Saturday, 30 April 2011

Pimping the Penal Code ....

********************************
We often think of the word “shame” in a negative light.
However, the very reason we feel shame
is because we believe in right and wrong.
But what happens to a society when there is no shame?

********************************
There is a tale that Aesop tells of a fox who lost his tail in a trap. He was overwhelmed with the shame of having to go about without a bushy tail like the other foxes. Then he hit on a plan: He would counsel the other foxes that being tailless had numerous advantages and actually looked better. If all foxes had no tail, he reasoned, then he would no longer feel his shame.
Could that be what is afoot?


In a bizarre turn of political events, Mixing sex with religion, Malaysian-style - Malaysiakini has taken a truly revolutionary "Boleh" spirit.....
It appears to herald the greater aspirations of a 1-Malaysia Government, scrambling for ideas on how to divert the attention of the people, and to justify the corruption, plunder, and decadence which permeates every facet of the political hierarchy.
It was truly a landmark 1-Malaysia moment in the administration of justice towards preserving law & order.



After declaring that a video depicting sexual acts are documentaries- and that it is okay to watch it with "proper intent" (i.e. if it is to ascertain the actors), they have taken it one step further.

Someone apparently swore on the Quran, so that the people will believe him in the Carcosa sex video (even if the law prohibits from showing it) - that he was in a sex video (apparently proudly shown on TV3 for all Malaysians- young & old- to see), facilitating a sexual act between a prostitute (and someone that looks quite like himself).


*****************************
Act 574, 372. (1) (f) Whoever— acts as an intermediary on behalf of another
or
exercises control or influence over the movements of another
in such a manner as to show that the person
is aiding or
abetting or controlling the prostitution of that order,

shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to
fifteen years and with whipping, and shall also be liable to a fine.
**************************

The fact remains, though- that it all doesn't matter to the Government or the Attorney General's Chambers. But of course- Najib says that Umno and Government not involved in oath-taking.
I suppose he believes that the man should be running around free, after having a Porn Show for the press at Carcosa Seri Negara. Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr Najib- the portfolio belongs to Nazri, and the Attorney General's office is still waiting for "investigation papers" from the police ... but that can wait-
it's an "educational documentary ", right?

In the Aesop's fable (above), a wiser fox exposes the ruse of the tailless one.
But in the Umno-led administration, they
have all been convinced to go tailless- and are now trying to convince the public of the same .....

**********************************
Never make a country your home that denies you respect,
that offers no means of livelihood,
that does not give you a family and Friends
and a country that has no education system.
Do not live a place for a single day where there are rich people ,
no king, no scholar, no river and no physician.
Do not live in a society which is devoid of employment opportunities,
fear, shame, cleverness and spirit of sacrifice.
-Sri Chanakya Neetishastra (The Political Ethics of Chanakya), 1:8-10
******************************

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

The rise of Perkasa/Rela Stormtroopers?




FLASHBACK Pre- WW II ..... Germany:-



The SA was founded in Munich by Hitler in 1921 out of various roughneck elements that had attached themselves to the fledgling Nazi movement. In the Nazi rise to power, a key role was played by the Nazi storm troopers - the SA.
Sturmabteilung- The SA was the first Nazi paramilitary group to develop pseudo-military titles for bestowal upon its members. The SA ranks were adopted by several other Nazi Party groups, chief amongst them the SS, itself originally a branch of the SA. Brown-coloured shirts were chosen as the SA uniform ......
This was a paramilitary organization designed for defense of Nazi Party meetings, and attacks on its political opponents. It formed the workforce for Nazi political activity in the lead up to the takeover of power in 1933.
It was later superseded by the SS- their offshoot.

"FLASH-FORWARD" Mahathirist Malaysia:-



PERKASA-
The manifestation of all that went wrong during the Mahathirist era of piracy- an off-shoot of a nationalist party, [as with Nationalist Party (Nazi) of pre-war Germany] whose membership consist of mindless nincompoops who have their own "Der Fuhrer" themselves as their godhead.
With the failure of a certain gangster element of the nationalist party which has today been deemed as a failure, they have endeavoured to form a new group of troublemakers. As they "come of age", they now decide to recruit members from a certain uniformed mercenary "para-military" corp - apparently with the blessings of the Home Ministry.
(Please visit the following link for more info)

MeRELAkan PERKASA : MemPERKASAkan RELA


Bertempat di Pejabat RELA Negeri Selangor di Shah Alam pagi tadi, 18 Disember 2010 telah berlangsung malis penyerahan senarai kumpulan pertama ahli PERKASA Daerah Gombak dan Daerah Kelang yang telah didaftarkan menganggotai RELA. Senarai telah diserahkan kepada Pengarah RELA Negeri oleh Setiausaha Kehurmat PERKASA Negeri Selangor.

Sempena majlis tersebut juga Pengarah RELA Negeri En.Mohd Khairi Alwee telah menyerahkan 500 pasang baju T beserta seluar trek pasukan RELA kepada Sdr.Zambri Zahari SUK PERKASA Selangor, untuk disampaikan kepada anggota-anggota baru RELA dari PERKASA.

Majlis hari ini adalah kollaborasi antara dua pertubuhan yang telah dilancarkan baru-baru ini oleh Ketua Setiausaha Kementerian Dalam Negeri Datuk Sri Mahmood Adam dan YDP PERKASA Negeri Selangor Sdr. Abdullah Mansor baru-baru ini.

PERKASA bersama-sama RELA akan turun kesetiap PERKASA Daerah diseluruh Selangor bermula hari ini hingga ke bulan Februari 2011 bagi mendaftar ahli kedua-dua pertubuhan.



Tuesday, 26 April 2011

Yayyyy!! Now it is POS Malaysia?

"Heard that POS Express (or is it Pos Laju?) &
Pos Malaysia are two different entities!! I really wonder if they slow down the "Laju"
so that the Expres appears faster than normal ....
Someone told me recently, that if I were to post a letter from TTDI to Bangsar,
the letters would first go to Shal Alam (for "centralized collection" and to be stamped
)
and only then distributed to Bangsar (which is essentially, 10 minutes away).

Geniuses, aren't they?
And all the while I thought we were paying exorbitant postal rates for efficiency!"
OH yes- take note that SYED MOKHTAR (DRB Hicom)
IS BUYING UP POS Malaysia too
(Read:- "Be prepared for a price hike, just like sugar & Rice earlier")!!


==============================

"The selling pressure in POS’s share price is due to investors waiting details on DRB Hicom’s business plans and the unlocking of the postal operators’ valuable landbank. However the plans are depend on amendments to the Federal Land Act.
......
It was unclear if the company would leverage on DRBHicom’s financial and property expertise through JV and tie-ups, or an internal reorganization exercise. The selling pressure was also due partly to disappointment with DRBHicom’s buy in price of rm3.60 per share and anticipation that the latter will not make a GO to POS’s minority shareholders.
If POS were to acquire Bank Muamalat or sell its land bank to DRBHicom, the valuation of these assets would be important for minority shareholders of POS ....
POS’s most valuable land is the 3.1 acre postmen’s quarter located behind the site of the Pudu Jail redevelopment site in KL to be undertaken by UDA Holdings. POS also holds 2.7 acres of land near KL Sentral and smaller plots in Westport, Port Klang, Bkt Raja in Klang and Bdr Baru Bangi."
- KCK, Remisier, Kenanga Investment Bank, "
What's NEXT For POS Malaysia ....."

-----------------------------------------------------

Pos Malaysia : worth the fuss to privatise?

By Lee Wee Tak

When Pos Malaysia was listed as a public limited company, it baffled me. Why bother privatising a monopoly? Remove the profit element and instill healthy working culture, and Malaysians can be spared the profiteering increase of postage from RM0.30 to RM0.70.

If privatisation is to provide more efficient service then the excellent article below spelt out the less than ideal situation beneath the exciting images portrayed by Pos Malaysia for the past few years.


In addition to the crippling Transmile Group scandal which whacked RM200-RM300 million off the profits of Pos Malaysia, the article also highlighted that its chairman and managing director had resigned over irregularities in land sales and award of contracts.

http://business.feedfury.com/content/17725759-pos-malaysia-new-scandal-after-transmile-irregularities.html

The fact that the chairman and managing director (bumiputras, no less) could only resign* in protest suggested that there were higher powers at work that frustrated & probably prevented capable and honest professionals from taking the necessary corrective action.

This kind of working environment will deter high calibre overseas based Malaysians from coming back. This is more important than the 15% income tax abruptly announced by Najib of which the details have yet to be worked out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
*foot note:

Very recently, the chairman took Pos Malaysia and Khazanah to court for breach of chairmanship contract.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=60169

In the first suit, Adam is suing the Minister of Finance, the government and Pos Malaysia Bhd. In the second suit, which was filed separately, he named Khazanah Nasional Berhad managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar as the defendant.

Adam told Bernama that his suit against Pos Malaysia had been settled amicably after he withdrew his legal action against it about three months ago.

- perhaps Pos Malaysia has to make peace knowing court action may not be advisable for them?

In the suit against Azman filed on Nov 4 last year, Adam alleged that due to unlawful interference by Azman, the government decided to terminate his contract through two letters signed by the Minister of Finance dated May 23 and May 26, 2008 whereas his appointment was supposed to end only on Feb 28, 2009.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yeah sure those are old stories dated 2008 but let's look at the audited accounts for 2010:

Pos Malaysia invested RM7.6 million into 3 associated companies, of which are all wiped out as useless investment, worth RM 0.00. Of the 3, Elpos Print Sdn Bhd earned a revenue of RM12.5 million, but as its liabilities greater than its assets and even whole year's revenue, something is wrong. (Imagine you owe loans and debts which exceed your whole year salary...that is terrifying or down right stupid financial management)

Read more at: http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/04/pos-malaysia-worth-fuss-to-privatise.html

Monday, 25 April 2011

First they try to cheat ....


"Amarjit, Marina and I are convinced that this whole business of attending
at the embassy to give his statement was a hare-brained scheme
by idiots back home to lure RPK onto ‘Malaysian soil’
as a first step to repatriation back to Kamunting,
whether through means foul or fair."
-Haris Ibrahim

How RPK was almost lured into little Malaysia in Thailand and then to…

April 24, 2011

Update 2 : Marina, RPK and I waited at the hotel lobby from 5 – 5.30pm. No cops. We’re off to dinner.

_______________________________________

Update : Amarjit has been receiving sms’s from Hamid of the Malaysian embassy to say that the cops are still waiting to take RPK’s statement at the embassy.

At 1.26pm Bangkok time today, I sent the following sms to Hamid : Salam. Engku n i will be at the lobby of siam city hotel at 5pm to give his statement to ACP Aziz. Tq

___________________________________________

Yesterday evening, RPK and I spoke at an event organised at the Florida Hotel in Bangkok by some Malaysians who now reside in Thailand.

The objective : to see if the seed of the Thailand or Bangkok chapter of the Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement might not be planted.

In the audience, however, was an individual who, as events that unfolded later suggest, was there for a very different agenda.

Just before the talk kicked off at 6pm Bangkok time, I was introduced to one Encik Abdul Hamid bin Bulat of the Malaysian Embassy here in Bangkok. I was to find out a little later that he had earlier spoken to RPK to say that police from Bukit Aman were waiting at the embassy to take his statement, and that he was there to ferry RPK to the embassy immediately after the talk. As to what the statement related to, upon my discussion with RPK, Marina and Amarjit later, was also a matter of some contradiction.

It seems that when Hamid spoke to RPK, he had said that the statement sought by the police was in relation to the statutory declaration made by RPK in 2008. Yet, when Amarjit inquired as to the matter under investigation for which the statement was sought, Hamid replied that he did not know the details.

This, we only discovered much later in the wee hours of this morning.

Amarjit and I were most uncomfortable with the idea of RPK going to the embassy to give his statement.

Meanwhile, even before the talk began, both Amarjit and I were receiving calls and sms’s from people back home saying that there was already media news that RPK was to be questioned at the embassy. There were also rumours flying around that he had been, or would be, arrested.

Both Amarjit and I tried to dissuade RPK from going to the embassy, suggesting that the police could come to the hotel to take his statement where we would both also be present.

We voiced our concerns that the embassy, in international law deemed as Malaysian soil, we feared that this whole business of taking his statement there was a ruse to get him in there, effect an arrest and then, with or without the aid of the local authorities, have him repatriated back to Kamunting.

RPK, seemingly believing that the statement sought was in the furtherance of investigations into the individual or individuals named in his recent interview aired over TV3, was quite determined to attend at the embassy to give his statement.

During Q&A, one of those in attendance also urged RPK not to attend at the embassy.

“If you go there, they will arrest you,” , he said.

After the talk, as we were adjourning to dinner with those who had attended the talk, a heated argument broke out between RPK, on the one side, and Marina, amarjit and I on the other.

We did not want him to go to the embassy. He was being his usual, stubborn self.

The argument carried into the dining hall and was clearly noticed by quite a few of the 40 or so who had attended the talk and the dinner.

To these folk, I apologise.

Amarjit threatened that if he insisted on going to the embassy, he would have nothing more to do with RPK.

Marina said if he was going, she was booking her flight out of Bangkok that very night.

Finally, RPK relented.

The four of us went up to Hamid and. RPK told him that he was ready to go to the embassy but Marina, Amarjit and I were not agreeable to this and he left it to Hamid to persuade us otherwise. I told Hamid that nothing he could say would persuade us away from our stand. I informed him that Amarjit and I had advised RPK and that he had acceded to our advice not to attend at the embassy. We said that RPK would give his full co-operation and his statement to the police at the hotel where he and Marina were staying.

Hamid said he would head back to the embassy and bring the police officers to the hotel.

With that, RPK, Marina, Amarjit and I headed back to the hotel.

Round about 10.15pm, Hamid, ACP Aziz and another officer who introduced himself as Tony were at the hotel. Tony, I was informed later, is a police officer attached with the embassy.

RPK, Amarjit and I met them in the hotel lobby.

The police were trying to persuade that the statement be given at the embassy. They raised questions about the inadmissibility in court if the statement were not taken in the embassy. I responded that we would undertake to not take such objection and the same could be included in the statement to be given.

Both Aziz and Hamid gave assurances that RPK would be released after the statement was taken. Amarjit and I said we were not comforted by their assurances and were not persuaded to advise RPK to attend at the embassy to give his statement.

I inquired of Aziz as to the nature of the offence being investigated for which a statement was sought from RPK.

He replied that it was for an offence under section 203 of the Penal Code.

I asked what that was.

He started to get sassy and said surely we as lawyers knew what that was.

I said I did not know what it was.

Aziz then said it was in relation to a false statement.

I inquired whether this related to a statement made in the course of the TV3 interview or the statutory declaration made by RPK in 2008.

At this point, officer Tony made some remark about ungentlemanly conduct.

There was a harsh exchange.

Amarjit then asked to see the police report made on which the current investigation was premised.

Aziz offered to show us the report at the embassy if we would all headed out there.

Both Amarjit and I immediately accepted the offer, but stipulated that RPK would remain behind at the hotel whilst the 2 of us would go to the embassy to view the contents of the police report.

Aziz now tried to do a u-turn.

We pressed to see the police report to enable us to advise RPK if it was safe to attend at the embassy.

Finally, Aziz relented.

I sent RPK up to his room and told him that he was under house arrest and that Mother Superior Marina was not going to let him out of her sight.

We got to the embassy a little after 11pm.

It was here that we were informed that Aziz did not have a copy of the police report and that was awaiting a copy to be faxed from KL.

This was the first serious confirmation for both Amarjit and I that the this whole business of wanting to take RPK’s statement at the embassy was a ruse to facilitate some other agenda.

Why would the investigating officer come all the way to Bangkok to question a witness to a possible crime and not have a copy of the police report with him?

The whole thing stank.

About an hour later, both Amarjit and I were shown the police report.

After reading it, I asked Aziz again whether the alleged false statement the subject-matter of the investigation was in the TV3 interview or the statutory declaration.

Aziz started raving and ranting about ‘giving and inch and now asking for a whole mile’.

I told him that we would go back to the hotel, discuss with RPK and inform Hamid as to RPK’s decision.

Back at the hotel just before 1am, Amarjit and I discussed the contents of the police report and advised RPK and Marina accordingly.

I called Hamid who passed the phone to Aziz.

I informed Aziz that RPK was ready to give his statement to the police and that we would be happy to meet him at the hotel in the morning at 11am.

“Erm, tak payahlah”, was his response.

The call ended.

Now RPK called and spoke to Aziz and reiterated what i had said earlier.

Same response, save and except that Aziz now blamed what was a most unproductive conclusion to his trip to Thailand to two good for nothing lawyers.

Strange that an officer of PDRM should travel all the way to Thailand to take a statement, not from the accused but a witness, and one willing to give the same, but now refused to do so unless the witness was willing to step into little Malaysia.

Was it a statement from the witness that was sought, or the presence of the witness on ‘Malaysian soil’ in Thailand?

Amarjit, Marina and I are convinced that this whole business of attending at the embassy to give his statement was a hare-brained scheme by idiots back home to lure RPK onto ‘Malaysian soil’ as a first step to repatriation back to Kamunting, whether through means foul or fair.

I half suspect that RPK, now, sees it too.

And then, they lied ....

RPK drama: Press lies, police bullying, as Khalid tries to be a hero

Sunday 24 Apr 2011 MYT 18:37:19
by uppercaise


Standoff: The police still want RPK at the embassy, RPK offers to wait for them at the hotel. And the press lied.

by uppercaise
The newly-appointed deputy inspector-general of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, seems to be trying to elbow aside his boss and to make an instant hero of himself in the eyes of Umno and government leaders by trying to trap Raja Petra Kamarudin in Bangkok and taking action to prop up Najib Razak.

There has been a curious coincidence of events since Raja Petra appeared on TV3 in a two-month-old interview, broadcast last week, just before the Sarawak election. There has also been a curious coincidence of events surrounding Khalid Abu Bakar, who has been in the spotlight since 2009 for making one lie after another and who on Saturday seems to have fed the press a pack of lies about what was going on in Bangkok.

Khalid Abu Bakar, to refresh memories, was Selangor chief police officer when Shah Alam schoolboy Aminulrasyid Amza was shot dead by police last year. On Tuesday, it will be exactly a year since Aminulrasyid died. He was shot in the head at 2am on April 26 by police who chased after him when he was on a joyride in his sister’s car.

Khalid Abu Bakar claimed that Aminul was a criminal, a thug, because he supposedly had a parang in his car. He claimed that Aminul tried to reverse the car and ram the policemen. But Aminul’s schoolmate in the car said Aminul died in his lap, still at the wheel, and the car rammed into a retaining wall.

Khalid Abu Bakar evidently lied.

A year earlier, in January 2009, the death in police custody took place of A Kugan. Khalid Abu Bakar said Kugan had taken a glass of water and died of breathing difficulties. He asked the public not to speculate about the death. After a huge public outcry the Attorney-General classified the case as one of murder: Kugan had been tortured and murdered.

Khalid Abu Bakar evidently lied.

Other notable events during Khalid Abu Bakar’s time as Selangor CPO: the death of Teoh Beng Hock in custody of anti-corruption officers, and the parading and desecration of a cow’s head by Muslim activists.

But on Oct 13 that year, six months after Aminul’s death, Khalid Abu Bakar was promoted, to director of internal security and public order at federal police headquarters. Higher-ups were to remark on police “success in lowering the crime rate” in Selangor (that means fewer people bothered to lodge police reports).

And this month, six months after being promoted, Khalid Abu Bakar was promoted again, just as RPK hits the headlines.

On April 13, an interview with Raja Petra is aired over TV3′s primetime Buletin Utama: as a result, RPK is accused in a vicious media campaign of a sellout, of having been turned over, of making a U-turn.

The next day, April 14, the police announce that Khalid Abu Bakar was promoted as deputy inspector-general of police, effective the following day.

On April 14, the same day as the announcement of Khalid’s promotion, the little-known Malay rights group Jaringan Melayu Malaysia lodges a police report about an Utusan Malaysia article on Raja Petra Kamarudin’s interview with TV3. The JMM demanded an investigation of an alleged to prevent Najib Razak becoming prime minister.

That same day, Najib Razak claims the truth has prevailed. A heavily-twisted Bernama report describes RPK’s statements as a “confession”, and “denying [Najib's] involvement”. Malaysia Chronicle, among others, carries a damning headline: “Raja Petra U-turns for Najib and Rosmah”.

On Wednesday this week, the inspector-general Ismail Omar visited Penang. His visit got big play in the NST on Thursday and smaller treatment in the Star, which instead played up Khalid’s purported surprise at being appointed deputy. Khalid talks about measures to “improve the police force” because of public scepticism about the police. (See » Day of Pigs)

The next day, Friday, Khalid’s boss is taken ill at Bukit Aman’s monthly assembly. He’s taken to hospital and told to rest. Exhaustion, it seems.

The same day, Friday, blogger Din Merican, who was mentioned by Raja Petra in the TV3 interview, is interrogated for three hours at Bukit Aman. Din is one of four named by Jaringan Melayu for police investigation.

Also on Friday, Khalid announces the end of speed-trap ambushes of motorists — big play results in all the media on Saturday, including a front-page in the NST and Star. Khalid spouts some bullshit about how this amounts to police “transparency”.

Then, on Saturday evening, Khalid is back in the spotlight after Malaysia Today flashes a news-break that RPK has been hauled in by policed in Bangkok.

But, instead of “transparency”, what Khalid and the police told the press amounts to a pack of lies.

Khalid says Raja Petra Kamarudin had voluntarily having made a statement to the police in Bangkok. The press duly publishes it. But the accounts by Raja Petra and his lawyer Haris Ibrahim, and the reports published at Malaysia Today, tell a different story.

The Star report on Sunday
The NST report on Sunday

It is a story of police intimidation and double-dealing, of brute force on the ground, covered up by senior officers lying about actions of their junior officers by making bland press statements that supposedly state “facts”.

The police rely on “stenographer journalists” who take down what officials say, and regurgitate it in their reports, even if the officials are lying. What the press reported on Saturday was this:

  • A high-ranking official called a press conference
  • We the press attended the press conference
  • The policeman said this and that.
  • We took it all down. Here is what he said.
  • (Don’t ask if it was true.) It is a truthful account of someone telling a lie.

The reader is left to piece it together, picking up what he can from rumours, friends or the Internet, and from denials of press reports by those involved, or from politicians (usually opposition ones) picking apart what officials said or did not say.

The press remains aloof of the truth, or the real story. Their hands are clean. We didn’t say it. “They” said it.

Khalid Abu Bakar told the press that:

  • Raja Petra Kamarudin had voluntarily given a statement to Malaysian police. He made the statement at his hotel, and cooperated with the police
  • It was about a police report by a group, and it was about RPK’s 2008 statutory declaration.

But Raja Petra and his lawyer Haris Ibrahim say that:

  • The police officer was insistent that RPK must go to the embassy
  • RPK did not make any statement at the hotel
  • The policeman, Assistant Commissioner Aziz, was not bothered about coming to the hotel on Sunday morning — “tak payahla”.

  • Asst Cmsr Aziz almost came to blows with RPK’s lawyers and was evasive about the report
  • RPK and his lawyers thought it was about his declaration in 2008, which he had asked repeatedly to be investigated.
  • The police were only interested in the Utusan Malaysia report about the TV3 interview and the alleged conspiracy against Najib.

MalaysiaKini had a Bernama report at 8pm on Saturday with Khalid Abu Bakar saying that RPK had given his statement to officers from Bukit Aman. On Sunday and up to Sunday evening, the NST, Star and others continued to say RPK had given his statement the previous night.

Yet RPK and Haris said no statement was made on Saturday, as Malaysian Insider, Free Malaysia Today and Malaysia Today reported. But the story stayed unchanged at NST and Star Online all day, until late on Sunday evening.

Someone was lying. It’s not likely to be RPK and Haris. That leaves only the police, trying to make heroes of themselves. And the press went along for the ride.

Sunday, 24 April 2011

Sarawak Report: Bounced BN Candidate's Cheque!!

BN Promises – Nothing But Bounced Cheques!

This post is also available in: Malay

Kuching Anak Moyan (left), the headman who admits he took a RM10,000 bribe to make his community vote BN from Member of State Parliament Joseph Mauh

BN’s Joseph Mauh has been caught red-handed on a double election cheat. He not only promised a poor Headman RM 10,000 to gain his vote, but then the cheque bounced!

In this way Mauh cheated his constituents twice. Firstly he cheated them of their right to a free vote by bribing the Headman, which is an exceedingly serious crime. Secondly, he didn’t even carry out his promised payment to a poor community.........

Joseph Muah, if found guilty faces the most serious criminal charge of election fraud. This is the testimony of the Headman against him:

“My name is Kuching ak Moyan and i am one of the headmen in Tamin constituency. In the just concluded State election, i was given three cheques, one for RM2,000, another for RM3,000 and the third for RM5,000 by the Barisan Nasional candidate, Joseph Mauh. I have cashed out the first two cheques, both for a total RM5,000 but the last one, for RM5,000, was bounced. So i sent it back to him and he promised that he will bank in the amount instead into my account. Up till today, i have not received the RM5,000. The three cheques were given to me on the 13th of April so that we will give our support to the Barisan Nasional. In the year 2006 State election, each voter here was given only RM20 but in this election, the amount was increased to RM50 per voter. There are 15 voters in this longhouse and all of them were given RM50 each. I think all of us have voted for Barisan Nasional. Ofcourse I know that the money the Barisan Nasional give to us would amount to nothing if the government grabbed our land. But what to do, we still have to vote for the government as the government has given us the money. Yes, i know we can just accept the Barisan Nasional money and vote for the opposition but since everybody else voted for Barisan Nasional this time, i decided to follow suit.”

MORE

Saturday, 23 April 2011

Jibbonomics: A tax free car & 15% is all it takes .....

Najib's 15%

'Professionals' are doctors, lawyers, accountants and other persons who undergo specialized training, usually belonging to an association which governs the quality of the vocation they practice. They are often regarded as highly educated and known as the 'white-collared' people. According to the Ministry of Human Resources (MHR) and Department of Statistics there were 67,310 job vacancies in the year 2010 with regards to the 'professional' category. If you think this number is not too big, think again. In 2004 there were only 5,187 registered vacancies. This makes it a 1300% increase from the years 2004 to 2010.



The trend is somewhat similar for technicians and associate professional vacancies registered with the MHR:

Kindly note assumptions number 1 to 3 at the bottom of this article whereby it is stated that private firms are not required to register unfilled positions with the MHR. It is correct to say this because private firms will normally recruit job positions on their own and not go through any government-linked agencies. Hence the actual number of unfilled positions in the Malaysian job market is higher than the MHR published statistics discussed here.

If we look at the snapshot of 2010 registered unfilled jobs, 'elementary occupations' hits the top spot. Such jobs are related to 'pekerjaan asas' such as maids, general workers, laborers and so on.
Zooming in on 'elementary occupations' the run chart below shows a steep climb from the years 2004 to 2010, a growth exceeding 13000% (10 times more that professionals) - caused by an acute shortage of workers in this category.


However the situation could have been worse. According to Tuan Haji Sabri, Deputy Director General of the Labor Department, in 2010, there were 785,000 Malaysians migrating out of the country and 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia. The 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia caught my eye because it appears that these migrants helped a little in easing the general worker shortage situation- the graph above could have been steeper. The breakdown of the 1.8 million in 2010 is as follows:


On the 785,000 Malaysians who migrated out of Malaysia, my take is that they are mostly professionals or semi-professionals who have gone out of this country. I do not have enough statistical evidence to show this (not my fault because I rely on published statistics only and I don't know why the Government has stopped releasing demographics like these since the year 2005) but being a professional myself who is in touch with the Asian region I am very confident that I am correct in saying that most the 785,000 migrants last year belonged to such a group and their reasons for migrating are push factors rather than pull factors. For me personally, it is a pain living in this country- the daily racism, the fear of political prosecution, the lack of religion freedom and so on.

Proponents of Ketuanan Melayu may ask me to leave this country on the next flight but they are ignorant of the fact that if hundreds of thousands of professionals like me leave Malaysia in this continuous trend within the next few years Vision2020 will never be achieved by 2020 and we will never ever be a developed country like we should be because of the lack of human capital.

I doubt Najib's 15% tax rate plus a couple of tax-free locally assembled cars through the Returning Experts Programme will do much to convince any professional who have made inroads in a foreign country to return home. For them the reasons of leaving the country is much more fundamental than lower tax rates and lower-priced cars (anyway, the pricing will never beat the prices and specs of cars sold in foreign countries). Najib needs to summon enough political will and balls to do the changes that needs to be done in Malaysia only then will people start coming back, tax breaks or not.

All sources of data are published figures from Bank Negara; Department of Labor, Department of Statistics and Ministry of Human Resources.


Assumptions on labor market statistics:
  1. As at end-period. Data is not comparable with past series. With effect from May 2005, the registration period during which jobseekers are deemed to be actively seeking jobs using the Electronic Labour Exchange was lengthened to six months (three months previously)
  2. The number of job vacancies could have been under-reported as it is not compulsory for firms to report vacancies to the Labour Department.
  3. Includes public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private household with employed person, ex-territorial organisation and bodies.