Category: What da f***!!

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55 And Still Without Political Integrity

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Malaysia celebrates 55 years of independence. For those who think that this nation only came into being on 16th September 1963, let me tell you that the name of this nation was changed to the Federation of Malaysia to include Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore. Both Alaska and Hawaii joined the United States of America in 1959, but to people from those states 4th of July 1776 is their Independence Day.

For politicians who are trying hard to make the people of Sabah and Sarawak think of themselves as being separated from those on the peninsula, shame on you for trying to tear this nation apart for your political gains.

55 years on, political integrity is what we lack, and that is a big shame to us all. The thing most synonymous with politicians is corruption. I am not just talking about those from the Barisan Nasional, but also those in the loose opposition coalition that calls themselves, ironically, the Pakatan Rakyat. While money politics is still rife within UMNO, we hear of corrupt practices within the Pakatan Rakyat itself. I will let you Google for the links to these yourselves.

Corruption amongst politicians only proves one thing: that power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts. With power comes the opportunity to enrich one’s self, and to stay in power, one needs to buy his way into a recognised position. And the amount can only increase each time.

The problem lies with us, human beings. God is intangible. Heaven and hell are intangible. Rewards and Sins are intangible. Which is why some people do things without the slightest guilt.

Of course political corruption is not peculiar to Malaysia only, as it is also evident in other nations including in the west, but this is not an excuse for us to accept it as a norm. Political corruption is something that we must all take as a responsibility to eradicate, or curtail. And this is something that needs to be addressed by us as voters to determine the candidates to choose, rather than by party. UNLESS, all political parties can make one important move.

As a voter, I would like all political parties to submit their list of election candidates to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission and the Royal Malaysian Police, for the potential candidates to be vetted thoroughly. Only names that have been cleared by BOTH agencies, not either or, can stand for elections. That is one way to ensure that voters are not shortchanged by political parties, especially ones that put whoever they have so they could contest.

As voters, we have the responsibility to choose the correct candidates to represent us. Of course, this process would be made easier had the candidate been cleared by the two agencies I mentioned above.

We must strive to choose only candidates who are able to uphold the Constitution, Law and Order, and Justice. We must choose candidates whom have the ability to lead, bring about development and have a certain specialisation. We should choose only candidates who are interested in serving us, not the other way round. What politicians who hold public posts now think is that they are the VIPs and the people should serve them. What they have forgotten is that they are to represent us, help solve our problems. For that reason they are the Wakils Rakyat, not Boss Rakyat. Sad to say that only P Kamalanathan of Hulu Selangor deserves the Yang Berhormat title. He deserves that respect without reservation.

We must ensure the culture of politics with integrity as our way of life as only this can ensure that we continue to live as one, and continue to enjoy this independence. Those with greed for power should be shunned by all and never be allowed to hold office, for that would be like allowing a cancerous cell to spread.

We must ensure that the Executive Branch of the Government administers this nation with proper engagements with the relevant government departments, and not run the country on their own. We have no time for members of the Executive Branch who are only interested in making money.

We must ensure that our representatives in the Legislative Branch do their job as entrusted to them by us the Voters. They must attend sittings and not play truant, and they should debate a bill through and not walk out. If they disagree with anything at all, they should vote any bill out as a registration of protest…not walk out and cheat their voters of their voice. I also hope to see the end of the Whip System as this will ensure that any bill that is to be tabled is thought through and through by all members before it is tabled on the floor. This is to ensure that the party that tables the bill, tables a quality bill that has the support of the significant majority of its members.

We must ensure that the Judiciary Branch remains independent and is free of corruption. The integrity of the Judiciary Branch is key to the preservation of the Government’s integrity.

We must remember that we, the Voters, are the important component in a traveling bus. We elect our representatives to drive the bus, but it is the Voters who determine the destination the representatives ought to drive to.

Remember, if we do not preserve the integrity of us, as Voters, and the integrity of those we have chosen as the driver of this nation, we may not see another 55 years of an independent Malaysia. Preserve integrity and choose wisely, not emotionally.

Selamat menghayati erti Kemerdekaan.

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HUDUD: Helah Untuk Dapat Undi DAP (Updated)

They look like the ordinary Joe you and I would walk past without even batting an eyelid.  They look like your insignificant neighbour whose name you never bothered to find out, let alone what he does for a living, and if his family is okay.

After tonight, they are no longer insignificant to me. Not especially if a large number of the insignificant have turned their back on Islam, and embraced by the Evangelists.

I once touched briefly on this subject (While The Malays Sleep) but I guess the recent statement by Karpal Singh calling the nation secular, challenging opponents and Pakatan partners alike to prove him wrong, has not gone unnoticed to this blogger. I will touch on the subject of Karpal’s statement shortly.

I was invited to a media conference hosted by JATI President, Dato Dr Hasan Ali.  What interested me was the fact that some 120 former proselytized Muslims were there to attend the berbuka puasa and Terawih with Hasan Ali.  We had the opportunity to interview some of them and were shocked by what was revealed.

Dato Dr Hasan Ali at the media conference

When the proselytization issue surfaced exactly a year ago today, we all learnt that around 13 people were interviewed by JAIS for attending a berbuka puasa event at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church.  What we did not know until tonight was the fact that there were in fact more than 100 Muslims/former Muslims who managed to get away from the church when the raid commenced.  Of the 13, 11 are said to have gone overseas and will only return to vote – and I bet they will not be voting for the Barisan Nasional.

During one of the interviews, an interviewee revealed that the Evangelists prey on those Muslims and non-Muslims in need – single mothers, pregnant factory workers, families in debt, terminally ill patients in hospitals, LGBTs who are shunned by their family and so on.  A transgender also revealed how he was showered with assistance, be they in kind or cash, and finally opened up to the Evangelists and became a Christian for more than two years.  One of the proselytized admitted the churches had helped them for over 10 years. Another was a person with medical complications who cannot afford the treatment and had to face lots of bureaucratic bullshit when applying for assistance.  In the end, it was the Evangelists who courted her and won.  She was a Christian for more than six years.  In her group, which represents one part of Kelana Jaya, proselytized Muslims numbers around 400.  If her group has 400, I wonder how many other groups that have similar numbers.

These are people who had no one to turn to.  Pregnant but single Malay women and transgenders who are shunned by their family and community; people with complex health issues with no means to afford treatment.  HIV shelters insist that those seeking help from them undergo Christian programs.  What have we, as Muslims, done to help them?  Hasan Ali commented that the administration of the Zakat is too bureaucratic while the churches give out assistance, including cash, quickly and seamlessly.

Ask a Muslim for help, more often than not you won’t get one, or will not get what you want.  A simple comparison would be this:  on a Sunday, some churches in Petaling Jaya can collect at least three-quarters of a million Ringgit through donations from the members of their respective congregation.  Whereas in a mosque, on a Friday, when that little box trolley is pushed around for people to stuff money inside, you often see people push the trolley past them onto the next person without putting even a single sen.  Therefore, the difference is the Christians donate with conviction in return for salvation, whilst the Muslims think that the government has to provide all for the mosque.  So, why should they donate?

Hasan Ali was the former Exco for Islamic Religious Affairs of Selangor, until he was ousted because of the DUMC raid.  And despite His Highness the Sultan of Selangor’s decree that the event actually took place, but lacked evidence for any court action to be taken, other PAS assemblymen in Selangor seem to be in denial about proselytization efforts taking place in churches especially in Selangor.

This brings me to the constant attack on Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, on any government-linked institution, including the military, police and the religious authorities; and Karpal Singh’s statement in the Sun Daily.  Karpal said:

PAS must accept the Federal Constitution for PR to win in the coming general election.

He said it is a matter of law that Malaysia is constitutionally a secular state, which is a basic structure of the Constitution and this cannot be amended even with a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

“In law, the basic structure of the Constitution is beyond amendment.”

In short, Karpal is saying that no matter what, if Pakatan Rakyat wins, Hudud will never be implemented.  He is also implying that Islam is only an official religion, and not the religion of the Federation.  He goes on to mention about the basic structure of the Constitution.

Here, Karpal is making a reference to the Kesavananda Bharati case in India where seven of thirteen judges in the case, including Chief Justice Sikri, declared that the Parliament’s constituent power was subject to inherent limitations.  Parliament could not use its amending powers to damage, emasculate, destroy, abrogate change or alter the basic structure of framework of the Constitution.  The concept of basic structure of the Constitution included the supremacy of the Constitution, republican and democratic form of the government, secular character of the Constitution, separation of powers between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, and the federal character of the Constitution.

Interesting to note, however, that there has never been an attempt, in legal terms, to define the basic structure of the Malaysian Federal Constitution.  Karpal has, on at least one occasion during a trial, brought it up; but the court thought there was no need then to deliberate on the issue. Perhaps, the institution of the Malay Rulers are included within the basic structure.  But whether the rights stipulated under Article 153 and/or Islam as the Religion of the Federation (and not merely an official religion) will be considered, remains to be seen.

In my opinion, this has to be addressed soon.  Or else, we will see more of the insignificant Joes and DUMC issues happening should Pakatan win the next general election.
Added at 1.19pm 14th August 2012:

This is a video interview courtesy of KL Pos of one of the victims of proselytization:

Mangsa Kristianisasi Menceritakan Pengalaman Beliau

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Rape If You Must If You Have A Bright Future

Read This Without Wanting To Throw Up

I read with disgust the decision by the Court of Appeal’s three-man panel led by Tan Sri Raus Sharif to substitute a rapist’s 5-year jail term with a bound over for good behaviour for five years. All because the appellant has a “bright future.”. The Appellant, Noor Afizal Azizan, 21, is a bowler whom had represented Negeri Sembilan and Malaysia in the National Youth Category for five years between 2004-2008, and is expected to represent Kedah in several up-coming tournaments. He was previously sentenced to five years jail by the High Court for raping a 13-year old girl in 2009.

Prior to the High Court sentence, the Sessions Court had bounded him over after considering several factors, including that there was a consensual sexual relationship between him and the girl. The Public Prosecutor successfully appealed to the High Court last year and obtained the five-year jail sentence.

Section 375(f) of the Malaysian Penal Code is clear on this matter:

A man is said to commit “rape” who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the following descriptions: with or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age

Therefore, I do not, and can never understand the logic behind the decision of both the Sessions Court (in the first hearing) and the Court of Appeal. As a matter of fact, under the explanation for Section 376B of the same Act, it is specifically mentioned that a person under sixteen years of age, if female, or under thirteen years of age, if male shall be deemed to be incapable of giving consent.

In fact, I would have thrown Section 377E at the Appellant for inciting a child to an act of gross indecency. The Section says that any person who incites a child under the age of fourteen years to any act of gross indecency with him or another person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to whipping.

What sickens me more is that the Appellate Judges agreed with counsel Hisyam Teh Poh Teik that public interest would not be served if the latter’s client was given a custodial sentence when he had a bright future.

If I recall correctly, Jamie Waylett, who played school,bully Vincent Crabbe in six of the Harry Potter films was jailed for two years for being part of a violent mob during the UK Riots of 2011. Jamal Abdillah, Ameng Spring, Saleem, all with bright future, yet jailed. Muhammad Ali, as Cassius Clay, was a heavyweight boxing champ when he was jailed for draft evasion. Tell me if his future wasn’t bright then.

In all honesty, I opine that the Appellate judges have made an erroneous judgment of public interest, and justice has definitely NOT been served.

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Halal Child Labour (Updated)

Orphan Seeking Donations
Is this a Halal form of Child Labour?

Go to a bank, they are there waiting for you. Go to a petrol station and they hide behind pumps, waiting to pounce on you the moment you start filling your car’s tank up.  Go to an ATM machine, they will be waiting outside.  Go to a food court, they will come and push this worn out leaflet of an orphanage under your nose.

Malaysians are known to be philanthropic.   As a Muslim, you are encouraged to give alms with the hope that God will reward you leaps and bounds.  Sadly, it is Muslim children, mainly orphans whom you see are being exploited by the management of orphanages to solicit funds/donations from the general public.  But is sending children out on their own, for long hours, for days at times, necessary?

The International Labour Organization defines Child Labour in Article 3 of ILO Convention No.182.  It reads:

a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances;

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Labour that jeopardises the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child, either because of its nature or because of the conditions in which it is carried out, is known as “hazardous work”.

The words I have put in bold are the ones, in my opinion, reflect the nature of labour these unfortunate orphans are being put through.  My question is, what are the authorities doing about this?

In March 2012, Datuk Heng Seai Kei, the Deputy Minister for Women, Family and Community Development said that  continuous effort has been taken by the North-South Highway Project (PLUS) with the cooperation of the Social Welfare Department to curb the abuse of orphans by the management of orphanages along the North-South highway.  Apart from that, the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) has asked the respective state religious authorities to arrest those who exploit children and orphans by asking them to solicit funds.  He said this when answering Dungun MP, Datuk Matulidi Jusoh in Parliament when the latter asked about the actions taken against errant Orphanages and Tahfiz centers that have been exploiting children and orphans.

I think the authorities need to get their act together.  Local authorities are more keen on raiding and confiscating stalls belonging to small-time business owners than stopping child exploitation, and members of the public need to realize that they should start asking these children when do they ever get to study, or if they like walking around in the heat of the sun, or late at night, asking for donations that they never get to see at the end of their “shift.”

These children are innocent, and asking them to solicit funds for orphanages is NOT the way to hone their entrepreneurial skills.  The one I saw at the ESSO station along the North-South highway was virtually there every day.  The one I questioned two nights ago had loitered around my favourite food court for the past two weeks.  When do they ever get to go to class?  When do they sleep? Where do they sleep? What do they get to eat at the end of their “working day?”

And do you ever wonder how many of these children have been sexually harassed by predators as they are left at a location for hours and have to fend for themselves?

And what do these children learn?

Every time they piss someone off for disturbing them while they eat or fill up their tank, they incur the wrath of the restaurant’s or petrol station’s customer.  And it is possible that if they do not get enough “fund” they get punished.  In the end, the only lesson with impact these children will ever learn is resentment and anger.  Now, whose fault is that?

Exploitation of children
What sin have they committed that they are not protected by the community they are in?

Unless you don’t mind seeing your children end up like in the picture above if something unfortunate happens to you, then you can stop reading this blog post and move on.  But to this blogger, the authorities, especially the religious authorities,  have a lot to answer for this Halal child labour.

UPDATED (12.10PM – 29th July 2012)

One comment on my Facebook account on this issue has prompted me to update this post:

Unfortunately, in many cases the parents of the children are not aware of them being used by whatever tahfiz or madrasah to collect alms or to sell trinkets. Do you also notice that most of the time the madrasah or tahfiz is in Kedah or Kelantan, unregistered and not in the Malaysian Education System, nor supported by the state governments. Short of saying they are operating illegally, the children are also not insured nor officially registered in those institutions. There was one case when the rickety van the children were in was involved in a crash, killing 4 kids and the Ustadz. The parents were shocked to hear that the children was brought to KL from Kedah without consent, to beg for alms. For the record, I am totally against this, and I often question the children as to why they were there selling posters instead of studying – Farid Hamid. 8.12am, 29th July 2012

I remember that incident.  This happened a little over five and a half years ago. Five students from a Tahfiz in Kedah died after the van they were traveling in, hit the back of a stationary trailer, on their way back to Kedah after an “excursion” in KL.  None of the parents were informed of the trip to KL, nor was their permission sought by the management of the “Tahfiz.”  You can read about it here.  And yes, the “excursion” to KL was for them to be used by the management of the “Tahfiz” to solicit funds from the public.  You can read about it here.

Seriously, the authorities need to come down hard on these culprits.

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Living In Holy Shit

Living in Holy Shit
Kelantan After 22 Years: Living In Holy Shit

After all that crap about the imbecilic nature of the Selangor State Government when it comes to handling the water shortage fiasco, I saw a nice tweet by my wife about the number of sewage treatment plants.  It read:

“Kelantan has only 11 sewage treatment plants. Even Perlis has 33. Gulp. Johor has over 600”

“Wow!” I thought.  But since it was early in the morning I thought it was about the number of water treatment plants, as Kelantan has a poor treated water supply coverage as well.  Then I re-read the tweet and I realised how for the past 22 years, the Kelantanese State Government has been shirking its duties in ensuring the basic human rights to clean water supply as well as sanitation.

22 years.

Let us compare the states mentioned above in terms of population count versus the number of sewage treatment plants made available in the respective states.

Johor had 3.23 million in 2010.  Perlis, possibly the state with the least resources, had 198,000 in 2010.  Kelantan 1.46 million in 2010.

Johor has 600 sewage treatment plants for its 3.23 million inhabitants – that translates as having 5,383 persons per sewage treatment plant.  In Perlis, the ratio is 1:6,000; while in Kelantan it is 1:132,727.

Let us go by size of each state: Johor is 19,210 sq.km; Perlis is 821 sq.km; and Kelantan is 15,099 sq.km in size.  The ration of kilometer square per sewage treatment plant is 1:32; in Perlis it is 1:25; but in Kelantan it is 1:1,373.  So, one sewage treatment plant in Kelantan has to cover an area that is 1,373 sq.km, and crap from 32,727 132,727 people.

Little wonder you get headlines like: Tetracycline Resistant Cholera in Kelantan (1998); Cholera Outbreak In Tumpat, Kelantan (1990); Cholera Cases in Kelantan Continue to Rise (2000).  I can go through the tens of headlines right up till June 2012, but I just want to give examples on how crappy shit already is in Kelantan.  People die from the outbreaks above, yet the Kelantan State Government behaves nonchalantly.

Of course, the holier-than-thou attitude the Kelantan State Government adopts does not help the situation; what makes it worse is when voters have been brainwashed to think that whatever Cholera-shit that hit them is a test from God.

Unless the voters are given a knock on the head, my guess is they will continue to live in Holy Shit for another 22 more years.

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Torpedoed By The Scorpene

All the hoo-haa about the Scorpene scandal has come to a nought when the probe into the “scandal” discovered that the Mongolian woman tied to the scandal, Altantuya Shaariibuu, had never entered France between 1999 and 2006, and neither did Prime Minister Najib Razak entered France on a personal capacity between those years.

In fact, DCNS officials alluded that they had never met any Mongolian woman by the name of Altantuya Shaariibuu, and all negotiations were done in English, not French as claimed by a certain quarter, therefore dismissing the need for an interpreter.  Furthermore it was revealed that Altantuya could not speak French.

So, what was then she in this all?

And what of the photoshopped photo of her with Najib and Razak?

Read more about it here

Oh, and I see spinners spinning faster than the word “spin” itself already! Haha!

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Enter The Dragon

It is that time of the year again, whenever that time may be in a calendar year, but it is the same time Malaysians, those in the Peninsula in particular, have been complaining year after year about since at least 1994.  Every year, haze from neighbouring Indonesia would engulf the Peninsula, and at times even Sarawak, up to the point of suffocating Malaysians. Every year a complaint is lodged, but nothing seems to be seriously done by the Indonesian government to put a stop to this.  This, in my opinion, is akin to bullying of one’s neighbour.

A few weeks ago I tweeted about the need for the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force to boost its power projection capabilities in light of China’s increasing bullying of the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal issue.  What began as a simple issue over a fishing vessel, turned into a standoff between the lightly-armed Philippines Navy against the might of the People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLAN).  And from the 10th April 2012 up until this posting was made, the whole issue was an impasse.  The Philippines government has announced yesterday that it would be pulling back its vessels from the shoal because of bad weather – another sign of a weak navy, unable to withstand weather conditions.

Interestingly, a senior Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) replied to my tweet saying that China should not be seen as a threat, but rather an opportunity.  With a population of over 1.3 billion, China, an emerging economic powerhouse, should be seen as an opportunity.  However, as the United States and the European powers have reduced defence spending, China’s has increased 12 percent over the past decade.  China is investing heavily in “asymmetric capabilities” designed to thwart America’s interference in its interests over the East and South China Seas.  According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), by 2035, China’s defence spending could overtake that of America’s.

While China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has an active force of 2.3 million, China’s real military strength lies elsewhere.  As part of the “asymmetric capabilities” China is acquiring A2/AD (anti-access/area denial) capabilities.  In 1996, we saw the US Navy sending two of its carrier battle groups to Taiwan when the PLA started lobbing missiles at islands off Taiwan.  By 2020, China aims to deter American carriers and aircraft from operating within what is known as the “First Island Chain” – a perimeter that runs down from the Aleutians, the north of Taiwan, the Philippines, and Borneo.  In 2005, the “Taiwan Anti-Secession Law” was passed in China, which commits the latter to a military response should Taiwan declare independence.  While the US maintains “strategic ambiguity” on the event that secession happens, Jia Xiudong of the China Institute of International Studies reflects the policy of China:

“We don’t have any ambiguity. We will use whatever means we have to prevent it from happening.”

If so, what has happened to the rhetorical agreements made during the various ASEAN engagements with China?  Let us remember one thing:  while the Chinese politicians do all the talking on behalf of the government of China, the People’s Liberation Army IS NOT formally part of the state.  It is responsible to the Communist Party and is run by the Central Military Commission, not the Ministry of Defence.  Therefore, a better understanding of the  loyalty and priorities of the Chinese military is very much needed.  While Chinese ministers have time and again promised a “peaceful rise,” we see its bullying of neighbours occur on a frequent basis.  Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, have all been physically bullied by China’s military.  While diplomats from both sides tried to water down the situation at the Scarborough Shoals, men of the Chinese military amped up bellicose language.  The state-run media warned that “war could break out with the Philippines if the island nation did not give up its claims on disputed rocks and reefs in the South China Sea.”

Lest we forget, back in a meeting between ASEAN and China in 2010, when faced with a barrage of complaints about his country’s behaviour in the region, its Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said:

China is a big country, and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.”

Last week, our Defence Minister cancelled a visit to the RMN outpost at Terumbu Layang-Layang, where a popular dive resort is also located, because of strong objections by China.

You decide if China really is an opportunity, or a threat.  But I have this to say – running down our military as done by certain politicians, is not helping the situation at all.

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Power Corrupts

Press Release from IIM
The Malaysian Institute of Integrity supports the MACC’s call to screen election candidates

Power corrupts, they say; or as the longer version goes, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Upon mentioning the word corruption more often than not our mind will wander towards our visual cortex playing visions of Barisan Nasional, the police, and on the lesser side the local authorities.  Like it or not, the management of people’s perception towards the integrity of Barisan Nasional leaders continues to play a huge role especially in the cyber world and will have an impact in the 13th General Election.  While Prime Minister Najib continues to win the rakyat‘s hearts and minds through his policy of openness, there is that little devil playing in the back of our mind asking if Najib would have the political will to remove certain people after the next general election he inherited from his predecessor who had stepped down mid-term.  Let us hope that high-profile cases affecting Barisan Nasional’s integrity such as Shahrizat Jalil’s and Khir Toyo’s will reflect a continuous effort by the Najib administration to strengthen its integrity.

Fighting corruption in Malaysia is not a new thing.  In fact, Malaysia became the first developing nation to have an anti-corruption law when the Anti-Corruption Act was passed in 1961. This was supported by the Emergency Ordinance (Essential Powers) No.22, 1970, and then replaced by the Anti-Corruption Agency Act in 1982.  As part of a continual process to make better the fight against corruption, the Anti-Corruption Act 1997  was passed among others covering more types of corrupt acts, adding more powers to the prosecution and to the Anti Corruption Agency.  To further show its seriousness in fighting corruption, the Government had also tabled (and passed by Parliament) the Witness Protection Act 2009, Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission Act 2009, and the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.

One may ask how effective have these Acts been, especially in the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 with regards to the NFC case?  As we know, an employee of a bank here in Malaysia had divulged transaction information of an account belonging to the NFCorp to PKR’s Rafizi Ramli (who by chance is an accountant), who in turn made public the findings and demanded an investigation into the NFCorp.  While we thank the two individuals for their concern into the misuse of public funds granted to the NFCorp to assist its real purpose, the bank employee had committed an offence under Section 97(1) of the Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 1989 for revealing details of a customer’s account, while Rafizi, whether foolishly or knowingly given that he is a certified accountant, had committed an offence under Section 97(3) of the same Act for disclosing information in contravention of subsection (1).  Anywhere you go to, including Switzerland, you will never be able to get information pertaining to the banks’ customers’ account(s) unless compelled by law.

Aren’t Rafizi and the bank employee protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act then?  No, they are not.  All disclosure of improper conduct should be reported to any enforcement agency “Provided such disclosure is not specifically prohibited by any written law” (Section 6(1)).  What the bank employer should have done was to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) and let due process take place.  It makes no sense to report a purported wrongdoing to the press, or on the Web, or in ceramahs, unless you are not interested in seeing justice being done, but rather throw it to the court of public opinion for political mileage.

Being able to govern the country is at its core all about power and influence.  Elected politicians use their power to get things done.  In an ideal world, we can hope to see this power used to benefit others, meaning voters.  That would be in the form of socialised power.  The other form of power would be called personalised power.  This is used for personal gains.    An elected politician can still use this power to benefit others, and at the same time make personal gains.  After all, none of us have seen a poor former US President.  We have, in our times, seen poor Prime Ministers (such as Tun Razak), but that would be a rare exception.

We have also seen the rearing of ugly heads when it comes to the Opposition-held states; the sand-mining scandal in Selangor, mushrooming of seedy health centers in Selangor, sale of Bayan Mutiara, allocating humongous projects in Kedah without open-tender being called, the contract to supply of tailor-made costumes to the Perak government being given to members of a state assemblyman’s family, and of course, the case Teoh Beng Hock died for.  If you ask a layman like me, I see no benefit whatsoever that could be gained by Barisan Nasional coming from Teoh Beng Hock’s death, but those whose information the late Teoh Beng Hock was privy to, definitely benefited from his eternal silence.  Only fools would think otherwise.

So, my fellow rakyat, voters, the answer is NO, REPLACING X WITH Y DOES NOT CHANGE ANYTHING.  There are positive and negative sides of power.  On the former, power makes leaders more assertive, confident and certain of their decisions.  They must use the power to get the job done.  On the latter, the more power a leader possess, the more they focus on their egocentric desires and as their power increases, they will gradually cease to see the perspective of others.  What we want, as the rakyat, are leaders with integrity, and it does not matter which side of the political fence they are on.

Recently, the Malaysian Institute of Integrity had issued a press statement supporting the move by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission offering to vet potential candidates for the GE13.  Datuk Dr Mohd Tap Salleh, President of IIM, said that “this proactive step would help party leadership to nominate candidates with integrity.”

IIM in this statement said that this process will ensure the degree of confidence towards the election and democratic systems will increase, and this will in turn interest the public to participate in the elections process and choose leaders.  “This country needs political leadership with high integrity.  With respect to that, leaders need to have in them pristine values such as trust, responsible, accountable, truthful, transparent, honest, and sincere, in order to serve the nation and its people,” Datuk Dr Mohd Tap added.

And I, as a layman, cannot agree more.  I hope that the Government, political leaders,  and the Elections Commission will take this offer seriously.  Elected politicians must always remember that they have the mandate from the rakyat to administer this government and the constituency they represent to ensure it is done efficiently and the interest of the rakyat protected at all cost, not for their political nor personal gains.

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Funny Association of Bar Owners – Part 3

Since my last posting, several landmark events have taken place.  First, the three people seen in the video taken by an Opposition supporter instigating the breach of police barricade at the Dataran Merdeka have been charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012; and under the same Act, the Government has filed a civil suit against the organisers and members of the steering committee of BERSIH 3.0 (Ambiga Sreenivasan and 9 others) for their failure to ensure that their responsibilities as the organisers of the rally to ensure that the Assembly remained peaceful, as stipulated in the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.  This also opens up the possibility of the injured policemen taking civil action against the organisers jointly and severally for the same reason.  According to the Guidelines on Peaceful Assembly issued by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Para 116 states the following:

In the implementation of legislation on freedom of assembly, consideration should also be given to the rights, health and safety of police officers.

Maybe, it would also be worth to explore Section 34 and 149 of the Penal Code, to show there was a common intention by the organisers of BERSIH 3.0, and the perpetrators charged as above, to endanger public order based on the precedences set by BERSIH 1.0 and 2.0, where they always end in violence.  In BERSIH 2.0 we saw the video of yet another Opposition MP who made a countdown to charge at the police line.  Therefore, the organisers of BERSIH 3.0 should have denounced the act and kept the political parties out of the assembly.  Consider this, would it not be mala fide to even incite, promise and invite 500,000 people to attend a rally in one place that cannot hold more than 100,000?  How did the organisers, as responsible people, expect the police to ensure the safety of the participants of the rally, to weed out bad hats and trouble-makers who may have ill intent, let alone to ensure public order and the right to freedom of passage by road users who are not participants, their right to public order, morality, security and public health?

What has also taken place, in reference to the first case above, the defence counsel for Anwar Ibrahim includes the very man who led the prosecution team against him in the Sodomy II trial, and lost.  This is in particular of interest to me as Mohd Yusof Zainal Abidin was privy to the evidences and information made available to the Attorney-General’s office.  That case is now in its appeal stage and is far from over, making the move by Yusof to join Anwar’s defence team, in my opinion, nothing short of being malum in se.  Already, there is talk among the rakyat about how the Government had lost its case against Anwar in Sodomy II.  We will have to see if Yusof has or will cross the line between being a defence counsel and criminal conspirator.  The Government (Attorney-General’s Office) should have an ethical standards barring former staff who have had access to sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information to move into private practice dealing with clients who can benefit directly from the information.  As in the case of one Michael Abell who switched sides in 1995 from the US Justice Department to defending Cali drug barons, a lack of ethical standard set by the US Justice Department (and in this case, the Malaysian Attorney-General’s Office) squanders public trust when it allows this to happen.

Interestingly, the Bar Council has kept mum on this issue.  An injustice towards the Government seems to be okay from a body that is supposed to uphold the law without fear or favour.  How can one not say that the Bar Council is partisan?  Every action it does seems to favour only one side of the political fence.

I urge those among the 13,000 members of the Malaysian Bar who did not attend the recent Extraordinary General Meeting who are against the resolution passed en bloc and fear for the neutrality of the Bar, to take action now as rakyat like I, have now doubt it being a professional body.

And I would also like to urge Malaysians capable of thinking…to think.