Internet – SeaDemon Says

October 13, 2016

Mahathir’s Cuckoo Administration

I was in stitches when I read Mahathir’s latest posting ‘Pentadbiran Kuku Besi‘. He wrote as if he had never oppress the people during his 22 years as the Premier. He is fortunate that the Internet was still in its infancy and was only introduced to the masses in the mid 1990s, and Google only came online using its own domain on the 4th September 1998, two days after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from all government posts as well as from UMNO. Prior to that Google was hosted under stanford.edu. Not many of those below the age of 35 could remember the oppression Malaysians were subjected to.

And what has Mahathir written this time?

1. When receiving the membership form to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, some say that they have been threatened by UMNO dan Najib’s government.

2. Various threats were made including not being able to receive BR1M, expulsion from UMNO, removal from Government and government agencies posts, not being given contracts, scholarships would be withdrawn or not given, banks will demand for earlier payments or not give loans.

3. But they prefer to be oppressed knowing, that with their participation in PPBM and vote for it in GE14, the country would enjoy better benefits.

“Rasa Utara” a restaurant chain serving, in my opinion, less-than-delicious food, now has taken up advertising spaces on Mahathir’s blog

4. They say that despite the pressure they would still join PPBM. And they would attempt to get more Bumiputeras including UMNO members to join PPBM.

5. The struggle to them means the willingness to face hurdles. The struggle is meaningless if it is just a walk in the park.

I am quite perplexed by this statement. Do people who want to join Pribumi actually make prior announcement to UMNO that they would be joining Pribumi? Or would they just fill in the membership form and submit to Pribumi without bothering to inform UMNO?

As far as my memory serves me, not one person has ever announced his or her joining another political party unless it is arranged by the receiving party for publicity. And likewise when the situation is reversed. So, why would there be threats and so on if no one knows of their intention?

Not Being Given BR1M

In my opinion, it is the Pribumis who should not complain about not receiving BR1M. The reason for this is that according to another Pribumi named Mahathir, the rakyat should not rely too much on handouts from the government. Mahathir also said it would be a big mistake for the government to assume that it would get the support of the BR1M recipients just by giving the the handouts. Therefore, the Pribumis should not complain to Mahathir about the possibility of being removed from the BR1M recipients list.

In reality, millions of Opposition supporters continue to form lines just to collect BR1M handouts. Students continue to enjoy their scholarships despite going on the street to demonstrate against the oppressive government that continues to give them monthly scholarship money. And perhaps about 50 percent of civil servants who support the Opposition still continue to go to work and none have lost their job or got demoted for doing so.

And many merit-less Bumiputera contractors still get government contracts despite supporting the Opposition.

Expulsion From UMNO

This is the other reason for me to laugh out loud. If you are already a Pribumi, why bother about being expelled from UMNO? You cannot have the cake and eat it too!

6. Verily Najib is also desperate to break my spirit. Not only have my police escorts been withdrawn but now even my officers and cooks are being transferred. All my associates are being harrassed and threatened by the Inland Revenue Board especially those who have businesses. If all taxes have been paid there will be additional taxes imposed on them.

For those uninformed, the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. This means, the administration, staffing, budget and others come under the administration of the Prime Minister’s Department. In short, the salaries of the staff of the Office of Tun Dr Mahathir come from the Prime Minister’s Department.

Who is the Prime Minister? (CLUE: HE IS NOT A KUTTY)

Antara agensi-agensi di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri — Among the agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department (see No.49)

Isn’t it the prerogative of the Prime Minister’s Department to transfer in or out, any personnel from any of the agencies under its purview, also accord, reduce or withdraw any privileges given using the budget of the Prime Minister’s Department?

There is an old adage: don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Even if there are Mahathir’s associates who are being harrassed by the Inland Revenue Board it could mean that previously they were only paying so much in the form of sales and services tax (SST) when under Mahathir and could no longer under-declare their earnings and have to pay higher taxes under the Goods and Services tax (GST) scheme introduced under Najib. All those who used to cheat the government and the rakyat of their earnings previously are now caught with their pants down!

7. Proton people are not allowed to speak to me, and my business associates are not allowed to approach Proton. It is Najib’s intention that Proton goes bankrupt and can be sold to foreigners for cheap.

8. My name can no longer be associated with Proton. Proton will be sold 100% to foreigners so the nationa car industry would be decimated. Only imported cars will be allowed to be sold in Malaysia. Nothing that I started will be allowed to exist. Let the local industries fail as long as Najib is satisfied.

Proton. A company that was set up in 1983 to start the national automobile industry.

After 33 years and 2.8 jmillion cars sold, Proton is still a non-government-linked company that still needs the assistance of the government even with the protectionist policy that the government had set. For 33 years the government has given Proton RM13.9 billion assistance in the form of grants and forgone taxes just to assist Proton to become independent . Yet, due to porr management decisions, the sale of Proton-made cars dropped from approximately 215,000 in 2011 to 102,175 in 2015 – an average sale of 8,514 units per month. At the end of March 2016 Proton still had about 30,000 units of cars lying idle and unsold!

With that, Proton once again asked for assistance from the government led by Najib Razak so that 12,000 Proton employees and 50,000 employees of the various Proton vendor companies do not lose their job. In your opinion, is it right for the government to use taxpayers’ money (using the favourite Opposition catchphrase) to assist a handicapped company?

Well, in the end Najib Razak’s oppressive government agreed to help Proton for the sake of the 62,000 odd direct and indirect employees by giving a RM1.5 billion soft loan.

And who is the owner amongst owners of this severely handicapped company that has no shame asking for help from Najib Razak’s oppressive government?

Senarai para pemilik Proton Holdings Berhad — List of owners of Proton Holdings Berhad

Which Bangladeshi is that whose name is at the top of the list who said that his name can no longer be associated with Proton but got the RM1.5 billion injection from Najib Razak’s oppressive government? Does it make sense for the government to pump in more money into Proton just to kill it? Why bother spend even a single Sen if you do not want it to work out? And how can he say that Proton people are not allowed to speak to him? Isn’t he one of the owners?

…and businessmen associated with me can no longer do business with Proton…

By this statement, is this a form of admission that Mahathir has been giving his cronies contracts from Proton? Does this have any role in making this company severely handicapped?

9. Verily, many Malaysian are afraid of trouncing by Najib’s government. This is Najib’s democracy.

10. I will not give up and I believe Malaysians have the will to topple Najib’s iron fist government. They are not afraid. The more the pressure the more the hatred they have for Najib and his government. All are ashamed of the P.M. who has been accused and believed by the whole world to have siphoned billions of the rakyat’s money.

11. The rakyat and I are aware of the intention of the new security law. It is not about foreign terrorism because we have adequate laws for that. Its intention is to break the struggle against Najib.

12. This law that was never assented to by the Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Malay Rulers accords Najib the power to declare security areas and with that anyone could be held in detention without trial. This is worse than the ISA.

13. If anyone is killed, be it a member of the security forces or the civilian, there will not be any inquest (a magistrate’s examination into the cause of death) held. And family of the deceased will not be able to bring the matter to the courts to seek justice.

14. Actually laws like this cannot be passed without the signature of the SPB Yang diPertuan Agong. But Najib is not one who cares for the law or its regulations. He is the PM and believes that he has immunity from prosecution. His pet the Attorney-General will make sure of that.

15. These are all signs that there is no more democracy in Malaysia. There is only an iron-fisted rule, a dictatorship.

16. The rakyat will protest the destruction of democracy in this beloved nation through a legal process. InsyaAllah the rakyat’s determination will see to the end of Najib’s wrong-doings.

The National Security Council Act that was recently passed was drafted to enable all assets under the various government agencies to be unified under one command that is the National Security Council. It is not just for use in response to terrorist acts but also in times of disasters. We have seen how poor the inter-agencies coordination was during the floods of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu. The main reason for this weakness was the absence of a unified command to coordinate efforts using assets of the various government agencies.

The power to declare security areas is not something new. Under Section 31 of the Police Act, 1967, designated police officers have the power to instruct any person to stay indoors while Section 3(1) Public Order (Preservation) Act, 1958, gives the power to the Minister of Home Affairs to declare whichever area that in the view of the Minister should be declared as a security area. However, Section 18 of the National Security Council Act, 2016 gives this power to the Prime Minister and no longer the Minister of Home Affairs to declare security areas AS ADVISED BY THE COUNCIL. This means that the Prime Minister CANNOT declare any security area unilaterally. Is this not better than ONE person making all the decisions without weighing all the inputs from practitioners who are more well-versed in the matters of national security?

Do not equate the power to declare security areas to the power to declare an emergency which remains the power of the Yang DiPertuan Agong, not the Prime Minister’s, nor is it the power of the National Security Council.

And Mahathir should not pay dumb – he is the person who destroyed democracy; even the powers of the Yang DiPertuan Agong to pass or not a bill of law was removed by him and caused the bills that affect other than the power to declare an emergency, the Institution of the Rulers, the position of the Bumiputera and Bahasa Malaysia, to pass without having been assented by the Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Mahathir should realise, he is living in sunset. Enough of lies.

(This post is a translation of a previous post – Pentadbiran Cuckoo Mahathir)

October 12, 2016October 13, 2016

Pentadbiran Cuckoo Mahathir

Pandai buat lawak juga Mahathir dalam posting beliau terkini bertajuk ‘Pentadbiran Kuku Besi‘. Beliau menulis seolah-olah beliau tidak langsung berlaku kejam semasa mentadbir sebagai Perdana Menteri selama 22 tahun lamanya. Beliau beruntung talian Internet secara komersil hanya mula diperkenalkan kepada umum pada pertengahan tahun 1990an manakala Google yang sebelum itu menumpang domain stanford.edu hanya mula secara besar-besaran pada 4hb September 1998, dua hari selepas Anwar Ibrahim dipecat dari semua jawatan kerajaan dan dari parti UMNO. Tidak ramai yang kini berusia 35 tahun ke bawah ingat akan pemerintahan cara kuku besi yang telah diamalkan oleh Mahathir.

Apa yang telah ditulis Mahathir kali ini?

1. Semasa menerima borang untuk jadi ahli Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, ada yang menyatakan mereka menerima ugutan dari parti UMNO dan Kerajaan Najib.

2. Bermacam jenis ugutan dibuat termasuk tidak akan memberi BR1M, disingkir dari UMNO, atau lucut jawatan dalam Kerajaan dan agensi-agensinya, tidak diberi kontrak, biasiswa tidak akan diberi dan akan ditarik balik dan sebagainya, bank akan tuntut hutang lebih awal dan akan tolak permohonan.

3. Tetapi mereka masih sanggup didera seperti ini kerana kepercayaan bahawa akhirnya, dengan penyertaan mereka dalam PPBM dan mengundi baginya dalam PRU14, nikmat berkali ganda akan diperolehi oleh negara dan diri mereka juga.

“Rasa Utara” Sebuah jaringan restoran yang menghidangkan makanan-makanan Utara yang tidak lagi menimbulkan selera saya untuk makan di situ, kini banyak mempunyai iklan di blog Mahathir

4. Mereka menyatakan bahawa tekanan terhadap mereka tidak akan berjaya menghalang mereka dari menyertai PPBM. Dan mereka berusaha mendapat bumiputra lain termasuk ahli UMNO supaya menyertai PPBM.

5. Perjuangan bagi mereka bermakna kesanggupan mengatasi sebarang rintangan. Perjuangan tidak bermakna jika jalan ke arah matlamat terbuka luas dan ditabur dengan bunga mawar sepanjangnya.

Saya agak hairan dengan kenyataan ini. Adakah mereka-mereka yang menyertai Parti Pribumi untuk menjadi orang Pribumi ini membuat pengumuman kepada UMNO bahawa mereka akan pergi mengambil borang Parti Pribumi? Atau adakah mereka akan terus sahaja mengambil borang, mengisinya dan menyerahkan borang permohonan tersebut tanpa perlu mengisytiharkan keluar parti UMNO?

Seingat saya tidak ada satu orang pun yang pernah keluar UMNO umumkan hasrat untuk keluar UMNO sebelum menyertai lain-lain parti politik melainkan untuk tujuan publisiti yang diuruskan oleh parti pembangkang yang menerima bekas ahli-ahli UMNO tersebut. Begitu juga yang tinggalkan parti pembangkang untuk menyertai mana-mana parti Barisan Nasional. Maka, apakah timbul cerita berlakunya ugutan itu dan ini?

Tidak Akan Diberi BR1M

Saya rasa, orang Pribumilah yang sepatutnya tidak mengadu dipinggirkan dari menerima BR1M. Ini adalah kerana menurut Mahathir yang juga merupakan orang Pribumi, rakyat tidak sepatutnya terlalu bergantung kepada bantuan daripada Kerajaan. Mahathir juga berkata pemberian BR1M adalah satu kesilapan kerana jika diberi BR1M pun, ianya tidak dapat membeli sokongan penerima. Maka, pada pendapat saya tidak perlulah orang yang jadi orang Pribumi ini bersungut mengenai kemunginan tidak mendapat pemberian BR1M.

Hakikatnya, setiap tahun berjuta penyokong serta para ahli parti pembangkang yang menerima BR1M tanpa sebarang sekatan. Ramai penerima biasiswa yang masih menerima biasiswa walaupun turun ke jalan untuk berdemonstrasi menentang Kerajaan zalim yang memberi mereka biasiswa. Mungkin juga lebih 50 peratus kakitangan kerajaan yang menyokong parti-parti pembangkang masih mempunyai pekerjaan dan tidak ada seorang pun yang dibuang kerja.

Dan masih juga ramai kontraktor Bumiputera yang mendapat kontrak walaupun menyokong parti pembangkang.

Disingkir Dari UMNO

Ini satu lagi sebab kenapa saya katakan Mahathir menulis lawak jenaka. Kalau dah nak jadi orang Pribumi, buat apa nak dikisahkan lagi keahlian dalam parti UMNO? Takkanlah rindukan UMNO tetapi nak jadi makhluk Pribumi juga?

6. Sesungguhnya Najib amat terdesak untuk melemahkan semangat saya juga. Bukan sahaja escort motosikal polis ditarik balik tetapi pegawai saya dan tukang masak saya pun hendak ditukar. Semua kenalan saya diganggu dengan menghantar jabatan hasil dalam negeri untuk ugut terutama mereka yang berniaga. Jikalau semua cukai sudah dibayar pun cukai tambahan dikenakan.

Untuk yang tiada pengetahuan, Pejabat Mahathir adalah di bawah Jabatan Perdana Menteri. Ini bermakna segala pengurusan, kakitangan, kewangan dan lain-lain adalah di bawah kelolaan Pejabat Perdana Menteri. Pendek kata, para pekerja serta gaji para pekerja di Pejabat Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, adalah di bawah kelolaan Pejabat Perdana Menteri.

Siapa Perdana Menteri? (PETUNJUK: BELIAU BUKAN BERDARAH KUTTY)

Bukankah menjadi hak Jabatan Perdana Menteri untuk membuat pertukaran kakitangan di mana-mana agensi di bawah kelolaannya, juga memberi, mengurangkan atau menarik balik apa jua keistimewaan yang diberikan menggunakan bajet Jabatan Perdana Menteri?

Kata orang tua-tua, tak mengenang budi jika kita maki hamun orang yang memberi kita makan.

Kalau ada pun kenalan Mahathir yang diganggu Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri mungkin juga sebab selama ini mereka menipu cukai kerajaan semasa SST dilaksanakan dan kini tidak boleh lari dari cukai GST.

7. Orang-orang Proton tidak dibenar bercakap dengan saya, dan peniaga kenalan saya tidak dibenar mengadakan business dengan Proton. Tujuan Najib ialah supaya Proton bankrap dan boleh dijual dengan murah.

8. Nama saya tidak boleh dikait dengan Proton. Proton hendaklah dijual kepada orang asing 100% supaya industri kereta nasional dihapuskan. Hanya kereta import sahaja yang boleh dijual di Malaysia. Jangan ada apa-apa yang dimula oleh saya. Biar hancur industri tempatan asalkan Najib puas hati.

Proton. Sebuah syarikat yang telah diwujudkan pada tahun 1983 untuk menjadikan impian sebuah perusahaan automobil nasional berjaya.

Setelah 33 tahun dan 2.8 juta kereta terjual, Proton masih lagi merupakan sebuah syarikat bukan milik kerajaan yang perlu ditongkatkan oleh kerajaan walaupun telah diberi perlindungan perdagangan melalui polisi kerajaan. Sebanyak RM13.9 billion telah diberikan kepada Proton termasuk dalam bentuk geran dan pelupusan cukai telah diberikan oleh kerajaan untuk membantu syarikat tersebut berdikari. Namun, akibat pengurusan yang tidak cekap, jualan kereta buatan Proton telah jatuh dari lebih kurang 215,000 buat kereta pada tahun 2011 kepada 102,175 buah kereta pada tahun 2015 – purata sebanyak 8,514 kereta yang dijual sebulan. Pada penghujung bulan Mac 2016 Proton masih mempunyai 30,000 buah kereta yang tidak terjual!

Dengan itu, Proton sekali lagi memohon bantuan daripada kerajaan yang dipimpin oleh Najib Razak supaya 12,000 para pekerja Proton dan 50,000 orang pekerja syarikat-syarikat pembekal komponen Proton tidak kehilangan mata pencarian. Pada pandangan anda, adakah wajar kerajaan menggunakan wang pembayar cukai (menggunakan istilah yang sering digunakan oleh pembangkang) untuk menyelamatkan sebuah syarikat yang sakit?

Mahu tidak mahu, kerajaan yang zalim itu jugalah yang kesiankan keluarga seramai 62,000 orang yang berkaitan dengan Proton dan beri sebanyak RM1.5 billion lagi pinjaman mudah kepada Proton.

Dan siapakah para pemilik syarikat Proton yang tidak segan-silu memohon bantuan kerajaan (wang rakyat) akibat kelemahan mereka sendiri?

Bangla mana punya nama teratas dalam senarai tu yang kata nama beliau tidak boleh dikaitkan dengan Proton tapi tetap dapat bantuan pinjaman mudah RM1.5 billion dari kerajaan Najib Razak yang zalim itu? Adakah masuk akal kerajaan memberi bantuan pinjaman kepada Proton jika tujuannya adalah untuk menghancurkan Proton? Kalau nak dihancurkan Proton, buat apa nak beri walau satu Sen pun? Macam mana dia boleh kata orang-orang Proton tidak dibenarkan bercakap dengannya? Dia salah seorang pemilik Proton, kan?

…dan peniaga kenalan saya tidak dibenar mengadakan business dengan Proton…

Dengan kenyataan di atas, adakah Mahathir kini membuat pengakuan bahawa beliau memberi kroni-kroni beliau kontrak Proton, dan adakah ini juga menyumbang kepada kerugian yang dialami Proton setelah 33 tahun kewujudannya?

9. Sesungguhnya ramai juga orang Malaysia yang takut didera oleh Kerajaan Najib. Itulah demokrasi Najib.

10. Saya tidak putus asa dan saya percaya rakyat Malaysia akan terus memiliki semangat juang untuk jatuhkan Kerajaan kuku besi Najib. Mereka tidak takut. Lebih kuat tekanan lebih bencilah mereka terhadap Najib dan Kerajaannya. Semua mereka malu dan tidak ingin melihat negara tercinta ini memiliki seorang P.M. yang dituduh dan dipercayai oleh seluruh dunia telah lesap (curi) berbilion duit rakyat.

11. Saya sedar dan rakyat juga sedar akan tujuan undang-undang baru berkenaan sekuriti. Ia bukan untuk pengganas asing kerana undang-undang sedia ada sudah mencukupi. Ia bertujuan mematah semangat dan memberhentikan sebarang protes terhadap Najib.

12. Undang-undang ini yang tidak direstui oleh YDP Agong dan Raja-Raja Melayu memberi kuasa kepada Najib mengisytihar kawasan sekuriti dan dengan itu sesiapa sahaja boleh di masuk dalam tahanan tanpa dibicara. Ini lebih buruk dari ISA.

13. Jika sesiapa terbunuh atau dibunuh, samada anggota keselamatan atau orang awam, tidak ada inquest (pemeriksaan oleh majistret berkenaan sebab-sebab kematian) yang akan diadakan. Dan keluarga simati tidak boleh bawa kes ke mahkamah untuk mendapat keadilan.

14. Sebenarnya undang-undang seperti ini tidak boleh disahkan tanpa tandatangan SPB Yang diPertuan Agong. Tetapi Najib tidak peduli kepada undang-undang atau aturan-peraturan. Ia PM dan ia percaya sebarang pencabulan undang-undang olehnya tidak boleh didakwa di Mahkamah. Pendakwarayanya jinak akan halang.

15. Semua ini menjadi tanda bahawa demokrasi sudah tidak ada lagi di Malaysia. Yang ada hanyalah pemerintahan kuku besi, pemerintahan diktator.

16. Rakyat akan membantah penghapusan demokrasi di negara tercinta ini melalui proses yang halal. InsyaAllah ketegasan rakyat akan akhirnya menamat salah laku Najib.

Akta Majlis Keselamatan Negara yang diluluskan baru-baru ini digubal untuk membolehkan penggembelingan sumber agensi-agensi kerajaan di bawah satu entiti iaitu Majlis Keselamatan Negara. Ia bukan sahaja bertujuan untuk digunakan semasa serangan ataupun untuk menghalang serangan pengganas tetapi juga semasa keadaan kecemasan bencana dan sebagainya. Kita telah lihat betapa lemahnya koordinasi agensi-agensi kerajaan semasa banjir besar di Kelantan, Terengganu dan Pahang pada penghujung tahun 2014. Sebab utama kelemahan tersebut adalah disebabkan tidak ada penyatuan pemerintahan untuk menggerakkan agensi-agensi kerajaan di bawah satu pemerintahan.

Kuasa pengisytiharaan sesuatu kawasan sekuriti (keselamatan) itu bukan suatu perkara baharu. Di bawah Seksyen 31 Akta Polis, 1967 kuasa diberikan kepada pegawai Polis tertentu untuk memerintahkan orang awam untuk berkurung di dalam rumah manakala Seksyen 3(1) Akta Ketenteraman Awam (Pemeliharaan), 1958, memberikan Menteri Dalam Negeri kuasa untuk mengisytiharkan mana-mana kawasan yang difikirkan oleh Menteri tersebut sebagai kawasan sekuriti (keselamatan). Seksyen 18 Akta Majlis Keselamatan Negara 2016 memberi kuasa ini kepada Perdana Menteri dan bukan lagi Menteri Dalam Negeri untuk membuat pengisytiharaan SETELAH DISYORKAN OLEH AHLI-AHLI MAJLIS KESELAMATAN DALAM NEGERI. Ini bermakna Perdana Menteri TIDAK BOLEH mengisytiharkan mana-mana kawasan sebagai kawasan keselamatan sekiranya tidak mendapat syor daripada MKN. Maka ini adalah lebih baik daripada hanya seorang Menteri Dalam Negeri membuat pengisytiharaan tanpa mengambil kira pendapat mana-mana orang yang lain yang lebih arif mengenai keselamatan dalam negeri?

Pengisytiharaan kawasan keselamatan jangan disamakan dengan pengsiytiharaan darurat yang merupakan kuasa yang masih dipunyai oleh Yang DiPertuan Agong, bukan Perdana Menteri, dan bukan juga Majlis Keselamatan Negara.

Dan Mahathir jangan buat-buat lupa – beliaulah bertanggungjawab memusnahkan bukan sahaja demokrasi, malah kuasa Yang DiPertuan Agong untuk tidak meluluskan sesuatu rang undang-undang juga dihapuskan oleh beliau yang menyebabkan rang undang-undang selain rang undang-undang yang melibatkan hal ehwal pengistiharaan darurat, kuasa Raja-Raja, kedudukan Bumiputera dan Bahasa Malaysia, boleh diluluskan walaupun tidak mendapat persetujuan Yang DiPertuan Agong terlebih dahulu.

Sedarlah sikit usia dah lanjut, Mahathir. Cukup-cukuplah membohong.

October 4, 2016October 4, 2016

1BestariNet: When Will Muhyiddin Be Investigated?

Muhyiddin spoke on a PAS platform recently on 1MDB

Muhyiddin recently appeared on a PAS platform in Kuala Terengganu to speak about 1MDB etc. He was invited on the capacity of a former Deputy Prime Minister before the formation of Parti Pribumi which he is a pro-tem President. Not once did he address the long-standing question from especially the PAS members – how much did he make from the 1BestariNet scandal?

PAS first asked this question back in April 2012. Mahfuz Omar of PAS asked then why was the project not given to known telecommunications players such as Telekom Malaysia, Celcom or TimeDotCom who would be able to provide better Internet backbone to support the project.

The 1BestariNet project is a RM4.077 billion project over 15 years to provide 4G Internet connectivity as well as virtual learning environment for 9,924 schools nationwide. YTL, a known favourite of Parti Pribumi’s founder Mahathir, secured a RM663 million package signed by Muhyiddin when he was the Minister of Education. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2015 concluded that the implementation of the First Phase of the project is a failure. Not even a project steering committee and project technical committee were established at ministry-level to ensure its smooth implementation.

Responding to the PAC report, Economic Advisor to the Concerned Social-Minded Association (Persatuan Minda Sosial Prihatin) Suud Ridzuan called for Muhyiddin, the then Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister of Education to step down to facilitate the investigation into the scandal.

“According to the PAC, this project is a failure. Why was there a need to spend so much for this program?” he asked. “I urge the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission to investigate.”

The BN-friendly portal www.pru14.tv also raised a few doubts about the project. They are among others:

the installation of 1BestariNet Receiver Integrated System (1BRIS) communication towers that are supposed to transmit and receive high-speed wireless data in schools that do not have the appropriate LAN (Local Access Network) structure,
the refusal by YTL to pay RM1,200 per month to the Ministry of Education (MoE) as recommended by the Property Valuation and Service Department for each 1BRIS site. The MoE has thus far bowed down to YTL by allowing them to pay RM1,000 for each 1BRIS site instead;
the installation of the 1BRIS towers increased the electricity bill for each school by RM120 to RM150 monthly. With YTL’s refusal to pay the RM500 for each 1BRIS tower site, the MoE would have to fork out between RM5.77 million to RM6.92 million each year until the expiration of the contract.

The portal also alleged Muhyiddin’s son-in-law’s involvement in the project, an allegation that has gone unanswered by Muhyiddin.

Perhaps the MACC should seriously look into this issue as it has gone almost forgotten. Nabbing errant GLC office-holders may be a good thing, but letting a former senior Minister go free after hunderds of millions tangible rakyat‘s funds have been spent without tangible good results will not go down well with the majority.