Anwar Ibrahim – Page 2 – SeaDemon Says

February 2, 2018February 2, 2018

Ada Faham, Rais?

raisthehutt — “I don’t know if i have a brain!”

Recently, 14 European Union ministers and 3 Charges D’Affaires met with members of Pakatan Harapan. Rais Hussin (above) who heads the Policy and Strategy Bureau of Pribumi wrote that the claim of Foreign Minister Anifah Aman that Pakatan had breached the sovereignty of Malaysia was ludicrous and off target. He went as far as quoting the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961.

Very laudable, Rais. Good effort in trying to at least look clever. They say ‘The Devil is always in the details‘, Rais. The very least you could do is read the statement by the Foreign Minister properly.

He said ‘mengundang campur tangan‘ which, if translated properly, means ‘inviting interference‘ in Malaysia’s domestic issues as well as the issues raised to the delegates would effect the image and sovereignity of the country.

The concern of the Malaysian Government is why is Pakatan Harapan members, especially PPBM members who do not even hold seats in Parliament (with the exception of self-proclaimed Brunei citizen Mukhriz Mahathir who is the ADUN of Jerlun), air domestic issues to representatives of foreign nations? What is the intention here?

Years ago, Mahathir chide the west for poking their noses into Malaysia’s domestic affairs. Now you are asking foreign nations to interfere but at the same time chide the Government for inviting foreign investments from China and the Middle East. That is blowing hot and cold at the same time. It is a known fact that you are full of hot air anyway but you are undoubtedly a qualified and proven strategist. Just look at how spectacular Muhyddin is doing now (that was being ironic and sarcastic in case it escaped your alleged intellectual mind).

Did Mahathir chide Anwar for seeking support from Al Gore, Estrada etc? Wait! You reformed! Of course! That is why Mahathir has done a U-turn and is doing what Anwar did. So was Anwar right? Did Mahathir actually screw Malaysia for 22 years?

Bad mouthing our country to outsiders is simply in bad taste. Sabotaging the country for your own political gain? And it was thought that Mahathir and PPBM could sink no lower.

Are you hoping for the EU to place an embargo on Malaysia? It would definitely affect the Palm Oil industry which will in turn affect the small producers. So, when these people lose their income and can’t provide food on the table, will you be answerable?

You talk about 1MDB, SRC and Felda without any hint of knowledge concerning the matters. The US, Singapore, Switzerland took action after Bank Negara hit 1MDB with heavy penalties.

The SRC, Felda and Mara are still under investigation in case you are unaware. Any form of investigation would not happen if Mahathir were the Prime Minister because he would just instruct the MACC to turn a blind eye just like in the case of the BNM Forex scandal.

By the way, do you even understand what 1MDB is all about? You probably do a little after all those hours of trying to memorise and parrot what the blogs alleged. Or perhaps you received advice from Pakatan’s renowned economists i.e. Mat Sabu, who coincidentally is the person who coined the term ‘Mahafiraun‘ for your beloved ‘Prime Minister’-designate, a name that is still being used by the original reformasi people in reference to him.

With regards to the 1MDB, not one individual has been charged or arrested in the US despite all attempts by Pakatan to get the DOJ to take action. A civil action has been taken, which the DOJ had applied to the US courts but even that, further action had to be postponed. Why is this so? It is because although Pakatan sent its goons over to the US to report about the loss of money from 1MDB, the US DOJ is having problems trying to ascertain where the money is actually from as 1MDB has not lost any money.

However, you can be proud of the constant use of the word ‘kleptocracy’ which shows that you are capable of some form of basic intelligence – amoeba level, that is.

Those arrested and charged in Singapore were all bank employees who flouted the local financial regulations. Sorry to spoil your stupid fun but those people are NOT related to, nor are they employed by the 1MDB.

Perhaps, if you were to put in some effort to properly read the Foreign Minister’s statement (two months should do for you given your level of comprehension), the concerns were regarding the good name, integrity and guaranteed sovereignty of the country. It did not at all touch on electoral monitoring groups.

The point is, both the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister were disturbed by the actions of Pakatan bad mouthing Malaysia to outsiders. And this begs a question from me: IF YOU ARE SO CONFIDENT OF FORMING THE NEXT GOVERNMENT, AND HAVE THE NUMBERS WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SEEK THE HELP OF FOREIGNERS?

Surely a person like Anifah Aman who has served two terms as the Malaysian Foreign Minister and widely respected on the world stage knows, unlike you, his subject matter. Anifah spoke facts on possible ramifications of the shallow-minded actions Pakatan had made.

The Foreign Minister made no mention that it is wrong for the EU Ambassadors to meet with MPs of the Opposition as this is the norm in democratic nations but the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations allows the Government to take the necessary action if any diplomat intervenes in the internal affairs of a country.

Unlike you, the Foreign Minister is a man who is not just a politician, but more so that he is a very well respected diplomat. He is well respected around the world, and in the US is well received by both the Democrats and Republican Senate reprentatives. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise to you that he also holds several important international portfolios and, unlike your master who gave Malaysian identity cards to foreigners in Sabah, has the undeniable loyalty and affection of the majority of Sabahans.

Stop behaving as if you are intelligent. Allah Knows. Ada faham, Rais?

Screen Shot 2018-02-02 at 01.41.15 — Mamak penjual kerakyatan Malaysia

January 17, 2018January 17, 2018

Mahathir’s Reformasi

It was a movement to topple the second most-hated dictator of the South East Asia. Tens of thousands would march on the streets of Kuala Lumpur chanting “Undur Mahathir, undur!” and the infamous “Reformasi!” after Anwar Ibrahim was summarily expelled from UMNO and denied a chance for the premiership over reasons Mahathir himself claims to have forgotten or something to that effect.

Leading this group of demonstrators was Anwar’s most loyal lieutenants, Azmin Ali, who was his Principal Private Secretary in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. With Anwar still in jail, Azmin is the most favourite choice for Pakatan’s Prime Minister-designate amongst the younger generation.

Or that was what we all thought would happen.

Suddenly, the 92-year old Mahathir manoeuvred his way into being accepted as the Prime Minister again if Pakatan wins the next general elections. DAP and the anti-Azmin camp inside PKR namely Wan Azizah’s camp accepted the nonagenarian but this was rejected by several opposition-friendly NGOs as well as Selangor’s PKR.

Several hints on social media platforms and insiders’ information of Anwar’s opposition to Mahathir being designated as Pakatan’s Prime Minister warranted an article by The Star’s Joceline Tan. The writing is all over the wall – REFORMASI is dead.

In a move seen to insult Mahathir, Azmin offered his Gombak parliamentary seat for Mahathir to contest in in the next general election, an offer rejected outright by the latter.

A leopard never changes its spots – and true to his character, Mahathir announced that he will deal with dissenters quietly – a reminder of his 22-year reign of terror.

Just like Anwar whose colour of underwear was made public for going against Mahathir, Azmin now finds tales of his sexual trysts being made public. We are reminded of the time Anina Saadudin’s steamy WhatsApp messages were made public after falling out with Mahathir’s inner circle.

Anything Azmin is now being attacked, therefore it’s going to be interesting to see how the champion of Reformasi will now go against the man he has been fighting against for the past 20 years.

If he fails, it would be Mahathir’s masterstroke – for killing off the Reformasi movement from inside and finally making it his own Reformasi where dissent can never be tolerated.

Welcome to Mahathir’s Reformasi – or Dictatorship 2.0 as we know it.

January 9, 2018January 9, 2018

Reformasi Untuk Mahathir

Mahathir’s return to politics in 1973 was watched closely by other races, in particular the Chinese and Indians. His meteoric rise to the Deputy Prime Minister’s post in 1976 was of grave concern by many. His imminent Premiership caused a large number of migration by Malaysian Chinese. Despite the economic growth in the late 1980s through 1997, some 42,000 Malaysian Chinese opted to work elsewhere. This number includes some 14,000 Malaysian Chinese who were working illegally in Japan in 1993 (Shimada, 1994).

”If citizenship is conferred on races other than the Malays, it is because the Malays consent to this,” wrote Mahathir in his book ‘The Malay Dilemma‘.

“The Chinese and Indians coming from countries with vast populations are less concerned about good behavior and manners. In their lives, nobility, which is always associated with breeding, was totally absent. Age and riches are the only things they defer to,” he added.

Calling for reforms such as the mandatory use of tamper-proof scales, Mahathir wrote of scales that can be used to shortchange customers and said, ”The small-time Chinese retailer is adept at this practice and unscrupulous enough to use it as a weapon in competition.”

Mahathir was the ultra-Malay to many including the Malays themselves. Fears of race clashes haunted the voters during the run-up to the 1982 General Elections. I remember being sent to Mimaland in Gombak with Datuk Latt Shariman (President, E-Sports Malaysia) on polling day in case something bad happens. It was the first General Elections under Mahathir and it was called more than a year before the then-mandate ended. Public rallies were banned citing ‘security’ reasons and only indoor gatherings and house-to-house canvassing were allowed (Lim Kit Siang, 22 March 1982).

Even though Malaysia’s economic growth peaked at 8 percent in the mid 1990s, it was mired in scandals involving the practice of cronyism and nepotism. Lim Kit Siang wrote that Mirzan, Mokhzani and Mukhriz Mahathir – acted as companies’ directors, and that according to searches the DAP had made at the Registry of Companies at the end of 1994, Mirzan had interests in 98 companies, Mokhzani in 48 companies and Mukhriz in 67 companies (Lim Kit Siang, 16 June 1998). Compared to the 213 companies his sons were directors in back in 1994, 488 is the number of companies Mahathir, daughter and sons are directors in as at end of 2016 (Wakeup Malaya, 6 January 2017).

The calls for Mahathir to resign in 1998 for practising nepotism and cronyism culminated in the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as his deputy in September of the same year, accusing the latter not only of being a tool for George Soros’s attacks on the country’s financial system but also for leading a morally-corrupted life. Lim Kit Siang and other Opposition leaders were quick to embrace Anwar, acccepting him into their fold when it was just a year earlier that the late Karpal Singh had made mention of allegations of sexual misconducts against Anwar in a Parliamentary sitting – a scene not much different to Lim Kit Siang’s immediate acceptance of Mahathir after decades of mudslinging the latter.

20161218-reformasi-1998-undur-mahathir

Anti-Mahathir demonstrations were held almost daily and then held every Friday afternoon at the National Mosque. These demonstrations were quelled using brute force. The ‘Reformasi’ movement was born, and the likes of theatre-practitioners such as Jo Kukathas were seen on the streets and interviewed by Maria Ressa saying “Enough is Enough” to Mahathir. Anwar and several other pro-Reformasi and UMNO leaders critical of Mahathir were arrested without trial under the ISA including current DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, then known by its acronym ADIL, was born out of hatred towards Mahathir, with the aim of toppling him and installing Anwar Ibrahim. The 1999 General Elections saw how Mahathir suffered a pyrrhic victory, losing grounds in Kelantan and his homestate of Kedah, while losing Terengganu to PAS. Mahathir-loyalists such as Ramli Ngah Talib, Megat Junid Megat Ayub and Sanusi Junid lost their seats. That was the beginning of the sounding of the death knell for Mahathir’s virtually unchallenged reign. During the UMNO General Assembly of 2002, he announced his resignation from party posts as well as Malaysia’s Prime Minister.

Ever since then, with the more open administrations of Pak Lah and Najib Razak, Mahathir became one of the targets of the Opposition in their blog posts, press statements as well as ceramahs.

In June 2012, Mahathir’s newly-made best friend even suggested that Mahathir is tried for his part in the BNM Forex scandal, hinting Egyptian Hosni Mubarak’s imprisonment as a comparison (Lim Kit Siang, 3 June 2012).

Screen Shot 2018-01-09 at 14.13.11

But all is forgotten and forgiven now, even when Mahathir admitted that his apology was only customary and not sincere. Despite veiled objections from Anwar and Azmin Ali’s camp, Mahathir was named at a Pakatan convention as their Prime Minister of choice albeit interim. This underscores the fact that the leadership of Pakatans parties do not trust the younger generation to lead the coalition as the position of the elders and powers that come with the position, may be undermined by the younger ones.

The signal of dissent is clear. Azmin only attended the convention for a while, not waiting for the announcement to be made while Karpal Singh’s daughter, Sangeet Kaur Deo, has hit out at Pakatan which probably is suffering from a dearth of capable young leaders. Even Mahathir once quipped that Anwar, who is 22 years his junior, may be too old to become a Prime Minister.

On Facebook, we are seeing people in their 40s and 50s voicing out their concern over Pakatan’s choice of Prime Minister, alarmed that the monster they have put behind them, could very well jump out from underneath the bed and into their lives again.

But it does not stop Mahathir from wanting to become the Prime Minister. He once hinted that he may have to consider becoming the PM again, underscoring the fact that he does not trust anyone else.

“I may be 93 but at 71 Anwar is much older!”

Wan Azizah may be blind to the fact that Mahathir had once denied the Premiership to her husband and went as far as making sure Anwar went to jail to keep him out of the way, while Lim Kit Siang is only friends with Mahathir because he needs the Malay votes to ensure Pakatan’s seats are sustained after the departure of PAS from the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.

Will Mahathir be willing to step aside for Anwar Ibrahim or whoever else younger who would be more acceptable to the younger and middle-aged generation aware of his antics? I doubt. But as Sangeet mentioned above, it will be a return to Mahathirism, an era of abuse of power, cronyism and nepotism that the Reformasi movement was totally against.

Somehow, it seems that the Reformasi movement has become a tool for what it was totally against – ushering Mahathir into the premiership and welcoming again abuse of pwer, nepotism and cronyism.

ST_20170522_NRPKR22_3156926 — Anwar is NOT going to be MY PM

December 14, 2017December 14, 2017

A Lesson On Fake News In Malaysia

STUDENT activism in Malaysia peaked in December 1974, having started in September of the same year in Tasek Utara, Johor Bahru, when some 5,000 students demonstrated at the Selangor Club Padang (now Dataran Merdeka) and as expected, clashed with the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU).

As a result, the students retreated to Masjid Negara with the FRU hot on their heels. The demonstration was culled and 1,128 students arrested. The student leaders who were holed up on the University of Malaya campus were soon arrested and so were those who hid inside their rented rooms in nearby Kampung Kerinchi.

Three representatives of Kampung Kerinchi complained that the FRU had taken harsh measures to apprehend the students by firing tear gas and that had resulted in the death of a baby.

My father immediately summoned his then deputy, the late Tan Sri Mahmood Yunus, and then Director of Special Branch, the late (Tan Sri) Mohamed Amin Osman, and asked them if the FRU had indeed fired tear gas into Kampung Kerinchi. Amin was adamant the FRU did nothing as such.

When asked if he (Amin) had checked the allegations himself and also the report received from the FRU troop leader, Amin said no. So my father instructed Amin to go to Kampung Kerinchi to check himself.

“Celaka! Depa tipu saya!” (“Hell! They lied to me!”) exclaimed Amin when he saw the empty tear gas canisters that littered the lanes of Kampung Kerinchi, to which my father replied, “You fell for it because you did not check the information yourself!”

Fake news is a neologism that has entered the lexicon, used to collectively describe rumours, hoaxes, misinformation, propaganda and recycling of old rumours that had been debunked, that mislead people into believing that they are current and true.

Fake news caused the Barisan Nasional to lose its long-held two-thirds majority in 2008 because it was complacent and not quick enough to react and dispel these rumours. Back then, political discussions and dissemination of fake news or propaganda occurred in chat rooms, in SMS, and blogs which were only a handful then. Now there is Facebook, Twitter, Line, Telegram, WhatsApp, YouTube over and above the media available almost ten years ago.

Claire Wardle, Executive Director of First Draft a non-profit organisation dedicated to finding solutions to the challenges associated with trust and truth in the digital age housed at the Shorenstein Centre on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, categorised mis and disinformation into seven types:

Satire or parody – this type of misinformation has no intention to cause harm but has potential to fool. A good example of this is of a message purportedly sent by a passenger of the MH370 who said he managed to hide his iPhone5 up his anus! This had been debunked as a prank, but there are those who still believe that the person did manage to shove a five-inch by two-inch phone up his anus without any problem on the island of Diego Garcia.

Misleading content – most recent would be issues tweeted by two artistes that evolve around the rising cost of living, the weakening ringgit, a shambolic economy, designed to rile up anger in their followers. The tweets, not backed by published facts and figures, would do damage to those who have no inclination to check for the truth and to retweet or forward to others.

Imposter content – these are usually propaganda designed to use genuine sources but impersonated as theirs. A simple example would be of Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s recent event officiating the opening of the Rawang-Serendah Bypass, eight days after the bypass was opened by a minister.

Fabricated content – this type of content is 100 per cent false and is designed to deceive and cause harm. If you remember in July 2007, PKR’s Tian Chua admitted that he had fabricated a photo to show that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was together with Abdul Razak Baginda and now dead Mongolian-model Altantuya Shaaribu in Paris.

False connection – this is when headlines, visuals and captions do not support the content. The most famous example from recent times was of The Star’s headline that said “Malaysian Terrorist Leader” while having a huge photo of Muslims praying during the first night of Ramadan. Although The Star apologised for the error, it was not the first time it had made a similar mistake.

False context – this is when genuine content is shared with false contextual information. Artiste Fathia Latiff put up a screen capture of the price of fuel in various OPEC countries on Twitter, asking why Malaysia, as an oil producing country, charges very high for petrol? The screen capture is of oil prices back in 2014. The average value of fuel prices for Malaysia between September 4, 2017 and December 11, 2017, was RM2.23. For comparison, the average price of petrol in the world for this period was RM5.82!

Manipulated content – this is when genuine information or image is manipulated to deceive. Recently, there was a video of a skinny polar bear with muscle atrophy struggling to find food in a snowless land that was made viral. This was attributed to global warming. However, the video was filmed in August when the tundra was snowless. It was only published in December. Even the indigenous community living in the area thought it was a stunt to raise more funds and was doing a disservice to the war against climate change.

I don’t know why Malaysians are so gullible and eager to share fake news.

In WhatsApp groups, you can see how some people could post about something religious and then help spread fake news – something totally against religions. Nowadays, this fake news comes with a disclaimer – “Dari group sebelah”.

Every time we forward or share a post without double-checking or verifying, we add to the noise and confusion. We never consider the source, we never consider the supporting sources and worst of all, we never check our biases.

The late Tan Sri Amin learnt this the hard way.

Having seen that he was misled about the FRU not firing tear gas into Kampung Kerinchi, he went on to check about the claims of a baby that had died as a result of the tear gas. None of the three village representatives had themselves seen the dead baby and no one had actually reported to them of the death.

When asked where the information had come from, they replied, “From Anwar Ibrahim and the other student leaders!”

It seems that nothing has changed since 1974.

(This article was first published on The Mole)

December 2, 2017December 2, 2017

BNM Forex Scandal: A Crime Against Malaysians Exposed By Lim Kit Siang

I simply do not comprehend the fuss that is being kicked up by Mahathir’s fanatics. On one hand they want the transparency that none of us got when Mahathir was the Prime Minister; on the other they are fuming because Mahathir, Nor Mohamed Yackop and Anwar have been implicated in the findings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) for the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) foreign exchange scandal of the 1990s.

Mahathir’s long-time crony Daim Zainuddin, who served as finance minister from 14 July 1984 to 15 March 1991, for having aided and abetted Nor Mohamed by leaving BNM “to its own devices”.

Let us ask the very man whose perseverance has finally paid off:

This ought to be the reaction to the RCI findings if we are to ask Lim Kit Siang

Yes. The loss of RM31.5 billion through forex gambling was and still is a crime against the Malaysian people. And if it weren’t for Lim Kit Siang’s persistence and perseverance, we would not have gotten where we are now.

Three people have been found principally liable for the criminal breach of trust and should be probed further over their involvement and liability. They are the former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, his then-Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and ex-BNM advisor Nor Mohamed Yackop.

The commission found in its 524-paged report that the Cabinet in the 1990s was not given the full picture by Anwar on the forex losses, adding that he had “deliberately concealed facts and information and made misleading statements“. It is also of the opinion that the then Prime Minister (Mahathir) had condoned the actions of the Finance Minister.

The RM31.5 billion losses, the report said, were hidden using “unconventional accounting treatments”, such as booking losses to reserves in the balance sheet and the absorption of the remaining losses by the transfer of shares from the Government to BNM as well as the creation of a “Deferred Expenditure” to be repaid in instalments over a decade.

The RCI noted that Anwar Ibrahim, the then Finance Minister, had been informed about the actual forex losses suffered by BNM. It also said that Mahathir was informed by Anwar together with then Treasury deputy secretary-general Tan Sri Clifford Francis Herbert in late 1993 that BNM had suffered estimated losses of RM30 billion on the forex dealings for 1992 and 1993.

However, in the extract of minutes from three Cabinet meetings on March 30, April 6 and 13 in 1994, Anwar had made “no mention of the actual losses of RM12.3 billion for 1992 and RM15.3 billion for 1993.”

Anwar had chaired the March 30 meeting as the deputy prime minister. The losses for 1993 were reported as RM 5.7 billion.

The RCI also noted that the prime minister, who chaired the meeting on April 6, did not correct or offer more information when the forex losses for 1993 were recorded as only RM5.7 billion.

The RCI report said as pointed out by Herbert, he had expected Mahathir to be outraged but his reaction was quite normal with him uttering “sometimes we make profit, sometimes we make losses”.

“His reaction to and acceptance of the huge forex losses suggest that he could have been aware of the forex dealings and its magnitude,” said the report.

Why Did It Take So Long?

Of course supporters of Mahathir got their knickers in a knot over the RCI findings, mostly harp on the duration it took to have a RCI formed, whether it was formed to time itself with the looming general elections so that the Pakatan Harapan would be epitome of broken hopes?

Lim Kit Siang may have harped on the matter, trying to get an RCI formed since 1994, if not earlier. Mahathir was the Prime Minister then until the end of 2003. No one during Pak Lah’s time took up the issue as Mahathir was then breathing down Pak Lah’s neck watching the latter’s every move. In the end, Mahathir got Pak Lah ousted for not playing his game his way.

When Najib Razak took over at the beginning of the second quarter of 2009, Malaysia’s economy had shrunk even though oil price was high. The GDP growth rate for Malaysia in 2009 was -2.5 percent because of the global financial crisis then, hence Najib Razak’s priority then was to safeguard the economy and take measures to improve on the GDP growth.

Malaysia’s GDP growth rate for 2009 was -2.5%

And ever since then Najib had been fighting on all fronts to make sure that Malaysia goes through a sustainable growth, and that there would be enough government money to still help the people, especially those from the B40 income group. Hence, we see various initiatives like the 1Malaysia Clinic, Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (which is now being revamped), BR1M, PR1MA and various other 1Malaysia initiatives.

And while all that was happening, Lim Kit Siang was still going around asking for an RCI to be formed for the BNM forex scandal. In the run up to the 13th General Elections, Lim Kit Siang wrote this on the BNM forex scandal:

“I had estimated in Parliament two decades ago that Bank Negara lost a colossal RM30 billion from the Bank Negara foreign exchange scandal under Mahathir’s premiership. But Bank Negara claimed RM10.1 billion loss in 1992 and RM5.7 billion in 1993 while former Bank Negara Deputy Governor Dr. Rosli Yaakop estimated last year at a public forum that Bank Negara lost between USD27 to USD33 billion, which was five times more than its foreign reserves and its entire assets of USD20.7 billion in 1992.”

You can read more on what Dr Rosli Yaakop had said on the BNM forex scandal HERE.

Lim Kit Siang also said that Malaysian voters should not only pass a verdict on Najib’s non-transformation in the past four years, but also pass judgment on Mahathir’s 22 years of authoritarian and corrupt policies when he was Prime Minister from 1981 – 2003. He said:

“I am on public record as saying that if Pakatan Rakyat is to capture Putrajaya in the 13GE, we should re-open investigation not only on the RM30 billion Bank Negara forex scandal of 1992, there should be a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM100 billion losses suffered by the country in the financial scandals of the 22-year Mahathir era.”

Kit Siang added that the voters should decide whether they endorse the proposal to have a wide-ranging public inquiry into Mahathir’s financial scandals in 22 years which have cost the country RM100 billion of losses and for which the present generation of Malaysians are still paying the price – although there is totally no accountability and transparency about these glaring instances of corruption, cronyism and abuses of power for more than three decades.

He said all that HERE. And we should not forget that Lim Kit Siang also wrote a book on the BNM forex scandal.

And finally, and only when the economic outlook had improved, did Najib Razak announced that an RCI would be formed to investigate the BNM forex scandal.

In June 2017, Lim Kit Siang even wanted the report recommending the RCI to be made public. Finally, on 8 August 2017, the RCI commenced, and Kit Siang’s 25 years of wait ended.

And one other Pakatan leader who had been lying very low beneath the BNM forex scandal radar is Anwar Ibrahim. If anyone was to ask why did the government not do anything between 2004 and 2017, the answer would be why hadn’t Anwar, since 2 September 1998, asked for an RCI on the matter? Was he afraid that he might get implicated?

You and I know the answer to that now.

And what about the 1MDB scandal? Well, unlike the BNM forex scandal, the 1MDB case was investigated by the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, the Royal Malaysian Police, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Police reports were also made against 1MDB. But not a single sen had gone missing!

For the BNM forex scandal, this is the first time that it has been investigated – by the RCI, and soon by the Royal Malaysian Police. And the first police report was made by a member of the RCI itself after the RCI findings report was published – 25 years after the whole thing happened.

So, we should all say our thank you to Lim Kit Siang for exposing this crime against ALL Malaysians. Thank you, Lim Kit Siang – for persistently asking for your good friends to be investigated.

November 30, 2017

BNM Forex: Congratulations, Lim Kit Siang

The Singapore Times report on the BNM FOREX issue

For two decades DAP’s Supremo, Emperor Lim Kit Siang, fought to bring to justice those responsible for the loss of RM30 billion (RM45.25 billion in today’s terms) through foreign gambling exchange by the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) back in the early 1990s. The greed of those responsible saw the BNM increase its trading volume to USD50 million lots (RM74.46 million or RM205.65 million today) compared to the market norm then of USD5 million (RM7.45 million or RM20.56 million today) to USD10 million (RM14.90 million or RM41.12 million today), amounting to billions of Dollars per day!

BNM’s maximum exposure in the foreign exchange markets then reached as high as RM270 billion – three times the country’s GDP and more than five times the country’s foreign reserves at the time!

Imagine what would have happened had we lost all that! But imagine what RM30 billion then could have done to arrest the massive fall of the Ringgit from RM2.4765 to the USD on 1 April 1997 to RM4.88 to the USD in early January 1998.

But despite pressing for someone to be accountable, Kit Siang is far from happy. In September of this year he Tweeted this:

Has Lim Kit Siang accepted the loss of the RM30 billion he’s been screaming about?

Now Lim Kit Siang plays innocent saying he has nothing to do with wanting a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the BNM Forex scandal. Is it because he and Mahathir are good friends now? Or is it because Mahathir’s involvement means that the DAP has lost one of its Malay political mules?

If I recall correctly, it was Lim Kit Siang who mentioned that Mahathir has to answer for the Forex loss, and that if Pakatan captures Putrajaya, he would re-open the BNM Forex scandal. He even asked if (former Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak got life imprisonment, then why should Mahathir go scot-free?

Lim Kit Siang’s demands re the BNM Forex Scandal

Has Lim Kit Siang forgotten all the above? If he has, has he gone senile due to his age? If he has problems retaining his memory, then I don’t think he ought to contest in the next general elections.

Whatever it is, the biggest winner would be Anwar. Not only does he get to see his jailor jailed, but he won’t be lonely anymore.

Let’s hope they get to share the same cell.

October 30, 2017

ISA – Who Got To Play God

(This article appeared as a commentary on The Mole – 30 October 2017)

October 30, 2017

THIS would be my mellow version of the Ops Lalang.

The Internal Security Act, 1960 or the ISA, was probably the most draconian law to ever exist in Malaysia. Prior to having the ISA, preventive detention was done through the Emergency Regulations Ordinance of 1948 aimed at combatting the communist threats.

With the end of the first Malayan Emergency in 1960, the Ordinance of 148 was done away with but was replaced with the ISA. The mood of the period must be understood to see the reason for having such law.

Although the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) had lost the fight, the struggle was continued from across the Thai border by cadres, as well as their supporters (Min Yuen) in Malaya. They penetrated unions, the press, as well as associations, causing occasional racial tensions in the country.

Pre-1970 Malaysia was not all dandy when it came to race relations. The economic power was held by the Chinese since the days of the British administration while the Malays had been relegated to being farmers or lower ranking civil servants.

The Chinese immigrants first came to the Malay states in 1777, and first settled in the state of Perak in 1830 (Patrick Sullivan, 1982: 13). Within 44 years, they numbered 26,000 in Perak alone. In 1921, the number of Chinese immigrants in the Malay states numbered 1,171,740. Ten years later, it was 1,704,452. In 1941, it became 2,377,990 while the Malays were at 2,277,352 (Paul H Kratoska, 1997:318). The Malays remained as a minority until the census of 1970.

During the war, the Malays did not face much hardship as the Chinese did at the hands of the Japanese.

After the war, the CPM/MPAJA and their Chinese supporters took revenge on the Malays. In Batu Pahat, Muslims were forbidden from congregating at mosques or suraus to perform the Terawih prayers (Hairi Abdullah, 1974/5: 8-9).

The same occurred in Perak and some parts of Batu Pahat where Muslims were gunned down and burnt together with the mosque they were in during Friday prayers.

Mosques and suraus were often used as places of meeting for the Chinese community (WO 172/9773, No.30: 478) and were tainted by incidents such as slaughtering of pigs, and mosques’ compound was used to cook pork, where Malays were forced to join the larger Chinese groups. Pages were torn from the Quran to be used by the Chinese using these mosques as toilet paper.

Racial clashes had begun in September 1945 where Malays and Chinese clashed in Kota Bharu, Selama, Taiping, Sitiawan, Raub.

This culminated in the slaughter of Malays early one morning in a hamlet near Kuala Kangsar called Bekor where 57 men and women, and 24 children were killed by about 500 members of the CPM aided by 500 Chinese villagers from Kelian in March 1946 (CO 537/1580: 21 and Majlis, 24 Februari 1947:5).

All in all, 2,000 lives were lost.

Such was the mood and the ISA was introduced to also prevent further racial clashes by preventing instigators from achieving their objective whatever that may be.

Therefore, it was an Act of Parliament that was used to preserve public order and morals. If one is to read the ISA thoroughly, then it would be easier to see that the Act was not just about detention without trial, but also as a weapon for the Royal Malaysian Police to nip any cancerous threat to public order and morals in the bud.

Datuk Seri (now Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad was Prime Minister as well as Home Minister when Ops Lalang was executed on Oct 26 1987 (arrests were made in the early morning of Oct 27).

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was Umno Youth chief and also Education Minister in Dr Mahathir’s Third Cabinet.

Anwar had made several unpopular moves that earned the wrath of the MCA such as the removal of crucifixes from missionary schools, introduction of Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for Tamil and Chinese studies at the University of Malaya, as well as the introduction of non-Chinese educated senior assistants and supervisors to Chinese vernacular schools.

Deputy MCA president Datuk Seri (now Tan Sri) Lee Kim Sai who was also Selangor MCA chief, on the other hand, had also uttered words implying that the Malays were also immigrants.

A 2,000-strong gathering by the Dong Jiao Zong that was also attended by the DAP, MCA and Gerakan was held and a resolution was made to call a three-day boycott by Chinese schools.

Umno Youth responded with a 10,000-strong gathering at the TPCA Stadium in Kampung Baru. It is said that Dr Mahathir then instructed Datuk Seri (Tan Sri) Sanusi Junid, who was Umno secretary-general then, to organise a rally of 500,000 members in Kuala Lumpur.

I remember feeling the tension in the air, especially when an army personnel, Private Adam Jaafar, ran amok with his M-16 in Kampung Baru, adding more fuel to a potentially explosive situation.

The senior police management met in Fraser’s Hill to plan and then launched Ops Lalang to prevent bloodshed.

Whether or not Dr Mahathir disagreed with the police for Ops Lalang to be launched, it must be remembered that even if the police had wanted to launch the operations unilaterally, Section 8(1) of the ISA specifically mentions that it is the Home Minister who, upon being satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary, may make an order for the person to be detained for a period of not more than two years.

According to Section 73 of the Act, the police were not given the power to detain a person for more than 30 days unless the Inspector-General of Police had reported of the detention and its reason to the Home Minister.

Nowhere does the Act mention that the Home Minister SHALL or MUST act as advised by the police. The police provided the names in a list, with reasons why they should be or were detained, but only the Minister could sign the detention order.

Dr Mahathir may now claim that Ops Lalang was the police’s idea, which may be true. But as mentioned at the beginning of this article that the ISA is an Act of Parliament giving powers to the police to diffuse potentially explosive situations and also to protect and preserve public safety and morals.

The police used the ISA during Ops Lalang as it was intended to be used (there were also detainees from Umno during the sweep), but the Home Minister was the one who played God, and decided whom to be released before the 60 days was up, and whom to hold up to two years.

And that Home Minister is the same unrepentant person now touted to become the next PM by the DAP.

August 22, 2017

Selangor Anggap Serbuan Memerangi Rasuah Menjejaskan Imejnya

Selangor masih belum tandatangani Ikrar Bebas Rasuah

Hari ini Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) telah membuat serbuan ke atas Universiti Selangor (UNISEL) dan Menteri Besar Diperbadankan (MBI) bagi menyiasat pertikaian kontrak membabitkan universiti itu dengan bekas kontraktor, Jana Niaga Sdn Bhd, dan dakwaan rasuah membabitkan RM10 juta.

Serbuan ini telah mendatangkan rasa tidak puas hati di pihak kerajaan negeri Selangor. Pengarah Komunikasi Strategik di pejabat Menteri Besar Selangor, Yin Shao Loong, menyifatkan serbuan tersebut sebagai usaha untuk menjejaskan imej kerajaan negeri Selangor.

“Ia secara terang-terangan menunjukkan tindakan terancang bertujuan menjejaskan imej kerajaan Selangor yang tuntas berpegang kepada prinsip ketelusan dan kebertanggungjawaban,” kata Shao Loong. “SPRM dituntut supaya menyiasat secara profesional dan tidak dipengaruhi oleh tekanan politik.”

Beliau menambah bahawa tekanan politik ke atas SRPM hanya akan mencalar persepsi dan menghakis keyakinan rakyat terhadap agensi anti-rasuah itu.

“Mana rasuah? Mana ada rasuah di Selangor?”

Persoalannya, adakah benar SPRM dikenakan tekanan politik untuk bertindak terhadap para pegawai kerajaan di negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh pihak pembangkang? Jikalau benar, siapa pula yang mengenakan tekanan politik supaya Exco Kerajaan Negeri Johor Latif Bandi dan Veteran UMNO Isa Samad ditangkap? Barisan Nasional atau Pakatan Harapan?

Ini memang lumrah pihak pembangkang menuding jari apabila mereka sendiri amalkan budaya hidup rasuah. Mereka akan mencari jalan keluar dengan menyalahkan orang lain.

Contoh terbaik adalah apabila beberapa orang Exco Kerajaan Negeri Selangor disiasat oleh SPRM setahun selepas mereka memegang kuasa pentadbiran di negeri tersebut – YA! BARU SETAHUN SUDAH ADA KES RASUAH! Malangnya, saksi yang disoalsiasat ketika itu, Teoh Beng Hock, mati semasa dalam tahanan SPRM. Namun, kematian tersebut dipertanggung jawabkan kepada pihak SPRM dan Barisan Nasional seolah-olah kematian Beng Hock memberi manfaat kepada BN dan bukannya mereka-mereka yang disyaki yang berada dalam kerajaan negeri Selangor yang diterajui mereka.

Minggu lepas, Nurul Izzah mengecam SPRM kerana menyerbu sebuah kilang haram dan juga pejabat Exco Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Phee Boon Poh. Kata Nurul Izzah lagi, keyakinan rakyat terhadap SPRM berada di tahap yang rendah. Beliau menuduh SPRM sengaja mengenakan ahli politik dari Pakatan dengan pertuduhan-pertuduhan yang remeh untuk menjejaskan pihak pembangkang.

Nurul Izzah berkata sentimen rakyat terhadap SPRM terjejas akibat serbuan di Pulau Pinang

Hari ini, Yin Shao Loong pula telah menggunakan ayat yang sama iaitu persepsi rakyat terhadap SPRM telah tercalar.

Selangor ialah satu-satunya negeri yang masih belum menandatangani ‘Ikrar Bebas Rasuah‘ yang disarankan oleh pihak SPRM. Walaupun Menteri Besar Selangor Azmin Ali tidak pernah mengeluarkan sebarang kenyataan mengenai perkara tersebut sendiri, beliau telah diwakili oleh jurucakap beliau iaitu Iskandar Abdul Samad dari parti PAS.

Iskandar Abdul Samad pernah berkata bahawa Selangor mempunyai caranya tersendiri yang lebih baik untuk menangani gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa

Yang menghairankan ialah kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui oleh PAS telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Malah, Pulau Pinang yang bergelumang dengan kes rasuah juga telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Kenapa Selangor yang setahun jagung sudah disiasat kerana gejala rasuah enggan menandatangani Ikrar tersebut?

PAS yang hampir tiada gejala rasuah pun tandatangan Ikrar Bebas Rasuah. Selangor yang disiasat pada tahun pertama berkuasa boleh tak nak tandatangan?

Adakah Iskandar membayangkan bahawa kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui rakan-rakannya dari PAS adalah kurang berakal berbanding beliau dalam usaha memerangi rasuah? Kenapa beliau sebagai seorang ahli PAS tidak berkongsi sebarang maklumat mengenai cara menangani gejala rasuah oleh Selangor dengan PAS Kelantan? Adakah sebab PAS Kelantan bukan sahabat beliau? Bukankah sebagai seorang ahli PAS beliau sepatutnya bantu memperkukuhkan parti seperti yang dituntut oleh Fasal 16 (3) (e) Perlembagaan Parti Islam SeMalaysia?

Sesungguhnya saya tidak faham dengan Yin Shao Loong, Nurul Izzah dan Iskandar Abdul Samad yang memperlekehkan usaha SPRM membanteras gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa. Iskandar Abdul Samad tidak berkongsi pengalaman Selangor membanteras rasuah; Nurul Izzah dan Shao Loong memperkecilkan usaha SPRM.

Sedangkan Ketua Umum Pakatan Harapan dan Presiden PKR pun sokong akan tindakan SPRM yang meletakkan kepentingan rakyat di atas kepentingan parti-parti politik.

Anwar dan Wan Azizah menyokong tindakan SPRM

Sepatutnya, sebagai sebuah negeri yang bangga dengan kaedahnya sendiri untuk menangani gejala rasuah, kerajaan negeri Selangor sepatutnya menyokong kuat usaha dan bantuan SPRM untuk menentukan bahawa Selangor benar-benar bebas dari budaya rasuah.

Rakyat tidak bodoh. Rakyat memerhati. Dan rakyat tahu segala usaha memperkecilkan usaha SPRM memerangi gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa bermakna there is SOMETHING FOR SELANGOR TO HIDE.

August 8, 2017August 8, 2017

Pakatan Will Give Sabah It’s Autonomy With Mahathir As The Top Dog

Top Dog will give Sabah more autonomy like he did as PM of 22 years

Kurniawan bin Hendrikus (not his real name) who now lives in Kampung Gayaratau off the Ranau-Tamparuli road fears for the future if Pakatan wins Sabah.

“I worked in Semporna and Tawau in the 1990s and used to fear walking alone at night as these towns virtually belonged to ‘Malaysians’ from the Southern Philippines,” he recalled. “Now, the same man who treated Sabah like rubbish is heading the Opposition to try oust the Barisan Nasional.”

Sabah has been plagued by illegal immigrants for over three decades, causing socio-political and economic problems for the state. Although the numbers vary from thousands to millions depending on who you ask, all agree that the influx of immigrants especially from the Southern Philippines happened during Mahathir’s premiership, a move said to dilute the influence of the majority-Christian Kadazan-Dusun-Murut (KDM) communities.

Mahathir must be brought to account for “Projek IC”, the massive operation that flooded Sabah with illegal immigrants in exchange for Malaysian citizenship in the move dubbed ‘Project IC’ said Madius Tangau, the MP for Tuaran.

Madius who is also the President of the United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) added that the Sabahans want the PM then (Mahathir) who has admitted to giving out the fake ICs to be held responsible.

Mahathir blamed Anwar Ibrahim, who was his deputy at the time of the ‘Project IC’ taking place, for being directly involved in ‘Project IC’ and for acting without his (Mahathir’s) knowledge, the same blame game he uses in the Scorpene drama where he blamed Najib Razak, who was then the Defence Minister, for paying RM3.7 billion without the knowledge of the Minister of Finance, who also happened to be him (Mahathir).

A day after blaming Anwar, the latter returned the ball to Mahathir’s court saying it was Mahathir who was behind ‘Project IC.’ Anwar pointed out that there was even a taskforce set up by Mahathir to oversee the awarding of Malaysian citizenship to immigrants in Sabah.

Mahathir had a taskforce set up to oversee the awarding of citizenship to immigrants, said Anwar

Pakatan’s hint that Mahathir would be able to restore Sabah’s rights had Sabah’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) scoff at them for “daydreaming.”

Its President Teo Chee Kang reminded Pakatan that it was under Mahathir’s rule that the state suffered greatly, and lost some of its autonomy.

“I read in the papers that several Pakatan leaders from Sabah recently flew all the way to Kuala Lumpur to see Mahathir on Sabah rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. I find it ironic. I would like to remind them that it was during Mahathir’s administration in 1983 that our state powers to regulate the distribution of gas and electricity were taken back by the federal government. In the 22 years of Mahathir’s rule we lost numerous state rights to the federal government,” he added.

Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who is Sabah’s STAR Chairman said it was Mahathir who introduced ‘Project IC’ and told him (Jeffrey) not to ‘teach’ the people what they didn’t know (Sabah rights).

‘Project IC’ was also called ‘Project M.’ ‘M’ is for ‘Mahathir.’

Sabah also lost a lot under Mahathir’s rule. In 1983, Mahathir made plans for Labuan to be handed over to the Federal Government. Labuan is an important hub for the oil and gas industry. In order to make oil revenues from Labuan totally the Federal government’s, Mahathir conceived the plan for Labuan to become a Federal Territory during a Barisan Nasional meeting in 1983.

Harris Salleh, who was the BERJAYA Chief Minister of Sabah then agreed to hand over the island over to the Federal government without any deliberation. No referendum was made for the proposal.

In August 1983, Tun Datu Mustapha who was USNO’s President made a call to Labuan’s USNO division to reject the proposal and demonstrate against it. In February 1984, Mahathir proposed for the expulsion of USNO from the Barisan Nasional. On 21 February 1984, the Labuan USNO division voted to dissolve itself in support of the handing over of Labuan to the Federal Government. On 27 February 1984, UMNO Supreme Council voted for the expulsion of USNO from the Barisan Nasional. The expulsion of USNO from the BN took effect on 15 April 1984, one day before Labuan became a Federal Territory.

“We are not giving away our territory because the Federal Government is in the position to develop the island,” Harris said in his defence.

As a result of his subservience to Mahathir, Federal allocation to Sabah increased tremendously during the years when BERJAYA was in power. Despite this, in 1986 the poverty level in the state remained at 33 percent, which was higher than the national average of 18.

The spike in Federal allocation to Sabah as a result of Harris Salleh’s subservience

The transfers to Sabah from the Federal government dropped in 1986 when PBS under Joseph Pairin Kitingan won the state.

It was during the Mahathir-Harris master-and-servant relationship that Sabah also almost lost its right to determine its own Immigration policy.

Pairin, in reminding Harris on why he was ousted in 1985 as Chief Minister, reiterated that it was under the latter’s Berjaya Government that the state’s rights were slowly eroded until very little was left.

“The Berjaya Government was on the verge of surrendering Sabah’s immigration powers before it was ousted from power,” said Pairin in a bombshell revelation.

Pairin’s revelation that Harris almost gave Sabah’s immigration rights away to Mahathir before BERJAYA’s rule ended

Even Lim Kit Siang who is Mahathir’s now best-friend-forever wrote that Mahathir must explain the attempt to undermine Sabah’s rights to its own immigration policies.

He wrote: “As the then Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir – who is still very active and alert in the public domain, even plotting to scalp another Prime Minister – should throw light on another long-kept secret in Malaysia on the circumstances and history of attempts in his first four years as Prime Minister in the eighties to abolish Sabah’s state immigration powers as revealed by Joseph Pairin.”

Mahathir the Destroyer (pic courtesy of Wakeup Malaya)

This goes to show that other than Mahathir neither Lim Kit Siang nor Anwar Ibrahim or their respective parties (PRIBUMI, PKR, DAP) can be trusted to look after Sabah’s rights. But what about Shafie Apdal, once UMNO’s rising star from Sabah?

Shafie’s WARISAN, is seen by many in Sabah as being a proxy of Mahathir’s PRIBUMI. Many also question Shafie’s honesty in wanting to help Sabahans.

“People ask what he did to develop Sabah when he was in the federal Cabinet. Did he do anything to fight for Sabah autonomy? Even the other opposition leaders are asking these questions,” said Unimas don Dr Arnold Puyok to The Star.

Three village chiefs, Sosor Bin Aling from Kg Mempulut , Simon Sinsuran from Kg Dalit Stesen and Lidy Bin Lunggiri from Kg Pohon Batu said in the 1980s when Mahathir was in power, roads were never repaired and electricity did not reach them.

“Along the way, we were still using kerosene. Road conditions were extremely severe and there was hardly clean water to use. The primary schools were still as in the days of the British. However, the current Prime Minister had given them access to electricity and water supply is currently under installation, ” they said.

They said compared to the last 22 years with the last eight years, Najib Razak as the Prime Minister had helped them to get basic amenities like roads, schools and a clinic.

“We therefore fully support the government led by Najib. He is one of the best leaders compared to Mahathir. Logs were felled at the time of Mahathir and our area was also handed over to the major companies and we did not get any results,” they lamented.

Simon thanked Najib as he approved the construction of SMK Dalit which served about 30 villages.

After building SMK Dalit, their children no longer need to go to Keningau to study at secondary schools.

He hoped Najib would upgrade the clinic at the Dalit station.

Similarly, in Kabulu, they asked for a clinic for the good of the people in the area.

With also the toll-free Pan Borneo Highway which is already under construction set to improve communications and livelihood of Sabahans (as well as Sarawakians), it is only right for Sabahans to know that progress will only happen by having an administration that truly cares for its people and delivers promises.

Not the ones who use arm-bending solutions or those who now turn a blind eye on the said solutions just because they want to try ride on the dictator’s self-imagined ‘popularity.’

August 2, 2017

Kerala Militant Torpedoed

You know the next general election is going to be a dirty one when old issues are brought back ad infinitum despite being repeatedly shot down.

The latest issue that is being brought back is of the Royal Malaysian Navy’s Scorpene deal. Two portals, Free Mischief Today and Malaysian Incite published a report yesterday claiming that Abdul Razak Baginda has been charged in a French court.

A quick search by a friend found no such news from AFP.

I find it impossible that such a big thing never made it into a little column on the AFP portal.

Today, U-Turn Mahathir revealed that the purchase of the Scorpene was never discussed in any cabinet meeting. It was reported again by Malaysian Incite. Perhaps the Big Chief of that portal had had too much during happy hours with Tokong.

Anyway, Mahathir can fool the youngsters like Pribumi’s Ketua Amanda, Syed Sajat. Other more matured people would know the truth.

The green light for the purchase of the Scorpene was given by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister back in 1995. I’ll leave it to you to name them. The negotiations were conducted according to defence procurement contracts procedures.

In June 2002, the contract was signed after getting the final approval of the Finance Minister who was also the Prime Minister. Again, I shall let you guess his name.

Included in this contract was the purchase of a former French Navy submarine (which is now a museum in Melaka) that would act as a training platform for Malaysian’s submariners for four years.

The final commercial committee was headed by the Secretary-General of Treasury who submitted the report of the acquisition. At this point, the Ministry of Defence was no longer involved.

Back in 2012, Mahathir said that neither he nor Najib Razak were involved in the acquisition of the Scorpene submarines. The Opposition bloggers went to town to link Mahathir and Daim Zainuddin to the purchase.

So, how is it that Mahathir is exonerated by the Opposition and now claims he would have blocked the purchase had he known about it?