Telekom Malaysia – SeaDemon Says

August 14, 2017August 14, 2017

Lack of Sense, Weak Arguments, To Ask For Probe Into Zahid’s Wealth

“I am willing to be investigated to correct the perception of that person,”said Zahid Hamidi on 4 Aug 2017

Extraordinary wealth owned by a public official should be enough grounds for investigations into the person, said a group of people who call themselves lawyers, in an apparent reference to a claim made by U-Turn Mahathir that Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi should be investigated by the MACC for having RM230 million when he was the UMNO Youth Chief.

Malaysian Incite reported that a so-called lawyer and “one-sided activist” called Ambiga said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) could only ascertain the legitimacy of a person’s funds through an investigation.

“Any sign of extraordinary wealth particularly when it concerns people in public office is enough of a basis to investigate. Unfortunately Dzulkifli Ahmad has shown that he is afraid to investigate people at the top,” she was reported to have said, referring to the MACC chief commissioner.

Dzulkifli Ahmad stated that the MACC will only investigate a person’s wealth if there is a basis for the allegation that there are elements of corruption and abuse of power in his wealth.

He said the amount of money one person has is not a reason for the commission to start investigating him.

“The issue is whether the wealth is accumulated through corruption and abuse of power…that basis must be there for the commission to investigate. People can be rich, but it is important that we look at the source of the their wealth because if it is through corruption and abuse of power, then it will become the MACC’s responsibility to investigate,” he said when asked whether the MACC will investigate Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on the excessive wealth he allegedly owned.

In an obviously choreographed act, U-Turn Mahathir claimed that Ahmad Zahid had RM230 million in his bank account back in 1996, while DAP subsequently lodged a police report on the allegation.

Firstly, Ambiga claims that any extraordinary amount of wealth particularly when it concerns people in the public office is an enough basis for the MACC to investigate.

Senility runs deep in the Opposition’s ranks apparently. Zahid became the Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan in 1995 and subsequently the UMNO Youth Chief in October 1996, a position he held until he was arrested under the Internal Security Act for going against U-Turn Mahathir in 1998.

In response to U-Turn Mahathir’s claim, Zahid offered to be investigated.

“I was a businessman, a CEO of a listed company and chairman of other companies,” Zahid said of his past.

Zahid worked in banks such as OCBC, then became the Marketing Manager for Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad (ASNB). Other portfolios that he held then included Executive Director for Scandinavian Motors Sdn Bhd, the CEO for Kretam Holdings Berhad, Chairman of several companies such as Tekala Corporation Berhad, Seng Hup Berhad, Ramatex Berhad, and Bank Simpanan Nasional from 1995 until U-Turn Mahathir incarcerated him in Kamunting without trial in 1998.

Zahid was then the UMNO Youth Chief and a Member of Parliament. No law states that one has to give up his/her business practice in either post, and neither post is a public office as per the Constitution. Unless Zahid abused his position then as a Member of Parliament (a member of a public body as defined in the MACC Act) to obtain those posts, I see no reason for trying to implicate him on the alleged matter. How can remunerations from companies to a Director, or Shareholder, or Officer, derived from the businesses these companies are involved in, be a form of gratification obtained by a member of a public body?

Unlike in the case of Tokong Lim Guan Eng who clearly used his position to obtain gratification be it for himself or for his wife, Zahid did nothing of the above as alleged.

The MACC Act clearly states that in spite of any written law or rule of law to the contrary, a MACC officer of the rank of Commissioner and above who has reasonable reason to believe based on the investigation of an MACC officer into properties that are held as a result of an offence committed under the MACC Act, may by writing as the person being investigated to furnish the MACC with a list of the properties obtained through gratification.

What is there to ask for if (1) no offence has been committed, (2) no investigation has been conducted based on (1)? Request on mere speculation?

This is why Section 36 of the MACC Act is as such, to prevent a waste of taxpayers’ money and the MACC’s precious little time going on wild goose chase. You may refer to Section 3 of the said Act to know what it means by ‘gratification’ when referring to someone holding a public office or is a member of a public body. Therefore, how can there be any form of double standard committed by the MACC as alleged by Eric Paulsen of the Bar Council?

Both Eric Paulsen and Ambiga claim that the MACC is not courageous nor willing to investigate the ‘big fish‘ such as “even Najib Razak if necessary.”

But like I said at the beginning of this post, senility runs deep within the ranks of the Opposition. The MACC quizzed Najib Razak on the RM2.6 billion donation back in December 2015.

I wonder why don’t Ambiga and Eric Paulsen read their own favourite news portal?

Anyway, before I end this posting, I would like to share what Section 23 (1) of the MACC Act says about the use of public office or position for ‘gratification‘ :

If I may, I would like to join Ambiga’s call to ask MACC to investigate the ‘big fish‘ who, in the words of Ambiga herself, continue to loot the nation and if I may add, or also looted the nation.

Ambiga said those who loot the nation must be investigated

Ambiga and Eric Paulsen should now agree with me that a report was made by Pribumi’s members on the extraordinary wealth accumulated by U-Turn Mahathir when he was definitely a ‘member of a public body.’

PPBM Youth members lodged a report against U-Turn Mahathir over his extraordinary wealth

Therefore, in accordance with Section 23 (1) of the MACC Act, 2009, I challenge both Ambiga and Eric Paulsen to make a public call for an investigation to be made into U-Turn Mahathir’s abuse of his office and position to obtain a contract through direct negotiation (more like direct command) from Telekom Malaysia to his son’s company when he was still the Prime Minister. And I challenge the MACC to commence its investigation into the KELEPETOCRACY by U-Turn Mahathir.

If anyone says this was done before the MACC Act, 2009 came into force, let it be known that in the Anti Corruption Act, 1997, the act of seeking gratification by someone holding an office was given via Section 15(1) of the Act.

So there have you. Investigate U-Turn Mahathir and see if he is going to try add this to his EVERYTHINGTUNHIDE 2.0 Q&No-A sessions.

January 30, 2017

Kelepetokrasi

KELEPET.

The word means hem or a fold on a piece of cloth or paper. A Malay synonym would be ‘lipatan.’ To Lipat or to Kelepet would colloquially mean ‘to pillage.’

Malaysia Airlines has always been a favourite airline of mine. The national flag carrier is THE symbol of Malaysia’s global reach. However, the airline which roots can be traced back to 71 years ago has been suffering badly from an especially bad episode of mismanagement dating back from 1994.

Disguised under the New Economic Policy that was supposed to assist the Bumiputeras to be economically stronger, U-Turn Mahathir and financial henchman Daim Zainuddin selected several cronies to helm public-listed companies. They include Amin Shah Omar Shah (who screwed up the Kedah-class NGPV programme) and Tajuddin Ramli (TR) who stripped Malaysia Airlines of its edge and finances.

TR took over Malaysia Airlines in 1994 through his company Naluri as instructed by U-Turn Mahathir and Daim, the year Jaffar Hussein resigned as the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia after making a loss in the region of RM30 billion in US Dollars through foreign exchange gambling.

Malaysia Airlines was okay for about two years before crashing in 1997 with a net loss of RM259.85 million (RM426.15 million in today’s terms) from a net profit the year before of RM333.01 million (RM546.14 million in today’s terms).

Like the collosal losses of real money the nation had to absorb through the BMF as well as the BNM Forex scandals, U-Turn Mahathir and Daim saw it fit for Malaysia Airlines, or rather their crony Tajuddin Ramli, be bailed-out using, again, the rakyat’s money.

An infuriated Lim Kit Siang (thank you again, Uncle) released a press statement on the 20th February 2002 saying among others:

The Malaysian Airlines System (MAS) police report on January 9 and the police investigations into alleged million-ringgit  management irregularities at  the MAS  cargo division during   the tenure of  former MAS executive chairman and key shareholder Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli is  a most welcome  departure from the invariable past practice of government and  corporate cover-ups, especially  in government-owned or controlled companies, making Malaysia notorious as a country teeming with “heinous crimes without criminals” – starting with the infamous Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal in the eighties.

It has been reported that the alleged management irregularities centred on business arrangements between MAS and a Germany-based cargo handler controlled by Tajudin Ramli and focussed on contracts between MAS and ACL Advanced Cargo Logistic GmbH, a 60%-owned unit of Naluri Bhd., a listed Malaysian company in which Tajudin is the largest shareholder.  ACL operates a cargo facility in Hahn, Germany, that MAS in 1999 contracted to use as its global cargo hub.

The management irregularities being investigated by the police can only be  the tip of an  iceberg as MAS has chalked up colossal debts of RM9.2 billion and accumulated losses of R2.5 billion, requiring repeated billion-ringgit bailouts at the public taxpayers’ expense – and the Malaysian public are entitled to demand a  full accountability as to how the national airline could end up as such a sick company, a national embarrassment and a burden on public coffers.

It was reported that the management irregularities in the cargo division  were discovered in   an audit ordered by the government after taking control of MAS early last year  following  the scandalous RM1.79 billion buyback  bailout of Tajudin’s 29.09 per cent stake at RM8 a share when the market price was only RM3.68.

This raises the question as to why an audit was not conducted before the government’s  buyback  bailout of Tajudin’s MAS stake – which would have a very important bearing on the proper price of the government buyout.

I am sure Uncle Ah Siang has not forgotten this episode too when he became pally with U-Turn Mahathir recently. Surely the interest of the rakyat is paramount to the God of DAP.

Or is it still?

He continued:

On March 21 last year,  the then Finance Minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin, gave a long and most unsatisfactory reply in Parliament during question time to justify the buy-back bailout of  Tajudin’s MAS stake which took place under his watch, but he  failed to address or  answer the  two most important questions, viz:

Why no independent professional valuation was ever done when the government agreed to  pay Tajudin’s Naluri Bhd for the MAS stake at RM8  per share representing  a premium of  RM4.32 or 117 per cent over the closing market price at RM3.68 per share when the deal  was signed on 20th December 2000; and

Why rules for the bail-out of companies established by the National Economic Action Council  in the “National Economic Recovery Plan” was violated and  Tajudin was not only spared from having to “take his appropriate hair-cuts” but was given a bonanza at taxpayers’ expense to reward for his mismanagement of MAS by  being given  117% premium for the  MAS shares over the  market price, transforming it into a personal rescue for Tajudin instead of a public rescue for MAS.

The  current police investigations into management irregularities in MASkargo Sdn. Bhd. have again brought to the fore  the  questions concerning  prudence, propriety, responsibility,  integrity, accountability and transparency of the decision to use RM1.79 billion public funds for the buy-back bailout of Tajudin’s MAS stake.

Last month, the government announced a RM6.1 billion MAS restructuring exercise involving assets sale to enable the national carrier to retire some of its debts and provide RM820 million as working capital, which is just a creative way for a second round of government bailout for the national airline.

Malaysia Airlines, Perwaja, Renong as well as other companies steered towards oblivion by their cronies had to be bailed out using the rakyat’s coffers, and not one person has ever been charged in a court of law for the breach of trust they committed. This included Amin Shah Omar Shah who, prior to being given the contract to build our Navy’s vessels, had never built a single fishing boat!

Kit Siang the self-proclaimed rakyat’s champion as recent as 2012 stated in the DAP’s mouthpiece Roketkini that Mahathir cannot pretend to be ignorant of the MAS scandal.

In fact it as also reported that “Mahathir had his hand in getting Petronas to bail out his son Mirzan Mahathir’s shipping company, then Konsortium Perkapalan, which had trouble servicing US$490 million debt!”

Lim Kit Siang was so furious about the bailout of Konsortium Perkapalan using the rakyat’s money that on the 16th June 1998 he wrote:

But Mahathir should similarly give full co-operation to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Nepotism, particularly as to whether there is any nepotism in the government, through Petronas, using hundreds of millions of ringgit of public funds to bail out Mirzan Mahathir’s Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd.

Just recently, a copy of a directive from the Ministry of Finance to Telekom Malaysia regarding a direct negotiation contract award totalling RM214.2 million to Mukhriz Mahathir’s OPCOM made its rounds on the Internet:

A blog post by a Sup Torpedo wrote about this back in 2006:

Mahathir’s criticism of Scomi is justified. It has proved that Scomi does not garner very much government work and now that’s all open to scrutiny. Unlike a company called Opcom Sdn. Bhd. who had a direct nego approved by the Finance Ministry way back in 2003 when Mahathir was both Prime Minister and Finance Minister. The amount of the tender by Telekom Malaysia Berhad was two hundred and fourteen MILLION ringgit. The Ministry of Finance approved it, no doubt with the blessing of the then Finance Minister and Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Hey! What’s new? If you look at the above letter, it was dated on the 7th October 2003. The old fart stepped down as the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister on the 31st October 2003.

It was an eleventh-hour effort to enrich his kin – a true nepotistic egoist dictator who was afraid that money made during his 22-year dictatorship would not be enough to cover his grave.

Even in 2006, during the peak of the old fart’s attacks on his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, observers such as Sup Torpedo could see that it was little about putting the interest of the rakyat ahead as compared to securing money for the Thousand-year Reich of his:

Don’t miss the wood for the trees. This fight that Mahathir got going on with Pak Lah is not about doing the right thing. It is at best about putting his old crony’s rice bowl firmly where the padi fields grow. At the very worst of motives might be the will to further advance Mukhriz’s political career and provide continuity to the old ways.

Again, what is new now? Virtually nothing, except for one little glaring fact: WHY IS UNCLE KIT SIANG SELLING HIS SOUL AND PUTTING HIS PERSONAL POLITICAL INTERESTS AHEAD OF THE RAKYAT’S BY MAKING A U-TURN ON HIS ATTACKS ON MAHATHIR?

A simple answer would be that he is nothing but the stinking, arrogant cow-dung for brain hypocrite he has always been. Power is what he seeks for power ensures riches, just like his charged-for-corruption son.

And what of the rakyat then?

As the saying goes: “The meek shall inherit shit.”

January 1, 2017

Maha Firaun

Semasa Nabi Musa a.s berdakwah kepada Firaun, Firaun bertanya kepada Musa di manakah Tuhan yang disembah oleh Musa? Secara ringkasnya, Musa menjawab bahawa Tuhan berada di langit.

Maka Ayat 36 Surah an-Nahl di atas menceritakan bagaimana Firaun menyuruh Haman membina menara yang tinggi.

Menara yang tinggi ini adalah supaya Firaun dapat melihat Tuhan dan menganggap Musa seorang pendusta.

Ayat 37 di atas, dari surah yang sama, menceritakan bagaimana Syaitan perhiaskan kepada Firaun akan perbuatannya yang buruk itu untuk dipandang baik, serta dia dihalangi dari jalan yang benar dan tipu daya Firaun itu tidak membawanya melainkan ke dalam kerugian dan kebinasaan.

Sesuai dengan gelaran Mahafiraun yang diberikan oleh para penyokong Anwar Ibrahim sekitar tahun 1998, Mahathir membuktikan betapa relevannya ayat-ayat suci Al Quran di masa kini yang mana perlakuan Firaun di zaman Nabi Allah Musa a.s masih menjadi ikutan.

Sesuai dengan kepercayaan Firaun bahawa beliau adalah tuhan yang paling tinggi (an-Nazi’at Ayat 24), Mahathir kini sudah berani mengharamkan yang halal dan berperangai melebihi Tuhan, mengetahui mana ibadah yang mendapat al-birru (kebaikan) dan maqbul, dan mana satu ibadah yang nyata ditolak Allah.

Ayat 116 Surah an-Nahl di atas bolehlah ditujukan khas kepada orang yang merasakan dirinya lebih tinggi dari Firaun.

Ayat tersebut bermaksud:

“Dan janganlah kamu berdusta dengan sebab apa yang disifatkan oleh lidah kamu: Ini halal dan ini haram, untuk mengada-adakan sesuatu yang dusta terhadap Allah; sesungguhnya orang-orang yang berdusta terhadap Allah tidak akan berjaya.”

Mungkin sebagai Mahafiraun Mahathir boleh menerangkan bagaimana pula hukum menunaikan ibadah menggunakan hasil yang diperolehi dengan cara penipuan?

Bagi saya, syarat untuk dapat menunaikan ibadah Umrah atau Haji itu ada tiga kesemuanya dan perlu ada ketiga-tiganya:

Mampu pergi,
Sihat tubuh badan,
Dijemput Allah SWT untuk ke rumahNya

Jika mampu pergi dan sihat tubuh badan tetapi tidak dijemput Allah SWT, tak dapatlah seseorang itu pergi.

Jika mampu pergi dan dijemput Allah SWT tetapi tubuh badan tidak sihat, tak dapatlah seseorang itu pergi.

Sekiranya sihat tubuh badan dan dijemput Allah SWT tetapi tidak mampu, tak dapatlah seseorang itu pergi.

Jelas Mukhriz di atas dijemput Allah SWT dan telah memenuhi ketiga-tiga syarat yang saya senaraikan di atas.

Maka bukan hak saya untuk menjatuhkan hukum sama ada ibadah Mukhriz dan keluarganya itu mabrur ataupun tidak kerana menjatuhkan hukum itu hak Allah SWT seperti yang disebut dalam Surah An-Nahl di atas.

Namun Mahathir tidak berfikir sedemikian. Bersebab beliau digelar Mahafiraun.

Dan buat Mahafiraun yang suka menjatuhkan hukum, Ayat 117 Surah an-Nahl memberi peringatan:

(Mereka hanya mendapat) sedikit kesenangan (di dunia), dan mereka pula akan beroleh azab seksa yang tidak terperi sakitnya.

October 4, 2016October 4, 2016

1BestariNet: When Will Muhyiddin Be Investigated?

Muhyiddin spoke on a PAS platform recently on 1MDB

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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