150 years jail for arch fraudster

Bernard Madoff receives maximum 150 year sentence

In a sign of the anger that the fraud has stirred, US marshals were positioned behind Madoff, who was dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, in court as a protective measure

• David Teather
• The Guardian, Tuesday 30 June 2009 17.03 BST
• Article history



Bernard Madoff faces Judge Denny Chin, in front of some of his victims, during his sentencing. Photograph: Christine Cornell/AFP/Getty Images The disgraced financier Bernie Madoff has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years in prison for masterminding a $65bn (£38bn) fraud that wrecked the lives of thousands of investors. The US district judge Denny Chin described the fraud as "staggering" and said the "breach of trust was massive" and that a message was being sent by the sentence. There had been no letters submitted in support of Madoff's character, he said. Victims in the courtroom clapped as the term was read out. The sentence, which means the 71-year old fraudster will end his days in prison, was handed down at an emotional hearing in a lower Manhattan courtroom, where victims were given the chance to tell how the fraud had destroyed their livelihoods. Dominic Ambrosino, an ex-prison officer, said he and his wife Ronnie Sue had their "entire life savings wiped out" by Madoff. Another said Madoff had "cheated so he could lead a life of luxury"; another still said Madoff had "discarded her like roadkill" and that she was now living on food stamps. In passing down the sentence, judge Chin referred to one instance where he had comforted a widow and then taken her money. He will serve his sentence in the US north-east. In a sign of the anger that the fraud has stirred, US marshals were positioned behind Madoff, who was dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, in court as a protective measure. According to reporters in the courtroom, Madoff sat looking down in front of him as his victims gave vent to their fury. Standing in front of the judge, Madoff appeared remorseful. "I have left a legacy of shame, as some of my victims have pointed out." He said he had made a terrible mistake and was tormented by what had happened. "I cannot make an excuse for my behaviour". He said had deceived his family and that his wife Ruth cried herself to sleep every night. He described reports that he and his wife were unsympathetic to victims as untrue". Madoff pleaded guilty in March to 11 counts of fraud, theft and money laundering. The sentencing, in what has been one of the biggest frauds ever seen on Wall Street, was eagerly anticipated. Described by victims in written testimony as a "thief and a monster", Madoff has become an emblem for the greed that pitched the world into recession. Nearly 9,000 victims have filed claims for losses in Madoff's corrupt financial empire. Assistant US attorney, Marc Litt, had been pressing for 150 years, due to the "scope, duration and nature" of the fraud. Madoff's lawyer, Ira Lee Sorkin, had called for leniency and was hoping to keep the sentence as low as 12 years, asking the judge to "set aside the emotion and hysteria attendant to this case." He described Madoff in court as a "deeply flawed human being" and said the maximum sentence was "absurd". He also noted that he had given himself up and was co-operating with authorities, although judge Chin said he had not told everything that he knew about the fraud. Madoff's famous victims included the film directors Steven Speilberg and Pedro Almodóvar, actors Kevin Bacon and Zsa Zsa Gabor and the author Elie Wiesel.

Ruined lives

But there were many more anonymous and less wealthy people who had their lives ruined by Madoff, including teachers, famers and mechanics. Many invested in so called "feeder funds", which often did little to advertise their connection to Madoff, and they had little or no idea that their money had been lost until they received letters from their financial advisors. The scandal has been linked to at at least two suicides, including a British former soldier, he said he could not face the prospect of bankruptcy after losing his savings in the Madoff fraud. In written statements ahead of the sentencing, more than 100 victims detailed how Madoff had wrecked their lives and in many cases squandered their pensions. Jack Cutter, an 80-year-old from Colorado and former engineer, said he had been forced back to work and taken a job as a meat clerk in a local grocery store. Korean war veteran Allan Goldstein said he and his wife had been forced to sell their home and were living in their daughter's spare room. Another, Julie Behar, wrote that Madoff deserved a "sentence befitting a thief and murderer" while a Connecticut doctor said the entire retirement plan of his practice had been wiped out, leaving 140 employees with nothing. Professional investors were also fooled. A fund managed by Nicola Horlick, described as the City's "superwoman", had 9% of its cash invested with Madoff. The demand for access to the sentencing were so high that two additional rooms were provided for defrauded investors, media and spectators to watch on closed-circuit television. The focus of the investigation is now expected to shift to Madoff's wife Ruth and the couple's two sons, Andrew and Mark, who both worked for the business. They claim they had no knowledge of the fraud and have not faced any charges but many victims are sceptical that Madoff could have managed the scheme on his own. His sons have not visited him in prison. The only other person to face charges has been an accountant accused of helping to mismanage Madoff's books.

Fixture on the New York scene

The disgraced financier built his career and his one-time glowing reputation from nothing. He raised money to set up his first investment company by taking summer jobs as a lifeguard on Rockaway Beach, a down at heal neighbourhood in Queens, and later installing sprinkler systems. During the 1990s, he served as chairman of Nasdaq, the electronic share trading marketplace that competes with the New York Stock Exchange. He also became well known for being something of a philanthropist, making multi-million dollar donation to hospitals, cancer charities and Jewish groups. He became a fixture on the New York social scene and met many of his investors at upmarket parties. He lived with his wife Ruth in a $7m home on New York's swanky Upper East Side and the couple also owned homes in the Hamptons on Long Island and in Palm Beach, Florida. His wife still lives in their Upper East Side home and recently snapped at tabloid photographers as they pursued her on the New York subway. Last weeek, a judge issued a preliminary $171bn fofeiture striping Madoff of all his personal property and $80m in assets his wife Ruth claimed was hers. His wife has been allowed to keep $2.5m in cash, according to an agreement with prosecutors. But six months after his arrest, prosecutors still do not know exactly how much money Madoff took or what his victims might hope to recover. It could months or even years to resolve all of the claims. When he admitted to the fraud, Madoff said it had begun in the 1990s, as he tried to navigate the recession. He said he had hoped he would be able to extricate himself from the scheme when the markets recovered but instead just got deeper in. As the years went by he realised that the day when his fraud was discovered "would inevitably come". He told the court at the time that he was "deeply sorry and ashamed".

Angry with the SEC

He had confessed to his sons late last year that the investment business was a "big lie". Madoff masterminded a huge "Ponzi" scheme. Instead of investing client's money in secrities, it was held with a bank and new deposits used to pay bogus returns to give the impression that the business was successful. At the time of his arrest in December, he claimed to manage $65bn of investors money, but in reality there was just $1bn left. The business employed 25 people in London's Mayfair. Madoff had claimed that his investments produced gains of roughly 1% a month for two decades, which many experts now say should have raised a red flag. Some have directed their fury at the securities and exchange commission, the US financial watchdog, which failed to spot the fraud. An internal investigation at the SEC is expected by the end of September. At the same time, Madoff, whose name, pronounced "made-off", might have been coined by Dickens for a financial crook, lived a lavish lifestyle and prosecutors have set about seizing assets including property and boats. Madoff ran his business like a club and would throw out investors who asked too many questions. Many invested through personal recommendation. Joyce Greenberg, a retired financial adviser in Texas said her family had begun investing money with Madoff in the 1970s after being introduced by her stepbrother. "I hate computers and I never tried to figure out what he was doing because the bookkeeping all added up," she said. Corporate America has suffered a series of massive frauds during the past decade, including scandals at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and more recently the financial empire run by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford. Former WorldCom chief Benrard Ebbers is serving 25 years for accounting fraud. Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison although the sentence was overturned. He remains in prison awaiting resentencing.

Bonus for Singapore civil servants

Singapore to give civil servants two months’ bonus

November 25, 2010

Singapore has raised its 2010 GDP growth forecast to 15 per cent over 2009. — Reuters pic

SINGAPORE, Nov 25 — Singapore civil servants will receive a two-month bonus at the end of the year, the biggest since 1993 when combined with two other payouts, the Straits Times reported today. The move comes as Singapore is benefitting from strong economic growth which is pushing up wages and boosting jobs growth.
The government expects GDP growth in 2011 to come in between 4-6 per cent year-on-year. It raised its full 2010 growth forecast to around 15 per cent year-on-year from a previous estimate of 13-15 per cent.
The state-controlled Straits Times said some 74,000 government employees received a bonus of half a month’s pay in July, as well as a S$300 (RM717) one-off payment. They will get a special variable payment of at least one month’s pay in March.
The newspaper said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean unveiled details of this year’s bonus yesterday.
“Perhaps this is a sign that the government wants to remain competitive with the private market as the labour market is pretty healthy right now,” said David Cohen, an economist at Action Economics.
“Maybe we will see some pressure on prices on that front, but I think overall its a positive sign of the strength of the economy — that the government finances can afford to be generous,” he said.
Singapore’s annual inflation rate eased to 3.5 per cent in October from a 20-month high of 3.7 per cent in September, but analysts said the rate could pick up next year and the central bank should maintain tight policy. — Reuters

Pol Sec to Finance Minister investigation coming to an end

MACC wraps up probe on Minister’s former political secretary

Submitted by shaza on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

Joseph Kaos Jr

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010 13:43:00

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has completed its probe into Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop’s former political secretary Hasbie Satar, the Dewan Rakyat was told this morning.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong, however, declined to elaborate further on the status of the investigations, other than saying the case has been forwarded to the deputy public
prosecutor for further action.
“The corruption probe into Hasbie Satar has been completed and it has been handed over to the prosecutor,” said Liew, who was responding to a question by Wee Choo Keong (Independent–Wangsa Maju).
Wee had earlier asked on the outcome of the MACC investigations into Selangor’s sand mining company, Kumpulan Semesta Sdn Bhd (KSSB), for alleged corrupt practices in its sand dealings during question time.
Liew said MACC opened six investigation files on KSSB – one being a general probe on KSSB, and five others on individuals.
“So far, two individuals have been charged in court and their trials are ongoing. The other cases are under investigation,” said Liew.
Liew also defended MACC for its lengthy probe into Hasbie and KSSB, which was questioned by Wee.
“Every time MACC begins a probe, there are many issues to be identified. Witnesses have to be called and documents looked into.
However, I am confident the investigations will be concluded so cases can be forwarded to the deputy public prosecutor.”
The MACC powers are limited to investigations and the commission does not have prosecution rights.
Hasbie was detained on Feb 12 but was released by MACC six days later on a RM50,000 bail.
According to media reports, MACC officers from Putrajaya raided an apartment in Teluk Air Tawar, Butterworth, Penang, and found cash in denominations of RM100, RM50, RM10 and RM5 totalling about RM2
MM

May 13 Remembrance

Focus on creating a mature society

A DAY like May 13, 1969 needs to be remembered, simply so that we do not make the same mistakes as our forefathers which led to this black day in our nation’s history. Many may not subscribe to the prime minister’s view that there need not be any official commemoration of the day’s events which gave birth to the New Economic Policy and affirmative action. Just like how some countries observe the Holocaust of World War II, a Racial Harmony Day on May 13, may seem like a good idea to emphasise that "never again" should we go down this dark road to death and destruction. But then again, we already have Aug 31, and now Sept 16, to mark our nationhood and oneness.
Hence one can understand why the prime minister does not feel the need to have another date to remind ourselves that our strength is in our multi-ethnicity.
This is because, there may be some quarters who would rather focus on May 13, than Merdeka Day or Malaysia Day. And seeing that there are parties who are looking to divide the nation and focus on the negative aspects of May 13 for political mileage, the prime minister probably thought it was in the best interest of the nation that this dark chapter remains in the back recesses of our memories.
Perhaps the focus should be creating a society which is mature enough to handle history and to counter those who try to exploit it for selfish reasons. We cannot run from our past, not even the dark ones. Emphasis must be on telling it as it is. But the verdict is still out on whether we as Malaysians are able to handle the truth – even the bitter truth and capitalise on it for the betterment of the nation.
sun2surf says

Non-Malays and the military service

Non-bumiputras must come forward
THE PUBLIC outrage at Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for his remark relating to the low number of non-bumiputras in the armed forces has yielded some positive responses. First it caused the nation to focus on the well-known fact that there are few non-bumiputras in the armed forces as well as their low turnout at recruitment centres. Last year for instance only 1.2% of the recruits were non-bumiputras. There used to be a time when there was a large number of pilots, engineers, technicians and doctors who were non-bumiputras. What has happened to change all that?

It must be in complete despair that Ahmad Zahid had lashed out with the stinging remark. If only a trickle of non-bumiputras are entering the armed forces there must be a reason especially when we know that they were there in bigger numbers a few decades ago.

Another positive response is that a better attempt is going to be made to recruit the non-bumiputras. While doing so there should, of course, be no compromise on the quality of the recruits. And because of the publicity given to the dearth of non-bumiputras in the armed forces, the whole country now expects them to come forward to be recruited. And they must if the country is to have a fighting force we can truly call national and a force we can all be proud of. And when they leave in a contingent to serve as part of a larger international peace keeping force overseas the whole country watches with pride as they march out to their carriers.

But while the country tries to unravel the mystery behind the low number of non-bumiputras in the armed forces, it must also mull over their scarcity in the other branches of government as well. The racial composition of the civil service, for instance, does not reflect the true character of multiracial Malaysia.

The teaching service could do with a few thousand more non-bumiputras to make it truly reflective of the national service. While it matters in terms of national unity, yet what is more important is the meaningful contribution they can make to education at the primary and secondary levels.

The country’s education standard was certainly better a few decades ago when it was served by a truly multiracial corps of teachers. It is indeed sad that even at the tertiary level there is a dearth of non-bumiputra teachers. We must change the trend. Let’s make 1Malaysia a truly inclusive concept and the way we do things in this country.
sun2surf

Siapa yang gugat kuasa raja?

Gugat kuasa Raja, Umno dicabar buktikan petualang

Nov 24, 10 

 

PAS hari ini melahirkan rasa kesal parti itu dengan isu gangguan perlembagaan dan kedudukan Raja-Raja Melayu seperti yang sering dibangkitkan, kata ketua penerangannya, Idris Ahmad.

Menurut beliau usaha Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang mengingatkan pihak-pihak tertentu yang cuba mengubah perlembagaan negara supaya tidak bersikap seperti 'tikus membaiki labu' sebenarnya cuba menimbulkan ketakutan di kalangan orang Melayu supaya tidak menyokong PAS dan Pakatan Rakyat.

"Sejak mutakhir isu Melayu dan kedaulatan Raja-Raja dibangkitkan sebagai usaha untuk menarik sokongan orang Melayu kepada Umno, kononnya Melayu dan Raja Berperlembagaan hanya selamat di bawah Umno, setelah isu pembangunan sudah lapok, kerana dunia semakin maju," katanya dalam satu kenyataan media hari ini.

Idris berkata satu ketika dahulu kononnya ada perlembagaaan baru seperti yang ditimbulkan oleh Mufti Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria tetapi sehingga hari ini perkara itu gagal dibuktikan.

“PAS mencabar mana-mana pihak yang ada bukti jika ada mana pihak yang hendak menggugat perkara yang telah dipersetujui bersama seperti kedudukan agama Islam, kedudukan Raja-Raja Melayu dan Hak Istimewa Raja-Raja Melayu silalah bawa ke pengadilan.

Isu derhaka

"Isu derhaka kepada Raja-Raja Melayu dibangkitkan dengan hebat ketika pilihanraya kecil Bukit Gantang, kononnya Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaludin derhaka kepada Sultan Perak. Mereka eksploit perkatan yang diucapkan oleh Nizar "Patik Mohon Sembah Derhaka", pada hal ini adalah istilah yang diajar oleh protokol istana ketika berbahasa dengan Raja apabila kita tidak sependapat dalam satu pandangan," kata Idris.

Menurut beliau, dalam sejarah politik Malaysia - “yang biadab dengan Raja-Raja Melayu ialah pemimpin Umno.” Malahan, dakwa Idris, Umno juga cuba mengambil alih kuasa mengistihar darurat daripada Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

Katanya, rakyat negara ini juga tidak lupa bagaimana Umno “membelasah Raja-Raja Melayu pada tahun 1983 kerana menolak cadangan supaya kuasa Yang Di-Pertuan Agong mengenai pengistiharan darurat dikurangkan.

"Begitu juga penyokong Umno pula mengatakan Sultan Terengganu binatang. Kenapa polis tidak tangkap mereka yang berdemonstrasi dan menghina sultan Terengganu kerana tidak melantik Datuk Seri Idris Jusuh sebagai Menteri Besar Terengganu?” soalnya.

Idris berkata sebenarnya, banyak lagi yang boleh dibongkarkan bagi membuktikan siapa yang sebenarnya menghina Raja-raja Melayu.MK

Chasing UMNO out of Sabah

Karim renews pledge to send Umno ‘packing’ from Sabah

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:11

By Joe Fernandez

KOTA KINABALU: Veteran politician Karim Ghani, 70, who quit Umno on Monday, has vowed for a second day in a row to send his former party packing from Sabah.
He renewed the pledge here last night at a PKR goodwill dinner which was witnessed by several senior leaders led by vice-president Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan.

Senior PKR activist and former health minister Chua Jui Meng was guest of honour. He was accompanied by party seniors Michael Bong from Sarawak and David Yeoh from Johor.

“I am the one who single-handedly brought Umno to Sabah,” said Karim before a full house at a popular seafood restaurant here. “I hope to send this party back to where it came from,” he said to applause.

He told the party faithful that he “had a score to settle with Umno”. “It’s payback time. We will start with the Batu Sapi by-election – 25 activists already on the ground – and work our way towards the next general election.”

Citing from Sabah’s recent political history, he pointed out that Berjaya was used to topple the United Sabah National Organisation (Usno), Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) was used to topple Berjaya, Umno was used “not to topple but grab power” from PBS, and “Pakatan Rakyat can topple Umno in Sabah”.

Karim’s beef with Umno is that the Peninsular-based party “has forgotten why it came to Sabah in the first place, that is, to help Usno members”. Instead, Umno is “playing footsie” with PBS, the very party that sidelined Usno for nine long years, added Karim. “Usno was also in the cold for nine years under the Berjaya administration.”

Karim recalled that when Usno went from 17 state seats, during the 1985 state election which toppled Berjaya, to 12 seats the following year in a snap election, the party leaders realised that it was the end for them. So, the decision was made to bring in Umno and get Usno members to join the former en bloc, he said. “I took the initiative to bring Umno to Sabah after PBS left BN in 1990 and was immediately sacked by Usno.”

Subsequently, then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had Usno de-registered when he realised that its members were returning to their old party after abandoning Umno, said Karim. “Now, all our attempts to re-register Usno have been thwarted by Umno and the Registrar of Societies.”

'Cium tangan culture must go'

Umno, noted Karim, has a certain system, culture and practices in place which endure despite the change of leaders. “When a new leader comes in, only the style changes, but the system, culture and practices continue.”

“This cium tangan (hand-kissing) culture must go,” said Karim. “The 2008 general election has opened up a window of opportunity for us. We must make use of it at the next 13th general election.”

Failure to capitalise on the next general election, he warned, would be to miss the window of opportunity and wait another 50 years for change.

He said this message must be communicated to the people by all available means – text messaging, blogs, FaceBook – besides word-of-mouth. “We must recapture the Spirit of 1963,” said Karim who has since added another eight points to the original 20 Points under which Sabah agreed to help form Malaysia in 1963. “We must win back our autonomy and increase the oil royalty to at least 20%.”

Karim appears to be the clearest indication that many local Muslims have decided to part company with Umno, which has often been accused of harbouring illegal immigrants with MyKads. The illegal immigrants are seen as the reason for their growing disenfranchisement.

Karim doesn’t see Umno being acceptable to the voters in Peninsular Malaysia either “since the Indians and Chinese are running away from the Barisan Nasional (BN)”. “The flower (Umno) bloomed and attracted the Indians and Chinese to the BN,” said Karim. “Now, it has wilted and will soon die. The Indians and Chinese are not going to stay with the BN.”
Sabah PKR deputy state chief Christina Liew, who organised the function, earlier issued an eight-point challenge to the state government in a brief speech, namely zero undertable money, no little Napoleons in government departments, deal with state agencies which have deviated from their objectives, no government competition with the private sector, and support the private sector.

She also urged against political interference in the award of government contracts, called for the removal of politicians with vested interests, and wants the Ali Baba system of negotiated contracts done away.

One-to-one fight

Former deputy federal minister Kalakau Untol, in his address, described the night as “a gathering of reformists from every party in the country”.

“The task ahead is how to tackle the BN,” said Kalakau who earlier this year quit the United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko) to join PKR. “Negotiations are still going on among opposition parties to ensure a one-to-one fight in Batu Sapi.”

Jeffrey said the forthcoming Batu Sapi parliamentary by-election will be “a test of whether the opposition parties can compromise and work together”.

He expects 40% of the Muslim votes – Usno members – in Sekong, one of the two state seats in Batu Sapi, to vote opposition “now that Karim is with us”. The Chinese-majority Karamunting is the other state seat in Batu Sapi.

Jeffrey also said Umno will not only die, it must die before the country sees political change. “They are talking about a New Political Model (NPM) after flogging the New Economic Model (NEM) for months,” said Jeffrey. “This (NPM) will never happen.”

Hence, Jeffrey’s reading is that it would be impossible for Umno to change despite all the party’s talk about a NPM.

Wallowing in poverty
Jeffrey also took a swipe at the federal government's plan to build a 100-storey skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur “while Sabahans wallow in poverty”.

“At the same time, they say they have no money to pay civil servants the bonus that they deserve,” said Jeffrey. “In another unprecedented move, the federal government has money to make allocations available to the private sector.”

The Sabah strongman suspects that Umno is saddling the country with more debts because “it knows it’s going to lose the next general election”. Moreover, it is an irony that Umno is emphasing on a high-income economy “when we (Sabah) are yet to get out from our poverty trap”.

Chua said Sabah has gone under the BN from being the second richest (1970) state in Malaysia to the poorest (2010). He expects this state of affairs to continue since the recent Budget 2011 only allocates a combined 8% of the financial resources to Sabah and Sarawak.

He pledged better days ahead for the two states as Pakatan's Common Policy Framework was the opposition alliance’s “roadmap to Putrajaya”.

Also read:

Veteran Sabah Umno leader quits, vows to boot out party

Vitrolic debate on Warisan Merdeka Tower

(AFP) - THE Malaysian government's proposal to build a 100-storey mega tower in the capital has triggered a backlash from the opposition and on a fast-expanding Facebook petition.
Plans for the tower, to be built by 2020 at a cost of US$1.6 billion (RM5 billion), were unveiled by Prime Minister Najib Razak during last week's budget speech, which included a number of major infrastructure projects.
The building, named 'Warisan Merdeka' or 'Heritage of Independence', would be the tallest in Malaysia, dwarfing the iconic Petronas Twin Towers which were the world's tallest buildings at 88 storeys when completed in 1998.
Mr Najib said that such projects exemplify the spirit of 'Malaysia Boleh' or 'Malaysia Can!', a national campaign conceived by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, a huge advocate of mega projects.
Mr Mahathir, whose own schemes included the Proton national car and the multi-billion-dollar administrative capital Putrajaya - both of which have failed to thrive - has warmly endorsed the new skyscraper.
But a Facebook page created last Saturday, to which more than 9,600 people had signed up by Tuesday afternoon, has seen an outpouring of criticism from Malaysians who say the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Angry comments

A sampling of angry comments from Malaysians:
'Malaysia needs better education, better health care, better public transportation, safer neighbourhoods, cleaner water, but not a taller building.
'We don't need another white elephant!' said the page, which about 600 people were joining each hour.
'I will support this project if you give me the contract!' - Facebook user named Chee Chuan Tat, referring to endemic crony capitalism linked to the Barisan Nasional coalition.
'It's taxpayers' money, and taxpayers say NO.' - Adrian Matthew Yee.
'What the building will do is to destroy the character of the area while creating a traffic nightmare for all.
There are more than enough office spaces in downtown KL and this will cause a glut of office space, becoming a white elephant like many of the other government projects.' - Opposition lawmaker Fong Kui Lun, in whose constituency the building would be located near the city's chaotic Chinatown, said it would be an eyesore and totally unsuited to the crowded downtown district.
'The country does not need another mega project as the era of mega projects is gone and most Malaysians are not impressed by them any more.' - Tony Pua, also from the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance, said. -- AFP

More crony business template

Cancer institute's price doubles to RM700 million

Joseph Sipalan
Oct 20, 10

PARLIAMENT The opposition bench today launched new salvoes at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his far-reaching government transformation plan (GTP), this time claiming that the construction cost of the National Cancer Institute in Putrajaya had jumped by 100 percent to RM700 million.

PKR Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution (right) said the institute was initially supposed to cost RM340 million as indicated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan of former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Saifuddin said the project, which was launched by Abdullah on Jan 9, 2007, was scheduled to be completed over 30 months by June 2009.

“But on March 10, 2009, the then Deputy Health Minister (Dr Abdul) Latif Ahmad said in Parliament that the institute is in the final stages of construction and will cost RM700 million,” he said at a press conference in Parliament.

“Twenty four months after the project was announced, the cost escalated by 100 percent,” he said.

Saifuddin, who is also PKR secretary-general, said the way the project was managed by Kiara Teratai Sdn Bhd was highly questionable as he has seen evidence that the company was in no way involved in the construction of the institute.

“We have gone through some documents, and we suspect that Kiara Teratai did not run the project and instead handed it over to IJM Corporation,” he alleged, saying it could be the reason behind the huge jump in construction costs.

Saifuddin pointed out that a background check done on Kiara Teratai's two directors, Ahmad Zaid Salleh Hamdi and Hashim Hassan, revealed that they have ties with Maritime Management DMCCO (MMC) and Tradewinds.

“These companies are linked to bumiputera billionare Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, which makes these directors very well connected,” he said.

'Tender process only benefits cronies'

Khalid Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) meanwhile queried the government for refusing to take up the offer from the main contractor of the Shah Alam Hospital to complete the controversial RM482 million project.

He said GM Healthcare, which was engaged by developer Sunshine Fleet as the main contractor of the project, had offered to complete the project within 18 months with a RM3 million discount on the project cost.

“The main contractor is giving a good deal, and yet the government has not given them a response. Instead, they want to re-open the tender for the project, which will be offered to selected parties and it will definitely be offered at a higher price,” Khalid (left) said.

Mohd Abdul Wahid Endut (PAS-Kuala Terengganu) added that the RM3.7 billion road upgrading project in Terengganu was not spared the BN's gross mismanagement, with many of the 17 packages under the project left uncompleted while their crony contractors disappear with the profits.

Taking the example of one RM59 million package under the project, he said the contractor had only completed 15 percent of the road but simply left after collecting timber in the surrounding forests.

Khalid said the government is well aware of the “cancer” that infects the government, as proven by Najib's GTP and his many other transformation plans.

“But they do not have the political will to bring about the transformation they talk so much about,” he said.

MK

Face Book obliged Malaysia to block debate

Facebook blocks Malaysia's anti-mega-tower page

Trinity Chua
Oct 20, 10

Social networking site Facebook has blocked a fast-growing page set up by a group of Malaysians against the controversial 100-storey tower proposed by the government.

In just four days, the page attracts more than 30,000 fans, or about one in every 300 Facebook users in Malaysia. It aims to register one million fans.

While Facebook users can still join the '1M Malaysians reject 100-storey Mega Tower' page, the page owners are however barred from posting any message on the site.

The anonymous owner has described Facebook's action as a new form of Internet censorship.

“While new media offers room for social movements, the authoritarian governance by the Internet giants like Facebook has sunk to a new form of censorship,” said one of the creators of the page yesterday after discovering he was blocked from the site.

Facebook has published a brief statement on the page: "Your publishing rights have been blocked due to a violation of the Pages Terms of Use".

Facebook neither specifies the details of violation nor provides a channel of appeal.

"One is presumed innocent until guilty in any civilised society but in Facebook, you are guilty once charged. Not only you cannot claim trial, you don't even know your exact offence! Is this not cyber-tyranny?" asked the page owners.

The '1M Malaysians reject 100-storey Mega Tower' page was set up a day after the Prime Minister Najib Razak's 2010 Budget speech where he announced that the mega-tower would cost RM5 billion.

In a country commonly perceived as divided by ethnicity and faiths, the page has attracted fans from all communities.

Many of the page members argued that the RM5 billion can be better used for purposes other than building the mega-tower.

“This type of money should be spend on the rakyat. Better schools, hospitals, transportation, etc. By upgrading the needs of the rakyat, the money will also stimulate the economy,” said one user, Chris Chin.

“RM5 billion to build the 1Tower while only RM250 million for all schools nationwide. That's just 5 percent of the tower's budget! Who is going to grow Malaysia's economy in the future – the tower or our children?” asked Syed Faisal.

The page picked up 1,000 fans an hour at peak periods after its existence was reported by websites such as Malaysiakini, Merdeka Review and Malaysian Digest.

Najib has defended the mega-tower in the wake of severe criticism. He said the project will have a multiplier effect on the economy.

"We want the area to become a business hub," he said. "So this project is not a waste but is one which will benefit the people."

Not the first censorship by Facebook

This is not the first time Facebook has blocked pages created by Malaysian dissident groups.

In September 2010, another Facebook page, 'Malaysian for Beng Hock', was blocked by Facebook administrators.

Attracting more than 14,880 supporters, the page aims to seek answers behind the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock, an aide of an opposition politician, in July 2009. Teoh was found dead outside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's Selangor headquarters after an 11-hour interrogation.

Last year, Facebook blocked another similar page, 'Justice for Beng Hock'. The page, now defunct, attracted more than 10,000 supporters.

Two months ago, Facebook took similar action against yet another page, 'Save Jamal on Air'.

Radio DJ Jamal, whose real name is Jamaluddin Ibrahim, was sacked allegedly due to allowing discussion of racially-sensitive issues in his talk show.

The page, which has 11,015 fans, is now dormant after it was blocked.

A billion ringgit palace for Agong

New Istana Negara to cost RM797m

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:45

KUALA LUMPUR: A massive new palace being built for Malaysia's king is expected to be completed next June, at a total cost of RM797 million, Parliament was told today.

The Istana Negara, or national palace, which is taking shape on a hilltop in a Kuala Lumpur suburb is an enormous complex of dome-topped buildings linked to the city's highways with special access roads.

The palace sprawls over a 100,000 square metre (one million square foot) site which was annexed in the 1990s in what has since become a prime residential area.

Works Minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said the palace is expected to be completed on June 30 next year.

The figure has risen from an earlier allocation of RM650 million, he said in a written reply yesterday after a query from the opposition.

"The additional allocation is needed to fulfil costs which were not included in the earlier contract, among them being the security system, utility payments and also interior decoration," he said.

The historic project also entails the construction of a highway flyover and an access road, at a cost of an extra RM138.5 million.

Malaysia's opposition has criticised the government's decision to award the development contract without a tender, and said the company which will handle the construction is controlled by a senior figure in the ruling party.

The Star daily said the government had explained that there was no open tender because the special project was subject to security considerations.

Malaysia has a unique rotating monarchy shared among nine sultans, who are the royal rulers and guardians of Islam in their respective states. They each take turns to rule for five years as the nation's king.

The current monarch, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin from Terengganu, was sworn in in 2006 at the age of 45, becoming Malaysia's second-youngest king ever.

His current palace is a colonial mansion built in the 1920s which was originally the home of a self-made ethnic-Chinese tycoon, and was later bought by the government.

- AFP

Parliament rejected special motion on Orang Asli

Harakahdaily

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19:  Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia has refused to allow a motion on granting Bumiputera status to Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia, drawing criticism from Pakatan Rakyat members of parliament. ORIGINAL PEOPLE BUT NOT SONS OF THE SOIL ... The group from Orang Asli at the parliament today Earlier, a 27-member delegation from the Orang Asli community was denied entry to the Parliament despite being guests of Telok Kemang member of parliament Kamarul Baharin Abbas. Led by Simpan Suda, deputy chairman of the Orang Asli Land Action Front, they were later allowed in after the police were convinced they were not protestors. The group wanted to follow parliamentary proceedings on an urgent motion by Kamarul over their demand to be recognised as Bumiputera under Article 153 and 160 of the Federal Constitution. The Federal Constitution currently recognises only Malays and natives in Sabah and Sarawak as Bumiputera. Pandikar however dismissed the motion, saying the matter had already been raised during the last debate. A disappointed Simpan said issues revolving around the Orang Asli people should have ended after 53 years of independence. “If the issues regarding the natives in Sabah and Sarawak can be solved in the Constitution, why is the government not ready to solve the demands of the Orang Asli from the peninsula,” he asked. Simpan said following the Speaker's rejection, his group would offer help to the PAS candidate in the upcoming Galas by-election. PAS's Kuala Kerai MP Dr Hatta Ramli said the speaker should have allowed the motion to be debated. “This shows the true colour of the ruling party even though they (Orang Asli) had travelled from far (to be at the parliament),” said Hatta, adding that the group's demand was reasonable as Orang Asli were natives in the country. “To recognise the native people as Bumiputera is only natural,” Hatta added. Meanwhile, Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafaar congratulated Kamarul for his commitment to represent Pakatan Rakyat in defending Orang Asli rights.

Billionaire Chief Minister

Letter reveals Taib's billionaire status

Oct 16, 10

A letter that a former employee of Taib Mahmud's family business empire wrote to the Sarawak chief minister in 2006 reveals the former's billionaire status, claims the website Sarawak Report.

The letter which was written by the late Ross Boyert also reveals a meeting between the chief minister's Canadian son-in-law Sean Murray with “multi-billionaire banker” David Rockefeller to effect a transfer in excess of US$100 million that Boyert claimed was “seemingly effortless”.

The website has published the key points of the 388-page letter that Boyert had written to Taib to complain about his sacking as chief operating officer (COO) of Sakti International, the Taib family's United States-based property company.

The Sarawak Report article follows news of the 60-year-old's untimely death last Sunday.

Boyert (left), in the letter, explains how Murray in 1994 had “bragged about the chief minister's extreme wealth”, and disclosed his meeting with Rockefeller.

Murray, husband to Taib's daughter Jamilah, had at that time approached Boyert to help run Sakti International.

“The position I accepted in 1994 required the formation of an operating company to administer and renovate the Group's assets... The renovations were to be fully funded by equity capital which I was assured was in ample supply,” wrote Boyert in the letter.

“In his discussion of the family wealth now nearing US$1 billion, Sean told the story of the meeting with David Rockefeller and how his request for funds to be placed in his bank was met with the seemingly effortless transfer of what I was told exceeded US$100,000,000.

“He explained how the family controlled its wealth through a series of interlocking offshore trusts giving the example of Sakti International Corporation, held by Sakti Holdings which is held in turn by Sogo Holdings Limited etc.”

Knew too much?

Sarawak Report speculates that Boyert, in confiding all that he knew about the family business and bitter family rivalries, may have angered the chief minister and put the final nail in the former COO's coffin.

“It is likely however, that by confiding in this way to Abdul Taib Mahmud (right), a man he had met but a few times, and by revealing that he was fully aware of the chief minister's great wealth and commanding role in the company (which was meant to be a closely-guarded secret), Boyert had naively sealed his own fate,” says the website.

“Instead of gaining sympathy, it is likely he would have incurred the old man's ire and convinced him that with all this knowledge, he was a dangerous liability to his company and reputation,” it added.

It claims that Boyert's letter backfired and did not convince Taib to intercede, but that the chief minister instead “left Murray to pursue a devastating counter-suit against Boyert's complaint of unfair dismissal, accusing him on numerous counts of embezzlement and dishonesty.”

It says that the confrontation between Boyert and Murray reveals details of both the Murray family's involvement in Taib's business empire as well as the Sarawak family's true position.

“There is no reason to believe he (Murray) or his family members have controlling shares in the other property companies, despite an increasingly active and important managerial role.”

“Sarawak Report therefore concludes that it may suit the Taibs and flatter the Murrays to conceal the real ownership of this property empire by describing it as a 'Murray family business', but that employees like Ross Boyert knew exactly who is in charge,” it said.

The FBI connection

“Thanks to Boyert we now also know that in an apparent attempt to conceal their ownership further, the Taibs transferred Sakti International to an offshore company based in Jersey in the Channel Islands, named Sogo Holdings Limited in 1997.

“Here the company's ownership is registered under Deutsche Bank International Limited, performing a paid service to act as 'nominee'.

The website says Ross also revealed that Sakti's sister corporation Wallyson's, that owns the Abraham Lincoln Building housing the FBI's top security facility in Seattle, has been transferred to a British Virgin Island company called Rodinmass.

Boyert's letter, says Sarawak Report, made clear the sensitivity of Taib's alleged ownership of this key FBI facility.

“This banker, Mr Bob Koch, knew me, and knew the whole story of ... the Abraham Lincoln Building and our relationship to the FBI.” wrote Boyert.

According to the website, the former employee also complained to Taib that having built up a US$80 million company “for the family they, who already had so much wealth, would turn him away with nothing and then attempt to destroy him.”

According to Sarawak Report, Boyert had for 12 years served as the sole manager of a number of the office blocks and residences owned by the Taib family in San Francisco and Seattle.

He was found dead last Sunday in a Los Angeles hotel room with a bag tied around his head.

"It is speculated that he may have taken his own life, but the coroner is withholding judgement pending further investigations," said Sarawak Report, that has recently published a series of explosive revelations on Sarawak's 'first family'.

The story of Malay arrogance

October 16, 2010

The MAS Story: Of Arrogance and Folly

by Din Merican

In the early 1990s, Tajuddin Ramli was the poster boy of then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s plan for Bumiputera wealth creation. He was the iconic bumiputera businessman and a  key “payung” (mentor) for other bumiputera entrepreneurs. For that he was practically handed the post of President of the Malay Chamber of Commerce.

Why bother? Do they matter? Making Obscene Money under Crony Capitalism

Tajuddin would inspire the Malays to achieve the 30% bumiputera equity which was the target under the  now controversial New Economic Policy. The economic objective to eliminate poverty amongst the Malays and give them a share of the economic pie became  the primary means for  enrich ing only a few Malays , especially those associated with the dominant ruling party, UMNO and their cronies (crony capitalism). An economic pie meant for the Malays who constitute 50% of Malaysia’s population of 27 million people would now be in the hands of only a handful of Malays. Now that can be a big pie!

Mentor for other bumiputera entrepreneurs!

Making Obscene Money under Crony Capitalism

In 1994, Tajuddin was handed on a silver platter control of the national airlines, Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS). MAS was flushed with cash then. To be exact, according to various reports, including the MACC report made by the MASKargo’s Managing Director, Shahari Sulaiman, MAS had RM600 million in cash. That was a lot of money at that time. By 2001, Tajuddin had to leave and MAS was burdened with a RM8 billion debt. That was a lot of money to lose at that time. Despite the losses, the government bought back MAS from Tajuddin at RM8 per share when the market price at that time was just slightly below RM4 per share. That was a 100% profit for Tajuddin. That was a lot of money to make after having caused MAS to lose RM8 billion!

Tajuddin sued MAS

So, MAS sued Tajuddin Ramli and his cohorts. According to the reports, the former Chairman counter sued several parties including Danaharta and the Government of Malaysia for RM13.6 billion. In his  counter suit, Tajuddin alleged that he was just a government agent and nominee. By his rationale, he did nothing wrong. If he plundered, he did so with the government’s blessings. So, what’s wrong with that? After all, Abdullah Badawi also did the same thing in the LSG Skychef- Ibrahim Badawi deal with MAS!

Mega-financial scandal : the RM8 billion MAS-Tajuddin Scam !

Then last month, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia, MAS announced that Tajuddin had also filed a countersuit for RM 500 million claiming that he had been defamed by MAS when MAS complained to the MACC. That Bursa filing also disclosed that Tajuddin’s countersuit was in retaliation for MAS suing him for various breaches of fiduciary and statutory duties and for defrauding MAS in several related party transactions.

I was getting a bit loss there because MAS Bursa’s filing said that MAS wanted damages against Tajudin for RM174,620,695.00 for the losses caused by Tajuddin in the Hahn Airport project and for an indemnity for the amount MAS had to pay to an ICC Arbitration involving ACL Advanced Cargo Logistics GmbH. As far as MAS is concerned,  ACL is a Tajudin camouflaged company. Instead, Tajuddin wants RM500 million from MAS for having caused MAS to suffer that loss? Now this is becoming a bit dizzy. Tajuddin caused loss to MAS and yet he now wants MAS to pay him because MAS complained against him to the MACC? Does that make sense to you? Maybe, but not to me.

The Bursa Malaysia filing also disclosed that Tajuddin’s counter suit for RM 500 million was in retaliation for MAS when MAS complained to the MACC

Then it all  began to make sense when RPK’s postings on September  8 and September  14 showed that Tajuddin had claimed in his court papers, in his affidavit to be exact, that he was given immunity by UMNO. Then it all made further sense when RPK posted letters from Tajuddin’s lawyers, Messrs Lim Kian Leong, that Tajuddin is seeking a “Global Settlement” with the assistance of the Courts in a “‘mediation process”.

Tajuddin’s Lawyers, Messrs Lim Kian Leong, that Tajuddin is seeking a “Global Settlement” with the assistance of the Courts in a “‘mediation process”.

“Global Settlement” Sought

Now, what this “Global Settlement” is about is not yet known. But it is not too difficult to imagine that Tajuddin is beginning to be worried that he may not be protected forever especially since he had maligned Dr Mahathir and others as being responsible for his actions in MAS. He is worried that Dato’ Seri Idris Jala who was the former MAS MD, is now the Minister in charge of the National Key Result Areas (NKRA)  and PERMUDAH and knows all Tajuddin’s misconduct in MAS. He is worried that former IGP Musa Hassan who had been so unceremoniously bundled off  is no longer there to provide him cover. He is worried that his photo with A-G Gani Patail had been made public. He is worried that the relationship of A-G Gani with his henchman, that ex-policeman who was once charged for corruption, Shahidan Shafie, has been exposed. He is worried sick that his web of deceit in covering up his ownership in the so called German company, ACL GmbH ,has now been discovered. Tajuddin Ramli is a worried man. So he wants a “Global Settlement”.

TajudinRamli is worried sick that his web of deceit in covering up his ownership in the so called German company, ACL GmbH ,has now been discovered.

It is not too difficult to imagine that the “Global Settlement” will result in all the criminal cases against him which have been identified by Dato Ramli Yusuff, former Director CCID PDRM,  being remain buried. That his crimes which have been NFA’d by the AG Gani Patail will not be re-opened. It is not too difficult to imagine  why the MACC did nothing about MAS’s complaints of the collusion between the PDRM and A-G Gani Patail. It is not to difficult to imagine that deals will be struck to cover all these up. It is in this context that the revelations in an Open Letter by former Kuala Lumpur CID Chief, Dato’ Mat Zain Ismail, become a powerful testimony of the manipulation of the country’s criminal justice system by no other than former IGP Musa Hassan and AG Gani Patail.

“Global Settlement” will result in all the criminal cases against Tajuddin Ramli which have been identified by Dato Ramli Yusuff, former Director CCID PDRM, being buried. That his crimes which have been NFA’d by the AG Gani Patail will not be re-opened.

Dato Mat Zain’s Open Letter

Dato Mat Zain holds Musa and Gani  responsible when he asked this rhetorical question:

“Apa sudah jadi dengan Sistem Keadilan Jenayah kita?…siapa yang sepatutnya dipersalahkan? Siapa yang menyebabkan Sistem Keadilan Jenayah kita menjadi kucar kacir sehinggakan sesiapa juga boleh mempermain-mainkannya tanpa takut kepada sebarang tindakan dan hukuman undang-undang?

Saya tidak teragak-agak untuk menyatakan bahawa keadaan ini berpunca daripada ‘precedent’ yang dibuat oleh Tan Sri Gani Patail dan Tan Sri Musa Hassan sendiri.” .

On October 8 2010, Mat Zain bin Ibrahim wrote a 20-page open letter that blows the lid on many issues. You have to read this letter to believe it. In that letter, the former senior cop tells all about long-lodged reports that have only gathered dust in the back-offices of the authorities. Why - because these involved the untouchables, namely Dr Mahathir, Rafidah Aziz, Rahim Thamby Chik, Eric Chia, Attorney-General Gani Patail, recently-retired IGP Musa Hassan ... the list goes on ...

So what do we have here now with Tajuddin Ramli? He is still a wealthy man while those who pursued him — ex-CCID Director Ramli Yusuff and lawyer Rosli Dahlan — ended up in court facing trumped up charges. Tajuddin could get away with murder because Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was also plundering MAS. Others in UMNO were also plundering MAS. And they are in power and can still manipulate the criminal justice system.  RPK’s MACC Part 14 also disclosed the manipulations by those in the corridors of power of the criminal justice system.

Dato Murad Khalid reappears

RPK exposed that Dato’ Murad Khalid formerly Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia was forced to sign a Statutory Declaration (SD) in order to crucify Anwar Ibrahim. These are all connected to the VK Lingam’s tapes of fixing appointments in the Courts and in the A-G Chambers.

In order to do justice for his own sake, Datuk Murad Khalid signed a Statutory Declaration (SD) in order to crucify Anwar Ibrahim. These are all connected to the VK Lingam’s tapes on fixing appointments in the Courts and in the A-G Chambers.

When talking about Dato’ Murad’s SD, RPK said this – “What happened to lawyer Rosli Dahlan who was brutally arrested and charged for defending his client, Dato’ Ramli Yusuff, is not the first. The only difference is that Rosli Dahlan is fighting back. He is not taking things lying down as some have done in the past.” On this part, I am about to differ with RPK.

Lawyer Rosli Dahlan from Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill

I am not too sure now if Rosli still has the stamina to fight back. I noted from the MAS Bursa announcement the part which states this: “MAS has been advised by its solicitors, Messrs Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, that it has a good defence to Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli’s counter claim.

MAS has instructed its solicitors to take the necessary action to set the matter down for trial as soon as possible, so as to avoid further interlocutory proceedings that have already delayed this matter for over 4 years and which may further delay this matter.”

Tajuddin’s Countersuit of RM500 million for Defamation

I  spoke to several lawyer friends who said that Tajuddin’s counterclaim of RM500 million for defamation is frivolous. Usually frivolous claims are struck out. Yet I see from that announcement that Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill is not taking that course of action. Is it because Hishammuddin is instructing his former firm to not pursue this? Is it because this is part of the deal, the “Global Settlement” mentioned by Tajuddin’s lawyers. That MAS announcement did not mention Rosli Dahlan’s name, but I have no doubt that Rosli is the lawyer responsible for pursuing Tajuddin in that case.

Is that why the MACC is dragging Rosli’ case which has now again been postponed to December 28? Quite clearly, nobody works at that time of the year and it can be anticipated that Rosli’s case will drag on until the year 2011 and may be beyond. Is the MACC being used like how it was used against Dato’ Murad Khalid to secure Rosli’s cooperation not to push the MAS case against Tajuddin too hard? Is this also part of the “Global Settlement”?

MACC is dragging Rosli’ case which has now again been postponed to December 28, 2010 !!

Rosli’s Curt Response

I tried calling Rosli to find out about all these. I wanted to clear the air about them. I wanted to be assured that Rosli is not succumbing to pressure and caving in. But Rosli gave me a curt standard lawyer’s phrase that he can’t discuss his professional work. I respected that, but I suspect there is more to it. I suspect that he is tiring out and emotionally depleted. I suspect that there is something fishy in this “Global Settlement” and that in the end everything will be buried.

I want to remind Rosli that I have been writing about his case because I believe he will stand up against gross injustice. That he would not take things lying down. Yes, I will not deny that was my agenda for reporting his case. I believe writing about Rosli could inspire other Malaysians to speak up against the wrongs that have been perpetrated. I believe that Rosli could play a role in the Third Force in the next General Election.

I wanted to prod him in that direction. Rosli is the right recipe for an election candidate. If Loh Guo Burne can be a PKR candidate and Member of Parliament by just snooping around and catching VK Lingam on tape, then Rosli is better suited to be an MP. It is not every day that you have a low profile bumiputera lawyer taking on the whole establishment.

This is an election story. The signs are already there. Yesterday’s budget speech is an election budget speech. Have no doubt that GE 13 is not too far away. But these recent developments have caused me some concern. I hope I am wrong about Rosli caving in. I hope the government is not using the MACC to squeeze Rosli by delaying his case. I hope Rosli will not succumb to pressure. So I thought I would ask Rosli for coffee if he was uncomfortable talking over the phone.

I asked to meet him at the Kuala Lumpur Golf Country Club on Wednesday November 13. I waited from 9am but Rosli did not turn up, even past 10 am. I was getting upset, until providence step in. While Rosli did not turn up,  Tajudin Ramli appeared. He was with a group of Chinese friends.

Tajuddin, once a bank officer from Kedah, was snobbish, arrogant, and "elitist" when I last saw him at KLGCC.

I knew Tajudin since his banking days. I thought this was a good opportunity for me to seek clarification from him, to give him the opportunity to tell his side of the story. I heard that both he and Halim Saad have said that they are victims of the government’s machinations, of UMNO’s to be more specific. So I thought it would only be fair I hear Tajuddin out and then post his version of things on my blog.

Snubbed by Tajuddin

To my dismay, when I walked over to shake his hands, he waved me away in a “kasar” (rough) manner .I was stunned.  Here was a man younger than me and behaving so “kurang ajar”. The only other occasion in recent times, someone treated me that way was that insolent DPP Zulqarnain during Rosli’s case. I saw the similarities between Tajuddin and that DPP Zulqarnain. Both are kurang ajar people.

I walked away and sat with my friends. Tajuddin Ramli has not changed. I have previously heard complaints about his dictatorial tantrums when he was Chairman of MAS. He treated the company’s assets as if they were his own. He flouted company’s internal policies with impunity. A retired general who was on the MAS Board of Directors was even forced to resign when that general pointed out about Tajuddin taking out money in batches of RM10 million fifteen times just to come within the financial authority limits without being detected. But the MAS Board found out.

Tajuddin behaved like a despot and mentioned Dr Mahathir’s name ever so often that nobody dared challenge him. Not even the then representative of the Ministry of Finance, Tan Sri Clifford Herbert, dared to go against Tajuddin. That is corporate Malaysia for you.

Even the then representative of the Ministry of Finance, Tan Sri Clifford Herbert, dared to go against Tajuddin. That is corporate Malaysia for you.

Tajuddin thinks I don’t know of the things he did. I do, but I only raised his case in the context of how the criminal justice system has been manipulated. I raised it to show that in Malaysia it may not be the crook who gets charged. In Malaysia, it may be the other way round. That is why professionals like Dato’ Ramli and Lawyer Rosli can be fixed. It can be manipulated because people like Tajuddin can go scot free with arrogance. He remains unrepentant.

Azmin opens the campaign move

Team Azmin kicks off with a bang

Regina Lee
Oct 16, 10

Mohamed Azmin Ali's PKR deputy presidency campaign entered fifth gear almost immediately after lodging in his acceptance form for nominations today.

Kicking off with a literal bang, his supporters arranged a gendang (drum) welcome to fanfare his entry into the party headquarters this morning to confirm his candidacy.

It is a stark departure from previous months of intense but rather quiet lobbying and strategising, with Azmin relatively tight-lipped about his chances and selective with exclusive media interviews.

Even fellow elections aspirants have been tight-lipped and coy about their support for him.

The situation just a few hours after the handing of his candidacy papers is significantly different, with his lineup clear as daylight during the function organised to officially mark the start of Azmin's campaign.

No short of pomp

Dubbed 'Reformasi towards Putrajaya', the launch held at Petaling Jaya's Dewan Sivik saw all roads leading to the venue littered with banners depicting Azmin with an outstretched arm, the Prime Minister's Office in Putrajaya beckoning in the background.

Accompanying him on stage were heavyweights including Penang deputy chief minister Mansor Othman, Wanita chief Zuraida Kamarudin, Batu MP Tian Chua and Selangor exco Xavier Jayakumar, among others.

One by one, many took to the stage to sing his praises.

Azmin in turn peppered his 'acceptance for candidacy' speech with Latin, Tamil and Mandarin phrases.

The audience of some 1,500 supporters were visibly lapping it up.

However, in stark contrast to his rival Zaid Ibrahim's abrasive style against party elders, Azmin instead called for grace and respect for the seniors leaders.

"We must appreciate the sacrifices of (outgoing deputy president Syed Husin Ali). We are grateful for all the work he has done to his party," said Azmin in his speech.

Zaid had previously been reported to have openly criticised the outgoing deputy, after the latter had chided the former minister for not having attended party meetings.

MK 

How many Malaysians in Singapore?

The 10th Malaysia Plan revealed in June announced a Talent Corporation to headhunt Malaysians abroad with the skills to drive economic growth based on innovation and entrepreneurship.

Prime Minister Najib Razak (below) said last week that the body will start work in January.

So far, however, Malaysia has had little success in getting its best people home. Two programmes in the last 15 years have drawn fewer than 1,000 respondents, according to The Straits Times Singapore on Oct 14. Since Singapore is probably the country with the most Malaysians, it is perhaps a good starting point.

The Singapore Census of Population 2010 Advance Census Release revealed some surprising statistics about Malaysians in Singapore.

It says about 1 in 4 (23 percent) of the resident population - Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) - were not born in Singapore. Of that 23 percent, about half (45 percent) were from Malaysia.

The above statistics surprised everyone in Singapore, since it has been raised in various blogs and the media that the recent rise in the local population was due mainly to immigrants from China.

The population of Singapore-born residents dropped from 81.9 to 77.2 percent from 2000 to 2010, ie from 3.3 to 3.8 million.

The non-Singapore-born population rose from 18.1 (592,000) to 22.8 (859,000) percent.

What the census does not say is how many of the 386,000 Malaysian-born residents are Singapore citizens and how many are PRs.

Malaysians everywhere

Out of the total population of 5.08 million, Singapore has 3.77 million residents, of which 3.23 million were Singapore citizens and 0.54 million were PRs. This means that about 4 in 10 are not Singaporeans.

The number of Singapore PRs grew by 1.5 percent in 2010, a decrease from the minimum 6 percent annual growth noted between 2005 and 2009. Growth in the number of non-residents also slowed to 4.1 percent in 2010, down from the peaks of 15 percent in 2007 and 19 percent in 2008, and the number of Singapore citizens increased by only 0.9 percent.

In this regard, what are the corresponding statistics for Malaysia?

According to Wikipedia, Malaysia has 10 to 20 percent foreign workers, the exact figure being uncertain due in part to the large number of illegal workers. There are a million legal foreign workers and perhaps another million unauthorised foreigners.

Sabah alone had nearly 25 percent of its 2.7 million population listed as illegal foreign workers in the last census. Sabah NGOs estimate that out of the 3 million population, 2 million are illegal immigrants.

As Singapore does not allow dual citizenship, Malaysians who take up Singapore citizenship will have to give up their Malaysian citizenship.

In this connection, how many of the 40,000 new citizens and 140,000 PRs in the last two years were Malaysians?

The majority of the increase in PRs comprise immigrants from Malaysia and the Indian subcontinent. The ethnic Chinese PRs in Singapore predominantly hail from Malaysia.

Over the 10-year period, the number of Malaysia-born Chinese in Singapore (PRs and Singapore citizens combined) went up by 81,000, while that of China-born Chinese rose by just 13,000.

Over half million working in S'pore

I understand that when Singapore left Malaysia in 1965, Singaporeans were given the option to choose to become Malaysian citizens. My uncle was one of them. How many Singaporeans made this choice in 1965?

How many of the 1.3 million non-residents in Singapore now are Malaysians, on work permits, employment pass, S-pass, student pass, long-tem visit pass, entrepreneur pass, certificate to seek employment, etc?

Since none of the above statistics are publicly available, I estimate the total number of Malaysian-born in Singapore to be about 600,000, since Malaysia's Human Resource Ministry says that there are about 350,000 Malaysians working in Singapore, and that 386,000 PRs (excluding Malaysian-born Singapore citizens and non-resident Malaysians) were Malaysians.

In addition to the above, what about Malaysian tourists who come to Singapore everyday?

Bus loads of Malaysians have been arriving at Singapore's two new integrated resorts (IR), Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands (below), almost hourly since they opened this year. Malaysia's Express Bus Agencies Association has said that on weekends, at least 50 tour buses roll into Resorts World Sentosa alone. There are at least 30 coach-based travel agencies that run IR tours from Johor.

For example, the purchase of S$100 (RM238) worth of casino chips comes with a free bus ride and freebies like a food voucher, or a discounted RM30 ticket for the two-way bus ride, in addition to loyalty and promotional membership programmes.

Tour packages from Johor to Genting Highlands have reportedly dropped by about 50 percent since Singapore's two IRs opened. Michael Tay, deputy chairman of the MCA's public complaints bureau in Johor Bahru has said that the number of gambling problem cases he handles have jumped from about four or five a month to 16 in the last two months, with about half related to the IRs in Singapore.

Chinese and Malay population slides

In 2005 (latest data available), only 5.4 percent of Malays, were admitted to Singapore's publicly funded universities, compared to 30 and 11 percent for Chinese and Indians respectively. The figures for 1980 was 0.5, 5.9 and 3.5 percent respectively.

Another interesting statistic is that the population of Chinese and Malays in Singapore declined, while that of Indians and others increased. Chinese declined from 76.8 to 74.1, Malays from 13.9 to 13.4, Indians rose from 7.9 to 9.2, and Others from 1.4 to 3.3 percent.

Considering this, it would be interesting to know the breakdown of Malaysians in Singapore along the four ethnic groups.

I wonder if the Malaysian Government have the statistics of Malaysians in Singapore and if so, is it public information?

For example, perhaps one of the most "talked about" topics in my casual conversations with Malaysian friends is how many Malaysians have become Singaporeans, and vice versa.

Perhaps all Malaysians who have given up their citizenship could be encouraged to return by offering them Malaysian citizenship again or allowing dual citizenship.

Some notable countries that allow dual citizenship are the United States, France, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom.

LEONG SZE HIAN's late father moved from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore in 1952. Since he was born in Singapore in 1953, there may be some confusion as to whether he was conceived in Malaysia or Singapore.
MK

Pages from Sarawak Report

By Sarawak Report
Following the tragic death of Ross Boyert, which we announced earlier this week, Sarawak Report has decided to publish in full the amazing allegations contained in a personal letter he wrote to his employer, the Chief Minister of Sarawak.

Company letterhead. Boyert wrote as the former Vice-President of Sakti International to the majority shareholder, Abdul Taib Mahmud

The 388 page document, sent after Boyert was sacked in November 2006, begged Taib to put to an end what he described as appalling treatment in return for his years of hard work building the family’s US property company, Sakti International, into a multi-million dollar business.

He also complained how he had to rescue the disastrous mismanagement of the company by Taib’s son, Rahman, and put a halt to a catastrophic building project, by his son-in-law Sean Murray, which was condemned on safety-grounds by the San Fransciso authorities.

[TO VIEW THE FULL DOCUMENT CLICK ON THE ICONS BENEATH THIS ARTICLE. SOME FAMILY DETAILS ERASED].
Key revelations
In the letter Boyert detailed bitter divisions and rivalries between Taib family members; described what he regarded as bullying tactics by Taib’s ambitious son-in-law, the Canadian Sean Murray, and related how Murray bragged about the Chief Minister’s extreme wealth.  When Murray approached Boyert to help run the family’s US properties in 1994, he even disclosed Taib’s billionaire status and revealed that the Chief Minister had just met with billionaire banker David Rockefeller and made an astonishing deposit of money:

Indiscreet? Boyert acquired much of his information from family members

Junior partner - Hisham (Sean) Murray, Jamilah's younger husband

Empire building
The letter goes on to explain how it was Boyert’s deteriorating relationship with Sean Murray that led to his summary dismissal twelve years later and a bitter court case. In that period Boyert describes a family torn apart by rivalries and greed, which as an employee he strove to manage.
The worst jealousies, he described were those between Taib’s sons, Rahman and Mahmud, and his son-in-law, Hisham (Sean Murray), who they believed was ’Empire Building’ within the network of Taib property companies based in Canada, the US, Britain and Australia.
“As Rahman had told me many, many times, Sean was busy empire building, I was immediately on guard”,  wrote Ross, as he explained to the Chief Minister why he had been reluctant to accept Murray’s original announcement that he had replaced  Rahman (Sulaiman) Taib as President of Sakti International in 2005.  Boyert angered the Canadian by insisting on documented evidence, signed by all the company’s official family shareholders. Sakti is the Taibs’ main property company in the USA and Boyert was employed as its Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer.

Ridiculed? - son Mahmud Taib and his wife

In later passages, which must have further dismayed the Chief Minister, Boyert also confided that Murray had frequently made sneering and disparaging comments about both his sons to him as an employee:

“It [a remark] reminded me how Sean would speak ill of Rahman when he was discussing their interaction.  In fact, in a recent call, Sean said the board meetings he attended droned on-and-on with Mahmud constantly talking but saying nothing.  He couldn’t believe how stupid it was and if not for him, the Kuching Convention Center would have been a total failure since he changed the design facing away, rather than towards, the river.  I did not, and do not, feel such comments are appropriate..”

A tactic that backfired
It is likely however, that by confiding in this way to Abdul Taib Mahmud, a man he had met but a few times, and by revealing that he was fully aware of the Chief Minister’s great wealth and commanding role in the company (which was meant to be a closely-guarded secret), Boyert had naively sealed his own fate.  Instead of gaining sympathy, it is likely he would have incurred the old man’s ire and convinced him that with all this knowledge, he was a dangerous liability to his company and reputation.

MT