Cronyism,
nepotism – big business ‘ethics’ in Malaysia
MANY investors, both local and
foreign, have learnt the hard way to really realise the pitfalls of their
investments in Malaysia.
Actually, it is not so difficult to
understand the wheeling and dealing because it all revolves around two words –
cronyism and nepotism.
You just have to factor in these two
words and your investment decisions will be much wiser and safer.
You don’t believe me? I have
reproduced several stories, related to people in high society and those in the
corridors of power, to support my case.
You may have read them before or you
may not have, but Malaysians need to be reminded as we are described as people
who forget easily.
The most damning of all the reports
must be the one about Robert Kuok and I find it to be the mother of all lessons
on business investments and growth.
The story is very well written and
comes with a Chinese version – and Kuok and the Chinese government had yet to
deny such a damning article.
In Malaysia, when one’s business
becomes successful, it attracts greedy Barisan Nasional-Umno government cronies
to use whatever means to grab or swallow your business.
The latest: Go ask the Bird’s Nest
Industry players and they will tell you how their businesses are being
swallowed by BN government cronies through mumbo jambo enforcement.
Various laws are exploited and
political pressures applied to frustrate and break you to surrender your
business.
And, who says property investment is
the safest?
If your land is eyed by BN-Umno government
cronies, in the name of development, the Land Acquisition Act 1960 is used to
grab your land cheaply under agriculture land use.
It is then converted to commercial
and residential land use and the price can appreciate up to 1000% for the
cronies.
That’s big business “ethics” for you
in Malaysia!
Here’s the stories, and if you have
not read them, take your time. Or perhaps some of you may want to read them
again to refresh your memories:
An
interesting area that has raised many an eyebrow and has set Malaysian
tongues wagging is the budget allocation for the education section.
Note a whopping RM1.2 billion has been allocated for pre-school education. And of this Rosmah Mansor’s pet project, Permata Negara Programme, has been allocated RM111 million.
Now, what has Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s wife, Rosmah, done to deserve RM111 million? Or, for that matter, what has Permata Negara programme done and achieved?
What Permata has done is to suck up taxpayers’ money to the tune of RM2 billion thus far.
It’s the black hole in Najib’s budget. And nobody knows how the money was or is being used.
Does Rosmah’s project require such huge taxpayers’ money considering that most of the pre-schools are fee-based and privately-owned?
The recent Times Ranking of Universities has revealed the problem we have.
Najib’s ETP and foreigner labour
Where do we get a trained workforce to propel the nation to the high-income economy with US$15,000 per capita income?
We have so many universities producing quantity but not quality. Seriously, with so many more SPM-standard workers, how do we push up our productivity boundaries?
Our traditional plantation sector requires 500,000 foreign workers. It seems our economy is attracting the low-end labour force which will certainly frustrate our lofty aims of becoming a high- income economy by 2020.
We have plenty of low-paying jobs that Malaysians shun but are attractive to foreigners, so we have three million foreigners here.
What does their presence do? They drive down wages.
Foreigners set our salary/wage levels. Some 40% of our people are only as rich or as poor as these foreigners!
We have become an attractive country to jobless Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Filipinos and Myanmars.
They would all want to vote for Umno/BN/Najib if they could, and some can. Herein lies Najib’s Economic Transformation (Programme).
The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist.
RM111m ‘for’ Rosmah’s Permata?
Permata has thus far sucked up RM2 billion of
taxpayers' money. It's the black hole in Najib’s budget with no one
knowing how the money was or is being used.
COMMENT
An
interesting area that has raised many an eyebrow and has set Malaysian
tongues wagging is the budget allocation for the education section.Note a whopping RM1.2 billion has been allocated for pre-school education. And of this Rosmah Mansor’s pet project, Permata Negara Programme, has been allocated RM111 million.
Now, what has Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s wife, Rosmah, done to deserve RM111 million? Or, for that matter, what has Permata Negara programme done and achieved?
What Permata has done is to suck up taxpayers’ money to the tune of RM2 billion thus far.
It’s the black hole in Najib’s budget. And nobody knows how the money was or is being used.
Does Rosmah’s project require such huge taxpayers’ money considering that most of the pre-schools are fee-based and privately-owned?
The recent Times Ranking of Universities has revealed the problem we have.
Najib’s ETP and foreigner labour
Where do we get a trained workforce to propel the nation to the high-income economy with US$15,000 per capita income?
We have so many universities producing quantity but not quality. Seriously, with so many more SPM-standard workers, how do we push up our productivity boundaries?
Our traditional plantation sector requires 500,000 foreign workers. It seems our economy is attracting the low-end labour force which will certainly frustrate our lofty aims of becoming a high- income economy by 2020.
We have plenty of low-paying jobs that Malaysians shun but are attractive to foreigners, so we have three million foreigners here.
What does their presence do? They drive down wages.
Foreigners set our salary/wage levels. Some 40% of our people are only as rich or as poor as these foreigners!
We have become an attractive country to jobless Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Filipinos and Myanmars.
They would all want to vote for Umno/BN/Najib if they could, and some can. Herein lies Najib’s Economic Transformation (Programme).
The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but joined DAP earlier this year. He is a FMT columnist.
Najib, Robert Kuok and the Chinese PM
In order to benefit their cronies, they arm twisted to swallow up Robert
Kuok’s sugar empire. The cronies get richer by 10’s of billions, but it caused
a national loss of more than 200 billion! Those who have insider info can only
curse: PKHKC it!Malaysia's Sugar King was forced to leave Malaysia, but became the world’s sugar king! He bought the world's largest sugar mills in Australia, invested USD10 billion, it is the world's largest sugar cane sugar refining industry, living up to the name of the world’s sugar king.
On the other hand, the Malaysia government benefited cronies at the expense of national interests. For those who have insider info, Kuok offered immense help to the Malaysian government in the past few decades, he has done everything possible; but what the government did was like what you will get when you turn over a pig stomach: faeces. In other words, Najib Government was UNGRATEFUL!
Chinese PM's visit
In "Confidential" news about the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Malaysia recently.... it hit a snag with Najib.
Prior to Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Malaysia , Najib and his cabinet on more than one occasion, hinted that he hoped China will double the amount of palm oil with Malaysia .
We all know that China is the largest consumer of palm oil from Malaysia . Rapid economic rise in the recent years, China became the largest palm oil market for Malaysia, but Malaysia has also strong competition from Indonesia , trying to sell palm oil at lower prices to China and India, diluting the Malaysian market share. This is most worrying for Najib.
Najib hoped to sign new palm oil trading contracts with Premier Wen Jiabao, hopng to more than double the average 10 million tonnes monthly export to China . But Wen Jiabao came to a Malaysia, he told Najib: 'impossible'. It was an utter disappointment.
Najib knows the Chinese market demand. Even to import one million tonnes of palm oil daily, is not a problem. So, where is the problem?
The problem is... Sugar king Kuok did not agree!
Why was Sugar king Kuok able to influence China's decision to buy Malaysian palm oil?
Who has the monopoly of Chinese national oil market? China national oil market leader is "Arowana" cooking oil, accounting for nearly 40%! The Arowana cooking oil boss is Robert Kuok!
Kuok connections
Think about it, if Premier Wen Jiabao on behalf of the Chinese government buys Malaysian palm oil, who is going to refine it into cooking oil? Of course, it is the privatized enterprises! With 40% market share, if Arowana cooking oil company refuses the supply, how is the Chinese government going to utilize the supply?
Najib was insensible from the start, and did not know Kuok had such huge influence in China . He had helped cronies, forcing Robert Kuok to give up the Malaysian sugar king throne, and didn’t expect to have such quick retribution
Kuok was forced to leave Malaysia, his heart is of course very unhappy. People of Malaysia must know, during the early days of Malaysia , we did not have aviation professionals, the BN government requested Kuok's father to help set up Malayan Airways.
1970 Malaysian maritime shipping industry was also a vacuum, the Malaysian government sent representatives to Hong Kong to personally plead Kuok’s help. For national development, Kuok put aside the Group's businesses, came back to Malaysia to assist the Government to establish a national maritime shipping industry. This later transformed into MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CORPORATION, referred to as MISC.
Robert Kuok was a big help when Malaysia repeatedly faced economic difficulties. Even in MCA Tan Koon Swan’s case, it was Robert Kuok who paid the bail! Malaysia ’s successive governments, from BN to the National Front, owed Robert Kuok a hell of a lot. But the Malaysian Government was ungrateful, using the strong arm twisting excuses to forcefully take over Kuok’s empire. Is this not ungrateful?
Clueless Najib salivated for a palm oil deal
When Deng Xiaoping made a comeback in the 70s, and announced China's reform and needed most help from overseas Chinese entrepreneurs; Robert was first to take action to help Deng. Among the other entrepreneurs of Chinese economic miracle are Henry Fok and Li Ka-shing Hong Kong . Malaysian entrepreneur Robert Kuok was the first to respond to Deng Xiaoping in Beijing and built China 's first five-star hotels, Shangri-La!
With over 30 years of deep relationship with the Chinese government and leadership, Kuok has great influence. Najib failed to recognise this. This is why the quote at the start of this post : “For the interests of their cronies, they arm twisted to take over Kuok’s Sugar Empire, cronies got rich by the 10s of billions, but it caused a national loss of more than 200 billions!”
Kuok's sugar empire was eaten by the fat vampire's family abruptly. Imagine, a world renowned international trade business personality, what humiliation he received in return for his single-minded help all this while for his own country and government? And Najib would never think that the consequences of offending the Sugar King will be so very serious.
Right after Sugar King left Malaysia , he immediately announced the acquisition of Australia 's biggest sugar factory. This is the world supplier of raw material for sugar manufacturing. Of course, this includes supplying to the family of the fat vampire woman’s sugar factory in Perlis.
Early this year, Kuok announced plans to invest USD 10 billion in Indonesia for development of the world's largest sugar cane growing areas, as well as advanced refinery. The world economy was facing a downturn, the Malaysian government travelled around the world to solicit investment. How much was Malaysia ’s foreign investment? Kuok’s single investment in Indonesia is equivalent to as USD10 billion dollars! Don’t you want to screw the couple: PKHKC!?
At the moment, Kuok’s take towards China ’s palm oil contract with Malaysia was to remain with the agreed terms. There won’t be any increase. Indonesia has more palm oil than Malaysia . It is cheaper too. Now that Kuok had invested so much money in Indonesia , the Government of Indonesia would have treated him as their God of Wealth. Certainly, open to negotiate anything with him. Moreover, Indonesia has been eyeing to take over the China palm oil supply contract from Malaysia .
Ha Ha! Durians instead!
The CONSOLATION China gave in return for not increasing the purchase of palm oil was buying frozen durian. Do the Chinese people have the habit of eating durian it? How much time and effort is needed to market frozen durian from Malaysia ? Thai durian may not sell well in China , let alone Malaysia frozen durian?
Business is business, who would supply millions of dollars’ worth of frozen durian into a brand new market with no durian eating habits? Should the Chinese people become non-receptive of it, how do we deal with return goods? A total loss with capital. Is this how to do business?
Earlier this year, when the news hit the papers that Kuok made an announcement to invest USD 10 billion in Indonesia, many criticized Kuok for being unpatriotic, preferring to take so much money into Indonesia instead of Malaysian. What CRAP! You arm-twisted him to take over his empire, forcing the man to leave Malaysia in hurt & humiliation; now that the man ignores the Malaysian market, and you criticize him? Have you guys got balls for brains?
For him to bring his huge investment to Australia & Indonesia instead of Malaysia , who is to be blamed?
Incidentally, Kuok is not just Chinas’ hotelier, king of cooking oil, the world’s sugar King; he is also the patent owner of the Coca-cola soft drink brand in the Chinese market. Kuok is involved in a diversity of businesses in China . He created many job opportunities for China . The Chinese central government and leaders have great respect for him as an entrepreneur. When the man speaks, the weight it carries can be far-reaching.
Malaysia Chronicle received this in the email. We have not been able to verify the information and publish it in good faith for readers to judge for themselves.
THE MANDARIN VERSION IS BELOW
大马糖王：那鸡吃了一粒糖，却输掉一间厂，吃了一间厂，却輸掉全世界。
最近那鸡政府得罪了郭鹤年，给大马经济带来的打击更加大到吓人！尤其中国温家宝总理来马官访以后，那鸡政府才真正体会到郭鹤年对中国的影响力有多大！
他们为了朋党的利益，硬硬吞掉了郭鹤年的玻璃市糖厂，表面上让朋党发财10几亿，但是却造成了全民损失超过200亿！知道内情的人，又忍不住要开骂PKHKC了！
大马糖王离开大马，变成世界糖王！他在澳洲买下世界最大的糖厂，有出资100亿美金，在耶加达发展世界最大的甘蔗种植计划和发展炼糖工业；世界糖王之名，郭老当仁不让。
反观大马，为了朋党的利益，却牺牲了全民的利益。。。。对于⋯⋯知情者而言，过去几十年来，郭老对大马政府的援手帮忙，真的是仁至义尽；没有想到政府反转猪肚就是屎，只有四个字可以形容那鸡政府：忘恩负义！
有一个《秘闻》，是关于最近中国总理温家宝访马，那鸡碰钉子的。
早在温家宝总理访马之前，那鸡和他的内阁就不止一次放话，说希望中国可以通过这次访马的时候，将购买大马棕油的数额提高一倍。
大家都知道中国是大马棕油最大消费国。经济急速崛起的中国是在近年来成为大马最大的棕油市场，不过我国目前也面对印尼的强力竞争，试图以更低价格出售棕油给中国和印度，分薄大马的市场。这正是那鸡最担心的。
那鸡希望温家宝总理能够签署一份新的棕油买卖合约，将平均每个月出口到中国的10多万公吨的数量提高一倍。可是温家宝一来到大马，就告诉那鸡，那是不可能的事。那鸡犹如被当头浇了一盘冷水。
那鸡知道中国市场需求量太大了，就算每月进口100万公吨的棕油，也不是问题。那么，问题在哪里？
问题就在：糖王郭鹤年不答应！
为什么糖王郭鹤年能够影响中国购买大马棕油的决定？
中国全国的食油市场是由谁垄断的呢？中国的食油市场老大，是《金龙鱼油》食油；占了全国食油市场将近40%！而金龙鱼油食油的大老板，正是郭鹤年！
想想，温家宝代表中国政府购买大马棕油，回国之后这些棕油交给谁去加工提炼成食油？当然就是民间企业啦！金龙鱼油食油公司不答应吃下这些货的活，你叫中国政府怎样消耗掉？
那鸡从一开始就傻呼呼的，根本不知道郭鹤年在中国竟然有这么大的影响力。他当初帮着朋党逼郭鹤年让出大马糖王宝座的时候，绝对没有想到这么快就得到报应！
郭鹤年被逼离开大马，心里当然非常不爽，要知道大马建国初期连航空业人才也没有，是联盟政府恳求郭鹤年的父亲帮忙设立马来亚航空公司的。
70年代大马海上航运业也真空，是大马政府亲自派代表去香港邀请郭鹤年帮忙，郭鹤年为了国家发展，将自己的集团业务暂时放下，回来大马协助政府设立 国家海上航运业，这才有了后来的MALAYSIA INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING COPERATION，简称MISC。
连老马也多次遇到经济商业难题的时候找过郭鹤年帮忙，甚至当年马华的陈群川遇到新泛电官司，无法缴交保释金，都是郭鹤年两肋插刀帮忙搞定的！这表 示，大马历任政府，从联盟到国阵，都欠了郭鹤年不少人情。但是大马政府竟然打完斋不要和尚，过桥抽板，硬硬以〈不批准白糖起价〉，〈必须国有化〉等等借口 把郭鹤年在大马的基业给吃掉！大家说，这是不是忘恩负义？
70年代邓小平东山再起，宣布中国走改革开放路线的时候，最需要海外华裔企业家鼎力相助；最早坐言起行走进中国帮邓伯伯开拓中国市场创造经济奇迹的 大企业家，香港是霍英东和李嘉诚，大马企业家就是郭鹤年第一个响应邓小平，在北京建造中国第一家五星级大酒店：香格里拉大酒店！
凭着过去30多年和中国政府领导层建立的深厚关系，郭鹤年的影响力之大，绝对是那鸡无法想象的。这就是为什么在这个帖子最前面说：他们为了朋党的利益，硬硬吞掉了郭鹤年的玻璃市糖厂，表面上让朋党发财10几亿，但是却造成了全民损失超过200亿！
郭老的糖厂被僵尸肥婆的家族硬生生吃掉，想他老人家叱咤国际商场，几曾受过这么大的屈辱？更何况还是自己一心一意帮助了几十年的祖国政府？而那鸡根本没有想到，他得罪了糖王的后果竟是如此严重。
【吃了一間廠，輸掉全世界。】--名句精华。
糖王这边才离开大马，那边立刻宣布收购澳洲最大的白糖制造厂，制造白糖的某种原料，就是由这家企业供应给全世界糖厂的，当然，包括被僵尸肥婆家族吃掉的玻璃市糖厂。
接着在今年初，郭老再宣布投资100亿美金，在印尼开发世界最大甘蔗种植区，还有先进的炼糖厂。世界经济不景，大马政府周游列国招商，外资来马的总 投资额一年才多少亿？郭鹤年单独一人给印尼的单一项目投资就高达100亿美金！各位，看到这里，你会不会很想对那鸡夫妇大骂一句：PKHKC！？（不明 PKHKC,哈哈）
现在郭老态度摆到明，中国和大马政府以前签下来的购买棕油合约照跑，但是，想增加购买数量？免谈！印尼的棕油比马来西亚更多，价格更便宜，加上现在 他在印尼投资这么多钱，印尼政府当然把他当财神，什么都好谈。更何况印尼一直虎视眈眈，希望能够从大马手中抢走中国的买卖棕油合约。
至于中国购买冷冻榴莲，根本就是在无法得到更多棕油购买的承诺之下，中国给大马的CONSOLATION，安慰奖而已啦！哈哈哈！中国人有吃榴莲的习惯吗？你要花多少时间和心思去推销大马冷冻榴莲？泰国榴莲在中国都未必卖得好，更何况是冷冻榴莲？
在商言商，谁敢一下子将价值数百万美金的冷冻榴莲推进一个完全陌生的市场吗？万一中国人的接受度不足，时间久了面对退货问题，怎么办？血本无归啊！做生意是这样的吗？别傻了！
今年初，当郭老宣布在印尼投资100亿美金的消息见报之后，我看到一些人批评郭老不爱国，宁愿将这么多资金拿去印尼，都不照顾大马人；我就一直为郭老叫屈！你们忘恩负义把人家的基业吞掉，让郭老含恨离开大马；现在看到郭老不鸟大马市场了，你们有资格批评他吗？
追根究底，人家宁愿在澳洲和印尼大量投资，都不看你一言，应该怪谁？
顺便跟大家报告一下：郭鹤年不但是中国的酒店大王，食油大王，世界糖王，他还是coca cola汽水品牌在中国市场的专利权拥有者。他在中国涉及的业务极多而且多元化。为中国制造许多就业机会的商机，是中国中央政府领导人非常敬重的一位企业 家。他讲一句话，份量绝对不会比一些外国领导人低。
他也是直到目前为止，唯一一位从来不接受大马皇室授勋的大马大企业家。很多人写他的时候，理所当然地称他《丹斯里郭鹤年》，事实上他并没有这些勋衔，也不稀罕。他不是丹斯里，也不是拿督。
By: 忠政快讯
Tuesday, 09 October 2012 21:11
As
expected, Ling wants charges reviewed after Dr M’s ‘honest’ & 'did not
cheat' testimony
KUALA LUMPUR - The defence in
former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik's trial will ask for the
Attorney-General's Chambers to reconsider all charges against Ling, in light of
testimony from a key witness.
Defence counsel Wong Kian Kheong
informed the High Court that the defence will be sending a letter of
representation to the AGC for reconsideration or review of the three charges of
cheating against Ling.
"(This) is based on SD4's
(fourth defence witness, Tun Mahathir Mohamad) testimony," said Wong.
Mahathir, 87, was finance minister
from 2001 to 2003 when the 1,000 acre Pulau Indah land for the Port Klang Free
Zone (PKFZ) project was being obtained.
He had earlier testified that he was
not cheated by Ling in respect to the land buy.
"As prime minister, and finance
minister at that time, were you misled, cheated or deceived by my client (Ling)
with respect to the purchase of the PKFZ land?" Wong asked.
"Personally, I don't think
so," said Mahathir.
He also said he had not received any
complaints from other ministers that Ling had deceived or misled them.
Mahathir also said that his
colleague of more than 15 years in the cabinet performed his duties as minister
well.
"As far as I know, he (Ling) is
an honest man," Mahathir said during examination-in-chief.
Asked if he thought Ling would be
capable of cheating the government, he replied in the negative.
"No, he is not capable of
cheating the government," he said.
Lead prosecutor Datuk Tun Majid Tun
Hamzah however objected strongly to the question.
"How would the ex-PM know if
(Ling) can cheat the government! Only he (Ling) would know if he is capable of
cheating the government!" Tun Majid said, raising his voice, as members
and supporters of Ling booed him.
Ling, 69, is accused of failing to
reveal facts regarding an interest of 7.5% per year, in addition to the cost of
the land which was priced at RM25 psf.
Ling is also accused of
intentionally concealing the actual land price of RM21 psf "special
value" as stated in the JPPH report dated Sept 29, 2000.
He faces one principal charge and
two alternative charges under Sections 417 and 418 of the Penal Code for
deceiving the cabinet by withholding details of the terms and conditions agreed
between land owners Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd and the Port Klang Authority.
The court has set Dec 4 for case
mention, pending the outcome of the representation.
Tuesday, 09 October 2012 12:22
Dr
M tries to worm his way back to Chinese hearts: Ling is honest, incapable of
CHEATING GOVT
KUALA LUMPUR - Tun Dr Mahathir
Mohamad told the High Court today he believed Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was not
capable of cheating the government, in a sterling defence of the character of
his friend and former colleague who is facing trial for deceiving the
government over the cost of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.
The former prime minister told the
court that “as far as I know he (Dr Ling) is an honest person”.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir had told the
court that neither he nor any minister had lodged any criminal complaint about
the Cabinet being deceived into approving the purchase of land for the PKFZ
project.
He also testified that a policeman
told him that if investigators had taken his police statement first, Dr Ling
would not even have been charged with any crime.
Questioned by defence counsel Wong
Kian Kheong today, Dr Mahathir repeatedly pointed out that no minister under
his charge had ever complained about the proposed price of RM25 per square feet
for the PKFZ land.
Asked if he Dr Ling “misled,
deceived or cheated” him in relation to the PKFZ land cost, Dr Mahathir
replied: “Personally I don’t think so.”
Wong: How long have you known the
accused?
Dr M: I have known him since he was
in MCA before he became minister.
Wong: Can you describe the accused?
Is he an honest or dishonest man?
Dr M: I know that he did his job as
Transport Minister, especially with regards to the development of Port Klang.
At this point the judge interjected
and tells Dr Mahathir that he did not answer the question.
Wong: Is Dr Ling an honest or
dishonest man? Is he capable of cheating the government?
Dr M: He is not capable of cheating
the government.
At this point, lead prosecutor Datuk
Tun Majid Tun Hamzah objects to jeers from Dr Ling’s family and friends seated
in the gallery.
“How can the ex-PM know if the accused
is capable of cheating the government? Only he (Dr Ling) would know,” said Tun
Majid while pointing to Dr Ling.
Wong then asked Dr Mahathir to
repeat in his own words if the he thought the accused was an honest man.
Dr M: As far as I know, he is an honest
person.
Dr Ling, who served as transport
minister for 17 years from January 1986 to May 2003, is charged with deceiving
the Cabinet into approving the purchase of 404.5-hectares of land for the PKFZ
project, which had resulted in wrongful losses for the government.
The project, initially estimated at
RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Dr Ling in 1997, more than quadrupled in
cost to RM4.6 billion by 2007.
A position review by top accounting
firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) revealed in 2009 that the total cost
including interests from debt repayments could reach RM12.5 billion.
Since December 2009, six individuals
have been charged in court including ex-MCA president Dr Ling, and his
successor as transport minister, former MCA deputy chief Tan Sri Chan Kong
Choy. Both are accused of lying to the Cabinet.
Dr Ling also faces two alternative
charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the terms of the purchase
— at RM25psf, plus 7.5 per cent interest — were acknowledged and agreed to by
the JPPH despite knowing that there was no such agreement.
He faces a possible jail term of up
to seven years, or a fine, or both, if convicted on the first charge under
Section 418 of the Penal Code.
Taib's son rich from gov't deals, but no proof of abuse
 |
| Taib's mansion and the wooden shacks of Sarawakians |
While Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's son Mahmud Abu
Bekir had richly benefited from the state, provisions in the law are hindering
the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from charging Taib with abuse
of power.
According to MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Mohd Shukri Abdull,
this is because Taib had either declared his interest or was absent from
meetings where the decision to award state deals to Bekir ( left ) were made."Regarding his (Taib's) son, and his (former) daughter-in-law's testimony in court. It is true, he received things like timber concessions, which he could sell, amounting to a lot of money.
"But he had applied for the projects and gotten them. His father did not make any decisions, it was approved by exco members (the Sarawak cabinet). This is the weakness in the law," he said when met in Kuala Lumpur today.
Mohd Shukri was responding to a question on whether testimonies in the ongoing Syariah Court trial between Bekir and ex-wife Shahnaz A Majid could be used as evidence against the chief minister.
"You said his (Taib's) name, I didn't," he said.
Mohd Shukri ( right ) added that based on Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, a person cannot be charged for abuse of power if there is no evidence that he or she had personally made the decision to award a contract where there is conflict of interest.
"He could either leave a meeting (after declaring the conflict of interest), which will be noted in the meeting's minutes, or his name would not be in the meeting's minutes at all because he was not present (when the decision was made)," he said.
This leaves no documentary evidence to link the chief minister to abuse of power, he said.
Big fish and vested interests
Speaking broadly on cases of the same nature, Mohd Shukri said that in such cases, those making the decisions are subordinates to the persons being investigated and could find it difficult to decide against the latter’s interests.
“But unless the person investigated had said something like ‘please consider it’, and it is recorded in the minutes, there is no link,” he said.
He added that subordinates, particularly when it comes to politicians, are also unlikely to provide evidence as there are vested interests.
“If the person had whispered into the ear of his subordinate (to approve the projects), we don’t know as no one is going to admit it.
“They have their rice pots to take care of too, and in some cases, they’re afraid they may not be renominated (in the next elections),” he said.
Correcting PAS’ Kubang Kerian MP Salahuddin Ayub ( left ), he said it is Section 53 and not Section 50 as mentioned by the former, which also hampers investigations.
Mohd Shukri said that based on Section 53 of the MACC Act, confessions must be independently corroborated, even if both the giver of the bribe and the recipient of the bribe admit to the act.
“There needs to be either documentation, like bank transaction records, or a witness who can attest to it.
"But bribery usually occurs in private, in closed rooms, with no witnesses,” he said.
He said that while the MACC managed to bring “many” civil servants to court under Section 23, it is the same section which allows“big fish” to slip the net.
“If there is no improvement to the law, (Section 23) can continue to be used to evade action,” he said.
Mohd Shukri said to support confessions, the MACC is following the footsteps of its Hong Kong counterpart to video-record all statements made.
“Three concurrent recordings are made, one for the person giving the statement, one for the court and another for us to keep,” he said.
Tuesday, 02 October 2012 19:09
RM100
million is like 10 sen to Taib's son, says ex-wife
Written by Stan Lee, Malaysia
Chronicle
The divorce case between Mahmud Abu
Bekir and his first wife is raking up more dirt than his dad, the
corruption-tainted Sarawak chief minister Taib Mahmud, might like and
bolstering speculation that theTaibs were indeed be the richest Malaysians in
the world.
Shahnaz Abdul Majid told an Islamic
court on Tuesday that Bekir was worth more than RM1 billion. She is demanding
RM100 million as mutaah (Islamic conciliatory payment) following their
recent divorce, and a RM300 million share of joint matrimonial assets.
“He has personal accounts in Canada,
the United States, the Caribbean, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Luxembourg,
Malaysia, Hong Kong and Switzerland,” Shahnaz was quoted by news portal
Malaysiakini as saying.
“My claim of RM100 million in mutaah
is small as he is worth in excess of RM1 billion. The RM100 million can be said
to be worth 10 sen to him.:
Richest family
The
couple, who had a teenage son together, finalised their divorce last May after
a long-drawn court battle. Shahnaz is also the sister of jazz queen Sheila
Majid. She has previously been reported to have said that Bekir had an
estimated RM700 million deposited in 111 banking accounts around the world.
Shahnaz's revelation follows hot on
the heels of last week's report by Swiss NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), which estimated
Taib's wealth at a staggering USD15 billion.
If true, that makes Taib Malaysia’s
richest man, with assets topping those of the ‘sugar king’ Robert Kuok, who
currently leads the Forbes Rich List for Malaysia with a mere USD12 billion.
Malaysian
PM's wife draws flak
The surat layang – “flying
letters” in Malay, or anonymous assaults -- have been flying in record numbers
in recent weeks, attacking Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysian Prime Minister
Najib Tun Razak. They are being picked up and spread in volume by the country’s
blogosphere, much of it arrayed against the Barisan Nasional, or ruling
national coalition.
It isn’t certain who is behind the attacks, but they are clearly tied to national elections expected either late this year or early in 2012. The opposition and the dominant United Malays National Organization are blaming each other and both saying they aren’t involved. But the 60-year-old Rosmah has become a lightning rod for criticism of the administration, most of it centering on her alleged profligacy and her reported dominance of her husband’s political and social agenda. The attacks compare her to both Shakespeare’s Lady MacBeth, who drove her husband to murder and tragedy, and to former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos, who gained fame for her extravagance including owning hundreds of pairs of shoes.
More ominously, as Asia Sentinel has reported, she has been the subject of rumors for several years that she somehow was involved in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, to the extent that a businessman close to her allegedly paid a witness RM750,000 to get out of the country after he said the dead woman had an affair with her husband. In addition, court testimony has indicated that she met with a former aide to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim prior to the aide’s accusing Anwar of raping him.
It isn’t certain who is behind the attacks, but they are clearly tied to national elections expected either late this year or early in 2012. The opposition and the dominant United Malays National Organization are blaming each other and both saying they aren’t involved. But the 60-year-old Rosmah has become a lightning rod for criticism of the administration, most of it centering on her alleged profligacy and her reported dominance of her husband’s political and social agenda. The attacks compare her to both Shakespeare’s Lady MacBeth, who drove her husband to murder and tragedy, and to former Filipino First Lady Imelda Marcos, who gained fame for her extravagance including owning hundreds of pairs of shoes.
More ominously, as Asia Sentinel has reported, she has been the subject of rumors for several years that she somehow was involved in the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, to the extent that a businessman close to her allegedly paid a witness RM750,000 to get out of the country after he said the dead woman had an affair with her husband. In addition, court testimony has indicated that she met with a former aide to Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim prior to the aide’s accusing Anwar of raping him.
Those in Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat
coalition say the attacks on Rosmah are coming from Muhyiddin Yassin, the
64-year-old deputy prime minister and protégé of former Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad. Muhyiddin played a major role in driving former Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi from power and has long been regarded as being ambitious
to succeed Najib should the prime minister stumble.Added to that equation, the sources say, are Mahathir’s own ambitions to see his third son Mukhriz, currently the deputy minister of international trade, as deputy prime minister. Muhyiddin also fits Mahathir’s political philosophy more than Najib does. He is an advocate of Ketuanan Melayu – ethnic Malay dominance of the economic and political landscape, in opposition to Najib, who is committed to his so-called 1Malaysia campaign, an attempt to bring other races back into the Barisan Nasional fold. Mahathir has become increasingly strident in his calls to preserve Malay dominance as well.
Sources in the United Malays National Organization blame the accusations on Pakatan Rakyat in an effort to blacken Najib’s reputation and hamstring the ruling national coalition in advance of elections expected later this year or early next. One aide to a top UMNO politician says neither Mukhriz or Muhyiddin would be likely to be attack Rosmah as Najib’s surrogate now. If serious infighting broke out within UMNO, the aide says, it would seriously cripple the party and the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition in advance of the polls.
If Mahathir and Muhyiddin were really after Najib, the aide says, it would make no sense for them to be daring the destruction of their party and the loss of even more of the Barisan’s power, which was severely dented in March 2008 elections when for the first time in the country’s then-50 year history its two-thirds hold on parliament was broken by the opposition. Other sources say that Mahathir himself owes a debt of gratitude to Najib’s father, the late Tun Abdul Razak, for rehabilitating him after he had been kicked out of UMNO b y Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s first prime minister, and that he wouldn’t go against Najib for that reason.
However, observers point out, Muhyiddin hasn’t been publicly defending either Najib or Rosmah lately. One businessman in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel: “Mahathir and Anwar are both working towards the same objective even if they aren’t working together – get Najib out.”
Rosmah has been controversial since well before Najib became prime minister. The newest sensation appeared a few weeks ago with a report by a Kuala Lumpur-based opposition blog that she had received a US$24.8 million diamond ring from the New York-based Jacob & Co. jewelers and that the ring had passed through customs without duty being charged. Rosmah has said publicly that: "There is nothing I want to say (in relation to the purchase of ring) because I have no time to entertain such issue.” She later denied buying the ring.
She has also been photographed carrying what appears to be a Birkin handbag, designed and manufactured by Hermès of Paris and named for the actress and singer Jane Birkin. Prices of the bags range from US$9,000 to US$150,000 according to the type of material used. She has been photographed as well wearing what appears to be a 65.77 carat white and black Zebra safari bangle bracelet from also Jacob & Co. and made of white and black pave diamonds and 18-karat white gold.
In addition to her taste in jewelry, Rosmah has raised hackles about her influence on government, rumors that she is enriching the family and because of the social life she leads. Particularly galling to some is her claiming the title of Malaysia’s first lady, a title usually reserved for the wife of the king. A six-person unit has been established in the prime minister’s office, known as FLOM, an acronym for First Lady of Malaysia, to look after her needs, a far cry from the wives of previous prime ministers such as Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, Mahathir’s austere physician wife.
Sources say Rosmah has continually inserted herself in the political process and has been responsible for spending vast amounts of government money – for instance, as much as RM80 million in a 15-month campaign to refurbish the Prime Minister’s residence.
In April 2010, Joshua Wong, then the producer of the popular Malaysian current affairs program "Editor's Time," resigned, charging that the NTV7 channel, which is controlled by UMNO, buckled under from complaints from the Prime Minister's Department and Rosmah personally about coverage of opposition politicians. Other newspaper editors complain that she frequently calls to complain about coverage of both her and her husband.
Last year, tongues began to wag in Kuala Lumpur over Rosmah’s taste for the high life in New York and other capitals, particularly because of her reported closeness to Low Taek Jho (right), who calls himself Jho Lo and spent an astonishing amount of money on starlets, movie actors and celebrities in New York. Low routinely dropped as much as US$60,000 a month in Manhattan night clubs, according to the New York Post, which said Low once sent 23 bottles of US$900 Cristal champagne to troubled actress Lindsay Lohan's table as she was celebrating her 23rd birthday.
“This Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania graduate from Malaysia,” the New York Post reported Aug. 1, 2010 “has burned through hundreds of thousands of dollars at the city’s hottest nightspots in the last three months — and shows no signs of stopping.”
Low, who was said to be pals with Paris Hilton, is also believed to be the mystery man behind a US$180,000-US$230,000 advertisement that ran on April 2010 in the New York Times congratulating Rosmah for being Malaysia’s “first lady.” after she received the inaugural “International Peace and Harmony Award” from an obscure US-based business group. The Times first said the advertisement had been placed by the government, then reversed itself three weeks later and declined to say who was behind it.
On April 16, 2010 according to the New York Post, Rosmah and Najib were given a star-studded party in honor of the award that was emceed by actor-comedian Jamie Foxx and attended by a flock of movie stars including Charlize Theron and Robert De Niro and included performances by Grammy-award nominee Leona Lewis and the Harlem Boys Choir. The Nut Graph, a Malaysian Blog said the festivities included karaoke duet version of “You’ve Got a Friend” performed by Rosmah and De Niro, who was later invited by the Rosmah to visit Malaysia.
News media including the New York Post and Gawker in the United States say Low, the son of a wealthy Chinese family from Penang, owes much of his cachet to his friendship with a Kuwaiti and fellow Wharton graduate, Hamad Al Wazzan, the chairman and CEO of the Al Wazzan Group of Companies in the US.
An UMNO source in Kuala Lumpur says Low used his links with Rosmah to become the middleman in a massive land deal in Kuala Lumpur -- the redevelopment of the 152-hectare 80-year-old Sungei Besi Air Force Base, a prime, centrally located site that appears to have been awarded without tender to a joint venture between 1Malaysia Development Sdn Bhd and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT), the armed forces retirement fund.
According to local media, the project is being developed through a joint venture with the Qatar Investment Authority, possibly with the involvement of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co.
Whether it is fair or not, the flying letters are giving a growing segment of the Malaysian public the impression that Rosmah has become a major detriment to her husband.
Whichever side is delivering the allegations, they may be having an impact. Mustapha Ali, the secretary-general of the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia told a press conference Wednesday that a revolt is brewing in UMNO because Najib and his wife had become a liability to the Barisan. Reportedly, Mustapha told the reporters, party officials fear the long string of scandals are affecting voter sentiment.
That, of course, is the opposition trying to stir up trouble in the Barisan. An UMNO source told Asia Sentinel that “this is the opposition intensifying their attacks before the election. They are weak ”
But clearly the surat layang are flying indeed.
Monday, 12 September 2011 09:58
07 October 2012 By Thomas Fann | TinyURL TM
This is not a new issue, in fact it
is 21 years old.
It all began when the Barisan
Nasional government, with its overwhelming majority in Parliament, passed by 99
to 25 votes the 1991 Land Acquisition Amendment Bill, or Act A804. The
rephrasing of sections of the Land Acquisition Act 1960 basically gave
incontestable power to state governments to seize private land for development
by private companies and individuals. Lands originally acquired for public
purposes can also be used for private development.
Before Act A804, land could only be
acquired for public purposes or for public utilities like building of roads,
schools, hospitals, pipelines, water or power plants, etc. With the addition of
“..for any purpose which in the opinion of the State Authority is beneficial to
the economic development of Malaysia”, no land is safe.
The term “beneficial to the economic
development of Malaysia” is as subjective as you can get. A piece of land can
be acquired to build a posh five-star hotel, an amusement park or a golf resort
because in the opinion of the government it would bring in the tourist dollar
and create jobs for locals, not to mention enriching the private companies who
would, of course, be paying taxes.
To really make the Land Acquisition
Act water-tight for the acquirer, Section 68A says that acquisitions cannot be
invalidated by reason of any kind of subsequent disposal or use (etc) of the
acquired land. This new provision aims at preventing the bona fide of the
acquirer or of the purported purpose from being challenged in court. You can
only challenge the quantum of the compensation offered, the measurement of the
land area, the person whom compensation is payable to, and the apportionment of
the compensation.
The leader of the opposition then,
YB Lim Kit Siang in opposing Act A804, gave this dire warning – “When it
becomes law, it will destroy the constitutional right to property enjoyed by
Malaysians for 34 years since Merdeka, and become the mother of all corruption,
abuses of power, conflicts-of-interest and unethical malpractices in Malaysia…”
Was Kit Siang just over-reacting or
scare-mongering when he said that or is it a prophecy that was and is being
fulfilled till today?
The impetus for the passing of Act
A804 was for the acquisition of 33,000 acres of land in the Gelang Patah area
for the construction of the second link with Singapore and the construction of
a new township by UEM, wiping out 19 villages and displacing 10,000 people.
The Johor State Government offered
the affected small-holders compensation averaging RM26,000 per acre or 64 sen
per square foot, far below the then market value of RM100,000 per acre for
agricultural land. In a subsequent civil suit by one of the affected land
owners against the Government of Johor in 1995, it was revealed that a
subsidiary of Renong was offering the intended development for sale at RM17 per
square foot, a whopping 28 times more than what the original land owners got!
For a glimpse into some of the
backroom wheeling and dealing that went on with these deals, one should read
the court papers of cases like Honan Plantations vs Govt of Johor; and Stamford
Holdings vs Govt of Johor. Names of notable personalities like Muhyiddin, Syed
Mokhtar Albukhary and Yahya Talib in secret meetings were mentioned.
For the Second Link and the highway
that linked it to the North-South Highway to be built, the Land Acquisition Act
was necessary. Compensation to be fair had to not only take into account the
then prevailing market value but also the loss of livelihood for the people who
used to live off the land.
With Act A804, the government seized
a lot more land than was required for the custom and immigration complex and
the highway. We can safely say it seized almost 24,000 acres more for a private
corporation, UEM, albeit it is a GLC (government-linked corporation).
Today UEM Land, as the master
developer of 23,875-acre Nusajaya (as the acquired land is now called) boasts
of its enormous land bank and potential billions in profit from its
development. We want to ask this simple poignant question – whose lands were
these originally, and what about the 10,000 over affected villagers? Shouldn’t
these people be beneficiaries of development and not its victims? Perhaps some
of the villagers are now working in Legoland, who knows?
Whilst some of the people behind the
scenes went on to achieve high office in the land and some made it to the top
ten billionaires list, thousands of other nameless Malaysians are without land
and opportunities. Land grab is non-discriminatory, Malaysians from all racial,
religious and social strata are affected.
Gelang Patah was just the precursor
to a new ball game called Land Grab and the same modus operandi was used for
Seremban 2, Bandar Aman Jaya in Sg Petani, Pantai Kundor/Pantai Tanah Merah and
Paya Mengkuang in Melaka, Kerpan in Kedah, Sepang in Selangor, lands acquired
for the MRT project, Jalan Sultan, native customary lands in Semenanjung, Sabah
and Sarawak, and many, many more.
Of course not all compulsory
acquisitions are unjust or not justifiable; but there should be a fair and
unskewed avenue for aggrieved land owners through the justice system to
question certain acquisitions. The courts now are somewhat constrained by Act
A804, and in almost all cases such acquisitions are not reversed.
Twenty years on, the same script is
being acted out in Johor again (a BN stronghold), this time to the east in
Pengerang. A total of 22,500 acres of land are being acquired for the
development of the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC). The anchor project
in this proposal is Petronas’ RAPID project which requires a sizable 6,424
acres.
Smallholders and plantations are
being offered between RM1.80 psf and RM8 psf for their land. Can Pengerang be
called Gelang Patah 2.0 where again on the pretext of development, a huge tract
of land is being taken from their original land owners and placed in the hands
of one or a few wealthy individuals and corporations? Is the PIPC the main play
or is property speculation the main play? Would the same PM who mooted the
Third Link to Singapore in 2009 make the announcement again after all the land
has been acquired? Who are the direct beneficiaries of such development?
All these are so “legal” that one
government official after another is spewing out that it is done properly under
the terms of the Land Acquisition Act 1960. It may be legal, but is it moral?
PM Najib made a statement during the
launch of the 6th International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities
Conference in Kuala Lumpur on the 4th of October 2012 – “Is the unbridled and
ruthless pursuit of extraordinary profits a form of corruption? I believe that
if we see corruption as fundamentally a moral problem, therefore anything that
promotes selfish interest at the expense of the well-being of others is morally
wrong. It was vapid (tasteless) self interest and greed that was truly at the
heart of corruption. “
Mr. Prime Minister, I could not
agree with you more.
How much is enough for the greedy?
How many more poor and defenseless villagers must be forcibly displaced and
robbed of the fruits of development to satisfy the insatiable appetites of the
greedy who uses the Land Acquisition Act to enrich themselves? Who will speak
up for the thousands who will be landless and many without a means of
livelihood?
It is evil when a law is crafted to
take away land from the poor without their consent, fair compensation or share
in its benefits so that a few might make it to Forbes’ list of billionaires. We
should all be foaming at our mouth with anger at this injustice but instead we
just thank God daily that it is not our land they have come to take, at least
not yet.
Thomas Fann blogs at
www.newmalaysia.org
