Subject: Mahal Tali Dari Lembu To: Date: Thursday, November 10, 2011, 8:17 PM Mahal Tali Dari Lembu FROM AROUND THE BLOGS Friday, 11 November 2011 Super Admin MASTERWORDSMITH-UNPLUGGED When we first achieved Merdeka, for every RM5 spent, RM1 was for administration and RM4 for development. Today, it's the other way around. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development standards, Malaysia is known to have one of the most bloated civil service in the world! Malays call this 'mahal tali dari lembu' (the rope is more expensive than the cow). But at least we can still see a cow. Better than when some allegedly spend a quarter billion ringgit with no cows to show at all! According to this site, "the Malaysian Public service has staff strength of 1.2 million employees covering 28 schemes of service including the Federal Public Service, the State Public Services, the Joint Public Services, the Education Service, the Judiciary, the Legal Service, the Police and Armed Forces." The Inland Revenue Board (IRB) says that 5.5 million people in the country are eligible to pay taxes but only 1.7 million are active taxpayers. As the Malaysian population stands at 28.3 million, it means only six per cent are paying taxes, which explains why the government debt is increasing while wealth disparity and income gap are worsening. So we have 1.7 million Malaysians paying the salaries of 1.2 million employeesin the civil service which means that approximately 1.5 tax-paying Malaysians is paying the salary of ONE civil servant. And why is this so? Since the 1990's, the civil service has been expanding rapidly with accelerated growth since 2007. To give you a clearer picture, take a look at the following figures: 1990: 773,997 government employees 2000: 894,788 staff members 2010: @ 1.2 million government employees 2011: 1.3 million government employees (Source: FMT) What about salaries? In 2005, RM25.6Billion was spent on salaries but by 2008, this figure increased to RM41.0Billion (in other words, each tax payer forked out RM22,800) The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows Malaysia having the highest ratio of civil servants to the population in the Asia-Pacific region at 4.68% with Indonesia having 1.79%, Philippines 1.81%, South Korea 1.85% and Thailand 2.06%. Obviously, such an over-bloated civil service is an unnecessary financial burden in Malaysia! Some argue that such a bloated civil service exists to provide jobs for local graduates who have difficulty in finding jobs but at what cost? Is it justified to use and to deplete public funds to pay for poor quality workforce? Consider the opportunity costs of such a decision. What social and public goods could have been provided for the betterment of the nation? Will over-staffing increase efficiency and productivity in any way? Issues such as poor accountability in public expenditure, corruption and inefficiency could actually influence some to avoid tax simply because one may not get value for tax paid!. Ever so often, we come across reports on how BILLIONS (note: no longer millions) of ringgit are being squandered or the high expenditure of scandals when some of the richest states in Malaysia are also the poorest state? Many would think, where on earth did all our taxes go to? Is it any wonder that taxpayers feel outraged and question why the necessity of paying tax if and when such payment is going to waste and not to fund social services such as roads, schools, hospitals and security? Last year, I blogged on A President, A Queen and Two PMs where I summarized the following: READ MORE HERE

asterwordsmith-unplugged.blogspot.com/2011/11/mahal-tali-dari-lembu.html" rel=nofollow target=_blank>READ MORE HERE

Subject: Pakatan: GST won’t save Malaysia from bankruptcy To: Date: Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 10:48 PM Pakatan: GST won’t save Malaysia from bankruptcy By Shannon Teoh November 02, 2011 Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala triggered alarm bells with his controversial bankruptcy forecast last year. — file pic KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — The federal opposition said today that implementing a goods and services tax (GST), as suggested by Datuk Seri Idris Jala, will not stop Malaysia from going bankrupt as “it is like throwing money into a pocket with holes.” Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers told a press conference that it was government wastage, corruption and mismanagement that have resulted in national debt jumping to 53 per cent of GDP. “The operating expenditure has more than doubled from RM89 billion in 2005 to RM182 billion next year. Until you stitch the hole in the pocket, throwing more money will only make the hole bigger,” said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua. Idris, who is the minister in charge of Putrajaya’s Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), repeated yesterday his warning that Malaysia could become bankrupt within a decade if it spends borrowed money on operational expenditure such as subsidies. “If our economy grows less than four per cent ... and we don’t cut our operating expenditure, if we borrow at 12.5 per cent, if our annual debt rises to 12.5 per cent and our revenue does not grow, then it will happen,” the senator said. He also accused the Opposition of forcing the government to delay GST as “every time the government wants to do it the Opposition makes life difficult for them, saying that they will lose votes.” But Pua pointed out today that the government did not need more money as revenue has nearly doubled from RM99 billion in 2005 to RM187 billion projected in Budget 2012. “The issue of GST does not arise. Bankruptcy will be due to wastage,” said PAS research chief Dzulkefly Ahmad. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Idris triggered alarm bells with his controversial bankruptcy forecast last year. Malaysia’s national debt rose by 12.3 per cent to over RM407 billion last year, according to the Auditor-General’s latest report released last week. The audit also outlined cases of mismanagement including payment of bonuses by loss-making GLCs and a RM73.6 million cattle-farming project linked to minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil that met only 40 per cent of breeding targets. Although the economy grew by 7.2 per cent in 2010, last year’s fiscal deficit maintained public debt at over 50 per cent of GDP for the second year running. PR called today for the formation of a Financial Accountability Commission (FAC) staffed by leading audit professionals with power to take action against government excesses. PKR’s Selayang MP William Leong said that the FAC should be able to recommend “surcharges” where government officers are made to pay out of their own pocket for any wastage of taxpayers’ money.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- Subject: Fwd: Atrocious defence procurements To: News about irresponsible govt expenditure just gets worse and worse.. Yet they are the police, the judges, MACC, the guys in control - there seems nothing msians can do except wait for the next GE and kick them out BIG TIME.. THEN NAIL THEM and freeze every asset they got! No wonder the govt gets more desperate each day .. Atrocious defence procurements a microcosm of failing state — Kim Quek October 26, 2011 OCT 26 — How would you feel as a taxpayer if someone tells you that our defence ministry pays RM7.55 billion for some armoured vehicles that are actually worth one quarter of the price? If you really know what RM7.55 billion (or RM 7,550 million) means, you would most probably be stunned and exclaim: “Is our government that bad? Are they really so daring?” The answer is yes. And the drama is unfolding right in our Parliament<http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/atrocious-defence-procurements-a-microcosm-of-failing-state-kim-quek/>, and not just as anonymous allegations in some websites. Member of parliament Tony Pua asked Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi in Parliament why the ministry was paying the exorbitant price of RM7.8 billion for 257 wheeled armoured vehicles, and Zahid’s answer was that the ministry had no knowledge of the figure as claimed by Tony, saying the finalised contract price was for RM7.55 billion. Zahid added that he also knew nothing about the deal that enabled the supplier to procure the same armoured vehicles from Turnkey at less than one quarter of the price to MinDef. But Zahid’s denial fell flat, as Tony pointed out that Zahid himself witnessed the signing of the agreement that sealed the deal in Ankara, Turkey in February this year between the Malaysian supplier Deftech and the Turkish defence manufacturer FNSS, a joint venture between BAE Systems Inc of the UK and Nurol Holding of Turkey. The deal was reported in a press<http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/atrocious-defence-procurements-a-microcosm-of-failing-state-kim-quek/> release dated June 3, 2011 in the BAE System Inc website as a US$559 million (RM1.8 billion) contract awarded to FNSS for the “design, development and manufacture of 257 Deftech AV-8 8x8 wheeled armoured vehicles and Integrated Logistics Support for the Malaysian Armed Forces”. The vehicle, though tagged “Deftech”, is actually a “FNSS-designed PARS 8x8 multi-purpose, multi-mission, wheeled armoured vehicle”. *Atrocious price hike* This means that the Malaysian government is paying Deftech RM7.55 billion (RM29.4 million each), which it in turn pays FNSS RM1.7 billion for these 257 vehicles (RM6.6 million each). If you, as a taxpayer, are incensed by this daylight robbery of RM6 billion from public coffers, wait till you hear of market prices<http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/atrocious-defence-procurements-a-microcosm-of-failing-state-kim-quek/> that are even much cheaper than that offered by FNSS. Tony Pua in a statement dated March 9, 2011 in his blog reported the following prices for the equivalent armoured vehicles transacted or offered in the market: • The Portuguese Army paid RM4.4 million each for the Pandur II 8x8 armoured vehicles (€364 million for 353 units). • The latest version of Pirahan III 8x8 armoured wheeled vehicle developed by the Swiss MOWAG GmBH costs RM3.9 million each (US$1.2 million). With these prices as reference, it is reasonable to expect that, had MinDef conducted an open tender and sealed the deal at arm’s length, we could have slashed the purchasing price down to no more than RM4.5 million from the present RM30 million each, bringing the total<http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/atrocious-defence-procurements-a-microcosm-of-failing-state-kim-quek/>contract sum to RM1.15 billion instead of RM7.55 billion. This means that the Barisan Nasional government has hiked the price by six to seven times through its defence procurement policy that totally lacks transparency and accountability. Such an astronomical scale of artificial cost inflation is so mind-boggling that it is probably unheard of even in the most corrupt of countries. *Outrageous spending spree* And this armoured vehicle deal is only one case amidst defence ministry’s multi-billion spending spree that saw it splurging on patrol boats and helicopters at equally outrageous prices. For instance, it is purchasing six offshore patrol vessels (OPV) from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd at RM1 billion each (total price RM6 billion), which is five times what the Royal New Zealand Navy paid for its OPV, procured at only RM210 each (NZ$90 million) from the world renowned BAE Systems, the second largest global defence company. Similarly, Malaysia is buying the Eurocopter EC725 helicopters at RM190 million each (RM2.3 billion for 12 units) while Brazil purchased the same helicopters at only RM82 million each. A quick glance at the figures for these three contracts alone — armoured vehicles, patrol vessels and helicopters — would indicate that there could have been a total leakage of RM12 billion arising from these dubious MinDef transactions. For this amount, we could have provided low cost housing for a quarter million families, housing more than a million have-nots. That Malaysia’s opaque defence procurement is a hive of corruption is well known among international defence executives and documented in a recent exposure from WikiLeaks, which revealed US Embassy cables during 2004–2009 recording conversations with relatives and agents of Malaysia’s top politicians including the then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy (now prime minister) Najib Razak. Besides giving specific instances of corruption, the US cable also alluded to such corruption as a major source of political funds that sustains the local power structure. *Unacceptable draining of resources* Looking at the larger picture, the leakages of the three contracts mentioned above is only a small corner of massive leakages that pervade the entire procurement system of the BN government, as starkly reminded by the freshly released annual report by the Auditor General. Such annual reports, which unfailingly chronicle widespread corruption and management failure (some to unimaginable extremes) serve as regular reminders that we have been stuck with an entrenched system of governance that extensively and continuously drains our reducing resources. But if we were to realise that what the Auditor-General reports is only the tip of the iceberg, as he can only cover a small fraction of the sprawling government bodies every year, don’t we have reason to be concerned, very concerned? And do we see any remedy through institutional reforms under the present political leadership? From the deteriorating credibility of our institutions and federal leadership, isn’t it apparent that the needed remedy cannot be instituted through political solutions? Only through a change of political leadership can we bring sweeping reforms to the country. ** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication, and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.* -- Regards. .oooO ( ) Oooo. \ ( ( ) \_) ) / (_/ Tan Wah Sing 019-9507282

Subject: Anwar predicts ‘Malaysia Spring’ in next polls To: Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 11:30 PM Anwar predicts ‘Malaysia Spring’ in next polls By Clara Chooi November 03, 2011 KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has predicted the coming of a “Malaysia Spring” in the next general election, confidently telling US newswire Bloomberg in an interview that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will wrest Putrajaya from Barisan Nasional (BN). “We’re taking over the government at the rate we’re going,” he was quoted as saying in the interview carried today on the newswire. Anwar is confident five decades of BN rule will end in the next polls. — File pic The opposition leader, who is facing the prospect of possible conviction for the second sodomy charge in his career, cited the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 as a sign of growing support towards PR. The march for free and fair elections, organised by the election watchdog group, drew thousands of protestors to streets of the capital but turned chaotic at midday when police launched tear gas canisters and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Over 1,500 arrests were made. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his administration’s reformist image took a beating in the international media after the authorities embarked on a widespread clampdown, before and during the July 9Bersih rally. With talk that his handling of the rally would result in a voter backlash, Najib moved to recoup his losses by forming a parliamentary select committee for electoral reforms, promising to look into Bersih 2.0’s demands. The prime minister also later announced a raft of reforms aimed at increasing civil liberties, including the repeal of the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA) and amendments to other security and press laws. Anwar said today that with support shown by protestors in the rally, the opposition would still make gains even if he is convicted for sodomy, adding the trial outcome was already a “foregone conclusion”. Five decades of BN rule, he insisted, will end in the next polls. Anwar told Bloomberg that PR anticipates winning more than 40 per cent of the votes in BN strongholds Johor and Pahang, recapturing majorities in the five states it won in 2008, and making significant gains in Negri Sembilan and Terengganu. “The trend for freedom and democracy is irreversible. We should be able to do much better,” he said in the interview. Bloomberg then pointed towards the trend for greater democracy that has been sweeping across Southeast Asia, noting that iron-fisted rulers have been toppled from power as civil society movements grew in strength. “In a year that has seen autocratic regimes swept from power in a Middle East upheaval known as the ‘Arab Spring’, neighbouring Singapore saw a record vote for the opposition in May, and Myanmar released some political rivals from jail last month,” it cited as examples. “When will the ‘Malaysia Spring’ be? The next elections,” it quoted Anwar as predicting. “Hopefully, we’ll do ours in a peaceful, democratic process,” he said. Anwar, who was once next in line for the prime minister’s post, was toppled from power when he was first charged with sodomy and corruption in 1998. The then deputy prime minister was sacked from the Cabinet and was later convicted and jailed for both offences. He was freed in September 2004 and resurrecting his own career by winning his old Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in a 2008 by-election. He also led the opposition coalition to a historic sweep of five states and 82 parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

Subject: Pendaftaran Pakatan: ROS didakwa menipu To: Date: Thursday, November 3, 2011, 1:28 AM Pendaftaran Pakatan: ROS didakwa menipu S Pathmawathy 3:37PM Nov 3, 2011 Pakatan Rakyat hari ini menafikan dakwaan Pendaftar Pertubuhan (ROS) bahawa gabungan itu tidak membuat permohonan baru untuk mendaftar diri mereka. Malah, kata setiausaha agung PKR, Saifuddin Nasution,pihak mereka telah menghambat jabatan berkenaan sejak Mac lalu supaya segera mendaftarkan Pakatan Rakyat. Saifuddin berkata selepas pengerusi pro-tem Pakatan Datuk Zaid Ibrahim berpaling tadah pada November tahun lalu, jawatankuasa itu pada mesyuarat tergemparnya (EGM) telah melantik ahli jawatankuasa pusat PAS Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar untuk memegang jawatan itu pada Mac lalu. Saifuddin merujuk laporan akhbar New Straits Times yang memetik Ketua Pengarah ROS, Abdul Rahman Othman, bahawa Pakatan tidak berusaha mendaftarkan gabungan itu. “Kami kesal dengan kenyataan ini kerana semasa EGM, kita telah menamakan pengerusi pro-tem yang baru... kami telah mengaturkan perjumpaan dengan timbalan pengarah ROS (bahagian pertubuhan) bagi menyerahkan permohonan dengan beberapa pindaan sepatutnya. “Tetapi ROS enggan menerimanya, alasan mereka, permohonan lama masih menunggu keputusan berhubung permohonan yang dibuat oleh Zaid, walaupun mengikut perlembagaan PKR, Zaid bukan lagi seorang ahli,” kata Saifuddin yang juga ahli parlimen Machang Katanya, sejak Mac, Pakatan berhubungan dengan ROS setiap tiga hingga empat minggu untuk menentukan status permohonan tetapi tidak menerima sebarang jawapan.

Subject: Pakatan critical of RM1.1b going to 1MDB ‘hedge fund’ To: Date: Thursday, November 3, 2011, 2:01 AM Pakatan critical of RM1.1b going to 1MDB ‘hedge fund’ By Shannon Teoh November 03, 2011 KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — The federal opposition said the government should not pump RM1.1 billion into 1MDB as the state-run strategic investment agency has already raised RM5 billion in bonds. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers told reporters today the government had already guaranteed the sukuk issued in 2009 by the “highly-leveraged hedge fund.” “1MDB is supposed to be self-funding. It raised RM5 billion in bonds backed by the government and another RM5 to 10 billion is expected. Now the government is pumping in RM1.1 billion. Where is it going to?” DAP publicity chief Tony Pua (picture) said. Under Budget 2012, the finance ministry will pump RM1.11 billion into 1MDB, beginning with RM400 million next year alone. Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek had said in Parliament earlier that 1MDB needed to redevelop the old Sungai Besi airport into a new Bandar Malaysia township. But PAS research chief Dzulkefly Ahmad said that “1MDB has already been given the land. Surely they can use it to finance the project themselves.” Pua also called “1MDB a 100 per cent hedge fund” with no capital and financing “all its investments on loans.” “It has borrowed money on government guarantees and is now using it for political purposes under the guise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) such as sponsoring village chiefs to go on their pilgrimage,” the Petaling Jaya Utara MP said, referring to 1MDB’s RM100 million CSR fund. 1MDB had invested RM3.5 billion into a joint investment vehicle with PetroSaudi International Ltd soon after issuing the RM5 billion Islamic bond in 2009. Its chief executive Shahrol Halmi said last year that disposal of its investments in the joint venture had resulted in a net profit of RM425 million. PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution said that “if it is profitable, why does it need a further injection of RM1.1 billion?” “In the 2010 Auditor-General Report, nine GLCs did not pay dividends to the government despite making profits. Now, we are even giving money to them,” the Machang MP said. Besides the redevelopment of the Sungai Besi airport, 1MDB has been appointed to led various other strategic projects deemed vital to Putrajaya’s plans. It said last month that it was evaluating a proposal to lead the restructuring of national sewerage company Indah Water Konsortium which is currently RM2 billion in debt. It is also the master developer for the RM26 billion Kuala Lumpur International Financial District.

Subject: The 'outing' of Rahim Noor To: Date: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 11:26 PM The 'outing' of Rahim Noor Terence Netto 1:54PM Oct 31, 2011 COMMENT Now that former inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor has made his skepticism about human rights obvious in his keynote address to the Perkasa general meeting last week, we can retrospectively understand aspects of his conduct when he was the country’s top cop. One would have thought Rahim, following the loss of his job and having endured the humiliation of jail for assaulting former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim in the infamous ‘black eye’ incident in 1998, would go gently into a retirement where golf would not be the only diversion. Certainly, a sustained bout of community service would have helped to assuage society’s bruised sensitivities: nothing obtains a disgraced former luminary redemption in the public eye better than diligent and long service to communitarian projects. But Rahim, after a discrete re-emergence to public life in recent years via newspaper interviews on policing and crime prevention on which he made sense, has abruptly discarded the obscurity of the periphery to publicly vent views that make him the local version of the John Birch Society. John Birchers, a shadowy group that haunted power centres in the south and west of the United States, were notorious in the 1950s and 60s for propounding right-wing views on race, the communist threat and military spending. Trigger-happy cops People who knew something of Rahim’s deportment towards rape suspects and others of society’s dregs while he was the force’s head honcho would not be terribly surprised to hear that he has scant respect for human rights. In fact, his rebellion against restraint on that sinister night in the Special Branch lock-up in late September 1998 where Anwar was held blindfolded was seen by those privy to hisconduct as the outcome of propensities unwisely left unchecked. Unfortunately for Rahim, the ‘top officer-should-not-be-contradicted’ ethos of the uniformed services - entrenched by the time he became IGP in the early 1990s - disserved him: there was nobody to tug at his sleeve and whisper that police power is not an invitation to vigilante justice. By 1996, when the late and prominent lawyer Raja Aziz Addruce warned that the police were “trigger-happy” because the toll from custodial deaths had reached distressing levels, Rahim chided the then National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president for insensitivity to the dangers faced by cops when tackling violent criminals. Shortly after he admonished Raja Aziz, there was an obscure but disturbing report of a lorry driver who had a roadside altercation with the IGP in which a shot was fired, though nobody was hurt. The matter drew skimpy mention in the press. A while later, the ‘black eye’ incident broke like a tornado in the public arena; and people’s feelings were inflamed. In the incident’s immediate aftermath, graffiti aimed at Rahim - in some places drawn in aerosol which made it ineffaceable for a long time - appeared at conspicuous intersections along major thoroughfares, excoriating him for abject servility to the powers-that-be. Some viewed the incident of Rahim’s action or reaction against Anwar in the Special Branch lock-up as illustrative of his temperament; not just the aberrant issue of momentary self-derangement. Until Rahim’s accession to the IGP post, its previous holders - from Salleh Ismail through to Hanif Omar - managed to exude authority without a hint of menace in their deportment. This is a tricky call in the more lofty brackets of the police force: how to evince command to all and sundry sans the suggestion that it would be unwise to tangle with the person. 'Black eye' public inquiry With Rahim’s promotion to IGP - the man is huskily-built and sports a bristling mustache - the aura of exuding authority without evincing menace was no more a requisite for the post. Rahim looks like someone one would not like to be caught against in a fray in a back alley. Of course, all these arguments are impressionistic, but the concept that civil servants, the top tier in particular, should be non-partisan and politically neutral servants of the state, rather than tribunes of the government of the day is incontestable. There was a anguished piece of testimony in the public inquiry into the ‘black eye’ incident that purported to show a frazzled Rahim, in the tense prelude to Anwar’s sacking by Mahathir from the government and Umno in August-September 1998, pleading with Anwar to settle his problems with the then prime minister. Strictly speaking, it was no business of the then IGP to be in any of the several roles - intermediary, plenipotentiary or supplicant - his pleadings to Anwar suggested he was inclined to play in the internecine feuding between the PM and his deputy. In fact, it would seem that Rahim wasted a wonderful opportunity to show the requisite professionalism of his level of civil servant - wryly aware of the passions eddying around him in the political sphere but strictly neutral in the execution of his fiduciary duties to the state. He disdained the professional’s neutral stance for the seeming role of overwrought equerry of the incumbent PM. The beating up of Anwar was, then, only a short downward spiral from an already muddled conception of public duty. Now the disgraced former IGP has gone and done his already tarnished record worse by spouting off on human rights, the social contract and the constitution. The muddled do as the addled always does. TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.

Subject: Anwar came, saw, conquered - Mariam Mokhtar To: Date: Monday, October 31, 2011, 2:03 AM With humility he told the audience: "You may listen to me and choose to agree or disagree with me. Or you can support Umno. It is your right. There is no denying it." And he injected a bit of comedy in his talk: "For 13 years, BN and the Malaysian media have hounded me, except for three days last Hari Raya.......I had a three day break when they focused on Mat Sabu of PAS." Anwar came, saw, conquered Mariam Mokhtar 12:03PM Oct 31, 2011 Looking at Anwar Ibrahim, the Opposition Leader, deliver his talk, one would never have guessed that he was hounded by the BN government, on a list of trumped-up charges as long as his arm. He was witty and informative when engaging with the audience; brutal and incisive when mocking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's administration. Anwar (right) recently gave a speech at University College London (UCL), entitled ‘The Struggle for Justice and Democracy in Malaysia'. He won over the crowd, who were mainly Malaysians studying or working in England. Anwar has universal acclaim and the ‘mat salleh' who were present can't have attended just because they were curious to see the man whom BN has portrayed as a raving sex maniac, who can't have enough of women, or men. For a man whose private life has been paraded around the world with the farcical Sodomy I and II trials, and Sex Videos I and II, Anwar did not look like a condemned person. With steely determination, he told the crowd that he has vowed to clear his name, restore his family's reputation and defend his honour. BN painted Anwar as a sexual deviant and lined people up to reveal sordid allegations about him. If true, then Anwar should have felt at home in Soho, the racy red light area with its gay bars, porn-shops and fallen women, close to UCL. But a sexual lunatic he is not. No compromise Anwar who is famed for his skill as an orator, talked passionately about Pakatan's policies, its budget and his vision of a Malaysia that will be shaped by its youth. He was adamant that the new Malaysia should be governed with transparency, accountability, and where the corrupt would be punished. He offered no compromise on his party's multiracial policy. He told the students that they were responsible for determining Malaysia's future. He said: "Everyone is born to be free. Freedom cannot be negotiated." He cajoled and persuaded them: "You must make a stand and exercise your rights...." He challenged them: "You must learn to ask questions....", and warned them that Najib's administration feared the truth. He criticised Najib's performance at ‘prime minister's question time' in Parliament: "I asked him repeatedly, when the ISA will be abolished. I wanted an undertaking that GE-13 would not be conducted before reforms were implemented.... Najib simply smiled. He was unresponsive..... It was like having a dialogue with the deaf..... Why bother calling it ‘question time'?" He questioned the conduct of parliamentarians when he quizzed BN about the fund meant to help poor farmers, which was pocketed by BN cronies: "There was a collective silence." He castigated former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad (right), whom he has forgiven for sending him to jail: "He (Mahathir) levelled charges of sodomy against me because this is taboo with the rural Malays." He mocked the religious hypocrisy of the BN elite: "Mahathir's son bought RM2.9 billion of San Miguel shares but one Malay girl had her life torn apart and was herself almost whipped for a glass of beer." With humility he told the audience: "You may listen to me and choose to agree or disagree with me. Or you can support Umno. It is your right. There is no denying it." And he injected a bit of comedy in his talk: "For 13 years, BN and the Malaysian media have hounded me, except for three days last Hari Raya.......I had a three day break when they focused on Mat Sabu of PAS." The Malaysians had travelled from the East Midlands, Shropshire and the North-East, and the majority were students, from colleges and universities in and around London. Expat Malaysians, concerned about the unpredictable political landscape, came to hear the latest developments. The talk was at times depressing, particularly the part about BN being prepared to cheat, to ‘win' GE-13. There remained one glimmer of hope; the large presence of Malay students in the audience. For years, the Malaysian government actively discriminated against Malay students. A culture of fear was promoted by the Malaysian high commissions and embassies around the world. Consequently, Malay students distanced themselves from such talks. Malays are deliberately singled out by BN to keep them ignorant. To keep them from learning. And to keep them from being exposed to other cultures, races and thinking patterns. Dangerous Malay A knowledgeable Malay is dangerous. BN knows that a questioning Malay would ultimately lead to BN's demise. One individual can be silenced. But many? BN treats the Malay like a semi-literate and a slave. Its brainwashing technique has been perfected so that the Malay mind is trapped by his imaginary tempurung, wherever he is in the world. If we want a better Malaysia, the Malays must be brought into the loop. If we want to progress as a nation the Malays must contribute and share the limelight. Umno's propaganda is based on fear and warns of a threat to Malay survival. BN claims Anwar will sell Malaysia to the non-Malays and that Pakatan is controlled by the Chinese. What BN really meant was that their own survival was in danger. The Malay elite is at liberty to be open-minded but he subjugates his poorer Malay cousin. The elite cream off the best in life, but leave others destitute. In effect, Malaysia has been ‘stolen' by its corrupt Malay leaders. Warning letters Informed sources allege that the modus operandi of the consulate officials is to warn Malaysian students to stay away from these ‘opposition' lectures. Sometimes, the Malaysian embassy sends out ‘warning' letters. But as Anwar related, deans of Indonesian and American universities have cautioned the embassies, and threatened reprisals if this practice were to continue. Some allege that agents of the government masquerade as students, to spy, as they move in student circles. Most government scholarship holders are Malay, and many come from poor backgrounds. Only the brazen few or privately financed students will attend ‘opposition' lectures. The majority stay away for fear of losing their funding. They fear the shame of terminating their studies. They fear the wrath of their families. They fear rejection by the community. But most of all, they fear missing the best chance to lift themselves and their families from poverty for a better future. Isn't it ironical that students stay away because they fear BN's long reach? This emphasises the significance of Anwar's speech ‘The Struggle for Justice and Democracy in Malaysia'. Anwar's proclamation which rang in everyone's ears was: "With your help, and given fair and clean elections, Pakatan will form the next government." Anwar's talk was oversubscribed and the huge presence of students, including many Malays, is heartening. Perhaps the culture of fear which the Malaysian government tried to export to student populations overseas is vaporising. Perhaps Najib is not only losing his grip on the economy, but also on the students. BN's propaganda and emphasis on the sodomy trials, meant that many students were unaware that Anwar was once DPM or finance minister. Anwar's talk was an eye-opener and many students responded positively. This generation of Malay youth wants a well-rounded education and refuses to be cowed by Putrajaya. Overseas, non-Malay students have never felt the crippling grip of the BN government. Acquiring knowledge at universities around the world is one thing. But learning to live with freedom of expression, where basic human rights are not denied and where university professors are not suspended or sent live bullets in their mail, is a shallow learning curve for Malaysian students. MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

Subject: Cabinet involvement in AG's Report due to Mahathir To: Date: Thursday, October 27, 2011, 9:22 PM He said that the auditor-general used to send the report directly to the Agong instead of the cabinet, but this angered Mahathir when it investigated the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal in the mid-1980's. "I still remember hearing officers from the Auditor-General's Department saying proudly: 'We send the report direct to, not the cabinet, but the Agong'. "But that was when the department was under the legendary Ahmad Noordin Zakaria," said Abdul Aziz of the independent-minded auditor-general. "Mahathir was angry with him for his role in the investigation on BMF scandal headed by Ahmad," he added. Cabinet involvement in AG's Report due to Mahathir 3:30PM Oct 27, 2011 The delay in the unveiling of the Auditor-General's Report is due to the weakening of institutions caused by Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his term as prime minister, said constitutional expert Abdul Aziz Bari. The UIA law professor said Mahathir had amended the federal constitution in 1993 by stripping the rulers of legal immunity and providing for the government to "issue orders" to the Agong. This is by way of the insertion of Article 40 (1A) in the constitution stipulates that the Agong must act in accordance with the advice of the cabinet. "Essentially this is the legacy left behind by (the) Mahathir administration, which preferred a muted monarchy," he toldMalaysiakini today. "At the same time we have an executive who could not care less about checks and balances and a monarchy that is unsure of its role," he added. Abdul Aziz’s remarks follow the unprecedented delay in the tabling of the AG’s Report by more than two weeks. The report is normally tabled on the same day as the budget, which Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak unveiled on Oct 7. It was later disclosed that the delay was because the Report had to be presented to the cabinet before being shown to the Agong, and because of concerns that the report would be overshadowed by Najib’s 2012 Budget. Auditor-General Ambrin Buang (right) said showing the report to the cabinet before the Agong has been standard practice since 1982, soon after Mahathir became prime minister. This was to allow the cabinet to familiarise themselves with the issues raised in the report and explain it in Parliament, said Ambrin. Appoint non-civil servants Abdul Aziz, however, has pointed out that it is wrong for the cabinet to be involved in the AG's Report, and that it should gostraight to the King before being tabled in the Dewan Rakyat. Commenting further, Abdul Aziz conceded that in the tabling of the AG’s report, the Agong is a “mere conduit”. “Nonetheless, this is extremely important, to strengthen the role assigned to the auditor-general," he said, referring to the monarchy as "last line of defence" against Mahathir’s erosion of other checks and balances against the executive arm of government. Abdul Aziz also chastised civil servants for carrying out orders even when these are not in accordance with "constitutional ideals". He said that the auditor-general used to send the report directly to the Agong instead of the cabinet, but this angered Mahathir when it investigated the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal in the mid-1980's. "I still remember hearing officers from the Auditor-General's Department saying proudly: 'We send the report direct to, not the cabinet, but the Agong'. "But that was when the department was under the legendary Ahmad Noordin Zakaria," said Abdul Aziz of the independent-minded auditor-general. "Mahathir was angry with him for his role in the investigation on BMF scandal headed by Ahmad," he added. The UIA professor also suggested that the Conference of Rulers be urged to study the possibility of appointing an auditor-general from outside the civil service. He said this was necessary because the post is given to former civil servants who may view the position as a promotion. "Given the culture and ethos of the civil service, I find it natural for them to be unable to live up to the expectation."