It was a movement to topple the second most-hated dictator of the South East Asia. Tens of thousands would march on the streets of Kuala Lumpur chanting “Undur Mahathir, undur!” and the infamous “Reformasi!” after Anwar Ibrahim was summarily expelled from UMNO and denied a chance for the premiership over reasons Mahathir himself claims to have forgotten or something to that effect.
Leading this group of demonstrators was Anwar’s most loyal lieutenants, Azmin Ali, who was his Principal Private Secretary in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. With Anwar still in jail, Azmin is the most favourite choice for Pakatan’s Prime Minister-designate amongst the younger generation.
Or that was what we all thought would happen.
Suddenly, the 92-year old Mahathir manoeuvred his way into being accepted as the Prime Minister again if Pakatan wins the next general elections. DAP and the anti-Azmin camp inside PKR namely Wan Azizah’s camp accepted the nonagenarian but this was rejected by several opposition-friendly NGOs as well as Selangor’s PKR.
Several hints on social media platforms and insiders’ information of Anwar’s opposition to Mahathir being designated as Pakatan’s Prime Minister warranted an article by The Star’s Joceline Tan. The writing is all over the wall – REFORMASI is dead.
In a move seen to insult Mahathir, Azmin offered his Gombak parliamentary seat for Mahathir to contest in in the next general election, an offer rejected outright by the latter.
A leopard never changes its spots – and true to his character, Mahathir announced that he will deal with dissenters quietly – a reminder of his 22-year reign of terror.
Just like Anwar whose colour of underwear was made public for going against Mahathir, Azmin now finds tales of his sexual trysts being made public. We are reminded of the time Anina Saadudin’s steamy WhatsApp messages were made public after falling out with Mahathir’s inner circle.
Anything Azmin is now being attacked, therefore it’s going to be interesting to see how the champion of Reformasi will now go against the man he has been fighting against for the past 20 years.
If he fails, it would be Mahathir’s masterstroke – for killing off the Reformasi movement from inside and finally making it his own Reformasi where dissent can never be tolerated.
Welcome to Mahathir’s Reformasi – or Dictatorship 2.0 as we know it.
Mahathir’s return to politics in 1973 was watched closely by other races, in particular the Chinese and Indians. His meteoric rise to the Deputy Prime Minister’s post in 1976 was of grave concern by many. His imminent Premiership caused a large number of migration by Malaysian Chinese. Despite the economic growth in the late 1980s through 1997, some 42,000 Malaysian Chinese opted to work elsewhere. This number includes some 14,000 Malaysian Chinese who were working illegally in Japan in 1993 (Shimada, 1994).
”If citizenship is conferred on races other than the Malays, it is because the Malays consent to this,” wrote Mahathir in his book ‘The Malay Dilemma‘.
“The Chinese and Indians coming from countries with vast populations are less concerned about good behavior and manners. In their lives, nobility, which is always associated with breeding, was totally absent. Age and riches are the only things they defer to,” he added.
Calling for reforms such as the mandatory use of tamper-proof scales, Mahathir wrote of scales that can be used to shortchange customers and said, ”The small-time Chinese retailer is adept at this practice and unscrupulous enough to use it as a weapon in competition.”
Mahathir was the ultra-Malay to many including the Malays themselves. Fears of race clashes haunted the voters during the run-up to the 1982 General Elections. I remember being sent to Mimaland in Gombak with Datuk Latt Shariman (President, E-Sports Malaysia) on polling day in case something bad happens. It was the first General Elections under Mahathir and it was called more than a year before the then-mandate ended. Public rallies were banned citing ‘security’ reasons and only indoor gatherings and house-to-house canvassing were allowed (Lim Kit Siang, 22 March 1982).
Even though Malaysia’s economic growth peaked at 8 percent in the mid 1990s, it was mired in scandals involving the practice of cronyism and nepotism. Lim Kit Siang wrote that Mirzan, Mokhzani and Mukhriz Mahathir – acted as companies’ directors, and that according to searches the DAP had made at the Registry of Companies at the end of 1994, Mirzan had interests in 98 companies, Mokhzani in 48 companies and Mukhriz in 67 companies (Lim Kit Siang, 16 June 1998). Compared to the 213 companies his sons were directors in back in 1994, 488 is the number of companies Mahathir, daughter and sons are directors in as at end of 2016 (Wakeup Malaya, 6 January 2017).
The calls for Mahathir to resign in 1998 for practising nepotism and cronyism culminated in the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim as his deputy in September of the same year, accusing the latter not only of being a tool for George Soros’s attacks on the country’s financial system but also for leading a morally-corrupted life. Lim Kit Siang and other Opposition leaders were quick to embrace Anwar, acccepting him into their fold when it was just a year earlier that the late Karpal Singh had made mention of allegations of sexual misconducts against Anwar in a Parliamentary sitting – a scene not much different to Lim Kit Siang’s immediate acceptance of Mahathir after decades of mudslinging the latter.
Anti-Mahathir demonstrations were held almost daily and then held every Friday afternoon at the National Mosque. These demonstrations were quelled using brute force. The ‘Reformasi’ movement was born, and the likes of theatre-practitioners such as Jo Kukathas were seen on the streets and interviewed by Maria Ressa saying “Enough is Enough” to Mahathir. Anwar and several other pro-Reformasi and UMNO leaders critical of Mahathir were arrested without trial under the ISA including current DPM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat, then known by its acronym ADIL, was born out of hatred towards Mahathir, with the aim of toppling him and installing Anwar Ibrahim. The 1999 General Elections saw how Mahathir suffered a pyrrhic victory, losing grounds in Kelantan and his homestate of Kedah, while losing Terengganu to PAS. Mahathir-loyalists such as Ramli Ngah Talib, Megat Junid Megat Ayub and Sanusi Junid lost their seats. That was the beginning of the sounding of the death knell for Mahathir’s virtually unchallenged reign. During the UMNO General Assembly of 2002, he announced his resignation from party posts as well as Malaysia’s Prime Minister.
Ever since then, with the more open administrations of Pak Lah and Najib Razak, Mahathir became one of the targets of the Opposition in their blog posts, press statements as well as ceramahs.
In June 2012, Mahathir’s newly-made best friend even suggested that Mahathir is tried for his part in the BNM Forex scandal, hinting Egyptian Hosni Mubarak’s imprisonment as a comparison (Lim Kit Siang, 3 June 2012).
But all is forgotten and forgiven now, even when Mahathir admitted that his apology was only customary and not sincere. Despite veiled objections from Anwar and Azmin Ali’s camp, Mahathir was named at a Pakatan convention as their Prime Minister of choice albeit interim. This underscores the fact that the leadership of Pakatans parties do not trust the younger generation to lead the coalition as the position of the elders and powers that come with the position, may be undermined by the younger ones.
The signal of dissent is clear. Azmin only attended the convention for a while, not waiting for the announcement to be made while Karpal Singh’s daughter, Sangeet Kaur Deo, has hit out at Pakatan which probably is suffering from a dearth of capable young leaders. Even Mahathir once quipped that Anwar, who is 22 years his junior, may be too old to become a Prime Minister.
On Facebook, we are seeing people in their 40s and 50s voicing out their concern over Pakatan’s choice of Prime Minister, alarmed that the monster they have put behind them, could very well jump out from underneath the bed and into their lives again.
But it does not stop Mahathir from wanting to become the Prime Minister. He once hinted that he may have to consider becoming the PM again, underscoring the fact that he does not trust anyone else.
“I may be 93 but at 71 Anwar is much older!”
Wan Azizah may be blind to the fact that Mahathir had once denied the Premiership to her husband and went as far as making sure Anwar went to jail to keep him out of the way, while Lim Kit Siang is only friends with Mahathir because he needs the Malay votes to ensure Pakatan’s seats are sustained after the departure of PAS from the now-defunct Pakatan Rakyat.
Will Mahathir be willing to step aside for Anwar Ibrahim or whoever else younger who would be more acceptable to the younger and middle-aged generation aware of his antics? I doubt. But as Sangeet mentioned above, it will be a return to Mahathirism, an era of abuse of power, cronyism and nepotism that the Reformasi movement was totally against.
Somehow, it seems that the Reformasi movement has become a tool for what it was totally against – ushering Mahathir into the premiership and welcoming again abuse of pwer, nepotism and cronyism.
The above title consists of the very words that are being used by the Opposition, from the days of the Barisan Alternatif through its current form, the Pakatan Harapan.
Those words remain as their battle cry to convince voters that the Barisan Nasional, in particular UMNO, is corrupted to the core.
Hence, when long before 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion story ever happened Najib Razak announced in 2012 that the BN was to have its candidates’ list for GE13 screened by the MACC, everyone treated that as a sign of the end of the world as predicted by the Mayans.
Din Merican’s take on the announcement by Najib Razak in 2012
However, the Barisan Nasional did submit its list of election candidates to the MACC recently, whereas it is the Opposition that has been resisting a similar move!
In an attempt to spin the BN’s move into something negative, left-leaning The Malaysian Incite quoted unnamed sources within UMNO lamenting the arrest of BN figures such as Latif Bandi, Isa Samad et al but failed to mention that that is the same reaction that the PKR and DAP gave when their ranks were arrested for corruption.
Well, my unnamed party insider told me even BEFORE the Haj season that the BN supreme council is happy that far lesser people have thronged the PWTC promoting themselves as GE14’s candidates ever since Najib Razak decided to submit the list to the MACC.
The Pakatan Harapan is far from being clean. Cheats and corrupted people thrive there too with the likes of Adam Rosly, the UNISEL scandal, Chegu Bard’s various reports on corrupted practices by Azmin Ali, the investigation into DAP’s corrupt practices that resulted in the death of Teoh Beng Hock, Phee Boon Poh’s abuse of position, Lim Guan Eng’s double corruption charge, just to name a few.
Let us also not forget chronic liar Rafizi Ramli who was not only found guilty of lying but also for disclosing to the public contents of documents protected under the Laws which is a breach of trust by a Parliamentarian whose job is to protect such trusts.
Recently he was exposed to have been paying himself through his own companies for services rendered to his own company in the region of RM100,000 per transaction. He also solicited funds from the public to help him pay for damages he caused the NFC by publishing lies about them.
Yet, he did not pay up as ordered by the court and chose to allow NFC to file a bankruptcy notice against him. We wonder what happened to the millions of Ringgits collected to pay NFC? Did he use the money to pay his own self?
Yet the PKR chose to protect such compulsive criminals within their ranks thinking that the voters of today have the same IQ as the ones in the 1950s, that they are stupid enough to judge. Hence the reaction by Wan Azizah when the MACC suggested for PKR’s candidates be screened by the latter.
Fan-wielding Taiji master tai-chi-ing all efforts to make PKR clean
DAP, too, reacted negatively towards the MACC’s suggestion. Pulau Pinang’s Deputy Chief Minister Ramasamy a/l Palanisamy said that the MACC cannot vet the DAP’s candidates list as the former lacks the moral authority to do so as it is reticent about those involved in the 1MDB although they have been named by the US Department of Justice (DoJ).
Ramasamy a/l Periasamy
Again this shows the stupidity of the people in the Pakatan Harapan either by defaut or by design, with the latter perhaps trying to make fools out of their supporters.
Furthermore, the case that is being investigated by the DoJ, made public more than a year ago, has not gained much grounds as it is based on the reports made by Datuk Botox and Matthias Chang, the office and despatch boys of U-Turn Mahathir. If it was a solid criminal case, we would be sitting in front of the TV watching CNN while stuffing our face with popcorn.
The party that has a lot to do with corruption thus refusing the MACC’s help to clean its candidates list is the DAP, and not just the PKR. With Phee Boon Poh, Lim Guan Eng and maybe soon others as well, both the PKR and DAP would have a very short list of candidates that it will not be enough to cover the constituencies it already holds even if all of them ran for both Parliamentary and state seats.
That is also why Lim Guan Eng desperately clings on to power and fights on all corners to have his corruption charges dismissed on technical reasons rather than answering the charges made against him, just as long as he could remain as the corrupted but jail-free Chief Minister.
But of course, in the course of trying to discredit the MACC, Pakatan Harapan would throw everything at the MACC including the kitchen sink and onions too, a tactic they have been using against all government agencies since before the 1969 general elections. When they lose, they will automatically blame the voters and the voting system. Then again, what else is new?
This is why the public needs to rally its support towards having cleaner candidates to run for public office. Although there is nothing in the law that says that candidates must be vetted, the MACC is the agency that should be doing the vetting of candidates to ensure that they do not have the tendency to be corrupted.
Having said that, this is also the reason the MACC should be given more manpower and remuneration reviewed, as should the PDRM, instead of having Paul Low’s JITN to be formed as a new department, burdening the government further with an increased budget.
I do not know what is Paul Low’s agenda in wanting to interfere with the MACC and other institution of integrity but the nasty smell his move has made stinks all the way from Perdana Putra to Padang Besar. You can read more what a blogger thinks Paul Low is doing and let you be the judge of it. Nothing dissimilar to what Lim Kit Siang is doing now. But I will come back to that in another post later.
All I know is that for the MACC to combat corruption effectively it needs a boost in manpower and expertise, a boost in remuneration, and a pledge that it shall remain independent as a Commission.
Selangor masih belum tandatangani Ikrar Bebas Rasuah
Hari ini Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) telah membuat serbuan ke atas Universiti Selangor (UNISEL) dan Menteri Besar Diperbadankan (MBI) bagi menyiasat pertikaian kontrak membabitkan universiti itu dengan bekas kontraktor, Jana Niaga Sdn Bhd, dan dakwaan rasuah membabitkan RM10 juta.
“Ia secara terang-terangan menunjukkan tindakan terancang bertujuan menjejaskan imej kerajaan Selangor yang tuntas berpegang kepada prinsip ketelusan dan kebertanggungjawaban,” kata Shao Loong. “SPRM dituntut supaya menyiasat secara profesional dan tidak dipengaruhi oleh tekanan politik.”
Beliau menambah bahawa tekanan politik ke atas SRPM hanya akan mencalar persepsi dan menghakis keyakinan rakyat terhadap agensi anti-rasuah itu.
“Mana rasuah? Mana ada rasuah di Selangor?”
Persoalannya, adakah benar SPRM dikenakan tekanan politik untuk bertindak terhadap para pegawai kerajaan di negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh pihak pembangkang? Jikalau benar, siapa pula yang mengenakan tekanan politik supaya Exco Kerajaan Negeri Johor Latif Bandi dan Veteran UMNO Isa Samad ditangkap? Barisan Nasional atau Pakatan Harapan?
Ini memang lumrah pihak pembangkang menuding jari apabila mereka sendiri amalkan budaya hidup rasuah. Mereka akan mencari jalan keluar dengan menyalahkan orang lain.
Minggu lepas, Nurul Izzah mengecam SPRM kerana menyerbu sebuah kilang haram dan juga pejabat Exco Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang, Phee Boon Poh. Kata Nurul Izzah lagi, keyakinan rakyat terhadap SPRM berada di tahap yang rendah. Beliau menuduh SPRM sengaja mengenakan ahli politik dari Pakatan dengan pertuduhan-pertuduhan yang remeh untuk menjejaskan pihak pembangkang.
Nurul Izzah berkata sentimen rakyat terhadap SPRM terjejas akibat serbuan di Pulau Pinang
Hari ini, Yin Shao Loong pula telah menggunakan ayat yang sama iaitu persepsi rakyat terhadap SPRM telah tercalar.
Selangor ialah satu-satunya negeri yang masih belum menandatangani ‘Ikrar Bebas Rasuah‘ yang disarankan oleh pihak SPRM. Walaupun Menteri Besar Selangor Azmin Ali tidak pernah mengeluarkan sebarang kenyataan mengenai perkara tersebut sendiri, beliau telah diwakili oleh jurucakap beliau iaitu Iskandar Abdul Samad dari parti PAS.
Iskandar Abdul Samad pernah berkata bahawa Selangor mempunyai caranya tersendiri yang lebih baik untuk menangani gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa
Yang menghairankan ialah kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui oleh PAS telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Malah, Pulau Pinang yang bergelumang dengan kes rasuah juga telah menandatangani Ikrar tersebut. Kenapa Selangor yang setahun jagung sudah disiasat kerana gejala rasuah enggan menandatangani Ikrar tersebut?
PAS yang hampir tiada gejala rasuah pun tandatangan Ikrar Bebas Rasuah. Selangor yang disiasat pada tahun pertama berkuasa boleh tak nak tandatangan?
Adakah Iskandar membayangkan bahawa kerajaan negeri Kelantan yang diterajui rakan-rakannya dari PAS adalah kurang berakal berbanding beliau dalam usaha memerangi rasuah? Kenapa beliau sebagai seorang ahli PAS tidak berkongsi sebarang maklumat mengenai cara menangani gejala rasuah oleh Selangor dengan PAS Kelantan? Adakah sebab PAS Kelantan bukan sahabat beliau? Bukankah sebagai seorang ahli PAS beliau sepatutnya bantu memperkukuhkan parti seperti yang dituntut oleh Fasal 16 (3) (e) Perlembagaan Parti Islam SeMalaysia?
Sesungguhnya saya tidak faham dengan Yin Shao Loong, Nurul Izzah dan Iskandar Abdul Samad yang memperlekehkan usaha SPRM membanteras gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa. Iskandar Abdul Samad tidak berkongsi pengalaman Selangor membanteras rasuah; Nurul Izzah dan Shao Loong memperkecilkan usaha SPRM.
Sedangkan Ketua Umum Pakatan Harapan dan Presiden PKR pun sokong akan tindakan SPRM yang meletakkan kepentingan rakyat di atas kepentingan parti-parti politik.
Anwar dan Wan Azizah menyokong tindakan SPRM
Sepatutnya, sebagai sebuah negeri yang bangga dengan kaedahnya sendiri untuk menangani gejala rasuah, kerajaan negeri Selangor sepatutnya menyokong kuat usaha dan bantuan SPRM untuk menentukan bahawa Selangor benar-benar bebas dari budaya rasuah.
Rakyat tidak bodoh. Rakyat memerhati. Dan rakyat tahu segala usaha memperkecilkan usaha SPRM memerangi gejala rasuah dan salahguna kuasa bermakna there is SOMETHING FOR SELANGOR TO HIDE.
Najib Razak’s reply to Wan Azizah on the Scorpene issue in 2008In 2008, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, in his reply to Wan Azizah confirmed that all terms and approvals of the procurements of the two units of Scorpene submarines and 18 units of fighter jets were made in accordance with Government procurement procedures and could only be executed by the Finance Ministry.
The inking of the deal to purchase the Scorpene submarines was made in June 2002 when a now-amnesiac Prime Minister was also the Finance Minister then.
In yesterday’s posting I mentioned about Ibrahim mohd Noor being Daim Zainuddin’s proxy and ran Perimekar Sdn Bhd with Mohzani Mahathir out of a bungalow at Jalan Lembah Ledang off Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur. The fact is that very few people know that Ibrahim had an office there, which also happened to be the base for the creation of Ibrahim’s venture into media and advertising via Blue Inc Sdn Bhd.
Being close to Daim gave him the advantage of ‘privileged knowledge’ and knew when Mahathir finally agreed to to the submarine program. He teamed up with Mokhzani Mahathir and used Perimekar as the vehicle for this venture. A nucleus team was formed and started on the proposal. They went to a few reputable German shipbuilders like HDW and Blohm & Voss.
Rather, he claimed, it was “over differences as to who should be the beneficiaries of such government bail-outs and buy-outs at a time when the government must pick and choose the beneficiaries as public resources are stretched to the limit and are incapable of saving all crony companies and individuals.”
Of course, Lim Kit Siang being an old man although not yet as old as Mahathir, suffers from selective amnesia and seems to have forgiven Mahathir for all his sins to the people of Malaysia – as long as the position that gives power is within his grasp.
As a result of the fall out, Ibrahim had to give up Perimekar and his quest to supply the Royal Malaysian Navy with its submarines, and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) took this up.
At the time, Boustead was planning to take over Amin Shah’s Business Focus Group, in particular the PSC Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd. Amin Shah, a known Daim crony, privatised the Royal Malaysian Navy’s dockyard during Daim’s tenure as the Finance Minister and injected it into a company he took over, Penang Shipyard Co.
At the time, PSC Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd already had the contract to supply six out of 27 new-generation patrol vessels for the RMN, which happened to be a deal between PSC Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd’s joint-venture with German shipbuilder Blohm & Voss.
It seemed convenient for Perimekar then to also have another deal with a German shipbuilder especially Blohm & Voss.
After Ibrahim was out of the picture and Abdul Razak Baginda’s wife was in Perimekar, the latter shopped around for a suitable submarine. The DCNS and Thales at the time had a product which was the Scorpene submarine, considered a superior diesel-electric attack submarine at the time and was constructing for the Chilean Navy.
In early 2002, the Malaysian Defence Industry Council was hosted at PSC Naval Dockyard Sdn Bhd in Lumut, and Amin Shah tried to peddle two used Dutch submarines to Najib Razak who was then the Defence Minister. The submarines, the Tijgerhaai (Tigershark) and Zwaardvis (Swordfish) were ambitiously bought by Amin Shah. However, Najib Razak was not interested in having two rustbuckets for the RMN.
The Scorpene had incorporated systems that are in use with the French Navy’s nuclear attack submarines, also built by DCNS and Thales. The proposal also included the very potent Blackshark II torpedoes and MBDA SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles.
Abdul Razak Baginda also managed to package together the elite turnkey submarine training with the DCI-NAVFCO at Brest. Coupled with extensive exercise exposure of the RMN officers and men with their French counterparts in the submarine force at Brest gave the RMN men an exposure to the French Navy’s role and operations as well as tactics used in NATO.
Once the deal was inked in June 2002, Razak never went to Cherbourg again.
And Altantuya? She only existed a few years after the deal was inked. Even a renowned Najib Razak-hater wrote in his book that Abdul Razak Baginda first met in 2004, a good two years after the Scorpene deal was done.
It is interesting to note that the RMN had sent its first batch of officers for submarine training with the Royal Australian Navy in 1992. They earned their submariners’ dolphin a year later.
And guess which Minister of Defence it was then who mooted the idea of having a submarine force?
The then-Defence Minister replying to a question by Lim Kit Siang in ParliamentSo was the plan for Perimekar laid out like a carpet a while before the then Prime Minister gave the go ahead to work out a submarine program for the RMN?
It is impossible for the Prime Minister or Finance Minister then to not know about the purchase of the submarines. This is not like buying sweets at a Mamak shop. They cost billions of Ringgits that would still need the approval of the Finance Ministry.
So is Mahathir not afraid of the hereafter peddling one lie after another?
Borrowing the words of a certain Opposition office-holder:
When I first set my eyes upon the photo above late last month, I thought of individual monologues based on the body language shown by the individuals in the photo.
Lim Kit Siang: “I am only holding this up because I will need the support of the Malays in PKR.”
Mahathir: “Anwar as the 7th PM? No way, Jose!”
Azmin: “I don’t really want to put this up but I need the party to vote me for the top post.”
Wan Azizah: “Better him than me. I am clueless most of the time!”
The above photo is the perfect depiction of how the Opposition front is in a disarray. Each of the parties in the Pakatan Harapan want to become the Big Brother. PKR believes that it has what it needs to lead the coalition; Pribumi believes that it should have the lead role as it has a former Prime Minister as well as a former Deputy Prime Minister (and throw in a former Menteri Besar who did virtually nothing for the state he governed); while the DAP knows that it is the Kingmaker in the coalition, and no matter who becomes the Pakatan’s PM, they call the shots.
However, if those above were actually sincerely hoping for Anwar Ibrahim to become the next Prime Minister, they would be utterly disappointed as Anwar had recently announced the removal of himself as the coalition’s PM candidate. The announcement leaves the race to become the Pakatan’s Prime Minister candidate to just two persons – Azmin Ali, PKR’s current Deputy President and Menteri Besar of Selangor, and U-Turn Mahathir, a former Prime Minister who stepped down but now misses the power that comes with the seat.
Wan Azizah does not come close to being the person either Azmin or Mahathir are.
But what of Lim Kit Siang?
Lim Kit Siang is the de facto father of the Opposition, no matter by what name you call it. Although he declared that he is not interested in the post of the Prime Minister, everyone knows that he does not have to be in the seat to actually rule the country. Nizar Jamaluddin, the JKR engineer who once went on to become Perak’s Menteri Besar, contested on PAS’s ticket but became the MB because his mother is related to Perak DAP henchmen Ngeh Koo Ham and Nga Kor Ming. Through Nizar, the DAP managed to get things done its way, including giving leasehold land to Chinese New Villages inhabitants for 999 years!
Although Kit Siang is just a member of the DAP’s Central Executive Committee and nothing more, he is the hidden hand behind the CEC and especially his son, Lim Guan Eng (Tokong) who is the party’s Secretary-General.
Lim Kit Siang is known to use whatever means at his disposal to make sure he stays in power.
Those born in the mid-1970s and onwards may not have heard of the name Goh Hock Guan. He was the DAP Secretary-General who was involved in a power tussle with Kit Siang.
Hock Guan, who was also the Selangor DAP Chairman, wanted to field Lau Dak Kee in the Ulu Selangor by-election but Kit Siang favoured (now Tan Sri) Lee Lam Thye.
The repeat of this was in Johor during the 13th General Elections where Kit Siang and Tokong pushed aside then-state DAP Chairman Boo Cheng Hau and fielded their minions in order to hold on to power.
Kit Siang’s next move was to expel Hock Guan from the party. Others who were expelled included Dr Soarian, Chan Teck Chan, Seow Hun Khin, Chin Nyuk Soo and Goh Lin Eam.
Goh Hock Guan, in his letter to Cheng Man Hin, said,
“I don’t want to have any relationship with Lim Kit Siang. We’re totally adverse in terms of viewpoints and personality. As long as Kit Siang is holding the position as the Secretary-General of the DAP, he would definitely and finally destroy the future of DAP.”
Lee Lam Thye was made the Deputy Secretary-General but without power nor authority. Under Kit Siang’s orders, Lam Thye was not allowed to give views nor comments of any dissatisfaction. But he had an impeccable record of service to his constituency, and this threatened Kit Siang’s position.
On 29 September 1990, Lee Lam Thye dropped a bombshell announcing his departure from the DAP. He said,
“A few leaders had hurt me from behind…I can’t stand anymore.”
After Lam Thye’s resignation, Lim Kit Siang issued a gag-order on the DAP ordering all party members to ‘shut-up’, avoiding giving any statement, view or statement through the media.
Lee Lam Thye certainly has a better life outside Kit Siang’s DAP
Azmin Ali may be the star of PKR but he does not have the support of the leadership. It is no secret that he has no love whatsoever for Wan Azizah and her camp.
Dubbed as the UMNO-man in PKR, I doubt that Azmin would make it to the Prime Minister’s seat as long as there still are those who are opposed to him.
And I also doubt his ability to rein them in onto his side.
This leaves us with the Gollum who still yearns for his precious seat.
At 92, many think that he is too old to be returning to the Premiership. He doesn’t think so. Even with a protem Pribumi President, he thinks that only he is fit to lead the nation he dumped in 2003.
Which is why despite concerns he has twice hinted that the next Prime Minister for Malaysia is him.
We all know what kind of a PM he was, and we all know putting him and Kit Siang side-by-side, they are actually one of a kind. Both are fighting for the survival of their dynasty while current PKR’s reason for struggle has not changed since 1998 – Anwar Ibrahim’s freedom and nothing else beyond that.
Wan Azizah has already announced after Anwar’s bombshell announcement that the Pakatan should concentrate on winning the next general elections before thinking of who is to become the PM.
Wan Azizah’s absurd comment
That is as absurd as saying let us get in the car and then we decide where to go on a holiday. Everybody wants to know who will become the PM if they let you win. Having said that, you do not need to have a brain if you are Wan Azizah
Although time is running out for him, Mahathir has no problem working with arch enemy Kit Siang as long as he gets to become PM again.
Maybe all he wants is to die in office. That way he stays No.1 till kingdom come. Who doesn’t want a send-off fit for a Pharaoh? So, in the meantime, wishing the 7th PM Selamat Hari Raya, whoever you may be.
Nawar Firdaws is also said to be the girl seen intimately dancing with Zairil Christopher in several photos at a drinking hole in the Hartamas area.
She is recognised for almost always writing against Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.
Both the DAP and web portal FMT are still silent over this issue.
While not openly defending Zairil Christopher, it is expected that Zairil Christopher would be exonerated by the DAP simply because he is Tokong’s errand boy and is the one actively screwing the Malays.
This is the general style of the Pakatan that fights for the people. Those who are not in the circle of those in power will get chucked out while those who rub shoulders with party supremos get away with murder.
For instance, Rafizi Ramli who is from Wan Azizah’s camp and had been found guilty in a court of law on at least four occasions for incitement and slander is still regarded as a hero.
Adam Rosly who is not from Wan Azizah’s camp, charged in court for giving false statements to the SPRM will be given disciplinary action by PKR.
Loh Chee Heng, the Selangor ADUN accused by the DAP of corruption was expelled from the party. He has never been charged in court for the alleged corrupt practice.
Yet, Tokong Lim Guan Eng, the Chief Corrupted Minister of Pulau Pinang, is still running the administration of both the Pulau Pinang state government and the DAP. He was charged in court for corrupt practices while being in office, the same way some Javanese guy was jailed for.
Meanwhile, the always Missing-In-Action MP for Gelang Patah, Emperor Lim Kit Siang, has been going around meeting voters in Pulau Pinang – something he does not do in his own constituency.
Dà Shi Kit Siang knows that it is only a matter of time that his son the Tokong will be languishing in jail and somebody needs to keep the Lim Dynasty in power.
Of course the Tokong will never get expelled from the DAP for being corrupted. That is how it works in North Korea as well.
And neither will FMT be giving it much coverage either. The only thing that would be of interest to the portal’s writer is Zakar Zairil Naik.
Menurut Malaysiakini, daftar pemilih bagi suku ketiga 2016 yang merekodkan pertukaran alamat pemilih oleh Khaled dan anaknya Akmal Saufi ke lokasi di atas.
Daftar pemilih bagi suku berikutnya mencatatkan 12 lagi individu turut disenaraikan kepada alamat yang sama.
“Jika daftar pemilih itu diwartakan, maka akan ada 14 orang, termasuk MB dan anaknya, didaftarkan sebagai pengundi di alamat itu,” kata ADUN DAP itu.
Ia adalah antara ratusan butiran pengundi yang didakwa mencurigakan yang dikemukakan oleh Tan kepada Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya Johor, hari ini.
Menurut Tan, alamat yang dipersoalkan ialah ibu pejabat Umno bahagian Pasir Gudang di alamat 1, Jalan Tembusu, Taman Rinting.
Lantas saya membuat pemeriksaan ringkas kerana mungkin Tan dilahirkan tidak cukup sifat dan tiada daya pemikiran untuk membuat pemeriksaan ringkas dan mudah menggunakan Internet.
Saya mendapati bahawa alamat yang konon-kononnya mencurigakan Tan itu adalah lokasi Pejabat UMNO Bahagian Pasir Gudang.
Inilah rumah kedai mencurigakan Tan Bang AngSaya akan lebih teruja sekiranya terdapat para pengundi yang berdaftar di dua lokasi pengundian berbeza yang boleh dicapai dalam masa kurang lapan jam. Ini bermakna sekiranya beliau boleh mengikis kulit jari untuk menghilangkan dakwat kekal selepas mengundi di lokasi pertama, beliau boleh pergi ke lokasi kedua mungkin di sebuah negeri berjiranan untuk mengundi kali kedua.
Saya lebih tertarik dengan suatu perkara yang pernah diajukan kepada Ambiga dan rakan-rakan sebelum Pilihanraya Umum Ke-13 pada tahun 2013 di mana dua orang pemimpin pembangkang berdaftar sebagai pengundi MENGGUNAKAN ALAMAT RUMAH SEORANG AHLI UMNO!
Seperti yang tertera dalam Tweet di atas bertarikh 16hb April 2013 (sebelum Pilihanraya Umum Ke-13), Dato Zaiful Ayu Ibrahim, anak kepada Tan Sri Dr Ibrahim bin Saad, meminta tolong Ambiga, BERSIH 2 dan Nurul Izzah menyiasat bagaimana dua orang pengundi hantu bernama Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail dan Anwar bin Ibrahim boleh berdaftar di rumah keluarganya di Permatang Pauh sedangkan keluarganya secara keseluruhan merupakan penyokong tegar UMNO di kawasan Parlimen tersebut.
Apabila saya memeriksa senarai pengundi berdaftar terkini bertarikh 27hb September 2016, saya dapati kedua-dua pengundi hantu tersebut masih berdaftar sebagai pengundi di alamat tersebut!
Apabila mendapat sedikit kuasa menjadi ADUN, Tan berlagak seolah-olah Dewan Undangan Negeri Johor itu DAP yang punya. Teringat saya kepada suatu perumpamaan lama dalam tentera, “Seperti Red Indian mendapat senapang.” Habis kesemuanya di tembak termasuk langit.
Sekiranya Tan kurang kebangangannya, beliau akan membantu SPR mencari senarai orang yang tidak layak mengundi dan orang yang telah mati yang masih tersenarai sebagai pengundi. Setakat berdaftar di rumah kedai tidaklah seteruk orang kuat PKR dan Ketua AnusUsus Umum Pakatan berdaftar di rumah orang kuat UMNO sekurang-kurangnya untuk dua pilihanraya umum dan dua pilihanraya kecil di tempat yang sama.
Malangnya, semasa waktu bantahan untuk Rang Daftar Pemilih suku tahunan diberikan, dia tidak membantah. Kini baru beliau hendak timblkan syak wasangka.
Menurut Seksyen 9A Akta Pilihan Raya 1958, mana-mana daftar pemilih yang telah diwartakan tidak boleh dicabar di mana-mana mahkamah.
Saya yakin, contohnya di Selangor di mana Shah Alam merupakan kawasan majoriti Melayu, kini mempunyai ramai pengundi berbangsa Cina dipindahkan di situ. Saya tidak menuduh sesiapa tetapi perhatikanlah kemungkinan berlakunya pertambahan pengundi berdaftar berbangsa Cina di kawasan Setia Alam yang kini di bawah Parlimen Shah Alam, dan lihat akan penurunan jumlah pengundi berdaftar di kawasan-kawasan di mana DAP menang dengan majoriti yang besar – sebagai contoh, Parlimen Seputeh di mana majoritinya melebihi 50,000. Kemungkinan ada perpindahan kawasan mengundi bagi sebilangan mereka.
Kemungkinan juga ada 23 orang pengundi di setiap rumah kedai di situ.
Namun, kesemuanya kelihatan baik dan sempurna setelah Azmin menjadi Menteri Besar setelah Abdul Khalid Ibrahim digulingkan oleh rakan-rakan separtinya sendiri melalui Kajang Move.
Sejak itu, Azmin dilihat menjadi semakin lantang bersuara terutamanya dalam usaha memburukkan kerajaan pusat.
Azmin sebenarnya ingin mengukuhkan kedudukannya untuk menghadapi serangan dari dalam parti terutamanya dari kem Wan Azizah. Oleh sebab itu beliau perlu menunjukkan betapa beliau lebih layak menjadi presiden partinya berbanding Wan Azizah yang tiada sebarang pengalaman selain menjadi tempat Anwar Ibrahim meletakkan kakinya semasa duduk berehat.
Mungkin Azmin telah mendapat restu ibunya dan telah berbaik semula dengan adik-beradiknya.
Malang sekali bagi Che Tom Yahaya yang berumur 82 tahun dan kini sakit teruk, kejatuhan matawang Ringgit yang dibuat bising oleh Azmin bermakna beliau wajib bercuti di London untuk Boxing Day sales kerana ianya lebih penting dari kesihatan ibu kandungnya itu.
Lihat sahajalah luahan adiknya Ummi Hafilda.
Patutlah negeri Selangor ni semakin parah keadaannya. Menteri Besar hanya pentingkan dirinya sendiri.
Five years from now, Johor will not even be an Umno stronghold if those in control of the party are “beraja di mata, bersultan dihati” even among their fellow Umno people.
Do mark my word on this.
It took merely almost three and a half years before that actually happened following the departure of Jorak assemblyman Datuk Dr Shahruddin Md Salleh from UMNO to join Mahathir’s Pribumi. For the first time in 61 years, the Barisan Nasional/Alliance holds its two-thirds majority in its Peninsular safe deposit, Johor, by a single thread.
Losing two-thirds majority in UMNO’s bastion used to be unthinkable right until the 13th General Elections when the Chinese Tsunami swept many state and parliamentary seats. It lost 12 seats in the last general elections compared to GE12 in 1998, and this time around the biggest gainer was the DAP with nine extra seats. Barisan Nasional ended up initially with 38 out of the 56 seats. With the departure of Jorak, it now holds the two-third majority with the bare minimum number of seats.
Despite the progress and development that are taking place in Johor, Ghani was trounced not because he did not do his job, but because of blatant racial sentiment. As with the previous three general elections, Ghani would not be seen sitting comfortably in his office at least two years prior to the elections. He would be on the ground making sure that the machinery is ready to face the next battle, and there would be elections simulations held at various levels of the state’s BN. Ghani would also make sure that his relationship with the Johor Civil Service (JCS) remain at the highest level.
With Ghani ousted, Khaled wanted to make his own mark as the Menteri Besar. The job as the Menteri Besar of Johor is not exactly an easy one. With a Sultan who can be somewhat overbearing and often puts his hands into the affairs of the state administration, the Menteri Besar would have to know how to manage both the Sultan and the state administration without upsetting either one. Ghani was an old hand at this and knew exactly how to handle the Sultan, having had to also manage the unconventional behaviour of the Almarhum Sultan Iskandar previously. He had a good relationship with both Sultans, knowing when exactly to pull the strings and when to let it slack. Khaled is said to let the Sultan have things his way so much so that even the promotion of JCS officers is left for the Sultan to decide. While Ghani was often seen patting the back of JCS officers for the good job that they do, Khaled lets the Sultan do the Menteri Besar’s job for him. While the Sultan might like it, this doesn’t augur well for the state Barisan Nasional. Any administration would want to have some form of control over its civil service and a good rapport to go with.
The number of gatekeepers one needs to go through to get to Khaled is another common complaint by the common people. Journalists covering Khaled also complain that at almost every event, Khaled is being surrounded by his posse of young lieutenants, even to the extent of having the nearest table to the VIP table occupied solely by this group of people. This makes Khaled look like the overgrown hipster. It only makes the Menteri Besar less approachable even to the Ketua Bahagians. It is said that he was advised by UMNO veterans to go down and meet the grassroot leaders. His response was, “Aku tak kenal orang Johor (I don’t know the Johor leaders).”
It is already less than two years to the next general elections. Unlike Ghani before him, Khaled is still mostly seen in Johor Bahru. Ghani and his executive councillors would have been scouring the state to see what else that have been missed. Speaking to a Puteri UMNO division head recently she expressed her worry that none of the division heads have actually begun to activate their election machineries in a concerted manner. This particular Puteri UMNO head has had to conduct her own voters and membership registration drive; an effort which is puny compared to the ones that have and are being done by the DAP in Johor alone. If you were to ask the UMNO division chiefs in Johor, they would tell you that all is rosy, and that is until you speak to them on a one-on-one basis. However, Khaled has told reporters that the Johor Barisan Nasional still holds a comfortable majority despite it being razor thin after the departure of Jorak. To the UMNO grassroots, Khaled’s confidence is extremely worrying.
It is no secret that the DAP will be working with Pribumi to wrestle control of Johor from the Barisan Nasional come GE14. It is hardly an impossible task too! Muhyiddin might be a figure to be reckoned with both in Pagoh and Muar, but outside those two areas, he is still remembered as the person who sold Johor Malays’ rights to the Chinese. Mahathir knows this very well as he was the one who rescued Muhyiddin when the latter became a persona non grata in Johor in the early 1990s. Mahathir knows that Muhyiddin carries a lot of baggage with him and would not be the correct person to lead the country if the Opposition wins. There is already an attempt to kill Muhyiddin politically. You hardly hear of any statement being made by Muhyiddin while Mukhriz is seen going around in Johor conducting membership registration drives. No clues needed for the question on who is Mahathir’s choice for PM.
DAP on the other hand, wants to conquer the western Johor belt, where there is a significant number of Chinese population as compared to the eastern belt. During a dinner at the Landmark Hotel with Batu Pahat DAP members, DAP’s MP for Kluang Liew Chin Tong and ADUN for Senai Wong Shu Qi related the plan to wrestle Parit Sulong, Pulai and Pasir Gudang. With Batu Pahat already in PKR’s hands, all that is needed is for Muar to fall, and it is most likely that Muhyiddin would contest there, if not the often-clueless Syed Saddiq, a Muarian himself.
Even Azmin Ali does not want to be left out by the Mahathir and Pribumi bandwagon. He was seen recently in Muar together with Mahathir at a Pribumi event. It is no secret that he is heading the drive for PKR to work together with Mahathir – a sentiment not shared by the pro-Wan Azizah camp that includes Wan Azizah loyalists Rafizi Ramli and Wong Chen. There is even talk that Azmin might work towards dissolving PKR and jump en masse into Pribumi. While that is not totally impossible, the departure of Ezam from UMNO to Pribumi has certainly strengthen that theory.
The Johor conundrum is something that the Barisan Nasional (read UMNO) cannot take lightly if it were to gain more seats in the next general elections. If Khaled is not moving, then someone should take the lead and face the Opposition head on. There are two FELDA regions that need to be handled with care. Khaled should realise that there is more to Johor than just Johor Bahru. He has to go down on the ground and get the feel himself instead of relying on reports from the UMNO divisions and the various sugar-coated reports from agencies. If you do not know the terrain and its people, you will lose the war. Don’t be like Hamid Karzai who was dubbed the ‘Mayor of Kabul‘ despite being the President of Afghanistan!
And in the words of Life of Annie opus citatum:
If this is how Khaled’s people want to behave, then I dare say that he will be just a one term MB and Johor will fall five years from now.
SeaDemon Says 
You must be logged in to post a comment.