Leaders must attend to the nation’s priorities rightly

JD Lovrenciear

LETTER The re-emergence of the ‘Ghost of the Mongolian Model’ and the allegations surrounding the weapons purchase is hitting a higher note which the government of the day cannot side-step. The news as reported in the well-established and highly-reputed Vancouver Sun tabloid (5 July 2010) further condenses the citizens’ concerns all these years.

Belting out police warnings through the media will only further tarnish the nation’s international image, let alone score down the local ratings for the police reputation. Politicians too cannot go on ruining the already battered police image at home.

The long drawn silence by the leaders meanwhile only further raises by many notches the public’s suspicion.

And trying to divert attention by making racial insinuations or taking flip-flop decisions on other political matters that have far reaching social effects is all not going to erase this murder and ‘kick-back’ story.

The government of the day and its leaders in particular, have an urgent and categorically imperative obligation to set the priorities right. To begin with the nation and all affected parties – local, regional and the international communties, will need answers to some very pertinent questions, namely:

How did we allow the military grade C4 ammunition to slip out of tight security vigilence and what are we doing to ensure that such incidents do not repeat?

How can the immigration records of the late Mongolian national vanish and what action has been taken against the errant people behind the act and to ensure fool-proof measures are in place?

Why are we taking commissions or kick-backs or whatever name you call it, when purchaing arms to build the nation’s defence strength? And why are such payments not discounted on the purchase price but being paid to one, two or perhaps just three individuals?

Why are uniformed men or women of lower ranks carrying out such brutal killings seemingly without the knowledge of their superiors? And what action is being taken to investigate and account for the superior/superiors innocence or ignorance?

Why is the name of the wife of our PM popping up all too often in relation to the murder? And why is the government not taking the acceptable and legitimate avenues (like the Parliament) to address and nip in the bud all allegations?

What have the legal minds and the untainted judiciary members got to say and help resolve the matters at hand to safeguard all innocent individuals – be it the PM, his lovely wife or the suspected murderer?

What redress has been effected to demonstrte our public relations to the aggrieved family members or is this not significant in this new world order where relationships and trust buiding are deemed vital?

The leaders – current and past, must recognise that any amount of ignoring this murder-cum-pot-of-gold saga will have far reaching implications not only on their credibility but also for the nation’s reputation. It will also affect the rakyat’s hopes and fears adversely.

We cannot go on pretending that time will erase our memories or that threats and warnings will delete discussion in the market place. The times have changed and the thinking is different today.

Right minded leaders will immediate seize the opportunities arising from the crisis and act decisively, earning kudos from the rakyat. Otherwise there is only one way down the road and that is, as the saying goes, the head that wears the crown must resign to save the nation’s future.

Related Story:   Ghost of Mongolian model continues to haunt Malaysian gov’t

A fishy tale about Bank Negara’s 10k limit and something doggy

MAILBAG  I’ve hardly had time to go through the mailbag, so my apologies for being tardy. But here are two letters – unplugged – that I would like to share with you all. The first is from Johan and he has pointed out an interesting issue about how much cash we can carry out of the country. The second is from an animal lover who wants to be known only as Satu-Bumi – hers is absolutely the cutest letter ever … enjoy …

From Johan Iskandar

Dear MC,

The Star Newspaper recently carried a report in it’s business section
that Bank Negara Malaysia is planning to review it’s current RM10k
limit that can be carried out of the border. Now,supposedly this is to
facilitate traders for their business purposes.

However knowing this administration and all it’s shenanigans I
sincerely believe it’s just another lame excuse or smokescreen to
actually allow their cronies to carry out their bundles of cash
overseas before the next GE. firstly,the timing of this policy review
from BNM is suspect to say the least,secondly with State Elections
coming up in Sarawak anytime soon it just adds to my speculation. I
hope you will highlight this matter to the general public so that they
are aware of what might happen soon when as we know the policy will
either be scrapped or it will be soon be easier to carry suitcases of
cash overseas…

Thank you.

From Satu-Bumi

Dear Malaysia chronicle ,
I am so sad and angry .
I am a french citizen , soon married with a Malaysian .
Last week, an employee of the Ipoh city council ( MBI Snipers) shot dead our dog , in front of our house , just beside the gate . I came out my house at the same time the guy shot …..gosh …

A very useful dog that kept our house (neighbourhood ) safer . We always tight the dog but this morning , the chain was broken and …the dog escaped and was waiting outside for us to open …then the “snipers” of MBI ( this is the title they gave themselves) shot it ….
I know…the law says that out of the compound they can be shot …but it was terrible …and I m still very shocked .Our kid run after the lorry , the guy even scolded him …
We even cannot get the body of our dog , sure the guy is payed upon merit and cannot let go few ringgits …Merit when kill??? I want to vomit …If you could see his proud face to do this shitty job !!!

Other country ,other habits , I agree . but as human beings we must be fair with animals ,dogs included. Many of my french friends asked me to contact french press, I don’t want to give a bad image of Malaysia , there are here more good people than bad and as I hear about a new plan for Malaysia, I am sure that things will change on this matter ( I hope so…)
I’ve promised my family that ; even I cannot reborn our dog ; I will make my best for the things to change in this matter … I do …

The Ipoh City Council already agreed on no shooting dead the dogs in 2006 but they still doing it.
They got all the material and manpower to do it : Normally, The stray dogs are tranquillized first and then taken to a safe place to decide the next course of action . Of course , it may be lethal afterwards …

My family here is malaysian chinese and you can guess what were their first reaction of anger …
I explained them that stray dogs in our towns is a big safety problem and that there are many ways to solve it.
But , WE, as human beings should give a chance to family dogs , guard dogs to come back home if their family lost them …
I explained that religions and beliefs are out of this .In some states of USA , they blindly shot dead stray dogs too …

It could be a strong sign to all malaysians if one day “suddenly” the government take legal actions to prohibits the dogs shootings in housing areas in whole Malaysia .
I guess that the majority of Malaysians are thinking that this issue is a sad and unfair part of their life
A Dog means caring and loyalty for them .
Even almost all my muslim friends said so , they will never touch or get a dog at home but they are happy that non-bumis neighbourgs got one to guard the neighborhood …

I don’t use my name , I don’t want silly people to harm my children because I’ve voice out …

Best regards
JFB

Naughty girl Paris Hilton gets off the hook in South Africa

PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa: American party girl Paris Hilton was arrested for possession of marijuana at a World Cup match Friday, but a South African judge tossed out the charges against her.

Hilton and her friend, former Playboy Playmate Jennifer Rovero, were arrested for carrying a joint at the Brazil-Netherlands quarter-final match in the southern city of Port Elizabeth.

They appeared in one of South Africa’s special World Cup courts at 12:20 am Saturday (2220 GMT Friday), about six hours after the match, where Hilton was named “Accused No. 1” in the case.

“The charges against you, Accused No. 1, are dropped,” magistrate Xolile Dlulisa said.

“Thank you, your honour,” Hilton replied and left the court, after the three-minute hearing.

She arrived at the courthouse about 30 minutes earlier and appeared relaxed, smiling at court officials with her blonde hair pulled into two ponytails.

While she waited for the hearing, people with FIFA badges were seen bringing her seven pizzas, 12 cold drinks and six waters in an antechamber.

Her friend 31-year-old Rovero was found guilty of possession of marijuana and ordered to either spend 30 days in jail or pay a 1,000 rand (128 dollar, 100 euro) fine. She paid the fine.

Their lawyer Terry Price told AFP that the charges were dropped against Hilton, 29, because Rovero was actually holding the joint when they were arrested.

Her website says she was a Playboy Playmate of the month for July 1999, but is now producing photo shoots. She was described in court as a freelance photographer.

The judge, who was sweating and wiping his head during the hearing, seemed almost apologetic in handing down his verdict.

“It’s very difficult for a human being to decide the fate of another human being. There’s no magic formula,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that while you’re a visitor to this country you find yourself on the wrong side of the law.”

South Africa set up the World Cup courts to quickly handle crimes dealing with foreigners during the tournament. The operate in normal courtrooms but keep staff working late into the night.

A darling of the tabloids, Hilton, the great-granddaughter of the Hilton hotel chain’s founder, shot to fame in 2003 when her boyfriend leaked a video of their sexual escapades on the Internet.

She became a television star with the reality show “The Simple Life” alongside her real-life friend, Nicole Ritchie, in which the celebrity princesses lived at a country farm in a lifestyle neither would likely ever otherwise encounter.

Hilton has since appeared in films and made musical recordings, but her efforts have only been greeted with three “Razzie Awards” — parodies of the Oscars doled out for the worst screen performances.

In 2007, Hilton was jailed for 23 days for violating probation over an alcohol-related reckless driving conviction triggering a media frenzy in the United States.

In March, Brazilian regulators forced changes to a beer ad in which Hilton appeared in suggestive poses, after banning the original spot as sexist. – AFP

FELDA cannot afford to be another cash-cow for the ruling elite

Viktor Wong

LETTER Recently, the former deputy Minister of Land and Cooperatives Tan Kee Kwong exposed Umno president Najib Razak of systematically “destroying” Felda or the Federal Land Development Authority.

Tan said Felda’s cash reserves declined by RM200 million from RM 4.5 billion in 2004 and blames the PM’s mismanagement for the loss.

He further pointed out that Felda paid 40 percent or RM 230 million to the developers for a grand “five-star office” in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, raising questions about the unusually high deposit and the possibility of the project being abandoned half-way.

The five-star office is to be built at a cost of RM600 million by construction company NAZA TTDI.

We all know these numbers are huge and after the Sime Darby financial scandal, that makes it a lot harder to digest. Furthermore, Mohd Bakke Salleh was Felda Group Holdings CEO, who now has been made the new CEO for the Sime Darby Group.

Mohd Bakke is clearly one of Najib’s closest “yes-man” as his appointment to the top job in Sime Darby was given the final nod by the premier himself. His main concern would be to pull Sime Darby out of the financial chaos (after a recorded total loss of RM308.6 million) and refocus the sprawling conglomerate on its core business of palm oil plantations and downstream processing business.

Who is this Mohd Bakke? He was appointed as the CEO for Tabung Haji on October 8, 2001 after having served as a member of the pilgrimage fund’s Investment Advisory Panel.

In 2002, Tabung Haji was rocked by a financial scandal, where the fund admitted it violated its own rule by giving over RM169 million to private fund managers. The fund managers lost at least RM65 million in high risk investments.

Felda was initially mooted to look into the resettlement of the rural poor to newly developed areas as a way of alleviating rural poverty. Therefore, it simply cannot afford to be turned into another money-making avenue for the ruling elite.

We strongly urge the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to initiate an urgent investigation on the possibility of financial mismanagement at Felda and make its findings public as soon as possible.

Dr Mahathir: The Pontius Pilate of Malaysia?

J. D. Lovrenciear

LETTER Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad easily qualifies for the cloak of Pontius Pilot. And that is no compliment by any means.

There was a time when Malaysians stood by you as you promised a developed world for all of us. We went along with you backing your battering ram against the world.

Your war cry to ‘Buy British Last’ made us believe that we can be counted in the world. Likewise you hammered the Australians and we demanded their subservience.

You tried to pull the carpet under the feet of Singaporeans and we developed despite for them. You thundered your views on world economic and political matters and we believed you even to the extent of rubbishing off George Soros.

Some leaders of neighboring counties even hailed you as their mentor and brother – never mind the fact that one of them is a fugitive today and the other is being critically appraised for having allegiance to military rule.

You bulldozed through mega projects and we despised those who had second thoughts about your plans for all Malaysians. And so with the rakyat backing you all the way we saw the birth of Proton; the rise of Petronas Twin Towers; the hatching of Formula One motor sports; the hacking out for the Bakun Dam – just to name a few.

Most of us senior citizens even remember how we were made to rubbish off Bapa Malaysia and hail you as the Bapa Moden Malaysia. And we all followed you all the way.

Even on that seemingly fateful day you shed tears at the UMNO rostrum announcing your resignation as the PM of Malaysia, your fellow ministers sprung to your side – right and left, pleading that you retract.

But today, in your vintage years, we are witnessing your diabolic intentions with crystal clarity a you unashamedly continue to divide we Malaysians along race barriers. Your Malay Dilemma is making a full circle indeed.

Your mega structures and projects have only made this nation more vulnerable to changing economic uncertainties. The Proton is today on the verge of collapse without a saviour investor take-over. Imagine where we would be today if only you did not ‘cheat’ on the Asian Car venture then to get your “Mahathir’s Malaysian car” going.

The Bakun Dam has punched a hole so deep into the gorges of our economic resistance that we may never recover – not to mention the damage to the livelihood of indigenous people or the marvels of mother-nature.

The Twin Towers had to be near-salvaged by a telco tycoon and still struggles to draw one hundred percent occupancy.

What about the BMF scandal? The tin ore scam? And many more sins against the rakyat that freely circulates on the World Wide Web.

But what is most hurting is the fact that having been at the helm of this nation for so long, you not only killed all succession plans for the nation leaving us with two PMs who are unable to lead a nation into the twenty first century. Even you have not lent your support but continue to batter at their kinks making them flip and flop.

Worse, during your tenure as a leader, you made us all believe that opposition parties like PAS were nothing but a band of Arab-like camel-riding sword-wielding ultra conservatives. Today we know that the leader of PAS is respected by all races and creeds. He is to many a fine example of a living saint. Ask any Kelantanese Malay, Chinese or India and they will tell that to your face without hesitation

You sacked people who are still fighting relentlessly to prove your misdeeds. In wanting to divide and rule you sowed the seeds of deceit, hatred, mistrust and above all suspicion amongst Malaysians.

And now in your sunset years you are not adding any value to the struggle of a single nation. You are still pitting man against man along race-based divisions.

Why? Why Mr Mahathir Mohammad?

Why are you not playing the role of a seasoned and wise politician, leading not just Malaysians but even our neighbors with words of wisdom, inspiration and integrity? What is terribly wrong with you?

Are you not aware that you may be remembered upon your tombstone as the Pontius Pilot of Malaysia – the leader who betrayed his own people.

Corruption is a widely subscribed hallmark of Malaysians

J. D. Lovrenciear, Malaysia Chronicle

LETTER The fight against corruption in Malaysia evidently is not just an uphill battle. Corruption is instead becoming an everyday life’s experience amongst Malaysians. And that makes it almost impossible to wipe out corruption.

The UMNO veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has without exaggeration captured the numerous corrupt and dubious practices within the corridors of power in his speech delivered at the launch of the book on former ACA captain.

What was revealed by Ku Li is nothing new to the rakyat. We all know that corruption stinks to high heavens here in Malaysia . But nobody seems to be able to put a permanent stop to all these corruption dealings and wheeling. Not even the Prince of Kelantan.

The rakyat too has been crying foul for quite a while but corruption appears to be unabated.  Why is this so?

Perhaps we need to re-examine not just the political but the very social climate in which we operate. Malaysians appear to be all patronizing some form of corruption in their daily dealings in life.

People would buy pirated CDs openly at night markets. Hawkers will not bat an eyelid to make a quick buck at the expense of the unsuspecting customer.

The perennial number of mega sales and ‘Buy 1 Free 1’ gimmicks are in essence cheating the gullible customer. Even expired or close to expiry products are discounted off and promoted as ‘Value Buys’ without any conscience of hurting one’s health.

Pesticides and fertilisers are sporadically abused to cash in with bumper yields. Who cares if the produce is carcinogenic or poisonous to humans? Never mind about the outrageous poultry industry. We all know that breeders will never stop at trying anything to get their birds to the market place in the shortest breeding time possible.

Look at the way we care a damn when throwing rubbish down the rivers or even dumping from our balconies without any care. Or how about the tons and tons of rubbish we throw from our moving vehicles in one calendar year?

Short changing the public is not the only and widely practised form of corrupt mindset. Look at how government servants till this day clock in for work.

The practice is to rush and clock in before 8 a.m. Then walk over to the nearest warong for a hearty breakfast and teh tarik. Work in all likelihood hence resumes only after 9 a.m.

How about employees in the private sector calling in sick, ending up consuming all sixteen days of their medical leave entitlement?

And let us get frank at an even more personal level. How many Malaysians will have no qualms about taking home company property for personal use – be it a stapler, a ring file, or in some cases even chairs and tables under the false category of ‘broken item for discard’?

Cheating to make an extra Ringgit seems to be praise worthy in our community. From the municipal general worker to the captain at the helm, it is all about ‘what is in there fr me’. Hence for Malaysians generally, cheating is even secretly envied upon. One is often admired for having outwitted another.

If you still argue otherwise, let us not forget the benchmark of our true nature of being inconsiderate cheats – the way we drive on the motorways.

Or how about this – Malaysians feel no shame in carting away food in plastic bags when attending a jamuan or festive celebration.

And instead of teaching in schools we get students to attend our tuition classes. Parents too do not hesitate to get their children to win at all costs.

So it appears that corruption is here to stay. And as long as the rich, powerful and famous as well as the poor, unknown, insignificant rakyat continue to patronize corruption and corrupt ways of livelihood, this nation can only end up as the pariah state of  Asia.

How on earth are we going to win this war against a corrupt system, or corrupted regime when the very cultural mindset of Malaysians remains without a conscience?