How Najib becomes an object of ridicule among the educated, indeed a lot of his voters too. He is, however, saddled with not just an overbearing wife but also two cronies and his powerful home minister, who together virtually control the strings and he is kept as a titular head. But that can’t be an excuse for Malaysia to be run the way it is.‘In a nutshell, Finance Minister has been pumping up the economy through unbridled spending which came from borrowings.’
All know thrives under the protection of the two powerful political classes in the state, which, depending on who is in power, gains ascendance. The mafia has grown so brazen now that it can easily thumb its noses at anyone, including the nation’s apex court.
the fact that he was different played a role in a number of young voters plumping for him in the elections. He has to realise that and display some spine, exert himself.The brazenness, indeed shamelessness, with which the polity has been dealing with anything that is not in line with their nefarious thinking is scary. The disdain is palpable. And I am talking about the nation here and not just UMNO.Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pic) was today questioned on what he knew, and his role, in the controversial “Project IC” during an interview session with the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing the issuance of dubious ICs in Sabah.
The interview session, which is said to be his preliminary evidence to the panel, was conducted behind closed doors at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya.
Among others, Anwar was questioned on who else was involved in “Project IC” and what was the policy on the issue at that time.
The session was conducted for more than an hour by RCI investigating officer Superintendent Zainuddin Ismail.
Anwar left without speaking to reporters after the interview session but PKR Legal Bureau and Human Rights chief Latheefa Koya told reporters that the Opposition Leader will appear before the five-man RCI panel in Kota Kinabalu next month to repeat what he told the investigation officer today.
She explained that Anwar was the deputy prime minister during “Project IC”.
Latheefah said Anwar will not only be asked if he was involved, but also on what he knew about “Project IC”.
Latheefa was with Anwar when his interview was recorded. She said he explained his role and was also asked some questions which required documentation.
“This is not a preliminary meeting, but an investigation and Anwar answered every question posed to him.”
She explained that in the past, Anwar had denied his involvement in “Project IC”, but had named three individuals whom he alleged were involved.
Last month, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman informed the five-man RCI panel, through his lawyer, that he was not involved in “Project IC”.
This came about after a witness, former senator and state assemblyman Dr Chong Eng Leong, told the RCI that Musa chaired the “Project IC” taskforce in 1991 which was designed to register foreigners as Umno members after giving them citizenship.
Yesterday, Anwar said he was prepared to give full cooperation to the RCI panel in the interest of all parties, adding that his evidence revolves around only on what he knew during his tenure as deputy prime minister and finance minister.
The RCI, which began in January, is investigating claims that citizenship was given to illegal immigrants in Sabah during former prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s administration.
What does it take for Najib as Finance Minister to realise that he has mismanaged our Treasury. The problem is that our Finance Minister was born with a silver spoon and cannot connect with ordinary Malaysia who will suffer the most when the country is in financial crisis. Maybe he will wake up when a serious fiscal crisis hits our country. Even then I am not sure since he does not know hardship as everything was handed to down to him on a platter. there are enough around who are not purchasable or won’t bend over backwards to please their political masters, or their seniors who are in the grip of their corrupt political benefactors.but not Rafiz.i A senior UMNO secretary was put in a piquant situation by his seniors who gave orders verbally. Any attempt to seek more clarity was met with something like: Let us not waste time. It is important for the nation’s prestige
Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s immediate response to Fitch Ratings revision of Malaysia’s outlook to negative does not give confidence that the Government views the matter seriously. there are enough around who are not purchasable or won’t bend over backwards to please their political masters, or their seniors who are in the grip of their corrupt political benefactors.The Prime Minister tried to make light of the negative revision by pointing out that Fitch still “affirmed our rating”. He said negative element “is just the revision of our outlook but that depends on the move the government would make”.
If Umno Cheras division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee thinks he’s reaching out to the Chinese by asking them to tell Umno why they did not support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the 13th general election (GE13) and what they are unhappy about, he’s still missing the point. The rejection of BN at GE13 is not about the Chinese. It’s about governance.
Good governance and an end to corruption are among the things every caring and intelligent Malaysian wants. Why does he single out the Chinese?
True, many Chinese care about the country and therefore want it to do well, and they don’t think that under BN rule, it will, so they voted for a change of government. But then so did a few million others comprising Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans who also care about the country and want a better government.
If Syed Ali can grasp this basic idea, he should instead be telling his own party’s leaders that they need to do much, much better to deserve being in government – in fact, to change. And change drastically. He should be telling them to stop playing the same old politics they are still playing, like exploiting the issues of race and religion to divide the people.
He should tell Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to take back what he said on July 31 and even apologise for it: “Muslims do not insult the religion of non-Muslims such as Christianity and Hinduism. But non-Muslims are insulting our religion.” That’s the kind of inflammatory remark we can expect from an extremist, not from a deputy prime minister.
Yes, bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee did upset Muslims with their Ramadhan greeting over a bowl of Bak Kut Teh, but how could Muhyiddin discount Perkasa Vice-President Zulkifli Noordin’s belittling of Hinduism when he expressed scorn at Hindu gods, or Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor’s alleged remark in 2010 that the Indians looked like “dogs” when they wore their prayer strings?
It is distorted statements like Muhyiddin’s that polarise the people even more. And as the nation’s number two leader, Muhyiddin should have known better to keep his mouth shut instead of creating further tension on the issue. After all, what purpose does his statement serve? It only serves to revive anti-non-Muslim sentiments at a time when conciliatory measures are greatly needed.
But then we have seen many times before that this is how Umno leaders operate. It is also part and parcel of their desire to assert their supremacy over the populace, especially over those who don’t bend to them. Now, because Umno has won nine parliamentary seats more at GE13 compared to GE12, it is asserting itself even more. It is pandering to right-wing Malay-Muslim sentiments to consolidate the support from its ‘safe deposits’.
This is precisely the sort of thing that those who reject Umno-BN don’t want any more of. So whatever Syed Ali may say about Umno-BN wanting “the Chinese to be with us”, it is mere wishful thinking. If Umno-BN remains as it is and continues to behave the way it does, the Chinese and the others who voted against it will never trust it.
Syed Ali also says Prime Minister Najib Razak has done a lot for the Chinese and he therefore cannot understand why the community didn’t support Najib at GE13. But that’s not the point either.
It’s not about providing for a community – ANY community – but about providing what’s good and right for the country. It’s not about protecting the interests of Muslims or non-Muslims but about maintaining the rule of law and upholding fairness.
The prime minister must see to the needs of all citizens, regardless of race. So it is his duty to cater for the Chinese as much as he caters for the Malays, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans, etc.
The point is, has Najib done much, if anything, to bring about inclusiveness? Is the Government no longer discriminating against non-Malays in the civil service, the police, the armed forces, the universities, etc?
Has he been serious in addressing corruption? (Let’s not mention the “window dressing” he performed in co-opting former Transparency International Malaysia president Paul Low into his Cabinet.) What is the latest on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigations into the alleged corruption of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud?
Has Najib stopped the practice of cronyism? Are big projects still being handed out through negotiated contracts rather than open tenders? Will he institute reform as of now or will everything have to wait till after the Umno party elections in October so he can try to safeguard his position as Umno president and prime minister?
Syed Ali says Najib is a good prime minister. Does a good prime minister do things by halves? If we look at Najib’s four-year track record, we can see he has characteristically taken only half-measures to address needs and issues. He has not shown the courage to go all the way.
He repealed the Internal Security Act (ISA) – which, incidentally, Syed Ali disagrees with – but then he replaced it with the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act.
He announced last year that he would repeal the Sedition Act, but he also said he would replace it with the National Harmony Act. But now, a year later, no whiff of a draft has appeared. Lately, some of his Umno colleagues have been making noise about retaining the Sedition Act and Najib has been prompted to say that the replacement will retain the spirit and three main principles of the former act. This sounds like any change is going to be an illusion.
As for the other restrictive laws, Najib has not repealed the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to free the mass media, or the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) to liberate academia. He has only made a few amendments to them and therefore offered only half-appeasement.
He promised to reform Section 27 of the Police Act, which required police permits for public gatherings, but he brought in the Peaceful Assembly Act which still requires organisers of gatherings to notify the police 10 days ahead. That’s still like asking for a permit. What’s more, he sneaked in prohibitive measures like forbidding street protests and also forbidding gatherings from taking place near a long list of designated places, making the new law even more restrictive than the old one.
After GE13, when the people called for the Election Commission (EC) chairman and his deputy to be sacked and the body to be reconstituted to make it truly independent because it had shown bias towards the ruling party at the elections, he again met them only halfway. He announced that a special committee comprising members of Parliament from BN and the Opposition would be set up to oversee the EC to allay concerns about its partiality.
In view of all these things, if Syed Ali still says Najib is a good prime minister, then he is only a half-good one. And that is not good enough for the Chinese, Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans who voted against his party and coalition.
This message should be quite clear now, and one hopes Syed Ali gets the point. If he still doesn’t and continues to ask the same dumb question, it will only confirm the belief that only a change of government will do. Anything other than that will only be a half-measure.
While Dato’ Seri Najib Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, did highlight that “it is a concern that we share as a government and we would seek to address those concerns”, the lack of gravity of the response does not give Malaysians and investors any comfort that real concrete actions will be undertaken.
It should be emphasized that this isn’t the first “warning” by Fitch Ratings although it is the most serious action taken by the global ratings agency to date. In August 2012, Fitch has already warned that Malaysia’s “fiscal trends may eventually lead to some form of negative rating action”.
In November 2012, Fitch further reported that “Malaysia’s public finances are a weakness relative to rating peers and offer limited scope for counter-cyclical fiscal stimulus at the current rating level… While this has not hindered the public sector’s capacity to contribute to GDP, which grew 5.2% yoy in the third quarter according to Bank Negara Malaysia Friday, the growing is concerning.”
Of biggest concern to Fitch then was “the increasing reliance on off-balance sheet funding could potentially call into question the meaningfulness of the 55% of GDP federal debt ceiling.” The “off-balance-sheet funding refers to Malaysia’s penchance to provide of guarantees to government-linked borrowers which does not officially count as Federal Government debt. In reality, if both official government debt and government guaranteed debt are put together, our debt to GDP ratio will be a much higher and worrying 68.9%, as opposed to the official 53.7%.
Hence despite the warnings given a year earlier, the Najib administration hasn’t taken the necessary steps to correct the fiscal shortcomings in the federal government finances. Instead the reverse happened and As a result, Malaysia’s issuance of off-balance sheet debt accelerated to 15.2% of GDP by end-2012 from 9% at end-2008. This is a drastic increase to nearly RM150 billion in 2012 from RM96.9 billion in 2010.
Failure
The above actually points to the failure of Najib’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), where “Public Finance Reform” was one of the key “Strategic Reform Initiatives” launch in 2010. Among the key policies to be put in place are “Expenditure Control” and “Transparent Procurement”. The latter includes “eliminating incompetent suppliers/ service providers” and “value management”. The ultimate objective was to reduce the Government’s budget deficit to 3% in 2015.
The outcome of the above initiatives however was for the Government to channel development expenditure to off-budget measures, to paint a false perception of financial prudence. This is because the off balance sheet financing or contingent liabilities are not reflected as government debt and hence isn’t included in the budget deficit calculations.
As an example, despite the RM50 billion MRT project being financed entirely by the Government via debt instruments, not a single sen of the borrowings raised are considered official Federal Government debt despite the guarantees provided. Since such borrowings are excluded from deficit calculations, the official budget deficit figures give a false healthy picture of our public finances.
If the Prime Minister is really believes that the Fitch warning “is a concern that we share as a government and [the Government] would seek to address those concerns”, then the most important measure that he must agree to is to recognise all off-balance sheet loans and contingent liabilities as Federal Government debt in the upcoming Budget.
Only then Malaysians can see the true picture if the Najib administration has the political will to cut down our real budget deficit, instead of just providing a feel-good statistic that does not incorporate hidden debts. If Dato’ Seri Najib does not reform the budgetary process, then we fear the ultimate consequence of not just a “negative outlook” but an actual downgrade of our sovereign ratings.
Our civil servants, especially those in the Ministry of Finance, will only react when the government is unable to pay their salaries and other perks. Otherwise, they wont care. Truth be told. We cannot continue to spend and spend to the nth power as if there is no tomorrow. Payback time is not far and we will have the bear the burden of lax financial management soon enough.At the tip of the tentacle – 3,000 civil servants bankrupted in just 1 year
Najib is the worst Finance Minister since Independence. He has no clue about being prudent and responsible with our money. Under his watch over the Ministry of Finance, the Malaysian ringgit has hit a 15-year low against the Singapore dollar and weakened noticeably against the greenback. When Tun Tan Siew Sin was Minister of Finance and Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali was Bank Negara Governor, the two currencies were at par with each other.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been accused of pretending that his administration had maintained a “healthy debt-GDP ratio” in view of the latest Fitch Rating’s downgrade of Malaysia’s economic outlook from “stable” to “negative”.
Over a period, a large percentage of officers whose job is to keep order, turn pliable and the rot gets deeper and messier. A large portion of politicos’ effort is into turning an officer pliable. They have ways and means of doing it. May not admit, but they control their postings. More importantly, they are given inducement of easy money, a lure several find hard to resist, especially when they find themselves surrounded by those whose materialistic lifestyle they want to ape. Of course, that it is all due to ill-gotten wealth does not matter to them. ‘Why should I alone be honest and lose out’ is the mantra they all learn to chant very quickly. Shame and propriety, and ultimately service to the nation is a casualty, and the trend is growing.
In a press release today, PKR de facto leader and Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim said that facts show that the Federal government’s guaranteed debt under the Najib-administration had rose to nearly RM150 billion in 2012 from RM96.9 billion in 2010, which would definitely hurt the economy.
“How much longer does Najib want to be the proverbial ostrich in the sand by pretending that his administration’s mismanagement of public finances has no significant impact on the economic outlook?
“No amount of creative accounting practices can change our financial red to black,”said Anwar. Fitch Ratings had noted that federal government debt had rose to 53.3 percent of GDP by end-2012, up from 51.6 percent a year before and 39.8 percent by end-2008.
A 19 percent rise in spending on civil servant wages due to the general election had also contributed to the widening budget deficit, it noted.
Hidden debt
Anwar said Pakatan Rakyat had consistently maintained that the federal government does not practice financial prudence, accountability and transparency, to which the Najib Administration responded by calling critics traitors.
“Instead of taking cognisance of the legitimate concerns and rectifying the situation, Najib has plunged the country into greater fiscal deficit, eating into our current account surplus and ignoring the clear signs of structural weaknesses,” he said.
Instead, he said the Najib administration had been sweeping “financial dirt” under the “off-balance sheet carpet”. Unless urgent remedial action is taken, Anwar warned that the culture of reckless spending, opaque government procurement and privatisation processes will remains the hallmark of Najib Abdul Razak’s “transformation” government.
“Let the government be warned that this cannot be allowed to continue. As the management of the nation’s public finances is not a game of one-upmanship. We urge Najib to stop grandstanding and immediately step up to the plate to put the nation’s and the people’s interest above self and partisan interests,” he said.
The only son of banker Hussain Ahmad Najadi murder has thrown a new twist into his father’s shock murder.
According to the 45-year-old Pascal, Hussain’s murder was premeditated and related to an attempt by a group to demand money from a Goddess of Mercy temple in Lorong Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur.
“My father was a mediator between the two parties. There was no property deal turned sour in my father’s murder as our company do not involve in such business,” Bernama reported Pascal as saying in a telephone interview from Moscow, where he is currently based.
All eyes on what Chong will reveal
Pascal’s revelation throws a question mark on the initial findings by the police that Hussain’s murder was linked to a property deal that had gone awry.
It also swivels attention to Hussain’s second wife Chong Mei Kuen, who was with him at the time of the killing but was shot in the left wrist and right thigh.
A member of the temple committee, Chong is still recovering in hospital although she had been allowed to attend her husband funeral. Chong has yet to make public her suspicions on her husband’s slaying.
The 75-year-old Hussain was gunned down in cold blood on Monday, while his wife sustained injuries after they were both shot from close range at a parking lot after leaving the Kuan Yin Temple.
Refused to allow temple money to be used
Pascal said the temple committee had informed him the suspect had been waiting for his father even before the meeting took place.
Hussain had wanted to champion the temple as Chong was one of the committee members.
“I will not come to Malaysia until the suspect of my father’s murder is arrested,” said Pascal.
Police had a day ago released photographs of the suspect, whom they said was called Seri Ngan Zai (four-eyed boy) or Ah Chian. Police believe the suspect is still in hiding in the Klang Valley.
They have also detained a 44-year-old taxi driver who had ferried the suspect away from the scene of the murder.
Many Malaysians are looking to bullet-proofing their cars or hiring bodyguards amidst the rise in shooting cases in the country which has sparked fear for their safety.
According to Singapore daily, The Straits Times, manufacturers of bullet- proof glass for cars and homes reported getting more inquiries and business than usual, while agencies providing bodyguards and security consulting services were beefing up staff strength in anticipation of increased demand.
A director of a bulletproof-shield manufacturer, James Ooi, said the company used to get about four local clients a month before the spate of shootings.
“In the past few days, we have received 15 calls daily from clients asking us to provide bullet-proof shields for their cars,” he told the Singapore Straits Times yesterday.
Ooi said it costs between RM30,000 and RM50,000 to bullet-proof a car, depending on the size of the doors and windows.
In one of the recent shooting incidents, the victims were shot while they were in their cars.
Anti-crime body MyWatch chief R. Sri Sanjeevan was shot as his car stopped at a traffic light in his hometown in Bahau, Negri Sembilan last Saturday. He remains in Serdang hospital where doctors are waiting for his condition to stabilise before removing a bullet lodged in his abdomen.
The Singapore daily also reported that the public’s concern was growing at a time when Malaysians are already grappling with the higher incidence of other crimes, including robbery and snatch theft.
Bodyguard agencies are also expecting demand for their service to rise.
Jack Yin, who runs a bodyguard agency, said he was recruiting more personnel as he expects demand to go up in the next few weeks.
“Demand for bodyguards usually goes up about 20% in the one or two weeks after a spike in crime,” he said, adding that on a monthly average, he gets three to four clients.
Yin said hiring an armed bodyguard for 12 hours a day for 28 days would cost about RM9,000.
Ebrand Chettri, who also owns a bodyguard agency, said he was planning to equip his 20 bodyguards with bullet-proof vests.
“It is a one-off cost for me but I would rather pay than take chances with my staff’s safety. Prevention is better than cure,” he said.
