The above is a cover of Lim Kit Siang’s 1983 book on the BMF scandal that involved the Mahathir administration.
The scandal must have been so damning that it warranted a book written of the accounts.
And in the age of the Internet you can find at least ten works of Lim Kit Siang that are related to the BMF scandal.
Three years after the publication of the above book, Lim Kit Siang published another one! So important was the BMF scandal that he had to publish another to keep the public informed of the scandal.
Three Bank Negara governors resigned within a span of 13 years beginning with Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Taha in 1985 who cited disagreement with Mahathir’s administration on lending policies.
His successor the late Tan Sri Jaafar Hussein resigned in the wake of a massive RM15 billion foreign exchange loss suffered by the bank in defending the ringgit.
Finally Tan Sri Ahmad Mohd Don resigned in 1998 over differences with Mahathir on monetary policies.
The BMF scandal was so important to Lim Kit Siang because unlike the 1MDB, billions of public funds meant for the betterment of the people, the Bumiputera in particular, disappeared and we have all been told to just “let it slide.”
Some may say that I am inaccurate but since when have my detractors had any attention for accuracies? They prefer to believe rubbish like the Sarawak Report than actual published audited documents.
That is just a sign of desperation. Now a 30-year old CIA document has exposed the undoing of the Malaysian economy by a certain dictator-like leader.
This is not an exposé by the likes of myself. We are only highlighting, as Kit Siang said, nothing new. We are just jogging the memory of Lim Kit Siang and informing those who were too young to remember this scandal as well as those idealists who were born after the event.
I know Lim Kit Siang remembers everything but chose to pretend being an amnesiac ass just to fulfill his political ambitions.
And it matters not if the rakyat’s interest should take precedence because to him we are all pawns in his political game.
My wife knows how I often thank people – be it a hotel cleaner, the toll booth operator manning the TouchNGo reload booth, the waiter at some stall.
This time I would like to thank Lim Kit Siang for being the proud politician that he has alwas been – the self-glorification by a man who thinks very greatly of himself, his works, his speeches, his essays; that he shares all these with us online that it feels like you are walking through a Presidential library of a man never destined to preside over or administer a country.
It does sound like U-Turn Mahathir and I dare say it also partly has to do with trying to save his son from an imminent prison sentence for corrupt practices while being a Chief Minister.
The other part, in my opinion, is because of the recent revelation of CIA documents linking U-Turn Mahathir to the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance scandal of 1983 that saw billions of Ringgits missing and resulted in the death of a senior bank auditor for knowing too much, and the suicide committed by the Carrian Group’s adviser.
It was during U-Turn Mahathir’s watch, two years into his stewardship, that Bank Bumiputera which was a government-owned bank formed with the purpose of assisting unfortunate Bumiputeras lost that huge sum of money.
And according to the CIA document it was impossible for Mahathir’s cabinet to not know anything about the outflow of such a huge amount of money in the form of loans given to a non-Bumiputera associate of his in Hong Kong.
Mahathir, like in the PKFZ hearing, has denied any knowledge of the missing money.
Unfortunate for Kit Siang, he cannot claim ignorance of what he had said about the scandal be it on camera or online.
Like I said, Kit Siang is so proud of himself, his works, speeches etc., that he shares them all with us online. And there are about ten posts related to the BMF scandal itself.
That article dated 29th February 1992 has an interesting ending where Kit Siang asked the following:
“If the Government leaders have nothing to hide, why is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, and the present Cabinet so adamant in refusing to commissioning a full public inquiry into the BMF scandal?”
I would like to know too! Why?
And I would also like to know if Kit Siang now knows that with the CIA exposé there is absolutely no way that he could work with Mahathir, deny ever knowing about the BMF scandal, and sacrifice the MP allowances that is helping him with sustaining his lifestyle in the next general elections?
This is one lump of dirt that even Kit Siang cannot sweep underneath his carpet. He knows that if he continues to work with U-Turn Mahathir, his political career would be as dead as a Dodo.
So he makes a U-turn and decides to work with the Barisan Nasional to rid the country of the biggest kleptomaniac of all – U-Turn Mahathir s/o Mohamad.
Thank you again Lim Kit Siang, for the reading material. You really made my day.
Back in 1998 after Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from UMNO and the rakyat rose against Mahathir, I used to tell friends who were in UMNO that it was wrong to burn your house down just because you quarrel with a sibling. Instead, you should sit down with that sibling and other family members and work out the differences and find a middle ground. Last night, Najib Razak who is UMNO’s President made the same call through his Facebook posting asking UMNO members to work differences out amicably. As members of a large family there is bound to be disagreements but this could be solved through discussions as UMNO members are brethren.
This is of utmost importance. UMNO has gone through many trials and tribulations from the days of Dato Onn Jaafar who left the party to form another back in the 1950s, to the attacks on UMNO by a nonagenarian of Kerala-descent that the party faces now. It has been the unity of UMNO members that has stopped all attempts to break it apart. The UMNO members have to realise this.
UMNO is not just being attacked by its trditional enemies and former members. It is also being threatened by colleagues from component parties for showing ‘support’ to the amendments to the Syariah Court (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, 1965 sought by PAS President Haji Hadi Awang. It was last revised in 1988 and since its passing 51 years ago, not a single non-Muslim person has ever been charged in a Syariah court for not fasting during the month of Ramadhan nor has there been any case of a non-Muslim being charged in court for fornication. So why should it be any different now?
Talking about unity, someone caused disunity in ASEAN 19 years ago when he fought to have Myanmar admitted as a member. Yes, Myanmar became a member of ASEAN despite concerns regarding the military junta’s treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi as well as the oppression of minorities.
Mahathir said: “I fought hard for Myanmar to be admitted into ASEAN.” Yes, it was his idea. According to his now-bosom-buddy Lim Kit Siang in June 2005, it is Mahathir who must bear the greatest responsibility for the ASEAN admission of Myanmar in the 1997 ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur despite strong regional and international reservations and opposition. It was Mahathir who was a staunch supporter of ASEAN’s founding principle of non-interference, a principle that has allowed the group to develop economic ties without being pulled into each other’s domestic problems, that has caused this policy to be severely tested when Myanmar entered into ASEAN in July 1997.
In June of last year he tried to push the buck back to the present government. For those who said that Najib Razak has done nothing to help the Rohingyas, due to the ASEAN principle of non-interference, the most the government could do is to get Myanmar to be committed in dialogues with other neighbours on this issue. Despite that, this present government shipped 480 tonnes of food, neccessities to the Rohingyas in Myanmar in September 2012 through the port of Sittwe, Myanmar. And last year, Najib Razak announced that Malaysia will give assistance to the Rohingya boat people. The Royal Malaysian Navy led the effort to give assistance to the boat people.
Since Mahathir is jobless, can’t afford to hire cooks, can’t afford to buy flight tickets that he needed a private jet to take him everywhere, and his Vision 2020 to have his son as the Prime Minister is now in tatters, Mahathir should now organise a series of demonstrations in Yangon. I am pretty certain his DAP friends would be willing to finance his trip there.
Let us see if he would take up this challenge and prove that he is still a negarawan and not the negarasawan that he has turned into.
Having found a partner-in-crime in Mahathir, Lim Kit Siang pushes aside all allegations that he had made against the founder of the Pribumi party.
Three years on, as the DAP Parliamentary Leader still owes the people of Sabah an answer pertaining to Mahathir’s involvement in the IC-for-vote scam otherwise known as “Project IC” or “Project M.”
I am not making this up. I am merely asking Lim Kit Siang if, now that he has Mahathir’s ears, the allegations he had made against the latter are true, or if he had been misleading the Sabahans especially in a scam of his called “I-Lie-For-Votes”?
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KUALA LUMPUR, 21 JAN: Rakyat bukan setakat tidak yakin terhadap integriti institusi negara, malah pertikai iltizam kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) terhadap dasar 1Malaysia terhadap fitnah bekas Perdana Menteri paling lama memerintah, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad kepada Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman dan satu juta warga generasi Merdeka apabila cuba menjustifikasikan Projek IC atau Projek M yang melakukan jenayah dan pengkhianatan “kewarganegaraan-untuk-undi” di Sabah bagi mempertahankan kuasa UMNO di negeri itu.
Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang berkata, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sepatutnya membersihkan nama Tunku Abdul Rahman, bapanya sendiri Tun Razak dan satu juta warga generasi Merdeka daripada fitnah Mahathir itu.
Katanya, Mahathir juga sepatutnya menjawab kepada rakyat Sabah dan Malaysia mengapa beliau hidup di dalam pembohongan selama dua dekad iaitu 10 tahun sebagai PM dan 10 tahun selepas bersara apabila menafikan kewujudan Projek IC atau Projek M yang melakukan penipuan “kewarganegaraan-untuk-undi”.
“Persoalannya, bagaimana rakyat Malaysia mahu melihat dasar 1Malaysia Najib sebagai sebuah dasar yang serius bagi menjadikan Malaysia yang lebih berdaya maju, lebih produktif dan lebih berdaya saing apabila usaha pembangunan bangsa bukan saja oleh Tunku Abdul Rahman, juga satu juta warga generasi Merdeka diperkecil malah difitnah seperti yang dilakukan Mahathir.
“Mahathir mendakwa Tunku melakukan sesuatu yang lebih teruk daripada Projek IC atau Projek M apabila memberi kewarganegaraan kepada sejuta warga semenanjung Malaysia yang tidak layak,” katanya dalam kenyataan media mengenai Pengiraan Detik 82 hari ke PRU-13, semalam.
Kit Siang yang juga Ahli Parlimen Ipoh Timur berkata, matlamat 1Malaysia adalah untuk menjadikan Malaysia lebih berdaya maju, lebih produktif dan lebih berdaya saing, dan kemuncaknya sebuah negara yang hebat: sebuah negara yang diharapkan agar setiap warga Malaysia melihat dirinya terlebih dahulu sebagai rakyat Malaysia, dan kemudian barulah melihat dirinya berdasarkan bangsa, agama kawasan geografi dan latar belakang sosial, dan juga sebuah negara yang diharapkan agar prinsip 1Malaysia dijalin dalam struktur ekonomi, politik dan sosial masyarakat.
Menurutnya, Rakyat Malaysia sekarang bingung dengan jawapan Najib selepas mesyuarat Majlis Tertinggi Barisan Nasional Khamis lalu mengenai pendedahan penipuan “kewarganegaraan-untuk-undi” oleh Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) mengenai pendatang tanpa izin di Sabah dan reaksi Mahathir.
“Sebenarnya, Najib tidak katakan apa yang lebih penting daripada yang beliau katakan iaitu masih awal untuk membuat kesimpulan daripada RCI memandangkan ia masih di peringkat permulaan dengan 167 lagi saksi akan dipanggil, Najib juga berhati-hati mengelak memberi komen kepada fitnah Mahathir terhadap Tunku serta satu juta warga generasi Merdeka.
“Adakah ini bermakna Najib menyokong fitnah Mahathir bahawa Tunku memberi kewarganegaraan kepada sejuta warga tidak layak iaitu bukan saja mengaitkan Bapa Malaysia tetapi juga bapa Najib, Tun Razak
“Saya harap Najib segera membersihkan bukan saja nama Tunku tetapi juga bapanya, Tun Razak dan menjauhkan dirinya daripada fitnah Mahathir itu,” katanya.
Katanya, klip video terkenal “Listen, listen, listen!” Sharifah-Bawani adalah bukti terkini berterusan dan bahaya tersembunyi pusaka 22 tahun pemerintahan drakonian Mahathir, mendedahkan kepalsuan dakwaan bahawa pemerintahan Najib membuang segala beban lampau yang bersifat Mahathir dan kini menganut kepercayaan “Era kerajaan tahu semua telah berlalu”. – Roketkini.com
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I would like to call upon Malaysians now to ask Lim Kit Siang if Mahathir has answered him, and make the answer known to us all, especially the Sabahans, in the mass and electronic media.
Lim Kit Siang can read the original article here in case he is absent-minded.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a moderate. Moderation is what is preached in Islam. Moderation is what seems to be eroding by the day not just in Islam, but in other religions and cuts across the racial board as well. And this applies to every single country there is on the face of this Earth. And to have a group of people advocating moderation is a more-than-welcome effort in this young-but-amnesiac country that seems to have lost all institutional memory of the events that had brought about the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.
Reading the The Star’s interview with Tan Sri Alwi Jantan (Torchbearers for founding fathers – Sunday, 4th September 2016) I cannot help but agree to some of his points, but at the same time feel as if there is some form of misguidance, or misinterpretation of the Federal Constitution, and a deliberate misleading on the respected Tan Sri’s part.
I agree that rather than focusing on petty issues such as whether or not the Langkawi statue is haram, the religious councils as well as JAKIM should focus more on the development of correct as well as balanced knowledge on Islamic subjects such as Tauhid, Fardhus Ain and Kifayah. This is important to counter the influence of deviationists especially that of the Da’esh. However, religious as well as racial extremism is not confined to Islam alone. In the name of pluralism as advocated by the G25, there should only be single-stream schools. Children who do not grow up together will grow up apart. We can never talk about unity and understanding if we do not understand each other. Preserving the mother-tongue can be done after formal classes are over and this can be done at the school itself, perhaps after lunch. So could the Islamic religious classes. In the latter category, this would ensure that correct teachings are being imparted to the children rather than by private religious schools whose curriculum are not being monitored effectively by the religious councils. Also that way working parents do not need to worry about the whereabouts of their children and can pick them up at school after work, or a similar arrangement could be made.
In a plural society such as ours, the need for our children to grow up together for the sake of unity is paramount. Sending children to separate schools based on mother tongue rather than a common national language is against the spirit of the Constitution. When the Constitution was being drafted for it to be in operation by Merdeka Day 1957, the Reid Commission adopted the Alliance’s (UMNO, MCA and MIC) proposal to establish Malay as the official language of the Federation. However, there were differences on how to go about with this. Ng Ek Teong, the MCA representative submitted that English should be allowed to be used for official purposes for a minimum of 10 years. MIC was in support of this. Both MCA and MIC also proposed for Mandarin and Tamil be allowed to be used in the legislatures for a minimum period of 10 years. UMNO however proposed that English be allowed to be used for a maximum period of ten years after independence. Ng Ek Tong told the Commission that this would only serve as a temporary measure(Colonial Office CO 889/6, Minutes of Alliance hearing before the Reid Commission, 27 September 1956, pp 290-294). Tunku Abdul Rahman however said:
“At the end of 10 years, the general trend will be that people will still demand for it and the people who propose it now are not sure that they would be there to guarantee it. It is bound to cause a lot of debate later on.”(Ibid.)
Even Lord William Reid himself was not in favour of the proposal by MCA and MIC saying that it would cause practical difficulties (Ibid/Making of the Malayan Constitution, Joseph M Fernando, pp 128-129). It was for this reason that the Tunku promoted the Rumi script for the Malay language at the expense of the Jawi script to enable the non-Malays to learn the national language rapidly (Tunku Abdul Rahman (1984), op. cit., pp. 112-114). This has been enshrined in Article 152 of the Federal Constitution as well as in the National Language Act, 1963/1967.
The reality of it now is that the migrant workers from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar are more able to grasp the Malay language than many of our own Identity Card-wielding citizens. Mind you, they also stood still at Dataran Merdeka while the NegaraKu was being played. Our own citizens refuse to stand up when the NegaraKu was being played in the cinemas, extinguishing the very torch of our founding fathers.
The Constitution is secular only up to a certain point. The Reid Commission, commissioned by both Her Majesty The Queen of England and the Malay Rulers had initially omitted a proposal by the Malay Rulers to have Islam as the religion of the Federation. Reid saw it fit that matters of religion be handled only by the Ruler of the respective States, and that the special position of the Malays be reviewed after 15 years.
When the report was published, the strongest objections came from the man revered by Malaysians now as the father of multiracialism – Dato Onn Jaafar, who as the leader of Parti Negara said that the Malays had been let down. PAS claimed that the Malay interests had been cast aside (von Vorys (1975), op. cit., p.132). Hence, the Tunku later submitted that Islam be made the religion of the Federation with two provisos added: first that it would not affect the position of the Rulers as head of religion in their respective States; second, the practice and propagation of other religions to the non-Malays in the Federation would be assured under the Constitution (UMNO/SUA 154/56, Minutes of Alliance ad-hoc political sub-committee meeting, 2 April 1957).
Sir Donald Charles MacGillivray personally felt that such a provision would be advantageous because the Yang DiPertuan Agong could at the same time become the head of the faith in the Settlements of Penang and Malacca (CO 1030/524 (10), MacGillivray to Secretary of State, 25 February 1957; See also CO 1030/524 (18), MacGillivray to Secretary of State, 21 March 1957).
Fast forward to the present, Article 3 of the Federal Constitution has clearly mentioned Islam as the religion of the Federation with the Rulers being the Head of religion in their respetive States, while the Yang DiPertuan Agong becomes the Head of religion in the States of Pulau Pinang, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak, as well as in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. It is not an official religion but the religion of the Federation. The provisos added to safeguard the practice and propagation of other religions are now enshrined in Article 11 with limits to propagate given in Clause 4 of the said Article, to safeguard and honour the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation.
There is even a separation of jurisdiction when it comes to the position of Islam in the Federal Constitution. The Syariah Law comes under the purview of the respective Rulers, and the Attorney-General of Malaysia, under Article 145(3) does not have the jurisdiction over proceedings before a Syariah court, a native court of a court-martial. This separation of jurisdition is also present as provided by Article 121(1A) where both the High Court of Malaya and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak do not have any jurisdiction over Syariah matters. Therefore, the respected Tan Sri should be aware that, borrowing the words of Sir Stamford Raffles in a 1815 letter to his cousin mentioned how “Religion and laws are so united” in Muslim dominated areas that the introduction of Christian beliefs will bring about “much mischief, much bitterness of heart and contention”. (Seademon, A Case For God, 1 Jan 2013) .
Even Act 355, the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, 1965 (last revised in 1988) states the following:
1. (1) This Act may be cited as the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction), 1965.
1. (2) This Act shall apply to all the States of Peninsular Malaysia.
2. The Syariah Courts duly constituted under any law in a State and invested with jurisdiction over persons professing the religion of Islam and in respect of any of the matters enumerated in List II of the State List of the Ninth Schedule to the Federal Constitution are hereby conferred jurisdiction in respect of offences against precepts of the religion of Islam by persons professing that religion which may be prescribed under any written law:
Provided that such jurisdiction shall not be exercised in respect of any offence punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding three years or with any fine exceeding five thousand ringgit or with whipping exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof.
The Act, clearly says that it first and foremost, applies to all States of the Peninsular Malaysia. It is not applicable to where the Yang DiPertuan Agong is the Head of religion ie. the Federal Territories, Sabah and Sarawak. Second, it applies only to Muslims and any matters in List II of the State List of the Ninth Schedule to the Federal Constitution. Third, it cannot propose any punishment that prescribes any jail term exceeding three years, or with any fine exceeding five thousand ringgit, or with whipping exceeding six strokes or with any combination thereof.
Therefore, there is no question of introducing stoning to death, amputation of limbs etc. Anything above those limitations will be referred to the Criminal Courts.
So, Tan Sri, care to explain how are secularism and pluralism being attacked with examples of provisos of the Federal Constitution or any laws made under it?
Finally, let me quote the interview given by the respected Tan Sri to The Star:
G25 has also expanded its scope to include good governance and tackling corruption. As not only the former head of the PSD but also former secretary-general in the Local Government and Federal Territory Ministry, Health Ministry and Agriculture Ministry, Alwi has focused on good governance, which he calls the precondition for a constitutional democracy: “Those in power must be made accountable for their actions and conduct.”
During his time, civil servants were able to do their jobs without fear or favour, he recalls. “The division of responsibilities between the politicians and civil servants was fairly clear cut.”
But over time good governance has been eroded at an alarming rate, he says.
“There are hardly any more checks and balances.”
What either the good Tan Sri or The Star have also failed to mention is the fact that for more than three years, Tan Sri Alwi Jantan was the Deputy Secretary-General for the Prime Minister’s Department under the founder of Parti Pribumi, Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir’s now good friend, Lim Kit Siang, wrote not so long ago, on Thursday, 12 February 2015 at 12.57pm:
“This shows the rot in Malaysia, but it is a rot which was started during Mahathir’s 22-year premiership, and by Mahathir himself!
Today, Mahathir is obsessed with the toppling of Najib as Prime Minister, but this is not because he wanted to stop the rot in Malaysia, to restore the independence and integrity of the judiciary and a just rule of law; to end the subversion of the independence and professionalism of national institutions whether the civil service, the police, the elections commission or anti-corruption agency; eradicate rampant corruption; restore ethics and honesty in public life; re-establish a good education system or restore Malaysia’s economic competitiveness.
Mahathir wants Najib out as the Prime Minister for Malaysia, not to stop the rot which was started by him during his premiership, but for an agenda personal to himself.
This is the rot of Hamlet in Malaysia.”
I’m surprised the good Tan Sri had made no mention whatsoever of this episode. And he was a civil servant by definition, under the tutelage of the Pribumi person himself and remained in public service until 16 April 1990, thirteen years before Mahathir steped down.
So, Tan Sri, it is good that you want to become the torchbearer of the founding fathers of this blessed nation. However, please ensure that you are on the right path first before you decide to light that torch and guide others.
The Penang DAP sounds more like a broken record nowadays. When Penang DAP voters dumped Koh Tsu Koon-led Gerakan for DAP, they genuinely believed that DAP could bring about the changes they were all looking forward to. DAP, together with their Pakatan Rakyat partners threw in a manifesto that everyone thought was Utopian that even they did not think that they would wrestle any of the states from the Barisan Nasional. However, thank you (or no thank you) to Mahathir whose personal attacks on the then-Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, the Pakatan Rakyat was caught with their pants off when they actually won. They had to now live up to the manifesto and promises they had made.
No thank you to Mahathir as the current problems faced by the Penang people are all started by his attacks on Abdullah, but thanks to him voters get to see the real face of the DAP.
In 2008, the DAP-led state government quickly introduced the principles of Competent, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) to the people of Penang. This was repeated in the manifesto for the 2013 General Elections as shows above. In the first bullet it stated that the administration of the CAT would be improved; all state assemblymen would be transparent and declare their assets; strengthen the freedom of information enactment; forbid family members of assemblymen from conducting businesses. What has been going on in real life has far digressed from the “clean government” manifesto.
The Penang state government is far from being competent, accountable and transparent. Its Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was charged in court for two counts of corruption cum abuse of position; the only declaration of assets to the public was by Lim Guan Eng when he invited the press into his controversial bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn to show them that there is no swimming pool; according to FreedomInfo.org, a global network of freedom of information advocates, Penang’s Freedom of Information policy does not comply to international definitions and is restrictive; family members of Penang’s state assemblymen especially the office holders are found to be conducting businesses like nobody’s business. The latest involves Lim Kiat Seong, father of State Assemblyman Lim Siew Khim.
Lim Kiat Seong, father of Assemblyman Lim Siew Khim, was seen in a video about corruption involving a housing scheme in Penang
In a video that was made public by Penang Gerakan’s Oh Tong Keong, Kiat Seong, 68 years old was seen with a middleman and a complainant who argued that he had made a RM260 payment to bypass the Low-Cost Housing process but had yet to receive an offer letter.
In her defence, Lim Siew Khim who is also Wanita DAP Chief said that her father’s business has nothing to do with her, and that she has never heard anyone compaining about the issue in her constituency. She even claimed to not have any knowledge of the issue. I can only make the following deductions about Siew Khim:
She never goes down to the ground to care about the grassroots;
She does not care about the goings-on in her constituency;
She does not think what her father did is wrong;
She thinks the voters are stupid and would just accept her explanation at face value.
Lim Kiat Seong went missing immediately after the video was made public. The MACC later found him and arrested him, and after being grilled for five hours, led the MACC to two properties where documents related to the case were seized. Lim Siew Khim arrived at the MACC’s office on Jalan Northam at 10am for questioning.
Ironically, Lim Kiat Seong and Lim Kit Siang, father of charged-for-corruption Lim Guan Eng, share the same Chinese characters in their name (林吉祥). Lim Kiat Seong is how the name is pronounced in Hokkien while Lim Kit Siang is Southern Min Chinese!
DAP loves to point to the mistakes made by others, the Barisan Nasional in particular. It would go on and on about any issues brought forth that implicates anyone from the Barisan Nasional that they begin to sound like a broken heavy metal record that unfortunately repeats the shrieks instead of the strums. And the DAP has also chosen to not see that it has perhaps broken records for having the most number of corruption or corrupted-practices cases in slightly less than two terms.
I would be very amused if come GE14, the voters in Penang prove Lim Siew Khim’s Point Number Four right.
Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan knows very well what Mahathir would do to those he hates. He experienced that first hand in 1990 when Mahathir went all out to try depose him as Chief Minister. Pairin was Chief Minister of Sabah from 1984 to 1995.
Speaking to reporters after receiving a courtesy visit from the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Youth Council yesterday Pairin said that when Mahathir is a ‘political animal’ who, when he does not like a person, would go all out (to get the person out of his way).
Therefore, it comes as no surprise to Pairin when Mahathir would form a new party and work with his enemies just to try force Najib Razak out of office.
In politics, anything goes – wrote Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used for Utusan Malaysia’s editorials. And that includes trying to erase his dark past by working with DAP’s Lim Kit Siang whom he had put behind bars without trial during his tenure. It was Mahathir whom had planted the idea that DAP is nothing less than the enemies of the Malays and what Malaysia stands for, in the mind of the Malay masses. Equally disgusting is Lim Kit Siang whom had spent most of his life in DAP slandering Mahathir as being the most corrupted dictator, now seen being in the same bed with Mahathir.
Another person who would know Mahathir well is Tan Sri Musa Hitam, who was Mahathir’s deputy from 1981 to 1986. While he described Mahathir as “observant, innovative, and meticulous” he also used the words “authoritarian, contemptuous, and belligerent”.
In an article by The Star, Musa said Dr Mahathir could be pleasant and engaging at times, but would often come off as being disinterested in dialogue or debate.
“Discussion and debate were never the order of the day,” he wrote in his book ‘Frankly Speaking’ which was recently launched by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak.
“Discussion and debate were never the order of the day.” – Musa Hitam describing Mahathir
In his book Musa wrote:
“Malaysia today is going through a difficult transition. Trying to establish a mature democracy after more than two decades of authoritarian rule is not easy. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the current, more open political system will continue. Malaysia would, in fact, find itself gripped by reactionary forces that even now are advocating policies and practices that – if adopted – would eventually result in the country becoming a failed state.”
This was echoed by the former Grand Mufti of Jordan, Professor Dr Amin Mohammad Sallam al-Manasyeh in an interview with the portal MalaysiaGazette. “I am of the opinion that if Allah gives him (Najib) time, he will continue to develop and position Malaysia as the best country in the world. That’s what I think about him,” he said in the interview.
I, too, had doubts about Najib Razak’s ability to do well as the leader of this country. Up until April of 2015 at least, I and like-minded friends did not think that he would last in the face of relentless acrid attacks by Mahathir. By May, Mahathir faltered and changed goalposts several times while Najib Razak stood firm, unwilling to budge even a bit. Most of us saw that the light shone by Najib in the tunnel of lies made by his detractors is far brighter than the one shone by Mahathir. And this year, Mahathir received multiple slaps first in the form of the resignation of his son Mukhriz as the Menteri Besar after being told by the Council of Regent of Kedah that he had lost majority support of the State Assembly. This was followed by his own resignation from UMNO. Then came the hattrick wins in Sarawak, Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar elections where, despite Mahathir’s claims, Barisan Nasional still won. And then he was conned by his own people for faking more than half a million signatures of people reportedly in support of his ‘Save Malaysia’ declaration.
Mukhriz, seen here with Tan Sri Tunku Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Chairman of the Council of Regent of Kedah (right), and council member Tan Sri Tunku Abdul Hamid Thani, leaving the Wisma Darul Aman after a meeting with the Council of Regent.
One would think that at 91, Mahathir would take it slow and call it a day. Well, that is not Mahathir. In the end he sets up another political party called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) where Najib’s former deputy Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the pro-tem President, and his son Mukhriz the pro-tem Treasurer. And where is Mahathir in this party? He positions himself as Lim Kit Siang has – the Puppet Master. Despite being a political giant, Muhyiddin has all but lost support in Pagoh and Muar. Many Johoreans still remember him for his sins committed against the Malays. He would now have to find another seat to contest in. Otherwise his political career is as good as over.
Admitted to the National Heart Institute for medical complications the day his party’s registration form was submitted to the Registrar of Societies, Mahathir’s first act upon being ill was to post a blog article attacking Najib, not taking care of his health or coming to a realisation that his days as a mortal are numbered, and that instead of creating more sins, he should repent. No, things like that never seem important to Mahathir. And neither would the parasites who call themselves “his advisers” advise the old man to slow down. Instead, they feed his anger, and he in turn feeds them for making him angry. And Mahathir should remember that whenever he, the authoritarian, gets angry, he loses support. Zuraidah Ibrahim aptly puts it in the South China Morning Post:
Instead of departing on his terms, as he did in 2003, he may now find himself leaving the scene a loser.
For Najib Razak, it is business as usual. As in the old adage wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson:
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Esok merupakan hari penentuan buat para pengundi di Parlimen Sungai Besar dan Parlimen Kuala Kangsar. Kedua-dua buah kerusi yang kosong akibat kematian ahli-ahli Parlimen yang mewakili kawasan-kawasan tersebut bulan lalu menjadi rebutan di antara PAS, BN dan parti serpihan PAS iaitu PAN.
Kedua-dua buah kerusi ini adalah amat penting buat BN dan PAS. Bagi BN, kemenangan akan bermaksud rakyat masih meletakkan kepercayaan mereka terhadap BN walaupun sokongan para pengundi amat tipis ditambah pula dengan serangan-serangan tidak munasabah yang telah dilakukan oleh bekas ahli UMNO iaitu Mahathir Mohamad. Bagi PAS pula, ianya akan menjadi bukti bahawa sokongan terhadap PAS masih kukuh walaupun telah dikhianati oleh Mohamad Sabu dan konco-konconya.
Tidak timbul isu sama ada calon yang diketengahkan oleh parti-parti yang bertanding adalah merupakan “calon payung terjun” seperti yang didakwa oleh pelbagai pihak. Calon BN, Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid walaupun berasal dari Negeri Sembilan telahpun bermastautin di Kuala Kangsar selama 27 tahun dan adalah merupakan pengundi berdaftar di Kuala Kangsar. Beliau telah bekerja dengan arwah suami beliau untuk rakyat Kuala Kangsar sekian lamanya.
Berbeza dengan calon PAN di Sungai Besar. Azhar Ab Shukur, yang berasal dari Pahang tetapi menetap juga di Pahang. Calon Pakatan Harapan ini tiada bezanya dengan ahli-ahli Parlimen lain Pakatan Harapan yang memegang serentak kerusi DUN dan Parlimen, kemudiannya sibuk berceramah di sana sini dan tiada masa untuk diluangkan secara peribadi di kawasan-kawasan yang telah memilih mereka sebagai wakil suara pengundi.
Malah, Azhar dengan berbesar hatinya telah umumkan kepada para pengundi Sungai Besar bahawa beliau akan lawat kawasan sebanyak dua bulan sekali! Sebulan sekali sekiranya beliau seronok!
Kalau inilah yang terbaik boleh PAN berikan untuk rakyat, eloklah kita ramai-ramai baling mikrofon ke arah Presidennya, Mohamad Sabu.
Jangan juga kita lupakan siapa sebenarnya di belakang tabir mentadbir PAN – tidak lain dan tidak bukan parti DAP sendiri.
Sejak mula hari pencalonan lagi kelihatan “para pembesar” DAP kelihatan berkempen dengan agresif bagi pihak PAN. Ianya bukanlah sesuatu yang menghairankan. PAN lahir akibat hasutan jahat DAP terhadap ahli-ahli PAS yang pernah ada bai’ah bercerai suami-isteri talak tiga sekiranya keluar meninggalkan PAS. Maka keldai-keldai tunggangan DAP ini bekerja keras mengikut arahan yang diberikan oleh tuan DAP mereka untuk cuba memenangi kerusi Sungai Besar dan Kuala Kangsar. Kemenangan PAN adalah kemenangan DAP:
Apa yang nak dihairankan mengenai hukum bersama bekas isteri yang dicerai talak tiga kalau boleh bersekongkol dengan golongan evangelis yang tidak pernah senang dengan kedudukan istimewa Bumiputra dan agama Islam sebagai agama Persekutuan Malaysia?
Seorang lagi yang menangguk di air yang keruh bersekongkol dengan PAN dan DAP ialah Mahathir Mohamad, seorang yang mengaku Melayu kerana bencikan bangsa nenek moyangnya.
Kerja Mahathir adalah untuk mendapatkan sokongan rakyat untuk mencapai agenda persendiriannya termasuklah berbaik dengan musuh-musuhnya.
Sejak memulakan serangan terhadap Perdana Menteri, bekas ahli UMNO ini yang pernah menangis kerana memecat dirinya sendiri dari jawatan Perdana Menteri cuba membuktikan bahawa beliau masih mendapat sokongan rakyat dalam perjuangan memenuhi nafsu sendiri. Ini termasuklah mengitar semula isu lapok yang sudah berjawab dan membuat dakwaan-dakwaan yang tidak berasas di mana beliau sendiri akui bahawa beliau tiada bukti untuk menyokong dakwaan-dakwaan beliau, tidak ubah seperti para pejuang papan kekunci yang mengharapkan bayaran.
Malah, “sokongan” yang beliau perolehi juga adalah penipuan sebesar “sokongan” yang didakwanya.
Serangan Mahathir juga tidak terbatas kepada Najib; malah Abdul Hadi Awang juga menjadi sasaran kempennya. Maka apakah agenda Mahathir kalau bukan membantu evangelis untuk menjatuhkan Islam dan Melayu?
Di hari terakhir tempoh berkempen ini, fikir-fikirkanlah. Undilah calon yang boleh membawa kemajuan, pembangunan, peluang pekerjaan, penambahbaikan mutu kehidupan, perpaduan dan kesejahteraan.
Siapa pun yang bakal anda pilih, janganlah dipilih calon parti keldai yang hanya akan menjenguk anda dua bulan sekali.
The Barisan Nasional lost one Member of Parliament, Datuk Noriah Kasnon, and possibly another, in a helicopter accident on Thursday evening. Every time Malaysia loses an aircraft, ugly cretins especially from the Peninsular rear their head on social media. Let us see this as an example:
A social media practitioner, Saiful Bahari Baharom rightly made his point about the cause of rift between many Malays and non-Malays in the Peninsular:
Any normal and decent human being would not wish for the death of others. Even animals know how to mourn the dead . Yet so-called human beings have no feelings whatsoever; not even sensitive towards the feelings of the family members of the deceased.
And we know where they are from:
This is what happens when you allow your children to grow up in an environment that indoctrinates your children according to the DAP way:
“When one with honeyed words but evil mind
Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”
Euripides
Baru Bian not looking into the mirror
I was both amused and bemused by Baru Bian’s statement in the papers. Amused because Baru Bian’s claims seem absurd and bemused because while making the statement, it was obvious Baru never looked into the mirror to reflect upon his own achievements in Ba’ Kelalan – which is close to zero.
Close to zero is what it is. One of Baru’s recent trips to Ba Kelalan was on the 6th April 2016 which was to SK Ba’ Kelalan in the village of Long Langai to present some books for the schoolchildren. While that is a good gesture, why has Baru, as the incumbent assemblyman there, turned a blind eye to the condition of the school? The hostel where the schoolchildren sleep, teachers’ quarters are all in dilapidated condition. With a limited grant from the State Education department, the school is being kept in operational condition thanks to the hard-working and very dedicated teachers under the leadership of the school’s principal, Puan Bulan Dawat, and the efforts by the parents of the schoolchildren who often provide the manpower to assist the teachers.
In the village of Buduk Nur, the request for chairs for the village’s multi-purpose hall made in 2011 to Baru also fell on deaf ears. “Nanti kita fikirkanlah” (We will think about it later) was what Baru was reported to have said to his voters. From then until recently, villagers would have to move chairs from the neighbouring church into the hall and back whenever there is a village event held inside the hall. In these modern days where many of the young adults have almost all moved out of Ba Kelalan for studies or to work, getting the manpower to clean up the hall let alone move chairs and tables back and forth every time they are needed at the hall is not easy.
That has changed. Inside the multi-purpose hall at Buduk Nur now are two sets of wireless public address systems donated by the current Chief Minister of Sarawak, and chairs and tables bearing the words “Ikhlas dari Pejabat Perdana Menteri” (Sincerely from the Prime Minister’s Office). Looking at these two gifts, I doubt they cost much – a state assemblyman could easily have afforded to buy these PA system, tables and chairs. Or he could have gotten someone to sponsor these items, but no, for five years nothing happened.
I would be absolutely wrong to say that Baru never gave anything to the people of Ba Kelalan. He did some good.
1Malaysia poly water tanks supplied by 1M4U in Ba Kelalan
The above are water tanks supplied by the 1M4U project, an initiative founded by the Prime Minister in 2012. Villagers said that Baru claimed to them that it was through his initiative that the villagers had received these poly tanks. You won’t see these poly tanks at every house that is in need, however. They were given only to supporters and houses of single-mothers, earning him the nickname “ADUN Janda” (The Assemblyman for divorced women).
Early this year Baru presented several houses with solar power units that could generate enough power to light two bulbs all night long, or charge up to two mobile telephones simultaneously during the day. This time he made it clear that the gift was from a corporate sponsor.
So what else can be read on Baru Bian’s report card?
To say that the Barisan Nasional has done little to develop Ba Kelalan in the 48 years preceding his tenure is in a way naive bordering reckless of Baru. While it may be true that Ba Kelalan did not get much under the previous Chief Minister’s administration, Ba Kelalan fared relatively well under Barisan Nasional. Going by my layman timeline, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission’s Universal Services Provision fund helped bridge the digital divide in rural Sarawak in among others Bario and Ba Kelalan. With the introduction of the Internet and telephony to Ba Kelalan, tourism in Ba Kelalan prospered. Between January to May of 2014, Ba Kelalan’s homestays hosted 2,962 visitors earning close to RM656,000. The Ba Kelalan villages of Long Langai, Long Lemutut, Long Ritan, Long Rusu, Buduk Bui, Buduk Aru now has 24-hour electricity supply thank you to the government’s initiative to install micro-hydro systems there. The airport at Buduk Nur was built when Barisan Nasional was representing Ba Kelalan. The Long Luping to Ba Kelalan road was built with the assistance from the Ministry of Defence in 2010. That road is now in bad condition because among others hardly any maintenance is done there. What, in the last five years, has Baru Bian done to make sure the road is in good working condition?
That is five years versus Adenan Satem’s two years in office. Baru should not compare Adenan Satem with his predecessor. If I want to be petty and make comparisons, Adenan has given Buduk Nur two PA systems. What has Baru given Ba Kelalan himself? And Adenan, who hails from the Sarawakian political party called Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) has the support of Najib Razak who is from the Peninsular’s UMNO, the only Prime Minister to have made an average of eight trips to Sarawak per year since assuming office, and given billions of Ringgit back to the people of Sarawak to improve their livelihood. Both are from different parties within the Barisan Nasional coalition.
In contrast, Baru who is from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which is a Peninsular political party, cannot even get the backing of his leadership in the Peninsular to get the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a chauvinist political party that is the de facto party in command of the Pakatan Harapan (PH), also from the Peninsular, to ask DAP to refrain from contesting in five seats that PKR is contesting in the upcoming Sarawak State Elections. I doubt if Baru could call the shots in Sarawak even without being subjugated and undermined by those in the DAP.
Baru Bian may be Barisan Nasional’s candidate Willie Liau’s uncle. But Baru Bian was born and grew up in Long Semadoh, a village 40km away from Ba Kelalan. Baru lives in Kuching, 1,200km away where he has his law practice and spends most of his time making name for himself taking on giant oil palm corporations such as IOI disguised as protecting native rights.
While Baru Bian should just remain an activist, Willie Liau who is also a lawyer is the right person for Ba Kelalan and he knows that only someone who is with the government can drive things through. Unlike Baru, Willie is from Ba Kelalan’s village of Buduk Bui, like another famous Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP) name – Datuk Nelson Balang Rining. Unlike Baru, Willie lives in the district capital of Lawas, a 125km road trip away. As mentioned by Tua Kampung Yudan Meru of Long Muda to BERNAMA recently, “Baru is a good man, but he is standing on the wrong platform. He is our brother but if he wins, it will be the same story… the people will suffer – until when?Willie is strong. I hope he wins big in Ba’Kelalan.”
Lim Kit Siang is confident DAP will lose seven seats in Sarawak
If you look at the faces above, even DAP’s Emperor Lim Kit Siang, the only dinosaur still alive since 1969, has that grim look on his face. He is confident DAP will lose seven of 12 seats held by DAP in Sarawak. Claiming that Adenan Satem is throwing money around and promising development, which is what the people of Sarawak actually want, DAP has thrown in a challenge:
DAP’s development promise to Sarawak
If you look at the above photo, the red steel bridge costing RM60,000 will soon end up as a bridge to nowhere. Firstly, it does lead to nowhere as the land across the Batang Undup river is empty. Secondly, if you look at the erosion of the riverbank and the curvature of the river, you know that that bridge will sooner or later lead to nowhere as the banks will continue to get eroded by the river flow. Without sheet pile protecting the soil, soon the end of the river would be good as a fishing platform. If there is no anti-rust coating beneath that red paint, it would go much sooner than a wooden bridge or a steel bridge treated with anti-rust.
If the above are the ones who will be calling the shots, Baru Bian is better off as an activist on his own, working with non-governmental organisations, or work hand-in-hand with the state government for the betterment of the indigenous people of Sarawak if he is truly sincere.
As the Lun Bawangs would say, “Aleg ninger buek tang arang gawa’!” (Don’t listen to voices from the sky). Put both feet firmly on terra firma and do good for your people for once. Don’t give them honeyed words like those who have evil mind wanting to subjugate you.
The above is a cover of Lim Kit Siang’s 1983 book on the BMF scandal that involved the Mahathir administration.
SeaDemon Says 
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