Dr Mahathir's Transgressions Unreported

The only mistake that Dr. Mahathir has ever done, as openly acknowledged by the Tun himself, is to repeatedly appoint "wrong" Deputy Prime Ministers for the country (Musa, Ghafar Baba, Anwar and Badawi, and Najib). 
By Ken
Tun Dr. Mahathir has, of late, become even more vocal in pitting the Malays against the non-Malays, in particular the Chinese.
The consequences are that blogs and Internet sites are full of slander and insults targeted at Dr. Mahathir. The insults and name-calling range from "corrupt evil dictator" and "pariah" to "Mahafiruan", "Hitler" and worse [too horrible to be quoted here].
What these bloggers seem to overlook is that Dr. Mahathir was elected by the voters in Kubang Pasu in at least 6 general elections, elected by UMNO delegates to be their president for more than 2 decades and was Malaysia's Prime Minister for 22 years, strongly supported by the majority of the non-Malays. During his tenure, Mahathir was more popular with the Chinese than the Malays and was even saved by them in the 1999 General Elections when the Malays abandoned him because of how he had treated (sodomized?) Anwar, contrary to "adat-adat  orang Melayu".
Mahathir was then admired by many of the same people who are now insulting and criticizing him. They had noted Mahathir's many accomplishments and felt proud about these Malaysia Boleh records - Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower, KLIA, North-South Highway, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, MSC, Penang Bridge, Proton, Sepang F1, Bakun Dam, world class golf courses and resorts, etc.
They were proud at having found a leader who had changed Malaysia from an agricultural country into an industrial nation which was doing so well that it needed to bring in foreign labour from Indonesia, Bangladesh, etc. to man the factories, service industries and remaining plantations.
During his tenure as PM, Dr. Mahathir was highly regarded and there were few who would dare to throw even minor insults at him. Not even Karpal would dare to utter a harsh word against the great Dr. Mahathir. 
Today, we are witnessing this same great Dr. Mahathir being called the most evil thing that has happened to Malaysia. However, while the slander and insults continue to increase on the Internet, they are not backed by solid evidence.
Has anyone ever come out in the open with evidence and said "Dr. Mahathir did this and that ...."? Even Anwar, who was Mahathir's deputy for many years and would have been privy to many things, has revealed nothing to expose Mahathir. There are people who claim that Mahathir is corrupt and has amassed wealth. OK, where is the evidence? If you have the evidence, why haven't you reported Mahathir to the police? "Mahathir is a racist", some proclaim loudly, pointing out incidences such as Dr. Mahathir's recent call to Malays to go on the offensive in response to grouses and complaints by non-Malays about their rights. Why has there been no police report and follow-up action against Dr. Mahathir for uttering the racist statements?
If Mahathir is so evil and corrupt, as the bloggers and others claim, why has there been no police or MACC investigation? Surely, Tun Dr. Mahathir is not above the law, as the Tun himself will be ready to openly announce. Some might argue that the police, MACC and AG will not investigate Mahathir because of allegiance or loyalty. But Dr. Mahathir is not the current PM and does not wield power and influence over them. The police, MACC and AG report to Najib, who has also been criticized by Mahathir on various matters, and who would, if he could, surely mobilize the police/MACC/AG to investigate the ex-PM to counter his severe insults and criticisms.
This has not happened possibly because there is no evidence to charge Dr. Mahathir. The only mistake that Dr. Mahathir has ever done, as openly acknowledged by the Tun himself, is to repeatedly appoint "wrong" Deputy Prime Ministers for the country (Musa, Ghafar Baba, Anwar and Badawi, and Najib).
Some might argue that little can be done if the authorities (police, MACC and AG) do not want to act against Dr. Mahathir. The point is that the authorities can act only if there are reports against Dr. Mahathir. Some may point to the rare police reports against Mahathir, such as the one by Karpal Singh, and that nothing has happened. Perhaps there is no evidence for the authorities to proceed further. Or maybe Karpal does not have the necessary evidence to pursue it further (or maybe Karpal is too scared to face Dr. Mahathir or his formidable counsel Mathias Chang in court, and has conveniently forgotten his report against Mahathir).
OK, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip provides evidence to incriminate Mahathir (together with Lingam and the others) in the manipulation of the judiciary. Najib (and the AG) has decided to ignore the findings and recommendations of the RCI for reasons which are known to all but the naive. But the critics of Mahathir can surely do something on the basis of the RCI recommendations. Have a massive signature campaign to request His Majesty to direct Najib to act on the findings of His Majesty's RCI's findings. There can be a mass demo to call for action on the basis of the RCI recommendations. Or, at least, why not make police reports on the basis of the RCI findings for action to be taken against Mahathir and his Lingam gang.
Mahathir has made some totally outlandish racist statements of late. Make a thousand police reports against Mahathir. Make it a million - there must be more than a million Mahathir critics out there. Surely the authorities can't ignore a million police reports against Mahathir, and, even if they ignore, that itself would be a world record (another Malaysia Boleh world record we can be proud of) which will hit headlines internationally and force Najib to do something. The fact is that there are few police reports against Dr. Mahathir, though one would think otherwise when reading the many slanderous  and abusive postings on blogs and web sites.
Some people might contend that it would be futile to go to the police or the MACC, arguing that it would be a waste of time and that nothing would happen. Looking at the track record of the police and MACC, one would be justified to conclude that this route would be futile, but there are other routes such as a civil suit. If one has a legitimate case against another, one can bring a civil suit against the other. But there has hardly been any civil suits against Dr. Mahathir. Even Anwar withdrew his civil suit against Dr. Mahathir for his 'Black Eye' though Mahathir was the Home Minister then and claimed that Anwar could have punched himself to get the black eye. 
To conclude, if Dr. Mahathir is really as corrupt, racist and evil as he is made out to be, the critics and  bloggers should (collectively, or individually) file a police report against the ex-PM with solid evidence. If this route does not look viable, they could file a civil suit against Dr. Mahathir and seek damages for all Malaysians - according to Barry Wain, at least Ringgit 100 billion have been misappropriated or lost due to Dr. Mahathir.
If Dr. Mahathir is really the terrible corrupt evil racist he is made out to be, it is ok to be a "coward" to sue him. Given that there is a large number of bloggers who are critical of Dr. Mahathir, they should have no difficulty raising the necessary funds for the civil suit and engaging top lawyers (Karpal - pro-bono?) to handle the case.
File the suit in Malaysia, UK or anwhere feasible (except, of course, Singapore). If both these efforts fail, the bloggers should compile a book, in English and Malay, on Dr. Mahathir to expose his "corruption, racism, and evilness" by providing full details and evidence.
Barry Wain has already made a sterling start in this direction with his must-read "Malaysian Maverick". Why not get someone to translate the book into Malay so that the kampong folks and other Malays can read Barry's work and judge for themselves whether Dr. Mahathir is really the great clean incorruptible champion of the Malays as he now potrays himself?
If Mahathir's opponents and critics are not ready to act in legitimate ways to expose and punish Mahathir for his purported corruption, racism and evilness, the bloggers and other critics of Mahathir should cease from slandering and insulting the Tun and accept him as Allah's blessing rather than a perennial curse on Malaysia.
MT

The Godfather of Sarawak

Unmasked! Taib The Godfather

Monday, August 9th, 2010 GMT

Held in trust by private agreement - 50% of the shares of Sakti International, worth approximately US$ 40 million.

Sarawak Report has uncovered devastating documents which prove that Abdul Taib Mahmud, Sarawak’s Chief Minister, is the real owner of millions of dollars of property assets held in the name of family members abroad.
The damning discovery lays bare a system of private deals, which enabled the Chief Minister to conceal his true ownership of the properties. This was presumably in order to hide the extent of his enormous wealth, for which he has yet to provide any legitimate explanation.
Under the system, whilst it is Taib’s relatives who are publicly registered as the official shareholders and directors of the companies owning the properties,  a separate, private agreement ensures that the shares are actually held in trust for him.
Download PDF.

Documentary evidence of elaborate concealment

260 California Street, San Francisco - Bijou Sakti Office Block

Among documents in its possession Sarawak Report has a copy of one such private agreement (see above) relating to the shares in Sakti International, a company that owns buildings in San Francisco.  Sakti is part of a web of companies started in North America by the Taibs, which includes Sakto, a major Ottawa property company, and Wallysons, which owns the Abraham Lincoln Building in Seattle, housing a top secret anti-terrorist facility for the FBI.
The five official shareholders of Sakti International, which is registered in California, are Taib’s brothers, Onn Mahmud and Arip Mahmud, along with three of his children, Sulaiman Taib, Mahmud Taib and Jamilah Taib.   However, as the document which we have obtained shows, a resolution made soon after the formation of the company has privately ruled that half those shares (a commanding majority) are held in trust for the Chief Minister.  The value of these shares amounts to 40 million US dollars for Sakti alone, according to the company’s own documents.

Tip of the iceberg?

However, Sakti International, estimated to be worth US $80 million, accounts for just a small proportion of the Taib family wealth. Our previous exposes have revealed a vast portfolio of further international property assets, which are owned by members of Taib Mahmud’s immediate family.  For example, Taib’s own children are the shareholders and directors of numerous companies controlling residential and commercial buildings in Canada, Australia, Britain and the United States together worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.  Yet, suspiciously, many of these assets came into their possession when they were in their early 20s and still college students with no visible access to legitimate resources to invest. The inevitable question for Taib Mahmud, therefore, is whether, as in the case of Sakti International, they are also secretly holding these other properties in trust for him?  If not, what explanation can there be for these investments?

Golden Wedding Couple - The Godfather and his family

A number of reports have already been made to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) regarding the recent disclosures of the Taib family wealth. These new revelations proving the direct link to the Chief Minister will increase the pressure on the MACC to respond with a proper investigation.

Further Fingerprints

The Sakti International documents in our possession, released as part of the disclosure in a recent court case, provide further extensive evidence of Taib Mahmud’s involvement in the company, despite his denials of any business connections.  Indeed one of the company’s earliest official documents, signed in 1987, even lists him as one of the Directors of Sakti International.

Chief Minister's name in black and white, listed as a Director Of Sakti International

The document in question is a Domestic Stock Corporation Statement for Sakti International, which is required annually by the State of California.  In 1987, the year the company was set up, its inaugural statement clearly registers Taib Mahmud, along with his brothers Onn Mahmud and Arip Mahmud, as a Director of the company.  The only officer of the company is listed as Mahmud Taib, the Chief Minister’s eldest son.
It is well-known that in subsequent Taib family enterprises the Chief Minister has always scrupulously avoided including his own name in any documentation.  This early mistake will undermine his constant claims that, in keeping with his role as Chief Minister, he has no direct business interests. It is clear that he in fact set up Sakti International, using the address of his own house in San Francisco. Download PDF

Cover Up

Subsequently, records show that the structure of the company was altered to make Onn, Arip and Mahmud Taib the three Directors, while Rahman became the only officer of the company.  But, as we are now able to exclusively report, Taib Mahmud secretly retained his control through a resolution by the company directors dated April 8^th 1988. This resolution (see top) placed 500 of the 1,000 shares issued by the company in trust for him.

43 Presidio, Taib's San Francisco town house and early HQ for Sakti International

The Godfather

The Sakti documents give a fascinating insight into the manipulative methods used by Taib Mahmud to control his family members, who are supposedly the earners and ‘businessmen’ who have generated the Taibs’ legendary wealth.  The five relatives who were selected to own shares in Sakti International were each been given a different number of shares. Each then surrendered differing proportions of these shares to be held in trust for the Chief Minister.
Brother Onn Mahmud gets 400 shares, but of them 200 are held for the Chief Minister, whereas brother Arip gets just 200 shares, 100 of which are in trust for Taib. Mahmud Taib has the same arrangement ast Arip. However younger brother, Sulaiman Rahman Taib, who was later made sole Director of Sakti, only gets 100 shares under the agreement and they are all in fact held in trust for his father. Daughter Jamilah also only gets 100 shares, but she gets to hold them all herself.
The system ensures that Taib Mahmud has half of all the shares held in trust for himself, whereas  none of the others hold more than 200 shares. In this way he clearly keeps a commanding control over the company he pretends not to own.

Classic Car on Standby - Vintage Ferrari kept ready for Chief Minister's occasional visits to 43 Presidio Avenue. Son Rahman Taib, who shared his father's interest requested a 4,000 square foot garage to house his car collection in the States

Taib in charge

Former employees of Sakti have testified to the controling position the Chief Minister holds over the other members of the family.  Rahman, as he was known in the States, was still in college when he became sole Director of Sakti and has been described as being in awe of his father, whom he once had to wait a week to get a meeting with.
“We always considered Taib to be the ultimate boss and decision-maker” one former executive has told Sarawak Report, “It was obvious that he was the source of the money and Rahman was extremely deferential towards him”.

Where did the money come from?

The Chief Minister has so far made no comment on the string of recent exposes regarding his wealth.  However, this new evidence will increase the widespread demands for him to explain how he and his family accrued the millions necessary to acquire such investments.  Taib’s personal salary from his numerous concurrent positions still only delivers an official income of just under 50,000 MYR (around US $16,000) a month.

Multi-billionaire? Chief Minister's finances beg immediate scrutiny

In past weeks the existence of Ridgeford Properties in London and Sakto Corporation in Ontario, Canada have also been made public (see previous exposes on Sarawak Report).  These companies own and manage numerous office blocks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.  Ostensibly the Directors and owners of these concerns are Jamilah Taib and her husband Sean (Hisham) Murray, a Canadian national. However, like Sakti,  Sakto was originally set up under the names of Taib family members, not Mr Murray.
Although numerous members of Sean Murray’s family now work for Sakto, all the evidence indicates that these are in fact Taib family businesses, ultimately controlled by the Chief Minister of Sarawak.
Surely the weight of evidence is now such that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission will be unable to ignore the deluge of demands requiring thorough investigation into Sarawak’s White Haired Raja?
Sarawak Report

Bloggers in the Red

By TEO CHENG WEE, The Straits Times
Online journalism may be booming in Malaysia, drawing many readers from traditional print media, but staying profitable is another story altogether.
With intense competition and business models that are still being worked out, many popular news sites are still struggling to stay in the black.
Recently, one of Malaysia's top news websites became the first major casualty.
The Nut Graph, which was launched with much fanfare in 2008, has said it is scaling down operations at the end of this month and retrenching staff. Making an announcement last month, editor Jacqueline Ann Surin cited financial difficulties to explain its move.
Starting next month, The Nut Graph will publish only once a week instead of five times, and focus mostly on columns and commentaries from contributors, rather than news or features.
The Nut Graph's financial struggles have been no secret. Launched with a start-up cost of RM2 million, the website has not turned in a profit, and with funds running low, even had to seek public donations to keep going.
"The expectation of online journalism is that it needs to be super-fast with a high turnover of stories. In order to do that, you need a fairly large team which costs more money," said Surin, a former journalist with local dailies The Star and The Sun.
The Nut Graph business model, she said, was simply not sustainable.
A similar story can be heard at some of the other news websites.
Top news website Malaysiakini, for instance, is the oldest and only website that charges subscription. Even then, the 10-year-old site is making only a small profit, said its editor Steven Gan.
Similarly, the chief executive of The Malaysian Insider, another well-read site, said earlier this week that it was still in the red. Internet advertising, he said, covers only half its costs.
Still, such financial challenges have not stopped newcomers like Malaysian Mirror, Free Malaysia Today and Malaysian Digest from joining the fray in the past year.
News websites have surged in popularity here in the past two years, in the wake of the 2008 general election, as Malaysians flocked online for what they felt was more independent news, at the same time shunning mainstream newspapers which many felt were overly pro-government.
But analysts say that in an increasingly crowded cyberspace, packed with stories of varying quality, more has not proven to be better.
Political analyst Farish Noor noted that there has been a tendency for news websites to overlap and cover the same news, resulting in a 'somewhat shallow consensus of opinion'.
There is also frequent speculation that some websites have hidden political backers, which would explain the ability to absorb financial losses in exchange for online influence.
"After the last general election, people realized that the Internet is a powerful medium. It is possible that politicians and business tycoons will pay for a stake in online media," Gan said.
While some of these news websites have sometimes been criticized for running stories with clear slants, he felt it was up to readers 'to decide how much weight they can put on them and what to believe in'.
Both Gan and Farish see the scaling down of The Nut Graph, which has built up a credible reputation, as a blow to online journalism in Malaysia.
More websites are likely to come up to take its place, but Farish believes that those with agendas will not be able to hoodwink readers for long.
"The public can see through any slant, and that only robs these organizations, and the journalists who work for them, of their credibility," he said.

Taib Land Sale to Children and Cronies

Hornbill Unleashed

August 25, 2010

Cut-price sale of Kuching land to Taib’s children

Filed under: Human rights,corruption — Hornbill Unleashed @ 5:20 PM
Tags: Save Sarawak, Sarawak politics, corruption, Anak Sarawak Bangsa Malaysia, Taib Mahmud

By Aidila Razak
A company owned by Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s children has obtained land in Kuching at a very low price, causing the state to lose at least RM300 million in potential revenue.

Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen said the state government had alienated 269 acres of land within the city to Monarda Sdn Bhd at a “grossly and obscenely under-priced” rate of RM291,000 per acre on average.

“The market rate is between RM1.5 million and RM2 million per acre. Had the government gone for public tender, the state could have (earned) RM400 million to RM500 million,” he told Malaysiakini today.
Instead, Monarda, which has a paid-up capital of RM100, only paid about RM78.28 million for the three parcels of land, he said.
“We demand that the state government gives a full explanation and be accountable to the people of Sarawak,” said Chong (left), who is also Sarawak DAP secretary.
The three parcels are located next to the Kuching International Airport near Stutong. There is a military base located in the same area.
Monarda is headed by Taib’s eldest son Abu Bekir, who holds 52 shares, and one Choong Sun Nam, who holds 12 shares.
Other shareholders include Taib’s daughters Jamilah and Hanifah Hajar, and Taib’s daughter-in-law Anisa Hamidah Abdullah, all of whom hold 12 shares respectively.
Unusual alienation exercise
Chong, who traced the Taib connection through land and companies registry searches, said this was one of the largest parcels of city land to be alienated in any one exercise.
“The land is currently vacant and Monarda has not done any business since it was founded,” he said.
Earlier this year, three complaintswere lodged with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission against Taib, alleging that he and his family had used corrupt means to build a property empire valued in excess of RM3 billion.
Two documents surfaced this month in the Sarawak Report website alleging that Taib had used proxies in 1987 to take control of a US-based property company, Sakti International Corporation, then worth at least US$80 million (RM250 million). –  MalaysiaKini


Articles in Bahasa Malaysia :- Jual tanah kepada anak, S’wak rugi lebih RM300 juta

Road to Putrajaya Confiscated

It has come to my knowledge that on last Thursday, 19th of August, police officers had raided bookshops in many parts of the country to confiscate my book “The March to Putrajaya”.  They did so without giving any reason and without issuing any official document.  Neither has there been any public statement accounting for this operation.
Upon inquiry by Malaysiakini, Home Ministry’s Publications Control and Quranic Text secretary Zaitun Samad said that the Ministry was not responsible for any seizure of the book, adding “perhaps the police took those books, but not us” as quoted by a Malaysiakini news report on August 21st.
Under these circumstances, such police operation is clearly illegal, as it constitutes “trespassing” and “theft”, since there were neither search warrants nor known legal ground to back up such action.
I can conceive of no justifiable ground for the authorities to act against my book.  The book is essentially a collection of my articles which contain materials that are factual and truthful as far as I know.  And they have been published over the past few years by Malaysiakini, Malaysia Today and several other websites, as well as Suara Keadilan. Hence, the substance therein has been for a long time in the domain of the public, which, I would like to believe, include the relevant government authorities.
If my articles contain falsehood or illegal elements that have endangered public security or caused injury to any party, I would have expected the injured party to have protested or acted against me.  But there has been none.
Even if I have lied and injured any party, the correct thing to do is to sue me for defamation.  Harassing the bookshops to sabotage the sale of my book is surely a response that is legally and morally wrong. 
Regarding Puan Zaitun’s statement that the Home Ministry was not responsible for this seizure of books, I regret to state that this answer is not satisfactory. The Home Minister’s portfolio clearly includes the police department, and as such, the Minister is answerable to the Cabinet, Parliament and to the public for the conduct of the Police.
What strikes me as strange in this instant is that the control of undesirable publication, which is a function under the Division of Publication Control and Quranic Text in the Home Ministry, should now be taken over by the police, which should amount to usurpation of the Ministry’s authority – judging from Puan Zaitun’s claim of ignorance of this police operation.  The police had no business to interfere into the sales of my book, unless criminal offence has been committed.
What is even more deplorable is the lawless manner with which the police had carried out their work.   It must be clearly understood that illegally confiscating properties on such a large scale is a serious infringement of the law, more so when it is committed by the police, who ironically are the very people who should be protecting the public from such infringement. 
Confiscating my books without legal ground is also a violation of the Constitution, as my right of freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution has been transgressed.
I would like to believe that, despite our battered reputation as a democratic country, we still have laws, and as such, the police are not above the law.
The current police incursion into the Constitution and the laws is certainly a matter of grave concern to the public.
I therefore call upon the Minister of Home Affairs, Datuk Seri Hishammudin Tun Hussein, to make a public statement clarifying the Ministry’s stand on my book and the true state of affairs within his ministry over the current incident.

Kim Quek