Saturday, June 07, 2008

Is Khalid Ibrahim up to the MB's job?

Now, this is very worrying news about dodgy-ness in the Selangor State administration – not necessarily imputing any of the elected members of the State government but more the admin-wallahs, the State civil service bureaucracy, or to be more precise, one high official.

According to a Malaysiakini article Top state official in MB's office accused of graft, 4 outraged PKR members from the party's Kuala Selangor, Tanjong Karang and Shah Alam divisions, have reported to the ACA (and twice at that too) about the alleged corruption of a top state official who's positioned right within the MB’s office.

Surely that says a lot about the official’s top dog status.

Naturally at this stage, the identity of that State official has not been revealed, but what worries kaytee have been the two facts that (1) he is right there working with Khalid Ibrahim, and (2) the 4 PKR whistleblowers went directly to the ACA instead of informing the MB first.

In case you aren’t aware - having just returned from Mars or a cave in Tibet where you were in secluded meditation for the last 10 years ;-) - the Selangor MB is Khalid Ibrahim, a senior leader of PKR (yes, the same party as those 4 whistleblowers) as well as a close confidante and personal friend of Anwar Ibrahim, the de facto leader of the party.

Remy Iskandar, representing the 4 PKR whistleblowers, declared he made the report "to save the image of the party" as well as the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

'... to save the image of the PKR party and the Pakatan Rakyat ...'

Very strong emotional words with all sorts of worrying subtexts ........ which has been why I am suffering from a major dose of disquiet.

But alas, he didn’t (or perhaps wouldn't) explain why the 4 haven’t gone to their State PKR leader, the MB himself. Alamak man, their very obvious omission of logical communication protocol bugs me to hell.

Indeed, why have they deliberately bypassed Khalid Ibrahim and in the process probably embarrassed him to no ends, mind you, on the matter of being caught unaware of the alleged naughtiness of the State public servant in his very own MB office.

However, Remy absolved the MB from any knowledge stating that the alleged 'irregularities' in the approval of a cleaning and rubbish collection contract in Petaling Jaya, was done without the knowledge of the MB.

And he said his group had documents to back their allegations that the top official had dodgy-ly given the contract to four companies.

Undoubtedly caught flatfooted by the PKR empat sekawan, the Selangor government went into damage control and according to Malaysiakini, "… has since responded to the allegations by welcoming an Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) probe into the case."

We all are familiar with those (in truth, grudging) words "... welcoming an ACA probe ...", which would be a typical statement by people who had the embarrassing misfortune of being caught unaware by a report of alleged corruption in their domain of governance, but reacting to that in the only possible (embarrassed) manner.

Hmmm, maybe AAB isn't the only somnambulistic pollie in Malaysia?

The MB’s representative then quickly claimed it will launch its own investigation given that the ACA has previously been slow to take action.

Now, this is the strange part which buttresses my mentioned disquiet, where Malaysiakini informed us that the Selangor state government has called upon the 4 PKR members to come forward with the lowdown on the issue, as it has its own process and procedure, enabling it to call witnesses to provide information.

This confirms that those 4 PKR whistleblowers haven't gone straight to the MB in the first place, and perhaps hadn't even bothered to inform him of the alleged corruption!

What or why have those 4 not demonstrated their confidence in Khalid Ibrahim by doing so? That's the RM64 million question!

Could it be that the State CEO has become so inaccessible even to his own party divisional leaders, perhaps because he has been surrounded by a phalanx of impenetrable Praetorian Guards?

Oh BTW, does the State government's statement "... enabling it to call witnesses to provide information ..." sound like a threat directed at those 4? Why not just a warm friendly "Dei kawan, kita member kan, mai cakap dengan ai lah"*?

* "hey buddies, we are afterall PKR mates aren't we, talk to me please"
The MB’s office has accused the ACA of being slow to take action. But there are some of us who sees Khalid Ibrahim as the ultimate slow-mo guy. He lends the impression he has been very reluctant or lacking the will and zeal (like Perak’s Nizar or Penang’s Lim GE) to tackle unpleasant issues head on.

As an example, the toll saga at Bandar Makhota Cheras (BMC) was a stark case in point where he failed abysmally to provide any leadership or strong decision making.

He was even perceived as more concerned about the company's profits than the rights of the Cheras residents.

Tony Pua of the DAP (a PKR ally), and a federal MP for PJ, was so disappointed with Khalid Ibrahim on the latter's wishy washy handling, or rather, noticeable lack of firm handling of the BMC affair, that Tony was compelled to lament publicly on his blog that:

It is critical that the new state government demonstrate political will and determination to stand for what is right and just, without fear or favour, instead of wavering in uncertainty or adopting a "we will look into it" or "we will have to discuss further" culture which is reminiscent of the previous Barisan Nasional government.

It is of great concern that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had qualified his statement on the "right of use" by saying that the state government must also take into consideration that the toll is the source of revenue for the company.

For more, see my post Khalid Ibrahim more concerned with Toll Company's revenue than Cheras residents' rights.

For additional background reading, please read Khalid Ibrahim refuses to turun padang to Cheras.

In the absence of those qualities, namely, strong political leadership, decisiveness and a courageous commitment to the Cheras rakyat's rights, the BMC situation, with all the attendant emotions of what the rakyat had perceived as gross injustice and alleged toll fee gouging, was invariably allowed laissez faire to deteriorate into lamentable violence.

It was ironically the federal cabinet who had to step in to stop (at least temporarily) the brittle, bitter and bellicose antagonism between the aggrieved residents and the toll towkays.

And only much much much later, we learnt that the Selangor State government has a shareholder's stake in the toll company. Well ........

My worry is this - Has Khalid Ibrahim discovered that political executiveship is not exactly his cup of tea, and defaulted to what he once was, a high Brahmin (CEO) of a government (UMNO) linked company, who expects the nastiness of politics in the real world to be abracadabra-ed away by underlings without him getting his personal hands soiled ... or the need to personally turun padang?

Has he also subconsciously surrendered to what Tony Pua had succinctly described as adopting a "we will look into it" or "we will have to discuss further" culture which is reminiscent of the previous Barisan Nasional government?

Would this have been the same perception and consequential disappointment felt by those 4 PKR whistleblowers, concluding that in the end, they themselves have to report the alleged corruption directly to the ACA, rather than wait for the immovable mountain to come to them?


39 comments:

  1. Aiyah, lagi you simply let fly. You cakap they
    "deliberately bypassed Khalid Ibrahim"

    How you know this? You work as PA to Mb kah? You tengok the report made by Tanjong karang orang, and Shah Alam.
    You think MB bodo kah? He maybe told them to report kerana kalau MB take action he will lawan the gomen servants.
    Jadi, MB dapat orangnya buat report. Sekarang gomen punya orang tak boleh cakap apaapa, only answer to ACA.
    Ini MB nampaknya clever man. KTemoc pun kena take for ride.

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  2. Kaytee,

    I think the 3 PKR whistleblowers, if, indeed did bypass the MB should not be taken negatively.

    To me, it's a good sign. These individuals have shown the ability to do the "right thing" and able to think and act independently.

    They do not have to swear blind allegiance to or be cowed by the MB just because he's also a PKR member.

    It's when these blind allegiance syndrome sets in which will allow the rot to creep in.

    However, I do agree with your observation that the Selangor Government's "waiting mode" and lack of will in the BMC saga does definitely DO NOT inspire confidence and in fact make me quite disappointed.

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  3. Hmm ... interesting article; interesting questions posed. Two issues of integrity. Is the Hon. Mr Khalid a "Melayu Baru" or a "Wolf in sheepskin"? Whatever, Mr Khalid, you need to worker harder at not failing PKR and its vision. There's not much days left to the end of your 100 days.

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  5. Anonymous of 12:23 PM, June 07, 2008 said (minor editing in parenthesis by kt) ...

    That person is not identified yet but if you look at the current [a certain senior State public servant], he was formerly under Khir Toyo and we all know how [deleted] Toyo [deleted]. TS Khalid also inherited some "kuncu" frm Toyo in the current dministration. Give him a break , he will get rid of these 'kuncu', I am sure.

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  6. kita bagi peluang masa yang lebih
    panjang bukan mudah untuk memperbaiki segala kebururukan
    yang di cipta oleh kerajaan BN. selepas 2 atau 3 tahun tidak ternampak apa apa perbezaan dan di dapati keadaan sama sahaja dengan pemerintahan BN kami rakyat akan menghentam kerajaan PR dengan lebih teruk lagi. buat masa kini didapati persekitaran kawasan masih lagi tidak kemas dan tidak teratur dan tidak bersih langsung. elizabeth wong dan rakan rakan harus bertindak dengan lebih giat dan saya mengesyorkan sistem gotong royong bersama rakyat untuk membantu mengemaskan seluruh kawasan kediaman atau perindustrian
    dilancarkan sepanjang masa demi kebaikan semua pihak. juga boleh digunakan untuk mempereratkan perhubungan semua kaum terutamanya golongan muda. berharap exco kerajaan negeri kalau terbaca kandungan ini akan mempertimbangkan
    rancangan yang di ulaskan oleh saya.
    masa untuk berpolitik sudah berakhir dan masa sudah sampai untuk mempertingkatkan kehidupan rakyat. harga minyak dah naik mendadak dan salah satu cara untuk mengatasinya adalah untuk mengamalkan satu kehidupan yang sederhana dan berdasarkan kepada kemampuan diri sendiri.
    semoga negara tersayang akan sentiasa aman damai.
    Sekian terima kasih.

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  8. I think you are grossly wrong here.

    Most large corporations operate on a case of the employees having direct access to an ETHICS committee - in my company, we can contact by e-mail/phpone/fax our Ethics Committee in the US without going through the local management.

    That reduce the possibility of a trade-off or a buy-off of the person making the complaints.

    If indeed the MB or PKR is following this policy, I would say well done to him (them)!

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  9. The people who found out about the misdeeds of public servants in the MB's office did right to report it directly. The did not need Khalid's "permission" to report it.

    Khalid Ibrahim was never a firebrand street politician. He would be dishonest if he tried to simulate being one. There are plenty of people in PKR who are capable of playing that kind of role.
    I do expect him to be doing his best to manage the State administration for the good of the people As far as I can see, he IS doing that, the lack of fireworks and bells and whistles notwithstanding. By the way, he never was a member of UMNO

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  10. The PKR worst nightmare is creeping in and PKR cyber gurkha are almost out of wit to spin. Remove this Khalid, and get in someone who are proactive. Thats better method of damage control. He failed miserably in all small issues cropped up even earlier than Cheras Saga.
    Somehow, Khalid resembles the nice guy image of Pak Lah in his good old golden days as PM, but its steadily deteriorating.

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  11. agree with kittykat46, so far MB doing the job without showing off.

    btw, MB did show up in Bdr Mahkota Cheras and handle it well by delegating to ronnie and the residents was more than appreciative coz objective was met - open road til court case is settled :-)

    To Ketuanan Rakyat!

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  12. do u know the case of monkeys guarding over the bananas???pkr took over the state gov machinery of all the previous former staff of the OLD mentality GUARDS!!!!

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  13. KTemoc :Why not just a warm friendly "Dei kawan, kita member kan, mai cakap dengan ai lah"*?

    Friend, that is as Tony put it "culture which is reminiscent of the previous BN government" - we are sick of such back scratching.

    If it is a corruption case, then the MB has no business handling it and it should, as the 'empat sekawan' correctly did, be reported to the ACA.

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  14. Aiya KT... if Khalid turun-padang to BMC and got his coconut smacked in by cops/goons like what happened those DAP guys, you'll be calling him a wannabe-martyr like how you called Tian Chua.

    Khalid isn't like some of those fighting-cock DAP & KeADILan fellas who are out to charge head-on into the issue. But both have their advantages, and limitations. Sometimes, one will work and the other won't... it depends upon the current scenario.

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  15. The 4 whistleblowers did right. Allegation of corruption must go to the ACA, not to party leaders even if the party leader is a personal friend.

    When Remy Iskandar, declared he made the report "to save the image of the party" as well as the Pakatan Rakyat state government, he did right with the right intention.

    If the group did not report the allegation and the people/authority later found out, the issue will be a source of ambarassment to the state government and leaders, as they will be seen as the same as previous administration. Reporting the allegation IS an act to save the image of the PKR party and the Pakatan Rakyat Government.

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  17. jon left a message at 5:12 AM 08 June 08 which I have decided to edit slightly because, as I've said in my post, there's no question of any impropriety on the part of any of the elected members of the PR State government (but rather, a senior bureaucrat), and I won't allow even insinuations. Anyway, jon wrote (with my deletions in parentheses):

    "heheh..well, well, well,..cud it not be dat the whistle blowers wer trying to get the MB implicated upon investigation by the ACA?? How truly [deleted] is the [deleted]? You ppl noes TS Khalid dat well?? hmm, by the look of it the fight to wrest control over the powers dat be to control Selangor is on now...heheh..wat can i say...time will tell..(,")

    SAY NO TO NWO!"

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  18. brighteyes, turun padang didn't mean KI must behave recklessly like Tian Chua - people weren't expecting him to be a fighting cock or to be only there when the fracas was going on. The criticism is that he didn't even bother and refused to visit the place of dispute and talk with the aggrieved residents. He finally went there only when the cabinet ordered the barrier removed. WTF for - to bask in the 'BN granted' success?

    KI gives the sad picture he's a man more comfortable in the airconditioned carpeted boardroom of a government link GLC than the grotty streets used by the Cheras residents, and confirmed that impression by his refusal to visit the location of the barrier, to at least boost the morale of the people who had voted for him.

    This is a 'general' who wouldn't like to visit his soldiers in their muddy trenches. And he showed more concerns for the 'enemies' and their 'source of revenue'.

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  19. i heard you like young girls even below the legal age of 15. i'm 12 and hot. i like dirty old men like you. email me at youngchildslut@yahoo.com or add me on facebook. muah, licking my fingers for you.

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  20. hi young girl, i heard too that kaytee moc likes 'em young and tight. do you like threesomes? i'm a bit older than you, 12 and a half next week. but i'm sure young enough for you kaytee. younggirl2@sluts.com

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  21. hi young girl and young girl 2, can i join you guys. last time me and kaytee.....erm, u know......i must be oldest though now 15....i met kaytee two years ago......youngboy@instantorgies.org

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  22. hi everyone.
    join me in my myspace - slutslutmalaysiayoung - my id
    kaytee is there too
    b4 he told me his blog is onleee for serious stuff.....but since you guys and gals are pulling here tooo

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  23. i'm on myspace too - whorerightnow
    kaytee is so serious sometimes
    m, 13, bi, kl (kepong)
    where are my sweets kaytee? u said you'll buy me sweets after i let u touch me....and.....play that horsey game.......

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  24. I am going to leave these terrible comments on, to show just how pathetically unscrupulous and immoral someone can be - shame on you, and even Jesus may have diffulty forgiving you.

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  25. Kaytee,

    Chances are that this corrupt official is from the previous corrupt Khir Toyo admin who has been retained as a bureaucrat to oversee things. It could be a case of pagar makan pagi while the PR state govt is still new. Very courageous of the 4 PKR members to report him direct to the ACA, and I don't think Khalid should feel embarrassed at all. On the contrary I think he should praise them for what they have done

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  26. Come to think of it, I guessed TS Khalid knew who the person. If he is from Khir Toyo's time, then this senior person was rumoured to be the toll gate keeper.
    By using his other members from PKR to make the report, TS Khalid wont face unnecessary sabotages by that person while he is trying to stabilise the Selangor Govt machinery. He still get the job done.
    As for BMC, I think the TS has done a good job, a damn good one considering he is only a MB for few months while BN never solved it for years. Lets give him his dues too. If we have voted in BN, I dare said the barriers will be there and some of the BMC committee with DAP , Keadilan and PAS members may have been arrested under ISA for the public outcry and action. Remember Batu Caves in Nov 07?

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  27. hi. my friend said you like group sex dressed up as a priest with christian hymms playing. i am also under 15. email me heavenlyshag@jesusshagstoo.com.

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  28. hey i heard you like religious sex to reach a higher state of consciousness. i am a nun...well not anymore well...i am but they dun know i like sex.....a bit older at 21....my church is real authenticc too...u like it in the cemetary??? hornynun69@catholicsex.org.uk

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  29. KT, good you let the gurkha's express their fantasies ;-) This is their last resort..he..he..he

    Good short Boys, anything else? You guys and your twin brothers, the 4th Floor Boys are all same.

    Only that, this Backdoor Boys are all so kinky...I love you boys, email me anwaritas_aljuburi@rearentry.org

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  31. u r into morality? fuck me. fuckingmorality@gmail.com.

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  32. what about me? fuck me too. i am 13. fuckingimmorality@youngteens.com

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  33. These a&%#h*!es are PKR's cyber troopers? Listen, I support PKR. It is not necessary for you goons to give PKR a bad name by "messing" up "anti" Anwar bloggists!

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  34. if this keeps up you have to start moderating comments, otherwise your blog will become inundated with this spam and therefore difficult to read.

    actually... if i were you... I would just enable moderating now for a couple of days at least, frustrate these idiots a bit and they'll go away.

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  35. cybercop! i also support PKR! tuesdays and thursdays are PKR ONLY nights. the theme is sky blue and red. we paint each other in sky blue and red then lick it off!
    youngchildslut@yahoo.com

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  36. Remy Iskandar Msutafa - The true story. On the eve of 8th March, he was still flying with BN flags. After BN lost, Remy start to tell the people of Kuala Selangor, he is a cousin of Khalid Ibrahim. In fact he is only a neighbour to Khalid's family in Kuala Selangor.

    He tried to get nearer to Khalid.He even manage to see Khalid with files asking for projects in which Khalid ignored.

    He get frustrated. Now can you imagine, a guy which is not even member of PKR claimed that he is the youth chief of a branch. PKR has no branch at all. It's administere using JDM system. Jawatankuasa Daerah Mengundi.
    This guy will taste the trouble of making a false police report.
    The newspapaper Sinar, that repoerted about the actions was not that careful to chech with PKR secretary about the guy's membership.

    Remy Iskandar Mustafa works as Budak Tarik Kereta - towing kereta accident tepi jalan.

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  38. Ktemoc - "He finally went there only when the cabinet ordered the barrier removed. WTF for - to bask in the 'BN granted' success?"

    Ktemoc - you got it wrong, please re-check your facts, and I expect you to post a correction on your blog once you do so.

    Otherwise I would have to consider you an irresponsible blogger, perhaps a "mala fide" blogger.

    This is the Malaysiakini report on his 2ND visit to the site, BEFORE the Cabinet decision, which happened the next day.
    http://www1.malaysiakini.com/news/83641

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  39. ok kk46, I withdraw my remarks above ;-) thanks for the correction, though I must say KI had been fortuitously 'saved' by a 'miraculous' one day grace. Also, mikini didn't mention anything about that being his 2nd visit as you've asserted.

    Nonetheless it doesn't excuse KI for his very noticeable slow-mo heel dragging disinclination to act decisively when the land on which the barriet was erected belongs to the State government. His comments that "the state government must also take into consideration that the toll is the source of revenue for the company" was shamefully unhelpful, to say the least.

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