During a forum on Budget 2018 earlier this week, Najib said that tolls should be abolished, adding that wherever possible he would look into unraveling the legacy problems caused by toll concession agreements.
Malaysians shouldn’t fall the empty promises of the Prime Minister whose track record has proven that he has zero commitment in abolishing these tolls.
It isn’t the first time Dato’ Seri Najib Razak promised to abolish tolls or lower toll rates. In Barisan Nasional’s manifesto for the 13th General Election, Najib promised the gradual reduction of intracity tolls within 5 years. Yet, 5 years on, not only has this promise failed to be delivered, he delivered the exact opposite.
In October 2015, 18 tolls operated by 11 concessionaires were allowed to increase their fares with some even going up RM2.30 overnight. These included toll routes such as the LDP, SMART Tunnel, MEX, AKLEH and NPE in the Klang Valley as well as the Senai-Desaru Highway in Johor and the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) in Penang.
In response to this, Najib turned around and said the the government had no choice but to allow the toll fares to increase because preventing it would require massive compensation payments. The Prime Minister went on to threaten Malaysians that taxes would have to be increased if the government were to abolish tolls.
The Prime Minister’s threats have proven true because when the government did remove certain tolls, they paid exhorbitant compensation equivalent to the amount of toll these concessionaires would have collected anyway!
When the Batu Tiga, Sg Rasau, Bukit Kayu Hitam and Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) tolls were removed last year, the government will be paying RM2.2 billion for the first 3 tolls. For the EDL, the government will reportedly be paying a yearly compensation of RM70 million.
The above means, Najib “abolish tolls” or not, the BN government would always profit the concessionaires. Malaysians would either have to pay for the tolls directly, or pay for them via taxes paid to the Government.
Most hypocritically, the Prime Minister had only recent on 3rd December criticised Pakatan Harapan’s plan to eliminate highway tolls and reintroduce petrol subsidies will increase air pollution in the country. So did Najib temporarily change his mind to fish for votes in the impending General Election, just as he did in 2013?
Pakatan Harapan believes in the rule of law and the sanctity of the contract signed between the Government and the toll concessionaires. The provisions of the contracts allow for the Government to expropriate or buy back the concessions at cost, subject to a minimum return for the concessionaires for the past years of operations.
Barring exceptions, the agreements do not at any point in time require the Government to compensate these concessionaires for future profits. Why is the BN Government so adamant in ensuring these toll concessionaires are paid their future profits at the expense of Malaysian tax-payers?
All this is proof that Najib’s ‘promise’ to abolish tolls is just another empty promise by a Prime Minister and government desperate to hold on to power. Malaysians should not fall for these empty promises and should not forget the government’s own inability to deliver on the same pledge that it had made 5 years ago.
Showing posts with label Barisan Nasional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barisan Nasional. Show all posts
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Friday, February 09, 2018
Rahman Dahlan’s dismissive attitude towards Malaysian’s inability to afford even daily groceries shows his blatant disregard for the issues of the average Malaysian.
Earlier this week, Mydin owner Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin had said that though the Goverment’s published GDP figures showed strong growth, consumers seemed to be spending less and less on grocery shopping. He suggested that Malaysians just did not seem to have the same amount of money to spend as before, even though the economy has been growing.
Mydin’s comments quickly drew responses from members of the Government, including Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan who was quick to defend the Government’s economic measures. He said that hypermarket sales only made up 8% of total retail sales, which had seen overall growth both in terms of volume and value. He further added that Malaysians did indeed have more money to spend as highlighted by increases in domestic tourist expenditures as well as tourist spending abroad.
Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan’s dismissive attitude towards Mydin’s claim shows just how out of touch the BN Government is from the daily struggles faced by average Malaysians. If even low-priced hypermarkets like Mydin are facing weakened consumer demand, where does the Minister expect Malaysians to be buying their everyday groceries? Does he think Malaysians are going abroad to do their groceries?
Last November, 5 Giant hypermarkets were shuttered by owners GCH Retail (Malaysia).The 2017 Malaysia Retail Industry Report, also noted that consumers were less likely to spend money in the past year owing to the increasing cost of living. The same report noted that hypermarket sales in general had shrunk 3.1% in the first 3 quarters of 2017.
Accordingly, Malaysian consumers were found to be more frugal and judicious with their spending opting to make smaller purchases at different stores to make the most out of the various discount and offers provided by different stores.
All the above information is consistent with the Government’s own statistics. Inflation last year was the highest we’ve seen in years, averaging 3.7%. In particular, food and non-alcoholic beverages saw an increase of 4% over the past year. Regardless of whether someone is shopping in a hypermarket or a pasar tani, these price increases are present everywhere.
The Government should not be flaunting the spending statistics of Malaysians who can afford to travel abroad as proof that all Malaysians are better. Worse, they should not be dismissing the very real and loud complains of average Malaysians who struggle to even afford their daily groceries.
If the BN Government has no sympathy or empathy for the ordinary men on the street, it is time for them to get the boot. Malaysians deserves a government that looks out for the interest of all Malaysians and does not dismiss the real issues being faced everyday.
Mydin’s comments quickly drew responses from members of the Government, including Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dato’ Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan who was quick to defend the Government’s economic measures. He said that hypermarket sales only made up 8% of total retail sales, which had seen overall growth both in terms of volume and value. He further added that Malaysians did indeed have more money to spend as highlighted by increases in domestic tourist expenditures as well as tourist spending abroad.
Dato’ Seri Rahman Dahlan’s dismissive attitude towards Mydin’s claim shows just how out of touch the BN Government is from the daily struggles faced by average Malaysians. If even low-priced hypermarkets like Mydin are facing weakened consumer demand, where does the Minister expect Malaysians to be buying their everyday groceries? Does he think Malaysians are going abroad to do their groceries?
Last November, 5 Giant hypermarkets were shuttered by owners GCH Retail (Malaysia).The 2017 Malaysia Retail Industry Report, also noted that consumers were less likely to spend money in the past year owing to the increasing cost of living. The same report noted that hypermarket sales in general had shrunk 3.1% in the first 3 quarters of 2017.
Accordingly, Malaysian consumers were found to be more frugal and judicious with their spending opting to make smaller purchases at different stores to make the most out of the various discount and offers provided by different stores.
All the above information is consistent with the Government’s own statistics. Inflation last year was the highest we’ve seen in years, averaging 3.7%. In particular, food and non-alcoholic beverages saw an increase of 4% over the past year. Regardless of whether someone is shopping in a hypermarket or a pasar tani, these price increases are present everywhere.
The Government should not be flaunting the spending statistics of Malaysians who can afford to travel abroad as proof that all Malaysians are better. Worse, they should not be dismissing the very real and loud complains of average Malaysians who struggle to even afford their daily groceries.
If the BN Government has no sympathy or empathy for the ordinary men on the street, it is time for them to get the boot. Malaysians deserves a government that looks out for the interest of all Malaysians and does not dismiss the real issues being faced everyday.
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Will Dato’ Seri Azalina Othman take action against Berita Harian for publishing fake news on falling car prices?
This Sunday’s cover story in UMNO-owned newspaper Berita Harian (BH) proudly declared, “harga kereta turun” (car prices decrease), reporting that car prices had dropped 13.1% as a result of the government’s automotive policies as well as the strengthening ringgit.
To further drive home the point, the accompanying full-page reports in the paper carried the headline “Menepati Janji Manifesto BN” (fulfilling the promises of the BN Manifesto. It was accompanied by an infographic comparing prices between 2013 and 2018 for different models of cars owned by Malaysians. The graphic suggested that prices for the various local, Japanese and European cars had decreased significantly between 2.25% and 20.77% since 2013.
However, a lengthy report on specialist automotive blog paultan.org showed just how misleading the report by Berita Harian was. They noted that the comparisons made by Berita Harian compared different variants for the same model and used inaccurate pricing information.
For example, the BH article had compared the 2013 Perodua Alza’s 1.6 SE Manual model with the 2018 Standard model to show a 14.18% reduction in price.
For the Proton Exora, the newspaper had even used an inflated price for its 2013 comparison to further exaggerate the decrease. Instead of using the original price at 2013, it used the 2016 price, which came after price increase across the range. Worse, the report even included insurance for its ‘2013’ price whereas the current price stated does not include insurance.
The comparisons provided were at best between apples and oranges, and at worst, comparing fake apples with real oranges.
In the last elections, one of Barisan Nasional’s key manifesto points was that car prices would decrease 20-30%. The Berita Harian report was unabashly singing praises of the BN Government’s purportedly successful delivery of this promise.
However, the findings by paultan.org proved the complete opposite.
Here’s a simple question for the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman who has been given the responsibility to table an anti-fake news bill in the next parliamentary sitting – will she instruct MCMC or even the Home Ministry to take action against BH for publishing the outrageous fake news? If she doesn’t, then it is clear that she is not sincere in ensuring an anti-fake news bill which is fair, and which will not be abused by the BN government to punish opposition critics and whistleblowers.
To further drive home the point, the accompanying full-page reports in the paper carried the headline “Menepati Janji Manifesto BN” (fulfilling the promises of the BN Manifesto. It was accompanied by an infographic comparing prices between 2013 and 2018 for different models of cars owned by Malaysians. The graphic suggested that prices for the various local, Japanese and European cars had decreased significantly between 2.25% and 20.77% since 2013.
However, a lengthy report on specialist automotive blog paultan.org showed just how misleading the report by Berita Harian was. They noted that the comparisons made by Berita Harian compared different variants for the same model and used inaccurate pricing information.
For example, the BH article had compared the 2013 Perodua Alza’s 1.6 SE Manual model with the 2018 Standard model to show a 14.18% reduction in price.
For the Proton Exora, the newspaper had even used an inflated price for its 2013 comparison to further exaggerate the decrease. Instead of using the original price at 2013, it used the 2016 price, which came after price increase across the range. Worse, the report even included insurance for its ‘2013’ price whereas the current price stated does not include insurance.
The comparisons provided were at best between apples and oranges, and at worst, comparing fake apples with real oranges.
In the last elections, one of Barisan Nasional’s key manifesto points was that car prices would decrease 20-30%. The Berita Harian report was unabashly singing praises of the BN Government’s purportedly successful delivery of this promise.
However, the findings by paultan.org proved the complete opposite.
Here’s a simple question for the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman who has been given the responsibility to table an anti-fake news bill in the next parliamentary sitting – will she instruct MCMC or even the Home Ministry to take action against BH for publishing the outrageous fake news? If she doesn’t, then it is clear that she is not sincere in ensuring an anti-fake news bill which is fair, and which will not be abused by the BN government to punish opposition critics and whistleblowers.
Wednesday, January 03, 2018
Only a totalitarian communist-like regime would ban books and art without requiring the authorities to provide any rhyme or reason.
On December 19, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s book ‘Assalamualaikum: Observations on the Islamisation of Malaysia’ was banned under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPA). As usual, only official reason given for this ban is that the book is "likely to be prejudicial to public order as well as public interest and is likely to alarm public opinion".
The addition of ‘Assalamualaikum’ to the growing list of books banned by the Malaysian government is proof of the government’s outright disregard for freedom of expression and ideas in Malaysia.
According to Zaid, the Home Ministry did not explain or consult him before banning his book nor was he even informed that the book would be banned. It goes to show the immense and arbitrary power that the PPA accords the Home Ministry to ban these without any clear reasoning.
Such curt excuses to ban books certainly harks back to the Stalinist or Maoist regimes where any forms of expression, whether in writing or in art, which are deemed prejudicial to the interest of the ruling elites are banned.
In 2017 alone, 44 gazettes have been issued to ban publications in Malaysia. Among the political titles banned are civil society group G25’s new book Breaking The Silence: Voices of Moderation; Islam in a Constitutional Democracy and reknowed academic Professor Farish A. Noor’s From Majapahit to Putrajaya, which was published in 2005.
The banning of these titles without any clear justification shows that the government exercising totalitarian control over what ideas can be discussed by Malaysians. This goes completely against the values of democracy that our country holds so dear.
In a democratic state, the authors and publishers would be hauled to the Courts to be charged for any criminal offences which may have taken place. Even if there were no criminal elements involved, the Government must at the very least provide facts and justifications to prove the contents of these books to be wrong.
However, the BN regime will not even pretend to rebut the arguments carried in the book, however feeble the rebuttals might have been.
Just last month I had questioned the government’s censorship of arts following the confiscation of works at the KL Biennale for purportedly containing ‘elements of communism’. It seems that the thought policing of our government will continue with the banning of these books and the continued censorship of our media.
We call upon the Home Affairs Minister to prove that Malaysia is not taking great leaps to undermine democratic principles enshrined in our Federal Constitution, in remaking Malaysia into a communist state.
The addition of ‘Assalamualaikum’ to the growing list of books banned by the Malaysian government is proof of the government’s outright disregard for freedom of expression and ideas in Malaysia.
According to Zaid, the Home Ministry did not explain or consult him before banning his book nor was he even informed that the book would be banned. It goes to show the immense and arbitrary power that the PPA accords the Home Ministry to ban these without any clear reasoning.
Such curt excuses to ban books certainly harks back to the Stalinist or Maoist regimes where any forms of expression, whether in writing or in art, which are deemed prejudicial to the interest of the ruling elites are banned.
In 2017 alone, 44 gazettes have been issued to ban publications in Malaysia. Among the political titles banned are civil society group G25’s new book Breaking The Silence: Voices of Moderation; Islam in a Constitutional Democracy and reknowed academic Professor Farish A. Noor’s From Majapahit to Putrajaya, which was published in 2005.
The banning of these titles without any clear justification shows that the government exercising totalitarian control over what ideas can be discussed by Malaysians. This goes completely against the values of democracy that our country holds so dear.
In a democratic state, the authors and publishers would be hauled to the Courts to be charged for any criminal offences which may have taken place. Even if there were no criminal elements involved, the Government must at the very least provide facts and justifications to prove the contents of these books to be wrong.
However, the BN regime will not even pretend to rebut the arguments carried in the book, however feeble the rebuttals might have been.
Just last month I had questioned the government’s censorship of arts following the confiscation of works at the KL Biennale for purportedly containing ‘elements of communism’. It seems that the thought policing of our government will continue with the banning of these books and the continued censorship of our media.
We call upon the Home Affairs Minister to prove that Malaysia is not taking great leaps to undermine democratic principles enshrined in our Federal Constitution, in remaking Malaysia into a communist state.
Monday, December 18, 2017
So now MCA President Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai and PAS President Dato’ Seri Hadi Awang sings the same desperate broken racist tune to fish for votes?
Just when you think that MCA could not sink any lower, MCA President Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai beats all expectations by jumping on the bandwagon to demonise Lim Kit Siang as a potential Prime Minister.
His statement recycles the same fake news that is being peddled by UMNO and PAS that Lim Kit Siang will become Prime Minister if the Opposition wins the next election. Kit Siang has already said time and time again that he has no intention of becoming Prime Minister, yet the government seems to have run out of ideas to promote itself that it is relying on its tired propaganda of portraying him and the DAP as the only party in the Opposition.
It has long been the weapon of UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his merrymen to threaten the Malays with losing power. During the ruling party's Annual General Meeting earlier this month, Wanita Umno Chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that voting for Pakatan Harapan would lead to rule by “Emperor Lim”.
It is a weapon to diminish the importance the Malay voters will place on the outrageous scandals and misdeeds which have been carried out against Malaysians. These would include tens of billions of ringgit worth of shennanigans in government ministries and state-owned enterprises like 1MDB, FEDLA, MARA and Tabung Haji. The diversionary lie is also to distract voters from feeling the pain of rising prices, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), weak ringgit and a stagnant economy.
Most uncannily, Liow Tiong Lai’s statement comes right after PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang took a similar position to support UMNO last weekend.
“In fact, for DAP leaders to become the prime minister if the opposition front wins the 14th general election (GE14) goes against the reality in Malaysia, where the concept of an Islamic country means Islam must be in power. This is important. We want to maintain the leadership of Muslims in this country,” Hadi was reported telling Berita Harian in an interview.
Perhaps it should not have come at a surprise that MCA is now so desperate that it felt the need to peddle the same fear mongering rhetoric as PAS. Liow Tiong Lai also said that Lim Kit Siang was clever at sowing racial discord. In echoing the PAS President’s calls, has is Liow now admitting that there should never be a Malaysia for all Malaysians?
The MCA President must have finally realised that it has no hopes of recovering support from the non-Malay community. He is now hoping that by demonstrating subservience to UMNO and PAS, it can receive higher Malay support. This will ensure that MCA might be able to hold on the the handful of remaining seats it possess – such as his own in Bentong where he won with a wafer thin 379-vote majority.
There could not be a greater irony than a political party founded on the need to protect the interest of the Chinese community is now parroting the racially-tainted lies and propaganda espoused by the ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ extremists in UMNO and PAS.
His statement recycles the same fake news that is being peddled by UMNO and PAS that Lim Kit Siang will become Prime Minister if the Opposition wins the next election. Kit Siang has already said time and time again that he has no intention of becoming Prime Minister, yet the government seems to have run out of ideas to promote itself that it is relying on its tired propaganda of portraying him and the DAP as the only party in the Opposition.
It has long been the weapon of UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his merrymen to threaten the Malays with losing power. During the ruling party's Annual General Meeting earlier this month, Wanita Umno Chief Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil warned that voting for Pakatan Harapan would lead to rule by “Emperor Lim”.
It is a weapon to diminish the importance the Malay voters will place on the outrageous scandals and misdeeds which have been carried out against Malaysians. These would include tens of billions of ringgit worth of shennanigans in government ministries and state-owned enterprises like 1MDB, FEDLA, MARA and Tabung Haji. The diversionary lie is also to distract voters from feeling the pain of rising prices, the Goods & Services Tax (GST), weak ringgit and a stagnant economy.
Most uncannily, Liow Tiong Lai’s statement comes right after PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang took a similar position to support UMNO last weekend.
“In fact, for DAP leaders to become the prime minister if the opposition front wins the 14th general election (GE14) goes against the reality in Malaysia, where the concept of an Islamic country means Islam must be in power. This is important. We want to maintain the leadership of Muslims in this country,” Hadi was reported telling Berita Harian in an interview.
Perhaps it should not have come at a surprise that MCA is now so desperate that it felt the need to peddle the same fear mongering rhetoric as PAS. Liow Tiong Lai also said that Lim Kit Siang was clever at sowing racial discord. In echoing the PAS President’s calls, has is Liow now admitting that there should never be a Malaysia for all Malaysians?
The MCA President must have finally realised that it has no hopes of recovering support from the non-Malay community. He is now hoping that by demonstrating subservience to UMNO and PAS, it can receive higher Malay support. This will ensure that MCA might be able to hold on the the handful of remaining seats it possess – such as his own in Bentong where he won with a wafer thin 379-vote majority.
There could not be a greater irony than a political party founded on the need to protect the interest of the Chinese community is now parroting the racially-tainted lies and propaganda espoused by the ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ extremists in UMNO and PAS.
Wednesday, December 13, 2017
DBKL's in-your-face defiance to Cabinet directive freezing all high-end property developments above RM1 million per unit proves that BN Government has lost total control of its limbs
Following a meeting with DBKL Mayor Tan Sri Mohamad Amin Nordin, my colleagues from Parliament revealed yesterday that DBKL would not be enacting the announced freeze on high-rise property developments above RM1 million. According to Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, DBKL Mayor said that the ban would not be implemented in the Golden Triangle as it would infeasible.
City Hall’s response confirms two glaring flaws in the government’s ‘hare-brained’ solution to the oversupply of luxury properties in the country. Firstly, as I’ve stated before, it shows how ill-thought out and impractical the ban actually is.
Secondly and more importantly, DBKL’s defiance of a Cabinet directive demonstrates just how toothless Putrajaya’s is. Ironically the BNM report specifically highlighted that in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley alone, the report found that office vacancy rates had increased from 20.9% in Q1 2015 to 23.6% in Q1 2017. The situation is only set to get worse with an incoming supply of additional 38 million square feet of office space.
The property freeze was first announced on November 17 by Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani following the release of Bank Negara’s (BNM) report on the severe supply and demand imbalance in the country’s property market. The freeze was supposedly a nationwide blanket ban which would freeze approvals on condominium, office and shopping mall developments valued above RM1 million per unit.
The announcement quickly became a farce when the Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof contradicted his cabinet colleague by saying the ‘blanket ban’ would actually be applied on a case by case basis. The Federal Territories Minister Dato’ Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor then added that 1MDB-linked projects - Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia would be exempted from the ban because they were ‘pre-approved’.
Finally, cabinet made a full u-turn last week when it said that developers could appeal the ban to a Ministerial committee comprising the Second Finance Minister, the Works Minister, Urban Wellbeing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
However, yesterday’s revelation by the DBKL Mayor proved that all these acrobatics are unnecessary since any decision by the Cabinet is utterly futile. If DBKL can do it, then there’s no reason why all other local councils in the country would comply with the directive.
The above further showed why we have reached such a state of severe “demand and supply imbalance” in the first place despite warnings from BNM since 2015. It is precisely because of the Cabinet’s impotence, that whatever policy that has been decided upon – good or bad, are completely diulted, if not ignored altogether like the above, by the its implementation agencies.
Beyond the major policy decisions Putrajaya needs to make to remedy the increasingly severe property sector problems which will have far-reaching consequences for our economy, there is a clear need to overhaul the Government bureaucracy to ensure policies made are carried out to the letter. Otherwise, you may have the world’s best policy-makers and the highest paid consultants, but all would be wasted with a Government effectively run by politically entrenched warlords and little Napoleons.
City Hall’s response confirms two glaring flaws in the government’s ‘hare-brained’ solution to the oversupply of luxury properties in the country. Firstly, as I’ve stated before, it shows how ill-thought out and impractical the ban actually is.
Secondly and more importantly, DBKL’s defiance of a Cabinet directive demonstrates just how toothless Putrajaya’s is. Ironically the BNM report specifically highlighted that in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley alone, the report found that office vacancy rates had increased from 20.9% in Q1 2015 to 23.6% in Q1 2017. The situation is only set to get worse with an incoming supply of additional 38 million square feet of office space.
The property freeze was first announced on November 17 by Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani following the release of Bank Negara’s (BNM) report on the severe supply and demand imbalance in the country’s property market. The freeze was supposedly a nationwide blanket ban which would freeze approvals on condominium, office and shopping mall developments valued above RM1 million per unit.
The announcement quickly became a farce when the Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof contradicted his cabinet colleague by saying the ‘blanket ban’ would actually be applied on a case by case basis. The Federal Territories Minister Dato’ Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor then added that 1MDB-linked projects - Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia would be exempted from the ban because they were ‘pre-approved’.
Finally, cabinet made a full u-turn last week when it said that developers could appeal the ban to a Ministerial committee comprising the Second Finance Minister, the Works Minister, Urban Wellbeing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
However, yesterday’s revelation by the DBKL Mayor proved that all these acrobatics are unnecessary since any decision by the Cabinet is utterly futile. If DBKL can do it, then there’s no reason why all other local councils in the country would comply with the directive.
The above further showed why we have reached such a state of severe “demand and supply imbalance” in the first place despite warnings from BNM since 2015. It is precisely because of the Cabinet’s impotence, that whatever policy that has been decided upon – good or bad, are completely diulted, if not ignored altogether like the above, by the its implementation agencies.
Beyond the major policy decisions Putrajaya needs to make to remedy the increasingly severe property sector problems which will have far-reaching consequences for our economy, there is a clear need to overhaul the Government bureaucracy to ensure policies made are carried out to the letter. Otherwise, you may have the world’s best policy-makers and the highest paid consultants, but all would be wasted with a Government effectively run by politically entrenched warlords and little Napoleons.
Thursday, December 07, 2017
Our Cabinet has some of the best back-flip acrobats in the world with the unbelievable twists and turns over high-end property development freeze
Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani announced on November 17 that the government had sent a directive to halt all approvals for high-end residences, shopping complexes and office buildings priced over RM1 million.
The freeze came after Bank Negara’s report on the substantial supply and demand imbalance within the country’s property market. The report found that new property launches were skewed towards the high-end sector of the market.
The Second Finance Minister subsequently reaffirmed the blanket ban after his fellow Cabinet colleague, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said that developments would be reviewed on a case by case basis.
The ‘blanket ban’ had smacked of being a ‘hare-brained’ policy prescription as the Government started granting exemptions to projects which the Government had a vested interested. In particular, the Minister of Federal Territories, Dato’ Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the 1MDB-linked projects – Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia were “pre-approved”, and are hence exempted.
The fact that Bandar Malaysia has not even found a developer with a plan appears immaterial to the ban exemption.
The biased exemption of such projects by Government-linked companies (GLCs) created an uproar among the private sector, who then lobbied hard to ease the ban.
Yesterday, the Government did another double-twist somersault on its ‘blanket ban’. Two statements by Urban Wellbeing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar and Datuk Seri Johari, suggested that the Government will now allow developers to appeal the ban on a case by case basis.
For luxury residential properties, Tan Sri Noh Omar announced that a four-minister committee to review the project applications comprising of Datuk Seri Johari, Datuk Fadillah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and himself. The committee would apparently subject its approvals to criteria including the existing housing condition, the number of houses in that location and those priced above RM1 million, as well as the number of unsold houses.
Separately, Datuk Johari said that developers of office spaces and shopping malls could appeal to the relevant ministers if they find locations that lack those properties and can justify their developments. He even went on to say that “anyone can build an office provided you know how to market it”.
Does the Minister actually think that developers are going to build an office block or a mall that they are not confident in selling?
I was among the first who had criticised that the blanket ban would not do much to remedy the property market imbalance. However, now the Ministers have granted themselves full discretionary powers to grant approval to any developers who can sweet talk way to win the hearts of the Ministers.
Have we now become a communist regime where the Government dictates how many left shoes to manufacture? Two big mistakes here certainly don’t make a right.
The multiple twists and turns worthy of a world-class acrobatic act only goes to prove that the Najib administration is completely clueless in policy-making. How does the above, for example, even address the main issue of the lack of affordable housing in the country and the largest oversupply of residential properties were reported at the RM500 000 to RM1 million segment?
The worst type of Government for any investor, foreign or domestic, is the absolutely lack of predictability and consistency in its policies. The current fiasco will certainly have major short to long term negative implications for Malaysia’s economy. The Cabinet must remedy its knee-jerk policy-making mechanism and instead, conduct a thorough study with all stakeholders, Bank Negara and think-tanks to design a consistent, constructive and incentivised policies to ensure continued growth and sustainability for the property sector and our economy.
The freeze came after Bank Negara’s report on the substantial supply and demand imbalance within the country’s property market. The report found that new property launches were skewed towards the high-end sector of the market.
The Second Finance Minister subsequently reaffirmed the blanket ban after his fellow Cabinet colleague, Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said that developments would be reviewed on a case by case basis.
The ‘blanket ban’ had smacked of being a ‘hare-brained’ policy prescription as the Government started granting exemptions to projects which the Government had a vested interested. In particular, the Minister of Federal Territories, Dato’ Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the 1MDB-linked projects – Tun Razak Exchange and Bandar Malaysia were “pre-approved”, and are hence exempted.
The fact that Bandar Malaysia has not even found a developer with a plan appears immaterial to the ban exemption.
The biased exemption of such projects by Government-linked companies (GLCs) created an uproar among the private sector, who then lobbied hard to ease the ban.
Yesterday, the Government did another double-twist somersault on its ‘blanket ban’. Two statements by Urban Wellbeing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar and Datuk Seri Johari, suggested that the Government will now allow developers to appeal the ban on a case by case basis.
For luxury residential properties, Tan Sri Noh Omar announced that a four-minister committee to review the project applications comprising of Datuk Seri Johari, Datuk Fadillah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and himself. The committee would apparently subject its approvals to criteria including the existing housing condition, the number of houses in that location and those priced above RM1 million, as well as the number of unsold houses.
Separately, Datuk Johari said that developers of office spaces and shopping malls could appeal to the relevant ministers if they find locations that lack those properties and can justify their developments. He even went on to say that “anyone can build an office provided you know how to market it”.
Does the Minister actually think that developers are going to build an office block or a mall that they are not confident in selling?
I was among the first who had criticised that the blanket ban would not do much to remedy the property market imbalance. However, now the Ministers have granted themselves full discretionary powers to grant approval to any developers who can sweet talk way to win the hearts of the Ministers.
Have we now become a communist regime where the Government dictates how many left shoes to manufacture? Two big mistakes here certainly don’t make a right.
The multiple twists and turns worthy of a world-class acrobatic act only goes to prove that the Najib administration is completely clueless in policy-making. How does the above, for example, even address the main issue of the lack of affordable housing in the country and the largest oversupply of residential properties were reported at the RM500 000 to RM1 million segment?
The worst type of Government for any investor, foreign or domestic, is the absolutely lack of predictability and consistency in its policies. The current fiasco will certainly have major short to long term negative implications for Malaysia’s economy. The Cabinet must remedy its knee-jerk policy-making mechanism and instead, conduct a thorough study with all stakeholders, Bank Negara and think-tanks to design a consistent, constructive and incentivised policies to ensure continued growth and sustainability for the property sector and our economy.
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must summon the US Ambassador and file an official protest to his golf buddy, President Donald Trump against the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions for disparaging and destroying Malaysia’s international reputation
US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions called the Malaysian 1MDB scandal “kleptocracy at its worst” at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery hosted by the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. He informed the international audience that half of the US$3.5 billion in assets seized by the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative was related to its suits on 1MDB.
He said that allegedly corrupt officials and their associates had reportedly used the 1MDB funds for a “lavish spending spree” such as US$200 million for real estate in South California and New York, US$130 million in artwork, US$100 million in an American music label and a US$265 million yacht.
1MDB officials allegedly laundered more than US$4.5 billion in total, he said, through a complex web of opaque transactions and shell companies with bank accounts in various countries such as Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg and the US.
These allegations, while not new, have taken a more serious turn as the United States Attorney-General has now made these allegations at the World Bank international conference.
The question now is whether our Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak will just let a foreign country disparage and destroy Malaysia’s international reputation and credibility? Is he not going to speak out to defend Malaysian’s honour? Does he think that the US Attorney-General’s speech will have no impact Malaysia’s attractiveness as a destination for tourism and investment?
We call upon the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to summon the United States Ambassador to express in the harshest possible terms our protest towards all the allegations made by the US Attorney-General. In fact, he should immediately file an official complaint with his golf-buddy, President Donald Trump and demand an apology from the United States government.
This week Dato’ Seri Najib is scheduled to address the UMNO General. There could not be a better opportunity for the Prime Minister to boast to his faithful that he has taken the firmest possible action against foreign powers bent on sabotaging Malaysia’s economy and progress.
Hence why is Dato’ Seri Najib Razak remaining quiet as a mouse? Is it because Jeff Sessions has merely stated what is the inconvenient truth for him and his administration?
In fact, the Government’s continued silence to the disparaging of Malaysia’s reputation and credibility by top Government leader overseas only serves to confirm that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his Government is guilty as charged – billions of dollars have been laundered by “corrupt officials and their associates”.
In that case, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must answer to every Malaysian as to why not a single person relating to the 1MDB scandal has been investigated and charged for these heinous crimes in Malaysia.
He said that allegedly corrupt officials and their associates had reportedly used the 1MDB funds for a “lavish spending spree” such as US$200 million for real estate in South California and New York, US$130 million in artwork, US$100 million in an American music label and a US$265 million yacht.
1MDB officials allegedly laundered more than US$4.5 billion in total, he said, through a complex web of opaque transactions and shell companies with bank accounts in various countries such as Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg and the US.
These allegations, while not new, have taken a more serious turn as the United States Attorney-General has now made these allegations at the World Bank international conference.
The question now is whether our Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak will just let a foreign country disparage and destroy Malaysia’s international reputation and credibility? Is he not going to speak out to defend Malaysian’s honour? Does he think that the US Attorney-General’s speech will have no impact Malaysia’s attractiveness as a destination for tourism and investment?
We call upon the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to summon the United States Ambassador to express in the harshest possible terms our protest towards all the allegations made by the US Attorney-General. In fact, he should immediately file an official complaint with his golf-buddy, President Donald Trump and demand an apology from the United States government.
This week Dato’ Seri Najib is scheduled to address the UMNO General. There could not be a better opportunity for the Prime Minister to boast to his faithful that he has taken the firmest possible action against foreign powers bent on sabotaging Malaysia’s economy and progress.
Hence why is Dato’ Seri Najib Razak remaining quiet as a mouse? Is it because Jeff Sessions has merely stated what is the inconvenient truth for him and his administration?
In fact, the Government’s continued silence to the disparaging of Malaysia’s reputation and credibility by top Government leader overseas only serves to confirm that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and his Government is guilty as charged – billions of dollars have been laundered by “corrupt officials and their associates”.
In that case, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak must answer to every Malaysian as to why not a single person relating to the 1MDB scandal has been investigated and charged for these heinous crimes in Malaysia.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Why hasn’t the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigated Johor MB, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin?
The whole of Malaysia have now seen the MACC investigation documents which have been leaked this week, implicating corruption by the Johor Menteri Besar (MB), Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin. The documents comprised of the witness statement taken by MACC during its investigation into Johor state executive councillor Datuk Abdul Latif Bandi. The documents come from the Commission’s interview with Amir Shariffuddin bin Abdul Raub, who was also charged with Datuk Latif in April this year.
MACC had investigated the two in relation to a land graft scandal, where the two had received multiple bribes amounting to RM30 million from developers in return for their assistance in changing the status of bumiputera lots as well as reducing the 7.5% charge levied upon developers.
As shocking as the initial news of their investigation was, the biggest shocker is found in the witness statement (relevant pages attached), where Amir admitted to delivering nearly RM12 million in cash to the Menteri Besar in return for the MB’s help in the necessary land changes.
The MACC has effectively confirmed the authenticity of these documents when Deputy MACC commissioner Dato’ Sri Azam Baki’s said yesterday that the documents were sent to the lawyers of one of the defendants in the case.
Now that the MACC has acknowledged the documents, they will have to explain their failure to investigate the MB, who is similarly implicated according to the witness statement.
The first account given by Amir was for an alleged transfer of RM4 million in September 2013. That kickback would come from the developer MB Land, which had solicited Amir’s help in converting the land status and waiving the charge.
Following that successful deal, Amir says he was approached by other developers for similar favours. Each of these deals would also include multiple alleged kickbacks to the Mentri Besar. For a deal by IJM Group, Amir stated that he instructed his lawyer Zul Azam to cash in a cheque worth RM1 million. He then handed over the money in a backpack as instructed by Datuk Khaled. That was done on 14 November 2013.
Subsequently, Amir also admitted to paying the MB, a total of RM9.7 million in cash over 10 transactions between 16 April 2014 and 4 May 2016. Those payments were for facilitating a land deal for Scientex Sdn. Bhd. The report specifically highlighted 5 of those transactions made on 16 April 2014, 1 October 2014, 20 October 2014, 2 December 2014 and 17 June 2015.
With such concrete evidence in front of their own noses, why hasn’t the MACC investigated Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin?
Worse, the MACC has decided it was more appropriate to ‘kill the messenger’ by filing a police report over the purported leaks. In turn, the Johor state assembly (DUN) disgraced itself by acting in cahoots in its attempt to silence the issue by throwing out Senai state assemblywoman Wong Shu Qi in the DUN.
In fact, all the companies which have paid the alleged bribes must be investigated, and if guilty, charged and punished as well. After all, the MACC has often opined that the giver of bribes is as guilty as those who receive.
The question is, is the Johor MB immune to investigations and prosecution just like Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is, in the case of the multi-billion ringgit scandal, 1MDB? While the MACC abdicated from its responsibility to investigate the Prime Minister by shoving the responsibility to the Police, what is MACC’s excuse this time?
Where is the ‘all hands on the deck’ haste and urgency in the MACC just like the way it dealt with alleged and even trumped up corruption charges against opposition figures? Or will this remove, once and for all, the façade that the MACC is an independent investigating institution which will act without fear or favour; and that it is merely an extended paw of UMNO to oppress the opposition while protecting its political masters?
MACC had investigated the two in relation to a land graft scandal, where the two had received multiple bribes amounting to RM30 million from developers in return for their assistance in changing the status of bumiputera lots as well as reducing the 7.5% charge levied upon developers.
As shocking as the initial news of their investigation was, the biggest shocker is found in the witness statement (relevant pages attached), where Amir admitted to delivering nearly RM12 million in cash to the Menteri Besar in return for the MB’s help in the necessary land changes.
The MACC has effectively confirmed the authenticity of these documents when Deputy MACC commissioner Dato’ Sri Azam Baki’s said yesterday that the documents were sent to the lawyers of one of the defendants in the case.
Now that the MACC has acknowledged the documents, they will have to explain their failure to investigate the MB, who is similarly implicated according to the witness statement.
The first account given by Amir was for an alleged transfer of RM4 million in September 2013. That kickback would come from the developer MB Land, which had solicited Amir’s help in converting the land status and waiving the charge.
Following that successful deal, Amir says he was approached by other developers for similar favours. Each of these deals would also include multiple alleged kickbacks to the Mentri Besar. For a deal by IJM Group, Amir stated that he instructed his lawyer Zul Azam to cash in a cheque worth RM1 million. He then handed over the money in a backpack as instructed by Datuk Khaled. That was done on 14 November 2013.
Subsequently, Amir also admitted to paying the MB, a total of RM9.7 million in cash over 10 transactions between 16 April 2014 and 4 May 2016. Those payments were for facilitating a land deal for Scientex Sdn. Bhd. The report specifically highlighted 5 of those transactions made on 16 April 2014, 1 October 2014, 20 October 2014, 2 December 2014 and 17 June 2015.
With such concrete evidence in front of their own noses, why hasn’t the MACC investigated Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin?
Worse, the MACC has decided it was more appropriate to ‘kill the messenger’ by filing a police report over the purported leaks. In turn, the Johor state assembly (DUN) disgraced itself by acting in cahoots in its attempt to silence the issue by throwing out Senai state assemblywoman Wong Shu Qi in the DUN.
In fact, all the companies which have paid the alleged bribes must be investigated, and if guilty, charged and punished as well. After all, the MACC has often opined that the giver of bribes is as guilty as those who receive.
The question is, is the Johor MB immune to investigations and prosecution just like Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is, in the case of the multi-billion ringgit scandal, 1MDB? While the MACC abdicated from its responsibility to investigate the Prime Minister by shoving the responsibility to the Police, what is MACC’s excuse this time?
Where is the ‘all hands on the deck’ haste and urgency in the MACC just like the way it dealt with alleged and even trumped up corruption charges against opposition figures? Or will this remove, once and for all, the façade that the MACC is an independent investigating institution which will act without fear or favour; and that it is merely an extended paw of UMNO to oppress the opposition while protecting its political masters?
Whose head should roll when East Coast Rail Link’s outrageous claims of profitability fail to materialise?
The East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project which was awarded without any tender to China Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) has been criticised for being overly expensive at RM55 billion and potentially soaring to RM70 billion according to some reports. The government’s own consultants had estimated the cost to be only RM29 billion.
Yet despite the heavy price tag, the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Othman Aziz told Parliament on 28 November that the project was expected to “break even from the operational aspect”, after just 8 years of operation in 2032.
The Deputy Minister’s statement is wildly ambitious on many counts.
Firstly, we have to assume that the Deputy Minister meant that “break even from the operational aspect” meant that it does not cover the enormous cost of constructing the ECRL, which is covered entirely by debt.
So far, the government has said that 85% of the project will be financed by China’s Export-Import Bank (EXIM), with a soft loan carrying an interest rate of 3.25% per annum repaid over 20 years with a 7-year moratorium. The remainder 15% will be financed via a sukuk issuance.
Therefore, the annual repayment of the ECRL borrowings will amount to an estimated whopping RM3.7 billion. This simply means that even if the ECRL is to “break even from the operational aspect” after 8 years, it will still be suffering cashflow losses of some RM3.7 billion annually!
However, even Datuk Othman Aziz’s claim of “break even from the operational aspect” is preposterous to begin with.
Datuk Othman claimed that the government was projecting a revenue of RM2.9 billion to be recorded in 2024. But this amount is more than 4 times the current revenue of KTM Berhad today!
The ridiculous revenue projection is achieved with a fantastical projection of cargo the ECRL will transport. As raised by economist KS Jomo, the ECRL is expecting to carry 60 million tonnes of freight yearly by 2032 even though KTM’s existing freight haulage is only 6 million tonnes across the entirety of its existing rail network from Padang Besar to Johor Bahru.
How exactly is the ECRL expecting to see 10 times the amount of freight currently being transported on the matured and industrialised west coast of Peninsula Malaysia?
The BN Government must stop trying to mislead the people with fanciful daydreams and start providing data, analysis and studies to back up its wild and preposterous claims. Who will also take responsibility if the ECRL fails achieve any where close to the projections above? Will the Deputy Minister take responsibility by resigning from his position? Or will it be the Prime and Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who owns the ECRL brainchild and awarded to contract to CCCC?
The rakyat has the right to know the details because it will be our children and grandchildren who will have to bear the reckless debt burden of the current government should the project fail to meet its lofty targets.
Yet despite the heavy price tag, the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Othman Aziz told Parliament on 28 November that the project was expected to “break even from the operational aspect”, after just 8 years of operation in 2032.
The Deputy Minister’s statement is wildly ambitious on many counts.
Firstly, we have to assume that the Deputy Minister meant that “break even from the operational aspect” meant that it does not cover the enormous cost of constructing the ECRL, which is covered entirely by debt.
So far, the government has said that 85% of the project will be financed by China’s Export-Import Bank (EXIM), with a soft loan carrying an interest rate of 3.25% per annum repaid over 20 years with a 7-year moratorium. The remainder 15% will be financed via a sukuk issuance.
Therefore, the annual repayment of the ECRL borrowings will amount to an estimated whopping RM3.7 billion. This simply means that even if the ECRL is to “break even from the operational aspect” after 8 years, it will still be suffering cashflow losses of some RM3.7 billion annually!
However, even Datuk Othman Aziz’s claim of “break even from the operational aspect” is preposterous to begin with.
Datuk Othman claimed that the government was projecting a revenue of RM2.9 billion to be recorded in 2024. But this amount is more than 4 times the current revenue of KTM Berhad today!
The ridiculous revenue projection is achieved with a fantastical projection of cargo the ECRL will transport. As raised by economist KS Jomo, the ECRL is expecting to carry 60 million tonnes of freight yearly by 2032 even though KTM’s existing freight haulage is only 6 million tonnes across the entirety of its existing rail network from Padang Besar to Johor Bahru.
How exactly is the ECRL expecting to see 10 times the amount of freight currently being transported on the matured and industrialised west coast of Peninsula Malaysia?
The BN Government must stop trying to mislead the people with fanciful daydreams and start providing data, analysis and studies to back up its wild and preposterous claims. Who will also take responsibility if the ECRL fails achieve any where close to the projections above? Will the Deputy Minister take responsibility by resigning from his position? Or will it be the Prime and Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who owns the ECRL brainchild and awarded to contract to CCCC?
The rakyat has the right to know the details because it will be our children and grandchildren who will have to bear the reckless debt burden of the current government should the project fail to meet its lofty targets.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
The longer UMNO stays in power, the more UMNO will reconstruct Malaysia’s Constitution to erase the freedom and rights of Muslims and non-Muslims
After more than 60 years of the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional reign in Malaysia, there is now an undeniably increasing constriction of religious rights and freedom of all Malaysians.
Among Muslims, there is increasing control of what is deemed the sole interpretation of the scriptures, with no room for debate or discourse, academic or otherwise in the country. We have seen various internationally renown Muslim scholars and thought leaders banned by the Malaysian authorities.
In 2014, Islamic scholar Ulil-Abshar Abdalla was banned from entering the country to speak at a forum on the threat posed by religious fundamentalism. Ironically, the forum was being held at the headquarters of the Global Movement of Moderates established by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself.
More recently, Mustafa Aykol, renowned Turkish author and New York Times journalist attached to Wellesley College, Boston was arrested and detained for 18 hours in Malaysia for having purportedly given a “religious talk” without license. The only problem to that charge is that he was merely participating in a roundtable intellectual discussion on the question, “does freedom of conscience open the floodgate to apostasy?”
His books were subsequently also banned by the Home Ministry as a “threat to national security”. Not only foreign scholars have been targeted, progressive young Malaysian scholars such as Wan Ji Wan Hussin has also been arrested recently while his book, “Ulama Bukan Pewaris Nabi” was also banned.
On the other hand, conservative and controversial clerics such as Zamihan Mat Zin who, among other things, defended a Muslim-only laundrette was praised as an “asset” by the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi.
The increasingly narrow interpretation of what Islam is and the outright condemnation of those who disagree, has also been matched over the past decade with the increasing attempt to demonise other religions, in particular, Christianity.
We have seen the confiscation of bibles, seditious and incendiary talks to incite hate against Christianity by renown fraudulent ‘scholars’ such as Irene Handono, as well as banning the use of the term “Allah” by other religions.
Christians are the convenient bogeymen for the UMNO politcal elites to continue to strike fear among their core Malay-Muslim supporters to ensure that all other transgressions by the Party, such as brazen corruption and outrageous scandals, will be set aside to face a concocted Christian threat head on.
However last week, the open attack in Parliament by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Asyraf Wajdi that atheism is unconstitutional opens a whole new chapter in diminishing the religious rights of ordinary Malaysians.
He claimed that atheism should be outlawed because it will incite people to leave their religion or to profess no religion. As such, it violates Article 11(4) of the Constitution, which allows state laws and federal laws to control and restrict the propagation of any religious doctrines or beliefs among Muslims. He even said that “anyone who tries to spread ideologies and doctrines that promote atheism and similar beliefs, which tarnish the sanctity of other religions, can be charged under the Sedition Act.”
The Deputy Minister who apparently possess a Doctorate on Islamic Banking and Finance is talking utter rubbish.
Firstly, the Constitution clearly states “every person has the right to profess and practise his religion…” How in the world did Datuk Asyraf interpret someone having “the right to profess” to everyone “must profess” in a religion?
When the Constitution says under Article 10, “every person has the right to freedom of speech” and “every person has the right to assemble peacefully without arms”, would the Deputy Minister with a Doctorate also interpret it as “everyone must speak (and hence cannot remain silent)” and that “everyone cannot refuse to participate in peaceful assembly”?
Of course not. When someone “has the right to profess… his religion”, it clearly means that he has the freedom of choice to believe in a religion. But it does not at any point compells him or her to adopt a religion!
In addition, an atheist or a free-thinker, by not believing in any religion or participating in any religious activities, does not make him or her, by default, run afoul of Article 11(4) which prohibits propagating other beliefs to Muslims. That would be sheer illogical nonsense.
Unfortunately, propagating illogical nonsense isn’t illegal in Malaysia. Hence such illegal nonsense is being abused by ruling political elite to strengthen their grip by striking fear into the hearts and minds of Muslims – to focus on the purported threat of Christianity, and now atheism; and of non-Muslims, by taking away their freedom, one bit at a time.
Among Muslims, there is increasing control of what is deemed the sole interpretation of the scriptures, with no room for debate or discourse, academic or otherwise in the country. We have seen various internationally renown Muslim scholars and thought leaders banned by the Malaysian authorities.
In 2014, Islamic scholar Ulil-Abshar Abdalla was banned from entering the country to speak at a forum on the threat posed by religious fundamentalism. Ironically, the forum was being held at the headquarters of the Global Movement of Moderates established by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself.
More recently, Mustafa Aykol, renowned Turkish author and New York Times journalist attached to Wellesley College, Boston was arrested and detained for 18 hours in Malaysia for having purportedly given a “religious talk” without license. The only problem to that charge is that he was merely participating in a roundtable intellectual discussion on the question, “does freedom of conscience open the floodgate to apostasy?”
His books were subsequently also banned by the Home Ministry as a “threat to national security”. Not only foreign scholars have been targeted, progressive young Malaysian scholars such as Wan Ji Wan Hussin has also been arrested recently while his book, “Ulama Bukan Pewaris Nabi” was also banned.
On the other hand, conservative and controversial clerics such as Zamihan Mat Zin who, among other things, defended a Muslim-only laundrette was praised as an “asset” by the Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Zahid Hamidi.
The increasingly narrow interpretation of what Islam is and the outright condemnation of those who disagree, has also been matched over the past decade with the increasing attempt to demonise other religions, in particular, Christianity.
We have seen the confiscation of bibles, seditious and incendiary talks to incite hate against Christianity by renown fraudulent ‘scholars’ such as Irene Handono, as well as banning the use of the term “Allah” by other religions.
Christians are the convenient bogeymen for the UMNO politcal elites to continue to strike fear among their core Malay-Muslim supporters to ensure that all other transgressions by the Party, such as brazen corruption and outrageous scandals, will be set aside to face a concocted Christian threat head on.
However last week, the open attack in Parliament by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Asyraf Wajdi that atheism is unconstitutional opens a whole new chapter in diminishing the religious rights of ordinary Malaysians.
He claimed that atheism should be outlawed because it will incite people to leave their religion or to profess no religion. As such, it violates Article 11(4) of the Constitution, which allows state laws and federal laws to control and restrict the propagation of any religious doctrines or beliefs among Muslims. He even said that “anyone who tries to spread ideologies and doctrines that promote atheism and similar beliefs, which tarnish the sanctity of other religions, can be charged under the Sedition Act.”
The Deputy Minister who apparently possess a Doctorate on Islamic Banking and Finance is talking utter rubbish.
Firstly, the Constitution clearly states “every person has the right to profess and practise his religion…” How in the world did Datuk Asyraf interpret someone having “the right to profess” to everyone “must profess” in a religion?
When the Constitution says under Article 10, “every person has the right to freedom of speech” and “every person has the right to assemble peacefully without arms”, would the Deputy Minister with a Doctorate also interpret it as “everyone must speak (and hence cannot remain silent)” and that “everyone cannot refuse to participate in peaceful assembly”?
Of course not. When someone “has the right to profess… his religion”, it clearly means that he has the freedom of choice to believe in a religion. But it does not at any point compells him or her to adopt a religion!
In addition, an atheist or a free-thinker, by not believing in any religion or participating in any religious activities, does not make him or her, by default, run afoul of Article 11(4) which prohibits propagating other beliefs to Muslims. That would be sheer illogical nonsense.
Unfortunately, propagating illogical nonsense isn’t illegal in Malaysia. Hence such illegal nonsense is being abused by ruling political elite to strengthen their grip by striking fear into the hearts and minds of Muslims – to focus on the purported threat of Christianity, and now atheism; and of non-Muslims, by taking away their freedom, one bit at a time.
Friday, November 03, 2017
Najib’s toll ‘freebie’ election goodie to cost Malaysians billions of ringgit
In an interview with TV3 Nightline, Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said that PLUS would have to be compensated to the tune of RM102 million per year for abolishing the Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau tolls and RM8 million for the Bukit Kayu Hitam toll. That’s a total of RM110 million per year just to PLUS. The compensation for the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) was said to be RM8 million, going to current concessionaire MRCB.
The above will cost the government RM118 million per year just to abolish these four tolls.
The concessions for all four tolls expire in 2038. Assuming if the compensation doesn’t increase over time, it will still cost a whopping RM2.36 billion. However, this compensation amount will be even higher when the compensation is calculated based on forecast toll usage in the future.
Whether the compensation is given out in cash or through extensions of the concessions, the person footing the bill will still be the rakyat. That’s RM2.36 billion that could be used to benefit all Malaysians and not just help BN win over voters in the 3 states of Selangor, Kedah and Johor.
Let’s not forget that the government has already compensated toll concessionaires before when they have announced halting toll rate hikes in past Budget speeches. Each one of these populist moves only ends up costing the government and Malaysians more and more. The Prime Minister’s toll ‘freebie’ is no freebie at all.
If the Government is serious about making tolls more affordable for Malaysians, they’d take Pakatan Harapan’s advice. The Pakatan Harapan manifesto has called for the abolition of highway toll in stages via the restructuring and renegotiation of the toll agreements with the concessionaires.
Nearly all of these agreements contain clauses which allows the Government to expropriate these highways based on agreed formulas. And in many circumstances, compensating toll concessionaires based on loss revenue as what the BN government is doing, costs a whole load more than just expropriating the highways outright.
For example, between 1990 to 2015, the compensation for Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP) already amounts to RM1.05 billion even though the actual cost of constructing the highway, including interest amounts to only RM1.3 billion. And there’s 13 more years to the concession period for compensation to be paid and for the concessionaire to make outrageous profits.
We call upon the Najib administration to stop fleecing Malaysians with not-at-all-free “free” tolls and concessionaires who continue to make astronomical profits at the expense of the rakyat.
The above will cost the government RM118 million per year just to abolish these four tolls.
The concessions for all four tolls expire in 2038. Assuming if the compensation doesn’t increase over time, it will still cost a whopping RM2.36 billion. However, this compensation amount will be even higher when the compensation is calculated based on forecast toll usage in the future.
Whether the compensation is given out in cash or through extensions of the concessions, the person footing the bill will still be the rakyat. That’s RM2.36 billion that could be used to benefit all Malaysians and not just help BN win over voters in the 3 states of Selangor, Kedah and Johor.
Let’s not forget that the government has already compensated toll concessionaires before when they have announced halting toll rate hikes in past Budget speeches. Each one of these populist moves only ends up costing the government and Malaysians more and more. The Prime Minister’s toll ‘freebie’ is no freebie at all.
If the Government is serious about making tolls more affordable for Malaysians, they’d take Pakatan Harapan’s advice. The Pakatan Harapan manifesto has called for the abolition of highway toll in stages via the restructuring and renegotiation of the toll agreements with the concessionaires.
Nearly all of these agreements contain clauses which allows the Government to expropriate these highways based on agreed formulas. And in many circumstances, compensating toll concessionaires based on loss revenue as what the BN government is doing, costs a whole load more than just expropriating the highways outright.
For example, between 1990 to 2015, the compensation for Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP) already amounts to RM1.05 billion even though the actual cost of constructing the highway, including interest amounts to only RM1.3 billion. And there’s 13 more years to the concession period for compensation to be paid and for the concessionaire to make outrageous profits.
We call upon the Najib administration to stop fleecing Malaysians with not-at-all-free “free” tolls and concessionaires who continue to make astronomical profits at the expense of the rakyat.
Thursday, November 02, 2017
If Tan Sri Apandi Ali is serious about 1MDB, why has it taken him forever to “instruct” the Police to continue their investigations?
After untold months of utter silence and inaction, two days ago, Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Apandi Ali suddenly said that investigation papers into 1MDB were still on-going.
He said further investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is necessary following “the lack of evidence in certain areas”.
“When the investigation papers are referred to us, we go through them. We find a lack of evidence. So, we give instruction that the team should carry out investigation in certain areas (to the Police)... About 20 to 25 per cent of the investigation papers need to be reviewed,” he said at a press conference.
If he really needed more evidence, why did Tan Sri Apandi Ali reject the request for mutual legal assistance requests from the Swiss Attorney General? In fact, why haven’t Tan Sri Apandi Ali sought assistance from the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) for more information on the tens of billions of ringgit laundered from 1MDB funds?
Instead, in June this year, Tan Sri Apandi Ali chose to dismiss the evidence put forward by the US DOJ by accusing them of being “politically motivated”. The question for our AG is, did he even investigate those claims before concluding that they were “politically motivated”?
Similarly, the police are complicit in this shameful game of passing the parcel. In September, the newly appointed Inspector-General of Police, Dato’ Seri Mohd Fuzi Haron announced that the police had closed its investigations and wouldn’t reopen them unless instructed by the PAC or the cabinet. Is the new IGP so spineless that he will not investigate crimes without the green light of his political masters?
The AG too has only confirmed the continuing investigations because of Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman’s reply in Parliament on 30 October that they were still ongoing.
The Malaysian authorities seem to think that the 1MDB issue is a big joke given the way they’ve been handling it. Investigations start and close and get reopened by different authorities, yet no one seems to be getting closer to any firm conclusions.
In Parliament, questions on 1MDB get rejected because matters are either in court or under investigations. Which court matter or investigations they are rejected on are never revealed.
It cannot be clearer that all the institutions enshrined in our constitution to protect the interest of the people from criminals such as those who have robbed 1MDB of billions of ringgit have been compromised by the top leadership of Barisan Nasional.
The people of Malaysia have a heavy responsibility in the coming general election as only they can punish those who have grossly abused their power, accrued outrageous wealth for themselves and failed Malaysians who have placed their trust in them.
He said further investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is necessary following “the lack of evidence in certain areas”.
“When the investigation papers are referred to us, we go through them. We find a lack of evidence. So, we give instruction that the team should carry out investigation in certain areas (to the Police)... About 20 to 25 per cent of the investigation papers need to be reviewed,” he said at a press conference.
If he really needed more evidence, why did Tan Sri Apandi Ali reject the request for mutual legal assistance requests from the Swiss Attorney General? In fact, why haven’t Tan Sri Apandi Ali sought assistance from the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) for more information on the tens of billions of ringgit laundered from 1MDB funds?
Instead, in June this year, Tan Sri Apandi Ali chose to dismiss the evidence put forward by the US DOJ by accusing them of being “politically motivated”. The question for our AG is, did he even investigate those claims before concluding that they were “politically motivated”?
Similarly, the police are complicit in this shameful game of passing the parcel. In September, the newly appointed Inspector-General of Police, Dato’ Seri Mohd Fuzi Haron announced that the police had closed its investigations and wouldn’t reopen them unless instructed by the PAC or the cabinet. Is the new IGP so spineless that he will not investigate crimes without the green light of his political masters?
The AG too has only confirmed the continuing investigations because of Minister in Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman’s reply in Parliament on 30 October that they were still ongoing.
The Malaysian authorities seem to think that the 1MDB issue is a big joke given the way they’ve been handling it. Investigations start and close and get reopened by different authorities, yet no one seems to be getting closer to any firm conclusions.
In Parliament, questions on 1MDB get rejected because matters are either in court or under investigations. Which court matter or investigations they are rejected on are never revealed.
It cannot be clearer that all the institutions enshrined in our constitution to protect the interest of the people from criminals such as those who have robbed 1MDB of billions of ringgit have been compromised by the top leadership of Barisan Nasional.
The people of Malaysia have a heavy responsibility in the coming general election as only they can punish those who have grossly abused their power, accrued outrageous wealth for themselves and failed Malaysians who have placed their trust in them.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is the biggest purveyor of ‘fake news’ by singing 1MDB's praises in his blog but has no courage to debate the mother of all scandals in Parliament
On his blog yesterday, Najib gave us his economic vision for the country ahead of the 2018 Budget announcement on Friday.
However, the entire credibility of his “economic vision” collapsed with the outrageous claim that 1MDB has not only “brought the country good” but “is on track to realise a profit”.
1MDB is currently an empty shell, holding absolutely nothing but some RM40 billion of debts. How in the world is 1MDB “on track to realise a profit”?! If this is not a brazen attempt by the Prime Minister to create ‘fake news’, what is?
Dato’ Seri Najib argued that it was 1MDB which solved the lop-sided power purchase agreements attributed to the previous BN Prime Minister.
We are thankful that Dato’ Seri Najib finally admitted that those independent power producers (IPPs) were allowed to profit astronomically from the BN government of which he was part of before. However, Malaysians are still clueless as to how 1MDB apparently “solved” the above injustice.
As far as we are concerned, Malaysians didn’t enjoy a single sen in benefit as electricity tariffs have only increased and not decreased since 1MDB started acquiring these IPPs. Worse, the 1MDB’s RM12.1 billion-misadventure in the power sector resulted in multi-billion ringgit losses when it was forced to dispose of its entire energy interests to a China outfit for a mere RM9.3 billion.
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak further told Malaysians to laud 1MDB for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work including its sponsorship of hajj pilgrimages and scholarships purportedly amounting to RM690 million.
What the Prime Minister failed to tell Malaysians is that the so-called CSR is funded entirely with government-guaranteed debt amounting to more than RM40 billion.
More pertinently, while RM690 million of the debt may have found its way to CSR initiatives, US$732 million or approximately RM3 billion found its way from 1MDB to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account in Ambank between 2011 to 2014. The Prime Minister has to date failed to debunk this expose by the US Depart of Justice.
Najib must think Malaysians fools to believe in all his outrageous lies.
If the Prime Minister really thinks that 1MDB has been the saviour of Malaysia, then he should immediately lift the ban on sensitive 1MDB questions raised in the august House. Instead, he should table a Ministerial Statement to ‘debunk’ all the so-called ‘lies’ by the members of the opposition and allow for a full debate on the 1MDB scandal.
However, if Dato’ Seri Najib Razak chooses not to be accountable in Parliament, then he will prove himself to be the most corrupt and cowardly Prime Minister in the history of Malaysia who relies on the BN-controlled mainstream media to propound his ‘fake news’.
However, the entire credibility of his “economic vision” collapsed with the outrageous claim that 1MDB has not only “brought the country good” but “is on track to realise a profit”.
1MDB is currently an empty shell, holding absolutely nothing but some RM40 billion of debts. How in the world is 1MDB “on track to realise a profit”?! If this is not a brazen attempt by the Prime Minister to create ‘fake news’, what is?
Dato’ Seri Najib argued that it was 1MDB which solved the lop-sided power purchase agreements attributed to the previous BN Prime Minister.
We are thankful that Dato’ Seri Najib finally admitted that those independent power producers (IPPs) were allowed to profit astronomically from the BN government of which he was part of before. However, Malaysians are still clueless as to how 1MDB apparently “solved” the above injustice.
As far as we are concerned, Malaysians didn’t enjoy a single sen in benefit as electricity tariffs have only increased and not decreased since 1MDB started acquiring these IPPs. Worse, the 1MDB’s RM12.1 billion-misadventure in the power sector resulted in multi-billion ringgit losses when it was forced to dispose of its entire energy interests to a China outfit for a mere RM9.3 billion.
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak further told Malaysians to laud 1MDB for its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) work including its sponsorship of hajj pilgrimages and scholarships purportedly amounting to RM690 million.
What the Prime Minister failed to tell Malaysians is that the so-called CSR is funded entirely with government-guaranteed debt amounting to more than RM40 billion.
More pertinently, while RM690 million of the debt may have found its way to CSR initiatives, US$732 million or approximately RM3 billion found its way from 1MDB to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account in Ambank between 2011 to 2014. The Prime Minister has to date failed to debunk this expose by the US Depart of Justice.
Najib must think Malaysians fools to believe in all his outrageous lies.
If the Prime Minister really thinks that 1MDB has been the saviour of Malaysia, then he should immediately lift the ban on sensitive 1MDB questions raised in the august House. Instead, he should table a Ministerial Statement to ‘debunk’ all the so-called ‘lies’ by the members of the opposition and allow for a full debate on the 1MDB scandal.
However, if Dato’ Seri Najib Razak chooses not to be accountable in Parliament, then he will prove himself to be the most corrupt and cowardly Prime Minister in the history of Malaysia who relies on the BN-controlled mainstream media to propound his ‘fake news’.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Why is the MCMC quick to the draw when the Prime Minister is ‘insulted’ on Facebook, but completely silent when tens of millions of private, and possibly confidential data have been stolen?
Lowyat.net reported on Thursday alledged that stolen personal data belonging to millions of Malaysia were up for sale publicly. However, instead of coming out with an investigation into the matter, the regulator MCMC demanded that Lowyat.net remove its report.
The the now ‘deleted’ report exposed that the data includes personal data sourced from various telecommunication providers, medical associations and housing loan providers. The data being sold was reportedly stolen between 2012 and 2015. This data could include citizens’ private bank details, mobile phone numbers, addresses and emails. Clearly, the magnitude of this sale of Malaysians’ private data should be a cause for concern as it concerns.
Why is the first move by the authorities at MCMC to block the report? Why is it that after 2 days, MCMC has yet to make any comment on the issue? Is it because the public sale of stolen personal data also exposed how MCMC is utterly toothless in enforcing the Personal Data Protect Act passed in Parliament in 2010?
Or is the MCMC protecting all the 'big' players in the market from telecommunication companies to banks to government agencies from being charged for breaking the law, by failing to take adequate measures to protect the privacy of their customers' data?
The complete silence by MCMC contrasts against the series of lightning quick and harsh actions taken against individuals who were merely expressing their anger and frustration at the state of affairs in this country by hurling insults at the Prime Minister or the Government on Facebook or Twitter.
Many of these individuals have been investigated and charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jail of not more than a year or both, if convicted. In addition, MCMC wasted no time blocking access to multiple blogs and websites which have exposed scandals of the Prime Minister, such as Sarawak Report and The Malaysian Insider, whereby most, if not all, of the allegations have proven true
It would appear that MCMC treats itself as a political watch dog for Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional, instead of playing its role to protect the interest of ordinary Malaysians.
MCMC and the Ministry of Information and Communications need to provide Malaysians with an assurance that our private data online is being protected and breaches are investigated thoroughly. Perhaps, instead of political policing, it is time they focused on policing cyber threats and protecting Malaysians’ privacy.
The the now ‘deleted’ report exposed that the data includes personal data sourced from various telecommunication providers, medical associations and housing loan providers. The data being sold was reportedly stolen between 2012 and 2015. This data could include citizens’ private bank details, mobile phone numbers, addresses and emails. Clearly, the magnitude of this sale of Malaysians’ private data should be a cause for concern as it concerns.
Why is the first move by the authorities at MCMC to block the report? Why is it that after 2 days, MCMC has yet to make any comment on the issue? Is it because the public sale of stolen personal data also exposed how MCMC is utterly toothless in enforcing the Personal Data Protect Act passed in Parliament in 2010?
Or is the MCMC protecting all the 'big' players in the market from telecommunication companies to banks to government agencies from being charged for breaking the law, by failing to take adequate measures to protect the privacy of their customers' data?
The complete silence by MCMC contrasts against the series of lightning quick and harsh actions taken against individuals who were merely expressing their anger and frustration at the state of affairs in this country by hurling insults at the Prime Minister or the Government on Facebook or Twitter.
Many of these individuals have been investigated and charged under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or jail of not more than a year or both, if convicted. In addition, MCMC wasted no time blocking access to multiple blogs and websites which have exposed scandals of the Prime Minister, such as Sarawak Report and The Malaysian Insider, whereby most, if not all, of the allegations have proven true
It would appear that MCMC treats itself as a political watch dog for Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional, instead of playing its role to protect the interest of ordinary Malaysians.
MCMC and the Ministry of Information and Communications need to provide Malaysians with an assurance that our private data online is being protected and breaches are investigated thoroughly. Perhaps, instead of political policing, it is time they focused on policing cyber threats and protecting Malaysians’ privacy.
Monday, September 04, 2017
Najib’s admission that the Government would be dysfunctional if not for GST is a direct admission of Barisan Nasional's dismal failure in financial management
The Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak told the crowd at the TN50 dialogue with women yesterday that without the GST the Government would have collapsed financially, and hence Malaysians should be thankful that the he has implemented the GST.
"I am not kidding you, I am not fooling you. I am the minister of finance, I know if we minus RM42 billion from the country's revenue, you will be in a standstill and the government will be dysfunctional.
Dato’ Seri Najib further added, “You can only spend whatever money you have. You will be in deep trouble if you have to borrow money from 'Ah Long' (loan sharks).”
The Prime Minister could not be more wrong on two counts.
Firstly, why is it that a country like Malaysia which is blessed and rich with income from natural resources suddenly so desperately dependent on GST revenue after 60 years of independence?
Without the GST, Federal Government revenue has increased consistently from RM123.5 billion in 2006 to RM185.4 billion (2011) to RM219.1 billion in 2015. The above represents a 77.4% increase in revenue in the 10 years before the GST was implement, or an annual compounded growth rate of 6.5% - well above the average annual GDP growth rate.
If during those years, the BN government has consistently boasted of strong economic growth and development – why is Dato’ Seri Najib now crying out loud that the Malaysian government would suddenly collapse without the GST?
The above itself debunked the Prime Minister’s second claim that we “will be in deep trouble if [we] have to borrow money from ‘Ah Long’.
The very reason why the BN government is forced to implement the GST today to collect more taxes is precisely because we have indeed borrowed heavily over the past decade.
Our Federal Government debt has increased from RM306.4 billion in 2008 to RM655.7 billion by the end of 2016. Hence the government’s debt increase of 114% far outstrips the revenue increase of 77%!
In the language of the Prime Minister, it is precisely because the reckless BN government has borrowed from the Ah Longs that Malaysians are now forced to bear the heavy burden of the GST.
The next question to ask is, why has the BN government borrowed so much and where have all the money gone?
The answer is simple – waste, corruption and kleptocracy in the BN administration as epitomised by the 1MDB scandal which will cost the Malaysian tax-payers at least RM42 billion. While 1MDB headlines the extent of the graft and abuse of power in the Najib-led government, it is by no means the only significant scandal under the BN administration. Annual Auditor-General reports over the past decades lay bare the malaise in the entire government machinery with nausea-inducing details of leakages, mismanagement and misappropriation.
This brings the inevitable conclusion that while the GST might rescue the BN administration for the time-being, it merely papers over the symptoms of the cancer afflicting our country. Until such a time where the brazen culture of waste, corruption and kleptocracy is eradicated from the Malaysian government, no matter how much new taxes revenue the GST (or any other new taxes) generate, it will never be enough.
As the Malay proverb goes, “besar periuk, lagi besar keraknya”.
"I am not kidding you, I am not fooling you. I am the minister of finance, I know if we minus RM42 billion from the country's revenue, you will be in a standstill and the government will be dysfunctional.
Dato’ Seri Najib further added, “You can only spend whatever money you have. You will be in deep trouble if you have to borrow money from 'Ah Long' (loan sharks).”
The Prime Minister could not be more wrong on two counts.
Firstly, why is it that a country like Malaysia which is blessed and rich with income from natural resources suddenly so desperately dependent on GST revenue after 60 years of independence?
Without the GST, Federal Government revenue has increased consistently from RM123.5 billion in 2006 to RM185.4 billion (2011) to RM219.1 billion in 2015. The above represents a 77.4% increase in revenue in the 10 years before the GST was implement, or an annual compounded growth rate of 6.5% - well above the average annual GDP growth rate.
If during those years, the BN government has consistently boasted of strong economic growth and development – why is Dato’ Seri Najib now crying out loud that the Malaysian government would suddenly collapse without the GST?
The above itself debunked the Prime Minister’s second claim that we “will be in deep trouble if [we] have to borrow money from ‘Ah Long’.
The very reason why the BN government is forced to implement the GST today to collect more taxes is precisely because we have indeed borrowed heavily over the past decade.
Our Federal Government debt has increased from RM306.4 billion in 2008 to RM655.7 billion by the end of 2016. Hence the government’s debt increase of 114% far outstrips the revenue increase of 77%!
In the language of the Prime Minister, it is precisely because the reckless BN government has borrowed from the Ah Longs that Malaysians are now forced to bear the heavy burden of the GST.
The next question to ask is, why has the BN government borrowed so much and where have all the money gone?
The answer is simple – waste, corruption and kleptocracy in the BN administration as epitomised by the 1MDB scandal which will cost the Malaysian tax-payers at least RM42 billion. While 1MDB headlines the extent of the graft and abuse of power in the Najib-led government, it is by no means the only significant scandal under the BN administration. Annual Auditor-General reports over the past decades lay bare the malaise in the entire government machinery with nausea-inducing details of leakages, mismanagement and misappropriation.
This brings the inevitable conclusion that while the GST might rescue the BN administration for the time-being, it merely papers over the symptoms of the cancer afflicting our country. Until such a time where the brazen culture of waste, corruption and kleptocracy is eradicated from the Malaysian government, no matter how much new taxes revenue the GST (or any other new taxes) generate, it will never be enough.
As the Malay proverb goes, “besar periuk, lagi besar keraknya”.
Monday, August 14, 2017
UMNO Sec-Gen Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor should learn that while perception problems are often fixable, facts on the other hand, can’t be faked
UMNO secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that Barisan Nasional must counter the perception created by the Opposition on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to win back the state, said.
He claimed the 1MDB issue had been solved, and UMNO now must fix the wrong perception that the Opposition had created.
"The 1MDB issue has been solved. The bad perception was created (by the opposition) to confuse the voters. So, Umno has to step in to clear the confusion," he said after opening the Petaling Jaya Utara UMNO division meeting yesterday morning.
If only UMNO and BN’s problems in Selangor were merely as simple as “perception”. Indeed, if that was the only problem with 1MDB, it would have been extremely easy to fix.
The challenge for UMNO-BN, if Tengku Adnan hasn’t realised by now, isn’t a mere problem of perception. It is the problem that their attempts fake facts have gained no traction, especially in Selangor where the thinking electorate do not fall, hook, line and sinker for BN’s lies.
The people of Selangor, what more in Petaling Jaya Utara, can see with their own eyes not how the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB is hiding themselves from “sensitive” questions about the RM50 billion monster scandal.
Why else would the Speaker of Parliament reject nearly all questions with regards to 1MDB even as innocuous as seeking to know the current value of 1MDB’s ‘unit’ investments previously held with the now-defunct BSI Bank in Singapore?
Why else would the Prime Minister not answer as to why is it that the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Apandi Ali claimed that the charges laid out in the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) were “politically motivated”?
It also isn’t a question of perception when 1MDB repeatedly failed to fulfil its obligations to repay its agreed instalment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) amounting to billions of ringgit.
The people of Selangor are not so dumb as to not be able to see the fact 1MDB has suffered billions of ringgit of losses, as a result of a kleptocratic BN administration which will lead to Malaysians footing the RM42 billion 1MDB bill.
They can read between the lines when the Prime Minister failed to deny or explain the US$732 million which were deposited into his personal bank account in Ambank since the US DOJ exposed that the funds originated from 1MDB. They can also deduce intelligently when his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, failed to explain or deny her acquisition of a US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond ring/necklace after the latest allegations by the DOJ.
Hence the biggest problem the BN administration faces isn’t a question of perception. The biggest 1MDB problem facing BN is the people are staring at the bare indisputable facts which the BN leaders are only trying to sweep under the carpet.
Most importantly, we are confident that the people of Selangor will support the Pakatan Harapan coalition comprising of Bersatu, Amanah, PKR and DAP and reject all other parties who fail to crusade against the single largest case of robbery and kleptocracy in the history of Malaysia.
He claimed the 1MDB issue had been solved, and UMNO now must fix the wrong perception that the Opposition had created.
"The 1MDB issue has been solved. The bad perception was created (by the opposition) to confuse the voters. So, Umno has to step in to clear the confusion," he said after opening the Petaling Jaya Utara UMNO division meeting yesterday morning.
If only UMNO and BN’s problems in Selangor were merely as simple as “perception”. Indeed, if that was the only problem with 1MDB, it would have been extremely easy to fix.
The challenge for UMNO-BN, if Tengku Adnan hasn’t realised by now, isn’t a mere problem of perception. It is the problem that their attempts fake facts have gained no traction, especially in Selangor where the thinking electorate do not fall, hook, line and sinker for BN’s lies.
The people of Selangor, what more in Petaling Jaya Utara, can see with their own eyes not how the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and 1MDB is hiding themselves from “sensitive” questions about the RM50 billion monster scandal.
Why else would the Speaker of Parliament reject nearly all questions with regards to 1MDB even as innocuous as seeking to know the current value of 1MDB’s ‘unit’ investments previously held with the now-defunct BSI Bank in Singapore?
Why else would the Prime Minister not answer as to why is it that the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Apandi Ali claimed that the charges laid out in the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) were “politically motivated”?
It also isn’t a question of perception when 1MDB repeatedly failed to fulfil its obligations to repay its agreed instalment to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) amounting to billions of ringgit.
The people of Selangor are not so dumb as to not be able to see the fact 1MDB has suffered billions of ringgit of losses, as a result of a kleptocratic BN administration which will lead to Malaysians footing the RM42 billion 1MDB bill.
They can read between the lines when the Prime Minister failed to deny or explain the US$732 million which were deposited into his personal bank account in Ambank since the US DOJ exposed that the funds originated from 1MDB. They can also deduce intelligently when his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, failed to explain or deny her acquisition of a US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond ring/necklace after the latest allegations by the DOJ.
Hence the biggest problem the BN administration faces isn’t a question of perception. The biggest 1MDB problem facing BN is the people are staring at the bare indisputable facts which the BN leaders are only trying to sweep under the carpet.
Most importantly, we are confident that the people of Selangor will support the Pakatan Harapan coalition comprising of Bersatu, Amanah, PKR and DAP and reject all other parties who fail to crusade against the single largest case of robbery and kleptocracy in the history of Malaysia.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Who made the decision to terminate the agreement for the sale of Bandar Malaysia to the consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings?
The new season of the blockbuster 1MDB political drama thriller could not have kicked off on a more suspenseful note. Just when everyone thought (and some were hoping) that the show has run its course and the audience have lost interest, the producers of the show have returned with some impeccable scriptwriting to keep Malaysians glued to the ever-evolving scandal.
Soon after the IPIC-1MDB debt “settlement” agreement where the Ministry of Finance (MoF) agreed to assume the guarantee provided by IPIC for 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion worth of bonds, MoF announced that the agreement to sell a 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to a consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) has been terminated.
The world was stunned when MoF’s wholly-owned subsidiary, TRX City Sdn Bhd, which owns Bandar Malaysia announced that the deal with the IWH consortium had collapsed because the latter did not meet payment obligations for its 60 percent stake. The consortium had disputed this claim.
While clarity on the above dispute remains unclear – with neither TRX City or IWH providing any evidence to substantiate their claims, there is now a new mystery as to who authorised the decision to terminate the agreement.
Based on Malaysiakini’s report entitled “Arul is against termination of Bandar M'sia deal”, government sources told the news portal that the RM7.41 billion deal was terminated without notifying Arul Kanda, the President and CEO of 1MDB.
However, at the material times, Arul Kanda was also the Chairman of Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd as well as a Board of Director of TRX City, before he was unceremoniously dumped by MoF four days after the termination announcement. The Malaysian Insight had reported sources from MoF citing a “conflict of interest” on the part of Arul Kanda.
While we are keen to find out what exactly is the “conflict of interest” which necessitated Arul’s immediate sacking, we are even more interested to know who actually made the decision to terminate the agreement.
Since Arul Kanda was oblivious to the entire termination exercise, it meant that the Board of Directors of both TRX City and Bandar Malaysia never deliberated and made a decision on the matter involving a whopping RM7.41 billion transaction.
The Malaysian Insight reported that the decision to remove Arul was made by Finance Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah. The question then arises as to whether Dato’ Seri Najib Razak made the unilateral decision to terminate the agreement.
If so, it should be clarified as to what powers does the Finance Minister have to make material and critical decisions of Government companies unilaterally, by-passing the companies’ board of directors? Did Dato’ Seri Najib Razak abused his powers as the Finance and Prime Minister to terminate the IWH agreement?
It should be recalled that one of the biggest controversies over the 1MDB scandal was the powers granted to the Prime Minister to make all final key decisions in the investment company. Clause 117 of 1MDB’s Memorandum of Articles and Association dictates that the Prime Minister must give his “written approval” for any of 1MDB’s deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring.
It was Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who gave the ultimate approval for all the billions of ringgit of lost investments carried out by 1MDB with Petrosaudi International Limited and Aabar Investment PJS Limited.
The controversial clause has since been deleted upon recommendation by the Public Accounts Committee. However, it appears that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is still calling the shots behind the scene, bypassing key Treasury guidelines, as well as all forms of corporate governance and accountability which we have demanded to avoid a repeat of the 1MDB imbroglio.
We await the next episode with bated breath.
Soon after the IPIC-1MDB debt “settlement” agreement where the Ministry of Finance (MoF) agreed to assume the guarantee provided by IPIC for 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion worth of bonds, MoF announced that the agreement to sell a 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to a consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) has been terminated.
The world was stunned when MoF’s wholly-owned subsidiary, TRX City Sdn Bhd, which owns Bandar Malaysia announced that the deal with the IWH consortium had collapsed because the latter did not meet payment obligations for its 60 percent stake. The consortium had disputed this claim.
While clarity on the above dispute remains unclear – with neither TRX City or IWH providing any evidence to substantiate their claims, there is now a new mystery as to who authorised the decision to terminate the agreement.
Based on Malaysiakini’s report entitled “Arul is against termination of Bandar M'sia deal”, government sources told the news portal that the RM7.41 billion deal was terminated without notifying Arul Kanda, the President and CEO of 1MDB.
However, at the material times, Arul Kanda was also the Chairman of Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd as well as a Board of Director of TRX City, before he was unceremoniously dumped by MoF four days after the termination announcement. The Malaysian Insight had reported sources from MoF citing a “conflict of interest” on the part of Arul Kanda.
While we are keen to find out what exactly is the “conflict of interest” which necessitated Arul’s immediate sacking, we are even more interested to know who actually made the decision to terminate the agreement.
Since Arul Kanda was oblivious to the entire termination exercise, it meant that the Board of Directors of both TRX City and Bandar Malaysia never deliberated and made a decision on the matter involving a whopping RM7.41 billion transaction.
The Malaysian Insight reported that the decision to remove Arul was made by Finance Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah. The question then arises as to whether Dato’ Seri Najib Razak made the unilateral decision to terminate the agreement.
If so, it should be clarified as to what powers does the Finance Minister have to make material and critical decisions of Government companies unilaterally, by-passing the companies’ board of directors? Did Dato’ Seri Najib Razak abused his powers as the Finance and Prime Minister to terminate the IWH agreement?
It should be recalled that one of the biggest controversies over the 1MDB scandal was the powers granted to the Prime Minister to make all final key decisions in the investment company. Clause 117 of 1MDB’s Memorandum of Articles and Association dictates that the Prime Minister must give his “written approval” for any of 1MDB’s deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring.
It was Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who gave the ultimate approval for all the billions of ringgit of lost investments carried out by 1MDB with Petrosaudi International Limited and Aabar Investment PJS Limited.
The controversial clause has since been deleted upon recommendation by the Public Accounts Committee. However, it appears that Dato’ Seri Najib Razak is still calling the shots behind the scene, bypassing key Treasury guidelines, as well as all forms of corporate governance and accountability which we have demanded to avoid a repeat of the 1MDB imbroglio.
We await the next episode with bated breath.
Friday, May 05, 2017
Incoming RM42 billion taxpayers' bailout: Bandar Malaysia deal collapse, sale of Edra Energy at a loss and 1MDB-IPIC “settlement” mark total failure of 1MDB “rationalisation exercise”
The entire 1MDB “rationalisation exercise” announced as “completed” by the Prime Minister on 2016 New Year’s Day has been completely unravelled with the latest announcement that the RM7.41 billion sale of 60% equity interest in Bandar Malaysia has collapsed.
The Government of Malaysia, together with its debt-stricken wholly-owned subsidiary, 1MDB has embarked on the above exercise to shed itself of its mountain of borrowings, which at its peak, exceeded RM50 billion.
The rationalisation exercise commenced with the sale of 1MDB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Edra Energy Sdn Bhd, which held all of 1MDB’s energy assets. Edra Energy had acquired the power plants for a total of RM12.1 billion. In addition, the Government of Malaysia had subsequently extended of concession period of the above plants, as well as awarded several new power plant concessions to 1MDB.
However, despite a global open tender, 1MDB could only secure the best bid of RM9.83 billion which resulted in a direct loss of RM2.27 billion. The losses did not yet include the interest cost of funds borrowed to finance the above acquisitions which amounted to more than RM3 billion over the period.
Worse, the proceeds of the above sale of Edra Energy did not go towards the repayment of the US$3.5 billion worth of bonds which were raised for the power plant acquistion in 2012.
As a result, in a recently announced “settlement” agreement with International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC), who guaranteed the US$3.5 billion worth of bonds, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had agreed to assume the liability of the US$3.5 billion bonds and relieve IPIC of their obligations.
This had come as a complete shock to Malaysians as 1MDB and the Finance Ministers had previously insisted that 1MDB had already made payments amounting to US$3.51 billion to IPIC and/or its subsidiaries between 2012 and 2014.
Hence the outcome of the “settlement agreement” was that Malaysians will have to foot US$7.01 billion to discharge ourselves from the US$3.5 billion of 1MDB borrowings which 1MDB took to acquire the above power plants. The power plants, in turn have already been disposed of, but without the proceeds from the sale being used to settle the US$3.5 billion bonds.
Now with the latest collapse of the proposed sale of 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to the consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd (IWH), the entire “rationalisation” exercise architected by Arul Kanda and hailed by the Prime Minister and Cabinet has been completely unravelled.
The devastating implication of the rationalisation failure staring at our faces is staggering. Because 1MDB simply does not have any more substantial tangible assets or cash in its books, the Malaysians tax-payer will have to pay for most of 1MDB’s still-outstanding debts including:
(i) RM5 billion 30-year bond guaranteed by the Federal Government issued in 2009;
(ii) US$3.5 billion 10-year bonds issued in 2012, now guaranteed by MOF Inc.;
(iii) US$3 billion 10-year bond issued in 2013, guaranteed with a ‘Letter of Support’ issued by the Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak;
(iv) US$1.23 billion borrowed from IPIC in 2015, guaranteed by MOF Inc,;
(v) RM800 million loan from SOCSO in 2010, guaranteed by the Federal Government; and
(vi) RM2.4 billion sukuk issued in 2013, which have already been assumed by MOF
The above sums up to RM8.2 billion and US$7.73 billion, or a combined total of RM41.7 billion
While I have called for Arul Kanda, the 1MDB President and CEO to resign or be sacked yesterday, it is the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who must be ultimately accountable.
He is not only the official with the ultimate decision-making authority in 1MDB as specified in the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, his promises of resolution of the above scandal without a bailout by the Malaysian Government have been irredeemably broken.
What’s more, banking documents exposed by the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) have shown Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to have received in his personal bank account in Malaysia, the sums of US$731 million originating from 1MDB. He has never denied the US DOJ allegations and steadfastly refused to provide any explanations to the Parliament or the Malaysian public.
With Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s iron-grip control over UMNO and Barisan Nasional, the country’s legislative, enforcement and prosecution institutions, it is now up to Malaysians to sack the Prime Minister in the coming general elections to ensure that he is made accountable for the single biggest financial scandal in the history of Malaysia.
The Government of Malaysia, together with its debt-stricken wholly-owned subsidiary, 1MDB has embarked on the above exercise to shed itself of its mountain of borrowings, which at its peak, exceeded RM50 billion.
The rationalisation exercise commenced with the sale of 1MDB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Edra Energy Sdn Bhd, which held all of 1MDB’s energy assets. Edra Energy had acquired the power plants for a total of RM12.1 billion. In addition, the Government of Malaysia had subsequently extended of concession period of the above plants, as well as awarded several new power plant concessions to 1MDB.
However, despite a global open tender, 1MDB could only secure the best bid of RM9.83 billion which resulted in a direct loss of RM2.27 billion. The losses did not yet include the interest cost of funds borrowed to finance the above acquisitions which amounted to more than RM3 billion over the period.
Worse, the proceeds of the above sale of Edra Energy did not go towards the repayment of the US$3.5 billion worth of bonds which were raised for the power plant acquistion in 2012.
As a result, in a recently announced “settlement” agreement with International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC), who guaranteed the US$3.5 billion worth of bonds, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) had agreed to assume the liability of the US$3.5 billion bonds and relieve IPIC of their obligations.
This had come as a complete shock to Malaysians as 1MDB and the Finance Ministers had previously insisted that 1MDB had already made payments amounting to US$3.51 billion to IPIC and/or its subsidiaries between 2012 and 2014.
Hence the outcome of the “settlement agreement” was that Malaysians will have to foot US$7.01 billion to discharge ourselves from the US$3.5 billion of 1MDB borrowings which 1MDB took to acquire the above power plants. The power plants, in turn have already been disposed of, but without the proceeds from the sale being used to settle the US$3.5 billion bonds.
Now with the latest collapse of the proposed sale of 60% interest in Bandar Malaysia to the consortium led by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd (IWH), the entire “rationalisation” exercise architected by Arul Kanda and hailed by the Prime Minister and Cabinet has been completely unravelled.
The devastating implication of the rationalisation failure staring at our faces is staggering. Because 1MDB simply does not have any more substantial tangible assets or cash in its books, the Malaysians tax-payer will have to pay for most of 1MDB’s still-outstanding debts including:
(i) RM5 billion 30-year bond guaranteed by the Federal Government issued in 2009;
(ii) US$3.5 billion 10-year bonds issued in 2012, now guaranteed by MOF Inc.;
(iii) US$3 billion 10-year bond issued in 2013, guaranteed with a ‘Letter of Support’ issued by the Minister of Finance, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak;
(iv) US$1.23 billion borrowed from IPIC in 2015, guaranteed by MOF Inc,;
(v) RM800 million loan from SOCSO in 2010, guaranteed by the Federal Government; and
(vi) RM2.4 billion sukuk issued in 2013, which have already been assumed by MOF
The above sums up to RM8.2 billion and US$7.73 billion, or a combined total of RM41.7 billion
While I have called for Arul Kanda, the 1MDB President and CEO to resign or be sacked yesterday, it is the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak who must be ultimately accountable.
He is not only the official with the ultimate decision-making authority in 1MDB as specified in the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, his promises of resolution of the above scandal without a bailout by the Malaysian Government have been irredeemably broken.
What’s more, banking documents exposed by the United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) have shown Dato’ Seri Najib Razak to have received in his personal bank account in Malaysia, the sums of US$731 million originating from 1MDB. He has never denied the US DOJ allegations and steadfastly refused to provide any explanations to the Parliament or the Malaysian public.
With Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s iron-grip control over UMNO and Barisan Nasional, the country’s legislative, enforcement and prosecution institutions, it is now up to Malaysians to sack the Prime Minister in the coming general elections to ensure that he is made accountable for the single biggest financial scandal in the history of Malaysia.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Perfect opportunity for Auditor-General and PAC to re-look into 1MDB scandal: review 1MDB-IPIC settlement which had Malaysians bearing US$7.01 bil. to resolve 1MDB’s US$3.5 bil. bond borrowing
Yesterday, the Second Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Johari Abdul Ghani desperately tried to backtrack from his original assertion which tried to shift the blame for the 1MDB-IPIC “settlement” to the Prime Minister.
The glorified ‘settlement’ had in effect shifted the burden on repaying 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion bond to the Ministry of Finance, despite repeated assertions by 1MDB and Dato’ Seri Johari himself that 1MDB has already paid IPIC US$3.51 billion in the past. This meant that Malaysians have to bear a whopping US$7.01 billion to resolve 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion bond borrowing before even taking into consideration the annual interest payments of approximately US$200 million!
“I don't report to him. I never contradicted the Prime Minister. Don't try to split me and the prime minister with this matter," the Second Finance Minister told Malaysiakini.
However, I never accused him of “contradicting” the Prime Minister. I merely repeated what he had said earlier, which was “the Prime Minister has made the decision for the country. That’s it,” and that the matter is now “beyond [him]”. His own statement clearly showed that while he had all along said that the dispute between 1MDB and IPIC should go to arbitration and that he was “very confident” of the Malaysian parties winning the case, he had to wash his hands off the matter as the matter has been decided by the Prime Minister.
I had then said that if the US$3.5 billion or RM15 billion matter is “beyond [him]” as a Finance Minister, then he might as well resign from his office.
However, Dato’ Seri Johari shot back, asking "Who is Pua to ask me to resign?” “I don't report to him. I never contradicted the prime minister. Don't try to split me and the Prime Minister with this matter," he added.
Dato’ Seri Johari appears to have forgotten, while he reports to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet, he is there to serve the interest of Malaysians and not that of the Prime Minister. If the decision of the Prime Minister is clearly detrimental to the interest of Malaysians, as the settlement showed, then it is certainly the duty of a Finance Minister to make things right.
However, the Second Finance Minister is clearly more interested in blindly supporting Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, by brushing off my allegation that Najib was conflicted in making the decision with regard to the settlement.
I call upon Dato’ Seri Johari to access his conscience and determine facts of the matter, something which is fully within the powers of a Finance Minister. Of the US$3.51 billion which 1MDB had purportedly paid to IPIC, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has received US$30 million in in personal bank account in while his stepson, Riza Aziz received US$238 million via his company, Red Granite.
The above facts which were outlined in United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) suit to seize US$1 billion of laundered assets by funds originating from 1MDB has never been disputed by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself, and if indeed true, the clearly puts the Prime Minister in a position of conflict when deciding on the settlement terms with IPIC.
If the Second Finance Minister is genuine in his desire to “serve the nation” as professed in his March open letter to me, then I ask him to join me in calling for the Auditor-General (AG) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-look into the 1MDB scandal in the light of the latest developments.
It should be noted that the PAC was told by 1MDB and its CEO, Arul Kanda that all payments which have been made to IPIC would be used to offset the US$3.5 billion 1MDB bonds which were guaranteed by IPIC. The PAC also never made the recommendation for the Ministry of Finance to take over the liability for the bonds from IPIC – that would be just ridiculous.
Hence, it is crucial for both the AG and the PAC to re-visit the 1MDB scandal in the light of new evidence, including but not limited to the “settlement” agreement with IPIC as well as the new information contained in the US DOJ suit to seize the US$1 billion worth of laundered assets with funds originating from 1MDB.
The glorified ‘settlement’ had in effect shifted the burden on repaying 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion bond to the Ministry of Finance, despite repeated assertions by 1MDB and Dato’ Seri Johari himself that 1MDB has already paid IPIC US$3.51 billion in the past. This meant that Malaysians have to bear a whopping US$7.01 billion to resolve 1MDB’s US$3.5 billion bond borrowing before even taking into consideration the annual interest payments of approximately US$200 million!
“I don't report to him. I never contradicted the Prime Minister. Don't try to split me and the prime minister with this matter," the Second Finance Minister told Malaysiakini.
However, I never accused him of “contradicting” the Prime Minister. I merely repeated what he had said earlier, which was “the Prime Minister has made the decision for the country. That’s it,” and that the matter is now “beyond [him]”. His own statement clearly showed that while he had all along said that the dispute between 1MDB and IPIC should go to arbitration and that he was “very confident” of the Malaysian parties winning the case, he had to wash his hands off the matter as the matter has been decided by the Prime Minister.
I had then said that if the US$3.5 billion or RM15 billion matter is “beyond [him]” as a Finance Minister, then he might as well resign from his office.
However, Dato’ Seri Johari shot back, asking "Who is Pua to ask me to resign?” “I don't report to him. I never contradicted the prime minister. Don't try to split me and the Prime Minister with this matter," he added.
Dato’ Seri Johari appears to have forgotten, while he reports to the Prime Minister in the Cabinet, he is there to serve the interest of Malaysians and not that of the Prime Minister. If the decision of the Prime Minister is clearly detrimental to the interest of Malaysians, as the settlement showed, then it is certainly the duty of a Finance Minister to make things right.
However, the Second Finance Minister is clearly more interested in blindly supporting Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, by brushing off my allegation that Najib was conflicted in making the decision with regard to the settlement.
I call upon Dato’ Seri Johari to access his conscience and determine facts of the matter, something which is fully within the powers of a Finance Minister. Of the US$3.51 billion which 1MDB had purportedly paid to IPIC, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has received US$30 million in in personal bank account in while his stepson, Riza Aziz received US$238 million via his company, Red Granite.
The above facts which were outlined in United States Department of Justice (US DOJ) suit to seize US$1 billion of laundered assets by funds originating from 1MDB has never been disputed by Dato’ Seri Najib Razak himself, and if indeed true, the clearly puts the Prime Minister in a position of conflict when deciding on the settlement terms with IPIC.
If the Second Finance Minister is genuine in his desire to “serve the nation” as professed in his March open letter to me, then I ask him to join me in calling for the Auditor-General (AG) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-look into the 1MDB scandal in the light of the latest developments.
It should be noted that the PAC was told by 1MDB and its CEO, Arul Kanda that all payments which have been made to IPIC would be used to offset the US$3.5 billion 1MDB bonds which were guaranteed by IPIC. The PAC also never made the recommendation for the Ministry of Finance to take over the liability for the bonds from IPIC – that would be just ridiculous.
Hence, it is crucial for both the AG and the PAC to re-visit the 1MDB scandal in the light of new evidence, including but not limited to the “settlement” agreement with IPIC as well as the new information contained in the US DOJ suit to seize the US$1 billion worth of laundered assets with funds originating from 1MDB.
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