Perkim 'Accused" of Funding PULO

The Kelantan Opposition leader must have felt great when he raised the issue that 10% of the money from the sale of timber logged along the Malaysia-Thai border was allegedly channelled to the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), a Thai militant group.
He said, "The allegation is serious. There is a need for a thorough investigation," adding that he had seen documents on the transactions to PULO.
In a telephone interview with the Malay Mail, he had the following to say ::

I also have the confession of those who were directly involved in channeling the money to Pulo," he said in a telephone interview with The Malay Mail.
He said Pulo claimed it had a stake on the share from the sale of timber because it was logged along the Malaysia-Thai border.
Annuar said he was "suspicious" of the sales from the concession as it was bought by a locally-registered company whose four directors were from the Middle East.
"The money paid for the timber had come from overseas, through a Dutch bank."
He said the the authorities should look into the company’s background and the source of the money paid for the timber.

Maybe he failed to realise the seriousness or the effects of the issue he had raised. The next day he was questioned by Kelantan exco member, Husam Musa, who demanded the state opposition leader to explain his statement on PERKIM and PULO at the state assembly the day before. According to a Harakah report, he backtrack on his statement and admitted that it was baseless. He was reported to have tried to deflect Husam's question by mumbling that it was his duty get answers from the government. Then the usual reason of having been wrongly quoted by the press was brought up. He added that he had already given a call to the reporter covering the story and the reporter admitted that the front-paged report was inaccurate. Probably the said reporter was the one who was later halau and asked to leave the assembly.
According to Husam ::

The government had granted Perkim, an NGO, rights to a logging area which it later sold to a company, Rentak Persada for a sum of RM2.4 million.
On the 24th of October 2004, Perkim had instructed Rentak Persada to deposit RM1.2 million into its accounts and the remainder into a 'state holder' through the law offices of Azmi Tan and Co.
"Perkim nor the state government for that matter does not have any knowledge who withdrew the money (from the state holder accound), and to whom it was channeled to," he added.
When Perkim was made aware of the issue, it filed a police report on 30th June 2004.

Reuters reported this issue under the heading :: Malaysian Charity accused of Funding Thai Militants; the NST said :: Perkim funds sent to Pattani movement, says Annuar and Malaysiakini said :: Funds channelled to Muslim rebels in Thailand: report.
Fearing any fallout from the raising of this alleged PULO funding issue, our Foreign MINIster has quickly got about to smoothen any ruffled feathers by saying that any funds channelled to the PULO rebels was done without the gomen's knowledge and action would be taken if laws had been broken. He also pledged that Malaysia would not support any Thai separatist movement. Will he also give the wet behind the ears, Kelantan Opposition leader a piece of his mind or a tongue lashing over his bringing up the issue? We await.

Some Interesting Reads

A few interesting news items from here and there, look out for the spins ::

• Tok Guru Resigning? :: Has the PAS spiritual leader and Kelantan MB finally thrown in the towel after decades of battling the Barisan Nasional? Rumours are rife that he has but party leaders deny this.
  
• Anwar Ibrahim, a fellowship at Oxford :: Now, two months after being freed by an appeals court, Malaysia's most famous dissident is preparing for another turn on the international stage, this time as a broker of sorts between US neoconservatives and the Muslim world. He has accepted a fellowship next year at Oxford University and plans to spend much of his time rekindling old relationships. His admirers
  
• No More Smoking in Work Places :: The Human Resources Ministry is studying the impact of making smoking in workplaces an occupational safety and health issue and not treat it as a mere health problem.
  
• Queens' speech: The politics of fear :: TERROR Proposal: Draft Bill in the New Year will propose juryless anti-terror trials, use of wiretap evidence in courts and civil orders for people suspected of "acts preparatory to terrorism" such as raising cash.
  
• Six Family Doctors ignored 'Alarm bells' :: The six GPs, from Hyde in Greater Manchester, signed 214 cremation forms for the serial killer's patients over 18 years, but 124 of the patients were later ruled to have been unlawfully killed.
  
• Family Claimed Polis Ignored Reports of Abuse :: The family of a woman whose three children were allegedly strangled by her husband has accused the police of failing to act on more than a dozen reports made against him for abusive behaviour.
  
• UN DR Congo sex abuses 'on film' :: The United Nations is investigating some 150 allegations of sexual abuse by UN civilian staff and soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  Accusations include paedophilia, rape and prostitution of refugees in UN camps, says UN official Jane Holl Lute.

The New Dewan Rakyat Speaker

The former Speaker of Parliament, the late Tun Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail had served in the post for 22 years, the longest-serving speaker in the country's history. He passed on recently and today an election was held to choose a new Speaker. For the first time in Malaysian parliamentary history there was a contest for the post. The BN with 199 members proposed former Perak Menteri Besar Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib, while the DAP with 12 members proposed DAP Deputy Chairman and Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw. As expected the BN candidate won hands down garnering 185 votes while the DAP candidate had 10 votes. Another big majority for the BN. Can't help wondering where the other opposition MPs, 6 from PAS, 1 from PKR and 1 independent were when the ballot was held. DAP's Karpal is presently suspended.
Among other things, the new Dewan Rakyat Speaker had the following to say after being elected ::

• "This is a big honour to me."
  
• "My election to the post is historic."
  
• "I will be the Speaker to all Members of Parliament despite of the contest for the post today. I will deliver my task justly and fairly to uphold the image of this august House."
  
• "I feel fortunate indeed to be given the opportunity to be with fellow parliamentarians to realise our country's parliamentary democracy instituted way back in 1955."
  
• "I hope to receive good cooperation from Members of Parliament as was given to my predecessor 'to perform our duties as parliamentarians in a fair and just manner'."

Do take note of his words. As for Dr Tan, what did he have to say regarding his loss, we wonder. Maybe, probably, likely, "I fought the good fight but he won. In any fight/contest there will be a loser." But if the performance of the previous Dewan Rakyat Speaker is emulated by the new one, the ultimate loser will be joe-public once again.

Latest :: A Malaysiakini report states that the new Dewan Rakyat Speaker received votes from PAS and PKR MPs! What does this augur for the opposition in Parliament?

Russian Lady faces jail for growing flowers

This news item UPI dateline Moscow caught my eyes :: IRINA faces jail for growing flowers.
After a tip off the authorities raided the country home of 50 year old biologist, Irina Baturina, and confiscated more than 500 poppy plants growing in her garden. The authorities claimed that she was cultivating a large amount of illegal plants and that she will face charges.
Irina said she had no idea she was growing anything illegal, and the poppies had grown simply because she fell ill and was not able to take care of the garden. She also said that the seeds from the plants were used in making pies.
Her lawyer said the plants growing on her property are oil poppies, not opium poppies, and therefore are not illegal.

This got me interested in finding more about the poppy plants, all i can recall about poppy flowers is the paper variety which were to be found on Poppy Day aka Remembrance Day, which looks something like this picture on the right, but not as nice or good looking. On Poppy Day, by making a small contribution, one gets one of those imitation poppy flower to wear on one's dress or shirt for many a day. The poppy's association with wartime remembrance, especially in English speaking countries, dates back to World War 1. As poppies bloomed in much of the western front in that World War, poppies are a symbol of military veterans, especially of that war. We now call the day, Hari Pahlawan, if i am not wrong.

Poppies come in many varities and the one that is illegal to plant or grow is the papaver somniferum, the opium poppy. A picture of the seed containing pod is shown on the left. To know more about the poppy go here and here. Poppy seeds are widely used in baking and you can click here for 395 Poppy Seed Chicken recipes.
So it looks like Irina won't have to go to jail if the poppy plants in her garden were not papaver somniferum.

TOP

World according to Mahathir

There is this article by Mark Clifford in the Weekend Standard regarding our one-year-retired PM. According to Clifford, the Tun is as alert and as engaging as ever, but appears to have lost some of his legendary spleen.
Among some of the stuff said by the Tun are ::

• He has "failed" in his attempts to get indigenous Malays into the economic mainstream - a theme that has preoccupied him since the publication of his controversial book The Malay Dilemma in 1970. "I felt I failed to get the indigenous people, Malays, into the mainstream as much as I would have wished. Changing culture and thinking is not easy. We have had some success. Largely I consider myself as having failed."
  
• As for Anwar :: His former deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, who was jailed in 1998, has no future in Malaysian politics. "It is very unfortunate. He [Anwar]is a very smart person who has built up a lot of good relations with people all over the world. He thought that would help him whenever he was in trouble. People have accepted that he did these things. They do not want him, even in UMNO. If he is not welcome in UMNO, there is no way he can win. He is sputtering like a dying ember and I don't think he will be much of a force in Malaysian politics."
  
• On economically rising China :: Given its former status as a "vassal" state, Malaysia welcomes the rise of China and is comfortable with the diminishing US presence in the region.
  
• On newly elected Bush :: US President George W Bush "seems to spurn public opinion. His association with neo-conservatives and the Jewish lobby is not doing him any good."
  
• The root of Islamic terrorism :: Is the Palestinian issue, argues Mahathir.
  "It is a not a religious problem - it is a territorial problem. It is a problem of losing their land to other people. Palestinians want to get their land back and they could only rely on religious support. [This conflict] should be solved by resolving this territorial problem rather than saying Islam should moderate itself. Islam has always been a moderate religion."
  
• What about Al Gore :: "We did not like Gore. Gore came to Malaysia and right in front of me urged the people to overthrow my government."
  
• As to Malaysia's New Economic Policy (NEP), the affirmative action programme for bumiputras, or ethnic Malays, which has been criticised by economists for spawning cronyism and favouritism, the Tun said :: "We had to work with the private sector to find people who could implement our programmes. We appeared to have cronies. The problem is that no matter who we chose - even if we chose our cronies' enemies - they would be called our cronies. The alternative was to do nothing at all. I think I have done reasonably well. I have been able to achieve the objective, the vision I had for my country, to a fair extent."
  
• As for the gossips throughout Malaysia - that he is a mamak or partly ethnic Indian. The Tun said :: "Maybe I have a few drops (of Indian blood). My father was a Penang Malay. They would have some Indian blood. My mother was Malay. I must admit I have some Indian antecedents. Culturally and legally, I am a Malay."
  The Tun certainly had some interesting stuff to say. Clifford concluded his article by saying ::
  

  But Malaysian politicians for decades have made a speciality of returning from absolute oblivion. We will have to see if, against the retired leader's wishes, it happens again.

Jomo Ka UN

Recently a Malaysian was appointed to the post of UN Assistant Secretary-General (Economic Development) by the UN Sec-Gen, Kofi Annan. This appointment was announced on 8th Nov 2002. Usually one would have expected much joy and much news to be made out of such a UN appointment in the mainstream media, but there was little or none. Usually one would expect the gomen to have played a part in this appointment, but again strangely, none. It was only on 11th Nov that our Foreign MINIster, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, had this to say :: "The government did not play any role in this appointment. Annan has the prerogative to appoint anybody he wants." And he must have sounded quite proudly when he added :: "We have never lobbied, proposed or submitted any letter of recommendation to the UN for the appointment of any individual from Malaysia to the position."

Asked on the appointee's record as being critical of the government, Syed Hamid said: "We did not choose him. Anyway, the appointment is an honour for the country." Now did he say this grudgingly, we wonder. According to the STAR, Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram described the appointment as a great honour and challenge.

The STAR has this to say about Prof Jomo and his distinguished career ::

Prof Jomo has had a distinguished career and is recognised as one of the world's top economic brains.

He is the founder and Chair of IDEA or International Development Economics Associates and has served on various academic and professional committees as well as Malaysia's National Economic Consultative Council (1989-91).

Prof Jomo did his Bachelor of Arts at Yale and his Masters and PhD at Harvard.

A prolific writer, he has authored over 35 monographs and written over 50 books.

Among his books are Malaysia’s Political Economy (with E.T. Gomez); Tigers in Trouble; Economic Development: Theory and the Asian Evidence (with Mushtaq Khan) and Sustaining Development in East Asia.

Prof Jomo also has had a wide and varied teaching career, having worked at Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. He was also a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge.

With such a distinguished background and being recognised as one of the world's top economic brains, surely the nation must have picked his brain and benefited from having done so. Did we, have we, will we?

Links ::

• Jomo web site
  
• ARI Visiting Senior Research Fellow
  
• Mahathir down but not out
  
• Economic Considerations for a Renewed Nationalism

MRR2 Reopens

Remember those famous words of one Samy Vellu, he said them on 10th Aug when the "Cracking Link" first surfaced. He said then ::

"This is no design failure. The engineer can sue them (those making such allegations). The design was submitted to our office. Noboby can simply open his mouth and say design failure. The question of design failure doesn't arise."

Well it took 3 different consultants to finally tell Samy the truth, the "Cracking Link" is due to design failure. Experts from Australia engaged by the original consultant of the project and experts from Germany engaged by the Public Works Department, both had come up with different views. The Works MINIstry subsequently appointed an independent consultant, Halcrow Group Limited to submit detailed report of the necessary rehabilitation work. Halcrow in its report attributed the cracks to design fault. Did anyone hear Samy denying this or apologising for his earlier 'outburst', claiming no design fault and threatening lawsuits? Don't we wonder who paid for all the 3 consultants.
Our Samy also said there had been "little cracks on the structure" of the MRR2. Now those little cracks need a whooping RM 18.3 million to rehabilitate! Really and truly little cracks! Now he is saying :: "We will see how much each pillar cost but the overall cost should not exceed RM18.3 million." Now don't be surprised that the amount needed to "rehabilitate those little cracks" ends up much much more. But now Samy says :: "The cost will be paid by the main contractor...The Public Works Department and an independent consultant will be here to supervise the job." Do mark his words. Samy had earlier said that the cost of repair may be difficult for the contractor to bear..
A stress test was carried out last Wednesday and it was announced that the highway would be opened to light traffic while furthher rehabilitation work was being carried out. Two lanes in both directions of the MRR2 near Kepong were opened to light traffic from 3pm yesterday, in time for the Raya rush.
Meanwhile, BERNAMA reports that discussion is still in progress among the parties involved in determining the rehabilitation work to be carried out. How confusing, are all the 31 cracking pillars gonna be repaired or just those 2 with significant cracks? We presume the Works MINIstry is trying to save the main contractors some money and meanwhile let the users of the MRR2 take some significant risks? How confusing. Please don't let the users be shortchanged, ensure all the pillars are repaired and the MRR2 safe for users, that was the way it was meant to be in the beginning.

Samy's Deepavali Pledge

Festival times are such good times for making pledges and BS. In a couple of days, Malaysians and Hindus in particular will be celebrating the Festival of the Lights. Politikus will be out to make their annual pledges. Our local top indian leader is the first to do so. He, once again, pledges to "Ensure Progress of the MIC"; read Malaysian Indian Community, he says; read Malaysian Indian Congress, we say.
After being at the head of the MIC for almost 3 decades, he is still pledging more or less the same. While he is getting fuller headed, the Malaysian Indian Community seems to be heading 'south' economically. Recently there was a mention made by P Ramasamy, that there should be a call for the MIC President resignation not for the shoddy works done by the Works MINstry but for his ineffective leadership of the Indian Community. Not so long ago, Penang MIC chairperson Dr K Rajapathy had this to say regarding the Indian Community of Penang :: “They [the Indian Community] have been largely sidelined from reaping the benefits of economic prosperity enjoyed by the state over the past three decades.” He also pointed out that the Socio-Economy and Environment Research Institute (Seri) study carried out between November 1997 and February 1999 on the socio-economic status of Indian Malaysians in the state revealed that the community share in paid-up capital investments was only 0.2 percent.
So when Samy says that Malaysians of all races, Indians included, have experienced a better quality of life and upward socio-economic mobility through the various action plans adopted by the government, he obviously must mean a MIC other than the one mentioned by Dr K Rajapathy.
Samy Vellu also says that his MIC would continue to ensure the progress of his Malaysian Indian community. "We have now moved towards strategising the Indian community to become more independent and self-sustaining," he said. Read the BERNAMA report in full to know further about Samy's Deepavali pledge and his and the gomen's plans for the Malaysian Indian Community and other Malaysians.
In the meanwhile a "Happy and Bright Deepavali" to all those celebrating and to Samy, "Happy BS too".

The Proton VW Deal

The former PM and now Proton Special Advisor, the Tun said last year, Proton "has become a success. Proton cars have been exported to England. We also export to Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon and many other countries."
The number of Proton cars exported annually is around 1000, does that make Proton a success overseas? Even domestic sales of Protons have fallen from commanding 60% of the local market once, this has dropped to about 43% this year.
Earlier on the Tun had repeatedly said that Proton has little need for a foreign partner but recently Proton and Volkswagen announced a long-term strategic alliance. According to a report in Asia Times, under the plan, Proton will produce two VW models for Southeast Asia. The German car maker will give Proton access to VW's global distribution network, which Proton will use to boost exports. Proton will also be able to use Volkswagen engines and other forms of technology, according to representatives on both sides of the deal.
An equity stake for VW in Proton appears not to be a part of the plan, and some see this as necessary to produce long-term benefits for Proton, some say it is not necessary. Being aware that the Germans can be very hardnosed, not having an equity stake in Proton may mean that VW is preparing a 'backdoor' just in case.
Proton's reputation, and its export potential in turn, has been further damaged by unreliable quality and poor customer service over the years. Though Proton has resolved some points in these areas, Volkswagen's presence is expected to cause some rubbed-off effects. This may enhance Proton's potential for a bigger export market and this may inturn help Proton's economies of scales in production. In the coming years, Proton's domestic market demands is unlikely to go back to those hey days where it commanded 60% of the market. The Japanese and Koreans are already fighting in the Malaysian maarket to bring down Proto's share.
A Malaysiakini columnist has also cautioned regarding the deal, saying that 'Proton is not out of the woods'. he also noted that the market response to the said deal was lukewarm.
Proton will have a lot of homework and housekeeping to do to ensure it does not get the short end of the deal with VW. It has got to prove that it is ready to go with the national slogan of the day :: Cemerlang, Gemilang dan Terbilang.
For more on tthe Proton Story, click here