhile Putridjaya’s putrid putras are doing everything in their power to wriggle out of being seen as how similar they are to other corrupt and dictatorial Muslim regimes slated for slaughter at the hands of their umma, like those of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have already suffered, and Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco and many others surely will.

One interesting ploy in this desperate attempt to distance the Malaysian regime from fall-out from the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ was the extraordinary claim by Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria the other day that Malays are special because all of them are Muslims, unlike Arabs who are not all Muslims even though the Prophet Muhammad was “descended among them”.

“The Malay race is special from other races because they are related to Islam, where the Malays are Islam,” he said, referring to the outrageous fact that under the Umno/BN system, in clear contravention of both the Quran and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Malaysian Malays are compelled to be and remain Muslims.

Merely Najib’s mouthpieces

Such forked-tongued ‘religious’ officials are, of course, along with the serpents of the mainstream media and Umno/BN’s Internet cyber-creeps, merely Najib’s mouthpieces in his snakey campaign to convince Malays and other Muslims of a Christian conspiracy to take over Malaysia.

And Malaysia’s sultans, who one might imagine could see their way to asserting their nobility, leadership and influence on the side of truth and reason, are, publicly at least, as silent on this issue.

But in any event the plot to set Muslims against Christians is meeting with a marked lack of success, if the turnout of just a few thousand to the recent Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Congregation of a Million) anti-apostasy rally at Shah Alam Stadium is any indication.

All that has been achieved, apparently, is fierce criticism and resistance by such honest, honorable and highly-educated Malay Muslims as Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (UIA) law professor Abdul Aziz Bari and Monash University academic and chairman of the Islamic Renaissance Front, Ahmad Farouk Musa.

Musa’s current Malaysiakini column entitled “Of Muslim Bigots and Malay Zealots” is the most stinging possible rebuttal of the racial and religious hate campaign that Najib Razak continues to sponsor and support under cover of his fraudulent “1Malaysia” slogan.

Trapped in the serpentine coils that his low cunning has got him into, however, all Najib could manage on the topic of the failed Congregation of a Million was to flick his forked tongue in its praise and seize on it as a pretext for baring his fangs at the movement he most fears, Bersih.

As he and his supporters and cronies all know, a truly clean electoral system and corruption-free general election would spell political death to him and the rest of Umno/BN.

Or, even more unthinkable thought, the next rally by Bersih could well turn into massive, nationwide, Arab-Spring-style protests that could test his “crushed bodies and lost lives” to Tunisian, Egyptian or Libyan-scale limits.

So he lied, as ever, praising the organisers of the anti-apostasy Himpun rally for its orderliness compared with the “chaos” of the July 9 Bersih 2.0 march calling for clean and fair elections, while failing to mention that his cousin and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had declared Bersih an outlaw organisation, paralysed KL with police roadblocks for days in advance of its rally, and then sent out the riot police to attack its peaceful supporters.

As I said up front, despite all his fake promises of ‘reform’ and other twists and turns to convince Malaysians and the world that he’s shed his old skin, underneath Najib Razak is and will always be the same old ular, lah.

And hateful enough - along with a spouse so puffed-up with greed for power and loot that she looks as though she swallows her prey whole, python-fashion - to provoke Malaysians to relegate the entire nest of Umno/BN vipers to hisssssstory where they belong.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published books of his columns for Malaysiakini include ‘Mad about Malaysia’, ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’, ‘Missing Malaysia’ and ‘1Malaysia.con’.

The Malay Annals - "Sajarah Malayu"

2011-09-19T03:07:00.002+08:00

Not to be confused with "The Malay Anals" or "Sejarah Melayu Moden", UMNO/BN's sick and mad obsession with matters of alleged sex against the order of nature of one man, from the late 1990's up till today.

Will Najib Sit On His Bayonet?

2011-07-08T14:18:00.000+08:00

July 9 rally: Gov't at panic stations

Terence Netto
Jul 8, 11
12:09pm

COMMENT “God is on the side of the big battalions,” Napoleon Bonaparte once famously observed.

That was when he was poised to take over Europe but when hubris led to his defeat and exile to Corsica, he had reason to ruefully reflect on his fellow Frenchman, Talleyrand's, equally famed aphorism: “The only thing you cannot do with a bayonet is sit on it.”

The big battalions are on the side of the powers-that-be with just a day to go before Bersih's planned gathering, the venue for which they have switched, at the king's reasonably inferred request, from Kuala Lumpur's streets to Merdeka Stadium.

But the police, in a move that is clearly at odds with nonverbal signals emanating from His Majesty, have shaped to shut down the city to the marchers that the pressure group have for weeks been promising to summon in huge numbers to their electoral reform banner.

But, clearly, the moral battalions are ranged on Bersih's side of the anticipated face-off, as an obviously panicked government, backed by the men in blue, tries every evasive trick in the book to prevent a watching public from appraising the size of a gathering that would be a harbinger of the way the vote would go at the next general elections.

However, as the diplomat Talleyrand mused, you can sustain your hold on power with chemical-laced water cannons, truncheons and bayonets, but you can't really sit on them.

Not for long. That is why even if a hectored, bullied and arrest-threatened Bersih, at the eleventh hour, were to call off their gathering that they have vowed to hold at the Merdeka Stadium, they would have achieved a moral victory.

This is because the government has clearly been seen to be in breach of protocols – royal, democratic and constitutional – in its public and private wrangles with Bersih in the weeks leading to the NGO's planned gathering for tomorrow.

In these highly publicised wrangles, the emperor has been seen to have no clothes, as the saying has it.

In attempting to head off a gathering, whose size could ring its death knell at the next general election, the government hectored, threatened, manipulated and, finally, resorted to arrests and, finally, banishments, to keep from public view something that could well be a portent of things to come at the next polls.

Rebellion against the king

A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Najib Razak exhorted a gathering of some 8,000 people – a number that his propagandists desperately tried to inflate to seven figures – to defend Putrajaya at all costs.

His use of martial terms was interpreted as an ominous sign that his government, beleaguered by scandal and ineptitude, may resort to extra-parliamentary means to stay in power.

Thus far their attitude towards Bersih's march has confirmed those interpretations to be prescient. In particular, initial moves to arraign six detained Parti Sosialis Malaysia activists for rebellion against the king suggested that paranoia had taken over certain sections of the police force.

Further reports that weapons were seized by police from people detained for their connections to the Bersih march reinforced the melodrama.

All this was being played out against a background of anti-Bersih hysteria that was steadily being drummed by Utusan Malaysia, the editorial equivalent of Ibrahim Ali, the rabble rousing Perkasa chief.

PM Najib's failure to smother these founts of sedition was compounded by his shocking endorsement of them when he described Bersih chairperson, Ambiga Seenivasan, as anti-Islam because she had at one time been counsel to Muslim apostate Lina Joy. It was an odious misconstruction of a lawyer's professional duties.

BN has fear written all over it

Amidst the tumult and the baying from Perkasa and Utusan, Bersih kept its head, focused on the dramatisation of its eight demands which if implemented would conduce to free and fair elections.

As a demonstration of its intent to play within constitutionally mandated rules, Bersih was acquiescent to the king's expressed concern about the wisdom of its planned street march.

It shifted gears and opted to hold its march in Stadium Merdeka, exploiting the venue's historical resonance for Bersih's long term goal which is to revive the spirit and substance of the country's Merdeka Constitution.

That constitution has been more honoured in the breach than in the observance by Umno-BN, a trait that was in abundant display by the Najib administration in its craven response to the challenge mounted by Bersih in the last few weeks.

That response has had fear written all over it till the whole government is suffused by it. It has hit the panic button and ceded Bersih a moral victory even before its supporters have assembled to place their marching shoes on the ground.

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

UMNO's Hidden Hands Behind May 13

2011-05-14T18:57:00.000+08:00

May 13: Hidden hands still at work

Kua Kia Soong
May 13, 11
7:58am

COMMENT When the May 13 incident broke out in 1969, former Utusan Malaysia editor Said Zahari wrote these lines while under ISA detention in Singapore:

"Once again
History repeats itself
By savage deeds
In a civilised age

Once again
Hidden hands appear
Seeking the blood
Of the poor and the wretched

Once again
Colour, race, religion and language
Become sharp blades
To use in the carnage

It has happened
In every corner of the earth
Where the few eat bread
And the rest sand

It has happened
Where the few clothed in velvet
Sleep in palaces
The rest go naked, squeezed into shacks

It has happened
Hidden hands reappear
Spilling the blood of the poor
To cling on to power..."

Said Zahari (left) certainly did not buy the official line that the riots had broken out spontaneously. My 2007 thesis 'May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969' argued that the incident was orchestrated by these hidden hands to facilitate the rise of the Malay state capitalist class in Umno and to topple the aristocratic class headed by then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. This opportunity presented itself after the devastating results for the ruling coalition in the 1969 general elections.

It was not until July 1969 - a lapse of two full months - that the security forces played their role of restoring order. It was not as if the Malaysian security forces were inexperienced in the role of maintaining order. They had successfully contained the armed insurgency during the Emergency from 1948 to 1960 under more difficult circumstances.

The riots provided an excuse for the new Umno ruling class to make use of the state of emergency to implement their agenda for political and economic dominance through the New Economic Policy. In this plan, they received the full backing and connivance of the police and military.

Before the publication of my book, Umno had all along been using the riots as a spectre to frighten voters of another 'May 13' whenever a strong political opposition had arisen to challenge the ruling coalition. This was seen in various general elections such as the one in 1990 when the public broadcasting media RTM was used to purvey scenes of carnage to remind voters of the consequences.

Even the Tunku could see through the ploy. In 1988, he gave short shrift to the government's White Paper on Operation Lallang:

"For the prime minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) to repeat (the story of) the violence of the May 13 affair as a warning of what would have happened if the government had not taken appropriate action immediately is like telling ghost stories to our children to prevent them from being naughty.

"This is not a childish matter but a matter of national importance. The tale should not be repeated because it shows us to be politically immature." (Suaram, 'The White Paper on the October Affair and the Why? Papers', 1989: 5)

The prelude to 1987 Operation Lallang saw the Umno leaders orchestrating racial tension over the transfer of non-qualified administrators to Chinese primary schools. They held a rally in Kampong Baru at which then Umno Youth chief and present prime minister was one of the chest thumpers on stage, while banners called for 'Chinese blood' and 'May 13'.

Since then, Umno has unleashed its Youth group to harass any groups which question Umno policies such as the mob assault on the East Timor Conference in 1996; the demonstration against the Chinese associations' Suqiu appeals and threat to burn down the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in 2000, among others.

Umno media help spook M'sians

The Umno-owned and controlled press, especially Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian have been indispensable accessories in the orchestration of communalism and racial tension to justify authoritarian measures such as was seen in Operation Lallang, and to frighten the voters into supporting the status quo.

I have monitored the way the Umno media communalised in 'Media Watch: The Use and Abuse of the Malaysian Press', in order to show you how the trick is done. For example, when the government was being criticised for the BMF (Bumiputra Malaysia Finance) scandal in the 80s, Berita Harian (Sept 19, 1986) featured Umno president Mahathir's veiled threat at the Umno general assembly: 'Kesabaran Melayu ada hadnya' ('There is a limit to the patience of the Malays). Utusan Malaysia (Sept 19, 1986) would not be outdone: 'Jangan ambil mudah orang Melayu' ('Don't take Malays for granted')

When there was widespread opposition to the Official Secrets Act Amendment Bill in 1986 by all ethnic groups, Utusan Malaysia (Dec 6, 1986) chose to feature this headline quoting Umno Youth chief Najib: 'Najib ingatkan anggota-anggota Umno kepimpinan Melayu sedang dicabar' ('Najib alerts Umno members Malay leadership being challenged')

During the orchestrated "crisis" over the posting of unqualified administrators to the Chinese primary schools, the banner headline in Berita Harian (Oct 19, 1987) read: 'Kekal Ketuanan Melayu - Pemuda' ('Defend Malay dominance - Umno Youth').

Then when Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah was leading the opposition front in the 1990 general elections, the editorial headline of Berita Harian (April 20, 1990) read: 'Politik Tengku Razaleigh merugikan Melayu' ('Tengku Razaleigh's politics - Malays lose out')

One really needs to go further back to the 60s to monitor how the Umno media has deliberately communalised issues. It all gets rather tedious to even the most weathered media watcher because they carry on ad nauseum to serve the Umno agenda for political and economic domination by playing on Malay chauvinism.

As the young generation can see with their own eyes today, the Umno media have not stopped. The latest caper by Utusan Malaysia alleging a plot to make Christianity the official religion is probably one of the crudest yet in its arsenal of orchestrated untruths.

Yet, has any Utusan Malaysia editor been sacked by their political masters for all these deliberate attempts at stoking racial tensions? So much for Najib's '1Malaysia'. And they wonder why Malaysian professionals are leaving the country...

Put country before race

To call for Umno and the Umno-owned and controlled media to be more responsible is like asking a leopard to change its spots.

Bumiputraism has been part and parcel of Umno's ideology for maintaining political and economic power. Demands for social responsibility and ethical standards in the media will not be heeded unless these are enshrined in new democratic institutions.

Therefore, as we mark the 42nd anniversary of May 13 today, we reiterate the call for:

A Truth and Reconciliation Commission to honour those who lost their lives in 1969 and to learn the lessons of that dark episode of Malaysian history by pointing the way forward toward national reconciliation.

An independent Press Council and Broadcasting Authority, whose members and chair are seen to be truly independent, acceptable and respected by civil society.

A Race Relations Act to outlaw racism, racial discrimination, hate crimes and other related in tolerances and an Equal Opportunities Commission.

The ratification of the International Convention on the Eradication of Racism, Racial Discrimination and all forms of Intolerance.

KUA KIA SOONG, a former MP, is director of human rights group Suaram.

Taib's Baglady & How He Stole The Elections

2011-04-20T14:17:00.000+08:00

Thief Minister Stole Election!

Posted on April 18, 2011 by sarawakreport

A tiny cabal, like thieves in the night, hijacked the machinery of the state and denied the will of the people in Sarawak at the weekend.

Like the perpetrators of a palace coup, a handful of family members, bomoh’s and loyalists mounted an outrageous and blatant rigging of the count. Then, immediately, in an unprecedented act at 10.30pm at night, before even the last votes were counted, they bundled the old Chief Minister into the governor’s office to be sworn back in before the matter could be contested.

But contested it will be. If these plotters and cheats think they can claim legitimacy for Taib, they cannot. All Sarawak knows he is a fraud and that his desperate supporters are seeking to protect the billions they have stolen from the State by keeping him in office.

Sarawak has changed whether they like it or not

The unprecedented and enthusiastic crowds who turned out and rallied for change in all the major towns across Sarawak last week tell us all we need to know about the real election result.

The biggest crowd in all Malaysia’s election history gathered in the small capital of Kuching and made the feelings of the people perfectly plain, as Taib’s armed and aggressive riot police attempted and failed to provoke and harass them.

Police try to disrupt Kuching rally for PR - a record 40,000 peacefully campaigned

for the opposition

By contrast the BN rallies failed hopelessly. Sarawak has changed and all Sarawakians know it. Taib also knows it as he sits in his headquarters at Demak Jaya aware that all around him the people of the capital, his home town of Bintulu, Sibu, Miri and across the country have mobilised against him and want him out.

So strong and so obvious was the unity and determination of those population centres that Taib did not dare cheat too heavily and obviously in the urban areas (apart from some outrageous exceptions, like Senadin, see below) and the opposition swept to victory, more than doubling their seats and wiping out BN as a force in the cities.

But, Taib cheated blatantly and obviously everywhere else, determined to snatch the election by abusing his power over the tiny, rotten rural boroughs. The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, colluded in this and he too deserves international disdain and condemnation for allowing one of the most corrupt examples of a sham election to ever take place.

He will get that condemnation. Sarawak Report is invited, together with other observers of Malaysia’s shameful actions in Sarawak, to report to the UN’s Human Rights commission imminently in Geneva and we will tell exactly what happened.

The facts will be made known

Because Taib is a known and serial election-cheater his tactics were anticipated and they have been widely noted and recorded. Reports are being carefully compiled and Sarawak Report will be covering the information as it is gathered over the coming days. Much of this election is going to be contested and a re-election will be demanded.

Today PKR leader YB Baru Bian, who was one of just three PKR members who managed to get a seat, despite massive attempts to destabilize him, confirmed that there had been systematic and widespread cheating. Even so, the opposition won 41% of the acknowledged vote – getting just 21% of the seats thanks to the deliberately skewed and corrupt system developed by BN in Sarawak!

So what forms of rigging were used?

Taib used sister-in-law Gertie to bring the money!

Gertie Chong - Taib's brother Arip's 2nd wife

Just consider how Taib went about saving his own skin in Balingian, a constituency where for the past five years he has pillaged the timber and grabbed land from the poor.

We have received inside information that his own sister-in-law, Gertie Chong (widow of Arip) was the one who was charged with bringing the bags of money over from Sibu to bribe and bully the impoverished voters. This is how small and desperate the circle of Taib’s supporters has become.

She handed it out to the PBB workers who then went round the houses distributing a full RM1,000 per door to people, so impoverished by their Chief Minister and State Representative, that they lack even enough barrels to capture sufficient rainwater to drink.

Taib’s ‘development’ has caused the pollution of their rivers and streams – they would dearly love him gone.

But, Gertie brought them RM1,000 per door! Last election it was only RM50! More than anything, the wild inflation of Taib’s bribes tells you the level of his deep unpopularity.

The Shin Yang connection

And where did this money come from? It came from Shin Yang. The crony timber and plantation company which has relied on Taib for the fat concessions that have turned its owner Ling Chiong Ho from being a barge handler in Sibu, working for Taib’s brother Onn Mahmud’s Achipelago shipping monopoly just a few years ago, into a multi-millionaire.

So, of course Shin Yang had to cough up. As far as Taib was concerned he was calling in favours – the sort of favours that gangsters call in. Just look at the evidence on Shin Yang’s palm concessions alone, all handed to them via private deals with Taib Mahmud’s Resources and Planning Ministry.

In just one case alone, Shin Yang is the major shareholder of Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, which used to be a government venture. Taib, in a typical move, privatised it into a public company in 1990 and Shin Yang was allowed to buy over 37% of the company.

Since then Sarawak Oil Palms says it has expanded its land-bank to 65,000 hectares, with 35,000 planted with oil palm in Sarawak. All of course thanks to concessions given by Taib.

Gerald Rentap Jabu, son of Deputy CM Alfred Jabu (who also bought his way into scraping back his seat) is also on the Board of Sarawak Oil Palms. Until recently, Taib’s brother and proxy, Onn Mahmud, held shares in the company through his own nominee, Shea Kin Kwok, identified as a key player in the Japanese timber kick-back scandal.

Onn's proxy shareholding in the former state asset.

However, the concessions that have come Ling Chiong Ho’s way are far more extensive even than this. The current land registry document published by Sarawak Report in March shows no fewer than 75 lots handed to numerous of companies controlled by Ling Chiong Ho.

Danum Jaya Sdn Bhd, Linau Mewah Sdn Bhd, Mazama Plantations Sdn Bhd, Shin Yang Oil Palm Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd, Dataran Danum Sdn Bhd, Danum Sinar Sdn Bhd, Dataran Seping Sdn Bhd, Linau Sinar Sdn Bhd, Selangau Plantation Sdn Bhd, have been handed huge areas at rock bottom prices.

Just one enormous chunk of this land, some 90,000 hectares, has been acquired in Belaga, the area that Taib had cleared for the Bakun dam project. Shin Yang has already been slammed by NGOs for its handling of the timber concessions given to them by Taib in the Belaga area and disregard for the native communities.

We can also see from the land registry that further huge tracts of plantation land have been handed to Shin Yang in the other planned Dam areas of Baram (13,000 hectares) and Murum (16,500 hectares). [see list of companies and concessions at the bottom of the article].

And Taib’s own constituents of Balingian have not been let off the hook either.

Shin Yan has taken land in Taib's own constituency.

Ling Chiong Ho has also walked off with fat plantation concessions in Mukah and numerous other concessions in the Bintulu area.

Land taken in Bintulu by Shin Yan - well over a hundred thousand hectares in total

So, the money with which Taib was buying his voters was money taken from the removal and exploitation of their lands in the first place! RM1,000 was of course a lot to Taib’s impoverished voters. But it would have been nothing to them if Taib had fairly developed their land and ensured they got some of the profit!

Go getter Gertie

Bag Carrier - Gertie Chong was the one who brought the money from Shin Yang in Sibu to buy votes in Balingian.

It is of little surprise that Gertie Chong was the family member chosen by Taib to carry out his dirty work in Balingian. She is the 2nd and favourite wife of his favourite brother Arip and her name pops up as a major shareholder in a good number of Taib crony companies. She is a major shareholder of Jaya Tiasa, the company based on plantations handed to her husband by Taib and then sold on for a fat profit to the tycoon Tiong Hiew King of Rimbunan Hijau Group.

Gertie is also a fellow director and shareholder with Taib Mahmud himself in the company Mesti Bersatu, a shareholder in the Royal Mulu resort and Miri Properties, which owns the Marriott in Miri among other ventures. She also is a shareholder in Lanco Plantations, along with Taib himself.

Indeed, Gertie has been associated with so many of the Mahmud family business ventures that have taken advantage of their political stranglehold on the state, that it is no surprise that she was brought in to help with the emergency operation of keeping them in power at whatever cost – in fact RM1,000 per constituent is a very small cost indeed by comparison to what they have made and doubtless intend to make in the future.

Despite this Taib’s majority in Balingian was slashed from some 6,000 to around 2,000 on the day, so sickened have his people been by his greed and landgrabbing.

Gangster CM used gangster tactics to grab the election

Sarawak Report will be accumulating the details of this election theft as reliable reports and evidence is collated from the different districts over the next few days. However, our report to the UN will include the following points:

- The Mass Disenfranchisement of much of the population of the interior, which enables Taib to operate a ‘rotten borough system’, where seats are decided by just a tiny number of people whom he can pressure and influence. 470,000 natives of the interior do not have voting rights out of Sarawak’s 2.5 million total population. Taib has deliberately pretended that he finds it ‘difficult’ to register remote communities who resent his destruction of the jungle. However, while he says he cannot reach them, he has sure managed to reach their trees!

- BN has used this ‘rotten borough’ system to achieve 77% of the seats with just 55% of the votes, creating what they call their ‘fixed deposit’ of seats in Sarawak. PR gained 41% of the votes at this election (despite all the cheating) only to receive 21% of the seats. Equally, seats in the towns consist of up to 30,000 voters, whereas those dotted around the interior amounted to 6,000 voters and these are easier for BN to bully, bribe and control.

- The illegal touting of projects and votes by BN politicians, including the Prime Minister, in the run up to the election. These are used as a direct bribe and form of blackmail as it is made clear to voters that they will not get the projects and worse may be discriminated against in the provision of basic amenities if they do not vote BN.

- The abuse of postal votes. Only allowing government workers to use them and pressurising these employees to vote BN. Also the outrageous targeting of postal votes at single constituencies they want to influence, rather than the constituencies the voter actually comes from. The practice of doubling up by sending in postal votes eg by the army and then bringing in plane loads of the same soldiers to vote in person as well! The introduction of suspicious last minute ‘postal votes’ in order to try and boost BN’s tallies far later than legally allowed.

- Use of gangsters to intimidate and turn away voters from the polling stations.

- Abuses by the electoral commission, which include switching voters’ polling stations away from their home areas to distant places they cannot get to, suddenly on the day of the vote. The hiding of ballot boxes for periods of time, so that agents cannot tell if they have been tampered with and illegally withholding (on the direct orders of the Election Commission) the Form 14 information that confirms the tally of each box, so that a proper monitoring can take place of the count. Switching off the lights and ‘counting’ in the dark.

- The cutting off of mobile phone networks on the day to inhibit the opposition from keeping up with what is happening.

- The naked bribery by BN of poor voters the day before the vote. Offering money in return for their ID numbers and then paying the remainder only when they have proved that they have voted for BN! The scale of these bribes went sky high at this election, indicating just how unpopular BN is and how much they had to pay to get people to give in and vote for them.

Senadin – one case history

There will be more examples with back-up information of BN’s gangster tactics, but Sarawak Report will be presenting the case of Senadin at the UN this week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyiSfJ0DzVM&feature=player_embedded#at=24

- PKR was leading the vote by 1000+ during the last ballot counting.

- Suddenly a blackout conveniently occurred happened during the last ballot counting in the Miri City Stadium.

- Blackout lasted 1 hour+ and the Election Commission continued counting with a sudden appearance of bought votes and ‘postal’ votes at an illegally late hour.

- SUPP were declared ‘winners’ with slim majority 58 votes after postal votes.

- There were announced to be 158 ‘spoiled’ votes favouring PKR.

- The SPR refused a recount, despite the fact that there was a clear case for a recount.

In this way the 20,000 crowd which had gathered in Miri to support PKR on the night that less than 100 were prepared to attend the rival rally by BN’s George Chan, just a few days before, were denied the obvious representative of their choice. Instead one of Taib’s key supporters was forced upon them to help the Chief Minister in his attempt to continue his gangster government.

No legitimacy

PR are contesting this election on a number of fronts. The BN Federal Government will use all means at their disposal however to continue to prop up Taib who keeps them in power.

This is despite the fact that he daily embarrasses and shames Malaysia through his corruption and his greedy exploitation of his impoverished people. Najib would dearly love to be rid of the old parasite, but he is yet to find a way. Certainly, the Prime Minister’s election promise that if Taib ‘won’ for BN he would shortly step down will be one of many, many, many promises made by BN at this election that will not be fulfilled.

Taib has no legitimacy. He knows it, Najib knows it and the people of Sarawak know it. The rest of the world will know it too.

[Below are the concessions given to Shin Yang's Ling Chiong Ho in recent years. No wonder Taib was expecting pay back time. Shin Yang paid for his election bribes].

Ling Chiong Ho's plantation concessions - but it was payback time at the election!

Deny BN The Government

2011-04-20T13:34:00.001+08:00

Fighting 'DOS' with 'DOG'

Malaysiakini

Dean Johns
Apr 20, 11
11:41am

The denial-of-service (DOS) attacks on the Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report sites in the week of the recent Sarawak election demonstrated not only how desperate Malaysia's BN regime is to cling to power at all costs, but how much trouble it's in.

Let's face it, any government that can 'win' an election only by silencing the few free voices of truth on top of gerry-mandering the electoral boundaries, manipulating postal voting, employing the police and other civil services to browbeat the opposition and intimidate its supporters, exposing the people to the massive propaganda power of the pro-regime mainstream media, and bribing voters hand-over-fist with public money, has to be running very scared indeed.

BN certainly has lots to be scared of. Like growing public resentment of its massive and systematic corruption, as symbolised by the obscene wealth of freshly re-elected Sarawak Chief Minister, Abdul 'The Termite' Taib Mahmud and his family.

It also has good cause to be running scared of the scornful public backlash against recent attempts by the 'Datuk Trio' to implicate Anwar Ibrahim in yet another sex scandal on top of the government's second try to nail him on trumped-up sodomy charges.

Even more scary for BN are the increasingly seething public suspicions surrounding an endless series of scandals, from the murder of Altantuya Shariibuu to all the dodgy deaths in police and MACC custody and the strange inability of anti-corruption 'efforts' to net any big fish in these and all the massive financial scams like, to mention just a random few, the PKFZ, Bakun Dam and Scorpene submarines rip-offs.

And now BN has even more reason than ever to be very, very nervous as it witnesses the downfall of similar regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, and the bringing of top-level malefactors in these countries to justice.

Long-running BN-style regimes are in terrible trouble in Libya and Yemen too, and even in Syria the supremely arrogant President Assad has been reduced to frantically promising reforms like ending 40 years of 'emergency' law, instigating a two-party political system and permitting press freedom.

BN has been promising reforms for donkey's years too, of course, but has delivered nothing but pretence and propaganda. For example, despite claiming to be in favour of a press "that the nation can be proud of," Najib Razak continues to preside over a complex of completely BN-biased mainstream 'news' media.

Even the Internet in Malaysia, which former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad promised would never be censored, has recently been ranked by the UN's Freedom House way down the list, in the likes of the situation in Pakistan, Russia, Zimbabwe and Mubarak's Egypt, and as at best only "partly free".

And as a result of the recent DOS attacks on Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report, Malaysia will doubtless sink even lower in next year's rankings.

Not to mention even lower, if possible, in the estimation of the more than two million unique visitors to Malaysiakini and countless more to other pro-democracy sites every month.

But DOS attacks on truth-telling Internet sites, as dire as they may be, are just part of a much bigger, uglier picture. This is because BN has, over the decades, mounted and maintained DOS attacks on virtually every institution in Malaysia.

Mahathir staged a massive DOS attack on the judiciary back in 1988 with his sacking of the then Lord President of the (then) Federal Court, Salleh Abas, and simultaneously mounted a deadly DOS attack on civil society by having dozens of opponents arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in his notorious Operasi Lalang.

The Malaysian police force has also staged a long-running series of DOS attacks on the populace by the series of home ministers and inspector-generals of police who took charge, all dedicated to serving the interests of the BN regime, rather than the people of Malaysia in general.

And denial of service (DOS), or denial of the sort of honest, efficient, straightforward service Malaysian citizens have the right to expect, is also the name of the game in the other civil services, such as the Malaysian Customs, for example, whose corrupt officers have cost Malaysia billions of ringgit by helping themselves to duit kopi instead of doing their job of collecting duties.

Across the entire government and civil service, there's no telling how much the BN denial-of-service (DOS) system has stolen from the Malaysian economy over the years, let alone cost the Malaysian people in lost income, opportunities, amenities and benefits.

So it's high time for Malaysians to follow the shining examples of their fellows in Tunisia, Egypt and other former fascist kleptocracies, and get rid of the criminal scum whose DOS attacks rob them of not just basic human rights to speak, write, read and hear the truth, but of proper protection against perversions of justice, predatory police and plunder by politicians and public servants.

It's high time that Malaysians fought back against BN. Starting by avenging denial-of-service (DOS) attacks on pro-democracy websites and bloggers by staging denial-of-purchase (DOP) attacks on the BN regime's lying newspapers, and denial-of-viewing (DOV) and denial-of-listening (DOL) assaults on BN's mendacious air media.

Simultaneously, every citizen can wage his or her personal denial-of-bribes (DOB) campaign against corrupt police and other functionaries.

But such DOS, DOP, DOV, DOL and DOB attacks, as satisfying as they would be to an extent, would be only preliminaries to the forthcoming mother of all opportunities to repay BN for decades of denial-of-service (DOS): an overwhelming denial-of-votes (DOV) at the forthcoming general election.

In other words, there's only one way to deal for once and for all with BN's perennial denial-of-honesty (DOH), denial-of-justice (DOJ), denial-of-accountability (DOA) and denial-of-service (DOS) to Malaysia, and that's for all Malaysians to unite in treating this rotten regime to a killer denial-of-government (DOG) attack.

Erosion of Support For BN In Sarawak

2011-04-19T14:52:00.000+08:00

The myths of S'wak polls results

Bridget Welsh
Apr 19, 11
12:10pm

COMMENT The dust has begun to settle on the 10th Sarawak polls with the BN touting its retention of the two-thirds majority as a victory, while Pakatan Rakyat points to the more than doubling of its seats. This was the most competitive state election in Sarawak's history and was hard fought by both sides.

BN, led by Prime Minister Najib Razak essentially camped in the state for 10 days to assure the two-thirds, while the opposition also focused is national machinery in Sarawak, bringing in the top guns from Peninsular Malaysia and thousands of party workers.

A closer look at the results show that the opposition has made impressive ground, despite its failure to break the two-thirds threshold. Sarawak is no longer BN's fixed deposit, and trends in mobilisation and support suggest that it is even more likely not to be so unless Sarawak BN radically changes how it governs.

Myth of Chinese-only swing

The spin on this election reflects a similar tone of 2006, focusing on the gains in urban seats and Chinese voters. The implicit threat in Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's statement that the Chinese will pay for their lack of loyalty highlights the perception that the losses are the product of continued Chinese support for the opposition.

In terms of sheer number of voters for the opposition, this is correct. In all the Chinese-majority seats - from Padungan to Bukit Assek - the level of support for the opposition increased, both in number of votes and share of the vote.

This reflected the dynamic - almost electrifying - opposition campaign in the urban areas, especially in Miri where voters experienced the political awakening that their counterparts in Kuching had experienced in 2006, and in Sibu at the 2010 by-election.

No question about it, a growing number of Chinese supported the opposition in Sarawak. The interesting finding from the results, however, is that they are not alone, and in fact the Chinese swing toward the opposition is comparatively less (yes, less) than the changes within other communities.

By comparing the 2011 results with those of 2006, I trace the changes in voter turnout and share of support (percentage of majority among voters who turned out to vote) for the opposition at the seat level and, when appropriate and with available data, the polling stream level.

The preliminary findings highlight that the movement is greatest in mixed constituencies, and significant movement occurred across the ethnic communities, even the Malays.

Let's begin with the mobilisation of voters across ethnicities. The 2011 polls show an impressive increase in voter turnout, in keeping with the increased competitiveness of the election. The greatest turnout increase was among the Malays, where the PBB machinery was well-honed, as more voters were brought to the polls, followed by increased participation of Chinese and Iban voters.

What this impressive increase in mobilisation across groups reveals is that Sarawakians recognised their power as voters and came out to vote in an unprecedented manner. This highlights the growing appreciation of political power in Sarawak and engagement with politics, which is in keeping with the unprecedented crowds at ceramah across the state, even in the rural areas.

The table (left) also highlights that the change in voting across the ethnic communities. The greatest movement compared to 2006 was in mixed seats, followed by movement in the Orang Ulu community in places such as Ba'Kelalan (where Baru Bian won his seat) but also places such as Telang Usan.

The share of movement in Orang Ulu-majority seats is large, a 20% swing. These numbers can be a bit deceiving in that the actual numbers of voters in Sarawak are small and 20% can reflect a small number of voters in the small constituencies, yet nevertheless, the swing is significant.

Ibans and Bidayuhs too change loyalities

Why then, given the swing, did the seats not move into opposition hands? The reason is simple - before 2011 opposition support in some of these areas was minuscule. In many constituencies, the opposition needed more than a 40% change to win. Yet there has been a very large swing, which is much larger than the swing in Peninsular Malaysia in 2008.

From my perspective, the most interesting ethnic changes occurred in the Malay/Melanau, Iban and Bidayuh areas. A look at the seat tally suggests that Malays are squarely in the BN camp. The PBB won all 35 of its seats and PAS failed to win a single seat, even in the close contest of Beting Maro.

The Malay/Melanau seats are interesting in a number of ways. First, the pattern towards the opposition varies, with a few of the seats moving even more strongly toward the BN, such as Sadong Jaya, and as such, the pattern is uneven.

Yet the Malay/Melanau ground was more competitive with more straight fights and more contests, such as in Daro and Dalat. PAS, in particular, made inroads. To suggest that the Malay/Melanau community is firmly behind the BN is wrong. Their support is changing as well, in spite of the ethnic campaigning and use of the racial card.

The Iban and Bidayuh majority seats also followed the pattern of opposition gains. In Iban areas, there was less movement in the share of the vote and like the Malay/Melanau seats the pattern was not consistent across seats toward the opposition, with some increased support towards the BN in Engkilili, but overall, the Iban have also changed loyalties.

As is shown in this table (right), this occurred most starkly in semi-rural areas.

The Bidayuh seats were seen to be those that would have determined whether the opposition broke the two-thirds or not. Pakatan hoped to pick up at least three of these Bidayuh seats, as sentiment on the ground toward the BN had shifted due to the religious issues and persistent exclusion of this group from economic benefits.

Higher education among the Bidayuh had increased awareness and exposure to political issues. The opposition failed to win a single seat, but here too the gains in the share of majority were impressive - an estimated 17.9% swing.

The bottom line is that the view that this election was the product of a bifurcated pattern of support - Chinese with the opposition and other groups with the BN - is wrong. Every group expressed serious concerns with the BN, and this was driven primarily with angst toward the long tenure and perceived excesses of the chief minister.

The urban voters myth

It is thus not surprising that given the changes across the board across ethnic communities, another myth needs to be shattered, namely that the opposition support is only in the urban areas.

Much has been made that the opposition won two very rural seats, Ba'kelalan and Krian. Yet, the most significant gains in terms of seats were in the semi-rural areas - for example, Batu Kawah, Dudong, Piasau (which has a large semi-rural area). The close fight in Senadin is also illustrative.

My preliminary analysis at the seat level shows that the gains in semi-rural seats were more than in the other areas, 19.7% compared to 14.8% in the rural areas and 13.4% in the urban communities.

The 'safe' seats in the urban periphery are no longer 'safe'. The change in voting pattern reflected not just Chinese support for Pakatan, but Iban and Bidayuh support as well. In fact, what is especially interesting is that the movement in support in rural areas is more than the share in urban areas (although it is important to note that the urban areas have more voters).

More than anything, these findings point illustrate how much the 'fixed deposit' is no longer secure. Semi-rural and rural cracks in BN support are part of the new Sarawak, a more competitive polity that has become increasingly receptive to a stronger two-party system and critical of BN governance, especially in the areas of corruption.

The growing youth revolution

The election of young candidates in the opposition in some cases fresh out to university may come as a surprise to some, but it highlights the final important dynamic in this election, the massive movement among young voters away from the BN.

Drawing from the study of 'saluran' results in seven seats so far, from the Miri, Kuching and Bidayuh areas (semi-rural and urban seats), the findings suggest that a youth revolt has occurred.

In the lower polling streams, where new voters are concentrated, more than 70% of voters opposed the BN. Given the largely young crowds at rallies, especially in Kuching and Miri, this is no surprise.

We see two pattern - higher mobilisation of younger voters, an estimated 16% increase in turnout compared to older voters, and an overwhelming level of support for Pakatan among younger voters in the lower streams, with a change in trend of over 25%. In 2006, there was already stronger support for the opposition among the youth, but this appears to have significantly increased.

When one considers the high number of younger voters that did not register, estimated in the 100,000s in Sarawak, and the large number of younger voters working outstation, these results should be quite worrying for the BN indeed. The fact that the election came before Gawai (harvest festival) is also important as it is likely that when younger voters returned home possibly further movement from the BN could have occurred.

Many a younger voter in my exit interviews highlighted the fact that they convinced their parents (and grandparents) to change support. The youthful composition of voting this election compared to 2006 shows that indeed a revolution among younger voters has occurred in Sarawak.

Rise of a new Sarawak

These results are preliminary and need to further confirmed with the official results at the 'saluran' (polling stream) level. This analysis is drawn from the newspaper publication of results and 'saluran' results that have been made available immediately after the polls, so the numbers should be seen as indicators of trends rather than absolutes.

These findings collectively show that there is indeed a new Sarawak, that voters across races, across geographic areas and especially the state's future are no longer supporting the BN to the same degree. While the two-thirds may not have been broken, profound political change did come to Sarawak.

It remains to be seen whether the opposition can continue to the momentum or the BN will address the root causes of the discontent, but irrespective of this, Sarawak remains critical for the political direction of the country - now more than ever.

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University and she can be reached at bwelsh@smu.edu.sg. She was in Sarawak to observe the state election.

Good Luck To All Sarawakians Today!

2011-04-16T06:26:00.001+08:00

Sarawak Headhunter wishes all Sarawakians "Good Luck!" in the elections today. May Allah deliver us from the evil clutches of Taib, his family, their cronies and BN henchmen.

Sarawak - The Next Step

2011-04-16T06:19:00.000+08:00

‘Sarawak should leave Malaysia’ tops wish list in an online poll

By Sheridan Mahavera

April 15, 2011

SIBU, April 15 — An independent online survey among over 1,000 Sarawakians have found that a significant number express the wish that Sarawak should leave the federation of Malaysia and be its own sovereign country.

This was the most popular “wish” under a category of governance issues in the survey which was conducted through online social network Facebook and Twitter.

But talk of secession is considered seditious in Malaysia.

Other wishes include a corruption-free administration, separation of the judicial, executive and law-making branches of government, no politicisation of religion and total ownership of petroleum revenues.

The poll, called the “Sarawak Wish List”, was done by influential, non-partisan local youth group called the Sarawak Bloggers.

The survey was conducted from April 4 to 7 and is intended to present a collective voice to politicians ahead of the state election tomorrow.

Respondents, who were mainly young, tech-savvy Sarawakians, were asked to vote for what they considered to be the most pressing concern in Sarawak. Participants could only vote once for a concern or suggestion.

The poll garnered 3,780 votes within three days, said Eileen Foong, a member of the group.

The suggestion “Sarawak to leave Malaysia” attracted more than half of the 795 votes under the governance category. The category itself represented 21 per cent of the total votes cast.

Foong explained that the wish was rooted in the feeling that Sarawak had not prospered in tandem with the rest of Malaysia despite being one of its richest states.

“There is a feeling that many policies that do not really benefit us have been imposed on us from the peninsula, that there is a bias in terms of focus and development.

“So it’s another way of saying, because Sarawak has not really benefited from being part of Malaysia, maybe we’d be better off on our own,” she said.

“But this does not in any way mean that it’s achievable. It’s a sentiment based on frustration with how the federal government has treated Sarawak.”

Not all who were frustrated with unequal development voted to leave Malaysia however. The suggestion “faster and better development” was also a popular suggestion with 332 votes or nine per cent of total votes cast.

Overall, the biggest share of votes (22 per cent) went to a category on better road and transportation networks. This included suggestions for a public transport system, railroads and roads into every village.

Economic issues had the third largest vote pool (11 per cent) which reflected respondents’ wishes for more job opportunities, lower housing costs and lower petrol prices.

The rest of the categories comprised wishes for better education facilities such as universities and colleges and improved human rights such as titles for tribal land and total freedom of religion. Both garnered 6 per cent of total votes.

The remaining categories comprise suggestions under:

• the telecommunications category, for state-wide Wifi coverage and better mobile phone services (6 per cent)

• entertainment — local theme park, more events (5 per cent)

• forests and the environment — stop deforestation, no more dams (5 per cent)

• basic amenities — electricity and water supply for everyone (4 per cent)

• health facilities — more hospitals (3 per cent)

• reduce crime — (2 per cent)

A copy of the poll results has been handed over to some political parties contesting the election. The Sarawak Bloggers group however declined to reveal the identity of these parties.

Sarawakians, Time To Take A Chance On Yourselves After 30 Years

2011-04-16T06:06:00.001+08:00

Friday, 15 April 2011

Sarawakians! Give yourselves a chance. Free yourselves from 30 years of misery!

For once, the people of Sarawak must do themselves a favor. Give yourselves a chance. Not give others a chance. They have had 30 years. You only need this one chance. This is your hour. Let your progeny say in future, this was your finest hour.

This is your chance to regain your dignity and pride as a decent human being. Give yourselves the chance to determine your own destiny. Or at the very least, show to those in power that you matter. There is nothing to fear except fear itself.

Show those in power the cant scare you with the presence of coercive instruments of power. The police and the army guarding your long houses are there protecting you. Those RELA people out there are only there for a brief time. What's left is how you determine your life.

Throw out corruption. Throw out incompetence. Throw out a lifetime of neglect. Reject the bullies.

Give your children and grandchildren the chance. Say it's enough. You gave Taib Mahmud 30 years of chance. He has taken everything. He has taken the most precious thing from you-your sense of self-worth. Will the Dayaks continue to be complicit in the charade of showing they are only good at performing the ngajat dance and in that process, be regarded as nothing more than objects of cultural curiosity?

Will that treatment give you decent housing, clean water, electricity? Has it given you that? Remember the misery of walking miles down the road to get a can of kerosene. Don't forget the humiliation of being given portable computers where electricity is nonexistent. Remember forests and the trees that are gone forever.

Can the heads with the same set thinking usher in a better future? The answer must be an emphatic NO. How can the SAME thinking coming out from the SAME heads, accustomed to keeping entire peoples in callous disregard, unchallenged incompetence and open arrogance be capable of turning over a new leaf? Agreeing to this proposition is self-deceit of the highest order. It's a crime against humanity itself.

In a previous lifetime of glory and pride, the only solution that Sarawakians are renowned for, is to cut off their enemy's head. Those in power are no longer your benefactors. They stand on the side of the enemy of the people.

If you give Taib and his government another chance, it means you are willing to allow him to perpetuate years of neglect, corruption incompetence and arrogance. It's not going to be enough. It will be 30 years of the SAME neglect, incompetence and arrogance and corruption.

For 30 years, the chance to give yourself a decent living and the chance to give yourself dignity has been forcibly taken away. It has been taken away by 30 years of neglect, negligence and arrogance. The neglect exemplified most horribly by the waste laid bare on your land which forms the very spring and essence of your life.

What has the majority of the Sarawak people achieved? The fruits of development enjoyed by the elite while the majority languished in a world that time seem to forget? After 30 years, 6000 longhouses are still without electricity and water in a state which boasts the biggest hydro dam?

This Sunday, dubbed Super Sunday will be judgment day for Taib Mahmud and his ruling PBB and his partner parties. These past weeks are the trial that leads to that judgment day. What is the purpose of the judgment day?

The purpose of that judgment day, is for the court of the people, to call up those who manage the state to account for what they have done. That in essence is what accountability means. You are called up to account for the things you have done.

What has Taib and his party done to Sarawak for the last 30 years? Taib and his cabal of leaders have brought much development to Sarawak. To free Sarawakians from primitive state of affairs- underdevelopment stunted growth, primitive lifestyles, civilizing the natives bringing them into the 20^th century and beyond.

All that, said the wise people is spectacular development. Sterling! Screamed some people with lard-laden brains.

The people of Sarawak has only one response to give to Taib and his cabal of leaders- continue giving us the lies, we shall not stop uncovering the truths.

Right now, you have only one historic mission. Get Taib to step down as Chief Minister. Showing him the exit is the single most potent weapon and burning issue against the Barisan Nasional in the state general elections. Whoever sides with Taib stands for corruption and against the people.

Getting him out has united Sarawakians . This shared thinking is possible because 30 years of his kleptocratic rule as Chief Minister has bred and entrenched the habits of non-accountability, lack of transparency and absence decency of good governance. Remember kleptocracy is associated with the meaning of thief and theft.

That thiever, none better illustrated by the mountain of allegations on abuses of power and rampant corruption under his rule which he has not been able to rebut. Dato Seri Najib Razak is not unaware of what is happening to Sarawak with Taib at the helm, but Najib appears to have been immobilized by the phalanx of bomohs and witches surrounding Taib Mahmud.

It is obvious, DS Najib is even powerless to have Taib committed to an early date to step down . The PM has repeatedly been rebuffed by the Chief Minister and there is nothing the Prime Minister could do about it.

Taib Mahmud is not an UMNO member and his reaction to the PM's announcement that Taib will leave office is like telling the PM to F off from his turf. Taib is saying, who are you telling me what to do with my office, in my state? Sarawak is Taib's country. The PM can't do anything, but the people of Sarawak can.

Give yourselves that chance. Don't turn to others for succor.

SakmongkolAK47

16th April 2011 - Will Sarawak Find Its Voice At The Ballox Box Today?

2011-04-16T05:39:00.000+08:00

416: Sarawak, Silent No More

15 April, 2011

By Adrian Chew

LoyarBurokker and Sibu native Adrian Chew tells us to watch closely, as change is in the air in Sarawak.

Source: sempurai.rumahpanjai.com

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am now locked up in a handcuff that has taken a British mechanic five years to make.

I do not know whether I am going to get out of it or not, but I can assure you I am going to do my best."

Harry Houdini, London Hippodrome, St Patrick’s Day, 1904.

There’s something heavy in the air in the hornbill state.

Take a walk in any of the cities and towns and you’ll feel that undeniable sense of unity and common purpose.

Thousands upon thousands throng political ceramahs every night. Our placid roads turn into long crawling lines of red brake lights. Normally frugal womenfolk readily take out RM10 notes from their purses to insert into donation boxes. Heavy rains don’t deter thousands from coming and staying.

Sit in any coffeeshop during the day and you’ll notice everyone’s an overnight political commentator and connoisseur of oratory. Listen carefully and you’ll hear the same gripes repeated at every table.

Years of pent-up anger and frustration are coming to a boil. People come to hear all their dissatisfactions with the present government finally verbalised. You’ll empathise because as much as these are our problems, you’ll see that they’re also yours.

This state election is unlike previous ones in Sarawak. It’s obvious that something’s afoot. There is a feeling of empowerment and camaraderie. Everyone feels infused with renewed energy and a single clear mission — Change. Demand It.

Our political awakening is coupled with deep-rooted frustration. And why wouldn’t we feel this way?

After all, who isn’t affected by rampant corruption in the state? Who doesn’t notice the few who have and the many who don’t? Who doesn’t have issues related to land? Whose son or daughter needs to leave the state to get a decent education or find a better paying job? And whose children and grandchildren never came back after that?

Symbolic of the detachment between the current crop of leaders and the people, local politicians continue to pose for newspapers, pointing their fingers at clogged drains and potholes promising to fix them if re-elected. Land premiums will be lowered and there’ll be automatic renewals of land leases.

"Floods will be a thing of the past because look, we’re raising road levels." (never mind that the road is now the same level as your roof).

"This is a state election and these are the real Sarawak issues," they assert. "Don’t be too concerned and influenced by Semenanjung issues."

They’ll have us believe we’re a state unto ourselves and that what happens across the dividing sea has no effect on local affairs. And by focusing on the symptoms, hopefully we’ll forget the illness.

But we know better now.

Urban voters have come of age and can identify corruption and failure of governance as the main causes of these problems. We’re aware that the candidates we vote into the DUN or Parliament must be able to carry our voices and translate them into action. They must be capable of formulating policies that are far-sighted and beneficial to their electorates.

We want representatives who will work for us and solve our problems. Not create more.

If they’re elected in and must still sit on the opposition benches, then the least we can do is to make sure we send in those who dare to speak and speak up strongly because so often is it the case in Malaysia that pro-government wakil rakyat (people’s representatives) keep mute on issues that are closest to the people’s hearts.

We’re also very aware that the power structure here that keeps this illness untreated in the state is the same lifeline that enables the wanton abuse of power on the other side of the sea to go unchecked.

While Sarawak may not yet experience religious crackdowns, deteriorating racial relations or the stifling of civil political discourse now commonplace in the peninsula, if we keep quiet and acquiesce, it is only a matter of time before those scenes are seen here.

Already, we share a deeply entrenched culture of economic rent seeking and government-assisted monopolies that are bleeding our economy dry. Already too, there is open discontent and people expressing differing opinions to a government unaccustomed to listening.

The crisis we face today is real and it transcends state boundaries.

Money is being pumped into constructing infrastructures we don’t need. More dams and power supply than we know what to do with. For quick returns, we welcome more industries that pose environmental and health risks to our own population. More displacement of natives to make way for logging and plantation concessions. At every level, benefits go to a select few and seldom to the masses.

On our streets, crime is high. To make matters worse, those we entrust to keep us safe stand accused of brutality. A 15-year-old is gunned down after a car chase. There are deaths in lock-ups. People fall out of windows. Couples are arrested for celebrating Valentine’s Day. Courts, our last bastion of justice, are not seen to be dispensing basic fairness. Even lawyers talk about boycotting them.

Institutions that are supposed to protect us no longer function as such. How can you fault the ordinary Malaysian on the street for having no confidence in the government? We’ve come to the point where we’re begging for protection from all these institutions.

As if it’s not bad enough that we’ve failed ourselves, we’ve also failed our future generations by turning our education system into a farce with all the policy flip-flopping. In Sarawak, there are children entering secondary schools today who are unable to recite the alphabet or read simple words.

They can’t converse in Bahasa Malaysia much less English and speak only Iban in their classrooms. What do we do to address this problem? Certainly, spending more money on laptops and Internet connection isn’t the answer. We’re going everywhere except to the root of the problem.

The 85-year-old Bidayuh market stall owner I know in town speaks more fluent English than most of the schoolchildren today. It is the height of irony that a man who lived his best years under British colonial rule is better equipped today to deal with the challenges of the 21st century than his own grandchildren.

Even natives deep in rural Sarawak who make a deliberate choice to live a life of subsistence and not be bothered with all these issues are also not spared. Thousands have had their land taken from them and forced to defend their birth rights in an alien bureaucracy against corporations that have little care for what they’ve lost. Alone they stand for the state too has conspired against them.

Seek solace, you say? Grab your Bible and pray to God? You’ll only be reminded of another sad fact that our government is everywhere except the places it should be. Everything it does is a mass of contradictions.

What right-thinking Sarawakian can look around and still believe this nation is in good hands? Malaya’s ablaze. Sabah doesn’t even half belong to Sabahans anymore.

It’s obvious what needs to be done on 416.

Something’s got to change.

So watch what we do.

Soon enough your turn will come too.

This article was published on The Malaysian Insider.

How Taib Made His Billions

2011-04-15T05:22:00.000+08:00

Taib’s Ten Income Streams

Posted on April 14, 2011 by sarawakreport

How did he get the money?

Recently we spoke to one of Taib’s key business partners in strict confidence. He explained to us what he described as the 10 main income streams that have turned the Chief Minister into a multi-billionaire over the past 30 years. In the process he gave us a fascinating insight into the business practices of Abdul Taib Mahmud.

They all involve the abuse of power, corruption and the exploitation of the people and environment of Sarawak. Our interviewee, who has done years of business with the Mahmud family, told us he believes that Taib is probably the richest man in South East Asia, having cashed in the Sarawak Rainforest.

Income Stream 1

He got nothing of course!

Timber Licences– The Ministry of Forests issues timber licences for 5, 10, 15 years. It is the Chief Minister who decides the price and he demands money to issue them.

Cronies who deal with the Chief Minister are instructed to pay their bribes and kickbacks into foreign bank accounts outside of Sarawak, often in Hong Kong or Singapore in the early days.

The informant told us that, because the timber companies declare so little profit, very little tax is paid and hardly any of the money made from felling the trees came back into Sarawak.

Income Stream 2

Taib has admitted he "started daughter Jamilah up in business". CAN$4.5 million was invested in the first year into Sakto alone.

Tonnage- On top of this, our informant told us, he charges the timber company a kickback of RM100 per ton of wood they log. This alone is worth RM2 billion a year, since for the last 30 years around 20 million tons have been felled each year.

Income Stream 3

Extending Timber Licences – Companies wanting to be listed on the Stock Exchange have a requirement that the expiry date for their assigned areas has to be at least 15 years, meaning they have to extend their licences.

They go to the CM who says “Ok can you see my brother Onn” [in the earlier period Onn managed Taib’s businesses in Sarawak and abroad].

Sakto in Canada is worth hundreds of millions of dollars

Because the requirement by the KL Stock Exchange was 30% Bumi Shareholders the timber tycoon would invite a Taib family member of Taib’s choice to take these 30% of the shares for free!

But these family members are usually nominees – they sign a blank share transfer form and a blank director resignation form, which Taib takes and keeps in his safe or in the foreign bank’s safe deposit box. In this way Taib can make them resign whenever he likes and keeps ultimate ownership of the shares!

Income Stream 4

Lucrative monopoly over shipping licences meant Taibs could squeeze the Japanese shipping firms.

Achipelago Shipping- Using their control over the monopoly over timber export licences, handled by Onn Mahmud’s company Achipelago, the Mahmuds charged US$ 4.00 per cubic metre in kickbacks from the Japanese shipping companies.

Since 16 million cubic meters were exported most years, this was worth US$64 million a year (RM200,000,000).

Another insider has explained to us the system. The logs would be weighed going onto the ships and every ship’s tally would be recorded and sent to Onn Mahmud’s office manager in Hong Kong, who was Mr Shea Kin Kwok.

The Japanese shipping companies would pay the money into one of around six companies in Hong Kong. In 2007 the Japanese tax authorities fined a number of companies for undeclared tax on some of these payments to the Taibs.

Income Stream 5

Grandiose - one of Sakto's sister companies, Ridgeford, has a string of properties in London

Achipelago Shipping (2)- Agency fees from the shipping company. Achipelago had the monopoly of all documentation for shipping. One shipment would have to pay US$2,000 in agency fees plus other charges.

It would amount to US$10,000 (RM30,000) per ship per visit. All this of course just added to the cost to the buyers in Japan.

Onn Mahmud was only a nominee in this enterprise, we are told. Taib would give him 10%. The insiders say that Achipelago Shipping was the major ‘cash-cow’ for the Taibs. Onn had not wanted to take on the job of managing it at first, as he did not understand the potential, but in the end and it made the family billions in black money.

Income Stream 6

Development? What development?

Privatisation of Government Companies- Taib corporatizes and then privatises state assets, selling them off to public listed companies, which are in fact majority-owned by the Taib family and nominees. Sarawak’s largest company CMS was formed in this way, it is mainly owned by Taib’s family and the Chief Managers are his son Abu Bekir and son-in-law Alwee Alsree.

According to our insider, the method is to pretend the state asset is losing money and decide to sell it. Before privatisation money is poured into up-grading the facilities and then it is corporatized. Then finally, it is ‘privatised’. He will make an offer from eg CMS to buy it and the negotiations all go on behind closed doors, where he represents the State of Sarawak as Finance Minister.

Taib makes a big play at the closing stages of the negotiations, when there is a meeting to make the final decision. He excuses himself on the grounds that he has an interest and leaves the meeting to be chaired by Jabu or George Chan, who waves it through.

Income Stream 7

Logging or plain theft?

Illegal Logging in Indonesia- Hardwood Timber Sdn Bhd licences wood which has been illegally logged and brought over the border, according to the business associate.

“They levy handling fees in the border area. They charge RM17 per ton. There are many, many little companies doing this. A lot of jobless gangsters”.

It legitimises the theft from the Indonesians. Indonesia has complained in the past, but it is still going on.

Income Stream 8

Federal payments for infrastructure or just graft?

Federal Government Contracts- Nearly all the Federal Government projects in Sarawak are done by the Taib family companies. Roads, schools, hospitals – nearly all the projects that the Prime Minister is going around promising now as he tries to buy the election, will end up profiting the Taib family more than anyone else!

This is because the CM has the sole authority to endorse an application to pre-qualify to tender. In order to get a permit to tender for a project you need a supporting letter from the CM and generally only his family companies get them!

Adelaide Hilton is another Taib foreign property

Hardly anyone else gets a chance, says our business insider. Some Iban companies do get projects, because the Federal Government does not want to be seen to be giving them all to Taib, but he gets 70-80% of them!

Once the Taib company has received the Federal Contract it then sub-contracts the work for a nice profit and lets someone else do the work with a much smaller budget. This means there is a likelihood that it will be sub-standard and everyone else is squeezed.

Income Stream 9

The Alienation of State Land to Oil Palm Plantations – Our business leader informant tells us that Taib charges at least RM 1,000-1,500 per acre in kickbacks.

This amounts to at least RM20,000,000 for a 10,000 hectare plantation His chosen negotiator will explain this to the purchaser. The licensee has to pay the money outside of Sarawak into an off-shore account.

YB Ali Mahmud is just one of the family members to have done well out of land grabs.

Leaked records from the Land and Survey Department to Sarawak Report shows that around 1.4 million hectares has been handed out by land and survey for plantations. So if our informant is right this amounts to a very nice sum of money for Taib 1,500 X 1,400,000 is RM 2,100,000,000 or RM2.1 billion.

How it works is the person who wants land writes to the Land and Survey Department run by Taib. You pay the official premium to the Government, which is for example RM300-350 per acre, but on top of that it is the secret RM1,500 that you have to pay to Taib.

Now the prices are rocketing, Taib likes to complain to his business cronies that he regrets having sold so much off so quickly in the early years!

Income Stream 10

Borneo Convention Centre and just about any other State Contract you care to mention goes to Taib companies.

State Contracts- Taib has full control over these and at least 70% goes to his own family companies, bringing in hundreds of millions annually.

Recent eye-catching state projects that went to the Taibs have been the new DUN Parliament Building and the Borneo Convention Centre.

Our contact says this is by no means a complete list of the money-making opportunities the Chief Minister has enjoyed in Sarawak, but it goes some way to explain the enormous wealth visibly enjoyed by himself and by his family.

Plenty of questions to answer - staged interviews are not enough.

Once this wealth has been taken abroad and invested in property and other ventures there has been a whole new opportunity to multiply the wealth several times over.

Taib is known to have done very well investing in rocketing property markets in the US, Canada, UK and Australia. However, he is also believed to have lost money in poor investments such as the Icelandic banks!

River view. Taib's Sarawak home.

Not far down the road from Taib's house in Kuching.