Saiful Bukhari Azlan - Victim or Villain?

Strangely, 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the alleged victim of sodomy or the alleged UMNO villain of stealth, depending upon your political allegiance, has been dismissed into a minor supporting role, one in a cast of thousands, whilst Anwar Ibrahim assumes centre stage with AAB, Najib, Musa Hassan and Patail.

Look, Saiful wasn’t one of those thousands who just made coffee or open doors in PKR (why need someone to open doors?) as one anwaristas had suggested in a silly attempt to diminish his connection with Anwar. I read in an earlier news article in Malaysiakini that Anwar was looking for him since Thursday, wondering where he had disappeared to. He has been described consistently as a special aide to Anwar.

Malaysiakini reported in Saiful in hiding, uncle has faith that Saiful has been subjected to horrendous character assassination on the Internet.

Malaysiakini continued with Saiful's uncle saying:

"But I believe in Saiful. He is a good kid and all that he has done, he has done with honesty. I just got back from Perak and we've not been in touch but I know why he lodged the report."

Teary-eyed, the uncle said that his nephew reported the matter as he wanted to expose the PKR leader for what he was. When asked about Saiful's alleged links to Umno politicians, the uncle brushed them off.

"We've got no help or connections with Umno. All he wanted to do is to expose the heinous crime."

On Saturday when Malaysiakini first released the explosive news Aide alleges sodomy: Report lodged, it stated that (on Saturday) "at 11.15 pm, PKR sent out an SMS message stating that the police had detained Anwar's special aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan this afternoon and forced him to lodge a police report about being sodomised by his boss."

‘…forced him to lodge a police report …’

Then a day later, Malaysiakini published Alleged sodomy was 'in a Damansara condo' in which it said “Anwar has rejected the fresh accusations against him - the second time in 10 year - and described it as a complete fabrication. PKR also said that Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report against Anwar.”

‘ … Saiful was arrested and forced by the police to lodge such a report …’

However today, Malaysiakini tells us in Anwar files libel suit against aide the obvious (from its headlines), that Anwar has just filed a suit against his former aide for allegedly defaming him by lodging a malicious and false report about the sodomizing.

Anwar also claimed that Saiful knew that he has intended to stand for elections in the near future, and Saiful’s police report, which apparently contained nasty salacious descriptions, would receive humongous media coverage and undoubtedly bugger (pun not intended) Anwar’s election prospect.

Presumably Saiful 'knew' because he was Anwar's special aide.

Worse, the police report implied that Anwar had committed a heinous act contrary to the Muslim faith.

Malaysiakini also reported Anwar’s lawyer Sivarasa stating that Saiful’s allegations were politically motivated and ill-intended towards tarnishing Anwar's political reputation.

… so on so forth ...

… quite a change from Anwar’s initial assertion that poor old Saiful had probably made the report ‘under duress’ - and we Malaysians know what ‘under duress’ means, don’t we? – to the current Saiful who is allegedly a lying Judas.

Yesterday I posted Has Dr Wan Azizah blundered badly? where I reckoned Dr Wan Azizah’s attempt to distance her hubby from Saiful was a tactical blunder.

But I also added: "... Holey Moley, the Anwar camp must be panicking for Wan Azizah to come out with such a - if you don’t mind me saying this of her - really stupid assertion ..."

… the assertion being Saiful was seen in a photo with Najib Razak's aide in front of the DPM's office. There was lso another photo with some other ministers.

But should we cast Saiful straightaway into the role of villain based on a few such photos, which could be innocent souvenir snapshots of a young student with ministers.

Don’t ask Tian Chua because he would quite happily run away with less than a real photo.

To summarize, Saiful is either a victim or a villain.

Let’s start off with his alleged villainy, based no doubt in large part on his photo snapshots with some ministers.

Does that mean he had been a deep UMNO plant who somehow wasn’t given any background check by PKR, but yet could could worm his way into the confidence of Anwar to the extent that in a mere 3 months he became a special aide to the PKR de facto leader?

How could this happen?

But what if he has been a victim?

He was raped? But by whom? Which party had raped him (maybe with an instrument) and then forced/threatened him or his family or both (putting him under duress) to make a false report implicating Anwar Ibrahim?

... or ...

He wasn’t raped but forced/threatened anyway as above?

If he has been a victim, then it’s really bad form for Anwar Ibrahim to further penalize him with the legal suit, just as Wan Azizah had attempted to distance her hubby from him.

But most important of all, should he be vilified on the Internet or deserving of some sympathy for his victimization (if he has been a victim)? The problem with Malaysians is that they don't have the patience or the inclination to wait for due process ;-)

A third possibility would be that he is a PKR kamikaze volunteer for Anwar, by pretending to be a victim to facilitate the Drama King’s refuge in the Turkish Embassy, so as to elicit worldwide media coverage and international political support for his 'cause'?

Is there any reliable proof, other than Anwar's claim, that Anwar is under threat of an assassination?

Malaysia has been fortunate that up to now, we haven’t had any politicians assassinated on the basis of power struggle. It’s not in our culture. The only pollie who was killed by a MB from the same party was as a result of passion and not so much politics. Murdered victim had the bloody temerity to bonk the MB’s sister.

I find it hard to believe the assassination claim.

Oh BTW, Malaysiakini has just reported that Anwar leaves Turkish embassy after being assured of his safety by three ministers - Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar, Foreign Minister Rais Yatim and the man he has been trying to get, DPM Najib Razak ;-).

Naughty Zosia Blue

I am not sure who the hell is the blogger of Zosia Blue who has plagiarised my post Has Dr Wan Azizah blundered badly? (no acknowledgement that it was posted by kaytee is plagiarism) and posted it as Anwar Ibrahim’s blog.

But worse, it’s not 100% copying, with a few new words inserted in various places and some substituting for what I had written, eg:

“i believe dr pale azizah” instead of my “i believe dr wan azizah”,

“…has made a terrible terrible tactical slip in her try on …” instead of my “… has made a terrible terrible tactical mistake in her attempt …”

And various other deliberate distortions.

Aiyah, what to do with such cyber perverts?

Thanks to my blogging matey, Lucia Lai of Mental Jog who alerted me to the corrupt plagiarism!

Has Dr Wan Azizah blundered badly?

I believe Dr Wan Azizah has made a terrible terrible tactical mistake in her attempt to disabuse us of believing the sodomy allegations against her husband, Anwar Ibrahim.

In Malaysiakini news report Wan Azizah to file report against IGP, AG, she attempted to ‘distance’ her husband from his aide (and alleged sodomised 'victim'), 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

‘Distancing’ is a deliberate act to place or keep someone unsavoury or something that has gone badly wrong at a distance from or unlikely association with the person that the ‘distancing’ is supposed to protect.

Eg. Boss ordered me (just verbally) to buy a flat screen TV for office use with company funds. When the auditors subsequently questioned the office on the propriety of such a purchase, the boss 'distanced' himself from me and the purchase by saying he too was both ‘surprised and shocked’ by my 'unauthorised' purchase.

Malaysiakini reported that this morning Wan Azizah claimed Saiful was a volunteer, who joined PKR just a mere three months ago, to help the party during the general election period, and that little was known of him.

Saiful apparently is a former student leader at the Universiti Tenaga Nasional, who 'has taken photographs with a number of ministers'.

Malaysiakin reported in its update that at one stage during the press conference given by Dr Syed Husin, Wan Azizah had brandished her mobile phone to show a photo of Saiful with Najib Razak's aide in front of the DPM's office.

I personally think that's in fact counterproductive to Anwar’s case because there is also a rumour that Anwar himself has staged the sodomy allegations in a bid to cast poo on the AAB government, and to gain international attention and sympathy for him, at a time when his campaign to destabilise the government may be running out of steam (as evidenced by the two SAPP MPs experiencing a change of heart and playing hooky from taking a vote during the parliamentary debate on fuel subsidy).

How else can one explain Wan Azizah having such an incriminating photo so handily on her mobile to 'show and tell' just a day after the sodomy allegations exploded on the Malaysian scene?

More importantly, how can one explain away the ridiculousness of possessing such an incriminating photo/evidence of Saiful in such a 'cozy' photo with the 'enemy', yet allowing him to be Anwar's close aide?

Worse, Wan Azizah claimed that no background check was done on Saiful as he was just a volunteer. Yet, despite all these, Saiful later become a special assistant to Anwar. How could it happen? It sure as hell makes Wan Azizah’s explanation bloody weak and defensive.

… which has been why I believe Wan Azizah has blundered badly in attempting to distance Saiful from her husband or to insinuate that Saiful could have been an UMNO plant.

She should have left it the way Anwar had presented it in the first place, that poor Saiful must have been placed under extraordinary duress to lodge the report.

When I read this Malaysiakini report I thought to myself, Holey Moley, the Anwar camp must be panicking for Wan Azizah to come out with such a - if you don’t mind me saying this of her - really stupid assertion. It has done more harm than good to Anwar's case.

Thus, I wasn’t entirely surprised when I subsequently read that Anwar Ibrahim has sought refuge in the Turkish Embassy since early this morning, as reported by Malaysiakini in its article PKR fears Anwar an assassination target.

PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said Anwar Ibrahim has received threats to his life and is currently holed up at the Turkish embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Syed Husin claimed the threat has been to silence Anwar for good, not just politically but physically.

All very high drama, but which I believe could well be an Anwar Ibrahim’s counter attack against what he must have sensed or perceived to be coming next from his foes. It also helps to draw international attention to his 'plight'. It provides his campaign against the government with much needed renewed momentum.

I have a bad feeling that the Saiful issue may have damaging … I hesitate to use the word … evidence, but obviously Anwar has anticipated the worst, and has ratcheted up the ante.

There have been so much bullsh*t flung around by both sides that our normal olfactory senses would have been zonked out of service by the putrid stench. I don't trust both sides and will adopt a cautious neutral 'wait & see' attitude, until more facts are available.

Sodomy allegations against Anwar Ibrahim - Season of bullsh*t

Malaysiakini has published in Aide alleges sodomy: Report lodged that Anwar Ibrahim has been accused, AGAIN, of sodomy, but this time by his personal aide Saiful Bahari.

According to the Star Online 23-year old Saiful made a police report against Anwar yesterday evening at around 5:45 pm.

Bloke alleged he was sexually assaulted on last Thursday inside a luxury apartment in the city. I wonder why there is a need to describe the apartment as 'luxury'?

He also claimed it was not the first time that Anwar had sexually assaulted him. The Star also reported he is being treated at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

KL police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman confirmed the existence of such a report, and that the alleged victim has been medically examined. But he stated that no arrest will be until the investigation is completed.

Needless to say, the PKR and Pakatan Rakyat people are in turmoil, deep discussions and strategising for the worst outcome. Anwar will hold a press conference today.

However last night or rather, early this morning, at the unholy hour of 1:25am, Anwar issued a press statement asserting the report lodged against him was a complete fabrication.

His statement in full (from Malaysiakini):

"The police report lodged against me earlier today is a complete fabrication. I believe we are witnessing a repeat of the methods used against me in 1998 when false allegations were made under duress. This is clearly a desperate attempt by the Barisan Nasional regime to arrest the movement of the Malaysian people towards freedom, democracy and justice.

"The report has been organised by interested parties to attack me in retaliation for evidence I have recently obtained implicating IGP (inpector-general of police) Musa Hassan and the AG (attorney-general) Gani Patail in misconduct including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against me in 1998-1999. This vile attack will not prevent me from releasing this dossier to the public.

"I urge the Malaysian people to stand against the repressive forces that will be unleashed by the government in the coming days and weeks. We expect the media, the judiciary and the police force to all come under the direct and unchecked control of the executive.

"My fellow Malaysians - we took a bold step forward on March 8 towards a new dawn for freedom and justice for all of our citizens. This people's movement for change must go on with all of our strength and conviction."

kaytee’s take:

I personally don’t believe the allegations against Anwar, unless of course he is completely mad and utterly stupid, which I know he isn’t.

However, I am not surprised. I believe it’s a tit for tat attack, to put Anwar and his supporters on the defensive.

UMNO has been under siege from Anwar and his cohorts for the last 4 months where the de facto one has been attempting to destabilise the AAB government through a virtually continuous taunting campaign on party defections, quite irresponsible cheap shots at the government's removal of more fuel subsidy, and a series of unsubstantiated attacks on Najib, etc.

Sometimes the best form of defence is attack, and I believe the sodomy accusation is just that. The aim is to take the wind out of Anwar’s sail, to put him on the defensive, to derail his destabilising campaign.

So, the optimum attack would be to use a tested formula, that of tarring Anwar with the evils of sodomising assaults.

Afterall, apart from some Malaysians still harbouring suspicions against Anwar on the issue of sodomy, many like to believe such bullsh*t. There is a willing audience just waiting to be captives to such salacious rumours, rendered more plausible by a police report being lodged by Anwar's own aide.

Whether Anwar really has the dirt on Patail and the current IGP is still unknown but it could well be his reactive counter attack as well, to explain why the police report has been made.

In reality, there is a dearth, nay, absence of credibility on both sides. Both parties are favourably inclined towards mud racking bullsh*t - basically scumbag territory. Mana adanya mentaliti Dunia Pertama di politik Malaysia?

As an example, the series of attacks on Najib, ranging from highly publicised rumours to fake photo on an alleged French dinner to the recent tap dancing ('I have been reliably informed ...') Statutory Declaration about Rosmah being at the murder scene to ‘supervise’ or be ‘completely satisfied’ with the laying of C4 on Altantuyaa (as if she knew what was technically acceptable or she even wanted to turun padang) had been so farfetched and highly implausible to most people except the PKR ‘true believers’.

Many also seem to forget that there is a court case on the murder of Altantuyaa in progress, with 3 accused under trial, but WTF, they aren’t politically important. So the campaign has been to get Najib implicated in the murder, one way or another!

As I said, I am not surprised by the stakes being raised. The players on both sides are jacking up the ante. And the strategy of the play?

The Malaysian old time favourite of “Fling enough poo and surely some will stick”.

Coincidentally, in my satirical post Statuesque Declaration, an Anon said:

"KT, can Anwar be at better place other than Mongolia, perhaps an honorary ambassador to US but stationed in California or Louisiana, can join the annual Mardi Gra[s] maa ..."

I replied: "look Anon of 11:08 PM, tho' I am known as a critic of Anwar I only do so on the basis of his track record, performance, conduct and policies/promises as a politician and a public figure, but not his private life or what he was alleged to be - I have never nor will ever use that to rubbish him."

And to conclude, I don’t believe in the sodomy allegations against Anwar Ibrahim in the same manner that I don’t believe in the contents of RPK’s Statutory Declaration.

Supremacy of the people's voice in democracy

Malaysiakini informed us that Selangor MB sacks vice-chancellor of the University Industri Selangor (Unisel), the state-owned university.

Vice-chancellor Professor Dr Mohd Razali Agus has found himself without a job after he received a letter of termination of services from Pendidikan Industri Yayasan Selangor Sdn Bhd/Unisel chairperson Abdul Khalid Ibrahim (also the MB).

Malaysiakini added that The Selangor Today website claimed that Razali Agus wrote to Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin recently to say that he was uncomfortable with the Pakatan Rakyat state government.

Alas, it seemed the letter had found its way to the state government.

I believe the MB has a right to dismiss any State employee provided the sacking was done in accordance with due process and without untoward prejudice. Razali Agus can always appeal or take the MB to court for unfair dismissal.

I recall another MB, Nizar of Perak, being terribly embarrassed by the Sultan (through the Regent) when not too long ago he dismissed a State public servant for refusing to work with the new PR State government.

Because the dismissed chap was a director of a State religious department, the Sultan exercised his so-called royal prerogative on matters of State religion and revoked the dismissal, and publicly reprimanded Nizar while demanding the public servant be reinstated in his job.

Nizar complied. Now that his State ‘CEO’ authority has been right royally undermined by the Sultan, how in the world is he going to manage the recalcitrant official?

2 questions:

(a) Did the Sultan have to publicly humiliate Nizar and undermine his MB’s authority?

The Sultan could have still made his point about the need for the MB to consult HRH before sacking any religious officer.

Karpal Singh had been absolutely correct for speaking out against royal interference with politics and political decisions/management. Even though the man was the director of a State religious department, his sacking was not related to religious matters but rather his political behaviour as a State public servant - certainly that would then be within the powers and right of the MB to dismiss him.

The MB and his exco has been elected by the rakyat and in a democratic constitutional monarchy, the voice of the people (expressed through their elected repesentatives) is supreme.

There were the usual politically motvated calls, no doubt from BN, to charge Karpal with lèse majesty.

But any royalty who brings him/herself incorrectly down into the political arena must be prepared to accept political criticism. Lawful political dissent and criticisms are the supreme right of the rakyat.

The royal person who wants to play politics shouldn’t expect to enjoy royal immunity from the laws (including a legal suit) or claim that those who criticise him/her have been guilty of lèse majesty, treason or affronting his/her royal person.

... and (note the contrast) ...

(b) When a while ago, the State's Chief Mufti was involved with seditious incitement of Muslims against an innocent church gathering, where was HRH when we needed him most?

Is Anwar Ibrahim pricing himself out of credibility?

Malaysiakini has published a damn good article titled Opposition pledges yet unfulfilled by Baradan Kuppusamy.

Don’t worry too much about the 1st impression the title projects – no one’s expecting every pledge by each Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component party to be fulfilled in just 100 days. They still have almost 5 years to come up with the goods.

However and unfortunately, a large number of our voters cannot distinguish between an absolute pledge and a conditional pledge ... absolute and conditional being kaytee's choice of words.

In Australia, more than a decade ago, John Howard wrestled the right to form government from the Labour Party in an election where one of his pre-election pledges was that no civil servant in Canberra, the Australian equivalent of Putrajaya, would lose his/her job.

But once he won the election, he reneged on that pledge and sacked some 20,000 of them (or some other but equally draconian figure).

He spun it as his pledge being not a ‘core’ promise, which from that day became a well-known Aussie sarcasm that whenever he or his colleagues had no intention of honouring a promise, it would automatically be ‘non-core’.

In fact, after that incident, when he made a promise, pledge or promised policy, reporters/journalists would pointedly asked him whether it was ‘core’ or ‘non-core’ ;-).

Howard started a fad because the dodgy cynical meaning behind 'non core' became rather popular in Australia that it (including 'core') has been adopted for use in various context, apart from qualifying 'promises'.

Most politicians around the world are the same – they are generally liars. The Asian/African pollies are just more crude and blunt or, if you like, more 'honest' about their lack of honourable intention to keep their promises, whereas Western pollies use sophisticated words like ‘core promise’ and other equally well-dressed nonsense to hide the same dishonourable intent.

So, we could say that our Malaysian absolute pledge and conditional pledge would be equivalent to John Howard’s ‘core’ and 'non core’ promises. Of course the brilliance of Howard’s 'flexible' intent was that he didn’t pre-brand which promise was what. He made the classification only after he saw fit ;-)

Examples of absolute pledges would be like what Lim GE, Nizar, Nik Aziz and Khalid Ibrahim have been fulfilling as best as they could – eg. open tender, curtail government extravagant wasteful spending, transparency, accountability and competency (even unto head hunting expertise who may be BN members).

Khalid has had a few minor stumbles thus far but, except for the case of Anwar Ibrahim's brother (isn't this a wee worrying), were not serious enough to fret over ... yet.

The sole exception to the PR's MB/CMs is the new PAS Kedah MB who has reneged on his pre-election condemnation of and thus opposition to BN’s scary environmental-harmful projects, by adopting every one of them - see my post PAS Kedah menjadi Raja Go-starn. Such sheer double-face hypocrisy!

He even wants to approve a water catchment area for timber logging – Lim GE is now so pissed off with this potential environmental vandal who could possibly jeopardise the drinking water for 5 million Malaysians in the next 5 years. PAS Kedah has f* even its absolute pledges.

Then we come to conditional pledge …

Baradan wrote on what I would term conditional pledge: “It is clear now that it was easy to make election pledges, but next to impossible to fulfil some of them, especially the promise to lower the price of petrol to pre-2004 levels, world price then was about US$20 a barrel. The price of oil is now hitting US$150 a barrel.”

“In 2004, pump prices in Malaysia were under RM0.92, but today the price is RM2.70 and set to rise to RM3.20 by year-end.”

Today I heard the station price per litre of unleaded petrol in Australia is $1.75 (roughly RM5.30) and continuing to rise, with $2 (RM6) per litre expected very shortly.

Obviously a PR pre-election pledge on petrol price has to be conditional on winning majority rule at the federal level to form government.

But the success of the PR in many states had actually come as a surprise to the PR themselves, as acknowledged by Lim GE, his father and many PKR and PAS pollies ….. for one simple reason, while they had expected to pick up some extra seats, they didn’t expect to win so handsomely as to form state governments in places like Penang, Perak and Selangor.

Because of the belief that they might not even break the 2/3 majority control by the BN, I imagine that someone felt a certain freedom or lack of responsibility in making extravagant unachievable promises to lower fuel prices below even RM1.92.

I am sure you know who made those wild pledges. Either it was, as stated, with the abandonment of a person who thought it would be unlikely he would be required to honour those pledges, or he had no clue as to what was then happening to the price of oil globally – the latter hardly surprising when he showed himself to be a lousy Finance Minister as articulately researched and enunciated by the Jebat Must Die blog.

But post-election when he kept on harping on his ability to lower fuel prices in the face of all the facts, he had gone too far and driven a Universiti Malaya economist to lament to Baradan in sheer exasperation, stating: "I cannot understand how Anwar is going to lower pump prices when world price is set to cross US$200 by year end."

"I think he has to tell his legions of supporters soon that petrol prices will only rise and not drop because the commodity is limited but usage is increasing.”

Hardly likely – where there’s no likelihood of ‘responsibility’ (in the need to make good a promise), some people would act with even greater ‘authority’ ….. because such authority or promises are cheap (no need to fulfil).

It is not easy to identify Anwar’s stubbornness or recklessness in continuing to pledge the same impossible promise, to lower oil prices in the face of all the global evidence, except to offer what I reckon would be some possible multi thread thoughts in making his ‘non-core’ promise, namely:

(1) He doesn’t have to worry as he won’t be a PR PM to ever need to fulfil those extravagant promises – which supports my contention that his froggy tauntings have never been a genuine campaign to take over the government but merely a ploy to destabilise the UMNO-led government and allow himself to pry his way back into UMNO through frightened UMNO decision-makers, who thus far have proven to be rock-steady, either by cool deliberate control or just by nature ;-);

(2) If he becomes a PR PM (highly unlikely though), he’ll blame the previous AAB government for pathetic piss-poor management which was 'so horrific' that will make it impossible for him to fulfil his promises, as that would be economically irresponsible (basically the Howard explanation for his non core promise);

(3) Ho hum, no worries man, man man lai, Malaysian mudah lupa lah;

(4) He’ll do it anyway, after all he is the ‘world’s greatest economist and Finance Minister' – read Asia Sentinel Anwar’s False Promise on Fuel Prices by Joe Fernandez who lambasted Anwar’s attempt to reintroduce fuel subsidies in Malaysia as grossly irresponsible.

Fernandez also commented: "This is not the first time that Anwar has grossly misled the public in making pledges by referring to his 'credentials' as a former Finance Minister for so many years."

"In the run-up to the March 8 general elections and in its aftermath, Anwar promised the oil-producing states of Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak that he would increase up their current royalty of 5 percent to 20 percent, and at one stage even 40 per cent, if and when his Opposition Alliance was to seize the reins of power from ….... "

(5) Or, as Kian Min and Oon Yeoh of Malaysia had suggested in one of their articles, he’ll lower it from RM2.70 to RM2.50 and then claim he has ‘fulfilled’ his promise (which was actually made to lower the fuel price even less than RM1.92) - all very smoke and mirror.

And Tian Chua was quoted by Malaysiakini as stating: "As the opposition we promised the sky to win but as the government now we have great difficulty to deliver because we don't have the power, our power to effect change is limited. But we are doing our best and the people understand it ... they are with us."

… though Tian Chua didn’t explain why his boss keeps on promising the impossible.

Additionally, Tian Chua mustn't assume voters are like party acolytes, loyal, steadfast, ideological, even fanatical, and prepared to accept sacrifice, etc.

In reality most voters are essentially very selfish and very fickle minded people ... so don't think they will be with PR or PKR forever.

In the end, I wonder how anyone with open-ears, open-eyes and a functioning brain, with powers of full reasoning, and presented with all the facts and details of global oil prices, can ever condone, let alone believe, Anwar’s recklessness about lowering fuel prices.

If we want a 1st world political mentality as preached by Lim Kit Siang, we should hold each and every one of our politicians including Anwar Ibrahim to account. Let's start off with his fuel price promise.

Statuesque Declaration

I, Kay Tee Moc (IC No pssst, it’s with my mum who’s using its digits in various combinations to buy 4-Ekor for this Saturday), a Malaysian of legal age residing at No 1, Jalan Reban, Kampong Musang, Ayer Itam, Pulau Pinang Darul KuaiLarnLarng, do solemnly and sincerely say as follows:

(1) I have been reliably informed that a secret supplementary budget amendment to the mid-term review of the 9th Malaysia Plan has set aside RM213.8 billion to land fill the sea between Penang Island and the mainland;

(2) I have been reliably informed that the above is conditional to the DAP government selling off the reclaimed land to Patrick Lum-Umba at 8.7 sens per metre-square;

(3) I have been reliably informed that Patrick Lum-Umba will build a greyhound racing course, a Formula 1 track, a World class casino, and the World’s newest Disney World on the reclaimed land;

(4) I have been reliably informed that the Penang Bridge will be turned into a go-kart track;

(5) I have been reliably informed that the 2nd bridge link will be converted into the World’s longest recreational fishing quay for anglers, with its record-breaking status entered into the Malaysian Book of Records;


(6) I have been further reliably informed that 65 BN MPs will cross over to Pakatan Rakyat (PR), allowing PR not only to claim majority rule to form a new government but to exercise the parliamentary voting powers of more than 2/3 majority;

(7) I have been further reliably informed that PAS will support the nomination of Karpal Singh as the new PM;

(8) I have been further reliably informed that the new Foreign Minister (designate) Loh Gwo Burne will appoint Tian Chua as Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Iraq and the former Chief Mufti of Perak as Consulate General to Somalia;

(9) I have been further reliably informed that as a masterly plan to control the perennial problem of polluting smoke haze from the south-west, the new cabinet will agree (without need of a referendum) to exchange with Indonesia the states of Sabah & Sarawak for the Indonesian island of Sumatra and surrounding islets under a joint agreement called (in Indonesia) ‘Kebutuhan Indonesia Utuh’ (and in Malaysia ‘Solidariti Warisan Sri Vijaya melalui Khatan-Korban Kalimantan’);

(10) I have been further reliably informed that Singapore will eventually apply for merger with Myanmar (Brunei? – sorry, what’s the State’s name again?)


(11) I have been further further reliably informed that Israel will withdraw to the 1948 borders in exchange for the city of Jerusalem;

(12) I have been further further reliably informed that Bush, Blair and Bodek will stand trial for war crimes, to be held in Baghdad;

(13) I have been further further reliably informed that renown Malaysian activist Irene Fernandez will assume the post of UN High Commissioner for Refugees following the unexpected resignation of East Timorese Jose Ramos-Horta from that post;

(14) I have been further further reliably informed the world’s greatest reserves of oil is about to be discovered in the area between Penang island and the Malaysian mainland during a land reclaimation project;

(15) I have been further further reliably informed that Lim Guan Eng is likely to successfully take Penang State out of Malaysia in an unprecedented but UN-sanctioned secession, using the case of Pulau Batu Putih as a legal precedence;

(16) I have been further further reliably informed that President Lim Guan Eng is likely to appoint the following Penang larng to be diplomats for the new Republic of Penang:

a. Jeff Ooi as Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur
b. Susan Loone as Ambassador to Thailand
c. Lucia Lai as Ambassador to Australia
d. Kittykat46 as Ambassador to the UN
e. Zainol Abideen as Ambassador to Monaco
f. Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi as Ambassador to the Vatican
g. Koh Tsu Koon as Ambassador to Pakistan
h. Anwar Ibrahim as Ambassador to Mongolia

The purpose of this Statuesque Declaration is to urge all those parties who have been duly informed to bloody start packing.

And I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true and by virtue of the provisions of the Wish List Acts, 30 February 1956.

Subscribed & Solemnly Declared by

kayteemoc

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Adik de jure pemimpin de facto di exposé

Jalan Reban
Kampong Musang
Ayer Itam
Pulau Pinang
26 Jun 2008

Salam bahagia (dengan aiyoyo) Pak Cik Khalid,

Pak Cik dah baca artikel Malaysiakini yang bertajuk Keluarga Anwar kuasai syarikat S'gor?

Kalau belum, saya saran bahwa Pak Cik bacanya dengan segara.

Mengikut Ezam Mohd Nor, adalah seorang ahli keluarga Anwar Ibrahim yang dilantik sebagai penasihat Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB), sebuah syarikat besar milik kerajaan Selangor.

Aiyah, saya pun suka jawatan macam itu – kaytee senang dengan memberi nasihat nasihat kepada sesiapa pun, tidak mengira diminta atau tidak ;-)

OK, di artikel Malaysiakini yang lain, ahli keluarga Anwar telah ditentukan sebagai adik kandungnya dan bukan adik de facto saja.

Aiyah, Pak Cik, mana boleh lah – bukan ini perlakuan cakap ta’serupa bikin ..... ooops, maafkan saya, dah lupa asal politik seseorang.

Walaupun, mengikut Malaysiakini, adik de jure Anwar telah meletakkan jawatan secara mengejut daripada KDEB semalam, bukankah tindakan ini bersifat reaktif, mengikut exposé oleh Ezam.

Kalau tidak diexposékan, hmmm ........

Terdapat juga bahwa Malaysiakini sedang berusaha mendapatkan reaksi dari presiden KDEB Datuk Abdul Karim Munisar, tetapi difahamkan beliau sedang menghadiri satu mesyuarat lembaga pengarah dan kemungkinan mengambil masa yang panjang.

'... mesyuarat yang kemungkinan mengambil masa yang panjang ...?' Memang ;-)

Nah Pak Cik, Ezam dah sebut hal saperti itu yang menyebabkan beliau menyertai UMNO ;-).

Aiyoyo Pak Cik, Ezam juga mendakwa kerajaan Selangor telah menyalahgunaan kuasa dengan menggunakan kepala surat kerajaan negeri untuk mendapatkan dana yang kemudiannya disalurkan kepada PKR dan individu tertentu.

Oh? Siapakah individu tertentu ni? Boleh Pak Cik kongsi maklumat tersebut?

Tetapi mungkin Ezam salah sedikit liao, oleh karena sebenarnya bukan kerajaan Selangor yang terlibat dalam hal wang dana tersebut tetapi hanya parti PKR cabang Selangor, kan?

Saya berpendapat mungkin Ezam terlampau keras bila beliau katakan: "Ia merupakan satu jenayah. Satu jenayah tidak boleh dimaafkan hanya dengan pengakuan dan komitmen untuk memulangkan balik wang tersebut."

"Proses undang-undang harus berjalan terus dan sehingga siasatan dan dakwaan dibuat."

Saya merasa ‘terlampau keras’ karena saudari saudara* akrab saya, kittykat 46 yang saya sangat kasehi, dah sebut dengan penuh yakin bahwa ‘proses undang undang’ tidak perlu untuk kelakuan/tindakan Towkay de facto jikalau rakyat tidak mahu AAB terus menjadi PM ;-) walaupun saya masih tidak dapat menentukan apa perbezaan politik berada diantara AAB dan Anwar.

* typo

Apakah tanggapan Pak Cik?

Saperti saya katakan di surat saya kepada Pak Cik sebelum ini, Pakatan Rakyat lebih beruntung jika nama gabungan parti parti politik ini ditukar menjadi 'Kongsi Rakyat', yang mana kita dapat memanfaatkan perkataan ‘kongsi’ wakakakakakakakaka

Saya yang menunggu berkongsi juga ;-)

Kuai Larn Knia

BN government vindictive towards Penangites?

OK, late last night Malaysiakini gave us some PORRah* news – looks like it’s PORRah* to two major projects for my dear Island.

* Tamil for f*-off

In its article Penang's Porr and monorail projects shelved, Malaysiakini said that the federal government has chopped these two major projects off from the original 9th Malaysia Plan.

Many Penangites believe that it’s part of the UMNO-led government's punitive action against them for voting in the DAP and allies. Recall, the UMNO Penang branch had immediately after the March election, in sour grape fashion, called on the federal government to do precisely this.

Thus, can you blame Penangites for perceiving the cancellation of these projects as the federal government's act of vindictiveness.

Naturally the government has denied such a motive.

However, kaytee believes the two projects of PORR, a 17-kilometre expressway that stretches from Tanjung Tokong to Gelugor in the island, and the monorail system shouldn’t be lumbered together in the same basket in our considerations.

Let’s consider first the PORR or Penang Outer Ring Road project which has been very unpopular with Penangites. Please read my previous posts:

(1) Koh Tsu Koon should go (2)
(2) Who benefits directly from PORR?

So on two counts, namely, (a) Penangites don’t want PORR in the first place, and (b) it’s hardly a public transport system but meant more for private cars (or commercial limousines) zooming from the airport to the resort hotels in the north coast, why lament its cancellation?

We can’t have double standards, cursing PORR when we were in opposition but cursing the federal government for abandoning it when we are in the State government.

Besides, as was alleged by RPK, the party who would allegedly benefit most from the PORR project is now the one dropping it from the 9th Malaysia Plan, so I would say it’s not a vindictive move, unless it has been a case of slashing one’s nose to spite one’s face.

I am happy to see PORR in its original dodgy contractual arrangements go - at least Penang still gets to keep its limited land assets which would have been lost for nothing in the questionable way they were (nearly) virtually given away by the previous State government.

But the monorail system, on the other hand, is a different kettle of fish, which has been why I stated that we shouldn’t bundle these two projects into the same basket.

The government’s claim of cancelling the project, according to Malaysiakini, has been due to its forced ‘reallocation’ (and not ‘relocation’ as the Malaysiakini reporter had put it) of finite resources to cushion the impact of the unprecedented hike in global oil prices.

This is bullshit because the monorail was proposed two years ago to help overcome worsening traffic jams in Penang's congested roads. In other words, it is supposed to be a public transport system to serve those who may not wish to use their own private vehicles, and more importantly, to encourage people to switch over to the cleaner and (nationally more) more economical public transport system.

As Malaysiakini reported, the postponing has been against the government promise to invest more on public transportation in the wake of increased (and likely further increases in) petrol prices.

The system is now more required than ever, especially when the public can be more easily motivated by their pockets to abandon the unaffordable (and from a fuel consideration, nationally costly and wasteful) luxury of moving around in private motor vehicles.

Thus I can see a case for the alleged vindictiveness by the UMNO-led federal government towards projects in DAP-held Penang.

If anything has to go, it should be the RM2 billion designated for the previously postponed double-tracking project from Ipoh to Rawang. Make do with an already existing single track for a while, and re-allocate the money to the monorail system for Penang. The rakyat needs such a public system real pronto.

Latest - Malaysiakini has just informed us this evening in EPU: Penang monorail, Porr shelved that while AAB in his mid term review of the 9th Malaysia Plan this morning did not specifically mention the shelving of the Penang monorail and PORR projects, he also didn’t mention any allocation set aside for them.

But Malaysiakini said that according to Bernama news agency, the powerful Economic Planning Unit in the PM's Department said that Penang Monorail and PORR have both been PORRrah-ed.

It averred that projects that are not 'people centred' under the original 9th Malaysia Plan will be put on hold or deferred.

So, in the face of the current (and unending) fuel price hike and the government’s own promise for improved public transport infrastructure, the monorail has been deemed as not 'people centred'?

Is it because it's in Penang? Has there been any alternative public system offered to Penangites?

If this is not puerile partisan political vindictiveness, what is?

potong 'Pakatan', masuk 'Kongsi'

Salam Pak Cik Khalid,

Surat ini merupakan kali pertama kaytee cuba menulis dalam Bahasa. Maka, kalau ianya mempunyai ciri ciri Cinapeh, atau kesalahan yang berGodzilla, maafkan saya, OK? ;-).

Dengan terkejutnya, saya telah membaca berita di Malaysiakini bahwa sumbangan derma daripada syarikat-syarikat swasta bagi sambutan 100 hari Pakatan Rakyat di negeri Selangor telah dimasukkan ke dalam akaun PKR.

Dan bila saya membaca berita tersebut selanjutnya, terdapat bahwa jawatankuasa sambutan 100 hari itu juga melibatkan pegawai khas Pak Cik, yaitu Yahya Sahri, yang baru baru saja Pak Cik telah meng-SMS-kannya dengan dahsyat, saperti tombak elektronik – adoi dan aiyoyo, kesian beliau lah!

Izinkan kaytee memberi nasihat - kalau Pak Cik tidak mahu mengguna akaun negeri, sekurang kurangnya harus lah masuk wang derma tersebut kedalam akaun Pakatan Rakyat ..... Tetapi akaun PKR? ... aiyoyo ... ini memang karn neen nair liao lah Pak Cik!

Perbezaan antara PR dan PKR adalah jelas, dimana singkatan yang kedua tu mempunyai huruf tambahan, yaitu ‘K’ – ya, saperti profesyen penerbang berkata, ‘K’ for ‘Katak’.

Jangan lupa Pak Cik, Pakatan Rakyat atau PR ta’ada ‘K’ for ‘Katak’.

Terimakasih.

Salam mesra.

Yang ikhlas.

Kuai Larn Knia

t/s

Perkara yang lain pula, saya sebagai anak Pulau Pinang sebenarnya tidak senang dengan nama ‘Pakatan Rakyat’.

‘Rakyat’ itu OK tetapi ‘Pakatan’, hmmm, tidak berbunyi baik oleh karena untuk orang Pulau Pinang, perkataan ‘pakat’ tu mempunyai erti 'bermuafakat secara rahsia bersubahat membuat sesuatu yang salah', saperti ajak katak.

Sebagai perkataan mengganti 'Pakatan', kaytee mohon mengajukan perkataan baru untuk pertimbangan Pak Cik, yaitu perkataan 'Kongsi' ;-)

Why Anwar isn't interested in a by-election?

Chan Kok Leong of Malaysiakini wrote a good article on AAB’s first 100 days in his new term as PM titled The siege of Abdullah.

You have the usual suspects – Dr M, his son Mukhriz Mahatir, the royalty of several states sensing a weak PM, Ku Li out for a last and really final stab at being PM, etc etc etc - applying the stick on AAB.

But the one I was interested in is ;-) you know who.

Malaysiakini wrote: Anwar and other PKR leaders have taken turns to taunt Abdullah with “impending” crossovers almost on a weekly basis. Pakatan now claims it has enticed two more MPs to add to the opposition total of 82. It has issued an open invitation to other BN parliamentarians to join them.

In reality the two SAPP MPs recently avoided a no confidence vote in the motion on the fuel price by absenting themselves from the Dewan, so the impression we get would be they aren’t as certain as Yong Teck Lee in opposing AAB or crossing over to PKR.

I personally believe that Anwar’s taunting and the current G.A.N campaign have been the standard manoeuvre to pry a way back into UMNO for Anwar Ibrahim.

I was wondering why he hasn’t made any move to stand for a by-election in, say, Bandar Tun Razak or Balik Pulau or his old seat Permatang Pauh after his legal barring was over in mid April. He could have easily won on the immediate ‘halo’ effect of the tsunamic victory by the Pakatan Rakyat.

I had toyed around with this possibility in Where will Anwar Ibrahim stand for Parliament?

Then recently, in a Malaysiakini (or was it Star Online) article, Khalid Ibrahim discounted Bandar Tun Razak as a possible by-election constituency for Anwar because it would become the most dangerous seat for his de facto leader, implying perhaps that the BN would pour in everything including the kitchen sink to make sure Anwar loses.

Of course they could be another reason, that the BMC residents are by now less than (previously) enamoured of PKR after the prolonged road toll saga which had a few casualties.

I thought to myself that perhaps Anwar wants to play absolutely safe and only stand in a by-election after the froggies have come over in enough numbers for his party to claim majority rule (though of course there’s Karpal Singh to contend with). As the de facto leader of the ruling party in government he will be reasonably protected from UMNO tactics, with which he knows plenty of.

But wait, there could well be a third reason.

I harkened back to my original thoughts about Anwar which I posted in Can we trust Anwar Ibrahim? I then wrote (extracts):

Anwar is not comfy with the Pakatan. All the boasts about frogs belie his fears of a Pakatan disagreement over his shameless undemocratic taunting of how he intends to win rule through promoting party hopping, a tactic he mastered when he was in UMNO. You can take the bloke out of UMNO but you can’t take UMNO out of the bloke.

His froggy scheme can be undone in just one fell hop swoop by an uncooperative bloke like Karpal Singh whom, I believe, won’t bloody tolerate the disgraceful nonsense of robbing power through backdoor non-democracy.

He wants UMNO to ask him ‘to come home’. Then he won’t need to depend on the DAP or PAS, but especially the DAP.

Look, his man Khalid Ibrahim had felt bloody awkward forming up the Selangor exco, avoiding the appointment of the deputy MB because of too many Chinese faces. It’s bad enough having the DAP full of ‘nons’ but the ethnic situation has been compounded by the PKR ‘nons’. Quite unlike an UMNO-MCA-MIC situation.

Perak was another case in point, where the Regent by unexpectedly appointing a PAS man as the MB, had even further reduced the PKR’s standing.

And Penang?!! Need I say more?

It’s not an image Anwar wants the heartland to see, and real power can only come from the support of the heartland.

No doubt Anwar had done his part to keep the Pakatan in a cohesive form during the election campaign (and no one can take that away from him) but it wasn’t just for altruistic reasons. His strategy was to reduce the BN-UMNO majority to less than 2/3, and then voila, to present his inner coterie as the component available (after an invitation) to restore UMNO’s 2/3, but AAB wasn’t biting for various reasons.

Hence he is piling the pressure on AAB daily with his froggie forecast. The subtext? Anwar wants back into UMNO ... or else!

Another worry for him which is also slowly sinking in for his supporters is that PKR was borne along in the election mainly by Chinese and Indian votes. Push comes to shove, should the DAP and PKR come to a head on, except for a minority among the younger more idealistic set, most Chinese and Indian voters would opt for the DAP, or worse, even return to the BN.

Anwar won’t have a dream of ever weaning away the PAS and UMNO hardcore supporters into his camp. It’ll be a far tougher fight in the next election. And just don't forget, his PKR's 31 seats aren't pure PKR, not with Dr Jeya and Wee and perhaps a couple more. This may explain his continuous and frantic claims of frogs.

And I suspect the periodic attacks on Najib by using the Altantuyaa case in the most sensational manner is part of the pressure on UMNO, virtually saying “hey, surely you guys don’t want a future leader like murder-tainted Najib?” or/and "get me a.s.a.p or I'll give you more hell on this" – see my lamentation for Altantuyaa Shariibuu in this regard in Murdering Altantuyaa Shaariibuu Again.

… which may explain the third reason, and probably the most likely of them, that he hasn’t offered himself as a candidate in any by-election (look, just one word from him and at least half a dozen acolytes would readily surrender their seats to him) has been because he wants to re-enter UMNO as a person ‘untainted’ by being a representative of any other party like Ku Li was of Semangat 46.

When and if he returns (not if many UMNO people can help it) he will then demand a seat to stand in a by-election, as an UMNO candidate.

Oh, don’t forget too his yet to be appealed court case for wrongful dismissal from his No 2 spot in the cabinet – hey, he could well be successful as I had blogged in Anwar Ibrahim on way back to UMNO via court appeal?

Related:
Gerakan Party reinventing, Anwar Ibrahim reinvented

PAS worried about sexy click clack of high heel shoes

The wave of air is still under the table
The hot cup of coffee
The burned-out cigarette on the edge of the ashtray
The lipstick-smeared tissue
My heart, its beatings audible from afar
That poem I thought of, but the other I wrote

- Amjad Nasser (Jordan)

Look, this one is fascinating, though the news is a bit old.

Malaysiakini reported in KB council says no lipstick, high-heels 'ban' a denial by the pAS authorities that there was a ban on the use of lipstick or the wearing of high heels by women.

It's the old story (or rumours) about PAS' known spoilt-sport attitude towards women who want to look good and feel good, instead of looking like an anonymous black sack of (presumably) bipedal being.

In an earlier post 'Virtue' of Kelantan posted one and a half years ago, the State's Menteri Besar, Pak Haji Nik Aziz decided that the State government would protect the 'virtue' of women by introducing fines for women (yes, those he wanted to 'protect') working in shops and restaurants who wore clothes such as mini-skirts, see-through blouses and tight trousers (eg. jeans) which was labelled as 'sexy' outfits.

Then, under the KB Municipal dress regulations, Muslim women must wear dresses which concealed their ankles (blast!) and a tudung which covered the hair and forehead.

I asked: “Hmmm, what about poverty, unemployment, justice for the poor, flood control, illiteracy, etc?”

“Non-Muslims aren't spared either, providing us with a glimspe of PAS' intention under an Islamic State rule it proposes. The non-Muslim women (men excused) must wear outfits which do not expose the navel, or reveal cleavage (c'mon lah, Pak Haji!) or emphasise the buttocks (emphasised? Aren't buttocks ... er ... buttocks?).” […]

“F**k it then, I am not going to KB too if I can’t see cleavages, body-hugging outfits and miniskirts. I could bloody well die a 'virgin', and for a Chinese Malaysian to die a virgin means kaytee is without 'virtue' and a damn disgrace to my Chinese ancestors.”

“But more importantly, PAS has presented non-Muslim Malaysians with a dilemma - whether to vote for PAS with its 'sword of Islam' ideology or UMNO with its 'keris of ketuanan Melayu' doctrine?”

Of course that was 18 months ago, and the recent election showed that voters decided the sword of Islam was far more preferable. Perhaps that could have encouraged PAS to come out with a ‘brochure’ as part of its new awareness campaign on an Islamic dress codes for women.

Azman Mohd Daham, the PRO for the Kota Baru Municipal Council (MPKB) clarified that it does not intend to ban Muslim female workers in the state capital from using lipstick and high-heel shoes.

He said: "The brochure is just a part of a campaign to explain to Muslim women the dress codes according to Islam which forbid the use of lipsticks and high-heel shoes.”

"However, if they (do not comply with this) dress code, MPKB has no right to take action."

Azman came out with this clarification, refuting reports by a foreign news agency yesterday that MPKB had issued a circular forbidding Muslim women from wearing thick make-up, brightly-coloured lipstick and high-heel shoes which made a tapping sound when used.

Such moves were apparently drawn up to ‘discourage rape and illicit sex’. The report had also suggested a RM500 fine would be imposed on those flouting this new dress code.

Good Lord, 'high-heel shoes which made tapping sound' had been the cause of rapes and illicit sex? And all this while I was unfairly blaming those crimes on budu - see my earlier post Has Aphrodisiac Budu Been Responsible?

Azman said the brochure mustn’t be mistaken for the circular. The former is not enforceable whilst I presume the latter is what I had blogged about 1.5 years ago.

I don’t have the stats on rape of course but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Peninsula East Coast has the highest.

But what caught my eye has been Azman’s assertion that Islam forbids the use of lipsticks and high-heel shoes.

Can anyone who is versed with Al Quran, Hadith or the Syariah codes please tell me whether there’s anything written in those religious tomes that specifically say ‘nay’ to lipstick and high heel shoes?

… or has it been one of those PAS misogynist inventions, again?

Misogynist? Please see my post Wives not satisfying husbands are abusive!

OTOH, despite the lack of revealed cleavages and 'emphasized' buttocks, Kelantan may still be a dream abode for men ;-)

Khalid Ibrahim - the SMS-ing MB

Dear Pak Cik Khalid,

Once upon a time, someone you know said: "Nowadays, we can even divorce our wife by sending messages."

"I am not so keen on that, but they say it is perfectly legal, perfectly Islamic."

"I think that if people want to divorce their wife, they should resort to a much more personal approach than that.”

"We hope of course that instead of sending messages, you should look at the beautiful wife that you're going to divorce ... maybe she would cry a bit and you would change your mind."

Now we all know you haven’t been involved in any divorce, Alhamdulillah, but I have been shocked by what Malaysiakini had reported in Khalid's suspended special officer resigns, where we were informed that you suspended Yahya Sahri via an SMS!

Isn’t that just callous and cruel, an electronic pariah-rization of the bloke? Why didn't you haul him in and explain face to face that you are putting him aside until the matter of alleged corruption has been fully investigated.

But of course we realize that you may be uncomfy facing him, because according to someone you know, ‘should you look at the poor bloke that you're going to suspend ... maybe he would cry a bit and you would change your mind.’

And that bloke must be so shocked that, according to Malaysiakini MB's office dispels Khairy's claims he immediately resigned … alas … only by fax.

Yahya Sahri said he would be running to Tok Semua Tahu to complain but it seems he has even resigned as PKR state secretary as he claimed you made him look guilty in the public eyes.

Ah, I now see - so Yahya was the PKR state secretary. I had mistakenly assumed he was a state civil servant left over from the previous UMNO-led state government.

Yours sincerely,

Kuai Larn Knia

p/s
Is Khalid Ibrahim up to the MB's job?

How much is Anwar's 20% fuel royalty?

Dear Uncle Yong,

I learnt of your discussion with Anwar in Hong Kong where you must have been attracted with his offer of 20% in oil/gas royalty to Sabah.

Well, certainly your call to the PM to accede to some of your demands, including the 20% royalty, and your intention to move a motion of no confidence in his leadership have Malaysiakini writing on Yong becomes folk hero in Sabah.

Congratulations. Though we already have The Hero of Reformasi or rather more correctly, Deformasi, we can always accommodate another hero.

Meanwhile, in Asia Sentinel, Joe Fernandez, an educationist, former newspaper editor and ex-civil servant in Malaysia wrote about Anwar’s False Promise on Fuel Prices.

Fernandez started off by lambasting Anwar’s attempt to reintroduce fuel subsidies in Malaysia as grossly irresponsible.

Of course Anwar knows, you know, I know and almost everyone knows that if Anwar becomes PM, it's most likely he won’t do it because it’s just a populist promise, merely saying things that people wants to hear. He will undoubtedly come up with another excuse, blaming everyone under the sun except himself.

On second thoughts, Anwar might just do it (reduce the fuel price) as we know he was a lousy Finance Minister anyway, as told to us by in this well researched article by the Jebat Must Die blogsite.

Mind you there is a third possibility. Malaysiakini columnists Ong Kian Ming and Oon Yeoh said that it could be possible that Anwar may, say, reduce the fuel price from the current RM2.70 (rather than the price of RM1.92 when he made his promise) to, say, RM2.50 or RM2.20 and then claim he has fulfilled his promise – well …….. ;-) ........

Anyway, back to Fernandez of Asia Sentinel who continued:

This is not the first time that Anwar has grossly misled the public in making pledges by referring to his "credentials" as a former Finance Minister for so many years.

In the run-up to the March 8 general elections and in its aftermath, Anwar promised the oil-producing states of Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak that he would increase up their current royalty of 5 percent to 20 percent, and at one stage even 40 per cent, if and when his Opposition Alliance was to seize the reins of power from …....

How Anwar would manage the 20 percent pledge is a mystery. ……..

In Malaysia, under the Production Sharing Contracts, 70 percent of oil barrels are recovered as cost oil by the contractor concerned. The remainder 30 percent is shared equally between the oil contractor and Malaysia, with each party getting 15 percent.

Malaysia's 15 percent is split 2:1 with 10 percent going to the federal government, and held by national oil corporation Petronas, and five percent paid by Petronas to the oil states concerned on behalf of the federal government.

Hence, from where does Anwar get the magical royalty of 20 per cent to the oil states?

Well Uncle Yong, this is not the first time these set of figures have been raised, but then, each time an anwarista would quickly argue that Anwar meant 20% of what Malaysia would get rather than 20% straight from the Production Sharing Contracts.

Uncle Yong, kaytee is not very smart at maths so I cheated by using a Casio calculator and gasp, gawd, omigosh I came up with the answer that 20% of what Malaysia would get (basically 15% of the Production Sharing Contracts) is only 3%!

3%! Yes man, only 3%!

Now Sabah and Sarawak each is already getting 5% but according to my silly calculations, under the Anwar’s amazing 20% promise, that would turn out to be a far smaller 3%.

Could that be – no, no, no it can’t, surely not from the world’s greatest economist? Definitely must be my mistake!

Yours sincerely,

Kuai Larn Knia

1st World mentality?

In Malaysiakini Top Blog corner, Lim Kit Siang posted an important question about the disgraceful incongruity of Malaysia’s First World Infrastructure, but the absence of a First World Mentality!

He's absolutely right, and pretty succinct with his post title.

Uncle Lim was referring to a blog post by Hannah Yeoh, DAP Selangor Assemblywoman for Subang Jaya who related to us the shameful behaviour of the teachers of SMK Subang Utama toward an illustrious alumna, Hannah herself.

Hannah was invited to the school’s Prefects’ Reunion next week, but according to two prefects, the school teacher have threatened the prefects into withdrawing the invitation to Hannah who had served as the head prefect in 1995/6.

Furthermore it is to be a private function so what right do those teachers have in interfering with the function that is being organized by the prefects and who they invite as their guests?

Naturally Hannah has been traumatised to see such politically divisive interference intruding into a school and affecting students.

The Minister of Education should bloody well explain.

But to be frank, I am not entirely surprised with the UMNO-led government’s attitude. We are certainly not a 1st World nation in our democratic process, ministerial and governmental conduct, and our civil service behaves as if they are the private property of warlords.

Yes, we are also familiar with Malaysian tribal mentality - see Ijok - where Malays are even more tribal!.

But I mustn’t let the opposition escape from sharing the blame.

I ask Uncle Lim whether encouraging party defections would be a 1st World political process?

So Uncle Lim, please lah, much as I love you, don’t throw stones when you’re living in a glass house. Go sort out your Sarawak branch, and bring them into the political practice of the 1st World.

And also, what sort of person would brandish the slogan of 'Ketuanan Rakyat' yet in the same breath intend to subvert the decision of the Rakyat made on 08 March 2008?

Deformasi, defomasi, deformasi! Uncle Lim, you're in bad company, so ... why raise the issue of 1st World mentality?

Let's look at another case.

Recall RPK statutory declaration which is readily available on Malaysiakini for anyone to peruse!

What did RPK declare?

Let me summarise in three sentences (with some commentaries) what he wrote:

(1) I have been reliably informed … yadda yadda yadda … essentially the circumstances surrounding the crime, the participants, and those who are 'believed' to know about this, namely 2 politicians (including the PM) and a ruler (as told to and claimed by RPK)

... bearing in mind ‘reliably’ is very subjective – it may be deemed ‘reliable’ by RPK but unless the facts (not just a Stat Dec) of the case are evaluated properly, it has to be considered as just an opinion.

(2) I make this SD because I am aware it is a crime not to reveal evidence that may help police in investigating the crime

RPK calls it ‘evidence’ but is it? An unknown bloke told him the story so how would it be evidence? And even then he is stating he made the Stat Dec (but not police report) as compelled by his need not to commit a crime.

(3) I know both whistle blower and said ruler but I have agreed not to reveal who they are, other than the PM and his S-I-L who were provided with a copy of the incident from Military Intelligence.

I wasn’t aware that MI reported directly to the PM. But anyway, unless the whistle blower is made known, it's just another '50 dahils ...'

Now, the IGP wants to interrogate RPK as well as the three individuals named in RPK’s Stat Dec, as the Star has reported in Cops to probe RPK’s claims.

What if the 3, presumably Rosmah Mansor, Col Buyong and wife Norhayati said “we don’t know where the f* RPK had obtained the silly story? Why don't you go and ask him?” What else can the police do?

Then the police go to RPK and ask “who is your informer? Tell us or you’re in deep shit!”

Then (I am of course speculating or scenario modelling only because RPK has not revealed who the whistle blower is) RPK answers “he is actually the Ruler! Both are one and same person.”

Hmmm, can the police interrogate a Ruler?

End of story!

While RPK’s Stat Dec has been politically sensational and titillating, and ammo for (and the job of) the opposition to raise the issue for debate in Parliament, as reported by Malaysiakini in Altantunya: Emergency motion on new allegations it’s lacking substance, real substance.

I believe it serves a 'certain purpose' but it’s hardly evidence UNLESS RPK comes up with the REAL GOODS. Why beat around the bush with "I have been reliably informed ..."?

… which brings me nicely to my query about ‘1st World mentality’.

Najib and Rosmah are both bloody lucky that Najib is the DPM or they would have been lynched by the mob already, as from what I have read around the blogs, they are guilty until proven innocent, and f* due process.

1st World mentality?

Has the DAP lost its way?

"I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men with a favourable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holders of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

- John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton (Lord Acton)

Yin and yang.

As I mentioned in my previous (and more uplifting) post Omnia Vincit Jambuism I get to like a bloke I didn’t before, but I am disappointed with a group I had admiration for.

Alas, this second post is about the latter, the gloomy bit.

The Democratic Action Party of Malaysia (DAP)!

I have in general supported the DAP because of its ideology of equality, meritocracy, integrity, good governance, transparency, accountability and democratic process as well as the resolute and courageous stand and honesty of its leaders.

Proper, prudish and prudent as they may be, those qualities have been what attracted me to them.

Alas, when I read Malaysiakini headlines Join us, DAP urges BN reps it broke my heart to see the DAP joining the slimy ranks of frog hunters, embracing the disgusting tactic of encouraging party defections, a tactic that is subversive to the democratic ballot box.

The DAP is virtually saying “Join us and f* those people who voted for you on your BN ticket.”

In the 1994 Sabah state election, when Pairin’s PBS won by 2 seats, poor Pairin found himself becoming instead the leader of the opposition, thanks to UMNO subversive frog enticement. The UMNO-BN campaign in Sabah in that year was headed (in accordance with BN protocol) by a certain DPM.

His slimy legacy continues today, and while DAP’s Karpal Singh has maintained his principles against that shameful, sinister and subversive practice (to the democratic process), I have noted with growing trepidation that Lim Kit Siang had remained conspicuously mum while the champion of so-called political reforms (oh, such brazen blaphemy!) boasted openly about the pending success of his deformed politics.

I wrote about my concerns to a DAP MP but alas, the politician must just be too ‘busy’ (or too embarrassed) to even respond to a concerned supporter.

When I was a kid, my mum had always warned me about ‘mixing’ with bad hats – I should have passed her homily on to Uncle Lim, a man I had admired and still hope to continue to admire.

But while I had supported the DAP in the last 2 elections, my continuing support is not unconditional. Many of my politically like-minded friends have also voiced their concerns at a DAP drifting away from its principled roots.

Examine Uncle Lim’s political career – a man who had striven unceasingly, over decades, to reduce the BN’s 2/3 majority, with many wondering whether he would ever see that in his political career. We all had supported and prayed (even me the atheist) for his dream to come true before he retires.

Alhamdulillah, Hallelujah, Krishna Sakti, and Omitofu, he has been so blessed in the year of 2008.

Then, as an added icing to the cake, his old Project Tanjung was also surprising realized, which saw his DAP gaining majority rule in Penang and his son serving as Penang’s new Chief Minister.

We have been ecstatic he has achieved his dreams and more, without needing to compromise on the DAP principled stand. He certainly deserves all but alas, having attained his aspired goals why is he now keeping quiet, unlike his colleague Karpal Singh, on the shameful froggie wheeling and dealing.

Plato taught us 'I shall assume that your silence gives consent.' Now whether his silence has sent an unwanted signal or not, a branch of the DAP has now joined the sleazy slimy snakeoil salesmen in the political gutter.

To be truthful, instead of rejoicing on for him, some of us are had cringed with embarrassment each time he remained silent besides a former UMNO leader whilst the latter boasted about his UMNO-ish ways a la Sabah 1994, to seize power through the back door.

Could it be what Lord Acton had warned us, that ‘power corrupts …’, have affected the DAP (with the possible exception of Karpal Singh), for to remain silent in the presence of such disgraceful publicly-voiced intention to subvert the outcome of the ballot box is to signal acquiescence, agreement and approval?

One of my DAP-supporter mates tried to explain away the DAP's abberration from its known principled stand, stating that it has been the Sarawak branch, and afterall, haven't I said before that 'Lain padang, lain belalang'?

I retorted that the DAP should always be the principled DAP we had come to admire (till now), and not be excused when it has done the unthinkable, regardless of which branch. It might have been a case of 'Lain padang, ...' but even then, it shouldn't '... main belakang' of the outcome of the sacred ballot box.

Meanwhile, from Malaysiakini Top Blog corner, I see that Uncle Bernard of Zorro-Unmasked blog has lamentably posted To hell with principles, showcasing his frustration with the 'principles' of democratic process and the supremacy of the ballot box, when he perceives an evil corrupt and incompetent UMNO taking us down Jalan Zimbabwe.

While I respect Uncle Bernard, I caution him on his (no doubt a singularly rare) angry outburst, for what have really brought us thus far, with 5 PR state governments and a BN denied its 2/3 majority, have been ‘principles’, yes, the aim to do the right things, unlike a rapacious UMNO-led government.

Abandoning the ideology of ‘principles’ would not only be a gross betrayal of the voters, but precisely the way how the addict would typically start his or her downward spiral, you know, just a wee innocent puff, a lil’ harmless sip and a tiny party experiment with the ganja or heroin, and before he/she knows it, the wee/lil’/tiny whatever has escalated into sharing of HIV-AIDS contaminated needles in a shitty downtown toilet.

Yes Plato also told us that 'He who steals a little steals with the same wish as he who steals much, but with less power.'

Political power is addictive, but what keeps the good politician on the straight and narrow are principles. If we are merely at Lord Acton’s 'power corrupts; …' let us quickly take stock of ourselves and stop further decent into the UMNO-ish '…and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'

One man had been there before but we shouldn't allow him to drag us down into the same cesspool.

If you are impatient with processes, recall another man whom many hate (even till today), and have accused of gross impatience and his ‘to hell with principle and process’ bulldozing ways. What you have proposed is actually the same, and unwittingly justifying his actions.

So ..... what would be the difference between his alleged 'sins' and your proposed 'to hell with principles' action?

Just remember that C.S Lewis warned us, 'No clever arrangement of bad eggs will make a good omelette.'

… and don’t be bought over by the belief of King Frederick II of Prussia who too boasted, 'I begin by taking. I shall find scholars later to demonstrate my perfect right.'

Raja Petra's Statutory Declaration - is it evidence?

The Altantuyaa Shaariibuu murder case has once again been brought under the spotlight, by Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) of the influential and widely read Malaysia-Today blog.

On Wednesday RPK signed a statutory declaration at the Kuala Lumpur High Court, where he made the … ‘declaration’ (of course) … that Rosmah Mansor, wife of Najib Razak, was at the murder scene of Mongolian national Altantuyaa.

With such a sensational allegation, even Malaysiakini was obligated to report it in its Raja Petra: 'Rosmah at murder scene'.

Malaysiakini told us that RPK ‘declared’: "I have been reliably informed that between about 10pm on October 19, 2006 and early hours of the following day, the night Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered, three other people were also present at the scene of crime."

RPK in his two-page statutory declaration named the two other individuals as (acting) Colonel Aziz Buyong, who has been described as an explosive expert in C4 , and his wife, Norhayati, who is also said to be Rosmah’s aide de camp.

Hmmm, I wasn't aware that the DPM's wife merits an ADC? Even the Raja Permasuri Agong wouldn't have one but rather a lady-in-waiting (or some term like that).

I don’t need to go into the heart of RPK’s statutory declaration (Stat Dec) as it’s the latest juicy news spreading like wildfire around Malaysia. Instead I want to comment on RPK’s Stat Dec per se.

What actually is a Stat Dec?

It is a legal written statement stating certain facts to the best of the declarant's knowledge or belief. There are legislative provisions governing such declaration.

Under the ACT or law governing Stat Dec, a person who wilfully makes a false statement in a statutory declaration is guilty of an offence and may be fined or jailed, or both.

Well, in Malaysia where the so-called august Bench has already been accused of being ‘less than independent’, what then of the legal sacredness of a mere Stat Dec?

The general public opinion is that if you are in the opposition, and you make a false declaration, you will be persecuted, prosecuted and pounded by the authorities. OTOH, if you are in the ruling party, a la Boleh Land’s system, you can swing away like monkeys, chattering happily.

But let’s look at an Australian case where Downunder they take Stat Dec seriously, so seriously that (on the upside) one can use it to avoid, say, documentary impossibility (like not having/losing a birth or death cert which is required urgently) – the authorities will accept the Stat Dec as document in lieu – whilst on the downside, one gets a severe fine if not a prison term for bullsh*tting.

In 2004, PM John Howard, known for his (rather successful) ‘fortress Australia’ gimmickry, where Australians were regularly brainwashed that only he, his party and policies stood between the evil turbaned bearded brown-skin mullah-ish forces and Australia, his government was involved in the ‘Children Overboard’ affair, also termed sarcastically as Howard’s Truth Overboard.

Now we come to the interesting part which has some relevance to our discussion.

Senator George Brandis of Howard’s Liberal Party and a member of the committee that first investigated the children overboard affair, was accused by Russell Galt, a fellow Liberal Party member, of calling Prime Minister John Howard, a ‘lying rodent’.

Needless to say, (unlike SAPP’s Yong Teck Lee) Senator Brandis emphatically denied making that unmitigated slur on his party leader.

Russell Galt made a Stat Dec (and provided to a TV Channel) that he heard the alleged Brandis' indiscretion when he attended a State pre-selection meeting with the Senator, where the conversation had then turned to the children overboard affair. Galt also named a couple more politicians who were present at that meeting.

He asserted: "I clearly recall that, while referring to their participation in hearings of this Senate committee, Senator Brandis made the following two remarks: 'He is a lying rodent' and 'We've got to go off and cover his arse again on this'. It was clear that these remarks by Senator Brandis unambiguously referred to the Prime Minister, John Howard."

Then Senator Brandis made his own sworn statutory declaration immediately after that, again emphatically denying he made the remarks or anything remotely similar. He declared: "I would not have said those words because it has always been my belief - both publicly expressed and privately held - that the Prime Minister's account of those events is truthful and honest."

So, apart from the alleged ratty description of PM John Howard, who was the lying rodent vis-a-vis the Stat Decs?

Well, it didn’t matter because no one was fined or jailed. But if you read the declarations they were couched in terms like “I recall …” and "I would not have said those words because it has always been my belief …”.

Tap dancing through the tulips.

Other useful dancing phrases would be “To the best of my recollection …”, “I was informed by my staff …”, “According to departmental briefings …”, “At that time, this was the information I was provided with …”, etc.

So, in reality a Stat Dec is not necessarily 100% fire-proof evidence but it certainly carries a powerful sheen of authority, and serves certain purpose, like (as mentioned) substituting for the original but lost documentary evidence such as a lost birth/death certificate.

Let’s examine RPK’s Stat Dec – see copy here as provided by Malaysiakini.

Therein, RPK declared “I have been reliably informed …” four times whilst saying “… I make this solemn declaration conscientiously believing the same to be true …”

In other words he was told by someone, hearsay evidence so to speak.

But of course RPK more importantly also declared: “I have knowledge of who has informed me of this matter plus I have knowledge of the Ruler who has been briefed and is aware of the matter but I have agreed that I shall not reveal this information other than mention that the Prime Minister and his son-in-law have been handed a written report confirming what I have revealed.”

… though he asserted in his Stat Dec he will not reveal who his informer has been nor the Ruler who was privy to the shocking allegation of Rosmah Mansor being at the crime scene to witness the C4 explosives being placed on the corpse of Altantuyaa Shariibuu.

Who told him is now irrelevant as we know that RPK is brave if not anything, thus we may expect him to observe the promised (but seemingly selective) sealed lips. He is a man prepared to go to jail again, though I suspect he must have sensed that the PM or DPM will ignore his taunting Stat Dec to prevent him from expanding on the scandal.

And has he been telling the truth?

I believe so, to the extent as he had enunciated in the Stat Dec, to wit, that he has been reliably ‘informed’ by someone (whom we will never know), and that he wanted to reveal what he personally believed to be 'evidence' to assist the police in the case.

Of course we Malaysians love to and can speculate on the ID of the informer, by a process of intelligent elimination - eg. could it be a Ruler or a police insider? - or by giving our prejudice or conspiracy-theory inclinations full free and unfettered reins - or, could it be Tian Chua … wakakakakaka, KJ ;-) or even the ghost of Altantuyaa?

However, I have to admit I find the idea of the wife of a DPM who would turun padang to supervise or witness the placement of C4 on Altantuyaa's corpse, rather bizarre and, frankly, quite implausible.

But then, I am sure there will be those who believe (or want to believe) that's exactly right up her alley. And indeed, who am I to assert they're wrong to do that?