WORKING AFTER WORKING HOURS
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 27, 2009 8:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (103) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. Like the Bar Council I am disappointed that the Appeal Court had overturned the High Court's decision to stop the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission from questioning suspects after working hours.

2. We must respect working hours. Criminals should not commit crimes after working hours. Of course police should not investigate crimes after working hours. Firemen should wait until office opens before putting out fires.

3. The same should apply for weekends and public holidays. No questioning, no investigations and no putting out fires during non-working days.

4. What about politics and politicians? Well no politicking outside office hours also.

5. If we have more holidays then the crime rate would go down as crimes should only be committed during working hours.

KITA SUDAH TUKAR
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 16, 2009 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (140) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. Presiden Amerika Syarikat Barack Obama berjanji akan tukar (change) dasar-dasar Amerika Syarikat.

2. Tetapi jauh daripada menukar Obama sudah tambah tentera Amerika di Iraq dan Afghanistan. Kem tahanan Guantanamo pun masih diteruskan.

3. Tetapi kita sudah tukar. Dahulu kita pertahan negara-negara yang ditindas Amerika Syarikat. Sekarang kita sokong Amerika Syarikat menindas Iran.

4. Kononnya kerana Iran hendak membuat senjata nuklear. Kononnya dunia akan diancam oleh Iran dengan perang nuklear. Setakat kita tahu yang mengancam ialah Amerika Syarikat dan Israel. Dan Iran menjadi sasaran mereka.

5. Amerika Syarikat mempunyai 10,000 nuclear warhead. Israel mempunyai beratus senjata nuklear.

6. Yang sudah guna senjata nuklear ialah Amerika Syarikat dan Israel bukan sahaja di Hiroshima tetapi di perang Teluk dan di Gaza. Mereka guna "depleted uranium" daripada bahan nuklear. Kita relakan. Secara rasmi kita tidak protes.

7. India punyai senjata nuklear. Begitu juga Pakistan.

8. Kenapa Iran tidak boleh? Gilakah Iran hendak lancar perang nuklear dengan dua biji bom nuklear? Amerika Syarikat, Rusia dan Israel sudah tentu akan balas serangan Iran dengan 25,000 bom dan roket nuklear yang dimiliki mereka. Iran akan hancur dan hilang daripada muka bumi ini.

9. Jika India, Pakistan, China, Peranchis, Britain, Amerika Syarikat dan Israel boleh memiliki senjata nuklear kenapa Iran tidak boleh?

10. Sekatan sanction sudahpun dikenakan keatas Iran. Kita tidak membantah. Tetapi kita tidak pernah sokong sanction.

11. Tetapi sekarang duta kita dipanggil balik untuk disoal kenapa tidak sokong Amerika.

12. Dasar-dasar lama memang patut dihapuskan. Tetapi inikah dasar baru kita?

MALAYSIAN MAVERICK
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 24, 2009 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (123) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. Barry Wain was formerly with the Asian Wall Street Journal and Asia Week.

2. Presently he is with the Singapore think tank, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

3. He knows that if he writes anything against Singapore leaders he would be dragged to the courts, sued and forced to pay huge indemnity. His colleagues have all been found guilty of defamation when they wrote something that was not approved by Singapore leaders. There has never been a libel suit by Singaporean leaders which has been thrown out by the courts. It is safe for journalists to impute all kinds of misbehaviour by Malaysian leaders. There have been many cases where the courts have found in favour of the journalists.

4. In Barry Wain's book I was accused of losing Government money over the purchase of tin being sold by speculators. When the time came for them to deliver the tin, they could not deliver as they had no physical tin. But the London Metal Exchange ruled that the speculators need not honour the contract to sell to us.

5. We lost money but not in billions of Ringgit as alleged.

6. Bank Negara traded foreign currencies.I don't know how much but we lost money. Government stopped the trading by Bank Negara. Again the amount is not as imputed by Barry Wain.

7. The third case is with regards to the losses by Bank Bumiputra in Hong Kong.

8. Altogether I don't think the amount lost added up to RM10 billion even. If we had lost 100 billion Ringgit the Government would be in deep trouble. But although we did have poor growth during certain years, the Government had never failed to meet all financial commitments including the servicing of loans. In fact we had enough money to prepay loans. The projects of course cost a lot of money. But the projects can be seen by the people. Penang Bridge, Twin Towers, KL Tower, KL International Airport, North Port and West Port in Klang, commuter train, LRT and monorail, numerous expressways all over the country, electrification and double tracking, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, Langkawi development, Proton, Modenas, Silterra chip manufacturing plant, cement plants etc. etc. However, I don't think Barry Wain was referring to these projects when he said I burnt RM100million of Government money.

9. The five years of Tun Abdullah's regime saw unprecedented profits by Petronas due to the high price of oil. In my 22 years Petronas paid to the Government 126 billion Ringgit. Petronas paid to the Government of Tun Abdullah a total of 270 billion Ringgit in five years.

10. How was this huge sum spent? There are only empty corridors everywhere.

11. The public has a right to know how 270 billion Ringgit in five years have been spent. What projects have been financed by it. Why do we have to borrow money from China to build the second Penang Bridge?

12. I know every effort was made to find whether I had misused Government money. Failing to find anything the Abdullah Government set up a Royal Commission and accused me of being influenced by others in the choice of judges.

13. I have a right to clear my name. Tun Abdullah also has a right to clear his name.

14. The Government should cooperate and open all its books. There should be no cover-up. The Government is committed to transparency. It should demonstrate that it keeps its promises.

Thursday, December 24, 2009
Cabinet: Parliament Sitting A Priority
A Kadir Jasin

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THE New Straits Times today headlined: “Parliament meeting a priority – drop everything to attend, Barisan Nasional PMs told.”

The paper quoted a directive, which it said, was issued on Dec. 23 in response to the Dec. 14 near defeat of the 2010 Budget when 82 BN MPs were absent.

The Supply Bill was passed by a majority of there. Only 66 BN MPs were in the House against 63 from the opposition.

Quoting unnamed Ministers, the NST said the Cabinet at its weekly meeting yesterday “had discussed the matter at greath (sic) length and with great concern.”

The Prime Minister, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, who is also Finance Minister, had been reported as having expressed regret and disappointment over the close call.

The report appeared in the online edition of the paper in the morning but was later removed. When asked, a senior member of the staff responded: “Was told they did.” Asked if there was an outside inference, he said: “Tak.” (No).

I have published the list of the absent BN MPs, which included 18 Ministers, in the posting of Dec. 18 entitled “KPI, Undi Belanjawan dan Akhlak Wakil Rakyat.”

I hope the Pakatan Rakyat has the courage to reveal the identities of their absent MPs. I dare not reproduce the list available in the cyberspace because the PR politicians are prone to suing journalists, writers and bloggers.

So when PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub called for the replacement of the Official Secrets Act with the Freedom of Information Act I was delighted.

This, said the Pas leader, would assure full freedom to the media and bloggers. Let’s hope that he and his freedom-loving colleagues walk the talk.

Salahuddin made the call at the inaugural convention of the opposition alliance in Shah Alam on Dec. 19. As it stands, the PR leaders top the list of politicians taking journalists, writers and bloggers to court.

In this sense, the BN politicians appear more tolerant to criticisms and negative reports by the mass media.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 4:54 PM 0 comments

FORM ROYAL PROBE ON DR M'S SQUANDERING
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 22, 2009 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (145) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. I welcome Lim Kit Siang's proposal for Najib to set up a royal commission on whether I burned RM100 billion on grandiose projects and corruption during my 22-year reign.

2. Such a commission should not be made up of Government nominees but should have as members impeccable people including foreigners and members of Transparency International.

3. The commission should not confine to one Prime Minister only but to Tun Abdullah Badawi's regime.

4. It should include how RM270 billion of Petronas money paid during Abdullah's five-year term was spent; what projects were financed by this huge fund and the cost of all these projects.

5. It should include how much money was lost due to the cancellation of the crooked bridge and the Johore Baru to Padang Besar railway.

6. What is the cost over-run in the construction of the Bakun Hydroelectric project.

7. The financing of the second Penang Bridge and the procedure followed when giving out this contract.

8. I also agree with Lim Kit Siang that the investigation would reflect Najib's commitment to "combating corruption".

9. In order that the enquiry by the commission would be successful, Government must give the undertaking to give full access to the commission of all the documents and accounts of the Government over the period 1981-2009. There should be no cover-up of any kind.

10. Barry Wain must provide documentary proof of any sum that he alleged I had burned.

11. I will co-operate fully with the commission.

12. Depending upon the result of the commission, I reserve the right to sue Barry Wain, Lim Kit Siang and Malaysiakini.com for libel for a sum to be disclosed later.

13. If the Government is witholding the book: "Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times", I would request that the book be released forthwith. I am not in need of Government protection.

Missing Fighter Engines - A Fishy Explanation
A Kadir Jasin

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SHOULD we be happy and jump with joy at the news that a brigadier-general and 40 other armed forces personnel were sacked for alleged involvement in missing RMAF jet engines incident?

The New Straits Times headlined today that they were given the boot late last year after Air Force jet engines worth RM50 million went missing.

Why alleged? What then is the “real” truth behind this dastardly, shameful, treacherous act?

Why only an internal inquiry? Why not a full-blown investigation and trial by a civil or military authority?

Why not a court martial? If these people could steal and sell their own equipment, what is there to stop them from surrendering to the enemies when their lives are at stake?

Something is amiss. Where was the Minister in-charge when this alleged crime was committed? Where were the generals, the secretary-general and the internal auditors? Sleeping?

Something is fishy. Why just an internal inquiry? Why just gave them the boot?
This is an act of treason. Why were they not court-martialed?

I have no answer. It’s too mind-boggling. It defies logics.

Here, I strongly feel that there’s a very strong reason to call for the setting up of an independent royal commission.

Satu Malaysia malu dan terancam akibat perbuatan khianat ini atau adakah ia ibarat kata pepatah, kalau tidak ada-ada, masakan tempua bersarang rendah.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 10:32 AM 0 comments

KPI, Undi Belanjawan dan Akhlak Wakil Rakyat
A Kadir Jasin

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KALAU pun Yang Berhormat (sic) Barisan Nasional tidak takut dan tidak hormat kepada bos-bos mereka tetapi takutlah kepada pengundi, pembayar cukai dan rakyat jelata.

Tak takut dan tidak hormat kepada bos-bos mereka tak mengapa.

Apalah sangat dengan bos. Bos hanya lantik mereka jadi calon. Kalau hari ini bos marah, esok hantar bunga, hantar coklat, kirim salam dan ampu bos dalam media massa selesailah.

Lagipun, bos-bos itu pun di atas fasal disokong di cawangan, bahagian dan negeri oleh para YB. Jadi, engkau garu belakang aku, aku garu belakang engkau. Sama-sama garu dan ampulah.

Tapi dengan pengundi jangan buat macam itu. Dengan pengundi kena takut oleh sebab pengundilah yang pangkah para YB sehingga boleh jadi MP, Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Menteri, Ketua Pembangkang dan Whip dan macam-macam lagi.

Jangan kurang ajar dengan pengundi nanti pengundi ajar YB semua. Ingatlah, ahli dan penyokong parti YB sendiri ramai yang dah meluat dengan akhlak buruk YB semua. Fasal itulah parti YB hampir tersingkir dalam pilihan raya umum tahun lalu.

Tapi nampaknya YB tak belajar juga. Tidak kiralah sama ada YB laung atau tidak laung cogan kata Satu Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan dan sama ada YB sokong atau tidak KPI dan NKRA, perangai sebahagian YB nampaknya tetap tidak berubah.

Kalau pengundian belanjawan negara yang dibentangkan oleh Perdana Menteri (kerana dia jaga Menteri Kewangan) pun YB buat main-main, apa halnya dengan agenda, rancangan dan aspirasi rakyat jelata?

Kerana akhlak buruk dan sikap tidak bertanggungjawab para YB yang curi tulang, Kerajaan BN hampir-hampir tumbang akibat “undi tidak percaya” terhadap Belanjawan 2010.

Dilaporkan oleh media massa – besar-besaran oleh media alternatif dan kecil-kecilan oleh arus perdana – Belanjawan 2010 diluluskan malam Isnin lalu (14 Disember) dengan tiga kelebihan suara sahaja.

Menurut laporan The Star, daripada 140 YB BN dalam Dewan Rakyat, hanya 66 hadir untuk mengundi menyokong manakala daripada 82 YB pembangkang, 63 hadir untuk menentang.

Nampaknya ramai sekali kaki tuang dan kaki curi tulang di kalangan MP BN – 74 orang. MP pembangkang pun sudah terikut-ikut akhlak buruk ini. Sembilan belas tidak hadir. Kalau lebih ramai MP pembangkang hadir, Belanjawan 2010 Kerajaan BN sudah masuk longkang.

Bagilah apa pun alasan – lewat malam ka, ada kerja lain ka atau balik kawasan ka, tak jadi hal. Yang jadi hal adalah betapa tidak hormatnya kalian-kalian itu kepada tugas dan tanggungjawab pokok iaitu membuat undang-undang.

Adakah kalian yang ponteng itu tidak mendapati Belanjawan Satu Malaysia Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan penting dan utama?

Kalau inilah akhlak, sikap, sifat dan komitmen begitu ramai wakil rakyat BN, bagaimanakah rakyat jelata, khasnya pengundi, diharapkan akan mengembalikan sokongan kepada BN?

Kalaupun mereka tidak peduli kepada Menteri Kewangan yang juga Perdana Menteri, setidak-tidaknya pedulilah kepada pengundi, pembayar cukai dan rakyat jelata. Inilah kontrak kalian dengan pengundi, pembayar cukai dan rakyat jelata.

Saya sengaja panggil anda semua kalian kerana dalam konteks ini, gelaran Yang Berhormat, mengikut ungkapan Inggeris, adalah hogwash.

Terlalu tidak sedap maksud ungkapan itu maka saya tidak akan memberi maksudnya dalam bahasa kebangsaan. Carilah sendiri.

Jelas kalian telah gagal mendahulukan rakyat dan mengutamakan pencapaian yang berupa inti pati KPI dan NKRA yang sedang diuar-uarkan oleh bos nombor satu kalian.

Saya tutup kes saya. Sumpahlah saya kalau kalian mahu. Saya bayar cukai dan saya tidak pernah tidak mengundi. Kata ungkapan, ada ubi ada batas, ada hari boleh balas.

Nota Kaki: Untuk laporan PKI/NKRA yang diumumkan semalam, silalah baca dari media massa. Teruskan berbincang isu ini dalam posting terawal.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 7:46 AM 29 comments

PERSIDANGAN "MUSLIM UNITY"
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 18, 2009 6:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. Minggu ini kita amat sibuk dengan persidangan. Pada hari Isnin 14 Disember, The International Muslim Academy of Science dibawah Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) telah bersidang di Shah Alam. Ramai saintis Islam dari seluruh dunia mengambil bahagian.

2. Pada 15-16 Disember satu konvensyen dianjur oleh Ramadhan Foundation United Kingdom dibantu oleh Perdana Leadership Foundation untuk membincang "Muslim Unity" (Perpaduan Islam). Ramai ulama dan imam-imam dari 20 negara Islam dan bukan Islam telah hadir.

3. Ulama-ulama ini terdiri daripada pelbagai mazhab termasuklah dari puak Sunni, Syiah, Wahabi. Terdapat juga wakil dari China dan Jepun.

4. Walaupun fahaman Islam mereka berbeza tetapi mereka menunjukkan persaudaraan Islam semasa bersidang dan di luar persidangan.

5. Dalam ucapan-ucapan mereka tekanan diberi kepada persaudaraan dan persahabatan. Perbezaan tafsir dan pendapat, tegas mereka, tidak harus memisahkan orang Islam daripada orang Islam lain.

6. Wakil Arab Saudi berkata pakaian tidak menentukan ke-Islaman. Pakaian Arab adalah kerana budaya Arab dan bukan kerana Islam. Pakaian hijab juga berbeza. Yang utama ialah anutan agama Islam.

7. Ini disokong oleh seorang imam besar Syiah yang mengetuai lebih 500,000 orang Islam di Dearborn, Michigan, Amerika Syarikat.

8. Mereka tidak berhajat untuk menukar kepercayaan dan tafsiran Islam yang berlainan antara mereka. Sebaliknya mereka ingin utamakan persamaan antara mereka sebagai orang Islam.

9. Semua mengutuk perbuatan bunuh-membunuh antara orang Islam di negara-negara tertentu kerana kelainan fahaman dan mazhab.

10. Konvensyen perpaduan yang pertama diadakan di United Kingdom dengan kehadiran ramai ulama-ulama dari negara-negara Islam dan bukan Islam yang mempunyai penduduk Islam yang ramai.

11. Ramadhan Foundation telah pilih Malaysia untuk yang kedua kerana ramai ulama dan orang Islam diseluruh dunia berpendapat Malaysia adalah contoh pembangunan agama dan negara mengikut ajaran Islam. Saya percaya ramai di Malaysia tidak dapat bersetuju. Tetapi inilah yang diperkatakan oleh mereka.

12. Sebagai tuan rumah saya diberi peluang untuk buat ucaptama di kedua-dua persidangan berkenaan tajuk-tajuk yang dibincang.

13. Kehadiran lebih 500 orang termasuk rakyat Malaysia pelbagai agama tidak bergerak. Mereka menuruti perbincangan selama dua hari itu dengan penuh khusyuk.

14. Pada malam akhir tiga buah badan perniagaan dan institusi pelajaran swasta, dua daripadanya bukan Islam telah hulur derma sebanyak RM11,500,000. kepada tabung pelajaran anjuran Ramadhan Foundation. Ahamdulillah.

15. Laporan ini saya buat kerana tidak banyak "coverage" daripada media tempatan.

16. Senarai penceramah yang hari pada persidangan Muslim Unity adalah seperti berikut;

1. Dr. Bachir Soualhi - Chairman, International Promotion & Collaboration, University Islam Antarabangsa, Malaysia

2. Shaykh Ahmad Hussain Darwish - Hadith Scholar, Egypt

3. Shaykh Dr. Abdul Munim Al-Ghumari - Senior Hadith Scholar, Tangier, Morocco

4. Dr. Robert Farook Dickson Crane - Former Adviser to President Nixon, USA

5. Shaykh Dr. Muhammad Ali - Senior Hadith Scholar, Tangier, Morocco

6. Mr. Afzal Abdul Rahim - CEO of TIME dotCom Berhad, Malaysia

7. Mr. Mohammed Khan - Director of USA Operations for 2nd IMUC 2009, USA

8. Imam Sayid Hasan Al-Qazwini -Senior Shia Scholar, Iraq/USA

9. Syakh Ahmad Nisar Baig Qadiri - Vice Chairman British Muslim Forum, UK

10. Syakh Salman Al-Oudah - Founder of Islam Today Network and Islamic Scholar, Saudi Arabia

11. Dr. Wang Yong Bao Musa Ahmed - Muslim Scholar from China

12. Shaykh Muhammad al Yazdani - Co-Founder of Abu Hanifah Institute, UK

13. Mohammed Shafiq - Chief Executive, Ramadhan Foundation

14. Shaykh Abdur Rahman Weld Al Hajj - Renowned Scholar, Mauritania

15. Muhammad Umar - Chairman, Ramadhan Foundation

16. Shaykh Muhammad Abul Huda Al-Yacoubi - Lecturer, Grand Omayyad Mosque, Damascus, Syria

17. Dr. Naji Rashid Al Arabi - Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Bahrain

18. Prof. Abdul Ghafar Ismail - AmBank Group Resident Fellow for PLF, Malaysia

19. HE Dr. Abdur Rahman Al Jarrar - Senior Scholar Ministry of Islamic Affairs & Awqaf, UAE

20. Prof. Dr. Zulaiha Ismail - Trustee, KL Foundation to Criminalise War, Malaysia

21. YBhg. Prof. Dato' Dr. Zaleha Kamaruddin - Deputy Director General, Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia

22. Dr. Mahmood Chalabi - Activist, Syria

23. HE Dr. Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah - Former Minister of Justice of Mauritania and Renowned Scholar.

LIMA '09
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on December 15, 2009 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. This year's Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace exhibition is not as big as the previous ones. This is to be expected as the countries that produce aircrafts and warplanes are going through financial and economic crisis. All international air shows are not as well represented as before. But for such a period of recession the turnout at LIMA in terms of exhibitors, airplanes and ships is still quite impressive.

2. But what is worthy of note at this LIMA is the progress of Malaysia's own aerospace industries. This took up almost one-third of the space and the exhibits were reflective of their progress and sophistication. Malaysian companies now design and produce electronic command and control systems. They proudly exhibit their capabilities in the production and servicing of sophisticated aircraft components and mastery of aviation electronics.

3. There were quite a number exhibiting UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). These remote-control airplanes come in many sizes. They can be used for aerial photography and target location and even for aggressive attacks against the enemy.

4. The first Malaysian submarine, KD Tunku Abdul Rahman, was also on show. I had more than an hour briefing on the different functions and features of the submarine.

5. Of all the fighting crafts I have seen the submarine is easily the most complex. It has scores of monitors and TV screens to inform the operators of what is happening in every part of the craft. There were wires and tubes everywhere. All of them I am told are crucial to the operation of the vessel, on the surface, at periscope depths and underwater.

6. Because of the small space available everything is cramped and overlap each other. I wondered whether the crew can identify all these wires, tubes and equipments and locate where they head to. The commander assured me that they could. They have learnt to locate things in the dark even in case of electricity failure.

7. I noted that all the parts bear scientific names. All the manuals on operation and emergency measures were in English and French.

8. The sleeping bunks are tiny. Once in bed the crew can hardly raise their heads. It was claustrophobic and I don't think I can survive in that environment. But the boat sailed all the way from France to Malaysia without mishap. The crew do not seem to suffer from anything serious.

9. A group of MPs including from the opposition also visited the submarine and they were as impressed as I was.

10. I remember the first navy vessels of the Royal Malaysian Navy, which I visited in 1958 when they sailed right up to Alor Star. They were wooden boats, rather small and armed with a small gun. A friend laughed when I told him about my visit. We have come a long way since then and the Royal Malaysian Navy is now as modern a force as any other country.

11. I would have liked not buying the submarine. I don't think we would be going to war. But the neighbours have bought submarines and our navy would feel rather inadequate if they don't have at least two of these very costly vessels.

12. Altogether I would consider the 9th LIMA a success. Apart from the displays LIMA has helped initiate and stimulate Malaysia's aerospace industry.

Sunday, December 13, 2009
Jangan KPI Naik Tapi Sokongan Merudum
A Kadir Jasin

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APABILA pengurangan peruntukan belanjawan (budget) menjejas perbelanjaan makan pelajar asrama sekolah kerajaan, saya rasa kita perlu mula berasa bimbang.

Bukan apa, tetapi yang selalu kita dengar dilaungkan ialah rakyat didahulukan dan pencapaian diutamakan.

Jadi apabila yuran makan asrama dinaikkan atas alasan kerajaan mengurangkan peruntukan pelajaran dalam Belanjawan 2010, saya jadi bingung.

Yang mana satu diutamakan -- rakyat jelata atau pencapaian kewangan kerajaan?

Bukan kerana jumlah sebenar iaitu daripada RM1 kepada RM3 sehari, tetapi daripada sudut kuantum dan prinsip. Daripada aspek kuantum, ia adalah besar – dua kali ganda. Daripada sudut prinsip pula, ia macam terbalik. Kerajaan kurangkan peruntukan dan rakyat jelata kena tanggung beban.

Soal hanya ibu bapa dan penjaga berpendapatan lebih RM5,000 sebulan saja yang kena bayar kadar baru itu bukan isu pokok. Mungkin RM3 sehari tidak besar bagi mereka tetapi kita kena ingat, mereka juga dikenakan cukai pendapatan yang lebih tinggi.

Inilah yang saya fahami apabila membaca laporan Bernama yang memetik Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian berkenaan Zulkurnain Awang sebagai berkata langkah kementerian menaikkan yuran makan bagi pelajar asrama daripada RM1 kepada RM3 sehari mulai tahun depan merupakan antara strategi untuk mengurangkan bajet bagi tahun depan.

Katanya, "Melalui cara ini kita dapat mengurangkan perbelanjaan memandangkan peruntukan bajet dalam bidang pendidikan dikurangkan tahun depan.”

Dalam bahasa yang mudah, oleh kerana kerajaan kurangkan peruntukan pendidikan dalam Belanjawan 2010, maka bebannya dipindahkan kepada ibu bapa dan penjaga.

Kemudian dia berkata: “Bahkan banyak lagi perkara lain yang boleh diteliti untuk dikurangkan di masa depan seperti berjimat pada benda-benda yang tidak memberi kesan tinggi dalam bidang pendidikan."

Tidak tahulah saya, tetapi bukankah lebih elok diteliti dulu benda-benda lain yang boleh dijimatkan sebelum memindahkan beban pengurangan peruntukan kepada ibu bapa dan penjaga?

Maaf cakaplah, kadang-kadang saya mendapati sukar memahami dan menrasionalisasikan antara ikrar pemerintah dan para pesuruhnya dengan apa yang dilakukan.

Saya kurang pasti masa ada mereka tidak komited kepada apa yang mereka ikrarkan atau mereka tidak tahu bagaimana melaksanakannya. Atau mereka tidak tahu berhujah.

Bertambah lagi kebimbangan saya apabila membaca kenyataan Zulkurnain Awang seterusnya iaitu pengurangan peruntukan tahun depan “tidak akan menjejaskan keseluruhan kualiti dan perkhidmatan oleh kementerian dalam bidang pendidikan.”

Maksudnya kualiti dan perkhidmatan bidang pendidikan akan terjejas cuma tidak keseluruhannya.

Zulkurnain berkata demikian ketika diminta oleh wartawan mengulas kenaikan yuran makan asrama yang diumumkan oleh Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran Alimuddin Mohd Dom sebelum itu.

Saya rasa lebih baik pemerintah mengutamakan pendidikan, kesihatan dan perkhidmatan sosial yang lain daripada bercakap hendak mengganti pesawat perang, mengubahsuai kediaman rasmi dan seumpamanya.

Berapa banyak sangatlah pendapatan dengan menaikkan yuran makan itu berbanding kesan psikologi dan perhubungan awam?

Bukan apa, takut-takut KPI menteri dan pegawai naik tapi sokongan rakyat merudum.

Kalau boleh, fikir balik la kot!
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 7:12 AM 37 comments

Wednesday, December 09, 2009
New MACC Head & RM47M Dead Police Chief
A Kadir Jasin

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FOR THE sake of all Malaysians, I pray that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s Chief Commissioner designate, Abu Kassim Mohamed, is not being premature in his proclamation.

The soon-to-be-promoted deputy head of the MACC, according to media reports, had vowed to restore the credibility of the agency when he takes over on Jan 1.

"I will introduce several plans and measures to redeem MACC's integrity and public confidence," he told reporters after opening the Integrity Conference 2009 in Penang on Dec. 5.

He said cooperation from other agencies and non-government organisations was also important in restoring the MACC's credibility.

He had earlier spoke at a one-day seminar themed 'Integrity in Development', which was opened by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and attended by staff and officers of various government agencies

Abu Kassim is slotted to replace Ahmad Said Hamdan, who would retire at the end of the month, five months ahead of his retirement date.

Personally, I would like to express my deepest hope that Abu Kassim makes a good Chief Commissioner.

I recall that during the sitting of Royal Commission for the Enhancement of the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police in 2004 and 2005, Abu Kassim had impressed the members of the Commission.

He was then the head of the Penang Anti-Corruption Agency, the predecessor to the MACC, and had volunteered to brief members of the Commission on the inside stories of corruption. He showed the Commission video recordings of the corrupt and their corruptors in action.

It sounds to me that the same fire is still burning in his belly. So I wish him all the best and hope he’ll use his new position and the wider powers of the MACC without fear and favour to bring small and big fish to book.

He has to act on the corrupt and their corruptors with equal ferocity.

The corruptors – the chin chai and the duit kopi givers, the holiday sponsors and the “offerers” of retirement posts to civil servants and politicians -- are as evil as the corrupt themselves.

We have seen how retired senior government officers and politicians shamelessly accepted board appointments at gaming companies and conglomerates with extensive gaming operations.

Abu Kassim and his officers must not be cowed by political pressure from any quarter, be it the ruling party or the opposition.

He must come down equally hard on both because there’s nothing to stop the opposition from becoming the government and the government becoming the opposition in future.

It’s not too much to say that the MACC is our last hope of ridding our political system of corruption and abuse of power.

The MACC can offer us this glimpse of hope by being proactive i.e initiating investigations on suspected political figures without waiting for complains to be filed.

Simply put, if we are going to continue to have the BN as our government, let’s have a cleaner and more credible BN. On the other hand, if the voters feel that it’s time to replace it with the Pakatan Rakyat, let us be sure that the latter is free of corrupt and abusive leaders.

We cannot have a situation where one weak political party is replaced by another weak political party as our government simply because too many of our politicians are under the cloud of suspicion, either for corruption or other immoral activities.

Since political parties are unlikely to be able or willing to get rid themselves of corrupt but powerful warlords, only a proactive and fearless MACC can help weed out such people from all parties so that when the next general election comes, the voters are assured of better candidates to choose from.

Let’s put it this way, how can we ever put our system above suspicion when we read in the newspapers of a dead Deputy IGP leaving behind assets worth RM47 million? Unless it could be proven that he came from a very wealthy family and had inherited such a fabulous wealth, a posthumous investigation should be carried out. These days, they call it forensic investigation.

The New Straits Times reported that a bitter legal tussle is brewing between a brother and the son of a former deputy inspector-general of police Jaafar Abdul, who reportedly left behind RM47.3 million in property on his death in September.

Jaafar’s son, Jeffri Jaffar, the report said, had obtained an interim order against his uncle, Ahmad Dedol, from the Syariah High Court in Muar on Nov 4 to freeze all movable and immovable properties of his father until a decision by the court.

Or am I, in placing my bet on the MACC chief designate, is making another futile call? I hope not. The reverse of that is the continued downgrading our corruption index and with it our global competitiveness.

At the end of the day, everybody pays a high price for the crime of the corrupt and their corrupters.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 7:30 AM 12 comments

Senator Zaid Ibrahim Saman Saya
A Kadir Jasin

[PERINGATAN KHAS -- Oleh sebab kes ini adalah kes mahkamah, maka saya tidak akan menyiarkan sebarang komen yang menyentuh atau memberi kesan (material) kepada saman Zaid itu. Dalam erti kata yang lain, hak sivil (civil liberty) kita semua yang mengambil bahagian dalam blog ini menjadi terhad akibat daripada saman itu.]

BUAT makluman pembaca dan pembahas sekalian, saya telah disaman oleh Senator Zaid bin Ibrahim di Mahkamah Tinggi Malaya di Kuala Lumpur (Bahagian Sivil) kerana menulis rencana bertajuk “ Zaid, The Hurricane Hattie Of PR” yang disiarkan dalam blog ini pada 21 Oktober lalu.

Zaid yang juga seorang blogger mengemukakan saman itu di hadapan Yang Amat Arif Tan Sri Ariffin bin Zakaria, Hakim Besar Malaya pada 2 Disember lalu. Saman itu diserahkan kepada saya oleh peguamnya, Rueben Mathiavaranam dari firma guaman Rueben Williams Advocates & Solocitors hari ini, 7 Disember.

Zaid adalah bekas Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri dan kini berupa salah seorang Ahli Majlis Pimpinan Pusat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Oleh sebab kes ini adalah kes mahkamah, maka saya tidak akan menyiarkan sebarang komen yang menyentuh atau memberi kesan (material) kepada saman Zaid itu. Dalam erti kata yang lain, hak sivil (civil liberty) kita semua yang mengambil bahagian dalam blog ini menjadi terhad akibat daripada saman itu. Jadi berhati-hatilah.

Dalam samannya, Zaid menuntut:-

1) Ganti rugi am kerana libel yang akan ditaksir;

2) Ganti rugi teruk kerana libel yang akan ditaksir;

3) Ganti rugi teladan kerana libel yang akan ditaksir;

4) Injunksi untuk menghalang Defendan sama ada beliau sendiri, pengkhidmatnya, ejennya atau selainnya walau bagaimana sekalipun daripada terus-menerus menyiarkan/menerbitkan dan/atau menyebabkan diterbitkan/disiarkan perkataan yang diadukan yang terkandung dalam rencana yang dipertikaikan itu atau apa-apa perkataan yang serupa yang memfitnah Plaintif;

5) Perintah yang mengarahkan Defendan menyiarkan/menerbitkan permintaan maaf dalam bentuk dan dengan cara yang diluluskan oleh Plaintif atau oleh Mahkamah Yang Mulia ini dan ia hendaklah disiarkan/diterbitkan sekali dalam akhbar kebangsaan pilihan Plaintif atas perbelanjaan Defendan;

6) Faedah di atas ganti rugi yang diawardkan dari tarikh penyiaran/penerbitan perkataan yang diadukan hingga ke tarikh penghakiman;

7) Faedah ke atas ganti rugi yang diawardkan dari tarikh penghakiman sehinggan ke tarikh penyelesaian penuh dan muktamad;

8) Kos; dan

9) Relief lanjut atau relief lain tertentu yang disifatkan patut dan wajar oleh Mahkamah Yang Mulia ini.

Saya telah pun meminta peguam saya bertindak ke atas saman itu.

Untuk makluman para pembaca dan pembahas juga, Zaid telah menjawab tulisan saya itu dalam blognya pada hari yang sama iaitu 21 Oktober dengan tajuk “Kalau Hati Dah Busuk.....”

Selain menganggap saya sebagai seorang yang berhati busuk dan penulis upahan, dia juga membuat beberapa tuduhan dan andaian mengenai saya dalam blognya itu.

Namun tidak sedikit pun terlintas di fikiran saya untuk menghalang atau menyekat kebebasan Zaid, apatah lagi mengambil tindakan undang-undang.

Sebagai seorang blogger, saya percaya kepada hak dan kebebasan bersuara. Malah saya bergembira jika beliau juga menjawab dan berbahas dalam blog saya. (Sekadar makluman, tulisan saya mengenai Zaid menarik 105 komen manakala blog Zaid mendapat 26 komen.)

Pada mulanya saya begitu gembira kerana daripada tulisannya, jelas Zaid tidak berasa gusar atau terancam dengan tulisan saya.

Beliau menutup rencananya dengan kenyataan berikut:

“Bagi saya, kalau PKR, PAS atau DAP yang mendakwa saya ini satu watak kartun dan seorang pengacau, maka saya perlu meneliti tuduhan tersebut. Tetapi kalau setakat penulis upahan UMNO yang membuat tuduhan, saya rasa saya masih lagi boleh tidur nyenyak. Lagi pun tak berapa syok nak melayan budak-budak upahan, terutamanya yang hati mereka dah terlalu busuk.”
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 4:35 PM 24 comments

Friday, December 04, 2009
Kena Gempar Terus Ketar
A Kadir Jasin

[Komen menggunakan pengenalan anonymous TIDAK AKAN DILAYAN. Sila gunakan nama sebenar atau nama samaran. Jikalau menggunakan anonymous, sila nyatakan nama di penghujung komen. Ulasan yang mengandungi unsur fitnah, hasutan, perkauman dan bahasa kesat tidak akan disiarkan. Ulasan yang terkeluar daripada tajuk tidak akan diberi keutamaan.]

BEBERAPA hari telah berlalu apabila pakatan pembangkang sekali lagi berjaya “gempar” sesetengah pembesar Barisan Nasional sehingga ada yang melatah.

Istilah gempar yang saya gunakan di sini merujuk kepada loghat kontemporari Utara di mana gempar membawa erti mengusik/mengacah dengan tujuan menyebabkan ketakutan.

Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Selangor “gempar” Kerajaan Pusat dengan mengancam tidak membenarkan pegawai negeri menghadiri kursus Biro Tata Negara (BTN).

Pada mulanya saya langsung tidak melihat “gempar” Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim itu sebagai membawa sebarang makna kerana ia di luar bidang kuasa beliau.

Mengikut pemahaman saya, semua kakitangan awam tertakluk kepada Perintah Am (General Order). Kalau GO kata mereka kena sertai kursus BTN atau apa juga kursus, maka mereka wajib menghadirinya. Ingkar adalah kesalahan dalam tata cara dan ketertiban perkhidmatan awam dan boleh dikenakan tindakan.

Oleh kerana perkhidmatan awam Selangor adalah sebahagian daripada perkhidmatan awam pusat maka kuasa penentu adalah di tangan Kerajaan Pusat. Apa yang dilakukan oleh Abdul Khalid adalah sekadar menguji kecerdasan pemikiran Kerajaan Pusat.

Saya yakin ditakdirkan Pakatan Rakyat memerintah negara, ia juga akan menggunakan agensi seperti BTN untuk menjalankan kursus yang selari dengan dasarnya.

Tup-tup (sekali lagi loghat Utara), kita dengar Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, berkata kerajaan akan pinda kurikulum BTN.

Katakanlah memang kerajaan bercadang pinda kurikulum BTN agar serasi dengan Satu Malaysia, tetapi mengumumkannya serentak dengan asakan kerajaan PR Selangor memberi gambaran ia tunduk kepada kata dua Abdul Khalid itu. Kalau pinda untuk serasi dengan Satu Malaysia pun belum tentu PR akan terima.

Kalau tidak kerana penjelasan Timbalan Menteri di JPM, Ahmad Maslan, kekeliruan ini akan berterusan. Ahmad Maslan yang bertanggungjawab terhadap BTN berkata tindakan Kerajaan Selangor tidak menjejas kegiatan biro itu kerana bukan semua agensi di Selangor di bawah kawalan kerajaan negeri.

Jadi apakah yang sebenarnya berlaku? Saya simpulkan seperti berikut:-

1. Mohamed Nazri memang terkenal dengan tabiat lepas cakap dan celopar. Dalam bahasa Inggeris, orang macam dia digelar “loose cannon” atau meriam yang tidak boleh dikawal;

2. Media massa, termasuk media arus perdana yang pro-kerajaan tidak lagi mengamalkan konsep melindungi sumber berita (protecting the source) dan tidak mementingkan implikasi sesuatu maklumat. Mereka lapor apa saja yang diucapkan tanpa mempedulikan ketepatan dan implikasi sesuatu kenyataan. Jadi, kalau Mohamed Nazri celopar dan lepas cakap, maka celopar dan lepas cakap jugalah yang mereka laporkan.

3. Ada pemerhatian media mengatakan amalan ini baik kerana laporan media menepati apa yang diucapkan (truthful);

4. Inilah yang terjadi kepada Mursyidul Am Pas merangkap Menteri Besar Kelantan Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat. Apabila kenyataan, hujah dan fatwa beliau yang tak masuk akal atau “outrageous” dilaporkan oleh media massa, maka terdedahlah beliau kepada pelbagai reaksi dan kesimpulan;

5. Pas yang dahulunya cekap dan padu mengawal pengaliran maklumat dengan hanya menggunakan saluran rasmi parti (Harakah dan Harakah Daily) kini menggunakan saluran umum, termasuk media massa arus perdana;

6. BN pula nampaknya terlalu bergantung kepada media massa pro-kerajaan tanpa memberi perhatian secukupnya kepada pengurusan pengaliran maklumat. Peranan pegawai media dan jurucakap rasmi yang terlatih, berpengalaman serta berwibawa semakin tidak ketara;

7. Peliknya, kelemahan pengurusan pengaliran maklumat rasmi ini berlaku di saat-saat ramai pegawai media dan pegawai khas menteri dilantik menjadi ahli lembaga pengarah pertubuhan media;

8. Ledakan maklumat dan perkembangan pesat telekomunikasi tidak lagi memungkinkan mana-mana pihak mengawal pengaliran maklumat walaupun mereka memiliki saluran maklumat sendiri;

9. Media massa arus perdana mungkin tidak menyiarkan sesuatu berita atas keputusan sendiri atau kerana arahan, tetapi sebahagian besar masyarakat akan membacanya dalam akhbar parti atau daripada Internet manakala yang lain akan mengetahuinya melalui cerita mulut;

10. Dalam era ICT, siapa yang dahulu bercerita dan lantang bersuara dialah yang akan percayai oleh majoriti; dan

11. Akhir sekali tahap kemampuan berhujah dan berbahas yang semakin luntur di kalangan ahli politik dan penyebar maklumat. Ambil contoh kenyataan seorang menteri mengenai kes pergaduhan dua orang ahli keluarga di raja yang menyebabkan kecederaan parah. Ini adalah kes jenayah. Dalam kes jenayah, pendakwa adalah negara. Kalau ada kes, ia wajib dihadapkan ke mahkamah. Isu selesai luar mahkamah tidak timbul. Hanya dalam kes sivil, pihak yang bertelagah boleh mencari penyelesaian di luar mahkamah.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 11:11 AM 0 comments

GST: Tidak Ada Cukai Yang Tidak Membebankan
A Kadir Jasin

[Komen menggunakan pengenalan anonymous TIDAK AKAN DILAYAN. Sila gunakan nama sebenar atau nama samaran. Jikalau menggunakan anonymous, sila nyatakan nama di penghujung komen. Ulasan yang mengandungi unsur fitnah, hasutan, perkauman dan bahasa kesat tidak akan disiarkan. Ulasan yang terkeluar daripada tajuk tidak akan diberi keutamaan.]

PADA 29 November, Bernama memetik Menteri Kewangan Kedua Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah sebagai berkata kerajaan telah menjalankan kajian yang “agak lama dan komprehensif” mengenai rancangan pelaksanaan cukai barangan dan perkhidmatan (GST)

Saya tidak berhasrat berbahas mengenai semantik dengannya, tetapi saya rasa kurang selesa apabila dia berkata kajian itu “agak lama dan komprehensif.”

Mengapa agak lama dan agak menyeluruh? Mengapa tidak lama dan menyeluruh? Bagi cadangan yang sangat penting macam GST ini, kerajaan tidak boleh main agak-agak.

Kerajaan wajib tahu dan yakin bahawa pelaksanaannya nanti tidak menjejaskan kesejahteraan rakyat seperti yang Ahmad Husni janjikan.

Cukai dalam apa bentuk sekalipun akan menjejas kesejahteraan orang atau pihak yang membayarnya. Sebab itulah macam-macam cara dan kaedah diperkenalkan oleh pemerintah di dunia bagi mengurangkan beban dan persepsi negatif percukaian.

Dalam keadaan paling teruk atau ekstrem, tindakan memperkenalkan cukai baru atau menaikkan kadar cukai yang sedia ada telah mencetuskan rusuhan dan dalam hal-hal tertentu telah menjatuhkan kerajaan.

Di negara kita sendiri, cadangan GST ini sudah lama dibuat tetapi tidak dilaksanakan kerana kerajaan kurang yakin dan kurang pasti kesannya kepada pembayar cukai dan pengguna.

Yang pasti adalah kerajaan tidak ada kerajaan yang akan memperkenalkan GST atau apa juga cukai jika ia tidak menambah hasil (pendapatan) perbendaharaan.

GST atau dalam bahasa Inggeris Goods and Services Tax adalah sejenis cukai di mana apa sahaja barang dan perkhidmatan yang digunakan oleh pengguna mengandungi elemen cukai. Sebab itulah ia juga dikenali sebagai cukai kepenggunaan (consumption tax). Dalam erti kata yang lain, asasnya jauh lebih luas daripada Cukai Jualan dan Cukai Perkhidmatan yang ada sekarang.

Kali terakhir GST dibangkitkan adalah pada tahun 2004 apabila Pentadbiran Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengumumkan yang cukai itu akan dikuatkuasakan mulai 1 Januari, 2007.

Bagaimanapun, menjelang tarikh itu Pentadbiran Abdullah mengalami krisis kewibawaan dan keyakinan yang serius dan banyak cadangan tidak dilaksanakan.

Bercakap kepada pemberita di Gopeng, Ahmad Husni berkata sebanyak 143 buah negara telah melaksanakan GST. Dalam Asean hanya Malaysia, Brunei dan Myanmar yang belum memperkenalkannya.

Ini bermakna GST menjadi pilihan kerana ia adalah sistem percukaian yang paling luas asasnya dan paling produktif. Ahmad Husni berkata kerajaan menjangka pendapatan tahunan meningkat RM1 bilion dengan pelaksanaan GST bagi menggantikan Cukai Jualan dan Cukai Perkhidmatan.

Pada 21 November, Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri Kewangan, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak mengumumkan yang rang undang-undang berhubung GST akan dibentangkan untuk bacaan pertama pada akhir sidang Dewan Rakyat sekarang.

Cara pemerintah dan media massa kawalannya menghebah dan memperjelaskan GST akan menentukan penerimaan atau penolakan rakyat jelata terhadapnya. Ini sangat relevan kepada Barisan Nasional kerana pelaksanaan cukai baru itu hampir dengan pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Menurut Ahmad Husni, GST dijangka dilaksanakan 18 bulan selepas bacaan kedua rang undang-undang pada Mac tahun depan. Ini bermakna cukai itu akan berkuat kuasa sekitar Ogos atau September, 2011.

Logiknya kadar GST lebih rendah daripada kadar Cukai Jualan (5-15 peratus) dan Cukai Perkhidmatan (lima peratus). Di negara jiran Singapura kadar GST adalah tujuh peratus manakala Negeri Thai dan Indonesia 10 peratus. Ada ramalan mengatakan kadar yang akan dikenakan di Malaysia lebih rendah daripada itu – di sekitar lima peratus.

Seperti yang pernah dihujahkan oleh ketua bahagian percukaian tidak langsung firma perakaunan KPMG, Philppe Norre, cukai GST perlu dirangka dengan sebegitu rupa agar berkesan dan di masa yang sama tidak menyusahkan pembayar cukai.

Beliau berkata hanya bahan makanan asas dan perkhidmatan seperti kesihatan, perubatan dan pendidikan perlu dikenakan cukai paling rendah. Satu struktur yang mudah dengan hanya satu atau dua kadar adalah lebih berkesan dan berjaya. Tambahnya kebanyakan negara yang mengamalkan GST mengenakan satu kadar sahaja.

Kesimpulannya, pertama, tidak ada cukai yang tidak membebankan. Itulah sebabnya dalam bahasa ekonomi, kewangan dan fiskal disebut beban cukai (tax burden). Bagi GST ini, beban yang dianggarkan adalah RM1bilion yang berupa penambahan hasil kerajaan.

Kedua, pelaksanaan GST jika tidak diawasi dengan ketat akan diperalat dan dimanipulasikan oleh pengeluar, pengedar dan peruncit untuk menipu (profiteering).

Di sinilah kita meletakkan satu lagi penanda aras kepada PKI Perdana Menteri kerana dia juga adalah Menteri Kewangan. Idea dan pelaksanaan GST kini menjadi tanggungjawab mutlak beliau.

Dan ketiga, tambahan hasil cukai daripada GST akan hanya memanfaatkan pembayar cukai dan rakyat jelata jika dibelanjakan dengan berhemah. Rekod pencegahan pembaziran dan penggunaan berhemah tabungan negara oleh sektor awam belum cukup meyakinkan.
Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 6:02 AM 0 comments

UMNO
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on November 30, 2009 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
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1. Pilihanraya Umum ke-13 hanya dua tahun lagi. Saya sedang meneliti reaksi rakyat terhadap UMNO dibawah pimpinan baru. Saya terkejut. Saya terkejut kerana seorang bekas pemimpin UMNO yang kanan telah meluahkan perasaannya dengan berkata "UMNO is rotten to the core" (UMNO busuk hingga ke ususnya).

2. Beliau telah berkata yang beliau sedang memikir untuk menyokong PAS. Beliau juga berkata beliau telah bertemu ramai pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO yang telah bersara dan mereka speendapat dengannya.

3. UMNO busuk daripada peringkat terendah hingga ke peringkat tertinggi katanya. Di cawangan, ketua cawangan hanya berjuang untuk mengekal dirinya sebagai ketua sahaja. Kenapa? Sebabnya majoriti ketua cawangan dapat jadi pengerusi Jawatakuasa Kemajuan dan Keselamatan Kampung dengan elaun tertentu dan kuasa untuk mengagih peruntukan. Berpeluang juga untuk jadi kontraktor Kelas F untuk projek kecil di luar bandar.

4. Untuk menentukan dirinya tidak dicabar ketua cawangan tidak akan benarkan sesiapa yang lebih terpelajar daripadanya masuk UMNO cawangannya. Lebih daripada itu kebanyakan peruntukan untuk jadi ahli UMNO, yang mana dia mesti melalui cawangan, tidak akan dilayan. Tujuannya ialah supaya cawangannya tidak mempunyai banyak ahli kerana mereka tetap akan menimbulkan masalah dan sukar dikawal, bahkan sukar disogok pun.

5. Sebab itu tidak ramai ahli profesional yang dapat menjadi ahli UMNO. Sebaliknya semakin ramai daripada pemimpin PAS terdiri daripada doktor, peguam, jurutera dan lain-lain profesyen.

6. Oleh kerana ketua cawangan biasanya tidak memiliki pelajaran yang tinggi dan beliau menentukan ahli lain dalam cawangannya mempunyai ilmu pengetahuan yang lebih rendah daripadanya, maka apabila ketua terpaksa berhenti kerana sebab-sebab tertentu, maka penggantinya akan terdiri daripada yang kurang berkebolehan daripadanya. Dengan itu kualiti kepimpinan akan merosot sepanjang masa.

7. Tentu ada cawangan yang tidak seperti ini tetapi pengecualian hanya mengesahkan keadaan yang sebenar.

8. UMNO, kata bekas pemimpin kanan ini sekarang dipimpin oleh perasuah. Mereka menjadi ahli Majlis Tertinggi kerana sogokan wang. Orang ramai tidak akan serah nasib mereka kepada perasuah.

9. Penempatan perasuah dalam Kerajaan dan badan-badan lain juga memburukkan lagi imej UMNO. Sudah tentu perasuah akan dipilih sebagai calon UMNO dalam Pilihanraya Umum ke-13. Jika mereka diberi kemenangan maka negara akan dapat Kerajaan perasuah. Sebab itu beliau tidak akan sokong UMNO sebaliknya akan menyertai dan menyokong parti lawan. Katanya lagi hingga kini separuh daripada orang Melayu tidak merasai nikmat kerana Kerajaan-Kerajaan pimpinan UMNO menidakkan hak mereka sedangkan mereka juga orang Melayu walaupun mereka menyokong parti lawan. Mereka yang menyokong parti lawan bertambah sejak (Tun) Abdullah kerana ramai daripada ahli UMNO sendiri sudah tidak percaya kepada UMNO.

10. Yang tinggal katanya ialah orang yang berkepentingan yang berharap mendapat sesuatu kerana menyokong UMNO. Mereka ini bukan nasionalis dan mereka tidak boleh diberi kepercayaan.

11. Banyaklah lagi hujah-hujahnya akan sebab-sebab UMNO tidak lagi akan diberi peluang untuk memerintah negara yang disayangi olehnya. Saya tidak akan hurai lebih lanjut. Hanya yang saya ingin sebutkan ialah pendapat beliau sudah menular ke semua peringkat orang Melayu, bahkan ahli UMNO juga.

12. Rakan-rakan dalam Barisan Nasional semuanya berpecah dan lemah. Mereka tidak mampu menjayakan Barisan Nasional.

13. Masa semakin singkat untuk memperbaiki keadaan ini. Saya mencatat maklumat ini untuk pengetahuan umum sahaja.

ANWAR SEBAGAI PENASIHAT EKONOMI

By

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

on November 16, 2009 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (240) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Saya ucap taniah kepada Kerajaan Negeri Selangor kerana berjaya menganugerahkan Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim dengan jawatan penasihat ekonomi dengan bayaran hanya RM1 setahun.

2. Mungkin kepimpinan Kerajaan Selangor tidak tahu akan prestasi Dato Seri Anwar sebagai Menteri Kewangan Kerajaan Pusat diwaktu krisis kewangan melanda Malaysia.

3. Dia begitu taksub dengan Dana Kewangan Antarabangsa (IMF - International Monetary Fund) dan Bank Dunia sehingga menerima bulat-bulat nasihat Michel Camdessus (pengarah urusan IMF) dan James Wolfensohn (presiden Bank Dunia dan sahabat karibnya) supaya negara ini mengurangkan perbelanjaan Kerajaan untuk mencapai surplus, menaikkan faedah pinjaman bank dengan tinggi supaya peniaga kekeringan modal dan tidak dapat berniaga, memendekkan masa untuk membayar hutang bank daripada enam bulan kepada tiga bulan untuk menjadikan yang berhutang muflis dan bank dibeban dengan hutang tak berbayar (non-performing loans), supaya bank tidak dapat berfungsi dan memerlukan suntikan modal dan bermacam lagi tindakan yang melemahkan dan memburukkan lagi ekonomi negara ini supaya terpaksa mendapat bantuan IMF dan Bank Dunia dengan syarat ekonomi Malaysia diserahkan kepada institusi-institusi ini.

4. Jika pentadbiran ekonomi Malaysia diserahkan kepada IMF maka Dasar Ekonomi Baru akan dihapuskan.

5. Tindakan Anwar ini dikenali dalam akhbar-akhbar sebagai pengamalan dasar IMF tanpa IMF - iaitu tanpa apa-apa bantuan kewangan daripada IMF.

6. Dengan dasar yang diperkenal oleh Dato Seri Anwar maka keadaan ekonomi menjadi lebih buruk dan Ringgit Malaysia jatuh lagi nilainya.

7. Jelas sekali Anwar tidak faham sama sekali pengurusan kewangan dan ekonomi negara.

8. Kuasanya keatas kewangan dan ekonomi terpaksa dipindah kepada Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Negara (MTEN), sebuah jawatankuasa dan think tank yang ditubuh untuk menangani masalah kesusutan nilai Ringgit dan ekonomi negara.

9. MTEN-lah yang mencipta currency control atau kawalan matawang dan menyekat CLOB (Central Limit Order Book - pasaran saham haram yang ditubuhkan di Singapura) supaya segala perniagaan Ringgit oleh penyangak matawang dan penjualan saham Malaysia dalam CLOB ditamatkan.

10. Tindakan MTEN ini berjaya memulihkan ekonomi dan kewangan negara.

11. Mungkin sikap Gabenor Bank Negara dan Timbalan Gabenor yang cuba mengagalkan currency control tidak ada kena mengena dengan Dato Seri Anwar. Tetapi hakikatnya ialah kedua-dua pegawai ini terletak dibawah bidangkuasa Menteri Kewangan.

12. Saya berdoa Kerajaan Selangor tidak akan dipermainkan oleh Penasihat Ekonominya.

Perihal Datuk Menteri, Menantu Dan Carla Bruni

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Perihal Datuk Menteri, Menantu Dan Carla Bruni

A Kadir Jasin

[Komen menggunakan pengenalan anonymous TIDAK AKAN DILAYAN. Sila gunakan nama sebenar atau nama samaran. Jikalau menggunakan anonymous, sila nyatakan nama di penghujung komen. Ulasan yang mengandungi unsur fitnah, hasutan, perkauman dan bahasa kesat tidak akan disiarkan. Ulasan yang terkeluar daripada tajuk tidak akan diberi keutamaan.]

TOK GURU Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat akhirnya tunduk kepada persepsi dan pendapat umum bahawa pelantikan menantunya, Abdul Ariffahmi Abdul Rahman, sebagai Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) Perbadanan Menteri Besar Kelantan adalah langkah tidak popular dan meragukan.

Apa pun alasan dan motivasi Menteri Besar Kelantan itu melantik menantunya ke jawatan penting yang sangat hampir dengan Pejabat Menteri Besar itu tidak berguna dan bermakna apabila berdepan dengan pendapat umum yang negatif.

Dipendekkan cerita, pengalaman Nik Abdul Aziz ini wajib serentak dijadikan teladan dan sempadan oleh semua Wakil Rakyat dan penjawat awam.

Teladan: Langkah Nik Abdul Aziz mengakui kesilapan dan memecat menantunya adalah tepat dan berani.

Sempadan: Sayangkan anak, menantu dan bini ada had dan batasan. Sayang di rumah bawa bahagia. Bawa anak, menantu dan bini campur tangan dalam urusan negara mengundang bencana.

Mungkin Nik Abdul Aziz termakan mantera meritokrasi. Mungkin pada perkiraannya si menantu layak dilantik ke jawatan itu atas dasar meritokrasi. Atau boleh jadi juga dia berasa bahawa sebagai Tok Guru, apa sahaja keputusannya akan dipersetujui dan dihormati.

Saya tidak akan kering air liur atau berhenti mengingatkan Wakil Rakyat bahawa pengundi memilih mereka dan memberi mandat kepada mereka. Pengundi tidak memilih apatah lagi memberi mandat kepada anak, menantu, isteri, abang, adik dan kroni mereka.

Teringat saya berita yang disiarkan oleh akhbar arus perdana tempatan pada 19 November lalu bertajuk “Carla Nafi Suami Jadi Pak Turut”. Carla adalah Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, seorang bintang filem Perancis yang kini isteri Presiden Perancis, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Dalam sistem kepresidenan (presidency) Perancis seperti juga dalam sistem Amerika, Presiden adalah Ketua Negara dan Ketua Kerajaan. Jadi isteri Presiden Perancis dan Presiden Amerika memainkan peranan sebagai Wanita Pertama atau First Lady.

Kita tidak ada sistem itu. Kita ada dua ketua. Ketua Negara adalah Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Ketua Kerajaan adalah Perdana Menteri. Macam Ratu Inggeris Ketua Negara dan Perdana Menteri Inggeris Ketua Kerajaan.

Jadi janganlah silap atau sengaja bagi gelaran atau jolokan Wanita Pertama (First Lady) kepada sesiapa. Kita tidak mahu berlaku salah protokol kerana negara kita adalah negara Raja Berperlembagaan dan kita ada adat resam sendiri.

Posted by A KADIR JASIN at 11:15 AM 36 comments

A Banggol I Can Call My Own

Monday, November 09, 2009

A Banggol I Can Call My Own

A Kadir Jasin

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THE NEW Straits Times’ page one picture today of the cattle sharing a banggol with the motorcars, several power tillers and a lorry to escape the floods in Kelantan tells a poignant story.

It was the story worth a million words and one that I am familiar with albeit with a modern twist.

The banggol is a raised ground in an otherwise flat topography of the rice fields and the grasslands.

I was the product of the banggols. There are several villages around mine in Kedah that have the word banggol in their names like Banggol Besi, Banggol Kambing and Banggol Petai.

During the rainy reason, when the Pendang River overflowed its banks for many miles on both sides, and the inundation lasted weeks, the banggols provided the much-needed temporary shelter for livestock.

Neighbours shared the banggols and cooperated with each other to feed the marooned animals. But there were occasions when disagreements broke out with the less cooperative neighbours.

Food would remain scarce for the livestock until after the floods had totally receded. Grasses and shrubs rotted in the floodwater and would take several weeks to fully rejuvenate.

A friend, who is a film enthusiast, told me that there is a 2004 Vietnamese movie called “The Buffalo Boy” which tells the story of quarrels among villages to gain control of the banggols during the Mikong’s annual floods.

The NST picture is special as it tells us of the change the country has gone through since my childhood in the 1950s. Then there were no motorcars, power tillers and lorries on the banggols. There were only cows, buffaloes and occasional goats.

Picture with the courtesy of the NST

Today, tractors and lorries have replaced the buffalo-driven wooden ploughs, bullock carts and anor (sledge) as farm essentials. Combined harvesters have taken over the backbreaking chores – literally sometimes – from human beings during the harvesting season.

Then floods were an essential part of the cycle of life. Floods that sometimes took lives and destroyed properties also enriched the soil, brought bountiful harvest of fish, lobsters and a variety of water birds.

Today, floods are big national news. What is very seldom asked and answered is why floods are getting bigger, less predictable and with greater lost of lives.

Those days, we built houses on stilts. Even when floodwater rose four or five ft., we were still dry on our stilted houses. We had sampan on the ready or at the very least we could quickly build bamboo rafts. Life was hard but the people were resilient and independent.

Friday, November 06, 2009

Zaid Leads The Registration Of Pakatan

A Kadir Jasin

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IT is reported today that a pro-tem committee headed by the former Barisan Nasional Minister, Zaid bin Ibrahim, has made an application to register Pakatan Rakyat as an official alliance.

Another person mentioned in the media report is Anthony Loke Siew Fook, the DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) chief.

Zaid is the right person to lead exercise given his wide experience in representing Umno in legal matters since the late 1980s. He’s now a member of the Central Leadership Council of Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Also it was Zaid who, not too long ago, was quoted by the media as saying that the People’s Alliance could not be formally registered because it lacked “the required” seven founding members.

Since then, however, the Chairman of the Election Commission, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, had advised the coalition to formally register itself so that its applications to hold joint election talks could be considered.

On my part, I have argued that the PR did not have to wait to have seven founding members to apply for registration.

Pas vice-president Salahuddin Ayub was quoted as saying that Pas, the DAP and PKR were unequivocal in transforming the alliance into a legal entity.

The report says the alliance’s common symbol will incorporate the logos of all component parties.

Still, to my mind, it will be a big emotional issue for Pas and DAP supporters to say goodbye to their venerable moon and the rocket on the ballot papers.

Not seeing the moon and the rocket on the ballot papers is not going to be easy. Pas supporters are fanatical about their bulan, which is synonymous not only with the party but with Islam as well.

On the other hand, sharing a common symbol has been the practice of the main component parties of the Barisan Nasional and its predecessor Alliance from the very beginning.

The report also quoted the Registrar of Societies (ROS), Mohd Alias Kalil, as saying that his office had started studying the PR’s application.

KUDOS to members of the MCA disciplinary board if they had indeed resigned in protest against the restoration of Dr Chua Sooi Lek, as deputy president. The board sacked him from the post August. That’s being principle and having testicular gumption.

I had all a long contended that the Umno disciplinary board should have done that when the people it found guilty of money politics were either allowed to contest the party post (Khairy Jamaluddin) or be later appointed to the Supreme Council (Mohd Ali Rustam).

AND I applaud Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department aka KPI Minister, Koh Tsu Koon for taking his fouled-mouth detractors to task, saying that he would not be judged by them. He would be judged only by the PM whom he said endorses him. That’s correct. He was made a senator and a minister by the PM despite losing Penang to the opposition and himself being defeated in Batu Kawan.

Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah

By

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

on November 10, 2009 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

1. Saya baru-baru ini telah tulis sedikit dibawah tajuk "Hukum Allah" berkenaan apabila sesuatu yang didakwa adalah hukum Allah samada benar ia adalah hukum Allah. Saya dikecam hebat oleh orang yang mungkin lebih terpelajar dalam agama. Nampaknya agama Islam di Malaysia ini tidak boleh disoal barang sedikit pun, walaupun untuk mendapat penjelasan.

2. Saya berdebar hati apabila membaca yang Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin bekas mufti Perlis ditangkap dan dibawa ke balai polis. Dia dilepas dengan ikat jamin polis.

3. Seramai 30 anggota polis dan 20 lebih anggota Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) telah melakukan tangkapan ini. Ternampak seolah-olah Dr Asri ini seorang penjenayah besar yang mungkin mengganas apabila ditangkap. Tetapi beliau tidak pula memberontak. Sebaliknya beliau turut sahaja tanpa bantahan yang keras.

4. Kemudian akhbar melaporkan kes terhadapnya belum pun disediakan. Apakah tidak ada "due process" dalam penguatkuasaan undang-undang Islam di negara ini. Apakah mereka yang diberi kuasa dalam melaksanakan hukum Islam boleh dengan sewenang-wenangnya menangkap sesiapa sahaja.

5. Teringat saya akan "Islam Hadhari" yang saya dimaklum adalah Islam yang sesuai untuk zaman ini, iaitu Islam moden. Apakah ia sebahagian daripada kepercayaan ahli Sunah wal-Jemaah? Jika Ya maka orang Islam di Malaysia hendaklah masuk Islam Hadhari. Jika tidak apakah tindakan yang perlu diambil oleh penguasa agama Islam terhadap ajaran Islam Hadhari?

6. Selain dari itu saya juga keliru apabila membaca tulisan seorang pengkritik Dr Asri bahawa satu dari kesalahannya ialah beliau cuba berpandu kepada Al Quran dan Hadith dan tidak kepada ijma ulama ahli Sunnah wal jamaah.

7. Walaupun kita diberitahu ulama adalah pewaris Nabi tetapi mereka bukanlah Nabi. Mereka hanya manusia biasa walaupun terpelajar dalam agama Islam. Manusia biasa boleh membuat kesalahan termasuk kesalahan mentafsir. Sebab itulah terdapat banyak tafsiran yang amat berbeza antara mereka sehingga berlaku permusuhan dan peperangan antara pengikut mereka. Ini bermakna ada diantara tafsiran mereka yang mungkin tidak betul.

8. Di negara kita ini pun terdapat banyak perbezaan pendapat walaupun kita semua menerima ajaran ahli sunnah wal jamaah imam Shafii. Diantara sembilan negara dan satu wilayah di Malaysia terdapat banyak perbezaan dari hukum dan ajaran Islam. Hendak tentukan Hari Raya pun terdapat perbezaan pendapat.

9. Tentu jelas perbezaan pendapat tidak menjadikan seseorang itu sudah terkeluar dari arus perdana Islam sunni. Sudah tentu jika dikaji pendapat ulama yang mengikut ajaran sunni di negara-negara lain akan terdapat lebih banyak perbezaan.

10. Hanya kerana adanya perbezaan pendapat yang tidak besar tidak sepatutnya menyebab tuduhan bahawa seseorang itu sudah tidak lagi turut ajaran sunni. Apatah lagi perbezaan pendapat itu dialas dengan hujah-hujah yang berasas kepada Al Quran dan Hadith.

11. Semasa saya kecil lukisan rupa manusia dan binatang, penggunaan lampu letrik di dalam masjid dan kegunaan kereta bermotor untuk jenazah dilarang. Tetapi semuanya dianggap halal sekarang. Sekali lagi ajaran Islam dalam kaum sunni juga boleh berbeza dari satu masa ke satu masa.

12. Saya tidak nafi ajaran sesat ala Arqam, Ayah Pin dan Rasul Melayu perlu diawasi dan disekat. Tetapi janganlah penguasa agama terlalu ghairah hendak haramkan syarahan agama oleh orang yang tidak sebulu dengan mereka tanpa membuktikan ajaran itu memang bertentangan dengan Islam.

13. Jawapan kepada saya tentulah saya jahil berkenaan agama Islam dan tidak berhak bercakap berkenaan dengannya. Yang tidak akan dijawab ialah yang mana satu yang saya perkatakan ini adalah tidak berasas kepada kenyataan.

14. Janganlah terlalu cepat nak tangkap orang.

Zaid, The Hurricane Hattie Of PR

Zaid, The Hurricane Hattie Of PR

A Kadir Jasin

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NO malice intended, but the Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s new wunder kinder, Senator Zaid Ibrahim reminds me of the cartoon character Hurricane Hattie.

In the comic strip The Born Loser, by Art Sansom, which started in 1965, Hurricane Hattie was the mischievous girl next door, who delighted in menacing pretty much any adult she encountered, especially the main character, Brutus Thornapple.

Wherever she went in Thornapple’s household, she created havoc. So is the Umno-nominated Kelantan Senator. Wherever he goes, controversy is not far behind.

I won’t dare say I know him intimately. But I think I know him enough. I was first introduced to him when he was actively representing Umno’s corporate interest in the aftermath of the party’s 1987/88 leadership crisis.

Being a young, brash and confident-looking Malay lawyer, he was noticed by the power behind Umno’s corporate empire. Not the least because he hails from Kelantan.

He was among the intermediaries used by Umno to reacquire and appropriate its vast assets taken over by the Public Trustee when the party was deregistered in 1988.

That association, I believe, made him very wealthy and, in due course, satiated his appetite for politics. He soon became an active Umno activist whose knowledge of law and expertise in corporate conveyance activities were highly valued.

But he disappointed the Umno higher-ups very early in his career when he failed to deliver his party-endorsed speech on the Ruler and the Constitution during the 1992 Umno General Assembly at the height of the 2nd Constitutional crisis. He chickened out less than 10 minutes into his speech.

I would not cast aspersion on his new high-powered position in PKR and the Pakatan Rakyat. Suffice to say that wherever he goes and with whomever he associates with, Zaid is bound to ruffle some feathers.

When he was in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s cabinet, his mission to reform Umno and the Judiciary put him at odds with fellow ministers and Umno leaders.

Seeing that Abdullah’s days were numbered and his chances of remaining in the government in the post-Abdullah era miniscule, he beat a hasty retreat. On Sept. 15, 2008 resigned from the cabinet.

Having publicly urged the Yang di-Pertuan Agong not to appoint Mohd Najib Abdul Razak as Prime Minister, the only honorable thing for him to do was leave Umno when the former was made PM and became Umno President.

Given Zaid’s type of liberalism and lifestyle, he is certainly better suited being a PKR linchpin than an Umno reformer. In the PKR, liberalism and unconventional lifestyles is commonplace.

But there’s one problem though. The ex-Umno elements in PKR like deputy president Mohd Azmin Ali and the Selangor Menteri Besar, Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, know well who Zaid is.

Not surprisingly, Mold Azmin, a loyal aide to PKR’s supreme leader Anwar Ibrahim saw the threat and danger is allowing Zaid to roam free in the party and the country.

Zaid’s shoot from the hip’s style could endanger further the party’s uncertain position in Sarawak and Sabah. Both Anwar and Mohd Azmin have done much to nurture the two Borneo states from the days they were in Umno.

When he was Deputy Prime Minister and Umno Deputy President, Anwar ruled supreme in Sabah. But the state failed him last year when hardly a single Member of Parliament crossed over to his side in his so-called Sept. 16 parliamentary coup.

Still Sabah and Sawarak are key states in Anwar’s quest to become the future PM, thus the objection to Zaid running wild in the two states is understandable.

But for Mohd Azmin to stop Zaid is as futile as Brutus Thornapple trying to stop Hurricane Hattie from running amuck in his house.

Zaid may find support among the PKR people who do not know him well and are willing to try their luck with him instead of Mohd Azmin. He may prove to be popular with the non-Umno and the non-Malay elements of the party.

Although Anwar is appreciative of Mohd Azmin’s loyalty and sacrifices as his number one aide, he could not say no to Zaid either. The Kelantan-born lawyer brought with him legal and financial wealth.

Zaid is a wealthy lawyer who boasted the largest Bumiputera-owned legal firm in the country, thanks to his long association with Umno.

But knowing Zaid, he is not going to be satisfied with being just a PKR reformer or with contending with the likes of Mohd Azmin in a mud-slinging contest. He’s already positioning himself as a key player in the PR.

In a recent interview with Malaysiakini, he spoke confidently about the alliance’s so-called Common Policy Framework (CPF) as if he was the spokesman.

Like Hurricane Hattie, Zaid either has his way or, to use the street jargon, he’ll split. There’s no way that anybody, including Anwar, can shut him up.

He is supposed to be on a six-month hiatus from politics yet he gave a lengthy interview to talk about a very important development in the PR in the very state that he was forbidden from going -- Sabah.

Maybe is he more astute than most people in the PKR. He can turn around and argue that there’s no such a thing leave or holiday in politics. A politician works all the time and the cigar chomping lawyer is always in the overdrive mode.

BLAIR OF THE BLOODY HAND
By
Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
on October 16, 2009 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)
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BLIAR.jpg 1. The Daily Mail of London (Saturday, October 10, 2009 - read here) carried the following headline;

"I am not shaking your hand Mr Blair. You have got blood on it".

2. This was said by a bereaved father after the ex-Prime Minister was criticised by the Archbishop of Canterbury at an Iraq remembrance ceremony.

3. It is clear that many in England have a low regard for Tony Blair. Yet in Malaysia he was welcomed and given the honour to give a talk on social issues to Malaysians.

4. When he was Prime Minister, Blair got the British Parliament to support war against Iraq by telling lies about the so-called weapons of mass destruction. Very soon after it was revealed that he had cooked up the intelligence report so that he could support his co-liar, George Bush, President of the United States.

5. The war that they unleashed on Iraq has caused the death of more than 100,000 Iraqis, wounded many more and devastated that highly developed Arab country.

6. The leader of the Iraqis was described as a dictator who was alleged to have killed many of his people. But it is obvious that the number of Iraqis killed and maimed by the British and American soldiers is far far greater than what Saddam was alleged to have killed.

7. Saddam was arrested for his alleged crimes and hanged by the neck until he died. So were his colleagues. Yet if one compares his alleged oppression of his people with the oppression of Iraq and its people, the killings and the destruction resulting from the orders made by Blair and Bush, it must be obvious that what the two leaders had done to the Iraqi people and Iraq is far far worse and heinous. Yet Bush and Blair have escaped any kind of retribution and punishment.

8. Surely there is no justice in the difference between the treatment meted out to Saddam and company and the treatment of Bush and Blair.

9. If people like Bush and Blair are allowed to escape any form of punishment for the brutal crimes they have committed, then others who may lead powerful countries will continue to war and to kill and destroy even when there is no justification.

10. After World War II, a court was set up by the victors to try the vanquished leaders. Such a court cannot be just as it was made up of nominees of the victors. If there was going to be justice, then the court must be made up of neutral judges. In any case the people responsible for the mass killings in war, no matter which side they may be, must be tried and punished. But only the vanquished leaders were tried and we know they were the ones who killed 100,000 in Dresden, Germany and 200,000 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

11. In the absence of courts sanctioned by the international community the Perdana Global Peace Organisation, a Non-Governmental Organisation devoted to criminalising war had decided to set up a tribunal to try war criminals.

12. The court may not be able to get the attendance of the accused persons or to carry out the proper punishment, but this is not going to stop the tibunal from holding a hearing. It will not be the first time that a court hears a case in absentia. But the trial must be held so that the crimes committed by war criminals will be exposed so that the world may punish in whatever way possible.

13. From October 28-29, 2009, a conference on war in its modern version will be held at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

14. Present at this conference will be people like Hans von Sponeck, Dennis Halliday, Michel Chossudovsky, Cynthia Mckinney, the victims of Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the people who had been tortured and many others. They will tell of the laws which prohibit torture, the tortures carried out in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, the detentions without rial and without laws by the very people who talk about human rights, about the rule of law and a lot more.

15. There will be an exhibition of the tortures and the sufferings of the victims.

16. Following the conference, the Commissioners and the Tribunals will sit to listen to the evidence of the brutality perpetrated in the Iraq War.

17. All Malaysians and others are welcome to the conference and to the hearings by the Commission and the Tribunal.

18. We Malaysians have not suffered as the Iraqis, Afghans, Bosnians and Palestinians have suffered from the wars launched against them.

19. We have not even suffered from the earthquakes, the volcanoes, the floods and the storms. Even when the tsunami hit us in 2004, we suffered less because Aceh took the brunt of it.

20. We have to be grateful that we have been saved from all these horrors.

21. But we must feel and sympathise with people who have been less fortunate than us. We must therefore try to appreciate the sufferings of others, be sympathetic towards them. That is the least we can do.

22. So Malaysians, please come to the Conference on War, on Criminalising War, and the upholding of justice.

23. No fees will be charged. Give us your moral support so that we can continue our effort to criminalise war so we may all be able to live in peace and security.

** For more information go to;

http://www.perdana4peace.org/

http://www.criminalisewar.org/