SELANGOR MENTERI BESAR TAN SRI ABDUL KHALID IBRAHIM SAYS FEAR IS FINITE, HOPE IS INFINITE “TRULY, GOD DOES NOT CHANGE THE CONDITION OF A PEOPLE UNTIL THEY CHANGE WHAT IS IN THEMSELVES
Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers have tabled a landmark motion allowing the Selangor Economic Development Corporation or PKNS to open up a 7% special discount reserved for Bumiputera to all races born in Selangor, who wished to buy homes built by the state-owned property developer.
According to a Bernama report on Thursday, Speaker Teng Chang Kim had announced the motion received majority support at the Selangor state assembly, where the Pakatan holds 33 seats, compared to the 20 held by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s BN coalition.
The motion was submitted by DAP assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah M Manoharan and supported by Lau Weng San, the DAP MP for Kampung Tunku, at the Selangor state assembly.
If there’s something to take home positively from the series of “exposés” from Datuk Chua Tee Yong and his band of Selangor MCA cheerleaders, it is that he will doggedly persist with making increasingly ludicrous allegations against the Pakatan Rakyat state government, even if it is at the expense of exposing himself as a half-baked accountant.
To date, he has not even responded to the billion ringgit mega-blunder he has made, or other alleged scandals over the land asset recovery by the Selangor state which were exposed as unscandalous. He now alleges that the Selangor state subsidiary Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB) was forced to take a supersized RM230 million loan to acquire land from Menteri Besar (Incorporated) as part of the Talam debt settlement agreement.
From bad to worse
Firstly, it does not at all make any sense for PNSB to take a RM230 million loan just to recover outstanding debts of RM22 million from Talam. Secondly, Datuk Chua himself admitted that he was not able to ascertain that PNSB had taken the hefty loan to purchase the plots of land in the Hulu Selangor constituency as the state firm’s 2011 audited accounts are not yet available. Hence he’s really just shooting in the dark!
But even if we were to assume that he is spot-on, that a RM230 million loan was indeed taken by PNSB to acquire RM450 million worth of land assets, as audited, valued and recognized in the PNSB 2010 financial accounts, where is the impropriety in that?
In case Datuk Chua isn’t aware, PNSB is a property development company. It has to acquire land to develop and construct, in order to sell and make a return for the company. It is no different from any property development company, privately held or publicly listed or government owned. And if Datuk Chua isn’t familiar, it’s a concept called “land-banking”. Hence the acquisition of land for future potential development is the normal course of business for a property development company! Where exactly is the “scandal” in the above transaction?
What’s more, as a trained accountant, Datuk Chua should know that getting into debt is not in itself an adverse event for the company. Otherwise, Malaysia’s largest property developers SP Setia Bhd, Sunway Bhd or IOI Corporation Bhd must be among the worst run companies because they carry debts of RM2.44 billion, RM2.42 billion and RM5.46 billion respectively in their books.
What is important is whether the liabilities that a company undertakes are sufficiently backed by its assets, and whether these assets can generate higher returns than the cost of funds. In this particular case, it is clear that the RM450 million of additional assets as pointed out by Datuk Chua himself, is worth nearly double that of the debt. So what’s the problem?
End the embarrassment for the MCA: Let’s debate
Datuk Chua has become an embarrassment for the MCA as he stumbles from one mega-blunder to another. I call upon Datuk Chua to end his misery once and for all, with a public and open debate in any language, at a time and place of his choosing, even if it is held at Wisma MCA over the “Talam Debt Recovery: A Billion Ringgit Bailout or a Billion Ringgit Mega-Blunder”.
Given Datuk Chua’s unwavering confidence over the issue, and the dedicated support of The Star in highlighting all of his press conferences on the front page of the paper, I am certain that the public will be looking forward to see how the biggest rising star of MCA demolish, once and for all, the reputation of the Pakatan Rakyat state government in Selangor.
While the MCA Presidential Council has barred its President Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek from further debates, I am confident that there is no blanket ban against all MCA leaders from participating in debates against DAP leaders. I very much look forward to Datuk Chua’s favourable reply.
The recent reshuffle of Keadilan’s line-up in Selangor has revealed the party’s intention to consolidate its position in the crown jewel of Pakatan Rakyat.
The appointment of vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali as the new Keadilan Selangor Chief taking over from Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has been overplayed by the media as an attempt to squeeze Khalid out of his MB seat.
Speculations of a revolt by Keadilan MPs unhappy with Khalid’s leadership of the state has also fizzled out with no news on the existence of the said petition by 15 MPs to oust Khalid from the MB seat.
In typical melodramatic fashion of the mainstream media, Khalid has been typecast as the victim of a vicious political power play.
Leaders in Keadilan were reported by the media as saying that they were unhappy at Khalid’s unwillingness to give in to their demands for posts and state contracts.
Keadilan has also been painted as a party that is no different from Umno with their leaders’ unquenchable thirst for largesse.
The situation has been made worse by unwarranted demands made during the party’s congress in Kota Bharu.
Fringe leaders in the youth wing at the national and state level demanded for top posts in state-owned enterprises.
The party’s supremo Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has came out strongly and outlined this matter explicitly in his winding-up speech.
Anwar stressed that the party has no objections on appointments or awards to party members, as long as it is based on merit.
While the issue of government-linked companies (GLC) posts and projects hogged the limelight, the perception has been set in the media that these are the only issues that top the agenda among Keadilan leaders.
Keadilan faces a Herculean task of correcting the negative and biased perception whilst at the same time attempt to realign the party members and leaders on the need to serve the public, first and foremost.
Azmin, realising the arduous challenges ahead, has publicly endorsed Khalid’s tenure as the chief executive of Malaysia’s most developed state and declared that the party will do its all to defend the state from Umno’s attack.
Former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo meanwhile tried to sow distrust in Keadilan Selangor’s camp by claiming that the party is in dire straits as they have three “captains” in Anwar on international investments and economy: Khalid on state’s administration and development; as well as Azmin on political matters.
This was echoed of all people by an immature newbie Keadilan Selangor Youth Chief Khairul Anuar agreeing that Keadilan Selangor now has two heads.
The fact of the matter is that Umno is currently under tremendous pressure with Azmin helming the political front in the state as he is a tougher nut to crack.
Umno has been masterminding series of attempts to destabilize the state government using racial and religious undertones in their boisterous campaign.
The recent harassment of two of Keadilan’s state assemblymen by MACC was also alleged to be part of Umno’s agenda to recapture the state.
Umno will not let up in their attempts to salvage their battered pride from a disastrous outing in 2008 and will be even more brazen with Azmin helming Keadilan in the state.
Keadilan Selangor will need to support and complement Khalid’s effort at the state level and push for a more efficient public service delivery, reduce bureaucracy as well as upholding tenets of good governance.
As the dust settles from the media frenzy prior to the party’s retreat, there is a realization among party leaders that a snap election may be called by Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak.
Pakatan Rakyat need a solid and strong partner in Keadilan to bolster their ranks and effectively defend the state from Umno’s onslaught.
Hence, Keadilan have no other option but to take the fight to Umno in the heartlands of Kuala Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Tanjung Karang and the likes.
This is where the battle will be come the next general election and Azmin will have to pull out all the political tricks from his sleeve to stop Umno in their tracks.
Azmin’s warm relations with the palace will also be an added positive in the state government’s effort to ensure the civil service including the Islamic department adhere to state’s policies and refrain from being used as tools of Umno.
Anwar, Khalid and Azmin have all expressed in unison their intention to fight tooth and nail to retain Selangor and the time has now come for the party to meet the insatiable expectations of the people.
The pride of the party is at stake and the consequences of failure is too high for Pakatan to endure.
The battle for the Pakatan’s crown jewel will definitely be the one to watch once Najib meets the King for the inevitable.
Newly released Human Development Report 2011
The is disappointingly low on new data, but I appreciate how it squarely lays out distinct outcomes for each social group. It’s pretty pointless talking about education, health or income outcomes in India without discussing how different these outcomes are for the population as a whole on the one hand, and for dalits, tribals and Muslims on the other.
So we see that while poverty is declining across the board, the incidence of poverty is much higher among SCs and STs than the national aggregate, most acutely in rural areas, while the poverty rates among Muslims are much higher than for non-Muslims in urban areas. Again, consumption expenditures are rising for everyone, but much slower for SCs, STs and Muslims than for higher caste caste Hindus. Asset ownership is the lowest for SCs among the castes, and for Muslims among the religions.
The situation is not very different when it comes to non-income indicators of well-being. Female malnutrition among SCs, STs and Muslims is higher than the national average and disturbingly, has been increasing over the years. Illiteracy is more pronounced among adult SCs, STs and Muslims, as is the probability of a child from these communities dropping out of school.
But here is the part that I find extraordinary and inspiring. The numbers very clearly show that politics – yes, that much-maligned word – is what creates real change in India.
That Kerala and Tamil Nadu have good human development indicators is well known. But here’s what is exceptional: the human development indicators of SCs and OBCs in these two states are better than those of upper castes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (source: a 2006 Economic and Political Weekly paper by Santosh Mehrotra, cited in the report). Moreover, all four states have a similar proportion of backward castes in their population: so the key determinant of each of these states’ human development situation is not its caste composition, but its politics.
Kerala’s and Tamil Nadu’s transformational politics of backward caste empowerment began even before Independence, and the impact of these deeply rooted social reformist movements, whose aim was equality of access and opportunity, stands before us today. Similar movements have slowly grown at various moments of time over the last two decades in the rest of the country, and they make me incredibly hopeful – not just of abstracts like empowerment and dignity, but of the same hard numbers that Kerala and Tamil Nadu can today be proud of.
Yesterday, history was made in Libya and Libya is free after decades of brutal dictatorship. I was in Tripoli and Benghazi only 2 weeks ago visiting some of the bravest young people I have ever met. Today I think of Mohammad, 28, to the left in the picture below, who was an engineer in Germany and who came back to liberate his country. And I think of Salil, a 30 year old surgeon, who was saving his fellow freedom fighters and bravely went into the mountains the early days of the war. They were assigned to protect me and Sean Penn during our visit to Libya. They had completely and utterly lost their fear of that which they were taught to fear the most. We became brothers and have stayed in touch. They reminded me of the spirit of what I imagined the American Revolutionary fighters must been been like. I asked Mohammad what freedom felt like and he gave the most exuberant, happy, passionate answer saying, “Oh, It’s unbelievable. It’s something that I can’t really understand. It’s really wonderful. A wonderful feeling.” They were preparing to join their brothers in Sirte for where they dreamed of a final battle to free Libya. I just got off the phone with Mohammad and he said it’s like a giant party. Everyone is so happy that after 4 decades Libya is liberated.
Shervin Pishevar (3rd from left) with NTC rebels in TripoliMost importantly, Mohammad said, “We can’t wait to put the guns down and use our words and actions to rebuild our nation.” Their bravery is something that is changing our world as we speak. Their camaraderie was inspiring. When they all started no one knew how to use a gun. But they went anyways and learned along the way. Their lack of fear made me realize this important truth:
Fear is Finite. Hope is Infinite.
It’s this relationship between fear and hope that is fundamentally changing the dynamics of the Middle East and beyond. They have shown the world that when the young lose their fear there is no power that can contain their hopes and dreams for their free futures. Before I came to Libya, I was fearful that freedom in Iran and Syria and other places will take too long. I am now certain, beyond a doubt, that their fear too will be cast away, their hope shall rise, and freedom’s march will continue onwards. Peaceful protests are always preferred. Peaceful protests when confronted with violence will only scale faster. In some cases peace met with assymetrical institutional violence will be met with further peaceful protests. However, in some casesviolence will be met with violence. Gaddafi’s response to protest in Benghazi was to shoot the young protestors with anti-aircraft guns. Syria is following the same playbook. This response is more likely in vicious dictatorships like Libya or Syria. Gaddafi’s violence against his people’s protests have been met with a symmetrical response led by the people’s own NTC freedom fighters with support by NATO bombing. NATO’s role is a supragovernment role that should be duly noted for its effectiveness in a sea of institutional incompetence and irrelevance. NATO’s cooperation and assistance of self-organized force of freedom fighters is signal noise of a new kind of alliance that will define our future. I expect this kind of dynamic to be a new formula and framework for freedom that can help rid the region and our world of dictatorships within the 21st Century. It’s an alliance of the people wanting freedom and are willing to protest and fight for it on the ground supported strategically from the skies. The skies and ground united spring hope eternal for a fearless humanity.
Like many Malaysians, Sarawakians are shocked at the lavish lifestyles of Prime Minister Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor. Both have been in the scandal sheets of late over a series of spending-related scandals.
These included a RM24 million diamond ring, abuse of power in scheduling an official trip to match a personal engagement, plus unnecessary and exorbitantly-priced renovations to Seri Perdana, the official residence of the PM.
And these also despite the warnings from two ministers in Najib’s own department – Idris Jala and Koh Tsu Koon - that Malaysia will go bankrupt if its leaders do not rein in spending, cut subsidies and reduce borrowing.
“We do not want to end up like Greece with a total debt of EUR300 billion. Our deficit rose to record high of RM47 billion last year (2009). If the government continues at the rate of 12 per cent per annum, Malaysia could go bankrupt in 2019 with total debts amounting to RM1,158 billion,” The Star reported Idris as saying on May 27 last year.
Don’t overdo it, it’s our money
Now, 2019 is just about 7 short years away and even the man in the street knows enough to warn the first couple not to “overdo it” with the people’s money, but save it for a rainy day.
“Kamek sik setuju dengan perbelanjaran yang sesuka-hati Najib, serta bininya sebab dia orang sik duli kesusahan rakyat di Sarawak. Kitak sepatutnya ada duit untok membina dan membaiki jalan-raya dan sekolah tapi sampai sekarang, jalan pun buruk-buruk, sekolah pun tua-tua. Sekolah anak kamek dipaksa pindah sik lama lagi sebab tanah sekolah hanya disewa keluarga Ong, inilah hal yang di buat pihak perintah!” Dominic, a van driver, told Malaysia Chronicle during a vox pop interview.
Which translated into English means, “We don’t agree with the indiscriminate expenditure of the PM and his wife as they don’t care about the difficulties of the people in Sarawak. We actually should have more funds for better construction and repair of roads and schools, but until today, the roads are still deplorable and schools here are very old and run-down. My children’s school will be forced to relocate soon because the land is leased from the Ong (Tiang Swee) family, this is the type of action by the government!”
Another shocked response came from Albert, a government employee; “Najib and his wife should not fleece the people. Officials are always trying to overstep their boundaries, this is a clear abuse of power and as a government staff, I am disgusted with all the profligacy.”
Bankruptcy sooner now!
Facing the worst of the several price hikes by the Najib administration, the lower and middle income groups are not just battling higher cost of living on day-to-day items, they are also stunned at the way property prices have run away and left them far behind. Few Malaysians can afford a decent home or car these days. They have to settle for poor quality, mass-produced houses and the ubiquitous but trouble-prone Proton cars.
Najib’s recently unveiled Budget 2012 was meant to help the lower-income people, but it only contained “one-off” aids. There were no long-term or middle-term planning offered that could help alleviate the pressure on the poverty-stricken or those about to be pushed into poverty by inflation.
Instead, Najib once again turned on the cash ‘tap’ to dish out ‘ang-pows’ in a bid to win over the masses into voting for him and his coalition in the next general election.
“PM and wife must exercise greater care in spending taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Government ust also release detailed breakdown of expenses,” PKR vice president N Surendran chided.
A trail of spending
On top of this, the premier still had not cleared up whether he had indeed misused public funds during an official visit to Kazakhstan, where his daughter was getting engaged. The Kazakh trip ended up costing Malaysians more than RM1 million. No wonder, there was public outrage when the news broke.
Then Najib’s wasteful public relations campaign for which he paid hundreds of millions from the national coffers for, but which ended up boomeranging at the country after it was found that the firm FBC Media had breached ethical rules in its desperation to ‘sell’ Najib in a positive light. The probe now being conducted by UK regulators against FBC will further embarrass Najib and Malaysia as well.
The renovations at the already-recently renovated Seri Perdana to make it a residence ‘truly fit-for-a-King’ also riled up Malaysians. Confirmed reports show that the palatial accommodation for Najib and wife came up to RM48.8 million. Electricity consumed by them was RM10 million alone, while the water bill flooded-in at RM1.9 million yearly.
But the last straw must surely be the RM24 million – some reports say USD24million – diamond ring that Rosmah purportedly imported from New York. Although Najib has denied his wife had bought the gargantuan diamond ring, and his office has confirmed the ring has since ‘left’ the country, few Malaysians are able to shake off the suspicion that the First Lady had indeed salivated at the prospect of owning it, but had to give it up due to the bad press.
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