The Spirit of Ramadan

purpose driven life and finish well"–Lee Kuan Yew

Aug

25

Its Ramadan, So Stop The Scam and Release The Innocent

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August 25, 2010

It’s Ramadan, So Stop The Scam and Release The Innocent!

by Din Merican

Starting with the press conference by YB Salahuddin Ayub, Member of Parliament for Kubang Kerian, who also sits as an independent member in the MACC Special Committee on Corruption, Malaysians were informed that the MACC had failed in its duty to stamp out real corruption.

Fighting Real Corruption means Going after the Real Crooks

Fighting real corruption means going for the real crooks. Real crooks mean those who have been identified by a specialist law enforcement agency to have committed multiple crimes in the plundering of our nation’s asset. YB Salahuddin called on the MACC, particularly its Chief Commissioner Dato’ Abu Kassim, to explain why he had refused to investigate the complicity of the Police and the A-G Chambers in closing the case against Tajudin Ramli, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) former Chairman, who was once touted to be the New Economic Policy’s  (NEP) Great White Hope (or is it Pahlawan Melayu?).

YB Salahuddin Ayub is the Lone Voice in chiding MACC

What is most glaring is that YB Salahuddin Ayub appears to be the lone voice in chiding the MACC and Abu Kassim for its failures. What, may we ask, is the role and views of the other members of the 5 Panels which were established to give MACC some semblance of transparency? There are 12 distinguished Tan Sri,s Dato Seris and what not titled persons in the Advisory Panel including a former Chief Justice, and yet not a single whine nor whimper is heard from them. Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam and Tan Sri Robert Phang who sit in yet another of that 5 Panels and who are always portrayed as roaring lions have suddenly become purring pussycats. Why are they so muted? Their silence is deafening!

What makes it so nauseating is that only during the recent 15th Malaysian Law Conference, Dato’ Abu Kassim had made a pledge that he would resign if it can be shown that the MACC has failed to investigate any report against any big fish or Cabinet Ministers. By big fish, presumably he is referring to someone powerful or something big. Abu Kassim was being boastful because just at the same time as that law conference, AG Gani was seen strutting in the court’s corridors in Putrajaya to chargeTun Dr Lin Liong Sik for the PKFZ scandal. Now that’s a big fish. Is it?

Or was that just a public relations spin by APCO to show Abu Kassim as a serious corruption buster. To show that the Najib government has the political will to stamp out crimes and corruption. To show that the Rakyat’s aspiration will be fulfilled. Indeed, it was all just a show. If it was not, then how come Abu Kassim has declined to investigate the MAS scandal, whereas in value, the MAS scandal which happened earlier would be bigger  than PKFZ because RM 8 billion was worth a lot then than now.

Dato Ramli Yusuff is made a victim instead

What makes it so disappointing is that Dato’ Seri Idris Jala, CEO of Pemandu and Minister for the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) has been going around in APCO-organised road shows with Abu Kassim to deliver this message of change to the Malaysian public. It is  revolting that Idris Jala was once the MD of MAS who had full knowledge of this scam, and yet he did nothing when the MACC declined to investigate and prosecute Tajuddin. It is nauseating when Idis Jala knew all this and yet he allowed the MACC to prosecute Dato’ Ramli Yusuff, then Director CCID, who became a victim in this scam. All this unfolded in Raja Petra Kamarudin’s  (RPK)  Malaysia Today.

Since last week, RPK’s Malaysia Today has been making daily exposes of the scam to plunder the national airlines MAS. Thus far, RPK has exposed that Tajudin Ramli was not such an NEP genius after all. He was just a common thief, no different from a bank teller who puts his fingers in the till, except that in Tajudin’s case it was no small amount. It was RM 8 billion! Tajudin plundered MAS to the point of bankruptcy through a web of deceit by placing his cohorts in strategic places within MAS.

When the plunder was complete,Tajudin made the government buy MAS back from him for RM8 when the market price was just RM4. That was not too difficult to do using tax payers and PETRONAS money. By then Tajudin had already committed MAS to award  a 10-year ground handling contract to a supposedly German company called ACL GmbH with fixed tonnage guaranteed. When MAS tried to break off the contract, Tajudin sued MAS in Switzerland for Euro 63 million (RM 300 million).

Lawyer Rosli Dahlan and Dato Ramli  Yusuff landed in hot soup

Lawyer Rosli Dahlan entered the scene and pursued civil and criminal actions against Tajudin. He had full support from MAS senior management in Dr Mohammadon (fondly called Dr Don) and Dato’ JJ Ong. He had full support from the MAS MD Dato Seri Idris Jala. He had full support from the MAS Board of Directors which included Dato’ Anwar Zaini.

With all these support, or so Rosli thought, he sought the assistance of his old time friend Dato’ Ramli Yusuff, a seasoned and serious crime buster who was then the Director of Commercial Crimes. Ramli had achieved fame in the 1970’s for solving the murder case of Jean Pereira which was recently turned into a documentary by National Geographic crime series. Since then, Ramli had a string of successes until his “misfortune” to have saved Anwar Ibrahim from being bludgeoned by then IGP Tan Sri Rahim Noor in the famed Black Eye Incident. Musa Hassan, who was Ramli’s subordinate, achieved fame as the Mattress Carrier, and rose to be IGP. Ramli was instead thrown into exile in Sabah and was cold storaged.

Even in that wilderness, Ramli achieved more fame when he eradicated Sabah of its long standing problems with illegal immigrants from Philippines and Kalimantan, Indonesia. What he did not realize nor care for was that in eradicating these illegal immigrants, he was disturbing an UMNO electorate reserve base. What Ramli failed to consider was that the BN government through Biro Tatanegara (BTN) had issued Malaysian NRICs to these illegal immigrants to vote for BN during elections!

So again, Ramli had landed himself in a hot soup. To cover it up, several Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs officers and local Sabah chieftains were detained and made scape goats under ISA. One of them, Datu Akjan, is known to me, and proudly brags that he had done national service by serving time under detention for a national cause. In appreciation, the Ministry awarded him a contract to build Police barracks in Melinsung, Papar. Imagine this, an ISA detainee being awarded a construction contract to build police barracks! Don’t be surprised if an ex-convict is awarded a contract to build prisons. This is Malaysia and Semua Boleh!

For that, Ramli was recalled to the Peninsular. But one thing he brought back which would be his good luck charm later was Dato’ Anita Harun, his Sabah born wife. Anita is a Sessions Court Judge in KL and was sent to exile in Ipoh when Dato’ Ramli was charged in 2007 as she was seen accompanying him to court, just like any good wife would do. The things they do to an innocent man and his family.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was fully briefed on MAS situation

RPK’s expose also showed that Dato’ Ramli was so bold as to disagree with AG Gani’s decision not to prosecute Tajudin. With all the support  mentioned earlier, both lawyer Rosli and Dato’ Ramli thought they were on safe ground, terra firma, and went as far as to brief the Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi. What both did not realize was that Pak Lah had planted his mole into the MAS Board of Directors, Dato’ Anwar Zaini, former Chairman of Bernama, to elicit all information on the goings on in MAS.

The briefing and written report that Dato’ Ramli handed in to PM Abdullah Badawi would be his death warrant. Pak Lah had other reasons too. He could not afford an investigator of Dato’ Ramli’s calibre  to expose that his family company, Fahim Capital Sdn Bhd and Brahims LSG Sky Chefs Holdings, were also party to the plundering of MAS by having favorable contracts to them but unfavorable to MAS. That’s a clean guy for you.

By transposing his family’s interest to UMNO’s interest, it became clear to UMNO that Dato’ Ramli is not the kind of bumiputra that could serve their purpose. After all, he was a Kelantanese, like Tengku Razaliegh and Zaid Ibrahim, all having that uncontrolled “gedebe” characteristics. No Kelantanese can be allowed to become PM or IGP. So Ramli had to be brought down. For defending Ramli, Rosli was also brought down in a most uncouth brutal way. That part of the charges against Ramli and Rosli have been explained in earlier postings.

RPK also disclosed that while Ramli was taken out of the equation, and despite the charge made against Rosli, the criminal actions against Tajudin were still pursued. In the letters that YB Salahuddin Ayub exposed in his press conference, the firm Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledill was seen issuing strongly worded reprimands to the MACC for exposing the MAS report to CCID PDRM. It is to Dato’ Seri Hishammudin’s credit that a legal firm that still bears his name is acting so fearlessly against Tajudin and MACC. Could this be sanctioned by Hishammuddin? Or is it that Rosli is still behind the scene pursuing his brand of justice. I say that because the strong reprimands are Rosli’s trademarks. He would call a spade a spade. In Ramli’s letter to AG Gani, which was earlier posted by RPK during the Goh  Cheng Poh@ Tengku Goh incident, Ramli was seen as chiding the AG for “abdicating his constitutional duties” in refusing to prepare affidavits for CCID which forced Rosli to act for the CCID.

When I spoke to Ramli in court, he indicated that AG Gani knew those were Rosli’s words and thus the brutalities that befell Rosli during Ramadan of 2007. It appears that Rosli would not mince his words against those whom he perceives to have transgressed the law, and that is his downfall in this case.

MACC’s Abu Kassim

Utimately, RPK has exposed that the MACC Chief Abu Kassim is a man who cannot keep his word if he does not resign. To borrow Martin Jalleh’s expression, MACC committed suicide the day Dato’ Razak Musa, MACC Head of Prosecution, demonstrated to Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand  that it was possible to die of  “self strangulation”. Last night was the 15th night of Ramadan and Muslims start to recite the Doa’ Qunut during Terawih. In that prayer, there is a verse that says “ Verily! You impose punishment on those to be punished….and thus please save us from punishment O Merciful Lord”.

If Abu Kassim had performed his terawih last night, he would remember that verse. He should then accept that with the exposure by RPK, it is a message from God that Abu Kassim must fulfill his pledge or he be punished for breaking a vow. But no, please don’t misunderstand me as saying that RPK is God’s messenger.

Truth must prevail

All I am saying is that the voices of truth need not come from the hallowed prayer halls of the mosque only. The voices of truth is within us if we only take pains to hear it. In this holy month of Ramadan, when the syaitans and djinns have been chained by God, the only evils abound are the evils within us. It would be evil to let Rosli Dahlan to face trial during the last three days of Ramadan as if to remind him what they did the last time during Ramadan 2007. He should be allowed to contemplate Lailatul Qadr. He should be release from this trumped up charge immediately!