Politics – Page 24 – SeaDemon Says

November 8, 2016

Minyak Habis Sambal Tak Enak

Dua bulan yang lepas saya telah menghadiri perjumpaan bekas Pegawai Kadet Tentera Udara DiRaja Malaysia yang dilatih di Sekolah Pegawai Kadet TUDM di TUDM Kinrara dan TUDM Subang. Antara perkataan yang terbit dalam ucapan-ucapan pada malam tersebut adalah perkataan MANTAN.’ Salah satu teori yang diketengahkan mengenai perkataan tersebut ialah ianya berasal dari Indonesia dan membawa maksud ‘Mundar mANdir tanpa jawaTAN.’ Teori kedua mencadangkan maksud ‘Manusia Tanpa Nafsu.’ Apa jua maksud yang tersirat nukilan saya pada malam ini adalah mengenai rengekan mantan Ketua Puteri UMNO Bahagian Sepang dan mungkin kini ahli Pergerakan Wanita UMNO Cawangan Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, Rina Mohd Harun di dalam laman Facebooknya.

Begitulah rengekan Saudari Rina mengenai kepayahan hidup yang dialami oleh orang ramai. Saya yakin sebagai mantan ketua sebuah pergerakan di peringkat UMNO Bahagian, beliau pernah menghadiri kursus-kursus jatidiri di pusat-pusat latihan UMNO terutamanya di Janda Baik dan Kemensah. Beliau juga telah diberi ilmu dan cara-cara untuk menjawab pertanyaan serta menangkis tohmahan yang dibawa pihak pembangkang. Berlatarbelakangkan sebuah sekolah berasrama penuh yang berprestasi tinggi serta latihan-latihan yang telah diterima dari UMNO saya lebih mengharapkan Saudari Rina mempunyai kemantapan daya juang yang tinggi, matang pemikiran dan lebih bijaksana.

Malangnya, setelah habis beribu nampaknya hasilnya tiada. Bagai minyak habis sambal tak enak.

Seperti penulisan saya tempoh hari, saya telah menjelaskan (biarpun dalam bahasa yang mungkin sukar Saudari Rina fahami) bahawa pihak Kerajaan telah memberi subsidi kepada 23 pengeluar minyak masak utama untuk mengeluarkan 85,000 tan minyak masak untuk kegunaan rakyat setiap bulan. Kajian mendapati rakyat Malaysia hanya menggunakan sebanyak 45,000 tan minyak masak sebulan manakala 40,000 tan lagi hilang atau tidak dapat dikesan dan dipercayai diseludup oleh pengedar ke negara-negara jiran.

Rasional penghapusan subsidi bagi semua jenis minyak masak kecuali minyak masak 1kg yang dijual di dalam polybag adalah supaya kegiatan penyuludupan minyak dapat dikurangkan dan dihapuskan kerana ianya lebih sukar untuk menyeludup keluar minyak masak di dalam polybag. Subsidi boleh ditukarkan ke bentuk lain yang lebih tepat disaluran kepada golongan sasaran. Golongan berpendapatan rendah dan juga peniaga restoran dan gerai kecil-kecilan lebih gemar menggunakan minyak masak dalam polybag 1kg maka ini bermakna bahawa kos sara hidup golongan-golongan tersebut tidak berubah, dan makanan yang mereka jual juga tidak patut dinaikkan harga. Bukankah ini lebih baik dari wang subsidi hasil cukai rakyat dimanafaatkan oleh rakyat Malaysia sendiri dan bukan oleh warga asing?

Mengenai kesukaran mendapatkan bekalan minyak masak, sesiapa yang mempunyai akal dan logik yang baik pasti tahu adalah mustahil untuk negara alami kekurangan bekalan minyak masak sedangkan penggunaan bulanan hanyalah 45,000 tan sedangkan minyak masak yang dihasilkan adalah sebanyak 80,000 tan. Sekiranya Saudari Rina dan para pengomen statusnya itu mempunyai akal yang baik maka sudah tentu mereka boleh mengagak bahawa kekurangan bekalan minyak masak adalah disebabkan oleh perbuatan sorok oleh para peniaga agar 1) para pelanggan membeli minyak 5kg sahaja, atau, 2) stok yang sedia ada boleh dijual apabila harga siling minyak selain minyak polybag 1kg naik pada bulan Januari 2017.

Sekiranya Saudari Rina dan para pengomen mendapati sukar untuk tiba ke logik tersebut maka saya cadangkan supaya mereka lakukan carian Google untuk berita yang berkenaan perkara tersebut. Yang itu paling mudah. Cuma saya ingin menbuat suatu perbandingan di sini: saya mempunyai 10 mulut di dalam rumah saya yang perlu diberi makanan setiap hari. Minyak masak 5kg yang berharga RM15.25 boleh bertahan selama tiga minggu di rumah saya. Ini bermakna saya hanya berbelanja sebanyak 71 Sen sehari untuk minyak masak. Adakah Saudari Rina serta para pengomen menggunakan minyak masak lebih dari saya setiap hari?

Harga sayur naik, petik di belakang rumah.

Saya amat tertarik dengan kenyataan ini, Sebagai seorang politikus yang terpelajar pasti Saudari Rina peka dengan masalah bekalan makanan di Malaysia. Malaysia mempunyai 30 juta penduduk yang memerlukan 2.9 billion tan metrik beras setiap tahun, dan permintaan untuk beras dan lain-lain bahan makanan bertambah setiap tahun dengan bertambahnya bilangan penduduk negara ini iaitu pada kadar 3.9 peratus di antara 2012 dan 2013. Walaupun kita mengimport makanan terutamanya beras, kita masih belum dapat mencapai 100 peratus Self-Sufficiency Level (SSL) terutamanya untuk beras.

Memetik sayur di belakang rumah sendiri bukanlah suatu perkara yang baru. Saya sendiri mempunyai tanaman keperluan harian di laman rumah saya seperti cili, limau kasturi, limau purut, belimbing buluh, pandan, serai, pisang, daun sup dan lain-lain. Pada tahun 1974, untuk mengurangkan kesan inflasi Perdana Menteri Kedua, Tun Haji Abdul Razak telah melancarkan Kempen Buku Hijau dengan menambahkan hasil pengeluaran makanan dengan memaksimumkan penggunaan tanah. Melalui rancangan ini rakyat dikehendaki bergiat cergas dalam memajukan bidang ekonomi terutamanya dalam sektor pertanian. Antara rancangan yang telah diberi penekanan ialah galakan tanaman jangka pendek dan penternakan ayam itik dan juga pemeliharaan ikan air tawar serta sistem pemasaran yang lebih licin melalui agensi-agensi seperti FAMA, LPP, RISDA dan Jabatan Pertanian.

Memetik sayur yang ditanam sendiri di belakang rumah bukanlah bererti kemunduran. Negara-negara Barat seperti Amerika Syarikat, Kanada, Kesatuan Eropah telah lama sedari betapa pentingnya keselamatan makanan (food security) dalam mengurangkan kos sara hidup dan kos makanan yang dijual.

Jika kita tidak mempraktikkan penanaman sayur-sayuran di rumah atau kebun maka kita akan rasa tertekan. Malaysia mengimport sebanyak RM45 billion makanan dari luar negara dan jenis makanan yang diimport adalah tembikai, pisang, rambutan, bawang, bawng putih, ubi keledek, tomato dan cili! Ini semua merupakan makanan yang boleh kita petik di belakang rumah. Dan harga makanan ini semua tertakluk kepada harga matawang asing! Kalau tak mampu, maka ubahlah cara hidup dan tanam tanaman-tanaman yang dinyatakan di atas. Jangan kita jadi pemalas. Malah saya sendiri menunggu siapnya rangkaian LRT dan MRT sepenuhnya supaya boleh saya beli sebuah basikal untuk saya gunakan dari rumah atau pejabat ke stesen LRT/MRT yang berhampiran.

Begitulah kisahnya ya Saudari Rina. Saya yang tiada latihan UMNO pun rasanya boleh memberi penjelasan yang agak baik berbanding dengan Saudari Rina yang cepat putus asa dan jumud minda. Saya tidak boleh bayangkan bagaimana Saudari Rina menjadi seorang ketua/pemegang jawatan sedangkan Saudari Rina hanya menunggu untuk disuap jawapan dan tiada langsung inisiatif untuk menghuraikan persoalan dan tangani segala kegusaran yang ada. Sebaliknya, Saudari Rina merendahkan marabat Saudari Rina sendiri dari kedudukan seorang ketua kepada seorang pengikut. Ada sebab Saudari Rina memegang jawatan – ianya menunjukkan ada yang percaya Saudari Rina boleh berfikir dan fikirkan cara-cara untuk membantu yang tidak boleh naik ke atas. Bukannya sama-sama membuntu dengan yang sepatutnya dipimpin.

Kesian UMNO dan kesiankan mereka yang memilih anda untuk memimpin mereka kerana sikap anda telah menggagalkan impian mereka buat anda.

November 7, 2016

Shut Up, Sotong!

Shut up, says the person who has lost court cases for not stating facts and lie to the people

“Shut up if you don’t have the facts,” said PKR’s Rafizi Ramli to Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki on the latter’s claim that Tabung Haji (TH) has initiated a suit against him (Rafizi). In his Facebook Dr Asyraf has refused to debate with Rafizi on an issue involving TH saying that it isnow a legal issue between TH and Rafizi.

Rafizi, however, is most famous for getting sued for making false allegations and getting his ‘facts’ wrong, and lose in court.

In 2012, he made allegations that funds from a government defence contractor was used to purchase 80 percent stake in Astacanggih Sdn Bhd. The then Defence Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, promptly filed a suit against Rafizi. Rafizi told portal The Malaysian Insider in the 26th January 2013 that he would stand by his allegations and fight Zahid in court.

“Yes, I will face the suit. I will go through this issue with my lawyer. If he (Zahid) sues me, good. We will subpoena all the documents,” he said to The Malaysian Insider.

However, on the 9th April 2013, Rafizi applied for the High Court to reject the writ of summons filed by Zahid! In his statement of defence Rafizi on the 5th April 2013 Rafizi denied defaming Zahid and in the end removed all the allegations against Zahid from his blog post.

The above is a fact.

On the 24th November 2014, Rafizi defamed Rosmah Mansor, wife of Najib Razak, at a forum in Bandar Tun Razak claiming that the rising fuel prices was to allow Rosmah to buy diamond rings. In his defence when sued by both Najib and Rosmah, Rafizi said that he was only joking!

The above is also a fact.

Just a week ago Rafizi was ordered by the High Court to pay RM200,000 (approximately USD47,733) to National Feedlot Company’s Chairman Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail and also to the Company for defaming them.

In the suit filed on 3rd June, 2013, Mohamad Salleh and NFCorp, claimed that on 7th March, 2012, Rafizi had made a defamatory statement at a media conference at the PKR Office on the purchase of KL Eco City properties and was published by Malaysiakini on the same day.

He said the suit was filed because of losses incurred due to the lies, misleading information, disclosure of confidential banking information and slander made by the defendant.

The above is another fact.

Therefore, it is Rafizi in my opinion who should just shut up as it is an established fact that he is nothing more than a habitual liar.

Let us hope Strike Four will bury him deep.

November 6, 2016

Pascal Najadi – Shut The Fuck Up

As usual, Pascal Najadi is on the freight train on the Trans-Siberia railway line while others have arrived at Vladivostok from Moscow, he is still being a bloody buttock of a cow.

He still laments the ‘absence’ of investigation into the assassination of his father when the truth is that even the trial is already over.

Perhaps if he was to cut down his time in Geneva at the Pâquis and spend more time in the real world then he would know that the man who murdered his father actually meant to murder someone else, and his father just happened to be in the right place but at the wrong time .

Get a life Pascal. Go spend your father’s money – the one you have denied your stepmother to, stay being a Swiss and stop meddling in the affairs of Malaysia.

November 5, 2016

The Black Plague

For those who claim that they are Malaysian yet cannot speak the language, let me translate to you what His Royal Highness The Sultan of Johor said above:

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you of a sickness that has come to Johor, that is caused by a deadly virus.

This virus is worse than the Zika virus because it has no known cure. If a heart attack could cause immediate death, this virus could cause a lifetime of suffering.

This virus that I am talking about is called disunity.

This virus is carried by a new political party and is spread by its members. This virus is deadly because there it is difficult to cure. When society is infected, it destroys the people’s lives and also the nation’s prosperity.

Therefore I hope that my rakyat will stay away from this virus. Use your wisdom and don’t regret later.

The carrier of this virus will bash the government and incite the people to hate the leaders on a daily basis, and then turn a blind eye on the benefits that the government has brought them. When their agenda is not achieved they will just leave society to suffer.

I speak as an elder or as a father who loves unity and wish to see my rakyat live in peace and tranquility. I do not want to see my rakyat in disunity and I loathe certain individuals. They have personal agenda and incite the people to quarrel among themselves.

When there is discord the rakyat will live in misery and when that happens don’t turn to me (for help).”

There is one party that was recently formed that has come to Johor and fit that description. The illness that is bring could only be called the ‘Black Plague‘. It seems to be the term closest to the description of the carriers mentioned by HRH The Sultan of Johor.

Which party do you think is being referred to? Would you care to hazard a guess?

October 28, 2016

Selangor Water Crisis: Politicising Water

Today is DAY SIX that taps have run dry for about 360,000 account holders or 1.6 million residents in the most developed state of Selangor. DAP supporters have gone quiet in residents’ WhatsApp groups while those who will be celebrating Deepavali are screaming for vengeance. Some are already asking “Mana Hannah Yeoh?” while Azmin Ali who, under his tutelage Selangor has seen the most of water disruptions, has reneged on the usual promise of announcing the biggest exposé on those he blamed this current water crisis on.

The MP for Kelana Jaya, Wong Chen, has since appeared on WhatsApp groups trying to appease voters. The following is his message:

Message from MP Wong Chen this morning 27 Oct.

Good morning from Parliament. We have been sitting the last few days up to 9.30 pm every night. The budget session is the most important session of the year but this year the government slashed some 8 days of sitting and as such we are forced to go beyond our 5.30 pm sitting by four extra hours a day to 9.30 pm every day.

This morning I want to talk about the water crisis affecting 1 million residents in Selangor. I have been following closely the water crisis in Selangor, affecting a large part of my constituents in Subang Jaya. YB Hannah Yeoh has been updating regularly, she is on the ground distributing water and engaging residents. Residents are going into their 5th day without water. And we had a water crisis barely a month before.

In Parliament, I bumped into Minister Wan Junaidi and also separately the Deputy Minister Hamim on several occassions. I keep asking for their quicker action. They keep saying that Selangor must also do their bit. I have also relayed some of my ideas to YB Zuraida to pass on to the MB.

Wan Junaidi do not believe the current pollution crisis to be an act of deliberate political sabotage. Deputy Minister Hamim, who is an engineer and someone I enjoyed working with on the TPPA (when he was Deputy Minister of MITI), will not speculate but says that the problem is not new. The federal government has resources but water is a state matter.

I am of the view that with the economy slowing, more and more companies will try to cut costs by dumping pollution straight into the river.

Enforcement in Malaysia has always been a challenge. A widely held view is the enforcement officers are either stretched thin, overworked or at the other end of the spectrum, just plain corrupt being paid by polluters to turn a blind eye.

If enforcement officers are not effective then we have to bring in the accountants.

The obvious solution is to track historical records of industrial waste output of each factory and counter check with their disposal costs. If a factory is found to have slashed spending substantially on disposal of industrial waste in the last year, then we can assume that they are engaging in illegal dumping. A major discrepency in the accounts should be a basis for a full investigation and raid by enforcement officers.

The state should also set up a benchmark of waste output for each industry to red flag any unusual data volatility. Setting up patrol units along the rivers is not going to help as much as sending in the accountants.

Bottomline is this. If the economy deteriorates, we can expect more and more water cuts stemming from increased pollution activity.

Irate residents will not listen to excuses or causes. Understandably, they just want water and they want this crisis to not repeat. As such Selangor must dramatically improve its emergency water delivery system. We need more water tanks and we need delivery to be on schedule and to be regular.

We need to also beef up security monitoring at our rivers. We need night time road blocks to monitor all suspicious trucking activities. More importantly is we need new people to lead such enforcement. A fresh start with new officers.

We need to bring in the accountants. We need all factories in Selangor to disclose their waste inventory. And we need to catch the culprits, severely punish them to end this cycle of water cuts.

Lastly, I beg the residents to also empathise with the authorities. You will not find a harder working ADUN in Malaysia than YB Hannah Yeoh. If you see her on your streets at midnight distributing water, give her a pat on the back.

Wong Chen may be the sanest of the PKR lot probably due to being an idealist more than a politician. But he is saying nothing new, not a lot, and has nothing much to offer.

Firstly, it is obvious that as an MP he is not aware that all matters pertaining to land and water belongs to the respective states. Had he known this he would not have approached Wan Junaidi or his deputy Hamim.

As advised by industry players as early as 2011, the Selangor State government should gazette water catchment areas and implement the Langat2 Water Treatment Plant project. The State government did not do the first and delayed the second suggestion until it was too late.

Secondly, the economy is not slowing. Slowing down means that there will be negative growth. Wong Chen is probably not aware that even the World Bank says that the Malaysian economy is growing at a slower rate in 2016 but will pick up in 2017 and 2018.

Even in the 1990s when the economy was vibrant and our growth rate exceeded eight percent, business owners were dumping industrial scheduled wastes into rivers. It has nothing to do with our economy. It has all to do with our mentality and screw-all attitude.

Enforcement is lacking, no doubt, but stretched thin is the more than likely case. They can’t all be corrupted just as not all bungalows without swimming pools are cheap. So we just do not have the numbers needed to police based on a personnel to area ratio. And it doesn’t help when motormouth Tony Pua wants to trim down the civil service if he comes into power!

Even tracking of industrial waste output needs the manpower to do it. You can’t just sit in the office, tap on some keys and expect the numbers on the screen to tally with what is being produced in the real world.

Security monitoring of our rivers would go back to two things: manpower and gazetting water catchment areas! Why is there a need to repeat this over and over again? Everything points back to those two!

Hannah Yeoh the hardest working ADUN in Malaysia? I have seen better-working ones even from the DAP back in the 1970s. Distributing bottled water can be sub-contracted out to Bangladeshi workers. A hardworking ADUN would be screaming in the Dewan for more manpower to enforce gazetted water catchment areas. Not seek political mileage and benefitting from the misery of others!

October 26, 2016

Si Bedal Kurang Semporna

Artikel asal telah ditulis oleh Saudara Hafizi Harris di laman Facebooknya semalam (Selasa 25hb Oktober 2016):

_____________________________

Hari ini Shafie Apdal, Ahli Parlimen Semporna telah membuat pembohongan di Parlimen. Di antaranya ialah:

1) Shafie mendakwa 60% daripada Bandar Malaysia telah dijual kepada China.

Ini tidak benar. 60% daripada Bandar Malaysia telah dijual kepada 60% konsortium Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) dan 40% kumpulan China Railway.

Pegangan saham IWH ialah 40% Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor (KPRJ – Johor State Govt) dan 60% Sumber Kepercayaan (Tan Sri Dato ‘Lim Kang Hoo).

A. 40% 1MDB atau MOF Inc (sekiranya saham dipindahkan), 36% IWH dan 24% CREC. Oleh itu, pemilikan projek utama adalah 76% Malaysia dan 24% China.

2. Shafie mendakwa 1MDB sahaja menggunakan Arul Kanda dan tidak mewujudkan peluang pekerjaan manakala bail-out untuk Proton dan MAS menyelamatkan pekerjaan.

Pertama, tidak seperti Proton dan MAS, 1MDB tidak pernah diselamatkan oleh kerajaan.

Mungkin Shafie Apdal tidak pernah pergi ke Sendayan untuk melihat pangkalan udara baru sedang dibina atau 7 kemudahan tentera di seluruh negara yang sedang dibina sekarang dibiayai oleh 1MDB sebagai sebahagian daripada perjanjian pertukaran mereka dengan MINDEF?

Atau beribu-ribu pekerja di TRX sekarang ini yang sedang berusaha menyiapkannya atau puluhan ribu pekerjaan yang akan diwujudkan apabila TRX mula beroperasi, dalam suasana pelaburan asing telah diterima daripada Australia, Indonesia dan Hong Kong?

Ia sudah pasti bukan hanya Arul Kanda sahja bekerja di sana😃

3. Shafie mendakwa bahawa Sabah dan Sarawak adalah negeri-negeri yang paling miskin dan mereka sedang disalah urus😂

Sabah mencatatkan pertumbuhan gaji kedua tertinggi 37.5% dan Sarawak mencatatkan 26% pertumbuhan gaji sejak 2010 – berbanding dengan hanya 17.2% bagi Pulau Pinang dan 20.8% bagi Selangor.

Berasaskan pendapatan isi rumah, Sabah sekali lagi mencatat pertumbuhan pendapatan isi rumah kedua tertinggi 81.3% manakala Sarawak mencapai 57.8% – kedua-dua outreached Selangor dan Pulau Pinang.

Pada KDNK asas per kapita, Sarawak dan Sabah bukanlah negeri-negeri yang paling miskin. Sarawak sebenarnya negeri ke-4 terkaya dan mempunyai KDNK per kapita sebanyak RM44k – bersamaan dengan Pulau Pinang. Walaupun Sabah mencatatkan RM19,700 – lebih tinggi daripada Kedah dan Kelantan.

Kadar kemiskinan tegar di Sabah juga menurun daripada 19.2% pada tahun 2009 kepada hanya 3.9% pada tahun 2014.

Manakala di Sarawak, kadar kemiskinan tegar juga berkurangan daripada 5.3% kepada 0.6%.

Malah, Sabah mempunyai rizab negeri RM2.33 bilion pada 2014 – hampir dua kali ganda daripada Pulau Pinang manakala Sarawak mempunyai rizab sebanyak RM27 bilion pada tahun 2014 – atau kira-kira 8 kali lebih tinggi daripada Selangor.

Malah Sabah dan Sarawak telah menerima bantuan dan pembangunan yang lebih besar daripada Kerajaan Persekutuan sejak 2009.

Jadi, bagaimana Shafie Apdal mewajarkan bahawa Sabah dan Sarawak adalah negeri termiskin dan sedang disalah urus?

Hanya kerana Shafie mempunyai imuniti parlimen maka dengan sewenang – wenangnya bercakap berdasarkan fakta media tanpa fakta sebenar?😂

October 21, 2016October 21, 2016

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

My late brother underwent a brain surgery in Sydney four years ago this month because the congenital condition called arteriovenous malformation was the largest any neurosurgeon had ever seen here. I was there for about two weeks to encourage his post-surgery progress.

One morning as I walked from the hotel across the street to the hospital I saw a man, evidently recovering from a keyhole prostate surgery standing outside the hospital building smoking a cigarette. He was from Ireland and was in Sydney for a holiday when he had to undergo an immediate surgery.

He asked me what I was doing there and where am I from. When he heard the name Malaysia his eyes widened and said, “Good God! I would have gone to Malaysia for this surgery if I could. It costs a bomb here. My sister met an accident in Malaysia and was in a government hospital to undergo corrective surgeries and it was dirt cheap and good too!”

It costs RM1.00 for a person seeking outpatient treatment to see a doctor, and RM5.00 to see a specialist. The medicines are given for free. Surgeries would cost a bit more. My daughter underwent an appendectomy and that cost me less than RM100.00. No doubt she had to be in an open Class 3 ward but the pre and post surgery care was better than in most of the private hospitals I have been admitted to.

A foreigner would have to pay a lot more. Even then it would still be cheaper than seeking treatment at a private hospital in Malaysia. My former maid fell and broke her forearm and I was forewarned that it would cost me a lot to send her for treatment at a government hospital. It cost me about RM1,200 if my memory serves me right to have her undergo surgery to have her broken bone screwed into place.

The Full Paying Patient is a program that allows someone who could afford such luxury, or has a good medical insurance scheme, to obtain virtually personal medical care at a government hospital at a very competitive price. Not only that, if you or those close to you suffer from cancer, there is a National Cancer Institute that provides treatment at very affordable price.

Among other initiatives that have been taken by the government is providing Human Papillomavirus (HPv) vaccination to 13-year old schoolgirls and young women nationwide for free. Mind you, each injection costs RM600.00! And Malaysia is among the first countries in this region to implement such a program.

I am also baffled by complaints by fellow veteran servicemen about the lifetime allowances given to athletes who excelled during the Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro recently. What the veterans never realise is that apart from the monthly pension that they receive (for those who served until pensionable age) the 85,000 veterans receive free medical care for the rest of their life and that definitely costs more than the RM3,000 that is given to less than twenty athletes. Imagine the cost the government has to fork out as a token of appreciation for services rendered.

In the latest 2017 Budget announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak today the government continues to put importance to health of the veteran servicemen and the rakyat‘s. RM55 million have also been allocated to help veterans handicapped during the counter-insurgency periods. RM25 billion have been allocated for the upgrading of hospitals and government clinics, provision of equipment for cardiology treatment, and the operation of Klinik 1Malaysia, mobile Klinik 1Malaysia, government clinics and also rural government clinics.

On top of that RM110 million have been allocated to open up private haemodialysis centres and to assist almost 10,000 people who cannot afford medical care.

Now who says that the government does not care for the well-being of the rakyat? A certain nonagenaric has-been politician even said the government has no money to help the rakyat. Probably due to his age he has forgotten that his medical bills for the repeated treatments at the National Heart Institute is all paid for by the government of Malaysia led by Najib Razak.

As the Malay saying goes: “Kufur Nikmat.” Which is why I often laugh at him nowadays.

October 19, 2016October 19, 2016

Sinking the Mamak’s Tongkang

mamaktongkang — Indian seamen being rescued from a sinking vessel. This has nothing to do with this article but it shows the desperation

Every time I read Mahathir’s postings on his blog, I would imagine him writing it himself and then pass it to probably his trusted aide, Sufi, to do some research and fill in the blanks before passing it back to him for the final touch before the article is posted at chedet.cc. The URL used to be chedet.com if I am not mistaken but due to some dispute with the previous administrators the URL is now the current one. The administrators, while working for him, displayed their support for another contender for the Ketua Pemuda UMNO post instead of for Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz. Anyhow, the contender they supported lost the race, and so did Mukhriz. Mahathir was furious when he found out that they did not support his son and as the story goes, the two quit without ever disclosing the password for chedet.com.

I have never worked for Mahathir or for any other politician for that matter. I just write whatever I feel like writing. But I don’t have the same privilege that is someone to do the research for me. So when I read his latest post The 2017 Budget I felt disappointed that the research done was just as good as mine if not worse.

Mahathir wrote:

5. Why will the Government not have the money? It is because Government money is not used for good governance, for the development of the country and the well-being of the people.

This is like shooting blanks. The East Coast Highway began construction in 2001. The project was first announced in 1994 for a new highway that would stretch from Karak to Kuala Terengganu but construction was delayed due to the Asian Financial Crisis. When construction commenced, the highway was shortened to only Kuantan as a lesson by Mahathir to the people of Terengganu whom had voted PAS instead in 1999. You should remember what I wrote in a previous article on how vindictive Mahathir was towards the people of Kelantan and Terengganu for their support for PAS then. So, Mahathir too never spent money for the well-being of the people. Only his cronies prospered whenever projects are implemented.

The 11th Malaysia Plan has lined up many projects that would benefit the youth, the handicapped, the minorities and those who live in traditional villages. Three pilot projects will be implemented for the youths under the 1Malaysia Youth City program in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak. For children between the age of 13 and 18 residing in welfare institutions they would be given the opportunity to undergo the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) to provide them with skill sets for them to face the world when they become independent. A micro-credit scheme would be introduced to the Chinese community under the Chinese New Villages Special Loan Scheme program while a blueprint for the betterment of the Indian community will be prepared.

Six new hospitals will be built while three hospitals namely the Tawau, Kota Marudu and Miri Hospitals would be upgraded. As it is, the Sri Aman Hospital would be completed as soon as possible. On top of that, 165 new Klinik 1Malaysia will be built nationwide to provide basic medical care for those in the rural areas.

Unlike under Mahathir, the Pan-Borneo highway that has begun construction will be toll free. Mahathir had had to make the people pay for the construction of highways despite claiming that the government had much more money under his administration and we in KL especially are still paying for the sins of Mahathir in the form of extended toll concessions to his cronies. And for 22 years the people of Sabah and Sarawak had to endure endless ferry rides to get from one place to another while bridges have been and are being built under Najib’s administration despite not having any money as claimed by Mahathir. AND NO TOLL EITHER!

More Mass Rail Transit and proper extension of the Light Rail Transit to benefit the people in the Klang Valley have and are being constructed as compared to the time under Mahathir’s 22 years when the government seemingly had more money. Double-tracking rail project, High-Speed Rail project and most recent was the announcement on the new East Coast Rail Link that would benefit the people of the very region Mahathir hated very much.

So where was your good governance or your concern for the well-being of the people back then?

Mahathir Wrote:

7. For this the Prime Minister has created sinecure jobs for a lot of loyalists. There are now nine Ministers, three Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.

8. There are now 51 divisions in the Prime Minister’s Department. The budget allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department has risen from RM5.2 billion in 2000 to RM20 billion in 2016, a four folds rise. It is 13 per cent of the 2016 budget of RM267 billion. It was less than four per cent between 2000 and 2008.

The Prime Minister’s Department is being run by the Chief Secretary to the Government. It now includes agencies that were not there during Mahathir’s time such as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA/APMM) whose jurisdiction goes beyond the 12-nautical mile statutory limit of most of our Acts, enforces the EEZ but is not under the Ministry of Defence as it is not a military force. So who is to look after the development and the legislative requirements of the agency if not a Minister? The same goes for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) which looks after the security of Sabah’s east coast from intrusion by foreign paramilitary units. The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) also falls under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department and that has to be headed by a Minister as given by the Act. The Istana Negara, the Parliament, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, the Elections Commission, the Economic Planing Unit, they all come under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department. Not forgetting Mahathir’s own Secretariat Office for the Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad which did not exist prior to his resignation as the Prime Minister. So is he complaining about the budget that the Prime Minister’s Department is giving his people so they can write lies and bite the hand that feeds them? Maybe Mahathir’s cook needs to be pulled out. I don’t know what has the cook been feeding the old man that his mind has gone from that of a statesman to that of an estate’s man.

Mahathir Wrote:

10. Under BR1M, 7 million people got initially RM500 each. Now they are promised RM1,000. There will be more increases next year.

11. At RM500 it will cost the Government RM3.5 billion. At RM1,000 it will cost RM7 billion.

12. Perhaps the very poor would benefit but for most of the recipients RM500 for a year is meaningless. The better thing to do is to give the really needy, the hard core poor sufficient monthly allowances to support their lives. For the rest create jobs and train them. But the Government is not encouraging job creation. Local industries are not supported. But imports are encouraged.

RM7 billion it would cost the government to give out BR1M.

BR1M would be chicken-feed for Mahathir. His cronies spend RM1,000 at Chawan in front of Bangsar Village or at the Bangsar Shopping Centre to feed his bloggers.

It may be a one-off thing but that means a staggering amount of RM7 billion gets circulated in the economy. Being a layman my understanding of that would be that when there is more money in circulation, jobs are being created as people have more spending power. At RM500 or RM1,000 per person it may not seem much, but by having that extra money to spend encourages spending. Purchases will be made, demand is created, production needs to be increased, more business opportunities for new industrial players, and therefore more jobs are created.

It may not matter to Mahathir that it increases the disposable income of the lower income groups; it boosts consumer sentiments as it increases domestic consumption – the higher the amount of BR1M, the higher the domestic spending. With subsidy cuts and spending more on BR1M Malaysia’s deficit has been reduced with a much larger chunk of the economic wealth going to those who need it the most.

And under the 11th Malaysia Plan the government is committed towards having 11,000 physically-challenged individuals to work for the government while in the five economic corridors in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak alone 470,000 jobs will be created.

Mahathir Wrote:

19. The level of borrowings by the Government has reached record levels. Future generations will have to pay these loans.

20. All these will not show up in the budget. But the people will know as they struggle to make ends meet.

Singapore has a US$1.76 Trillion external debt with a Debt to GDP ratio of 106%. Our debt stands at RM630.5 billion (US$150.6 billion) while our GDP is at RM1.157 Trillion (US$276 billion) making our Debt to GDP ration 54.5%. If Singapore is not panicking then why should we?

In fact, if we compare the first seven years of Mahathir’s administration against Najib’s we can see that we should have gone bankrupt (in the words of Mahathir’s lackey Kadir Jasin) when our Debt to GDP ratio was well over 100% for two years in a row!

screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-17-04-44 — Mahathir’s First Seven Years (1981-1987) with Hussein Onn’s Debt to GDP ratio in 1980 at 44% only

We could see that not only debt had increased during Mahathir’s first seven years, GDP also fluctuated and was at its highest point in 1987 yet debt was much higher!

Compare that to Najib’s first seven years and we can see

Screen Shot 2016-10-19 at 17.05.42.png — Najib’s First Seven Years despite the slump in oil prices in 2014 has seen an increase in GDP

As a matter of fact, the bad performance of Debt to GDP ratio during the 1986-1987 period under Mahathir was not the only time when the economy was in a critical situation going by Kadir Jasin’s definition, the country’s GDP was at negative 7% when Mahathir carried the country through the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 – which was worse than when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ran the country during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 which was at negative 1.5%!

So is Malaysia on the verge of bankruptcy? “Although we were faced with the drastic fall in global crude oil prices in 2015/2016, which caused the government to lose more than RM30 billion in revenue, the country still recorded a positive economic growth which was 6% in 2014, 5% in 2015 and 4.1% in 2016 (6 months),” said Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

And despite losing that much revenue, the government could still finance its projects – thank you in large to the implementation of the GST which has allowed the government to have an alternative source of income and reduce the dependency on the the price of oil. To add the strawberry on top of that cake is that the inflation rate of 3.43% upon the implementation of the GST program has been reduced to less than 2% this year.

Perhaps Mahathir ought to fire whoever it was who helped research for that article of his. Such a waste of allocation from the Prime Minister’s Department. Seriously!

Oh! Why such a title for this posting? Let me quote this rather amusing blog post:

Melayu Celup

Small in numbers, about 5% of the total Mamak population but rather loud and “glaring”. Though mostly from the 3rd Graded colony, they have graduated well and have an ability of a Chameleon (or think they can) with the Malays. Some examples of these low dignity Melayu Celups are Ahmad Rizal Naina Merican, Sheik Hussein Mydin and Zambry Kadir carrying the Mamak trade mark glaringly. But if they are lucky they will look like the controversial Sharifah Zobra or Mahathir Mohamed. Let me give you a secret, any names that ends with Naina, Kadir, Mydin, Merican, Pakir, Jabeen, Shaik, Mubarakh, Mohammad (no reference to the Prophet Mohamed S.A.W.) are downright, flat out, no doubt, true blue Mamak Tongkang or the immediate descendant’s.

I think the Mamak’s tongkang has just been sunk.

October 15, 2016

Kelantan: Mahathir Berjanji Untuk Tabur Dosa

“Melayu Mudah Lupa.“

Demikianlah ungkapan pada suatu ketika dahulu oleh seorang insan yang kini berduka cita akibat kehilangan kuasa memerintah secara proksi. Ungkapan ini amat sesuai dengan seorang Melayu Kelantan yang mudah lupa mengenai pemerintahan kuku besi penuh kronisme dan nepotisme yang pernah beliau sendiri kutuk pada suatu masa dahulu. Bukan lama pun, enam tahun yang lepas sahaja.

Melayu Kelantan Mudah Lupa ini baru-baru ini telah memberi kata-kata manis mengenai Insan Kecewa yang telah menjanjikan pemulangan royalti minyak kepada negeri Kelantan sekiranya Parti Pribumi dapat menguasai negeri Kelantan dan Kerajaan Pusat.

Ini merupakan suatu janji berupa pembohongan yang pernah ditaburkan oleh Anwar Ibrahim sebelum pilihanraya yang lepas. Apa dikisahkan dosa dan pahala? Asalkan hajat dicapai.

Janji! Jangan tak janji asalkan belakang boleh ditikam!

Kepada yang tidak mudah lupa, atau separuh lupa, atau akil baligh semasa Pilihanraya 1990, Mahathir lah anasir yang telah menghentikan royalti minyak kepada negeri Kelantan sebagai hukuman buat para pengundi Kelantan kerana memberi sokongan kepada PAS hinggakan kerajaan negeri Kelantan pimpinan Barisan Nasional tewas kepada PAS yang disokong oleh Semangat 46, parti pimpinan seteru kuat Mahathir, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.

Hukuman yang sama telah dikenakan terhadap negeri Terengganu setelah Barisan Nasional pimpinan Mahathir tewas kepada PAS di negeri tersebut pada tahun 1999.

Adakah Mahathir dan Zaid beranggapan bahawa orang Kelantan adalah bodoh dan mudah lupa seperti mereka? Atau sengaja ingin mengucar-ngacirkan pemikiran rakyat Kelantan kerana khuatir akan kerjasama di antara PAS dan UMNO?

Mahathir akan lakukan apa jua untuk berkuasa, termasuk menjadikan lain-lain orang sebagai proksi beliau untuk terus mempunyai kuasa menindas rakyat demi kepentingan diri sendiri dan keluarga beliau. Mahathir juga sanggup mengaku bahawa beliau seorang yang pelupa apabila disoal di dalam mahkamah mengenai perkara-perkara korup yang melibatkan beliau seperti skandal rasuah PKFZ dan lain-lain.

Rakyat Kelantan khususnya dan Malaysia amnya wajib menolak makhluk perosak yang mengaku Melayu ini yang mahu merosakkan wadah perjuangan orang Melayu dengan memecah-belahkan perpaduan demi nafsu serakahnya.

Sesungguhnya Mahathir telah lupa dosa-dosa beliau terhadap negara. Sama-samalah kita ingatkan beliau semula.

Mahathir nyanyuk tanda nak mampus! Kalau ikut kata-kata Bujang Lapok

October 14, 2016October 14, 2016

Kelantan: The 15th Yang DiPertuan Agong

Daulat Tuanku - Sultan Muhammad V has been elected as the 15th Yang DiPertuan Agong — Daulat Tuanku – Sultan Muhammad V has been elected as the 15th Yang DiPertuan Agong

Sultan Muhammad V, the 29th Sultan of Kelantan, has been elected to become the 15th Yang DiPertuan Agong by the Council of Rulers today. His Royal Highness shall be replacing Tuanku Al-Haj Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, the Sultan of Kedah whose tenure will end on the 12th December 2016.

For months whispers have been flying around that HRH Sultan Muhammad V would not be eligible be elected as the YDP Agong as he is not married. However, there are only three reasons for a nominated Sultan to be disqualified;

He is not an adult,
He has made known to the Council of Rulers that he wishes not to be nominated, or,
Five of the Rulers vote against his nomination for reasons such as being mentally or physically challenged, or for some other reason.

The second and third reasons were used during the discussion to elect the First Yang DiPertuan Agong where Sultan Abu Bakar of Pahang was the most senior Ruler after Sultan Sir Ibrahim of Johor who had declined the nomination due to old age (Sultan Sir Ibrahim passed away on the 8th May 1959). He became the Sultan of Pahang on the 24th June 1932. However, Sultan Abu Bakar’s nomination was rejected FIVE TIMES by the Rulers because he was a controversial figure – he had financial difficulties and had wanted to marry a perempuan ronggeng (Abdullah Ahmad, 2016 p.141). Tunku Abdul Rahman, who was then the Chief Minister of Malaya advised Sultan Abu Bakar against marrying this woman named Hathifah binte Abdul Rashid if he wanted to become the Yang DiPertuan Agong. Sultan Abu Bakar agreed.

However, Sultan Abu Bakar married Hathifah anyway and Tunku only discovered so when they were honeymooning in Hong Kong (Straits Times, 21st April 1957).

Being single is not a prerequisite for a Sultan or Raja to be elected to the throne of the Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Early this morning, the infamous portal Malaysiakini and the Malaysiakini-wanna-be Malay Mail Online both reported that the Sultan of Johor had declined the offer to become the next Yang DiPertuan Agong, quoting a Facebook page and not official sources.

It has been a norm that the Raja or Sultan with the most seniority would be considered as the candidate for the post of the Yang DiPertuan Agong. All the nine states have since provided a Yang DiPertuan Agong and the list of seniority is as follows:

The Yam DiPertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan,
The Sultan of Selangor,
The Raja of Perlis,
The Sultan of Terengganu,
The Sultan of Kedah,
The Sultan of Kelantan,
The Sultan of Pahang,
The Sultan of Johor,
The Sultan of Perak.

With the ascension of the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, as the ninth Yang DiPertuan Agong, a new official list was made based on the seniority of the states that have provided a Yang DiPertuan Agong previously. Whether or not Johor was offered is not known but such offer could only be made had the Sultans of Kelantan and Pahang declined the nomination. It would seem impossible for the Sultan of Kelantan to reject such offer only to accept it later when the one that should have been offered next is the Sultan of Perak.

Such is the uniqueness of the office of the Yang DiPertuan Agong that was institutionalised on the 31st August 1957. It was first to be called the Yang DiPertuan Besar but was rejected by the Rulers Council in favour of Yang DiPertuan Agong. Every five years the Rulers would meet to elect the next Yang DiPertuan Agong and the Timbalan Yang DiPertuan Agong. Although some say that this is similar to that practised in the United Arab Emirates, the office of the President of the UAE is a hereditary office of absolute monarchies. They are the government whereas in Malaysia the government is elected by the people and is dismissed by the people through general elections. And unlike in the UAE, the Rulers council cannot dismiss a Prime Minister or anyone else without the advise of the Prime Minister. Therefore, a recent attempt by Parti Pribumi member named Mahathir to get the Rulers Council to intervene and dismiss the Prime Minister is just a futile and cheap attempt to lie to the people of Malaysia. Of course, there would be those mentally-challenged people who would believe that he is right.

With the election of Sultan Muhammad V as the 15th Yang DiPertuan Agong it is hoped that this would bring about a much better cooperation between the PAS-led Kelantan state government and the Barisan Nasional-led Federal government. Such cooperation would be very beneficial to not only the development and people of the state of Kelantan, but also to the Malays and Islam in Malaysia that are coming under constant attacks by Malay liberalistas, evangelists and chauvinistic politicians opposed to Malay unity and the position of Islam as the Religion of the Federation.

DAULAT TUANKU!