Monday 13 December 2010

REMOVE GANI PATAIL, NAJIB- HE'S A LIABILITY!!

PRESS STATEMENT BY TAN SRI DATUK ROBERT PHANG MIOW SIN.

Justice of Peace

Chairman – Social Care Foundation

Supporting the Prime Minister’s reminder to BN and all Malaysians

On Tuesday 30th November, I gave a Press Conference touching on the public perception of the MACC and A-G Chambers especially about selective prosecution. I mentioned the failure, at that time, to take action in Dato’Seri Khir Toyo’s case and in the Malaysian Airlines case which involved losses of RM 8 billion. I also expressed concern about public outcry over the conduct of A-G Gani Patail consorting with En Shahidan Shafie in a manner that give rise to grave suspicion. There has been public exposure that En Shahidan is the proxy of former Malaysia Airlines Chairman, Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli.

My statement was received badly by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Y.B. Dato‘ Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz who blasted me for raising the concerns of the lay public. The Senior Minister had used very harsh words on me and called me “a man in the street”.

My response on Thursday 2nd December reminded YB Dato Seri Nazri to be circumspect and not to be arrogant.

As God would have willed it, on Sunday 5th December, Prime Minister Dato‘ Seri Najib Tun Razak cautioned the 13 BN party components about the four “political diseases” – delusion, amnesia, inertia and arrogance – which he said could crush the ruling coalition.

The PM’s reminder that Ministers and BN leaders must not be ARROGANT is very timely. Government leaders who feel they are not accountable to the ordinary man in the street would make the citizenry have not only disdain for the government but that would also sow the seeds of hatred towards the BN Government. In the end the BN Government will be alienated from the people and that can only spell disaster at the ballot box.

On Monday 6th December, former Selangor Menter Besar, Dato Seri Khir Toyo, was charged by the MACC for an offence under s. 165 of the Penal Code. The public saw that none less than the AG Tan Sri Gani Patail himself turned up in court. This public display of firmness in taking action without fear or favour is certainly commendable.

On Thursday 9/12/2010, the Prime Minister assured the public that the prosecution of Dato Seri Khir Toyo is not just a public gimmick (sandiwara). As Chairman of Social Care Foundation and Panel Adviser to the MACC, I fully support the Prime Minister’s assurance. I urge the public not to doubt the government’s seriousness in combatting corruption. I urge the opposition not to play pollitics in such matters. The public must have faith that the MACC is doing its best in eradicating corruption against the big fish and the small fry. The public must therefore support the MACC’s efforts instead of running them down. I commend the MACC Chief Commissioner, Dato‘ Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed, who has shown resolve and consistency in this regard.

Unfortunately, public perception is also important. I am therefore compelled to voice out the public skepticisim why Khir Toyo was charged under the Penal Code and not under the MACC Act, since the investigation was made by the MACC and not the Police. The public has not forgotten that the MACC Act was passed specifically to facilitate easier investigation and prosecution for corruption offences. Foremost in the public’s mind is why was Khir Toyo not charged for corruption.

The public must not be left with a lingering mind especially since the MACC and the AG Chambers had invoked the more draconian corruption provisions in the predecessor act to the MACC Act when charging Dato‘ Ramli Yusuff and Lawyer Rosli Dahlan. Dato‘ Ramli has since been acquitted. It is now shown that En Rosli was just a laywer needed as a witness. Strange enough, it is an open secret tht MACC’s recomendation to withdraw the charge against Rosli Dahlan, yet the A-G has not responded. The public is asking - Why is that the case? There is widespread public suspicion that Rosli is being persecuted for his role in the Malaysia Airlines case.

This is fuelled by the reluctance of AG Gani Patail to institute prosecution for the RM8 billion losses suffered by Malaysia Airlines during the time of Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli. The public is concerned with allegations surrounding A-G Tan Sri Gani Patail’s personal conduct in consorting with the proxy of Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli during a recent Haj pilgrimage. The photographs and documents that have been in the public domain seem very convincing. The AG’s silence has further fuelled this suspicion. The AG cannot continuously stonewall the public. The consequences can be adverse on the Government.

The root cause of all this suspicion is the credibility of the A-G Chambers, in particular of the personal integrity of AG Gani Patail himself. As a public officer, the AG’s conduct, both public and personal, must be beyond reproach. That is the root problem. For so long as there is suspicion about the personal conduct of AG Gani Patail as described above and it is not addressed, all sincere efforts by the Government and the MACC will be futile. It will be regarded as mere public relations exercise or slogans. It will be unfortunate if the AG himself becomes a stumbling block to the Government’s and the MACC’s efforts to portray a Bersih. Cekap, Amanah Government. It is like the saying “Ketam cuba mengajar anaknya berjalan lurus”.

Therefore, AG Gani Patail must heed the PM’s call not to suffer delusion, amnesia, inertia and arrogance. In that regard, I invite the AG to respond to all my earlier calls that he respond and answer these allegations. The public needs to be satisfied in order for the Government to regain the public trust that it is serious in the eradication of corruption and in achieving Justice for All.

“HUMBLENESS IS GOOD VIRTUE, ARROGANCE SHALL FALL, THE MEEK WILL RULE THE WORLD”.

.....................................................................

Tan Sri Datuk Robert Phang Miow Sin

Justice of Peace

After GE13, a hung Parliament, says RPK

After GE13, a hung Parliament, says RPK

After GE13, a hung Parliament, says RPK

December 13, 2010
Raja Petra
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 — Influential blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin has predicted that Malaysia will go Britain’s way in the coming general election, widely speculated to be held in the next three months.

Before Election 2008, he had declared that the opposition would take 90 federal seats and five states, which was startlingly close to the final results.

“I predict it will be a hung Parliament,” the self-exiled editor of the Malaysia Today news site said last night in an Internet broadcast live from London.

A hung Parliament, also known as a balanced Parliament in a two-party system, is one in which no party has an overall majority and will need to coax support from rival party members to pass laws.

The vocal government critic was replying to a question on which political pact will form the federal government raised by a member of the audience off camera at the first Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) public forum.

The MCLM is an independent outfit Raja Petra co-founded two months ago and made up of Malaysians abroad who are lobbying for political reform by offering political parties a stable of professionals and non-partisan civil rights activists to stand as candidates in the 13th general election.

The 60-year-old this year withdrew his long-standing support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the DAP-PKR-PAS opposition pact based on his view on the growing groundswell of discontent in East Malaysia, which he observed has supplied the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition its majority support for decades.

“How Pakatan handles East Malaysia will have a very great factor in who forms government,” said the blogger popularly known as RPK.

Raja Petra noted that Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan have grown more fed-up with being treated as a “vote bank” by their countrymen across the South China Sea.

The two states and one federal territory together occupy 57 seats out of a total of 222 in the Dewan Rakyat, nearly a quarter of the members in the lawmaking hall.

Their votes have traditionally been cast in support of the BN, but Raja Petra foresees it is likely to change.

“Currently, the sentiment in Sabah and Sarawak is that Pakatan and Barisan are both totally worthless.

“My sentiment is that it’s going to be a lot of three-cornered fights in East Malaysia with lots of independents contesting,” he said.

Sporting a blue beret and Harry Potter-like round glasses at the talk yesterday, Raja Petra observed that the federal opposition pact, Pakatan Rakyat (PR), had failed to make use of the growing grassroots’ unhappiness to sway more supporters to its side.

“My view is that Pakatan is not handling East Malaysia properly… and it’s going to backfire,” he added.

He pointed to the racial-religious posturing between Umno and PKR and said the challenges over racial and religious supremacy have no traction in East Malaysia where multiculturalism is part of their lives.

But he added, it does mean the BN will win.

“If you ask me again during Chinese New Year, I can give a more accurate prediction,” Raja Petra said.

The UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand are examples of the latest round of hung Parliaments.

A hung Parliament means the party in power will need to coax its rival party members to pass laws.

Two years ago, before Malaysia went to the polls, Raja Petra had predicted the opposition pact would win 90 seats and take over five state governments – Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Perak and Pahang.

The three parties came out winning 82 seats and but failed to take over Perlis and Terengganu.

Malaysia Today also said that the opposition coalition would eventually be called Barisan Rakyat and posters of Barisan Rakyat were printed and distributed. Malaysia Today go that wrong as the opposition coalition named itself Pakatan Rakyat.

History textbooks biased, say writers

History textbooks biased, say writers

By Zakiah Koya, The Sun

History textbooks are biased and littered with errors, claim two authors and academicians. Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi and Ng How Kuen, who writes history textbooks for Chinese schools, say their experience with officialdom does not augur well for the teaching of history in our classrooms.

Ranjit, author of secondary school history textbooks since 1990, and adviser to the Ministry of Education (MOE) on history textbooks, said such material were littered with factual errors and distortions. He said that when he pointed out the errors and distortions, a ministry official labelled him “anti-national”.

“Secondary school history textbooks have been used to promote political interests. It should be a scholarly pursuit and not politically-motivated,” said Ranjit who showed theSun history textbooks with errors and exaggerated facts.

“Five out of 10 chapters of the Form Four history textbook deal with Islamic history as compared to only one chapter in the earlier textbook. The intention of the earlier syllabus was to expose our students to World History,” he said when commenting on the announcement that the history syllabus is being reviewed and that the subject will be made a compulsory pass in the Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia from 2013.

“The coverage of important historical events such as Renaissance and Industrial Revolution has been reduced by more than half,” he said.

He also said certain historical personalities, such as Yap Ah Loy (the third Kapitan China of Kuala Lumpur), were not given due recognition. Yap played a major role in the development of Kuala Lumpur as a commercial and tin-mining centre, particularly after the fire of 1881,” he said, adding that the Form Two history textbook had only one sentence on Yap as “one of the persons
responsible for developing Kuala Lumpur”.

“There is also no mention of freedom fighters such as Gurchan Singh (“Lion of Malaya”) and Sybil Karthigesu who resisted the Japanese Occupation of Malaya,” he said. (Gurchan secretly distributed a newspaper during the Japanese occupation while Sybil, who was tortured by the Japanese, and her husband treated wounded guerillas of the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army).

The most glaring example of bias, he said, was related to the downfall of the Malay Sultanate of Malacca.

"The 1996 Form One textbook stated inter alia that a few Indian merchants lent their junks to the Portuguese in their attack on Malacca. I know of no historical evidence to support this fact,” said Ranjit.

“Six Chinese captains agreed to lend their junks to the Portuguese due to their hatred for Sultan Mahmud who had earlier detained them and their men to help attack Aru. The Portuguese used only one junk provided by one of the Chinese,” he said.

Ranjit pointed out that the decision to make history a must pass subject for SPM from 2013 was rooted in a wrong premise. "It is not right to assume that students will study history seriously and will be more patriotic after clearly understanding the Federal Constitution and the social contract.

“Patriotism thrives when citizens have a ‘sense of belonging’ and perceive themselves being treated equitably,” he said.

Ng, meanwhile, fears that making history a compulsory pass subject would mean one would have to subscribe to one’s version of events or risk failing the entire examination.

Ng, whose textbooks are still used in Chinese-medium primary schools, however stressed that it was timely to review the syllabus. “We always had to follow the curriculum given by the MOE and therefore the ruling parties have the upper hand in defining our history.”

As an example, he said when writing on the fight for independence, the contributions of the communists were left out.

He said history books should be written by historians and not teachers as the former were not bound by the curriculum. “Students do know the truth but as textbooks are written according to approved curriculum, students end up learning history that is skewed,” said Ng. -- theSun

"Miracle" of Jibby-nomics:- Beyond the Propaganda

A friend recently provided a link to the below info on IndexMundi.com:-

Malaysia GDP - real growth rate - Economy

GDP - real growth rate:
-1.7% (2009 est.)
4.7% (2008 est.)
6.5% (2007 est.)
YearGDP - real growth rateRank Percent Change Date of Information
2003 4.20 % 59
2002 est.
2004 5.20 % 53 23.81 % 2003 est.
2005 7.10 % 34 36.54 % 2004 est.
2006 5.20 % 90 -26.76 % 2005 est.
2007 5.90 % 74 13.46 % 2006 est.
2008 6.30 % 72 6.78 % 2007 est.
2009 4.60 % 94 -26.98 % 2008 est.
2010 -1.70 % 143 -136.96 % 2009 est.

Definition: This entry gives GDP growth on an annual basis adjusted for inflation and expressed as a percent.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of November 3, 2010

See Also

Equivalent Data From the International Monetary Fund

Variable: Gross domestic product, constant prices

Note: Annual percentages of constant price GDP are year-on-year changes; the base year is country-specific.

Units: Annual percent change

Country-specific Note: See notes for: Gross domestic product, constant prices (National currency).

Source: International Monetary Fund - 2009 World Economic Outlook

Year GDP, constant pricesPercent Change
1980 7.444
1981 6.942-6.74 %
1982 5.941-14.42 %
1983 6.255.20 %
1984 7.76224.19 %
1985 -0.876-111.29 %
1986 1.153-231.62 %
1987 5.389367.39 %
1988 9.93884.41 %
1989 9.06-8.83 %
1990 9.007-0.58 %
1991 9.5476.00 %
1992 8.886-6.92 %
1993 9.89611.37 %
1994 9.211-6.92 %
1995 9.836.72 %
1996 10.0021.75 %
1997 7.323-26.78 %
1998 -7.359-200.49 %
1999 6.138-183.41 %
2000 8.67941.40 %
2001 0.519-94.02 %
2002 5.391938.73 %
2003 5.7887.36 %
2004 6.78417.21 %
2005 5.332-21.40 %
2006 5.8499.70 %
2007 6.1815.68 %
2008 4.633-25.04 %
2009 -3.631-178.37 %