Malaysian politics a deadly game?

FMT's Trouble brewing in Filipino-’powered’ Semporna? reported:

TAWAU: Police in Semporna, where thousands of Filipinos have made their home, and in other districts along the east coast of Sabah are said to be on high alert following unconfirmed reports of an explosion in Semporna.

Local residents in the scenic seaside town are reporting a large police operation around Kg Sri Jaya after two explosions were heard.

“Bahaya, bahaya (danger, danger)” said one resident when contacted by cellphone.

Unconfirmed reports said that shots were also fired and at least one police officer was injured.

Another local living close to the seaside village when contacted also said he had heard two explosions and then a flurry of activity in the area.
He said police have surrounded the area and at least one villager said he had been unable to enter the village.

Oh oh, looks like sh*t is happening.

And indeed it happened because TMI has reported in its Five cops killed in ambush by armed intruders in Semporna, says IGP:

KOTA KINABALU March 3 — Five policemen one of them an officer were killed in an ambush by armed intruders in Kampung Sri Jaya Simunul Semporna Sabah last night Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar told reporters in Lahad Datu today.

He said two of the armed intruders were also killed in the incident.

We have lost seven policemen.

Seven Malaysian families are mourning the terrible tragedy as a consequence of alleged political reluctance to act firmly and swiftly when foreign armed intruders landed on our shores.

Personally I suspect the political reluctance has been UMNO's concerns that any firm (and indeed appropriate) actions against foreign armed intruders would negate the benefits of Project IC, initiated nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Thus, 'ere the RCI has completed its investigation, we have instead received an unexpected set of findings, one of tragic ends for 7 of our Malaysian policemen.

Another loser, though definitely less tragic, would be UMNO, with their so-called 'fixed deposit' now becoming a deadly liability.

And the Filipino media has been spot on when it had gleefully asserted the armed Filipinos occupying a kampung near Lahad Datu has been 'karma' for the Malaysian government who was suspected (especially by irate northern Filipinos) of supplying (or channelling from Libya, Gaddafi's) arms and aid to Muslim separatists in Mindanao.

However, we need to be fair to suggest that the interfering intrusive illicit arms and financial aid was not so much by UMNO itself but by one individual, a former very headstrong CM of Sabah (nonetheless a member of BN), one who could not be controlled by (in days before Putrajaya) KL, and who pompously fancied himself as the Caliph of a new Islamic Empire embracing Southern Philippines and Sabah.

But what aggravated the problem, lending verity to the Filipino media's last laugh on Malaysia's 'karma' for its bad deeds in stirring shit in the affairs of a neighbouring country has been Project IC. Effectively the party or parties concerned have invited potential 5th columnists to become our citizens, and even fast-tracked the treasonous process.

I had warned of the potential for 5th columnists in another area, that of Peninsula, in a letter to Malaysiakini on 10 March 2005 titled Don't let Indon workers back in, extracts as follows:

... we have heard moans and groans shamelessly from the construction and plantation industries and even the human resource minister, on how unnecessary procedures and unauthorised fee collecting on the Indonesian side have been causing delays in the return of expelled Indonesian workers to Malaysia.

We now need to reconsider seriously the wisdom of re-importing these considerable numbers of Indonesians into our country. What has hitherto been a socially disruptive factor - allegedly contributing to increased crime rates - has now metamorphosed into a potential national security problem.It would be foolish to permit citizens of a potentially hostile country to enter and reside here in large numbers. They may eventually prove to be our complete undoing - security wise.

We ought to remember the situation during the periods leading to the last War as well as the Indonesian Confrontation of the 1960s. There were respectively Japanese businessmen, and Indonesians and their sympathisers here, who acted against Malaya/Malaysia's national interest.

There are alternative sources for plantation and construction workers from Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines. Let's recruit them from these countries rather than facilitate the entry of potential fifth columnists.

In the last paragraph, when I mentioned the Philippines as an alternative resource, I was thinking more of northern Tagalog-speaking Filipinos rather than the Mindanao Suluks.But it would appear my fear expressed in that 8-year old letter to Malaysiakini has come true, namely "It would be foolish to permit citizens of a potentially hostile country to enter and reside here in large numbers. They may eventually prove to be our complete undoing - security wise."


While mainstream belief seems to point an accusing finger to the new voters as banked 'fixed deposit' for UMNO election victories in Sabah, I have my personal opinion on the ultra secret aim of Project IC, though in reality one cannot separate the two, that is, UMNO's 'fixed deposit' new Muslim votes and my perception of the true intent of Project IC.

I had suspected KL then (Putrajaya now) feared and still fears Christian initiated secession of Sabah from Malaysia - see my post Will Sabah secede?

I had then written (extracts):... we also need to be aware that an autonomous Sabah, separated from Peninsula by the vast water body of the South China Sea, will be as good as a de facto seceded state. [...]

Are we prepared to send troops into Sabah to stop secession? Do we have the military capability and competency to do so, given the intimidating logistical problems? Can we afford to? Are we willing to face international sanctions?

Though with an infusion of an alleged 800,000 Muslims from southern Philippines, and this figure has not been far out from the figure by UMNO member Siti Aminah Mahmud as reported in TMI's 500,000 blue ICs issued to immigrants under Mustapha Harun’s orders, says ex-Umno member, the likelihood of Christian-initiated secession is now highly impossible.

But mateys, read this though you may not like it, the likelihood of secession by Suluk (or Bangsamoro or whoever)-initiated secession of Sabah looms threateningly in our face, especially in the current security f*-up, a pathetic doing by our PM and Home Minister in not acting firmly and swiftly in the first place.

And my concerns expressed in Will Sabah secede? regarding the logistical problems of sending troops to Sabah to stop such secession also apply in the event of the current insurgents deciding to go for broke and declare they are reclaiming 'their ancestral land' by force.

And talking about 'face', surely this calls for a padan muka, a sad one no doubt.

I know it's easy for us to be clever with the advantage of hindsight but WTF, Najib and Hisham were elected to be PM and Home Minister and that's their jobs, thus they must bear the responsibilities for our current security mess-up in Sabah including and especially the unnecessary and most tragic deaths of 7 of our Malaysian policemen.

But of course in apportioning responsibilities for the monumental f*-up, which incidentally is our undeniable prerogative as citizens, we mustn't let a former PM escape unblamed for not only being neglectful about his prime ministerial responsibilities but also for his brazenness in defending such aliens being issued with blue ICs, because today, in their near-million numbers, they represent the deadliest form of 5th columnists.

Alas, I hate to do this but in lambasting Najib, Hisham and Mahathir, we cannot avoid asking about Anwar Ibrahim's role in the current imbroglio in Sabah, both when he was DPM and now as a PKR politician competing for the PM position in the coming election.

We know of his perpetual disowning of responsibilities for every bit of involvement in BN's f*-up in those years when he was in power as an UMNO minister in various capacities, including Education (Ops Lalang), Finance (Forex), DPM and acting PM (Apcet II), and as BN Director of election operations in the 1994 Sabah elections. You may take it from him, which many anwaristas have already happily swallowed every teeny weeny itsy bit, that he was the cleanest, most naive and most innocent babe in the political woods in those years.

So instead, let's look at the second possible involvement, in his current position as a PKR politician.

Yes, the burning question is whether Anwar Ibrahim, who has very close rapport and friendship with Muslim leaders in Mindanao, has anything to do with the Lahad Datu intrusion which is now threatening, security wise, to embroil the entire state of Sabah, even into a large scale insurgency by the Filipino aliens?

For obvious reasons I hesitate to refer to news on this question from Utusan Malaysia or even Malaysian Digest, both of which I read in the last few days. However, coincidentally (what a lovely word) The Malaysian Insider has a new article titled Ten reasons why Anwar Ibrahim is behind the Sulu saga – Nur Misery.

Nur Misery is a TMI reader so I have to admit he or she is not exactly the gold standard for reliable information, but the fact that the reasonably fair and reputable TMI has elected to publish his or her views may suggest it's worthy of reading.

Of the 10 points Nur alleged as Anwar's doing, I only want to pick two (in no particular order) for publishing here as they sound the most plausible - you have to read the rest yourself at TMI:

(a) Anwar Ibrahim wanted to show Sabahans how reckless the government has been in allowing hundreds of thousands of Filipinos to become legal residents of the state.

(b) Anwar Ibrahim knows the government’s response is to always extend the deadline and this will affect the elections when it is finally held and he will win.

Assuming that Nur Misery's allegations are true, in particular the above two points I have selected, then I opine it has been a very very very dangerous game, and as we have sadly discovered, a deadly one.

It is one thing to publicise the uttering, chattering and nattering of people like Perumal Balasubramaniam and Deepak Jaikishan as if they're the new G-D of 'truth' (and you know I'm an atheist), or to fete and promote the former as if he's a returning hero (too hard for me to swallow this bull) but it's another to play politicking games that have led to the deaths of 7 Malaysian policemen and threatened the security of Sabahans.

I can only hope Nur Misery's allegations (or at least most of them) are unfounded.

p/s CT Ali, an erudite writer for FMT and a Pakatan supporter has this to say about P Balasubramnaiam:

Finally, somehow, private investigator P Balasubramaniam is back in Kuala Lumpur. I do not know how much money (if any) has been paid into what account to “persuade” PI Bala that he should become the White Knight coming to rescue the people, this nation from the plundering and pillaging of the Barisan Nasional government.

I do not know and I do not care because we will never know the whole truth – not even if Pakatan Rakyat is to win this coming general election.

And they say there's a Chinese behind every political manoeuvre in Malaysia.

To add on to CT Ali's remarks, also read Who has been funding Bala for the past 5 years? at M2D, and my previous post The missing man in the Altantuyaa story.