rocky's bru

Politicking, even as TBH's body was being exhumed

2009-11-21T15:08:00.002+08:00

How much did the Govt pay Dr Peter Vanezis? That's what Ean Yong Hian Wah, Selangor exco member and Teoh Beng Hock's employer when he died, demanded to know as they exhumed the body this morning for the second postmortem tomorrow.

Excerpts of what he told Malaysian Insider:
Teoh’s former employer, Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, said at the cemetery: “I hope the second autopsy will reveal the truth.”

Yong also stated his desire to know how much the government spent hiring the UK pathologist Dr Peter Vanezis — one of two foreign pathologists, along with Dr Pornthip, who will be observing the second autopsy.

Dr Vanezis, who serves as a director at the Cameron Centre for Forensic Medical Sciences in London, has handled over 2,000 autopsy cases involving sudden death, of which 1,500 were found to be homicides.

“The fact that they hired a foreign expert shows they have no confidence in the local pathologists,” Yong added.
Yong should stop politicizing TBH's death already. I don't know how much Dr Pornthip or Dr Vanezis are being paid to observe tomorrow's second post-mortem, but I don't care. If they are going to get to the bottom of things and bring justice to everyone involved in TBH's death, it'd be worth every single sen. I hope Yong can agree with that. He should also think before he talks. I don't think hiring Dr Vanezis means "they" had no confidence in the local pathologists. I have been campaigning for another foreign expert to accompany Dr Pornthip simply because "they" won't trust a local. And, by the way Yong, Dr Pornthip is Thai and Selangor government are hiring her. Does that mean the Selangor government have no confidence in local pathologists?

Read the rest at Kit Siang's blog, here.

I'll paste Dr Vanezis' bio here when I find it.

Tea with Chin Peng

2009-11-20T13:00:00.006+08:00

An invite for Anwar's PKR. The picture is bad and we'll need to verify if an invitation has, indeed, be extended to PKR for the event. In the meantime, we can ask the question: Will Anwar Ibrahim accept the invitation to be guest-of-honour from Chin Peng, who killed thousands of Malaysian soldiers and civilians in atrocities sponsored by the Communists against a democratic and Merdeka Malaysia?

Can't wait ....

p.s. Journos following this up, please ask if there's an invite for Umno, too.

Art Haron vs The Lipas Man

2009-11-20T11:35:00.004+08:00

Insider gets democratic over Dr M's remarks. Lawyer Art Haron's critic of Dr Mahathir's views on democracy has been answered by fellow columnist at The Malaysian Insider. Read Sinatra Z - An Answer, here. Art's piece was published in MI here but Zaidel aka Sinatra's response hasn't been published by the online news portal.

Sinatra's pro-M stance shines through like a crazy diamond. His concluding paras:
"There is such a thing as too much democracy, look at Pakistan, apart from cricket the national's favourite past time is politics and it is dominated by lawyers, look how screwed up it gets.

"On the other hand, China is being ruled by a group of Engineers and they are flying high.

"Dr M is a lousy philosopher yes I agree, and that's why people like him because Philosophers will only talk and do very little while technocrats (like Doctors) do more and talk less. Philosopher ini macam Anwar Ibrahim".
I don't think the Malaysian Insider would publish such a piece. Good try, though, Z. I do agree with you (and Dr M). We don't need to look so far, just across the Causeway. We are way more democratic than Singapore, and look at how many of us idolize the Republic for its progress and wealth. Given the choice, however, I'd stay put here, Z.

And what was it that Dr M say?
India too democratic, says former Malaysian PM
Herald Globe
Tuesday 17th November, 2009
(IANS)

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has singled out India as an Asian country that has 'made the mistake of being too democratic' and compared it unfavourably with China's authoritarian regime.

Mahathir said: 'India, of course, will grow, but more slowly than China. It has the numbers but is not making use of them well.'

He identified China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and, 'to a lesser extent', India as the countries which would lead the Asian charge, New Straits Times said Tuesday.

Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia for over two decades, told a seminar on Asia and 21st century that people 'do not understand the limits of democracy'.

'Democracy can be a hindrance to progress because you spend so much time politicking that you don't have time to develop your country.

'In China, there's not much politics. So, they can spend more time developing their country.'

He blamed the West for making democracy and freedom the cornerstone of progress.

It is the West's focus on democracy, civil rights and individual liberties - attributes flaunted by Western governments - that Mahathir identified as being the reason behind 'its economic flaccidity'.

'The British believe a lot in so-called freedom. Their workers must be allowed to go on strike all the time. So, they have the problem of being a very unproductive population.

'They must be free of everything. When you do that, productivity will drop. When productivity drops, you cannot compete.'

Talking about Asia, Mahathir ruled out a role for 'strife-torn' West Asia.

'They are not going to make much progress, unfortunately. They are not going to contribute to the Asia of the 21st century. But it doesn't matter because Asia is such a big place,' Mahathir said.

East Asia's emerging economic dominance over the West is due to its productivity and strong work ethic, he said.

However, the former premier warned of the increasing trend among young Asians to ape Western culture.

'Today, there are places in Tokyo where you see young people with multi-coloured hair. They look like Red Indians. These are the young Japanese who have adopted Western values,' said the octogenarian who continues to draw crowds six years after he quit office.

'They want to be free and be able to change the place they work, hop from one place to another and take marijuana. This is what the Europeans do. This is progress for those young people.'

Sandy

2009-11-19T13:40:00.001+08:00

5oo lorries from home. Why are 500 lorries laden with sand entering Singapore from Malaysia every day?
Selling sand to Singapore still?
We all must know, y'see, because if we sell enough sand to Singapore (land in Iskandar not counted) they said they will help us build a straight bridge that will replace the Causeway.

Ku Li's loyalty

2009-11-19T12:40:00.004+08:00

Oily politics. Loyalty, royalty? Play of words or silly mistake, it got me thinking of how much the Kelantan prince has lost since his disastrous attempt to come back to mainstream Umno politics and become its president and Prime Minister of the country.

Accepting DSAI's offer could rekindle that dream snuffed out so cruelly. Pakatan Rakyat is looking for a leader and Zaid Ibrahim, the man piecing together DAP, PKR and PAS into an official coalition very much like BN, has proposed Nik Aziz, which means it is not easy to find a Malay good enough (and acceptable to DAP and PKR) to be Chairman of Pakatan.

Zaid can't possibly nominate himself though I wonder why he didn't name DSAI! Ku Li would be a perfect candidate to be Chairman of Pakatan Rakyat, better than Tok Guru, Zaid or even DSAI. Been that, done there.

I don't expect the man who came closest to burying Dr Mahathir's political career to be too excited with Anwar's suggestion to make him chairman of a loyalty or oil royalty caucus. Quite beneath him. But in the unlikely event that Ku Li accepts the offer, it would be a start to another slippery ride in this oily business of Malaysian politics.

SPNB under scrutiny

2009-11-18T16:10:00.004+08:00

MoF sets up Task Force. Remember my posting late last month about how the national housing board, SPNB, was said to have run out of money [Trouble bru-ing at SPNB? Oct 27] and then, just a couple of day later, the board said it was going to pay the RM500 owing to those poor 34 contractors [SPNB will pay Oct 30, The Malay Mail]?

Well, there was supposed to be a press conference at the SPNB headquarters at 2pm yesterday. We were very keen to hear what the SPNB wanted to report to the Press but the press conference was called off.

I'm not sure if the press conference was postponed because of what the latest development. This is what I heard: the Ministry of Finance has set up a special task force to investigate the RM500 million scandal/fiasco/claims.

Members of the task force will be interested to find answers to the following questions:

1. Why did SPNB go on dishing out contracts even when the property market was down?
2. Why didn'tthe board renegotiate downwards contracts when prices of materials were down?
3. Were the 34 contractors given 34 project worth between RM10 mil and RM15 mil each through a dodgy tender plan?
4. Is there need to review the tender process?

The SPNB issue was highlighted after Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi, who used to head the SPNB, alleged corrupt practices at the national housing board here. This blog later discovered about the RM500 mil (SPNB said it's less than RM300 mil). It was great news when SPNB said it was going to pay up BUT that, I think, would be too easy. The Government MUST investigate. It needs to STOP the leakage. Heads must roll.

Otherwise, this will just happen again.

Good news x2

2009-11-18T14:36:00.008+08:00

First, the good news: Razeek Hussain, 51, has been made CEO of MRCB, ending speculation that the post could go to ex-4th floor exec Ahmad Zaki Zahid.

Now, the other good news: Ex-MRCB boss Shahril Ridza Ridzuan (pic), 39, will be made Deputy CEO of the Employees Provident Fund [not Chief Investment Officer as reported here] in charge of Investments, effective Dec 1.

Shahrir was sent to MRCB (together with Abdul Rahman Ahmad) to help revive the corporation after the end-90s currency crisis. Rahman went on to turn around Media Prima (and recently to Equinas) while Shahril stayed to lead MRCB. When Dr Mahathir, then the PM, sent the two young men out into the harsh business environment, one of his advices to them was, "Don't do side deals".

Media Run 2009

2009-11-17T01:23:00.003+08:00

Run, Media Run! The National Press Club, Kuala Lumpur is organising a 5km run for journalists and friends of journalists this Sunday, 22 Nov. Pertama, the association of women journalists, is giving us a helping hand.

Click here for details.

Twelve million

2009-11-16T10:59:00.008+08:00

Dear Visitors,

Some things haven't changed. The thrill of your visits, for example.
In A Million thanks, a posting I did on the occasion of my first 1 million visitors back in March 2007, I was "huddled with Jeff Ooi of Screenshots at the solicitors' office discussing the NSTP's lawsuit against us". Jeff is an MP now and I am back with the Malay Mail, and we are fighting that lawsuit still. Edmund Bon my lawyer and I met the other day. He said the trials may start in January 2010 and we'll need to meet again real soon.
Que Sera Sera, The thrill isn't gone, baby.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the 12 million visits.

Wee Choo Keong vs Shafie Abdullah

2009-11-16T10:32:00.001+08:00

KL's de facto Mayor? The MP for Wangsa Maju (pic) is calling Shafie, Abdullah, the political secretary to the Prime Minister [not to be confused with the eminent lawyer], the de facto Mayor of Kuala Lumpur. Nothing complimentary in that, in case you didn't get the drift, not for Shafie nor for the real Datuk Bandar. Wee has actually accused Shafie of interfering with City Hall's daily activities and this, he said, is not in the interest of the PM (bertentangan dengan kepentingan PM).

Gerak the NGO smells jackpot and has immediately demanded that Wee goes to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to formally lodge a complaint of corrupt practices against the PM's pol sec [read here].

YB Wee, however, is not expected to do that immediately. He told aides he will raise the issue again at the parliamentary committees this week.

In his last statement implicating Shafie, the KL Mayor, and the FT Minister, WCK spoke of a "4th floor syndrome" that he says exists in Najib's administration. That alone will make Wee's next move worth the wait. Throw in talk that Shafie could be Wee's opponent in Wangsa Maju come PRU13, and the prospect of a duel now becomes mouth-watering.

Well, YB Wee, ball's in your court!

Pro-Umno bloggers fairer?

2009-11-15T02:31:00.001+08:00

Investigative Blogging. The thing about pro-Umno bloggers like A Voice and Big Dog is they don't just go after PAS, PKR or DAP; eg [Nik Aziz Hipokrit, Nov 15] and [Is Khalid Ibrahim in another favor-for-cash with Lim Kin Hong? Nov 6] but half the time they blog against BN and Umno.

Their seemingly concerted effort re Nor Mohamed Yakcop, the Minister in the PM's Department, has raised eyebrows.

NEXT CHANGE: Revelation on Nor Mohd Yakcop's folly on Pantai by Another Brick on the Wall, Nov 13
PM Najib should cut NMY's pay by Zakhir Mohd, Nov 12

Something's bru-ing, I tell you.

p.s. And the "original" SIL is back in the news, vs Azmin Ali re RM9 million shares the PKR man allegedly bought.

General November 14, 2009 21:50 PM

Khairy Wants Explanation From Azmin Over RM8 Million Shares Purchase

SEREMBAN, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said on Saturday Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali should explain an allegation over the purchase of RM8-million worth of shares raised by Malaysian Indian Youth Development Foundation chairman S.A. Vigneswaran.

"It is not wrong to buy shares, but an explanation is necessary as to how the purchase was financed. He must have an answer and an explanation, and we are waiting for the explanation," he said.

Khairy spoke to reporters after he had launched a consumer campaign to cultivate one's own vegetables to save cost, organised by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca), at the Taman Tuanku Ja'afar community hall in Sungai Gadut near here.

He was asked to comment on the allegation by Vigneswaran on the purchase of shares worth RM8 million involving three individuals, including Azmin, in the early 1990s as reported in several newspapers on Saturday.

Khairy, who is the Member of Parliament for Rembau, said he hoped that Azmin would not remain silent as the matter was associated with his credibility.

"The Barisan Nasional (BN) government has been accused of many things. As such, it is not wrong if we ask for the same form of accountability to be applied by the opposition leaders," he said.

On Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim appointing PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the economic advisor to the state, Khairy said this showed the inability of the Selangor government to manage its own economy and having to appoint someone from outside.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Azmin denied that he bought the shares saying that the statement by Vigneswaran was planned to tarnish his name.

"It is baseless. I believe that the document claimed by Vigneswaran has been manipulated by certain quarters to link me and my wife.

"The statement is slanderous, done with bad intention and politically motivated to destroy my reputation as Gombak Member of Parliament and PKR vice president," he said in an email to Bernama.

Azmin said he had instructed his lawyer to take appropriate action against the statement.

-- BERNAMA

The Bernama report made no mention of how Khairy's own purchase of ECM-Libra shares turned scandalous just a couple of years back. I found what I was looking for - A Voice's posting Khairy. Khairy on the Contrary [July 30, 2007] when bloggers were called monkeys - and a verse from his twisted and thwarted nursery rhyme:
Khairy, Khairy, quite contrary,
How does your politics grow?
With Nori belle and ECM Libra debacle
And monkey callings all in a row.
Many have not forgotten the ECM-LIbra shares purchase and the merger with Avenue a little later. Nor Mohamed Yakcob was the Minister of Finance 2 then. A Voice and Big Dog have stacks in their blog's archives about Khairy's shares in ECM-Libra. I give you two links Khairy Must first give penerangan on ECM-Avenue merger, Part 1 and Part 2. Yang lain tu, Google sendirilah.

Ah, Nudin Awang, the RM65k man!

2009-11-15T01:32:00.008+08:00

With updates at the end of this article:-

Nik Aziz and Nudin Awang share more than just initials. It seems that Nudin was the guy who offered to pay the PAS' spiritual leader's VIP package to Mecca. Nik Aziz said there was no conflict of interest. But my sources said Nudin Awang (aka Nordin Mardi because he was a driver with Mardi before he got his riches) has benefited from the Kelantan state government that Nik Aziz's PAS administers. He's more than just a billboard operator.

Nudin is a director of Great Eastern Mills Bhd (GEM), which is a joint venture between Penang-based SEAL Inc Bhd and Kompleks Perkayuan Kelantan Sdn Bhd (KPK), a subsidiary of the Kelantan State Economic Development Corp. (SEDC).

Despite its timber concessions GEM, somehow, managed to stay an unprofitable venture. There are whispers about hiving off profits to SEAL Inc, but it's something that needs to be proven. But profitable or not, it hasn't stopped the Kelantan government from awarding generous concessions to GEM.

According to my sources, it is Nudin's task as director to ensure that the concessions keep coming from the Kelantan PAS government to GEM. And he's been doing quite a good job. In 2005 alone the unprofitable venture was given a timber concession area of some 4048 ha (about 10,000 acres) by the state government. The Kelantan SEDC signed the timber concessions on 14/3/2004, according to records. The concession is said to be worth easily in excess of RM20 million, which should make GEM a profitable company but it's somehow not.

During this time, Nik Aziz or Tok Guru was Chairman of the Kelantan SEDC and KPK. Which is why, I reckon, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency is investigating the PAS leader, and also why NA had to cancel his plan [here]to accept NA's offer to sponsor his trip to Mecca on that VIP package.

p.s. Now, a lot has been written about Nik Aziz and the RM65,000 f.o.c VIP haj package, but Syed Akbar Ali's Pakatan Riot Again does well to put everything in perspective.

Updates: And amidst the brouhaha over Nik Aziz's sponsored trip to Mecca, on-leave Zaid Ibrahim has proposed that the Tok Guru be made the ultimate leader of Pakatan Rakyat ....
Anwar open to Zaid’s ideal Pakatan chief

By Clara Chooi of The Malaysian Insider

IPOH, Nov 15 – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has kept an open mind over Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s suggestion for PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat to lead Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia but reminded the former Umno leader that for now, it was just his personal expression.

The PKR de facto leader took pains to stress in a press conference yesterday that if and when the PR gets registered as a formal coalition, the pro tem committee which Zaid chairs, would have to be surrendered to the leadership council.

Only then would the due process of determining the coalition’s leaders ensue, he added.

Bala P.I.'s latest claim

2009-11-13T21:13:00.008+08:00

Final update (I hope), 9.30pm:- It's all part of a new PKR strategy to attack Najib. Blogger Apanama ni cekap. MP Kulim Zul Nordin cuma sebut sekali lalu saja dalam kenyataan akhbar beliau semasa nak serang YB Sivarasa pada 10 Nov yang lalu, tapi Apanama nampak dan percaya yang "strategi serang Najib" tu termasuklah video terbaru dari si Bala.

Press statement by YB Zul, h e r e, refer para 2:

"I wish to state that is YB Siva’s own interpretation of DSAI’s statement. It was clear from the meeting called by DSAI yesterday afternoon at his office attended by MPs from PKR that the main issue discussed was the new party’s strategy to launch an attack on the Prime Minister."

Zul and Sivarasa have since kissed and made up, but Apanama now has reason to believe that Bala is part of Anwar Ibrahim's arsenal against Najib.

Cekap.

Update 14/11, 1pm: Why is pro-Najib blogger Pasquale overjoyed that Bala has reappeared with the latest anti-Najib video flick? H E R E.

Original article 13/11/09:
You trust this guy? A lot of people seemed excited about the re-appearance of P. Balasubramaniam (pic from the Star) in a 88-sec video clip shown in RPK's Malaysia Today. In the clip, Bala claimed to have been offered a RM5 million bribe by a person called Deepak. And Bala now wants us to trust him when he said that the first Statutory Declaration was true, not the second one.

You trust him? I don't. This was the guy whose own assistant was spending nights with Altantuya and her friends at their hotel instead of keeping them under surveillance. He didn't know if Altantuya "was susceptible to anal intercourse" but still included it in his first SD [see para 25.2 of first SD posted on Anwar Ibrahim's blog h e r e].

Please read "I did 1st July SD under duress" for the second SD.

Suing the mainstream media in Malaysia

2009-11-12T13:46:00.001+08:00

Do a Samy, Anwar! Anwar Ibrahim's RM100 million defamation suit against NSTP was in the news [read here]. I should say "padan muka" or serve you right to the NSTP, as the newspaper company is pursuing a suit against blogger Jeff Ooi and I in Jan 2007, but I shan't because, as I've said before, I am dead against politicians suing newspapers (just as I don't think newspapers should be suing anyone). Two wrongs don't make a right.

I hope DSAI will drop the suit. He knows how the media operate - he was the Umno media conductor once when he was the Deputy Prime Minister! - and he knows that the NSTP will publish his response, retort, reply, whatever [Article made me look disloyal and dishonest, Anwar tells court]. Why not use that avenue, instead? Don't muzzle the press with multi-million ringgit suits, please! Give us some latitude.

In this connection, I would like to congratulate Samy Vellu for dropping a defamation suit involving a Tamil newspaper that had published 11 articles calling him, among other things, "liar, thief and criminal", h e r e.

Ex-4th Floor to be awarded with top MRCB job?

2009-11-11T15:53:00.005+08:00

Nor Mohamed Yakcop should get a pay cut? Read H E R E

Updated, 12/11/09: Just a day after quoting sources that Ahmad Zaki Zahid was to take over the MRCB helm, the Star has quoted sources (different sources, kot) that the ex-4th Floor operative will not be the one, not immediately at least. The job's going to the guy in the pic. Read the Star's double-take, h e r e.

Original article 11/11/09
Ahmad Zaki Zahid. During Pak Lah's rule, one of the most powerful groups of people were operating from the 4th floor of the PM's Department in Putrajaya. Most of them may be brilliant but they were inexperienced, young and brash. Legend had it that they could tell editors what to publish and what not do, decide who can see the PM, and determine the future of politicians. They were answerable to no one other than the PM, his SILhouette* and a certain kali barut of Singapore.

Most of the key members of the 4th Floor have gone under after Pak Lah's exit. We hardly hear of them. Recently I saw Zaki, who is a key member of KJ's Umno Youth, on Astro Awani commenting on Najib's Budget 2020 with Tony Pua. I thought he articulated his thoughts on the budget quite well but I'm sure that's not enough to make him a frontrunner for the top job at MRCB.

Someone brilliant, young but not so brash - and someone without a 4th Floor baggage - should be auditioned for the job. If the government is serious in scouting for really capable and talented Malaysians, it has to start looking outside of the box of current talents.

Read more about who Zaki is, the origin of 4th FLoor, and how much MRCB's worth h e r e.

* a term borrowed from a commenter

In Kelantan, PAS sacks blogger

2009-11-10T21:17:00.005+08:00

Sheih loses job in witch-hunt. Socio-political bloggers in Malaysia aren't easily shocked, but news about Nik Aziz terminating Sheih's contract with the Kelantan Chief Minister Inc [PBMK] has rattled many. I've been trying to call the Kickdefella blogger to know what's the story but for now I suppose I will have to read between the lines of his latest posting Penamatan Kontrak Serta Merta.

If I get his meaning right, Sheih may have been sacked for allegedly reporting corrupt practices in PBMK to 1. the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commisison and 2. an UMNO assemblyman. Sheih has denied having committed those sins and is expected to call for a press conference in Kota Baru tomorrow. [The MACC raided PBMK and questioned its CEO, who is Nik Aziz's own son-in-law, last week].

The movie director, who achieved blog-fame for using movie posters on his blog to take jabs at Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he was PM (the name of his blog was inspired by Pak Lah), joined the PAS state goverment of Kelantan one year before the March 2008 by-election where he used the media, especially the new media, to help improve PAS' appeal to Malaysians outside Kelantan.

Liars, Blogs and Unspinners

2009-11-10T08:42:00.006+08:00

Who's Lying Now? Once upon a time, only politicians like Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Syed Hamid Albar and Zainuddin Maidin would call bloggers liars. These days, bloggers are calling other bloggers liars. Unlike those politicians, though, Ibrahim Yahaya and Syed Imran aren't making sweeping statements h e r e [Bloggers should stop spreading lies, Bernama 9/11/09] and whether you agree with their views or not, it is a fact that there are liars on blogosphere and they include some prominent bloggers.

So were The Unspinners lying when they blogged about Ronnie Liu's "communist past" [Mystery: Siapakah Ronnie Liu? 4/11/09]. The Member of Parliament, who is also a blogger, denies any involvement with the CPM in his latest posting Unspinners are Cowards and here:-

General November 09, 2009 20:06 PM

Liu Denies Involvement With CPM

SHAH ALAM, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- State Local Government, Studies and Research Committee Chairman Ronnie Liu said he was never involved with the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) as alleged by the blogsite unspinners.blogspot.com.

"The allegation has a certain motive. I was never involved with CPM," he said when met outside the state assembly here on Monday.

Liu said he never helped, give food or medicine to CPM adding they were lies to tarnish his image as Pandamaran state assemblyman and denied meeting former CPM secretary-general Chin Peng at the Malaysia-Thailand border.

He was mystified to be linked with the death of Teoh Beng Hock and allegation that he had ties with secret societies.

The blogsite said Pandamaran was a new area developed by the British administration in the 1950s to relocate the Chinese from Kuala Selangor and Kuala Langat to check the influence of communists in Selangor.

Asked whether he would make a police report, Liu said he would not as the blogsite did not have informtion like the name of the writer or operator.

"I think PAS or PKR will lodge a report as adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat have also been implicated," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Docs of War at IJN?

2009-11-07T12:52:00.006+08:00

The never-ending battle for the hearts institution. Blogger Sakmongkol has an interesting take in hislatest posting IJN: The Real Way Forward. Is it a doctors vs non-doctors internal warfare where the the prize is great wealth and not the interest of patients?

But notice that Sakmongkol's position is quite opposed that of blogger Big Dog in his posting The IJN Disembowelment Part II.

I shall talk to some people from both sides before I comment.

Flip-flop dah?

2009-11-07T11:44:00.004+08:00

6/11 Govt scraps proposal for mandatory checks for vehicles older than 15yrs following complaints from the public: MITI/STAR

Peka or Pekak? I have a 17-year old car which is practically falling apart: one day it's the gear transmission, the next it's a faulty brake. It's an old car, what do you expect? If it was a human, my car would probably be in its 70s and not a very healthy one. So despite the unhappy prospect of having to send the car to Puspakom for yearly check-ups, I realized that it was something practical and potentially life-saving. Singapore has had that policy for years, tak de hal pun.

But, then, suddenly, the idea is scrapped! [Govt scraps end-of-life policy, The Star, Nov 7]

During Pak Lah's era, it was called flip-flop. Usually, this happened because no homework had been done, the policy-makers syok sendiri and didn't bother talking to people, or/and couldn't care less (or thought they wouldn't have to give a damn) about public reaction.

If public complaints are supreme, won't the government grant the wish of the rakyat for cheaper cars h e r e? OK?

MACC visits Kelantan Chief Minister Inc

2009-11-06T02:23:00.005+08:00

Updated 4pm 6/11/09 - Just learned from Zakhir that Nik Aziz has been warded at IJN. He was admitted yesterday.

Original article
Officials from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission entered the Kelantan Chief Minister Incorporated (PBMK) building in Kota Bharu yesterday afternoon and were seen taking away several files from the office after about 3 hours inside.

PMBK has been making blog headlines after its chairman Tok Guru Nik Aziz, who is also the Kelantan Menteri Besar, appointed his own son-in-law Ariffahmi Abd Rahman (pic) as the chief executive officer.

Board's resignation en bloc a boost for "unity plan"

2009-11-06T01:54:00.005+08:00

The mongers were working overtime on a rumor that the MCA Disciplinary Board had quit en bloc.
My own sources said the quit talk is absolutely true. And while most people would conclude that the resignation is a sign that things have gone from bad to worse, the Board has the most honorable thing in the interest of the party.

Because by resigning:
1. the board assumes responsibility for making a recommendation (to sack Chua Soi Lek) that was rejected first by the Central Committee and later by the EGM, and,
2. by assuming that responsibility, the board has paved the way for both Ong Tee Keat and his No 2 to realize their "unity plan".

But one can always interpret it differently ...

MCA Disciplinary Board Members Resign En Bloc

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- The five member MCA Disciplinary Board headed by party veteran Ng Cheng Kiat have resigned en bloc, according one of the board members, Dr Lai Kuan Fook.

He, Ng, and the other members, Datuk Jimmy Low Boon Hong, Datuk Ng Soon Por and Lau Chih Siang submitted their resignation letters to party secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng's office on Thursday afternoon, according to party sources.

Wong however, when contacted said he has not seen the resignation letters yet as he was not at the party headquarters Thursday.

"I have not been to the party headquarters today because I was at my office in the Parliament house the whole day. They may have sent the letters to the sec-gen's office, I'm not sure," he told Bernama when contacted.

It is learnt that the decision was reached during a board meeting last month but the resignation letters were only submitted today.

It is believed the board members had decided to resign en bloc after their recommendation to sack party deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was eventually overturned by party delegates during the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Oct 10.

In August, the disciplinary board had unanimously recommend that Dr Chua be sacked from the party following his sex video scandal.

The board's recommendation was initially endorsed collectively by the presidential council, but was later overturned by the powerful central committee (CC) which decided to impose a four-year suspension for Dr Chua instead.

During the EGM on Oct 10, the party delegates had again overturned the decision by reinstating Dr Chua's membership with immediate effect while rejecting the motion to reinstate him as party deputy president.

However, on Tuesday, Dr Chua received a letter from the Registrar of Society (ROS) which confirmed that he was still the party deputy president.

-- BERNAMA

Revisiting press laws

2009-11-05T20:14:00.003+08:00

Home Ministry to meet with industry on press control laws

By DHARMENDER SINGH

PUTRAJAYA: The Home Ministry is planning a brainstorming session over several days with print media practioners to re-look the provisions under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 so that it can be made to “adapt to current trends.”

The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam said he felt that that it was time to look again at the provisions in the Act after more than 20 years because the print media and its role had gone through a huge change in that time.

“We want to hear from the media practioners themselves on what they think of the existing controls under the Act and what other methods of control can be used to ensure that the newspapers exercise responsible reporting,” he told representatives from various print media organisations a special discussion here on Thursday.
Read the rest of the article H E R E.
Firstly, for the record, The Malay Mail was not represented at the special discussion mentioned in the report. The National Press Club, of which I am the President, was also not invited. I hope all the relevant players will be consulted when the Ministry holds that brainstorming.
That aside, I welcome the sec-gen's statement to revisit the Printing and Presses Act 1984. At a meeting with the Home Minister recently, the Star EIC Wong Chun Wai openly demanded that Hishammuddin Hussein cancels the need for newspapers to renew their licences annually, a requirement under the Act. Suprisingly, the Minister said he had no objection to the idea. In principle, that is.

Zorro's PDRM logo

2009-11-05T14:54:00.005+08:00

With updates ..

Original article:
Is this zorro-unmasked? Bernard Khoo was questioned for 1hr 45mins yesterday over a defaced PDRM logo pasted on the blog zorro-unmasked. He was cooperative, so I hope it's his first and last visit to Bukit Aman. Read the Malay Mail article here.

Links and Updates:
Not everyone loves zorro: Police must .. terrorist ... danger ... put away ...
This one here does.

Dr Pornthip gets 2nd post-mortem

2009-11-04T18:47:00.005+08:00

NST 04/11: Coroner's court allows Teoh Beng Hock's body to be exhumed for second post mortem. Thai forensic expert Dr Pornthip will observe

Learn from Hangthong. Let's hope there won't be a 3rd post-mortem, as in the Hangthong Thammawattana case which involved Dr Pornthip herself.

I still think there should be at least one other foreign expert to observe the 2nd post-mortem. Gobind Singh has said "NO" to the idea but I agree with Malaysian Medical Association president Dr David Quekreally: WHY NOT?

In the interest of justice and of all parties, Dr Pornthip should not be left to observe the 2nd post-mortem all by herself.

What took you so long, Bernard?

2009-11-04T11:14:00.004+08:00

3pm date with Bukit Aman. Bernard aka Zorro Unmasked will be at the cyber crime unit of Bukit Aman to answer some questions with regards to his blog. I have not been in touch with Bernard for moons and he is not telling h e r e, so I can only speculate why the cops want to talk to him.
1. the inverted "Jalur Gemilang" or
2. the defaced PDRM logo
The flag is still there on his blog but the PDRM logo has been taken down. Don't ask me why.

But for one who lives by the sword, from RPK to Jed Yoong, this is kacang, something one has to experience. Don't expect tea, though, and expect to spend at least 4 hours there. A lot of boring questions but the cops are not our enemies and they just have to ask them. Procedures.

p.s. Bukit Aman dam bloggers ni macam kembar. I was a the Bukit Aman cyber unit two Fridays ago, hopefully for the last time, in relations to police reports lodged against my blogpost on Sultan Perak. I have spent a total of 14 hours in the Q & A room. And last week Sheih Kickdefella had a visit from Bukit Aman in Kota Bharu with regards to the inverted Jalur Gemilang. Also for the last time, he hopes.