Friday, 29 October 2010

Now a Lawyer cannot do his JOB??!!

Lawyer N Surendran who is acting for Air Force Sergeant N Tharmendran in the jet engine theft case is now being threatened with criminal proceedings by the RMAF Chief.

This is as a result of the position taken by Tharmendran that his service with the air force has ended on 28.5.10.

The air force's own documents show that his service had ended on 28.5.10 and they had stopped paying his salary for several months after June 2010.

The air force now mischievously caims that Tharmendran is a deserter.

By a letter dated 28.10.10 to N Surendran, the air force Chief has threatened him with s.135 and 136 of Penal Code allegedly for abetting a deserter which carries a 2 year prison sentence. (Letter attached)

This is a serious and unprecedented interference with the duties of a lawyer defending his client in a criminal matter.

The RMAF Chief has also made an outrageous demand ordering Surendran to advise his client as demanded by the RMAF.

Surendran has been given 7 days to comply with the demands or face action.

Members of the Malaysian Bar do not take instructions from the Armed Forces as to what to advise their clients. This unlawful threat and demand against Surendran must be immediately withdrawn, and the Minister of Defence must answer for the actions of the Air Force Chief to the public and the Bar.

We will also be raising the matter with the Bar Council.

Released by,

Latheefa Koya
Lawyers for Liberty




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Thursday, 28 October 2010

MR. IGP/ HOME MINISTER- WHERE IS K. SELVACHANDRAN?

On July 16, 2009, Teoh Beng Hock died......
Across town in a Sentul police station on that very same day,
another man died as well.

His name was R. Gunasegaran, and I believe he was beaten to death.
Today, 15 months later, I fear that the chain of events that started on that July 16 may endanger the well-being or even lives of another three men.
======================================
Arrested and beaten for testifying against cops?
~Nathaniel Tan

OCT 28 — I try not to hate cops, I really do.

I remember the ones who made an effort to get me better food than what lock-up inmates usually get. I think of those who risk life and limb to protect us every single day on the job.

Very little is to be gained, after all, from hating anyone. Or from trying to lump every member of a group as one monolithic being.

While we avoid hating people, I’m not sure it’s wrong to hate acts.

Some say hate is only one side of a coin away from love; that those who hate at least still care, and that the true attitude to worry about is indifference.

Gunasegaran and Teoh Beng Hock — Two deaths, one day

On July 16, 2009, Teoh Beng Hock died. This is an incident I hope we will never, ever forget.

Across town in a Sentul police station on that very same day, another man died as well. His name was R. Gunasegaran, and I believe he was beaten to death.

Today, 15 months later, I fear that the chain of events that started on that July 16 may endanger the well-being or even lives of another three men.

Gunasegaran was arrested in a narcotics sweep in Sentul. Two hours later, he was dead.

His sister R. Ganga Gowri, who I met for the first time this Tuesday, was understandably shocked and traumatised. She did not believe that Gunasegaran died from a “drug overdose” as reported.

She did not let her malcontent sit idle however; this lady bravely made an effort to locate other individuals who were picked up in the raid along with Gunasegaran, to find the truth about what happened on that July 16.

As you can imagine, it’s not easy to find people who are willing to talk about witnessing any criminal acts by the police (we will soon see why). It took Ganga Gowri a month of tracking down individuals and slowly getting them to talk.

One can only imagine how much work it must have taken to persuade three men, already in trouble with the law, to speak out against the police in open court. This, though, is exactly what Ganga Gowri did.

As a result of her persistence, and in what may have been a first for an inquest into a death in custody, three men finally plucked up the courage to step forward and, in a court of law, openly testified that a policeman beat a suspect.

Witnesses: Gunasegaran kicked unconscious

According to documents provided by M. Visvanathan, the lawyer who represented Gunasegaran’s family, the three men who testified are Ravi Subramaniam, Suresh M Subbaiah and K Selvachandran.

All three men testified that Gunasegaran was beaten and kicked while detained.

Ravi was made by the police to help Gunasegaran take his fingerprints and urine sample, because the latter was in too bad shape to do so himself.

Ravi then helped Gunasegaran to a room with a chair, and was sent back to the lock-up. He then heard a chair fall. When he next saw Gunasegaran, he could not ascertain whether he was alive or dead.

Ravi also testified that a policeman promised him an early release if he would testify that Gunasegaran fell down of his own accord and was not beaten by the police.

All witnesses corroborated this account, and identified one Lance Corporal Mohd Faizal Mat Taib as the policeman who kicked Gunasegaran in the chest and back. There were also accusations of beatings with a rubber hose and wooden stick.

Cops walk free

On Monday, October 25, 2010, coroner Siti Shakirah Mohtarudin gave an open verdict as to the death of Gunasegaran — stating that there was insufficient evidence to prove any cause of death; saying basically that the state had no idea how he died.

This judgment was delivered despite the eyewitness testimonies. According to a lawyer, at one point in the judgment, the coroner speculated that “the injuries could have been caused by efforts to resuscitate the deceased, even though the medical officer testified that no effort was made at resuscitation.”

Unsettled and in tears a press conference on Tuesday (I really hope you’ll take the time to watch the short video), Ganga Gowri said: “Why has there been no action taken, despite there being witnesses who saw the beatings? I have been crying since yesterday, I still cannot understand. I cannot accept what is going on.”
====================================

====================================
The last time I saw someone look so lost, numb and distraught was when I attended a similar press conference with A. Kugan’s mother.

One cannot help but marvel at the irony of Manmohan Singh’s visit. Let’s hope he’s aware.

Selvachandran beaten in front of wife and kids

Ganga Gowri was joined at this press conference by one S. Saraswathy (I have a cousin by that name), wife of Selvachandran.

Selvachandran was one of the men who placed the truth above a fear of the authorities, and decided to do his duty to the late Gunasegaran and his family by testifying in court about what he saw happen to Gunasegaran.

On Monday night, the very same day that the “open verdict” was delivered, Selvachandran would pay the price for his decision to stand up for what was right.

Saraswathy explained that at around 10pm, a group of unidentified men came banging at their door. While Selvachandran was looking for the keys, they became increasingly aggressive and broke the door down.

These men handcuffed Selvachandran, made his wife remove his sarung and replace it with a pair of pants, and then bizarrely asked her to give him a kiss (goodbye?).

They then took him outside and beat him severely in front of his wife and children.

When his poor, confused children tried to ask these men why they were taking their father, the men hurled verbal abuse at both mother and children, and continued beating Selvachandran.

They only then briefly flashed some cards showing that they were police and took off with Selvachandran in tow.

Nobody knows for sure where he is or what he is charged with — early indications suggest that one of the many laws allowing for indefinite detention without trial will or have been used.

continue reading HERE

Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Now what, Anwar/PKR/Azmin?

October 25, 2010

Anwar’s blog carries a post entitled ‘Ansari bawa harapan rakyat Batu Sapi’.

I’m hearing differently from my sources in Sabah.

I’m hearing that on the ground, Ansari is perceived as handpicked to serve, not the people of Batu Sapi, but Azmin’s agenda in Sabah.

What’s that agenda?

“Let Azmin come and tell Sabahans what his plans are for Sabah when he campaign in Batu Sapi, if he dares to.
Many PKR members are going to use this by-election to let PKR HQ know what we think of Azmin. Let him come”
, I was told over the phone.

Posted by Haris Ibrahim




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PKR is Begging For a Spanking?

What does Anwar think he's doing?
Does he think he can walk into Sabah and put whomsoever he pleases, wherever he pleases to pusue the PR agenda- when Sabahans don't give a fig about him?
More so, after his actions upon entry of UMNO into Sabah & "Project M"?

Maybe what Zaid said has some truth in it- Anwar seems to be thinking that this whole anti-BN sentiment is about him .... he seems to think that people willrally around him at every turn!!
PKR is fielding Ansari from Tuaran in Batu Sapi, hoping that Sabahans would clamour for his leadership. To say that Sabahans are disappointed would be an understatement. Maybe they're just dumbfounded with the stupidity shown by PKR in Sabah. They seem to be no different from Umno in their early days in Sabah, pushing their weight wherever possible..... and he hopes that people take him in with open arms. WTH- If he was so hard up for a Bumiputra Muslim to contest in that seat, the least he could've done was field Thamrin ....

This time around, I don't think BN needs to do much "buying"- they'll win hands down in both Batu Sapi & Galas (thanks to the destruction of the Orang Asal church).

RPK mooted the idea of a third force- well maybe not exactly, but he has been pushing for it hard lately. Earlier, I thought it may not be a good idea, as it could pull the rug from under the PR agenda to "March to PutraJaya" to displace UMNO.
While I used to be sceptical about the need for a "Third Force" in the past, looking at the way PKR is destabilizing the PR "electoral pact"- I now think that it is imperative that we have this "third force".
If DAP cannot sort out the mess in their own house, if PAS cannot be more consciences in dealing with those who aren't Muslims (more so, the poor Orang Asal), if PKR cannot get rid of their old UMNO ways- let let Anwar's agenda be damned (barring the issue about Saifool's ass), let PKR's agenda be damned, let PR be damned let Malaysians be damned .....
- it wouldn't make a difference anyways!!
Maybe something positive may rise out of the ashes left behind, after UMNO has sapu-bersih this country!!

So Raja Petra Kamarudin/ RPK/ Pete - Go for it!!

The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM)


Monday, 25 October 2010

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

Here's something from Simon Templer:-
"Anwar, ......... Don't you get it?
The East Malaysians do not trust us West Malaysians
(seriously, can anyone blame them when we have been ripping them off since 1963?)

Let the Sabahans fight their own battle.
Let them keep their own state. "

Anwar, Pack Up And Leave Batu Sapi

Posted by Simon Templar On Monday, October 25, 2010

We rakyat are real suckers.

At least that's what most of our Malaysian politicians seem to think.

The entire Barisan Nasional politicians think that we are idiots who cannot think. (Ok... Truth is I actually know quite a few people out there who can't think. But... Some other time...)

Then we have our not-so-beloved-anymore PKR who thinks that we enjoy watching their year-round circus acts. Yup, definitely not so loved anymore. And I don't think I am an isolated case. We shall leave DAP and PAS out for now as they are not the subject of discussion here. But mind you, they have their own shit-load pile of dung too.

Now what's with the Batu Sapi fight? Isn't PKR the one who first brought DAP and PAS to the table to discuss how to prevent a 3-corner (or more) fight. Isn't the objective of the entire 'opposition' coalition that to fight the single common enemy i.e. BN? So what is PKR now blardie doing in the Batu Sapi fight?

Some of you may say that why can't SAPP not fight and let PKR field their candidate?

Or some of you may say that well SAPP is not part of the coalition, so why should PR even need to talk to them in the first place.

That will be to miss the whole point of the rakyat's fight. The rakyat is not fighting for Anwar (please imprint this in your mind, Anwar). The rakyat is not fighting for PKR or DAP or PAS. You will be dammed if you think that we really love you. What we want is CHANGE. And you political parties are nothing but our tool to get BN out of power. Well that's how things are. You guys are using us to get to power. So don't complain or call us ungrateful.

It doesn't matter to us if SAPP is fighting BN or PKR is fighting BN. As long as someone is there to fight BN, then we'll be on your side. But if you have PKR, SAPP and BN in the fight, what do you want us to do? To choose who we love more between SAPP and PKR? What are you guys trying to do? Eh wankers... The common enemy is BN. Let's keep it that simple.

Now that we have establish that line of thought, PKR or SAPP for Batu Sapi? SAPP la. Look at the name - Sabah Progressive Party. Sabah dei, Sabah... Let the Sabahans fight their fight. This is why East Malaysians do not like West Malaysians. The West Malaysians are always thinking that they are better and more superior than the East Malaysians. What on earth is PKR trying to do fighting the Sabahan fight? You don't see UMNO (Penang based) Gerakan fielding their candidate in Sabah or Sarawak do you?

Seriously, I cannot understand PKR's objective in the Sabah fight. Do you see Ford aggressively selling cars in Japan? No, they do not. They acquire Mazda and let Mazda do the fighting. The profits still ultimately land on their laps.

Anwar, similarly, you do not need to penetrate Sabah via PKR. Neither will the Sabahans accept that. Don't you get it? The East Malaysians do not trust us West Malaysians (seriously, can anyone blame them when we have been ripping them off since 1963?) Let the Sabahans fight their own battle. Let them keep their own state. But while at that, get them to work together with us to form the ultimate central government. I mean, can you imagine PBS recruiting a Wan Kelantan and field him as a candidate in Galas? Ridiculous isn't it. That's exactly what PKR is doing right now at Batu Sapi.

Continue reading at Anwar, Pack Up And Leave Batu Sapi



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Friday, 22 October 2010

Art's 1st World Summit of AaEF Speech ... ;-D

The following is the transcript (taken from ARTiculations) of a very intellectually stimulating speech by the chairman at the summit hosted by Bolehsia:-

1st World Summit of Everything First

Keynote address by the 1st Chairman.

Ladies and gentlemen, firstly, it gives me great first pleasure to welcome all of you, the first ever delegates to the FWSoEaAF, the 1st World Summit of Everything and Anything First.

I am, as all of you would have firstly noticed, the 1st self elected Chairman of this 1st World Summit.

Allow me to firstly tell you what this 1st World Summit is all about.

Ladies and gentlemen, all of us would remember anything and everything first, wouldn't we? Our first kiss. Our first sexual intercourse. And to an unfortunate few of us - or fortunate, depending on which side, front or back, we are on - our first sodomy. I mean, there are people who do not even bath or do the big business for two days after their first sodomy. That is how important and memorable our first experience is.

Rod Stewart says, the first cut is the deepest. And of course, the first sodomy could be the tightest. I digress.

With full realisation that the first will always be the most memorable and important - and hopefully would never be the last - this summit is organised to celebrate everything and anything first. Welcome therefore to the 1st (ever) World Summit of Everything and Anything First.

Some of you might want to firstly know why my country is hosting this 1st World Summit. Well, the answer is simply because we are trend setting. We hold record after record of the world's first ever this and that.

Consider this firstly.

We are the first to have a fugitive who apparently ran away from our country - allegedly frightened by the misdeeds that he had done - and who nobody apparently knows where he is although he is not in any way hiding from anybody. He is definitely the first ever fugitive who is not hiding.

He could be seen on the internet, in reports and videos, attending seminars and giving lectures. Hotshots have even gone to his house to have dinner with him and his family. However, our authorities are at a lost as to where he exactly is. And this is the same authorities which could track semen from some asses even when there was no "clinical finding" of penetration of the very same ass. That's a world first I am sure.

Speaking of semen, we are also the first country with medical forensic experts who think semen in an ass, without "clinical finding of penetration" constitutes evidence of anal sex.

That means, firstly, there could be anal sex without penetration. Then, it also means that semen from Malaysians could not only swim but also fly upon ejaculation right into an asshole. That, I am sure too, is a first.

In case you all hadn't noticed, we are also the first to have the tallest twin towers. Yes. Not one, but two tallest towers in the world. Speaking of which, we are now going to build another one, which will be taller by 11 storey than the twins.

Which brings me to another first. Yes. We are the first to include an erection into our national budget. This erection is not the government's. It is the private sector's erection. Our Honourable Prime Minister has said it - that it is not his idea but the idea of Permodalan Nasional Berhad. However, it is included in the government's proposed budget. How and why? Don't ask me. I do not have the first clue. Whatever it is, our national budget is the first to include the erection of a building in it.

To top it up, we are also the first country to have come out with a video guide to committing suicide by self strangulation. And we are also the first to propound the ground breaking and earth shattering rule that every forensic pathologist who theorises a death by a fall from high buildings must firstly experience such a fall before making such a theory. Soon, we will pioneer a rule to say every forensic pathologist must first die before making any theory on the death of any person.

While talking about our government initiatives, one cannot miss the fact that our government is the first when it comes to coining acronyms. We have so far had NKRA; GTP: 10MP; ETP; NEM; SRI and finally NKEA. If Minister Idris Jala later introduces the Integrated Key Economics Agenda, I am afraid IKEA would take umbrage and refer the matter to the KLHC, namely, the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

Feeling left out, our DPM cum EM had on 20th October 2010 launched the Excellent, Brilliant, Successful, Intelligent, Smart, Youth dan Young (EBSIS 2Y) programme. Yes, EBSIS2Y. The fact that the Bahasa Malaysia word "dan" is infused among the litany of the evil foreign language is also a first in the world, mind you. According to a lady friend of mine, the EBSIS2Y would be in direct competition with the Beautiful, Intelligent, Talented, Clever and Horny - in short, BITCH - movement. Which led a guy friend of mine to quip, WTFDICAAJSMTM, which stands for "What The Fork Do I Care About Acronyms Just Show Me The Money."

In so far as television shows are concerned, we also hold several firsts. Firstly, we have the highest ratio of reality-tv shows per capita anywhere in the universe. Yes, you name it and we have it. We search for anything and everything in our reality tv shows, from footballers, to racers, to boyfriends and girlfriends.

Our annual talent-search show, namely, Akademi Fantasia, holds the award for the 1st talent-search show with the most talent-less participants on Earth.

Speaking of which, we also are the first nation to have a reality-tv show to search for an "imam" (a Muslim who leads prayers in a group). Yes. No other country has done that but us.

Soon we will be searching for our sanity in our reality-tv shows. That will undoubtedly be the first.

Speaking of racers, we should also speak about cars. We are the first country to have, as our national car, a car which come from other nation. This is particularly unique to us. We have a re-badge Mitsubishi as our "national car". Even after 24 years of existence, our national car "manufacturer" still cannot build a truly national car and it still have to re-badge a Japanese car and sell it as its own. And thus Lancer becomes Inspira. It surely is not very Inspira-tional, isn't it guys?

In the legal arena, we have so many firsts as well, Ladies and Gentlemen. We have a person who is caught and charged for sodomy twice! He was imprisoned for his first alleged sodomy and soon after he came out from prison, he was caught yet again and charged yet again.

Amazing! If this happens in other countries, I am sure the people would say, "yea, rite, and semen could fly!". Oh, but then again, here, it has been proven that semen could fly. Oh dear.

Then we have our cyber authority charging the writer of a satire for publishing things which are not true although the content code of that very authority permits satires! LOL! That is definitely a first (and this statement is NOT a satire!). By the way, which satires are true? ROFL!

Speaking of funny things, we are also the first country ever to have banned cartoon books.

Speaking of banning things, we are also the first country to have confirmed that the devil actually looks like the one portrayed in the Manchester United club logo. And so we banned Muslims from wearing any jerseys or whatever which depicts Manchester United logo because we are certain the devil is the one which is portrayed by the logo.

In the gastronomical aspect of things, we are the first country to have held a campaign to eat durians and muttons at the same place and on the same day. And it was at the Parliament House no less. In fact we are also the first to have slaughtered a cow at the Parliament House. Has anybody else ever done that Ladies and Gentlemen? I take your gaping wide mouth as a sign of awe, thank you.

We are also the first country to restructure one of our mega corporations into the biggest plantation company in the world which would then promptly made a loss of about 900 million! It surely looks like small is better in our country.

Speaking of corporations, we also have a corporation which is making billions in turnover and profits over time but is still being "compensated" by our government for not being allowed to raise toll rates. In other countries, people are compensated when they make losses. But we are the first to compensate entities when they are making billions!

Despite being lumbered with the responsibility of paying these "compensations," we rush to extend this corporation's concessions for longer periods of time. By doing that we have to pay them further "compensations" in the event toll rates are not raised.

Then we are also the first country to pioneer this negotiation technique whereby a certain pre-set price would be increased - as opposed to actually decrease - after negotiation. This negotiation technique has been used for the cost of our new palace, for instance, where the pre-set cost was about 450 million but it was increased to about 800 million after employing this new and pioneering negotiation technique. No other country has managed to do this. We are the first!

Socially, we are also the first to have to remind our fellow citizens that they are not immigrants or "pendatangs". Lol!

Over to the south, if a certain former Premier had his way, we would be the first to have built a crooked bridge.

Speaking of whom, that very same former Premier, who had always boasted to everybody that his rule was among the most democratic rule on Earth, had created a first of sorts when recently he expressed his admiration for Communist China.

First class.

Ladies and Gentlemen, a round of applause for everything and anything first.

Friday, 15 October 2010

UMNO's Corporate Cornucopia

Asia Sentinel
Written by Our Correspondent
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Image
The House that Mahathir Built
How Malaysia's companies funneled money into the country's biggest political party


In the 1980s and 1990s, Halim Saad and Tajudin Ramli were two of Malaysia's brightest stars, picked by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to lead the country's ethnic Malays onto the national stage as exemplars of a new Bumiputera business culture that would catch up with the ethnic Chinese who had dominated commerce as long as Malaysia had been in existence.

When Mahathir took office, insiders say, his plan was to create a cadre of 100 super-rich bumis who in turn would help rural Malays into prosperity under a konsep payung, or umbrella concept routed through the United Malays National Organization, much the way he envisioned driving the country into industrialization through massive projects. But greed intervened. Once the privileged got rich, there was little incentive to share it with the kampongs, the Malay rural villages. Many of the companies eventually collapsed and are being supported by government institutions such as Kazanah Nasional, the country's sovereign investment fund, or the Employee Provident Fund.

Although the Umno connection was widely assumed during Mahathir's 22 year reign as prime minister, today a flock of explosive court documents filed in different Kuala Lumpur courts appear to be breaking open conclusively the open secret that Tajudin and Halim and others were essentially front men for the United Malays National Organization, the country's biggest ethnic political party and part of a class of rentier businessmen who became known as Umnoputras, a play on the word Bumiputera, or native Malaysians, predominantly ethnic Malays.

Nor were they alone. Others included Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, one of Malaysia's richest men, as well as Yahaya Ahmad, who headed Mahathir's national car project and who tragically was killed with his wife in a helicopter crash, and Samsuddin Abu Hassan, introduced by Mahathir to the government of Nelson Mandela but who had to flee South Africa after being accused of misappropriating millions and evading South African debts totaling about R50 million (US$7.233 million at current exchange rates). Samsuddin left behind his glamorous wife, Melleney Venessa Samsudin, along with a failed Durban bank, and returned to Malaysia.

Samsudin ultimately ended up on the board of directors of Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd., another Umno-linked company that has played a significant role in major national projects including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KL's Light Rail Transit System, the CyberJaya Flagship Zone and numerous other projects.

At least 23 of Malaysia's biggest companies (see list below) appear to have been vehicles for Umno to siphon off vast amounts of money in government contracts as Mahathir's plans went awry. The companies and the people who run them are so hard-wired into Umno, the government and its investment arms that de-linking them would probably destroy the party. That in effect makes a mockery of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's widely publicized speech in July in which he promised to root corruption out of his party.

Much of the ownership appears to have been channeled through a mysterious company that emerged in 1993 to stage an RM800 million management buyout of a major chunk of Malaysia's media including the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd and TV3. Realmild already owned a controlling interest in Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd, which got the contract to develop the massive Kuala Lumpur Sentral transport hub. It also acquired ownership of the Labuan and Sabah Shipyards, which supply the Malaysian Navy, as well as Redicare and Medivest, which were awarded lucrative contracts to supply medical supplies to government hospitals.

In September, Syed Anwar Jamalullail, the brother to the Sultan of Perlis, and others testified in a tangled court battle in a Kuala Lumpur High Court that Daim Zainuddin, the prime minister's close associate, often told Malay businessmen to act as nominees in the management of Malaysia's top companies. The long-running suit was launched five years ago in2005 by Khalid Ahmad, a former Realmild director, who alleged he had been cheated out of a RM10 million payment for five percent of Realmild's shares by Abdul Rahman, thought to be the beneficial owner.

According to the testimony, Abdul Rahman paid out the RM10 million but later reneged after he learned from Mahathir that the shares actually belonged to UMNO. The trustees for Realmild in fact were Mahathir himself as well as former Berita Harian Group Editor Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, New Straits Times Group Editor Abdul Kadir Jasin and Mohd Noor Mutalib. Another witness, Ahmad Nazri, said in a deposition that he held the majority share of 80 percent in Realmild, although 70 percent of the shares were actually in trust for Mahathir.

The companies others ran included Faber Group Bhd, a member of the UEM Group, now involved in integrated facilities management and property solutions sectors; KUB Malaysia Bhd. A holding company dealing in information, communications & technology, property, engineering & construction and food related industries.

The companies have been involved a wide variety of activities including media, property development, construction, toll roads, hospital equipment, logistics and distribution, cellular telephony and other businesses. What they had in common was that most of them benefited from government contracts doled out by the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition that has controlled Malaysia since its inception as a country. The other thing they had in common was that at some point most of them were mismanaged into financial trouble of one kind or another and had to be bailed out or bought out by the government.

Realmild unloaded Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd onto the Employee Provident Fund in late 2005 as part settlement for an outstanding Rm500 million loan. Putera Capital Bhd, is threatened with bankruptcy. It formerly owned the Putra World Trade Center, Umno's headquarters, which rents out office space to businesses. UEM Builders Bhd, an offshoot of United Engineers Malaysia (UEM), along with UEM World Bhd, was dumped onto Kazanah Nasional, the investment holding arm of the government and the government's strategic investment vehicle.

Kazanah Nasional now also owns PLUS, which held the tollway contract for the national north-south highway, as well as Pharmaniaga, a former UEM subsidiary dealing in hospital supply and other services. Court documents show that MAS, then the state-owned flag carrier, was taken over and privatized by Tajudin Ramli only to lose an estimated RM8 billion (US$2.77 billion at current exchange rate), with a major part of that being funneled into a Frankfurt, Germany cargo logistics company whose directors were closely connected to Tajudin.

According to the website Malaysia Today, Tajudin's lawyers revealed that Tajudin had only been a front man for Umno and that Umno "not only has to protect him from prosecution but that they also had to ensure that the government bought back the shares at the same price that they were sold to him although the shares were only worth a portion of the real value."

Other depositions made available in recent weeks have listed a long series of documents detailing misdoings in UEM/Renong, once headed by Halim Saad, which has long been accused of looting the government treasury through vastly overpriced construction contracts. Halim told the press in September that he had left the UEM/Renong board in 2001, saying authorities wanted Kazanah to take it over "to prevent a systemic risk to the banking system in Malaysia and to enable a sustained restructuring of the group."

UEM itself is still at it. The government-linked company was given the contract to build a second bridge from the mainland to the northern city of Penang at a price estimated in 2007 at Rm2.7 billion. It has since climbed to RM4.3 billion without figuring in a variety of ancillary costs including compensation for fishermen and project development costs of RM285 million, with the total now nearing RM5 billion.

Other documents show how completely the country's press was in the thrall of UMNO. Media Prima Bhd, a listed company, apparently took over the ownership from Realmild of TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9 as well as 90 percent of the equity in The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd, which publishes three national newspapers; the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. It also owns three radio networks, Fly FM, Hot FM and One FM. Other cross media interests of Media Prima include content creation; event and talent management.

It also owns outdoor advertising companies Big Tree Outdoor Sdn Bhd, UPD Sdn Bhd, Right Channel Sdn Bhd, Kurnia Outdoor Sdn Bhd and Jupiter Outdoor Network Sdn Bhd. It is online through a digital communications and broadcasting subsidiary, Alt Media, with the Lifestyle Portal gua.com.my and the newly launched TonTon, a cutting-edge video portal with HD-ready quality viewing experience that offers the individualism of customized content and interactivity of social networking.

The companies:
Faber Group Bhd
KUB Malaysia Bhd
Malaysian Resources Corp. Bhd
Media Prima Bhd
New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
Putera Capital Bhd
UEM Builders Bhd
UEM World Bhd
PLUS
Pharmaniaga
Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd (partly owned by Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, another Mahathir crony and one of Malaysia's 10 richest men according to the Forbes List
Renong Bhd
Realmild Sdn Bhd
Mahkota Technologies (Also a partnership with Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary
Malaysian Airlines
Celcom
Malaysian Helicopter Service
Temasek Padu Sdh Bhd
Sabah Shipyard
Labuan Shipyard
Redicare
Medivest



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