Zahid Hamidi – SeaDemon Says

September 24, 2020

Numbed Nought

We have all heard it before from the same person: “I have the numbers to become the next Prime Minister.” It was first uttered in April 2008, then again just before the Pakatan Harapan administration fell, and again yesterday. It has, thus far, come to a nought.

It may have come as a shocker for many. The KLCI fell 0.7 percent and closed nine points lower on Wednesday after the announcement was made. To be fair, the KLCI has been on bearish for almost a month now. It was at 1578.55 points on August 24th and is at 1496.48 points on September 23rd.

Other than that, Anwar’s claim has been met with scepticism. “We will have to wait to see if this is another episode of making claims that cannot be substantiated,” said Dr Mahathir over Zoom at Nutanix ASEAN CIO Virtual Summit about his former deputy who is famous for making repeated unsubstantiated claims of having support for the premiership. Many others think that it is just Anwar’s way to ensure that the voters in Sabah’s state elections will jump on the Pakatan Plus band wagon and support ‘the winning team.’

Numbed by Anwar’s occasional antics, I hardly find his announcement believable, let alone a shocker. However, a statement that followed and made by another politician got the ‘WTF’ reaction from me. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, whose court case against him is far more solid than the one against Najib Razak, announced that UMNO and BN cannot stop any of its Members of Parliament wanting to support Anwar to form a government with Pakatan Plus. As a matter of fact, Ahmad Zahid said that he ‘respects’ the decision made by the UMNO MPs wanting to jump to the other side.

For a few hours there was silence on the part of Zahid’s supporters. And then came the spin – the statement is a ploy by Zahid to pressure Muhyiddin’s ‘greedy’ PPBM into asking for a dissolution of Parliament and the calling of a general election. In other words, according to his supporters, Zahid is extorting Muhyiddin for a general election to be called.

For the life of me, I find that the lamest excuse that I have ever heard in wanting to dissolve a Parliament. In order to try get a general election going, all it needs for UMNO to do is to leave the PN government, or maybe Zahid has never read and understood the Federal Constitution. Once the sitting Prime Minister has lost the confidence of the majority of the members of the Lower House, he shall tender the resignation of himself and that of his cabinet, or advice the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament. That is all it takes. No extortion needed, and UMNO does not have to be in an administration that DAP is member of. It is a bizarre statement coming from Zahid, the President of UMNO.

But Zahid, and his ill-read supporter should also remember this: Parliament can continue for five years from the date of its first meeting till its next dissolution, and in the meantime, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can appoint another member of Parliament whom, in His Majesty’s judgment, has the confidence of the majority of the House’s members. So, Zahid can threaten Muhyiddin but the Yang di-Pertuan Agong can still refuse to dissolve Parliament. That would be a double whammy for UMNO. And looking at how fluid things are, not one party would dare to go through a general election now until forced to in 2023. So, is UMNO ready to be partners with PKR, DAP and Amanah? I strongly doubt it.

UMNO’s No.2, Mohamad Hasan, said that UMNO is still part of the PN administration and shall continue to support it. “Any change in its stance must be decided by the party,” he said when commenting on the issue. Other UMNO MPs such as Nazri Aziz, Shahidan Kassim and Khairy Jamaluddin have all rubbished the claims.

A word of advice for UMNO. Winning seven by-elections does not mean that the whole country is now rooting for you. In a general election, the game is played differently. Majority of the urban voters are still against you. Sabah has not exactly accepted you. Sarawak still cannot trust your Muafakat Nasional partner, PAS. The nation only accepts Muhyiddin and his multi-party band of senior ministers. Not even the rest of Muhyiddin’s cabinet has the trust of the people. With Zahid trying to play big brother, the wounds of the last general election will bleed again, and people will remember the greedy UMNO that they brought down two years ago. You are now part of a government without having to wait another three years to go through an election – so be thankful.

As for Zahid, he should learn to behave more like a statesman than a numbnut. He often speaks before his brain could process the outcome. A party president is the person who sets the path on which the members in his party should follow. If he, as UMNO’s President, cannot control his MPs to form an administration with PKR and possibly DAP as he says, he has no business staying on as the party president claiming that he is looking after the interests of the Bumiputeras. Or is there a deal that he has made with Anwar for a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card? If that is true, then shame on him.

November 7, 2017

A Flood Of Incompetence

I am surprised that a former Brigadier General doesn’t know that you cannot simply deploy the military without explicit instructions

Former army Brigadier turned politician, Arshad Raji, seems to like the attention the electronic media has been according him lately, and he speaks about a wide spectrum of issues – from falling for Mahathir’s fake news of the so-called withdrawal of his close police protection, to the management of the floods in Pulau Pinang.

In the latter issue it was as if he was trying to downplay the Deputy Prime Minister and the BN-led Federal Government’s involvement in the management of the floods. He was right about some of it, though. Under the National Security Council Directive No.20, when a state emergency is declared following a disaster affecting two districts or more, the State Disaster Management Committee can call for assistance in the form of assets, finance, and other resources on the state level, and limited form of assistance from federal agencies within the state – the police, armed forces, civil defence etc. This does not require a call to the Deputy Prime Minister at all.

Look at Level II Disaster Management by the State

The State Disaster Management Committee is chaired by the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar while the Chief Executive is the State Secretary. But what Arshad Raji did not know, or chose to not reveal during his “press conference” was the fact that until now Lim Guan Eng has not declared a state of emergency in Pulau Pinang despite floods inundating four out of five districts in Pulau Pinang namely Seberang Prai Utara, Seberang Prai Selatan, Barat Daya and Timur Laut.

Don’t blame the Federal Government. Tokong himself did not declare a state of emergency

I lived in Pulau Pinang, on the pulau itself for three years and four months in the late 1980s and never once saw floods affecting the state on this level. The most I would see is pockets of areas in Datuk Keramat and the Green Lane (Jalan Masjid Negeri) – Jalan Air Itam junction near the State Mosque. Even then you could still pass the areas on your motorcycle. Having eight deaths because of floods in a year was unheard of (one died earlier in September while seven this time around).

“No rain, no floods” seems to be the best of Lim Guan Eng’s quotes pertaining to floods in Pulau Pinang. This time, the deluge is blamed on a tyhoon that is battering Vietnam, and rightfully so. Every time a typhoon hits Vietnam, the northern Peninsular states would receive an extra amount of rainfall. And since 1881, Vietnam has been battered by 68 typhoons excluding the one that has just hit them. However, the shocking bit is where 119 flash floods have hit Pulau Pinang since 2013! That is 2.5 flash floods per month for the last four years!

It does not take an engineer to tell you that when you do excessive hillside developments, the soil cannot absorb the rainwater as the oxidised topsoil would be transformed into a clay-like material. The run-offs would be washed into monsoon drains, clogging up the roadside gutters and making the storm sewers shallower as silt accumulates at the bottom. These drains flow out to sea along natural coastlines, which is why monsoon drains act as gravity sewers. In Pulau Pinang, you can hardly find a natural coastline as most beaches with gradient have been reclaimed, and the gradient tapers off, diminishing the gravity effect. Storm water therefore does not flow into the sea but accumulates and saturates the flatter grounds causing floods.

But who cares about eight deaths this year due to floods and one last year when you can make money selling condominium units to the rich? But it is this excessive development by the state government that was voted in by the Pulau Pinang people that is now killing the Pulau Pinang people and have caused untold miseries.

Everyone also knows that when it is the new moon or full moon, tides will be higher than usual, and that makes it harder for storm drains and rivers to flow water out to sea, what more when there is excessive water caused by the backlash of a typhoon.

You can see that from 1 November 2017 the moon was in an advanced waxing gibbous phase and full moon over Georgetown, Pulau Pinang occured at 12.40am on Saturday, 4 November 2017. The Malaysian Meteorological Department had issued a series of bad weather warnings for the northern Peninsular states from 31 October 2017, and every day from then on.

Met Department warning for the northern states on 31 October 2017

Met department warning the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least four days from 1 November 2017

Another Met department warning on 2 November 2017 reminding the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least four days until 4 November 2017

Another Met department warning issued on 3 November 2017 for the northern states that the bad weather was going to last at least until 4 November 2017

You can see that there was ample warning by the Malaysian Meteorological Department that the weather was going to be bad for four days. What did Lim Guan Eng or his State Disaster Management Committee do? Nothing, until it got really bad. And at 3.00am, Lim Guan Eng became a cry baby and called the Deputy Prime Minister for help, without even declaring a state emergency.

Lim Guan Eng called the DPM for help at 3am on 5 November 2017, five days after the initial warning was issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department

Where was his State Disaster Management Committee? Why had they not sat down to make preparations to mitigate the situation?

Lim Guan Eng was quick to point fingers at Kelantan in the aftermath of the disastrous floods at the end of 2014. He pointing out that corruption and the incompetency of the Kelantan state government, as well as the rampant hillside clearing as the causes of the floods.

Well, we know that there is rampant hillside clearing in Pulau Pinang. We also know that the Chief Minister was charged on two accounts of corruption, and we also know now that it was the incompetency of the Pulau Pinang State Disaster Management Committee led by Lim Guan Eng himself as the Chairman that had caused the situation to be worse than it should be.

Lim Guan Eng’s government’s incompetence has killed one person in floods last year, 21 people in a landslide this year, and eight people in the recent floods. This is the government that the Pulau Pinang people have voted in, and the Chief Minister chosen by them.

119 flash floods have occured since the promises above was made. And Lim Guan Eng’s government is not worried. Going by the rate the floods are killing people, there won’t be that many people left to complain about the floods – problem solved.

December 9, 2015December 9, 2015

Off With His Head

Off with his head, and set it on York gates;
So York may overlook the town of York.

(William Shakespeare, 1592 – Henry VI Part III)

Shouts of “Pecat (Expel)” and “Nyanyuk (Senile)” reverberated the hall where UMNO President, Najib Razak, gave a closed-door briefing to UMNO divisional and state committee members on the issues of the 1MDB, the RM2.6 billion donation and the accusation by his deputy (also his former Deputy Prime Minister) Muhyiddin, and former Prime Minister Mahathir made saying that the people of Malaysia will soon become beggars. Both Muhyiddin and Mahathir made this claims countless times in spite of various explanations and proof saying otherwise. Of course, in Mahathir’s own words:

"I don't have enough evidence" - Mahathir — “I don’t have enough evidence” – Mahathir

This is why he started off attacking Najib and the 1MDB with the claim that RM42 billion had gone missing to 1MDB is a debt-laden company. Idiots would be quick to accept Mahathir’s statement as the 1MDB is a government company. However, those with brain and usage of brain cells know that although the 1MDB started off with a RM42 billion debt, it is backed by assets worth RM51 billion. The RM42 billion is not even the rakyat’s money. In comparison, if you earn RM3,000 a month, and purchase a car worth RM70,000, you are debt-laden, especially if you stay in a rented house with no other assets to back you up. And it is not just YOUR money, it is also the money you use to support your family.

Now why does one still want to harp on an issue when one does not have evidence of any wrongdoing? Why should an UMNO member add more fuel to the fire set by the Opposition? In my world that is called treason!

On the economy, removing Najib is not going to get the oil prices to go up. The economy will not improve and jobs created with the removal of one person. To believe so is bordering on senseless stupidity. Our current economic fundamentals are nowhere near what it was when Mahathir was at the helm in 1997-98. Sometimes I am inclined to believe that Mahathir allowed Anwar to err in order to find a solid reason to remove the latter whom he found to be a threat to his position (You can read more about it here).

Malaysia’s competitiveness ranking is 18th in the world, and first in the Islamic world. Malaysia’s GDP rose 61% from RM202.26 billion in 2009 when Najib took over the helm to RM326 billion!

Despite claiming that Malaysians now eat grass daily to stay alive (or become beggars as mentioned by Mahathir), Malaysians bought 103% more cars in October 2015 compared to October 2014. Car sales as at end of October for 2015 stands at 541,142! No wonder the people are eating grass! They would rather spend money on cars!

As for the 1MDB issue, you can read all the explanations on their website. Google the URL.

Muhyiddin…

Muhyiddin is a different animal altogether. He is one person who can show disrespect then change his tune. Just look at how as a Johorean and one who claimed he has the support of the Istana, Muhyiddin did not wear the white band on his songkok as a symbol of state mourning just a day after the late Tunku Jalil Iskandar of Johor was buried.

It seems that Muhyiddin has a knack for using the Malays to achieve his goals – including selling the Malays out. Those who were born after 1980 may not remember how Muhyiddin was kicked out of Johor as the Menteri Besar in the 1990s by the then Sultan of Johor but was saved by Mahathir. You can read more about Muhyiddin’s sins to the Johor people HERE.

I will tell you this story about Muhyiddin and Mahathir as it was what my comrades and I had bitterly experience back in 1998.

For those who watched the live telecast on RTM when two Malaysians made it to the summit of Mount Everest. There was a teleconference between Mahathir and the Team Leader and Mahathir asked who the two Malaysians were. When the Team Leader replied “M Nagappan and M Magendran” in a disappointed voice Mahathir asked, “Siapa lagi?”

Mahathir seemed disappointed that his “countrymen” has made it to the too while the Malay climbers did not. I was at the Malaysian Ex-Commandos Club on Jalan Kelantan up Federal Hill in late 1997 when its then President, the late Rahim King, instructed us to form a team to regain the Malay honour by skydiving at the North Pole. Rahim became the Chef de Mission. Another former Air Force commando, Aziz Ahmad, was assigned the Team Leader, in-charge of selection and training, while I became the Deputy Team Leader in-charge of logistics and planning. Captain Datuk Azmi Hamid Bidin was made in-charge of the support team based in Malaysia to iron out finances and other support. It was an all-Malay team, to be supported by a television crew from TV3 as the official media. Initially TV3 had offered Karam Singh Walia, a renowned broadcast journalist, but we were told it had to be an all-Malay team.

To cut a long story short, Anwar had started his nepotism and cronyism battle-cry and the exonomy was really bad that members of Mahathir’s cabinet shunned him – afraid of being seen to support Mahathir in case Anwar manages to depose of his mentor. Our expedition’s launching ceremony on the 30th March 1998 broadcast live on TV3 had Mahathir attending alone without his cabinet ministers, not even Muhyiddin who was then the Minister for Youth and Sports. That was how Muhyiddin repaid the kindness to the man who saved him. That was how lonely Mahathir was in 1998.

The expedition departed for Moscow early April 1998 after Anwar announced in parliament that the finances for the expedition had been finalised, when it really wasn’t. We almost did not make it to the North Pole if it weren’t for people like (then) Datuk Adzmi Wahab, Managing Director of EON Berhad; Datuk Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi, Foreign Minister; and my friend Zahid Hamidi who was the UMNO Youth Chief. Anwar, Muhyiddin never responded to calls for help even from Capt Datuk Azmi when we were being threatened by the organisers who were all ex-Soviet military and I believe with obvious links to the Russian mafia.

Muhyiddin is a chameleon, a self-serving one who would go to lengths to achieve his personal goals, even at the expense of selling out the Malays, or to switch political camps faster than he changes his underwear.

If the Malays in UMNO and the people of Pagoh still do not realise the potential harm this man could do, then the Malays are doomed.

He will be like Darth Vader, loyal to the Emperor until it’s time to protect his self-interest.

Off with his head!