Tun M Sebenarnya Takut Dengan Najib – Dakwa Puad
I'm gonna git ya for not helping my 2 'boys, Muhkriz and Proton
(Malaysia Post) – Mohd Puad berkata, ini kerana Najib adalah penghalang utama untuk membolehkan Dr Mahathir melaksanakan ‘agenda besar’ beliau menaikkan anaknya, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir sebagai Perdana Menteri.
“Tun M kata dia sedia kerjasama dengan Perikatan Nasional (PN) di PRU ke 15. Asalkan tidak ada individu yang digelarnya ‘penyangak’.
“Dia dakwa seluruh rakyat Malaysia tahu susuk tubuh ‘penyangak’ yang dimaksudkannya. Semua orang tahu dia tuju kepada Najib
“Sebenarnya Tun M amat takut dengan Najib. Najib adalah penghalang utama agenda besar beliau untuk naikkan Mukriz sebagai Perdana Menteri,” katanya menerusi Facebook.
Mohd Puad mendakwa, beliau juga percaya paling Dr Mahathir tidak tahan ialah dalam semua survey populariti, Najib tetap nombor satu.
“Mukriz tidak masuk senarai. Tun M pula dalam senarai terbawah. Tetapi baguslah kalau PN terima Tun M balik.
“(Datuk Seri) Hamzah Zainudin pun cakap PN sedia terima sesiapa pun termasuk Tun M. Sekarang ini PN akan terima siapa sahaja kaki lompat,” katanya.
Menurut Mohd Puad, Dr Mahathir tidak perlu risau dengan Najib dalam PN kerana Umno sudah memutuskan tidak akan bekerjasama dengan Bersatu dalam Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-15 (PRU15).
“Bahkan Umno juga buat keputusan di PAU 2020 iaitu Umno akan keluar daripada Kerajaan PN.
“Maka kalau Tun M mahu masuk Bersatu atau PN masuklah. Rakyat sudah kenal beliau. Di mana saja beliau ada, akan ada masalah kronik,” katanya.
Sebelum ini, Dr Mahathir mengulangi pendirian sedia mempertimbangkan kerjasama dengan mana-mana pihak termasuklah PN hanya sekiranya tiada ‘penyangak’.
Beliau yang juga Pengerusi Penaja Pejuang berkata, situasi ini bukanlah bermakna beliau menyokong namun terbuka menjalinkan kerjasama berkenaan asalkan tiada penyangak.
“Dahulu, saya bekerjasama dengan parti lawan pun. Kalau tiada penyangak maka saya boleh rundinglah,” katanya.
FMT (Feb 2018):
The difference between Najib and Mahathir
Not one sen of that money can ever be recovered. Not one. Period. That’s because the scandal involves currency speculation – in short, gambling with the central bank’s reserves.
So, those who argue that Najib-era scandals are worse than (or the same as) Mahathir-era ones are simply ignoring scale and financial logic.
Cronies vs competence
As Pakatan would once attest to, Mahathir essentially gifted our economy and infrastructure to businessmen widely seen as his cronies.
The KL monorail is one of the sorry, half-baked children of this period: it’s ponderously slow, comically small, and criminally cramped. It’s a joke by any standards – if you don’t believe me, go try it one of these days while chanting “Rindu Zaman Tun”.
For all the money spent on it, the private company that owned and operated that embarrassing contraption had to be bailed out.
The same went for the two LRT lines that Mahathir built – and oh, all three weren’t integrated. There’s simply no reason why any train that runs through the central arteries of KL couldn’t be as spacious, comfortable, and efficient as the MRT that Najib eventually built.
Speaking of which, MRT1 was completed ahead of time and under budget, and is fully owned by the government.
More lines are being constructed, and, most importantly, will not be handed off to incompetent private hands. All the lines (LRT, MRT, monorail) are now integrated with one another. As a user of public transport, I personally experience that world of difference between Najib and Mahathir every day.
Toll fever
If you drive a car, consider another example. Sure, Mahathir built the famed North-South Expressway. But his government also signed a lopsided agreement with the highway’s operator, PLUS (then a private company), allowing it to raise the toll rate by 10% every three years.
Insanity, you say? Najib thought so too. He encouraged Khazanah Nasional and EPF to acquire PLUS (51%-49% respectively) in 2010, putting it firmly under government control.
The happy ending: There hasn’t been a single toll increase for that highway since the buyout.
You do have to admire Mahathir’s gall, though. As recently as last month, he defended toll fees in Malaysia, calling them far cheaper compared with other countries.
I’m not sure if most Malaysians would agree – though they should realise which leader is looking out for them, and which is looking out for toll companies.
Democracy and the police state
Najib’s record on civil liberties is spotty for sure. Dissenting activists, politicians, and even artists are still needlessly harassed by authorities.
Maria Chin’s brief detention in 2016 can only be charitably described as mean-spirited and petty. The sedition charges against cartoonist Zunar are similarly disgraceful. Still, it’s clear that Najib has presided over the greatest opening of democratic space since, well, the pre-Mahathir years.
You only need to compare a reformasi protest in the 1990s to a Bersih protest in the Najib-era. The former was a warzone and the latter a festive urban picnic.
One featured images of Mahathir’s police beating and kicking protesters and the other jovial citizens singing popular karaoke songs. Under Mahathir, opposition members and activists were regular “guests” at ISA detention centres. Under Najib, the ISA is no more.
Interesting enough, Mahathir in 2014 blamed the ISA’s abolition for a rise in crime. The iron fist is irrevocably in his DNA. There probably wouldn’t be much of an opposition if Mahathir had remained in power.
Indeed, there wasn’t much of any opposition during his rule — only blind sycophants, well-fed cronies and forgotten victims.
Pakatan only made gains because Abdullah Badawi and now Najib allowed them breathing space. Today, you can rail to your heart’s content against Najib on the streets, on social media, on online portals, and in public forums.
Do you think Mr My-Way-or-the-Highway would’ve allowed even 10% of those attacks against him? He’d probably ISA you and your cat, and then blame it on the police.
The lesser evil
I’m always baffled by people who argue that Mahathir’s wrongdoings and failures aren’t relevant because they’re in the past.
Sorry, they’re more relevant than ever because Najib has been trying his best to rectify the worst aspects of Mahathir’s authoritarian, incompetent, crony-loving regime. And we’re supposed to burn him at the stake for it? For what? For being imperfect?
You wanted reformasi. Don’t spit in its face lah. Crazy double standards are at work here: We’re expected to forgive and trust Mahathir, but not Najib.
Even though Najib has a track record of moving the country forward. Even though he’s proven himself to be meaningfully different and meaningfully better.
Yes, the change may sometimes seem slow and incremental, involving compromise. Then again, the Pakatan crowd had been scolding people opposed to Mahathir as being selfish and too idealistic.
Thank god, I’m a selfless realist – I see Najib as the lesser evil.
“Tun M kata dia sedia kerjasama dengan Perikatan Nasional (PN) di PRU ke 15. Asalkan tidak ada individu yang digelarnya ‘penyangak’.
“Dia dakwa seluruh rakyat Malaysia tahu susuk tubuh ‘penyangak’ yang dimaksudkannya. Semua orang tahu dia tuju kepada Najib
“Sebenarnya Tun M amat takut dengan Najib. Najib adalah penghalang utama agenda besar beliau untuk naikkan Mukriz sebagai Perdana Menteri,” katanya menerusi Facebook.
Mohd Puad mendakwa, beliau juga percaya paling Dr Mahathir tidak tahan ialah dalam semua survey populariti, Najib tetap nombor satu.
“Mukriz tidak masuk senarai. Tun M pula dalam senarai terbawah. Tetapi baguslah kalau PN terima Tun M balik.
“(Datuk Seri) Hamzah Zainudin pun cakap PN sedia terima sesiapa pun termasuk Tun M. Sekarang ini PN akan terima siapa sahaja kaki lompat,” katanya.
Menurut Mohd Puad, Dr Mahathir tidak perlu risau dengan Najib dalam PN kerana Umno sudah memutuskan tidak akan bekerjasama dengan Bersatu dalam Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-15 (PRU15).
“Bahkan Umno juga buat keputusan di PAU 2020 iaitu Umno akan keluar daripada Kerajaan PN.
“Maka kalau Tun M mahu masuk Bersatu atau PN masuklah. Rakyat sudah kenal beliau. Di mana saja beliau ada, akan ada masalah kronik,” katanya.
Sebelum ini, Dr Mahathir mengulangi pendirian sedia mempertimbangkan kerjasama dengan mana-mana pihak termasuklah PN hanya sekiranya tiada ‘penyangak’.
Beliau yang juga Pengerusi Penaja Pejuang berkata, situasi ini bukanlah bermakna beliau menyokong namun terbuka menjalinkan kerjasama berkenaan asalkan tiada penyangak.
“Dahulu, saya bekerjasama dengan parti lawan pun. Kalau tiada penyangak maka saya boleh rundinglah,” katanya.
*********
The difference between Najib and Mahathir
By Sebastian Loh
It’s tempting to see Najib Razak and Dr Mahathir Mohamad as a tired choice between Coke and Pepsi.
Lots of decent, thoughtful folk argue that there’s no difference between the two men – they’re both irredeemably repulsive. I respectfully disagree.
You’ll forgive me for repeating that annoying cliche: It’s an imperfect world, but there is, as they say, a lesser evil. The key is viewing the legacies of Najib and Mahathir proportionately.
The scandals
First, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: 1MDB. The sovereign wealth fund is rightly seen as a poster child for corporate mismanagement.
It went on a mad spending spree, notoriously accumulating RM42 billion in debt. Still, it’s worth noting that 1MDB’s debt – however outrageous and irresponsible – was always surpassed by the total value of its assets.
For example, in 2014, it had RM51.4 billion in assets compared with its RM41.8 billion debt.
What that means is simple – 1MDB can recuperate losses and pay off debt by monetising and developing its assets.
Among these assets include TRX (70 acres or 28ha of prime KL land) and Bandar Malaysia (486 acres or 194ha of prime KL land) – the latter being six times the size of KL Sentral.
That’s not shabby, you’ll agree. Who knows? 1MDB may even end up making substantial profits (spoiler: it’s almost certain to).
Compare that to the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) forex scandal, which took place during Mahathir’s rule. Between 1991 and 1994, RM31.5 billion was lost – that’s about RM100 billion today.
Lots of decent, thoughtful folk argue that there’s no difference between the two men – they’re both irredeemably repulsive. I respectfully disagree.
You’ll forgive me for repeating that annoying cliche: It’s an imperfect world, but there is, as they say, a lesser evil. The key is viewing the legacies of Najib and Mahathir proportionately.
The scandals
First, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: 1MDB. The sovereign wealth fund is rightly seen as a poster child for corporate mismanagement.
It went on a mad spending spree, notoriously accumulating RM42 billion in debt. Still, it’s worth noting that 1MDB’s debt – however outrageous and irresponsible – was always surpassed by the total value of its assets.
For example, in 2014, it had RM51.4 billion in assets compared with its RM41.8 billion debt.
What that means is simple – 1MDB can recuperate losses and pay off debt by monetising and developing its assets.
Among these assets include TRX (70 acres or 28ha of prime KL land) and Bandar Malaysia (486 acres or 194ha of prime KL land) – the latter being six times the size of KL Sentral.
That’s not shabby, you’ll agree. Who knows? 1MDB may even end up making substantial profits (spoiler: it’s almost certain to).
Compare that to the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) forex scandal, which took place during Mahathir’s rule. Between 1991 and 1994, RM31.5 billion was lost – that’s about RM100 billion today.
Not one sen of that money can ever be recovered. Not one. Period. That’s because the scandal involves currency speculation – in short, gambling with the central bank’s reserves.
So, those who argue that Najib-era scandals are worse than (or the same as) Mahathir-era ones are simply ignoring scale and financial logic.
Cronies vs competence
As Pakatan would once attest to, Mahathir essentially gifted our economy and infrastructure to businessmen widely seen as his cronies.
The KL monorail is one of the sorry, half-baked children of this period: it’s ponderously slow, comically small, and criminally cramped. It’s a joke by any standards – if you don’t believe me, go try it one of these days while chanting “Rindu Zaman Tun”.
For all the money spent on it, the private company that owned and operated that embarrassing contraption had to be bailed out.
The same went for the two LRT lines that Mahathir built – and oh, all three weren’t integrated. There’s simply no reason why any train that runs through the central arteries of KL couldn’t be as spacious, comfortable, and efficient as the MRT that Najib eventually built.
Speaking of which, MRT1 was completed ahead of time and under budget, and is fully owned by the government.
More lines are being constructed, and, most importantly, will not be handed off to incompetent private hands. All the lines (LRT, MRT, monorail) are now integrated with one another. As a user of public transport, I personally experience that world of difference between Najib and Mahathir every day.
Toll fever
If you drive a car, consider another example. Sure, Mahathir built the famed North-South Expressway. But his government also signed a lopsided agreement with the highway’s operator, PLUS (then a private company), allowing it to raise the toll rate by 10% every three years.
Insanity, you say? Najib thought so too. He encouraged Khazanah Nasional and EPF to acquire PLUS (51%-49% respectively) in 2010, putting it firmly under government control.
The happy ending: There hasn’t been a single toll increase for that highway since the buyout.
You do have to admire Mahathir’s gall, though. As recently as last month, he defended toll fees in Malaysia, calling them far cheaper compared with other countries.
I’m not sure if most Malaysians would agree – though they should realise which leader is looking out for them, and which is looking out for toll companies.
Democracy and the police state
Najib’s record on civil liberties is spotty for sure. Dissenting activists, politicians, and even artists are still needlessly harassed by authorities.
Maria Chin’s brief detention in 2016 can only be charitably described as mean-spirited and petty. The sedition charges against cartoonist Zunar are similarly disgraceful. Still, it’s clear that Najib has presided over the greatest opening of democratic space since, well, the pre-Mahathir years.
You only need to compare a reformasi protest in the 1990s to a Bersih protest in the Najib-era. The former was a warzone and the latter a festive urban picnic.
One featured images of Mahathir’s police beating and kicking protesters and the other jovial citizens singing popular karaoke songs. Under Mahathir, opposition members and activists were regular “guests” at ISA detention centres. Under Najib, the ISA is no more.
Interesting enough, Mahathir in 2014 blamed the ISA’s abolition for a rise in crime. The iron fist is irrevocably in his DNA. There probably wouldn’t be much of an opposition if Mahathir had remained in power.
Indeed, there wasn’t much of any opposition during his rule — only blind sycophants, well-fed cronies and forgotten victims.
Pakatan only made gains because Abdullah Badawi and now Najib allowed them breathing space. Today, you can rail to your heart’s content against Najib on the streets, on social media, on online portals, and in public forums.
Do you think Mr My-Way-or-the-Highway would’ve allowed even 10% of those attacks against him? He’d probably ISA you and your cat, and then blame it on the police.
The lesser evil
I’m always baffled by people who argue that Mahathir’s wrongdoings and failures aren’t relevant because they’re in the past.
Sorry, they’re more relevant than ever because Najib has been trying his best to rectify the worst aspects of Mahathir’s authoritarian, incompetent, crony-loving regime. And we’re supposed to burn him at the stake for it? For what? For being imperfect?
You wanted reformasi. Don’t spit in its face lah. Crazy double standards are at work here: We’re expected to forgive and trust Mahathir, but not Najib.
Even though Najib has a track record of moving the country forward. Even though he’s proven himself to be meaningfully different and meaningfully better.
Yes, the change may sometimes seem slow and incremental, involving compromise. Then again, the Pakatan crowd had been scolding people opposed to Mahathir as being selfish and too idealistic.
Thank god, I’m a selfless realist – I see Najib as the lesser evil.
They are both evil. The only difference is Jibby did not do anything to nail Toonsie 1.0 when he had the chance. But Toonsie 2.0 has nailed Jibby kaw kaw. So stop crying and take your punishment like a good boy.
ReplyDeleteBTW the value of the land that TRX sits on would have appreciated anyway, with or without project TRX. It is right smack in Bukit Bintang where commercial land value was the highest in Malaysia, even before TRX was conceptualized. But Jibby grabbed the land through arm twisting at below market value and passed it to 1MDB, his vehicle for rape, pillage and plunder. He was trying to do the same in Bandar Malaysia, like 2MDB....ha ha ha....
We should have left the development of the TRX land to private developers. Let Supply and Demand dictate the speed of construction. But when put under under 1MDB the speed at which the construction is done will have terrible long lasting impact on commercial property values in KL. So many offices will remain empty for years to come. TRX was supposed to be a financial centre, attracting global financial institutions. After Covid everybody work from home. Now TRX has become a pure property play. Two years after completion the 108 tower is still more than half empty.
If left to private developers the 50 billion or whatever will be in private hands, where it belongs. With Jibby's TRX/1MDB the 50 billion will be in Jibby/JhoLow/crony's hands. Big Difference.
Jibby is a convicted criminal; when asked what happened to gomen pensioners 4 BILLION KWAP money he could give no reasonable answer. Disappeared, Lenyap, Begitu Saja.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sebastian Loh is still thinking it is OK to entrust 50 billion of taxpayer's money with Jibby? And KT thinks it is smart to retweet this ridiculous idea?
BTW borrowing 40 billion (for which taxpayer has to repay) to generate paper assets of 50 billion 10 years later is not smart. I can get better returns putting the money in bank FD for 10 years. Risk Free. So why take the risk to push the billions through a project called TRX? Money laundering is one obvious explanation. Helping cronies get rich is another.
The February 2018 article in FMT by Sebastian Loh is Bullshit , as has been made clear by subsequent events. Ktemoc should not publish such fabrications
ReplyDelete1MDB merely a poster child for corporate mismanagement ? Crap. It was mega theft, a Massive Crime, not "mismanagement"
"it’s worth noting that 1MDB’s debt – however outrageous and irresponsible – was always surpassed by the total value of its assets.". Bullshit Crap.
When Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng directly confronted Arul Kanda where was 1MDB famous assets, Arul Kanda was forced to admit there was nothing.
1MDB was JUST Arul Kanda, a receptionist and a few assistants. A shell company. The Malaysian Government would have to pay back the International loans 1MDB undertook, ultimately the Citizens of Malaysia.
It took a change of Goverment on May 8, 2018 for the truth to come out.
That was not all Mahathir's work, but it is undeniable that he was a factor.