| Harakahdaily |
 KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26: PAS has welcomed the decision by the Federal Court in ordering the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) to pay RM11 million to 354 Felda Kemahang 1 settlers for cheating them over the grade of their oil palm fruit.“Today’s victory proves that PAS and PR have been sincere in fighting for the welfare of the settlers who have been victimised for years by an unjust system,” PAS vice president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (pic) told Harakahdaily today. Congratulating the settlers, Tuan Ibrahim said their patience "has finally paid off today". Court of Appeal president Alauddin Mohd Sheriff who led a three-member panel today refused to review Felda's application to challenge a similar Federal Court decision by another panel which had earlier dismissed Felda's appeal. Due to the absence of Felda and Felda Palm Industries’ counsel in court, Kota Baru High Court judge Mohd Azman Husin ordered Felda to pay RM7.8 million plus interest, escalating the total amount to RM11 million. The settlers, who have been fighting for compensation for more than 10 years, are expected to receive between RM25,000 and RM30,000 each. Tuan Ibrahim said the court ruling today has vindicated Felda settlers who had accused the agency of wrongdoing. “With today’s decision, it means that the allegations brought forward by ANAK have basis...it will open the eyes of the parties involved to pay settlers fairly,” he said, referring to recent police reports lodged by National Felda Settlers' Children's Association (ANAK) detailing massive irregularities in Felda. Tuan Ibrahim also hit out at Felda chairman Yussof Noor for alleging that opposition leaders were trying to pit the settlers against the agency, saying Pakatan Rakyat was only trying to get justice for the settlers. “The issue of splitting Felda does not arise because some of the supporters and members of PR are settlers and the second generation of Felda. "They only seek justice and the government should not provide ‘sweeteners’ to them in time of Raya while at the same time rob them by manipulating oil palm price," he said. 'Be transparent' Tuan Ibrahim called on Felda to be transparent in its dealings with settlers, and not compel them to accept prices determined by it. “Costs for fertilizer, pesticide, farm roads, transport and others have increased Felda settlers’ debt unreasonable proportions," he said, adding that in spite of this, "their production outputs are continuously being cut by Felda due to the lopsided agreement." Commenting on the land title grants, Tuan Ibrahim urged Felda to return the land titles to settlers who had settled their debts, and said some were yet to receive their land titles despite doing so. |
Monday, 30 August 2010
Settlers Victory and more lawsuits to follow
Singapore Dissident Talks
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew stuck in the bog.
Ladies and Gentlemen,I get the refreshing feeling now that Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and company, the bully boys who run the island, have finally got themselves firmly stuck in the bog. And it appears they don't know what to do.
Although the old Chinese adage of killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys, another way of saying "Punish and shame a few to silence the majority", is very much in vogue in Singapore as it has always been, lately, it simply does not seem to work.
You recall the late JB Jeyaretnam. He was repeatedly punished for his political opposition which finally killed him. Yet he never gave up and Lee's punishments, rather than silencing him, made him even more vociferous. Then of course there is Dr. Chee Soon Juan. He goes to prison almost every month a week at a time for exercising his civil rights. Lee's idea was to punish him, so he will stop. It was also to intimidate others so they will not do likewise.
Lee's plan for Dr. Chee Soon Juan appears to be a complete flop. Dr. Chee does not mind going to jail a week at a time, and neither has it frightened anyone else.
And then there was me, in 2008. I criticized Singaporean Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for prostituting her office to please Lee Kuan Yew in a defamation trial. I was sent to jail for 3 months with great fanfare and the local state controlled press carrying headlines of it for several days. That has not stopped me from criticizing her or anyone else in Singapore. In fact my criticism has become even more robust.
The ground in Singapore instead of becoming cowed and intimidated, has become just the reverse. Today almost daily you have someone taking on the Lee Kuan Yew regime openly and fearlessly. Last week a young man wrote in his blog that Vivian Balakrishnan should be "burnt". He was arrested for that. Yesterday another young man had criticized the manner of Shafie Goh's arrest, a photographer who had taken pictures of the flooding last month. He has been taken in for questioning. But it is not stopping them. In fact the young man who wanted Balakrishnan to be "burnt" has challenged Lee Kuan Yew to "take him on"!
These protest are now becoming more regular and Singaporens are resisting the repression they are living under. The efficacy of the old Chinese saying about killing chickens and frightening monkeys is being disproved. Singaporeans are turning out to be neither chickens nor monkeys. If there are any monkeys or chickens, they are Lee Kuan Yew, his son and his sidekicks, all of them.
Here I am going to advise Lee Kuan Yew. Sending anyone to jail for a week like you do Dr. Chee Soon Juan does not interest anyone, least of all Dr. Chee Soon Juan. And when you sent me to jail for 3 months in 2008, it didn't interest me or for that matter anyone else.
If you really want Singaporeans to be afraid of you in the year 2010, you have to do what Hitler or Stalin did. Shoot them or send them to jail for 20 years, not one week. I dare say it would make a difference on the ground if you sent Dr. Chee Soon Juan to jail for 20 years. That would not only silence him, it would also silence everyone else. Better still shoot him.
But you and I know, at this day and age, you can do none of that. All you can do is to send him to jail for a week at a time, because if you did anything more to him, the international community will "burn" you and your friends to borrow the young man's phrase.
So, it appears now, you are finally stuck in the bog, up to your neck. You can neither move or do anything. You are helpless. And I ask Singaporean young men as the one who was arrested, not to fear, and continue standing up to the bully.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
UMNO: the long and winding road
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
The recent Merdeka centre survey showed that UMNO has still a long way to go. Only 12% of the Chinese respondents said they are satisfied with the Government/UMNO. Malays are split 50:50. The Indians- they are not so critical as they are easily swayable.
At the end of the day, good leadership must not only be heard, but must also be seen to operate.
The survey also said that if PM calls for early elections, he has to project more of himself to win. The gravity of this finding needs to be appreciated. If UMNO's future depends on the weakened shoulders of one person, this means the party is bereft of leadership material. It is reduced to a party forced to manage its image instead of offering convincing direction and policies.
I am sorry to say this- at the moment what Najib has, is the made for TV image and persona of leadership. He is still struggling to impose his leadership substance. And he isn't helped on by his colleagues who are either disinterested or disconnected with his ideas. Or worse, his party members do not understand his leadership direction.
The party UMNO is so discredited. There were 3 main reasons- the leadership is only interested in themselves( read feathering their nests), playing politics and corruption is seen as growing bigger, aided and abetted by the government leadership.
If the party is discredited because of racist chauvinism as asserted by a senior minister, it would have lost its relevance a long time ago. UMNO has always been identified as a Malay chauvinist party. So, why could it stay relevant with the Malays for a long time? That could only suggest that its posturing on Malayness is an accepted trait. UMNO will always be as UMNO is, but what turned Malays and Malaysians against UMNO are the 3 things exposed by the survey; stupid UMNO politicians are interested in feathering their own nests, the level of corruption has reached its tipping point and there is too much politicking brought about by vacuous leadership material.
I have said it before and will repeat it here- the unfortunate truth is that UMNO leaders reached their eminent stature not because of producing great thinking but because they are adept at playing the political game. Hence instead of the cream rising to the top, you have the scum prevailing over others. UMNO is sliding because there are no more good men in leadership capacity.
In short, if elections were to be called early as in next year, UMNO will lose. The revolution that will occur will come about not because NEPish policies are abandoned, but more because UMNO cannot accept losing power.
Can you imagine, life as many UMNO bigwig politicians know for so long is no more? No more pillaging, no more abuses of power, no more avenue for rapacious greed, no more hiding behind your prowess of outshouting your opponents. No more concealing your mediocrity. That will be the end of the world for men and women accustomed to prevailing over others with bullying tactics and out-maneuvering others in political intrigues. These people will incite rebellion because they will find themselves cut off from their power bases and decapitated from wealth creating resources.
If the survey is taken in Pekan, I think the observations will be more correct. It is impossible for Najib to lose there and indeed there Najib enjoys an unassailable stature like Anwar Ibrahim to some of his followers. He can do no wrong.
But a victory alone in Pekan if cancelled out by massive losses elsewhere is of no use. UMNO still loses and that will be the end of Najib's career as PM. The problem is with UMNO and its leadership in general. It is a discredited brand name soiled by self interested leadership, mired in political intrigues and UMNO is seen as a party that promotes corruption.
How can UMNO redeem itself?
Bring in good men in government which means sack the mediocre material. Even a bad system can still be saved by having good people in leadership capacities. Perhaps it was this factor that made UMNO successful in the early days as they were more good leadership material. Honest and sincere leaders believing they could make a difference to the lives of the public. Good leaders were even forgiven for personal weaknesses. Tunku Abdul Rahman and even Tun Razak were partial to intoxicating drinks, by they were nevertheless tolerated because they could lead and because they don't trample over religion and their race.
Restore the people's faith in a party committed to offering the best and talented to the people. Remove all vestiges of ensconced privileges and political rules that impede and frustrate the emergence of new talent. The insistence of no campaigning for party positions is a mockery to the commitment to let diversity of leaders emerge.
Restore the public's faith in the resolve of the government to stem out corruption by going after the big guns. Start by opening the boxes infamously mentioned by one Ezam Mat Noor and go after the 18 high profile cases mentioned by Rais Yatim. Compel him to turn state evidence otherwise charge him for obstructing justice.
Restore the public's faith in our judiciary by first promoting judges of the highest integrity and sound technical knowledge of the law.
Restore the public's faith in the freedom of ideas by giving real press freedom. Allow opposition parties to publish their papers so that the public is accustomed to a contest of ideas and thinking.
And in this 21st century, there is hardly any justification to have a draconian piece of legislation such as the ISA. It is an archaic piece of legislation more relevant in an age of unreason. It is suitable in an age where we stamp our authority by using coercive instruments. In the age of reason, we secure public's faith and belief in us by the force of reason and civil argument. At the end of the day, good leadership must not only be heard, but must also be seen to operate.
SakmongkolAK47
Revolution says Mahathir
Dr M warns NEP removal could lead to revolution
August 30, 2010
Mahathir: Everyone is thinking about his own race. If I am included it is because I think it is dangerous for the rich to take away what little the poor have.
“Take away the minor protection afforded by the NEP and the bumis will lose whatever that they may have. Then racial division will be deepened by wealth division. I don’t think this would be good for the country. Remember it was the disparity between rich and poor in Europe which led to the violence of the Communist revolution.
“I may be labelled a racist but fear of the label will not stop me from working for what I think is the good of the country. Nothing will be gained by dividing the people of Malaysia into poor Bumis and rich non-Bumis. The time is not right for disregarding the disparities between the races in the interest of equity and merit,” said Dr Mahathir in a posting on his blog today.
The former PM continued his stout defence of the pro-Bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP) style policies in his blog post, by suggesting an indefinite continuation of affirmative action programmes.
The former prime minister admitted today that he was “not proud” of the NEP which accorded protection to the Bumiputeras, but stressed that such protection was still necessary and that a 20 year-timeline was not enough for Malays to be economically on par with other races.
Malaysia’s NEP, put in place in 1971, officially ended in 1990, but many of its programmes are still being continued. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said he plans to remove subsidies and many of the pro-Bumiputera quotas under economic reforms. But Dr Mahathir and many Malay groups are opposed to the removal of quotas and equity targets, despite evidence suggesting Malaysia is being handicapped economically and is less competitive globally as a result of such policies.
“I am not proud of the protection afforded the Bumiputeras. It implies weakness. I don’t think Malays and other Bumiputeras like to think that they are inferior in any way.
“But the reality is that in Malaysia the Bumiputeras need new skills and a new culture even. These cannot be had by them in a mere 20 years. The original planners of the NEP were too optimistic,” said Dr Mahathir in a blog posting today although he did not provide or suggest a time frame in which the NEP would no longer be needed.
Using education as an example, Dr Mahathir lashed out at critics who have attacked the government for maintaining a 60 per cent quota for Bumiputeras in local universities.
The former PM said that if the current Bumiputera quota in public universities was reduced, more Bumiputeras should be then allowed to enter private universities which he claimed only consisted of 10 per cent Bumiputeras.
“Even the 10 per cent Bumis are there because of scholarships by MARA. Take the scholarships away and there would be practically none.
“Why is it that the focus is only on what is done by the government? If the Bumis in government universities should be reduced, then the Bumis in the private universities should be increased. Or else meritocracy would reduce the number of Bumiputeras getting university education. Or is it the intention to deny Bumis higher education? They are not the best but they are qualified,” said Dr Mahathir.
The outspoken politician claimed that there were more non-Bumiputeras in foreign universities than local universities because Bumiputeras still could not afford to pay for private tertiary education, and cautioned that this would inevitably result in the Bumiputeras lagging behind in education.
“Because they can afford it there are more non-Bumis than Bumis in foreign universities. This must increase the disparities in higher education between different races,” he said.
Dr Mahathir has been increasingly vocal in speaking out against the New Economic Model (NEM) introduced by Najib, saying that affirmative action must still be carried out, signaling fears that Malays and Bumiputeras would stand lose out the most if the administration were to implement a hundred percent meritocracy-based system.
The former prime minister revealed last week that he had written to the prime minister to offer his advice and let him know what he thought of the New Economic Model (NEM).
However, Dr Mahathir said he did not expect Najib to consider his recommendations.
Citing another case, the veteran politician alleged that even with the existing Bumiputera quotas in government contracts, there was still no guarantee that the contracts would actually be awarded to Bumiputeras.
“As for contracts even with the 5 per cent advantage given to Bumi contractors, many of the Government contracts do not go to them because of their lack of capacity. Even if they do get, non-Bumi contractors get most of the sub-contracts etc.
“Actually construction by the private sector is bigger than the public sector. In the private sector the Bumi contractors get next to nothing. I suppose this is because the private contracts are given based on merit. Or maybe it is not. I don’t know,” said the former Prime Minister.
In justifying his arguments, Dr Mahathir said that during his tenure as Prime Minister and under the implementation of the NEP, Malaysia enjoyed stability and good economic growth.
He noted that despite increased talks about “meritocracy,” the races in the country are more divided today than ever before.
“For 46 years this country enjoyed relative stability and consequently good growth. But today the races are more divided than ever. Everyone has become racist, talks about meritocracy notwithstanding. Everyone is thinking about his own race. If I am included it is because I think it is dangerous for the rich to take away what little the poor has,” added Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir has appeared to be highly critical of Najib and Umno in recent remarks, suggesting recently that the ruling party was weak and mismanaged.
The feisty ex-premier had also mocked proponents of meritocracy last week, calling them racist and decried Malays who supported meritocracy as having misplaced pride.
His comments come after recent remarks by top Malaysian banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak — the CIMB group chief executive and the brother of the PM — who said that the NEP had been “bastardised.”
Nazir has been pushing for reforms while Dr Mahathir has been putting his weight behind right wing Malay groups such as Perkasa, who believe Bumiputera quotas were a “right” of the Malays.
Dr Mahathir has also denied that the NEP had been an obstacle to the country’s development.
He has also mocked proponents of meritocracy, calling them “meritocrats” who are pushing for dominance by one race in all aspects of the country.
MI
UMNO Corporate Nexus Probe
Pakatan seeks probe on Umno-corporate nexus
August 29, 2010
Lim said the mingling of Umno’s interests with GLCs’ stretched back decades. — file pic
“There has to be a comprehensive investigation because for the last 30 years, there has been such a far-ranging nexus of Umno companies and the role they play not only in corporate but also government-linked company (GLC) transactions,” DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider.
“There is no proper accountability in the whole process,” said Lim, adding that this was the reason why Malaysia’s integrity rating took a nosedive in the past three decades.
The Ipoh Timur MP pointed out that it was difficult to identify the boundaries involving the government, the political party, and the individual in companies owned by Barisan Nasional (BN) parties.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said that there was a clear conflict of interest when the government awards contracts to Umno-linked companies.
“Whatever the government awards benefits companies [owned] by Umno and other ruling coalition parties,” said Pua.
Realmild, originally a RM2 company, was the majority shareholder of MRCB, which is now developing the KL Sentral commercial and transport hub in Brickfields.
Pua claimed that Umno’s masking of the ownership trail makes tracing the real beneficiaries “complicated”.
Pua, however, admitted that the probe would be a “complicated” exercise as he claimed Umno hides their holdings under various companies.
“Trying to unravel the entire network of Umno’s ownership in many companies would be a major exercise,” he said, pointing out that the complexity was shown by the court dispute where some shares that were meant to be proxy shares were retained as personal shares.
Former Realmild director Datuk Khalid Ahmad had sued Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Maidin in March 2005 for RM10 million over the sale of a five per cent stake in Realmild in 1999, which took place during a shake-up and buy-out related to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking from government.
Abdul Rahman had paid RM5 million but later reneged on the remainder as he learnt from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the shares actually belonged to Umno.
Abdul Rahman is also now seeking to recover the RM5 million he paid to Khalid, saying the businessman had misrepresented the ownership of the shares.
However, Khalid has maintained that the five per cent stake was his own although he acknowledged that the majority stake was part of an “Umno Trust”.
The other directors in Realmild then were former Berita Harian group editor Datuk Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, New Straits Times group editor Datuk Abdul Kadir Jasin, and Mohd Noor Mutalib, who replaced Khalid as NSTP managing director in February 1993.
PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali noted that it was difficult for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe Umno-linked companies as they were private companies.
“Unless there are reports from people inside regarding irregularities, it is very difficult to prove them,” said Mustafa, adding that the national anti-graft agency had no legal grounds to investigate Umno-linked companies.
Mustafa pointed out that one way to ensure transparency despite the existence of companies owned by political parties was to implement open tenders for government contracts.
“The number of negotiated tenders by government should be reduced. They have to do open tenders,” said Mustafa.
Pua said that laws should be put in place to ban or restrict political party involvement or ownership in business interests as mere guidelines were unlikely to prevent abuses.
“In a case where the government is awarding contracts to an Umno company, it becomes complicated. The minister may step away from (making) the decision, but civil servants are under pressure to award the contract as they are under the purview of the minister,” he said.
Pua also noted that although companies participating in government tenders could be forced to disclose political party ownership, most Umno-linked companies avoided such disclosures as their shares were usually held in proxy.
Beyond the disclosures of such links, Lim also stressed that proper guidelines and accountability were still needed to prevent gross abuses.
“There has to be proper check and scrutiny to ensure public accountability and transparency and integrity of our government,” said Lim.
MI
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